On Valentine’s Day, beware of lovers bearing potions

In the “be careful what you ask for” category, consider the love-lorn Welsh maiden, Dwyn.

Dwyn was a fifth-century teenager inclined to romance. She was smitten with a young man named Maelon. Alas, they had a fight, and he must have demanded his letter jacket back because Dwyn was heartbroken and beseeched the heavens to tell her why this should happen.

An angel appeared and bid her drink a potion to answer her plea. Unfortunately, this potion did nothing for Maelon’s affections, but it did turn her beloved into stone. This was not Dwyn’s desired result, so she asked for and was granted three wishes.

First, Dwyn asked that Maelon be restored to life. Second, she asked that all true lovers who invoke her name be united with their love or, failing that, get over it quickly.

Third, she wished that the desire to marry be taken from her and that she would never marry.

All those wishes were granted. She became a nun and the abbess of a convent at Llanddwyn in Wales. Modern-day visitors can find a spring that is said to cure sick animals and help people predict the future.