Yr Elen is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

in the

Carneddau The (lit. 'the cairns'; is a Welsh language, Welsh plural form, and is sometimes anglicised to ''Carnedds'') are a group of mountains in Snowdonia, Wales. They include the largest contiguous areas of high ground (over or high) in England and W ...

range in

Snowdonia Snowdonia, or Eryri (), is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in North Wales. It contains all 15 mountains in Wales Welsh 3000s, over 3000 feet high, including the country's highest, Snowdon (), which i ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. It is the ninth highest mountain in Snowdonia. The average annual temperature of the peak is around . It lies on a short ridge running north-northwest off the main northeast-to-southwest ridge of the Carneddau, just over one kilometre from

Carnedd Llewelyn Carnedd Llewelyn, also spelled Carnedd Llywelyn, is a mountain massif in the Carneddau range in Snowdonia, north-west Wales. It is the highest point of the Carneddau at and the second-highest peak by relative height in Wales, ...

. It is usually climbed from the main ridge of the Carneddau, as it is only a short walk from Carnedd Llywelyn. It can also be climbed from Gerlan, near Bethesda, following Afon Llafar then heading up the slopes of Yr Elen, but this involves walking through wet valleys and a number of rivers that are difficult to cross. In drier times, ascent can be made via the crossing of Afon Caseg and then up the "front edge" of the peak. The views from this point north-west, over to Bangor and Anglesey, are stunning on a clear day, especially with a summer's sunset. This is well worth the arduous ascent. The

etymology Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...

of the name is unclear, with the personal name "Helen" or "Eleanor" being one possibility, perhaps after

Eleanor de Montfort Eleanor de Montfort, Princess of Wales and Lady of Snowdon (1252 – 19 June 1282) was an English noblewoman and Welsh princess through her marriage to Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, who was List of rulers of Gwynedd, Prince of Gwynedd, and later, Prince ...

(d. 1282), Princess of Wales and wife of

Llywelyn ap Gruffudd Llywelyn ap Gruffudd ( – 11 December 1282), also known as Llywelyn II and Llywelyn the Last (), was List of rulers of Gwynedd, Prince of Gwynedd, and later was recognised as the Prince of Wales (; ) from 1258 until his death at Cilmeri in 128 ...

. Another is ''the leech'' (from

soft mutation In linguistics, lenition is a sound change that alters consonants, making them "weaker" in some way. The word ''lenition'' itself means "softening" or "weakening" (from Latin 'weak'). Lenition can happen both synchronically (within a language ...

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

''gelen'',

leech Leeches are segmented parasitism, parasitic or Predation, predatory worms that comprise the Class (biology), subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida. They are closely related to the Oligochaeta, oligochaetes, which include the earthwor ...

), perhaps in reference to the way in which Yr Elen appears to be attached to the side of the remaining Carneddau.Nuttall, John & Anne (1999). The Mountains of England & Wales - Volume 1: Wales (2nd edition ed.). Milnthorpe, Cumbria: Cicerone. .

References

External links

* {{coord, 53.16643, N, 3.98649, W, region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SH673651), display=title Hewitts of Wales Mountains and hills of Snowdonia Nuttalls Mountains and hills of Gwynedd Furths Llanllechid