# Collen

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{{Short description|7th-century monk}}
{{for|people named Collen|Collen (surname)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2015}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2020}}

[[File:St. Collen's Church, Llangollen 01.jpg|[St Collen's Church](/source/St_Collen's_Church%2C_Llangollen), Llangollen|thumb|right]]
'''Collen''' was a 7th-century [monk](/source/monk) who gave his name to [Llangollen](/source/Llangollen) (from the [Welsh](/source/Welsh_language) [llan](/source/Llan_place_name_element) meaning 'enclosure' and ''gollen'' being a [mutation](/source/consonant_mutation) of "Collen").

Collen is said to have served for some time abroad as a soldier.<ref>[http://www.llangollenmuseum.org.uk/History/llangollen.htm "The Story of St Collen", LLangollen Museum]</ref> He later arrived in Llangollen by [coracle](/source/coracle) and founded [a church](/source/St_Collen's_Church%2C_Llangollen) beside the river there. As there are no other churches in Wales dedicated to Collen, it is possible that this Saint Collen may also have connections in both [Colan, Cornwall](/source/Colan%2C_Cornwall), where [Colan Church](/source/Colan_Church) is dedicated to him, and [Langolen](/source/Langolen), [Brittany](/source/Brittany). There are legendary Lives connecting him with Wales, Rome and Glastonbury, but nothing is known for certain about him, though from the dedication of a church to him in Brittany it may be conjectured that he resided for some time in that country.<ref>[https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-gollen/ Monks of Ramsgate. "Gollen". ''Book of Saints'', 1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 16 July 2013]{{PD-notice}}</ref>

==Narrative==
According to the ''Buchedd Collin'' ('Life of Saint Collin'), he was the son of Gwynawc, ab Caledawc. After having travelled through many foreign lands he returned to Britain and became [Abbot of Glastonbury](/source/Abbot_of_Glastonbury). He banished [Gwyn ap Nudd](/source/Gwyn_ap_Nudd), King of the [Tylwyth Teg](/source/Tylwyth_Teg), and his retinue from [Glastonbury Tor](/source/Glastonbury_Tor) with the use of holy water.<ref>[https://www.ancienttexts.org/library/celtic/ctexts/collen.html "St. Collen and Gwyn ap Nudd"]</ref><ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/themes/society/myths_collen.shtml "St Collen and the King of the Fairies", BBC Wales]</ref>

Collen died on 22 May, probably sometime in the early 7th century. He was buried in his chapel. For centuries, it was known as the "Old Church" and stood immediately to the west of the present medieval church of St Collen in Llangollen.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://archive.today/20130105090057/http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints/message/4208 Celtic and Old English Saints 21 May]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Collen, Saint}}
Category:Medieval Welsh saints
Category:7th-century Christian saints

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Collen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collen) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collen?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.