Y’all probably don’t know this, but King Bladud was the legendary founder of Bath.

Do you know where Bath is?

Bath is a city in England famous for its healing waters. It happens to be where half my family is from, so I can share this myth with you.

When King Bladud was a prince, he had a skin disease. Possibly leprosy, but it’s very hard to be sure. Because he had skin disease, he wasn’t allowed to do any important jobs and instead he was in charge of looking after the pigs. If you ever wished to be a prince, be careful what you wish for.

Bladud spent so much time with the pigs they eventually caught his disease. Then one day, when Bladud and the pigs had been best mates for quite some time, they went on a hike together.

One of the pigs found a muddy puddle. The pigs, being pigs, rolled around in it. Bladud watched them, but soon he noticed the mud had cured their skin disease. He put on his bathing suit and joined the pigs. Guess what? The mud cured his skin disease too!

Underneath the mud was the magical healing spring waters of Aquae Suilis. In other words, the way Bath got its name.

Bladud went back to his kingdom and now disease-free, became a king. Later, he went back to the magic spring waters and founded the city of…

BATH!

You can listen to the interview with my dad that inspired this post:

Another theory is the Romans founded the city and that’s why the baths are called the Roman Baths. But any story with pigs in it is better than that one.

Bladud was also related to King Lear.

This story shows the importance of sustainability by emphasizing the need to protect our cultural heritages. It is also connected to globalization because King Bladud is colonizing the land. That’s very globalizationish.