Amlawdd ap Cynwal (425)

Born 0425 in Dumnonia

Died [date unknown] in Wales

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Biography: In History

Amlawdd was a legendary king of sub-Roman Britain. ^[1]

Since he appears to have existed in legend only, his links to parents, spouse and child have been removed from the datafield and replaced here:

• Cynwal ap Frwdwr, supposed father
• Gwen ferch Cunedda supposed wife
• Ygerne ferch Amlawdd, supposed daughter
• Arthyr ap Uthyr, King Arthur, supposed grandson

Biography: In Legend

Name

He is most often seen as Amlawdd Wledig. ^[1]

The Welsh title [G]wledig, archaically Gwledic or Guletic and latinised Guleticus, is defined as "lord, king, prince, or ruler." The term was applied to a number of early British rulers and princes who were prominent in the defence of Britain about the time of the Roman withdrawal. Wledig might also refer to a commander of the native militia in a Romano-British province. ^[2] Because of this use, Amlawdd Wledig is sometimes rendered as Amlawdd the Imperator. ^[3]

Amalawdd is a Middle Welsh name which can also appear as Amlawd, Amlawt, Anlawdd, Anlawd, Amlodd, Amlwyd, Aflawdd and Anblaud. ^[1][4]. The Latin version is Anblaud. ^[4]

Appearance in Sources

Amalawdd appears in the following early sources:

• Bonedd y Arwyr
• Geoffrey of Monmouth

Amlawdd Wledig is named in many sources to have been the maternal grandfather of King Arthur,^[5] while others suggest he is a genealogical construct, created in order to justify the kinship connections referred to in the Welsh prose tale of Culhwch and Olwen between King Arthur, Culhwch, St Illtud and Goreu fab Custennin.^[6]

Amlawdd does not appear in the list of Kings of Britain given by Geoffrey of Monmouth.

425 Birth Year Estimation

Ford presents an estimated birth year for Amlawdd of 425 and for his father Cynwal of 400. ^[7]

This wold place Amalawdd's birth a decade after the Roman withdrawal and the time he might have "flouished" would be 25 years later, say, 450.

Location

Amlawdd is described as a king of 'some part of Wales, possibly on the border with Herefordshire'.^[8]

If it is accepted that King Gwrfoddw of Ergyng is Amlawdd's son, there would be a logic to Amlawdd also having been a king in the Ergyng or Herefordshire area.

Conventional Ancestry

• According to the Bonedd yr Arwyr, section 31, Amlawdd is son of Kynwal, son of Ffrewdwr, son of Gwarvawr/Gwdion, son of Kadif[en]/Kadien (Gadeon), son of Cynan, son of Eudaf, son of Caradoc, son of Brân, son of Llŷr.^[4]
• The Bonedd yr Arwyr (Section 31) names Amlawdd as the son of Kynwal, son of Ffrewdwr, son of Gwarvawr/Gwdion, son of Kadif[en]/Kadien (Gadeon), son of Cynan, son of Eudaf, son of Caradoc, son of Brân, son of Llŷr.^[9] This line may be portrayed as follows:

1. Llyr
2. Bran
3. Caradoc
4. Emiled
5. Cynan
6. Kadifen/Kadien/Gadeon
7. Gwarvawr/Giodion
8. FFrewdwr
9. Kynwal
10. Amlawdd

Arimathean Line Ancestry from the Vulgate Quest

• Later Welsh texts instead provide Amlawdd with ancestors from the Vulgate Quest. Bartrum explains (1966, p. 130) that around the year 1400 the lineage of the Grail Kings from the Vulgate Quest was adapted by the monks of Glastonbury from Enigeus (sister of Joseph of Arimathea) down to Lambor, father of the Maimed King, who in this account fathers (presumably as well) an unnamed son who is in turn the father of Arthur’s mother Ygerne. The Welsh adapted this genealogy, replacing the word filius (‘son’), which stood for the unnamed son, by Amlawdd Wledig. The earliest Welsh text known to Bartum which contains this genealogy is Peniarth MS. 178, part 1, p. 1 (by Griffith Hiraethog, c. 1545): Eigr verch Aflawdd wledig ap Lambor ap Manael ap Carcelois ap Jossue ap Evgen chwaer Josep[h a Ar]mathia.^[4]

• Peter Bartrum notes that a different genealogy for Amlawdd is present in Peniarth MS. 178, part 1, p. 1 (by Gruffudd Hiraethog, c. 1545), where his daughter Eigr (see below - otherwise known as Eigyr, Igraine, Ygerne) is listed as ferch ('daughter of') Aflawdd Wledig ap Lambor (or Lambord) ap Manael ap Carcelois ap Jossue ap Evgen chwaer Josep[h a Ar]mathia, explaining (p. 130) that around the year 1400 the lineage of the Grail Kings from the Vulgate Quest was adapted by the monks of Glastonbury from Enigeus (sister of Joseph of Arimathea) down to Lambor, father of the Maimed King, who in this account fathers an unnamed son who is in turn the father of Arthur’s mother Eigr or Ygerne; he points out that later Welsh texts adapted this genealogy, replacing the word filius (‘son’), which stood for the unnamed son, with Amlawdd Wledig.^{[10] [11]} This line may be portrayed as follows:

1. Joseph of Arimathea
2. Eugen
3. Jossue
4. Carcelois
5. Manad
6. Lambor
7. Affawdd Wledeg

Jutish Ancestry Theory

It has also been suggested that the name Amlawdd could be identical in origin to the name Amleth or Amlethus, which appears in Saxo Grammaticus' thirteenth century Gesta Danorum and is the origin of Shakespeare's character Hamlet. However, Amleth is described as a Jute (rather than a Dane) who marries the daughter of the British King on his first trip to Britain. In terms of the chronology, Amleth could be identical to Amlawdd Wledig. However, Amlawdd is not said to have been of Jutish or Saxon origin in the Welsh Arthurian texts.^[12]

The name Amlawdd is not impossibly identical in origin to Amleth. Amleth/Amlóði first appears in Book 3 of Saxo Grammaticus’ Gesta Danorum, completed early in the thirteenth century. Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is based on this story after it has passed through later hands. But in Saxo’s tale, Amleth is not a tragedy. Saxo’s Amleth, a Jute and not a Dane, marries the daughter of the British king on his first trip to Britain and later marries a Scottish queen named Herminthrud and becomes a powerful lord within Britain. But in the end Amleth is slain in a war with the Danish king Viglek, who is very obviously identical to the Anglian king Whitlæg, an ancestor of the Kings of Mercia. Chronologically, Saxo places Amleth at a time when indeed he might be identical to Amlawdd Wledig.^[4]

However, if an historical Amlawdd Wledig was of Jutish origin, this has been forgotten in surviving Welsh texts.^[4]

Wives

Amlawdd is said to have had at least five wives: Other variations on her name, or other spouses, included:

1. Dwywn
2. Gwenwyn (Gwen ferch Cunedda) Gwen was said to be the daughter of Cunedda Wledig, the legendary northern king said either to have migrated^[13] or to have been sent south by Vortigern to drive Irish invaders from the Kingdom of Gwynedd. The Jesus College MS. 20 Genealogies in section 7, concerning the family of Cunedda, names Cunedda’s daughters as Tecgygyl and Gwenn, the wife of Anlawdd Wledig. This information also appears in Bonedd yr Arwyr, section 29(14). Bonedd yr Arwyr, section 31, states as well that Eigyr, mother of Arthur, was daughter of Anlawd Wledic by Gwen daughter of Cunedda Wledic.^[4]
3. Eglise
4. Scotnoe
5. Denyw

Issue

Little is known of Amlawdd save that he appears as the father of particular persons in genealogies and is apparently use to make a person into a kinsman to Arthur by identifying that person’s mother as a daughter of Amlawdd. ^[4]

Therefore accounts of his issue include a number of figures from the Arthurian legends are suggested (with varying levels of plausibility) to have been the children of Amlawdd, including:^[14]

1. Eigyr, Igraine, Ygerne the mother of King Arthur ^[14] Amlawdd Wledig or Anlawdd Wledig in medieval Welsh tradition is the father of Arthur’s mother Eigyr. ^[4] In the Welsh Bruts, Arthur is son of Uthyr Pendragon by Eigyr who is specifically said to be daughter of Anlawdd Wledig. In some of the Welsh texts Cadwr, Earl of Cornwall is said to be Arthur’s half-brother, fathered on Eigyr by her first husband Gwrlais.^[4] The Arthurian court list also mentions Gormant son of Rica, son of Arthur on his mother’s side, his father the Chief Elder of Cornwall.^[4]
2. Danhadlwen (f)
3. Natlod or Natanleod (possibly son-in-law) killed in battle against Cerdic in 508; associated with Natanleaga, supposed to be Netley in Hampshire. ^[15][16]
4. Rieingulid, the mother of St Illtud^[14] In the Latin Vita Iltut Abbatis the hero, Saint Illtyd, is said to be the son of Bicanus, a King of Little Britain by Rieingulid, daughter of Anblaud, King of Britain. Later Illtyd is said to be cousin to Arthur.^[4]
5. Goleuddydd, the mother of Culhwch^[14] In the medieval Welsh tale Culhwch and Olwen, neither Arthur’s father nor mother are mentioned by name, however the hero of the tale, Culhwch, is said to be son of one Cyleddon Wledig by Goleuddydd daughter of Amlawdd Wledig and is said to be Arthur’s cousin. Culhwch introduces himself to Arthur as son of Cyleddon by Goleuddydd daughter of Amlawdd Wledig and Arthur immediately recognizes that Culhwch is Arthur’s “first cousin”.^[4]
6. Tywanwedd, Tywynwedd or Dwywanedd, the wife of Hawystl Gloff and the mother of Caradawc Vreichvras, Gwyn ab Nudd, Gwallawc ab Lleenawg, and Tyfrydog or Tyvrydog. (Source: Bonedd y Saint)^[12] Tyfrydog was a saint who flourished in the sixth century.^[17] According to Bonedd y Saint, section 43, Tyvrydawc in Môn, and Dyeuer in Bodfari in Tegeingle, and Theyrnawc in Dyffryn Clwyd, and Thudyr in Darowen in Cyveiliawg were brothers, and the sons of Hawystyl Gloff, and Marchell their sister; and Thywanwed daughter of Anlawt Wledig was their mother. The Peniath MS. 27 version inserts the information that Marchell’s brothers were Gwynn son of Nudd, Caradoc Stout-arm, and Gwawl son of Llyminawc.^[4]
7. Two unnamed daughters, sisters to Enfeidas (f), by Amlawdd's fifth wife Denyw. Enfeidas is said, in Heinrich von dem Türlin's Diu Crône to be Arthur’s aunt, a goddess, and the queen of Avalon.
8. Gwyar, argued by some to be the mother of Gwalchmai or Gawain; however, it should be noted that others argue that Gwyar is a male name and that Gwyar is therefore the name of Gwalchmai's father^[18] Section 75 of Bonedd y Saint says that the saints Iestin and Selvain and Cyngar were sons of Gereint son of Erbin by Gwyar, daughter of Anlawdd Wledic.^[4]
9. King Gwrfoddw or Gwrfoddw Hen of Ergyng, who is listed as one of two brothers of Arthur's unnamed mother in Culhwch and Olwen^[12]
10. Twins Gweir Paladr Hir ('Long Staff') and Gweir Gwrhyd Ennwir ('False Valour'), listed as 'uncles of Arthur, his mother’s brothers' in the Arthurian court lists of the Mabinogion. In the Arthurian court list in the tale, two brothers of Arthur’s unnamed mother appear: Llydadrudd Emys (‘Red-eye Stallion’) and Gwrfoddw the Old. The two brothers are later slain by Garth Grugyn, one of the boar Trwyth’s piglings and are again said to be brothers to Arthur’s mother. So, unless Arthur’s maternal grandmother had more than one husband, they also would be sons of Amlawdd Wledig. So also would be Gweir False-valor and Gweir White-shaft, also mention in the Arthurian court list as “uncles of Arthur, his mother’s brothers”.^[4]
11. Unnamed daughter. When Culhwch and five of Arthur’s men go forth to seek news of Olwen, they come upon a giant shepherd who introduces himself as Custennin son of Mynwyedig. Custennin’s wife also appears somewhat monstrous, but she also is a daughter of Amlawdd Wledig and accepts Culhwch as her sister’s son. Ysbaddaden Chief Giant has slain twenty-three of the twenty-four sons she had born to Custennin and the only son still alive, the youngest son, hides in a coffer by the hearth. Kay takes this son under his protection. Later, when Custennin’s son and his companions cross the balleys of the giant Wrnach’s castle, the companions praise Custennin’s son as “best of men” and from that time forth the boy is known as Goreu (‘Best’).^[4]
12. Dywanw. The Descent of the Men of the North in section 13, the last section, lists the otherwise unknown Huallu son of Tutfwlch Corneu, Prince of Cornwall, whose mother was Dywanw daughter of Amlawd Wledic.^[4]
13. Unnamed daughter. In the 14th century Welsh Ystoria Trystan, King March is Arthur’s first cousin, presumably March's mother being a daughter of Amlawdd Wledig. Trystan in the same story is the son of a first cousin of Arthur, presumably the son of the sister of King March. March makes the point that Arthur therefore ought to side with March because Arthur is more closely related to March than to Trystan.^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Wikipedia. Amlawdd Wledig Accessed August 31, 2017. jhd
2. ↑ Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru, Part 26, Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru, 1974, p. 1682. Cited by Wikipedia, Amlawdd Wledig Accessed August 31, 2017. jhd
3. ↑ Leonard Pellman Consolidated Family Research 2011-03-21 (private)
4. ↑ ^{4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18} Quondam et Futurus: Amlawdd Accessed August 31, 2017. jhd
5. ↑ Norma Lorre Goodrich, King Arthur (HarperPerennial; New edition, 1989) ISBN 978-0060971823. Cited by Wikipedia, Amlawdd Wledig Accessed August 31, 2017. jhd
6. ↑ Bromwich, R. and Evans, D. Simon. Culhwch and Olwen. An Edition and Study of the Oldest Arthurian Tale (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1992), pp.44-5 ISBN 978-0708326190. Cited by Wikipedia, Amlawdd Wledig Accessed August 31, 2017. jhd
7. ↑ David Nash Ford. Pedigree of the Kings of Dumnonia & Cornwall West Country Royal Pedigree: Kings of Dumnonia, Cerniw & Lyonesse Accessed August 31, 2017 jhd Ford's site gives a pedigree displaying relationships and dates. Some biographies are linked and the biographies note whether the person is primaraly considered historical or legendary.
8. ↑ Wade-Evans, A.W. Welsh Christian Origins (Oxford, 1934) pp.102 quoted in Bartrum, Peter C. ed. Welsh Classical Dictionary: People in History and Legend Up to About A.D. 1000 (National Library of Wales, February 1994) pp.14-15 ISBN 978-0907158738. Cited by Wikipedia, Amlawdd Wledig Accessed August 31, 2017. jhd
9. ↑ Bartrum, Peter C. ed. Bonedd yr Arwyr (Unpublished genealogical material concerning the heroes of early Welsh history and legend, 1959). Cited by Wikipedia, Amlawdd Wledig Accessed August 31, 2017. jhd
10. ↑ Bartrum, Peter C. ed. Welsh Classical Dictionary: People in History and Legend Up to About A.D. 1000 (National Library of Wales, February 1994) ISBN 978-0907158738. Cited by Wikipedia, Amlawdd Wledig Accessed August 31, 2017. jhd
11. ↑ Bartrum, Peter C. ed. Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts (University of Wales, 1966) Cited by Wikipedia, Amlawdd Wledig Accessed August 31, 2017. jhd
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1 12.2} Bartrum, Peter C. ed. Welsh Classical Dictionary: People in History and Legend Up to About A.D. 1000 (National Library of Wales, February 1994) ISBN 978-0907158738 Cited by Wikipedia, Amlawdd Wledig Accessed August 31, 2017. jhd
13. ↑ Davies, John. A History of Wales. Penguin (New York), 1994. ISBN 0-14-014581-8. Cited by Wikipedia, Amlawdd Wledig Accessed August 31, 2017. jhd
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3} Bruce, Christopher W. The Arthurian Name Dictionary (Routledge, 2013) ISBN 9781136755385. Cited by Wikipedia, Amlawdd Wledig Accessed August 31, 2017. jhd
15. ↑ Proceedings - Philological Society, London, Vol: 1 no: 2 pub:1844 - Philology; a paper by James Yates
16. ↑ See also Anglo-Saxon Chronicles which report (year 508) This year Cerdic and Cynric slew a British king, whose name was Natan-leod, and five thousand men w'th him. After that the country was named Natan-lea, as far Cerdicsford, [Cliarford.]
17. ↑ Rees, Rice (1836). "An Essay on the Welsh Saints". London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman, Rees. Cited by Wikipedia, Amlawdd Wledig Accessed August 31, 2017. jhd
18. ↑ citation needed

Acknowledgements

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