Maelgwn Hir ap Cadwallon
Encyclopedia
Maelgwn Gwynedd was King of Gwynedd
(reigned from ? – c. 547). More formally his name was Maelgwn ap Cadwallon (Maelgwn son of Cadwallon), also known as Maelgwn Hir (Maelgwn the Tall). He was father of Rhun "Hîr"
.
The evidence suggests that he held a pre-eminent position among the kings in Wales
and in parts of northern Britain
known as 'The Old North' . Maelgwn was a generous supporter of Christianity
, making donations to found churches throughout Wales
, far beyond the bounds of his own kingdom.
The history of Brythonic
Gwynedd begins with the conquest of the Gaelic
peoples of northern Wales
by Maelgwn's great-grandfather Cunedda
, with the conquest finally completed by Maelgwn's father Cadwallon
. Maelgwn was the first king to enjoy the fruits of his family's conquest and he is considered the founder of the medieval kingdom's royal family. He is thus most commonly referenced by appending the name of the kingdom to his own: Maelgwn Gwynedd.
By tradition, his llys (royal court
, literally hall
) was located at Deganwy
, in the Creuddyn peninsula
of Rhos. Tradition also holds that he died at nearby Llanrhos, and was buried there. Other traditions say that he was buried at Ynys Seiriol (Island of St. Seiriol, Puffin Island
), off easternmost Anglesey. There are no historical records to confirm or deny these traditions.
Historical records of this early era are scant. Maelgwn appears in the royal genealogies of the Harleian genealogies
, Jesus College MS. 20
, and Hengwrt MS. 202. His death in a "great mortality" of 547 is noted in the Annales Cambriae
. Tradition holds that he died of the 'Yellow Plague' of Rhos, but this is based on one of the Triads
that was written much later. The record says only that it was a "great mortality".
Maelgwn was a generous contributor to the cause of Christianity
throughout Wales
. He made donations to support Saint Brynach in Dyfed
, Saint Cadoc in Gwynllwg
, Saint Cybi
in Anglesey, Saint Padarn
in Ceredigion
, and Saint Tydecho in Powys. He is also associated with the foundation of Bangor
, but hard evidence of this is lacking. In his 1723 Mona Antiqua Restaurata, Henry Rowlands
asserts that Bangor was raised to an episcopal see
by Maelgwn in 550, but he provides no source for the assertion.
The only contemporary information about the person is provided by Gildas
, who includes Maelgwn among the five British kings who he condemns in allegorical terms in his De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae
. He says Maelgwn held a regional pre-eminence among the other 4 kings, going on to say that he overthrew his maternal uncle to gain the throne; that he had taken up life as a monk but then returned to the secular world; that he had been married and divorced, then remarried to the widow of his nephew after being responsible for his nephew's death; and that he was tall.
Gildas refers to Maelgwn by the older form of his name, Maglocunus (or Maglocunos). This was successively softened down into Mailcon or Mailcun, to become Maelgwn. Maglo- in Brythonic
means a prince or hero, equivalent to the Irish
mál and different from Brythonic moel (bald, bare) and Irish mael (tonsured, servant). The early Brythonic cu has become Welsh
ci, genitive or nominative plural cwn, the word for hound or dog, with a positive military connotation in the sense of the dangerous hound or hounds of war.
, perhaps in the sense of a regional high king
. There is nothing to suggest that Maelgwn held sway over any larger area. Gildas says as much in his condemnation, saying he held a pre-eminence over the other 4 kings similarly condemned, and also describing him as the "dragon of the island", where the Isle of Anglesey is the ancient stronghold of the kings of Gwynedd.
Maelgwn's donations to the Christian missionaries supports the notion, as these are not restricted to the Kingdom of Gwynedd, but are spread throughout northern and southern Wales, in the various regions where the descendants of Cunedda held sway. This implies that Maelgwn had a responsibility to those regions, to a degree beyond the responsibilities of a king to his own kingdom only.
While the context is not definitive, Taliesin
also implies it, in his Marwnad Rhun (Elegy of Rhun) that laments the death of Maelgwn's son Rhun
, where he says that Rhun's death is "the fall of the court and girdle of Cunedda".
makes an allegorical condemnation of 5 British kings by likening them to the beasts of the Christian
Apocalypse
as expressed in the biblical Book of Revelation, 13-2: the lion, leopard, bear, and dragon, with the dragon supreme among them. He says that Maelgwn is the "dragon of the island", and goes on with a litany of moral accusations, in the process describing him almost as a regional high king
over the other kings (the power-giving dragon of the Apocalypse). The Isle of Anglesey was the base of power of the kings of Gwynedd, so describing Maelgwn as the "dragon of the island" is appropriate.
Gildas restricts his attention to the kings of Gwynedd (Maelgwn), Dyfed
(Vortiporius
), Penllyn (probable, as its king Cuneglasus/Cynlas appears in royal genealogies associated with the region), Damnonia
/Alt Clud
(Constantine), and the unknown region associated with Caninus. The Welsh kingdoms are all associated with the conquest of the Gaels by Cunedda
, while Alt Clud had a long and ongoing relationship with Gwynedd and its kings.
In the course of his condemnations, Gildas makes passing reference to the other beasts mentioned in the Apocalypse, such as the eagle, serpent, calf, and wolf. The reason for Gildas' disaffection for these individuals is unknown. He was selective in his choice of kings, as he had no comments concerning the kings of the other British kingdoms that were thriving at the time, such as Rheged
, Gododdin
, Elmet
, Pengwern/Powys
, or the kingdoms of modern-day southern England
. That he chose only the kings associated with one king's pre-eminence (Maelgwn, the "dragon") suggests a reason other than his claim of moral outrage over personal depravity. Neither outrage nor a doctrinal dispute would seem to justify beginning the condemnation of the five kings with a personal attack against the mother of one of the kings, calling her an "unclean lioness".
says that "the great king Mailcun reigned among the Britons, i.e., in Gwynedd". He adds that Maelgwn's ancestor Cunedda
arrived in Gwynedd 146 years before Maelgwn's reign, coming from Manaw Gododdin
, and expelled the Scots [i.e., the Gaels] with great slaughter.
Maelgwn is not mentioned in the Welsh Triads
, but the pestilence that killed him appears as one of the 'Three Dreadful Pestilences of the Isle of Britain'. It is described as the Yellow Plague of Rhos, originating from the carcasses of the dead.
There is an incidental mention of Maelgwn in the song To Maenwyn found in the Red Book of Hergest
and attributed to Llywarch Hen
. The steward Maenwyn is encouraged to resist a command to surrender his post and show his fidelity to Maelgwn.
In the Book of Llandaff
, compiled c. 1125, Maelgwn Gwynedd is claimed to be one of the benefactors of the Diocese of Llandaff
in its early years. One of the specific places mentioned is at Louhai (Tintern parva, some 6 miles north of Chepstow
), where Maelgwn is claimed as a secular witness to its donation.
As a famous king of the past, Maelgwn has been associated with unsubstantiated but popular legends and stories throughout history. Modern authors have occasionally used his name as a character in fictional stories. These include the trilogies of Traci Harding
, Mary Gilgannon's historical novels, and a fantasy novel by Nikolai Tolstoy
.
The History of the Kings of Britain
Geoffrey of Monmouth
's 12th-century pseudohistorical
Historia Regum Britanniae
includes Maelgwn (Malgo) as a character in its account of British
history. It says that Saint David
was buried at St David's
on the command of "Malgo, king of the Venedotians", that Malgo addicted himself to sodomy, and that he was succeeded by a certain Careticus. It adds that Britain had groaned under the barbarians since the time of Malgo, that Malgo was the fourth king of Britain after Arthur
, and that Malgo had two sons, Ennianus and Runo.
There is no authority for any of this except Geoffrey's fertile imagination. Historically, Rhun ap Maelgwn was Maelgwn's son and successor. Geoffrey appears to twist Gildas
' words to obtain his reference to sodomy
. In his condemnation of 5 British kings in the De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, Gildas refers to wine
as "sodomitical" but never applies that word to any person.
The Brut Tysilio
Once attributed to Saint Tysilio
(died 640), this Chronicle of the Kings of Britain was written c. 1500 as an amalagam of earlier versions of the Brut y Brenhinedd, a derivative of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae. Among its spurious claims it says that Maelgwn Gwynedd came to the crown following Vortiper
, that he was succeeded by a certain Caretig, that he was the fourth king of all Britain after Arthur
, and that he had two sons, Einion and Rhun.
The Iolo Manuscripts
Maelgwn Gwynedd is mentioned repeatedly in the spurious 18th century Iolo Manuscripts of Iolo Morganwg
. His three Chief Bards are named, and he is proclaimed King Paramount over the other kings. A Maelgwn Hir of Llandaff is described, and said to be commonly mistaken for Maelgwn Gwynedd. Taliesin
is said to have been dispossessed of his property by Maelgwn, and so cursed him. Saint Eurgain is said to be Maelgwn's daughter. Saint Cwyllog, daughter of Caw Cawlwyd of Twr Celyn, had been given lands by Maelgwn Gwynedd. In 'The Three Holy Families of the Isle of Britain', there is a story of Caw and his children who had been driven from their lands by the Gwyddelian Picts, and who then came to Wales and were given land in Anglesey by Maelgwn. Without independent and reputable verification, the material found in the Iolo Manuscripts is considered to be the product of Iolo's fertile imagination.
The Tale of Taliesin
The Tale of Taliesin (Hanes Taliesin or Ystoria Taliesin) is a genuine legendary story about Taliesin
which is preserved in two principal redactions dating from the mid-16th century and the early 17th century but which probably derives from older sources. It was first printed in Lady Charlotte Guest's translation of the Mabinogion
: the notes to that edition are the work of Iolo Morganwg
and contain innacuracies and some of his inventions. The story itself tells of events where the Taliesin of legend is placed in difficult or impossible situations but invariably overcomes all obstacles, usually through feats of magic. Maelgwn Gwynedd is conspicuously depicted in a negative light, being foiled in unscrupulous actions of deceit and being outwitted.
The historical Taliesin was actually a contemporary of Maelgwn Gwynedd's son and successor Rhun
. An elegy for Rhun, the Marwnad Rhun (Elegy of Rhun) was once attributed to Taliesin by some scholars. but is now considered to be of later provenance and is longer accepted as his work. There is nothing to connect the historical Taliesin with Maelgwn Gwynedd, although references to the legend are found in medieval Welsh poems.
The Chronicle of the Scottish Nation
According to the account of John of Fordun
's Chronicle of the Scottish Nation, written c. 1360, a certain "Maglo, King of the Britons" asks for aid from King Aydanus. There is nothing to link Maelgwn Gwynedd to the Pictish king, Fordun's claim notwithstanding. In the next section, Fordun says that later on it is "Cadwallo, King of the Britons" who is receiving aid from King Aydanus.
This story is repeated uncritically in some later histories, and subsequently "Malgo the Briton" is mentioned in Thomas Stephens' notes on an 1888 publication of Y Gododdin
, with the stated suggestion that Maelgwn was an ally of "Aeddan" against the Pictish
king Bridei
. Fordun's Chronicle is given as one of Stephens' references.
The Pictish king Bridei
Bridei
(died c. 584) was the son of a certain Maelchon (or Melcho, or Maelchú in Irish
records). Aside from having a similar name, there is nothing that connects the father of Bridei to Maelgwn Gwynedd.
Of those who have promoted a connection, perhaps the most notable person of late is John Morris
in his Age of Arthur, where he refers in passing and without authority, to "... Bridei, son of Maelgwn, the mighty king of north Wales, ...". Though the book has been a commercial success, it is disparaged by historians as an unreliable source of "misleading and misguided" information.
Kingdom of Gwynedd
Gwynedd was one petty kingdom of several Welsh successor states which emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages, and later evolved into a principality during the High Middle Ages. It was based on the former Brythonic tribal lands of the Ordovices, Gangani, and the...
(reigned from ? – c. 547). More formally his name was Maelgwn ap Cadwallon (Maelgwn son of Cadwallon), also known as Maelgwn Hir (Maelgwn the Tall). He was father of Rhun "Hîr"
Rhun Hir ap Maelgwn
Rhun ap Maelgwn Gwynedd , also known as Rhun Hir ap Maelgwn Gwynedd , was King of Gwynedd . He came to the throne on the death of his father, King Maelgwn Gwynedd. There are no historical records of his reign in this early age...
.
The evidence suggests that he held a pre-eminent position among the kings in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
and in parts of northern Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
known as 'The Old North' . Maelgwn was a generous supporter of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, making donations to found churches throughout Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, far beyond the bounds of his own kingdom.
The history of Brythonic
Brythonic languages
The Brythonic or Brittonic languages form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family, the other being Goidelic. The name Brythonic was derived by Welsh Celticist John Rhys from the Welsh word Brython, meaning an indigenous Briton as opposed to an Anglo-Saxon or Gael...
Gwynedd begins with the conquest of the Gaelic
Gaels
The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man....
peoples of northern Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
by Maelgwn's great-grandfather Cunedda
Cunedda
Cunedda ap Edern , was an important early Welsh leader, and the progenitor of the royal dynasty of Gwynedd.-Background and life:The name Cunedda derives from the Brythonic word , meaning good hound. His genealogy is traced back to Padarn Beisrudd, which literally translates as Paternus of the...
, with the conquest finally completed by Maelgwn's father Cadwallon
Cadwallon Lawhir ap Einion
Cadwallon ap Einion , usually known as Cadwallon Lawhir and also called Cadwallon I by some historians, was a king of Gwynedd....
. Maelgwn was the first king to enjoy the fruits of his family's conquest and he is considered the founder of the medieval kingdom's royal family. He is thus most commonly referenced by appending the name of the kingdom to his own: Maelgwn Gwynedd.
By tradition, his llys (royal court
Royal court
Royal court, as distinguished from a court of law, may refer to:* The Royal Court , Timbaland's production company*Court , the household and entourage of a monarch or other ruler, the princely court...
, literally hall
Hall
In architecture, a hall is fundamentally a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age, a mead hall was such a simple building and was the residence of a lord and his retainers...
) was located at Deganwy
Deganwy
Deganwy is a village in Conwy County Borough in Wales with a population of 3,700. It is in a more English-speaking region of North Wales, with only 1 in 4 residents speaking Welsh as a first language...
, in the Creuddyn peninsula
Creuddyn peninsula
Creuddyn peninsula is the geographical term for a peninsula in the county borough of Conwy in North Wales. It includes the town of Llandudno, plus Rhos-on-Sea, Deganwy and Llandudno Junction...
of Rhos. Tradition also holds that he died at nearby Llanrhos, and was buried there. Other traditions say that he was buried at Ynys Seiriol (Island of St. Seiriol, Puffin Island
Puffin Island, Anglesey
Puffin Island is an uninhabited island off the eastern tip of Anglesey, Wales. It was formerly known as Priestholm in English and Ynys Lannog in Welsh.-Geography:...
), off easternmost Anglesey. There are no historical records to confirm or deny these traditions.
Historical records of this early era are scant. Maelgwn appears in the royal genealogies of the Harleian genealogies
Harleian genealogies
The Harleian genealogies are a collection of Old Welsh genealogies preserved in British Library, Harleian MS 3859. Part of the Harleian Collection, the manuscript, which also contains the Annales Cambriae and a version of the Historia Brittonum, has been dated to c. 1100, although a date of c.1200...
, Jesus College MS. 20
Genealogies from Jesus College MS 20
The genealogies from Jesus College MS 20 are a medieval Welsh collection of genealogies preserved in a single manuscript, Oxford, Bodleian Library, Jesus College, MS 20, folios 33r–41r...
, and Hengwrt MS. 202. His death in a "great mortality" of 547 is noted in the Annales Cambriae
Annales Cambriae
Annales Cambriae, or The Annals of Wales, is the name given to a complex of Cambro-Latin chronicles deriving ultimately from a text compiled from diverse sources at St David's in Dyfed, Wales, not later than the 10th century...
. Tradition holds that he died of the 'Yellow Plague' of Rhos, but this is based on one of the Triads
Welsh Triads
The Welsh Triads are a group of related texts in medieval manuscripts which preserve fragments of Welsh folklore, mythology and traditional history in groups of three. The triad is a rhetorical form whereby objects are grouped together in threes, with a heading indicating the point of likeness...
that was written much later. The record says only that it was a "great mortality".
Maelgwn was a generous contributor to the cause of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
throughout Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. He made donations to support Saint Brynach in Dyfed
Kingdom of Dyfed
The Kingdom of Dyfed is one of several Welsh petty kingdoms that emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain in south-west Wales, based on the former Irish tribal lands of the Déisi from c 350 until it was subsumed into Deheubarth in 920. In Latin, the country of the Déisi was Demetae, eventually to...
, Saint Cadoc in Gwynllwg
Gwynllwg
Gwynllŵg was a kingdom of mediæval Wales and later a Norman lordship and then a cantref.-Location:It was named after Gwynllyw, its 5th century or 6th century ruler and consisted of the coastal plain stretching between the Rhymney and Usk rivers, together with the hills to the north...
, Saint Cybi
Saint Cybi
Saint Cybi or Saint Cuby was a 6th century Cornish bishop, saint and, briefly, king, who worked largely in North Wales: his biography is recorded in two slightly variant medieval 'lives'.-Life in Cornwall:...
in Anglesey, Saint Padarn
Padarn
Saint Padarn is the eponymous founder of St Padarn's Church. Llanbadarn Fawr, near present day Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales, in the early 6th century...
in Ceredigion
Ceredigion
Ceredigion is a county and former kingdom in mid-west Wales. As Cardiganshire , it was created in 1282, and was reconstituted as a county under that name in 1996, reverting to Ceredigion a day later...
, and Saint Tydecho in Powys. He is also associated with the foundation of Bangor
Bangor, Gwynedd
Bangor is a city in Gwynedd, north west Wales, and one of the smallest cities in Britain. It is a university city with a population of 13,725 at the 2001 census, not including around 10,000 students at Bangor University. Including nearby Menai Bridge on Anglesey, which does not however form part of...
, but hard evidence of this is lacking. In his 1723 Mona Antiqua Restaurata, Henry Rowlands
Henry Rowlands
Henry Rowlands was the author of Mona Antiqua Restaurata: An Archaeological Discourse on the Antiquities, Natural and Historical, of the Isle of Anglesey, the Antient Seat of the British Druids The Bridestones were among the sites described by Rowlands....
asserts that Bangor was raised to an episcopal see
Episcopal See
An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...
by Maelgwn in 550, but he provides no source for the assertion.
The only contemporary information about the person is provided by Gildas
Gildas
Gildas was a 6th-century British cleric. He is one of the best-documented figures of the Christian church in the British Isles during this period. His renowned learning and literary style earned him the designation Gildas Sapiens...
, who includes Maelgwn among the five British kings who he condemns in allegorical terms in his De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae
De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae
De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae is a work by the 6th-century British cleric Gildas. It is a sermon in three parts condemning the acts of Gildas' contemporaries, both secular and religious, whom he blames for the dire state of affairs in sub-Roman Britain...
. He says Maelgwn held a regional pre-eminence among the other 4 kings, going on to say that he overthrew his maternal uncle to gain the throne; that he had taken up life as a monk but then returned to the secular world; that he had been married and divorced, then remarried to the widow of his nephew after being responsible for his nephew's death; and that he was tall.
Gildas refers to Maelgwn by the older form of his name, Maglocunus (or Maglocunos). This was successively softened down into Mailcon or Mailcun, to become Maelgwn. Maglo- in Brythonic
Brythonic languages
The Brythonic or Brittonic languages form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family, the other being Goidelic. The name Brythonic was derived by Welsh Celticist John Rhys from the Welsh word Brython, meaning an indigenous Briton as opposed to an Anglo-Saxon or Gael...
means a prince or hero, equivalent to the Irish
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
mál and different from Brythonic moel (bald, bare) and Irish mael (tonsured, servant). The early Brythonic cu has become Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
ci, genitive or nominative plural cwn, the word for hound or dog, with a positive military connotation in the sense of the dangerous hound or hounds of war.
High King
The evidence suggests that Maelgwn held a pre-eminent position over the regions ruled by the descendants of CuneddaCunedda
Cunedda ap Edern , was an important early Welsh leader, and the progenitor of the royal dynasty of Gwynedd.-Background and life:The name Cunedda derives from the Brythonic word , meaning good hound. His genealogy is traced back to Padarn Beisrudd, which literally translates as Paternus of the...
, perhaps in the sense of a regional high king
High king
A high king is a king who holds a position of seniority over a group of other kings, without the title of Emperor; compare King of Kings.Rulers who have been termed "high king" include:...
. There is nothing to suggest that Maelgwn held sway over any larger area. Gildas says as much in his condemnation, saying he held a pre-eminence over the other 4 kings similarly condemned, and also describing him as the "dragon of the island", where the Isle of Anglesey is the ancient stronghold of the kings of Gwynedd.
Maelgwn's donations to the Christian missionaries supports the notion, as these are not restricted to the Kingdom of Gwynedd, but are spread throughout northern and southern Wales, in the various regions where the descendants of Cunedda held sway. This implies that Maelgwn had a responsibility to those regions, to a degree beyond the responsibilities of a king to his own kingdom only.
While the context is not definitive, Taliesin
Taliesin
Taliesin was an early British poet of the post-Roman period whose work has possibly survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the Book of Taliesin...
also implies it, in his Marwnad Rhun (Elegy of Rhun) that laments the death of Maelgwn's son Rhun
Rhun Hir ap Maelgwn
Rhun ap Maelgwn Gwynedd , also known as Rhun Hir ap Maelgwn Gwynedd , was King of Gwynedd . He came to the throne on the death of his father, King Maelgwn Gwynedd. There are no historical records of his reign in this early age...
, where he says that Rhun's death is "the fall of the court and girdle of Cunedda".
Gildas
In his De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae (On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain), written c. 540, GildasGildas
Gildas was a 6th-century British cleric. He is one of the best-documented figures of the Christian church in the British Isles during this period. His renowned learning and literary style earned him the designation Gildas Sapiens...
makes an allegorical condemnation of 5 British kings by likening them to the beasts of the Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
Apocalypse
Apocalypse
An Apocalypse is a disclosure of something hidden from the majority of mankind in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception, i.e. the veil to be lifted. The Apocalypse of John is the Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament...
as expressed in the biblical Book of Revelation, 13-2: the lion, leopard, bear, and dragon, with the dragon supreme among them. He says that Maelgwn is the "dragon of the island", and goes on with a litany of moral accusations, in the process describing him almost as a regional high king
High king
A high king is a king who holds a position of seniority over a group of other kings, without the title of Emperor; compare King of Kings.Rulers who have been termed "high king" include:...
over the other kings (the power-giving dragon of the Apocalypse). The Isle of Anglesey was the base of power of the kings of Gwynedd, so describing Maelgwn as the "dragon of the island" is appropriate.
Gildas restricts his attention to the kings of Gwynedd (Maelgwn), Dyfed
Kingdom of Dyfed
The Kingdom of Dyfed is one of several Welsh petty kingdoms that emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain in south-west Wales, based on the former Irish tribal lands of the Déisi from c 350 until it was subsumed into Deheubarth in 920. In Latin, the country of the Déisi was Demetae, eventually to...
(Vortiporius
Vortiporius
Vortiporius was a king of Dyfed in the early to mid-6th century. He ruled over an area approximately corresponding to the modern Pembrokeshire. As a mythical king in Geoffrey of Monmouth's treatment of the Matter of Britain, he was the successor of Aurelius Conanus and was succeeded by...
), Penllyn (probable, as its king Cuneglasus/Cynlas appears in royal genealogies associated with the region), Damnonia
Damnonii
The Damnonii were a people of the late 2nd century who lived in what is now southern Scotland. They are mentioned briefly in Ptolemy's Geography, where he uses both of the terms "Damnonii" and "Damnii" to describe them, and there is no other historical record of them. Their cultural and...
/Alt Clud
Kingdom of Strathclyde
Strathclyde , originally Brythonic Ystrad Clud, was one of the early medieval kingdoms of the celtic people called the Britons in the Hen Ogledd, the Brythonic-speaking parts of what is now southern Scotland and northern England. The kingdom developed during the post-Roman period...
(Constantine), and the unknown region associated with Caninus. The Welsh kingdoms are all associated with the conquest of the Gaels by Cunedda
Cunedda
Cunedda ap Edern , was an important early Welsh leader, and the progenitor of the royal dynasty of Gwynedd.-Background and life:The name Cunedda derives from the Brythonic word , meaning good hound. His genealogy is traced back to Padarn Beisrudd, which literally translates as Paternus of the...
, while Alt Clud had a long and ongoing relationship with Gwynedd and its kings.
In the course of his condemnations, Gildas makes passing reference to the other beasts mentioned in the Apocalypse, such as the eagle, serpent, calf, and wolf. The reason for Gildas' disaffection for these individuals is unknown. He was selective in his choice of kings, as he had no comments concerning the kings of the other British kingdoms that were thriving at the time, such as Rheged
Rheged
Rheged is described in poetic sources as one of the kingdoms of the Hen Ogledd , the Brythonic-speaking region of what is now northern England and southern Scotland, during the Early Middle Ages...
, Gododdin
Gododdin
The Gododdin were a Brittonic people of north-eastern Britain in the sub-Roman period, the area known as the Hen Ogledd or Old North...
, Elmet
Elmet
Elmet was an independent Brythonic kingdom covering a broad area of what later became the West Riding of Yorkshire during the Early Middle Ages, between approximately the 5th century and early 7th century. Although its precise boundaries are unclear, it appears to have been bordered by the River...
, Pengwern/Powys
Pengwern
Pengwern was a Brythonic settlement of sub-Roman Britain situated in what is now the English county of Shropshire, adjoining the modern Welsh border. It is generally regarded as being the early seat of the kings of Powys before its establishment at Mathrafal, further west, but the theory that it...
, or the kingdoms of modern-day southern England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. That he chose only the kings associated with one king's pre-eminence (Maelgwn, the "dragon") suggests a reason other than his claim of moral outrage over personal depravity. Neither outrage nor a doctrinal dispute would seem to justify beginning the condemnation of the five kings with a personal attack against the mother of one of the kings, calling her an "unclean lioness".
Literary record
In the Historia Brittonum, NenniusNennius
Nennius was a Welsh monk of the 9th century.He has traditionally been attributed with the authorship of the Historia Brittonum, based on the prologue affixed to that work, This attribution is widely considered a secondary tradition....
says that "the great king Mailcun reigned among the Britons, i.e., in Gwynedd". He adds that Maelgwn's ancestor Cunedda
Cunedda
Cunedda ap Edern , was an important early Welsh leader, and the progenitor of the royal dynasty of Gwynedd.-Background and life:The name Cunedda derives from the Brythonic word , meaning good hound. His genealogy is traced back to Padarn Beisrudd, which literally translates as Paternus of the...
arrived in Gwynedd 146 years before Maelgwn's reign, coming from Manaw Gododdin
Manaw Gododdin
Manaw Gododdin was the narrow coastal region on the south side of the Firth of Forth, part of the Brythonic-speaking Kingdom of Gododdin in the post-Roman Era. Its notability is as the homeland of Cunedda prior to his conquest of North Wales, and as the homeland of the heroic warriors in the...
, and expelled the Scots [i.e., the Gaels] with great slaughter.
Maelgwn is not mentioned in the Welsh Triads
Welsh Triads
The Welsh Triads are a group of related texts in medieval manuscripts which preserve fragments of Welsh folklore, mythology and traditional history in groups of three. The triad is a rhetorical form whereby objects are grouped together in threes, with a heading indicating the point of likeness...
, but the pestilence that killed him appears as one of the 'Three Dreadful Pestilences of the Isle of Britain'. It is described as the Yellow Plague of Rhos, originating from the carcasses of the dead.
There is an incidental mention of Maelgwn in the song To Maenwyn found in the Red Book of Hergest
Red Book of Hergest
The Red Book of Hergest is a large vellum manuscript written shortly after 1382, which ranks as one of the most important medieval manuscripts written in the Welsh language. It preserves a collection of Welsh prose and poetry, notably the tales of the Mabinogion, Gogynfeirdd poetry...
and attributed to Llywarch Hen
Llywarch Hen
Llywarch Hen was a 6th-century prince of the Brythonic kingdom of Rheged, a ruling family in the Hen Ogledd or 'Old North' of Britain...
. The steward Maenwyn is encouraged to resist a command to surrender his post and show his fidelity to Maelgwn.
In the Book of Llandaff
Book of Llandaff
The Book of Llandaff is a 12th century compilation of documents relating to the history of the diocese of Llandaff in Wales...
, compiled c. 1125, Maelgwn Gwynedd is claimed to be one of the benefactors of the Diocese of Llandaff
Diocese of Llandaff
The Diocese of Llandaff is a Church in Wales diocese. It is headed by the Bishop of Llandaff, whose seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Llandaff, a suburb of Cardiff...
in its early years. One of the specific places mentioned is at Louhai (Tintern parva, some 6 miles north of Chepstow
Chepstow
Chepstow is a town in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the River Wye, close to its confluence with the River Severn, and close to the western end of the Severn Bridge on the M48 motorway...
), where Maelgwn is claimed as a secular witness to its donation.
As a famous king of the past, Maelgwn has been associated with unsubstantiated but popular legends and stories throughout history. Modern authors have occasionally used his name as a character in fictional stories. These include the trilogies of Traci Harding
Traci Harding
Traci Harding is an Australian novelist.Her work combines fantasy, facts, history and esoteric beliefs. She has recently sold the film rights to The Alchemist Key, with production recommencing in 2011...
, Mary Gilgannon's historical novels, and a fantasy novel by Nikolai Tolstoy
Nikolai Tolstoy
Count Nikolai Dmitrievich Tolstoy-Miloslavsky is an Anglo-Russian historian and author who writes under the name Nikolai Tolstoy. A member of the prominent Tolstoy family, he is of part Russian descent and is the stepson of the author Patrick O'Brian...
.
Literary misinformation
As a famous king of the past, Maelgwn's name figures strongly in Welsh legend. It is used more often than most in questionable accounts of history and in genuine efforts at history that either invent fictions of their own, or repeat the fictions of others as though they were true. Some of the most significant sources of misinformation about Maelgwn are:The History of the Kings of Britain
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth was a cleric and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur...
's 12th-century pseudohistorical
Pseudohistory
Pseudohistory is a pejorative term applied to a type of historical revisionism, often involving sensational claims whose acceptance would require rewriting a significant amount of commonly accepted history, and based on methods that depart from standard historiographical conventions.Cryptohistory...
Historia Regum Britanniae
Historia Regum Britanniae
The Historia Regum Britanniae is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written c. 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. It chronicles the lives of the kings of the Britons in a chronological narrative spanning a time of two thousand years, beginning with the Trojans founding the British nation...
includes Maelgwn (Malgo) as a character in its account of British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
history. It says that Saint David
Saint David
Saint David was a Welsh Bishop during the 6th century; he was later regarded as a saint and as the patron saint of Wales. David was a native of Wales, and a relatively large amount of information is known about his life. However, his birth date is still uncertain, as suggestions range from 462 to...
was buried at St David's
St David's
St Davids , is a city and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Lying on the River Alun on St David's Peninsula, it is Britain's smallest city in terms of both size and population, the final resting place of Saint David, the country's patron saint, and the de facto ecclesiastical capital of...
on the command of "Malgo, king of the Venedotians", that Malgo addicted himself to sodomy, and that he was succeeded by a certain Careticus. It adds that Britain had groaned under the barbarians since the time of Malgo, that Malgo was the fourth king of Britain after Arthur
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
, and that Malgo had two sons, Ennianus and Runo.
There is no authority for any of this except Geoffrey's fertile imagination. Historically, Rhun ap Maelgwn was Maelgwn's son and successor. Geoffrey appears to twist Gildas
Gildas
Gildas was a 6th-century British cleric. He is one of the best-documented figures of the Christian church in the British Isles during this period. His renowned learning and literary style earned him the designation Gildas Sapiens...
' words to obtain his reference to sodomy
Sodomy
Sodomy is an anal or other copulation-like act, especially between male persons or between a man and animal, and one who practices sodomy is a "sodomite"...
. In his condemnation of 5 British kings in the De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, Gildas refers to wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
as "sodomitical" but never applies that word to any person.
The Brut Tysilio
Once attributed to Saint Tysilio
Tysilio
Saint Tysilio was a Welsh bishop, prince and scholar, son of the reigning King of Powys, Brochwel Ysgithrog, maternal nephew of the great Abbot Dunod of Bangor Iscoed and an ecclesiastic who took a prominent part in the affairs of Wales during the distressful period at the opening of the 7th...
(died 640), this Chronicle of the Kings of Britain was written c. 1500 as an amalagam of earlier versions of the Brut y Brenhinedd, a derivative of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae. Among its spurious claims it says that Maelgwn Gwynedd came to the crown following Vortiper
Vortiporius
Vortiporius was a king of Dyfed in the early to mid-6th century. He ruled over an area approximately corresponding to the modern Pembrokeshire. As a mythical king in Geoffrey of Monmouth's treatment of the Matter of Britain, he was the successor of Aurelius Conanus and was succeeded by...
, that he was succeeded by a certain Caretig, that he was the fourth king of all Britain after Arthur
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
, and that he had two sons, Einion and Rhun.
The Iolo Manuscripts
Maelgwn Gwynedd is mentioned repeatedly in the spurious 18th century Iolo Manuscripts of Iolo Morganwg
Iolo Morganwg
Edward Williams, better known by his bardic name Iolo Morganwg , was an influential Welsh antiquarian, poet, collector, and literary forger. He was widely considered a leading collector and expert on medieval Welsh literature in his day, but after his death it was revealed that he had forged a...
. His three Chief Bards are named, and he is proclaimed King Paramount over the other kings. A Maelgwn Hir of Llandaff is described, and said to be commonly mistaken for Maelgwn Gwynedd. Taliesin
Taliesin
Taliesin was an early British poet of the post-Roman period whose work has possibly survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the Book of Taliesin...
is said to have been dispossessed of his property by Maelgwn, and so cursed him. Saint Eurgain is said to be Maelgwn's daughter. Saint Cwyllog, daughter of Caw Cawlwyd of Twr Celyn, had been given lands by Maelgwn Gwynedd. In 'The Three Holy Families of the Isle of Britain', there is a story of Caw and his children who had been driven from their lands by the Gwyddelian Picts, and who then came to Wales and were given land in Anglesey by Maelgwn. Without independent and reputable verification, the material found in the Iolo Manuscripts is considered to be the product of Iolo's fertile imagination.
The Tale of Taliesin
The Tale of Taliesin (Hanes Taliesin or Ystoria Taliesin) is a genuine legendary story about Taliesin
Taliesin
Taliesin was an early British poet of the post-Roman period whose work has possibly survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the Book of Taliesin...
which is preserved in two principal redactions dating from the mid-16th century and the early 17th century but which probably derives from older sources. It was first printed in Lady Charlotte Guest's translation of the Mabinogion
Mabinogion
The Mabinogion is the title given to a collection of eleven prose stories collated from medieval Welsh manuscripts. The tales draw on pre-Christian Celtic mythology, international folktale motifs, and early medieval historical traditions...
: the notes to that edition are the work of Iolo Morganwg
Iolo Morganwg
Edward Williams, better known by his bardic name Iolo Morganwg , was an influential Welsh antiquarian, poet, collector, and literary forger. He was widely considered a leading collector and expert on medieval Welsh literature in his day, but after his death it was revealed that he had forged a...
and contain innacuracies and some of his inventions. The story itself tells of events where the Taliesin of legend is placed in difficult or impossible situations but invariably overcomes all obstacles, usually through feats of magic. Maelgwn Gwynedd is conspicuously depicted in a negative light, being foiled in unscrupulous actions of deceit and being outwitted.
The historical Taliesin was actually a contemporary of Maelgwn Gwynedd's son and successor Rhun
Rhun Hir ap Maelgwn
Rhun ap Maelgwn Gwynedd , also known as Rhun Hir ap Maelgwn Gwynedd , was King of Gwynedd . He came to the throne on the death of his father, King Maelgwn Gwynedd. There are no historical records of his reign in this early age...
. An elegy for Rhun, the Marwnad Rhun (Elegy of Rhun) was once attributed to Taliesin by some scholars. but is now considered to be of later provenance and is longer accepted as his work. There is nothing to connect the historical Taliesin with Maelgwn Gwynedd, although references to the legend are found in medieval Welsh poems.
The Chronicle of the Scottish Nation
According to the account of John of Fordun
John of Fordun
John of Fordun was a Scottish chronicler. It is generally stated that he was born at Fordoun, Mearns. It is certain that he was a secular priest, and that he composed his history in the latter part of the 14th century; and it is probable that he was a chaplain in the St Machar's Cathedral of...
's Chronicle of the Scottish Nation, written c. 1360, a certain "Maglo, King of the Britons" asks for aid from King Aydanus. There is nothing to link Maelgwn Gwynedd to the Pictish king, Fordun's claim notwithstanding. In the next section, Fordun says that later on it is "Cadwallo, King of the Britons" who is receiving aid from King Aydanus.
This story is repeated uncritically in some later histories, and subsequently "Malgo the Briton" is mentioned in Thomas Stephens' notes on an 1888 publication of Y Gododdin
Y Gododdin
Y Gododdin is a medieval Welsh poem consisting of a series of elegies to the men of the Britonnic kingdom of Gododdin and its allies who, according to the conventional interpretation, died fighting the Angles of Deira and Bernicia at a place named Catraeth...
, with the stated suggestion that Maelgwn was an ally of "Aeddan" against the Pictish
Picts
The Picts were a group of Late Iron Age and Early Mediaeval people living in what is now eastern and northern Scotland. There is an association with the distribution of brochs, place names beginning 'Pit-', for instance Pitlochry, and Pictish stones. They are recorded from before the Roman conquest...
king Bridei
Bridei I of the Picts
Bridei son of Maelchon, was king of the Picts until his death around 584 to 586.Bridei is first mentioned in Irish annals for 558–560, when the Annals of Ulster report "the migration before Máelchú's son i.e. king Bruide". The Ulster annalist does not say who fled, but the later Annals of...
. Fordun's Chronicle is given as one of Stephens' references.
The Pictish king Bridei
Bridei
Bridei I of the Picts
Bridei son of Maelchon, was king of the Picts until his death around 584 to 586.Bridei is first mentioned in Irish annals for 558–560, when the Annals of Ulster report "the migration before Máelchú's son i.e. king Bruide". The Ulster annalist does not say who fled, but the later Annals of...
(died c. 584) was the son of a certain Maelchon (or Melcho, or Maelchú in Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
records). Aside from having a similar name, there is nothing that connects the father of Bridei to Maelgwn Gwynedd.
Of those who have promoted a connection, perhaps the most notable person of late is John Morris
John Morris (historian)
John Robert Morris was an English historian who specialised in the study of the institutions of the Roman Empire and the history of Sub-Roman Britain...
in his Age of Arthur, where he refers in passing and without authority, to "... Bridei, son of Maelgwn, the mighty king of north Wales, ...". Though the book has been a commercial success, it is disparaged by historians as an unreliable source of "misleading and misguided" information.
External links
- http://yba.llgc.org.uk/en/s-MAEL-GWY-0547.htmlMaelgwn Gwynedd on National Library of Wales Dictionary of Welsh BiographyDictionary of Welsh BiographyThe Dictionary of Welsh Biography is a dictionary of biographies of Welsh men and women who have made a unique contribution to Welsh life over seventeen centuries...
]