Riderch I of Alt Clut
Encyclopedia
Riderch I commonly known as Riderch or Rhydderch Hael ("the Generous"), was a ruler of Alt Clut
(the region around modern Dumbarton Rock) and the greater region later known as Strathclyde
, a Brittonic
kingdom that existed on the valley of the River Clyde
in Scotland
during the British Sub-Roman period
. He was one of the most famous kings in the Hen Ogledd
("Old North"), the Brythonic
-speaking area of what is now southern Scotland
and northern England
, and appears frequently in later medieval works in Welsh
and Latin
.
and Adomnán's Vita Columbae, Riderch's father was Tutagual of Alt Clut
, who was probably his predecessor as king. A tyrannical king named Tuduael, Tudwaldus or some variation appears in the 9th-century poem Miracula Nyniae Episcopi
and in Ailred of Rievaulx
's Vita Sancti Niniani
as a contemporary of Saint Ninian
; this is possibly a reference to the father of Riderch. Genealogies record Riderch as a descendant of Dumnagual Hen
. Outside of these pedigrees Riderch's kinsmen appear only in Welsh
texts, chiefly the heroic poetry and the fragments of saga preserved in the Welsh Triads
. One such kinsman, Senyllt Hael, is credited in the poem Y Gododdin
with him seen presiding over a royal court famed for its liberality. Another, Senyllt's son Nudd Hael, appears with Riderch in the triad of the "Three Generous Men of Britain".
In a curious tale preserved in the 12th-century Welsh
law code known as the Black Book of Chirk, Riderch accompanies other rulers from the North on a military expedition to the Kingdom of Gwynedd
in North Wales
. According to the story, Elidir Mwynfawr, another prince of the North, had been killed in Arfon
in Gwynedd. In response Riderch joined Clydno Eiddin
, the aforementioned Nudd Hael, and the otherwise unknown Mordaf Hael to seek vengeance on King Rhun Hir ap Maelgwn
of Gwynedd. They traveled by sea and ravaged Arfon, but were expelled by Rhun's forces. Rhun attacked Strathclyde and pushed as far as the River Forth
.
The textual uncertainties suggest that the story of the Arfon expedition and Rhun's response is likely to be apocryphal, its creation owing less to actual sixth century events than to later north Welsh propagandists who, in seeking to glorify their own kings, portrayed Rhun as an ancestor of those kings and as a mighty warlord who could wage war far beyond his own lands and against figures whose fame may already have become enshrined in Welsh tradition.
Welsh tradition regards Rhydderch as one of the northern British kings who fought against the early Anglo-Saxon
realm of Bernicia
. The Historia Brittonum depicts him as an enemy of several Bernician kings of the late sixth century, but the theatre of the wars between them is not identified. It is said he joined with Urien
of Rheged
and Morcant Bulc
in their ill-fated alliance:
The war with Bernicia is one of only two military campaigns in which Riderch Hael is said to have been involved, the other being a raid on the Strathclyde court by Áedán mac Gabráin
, king of Dál Riata
and a fellow-contemporary of Saint Columba
which is recorded in the gloriously named Three Unrestrained Ravagings of the Island of Britain in the Welsh Triads:
Apart from this work there are no other supporting texts to prove the accuracy of these events. However, in a broad context it is indeed not unlikely as Alt Clut and Dál Riata were neighbours and fought many times during the Sub-Roman and Early Medieval periods. Dál Riata was a relative newcomer to the politics of Britain and raids by the Gaels
, as the Scots of Dál Riata were commonly known, on the Brythonic border kingdoms around Hadrian's Wall
had been typical since the time of Vortigern
and before. Furthermore, Áedán mac Gabráin is known to have been a particularly belligerent warlord whose campaigns extended from Pictavia
to Northumbria
. It is tempting to ascribe the ultimate origin of this material to Strathclyde court-poets of Riderch's own time. One Triad mentions Rhydderch's horse Rudlwyt, meaning "Dun-Grey," while another poetical fragment names his sword Dyrnwyn, "White Hilt," as one of the legendary Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain
.
Aside from the Welsh sources, the other main repository of information on Riderch Hael is the Latin hagiography
surrounding Kentigern
, the patron saint of Glasgow
, whose most complete surviving Life was written in the late twelfth century by Joceline of Furness, in modern Cumbria
, on behalf of the Bishop of Glasgow. Attempts have been made to identify possible archaic elements and indeed it now seems likely that it draws together several strands of very early Strathclyde tradition, possibly originating in the seventh or eighth centuries. Riderch Hael appears as "King Rederech" and is portrayed as Kentigern's royal patron and benefactor, from whom the saint received land at Glasgow upon which to establish the principal bishopric of the greater Strathclyde region.
Riderch's date of death is unknown, although the Life of Kentigern places his death in the same year as the saint's which, according to the Welsh Annals, occurred in 612, which is adjusted by historians to 614. This date is supported by Adomnan who refers to Riderch as a contemporary of Saint Columba
who died in 597. Adomnan's assertion that Riderch did not die in battle can probably be taken at face value: the fulfillment of Columba's prophecy was the important issue for Iona and there was nothing to be gained by producing a fictional end for a king whose life and death were presumably already recorded in Glasgow and Dumbarton traditions.
Welsh collections name Riderch's sword's Dyrnwyn as one of the so-called Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain
. When drawn by a worthy or well-born man, the entire blade would blaze with fire. Rhydderch was never reluctant to hand the weapon to anyone, which is said to explain his epithet Hael, but no one ever dared touch it.
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...
(the region around modern Dumbarton Rock) and the greater region later known as Strathclyde
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...
, a Brittonic
Britons (historical)
The Britons were the Celtic people culturally dominating Great Britain from the Iron Age through the Early Middle Ages. They spoke the Insular Celtic language known as British or Brythonic...
kingdom that existed on the valley of the River Clyde
River Clyde
The River Clyde is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire....
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
during the British Sub-Roman period
Sub-Roman Britain
Sub-Roman Britain is a term derived from an archaeological label for the material culture of Britain in Late Antiquity: the term "Sub-Roman" was invented to describe the potsherds in sites of the 5th century and the 6th century, initially with an implication of decay of locally-made wares from a...
. He was one of the most famous kings in the Hen Ogledd
Hen Ogledd
Yr Hen Ogledd is a Welsh term used by scholars to refer to those parts of what is now northern England and southern Scotland in the years between 500 and the Viking invasions of c. 800, with particular interest in the Brythonic-speaking peoples who lived there.The term is derived from heroic...
("Old North"), the 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...
-speaking area of what is now southern Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and northern England
Northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North or the North Country, is a cultural region of England. It is not an official government region, but rather an informal amalgamation of counties. The southern extent of the region is roughly the River Trent, while the North is bordered...
, and appears frequently in later medieval works in 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...
and Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
.
Sources
According to sources such as the Harleian genealogiesHarleian 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...
and Adomnán's Vita Columbae, Riderch's father was Tutagual of Alt Clut
Tutagual of Alt Clut
Tutagual is thought to have been a ruler of Alt Clut , later known as Strathclyde, a Brythonic kingdom in the Hen Ogledd or "Old North" of Britain...
, who was probably his predecessor as king. A tyrannical king named Tuduael, Tudwaldus or some variation appears in the 9th-century poem Miracula Nyniae Episcopi
Miracula Nyniae Episcopi
The Miracula Nynie Episcopi is an anonymously written 8th-century hagiographic work describing miracles attributed to Saint Ninian. It is considered a non-historical work, and copies are not widely extant....
and in Ailred of Rievaulx
Ailred of Rievaulx
Aelred , also Aelred, Ælred, Æthelred, etc., was an English writer, abbot of Rievaulx , and saint.-Life:...
's Vita Sancti Niniani
Vita Sancti Niniani
The Vita Sancti Niniani or simply Vita Niniani is a Latin language Christian hagiography written in northern England in the mid-12th century. Using two earlier Anglo-Latin sources, it was written by Ailred of Rievaulx seemingly at the request of a Bishop of Galloway...
as a contemporary of Saint Ninian
Saint Ninian
Saint Ninian is a Christian saint first mentioned in the 8th century as being an early missionary among the Pictish peoples of what is now Scotland...
; this is possibly a reference to the father of Riderch. Genealogies record Riderch as a descendant of Dumnagual Hen
Dumnagual I of Alt Clut
Dumnagual I, also known as Dumnagual Hen , was a ruler of the Brythonic kingdom of Alt Clut , later known as Strathclyde, probably sometime in the early 6th century. His biography is vague, but he was regarded as an important ancestor figure for several kingly lines in the Hen Ogledd or "Old North"...
. Outside of these pedigrees Riderch's kinsmen appear only in Welsh
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...
texts, chiefly the heroic poetry and the fragments of saga preserved 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...
. One such kinsman, Senyllt Hael, is credited in the poem 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 him seen presiding over a royal court famed for its liberality. Another, Senyllt's son Nudd Hael, appears with Riderch in the triad of the "Three Generous Men of Britain".
In a curious tale preserved in the 12th-century Welsh
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...
law code known as the Black Book of Chirk, Riderch accompanies other rulers from the North on a military expedition to the Kingdom of Gwynedd
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...
in North Wales
North Wales
North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
. According to the story, Elidir Mwynfawr, another prince of the North, had been killed in Arfon
Cantref Arfon
The mediaeval Welsh cantref of Arfon in north-west Wales was the core of the Kingdom of Gwynedd. Later it was included in the new county of Caernarfonshire, together with Llŷn and Arllechwedd under the terms of the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284...
in Gwynedd. In response Riderch joined Clydno Eiddin
Clydno Eiddin
Clydno Eiddin was a ruler in the Hen Ogledd, the Brythonic-speaking area in what is now Northern England and southern Scotland during the Early Middle Ages. "Eiddyn" is the Brythonic name for Edinburgh, implying a connection to that territory....
, the aforementioned Nudd Hael, and the otherwise unknown Mordaf Hael to seek vengeance on King Rhun Hir ap Maelgwn
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...
of Gwynedd. They traveled by sea and ravaged Arfon, but were expelled by Rhun's forces. Rhun attacked Strathclyde and pushed as far as the River Forth
River Forth
The River Forth , long, is the major river draining the eastern part of the central belt of Scotland.The Forth rises in Loch Ard in the Trossachs, a mountainous area some west of Stirling...
.
Here Elidyr Muhenvaur, a man from the north was slain and, after his death, the men of the north, came here to avenge him. The chiefs, their leaders, were Clyddno Eiddin; Nudd Hael, son of Senyllt; and Mordaf Hael, son of Seruari, and Rydderch Hael, son of Tudwal Tudglyd; and they came to ArvonArfonArfon was one of five districts of Gwynedd, Wales, from 1974 to 1996.It was created by the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974 from part of the administrative county of Caernarfonshire, namely the municipal boroughs of Bangor and Caernarfon, the Bethesda urban district, the rural districts...
, and because Elidyr was slain at Aber Mewydus in Arvon, they burned Arvon as a further revenge. And then RunRhun Hir ap MaelgwnRhun 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...
, son of Maelgwn, and the men of Gwynedd, assembled in arms, and proceeded to the banks of the [River] Gweryd in the north, and there they were long disputing who should take the lead.http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/fab/fab012.htm
The textual uncertainties suggest that the story of the Arfon expedition and Rhun's response is likely to be apocryphal, its creation owing less to actual sixth century events than to later north Welsh propagandists who, in seeking to glorify their own kings, portrayed Rhun as an ancestor of those kings and as a mighty warlord who could wage war far beyond his own lands and against figures whose fame may already have become enshrined in Welsh tradition.
Welsh tradition regards Rhydderch as one of the northern British kings who fought against the early Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
realm of Bernicia
Bernicia
Bernicia was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England....
. The Historia Brittonum depicts him as an enemy of several Bernician kings of the late sixth century, but the theatre of the wars between them is not identified. It is said he joined with Urien
Urien
Urien , often referred to as Urien Rheged, was a late 6th century king of Rheged, an early British kingdom of the Hen Ogledd . His power and his victories, including the battles of Gwen Ystrad and Alt Clut Ford, are celebrated in the praise poems to him by Taliesin, preserved in the Book of Taliesin...
of 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...
and Morcant Bulc
Morcant Bulc
Morcant Bulc was a Brythonic prince, probably a king, from Northern Britain, during the period between the end of the Roman Empire and the establishment of an English state during the early Middle Ages....
in their ill-fated alliance:
The war with Bernicia is one of only two military campaigns in which Riderch Hael is said to have been involved, the other being a raid on the Strathclyde court by Áedán mac Gabráin
Áedán mac Gabráin
Áedán mac Gabráin was a king of Dál Riata from circa 574 until his death, perhaps on 17 April 609. The kingdom of Dál Riata was situated in modern Argyll and Bute, Scotland, and parts of County Antrim, Ireland...
, king of Dál Riata
Dál Riata
Dál Riata was a Gaelic overkingdom on the western coast of Scotland with some territory on the northeast coast of Ireland...
and a fellow-contemporary of Saint Columba
Columba
Saint Columba —also known as Colum Cille , Colm Cille , Calum Cille and Kolban or Kolbjørn —was a Gaelic Irish missionary monk who propagated Christianity among the Picts during the Early Medieval Period...
which is recorded in the gloriously named Three Unrestrained Ravagings of the Island of Britain in the Welsh Triads:
Apart from this work there are no other supporting texts to prove the accuracy of these events. However, in a broad context it is indeed not unlikely as Alt Clut and Dál Riata were neighbours and fought many times during the Sub-Roman and Early Medieval periods. Dál Riata was a relative newcomer to the politics of Britain and raids by the Gaels
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....
, as the Scots of Dál Riata were commonly known, on the Brythonic border kingdoms around Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall was a defensive fortification in Roman Britain. Begun in AD 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the first of two fortifications built across Great Britain, the second being the Antonine Wall, lesser known of the two because its physical remains are less evident today.The...
had been typical since the time of Vortigern
Vortigern
Vortigern , also spelled Vortiger and Vortigen, was a 5th-century warlord in Britain, a leading ruler among the Britons. His existence is considered likely, though information about him is shrouded in legend. He is said to have invited the Saxons to settle in Kent as mercenaries to aid him in...
and before. Furthermore, Áedán mac Gabráin is known to have been a particularly belligerent warlord whose campaigns extended from Pictavia
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...
to Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
. It is tempting to ascribe the ultimate origin of this material to Strathclyde court-poets of Riderch's own time. One Triad mentions Rhydderch's horse Rudlwyt, meaning "Dun-Grey," while another poetical fragment names his sword Dyrnwyn, "White Hilt," as one of the legendary Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain
Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain
The Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain are a series of items in late medieval Welsh tradition. Lists of the items appear in texts dating to the 15th and 16th centuries...
.
Aside from the Welsh sources, the other main repository of information on Riderch Hael is the Latin hagiography
Hagiography
Hagiography is the study of saints.From the Greek and , it refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically to the biographies of saints and ecclesiastical leaders. The term hagiology, the study of hagiography, is also current in English, though less common...
surrounding Kentigern
Saint Mungo
Saint Mungo is the commonly used name for Saint Kentigern . He was the late 6th century apostle of the Brythonic Kingdom of Strathclyde in modern Scotland, and patron saint and founder of the city of Glasgow.-Name:In Wales and England, this saint is known by his birth and baptismal name Kentigern...
, the patron saint of Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, whose most complete surviving Life was written in the late twelfth century by Joceline of Furness, in modern Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
, on behalf of the Bishop of Glasgow. Attempts have been made to identify possible archaic elements and indeed it now seems likely that it draws together several strands of very early Strathclyde tradition, possibly originating in the seventh or eighth centuries. Riderch Hael appears as "King Rederech" and is portrayed as Kentigern's royal patron and benefactor, from whom the saint received land at Glasgow upon which to establish the principal bishopric of the greater Strathclyde region.
Riderch's date of death is unknown, although the Life of Kentigern places his death in the same year as the saint's which, according to the Welsh Annals, occurred in 612, which is adjusted by historians to 614. This date is supported by Adomnan who refers to Riderch as a contemporary of Saint Columba
Columba
Saint Columba —also known as Colum Cille , Colm Cille , Calum Cille and Kolban or Kolbjørn —was a Gaelic Irish missionary monk who propagated Christianity among the Picts during the Early Medieval Period...
who died in 597. Adomnan's assertion that Riderch did not die in battle can probably be taken at face value: the fulfillment of Columba's prophecy was the important issue for Iona and there was nothing to be gained by producing a fictional end for a king whose life and death were presumably already recorded in Glasgow and Dumbarton traditions.
Welsh collections name Riderch's sword's Dyrnwyn as one of the so-called Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain
Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain
The Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain are a series of items in late medieval Welsh tradition. Lists of the items appear in texts dating to the 15th and 16th centuries...
. When drawn by a worthy or well-born man, the entire blade would blaze with fire. Rhydderch was never reluctant to hand the weapon to anyone, which is said to explain his epithet Hael, but no one ever dared touch it.
See also
- Rocking stoneRocking stoneRocking stones are large stones that are so finely balanced that the application of just a small force causes them to rock. They are found throughout the world. Some are man-made megaliths, but others are natural, often left by glaciers.Logan or rocking stones are known in Scotland sometimes as...
Riderch is said to have been buried at the Clochoderick stone in Renfrewshire.