Urien
Encyclopedia
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...
, an early British kingdom of 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...
(northern 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...
and 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...
). His power and his victories, including the battles of Gwen Ystrad and Alt Clut Ford
Battle of Alclud Ford
The Battle of Alclud Ford was fought in c.580 at an unknown ford near Alt Clut, the original name for Dumbarton Rock which could also be used for the whole of the kingdom of Strathclyde in modern day Scotland...
, are celebrated in the praise poems to him by 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...
, preserved in the Book of Taliesin
Book of Taliesin
The Book of Taliesin is one of the most famous of Middle Welsh manuscripts, dating from the first half of the 14th century though many of the fifty-six poems it preserves are taken to originate in the 10th century. The manuscript, known as Peniarth MS 2 and kept at the National Library of Wales,...
. He had four sons, named Owain, Rhiwallon, Rhun and Pasgen, the eldest of which succeeded him. He became the 'King Urien of Gore' of later Arthurian legend and his son Owain mab Urien
Owain mab Urien
Owain mab Urien was the son of Urien, king of Rheged c. 590, and fought with his father against the Angles of Bernicia. The historical figure of Owain became incorporated into the Arthurian cycle of legends where he is also known as Ywain, Yvain, Ewain or Uwain...
was later known as Ywain
Ywain
Sir Ywain is a Knight of the Round Table and the son of King Urien in Arthurian legend...
.
According to the genealogies, Urien was the son of Cynfarch Oer
Cynfarch Oer
Cynfarch Oer was probably a 6th century king of the Sub-Roman realm of Rheged, believed to be located in north-west England and south-west Scotland.Next to nothing is known about Cynfarch...
, son of Meirchion Gul
Meirchion Gul
Meirchion Gul was probably a late 5th century king of Rheged, a Brythonic realm in the area of sub-Roman known as the Hen Ogledd .Next to nothing is known about Meirchion, although his epithet means the Lean...
, son of Gorwst, son of Cenau, son of Coel Hen (King Cole
King Cole
King Cole is a figure of British folklore.King Cole may also refer to:*"Old King Cole", nursery rhyme* Old King Cole , a 1933 Disney cartoon about Old King Cole*King Cole , Major League Baseball pitcher...
), the first recorded post-Roman military leader in the area of 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...
. He fought against the rulers of the Anglian
Angles
The Angles is a modern English term for a Germanic people who took their name from the ancestral cultural region of Angeln, a district located in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany...
kingdom 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....
(modern Northumbria). An Anglian noble, Ida, had occupied Metcauld
Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne is a tidal island off the north-east coast of England. It is also known as Holy Island and constitutes a civil parish in Northumberland...
around the middle of the sixth century and begun to raid the mainland. Urien joined with other northern kings, Rhydderch Hael "the Generous" of Strathclyde
Strathclyde
right|thumb|the former Strathclyde regionStrathclyde was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created by the Local Government Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc Act 1994...
and two other descendants of Coel, Gwallog mab Llaenog and
Morgant Bwlch
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....
. They defeated the Angles and besieged them on Lindisfarne but, according to the Historia Brittonum, Urien was assassinated at the command of Morgant Bwlch who was jealous of his power. One of 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...
calls the death of Urien one of the "Three Unfortunate Assassinations" and another lists him as one of the "Three Great Battle-leaders of Britain".
Legend
Urien remained a popular figure in WalesWales
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...
over the centuries, and he and his son Owain
Owain mab Urien
Owain mab Urien was the son of Urien, king of Rheged c. 590, and fought with his father against the Angles of Bernicia. The historical figure of Owain became incorporated into the Arthurian cycle of legends where he is also known as Ywain, Yvain, Ewain or Uwain...
were incorporated into Arthurian legend as it spread from Britain to continental Europe. His kingdom was eventually transferred to the mythical land of Gore, and Kings Lot of Lothian and Auguselus of Scotland are sometimes said to be his brothers. During the reign of Uther Pendragon
Uther Pendragon
Uther Pendragon is a legendary king of sub-Roman Britain and the father of King Arthur.A few minor references to Uther appear in Old Welsh poems, but his biography was first written down by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae , and Geoffrey's account of the character was used in...
he marries Arthur’s sister (often Morgan le Fay
Morgan le Fay
Morgan le Fay , alternatively known as Morgane, Morgaine, Morgana and other variants, is a powerful sorceress in the Arthurian legend. Early works featuring Morgan do not elaborate her character beyond her role as a fay or magician...
, but sometimes another sister is named). He, like the kings of several other lands, initially opposes 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...
’s ascendance to the throne after Uther’s death. Urien and the others rebel against the young monarch, but upon their defeat, the rebels become Arthur’s allies and vassals.
In the legends his marriage to Morgan is not portrayed as a happy one, however, as in one story Morgan plots to take Excalibur
Excalibur
Excalibur is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Great Britain. Sometimes Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone are said to be the same weapon, but in most versions they are considered separate. The sword was...
, kill Urien and Arthur, and place herself and her lover Accolon
Accolon
In Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur, when King Arthur entrusted Excalibur into Morgan le Fay's care, she had a duplicate made; the real scabbard was then passed from her to her lover Accalon ....
on the throne. He is always said to be the father of Ywain
Ywain
Sir Ywain is a Knight of the Round Table and the son of King Urien in Arthurian legend...
(Owain), and many texts give him a second son, Ywain the Bastard
Ywain the Bastard
Ywain the Bastard, also called Ywain the Adventurous, is a son of King Urien of Gore and is a Knight of the Round Table in later Arthurian legend. He is often confused with his half brother Sir Ywain, after whom he was named. While the older Ywain is the child of Urien and his wife Morgan le Fay,...
, fathered on his seneschal's wife. Welsh tradition attributes to him a daughter named Morfydd.
Thomas Malory
Thomas Malory
Sir Thomas Malory was an English writer, the author or compiler of Le Morte d'Arthur. The antiquary John Leland as well as John Bale believed him to be Welsh, but most modern scholars, beginning with G. L...
sometimes spells his name "Urience", which has led some (e.g. Alfred Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, FRS was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular poets in the English language....
) to identify him with King Rience
Rience
King Rience is a character from Arthurian legend, an enemy of King Arthur in the early years of his reign...
.
Urien is mentioned in the 20th century Welsh awdl
Awdl
An awdl is a long poem written in Welsh in one of the twenty-four strict metres, using cynghanedd. Such poems are considered among the finest work that a poet can aim to produce, and prizes are given at eisteddfodau for the best awdl....
Yr Arwr by Hedd Wyn
Hedd Wyn
Hedd Wyn was a Welsh language poet who was killed during the Battle of Passchendaele in World War I. He was posthumously awarded the bard's chair at the 1917 National Eisteddfod...
. He is also one of the key characters in Melvyn Bragg
Melvyn Bragg
Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg FRSL FRTS FBA, FRS FRSA is an English broadcaster and author best known for his work with the BBC and for presenting the The South Bank Show...
's novel 'Credo
Credo (novel)
Credo is a novel by British author and broadcaster Melvyn Bragg, published in 1996. An epic story of the Christian faith set in 7th Century Britain, it centres around the life of a young Celtic Princess torn between her dedication to God's service and her love for Padric, a Prince of Rheged...
' (1996), a celebration of the Celtic tradition and its fight against the Northumbrian and Roman (Catholic) incursions.