Glywys is a legendary early 5th century

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

king, an important character in early Welsh genealogies as the eponymous founder king of

Glywysing Glywysing was, from the sub-Roman period to the Early Middle Ages, a petty kingdom in south-east Wales. Its people were descended from the Iron Age tribe of the Silures, and frequently in union with Gwent, merging to form Morgannwg. Name and ...

, a southeast Welsh kingdom whose heartland lay between the

Tawe The River Tawe (; cy, Afon Tawe ) is a long river in South Wales. Its headwaters flow initially east from its source below Llyn y Fan Fawr south of Moel Feity in the Black Mountains, the westernmost range of the Brecon Beacons National P ...

and the Usk. In one genealogy Glywys is reckoned the eldest son of

Solor Solor is a volcanic island located off the eastern tip of Flores island in the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia, in the Solor Archipelago. The island supports a small population that has been whaling for hundreds of years. They speak the lang ...

, son of Mor. He is said to have married Gwawl, the daughter of Ceredig of Ceredigion: one legend states they had twenty two children, all male bar one, including the churchmen

Pedrog Saint Petroc or Petrock ( lat-med, Petrocus; cy, Pedrog; french: link=no, Perreux; ) was a British prince and Christian saint. Probably born in South Wales, he primarily ministered to the Britons of Devon (Dewnans) and Cornwall (Kernow) then f ...

and Edelig. According to twelfth century sources, after the death of Glywys the kingdom was divided into three cantrefi, Gwynllwg,

Penychen Penychen was a possible minor kingdom of early medieval Wales and later a cantref of the Kingdom of Morgannwg. Penychen was one of three cantrefi that made up the kingdom of Glywysing, lying between the rivers Taff and Thaw, the other two being ...

and

Gorfynydd Glywysing was, from the sub-Roman period to the Early Middle Ages, a petty kingdom in south-east Wales. Its people were descended from the Iron Age tribe of the Silures, and frequently in union with Gwent, merging to form Morgannwg. Name and ...

, by his sons

Gwynllyw Gwynllyw Filwr or Gwynllyw Farfog (), known in English in a corrupted form as Woolos the Warrior or Woolos the Bearded ( la, Gundleus, Gundleius or Gwenleue; 450 – 500 AD) was a Welsh king and religious figure. He was King of Gwynllwg in Sout ...

father of

Cadoc Saint Cadoc or Cadog ( lat-med, Cadocus; also Modern Welsh: Cattwg; born or before) was a 5th–6th-century Abbot of Llancarfan, near Cowbridge in Glamorgan, Wales, a monastery famous from the era of the British church as a centre of learni ...

Pawl A pawl is a movable lever that engages a fixed component to either prevent movement in one direction or restrain it altogether. As such, it is a type of latch and can also be considered a type of dog. It typically consists of a spring-loaded ...

and Merchwyn respectively, though Glwysing still existed and would later become

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Mot ...

. Gwynllyw gave his name to Newport Cathedral and also to

Wentlooge Wentlooge ( cy, Gwynllŵg), sometimes known as Wentloog, is a community in the southwest of the city of Newport, South Wales, in the Marshfield ward. The community includes Peterstone Wentloodge and St. Brides Wentloodge and in 2011 had a pop ...

, while Pawl may have been mixed up with

Paul Aurelian Paul Aurelian (known in Breton as Paol Aorelian or Saint Pol de Léon and in Latin as Paulinus Aurelianus) was a 6th-century Welshman who became first bishop of the See of Léon and one of the seven founder saints of Brittany. He allegedly die ...

. Glywys' name may be a back-formation from the name of the kingdom and Glywysing's name may continue that of the Romano-British *Glevenses, the territory and citizens of '' Glevum'', or Gloucester. Such invented founding kings are not uncommon in British genealogy. "Gloucester" (''Glowancestre'', 1282) derives from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...

''ceaster'', "fort", preceded by the Roman stem Glev- (pronounced glaiw). In

Old Welsh Old Welsh ( cy, Hen Gymraeg) is the stage of the Welsh language from about 800 AD until the early 12th century when it developed into Middle Welsh.Koch, p. 1757. The preceding period, from the time Welsh became distinct from Common Brittonic ...

, the city was known as ''Caerloyw'', ''caer'' = castle, and ''loyw'' from ''gloyw'' = glowing/bright. Hence Gloucester has been given a similar founder, Gloyw: genealogies of Vortigern make him a descendant of Gloyw through his father Vitalus and his grandfather Vitalinus, while a lineage in the '' Bonedd y Saint'' makes saint Mechyll fab Echwys the grandson of Gwyn Glohoyw and the great-grandson of Gloyw Wallt-Lydan. In the Mabinogi, similarly, Pryderi marries Cigfa, "daughter of Gwyn Glohoyw, son of Gloyw Wallt-Lydan, son of Casnar Wledig". Nevertheless Glywys is believed to have become a hermit in his later life and travelled to

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...

where he founded the church of St Gluvias near Penryn. He is sometimes referred to as the Cornish Glywys, ''Glywys Cernyw''. He is venerated as a saint and his feast day is 3 May

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Glywys 415 births 5th-century Welsh monarchs 5th-century Christian saints Medieval Welsh saints Monarchs of Glywysing Monarchs of Morgannwg Year of death unknown