Amlawdd Wledig (

Middle Welsh Middle Welsh (, ) is the label attached to the Welsh language of the 12th to 15th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This form of Welsh developed directly from Old Welsh (). Literature and history Middle Welsh is ...

and other alternative spellings present in relevant sources include Amlawd, Amlawt, Anlawdd, Anlawd, Amlodd, Amlwyd, Aflawdd and Anblaud) was a legendary king of

sub-Roman Britain Sub-Roman Britain, also called post-Roman Britain or Dark Age Britain, is the period of late antiquity in Great Britain between the end of Roman rule and the founding of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. The term was originally used to describe archae ...

. The Welsh title '' ledig'', archaically ''Gwledic'' or ''Guletic'' and Latinised ''Guleticus'', is defined as follows: "lord, king, prince, ruler; term applied to a number of early British rulers and princes who were prominent in the defence of Britain about the time of the Roman withdrawal; (possibly) commander of the native militia (in a Romano-British province)".

Location

He is described as a king of 'some part of

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, possibly on the border with

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

. If it is accepted that King

Gwrfoddw King Gwrfoddw (, died c. 619) was the King of Ergyng, a South Wales, south-east Welsh kingdom of the Early Middle Ages, early medieval period. He usurped the throne from Gwrgan ap Cynfyn. Life According to the Book of Llandaff, Gwrfoddw was victor ...

Ergyng Ergyng (or Erging) was a Brittonic kingdom of the sub-Roman and early medieval period, between the 5th and 7th centuries. It was later referred to by the English as ''Archenfield''. Location The kingdom lay mostly in what is now western Herefor ...

(see below under

children A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

) is Amlawdd's son, there would be a logic to Amlawdd also having been a king in the

area.

Family

Ancestry

At least three different genealogies are suggested for Amlawdd Wledig: *The ''Bonedd yr Arwyr'' (Section 31) names Amlawdd as the son of Kynwal, son of Ffrewdwr, son of Gwarvawr/Gwdion, son of Kadif nKadien (Gadeon), son of Cynan, son of Eudaf, son of Caradoc, son of Brân, son of Llŷr. * Peter Bartrum notes that a different genealogy for Amlawdd is present in Peniarth MS 178, part 1, p. 1 (by

Gruffudd Hiraethog Gruffudd Hiraethog (died 1564) was a 16th-century Welsh-language poet, born in Llangollen, north-east Wales. Gruffudd was one of the foremost poets of the sixteenth century to use the cywydd metre. He was a prolific author and gifted scholar. Th ...

, c. 1545). There, Amlawdd's daughter is named as Eigr ferch ('daughter of') Aflawdd Wledig ap Lambor (or Lambord) ap Manael ap Carcelois ap Jossue ap Evgen chwaer ('sister of') Joseph Armathia. Bartrum explains (p. 130) that around the year 1400 the monks of

Glastonbury Glastonbury ( , ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than across the River ...

adapted the lineage of the Vulgate Quest's Grail Kings to descend from Enigeus (sister of

Joseph of Arimathea Joseph of Arimathea () is a Biblical figure who assumed responsibility for the burial of Jesus after Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion. Three of the four Biblical Canon, canonical Gospels identify him as a member of the Sanhedrin, while the ...

) down to Lambor, father of the Maimed King, who in this account fathers an unnamed son who is in turn the father of Arthur's mother Eigr or Ygerne. Bartrum points out that later Welsh texts adapted this genealogy, replacing the word ''filius'' (‘son’), which stood for the unnamed son, with Amlawdd Wledig. * It has also been suggested that the name Amlawdd could be a variation of the name ''

Amleth Amleth (; Latinized as ''Amlethus'') is a figure in a medieval Scandinavian legend, the direct inspiration of the character of Prince Hamlet, the hero of William Shakespeare's tragedy '' Hamlet, Prince of Denmark''. The chief authority for the ...

'' or ''Amlethus'', which appears in

Saxo Grammaticus Saxo Grammaticus (), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark. He is the author ...

' thirteenth century

Gesta Danorum ("Deeds of the Danes") is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th-century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate", literally "the Grammarian"). It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark and is an essentia ...

and is the origin of Shakespeare's character

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

. However, Amleth is described as a Jute (rather than a Dane) who marries the daughter of the British King on his first trip to Britain. In terms of the chronology, Amleth could be identical to Amlawdd Wledig. However, Amlawdd is not described as being of Jutish or Saxon origin in the Welsh Arthurian texts.

Wives

Amlawdd is said to have been the husband of Gwen, the daughter of

Cunedda Wledig Cunedda ap Edern, also called Cunedda ''Wledig'' (reigned – c. 460), was an important early Welsh leader, and the progenitor of the royal dynasty of Gwynedd, one of the very oldest of Western Europe. Name The name ''Cunedda'' (spelle ...

, the legendary northern king said either to have migrated or to have been sent south by

Vortigern Vortigern (; , ; ; ; Old Breton: ''Gurdiern'', ''Gurthiern''; ; , , , etc.), also spelled Vortiger, Vortigan, Voertigern and Vortigen, was a 5th-century warlord in Sub-Roman Britain, Britain, known perhaps as a king of the Britons or at least ...

to drive Irish invaders from the

Kingdom of Gwynedd The Kingdom of Gwynedd (Medieval Latin: ; Middle Welsh: ) was a Wales in the Early Middle Ages, Welsh kingdom and a Roman Empire Succession of states, successor state that emerged in sub-Roman Britain in the 5th century during the Anglo-Saxon ...

Children

A number of figures from the Arthurian legends are suggested (with varying levels of plausibility) to have been the children of Amlawdd, including: * Eigyr, Igraine, Ygerne the mother of

King Arthur According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...

. * Rieingulid, the mother of St Illtud. * Goleuddydd, the mother of Culhwch. * Tywanwedd, Tywynwedd or Dwywanedd, the wife of Hawystl Gloff and the mother of Caradawc Vreichvras, Gwyn ab Nudd, Gwallawc ab Lleenawg, and Tyfrydog or Tyvrydog. (Source: '' Bonedd y Saint'') Tyfrydog was a saint who flourished in the sixth century. * Two unnamed daughters, sisters to Enfeidas (f), by Amlawdd's fifth wife Denyw (see Wives, above). Enfeidas is said, in Heinrich von dem Türlin's Diu Crône to be Arthur's aunt, a goddess, and the queen of Avalon. * Gwyar, argued by some to be the mother of Gwalchmai or

Gawain Gawain ( ), also known in many other forms and spellings, is a character in Matter of Britain, Arthurian legend, in which he is King Arthur's nephew and one of the premier Knights of the Round Table. The prototype of Gawain is mentioned und ...

; however, others argue that Gwyar is a male name and that Gwyar is therefore the name of Gwalchmai's father. Gwyar is also said to be the wife of Geraint and the mother of Cadwy ( Cador) * Llygadrudd Emys ('Red-Eye Stallion') and Gwrbothu Hen ('Gwrfoddw the Old'), listed as brothers of Arthur's unnamed mother in ''

Culhwch and Olwen ''Culhwch and Olwen'' () is a Welsh tale that survives in only two manuscripts about a hero connected with Arthur and his warriors: a complete version in the Red Book of Hergest, , and a fragmented version in the White Book of Rhydderch, . It ...

'', killed by Twrch Trwyth at Ystrad Yw. Gwrbothu Hen may refer to the later historical King

, or an ancestor of his as denoted by the epithet ('the old' or 'the elder'). * Gweir Paladr Hir ('Gwair Long Staff') and Gweir Gwrhyd Ennwir ('Gwair False Valour'), listed as "uncles of Arthur, his mother's brothers" later in the Arthurian court lists of ''Culhwch and Olwen''.

Relationship to King Arthur and debated historicity

Amlawdd Wledig is named in many sources to have been the maternal grandfather of

, while others suggest he is a genealogical construct, created in order to justify the kinship connections referred to in the Welsh prose tale of ''

'' between Arthur, Culhwch, St Illtud and Goreu fab Custennin. Amlawdd does not appear in the list of Kings of Britain given by

Geoffrey of Monmouth Geoffrey of Monmouth (; ; ) was a Catholic cleric from Monmouth, Wales, and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur. He is best known for his chronicle '' The History of ...

References

Bartrum, Peter C. ed. Bonedd yr Arwyr (Unpublished genealogical material concerning the heroes of early Welsh history and legend, 1959). Bartrum, Peter C. ed. Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts (University of Wales, 1966) Bartrum, Peter C. ed. Welsh Classical Dictionary: People in History and Legend Up to About A.D. 1000 (National Library of Wales, February 1994) Bromwich, R. and Evans, D. Simon. Culhwch and Olwen. An Edition and Study of the Oldest Arthurian Tale (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1992), pp.44-5 Bruce, Christopher W. The Arthurian Name Dictionary (Routledge, 2013) Davies, John. A History of Wales. Penguin (New York), 1994. . Norma Lorre Goodrich, King Arthur (HarperPerennial; New edition, 1989) Wade-Evans, A.W. Welsh Christian Origins (Oxford, 1934) pp.102 quoted in Bartrum, Peter C. ed. Welsh Classical Dictionary: People in History and Legend Up to About A.D. 1000 (National Library of Wales, February 1994) pp.14-15

External links

*{{Cite book , last=Rees , first=Rice , author-link=Rice Rees , year=1836 , contribution= , title=An Essay on the Welsh Saints , publisher=Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman, Rees , publication-date=1836 , publication-place=London , pages= , url=https://archive.org/details/anessayonwelshs00reesgoog Arthurian characters British traditional history Hamlet Holy Grail Family of King Arthur Mythological kings European people whose existence is disputed Sub-Roman Britons Sub-Roman monarchs Welsh mythology Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown