Ffernfael ap Tewdwr ( en, Ffernfael, son of Tewdwr; owl, Fernmail map Teudur; fl. c. 830) was a king of

Buellt Buellt or Builth was a cantref in medieval Wales, located west of the River Wye. Unlike most cantrefs, it was not part of any of the major Welsh kingdoms for most of its history, but was instead ruled by an autonomous local dynasty. During the N ...

and

Gwrtheyrnion Gwrtheyrnion or Gwerthrynion was a commote in medieval Wales, located in Mid Wales on the north side of the River Wye; its historical centre was Rhayader. It is said to have taken its name from the legendary king Vortigern ( cy, Gwrtheyrn). Fo ...

in medieval

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

. Little is known of him besides a pedigree included in the 9th-century ''

Historia Brittonum ''The History of the Britons'' ( la, Historia Brittonum) is a purported history of the indigenous British ( Brittonic) people that was written around 828 and survives in numerous recensions that date from after the 11th century. The ''Historia B ...

'', which makes him a descendant of the ruler

Vortigern Vortigern (; owl, Guorthigirn, ; cy, Gwrtheyrn; ang, Wyrtgeorn; Old Breton: ''Gurdiern'', ''Gurthiern''; gle, Foirtchern; la, Vortigernus, , , etc.), also spelled Vortiger, Vortigan, Voertigern and Vortigen, was a 5th-century warlord in ...

Life

Ffernfael is mentioned in a passage in the 9th-century work ''

'', which indicates his lordship of

and

and traces his descent from

and

Pascent Vortigern (; owl, Guorthigirn, ; cy, Gwrtheyrn; ang, Wyrtgeorn; Old Breton: ''Gurdiern'', ''Gurthiern''; gle, Foirtchern; la, Vortigernus, , , etc.), also spelled Vortiger, Vortigan, Voertigern and Vortigen, was a 5th-century warlord in ...

. His name apparently means "strong-ankles".Todd, James H. & al. (trans.) (1848),
''Leabhar breathnach annso sis'': the Irish version of the ''Historia Britonum'' of Nennius
', p. 105. Irish Archaeological Society (Dublin), 1848. Accessed February 22, 2013. The genealogy, which appears in every extant copy, makes him son of Tewdwr (Theodore), son of Pasgen (Pascent), son of Guodicator, son of Morwd, son of Eldad, son of Eldog, son of Pawl (Paul), son of Mepurit ("Mac Urit"), son of Bricad, son of Pasgen (Pascent), son of Gorthigern (Vortigern), son of Guitail (Vitalis), son of Guitoilin (Vitalinus), son of "Glou", the legendary eponym for

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east of t ...

. He is also known from the later

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 University, Bodleian Library, Jesus College, MS 20, folios 33r–41r. It presents the lineages of a number of medie ...

, which say that his cousin Brawstudd married

Arthfael Hen ap Rhys Arthfael Hen ap Rhys, also called Arthfael the Old, was the king of the Kingdom of Glywysing (in modern-day Wales) between 785 and approximately 825 AD. History Arthfael was the second son of Gweirydd ap Brochfael and a descendant of Saint Tewdr ...

Morgannwg Morgannwg was a medieval Welsh kingdom formed via the merger of the kingdoms of the Kingdom of Glywysing and the Kingdom of Gwent. Formation of Morgannwg First under King Morgan the Generous (fl. ) until the end of the reign of his descendant ...

. Arthfael flourished around 800, implying that Ffernfael would have been active around that time as well.

Thomas Charles-Edwards Thomas Mowbray Charles-Edwards (born 11 November 1943) is an emeritus academic at the University of Oxford. He formerly held the post of Jesus Professor of Celtic and is a Professorial Fellow at Jesus College. Biography He was educated at A ...

places his ''

floruit ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicat ...

'' around 830. Though little is known of Ffernfael, the appearance of his pedigree in the ''Historia'' gives important clues about the authorship and date of the work. The author's emphasis on Ffernfael's dynasty and many references to southwestern Wales in general suggest the author was a native of the area, though writing in 9th-century

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the North West Wales, north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County B ...

References

Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 9th-century Welsh monarchs {{wales-hist-stub