The Gododdin () were a Brittonic people of north-eastern

Britannia The image of Britannia () is the national personification of United Kingdom, Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used by the Romans in classical antiquity, the Latin was the name variously appli ...

, the area known as the

Hen Ogledd Hen Ogledd (), meaning the Old North, is the historical region that was inhabited by the Celtic Britons, Brittonic people of sub-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages, now Northern England and the southern Scottish Lowlands, alongside the fello ...

or Old North (modern south-east

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and north-east England), in the sub-Roman period. Descendants of the Votadini, they are best known as the subject of the 6th-century Welsh poem '' Y Gododdin'', which memorialises the Battle of Catraeth and is attributed to Aneirin. The name ''Gododdin'' is the Modern Welsh form, but the name appeared in

Old Welsh Old Welsh () 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 around 550, ha ...

as ''Guotodin'' and derived from the tribal name '' Votadini'' recorded in Classical sources, such as in Greek texts from the Roman period.

Kingdom

It is not known exactly how far the kingdom of the Gododdin extended, possibly from the

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

area to the kingdom of '' Bryneich'' (Bernicia), and including what are now the

Lothian Lothian (; ; ) is a region of the Scottish Lowlands, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills and the Moorfoot Hills. The principal settlement is the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, while other signific ...

and Borders regions of eastern

. It was bounded to the west by the Brittonic

Kingdom of Strathclyde Strathclyde (, "valley of the River Clyde, Clyde"), also known as Cumbria, was a Celtic Britons, Brittonic kingdom in northern Britain during the Scotland in the Middle Ages, Middle Ages. It comprised parts of what is now southern Scotland an ...

, and to the north by the

Picts The Picts were a group of peoples in what is now Scotland north of the Firth of Forth, in the Scotland in the early Middle Ages, Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and details of their culture can be gleaned from early medieval texts and Pic ...

. Those living around Clackmannanshire were known as the Manaw Gododdin. According to tradition, local kings of this period lived at both Traprain Law and Din Eidyn (

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, whose English name is ultimately a

calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...

, with the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), 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 developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

' corresponding to the Welsh '; in

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

it is still known as '), and probably also at ' (

Dunbar Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the Anglo–Scottish border, English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and ...

, Scottish Gaelic '). Gododdin included districts such as Manaw Gododdin and Eidyn south of the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is a firth in Scotland, an inlet of the North Sea that separates Fife to its north and Lothian to its south. Further inland, it becomes the estuary of the River Forth and several other rivers. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate ...

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

, legendary founder of 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 ...

in north

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 ...

, is supposed to have been a Manaw Gododdin warlord who migrated southwest during the 5th century.

Later history

In the 6th century, Bryneich was invaded by the Angles and became known as

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 Anglian territory of Bernicia was approximately equivalent to the modern English cou ...

. The Angles continued to press north. In around 600 the Gododdin raised a force of about 300 men to assault the Angle stronghold of Catraeth, perhaps Catterick, North Yorkshire. The battle, which ended disastrously for the Britons, was memorialised in the poem '' Y Gododdin''. In 638, Eidyn, modern Edinburgh, was under siege and fell to the Angles, for the Gododdin seem to have come under the rule of Bernicia around this time. To what extent the native population was replaced or assimilated is unknown. Bernicia became part of

Northumbria Northumbria () was an early medieval Heptarchy, kingdom in what is now Northern England and Scottish Lowlands, South Scotland. The name derives from the Old English meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", as opposed to the Sout ...

. Shortly afterwards this came under a unified England, then in 1018

Malcolm II Máel Coluim mac Cinaeda (; anglicised Malcolm II; c. 954 – 25 November 1034) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Alba (Scotland) from 1005 until his death in 1034. He was one of the longest-reigning Scottish Kings of that period. He was ...

brought the region as far as the

River Tweed The River Tweed, or Tweed Water, is a river long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with the River Tweed. The Tweed is one of the great salmon rivers ...

under Scottish rule.

Notes

References

* Kenneth H. Jackson (1969). ''The Gododdin: The Oldest Scottish poem'' (Edinburgh: University Press) * W.J. Watson (1926, 1986). ''The History of the Celtic Place-Names of Scotland: being the Rhind lectures on archaeology (expanded) delivered in 1916.'' (Edinburgh, London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1926; Edinburgh: Birlinn, 1986, reprint edition). * W.J. Watson (1926, 1986). ''The History of the Celtic Place-Names of Scotland: being the Rhind lectures on archaeology (expanded) delivered in 1916.'' (Edinburgh, London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1926; Edinburgh: Birlinn, 1986, reprint edition). * Davies, John. "Dinas Powys, Catraeth, and Llantwit Major." ''A History of Wales''. London: Allen Lane :, 1993. 61–62. Print. * Davies, Norman. "The Germanico-Celtic Isles." ''The Isles: A History''. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1999. 165–166, 185–187, 195, 207. Print.

External links

* {{Medieval Scotland Former countries in the British Isles Celtic Britons Tribes of ancient Scotland Lothian Culture of Scotland States and territories established in the 5th century Hen Ogledd Historical Celtic peoples

Kingdom

Later history

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links