Gwriad ap Elidyr or Gwriad Manaw was a late-8th century figure in

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 ...

. Very little is known of him, and he chiefly appears in the historical record in connection to his son Merfyn Frych,

King of Gwynedd This is a list of the rulers of the Kingdom of Gwynedd. Many of them were also acclaimed "King of the Britons" or "Prince of Wales". List of kings or princes of Gwynedd House of Cunedda * Cunedda (Cunedda the Imperator) (c. 450 – c. 46 ...

from around 825 to 844 and founder of the Merfynion dynasty.

Background

Almost nothing is known about Gwriad's background. He married Ethyllt ferch Cynan, daughter of Cynan Dindaethwy,

. Their son Merfyn Frych later became the first king of Gwynedd known not to have come from the dynasty of its founder

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 ...

. Merfyn evidently claimed the throne through his mother rather than through Gwriad, and bolstered this atypical matrilineal claim through his own power and reputation. According to the

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 ...

, Gwriad was the son of a certain Elidyr and was a descendant of

Llywarch Hen Llywarch Hen (, "Llywarch the Old"; c. 534 – c. 608), was a prince and poet of the Brythonic kingdom of Rheged, a ruling family in the Hen Ogledd or "Old North" of Britain (modern southern Scotland and northern England). Along with Taliesin, A ...

and

Coel Hen Coel (Old Welsh: ''Coil''), also called ''Coel Hen'' (Coel the Old) and King Cole, is a figure prominent in Welsh literature and legend since the Middle Ages. Early Welsh tradition knew of a Coel Hen, a 4th-century leader in Roman Britain, Ro ...

, rulers from 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", the Brittonic-speaking parts of what is now southern Scotland and northern England. The bardic poetry indicates that Merfyn was "from the land of Manaw", a Brittonic place name applied to several districts, including

Manaw Gododdin Manaw Gododdin was the narrow coastal region on the south side of the Firth of Forth, part of the Brythonic-speaking Kingdom of Gododdin in the post-Roman Era. It is notable as the homeland of Cunedda prior to his conquest of North Wales, and ...

, the area around 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 ...

. This locale in the Hen Ogledd would be consistent with Gwriad's descent from Llywarch's northern lineage. An origin in Manaw Gododdin was supported by scholars such as

William Forbes Skene William Forbes Skene Writer to the Signet, WS FRSE Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, FSA(Scot) Doctor of Civil Law, DCL Legum Doctor, LLD (7 June 1809 – 29 August 1892), was a Scotland, Scottish lawyer, historian and antiquary. He co-found ...

and

John Edward Lloyd Sir John Edward Lloyd (5 May 1861 – 20 June 1947) was a Welsh historian. Early life and eduction John Edward Lloyd was born in Liverpool on 5 May 1861. He was educated in the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth (which later become ...

. Other scholars connect Gwriad to the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

, known in Welsh as ''Ynis Manaw'' rather than Manaw Gododdin, especially following the 1896 discovery of an 8th- or 9th-century cross on Man inscribed ''Crux Guriat'' ("Cross of Gwriad"). Lloyd wrote that this discovery "undoubtedly strengthens the case" for a Manx origin.

John Rhys John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

suggested that Gwriad may have taken refuge on the Isle of Man during the bloody dynastic struggle in Gwynedd between Cynan Dindaethwy and

Hywel Hywel (), sometimes anglicised as Howel or Howell, is a Welsh masculine given name. It may refer to: Monarchs * Hywel the Great, late fifth- and early sixth-century noble in Brittany, saint and king of Brittany in the Arthurian legend. *Hywel ap R ...

prior to Merfyn's accession to the throne. Still other locations for "Manaw" have been suggested, including Ireland,

Galloway Galloway ( ; ; ) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the counties of Scotland, historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council areas of Scotland, council area of Dumfries and Gallow ...

and Powys. Rhys further noted that the

Welsh Triads The Welsh Triads (, "Triads of the Island of Britain") 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 o ...

mention a "Gwryat son of Gwryan in the North", counted among the "Three Kings who were the Sons of Strangers", which he suggests is a reference to the father of Merfyn. However, this conflicts with the Jesus College MS 20 pedigree, in which Gwriad's father is Elidyr. James E. Fraser suggests that the Gwriad of the Triad is instead to be identified with the King Guret of Alt Clut recorded by the

Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' () are annals of History of Ireland, medieval Ireland. The entries span the years from 431 AD to 1540 AD. The entries up to 1489 AD were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luin� ...

as dying in 658.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gwriad ap Elidyr Monarchs of the Isle of Man 8th-century Welsh monarchs

Background

See also

References