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Urien
Urien (; ), often referred to as Urien Rheged or Uriens, was a late 6th-century king of Rheged, an early British kingdom of the Hen Ogledd (today's northern England and southern Scotland) of the House of Rheged. His power and his victories, including the battles of Gwen Ystrad and Alt Clut Ford, are celebrated in the praise poems to him by Taliesin, preserved in the ''Book of Taliesin''. In Arthurian legend, he inspired the character of King Urien of either Garlot (Garloth) or Gore (Gorre). His most famous son Owain mab Urien similarly turned into the character of Ywain. Life According to the genealogies, Urien was the son of Cynfarch Oer, son of Meirchion Gul, son of Gorwst, son of Cenau, son of Coel Hen (King Cole), the first recorded post-Roman military leader in the area of Hadrian's Wall. He fought against the rulers of the Anglian kingdom of Bernicia (modern Northumbria). An Anglian noble, Ida, had occupied Metcauld around the middle of the 6th century and begun to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morgan Le Fay
Morgan le Fay (, meaning 'Morgan the Fairy'), alternatively known as Morgan[n]a, Morgain[a/e], Morg[a]ne, Morgant[e], Morge[i]n, and Morgue[in] among other names and spellings ( cy, Morgên y Dylwythen Deg, kw, Morgen an Spyrys), is a powerful and ambiguous Magician (fantasy), enchantress from the legend of King Arthur, in which most often she and he are siblings. Early appearances of Morgan in Arthurian literature do not elaborate her character beyond her role as a goddess, a fairy , fay, a Witchcraft , witch, or a sorceress, generally benevolent and connected to Arthur as his magical saviour and protector. Her prominence increased as legends developed over time, as did her moral ambivalence, and in some texts there is an evolutionary transformation of her to an antagonist, particularly as portrayed in cyclical prose such as the ''Lancelot-Grail'' and the Post-Vulgate Cycle. A significant aspect in many of Morgan's Middle Ages, medieval and later iterations is the unpredictab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rheged
Rheged () was one of the kingdoms of the ''Hen Ogledd'' ("Old North"), the Brittonic-speaking region of what is now Northern England and southern Scotland, during the post-Roman era and Early Middle Ages. It is recorded in several poetic and bardic sources, although its borders are not described in any of them. A recent archaeological discovery suggests that its stronghold was located in what is now Galloway in Scotland rather than, as was previously speculated, being in Cumbria. Rheged possibly extended into Lancashire and other parts of northern England. In some sources, Rheged is intimately associated with the king Urien Rheged and his family. Its inhabitants spoke Cumbric, a Brittonic dialect closely related to Old Welsh. Etymology The origin of the name ''Rheged'' has been described as "problematic". One Brittonic-language solution is that the name may be a compound of ''rö-'', a prefix meaning "great", and ''cę:d'' meaning "wood, forest" (c.f. Welsh ''coed'') although ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
House Of Rheged
The House of Rheged (Welsh pronunciation: ˆr̥ɛɡɛd or the House of Rhun was an informal royal dynasty who ruled in the brittonic Kingdom of Rheged. The line is traced back to Coel Hen whose descendants are often referred to as the ''Coeling.'' The dynasty includes Urien, King of Rheged and his son Sir Ywain a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend. Coel Hen ruled the majority of Northern England after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. His domain was partitioned between his children, leading to his great-grandson, Meirchion Gul, in the late 5th century, likely being the first of his descendants to exclusively rule Rheged. The line would continue as kings until Princess Rhiainfellt married King Oswiu of Northumbria, when the land would be incorporated into the Anglic, Kingdom of Northumbria. Etymology The origin of the name ''Rheged'' has been described as "problematic". One Brittonic-language solution is that the name may be a compound of ''rö-'', a pref ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Book Of Taliesin
The Book of Taliesin ( cy, Llyfr Taliesin) is one of the most famous of Middle Welsh manuscripts, dating from the first half of the 14th century though many of the fifty-six poems it preserves are taken to originate in the 10th century or before. The volume contains some of the oldest poems in Welsh, possibly but not certainly dating back to the sixth century and to a real poet called Taliesin (though these, if genuine, would have been composed in the Cumbric dialect of Brittonic-speaking early medieval north Britain, being adapted to the Welsh dialect of Brittonic in the course of their transmission in Wales). Date and provenance of the manuscript The manuscript, known as Peniarth MS 2 and kept at the National Library of Wales, is incomplete, having lost a number of its original leaves including the first. It was named ''Llyfr Taliessin'' in the seventeenth century by Edward Lhuyd and hence is known in English as "The Book of Taliesin". The palaeographer John Gwenogvryn Eva ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ywain
Sir Ywain , also known as Yvain and Owain among other spellings (''Ewaine'', ''Ivain'', ''Ivan'', ''Iwain'', ''Iwein'', ''Uwain'', ''Uwaine'', etc.), is a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend, wherein he is often the son of King Urien of Gorre and the sorceress Morgan le Fay. The historical Owain mab Urien, on whom the literary character is based, was the king of Rheged in Great Britain during the late 6th century. Yvain was one of the earliest characters associated with King Arthur. He was also one of the most popular, starring in Chrétien de Troyes' late-12th-century ''Yvain, the Knight of the Lion'' and appearing prominently in many later accounts, often accompanied by his fierce pet lion. He remains Urien's son in virtually all literature in which he appears, whereas other characters in Arthurian legend based on historical figures usually lost their original familial connections in romance literature. Welsh tradition Ywain (Yvain) takes his name from Owain mab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taliesin
Taliesin ( , ; 6th century AD) was an early Brittonic poet of Sub-Roman Britain whose work has possibly survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the '' Book of Taliesin''. Taliesin was a renowned bard who is believed to have sung at the courts of at least three kings. In 1960, Ifor Williams identified eleven of the medieval poems ascribed to Taliesin as possibly originating as early as the sixth century, and so possibly being composed by a historical Taliesin. The bulk of this work praises King Urien of Rheged and his son Owain mab Urien, although several of the poems indicate that Taliesin also served as court bard to King Brochfael Ysgithrog of Powys and his successor Cynan Garwyn, either before or during his time at Urien's court. Some of the events to which the poems refer, such as the Battle of Arfderydd (c. 573), are referred to in other sources. John T. Koch argues that the description of Easter in the praise poem ''Yspeil Taliesin'' ('The Spoils of Taliesin') indicates ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Gwen Ystrad
''Gweith Gwen Ystrat'' (in English: ''The Battle of Gwen Ystrad''), is a late Old Welsh or Middle Welsh heroic poem found uniquely in the Book of Taliesin, where it forms part of the ''Canu Taliesin'', a series of poems attributed to the 6th-century court poet of Rheged, Taliesin. Content Put in the mouth of a first-person eyewitness, the poem glorifies a victory by Urien, prince of Rheged, in which he led his warband in defence against a host of invaders at a site called Llech Gwen in Gwen Ystrad (Gwen valley). The heavy, prolonged fighting is said to have taken place since dawn at the entrance to a ford. Sir Ifor Williams suggests that the personal name Gwên may lie behind the forms ''Llech Gwen'' and possibly ''Gwen Ystrad'', but the site cannot be identified. Urien's champions are described as the "men of Catraeth" (line 1), a place often equated with Catterick (North Yorkshire), and the enemy forces as the "men of Britain" (''gwyr Prydein'', line 6), who have come in la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Owain Mab Urien
Owain mab Urien (Middle Welsh Owein) (died c. 595) was the son of Urien, king of Rheged c. 590, and fought with his father against the Angles of Bernicia. The historical figure of Owain became incorporated into the Arthurian cycle of legends where he is also known as Ywain, Yvain, Ewain or Uwain. In his legendary guise he is the main character in Chrétien de Troyes's ''Yvain, the Knight of the Lion'' and the Welsh Romance '' Owain, or the Lady of the Fountain'', which corresponds to Chrétien's poem. Historical Owain Our chief references to the historical Owain appear in the poems of Taliesin, Urien's bard. In one poem, he appears as the victor of the Battle of Alclud Ford. Another, ''Gweith Argoed Llwyfain'' ("The Battle of Argoed Llwyfain"), tells of Owain's part in a battle between the men of Rheged under Urien and the men of Bernicia under "Fflamddwyn" (Firestealer), possibly the Anglian king Theodric. When Fflamddwyn demands hostages, Owain shouts defiance and inspires ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gwallog Ap Llaennog
Gwallog ap Lleenog (Old Welsh ''Guallauc'', Middle Welsh ''Gwallawc''; his father's name is spelled variously ''Lleinauc'', ''Lleynna '', ''Lleenawc'', and ''Llennawc'') was a hero of the Hen Ogledd. He has long been considered a probable sixth-century king of the sub-Roman state of Elmet in the Leeds area of modern Yorkshire, though some more recent scholarship would identify him more tentatively simply as a 'king of an unidentified region in the north'. Life Gwallog is most clearly attested in a note incorporated into Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies of Northumbrian kings found in London, British Library, MS Harley 3859 (the earliest manuscript of the ''Historia Brittonum''). These are thought to originate in a perhaps eighth-century source and so to be relatively reliable. Commenting on the reign of the Bernician king Hussa, the regnal list states ::Contra illum quattuor reges, Urbgen et Riderchen et Guallanc (''leg''. Guallauc) et Morcant, dimicaverunt. Deodric contra illum Urb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Alclud Ford
The Battle of Alclud Ford was a battle in ''c.''580 at an unknown ford near Alt Clut, the original name for Dumbarton Rock which could also be used for the whole of the kingdom of Strathclyde in modern-day Scotland. It is known from two poems in the Book of Taliesin. According to Taliesin the Anglian king ''Ulph'' "came with violence on his enemies" and was met in battle and killed by Urien map Cynfarch, King of Rheged (probably Cumbria and/or Galloway), and his son Owain mab Urien, as noted in two separate poems. The Bernician attack would have been faced by spear and javelin armed horsemen, who made up the bulk of the Rhegedian warriors, whilst the Bernicians themselves would have primarily consisted of infantry as was the standard for Anglo-Saxon warriors of the period. Ulph was probably one of the sons of King Ida of Bernicia Ida () (died c. 559) is the first known king of the Anglian kingdom of Bernicia, which he ruled from around 547 until his death in 559. Little is kn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King Lot
King Lot , also spelled Loth or Lott (Lleu or Llew in Welsh), is a British monarch in Arthurian legend. He was introduced in Geoffrey of Monmouth's influential chronicle ''Historia Regum Britanniae'' that portrayed him as King Arthur's brother-in-law and under-king, who serves as regent of Britain during the time between the reigns of Uther and Arthur. In the wake of Geoffrey, Lot has appeared regularly in the works of chivalric romance, alternating between the roles of Arthur's enemy and ally. He chiefly figures as ruler of the northern realm of Lothian and sometimes Norway; in other texts he rules Great Britain's northernmost Orkney isles. He is generally depicted as the husband of Arthur's sister or half-sister, often known as Anna or Morgause. The names and number of their children vary depending on the source, but the later romance tradition has given him the sons Gawain, Agravain, Gaheris, Gareth, and Mordred. Lot's literary character is likely connected to the hagiograph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hen Ogledd
Yr Hen Ogledd (), in English the Old North, is the historical region which is now Northern England and the southern Scottish Lowlands that was inhabited by the Brittonic people of sub-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages. Its population spoke a variety of the Brittonic language known as Cumbric which is closely related to, if not a dialect of Old Welsh. The people of Wales and the Hen Ogledd considered themselves to be one people, and both were referred to as Cymry ('fellow-countrymen') from the Brittonic word ''combrogi.'' The Hen Ogledd was distinct from the parts of North Britain inhabited by the Picts, Anglo-Saxons, and Scoti. The major kingdoms of the Hen Ogledd were Elmet, Gododdin, Rheged, and the Kingdom of Strathclyde. Smaller kingdoms included Aeron and Calchfynydd. Eidyn, Lleuddiniawn, and Manaw Gododdin were evidently parts of Gododdin. The Angle kingdoms of Deira and Bernicia both had Brittonic-derived names, suggesting they may have been Brittonic kingdoms ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
