Ardudwy is an area of

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...

in north-west

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 ...

, lying between

Tremadog Bay Tremadog Bay is a large inlet of Cardigan Bay, defined by the north Cambrian Coast and the Llŷn Peninsula of north Wales. The Afon Glaslyn flows into the north of the bay and Saint Tudwal's Islands lie at the western end of the bay. Pwllheli, t ...

and the

Rhinogydd The Rhinogydd (a Welsh plural form, often anglicised as Rhinogs and also known by the alternative Welsh plural Rhinogau) are a range of mountains located east of Harlech in North Wales. The name ''Rhinogydd'' derives from the names of two of the ...

. Administratively, under the old

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

, it was first a division of the sub kingdom (

cantref A cantref ( ; ; plural cantrefi or cantrefs; also rendered as ''cantred'') was a medieval Welsh land division, particularly important in the administration of Welsh law. Description Land in medieval Wales was divided into ''cantrefi'', which were ...

) of

Dunoding Dunoding was an early sub-kingdom within the Kingdom of Gwynedd in north-west Wales that existed between the 5th and 10th centuries. According to tradition, it was named after Dunod, a son of the founding father of Gwynedd - Cunedda Wledig - wh ...

and later a

commote A commote (Welsh ''cwmwd'', sometimes spelt in older documents as ''cymwd'', plural ''cymydau'', less frequently ''cymydoedd'')''Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru'' (University of Wales Dictionary), p. 643 was a secular division of land in Medieval Wales ...

in its own right. The fertile swathe of land stretching from

Barmouth Barmouth ( cy, Abermaw (formal); ''Y Bermo'' (colloquial)) is a seaside town and community (Wales), community in the county of Gwynedd, northwestern Wales, lying on the estuary of the Afon Mawddach and Cardigan Bay. Located in the Historic coun ...

Harlech Harlech () is a seaside resort and community in Gwynedd, north Wales and formerly in the historic county of Merionethshire. It lies on Tremadog Bay in the Snowdonia National Park. Before 1966, it belonged to the Meirionydd District of the 197 ...

was historically used as

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine ...

. The name exists in the modern community and village of

Dyffryn Ardudwy Dyffryn Ardudwy () is a village, community and electoral ward in the Ardudwy area of Gwynedd, Wales consisting of several small, almost conjoined, villages including Coed Ystumgwern, Llanenddwyn (), Llanddwywe, Talybont and Dyffryn Ardudwy. ...

History

Ardudwy features prominently in

Welsh mythology Welsh mythology (Welsh: ''Mytholeg Cymru'') consists of both folk traditions developed in Wales, and traditions developed by the Celtic Britons elsewhere before the end of the first millennium. As in most of the predominantly oral societies Cel ...

. In the Second Branch of the ''

Mabinogi The ''Mabinogion'' () are the earliest Welsh prose stories, and belong to the Matter of Britain. The stories were compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, create ...

,'' Bendigeidfran holds court at

, and his severed head returns there for seven years before it is taken on to

Gwales Grassholm ( cy, Gwales or ) or Grassholm Island is a small uninhabited island situated off the southwestern Pembrokeshire coast in Wales, lying west of Skomer, in the community of Marloes and St Brides. It is the westernmost point in Wales ot ...

. In the Fourth Branch,

Lleu Llaw Gyffes Lleu Llaw Gyffes (, sometimes spelled Llew Llaw Gyffes) is a hero of Welsh mythology. He appears most prominently in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi, the tale of Math fab Mathonwy, which tells the tale of his birth, his marriage, his death, his r ...

is given

Eifionydd Eifionydd () is an area in north-west Wales covering the south-eastern part of the Llŷn Peninsula from Porthmadog to just east of Pwllheli. The Afon Erch forms its western border. It now lies in Gwynedd. The commote of Eifionydd formed the ...

and Ardudwy as his fief by

Math fab Mathonwy In Welsh mythology, Math fab Mathonwy (), also called Math ap Mathonwy (Math, son of Mathonwy) was a king of Gwynedd who needed to rest his feet in the lap of a virgin unless he was at war, or he would die. The story of Math is the fourth of the ...

. Lleu built his palace at Mur y Castell in Ardudwy. He reigned there before and after the usurpation of

Gronw Pebr Gronw Pebr () "Gronw the Radiant" is a warrior, hunter and antagonist in Welsh tradition, appearing primarily in the fourth branch of the ''Mabinogi'' as the lord of Penllyn, the lover of Blodeuwedd and the murderer of Lleu Llaw Gyffes. He is ...

, whom he killed on the banks of the River Cynfael.''The Mabinogion (op. cit.):'
Math the son of Mathonwy
A holed stone in Ardudwy is still known as ''

Llech Ronw Llech Ronw, or the Slate of Gronw, is a holed stone located along Afon Bryn Saeth (a tributary of River Dwyryd, Afon Cynfal) in Blaenau Ffestiniog, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Wales. The stone is described as being roughly forty inches by thirty inches with ...

'' (Gronw's Stone). Ardudwy is later associated with the 9th-century chieftain Collwyn ap Tango, the progenitor of the fifth of the Fifteen Noble Tribes of Gwynedd. He was Lord of

, Ardudwy and part of Llŷn and is a maternal ancestor of the Anwyl of Tywyn Family. Ardudwy was a core part of the

above the

River Conwy , name_etymology = , image = Boats in River Conwy.jpg , image_size = 300 , image_caption = Boats in the river estuary at Conwy , map = , map_size = , map_caption = , push ...

throughout the early

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. After the conquest and subjugation of

in 1283, the cantref was merged with

Meirionydd Meirionnydd is a coastal and mountainous region of Wales. It has been a kingdom, a cantref, a district and, as Merionethshire, a county. Kingdom Meirionnydd (Meirion, with -''ydd'' as a Welsh suffix of land, literally ''Land adjoined to Meirio ...

to form the new county of

Merionethshire , HQ= Dolgellau , Government= Merionethshire County Council (1889-1974) , Origin= , Status= , Start= 1284 , End= , Code= MER , CodeName= ...

. This situation was retained until 1974, when Welsh Local Government was reorganised and it became part of the reformed

, where it remains to this day.

References

Barmouth Dyffryn Ardudwy Ffestiniog Ganllwyd Harlech Llanbedr Llanelltyd Llanfair, Gwynedd Llanfrothen Maentwrog Penrhyndeudraeth Talsarnau Trawsfynydd Commotes of Gwynedd Commotes of Snowdonia {{Wales-hist-stub