Clydno Eidyn was a ruler of Eidyn, the district around modern

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, in the 6th century. Eidyn was a district of the

Gododdin The Gododdin () were a Brittonic people of north-eastern Britannia, the area known as the Hen Ogledd or Old North (modern south-east Scotland and north-east England), in the sub-Roman period. Descendants of the Votadini, they are best known ...

kingdom in the

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 sp ...

, or "Old North", the Brittonic-speaking parts of Northern England and southern Scotland in the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the M ...

. Clydno became a figure in Welsh tradition.

History

The

Harleian genealogies __NOTOC__ The Harleian genealogies are a collection of Old Welsh genealogies preserved in British Library, Harley MS 3859. Part of the Harleian Library, the manuscript, which also contains the ''Annales Cambriae'' (Recension A) and a version of t ...

give Clydno's pedigree. He is said to be the son of a certain Cinbelim or Cynfelyn, the son of

Dumnagual Hen Dyfnwal Hen or Dumnagual Hen ("Dyfnwal the Old") was a ruler of the Brittonic kingdom of Alt Clut, later known as Strathclyde, probably sometime in the early 6th century. His biography is vague, but he was regarded as an important ancestor figur ...

, an early ruler of Alt Clut (later known as Strathclyde). The later genealogy '' Bonedd Gwŷr y Gogledd'' gives an altered version of this genealogy; here Cynfelyn is Clydno's grandfather, and the family is attached to the line of the ancestor figure

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 or Sub-Roman ...

.Bromwich, pp. 256–257. An attack by Clydno and several other northern rulers on

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 ...

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...

is recounted in the Gwynedd version of the Welsh laws preserved in the '' Book of Chirk''.Bromwich, p. 491 According to the story, after Elidir Mwynfawr, a prince of the North, had been slain in Gwynedd, Clydno joined with

Rhydderch Hael Rhydderch Hael ( en, Rhydderch the Generous), Riderch I of Alt Clut, or Rhydderch of Strathclyde, ( ''fl.'' 580 – c. 614) was a ruler of Alt Clut, a Brittonic kingdom in the ''Hen Ogledd'' or "Old North" of Britain. He was one of the most famo ...

and two other kings called Nudd Hael and Mordaf Hael to avenge him. They proceeded to raid and burn Arfon until Rhun ap Maelgwn and the armies of Gwynedd forced them out. Clydno's name also appears in lists of the

Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain The Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain (Welsh: ''Tri Thlws ar Ddeg Ynys Prydain'') are a series of items in late-medieval Welsh tradition. Lists of the items appear in texts dating to the 15th and 16th centuries.Jones, Mary"Tri Thlws a ...

. According to these lists, Clydno possessed a magical

halter A halter or headcollar is headgear that is used to lead or tie up livestock and, occasionally, other animals; it fits behind the ears (behind the poll), and around the muzzle. To handle the animal, usually a lead rope is attached. On smalle ...

, the ''Cebystr Clydno Eiddin''. The explanatory note attached to later versions of the lists explain the halter's property: when he affixed it to a staple at the foot of his bed, he would find whatever horse he wished in it.Jones, Mary
"Tri Thlws ar Ddeg Ynys Prydain"
From maryjones.us. Retrieved 16 June 2009. Clydno's son Cynon was also a figure of Welsh tradition. The poem ''

Y Gododdin ''Y Gododdin'' () is a medieval Welsh poem consisting of a series of elegies to the men of the Brittonic kingdom of Gododdin and its allies who, according to the conventional interpretation, died fighting the Angles of Deira and Bernicia ...

'' names him as one of the Britons who fought against the

Angles The Angles ( ang, Ængle, ; la, Angli) were one of the main Germanic peoples who settled in Great Britain in the post-Roman period. They founded several kingdoms of the Heptarchy in Anglo-Saxon England. Their name is the root of the name ...

at the disastrous

Battle of Catraeth The Battle of Catraeth was fought around AD 600 between a force raised by the Gododdin, a Brythonic people of the ''Hen Ogledd'' or "Old North" of Britain, and the Angles of Bernicia and Deira. It was evidently an assault by the Gododdin part ...

; at one point the poem identifies him as the only survivor. Later works mention Cynon's great love for Morvydd, daughter of

Urien Rheged 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, ...

, and he appears in the prose tale '' Owain, or the Lady of the Fountain'', taking the role given to Calogrenant in other versions of the story.

Notes

References

* Bromwich, Rachel (2006). ''Trioedd Ynys Prydein: The Triads of the Island of Britain''. University Of Wales Press. . Arthurian characters Britons of the North {{fantasy-char-stub