In early

Arthurian King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a Legend, legendary king of Great Britain, Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest tradition ...

literature, Madoc ap Uthyr (also known as Madog or Madawg) is the son of

Uther Pendragon Uther Pendragon (Brittonic) (; cy, Ythyr Ben Dragwn, Uthyr Pendragon, Uthyr Bendragon), also known as King Uther, was a legendary King of the Britons in sub-Roman Britain (c. 6th century). Uther was also the father of King Arthur. A few m ...

, brother to

King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...

and father of

Eliwlod In some old Welsh texts, Eliwlod is a nephew of King Arthur. His father is Madoc, son of Uther Pendragon, an obscure brother of Arthur's mentioned a very few times in Welsh literature. Arthur thought highly of Eliwlod's eloquence. Eliwlod appears ...

. He is memorialized with "The Death Song of Madawg" () from the

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 ...

, which laments his death at Erof's hands; he is also mentioned in the poem ''Arthur and the Eagle''."Dialogue of Arthur and Eliwlod"
/ref> A Madawg's grave is mentioned in , which states: Court poet

Y Prydydd Bychan Y Prydydd Bychan (fl. c. 1222–68) was a medieval Welsh language court poet. His personal name is unknown. His father was the poet Phylip Brydydd. ''Prydydd'' was a grade of court poet, and ''bychan'' here has the meaning "junior" (somebody's son) ...

calls Madog both iniquitous and a celebrated lord and lists him among other heroic figures with the warning that this life is transitory.

References

{{Celtic mythology (Welsh) Arthurian characters Welsh mythology King Arthur's family