Derfel, known as Derfel Gadarn ('' darn'': "mighty, valiant, strong"), was a 6th-century

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

regarded as a

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

. Local legend holds that he was a warrior of

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 ...

Family

Medieval

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

tradition held that he was related to

Hywel Hywel (), sometimes anglicised as Howel or Howell, is a Welsh masculine given name. It may refer to: * Saint Hywel, a sixth-century disciple of Saint Teilo and the king of Brittany in the Arthurian legend. *Hywel ap Rhodri Molwynog, 9th-century ki ...

, a legendary

Brython The Britons ( *''Pritanī'', la, Britanni), also known as Celtic Britons or Ancient Britons, were people of Celtic language and culture who inhabited Great Britain from at least the British Iron Age and into the Middle Ages, at which point the ...

ic king of

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

. He is said to be one of Hywel's sons in a late version of the genealogical tract ''

Bonedd y Saint The ''Bonedd y Saint'' or ''Seint'' (Welsh for "Descent of the Saints") is a Welsh genealogical tract detailing the lineages of the early British saints In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degr ...

''. Welsh tradition also makes him a brother of Sts.

Tudwal Saint Tudwal (died c. 564), also known as Tual, Tudgual, Tugdual, Tugual, Pabu, Papu, or Tugdualus (Latin), was a Breton monk, considered to be one of the seven founder saints of Brittany. Life Tudwal was said to be the son of Hoel Mawr (Hoel ...

and Arthfael (also reputed sons of Hywel), and a cousin to

Saint Cadfan Saint Cadfan ( la, Catamanus), sometimes Anglicized as Gideon, was the 6th century founder-abbot of Tywyn (whose church is dedicated to him) and Bardsey, both in Gwynedd, Wales. He was said to have received the island of Bardsey from Saint E ...

Life

Reputedly born around 566, Derfel is said to be one of seven warriors of Arthur who survived the Battle of Camlan."Welsh History Month: St Derfel and the Stag - icon or idol?", WalesOnline, May 2, 2013
/ref> Three of the six other survivors were also said to have become saints. While others survived through good fortune, Derfel survived "by his strength alone". Derfel is said to have been a noted warrior in medieval Welsh poetry.

Tudur Penllyn Tudur Penllyn (fl. c. 1420 – 1490) was a Welsh language poet during the time of the ''Beirdd yr Uchelwyr'', the professional poets of the late Middle Ages. Tudur's place of birth is uncertain, but he was probably brought up in the Hundred of ...

wrote: :''Derfel mewn rhyfel, gwnai'i wayw'n rhyfedd, Darrisg dur yw'r wisg, dewr yw'r osgedd.'' :("Derfel in war, he would work his spear wondrously, steel covering is the garment, brave is the appearance.") According to

Lewys Glyn Cothi Lewys Glyn Cothi (c. 1420 – 1490), also known as Llywelyn y Glyn, was a prominent 15th century Welsh poet who composed numerous poems in the Welsh language. He is one of the most important representatives of the ''Beirdd yr Uchelwyr'' ("Poets of ...

: :"When there were at Camlan men and fighting and a host being slain, Derfel with his arms was dividing steel there in two". After Camlan, Derfel is unanimously held in Welsh tradition to have entered the religious life. After a possible stint as a wandering

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...

, he is said to have entered the monastery of Llantwit. He was also associated with

Llandderfel Llandderfel is a village and a sparsely populated community in Gwynedd, Wales, near Bala, formerly served by the Llandderfel railway station. The community also includes the settlements of Glan-yr-afon, Llanfor, Cefnddwysarn and Frongoch. T ...

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 ...

, named after and said to have founded by him. He is also said to have served as the

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

of Ynys Enlli,

Bardsey Island Bardsey Island ( cy, Ynys Enlli), known as the legendary "Island of 20,000 Saints", is located off the Llŷn Peninsula in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. The Welsh name means "The Island in the Currents", while its English name refers to the "Islan ...

, succeeding his cousin St. Cadfan. He is said to have died of natural causes on 6 April 660.

Veneration

St Derfels Church, Llandderfel (geograph 5877243)

Derfel's feast day is 5 April. For centuries Derfel was venerated at the churches of Llanfihangel Llantarnam, which claimed a relic of him, and Llandderfel, which featured a wooden image of him; he was an object of pilgrimage at these sites. Derfel was depicted as a warrior in full armour riding a horse rather than as an ecclesiastic. The Llandderfel image was removed and dismantled by order of

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false charge ...

during the

English Reformation The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and poli ...

and used to burn a Catholic priest,

John Forest John Forest (1471 – 22 May 1538) was an English Franciscan friar and martyr. Confessor to Queen Catherine of Aragon, Forest was burned to death at Smithfield for heresy, in that he refused to acknowledge the King as head of the church. Life ...

, at Smithfield in London. This was held to be a fulfillment of a prophecy that the image would burn down a forest. Part of the image survives to the present day at Llandderfel.

In fiction

A fictionalized Derfel Cadarn is the main character in

Bernard Cornwell Bernard Cornwell (born 23 February 1944) is an English-American author of historical novels and a history of the Waterloo Campaign. He is best known for his novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe. He has also written ''The Saxon ...

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

historical fantasy Historical fantasy is a category of fantasy and genre of historical fiction that incorporates fantastic elements (such as magic) into a more "realistic" narrative. There is much crossover with other subgenres of fantasy; those classed as Arthur ...

novel trilogy ''

The Warlord Chronicles ''The Warlord Chronicles'' or ''The Warlord Trilogy'' is a series of three novels about Arthurian Sub-Roman Britain, Britain written by Bernard Cornwell. The story is written as a mixture of historical fiction and Arthurian legend. The books were ...

'', retelling the story of King Arthur in Dark Age Britain.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Derfel Gadarn 6th-century Christian saints Welsh Roman Catholic saints Medieval Welsh saints Arthurian characters 566 births 660 deaths