- Llywarch Hen
Llywarch Hen (meaning 'Llywarch the Old') was a
6th century prince of theBrythonic House ofRheged , a ruling family in theHen Ogledd or 'Old North' of Britain (modern southernScotland andnorthern England ). He was first cousin to King Urien Rheged and may possibly have been a monarch himself in the same region.His life was the subject of a presumed lost saga of which only the poetry, a series of
englyn ion, survives. The words are put into the mouth of Llywarch himself, although they were clearly composed somewhat later, possibly in the9th century . He bemoans the death of Urien and returns toRheged with his severed head. OtherBrython s make war on Llywarch and he is soon found living in poverty. He is advised to flee to Powys and this he does. He is also sometimes associated withLlanfor , near Llyn Tegid inGwynedd .In the poems about Llywarch, known as "Canu Llywarch Hen", it is said he had twenty-four sons, but various sources list as many as thirty-nine, plus a few daughters. The "Canu Heledd", concerning the fall of the kings of the
Pengwern region, and the "Elegy for Geraint", concerning theBattle of Llongborth , are also associated indirectly with Llywarch.External links
* [http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/bios/llywarrd.html Llywarch Hen, "King of South Rheged"]
* [http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/celtic/ctexts/bbc39.html Ancient Texts: The Names of the Sons of Llywarch Hen]References
*
Ifor Williams (ed.), "Canu Llywarch Hen" (University of Wales Press, 1935). Original Welsh text, edited with notes.
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