Pen Rhionydd

Pen Rhionydd in the Welsh Triads (no 1.) is named as Arthur's Northern court. This is one of the early triads found in Peniarth MS 54 reflecting information recorded pre-Geoffrey of Monmouth:

Arthur as Chief Prince in Pen Rhionydd in the North, and Gerthmwl Wledig as Chief Elder, and Cyndeyrn Garthwys as Chief Bishop. [ [http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/archaeology/killibury.html EBK: Castle Killibury, Cornwall ] ]

There are no other known references to this location in Arthurian literature which is strange if it was of great importance. The same triad goes onto say Arthur's other courts were at Celliwig and Mynyw.

Location

A strong contender for its location would be Penrith, Cumbria known as Penrhudd in modern Welsh. King Arthur's Round Table, Cumbria by Penrith, is a Neolithic henge. Another possibility supported by Rachel Bromwich, the latest editor of the Welsh Triads, matched it to somewhere near the Rhins of Galloway and Stranraer. [Rachel Bromwich (editor and translator), "Trioedd Ynys Prydein: The Welsh Triads", second edition (Cardiff: University of Wales, 1978), pp. 3f] This would match the importance of St Mungo in that area. Both these places would have been in Rheged.

It also has been suggested it is actually in North Wales at Morfa Rhianedd. [The Mammoth Book of King Arthur:--The Most Complete Arthurian Sourcebook Ever by Mike Ashley (10 April, 2005) - Carroll & Graf Publishers page 226.]

Notes

See also

*Sites and places associated with Arthurian legend
*Historical basis for King Arthur