The notion of Niall as High-King of all Ireland are likely manufactured much as the notion of Arthur as High-King of all Britain. As I have discussed in many of my articles on Arthur, pan-island High-Kings are extremely improbably, though we do know that regional High-Kings or Over-Kings were a fairly common occurrence. It may stand that Niall was High-King of Connacht. Interestingly tradition holds that Niall’s mother Cairenn was a Saxon princess, though her name hints at a Romano-British origin with the Latin name Carina.

Niall is famed for his raiding, and is attached at the abductor of St. Patrick in such a raid. This would make him a rough contemporary of Ceredig of Alt Clut, as well as Coel Hen (late in his reign), and Ceneu ap Coel (early in his Reign.) The raid that took Patrick was very well likely on Coel’s own territory, and the impetus behind Coel’s late wars against the Irish and Picts, ultimately leading to his death ~440. Working backward from his descendant Forggus mac Muirchertaig, Niall’s birth can be fairly reliably be placed around 400-420, making him a younger contemporary of Coel Hen of Northern Britain. Patrick as mentioned earlier was captured and enslaved by Niall, and then was opposed to Niall’s son Lóegaire, and in some sources Lóegaire’s son Lugaid. With the later death of Patrick given in the annals it is very possible that a young Patrick was captured by Niall, grew up to oppose his son Lóegaire (who may be the father of Arthwys ap Mar’s wife Cywair who was traditionally considered the daughter of the Irish High-King at the time), and then in his old age opposed Lugaid. There are too many nuances to get into the chronology of St. Patrick, as well as the issues surrounded if there was one Patrick or two etc. but this is one probable scenario.

I have chosen to depict Niall in a Léine, a long calf to ankle-length tunic popular amongst the Irish and early Scots. His tunic is girded around his legs to allow for enhanced mobility whilst aboard a ship or fighting. He carries a belt knife as a general purpose everyday tool and if necessary weapon. He wears a simple leather belt, and a plaid cloak with a silver penannular brooch. He wears simple boots of leather tied at the top.

His war-gear is not dissimilar to what would be seen in Britain. A helmet of late-Roman style taken in a raid, as well as a maille shirt likely taken the same way. Mineral resources were scarce in Ireland, and such accoutrement would have been especially high-status and precious. The description of Cú Chulainn’s helmet from the Táin echoes the later memories of richly decorated ridge-helmets.

His sword is a simple late-roman spatha, with an organic hilt, though he may have carried a shorter sword of local make which seemed to retain popularity for a few hundred years after the La Tene period, when the longer La Tene swords fell out of favor in Ireland. He would no doubt have been armed with a spear, a shield and likely javelins as well, though I have chosen not to picture those here.

These are rough approximations, and I suspect that Eliffer’s generation was particularly long, pushing things back by roughly 10 years, but these birth dates are generally acceptable within 5-10 years in my opinion.

This places Coel’s floruit roughly around 410-440. This is perfectly timed for him to be impetus behind the reclaiming ‘Brigantian High King’ that Ken Dark proposes.1

Coel

The obvious choice here to depict Coel is of course as a Late-Roman warlord. He wears a Late-Roman style tunic with Clavi sewn on for high-status decoration. He ‘wears the purple’ as mentioned by Gildas of Ambrosius’ family, here in the form of his cloak, pinned at the shoulder with a commonly found Crossbow Brooch. He wears the same sword that his descendant Arthwys would wear 50 years later in his wars, my suggestion at a ‘proto-Caledfwlch', as well as a knife typical of late roman style seen with the Dura-Europos finds. He wears simple pants, and high calcei typical of colder climates.

Coel gets the works for his wargear. The same sword and dagger, with this time with the addition of ornate scale armour, patterned with lines of iron scales amongst the copper-alloy scales. He wears a high-status helmet of the Budapest style, with an expensive feathered crest. Under his armor he wears an (unpictured) padded subarmalis upon which leather pteruges are attached. He wears copper alloy greaves to protect his lower leg under his shield (unpictured). He carries a spear typical of the early 5th century, used as the primary weapon in formation, and from horseback.

You can find my other reconstructions below:

Arthur:

Late 5th early 6th century Brythonic Warlord

Peredur:

Late 6th century Brythonic Warlord

Domnall Brecc and Eugein ap Beli

A 7th century Dal Riatan warlord, and a 7th century Brythonic Warlord.

If you are interested in any figures/time periods that you would like to see a reconstruction of let me know in the comments.

Another curious interpolation (though it may not be so curious after all) within Y Gododdin comes in the form a quite evocative stanza telling of the Battle of Strathcarron, that post-dates Catraeth by close to sixty years.

The stanza is obviously meant in praise of the victor, but who was the leader of the ‘second’ array, this grandson of Neithon? Luckily for us, The Annals of Ulster happen to record the year Domnall died, and elaborate on how and where.

Read more

Most of the guidelines for the reconstruction were laid out in the previous article, but there are a few extras.

Above is part of Urfai’s elegy found in Y Gododdin. Peredur wears a purple cloak, a mark of high-status held over from earlier Roman days, as mentioned in Urfai’s elegy. Urfai was probably of Anglian descent despite being listed as a ‘lord of Eidyn (Edinburgh)’ Peredur himself seems to feature in the Poem as well, where he is called ‘Peredur arueu dur’ ‘Peredur of the Steel Arms’ seemingly commemorating potentially unique weapons. He fastens his purple cloak with a 'Quoit Brooch’ commonly found in the period. He also wears a copper alloy torc around his neck, simple copper alloy torcs being more common in the late-6th century.

For his war-gear he wears a darkened maille coat ‘He was a chief to the beats of prey in dark blue armour’ as well as a simpler derivative of the Ridge helmet popular a century earlier. He carries an early Anglian Seax, of the slim long early continental type, taken from a raid or tribute from the Anglian client of Deira. His sword is of typical migration era spatha make, with more simple organic fittings. There is a notable lack of swords in a Brythonic context. This is not evidence that they were not used however, as poetry and art indicate otherwise, but as they were generally buried without grave goods the potential for sword finds is slim, coupled with the likely scarcity and preciousness of high-status metals after the near-apocalyptic events of the mid-6th century1, I believe many swords may have been re-hilted with organic fittings as a practical measure in times of stress.

Peredur was the son of Eliffer2 son of Arthwys who featured in the last article3, and had floruit spanning from roughly 560-580, cut off early in battle at Catraeth, remembered later as Caer Grue in reference to Peredur and his brother Owain’s death’s there.4

Our next recreation will be Arthwys’ great-grandfather Coel Hen, showing a late-Roman warlord in his full glory.

Silken clothes and multicoloured cloth, far from the grim mud and grime of modern depictions of the dark ages. Joseph Clancy’s translation even notes ‘Gold-bordered garments.’ Included is a ‘crossbow’ brooch, common in the late-Roman period, and the belt buckle is a horse-head buckle common of late-Roman military kit. I believe many of the late 5th and early 6th century chieftains would have worn as much Roman kit as possible to emphasize their legitimacy and Romanitas, especially amongst the Coeling, with the Coeling High-Kings acting as Pseudo-Dux Britanniarum of their day. I have included the ‘multi-colored’ plaid tunic for local flair, plaid textiles are common amongst the various Celtic peoples (and Germanic) of Europe throughout the Iron Age. He also wears a torc of Eastern-Roman origin ‘Before Catraeth there were swift gold-torqued men;’. His white cloak is gleaned from the epithet of a warrior at Catraeth, ‘bratwen’ probably Brath-wenn ‘of the white mantle/cloak'

Read more

Like many figures from the Brythonic Heroic Age, Eliffer is quite obscure. He is mentioned in some of the pedigrees for men of the north, the Annales Cambriae, a handful of triads, and some poetic references. Many of these references revolve around the ‘Sons of Eliffer’ sometimes Peredur and Gwrgi of Ebrauc directly, sometimes a vague reference to more. Tread carefully, we will be speculating a bit in this, if that’s not to your tastes this article is likely not for you.

As we have before, the best place to start is by listing all of the places he can be found without comment. First the Pedigrees.

Bonedd Gwŷr y Gogledd

Gwrgi & Phered meibon Eliffer Gosgord Uawr m. Arthwys m. Mar m. Keneu m. Coel

Harleian MS 3859

Gurci ha Peretur mepion Eleuther cascord maur map letlum map Ceneu map Coyl hen.

Annales Cambriae

The battle of Arfderydd between the sons of Eliffer and Gwenddolau son of Ceidio; in which battle Gwenddolau fell; Merlin went mad

Gwrgi and Peredur, sons of Eliffer, died.

Triads

Three Prostrate (‘Humble’) Chieftains of the Island of Britain

Llywarch the Old son of Elidir Llydanwyn, and Manawydan son of Llŷr Half-Speech, and Gwgon Gwron son of Peredur son of Eliffer

Three Horses who carried the Three Horse-Burdens (edited to the relevant parts)

Du y Moroedd (‘the Black of the Seas’), horse of Elidir Mwynfawr, who carried on his back seven and a half people from Benllech in the North to Benllech [Elidir] in Môn. These were the seven people: Elidir Mwynfawr, and Eurgain his wife, daughter of Maelgwn Gwynedd, and Gwyn Good Companion, and Gwyn Good Distributor, and Mynach Naomon his counsellor, and Prydelaw the Cupbearer, his butler, and Silver Staff his servant, and Gelbeinefin his cook, who swam with his two hands on the horse’s crupper—and he was the half-person.

Cornan (‘the horned’), horse of the sons of Eliffer, bore the second Horse-Burden: he carried on his back Gwrgi and Peredur and Dunawd the Stout and Cynfelyn the Leprous, to look upon the battle-fog of the host of Gwenddolau at Arfderydd. (And no one overtook him but Dinogad son of Cynan Garwyn, upon Swift Roan, and he won censure and dishonour from then till today.)

The third Horse Burden was borne by [Erch] ‘Dappled’ the horse of the sons of Gwerthmwl Wledig, who carried Gweir and Gleis and Archenad up the hill of Maelawr in Ceredigion to avenge their father.

Three Principal Cows of the Island of Britain

Speckled, cow of Maelgwn Gwynedd,

and Grey-Skin, cow of the sons of Eliffer of the Great Warband,

and Cornillo, cow of Llawfrodedd the Bearded.

Three Fair Womb-Burdens of the Island of Britain

Urien son of Cynfarch and Arawn son of Cynfarch and Lleu son of Cynfarch, by Nefyn daughter of Brychan Brycheiniog their mother;

The second, Owain son of Urien and Morfudd daughter of Urien and Anarun archbishop of Llydaw (Brittany), by Modron daughter of Afallach their mother;

The third was Gwrgi and Peredur sons of Eliffer of the Great Warband, and Arddun their sister, and Cornan their horse and Tonllwyd (Grey-Skin) their cow.

Three Fair Womb-Burdens of the Island of Britain (Alternative text, likely older)

Urien and Efrddyl, children of Cynfarch the Old, who were carried together in the womb of Nefyn daughter of Brychan their mother;

The second, Owain son of Urien and Morfudd his sister who were carried together in the womb of Modron daughter of Afallach;

The third, Gwrgi and Peredur and Ceindrech Pen Asgell, children of Eliffer of the Great Warband, who were carried together in the womb of Efrddyl daughter of Cynfarch their mother.

Poetry

Ymddiddan Myrtin a Talyessin

Seven sons of Eliffer, seven men when put to the test,
who in their seven divisions do not avoid seven spears.

Englynion y Clyweid

Have you heard what sang Goliffer
Gosgorduawr, of the great retinue?
’Hateful truth is not loved’

From a Poem by Cynddelw

The pillar of the wanderers leading a life like Eliver

From a Poem of Dafydd Benfras

My tongue has related through the strength of the Trinity
a praise poem from my poetic inspiration, so elusive;
a ravisher takes possession of her, the feat of Eliffer,
a powerful warrior, a lord of bounty, enjoys her.

There is another later poetic reference that I have left out, as I cannot find a reliable version of the text.

Blank Puzzle Pieces

First let’s address the pedigrees. Within the two pedigrees given we see inconsistency, one placing Eliffer four generations from Coel Hen, and another placing him three, with instead a different father. We know from the pedigrees that Ceneu had at least two sons Gwrwst and Mar/Masguid (possibly three if Pabo is considered, though his chronology and pedigree are rife with issues, though it is no issue here). These two figures seem to equate a roughly east/west divide of Ceneu’s kingdom, which encompassed Coel Hen’s large ‘Kingdom of Northern Britain’ with the exception of Bryneich, which was likely held by Garbanian, Ceneu’s brother. Gwrwst, who appears as Letlum (his epithet, meaning Half-Bare) is usually given as kings of Rheged which encompassed the western half of the Coeling territories, while Masguid/Mar seems to have inherited the eastern half, centering around Ebrauc, encompassing Elmet as well. If Pabo is considered a son of Ceneu it would seem the Pennines were his domain.

Locating where these figures ruled is generally a difficult prospect, and usually we have to rely on sources outside of the pedigrees themselves. With Eliffer we can roughly pin down where he ruled though from his son Peredur, and eponymous text Peredur mab Efrawc. Efrawc, here confused as his father is likely from Peredur being given the epithet Ebrauc in now lost texts. This practice can be seen with other figures such as Maelgwn Gwynedd and Urien Rheged. The tradition then morphs Peredur of Ebrauc into Peredur son of Efrawc. It would then seem likely that Peredur, his brother Gwrgi (they are almost always mentioned together) ruled Ebrauc after their father, Eliffer.

Considering this, as well as the chronology involved, Eliffer as a son of Arthwys makes much more sense. Working backwards from known figures is essential here for establishing a chronology. We must work from known events in the lives of known figures that we have dates for. Luckily for us, the Annales Cambriae mentions Peredur and Gwrgi twice, once at a battle in 573 and again in 580 at their deaths. Peredur’s son Gwgon was seemingly of age in 580 upon his father’s death, as the Triad “The Three Prostrate Chieftains” tells us he was considered a Chieftain, old enough to succeed his father. If we consider 573 a starting point for the sons of Eliffer being ‘of age’ this gives us a rough thirty year floruit of 573-603. Considering Gwgon’s floruit should include the year 580. The beginning of Gwgon’s potential thirty year floruit could range between 550 to 580, giving him the earliest possible birth date of 530, and the latest at 560. This hardly nails things down, but gives us earliest and latest dates for him. This would place Peredur at 510-540. We can further tweak Peredur by considering his mother Efrddyl.

The alternate text of the Triad “Three Fair Womb-Burdens of the Island of Britain” gives their mother as Efrddyl, as well as telling us that she was the sister of Urien. This straightens out the chronology quite nicely. Urien was operating as “a Grey-haired lord” in the 570s, and his son Owain was leading his troops into battle during the same conflicts. Urien died, assassinated during a siege in the 590s. This leads one to believe he would have been born around 520 at the earliest. Urien and Efrddyl share a floruit of 540-570 in that case, almost locking Peredur in to 540. Considering a roughly thirty year generational gap this would then place his father Eliffer’s birth some time around 510, give or take roughly ten years. We can corroborate this by looking at both Urien and Eliffer’s ancestry.

Uryen (520) vab Kynvarch (490) mab Meirchaun (460) mab Gorust Ledlum (430) mab Keneu (400) mab Coel (370)

Eliffer Gosgord Uawr (510) m. Arthwys (480) m. Mar (450) m. Keneu (420) m. Coel (390)

If we consider the other Pedigree for Eliffer things are much more incongruous

Gurci ha Peretur mepion Eleuther cascord maur (510) map letlum (480) map Ceneu (450) map Coyl hen (420).

The missing generation complicates things, and the chronology suffers as a result, but why the confusion with Gwrwst as Eliffer’s father? The answer seems to sit with a very similar name, Elidir. The name Elidir and Eliffer have been conflated by many later writers, and one medieval manuscript seems to make a similar mistake (Bromwich accounts this as a mistake, others think they are the same name). In De Situ Brecheniauc, Nyuein or Nyfen is said to be the wife of Cynfarch, son of Meirchion, mother of Urien, and Efrddyl, and that Efrddyl was the wife of Elidir Coscoruaur. This early conflation of the names is interesting, though I do agree with Bromwich that it is a mistake. This is bolstered by the appearance of an Elidir alongside Eliffer in not just one, but two triads listed above. If this was a common occurence (almost making Eliffer-Elidir correct by the standards of the later writers1) there is a likely explanation for why Eliffer was appended to Gwrwst ap Ceneu in the Harleian pedigree. Elidyr Mwynvawr, a grandson of Dyfnwal Hen of Alt Clut is listed with a father named Gwrwst, considering the conflation of the two similarly named men it may be that in an intermediary work that the scribe of the Harleian pedigree was working from may have confused the two. With Gwrwst ap Ceneu an established figure in the pedigrees already the scribe may have left out Arthwys altogether and transferring Eliffer where he thought he fit, as the son of a Gwrwst.

We have a rough time and place for Eliffer, but is there anything else we can say of the man? I would wager that the rise of Ida in 547 is likely a direct result of Eliffer’s death, possibly even the cause of it. In a recent article I spoke of Ken Dark’s Brigantian high-kingship, which you can read about below.

In the article I lay out the most likely line of succession for this High-Kingship, or as I have jokingly started calling ‘Coeling-Prime’. Eliffer as the preeminent son of Arthwys ap Mar would have almost certainly held the seat of power for the High-Kingship in Ebrauc after his father’s death at Camlann, which you can read about here

If we consider some of the romance material as possibly having some roots in historical tradition (many hold that the Welsh version Peredur fab Efrawg to draw from earlier insular material) We are told that Peredur’s father is met with an untimely death while he is still a child, and left to be raised by his mother. Considering the rise of Ida and the establishment of Bernicia as an Anglian power coinciding here around 550 is quite interesting. This is of course not a certainty, and the romances are difficult to glean much truth from, if there is any to be had.

I have speculated that Eliffer likely married fairly late compared to many of his contemporaries, and the poetic reference in one of Cynddelw poem’s “The pillar of the wanderers leading a life like Eliver” is interesting, and maybe hold a tradition that Eliffer himself was on the move for much of his life, with his Gosgorddfawr (Great Army/Retinue) serving as a kind of standing army for his father late in his reign.

*HEAVY SPECULATION*

There are a few potential oblique references to Eliffer found in a few sources, which I would like to draw some attention to. These are speculative, but nonetheless interesting parallels.

In the romance ‘Geraint and Enid’ the name Elifri is given as a warrior going to Cornwall with Geraint, as well as the name of Arthur’s head groom. The two names seem to refer to the same person. Elifri is further mentioned in a poem by Gruffudd ap Maredudd.

While I do pause and note that the name game is tenuous, it is interesting that this rather unattested name appears so little. Many figures from the Hen Ogledd feature as part of Arthur’s retinue in later work. Eliffer’s cousin Guallauc appears as a warrior of Arthur, as does Eliffer’s own son Peredur. Owain ap Urien and Urien both figure in Arthurian stories, so it is interesting to see no remants of Eliffer… unless Elifri is that remnant. I would also draw attention to Gruffudd’s stanza from above, calling him “lion-bodied Eilifri”. My friend has shown that there seems to be an association with the Coeling and lions. A curious connection.

The position as head groom is an interesting choice, and would seem a tangent at first, but I think we can make something of it. There are two words often used to describe armies in the Welsh Matter, Gosgordd, and Teulu. Gosgordd seems to reference a larger noble retinue, used heavily in Y Gododdin, describing the noble troops of the Lord of Eidyn, this is reason to believe the Gosgordd was typically composed of noble cavalry, which Y Gododdin is primarily concerned with. The Teulu (a word meaning family) was used for a lords retinue as well, and the two may be interchangeable, but in the earlier period it may represent a division between mounted troops and infantry. This gives us the possibility that Eliffer’s ‘Gosgorddfawr” was the core of his father Arthwys’ mounted troops. It would be easy to see a tradition of such a figure evolving into that of head groom, but once again, wild speculation.

There is an another alternative to the triad ‘Three Fair Womb-Burdens of the Island of Britain’, from the Jesus College ms. 20, where Arddun has been corrupted to Arthur Penuchel and Eliffer is reffered to by the latinization of his name Eleutherius. This… is interesting, and may, along with the reference in one version of Historia Brittonum saying Arthur was “in British mab Uter, that is in Latin terrible son, because from his youth he was cruel” be the reason why Uther is given as the father of Arthur. I have speculated before that the poem Marwnat Vthyr Pen may in fact be about Eliffer himself.

We have a Chieftain making war against the kinsmen of Casnur, an obvious reference to Caw, the Pictish chieftain and usurper of Alt Clut who Arthur had a blood feud with, that likely was part of the impetus for the battle of Camlann. This chieftain’s champion “partook a ninth part of Arthur's valour” fitting for a son, much less for a father being eulogized, some translations make it the titular Uther the one who shared directly in Arthur’s valour.

It would not be difficult to see “Eleutherius of the Great Warband” to evolve into “Uther Chief of Warriors (one interpretation of the epithet Pendragon)” We are once again in extremely murky and speculative territory.

There is also the oblique reference to Eliffer, once again his name conflated with Elidir, as Elidure the Dutiful in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s work, where he is given as a brother to Arthgallo, Geoffrey’s veiled version of Eliffer’s father Arthwys, very little can be gleaned from this, but you can see that there was an interpolation in the line of succession, which I talk about here. Elidure is characterized as a good king, and rules well, though how much Geoffrey’s account matches actual events outside of very broad strokes (seemingly drawn from a lost, but low detail Northern Chronicle) is difficult to say.

An Empty Picture

Sadly, like putting together a blank puzzle even if you do get the pieces together there is still not much there. Was it likely that Eliffer lived some time in the early 6th century and ruled the Brythonic polity centered around Ebrauc, almost certainly. Was he the husband of Efrddyl and father of Peredur, Gwrgi, and Ceindrech, very likely. Son of Arthwys? If we trust our sources, probably. Unfortunately we run out of much solid ground there. He still exists as an interesting figure, straddling the gap between historical light and legendary shadow.

While I have previously looked at Elmet from it’s standpoint as a kingdom, I thought it worth touching on Guallauc ap Llenneac, who was likely it’s second king in his own article. Guallauc is well attested, both because Nennius immortalised him in his work Historia Brittonum, and because many poems featuring him have been passed down to us, mostly from The Book of Taliesin. Even with all of this attestation he is still quite veiled like most figures from this period, and it is only possible to say for sure that he participated in fighting against the Angles of the north, and then against his own kinsmen in Rheged, all in the later quarter of the 6th century. If we take poetry into account here, and work to glean historical references from it (which we should) the infamous Battle of Catraeth can be included (which you can find a fictional treatment of here1, and a non-fiction here2). But are there then any other possibilities that we can then glean of this ferocious one-eyed warrior king? Might be worth taking a look.

The first place to start is in my opinion the genealogies. We find Guallauc or Gwallog as he is generally called now in the Harleian genealogies as well as a different version in Jesus College ms. 20.

Harleian: Guallauc map Laenauc map Masguic clop map Ceneu map Coyl hen.

JC ms. 20: Gwallawc m lyeynac m mar m coyl hen.

At first glance these may seem a little at odds, but knowing when Guallauc was generally active, we can work out that the Harleian is most likely correct in the number of generations (possibly even missing one, though it may be that Llenneac had children extremely late in life), while the JC manuscript omits Ceneu, who some believe is apocryphal (I do not, see here3) The chronology makes more sense with Ceneu present. This also holds ramifications for Mar, and Masguid Gloff (Masguic Clop in the Harleian) and Batrum supposes that these are just two different names for the same individual, which I do agree with. With this info we can work out that Guallauc was likely born at the earliest 520, at the extreme tail-end of his father’s floruit (though there still may be a missing generation), making him an exact contemporary of Urien of Rheged, which seems to be generally accurate as far as the historical info we have on the two men.

The next place to look to is Nennius, which gives us a historical account that not only gives us a little information on Guallauc, but also on Urien, and a few others.

Adda, son of Ida, reigned eight years; Ethelric, son of Adda, reigned four years. Theodoric, son of Ida, reigned seven years. Freothwulf reigned six years. In whose time the kingdom of Kent, by the mission of Gregory, received baptism. Hussa reigned seven years. Against him fought four kings, Urien, and Ryderthen, and Guallauc, and Morcant. Theodoric fought bravely, together with his sons, against that Urien. But at that time sometimes the enemy and sometimes our countrymen were defeated, and he shut them up three days and three nights in the island of Metcaut; and whilst he was on an expedition he was murdered, at the instance of Morcant, out of envy, because he possessed so much superiority over all the kings in military science. Eadfered Flesaurs reigned twelve years in Bernicia, and twelve others in Deira, and gave to his wife Bebba, the town of Dynguoaroy, which from her is called Bebbanburg. Edwin, son of Alla, reigned seventeen years, seized on Elmete, and expelled Cerdic, its king. Eanfled, his daughter, received baptism, on the twelfth day after Pentecost, with all her followers, both men and women. The following Easter Edwin himself received baptism, and twelve thousand of his subjects with him. If any one wishes to know who baptized them, it was Rum Map Urbgen: he was engaged forty days in baptizing all classes of the Saxons, and by his preaching many believed on Christ.

This section mentions four kings who fought against the sons and grandsons of Ida, the first Angle king of Bernicia. These four kings are Urien of Rheged, Rhydderch Hael of Alt Clut (Ryderthen), Guallauc of Elmet, and Morcant (likely of the remnants of Brythonic Bryneich though some have speculated Gododdin).

This gives us the information that Guallauc was a king, (or at least some equivalent rank) and either fought with Urien in a coalition against the Angles, or at least fought the Angles himself. The direct reading leads one to think that they fought separately against the Angles, while the explanation of Urien being murdered by Morcant makes a little more sense in the context of the four kings being allied. There is further evidence however that Guallauc and Urien were allied, and this comes from a specific interpretation of the poem Y Gododdin as well as a line from the poem Moliant Cadwallon.

In Moliant Cadwallon there is a short mention of Guallauc

Y digones gwychr Wallawg
Eilywed Gatraeth fawr fygedawg."

Translated

And Fierce Gwallawc caused
The great mortality of Catraeth, greatly renowned:

Catraeth, which features in the poem Y Gododdin, seems likely to not be a purely Brythonic vs Angle battle as generally held, but instead a rebellion against Urien, who was likely somewhat of a high-king of the north during his reign. Urien, the lord of Catraeth is set upon by the Gododdin and their Coeling allies, Peredur and Gwrgi of Ebrauc (Distant cousins of Urien)4. Peredur and Gwrgi died in 580 according to the Annales Cambriae at a place called Caer Greu, likely a poetic flourish for Catraeth as discussed in my article examining Catraeth.

Guallauc, having been allied with Urien in the later 580s and 590s during the campaigns against the Angles is unlikely to have been on the loosing end of Catraeth, and as such was probably allied to Urien during the battle.

Guallauc’s territory being Elmet is also not something easily deduced. I discuss the reasoning behind placing Guallauc’s territory as Elmet here.

In one of Taliesin’s poems singing praises to Guallauc he is called "ygnat ac eluet" which John Koch has translated as "Judge over Elmet", potentially reinforcing this idea of Guallauc as a King of Elmet. In the same poem it is implied that Gualluac was quite a commander, and had subdued many other kings, fitting of his place at Urien’s side as a near peer.

The second quote here further reinforces his alliance with Urien, with Urien’s son Owain often being called Mabon, as well as the indication that he was present at Gwensteri, or the battle of Gwen Ystrad which is one of Urien’s famous battles, and likely another component of the battle of Catraeth. His place as a powerful warrior king is further bolstered by his remembrance in the triads as one of the “Three Pillars of Battle of the Island of Britain”

No doubt that Guallauc was a battle-king, worthy of the epithet given to him by Llywarch Hen, “Battle Horseman” or “Horseman of Tumult”.

Llywarch’s poetry indicates that while Guallauc was allied with Rheged when Urien was on the throne, Urien’s death seemed to have changed the hardened king of Elmet’s ambitions, who seemingly turned his attention to Urien’s sons, along with his cousin Dunod (likely of the Pennine kingdom of Dunoting) This is likely the last chronological placement we can make of Guallauc, sometime in the late 580s or early 590s.

There is another poem that discusses an incident in his youth in which he lost an eye. There is a semi-mythical quality to it, and much like his uncle Arthwys it seems that his legend grew in the centuries after his death. Part of this legendary status seems to circle around his supposed parentage. While Llenneac may have been one of the initial figures behind Lancelot (who himself has quite a bit of ‘woo’ associated with him, and honestly is rarely mentioned outside of the genealogies, poems on Guallauc/triads, and possible early poetic references as Llenlleog, and Leminauc.) he doesn’t seem to come with much appended legendarium, Guallaucs’s legendary qualities instead lay with his supposed mother. Guallauc was supposedly the half brother of Gwyn ap Nudd who is generally considered to be a wholly mythical figure, as well as the famed Caradoc Freichfras, who would have been roughly a generation Older than Guallauc. Caradoc is a semi-legendary figure himself, and was likely King of Gwent in the late 5th century. They share a Mother, a daughter of the shadowy Amlawdd Wledig, Tywanwedd. This is an unlikely scenario for obvious reasons. Peter Bartrum reconciled the disparate nature of their time and origins by surmising that their mother may have been seen as a fairy like figure, similar to Gwyn ap Nudd himself. The three are further linked by mentions of being together in 'Geraint and Enid' further strengthening the links between them. This stands as another example of how some of these links within later works evolve out of control. The Poem where he loses his eye further adds to this legendary mystique

This is obviously a praise poem, meant to bolster the man’s fame, however the repetition of the differing trees here partially anthropomorphised and ‘pulled out his eye’ lends and air of legend to what may have originally been a story of how Guallauc lost an eye to a low branch while riding. Gathering all of this together, and with what we know of other figures I think we can work out a rough chronology for this one-eyed warrior king.

520 Guallauc is born to Llenneac. Llenneac is the only son of Mar besides Arthwys that seems to have been a king in his own right, and being that his territory likely was bordered by significant Germanic territories, having children eluded him until he was close to fifty.

530s Guallauc loses his eye in a riding accident.

537 The Battle of Camlann: Guallauc is remembered as one of Arthur’s knights, and may have been present fighting at Camlann, a near apocalyptic battle in the wake of a volcanic winter that cause crop failure, and plague. Arthwys/Arthur dies, as does Llenneac. Guallauc at ~17 years old is crowned.

540-570 Relative period of stability. A fairly quiet period in the Hen Ogledd, both Urien and Guallauc are in the prime of their lives, and seemingly reign easy in the post-apocalyptic Old North.

573 Arfderydd, and Urien’s early battles. Guallauc likely allied with Urien and participated in the battle of Argoed Llyfain (likely a second component of the Battle of Arfderydd5). Guallauc and Urien are both conspicuously absent from the Battle of Arfderydd, which happened in what was likely a subkingdom of Urien’s, Caer Wenddoleu, where it’s king, Urien’s cousin/sub-king Gwenddoleu perished.

580 Catraeth/ Gwen Ystrad Guallauc assists Urien with his germanic Foederati against their cousins, Peredur and Gwrgi, who were allied with the Gododdin. Peredur and Gwrgi perish, Guallauc and Urien remain some of the most powerful kings in the North at the time, with Rhydderch Hael and Aedan of Dal Riata the only real threats.

~585 The Angles continue to grow in strength, Guallauc and Urien proceed to meet them in battle, sometimes winning, sometimes losing (possibly with the help of Rhydderch and Morcant, possibly not)

latter half of 580s Urien has driven the Angles of Bernicia to the sea, they are almost defeated when he is assassinated at the behest of Morcant. Guallauc wastes no time, and attempts to annex territory of Rheged.

590 Guallauc is killed in battle against the men of Rheged. Ceredic his son succeeds him, only to lose Elmet in 616.

I find Guallauc a deeply intriguing figure. Just enough mystery for your mind to wander, but there is enough there to at least glean some of what might have happened under his rule in Elmet. I may approach other figures in similar ways if this article does well. Guallauc also features in my new Coloring book, which can be found on Amazon here