Gwallog ap Llênog: Difference between revisions

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'''Gwallog''' ([[Old Welsh]]: ''Guallauc'') was possibly a sixth-century ruler of [[Elmet|Elfed]], a region in the wider area memorialised in later Welsh literature as the [[Hen Ogledd|'Old North']]. The evidence for his existence survives entirely from two poems of spurious date and several other references in semi-legendary genealogy and literature well beyond his era. If this later material is to be believed, he was a member of the Coeling, a family which is supposed to have been prominent across several kingdoms in northern Britain in the sixth century. He is probably best remembered for his role in the [[Historia Brittonum]] as an ally of [[Urien|Urien Rheged]]. As with many figures of this period, he attracted much interest in later [[Medieval Welsh literature]].

==Life==

Our only possibly contemporary source for Gwallog's life comes from two [[Middle Welsh]] poems honouring him attributed to [[Taliesin]] by modern scholarship.<ref>This is because they survive in the [[Book of Taliesin]]. However, these two poems are not attributed to Taliesin in the manuscript itself, and the name 'Book of Taliesin' is an appellation of the seventeenth century. Nevertheless, even if it is uncertain that the medieval compilers of the manuscript attributed the poem to Taliesin, the poems are still called 'historical' Taliesin poems by modern scholars, following the categorisation in Williams, Ifor (ed.), and Caerwyn Williams', categorisationJ. inE. (trans.),''The Poems of Taliesin'' (Dublin: Institute for Advanced Studies, 1968), henceforth ''PT'').</ref> Though both poems survive in a [[Book of Taliesin|fourteenth-century manuscript]], one of the poems may date to Gwallog's period based on an archaic feature of the text.<ref> See [[John T. Koch|Koch, John T.]], 'Why Was Welsh Literature First Written Down?’ in [[Helen Fulton|Fulton, Helen]] (ed.), ''Medieval Celtic Literature and Society'', (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2005), pp. 15–31 (20). This is based on the occurrence of ''brot'' /brɔ:d/ for later ''brawt'' 'judgement' in line 17 of poem XI in ''PT'', a praise of Gwallog. This could make this poem contemporaneous with Gwallog's period, assuming this is not a case of orthographic conservatism, since the sound change /ɔ:/ > /au/ in Welsh has been dated in modern scholarship to the late sixth or early seventh century. See Rodway, Simon, ''Dating Medieval Welsh Literature: Evidence from the Verbal System'' (Aberystwyth: CMCS Publications, 2013), p. 14, n. 37, and p. 136.</ref> The first poem is a praise to Gwallog, and the second is an elegy memorialising him after his burial. There is very little biographical information in either of these poems, as they reference places and figures about which no corroborating evidence survives, neither contemporaneously nor in later sources. Nevertheless, it is said that Gwallog fought in battles all around northern Britain, against [[Kingdom of Gwynedd|GwyneddPicts]], [[Kingdom of Strathclyde|Strathclyde]], and the [[PictsAnglo-Saxons|English]], and [[Kingdom of Gwynedd|Gwynedd]].<ref>''PT'' XI, ll. 7, 21, 28, 36-7, 41.</ref> The second poem to him, his elegy, calls him the son of Llenog, and yields a connection to [[Elmet|Elfed]], since he is called ''ygnat ac'' (read ''ar'') ''eluet'' 'judge over Elfed'.<ref>''PT'' XII, ll. 21n, 37.</ref> Nothing is said about his manner or cause of death. Shortly after Gwallog's period, a probably contemporaneous poem to [[Cadwallon ap Cadfan]] claims that 'fierce Gwallog caused the greatly renowned death toll at [[Battle of Catraeth|Catraeth]]'.<ref> Koch, John T. (ed. and tr.) ''Cunedda, Cynan, Cadwallon, Cynddylan: Four Welsh Poems and Britain 383-655'' (Aberystwyth: University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, 2013), p. 190, ll. 30-1.</ref> Because of this, [[John T. Koch|John Koch]] hypothesises that Gwallog may have therefore been on the winning side of that battle, with the cause of the battle being that his rule over Elfed threatened by a claimant, [[Madog Elfed]].<ref> Koch, John T. (ed. and tr.) ''The'' Gododdin ''of Aneirin: Text and Context from Dark-Age North Britain'' (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1997), pp. xxii-xxxiv.</ref>

==Harleian Genealogies and the ''Historia Brittonum''==

The genealogies from [[Harleian Library|Harley MS]] 3859 (c. 850-950 AD), primarily concerned with northern Brythonic dynasties, give Gwallog's patrilineal descent as 'Gwallog son of Llenog son of Maeswig Gloff son of Cenau son of [[Coel Hen]]'.<ref>HG[§9] [''G'']''uallauc map Laenauc [194rb] map Masguic Clop map Ceneu map Coyl Hen''. See Guy, Ben, ''Medieval Welsh Genealogy'' (Woodbridge: Boydell, 2020), chapter 2 for the dating of the genealogies, and p. 335 for Gwallog's patriline.</ref> That Coel was truly the progenitor of all these dynasties, however, is a matter of ongoing academic debate, since the only testimonies of this common descent are from texts written in Wales hundreds of years after the kingdoms they represent disappear from the historical record.<ref>Ben Guy suggests that the genealogies were grouped together and made to derive from Coel Hen by the editor of Harley MS 3859. This is because the four men who are descended from Coel (Urien, Rhydderch Hen, Gwallog, and Morgan) are all mentioned in the narrative of the Historia Brittonum (see below), which also appears in the same manuscript. See ''Medieval Welsh Genealogy'', pp. 66-7.</ref> Next to nothing is known about Gwallog's father Llenog, who may have founded a (possibly monastic) settlement called Llanllennog, the ___location of which is entirely unknown.<ref>Williams, Ifor (ed.), and Caerwyn Williams, J. E. (trans.),''The Poems of TaliesinPT'' (Dublin: Institute for Advanced Studies, 1968), p. lv,; poem XI, line 5.</ref>

The other document of historical interest found in Harley MS 3859 is the [[Historia Brittonum]]. This text is a composite narrative cobbled together from Bede and other, lost sources, created in Gwynedd in 829 AD.<ref>See Dumville, David N., “‘Nennius’ and the ''Historia Brittonum''”, ''Studia Celtica'' 10–11 (1975–1976), pp. 78–95. It is still debated as to what extent the ''Historia Brittonum'' is useful as a historical source.</ref> In it, a series of events are connected to the reigns of various Northumbrian kings. Gwallog occurs in a section dated to the reign of [[Theodric of Bernicia]] (d. c. 572 x 593), where he, together with [[Urien]], [[Rhydderch Hael|Rhydderch Hen]], and [[Morcant Bulc|Morgan]], are recorded as fighting against that Anglian king.<ref>Morris, John (ed. and tr.) ''Nennius: British History and the Welsh Annals'' (London: Phillimore, 1980), §63.</ref> Gwallog is only mentioned in one sentence of this narrative, however, and it is unknown what other involvement he had in this campaign. According to the narrative, the four besiege Theodric on [[Lindisfarne]], but the alliance dissolved when Urien was slain by Morgan. This is perhaps because Lindisfarne was situated near Morgan's territory, and so Morgan felt threatened by Urien's power more than that of the weakened Theodric.<ref>Parker, Will, 'The Coeling: Narrative and Identity in North Britain and

Wales AD 580–950', ''Northern History'' 59, pp. 2-27 (19-20).</ref>

==Role in 'Saga Poetry'==

==Later reputation==

Like many of the figures associated with fifth- and sixth-century Brythonic-speaking territories in Britain, Gwallog becomes a figure in the later Welsh literature about the [[Hen Ogledd|'Old North']]. The historical value of these literary sources is doubtful, as are all to be dated even at their most conservative estimates around the same period as the ''Historia Brittonum''.<ref>Even Jenny Rowland, essentially following the arguments of Ifor Williams set down a half-century prior, dates the material concerning Gwallog in 'Canu Urien' to the late eighth century at the earliest. See Rowland, Jenny (ed.) ''Early Welsh Saga Poetry: A Study and Edition of the'' Englynion (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1990), pp. 388-9; henceforth ''EWSP''.</ref> The chronologically earliest pieces of literature post-dating the ''Historia Brittonum'' are called 'saga poems', so named by comparison with [[Icelandic sagas]], since it is thought that these poems originally were featured in longer oral or prose stories, much like the poems in the Norse texts. Like the Norse texts, these poems could be of historical value, but it is difficult to know by how much.<ref>See, e.g. Byock, Jesse L., ‘Saga Form, Oral Prehistory, and the Icelandic Social Context’, New Literary History, 16 (1984), pp. 153-173., for an overview of the Icelandic problem.</ref>

The somewhat later cycle of Middle Welsh poems associated with [[Llywarch Hen]] suggests that Gwallog later made war against Urien's former kingdom of [[Rheged]] in concert with [[Dunod Fawr]] of the [[Pennines|Northern Pennines]], attacking Urien's sons. Here, Gwallog is given the epithet ''Marchog Trin'', meaning "battle horseman".<ref>''The Poems of Taliesin'', ed. by Ifor Williams, trans. by J. E. Caerwyn Williams, Medieval and Modern Welsh Series, 3 (Dublin: The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1968), pp. lviii-lix.</ref> Again, this poetry probably tells us more about later legends of Gwallog than any sixth-century history.

One cycle of poems in this genre is called the 'Urien Rheged' cycle ([[Welsh language|Welsh]]: 'Canu Urien') by modern scholars, as the poems are concerned with the events after the slaying of Urien. What is suggested by the evidence of these poems is that Urien's kingdom was beset with enemies after his death, and Gwallog is among them. The poem states that 'Gwallog, horseman in battle, intended to make corpses in [[Urien Yrechwydd#Location_of_Yrechwydd|Erechwydd]] against the onslaught of Elffin (ab Urien)'.<ref>Pwyllei wallawc marchawc trin. /

Over time, Gwallog evolved into a semi-mythological figure akin to [[King Arthur|Arthur]]. In the medieval text [[Geraint son of Erbin]], he is named as one of Arthur's knights<ref>{{cite web |url=http://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/text/guest-geraint. |title= Geraint the Son of Erbin &#124; Robbins Library Digital Projects|website=d.lib.rochester.edu |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518190115/https://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/text/guest-geraint |archive-date=18 May 2015}}</ref> and also appears in the [[Welsh Triads|Welsh triads]] as one of the "Three Armed Warriors of the Island of Britain" and one of the "Three Battle Pillars of the Island of Britain".<ref>''Trioedd Ynys Prydein: The Triads of the Island of Britain'', ed. and trans. by Rachel Bromwich, 4th edn (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2014), p. 11.</ref> Gwallog is also mentioned in the [[Black Book of Carmarthen]] poem "''Ymddiddan Gwyddno Garanhir a Gwyn ap Nudd''" as one of the slain warriors escorted to their graves by [[Gwyn ap Nudd]], the lord of the Welsh [[Annwn|Otherworld]].<ref>''Trioedd Ynys Prydein: The Triads of the Island of Britain'', ed. and trans. by Rachel Bromwich, 4th edn (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2014), p. 372.</ref>

erechwyd gwneuthur dynin. /

yn erbyn kyfryssed elphin. ''EWSP'', 'Canu Urien', §39 ('Dwy Blaid')</ref> There are two poems from the [[Black Book of Carmarthen]] which reference Gwallog as well. Despite Urien's great reputation in Welsh literature, Gwallog is memorialised among other heroes as an ''attwod lloegir'' 'affliction of England'.<ref>''EWSP'', 'Mi a wum', §5 </ref> The other refers to a lost story about Gwallog losing one of his eyes to a goose, though it is apparently not meant to be a humorous tale.<ref>''EWSP'', 'Gwallawg', see pp. 104-6 for discussion.</ref>

The medieval Welsh ''[[Bonedd y Saint]]'' claims that Gwallog was the father of [[Saint Dwywe]], though this is unlikely to be based on sound historical information.<ref>W. Owen Pughe, 'The Topopgraphy of Meirion', ''Transactions of the Cymmrodorion, or Metropolitan Cambrian Institution'', 1 (1822), 150-72 (p. 169).</ref>

==''Welsh Triads'', Arthuriana, and later genaeologies==

Like many figures in this period, Gwallog features in the [[Welsh Triads]], mnemonic devices employed by medieval Welsh [[Bard|poets]] and storytellers (''cyfarwyddyd'').<ref>Bromwich, Rachel (ed. and tr.) Trioedd Ynys Prydein: ''The Triads of the Island of Britain'', fourth ed. (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2014), pp. lixix-lxx. Henceforth ''TYP''.</ref> Gwallog is recorded as a 'Pillar of Battle', though the details of why he might be called this moniker are lost.<ref>''TYP'' 5.</ref> In ''Ystorya Gereint uab Erbin'', a text of unclear relation to ''[[Érec et Énide]]'', Gwallog is included as one of Arthur's 'best men'.<ref>Evans, J. G., ''The White Book Mabinogion'', 406.19-20</ref> Very late genealogies give Gwallog's sister as [[Dwywe|Dwywai ferch Llenog]], mother of [[Deiniol]], first bishop of Bangor; his daughter was supposed to have been Onnen Greg, married to one Meurig ab Idno, who is also mentioned in the saga poetry.<ref>''EWSP'', p. 101</ref> Given the centuries between the saga literature and these genealogies, however, it is more likely that Gwallog's daughter and son-in-law are the creation of later genealogists familiar with the same material.

== References ==

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[[Category:Monarchs of Elmet]]