Gwallog ap Llênog: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 18:40, 16 August 2024

Revision as of 18:47, 16 August 2024

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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 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. ''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>''PT'', 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>[[David Dumville|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>[[John_Morris_(historian)|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>

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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>

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. /

erechwyd gwneuthur dynin. /

yn erbyn kyfryssed elphin. ''EWSP'', 'Canu Urien', §39 ('Dwy Blaid')</ref> There are two poems from the [[Black Book of Carmarthen]] (c. 1250) which reference Gwallog as well. Even though the manuscript is late, it has been argued that these two poems are representing earlier material. Despite Urien's great reputation in Welsh literature and Gwallog's apparent hostility to Urien's heirs, Gwallog is memorialised among other heroes as an ''attwod lloegir'' 'affliction of England' in one poem.<ref>''EWSP'', 'Mi a wum', §5 </ref> The other poem 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, as it has been understood previously.<ref>[[Rachel Bromwich]] took the story to be an entertaining anecdote, see Bromwich, Rachel (ed. and tr.) Trioedd Ynys Prydein: ''The Triads of the Island of Britain'', fourth ed. (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2014), p. 372. For the counterargument, see ''EWSP'', pp. 104-6 for discussion. The poem is found in ''EWSP'' under the title 'Gwallawg'.</ref>

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