|
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> Nevertheless, if the genealogies are true, it would make Gwallog a distant cousin of [[Urien Rheged]]. 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 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 besiegebesieged 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>
|
