ILLTUD, ARTHUR AND "LLYDAW": TAKING ANOTHER LOOK AT THE WELSH "BRITTANY"

River Leadon at Ketford Bridge

To begin, let's dispense with Bicanus, the supposed father of Illtud, styled a king of Llydaw or Brittany...

I tried to make a case for Bicanus being an Irish name cognate with the Welsh adjective bychan (or fechan), 'little.'  Since then, I've realized that what we have in Bicanus is merely a clever hagiographical pun.  Brittany was called 'Little Britain', Latin Britannia Minori or, in Welsh, Brydain Fechan.  Thus 'Bicanus' or Bychan is not the name of Illtud's father, but merely the 'little' descriptor borrowed from the territorial designation Brydain Fechan.  

What this means, of course, is that Illtud's father's name was not preserved in Welsh record.

So where was 'Llydaw'?

There are just three possibilities:

1) Llyn Llydaw near Dinas Emrys.  

2) An error for the Irish Ui Liathain

3) The Vale of Leadon

[For my etymological treatment of these places as possible "Llydaws", please see my previous blog posts.]

No. 1 I discount as it is plainly based on spurious tradition (something I've discussed in detail in the past). 

No. 2 is very appealing.  It allows us to not only explain why all subsequent Arthurs belonged to Irish-founded dynasties in Britain, but to also postulate an antagonism between Cunedda and his sons (the Gewissei) and the Ui Liathain (as actually stated in the HISTORIA BRITTONUM).  The Welsh sources place the Ui Liathain in southwestern and south-central Wales, while the Irish sources place them in Cornwall.  Welsh tradition often places Arthur in Cornwall.  If we do not allow for a major component of Irish in the original Arthur's ancestors, we cannot show why the name was later used only by Hiberno-British royal families.  

No. 3 makes the most sense from a purely geographical perspective. The Vale of Leadon bordered on the Kingdom of Ergyng, and Illtud's father supposedly married a princess of Ergyng.  Furthermore, Ergyng has several notable Arthurian associations.  Finally, the Leadon Vale had been part of the Dobunni kingdom, and later of the Hwicce.  The locations of Arthur's battles (all against the Gewissei) supports the view that the territory of the ancient Dobunni was the locus of his military activities.

And there may be a way to retain the Irish connection while remaining fast to the Vale of Leadon = Llydaw idea.  Illtud's father's wife was a daughter of Amlawdd Wledig (Anblaud W., 'the very terrible ruler'), whose own wife was Gwen, daughter of the Irish Ciannachta chieftain Cunedda.  This is, of course, a very tenuous link, especially given the fact that such pedigrees were likely created to enhance the reputation of ruling houses.

THE SOLUTION TO THE "LLYDAW" PROBLEM

http://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-solution-to-llydaw-problem.html