"You Can't Keep a Good Saint Down": Why Illtud is Still Rearing His Terrible Dragon's Head

Illtud Sites in Relation to Dinas Powys, Llanfabon, Campus Elleti and the Taff and Ely Valleys

A few days ago I wrote this piece, somewhat against my will:

https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2023/01/illtud-illtuds-ghost-and-eldad-magister.html

After all, I really didn't want St. Illtud to be = Uther Pendragon.  I could have swept it under the rug - and am somewhat ashamed to admit that I almost resorted to that tactic.  No matter how objective we like to think we are, the truth is we are often still subject to personal biases and preconceived notions.  I made the fateful decision to share my misgivings and to let the chips fall as they may.

Well, some map work engaged in since has served only to solidify the theory that Uther Pendragon may, indeed, be a nickname for Illtud.

I noticed that Llantwit ('Llan-illtud') Fardre was in Taff Vale

(https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/6637).  Why is this significant?  Because Llanfabon, the Church of Mabon, was also in that river valley (https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/6636).  

Furthermore, Llantrisant, where Illtud was also worshipped, was on the Ely River only a few kilometers southwest of Llantwit Fardre.  The Ely and Taff rivers share an estuary near the Dinas Powys hillfort, where Illtud was master of soldiers.  

Llantrithyd, another Illtud church, is just a little north of the famous Campus Elleti of Ambrosius (see https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-red-herring-of-llanilid-uther.html).  I'd long known that the Old French Camelot stood for Campus Elleti (and not one of the Roman period Camulodunum forts).

What that all means is that we cannot simply say that Mabon as a predatory bird (or war fury) of Elai/Ely was merely placed there because it was the scene of a battle or a monster fight in the 'Pa Gur.'  Mabon (the so-called saint of Llanfabon could be a Christianized version of the earlier sun god, or perhaps a 'divine son' nickname for the Christ child) belongs to the Taff and Ely valleys, where Illtud churches are also located. 

I feel this is proof positive that Uther Pendragon = Illtud, whose ranks, titles and descriptors match those of the Terrible Chief-warrior/Chief of warriors.

THE BEST ETYMOLOGY FOR ELIWLAD, GRANDSON OF UTHER

I'd struggled to come up with an acceptable etymology for the name Eliwlad, son of Madog son of Uther.  This being so, I went ahead and asked Welsh expert Dr. Simon Rodway at The University of Wales the following question:

"Could Eliwlad could be for Elei-(g)wlad, "Elei-prince"?  See forms for the Ely River below.

If we could derive Eliwlad from Elei-gwlad, that would solve pretty much every problem with this name and its context.  See Ely below in 1314, and Eli and Ele later for this river.  These are from the Melville Richards Archive, but I'm not sure it is an exhaustive list.

ELAI                

ELAI     Elay flu.   BLAEU WILLEM JANSZ(OON) - MAP 1645    

ELAI    Eley 1536 CAD CATALOGUE OF ANCIENT DEEDS, I-VI, LONDON 1899-1915 vi. C 7589  

ELAI     Eley 1666 CFL DEEDS AT CARDIFF FREE LIBRARY, ARRANGED BY COUNTIES Glam  

ELAI     r. Eli 1638 CFL DEEDS AT CARDIFF FREE LIBRARY, ARRANGED BY COUNTIES Glam  

ELAI     r. Ely 1314 CIPM CALENDAR OF INQUISITIONS POST MORTEM, LONDON 1898FF v.332  

ELAI     Elye 1607 HENSOL HENSOL MSS    

ELAI     Ley River 1536/9 LELAND JOHN LELAND/THE ITINERARY IN WALES 18  

ELAI     Ele 1536/7 LELAND JOHN LELAND/THE ITINERARY IN WALES 18  

ELAI     Elei   LL THE TEXT OF THE BOOK OF LLANDAV 204  

ELAI   Eley 1578 RM/BGA RICE MERRICK - A BOOK OF GLAMORGANSHIRE ANTIQUITIES 101, 112  

ELAI     Eley 1348 CIPM CALENDAR OF INQUISITIONS POST MORTEM, LONDON 1898FF ix.333  

ELAI     Eley 1229-61 CMG CARTAE ET ALIA MUNIMENTA QUAE AD DOMINIUM DE GLAMORGAN PERTINENT ii.462  

ELAI     Morva Lei 1514 CMG CARTAE ET ALIA MUNIMENTA QUAE AD DOMINIUM DE GLAMORGAN PERTINENT v.1782  

ELAI     ht. Eley 1719 CR RECORDS OF THE COUNTY BOROUGH OF CARDIFF I-IV iii.159  

ELAI     Elay 1760 EB/MSW EMANUAL BOWEN/MAP OF SOUTH WALES 1760    

ELAI     r. Eley 1586 HENSOL HENSOL MSS"

Dr. Rodway replied succinctly with "Yes, it could."

If Eliwlad, like Uther and Mabon, belongs on the Ely, then this is yet another reason for identifying Uther Pendragon with St. Illtud.  

THE "BRITTANY" OF ILLTUD

A few years ago I wrote a series of articles in search of the Llydaw that Welsh tradition insisted on locating somewhere on Wales or on the periphery of Wales.  It was in this particular "Llydaw" that Illtud was born, and from which he took his own wife. Probably the simplest summary of my findings can be found in this post: https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2018/10/uther-pendragon-was-born-in-vale-of.html.  There I demonstrate that "Llydaw", in this context, was for the Valley of the Leadon, which had once formed a part of the ancient kingdom of the Dobunni. 

Over the next few days, I will be resurrecting some old blog pieces which discuss the possibility of a "Dobunnic" Arthur, especially in terms of how such a theater for the hero would affect our treatment of the Arthurian battles as they are found listed in the HISTORIA BRITTONUM.