THE WELSH AND CORNISH FICTIONS CONCERNING UTHER PENDRAGON: DISPENSING WITH ILLTUD AND GEREINT

Hadrian's Wall, Showing Castlesteads (Camboglanna/Camlann), Burgh By Sands (Aballava/Avalana/"Avalon") and Drumburgh (Concavata, a word equivalent to "Grail") in Relation to Birdoswald/Banna and Carvoran/Magnis

Dea Latis ('Lake Goddess') from Burgh By Sands

Dea Latis from Birdoswald

Arthurian Battles Along with Hadrian Wall Forts Of Magnis, Banna, Camboglanna and Aballava

It is with a degree of sadness that I've decided to drop the Welsh and Cornish identifications of Uther Pendragon with the terrible magister militums Illtud and Gerontius (later Gereint).

I've come to the conclusion, after reviewing my huge body of earlier work on the probable presence of Arthur on the Wall, that the various strands of tradition that sought to restrict him to the Celtic Fringe in the South are not reliable indicators of sound historical nuclei.  

This has been a very difficult decision for me to make.  But the earliest sources (HISTORIA BRITTONUM and the ANNALES CAMBRIAE), when combined with archaeology and place-name studies, in addition to what little can be gleaned from (admittedly, manipulated and sometimes wholly manufactured) genealogies, has led me to the conclusion that the REAL Arthur belongs at Banna, although his maternal line may be traceable to neighboring Carvoran.  

The full argument in support of all this will be reissued in a final version of my book THE BATTLE-LEADER OF THE NORTH.  There I discuss the presence at Carvoran of a late Roman period Dalmatian garrison.  L. Artorius Castus had major Dalmatian connections and it is even possible he was born there.  After taking three legionary vexillations to Armenia under Statius Priscus, he was made procurator with the right of the sword over Liburnia, a new province carved out of Dalmatia on an emergency basis in the face of the Marcomannic Wars. We have evidence of Artorii in Salona, and a woman from that city was buried at Carvoran.  Another late Dalmatian unit served at York, where Castus had been stationed as prefect of the Sixth Legion.

Banna was manned in the late period by a Dacian unit whose ethnic distinctiveness is proven by the presence on stones there of the Dacian falx, their peculiar scythe-like sword.  I have written extensively on the Dacian wolf-headed draco, proving from an early archaeological find that this draco did possess a scaled body.  I have also demonstrated that there is not one shred of evidence for the draco among the Sarmatians.  While some such standard might be assumed, the sources - literary and archaeological - do not provide us with the means to show that they did possess a draco.  Experts on the Sarmatians have reluctantly confirmed this fact for me.  An oblique reference in a Classical source to Scythians with the draco refers not to Sarmatians, but to Alans.  

I've also suggested (and received significant positive feedback from professionals on the idea) that the dragon referred to on the Staffordshire Moors Cup is a reference to Banna of the Aelian Dacians, who may have been noted for their special fondness for the draco.  A Terrible Chief-dragon or Chief of dragons at Banna would be a good title for their leader.  We also know of a late Roman rank of magister draconum for the leader of the draco-bearers and it is not impossible that this rank is the origin of the Pendragon epithet.

I realize there will be a lot of Arthurian fans who are displeased with my jettisoning of the Southern Arthur.  After all, the Welsh and Cornish Arthurs are what we have gotten used to, and are what we have come to expect.  But it doesn't follow that either of them represent the historical Arthur.  And it has always been this last whom I have been most interested in finding.  

Gerontius/Uther and an Arthur at York

The other day I reluctantly admitted that the best historical candidate for Uther Pendragon was a Dumnonian Geraint who had "inherited" the descriptors/ranks of the great British general Gerontius:

https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2024/10/after-one-last-review-of-galfridian.html?m=1

While I find myself unable to deny the idea, I still dislike immensely. 

Why? 

Because it does not permit me to retain the northern battles sites for Arthur. Or relate the name Arthur to L. Artorius Castus.

However, I may be getting myself stuck in a box again. 

How so?

Because we need not assume that a 5th-6th century Geraint in Dumnonia was necessarily descended from Gerontius. We can't even know if such a Geraint had been named for Gerontius (although it is reasonable speculation). It's not even known if there was a Geraint in Arthur's time. He may have been later (see the ongoing debate about the date of Gerant's Llongborth battle).

Now, hypothetically, suppose Gerontius hailed from the North, and the whole mess got shifted to the Celtic Fringe of Cornwall partly because there was a Geraint there?

To find out if such a relocation of tradition could allowed, I had to look into Constantine III himself in more detail. For it was this usurping emperor who had appointed Gerontius his MM and MVM.

From Anthony Birley's THE ROMAN GOVERNMENT OF BRITAIN:

Sozomen gives no real explanation for the British soldiers’ action, except to

comment on Constantine, that they chose him, ‘thinking that as he had this name, he would master the imperial power firmly, since it was for a reason such as this that they appear to have chosen the others for

usurpation as well’. The magic of the name of Constantine, in Britain above

all, needs no documentation. Orosius has a similar version: Constantine was

chosen ‘solely on account of the hope in his name’. Sozomen’s remark that

this applied to the others as well probably just means that the soldiers had thought that Marcus and Gratian too ‘would master the imperial power

firmly’. Constantine’s appeal to the memory of Constantine the Great, who

had been proclaimed emperor in Britain almost exactly a century earlier, is made even more obvious by his assumption of the names Flavius Claudius. Further, his sons were called Constans, made Caesar in 408 and Augustus in 409 or 410, and Julian, who received the title nobilissimus.

When I asked Professor Roger Tomlin about the likelihood of Constantine III being raised to the purple at York, he replied:

"I don't see that York would be chosen deliberately for the magic of its association with Constantine (if remembered!), but nonetheless it is likely to be where Constantine III was proclaimed, since it was capital of the northern province (Britannia Inferior and its successor(s)) and also a major military base, if not the military base. His army was probably based there, even if it was operating elsewere at the time."

What that tells me is that Gerontius would have been at York as well. The same York where Castus had been prefect of the Sixth Legion. 

Castus also had strong Dalmatian connections. I've written about his possible birth there. After following Statius Priscus, then Roman governor of Britain, to Armenia, Castus was made the first procurator of the new Dalmatian province of Liburnia. Members of his family show up in Salona, and we have a woman from that city being buried at the Dalmatian-garrisoned fort of Carvoran on Hadrian's Wall just a short distance from the Camboglanna fort at Castlesteads. 

Another Dalmatian unit appears to have been stationed at York in the late period:

https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2020/12/carvoran-and-york-of-roman-dalmatian.html?m=1

Let us suppose an Arthur descended from Gerontius at York or at least an Arthur based at York or Carvoran who laid claim to such descent from Gerontius for the sake of legitimacy is our great hero. 

Does this work?

Well, the Welsh Eliffer or Eleutherius of the Great Retinue (a memory of the Sixth Legion) almost certainly belongs at York. His name, like Gerontius, derives from the Greek. Eleuthereos, meaning "the Liberator", was used of Constantine the Great, who had been proclaimed emperor at York. Given that in all likliehood Constantine III had been made emperor in that city as well, there may have been a sort of Dark Age relic of a cult of Constantine at York.

While Celticists have recently preferred *Pritorix for Eliffer's son Peredur, I think we are safe on still taking this name to represent Latin praetor.

Peredur died fighting at Caer Greu, which I've demonstrated to be tge Carrawburgh fort on Hadrian's Wall.

In Geoffrey of Monmouth, Uther's first battle as king occurs at York. Gorlois (a character created from Uther's epithet gorlassar) makes his first appearance after a York defeat at The Roaches, a site in the Staffordshire Peak District. 

I've elsewhere discussed the corrupt Welsh Triad which has a certain Arthur Penuchel be fathered by Eliffer of York.

In any case, Gerontius need not be confined to Dumnonia. And if I'm right and this man is being claimed as Arthur's father Uther, we should not feel forced to attach our hero to a Gereint who belongs in the remotest corner of Cornwall.

Of course, it is true that Gerontius the Terrible Chief of Warriors as Arthur's father may merely be another folklore or literary fiction, no different than the anachronistic Ambrosius or any number of other early legendary characters found embedded in the Arthurian tradition. A place-holder was needed for chronological reasons and Uther fit the bill.

AFTER ONE LAST REVIEW OF THE GALFRIDIAN TRADITION AND MY RESPONSE TO IT...

Coin of the British Usurper Constantine III

I have solved the Uther riddle once and for all.

My final clue came in the form of one of those nagging bits of place-name studies' results from Cornwall. I had noticed a couple of Gorlois names attached to Gereint sites. This made sense not within the body of any extant tradition, but only in my proposed identification of Uther Pendragon/gorlassar as the terrible MM/MVM Gerontius of the early 5th century. This famous, though ill-fated British general's military rank, so I had suggested, might have been assigned to a later Gereint, Arthur's actual father.

The whole idea came from the pseudo-history of Geoffrey of Monmouth. In that work, Vortigern the "superbus tyrannus" kills Constans, who was initially a monk. There's good reason for thinking that Vortigern was associated with Magnus Maximus "the tyrant". Hence the story of Vortigern and Ambrosius at Eryri - a reflection of Maximus and St. Ambrose at Aquileia.

This represents a strange conflation/confusion of history. For Constans I, who had actually gone to Britain, was killed by one Magnentius (a name based on the same root as Magnus). Magnentius is killed by a Constantius.

Constans II, the historical monk, is killed by Gerontius the magister militum and magister utriusque militiae. Gerontius is killed by another Constantius.

The vytheint elei Kysteint is Welsh for Constantius.

When I realized what was going on here, I got very excited.

That excitement didn't last. For my analysis of the vytheint elei phrase of the PA GUR poem made me realize that the tradition on Uther in that source had applied the Uther Pendragon name/epithet to similar descriptors and ranks belonging to St. Illtud.

Yet Illtud was said to be Arthur's cousin by marriage. The hagiography and genealogies made it plain he was not Arthur's father. Because of that, I wasted a tremendous amount of time and effort trying to foist a Sawyl reading on the MARWNAT VTHYR PEN elegy so that I could put Arthur at Ribchester in the North.

Well, I feel I can now put this all to rest in a simple and satisfying way.

Arthur's father was a Gereint of Dumnonia who was called after the ranks/descriptors that had belonged to his earlier namesake Gerontius. This helps account for the claim in the Uther elegy that he had fought alongside Gwythur, i.e. Withur of Leon in Brittanny. I suspect Henben or Old Chief (perhaps rather than Old Head) is for Gereint or Gerontius, a name meaning the Old One. Dathal of Arfon need not detain us anymore, either, as St. Tudual ended up in Domnonee, the Breton part of British Dumnonia. AND there was a Tudwal in the early portion of the Dumnonian royal pedigree.

The tradition embedded in the PA GUR, therefore, is merely wrong. It may represent an honest mistake or it may be an attempt to shift Uther from Dumnonia to southern Wales. In any case, as Gereint accords quite well for the father of an Arthur of Cornwall and the "West Country", I see no need to attach our hero to Glamorgan. While his mother could belong to Ercing, my study of Ygerna as deriving from the Carne name at St. Dennis, itself possibly transferred there from earlier carn place-names at Gereint sites, cast doubt on the veracity of Eigr as the original form of Arthur's mother's name.

What this means for me now is that I'm faced with writing an entirely new book based on a Dumnonian Arthur. Complete with a reexamination of Arthur's battles and of traditional southern sites like South Cadbury Castle, Glastonbury and Brent Knoll. 

It should be fun!

Uther, Illtud and Withur of Domnonee: Yet Another Reason the Terrible Magister Militum May Well = the Saint

Brittany

Neur ordyfneis-i waet am Wythur,

I was used to blood[shed] around Gwythur,

- MARWNAT VTHYR PEN

On the personal name Gwythur, see §15.31. Am ‘for, around’,

perhaps here meaning that the speaker was in Gwythur’s entourage.

- Note, Marged Haycock, editor/translator

Who was the Victor (Gwythur/Gwythyr) of the elegy of Uther Pendragon?

In the past, I'd written about Flavius Victor, son of Magnus Maximus.  No way to make him work due to chronology.  

I then looked to the Gwythyr son of Greidawl of CULHCH AND OLWEN, said to be involved with a contest with Gwyn son of Nudd in the Pictish North for Creiddylad, a personification of the Hill of Belief (https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2020/04/creiddylad-not-goddess-welsh.html). Nothing came of that exploration, either.

Well, a third man had come to my attention - and, alas, I rather quickly dismissed his possible importance.  This was the count or duke Withur in Brittany.  Having looked at him more closely, and with a more open mind, it is apparent that he may, in fact, be Uther's Gwythur.  In fact, I'm going to go out on a limb at the outset of this article and claim that I think Withur is the elegy's Gwythur.  

My readers will find posted below biographies of St. Paul of Leon and St. Tudual of Treguier.  But before I ask you to wade through those (paying attention to the highlights passages), I wish to first set out why I believe it is now within my ability to set out a clear explanation for Uther's apparent association with both Elei in the PA GUR and Caer Dathal in CULHWCH AND OLWEN.

As it turns out, the Tudwal who left his name (through the Irish form Tuathal) at Caer Engan in Nantlle was a student of St. Illtud.  Tudwal or Tudual eventually made his way to Brittany, where he became bishop of Treguier.  Furthermore, Paul Aurelian was also a student of Illtud.  He became bishop of Leon. 

At this point we should recall that Illtud, prior to becoming a religious, has served as master of the soldiers for Paul of Penychen.  Yes - the same Penychen where Paul Aurelian was born. 

Now, while I have argued for Illtud's Llydaw/Brittany and father Bican being a location in SE Wales or even Wiltshire.  However, what if Illtud really did come from Brittany?  Breton bihan is the cognate of Welsh bychan.  The former is found in place-names, but I have not yet had time to explore the word as a Breton personal name.  I did find the following, though, in 

https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=0472a7d99e55d4c3c7c9a9501a28812d80a2527e:

"Christian name + Bihan = son

When both a father and son share the same Christian name, another subsystem is used in the

spoken language whereby the term Bihan (small) is used to designate ‘son of’

Type-4 names: physical characteristics

Type-4 names are given according to one’s physical or moral characteristics, normally defects

or flaws. Le Bihan (‘small’, W. bychan; the Anglicised form is Vaughan; Cornish Bain, Bean)"

The point is that if Illtud came to Wales from Brittany as a soldier, seeking a prince to serve, he may well have first fought in Brittany for Withur.  

The association of Uther with Caer Dathal in Arfon might be due to his having been the teacher of Tudual of Brittany and a Breton himself who might well have hailed from the region of Treguier.

There is actually a Pleubian (Pleuvihan) just a little northeast of Tudwal's Treguier.  This was originally a bihan place-name.  See https://br.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleuvihan.

Please understand this is all VERY PRELIMINARY.  I'm pretty much just throwing out some random ideas that have occurred to me.  With that caveat out of the way, I can conclude this: a connection between the Breton soldier Illtud, prior to his move to Wales, with Victor of Leon makes a lot more sense than trying to establish a link between Uther and nonhistorical, purely legendary Victors whose origins cannot be traced.

There's only one other possible Uther candidate that fits with Withur of Leon and Tudual of Treguier (Domnonee): a Dark Age Geraint of Dumnonia.  I once wrote a great deal about this chieftain, as he may have been named for the fear-inspiring Gerontius, magister militum and magister utriusque militiae in the early 5th century.  There were a number of interesting place-name markers pointing to a Geraint as Gorlois, for example.  Of course, a Geraint cannot be linked to the 'vytheint elei' of the PA GUR poem; he could be linked (wrongly) to Caer Dathal through a supposed relationship with Tudual.   

Both of these men - Illtud and a Geraint (who, we would have to presume, had been given or had taken the military title of Gerontius) - could be the Terrible Chief of warriors.  When I have time, I will go back through my material on Gerontius and see if there is anything I missed. 

As threatened above, here are the entries for the relevant saints from Bartrum and Butler:

https://www.library.wales/discover/digital-gallery/printed-material/a-welsh-classical-dictionary

PAUL, ST., of Léon. (480) The ‘Fleury’ MS. of the Life was published in the Revue Celtique, V (1883) pp.413-460. Handwriting of 10th century. Some gaps can be made good by another MS. of c.1100 (Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, MS. Latin 12,942), ed. Dom Plaine in Analecta Bollandiana, 1 (1882) pp.208ff. The author gives his name as Wrmonoc, and says that he finished his work in the year 884.  

The following analysis is taken from that given by G.H.Doble in The Saints of Cornwall, I. 11- 28. §1. Paul, surnamed Aurelian, was son of a certain count Perphirius, who came from Penn Ohen, in Latin Caput Boum, [Penychen]. This man had eight brothers who all lived in Brehant Dincat, in Latin Guttur receptaculi pugnae [Gullet of the place of refuge from battle (1)], and three sisters. Those named are: brothers, Notolius and Potolius, and a sister, Sitofolla. Paul consecrated himself to the service of God. 2. Iltutus lived at an island called Pyrus [Ynys Byr = Caldy Island] and had many disciples. Paul was handed over by his parents to Iltutus. 3. Among Iltut's disciples were Paul, Devius [Dewi] called ‘Aquaticus’, Samson and Gildas. 7. Paul, aged 16, departed for the seclusion of the desert. He built an oratory which now bears the names of his brothers [?Llanddeusant in Ystrad Tywi]. Here he was ordained priest by the bishop. 8. His fame reached the ears of king Marc, quem alio nomine Quonomorium vocant, ‘whom others call by the name Quonomorius’, a powerful monarch, under whose rule lived peoples of four different languages. Marc desired Paul to settle firmly the foundations of the Christian faith which had recently been laid in that country. Paul went to Villa Bannhedos (Caer Banhed, Villa Benhedos in  the Paris MS.) where the bones of Marc now rest. He remained some time instructing the people. Marc wished him to accept the office of bishop over the country, but Paul declined and decided to leave. 9. He set out and arrived at the house of his sister, aforementioned, who was living in the furthest recesses of that country, on the shores of the British Sea, having become a nun. 10. Paul set sail and landed at an island named Ossa [Ushant]. 11. Twelve presbyters came with him under their master (To-)Quonocus, and Decanus, a deacon, namely: Iahoevius, Tigernomalus, Toseocus Siteredus, Woednovius also called Towoedocus, Gellocus, Bretowennus, Boius, Winniavus, Lowenanus, Toetheus also called Tochicus, Chielus, and Hercanus also called Herculanus. All these had memorials and basilicas built in their honour. 12. He set out again and came to pagus Achniensis [Ach] which they call Telmedovia [Ploudalmézeau] in the west of Domnonia. 15. Paul learnt that the lord of the land was Withur. He came to the city (oppidum) which is now called by his name [i.e. Saint-Pol-de-Léon]. 16. Paul came to Battham insulam [Isle of Batz] where Withur often came for quietude. 17. Paul met Count Withur who was his cousin. 18. Paul spent the rest of his days in that island and in the oppidum [St.Pol-de-Léon]. 19. Withur and the people wished to make Paul bishop, but knowing that he would object, and perhaps leave, decided on the stratagem of sending Paul to king Philibert [Childebert, 511-558], secretly asking him to have him made bishop, even against his will. So he was consecrated by three bishops. 20. Worn out with age Paul ordained one of his disciples, Iahoevius, to exercise the episcopal office in his place, but after a year Iahoevius died, and Paul appointed Tigernomalus, who also died after a year. So Paul himself resumed duties again, then chose Cetomerinus. On the very day of consecration, Iudual Candidus, the noble duke of a great part of Domnonia, said to be a cousin of St.Samson, had come to see Paul, and made him a grant of land. Paul departed to the Isle of Batz, where he lived some years, very frail, till he died at the age of 104 or over. 22. He died on March 12. NOTES ON THE LIFE §1. The cognomen Aurelianus may be due to the fact that his remains were removed to Fleury near Orleans (Aureliani) in the 10th century (DNB). Paul is often called Paulinus in Brittany (Doble pp.32, 36). The author took ‘brehant’ to be Welsh breuant, ‘throat’ or ‘windpipe’ and mistranslated the personal name Dincat. Doble pointed to Llandingad the parish of Llandovery which has a chapel, Capel Peulin, dedicated to St.Paulinus [of Wales] (Doble pp.33-34). See further note to §7. Penn Ohen [Penychen] was perhaps suggested by the name Pawl Penychen (q.v.). 2. The author of the Life knew that Paul studied under St.Illtud with St.Samson. He got ‘Pyrus’ from the Life of Samson (Doble p.29), but Paul more probably studied under Illtud at Llanilltud Fawr as implied in the Life of Illtud. 3. This list of Illtud's pupils agrees with that in the Life of Illtud (§11) except for the order and the fact that the latter has Paulinus instead of Paul. A.W.Wade-Evans assumed that Paulinus here stood for Paul (VSB index s.n.Paulinus). 7. For the identification with Llanddeusant see Doble p.34. The festival there was on October 10 which is the day of St.Paulinus of York, but was also appropriated to the Welsh Paulinus (q.v.) mentioned in the Life of St.David, etc. Doble believed that Wrmonoc was mistakenly drawing here from a lost Life or tradition of this Paulinus (pp.33-34). 8. On the much discussed identification of Marc with Quonomorius, see s.nn. Conmor, March ap Meirchion. Although the Life is quite vague about the locality of Marc, and Caer Banhed has not been identified, Doble does not doubt that St.Paul is now in Cornwall, although he could be anywhere between Morgannwg and Brittany (TYP p.445-6). 9. Sitofolla is not the same as Sativola or Sidwell (q.v.), pace LBS. Doble thinks that the most probable site of Sitofolla's convent was on Mount's Bay near that part called Gwavas Lake. This is not far from Paul near Penzance which is probably a foundation of Paul although officially dedicated to Paulinus with parish feast on October 10. The site fits the description in the Life, and would be an ideal place from which to sail for Ushant (Doble pp.40-42, 59). 11. For identifications of many of these presbyters see Doble pp.43-46. In particular Iahoevius = Iaoua or Ioevin of whom there is a late Life, in which he is said to be son of a sister of Paul. See LBS III.333-4. There was a little monastery of Lampaul on Ushant [Île d'Ouessant] (Doble p.43). 15. Withur was probably a very local ‘lord’ (PCB). The name = Victor (Doble p.49), Welsh Gwythur or Gwythyr. The ‘count’ of Léon at the time was probably Conmor (q.v.), whence Quonomorius of §8, followed by Iudual (q.v.) of Domnonée (PCB). 19. Philibert (also mentioned in §15) wrongly for Childebert, king of Paris, 511-558, is similarly called Philibert in the Life of St.Malo. See s.n. Malo §6. ____________________ In the Vie de S.Guevroc ou Kirecq, Albert Le Grand says that when Guevroc was in solitude at Ploudaniel in Léon, St.Paul paid him a visit and persuaded him to acompany him to his monastery of Occismor where he worked under St.Paul for many years (LBS II.197). Albert le Grand also brings S.Tanguy into contact with Paul (Doble p.53; LBS I.187). St.Paul also enters into the Life of the Breton saint Tudual (q.v.).

TUDUAL. Breton Saint. (480) Three Lives were edited by Arthur le Moyne de la Borderie in Mémoires de la Soc. Archéol. des Côtes-du-Nord, Second Series, II.77-122. ‘His mother was called Pompaia, the sister of count Rigual [Riwal] who was the first of the Britons to come from beyond the sea’. Pompaia is thought to be the same as Alma Pompa, the mother of Leonorius (LBS I.299). In the Life of St.Brioc he is said to be nephew of Brioc. He is also mentioned in the Life of St. Briac. He was born in Wales and educated under St.Illtud. He crossed over to Brittany and founded the monastery of Tréguier on the Jaudy on land granted to him by Deroch son of Rigual. St.Paul was then at Léon. See LBS I.263, 296-7, IV.271-4; G.H.Doble, The Saints of Cornwall, IV.92-93 and n.30. November 30 is the commonest date given for his commemoration (LBS IV.273). John of Glastonbury (Chronica, ed. Thomas Hearne, p.450) says that at Glastonbury was preserved ‘a bone of St.Rumon, brother of St.Tidwal’ (G.H.Doble, The Saints of Cornwall, II.125).  

From

 

https://books.google.com/books?id=u32OUS4-yd0C&dq=Tudwal&pg=PA5#v=onepage&q=Tudwal&f=false:

(1)

The "gullet" interpretation is interesting, as the tagel of the Galfridian Tintagel is the Cornish form of Welsh tagell.  From the GPC:

tagell 

[tag1+-ell, Llyd. Diw. tagell ‘magl, byddag; coler’; ?cf. yr e. lle Crn. Tintagel] 

eb. ll. tagellau, tagelli, tegyll.

Plyg llac o groen sy’n hongian o dan wddf tarw, &c., plyg tebyg o dan wddf anifail arall, neu aderyn, neu berson, hefyd yn dros.; organ anadlu mewn pysgod, &c., sef meinwe fasgwlar sy’n cymryd ocsigen o’r dŵr sy’n llifo drosti, cragen, crogen; unrhyw un o’r ffurfiannau rheiddiol tebyg i ddail a geir o dan gap madarchen ac sy’n cynhyrchu sborau; (corn) gwddf; adfach, magl:

dewlap, jowl, wattle, double chin, also transf.; gill (in fish, &c., and in fungi); throat, windpipe; barb, snare.

In the past, I had made the case for Geoffrey of Monmouth's Tintagel being a relocation of Caer Dathal.

CAER DATHAL AND THE IRISH PROBLEM

Llyn Nantlle Uchaf

When we look at the 'vythneint elei' of the PA GUR poem and settle on 'raptors (?) of Ely [River in Glamorgan]' as the proper translation, the identification of Uther as servant of Mabon - one of those raptors - becomes rather easy.

BUT (and there is always a "but", it seems in Arthurian research!)... such an identification of Uther (with St. Illtud) is rendered profoundly more difficult when we take two factors into consideration.

A.

1) The "Stanzas of the Graves" places the god Mabon's grave in Nantlle, the location of Caer Dathal ( = Caer Engan).

2) From Note 288, Page 96 of Rachel Bromwich and Daniel Simon Evan's CULHWCH AND OLWEN: AN EDITION AND STUDY OF THE OLDEST ARTHURIAN TALE, The University of Wales, 1992:

"Gwynn Gotyuron: Gwin Godybrion is found in Pa Gur.  In a corrupt form he appears as Gwyn Goluthon among the sons of Iaen [Hanesyn Hen tract]."

The Sons of Iaen, of course, resided at Caer Dathal.  

3) Uther was said to have relatives at Caer Dathal in Culhwch and Olwen.

4) Arthur took a wife (Eleirch) from Caer Dathal, according to the Hanesyn Hen tract.

5) Kysceint son of Banon (corrupted to Iscawyn son of Panon) is properly Cysteint, 'Constantius', a name associated with Segontium/Caernarvon, a dozen kilometers north of Nantlle.  Another son of Iaen at Caer Dathel - Siawn - is in the Stanzas of the Graves buried at Hirael hard by Bangor, just a little farther north from Caernarvon.  

6) Eliwlad the eagle son of Madog son of Uther, is said to be in the wooded glen of Cornwall (Cernyw).  This has been identified as the Bodmin valley.  However, the death-eagle in an oak is a motif borrowed directly from the god Lleu as death-eagle in an oak at Nantlle.  And Cutmadoc in Bodmin is the exact Cornish equivalent of Coed Madog in Nantlle.  My feeling is that Eliwlad's placement in Cornwall may be due to the CANU HELEDD's Eagle of Eli, as Eli is a place-name found in the heart of the old Cornovii kingdom (see https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-location-of-eagles-eli-another.html). Cunorix/Cynric son of Maquicoline/Ceawlin/Cunedda was buried at Wroxeter in Cornovii, the later Powys.  Or Eliwlad was just transferred to Cornwall because Arthurian associations there became common during the development of Arthurian legend.  

7) I've written before, rather extensively, on the Galfridian Tintagel being a relocation for Caer Dathal.  The linguistic argument, based on early forms and possible development of the Tintagel place-name, is quite reasonable (see https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2022/06/notes-on-cornish-place-name-tintagel.html).

Conclusion:

Other than the PA GUR reference to Elei, no other source places the vyth[n]eint or Uther (or Arthur, for that matter) in that location.  

B.

We must be able to account for why the subsequent Arthurs in Dyfed and Dalriada belonged to Irish-descended dynasties in Britain.  We cannot do this if we opt for St. Illtud as Arthur's father.  On the other hand, if Caer Dathal were inhabited by the Irish or by Hiberno-British, we can account for this.  I have elsewhere suggested this fort may have belonged to Cunedda.  

DISCUSSION

To make vythneint elei work for us as a corruption of gwyth nant lleu, "the battle-furious of Nantlle", there are some conditions that must apply.

First, the /e/ of elei must be accounted for.  This is not so difficult, as in one of the two MSS. containing CULHWCH AC OLWEN the scribe has rendered Nant Lleu as 'Nant y Llew' ("Valley of the Lion"). 

From Dr. Simon Rodway:

"The '6' character in medieval Welsh MSS is sometimes transcribed as w and sometimes as v. Different scribes used it in different ways to represent the sounds we now write as w and u in Welsh."

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/ca7687a56bb343ab9716af16db3f80dc:

Also, the PA GUR line in question has to rhyme in -i.  We can see the rhyme scheme for the relevant lines of the poem:

Ym ty ny doi.

Onysguaredi.

Mi ae guardi.

Athi ae gueli.

Vythneint elei.

Assivyon ell tri.

Of course, this question is moot if we simply propose that elei was incorporated into the poem as an error.  But we also possess (admittedly late spellings) of Nantlle which show -y and -i endings (these may be found in the Melville Richards Archive), e.g. Nantlley, Nantlli.  As these are post-medieval, they aren't of much value.  I only mention them because it shows a tendency in the later period, at least, to alter the ending of the place-name in such a way as to accord with the PA GUR's end-rhyme requirement for elei. 

We need a five-syllable line to match the other lines of the poem.  Again, once the elei form was adopted by the author, the five-syllable requirement was met.

Perhaps the biggest barrier of all is the problem of lenition.  In other words, can we justify the mutation of gwyth to wyth? 

Welsh scholars seem to have no problem with this possibility.  The following two notes are from Sir Ifor Williams' Taliesin poems and Nerys Ann Jones' ARTHUR IN EARLY WELSH POETRY:

Prof. Peter Schrijver explained this problem to me thusly:

"In Old Welsh, unlenited gw- (which in MW is spelled gw, gu, gv) was initially spelled as u-, sometimes uu-. It is conceivable that if an OWelsh exemplar of the poem existed and the MWelsh scribe copied from that, he may have failed to modernize the spelling in this particular instance, spelling v- rather than gv- (gu-); perhaps because he no longer understood what the word/line meant."

My next blog post will focus on Caer Dathal, Cunedda, and why it is, exactly, that the move away from Illtud on the Ely should be preferred.  

WHEN IS A COINCIDENCE NOT A COINCIDENCE?: WHY I CAN'T LET GO OF ILLTUD AS UTHER

Liddington Castle (Badbury)

The testimony of the PA GUR concerning the very real possibility that Uther Pendragon is a Welsh rendering of military titles and descriptors given to Illtud when he served in a fort on/near the Ely (either Dinas Powys or Caerau, the latter being the old Silures oppidum) is not easily set aside.

Why?

Because of the age of the poem itself.  Most scholars (see p. 30 of Nerys Ann Jones' ARTHUR IN EARLY WELSH POETRY) give the date of the PA GUR's composition as between 900 and 1100.  But John Koch (footnote to same cited source) says that an 8th century composition is not implausible.

In several articles, I have discussed the striking coincidence between the Welsh Bicknor (Llancustennin/ St. Constantine's Church) and Lydbrook claimed as Illtud's home and the Bican Dyke and Lydbrook at Liddington Castle/Badbury.  The real question is: can we possibly encounter a coincidence this immense?  I mean, Liddington Castle was a Badbury, the Second Battle of Badon in the Welsh Annals is almost certainly at this Badbury, and there is a Barbury or Bear's Fort and Durocornovium (a very nice Cernyw) hard by.  

https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2024/10/illtud-knight-rides-again.html

https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2023/01/illtuds-father-bicanus-and-his-llydaw.html

https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2018/05/arthur-and-beranburhbarbury-critical.html

What I haven't done yet is determine whether Illtud's presence at Durocornovium fits in with archaeology.  The sites in SE Wales might well be the result of relocation to the Celtic Fringe, a result of the original location having long been in English and Norman hands.  But if the area of Liddington Castle was already English by Arthur's time, then clearly Illtud was not born at Durocornovium.  

The following two helpful maps are drawn from Higham.  The third map is the location of Liddington Castle for the sake of comparison.

When we look at these maps, we need to bear in mind that Arthur's Badon victory is c. 516, while his death at Camlann is c. 537.  

What these clearly show us is that, in fact, Liddington Castle and its immediate environs were still in British hands during Arthur's floruit.  They fit in with a battle at Badon c. 516.

But what about Camlann?  I have made a case for a "Dobunni theater" Camlann at Uley Bury hillfort, a 'Crooked Enclosure' on a Cam stream in Gloucestershire.  Here is Higham's map of 560 Britain, along with another showing the location of Uley.

Interestingly, Uley is literally right on the frontier zone.

So, when it comes to the possiibility of Illtud hailing from Durocornovium, we must answer in the affirmative.  And, in fact,  both a battle at Badbury and another at Uley make really good sense when we plug those into the archaeological maps.

On the viability of Liddington Castle itself during the Arthurian period:

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1016312?section=official-list-entry

"A small scale excavation in 1976 found that the rampart was constructed in at least four phases, the latest being a re-fortification during the Saxon period."

NOTE: 

The C&O tradition that links Uther and Arthur to Caer Dathal in Arfon is in direct conflict with the PA GUR's apparent localization of Uther at the River Ely.  I will turn my attention to this remaining problem in a future blog post.

CAER DATHAL VERSUS ELEI AND THE CORNISH TRADITION FOR ARTHUR: WEAVING TOGETHER THE STRANDS OF LEGEND INTO A GRAND UNIFYING THEORY?

Beginning of the MARWNAT VTHYR PEN

As a result of completing my last blog post (https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2024/10/caer-dathal-and-irish-problem.html), I find it necessary to once again look towards the very real possibility that Uther is actually Cunedda.  

Sometimes, when I look for a nice, simple, clean Arthurian theory, I become myopic. And I also tend to relinquish a very good theory in favor of a newer one that I find more exciting. These are errors of methodology that I'm seeking to redress.

I once was certain I had discovered the real Uther Pendragon when I was able to draw a connection between the Pen Kawell of the Uther elegy and Ceawlin of the ANGLO-SAXON CHRONICLE. In brief, Welsh cawell is "basket", as is AS ceawl. As I had long ago proven Ceawlin to be Cunedda "Maqui-Coline", my textual evidence for Cerdic of Wessex/Ceredig son of Cunedda = Arthur accumulated to a satisfying degree.

Why did I move away from a theory that seemed so solid (and even, in some ways, desirable)?

Primarily because while I felt instinctively that the Gewissei battles belonged to Arthur, I had a more attractive and more literally interpreted set of battles for him in the North. 

AND, I had stumbled upon what I thought was an identification of Uther with St. Illtud, himself having been wrongly identified with Arthur's real father, Sawyl Benisel. The argument is long and involved and can be found in multiple blog posts on this site. But as Sawyl belonged to the North, I could have my preferred Northern battles.

Of course, the whole case for Sawyl collapses if we do one of two things. The first is that we disallow the occurence of Sawyl as a metaphor for Uther in the elegy. Sawyl is, there, an emendation. The text actually has kawyl.

Or we can accept that while Mabon the servant of Uther was present at the Ely River where Illtud was master of soldiers, it does not follow that Uther himself was there. Mabon is in the area because Gileston was originally called the Church of Mabon of the Vale.

What it comes down to is shifting Uther from the Ely River to Nantlle. What does this mean for Uther's historical identity?

Well, Illtud would be out of the picture (as would any attempt to show that the saint had been wrongly identified with Sawyl Benisel). Instead, Cunedda Maqui-Coline/Ceawlin once again comes to the fore.

A standard rule when emending an early Welsh poem like the MARWNAT VTHYR PEN is to make as few alterations as possible in order to achieve good meaning. I once did this with certain critical lines in the elegy.

The important words in the poem that appear to require emendation are here highlighted:

Neu vi luossawc yn trydar:

It is I who commands hosts in battle:

ny pheidwn rwg deu lu heb wyar.

I’d not give up between two forces without bloodshed.

Neu vi a elwir gorlassar:

It’s I who’s styled ‘Armed in Blue’:

vy gwrys bu enuys y’m hescar.

my ferocity snared my enemy.

Neu vi tywyssawc yn tywyll:

It is I who’s a leader in darkness:

a’m rithwy am dwy pen kawell.

Our lord transforms me, Chief kawell.

Neu vi eil kawyl yn ardu:

It is I who's like (or who's a second) kawyl in the gloom:

ny pheidwn heb wyar rwg deu lu.

I’d not give up without bloodshed [the fight] between two forces.

For the GPC attestations of these words and the related cafell, see the NOTE at the bottom of this post.

If we do nothing with kawell at all, then we have pen kawell, which seems ridiculous. It could be kafell, "sanctuary", and so God in the line would be Chief of the Sanctuary. This is certainly possible.

Or we can do as I've already suggested above and allow Chief Basket to stand as a Welsh rendering of Ceawlin/Cunedda.

Kawyl can be given an n (indicated by a mark by a copyist and thus easily omitted) to make it kanwyl[l], a term meaning 'candle' that could also denote a star or a leader. The kawyl line parallels the line above the kawell line, which describes a leader in darkness. So a luminary (or star) leading in the gloom makes the most sense here. 

Also, as I've pointed out before, Uther as as a star explains Geoffrey of Monmouth's dragon-comet, which he identifies with Uther himself. Geoffrey also invents Gorlois out of Uther's gorlassar epithet.

These two emendations represent the smallest and simplest changes we can exert upon the text and still yield sensible meaning.  More than sensible, really, as we provide an explanation for the Galfridian dragon-comet as a motif deriving ultimately from the elegy itself. 

The question is whether we're justified in keeping cawell in preference to cafell.

Well, if I didn't already have a good argument an entire book-length long (THE BEAR KING: ARTHUR AND THE IRISH IN WALES AND SOUTHERN ENGLAND), I would say no. But when my theory for Arthur = Ceredig son of Cunedda/Cerdic of Wessex is carefully considered, the correspondence of cawell and Ceawlin feels positively providential. 

But what about the emphasis placed in the tradition on the Cornish Arthur and Uther?

One possibility has to do with archaeology. It is generally believed the English made their way up the Thames Valley before they began infiltrating Hampshire. This is opposite of the ASC testimony, but then again the ASC reverses the early generations of the Gewissei. 

If the Thames push was first, and the Gewissei were fighting for the British, not against them, then Durocornovium and Liddington/Badbury and Barbury would have made a good advance base of operations against the invaders.

However, the presence of the grave of Cunorix/Cynric son of Maqui-Coline/Ceawlin at Viroconium/Wroxeter in the heart of the old Cornovii kingdom suggests a more attractive reason for associating Cunedda and his family or teulu/warband with Cornwall. I have theorized that the Gewissei were acting in a federate capacity, holding NW Wales for the high king at Wroxeter in return for military service against the Saxons. In this sense, then, the Gewissei became associated in legend with a "Cornwall." Eliwlad the eagle/grandson of Uther may have been put in Cornwall (although he clearly originates in Nantlle) because he was associated with the Eagle of Eli, a place in the heartland of the old Cornovii kingdom.  

What does all this signify, then?

That our best bet for Arthur is Ceredig son of Cunedda, and that his battles are to be identified with battles of the Gewissei.

NOTE:

14g. IGE² 37, Cenglynrhwym bob congl unrhyw, / Cafell aur, cyfa oll yw.

15g. GO xxxii. 29-30, Tai melys win, teml y saint, / Tair kavell, tŷ y’r kwvaint.

15g. DE 119, o gyfarch yn y gafell / i dduw a mair oedd ym well.

1567 LlGG 104a, yn y Gauell [:- gangell] lle bo’r Voreul ar Brydnonawl weddi wedir ordenio i dywedyd.

1632 D, Cafell, Chorus Ecclesiae, Adytum.

1671 C. Edwards: FfDd 212, ymhen isafl cafell Baccus … y mae alior Fenus.

1722 T. Evans: PS 35.

13g. LlDW 1021, [gwerth] kauell teylyau .1.

14g. IGE 214, Balchach wyf gilio’r bolchwydd / O’r cylla rhwth cawell rhwydd (Iorwerth ab y Cyriog).

c. 1400 R 13407, gwamal bwyt gawal. budyr y gawell.

c. 1400 [RB] WM td. 10012-14, nachaf gwr diruawr y veint … yn dyuot y mywn achawell gantaw.

15g. DGG 127, Deuthum a’r cawell trum cau / Ar fy nghefn, oer fy nghofau.

15g. FfBO 48, deu gawell yn llawn o wedilly[on] bordeu.

15g. GGl 98, Mae’n ei gawell facrelliaid.

1547 WS, Panier kawell A pannyer.

1567 LlGG (Sall) 75a, a’ei gawell yn llawn o hanwynt [saethau].

1588 Ecs ii. 3, [c]awell iddo ef o lafrwyn.

1620 Jer v. 27, Fel cawell yn llawn o adar.

1632 D, Cawell, Sporta, corbis, cuna.

1753 TR, cawell … a cradle.

1763 ML ii. 547, Roedd Huw wedi dwyn iddo sachlen o wiail o’m gwig helyg, i wneuthur o honynt gewyll, Ang., baskets, i wragedd y Llannerch.

10g. (Ox 2) VVB 64, cannuill, gl. lichinum vel cantela vel teda.

13g. C 304-6, Kin myned im guerid imiruet. in tywill heb canvill im gorsset.

13g. C 8511, kanuill kangulad.

13g. LlDW 239-13, kanuyllyd … a del[y] pen ekanuylleu a tenh[o] ay ddannet.

14g. T 1517, canhwyll yn tywyll a gerd genhyn.

1346 LlA 39, tebic ynt y gann()yll yn goleuhav y ereill.

14g. WM 12324-6, peredur tec … blodeu y milwyr achanhwyll y marchogyon.

id. 43016-18, gwedy llosgi cannwyll o honei hi yn oleuad itaw ev vrth wiscaw.

14g. GDG 294, Gorffwyll am gannwyll Gwynedd.

c. 1400 R 103229, tec agannwyll pwyll y dyn.

c. 1400 MM 50, Kymryt kanhwyll o wer deueit.

15g. GGl 203, Cannwyll yw’n canu llawer / I beri clod a berw clêr.

1567 TN 104b, Canwyll [:- Goleuad] y corph yw’r llygat.

1588 Diar xiii. 9, cannwyll y drygionus a ddiffoddir.

1595 Egl Ph [ix], Pwy a gymmer arno chwilio’n lwyddiannus yr Arabieit … heb y gannwyll ymma yn gynrithawl o’i blaen?

FINAL EVIDENCE FOR CAER ENGAN IN NANTLLE AS CAER DATHAL

Caer Engan Relative to Penarth in Arfon

When I was trying to find Caer Dathal, known to contain relatives of Uther Pendragon and home to a wife of Arthur, I had tended to favor Caer Engan in Nantlle.  However, there were some indication that the site might be farther north in Gwynedd.  I talked about Dinas Dinorwig, Hirael (where one of the Sons of Iaen appears to have been buried) and Caernarvon.  

Alas, although I had mentioned MATH SON OF MATHONWY'S Pennardd in passing, I had not bothered to look for it.  Instead, I had merely considered it close to Caer Dathal.  In fact, the story tells us that when the troops mustered for the fight against Pryderi the war trumpet summoning them together could be heard from Caer Dathal.

Now, war trumpets could be heard for miles.  As it turns out, Pennardd is modern Penarth, whose position relative to Caer Engan can be seen at the top of the article.  A couple other fortresses are in the same area.  Y Foel (treated of separately below) is a little over 2 kilometers from Penarth (known for its cromlech). Craig-Y-Dinas on Llyfni is 2 kilometers away.  And Caer Engan is only 5 kilometers distant (i.e. only some 3 miles).  

What this means is that Caer Engan is still our best candidate for Caer Dathal.  Sites in northern Gwynedd - like Caernarvon and Dinas Dinorwig - are too far from Penarth.

All the material below was made available previously in a study on the location of Caer Dathal.  

***

Math has as his virgin footholder Goewin, daughter of Pebin.  The name Pebin is found at Dol Bebin in Nantlle, very close to the Caer Engan hillfort.

Dol Bebin with Caer Engan hillfort to the west

(and some of the Coed Madoc sites)

(https://coflein.gov.uk/en/site/302412/)

This is more than just a coincidence.  For if we allow Dathal to be from Irish Tuathal, but then accept Tuathal itself as an Irish substitution for Welsh Tudwal, Caer Dathal magically appears from the mists of time. [Conversely, a W. Tudwal could have later been substituted for an original Irish Tuathal, which the Welsh had pronounced Dathal/Tathal.]

As it happens, there was a local St. Tudwall whose name is preserved in Gwynedd:

"TUDWAL, ST. There is a group of two islands off the south coast of the Llŷn peninsula called St.Tudwal's Isles. On the eastern island, the larger of the two, there was formerly a small chapel, under Llanengan, dedicated to St.Tudwal (PW 86). It is mentioned in the Taxatio of 1291, p.291, as “Eccl'ia Prions de Enys Tudwal”. Ffynnon Dudwal formerly existed on Penrhyn, in the parish of Llanengan (LBS IV.274). Tudwal may have given his name to Tudweiliog, a parish in Llŷn on the opposite side of the peninsula, although the dedication is to St.Cwyfen. Compare Rice Rees, Welsh Saints, p.134." [P.C. Bartrum A CLASSICAL WELSH DICTIONARY]

The Engan (W. Einion) of Llanengan is exactly the same name as we find in Caer Engan.  But could he be the same man?  The Llanengan Einion is none other than -

EINION FRENIN ab OWAIN DANWYN. (b. circa 470)

The saint of Llanengan in Llŷn (PW 86). He was the son of Owain Danwyn according to

Bonedd y Saint (§9 in EWGT p.56). His commemoration is on February 9 (LBS I.70). See further LBS

II.422-4. [Bartrum]

What I am suggesting is simple: the Tudwall/Tuathal/Dathal of Llanengan at some point also gave his name to the hillfort on the Llyfni.  Thus Caer Dathal is Caer Engan next to Dol Bebin.

Uther, then, would have relatives at Caer Engan.  In my book THE BEAR KING, I argue for Uther being the great Cunedda - not a Briton from Manau Gododdin in the far north, but Cuinedha Mac Cuilinn, an attested Dark Age Irish chieftain from Drumanagh just across the Irish Sea from Gwynedd. Einion and Owain were, in fact, descendents of Cunedda.

Cunedda of the Ciannachta belonged to Brega in Mide. Mide was traditionally founded by Tuathal Techtmar, a king who had spent time in Britain and who had married the daughter of an British king. It is not beyond the realm of the possible that the Irish at Caer Dathal has named the fortress after this legendary leader.

I had long ago demonstrated the Madog son of Uther was the Madog whose place-names are found in Nantlle, and the Eliwlad belonged there as well (the Coed Madoc in Nantlle was relocated to Cutmadoc in Cornwall, and Eliwlad the death-eagle in an oak was copied from the story of the dead Lleu in the oak tree at Nantlle). According to the Stanzas of the Graves, the god Mabon, servant of Uther Pendragon in the PA GUR, was buried in Nantlle. Finding Uther's Caer Dathal so close to Nantlle is a happy result of my research. 

And, yes, there is good reason to believe (as I have written about extensively before; see, for example, https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2022/06/notes-on-cornish-place-name-tintagel.html) that Geoffrey of Monmouth's Tintagel is a relocation of Caer Dathal.    

BRYNGWYDION

Now, while we are not told about such a place in "Math Son of Mathonwy", Welsh tradition does know of a Caer Wydion, named for Gwydion, nephew of Math.  

"Caer Wydion is attested as a Welsh name for the Milky

Way, and there are traditions of a son of Gwydion named

Huan ‘sun’ (on which, see Blodeuwedd); compare with

this the similarity of Lleu and Welsh lleuad ‘moon’."

- John Koch CELTIC CULTURE, p. 867

Could it be that in terms of mythical landscape, Caer Wydion is to be identified with Bryngwydion just a little north of the Afon Llyfni and the Craig-Y-Dinas promontory fort?

Probably, as Bryngwydion has its own ancient enclosure (see http://www.heneb.co.uk/hlc/caernarfon-nantllethemes.html), designated a smaller 'ring-fort.'  This placed would have been thought of as where Gwydion lived.  

A NOTE ON CAER ARIANRHOD

Caer Arianrhod is another important locator in 'Math Son of Mathonwy.' It is within both walking and boating distance of Caer Dathal (Caer Engan) and Dinas Dinlle, the 'Town of the Fort of Lleu.'

Traditionally, Caer Arianrhod has been identified with a coastal rock between Dinas Dinlle and Maen Dylan, the 'Stone of Dylan.'  Dylan was the god Lleu's twin brother, another son of Arianrhod.

I think, however, the real Caer Arianrhod was an entirely different place.  

The Bryn Arien mentioned as lying on the way to Caer Arianrhod along the sea from Dinas Dinlle has been identified with a hill near Brynaerau (see Sir Ifor Williams, Pedeir Keinc y Mabinogi , Cardiff, Second Edition, 1951, pp. 278-9).  Cefn Cludno or Cefn Clun Tyno was thought by Sir Ifor Williams to be in Capel Uchaf and others have since agreed (see 150 Jahre "Mabinogion" - deutsch-walisische Kulturbeziehungen by Bernhard Maier and Stefan Zimmer, Walter de Gruyter, 2015).  There is a Coed Tyno just a little north of Capel Uchaf. 

Foel Hillfort near Tyno

Foel Hillfort

(https://coflein.gov.uk/en/site/95338/images)

If Gwydion and Lleu really did take horses from Coed Tyno, then the most obvious fort close by is that of Foel.  

However, there is a Bryngwydion, 'Hill of Gwydion', just a little north of the Craig-Y-Dinas promontory fort.  And as Dylan's Stone is near the mouth of the Afon Llyfni, the 'port' of Arianrhod must be at the mouth of the river.  Note also the Lleuer (= W. lleuar, 'light, brightness'?; see https://www.academia.edu/35985785/Some_Cornish_place_names_with_lyw, citing Enwau lleoedd sir Gaernarfon by John Lloyd-Jones, Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru, 1928, for lleu-erw: lleu 'goleu') place-names at Craig-Y-Dinas, which may well hearken back to the god Lleu. The Llyfni flows through Lleu's Nantlle, and Dolbebin in Nantlle was named for the father of Math's virgin footholder, Goewin.

Craig-Y-Dinas

(https://coflein.gov.uk/en/site/93534/)

Either of these forts could be Caer Arianrhod.  The deciding factor might be that when Gwydion and Lleu take horses from Coed Tyno, they are not said to have crossed or forded the Llyfni.  To have gone to Brynaerau, thence to Coed Tyno and on to Craig-Y-Dinas would mean they were doubling back on their course needlessly. The mouth of the Llyfni could serve just as well as the 'port' of the Foel hillfort.  Finally, the two Lleuer places are south of the Llyfni, so more accessible from Foel.  Craig-Y-Dinas is on the north side of the river.  The hill of Foel is over 220 meters high, making it much more imposing in the landscape than Craig-Y-Dinas.

There is another reason for rejecting Craig-Y-Dinas as Caer Arianrhod - and it is a big one.  When Gwydion goes to the stronghold of Pennardd to follow the sow that will lead him to Lleu in Nantlle, we are told that this place lies downstream from Dyffyrn Nantlle or the Valley of Nantlle.  This can only be Craig-Y-Dinas on the Afon Llyfni which is, in fact, downstream from Nantlle.  

In another episode we are told that Math musters an army and takes it to Pennardd. During the night, Gwydion and his nephew Gilfaethwy return to Caer Dathal. At dawn the following day they return to Pennardd.  The context plainly suggests that Caer Dathal and Pennardd are close to each other, and this fits Craig-Y-Dinas and Caer Engan.  

For these reasons, I think we must favor Foel as Caer Arianrhod.  

Rachel Browich and others have favored Aran- for the first component of Arianrhod's name.  If such scholars are correct, it might be that Aranrot was originally a name for the hill of Foel.

The following discussion of the meaning of her name is from the TRIADS (p. 284):

The standard line of reasoning for the etymology of Aran is set forth by Dr. Richard Coates in https://www.snsbi.org.uk/Nomina_articles/Nomina_35_Coates.pdf.  

However, John Koch (in CELTIC CULTURE: A HISTORICAL ENCYCOLPEDIA) is surely right in settling for Arianrhod as the correct spelling of the name:

WHAT HAPPENS IF WE PUSH THE ILLTUD = UTHER THEORY TO ITS LIMIT

Barbury Castle, Wiltshire

My readers will know that I just recently reposted the following piece:

https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2023/01/illtuds-father-bicanus-and-his-llydaw.html

The concern is that the PA GUR's apparent identification of Uther Pendragon with Illtud the warrior-monk, something that I've managed to more or less escape from by postulating a confusion or conflation of Uther with Sawyl Benisel, might instead point to Illtud being the real father of Arthur.

This is not a possibility that can be summarily dismissed.

As I've discussed before, given the way folkloristic developments occur it is quite conceivable that Uther Pendragon as a metaphorical name/title for Illtud the terribilis miles and magister militum/princeps militum may simply have taken on a separate personality. After all, Geoffrey of Monmouth successfully created Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall, out of the gorlassar epithet Uther uses for himself in his elegy poem. 

In addition, Arthur in the hagiographical literature is uniformly represented as a secular ruler who is ignorant of Christianity's teaching and thus in need of didactic correction.  It may be that Illtud, a leader of soldiers during the first part of his life, was "separated" out from his former objectionable self by relegating his martial career to the Terrible Chief of Warriors.

If we allow this to have happened, and trace the relevant place-names regarding Illtud's parentage to the Badbury Liddington, near to the 'Bear's Fort' of Barbury and the Roman city of Durocornovium, we have to acknowledge that Arthur himself must have belonged to a kingdom that had descended from the Roman-period Dobunni.  Such a geographical fix for the great British champion would mean he was on the very border of an expanding Saxon kingdom of Wessex.  And it would mean that the Arthurian battles should be found in the South, not the North.  Or, if some of them are found in the North, there had been an attempt already by the 9th century (the date of the HISTORIA BRITTONUM) to place Arthur everywhere in Britain.  In other words, the historical figure had already been transformed into a superhero of sorts, whose 12 Herculean battles found in defeating foes all over the Island.

Because the only really good source we have that seems to identify Uther is the PA GUR, and in the PA GUR Uther seems to be Illtud, it would seem a wise course of action to yet again investigate potential Southern Arthurian battle sites.

However, I've already done that - many times over. And the result?

THE BATTLES, AS FOUND LISTED IN THE HB, ARE IN THE NORTH. 

Still, the Bicknor/Lydbrook-Bican Dike/Lydbrook matchup and the link with a Badbury that may well be the Badon does not allow me to summarily dismiss the tradition.

So, with a deep sigh of resignation, I will look for the battles in the South one last time. I have a feeling that much of the work I've done on the Gewissei battles will come into play, with some variation.

 

Playing-Out the Illtud = Uther Scenario

 

[This post is dedicated to my friend Robert Vermaat, who first published some of early works many years ago. Robert has always preferred the idea of a Southern Arthur, with a focus on Liddington Castle as Badon - although he is wise enough not to espouse a belief based upon lack of evidence.]

As I have insisted all along, the only good reason not to accept Illtud as Uther is the apparent placement of the Arthurian battles in the North. Well, that and the possible 'Sawyl' that exists in the MARWNAT VTHYR PEN elegy as a poetic metaphor for Uther.

For those who wish a sort of summary of Illtud's origin point, please see the following link:

https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2023/01/illtuds-father-bicanus-and-his-llydaw.html

This is one of only a great many articles on the subject of Illtud, but it does provide at least the general geographical sense for this personage, at least according to my current thinking on the matter.

As with much of the early Welsh poetry, the Uther elegy contains many "opaque" passages that seem rooted in errors of copying.  The two best possible readings for one critical section at at odds with each other, and send us in completely opposite directions.

In the first, Uther boasts about God, the Chief Luminary (or candle, lamp, sun, moon, star, leader), transforming him, and that he thus became a 'second Samuel (W. Sawyl).'  It is this interpretation which allowed me to pursue the identification of Arthur's real father with Sawyl Benisel in the North.

In the second, we allow God to be Chief of the Sanctuary and have Uther transformed into the cannwyll (star, etc.) in the gloom.  This would fit the earlier reference to Uther as leader in the darkness, and allow us to posit that Geoffrey of Monmouth's comet/star, which is said to be Uther himself, has its origin in this rendering of the lines.  

If, for the sake of argument, we go with No. 2, we are allowed to hypothesize that the great war general Illtud was removed from the Arthurian orbit when he was transformed (pun intended) in hagiographical literature to a pacifist saint.  In the process, he became not Arthur's father, but his cousin.  This might seem a strange development were it not for the fact that Arthur himself is always viewed in saints' lives and didactic poems in a decidedly negative light. 

Is is possible that Illtud really was Arthur's father?

Well, there are a lot of things attractive about the notion.  An Arthur centered at Durocornovium would agree with the hero's supposed Cornish origin.  Badbury at Liddington does appear to be identified in the Welsh Annals as the site of the second Badon battle - which would imply it was also the scene of the first Badon battle.  Barbury Castle, the 'Bear's Fort', is nearby and could have easily been given its name by the English because they bought into the Welsh tendency to link Arthur's name with their word arth, 'bear.'  A Dobunnic Arthur would place our hero on the very frontier with the expanding English invaders.  

So what's stopping me from embracing this particular Arthurian theory?

Again, it's the battles that are the problem.

Sure, it may well be that sites in the South are now extinct, buried beneath English and Norman names.  In which case, obviously, we will never find them.  But when we are faced with a battle-name like that of the Celyddon Wood, we are forced to admit one of two things: either some of these battles are made up and properly belong to a later, Northern Arthur (like the Dalriadan one) or they are corruptions of Southern names.  Playing the corruption game is a dangerous one - as I have discovered more than once.

The most logical approach would be to see a Southern Arthur as a foul against the Gewissei, and to try and match up his battles with theirs.  I have actually done this, but the result has really convinced no one of the veracity of such hypothetical identifications.  

An excellent example of the kind of confusion that can occur when looking at these battles is manifest in that of the Tribruit.  I long ago showed that this was an exact Welsh translation of the Roman Latin trajectus.  But while the PA GUR poem seems to place this site in the North, the only place actually called this in our scant, extant ancient geographies is Trajectus near Bitton, not far from both Dyrham and Bath.  Part of the "proof" of the battle's Northern location is Manawydan's involvement.  This points to the Manau Gododdin region.  However, in CULHWCH AND OLWEN we learn that Manawydan is also at/in the Severn, which is where the Trajectus crossing is found.  Thus it is distinctly possible that the PA GUR has relocated the battle to the far North, when in reality it belonged in the South.

Some other place-names, like the Bassas River, can only be identified with a Northern site with a bit of a strain.  The fact remains that (as Dr. Graham Isaac long ago assured me) the most perfect candidate for it exists at Bassingbourn in Cambridgeshire. This is deep in what would have been English territory as Arthur's time, but if we are dealing with an effective British counter-offensive, no matter how short-lived, Bassingbourn is not impossible.  Those who argue that an English name cannot have found its way into the Arthurian battle list are simply ignorant of how many English names can be confirmed to be present in the early Welsh literary materials.  I and others have written about several of these.

I will not again delve into the Arthurian battles in the South.  Simply put, only a couple of them can be satisfactorily placed there.  There is absolutely nothing we can do with the majority of them.  Why throw up our hands in despair when the battles can be found up and down the Roman Dere Street in the North - EXACTLY WHERE WE WOULD EXPECT TO FIND THEM IF AN ARTHUR FROM RIBCHESTER WERE FIGHTING AGAINST THE SAXONS ALONG A WELL-DEFINED FRONTIER?

In only one sense do I hold Sawyl in some disfavor: I still think that the ARM[...]S of the L. Artorius Castus stone could read ARMENIOS.  If it did, then Castus was in Britain before the Sarmatians were there, and the preservation of the Artorius name at Ribchester of the Sarmatian veterans did not happen.  That would free us up to put Arthur elsewhere.  I have flirted with a situation for him on the Wall, for instance at the Banna Roman fort.  But such a placement negates his ancestry, for we can't perfunctorily stick his father Uther at Banna (despite the known draco association with the late Roman Dacian garrison of that fort).

Epigraphers, archaeologists and historians all place the L. Artorius Castus stone in a time range that allows for either ARMENIOS or ARMORICOS to be the reading for the fragmentry ARM[...]S of the inscription.  And if it were ARMORICOS, then Sawyl of Ribchester works very well for Uther.  He gives us the Northern battles (which I have come to see as almost a certainty) of Arthur and preserves a pedigree that seems to be embedded in the Welsh tradition, albeit imperfectly.