CAER DATHAL, PEN MYNYDD AND PEN CAWELL or THE PROBLEM OF UTHER PENDRAGON IN WELSH TRADITION

[Since writing this piece, I've made a decision regarding Uther at Dinas Emrys and the proposed Cawell/Ceawlin identification. In the next couple of days I will be posting a piece detailing that decision and how I arrived at it.]

                        Dinas Emrys

I was recently asked by a reader why I departed from the Welsh tradtion concerning Uther Pendragon. To be honest, I really don't have a good answer to that question. What it prett looy much comes down to is that I have a strong preference (read 'bias') for a poo northern Arthur and the9 Welsh does not provide me with that. In addition, I can account for the preservation of the Artorius name in the North, but must resort to the use of a decknamen in the South.

Still, can I afford to continue ignoring what seem to be fairly solid identications of Uther with Cunedda/Ceawlin?

I've decided to explore that question here - in a more purely philosophical vein than I've permitted myself to indulge in before. 

I long ago offered a complex and rather comprehensive argument for Uther = Cunedda/Cuinnid-Maquicoline/Ceawlin. This argument was extended to Cunedda's son Ceredig, who I identified as Cerdic of Wessex. CeredigCerdic, in turn, made for a very good Arthur.

Three later developments seemed to bolster my Cunedda theory. One, I showed that Uther's lost Caer Dathal was, in fact, Dinas Emrys. And two, Pen Kawell, taken literally as Chief Basket, perfectly matched the West Saxon Ceawlin (as AS ceawl = basket). Ceawlin itself could be explained as deriving from Cunedda's other name, Cuilenn/Coline (W. Celyn). Finally, three, the Uther elegy mentions a Pen Mynydd and a place of that name on Anglesey is linked to the Gwynedd dynasty and contains place-names and a corresponding folktale that parallels the dragon story of Dinas Emrys (https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2021/10/uther-and-dragons-of-gwynedd.html).

I had known for years that Emrys' presence at Dinas Emrys was a mere folktale. Vortigern had not given all of western Wales to Ambrosius. Instead, that region had fallen under the control of Cunedda and his "sons." That we find a Cunorix son of Maqui-Coline at Wroxeter/Viroconium (= Cynyr son of Gwron/"Hero" son of Cunedda) suggests that the Gewissei served whoever was the high king at the time in Wales.

And there we have it for the pre-Galfridian tradition concerning Uther.

Can we ignore that for no other reason than we can better account for the Arthurian battles in the North? And because L. Artorius Castus was stationed at York in the 2nd century A.D.?

Well, to treat of the second problem is an easy matter. Ceredig son of Cunedda has three bear names in his immediate line of descent. In addition, the Afon Arth with its headland fort is in Ceredig's kingdom of Ceredigion. Thus if Ceredig himself had possessed a bear epithet or title, the Latin Artorius might well have been substituted for it. There is nothing impossible about this and, indeed, it is quite allowable. We have precedents for it, in fact.

In addition, the Segontium unit was withdrawn in the late Roman period and stationed in Illyricum. L. Artorius Castus' Dalmatia was a part of Illyricum. It is not impossible that someone returned to Gwynedd when his term of service was complete and the Artorius name travelled with him.

But then there are the battles as those are found listed in the HISTORIA BRITTONUM and ANNALES CAMBRIAE. Yes, they can be made to conform to Gewissei battles contained in the ANGLO-SAXON CHRONICLE. I myself am comfortable with the result, but others have not been. They will always opt for the cleaner arrangement in the North.

What this all comes down to for me, at least, is this: 

CAN PEN KAWELL OR 'CHIEF BASKET', AS A DESIGNATION FOR CEAWLIN, BE PERMITTED TO STAND? IF NOT, AND THIS READING IS EITHER WRONG OR A COINCIDENCE, WHAT SEEMS OUR ONLY SURE IDENTIFICATION OF UTHER WITH A KNOWN, HISTORICAL PERSONAGE WHO ORIGINATES FROM CAER DATHAL IS LOST.

Clearly, I need to make a decision. One that is several years overdue.

NOTE:

Allowing for Uther to be Cunedda, who was Irish, helps explain why all the subsequent Arthurs belonged to Irish-founded dynasties in Britain.

The "Mabon son of Modron servant of Uther Pendragon" of the PA GUR poem also, unexpectedly, points to Uther at Caer Dathal/Dinas Emrys.  

How?

Well, Mabon in that poem is placed at the River Ely in Glamorgan. This is hard by the location of Campus Elleti (Palud Elleti in the Book of Llandaf).  The story of Ambrosius there, a boy without a father playing a ballgame, is a motif copied from the Irish story of Oengus Mac Og or Oengus the "Young son".  As Mabon the 'Divine Son' is even closer to Elleti (Gileston was once the Church of Mabon of the Vale), my guess from many years ago that Ambrosius, a name that means 'the divine or immortal one', is in this context merely an honorific used for the god Mabon seems to be correct.  And if Ambrosius in this context is Mabon, then Mabon as Uther's servant makes perfect sense given the association of both Ambrosius and Uther with Dinas Emrys/Caer Dathal.

I thus wasted a lot of time and effort trying to place Uther at the River Ely when it is obvious now that he belongs at Dinas Emrys.  It is merely his servant Mabon who also happens to be one of the champions of Ely.