The history of Wales is full of oddities, but today a single-sentence genealogy, a father and son from over 1000 years ago, has been occupying my mind.
No one else in Welsh history are recorded like these two kings, and the mystery only deepens once a later text connects them to Penllyn, the land around Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake) in Wales, and potentially to an old, powerful landowner seeking to legitimise his claim over Penllyn, this Kingdom of the Lake.
These are the mysterious, and forgotten, kings of the lake.
Chapters:
0:00 - The Kings of the Lake
1:31 - The Genealogies
4:00 - The Old Story
8:00 - Speculation
10:23 - The Red Wolf
12:52 - Penllyn
Sources (turn on captions):
Bartrum, P.C. (1993). A Welsh Classical Dictionary: People in History and Legend up to about A.D. 1000. The National Library of Wales.
[1] p.39
[2] p.62
[3] p.66
[4] p.69-70
[5] p.96
[6] p.112
[7] p.151
[8] p.196
[9] p.211-212
[10] p.216
[11] p.229
[12] p.232
[13] p.240
[14] p.253
[15] p.332
[16] p.468
[17] p.531
[18] p.600
[19] p.608
[20] p.624
[21] p.626
[22] p.676
[23] p.691
[24] p.714
[25] p.745
Bartrum, P.C. (1963). Pedigrees of the Welsh Tribal Patriarchs. Cylchgrawn Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru, 13(2).
[26] p.111
[27] p.117
[28] p.126
[29] p.127
[30] p.128
[31] p.129
[32] p.131
[33] p.132-133
[34] p.137-138
Guy, B. (2018). The earliest Welsh genealogies: textual layering and the phenomenon of ‘pedigree growth’. Early Medieval Europe, 26(4), pp.462–485.
[35] p.463
Gwenogvryn Evans, J. (1898). Report on Manuscripts in the Welsh Language. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode.
[36] p.785
[37] p.787
Lloyd, D. M., (1959). Dictionary of Welsh Biography.
[38] GWALCHMAI ap MEILYR (fl. 1130-1180),an Anglesey court poet.
Meyrick, S.R. (1846). Heraldic Visitations of Wales. Volume II. Llandovery: William Rees.
[39] p.15
Philimore, E. (1888). The Annales Cambriae and Old Welsh Genealogies. Y Cymmrodor, IX, pp.169–183.
[40] p.179
[41] p.180-181
Pierce, T. J., (1959). Dictionary of Welsh Biography.
[42] RHIRID FLAIDD (fl. 1160), nobleman and warrior.
Stephenson, D. (2016). Medieval Powys: Kingdom, Principality and Lordships, 1132-1293. Boydell Press
[43] p.234
Thomas, P. (1784). A Tour in Wales - Volume II. London: Benjamin White.
[44] p.69-70
Thornley Jones, T. (1978). Saint David. The National Library of Wales Journal, 20(3).
[45] p.213-214
[46] p.215
Thorpe, L. (1978). Gerald of Wales: The Journey through Wales and the Description of Wales. London: Penguin Books.
[47] p.13
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Music courtesy of the YouTube Audio Library:
Atlantis by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Artist: http://audionautix.com/
The Symmetry of Sleeplessness - Dan Bodan
A Slow Dream - Emily A. Sprague
Fortress Europe - Dan Bodan
Lands Unknown - Futuremono
Magenta - Sextile
Calm - Silent Partner
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All images are public domain, via the British Library, Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru, the Yale Center for British Art, and the Cleveland Museum of Art