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In Welsh mythology, Gwythyr ap Greidawl was a rival of Gwyn ap Nudd, a deity connected with the otherworld. In the Middle Welsh prose tale Culhwch ac Olwen, he is named as a member of Arthur's retinue and takes part in the quest to win the hand of Olwen for Arthur's cousin, Culhwch. Gwthyr would join Arthur on a journey to Pennant Gofid in Hell to retrieve the blood of the witch Orddu. His father is Greidawl Galldonyd, a fellow knight in Arthur's court. In Bonedd yr Arwyr, his genealogy is given as Gwythyr son of Greidawl the son of Enfael the son of Deigyr the son of Dyfnwal the son of Ednyfed the son of Maxen the son of Llywelyn. The Welsh Triads name him as the father of Arthur's second wife, also named Gwenhwyfar.
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Culhwch and Olwen is a Welsh tale that survives in only two manuscripts about a hero connected with Arthur and his warriors: a complete version in the Red Book of Hergest, c. 1400, and a fragmented version in the White Book of Rhydderch, c. 1325. It is the longest of the surviving Welsh prose tales. Lady Charlotte Guest included this tale among those she collected under the title The Mabinogion.
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King Arthur's family grew throughout the centuries with King Arthur's legend. The earliest Welsh Arthurian tradition portrays Arthur as having an extensive family network, including his parents Uther Pendragon and Eigyr (Igraine), wife Gwenhwyfar (Guinevere), nephew Gwalchmei (Gawain), brother, and several sons; his maternal lineage is also detailed, linking him to relatives such as his grandfather. This complex familial structure has been both simplified and expanded in the common tradition of shared British, French, and other medieval European chronicles and romances, which instead introduced new characters, such as Arthur's half-sisters including Morgan, their children including Mordred, and others. Arthur's lineage was later claimed by various rulers, in particular the House of Tudor and Scottish clans, reflecting the enduring legacy of his familial ties in medieval and early modern genealogies.
Goreu fab Custennin is a hero of Welsh and early Arthurian mythology, the son of Custennin, and cousin to Arthur, Culhwch and Saint Illtud through their grandfather Amlawdd Wledig. He is a significant character in the Middle Welsh Arthurian tale Culhwch and Olwen, and also appears in a number of other medieval texts. His name may be derived from Gorneu; "of Cornwall."
Drudwas ap Tryffin is a knight of King Arthur's court in early Arthurian mythology and the owner of the magical Adar Llwch Gwin. His father, Tryffin, is described as the king of Denmark, while his sister, Erdudwyl, was, according to The Death of Drudwas, supposedly a “mistress” of Arthur.
Mên Scryfa is an inscribed standing stone in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The inscription, dating to the early medieval period, commemorates "Rialobranus son of Cunovalus."
Saint Gwrddlew or Gwrtheli, Gartheli, was a pre-congregational saint of 5th century medieval Wales.
Poem 31 of the Black Book of Carmarthen, a mid-13th century manuscript, is known from its first line as Pa gur yv y porthaur? or Pa gur, or alternatively as Ymddiddan Arthur a Glewlwyd Gafaelfawr. It is a fragmentary, anonymous poem in Old Welsh, taking the form of a dialogue between King Arthur and the gatekeeper Glewlwyd Gafaelfawr, in which Arthur boasts of his own exploits and those of his companions, especially Cai the Fair. Pa gur is notable for being one of the earliest vernacular Arthurian works, and for alluding to several early adventures of Arthur which are now lost. Its precise age is not known and has been the subject of wide-ranging disagreement, but scholarly opinion now tends to favour a date of c. 1100.
Indeg, daughter of Garwy Hir, was known in early Welsh legend as one of the three mistresses of King Arthur. Though her story seems to have survived down to the later Middle Ages, when she was frequently cited by Welsh poets as a standard for beauty, it has since been lost.
References
- ↑ Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru, Part 26, Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru, 1974, p. 1682.
- ↑ Wade-Evans, A.W. Welsh Christian Origins (Oxford, 1934) pp.102 quoted in Bartrum, Peter C. ed. Welsh Classical Dictionary: People in History and Legend Up to About A.D. 1000 (National Library of Wales, February 1994) pp.14-15 ISBN 978-0907158738
- ↑ Bartrum, Peter C. ed. Bonedd yr Arwyr (Unpublished genealogical material concerning the heroes of early Welsh history and legend, 1959).
- 1 2 3 Bartrum, Peter C. ed. Welsh Classical Dictionary: People in History and Legend Up to About A.D. 1000 (National Library of Wales, February 1994) ISBN 978-0907158738
- ↑ Bartrum, Peter C. ed. Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts (University of Wales, 1966)
- ↑ Davies, John. A History of Wales. Penguin (New York), 1994. ISBN 0-14-014581-8.
- 1 2 3 Bruce, Christopher W. The Arthurian Name Dictionary (Routledge, 2013) ISBN 9781136755385
- ↑ Rees, Rice. The Welsh Saints (1839) - see External References, below)
- ↑ R. Bromwich, Trioedd Ynys Prydein: the Welsh Triads (Cardiff: University of Wales, 1978), pp.372–3.
- ↑ David Nash Ford. "WEST COUNTRY ROYAL PEDIGREE" . Retrieved 28 November 2020.
- ↑ Parker, Will (2016). "Culhwch and Olwen Translation". Culhwch ac Olwen. Footnotes 157–159. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
- ↑ Parker, Will (2016). "Culhwch and Olwen Translation". Culhwch ac Olwen. Footnotes 195–197. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
- ↑ Norma Lorre Goodrich, King Arthur (HarperPerennial; New edition, 1989) ISBN 978-0060971823
- ↑ Bromwich, R. and Evans, D. Simon. Culhwch and Olwen. An Edition and Study of the Oldest Arthurian Tale (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1992), pp.44-5 ISBN 978-0708326190