ANWN DYNOD AP MAXEN WLEDIG
By Darrell Wolcott
The early Welsh
pedigrees[1] cite a "Dimet map Maxim gulecic" and a "Anthun map Maxim gulecic", while medieval manuscripts refer to a "Antoni
ap Maxen"[2] and a "Dunawt ap Maxen Wledig".[3] Each of these citations refer to a man whose Latin name was Antonius
Donatus Gregorus whom the Welsh called Anwn Dynod. As discussed elsewhere on this site[4], the Maxen in his pedigree was
born two generations prior to the Maxen Wledic named Magnus Maximus who was killed in 388. A birthdate near 300 is suggested
for Anwn and he was probably the son of Elen ferch Eudaf Hen.[5]
A single son of
Anwn Dynod is named in his various pedigrees, variously called Nimet, Eidinet, Ednyued, Edneuet and Nyfedd, a name whose standardized
spelling is Ednyfed. The medieval genealogists realized that those families which descended from him contained a couple
too many early generations to match up with the known floruit of Magnus Maximus, and many manuscripts of that era deleted
Anwn Dynod and assumed very short generational gaps between the early men.[6] But that "Maxen Wledig" had no son named
Ednyfed; the man of that name in their pedigrees was contemporary with Magnus Maximus and probably 10/15 years older.
Three known sons
are identified for Ednyfed: Clydwyn (which occurs as Glotguin and Gletwin), Tudwal (cited as Tutagual and Tutwawl) and Dyfnwal.
We shall defer our discussion of Dyfnwal for a moment to trace the descendants of his brothers. Clydwyn had no
identified sons, and the marriage matches made by his two daughters have been shown previously.[4]
Tudwal ap Ednyfed, born
c. 355, was the ancester of the family who lived on, and probably ruled, the Isle of Man until it failed in the male line
in the eighth century. It's princess, Celenion ferch Tudwal ap Anarawd, married Sandde ap Alcwn of the lineage of Llywarch
Hen and was the great-grandmother of Merfyn Frych.[7] According to the traditional lore, Tudwal's ancestors
had been forced from their homelands in northwest Britain in the fifth century and resettled on the Isle of Man.
The final son of Ednyfed
ap Anwn Dynod was Dyfnwal; some of his citations add the epithet "Hen"[8] This has made for much confusion with a wholly
different man called Dyfnwal Hen who lived about three generations later.[9] It is necessary to determine the probable
era of the man in a given citation to know which Dyfnwal was meant. We shall begin with a chart constructed from the
data found in Bonedd y Saint, #18 and Buchedd Llawddog:
279
Maxen Wledig (not Magnus Maximus)
l
302 Antonius Donatus (Anwn Dynod)
l
330 Ednyfed
l
360 Dyfnwal (Hen)
l
390 Cedic
l
425
Senyllt
l
455 Nudd
hael Lawdden LLydog 465
l l
490 Dyngad===========Thenoi 500
l
525 St Llawddog (Lleuddad)
This is a composite chart; ByS 18 omits Antonius while Buchedd
Llawdog omits Cedic
The pedigrees place
Dyngad in Brynn Buga (Usk in Gwent) and St. Llawddog in Enlli (Bardsey Island off the Lleyn peninsula); the latter is said
to have succeeded St Cadfan as abbot on Enlli.[10] Both men flourished in the mid-sixth century. The dates of the
men at the bottom of our chart is further confirmed by a look at the sisters of Thenoi ferch Llawdden Llydog:
465 Llawdden Llydog of Dinas Eidyn
__________________l______________
l l
l
495
Pherferen 500 Thenoi
505 Denyw
=
l
480
St Bugi
520 St Kentigern
The obit of St Kentigern
is recorded in 612 in Annales Cambriae;
his twelfth century biographer[11] claims he was born of a young unmarried
daughter of Lleuddun Luyddog of Dinas Eiddyn (Edinburgh) named Denw, a sister of Beren (called Pherferen in other
sources) who married St. Bugi. The latter occurs as a great-grandson of Cadell Ddyrnllwg born c. 380.[12] As
all three sisters appear to belong to the beginning of the sixth century, the Dyfnwal ap Ednyfed of our first chart,
whether or not also called Hen, belongs to c. 360.
The other Dyfnwal Hen
appears in the early sources[13] as the father of three sons. His consolidated pedigree looks like this:
390 Ceretic guletic
l
420 Cinuit
l
450 Dumgual Hen
___________________l_________________
l
l
l
480 Guipno 480 Clinog
485 Cimbelim
l
l
l
510 Neithon
510 Tutagual 515 Clinog
l
l
545 Beli 540
Rhydderch Hen
A letter which
St. Patrick wrote to Coroticus protesting his treatment of young Christians kidnapped from Ireland[14] is believed to
have been addressed to the Ceretic Wledig of this pedigree. St. Patrick is usually dated to the era 390-461; this would
place the floruit of Ceretic in the mid-fifth century, perhaps born near the end of the fourth. Rhydderch Hen is
described as a patron of St. Kentigern (c.520-612) and further is mentioned by Nennius[15] as a contemporary of the Anglican
rulers, Adda, Aethelic and Theodoric, sons of Ida (obit 559). Our estimate for Rhydderch Hen's birth c. 540 cannot
be too far from the mark. Both historical notices appear to point to c. 450 for this Dyfnwal Hen, some 90 years
and three generations later than Dyfnwal ap Ednyfed.
A look at another group
of families cited as having descended from a Dyfnwal Hen will show why the two men are often confused with each
other, these from Bonedd Gwyr y Gogledd, a 13th century manuscript citing the pedigrees of The Men of the North:
Dyfnwal Hen
l
Cedic
________________l________________
l
l
l
Senyllt Tudwal Tudclyd
Seruan
l
l
l
Nudd hael Rhydderch hael
Mordaf hael
Senyllt is absent from this manuscript and is taken from the pedigrees
in our first chart above. Mordaf is not called "hael" in this citation, but all three cousins are celebrated in Welsh
Triad 2 as Three Most Generous Men of the Island of Britain and each called "Hael" or generous.[16]
You will notice one family claimed to descend from each of the separate Dyfnwal Hens contains a similar string
of names: "Rhydderch Hen ap Tudwal ap Clinog ap Dyfnwal Hen" and "Rhydderch Hael ap Tudwal Tudclyd ap Cedic ap Dyfnwal
Hen." Virtually all modern scholars merge the two, make Cedic and Clinog variations of the same name, identify Rhydderch
Hen as also called Hael and place the floruit of the Hael cousins in the mid to late sixth century. They cite a
tale from the Chirk Codex[17] in which the Hael cousins supposedly came from the North to revenge the killing of
their kinsman, Elidyr Mwynfawr, by Rhun ap Maelgwn Gwynedd. Elidyr was married to the eldest daughter of Maelgwn and
supposedly contested Rhun for the kingship after Maelgwn died c. 547. The pedigeees make Elidyr a first cousin of the
Tudwal who was father to Rhydderch Hen; this relationship and his floruit in the sixth century are consistent with the revenge
tale, especially if we can assume it did not occur before 565/570. But was the inclusion of the Hael cousins in
the tale simply a poetic device or does it "prove" Rhydderch Hen and Rhydderch Hael were the same man?
An inscribed stone
found at Yarrowkirk, Selkirkshire (located in the ancient territory once called Gododdin) marks the tomb of "Nudus and Dumnogenus,
the two sons of Liberalis".[18] Scholars are divided as to whether "Liberalis" was Senyllt Hael[19] and the tomb
that of Nudd Hael, or if it identified two sons of Nudd Hael. But since all authorities agree the stone dates from the
early sixth century, Rachel Bromwich[20] asserts "it is clearly impossible on chronological grounds that it could commemorate
two sons of Nudd Hael...or Nudd Hael himself". But Bromwich assumes Nudd Hael was a cousin of Rhydderch Hen born c.
540; the Nudd Hael cited as a cousin of Rhydderch Hael lived nearly 100 years earlier. His death probably occurred
in the early sixth century and his chronology is wholly consistent with the age of the stone. We shall cite one more
pedigree which seems to place the Hael cousins in the family descended from Anwn Dynod and not the later one descended from
Ceretic Wledig:
Ednyfed
________l_______
l
l
Morhen Dyfnwal Hen
l
l
Peredur Cedic
l
l
Elufed=======Tudwal Tudclyd
l
Rhydderch Hael
While this pedigree[21]
makes Ednyfed the son of Maxen Wledig by omitting Anwn Dynod, it does provide an inter-family marriage which seems to identify
Tudwal Tudclyd as belonging to the earlier Dyfnwal Hen, not the Tudwal ap Clinog of the family descended from Ceretic
Wledig. Accordingly, we must conclude that Rhydderch Hael lived about 90 years earlier than Rhydderch Hen and cannot
be alternate names for one man. And we would reject the conclusion that "Maxen Wledig" was improperly inserted into the
Hael cousin's pedigree in place of "Ceretic Wledig"; we do, however, believe this Maxen Wledig was not the one known
as Magnus Maximus, but the earlier Roman Emperor who had a child by Elen
ferch Eudaf Hen.
The association
of Anwn Dynod and his son, Ednyfed, with the kingdom of Dyfed seems to be based on no more evidence than the marriage of Clotri
ferch Clydwyn to the Irish family which later produced Vortepir. Other branches of his family appear in the north of
Britain, on the Isle of Man and in Gwent. It is the latter area which seems to have the better claim as Anwn's
residence.
Some internet websites derive
Marchell, the mother of Brychan Brychieniog, from Anwn Dynod by equating him to the "Annhun rex Grecorum" of De
Situ Brecheniauc and "Annwn du, vrenhin Groec" of Jesus College Ms 20, 1. None of the sources which mention the
Annun, King of Greece also name his father. His son is called Tathal or Teudfal which some may associate with
Tudwal ap Ednyfed ap Anwn Dynod, but the chronology is wrong if we accept a birthdate near c. 400 for Brychan. The Annwn
du in the pedigree of his mother would occur c. 230/240. We tentatively reject this as another family descended from
Anwn Dynod ap Maxen, but will revisit the subject if it can be shown that Brychan's birthdate should be moved forward about
50 years.
