Cynddylan

Cynddylan ap Cyndrwyn is the name of a character from Welsh mythology and history . His story is described in the poem Marwnad Cynddylan ("The Elegy of Cynddylan") and in the cycle of poems Canu Heledd ("Heledds Gesänge").

Cynddylan was a king of Pengwern in Powys in the 7th century , who, according to some tradition, died in 642 (or 644 according to the Annales Cambriae ) in the battle of Maserfield ( Welsh Maes Cogwy ). The place of slaughter is now mostly localized with Oswestry (Welsh Croesoswallt ) in Shropshire . In Marwnad Cynddylan is named as his kingdom Dogfeiling (in Gwynedd , today Denbighshire ).

In the turmoil following the withdrawal of the Roman occupation from Britain and the conquests by the Anglo-Saxons , the Anglo-Saxon kings Oswald of Northumbria and Penda of Mercia fought for dominance over the area south of the Humber . After the Canu Heledd , Welshmen from Pengwern, led by Cynddylan ap Cyndrwyn, took part in the decisive battle at Maserfield, presumably as an ally of the Mercier. According to this poetic tradition, Cynddylan fell in battle and was mourned by his sister Heledd ferch Cyndrwyn in the poems of Canu Heledd .

However, his death in 642/644 is uncertain, since a Cynddylan is also mentioned as a comrade in the battle of Winwaed (655) and in the battle of Deorham (577). An identical name with another Welsh king cannot be ruled out.

See also

• List of Celtic gods and legendary figures
• Collected works from Wales and Britain

literature

• Bernhard Maier : Lexicon of Celtic Religion and Culture (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 466). Kröner, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-520-46601-5 , pp. 93, 164.
• Rev. R. Harris Jones MA, Vicar of Llanidloes: Powys-Land in the time of Prince Cynddylan. The Club, 1868. [1]

Web links

• Nicholas Brooks : Anglo-Saxon Myths: State and Church, 400-1066. Continuum International Publishing Group, 2000, ISBN 9781852851545 , p. 75.
• The Cambro-Briton, Volume 3, J. Limbird, 1822, p. 252. "The Bard's Lament for Cynddylan" , poem in English translation.
• Sir Walter Scott: The Complete Works of Sir Walter Scott, Conner & Cooke, 1833, p. 536 : "The Hall of Cynddylan" , poem in English.