Rhydderch Hael
Rhydderch Hael [ 'ŗəðerx hail ], also Riderch I. of Alt Clut ( bl. 580; † around 614), is the name of a historical prince of Alt Clut (a region in what is now Strathclyde in Scotland ). This British kingdom lay in the valley of the River Clyde in post-Roman times .
History and mythology
Riderch I was one of the most famous kings in Hen Ogledd (the "Old North"), the British-speaking area of what is now southern Scotland and northern England . It is mentioned in some medieval works in Cymrian and Latin , for the first time in the Amra Choluim Chille ("Praise Colum Cilles"). His father and ruling king before him was probably Tutagual of Alt Clut, mentioned in Aelred of Rievaulx ' Vita Sancti Niniani . Riderch's family also appears in Y Gododdin and in the Trioedd Ynys Prydein ("The Triads of the Isle of Britain"). Here Rhydderch Hael is called one of the "three most generous men in Britain". In a fragment of a poem, his sword Dyrnwyn ("with the white hilt") is counted among the legendary "thirteen treasures of the island of Britain". When a noble born man uses it, his blade turns into a flame.
He also waged a war against the Principality of Gwynedd together with other rulers of the Hen Ogledd . In the Historia Brittonum ("History of the British") it is reported that he fought with three other kings, including Urien of Rheged and Cynon fab Clydno , against the Angles that were resident in Northumbria . Also in the Trioedd Ynys Prydein , Rhydderch's defeat in the war against the Gaelic Kingdom of Dalriada and the subsequent retaliation is described as one of the "three most rampant devastations on the island of Britain".
According to Englynion y Beddeu ("The Stanzas of the Graves"), his grave is in Abererch on the Lleyn Peninsula ( Pen Llŷn ) in north-west Wales , another burial site is shown in Renfrewshire , Scotland.
Not for Rhydderch Hael, but for Rhydderch from Ieuan Llwyd (around 1325-1400) from Ceredigion was Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch copied ( "The White Book of Rhydderch").
literature
- Bernhard Maier : Lexicon of Celtic Religion and Culture (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 466). Kröner, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-520-46601-5 .
Web links
- Bernhard Maier: The Celts: their history from the beginning to the present . In: Beck's historical library . CH Beck, 2000, ISBN 3-406-46094-1 , pp. 182 (320 p., Limited preview in Google Book search).
- John T. Koch (Ed.): Celtic culture: a historical encyclopedia. 1. Aberdeen breviary - Celticism . tape 1 . ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, California 2006, ISBN 1-85109-440-7 , pp. 1323 (English, limited preview in Google Book search).
- Robert Williams: Enwogion Cymru: A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Welshmen, from the Earliest Times to the Present, and Including Every Name Connected with the Ancient History of Wales . W. Rees, 1852, p. 442 (English, 567 p., Limited preview in Google book search).
See also
- List of the kings of Strathclyde
- List of Celtic gods and legendary figures
- Myths and legends from Wales and Britain
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Rhydderch Hael |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Riderch I. of Alt Clut |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | King of Scotland |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 6th century |
| DATE OF DEATH | 7th century |