Battle of Arfderydd

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Coordinates: 55 ° 1 ′ 0 ″  N , 2 ° 55 ′ 0 ″  E

Battle of Arfderryd
date 573
place Arfderydd (now Arthuret)
output Christian victory, death of Gwenddoleu
Parties to the conflict

Kingdom of Strathclyde
Ebrauc

Arfderydd

Commander

Rhydderch Hael
Peredur from Eliffer
Gwrgi from Eliffer

Gwenddoleu †

Troop strength
unknown unknown
losses

unknown

unknown

The Battle of Arfderydd (also Arderydd ) took place - following the Annales Cambriae - in 573. The opponents are referred to differently in numerous ancient Welsh sources, which probably indicates that a number of allied armies were involved. The main opponents seem to have been Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio on the one hand and either the princes and brothers Peredur and Gwrgi from Eliffer von Ebrauc or King Rhydderch Hael von Strathclyde . Gwenddoleu was beaten and killed. His bard Myrddin Wyllt went insane and fled into the woods; he is probably the model for the figure of Merlin from the Arthurian legend . Ebrauc was so weakened in battle that it was destroyed seven years later by the Anglo-Saxons of Deira and Bernicia . The Welsh Triads refer to the Battle of Arfderydd as one of the "three futile battles of the British Isles" alongside the Battle of Camlann and the Battle of the Trees. In the 14th century, chronicler John Fordun gives the plain between Liddel Water as the venue in his Chronica Gentis Scotorum and Carwannok. The Scottish historian William Forbes Skene (1809-1892) identified him - Fordun confirming - with Arthuret near Longtown in Cumberland (now Cumbria ), about 4 kilometers from the Anglo-Scottish border.

In literature and mythology

The Battle of Arfderydd is mentioned frequently in medieval Welsh texts, including the Welsh Triads ( Trioedd Ynys Prydein ) and the Red Book of Hergest ( Llyfr Coch Hergest ). The Welsh Triads call Gwenddoleus 'troops one of the British Isles ' three loyal armies that fought on for a fortnight and a month after their master fell . The wake of the brave Dreon the mound of Arfderydd is considered one of the three noble wake designated; Gwrgi and Peredur von Ebrauc, Dunod Fawr († around 595, a king from the northern Pennines ) and Cynfelyn Drwsgl were carried to Corvan, the horse of the sons of Eliffers, to a place where they could see the clouds of dust, the Gwenddolau and his riders stirred up in battle The Conversation of Myrddin and Taliesin (Ymddiddan Myrddin a Thaliesin) , the first song in the Black Book of Carmarthen ( Llyfr Du Caerfyrddin ), often refers to the battle and names numerous fighters: Cedfyl, Cadfan, Maelgwn, Erith , Gwrith, Bran, Melgan, Rhys, Cynelyn, Cyndur, the sons of Eliffer (Peredur and Gwrgi), and Dywel fab heiress. The poem Afallennau (Apple Trees ) records that Myrddin wore a gold spiral ring (choker) in battle before he fled to the forests of Caledonia .; In the poem The Conversation of Gwyn ap Nudd and Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio , Gwyn says that at the place where Gwenddoleu, Ceidio's son, was killed, he was the pillar of the songs, where the ravens screeched over the blood

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Annales Cambriae A129: (573) Bellum armterid ; Annales Cambriae B601: Bellum erderit inter filios elifer et Guendoleu filium keidiau in quo bello Guendoleu cecidit merlinus insanus effectus est
  2. ↑ Bromwich, pp. 208-209
  3. ^ Bromwich, pp. 469, 472
  4. ↑ Annales Cambriae A136 (580 Guurci et peretur moritur ); Annales Cambriae B602: Gurgi et peredur filii elifer moriuntur
  5. ↑ Bromwich, pp. 206-210.
  6. ^ Speech to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland of February 15, 1865, Notice of the Site of the Battle of Arderydd or Arderyth , in: Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Edinburgh 1866, VI, pp. 91-98; Tolstoy, pp. 72-73
  7. ↑ Bromwich pp. 57-60, 65-67, 109-116
  8. ^ The Dialogue of Myrddin and Taliesin
  9. ↑ Tolstoy p. 47
  10. ^ The Dialogue of Gwyddno Garanhir and Gwyn ap Nudd