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Urien
| Urien Rheged | |
|---|---|
 | |
| King of Rheged? | |
| Reign | c. 550? – 572 x 592/after 597?[2] |
| Predecessor | Cynfarch Oer? |
| Successor | Owain ab Urien? |
| Born | c. 520[3][4] |
| Died | c. 572 x 592/after 597? Aber Lleu (Ross Low, Northumberland)[5] |
| Cause of death | Assassination |
| Spouse | Modron ferch Afallach (legendary) |
| Issue |
|
| Dynasty | Cynferchyn (Coeling?)[6] |
| Father | Cynfarch Oer ap Meirchion Gul |
| Mother | Nefyn ferch Brychan Brycheiniog (legendary) |
Urien ap Cynfarch Oer or Urien Rheged (Welsh pronunciation: [ˈɨ̞riɛn ˈr̥ɛɡɛd], Old Welsh: Urbgen or Urbagen) was a powerful sixth-century Brittonic-speaking figure who was possibly the ruler of the territory or kingdom known as Rheged. He is probably the best-known and certainly the best documented of the British figures of the 'Old North' in the sixth century.[7][8] His kingdom was most likely centred around the Solway Firth.[9] The most secure evidence for his existence comes from a ninth-century Welsh history and eight praise-poems in Middle Welsh dedicated to him surviving in a fourteenth-century manuscript. Despite their being found in Middle Welsh orthography, the poems may possibly reflect earlier material, even material contemporaneous to Urien.[10] One of these poems is explicitly attributed to the famed poet Taliesin in the manuscript.[11] The early material paints Urien as a ferocious warrior and a major political figure in his time, conquering Picts, Anglo-Saxons, and Britons of the 'Old North' alike.[12] According to the Historia Brittonum, Urien, with three other kings confederate with him, nearly exterminated the newly-arrived Anglo-Saxons in Britain, though this campaign was brought to an abrupt end when Urien was murdered by one of his allies.[13] In addition to this earlier material, Urien and his family feature elsewhere in medieval literature from Wales. Outside of the historical Welsh context, he eventually was transformed in Arthurian legend into the figure of king Urien of Garlot or Gorre.[14] His most celebrated son, Owain, likewise gave his name to the Arthurian character of Ywain.[15]
- ^ Flood, Victoria (2016). "Political Prophecy and the Trial of Rhys ap Gruffydd, 1530–31". Studia Celtica. L. University of Wales Press: 133-150 (138-141). doi:10.16922/SC.50.8.
- ^ See Sims-Williams, Patrick (1996). "The Death of Urien". Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies. 32. CMCS Publications: 25–56.
- ^ Rowland, Jenny, ed. (1990). Early Welsh Saga Poetry: A Study and Edition of the Englynion. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. p. 91, note 57. ISBN 0-85991-275-2.
- ^ Jackson, Kenneth (1963). "On the Northern British Section in Nennius". In Chadwick, Nora K. (ed.). Celt and Saxon: studies in the early British border. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 41–2. ISBN 0-52104-602-5.
- ^ One 'Aber Lleu' (mouth of the river Lleu) is mentioned as the spot where Urien is murdered in some of the later material concerning the man. Jenny Rowland rejects Ifor William's identification of Aber Lleu with Ross Low opposite Lindisfarne, citing the dialectical English word low meaning 'a shallow pool left in the sand by the receding tide'. This place-name element occurs repeatedly in other Northumbrian place-names. See Rowland, Jenny, ed. (1990). Early Welsh Saga Poetry: A Study and Edition of the Englynion. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. p. 91, n. 62 for discussion on the name, p. 423, 'Efrddyl' §30–31 for mention of the place in the text. ISBN 0-85991-275-2. However, Patrick Sims-Williams finds this argument unconvincing, as it is 'too much to be coincidence, especially considering that the poet's Early Old Welsh form of Lleu would presumably have been Lou.' Instead, Sims-Williams derives the 'Low' in Ross Low from the Brittonic word behind Welsh llwch, Old Welsh luch 'lake, pool, stagnant water, marsh,' which is loaned into the very English of that area in the Lindisfarne Gospels as luh glossing Latin fretum 'strait, sound, channel' and stagnum 'pond, swamp, fen, pool.' The loss of final -ch from Welsh to English is due to the fact that Old English would have weakened the sound to -h and then lost it entirely. See Sims-Williams, Patrick (1996). "The Death of Urien". Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies. 32. CMCS Publications: 39–41.
- ^ The name of Urien's kindred is variously spelt as Cynferchyn, Cynferching, or Cynfeirching depending on the source. Cynfeirching reflects 'double i-affection', with the vowel -e- changed to -ei- because of the -i- following it, while Cynferchyn/Cynferching does not, and is more common. However, none of these are wrong. For examples of these names, see Rowland, Jenny, ed. (1990). Early Welsh Saga Poetry: A Study and Edition of the Englynion. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. pp. 93, 94, 98, 587 for 'Cynferchyn', but 119, 238 for 'Cynfeirching'. ISBN 0-85991-275-2. Guy, Ben (2020). Medieval Welsh Genealogy: an Introduction and Textual Study. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. p. 483. ISBN 978-1-78327-513-7. Ben Guy uses 'Cynferchyn', but the editors of Cyfres Beirdd y Tywysogion (following Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr) use 'Cynferching'. See Jones, Nerys Ann; Parry Owen, Ann, eds. (1991). Gwaith Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr (in Welsh). Vol. 1. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. p. 61, poem 5, line 66. ISBN 0-7083-1086-9. On 'double affection', see Jackson, Kenneth (1953). Language and History in Early Britain. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 591–2. ISBN 1-85182-140-6. On the Welsh dynastic suffix -in/-yn/-yng, either derived from a native Proto-Celtic *-icn- or from Old English -ingas, see Sims-Williams, Patrick (2003). The Celtic Inscriptions of Britain: Phonology and Chronology, c. 400-1200. Oxford: Philological Society. pp. 157–8. ISBN 1-4051-0903-3.
- ^ Koch, John T., ed. (2006). "Urien of Rheged". Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. pp. 1721–2. ISBN 1-85109-440-7.
- ^ Yr Hen Ogledd or 'the Old North' is a term coined by modern scholarship to refer to the formerly British Celtic-speaking regions in what is today the north of England and south of Scotland, which loomed large in the literature of later medieval Wales and stories about which helped to form Welsh self-conceptions of identity in the Middle Ages. Marged Haycock says: "[t]he term gained currency from the late 1960s: ‘the old North’ is used by J. E. Caerwyn Williams [in 1968]... but neither this nor the Welsh phrase was used by Ifor Williams in the original Welsh edition in 1960. Elsewhere, Ifor Williams used Gogledd Coll (the Lost North) [in 1938]... [t]he term ‘British North’ used in the first edition of the triads in 1961 is replaced by yr Hen Ogledd and ‘Old North’ in subsequent editions." See Haycock, Marged (2020). "The Old North in Medieval Wales". In Plumb, Oisín; Sanmark, Alexandra; Heddle, Donna (eds.). What is North? Imagining and Representing the North from Ancient Times to the Present Day. Turnhout: Brepols. p. 54, note 9. ISBN 978-2-503-58502-4.
- ^ This is based upon an off-hand remark in a poem by Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd to an imaginary journey to '[C]aer Lliwelyt' in 'Reged' and an obscure reference to the 'Merin Reget' in a thirteenth-century prophecy attributed to Taliesin. See Charles-Edwards, Thomas (2013). Wales and the Britons, 350-1064. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-19-821731-2. The reference in the latter poem is Dydyccawt eniwet / tra Merin Reget; / perif perchen ket / gwledychawt yn Eluet; / hael hydyr y dylif, / goruawr y gynnif. / Wrth awyr volif / Katwaladyr gweith heinif. 'He will carry suffering beyond the Firth of Rheged; a lord (who is the) owner of gift(s) shall rule in Elfed; a generous one, strong his strategy, mighty his struggle. To the skies shall I praise Cadwaladr, energetic in battle.'Haycock, Marged (2013). Prophecies from the Book of Taliesin. Aberystwyth: CMCS Publications. p. 158-9, poem 8, lines 79-86. ISBN 978-0-9557182-7-4. In a different paper, Haycock suggests that 'merin Rheged' is paralleled in the mention of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth going 'tra merin' in a poem by Elidir Sais, which may perhaps be an oblique reference to his joining a campaign of King John of England (Llywelyn's overlord and eventual father-in-law) against the Scots in 1209. See Haycock, Marged (2013). "Beyond the Gododdin: Dark Age Scotland in Medieval Wales". In Woolf, Alex (ed.). Beyond the Gododdin: Dark Age Scotland in Medieval Wales. St Andrews: Committee for Dark Ages Studies. p. 9-40, note 32. ISBN 978-0-9557182-7-4. The former reference to Rheged by Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd is as follows: Arglwyt nef a llaỽr, Gwaỽr Gwyndodyt, / Mor bell o Geri Gaer Lliwelyt! / Esgynneis ar uelyn o Uaelyenyt / Hyd y nhir Reged rỽg nos a dyt. 'Lord of heaven and earth, Prince of the men of Gwynedd, how far from Ceri [is] Carlisle! I rode on a yellow [horse] from Maelienydd until the land of Rheged, between night and day.' See Bramley, Kathleen Anne; Owen, Morfydd E., eds. (1994). Gwaith Llewelyn Fardd I ac eraill o feirdd y ddeuddegfed ganrif (in Welsh). Cardiff: University of Wales Press. p. 119, poem 6, lines 34-37. ISBN 0-7083-1214-4.
- ^ Rodway, Simon (2013). Dating Medieval Welsh Literature: Evidence from the Verbal System. Aberystwyth: CMCS Publications. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-9557182-5-0.
- ^ This poem is 'Yspeil Taliessin', see Gwenogvryn Evans, John (1910). Facsimile and Text of the Book of Taliesin. Llanbedrog: to subscribers only. pp. 62·16, 63·16. Note that Gwenogvryn's notes and 'translation' are hopelessly speculative, and were very negatively received by subsequent scholars, with John Morris-Jones even describing his interpretation as 'one huge mistake'. See Morris-Jones, John (1918). "Taliesin". Y Cymmrodor. 28. The Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion: 1-290 (149). Nevertheless, despite the deficiencies in Gwenogvryn Evans' translation and notes, his is the only published facsimile of the Book of Taliesin (and it is a good edition, too), but his notes and interpretation should not at all be regarded as reliable. See Williams, Ifor (1968). The Poems of Taliesin. Translated by Williams, J. E. Caerwyn. Dublin: Institute for Advanced Studies. p. xv.
- ^ Williams, Ifor (1968). The Poems of Taliesin. Translated by Williams, J. E. Caerwyn. Dublin: Institute for Advanced Studies. pp. xlv–xlviii.
- ^ Morris, John, ed. (1980). Nennius: British History and The Welsh Annals. London: Phillimore. p. 79, §63. ISBN 0-85033-298-2.
- ^ Bruce, Christopher W. (1999). "Urien". The Arthurian Name Dictionary. New York: Garland. p. 481. ISBN 0-8153-2865-6.
- ^ Bruce, Christopher W. (1999). "Yvain1". The Arthurian Name Dictionary. New York: Garland. pp. 502–3. ISBN 0-8153-2865-6.
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