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Gwyddno Garanhir was the supposed ruler of a sunken land off the coast ofWales, known asCantre'r Gwaelod. He was the father ofElffin ap Gwyddno, the foster-father of the famousWelshpoetTaliesin in the legendary account given in the late medievalChwedl Taliesin (Ystoria Taliesin/Hanes Taliesin; "The Tale of Taliesin").
The basket of Gwyddno Garanhir is one of theThirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain. According to tradition, Gwyddno was the lord ofCantre'r Gwaelod (English:The LowlandHundred) in what is nowCardigan Bay. His chieffortress was said to have beenCaer Wyddno (English:the Fort of Gwyddno), located somewhere to the north-west of modern-dayAberystwyth. The whole kingdom was protected from the sea by floodgates, which had to be shut before high tide. One day the keeper of the floodgates,Seithenyn, was drunk and failed to close them, with the result that the sea rushed in and covered the land.
Stories of the drowned lands of Gwyddno appear to have arisen from the identification of natural underwater ridges as the remains of sea walls. However, tradition also assigns Gwyddno a landlocked portion of his kingdom to which he was able to flee. He was called 'King of Ceredigion' by the 18th centuryWelshantiquarian,Iolo Morganwg, well known for his literary forgeries, but he does not appear in theOld Welsh pedigrees for that kingdom. He is identified with a number of different historical Gwyddnos in various sources. 16th century writers favoured Gwyddno ap Clydno, the late 6th century King ofMeirionydd, who is perhaps the most likely candidate.
InSusan Cooper'sThe Dark Is Rising series, Gwyddno is the king of the Lost Lands inSilver on the Tree.
His name isWelsh and meansGwyddno Long-Shanks,Crane-Legs, or literallyTall-Crane.