| Urien Rheged | |
|---|---|
 | |
| King ofRheged? | |
| 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 |
| Military career | |
| Conflicts Battles | Migration-period Britain Battle of Alclud Ford Battle of Argoed Llwyfain Battle of Catraeth?c. (570?) Battle of Gwen Ystrad |
| Spouse | Modron ferch Afallach (legendary) |
| Issue |
|
| Dynasty | Cynferchyn (Coeling?)[6] |
| Father | Cynfarch Oer ap Meirchion Gul |
| Mother | Nefyn ferchBrychan Brycheiniog (legendary) |
Urien ap Cynfarch Oer (Welsh pronunciation:[ˈɨ̞riɛnapˈkənvarχoːɨ̯r]) orUrien Rheged (Welsh pronunciation:[ˈɨ̞riɛnˈr̥ɛɡɛd],Old Welsh:Urbgen orUrbagen) was a powerful sixth-centuryBrittonic-speaking figure who was possibly the ruler of the territory or kingdom known asRheged. He is probably the best-known and certainly the best documented of theBritish 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-centuryWelshhistory and eightpraise-poems inMiddle Welsh dedicated to him surviving in afourteenth-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 famedpoetTaliesin in the manuscript.[11] The early material paints Urien as a ferocious warrior and a major political figure in his time, conqueringPicts,Anglo-Saxons, andBritons of the'Old North' alike.[12] According to theHistoria 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] According toJohn T. Koch, he may also have been the leader of the force opposing the men commemorated in theGododdin who were killed in theBattle of Catraeth.[14] In addition to this earlier material, Urien and his family feature heavily elsewhere in latermedieval literature from Wales. Outside of the Welsh context, he was later transformed inArthurian legend into the figure of king Urien of Garlot or Gorre.[15] His most celebrated son,Owain, likewise gave his name to the Arthurian character ofYwain.[16]
As with almost all figures of theearly Middle Ages in Britain, the greatest difficulty when attempting to reconstruct Urien's life and career is how to interpret and reconcile our varied, late, and sometimes obscure, corrupt, or confused sources.[17] The only place associated with him which can be located concretely is the place of his besieging ofTheodric, which wasLindisfarne.[18][19][20] Nevertheless, the other places which appear in conjunction with him are generally identified with places in the north of England and south of Scotland.[21][22] Another difficulty with outlining Urien's career is that the source which may well be contemporaneous to his lifetime, the poetry contained in theBook of Taliesin, does not contain much in the way of narrative or readily usable information about Urien and his deeds; instead, it ambiguously recalls events and extols Urien's virtues, leaving scholars to piece together any kind of reconstruction of events.[23] Likewise, beyond a general dating of the late sixth century, Urien's date of death (not memorialised in surviving poetry) is very difficult to establish due to the garbled and corrupt nature of the text which synchronises his death to what has been interpreted to refer to a time as early as 572 AD to as late as afterAugustine's mission to theKingdom of Kent after 597.[24] Setting problems of the interpretation of the material concerning Urien aside, it is clear that he was (or at least was taken to be in later times) a very important figure of the late sixth century, but because of these difficulties, it is best to judge each surviving source concerning him individually rather than smooth over problems or contradictions with each to create a cohesive narrative combining them all.[25]
The earliest material giving evidence of Urien is to be found inHarley MS 3859. This manuscript is celebrate among Welsh manuscripts because of its early date and the material concerning the early Middle Ages found within it.[26] It was probably written around 1100, either in southern England or the parts of the Continent on the southern side of the Channel.[27] Together with various Classical texts, it contains the 'Harleian Genealogies' as well as a copy of theHistoria Brittonum (written in 829 inGwynedd) and theAnnales Cambriae.[28] The Welsh material in Harley 3859 probably was compiled together in the exemplar of this manuscript, which was most likely written around 954 atSt Davids in the reign ofOwain ap Hywel Dda.[29] However, the genealogies were probably first composed before 872 in Gwynedd at the court of Owain's ancestorRhodri Mawr to support the legitimacy of this dynasty to rule over Gwynedd and theIsle of Man.[30]
The genealogy of Urien from Harley MS 3859 gives his patrilineal descent as 'Urien son of Cynfarch son of Meirchion son of Gwrwst son ofCoel Hen.'[31] His earliest recorded ancestor, Coel Hen, functioned as an origin point for many of the northernBrythonic-speaking dynasties of theearly Middle Ages in Britain.[32] In modern scholarship, it is not generally held that Coel was an important historic figure or truly the ancestor of all these dynasties, known collectively as the 'Coeling', especially those extraneous dynasties given descent from him in the much later fifteenth century genealogical tracts titledBonedd Gwŷr y Gogledd.[33][34] Since the 'Coeling' first appear in genealogies together in Harley MS 3859 with theHistoria Brittonum, which narrates the end of Urien's career, it is thought the compiler of the genealogies joined together the lineages of all the British (i.e.'Welsh'-speaking) leaders mentioned in theHistoria Brittonum to create a more coherent narrative.[35] Nothing reliable is known of Urien's father Cynfarch, even if he ruled over Rheged, though this may perhaps be assumed given that later material refers to the 'Cynferchyn', those claiming (or attributed) descent from him.[36]
Contra ill[os] quattuor reges, Urbgen, et Riderchhen, et Guallauc, et Morcant, dimicaverunt. Deodric contra illum Urbgen cum filiis dimicabat fortiter. In illo autem tempore aliquando hostes, nunc cives vincebantur, et ipse conclusit eos tribus diebus et tribus noctibus in insula Metcaud et, dum erat in expeditione, jugulatus est, Morcanto destinante pro invidia, quia in ipso prae omnibus regibus virtus maxima erat instauratione belli.[37][38]
Against them [i.e.Hussa and his predecessors] four kings fought: Urien, andRhydderch Hen, andGwallog, andMorgan.Theodric used to fight bravely against that Urien with his sons, yet at that time sometimes the enemies, sometimes the citizens used to be vanquished. And he [Urien] shut them [the enemies] up for three days and three nights in the island ofLindisfarne and, while he was on [this?] campaign, he was slain at the instigation of Morgan out of jealousy, because beyond all other kings he [Urien] had the greatest skill in renewing war.[39]
TheHistoria Brittonum first found in Harley MS 3859 (c. 829) is our only 'historical' record of Urien, though its usefulness for reconstructing history is often doubted, as it was compiled and adapted hundreds of years after Urien's death from various sources.[40] Interestingly, in a later prologue attached to the text, the author of theHistoria Brittonum claims to have assembled his text based on the work ofRhun, Urien's son, who is also credited with baptisingEdwin of Northumbria, together withPaulinus of York, though this attribution is spurious.[41][42][43] Mostly based onBede, the text synchronises Urien's life to the reign ofTheodric (d. c. 579) andHussa of Bernicia (d. c. 592).[44]
The narrative concerning Urien relates him as having taken hostile action against Theodric, together withRhydderch Hen,Gwallog ap Llênog, andMorgan, who are (excluding Rhydderch) all recorded as descendants of Coel in the genealogies contained in the same manuscript.[45] EchoingGildas, it is said that the conflict between the Britons and the Saxons went back and forth, but Urien and his allies eventually gained the upper hand and besieged Theodric onLindisfarne (Old Welsh:Medcaut).[46] Urien, however, was killed at the instigation of Morgan, who, according to the author of theHistoria Brittonum, was jealous of Urien's martial ability.[47] As Morgan is supposed to have come from a nearby territory to Lindisfarne, it has been suggested that Morgan at that moment felt more as threatened by Urien's powerful presence near his home than by Theodric.[48]
However, Hussa (not just Theodric) is directly described as Urien's foe in a sentence with obscurities in the grammar.[49]Kenneth Jackson suggested this meant either that Urien fought against Theodric and Hussa before the latter's reign or that the chronology here is wrong and that the narrative refers to the reigns of Ida's sons in general.[50] Ian Lovecy understood the reference to Theodric as a long parenthesis indicating that formerly the struggle went both ways, but not in Urien's last campaign against Hussa.[51]David Dumville understood the text to refer to the warfare of all four British kings against the five English kings previously named with regnal dates besides Hussa, that is, from the reigns ofAdda to Hussa.[52] The next king isÆthelfrith, who took the thronec. 593, and so Urien could even have died as late as this.[53] However, the section of theHistoria Brittonum preceding the narrative of Urien's campaign records theChristianisation of Kent (occurring in 596-7) as occurring in the reign ofFrithuwald (reigned 579-85), implying Urien's campaigns could even have been after 597.[54] For this reason,Patrick Sims-Williams cast doubt on the reliability of the chronology concerning Urien and his campaigns against the Anglo-Saxons, leaving the date of Urien's death an open question.[55]
Much like many cultures in north-western Europe duringLate Antiquity, medieval Welsh culture valuedpraise-poetry, or poems extolling the virtues of a ruler or leading figure in a society.[56] Urien has the almost unique distinction of having a sizeable body of possibly contemporaneous poems dedicated to him in theBook of Taliesin (Peniarth MS 2), aMiddle Welsh manuscript of the early fourteenth century, of which twelve poems are taken to be 'historical', that is, possibly reflecting genuine sixth-century material.[57] The eight poems in this manuscript which address Urien are:
There are many more poems in this manuscript attributed to Taliesin, but only twelve are devoid of supernatural orgnomic content. These are categorised as the 'historic' Taliesin poems, consisting of these eight poems to Urien together with one poem toCynan Garwyn, one toOwain ab Urien, and two toGwallog ap Llênog.[58] The dating of these poems is still hotly debated between those who see the poems as reflecting early material, and those who favour a later date.[59] Only one poem of these twelve, 'Yspeil Taliessin', is explicitly attributed to Urien'scourt poetTaliesin in the manuscript, but since Taliesin was strongly associated with Urien in later medieval Welsh literature, and the bulk of the content of the manuscript is to do with Taliesin, the name has stuck.[60][61] Taliesin is mentioned in theHistoria Brittonum as well, though his life is synchronised to the reign ofIda of Bernicia (c. 547 – 559), slightly before Urien's reign.[62] It is not likely that Taliesin would have been only active for twelve years, but this may be when he began to be famed for poetry.[63] Taliesin was very well known for his poetic skill in later medieval Wales, and all sorts of legends sprang up about him attributing to him magic powers, including many poems 'in character' attributed to him, and these poems form the bulk of the manuscript.[64]
These poems are in sometimes obscure language and do not offer very much in the way of clear biographical information about Urien. Much of the place-name evidence of these poems is understood to refer to places in modern-dayCumbria, though Urien is also said to have led battle in the area of theRiver Ayr, in the Brythonic-speakingkingdom of Strathclyde, and perhaps against thePicts.[65] He is also recorded as fighting against theEnglish, much like he is said to have done in theHistoria Brittonum.[66] One poem mentions Urien and Owain as having fought one 'Fflamddwyn' (meaning 'flame-bearing'), which has been traditionally identified as akenning referring to one of Ida's sons, perhaps even Theodric, since Owain ab Urien is praised for killing Fflanddwyn alongside a 'broad host of English' in another poem.[67] That there is onedadolwch, or reconciliation-poem, among these poems, implying that Taliesin ran afoul of Urien at some point and was obliged to get back into his good graces.[68]
In addition to Taliesin, the sole other early Welsh poet to whom surviving poetry is attributed isAneirin. Aneirin is credited as the author of theGododdin, a collection of elegies surviving ina thirteenth-century manuscript for warriors who were slain in theBattle of Catraeth in the latter half of the sixth century AD.[69] The warriors commemorated in the poem are uniformlyBrythonic-speaking, and their enemies are described aseingyl (Angles),saesson (Saxons), anddeor/dewr ordeivyr (Deirans).[70] For this reason, the poem is traditionally understood, both in the Middle Ages and in most twentieth-century scholarship, to have been commemorating a battle between Brythonic-speaking warriors led by a king of theGododdin and theAnglo-Saxons who had begun to settle the north-eastern coast of Britain.[71][72] According to this account, the confrontation had been spurred on by the recent conquest by the Anglo-Saxons of the old Roman fort ofCataractonium (giving Catraeth in Welsh), which was situated on an important crossroads.[73][74] However,John Koch's commentary on theGododdin radically challenges this interpretation, and places Urien as the leader of the forces opposing the figures commemorated in theGododdin, with the Battle of Catraeth taking place inc. 570 AD.[75]
There are two references to Catraeth in the poetry concerning Urien attributed to Taliesin. The opening line of the second poem in Ifor William's edition 'Arwyre gwyr katraeth gan dyd', means 'the men of Catraeth arise with the day'.[76] In this poem, the 'men of Catraeth' are described as following Urien on his various campaigns, and the poem makes reference to a certain 'Battle of Gwen Ystrad'.[77] The narrator in 'Yspeil Taliesin' also says of Uriengweleis i lyw katraeth tra maeu 'I saw the lord of Catraeth across the plains' as part of his celebration of Urien's courage and generosity.[78][79]
John T. Koch reconstructed 'Arwyre gwyr katraeth gan dyd' in sixth-centuryCommon Brythonic and judged the poem to be authentic to this period based on his understanding that it contains fossilised forms of words which reflect the Brythonic language before it lost case endings in the mid-sixth century.[80][81] He also referenced another poem, 'Moliant Cadwallon', probably a genuine seventh-century panegyric toCadwallon ap Cadfan, which says 'Fierce Gwallog caused the greatly renowned death toll at Catraeth'.[82][83][84] This Gwallog is presumablyGwallog ap Llênog, the ruler ofElmet who fought alongside Urien against the Anglo-Saxons in the narrative of theHistoria Brittonum discussed above.[85][86][87]
However, just as there are references to Catraeth outside of theGododdin, so there appears to be a reference to Urien and Gwallog in it. One stanza begins:
O vreithyell gatraeth pan adrodir.
maon dychiorant eu hoet bu hir.
edyrn diedyrn amygyn dir.
a meibyon godebawc gwerin enwir.
dyforthynt lynwyssawr gelorawr hir.[88]It is concerning Catraeth’s variegated and ruddy [land] that it is told — the followers fell; long were the lamentations for them, the immortalised men; [but] it was not as immortals that they fought for territory against the descendants of Godebog, the rightful faction: long biers bore off blood-stained bodies.[89]
— theGododdin, stanza A.15, translation byJohn T. Koch.
The 'descendants of Godebog' here could refer to Urien and Gwallog, as another epithet ofCoel Hen, their shared ancestor, isGodebog, meaning 'protector'.[90][91]Rachel Bromwich supposed an emendation of this line, deleting the prepositiona,Modern Welshâ 'with', so the line would mean 'not as undying men did the descendants of Godebog fight for the land', which would make the descendants of Godebog allies of the heroes of theGododdin.[92] However, John Koch rejected this emendation on the grounds that it would leave the line a syllable short of the ten syllable metre of in the stanza.[93] Therefore, according to John Koch, 'Arwyre gwyr katraeth gan dyd', theGododdin, and 'Moliant Cadwallon' all refer to the sameBattle of Catraeth, with Urien and Gwallog opposing a force made up of theGododdin forces and a contingent fromStrathclyde underCynon ap Clydno.[94]
The impetus for the battle in Koch's understanding of events is linked to the presence of oneMadog Elfed among the commemorated heroes of the Gododdin. His epithet implies he was a royal ofElfed (like UrienRheged), and so he may have been a claimant to rule the region supported by the Gododdin and in opposition to Gwallog and Urien.[95] As the quickest route from Gododdin to Elfed would pass throughCatraeth, the battle therefore was a result of the forces of Urien cutting off the Gododdin force at the important crossroads there. The presence of the Anglo-Saxons, Koch argues, can be understood as representing Urien's overlordship over the Anglo-Saxons ofDeira, with theBernicians having been allied with the Gododdin force.[96] Since the Bernicians are conspicuously absent from the enemies of the Gododdin in the poem, and likewise are the Deirans from the poetry surrounding Urien and in the narrative in theHistoria Brittonum, Koch argued that the element of racial warfare in the poem is secondary to the composition of the text, after the loss of Britain to the English was cemented in the Welsh mind.[97]
While Koch's textual reconstruction of theGododdin in sixth-century Welsh was lauded as being accomplished and accurate, his historical background and account of the transmission of the text remain controversial.[98][99] In particular, Graham R. Isaac strongly rejected Koch's date for 'Arwyre gwyr katraeth gan dyd', and dated the poem to between 1050 and 1150 based on the metrically important prosthetic vowel in the wordsystrat andystadyl in one line of the poem.[100] Were this the case, Koch's understanding of the background, transmission, and historical importance of theGododdin would be severely damaged, however, debate on this matter still continues.[101]
Due to his appearance in early poetry and place in the narrative of theHistoria Brittonum, Urien became a figure in the body of later Welsh literature concerning the 'Old North', which functioned as the setting for muchmedieval Welsh literature.[102] One such piece of literature concerning Urien, or more accurately Urien's sons, is fittingly called the 'Urien Rheged' cycle (Welsh:Canu Urien) by modern scholars, as the poems are concerned with the events inRheged after the killing of Urien.[103] The poems survive mainly from twoMiddle Welsh manuscripts, theBlack Book of Carmarthen (c. 1250) and theRed Book of Hergest (after 1382). Nevertheless,Canu Urien is generally understood to be a copyOld Welsh-period material, dated to around the same period of theHistoria Brittonum.[104][105] This material is called 'saga poetry' by comparison withIcelandic sagas, both because like the Icelandic material, the Welsh poems are thought to have been taken from longer, partly prose (or oral) works, and because they both might reflect earlier history through a literary lens.[106]
Though one of Urien's allies in the narrative of theHistoria Brittonum wasGwallog ap Llênog, he is recorded as having fought against Urien's son Elffin in another one of the poems in this cycle, "Dwy Blaid". Likewise, one Dunod fought with Owain, while Brân ab Ymellyrn and Morgan – the orderer of Urien's killing – fought the narrator.[107] The identification of the narrator of these poems has been the subject of some debate.Ifor Williams understood him to beLlywarch Hen, Urien's cousin and the subject of his own cycle of poems lamenting his old age.[108] However, Jenny Rowland thought he must be some other figure, perhaps one of Urien's nephews by his sister Efrddyl, since their grief may be emphasised due to their conflicting ties of kindred, and that Llywarch was not in her eyes a heroic figure.[109] In response to this,Patrick Sims-Williams put forth powerful arguments based on the text and its history to identify the narrator with Llywarch Hen after all, chief among them the fact that the narrator addresses Urien askeuynderw 'first cousin', and that the weight of evidence about Llywarch in the eyes of later medieval Welshmen suggests they viewed him as a great warrior, even as he suffered in old age.[110]
The most impactful and moving poems from this cycle are given the titles "Pen Urien" (Urien's Head) and "Celain Urien" (Urien's corpse) by modern scholarship.[111] They relate the immediate aftermath of Urien's killing, with the name of the assassin given in another poem as Llofan Llaw Ddifro.[112] In "Pen Urien" and "Celain Urien", the narrator was forced to finish Urien off and strike off his head, with the implication that it was unsafe to carry Urien's entire body home for burial. The narrator laments his fortune that he must leave the body of his caring lord behind and curses his hand for carrying out this grim task.
| "Pen Urien" (Welsh) | English translation | "Celain Urien" (Welsh) | English translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penn a borthafar[uyn] tu. bu kyrchynat rwng deulu. mab kynuarch balch bieiuu. | I carry a head on my side: he was an attacker between two hosts, the proud son of Cynfarch is he whose it was. | Y gelein veinwen a oloir hediw. a dan brid a mein. gwae vy llaw llad tat owein. | The slender white corpse is being buried today under soil and stones. Alas, my hand, for the killing of Owain's father. |
| Penn a borthaf ar vyn tu. penn uryen llary llywei llu. ac ar y vronn wenn vran du. | I carry a head on my side, the head of generous Urien – he used to lead a host. And on his white breast is a black raven. | Y gelein ueinwen a oloir hediw. ymplith prid a derw. gwae vy llaw llad vyg keuynderw. | The slender white corpse is being buried today in soil and an oak coffin. Alas, my hand, for the killing of my cousin. |
| Penn a borthaf mywn vyg crys. penn vryen llary llywyei llys. ac ar y vronn wen vrein ae hys. | I carry a head on my belt, the head of generous Urien – he used to rule a court. And ravens on his white breast consume him. | Y gelein ueinwenn a oloir[hediw] a dan vein a edewit. gwae vy llaw llam rym tynghit. | The slender white corpse is being buried today – under stones it has been left. Alas, my hand, for the fate which was fated for me. |
| Penn a borthaf ym nedeir. yr yrechwyd oed uugeil. teyrnvron treulyat gennweir. | I carry a head in my hand. He was shepherd over Erechwydd, lord and soldier, a spender of spears. | Y gelein veinwen a oloir[hediw] ymplith prid a thywarch gwae vy llaw llad mab kynuarch. | The slender white corpse is being buried today amidst soil and sods. Alas, my hand, for the killing of the son of Cynfarch. |
| Penn a borthaf tu mordwyt. oed ysgwyt ar wlat.oed olwyn yg kat. oedcledyr cat kywlat rwyt. | I carry a head on the side of my thigh. He was a shield over the country, a wheel in battle, he was a prop in war, a snare of the enemy. | Y gelein ueinwenn a oloir hediw. dan weryt ac arwyd. gwae vy llaw llad vy arglwyd. | The slender white corpse is being buried today under earth and a standard. Alas, my hand, for the killing of my lord. |
| Penn a borthaf ar vyg kled. gwell y vyw nogyt y ued. oed dinas y henwred. | I carry a head on my right side – better he alive than in his grave. He was a fortress for the aged. | Y gelein ueinwen aoloir hediw a dan brid athywawt gwae vy llaw llam rym daerawt. | The slender white corpse is being buried today under soil and sand. Alas, my hand, for the fate which has befallen me. |
| Penn a borthaf o godir. penawc pellynnyawc y luyd [penn] vryen geiryawe glotryd. | I carry a head from the region of Pennawg – his hosts were far-travelling – the head of eloquent and celebrated Urien. | Y gelein veinwenn a oloir hediw. a dan brid a dynat. gwae vy llaw llam rym gallat. | The slender white corpse is being buried today under soil and nettles. Alas, my hand, for the fate which has been brought about for me. |
| Penn a borthaf ar vy ysgwyd. nym aruollei waratwyd. gwae vy llaw llad vy arglwyd. | I carry a head on my shoulder – shame did not use to receive me – alas, my hand, (for) the striking of my lord. | Y gelein veinwen aoloir hediw a dan brid a mein glas. gwae vy llaw llam rym gallas. | The slender white corpse is being buried today under soil and grey stones. Alas, my hand – it caused my fate. |
| Penn a borthaf ar vym breich. neus goruc o dir bryneich. gwedygawr gelorawrveich. | I carry a head on my arm. He made of the Bernicians after battle a burden for biers. | ||
| Pen a borthaf o dv Paul pen vrien udd dragonawl a chyd del dydd brawd ni'm tawr | I carry a head from the side of a post, the head of Urien, a warlike lord, and though Judgment Day were to come I do not care. | ||
| Penn a borthaf yn aghat vy llaw. llary ud llywyei wlat. penn post prydein ry allat. | I carry a head in the grasp of my hand of a generous lord - he used to lead a country. The chief support of Britain has been carried off. | ||
| Penn a borthaf am porthes. neut atwen nat yr vylles. gwae vy law llym digones. | I carry a head which cared for me. I know it is not for my good. Alas, my hand, it performed harshly. | ||
| Penn a borthaf o du riw. [ar] y eneuewynvriw. gwaet gwae reget ohediw. | I carry a head from the side of the hill and on his lips is a fine foam of blood. Woe to Rheged because of this day. | ||
| [Ry]thyrvis vym breich ry gardwys vy eis. vyg callon neur dorres penn a borthaf am porthes. | It has wrenched my arm, it has crushed my ribs, it has broken my heart. I carry a head which cared for me. |
Urien is mentioned in passing in theLlywarch Hen cycle, poems about the sufferings of his cousin Llywarch and written with the poet speaking from Llywarch's point of view. They are, likeCanu Urien, certainly later than Llywarch and Urien's time. Urien is recorded as supplying Llywarch's last surviving son Gwên with a horn which Llywarch advises Gwên to blow if he needs aid while on guard at night.[114]
In the mnemonic devices known as theWelsh Triads, intended forpoets to recall traditional stories, Urien is mentioned repeatedly. These mostly agree with the testimony of theHistoria Brittonum and the other early sources, though there are some references to the later traditions.[115] Urien is one of the 'Three Armoured Warriors', 'Three battle-rulers', and 'Three Holy Womb-burdens'. The latter gives his mother as Nefyn ferchBrychan Brycheiniog, and his wife asModron ferch Afallach. Likewise, his killing at the hands of Llofan Llaw Ddifo is one of the 'Three Unfortunate Slaughters'.[116] There are chronological impossibilities with associating his wife with a daughter of Brychan, however, and Modron is a purely legendary figure, whose first association with Urien is in this triad.[117] Nevertheless, these show the enduring interest in Urien in the later Middle Ages, and the invention of tradition to satisfy continued regard for his life and deeds.[118]
As well as Taliesin, Urien was supposed to have employed a poet named Tristfardd (literally 'sad poet'), as recorded in another triad, which calls Tristfardd one of the 'Three Red-Speared Bards'.[119] Threeenglynion preserved in a very late manuscript record a story recounting how this Tristfardd secretly courted Urien's wife, and, not recognising the king, sent a disguised Urien to send a message to her. Urien slew Tristfardd for this offence at 'Rhyd Tristfardd', supposed to be inRadnorshire.[120] This is a late tradition, and runs contrary to the association of Urien with Taliesin and the very strong association of Urien with the North, though it seems probable that this story was affixed to the name of Trisfardd even later than his appearance in the Triads.[121]
Literature about Urien, whether reflecting early material or not, seems to have circulated in more channels than survive to the present. This can be evidenced by the twelfth-century poetCynddelw Brydydd Mawr's attribution of the 'wrath of Urien' to his patronOwain Cyfeiliog, using the form Urfoën (Middle Welsh:Uruoen).[122] This reflects an older form of the name*Urbogen which retained the composition vowel also reflected in weakened form in a rendition of Urien's name in theHistoria Brittonum, Urbagen.[123] Kenneth Jackson dated the loss of this vowel to the sixth century in Welsh, and Ifor Williams went so far as to say the trisyllabic form must be reinserted in one of the Taliesin poems to rectify a defect in the metre in a line in one poem.[124] Assuming Cynddelw did not independently create this form so that he might fill the metre of this line in his own poem, this gives the tantalising suggestion that he was reading sources about Urien which do not survive to us, or that this name survived in a fossilised spoken form as a part of bardic lore.[125]
Like many other figures of the Early Middle Ages in Welsh tradition, Urien captured interest well into a millennium after his death. In the sixteenth century,Rhys ap Gruffydd, a grandson ofRhys ap Thomas who greatly aidedHenry Tudor at theBattle of Bosworth Field, was disinherited from his grandfather's estates by order ofHenry VIII, who instead gave these lands toWalter Devereux. This greatly incensed Rhys, who began a long feud with Devereux, ultimately culminating in the execution of Rhys on charges of treason. Like Henry Tudor, Rhys tried to weaponise political prophecy to gather support for his cause, and he was accused of going by the name 'FitzUryen' (son of Urien) and attempting to gain support to make himselfPrince of Wales independent of Henry with the help ofJames V of Scotland.[126] Rhys claimed to be a member of thehouse of Dinefwr, which originated withRhodri Mawr's sonCadell. Rhodri's ancestry claims an origin fromLlywarch Hen, which would make Rhys ap Gruffydd a distant relative of Urien.[127] As Urien was remembered for his battles against the English, the authorities feared he would be able to capitalise on anti-English sentiment in Wales. Urien's son Owain was associated with ravens in later Welsh literature, and Rhys ap Gruffydd, together with his grandfather Rhys ap Thomas, bore three ravens on their coat of arms, which were called the 'ravens of Urien' by contemporaneous poets such asGuto'r Glyn andLewys Glyn Cothi.[128][129][130]
Geoffrey of Monmouth, drawing on Welsh sources and his own imagination, adapted Urien intoArthurian legend, and made him known across Europe with the explosive popularity of hisHistoria Regum Britanniae. In Geoffrey's telling, taken on by many following him, Urien is one of three brothers who ruled Scotland before theSaxon invasion – the others beingLot ofLothian, and Augusel. After freeing Scotland, Arthur restored the throne ofAlba to Augusel, and made Urien king of Mureif (perhapsMonreith, orMoray). Urien's son Eventus later succeeds Augusel as king of Alba.[131]
In the 13th-century Arthurian chivalric romances, the location of his kingdom is transferred to either theOtherworldly and magical Kingdom of Gorre or Garloth. During the reign ofUther Pendragon, Arthur's father, Urien (orUriens) marries a sister or half-sister of the young Arthur. She is eitherMorgan or one of the others, such as Hermesan in theLivre d'Artus and Blasine inOf Arthour and of Merlin.[132] Urien, like the kings of several other lands, initially opposes Arthur's accession to the throne after Uther's death. He and the others rebel against the young monarch (with Urien even briefly kidnapping Arthur's wifeGuinevere in theLivre d'Artus).[133] Upon their defeat, he is among the rebel leaders become Arthur's allies and vassals. His marriage to Morgan is not portrayed as a happy one, however, as in a popular version from thePost-Vulgate Cycle (later included inThomas Malory's influentialLe Morte d'Arthur) Morgan plots to useExcalibur to kill both Urien and Arthur and place herself and her loverAccolon on the throne. Morgan fails in both parts of that plan, foiled by their own son and by theLady of the Lake, respectively.[134]
Urien is usually said to be the father ofYwain (Owain) by Morgan, but many texts also give him a second son,Ywain the Bastard, fathered on hisseneschal's wife. Welsh tradition further attributes to him a daughter namedMorfudd byModron.[135]
According toRoger Sherman Loomis, the name and character of another Arthurian king,Nentres of Garlot (in Malory, the husband of Arthur's sisterElaine), could have been derived from that of Urien.[136] Malory spells Urien's name asUrience of Gorre, which has led some later authors (e.g.Alfred Tennyson) to identify him with Arthur's relentless rivalKing Rience.[137]
In theDidot-Perceval manuscript of thePerceval en prose (c. 1200),Perceval fights Urbain, son of the Queen of the Black Thorn (Reine de la Noire Espine) and defender of a ford and an invisible castle. Following Urbain's defeat, a flock of monstrous ravens attacks Perceval, who manages to wound one of them which immediately transforms into a beautiful young girl, soon carried off by the other birds toAvalon. Urbain explains that she is the sister of his fairy mistress and her attendants. According to Loomis, the story's Urbain corresponds to Urien, father of Owain (Yvain) and husband of Morgen (Morgan), the latter being the equivalent of the Welsh Modron and the IrishMorrígan ("Great Queen").[138][139] Note, however, that modern scholarship in the field of Celtic Studies strongly disapproves of this and other mythologising and equation of Welsh and Irish material haphazardly.[140][141]
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help){{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) On the Welsh dynastic suffix -in/-yn/-yng, either derived from a nativeProto-Celtic *-icn- or fromOld English -ingas, seeSims-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.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help){{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help){{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help){{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) In the Middle Ages, it appears that people just associated these names with great antiquity, and so recycled them for use in stories about their legendary past, of which Urien plays a part.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)Williams, Ifor (1968).The Poems of Taliesin. Translated byWilliams, J. E. Caerwyn. Dublin: Institute for Advanced Studies. p. 2, poem II, l. 32n, p. xxxvii.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)