Amlawdd Wledig


Amlawdd Wledig was a legendary king of sub-Roman Britain. The Welsh title wledig, archaically Gwledic or Guletic and Latinised Guleticus, is defined as follows: "lord, king, prince, ruler; term applied to a number of early British rulers and princes who were prominent in the defence of Britain about the time of the Roman withdrawal; commander of the native militia ".

Location

He is described as a king of 'some part of Wales, possibly on the border with Herefordshire'. If it is accepted that King Gwrfoddw of Ergyng is Amlawdd's son, there would be a logic to Amlawdd also having been a king in the Ergyng or Herefordshire area.

Family

Ancestry

At least three different genealogies are suggested for Amlawdd Wledig:
Amlawdd is said to have been the husband of Gwen, the daughter of Cunedda Wledig, the legendary northern king said either to have migrated or to have been sent south by Vortigern to drive Irish invaders from the Kingdom of Gwynedd.

Children

A number of figures from the Arthurian legends are suggested to have been the children of Amlawdd, including:
Amlawdd Wledig is named in many sources to have been the maternal grandfather of King Arthur, while others suggest he is a genealogical construct, created in order to justify the kinship connections referred to in the Welsh prose tale of Culhwch and Olwen between Arthur, Culhwch, St Illtud and Goreu fab Custennin. Amlawdd does not appear in the list of Kings of Britain given by Geoffrey of Monmouth.