Everything about The Gododdin totally explained
The
Gododdin were a
Brythonic people of north-eastern
Britain (modern north-east
England and south-east
Scotland) in the
sub-Roman period, best known as the subject of the
6th century Welsh poem
Y Gododdin, attributed to
Aneirin.
The name
Gododdin is the
Modern Welsh form; it's derived, via
Old Welsh Guotodin from the
Brythonic language word
Votadini, attested in
Latin texts.
The Gododdin kingdom
It isn't known exactly how far the kingdom of the Gododdin extended, possibly from the
Stirling area to the kingdom of
'Bryneich', and including what are now the
Lothian and
Borders regions of eastern
Scotland. It was bounded on the west by the Brythonic
Kingdom of Strathclyde, and to the north by the
Picts. Those living around
Clackmannanshire were known as the
Manaw Gododdin (Watson, 1926; Jackson, 1969). According to tradition, local kings of this period lived at both
Traprain Law and
Din Eidyn (
Edinburgh, still known as
Dùn Éideann in
Scottish Gaelic), and probably also at
Din Baer (
Dunbar).
In the wake of Roman withdrawal around
410,
Coel Hen (
Old King Cole), who Morris suggests may have been the last of the Roman
Duces Brittanniarum (Dukes of the Brythons), seems to have taken over the northern capital at
Eburacum (
York) and became something akin to a High King of Northern Britain ("Britain" in this context excludes the lands of the Picts, see
Brython), ruling over what had been the northern provinces, possibly including the lands of the
Votadini. This area became known in later poetry as the
Hen Ogledd. After his death the North probably began to divide. By about
470 most of the Votadini's lands became the kingdom of Gododdin, while the southern part of their territory between the
Tweed and the
Tees (approximately modern
Northumberland and
County Durham) seems to have become a separate kingdom then called
Bryneich.
The Kings of Gododdin
Ford identifies the Kings of the Gododdin with those of
Lothian and suggests they're recorded in 'Pedigree 16' of Harleian MS 3859.
King Leudonus, after whom Lothian is named, is remembered in the local legend of St. Kentigern (alias
Saint Mungo).
Cunedda, legendary founder of the
Kingdom of Gwynedd in north
Wales, is supposed to have been a Manaw Gododdin warlord who migrated south-west about this time.
Later history
In the
6th century, Bryneich was invaded by the
Angles and became known as
Bernicia. The Angles continued to press north. In ca.
600 about 300 men of the Gododdin fell in the battle of Catraeth (almost certainly
Catterick in
North Yorkshire), as recorded in
Aneirin's poem-cycle
Y Gododdin.
In
638 'Din Eidyn' was under siege and may have fallen to the Angles, for the Gododdin seem to have come under the rule of Bernicia around this time. To what extent the native population was replaced or assimilated is unknown. Bernicia became part of
Northumbria, and by
954 was overrun by the
Danish kingdom of
York. Shortly afterwards this came under a unified England, then in
1018 Malcolm II brought the region as far as the
River Tweed under Scottish rule.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Gododdin'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://gododdin.totallyexplained.com">Gododdin Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
