The Great Prophecy of Britain

Armes Prydein Fawr, the Great Prophecy of Britain, is a poem attributed to Taliesin (although could not be his work as it was composed in the 10th century) in which he sings of the return of Cadwaladr ap Cadwallon (the hero in my book, The Last Pendragon) and Cynan, another dark age leader of the Welsh people.  Among the Welsh, it was these two, not Arthur, who would return in the future to save Britain.  The motivation was the same, however, in that the poet desires to drive the invading Saxons out of the land that had belonged to the Cymry. In the poem, Taliesin predicts the allliance of the Irish and Scots with the Welsh towards that purpose.  John Davies, in his book, The History of Wales, writes that the poem expresses frustration with the peaceful, compromising policies of Hywel Read more…

Twthill

Prior to the arrival of the Normans, Twthill was a court of the kings of Gwynedd. What we see today, however, are the remains of a ‘motte and bailey’ castle erected by Robert of Rhuddlan in 1073. A kinsman of Hugh d’Avranches, the Earl of Chester, Robert attempted to consolidate Norman advances in north Wales after the conquest of William the Conquerer. Twthill was Robert’s base, and from it he subdued much of Gwynedd until his death in 1193. The area around Rhuddlan Castle was reunited with Gwynedd as part of the campaign of Owain’s father, Gruffydd, that cost the life of Owain’s elder brother, Cadwallon in 1132. Cadwallon killed some of his own uncles in order to achieve this. Owain’s marriage to Cristina reconciled these two sides of the family. The campaigns of 1136/37, which brought Ceredigion into the fold, expanded Gruffydd’s (and Read more…