Gwydre, Son of King Arthur

Gwydre is a high status character from the Arthurian legends. He is the son of King Arthur himself. Despite being the son of the central figure of the legends, he does not play a prominent part in them. The only notable thing recorded about him is actually his death. This article will examine what we know about him.

Who Was Gwydre?

Gwydre was the son of King Arthur. He was thus a very high status prince. Yet despite this, he is an extremely obscure figure. In Peter Bartrum’s A Welsh Classical Dictionary, which contains comprehensive entries on countless Arthurian characters, the entire entry on Gwydre is as follows:

“He is mentioned in the tale of ‘Culhwch and Olwen’ as having been slain at Cwm Cerwyn near Preseleu by the boar Trwyth (RM 138).”

For a son of Arthur who appears in a relatively early Welsh source, it is astonishing that there are not more traces of him. This, apparently, is all that is known about him. There do not appear to be any other traces of him in Welsh tradition or place names.

As Bartrum noted, Gwydre’s first and only appearance is in a Welsh tale known as Culhwch and Olwen. This was written in approximately 1100. It tells a story of Arthur engaging on a series of dramatic adventures, the most prominent of which is a hunt for a monstrous boar that is causing devastation across South Wales. The boar is named Twrch Trwyth.

The boar kills many of Arthur’s men during this event. One of these was Gwydre, King Arthur’s own son.

Where Did Gwydre Die?

As Bartrum wrote, the boar killed Gwydre at a place named Cwm Cerwyn. In the narrative leading up to this, the Twrch Trwyth is said to have arrived at a port in Dyfed (southwest Wales) and then moved on to a location called Preseleu. This is undoubtedly the Preseli Hills in the southwest corner of Wales, in what is now Pembrokeshire.

The narrative continues and explains that Arthur’s men confronted the boar, and then the next location mentioned is Cwm Cerwyn. This can certainly be identified as Foel Cwmcerwyn, the highest point of the Preseli Hills.

Then, as the text of Culhwch and Olwen says:

“And there he slew Gwydre the son of Arthur.”

Nothing more is said about this tragedy. Arthur is not portrayed as mourning over the loss of his son, nor are any other consequences mentioned.

Does this mean that there is nothing more that can be said about Gwydre? In reality, although he only appears in this single source, we can discern quite a few facts about him.

When Did Gwydre Live?

Firstly, let us consider Gwydre’s chronology. Although the source which mentions him does not provide anything resembling a complete profile for him, it provides enough information to discern roughly when he would have lived.

The most obvious observation is the fact that he was evidently an adult at the time this occurred. He was old enough to fight in battle. True, he could have been as young as a teenager, but without any active reason to believe he was especially young, we can conclude that he was likely in his early 20s at least.

The Setting of Culhwch and Olwen

With this in mind, when were the events of Culhwch and Olwen supposed to have occurred? Apart from the fact that Arthur was old enough to have an adult son, there is seemingly little to help us work out when in his reign it was supposed to have taken place.

However, there is a very helpful detail in the account. One of Arthur’s men is a certain Osla Gyllellfawr. His epithet translates to ‘Long Knife’. This suggests that he was a Saxon, who were famous for their long knives (hence the infamous ‘Knight of the Long Knives’, in which the Saxons treacherously slew many British chieftains).

Welsh tradition identifies him as Arthur’s opponent at the Battle of Badon.  We see this, for instance, in The Dream of Rhonabwy and in a late version of Bonedd y Saint. In the latter source, he appears to be identified as Ossa, the grandfather of Ida of Bernicia.

There is no reason why we should see a reigning Anglo-Saxon king allied with Arthur and helping him defeat an invasion of Welsh territory. Furthermore, in Culhwch and Olwen, it is heavily implied that Osla died, after his sheath became filled with water and caused him to sink down into the Severn.

Therefore, the Battle of Badon could not have occurred after the events of Culhwch and Olwen. Bartrum suggested the following:

“It may be inferred that after the battle of Badon, Osla Gyllellfawr, being defeated, was supposed to have become subject to Arthur and to have served him until he was drowned in the Severn.”

This is a reasonable interpretation. It makes far more sense than concluding that Osla was, for some reason, allied to Arthur prior to the Battle of Badon.

Evidence from Geoffrey of Monmouth

Based on the aforementioned argument, we can conclude that Culhwch and Olwen is set at some point after the Battle of Badon but obviously before the Battle of Camlann, which the Annales Cambriae places twenty-one years later.

We can narrow this down even further based on information provided by Geoffrey of Monmouth in the Historia Regum Britanniae. Here, Geoffrey tells us that Arthur decided to subdue the Picts and the Scots, and even Ireland itself, immediately after the Battle of Badon. After succeeding in this, Arthur’s kingdom experienced peace for twelve years.

After that period of peace, Arthur is entirely preoccupied with the Roman war on the continent, which is then followed directly by Mordred’s rebellion and the Battle of Camlann.

With this information in view, it is almost certain that Culhwch and Olwen should be placed in the brief window between the Battle of Badon and the start of the twelve years of peace. This is especially so given that Arthur is explicitly described as invading Ireland, which is exactly what he does in Culhwch and Olwen.

Likely, Geoffrey of Monmouth’s account is just highly abbreviated, as it demonstrably is in the case of his narrative of Arthur’s Saxon wars; only some of the twelve battles from the Historia Brittonum are directly described.

What This Means for Gwydre

What does this mean for Gwydre, the son of King Arthur? It means that he apparently died in the year following the Battle of Badon. As we have seen, he was already an adult at that time, even if he was young. Thus, he must have been born some twenty years or so, at least, before the Battle of Badon and therefore necessarily at least forty years before the Battle of Camlann.

These, bear in mind, are the lowest figures reasonably possible. What about the other end of things? Could he have been born much earlier than that?

Arthur was likely younger than seventy years old at the time of the Battle of Camlann, since he was still leading his armies. If we assume that he did not have any children before the age of twenty, that would leave just fifty years between the birth of his first child and the Battle of Camlann.

As we have just established, Gwydre cannot reasonably have been born any less than forty years before that same battle. Together with the consideration of Arthur’s own age, this means we can quite confidently place the birth of Gwydre somewhere between forty and fifty years before the Battle of Camlann, no more and no less.

To put it another way, Gwydre would likely have been born between approximately twenty to thirty years before the Battle of Badon.

Absolute Dates of Gwydre

With these facts in mind, what can we say about the absolute dates of Gwydre? Obviously, these depend entirely on the absolute dates that one assigns to Arthur himself.

Traditionally, Arthur’s Battle of Badon has been placed in 516, with the Battle of Camlann occurring in 537. This would mean that Gwydre would have been born at some point around 486-496. Many modern researchers believe that Badon occurred somewhat further back than that, around the year 500. This would push Gwydre’s birth back to around 470-480.

Revised Chronology

However, more recent research suggests that these dates may need to be revised. In many ways, Arthur’s chronology is dependent on that of Maelgwn Gwynedd, a king attested as early as the sixth century. Gildas, a writer from that century, speaks of Maelgwn as a still-living king, and he refers to the fact that the Battle of Badon occurred forty-three years before the time of his writing.

Maelgwn’s death has traditionally been placed in 547 on the basis of the Annales Cambriae. However, Rachel Bromwich, a renowned scholar of the period, pointed out that the earlier chronological information concerning Maelgwn, which comes from the Historia Brittonum, would make him a late-sixth century king.

Although Bromwich did not pursue this point, this would inevitably mean that Gildas must have been writing towards the end of the sixth century, not near the middle as traditionally believed. In reality, it is the Battle of Badon that would have occurred near the middle of the century, forty-three years before Gildas was writing.

The simplest way of harmonising this information about Maelgwn and Gildas with the date assigned to Badon in the Annales Cambriae is to conclude that the latter chronicle mistakenly used a date which was based on the death of Jesus rather than his birth. Several other examples of such an error can be seen elsewhere in medieval British literature, including in the Historia Brittonum.

This would suggest that the Battle of Badon really took place in about 549, and the Battle of Camlann in about 570. This late date for Camlann is overtly supported by the fact that Mordred was allegedly the nephew of Urien Rheged, a famous mid- to late-sixth century king.

This general dating is also supported by the fact that Arthur is usually made the contemporary of thoroughly mid- or even late-sixth century figures, and rarely early ones.

Gwydre’s Dates

If we accept this revised Arthurian chronology, then what does this mean for Gwydre? Well, according to this chronological scheme, Arthur would likely have been born in about 500 or just after.

Therefore, we can place the birth of Gwydre somewhere between approximately 520 and 530. His death would have been shortly after the Battle of Badon, perhaps in the year 550.

These are the upper and lower limits for Gwydre’s birth, but in truth, it is more likely that Arthur was somewhat older than twenty when he had his first son. Twenty is quite young for a generational length. If we were to use a more realistic estimate of twenty-two years, that would place the lower end of the range in 522.

Similarly, it is more realistic to propose that Gwydre was in his early twenties when he was fighting in battle alongside his father, rather than someone who had only just become an adult. If we assume that he was at least twenty-two years old when he fought in Culhwch and Olwen, that would place the upper end of the range for his birth in 528.

Therefore, a birth between 522 and 528 is most likely.

Was Gwydre Arthur’s Heir?

What else can we conclude about Arthur’s son Gwydre? One interesting possibility that emerges from these chronological considerations is that he may have been Arthur’s eldest son. That, in turn, would mean that he was actually Arthur’s heir.

As we have seen, Gwydre’s birth likely occurred between c. 522 and 528, at least according to the revised Arthurian chronology. In any case, his birth must have occurred when Arthur was between about twenty-two and twenty-eight years of age.

Given how tight this window of opportunity is, and how close it is to the earliest that Arthur would realistically have started fathering children, it is unlikely that he would have had many, if any, other sons by this point.

Arthur’s Other Sons

Even if Arthur could have had other sons before Gwydre, there is simply no evidence that he did. The three sons ascribed to him in Le Petit Bruit were all born very late in his life, according to the information provided in that source.

In Welsh tradition, the other sons ascribed to Arthur are Llacheu, Amhar, and Duran. The former is described as a youth when he died, which event occurred near the time of the Battle of Camlann. Llacheu, then, was definitely born long after Gwydre.

Duran is recorded in a fifteenth-century Welsh text as dying during the Battle of Camlann. There is no information about how old he was. However, with no other information to go on, the most natural conclusion (weakly-founded though it is) is that Duran managed to survive Gwydre by about two decades simply because he was younger than him.

Amhar is recorded as dying at the hands of Arthur, although no information at all is given about when this occurred or how old Amhar was at the time. Nonetheless, in the absence of any active reason to believe that he was born early in Arthur’s reign, we must give precedence to Gwydre as Arthur’s eldest son.

Therefore, although we cannot be absolutely certain, the weight of evidence supports the conclusion that Gwydre was the eldest son of King Arthur and thus the heir to his kingdom.

Was Gwydre a Real Person?

Many people from the Arthurian legends can be identified as historical figures. Is there any evidence that Gwydre, Arthur’s own son, was a real person? Given that Gwydre seems to appear in just a single Arthurian source, it might appear impossible at first glance to be able to confirm his historicity.

However, the potential corpus of evidence grows significantly when we take into consideration the historical figures who have been presented as candidates for the historical King Arthur. Perhaps one of the recorded sons of one of these figures can be identified as Gwydre.

A Possible Gwydre in Southeast Wales

There is only one Arthurian candidate who might be connected with someone who possibly formed the basis of Gwydre. This candidate was Athrwys son of Meurig. He was a king of southeast Wales in the early medieval period, although his dates are disputed.

Many scholars argue that he lived in the seventh century, but there are a good number of scholars, such as Timothy Venning, David Farmer, and the late Brian Davies and Michelle Ziegler, who argue that he lived a century earlier.

On this basis, a number of researchers have argued that Athrwys can be identified as the historical Arthur, ‘Athrwys’ merely being a corruption of his actual name. In any case, even if he was not actually Arthur, it is definitely likely that at least some of the details about the legendary King Arthur have been drawn from Athrwys, since we can see a clear example of this in the case of Arthur’s maternal uncle Gwrfoddw, mentioned in Culhwch and Olwen.

Gwydre as Gwrhytir

The twelfth-century Book of Llandaff provides lots of valuable information about Athrwys’ dynasty. One of the land grants recorded in this work is introduced with the following words:

“King Morgan, son of Athrwys, with his heir Gwrhytir, granted the village of Guilbiu for his soul and for the soul of his grandfather, Meurig son of Tewdrig, to Oudoceus the Bishop.”

The text is not entirely clear on who this Gwrhytir was. He is referred to as ‘his heir’, but the ‘his’ in this phrase could be a reference to either Morgan or to his father Athrwys, the one who is actually mentioned immediately prior to Gwrhytir.

Another interesting observation is that, despite saying that Morgan came ‘with’ this Gwrhytir, the latter does not appear in the accompanying witness list. He does not appear anywhere else in the Book of Llandaff either, neither in any of the narratives introducing the land grants, nor in any of the witness lists.

Additionally, we should note the fact that Morgan apparently gave this land as a donation for the soul of Gwrhytir and for his grandfather Meurig. By this point, when Morgan was king, Meurig was definitely dead. Thus, the expression ‘for the soul’ of someone suggests that the person in question was dead, and the very expression itself works well with such an understanding.

Therefore, it strongly appears that Gwrhytir was actually dead when Morgan made this land grant. Presumably, Morgan came ‘with’ Gwrhytir only in a figurative sense. This may be compared to the fact that the land grants are regularly described as being given to bishops who had long since died.

Thus, there is a distinct possibility that Morgan’s land grant here was in honour of the deceased heir of the kingdom, the eldest son of his father Athrwys. At the very least, even if Gwrhytir is understood as Morgan’s deceased heir rather than Athrwys’ deceased heir, this shows that the name was used by this dynasty in this era.

Gwrhytir and the Name ‘Gwydre’

Regarding the name of this heir, ‘Gwrhytir’, is it really similar enough to ‘Gwydre’ that we can equate the two?

As an aside, this name from the Book of Llandaff is actually written as ‘Gurhytyr’ in the text, although ‘Gwrhytir’ is how it is usually presented in modern sources.

As for the connection between this name and the name of King Arthur’s son, some light is shed on this matter by means of another figure from Welsh history. The figure in question appears in Peter Bartrum’s A Welsh Classical Dictionary as Gwrydr Hir ap Caradog, from the kingdom of Powys. Unlike Arthur’s son Gwydre, this figure appears in a variety of medieval manuscripts, which helps us to see the various ways in which this name was written.

In one manuscript, this figure’s name is written as ‘Gwrhydyr’, the same as that of the heir of the kingdom of southeast Wales in the Book of Llandaff. Notably, another manuscript spells his name as ‘Gwydr’. This is virtually identical to the name of Arthur’s son, Gwydre, as it appears in Culhwch and Olwen.

This strongly suggests that this figure who appears in the Book of Llandaff had the same name as that of Arthur’s son, just written differently.

Was Gwydre the Historical Gwrhytir?

With the aforementioned information in mind, we can see that there is a good possibility that Gwydre was a real person. He may well be the heir mentioned in conjunction with Morgan in the Book of Llandaff. There is a good case to be made that the heir mentioned in that record was already dead and was the heir of Athrwys, not of Morgan.

Even if he was Morgan’s heir, this would still demonstrate that the right name was used by this dynasty at the right time. So in either case, it supports the conclusion that Gwydre may well have been a real figure.

Conclusions

In conclusion, Gwydre was the legendary son of King Arthur, yet despite this, he only appears in a single source. In this source, Culhwch and Olwen, he is described as tragically dying while trying to fight Twrch Trwyth, a monstrous boar that is ravaging South Wales. He dies at Foel Cwmcerwyn in the Preseli Hills, southwest Wales.

Although nothing else is explicitly said about him, we can reason on the facts and conclude that he was most likely Arthur’s eldest son and heir, born when Arthur was in his twenties. He may well be identical to an equally obscure historical figure referred to as Gwrhytir, the heir of the kingdom of southeast Wales in the early post-Roman era.

Sources

Bartrum, Peter, A Welsh Classical Dictionary, 1993

Sims-Williams, Patrick, The Book of Llandaf as a Historical Source, 2019

Bromwich, Rachel, Trioedd Ynys Prydein: The Triads of the Isle of Britain – Fourth Edition, 2014

Howells, Caleb, King Arthur: The Man Who Conquered Europe, 2019

Wilson, Alan and Blackett, Baram, Arthur: King of Glamorgan and Gwent, 1981