King Geraint of Dumnonia, Brother-in-Law of King Arthur

King Geraint of Dumnonia was an important king in Arthur’s time and also one of his relatives. He appears as an ally of Arthur in the Arthurian legends, and he also appears in some non-Arthurian sources. What is Geraint best known for? And in which sources does he appear? In this article, we will examine the answer to these questions and others.

Who Was King Geraint of Dumnonia?

 King Geraint of Dumnonia was a powerful king in the sixth century. He appears in a variety of records, including an early Welsh poem which mentions King Arthur. His dynasty ruled over Dumnonia, essentially modern-day Devon and Cornwall, although likely including much of Somerset as well.

Geraint also appears to have been a close relative of King Arthur. In fact, the evidence suggests that he was Arthur’s brother-in-law. This is a conclusion which is not widely recognised, but it does appear to be what the weight of evidence suggests.

While Geraint appears in a variety of records, he is perhaps best known in the Arthurian legends for his death at the Battle of Llongborth. The Welsh poem which describes this event is particularly notable because it is one of the earliest sources that mentions Arthur.

Name

Geraint’s name takes on quite a few different forms in the medieval records. Even in many modern sources, his name is sometimes shown as ‘Gereint’, which is a form seen in many of the medieval sources. ‘Geraint’ is generally regarded as the proper modern form.

Other spellings include:

• Gerran

• Gerennius

• Gerendo

• Gerent

• Geronte

• Gerentius

It is also possible that Geraint is mentioned in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae as ‘Guerinus’, although this identification is not certain. In any case, we can see that a great variety of spellings are used for the name of this king in the medieval records.

Family

Geraint’s dynasty is a well recorded one among the medieval Welsh texts. We have records of his ancestry and descendants, as well as his wife and his brothers.

Parentage

Let us begin by examining Geraint’s father. Almost all records agree that he was a figure named Erbin. One record, the Life of St Cybi, makes Erbin the son of Geraint and calls Geraint the son of Lud. However, scholars widely agree that this is a mistake.

In the genealogies contained in the Jesus College MS 20, we find the standard sequence of Geraint as the son of Erbin, with Lud not found anywhere in this dynasty. This parentage is supported by virtually all subsequent records, including the title of the aforementioned early Welsh poem. The title in question is Gereint fil’ Erbin.

Nothing seems to be known about Geraint’s mother.

Ancestry

Erbin, according to the Jesus College MS 20 and other documents, was a descendant of Cynan Meriadoc. Cynan, for his part, was the legendary founder of Brittany in the time of Magnus Maximus.

As well as being presented as the founder of Brittany, Cynan was also associated with Dumnonia. The two locations, after all, are just opposite each other. Hence, it makes sense that Geraint, a king of Dumnonia, would have been descended from Cynan Meriadoc.

There are several references to an Erbin who ruled in Dyfed, the kingdom of southwest Wales, in the sixth century. It seems likely (although uncertain) that this was the same as Erbin the father of Geraint. If so, then he evidently had some form of control over that area at some point during his reign.

This harmonises with the strong association that Geraint had with Cardigan, on the west coast of Wales, in several medieval texts.

Brothers

What about Geraint’s brothers? At least two brothers are found in the medieval Welsh documents. One of these was a figure named Dywel. He appears, among other places, in Culhwch and Olwen, a Welsh Arthurian tale from c. 1100.

There is some controversy surrounding whether or not Dywal really was a brother of Geraint, or whether he was instead the son of a different Erbin. This is based on the aforementioned fact that there are references to an Erbin as a king of Dyfed, and Dywal is specifically associated with Dyfed in the records that mention him.

However, if the Erbin associated with Dyfed can actually be identified as Erbin the father of Geraint, then Dywal would, of course, have been the brother of Geraint. The fact that Geraint and Dywal are mentioned in connection with each other in Culhwch and Olwen suggests that they were understood to be brothers.

Another potential brother of Geraint was Ermind. He also appears as a son of Erbin in Culhwch and Olwen, and he, likewise, is mentioned together with Geraint and Dywal.

Controversy about Selyf

A third brother may have been Selyf. He appears in the Life of St Cybi as Salomon, the father of Cybi. This Life makes Selyf the son of Erbin. However, this is the record which makes Geraint the father of Erbin rather than the other way around. Hence, it is evident that this pedigree is somewhat confused.

A later record, Bonedd y Saint, swaps the names of Geraint and Erbin, making Selyf the son of Geraint.

For chronological reasons, some researchers have argued that Selyf was more likely the son of Erbin. If so, he would have been one of Geraint’s brothers.

In reality, the chronology best favours the conclusion that Selyf really was the son of Geraint. The reason is that the Life of St Cybi specifically notes that Cyngar, a son of Geraint, was an old man when Cybi went to the Isle of Aran.

Since Cybi himself was the son of Selyf, and this event did not take place near the end of his life, Cybi can hardly have been the first cousin of Cyngar, as he would have been if Selyf was the brother rather than the son of Geraint.

Instead, if we conclude that Selyf really was Geraint’s son, Cybi would therefore have been the nephew of Cyngar ap Geraint. This would easily allow Cyngar to have been an old man when Cybi went to the Isle of Aran, as the Life of St Cybi states.

Sons

Geraint is recorded as having several sons in the medieval records. Some of these became important religious figures, remembered as saints. However, his most historically important son was his successor.

Geraint’s Successor

He was Cado, also recorded as Cadwy, Catovius, and Gadwr. This son is certainly to be identified as Cador of Cornwall, a figure who features prominently as one of King Arthur’s allies in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae.

Many scholars, both medieval and modern, assume that Geoffrey’s Cador is supposed to be the son of Gorlois, the previous ruler of Cornwall mentioned by Geoffrey. However, this view has nothing to recommend it. Since Cado ap Geraint is an attested king in the West Country at that very same time, he is clearly the origin of Geoffrey’s Cador of Cornwall.

Everything indicates that Cado was an important ally of Arthur’s. He appears in the Life of St Carannog as a king who ruled alongside Arthur in the West Country.

Cado’s son, Constantine, was allegedly the one who succeeded Arthur as High King of the Britons at some point after the Battle of Camlann.

Geraint’s Religious Sons

What about Geraint’s other sons? They appear in a document known as Bonedd y Saint. One of the sons is Selfan. He is associated with Anglesey, northwest Wales. His name may well be another form of ‘Salomon’, just like ‘Selyf’.

In all likelihood, this ‘Selfan’ is very probably the same person as ‘Selyf’. As we saw previously, Selyf the father of Cybi was almost certainly the son of Geraint rather than his brother, as some scholars argue. He is also known as Saint Selevan, the patron saint of the parish of Saint Levan in Cornwall.

Another son is Iestyn. It is possible that he is the Iestyn who appears in the Life of St Efflam as a ruler in Brittany. However, he is also believed to have been the founder of Llaniestyn on the Llyn Peninsula and Llaniestyn in Anglesey, both of which are in northwest Wales.

Yet another one of Geraint’s recorded sons is Cyngar. He was allegedly a disciple of the aforementioned Cybi ap Selyf. It is possible that he should also be identified as Cungar, a religious figure associated with numerous places in Britain and Brittany, but whose lineage is unknown.

Possible Daughter

There is one record which mentions a daughter of Geraint. However, the authenticity of this reference is doubtful. The daughter in question is named Sylwein. She is mentioned in Achau’r Saint.

The reason that her existence is doubtful is because some scholars have argued that she is actually a mistaken duplicate of the Selfan mentioned in Bonedd y Saint.

Wife

What do we know about the wife of Geraint? Her identity is very important, because this may well be the key to a controversial mystery in the Arthurian legends. When Geoffrey of Monmouth described the end of King Arthur’s rule, he mentioned that Cador’s son Constantine succeeded him as High King.

In that passage, Geoffrey refers to Constantine as the kinsman of Arthur. He does not specify, there, the exact familial relationship between the two of them. This has led to much speculation about how exactly they were related, and we see a variety of ideas in medieval romance tales as well.

However, in the Life of Merlin, written by Geoffrey in c. 1150, Arthur is specifically called the maternal uncle of Constantine. This implies that Constantine’s mother, Cador’s wife, was a sister of King Arthur. Nonetheless, other texts suggest that the truth is somewhat more complicated than this.

Gwyar daughter of Amlawdd Wledig

In Bonedd y Saint, Geraint’s wife is said to have been a woman named Gwyar daughter of Amlawdd Wledig. When we look at the available information about Amlawdd and his sons-in-law, it is clear that he must have been born in c. 400 or even earlier.

This is the only way to accommodate the fact that one of Amlawdd’s daughters is recorded as the wife of Teithfallt, born c. 420, and the mother of Tewdrig, born c. 440.

Yet, several of Amlawdd’s daughters are recorded as the wives of men born in the late fifth century or early sixth century. These simply cannot be direct daughters. They must be later descendants recorded as his ‘daughters’ for simplicity.

Given the dating of Geraint (as we will see later, he must have been born in c. 510), this must apply to his wife Gwyar as well. She cannot have been the direct daughter of Amlawdd, but instead was a later descendant.

Arthur’s Sister

With this in mind, it is notable that the Bonedd y Saint, in another location, describes Geraint’s son Cador as the nephew of King Arthur on his mother’s side. Hence, this would mean that Geraint’s wife was the sister of King Arthur.

As it happens, other Welsh records (such as Culhwch and Olwen) explain that Arthur had a sister named Gwyar. Evidently, this was the wife of Geraint. Hence, Geraint was the brother-in-law of King Arthur.

This would explain the reference to Cador as Arthur’s nephew, and it would also explain Geoffrey’s description of Arthur as Constantine’s maternal uncle. Evidently, he was actually his great-uncle.

Gwyar’s Marriage to Lot of Lothian

In the aforementioned Welsh references to a sister of Arthur named Gwyar, she is made the wife of Llew, or Lot of Lothian. In this capacity, she was the mother of Medrawd (Mordred) and Gwalchmai (Gawain).

Evidently, one marriage took place before the other. Given the chronological information surrounding Lot, such as the fact that he was the brother of Urien Rheged, a mid to late sixth century king, it is evident that the marriage to Lot must have occurred later.

This means that Gwyar was evidently very young when she married Geraint and gave birth to their children. She may have been as young as fifteen years old. She may have then been nearly thirty years old when she married Lot and became the mother of Mordred.

Since Geraint was still alive until long after the birth of Mordred, it is evident that his marriage to Gwyar did not end due to death. Rather, they evidently had a divorce.

Geraint in the Records

Let us now examine the various records which mention Geraint. He appears in Welsh poetry, the Triads, Latin hagiographies, and other records.

Gereint fil’ Erbin

To start with, we will examine the earliest surviving reference to Geraint. This is found in a Welsh poem entitled Gereint fil’ Erbin. It likely dates from c. 900. This is a death poem, or elegy, written in honour of Geraint. It describes his death at the Battle of Llongborth.

The details of this battle are unclear from just the poem itself. However, there is a reference to Arthur in this poem. He is described as ‘emperor’ and the ‘conductor of the toil’, suggesting that he was the chief commander at the battle.

This is consistent with the Historia Brittonum’s description of Arthur leading the kings of the Britons into battle. Evidently, Geraint himself was one of these kings. The concept of him being an ally of Arthur is consistent with the evidence that his son Cado and grandson Constantine were Arthur’s allies too.

Did Geraint Really Die at This Battle?

Some modern scholars have argued that the text of the poem is corrupt and that Geraint did not really die at this battle.

The textual evidence is complicated, but the two documents which appear to preserve a more original version of the poem (from the White Book of Rhydderch and the Red Book of Hergest) speak of Geraint’s death.

For this and other reasons, it would appear that Geraint did indeed die at the Battle of Llongborth.

What Was the Battle of Llongborth?

The poem itself does not reveal much about the Battle of Llongborth. However, we can piece together various pieces of information from a variety of sources to come to a reasonable conclusion about this battle.

It would appear that this was the prelude to the Battle of Camlann. The timing of Geraint’s death as indicated by the Life of St Teilo (which we will examine shortly) indicates that it occurred at about the same time as that battle.

For this and many other reasons, it seems that we can identify this battle as the conflict between Arthur and Mordred, when Arthur attempted to return to Britain after hearing of Mordred’s usurpation.

The most likely location for the Battle of Llongborth is Llamborth at Penbryn, on the west coast of Wales. This is near the town of Cardigan.

Is This Poem Really About Geraint ap Erbin?

It has been suggested that this poem is actually about a later Geraint. This king is better known as Gerontius. He was the king of Dumnonia in the eighth century and he is recorded as fighting against the Saxons.

Put simply, there is no factual basis for this idea.

Y Gododdin

Another early source, which actually predates Gereint fil’ Erbin, is Y Gododdin. This Welsh poem dates to approximately the year 600. It describes the Battle of Catraeth, likely fought at Catterick in Yorkshire.

Various warriors from different kingdoms in Britain are described as being present at this battle. One particular warrior is called ‘Gereint of the south’. Some researchers have speculated that there is a connection between this figure and Geraint ap Erbin.

However, there are at least two obvious problems with this identification. For one thing, the geographical distance between Dumnonia and Catterick is great. This objection is not that weighty, however, since Geoffrey presents ‘Cador’ (evidently Geraint) as fighting in a battle against the Anglo-Saxons at York.

Other references in Welsh texts also attest to figures from the south being active in the north. However, a bigger objection is the chronology. Geraint died at the end of the Yellow Plague, which occurred in about the middle of the sixth century.

This is several decades prior to the Battle of Catraeth, the subject of Y Gododdin. On this basis, the ‘Gereint of the south’ mentioned in that poem cannot be Geraint ap Erbin.

Perhaps the Geraint of the poem was a later prince of the dynasty of Dumnonia. Alternatively, he could be Geraint Saer, a figure associated with northeast Wales (discussed in more detail later).

Culhwch and Olwen

It appears that the next earliest source which features Geraint is Culhwch and Olwen. This Welsh prose tale was written in c. 1100. It features numerous allies of King Arthur. One of these allies is Geraint ap Erbin.

This, once again, supports the conclusion that Geraint was an ally of King Arthur, just as his son Cado and grandson Constantine were.

Welsh Triads

Another source from approximately the same era is the Welsh Triads. This collection of medieval Welsh traditions groups various things into sets of threes. Geraint appears in one of these triads. The triad in question is Triad 14, entitled The Three Fleet Owners of the Island of Britain. Geraint ap Erbin is the first figure mentioned.

In her analysis of this triad, scholar Rachel Bromwich highlighted the likely possibility that Geraint being a famed fleet owner is related to the strong connections between Dumnonia and Brittany. To facilitate such strong connections, Geraint must obviously have had access to ships.

Life of St Teilo

Another record in which Geraint appears is the Life of St Teilo. This was written in the early twelfth century. This hagiography presents the career of Teilo as a prominent religious figure. During his lifetime, the Yellow Plague struck the southern Britons. Teilo and many others from that area fled to Brittany.

On the route from southeast Wales to Brittany, Teilo passed through Cornwall. While there, he was received by King Gerennius. This is Geraint ap Erbin. Gerennius requested for Teilo to receive his confession, which he did.

Years later, after the Yellow Plague had abated and many of the Britons were returning to Britain, Teilo received notice that Geraint had been ‘afflicted with a serious disorder’. In fact, he was on the point of death. Hence, Teilo quickly returned to Britain to see Geraint before he died.

Teilo arrived at a harbour called Din Gerein. He then met with Geraint, before the king then died and was buried in a large stone coffin that had been miraculously transported from Brittany.

Some scholars have suggested that Din Gerein should be identified with Gerrans in Cornwall. However, there is no good basis for that identification. In reality, Din Gereint is known to have been the medieval name of the site on which Cardigan Castle was built.

It is undoubtedly not a coincidence that this is right next to Llamborth, the likely location for the Llongborth mentioned in the poem about Geraint’s death.

Where Is Geraint Buried?

As we can see, the evidence is clear that Geraint ap Erbin died in this area. The Life of St Teilo implies that he was buried in the same general location as where he died.

As just mentioned, the account places Teilo’s arrival at Din Gerein, which was the medieval name for the location of Cardigan Castle. Hence, we should expect Geraint to have been buried somewhere in that vicinity.

Only about eight miles away from Cardigan is a place called Beddgeraint. This place name means ‘Grave of Geraint’. Therefore, it is likely that Geraint is buried somewhere in this vicinity.

Historia Regum Britanniae

Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote the Historia Regum Britanniae in c. 1137, shortly after the Life of St Teilo was written. The issue of Geraint in the Historia Regum Britanniae is not a straightforward one.

It has been suggested that he can be identified as a character whom Geoffrey records as Guerinus of Charters, or Carnotensis. In Welsh translations of Geoffrey’s book, this is written as ‘Gereint Carnwys’ and similar variations.

Geoffrey describes him as attending Arthur’s special coronation after the end of his Saxon wars and bringing with him twelve peers of Gaul. Later, he is mentioned as one of those who went with Arthur on his war against the Romans.

Guerinus is then mentioned as one of the leaders of troops at several different stages in the account of the war. He is not mentioned again after the description of the final battle.

Was Guerinus of Chartres the Same as Geraint ap Erbin?

It is certainly possible that Guerinus of Chartres should be identified as Geraint ap Erbin. The fact that the name was translated into ‘Gereint’ by the Welsh translators supports this conclusion. The epithet ‘Carnwys’ might be argued to be a corruption of ‘Cerniw’, the Welsh name for Cornwall.

Chronologically, he is also a match. Geraint ap Erbin was active through to the Battle of Llongborth, evidently near the end of Arthur’s reign, and this matches the description of Guerinus as an ally of Arthur for the latter part of his reign.

However, there are some issues with this identification. For one thing, Geraint’s son Cador appears much more prominently in Geoffrey’s account of Arthur’s reign. Whenever he appears, he is called the duke of Cornwall. The description of him as ‘duke’ is likely in reference to the fact that his father Geraint was still alive.

Nevertheless, it seems very unusual for Geoffrey to describe Cador correctly as the ruler of Cornwall, but then describe Geraint incorrectly as being of ‘Carnotensis’. As well as describing their respective territories differently, Geoffrey also does not suggest any association between them whatsoever in the list of Arthur’s allies.

While not an insurmountable objection, this does make the identification of Guerinus with Geraint ap Erbin problematic. Even more problematic is the fact that the chronological evidence suggests that ‘Cador’ in many parts of Geoffrey’s account is actually a reference to Geraint ap Erbin.

This applies, among other places, to the description of Arthur’s special coronation, at which Guerinus also appears as a separate character. Hence, this makes it very unlikely that Guerinus should be identified as Geraint ap Erbin.

Guerinus’ True Identity

We cannot completely rule out the possibility that Geooffrey’s Guerinus should be identified as Geraint ap Erbin. However, there does appear to be a more likely candidate for this character. Consider the fact that Guerinus’ epithet appears as ‘Caerwys’ in the Brut Tysilio.

Caerwys is a location in Flintshire, Wales. The name of this place (which also appears as ‘Carwys’ in the Brut Tysilio) could easily have been corrupted into ‘Carnwys’, as it appears in other translations of Geoffrey’s work.

Carnwys is a perfectly normal Welsh translation for Carnotensis (the Latin name for Chartres). This is because ‘ensis’ regularly became ‘wys’ in Welsh, while a ‘t’ after an ‘n’ was usually dropped. Hence, ‘Carnotensis’ would have become ‘Carnwys’ to the medieval Welsh.

Due to the clear similarity between ‘Caerwys’ and ‘Carnwys’, it is easy to see how one could have been corrupted into the other.

As it happens, a version of Bonedd y Saint records the existence of a saint known as Saeran ap Geraint Saer. He was the saint of Llanynys, a location only six miles from Caerwys. Given the geography, this strongly suggests that ‘Gereint of Caerwys’ was identical to this Geraint Saer.

Further support for this comes from the fact that Bonedd y Saint specifically associates Saeran or his father Geraint with Ireland, the land of the Gaels. There could plausibly have been some confusion between ‘Gaels’ and ‘Gauls’, thus contributing to the confusion between Caerwys and Carnwys (Chartres) and also explaining Geoffrey’s reference to Guerinus being accompanied by twelve peers of Gaul.

Thus, it seems that Geraint ap Erbin should probably not be identified with Geoffrey’s Guerinus of Chartres. However, that does not mean that Geraint cannot be found anywhere in Geoffrey’s Historia Regum Britanniae.

Geraint as Cador of Cornwall

As mentioned above, chronological considerations make it very likely that in various places where Geoffrey mentions Cador of Cornwall, this is actually a mistake for Geraint.

As we saw earlier, Cador was the nephew of King Arthur by virtue of being the son of Gwyar, Arthur’s sister. Since Arthur’s sister later married Lot of Lothian and became the mother of Mordred and Gawain, this limits when Cador could realistically have been born.

Mordred was the nephew of Urien Rheged, famously a mid to late sixth century king. Mordred was probably born around 545, about the same time as his first cousin Owain of Rheged. For Cador to have been the half-brother of Mordred by the same mother, he cannot have been born much before then.

It is likely that he was born in the early 520s. Hence, he would not have been old enough to engage in the Battle of Badon, much less the previous battles even earlier in Arthur’s career, as Geoffrey’s presents him as doing.

On several occasions, Geoffrey refers to Cador simply as the ‘duke of Cornwall’. Perhaps the original text which Geoffrey translated (for he was translating a Welsh document into Latin) contained more references along these lines, and Geoffrey then took the liberty to supply the name when one was not originally provided.

Whatever the exact cause of this error, the ruler of Cornwall at this time would have been Geraint, or potentially even his own father Erbin. Hence, it appears that Geraint is actually represented by the majority of references to Cador in the early part of Geoffrey’s account of Arthur’s career.

Geraint and Enid

Another notable source that mentions Geraint is the Welsh tale known as Geraint and Enid. This is actually a Welsh translation of the story written by Chretien de Troyes, Erec and Enide. It is unclear whether Chretien’s story derives from a tradition that was genuinely about Geraint, or whether the Welsh translator simply substituted the name ‘Erec’ for that of Geraint ap Erbin.

In any case, this story can likely reveal authentic traditions about Geraint in the parts where it notably differs from Chretien’s account. For example, his father Erbin apparently requested for Geraint to leave Arthur’s court and take up the position of king of Dumnonia, since Erbin had to retire due to his old age.

Whether the romance between Geraint and Enid actually has any basis in genuine Welsh tradition is far less obvious.

When Did Geraint Live?

Finally, when did Geraint live? There are two key details that help us with this.

Geraint Succeeding His Father

The first is the fact that, as we have just seen, Geraint succeeded to the throne of Dumnonia after his father grew old, and Geraint and Enid sets this during Arthur’s reign.

It appears to be set during a peaceful part of Arthur’s reign, with no indication that he has an ongoing war with the Saxons. This appears to correspond to the twelve years of peace mentioned by Geoffrey of Monmouth in the Historia Regum Britanniae, which closely followed the Battle of Badon.

Hence, it would appear that Geraint’s father had grown old and needed to retire at some point within those years following the Battle of Badon. Perhaps he was about seventy years old. Geraint was likely some twenty-two years younger than his father, or about forty-eight years old.

Geraint’s Marriage to Gwyar

The second detail is his marriage to Gwyar, who later went on to marry Lot and become the mother of Mordred and Gawain. Given their respective connections to Urien Rheged and Owain, Mordred would appear to have been born in c. 545. It is likely that Gwyar was as young as fifteen at the time of her marriage to Geraint, as mentioned earlier.

Hence, Geraint was likely born around 510, with his marriage to Gwyar and the birth of Cador occurring around the year 532.

These dates fit well with the first detail we considered. While the traditional date for the Battle of Badon is 516, this contradicts the vast majority of information about Arthur’s contemporaries and the information about the five kings mentioned by Gildas in De Excidio, in which the Battle of Badon is mentioned.

The weight of evidence would suggest that the date in the Annales Cambriae for the Battle of Badon has been backdated by thirty-three years, a mistake resulting from the fact that sometimes events were dated from the death of Jesus rather than from his birth. This would actually place the Battle of Badon in 549.

Hence, if Geraint was born in c. 510 and he was about forty-eight years old when his father retired, that would place his accession to the throne in c. 558. Using the revised date for the Battle of Badon, this falls perfectly within the twelve-year period after Badon.

Geraint’s Death

As stated earlier, the Battle of Llongborth was almost certainly part of the conflict between Arthur and Mordred. Since the Battle of Camlann occurred in 537 according to the Annales Cambriae, the chronological considerations already mentioned would mean that the true date should be c. 570.

A date of 570 for Geraint’s death harmonises well with the evidence concerning Teilo. As already mentioned, Geraint’s death occurred at the same time as Teilo’s return to Britain after being away for years due to the Yellow Plague.

The Life of St Oudoceus shows that Teilo’s return to Britain was immediately followed by the appointment of Oudoceus as Teilo’s successor as bishop of Llandaff. This probably did not occur before Oudoceus was thirty years old. He also cannot have been much older than this, for he continued serving as bishop for several generations of kings.

Since Oudoceus was born to Budic (whose own birth was in c. 500) by his second wife after several other sons, a birth of c. 540 seems reasonable for Oudoceus. Hence, that would mean that his appointment as bishop probably occurred in c. 570.

Since this appointment occurred at about the same time as Geraint’s death, the evidence supports the conclusion that Geraint died in c. 570, at about the time of the Battle of Camlann.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Geraint ap Erbin was the king of Dumnonia and lived through much of the sixth century. He was an ally of King Arthur. He married Arthur’s sister, Gwyar, and his grandson Constantine ended up succeeded Arthur as High King.

Geraint fought alongside Arthur at the Battle of Llongborth, which appears to have been the prelude to the Battle of Camlann, and it was there that Geraint died. He is likely buried somewhere in the village of Beddgeraint.

Sources

Bartrum, Peter, A Welsh Classical Dictionary, 1993

Bromwich, Rachel, Trioedd Ynys Prydein: The Triads of the Island of Britain, 2014

Morris, John, Arthurian Period Sources, Vol 3: Persons, 1995

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

https://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/carannog1.html

Cador of Cornwall

Geraint