EINION ap COLLWYN (fl. 1100?), prince and warrior

Name: Einion ap Collwyn
Child: Thomas Artemus Jones
Parent: Collwyn
Parent: Cadifor ap Collwyn
Parent: Collwyn ap Gwaethfoed
Gender: Male
Occupation: prince and warrior
Area of activity: Politics, Government and Political Movements; Royalty and Society
Author: Robert Thomas Jenkins

According to tradition, he quarrelled with Iestyn ap Gwrgant, and in consequence invited the Normans to invade Glamorgan. He is a semi-legendary figure, and it is significant that at least three different accounts of his descent are given us. According to one story, he was the son of Collwyn ap Gwaethfoed of Ceredigion; another makes him the son of Cadifor ap Collwyn of Dyfed; while poets like Lewis Glyn Cothi and Gwilym Tew assert that he was a man of Gwynedd who migrated to Glamorgan in Iestyn's days - and George Owen adds that his father Collwyn was nephew to Angharad daughter of Ednowain ap Bleddyn of Ardudwy and mother of Iestyn. It may be observed that Lloyd 's A History of Wales ignores Einion completely (see p. 402, f.n.), and that he had intended to exclude him from the present work. The traditions about Einion, about the gentle families of the Glamorgan uplands who claimed descent from him, and about his connections with the literary history of Glamorgan, will be found conveniently recounted in G. J. Williams, Traddodiad Llenyddol Morgannwg, 1948, indexed.

Author

Published date: 1959

Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/

The Dictionary of Welsh Biography is provided by The National Library of Wales and the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies. It is free to use and does not receive grant support. A donation would help us maintain and improve the site so that we can continue to acknowledge Welsh men and women who have made notable contributions to life in Wales and beyond.

Find out more on our sponsorship page.