EINION ap COLLWYN
(
fl.
1100?
),
according to tradition, quarrelled with
Iestyn ap Gwrgant
(q.v.)
, 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
(qq.v.)
assert that he was a man of
Gwynedd
who migrated to
Glamorgan
in
Iestyn
's days — and
George
Owen
(q.v.)
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
Hist. W.
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:
Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, C.B.E., D.Litt., Ll.D.,
F.S.A., (1881-1969), Bangor
