from the death of
Owain Gwynedd
to the rise of
Llywelyn the Great
to the height of his power. He addresses
Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd
as
‘
lord of Aberffraw
’
; this must have been
between 1173 and 1175
. Fratricidal strife between the princes was the curse of
Wales
at that time, and the reference to
Cain
and
Abel
in the ode to
Rhodri
is very much to the point. The solution advocated by
Llywarch
was the upholding of the authority of
Aberffraw
.
Dafydd
, as
lord
of that court, was ‘
inherent chief ruler
,’ but the
poet
held that he would have to assert his leadership by force and not through affection.
Aberffraw
was afterwards held, successively, by
Rhodri
and
Gruffydd
, his nephew, but in spite of their weakness,
Llywarch
persisted in maintaining the ‘inherent right’ of that court over all the
Welsh
from
Anglesey
to
Monmouth
. His delight at the rise of
Llywelyn the Great
can, therefore, be well understood. Nine poems to his hero written at different stages in that
prince
's career are extant, and he became his
chief court poet
. The ‘
Longer Poem
’ was apparently occasioned by
Llywelyn
's advance towards
Powys
, and the
poet
appeals to the men of that province as a
Welshman
, pleading that it is better for them to receive a
Welsh
leader than to be subject to a foreigner. Moreover, he refers in several poems to
Llywelyn
's descent from the Powysian royal line as well as from that of
Gwynedd
. In the ‘
Shorter Poem
’
Llywarch
revels in the fulfilment of all his dreams; he sings the growth of
Llywelyn
's power throughout
Wales
up to the victories of
1220
, following which the preeminence of
Aberffraw
is the pride, the unity, and the success of
Wales
.
Llywarch
also sang the praises of several princes subordinate to
Llywelyn
in
Gwynedd
and
Powys
, and likewise to
Rhys Gryg
in the South. The references to
Wiston
,
Narberth
, and
Haverfordwest
in the poem to
Rhys
suggest
1220
rather than
1215
. As a result of the newly-found
Welsh
unity the
poet
finds a fresh delight in stringing together place-names from all parts of
Wales
in his verses.
He also sang a complimentary poem to ‘
Gwenllian
the Fair
.’ In the ‘
Ode to the Hot Iron
,’ which refers to a trial by ordeal, he
denies having killed a certain
Madawg
. In the
Hendregadredd MS.
, ‘
poetry to God
’ is ascribed to
Llywarch
, but according to the ‘
Red Book
’ and the
Myv. Arch.
this is the work of
Cynddelw
, and the sentiments expressed on the aggression of princes are more in keeping with the views of the latter.
Llywarch
's nickname is not easy to explain; possibly his reference to swine in
Myv. Arch.
204 a, 26 may account for it. There is some reason for supposing that he was displeased by the favours granted to his fellow-poet,
Gwilym Ryfel
, at the court of
Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd
(
Myv. Arch.
201a, 58).
Dafydd Benfras
, his successor at the court of
Llywelyn
, may have been his son, and if so, he was his only son (
Myv. Arch.
255 b 5).
