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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llywarch_HenKing of Rheged
Llywarch Hen was a
6th century prince of the
Brythonic House of
Rheged, a ruling family in the
Hen Ogledd or 'Old North' of Britain . He was first cousin to King
Urien Rheged and may possibly have been a monarch himself in the same region.
His life was the subject of a presumed lost saga of which only the poetry, a series of
englynion, survives. The words are put into the mouth of Llywarch himself, although they were clearly composed somewhat later, possibly in the
9th century. He bemoans the death of Urien and returns to
Rheged with his severed head. Other
Brythons make war on Llywarch and he is soon found living in poverty. He is advised to flee to
Powys and this he does. He is also sometimes associated with
Llanfor, near
Llyn Tegid in
Gwynedd.
In the poems about Llywarch, known as Canu Llywarch Hen, it is said he had twenty-four sons, but various sources list as many as thirty-nine, plus a few daughters. The Canu Heledd, concerning the fall of the kings of the
Pengwern region, and the Elegy for Geraint, concerning the
Battle of Llongborth, are also associated indirectly with Llywarch.