Dyved.[1] Through the same traditions there was operating also the influence of Charlemagne, to say nothing of this same influence as it may have operated through Howel's own grandfather, Rhodri the Great. Indeed, it can hardly be doubted that the fame and character of Charlemagne, Alfred the Great, and his own grandfather Rhodri acted powerfully on the mind of Howel, whose own life appears to be in emulation of theirs. We find that our earliest Welsh chronicle, accompanied by thirty-one invaluable pedigrees with other material, and attached to a copy of the historical compilation which goes under the name of Nennius, was completed (probably at St. David's)[2] a few years after his death in 950 a fact which points to its having been accomplished under his patronage, if not at his direction. He stands unique among the kings and princes of old Wales as being the only one who is known to have struck coin.[3] His reign was marked by unusual peace. And that he was in general an enlightened and a beneficent ruler we need no surer proof than the noteworthy fact that he is known in history as Howel the Good. It is only, however, as seen in the general history of Wales up to his time that the significance of his reign becomes apparent, how in particular it marks a noteworthy advance in the emergence of the entity we now know as Wales from the conditions which prevailed in the dim centuries of Roman Britain. It would require far more space than is at our present command to provide any adequate presentation of this subject, even if this were as yet possible. The main outlines, however, of the story are quite clear.
