Cunedda is one of the very few to whom Welsh literature assigns the rare title of gwledig,[1] a term which denotes the ruler of a territory, apparently as distinct from that of a community of persons, which is a very important distinction in view of ' tribal ' custom. The expression Cunedda Wledig in this case would point to Cunedda as a ruler of territory (gwlad) whilst Cunedda and his Sons would indicate his character as a ' tribal ' king. Almost all who are known to have borne the title of gwledig can be proved to have lived within a century or so about the end of Roman rule in Britain. The three best known, Maxen, Cunedda, and Emrys, are all credited with being in some way connected with the Roman officialdom or race, so that there can be little doubt that gwledig is a Welsh rendering for a Roman title, perhaps the Comes Britanniae. Maxen, who was very early confounded with the usurper Maximus, is associated with the three military centres of Caerlleon, Carmarthen, and Carnarvon. He marries Elen, daughter of Eudav,[2] into
- ↑ In the indices to the Oxford Red Book of Hergest there are about ten names associated with this title, of the majority of which nothing whatever seems to be known. They are nearly all, however, made contemporaries of persons who are known to have lived before 577. Thus Tared Wledig is described as the father of Twrch Trwythy who appears in the tale of Kulhwch and Olwen as the wild boar pursued by Arthur and his men (Oxford Mab. 123, &c.).
- ↑ See the tale entitled Breudwyt Maxen Wledic (Oxford Mab. 82-92), in which it is amply evident, if the author's identification of Maxen with Maximus is eliminated, that Maxen is a dweller in Britain. The Welsh word for Rome, viz. Rhufain, older Rumein, is from Romania and not from Roma. This fact will explain many a marvel in old Welsh literature of journeys to the Roman city. It is curious that Geoffrey does not bring Arthur to the city of Rome, although he brings him as far as the Alps (Hist. Reg. Brit. X. 13 ; Oxford Brut, 229), so that it is by no means improbable that what Geoffrey had before him was an account of Arthur's wars in Romania, that is, some part of Britain where the Roman interest was sufficiently strong to cause it to be distinguished as Romania. The word actually appears in the Excidium, ch. 7 (Chr. Minora III. 30).
