Rheged
(also spelled Reged, Reget) was a kingdom in early medieval Britain. Its most famous king, Urien, was active some
time in the late sixth century. He is
recorded in Historia Brittonum and royal genealogies, and was lauded in the
poetry attributed to Taliesin. However,
the name of the kingdom itself is known only from poetry; Historia Brittonum
describes a military campaign by Urien against the kingdom of Bryneich
(Bernicia) on the coast of what is now north-east England, but does not name or
locate Urien’s kingdom.
In
an earlier post, I discussed the location of other known kingdoms and the (limited)
place name evidence,
and came to the conclusion that Rheged was located somewhere in a large region
on the west coast of Britain stretching roughly from Strathclyde to
Lancashire. Can the poetry narrow down the
location any further?
Taliesin poetry
The Battle of Argoed Llwyfain
In
the morning of Saturday there was a great battle,
From when the sun rose until it gained its height.
Flamdwyn hastened in four hosts
Godeu and Reged to overwhelm.
They extended from Argoed to Arvynyd.
‘Argoed
Llywfain’ translates approximately as ‘Near the elm wood’, which is not very
helpful for specifying a location; there were a lot of elm woods in
sixth-century Britain. The element ‘llwyf’, ‘elm’, is found in several modern
place names spread over a wide area, including Ashton-under-Lyne (east of
Manchester), Lympne (Kent), Leamington Spa (Warwickshire) and Lymington
(Hampshire) (Room 1993). ‘Elm’ names may
not be quite as ubiquitous as ‘derwent’ (‘oak’) names, but they seem
sufficiently widespread to be little help in identifying a specific location.
‘Arvynyd’
looks to me like a compound of ‘Ar’ (near, adjacent) and ‘Mynydd’ (mountain),
in which case it would translate approximately as ‘Near the mountain’, also too
general to be helpful (caveat that I am not a linguist and it may mean something
quite different). If it does mean ‘near
the mountain’, the phrase may not refer to actual place names at all but may
mean that the army being described was flanked on one side by woodland and on
the other by high ground (quite a sensible position to take up before a
battle). Or it may be a poetic construct
in the same vein as phrases like ‘from the mountains to the sea’, perhaps to
indicate that the army was so large that it filled the whole plain, or
something similar.
‘Godeu’
is bracketed with Rheged and was presumably another region or kingdom. It could be an ally fighting alongside Rheged
forces in the battle being described, or another target for Flamdwyn’s
attacking army. Tim Clarkson says that
‘Goddeu’ or ‘Godeu’ means ‘the trees’ or ‘the forest’ (Clarkson 2010 p.
35). He suggests on linguistic grounds
that it could have become Cadyow or Cadzow.
This was the previous name of the modern town of Hamilton on the River
Clyde south of Glasgow (Clarkson 2010 p. 36-7), and survives in the name of nearby
Cadzow Castle. If correct, this may
indicate that the Battle of Argoed Llwyfain was fought somewhere near this
area; or that a kingdom in this area was allied with Rheged at the time; or
that Flamdwyn was a threat to this area.
If it is a general topographical place name indicating a wooded area
(caveat that I do not know how secure the translation is), it seems to me that
there may also have been other places with the same name.
The Battle of Gwen Ystrad
The
men of Catraeth arose with the dawn,
About
the Guledig, of work a profitable merchant
This Urien
[…]
At
Gwenystrad, continuously offerers of battle.
[…]
Hand
on the cross they wail on the gravel bank of Garanwynyon.
[…]
I saw
a brow covered with rage on Urien,
When he furiously attacked his foes at the white stone
Of Galystem. His rage was a blade;
‘Gwen
Ystrad’ translates approximately as ‘white valley’. ‘Ystrad’ is cognate with
the Scottish place name element ‘Strath’ and indicates a large, broad valley, rather
than a narrow mountain glen. The phrase
immediately conjures up an image of the wide limestone dales of Yorkshire with
their white or grey rock outcrops, but many other places could be equally well
be described as a ‘white valley’.
‘Garanwynyon’ is presumably a river name or a description of a river
(and the river presumably had gravel banks), but if it has ever been identified
I don’t know of it. Similarly, if the ‘white
stone of Galystem’ has ever been located I don’t know of it.
‘Catraeth’
is traditionally identified with Catterick in Yorkshire. The identification is uncertain (I may come
back to this question in another post).
If correct, it would be compatible with a location for Gwen Ystrad
somewhere in the Yorkshire Dales, as Catterick is at the mouth of Swaledale and
on an important Roman road. However, it
is worth noting that the poem refers to ‘the men of Catraeth’ fighting with
Urien; it does not say that the battle of Gwen Ystrad was fought at Catraeth.
In any case, early medieval armies were quite capable of fighting battles
considerable distances from their home territories, so Catraeth (wherever it
was) may not have been in Rheged at all.
A Song for Urien Rheged
To me
has been extended.
The lofty Llwyvenydd,
The Satisfaction of Urien
Urien
will not refuse me
The lands of Llwyvenydd.
The Spoils of Taliesin, a Song to Urien
Like
a wave that governs Llwyvenydd.
These
poems imply that Llwyvenydd is an estate or territory controlled by Urien,
where Taliesin is made welcome.
Llwyvenydd contains the same Brittonic place-name element ‘llwyf’ (elm)
as Argoed Llwyfain.
The
River Lyvennet near Penrith has a name that looks as though it might be a
modernised form of ‘Llwyvenydd’. Tim
Clarkson is of the opinion that the resemblance is no more than superficial
(Clarkson 2010, p.73). I am not a linguist, so I have to take his word for
that. He does not suggest an alternative
derivation for Lyvennet, so presumably it could be derived from ‘llwyf’. As
discussed above, ‘elm’ place names are widespread, so the name element is too general
to be much help with identification. However, although ‘elm’ place names are
widespread, the name ‘Lyvennet’ itself is unusual; it is much closer to ‘Llwyvenydd’
than the ‘Lyne’ or ‘Lym’ forms of other ‘elm’ place names. This is far from conclusive, but it is at
least a straw to clutch.
The Death-Song of Owain
The soul
of Owain, son of Urien […]
There
will not be found a match for the chief of the glittering west
The
lovely phrase ‘the glittering west’ immediately calls to mind the Lake
District, or the coastlands of Cumbria and/or Galloway. This is pure speculation on my part, and I do
not know how reliable the translation is.
Other Taliesin poems
Other
poems attributed to Taliesin give a list of battles and a description of what
appears to be a sizeable cattle raid.
Not all of the places mentioned can be identified. However, of those that are identifiable, all
except Powys (in what is now mid-Wales) are in what is now northern England or
southern Scotland, suggesting that this area was the focus of Urien’s activity.
See earlier post ‘The battles of Urien Rheged’ for more details.
Interpretation
It
seems clear that Rheged was located somewhere in the region bounded
approximately by Strathclyde on the north, the Pennine chain on the east, Lancashire
or possibly the Mersey area (depending where one places the kingdom of Craven)
on the south, and the Irish Sea coast on the west. This region was not the core territory of
known early medieval kingdoms, but centres of high-status early medieval
occupation have been identified by archaeology at Birdoswald and Trusty’s Hill.
It seems a likely setting for the various un-located kings and kingdoms named
in poetry and genealogies, including Rheged.
Urien’s
military career was associated mainly with northern England and southern
Scotland, as far as can be judged from the place names that are identifiable.
His son Owain and (probable) great-grand-daughter Rhianmellt were also
associated with the north of England and/or southern Scotland. Given that early medieval armies could
campaign over considerable distances (see earlier post on campaigning ranges),
this is consistent with the broad geographical region described above, but does
not necessarily narrow it down much.
Unfortunately,
the names in the Taliesin poetry are also too general to definitively locate
Rheged. ‘Llwyvenydd’ and ‘the glittering
west’ are clearly identified as places where Urien and Owain lived and ruled,
as distinct from somewhere they fought battles, which makes them the most interesting
for identifying Rheged’s core territory.
‘The glittering west’ could apply to anywhere on the west coast if it
refers to the gleaming sea (assuming the translation is accurate). ‘Llwyvenydd’ contains the place-name element
‘llwyf’, ‘elm’, which occurs widely in place names. The resemblance of ‘Llwyvenydd’
to the modern name of the River Lyvennet near Penrith may be significant, or
may be chance. Even if Lyvennet is
derived from ‘Llwyvenydd’, there may have been other places called ‘Llwyvenydd’
in the sixth century whose names have now been lost.
One
of the poems describing Urien’s battle exploits says that he ‘came in the day
to Aeron' and could imply that he was not an aggressor there (see earlier post on the battles of Urien Rheged). Aeron may be a reference to the region around modern Ayr. The mention of Godeu in ‘The
Battle of Argoed Llwyfain’ may refer to the area around modern Hamilton. These may
indicate that Rheged had some association with these areas, which may suggest a
location in what is now south-west Scotland, perhaps on the southern border of
Strathclyde. Such a location would be
consistent with battles fought at Dumbarton Rock, Bremenium (High Rochester), Stirling
and Lindisfarne. As the poem says that Urien ‘came in the day’ to Aeron, it may
be an indication that Aeron was somewhere that he travelled to, rather than his
home territory, and the mention of ‘Godeu and Rheged’ side by side suggests
that they were considered separate areas.
If so, this may indicate that Godeu and Aeron were regions in their own
right, not considered part of Rheged, and that Urien’s home territory of Rheged
lay elsewhere. It is unlikely to have been to the west, since Ayr is on the
west coast, or to the north, since it seems unlikely that there was enough
space for a substantial kingdom between Ayr and the territory of
Strathclyde. It could have been to the
east, in the upland area around Selkirk and Galashiels, or to the south nearer
to the Solway Firth. Both these locations would be reasonably consistent
with the identifiable locations of Urien’s battles.
Selkirk is perhaps a better fit with the battles than Solway (although
it is worth bearing in mind that there are other battles that have not been
identified). Furthermore, someone raised a memorial stone with a Latin inscription
in the Yarrow Valley near Selkirk some time in the sixth century.
Unfortunately, the names on the stone bear no resemblance to the names in the
Rheged genealogies (otherwise the mystery of Rheged’s location would be
conclusively solved!), but it indicates that someone important was associated
with the region at about the right time. Conversely, Solway is a better fit
with the phrase ‘lord of the glittering west’, and the River Lyvennet is an
obvious candidate for the Llwyvenydd place name.
So, although
there are a few more clues in the poetry, they still do not give a conclusive
answer. Rheged could have been anywhere on the western side of Britain from
Strathclyde to Lancashire. Its position
within this region, its size, its boundaries, and any changes over time, are
all open to interpretation. The two strongest candidates are perhaps the area
around Selkirk (which fits well with the locations of Urien’s battles), and the
area around the Solway Firth, which fits with Llwyvenydd if this later became the
River Lyvennet, and with the ‘glittering west’. But a case could be made for
almost anywhere, as Tim Clarkson says (Clarkson 2010 p.74-5).
Personally,
I like the idea that Rheged was located around the head of the Solway Firth,
including at least the northern part of the Lake District, the Eden valley, and
part of the north shore of the Solway. This forms a reasonably coherent region
with Carlisle at its hub, potentially controlling access to the coast on both
sides of the Solway, the Eden valley radiating to the south, Annandale and
Nithsdale radiating to the north, and the Roman roads across the Pennines along
Hadrian’s Wall or to Catterick. Water
transport could also have connected both shores of the estuary.
The
high ground of the Pennine spine forms a natural barrier to the east. The high ground of the Southern Uplands forms
a similar natural barrier to the north. The ridge west of Nithsdale or the ridge
of Cairnsmore of Fleet could form another natural barrier part way along the
north shore of the Solway. To the south,
the high ground of the central Lake District and Mallerstang at the head of the
Eden valley could form another natural barrier. It may (or may not!) be
significant that the historic county boundary between Lancashire and Cumberland
ran through the middle of the Lake District, across the high ground of the
central fells.
The
many lakes and tarns of the Lake District and the gleaming sea and sands of the
Solway could happily be described as ‘the glittering west’. The Lyvennet valley, a tributary of the Eden,
is in this area and close to the Roman road over the Pennines to Catterick. Birdoswald
is in the middle of this area. Trusty’s
Hill might be within it, depending on the location chosen for the hypothetical
western boundary.
The
early medieval period was a time of flux, and kingdoms may not have stayed
stable for long. Bernicia and Deira certainly
combined, separated and recombined more than once before they eventually merged
into a more or less united Northumbria, and kings fought and conquered each
other regularly. Other kingdoms may have
done the same. This suggested area for
Rheged may have been divided into smaller units at times, or may have extended further
at other times, especially under particularly successful kings.
As
ever, other interpretations are possible.
Map links
References
Room
A. Dictionary of Place Names. Bloomsbury, 1993. ISBN 0-7475-1511-5.
Clarkson
T. The Men of the North. Birlinn, 2010. ISBN 978-1-906566-18-0.
