Details of the Ancestry of
Eudaf Hen
by David Nash Ford
EUDAF HEN'S
ANCESTRY
Mythological
Background
The family
of Eudaf Hen - or Octavius the Old as he would
have been known to his contemporaries - hailed from
the Gwent area of Wales. Eudaf was apparently Lord of
the Gewissae.
The
Gewissae are a confused people. Some think they were
the Germanic race who lived around
Dorchester-on-Thames and Abingdon even before the
Romans left Britain. They later merged with the West
Saxons who continued to use the name. However, there
are other indications that they were the British who
lived further to the West. The word "Gewissae"
may be related to Ewyas, the northern region of Gwent,
and, possibly, to the Hwicce, an apparently Saxon
people who lived in Gloucestershire. Their name may
have had British origins.
There are
tales of Eudaf holding court at Caer Segeint (Caernarfon),
but this was probably due to associations with his
son-in-law, the
Emperor Magnus
Maximus. The Gwent/Gloucestershire area would
appear to have been his real home, like the tyrant Vortigern
who seems to have claimed him as an ancestor.
But Eudaf
is a man on the boundaries of mythology. All that can
really be said about him is that he probably lived in
the early 4th century. He supposedly took up the British High-Kingship after
defeating King Coel Godhebog (the Magnificent)'s
brother, Trahearn. However, even the old Celtic
client-kingdoms under Roman rule had disappeared by
this period. If Eudaf held any office of power, it
would have been a simple administrative role; perhaps
a praeses of Britannia Prima or a decurion of
Gloucester or Caerwent.
He had no sons
and was succeeded by his son-in-law, the Emperor Magnus
Maximus. Conan,
his nephew, had to be content as King of both Brittany
and Dumnonia. Like many prominent men of their era,
Eudaf and Conan claimed descent from Celtic Gods: Llyr
Llediarth (Half-Speech), God of the Sea and his
son, Bran Fendigaid (the Blessed), who was
mortalized in popular tradition as a King of Siluria
(Gwent). The pedigree below is gleaned from several sources,
but is of little historical value:
- Llyr Lleddiarth (Half-Speech),
Abt 55 bc -
m. Iweriadd ferch Beli Mawr (the Great), 60
bc -
- Bran Fendigaid (the
Blessed), Abt 20 bc -
- Caradog ap Bran
(see below)
- Alan ap Bran, Abt
22 -
- Sadwr ap Bran, Abt
24 -
- Nine Others, Abt
26 -
- Caradog ap Bran, Abt
20 -
- Coellyn ap Caradog,
Abt 60 -
- Owain ap Beli, Abt
100 -
- Meirchion ap Owain,
Abt 140 -
- Cwrrig Fawr (the
Great), Abt 180 -
- Gwrddwfn ap Cwrrig,
Abt 215 -
- Einudd ap Gwrddwfn,
Abt 250 -
- Eudaf Hen (the
Old), King of Ewyas & High-King of
Britain, Abt 283 -
- St. Elen Lwyddog
(of the Host), Abt 340 - (m. Magnus
Maximus, Emperor of the Western Roman
Empire, d.388)
- Gereint
ap Einudd (see below)
- Arthfael ap Einudd,
Abt 310 -
- Gwrgant ap
Arthfael, Abt 330 -
- Meirchion ap
Gwrgant, Abt 370 -
- Gereint ap Einudd,
Abt 285 -
- Conan
Meriadoc, King of Brittany & Dumnonia, Abt
305 - Abt 367, (1)m. St Ursula of
Dumnonia, Abt 305 - from whom descend the Kings
of Dumnonia & (2)m. Dareca of
Ireland, Abt 310 - from whom descend the Kings
of Brittany
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