Looking principally at Lifris’ Vita Cadoci and Culhwch ac Olwen, to what extent can we equate mediaeval Welsh ideals of sainthood and heroism? Written for: Past and Present in Mediaeval Wales November, 2011
by Marissa Smit The Vita Cadoci is a curious text. Written in the second half of the eleventh century by the cleric Lifris, it combines many standard features of the hagiographic genre with marvels “often curiously reminiscent of incidents in the Four Branches of the Mabinogi and kindred tales.” 1 These include such episodes as the recovery of a lost book from inside the belly of a salmon, the transformation of ravening wolves into stone, and the resurrection of a giant. 2 In addition to these wonder miracles, the saint also clashes with figures from Britain’s legendary past, most notably Maelgwn Gwynedd and King Arthur.
Many of these themes have recognized analogues in heroic literature, and a trend in twentieth-century historiography has been to extrapolate from the anecdotal comparisons, like that above, into a more complete view of the relationship between hagiography and folklore. 3 Most recently, Elissa Henken has worked exclusively with the Welsh saints’ lives to create an archetypical biographical pattern, the motifs of which she portrays as Christianised versions of those of the Indo-European hero. 4 On the basis of her genre-wide investigation, she has concluded that in mediaeval Wales “the saint has taken on the role of the hero” and that both figures therefore represent the same ideal. 5
It is the aim of this essay to assess this view through the specific comparison of the Vita Cadoci, introduced above, and the vernacular prose tale Culhwch ac Olwen,6 which relates the turbulent wooing of the giant’s daughter Olwen by Culhwch and his companions. The story makes a fitting text for comparison both because its overall amoral sensibility distances it from the ecclesiastical context of the Vita, and because
1 A.W. Wade-Evans, ‘Introduction,’ in idem. Vitae Sanctorum Britanniae et Geneologiae, (Cardiff, 1944), p.xi. 2 Lifris, Vita Cadoci, trans. A.W. Wade-Evans, Vitae Sanctorum Britanniae et Geneologiae, (Cardiff, 1944), §29 p.93, §30, p.93, and §26, pp.83-85. This essay will use Wade-Evans system of section numbering, beginning after the preface and prologue, throughout. 3 The two major contributors to this field for our purposes were Lord Raglan, who elaborated an heroic archetype from traditional Indo-European material, and Alwyn Rees, who adapted his work for the study of Celtic saints; Alwyn Rees, ‘The Divine Hero in Celtic Hagiology’, Folklore 47.1 (1936), p.30. 4 Elissa R. Henken, The Welsh Saints: A Study in Patterned Lives, (Woodbridge, 1991), p.2. 5 Henken, The Welsh Saints, p.1. 6 How Culhwch won Olwen, trans. Sioned Davies, The Mabinogion, (Oxford, 2007), pp.179- 213. It will be referred to by its Welsh name throughout the essay. its two major heroic figures, Culhwch and Arthur, provide ample material for examination.7 Given this presence of two heroes—one, Culhwch, quite standard in aspect, the other, Arthur, more controversial—this essay will proceed by comparing St. Cadog to each in turn.
The first section will focus on the straightforward question of correspondence between the sainthood of Cadog and the heroism of Culhwch, drawing especially on the biographical stages of Henken’s model. The second section will continue the comparison into St. Cadog and Arthur, while introducing considerations of rulership and its religious, rather than secular, inflections. It will thus be demonstrated that while Henken has correctly noted the similarities between the motifs in both genres, she has incorrectly assumed this corresponds to a similarity in message. The Vita Cadoci, while strongly paralleling Culhwch ac Olwen, consistently inverts its heroic model, a process Lifris uses to assert the superiority of values like humility, forgiveness, and meekness over secular norms. From Cadog’s example, therefore, we must conclude that the saintly ideal could in fact behave very differently from the hero, to the point even of becoming an anti-hero, and these two ideals should not be equated across the spectrum of mediaeval Welsh literature without further investigation. 8
7 For this assessment of the story’s moral standpoint, see Brynley F.Roberts, ‘Culhwch ac Olwen, the Triads, Saints’ Lives”, in Rachel Bromwich, A.O.H. Jarman, and Brynley F. Roberts (eds.), The Arthur of the Welsh, (Cardiff, 1991), pp.73-74, and Rachel Bromwich and Simon Evans, ‘Introduction’, in idem., Culhwch ac Olwen: An Edition and Study of the Oldest Arthurian Tale, (Cardiff, 1992), p.lxxviii, which are in agreement on this point. 8 It is worth raising, at least, the question of direct influence between the two texts. As will be shown below, they contain at times remarkably similar episodes, almost to the point that one seems to be a response to the other. The direction of this influence, if it exists, would be almost impossible to discern given the uncertain age of Culhwch ac Olwen and our still imperfect knowledge of manuscript circulation. Suffice it to say that they may be so linked; however, the international and possibly polygenetic nature of the motifs, in addition to the possible existence of third-party to which both works responded independently (but which has not survived), should not be discounted. See Bromwich and Evans, pp.lxxxix-lxxxx and Roberts, p.82. The south-Welsh setting of Culhwch, particularly during the hunt of Twrch Trwyth, does raise the interesting possibility of geographical proximity to Lifris’ assumed place of writing, St. Cadog’s cult centre Llancarfan. For a map of known place names from Culhwch, see Bromwich and Evans, p.viii; for Cadog’s cult, see Wade-Evans, p.xi and J.R. Davies, p.378‘Introduction’, in idem., Culhwch ac Olwen: An Edition and Study of the Oldest Arthurian Tale, (Cardiff, 1992). As the title characters of the texts in which they appear, Cadog and Culhwch both exert a powerful influence, shaping the narrative according to their lives and experiences. This biographical tendency enables an analysis structured upon Elissa Henken’s saintly model, which notes not only a set of life stages shared across the Welsh hagiographical corpus, but also the reoccurrence of smaller motifs within those stages. Her stages are 1) Conception and Birth, 2) Childhood and Education, 3) the Coming of Age Miracle, 4) Journeying in the world, 5) Conflict with Secular Powers, 6) Ruling a Territory, and finally 7) Death. Within these seven, motifs like regal ancestry, or childhood precocity, create additional layers of nuanced comparison.9 She notes that stages one, two, and four usually overlap most with the heroic standard, 10 and this part of early life will dominate the comparison of Cadog and Culhwch. In particular, the examination of the birth and ancestry, expulsion from home, and first journey episodes will demonstrate that while Cadog and Culhwch shared a superficially similar biographical pattern, the comportment of the saint, and the motivations for his actions, differentiate him sharply from the heroic norms personified in Culhwch.
The greatest overlap between saint and hero occurs in the textual representation of their origins, which both rely on the motifs of regal ancestry, anomalous circumstance, and public significance to communicate the singular importance of the births. The Vita Cadoci, for example, not only begins the text with Cadog’s family, but also discusses them at length, in both a preface and a prologue. These encompass not only Cadog’s father Gwynllyw’s status as king, and the “most noble lineage” of his mother, 11 but also details on the inheritance and territory of Cadog’s uncles. 12 Culhwch is likewise well born—both parents are called Wledig—although there is no indication that he, like Cadog, can count a saint among his relatives. 13 A further indication of Culhwch’s high status is his claim of kinship with King Arthur as a cousin through his
9 Henken, The Welsh Saints, p.2. 10 Ibid., p.2-4. 11 Vita Cadoci, Prologue, p.25. 12 Ibid., Preface, p.23. 13 Sioned Davies defines wledig as “lord, noble”, p.261; The Vita Cadoci discusses Cadog’s uncle Pedrog’s career as a saint in much greater detail than it does the lives of his father’s other brothers, Vita Cadoci, Preface, p.23. mother’s side.14 Noble ancestry is a trait noted by both Henken and Rees as significant to the identity of saint or hero—it marks them out, as do any anomalous circumstances associated with their birth. 15 In the Vita, these anomalies appear in both standard hagiographical and more unusual guises. The traditional motifs include the lights shining from Cadog’s home during his mother’s pregnancy, the angelic annunciation of his birth both to his father and to his spiritual mentor Meuthi, and the fountain that gushes forth to provide water for his baptism. 16 Less typically, the text also focuses on an extended retelling of the violent abduction of his mother Gwladus, and the bloody battle for her that preceded his parent’s marriage. The vivid episode, in which King Arthur makes an unflattering cameo appearance, 17 enhances Cadog’s singular nature much the way the insanity of Anlawdd during her pregnancy enhances Culhwch’s. 18 Both events create an atmosphere of violence and wonder, in which strange happenings—particularly Culhwch’s birth in a pig run—prefigure the nature of the encounters to follow. The final characteristic that sets Culhwch and Cadog apart from other men, but brings them closer together, is the highly public nature of their births, where popular involvement highlights the importance of the child. Lifris, for example, describes how Cadog’s baptism was accompanied by “all the people exalting and praising God.” 19 Similarly, after the marriage of Culhwch’s parents, all their people join in prayer for the birth of an heir. 20 Here, though, there is a subtle distinction, since Cadog’s birth induces, rather than is brought about by, religious fervour. This distinction presages the greater differences between Culhwch and Cadog which emerge later in the text and indicate that while the origin-motifs argue for a close correspondence between saintly and heroic ideals, the pattern is not exact.
14 Culhwch ac Olwen, p.183. 15 Rees, pp.30-32, Henken, The Welsh Saints, p.23. 16 Vita Cadoci, § 1, pp.29-31. 17 Ibid., Prologue, pp.25-27. 18 Interestingly, the story of Culhwch’s father and his stepmother provides a much stronger parallel with the Vita, related laconically as “…and they killed the king and brought his wife back home with them…”, which recalls Gwladus’ violent abduction. This provides further weight to the argument that these narratives are extremely closely related even when the correspondence is not exact; Culhwch ac Olwen, p.179. 19 Vita Cadoci, §1, p.31. 20 Culhwch ac Olwen, p.179. This difference becomes more pronounced in the comparison of the expulsion from home motifs in the texts that, while relying on the same combination of fosterage and departure, serve to distinguish Cadog from Culhwch on the matter of motives. In Culhwch ac Olwen, in fact, this part of the text is incredibly short—the author dispenses with Culhwch’s childhood entirely, only mentioning briefly that he was fostered after his mother’s death. 21 His departure, too, has little to do with Culhwch, being prompted instead by his stepmother’s ambition to marry him to her daughter from a previous marriage. When he refuses, she curses him, declaring that he will only marry Olwen, daughter of Ysbaddaden the giant, in search of whom Culhwch leaves home directly after. 22 There are parallels here between Culhwch’s physical maturity— shown by his fitness to marry 23—and St. Cadog’s spiritual maturity in the Vita. Like Culhwch, Cadog is fostered out, to Meuthi. This period of his life, however, plays a much more significant role in the formation of his character, since it is here that he begins the formal search for learning that constitutes a major theme of Lifris’ work. 24 Thus, the ending of his childhood likewise signals the completion of his early education, and both are signalled by his first miracle, of carrying hot coals without being burnt and calling God’s punishment down on a “rustic” who obstructed him. 25 Like Culhwch, Cadog’s maturity requires him to leave the home, a requirement voiced in both texts by father figures—Cilydd and Meuthi respectively. 26 Whereas the scene in Culhwch ac Olwen simply marks the transition from the rearing to the quest sections of the narrative, however, it takes on added significance in the Christian doctrine of the Vita Cadoci. Thus, St. Cadog doesn’t just leave his home, he renounces it, a fact he explicitly welcomes in his prayer to Christ “…send me whither thou wilt for I will not now visit the threshold of my father….” 27 This rejection of family life and secular standing directly opposes what Culhwch, in search of a bride, goes to seek. While these episodes sere an almost identical structural purpose,
21 Culhwch ac Olwen, p.179. 22 Ibid., p.180. 23 Although even that is debated, Ibid., p.180. 24 Vita Cadoci, §6, p.37 25 Ibid., §7, pp.37-39. 26 Ibid., §7, p.39; Culhwch ac Olwen, p.180. 27 Vita Cadoci, §5, p.35. therefore, their significance highlights the developing opposition between hero and saint in the crucial area of motive.
Motive continues to differentiate Culhwch from Cadog in the last motif under analysis, that of seeking a boon at the court of a relative. Varying in the details of setting, mood, and the power relations between characters, the representations of this scene demonstrate clearly how Cadog’s comportment creates an anti-heroic archetype even in the presence of surface parallels. This episode in Culhwch occurs in the archetypical heroic setting—Arthur’s court. Boisterous and opulent, filled with violent men and marvels, it creates a thoroughly worldly, secular backdrop for the characters to occupy. 28 This Culhwch does with a vengeance, his cocksure and aggressive attitude leading him to wrangle with the gatekeeper Glewgywd Gafaelfawr and utter dire threats. 29 The mood is thus one of warrior masculinity, assertive and shadowed with the potential for violence, and Culhwch is at the centre of it. Despite Arthur’s continued overtures of hospitality, he maintains his pattern of demand and threat, as illustrated by his speech: “If I do not get it [my gift], I shall dishonour you [Arthur] as far as the furthest corners of the world that your fame has reached.” 30 While off- putting to a modern reader, his attitude becomes intelligible when we take into account Wendy Davies’ research on anger in Celtic literature, where it is portrayed as a positive attribute in warrior culture, indicating virility and prowess. 31 Culhwch’s attitude should not cause us to lose sight of Arthur’s authority, however. As a young man, Culhwch comes to Arthur as a petitioner, as shown both by his need to travel to court, and his being rebuffed at the gate. In setting, mood, and political relations, this episode in Culhwch appears entirely consistent with heroic tropes and values.
28 The promises of the gatekeeper to Culhwch provide a good description of the court’s epicurean delights, Culhwch ac Olwen, p.181. 29 The poetic work known as ‘Pa Gur’ from its opening line provides a close analogue to, if not precedent for, the Culhwch-gatekeeper confrontation, Bromwich and Evans, p.xxxiv. In Culhwch ac Olwen, p.182, he threatens to shout so loudly that all the women of the court will miscarry if he isn’t given admittance. 30 Culhwch ac Olwen, p.183. 31 Wendy Davies, ‘XV: Anger and the Celtic Saint’ in idem., Welsh History in the Early Middle Ages, (Farnham, 2009), pp.193-196. The details of the Vita Cadoci, on the other hand, constitute an almost complete reversal of the archetype, an inversion that promotes the saint as a religious anti-hero whose motives and comportment turn Culhwch’s on their head. First, the meeting between Cadog and his uncle, the “subregulus” Paul, occurs not at the latter’s hall, but outside, under an apple tree. The environment distances the action from the symbols of secular power, such as wealth and feasting, and makes the king’s fine clothing look decidedly incongruous. The mo0d, too, is different, since Paul’s contingent addresses Cadog with reverence and the saint himself makes no demands.32 His humility contrasts sharply with Culhwch’s hauteur; despite his meek demeanour, though, Lifris clearly portrays him as the senior power in the exchange. Both the manner in which Paul, summoned by messenger, comes to Cadog, rather than vice versa, and his unreserved surrender of his territory into Cadog’s hands illustrate this superiority of the saint. Despite this authority, the spirit of humble renunciation guides his actions, and he accepts only “a site for a single hut” out of all Paul’s territory. 33 Through these distinctions, Lifris proclaims the superiority of the ecclesiastical over the secular, both in the formal exercise of power and in modes of behaviour.
What not only the boon at court, but also the expulsion from home and ancestry episodes demonstrate is the essential distinction between method and message. Thus, while the reoccurrence of these motifs in bare form confirms Henken’s belief in the similarity of saintly and heroic biographical patterns, their details prevent the equation of their ideals, since Lifris vigorously rejected the latter, inverting a secular and militant value system in order to construct a Christian anti-hero not merely superficially, but fundamentally different from Culhwch.
Culhwch, however, is not the only heroic figure of Culhwch ac Olwen. Yielding his place about a third of the way through the narrative to an assortment of characters, he disappears, and Ysbaddaden’s tasks are thereafter completed under the aegis of the inimitable figure of Arthur. The king’s prominence in the tale is undeniable, yet many scholars do not deem his role a heroic one. For Henken, “one of the characteristics of a hero is his mobility. Once he settles down and becomes sedentary, he ceases to be a
32 Vita Cadoci, §8, p.43. 33 Vita Cadoci, §8, p.43. hero.” 34 Arthur, “two thirds” of the way through life and chief of his own court at Celli Wig, 35 at first glance seems to fit this description, prompting both Henken and Roberts to place him in the retired hero-turned-ruler category. 36 While undeniably a mature individual with many journeys behind him,37 he nonetheless plays a more active role in Culhwch than either scholar gives him credit for. His hound Cafall, for example, brings down the boar Ysgithrwyn Penn Baedd, and his blow kills the Very Black Witch. 38 His presence on still other expeditions argues that while he has assumed some aspects of rulership—bestowing rather than receiving, leading rather than following—the roles of hero and king are not mutually exclusive. This following section will therefore continue with the analysis of sainthood and heroism begun above, though the comparison of St. Cadog and Arthur will be structured not around biographical stages, but around roles of the ruler. In her examination of a broad spectrum of prose and poetic sources, Wendy Davies has developed several characteristics of rule in mediaeval Wales; the most salient for this paper’s purpose is charismatic leadership and the linked requirement to provide for one’s followers. 39
Charismatic leadership, the ability to attract and maintain followers on the strength of one's reputation, underpinned political life both in mediaeval Wales and in its literary mirror, as can be seen in Arthur's rebuke to Cai in Culhwch: "We are noblemen as long as others seek us out. The greater the gifts we bestow, the greater will be our nobility and our fame and our honour." 40 His statement not only acknowledges the importance of negotiating power in an environment where concepts of sovereignty had little applicability, 41 but also indicates that providing materially for one's followers was a principal tool of the charismatic leader. Although it appears in Culhwch, this articulation of a ruler's social contract applies equally to St. Cadog, and both king and
34 Elissa R. Henken, ‘The Saint as Secular Ruler: Aspects of Welsh Hagiography,’ Folklore 98.2 (1987), p.229. 35 Culhwch ac Olwen, p.182. 36 Henken, ‘The Saint as Secular Ruler,’ p.230, Roberts, p.79. 37 Forming the source for his complete set of heroic named objects-- a sword, a spear, a shield, a dagger, a ship, a mantle, and a wife, Culhwch ac Olwen, p.183. 38 Culhwch ac Olwen, p.213. 39 Wendy Davies, Patterns of Power in Early Wales, (Oxford, 1990), pp.15-17. 40 Culwch ac Olwen, p.183. 41 Davies, Patterns of Power, p.16. saint are shown adhering to its tenets through their maintenance of large retinues and through their personal relationships with followers. Cadog’s special care for the poor, however, and his ability to maintain good relations with those around him, set him apart from Arthur and constitute another inversion by Lifris of secular norms.
Both Culhwch and the Vita Cadoci portray their protagonists as successful leaders, whose power may be read through their large retinues and their ability to feed them; however, the composition of Cadog's retinue and his means of supporting them give a Christian twist to this aspect of his rule. In Culhwch, the pan-Britannic reach of Arthur's authority is expressed in the extensive court list, which dominates five pages of the modern translation. A who's who of British history and legend, the list includes almost 260 strange and wonderful individuals, like Gildas, sometime saint and son of Caw, Peris, eponymous king of France, and Gilla Goeshydd, "chief leaper of Ireland," among many others.42 Entertaining in its own right, the spectacle of the court list also serves a more sober purpose, demonstrating Arthur's pre-eminence at the apex of British society as hero among hero and leader of kings. This unique authority allows him, for example, to muster "every warrior in the Three Isles of Britain and the Three Adjacent Islands, and in France, and Brittany, and Normandy," a feat far beyond the ability of an ordinary Welsh ruler. 43 St. Cadog's reputation too, has a pan-Britannic aspect, although his fame arises not from worldly generosity, but from spiritual accomplishment. Thus, when news spreads about the miraculous foundation of his new monastery, "there eagerly flowed from various districts of the whole of Britannia very many clerics to St. Cadog," who put themselves under his religious authority. 44 As with Arthur, the best testament to Cadog's elevated status comes from his peers, hence the emphasis on the ecclesiastical status of his followers. Later in the text, Lifris estimates the saint's followers at some five hundred people.45 Although some, like the soldiers and workmen, parallel those in Arthur's retinue, a great number of them are clergy, the poor, and widows who would exalt no one's status in conventional terms. In a Christian framework, however, their presence speaks to Cadog's humility and
42 Bromwich and Evans, pp.xxxvii; Culhwch ac Olwen, pp.185-187. 43 Culhwch ac Olwen, p.209. 44 Vita Cadoci, §9, p.45. 45 Ibid., §18, p.63. charity, virtues that give his rule a saintly rather than heroic cast. This difference is also reflected in the way they provide for their followers. Arthur, in accordance with heroic stereotypes, holds lavish feasts in his hall in order to demonstrate his prosperity, a practice indicative of his noble lifestyle. 46 Cadog too provides for the people, but his bounty is humble grain during a famine, not "peppered chops" during a time of plenty.47 While both rulers maintain large retinues and express their status through the distribution of food, therefore, St. Cadog's leadership emphasizes his saintly virtues rather than his heroic qualities.
The macroscopic view of leadership found above complements a more individualised sense of personal charisma expressed in the texts through Arthur and Cadog's relationships with an inner circle of companions. Interestingly, both the Vita Cadoci and Culhwch agree on the identity of Arthur's two closest companions, Cai and Bedwyr. 48 Both are powerful warriors—Bedwyr, though one-handed, can kill more foes than three armed men, and a blow from Cai's sword never heals—and are marked out by either magical ability or appearance respectively.49 Their otherworldly aura invests Arthur’s own presence with increased prestige while also alluding to his own heroic past. Not all of these relationships work harmoniously, however. Cai often talks back to Arthur, questioning, for example, his decision to admit Culhwch to court, and the tensions between them come to a head when Arthur bruises the other man’s ego, resulting in a permanent estrangement. 50 Cadog, too, promotes some followers over others. Thus, when returning from a scholarly trip to Ireland, “three religious and very learned men, namely Finian, Macmoil, and Gnauan, the more famous of the whole band of his disciples,” accompany him, singled out by their superior learning. 51 The emphasis on their fame and talents, as well as their privileged position with respect to other followers, renders them analogous to Cai and Bedwyr, yet nowhere are they as individually portrayed. Later, Lifris again singles out three of Cadog’s companions—David, Teilo, and Docguinnes—who are especially rewarded
46 Culhwch ac Olwen, p.181. 47 Vita Cadoci, §11, pp.49-51, Culhwch ac Olwen, p.182. 48 They appear by his side in the Vita Cadoci, Prologue, p.27, and Culhwch ac Olwen, p.189. 49 Culhwch ac Olwen, pp.189-190. 50 Ibid., p.207. 51 Vita Cadoci, §11, p.49. by the saint. 52 Cadog, however, customarily maintains positive relations with his followers. Even when he does become angry with them—after St. David calls a synod in his absence, for example—he soon forgives the offence and no estrangement ensues.53 In fact, as a reward for his temperance, an angel promises him that all his “familiar friends” will receive salvation.54 This positively reinforces Cadog’s behaviour as a model for emulation, but it also highlights once again his role as a leader, since the consequences of his actions are visited upon his followers and companions. In addition, it is very emphatically saintly leadership, with salvation in its gift and forgiveness and harmony as its attributes. While also associated with close and preeminent companions, therefore, Cadog differentiates himself from Arthur by his ability to maintain harmony between himself and others.
As in the earlier comparison of Cadog and Culhwch, this analysis has highlighted many similarities. Both figures were charismatic leaders in charge of large retinues, whom they provided for, who also maintained personal bonds with a select group of companions. Overall, however, the Christian values evident in Cadog’s style of leadership—his concern for the poor, his comportment—distance him from the warrior values and heroic norms dominant in Arthur’s personality as a ruler.
Thus, when Lifris’ portrayal of St. Cadog is compared both to the standard heroic figure of Culhwch and to the hero-king Arthur, sanctity emerges as a system consciously, and fundamentally opposed to the heroic archetype whose basic structure it shares. This is evidenced not only through the many parallel episodes in Culhwch ac Olwen and the Vita Cadoci, only some of which have been explored here, but also from an episode within the Vita Cadoci itself, in the dispute between Cadog and Arthur over sanctuary rights. In the text, they confront each other from across opposite sides of a river, the saint accompanied by his retinue of monks and clerics, and the king by his warriors.55 This image captures the essential paradox of sainthood
52 Ibid., §22, p.73. 53 Vita Cadoci, §17, p.61. 54 Ibid., §17, p.61. 55 Ibidl, §22, p.69. and heroism in mediaeval Wales, which are, like reflections in a mirror, at once identical and opposite to one another.
Bibliography
PRINTED PRIMARY SOURCES
How Culhwch won Olwen, trans. Sioned Davies, The Mabinogion, (Oxford, 2007), pp.179-213.
Lifris, Vita Cadoci, trans. A.W. Wade-Evans, Vitae Sanctorum Britanniae et Geneologiae, (Cardiff, 1944), pp.24-142.
SECONDARY SOURCES
Bromwich, Rachel, and Evans, D. Simon, ‘Introduction’, in idem., Culhwch ac Olwen: An Edition and Study of the Oldest Arthurian Tale, (Cardiff, 1992).
Davies, John Reuben, ‘The Saints of South Wales and the Welsh Church,’ in Alan Thacker and Richard Sharpe (eds.), Local Saints and Local Churches in the Early Mediaeval West, (Oxford, 2002), pp.361-396.
Davies, Wendy, ‘XV: Anger and the Celtic Saint’ in idem., Welsh History in the Early Middle Ages, (Farnham, 2009), pp.191-202.
Davies, Wendy, Patterns of Power in Early Wales, (Oxford, 1990).
Henken, Elissa R., ‘The Saint as Secular Ruler: Aspects of Welsh Hagiography,’ Folklore 98.2 (1987), pp.226-232.
Henken, Elissa R., The Welsh Saints: A Study in Patterned Lives, (Woodbridge, 1991).
Rees, Alwyn D., ‘The Divine Hero in Celtic Hagiology’, Folklore 47.1 (1936), pp.30- 41.
Roberts, Brynley F., ‘Culhwch ac Olwen, the Triads, Saints’ Lives”, in Rachel Bromwich, A.O.H. Jarman, and Brynley F. Roberts (eds.), The Arthur of the Welsh, (Cardiff, 1991), pp.73-97.
Wade-Evans, A.W., ‘Introduction,’ in idem. Vitae Sanctorum Britanniae et Geneologiae, (Cardiff, 1944), pp.vii-xx.