Wales, The Period 840-878 CE
T
he context: Rhodri Mawr was the first King of a united Wales. Rhodri married into the kingdom of Powys, inherited Dyfed, then took over Seisllwg (now the county Caermarthenshire) by force of arms.
Every source I've read notes that only two other English kings were called "great", so we can say that he was first of the Greats. After his death in 878, Rhodri's kingdom was divided among his sons.
The (former) kingdom remained divided until it was united under Rhodri's grandson, Hwyel Dda, in 904. (It should be noted that given Hwyel was only 14 on his coronation day, the tribes must have been pretty desperate for a monarch.)
My extrapolations: Rhodri followed tribal law, and not right of succession, when he distributed his lands among his sons; Rhodri was a Celt. As a Chieftain-of-Chieftains, he would have governed a large, tempestuous band of warriors and households, and supported numerous "client" clans: groups offering Fealty in exchange for protection from those assertive Easterners.
Every Celtic society chieftain lived in partnership with resident Druids, no matter that the Romans leveled Anglesey and sent most of them to an early reunion; I'll wager that a monarch willing to ignore the Judeo/Christian laws of primogeniture has a pretty strong grounding in the Old Religion. We know that there were groves near Rhodri's stronghold in Llandeilo, in the nearby Black Mountain, and Preseli in the Southwest.
As Chieftain-of-Chieftains, I wager that Rhodri Mawr would have had a Chief Bard.
My persona is daughter and apprentice to this alleged bard, Esyllt merch Aeda. My father Ouein is a warrior in Rhodri's Hall, and as so I am (nominally) trained in arms and riding as well as the keeping of a house: weaving, open-fire cooking, &c. My interests lie in the tribe's poetry and music, so I've been packed off to the groves and itinerant travel among the surrounding kingdoms to learn my tribe's history and culture.
That'll do for a start: My name is Leucum merch Esyllt, of Llandeilo, Cymry, in the time of Rhodri Mawr ca. 860 -- lately, I live in the East Kingdom Barony of Carolingia.
Note to self (and gentle readers): Be wary of falling in love with invented words. As of 11/1/1999 my original name choice was "Megllyn" -- I thought "Lady Meg would sound nifty post-AOA. The name was informally nixed by Tangwystyl, Welsh studies dominata and names expert. My new moniker, Leucum merch Esyllt, is period and therefore difficult to pronounce: roughly "LAYkev verch AYsocht". I'll settle for "Lake"...
