invasion of Wales. From the late tenth century, Scandinavian presence appears to have
grown in the Severn Estuary, with Bristol replacing Chester as the main focus for
Hiberno-Norse trading contact with Anglo-Saxon England. In one, famous account,
following the plundering of Glamorgan by Count Eilaf (a Dane in the service of King
Cnut 1018 – 24 ), the clergy fled from Llancarfan with relics and the shrine of St Cadog,
only to be attacked at Mamhilad near Usk in Monmouthshire, one attacker damaging
the shrine with his axe (Vita Cadoci, ch. 40 ; Wade Evans 1944 : 110 ).
Gruffudd ap Llywelyn, king of Gwynedd ( 1039 – 63 ) extended his rule to the eastern
reaches of the Bristol Channel (the kingdoms of Morgannwg and Gwent). Making use of
both rivalries in England during the reign of Edward the Confessor and the actions
of Vikings, Gruffudd eventually ruled the whole of what is now known as Wales and
owned his own fleet.
To some during the eleventh century, the Scandinavians were allies and a source of
mercenaries, and it was a period of alliance between Gwynedd and the Norse rulers
of Dublin and Man. Gruffudd ap Llywelyn sacked Hereford in 1055 with the help of
the banished Earl Ælfgar, and eighteen Norse ships from Ireland (Garmonsway 1986 :
104 – 6 , s.a. 1055 ; Davies 2002 : 223 – 5 ). Gruffudd was murdered in 1063 after a series of
defeats at the hands of Harold Godwinson and his brother Tostig. Harold married
Gruffudd ap Llywelyn’s widow Ealdgyth, only to meet his death a few years later at the
hands of William of Normandy at Hastings in 1066.
Relations between Wales and Ireland during the eleventh century were complex,
with both Scandinavian settlers in Ireland and the Irish having close political links with
Wales (Duffy 1995 : 378 – 96 ; Davies 1990 : 50 – 1 ). Insight into the close political
involvement between Wales and Ireland in the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries
is provided by the Life of the ruler of Gwynedd, Gruffudd ap Cynan ( 1055 – 1137 ),
grandson of Iago and a descendant of Rhodri Mawr, who had grown up among the
Danish community in Dublin. After several failed attempts to re-establish the old line
of Rhodri as ruler of Gwynedd, during which Gruffudd stayed with the king of Dublin
(Diarmit Uí Briain), he eventually succeeded in returning to Anglesey in 1098 , and
consolidated his hold on Gwynedd by 1115 (Maund 1996 ). Gruffudd’s death in 1137
was lamented by Irishmen and Danes, which suggests that he may never have divorced
himself from his Scandinavian connections (Historia Gruffudd vab Kenan; see Evans
1990 : 153 , 157 ).
SETTLEMENTThe question of Viking settlement in Wales has been a matter of debate for some time.
Early proposals for Scandinavian settlement using place-name evidence at a number of
locations around the Welsh coast (Paterson 1921 : 11 – 71 ) have been more cautiously
refined, while some coastal names have been attributed to Scandinavian maritime
activity (Charles 1934 ). The historian J.E. Lloyd, writing at the beginning of the
twentieth century, did not believe in permanent Scandinavian colonisation anywhere
in Wales (Lloyd 1912 : 322 ), while Melville Richards in the 1960 s argued for Norse
trading stations but a smaller number of Scandinavian place names (Richards 1962 ).
Norse place names in Wales comprise two main groups. The first are those names
which have been preserved for prominent coastal features which were used as navi-
gational points (in the manner of a visual itinerary). These are particularly common
–– chapter 29 : The Vikings in Wales––