Cynddylan

Cynddylan (Modern Welsh pronunciation: /kən'ðəlan/), or Cynddylan ap Cyndrwyn was a seventh-century Prince of Powys associated with Pengwern. Cynddylan is attested only in literary sources: unlike many kings from Brittonic post-Roman Britain, he does not appear in the early Welsh genealogies or other historical sources. The son of King Cyndrwyn, Cynddylan is described in the probably seventh-century poem Marwnad Cynddylan (Elegy for Cynddylan) and seems to have been a chieftain in Powys.

==Historical context== Some understanding of the historical context in which Cynddylan must have lived is afforded by Bede's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, the Historia Brittonum, and early Welsh genealogies. With the collapse of the Roman Empire and the invasion of the Saxons, the remains of the civitas of the Cornovii held on to their lands in the lowland border regions of Wales (Herefordshire and Shropshire). By the beginning of the seventh century King Cystennin was the dominant ruler in the Old North, while King Cyndrwyn "the Stubborn" ruled Powys. Cyndrwyn died before 642 when his sons (except for Gwion who was probably killed at the Battle of Chester c. 616), chief of whom was Cynddylan, joined Penda of Mercia in the defeat of King Oswald of Northumbria at the Battle of Maserfelth (), traditionally said to have occurred near Oswestry but may instead have been at Forden in Powys.