The first certain notice of a Viking raid upon Wales occurs in all the Welsh Chronicles (Annales Cambriae, Brut y Tywysogion and Brut y Saeson) in the annals for the year 850 C.E. (note 1), when a certain Cyngen died on the swords of "the Heathen." Some scholars believe that Viking incursions into Wales began even earlier, suggesting that the Vikings who raided the Church on Recru or Lombay Island in 795 C.E. had sailed there from Wales. The inhabitants of Cornwall, known as the West Welsh, were in contact with the Viking raiders as early as 835 C.E., when they contracted with the Danes to fight against the Anglo-Saxon King Ecgberht who had subjugated the Cornish in 823. This alliance of Northman with Welshman against the English was to recur again many times in the coming years. Traditional Welsh poetry also records the Scandinavian presence in Wales; For example, the Arymes Prydein Vawr or "Omen of Great Britain" composed sometime between 835 and 1066 C.E. and preserved in the 13th century manuscript known as The Book of Taliesin states:

Achymot kymry agwyr dulyn
Gwydyl iwerdon mon aphrydyn
Cornyw achludwys eu kynnwys genhyn
Atporyon uyd brython pan dyorfyn
Pell dygoganher amser dybydyn . . .

predicting that the day will come when Cadwalladr and Cynan shall return to deliver the Welsh from their hated Saxon oppressors and peace shall reign over the land. To bring this about, a great confederation of the Scandinavians of Dublin, the Irish, the people of Anglesey, Scotland, Cornwall and Strathclyde shall join the Welsh to deliver the Cymry from their Saxon foes.

Coin of Eirik Bloodaxe. The legend reads "ERIC REX" (King Eric) (at British Museum)

Eirik Bloodaxe Hardcover – 2010
by Gareth Williams

THE OLD MARLOVIAN by Johannes Werth

The first raiders were Norwegians, known to the Irish as Finn Gaill, for in 854, the chronicles record a new type of Northman appearing upon the Welsh shores. Like the Irish, who called the Danes Dubh Gaill or "black foreigners," the Welsh called the new sea-rovers appearing upon their shores various names describing them as "black":

• gentiles nigri (the black heathen)
• y llu du (the black host)
• kenhedloedd duon (the black nations)
• y Normanyeit duon (black Normans)
• dub gint (black heathen, from Irish dubh Gennti)
• Brithwyr du (black Brithwyr)
• dieifyl du (black devils)

Some Welsh terms for the Vikings referred to the heathen, non-Christian ways of the Norse Invaders:

• Gentiles "gentiles"
• Paganaid "pagans"

Other Welsh names for the Vikings included:

Wales, in its central position, situated between the Viking kingdoms of Ireland and the Danelaw, was certain to receive the attentions of the Norse sea-raiders. The Welsh coastline, and particularly the island of Anglesey, was a particular target for Hiberno-Norse aggression, being situated conveniently close to the Norse colony of Dublin. Anglesey was attractive to the raiders, not only being the home of the monastic establishments of Penmon, Ynys Seirol and Caer Gybi, but also as Giraldus Cambrensis states in his Descripto Kambriae,
 

Sicut enim montes Ereri cunctis Walliae fertur totius armentis in unum coactis ad pascua, sic insula Moniae triticei graminis fertilitate toti Walliae fertur aliquamdiu sufficere posse.

Just as, for instance, Mount Snowdon could produce pasture for all the herds of Wales , thus the isle of Mona is so fertile in wheat and meadows to be able to supply produce for some time for the whole of Wales.

It is uncertain whether or not the Norse settled the island, but it seems likeley when one considers that the original Welsh name for the island, Mona, was completely replaced by the Old Norse Öngulsey or Anglesey (though Welsh texts continue to use "Mona" until the present day).

• 795 C.E. .....................Some scholars believe that Viking incursions into Wales began in this year, suggesting that the Vikings who raided the Church on Recru or Lombay Island had sailed there from a previous attack upon Wales. 835 C.E. .....................The inhabitants of Cornwall (the West Welsh) were in contact with the Viking raiders whom they contracted with to fight against the Anglo-Saxon King Ecgberht.  Ecgberht had subjugated the Cornish in 823.
• 850 C.E. .....................Welsh Annals record that one Cyngen died on the swords of "the Heathen," meaning Viking raiders.
• 850 to 870 C.E. ..........The southern Welsh districts of Gwent, Glamorgan and Dyfedd suffer Norse attacks.
• 854 C.E. ...................Vikings referred to as Y Llu Du attacked Môn.
• 855 or 856 C.E. ........Dubh-Ghenti led by a Norse-Irish chieftain named Horm or Ormr attack Gwynedd, only to be repelled by Rhodri Mawr, who slew Horm.
• 865 C.E. ...................Óláfr Cuaran and Ivarr Beinlausi, son of Ragnar Loðbrokk, the co-rulers of Dublin raid Strathclyde (also known as Cumbria or Cumberland)
• 870 C.E. ...................Óláfr Cuaran and Ívarr Beinlausi beseige the Welsh stronghold of Alcluith, which fell after four months to the beseigers.
• 871 C.E. ..................The Irish Annals record that Óláfr Cuaran and Ívarr Beinlausi returned to Dublin after their raids against the Strathclyde Welsh, Albans, and Saxons with two hundred ships and English, Welsh, and Pictish captives to be sold into slavery.
• 875 C.E. ...................Hálfdan, son of Ragnarr Loðbrokk, attacks Deira and Cambridge, raiding heavily among the Strathclyde Welsh and the Picts of Galloway.
• 876 C.E. ...................The Norse attack in the famous Sunday Battle of Anglesea (Gweith Duw Sul)
• 876 C.E. ..................The Western Host, the naval force supporting the Danish attack upon King Alfred of Mercia and led by Ivarr Beinlausi and Hubba, the sons of Ragnarr Loðbrokk, is off the Welsh coatline, indulging in the occasional raiding of the Welsh as well as maintaining the campaign against Alfred. The fleet wintered in South Wales.
• 877 C.E. .................Rhodri Mawr forced to flee to Ireland to shelter from the raiders.
• 878 C.E. ..................Norse mercenaries in the employ of Hywel ab Ieuaf ab Idwal the Bald destroy the Church of Clynnog Fawr and attack the Lleyn territory in Gwynedd. Hywel had hired the Norsemen to assist in his fight for the throne of Gwynedd.
• 879 C.E. ..................The gentiles or Norsemen captured Iago ab Idwal the Bald, leaving the way clear for Hywel to become king of Gwynedd.
• 890 C.E. ..................Y Normanyeit Duon or black Northmen attack Castell Baldwin in Powys.
• 893 C.E. ..................The Danes, led by a man named Haesten, marched up beside the Thames, crossed over  and ravaged the Severn Valley.  Welshmen rom Gwent and Glynwysing, as well as some of Anarawd's men from Gwynedd, cooperated with Alfred the Great to battle and defeat the raiders at Buttingtune on the Severn shore.
• 895 to 896 C.E. .......Danes wintering in Quatbridge in the Severn valley harry into South Wales, including Brycheiniog, Gwent, Gwynllwg, Morgannwg and Buellt.
• 902 C.E. ..................Irish capture the fortress of Dublin in Ireland, driving the Dublin Vikings across the sea to North Wales.  They were opposed by Welsh forces under the command of either Hywel ap Cadell ap Rhodri Mawr or his younger brother Clydog, driving the Norsemen into the vicinty of Chester.
• 903 C.E. ..................A party of Danes referred to as Dub Gint or black pagans under the command of Ingimundr attacked the Welsh in pitched battle at Ros Meilon or Osmeliavn, perhaps near Holyhead.
• 904 C.E. ..................The Danes kill Mervyn ap Rhodri Mawr in a retaliatory raid.
• 905 to 910 C.E. .......Eirík Bloodaxe, son of King Haraldr Harfagra of Norway, raids Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Brittany.
• 913 to 918 C.E. .......A renewed Norse force re-takes Dublin, establishing Sihtric as king. In 918 Dublin Norse raiders attack Anglesey.
• 915 C.E. ..................A large Viking fleet based on the Continent  under the command of Óttarr and Hróaldr ravaged Gwent as far inland as Archenfield, capturing a bishop named Cyfeiliog ("Cameleac" in the chronicle), who was later ransomed by the Saxon king Edward the Elder for a sum of forty pounds.
• 918 to 952 C.E. .......For reasons unknown, the Norse cease raids on Anglesea and Wales, perhaps due in part to the unified military response to raids organized by Hywel, who had consolidated much of the northern and southern portions of Wales under his rule, and established diplomatic relations with the English which allowed Wales and England to support one another against the Scandinavian onslaught.
• 937 C.E. ..................Welsh forces join with Scandinavian and Scottish troops to fight against the English in the Battle of Brunanburh.
• 952 to 1000 C.E. ......Annual Viking raids upon the Welsh coast resume.
• 952 C.E. ...................Brut y Tywysogion records that Hirmawr and Anarawd ap Gwriad (possibly the sons of King Now ap Gwriad of Glamorgan) died at the hands of the paganaid Vikings.
• 961 C.E. ...................The annals record that "the sons of Abloec  ravaged Caer Gybi and Lleyn." Abloec (from the Irish Amhlaoibh) meaning Óláfr Cuaran, ruler of the Dublin Norse.  Ólaf's sons included Gluniarain ("Iron-Knee"), Sitric Silkenbeard, Ragnall, Aralt, Amancus, and possibly Gillapatraic. Caer Gybi is modern Holyhead, Anglesey.  It is interesting to note that Óláfr Cuaran professed Christianity in 943, and his son Sitric's cross-imprinted coinage shows that he likewise accepted the Christian faith, yet this did not seem to affect their decision to attack churches and monastic institutions outside their own domains.
• 963 C.E. ...................The monastic establishment at Towyn or Tywyn raided by Vikings. Aberffraw in Anglesea, royal seat of the kings of Gwynedd, was attacked by paganaid.
• 968 C.E. ..................Ívarr of Limerick is driven out of Ireland by King Mathgamhain of Munster. Ívarr's response was to sail west to Wales to try and carve a new kingdom there.  The Limerick Norse were apparently repulsed  by "the king of Britain" and the next year Ívarr sailed back to Limerick, slew Beolan Littill and his son, and re-established his rule on the larger  islands of the Shannon.
• 971 C.E. ..................King Magnús Haraldsson, ruler of Man and Limerick,  leads an attack on the monastic house of Penmon in Anglesey. 
• 972 C.E. ..................Goðfriðr Haraldsson, brother of King Magnús of Man and Limerick, attacks and conquers Anglesey.  The Welsh annalists record that a King Edgar gave "the men of Gotfrid sanction to remain in Mona."
• 977 C.E. ..................Goðfriðr Haraldsson succeeds his brother Magnús as king.
• 980 C.E. ..................Goðfriðr Haraldsson allies with King Cystennin ab Iago of Gwynedd to support Cystennin against Hywel ab Ieuaf, who was attempting to capture the Gwenedd throne for himself.  The combined Welsh-Danish force  devastated Anglesey from where they crossed to Lleyn and continued ravaging the peninsula until Hywel's troops faced them in the Battle of Hirbarth, where Cysteinn was killed.
• 982 to 1000 C.E. .....St. David's and its religious sanctuary (medieval Menevia) becomes an especial focus of Norse attacks.

• 982 C.E. ..................Goðfriðr Haraldsson launches a campaign into Southern Wales, heavily raiding Dyved and despoiling the Church of St. David at Menevia. Goðfriðr met the Welsh in battle at the Battle of Llanwannawc or Llangweithenauc.
• 987 C.E. ..................Goðfriðr Haraldsson again attacks Anglesey with his kenhedloedd duon (the black gentiles). Wales was experiencing a time of civil war and internecine battling as the kings of the north and south attempted to enlarge their realms at the expense of their neighbors. King Maredudd ab Owain of South Wales attacked and killed King Cadwallon of Gwynedd, brother of Hywel ab Ieuaf, annexing Gwynedd to his own lands. At this stage of the hostilities, Goðfriðr was summoned by the deposed Gwynedd royal family, and won an overwhelming victory over Maredudd ab Owain at the Battle of Mannan. Maredudd had a thousand men slain, andother two thousand men captured, and was forced to retreat to Ceredigion and Dyfed. Maredudd was later forced to ransom his captured Welshmen at a penny per head.
• 988 C.E. ..................The Norse raid Church of St. David at Menevia, as well as the monastic houses of Llanbadarn Fawr near Aberystwyrth, Llandudoch (modern St. Dogmaels) near Cardigan, Llancarfan near Glamorgan, and Llanilltrud, also near Glamorgan.
• 992 C.E. ..................Church of St. David at Menevia destroyed for the third time by the Norse raiders. Maredudd ab Owain, king of Dyfed, hired Norse mercenaries for his retaliatory campaign against Edwin ab Einion, king of Glamorgan. 
• 993 C.E. ..................Anglesey was raided again by the "black pagans." 
• 995 C.E. .................."Mannaw," probably Anglesey, was raided by King Svein Forkbeard of Denmark. 
• 997 to 998 C.E. .......Intense Danish attacks in the Svern district and southwest England, perhaps caused by increased pressure put on the Hiberno-Norse by Ard-righ Brian Boru and King Mael Seachlinn. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports: In this year the army went about Devonshire into the mouth of the Severn and there harried as well in Cornwall as in North Wales and in Devonshire; and then landed at Watchet and there wrought great evil in burnings and man-slayings. . . . Thence they rounded Land's End and entered the mouth of the Tamar.
• 999 C.E. ..................Church of St. David at Menevia destroyed and Bishop Morgeneu slain by Vikings.
  

• 1002 C.E. ................Norse raiders attack Dyfed, but this time spare the Church of St. David at Menevia. 
• 1005 C.E. ...............Ard-Righ Brian Boru sends a fleet composed of Norsemen from Dublin, Waterford, Wexford and Munster to "levy royal tribute" (i.e., plunder) in Wales. The haul from this expedition was to be divided in three parts, with a third going to the King of Dublin, another third going to the warriors of Leinester and Munster, and the remainder to professors of sciences and arts and the needful. This may have been a clever tactic on Brian's part to keep his fractious people from warring on one another. 
• 1012 C.E. ................Earl Eodwin Streona of Mercia led an English attack against the Church of St. David at Menevia making use of the Danish ships which King Ethelred took into his service that year. 
• 1022 C.E. ................Eileifr, a Dane in the service of King Cnut, raided Dyfed and the Church of St. David at Menevia. 
• 1039 C.E. ................Meurig ap Hywel, who would later become King of Morgannwg, was captured by the Norse and later ransomed. 
• 1042 C.E. ................King Hywel ab Edwin ab Einon ab Owen of Deheubarth defeated Viking marauders who had been raiding Dyfed in a battle at Pwll Dyfach. Another group of Dublin Norsemen captured King Gruffydd ap Llywellyn of Gwynedd and held him for ransom. (Note 2) 
• 1044 C.E. ................King Hywel ab Edwin, had been attacked by King Gruffydd ap Llywellyn and defeated at Pencader in 1041 as a part of Gruffydd's bid to annex portions of Southern Wales. Hywel turned to the Norse for assistance and returned to Wales with a fleet of twenty longships to try to regain his kingdom. Gruffydd met the Norse at the mouth of the river Towy and defeated them, killing Hywel in the battle. Hywel was succeeded by Gruffydd ap Rhydderch ab Iestyn. 
• 1044 to 1052 C.E. ..King Gruffydd ap Rhydderch dealt with frequent Scandinavian invasions, leading him to the desperate expedient of despoiling portions of his own country, especially the coastlines, in order to make raids into his lands less appealing to the Norse. 
• 1049 C.E. ................King Gruffydd ap Rhydderch made an alliance with Norse raiders to attack the kingdom of Gwent Iscoed which King Meurig ap Hywel ab Owen of Glamorgan had forcibly annexed. Gruffydd led a raiding party of thirty-six longships into the estuary of the Usk where they plundered the surrounding countryside, then crossed over the Wye and burnt the English manor of Dyddenhame or Tidenham. Bishop Ealdred of Worcester was incensed by the raid and raised forces to oppose Gryffydd, however Welsh traitors in the bishop's ranks sent word to Gryffudd, causing the Welsh king to attack with his Norsemen to overcome the English forces.
  

• 1053 C.E. ................King Gruffydd ap Rhydderch raids the English border using Norse mercenaries. 
• 1055 C.E. ................Earl Aelfgar of Mercia, after being exiled from England, comes to King Gruffydd ap Llywellyn of Gwynedd with eighteen longships full of Norse mercenaries. Gruffydd married the earl's daughter, and assembled a Welsh army to supplement Aelfgar's forces. Together the armies invaded Hereforshire and defeated the defender, Earl Ralph, razing Hereford and despoiling the relics of King Ethelbert which had been housed there at the church. King Edward of England responded by appointing Earl Harold Godinsson to respond to the threat. The Welsh retreated into South Wales, and Harold eventually negotiated a peace with then at Bilingsley near Boulston in Archenfield, which resulted in Aelfgar's restoration to his earldom and Gruffydd swearing to become Ethelbert's vassal.. 
• 1056 C.E. ................King Gruffydd again deals with a Scandinavian fleet under the command of Magnús Barefoot, son of Harald Hardraða, to press an attack into Herefordshire to attack the prelate Leofgar. Earl Harold Godwinsson once again responded to the threat, dispersing the Norse mercenaries, and again Gruffydd swore allegiance to the Saxon king. 
• 1058 C.E. ................Earl Aelfar of Mercia is again banished from Mercia, and again recruits Scandinavian forces and King Ruffydd to successfully assist him in regaining his eardom.
• 1075 C.E. ................Gruffydd ap Cynan, son of the exiled king of Gwynedd and of Ragnhildr, grandddaughter of the Norse king of Dublin Sihtric (Siggtryggr) Silkenbeard, had been raised in Dublin and fostered by a Norse family. Seeking to reclaim his patrimony, Gruffydd sailed to Abermenai with a fleet of Norse mercenaries, supplemented with men from Anglesey, Lleyn and Arvon, plus Norman troops under the command of Robert of Rhuddlan. Gruffydd's forces defeated the usurper King Cynwrig ap Rhiwallon of Powys and his cousin, King Trahaearn ap Caradog of Arwystli at the Battle of the Bloody Acre (Gwaeterw). Later Gruffydd battled his former Norman ally, Robert of Rhuddlan, and disaffected men of Lleyn turned on Gruffydd's Norse household troops in a treacherous night attack, probably because Gruffydd had been brought up in a Norse environment and acted like a Norseman rather than being the typical Welsh prince they expected. Trahaearn rallied his forces and united with the men of Lleyn. Gruffyd assembled the men of Anglesey, Arvon, and his Norse troops, and met Trahaearn at the Battle of Bron yr Erw, near Clynnog Fawr. Gruffydd's Norse foster-father, Cerit, was killed in this battle. Gruffydd's forces were defeated, and he sailed with his remaining army to the island of Adron, which later was renamed by the Norse as "Skerries" then returned to Wexford in Ireland. 
• 1076 or 1977 C.E. ..Gruffydd ap Cynan appealed to King Diarmaid son of Enna, ruler of the Dublin Norse, who supported Gruffydd with men and thirty ships. Gruffydd's army landed at Abermenai and began harassing Trahaearn's forces. Though he could not dislodge Trahaearn from the throne of Gwynedd, Gruffydd did force Traehaearn to remove his people and possessions from Lleyn and Ardudwy into the interior canton of Meirionydd, leaving Gruffydd free to take control of Llyen, Arvon, and Anglesey. Further conquests were prevented by squabbles among Gruffydd's Norse troops. Gruffydd refused to allow the Norse to plunder his lands, which was part of the spoils of war which they expected. As a result, the Dubliners forced Gruffydd to return to Ireland with them. 
• 1080 C.E. ................Norse "gentiles" attacked the Church of St. David at Menevia and slew the Bishop Abraham. 
• 1081 C.E. ................Gruffydd ap Cynan again appealed to King Diarmaid, who presented Gruffydd with a fleet assembled at Waterford, manning it with Norse, Irish, and Welsh troops. Gruffydd's plan this time was to land in South Wales and strike northwards, so the fleet landed at Porthglais, just slightly southwest of the Church of St. David at Menevia. Gruffydd sought a blessing for his troops from the bishop at St. David's, then Gruffydd's forces, with his ally King Rhys ap Tewdwr of Deuhebarth, marched north and met the enemy at a place called Mynydd Carn, engaging them in battle just before nightfall. Gruffydd's victory was short-lived, for Roger, Earl of Shrewsbury, with the aid of Earl Roger of Montgomery, lured Gruffydd into a trap at Rhug in Edeirnion, taking him prisoner. Gruffydd was kept jailed in Chester for several years. The Earl of Shrewsbury further rendered Gruffydd's forces harmless by decreeing that each man of Gruffydd's army would have his right thumb struck off, thus preventing them from handling bows or the dreaded axes that were their primary weapon. ca. 
• 1087 C.E. ..........Gruffydd ap Cynan went to the Orkneys to assemble a fleet of Norse warriors to help him conquer the kingdom of Venedotia in North Wales. King Goðred Mac Sytric, ruler of Man, the Hebrides and Dublin, was willing to assist Gruffydd in his venture and provided him sixty ships and troops to man them. Gruffydd's forces sailed first to Anglesey, where they met Norman forces in battle. Gruffydd himself is recorded to have fought with the Danish double-edged axe. Afterwards, as recorded in The Life of St. Gwynllyw ca. 1100, Gruffydd's Norsemen sailed up the Severn estuary and raided the Church of St. Gwynllyw (modern St. Woollo's Church): In the reign of William the old king of England, after the English had been conquered and brought under his victorious sway, Gruffydd, the king of Venedotia, driven by war from all borders of Britain and in dread and fear of the attack which his enemies were plotting to make upon him, sailed in haste to the islands of the Orcades in order to avoid his enemies whom victory had made cruel, and because he wished to be on his guard and enjoy protection. Remaining there in the dilemma of wanting to plunder and not to build and of preparing to avenge his expulsion, he incited many islanders to piracy, to fatal gain and invasion. Thus banded together and roused to an evil purpose, and after filling twenty-four battleships with the assembled raiders, they sailed under Gruffydd's leadership through the Irish Sea, and, after a long and perilous voyage, arrived at the Severn Straight that washes the shores of Glamorgan. Then sailing along the length of the straight they sought plunder with the greatest avidity and cast anchor in the mouth of the river Usk. Securing the fleet, they seize battle axes and spears, and thus armed manfully scour the plains and woods. On scouring these they collect immense booty; those of the inhabitants who have been warned by sentries to take flight, and those taken unawares are led to the fleet by impious hands. Seeing the church of Saint Gwynllyw bolted and thinking that there were valuables within for safe custody, the iniquitous pirates burst the bolt, broke in and entered. They seized whatever article of value and use that was found; and after the unholy theft they left the temple of God pillaged.
• 1088 C.E. ................Rhys ap Tewdwr, King of Deheubarth in South Wales, was exiled from his country by the sons of Bleddyn. Rhys fled to seek asylum in Ireland, and there Rhys employed a fleet of Norse-Irish warriors to restore him to his throne, paying them with many captives for sale as slaves. Returning to Wales with his Norse allies, Rhys conquered the usurper at Penlecheru or Llych crei. Gruffydd ap Cynan again raids Wales with his Norse warriors, looting in the Norman territories of Rhos and Tegeingl, capturing cattle and men for slaves. Later the same year, Gruffydd again raided Wales, landing under Great Orme's Head with three ships full of Norse warriors. Robert of Rhuddlan was awakened from a nap in his castle of Deganwy and told that the Norse raiders were taking the cattle from the fields and enslaving women and children. With no time to raise his own levies, Robert rushed to the landing point accompanied by only one knight. The gesture was a fatal one, as Gruffydd's men captured and killed him, spiking his head on the lead ship. 
• 1093 C.E. ................King Rhys ap Tewdwr, King of Deheubarth, was killed by Norman invaders of Brycheiniog. His young son Gruffydd was taken by his kin to safety among the Norse-Irish to protect him from the Normans and Cadwgan ap Bleddyn. 
• 1094 C.E. ................Gruffydd ap Cynan with his Norse household troops and a Welsh ally, Cadwgan of Ceredigion, rallied the Welsh against Norman invaders, eventually driving the Normans out of Wales and placing Gruffydd at last on his ancestral throne of Gwynnedd. 
• 1098 C.E. ................Norman earls invaded Gruffydd's lands. The Normans, led by the Earls of Chester and Montgomery, were joined by traitorous Welshmen from Tegeingl, who led the Normans across the Welsh border. Gruffydd was forced to retreat to the defendable island of Anglesey. Gruffydd ap Cynan allied with the Hiberno-Norse to protect his lands in Wales from the Normans invading from North Wales, and received sixteen longships full of Norse warriors. The Normans, led by Hugh, Earl of Chester, persuaded the Danes to desert to the Norman side of the conflict in return for payment in slaves, however failed to keep their promise to the raiders: The perjured traitors of Danes who had betrayed Gruffydd were expecting the promises which Hugh had given them, and captives of men, women, youths and maidens; and he paid them like a faithful man to an unfaithful, confirming the divine ordinance, for he had succeeded in collecting all the toothless, deformed, lame, one-eyed, troublesome, feeble hags and offered them to them in return for their treachery. When they saw this they loosened their fleet and made for the deep towards Ireland. Gruffydd, Cadwgan, and Owain ap Cadwgan were all forced to flee to Ireland. By sheer coincidence, at the same time, Magnús Barefoot, son of Harald Hardraða, arrived in Wales, engaging the Normans in the Battle of Anglesey Sound in which Earl Hugh of Shrewsbury was killed by Magnús himself and the Normans driven back. 
• 1099 C.E. ................Gruffydd ap Cynan and Cadwgan returned to Wales after hearing of the victory won by Magnús Barefoot. Gruffydd began a lengthy rule, marked by peace, prosperity, and gradual expansion, making peace with the Earl of Chester to recover Anglesey. Gruffydd always maintained a household troop manned by Norse warriors throughout his reign, but the Welsh finally accepted his rule anyway, preferring a man of Welsh ancestry over the hated Normans. Gruffydd's Norse- Irish background affected Welsh culture during this period in ther arts, music and literature. Gruffydd himself became well-known as a patron of the arts.
  

• 1115 C.E. ................Gruffyd ap Rhys, rightful king of Deheubarth, returns to Wales with Norse mercenaries to try and regain his throne. 
• 1126 C.E. ................King Gruffydd ap Rhys of Deheubarth is forced again to flee to Ireland and seek sanctuary from his Norse friends there. Other Welsh refugees were welcomed by the court of King Murchath, including Howel ab Ithel, Lord of Rhos and Rhufoniog, Owain ap Cadwgan, and Madog ap Rhiryd. 
• 1137 C.E. ................Gruffydd ap Cynan dies, leaving his kingdom to his sons, Owain and Cadwalladr, who summoned Norse mercenaries for a campaign against the Normans in Ceredigion. Fifteen Norse ships met with the Welsh land forces at the estuary of the Teifi, then beseiged Cardigan Castle. The attack on the castle failed. The Norse, deprived of their expected plunder, crossed the river and attacked the Tironian Benedictine monstary of St. Dogmaels (Llandudoch). 
• 1144 C.E. ................Gruffydd's sons Cadwalladr and Owain begin fighting. Cadwalladr treacherously killed Owain's nephew Anarawd of Deheubarth. Owain was incensed, and sent his son Hywel to invade Cadwalladr's territory. Cadwalladr sent to Ireland for help, resulting in a Norse fleet sailing to Abermenai, led by Þórkell, brother of King Ragnall of Dublin. 
• 1143 or 1144 C.E. ..Cadwgan ab Owain Gwynedd hired Norse mercenaries from Ireland to combat his brother Owain. However, when the Norse arrived in Wales, they found that the brothers had reconciled. To ensure that they were paid as contracted, the Norsemen seized Cadwgan and held him for ransom, receiving 2,000 slaves to release him. 
• 1146 C.E. ...............Welshmen from south Bregh won a victory over invading Dublin Norsemen during which King Ragnall Þórkellsson was killed, along with a warleader named Óttarr Óttarrsson, and Herulfr Yscherwlf. 

King Gruffydd ap Cynan of Gwynedd, of Norse ancestry himself and raised in the Norse court at Dublin, did much to introduce Scandinavian influences into Welsh art, music, and literature. Gruffydd brought Norse-Irish skalds to court as well as patronizing Welsh bards.

Coat of Arms retroactively attributed to Gryffudd ap Cynan ~ Credit: AlexD

Caldey Abbey from the village green