Urien

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Urien was the late 6th-cent. ruler of Rheged, the British kingdom centred on Carlisle. The 9th-cent. British writer Nennius described his power and Taliesin, poet at Urien's court, praised him as warrior and protector. He is said to have led a coalition against the Angles in the northern kingdom of Bernicia and to have been killed c.590 besieging Bamburgh. Through Geoffrey of Monmouth and Malory, Urien was brought into the Arthurian legend and his activities transferred to south Wales.

Audrey MacDonald

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