Talk:Adda of Bernicia

Who was the real Anglian king at the battle of Caer Greu?
There seems to be a general problem in many sources of associating King Adda with the Battle of Caer Greu.

Adda's death is regularly given as 568 and the battle in 580. Obviously, one or other is wrong.

Given that after Caer Greu the Deirans under Ælle rose up, it is a reasonable guess that he may be the one who defeated Peredur and Gwrgi (twin brothers ruling Ebrauc). My personal notes have Ælle as the victor, but I can no longer recall my source for that.

Most sources (including Wikipedia) have Frithuwald on the Bernician throne in 580.

I would be interested to hear where the origin of Adda's involvement stems from. Perhaps an old Welsh Triad?

Karl Craig 13:12, 22 August 2007 (UTC) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Karl Craig (talk • contribs).

I've added some source notes on why Adda is identified as the Bernician leader at Caer Grau. My first source for Adda was David Nash Ford's Early British Kingdom's website; he's pretty good on events, but doesn't cite all his sources either. It's all a bit uncertain, but the main original sources -- Anglo Saxon Chronicle, Historia Brittonum, Annales Cambriae -- don't agree among themselves about the date. It's not unreasonable to think that it's more likely that a date was miscalculated rather than a name misremembered [although, given the way the king's name was rendered in the Triad ('Eda'), there's still some question.]

It's possible that the sources had the combatant wrong (Bernicia rather than Deira), but it's the least likely error since they agree that the victor at Caer Grau was Bernicia. Unquestionably, Deira took over the territory of the Ebrauc kingdom but it doesn't automatically mean that Deiran forces were at Caer Grau. Deira could have advanced against the weakened Ebrauc, for instance, or else Aelle could have offered to protect Ebrauc from the Bernicians in return for the crown. Pugnaciousignatius (talk) 14:52, 22 November 2010 (UTC)

"Sources"
Much mention of "sources" here, none of which is identified. Most of the early sources will have Wikipedia articles. --Wetman (talk) 07:25, 25 March 2009 (UTC)