On Llywelyn ap Gwilym's relationship to Dafydd ap Gwilym see notes to previous poem. He held the constableship of Newcastle Emlyn under the lordship of Gilbert Talbot, as indicated by the oath of loyalty which he swore to the Black Prince in August 1343. A survey of the state of the castle was made at the same time, and it was noted that £340 needed to be spent on it (Bowen, 1966, 63). The lordship of Emlyn passed to Richard de la Bere following Talbot's death in 1346, and de la Bere was ordered to repair the castle in 1347. Llywelyn may have lost the constableship at that time because of his neglect, or alternatively as a result of the Prince's policy that no Welshman was to be constable of any castle (Bowen, 1994–5, 368). It is clearly stated in this elegy that Llywelyn was murdered, and the expression 'cyllell faelereg' implies a hired assassin. It is tempting to assume that the murder had something to do with the constableship, and that Llywelyn was killed in or soon after 1346. However, it should be borne in mind that Llywelyn was brother-in-law to Sir Rhys ap Gruffudd, one of the most powerful men in south Wales at the time. Sir Rhys's support would surely have been enough to protect Llywelyn from political enemies. And if the Anglo-Normans had been responsible for Llywelyn's death one would expect an element of racial bitterness in this elegy. Since no reference is made to the grief of Llywelyn's kin either (apart from Dafydd himself) it may be that he was murdered as a result of a family feud, as D. J. Bowen has suggested (1994–5, 368). Revenge is a prominent theme in the elegy, and the proverb 'A laddo a leddir' ('he who kills will be killed') is cited twice. The old legal term dygngoll is also used twice (lines 38 and 70), and may have particular significance. Under the law of Hywel Dda it referred to a situation where a kingroup lost a member without the opportunity to gain any compensation for him (see S. E. Roberts, 'Tri Dygyngoll Cenedl: The Development of a Triad', SC XXXVII (2003), 163–82). Welsh law was of course not applicable in a case of murder by this period, but nevertheless the reason for using the old term here may have been to suggest that the only option open to Llywelyn's kin was to take revenge on the murderer.

1. Dyfed   Emlyn was one of the seven hundreds of the old land of Dyfed, and Cemais, the region of Llywelyn's ancestors, was another, see PKM 93.

2. bro yr hud   This may refer to the spell cast on Dyfed in the third branch of the Mabinogi, or perhaps more generally to Dyfed as a land where magic was common; cf. gwlad yr hud in line 21 below and in 8.2.

29. Clud   the father of Gwawl in the first branch of the Mabinogi.

138. Llandudoch   a church near Cardigan, the burial place of Llywelyn's family.