Uneasy Lies the Crown (46 page)

Books by N. Gemini Sasson:

Isabeau, A Novel of Queen Isabella and Sir Roger Mortimer

The King Must Die, A Novel of Edward III

The Crown in the Heather (The Bruce Trilogy: Book I)
Worth Dying For (The Bruce Trilogy: Book II)
The Honor Due a King (The Bruce Trilogy: Book III)

List of Characters

Owain Glyndwr
– Welsh nobleman.

Gruffydd Fychan
– Owain’s father. Descendant of the princes of Powys Fadog.

Helen Goch
– Owain’s mother. Descendant of the princes of Gwynedd and Deheubarth.

Tudur Glyndwr
– Owain’s younger brother.

Margaret Hanmer
– Owain’s wife.

Gruffydd Glyndwr
– Owain and Margaret’s oldest son.

Maredydd Glyndwr
– Second oldest son of Owain and Margaret.

Madoc, Dewi, Tomos and Sion Glyndwr
– Owain and Margaret’s other sons.

Catherine, Alice, Isabel, Janet and Mary Glyndwr
– Owain and Margaret’s daughters.

Iolo Goch
– Bard to Owain.

John Hanmer
– Margaret’s older brother.

Philip Hanmer
– Another of Margaret’s brothers.

Rhys Ddu (Rhys the Black)
– A former sheriff of Cardiganshire. Owain’s general and friend.

Nesta
– Rhys Ddu’s daughter and Owain’s mistress.

Gethin (Rhys ‘The Fierce’ Gethin)
– An outlaw who becomes one of Owain’s generals.

Gwilym and Rhys ap Tudur
– Owain’s cousins.

Lord Reginald de Grey of Ruthin
– A Marcher lord.Owain’s neighbor.

Elise
– Niece of Lord Grey and Gruffydd’s love.

Sir Edmund Mortimer
– Uncle to the young Earl of March (heir presumptive to King Richard II).

King Richard II
– Grandson of King Edward III and son of the Black Prince, Edward. King of England until 1400.

John of Gaunt
– Duke of Lancaster. Son of King Edward III. Uncle of King Richard II.

Henry of Bolingbroke
– Son of John of Gaunt.Earl of Derby. Later King Henry IV.

Prince Harry (Henry/Harry of Monmouth)
– Son of King Henry IV.Later King Henry V.

Henry Percy
– Earl of Northumberland.

Harry Hotspur (Sir Henry Percy the Younger)
– Son of the Earl of Northumberland.

Archibald Douglas
– Scottish Earl of Douglas.

Some Welsh Pronunciation and Words

When reading Welsh place names on a map, it may at first seem that there is an absence of vowels, but a few rules will vastly ease the challenges that Welsh proper names present at first glance. For instance, ‘
w
’ is usually pronounced ‘
oo
’ and ‘
y
’ is pronounced like a short ‘
i
’ or long ‘
e
’. ‘
Dd
’ is pronounced like a soft ‘
th
’, so the English equivalent of the Welsh name ‘Maredydd’ would be ‘Meredith’. ‘Gruffydd’ in English is spelled ‘Griffith’.

ab or ap
– son of

cariad
– my love, sweetheart

Cymru
– Wales

Cymry
– the Welsh people

Darogan
– Prophecy

Ddu
– Black

Fychan
– Younger

Glyndwr
– of the Glen of the River Dee

Goch
– Red

Llyn
– Lake

Mab
– Son

Bibliography

In Search of Owain Glyndwr
, Chris Barber, Blorenge Books, Abergavenny, Gwent, 1998.

Owain Glyndwr
, Terry Breverton, Amberley Publishing, Stroud, Gloucestershire, 2009.

Castles of England, Scotland and Wales
, Paul Johnson, George Weidenfeld & Nicholson Ltd., London, 1989.

National Redeemer, Owain Glyndwr in Welsh Tradition
, Elissa R. Henken, University of Wales Press, Cardiff, 1996.

Owain Glyn Dwr & the War of Independence in the Welsh Borders
, Geoffrey Hodges, Logaston Press, Wiltshire, England, 1995.

Herefordshire Under Arms – A Military History of the County
, Charles Hopkinson, The Bromyard and District Local Historical Society, Bromyard, Herefordshire, 1985.

The Fears of Henry IV
, Ian Mortimer, Vintage Books, London, 2007.

Owain Glyndwr, Prince of Wales
, Ian Skidmore, Christopher Davies Ltd., Swansea, Wales, 1996.

Harlech Castle
, Arnold Taylor, Raithby Lawrence, Cardiff, 1997.

Medieval Wales
, David Walker, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, 1990.

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