ELSTAN (or ELYSTAN) GLODRYDD , founder of the fifth of the 'royal tribes' of Wales, though scarcely anything is known about him, may serve as the heading of a concise account (compiled entirely from Lloyd, Hist. W.) of the later lords of 'Rhwng Gwy a Hafren' (between Wye and Severn) - the cantreds of Maelienydd and Elfael; pedigree in Lloyd, op. cit., 770. Elstan (Hist. W., 406) had a son, Cadwgan, who had three sons. One of these, Idnerth, also had three sons; of these, Madog (d. 1140) had five sons. Two of Madog's sons, Hywel and Cadwgan, were killed in 1142, and a third, Maredudd, in 1146; the other two, CADWALLON (d. 1179) and EINION CLUD (d. 1177), ruled respectively over Maelienydd and Elfael. They were not on good terms, and in 1160 Cadwallon seized Einion and handed him over to Owain Gwynedd, who surrendered him to Henry II; but Einion escaped from custody. In 1163 both brothers rallied to the banner of Owain Gwynedd at Corwen, and later both were homagers of the 'lord' Rhys ap Gruffydd; both, again, co-operated in the re-establishment of Cwm Hir abbey, 1176. Of Cadwallon's three sons, Maelgwn (who took the cross in 1188) d. in 1197; his son Cadwallon d. in 1234. Einion Clud had two sons: the elder, EINION (AB EINION CLUD), usually known as 'Einion o'r Porth,' is said to have m. a daughter of the 'lord' Rhys, took the cross in 1188, and d. in 1191. In the 13th and 14th cent, the house of Mortimer (q.v.), which had from an early date encroached upon the lands of the Elstan dynasty, succeeded eventually in acquiring complete possession of them.

Bibliography:
     J. E. Lloyd, Hist. W., more especially 406, 477, 516, 545, 563, 567, 585, 770.

Author:
     Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, C.B.E., D.Litt., Ll.D., F.S.A., (1881-1969), Bangor.