Owain mab Urien
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Owain mab Urien (or Owein) (d. circa 595) was the son of Urien, king of Rheged c. 590 AD, and fought with his father against the Angles of Bernicia. The historical figure of Owain became incorporated into the Arthurian cycle of legends where he was known as Owain, Yvain, Ewain or Uwain. In his legendary guise he is the main character in Chrétien de Troyes's Yvain, the Knight of the Lion.
The Historical Owain
Our chief references to the historical Owain appear in the poems of Taliesin, Urien's bard. The poem Gweith Argoed Llwyfain ("The Battle of Argoed Llwyfain") tells of Owain's part in a battle between the men of Rheged under Urien and the men of Bernicia under "Fflamddwyn" (Firebrand), possibly the Anglian king Theodoric. When Fflamddwyn demands hostages, Owain shouts defiance and inspires the men of Rheged to fight rather than give tribute to the English.
Taliesin also composed Marwnad Owain, an elegy to Owain. In the poem, it is said that Owain slew Fflamddwyn:
Pan laddodd Owain Fflamddwyn Nid oedd fwy nogyd cysgaid Cysgid Lloegr llydan nifer A lleufer yn eu llygaid A rhai ni ffoynt haeach A oeddynt hyach na rhaid Owain a'u cosbes yn ddrud Mal cnud yn dylud defaid
When Owain slew Fflamddwyn it was no more to him than to sleep The wide host of Lloegr [England] sleeps with the light in their eyes And those that did not flee were braver than was needed Owain punished them harshly like a pack of wolves chasing sheep
He inherited the kingdom of Rheged when his father passed, but he died defending it from other Britons. When he fell so did the kingdom.
The Owain of Legend
Over the centuries, the history of Owain known to storytellers faded sufficiently that he was incorporated into Welsh Arthurian legend and stories about him spread to continental Europe. He appears in the Mabinogion tale The Dream of Rhonabwy, and Chrétien de Troyes's Yvain, the Knight of the Lion and the related Mabinogion story Owain, or the Lady of the Fountain are devoted to his exploits. The character appears as an excellent knight in the later romances, the Lancelot-Grail cycle and Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, under one spelling of his name or another.
In The Dream of Rhonabwy, he plays a game of chess against Arthur while Rhonabwy looks on and the Saxons prepare to fight. The outlines of Chrétien's Yvain, the Knight of the Lion and Owain, or the Lady of the Fountain are essentially the same; Owain hears of a magical storm-making fountain in the forest of Broceliande and seeks it out, only to find it defended by an excellent knight. He defeats this warrior and marries his wife Laudine, but forsaking his marital duties for knightly exploits, he loses her love. With the aid of a lion he rescues from a serpent, he completes several adventures and is eventually reunited with his lady. He appears in most of the later accounts, his importance indicated by his close friendship with Gawain and the passage in the Mort Artu where he is one of the last knights to die before Arthur.
Almost all versions of the Arthurian story have Owain as Urien's son and Arthur's nephew, and the later accounts assume his mother is Morgan Le Fay, if not one of the King's other half sisters. He has a half brother called Owain (or Yvain) the Bastard after him, the product of a union between Urien and his senechal's wife. The Welsh give him a twin sister, Morvydd, and as Arthur's maternal nephew he is a cousin to Gawain and the Orkney clan.
See also: List of Arthurian Characters