Merfyn Frych

Merfyn Frych (or Merfyn Frych ap Gwriad) (English: Merfyn the Freckled, son of Gwriad) was King of Gwynedd (reigned 825 – 844), the first king not descended from the male line of Maelgwn Gwynedd. Little is known of his reign, and his primary notability is as the father of Rhodri the Great. Merfyn came to the throne in the aftermath of a bloody dynastic struggle between brothers Cynan (reigned 798 – 816) and Hywel (reigned 816 – 825), at a time when the kingdom had been under pressure from Mercia. The Annales Cambriae says that he died in 844, the same year in which a battle occurred at Ketill (or Cetyll), but it does not make clear whether there is a connection, or whether it is referring to two unrelated events.