Derfel, known as Derfel Gadarn ([c]adarn: "mighty, valiant, strong") was a 6th century British

Britons (historical)

The Britons were the Celtic people culturally dominating Great Britain from the Iron Age through the Early Middle Ages. They spoke the Insular Celtic language known as British or Brythonic...

 Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 monk

Monk

A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...

, regarded as a saint

Saint

A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...

. Local legend holds that he was a warrior of King Arthur

King Arthur

King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...

.

Family

Medieval Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 tradition held that he was related to Hywel

Hoel

Hoel or Howel is a legendary king of Brittany and one of the oldest characters associated with Arthurian legend. He is the son of King Budic of Brittany, and serves as one of King Arthur's vassals and loyal allies...

, a legendary Brython

Brython

The Britons were the Celtic people culturally dominating Great Britain from the Iron Age through the Early Middle Ages. They spoke the Insular Celtic language known as British or Brythonic...

ic king of Brittany

Brittany

Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...

. He is said to be one of Hywel's sons in a late version of the genealogical tract Bonedd y Saint

Bonedd y Saint

The Bonedd y Saint is a Welsh genealogical tract detailing the lineages of the early Brythonic saints. There are a number of different manuscripts in existence dating from the early 13th to the late 17th century, although the material is much older in origin.-External links:***...

. Welsh tradition also makes him a brother of Sts. Tudwal and Arthfael

Saint Armel

Saint Armel ; Latin: Armagilus) was an early 6th century holy man in Brittany.Armel is said to have been a Breton prince, born to the wife of King Hoel while they were living in Glamorgan in Wales in the late 5th century. He founded the abbey of Plouarzel in Brittany and was, from there, called to...

 (also reputed sons of Hywel), and a cousin to Saint Cadfan

Saint Cadfan

Saint Cadfan, ; , Abbot of Tywyn and Bardsey was a Breton Saint who lived in 6th century Wales. A Breton nobleman, he was the son of Eneas Ledewig , and Gwen Teirbron, a daughter of Budic II, a King of Brittany.- Associations & Legacy :...

.

Life

Reputedly born around 566, Derfel is said to be one of seven warriors of Arthur who survived the Battle of Camlan

Battle of Camlann

The Battle of Camlann is best known as the final battle of King Arthur, where he either died in battle, or was fatally wounded fighting his enemy Mordred.-Historicity:...

. Three of the six other survivors were also said to have become saints. Derfel survived "by his strength alone".

Derfel is said to have been a noted warrior in medieval Welsh poetry. Tudur Penllyn

Tudur Penllyn

Tudur Penllyn was a Welsh language poet during the time of the Beirdd yr Uchelwyr, the professional poets of the late Middle Ages....

 wrote:

Derfel mewn rhyfel, gwnai'i wayw'n rhyfedd, Darrisg dur yw'r wisg, dewr yw'r osgedd.

According to Lewys Glyn Cothi

Lewys Glyn Cothi

Lewys Glyn Cothi , also known as Llywelyn y Glyn, was a prominent Welsh poet who composed numerous poems in the Welsh language. He is one of the most important representatives of the Beirdd yr Uchelwyr or Cywyddwyr , the itinerant professional poets of the period between the 1284 Statute of...

:

"When there were at Camlan men and fighting and a host being slain, Derfel with his arms was dividing steel there in two".

After Camlan, Derfel is unanimously held in Welsh tradition to have entered the religious life. After a possible stint as a hermit

Hermit

A hermit is a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society.In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament .In the...

, he is said to have entered the monastery of Llantwit. He was also associated with Llandderfel

Llandderfel

Llandderfel is a village in Gwynedd, Wales.It was formerly served by the Llandderfel railway station....

 in Gwynedd

Gwynedd

Gwynedd is a county in north-west Wales, named after the old Kingdom of Gwynedd. Although the second biggest in terms of geographical area, it is also one of the most sparsely populated...

, named after and said to have founded by him. He is also said to have served as the abbot

Abbot

The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...

 of Ynys Ensi, Bardsey Island

Bardsey Island

Bardsey Island , the legendary "Island of 20,000 saints", lies off the Llŷn Peninsula in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. The Welsh name means "The Island in the Currents", although its English name refers to the "Island of the Bards", or possibly the island of the Viking chieftan, "Barda". It is ...

, succeeding his cousin St. Cadfan. He is said to have died of natural causes on April 6, 660.

Veneration

Derfel's feast day is April 5.

For centuries Derfel was venerated at the churches of Llanfihangel Llantarnam, which claimed a relic of him, and Llandderfel, which featured a wooden image of him; he was an object of pilgrimage at these sites. Derfel was depicted as a warrior in full armour riding a horse rather than as an ecclesiastic. The Llandderfel image was removed and dismantled by order of Thomas Cromwell during the English Reformation

English Reformation

The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....

 and used to burn a Catholic priest, John Forest

John Forest

John Forest was an English Franciscan Friar and martyr.Born in the Oxford area, John Forest became a Franciscan Friar Minor of the Regular Observance in 1491. He went on to study theology at the University of Oxford, later becoming confessor to Queen Catherine of Aragon, first wife to King Henry...

, at Smithfield in London. This was held to be a fulfillment of a prophecy that the image would burn down a forest. Part of the image survives to the present day at Llandderfel.

In fiction

A fictionalized Derfel Cadarn

Derfel Cadarn

Derfel Cadarn is a fictional character and the main protagonist in The Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell. He is a straightforward and gifted warrior who is loyal and trustworthy...

 is the main character in Bernard Cornwell

Bernard Cornwell

Bernard Cornwell OBE is an English author of historical novels. He is best known for his novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe which were adapted into a series of Sharpe television films.-Biography:...

's historical fiction

Historical fiction

Historical fiction tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional...

/historical fantasy

Historical fantasy

Historical fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy and related to historical fiction, which makes use of specific elements of real world history. It is used as an umbrella term for the sword and sorcery genre and sometimes, if fantasy is involved, the sword-and-sandal genre too...

 novel trilogy The Warlord Chronicles

The Warlord Chronicles

The Warlord Chronicles is a trilogy of books about Arthurian Britain written by Bernard Cornwell...

, retelling the story of King Arthur in Dark Age Britain.