The Votadini are a British tribe of eastern lowland Scotland. In the post-Roman period they are known as the Gododdin (Welsh 'dd' pronounced 'th' as in 'the').
Traprain Law (196 CE)[]
Traprain Law is the seat of the King of the Votadini and the site of his annual three-day Council of Clan Chieftains, also attended by a Government Inspector representing Roman law escorted by soldiers from Trimontium. The town is unRomanised, but is a centre of trade and craft, including smithing and bad ceramics. It is damaged but recovers from the unrest of 196-8 CE when the Votadini are split between peaceful and anti-Roman rebellious factions.
The fourth Lucius Calpurnius befriends the family of Fergal the Bronzesmith in Traprain Law. He inspires Fergal's foster son Struan, the younger son of a clan chieftain, to join the Eagles, and later joins the business and marries Murna Fergal's daughter.
Frontier Scout (280 CE)[]
In this period the Votadini's territory runs up beyond the Northern Wall to the mouths of the Highland glens and the south bank of the river Tava, which form the border with the Picts. The Northern Wall is abandoned by the Frontier Wolves not long afterwards.
Frontier Wolf (342 CE)[]
The Votadini are one of the four tribes (along with the Dalriads, Damnonii, and Selgovae) from whom most of the Frontier Scouts are locally recruited. Ferradach Dhu and later his elder son Cunorix are the chieftains of the clan surrounding Castellum, the fort of the 3rd Ordo of Frontier Scouts at the mouth of a river (the Almond) giving into the Bodotria Estuary (west of the future site of Edinburgh), whose rath is southwest of the fort. The High King's capital is Traprain Law. The Votadini are farmers, horse-breeders and rustlers, and hunters. The local clan's dealings with the fort are friendly if mutually untrusting, though a druid of dwindling influence encourages anti-Roman and pro-Pict sentiment.
The Wolves' friendly relations with the tribe collapse when the chief's brother is punished for horse theft, and the Votadini join forces with the invading Picts to wipe out the Wolves.
The Eagles Fly South (383 CE)[]
The sixth Lucius Calpurnius and his mother and sister choose to return to his mother's people, the Damnonii, rather than his father's connections in Traprain Law.
The Shining Company (595-600)[]
The king of the Votadini is Mynyddog the Wealthy. His capital is Dyn Eidin (Edinburgh), whither his father removed from Traprain Law, which he razed, to avoid the threat of Saxons in the east. Gododdin territory extends almost as far south as Hadrian's Wall and is threatened by the growing Saxon kingdom of Bernicia (Northumberland).
The Roman fort at Castellum is remembered to have been garrisoned by Frontier Wolves and is rumoured to be haunted by their wolf-shaped ghosts. Ironically, in these post-Arthurian days the Gododdin refer to the Romans as their forefathers.
Note: The Shining Company is based on a Welsh poem and narrated by a Welsh protagonist, so spellings are influenced by Welsh.
Characters[]
- Aneirin (TSC)
- Bleddfach (TSC)
- Cenau (TSC)
- Ceredig the Fosterling (TSC)
- Clydno (TSC)
- Connla (FW)
- Cunorix (FW)
- Cynan Mac Clydno (TSC)
- Cynran Mac Clydno (TSC)
- Cynri Mac Clydno (TSC)
- Dara (TSC)
- Fercos (TSC)
- Ferradach Dhu (FW)
- Finn (FW)
- Gault (TL, FW)
- Morvidd the Oak Priest (FW)
- Murna (TL)
- Mynyddog (TSC)
- Niamh (TSC)
- Shula (FW)
- Struan (TL x2)
- Sualtam (TL)
- Talore (TL)
- Teleri (FW)
Places[]
- In 196:
- Traprain Law and points southward
- In 280:
- Lowlands south of the river Tava
- Castellum, called the Cramond fort
- In 341-3:
- Clan territory of Ferradach Dhu
- Castellum
- The Rath of Ferradach Dhu, near Castellum
- The Long Moss, the Death Place of the Chieftains (on the River Almond)
- Rath Colgrim, near Castellum
- The Glen of the Alderwoods, near Castellum
- The Royal Territory, east of Castellum
- Fortress Rock, just east of Castellum (future site of Edinburgh), war capital of the High King
- Traprain Law, seat of the High Kings
- Clan territory of Ferradach Dhu
- In 600:
- Dyn Eidin (Edinburgh)
- Eildon (Trimontium)
- Habitancum