• Born: Ynys Manau (Isle of Man)
• Died: 825

  Research Notes:

Extremely little is known of Merfyn's father Gwriad. Merfyn claimed descent from Llywarch Hen through him, and the royal pedigree in Jesus College MS. 20 says that Gwriad was the son of Elidyr, who bears the same name as his ancestor, the father of Llywarch Hen, Elidyr lydanwyn. Supporting the veracity of the pedigree is an entry in the Annales Cambriae, which states that Gwriad, the brother of Rhodri the Great, was slain on Anglesey by the Saxons. That is to say, Merfyn named one of his sons after his father Gwriad. ¹

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Viking raids [of the Isle of Man] began around 795. Gwyriad ap Elidyr King of Manau and Gwynedd fought off the first waves of Viking settlers, but as the raids and attacks increased around 830s, his son Merfyn Frych [the freckled] abandoned the isle of Man and the Vikings of Laithlind conquered it. ²