The son of Merfyn Frych, Rhodri inherited the principality of Gwynedd on his father"s death in 844, and Powys from his uncle. He proceeded to marry Angharad, daughter of the ruler of Seisyllwg, which he duly inherited on the accidental death of his brother-in-law in 871.

This enlarged kingdom covered all of northern and central Wales, stretching down to the Gower peninsula in the south.

Rhodri"s fame sprang from his success as a warrior after his many battles with the Vikings. Anglesey bore the brunt of the attacks, and it was there in 856 that Rhodri won his great victory over Horn, the leader of the Danes.

It was not only from the west that the kingdom of Rhodri was threatened. By becoming the ruler of Powys, his mother"s land, he inherited the old struggle with the kingdom of Mercia and in 878 Rhodri and his son, Gwriad, were killed in battle against the English.

Apart from these bare facts, little information about Rhodri survives to the present. Yet his prestige was such that to be “of the line of Rhodri” was a powerful factor in later Welsh power struggles.

Rhodri’s grandson Hywel Dda built on the foundations he had laid, creating the kingdom of Deheubarth. This extensive geographical unit with its common legal system was, arguably, the closest there has ever been to a unified and independent Welsh state.