In his attacks on the corrupt rulers of his time, Gildas refers to one Welsh king, Cuneglas, as a “despiser of God, an adulterer, and an oppressor of monks.” Yet as a youth, Cuneglas had driven “the chariot which carried The Bear.” Who was this great man, known as The Bear, who should have a prince drive his chariot? Gildas does not say. But the Celtic word for “bear” is arth or artos.
