Carmarthen, Dyfed, A.D. 907
Hywel had taken to kingship in Dyfed like a swirling swift to an air current. Whenever he could seize the opportunity, he rode out to hunt or indulge in a little falconry in the Carmarthen countryside. It was on one of these excursions that Hywel and his small retinue came upon an unpleasant domestic scene. A man flung a woman, who turned out to be his wife, out of their house in a heap on the ground and slammed the door on her.
The king rode over, passed his falcon to a retainer, and dismounted with a sprightly leap to bend over the weeping woman. She raised her head to look at him, not that she could see very much. Both eyes were swollen from a beating, her face was bruised and reddened as well as tear-stained. Gently, Hywel helped the groaning woman to her
