If the tangled royal dynasties of sub-Roman Wales can be trusted, Ednyfed was a member of a powerful and influential Welsh dynasty founded in the fourth century. He was the son of Anwn Dynod and a grandson of Magnus Maximus. His cousin, Mor ap Owain, was the king of Cernyw, and he was linked by marriage to the royal dynasties of Dumnonia, Gwent and Powys.
Ednyfed inherited his father's powerbase in southwest Wales in the early fifth century. The area was then still known as Demetia after the local Celtic tribe, the Dematae, but would become corrupted to Dyfed within the next couple of generations.
Very little is known as Ednyfed's reign. Like his father, he may still have considered himself more Roman than Welsh and ruled as a Roman-style protector rather than a true king. Roman troops had withdrawn from Britain in 410 AD and the kingdom of Demetia appears to have weathered this turbulent time fairly well. Desai mercenaries, led by Aed Brosc and the later by his son, Urb, helped defend the Dyfed coast against Irish raiders just as they had done under Anwn Dynod.
Ednyfed married a woman whose name has been lost to history and had at least two sons, Clotri and Dyfanwal. He died around 410 AD and was succeeded by Clotri. His second son, Dyfanwal, may have become a sub-king; if this is true then it suggests a slow return to Celtic-style leadership in which kingdoms are split between heirs.
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