Dunwallo Molmutius

Denewold, Dunvallo, Dyvynwal Moel


An early king of Britain (c. fifth century BC) in Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of King Cloten of Cornwall. When he was born, Britain was fragmented, having crumbled after the death of Porrex, and Pinnier ascended the throne. When Dunwallo inherited the throne, he immediately set about enlarging the kingdom.

Dunwallo conquered King Pinnier of England and killed him in battle, King Ruduac of Wales (Rudaucus of Cambria), and King Stater of Scotland (Stater of Albany), unifying the island of Britain again. He was the twenty-first in line from Brutus. In his forty years on the throne, he established law, order, and justice.

Molmutius reigned for forty years and during that time formulated the Molmutine Laws, which laid down a code of ethics that has survived, in some extent, to the present day. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, Molmutius borrowed many of his laws from the Trojans (who settled in Britain before him), and one law allowed the reign of queens.

Molmutius was allegedly buried on the White Mount in London, where Bendigeid Vran's head had previously been buried, as had Brutus himself. He left two sons, Belinus and Brennius, both of whom laid claim to his throne, thus once again throwing Britain into turmoil.

According to the fourteenth-century Short Metrical Chronicle, which has a confused chronology, Merlin served Dunwallo and built Stonehenge in his honor.