owain gwynedd appears prominently in the novel. he is portrayed as a more statesmanlike character than the other welsh rulers, and makes common cause with hugh beringar to deter maud's ambitious allies. he must manoeuvre carefully to repair the damage done by cadwaladr, whose men capture gilbert prescote, the fictional sheriff of shrewsbury, but lose the fictional elis ap cynan in the misguided raid on godric's ford on the way home.