Cylchgronau Cymru

history of Wales is concerned, still await thorough investigation and critical evaluation. A study of the ties of fictive and ritual kinship and their implications in the medieval period is a small but necessary step in that direction.159 LLINOS BEVERLEY SMITH Aberystwyth 159 An earlier version of this paper was read at the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, Aberystwyth, and I am grateful to those present for their many helpful comments. Subsequent versions were read by Professor F. R. H. Du Boulay, Professor R. R. Davies, Dr. M. F. Roberts, Mr. Alun Gwynedd Jones and by my husband, and I thank them all for much help and encouragement.