The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Madoc
or Madog (Madoc ap Owain Gwynedd) (md´k, mä´) (KEY) , fl. 1170?, quasi-historical Welsh prince. According to Welsh legend, Madoc, said to be a son of Owain Gwynedd, discovered America 300 years before Columbus. Witnesses accounts of finding supposedly Welsh-speaking Native Americans have served to keep alive the story, which is otherwise unsupported by evidence. He is the subject of Robert Southeys Madoc.