Aelwydi

Aelwydi or O Aelwydi (Of) House, lit. Hearth) is a key element in the domestic life of a practitioner of Brythoneg Welsh culture. It's a division of the social division of Llwyth - Tribe. Commonly, an Aelwydi is a group of people who can trace their lineage back to one specific person, thus being all related. Due to the fact that surnames do not exist in Brythoneg Welsh, house names fill this gap in.

Social
From a social ground, Aelwydi unites all those with a common ancestor and acts similar to a Clan. From a social perspective, each Llwyth can have up to 14 Aelwydydd attached. Since each Llwyth has land given to them, the land is divided into fourteen segments, depending on how large each Aelwydi is.

Each follows a standard pattern of authority, the first branch are members who can directly trace the lineage back, such as Patron (Head) > Grandfather > Father > Son. The most senior living direct relation to the Patron is often deemed the Patri/Matriarch.

Second branch is the cousins and such, in family matters, they often clash with the first branch. The third and final branch are simply referred to as Bellau - Distants. Bellau are members of the family which have a very distant and remote relations to the other two branches, tend to form their own inheritance patterns and seek to splinter into their own Aelwydi.

Political
The elders from each Aelwydi, normally three per branch, are given responsibilities to vote in tribal matters, which affect the city state they belong too.