This is the earliest of several extant Lives of St David, written by Rhygyfarch ap Sulien of Llanbadarn Fawr in the late eleventh century.

The text is found in several manuscripts, in versions of different lengths, including the collection of Welsh saints Lives in Cotton Vespasian A. xiv. A summary of the manuscript versions of the text can be found in Sharpe's article in St David of Wales: Cult, Church and Nation.