It is not known exactly how far the kingdom of the Gododdin extended, possibly from the Stirling area to the kingdom of Bryneich (Bernicia), and including what are now the Lothian and Borders regions of eastern Scotland.

It is bounded to the west by the Brythonic Kingdom of Strathclyde, and to the north by the Picts.

Those living around Clackmannanshire are known as the Manaw Gododdin.

According to tradition, local kings of this period lived at both Traprain Law and Din Eidyn (Edinburgh, whose English name is ultimately a calque, with the Old English -burh corresponding to the Cumbric din; in Scottish Gaelic it is still known as Dùn Éideann), and probably also at Din Baer (Dunbar, Scottish Gaelic Dùn Bàrr).

Cunedda, legendary founder of the Kingdom of Gwynedd in north Wales, is supposed to have been a Manaw Gododdin warlord who migrated southwest during the fifth century.