Afan's mother is variously given as Dwywai,[6] Degfed ("Tenth"),[7] Tegfedd, or Tegwedd,[1] all said to have been daughters of Tegid the Bald, a lord of Penllyn in Meirionnydd who was the husband of the sorceress Ceridwen in Welsh legend.

[10] A miracle recounted by Gerald of Wales claimed that the Anglo-Norman lord Philip de Braose was struck blind and saw his hunting dogs go mad when he disrespectfully used St Afan's church in Brecknockshire as a makeshift hostel one night.

Some say his sight was restored upon his pledge[10] but Gerald records that he traveled to the Holy Land and fought blind, where he was "immediately struck down by a blow from a sword and so ended his life with honour".

Afan's grave in the churchyard there is inscribed HIC IACET SANCTUS AVANUS EPISCOPUS ("Here lies Saint Avan, bishop") in deeply cut, slightly ornamented Lombardic script.

[1] Browne Willis also considered the "Saint Afran" honored at Llantrisant on Anglesey to be a corruption of Afan.