Y Gododin: A Poem of the Battle of CattraethAneirin
History
Y Gododin: A Poem of the Battle of Cattraeth
Aneirin
Cattraeth, Battle of, Catterick, England, ca. 600 -- Poetry
The garment of Tinogad, {196b} which was of divers colours,
Made of the speckled skins of young wolves,
His jerks and starts and juggling motion,
I fain would lampoon, they were lampooned by his eight slaves. {196c}
When thy father went out to hunt,
With his pole upon his shoulder, and his provisions in his hand,
He would call to his dogs that were of equal size,
Catch it, catch it—seize it, seize it—bring it, bring it;
He would kill a fish in his coracle,
Even as a princely lion in his fury {197a} kills his prey;
When thy father climbed up the mountain,
He brought back the head {197b} of a roebuck, {197c} the head of a wild
boar, the head of a stag,
The head of a grey moor hen from the hill,
The head of a fish from the falls of the Derwent; {197d}
As many as thy father could reach with his flesh piercer,
Of wild boars, lions, and foxes, {197e}
It was certain death to them all, {197f} unless they proved too nimble.
XCI.
Were he to narrow {198a} my dominions through extortion, {198b}
The arrival of no enemy would prove to me more formidable. {198c}
The man has not been nursed who could be more festive in the hall
Than he, or steadier in the field of battle.
On the ford of Penclwyd {198d} Pennant were his steeds;
Far spread was his fame, compact was his armour;
And ere the long grass covered him beneath the sod,
He, the only son of Morarch, {198e} poured out the horns of mead.
XCII.
I saw the array from the highland of Adoen,
Carrying the sacrifice to the omen fire; {199a}
I saw the two, {199b} who from their station quickly and heavily fell;
By the commands of Nwython, greatly were they afflicted.
I saw the warriors, who had made the great breach, approaching with the
dawn, {199c}
And the head of Dyvnwal Vrych by ravens devoured.
XCIII.
Gododin, in respect of thee will I demand, {199d}
In the presence {199e} of a hundred that are named {199f} with deeds of
valour,
And of Gwarthan the son of Dwywau, {200a} of gallant bravery,
Let Tre Essyd be ours in one entire dale. {200b}
Since the stabbing of the delight of the bulwark of battle,
Since Aneurin was under ground, {200c}
My voice has not been divorced from Gododin.
XCIV.
Echo speaks of the formidable {200d} and dragon-like {200e} weapons,
And of the fair game, {200f} which was played in front of the unclaimed
course of Gododin.
Profusely did he bring a supply {200g} of wine into the tents, for the
benefit of the natives, {200h}
In the season of the storm, as long as it trickled from the vessels,
And the army, a well nourished host, continued to drop in.
A splendid troop of warriors, successful against a hundred men,
Is led from Dindovydd in Dyvneint. {201a}
Before Doleu {201b} in battle, worn out were the shields, and battered
the helmets.
XCV.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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