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
{102d} Probably Edeyrn may have been the hero of this stanza, and that a
play upon the word is intended in the expression “edyrn diedyrn.” Edyrn
the kingdom will remain, but Edyrn the king is gone.
{102e} “Gowyssawr,” the furrower of battle: the designation of a
warrior.
“Wyr i Vleddyn arv leiddiad
A oedd draw yn _cwysaw cad_.” (Hywel Cilan.)
A grandson of Bleddyn with the weapon of slaughter,
Was yonder furrowing the battle.
Al. “lynwyssawr,” “the plague;” or “the pool maker,” in reference to the
effusion of blood which he caused on the field of battle.
As just observed, this individual may have been Edeyrn, the son of Nudd
ab Beli ab Rhun ab Maelgwn ab Caswallon Lawhir ab Einiawn Yrth ab Cunedda
ab Edeyrn ab Padarn Beisrudd by Gwawl daughter of COEL GODEBOG, who would
be removed from the field of battle by his own clan.
{103a} “Bu truan,” just as in line 107.
{103b} The names of both these persons, as we have already seen, occur
together in a Poem attributed to Aneurin, and printed in Davies’s
Mythology of the Druids. The latter, moreover, appears in the Tale of
“Kilhwch and Olwen,” where a daughter of his is likewise mentioned by the
name of Eheubryd. Cyvwlch is there stated to have been one of the three
grandsons of Cleddyv Divwlch, the other two being Bwlch and Sevwich.
“Their three shields are three gleaming glitterers. Their three spears
are three pointed piercers. Their three swords are three griding
gashers, Glas, Glesig, and Clersag.” (page 291.)
{103c} “Leu,” the root of “goleu,” “lleuad,” &c. The other reading
“liw,” is equally proper, even as we still say “liw dydd,” “liw nos,” &c.
{103d} Lit. “rush-light.”
{103e} Lit. “its enmity lasted long.” The latter portion of this
stanza, which refers to Tudvwlch and Cyvwlch, seems to have been
misplaced.
{103f} Qu. “Icenorum arx?”
{103g} “Ewgei,” _e wgei_ from “gwg,” _a frown_. Al. “negei,” _he shewed
resistance_, from “nag,” a _denial_. So in “Englynion y Beddau;”—
“Y Beddau hir yn Ngwanas
Ni chavas ae dioes
Pwy vynt hwy, pwy eu _neges_.”
i.e. “who will own, or who will deny them.”
{104a} Can this mean _blood_ or _bloody field_? It is certain that
Meigant (600–630) uses the word in that sense;—
“_Plwde_ y danav hyd ymhen vy nghlun.” (Myv. Arch. vol. i. p. 160)
Under me was blood to the top of my knee.
{104b} “Digalonnit,” the other reading “dygollovit,” (dygoll ovid) would
signify that the horn _banished his sorrow_.
{104c} Al. “Even on the foam-bordered Mordei.”
{104d} Which “Gwarthlev,” ( the voice of reproach) was not. Davies
makes “eno bryt,” into a proper name, and construes the sentence thus;—
“Whilst Gwarthlev and Enovryd were pouring forth the liquor.”
{105a} “Arch.” Al. “arth en llwrw.” “He was an impetuous bear.” There
may be here a faint allusion to the name Gwarthlev, nor is it unlikely
that his ensign bore the figure of a bear.
{105b} “Gwd,” (gwdd) _that turns round_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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