Early Welsh Saga Poetry: A Study and Edition of the Englynion 9780859912754

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EA RLY WE LS H SA GA PO ET RY A Study and Edition of t h e Englynion

JENNY ROWL AND

D. S. BREWER

Editorial matter and translation © Jenny Rowland 1990

All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted undercurrent legislation no part of this

work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system, published, performed in

public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted, recordedor reproduced in any form or by

any means, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

CONTENTS

First published 1990 by D. S. Brewer, Cambridge Part I

D.S. Brewer is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF

ix

Ack now ledg eme nts Introduction

a n d o f Bovdell & B r e w e r Inc.

PO Box 41026, Rochester, NY 14604, USA

1

Chapter 1 The Llywarch Hen Poems

Appendix: Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts

I S B N 0 85991 2 7 5 2

Chap ter 2 The Urien Rheged Poems Ch apt er 3 C a n u He led d

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data [Englynion. English & Welsh]. Early Welsh

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rowland, Jenny, 1950Early Welsh saga poetry : a study and edition of the englynion /

75

120 120

Appendix: Edition and Text of Marwnad Cynddylan

174

Performance of t h e Saga Englynion Chapter 6 Other Genres using the Three -line Englyn

229

s Chapter 4 Claf Abercuawg and Penitential Lyric the and s Chapter 5 Miscellaneous Saga Poem

891.6'612'08 ISBN 0-85991-275-2

73

I. The Historical Background II. T h e Po em s

saga poetry: a study and edition of the Englynion. 1. Poetry in English. Englynion, 1600-Anthologies .1 Rowland, Jenny, 1950-

7

Metres

Chapter 7 Metrics, Authors hip, Language, Dating

141

190

276 305

Jenny Rowland. c m . p.

Bibliography: p. Includes index.

ISBN 0-85991-275-2 (alk. paper)

1. Englynion - History and criticism. .2 Welsh poetry - To 1550 History and criticism. 3. Englynion - Translations into English

4. English poetry - Translations from Welsh.

I. Title. PB2231.R69

5. Englynion.

The Manuscripts of the Saga Englynion Editorial Note

1990

891.6'611-dc19

Part I Edition and Translation of the Texts 393 403

88-19098 CIP

Te x t s

CANU LLYWARCH This publication is printed on acid-free paper P r i n t e d in G r e a t B r i t a i n b y

St Edmundsbury Press, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

'Gwên and Llywarch'404; 'Marwnad Gwên' 406; 'Pyll' 408; 'Maen' 410; Miscellaneous Stanzas about Llywarch's Sons

411; 'Enwev meibon llywarch hen' 413; 'Gwahodd Llywarch i Lanfawr' 414; 'Cân yr Henwr' 415

404

C A N U URIEN

419

'Unhwch' 419; 'Pen Urien' 420; 'Celain Urien' 422; 'Anoeth' 423; 'Efrddy|' 423; 'Marwnad Rhun' 423; a stray verse 425; 'Dwy Blaid' 425; 'Elno' 426; miscellaneous verses 426; 'Aelwyd Rheged' 427 C A N U HELEDD

483

CANU HELEDD

Prologue 483; 'Marwnad Cynddylan' 483; stray verse 484; "Stafell Gynddylan' 484; 'Eryr Eli' 486; 'Eryr Pengwern' 486; 'Egiwysau Basa' 487; 'Y Drefwen' 487; 'Ffreuer' 488; "Herding' 488; O ' n the Courses of Rivers' 489; 'Newid Byd'

489; 'Gorwynion' 489; 'Gyrthmyl' 490; 'Ercal' 490; 'Heledd

429

Prologue 429; 'Marwnad Cynddylan' 429; a stray verse 431; 'Stafell Gynddylan' 431; 'Eryr Eli' 433; 'Eryr Pengwern' 434; ' ' Drefwen' 436; 'Ffreuer' 436; Y 'Eglwysau Basa' 435; Y

Hwvedig' 490; 'Gazing' 490; fragment 490; 'Heledd's Brothers' 491; Epigram 491; 'Hedyn' 491; 'The Boar's Den'

491: 'Caranfael' 492; 'Heledd a'i Brawd Claf' 492; 'Beddau' 493; 'Tren' 493; 'Heledd's Sisters' 493; 'Cynddylan and Cvnwraith' 493; 'Maes Cogwy' 494; 'Llemenig' 494

Bugeiles Lom' 437;'Afonydd' 438;'NewidByd' 438;

E n g l y n i o n C a d w a l l o n ' 495

'Gorwynion' 439; 'Gyrthmyl'439; 'Ercal' 439; 'Heledd

Hwyedig' 440; 'Gazing' 440; fragment440;'Heledd's

Brothers' 440; epigram 441; 'Hedyn' 441; 'Gwal Twrch' 442; 'Caranfael' 442; 'Heledd a'i Brawd Claf' 443; 'Beddau Maes

"CLAF ABERCU AWG' AND 'KYNTAW GEIR' Claf Abercuawg' 497; 'Kyntaw Geir' 499

497

'Cynddylan a Chynwraith' 444; 'Maes Cogwy' 445; 'Llemenig' 445

MISCELLANEOUS SAGA POEMS

501

Maoddyn' 443; 'Tren' 444; 'Chwiorydd Heledd' 444;

'Llym awel' 501; 'Geraint fab Erbin' 504; 'Gwyn ap Nudd'

'Englynion Cadwallon' 446

'CLAF ABERCUAWG' AND 'KYNTAW GEIR' 'Claf Abercuawg' 448; 'Kyntaw Geir' 452

448

MISCELLANEOUS SAGA POEMS

454

506; M ' i a wum' 507; 'Taliesin and Ugnach' 507; 'Seithennin' 508;'Gwallawg' 509; 'Ysgolan' 510; Trystan fragments 510;

The Three Juvencus Englynion 510; Miscellaneous verses 511 Notes

' L l y m a w e l ' 454; ' G e r a i n t f a b E r b i n ' 457; ' G w y n a p N u d d '

461; 'Mi a wum' 462; 'Taliesin ac Ugnach' 463; 'Seithennin'

464; 'Gwallawg' 465; 'Ysgolan' 465; Trystan fragments 466; The Three Juvencus Englynion 466; Miscellaneous Stanzas 467

Tr a n s l a t i o n s

CANU LLYWARCH 'Gwên and Llywarch' 468; 'Marw nad Gwên' 469; 'Pyll' 470; 'Maen' 471; Miscell anous Stanzas about Llywarch's Sons 472;

468

' E n w e v m e i b o n ' 473; ' G w a h o d d Llywarch i Lanfawr' 474;

'Cân yr Henwr' 474 C A N U URIEN

'Unhwch' 477; 'Pen Urien' 477; 'Celain Urien' 478;

'Difficulty' 479; 'Efrddy!' 479; 'Marwnad Rhun' 480; a stray

verse 480; 'Dwy Blaid' 480; 'Elno' 481; miscellaneous versés

481; 'Aelwyd Rheged' 481

vi

4 77

CANU LLYWARCH CANU URIEN CANU HELEDD 'CLAF ABERCUAWG' A N D 'KYNTAW GEIR' MISCELLANEOUS SAGA POEMS

512 549

Abbreviations

642

Bibliography

646

572 617 632

General Index

6??

I n d ex to the Textual N o t e s

6??

Acknowledgements

This work began as a doctoral dissertation for University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. It would not have been possible without the uncommonly dedicated supervision of Professor J. E.Cerwyn Williams, and his encouragement and support ever since. I also benefitted greatly from tutorials and discussion with . Geraint Grufother members of the Welsh department, in particular Professor R

fydd and Dr Brynley F. Roberts. Their help, too, did not end with mydeparture from Aberystwyth

continued t o work on theenglynion after coming to University College, Dublin, and once again had frequent assistance from colleagues. I wouldlike to thank in

particular Professor Arwyn Watkins, and the members of the MPhil seminar in Medieval Studies, almost all of whom have kindly answered queries or given references at some time or other. Special thanks also goes to the Computer Centre

staff for their provision of assistance and hardware in preparing the text. And of course I am also indebted to many other colleagues in the field of Celtic studies outside UCD. I would also like to thank the artist,Gareth Lloyd Hughes, and Huw Ceiriog, Gwasg y Wern, for their permission to reproduce the woodcut on the cover

With any lengthy and on-going work often the most important aid i son the

personal rather than the purely academic level. My parents have from the earliest

stages been my greatest support, and understanding of my involvement in a subject whose only drawback is that its pursuit requires long periods away from

them. Marged Haycock from the beginning has fulfilled the role both of most

important colleague and friend. Iowe much to discussions with her over the years, her hospitality and friendship, and the zestof her approach to scholarship. Finally, to Arnaud I can only say: meep. W i t h o u t all this assistance this work would have been f a rpoorer, but I am solely responsible for all errors and o m i s s i o n s

Introduction from the early Middle Lyric poems in character are among the literary remains Ages which still have the power to move both expert and layman. The so-called Old

scholarly interest English elegies are second onlyto Beowulf ni their appealand the long neglected in they have evoked. The study of Latin lyrics of the early period,

favourof t h e vernacular, has been given new impetus by the recognition that they of the are to some extent the precursors of later vernacular poetry and mirrors

sharp largely lost vernacular literature of the time. It is increasinglyclear that the

divide once seen between Latin and vernacular is primarily a modern creation, and that progress in our understa nding and appreciation ofearly literatur edepends on

approaching the subject as a whole. And just as linguistic boundaries can be

can validly ignored in the comparison of vernacular and Latin poetry, so too sources available all examine to ve imperati often is t i indeed, esboundari cultural

nce of given the limited material available from the earlier periods. The importa fanciful a from moved has English Old earlyWelsh and Irish poetry particularly for

hypothesis to a well-argued scholarly theory in this century. 'One of the largest and most important bodies oflyric poetry is the Welsh saga englynion, but it is one often

known only sketchily to medievali sts who are n o t also Celticists, and the secondary critical material available is also very l i m i t e d .The main purpose o fthis study i s a detailed critical to provide a new edition of the main b o d yof saga englynionand analysis of the poems. Wherever possible the comparative approach has been

followed, placing the englynion in the widercontext of early medieval literature. A

secondary aim h a s been to make the entire body available and comprehensible to non-Celticists, in the hope that this will be of benefit to their o w ndisciplines, and eventually that other disciplines will enrich the all-too-often isolated study of Welsh literature.

The englyn is the only early stanzaic metre in Welsh,and is still in vogue in Wales

albeit in a much developed form. The origins of the metre cannot be traced, but it is main thought to have been in existence by t h eeighth century at the latest. The period of floruit for the three-line types is the ninth and tenth centuries; by the

eleventh century the higher classes of poets, the bards, had adopted four-line

variants of the earlier types, and the three-line types were used only by lesser, more popular poets. The englyn is used forawide range of subjects in the early period:

1 Many o f the studies of the interchange betweenCelt o r Saxon, or simply comparison gofh othe ut to t h r o u literature o f two cultures at a similar t i m e a n d s t a t e o fdevelopme nt are referred

this work, and particularly in chapter 4.

2 For a study of the form and its history in Welsh literature see R.M.Jones, 'Inglyn ' r Englyn',YB 12 (1982), pp. 250-93

INTRODUCTION

religious verse, gnomic poetry, prophecy,a n dantiquarian works. The main bardic genre, praise poetry, is not attested for the early period (unlike later), but this is

most probably an accident of survival. But by far the most extensive and important body of englynion poetry are the lyric poems in character termed 'englynion chwedlonol' or 'saga englynion'. As the name implies these poems in character offer strong clues to a story background for their characters' lyric reflections. To what extent they were accompanied by or included in a prose narrative recital is still a point f o rdebate. The poems are not accompanied by any prose in the m a n u s c r i p t s ,and titles and poem

divisions are rare. For the longer poems and poems in cycles it is possible to reconstruct broadly the stories behind the poems, and this has been a majoraspect of the analysis. A narrative background has b e e nassumed throughout, although the question of the exact relationship of the narrative to the poetry has been deliberately leftopen, to be resolvedas far as possible by the evidenceof the poetry

itself rather than theories a b o u t prose-verse narrative. The characters in whose

mouths the poems are placed are nearly all historical figures from the sixth and

seventhcenturies, or placed in themilieu of known historical figures.Their stories,

as far as can be detected, are pseudo-historical and realistic., In both dramatis

personae and subject matter they contrast markedly with the w e l l - k n o w n medieval Welsh tales collected in The Mabinogion.

The poetry is truly lyric, with the main interest lying not so much on the events of the story, but on their characters' reaction, often a highly emotional reaction, to

them. Love lyrics are not found. The most typical poems are laments, for t h e dead, the passing of former society, and the character's wretched fate. The mood is

generally somber, and it is usually these poems which were cited as evidence by

the 'Celtic twilight' school of criticism. The narrativessuggest conflict rather than

the inherently depressive nature of the Celt is at the root of the sorrow of this poetry, with the narrators unable to find resolution to insoluble problemsand thus endlessly suffering. It has been suggested with some reason that the sorry political state of Wales in the eighth and ninth centuries inspired this poetry, but it is also true that the narrative character of the poetry allows the poets to explore themes

closed to them in panegyric, such as the limits of the heroic code, the conflict of family and political ties, and the opposing pulls ofthe religious life vs. the secular, to which they provide no easy answers.The thematic concerns of more overtly narrative Old English poetry provide many clues to interpretation, as do the overtly didactic elements in the Old English lyrics. The dating, however rough, offers unusual certainty in the field of early Welsh poetry. Only a handful of verses survive in written form from the Old Welsh

period, and most of the englynion,although presumed to be Old Welsh compositions, are found in Middle Welsh guise in later manuscripts. We are fortunate with

INTRODUCTION

back close to the the saga englynion to have indications of earlier copies extending medieval and f o Welsh) (for r numbe time of composition and an exceptional

s of surviving post-medieval copies of the major texts.' The comparative richnes of the genre. manuscripts no doubt attests to the popularity and importance

Previous Editions, Translations and Scholarship Most of the saga englynion were first published in 1792 by William Owen, 5The

n Britons. The Heroic Elegies and Other Pieces of Llywars Hen, Prince of the Cumbria work includes a n unsound text compiled f r o m the copies of the London Cymmrodorion rather than the medieval manuscrip ts, a complete translation , a romantic of lolo Morintroduc tion on the British bards imbued with the druidic notions

from the evidence of the gannwg, as well as a 'biography' of Llywarch Hen drawnLlywarch was believed to poetry by Richard Thomas. As the title reveals at the time

and since be the c o m p o s e r of the englynion, not a characte r in some of the verse, in the Cynddylan to century fifth the in Arthur historical figures named range from and text Both Old'! 'the epithet his merited richly have to seen seventh he was

translation date from the infancy of Welsh scholarship and have far more to offer the literary historian than the modern editor.

hen The texts of the Red Book of Hergest englynion and Black Book of Carmart from basically are 1801-7 in printed Wales of y Archaiolog Myvyrian The in poems

the same sources used by William Owen Pughe, and are little improved.The Myvyrian was reprinted in 1870, and was for many years the only readily available

text of early Welsh poetry W . .F Skene's The Four Ancient Books of Wales, 1868,

returned to the medieval manuscripts, and despite many inaccuracies is f a rsusioned from Welsh perior to the Myvyrian, but Skene's translati ons were commis

.? clergymen of his day with no training in the older language and are best avoided For the texts of the two main medieval manuscripts J.Gwenogvryn Evans's diplomaticedition s, The Black Book of Carmarthen (1906) and The Poetry in the Red Bookof Hergest (1911), are still invaluable. Modern We l s h scholarshi p begins with the works of Sir John Rhys a n dS i rJohn

Morris-Jones, but ti was their pupil, Sir Ifor Williams, to whom we are most * The manuscript sources of the saga englynion and other types are discussed at the beginning of Part I.

5 He later added the additional surname Pughe.

6 MA, ed. Owen Jones, et al. (Denbigh, 1870). It is still the only published source forsomeof t h e poetry of the Gogynfeirdd.

t h r e e of t h e m saga type, a n d o n e p o s s i b l e f o u r- l i n e englyn in the a late e l e v e n t h - c e n t u r y

7 However, The Four Ancient Books gives no variants from other manuscripts, as did the Myvyrian Archaiology, although these are not very reliable. &In fact, in references in this work to the two mss, BBC and RB,it is not usually necessary to distinguish between the manuscript itself and the diplomatic edition, althoughnot all ofthe Red Book has been published. The same holdstrue for his diplomatic edition of theBook of

cussed in chapters 5 and 6 . On the other verse see Ifor Williams, 'An Old Welsh Verse', reprinted in The Beginnings of Welsh Poetry (BWP], ed. Rachel Bromwich (Cardiff, 1972),

Llawysgrif Hendregadredd [H], N.L.W. Ms. 6680, by John Morris-Jones and T . H . ParryWilliams (Caerdydd, 1933), is referred to in this work rather than Evans's Poetry of the

3 There are twelve three-line englynion in a tenth-century hand in the Juvencus manuscript,

manuscript, Corpus Christi College Cambridge Ms. 199. The Juvencusenslunion are dischapter X, pp. 181-9.

2

Taliesin [BT], Peniarth 2. However, the somewhat later and standard diplomatic edition of

Medieval Welsh Bards.

INTRODUCTION

indebted for editions and elucidations of the early poetry of Wales, the hengerdd. Real understanding of the saga englynion began with his Rhys Lecture of 1932, 'The

Poems of Llywarch Hen'.? In it, he demonstrated that the poems were not the work

of Llywarch Hen, as previously supposed, but poems concerning him and other characters. He proposed the theory that the poems are the r e m a i n s of a prose-verse saga, and began the work of separating cycles and poems and reconstructing the

narrative background. The lecture was closely followed byan edition of the greater portion of the saga poems, Canu Llywarch Hen, which has a nextensive introduction discussing in more detail the main points of his Rhys lecture. I Various topics concerning the englynion were returned to in the course of his long and fruitful career, with a lengthy discussion again undertaken in 1943 in his Lectureson Early Welsh Poetry." It is at r i b u t e to f o r Williams's work that there was no other fulledition of these

poems until 1982, and most of t h ecritical works about the englyn are heavily dependent not only on his text, but also his opinions. English translations are on the whole popular rather than scholarly, and concentrate on certain texts. Scholarly translations of selected texts are available by Kenneth Jackson, Studies in Early

Celtic Nature Poetry?, P . .L Henry, The Early English and Celtic Lyric™, and Gwyn

Thomas, YTraddodiad Barddo!!* (into modern Welsh). The readily accessible translations by Anthony ConranS and Joseph Clancy are generally accurate, although Conran tends to omit stanzas without notice. A similar selection of the major poems translated into modern Welsh can b e found in YrAelwyd Hon. 71 Glyn Jones and T. J. Morgan in The Saga of Llywarch the Old'® attempt to recreate a prose setting for the main poems of the Llywarch cycle, following Ifor Williams's reconstruction. It was written as a work of popularization, originally for a radio production. . Ford's The Poetryof Llywarch Hen' is the first work to present an entire cycle P. K to a scholarly English audience. His work is not an edition: it consists of a lengthy introduction, the text in m o d e r n i z e d orthography, a full translation, and some textual notes and manuscript variants. The introduction seeks to place the poetry

INTRODUCTION

usual interpretations. The book is to be commended despite shortcomings for m of Ford, frombasic presenting an entire cycle to a wider public. My criticis place in the discussion full given been principles to quibbles of translation, has one presentation of a the as ce importan its reflecting and notes to the poems, 20 audiences. king English-spea to englynion saga f o body unified

The edition of Eurys Rolant,?' again only of the poems relating to Llywarch,

receives little mention in the following pages becausehis basicapproach is a tsuch agreat variance with modern scholarship as to make criticism of individual points a fruitless task. His work consists of a text with full textualapparatus and a facing

emended text inm o d e r n i z e d orthography. Each poem is followed by textual notes,

offering some rather disjointed clues to Rolant's overall interpretation of the poem

as well as purely textual information. Theintroduction is insufficient to support tations, at any the sometim es radical reinterp retation s he suggests. These interpre

rate, depend on a heavily emended text. Rolant rejects the principle of leaving a text

as ti is if sense can be made of it in favour of emending to improve the poetry, as he puts it.This editorial procedure is bound to be highly subjective, as is confirmed

sonce by his rather presump tuous statemen t that in his emended text the verse i

again restored to the status of great poetry (p. 16). Only very rarely, then, is there anything in his notes which recommends itself to those following stricter schools of textual criticism.

Canu Llywarch Hen did not include the non-cyclical saga englynion from the Black

Book of Carmarthen, although they are cited in the introduction as being of the

same type. All by now have been edited piecemeal, most fairly recently.These poems are included in this book for convenience of reference and purposes of the comparis on, but it has not b e e n deemed necessary to re-edit them both because editions are so recent and because most fall into a class which is more antiquarian are edited than saga (as argued in chapter 5). In addition , all the Black Book poems t . O. H. Jarman in his Llyfr Du Caerfyrddin.?? This useful book falls somewha by A emended, cautiously and short of a complete edition: the texts a r e arranged in lines

in its Welsh and Celtic literary tradition. Ford, however, is alone among modern critics in denying any sort of narrative framework for the poems, seeking rather to force all the verse into other genres. This approachamong other things makes the poetry far less comprehensible. The translation claims to be 'reasonably literal',

but the notes are mainly paleographical. A full glossary, however, to some extent

but h a s several inaccuracies, and sometimes seems to be deliberately distant from

glynion.

compensates for the brevity of the notes. The introduction is more bibliographical than analytic. LlyfrDu Caerfyrddin, however, is a convenient reference work which

further obviates the necessity for extensive editorial work on the Black Book en-

* PBA 18 (1932), pp. 269-302; reprinted BWP, chapter VIII. All further references are to the later edition.

01 CLIH, (Caerdydd, 1935); reprinted with minor changes in 1953; all references are to this second edition.

" LEWP,(Dublin, 1944); reprinted in 1970. 21 ECNP (Cambridge, 1935). 31 EECL (London, 1966).

1 (Caerdydd, 1976).

51 The Penguin Book of Welsh Verse, 1967.

02 More recent translations are to be found by Ford of some of the englyn poems in Sources and 1983). Since the Analogues of Old English Poetry II, Daniel G. Calder, et al. (Cambridge, not noted below an edition I have approach is more fragmentary and not connec ted with changes made from his The Poetry of Llywarch Hen.

61 The Earliest Welsh Poetry (London, 1970). 71 Ed. Gwyn Thomas (Llandybie, 1970).

12 Llywarch Henai' Feibion (Aberystwyth, 1984).

91 (Berkeley, 1974).

' Study of the Saga Englynion, with an Edition of the Major Texts'. 32 A

81 (London, 1955).

2 LIDC ( C a e r d y d d , 1982).

5

INTRODUCTION

My own edition, first s u b m i t t e d a sa PhD thesis to the U n i v e r s i t yof Wales in 198223

and revised here, concentrates on the poems previously edited in Canu Llywarch

Hen. I have been able to benefit from Welsh scholarship in the intervening period,

most notably the publication of Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru? and editions of many important medieval Welsh texts available only in manuscript to Ifor Williams. As

in Canu Llywarch Hen, the basic text of the cyclical poems is taken from the Red

1

manuscript variants from two furtherl a t e copies of texts of u n k n o w n provenance

The Llywarch Hen Poems

Book of Hergest [RB], with important variants from two late copies of a now lost portion of the White Book of Rhydderch [WB]. However, this edition also uses

but great value made by Dr John Davies, Mallwyd, which were not known to Ifor Williams.25 On the whole, it has been assumed that the textual notes will be primarily of interest to Welsh scholars, for whom Canu Llywarch Hen is a classic not to

be superseded. I have therefore not repeated in any details arguments of Ifor Williams where there are no points of disagreement or need for updating. On the

other hand, the englynion are among the easiest of the hengerda, so t o encourage students and those with perhaps a limited knowledge of medieval Welsh to

grapple with the original text I have included references on fairly basic points of

The poems which are centred around the character of Llywarch Hen are among the best-known of the saga englynion and include poems which have been extensively

studied. The better-known poems of the cycle are often taken as prototypes ofthe

entire corpus of saga englynion. This is to a certain extent valid, but a t times it can be misleading. In as much as t h e material resembles other cycles, this chapter will at times look ahead to discussion of other works in revealing the themes, techniques,

grammar and vocabulary.

and major characteristics of the saga englynion. The Llywarch cycle, however,

For those with no knowledge of Welsh there are full translations. Inevitably more than one valid English translation could be made for many lines, and those with any competence at all in Welsh would be advised to check the notes. Despite the fact that it makes the poetry somewhat more difficult, I have tended to err on the

period and accrued to itself much additional matter. The various stages ofcompo-l sition and the intent of the various authors must be carefully distinguished. A

side of caution and literalness. Since this work could form the basis for further

comparative study every attempt has been made not to mislead. The notes often give tentative translations for more dubious lines, or loose translations and

paraphrases. tI is hoped thathaving all the texts available in one source along with

explanatory chapter discussions will outweigh the age-old problems of translation.

presents many unique features. His saga was popular foran exceptionally long though the greater part of the poems in the cycle are typical of saga englynion,

examples of nearly every type of genre which used the englyn metres can be found among the material connected with LlywarchHen. Urien and Cynddylan, the other two central figuresof surviving englyncycles, were major leaders of their time. In comparison, Llywarch is a more shadowy

figure. Considering the sparseness of early historical records, however, this is not surprising. Hedoes appear in most of the genealogical tracts dealing with the men

Thepoints raised in the chapters are deliberately broad-reachingbecause there has been so little critical analysis.Most previousstudies,too, have concentrated on

of North Britain as:

certain poems or cycles, and conclusions based onthese are often misleading when

K e n e u m. Coel.'

applied to the englynion as a whole. In addition, all the genres of poetry using the early englyn metres h a v ebeen studied (although not included in the edition), and

these lesser-known works often have a good deal of light to shed on the better-

know n saga poems.

Llywarch hen m. Elidyr Lydanwyn m. Meirchawn m. Gorust ledlum m.

There are suggestions in the poetry that he may have ruled over aminor kingdom ('Maen'2c), but this is nowhere named.? Although in the genealogies he is among the sixth-century Gwyr y Gogledd, his story is set mainly in Wales, particularly

Powys, and so it is generally accepted that Llywarch si an example of a northern

figure whose story was later relocated in Wales.' The link made between Llywarch's story and that of his cousin, Urien, places him more firmly in the sixthcentury historical milieu,although it is unlikely that any but the vaguestof histo-

1For all the early genealogies see P . .C Bartrum, Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts [EWGT]

(Cardiff, 1966).A brief survey o fthe main tracts and their importancea sevidence for history

42 GPC, from 1950 to xxxiv in 1985.

52 The manuscript sources of the englynion and editorial procedure are discussed in more detail at the beginning of the edition of the texts in Part I.

and tradition si given as na appendix to thischapter. The version of Llywarch's descent quoted above comes fromBonedd Gwyr y Gogledd [BGG). For the late tradition of Llywarch as King of Bohemiasee below.

3 Cf. RachelBromwich,Trioedd Ynys Prydein 2nd edn (TYP] (Cardiff, 1978),p. 431.

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY rical traditions are preserved about him. Llywarch has been held to b e the narrator of the Urien cycle of p o e m s which would put him much more in the mainstream of

northern traditions, but below and in chapter 2 it is argued forcibly that he is not. Only one poem definitely in his cycle is connected with North Britain, 'Gwahodd Llywarch i Lanfawr' (CLIH V), but Urien is alluded to elsewhere.

Patrick Ford, however, argues that Llywarch Hen is a figure created by the family

of Merfyn Frych for the dynastic purpose of linking their line with the heroes of North Britain, particularly Urien, and that the poetry was composed with the sole

purpose of providing 'documentary' evidence for this ancestor-figure.' Although

it cannot be proved beyond doubt that Llywarch was a historical figure, Ford's reasons for believing his existence was invented or that the cycle arose to glorify

Merfyn Frych's dynasty can be shown to be unconvincing. The genealogical link

with Llywarch made through Dwg to Merfyn Frych is a dubious one, but it may well be late, post-dating the main composition of the cycle. If there is a fictional character created to f o r g e a link between Merfyn and the heroes of North Britain it

is more likely to be Dwg m. Llywarch (or a slightly later figure) than Llywarch

himself. Few genealogies of northern figures are carried beyond the generation of

Llywarch. It would therefore be far easier t o gain acceptance for alater figure as a

descendant of Llywarch than to attempt to create a new character ni one of themost glorious periods of Welsh history and legend. These links appear to belong to the

period of codifying and expanding the role of Llywarch's sons which as shall be seen below is far later than the genesis of his saga.

Ford's view of the origin and nature of the poetry is a radical departure from generally accepted scholarship, but it is far from convincing. Rather than glorifying Llywarch, for Williams saw the poetry as possibly embarrassing to the dynasty of Merfyn, a point developed by N.J. A . Williams. The argument that

Merfyn's line disapproved of the cycle is just as theoretical as that which holds that

they fostered it.? Nevertheless, Canu Llywarch does not give the impression of

being the type of poetry one would expect if its chief purpose was to create an honourable ancestor-figure for the newGwynedd kings. It is true that his sons are

THE LLYWARCH HEN POEMS

universally depicted as brave and glorious,but the cycle concentrates on the sorry figure of Llywarch. It is also striking that no long poem survives concerning Dwg,

the son through w h o m Merfyn's line is traced. Two verses are included in the

miscellaneous verses cataloguing the sons which could be the remnantof a longer marwnad to him.* But even if such a marwnadexisted it is obvious that Dwg did not

play the second lead to Llywarch in the saga - that clearly belongs to his last son,

Gwên. The centralepisode is Gwên'schallenge to his father, followed by his death which opens Llywarch's eyes to the natureof his mistakes. The versesto the other sons are less essential, and as seen below may be accretions. Because Ford sees the englynion concerning Llywarch as primarily an exercise to

establish a charactercreated to reinforce the legitimacy of Merfyn Frych's line, he dismisses the theory that the Llywarch englynion are built around a story and attempts to force the material into the categories of traditional panegyrics, marwnadau, and poetry incorporating antiquarian lore.' Whatever the merits of the

supposition of political intervention in the development of the verse, this extension of Ford's theory doesgreat injustice to the evidence of the texts themselves

and leads to a good deal of misinterpretation and obfuscation. As noted in the Introduction it is preferable to leave the question of to what extent if any the englynion are the remains of a prose-verse saga until the evidence of the poetry a s a

whole can be re-examined. This study includes other genres using the englyn metres which despite their many similarities show clear distinctions from thesaga corpus. It is therefore worthwhile to look briefly at Ford's attempts at reclassifica-

tion as a m e a n s t o w a r d a preliminary d e fi n i t i o n of the basic characterist ics of what

is here termed saga englynion, or englynion chwedlonol.

Ford is correct in distinguishing an antiquarian element in t h ecycle about Llywarch as found in the manuscripts. The poems listing the namesof the sons (CLIH 1.40-8; VIII.1-12), along with the beddau stanzas interspersed with these and occasionally interpolated in the longer poems are definitely antiquarian in character. This lore, however, is not am a j o r e l e m e n t i n the cycle,and there is strong evidence that much o fit post-dates the m a i n poems of t h ecycle. It would seem to

represent the workof codifiers eager to put the basic pseudo-historical document a t i o n in m n e m o n i c f o r m .

1 See Poetry, particularly pp. 24-32, and 'Llywarch, Ancestor of Welsh Princes', Speculum 45

(1970), pp. 442-50. Thispossible involvement of the family of Merfyn Frych in the transmission of the poetry was first raised much less dogmatically by Nora Chadwick, 'Early Culture and Learning in North Wales', Studies in the Early British Church [SEBC], ed. Nora K .

Chadwick (Cambridge, 1958), pp.81-2; 86-90. Iti salso espoused by D.P. Kirby,British

DynasticHistory in the Pre-Viking Period', BBCS27 (1976), pp. 102, 110, and Rolant, Llywarch Hen a' Feibion, pp. 8-9. Neither Rolant nor Kirby, however, believe Llywarch was a created

figure.

' Study of the Saga Englynion', Vol. I, pp. §Ford's arguments are countered more fully in A

82-90, and I do not propose to rehearse the arguments in detail again here.

6 CLIH, p. Ixxiv, and 'Llywarch Hen and the Finn Cycle', Astudiaethau ar yr Hengerdd [AH], . Brinley Jones (Cardiff, 1978),pp. 263-5. ed. Rachel Bromwich and R N.J. A . Williams's theory raises grave problems of chronology and ignores the fairly vigor-

ous later development of the cycle. His view of the disjointedness of the story is also

overstated. The important role of this family in the transmission and preservation of nor-

thern poetry has been often been argued, but the theory is in need of serious reassess-

ment.

8

The marwnadau to Llywarch's sons in manyways doresemble traditional bardic marwnadau and eulogies. But there are important differences which distinguish these poems a n d require for t h e m separate classification and analysis. The fi r s t and most important distinction is that these marwnadau are poems in character. The

first-person narrator is a figure other than a professional poet. The secondis that the situation, and particularly the situation of the narrator figure, si usually

stressed. In 'Marwnad Gwên' we are told h o w G w ê n m e this death, and the history

in passing of his twenty-th ree brothers. The effect on the narrator, Llywarch, is pointed, and goes beyond conventional bardic expressions of grief which are couched in national as well as in personal terms. The specificsituation in whichthe § The narrator may not be Llywarch, however, suggesting the verses are additions from a

different source; see below and the notes to CLI 46, 47. 9 Ford, Poetry, pp. 55-62.

01 Verses describing the burial places of a hero or heroes. See further chapter 5.

THE LLYWARCH HEN P O E M S

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

marwnad is 'composed' and the unique position of the narrator who 'sings' it is even more evident in such poems as 'Pen Urien' (CU 7-19) or 'Stafell Gynddylan' (CH 18-33). The a t m o s p h e r e and expression appropriate to ceremonial declama-

tion of eulogy and marwnadau in the courts is also lacking - the grief is a private outpouring. In keeping with this the poems i ncharacter are far more lyrical than their bardic counterparts. Moreover, the poems in which characters lament their

own fate (these outnumber the marwnadau, particularly in Canu Heledd) have almost no points in common with bardic eulogy and elegy. Only by wilfully ignoring their essential features can these poems be seen as a forged corpus of poetry to take the place of missing bardic documentation of Merfyn's distant ancestors." The use of a narrator persona to give credence to lore or just as a format for presentation i sattested in Celtic literature a n d specifically in early Welsh. This type of use of the englyn is discussed in chapters 5 and 6. These poems form aseparate category from the saga englynion, and like the marwnadau, the differences in form a n d content a r econsiderable. To briefly note some o fthem:

the information given is specific, and apart from padding (which is more pronounced than in the s a g a verse a n d clumsier), it forms the main matter of t h e poem

The situation is presented only in so much as it introduces the narrator. The narrator's emotions, character, and inter-action with other characters (if any) are barely alluded to. The poems are not formed into cycles with differentand developing situations behind each poem. 21 The strong narrative element of the saga poems is one of their most fundamental

characteristics. To say as Ford does that the dialogue of Llywarch and Gwên is

intended to a n s w e r the q u e s t i o n 'who was the m a n named Gwên and was he a coward or brave?' completely i g n o r e s the d r a m a t i cdevelopment between the two characters which is at the heart of the poem. This is not to deny that there is some

difficulty in the relationship of the surviving poetry to its narrative background.31 These problems come under twoheadings: (1) was there a unified saga narrative concerning L l y w a r c ha n d his sons, and if s o , what d o e s any individual poem reveal

about the tale? a n d (2) how was the narrative expressed? The second question I prefer to put off until a later chapter since the b e s t evidence is that to be deduced

from the poems themselves. Ifor Williams's theory of a prose-verse saga incorporating all or most of the poems of Llywarch Hen is one which hascome under valid criticism as being too rigid a view of the relationship of the poetry and its narrative background. T h e picture he gives in summing up the position of the poetry i n the

hypothesized prose tends ot overstate his case and suggests that eh pictured the

White Book/Red Book verse on Llywarch as the remains of a single, unified redaction. It is obvious from the rearrangement he makes of the text and various comments throughout Canu Llywarch Hen that this was not his view. For instance, in

describing the structure of Canu Heledd he makes hisstance about the Llywarch

cycle much clearer than elsewhere. He notes that the poems in Canu Heledd 1-56

follow in order and fit together, asserting that the text to there comes from one redaction, and that this core material l a t e r attracted other poems and new composi-

tions. He then entertains the same possible development for the Llywarch Hen cycle. I Nevertheless,despite the fact that Ifor Williams's view about the develop-

ment and redaction of the saga is n o tcompletely clear, his recognition of a narrative

background offers the best starting point for further elucidation o fthe poetry.

Caution about the growth, form and natureof the saga m u s t be held a tall times, but

a fairly coherent story concerning Llywarch can be reconstructed from the surviv-

ing poetry even though it does not seem to be of the same date and authorship . A

narrative background (but not necessarily a prose-verse saga) will be assumed in

the following discussion with the reservations noted above. To reveal the basic framework of the story and how the poets dealt with the material, I intend, like Ifor Williams, to discuss the poems not in the order of the

manuscripts or even in strict chronological sequence.61 The first two poems in Canu

Llywarch Hen given the titles 'Gwên ap Llywarch a'i Dad' and 'Marwnad Gwên',

are closely linked and provide a good deal of information concerning the character

of Llywarch a n d the events of his life. They also reveal the artistry, characterizat ion

and themes of their poetagainst which the remaining poems of the cycle must be tested.

The first englyn of the dialogue between Llywarch and Gwen has been preserved

only i n NLW 4973a and in 4973b. In the first instance i t is out of place, at the e n d of "Gwahodd Llywarch i Lanfawr' (CLIH V). I n 4973b, however, the englyn is inserted

in the margin with an arrow indicating that it should go before the first englyn in the dialogue." Apart from the evidence of NLW 4973, the inclusion of this verse

51 CLIH, p. Ixiii.

61 There is no need to accept Ford's judgment that the manuscript order is canonical, whatever hemeans bythatterm (Poetry, pp. 12, 61). (It would make more sensei fFord felt there was alost prose setting.) This view is also held by Rolant, who tries to justify the manuscriptorder

which places 'Cân yr Henwr' first by hte overly-ingenious narrative solution that ni 'Cân yr

11 Ford's explanation for the form this allegedly antiquarian poetry takes (i.e. poems in character) strains credibility. After referring to the description of the awenyddion given by Giraldus Cambrensis, he suggests that the poet by ritual took on t h e personality of Llywarch

Henwr' Llywarch believed Gwën was dead, but later found out he was still alive (Llywarch

this ritual experience; Poetry, pp.57-61. This supposition is supported only by barest allusions to the content of the poem and cannot be seriously entertained. 21 Although poems in character are known elsewhere, it is argued in chapters 5 and 6 that those poems which use a narrator,a n dparticularly a dialogue, to present antiquarian lore are

value of the White Book/Red Book evidence concerning the proper order of the poems. 71 See the discussion of the manuscripts in Part I on the probable source of the insertion. In CLIH, p. Ivi, the connection with the dialogue is acknowledged, but the correct placement ' i wn ym mhle i asio 10; efallai ar ôl marw Gwên, yr hen ryfelwr yn troi allan i gymryd doubted: N

to lend validity to his pronouncements. Inhis opinion 'Claf Abercuawg' (CLIH VI) represents

p r o b a b l y d r a w i n g o n t h e e s t a b l i s h e d t e c h n i q u e s of t h e s a g a p o e m s .

31 Poetry, p.50.

1 As well as Ford, see N.J. A . Williams, 'Llywarch Hen and the Finn Cycle', pp. 240-1, and

Brynley F. Roberts, 'Rhai o Gerddi m d d i d d a n Llyfr Du Caerfyrddin', AH, p p .281-5. The theory and objections to it are discussed fully in chapter 5. 10

Hen a'i Feibion, pp. 108-11). However,he places the poems ot other sonswhich come laterin the manuscript(Maen' and 'Pyll') before 'Cân', casting some doubton his insistenceon the

am ei dad a'idarian denau I'le ei fab lladdedig; fallai mai cyn dyfodiad Gwên, ac mai clywedunlikely since both involve are s solution Both adref. hwnnw dynnodd a rhyd yn gwylio'r detached and on its poems two these f o matter the o t related having a single englyn obviously the first of the own. Clancy, even without the manuscript evidence gives this verse as dialogue in his translation (The Earliest Welsh Poetry, p. 73). 11

THE LLYWARCH HEN POEMS

EARLY W E L S H S A G A POETRY

makes the dialogue and m a r w a d both fourteen stanzas long (verse23 i san intrusive beddau stanza), a n d this is probably not coincidental. It is also more natural for Llywarch to speak first. Inclusion of this verse means that both speakers have s e v e n v e r s e s e a c h , a likely parallelism.

The content of the englyn also reveals it to be closely related to what follows (as noted by for Williams), and b y takingi t as the first stanza in thedialogue a picture of the situation quickly emerges:

Llym vym par llachar ygryt a r m a a f y w y l y a w. ryt.

His sharp, thrusting, offensive weapon is in vivid (and no doubt, deliberate)

contrast to Llywarch's feeble defensive shield. He is t h e better man for the job, and

one entitled or obliged by blood relationship to take over Llywarch's responsibilities.

What of Llywarch's exclamation in his second speech? Again it does not neces-

Teneu fy ysgwyd ar asswy fy nhu cy bwyf hen as gallaf ar rodwydd forlas gwiliaf This is Llywarch speaking. Although by h i s own admission he is old for taking an active part in fighting, h e makes a show of arming himself for the night watch. The thinness of his shield indicates that the gesture is ridiculous, and later in stanzas 20,21 he calls himselfr h e n 'too o l d '18 This act seems a deliberate move on his part

to provoke the expected reponse from Gwên: Na wisc wedy k w y n . na vit vrwyn dy vryt. amgyhud vy mam mab yt wyf. Llywarch in turn answers:

sarily indicate he has newly recognized a long-lost son. Gwên has just by his

assertion shown that he has risen to Llywarch's bait. Llywarch is saying i neffect "That's my boy', i.e. '(when you speak and behave like this) I know in my heart we are of the s a m e descent. 02 But Llywarch in t h i s dialogue consistently balances h i s praise and approval with challenges and apparent misgivings. The statement in 3c, trigwyd oric elwic a wen, can be taken as one of his typical taunts - 'now you are

behaving like a son of mine - but ti took you long enough. "' At this point Llywarch

has assured that Gwên will take over the watch on Rhyd Forlas. Already, too, the process in which Llywarch taunts Gwên into making greater and more foolhardy promises can be seen. There is no real evidence that Gwên was a reluctant warriorhe takes up Llywarch's challenge quickly enough. The show Llywarch makes of martyring his aged body to the cause is surely unnecessar y w h e n a simple sugges-

tion that perhaps Gwên should be at Rhyd Forlas that night would probably have been sufficient, anda more reasonable opening point of discussion. Llywarch's method of oblique challenge immediately puts Gwên in the wrong, and allows the

N e u t a t w e n ar vy a w e n yn hanuot. o un achen.

trigwyd oric elwic a wen.

These last two stanzas form the basis of for Williams's reconstruction of the story of Gwên. He takes them to indicate that Gwên has been away from his homefor a long time, long enough that his father does not recognizehim untilGwên declares his relationship (1c). " This is not the only way these stanzas may be interpreted, however, and on internal evidence the more elaborate story may be the more

unlikely. The fact that Llywarch is arming himself after the evening meal (wyn) suggests that he a n d G w ê n h a v e taken t h a t meal together. Even if G w ê n had n e w l y arrived that day, the recognition scene has been delayed unduly. Moreover, if the

verse from NLW 4973 is original, there is a strong suggestion that Llywarch begins to arm himself with the express purpose of challenginghis son;one can almostsee him looking over his shoulder and speaking the words as a loud aside intended to be heard, a situation exactly paralleledi n Llywarch's final speech in the dialogue (12), and in the poem to another son, M a n , discussed below. Gwên's reply 'mab yt wyf can be taken that he recognizes w h a tis expected of him, not that he is making clear his identity for the first time. Indeed the ironic amgyhud vy mam which prefaces the statement suggests that it comes as no sur-

sugge stion of reluctant delay to be made.

The closing line of stanza 3, kynnyt anghwyf duw gennyt, shows that Gwên has

already been pushed into a position which makesh i m face a border skirmish as if it characterization it were a fateful fight to the death. The line is also notabl e for the the outburst. The in tion exaspera manages to convey. There is a strong note of suggests that subtly salutation final his to escape' not qualification 'although I may honourable an him give s nevertheles will but father, his blame to reason has he farewell. A small element of comedy is also present dependant on Llywarch's typical behaviour in the saga. Duw gennyt is equivalent to 'farewell'. Llywarch's

follows and is boasting, taunting and pushing of his sons is demonstrated in what foundelsewhere. IfGwen hoped to escapethis by a quick goodbye hei s unsuccess-

ful.

Llywarch's reply (stz 4) is neutral. If Gwên returns, fine; if not Llywarch will a chance to boast of mourn him. (A correct and unemotional marwnad giving him

his son's deeds is probably intended here; cf. 'Pyll'. Ironically, 'Marwnad Gwên'

which follows is a true lament.) Even this cold inference that Gwên mightacquit

prise. As Llywarch's son it is his duty to take over from his faltering father. This is

strengthened by Gwên's assertion is his following speech:

81 Ifas gallaf should be read as os gallaf (see the notes) the note of hesitancy would further confirm the picture of Llywarch's infirmity.

91 The theory that Gwen had been a monk or in fosterage to Urien is by his own admission a

'damcaniaeth noeth' in order to account for this supposed gap of time. (lii-iii). 12

02 This would beclearer fi the following stanza in which Gwen explicitly states he will guard the ford had preceded Llywarch's exclamation. Considering the small scope of possible

expression in the space of one englyn and the formal pattern giving one verse apiece, I thinks iift si permissible to take 3 as an extension and clarification of 1,and Llywarch's response to 1 a he knew the latter information, by poetic licence

12 Oric, a diminutive of awr, si anunlikelyexpression for alength of time sufficient ot make

Gwen unrecognizable. It seems very like the peevish expression in English 'you're taking your precious time 13

EARLY W E L S H S A G A POETRY

himself sufficiently well to merit either an audience with his father or a lament is

balanced by achallenge to his courage: na choll wyneb (gwr) ar gnif. 4 C

Gwên sees instantly where his father's true concern lies and answers sharply 'Ny

Y . chollaf dy wyneb trin wosep wr.' His own glory is unimportant to his father except in so far sa ti augments Llywarch's fame. The epithet trin wosep wr is undoubtedly sarcastic since it is clear from the o p e n i n g englyn that Llywarch is no longer fit for

active fighting.?? It is easy for him to be eager to do battle, and there is perhaps a further connotation of 'quarrelsome'. Gwên neverthe less asserts after this prodding, 'porthaf gnif kynn mudif lle'.

This statement, a s well a sthose made b yG w ê n i n 7c and 9c have in p a r t given rise

to A . O. H . Jarman's well-known theory that the englyn cycles show a modification

and maturation of the old heroic ethic seen in its purity in The Gododdin and the historical poems of Taliesin. Some of the differences between the two bodies of poetry which Jarman draws attention to can better be explained by the differences in genre and the intentions of their authors (on this see further below). With reference to the text itself and to other heroic literatures, however, these state-

ments of Gwen's can be seen ot belong to the proper line of heroic boasts and

promises. The fi r s t of t h e s e assertions i s difficult toassess since the full force of porthaf gnif

is uncertain. It could mean that he will not give up his ground until forced to by

severe injury or death. On the other hand, it could well be simply a promise to endure battle-hardship before making a tactical retreat. *2 Ny lauaraf na ffowyf(7c)

seems to indicate that Gwên will not promise not to flee fi necessary. This state-

THE LLYWARCH HEN POEMS

in society, it is clear that Llywarch is the epitome of the old, unyielding school. His satisfaction in Gwên's vows can b ededuced,although typically he demonstrates this by renewing the attackon another point. Llywarch's responseto 5c, then, is not an angry outburst that a son of his would talkof giving ground. Instead he implies that the promise is an excellent one, but those who make high promises do not always live up to their words:

Redegawc tonn ar hyt traeth.

ech adaf torrit aruaeth

kat [agdo| gnawt ffo ar ffraeth. (stz 6) This and Llywarch's similar response in stanza 8 (edewit ny wnelher ny diw) clearly show that Gwên is making honourable, even exceptionally courageous statements. His final reaction to Gwên's third vow is again not one of horrorat the notion of techu, but a shift to another topic. Llywarch's reasons for casting doubt on Gwên's ability to keep his word will be returned to after a brief examination of evidence of h e r o i c v o w selsewhere. It is possible that The Gododdin with its emphasis on the heroic sacrifice of warriors w h o fought to the death against impossible odds h a swrongly coloured Welsh scholarly notions of heroism and behaviour in b a t t l e . ? Certainly there are 'examples of this sort of g l o r i o u sdefeat in other heroic literatures, and in many

ways it does represent the pinnacleof heroic virtues. But it is evident in a society dependent on a class of warriors for its protection heroic idealsserve to reinforce behaviour which will benefit the society. Althoughcourage and endurance must

ment i s preceded by an announcemen t of w e n ' s intent to stand by his promises and fight ferociously (7ab). As will be seen below, aconditional vow to fight for s o long as it isfeasible is n o t anti-heroic. However, a more unyielding stance can be

losses were sustained in minor confrontations because of unyielding ideas of courage. The languageand ethosof praise poetry tends to obscure strategicideas of

the question.

weighed, and developed in epic heroic verse.? Vows such as Gwên makes to his father are known in Old Englishand Old Norse,

be highly valued, obviously it would not be to the benefit of the society if heavy

deduced from an alternative, if somewhat less likely interpretation of the line. Perhaps Gwên is saying that he will not be forced by Llywarch's bullying into making a promise unworthy of his true stature; the possibility of fleeing is out of

reasonable risk in return for gain, the wisdom of retiring before disaster and prudence as opposed to foolhardy bravery, but these i d e a s are frequently raised,

This seems, however, to apply unfair criteria to early ideas of heroism. The conditional interpretation is strengthene d by the third of Gwên's vows which is again clearly an announcement of intent to fight fiercely before justified retreat: 9bc a minneu armaaf/ ysgwyt (brwyt] briw. kynn techaf. The hacked and shattered shield is of course the mark of highest bravery.

and as in The Gododdin, these feast. The emphasis is less on and resolution in fulfilling it. tions, is both acceptable and

The clearest indication t h a t Gwên's statements in 5c, 7c and 9c do not represent a modification and lowering of heroic standards is Llywarch's response to them.

are often ritual declarations made over mead in the the content of the vow than on the warrior's ability A limited vow, not involving life and d e a t hsitualess likely to put a strain on the warrior's honour

which depends not on the scale of the promised deed but on (quite literally)

Even if the p o e th i m s e l fh a d b e e nm o v e d ton e w c o n s i d e r a t i o n of the role o f warfare

52 Besides Jarman, Y' Delfryd', see the introduction to for Williams's edition of the poem,

Canu Aneirin [CA] (Caerdydd, 1961; f.p. 1938), and Kenneth Jackson, The Gododdin (Edinburgh, 1969), on t h eheroic ethos of this poem.

22 In CLIH, p. 59, Ifor Williams states: 'Felly deallaf eiriau Gwên i olygu . o.. filwr dewur.' But the

62 See Rosemary Woolf, 'The Ideal of Men Dying with their Lord in the Germania and The

to t h e p o e m .

death isa result of having no other options, and, although glorious, i tis not the norm. 72 It is, for instance, a major themein Beowulf, particularly in reference to Hygelac's il-

actual words chosen are not so free of t h e possibility of derisory interpretation; s e et h enotes

' Delfryd Arwrol yn yr Hen Ganu', LIC8 (1965), pp. 125 49, translated into English by the 32 Y author as 'The Heroic Ideal in Early Welsh Poetry', Beiträge zur Indogermanistik und Keltologie, ed. Wolfgang Meid (Innsbruck,1967), pp. 193-212 24 However, 'Geraint fab Erbin' 10c porthit gnif pob kyniuiat implies that this is an heroic virtue.

14

Battle of Maldon', Anglo-Saxon England5 (1976), pp.63-82. She stresses that fighting to the

advised raid o n the Franks and Beowulf's fight with t h edragon. In the verbalcontest with

Unferth Beowulf has to meet charges of having made a foolhardy vow and failedin its

fulfilment. As willb eseen below the narrative contentof the englyniongive them an epic cast accounting for thematic differences found in this verse.

15

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

honouring it.28 Furthermore , even the most grandiose v o wcan be inappropriat e and lead to censure if it shows lack of wisdom.

Llywarch's gnomic responses in verses 6 and 8 resemble Old English exhortations for wisdom in taking this sort of vow, but in the context they serve a far different purpose. The warnings take two forms (1) that solemn vows are easy to make i n the d r u n k e n n e s s of the feast, but are apt to be broken in the h e a tof battle

and (2) since honour d e p e n d s on fulfilling the vow the warrior should considerhis words and only vow what he can perform and what is suitable in the situation. The

THE L LY WA R C H HEN POEMS

greater promises. Since his forcing of the issue does not allow the warrior, in this case Gwên, to consider his vows, Llywarch is clearly violating the principleexpressed in The Wanderer. V

The w a y in which Llywarch f o r c e s Gwên into h a r d e n i n g his stance is s e e nclearly in the interchange in the next two verses. Apparently s a t i s fi e d with Gwên's replies to his indirect accusations, Llywarch changes the subject: Y corn ath rodes di vryen.

Battle o f Maldon uses the device of having warriors call tom i n d the promises m a d e

over mead and reassert their intention to carry them out. But, like Llywarch, one speaker warns that the ideal is often not obtained:

swa him Offa on d a g on pam mepelstede,

b a t p a r modiglice b e eft a t p e a r f e

zer asæde,

At first this looks like a weakening on Llywarch's part, but Gwên's reply shows that he sees it as a final test as it undoubtedly was meant:31

Yr ergryt aghen rac angwyr lloegyr ny lygraf vym mawred.

manega spracon

bolian noldon.?9

It is appropriate, then, for Gwên to respond to Llywarch's indirect accusation by

Llywarch's warnings can also be compared with the more reflective exhortation found in The Wanderer I.70-2:

Beorn sceal gebidan,

chwyth yndaw oth daw aghen.

pa he gemot hafde,

the a s s e r t i o n 'Yssit ym a lauarwyf'.

o p p a t , collenferd,

ae a r w e s t e u r a m y en.

bonne he b e t spriced, cunne gearwe

hwider hrepra gehygd hweorfan wille..30 Superficially Llywarch in calling attention to the frequent gap between intention

and action is urging Gwên to consider his words in a manner consistent with heroic practice: it is far better to perform more thanone has promised than to fail to fulfil asolemn, overly-ambitious vow. His purpose, however, is verydifferent and

plays a major part in his tragedy. What he is doing here is using his supposed doubts, obliquely expressed in gnomic wisdom, to force Gwên to make ever

82 Stefan Einarsson in his article 'Old English Bet and Icelandic Heitstrenging' gives many examples of the heroic vow from early Germanic literature, PMLA 4 9 (1934), pp.975-93, reprinted in Essential Articles for the Study of Old English Poetry, ed. Jess B.Bessingerand Stanley J. Karl (Connecticut, 1968), pp. 99-123. Particularly interesting are the solemn vows

quoted from the Heimskringla, among which are some which resemble G w ê n ' sstatements:

"Then swore Thorkel the High, the brother of Sigvaldi, that he would follow his brother to Norway, nor ever flee from battleleaving Sigvaldi fighting. ... Then swore Bui the Thick that he would fare to Norway with them, and in no battle flee beforeEarl

Hakon. Then swore Sigurd his brother that he would fare to Norway, and not flee

while the more part of the Jomsburgers fought.'

(pp. 109-10)

92 'So Offa had said to him that day in the meeting place where he held council:that many

spoke boldly there who afterwards would not endure in need'. Dorothy Whitelock, revisor, Sweet's Anglo-Saxon Reader in Prose and Verse (Oxford, 1967), p. 122. 30 'A high-spirited warrior should wait when he makesa vow until he knows for sure where

. .J Bliss, The Wanderer (London, his heart's intention will lead him. Ed. .T P. Dunning and A 1969), p. 118. 16

n y d u h u n a t rianed.

At this point Llywarch has s u c c e e d e d in assuring that wisdom and good sense will

have no part in Gwên's upcoming fight; he has been manoeuvred into a position which leaves no room for tactical retreat. This i n v i t e scomparison with Roland's

vow in Le Chansonde Roland. The parallel is indeed veryclose(although Roland is urged to wisdom by Oliver,and Gwên to folly by Llywarch). Both m e n undoubtedlygain renown by their extreme heroism, but the stance is one which inevitably leads to tragedy.32 This urging of his sons to greater heights of valour is shown to be Llywarch's

typical action in the saga by another poem, 'Maen Wyn'(CLIHIV). It is worthwhile

looking at 'Maen Wyn' at this point to clarify Llywarch's intentions in suggesting Gwên could fail to be brave in battle or live up to his promises. Besides casting doubts on the heroic nature of G w ê n ' s statements, Jarman argues that the poet, through Llywarch, is exploring the possiblity of failure through cowardice to obtain the heroic ideal. 33 This confuses the content o fLlywarch's accusations with their intent. In my opinion, there is no doubt in Llywarch's mind that Gwen will

not acquit himself honourably; as he says in the marwnad: 'Gwên gwydwn dy eissillut.' By enraging him with suggestions of cowardice and non-fulfilment of vows he hopes to (and succeeds in) pushing Gwên to an extreme position in which he can win the highest glory, but whichalso holds the greatest risk. 'Maen Wyn' is a monologue, not a dialogue, but the same process is clear despite the fact that the son's replies are not recorded. At the end L l y w a r c h openly states

that his purpose was provocation. In this poem Llywarch exhorts another of his ' Delfryd', p. 144. It is less likely to be a reproach that Gwen has stayed away too 13 Jarman,Y long in the luxury of Urien'scourt as Jarman also argues. As seen above it is not certain that Gwên was awayprior to this confrontation, but if he wereat Urien's court in fosterage this w o u ld be by t h echoice of his father.

23 Jarman, 'Y Delfryd', p .144. See further below on the connectionbetween wisdom and fate.

33 Y' Delfryd', p. 145.

3 As stated above, this poem is not necessarily by the same poet. The conception of Llywarch'scharacteristic treatment of his sons, however, si remarkably similar here and 17

EARLY WELSH S A G A POETRY

sons, Maen, ot do greater deeds. In this case he states that Men is not prosecuting

the enemy with half the the force and enthusiasm that Llywarch had at the same age. (This same accusation is made against Gwên in stanza 12 with similar wording.) Then in stanza 6, when Maen has presumably gone off to war, Llywarch expresses his true pride in his son and declares his ruse: Vyn dewis y gynran ae gaen arnaw yn llym megys draen.

nyt ouer gnif ym hogi[f] maen. As Ifor Williams explains the poem and the pun in the last line:

He [Llywarch] is up to his old game, trying to make trouble. He revelled in war, and wanted this son too to win martial glory. Maen Wyn is much too patient to suit his taste.... The verb hogi means to sharpen a weapon by rubbing it on or with a stone, whetting. In t h i s case it was the stone that was sharpened, the boy M e n , and the whetstone was his father's rough

tongue.35

Llywarch's taunts, then, do not show his doubt of his sons' valour; they serve to give an even better fighting edge to already sharp weapons. Llywarch's attack on Gwên is oblique insofar as he uses proverbial statements to imply lack of faith in Gwên's ability rather than direct accusation. His final speech

in which, as in 'Maen Wyn', he compares Gwên with himself at asimilar age is also not a direct attack. The verse is obviously spoken as a n aside, but loud enough for G w e n to hear:

Tra vum .i yn oet y gwas draw. 12. a wisco eur y ottoew bydei re ruthrwn y waew.

This is particularly infuriating and unjust. Llywarch implies that Gwên has lingered because of lack of eagerness to go to battle, although it is he himself who has held Gwên back in debate sincehis terse duw gennyt in stanza3. It is no wonder that this provokes a fierce response from Gwên who for once gets the last word: Diheu diweir dy waes. ti y n v y w a t h d y s t ry las. ny b u e i d y l h e n yn was.

T H E L LY WA R C H H E N POEMS

ath dyst ry las. Llywarch's assertions, supposedly diweir, cannot be proved in law

because those w h o k n e w h i m in y o u t h have been slain; there are no valid wit-

nesses. 7 Certainly the fact that his contemporaries have been slaincastsdoubt on Llywarch's boasts of being in the forefrontof battle. So although line c could have favourable connotations, it is obviously in its context meant to be cutting. With the emphasis on lack of witnesses it might also be expanded, keeping the gnomic flavour: 'no old man was a weakling in youth because he is free, in the absence of contemporary witnesses, to invent or embroider his own past. 38 This self-deception about his heroic past is the direct cause of Llywarch's

tragedy in the saga. His reputation as an undaunted champion, it must be remem bered, depends solely on h i sown testimony; throughout he is s h o w nas long past his prime.3 Although undoubtedly he was at one time a warrior, it appears that in looking back he vastly inflates his past deeds, inflating in turn present expectations for his sons. He urges them to do no less than what he claims to have done himself. But the odds are against Llywarch having performed what he claims to have done since he has survived to old age while all twenty-four of his sons are killed in youth. 'Marwnad Gwen' shows that the death of his last surviving son

awakened him to the reality of his exaggerated expectations. It is likely that the

poet intended Gwên's forceful counterattack in the dialogue, his clear viewof the unreasonable assumptions which were driving him to his death,as a catalyst in Llywarch's awakened self-knowledge equal to the shockof loss. 'Marwnad Gwên' follows without a b r e a kand from it we learn that Gwên stood

firm by Rhyd Forlas and was killed. Only one other full-lengthmarwnadsurvives to one of Llywarch's sons, that to 'Pyll'which follows 'Marwnad Gwên' in the manuscripts. 01 It is a useful exercise to compare the two, since they clearly show Llywarch's change of heart. Although the stanzas about the sons show signs in many instances of having b e e nattracted to the cycle from apparently independent

73 Since the tyst in old Welsh law could not be an outsider, it cannot be taken that it is Llywarch'senemies who have been killed; see Dafydd Jenkins, Cyfraith Hywel (Llandysul, 1976), p. 106.

83 Analternative translation suggested by for Williams is for several reasons less likely; see

The sarcasm of this reply is obvious.% Superficially the last line is in agreement with Llywarch's own opinion of his past; he has survived to old a g eb e c a u s eof his strength and valour. The two preceding lines, however, show that line c is double-

edged. Diheu diweir in itself suggests sarcasm by its overemphasis on the truth of Llywarch's assertion. Further d o u b t is cast on G w ê n ' s sincerity by line b, ti yn vyw

elsewhere. Although the saga may not have been exactly the same at any one period or to any one poet there is a basic consistent presentation of Llywarch which allows us to use the e v i d e n c e of other p o e m s in t h e cycle.

53 LEWP, p. 44.

' Delfryd', p. 145. 63 Cf. Ifor Williams, CLIH, p. 67, and Jarman, Y 18

the notes to the poem.

91 Cf. Ifor Williams, 'Poems', BWP, p. 141: 'Llywarch (was he not called Hen?) hadalways to play the part of the old man who stayed at home and sent his sons to war, 'babbling'

meanwhile of the wonderful prodigies of valour he had performed in the days of his youth' and p. 142: 'Llywarch from the beginning was the typical old warrior: he is always old.' The evidence of the poetry is: CLI 1(a) cy bwyf hen; 20c, 21c gwae ryhen; all of 'Cân yr Henwr'; "Gwahodd' c1 a ellididrwudded i hen,4a Hen wyf fi. In 'Maen' there is no hint that Llywarch will

participate in battle further and la tra vum yth oet echoes the last stanza of thedialoguewith

Gwen. There is no direct or indirect evidence in 'Pyll'. As seen below, I do not believe Llywarch is the narrator i nCanu Urien. Ford, nevertheless argues that with the system of concubinage Llywarch could be not much older than h i s sons.This strains credibility even more t h a n the n u m b e r o f them, and ignores the consistent portrayal of Llywarch as old. For

furtherdiscussion of the meaning of henas Ford sees ti see below on 'Cânyr Henwr'. 01 Four stanzas of a marwnad to Mechyddap Llywarch are found i na jumbled fashion inthe long BBC poem, 'Llym awel'.These show emotion and sense of loss, but the poemand its relationship to the cycle are problematicalas seen in chapter 5. 19

THE LLYWARCH HEN POEMS

E A R LY W E L S H S A G A P O E T RY

material, or of having been added at a much later date, 'Marwnad Pyll' seems to be early, and like 'Maen Wyn' shows definite features which relate it to the unified concept of the saga. Most typical is Llywarch's 'voice' in the third stanza (CLIH 1.31): Vyn dewis ar vy meibon. pan gyrchei b a w p y alon.

pyll wynn pwyll tan trwy lumon. It can be compared to the stanza quoted from 'Maen Wyn' above, and stanzas 24-6 in 'Marwnad G w ê n ' - the hero of the hour is always his father's favourite. Also typical is h i si n t e n s e pride in the martial skill of his son, which Llywarch h o p e s will r e fl e c t i n t u r no n him.

and ends with Gwen. # Stanzas 24-28 consist of Llywarch's reflections on Gwên's death, the deaths of the rest of his sons, and his own responsibility. (Stanza 23 is intrusive.) Ornament is more marked in these englynion, as is the use of cymeriadau, particularly cymeriad geiriol. " These ornamental features contribute greatly to theemotional effect of the poem as well as unifying the whole. The fact of Gwên's death is stressed in the opening sectionof the marwnad, with every new thought leading back to Llywarch's loss. Only in stanzas 15 and 18 is Gwên's death not alluded to directly, and these are closely linked verbally and in thought to the stanzas which describe his death. Praise of past deeds,a major elementi s most marwnadau (cf. 'Pyll'), i s h e r e limited almost exclusively to G w ê n ' s

last fight on Rhyd Forlas. Again there are only two exceptions, stanzas 18 and 22, which describe and praise in general terms his fighting nature. A vivid and poign-

Unlike ' M a r w n a d Gwên', however, the p o e maddressed to Pyll is almost totally devoid of e x p r e s s i o n sofr e g r e t or loss. 'Marwnad Pyll' so carefully avoids personal allusions it must be accepted that the poet intended to show Llywarch's indiffer-

ant picture of Gwen facing his final battle emerges from this, and the repeated opening formula Gwen wrth lawen yd welas neithwyr (14, 15, 61 and 18 with slight

ence to the loss of his son. (It is not simply a lesser work which aimed at being

Gwên's deeds is so intense it has been suggested that he fought in single combat. 61

moving, but for lack ofskill did not succeed.) I n verse 36 Llywarch positivelyexults

in Pyll's death as a youthful and renowned warrior, again making the heroic choice of a short life and long fame on his son's behalf: Pyll wynn pellynnic y glot h a n d w y f nwyf yrot oth dyuot. yn vab. .

It is significant that this is the only point at which the dead man is addressed directly as is usual in the more emotional marwnadau. (Gwên isso addressed in 17, 19-21.) Pyll's death is scarcely alluded to (stanzas 29 and 38 only), and instead his past success and prowess are emphasized. This is in sharp contrast to 'Marwnad Gwên' in which nearly every stanza refers to Llywarch's loss. The name Pyll is repeated in every englyn, as is customary in thesaga marwnadau, b u t there is little use of ornamental repetition to heighten the emotional impact, as in 'Marwnad

variation)'S evokes the tense loneliness of the night watch. Thisconcentration on

But although the ford is often a scene for single combat, it is also a defensive site

which can be associated with border warfare. It is typical in these saga marwnadau for the person mourned to be named in every englyn, and his deedsconcentrated on to the exclusion of all others'. 74

Even in his lament, however, Llywarch's pride in his son's heroism is evident,

although the pride is now tempered by loss and self-accusation. In the series 15, 16, 18 Gwên's bravery is attributed by Llywarch to his relationship:

because the poet has failed to identify with his narrator- figure - there is a definite characterization of Llywarch: he ispresenting Llywarch's attitude before Gwên's

can b u mab ymi bu hywyd.

18c

a chan bu mab ymi ny thechas.

These proud statements, however, are shown to be double-edged by the middle s t a t e m e n t of t h e s e t :

Gwen'. Nature imagery to evoke mood and increase lyricism is also lacking. 'Marwnad Pyll gives the impression of being a c o m p e t e n tand sincere panegyric, but not what one would expect from a loving father. This does not seem to be

15c

16c

kan bu mab ymi [nyt egis.]

Llywarch's behaviour, like Gwên's innate courage, assured that h i s son would be

ready, but also that he would not r e t r e a t and not escape. The section is completed

by another verse which takes pride in Gwên's descent:

death.

The depth of feeling in the marwnad to Gwen is evident, although Llywarch's

basic querulous and self-centred character remains. The structure and ornament of the marwnad is different from thedialogue as suits the lyric nature of thelatter; the c l o s e l i n k s b e t w e e n t h e t w o p o e m s c a n n o t b e d e n i e d o n t h e b a s i s o f t h e s e d i ff e r-

ences. The m a r w a d is divided into two parts. Stanzas 14-22 form the marwnad

proper, and are demarcated metrically by a framing device; i.e. the section begins

34 For this and other metrical terms see chapter 7. 4 Cymeriad is an ornamental and mechanical device linking stanzas or lines b yalliteration,

rhyme, or verbal repetition (cymeriad geiriol); see further chapter7.

54 S t a n z a 17 is a l m o s t c e r t a i n l y o u t of order a n d s h o u l d follow 18; see the notes to stanza 18.

14 The are textual difficulties and difficulties of interpretation here, however; see the notes.

61 Thomas Charles-Edwards, 'The Date of the Four Branches o fthe Mabinogi', THSC 1970, p. 286.

24 Where the name is lackingone can usually infer textual corruption, except in the opening or closing verse which often omit the name. Poems which follow this pattern are: Marwnad

74 Cf. 'Marwnad Cynddylan' CH 2-16 for whicha similar suggestionhas been made. In the marwnad Cynddylan is depicted as the defenderof Tren to the exclusiono fall others, but in

feature is not found in the englynion marwnadof the Gogynfeirdd as far as I know.

host.

Gwen', 'Pyll, 'Marwnad Rhun', 'Marwnad Cynddylan', 'Ffreuer and 'Caranfael'. This 20

later poems Cynddylan'sdeeds are alludedto i nconjunction withother brothers and his 21

EARLY W E L S H SAGA POETRY

Oed gwr vy mab oed disgywen hawl. ac oed nei y vryen. ..

The verse does not close with any of the exultation seen in 'Pyll'; the fact of Gwên's death, ar ryt vorlas y llas gwen, and not fame or glory is seen as the result of a l lthis splendid promise. From this recreation of the scene at Rhyd Forlasand Llywarch's as yet partially acknowledged guilt, verses 17, 19-21 turn t oa more emotional direct address to the dead man. In 19 Llywarch directly p r a i s e s G w ê nand expresses his faith in h i m ,two

things he avoided when Gwên was alive. Stanzas 20 and 21 break the established opening cymeriad, but by their use of incremental repetition show the heightening of emotion in Llywarch'sgrief:

THE LLYWARCH H E N POEMS

Fate

The closing stanzas of 'Marwnad Gwên' are in many ways the most interesting

thematically. In 24-26 Llywarch compares Gwên to his other sons a n dconcludes (somewhat predictably in light of 'Pyll' 31 and 'Maen' 6) that Gwên was the best of

them all. This leads inevitably to consideration of the pattern of loss in his life; all

twenty-four of his sons have died. The final two stanzas are concerned with the

tragedy of Llywarch's life: Pedwarmeib ar hugeint g kenueint lywarch o wyr glew galwytheint. [cwl] eu dyuot clot trameint.

To n n tyruit toit eruit. pan ant kynrein ygovit. gwen gwae ryhen oth etlit.

Pedwarmeib ar hugeint aueithyeint vyg knawt

d r w y vyn t a u a w t Ilesseint

da dyuot [bychot] colledeint.

Two problems of interpretation arise here. One is the meaning of Llywarch's

To n n tyruit toit aches. pan ant kynrein [y neges]

gwen gwae. ryhen ryth golles. In these two stanzas there is little change except in line c, and even there the economy of change is marked. Two aspects o fdeathare mingled, however, longing and finality of loss. The host of warriors going to battle in the second line is echoed in 24-26 by the eurdorchawc tywyssawc llu that were his sons. It is obvious that

while he formerly looked with great satisfaction on such a sight, that pleasure will now cause pain because of his memories. The use of nature imagery in line a raises some problems which will be discussed further in chapter 4.Sea imagery inWelsh often conveys a lonely, melancholy atmosphere which is emotionally valid even if it cannot be taken as a literal d e s c r i p t i o nof geography. Much of the o v e r a l leffect, at

any rate, can be attributed to the repetition itself. While cymeriad geiriol, and particularly i t s incremental forms, is sometimes used mechanically, in general it is

found in the most intense and moving of the early lyrics. In its best form such repetition imitates the workings of the mind, trapped by emotion into endless

consideration of some central fact, yet constantly finding new access of pain in a newly-remembered aspect of the situation. Similar use of formal repetition is

found in the poetry of many languages and periods, and is also afeature in genuine keens.81

reaction against his quest for vicarious fame and the second is in what way Llywarch's tongue is responsible for the deaths of his sons. These issues have been

connected with the additional question of the role of fate in Llywarch's saga and

with similar referenceselsewhere, particularly in Canu Heledd. Fate i sonly briefly alluded to i n 'Marwnad Gwên', betwn dedwyd dianghut (19c), but is there by implication in the pattern of disaster. The problem is therefore usually examined in light ofthe verse whichends Llywarch's complaint on old age and which is also foundat the end of 'Gwahodd Llywarch i Lanfawr':

Truan a dynghet a dynget y lywarch yr y nos y ganet.

hir gnif heb escor lludet. I believe there are valid reasons for connecting Llywarch's responsibility for his sons' deaths and fate which in turn shed light on Llywarch's seeming rejection of

the heroic ideal. The interrelationship, however, is one which has not been fully explored.

Ifor Williams discusses 'Tynged a Thraha' in the introduction to Canu Llywarch Hen. He is closely followed b ylater critics.* Ifor Williams sums up the two themes

present in the englynion quoted above as:

O dan ycyfan i gyd y cynsail yw cred mewn Tynged - neu, osmynnwch, dyna

un o'r cynseiliau, a'r llall yw'r gred fod balchder trahaus yn arwain i

gwymp.50

These two assumptions rest uneasily together, the one implying that Fate (note the capital) is absolute, and the other that man is morally responsible for his mis84 Kenneth H. Jackson, 'Incremental Repetition in the Early Welsh Englyn', Speculum 16 (1941), pp. 310-17, and s e ealso chapter 3. It is an interesting question whether theselaments i ncharacter are intended to imitate popular keens, although one which cannot b eanswered for lack o f evidence. See CLIH, pp. xlv-xlvi, for the practical aspectso fcymeriadau. Saunders Lewis's theory that the repetition is due to a pattern beingset for metrical practice b ybardic pupils in Braslun o Hanes Llenyddiaeth Gymraeg (Caerdydd, 1932), pp.5-7, has been universally rejected.

22

94 Cf. Jarman, Y ' Delfryd', pp. 148-9, and P . L. Henry, EECL, pp.21, 83.

05 'Underlying all the basic premise is a belief in Fate or if youprefer, that is one of the basic premises, and the other is the belief that presumptuous pride leads to a fall.' CLIH, p. Ixvi. 23

EARLYWELSH SAGA POETRY fortune. The poet's message surely loses force if his philosopy of life is so inconsi

stent.§ Furthermore, Christian asceticism to judge from early Welsh poetry in general never succeeded in eliminating p r i d e ,especially justified pride in deeds or ancestry, from the code of heroic virtues. There seems no reason to believe that the englynion poets did not, like the C y n f e i r d d and Gogynfeirdd, use balch as a adject-

ive of praise.S? Llywarch's fate is determined by error, but both the nature of fate and the nature of his error must be more fully defined t osee their interrelationship.

Although there are many references to fate, destiny and good and bad fortune in

early Welsh literature, it is worthwhile to look at Old English examples of wyrd 'fate', etc., partly because the literature is more extensive and self-explanatory, and partly because there has beenagreat deal more critical appraisal of the aspects wyrd takes in literature.53 The parallel is drawn cautiously on the basis of similarity of culture, above all that both are semi-heroic societies which accepted Christianity

without great modification to native and heroic tenets. It must be acknowledged that many differences are likely - Old E n g l i s h scholars themselves a r e not in full

agreementas to the meaningof destiny in various texts. For major points, however,

T H E L LY WA R C H H E N POEMS

bility." Retainingan element of the fated is the meaning 'death'or 'appointedhour of de ath '.

In dealing with theaspects fate takes in early English heroic literature the ability of the hero t oaffect his destiny for better or worse by his activities a n dcharacter si often stressed. One starting point is found in the considerable changes made to the

philosophical consideration of wyrd in King Alfred's adaptation of Boethius' De Consolatione Philosophiae.S Alfred sees God's providence as the ruling force of the world. To Alfred, however, this agency represents the automatic functioning ofthe universe, an element of control which corrects and balances. Because it is automaticit can seem cruel and relentless." The struggle against wyrd is seen a sa Christian

struggle for perfection. In Chapter XXXIX Alfred uses the image of a wheel as a

symbol of the universe. God, the axle, is the centre of movement but Himself untouched by movement and change. Men have different lots according to their

position: those on the rim are both furthest from God and m o s taffected by movement, the changes and flux of fortune. Thewise man, by attempting to move down the spokes closer to God, can in some ways escape the full buffetingof fate, or at least find the wisdom to accept it. But since man is imperfect, he will inevitably

it is possible to cite Welsh examples which b e a rout the parallel w i t hOld English aspects of fate and heroic destiny. O n e of the most thorough studies of the examples of wyrd and the semantic

make wrong choices which violate the order of the universe and thus bring down

Poetry. Like the majority of Old English scholars who have studied the problem,

can be paralleled in the secular sphere by the struggle of the ideal hero who exercises both courage and wisdom in an attempt to control his fate." The hero, however, must be willing to risk change, to attempt to alter events. But this risk

development it undergoes is B.J.Timmer's 'Wyrd in Anglo-Saxon Prose and he maintains that wyrd in all surviving examples is totally devoid of the earlier

pagan meaning of the goddess of Fate who weaves man's destiny: The new creed had no use f o ra beliefin superhuman, blind and hostile Fate ruling m e n ' s lives, for it is God who governs the lives of men. Thus the idea of wyrd, the blindly ruling Fate, disappeared, or, when a sense of the inevitability of a m a n ' s fate remained, this inevitability, represented by wyrd, was m a d e s u b j e c t to God.

Timmer adds that wyrd has a weakened, general meaningof 'that which happens to man, the events of his life or lot' which is divorced from any idea of inevita-

wyrd upon himself.58 As is often the case religious and heroic virtues are closely connected. Alfred's

picture of wisdom leading to God and therefore to moderation of fate's oppression

should not b etaken blindly; he should be ruled by consideration and foresight, the secular equivalent of Alfred's choosing of the good. O fcourse the hero will not

always m a k ea correct choice, but as long as he has both wisdom and courage,and

the situation is not too limiting, he can be expected to succeed.Eventually in most

cases there will come a time when whatever he does he will be trapped by 'fate' although even in such a situation consideration and choice of a course is valued,

even fi neither can be called right or wrong. Wyrd, then, is far from absolute even if it is a limiting factor in the lives of men.

The necessity of wisdom in modifyingthe afflictions of fate is particularly important for u n d e r s t a n d i n g its operation in the englyn cycles. The r o l eof wisdom 15 Cf. Jarman's criticism, 'YDelfryd',p. 149. Since the poetry is far from primitive it is b e t t e rto accept that the ideas have not been correctly defined. 25 Traha may be negative, but it also has rather differentconnotations;s e ebelow and Jarman, 'Y Delfryd', p. 149.

35 Some of the works consulted are: T . A. Shippey, Old English Verse(London, 1972), pp.

39-44; B . J. Timmer, 'Wyrd in Anglo-Saxon Prose and Poetry', Neophilologus 26 (1940-1), pp. 24-32, 213-28, reprinted in Essential Articles for the Study of Old English Poetry, pp. 124-58;

F . Anne Payne, 'Three Aspects of Wyrd in Beowulf, Old English Studies in Honour of John C .

Pope, ed. Robert .J Burlin and Edward B. Irving, Jr. (Toronto, 1974), pp. 15-35, a n dKingAlfred and Boethius (London, 1968); Alan H . Roper, 'Boethius and the Three Fates of Beowulf', PQ41,

. Smithers, 'Destiny and the Heroic Warrior in Beowulf', Philological Essays pp. 386-400; G. V in Honour of Herbert Dean Merrit, ed. James Ropier (Paris, 1970), pp. 65-81; R. E . Kaske, 'Sapientia et Fortitudo as the Controlling Theme of Beowulf', Studies in Philology 60 (1958), pp.

423_56.

and strength together in assuring a happy career for the warrior is i n fact a topos of early literature, sapientiaet fortitudo. (It is found, too, concisely expressed in a

55 pp. 127-8. Shippey, Old English Verse, strongly argues for this sense in Old English poetry; cf. pp. 30-32

65 See Payne, Alfredand Boethius.

5 Payne, Alfred and Boethius, pp. 99-100 85 Payne, Alfred and Boethius, pp. 97-100, 103-4. 95 This is borne out by Payne's own use of Alfred's philosophyof destiny to illuminate the

workings of wyrd in Beowulf in 'Three Aspects'. See also Shippey,Old English Verse, pp. 182,

ft. 199.

6 See Shippey, Old English Verse, Chapter 2 'The Argument for Courage', particularly pp. 40-3.

. .E Kaske, 'Sapientia et Fortitudo', pp. 423-56, especially 424, 440. 61Admirably charted by R

As pp. 124-5. 24

25

THE L LY WA R C H HEN POEMS

EARLY WELSH S A G A POETRY

Welsh proverb: ys da pwyll gyta nerth 'Wisdom with strength is good'.)? It is an important standard, for instance, in Beowulf against which characters are judged. When wisdom is lacking or overthrown disaster can be expected to follow. Before

the relevance can be assessed, however, it is necessary to return to the Welsh evidence to see how it accords with the Old English philosophy o fdestiny

In the englynion the words connected with 'fate, fortune', etc., are tynged ('Cân' 14, 21, CU 22, 'Gwahodd' 9), ffawt/ anffawt (CH 57,86) and dedwyd/ dirieit (CLI 19, "Claf'29,30) although ideas about destiny are expressed in other ways as in CLI47 'Cân' 25, 26, 27, 31, CH 2, 46. It is very difficult to distinguish between the usage 'fate, inexorable destiny' and luck, events which have occurred, happenings

particularly in brief references. As in the case of wyrd there may be a dichotomy between actual evolved and Christianized ideas a b o u tdestiny and the traditional

vocabulary used to express them. Even today expressionssuch as 'it was fated to happen' are used loosely without belief in predetermination of events. The best sources for studying early Welsh ideas concerning fateare probably the saga englynion themselves, but to avoidarguing in circles other material will first be examined. The medieval prose tales offer little help in establishing conceptsof fate although the lack of stress on destiny may be negative evidence that it was not a major preoccupation . Tynged is used, but is closely connected with the idea of

swearing an oath. There are two cases of tyngu tynged (cf. 'Cân'21), but in both the

fate is prescribed on o n echaracter by another. Thus Arianrhod's prohibitions on Lleu in the fourth branch of the Mabinogi are a semi-magical challenge: 'Mia dyngaf dyghet idaw, na chaffo enw yny caffo y genhy i', etc. Culhwch's stepmother similarly swears: 'Tynghaf dynghet it na latho dy ystlys orth wreic hyt pan geffych olwen ..' The destiny imposed is external. More general ideas about fate do not seem to fi n d expression in the prose tales.

Ideas of fate, however, are commonly expressed in the medieval proverb lists and in proverbial lines from other early poetry. Since many of the proverbs are culled from poems, to a great extent they mirror poetic rather than popular philoso-

One of the easiest concepts to trace is t h econnection between death and fate,

since death is a central event and the 'fate' of all. Some examples from the proverbs a re :

Agheu anghen diheu dir

N e c e s s a r y d e a t h is c e r t a i n a n d sure.

Rac angeu ny thyckya ffo

This can be compared to 'Llym awel' 13c:

ir neb goleith Ileith dyppo Despite all avoidance death will come. A fated time of death is expressed in BT 69.5 (also RB 960 and 1072, Pen 12.156): l e a s paw b pan ry d y g h e r The (violent) death of everyone is when it is fated.

Certain examples show that by extension tynged can mean 'death'. In 'Ymattrec llywelyn agwrnerth', a religious instructional poem, this line occurs in the discus-

sion of Gwrnerth's imminent death:

nyt oes nawd rac tyngetuen

(RB 1026)

There is no refuge from death/fate

This suggests that proverbs like the following:

Ny eilldyn gochel tyghet

(RB 963,1079)

M a n cannot avoid fate.

phy similar to that b e h i n d the englynion.T h e use of p r o v e r b s ,however, requires

Ffawt pawb yn y dal

Everyone's fate catches him.

overall picture emerges which closely resembles that seen i n early English.66

('Clyweit' 42c)

It d o e s not a v a i lto fl e e f r o m d e a t h .

caution. Because they are confined to giving a brief and pithy expression of a single idea, they tend to present a more simplistic view than the fairly coherent philoso-

phy found in Old English literature. Still, taken together - fi this is justified - an

(Pen 17.63)67

(Pen 12.82, Chirk.38, Mostyn 204, RB 968)

may be related to the certainty of death rather than inexorable destiny as it might seem in isolation.

Certainly in the works of the Gogynfeirdd terms for fate are frequently used as near-synonyms fordeath, as in the parallel line in 'Marwnad Llywelyn': gwae vi or gollet. gwae vi or dynghet.

26 Early Welsh Gnomic Poems [EWGP], ed. Kenneth H. Jackson (Cardiff, 1961),V1.30b.

36 Ed. Ifor Williams, Pedeir Keinc y Mabinogi [PKM] (Caerdydd, 1930), pp. 79.3-4, 81.6-8, 83.12-4.

6 'I will sweara destiny tohim that he will not get a name until hegets one fromme."Iswear a

(RB 1417)

Woe's me for the loss; woe's me for the fate.

The following lines from a religious awl by Gwalchmai (H 12) closely connect death w i t h t e r m s u s e d for fate

destiny to you that you will not strike your side against a woman until you obtain Owen.' J.Gwenogvryn Evans, The White Book Mabinogion [WM]; 2nd edn Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch: Y Chwedlaua'r Rhamantau (Caerdydd, 1979), p. 227. 65 O n this see further c h a p t e r6

66 For the collections of proverbs see the special section on published and unpublished proverbs in the Abbreviations. For a justification of proverbs as a literary production see

RM . . Jones, 'Diarhebion', YTraethodydd, Hydref 1976, pp. 218-20, and below chapter 6. 26

76 Cf. also the 'Taliesin tag', ed. Ifor Williams, Canu Taliesin (Caerdydd, 1960) and transl. J. E. Caerwyn Williams, The Poemsof Taliesin (Dublin, 1968) (PTJ, II.34 ym dygyn agheu aghen. 27

THE LLYWARCH HEN POEMS

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

Pan uo ygaf gan dyn ehangaf uyd gan duw

Efryt [ulyt dechreu dyn dewret gyureu

ae diwet ef d i h e u agheu ygged

(RB 1081, Chirk.3)

When it is most restricted for man it is most expansive for God.

ac nyt oes gochel gochwerw drwyted gwe ly agkl aer daea r dute d a g w a e ni or n e i d yn rydoded .

A vynno Duw a uyd dir

(Pen 17.54)

T h a t w h i c h G o d w i s h e s is c e r t a i n .

Feeble is the beginning of a man possessed with valour, and his end:certain death as a gift. And there is no avoiding the bitter stay, the unsplendid bed of the earth's covering, and woe to us for the fate which has been allotted us. The idea is also found in the older poems, as in The Gododdin where tynghetven is

A uo da g a nd u w y sdir

(Pen 12.1)

That which God considers good is certain. (Mostyn 204)

En Nuw nid oes dynghedven

'death':

In G o d t h e r e is n o f a t e / d e a t h .

bu tru a dynghetven angen gwir

a d y n g w y t y dutvwI ch a chyvwl ch hir. 68

Wretched was the fate necessary and true which was allotted to Tudfwich and Cyfwlch the Tall.

Ac ef arglwydd nef tanghef tynged an d u g

(MA 190)

And He Lord of Heaven gives us a peaceful fate.

Edward Lhuyd gives the definition 'death' as well as 'fate' for tynged/ tynghedfen in

The references to the failure of man's plans and intentions, arfaeth, reflect the

That fate is considered to be underGod's control is also fairly clear, again when

and even the fated hour of death are seen as ultimately u n d e r God's control; cf. D u a d ' II.2 hoedl dervyn dyn duw a'i rhann. ('God apportions the end of man's

the Archaeologia Britannica: Fatum, Tynzed, tynzhedven, maruolaeth, angae, faudh trangk. 'Fate or destiny, the course of nature; death; calamity, misfortun e.'

the proverbs are taken in a complex. Some i n isolation seem to suggest that man is helpless against inexorable fate:

Trech tyghet noc aruaeth

(RB974)

Cynddylan is doomedsays 'ac avynno duw derffit' (CH2) and later'brodyram bwyat a duc duw ragof', a line immediately preceding t h eo n ewhichhas been taken to

(RB 972)

attribute all to fate, vy anffawt ae goruc (CH 86). Context alone suggests a more

complex i d e aa b o u tdestiny.

It is not his intentions that rule man, but his fate.

nyt neb a ued oe aruaeth

It is also clear that man is attributed with the ability to affect h i sown fate,for better or worse. The Welsh proverbs, like the Old English material, deal with the

(RB 1056)

ability of the hero by courage to avoid death if the situation is equivocal:

No one rules according to his intentions. Nyt y aruaeth a byrth dyn namyn y tyghet ae herlyn

(RB 1079)

It is not his intentions which support a man, but rather his fate pursues him.

gnawd yw diang glew o yng. ('Duad' III.17) Frequent is the escape of the brave man from a tight place/battle.

enghit glew oe gyfarweith

These, however, must be compared with the following: Dyn y n fyw n i fedd oi arfaeth Duw a fedd oi fuddugoliaeth

( M A 242a)

No m a n alive rules according to his intentions it is God w h o rules because of his victory.

dyu auet dyn a leueyr

life.") Religious references are so rare in the saga englynion that full weight must be given to those in which the characters ascribe their lot to God. Thus Llywarch

speaks of happier days 'tra fynnwsdofyddfy lles' ('Gwahodd' 2b); Heledd realizing

Stronger is fate than intentions.

Nyt y aruaeth a ued dyn namyn ytyghet

imperfect nature of manand the world. Nevertheless, the workings of fate,events,

(Chirk.4, Pen 17.234, RB 966)

God rules a n d man speaks.

(RB 1056)

The brave man escapes from his struggle. ry dieingc glev o lauer trum

('Llym' 20)

The brave may escape from many a battle. Dywal dir uyd y oleith (Pen 17.183) The bold one - certain will be his avoidance (of death). The self-determination for the worse b ya coward is also raised:

Ny nawd eing llyfyrder rac Ileith 86 CA, 11. 136-7. 96 (London, 1707), p. 58.

(RB 1074)

Not often does cowardice escape f r o mdeath. 28

29

EARLY W E L S H SAGA POETRY

pob Ilyfwr llemittyor arnaw pob ffer dy atter heibyaw

THE L LY WA R C H H E N POEMS

(RB 1055

"'Gossymdeith llefoet wyneb clawr')

Fate will overcome every coward; it may pass over every valiant

b i td o e t hd e t w y d

(EWGP VII.11c)

bit doeth dedwyd duw ae nawd

(EWGP VIII.9c)

The dedwydd is customarily wise; God supports him.

one.'

Nyt d e d w y d ny d i u o pwyll

Cnawd i lwrf ei ladd yn ffo G n a w d i d d e w r ddiank wrth daro

( L l a n 52)

Often a coward is killed fleeing; often a brave man escapes by strikin g.

These statements strongly resemble the proverb quoted by Beowulf I. 572-3 wyrd oft nered unfagne eorl bonne his ellen deah ('Events often spare the undoomed man while his c o u r a g e avails.')7°This fate, too, can be controlled by God; cf. RB 1058Aet

llew yngkynnwryf kat. duw ae differ. ('Let a brave man go into the commotion of

(RB 972, 1056)

He is not dedwydd w h o does not have wisdom.

This wisdom is a protecting factor in fate under God's rule. The two are also contrasted in their attitude to strife, the diriaid a c t i v e l yseeking it:

diryeit ny hawdueid hedwch dedwyd a g a rdatolwch (RB 1061, 'Clyweit' 45, Pen 17.195) The diriaid does not easily suffer peace; t h ededwydd loves reconciliation.

b a t t l e - G o d will protect him.') But while this shows ap o r t i o n of the h e r o i c philoso-

phy of fate is similar in Old English and Welsh, it i sonly indirectly relevant to the nature of Llywarch's fate. As noted above, courage alone uncombined with wisdom cannot ensure success. For the combination of wisdom and energy ascontrolling factors of fate it is necessary to look at the complex of ideas concerning the

dedwydd and diriaid man.

Judging from the vast amounts of surviving proverbs thenatures of the dedwydd

or diriaid (the words are usually used substantively) form one of the major pre-

occupations of Welsh wisdom literature. The material is extensive, complicated, and sometimes contradictory, and seems to have been constantly growing and developing.? There seems to be an element of predetermined destiny underlying the concept as in RB 11 9 2 M a e ef diryeitoe eneityaw ('He is diriaid from birth') or in

the often-quoted Nyt reit y detwyd namyn y eni ('the dedwydd has only tob e born'). 27 This may reflect primitive belief, but since the fate of both is determined by their

natures it is acceptable that their characters are to some degree innate.The dedwydd is blessed, wise, God-fearing and peaceful; his fate isgood.The diriaid is opposite in character: perverse, foolish, sinning and quarrelsome; his fate is bad. He lacks prudence and consideration: BBC 70 Ny n a u dy direidimiolia duv in erbindit kynhiny

thebic drut y treng hi ('It is not usual for the diriaid to call upon God against the day of wrath; the foolish m a ndoes not suppose he w i l ldie.') He takes no heed: RB 1029

Diryeit ny mynn gwarandaw ('The diriaid does not want to listen'). The wisdom of his opposite, the dedwydd, is even clearer in the proverbs: amgall pob d e d w y d d

ny chynnyd d e d w y d datleu

(RB 1077)

The dedwydd does not provoke arguments. (RB 1079, 'Claf' 22)

nyt e i d u n detwyd d y h e d

The dedwydd does not desire contention.

dirieid bid ymgeingar

(EWGP VIII.2)

The diriaid is w o n t to b eprovocative.

gnawt o ben dirieitteruysc

(RB 1131, 'Duad' III.19)

Frequent from the mouth of a diriaid is contention. adwyth diriaid heb achos

(EWGP IX.12f, Pen 155)

The destruction done by the diriaid is without cause. The diriaid is at least partially responsible for his own position. Lackof wisdom, defects i n his character, sin - all lead to misfortune. He is his own worst enemy, in this world an d the next.?

This brief examination of the interlocking concepts of destiny provides a fuller background against which the role and philosophy of fate in t h eenglyn cycles can

(EWGP VI.14a) 37 The association o fsin and blessedness with their respective fates i salso seen w i t htynget,

Every dedwydd is very wise.

ffawt and anffawt, primarily in religious contexts: ar seintsywedyddetwyd tyghet(RB 1190.23); wrth glywet dahet tyghet dewi (RB 1189.34); yr err nefaw[l|dyghet (BBCS 3, p. 277); Ragorwn

grewyd a ffuda ffawt. rac agheu (RB 1180). Anffawt is connected with sin: RB 1153 anffawt a

phechawt; RB 1179 Cret ti idaw rac llaw yn llwrw anffawt; R B 1343 (on the devil) athro anffart veddawt varn.

Mention should be made too of the use of madparticularly in the compound mad-eni. Mad

07 All references are to the 3rd edition of Franz Klaeber (Lexington, Massachusetts, 1950). 17 See chapter 4 for additional discussion on the diriaid. By the later medieval period the concept of diriaid was greatly weakened to merely 'perverse, mischievous'. 27 Although the lattermay be perhapsnot philosophical but wittily envious: 'some people

have all the luck, get things handedto them on a platter.' 30

'good, fortunate can be related to pagan prognosticationof t h edetermined future as in the markings mat/anm on the Calendar of Colignyor in the Tain where the druid is asked 'cid diambad maith a llá sin?" 'for what this day would be auspicious?' (TáinBó Cúailnge: Recension

1, ed. Cecile O'Rahilly (Dublin, 1976), 1I. 612-3.) Ifor Williams arguesthatmad- as a verbal prefix indicates the action is predetermined: y' mae'r ffawd neu'r anffawd yno o'r dechrau' 31

EARLY WELSH S A G A POETRY

be discussed. This is quite possibly somewhat different in each case or a different

aspect may be stressed.? The fragmentary explanations in the Llywarch and Heledd cycle that their misfortunesare due to something theysaid invite comparison and form the b a s i s for f o r Williams's d e l i n e a t i o nof t h e underlying philosophy

of fate. Llywarch states that all his sons have been killed because of his tongue: 'dwy vyn tauawt llesseint.' This is twice repeated in Canu Heledd: Baschurch is ruined and her tongue caused it (vyn tauawt ae gwnaeth 46), her family were killed by the misfortune of her tongue (o anffawt vyn tauawt yt llesseint 57). Guilt lies in something they said which determined their fate. The question is what? Ifor Williams explains this as their boasting words which brought punishment on themselves for their sin of pride and presumption. This is not in keeping with

predetermined fate and moves us closer to the picture above of man's behaviour affecting his destiny. The specific error suggested, however, is somewhat unconvincing. Llywarch certainly is proud, and his great desire for his sons' fame to feed his pride is part of his downfall, if not the directcause. The examplecitedconcerning Heledd's pride, CH 65, is far less certain:

THE LLYWARCH HEN POEMS

childish pride. Despite the similar wording of Heledd and Llywarch's guilt, the

meaning behind it may not be identical in both cases. Canu Heledd raises prob-

lems of interpretation bestdealt with independently i nchapter 3. The Llywarch poems, on the other hand, offer sufficientevidence to suggest that Llywarch is responsible for his fate and why. Pride itself, as stated above, was a natural stance for the warrior, and an essential attribute i na society primarily bonded by personal honourand desire for fame. Outside strictly religious literature it is impossible to find anegative attitude to justifiable pride.? Even in Old

English poetry which is far more influenced by Christian doctrine pride per es is

not castigated, although warnings against the possible results of pride divorced from wisdom are given. This is exemplified by the wisdom poem Vainglory,% and

more effectively by Hrothgar's famous speech in Beowulf Il. 1700-84. The speech again stresses the need for wisdom as an accompaniment to strength and power (sapientia et fortitudo, or magen mid modes snyttrum). Strength and power fi misled

by an overly-good opinion ofoneself can lead to lack of consideration and therefore to destruction." With overconfidence the clear weighing of future consequences is lost. Pride, too, can turn the head of a successful man so that he lives in a dream

Mi a ffreuer a medlan.

world:

kyt y t u o c a ty m b o p m a n n . n y n t a w r n y l a d a w ra n r a n n .

bat his selfa ne m a g

The fault (if it is one) is shared between the sisters, yet elsewhere Heledd holds herself solely responsible. Considering the passive role of women in society, moreover, such blind trust in her protectors would be normal, if naive. Also the disaster Heledd holds herself responsible for is on a far greater scale than Llywarch's lossof family: the greatest evidence for her overweening pride would be attributing such importance to herself, blaming herself for the destruction of Powys because of lapses in perfect Christian behaviour. The story behind Canu Heledd ismissing, but it would appear that therewould have been a more rational motivation for her guilt, a narrative reason why a minor princess could affect the destiny of a country. (The choice of a female narrator in itself suggests a specific

narrative reason for the focus on Heledd.) From the hints given in the poetry, admittedly few, the reason may depend on specific, ill-conceived statements, not

(CLIH, p. 85). Thus when Llywarch speaks ofhis wretched fate yr yr nosy ganet he isassumed

to b e b o r n u n f o r t u n a t e , ny mat anet, m a r k e d from b i r t h a s a diriaid, too, as in the q u o t e a b o v e

although the concept is less predetermined). Other instances of mat-, however, suggest it indicates merely the result of the action, not predetermined in any sense. Thus t h eone who ignores religious duties is headed b yhis actions formisfortune,cf. BBC70 O treincmabdin heb imdiwin a duw am a wnel o pechaud. ny mad aeth eneid in y gnaud. Christ is described as mad-anet, not because his personal fortune was good, but because the outcome of his birth

was fortunate for mankind. Similarly in CA LXIII merin a madyein mat yth anet the birth was good for the tribe even though the fate was one in common with t h e other warriors at Catraeth, hardly 'fortunate'. See also the definitions for madas a verbal prefix in early Irish in

Contributions to a Dictionary of the Irish Language (Cont], Royal Irish Academy (Dublin, 1913-75).

7 The many references to fate in Canu Urien are virtually ignored in Ifor Williams's analysis

of 'Tynged a Thraha' in CLIH because those story details g i v e ndo not by any stretch of imagination fall into the pattern of pride leading to a fall. It can, however, be fitted into the

scheme of fate presented above as will be done in the following chapter. 32

his u n s n y t t r u m

ende gepencan.™

Beowulf is warned by Hrothgar thatthisattitudecan cause a fall fromgood fortune and is exhorted, in words r e m i n i s c e n tof Alfred's i n t e r p r e t a t i o nof Boethius:

be bat selre geceos ece r a d a s

oferhyda ne gym.?*

The combination of w i s d o m and strength in the hero is to a large degree respon-

sible for his success, and, if it cannot shield him absolutely from the workings of fate,at least it prevents the near-automatic misfortune the lack ofo n eor theother brings.8 While it is Llywarch's pride which corrupts his judgment, it is not, I believe, the type of pride described as traha. Traha is, however, undoubtedly associated with reversal of fortune in a way which can be related to the Old English ideas discussed above and in a larger sense to the reasons for Llywarch's misfortunes. The lines cited in Ifor Williams's discussion of fate are from the BBC poem 'Seithenhin

sawde allan' (106-7) and are also frequently quoted in the proverb lists:

57 Cf. the semantic developmentof syberwytcastigated in religious texts asculpable pride, superbia. As a n attribute of a nobleman it developed t h e meaning 'courtesy'

67 Exeter Book. Translated with text by T. A . Shippey, Poems of Wisdom and Learning in Old English(Cambridge, 1976), pp. 54-7. 7 This is a theme returned to frequently in Beowulf, particularly in connectionwith

Hygelac's disastrous raid on the Franks. SeeShippey, Old English Verse, pp. 41-3.

... so that he himself cannot, inh i s lackof wisdom, think there will be a n end.' Cf. ny thebic drut y trengion t h ediriaid cited above.

thereforechoose the better,eternal counsel; shunoverweening pride.' 08 Kaske, 'Sapientia et Fortitudo', pp. 424, 435. 79

33

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

THE LLYWARCH HEN POEMS

The association of traha with treis is evident and intimate, as well as with other

gnaud guydi traha trangc hir.

specific deeds of wrong against people. In Dictionarium Duplex (1632) summa iniuria

Usual after traha is long death.

is listed among the meanings of traha." Traha should probably be translated as 'oppression, mistreatment, wrong-doing', etc.,arising o u tof pride, but not simply morally culpable pride. Unjust and unwise violence will succeed while strength lasts, but faltering will often bring revenge upon the former oppressor. Reversalsof

gnaud guydi traha attreguch Usual after traha i s repentance.

fortuneof this type must have been commonly observed in history as well as in

g g traha tramguit Usual after traha is a fall. g n a u d guydi traha trangc pell

Usual after traha is long death. Traha, trahawc (adjective) generally has a more negative connotation t h a nbalch or syberw, despite some favourable applications (cf. CA 320). It is significantly connected with violence and oppressive behaviour, as in the following examples: Rac bydin emreis dreis d r a h a w c

(H2)

wisdom upon them, and it is his personal lack of wisdom which causes this behavjour and determines his own lonely fate. As seen in the dialogue with Gwên and in encourage them to more extreme boasts and deeds. In the process they are deprived of exercising prudence and consideration, and are left in a position where they can do very little to determine their own fate; they are marked out for

(RB 1208)

death and even strength in battlecannot long delay the ultimate resolution. As the RB proverb (1056) says Ny rydecho rydygir. ('He who may not retreat is

Traha despoils the border, a harsh bitterness.

Gwae perchennawe tir. ny chyhalyo y wir rac y traha

(RB 1156)

Woe to the owner of land who does not keep faith because of his traha.

Gwae a geisso y vryt yt tra vo ymywn byt trwy dreis a thraha. (RB 1157)

Woe to he who seeks what he wants in this world through violence

a n d traha.

doomed.')

Their lack of wisdom is not innate or upset by pride, but imposed from without,

and therefore it is Llywarch who is primarily responsible for the shaping ofevents. His assault on h i s sons' courage is especially effective since rejection ofa n unwise course of action would leave them open to accusations of cowardice, however unjustified. There are again specific parallels with other heroic literatures. In the

Fer Diad episode in Táin Bó Cúailnge, Fer Diad resists all temptations put before

him to fight against his foster-brother, Cú Chulainn. Finally, M e d tells him a

deliberate lie - Cú Chulainn has questioned Fer Diad's courage because of his

Ac ny gar traha trahy weithret. Ac ny geis na threis na thrawsgerde t.

vulnerable to the workings of fate. Llywarch's taunting of his sons imposes lack of

'Maen Wyn' Llywarch typically expresses doubt on his sons' courage ni order to

Before the army of Emreis of trahawc violence.

Neu diua traha teruyn chwerwed garw

saga and again reveal a complex in which folly and wisdom, sin and virtue, combine to affect the workings of fate.82 LIvwarch's pride does not lead to oppression on this scale although it is personally destructive. His guilt in bringing about the deaths of his sons by his words can be explained not as divine punishment for his boasting about them, but by the them way in which h i s inciting words cause his sons to take a stance which leaves

(RB 1184)

And do not love traha, an overly p r e s u m p t u o u s deed, a n ddo not seek either violence or evil-doing. A wnelych ob o b dirdra o d w y l l a threis at h r a h a yr d u w kyffessa yn da. (RB 1027)

refusals. This forces him to prove he is unafraid and leads to tragedy.$ A deliber-

action in ately provocat ive taunt of cowardic e is also a frequent catalyst to unwise

Germanic tales.34 Llywarch's inciting further serves to provoke battle-rage which leaves m e n reckless

The warrior who chooses improperly is censored although a recognition of the

prevent the glory in fighting against the odds remains.& The characters who

Every sort of sin which you may do of deceit and violence and traha, for God's sake confess it fully. gnawt rac traha tralleuein

18 John Davies, Mallwyd (DD]. Injuria itself is defined: c'am, camwri,camwedd, camweithred, sarhad, trosedd, cawdd,gogan, colled, niwed, anghyfiawnder'.

(EWGP IV.2)

. Marshall Leicester, Jr., 'Social Structure as Doom: the limits of 28 See Harry Berger, Jr. and H

Usual because of traha i s very great lament. traha a threisio gwirion a d i v a yr etifeddion

(EWGP IX.9)

Traha and doing violence to the innocent will deprive the heirs. 34

heroism in Beowulf', Old English Studies in Honour of John C. Pope, pp. 37-79. 38 O'Rahilly, Táin RecensionI, pp.78-80, transl. pp. 196-7. # Cf. J.R. R. Tolkien, Finn and Hengest:The Fragmentand the Episode, ed. Alan Bliss (London, 1982), p. 108. 58 Cf. the dual attitude to Byrhtnoth in The Battle of Maldon. 35

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

warrior from giving due consideration to his aims, however, bear the heaviest burden of guilt. Shippey notes in Icelandic saga the distaste for someone who like Llywarch forces an issue without being directly involved: This feeling isextremely prominent in Old Icelandic literature, especially in the very common 'egging' scenes, where someon e, usually a woman, urges sometimes strangely reluctant heroes to their revenge. Even though their actions may be justified, it is very rare for the people who urge on the hero t o

escape criticism or even p u n i s h m e n t for their insensitivity.6$

It is clear that interference with the process of defining battle goals even when done with good intentions breaks a basic tenet of t h e heroic code. Llywarch's interfer-

ence is doubly culpable, done out of desire for reflected glory through his sons. It is therefore specific attitudes and actions which lead to the turn o f events called 'fate

in Llywarch's saga. When Llywarch states betwn dedwyd dianghut one should understand not just 'if I were fortunate, you would have escaped', but if I were wise.'

The connection between foolish behaviour and fate helps to explain Llywarch's two s t a t e m e n t s in stanzas 27 a n d28 which reject the aims he has previously strived

for. Like drwy vyn tauawt llesseint the statements [cwl] eu dyuot clot trameint a n dda dyuot (bychot] are acknowledgments of guilt - he has unwisely sought too much and obtained it unfairly. They are appropriate to the heroic code the poet has

presented and appropriate psychologically as the reaction of a grieving father. I

would therefore reject Jarman's argument in Y' Delfryd Arwrol' that Llywarch's statements represent a modification of the old, unyielding ideals of heroism and the corollary that the complex exploration of the nature of heroism shows the englyncycles to be a more mature literature than The Gododdin. T h e far from rigid

nature of the code has been discussed in tracing the meaning of fate above. Rejec-

tion ofJarman's second theory (and, in part, the first) is closely tied to the question of genre, particularly the natureof various types of poetry which can be termed

THE L LY WA R C H H E N POEMS

English poet is free to depict those who fled a sa counterpoint to the warriors who remained true to their oaths. Welsh panegyric poems can merely hint at the contrast by using an e g a t i v e e v o c a t i o n :a warrior is praised for not fleeing with the idea

remaining that this was apossible option,even fi it would b eat the cost of honour. The Old English poet, too, within his narrative frame can also raise the questionof whether the a r m ywas wisely led - a question irrelevant t opersonal h e r o i s mand

therefore irrelevant to bardic panegyric. The bardic poet is further hampered by his subject matter being based on fact, although the general and ideal are more important than the specific. With narrative the poet is free to choose events which enable him to explore themes and situations inappropriate to bardic panegyrics.

The narrative framework of the saga englynion obviously places themcloser to the fully narrative Old English poems. While it is dangerous to place too much stress on the simplicity o fprimary poetic

composition such as The Gododdin - a heroic philosophy which includes a view of both the valuable and the a m b i g u o u s aspects of the code can be detected - it is undoubtedly less complex thematically than the Llywarch poems, as Jarman

argues. But the compositions ofother heroic societies whichare not primary praise poetry also display this complexity.As even thecursory look a tOld English literature undertaken above has shown, questions about the natureand limits of heroism, the role of fate and self-determination, wisdom and c o u r a g eare pervasive in

literature whichcan only be described as heroic. The clearest wayof detecting the role of genre as opposed to poetic maturity is by comparing the works of the Cynfeirdd and the Gogynfeirdd. The panegyric of the court poets continued to serve the same social function, presenting and upholding the heroic code with a similar purity to that seen in the earliest hengerdd. The limits of genre in a traditional literature are highly deterministic. The Gogynfeirdd (or for that matterthe Cynfeirdd) are not necessarily less sophisticated than the englynion poets, or less humanistic, t h e yare simply writing a different type of poetry.

heroic.

The s i n g l e factor w h i c h m o s t accounts for t h e differences in theme and expression between the englyn cycles and The Gododdin is the narrative character of the

former as opposed to the formal panegyric function of the latter. This difference in genre has so many ramifications that it is difficult to make valid comparisons between the t w o on many points. In a panegyric, like The Gododdin, the poet's song plays a specific role in the life of the community, upholding social values and organization. Only the themes and expressions considered appropriate to this function are relevant tothis type of poetry. For instance, fi a poet in aeulogy were to

deal with men who failed to hold firm in battle his p o e m would cease to be eulogy

and become satire. In the narrative The Battle of Maldon, on the contrary, the Old

38 Cf. for instance, Shippey, Old English Verse, chapt. Il 'The Argument of Courage', Edward . Irving, Jr., A Reading of Beowulf (New Haven, 1968), N. .F Blake, The Battle of Maldon', B Neophilologus 49 (1965), pp. 332-42, Kaske, 'Sapientia e t Fortitudo', Berger and Leicester, "Social Structureas Doom', and Nicholas Jacobs, Y ' Traddodiad Arwrol Hen Saesneg o ' Gymharu a'r Dystiolaeth Gymraeg', AH, pp. 165-78, adapted by the author as 'The Old

English Heroic Tradition in the Light of Welsh Evidence', CMCS 2 (1981), pp. 9-20. For

reasons of genre (unfortunately not clearly distinguished) the latter notes that m u c h of Old English heroic literature cannot be compared directly with early We l s h .It seems his

'simple' vs. 'developed' poetry is bardic panegyric vs. saga or reflective literature. Old Irish sagas are in general more rigidly heroic, possibly because narrative prose is less intro-

spective and because of the lack of o v e r t Christian influence. The heroes, too, are less

68 Old English Verse, ft. p. 195. Further examples are given by Kaske, 'Sapientia et Fortitudo', and by Peter Hallberg, The Icelandic Saga, transl. Paul Schach (Lincoln, Nebraska, 1962), pp

102-4.Kaske in particular notes that egging can prevent the hero's consideration essential to his success.

78 p. 149. 36

human than superhuman, and the genre thatof epic rather than pseudo-history. However, cf. the treatment of the Fer Diad episode (told partly in poetry) cited above a n ddiscussed

more fully in the next chapter. 98 A point often noted; see J.E. Caerwyn Williams, The Poets of the WelshPrinces (Cardiff,

1978), pp.21-3, 25-8. For this reason Jarman's conclusions concerning the relative dating of

the Cynfeirdd and the englynion poets on the basis of the greater sophistication of the latter (p.149) must be suspect. 37

THE LLYWARCH HEN POEMS

EARLY W E L S H S A G A POETRY

Another important difference, also related to genre, is that the englyn cycles

consist of poems in character, and the character i n every case is not a bard.* This

gives the poet a new persona and release from the strictures of court panegyric."

detracts from his main theme, but rather reinforces it. Through the composition of the marwnad, a m o n u m e n t w h i c h will outlast the b i t t e r n e s s of the way in which it

was earned, the poet clearly upholds the heroic ideal.

Just as the narrative background allows the poet to introduce themes a n d attitudes

inappropriate in an official court poem, the use of a narrator allows fora more personal and lyrical expression. Although the englynion poems remain influenced by bardic and literary conventions, there is perhaps an element from personal

experience or traditional keens for the dead. At any rate, there is a closely imagined identification with the speakers in the best of the poems.The poignancy of deep emotion shows the other side of heroism, loss. This element is not lacking in court poetry-it is found in The Gododdin- but the form of panegyric calls for stress on the lasting good a n d glory heroism brings about.

Llywarch's seeming rejection of fame in the final stanzas, then, is based on his characterization. If, as suggested above, he realizes that in trying to achieve glory for himself through his sons he has actually violated basic aspects of the heroic

code, his rejection of glory wrongly won is conceivable. His two statements, after all, a r e built around his central confession of guilt, drwy vyn tauawt llesseint. While he may have deceived himself into believing that he drove them for their own good, the death of his final s o n s h o w s that the path he followed led to disaster.

Complete rejection of fame, if this is indeed Llywarch's attitudeand thatof the poet, would be a radical departure from h e r o i cethics, and one which does not appearjustifiable g i v e n the overall heroic t e n o r o fthe p o e m .H e r eagain, character-

ization is important. The marwnad draws apicture of a genuinely sorrowful and distraught father. It is convincing for Llywarch to overreact once he sees his folly and fault, and go to the opposite extreme of rejecting all he has ever valued in repentance.?2

In the end, however, it is heroic virtueswhich prevail in'Marwnad Gwên'."This triumph of heroism is all the stronger for having originated, like the sacrifices in The Battle of Maldon and Le Chanson de Roland, in human folly and tragedy. A-l though Gwen's choice, forced upon him by Llywarch, is a bad one which leads to the workings of fate, his conscious decision to accept this fate and fight bravely within its s t r i c t u r e s restores his self-determination. It would have been better for Llywarch to have allowed his sons to seek glory for themselves as their consciences

Full Poems to Llywarch'sother Sons The internal evidence o f'Marwnad Gwen' indicates that all the remaining verses to Llywarch's sons chronologically should precede the dialogue and marwnad discussed above. It is by no means certain, however, that this is the order of composition (some, in fact, are patently later). It is also doubtful that all these other

poems were ever incorporated into a long and continuous saga concerning Llywarch. Possibly the story of Llywarch as a unfortunate man bereft of sons in his

old age was established in some form before the episode about Gwên was com-

posed. This, however, is the central episode of Llywarch's relationship with his

sons, and the only one which allows for dramatic development in Llywarch's

attitude and situation. It seems very likely that the popularity of the poems about

Gwen may have led to composition of further verses with a storytellingelement (as opposed to the obviously antiquarian beddau and listing poems)." This cannot be proved, but it may be significant that despite the codifying of the list of Llywarch's

sons, much of it in the form of beddau stanzas, Gwen is the only one of Llywarch's

sons ot appear in the Black Book of Carmarthen collectionof beddau stanzas." This

suggests that at the time the collection was made Gwên was the only one of

Llywarch's sons known in story, or at least well-known.% The poems to Llywarch's other sons fall into two classes: those which are full poems with a narrative p u r p o s e and antiquarian listing poems, almost invariably

consisting of a single stanza. Some, however, are difficult ot classify and may be

stray verses from longer poems. They provide some evidence of the natureof Llywarch's story, how it grew, and its popularity, but they also provide a warning that even the material found in the White Book/Red Book collection is far from uniform.

and circumstances dictated. But although they were wrongly impelled, t h i sdoes not diminish the real value of their heroism. The poet's acknowledgment of the complexity of t h e heroic life and m a n ' s ability both to m u d d l eand excel in no way 9 see CLIH, p. Ixiii.

59 B B C 63-9, ed. Jarman, LIDC, no. 18,discussed with translation andtext by ThomasJones, The Black Bookof Carmarthen Stanzas of the Graves' [BBCSG], PBA 53 (1967), pp.97-137 9 Taliesin appears in one poem, but in a dialogue witha non-poetic character - he is clearly n o tp i c t u r e d a s i t s c o m p o s e r .

19 This does not necessarily mean the new persona is an alter ego of the poet. Llywarch is a character inh i s own right, and there can be little d o u b t that h i s attitudes are not those of the P o e t .

The latter also includes collections from post-medieval manuscripts (Series III), and beddau

stanzas culled from the RB saga englynion (Series Il). No certain names or verses from the Llywarch cycle apppear in Series Ill,either. ATalan and Llawr, names attested for twoof

Llywarch's sons (see below), however, are found i nthe BBCcollection.Sinceboth are with-

out a patronymic it is not certain that these two are the same heroes named as the sons of Llywarch or that the c o n n e c t i o n w i t h L l y w a r c h(if t h e r e is one) is original.

9 There may also be an element of traditional wisdom in these lines; cf. the proverbs R B 1065gwell ychydig gan rat. no llawergan afrat 'better a little with grace than muchwith evil'; BBC 107 gnaud guydi gormot eissev 'common after too much is want'; Llan 52, p. 122, ychydig

% It i salso suggestive that the collection is fairlyrepresentative of one made at an early

' Delfryd', p. 145. 39 As Jarman notes, Y

separate title

att ddoeth 'a little for the wise.'

38

period, despite the temptation to add to this type of catalogue verse. Some beddau stanzas to

Llywarch'ssons appear elsewhere in the BBC (including a different one to Gwên) u n d e ra 39

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

THE LLYWARCH HEN POEMS

The longer poems, like 'Pyll' and 'Maen Wyn' noted above, generally seem to

On the independent figure of story identified as or with one of Llywarch's sons.

conform to t h e characterization of Llywarch and the nature of his story found in the two poems about Gwên, but they are not without problems. 'Pyll' fits very comfor-

tably into the tradition established in the opening poem, although the details given are very slight.

As noted above, the character of Llywarch is consistently

presented, particularly his pride in his son's warlike activity and his far- reaching fame. The lack of emotional response to Pyll's death makes this marwnada good foil for 'Marwnad Gwên', and this may perhaps have been the author's intention. The rather more frequent allusions to Pyll than other sons in the antiquarian verses, however, might suggest there was a more developed tale about him.?

'Maen Wyn' presents Llywarch behaving in a manner very close to that in his dialogue with Gwên. Such poems as this about his treatment of his elder sons would make Llywarch's behaviour with Gwen clearer though the history of the o t h e r s can be deduced from the Gwên poems. Unlike Pyll, however, there are more

definite hints of astory about Maen. Stanzas 1through 6s h o w Llywarch inciting Maen to the fight, concluding with his aside on how easy it is to do so. It is difficult to fit in the information given in stanza 5:

other hand, a storyteller may have inventeda further role for him apart from demonstrating Llywarch's typical treatment of his sons in the saga. The o n l yother poem of any length to one of Llywarch's sons is the marwnad to Mechydd mab Llywarch, 'Llym awel' stanzas 31, 32, 34, 36. The text follows a poem which is possibly unconnected, and has miscellaneous material interspersed. fI

the first part of the poem does concern Mechydd it would be an example of afull tale built around one of the sons. The problems of the poem are considerable, however, and these verses are discussed with the rest of the poem in chapter .5

The miscellaneous antiquarian verses raise problems of the origin and relationship of material to t h e main body of Llywarch's saga. They suggest a long period of

composition, additions, and compilation of lore.Since they are not primarily narrative, discussion of this material si best left until after examining the othertwo major poems which indicate something of Llywarch's story.

The Poems of Old Age

Maen w y n n medyr di yn gall. a n g h e n kyssueil a r wall.

keissyet uaelgwn uaer arall. The provocation in the first four stanzas seems to be designed with an eye to having Maen fight along the border, like Gwen. Llywarch boasts that in h i syouth nyt erdit vyn tir i heb waet and ny thorrei gesseil vyn teruyn. This verse, on the other hand, seems far more concerned with problems o fdiplomacy in the court of Maelgwn (Gwynedd, presumably). It may be connected with the clear trace of a story found in the final stanza (a story evidently with ahappy ending for once): Boet bendigeit yr aghysbell wrach. a d y w a w t o d r w s y chell.

maen wynn nac adaw dy gyllell.

It is, of course, impossible to reconstruct in what way the knife came in handy. It is not a typical weapon of warfare; its use in some intrigue m i g h tbe more likely.98 While stanzas 1-4 and 6 appear to be relevant to the t a l eof Llywarch and how he

lost his sons, stanzas 5 and 8 suggest a separate and quite different type of story about Maen. This again gives ahint of the complexity of materialgathered about the figure ofLlywarch which might better be termed the Llywarch cycle rather than

his saga. It is also suggestive ofthe development of the saga. The connection with Maelgwn's court is an odd one, and probablyanachronistic. A separate cycle about the deeds and deaths of twenty-four warriors would provide a very loose framework for both additional compositions and attraction of o r i g i n a l l y unrelated material to the cycle. The M e n of Maelgwn's court may have been originally an

The poems concerning Llywarch's sons can be placed chronologically before the poems about Gwên, and the two remaining lengthy poems clearly post-date Gwên's death. Apart from that it is difficult to place them in the saga of Llywarch,

and it is possible that the two poems represent alternative versions of Llywarch's

old age. If, however, the two belong to the same conception of Llywarch's story then the poem given the title 'Gwahodd Llywarch i Lanfawr' (The Invitation of

Llywarch to Llanfawr') in Canu Llywarch Hen Va l m o s t certainly s h o u l d c o m e first.

Init, Llywarch is said to be wandering in search of a refuge. In the other, 'Cân yr

Henwr' ('The Song of the Old Man'), advanced bodily infirmities keep him tied to his established place of refuge. 'Gwahodd' is found in three manuscripts, but two are demonstrably copies of the oldest, NLW 4973a." Although the poem is not found in the White Book/Red Bookcorpus there is every reason to accept that it is an early poem and that it was incorporated into the cycleof poems about Llywarch a ta nearly date. It would seem to be the ultimate source forTYP65 'TriTrwydedavc Llys Arthur', suggesting it had

a fairly central place in the saga, as do the later traditions connecting Llywarch with

Llanfawr. 10 'Gwahodd' consists o fa dialogue between Llywarch and a horseman,

9 As noted in the section on manuscripts at the beginning of Part I thereare traces o fBlack

Bookof Carmarthen-type orthography ni this poem. Ford's suggestion (Poetry, p. 23) that

this poem is an antiquarian forgery of lolo Morgannwg obviously cannot be accepted because of the date of the manuscript. His observation that the tone of the poem isfar

different from the WB/RB poems is open to interpretation. His chief objection is to the precise topographical references, but these are not alien to saga englynion (although more common in the antiquarian verses), witness Canu Heledd.

10 The triads collected in Trioedd Ynys Prydein are a mnemoniccatalogue o fheroes and

79 Cf. CLI 40, 41 and 'Enwev' 6.

9 Stanza 7 is difficult and may not belong to the poem or cycle about Maen. tI is the only versewithout his name. For traditions about Maelgwn Gwynedd see Bromwich, TYP,pp. 338 40.

40

storyepisodes grouped ni threes underan epithet. They provide importantallusions toa

wealthof medieval Welsh tales, most unfortunately lost. For further information on dating, origin and function see the Introduction to TYP by Rachel Bromwich. 41

THE LLYWARCH HEN POEMS

EARLY W E L S H SAGA POETRY

possibly named Llallog (see t h enotes). The second to last stanza may be an interpo-

Hen wyf fi nith oddiweddaf

lation, the final certainly belongs to the dialogue with Gwên. Llywarch has two stanzas for each one of the horseman's. A l t h o u g hall nine stanzas of the dialogue

marw v r i e nangen arnaf

[rol im gussyl cwdd archaf

are englynion milwr the ornamentation of the verses show them to be an early type. (Long series of milwr verses do occur in early poems; cf. 'Cân' 2-12 and 'Geraint'

He knows it is useless to seek aid in t h a tdirection. The next verse also belongs to

2-18.) The d i a l o g u e furthermore i s not clumsy and static like the l a t e rantiquariantype d i a l o g u e s discussed in chapter 5.

Hen. (Both the formal structure of the poemand the content indicate that Llywarch is the speaker.)10 Without waiting for an answer Llywarch rushes on to ask the rider's opinion of what seems to be his o w nplan, based on his limited knowledge

'Gwahodd' is important not only for the information it giveson Llywarch's old age, but also because it links the Llywarch cycle with the U r i e ncycle of poems. (In fact, the position of the poem directly before the Urien cycle supports the genuine-

ness of'Gwahodd' as an integral part of the collection.) The link suggested by close examination of 'Gwahodd', however, is r a t h e rdifferent than that hypothesized by for Williams in Canu Llywarch Hen and other writings about the englyn cycles. He sees Llywarch as t h e n a r r a t o r of the poems about Urien in CLIH III a n dthus a major

Llywarch, although it is mistakenly assigned to the horseman in Canu Llywarch

of affairs in t h e n o r t h :

Ai dy gyssul cyrchu bran can diwg ag argynnan marw meibion vrien achlan

The horseman's response to Llywarch's analysis of the situation is an emphatic:

figure in the story about Urien and his downfall. In the following chapter the

"Na chred Fran na chred ddunawd'. This agrees with Canu Urien in which Brân fab

evidence against this from the Urien poems themselves is discussed. 11 Within the Llywarch cycle, however, there are points w h i c hcontradict this view, particularly from 'Gwahodd'.

LIvwarch, as Urien's kinsman and supporter,couldhave noclose knowledge of the turn of events in the north fi he considered going to Bran. He also can scarcely be the

In for Williams's reconstruction of the saga Llywarch took part in Urien's wars at some point before the deaths of his sons. In the two poems about G w ê n ' s death, Llywarch is already too old to take active part in the fighting, yet the allusion to

Urien's gift of ahorn to Gwên suggests that the last of Llywarch's many sons may have been with or at least known Urien. Since Gwên is young (gwas) this allows

very little time for Llywarch to go from being a central, heroic figure to an aged non-combatant. In addition, the story of Llywarch and his sons seems to depend

on Llywarch always having been a passive observer, spurring his sons on with

tales of h i s long-forgotten valour. 102 As Gwên retorts in t h edialoguethe witnesses who can prove his tales of prowess are all dead. This would mean a major problem of chronology if Llywarch were to have fought with Urien. But even if it is accepted that the poet could have slipped up on this, thematically it is highly unlikely that

Ymellyrn (probably the same character) and Dunawd are enemies of Urien.

narrator of CU 40 Pwyllei vran uab ymellyrn/ vyn dihol illosgi vy ffyrn, or indeed any of the o t h e r verses in t h e Urien cycle which showi n v o l v e m e n t of t h enarrator with

n o r t h e r n events.

'Gwahodd', then, supports evidence elsewhere for Canu Urien being a separate

cycle, related to Canu Llywarch only in as much as the careers of the two men

overlap in this fashion. Is It might be argued that 'Gwahodd' is representative of a

variant tradition about Llywarch. But even apart from the suggestions that this is the consistent view of Llywarch i n his saga, it is unlikely that the traditionsabout Llywarch could support two such varying strands: one that he was an active participant i n Urien's wars and another that h e was a n old man and helpless victim of the change of power in the north. 'Gwahodd' can be accepted as giving valuable evidence for the n a t u r e both of Llywarch's own saga and that of Urien (discussed

Llywarch's saga had a section in which he played a major role in fightingor that such a story would be added later to the tale of the empty-talking old man. 'Gwahodd' strongly supports this view. Llywarch seems to have been wander-

further in the following chapter).

recognize. By the epithet he is given (cleddyf echel clod vrien) therider must be one of Urien's supporters. 103 Llywarch explains that hehas been reduced to scavenging (2bc) and asks point blank for aid: 'a elli di drwydded i hen' (1c). He is immediately assured of this by the rider, who calls Llywarch by name. Llywarch pitifullyconfesses his confusion, engendered by old age and uncertainty:

lament for his old age, 'Cân yr Henwr'. In the latter heappears to be a neglected

ing, either in north Britain or towards it. He meets a horseman whom he seems to

10 Apart from other matters, the role o f the narrator of Canu Urienas reconstructed below would be i n a p p r o p r i a t e for Llywarch.

102 As Ifor Williams himself notes, see the quote above p. 19, ft. 39. This contradicts his assumption that Llywarch is the narrator of Canu Urien, b u tas noted in the next chapter he often seems rather u n c o m f o r t a b l ewith the i d e n t i fi c a t i o n

The remaining verses of the dialogue explain how Llywarch is to take refuge in Powys, in Llanfawr, which is consistent with traditions found elsewheremaking

this his final home. This information is not impossible to reconcile with that in the

dependant of a court, b u teven if Llanfawr were a Celtic clas the life of the secular

inhabitants would not be greatly different from that of dwellers in a court. In any case, in 'Cân' he can be said to be receiving the trwydded, free lodging and food,

104 Besides the regular structure of two verses to one, Llywarch's speeches are linked by

cymeriad: in1and2 by the opening Meurygawg marchawg, in 4 and 5by linec (marw vrien,

marw meibon vrien), and in 7 and 8b y incremental variation. The rider's speeches all contain imperatives, and 6 and 9 are linked in line c. Also if this verse is assigned to the rider cussyl

mustbetaken as 'intention' rather than 'advice',a meaning not otherwise attested.

103 The first verse is missing in the two copies of NLW 4973a and therefore does not appear

105Llywarch duringhis wandering attested ot in 'Gwahodd'could bea possiblenarrator

42

43

i n CLIH V.

for the reflective 'Aelwyd Rhegedin the Urien cycle, but there si no direct evidence.

EARLY W E L S H SAGA POETRY

promised in 'Gwahodd' 61 In 'Cân yr Henwr', too, Llywarch states: 'gwyr argoed eiryoet am porthes (1c)', possibly referring to the support of his old age. Argoed is an ill-defined region of Powys which could include the area around Llanfawr, 701 No

obvious contradiction arises from taking 'Cân yr Henwr' as showing the result of Llywarch's acceptance of trwydded at Llanfawr. One piece of evidence which suggests definite interrelationship of the two poems about Llywarch's later life is the refrain-like stanza found at the end of both 'Gwahodd' and 'Cân': 108 'Truan a dynghet a dynget y Lywarch yr y nos y ganet hir gnif heb escor lludet.

This verse appears to be added to the end of both poems as a summary of his misfortune, but too much weight cannot be placed on it since it could be an

addition to one or the other. The two poems relating to Llywarch's life after the

deaths of his sons, like the poems showing his relationship with them, again suggest that a unified conception of the story of Llywarch existed despite the different dates and authorship of the poems. 'Gwahodd Llywarch i Lanfawr' in a narrative fashion presentsa pitiful picture of

Llywarch in old age. In 'Cân yr Henwr' this is augmented by Llywarch's own meditation on his infirmities and loneliness, giving a striking portrayalof the indignities of old age in general while retaining strong individual characterization of Llywarch. The poem is remarkably unsentimental./Llywarch is as he is presented throughout the cycle:cantankerous, self-centred and often foolish. Increas-

THE LLYWARCH HEN POEMS

verseand his theory about the reason for its composition have been raised above; dismissing the negative portrayal of Llywarch is a rather desperate support for his view of the poetry as dynastic propaganda. It is untrue that only in 'Cân' and the

supposedly late 'Gwahodd' is Llywarch pictured as old. Ford's dismissal of

Gwên's retort, ny bu eidyl hen yn was (13c), is unconvincing, a n dat any rate ignores Llywarch's two references to himself as ryhen in the following marwnad (20c, 21c). "° On this point, Rachel Bromwich offers a more balanced view of thedevelopment of Llywarch Hen as a saga figure: Whatever may have been the full significance of this epithet in early times..., it is probable that the epithet Hen as applied to Llywarch had a

formative influence on the shaping of the saga of the Old Manand his sons:

so that in t h eenglynion Llywarchcame to be p o r t r a y e das a querulous veteran

and a typical figure of senility.!

Llywarch's age is an important factor both in the narrativeand the thematic development of the saga. Some of the themes expressed in 'Cân yr Henwr' raise furtherquestions a sto the relationship of this poem, and therefore the saga englynion in general, to the treatment of the same subjects in Latin and in vernacular literatures indebted to Latin.

As noted above, the portrait of Llywarch is in many waysa general one of everyman in old age and as such many analogues exist for comparison. 'Cân yr Henwr' offers a good starting point for testing the often-expressed opinion that the saga englynion have been influenced by Latin poetry, although the results are far from

ingly through the poem, however, he casts off h i sdelusions and displays a brutal

co nc lus ive . 12

self-honesty. Although in many ways Llywarch is even a more unsympathetic figure than previously in the cycle, the hard-edged knowledge he has f o u n dabout himself is redeeming. He regains h i s dignity by the recognition of the indignities

reference to a similar Old Irish poem, 'The Lament of the Old Woman of Beare'. 13

of old age and his humanity by recognition of allthe forces which have cut him off

from human company. In the end he is a tragic rather than a pathetic figure, the lament giving reluctant respect and s y m p a t h y to a man who has been destroyed by

misuse of high aims. Llywarch's old age, then, occupies a central place in the conception of his saga. It is argued above that the basis of his relationship to his sons and therefore his tragedy is his inflated view of h i s long-past deeds i n youth. Patrick Ford, however, in discussing possible dynastic connotations of the epithet hen has suggested that this poem is an accretionto the basically antiquarian material of the cycle which does not present Llywarch as old. I Objections to his definition of 'antiquarian' 106 See J.E. Caerwyn Williams, 'Trwydded, trwyddyd "ymborth"', BBCS 27 (1977), pp.

224-34.

107 Or it could possibly be an alternative name for Powys; for examples see Geirfa.The context of Llywarch's statement, however, is the days of his former martial glory, so porthi in this case could be support in w a r.His allusion to his welcome in the drinking halls of Powys in stanza 2 clearly belongs to the past, so his placeof refuge may not be specified in 'Cân'

108 If it is accepted that the last verse of 'Gwahodd' is intrusive.

109 'Llywarch,Ancestor', pp. 442-50, and Poetry, pp. 24-5, 52-3. He suggests the meaning of

hen as a n epithet is 'ancestor'. Even if this is correct it is obviously used in the cycle as the c o m m o n adjective 'old'.

44

A full study of this question has been made by B . K . Martin, primarily with Martin argues for indirect literary influence of Latin literatureon the two Celtic examples of poems with this theme, although he adds that the Celtic p o e m scould have evolved from traditional forms such as laments for t h edead. Also, given the use of a narrator-persona, it is possible that a perceptive poet could derive his theme and illustrations from personal experience or observation.*

Nevertheless, Martin presents some striking parallels with classical and early Christian Latin poetry. He notes that Horace's Ars Poetica states that the old man is typically:

difficilis, querulus, laudator temporis acti se puero, castigator censorque

10 Ford, 'Llywarch, Ancestor', p.449.

1 TYP, p. 432.

12 Edward Anwyl, 'Prolegomena to t h eStudy of Old Welsh Poetry', THSC 1903-4, p p .74-5; W.J. Gruffydd, 'Rhagarweiniad i Farddoniaeth Cymrucyn Dafyddap Gwilym', THSC1937,

pp. 262-3;I. .L Gordon, ed., The Seafarer (London, 1960), pp. 12-27. The theories on ni-

fluence of classical drama are discussed in chapter 5 and the theories on the Latin origin of the metre are discussed in chapter7.

13 The Lament of the Old Woman of Beare: a Critical Evaluation', Medium Aevum 38 (1969),

pp.245-61

' Martin, 'The Lament', p. 257. 45

THE L LY WA R C H H E N POEMS

EARLY W E L S H S A G A POETRY

m i n o r u m multa ferunt anni venientes

commoda secum, multa recedentes adimunt.

5... 1

This characterization of the old man is found in 'Cân' and it is also centrally important to the course he follows with his sons. Its use elsewhere in the cycle is detached from the elegiac and also from the general. Martin cites two examples of Latin laments for old age cast in the first person with specific reference to 'Cân yr Henwr'. The First Elegy of Maximian, probably a pagan work, has many similarities of detail: the allusions to a splendid and warlike

youth, present infirmities, rejection by society, garrulousness. 1 He also notes

Eugenius of Toledo's Lamentum de adventu propriae senectutis which has similar details, but uses the theme for Christian moralizing on thevanity of worldly goods and pleasures, and the necessity to prepare for a good end. 17 This theme is explicitly presented in Old English in The Wanderer and The Seafarer which make use of contemptus mundi, and also in The Old Woman of Beare' which has definite penitential allusions. Martin makes a valuable point in stressing that these lyrics are far from versified Christian tracts. The renunciation of this world is difficult; t h e narrator character is no inhuman saint o rprophet, but

a human, recognizable individual struggling for peace and reconciliation. I. L,

Gordon suggests that the many similarities between Old English and early Welsh lyrics are d u e to their c o m m o n Christian-Latin inheritance:

It seems unlikely that there were two separate and independent traditionsof

elegiac poetry, one scholastic and one lyrical, in which the old man laments his youth and broods on the death of friends and kin. ... Probably the familiar Christian theme of brevity of earthly life and happiness found its way as part of a floating mass of ecclesiasticaltraditions into the repertoire of poets less learned than the early Christian poets, and in the process the more p i c t u r e s q u e a n d concrete a s p e c t s of t h e t h e m e w e r e s e l e c t e d a n d t r a n s m u t e d

into poetic motifs that have become a part of the furniture of thelyric-elegiac POet. 118

The individuality of the use of these themes, if it is the case, precludes any direct literary models for 'Cân yr Henwr', and with transmission so vague and remote the case is impossible to prove or disprove. The chiefdifficulty is to whatextent, fi any, penitential and religious themes enter into the poem since this would be

expected if there is Christian Latin influence. It is far easier to accept this thesis for 'Claf Abercuawg' and 'Kintevin',° poems which combine lament with specific religious themes. One important element in the Welsh englynion also found in the Irish poem, 'The Old Woman of Beare', andi n

s with narrator's ultimate response to suffering. 'Cân yr Henwr' has some affinitie it is expressed, clearly nowhere is theme religious a Although poems. both overtly the f o many n I poem. the o t background religious a hypothesize to possible religious poems the wretchedness of the narrator is the result of b e i n g cut off

forcibly from all worldly delights. While he does not choose this deliberately, the

similarity to the life of the hermit and the beneficial separation from worldly ties bring sanctificatio nand wisdom through pain. The old man (and thusLlywarch) is

left in a similar state because of bodily disability. Infirmity keeps Llywarch chaste (6, 11, 12, 15, 19), cuts him off from worldly company (5, 18, 19) and generally frees

him from temptations (4, 5, 15). It is true that Llywarch longs for these things still,

but this is a usual feature of the Celtic and to a certain extent the Old English

religious lyrics. Renunciation of the world is only achieved by suffering, and there is not so much contempt for the worldper se as for its poor comparison with the lasting joys of heaven. Although resolution of the conflict might not be expected, lack of any specific

reference to religious themesand reconciliation with God minimizes the possibil-

ity that the theme is p r e s e n t here and casts doubt on the supposed Christian Latin

influences. 10 There is only one reference to God, and that rather perfunctory: am kynnwyssy duw diffret

(9b)

This gains some force however, by obviously being in contrast with his former inclusion i nan earthly paradise:

am kynnwyssit yg kyuyrdy. powys paradwys gymry. (2bc) This assurance of salvation, however, rings odd with the more tentative and anguished pleas for reconciliation with God found elsewhere. In 'Cân yr Henwr' wesee Llywarch suffering and throwing off his delusions. Perhaps it was a prelude

to a final lost poem in thecycle in which Llywarch found peace and forgiveness in the monastic setting of Llanfawr. Did he end by succeeding in 'esgor lludet"?121

Whatever the merits of the suggestion above, the poem repays close attention for the way in which the poet builds sympathy for Llywarch with his unflattering

portrait. Llywarch's deepest reasons f o r sorrow are only touched upon in the poem which dwells chiefly on the infirmities, indignities and deprivations inherent in old age. It is highly unlikely that the poet intended to present Llywarch as selfcentred from first to last, an egoist only temporarily spurred to grief by Gwên's

death. Such a portrait would negate the dramatic development ofcharacter seen ni

the Old English The Wanderer is t h a tthe narrator is presented in the state of neither

rejecting the world nor achieving the peace of God - salvation depends on the

021 I would certainly not go as far ni the opposite direction as Ford, Poetry, p. 37, who sug-

gests it is an anti-Christian approach: '... it is not the tops of mutability t h a tconcerns the

15 'The Lament', p. 253

and poet, not a lament for the passing, rather it is a lament for the loss of valor, protection that 12 Cf. also chapter 3o n the inconclusive end of Canu Heledd. Of course, it is possible didactic any of shorn saga the to returned have might verse religious some of the themes of sort of message, but since the saga poem in character would seem to be a model for this

generosity for which Godcan give no compensation.'

116 'The L a m e n t ' , p . 258.

17 Further examples of conventional Latin poems on old age and worldly vanities are given by Gordon, The Seafarer, pp. 13 4.

18 The Seafarer, pp. 18-20.

ent to reach 'Cân'. poem in Welsh (see chapter 4), it would require a three-fold developm

119 D i s c u s s e d i nc h a p t e r 4

46

47

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

THE LLYWARCH HEN POEMS

'Marwnad Gwên' and would be pointless unless he were heavily censored or

may be seasons and their activities. 12 The Welsh poet's use of the four seasons One

satirized which he is not. On the other hand, i tcan be argued that the poet partially failed in his purpose and lost his sense of proportion in his virtuoso depiction of old age. This is not the usual critical evaluation of t h e poem which is judged to be one of the most effective oft h e englynion poems, both within the cycle and in isolation. A close study of the poem confirms this opinion. The s e n s eof sympathy for Llywarch increases in the course of the p o e m which, as suggested above, may be attributed

in part to his querulous complaints. They are human and genuine, and endearingly consistent with the character of Llywarch. Despite the insight he gained u p o n G w ê n ' s death, it would be unrealistic for Llywarch tot u r n into a s e l fl e s ssaint

on the basis of the experience. His bodily failings, however, lead to increasing

ed above. connected with the classical and Christia n Latin traditio ns discuss = babyhood, spring man: f o life topos i s to compare t h e seasons of the year with the of man's brevity the y mortalit on tions exhorta n Christia summer = youth, etc. In to linked commonly Also 4 1 year. the f o passing swift the by d represente life is often nature with the this t o p s themati cally is the contrast of the yearly renewal of in irreversible course of man's lifetime. Martin p o i n t sout the use of this contrast T h e Old Wo m a n of Beare' a n d d e r i v e s i t from Latin sources, such as the lines from

Draconius used by Columbanus: ver, aestas, autumnus, hiems, redit annus in annum; omnia cum redeunt, homini sua non reditactas. 125

humility a n d honesty which finally dispel the last o f his illusions.

The enumeration of the four seasons and their relationship to the lifeof man may

The poem begins with his favourite illusion more or less intact, the one which has caused the most damage: his glorious youth. Previously Llywarch took unqualifieddelight in recalling his past, but here the glory i sa sharp reminderof his present contrasting state; reality is pushing through. So although the poem opens

November eve, and from the classical year beginning with spring as in the quote above. The purpose of the poet is to highlight the contrast between Llywarch and

with the confidence seen in Llywarch's addresses to his sons: Kynn b u m kein v a g l a w c bum. kyffes e i r y a w c

kein myg ir u y eres.

There is a swift and poignant reference to his dependence in line c :gwyr argoet eiryoet am porthes. It serves to remind too that the natural support of his oldage, his family of sons, are dead. The following two verses in this initialgroup linked by the opening cymeriad, Kynn bum kein uaglawc, also carry on the theme of Llywarch's glorious martial past contrasted with his wretched present.12 He is no longer welcomed in the drinking hall of Powys (2bc), and although once the foremost warrior in the host (on his own account), he complains: 'wyf keuyngrwm wyf trwm

owe something to Latin sources, but theuse of the seasons here is highly original. The sequence in the poem departs both from the Celtic year, which began on

be out of the activities and attribute s of each season, with Llywarch revealed to to autumn from ng progressi harmony with every aspect of the natural cycle. By 1 2 6 . poignant more made and d summer the final contrast is intensifie The p o e t is selective of each aspect chosen to illustrate the season so as to illuminate Llywarch's isolation. Autumn is aseason of fulfilment,of harvest, but also but o f decay. The descriptiv e line, rud redyn melyn kalaf, contains elements of b o t h ,

in a neutral fashion. Llywarch's response is one of negating what he can no longer have: neur digereis a garaf. The negative prefix di- is a unifying element in the next two stanzas, cf. 5c neut diannerch, 6c wyf digarat, and also emphasizes Llywarch's rejection.

Winter can provide amelancholy h a r m o n yof emotions with t h e death of nature,

wyf truan'. The first is a statement of fact, the other two o f emotion. This pattern of wyf plus description is also common in the final section of the poem where the uncomplimentary honesty of the physical and behavioural descriptions make the emotional assertions in the same lines more credible. At this point wyf trwm wyf truan seems part of Llywarch's u s u a lself-dramatization. It provides a link with the

the cold and dark symbolizing man's own end. This grandeur is avoided; it is

closing section, however, and gains depth in retrospect. Also this acknowledg-

hall a n d the shared bed

ment of misery marks the last reference to his prowess in warfare. Other lost

aspects of the life of a nobleman are alluded to, but there i san evident distancing

significant that the descriptive line in this stanza is the only one to refer to the

activities of m a n rather than the natural environment: yt, uyd llauar gwyr ar llynn.

The warmth of rud 'russet' which links the descriptive lines of the other three verses is also excluded h e r e as Llywarch is apart from the warmth of the drinking

spirit of For spring and summer the contrast between Llywarch's spirit and the

the season is implicit. The descriptive line in 7b returns to nature imagery: rud

from the dreams and delusions centred around his martial youth

The second section, delimited by the useof the opening cymeriad, Baglan brenn, is the longest, with t w o s u b s e c t i o n s .Both present concrete details of the wretched-

ness of Llywarch's present life, and his emotional response. The address to his walking stick is a constant reminderof his infirmity and also points up hisloneliness. The first four verses run through the year, giving Llywarch's reaction to the

in chapter .4 A 123 The whole question of the use of nature imagery is dealt with more fully

similar and effective jump from one season ot another ot highlight the mood of the narrator is found i n' C l a fAbercuawg'. 124 Cf. verse 14 below.

125 The Lament', pp. 250-2.

126 The fact that t h ecomparison with the four seasons is in some respectsconventional casts

n GwynThomas's argument that the verses contain accretions, apart from t h e evi-

12 For a more detailed analysis of the metricalstructure of the poem see chapter 7. Primarily for metrical reasons I reject Gwyn Thomas's arguments for the poem's disunity, 'Cân yr Henwr (Llywarch Hen)', AH, p p .266-80. His dismemberingapproach nullifies potentially valuable criticism and also leads to uncharacteristically insensitive analysis 48

doubt o dent unityof the verses metrically and thematically; Cân yr Henwr', pp.273-6. Thedevice

the turn of the seasons instead of retrospectively of presenting the character responding t toGordon calls the selection of the 'more picturesqu e a h w to due be may them on g meditatin and Old English poets. Celtic the y b and concrete aspects' of Latin themes 49

THE LLYWARCH HEN POEMS

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

cogeugoleu ynghwyn. 721 The cuckoo is found elsewhere as a sad-voiced bird whose

Although 1 and 12 are easy to take lightly and 13 is indirect and allusive, the

call to the lonely man is not ah a p p y r e m i n d e rof the c o m i n gof spring, but a renewer

poem from this point increases ni intensity.From stanza11 ot the end there are

of misery. 12 There is no joyful response even to the loveliest time of year. Spring, too, is a time for love a n d mating, but Llywarch is excluded f r o m such activities as w e l l (7c).

In the final verse on the beginning of summer the contrast with the renewal of nature is forcefully, fi subtly drawn. Once again the characterization of the season is drawn from nature: neut rud rych neut crych egin. The furrow is symbolic of regrowth and human energy. This is the third time rud appearsat thebeginning of the description, unifying with warmth and colour. Neut crych egin is followed by a seemingly unconnected outburst: etlit ym edrych yth yluin. The beak shape of the topofhis walking stick is obviously to be connected with t h e s h a p eof the curly new shoots. The similarity, h o w e v e r, is mocking, for the stick is a sterile i m i t a t i o no fthe new plants: it will never grow and is a constant r e m i n d e rof the end of his days. After this outburst, Llywarch goes on to mollify his walking stick which after all

is personified as his only companion and support in the three remaining stanzas of the baglan brenn series. The cymeriad links suggest that stanzas 8 and 9 have been reversed: the properorder shouldbe 9, 8, 10. Besides praising thepersonified stick, Llywarch describes himself in the third person. This contributes to the effect of honesty in the description, as does the brutal f r a n k n e s sof two of the descriptions

in which he calls himself 'llywarch lleueryd uodawc' and '(L)lywarch (lauar] pell'. This may refer to the babbling of old age, but ti also might describe his constant recitation of his heroic deeds and the former malevolent action of his tongue for in this context he also calls himself hen hiraethawc.

The honest descriptions of the decay of old age are continued in the next few verses. Stanzas 1 and 12 are incremental variants of each other, and as in several other instances Llywarch c o m p l a i n s that his days of s e x u a lactivity and attractiveness are over. Alliteration of t h e last word of one stanza to t h e first of another links stanza 12 to 13, 13 to 14, a n d 14 t o15.129 The subject m a t t e rof stanza 13 is also closely

related to 11 and 12, although it is presented in an allusive, gnomic fashion. The wind and the stag are lively despite winter (unlike the winter of his life). The stag, in fact, is noted forits sexual activity.130 The h u m a n gnome31 in line c is alsorelevant

only two stanzas (15, 19) which do not have hen or heneint in them. The poet still uses the technique of contrast of Llywarch's past and present state to show his suffering, but the straightforward references to old age are more frequent and

emphatic.Stanza 14, the famous verse on the leaf, however, seems to be the turning point in the poem:

Y deilen honn neus kenniret gwynt. gwae hi oe thynghet. hi hen eleni y ganet.

This gnomic verse enhances our sympathy for Llywarch. Because it is gnomic, it

shows that the specific lot of Llywarch is one which shouldbe pitied in all men Also, Llywarch obviously identifies himself with the leaf, but his pity here is not simply self-pity - the lament is extended to t h e fleeting order of all things. The final

section returns to Llywarch's specificcomplaints,yet their impact is broadened by

the universal allusion in the gnomic stanza. 132

As n o t e d a b o v e this c o m p a r i s o nof the life of m a n w i t h nature is well-attested in

classical and Christian Latin literature. While the natural cycle of renewal is in contrast with the lifeof man the individual in the cycle, like the leaf, i scomparable. Perhaps the closest parallel is in Psalm 103 verses 15 and 16: Homo, sicut foenum dies eius, t a n q u a m fl o sagri sic efflorebit.

Quoniam spiritus pertransibit in illo, et non cognoscet amplius locum suum. This The psalmist goes on to contrast transitory man with the eternal mercy of God. is typical of the difference of use of this comparison in the poem and in its putative Latin sources. The theme of transience a n ddecay of nature is nearly invariably used to draw a moral conclusion, and is often linked with the ubisunt theme.One

can compare the use of similar imagery ni the Old English wisdom poem, Solomon and S a t u r n :

to Llywarch's situation and almost certainly containsa sexual pun: eidyl hen hwyr y dyre. His movement is slow and difficult leaning on his stick (cf. RB 971, EWGP III.Sc hwyr hen. hawd y ordiwes). Dyre, however, can also refer to sexual arousal which would fit well with his plaint of the previous two stanzas.

721 See the notes to the poem for rejection of Gwyn Thomas's proposed emendation to this line.

128 See chapter .4

231 This verse appears ni the gnomiccorpus,EWGP IV. 10, ni agroupoffourmiscellaneous

unlikely that the stanzas attached to a poem having Gnawt as i t sopening formula. It seems 'Cân yr Henwr', pp. original setting is in this or another gnomic poem as Gwyn Thomas,

the basis of a supposed link between 12 and 15 (12c . . . a gerynt gwraged/ 15a A gereis ...). If

270-1, argues,seeing this as yet another 'interpolation' ni the poem. Apart from thecymeriad links and the function suggested for theverse ni the poem, i tshould b enotedthat

130 See Jenny Rowland, 'Englynion Duad', JCS 3 (1981), note to III. 136. 13 Gnomic statements concerned with the activities and attributes of man rather than

ion Duad'IV.) Thegnomic statements are also more straightforward: one would expect

129 However, Gwyn Thomas, 'Cân yr Henwr', p.279, argues that 13 and1 4are additions on

additions are tobe sought stzs 1 and 12 are more likely because of the late features in their language (see chapter 7), but they may havebeen reworked and modernized. nature.

50

in the gnomic although gnomic, Llywarch's address to the leaf is not typical of stanzas with ideas only rarely poems. These are usually a collection of unconnected observations, stanzas of 'Englynextending across two lines. (The only exception would be the first three

something like hen deilen flwyddyn ygenir, with no elaboration on the wind or its fate. 51

EARLY WELSH S A G A POETRY Ly t l e h w i l e

leaf beod grene:

donne hie eft fealewiad, a n d forweorniad,

feallad o n e o r d a n w e o r d a d to d u s t e . д а de fyrena a r

Swa donne gefeallad lange lastad. .. Besides spelling out the moral conclusion, the comparison with the life of man is explicit and the use of the plural destroys individual identification. Sympathy, however, is not intended here so there is no emotional charge to the description of nature. It is a commonplace in medieval poetry in general to exhort the audience to

turn away from the fleeting and passing things of this life and to put trust in eternal God. It is possible that the Welsh poet expected his audience to make this connection with his metaphor of t h e leaf, but even the application to the l i f eof man is left

inexplicit. The primary function of the verse, however, must be the evocation of

sympathy for Llywarch and humanity in general. fI the verse is indebted to Christian Latin tradition and not simply an independent use of nature imagery, it a c c o r d s w i t h G o r d o n ' s t h e o r y o f t h e I v r i c t r a n s f o r m a t i o n of c o m m o n t h e m e s in i n s u l a rv e r n a c u l a r l i t e r a t u r e s .

Perhaps relevant to an undercurrent of penitential themes is the fact that the verse is followed by another in which Llywarch speaks of his forced renunciation

of former pleasures (15). They are now described as cas 'hateful things' because they are not suitable for him - a useful ambiguity. These pleasures are not suitable for a man approaching death in a religious context, but as the previous verses suggest Llywarch's renunciation stems from bodily infirmity rather than convictions. The Old Woman of Beare, however, also regrets her past pleasures from which old age has removed her, and it is primarily the failure of the joysof this world which turn her thoughts to the enduring joysof heaven.134 The three things loved in youth, now cas and shunned, are contrasted to four things always hateful to him, coughing, old age, sickness, grief, which have come to him. (There is considerable play in the final section on desired things which do

T H E L LY WA R C H H E N POEMS

contrast of his state to his honourable past position made in line b here evokes

wyf truan, balanced by wyf sympathy rather than exasperation. His statement conditio n.

tridyblic is accepted as an accurate assessm entof his

The use of wyf + adjective in stanza 18 is rather different, and provides the

strongestsuggestion of Llywarch's new disillusionment. The first again is factual wuftridyblichen, but the remaining examples would be abusive fi not sustained by

the tone of honesty and detachment. Llywarch describes himself as annwadal drut

«fickle and foolish', chut 'silly' and annwar 'troublesome. This is echoed in the

closing verse of this section 20c wyf annwar abar I' am a quarrelsom e carcass' with

al coming back to the root cause: wyf hen. There is a harshness here which suggests contempt not only for his decrepit body. His acknowledgment of foolishness may be an acceptance of blame for his previous behaviour, inpart explained by his age

although Llywarch does not claim absolution on that score. His first chain of strongly negative description is followed by one whichonce more evokes pity by not asking for it: y sawl am karawd nym kar. He cannot be referring to his family, but it is his mode of behaviour as well as his physical decrepitude which has placed him outside the society he once had and is responsible for his loneliness. His lackof lovers (19a)might be expected as his age, but lack ofanycompany (nym kenniret neb) is aharsh punishment. Without dramatization, but with light irony, he i n c l u d e s death among the welcome company w h i c hdoes not visit him (19c).

Although many of Llywarch's complaints are petty, this final section with its urgency and honesty allows us to accept that his foremost griet, t h e unnecessary deaths of his sons, is one not directly alluded to until the end:

N y mdygret na hun na hoen gwedy lleas llawr a gwen.

an introduction to the closely-linked sequence in 17 to 20. The final line, in fact,

Despite increasing physical decline, old age can be blessed, but Llywarch's misery is fed from other causes. His uncompromising character and mistakes led to his misfortunes, yet his honesty here and genuine sorrow restore a full measure of sympathy. The refrain at t h e end is a fitting close for a poem which seemed to deal

anticipates the pattern seen in that section in which undeniable physical descrip-

largely with other matters:

not come toh i m and undesired things which do.) These two unified verses serve as

tion (pas, heneint, heint) is mixed with emotional description (hoed) in a way which gives credence to the latter. It is with these mixed statements of fact and emotion t h a t the poem builds to its

passionate and effective conclusion. Stanzas 17 and 18 arealmost totallycomposed of phrases on the pattern wyf + adjective. Stanza 17, like 16, mixesthe factual and subjective, giving balance and weight to each: Llywarch is old (hen) and he is

lonely (unic). He is annelwic oer, 'shapeless and cold' or 'shapeless and sad'. The

Truan a dynghet a dynget y lywarch, yr y nos y ganet.

hir gnif heb escor lludet. His fate is that of classical tragedy: a fatal flaw in his character which leads to

misplaced strivings for greatness. Like all tragic figures he is not lovable, but his

lament shows nobility even in his castigation and denigration of himself.

133 'For alittle while a leaf is green, then it turns yellow, falls to earthand decays, becomes

Antiquarian Lore and Miscellaneous Verses

also the Exeter Gnomes, 25b-26, which has identification with nature, but no application: beam sceal on eordan leafum lipan leomu gnornian. 134 Martin, 'The Lament', pp. 254-5. Cf. Gerald Murphy's edition, Early Irish Lyrics [EIL)

The main outline of Llywarch Hen's story is recoverable from the poemsdiscussed above. As noted, however, the material is susceptibleto additions and expansions. The story of Llywarch in its broadest outline can be demonstrated to have been

dust. So fall they whose evil lasted long before. . . . Ed. Shippey, Poems of Wisdom, p.92. Cf.

(Oxford, 1956), No. 34, stanzas 2, ,4 6, 8 , 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 20, 23. 52

53

THE LLYWARCH HEN POEMS

EARLY W E L S H SAGA POETRY

Gorev [t]rywir y dan new y a m d i f fi neu hadew pill. a seliw. a sandew.

popular throughout the Middle Ages and beyond, although it was probably not derived directly from the White Book/Red Book englynion. During this period additional compositions were made, though on a much smaller scale than the poems of the cycle. The main bulk of the material is a n t i q u a r i a n rather than narrative in nature, verses which classify and codify Llywarch's other sons. Some of

Tri meib llywarch. tri aghimen. kad. tri c h e i m a d a w l a w e n . lev. ac araw. ac v r i e n .

theses o n s may be new creations and other m a y be local heroes brought into the

saga tradition. Codification can also be seen ni the genealogical records, particularly ni the tract Bonedd yr Arwyr. Later literary activity is confined to a small body

of 'floating verses', consisting of a few new compositions and a few adapted from the old corpus which nevertheless suffice to preserve t h eoutline of the tale. A few

of these late compositions have a prose introduction attached. Finally, indirect

evidence for the Llywarch saga exists in various sources both from t h eMiddle Ages and early modern period. The antiquarian stanzas to Llywarch's sons are clearly different from those with

a narrative intent discussed above, although there are some borderline cases,

perhaps attracted to the cycle from other saga sources. 511 The material is found in two main collections: (1) n i n e stanzas in the WB/RB corpus following 'Pyll' (CLIH 1.40-8) and (2) twelve stanzas in the Black Book given the title 'Enwev meibon llywarch hen' (CLIH VIII). 136 T h e title of the latter suggests its intended catalogue nature, but the material is problematical. Four verses appear in a poem found earlier i n the manuscript, and are not antiquarian (stanza 10, in fact, does not even have a proper name in it). Two of the stanzas (6, 12) are found in the miscellaneous

It is likely that the two manuscript collections represent the remains of several different catalogues. Each has 15 names, but only three are common to both. The miscellaneous nature is also emphasized by the last verse quoted above which has

beenderived by error from thesons o fCynfarch in the Welsh versions of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum, demonstrating how late these antiquarian cata-

logues in general may be. 1 Probably if more verses survived the total number of

sons would be more than twenty- four as in the genealogical lists. (It is undoubtedly accidental that by eliminating the three spurious names and allowing for the slight overlap the total in the two series combined comes to twenty-four.) I talso

suggests that rather vague local heroes may have been added to fill out the ranksof Livwarch's sons.

Most of the antiquarian verses conform to the usual cataloguing method for heroes in beddau stanzas, undoubtedly appropriate for Llywarch's warrior sons. One, CLI 43, is also triadic, and may come from another listing poem of the sons done in beddau stanzas:

Bed gwell yn y riw velen. bed sawyl yn llangollen.

verses in the WB/RB collection. As shall be seen below, the Black Book collections

has some late features and may be the eclectic compilation of a single scribe of englynion relating to, or thought to be related to Llywarch. It is suggestive of a paucity of material available to the compiler. A few other antiquarian verses,

chiefly beddau stanzas, are interpolated into the text of various poems (such as stanza 23 in 'Marwnad G w ê n 'and stanza 37 i n 'Pyll').

The most clearly antiquarian verses consist of rudimentary versification of lists o f n a m e s as i n CLI 42:

gwercheidw llam yr bwch lloryen.

Most, however, follow the usual fashion in beddau stanzas of celebrating one or two warriors.

As even a cursory examinationof the beddau series will show,these stanzas have an elegiac and lyric tone despite their essential catalogue function. In isolation, therefore, a stanza may s e e mto have a saga background. In the c a s eof those with

Maen a madawc a medel d e w r w y r diyssic vroder. selyf heilin llawr lliwer.

An interesting triadic pattern(strangely enough rare in the antiquarianenglynion) is seen in three verses, one found in both the WB/RB collection and the BBC, and two in the BBC only: Goreu trywir in ev gulad

y a m d i f fi n ev treuad. eithir. ac erthir. ac argad.

135 Antiquarian and didactic englynion in general are discussed in chapter 6. 136 'The Names of the Sons ofLlywarch Hen'. 'Enwev meibon'may not be complete. It is on the last page of the manuscript which is darkened as if used as a cover. On t h eother hand, the miscellaneous nature o fthe material may indicate the last page was filled out with

strays.

54

typical beddau opening formulae, such as CLI 41 Llyma bed. ,.. 44 Bed. ,.. the seeming narrative and lyric element i s not proof that they were taken from poems to the sons; it is more likely that they were composed on traditional models for the listing poem.138 This is supported by CLI41 which celebrates Pyll but is not found in his marwnad. The t w o o t h e rpossible beddau stanzas are less standard. A second beddaustanza

is found for Gwên in the Black Book. This is an irregular four-line stanza and is probably a late composition. It is not surprising, then, that it does not fit into the classic patterns. Stanza 9i n the Black Book concerns a lamentover a grave, but does not follow typical beddau forms:

137 Rachel Bromwich, 'CLIH.viii.3 (= BBC.107, 10-12)', BBCS 17 (1957), pp. 180-1; TYP, p. 423. F o r t h e d a t eo f t h eW e l s h t r a n s l a t i o n s a n d t h e s e l e c t i o n o f n o m e n c l a t u r e s e e B r y n l e y

Roberts, ' T h e T r e a t m e n t of P e r s o n a lN a m e s in the Early We l s h Ve r s i o n s of Historia Regum

Britanniae', BBCS 25 (1973), p p .282-4.

138 See further chapter 6 on the origin and function of the beddaustanzas. 55

EARLY W E L S H S A G A POETRY

Diaspad a dodir ygwarthaw Iluc vynit. o. d u c h p e n bet k i n l l u c

meu gerit. mi ae goruc.

Cynllug occurs in the Bonedd yr Arwyr list of Llywarch's sons, but it is also a common noun meaning 'champion, warrior'. The last line is ambiguous. Ifor Williams takes it to be Llywarch's confession that he caused the grave to be, but it

could refer simply to the cry.1 The list of sons, with mistakes such as Deigr (from

talan teleisty deigyr 'Talan, I presented you with tears') and Rhut (from Bed rud neus cud tywarch 'sod covers a red grave') shows every sign of having been ineptly culled from themiscellaneous stanzas, and is not independent evidence. 1*° It seems equally likely that a verse concerning an anonymous warrior or unknown Cynllug has been brought in here because of its similarity to the other types. It is by no

means certain there was apoem to Cynllug m. Llywarch in the early cycle.

The collection, in fact, shows signs of being late, possibly later than the original

written collection of p o e m s f r o m t h e cycle. As n o t e d above the n a m e s in one of t h e

triadic verses cannot be earlier than c. 1200 and the grave stanza to Gwên i n'Enwev meibon' seems to replace an earlier one found elsewhere in the manuscript. Also, as noted above, none of these verses appear in the extensive collection of beddau stanzas in the Black Book, a n d only one son of Llywarch, Gwên, is mentioned in

that collection. This suggests that the activity of listing and codifying and even creating additional poems is later than the composition of the main cycle, and probably later than the tenth century at least.

The remaining miscellaneous verses, too, often have only tenuous claims to be

remains of poems in the Llywarch Hen cycle. Certainly 'Enwev meibon' 7, 8, 10

and 1 which come from the Black Book poem 'Llym awel' show that this is a possibility, with some reservations. One, as discussed in chapter 6, is that 'Llym

awel' itself consists of a t least twop o e m s and interpolated additional stanzas, only

one of which, the marwnad to Mechydd, belongs certainly to the Llywarch cycle. Also the scribe himself may have chosen verses from the one poem relating to Llywarchreadily available to him to flesh out his collection of 'Enwev meibon'. All four appear in the second half of the collection. It should be n o t e dthat in both the BBC and the WB/RB collection the vast m a j o r i t y of n a m e s(9 out of 15 and 12 out of

THE LLYWARCH HEN POEMS

(The latter appears ot be corrupt.)No names appear ni either, so any identification

with the Llywarch cycle depends on the reliability of the collector. Lyrical and emotional verses such as these occur sporadically in the beddau series and in

gnomic poems.

The final verse in the BBC collectionalso appears in the WB/RB (CLI 45), suggest-

ing greater authority for the association with Llywarch. tI si similar ni tone ot the two quoted above:

Pell o d y m a n aber lliw.

pellach andwy gyfedliw. talan teleisty deigyr hediw. 1 As in many beddau stanzas both a place-nameand a personal name are found. The list of Llywarch's sons, however, mistakenly names Deigras the son, presumably from line cof this stanza, although Talanoccasionally appearsamong the additional names. It is somewhat doubtful despite the manuscript evidence whether the stanza was originally associated with the Llywarch cycle.The elegiac tone is aty-

pical of Llywarch; cf. the exulting tone of CLI40 which seems to have abetter claim to being a composition from the cycle:

Na phyll na madawc ny bydynt hirhoedlawc or dewawt a getwynt. rodyn na rodyn kygreir vyth nys erchynt.

The beddau stanzas which name undoubted sons similarly lack this elegiac tone and concentrateon the glory won in life (41, 43, 44; 'Enwev' 1). The character of Llywarch is consistently presented in this manner even in late sources, with the exceptionof the marwnad to Gwên, an exception which proves the rule. Also here the narrator disclaims all guilt saying pellach andwy gyfedliw, a statement unlikely for Llywarch. A Talan Talyrth appears in the BBC beddau series. Perhaps there was

an englyn poem o rcycle about him, especially since line b hints at a story. The two stanzas to D w and the two to Cyni similarly do not seem appropriate

for Llywarch to narrate. The two concerning Dw seem to require a narrator from among Dwg's host although the situation is far from clear:

15, respectively) come from the catalogue-type stanzas and these all are found in

Eryueis i win o gawc.

the opening verses. The collection becomes even more miscellaneous when those resources are exhausted.

ief a r a c w a n rac r e i n w c .

In the BBC collection thereare two remaining stanzas, elegiac in tone, which may

esgyll gwawr oed waewawr dwc.

Ediuar genny pan ym erchis. dwc.

nat gant u [ry]d r e w i s .

come from saga poems:

kynny dyuei hael hoedel mis.

Handid haus im achuisson

The statement that the narrator drank D w g ' swine is more suitable for a retainer than a father; cf. CA 174 Neut eryueis yued; RB 584 Eryveis i o wino wydyrgwynngan

oe a d a v a r lan a w o n .

y gid a Ilv ewur. lluydon.

rieu ryueldegynn, etc.This is supported by the description of Dwg as a generous

Tarv trin ryuel a d u n . cledir kad kanvill. o gimu n ren new ruy a e n d e d hun.

lord (hael) in line c of the second verse. Dwg m. Llywarch appearsin the Gwynedd

genealogiesas seen above, but the B o n e d yr Arwyr list h a sthe more common name

Dwywg. These stanzas may have concerned another Dwg later attracted to the

139 CLIH, p. ixix.

10 See below for names mistakenly taken from the poetry in later lists. 56

1 The BBC version is more corrupt (stz 12). 57

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

THE LLYWARCH HEN POEMS

Llywarch material because of the similarity of names. On the other hand, it is equally possible that an independent Dwg in this period of codification was incorrectly identified as a son of Llywarch. In that case the link in the Gwynedd genealogies with Dwg m. Llywarch would represent alate and false tradition. This

by a woman (frauenlied) such as are found elsewhere ni the early Middle Ages, often in marginal notations ? The two stanzas even in their isolation have an

accords with the relatively late first a p p e a r a n c eof Dwg in the genealogies, but the

tent.

basically uncaring parent. Could these two verses be asnatch of love-song spoken

appealing directness, but no firm conclusions can be made concerning theircon-

material is not extensive enough to prove any hypothesis. The last stanza in this WB/RB group to Cyni forms a pair with an englyn interpo-

lated in The Gododdin:

Later Com posi tion s

Atwen leueryd kyni. pan disgynnei yg kyfyrdy. penn gwly]r pan gwin a dyly. Ket bei cannwr en vn ty atwen ovalon keny. penn gwyr tal being a dely.

(CA XLVII)

The englyn appears to have been copied into The Gododdin text d u e to another

interpolation, an a w l referring to the rescue of Aneirin from prison by keneu uab llywarch dihauarch drut. " Keny is the form of the name given in the Bonedd yr Arwyr list of sons, probably standing for Cyni, but Kenev alsoappears among the additional names found in some manuscripts. Llywarch, however, is too common a name to b e certain that a son of Llywarch H e n is intended in the CA awdl, and the

Bonedd yr Arwyr lists are dependent on the poetry collections." The incident appears to be from some s o r t o f saga tale about Aneirin which has not survived. It is

interesting in this connection that in the poem 'Llym awel' the hero is also engaged

on an expedition to rescue Owain m. Urien from prison. This type of story is common, and may have mythological origins as discussed in chapter 5.14 It is unfortunately unclear whether the BBC poem was originally part of a cycle about the deeds of Llywarch's sons. The similarity of the two stories and t h eclear nor-

The collections of material concerning Llywarch and his sons in the major medieval manuscripts as we have seen may include material from the early Middle Welsh period. There is evidence that interest in the saga continued into the modern period, with some occasional compositions being added to the corpus. Mostof the material, however, isdisassociated from the early englynion. Additional evidence for the popularity of the saga includes genealogical compilations, references in the triads and medieval poetry, later single verses with an attached tale ('chwedl un englyn'), the 'floating verses' found in sixteenth and seventeenthcentury manuscripts, local traditions and folklore.

Llywarch, but not his sons, is found in the earlier genealogical tracts among the men of the north. At some stage, possibly quite a late one, a link through Dwg m. Llywarch with the family o fMerfyn Frych in Gwynedd was recorded (or invented) as discussed above. Bonedd ySaint, a medieval c o m p i l a t i o n ,a t t r i b u t e sone saint to

the family, Buan m. Ysgwn m. Llywarch Hen. Ysgwn is otherwise unknown. 16 It was common practice to give saints prominent ancestry, and the names themselves ('Swift son of R e a d y ' ) look suspect. Several late tracts i n c l u d e d e s c e n d a n t sof

Sanddef Bryd Angel m. Llywarch Hen, including the mother of Madog ap Mere-

dydd, 7" the mother of Cynan ap lago'$ and the Ilwyth of Llywelyn Eurdorchog. 941

thern interest in each at leastsuggests that Llywarch and his sons were familiar in

Sanddef Bryd Angel isa character associated with the battle of Camlan; in Kulhwch

northern traditions and may have had other types of stories told about them although the cycle as we have it now seems to be a We l s h composition.

yghamlan rac y decket pawb a debygynt y nod yn engyl canhorthwy (WM 462). 150 A

While a case forCenau as a n early attested son of Llywarch can be made the case for Cyni is less certain. As in the two stanzas to Dwg the narrator in the stanzas to Cyni is inappropriate for Llywarch who is never presented as being extraordinarily o r even moderately sensitive to the feelings of his sons. The ability to pick one voice out of a h u n d r e d a n d to know the heart of another in a situation w h i c hdoes

ac Olwen he is said to be one of the three survivors: ny dodes neb y wayw yndav

similar tradition is found in the late tract 'Pedwar Marchog ar Hugain Llys Arthur'. 15 A late englyn also mentions Sanddef in connection with Arthur; see chapter 5. In a similar late Arthurian story about Drudwas m. Tryffin the englynion attached are attributed to Llywarch although he i s not mentioned in the story. If the identification of Sanddef Bryd Angel as a son of Llywarch was general it might be

not allow for intimate discussion is an attribute of lovers rather than a proud, but 15 See Peter Dronke, TheMedieval Lyric (London, 1968), chapter 3; EIL nos. 35 and 54, Frank

O'Connor and David Greene, A Golden Treasury of Irish Poetry: AD 600 ot 1200 (London, 1967), p. 112, nos. 4 and .7 61 EWGI, p.57. Ysgwyn (= Ysgwn?), however, appears among the additional names in a 21 CA XXX. See Jackson, The Gododdin, pp.50-1; Morfydd Owen, 'Hwn yw e gododin: aneirin ae kant', AH, pp. 139-40 143 Jackson, The Gododdin, pp.21-2.

small group of manuscripts; see EWGT, p. 149.

17 EWGI,p. 96.

143 EWGT, p. 100.

14 Aneirin'sprison is underground (en ty deyeryn CA 543, ogarchar anwar daear 558)a n da

place of death (o gyole angheu 559). The descriptions suggest possible influence of otherworld imprisonments. 58

19 EWGT, p. 115. 150 See Bromwich, TYP, pp. 161, 506. 15 Edited and translated ni TYP, p. 251. 59

EARLY W E L S H S A G A POETRY

expected to fi n d an attribution of the englyn to his father, in later times believed to be a famous englyn composer (see below). A Sanddef appears in the catalogue poems and in the Bonedd yr Arwyrlist, b u tthe distinctiveepithet is not found there. The identification appears to be late and suspect,as are the genealogical links. The main genealogical activity concerning Llywarch, however, seems to have been antiquarian, the codification of the names of his sons, particularly in the Bonedd yr Arwyr list so often cited above. Thegreat majorityof the names of this list (16) can be found in the WB/RB miscellaneous stanzas, including the two ghost figures obviously culled from these verses, Rhut and Deigr. An atypical version from Mostyn 110 with many of the phrases connecting names in the verses shows especially clearly how the codifiers drew on the poetry:

henwae meibion Lhywarch hen: pyll, Self aSandef. Eithyr Erthyr a cargad

tri chennyat aflawen llew araf ac Vrien tarw trin, mechydd, run araf or drud

arall kynlluckyndylic. talan heilin maenwyn m e n amadawc A medel. Selyf heilin l a w liver gwen sawl lIvrien. (p. 170)

While this list primarilydraws on the Black Book, the version in EWGT of Bonedd yr Arwyr has only three names possibly from the Black Book: Mechydd (no. 4), Dilig (for Cynddilig, no. 10) and Kynllug (no. 22). This i s probably not direct, however, since it is difficult to explain the omission of other names found in 'Enwer meibon'. Of the WB/RB names only Talan is omitted because of the misinterpretation of d e i r in the verse about him as the name. No. 7, Nefydd, is not found in the poetry, and no source suggests itself. For Gorwynion, no.24, however, several possibilities exist. Two miscellaneous stanzas in Canu Heledd (73, 74) name a Gorwynion who apparently was associated with Edeirnion. They may have been incorporated into Canu Heledd from an independent source because of the reference to Gorsedd O r w y n i o n in CH 80. 152 If a p o e m o rc y c l eabout Gorwynion existed

independently, Canu Heledd may not be the immediate source. The poetry in

Canu Heledd, however, may have b e e n attributed to Llywarch in the later Middle Ages. Cynddylan is named as Llywarch's s o n in the additions to the list (no. 27) and

in one of the 'floating verses' discussed below, but no further names appear to be drawn from Canu Heledd.153 Llewenydd (no. 23) is difficult to account for. In Canu Urien 2c llewenid l u y d Ilywiif, llewenid might have been taken as a personal name, but this seems rather an obscure source. Ifor Williams notes two place-names Llywenydd near the Dyfi. 154 Since place-names are a source for s o m eof the personal names, this may be the case here. 15 The additional names from Pen 129, 128 and 75 in Bartrum's edition are mixed in

origin. Talan (28) probably comes from a proper reading of the line cited above. Gwawr (32), as a common noun 'lord, champion', could be derived from CLI 46

THE L LY WA R C H HEN POEMS

reiesgyllgwawr. Number 31, Gredwal, could eb for the attested personal name G ni dawl,but both greidawl and greddfawl occur as descriptive adjectivesfor heroes d. Ist not survive poetry, so the source may be a misreading of a verse which has Kynddylan (27), Kynvarch(29) and Rreged(30)areobvious errors; allthesenames can be found in the WB/RB corpus. The additional names found in Llan 187 and Cardiff 36 are primarily derived from local onomastic tradition except for Vrien

and Ysgwyn. These names will be discussed below with other local traditions.

The named sons from all sources makes a total of well over thirty, and suggests

that the lists were made by several methods: combing through the poetry for names, borrowing names from local traditions andgrafting heroes onto the family from othersources. tI is therefore highly unlikely that the list indicates a lost story for each son as is sometimes suggested. Other medieval references to Llywarch, primarily in antiquarian sources, indi-

cate like the genealogical compilations that interest continued in the tale, although sources from later periods sometimes suggest little familiarity with the englyn cycle itself. The triads name Llywarch three times! in circumstances which sug-

gest knowledge of the poetry. Noneof his sons, however, appear ni this catalogue

of story figures. In TYP 8 Llywarch is named with Manawydan mab Llyr and

Gwgawn Gwron as one of 'Tri Lledyf Vnben Enys Prydein'. This epithet si glossed

in the White Book: 'ac y sef achaus y gelwit (y) rei hynny yn lledyf unbyn: orth na cheissint gyuoeth, ac na allei neb y ludyas odunt'. 15 Dr Bromwich points out that this

of gloss was probably inspired by the behaviourof Manawydan in the thirdallbranch t h r e e . 159 the Mabinogi, and thus cannot be taken as evidence for the stories of

(Llywarch, in fact, is presented as a type who would definitely fight for his rights in the cycle.16 The epithet leddf 'bending, prostrate', however, is appropriate for Llywarch if translated with Dr Bromwich 'subdued by misfortune'. It is consistent with the englyn cycle, although sufficient details are not given to be certainthat the cycle, and not someother version of the tale, is the source. TYP 65 and its close variant TYP 77, on the other hand, appear to be directly inspired by the englynion. The first triad names the 'Tri Trwydedavc Llys Arthur, a ThriAnuodavc: Llywarch hen, a Llemenic, a Heled.' (TYP 77 has 'Tri Anhy(v)odavc

Llys Arthur' only.)161 Since it is likely that the formula Llys Arthur has replaced the more neutral Ynys Prydein as in many of the triads, the use of twyddedog suggests

156 Unless it is from CU 5a, 6a Vryen reget greidyawl.

157 TYP 76 also names him, but the names in this triad appear to be taken from TYP 7 by mistake

158 Bromwich, TYP, p. 14, translates: 'And this si why those were called 'Prostrate Chief-

152 If Gorsedd Orwynion was a well-known funeral monument the source could be local tradition of the burial place of a hero rather than the poetry.

153 The ignorance o f Cynddylan's true patronymic so frequently used in Canu Heledd sug-

tains: because they would not seek a dominion, which nobodycould deny to them. 159 Bromwich, TYP, pp. 14-5. Afurther discussion of lleddf ni this triad is given by Eurys

Rowlands in a review of T Y P,LIC 6 (1961), p p .231-2. His claim for ninth-century political

significance of the term as applied to Llywarch depends on whether the Gwynedd genealo-

gests the source is not direct knowled ge of the poetry. 154 CLIH, p. 113. 15 Some of the BBC beddau stanzas also turn place-names into heroes; Thomas Jones, BBCSG, pp. 109-10.

gical link with Llywarch is that early. I am personally unconvinced since it is so counter to

60

61

Llywarch's characterization in thecontemporary saga. See alsoBromwich,TYP, p.531

160 CLIH, p. Ixx.

16 TYP, pp. 172-3, 197.

EARLY W E L S H SAGA POETRY

familiarity with 'Gwahodd Llywarch i Lanfawr'. 1 2 Theliterary background of the triad is also shown by the inclusion of Heledd and Llemenig. Two verses about Llemenig are found in NLW 4973 with the additional stanzas about Heledd, but

they are not sufficient to reconstruct his story. Anvodawe 'wandering' is a suitable epithet for Llywarch at one stage of his story and for Heledd. Nothing in Canu Heledd, however, clearly suggests that she found refuge. Because Llywarch was the best-known figure, it is possible that on the basis of literary similarity the fates

THE LLYWARCH HEN POEMS This does, however, raise the problem that most bardic references to Llywarch

are inappropriate. His old age is pictured sa honourable and desirable, and in general ti is he, not his sons, who is described as a redoubtable warrior. One exception si in acywydd by Dafydd Llwyd o Fathafarn who compares his patron killed in battle to Llywarch's sons: Da wrei fodd, du ar farch Un llaw â meibion Llywarch. .

of the other two were classified with his. 1 (They were perhaps already grouped under the epithet anuodawe.) Both this and the use of trwyddedog as an epithet would point to t h e englyn cycles as a source. A later reference occurs in the poetry of lolo G o c h :

A man of good custom, dressed in black on a steed, like the sons of Llywarch...

Llywarch as warrior and blessed old man is found in an allusion made by Einion m. Gwgon:

Llywarch Hen llawen oll wyf

Trwyddedawg, treiddio'dd ydwyf.161 I am ac o m p l e t e l y h a p p y Llywarch Hen, given hospitality, I make visits. This is probably taken from the t r i a d rather than directly from 'Gwahodd Llywarch i Lanfawr' since a n y o n e acquainted with the poetry would find the comparison

rather unfortunate. The allusions to a gift of a gown or cloak to Llywarch made by Lewys Glyn Cothi and Ieuan Du'r Bilwg also appear to b e derived indirectly from the tradition of Llywarch's twydded, with some indication of Llywarch's needi-

ness. The former says i n a cywydd of thanks for a cloak: 'Oerach wyf noLlwarch Hen', but the implied relief of the gift of acloak is confirmed by the latter's reference to 'gwn Llowarch'. 165 As seen before, in the other major antiquarian catalogue, the Black B o o kof

Carmarthen 'Englynion y Beddau', Gwën is the only certain figure from the Llywarch cycle included. The catalogue poem 'Englynion y Clyweit' includes

Llywarch among the people (and sometimes animals as the rhyme requires) to whom proverbs are attributed: 166

Llywelyn boed hyn boed hwy dichwein. (H 52) no llywarch hybarch h y b a r kicwein.

May Llywelyn be older, may his course be longer than respected Llywarch, able with spear.

Similarly, Dafydd Benfras refers to Llywarch's martial glory: Gruffydd arfeu rhudd rydebygir Greid barch i Lywarch fab Elidir.

( M A 225a)

Gruffydd of the red weapons may be compared

to Llywarch son of Elidir of respected passion. 165

lolo Goch's reference to Llywarch cited above ignores the loneliness of Llywarch's trwudded a sdescribed in 'Cân yr Henwr'. It is impossible to believe t h a tthis aspect

of Llywarch's old age was unknown by the poets - apart from the evidence of the englynion it appears in much later sources. Usages suchas the following by Tudur Penllyn suggest that Llywarch's name and epithet provided a convenient comparison for praise poetry:

A glyweisti agant Llywarch

Oes hir i'r feinir aur fyd, I H u woes Lywarch hefyd. 169

oed henwr drut dihafarch:

oni kyfarwyd kyfarch. Have you h e a r d what Llywarch

who was a brave undaunted elder sang?

If there is no acquaint ance, greet.

Since the catalogue is of proverbs, not heroes, the proverbs assigned and the epithets have little significance, the c h o i c ebeing d e t e r m i n e dby the rhyme-word of the proverb. 162 Traditions about Llywarch at Llanfor were known later, but the term twydded is not m e n t i o n e d in t h i s c o n n e c t i o n .

163 Bromwich, TYP, p. 173; CLIH, pp. Ixx-Ixxi. Cf. the theory that Llywarch's story was sub-

sumed to Manawydan's given above. 164 Cited in TYP, p. 173.

165 See Lewys Glyn Cothi (Detholiad), ed. .E D . Jones (Caerdydd, 1984), pp.93, 178, and Dafydd Huw Evans, 'leuan Du'r Bilwg (fl. c. 1471), BBCS 33 (1986), pp. 108, 118. 16 Seechapter 6. Ed. .T H. Parry-Williams and Ifor Williams, BBCS 3 (1926), pp. 4-15. 62

Long life to the girl of golden lifestyle, and to Huw thelifespan of Llywarch too. In wishing their patrons long life, Llywarch provided an alternative to the longlived characters of the Bible often used for this purpose. Bardic allusions to

Llywarch's martial prowess, however, are more difficultto explain. Possibly comp a r i s o n s w i t h h e r o e s o f f o r m e r t i m e s w e r e d r a w n w i t h o u t a n yc l o s ec o n s i d e r a t i o n

167 Ed. Leslie Richards, Gwaith Dafydd Llwyd o Fathafarn (Caerdydd, 1964), no.59, p. 133. 163 Cf. also the later Robert Ifans, in a marwnad to Sión Tudur: Bi fab a'i a e ref i barch Ym mlaen llu, mal hen Llywarch.

Gwaith Sion Tudur I, ed. Enid Roberts (Caerdydd, 1980), p.901.

961 Ed. Thomas Roberts, Gwaith Tudur Penllyn ca leuan ap Tudur Penllyn (Caerdydd, 1958), 10.53 4, p. 18. Cf. also the lines by Dafydd ab Edmundcited i n TYP, p. 432. 63

E A R LY W E L S H S A G A P O E T R Y

THE LLYWARCH HEN POEMS

of individual stories. Every man from that period might be considered a warrior unless given a more specific attribute. 71 This would n o tnecessarily contradict the

Dr Bromwich has shown that the first references toLlywarch himselfas apoet are found ni the works of Guto'r Glyn who speaks of 'Llywarch Hen a'i awd! Wên dlos' (Llywarch Hen and his lovely awdl ot Gwen) and calls him one of the tri ofer-

earlier conclusion that the original cycle never depicted Llywarch as a w a r r i o ror

intended it to be understood that his past was as glorious as he himself made it out to be. Although there i s some evidence that at least the Gogynfeirdd were familiar with the englyn cycle, the more popular outline of the tale was probably better known, both to themselves and their audience. The tradition of Llywarch's valour, therefore, could come from accepting the character's own claims in the englyn cycle uncritically or from the simpler versions of the tale which present Llywarch as a bold warrior without the dramatic ironies of the englynion.

fardd." The first reference definitely showsthat Guto'r Glynlooked upon Llywarch as the author of the monologues and dialogues ni the WB/RB collection. * On a less exalted note, about the same period late-type gnomic poems were

being attributed ot Llywarch, but more often to his 'son', Mabclaf apLlywarchor

Maerclaf. I This name again suggests some familiarity with the collection (it is

taken from 'Claf Abercuawg') and the ascription of the gnomic verse is probably due to the similarity of the two types of poetry. The late prose story of Drudwas ap

An exception to the usual poetic citations of Llywarch and h i s sons is found in a cywydd by Sir John Lleiaf (fl. c.1480), printed in YGenhinen 18 (1900), p. 143, and

Tryffin has one or sometimes two englynion attached in the manner of the late

cited by Elissa Ruth Henken, Traditions of the Welsh Saints: 17

Beuno gynt yn bena gwr. ..

the verse is attribu ted to him. The most important collection of poetry attributed to Llywarch in the later Middle Agesand early modern period was a small body of verses, some derived from the WB/RB corpus, and some later compositions. These I have termed the

ag Elen ddwys galon ddig Fe'rGyndrwyn farchog windraul* Fwyd tri yn fyw eu traul.

scripts. 17 Although corrupt, the v e r s e sa r esufficiently varied to preservethe main outline of the Llywarch tale. The following tale from an anonymous early seventeenth-century chronicle shows the type of tale which may have circulated with the 'floating verses' and was probably largely extracted from them and a few

Porthi'r oedd p a w b wrth raid. .. A thros ben ar a h e n y w y n t y porthes dair gormes gynt Llywarch hen a llu menig

*recte ferch Gyndrwyn as the cynghanedd proves Beuno as am o s t excellent man formerly.

Fed everyone as was needed... A n d besides those w h o were named

He fed the three oppressions of old:

Llywarch Hen and Llumenig And sad Elen of the grievous heart, Daughter o fCyndrwyn, a wine-expending knight, Their co n s u mp t io n while alive was food for three.

This reference, however, appears to depend completely on a literary, antiquarian source. The version of the triads in Pen 47 and Pen 185 and the lost manuscript of Sion Balmer gives the names from 'Tri Anhy[v]odawc Llys Arthur' (TYP 77) for'Tri Engiryawl Ynys Brydein' (TYP 76). This error is not confined to here sincePen 7

chwedl un englyn (see chapter 5). Although Llywarch si not mentioned in the story,

'floating verses' because they are found together or separately ni severallate manu-

other antiq uari an sour ces: 17

..arthwr at laste Slywe Riculphus a n dmany of his pepolland soeoptayned

the v i c t o r y eand wasted the country with fyre and s w o r d eand ceassed not to

warre vntill he hadd subdued vnder his obieysans a l lDenmarke Sweden and all the north conntreyes even vnto Lapland and retorned by poland panonia and bohemia which he subdued and made a noble brytton called Ilwarch hen kinge therof as by diverse boockes of bryttyshe petigrees appeareth which doe call llowarch hen kinge of b o h e m i a .T h i sIlwarch hen was

sonne of Elidr llydanwyn sonne of meyrchion gyl this Llowarch was one of the 3 cheef connsellers of kinge arthwr in all his weighty affayres. This Ilwarch hen had 30 sonnes most valiente gentlemen and t w o doughters as appeareth by the booksof petigrees all which dyed a n dspente their lyves in t h e w a r r e sb e f o r e t h e f a t h e r d y e d a s b y a c e r t e n m e t t e r y e t e x t a n t e m a d e b y

the said Lowarch hen him self appeth which is as followeth

adds to the other version of the triad, 'Tri Trydedavc Llys Arthur, at h r i Anuodavc'

(TYP 65), a' thri gwenwyn ai gormes y. p.. Llemenig and Heledd are given as Llum-

enig and Elen there also making the manuscript copied by Thomas Wiliems in Pen

7 alikely source for the cywydd. The type of gormes 'oppression' seems to have

been influenced by the tradition of their receiving twydded and apparently com-

bined with astory about Beuno feeding three greedy consumers. 271

' Cynfeirdd a'r Traddodiad Cymraeg', BBCS 26 (1966), pp.34-6, e d . Dafydd Bowen, 173 Y Barddoniaeth yr Uchelwyr (BU] (Caerdydd, 1959) 17.49. See chapter 7 for t h e lines o n the

oferfeirdd and discussion of the term. By the time of Guto'r Glyn the tradition may be learned, based on the reading of manuscripts rather than bardic traditions 174 Bromwich, 'Y Cynfeirdd',p. 36. Nothing in the miscellaneous stanzas or 'floating' verses could be d e s c r i b e d as 'awdl Wên'.

170 Also the Urien englynion w i c h have an active narrator may have been thought to be a

part of the Llywarchcycle in thelate Middle Ages as it was in modern times. 17 (Cambridge, 1987), p. 83. 172 See H e n k e n , Traditions, p. 82.

64

175 For examples see Mynegai i Farddoniaeth Gaeth y Llawysgrifau, YBwrdd Gwybodau Cel. . Addl. Ms. 14878to taidd (1976), pp. 2416ff. and 2476ff. The attribution of a riddle in BL Llywarch, however, is not found in the manuscript. 176 There are possibly more examples to be found than those manuscripts cited below.

Minor variants in readings are notnoted

17 Dingestow 8, NLW 526a D, pp. 438-9. The author is an imaginative but poor translator. 65

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

THE LLYWARCH HEN POEMS

I mi by kyd bayn haylon abar y byd bod heb ddyn

vy'm hedwar prifgas eirioed 180 a gyfarvu a mi'n vnoed!$

lawer o blant teg llawen

pas a h e n a i n t haint a hoed.

ah e n o vwy ty hynan

Vy newis beth er yn was8l?

which in english is I hadd many worthyliberall yssues The world envyes mi intheir Absens their dememine stoute and full of alcrytye but this daye I am left solitary without comfor from any of them / he made this [ Jeynith vpon

the decease of kynddelw his sonne whose was the laste of them that were

slayne of whom a litle before his deth he compiled this ode Llywarc h

a hedhyw nyd ynt gyfadhas. 18 Lhowarch hen

These verses are again copied in the same manuscripton p.225b. In the margin is written:

Lhowarch Hen a gant y d h a u ynglyn milwr hynn,yn gywreingoeth ystyriol-

kynddelw cadw di rhiw ar y d d el y n a h e d d i w

kydeb am vn mab n i d gwiw which is kynddellow keap thou those rocky strayts from all that will enter-

pryce them to passe it is bootles to love on sonne over muche. because as n o w e All the rest were slayne and a prytty ode he compiled

vpon the dethe of his sonne payn Thus

mor swrth i syrthyodd march payn

y mariand yr grodir graen Ile n i bo migin y fydd maen which vnfortunat y d payns horse himself prostrate on the shore where he mett graves and stones but I perceave w h e rquabmirs are not stones a b o n d e . A n d h i s o d e w a s m a d e b e c a u s e C v n d d e l w i h i s b r o t h e r fell in

a quabmyre and payn on Rocks and s o doth death come one waye or o t h e r

merch y estron183 a march glas

....

The author's connection of Llywarch with Bohemia and Arthur's reign according to the Brut is problematic. It may be longstanding, or the author's own solution to the title 'brenhin boem' sometimesgiven to Llywarch as he says in the genealogical manuscripts. 178 Except for these late antiquarian sources, Llywarch is n o t brought into the Arthurian orbit. The late tract 'Pedwar Marchog ar Hugain Llys Arthur' brings several of the early heroes and later romance ones into a single listing

composition. Llywarch isincluded as one of the 'Tri Chynghoriad Varchog oedd yn

[lys Arthur' a s the chronicle above notes. I? He is probably elevated tothis position

as a famous elder.

Afuller selection of these 'floating verses' with some explanatory notes is found L 31055, apart from h i scopy o f the White Book in Thomas Wiliems's manuscript, B englynion. The verses and their ascriptions give a further impression of the extent of knowledge about Llywarch and interest in his t a l e .The fi r s ttwo i nBL 31055are

by far the most commonly found:

g w y ch Llywarch Hen composed these two englynion milwr, skilled and fine and of excellent sense.

These two stanzas from 'Cân yr Henwr' preserve the picture of Llywarch's lamentable old age. They are easily recognizabledespite some changes. Thesubstitution ofeirioed for older eirmoet (RB) is also found in the White Book and NLW 4973a and a hedhyw nyd ynt gyfadhas for neut natmi e ukyuadas can also be ascribed to modernization of an archaism. The transformation of the first line of the secondenglyn, however, cannot be ascribed to this since the original line is easily understandable even today. The modification turns the englyn into an englyn milwr, the only type found in later, more popular poetry (see chapters 5 and 7). This and more minor

changes suggests a period of oral transmission for the 'floating verses', although the written copies are all very much alike.These two verses are also found together

in Pen 97 (early 17th c.), p. 316, Pen 188, p. 130b (Thomas Wiliems again), Llanstephan 37 (c. 1637), p. 296, B L 14973 (c. 1640), p. 149b, Cardiff 12 (c.1600), p. 166, NLW 12, 395 (17th c.), p. 9, BL 14964 (18th c.), p. 183, and separately in Mostyn 131 (John Jones, Gellillyfdy's Book of Englynion), pp.805, 807, 826 (the stanza entitled 4' prif gas Llywarch' is given twice). They are invariably ascribed to Llywarch Hen. A n o t h e r v e r s e f o u n d in T h o m a s W i l i e m s ' sc o l l e c t i o n a n d e l s e w h e r e i s t h eo n e

drawn from Canu Heledd beginning Cynddelw cadw ditheu Rhiw, etc. It is difficult to see why this particular verse should have been extracted a n d c i r c u l a t e dseparately unless the place-name information sometimes included with it was the reason for antiquarian interest. Thomas Wiliems's note about it reads:

Lhowarch Hen yn rhiwedog wedy Ihadh ei veibion. 24 oedynt. Llywarch Hen in Rhiwaedog after the killing of his sons. There were 24 of

them.

180 WB/RB eirmoet.

18 WB/RB yngyueruydynt yn unoet.

281 WB/RB a gereis yr yn was yssy gasgennyf.

178 See CLIH, p. xxx.

183 WB/RB merch estrawn

179 See Bromwich, TYP, pp.51-3.

18 WB/RB neut nat mi eu kyuadas.

66

67

THE L LY WA R C H H E N POEMS

EARLYWELSH SAGA POETRY

Sion Dafydd Rhys quotes the englyn in his Cambrobry tannicae Cymraecaeve Instivtiones (1592) despite the fact that he also had access to the Red Book englynion (see theintroduction to manuscript sources in Part II.) Hisexplanatory note also gives the situation:

Lhowarch hen ynn y maes yn Rhywedog gwedy trigo ei holh bheibion onyd

Cyndhelw. 185

I had a battle-host, fine in battle, Thirty children, the gift o fGod and his plan. God free from Heaven is the portion: Tonight I am alone. Llywarch Hen in the parlor of Rhiwaedog composed this Englyn Milwr [sic] after losing and burying all his children. He himself died at 160 years of age.

Llywarch Hen on the field in Rhiwaedog after the deaths of all his sons except

for C y n d d e l w.

The englyn and ascription are also found in Harvard Welsh Ms. 8 (17th c.) and in

Mostyn 131 without ascription. Again if compared to Canu Heledd 15 the changes

appear to be those inherent in oral tradition with only nyd yw gwiw for the archaic ny diw explained by difficulty of language. The englyn is possiblyevidence that the Canu Heledd englynion were ascribed to Llywarch as they are in the later reconstructed 'biographies' of Llywarch Hen by Richard Thomas and William Owen-

Pughe. 681 But this inference cannot be supported merely by a stray verse. The extremely poor copy of some verses of Canu Heledd in Llanstephan 53 (c. 1647), however, is attributed to 'kyndylan hen', probably indicating some confusion. 187

The fact that so little of the White Book/Red Book collection - and that nearly all

The age ni the ascription shows the influence of Richard Thomas's 'biography' soit israther unlikely that this moralizing version si testimony for prolonged popular

life for the outline of Llywarch's story. The englyn aboutGwên's horse belongs to the late type called chwedl un englyn by for Williams (see further chapter 5). Mostyn 131 and Panton 1 (copied from a notebook of Robert Vaughan) have the story and englyn; Thomas Wiliems in BL 31055 has the englyn only with the note 'Llywarch am varch Gwen ei vab', 18 The

englyn alone si also copied twice ni Pen 97, and ni Cardiff 83 and Cardiff2. 1069. The

story seems to have originated to explain a place-name, but ti seems to have been

omitted in the exemplar:

Ef a ddamweiniodd Ilad march Gwen ap Llywarch Hen mewn brwydyr yn

from the Llywarch verses - is brought to bear in the popular tradition as exemp-

. . . a gwedi lladd y march ef a las Gwen: agyn hir o yspeit gwedy hynny y

circulated independently of the great medieval collections for the most part in this

mann ylladdessidy march:a cyn ol hynnyy damweiniawddi Llywarch Hen

lified by the chronicle story and 'the floating verses' again suggests that the story later perio d.

The other three 'floating verses' are later compositions, all in the four-lineenglyn metres. The englyn proest given the title 'Am ei Blant' in Canu Llywarch Hen X and quoted above in the chronicle neatly summarizes the tale. It is found twice in BL

31055, in Mostyn 131, Pen 97, Cardiff 63 (c. 1580), Cardiff 83, Cardiff 2.1069, NLW L 14964, and BL 14974 (17-18th c.). It i s also included with variouscopies of 9094, B the Bonedd y r A r w y r list of Llywarch's sons: Pen 128 (16th c.), Pen 129(c. 1500),

Pen 75 (16th c.) and in Lewys Dwnn, Heraldic Visitations ii, p. 242. It is always a s c r i b e d to L l y w a r c h Hen.

A rather different version along the same lines is found in NLW 6967(18th-19th

c.), 'Cell Gymys'. It has an ascription similar to that of the 'Kynddelw' verse: I mi bu cad lu cad lan

T r ideg o Blant rhodd Duw ai blan Duw yn r h w y d d a Nef iwr rhan Heno wyfi fy h u n a n

Llywarch Hen ym mharlwr Rhiwaedog a ganodd yr Englyn Milwr hwn gwedy collia chladdu ei holl Blant yr hwn ei hun afy t a r w y n 160o e d r a n .

troesbwyd pengloc y march yn lle karrec y nsarn dros aber o d d yn emyl y

dramwyaw ar hyd y ffordd honno, ac yno y dyvod gwas i Lywarch wrth i

veistr; 'Rakw bengloc march Gwen ap Llywarch, ych mab chwi.' Ac yna y

kanodd Llywarch yr Englyn h w n n ar y testyn h w n n w :

Mi a welais ddydd i'r march, Ffriw hydd, tafliedydd towarch,

Na sangai neb ari en

Pan o d d d a n We n ap Llowarch. 189

Ithappened that the horse of Gwên ap Llywarch Hen was killed in a battle at ... and after the horse was killed, Gwên waskilled, and a long time after that the skullof the horse was put instead of a stone in a causeway over an estuary near where the horse had been killed. And after that Llywarch Hen hap-

pened to travel along that way, and then a servant of Llywarch'ssaid to his

master: 'Yonder is the skull o f the h o r s e of G w ê n ap Llywarch, your son.' A n d

then Llywarch sang this englyn on thatsubject: I saw the prime o fthe horse with the nose of astag, a thrower of sods. No o n e trampled on his jaw

when he was under Gwên ap Llywarch

The englyn concerning Pan's horse (recte Maen) is very similar, and the account in the chronicle might suggest a similar prose settingalthough there is nothing in that

185 This contradicts t h e tradition that Gwên was the last survivor, but it is also found in the

account which cannot be derived from the englyn itself. Thomas Wiliems's collec-

chronicle account above. In NLW 16129 bedd rhudd is said to be yn y maes yn Rhiwedog.

186 See CLIH, pp. ix-x; Ford, Poetry, pp. 19-20. These reconstructions, however, do not make Cynddylan/Cynddelw a s o nof Llywarch.

17 SeeJenny Rowland, 'The Manuscript Tradition of the Red Book Englynion', SC 18/19

(1983 4), pp. 93-4.

68

183 Mostyn 131 is also copied in Jesus College Ms. cxxxviii (1628). 189 Text from CLIH IX, pp. 31-2. 69

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

tion has the simple postscript, 'Lhowarch am varch ei vab' with: 'Hen englyn am arwdir Evionydh'. In Sion Dafydd Rhÿs's Cambrobritannicae the ascription is:

'Lhowarch hen i bharch Paen ei bhab Pann gwympodh yn Eibhionydh'; similarly Harvard Welsh Ms. 8 'Llowarch hen i farch paun i fab pan serthiodd yn Yfionydd ai dowod'. The interest again seems mainly onomastic. Other onomastic traditions of various dates in fact testify to t h e popularity of the

tale of Llywarch a n d his sons. Like the list of sons in Bonedd y rArwyr they suggest that local heroes or the names of u n k n o w n men preserved in local place-names

were often identified as sons of Llywarch Hen. They also demonstrate in many cases how late interest in Llywarch continued and how late additions were made to the canon of names. The range of place-names, therefore, extends across most of Wales and offers no evidence as to the location of the original stories.

A high concentration of the place-names about Llywarch in antiquarian and other sources (i.e. those apart from the main poems of the cycle) are centred around

Llanfor. One early place-name, however, may testify to the popularity of the story in the twelfth century or earlier in South Wales. The Book of Llandaf names 'Claud lyuarch hen' as one of the boundaries of a grant of land around Llyn Syfaddon given to Llangors abbey in Brycheiniog. 19 If there was a tale behind this name it has not survived. The Llanfor traditions, on the other hand, appear to originate with

THE LLYWARCH HEN POEMS

The sons are associated with more varied parts of Wales as might be expected fi

dislocal lore played a role in expanding the canon. Two of the 'floating verses' d), and a cussed above are connected with place-names (Rhiwaedog, Eifionyd

third si missing in 'March Gwên', atale which has lost its place-name.The beddau stanzas of Pyll, Gwên, and Llyngedwy have no precise topographical reference, but ti is possible that strong local tradition where they were composed rendered could be

verses ti specifics unnecessary. On the other hand, ni these unspecified that the form of the beddau stanza was used ot list heroes without reference ot a place.

Local tradition is generally very important forthe beddau stanzas, however, with One of 195 notable tumuli or cairns often identified as the graves of early heroes,

Evan Evans's commonplace books (NLW 2029, 18th c.) gives what purports ot be local tradition about Gwell m. Llywarch:

Ata place called Rhiwfelen, which lies near the road leading from Llan Egryn

ot Dolgelley,within amile and a half of LIwyn Gwral, isshown the graveof

Gwellone of the sons of Llywarch Hen. That it si reallyso, appears beyond a doubt from the followinglines handed down to posterity by the father of the per son her e bu rie d

vis Bedd Gwell yn y Rhiw Felen

'Gwahodd Llywarch i Lanfawr'. Several references survive to Pabell Llywarch Hen

Bedd Sawyl yn Llann Gollen

near Llanfor, none of which are very early; see CLIH, pp. Ixxxix-xc. The fact that a place with the suggestive name of Rhiwaedog is found near Llanforseems to be responsible for the antiquarian location ofCynddelw's death there in the 'floating verse' cited above; cf. Edward Jones (late 18th c.) in Williams Ms. 111B:191

gwercheidw Llafur Bwlch Llorien.

Pabell Llywarch hen in the parish of Llanfawr near Bala is a circle of great stones, perhaps a camp.

Rhiwaedog, the bloody ascent, where according to tradition a most bloody

battle was fought between Llowarch Hen and the Saxons. All these confirm that Llywarch hen was driven to take shelter in these parts.

This tradition is also probably responsible for the title 'Arglwydd Penllyn' given ot

Llywarch in some genealogical tracts even if t h ereasons for the other titles are far from clear. 19 The Bonedd yr Arwyr list is given the title 'Plant Llywarch Hen o

Benllyn'. 391 Amisreading of an early stone in the church of Llanfor seems responsible for Dwnn's confident assertion: Y ' Llowarch hen yma a gladded yn Llanor ymhenllyn, ag yno mae ei vedd ev; a charreg y mur yr Eglwys a brivia hynny.'19

091 .J Gwenogvryn Evans and John Rhys, eds., The Text of the Book of Llan D a , reproduced by the National Library of Wales (Aberystwyth, 1979), p. 146. 191 Also Pennant's Tours II, p. 203. Lewis Morris in Celtic Remains, ed. Silvan Evans (London, ' Rhiw: cantref in 1878), p. 371, makes a different identification referring to the same verse: Y

Powys Vadog.' (Celtic Remains was finished in 1757.) 192 See CLIH, p. xxx. They include: Brenin Gwynedd, Brenin Cymru, Brenin Boem.

193 EWGT, p. 86. 194 'This Llywarch Hen was buried in Llanfor in Penllyn, and there is his grave; and a stone

in the wall of the church proves that.' CLIH, pp. xxx-xxxi. Dwnn's collections of genealogies date from the late sixteenth to early s e v e n t e e n t hcenturies.

70

The grave consists of two stones placed side ways ta the distance of 14 inches

Mr. Rd. Thomas took a sketch of the grave of Gwell, one ofthe 24 sons of

Llywarch Hen (who all perished in their father's battles) as itappears this 1 day in a place called Rhiw felen in the parish of Llann Egryn.% This tradition is perhaps a late and learned one. for Williams points out that there is another Rhiwfelen about five miles from Llangollen which mighthave a better claim to be the site fi the englyn represents a grouping of three graves in the same

region. (Llam yr Bwch is not identified.)7'

Another bronze-age monument is associated in local tradition with Alarch m. Llywarch Hen and this is independent of the surviving englynion. *I This suggests the tradition was purely local, and probably relatively late. Only two manuscripts

in Bartrum's collection list Alarch among the additional n a m e sand these a d d i t i o n s

show particular interest in onomastic tales. (Among the additional sons in these manuscripts are 'Briw unde Trefriw' and 'Brwyn unde Moel Drefrwyn apud Garthgarmon.') It is likely that the source of these latter two is similar to that o fAlarch. Lewis Morris similarly associates Pyll m. Llywarch with the supposed place of his death in Celtic Remains, p. 368: 'Pyll, son of Llywarch Hen, killed in battle: hence Pylli, nomen loci in Cardiganshire'

591 Thomas Jones, BBCSG, pp. 112-4. 19 See alsoWilliams Ms. 111B,p .49.

197 CLIH, pp. 93 4 19 See CLI, p. xI. The source is discussed below. 71

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

Other place-names contain names whichappear in the Boned y rArwyr list or in the miscellaneous poetry. It is impossible to determine whetherthere is any connection b e t w e e n the p l a c e - n a m eand the name on the list,although the names cited above suggest this is a possiblity. In Canu Llywarch Hen a Lletty Heilyn, Moel Heilyn and LIwybr Heilyn are noted near Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant (cf. CLI 42). 19C a e Heylin is f o u n dtot h e s o u t h of Newton not far f r o ma Brynllywarch; there

is a Pentreheylin Hall near LIandysilio, and a Llynheilyn near Llanfihangel Nant

Appendix to Chapter 1

Melan. The latter names were found in an examination of the border region alone

and indicate the hopelessness of trying to identify which ofthe places supposedly containing the name of one of the sons was the one in which the tradition originated, particularly since in its later development the localization was not exclusively in Powys.200

The 'floating verses' with their attached stories suggest that the outline of the story of Llywarch and his sons was preserved throughout the Middle Ages, probably primarily by means of these more popular compositions rather than the englyncycle. The place-name tradition also suggests interest at a popularlevel, not

merely antiquarian. The most striking example of late survival of the tale comes from the note about B e d Alarch written by William Rowlands for Edward Lhuyd:201 hic etiam est bron & Bedh Alarch, cujus patris Lhowarch benedictio (ft.

Bendith Lhowarch) ironica frequens volitat per ora virum. This appears to have been a proverbial statement as Thomas Wiliems's collection of proverbs (Mostyn 204) shows. He lists both bendith lhowarch hen (p. 19) and mal bendith Lowarch Hen among his proverbs which often include proverbial sayings drawn from stories (such as Dianc ogad gamlan, Cyn edifared ar gwr a ladhodh ei vilgi, mal corn pres Owain, mal ychen Bannog, etc.) It is easy to see how Llywarch's blessing would be taken ironically if one is familiar with the englyn cycle. But no hint of Llywarch's taunting of his sons is found in the late stories about Llywarch. Either fuller versions were i ncirculation, or, as is more likely, the typeof tale found in the englyn cycle or the cycle itself enjoyed a long enough vogue in the Middle Ages for bendith Llywarch Hen to come into popular folklore. The Llywarch Hen cycle, then, is both typical and exceptional. Anyone dealing with the englynion must pay particular attention to these poems. The material is

Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts Theoldest surviving collection of genealogical tracts is the one found in Harley Ms.

3859 [HG], written .c 1100, but believed to be a copy of a compilation made c.955 to support the claim of Owain m. Hywel Dda to the greater part of Wales. 202 The

genealogies which appeari n Historia Gruffydd ap Cynan, written .c 1170,are im-

portant for showing the link between Gwynedd and the men of the north. However, some of the genealogical material couldbe lateradditions.30 The earliest manuscript is mid-thirteenth century (Pen 17). Jesus College Ms. 20 [Jesus 20] was written in the mid-fourteenth century, but the Old Welsh orthography of the names points to an exemplar pre-dating 1200. It appears to be a South Walian

compilation.2 Boned y Saint [ByS] may be an early medieval collection although most of the manuscripts are late. 205 Bonedd Gwÿr y Gogledd [BGG] from Peniarth 45

(late thirteenth-century) is probably the most important tract for the study of the early heroes, but its schematic form has called its validity into question. 2 Bonedd yr Arwyr [ByA] is later, and has antiquarian additions. It is almost exclusively concerned with traditional heroes and figuresof story. 207 Critical analysis of genealogical material in recent years has concentrated on the way in which genealogical claims can be used in semi-tribal societies to give

legitimacy to rule. Discrepancies, conflation and additions can reveal as much of the historyof a dynasty as a trustworthy record of descent. This approach, however, has been used with less success with Welsh material for two main reasons. One is the relative scarcity of early Welsh material, particularly in contrast to early Irish where the critical technique has b e e n used convincingly to elucidate t h eearly historical record. 20In Welsh s t u d i e sconclusions d r a w n f r o momissions, additions

very extensive b o t h in type and in range of date. While this is n o t true of the other major cycles it serves as a reminder that even t h epoems collected in the White Book

and Red Book are more complex in terms ofauthorship, date and intention than is often allowed for. Such considerations a r eof great importance in the discussion of

the Urien cycle in the following chapter.

19 р.93. 20 For further place-names which might be identified with the lists of sons see CLIH, pp. Ixxxiii, 92-4.

201 See CLIH, p . Ix.The original manuscript is lost, but parts were printed in Arch. Camb. VI

202 Bartrum, EWGT, p.9; Egerton Phillimore, 'The "Annales Cambriae"and Old Welsh Genealogies from 'Harleian'Ms. 3859', YCymmr 9 (1888), pp. 144-5. 203 Bartrum, EWGT,p. 35 201 Bartrum, EWGT, p. 41; Bromwich, TYP, pp.6, 186.

. W. Wade-Evans, Vitae Sanctorum Britanniae et Genealogiae 205 Bartrum, EWGT, p. 51; A (Cardiff, 1944), p. XVII

206 See Bartrum, EWGT, p. 72; Bromwich, TYP, pp. 238-9, cxxvii-cxxx; Molly Miller, 'Historicity and the Pedigrees of the Northcountrymen', BBCS 26 (1975), pp. 256-7; Rachel Brom-

wich, 'The Character of the Early We ls hTradition', Studies in Early British History [SEBH],

. Chadwick (Cambridge, 1959), p. 94. It is discussed further in the next chapter. ed. Nora K 207 See Bartrum, EWGT, pp. 75-80, and 'Bonedd yr Arwyr', BBCS 18 (1959), pp. 229-52.

(3rd series) (1860), pp. 237-40. The author has been identified by Frank Emery, 'A New Account of Snowdonia, 1693, written for Edward Lhuyd', JNLW 18 (1973-4), pp. 405-16. He gives the text and translation.The author wasinterested in scienceand appears to have had little knowledge of Welsh literature.

208 For discussion and references to the major Irish works see Kathleen Hughes, Early Christian Ireland (Ithica, New York, 1972), pp. 161-2. Criticism of someof the Welsh studies is

72

73

given in the following chapter.

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

and conflation of names are usually based on a single instance. Given the scope for purelyscribal errori n this type of writing one instance isnot sufficient to establish deliberate tampering. The second main objection to conclusions made by modern

examiners of the genealogies is that the importance of heroic-age figures is not usually assessed properly. Everyavailable evidence indicates that these heroes of the old north fulfilled a role in Welsh national life which was cultural rather than

2

political. Knowledge about them (and genealogical knowledge would be para-

mount) was in the custody of the learned classes and served to elucidate the literature which for some reason was chosen as representative of the heroic age of

The Urien Rheged Poems

Wales.209 The n a t i o n a lc h a r a c t e rof the tradition would certainly inhibit falsifica-

tion of the accepted genealogical information for the service of any one dynasty210 Interest in the heroes of the north need not be, and in most cases probably was not,

motivated by political aims.

Between the main body of the poems of the Llywarch Hen cycle and the brief series

to Maen Wyn is a relatively shortcycle of poems centred around Urien Rheged. The later antiquaria ns accepted this cycle as part of Llywarch's saga, mainly on the assumption that all the poems were written by Llywarch and therefore concerned his deeds.1

It'is possible the medieval copyists included the Urien poems in the midst of the

Llywarch Hen cycle because they believed they wereabout Llywarch. However,

the inclusion can be explained by NLW 4973a in which 'Gwahodd Llywarch i

Lanfawr', the poem which relates the Llywarch cycle ot the Urien cycle, intervenes.

Ifor Williams looked on the poems with far greater critical faculties, but in the end

maintained the opinion that the Urien poems are narrated by Llywarch and concern events in his career. He does, however, express some doubts, as inhis analysis

of 'Aelwyd Rheged': Cefnder Urien (h.y. Llywarch) sy'n cwyno uwch ei gelain yn 4c, ond nid oes dim yn ygân i brofi pwy yw'r ymwelydd i'r aelwyd ddiffaith. Yn y cysylltiadau haws ei wneud yn Llywarch na n e barall.? Contrary to his usual custom he consistently calls the narrator of the poems i nthe Urien cycle 'y bardd'. As seen in the previous chapter, several points argue against taking Llywarch to be the narrator of the Urien poems. This evidence admittedly comes from the Llywarch cycle only, but the two cyclesare notcompletely independent of each other. If the Urien group was composed before Canu Llywarch it is unlikely that the author ofCanu Llywarch would negate an established traditionof Llywarch's story; if the Urien poems are later there is no reason why the author should disregard the picture of Llywarch's past given in Canu Llywarch. The question of the identity of the narrator, fi he is not Llywarch, is of great importance. But this question i sa wider one. Ifor Williams notes the rather disparate nature of the poems grouped together in this section of the manuscript:

209 See Bromwich, 'Character', pp. 95-8, and Kathleen Hughes, 'The Welsh Latin Chro-

nicles: Annales Cambriae and Related Texts', PBA 59 (1973),p . 234.

210 However, as noted above grafts could be made at points for which informationwas scant (i.e. very early or late ancestors) without disturbing the basic genealogies of the heroes

74

1C.f the 'biographies' of Richard Thomas and William Owen-Pughe.Ihave come acrossno

evidence (such as an ascription) for the view of t h e earliest antiquarians such as Robert Vaughan or Dr John Davies, Mallwyd.

2 'Urien's cousin (i.e. Llywarch) si mourning above his corpse ni c4 [actually 21c), but there si nothing in the poem to prove who is the visitor to the ruined hearth. In the circumstances itis easier to make it Llywarch than any one else.' CLIH, p. Iv. 75

EARLY WELSH S A G A POETRY

T H E URIEN R H E G E D POEMS

..gall yr englynion oll ddyfod o un cyfarwyddyd hir am helynt Urien a'i feibion, neu ynteu o geinciau perthynasol, megis ceinciau'r Mabinogi.'

The narratorcertainly is not hostile to Urien judging by the praise he gives him and the genuine sense of sorrow for Urien'sdeath in the lament. His relationship with the dead man also appears to have been a close one. The opening verses of the

Close examination of the poems, however, suggests that Ifor Williams's explanation of their relationship is incorrect; t h e y seem rather to come from two or more

unrelated cycles about Urien. In that respect the Urien poems, unlike Canu

marwnad concentrate on Urien's position as leader of hisarmy and country, but as the lament becomes more intense we are told that he was also the narrator's lord

Llywarch, cannot be truly called a cycle or saga.

(arglwyd 14c) and one who has supported the narrator (17a, 19c). This agrees with

This interpretation is not surprising considering Urien's importance in history and story. Later interest in Llywarch can be explained solely by the popularity of

rather than his political roles. Here again the narrator calls Urien his lord (24c) and

the englyn cycle, but Urien was a central figure in his time. His historical position

offers a wider starting point for later pseudo-historical and legendary matter to be collected around his name. Later in this chapter the question will be raised

whether the englynion and other material reveal different stories about and attitudes to Urien in the early period. First, however, it is necessary to look at the poems with as little prejudice as possible to try t odetermine their narrative background, point of v i e w a n d relationship with each other.

One important group stands out from the rest, and the narrative extracted from this group is usually taken as the story b e h i n d the Urien cycle, with the other poems either ignored o ranalysed with an attempt to relate them to this story."The

best known of these poems is the one given the title Pen Urien' in Canu Llywarch

Hen, so it is convenient to call this group the 'Pen Urien'group. For the moment the

group will be confined to those poems closely linked by verbal repetition and echoes, and from which a coherent and chronological story can be extracted.These poems are 'Pen Urien' (CLIH III.7-19), 'Celain Urien' (20-7)and 'Efrddyl' (30-1). Other poems might be added to this group afteranalysis of themore closelyrelated poems establishes the nature of the story and the narrator; conversely clarification of these points also enables u s to eliminate some poems fromconsiderationa s part of this cycle. It should be stressed, however, that the 'Pen Urien' group is not necessarily the 'original' Urien saga; it represents one cycle from which the copyists gathered material.

'Pen Urien' is undoubtedly the most effective and interesting poem in the Urien collection. It makes extensive use of opening cymeriad and internal repetition not only to link stanzas, but to build u p emotional impact. The poem becomes increasingly passionate towards the end, and a picture of both Urien and the narrator

emerges. As in t h e saga marwnadau in general the narrator praises and mourns the dead Urien, but also laments his o w n fate and loss. As noted in the previous

chapter these saga marwnadau are easily distinguished from the court marwnadau by the character of the narrator and the interest taken in his situation. 'Pen Urien' provides aclassic illustration of this point: the narrator is presented in the process of bearing Urien's severed head from thebattlefield. The key question to the story behind the 'Pen Urien' group is, of course, why?

the information in the following poem which stresses Urien's family relationships

cousin (21c). It is clear by the end of the poem that his action in carrying Urien's head causes great grief to him. William Owen-Pughe first suggested hesitantly that there may have been some friendly reason for the action, and in this he is followed by f o r Williams. The latter's explanation is generally accepted: 'When Urien fell, his men c u toff his head, and the poet bears it away, to save it from insult'.$ Although he calls the narrator 'the poet' here, the assumption that the act must h a v ebeen an a c tof rescue on the part of an ally d e p e n d s heavily on his identification o fthe p o e t / n a r r a t o ras Llywarch. The situation is not impossible, although unattested. It is true that in the Mabin-

ogi Brân's followers cut off his head, but this is for magicalpurposes, not to save it from the enemy.? The englyn cycles, moreover, are almost totally free of the supernatural. The characters are primarily historical, and the events alluded to are plausible in themselves, even if anachronism is common. This pseudo-historical pres e n t a t i o n of past heroes is distinct from the magical events in t h el i v e sof euhemer-

ized gods found in the Mabinogi or the shape-changingand wizardry in the poems

of the legendary Taliesin. Historical events provide a far more likely model here than mythology and legend. Evidence for the display of the severed heads of fallen enemies is abundant, not just among theCelts; a notable example in the early period is the placing

ofOswald's head on a pole a f t e rh i sdefeat at Maserfelth in 642.°Cases where a slain

king's followers had the will or opportunity in defeat to prevent such display by themselves carrying off the head are less certain. Early sources are generally silent on the aftermathof battles. Even when warfare was not for territorial gain, it seems likely that the victorious side would occupy the battlefield for the purpose of

plundering the fallen and burying theiro w n dead. This is the regular formula used for victory in the ninth and tenth century entries in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, ahton walstowe gewald 'possessed the place o f slaughter'.' Plunder would presumably include the heads of the importantdead if revenge was desired or if display would b epolitically valuable.

5 'Poems', BWP, p. 143; cf. also CLIH, p. liv.

N.J. A . Williams takes a rather different view: t h a tthe narrator is Llywarch, but t h a the is

Urien's killer; see below.

sons, or else from related stories, like the branchesof the Mabinogi.' CLIH, p. Iv.

7 In similar Irish tales it is usually the enemy who carry off the magical heads of the defeated and treat them with honour because oftheir powers;forexamples see Anne Ross, Pagan Celtic Britain (New York, 1967), pp. 120-4.

takes the opposite extreme, seeing all the poems virtuallyas unrelated; this is discussed

Mynors, eds. (Oxford, 1969), pp.250-2. It was recovered b yOswiu the following year.

3.%..all theenglynion could come from one long account about the troubles of Urien and his

+ As in CLIH. N.J. A . Williams, 'Llywarch Hen and the Finn Cycle', pp.234 65, however, b e l o w.

76

. . A . B § Bede, Bede's EcclesiasticalHistory of the English People [HE], Bertram Colgrave and R

° Ed. Charles Plummer,Two of the Saxon Chronicles Parallel (Oxford, reissued 1952), pp.68, 77

THE URIEN RHEGED POEMS

EARLY WELSH S A G A POETRY

Some attempt may have been made by the king's bodyguard to bear away the body of their fallen leader. The Battle of Brunanburh (in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle sub 937) exults that one of the enemies of the victorious English, Constantine, was forced to flee leaving his son's body on the field along with many of his warriors.1 This may be a poetic way of expressing Constantine's defeat and loss of the battlefield which does not necessarily indicate that it was usual to carry off the bodies of

important men in defeat." Ifor Williams suggests that the separate burial of Edwin's head at York attested by Bede indicates that his followers' performed this duty for their lord. 21 In view of the s e r i o u sdefeat the Northumbrian army suffered

on this occasion, and the following disruption of the kingdom which included the flightof the royal family and leading nobles and the plundering of the country by Penda and Cadwallon, it is far more likely that Edwin's head was not brought to

York Minster until after Oswald's recovery of the kingdom.13

fallen. " The detail ar y eneu ewynvriw gwaet (18) is again to a certain extent stereo-

typed, but like the feeding of the ravens indicates that the narrator has not returned

to the battlefield after along passage of time. ' At any rate, fi he had returned to the lost field after the enemy decamped the whole body could have been recovered for burial; there would be no need to strike off the head. (Therepeated phrase gwae vy llaw lad vy arglwyd, etc., indicates that the narrator cannot be recovering a head already placed on display by the enemy.) Finally there is no suggestion that the narratoris on a dangerous mission back to the lost field soon after the battle to save Urien's head," and his later lamenting of his deed would be unsuitable if it had been an act of highcourage. The narrator in 'Pen Urien' must be one of the victorious party, sent to bear the emblem of victory back to the main camp.!? This is consistent with t r a d i t i o n s elsewhere that Urien was killed in battle b yhis

fellow Britons, some of whom may also have been his kinsmenand former allies. 81

In the scenario as presented in 'Pen Urien' it seems impossible that the h e a d was

If the n a r r a t o r were an a l l yof U r i e n w h o had been won over to U r i e n ' senemies it is

carried off by an ally of Urien. If the tale behind the poem had Urien's men winning

possible that the poet presents him as overcome by repentance on the sight of his

the field despite their leader's death, there would be no need to cut off the head. The narrator does n o t seem to be carrying off the head in the heat o fa losing battle - the

ravens have already settled (CU 8, 9). The feeding of ravens on the fallen is a commonplace of battle description, but there is probably a realistic distinction

between the period before and during battle when birds of prey are hovering overhead waiting their chance, and the aftermath when they alight to feed on the

fallen lord -

but this is probably too sentimental and unlikely a tale. A more

satisfactory background tale which fits the external and internal evidence is a classic one of a man caught between two loyalties so that whichever way he acts he

is forced into betraying one. This type of tale is well-attested in heroic literature and would also explain the emphasis on fate discussed below. 'Pen U r i e n ' can be satisfactorily read with this type of tale in mind, and it seems essential in interpret

ing 'Celain Urien' and 'Efrddy!'.

69, 70, 71, 72, etc. Kenneth Jackson, 'Review of Trioedd Ynys Prydein', WHRSpecial No. 1963, p. 85, compares the epithet aeruedawc in TYP 25 to this formula,suggesting it means 'possessed of the place of slaughter', i.e. 'victorious' har hilderinc; m e c e a g e m a n a n ;

Constantinus, h r e m a n ne porfte

h e r w a s h i s m a g as c e a r d

and his s u n u forlet on walstowe

wundum forgrunden.

, (Cambridge, 1973), p. 52. Ed. Simon Taylor, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Vol. 4, Ms. B 11 Compare the accounts in Beowulf of Hygelac's disastrous raid in Frankland. The plund-

The eulogyand lament in 'Pen Urien' are not inappropriate for the new narrator proposed here. His pain at t h econtrast between Urien alive and vigorous and the

corpse bloodied and picked by ravens, his praise of Urien's former generosity, valour in war and leadership are s u i t a b l e f o rany narrator with respect f o rthe dead man. The prediction that disaster will follow for Rheged (18c) can be taken as an accurate assessment of the future, and does not necessarily indicate that the nar-

rator would be directly affected. But apart from the usualelements of a marwnadare comments on the p e r s o n a l situation of the narrator which are more relevant to the question of his identity and role. The first, in stanza 14, is far from clear:

ering of the bodies of the slain, and specifically the loss of a magnificent necklace Hygelac

foolishly wore on the raid are noted (210-14). We are also told that the king's body was not recovered, a fact (or tradition) confirmed by the Liber Monstrorum which says that the bones were displayed as a marvel because of their great size. The loss of the king's body must in part

indicate the magnitude of his defeat, but Beowulf's behaviour following the battledoes not

suggest the warrior felt under compulsion to rescue the body, or at least that this was not

feasible. (He also does not find it shameful to come home alive.) He avenges his lord by slaying the Frank held responsible for Hygelac's death, and swimsoff bearing booty, not the corpse.

21 'Poems', ft. p. 143.

31 See Bede, HE, pp. 202-6. Bede's statement does imply that the head was brought directly after the battle, but the chronology is by no means certain. His account,however, flatly contradicts the claim seemingly made in the few surviving lines of 'Gofara Braint' that . Geraint Gruffydd, 'Canu Cadwallon ap Edwin's head was brought to Aberffraw; see R

" For examples see T.J. Morgan, 'Dadansoddi' r Gogynfeirdd (2)', BBCS 41 (1950), pp. 1-8,

particularly p.7, no. xvii: 'y brain yn hofran uwchben ac yn dilyn y milwyr'. Old English poetry also makes this distinction although there the more popular image si of the animalsof slaughter gathering before battle.

51 Cf. Gregory of Tours, Historyof the Franks, transl. Lewis Thorpe (Penguin Classics, 1974), who gives two examples of later recovery of a dishonoured head and body, pp. 167, 247. 61 Like Cú Chulainn's rescue of Conchobor from the lost field at night, O'Rahilly, Tin Recension ,I pp. 15-17, transl. pp. 138-9.This is not intended tobe realistic, the whole point being that Cú Chulainn does deeds no oneelse would attempt. The field si also held by spectres, not the enemy.

Cadfan', AH, p. 42, a discrepancy suggestive of some sort of display by the victors, if not in

71 This is also the conclusionof N. J. A. Williams, but his reasons and furtherdeductions are very different from mine as will emerge i nthe following argument.Some specific objections

his accountof Oswald, but there might be special reasons. At any rate, there is some evidence of an attempt to introduce a cult of Edwin as a saint, and ti is possible that the separate burial

81 Whether or not these tales are historical is irrelevant here although they may have some

Wales.There seems no reason why Bede would have suppressed this insult to his herogiven

of the head in York had nothing to do with the vicissitudes of warfare. 78

will be n o t e d below.

basisi n fact.

79

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

Penn a borthaf ar vy ysgwyd.

THE URIEN R H E G E D POEMS

sible if he has merely been the agent for protecting Urien's head from dishonour. tI

si unsuitable in this context as well since the scene in 'Celain Urien' is the burial of

n y m aruollei waratwyd.

gwae vy llaw llad vy arglwyd.

the body.

The third line is open t o more than one interpretation because of the two meanings

of lladd: 'Alas my hand (for the striking/killing of my lord'. Ifor Williams takes this to mean that the narrator regrets the bitter necessity which required him to strike

off Urien's head, but because he did it for honourable reasons the action did not

cause him shame ('Ni ddygai hynnywaradwydd arno'). °The two key words ofline b, arfoll and gwaradwydd, however, also have variant meanings which affect the ways in which the line can be translated. Arfoll can mean 'receive, accept, welcome, embrace' and gwaradwydd has the meaning 'reproach' as well as 'shame, dishonour'; see GPC. The imperfect tense of the verb also allows consideration whether or not he is referring to the distant (habitual) past rather than the recent action of cutting off the h e a d . T h i s leaves several possibilities: 'shame did not use to receive me', i.e. it has now, or 'reproach did not use to welcome me', possibly meaning that the sight of his former lord is a mute reproach for him, although formerlyhe was welcomed with honour. The phrase could also anticipate line c and the two r e a d together: 'alas my hand (it did not use to accept shame for me) for the

striking of my lord'2' I do not wish to place too great emphasis on this difficult stanza, other than to raise the possiblity that it does not proclaim the guiltlessness of the narrator. If, however, the situation is one in which the narrator could with h o n o u r act in no o t h e r way f o r Williams's interpretation of line b may yet be the best, although h i s i n n o c e n c e would not be total as implied. The narrator should be

a tragic and sympathetic figure, not simply a traitor, andh edoes come across as an honourable m a n in the poetry despite his self-reproach.

The expression gwae vy llaw provides the best clue to the roleo f the narrator. It is repeated once again in 'Pen Urien'in stanza 17. In the next poem, 'Celain Urien', every englyn ends with the phrase. The second half of the last lines in the latter poem consists of four variants on the idea 'for the killing/strikingof Urien' (20c llad

tatowein, 21cllad v y keuynderw, 23cllad mab kynuarch, 24cllad vy argiwyd) and four

variants on 'for the fate which has befallen me' (22c llam rym tynghit, 25c llam rym daerawt, 26c llam rym gallat, 27c llam rym gallas). This parallelism, furtherreinforced by metrical similarities, indicates that the bitter fate which has befallen him is the striking or killing by his hand of his lord and kinsmen. There is probably a play on words here. Thenarrator has struck off the head, but is also to a degree responsible for Urien's death insofaras he took part in the battles against him, even fi he is not the actual slayer. This involvement of the narrator is necessary to explain his attitude since such repeated emphasis on his grief for his action is incomprehen-

91 CLIH, p. 120.

02 See R . .L Thomson, 'Amser ac Agwedd yn y Cynfeirdd', AH, pp. 179-207. 12 Further interpretations can be found by N.J. A. Williams, 'Llywarch Hen and the Finn

Due to insufficient knowledge of how the bodies of the slain were treated not

much information can be extracted from the fact that Urien's body is pictured as being buried. AsIfor Williams notes, however, the reference to the burial presents

a problem fi one assumes the bearerof the head was a member of Urien's faction:

Pam y dychwelwyd at y gelain? Yr unig ystyr i dorri'r pen a'i gludo ymaith o d d nad oedd cyfle i gladdu'r corff oll. Ond dengys 20-27 fody corff hefyd wedi ei achub a'i gladdu'n barchus. A oedd stori am rywrai yn dychwelyd i faes y llad i'r pwrpas hynny?" On the other hand, the victors themselves may have given some sort of perfunctory burial to the slain after obtaining plunder and the important trophies. The stories told by Bede and the monk of Whitby about the recovery of Edwin's and Oswald's bodies suggest this is a possiblity, since the bodies of the two kings were not recovered until s o m e years after t h e i r d e a t h s a n d after the i n t e r v e n t i o nof miracles

to indicate the spot.?Gregory of Tours gives two instances o fdespoiled bodies being recovered from the battlefield after a passage of time, supporting the story

hypothesized in Canu Llywarch Hen.35 The side which performs the burial of Urien

is probably irrelevant to the question of the role of the narrator since h edoes not appear tob e physically present, and may be imagining the scene. The impersonal form of the verb is used, and little detail apart from the placing of the body under

ground is given. Despite the occasion, the narrator's preoccupation is almost

entirely with himself. He m o u r n s his fate, linked to a specific action taken in connection with Urien's death.

These two thematic elements of 'Celain Urien' recur i nslightly variant wording in the second of the two stanzas (30, 31) describing the griefof Efrddyl, Urien's Sister:

Ys trist euyrdyl [oe] drallawt heno. a c o rl a m a m d a e r a w t .

yn aber lleu llad ei brawt.

Notonly is the speaker's fate again linked with the killing of Urien, b u teven the

missing phrase gwae vy llaw is evoked by the similar metrical structure of line c to those of 'Celain Urien'. In both there is alliteration of lI on two strongly accented

monosyllables around a caesura:

32 'Why was the corpse returned to? The only reason forcuttingo ffthe head and carrying it away was that there was no opportunity to bury the entire body. But20-27 show the body too was recovered and buried respectably. Was there a story about some men returningto the

Cycle', pp. 253-4.

battlefield for that purpose?' CLIH, pp. 123-4 42 See HE, pp. 244 6, and Bertram Colgrave, ed.,The Earliest Life of St Gregory the Great

however, as shall be seen below.

53 As cited above, ft. p. 79.

2 N.J. À.Williams, inspired by the traditional interpretation that Urien died by an assassin's hand, argues that the narrator is the assassin. There is no evidence for this inthe cycle, 80

(Lawrence, Kansas, 1968), pp. 101-5

81

EARLY W E L S H S A G A POETRY

THE URIEN RHEGED POEMS

gwae vy llaw | llad vy arglwyd=( Urien) yn aber lleu | Ilad ei brawt (= Urien)

rators. His reasons for this division are insufficient in my opinion to override the verbal links between the two poems, and the stanzas to Efrddyl which he does not

Similarly, Urien is described in terms of his personal relationships in both poems.

discuss. He states that the two poemsare'... too intense, toopoignant to have been

Adding this echo from 'Celain Urien', verse 30 can be expanded: 'Efrddyl is grieved because of my fate which was to be an agent (swae vy law) in the killing of

to determine medieval,as opposed to modern, esthetic principles, but certainly a

her b r o t h e r ' .

The narrator's grief in 'Pen Urien' can be explained as regret for having to cut off

Urien's head to save ti from disgrace, and this is also a possible interpretation of 'Celain Urien' although there hisprotestations are excessive. It is not, however, an

appropriate explanation for the grief of Urien's sister for whom the savingof the

able tostand not far from each other in the same cyfarwyddyd.' tI si always difficult

reading of Canu Heledd suggests that sustainedemotional laments were not avoided. Furthermore, the two poems, although both laments, fulfil different func-

tions: in the first the narrator mourns Urien, and in the second hisown fate. Similar progression can be found in the first two poems of Canu Heled or encompassed in a single poem in 'Marwnad Gwên'. This difference in function n o doubt accounts

head w o u l d be a comfort, n o t a further cause of misery. Also why does t h e narrator

for the difference in treatment. Itcan be argued that 'Celain Urien' is not as subtle or

particularly mention Efrddyl's sorrow rather than that of any other of the many (luossyd amgen 30b) who would be saddened byh i s death? fI the narrator is a man torn by two loyalties, the choice of Efrddyl isreadily explained as a figure linked by

effective as 'Pen Urien', but this is not sufficient evidence for their being the works

marriage to the narrator and her brother's enemies. A similar use of a female figure's point of view to emphasize the bitterness of kinstrife is found in the

Finnsburg episode in Beowulf? The aftermath of the battle is briefly viewed through Hildeburh's eyes, the queen who lost both ason and brother in the battle initiated by herh u s b a n d :

Ne huru Hildeburh Eotena treowe ;

herian borfte u n s y n n u m weard beloren leofum a t pam lindplegan b e a r n u m ond brodrum; hie on gebyrd hruron gare wunde; bat w a s geomuru ides! Nalle s holin ga Hoces d o h t o r meotodsceaft bemearn, sypdan morgen com, da heo under swegle geseon meahte morporbealom a g a . .

of different poets, as Williams argues. The tight pattern of repetition in the latter serves to hammer home the connection between the speaker's fate and Urien's death. It is suitable and striking in its own way, just a st h egradual revelationand

increasing emotional tension ni 'Pen Urien' highlights the narrator's growing

awareness of the depth of his involvement. The seeming differences in the background talesdetected by Williams in the two poems are also far from conclusive. As seen above, the burial of Urien's body does not necessarily indicate an underlying variant story in which Urien's head was not struck off. (This also means that llad in 'Celain Urien' cannot be taken unequivocally as 'kill'.)The minor point that the corpse si described as bloodied by ravens in 'Pen Urien' and as 'white' in 'Celain Urien' is not significant.Corpses are often referred to as 'slender'(main) and 'white' (swen) (or both, as here) in a stereotyped fashion.2 The adjectives perhaps refer t o the w i n d i n g sheet, but H e l e d dalso refers

to gwyngnawt kyndylan (CH 17) despite battle wounds and ravaging eagles.30 The final and most decisive point is that Williams's view of t h epoems fails to 1. 10716f.28

There are traditions w h i c h connect E f r d d y l ' sh u s b a n d and sons with the enemies

of Urien which will be returned to when discussing the possible identity of the n a r r a t o r.

This reconstruction of the story behind the 'Pen Urien' group agrees i n the main point, the side of the narrator in Urien's final battle, with an analysis by N.J. A . Williams. There are several points of disagreement, however, both minor and major, particularly regarding the identity of the narrator and his motives. One point requires discussion especially here since it questions the basic methodology of study. Williams looks on 'Pen Urien' and 'Celain Urien' as i n d e p e n d e n t works

with different (but closely allied) background stories, and possibly different nar-

62 Female figures in the heroic, masculineworldof the englynion are so rare one must assume

explain the v e r b a lechoes found throughout and in 'Efrddyl' which he ignores. At

the very least this would suggest a close connection between the twopoems even if the w o r kof different poets, and this connection would reasonably extend to unity of subject matter and conception. The verbal echoes found in the three, however,

are more subtle than one would expect if borrowingfrom one work to anotherwere responsible. The example of the metrical echo of yn aberlleu llad uryen, yn aber lleu llad ei brawt has been cited above. To this can be added the second occurrence of

gwae vy law in 'Pen Urien' 17 which reads gwae vy llaw llym digones. Again the alliteration of l on monosyllables around t h ec a e s u r aand the consonant pattern of lI-m in the second half look forward to the four half lines of 'Celain Urien' which

read gwae vy llaw llam, etc. (NLW 4973a reads, in fact, llam ddigones in 'Pen Urien'

17.)There seem to be several good reasons and no real objection to taking the poems defined as the 'Pen Urien' group as a unified, coherent a n dconsecutive sequence from one cycle of poems concerning Urien.

ad e t i n i t e reason for the i n t r o d u c t i o n of Efrddyl; see further chapter 3.

72 See Shippey, Old English Verse, pp. 27-30.

82 'Indeed,n o t a t all did Hildeburhhave cause to praise t h e good faith of the Jutes; guiltlessly she was deprived of loved ones i n the shield play, child and brother; they ?as was their fate fell wounded by spears; that w a sa sorrowful lady! Not without justification did Hoc's daughter

2 See Geirfa Barddoniaeth Gynnar Gymraeg (Geirfa], .J Lloyd-Jones (Caerdydd, 1931-63), u n d e r kelein

bemoan fate after morning came and she could see under heaven the slaughter of kins-

03 Cf. also RB 1052 atwyd kelein wenn hebpenn heb perthi there will be a whitecorpse without head and m e m b e r s ' ,and BT 38 Oed kelein veinwen rwg grayan a gro 'there wasa slender white

82

83

men.

corpse between gravel and shingle'

EARLY WELSH S A G A POETRY

fI the reconstruction of the background tale of the group is correct in its broadest outlines, it fits i n t o a type of story found elsewhere in h e r o i c literatures in which

the theme is conflict of loyalties. In western medieval literatures the classic examples of stories with this theme areGermanic." Celtic society, however, had a similar dual construction of kin group and overlord obligations which could lead to actual conflict of loyalties and also inspire literary treatment of the theme. (The story behind the 'Pen Urien' group could well have a historical basis in the widest sense of the term.) The Fer Diad episode in the Táin provides a clear Celtic example

of the theme. Both Fer Diad and Cú Chulainn fight to the death in obedience to

their respective lords despite the strong ties of kinship and friendship between

them. The episode ends with a lament by Cú Chulainn for his friend and for the forces which m a d e it necessary for him to kill Fer Diad which can be compared to

the poems in the 'Pen Urien' group.32

The Germanic parallels, however, more fully explain the emphasis of fate in these poems which is closely tied tot h etheme of conflict of loyalties. As noted in the previous chapter one aspect which fate takes in Anglo-Saxon and Icelandic

saga is the gradual entangling of the heroi n obligations and situations which lead to events for which he is only partially or not at all responsible. Eventually circumstances require him to act in such a way that any course he takes will bring

THE URIEN RHEGED POEMS

Urien's opponents.The brevity of the poem and the many textualdifficulties make

ti extremely difficult to interpret. Unhwch is the chief character, mentioned in all six of the englynion. He is said to be an enemy of Urienand an admirer of Dunawd

fab Pabo. The few references to Unhwch found elsewhere tend to confirm his

position in the web of alliances and enmities (see further below).

The opening cymeriad of the first four stanzas, Dymkywarwydyat unhwchdywal,

presents oneof the chief difficulties in interpreting the poem. Out of several possibilitiesthe best meaning seems to be: 'Fierce Unhwch used to instruct me'," His reported instructions and instruction by example are all in the art of being unyielding in war. Unhwch is a fury in demanding his rights (1b), he strikes better than he petitions for a truce (1c), etc.

remains to show that there is a cymeriad link with 5c. Since the cymeriad link in stanzas 1 to 4 is i n l i n ea ,a n da new opening cymeriad links 5 and 6, the link in line c between two distinct g r o u p s is suspect, but not impossible. It seems likely that the

original cline of 4has beenomitted,a n dthat 4c as it stands should be the last line of another stanza with the opening cymeriad, Uryen reget greidyawlgauael eryr, like this:

.4 Dymkyfuarwydyat vnhwch dywal chwerw blwngchwerthin mor

disaster. Although fate seems absolute, the hero has the choice of honouring one

commitment rather than the disgrace of avoiding all. He also has the choice and

[ --

responsibility of reasoning which course his honour most demands. His action

-].

(5) [vryen reget greidyawl gauael eryr

may go against his natural inclination or normal law (such as kin slaying), but his

g a l u n h w c h - -- - - 1 ryuel dorvlodyat. [ -

resolution in carrying out his chosen course preserves and adds to his heroic stature. The situation is both fully heroic and fully t r a g i c .Despite the narrator's

participation in Urien's downfall, he remains, sharing the role with the dead

].-

5. Vryen reget greidyawl gauael eryr

Urien, the hero of this part of the cycle.

gal vnhwch glew hael. ryuel godic budic uael.

It is possible to get a fairlyclearpicture ofthe narrator in the 'Pen Urien' group and a notion of the situation, if not the full background tale. The other poems, however, are far more fragmentary. In general it is easier to interpret them as remnants of more than one saga about Urien, some of which h a da different view of the story of Urien. Wherever possible unity will be assumed, but for several attempting to place them within the 'Pen Urien' cycle raises more problems than it solves. The

first poem in the manuscripts, given the title 'Unhwch, Dunawd ac Urien' in Canu Llywarch Hen, could be assigned to the narrator of the 'Pen Urien' group fi it relates events leading up to the battle. If so, the narrator declares his loyalty will be to 13 For examples a n ddiscussion of the theme in early Germanic literatures see G. V . Smithers, 'Destiny', p. 78; Shippey, O l dEnglish Verse, pp. 24-31;and Alain Renoir, 'The Heroic Oath in Beowulf, the Chanson de Roland and the Nibelungenlied', Studies in Old English Literature in . Brodeur, ed. Stanley B . Greenfield (New York, 1963), pp. 237-66. Honor of Arthur G 23 O'Rahilly, Táin Recension I, pp. 195-208 (translation). This tale is further elaborated in the

Stowe Ms. version, ed. Cecile O'Rahilly, The Stowe Version of Táin Bó Cúailnge(Dublin, 1961),

Il. 2604-3521.

The fourth englyn presents t e x t u a l as well as

interpretational difficulties.The last half-lineof stanza 4 is missing, but enough

The Book of Leinster version is a d a p t e dby Thomas Kinsella, The Táin(Oxford,

1969), pp. 168-205. The Fer Diadepisode also circulated as a separate tale; for its g e n e s i sand

dating see the introduction to the Stowe version, pp. xxiv-xxv. 84

Stanza 4 as it stands is theonly one of 1to 4 which does not havea reportedsaying of Unhwch's, although this is not conclusive. The manuscripts showconfusion at

this point, running stanzas 4 to 6 together in one block without the usual capital initials to mark the beginning of a new stanza. However, since only half of 4c survives it may w e l lbe that only a half line is missing.

Up to stanza 4 it is fairly certain that the speaker is one of Unhwch's party. The syntax of 5 and 6, however, is ambiguous. The laudatory descriptions after gal unhwch could, like line a, refer to Urien or the antecedent can be Unhwch. The enmity of the two leaders is clear, but the attitude of the narrator is not.

The first

four stanzas suggest a narrative point of view favourable to Urien's enemies, and this is possible for 5 and 6 as well. In fact, fi the fragment of 4c is indeed part of stanza 4 then ryuelgodic in 5c, like the parallel ryuel dorolodyati n 4c, should refer to

Unhwch since Unhwch is the only possible antecedent in stanza 4. In that case the narrator is unambiguously an admirerof Unhwch. If he is the same as the narrator 33 See the notes for other possible readings. It is best not to interpreta poem on the basis of doubtful lines, but if any analysis at all of this particular poem is to b emade it is unavoid-

able

85

EARLY WELSH S A G A POETRY

of the 'Pen Urien' group, aman with loyalties to both sides, his apparent admiration for both Unhwch a n d Urien would be explained.3

Between 'Celain Urien' and 'Efrddy|' are two stanzas (28, 29) which state that it will be impossible to reunite the host of Rheged around the feasting table before Judgment Day. Their position suggests they are part of the 'Pen Urien' group, but they interrupt the verbal parallelism in the three certain poems of that group. The observation could be made by any former member of the host of Rheged.

The stanzas to Rhun (32-5), a brief m a r w a d ,seem to be totally out of place. The position of the poem among the poems about Urien invites the assumption that Rhun m. Urien is the subject. Rhun is mentioned twice in the HistoriaBrittonum

(chapters 57 and 63)3 and once in the Annales Cambriae sub 626, with both texts asserting that he baptized Edwin King of Northumbria.% The Chartres text of the Historia Brittonum also states that one of the sources for the history was material

compiled by a son of Urbagen (Urien) from the Book of St Germanus, usually

THE URIEN RHEGED POEMS

in TYP 23." Rhun si a common name, so perhaps Rhun Rhyfeddfawrshould not be equated with Rhun m. Urien or Rhun m . Einiawn. The position of the englynion

among the Urien material is not in itself decisive evidence that Rhun Rhyfeddfawr was Rhun m. Urien." Fragments of other northern cycles could easily have found

their way into the Urien collection, particularly fi the compiler himself identified

this Rhun with Rhun m. Urien. fI Rhun m. Einiawn was intended, his genealogy makes him first cousin of Gwallawg. As we shall see below family relationships with Gwallawg (genuine or not) are often a key to the pattern o falliances. If Rhun m. Einiawn was an ally of Gwallawg et al. it could explain the inclusion of his marwnad in the Urien cycle.

The brevity of the poem, uncertain identification of the subject and lack of a recognizable context make interpretation difficult and assigning a narrator im-

possible. There is no obvious connection with the story of Urien although Ifor Williams thinks the heit heb wodrydaf (32c) is the host of Rheged after losing Urien.

assumed to be Rhun because of his ecclesiastical associations.3? Rhun is less wellknown in Welsh sources than he is in Latin historical writings. He does not appear among Urien's sons named in stanzas 37-39, and the R u n mentioned in the Black Book poem which also names Owain Rheged and the horse of Pasgent m. Urien is probably not this Rhun.38 He is, however, named in the Bonedd yr Arwyr list of

The host of Rhun whose death is indicated in 35a is far more likely. (Further

Urien's sons. There is no o b j e c t i o n to a cleric having an earlier military career, as

homestead excelled over all. The gifts in hundredfoldare reminiscent of the opening lines of 'Trawsganu Cynan Garwyn', PT I.1-7, but the poem is not likely to be

Ifor Williams suggests, but negative evidence suggests that Run m . Urien was known only ni his clerical capacity.» The englynion identify the subject of the marwnad as Rhun Rhyfeddfawr (33a)

who is probably a northern figure in his own right rather than an alternative appellation for Rhun m. Urien. Rhun Rhyfeddfawris named in TYP 79 as the father of Perwyr, and Bonedd yr Arwyr adds the unlikely information that Perwyr ferch Rhun ap Rhyfeddfawr was the wife of Rhun ap Maelgwn Gwynedd. His descent is given there as:

Rhun ryveddvawr ap Einiawn ap Mar ap Keneu ap Koel*

Asimilar lineage for Rhun m . Einiawn (with no epithet) is given in Bonedd yr Arwyr . Einiawn is included among the 'Tri Trahauc 14 and Jesus College 20.35. 2Rhun m

confirmation is given by the conformance of this poem to other saga marwnadau in naming the subject, Rhun, in all but the opening stanza.) Two stanzas relate how Rhun 'of great wealth' gave the speakerahundred hosts witha hundred shields, a hundred homesteads with a h u n d r e d head of cattle and t h a tone h o s tand one

bardic since there should be some irrecoverable story why the one h o s tand homestead proved s u p e r i o r . The persona, however, could be a bard although this w o u l d be u n u s u a l .

The following englyn, CU 36, is intrusive and has no r e l e v a n c e .Stanzas 37-46,

grouped together by Ifor Williams under the title 'Dwy Blaid', return to the affairs of Urien and his enemies. The viewpoint again appears to be different and it is

difficult to determine what relationship, if any, they have to the story told in the "Pen Urien' group. Judging b ycymeriadau and subject matter 37-41 forma separate poem concerning warfare between Urien and his enemies which seems to show Urien successfully repulsing an attack. The opponents are lined up as follows: 37. Dunawd (m. Pabo) vs. O w a i n(m. Urien)

38. Dunawd (recte Unhwch?)+ vs. Pasgent (m. Urien)

39. Gwallawg vs. Elffin (m. Urien)

43 See also the notes on the possible, if speculative, interpretation of 2c. 53 This Rhun is not given a patronymic, but it isgenerally assumed that he is Urien'sson; see . Jackson, 'On the Northern British Section in Nennius', Celt further below,and Kenneth H and Saxon (Cambridge, 1963), pp. 41-2.

40. Brân fab Ymellyrn vs. the narrator 41. Morgant and his men vs. the narrator

63 This may be an interpolation in both; see Jackson, 'On the Northern British Section', pp.

38,50-1, and Nora K. Chadwick, 'The Conversion of Northumbria: A comparison of sources', Celt and Saxon, pp. 163 4.

73 See Jackson, 'On the Northern British Section', pp. 49-50, and the contrary view of David N . Dumville, 'On the North British Section of the Historia Brittonum', WHR 8 (1977), p p

345-54.

83 See c h a p t e r 5. 93 Note the m a n y references in native tradition to other sons of Urien listed below which

make Rhun's absence in such sources all the more conspicuous. 04 TYP, p. 199. 14 EWGT, p.91 21 EWGT, pp.88, 48. 86

31 p.41. But see note, p. 501, which suggests this figure should be Rhun m. Maelgwn. # As argued by Bromwich, TYP, p. 503. Ifor Williams is cautious about the identification,cf.

CLIH, p. Iv. *... canmol rhyw bennaeth a elwir Rhun. . . 51 Although the opening words, Duw gwenersweleis y diwyd,recall the bardic commonplace, gweleis, as do 42 and 43 in the context of witnessing battle. For this commonplace s e eIdris

Foster, 'Rhai Sylwadau ar yr Hengerdd', Y B 5 (1970), pp. 21-3. See chapters 6 and 7on the possibility of bardic poems in the three-line englyn metres which these might be imi-

tating

1 See the notes to the poem. The suggested emendation is on metricalgrounds,and also because none of the others are mentioned twice. 87

EARLY WELSH S A G A POETRY

The list of enemies is fairly comprehensive and confirms traditions found else.

where. The line-up of sons on Urien's side suggests that the narrator might also be a member of the immediate family, especially since the tradition of allies loyal to

Urien is somewhat tenuous. Missing are Run m. Urien and Rhiwallawn m. Urien? and of course, Urien himself. The haughty contempt of the narrator for those who intended to overwhelm Erechwydd, described as his own territory (fy

ffyrn (?ffin), vyn tymyr), make Urien the most likely speaker in this series, especially since the two sons not named are less renowned than those actually

named. Also the poem stresses the role of the narrator as a climax. His optimism on

the ability of Rheged to repulse its enemies also suggests that the fighting in the poem does not describe an attempt b y Urien's sons to m a i n t a i nhis power after his death. It seems rather to indicate as t o r y in which an earlier conspiracy was crushed by Urien or p e r h a p s that he was initially successful in the battle in which he met his death. If the latter, the location of the battle in or near Urien's territory makes it difficult to reconcile this poem with the Historia Brittonum account of the Lindisfarne siege.48

One final point about the poem is that although thenarrator appears tob e Urien,

it is far from certain that the poet's attitude towards him is favourable. fI the

tradition that Dunawd, Gwallawg, Morgant and company did succeed in crushing Urien was general, as seems likely, Urien's supreme self-confidence in his ability to reduce h i s enemies to ineffectual gadflies may be intended as ironic." The final five stanzas in this section are stray verses, perhaps from longer poems.

(Most likely 47, placed in Canu Llywarch Hen as the first verse of 'Aelwyd Rheged',

belongs with these miscellaneous verses.) Stanzas 42 and 43 concern a battle in which Urien and a certain Elno Hen werepresent, and Elno killed. It is impossible

to determine w h e t h e r Elno w a s an ally or the e n e m y.The wretched state of Erechw y d d after Urien's death is alluded to in 44, while in 45 and 46 Urien is alive and active. (Stanza 45 does not actually name Urien and there are no links to other verses.) Stanza 46 is particularly interesting because it links Llofan Law Ddifro (or Ddifo) with Urien. Llofan is named in the triads as the slayer (or assassin) of Urien, but apart from this stray verse he appears to be unknown in the Urien cycle. (He

cannot, I think, be identified with the narrator of the 'Pen Urien' group, since no tradition makes him a k i n s m a nof Urien or connects him in any way with Urien's enemies; he seems rather an invented or transposed character.) The englyn sug-

gests a rather different story - here Urien is pursuing Llofan, not vice-versa.

Possibly the englyn comes from a story explaining Llofan's motives for killing Urien.The story of Llofan's assassination, however, appears t o be a later development as will be discussed below. This single stray verse cannot be used as proof that the story behind the Urien englynion is substantially the same as that in the triads.50

THE URIEN R H E G E D POEMS

The last poem in the cycle, 'Aelwyd Rheged' ('The Hearth of Rheged'), si one of the best known. It provides almost no clues t othe events ni hte previous poems since ni ti muchtime has passed, the hallof Rhegedis ni ruins and Owain and Trien are long dead. Onceagain the narratorcannot be identified. Apart from viewing the scene through his eyes and the past through his imagination, there is

rittle personal senseof the narrator. (This mustbe the longest poem in the englyn

evcles without use of the first person.) It is clear that the speaker knew the courtand

its inhabitants ni its day. The poem si so far distanced from the otherevents ni the

Urien cycle it is tempting to see it as a partof another cycle, thatof Llywarch Hen. As

noted above, Llywarch's story is linked ot that of Urien, and this connection

probably explains hte inclusion of hte Urien material amidstCanu Llywarch. nI

'Gwahodd Llywarch i Lanfawr' Llywarch laments that Urien and his sons are all dead. He appears to be wandering, probably in the north, when he is offered refuge ni Powys. The lament over the ruined hall could be spoken by Llywarch returned to ascene where he formerly was welcomed. tI also would not be inappropriate for the narrator of the 'Pen Urien' group, but the long gap in time makes ti unlikely.

The contrast between past society and the present ruins is sharply drawn, but static. Cymeriad geiriol is extensively used with every initial line presenting the state of the ruins and the rest of the englyn the former life of the hall. This unimaginative useof repetition may in part accountfor the stiffness of the poem, a n dthe lack of specifically personal references by the narrator certainly contributes to a lack of

emotional impact and drama. 'Aelwyd Rheged' invites comparison with 'Stafell

Gynddylan' and other similar laments over ruins which will be examined in

chapter .3 The poem is effective, however, in a gentle, melancholy way. Cynddelw's reference to goualon eilon aelwyd reged (H 123.18) suggests strong medieval

response.S! This is perhaps largely due to the poet's choice of the cold,overgrown hearth as his central image of ruin, an image evocative of sorrow and even

horro r.

The analysis above indicates that on the whole the cycle is highly favourable to Urien, but its composite nature must be borne in mind. In some parts hints of a

different opinion are found. If the first poem, 'Unhwch', does not belong to the 'Pen Urien' group it would seem to come from a cycle which favoured Urien's

enemies. The englyn about Llofan (46) possiblycontains a note of disapproval, and Urien's misplaced confidence in 37 to 41 probably mocks him. This raises the question of what e a r l yattitudes to Urien and the s t o r yof h i sdeath

existed, a question which has some bearing on the nature and reliability of early historical records. In the following section historical and other traditional accounts of Urien's death will be examined in relation to each other and the englyn cycle.

While inconsistencies can be smoothed out by ingenious arguments, unity of tradition will not be assumed unless it is evident. Equally revealing is a similar

71 See below and Bromwich, TYP, p. 498, for references to the latter. 84 See f u r t h e r below.

91 Dunawd, [Unhwch] and Gwallawg have the only laudatory epithetsin the poem. This is

not strictly appropriate if Urien ist h e narratorand may be due to metrical considerations, but

it might also reflect the underlying bias of the poet.

05 Ian Lovecy, 'The End of Celtic Britain: a sixth-century battie near Lindisfarne', Archaeologia Aliana 4 (5th series) (1976), p. 42.

88

§ lolo Goch in describing his patron's generosity also refers to aelwyd Rheged, calling it 'ail drigiant aelwyd Rheged', ed. Henry Lewis, ThomasRoberts,Ifor Williams, Cywyddaulolo Goch ac Eraill (Caerdydd, 1972), VI. 24, p. 16. This, however, d o e snot evoke the sorrow of the deserted hall like the earlier reference. 89

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

study of historical a n d literary traditions about those men named as his e n e m i e s in

these englynion. fI nothing else this inquiry gives some possibilities for the narrator of the 'Pen Urien' group. More tentative, but still worth raising, is the way in which the varying attitudes to Urien and his enemies shed light on the development of northern heroic literature in Wales. In o r i g i n North British literature was undoubtedly partisan with

each kingdom or dynasty exalting and justifying its own ruling line. Once transferred to Wales (for whatever reason) the partisan elements became much less relevant; the leaders of sixth-century North Britain were accepted as national heroes." The evolution of the story of Llofan Law Ddifro's assassination of Urien found in the triads might best be explained as an attempt to neutralize such

accounts as those found in the 'Pen Urien' group and in the Historia Brittonum

which glorify Urien at the expense of other heroes. Although far from conclusive,

sufficient e v i d e n c ecan be found to at least demonstrate that variety and deliberate expansion characterize northern traditions in Wales rather than monolithic transmission ofa single northern inheritance.

The fullest narrative source, and the obvious starting point for study of Urien's death tale is the well- known passage in Chapter63 of the Historia Brittonum:

Hussa regnavit annisseptem: contra illumquattuor reges Urbgen et Riderch hen et Gualla[u]c et Morcant dimicaverunt. Deodric contra illum U rg e n

THE URIEN RHEGED POEMS

however, points out that fi a variantreading contra illos rather than contra illum si

accepted thefirst sentence refersto the warfare of al four British kingsagainst hte

five English kings previously named with regnal dates besides Hussa, that si from the reigns of Adda to Hussa. Urien's death, then, would fall ni Theodric's reign."

The question of the author's intended chronology may be a moot one fi the

synchronization of hte Welsh and English material si based on aninth-century guess rather than early written sources, such as chronicles, as Dumville argues,™

Contrary to Jackson who sees early written source material behindthe ninth-

century compilation, both Peter Hunter Blair and Dumville argue that for the sixth century the sources are traditional and non-historical.* While this passage does not stand out like the story ofAmbrosius and Vortigern as an obvious saga-type

tale, there aer some elements of saga. The time of the siege,three days and nights,

is stereotyped and Morgant's jealousy seems an unlikely motivation for the killing - fear of Urien's expanding power is much more credible." The admiration for Urien in the final sentence appears to be the author's opinion or that of his

source.

All this suggests that while this part of the Historia Brittonum may be compiled from rudimentary written records, genealogies, and perhaps contemporary bardic

poetry, the passage may be coloured by saga. The type of story si not unlike that in

cum filiis dimicabat fortiter. In illo autem tempore aliquando hostes, nunc cives vincebantur et ipse conclusit eos tribus diebus et noctibus in insula

ithe 'Pen Urien' group (and perhaps the other englynion), but there are some m

Metcaud et dum erat in expeditione, jugulatus est Morcantodestinante pro invidia, quia in ipso prae omnibus regibus virtus maxima erat instauratione

Urien' group names no one, but elsewhere in the englynion and in other sources

belli.53

This passage has been interpreted many times without general agreement on the chronology and the events related.$ The date of Urien's death in relation to the Anglo-Saxon kings has caused the most debate. Jackson raises two possible interpretations: (1) that Urien fought against Theodric (reigned 572-9) and Hussa before thelatter's reign (585-92) or (2) that thechronology here is wrongand that in illo ... tempore refers to the reigns of Ida's sons in general.$ Lovecy takes the reference to Theodric as a long parenthesis indicating that formerly (in illo autem tempore, i.e. Theodric's reign) the struggle went both ways, but not in Urien's last campaign against Hussa. This involves some convolution of syntax.$ Dumville, 25 As noted in chapter 1 neither the genealogical links of Merfyn Frych's family with the Coeling, late and contrived as they are, nor their northern descent can adequately explain

Welshacceptance of North British material as the material of the heroic age. Many of the

heroes celebrated have no apparent Welshdescendants, a n d the Coeling are not praised to exclusion of all others.The Germanic heroic tradition which circulated storiesof the greatest national heroes regardless of tribe should be compared. 35 Ed. T. Mommsen, Chronica Minora Saeculi IV-VII (Vol. XIII of Monumenta Germaniae Historia Auct. Antiquiss.), p. 206.

St See Kenneth H. Jackson, Language and History ni Early Britain [LHEB] (Edinburgh, 1953) pp. 707-8, Lovecy, "The End of Celtic Britain', and more recently David Dumville in alecture

to Cylch yr Hengerdd, Oxford, May 20, 1978.

SS LHEB,pp. 707-8. He favours the second, dating Urien's death c.590. 65 'The End of Celtic Britain', p. 37. 90

portant differences. The Historia specifies only one enemy, Morgant. The 'Pen Unhwch, Dunawd, Brân fab Ymellyrn and Gwallawg at the very least are presented asconspiring to destroy Urien. This is no serious contradiction since Morgant may have been their leader; his final position in the l i s to f enemies in ' D w yBlaid' and

the expression efae wyr'he and his men (allies?) might support this. The englynion

give no indication of the reason for enmity. No mentionas well is made of the

Lindisfarne siege.62 'Dwy Blaid', on the contrary, apparently locates fighting in or near Urien's home territory, although this is not necessarily the occasion of his death

75 Lecture to Cylch yr Hengerdd. Urien's floruit is also frequently discussed in relation to the date of The Gododdin; see Rachel Bromwich, 'Cynon fab Clydno', A H ,pp. 157-8. If Rieinmelth, first wife of Oswiu, was his great-granddaughter this would give a birth date of around 520 for Urien; see Jackson, 'On the Northern British Section', pp. 41-2

s5 'On the North British Section', pp. 349-54. See also his 'Sub-Roman Britain: History and Legend', History 62 (1977), pp. 189-90. 5 Dumville, 'On the North BritishSection', pp. 345-54 a n dBlair,'The Berniciansand their

Northern Frontier', SEBH, p. 152. 06 Cf. Ifor Williams, 'Hen Chwedlau', THSC 1946-7, pp.39-40. 16 Lovecy, The End of Celtic Britain', pp. 43, 45. 26 for Williams's identification of Ross Lowopposite Lindisfarne with Aber Lleu (30, 31) appears to be incorrect. Eilert Ekwall, TheConciseOxford Dictionary of English Place-Names,

4thed. (Oxford, 1960), p. 305, notes that Low is from a dialect word lowusedfor 'a shallow pool

left ni the sand by thereceding tide' applied ot several tidal streams in Northumberland. See

also his EnglishRiver Names, (Oxford, 1928), pp. 264-5,and p. 240 for his discussion of Aber Lleu.

91

EARLY WELSH S A G A POETRY

The way in which Urien was killed may be very different in the two sources. The 'Pen Urien' group pictures this in battle, and this might be the tradition behind 'Dwy Blaid'.There is perhaps an element of treachery in that Urien's opponents are his kinsmen or former clients. The Historia Brittonum account, however, si usually

interpreted that Morgant had Urien assassinated, anot unheard of event ni the

earlyperiod anda n interpretation encouraged by the tale of Llofan in the triads. In IrishLatin, however, iugulatus est si used for violent death, oftendeath in battle 6If this is the usage in the Historia ti would bring that account far closer to that of the

englyn cycle.

The most important similarity, although again not complete correspondence, is the pro-Urien bias found in the Historia Brittonum and the 'Pen Urien' group. Ofthe two, the bias is more striking in the Historia Brittonum. Not only is Urien singled out for special mention and praised as the greatest of warleaders, but the reason he is put to death is recorded aspetty and dishonourable. We do not know what led to

the warfare in t h e 'Pen Urien' group, but the narrator is an honourable man who is

forced by circumstances to betray Urien. Those to whom he owed greater loyalty

may have had either unjust reasons or righteous ones for attacking Urien, b u ttheir

motivation is not directly relevant to the narrator's choice of loyalties. The story behind the 'Pen Urien' group was possibly more balanced in its view of the affair,

yet paradoxically better propaganda. Urien's greatness is magnified by the fact that even in defeat his d e a t h i s mourned by his reluctant enemy. There seem to b e too many differences between the Historia Brittonum account and the story behind the 'Pen Urien' group to postulate direct influence of one on the other, but both would seem to be affected by the same type of story and opinion of Urien.

THE URIEN RHEGED POEMS

It should be stated ta once that nothing directly links Urien and his supporters

withArfderydd and the participantsinthat battle. But ni tracing the various traditions concerning Arfderydd it si evident that theresi a great dealof overlap ni

theenemies said tohave opposed Gwenddolau at Arfderydd and those saidto have opposed Urien. Two sources, While not conclusive,suggest that this is not

fortuitous. The first si apair of triads, IYP 5and6,which are found together in most of themanuscripts inwhich they appear althoughththe classifying epithets of hte ' ri Phost Cad': e T two show no apparent connection." TYP 5 names Dunawt mab Pabo Post Prydein A Gwall avc m a b Lleenn awc

A Chynuelyn Drwsgl

Urien, Gwallawg and Dunawd are both named in the Urien englynion as enemies of while Dunawd and Cynfelyn are named as opponents of Gwenddolau at Arfderydd ni TYP44 and 'Ymddiddan Myrddin aThaliesin'. (This is discussed further below and can be seen on the chart at the end of the chapter.)

TYP 6,'Tri Tharw Catuc' has the following names:

Kynvawr Catgaduc mab Kynwyt Kynwydyon a Gwendoleu mab Keidav ac Vryen mab Kynvarch.

No other source links Urien with Gwenddolau, but the association o fRheged with

the Cynwydion is attested. In the Black Book poem, 'Llym awel', the host of Cyn-

wyd (i.e. the Cynwydion) si said ot be under the protectionof Pelis(diffreidad kad

show no interest ni Urien and his family. * (The one reference to Rhun's baptizing

kunuid) who is engaged in trying to rescue w a i n Rheged who raised him." Atriad incorporated in Bonedd Gwÿr y Gogledd also indicates the alliance of the Cynwyd-

compilero r compilers of the annals had a different attitude to Urienand his family.

Trychan cledyf kynuerchyn. a thrychan ysgvyt kynnvly]dyon. A thrycha[n] w a y Coeling pa neges bynhac yd elynt iddi yn duun nyt amethei hon

In contrast, the Annales Cambriae, the only other early Welsh historical source,

of Edwin may be an interpolation.)? Since historical notices are very scarce for this period, one could dismiss this as accidental. It is possible, however, that the

Among the scanty records of the period the deaths of Gwri and Peredur (sub 580) and Dunawt rex (sub 595) are noted and t h e battle of Arfderydd (573). These records

appear to be solely of the p a r t y hostile to Urien.6

36 Cf. Bede, HE, pp. 164-5,on the attempted assassination of Edwin, undertaken by the king of another kingdom. # My thanks to David Dumville for this information.

s6 However, the forcing of the hero into what would be iniquitous action were it notfor his honourable intentions is a fairly common plot element i n conflictof interest tales, cf. Renoir,

'The Heroic Oath', pp. 238-9,and259-65, but kinslaying itself si normally unjustifiable

66 Ed. Phillimore, 'Harleian Ms. 3859', pp. 141-83. . Chadwick, 'The Conversion', p. 163, notes that in both the Annales and the HB the 76 Nora K statement about Rhun looks like an addition to the basic sentence, Edwin baptized, even

though she argues for Rhun's historical activity.

86 To these might be added the obit of Cerdic (616) if he is indeed the son of Gwallawg. However, Molly Miller, 'The Commanders at Arthuret', Trans. of the Cumberlandand Westmoreland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society 75 (new series, 1975), p. 117, argues that omissions in the chronicle have no significance. 92

ion with Urien's family:?

honno.

There are signs the triad is defective. Thegenealogiesare unanimous in making Cynwyd and Cynfarch descendants of C o e l "so the d i s t i n c t i o nm a d ebetween the Cynwydyon, the Cynferchyn and the Coeling is an odd one. All three o fthe family n a m e s alliterate, as do the patronymics in TYP 6 which reproduces t w oof the

96 TYP, p. xiv. The one exception si the WB/RB which omit thesecond triad. Note the classifv-

ing epithet in both TYP 5 a n d 6 appears to be derived from the first name in the list again

suggesting the linkageof the two triads is due t oother reasons.

01 See further chapter 5 17 Ed. by Bromwich, TYP, pp.238-9, and Bartrum,EWGT, pp. 72-4. Agarbled version is also found at the end of the Medieval Welsh romance,Owein.

27 Moly Miller, ni part misled by this triad,states that the Cynwydyon were the descendants ofCynwyd m. Ceredig Gwledig (HG )5 andthus not Coeling in 'Historicity', p. 263. The Coeling Cynwyd Cynwydyon m. Cynfelyn (BGG, ByS, Ach S, ABT) is barely mentioned and his epithet ignored. She similarly denies that the Cynferchyn were originally Coelingon the evidence of this triad despite the overwhelming accord of the genealogies. Her theories on these points are convincingly countered by Thomas Charles-Edwards in Appendix I to 'The

Authenticity of The Gododdin', AH, pp. 66-9, and his arguments gain further strength when

the uncertainty of the BGG triad text is noted. (He interprets the Coeling of the triad as other 93

EARLY W E L S H SAGA POETRY

names. tI seems ni the Bonedd Gwÿr yGogledd triad the scribe has skipped over hte

warband of the third family to na explanatory note that all three belonged to the larger tribe of the Coeling. From the names in TYP 6, the alliterative schematization, and the general pattern ofalliances I would be tempted torestore the family of Ceidiaw to the triad with the end of the triad r e a d i n gsomething like this:

A thrycha[n] wayv [Keidawon, sef cat] Coeling. Pa neges bynhac yd elynt

THE URIEN RHEGED POEMS

alenmities ot had sufficient knowledge of tradition suggests that their originators hes Information s.) term s ' piler the com avoid wildly improbable matc (at least ni

dom these sources will beincluded withthat fromother traditionalmaterial such

poetry, triads, and prose tales which for convenience is bardic and antiquarian each figure separately. will be noted for

iddi yn duun, nyt amethei hon honno.

This emendation would also explain the closing words, nyt amethei hon honno, for as the triad stands hon has no logical antecedent.? The triad would then be translated:

The three h u n d r e d swords of the Cynferchyn and the three hundred shields

of the Cynwydion and the three hundred spears of the ?Ceidawon:that is,

the Coeling warband. Whatever expedition they might go on together this (hon = cad Coeling) would not fail in that (honno = the neges). 47

I have therefore considered references to the participants at Arfderydd in tracing

the alliances, attitudes and transmission of material, as well as in considering the question of the narrator of the 'Pen Urien' group.

The third primary historical source is the genealogies. As noted in the previous

Urien

s found in m any different Material concerning Urien spans many centuries andibeen Alsoof above. noted types of texts. The historical references have alreadyUrien ascribed ot Taliesin.If primary importance are the early bardic poems ot

genuine thepoems provide contemporary evidence about Urten with alowances tions. The poems survive only in one comparatively late

made for bardic conven al which is obmanuscript, Peniarth 2 (The Book of Taliesin), with much materi twelve poems the of defense s's viously later and spurious. Despite for William from the manuscript which he judges to be genuine sixth-century bardic works, Even if critical opinion is not unanim ous on their value as historical documents."

are not later poems purporting to be compositions of Taliesin, they are diffi-

chapter, genealogies are open ot deliberate changes as well sa numerous copying

they added to cult and corrupt, and some words, lines o rsections could easily have been that of whether poems, these in romance f o absence the or altered. At any rate,

ent and which may have strong claim to historicity. For the purpose of tracing

found in Peniarth 2, suggests these poems belong to the earliest strata of traditions

errors. Attempts to see changes in the genealogies of early Northern heroes for political reasons, however, are on the whole unconvincing. In the caseof major figures the genealogies representa received tradition which is remarkably consist-

traditional alliances genealogical tracts which have far less claim to historicity are more likely to be significant. These are primarily Bonedd y Saint, D e Situ Brech-

eniauc and late heroic tracts such as Bonedd yr Arwyr which note marriages and

offspring. Little credence can be given to most of these matches which aretherefore more likely to be schematic than historical records. But the general agreement of

these marriages and relationships with the pattern of alliance found elsewhere

Urien and Owain or that of the poet as seen in the legendary poems of Taliesin also

about Urien, traditions which may be largely based on historical fact.

Unfortunately they shed little light on Urien's activities,and none at all on his

death. Battles are mentione d against the English and fellow Britons. Ifor Williams

argues that these battles with the English and his fellow Britons accord with the

information in the Historia Brittonum that he was chief among war leaders and had aroused the enmity of his neighbours." The Historia, however, ascribes Morgant's deed to jealousy, not policy, although it is plausible that Urien was crushed because he was growing too powerful. Neither the Historia nor the poetry offers direct evidence for this hypothesis. The many place-names in the bardic poems to Urien do suggest his power was

BGG has the note ac o gynwyd kynwydion i doethant trychant ysgwyd kynwydion; see TYP,

extensivein the north and his historical role significant. Many appear to be names of kingdoms which could have come under his control by conquest or by submission of a lesser ruler to his overlordship. Again this situation might lead to

Kirby, 'British Dynastic History', pp. 111-3. 37 Dr.Bromwich's translation in TYP, p. 238, avoids this problem by translating loosely, but

rebellion as suggested in the Urien englynion and less directly in the Historia Brittonum.? On the other hand, assertions that all rulers are slaves to Urien (PT

descendants of Coel apart from the two families named.) Also Pen 127 (c. 1510) in a copy of p. 257. Further criticism of Miller's interpretation of the Cynferchyn descent can be found by

admittedly more e l e g a n t l y : n e v e r fail.

..On whateve r expeditio n they might go i n unison, they would

" It will be noted that Cynfelyn DrwsglinTYP5 is also according to the genealogies one ofthe Cynwydion although linked here and elsewherewith Urien and Gwenddolau's enemies. Miller ('Historicity', p. 227) believes there is a specificincident behind the qualification in the

57 Most criticism of supposed sixth-century poetry has centredon The Gododdin, but manyof

Cynfelvn'sdefection from the Coeling group be this incident? It may be significant that Cynfelyn is the only one of the six menin TYP 5 and 6 not given his patronymic. At any rate

7 Ifthe emendation ot Lwyfennydd in 'Unhwch' 2c si correct it would indicate that one area

BoneddG w ÿ r y Gogledd triad that e x p e d i t i o n s would succeed as l o n gas there w a s u n i t y. Could

Cynfelyn lies outside oftheusual family patterns of alliance, but this does not seem sufficient to doubt the loyalty of the Cynwyd ion as a whole to Urien. 94

thesame points can b eand sometimes are applied to the Taliesinpoems. 67 PT, pp. Ixvii-viii; Lovecy, The End of Celtic Britain', pp. 43-5, proposes a similar view of Morgant's acti on.

controlled by Urien ni the Taliesin poems was thought by the englynion poet to have a ruler

hostile to Urien,perhaps because ofthe rebellionofaclient king. For theplace-namesseePT, Pp. xxxvi-xlvii.

95

EARLY W E L S H S A G A POETRY

1X1.5 teyrned pop ieith ti ol yd yn geith), that he has no match (Ill.22 m y th' oes

kystedlyd), etc., belong to bardic rhetoric and hyperbole and cannot be taken as

sober historical statements. Erechwydd and Rheged, the two kingdoms most com.

monly associated with Urien in the bardic poems, are also named in the englynion.

They could bederived from the earlier poems, but the englynion may be drawing on

THE URIEN RHEGED POEMS

and moer particularly of Owain in Arthurianromanceandni Geoftreyof Monmouths' history rather than the oldernative material, but itis saleot say that urien

was renowned and respected as agreat hero of the past throughout the Middle Ages

acommon northern background, since the place-names Drws Llech, Penawg and

Aber Lleu do not occur in the extant bardic poems.

Virtually by definition these bardic poems are highly favourable to Urien. Deli-

berate bias only becomes a question if the poems are out and out forgery with a

purpose other than providing a body of work for the famous poet, Taliesin. This seems unlikely even when examining the supposed bias towards Urien as an

ancestor of Merfyn Frych seen by Chadwick, Ford, Kirby, and othersi n the survival

and transmission of these poems.? Apart from the other reasons for dismissing

this theory, it should be noted that Penarth Gwallawg, one of Urien's enemies, and one of same original collection of hengerdd.? The most transmission of the Urien poems would seem

2 includes two bardic poems to these presumably comes from the likely reason for preservation and to be their ascription to the most

legendary of early Welsh poets, although their subject matter would also be of

general interest to those familiar with the literature of the Welsh heroic age. The respect for the poems, however, may have shaped later response favourably for Urien.

Interest in Urien as a figure of history and sagaseems to have peaked in theearly Middle Ages, roughly during the time the englyn cycles were being compiled. Later Urien is chiefly remembered as the father of Owain. The triads contain several references ot Urien, the most significant being TYP 70 'Tri Gwyn Dorllwyth' and TYP33 'Teir Anvat Gyflauan' which gives the story of Llofan and his axe blow. Both will be returned to in greater detail below. Urien is ostensibly the subject of' Anrec Urien' (RB 1049-50) ascribed to Taliesin. The poem is a prophecy with perhaps a pastiche from the Urien poems in the Book of Taliesin. In the poems of the legendary Taliesin Urien appears only once; his place as patron of the bard is usurpedat an early date by Elffin. $ The triads and one late prose-verse tale, however, name a

new household bard for Urien, Tristfardd bardd Urien.§ The Gogynfeirdd fre-

quently compare their patrons to Urien.$ He appears in all the early medieval genealogical tracts and in later ones there are many families which trace their descent back to him.* These later claims are probably based on the fame of Urien

er sons Owain and Urien's oth

A s noted above, Owain is theonly one of Urien'ssons to obtainlasting fame throughout the MiddleAges,like his father. Early material abouthim,however,si weithsons Argoet Llwyfein', preless extensive. One of the Taliesinpoems,PTVI 'GOther are not mentioned sents him as leader of the army along with his father.

sons ain PTIX.21 byname ni these poems, although there are references toUrien'svryen e plant.) A (dy teyrn veibon haelaf dynedon) and III.6 (ys mwy gogonyant vot

marwnad ot Owain si included ni hte PTcollection (X) which by its metre and ' lym awel',andan early position ni themanuscriptis suspect. Like hte BBCpoem, L T 38-40 ti may date ot hte earlydevelopment ofhis saga, although prophecy ni B

there is no hint of later romance in the marwnad and some echoes of the PT poems to Urien. The Urien englynion mention Owain with other sons, and only in 'Aelwyd the Rheged' is he singled out for special note. This may argue for an early date for included sons Urien's f o one only the is Owain . cycle, excepting 'Aelwyd Rheged' in the Black Book of Carmarthen beddau stanzas perhaps indicating that he sur-

passed other sons of Urien as a figure of saga at a quite early date.

B y the later Middle Ages Owain definitely is a more important figure than Urien,

a hero both in Arthurian romance and in semi-mythological tales. Apart f r o mhis

prominence this material si notrelevant to the study here; more references are

given in chapter 5.% The material is always favourable to him.85 Pasgent m. Urien is mentioned in 'Dwy Blaid' and is twice named in the triads (TYP 23 and 43). His horse is referred to in the poem 'Llym awel'. TYP 23 Y ' Tri Trahauc' maybe less than complimentary. Bonedd y Saint 55, however, gives him a saintly descendant and the ruling family of Buellt trace their descent from Keneu Meinrud m. Pascen m. Vrien Reget in Jesus College 20 (EWGT nos. 33,34). Elffin m. Urien is virtually unknown outside of the Urien englynion and the genealogies, unless he is the original Elffin of the legendary Taliesin poems. He too is given a saintly son in Bonedd y Saint 15 and Achau'r Saint 45.% Another brother, Cadell m. Urien, is n a m e d in Boneddy Saint 16 and in the list of sons in Bonedd yr Arwyr.

Rhiwallawn, not mentioned i nthe Urien englynion, is noted in TYP 62, 'Tri Hualho87 See chapter 1.

97 See Marged Haycock, 'Llyfr Taliesin: Astudiaeth ar rai Agweddau', PhD Cymru, 1982 p.52. 08 In the prose texts Elffin m. Gwyddno, but this Elffin could originally have been Elffin m. Urien. I am indebted to Marged Haycock for this information.

# See also Bromwich, TYP, pp. 479-83, for a comprehensive study of the various sources

fardd, Bardd Urien', BBCS 2 4 (1970), pp. 1-9.

6 Owain, too, is said ot be the father of Kentigern, information found ni theLifeof the saint andthe genealogies. tI si almost certainly a fiction; see Kenneth H. Jackson,The Sources for the Lifeof St Kentigern', SEBC, .p 286.

18 TYP 11, and note, p. 515, and Graham C.G. Thomas, 'Chwedlau Tegau Eurfron a Thrist28 For examples see Bromwich, TYP, p. 519. 38 Bromwich, TYP, pp. 519-20

96

which m e n t i o n O w a i n .

&With the exception of his role in the conception of St Kentigern, a necclesiastical tale arbitrarily assigned to Owain; see below.

97

EARLY W E L S H S A G A POETRY

e si geon Deulu Ynys Brydein: Teulu Riwallaton ap Vryen yn ymlad aSaesson.' H

THE URIEN RHEGED POEMS

o eur oed Gal mab Dysgyfdavt a ladavd deu ede(ryn) Gwendoleu, ca yeu

probably the same person as Rhiwallawn Wall Banhadlen namedin TYP 4and 1 since TYP 71 has a similar epithet ot that of TYP 62." Rhun has been discussed

arnadunt: dwy gelein or' Kymry a yssynt ar eu kynyaw a dwy ar eu

well-represented in Welsh tradition since ni generalthere are few referencesto northern figures after hte generation ofUrien. Although apart from Owain they are not well-known in saga and romance, the late genealogical activity indicates con-

dthey used ot eat w t o dead Welshmen for their dinner and w to yoke ofir gol sup per.

above. Thereare alsoreferences ot a daughter, Morfudd.* The family is especially tinued respect and interest

kwynos."

Cal son of Dysgyfdawd killed the two birdsof Gwenddolauwhowore a for the

While other men such asDrudwas m.Tryffin andOwainm. Urien are said to have had ferocious birds which could do battle and killfor them,Gwenddolau'sbirds are decidedly moresinister." The tract TriThlws ar Ddegassigns another wondrous ical gwyddbwyll set.

possession ot Gwenddolau, a mag

Gwenddolau

Although nothing directly links Urien and his family to the battle of Arfderydd, as noted above the patterns of alliance andopposition are remarkably similar for

Gwenddolau at Arfderydd and Urien in his final wars. The Bonedd Gwyr yGogledd

triad, moreover, may indicate a full alliance in war at some period between Gwenddolau and the Cynferchyn. References to Gwenddolau and other participants ni the battle of Arfderydd are gathered in Molly Miller's article, 'The Commanders at Arthuret'. Her thesis that there is a bias in much of the material ni favourof Gwenddolau si in accord with that presentedhere that the Welsh adopted

northern traditions with varying points of view.&° The triads about the battle itself are highly partisan. TYP 29 lists Gwenddolau's teuluat Arfderydd as one of the 'Tri Diweir Deulu', 'Three Faithful Warbands; they are said to have continued the battle for six weeks after their lord was killed. The bias i s all the more evidentwhen one notes the opposite triad of the pair, 'Y Tri Anyweir Deulu', 'Three Unfaithful

Warbands', which includes the teulu of two of his opponents.* Another triad, TYP 44, satirizes most of Gwenddolau's enemies. (It is discussed below.) In the poems of the Myrddin cycle Gwenddolau's death is lamented and his former patronage praised." Cynddelw makes one reference to Gwenddolau (H 113).22 Unfavourable references are less certain although material can be cited with a bias to Gwenddolau's enemies." TYP 32 'Try Wyr a wnaeth y Teir Mat Gyflauan

The Cynwydion, Llywarch

Apart from the Bonedd Gwyr y Gogledd triad,theonly evidencefor Cynwydion

alliance with Urien si the Black Book of Carmarthen poem cited above which states that the leader of an expedition to rescue Owain Rheged from prison was the

defender of the host of Cynwyd (diffreidad kad kynwyd).Doubtful marriage a-l lances further suggest that there was a tradition of unity between these two

families. Bonedd y Saint 15 records a marriage between a grandson of Urienand a

. granddaughter of Cynwyd Cynwydion. TYP 17 recalls the love of Cynon m Clvdno for Urien's daughter, Morfudd. The family is given saintly offspring. Cvnonm. Clydno is one of the most celebrated heroes in The Gododdin and the

Black Book beddau stanzas record h i sg r a v e . He is found in the A r t h u r i a nromance,

Owein.? Canu Llywarch pictures Llywarch as sympathetic to his cousin, but there is no evidence of active alliance with Urien in his last wars. The stray verse, 43, may refer to Pyll m. Llywarch, but the identification and the context are both uncertain. It is possible that pyll here is not even a personal name.* We can onlyspeculate how

('Three men who performed the three fortunate slayings') names: manuscripts, particularly for antiquarian material, may notreflect the dateof compilation of the source. Gwenddolau is not included in the Harleian Genealogies, Miller argues, because

78 See further Bromwich, TYP, p. 498 8 See Bromwich, TYP, p. 465.

. Jarman, 'Early Stages in the Development ofthe Myrddin Legend', AH, p. 339,also 98 A.O. H accords with this conclusion about the traditions concerning Gwenddolau

9 TYP, pp. 57-64. . O. H. Jarman, 'Early Stages', pp. 331, 336-7. 19 A 9 Miller supposes the description of Arfderydd as an ofergad 'senseless battle' in TYP84 si

he was not considered a 'good' ancestor t oclaim, but by the 'twelfthcentury'(Jesus 20)he was thought worthyof the Coelinga n dgrafted to the line. His opponents, Gwrgiand Peredur and Dunawd, are similarly in the Harleian collections because they were at that time 'good' ancestors. The logic breaks down when it i snoted that the later tracts do noteliminatethese

men as unworthy ancestors. Also it should be noted her analysis of the familygroupingsof

the contenders is based on h e r doubtful interpretation of the BGG triad, and her assignation of territories to these families speculativ e in the extreme.

9 ТУР,р.69.

out ofsympathy for Gwenddolau. But this i smore likelyd u eto misunderstanding the name

9 See TYP, p.69, Jarman, 'Early Stages', p. 339.

pp. 45-50.

P.261.

of a fortress fought over as a literal nest, as in the late tale recorded by Robert Vaughan quoted . Jackson, O' Achaws Nyth yr Ychedydd', Y B 10 (1977), in TYP, p. 209. See also Kenneth H 93I find it impossible, however, to accept Miller's argument that the genealogies demonstrate a shift in sympathy for the two sides in the battle. Again it must be notedthatomissions

can be by chance, the material is too slight to show definite trends, and the date of the 98

9Through Clydno (Eidyn). Bromwich, 'Cynon fab Clydno', .p 150, arguesconvincingly that

Clydno (Eidyn) is not the same personas HG Clinog Eitin as Miller takes him, 'Historicity',

* Bromwich, TYP, pp. 189-90, 323-4, and see also C ' ynon fab Clydno' for further references

to this figure. 9 See the notes to CU 43

99

THE URIEN RHEGED POEMS

EARLY W E L S H S A G A POETRY

Gwengot his warhorn fromUrien referred to in CLI 10.Asnoted above, the

horseman ni 'Gwahodd Llywarch i Lanfawr' clearly thinks Urien's enemies would be L.lywarch's even fi his ageand hte previous deaths of his sons do notenable him

to participate in warfare. This may be a convenient way that the shaper of

Llywarch's saga linkedhis story ot that of his famous cousin without contradicting

previous traditions about Urien's allies among the Coeling.

Thetraditions about Urien's enemies are more revealing about the background of hte Urien englynion and the possible narrator of the 'PenUrien' group. Again there

are suggestions that Welsh literature adopted two verydifferent strands ofopinion on the leaders of the old northern British kingdoms. In the case of the account of Urien's death this involved taking sides for oragainst some of the leading figures of the heroic age. Aspects of the story of Llofan Law Ddifro support the hypothesis that it was a deliberate construct designed to counteract the vilification of Urien's enemies which effective veneration seems to have produced. The story of Llofan

retains outrage and pity for Urien's untimely death while casting all blame o na minor, and perhaps newly-created figure. But first it is necessary to examine the

nature, amount and types of material about the opponents of the Coeling a-l liance.

overlordship of the Britishkingdomof Elted (Elmet, theregion around Leeds. A

Ceredicm. Gwalawg appears inTYP 41. Ithe si the sameCerdic asthe last king of Elmet said ot have been expelled by Edwin of Northumbria in chapter 63 ofthe Historia Britonum the location would be confirmed. He could also bethe Cerdic whosedeath is103noted ni 616 ni theAnnales Cambriae, but the nameis oto common ot . be confident

Gwallawg's genealogy si given in HG as: [GJuallauc map Laenauc map Masguic

. Clop map Ceneu map Coyl hen. This ismuchshortenedin Jesus 20:Gwallawe m . Mar m . Coel hen." Hedoes notappear in Bonedd G w y r y G o g l e d d LIvennawe m r tobe, probably because of acopying error 01 Both of the genealogies above appea G wouldhepuist defective, but adding Mar from Jesus 02 after Masguic Clop ni H Gwallawg in the same generation as Urien and the other Coeling with whom a s s o c ia te

d.

The later genealogies give Gwallawg two interestingmarriage alliances. St Deiniol is said ot be the son ofDunawd and Dwywei verch Leennauc, Gwallawg's sister 61 This is consistent with other material suggesting aclose alliance between Dunawd and Gwallawg. Even more interestingfor hte light it might shed on hte identity of the narrator of the 'Pen Urien' groupofenglynion is the marriage accord-

ing again to Bonedd y Saint of Onnen grec uerch Wallaw m. Lleennaweto Meuric m. Idno. 701 One manuscript identifies Idno a:s Idno ap Meirchion ap Gorwst ap Kenev ap Coelgodeboc. 801 Bonedd yr Arwyr also names Idno ap Meirchiawn and

names his children asMeurig and Mabon. WAlthough the traditionis late there seems little reason to doubt the existence of Idno's branch of the Coeling.One of

the Gwallawg poems (PT XI.26) refers to a Mabon who could be Mabon m. Idno. A

Gwallawg Gwallawg isundoubtedly the most renowned of Urien's enemies,and the onlyone to come close to Urien and Owain in the amount of surviving material and its

perplexing poem in theBook ofTaliesin 38-40, 'Kychwedyl amdodywogalchuynyd',

also refers to mab idno (BT 38.16) and later in the poem to a Mabon (BT38.22, 39.2, 4, 5, 15). The poem is a curious mixture of what seems to be remnants of northern

variety. The two early bardic poems (perhaps contemporary) in the Book of

Taliesin (PT XI, XII) are verycorrupt, but allowing for hyperbole, like the poems ot Urien, they suggest Gwallawg was a powerful and active ruler. He may have obtained the height of his power after Urien's death." The first poem, PT XI, lists Gwallawg's battles a n d cattle raids, mostly against British k i n g d o m s it seems,

although the English are also mentioned (1. 27). Battle i nAeron (I. 20-3), probably part of Urien's kingdom, may provide a historical attestation for the tradition of enmity between the two men found in the Urienenglynion. 10 The second poem is more difficult and corrupt. Ifor Williams's emendation of PT XII.21 aeninat yn ygnat ac eluet to a enwat yn ygnat ar eluet 'he was named a judge

over Elfed' is too extensive to be fully convincing, 10 but fi correct indicative of 9 for Williams's theory that Taliesin composed 'Dadolwch Urien' as an apology for the poems to Gwallawg is mere conjecture;there is n o internal evidence for the authorship of this poem. Like Urien, he is not directly linked w i t hArfderydd, and the lines cited below from

'Moliant Cadwallawn' suggest he was active after the battle of Catraeth. This is usually placed

after Urien's reign becauseh e is called (1)lyw katraeth in PT VIII.9, but the question deserves

more attention. See Molly Miller, 'Commanders', pp. 115-9; Bromwich, 'Cynon ap Clydno', p. 158. 100 See PT, pp. xlv-xlvii; 124-5.

102 For n a d 'judge, ruler'see PT, p. Ivii, andbelow on ygnadaethygogled. His putative rule in Elmetcould be an expansion from another base, and even fi original may not have beenhis

only kingdom. The place-name in PT XI.5 ef differthaduwyn Ilan Ilennawe 'he defended delightful Llan Llennawg' contains the name of Gwallawg's father. Couldthis be Staynlenok,

a lost place-name near Millom in Cumberland? ThePlace-Names of Cumberland, A. M.

Armstrong, et al., (Cambridge, 1950-2), derives it from ON stein a n dan unattested diminutive ofthe OIr personal-name, Lend. The compound is a Celtic type, so the first element could be a translation. Ecclesiastic llannau are usually rendered by stow or kirk, but the basic

meaning 'enclosure, clearing' is a meaningalso found in place-names for ON stein and OE

. H . Smith,English Place-Name Elements (English Place-NameSoc., 1956), p .150. Dunstan; A walloght Castle (The Place-Names of Cumberland, p .78) appears to b ea recentcoining basedon

Dunmalloght Castle. 103 Bromwich, TYP, p. 308. 104 EWGT, pp. 10, 48. 105 Bromwich, TYP, p.375.

601 EWGT, p. 56 (ByS12). This may make him Aneirin's uncle; se CA, p. 232, TYP, p. 272. This is not proof that this branch of the Coeling were Gododdin princes as Miller claims - both

eligiblenoble brides and poets were peripatetic.

701 ByS 48, EWGT, p. 62.

801 EWGT, p. 62. The ms is Pen 127 (c. 1510).

10 See the note to 'Llym' 24a concerning doubt about the use of enwi i nearly poetry. 100

109 ByA 11 ,13, EWGT, p. 88.

101

EARLY W E L S H SAGA POETRY

tradition and darogan. Apart from this Mabon there are references to Owain and

THE URIEN RHEGED POEMS

t o stanzas perhaps allude to a scurrilous story in which both men fled These w

Rheged. Much of hte poem deals with cattle raiding with thecattle of Rheged

ignominiously from battle, andthe englyn about Gwalawg could reflect avariant,

possibly because of contaminationfrom prophetic literature wain sometimes takes this role. (Both 'Mabon' and 'Owain' appear ni prophecies sa the destined saviours of hte Welsh quite apart from hte historical personages namedabove, and wain m.Urien, moreover, seems sometimes to be confused with Mabon fab Modron.)' Because of the uncertainty of identities and other textual difficulties

avoid. as pa tt er ns to

apparently the chief victims. Mabon seems to be the hero ni mostof the poem,but

the subject matter of the poem is far from clear,but ti would seem that the two men

were enemies.' If this si so, the marriage with Gwallawg's daughter would con.

. Idno firm the pattern of alliance. tI is significant for the englyn cycle if Meurig m . Idno were said to have fought against Rheged and were linked ot and Mabon m

Gwallawg since both men according ot hte genealogies could describe Urien as vyg

kewunderw.112

Two verses written in the margin of the Black Book of Carmarthen englyn poem on Gwallawg 3 also associate Gwallawg with a certain Meurig who is probably ot be identified as Meurig m. Idno, his son-in-law (a likelihood increased by the mocking reference to Meurig's wife in one of the englynion.)' In the marginal verses Gwallawg a n d Meurig are clearly vilified:

t o men areheld up nore shameful, tale about how eh lost one eye (see below). The w Apart from hte fact that Mabon andMeurig m. Idno are first cousins of Urien

and wain thereis no proof that apparently allied with Gwallawg against UrienenUrien' group. The hostility shown

either of the two men si the narrator of the 'P

to Meurig in hte marginal enslyn infact arguesagainst thishypothesis.Also neither of themen haveanyattested close relationship with Efrddyl.The tangled web of genealogical traditions, however, might counter this objection. Two genealogiesin Jesus 20 (5,9) namea Meurig whois hte son of Emminnior Enenniverch Kynvarch.There arefurther complications surrounding this genealogy which aer notrelevant here." ,It however,there was atradition that a sister of Urien had ason

. Idno." The other very named Meurig he may have been confused with Meurig m tenuous piece of evidence whichcan eb cited ni favour ofMeurig m. Idno as the narrator is Llywarch's address ot hte horseman ni 'Gwahodd Llywarch i Lanfawr' as Meurygawg marchawg 'horseman like Meurig'. This ispossibly an ironic fauxpas on the partof hte ignorant Llywarch like hispraise ofUrien's enemy Brân ni hte fifth englyn. fI this interpretation is correct the Llywarch englynion would also

knowMeurig as a figure once allied to Urien who went over to Urien's enemies. To return to Gwallawg, other poetic references suggest adifferent conception of

Nid aeth nep a uei envauc.

ri gorllurv id aeth gallauc

his character possibly based on saga. The earliest allusion ot him apart from the two

y valaen yr veiriauc.

poems in the Book of Taliesin si ni 'Moliant Cadwallawn' .I 30-1:

Nid aeth nep a uei edmic ir gorllurv id aeth meuric

y digones gwychyr gwallawc eilywed Gattraeth fawr vygedawc

ar kewin y gureic in tri diblic. N o one w h o would have been famous

went in the plight that Gwallawg did to the accursed one, to the thornbushes. N o one w h o would have been admired

went in the plight Meurig did

o n t h e b a c k of h i s w i f e b e n t - i n - t h r e e .

110 See c h a p t e r 5.

11 Foradifferent view see Bromwich, TYP, p p .434-5. Her view of Mabon a n d Owain a sallies

Excellent Gwallawg caused the sorrow of great, f a m o u s Catraeth. There is n ogeneral a g r e e m e n ton the historical background of this allusion, but it would seem to be favourable. 711 fI the early date of 'Moliant Cadwallawn' is ac-

cepted, it would appear that Gwallawg's reputation was high in Wales in the seventh century, but there is no way of knowing whether this was at the expense of Urien or if the two leaders' enmity was considered unimportant. The two other poems in the Black Book which mention Gwallawg probably belong to the later production of englynion (tenthcentury and later) and show that

is in part d e p e n d e n t on her identification of Mabon as an otherwise unattested b r o t h e r of

Owain; the appendix to t h e new edition notes Mabon m. Idno. The poem is as yet unedited, but I am indebted to a study made by Marged Haycock

211 Gwallawg himself is not Urien's cousinaccording to the genealogies as Brynley Roberts asserts in 'Rhai o Gerddi', p. 310.

13 The poem is edited by Brynley Roberts, 'Rhai o Gerddi', pp. 310-1. See also Jarman, LIDC

n o . 3 3 a n d no.34.

is noted 1* In the BBC poem on pp. 99-100, however, the death of Meurig m. karreian clot etmic in the englyn before the one about Gwallawg, raising the possibilitythat that Meurigm.

sI Efryddyl's attestedsonsperhaps make better candidates sa shall be seen below.

However, Careian is unattested elsewhere nor is this Meurig known. All the characters

credited with winning backCatraeth since eil lywed could also be read as 'second hosting',

Furthermore, the non-partisan nature ofthe poem (it includes Gwenddolau) suggests there

wich, TYP, pp. 376-7, suggests si has something todo with celebration of Aneirin, fi he si Gwallawg's nephew.

102

103

Karreian is the Meurig in the scurrilous englyn; see Brynley Roberts, 'Rhai o Gerddi', p. 300.

named seem to be northern and are fairly well-known. Karreian, then, may be a n error.

is no necessary association between the figures named.

15 See Bartrum, EWGT, pp. 138-9.

71 The latest editor, R . Geraint Gruffydd, 'Canu Cadwallon', .p 28, argues that Gwallawg si

therefore: 'excellent Gwallawgformedthe second hosting ofgreat, famous Catraeth'. Brom-

EARLY W E L S H SAGA POETRY

at that time the tradition of Gwallawg as one of the heroes of North Britain Was

marginal englynquotedabove,an englyn in aseries current. concerningInthecontrast deathstoofthe five heroes fi

nds ni Gwallawg an excellent examplefor

warriors:

T H E URIEN R H E G E D POEMS

hte bird. Ross suggests that hte Aberlemno scene can eb connected with a mythologicalepisode which may also liebehind the Gwallawgenglynion. W It Gwalawg survived the attack of awar god in hte shape of agoose with only the loss of one eye,

he would be a formidable, not laughable, figure.

[Mi a v u m | ' lle llas gwallauc mab goholeth teithiauc. attwod lloegir mab lleynna[v]c.

I have been where Gwallawg was slain, son of a rightful dynasty,

the affliction of England, the son of Llennawg. As noted above, this p o e m follows no partisan line-up of alliances.

Also in connection withbattle, Vendryes cites a parallel ni the description of Cú

Chulainn's warp-spasm. nI that state, preparatoryot berserker action inbattle, one evesi said tohavereceded in his head os thatit wouldbe difficult for acrane ot pluck ti out, the other protrudes.If this ancient description ofawarrior infury

were misunderstood, alegend mighthave easily developed ni which hte hero

(Gwallawg in this case) actually lost an eye ot a ferocious bird. 126

Vendryes sees just this type of tale in incidents in Celtic saints' lives. In the Irish

examples the bird is a heron, and the loss ofan eye is a punishmentfor spying." A

The other BlackBook verses about Gwallawg are less antiquarian in nature and clearly point ot a lost tale concerning him. 21 nI thisbrief poemof five stanzas a

closer parallel with hte Gwallawg tale si found ni hte ninth-century Breton Life of S t

The succession of different coloured geese (guit, guit do,suit guenn, guit glas) is in part responsible for the judgment that the poem si 'of a facetious character' or

(without harming the goose!) and restores it in his sister's head as good sa new. 521 Theeditor of the Life notes that this si not one of the miracles common to international hagiographical tradition. It appears thata vernacular motif of a lossof an

goose ofvarying coloursis cursed forhaving plucked out one of Gwallawg's eyes.

intended to be amusing at Gwallawg'sexpense." (The two marginal stanzas may

also have encouraged this view of the poem although they are clearly separate.) The change in colour to vary rhyme-words is part of the stock-in-trade of the englyn poet, and although the usagehere is mechanical and meaningless ti can best be put down to poor technique rather than deliberate burlesque. 21 Similar mechanical use of colour changes (of eagles in this case) can be seen in the closing section of 'Geraint fab Erbin' without any suggestion of humour or mockery. Itwas undoubt. edly an accepted convention and the incongruity would probably be less apparent in oral performan ce than it is in print.

The incident, as well, was probably not considered ridiculous by the original

audience. Dr Anne Ross has compiled evidence that the goose, in common with

birds of prey, was associated with war and destruction and appears in pagan

23 On the Pictish carved stone at Abericonography as a companion of w a rgods. 1 lemno amidst a scene of horsemen and foot soldiers fighting there is one lone warrior who i s being attacked solely by a large bird, perhapsa goose. The warrior is represented falling backwards and dropping his shield;clearly he is no match for

Winwaloe. nI it St Winwaloe's innocent youngsister looses an eye ot agoose while playing. Her saintly brother recovers the eye which the goose had swallowed

eye ot a bird was borrowed by Celtic hagiographers and adapted ot their own p u rp o se s.

129

The epithets given to Gwallawg in the poem, unless they display atypical irony,

also indicate the story was not intended to discredit him. He is described as Gwallauc ab Lleinauc argluit, pen llo, unben, vrtas. The opening englyn is mysterious, but the narrator seems to state that he intends to obtain the same wealthas Gwallawg, perhaps by undergoing a similar experience: Canis coegawc yssi moreurawc a hin in emil llis guallauc minnev bitaw goludawc. Since the one-eyed one is so wealthy/generous

and this nearGwallawg's court,

I myself will be wealthy.

The reference to wealth reminds one of the magical properties attached to having one eye in Indo-European mythology, and particularlyo fO d i n ' sdeliberate sacrifice of an eye to gain wisdom. 130

18 For the type and dating of these poems see chapters 5 and 6.T h eallusion to Gwallawg Hir

in the BBC beddau stanzas is probably to another Gwallawg; see Bromwich, TYP,p .376. 119 Ms Ni vum; see the t e x t u a l notes.

. Roberts, 'Rhai o Gerddi', pp. 309-11. The textand 120 The poem is edited by Brynley F translation of the poem are included with those of t h eother non-cyclical miscellaneous poems discussed in chapter 5. 12 Bromwich, TYP, p. 376; CLIH, p. xlii; Ifor Williams, 'Friog', BBCS 16 (1954),p. 29; Brynley Roberts, 'Rhai o Gerddi', p. 310.

12 See Jackson, 'Incremental Repetition', pp. 310-11, 313, who notes that automatic and unlikely use of colour changes is typical of the device worldwide. Admittedly the poet si exceptionally clumsy here in its use since only one goose and one eye could have been involved.

321 Pagan Celtic Britain, pp. 271-3, 295, and cf. Bromwich, TYP, pp. 171 and 538 onguyd ellyll, possibly 'goose spectre

104

124 Pagan Celtic Britain, p. 272.One can also compare the fighting birds said tohavebelonged

to Gwenddolau and Owain alluded to above.

521 'L'oiseau qui arrache les yeux', C R 45 (1928), pp. 334-5

621 The story may have been attached ot Gwallaw because of misunderstanding of his name as lacking, defective' < wall; it probably should be connected with ual, ?wal 'strong. powertul, leader';see D. Ellis Evans, Gaulish Personal Names(Oxford, 1967), pp. 269-72

721 'L'oiseau', pp. 334 5. . Doble, Saint Winwaloe (Shipston-on-Stour, 1940), p. 13. 821 GilbertH

19 Doble, Saint Winwaloe, p. 28. 031 Brynley Roberts, 'Rhai o Gerddi', p. 310, suggests these are the words of arobber preparingto takeadvantageof Gwallawg's partial sight.Such afigure si unlikely ni thenoble and heroic world of theenglynion sagas unless the poem i sindeed an extremeburlesque. 105

T H E URIEN R H E G E D POEMS

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

Gwallawg appears twice in the triads, but only in those unelaborated triads grouped around adescriptive adjective. Despite the lack of story allusions ni these

triads,the triads ni which his name occur are nevertheless interesting. nI two triads his name appears as a substitute for Urien's in some manuscripts, and ni ' ri Phost another triad Urien's name is once substituted for Gwallawg's.TYP 5 T Cad' aswe have seen contains the name of three seemingly-allied figures, Dunawd m. Pabo, Gwallawg, and Cynfelyn Drwsg|- agroupingprobablymore significant than that of theepithet 'post cad'. It si odd, then, that WB, R B and Pen 47substitute Urien for Gwallawg, and that Pen 47 substitutesGwallawg for Urien ni the follow. ing triad which seems ot eb agrouping of Urien's allies. " In both cases it could eb due ot scribal error, but this is somewhat unlikely since hte error affectsonly one of ' Tri Aeruedawe' six manuscripts have Gwallawg's the three names. nI TYP 25 Y name in the place more commonly held by Urien." These traces of substitution may indicate that there were two schools of thought concerning the leading figure and party in the north. 13

Despite all the early and on the whole favourable references to Gwallawg his

reputation may have declined, possiblyas the resultof pro-Urienpropaganda. The two scurrilous verses in the Black Book suggest this, and indirectly the lack of much later material about him. I know of no line comparing Gwallawg to a patron in the

works of the Gogynfeirdd and Cywyddwyr although this could be due ot the

coincidence of survival or because of the unfortunate connotationsof the name. He

is listed once among the warriors of Arthur's court in the prose romance, Gereint

micprobablyhave hte same hero inmind! The closestthing to aremnantof atale about him, however,is theburlesque triad (TYP 44) ni which he isrepresentedas fiding to Arfderyddwith Gwrgi and Pereduron their horse. Thisisdisapproving

butitis theonly unfavourable mention among the honourable, ifvague,references of Urien ot Dunawd and his family. I He si not named as an enemy or confederate si war twice in the inthe HistoriaBrittonum, butLly r Urien englynion and clearly i Lanfaw ch cited

spoken against ni 'Gwahodd Morgant

e cannot eb Investigation of attitudes to Morgant is virtually impossible since h

identified with certainty as any oneof the recorded men of that name among the

northern British. Without hte identificationof a patronymic orepithet no later

reference ot aMorgant can solve this problem. However, ni her article on the

genealogies of the northern heroesMoly Millermakes some interesting specu-

lations on the identity of the Historia Brittonum Morgant. Since these speculations tend ot become conclusions underpinning her arguments about North British

history and the story of Urien they must be examined here. " Morcant Bulc of the Harleian Genealogies is clearly her choice for the Lindisfarne protagonist and is found in the correct generation. S h e goes on to assume that a king from Godod-

din should b e represented in the confederation against the Bernicians. While this isreasonable enough, s h e argues from her reading of the Bonedd Gwyr y Gogledd triad discussed above that Morgant is the only true Coeling and therefore that the

vab Erbin.

Coeling line was the royal line of Gododdin. I Her conclusions about the Coeling

Dunawd

Like Gwallawg, Dunawd m. Pabo Post Prydain is fairly well-known. His death is noted in the Annales Cambriae (595) a n d he i salso found in t h eearly genealogies.

His line appears foreshortened in the Harleian Genealogies and Jesus 20, at least in comparison to that in Boned Gwÿr y Gogledd which adds Arthwys m. Mar after Ceneu m. Coel. 134 Bonedd y Saint and various other sources name a suspiciously

large number of saintly offspring suggesting the family's high repute. I There is one certain reference to Dunawd in the works of the Gogynfeirdd (H 78dety dunaut ap pabo), but many other praiseworthy references to Dunawd without a patrony-

are almost certainly wrong, and the kingdom of Morgant Fwlch is at least open to doubt.! Moreover, she uses this doubtful identification of Morgant (a very common name) to support her theory that the genealogies of Gwallawg, Urien and Morgant have been systematically tampered with to agree in generation with the Strathclde line of Rhydderch H a e l / H e n because the Historia Brittonum l i n k s them.

(If the compiler deliberately placed Morgant Fwlch in this generation it must be

136 See Geirfa under Dunawt v. Pabo and Bromwich, TYP, pp. 334-5.

13 The complex manuscript history of the triads is sufficient to account for the lack of

137 A brother, Sawyl Penuchel, is named in TYP 23 as one of the 'Tri Trahauc'as is Pasgent m Urien. If traha i nthis case means 'arrogant it could be a negativereference, but the triad occurs in a group celebrating warriorsunder various laudatory epithets. See chapter 1 on the meaning of traha. Similarly there is no necessary opprobrium in his being a rex tyrannus opposingSt Cadoc in his Life. If anything it indicates the family had a reputation for temporal powerwhich made them fair game for being casti nt h erole of the saint's worldly oppressors;

interchange is impossible because specific events are alluded to. It should be noted that such substitution is surprisingly rarein the triads; thecases with Gwallawg and Urien account for

the same points.

13 TYP, pp. 10-1. WB/RBalso omit triad 6. 132 TYP, p. 44.

Urien the systematic substitutio n in any ones u r v i v i n g version. In other triads which name

see Bromwich, TYP, p. 506 139 Again the articlesby Kirby and Charles-Edwards cited above offer critiqueso fmany of

a l m o s t half.

139 'Historicity', p. 265. M 0 'Historicity', pp. 265-6.

Gwenddolau.

Kirby, DynasticHistory', pp. 112-3,suggests the Gododdin material was transmitted sep-

134 See EWGT, pp.56, 73, 48, and 11. The addition of these two names puts Dunawd in the same generation as Urien and Gwallawg and also makes him a cousin of Gwallawg and

135 For these see Miller, 'Commanders', pp. 105-110. 106

MNo genealogy names Mynyddog Mwynfawx, the Gododdin king of Aneirin's poem.

aratelyfrom the genealogical tracts nowextant.

107

THE URIEN R H E G E D POEMS

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

noted that he had information which is not known from any other source.) The theory of tampering, however, si introduced primarily because the pseudo-

ancestry of Coel and Cunedda when compared would place Morgant Fwlch ni the generation before Urien." These pseudo-ancestries are palpable forgeries and easy to detect in part because they involve such remote ancestors. As a forgery one

would not expect them ot fit perfectly withprevious genealogies - this si another way ni which forgeries are detected. AsKirbystates, this pseudo-ancestry cannot

be used to cast d o u b t on the material to which it is clumsily joined. 143

Certain of Miller's conclusions regarding the division of Latin and native learn-

ing must also be challenged. The absence of MorgantFwichin Bonedd Gwgt y

Gogledd does not necessarily indicate that the synchronization of Morgant with

exception folows hte genealogy of Gwynedd fromMaelgwnHir. WThe first three egures, however, are northerners. Myrddin announcesthathewill recite ysma(B o577: 8-9) which consideringwhatfolows should be translated daethygogled R f the north' I! The three named are Rhydderch Hael, Morgant

the overlordship 's dates Fawt fab Sadyrnin and Urien. The order may not eb original; Rhydderch

are relatively lateandheseems tobe named first andmore oftenbecauseof his connection with Myrddin's story. Morgant's action would be understandable had

he and Urien been ni competitionfor overlordship in the north. Atany rate, this or earlier tradition as ot the identity of Urien's could represent atenth-century north.

great opponent in the

Urien was rejected by some parties in Wales."* Again it must be stressed that the

identification of this Morgant with the Morgant at Lindisfarne is by no means certain andthat omissions in genealogical records are not always significant. It is also not true that Morgant and Gwallawg do not appear inrecords later than the Harleian tracts showing theflux in the canons of heroes: both are found in Jesus 20

numbers 36 and 37.1 Miller's insistence that the genealogies and the Historia

Brittonum show Latin learning divorced from Welsh as witnessed by the fact that

. . . the statement that Urien was killed at Morgan's instigation... is never found ni purely Welsh sources...' is also misleading.™* As we have seen the Urien englynion do not ascribe the death of Urien to one man, but the poem 'Dwy Blaid' does name Morgant and attributes to him plottingagainst Erechwydd and Urien. Other candidates for Urien's enemy, Morgant, can be put forward besides Morgant Fwlch and his grandson of the same name. ?WRachel Bromwich makes a

good case for Morgant Mwynfawr of the triads, almost certainly a northern figure.8" H e islisted as one of the 'Tri Ruduoauc' (TYP 20) which would fit the picture of an active campaigner. Bonedd yr Arwyr names Morgant Mwynfawr as a brother

of Rhydderch Hael, but h e is not found in earlier genealogies. The family connection issuspect, yet it could suggest that there was a tradition that Morgant Mwynfawr was involved in the alliance against Bernicia. 149 Even more likely, in my opinion, is a figure who does not appear in the genealogies at all, Morgant uawr uab sadyruin (Sadyrnin) of the Kyvoessi myrdin a

gwendyd y chwaer (RB 577.28-9). The poem, cast as a prophecy, contains a king-list

/Hael Rhydderch Hen

Rhydderch Hael si well-attested in early historical sources, and is popular at all

periods ni Welshliterature primarily because heis aparagonof virtuefor the

bards, one of hte Y ' Tri Hael', "The Three Generous Ones'. He was descended from Dyinwal Hen according ot the genealogies and so a member of the other great

dynasty of the North British. Apart from the Historia Brittonum Rhydderch is mentioned asruler of Strathclyde in Adamnán's Life of St Columba and in the much later Life of St Kentigern. H i s story i sconnected with the Myrddincycle of poems which depict the prophet, a supporter of Gwenddolau, in great fear of Rhydderch

after the battle of Arfderydd. No early source, however, other than Geoffrey of

Monmouth's Vita Merlini indicates that Rhydderch took part in the battle. 1 53 Unlike the other rulers who foughtagainst the Bernicians according to the HistoriaBrittonum Rhydderch is not named as an opponent of Urien in the englynion or elsewhere. 15 This could be due to reluctance to place one of the three generous men in a bad light, but as noted above the Myrddin cycle may show some disapproval of Rhydderch. The late traditions of St Kentigern depict Rhydderch as the chief supporter of the saint who is supposed to be the son of Owain, but the saint's patronymy is very dubious. 15s Later references are, of course, universally favourable fi only because of his epithet 'hael'. 651

which in the first part breaks off with Hywel Dda (d. 950). The regnal list with one 142 See Table IIIon p. 268 of 'Historicity'.

13 Kirby, 'Dynastic History', p. 112. 14 As Miller asserts, 'Historicity', p .267.

150 See further chapter 6 on t h eCyfoesi.

15 Deuthum attat y atrawd ygnadaeth y gogled y gennyf. sywpob tut traethwyt wrthyf.

s 'Historicity', p. 258. Number 37 gives slightly different names and epithets but is clearly M

251 See Bromwich, TYP, pp. 504-5.

146 'Historicity', p. 267. 147 It is entirely likely that there is no other information about or reference to t h i s Morgant

notexplained. I nsome of the poetry there is a suggestion that Myrddin betrayed Gwenddo-

the s a m e line as H G 10.

outside of the Urien englynion and the Historia Brittonum; cf. Kirby, 'Dynastic History', p. 112. 148 TYP, p. 466.

153 Ed. Basil Clarke, Life of Merlin (Cardiff, 1973), pp. 55, 213. Myrddin's fear of Rhydderch is

lau in which case Rhydderch's hostility could bebecause he supported Gwenddolau rather than opposed him.

*1 Thissuggests the source of the poems si neither the Historia Brittonumnor its immediate

941 TheStrathclvde traditions of the enmity of Morken against St Kentigern (said ot be Owain m. Urien's son) may be relevant; see Bromwich, TYP, p. 466, and Jackson, 'Sources for the Life of Kentigern', pp.312-3. The pattern of alliance does not depend on the truth of the

paternity.

108

s o u r c e

51 The figure ni the Life of St Kentigern analogous to Myrddin si also supported by Rhydderch.

651 See Bromwich, TYP, pp.504-5.

109

THE URIEN R H E G E D POEMS

EARLY W E L S H SAGA POETRY

Unhwch, Brân fab Ymellyrn

Unhwch does not appear ni hte Historia Brittonum, hte genealogies or the triads,

but hte name si attested. I Apossible reference to Unhwch appears in one of the two bardic poems to Gwallawg, PTXI.6: torhyt on hwch ardwyawe. The line unfor.

tunatelv is open to several interpretations and even the personal name is by no

means certain. Is If the reading 'Unhwch the defender vanquishes isaccepted the pattern of alliance with Gwallawg would fit with other indications. Cynddelw ni 'Dadolwch yr Arglwydd Rhys' H ( 112) compares his patron ot Unhwch ni terms which strongly resemble the opening englynion of the Urien cycle: Angertawl gretuaw l (gretyf) unhwch dywal am dywet llonytwch. Violent, mighty, of the nature of fierce Unhwch as regards asking for peace.

This suggests the direct source of the comparison was the englynion and there si other evidence that Cynddelw was well-acquainted with the englyn cycles. 15? It is unlikely that by the twelfth century these englynion would be totally obscure,

indicating that at this period there was no disapproval attached ot a figure

described as gal Urien.

Brân fab Ymellvrn present special problems because of the note by Gruffydd

Hiraethogin his copy of Bonedd yr Arwyr equating Brân Galed o'rGogledd, Brân m. Ymellyru (Ymellyrn) and Brân Ywerydd. The name is again a common one, but no Brân of the correct generation is found in the main genealogical tracts. For discussion of the identification of the figures in Gruffydd Hiraethog's note see chapter 5. The conclusion made there is that a possible connection between Brân

fabYmellyrn and Brân Ywerydd exists. Ywerydd in turn may be the name of a kingdom or region hostile to Owain and the Cynwydion on the evidence of the poem 'Llym awel' if t h e verse in question is not an interpolation. Although like

Unhwch, Bran fab Ymellyrn is not named in the Historia Brittonum his hostility ot

Urien is confirmed in 'Gwahodd Llywarch i Lanfawr'.

Gwrgi and Peredur Gwrgi and Peredur are not named in t h e Urien englynion, but they deserve notice

hte case of Gwalawg, moreover, surviving material suggests varying attitudes ot . t h e tw o "The tradition that Efrddylwas the mother of Swrgiand Pereduris found in three and textual corruptions. e fullest sources, all withminor inconsistencies traces triadsource, ndorlwyth'T.hThe ' ri Gwy asreconstructed yb Bromwich, si TYP 70 T three multiple births, hte firstbeing Urien and EfrddylofCynfarch andNefyn;the second wainand Morfudd fromUrienand Modron ferch Afallach,;and hte third osanalsd nEl ithe ffer G Gwrgi, Peredur and Arddun(Pen 50eindrech) from Efrddyl third i anim o w t des inclu triad the f o n versio 7 4 n e P e h T I . gorddfawr ich, TYP, p. 188. Very similar information, probably birth, for this motif see Bromw

derived from the triad si found ni acorrupt version ni theJesus 02 list of Brychan's

daughters

Drynwin verch Vrachan, mam Vryen [ac] Erduduy| gwynn dorliud. Owein

m.Vryen a Morudverch Vryen, (eil gwyn dorliud]. Gwrgi a Pheredur ca Arthur penuchel a Tonlut a Hortnan a Dyrnell, trydyth gwyn dorliud. 261

The oldest list of Brychan'sdaughters, however, ni De SituBrecheniauc does not display obvious influence of the triad and may contain older and independent information:

Nyuein filia Brachan, uxor Kenuarchcul filii Meirchiaun mater Vruoni,

mater Euerdil matris Estedich. (Euerdil] uxor Elidircoscoruaur, et mater

Gurgi et Per edu r.163 The information here is far less schematized with Urien's sister, Morfudd,

omitted, as well as the sister of Gwrgi and Peredur and the congenital animals. Despite the dubious nature of a marriage between a daughter of Brychan and

Cynfarch, the further genealogical information may be accurateor at least repre sentvery old traditions. Efrddyl's marriage to Eliffer Gosgorddfawris just possible if the Bonedd Gwÿr y Gogledd version of his pedigree is accepted, but all the genealogies of this line seem more or less corrupt. 16 This marriage is particularly interesting since it is one of the few traditions which link the opposing factions of the Coeling. If historical, it might represent an effort to unite the tribe, but as noted above such marriages are also the stuff of tragedy in sagas. The two stanzas noting Efrddyl's grief for Urien's death and the narrator's role in it strongly suggest thatEfrddy was a figure in the saga who found her naturalfamily and family-by-marriage in conflict. One of her sons, then, may be the narrator of the 'Pen Urien' group.

enemies becauseo f their particip ation in Arfdery dd on t h e side of Gwendd olau's

point andbecause they are saidt o be the sons of Urien's sister, Efrddyl. 160 This latter

means that one of the men could well be the narrator of the 'Pen Urien' group. As in

16 TYP, pp. 185-8. 261 EWGT, p. 43.

361 EWGT, p. 15. See also the later tract, Plant Brychan, EWGT, p. 82. 61 The HGwould makeEfrddyl ageneration later than her supposed sons; the BGG makes her the same generation which si plausibleif Eliffer was much older than hiswife. The HG

751 See CLIH, pp. 111-2. 158 PT, pp. 119-20.

159 Bromwich, TYP, p. Ixxiv.

061 Note this is not the Peredur of Arthurianromance. Also there si nothing ot connectGwig. p. 32) as Miller, 'Commanders', P with the monster, Gwrgi Garwlwyd, of the triadsce(TYP roval of the brothers disapp of eviden further as taken be cannot t i asserts; 110-1, 110

seem tohave copied the genealogy of Llywarch's father; see further below. However, this error, if ti is one is followed in most of the mss of ByA (two give the BGG lineage; see EWGT, P.88). Given the confusion ofElidir and Elifferthis lineage may be influenced by that of Elidir Mwynfawr ap Gorwst priodawr (ByA, BGG). 111

EARLY W E L S H S A G A POETRY

THE U R I E N R H E G E D P O E M S

If Gwrgi orPeredur isthe narrator of this section ofthe Urien englynion his,

conflict of loyalties is explicable, but it si then necessary ot take keuynderwas

The addition points ot aliterarysource. Geoffrey f Monmouths' us. ennoloo nts of Gu makes Peredurus one of the oppone

proper epithet. The Harleian Genealogies use the Latinate form Eleuther, but the

brothers and their allies were criticized in some accounts29)ofanhtdeY'battle. Thissiri Tri Anywe " Tri Diweir Deulu' (TYP supported bythe pair of triads: Y Deulu' (TYP30). °Gwenddolau's teulu who carriedon battle for six weeks after their lord's death issurely meant ot contrast with the behaviour of hte teulu of battlecommand of Caer Gresuch u ni Gwrgi and Peredurwhich deserted them the nightbefore hthee could

'kinsman'(relation by both blood and marriage?) rather than the more specific 'first cousin' 16s Another solution, however, is found inthe early confusion of Eliffer Gosgorddfawr and Elidir Llydanwyn, brother of Cynfarch and father of Llywarch Hen. Elider is written for Eliffer ni De Situ Brecheniauc,although with the

lineage given is, with the exception of Meirchiawn, the same sa that given for

Urien.Liywarch m. Elidir does not appear ni theHarleain Genealoges aswould be expected. It si highly likely that the copyist confused Elidir and Eliffer and thereforejumped downhis page to Gwrgi and Peredur.16 If this confusion of Elidir and

Eliffer was notconfined to written sources, the identification of Eliffer with Elidir,

brotherof Cynfarch, may have led to the assumption that Gwrgi and Peredur were Urien's first cousins as well as h i s nephews. 167

The traditions concerning Gwrgi and Peredur are mixed, and as in thecase of Gwallawg and Meurig, there is an element of the unfavourable. Their deaths are noted together in the Annales Cambriae (580) in the group of entries which seems ot deal with Urien and Gwenddolau's enemies. Several sources refer to their partici-

pation in the battle of Arfderydd. 'Ymddiddan Myrddin aThaliesin' names among

the combatants seith meib eliffer and kinvelyn. 16 TYP 44 has the same configuration

with Gwrgi, Peredur, Dunawd and Cynfelyn DrwsgI riding on one horse ot the battle. The later B-text of the Annales Cambriae makes the brothers the chief opponents of G w e n d d o l a u at Arfderydd:

Bellum Armterid (inter filios Elifer et Guendoleu filium Keidiau; in quo bello Guendoleu cecidit: Merlinus insanus effectus est.) 169

Vati Merlini

The triad already referred to, TYP 44, is satirical in tone, and suggests that the

which both were killed. tI si ot Gwenddolau's credit that loyalty, while Gwrgi and Peredurshare ni their warband's shame by being (presumably) unable ot inspireevenminimal devotion.'. Favourable or at least neutral material about Gwrgi and Peredur has also sur-

vived. The entry of their deaths in the Annales Cambriae si probably from acomplex of sympatheticnotices, and at any rate is indicative of some importance.The triad

which lists their birth as one of the 'Tri Gwyn Dorllwyth' si primarily concerned with relating and praising the offspring of Nyfain and Cynfarch, but presumably the sons of Efrddyl were considered worthy members of the family. Through Peredur this branch of the family is also given a saintly descendant (ByS 74). 271 There are no certain references in the works of the Gogynfeirdd ot the two men, but Peredur may have been submerged into the more famous hero of Arthurian romance.

Several bardic references survive to their father, Eliffer Gosgorddfawr. 371 The hostile material which survives is somewhat against either Gwrgi or Peredur being the narrator of the 'Pen Urien' group unless there was a variant tradition of their motives for opposing Urien. Also, they are almost invariablynamed to-

gether. One necessary exception to this is the attribution of a son to Peredur, Gwgawn Gwron (ByS 74, TYP 8). While he isalso not a first cousin of Urien he is in some ways a better candidate for the narrator of the 'Pen Urien' group. 174 Like Gwrgi and Peredur he is closely related to both Efrddyl and Urien. Gwgawn

165 Kewynderw could be a nerror for the correct kyuyrderw ( ' s e c o n dcousin') written in insular s c r i p t w i t h e f o r y a n d r r e a d a s n.

16 In CLIH, pp. xxiii-iv, Ifor Williams suggests it is Urien's genealogy which was copied by mistake, but there is n o apparent reason for this. i n

BGG

Coel

Coel

[Gwrwst] letlum,

Gwrwst

[Meirchiawn]

Meirchiawn

linked on the basis of the literary similarity of the englyn cycles rather than on the basis ofidentity of story. 571 In that case, if Gwgawn was known as the narratorof the

Crnfarch

Eleuther

Cynfarch

Elidir

Urien

Gwrgi and Peredur

Urien

Llywarch

ByA 10, however, also makes Eliffer the brother of Gwrwst. BGG 5 and twomss of ByA 12 . Coel; see above, p. 106, ft. . Arthwys m. Mar. m suggest the correct genealogy is Eliffer m 134

. O. H . Jarman, Ymddiddan Myrddin a Thaliesin (Caerdydd, 1967). He explains the 168 Ed. A

number seven as rhetorical expansion (p. 58). 169 See Jarman, Ymddiddan, p. 14.

112

appears, TYP 65 'TriTrwydedawe a Thri Anuodawc' (TYP 7 is a variant), links

Llywarch with Heledd and a certain Llemenig for whom two stanzassurvive. From what we known of Heledd's story her name and Llywarch's seem to have been

s c h e m a r i c r o r m '

HG

appears in TYP 8 'Tri Lledyf Unben' along with Llywarch Hen and Manawydan, suggesting a saga concerning him wasonce extant. Thiscould well be in the form of an englyn cycle, if not the 'Pen Urien' group. The other triad in which Llywarch

O TYP, pp. 57-64.

171 Mille r,"Com man ders ', p . 99.

271 EWGT, p. 65 173 Bromwich, TYP, p. 345. 471 As noted above cefnderw could be an error for cyfyrderw which would suit Gwgawn's

rel ati on sh ip.

15 However, if the form of the triad in TYP 7 is original this is appropriate for Heledd, but less so for Lly wa rch

113

EARLY W E L S H SAGA POETRY

P ' en Urien'group, ti si possible his inclusion with Llywarch ni TY si also due ot the resemblance of the two cycles. 71 Bromwich's translation of theP8 epithet 'subdued by misfortune' is at any rate highly appropriate for the narrator oflledyf the 'Pen Urien' g r o u p

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

Nowhere does tradition linkhim byties of kinship and aliance ot Urien and

Urien's enemies. He does notappear heowgenealogies of the northern heroes and 17 stedni tbel ferent origin for him si sugge

a dif

One englyn ni the Urien cycleconnectsLofan and Urien, but this si astray,

While hte study above has failed ot establish the identity of hte narrator beyond doubt (he may be a totally unknown character) there si some evidence of varied opinion concerning Urien, his allies, and his enemies, particularly ni the early

unconnectedot any of the longerpoems ni the cycle.Itcannot be usedot prove that

the story underlyingthe main body had the same tradition asthe triad.The story behind the stray may even reflect adifferent tradition than thatof hte triad: Angerd uryen ys agro gennyf.

period. The favourableview of Urien predominates. Definitely biased ni his favour are the Historia Brittonum, most of the englyn cycle about him and Canu

kyrch ynat ym p o b bro.

yn wisc louan law difro.

Llywarch. Negative evidence for partisansupport of Urien can perhaps be de.

tected ni the scurrilous englynion ot Gwallawg and Meurig, and ni the triadic traditionsabout Dunawd and Gwrgi and Peredur. Againstthis can be placed slight traces of a tradition favourable to Urien's enemies in 'Unhwch', 'Dwy Blaid' and possibly in thestanza about Llofan. The neglect of Urien in the Annales Cambrice coupled with the inclusion of his enemies, and the substitution of Gwallawg for Urien insome version of the triads may also b e indicative of partisan support for the other side. The unerring linking in marriages and other types of alliances of members of the twoparties also probably shows the division was known,although

ti does not necessarily indicate any opinion. Much of thenorthern material, in fact, is neutral or generally laudatory. It seems there was a great deal of interest ni the northern heroes regardless of their alliances and activities vis-à-vis one another. By the time these traditions reached Wales they would hardly be burning issues. Very little by the period of the Gogynfeirdd and later indicates a partisan attitude. In light of this, it seems probable that the tale of Urien's assassination by Llofan

Law Ddifro reflects atendency to assimilate all the northern heroes into a single

nI this case it si Urien who is pursuing Llofan, and his passion ni the pursuit seems ot be acause of grief for the speaker, whether because he si afriend of Llofan orfears for Urien's safety. The englyn may come from a story giving motivation for Llofan's hostility ot Urien. Because it is a stray, however, it need not be original (and

probably isnot). Itspresence merely suggests one compiler knew of the later

connection between Llofan and Urien. Close study of the triad and its variants give some support to the theory that the

storyof Llofan was a late invention. The triads are often arranged in groups. TYP 3 forms a pair with TYP 23 'Tri Wyr a wnaeth YTeir Mat Gyflauan', but the pair does not have the same authority as some. In the White Book/Red Book version of the triads, TYP 32 isseparate from TYP 33, but joined to TYP 01 'Tri Vnben Deiuyr a Brennych'. The White Book version of TYP 33, moreover, suggests that the second aspect of the triad is additional: 'Tri Gvythvr Ynys Brydein a vnaethant y Teir Anuat Gyflafan'. A larger overall group can be discerned from the identityof the victims in the White Book/Red Book tradition, if Urien is excepted. The other two

glorious view of the national past.

assassinated are poets, Aneirin and Afaon m a b Taliesin. 18 That Urien is t h eodd

'Three Unfortunate Assassinations'. One of these is the blow ofLlouan Llav Dino a ladavd Urien mab Kynvarch ('Llofan of the severing hand who killed Urien son of Cynfarch'.)17 Attempts have been made to reconcile this statement with the Historia Brittonum and the englynion, but these are not wholly convincing. The Historia Brittonum account is the easier one to explain if iugulatus est is taken as 'assassinated'. Llofan, then, could have been the unnamed assassin who carried out Morgant's plot. 178 The englynion, however, seem toplace Urien's death in a pitched

man out would not in itself be exceptional, 281 but the triad to which the White Book version of the assassination is appended, TYP 10, comes in a group of triads concerning poets in the Peniarth 16 recension. The standard version of TYP 10 notes the three lords of Deira and Bernicia were all sons of bards. In this series TYP 1 and 12 are respectively, 'Tri Gwayvrud Beird Enys Prydein' a n d'Tri Overveird Enys Prydein'. The relationship of the possible set of three triads about poets and the set of triads dealing with mat and anvat blows, however, is extremely complicated. A further variant of the triad is obviously TYP 34 'Teir Anvat Vwyallavt' although only Aneirin is common to the two. Also related is TYP 5 3'Teir Gvith

T h e only source for the story is TYP 33 'Teir Anvat Gyflauan Enys Prydein',

battle. The work of an assassin in such circumstances cannot be ruled out, but it

would be unusual and would largely negate the responsibilityof the narrator ofthe 'Pen Urien' group. If he is Llofan, the assassin, his regret is inexplicable. Llofan, however, is unlikely to be the narrator of the group for other reasons as well.

Baluavt'

179 N.J. A. Williams, 'Llywarch Hen and the Finn Cycle', pp. 225-6, agreesthat Llofan may be

a creation. It is not clear whether he sees Llofan as t h eoriginal narrator, but his suggestion

that Llofanwas replaced by Llywarch, another exile (difro),is unconvincing.The epithet llaw ddifro is not t h e same as difro, and difro is nowhereused in the englynion to describe Llywarch

176 For a different reconstruction of the tale of Gwgawn see Eurys Rowlands, 'Adolygiad

TYP', p. 243

17 TYP, pp. 70-2. For the epithet law ddifo/ddifro see the notes to CU 46 178 As suggested by Bromwich, TYP, p.424, and Lovecy, "The End of Celtic Britain', PP.

42-3.

114

or as an e p i t h e t for him.

180 As both L o v e y and Brom wich suggest.

81 For Afaon himself being a poet, see chapter 7.

182 Avery similar triad, TYP34,'Teir AnvatWwyallavt, Three Unfortunate Hatchet-Blows'

lists the victims, Aneirin, Golydan Fardd, and the Gwynedd king, lago mab Beli. It si ironic, too, that the late story of Tristfardd bardd Urien tells how he was murdered - by Urien. 115

E A R LY W E L S H S A G A P O E T R Y

The variant information ng ththat e victhtiemstory s andofassassins is far from con., clusive, butit woul d sustainconcerni hte theory Urien's assassination by Llofan wasalate development which did not form part of hte earliest strata of the triad compilations. Peniarth 05substitutes for Llofan: Cynon mab Klytno Eidin a

Dyfynwal mab Mynedawe Eidin a laddawddUrien mab Kynvarch." The editorad. equately explains these unlikely slayers as having been chosenby the redactor ni order ot include the epithet Eidyn ni al three sections of thetriad.1 Such substitu.

tions, however, arguably show that the other tradition that Urien was killed by his fellow northern kings and kinsmen was knowneven fi the compiler was not well enough informed ot chooselikelyfigures. * nI TYP34, apart from Aneirin, the two

victims and their slayers are from Gwynedd and these victims are also appended in corrupt form to the White Book version of TYP 33, again suggesting a complex and many-faceted d e v e l o p m e n t for t h e s e triads.

Llofan Llaw Ddifo/Ddifro is himself adoubtful figure. His name isa derivative of llaw(f) 'hand' and his epithet in either form ('hand of an exile/outlaw' or 'sever-

ing hand') is appropriate to his one recorded deed as slayer of Urien. It si highly

likely that Llofan was deliberately created to perform the deed, perhaps under the

influence of the repeated phrase gwae fy llaw in the Urien englynion. 651 On the other hand, Llofan may have been an independentcharacter transferred to the role of Urien's slayer because of his appropriate name. No less than four stanzas name Llofan in the third series of beddau stanzas. 187 These beddau stanzas have a strong local bias in G w y n e d d as does at least one version of t h eunfortunate assassinations, as we have seen. 18 Llofan's grave like that of many of t h eother northern heroes may have been relocated in Wales n e a rthe Menai straits, but the

location could also be original. Two of the stanzas seem to celebrate a hero, unexpected for a man whose only known action is termed anfad in the triads: G w e d i seirch a meirch crychrawn

a gawr a gwaywawr vniawn, amdinon rythrych dros odreon

pen hardd Llovan Llaw Estrawn. Gwedi seirch a meirch melyn ag a w r a g w a y w a w r gwrthryn, a m d i n e u rhych bych dros odreon

pen hardd Llovan Llaw ygyn. 159

T H E URIEN RHEGED POEMS

the first epithet may be avariant forrhyme of law ddifro; the second recallsLlwted ch Clawengin (BBCSGI.31). It si notso close ni meaning, butcan perhaps be transla

handof aknave' (see GPC).The traditionabout Llofan,whetherhe is acreated character or borrowedfrom anotherstory, appearsot be lateandderivative. 91

Ifthe Llofan tale is a separate and later development of the saga of Urien, ti is

necessary ot inquirewhy itarose. Itis unlikelythat theoriginalstory had been e As far as w forgotten or misinterpreted by the timethe Llofan tale first tookshape. story; it is a comcansee Llofan's action si notsimply a modification of the firstthe 's pletely different account. It has been suggested above that tale of Urien

assassination at hte hand ofLlofan mayhave replaced theUrienenglynion account ofUrien's death because itwastoopartisan and glorifiedUrien at the expense of

other northern heroes.Llofan makes a convenient scapegoat and replaces in a stroke a whole cast of villains leaving them free to rejoin the ranks of heroes. One other questionremains: fi the Llofan tale defused an overly-partisan account, were the Urien englynion originally deliberate propaganda for Urien, and fi so, by whom?

An answer which fits a theory which has received considerable airing lately would be that the Urien saga was composed ot praise the ancestor of Merfyn Frych of Gwynedd. Similar objections can be applied ot thisas to those applied in the

previous chapter to the supposed origin of Canu Llywarch - some with even greater force. It is true that the claim based on descent from Dwg m . Llywarch Hen

makes Merfyn's line more closely related to Urien's branch of the Coeling than most, but this branch would also include Mabon and Meurig and thenarrator of the "Pen Urien'group who if not dishonourable is in an ambiguous position. Furthermore, as seen in the previous chapter, the more important claim made by Merfyn's

line is the link made to the old ruling house of Gwynedd through Cunedda. The

supposed marriage of Gwawl daughter of Coel to Cunedda makes all the Coeling ancestorsof Gwynedd's ruling line. But thelaudatory portions of the Urien englynionare awkward in t h a tthey praise Urien a tthe expense o f s h o w i n g sharp division

among the northern heroes. It is difficult to understand why a bard with a Gwyneddcommission would choose such a story. If Welsh political pressures did have influence on the composition and transmission of antiquarian material, i tcan

be appreciated that Gwynedd would not be particularly interested in praising Urien in a w a y w h i c hc o m p r o m i s e d o t h e rancestors w h o could b eclaimed t othe

greater glory of the family. The 'Pen Urien' group does not seem to have been composed as a w o r kbiased in

favour of Urien although it may have hadthat effect ultimately. The treatment is far

183 TYP, p. 70.

184 Bromwich, TYP, p. 324. Robert Vaughan has an even more composite version; he says Urien was killed by 'Dynwal the sonne of Menedaw and Llouan Law dino' (Mostyn 136,

too balanced. The poet seems to have seen in the traditions about Urien's fall a chance to develop the tragic theme of conflicting loyalties. For full effectiveness

pp. 25-6).

. Williams, 'Llywarch Hen and the Finn Cycle', p. 256. Perhaps, too, the compiler 185 N. .J A

could count on general ignorance of t h e o l d e r tales to m a s k h i s deliberate choice of unlikely protagonists.

186 Assuggested by N.J. A . Williams, 'Llywarch Hen and the Finn Cycle', p.255. 187 Ed. Thomas Jones, BBCSG, and CLIH XII.7-10(the latterhas only the relevant stanzas with Llofan).

18 I am indebted to Patrick Sims-Williams's preliminary work on the thirdseries of beddau

stanzas for this i n f o r m a t i o n .

189 Thomas Jones, BBCSG, p. 134, translates: 'After harness and curly-tailed steeds/ and 116

battle and spears held straight,/ fair head of Llofan of the Alien Hand.After harness and

yellow steeds/ and battle andopposing spears,/ ...the fair head of Llofan ofthe . . . Hand'. See alsoCLIH, pp.49-50; 244.

91 The englynion themselves may be of a late type, but the third line ni both si corrupt. 117

E A R LY W E L S H S A G A P O E T R Y

THE URIEN R H E G E D POEMS

Northern Alliances

to be presented as have a greatleader andhis downfall disastrous, but his Uri en hadopponen narratort must also heroic

grandeur. Urien may have been shown a"Pen s flaUrien' wed or group thenarrator's allies a s unworthy . But whether or not hte authorof the intended ot vilify Urien's enemies, the laments forUrien are powerful poetry which may have affectedaudiences attitudes to Urien. fI hte indicat ions of disapp roval for Urien's enemies traced above do not represent the unassimilated traditions of the various northern kingdoms, they may ni partbe the

. Pabo Dunawd m TYP5 Gwallawg m. Lleenawg

TYP 6 Cynfawr m. Cynwyd Cynwydion, Gwenddolau m. Ceidiaw Urien m. Cynfarch

Cynfelyn Drwsgt BGG

Cynfeirching Cynwydyon

result of pro-Urien sympathy evoked by the englynion.

Eventually, however, ti appears that the various strainsofnorthern tradition were adapted ni Wales ot amore unified viewoftheheroic past. Former conflicts

e have seen it is conceivablethat the tale were either forgotten or minimized. As w about Llofan arose because the Urien englynion were too successful.Certainly the 'PenUrien' group, unlike Canu Llywarch, did not survive substantially, and also

unlike Canu Llywarch it did not have the authority to shape additional material along the same story and character lines. Thecycle as ti has come down contains so much contradictory, extraneous and miscellaneous material ti is hard ot believe the compiler or compilers knew a sustained saga aboutUrien or had sufficient background knowledge to interpret the scraps extant. The single stanza about Llofan may indicate an attempt ot harmonize or make sense of the material ni the

light of t h e Llofan tale. The preservation of these fragmentary remains must be

attributed to poetic merit, their status as hengerdd, and the indirect links with the

popular and productive saga of Llywarch. There si no evidence of asaga or sagas

about Urien's end apart from the triadic version.

Because of its miscellaneous nature the cycle si particularly difficult ot date,

although some points of relative dating arise whichdeserve treatment here. (Other evidence for dating is examined in chapter 7.) Suggestive of a fairly early date is lack of explicit narrative links to Canu Llywarch. The obvious possibility o fob-

liquely connecting the two cycles is demonstrated by Canu Llywarch both in 'Marwnad Gwên' w h i c h seems to be part of the earliest core as well as 'Gwahodd Llywarch to Llanfawr' which is probably later. The latter i nparticular i s specific

enough in its references to suggest adeliberate allusion to an already well-known version of the Urien englynion. The Urien englynion also contain noanachronistic shift ofscene to Wales and give noundueprominencet ow a i n who was later such a popular figure. The poet's references to Drws Llech, Penawg and Aber Leu appear to be independent of other sources, and other place-names are in accord with the Taliesin poems. If the Llofan story is a later replacement for the t y p eof tale found in the englynion it gives a limit to the period of composition. Despite their many complexities, the Urien englynionoffer a unique view on early Welsh (and possibly North-British) traditions and story-telling.

= Coeling

h Urien's de at HB

Morgant

Urien Englynion

Unhwch Dun awd m. Pabo Gwallaw g Brân f a bYmellyrn

VS

Urien ?and his sons

vs

Urien and his s o n s

VS

U r i e na n d h i s a l l i e s

V S

Owain m. Urien and Rheged

VS

Gwenddolau

vs

Gwenddolau

Morgant 'Gwahodd Llyw arch ' Dunawd Bran

BT 38 Mabon m. Idno Arfderydd TYP 44

Gwrgi and Peredur Dunawd m Pabo

Cynfelyn Drwsgl 'Imddiddan Myrddin a Thaliesin' Meibion Eliffer

(i.e. Gwrgi and Peredur) Cynfelyn

Linking of Names ByS

Gwallawg and Meurig m. Idno

TYP 47 Cynon m. Clydno and Mor-

BBC

Gwallawg and Meurig ?m.

BBC

ByS BT AC

Gwallawg and Dunawd Gwallawg and Unhwch? Arfderydd,Gwrgi and Peredur, Dunawd, Ceredig ?m.

f u d d f. U r i e n

Idno

wyd

HB

Gw al la wg 118

Owain Rheged and Cad Cyn-

119

U r i e n a n d h i ss o n s

CANU HELEDD

em, ond yn ymyl Croith (Lichfield) a HexhaIlw Chaer Lwytgoedgw oba oes id nid brwydro tuawyt acn yr, n y dau ded lwyd y asta 6501 goswallt ac Am Dhyigm.aCol gyflwr meddwl 850, nid 550, nid

am euhadennill.

3

C a n u Heledd .I The Historical Background

nother words, Canu Heledd enabled the poeteseflect urpeonw lamuries entcoearlie nteer. taondcent porary events ni the guise of relating the loss of Shropshi poratever traditions survived concerning Cynddylan, hte story was shaped p-ri ter events.

la m a ri ly by

r, D.P. Kirby dates the violent west. Despite hte judgment of the poems' edito ce of the Heledd englynion alone, wardexpansion of Mercia ot c.660 on hte eviden between Powys and Mercia lity hosti open ates indic e although no other sourc ille Richards goes osfar as ot say that the before the reign of Cenred (701-9).° Melv almost exact memory of the eventsc.660.% most definitely preserve an

C a m a n s e s

Unlike hte obviously anachronistic cycle of poems purporting ot relate the history of Llywarch Hen, hte cycle telling hte storyof Heledd and her brother, Cynddylan,

has found favour as providing a broadly historical account of the events ofthat period. The family of Cyndrwyn, like that of Llywarch, si known from thegenealogies and triads, but unlike Llywarch the location of the family's tale ni Powys

appears to be genuine. 'Canu Heledd, moreover, provides copious place-namesto delineate the extent of Cynddylan's kingdom. The most important factor in the acceptancethat the account of Canu Heledd is based on historical truth isundoubt.

edly the nature of the story itself. The events portrayed ni Canu Heledd fit the picture most commonly held concerning the formation of the Welsh border: a sudden incursion of the English, brave resistance by the last king, followed on his death by the collapse of the kingdom a n daretreat by the survivors into the moun-

Pithough no other writerhas felt quite so much confidence in Canu Heledd's

reliability,ti si safeot .?say that at least hte broad historicity of hte precise historical unt is generally accepted englynion acco

When the 'evidence' of Canu Heledd si ignored hte difference of opinion on hte . Stenton si date of the Mercian conquest of hte upper Severn is striking. .F M cautious: 'Nothing si known of hte stages by which hte Mercians expanded from their originalsettlements over hte country tothe north and west... tI can hardly

have been before the age of Penda that hte Mercians of the upper Trent began ot occupy hte broken country which separated them from the plains along the upper Severn. This si not ot say that the Welsh material cannot be useful fi treatedwith . Finberg has compared the Welsh the caution due to non- historical sources. H. P. R

poems, concentrating on the probably contemporary poem, Marwnad Cynddylan,

t a i n f a s t n e s s e s o f Wa l e s .

In his introduction to Canu Llywarch Hen and elsewhere Ifor Williams states the case for the historicity of Canu Heledd with caution and balance. He notes the

points of agreement with surviving historical documents, particularly the gen-

ealogies, but is inclined to distrust theaccount of Cynddylan's downfall made in the saga. The poet, or poets, were far removed in time from the events portrayed, and the purpose was not primarily to record historical facts.? Instead, Ifor Williams sees in the Canu Heledd englynion a reflection of the stateof Powys in the ninth century when the region had suffered from severe border warfare and repeated conquest for over half a century.' Although the saga is set in the seventhcentury the historical background in his opinion is that of the ninth: Nid yw eu hawdur neu eu hawdwyr yn medru portreadu tiriogaeth y Brython yn 550-600; meddwl yr ydys a m Gymru ddiweddar, Cymru eu hoeseu

hunain, a gwÿr Lloegr ynymosod ar Bowys yng nghyffiniau Clawdd Offa,

1 However, Cynddylan's name is not found in any of these genealogies, early or late, or indeed in any historical source. Nevertheless, his historicity has never been seriously questioned.

2 CLIH, pp.xxxvi-vii; see also LEWP, pp.35, 48.

3CLIH, pp. Ixxili-iv. The date, however,could be somewhat later with the poet's outlookstill

influenced by more recent border history.

120

'Their author or authors are not ableto portraythe British kingdomsof 550-600; they are thinking of a more recent Wales,the Wales of their own day, with the English attacking Powys in the regionaround Offa'sDyke, not of fightingnear Lichfield and Hexham, but aroundOswestry a n dShrewsbury. The plains h a dbeen lostcompletely and there is nohope

of regaining them. This is the mental outlook of 850, not 550, not 650. ' CLIH, pp. x-xci. The

observations also apply to Canu Llywarch; see further chapter 7 for the validity of this for dating purposes.

§The Making of Early England, pp. 61-2.His paper, 'Welsh Bards and the Border',Mercian

Studies, ed. Ann Dornier (Leicester, 1977) also accepts Canu H e l e das a historical source, pp.36-8

The "Lichfield'Gospels', JNLW 18 (1973 4), p. 141 7 Cf. Jackson,LHEB, p. 210: T ' he story of the conquest of this district is probably preserved for us in the Welsh elegy of Cynddylan, the British king who was killed and whose home was laid to waste about 650. He may be referring to the presumed contemporaryawl, Marwnad

Cynddylan, but the assumption is that it has the same content and background as Canu

Heledd. Gwyn Thomas, YTraddodiad Barddol, p.53, also holds thatthe marwnad and Canu Heledd havethe same historical backgroundand that bothare based on actual events since he doubtsthat stories would be shaped purposefullyto reflect contemporary situations; see . GeraintGruffydd, 'Marwnad Cynddylan', Bardos, ed. R . Geraint Gruffydd, further below. R

(Caerdydd, 1982), pp. 13-5,iscautiousaboutusingCanu Heledd ot illuminate the history of

Cynddylan and the marwnad, but ultimately, afterexamining the evidence for alliance with

Mercia, decides Cynddylan waskilledby the English of Merciaonthe basis that Canu Heledd

must preserve a n accura te record.

*Anglo-Saxon England 3rded.(Oxford, 1971), .p 41. 121

EARLY WELSH S A G A POETRY

with historical sources, particularly the early records of Much Wenlockabbey. Hsi

thesis is that therewas no cataclysmic English conquestof Shropshire and Here. ford, but rather agradual settlement of the area with apeacefulintermingling of the eighth century to thewars of Glyndwr, the border W h andt bEnglish. waselsswep yconflictFrom and chang ed hands several times. The population, however, appears ot have remained much hte same, little affected by various changes of

rulers."

Like for Williams, Finberg believesCanu Heledd tobeadramatic reflectionof thecentury and ahalf of warfare which culminated in the building of Offa's Dyke

and the virtual collapse of Powys." His view of Cynddylan'srole in the historyof Powys is quite different fromthe one drawn from Canu Heledd, but si partly dependent on Welsh sources. He suggests that Cynddylan was an ally of Penda of

Mercia, and that this alliance, or ta least a non-aggressive neutrality, persisted through the reigns of Penda's sons."

Finberg is somewhat hamperedby his dependence on translation of the poetry

and unfamiliarity with other Welshsource material. Apart from the benefit of his

extensive knowledge of early English and local historyhis careful distinction

between the evidence of Canu Heledd and Marwnad Cynddylan is a very valuable

contribution to a study of the period. I agree with for Williams and Finberg that there are great inconsistencies between the marwnad which seems ot be a nearcontemporary lament for Cynddylan and the events related i n Canu Heledd. A thoroughanalysis of additional Welsh material unknown to Finberg supports his main thesis, but also requires certain modifications. I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to Finberg's work for the light it sheds upon early Mercian history and the settlement of the border country.

Because of the central importanceof Marwnad Cynddylan the text, a translation, and some notes are appended to this chapter. What is immediately striking when Marwnad Cynddylan iscompared with Canu Heledd is the difference in tone and situation. 21 In the marwnad there is no refer-

ence to the loss of Pengwern, the complete slaughter of the lineof Cyndrwyn,or the overwhelming power of the English. tI is clear from the awdl that Powys has

suffered a serious defeat: the poet mourns the loss of his lord with much of his war host. No hint is found, however, that Powys is in seriousjeopardy because of this, let alone in the dire situation pictured in C a n Heledd after the death of Cynddylan. In the following pages, the historical material concerning the seventh century

CANU HELEDD

wil eb examined, especialy those Wets wil hten beat rtam larihleteddone certure whcih emerges. Boht fields akeroushout he seventh denture. Final vat

pirowys-Mercia aliance extending throughout hte seventh century. Finally, hte evidence ofsetlement patterns, place names, anda rhaed B y asot then ture st

Theseof briece flyinnoted. eve English take-over of theShropshire lowlands wali beisten the time studies again suggest aperiod of Welsh and English coex Cynddylan and adifferent type of conquest than that pictured in Can Heledd cenhalfumb of the The historical and quasi-historicalsources for thendfirstNorth which evenria seventh

een Gwynedd a tury are dominated by hte wars betw of southern England. The preludewas hte much tually involved Mercia, Powys and not seem ot have attack by Aethelfrith of Bernicia on Chesterc. 613. This battle does

resultedin immediate gain of territory, butset the stage forNorthumbrian expansion to the western sea and beyond." In616 Aethelfrith waskilledbyEdwin, the king of Deira, who succeeded inuniting Bernicia andDeiraandobtained overlordof the Humber. Bede says of him:'... like no other shipof the English peoples south

English king before him,he held under his sway the whole realm ofBritain, not

onlyEnglish kingdoms but those ruled overby hte Britons aswell. H e even brought hte islands of Anglesey andMan underhis power..."* Welsh tradition adds that Edwin was resisted by Cadwallon who was forced ot flee ot Ireland ni defeat.sI Before 632 Cadwallon returned, and after an indefinite period of came had somehow acquired an ally ni paigning ni Wales, invaded Northumbria. H

Penda of Mercia, who,according to Bede was amember of the Mercian royalhouse although he only became king after the campaign. Together they defeated Edwin

ata place near Hatfield Chase. For ayear Northumbria was ravaged by the armies

of Cadwallon and Penda. In 633, however, Oswald, son of Aethelfrith and one of thefew surviving claimants to the kingship of Northumbria, in turn defeated and killed Cadwallon. Penda survived the battle and probably turned to consolidating h i s recently-acquired power in Mercia. Oswald ruled successfully for eight years, and, according to Bede, re-established Northumbrian supremacy over all of Britain. 81 It is likely that Oswald was attempting to ensure his position by destroying a new alliance between Mercia and the Welsh w h e n he was killed in battle against

Penda in 641.19 Bede calls the site of the battle Maserfelth, almost universally

identified as Oswestry 2The site is important for determining the natureand the 31 Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, p. 78. The dates given in this chapter are basedon Stenton's forthe sake o fconsistency and because relative rather than absolute chronology i simportant.

• Lucerna: Studies in Some Problemsin the Early History of England (London, 1964), pp. 72-9. 01 Lucerna, pp.73, 77-8, 82. See also his The Early Charters of the West Midlands (Leicester,

# Bede,EH, p. 162, transl. p. 163. The translations here and elsewhere are from that of the

editors, Colgrave and Mynors

1 See Bromwich, TYP, pp. 293 4, R . Geraint Gruffydd, 'Canu Cadwallon', p. 28.

1961), pp. 219-23

61 EH, p. 212. For an examinationof this point see Wendy Davies, 'Annals and the Origins of Mercia', Mercian

ei englynion o drin marwolaeth Cynddylan. Perthyn y gân hon i draddodiad arall, a bydd rhaid

81 ЕН,р . 230.

11 Lucerna, pp.66-73. 21 Such as was also perceived by Ifor Williams, cf. CLIH, p. 244, on Marwnad Cynddylan: 'Rhoddirdiweddariad ar y testun yma er mwyn hwylustod cyfeirio, acermwyn cyferbyniad adullyr

thrafodarwahan. Themodernized text si given here for convenience ni referringto it, andin order tocontrast it withthe manner of the englynion of treating the death of Cynddylan. This poem belongs to another tradition, and must be discussed separately.' 122

Studies, pp. 17-30. 71 Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, p.82.

1 Finberg, Lucerna, p.73.

But seeMargaret Geling, Signposts ot hte Past (London, 1978), .p 187. The rough location

nearOswestry si supportedbythe apparent majorparticipation of Powys inthebattle, and 123

EARLY WELSH S A G A POETRY

C A N U HELEDD

extent of Welsh involvement with Mercia. There si no need to assume, as some historians have done, that the location of the battle indicates that Mercia had conquered the border area of Powys by this time. Oswestry even in the reign of Offa was on the fringes ofMercian territory. If Oswald was attempting ot deal a

anu Heelddni NL W49733. The verse does not appear ot berelatedot the events

crippling blow on Mercia he would surely have struck at the Mercian heartlandon the Trent. Oswestry, on the other hand, must have occupied a central positionni the old kingdom of Powys. The Welsh traditions discussedbelow indicate that Powys fought against Oswald and this would be virtuallyinexplicable fi Mercia

had only recently conquered a large portion of Powys. Obviously in that case it would be more likely for thePowys princes to throw ni their lot with the invaders ni

the hope of throwingof Mercian rule. Despite the lack of explicit evidence,the

alliance between Penda and Powys at this point seems certain.?

That this alliance wasone between Powys and Mercia rather than the oldone the Welsh traditions themselves concerning the battle. Maserfelth is called Bellum Cocboy ni the Historia Brittonum and the Annales Cambriae. There are two

Gwynedd andMercia si suggested by the location of hte battle ni Pows, between and on

later references to the battle which by their forms show regular development of OW Cocboi indicate they were preserved by oral tradition rather than dependent onthe older written sources.? The first is in a poem by Cynddelw (fl. .c 1055-1100) to St Tysilio, said to be a son of Brochfael Ysgithrog and thus an important member of one of the major Pows dynasties. A long section of the poem alludes to the battle in which St Tysilio evidently played some role (I1. 111-34). Cynddelw de. scribes Gweith Gogwy (1. 118) as: kyfranc powys pobyl degyn ac oswallt uab oswi aelwyn.

The second referenceot Gwaith Gogwy si found in astray verse appended ot

resented ni hetlais H eeldd saga, and hte tradition it gvies si historicaly credible: ar lawr maes Cogwy Gwe

byddinawr agawr gymwy

Cynddylan oedd kynhorthwy." ole, and far removed from hte This si a reasonable statement of Cynddylan'sarwarri or upon whom the whole

al figure ni Canu Heledd, picture ofdthepeencentr s. d k in g d o m In light of the Powysian participationin the battle of Maserfelth/Cogwy, itsi necessary ot return ot examine the role ofPowys during the period when Gwynedd rook the initiative. Likethe traditions concerning Cogwy,those which indicate earlier involvement of Powysin the Northumbrian wars comeprimarilyfrom Welsh tradition rather thanhistorical sources, and as such have received less systematic study. They suggest, however,that during theopening part of the seventh century the main threat to Powyswas conceived to eb Northumbria and

that cooperation with Mercia against this enemy may have been fairly longstanding.

Also, it is important to clarify at the outset the definition of Powys at this period

and Cynddylan's standing. Obviously the borders were far more extensive, prob-to ably including parts of the Chester plain and hte northern reaches of the Severn

theTern,as is remembered in Canu Heledd. As a political entity, however, Powys seems to have been relatively fluid compared to other early Welsh kingdoms. The

impression that the admittedly difficult and fragmentarysources give si of several

the clash of Powys, a steadfastpeople, with Oswald the

son of Oswiu of the white eyebrows.?*

In the partisan Welsh account Penda's presencedoes not rate mention or had been forgotten.

sub-kingdoms united in a loose confederation, acknowledging an overlord or king. Various dynasties and sub-kingdoms could be expected to contend for the kingship against each other, and some of these lines may be recorded in Cynddelw's poem, 'Gwelygorddau Powys' (H 166-8, RB 1398ff.), a poem which would repay study by historians. It is therefore particularly important for the interpretation of Marwnad Cynddylan and early Powys history to distinguish between the

Cadelling and the Cyndrwynyn, as well a sbetween their various fortunes. As indicated in the notes to Cadelling drais and Cadelling fraw in the edition of Marwnad Cynddylan below, Cynddylan does not seem to be a Cadelling himself, and there is some indication of overt hostility to them which will be discussed

further below. Cyndrwyn's genealogy can in part be traced, and ti shows no

'Penda's clearing' by the suggestive place-names Llannerch Panna < Penda and Penley mention a Briton (Penda is afairly rare name) found nearby. Bede's miracle tales, HE iii.‹, also travelling pastthe spot, pp. 244-5.

contact with that of the Cadelling, both the genuineones and those later attached to the line. The genealogy can be reconstructed thanks to Phillimore noting that the corrupt canantinail in the Powys genealogy in the Harleian Genealogies 24 might

the purpose of Oswald's camAnglo-Saxon England, p. 82. Finberg, Lucerna, p. 73, states that Mercians and Welsh'. He isun-

Canu Heledd 91-7.27 The e n t r y reads :

21Bede'ssilenceonWelsh involvement si notconclusive. The battle was fought far from Northumbria and Bede showsalmost n oknowledge of details of the campaign, Stenton,

en paign was to strike at the 'dangerous coalition betwe decided, however, whether theWelsh were those of Powys or Gwynedd. 22 Ifor Williams, A' Reference to the Nennian Bellum Cocboy', BBCS 3, p. 60. Phillimore, 'Harleian Ms. 3859', p. 158, notes that the later version of the annals has Chochui, with both misinterpreta tion of an OW w r i t t e n form and some oral modernizatio n

32 Ed.HenryLewis, Hen Gerddi Crefyddol (HGCr] (Caerdydd, 1931), pp. 32-40.

42 1. 127-8.Oswiu was actuallyOswald's brother, butit is interesting that his name and an epithet survived in Welsh tradition. 124

be in error for carantmail, and Bartrum's suggestion that this is the Caranfael of

" For the possible source of these versessee the discussion of manuscripts i nPart I1.

1 Cogwy si the original reading; Towy from Panton 14 is incorrect. # Phillimore, 'Harleian Ms.3859', p. 180, f.t 2, and EWGI,p. 128. I have also dealt with this genealogy in The Family of Cyndrwyn and Cynddylan', BBCS 92 (1981), pp. 526-7. 125

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

C A N U HELEDD

[Slelim map louab map Guitgen map Bodug map Canantinail map Cerennior map Ermic map Ecrin.28

This can eb compared with hte information given ni the list of Arthur's warriors ni Kulwch ca Olwen: gwynn m.ermit achyndrwyn m.ermit (WI 231, col. 462).Ermic ni HG24 appears ot be an error for Ermit (Ermid) showing the common confusion of insular c and t. C o m b i n i n g these two sources we get:

Welshtradition aslo indicatesthat Powys took partin ble thewars ofCadwallon and plausi although they are not Edwin. The notices are internally consistent frand om Powys are unfortunately either

-Ermid-

Cynd rwyn

Caranfael

Cynddylan +

sussertelth."Shealso notes thatembers ofhetereeWalsipersonalnaressivenin

se ofmembers oflesser dynastiethsatwthey' ho r.u.led ibelon n thegedkingtoMad 06appearot be thoearl dom of Powys inthe y seventh century.' and damilies which one ymiotghtwhcich onclSel udeyfbe ot hlon avegehd:eld3 local authority under that of hte ast main Powys dyn

Egryn

Cerennior

ot porthi ni hte sense of "o ich suggests that it is related uncertain, but Bromw Cynddylan was kynhorthwy at support and equivalent to the statement that

confirmed by historical sources. The leaders Gwyn

his brothers

Boddug, etc.

Caranfael is called Cynddylan's son in Canu Heledd (94b, 96b), but this seems ot be another instance of confused historical tradition in the saga. If ny darfu n neithawr

not named ro cannot be identified,but the areasinvolved are, like the battle of Cogwy,ni irths.e heartland ofPowys and implicate the Cadelling and Cyndrwynynin t h e s e affa

These various sources refer tofighting around Meigen, Digol Fynydd (Long

Mountain) and Dygen Freiddin (Breiddin Hill), 'Englynion Cadwallon' stanzas 4 in the area:35 and 5 list a series of battles

Lluest gatwa llawn glotryd.

yg gwarthaf digoll uynyd.

1.29 in the marwnad is correctly interpreted Cynddylan died too young to leavea full-grown heir.? For the Battle of Chester which opens the survey of this period both historical and traditional sources concerning the role of Powys are extant. The battle is noted

in the Annales Cambriae with the information that Selyf m . Cynan diedthere; further notices are found in the Irish Annals of Ulster, Inisfallen and Tigernach. The location suggests that the battle involved Powys and Bernicia primarily. (The Annales Cambriae in the same entry note the deathof lago m. Beli ofGwynedd, but the use of dormitatio in the entry suggests that this is an unrelated occurrence of the same year. No mention, too, is made of him in the Irish entries concerning the battle.) The Welsh forces may have been led by Selyf who was important enough to warrant special note. Fairly extensive traditions survive concerning his father, Cynan Garwyn, and grandfather, Brochfael Ysgithrog, suggesting that the Cadelling dominated Powys at this period.3

The Cyndrwynyn make their first appearance in tradition, if not history, ni a

triad concerning the battle. In TYP 60 Gwion m. Cyndrwyn is named as one of the

'Tri Phorthavr Gweith Perllan Vangor'. 23 Theprecise meaning of porthawr here is

seithmis a seith gat beunyd. Lluest gatwallawn ar hafren. ac or tu draw y dygen

(breitin] llosgi Meigen.

The encampment of fameworthy Cadwallon on the summit of Digoll Mountain: for seven months, seven battles daily.

The encampment o fCadwallon by the Severn and from the opposite side to Dygen Freiddin the burning of Meigen. The enemy is not named in the englynion nor the reaction of Powys to all this hostingon and within its borders This deficiency is supplemented by two triads which refer to the same campaign. TYP 69 indicates the enemy was Edwin and his host: Tri Budyr Hafren:

Katwallavn, pan aeth y Weith Digoll, a llu Kymry ganthav; ac Etwin o'r parth arall, a llu Lloegyr ganthav. Ac yna budyravd Hafren o'e blaen hyt y haber

82 EWGT, p.12.

2 There was no objection, of course, ot an illegitimate son inheriting, buthe would still have

been too young upon Cynddylan's death.Caranfael may well have been Cynddylan's heir or successor with t h e poet of Canu Heledd mistakenly assuming the succession was from father

'Three Defile ments of the Severn:

to s o n r a t h e r t h a n b e t w e e n first cousins.

03 See Nora K. Chadwick, 'The Battle of Chester: A Study of Sources', Celt and Saxon, pp

t is of no 171-4. The slaughter of the monks of Bangor Is-coed is dealt with in this article; i 13 See PT, pp. xxviii xxxiv, and Geirfa under Kynanand Brochfael for references. ch, TYP, see Bromwi 3 For the equation of Gweith Perllan Vangor with the Battle of Chester i m m e d i a t e concern here.

pp. 163-4.

126

3 TYP, p. 165.

3 TYP, p. 164.

§ Se furtherthe edition of 'Englynion Cadwallon and the commentary there.The poem si also edited by .RGeraintGruffydd, 'Canu Cadwallon', pp. 3441. 127

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

Cadwallon when he went to the Action of Digoll, and theforces of Cymry

wi th him; andEdwin on the other side,and the forces of Lloegr with him. And then the Severn was defiled from its source to its mouth.

The hyperbole ofthe triad clearly recallsamemorable hosting. Cymry si suggestive

of a united host, but cannot be given too much weight.

CANU HELEDD

dutiies esanandg teenal, con porssisti leinngg oonnthhee oonnee hhaanndd ofof eexe xem pttioionnss ifrroon paralelotehtsee afroeurleg m dut mp

Th ppooeh tm e. other hand ofrightofsthote ori addi rew rdshtsfor. service. Cynddelw closes hsi searig of the gintional poem with astatement

Gwyr powys poby l disgywen . . .

Theother triad, TYP 55, seemsto preserve aconfused account of the participa-

ar dec pedeir kynnetyf cadwcadyr urten -8)

tion of Powys ni the battle, and the concessions they were said to have received

.27 yr dugant oueigen. (H 168

from Cadwallon for their part:

The men of Powys, asplendid people, brought fourteen lasting, honoured, inalienable rights from Meigen.

Teir Neges a g a a to Bowys:

Vn o nadunt yv kyrchu Myngan o Ueigenhyt yn Llan Silin erbyn anterth drannoeth,y gymryt y kennedeu y gan Gatwallan Vendigeit, wedi llad Leuaf a Griffri; Y r eil yv kyrchu Griffri hyt ymryn Griffri erbyn y bore dran-

noeth, vrth ymchvelu ar Edwin.

'Three Quests that were obtained from Powys:

The first of them is the fetching of Myngan from Meigen to Llansilin, by nine the next morning, to receive privileges from Cadwallawn the Blessed, after the slaying of l e a f and Griffri; The second is the fetching of Griffri to Bryn Griffri before the following morning, to attack Edwin. ...

tI is likely that the Griffri of the first quest si the same person as in the second, and therefore t h e events are out of order. §The name Griffri appears in Powys gen-

ealogies, but there is no known Griffri contemporary with Cadwallon.? leuafand Myngan also cannot be identified. The Annales Cambriae note Strages Sabrine et ingulatio iudris, but for the year following Cadwallon's death. It does suggest, however, that some sort of tenuous historical tradition underlies both triads. The alleged privileges won for the hosts of Powys at the battle of Meigen are the

subject of two poems by Cynddelw, 'Gwelygorteu powys' and 'Breinyeu gwyr

powys'. °*In the first poem Cynddelw announces his intention to treat awch breinto weigen 'your privilege because of Meigen'. The hosts of various regions and royal lines are named in the succeeding englynion and praised for their valour in warand their special functions in the combined army of Powys. Among those mentioned are the Cadelling (H 164.14) and Kyndrwyn[yn] (H 166.2). " Thelords of caer eillyon are called athrawon cadwallawn (H 164.27) 'the teachers of Cadwallon'. If Cadwallon of G w y n e d d is intended, as is likely, this is a bold a s s e r t i o nof the importance of Powys forces at Meigen. The fourteen hosts in the first poem are clearly

The historicity of the origin of the grant of privileges, especially from Cadwallon,

cannot be accepted. Nevertheless, they show that Meigenwas considered a key

battle ni the history of Pows,Edw and that this battle must be associated with one in. 21 t fought by Cadwallon agains O n e difficulty remains with the identification. The Annales Cambriae and His-

toria Brittonum record gueith meicen as thebattle in which Cadwallon defeated and

killed Edwin, called Haethfelth (Hatfield Chase) by Bede.* The annals appear to have confused an earlier victory over Edwin with the northern battle of Hatfield

Chase; a mistake all the more likely fi Meigen was fought withinthe borders of Wales. # Although Bede does not mention an earlier campaign in Wales, it is not

unlikely that Edwin would have come in force ot Wales after Cadwallon's return

from Ireland in an attempt to restore his control. Bede, moreover, is primarily concerned with battles which had a decisive outcome for the kingdom of Nor-

thumbria. He occasionally mentions less conclusive campaigns in passing, or battles concerning other English kingdoms, his references to political historycannot be considered complete. In the previous discussion the opposition of Powys to Northumbrianpower can be seen to be a longstanding one, attested for the battleof Chester, and by native sources at the battle of Meigen (c.630) and at Maserfelth in 642. Association with Mercia is certainat Maserfelth and may extend back to the battle of Meigen. It is difficult not to agree with Finberg that at this period the chief threat to Wales was seen as Northumbria, not Mercia. 51 This is borne out by the aftermath of Maserfelth which showed thecontinuing threat of invasion by Northumbria, a factor which made dissolution of the Powys-

Mercia alliance unlikely as long as Northumbria remained a major powera n dwas interested in Wales. Bede states that O s w i u came 'with an army' to reclaim

Oswald's head a n darmswhich had been displayedon the battlefield. + It is doubt-

ful that the aggrieved brother and his army confined themselves to this actof piety.

63 TYP, p. 182. 73 TYP, p. 150.

83 TYP, p. 152. 93 Bromwich, TYP, pp. 152 and 467. B 1398-9. The rights of the warriors of Powys canbe 01 H 163 6, RB cols. 1396-7; H 166-8, R compared tothe 'Breinnieu Gwyr Arfon' in the Black Bookof Chirk, said to have been won on an importan t campaign .

14 Theemendation is based on theexpectation of acollectivefamily name and the fact that the line is a syllable short. 128

1 Furtherpassing references ot gueith weigen are found byCynddelw H ( 141.6) and Prydydd y Moch(H305.4).Also see Bromwich, TYP, p. 152, f.t .2

31 Phillimore, 'Harleian Ms. 3859', , p. 157.

#SeeJohn Lloyd,History ofWales (London, 1911), p. 186; Bromwich,TYP, pp. 151-2, Jackson,

On theNorthern British Section', p. 43. 51 Luc erna, p. 73.

1 ЕН, р. 252.

129

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

This si hte onlynotice which implies, however indirectly, Welsh parti cipation ni thewars which waged between Penda and Oswiu until the former's death. In

Penda's final campaign in 654, however, the Historia Britonum records Welsh participation. unlikel y thatwPasendthae hstronge ad calerdparty no his allies ni the interim,ofr it is evident byIt sinon wot that Penda . Prior to 654 Penda had ioverlo nvaded Nort h umbri a t w i c e and gai n ed t h e submission of the king of Deira. A s rd of the southern English Penda was able ot amass a great army; thirty

legions led by famous commandersaccordingto Bede." BothBede's account and thatof the HistoriaBrittonum suggestthat initially Penda's army was successfulni

t o histories ravaging Northumbria, but the details of hte campaigndiffer ni the w The Historia Brittonum states that Oswiu was harried deep into his kingdom and was forced ot give treasure ot Penda who inturn distributed it ot the kings ofthe Britonswho were on hte expedition.* On the other hand, Bede says that Oswiu

attempted ot buy peace from Penda,but the offer was refused. "Jackson believes it

possible ot reconcile the two accounts byassuming they belong ot different stages of the campaign. 05 It si difficult to reject the information in the Historia Brittonum

totally since the distribution of spoils is called atbret iudeu, implying an early

CANU HELEDD

None of the British kings who lost their lives at Winwaed are named. Itis

pingdoms took part although no recordof the reaction ofthe northern Britishot Kadiwalon and Penda'swars survives.«The alance with Gwyneddat Winwaedis attested yb the story of Cadalaeksdisgrace, but he need not be the only important Weish leader present." Certainly ni putting together his confederation ti islikely , his allies at Maserfelth. The surviving

that Penda would seek the aid ofPowys traditions about Cynddylan and theCyndrwynyn suggest thathe wasone of the reading figures in Powys atthat time. Itwould seempossible that hte battle of Winwaed was the disaster lamentedinMarwnadCynddylan.* Examining the marwnad ni light of hte political history outlined above offers some hints ot support thistheory, and at least demonstrates that some ofthe thesupposedcorroborasuppositions made about thepoem are too dependent on

ton of Canu Heledd. As usual, the interpretation of the poem is complicated by the allusive bardic style, more concerned with giving an impression of the clash of battle and the heroes' bold deeds than anarrative of the events. Very few references

the British kings, were an important part of Penda's host. 25

can with confidence be assigned ot the battle ni which Cynddylan m et his death since continual referral ot the warrior's prowess during his lifetime si commonin

Oswiu finally metPenda's army at a place called Winwaed (not identified) near Leeds. He wasfortunate in the choice of terrain and also in the fact that although

Those references which are clear do not necessarily indicate that Cynddylan died during a Mercian invasion of his kingdom, as in Canu Heledd. In lines 20-1

written source." If the story in the HistoriaBrittonum can be trusted, ti indicates that

Penda had superior numbers dissension weakened the confederation at the last minute.53 Oswiu routed Penda's army and because the Winwaed river was in flood many men were drowned in flight. Penda himself was either lost in the battle or died shortly after it, and most of h i s commanders were killed.$ This statementof Bede on the loss of his duces r e g is echoed in the Historia Brittonum which states

that all the British kings (reges Brittonum) who came on the expedition were killed, with one ignominious exception. Cadafael of Gwynedd slipped away the night before the battle, earning himself the shameful epithet of catguommed 'battle

bardic poetry.

the poet says: collais pan amuith alaf penawg/ gwr dewr. Unfortunately amwyn si

ambiguous; either 'to fight for' or 'to defend'. fI Penawg was in his kingdom he could have died defending his own cattle. Alternatively, the line can be interpreted that Cynddylan died on a cattle raid, but this is unlikely with the stress given on the

great loss of life. fI the theory of Winwaed is accepted, the cattle defended could be

refuser'.55

$ HE, p. 290. 84 HB, chapters 64-5. 91 HE, p. 290. 05 Jackson, 'On the Northern British Section', pp. 35-9. 15 Jackson, 'On the Northern British Section', p. 38. The form of atbret (MW edfryd) does not show vowel affection. For criticism of this assumption see David Dumville, 'On the Northern

British Section', p. 348. There are occasional later examples in OW without vowel affection,

b u ti t s rarity favours lackson's conclusion.

of 25 See Blair, 'The Bernicians and their Northern Frontier', pp. 163-5, on thedisagreement sources concerning Winwaed. He concludes nonetheless that: 'The assertion that the Welsh were intimately concerned with these eventscan be safely accepted....' Like Maserfelth and Heavenfield the battle is noted in the Annales and givena Welsh name, strages Gaicampi. 35 Bede (p. 290) says that Aethelwald, kingof Deira, withdrew from the battleand the HB that Cadafael deserted.

element cad in the line Cadfan, Cadwallon and Cadwaladr makes one hesitate to exclude Cadafael from the family. The omission of a k i n gfrom regnal lists due to ignominy can be compared with Bede's admission that Oswald is assigned a nine-year reign, butonly because the rule of his apostate brothers a n dCadwallon have been given to him rather than include these renegades in the regnal lists (HE, p. 240).

§ Jackson, 'On the Northern British Section', pp. 41-2, discusses themarriage ofOswiu toa British woman, possibly a descendant of Urien, about 635. (See chapter 2, p. 91.) He suggests this marriage indicatesthat Rheged was stillpowerful and independent at the time, although

o n o t h e r e v i d e n c e t h i s s e e m s r a t h e r late. C o u l d it n o t e q u a l l yb e a n a t t e m p t t o p r e v e n t the

semi-assimilated British aristocracy from deserting their new overlords and siding with Penda and his Welsh allies?

§ There is no record of Gwynedd participating ni the battle of Maserfelth,and ti is possible that the alliance with Penda broke down after Cadwallon's death. 'Englynion Cadwallon' possibly blames the defeat in part on Penda: 'O gyssul estrawn . . .tru trwmdyd a mgatwall-

awn.' This may be later saga elaboration showing the hero onlydefeated by treachery and outside forces, but the foreigner may have offered a convenient scapegoat for contemporary

opinio n as well.

*S HE,p . 290.

5 HB, chapter 64; see alsoJackson, 'On the Northern British Section', pp. 38-9. The triads go so faras tostrikehim from the royal house of Gwynedd, calling him oneofthe three kings who

§ This possibility si also raised by Geraint Gruffydd, 'Marwnad C.', p. 14, but he later pulls

130

131

were sons of villeins (TYP68, .p 179). He is similarly not found ni the genealogies. The initial

back from this in favour of Cynddylan having been killed inaMercian invasion,as presented ni Canu Heledd (p. 15).

CANU HELEDD

EARLY WELSH S A G A POETRY

Those driven of during hte ravaging ofNorthumbria."If re has the extended meaning of 'wealth, treasure it can be compared ot the alafhe account of atbret indeu. The follow

ingline, 22, states: cyrchai drais tra Thren tir trahahawg. fI this refers ot

the same occasion, it would indicate that Cynddylan died beyond the borders of for beyond hte border of Powys, and could indicate Northumbria as conventional well a s Mercia.

Powys. Cyrchai, however, could be habitual action. Tra Thren, at least later,si

In the next awdl the poet initially looksback on former good fortune but by hte end speaks of Cynddylan's death.It is difficult to determine at what point hte

references shift from hte far ot immediate past. Saithgant rhiallu ni yspeidiawd seems ot treat of former times, but these could bethe samelords who took part in hte final hosting. Pan fynnwys mabpyd mor uf parawd suggests Cynddylan answered a summons from Penda ot gotobattle, but this could be either the battle inwhich he met his death or a previous occasion. Of course, the interpretation that

when Penda was spoiling fora fightCynddylan obliged himcannot be ruled out,

but this fits poorly bothwith the evidence for a Welsh- Mercian alliance cited above

and the need for Penda to keep a peaceful western border in order ot pursue his wars against Northumbria and other English kingdoms (see below).

This allusion to Penda si followed immediately by an indirect allusion toCynddylan's death in line 29 (ny darfu yn neithawr), and the association couldbe significant. Line 30 is unfortunately obscure, but py amgen plwyf and py du dearawa support the suggestion above that Cynddylan's death took place beyond the borders of Powys. If the line can be taken to mean that his place of burial was

unknown or unexpected, the evidence again suggests adistant location for the

assumed that hte batle was won. The folowing lines (56-60) are difficult, butagain seem to suggest that slaughter was inficted by Cynddylans' army. Ndi ensis ro stassatod brated ar ychwaere in invites comparison with Cany Heledd, but as

discussed ni thenotes ot the line mention of asister of Cynddylan isextremely unlikelyin this context. Adifferent explanation si put forwardni the notes.

The question of the enemy at Lichfield remains. BecauseLichfield si inthe heart Penda or his successors.« The acaution against this assumption.One solution Powys near Oswestry in 642 si

ofthe Mercian kingdom, the enem y has been assumedot be Mercia, eitherled yb presumed presence of Penda in hte hearlland of more in accord with evidence for the Powys-Mercia alliance would be that Cyn-

adylan, likePenda atMaserfelth,washelpinghis allyrepulsea Northumbrian

Northumbrian army's invasion. The spoil can be explained asanimals fromfothe r services rendered a No train, carried of by the Cyndrwynyn in repayment Northumbrian attack on Mercia is recorded,but as noted above Bede is notexhaustive in his account of campaigns. Penda mounted two invasions of Nor-e thumbria; retaliation by Oswiu would be expected. The incident could also b

connected with Oswiu's recovery of his brother's remains in643,65

The enigmatic lines concerning the myneich at Lichfield (I. 57-8) could provide

the strongest indication that the enemy was not Mercian.Penda was acommitted

pagan, andas a consequence Mercia was one of the last English kingdoms to be converted. Bede relates that Pendadid not prevent missionary work ni his king-

dom, but implies that even so no mission was undertaken in Mercia until the conversion of Peada, two years before Penda's death.® It is unlikely, therefore, that there were any major ecclesiastical settlements inMercia before c. 655. The English

plac e of death.60

see of Lichfield was first granted to St Wilfred by king Wulfhere between 666 and

Lines 35 to 37 speak of the deaths of some of Cynddylan's chief lords, a variant of the group whose warfare (dyhedd) is spoken of in the opening lines. It is safe to

669; previous to that the bishop was peripatetic. T h e two oldest foundations in

assume they died with Cynddylan. The following two l i n e sgo on to describe how

they drove booty a doleu taw. Again it is uncertain whether this incident was partof the final campaign or part of an earlier victory against Welsh neighbours. If the latter, the Taf in Wales is the preferable location, but *tam is such a common element in river names that a location for the raid beyond the border of Wales c a n n o t b e r u l e do u t 16

The next two verses are long and consist primarily of references to a battle before Lichfield which must be considered the crowning point of Cynddylan's career. It does not appear to be the battle i n which he was killed, but rather a singular victory for t h e C y n d r w y n y n . In lines 47 to 48 we are t o l d that the poet's brothers (probably

brothers-in-arms , companions) whom he mourns c a u s e d slaughter before Lichfield and i n49 that the sons of C y n d r w y n broke shields. This i s possible in a losing

battle, but the next verse makes it clear that great spoil was won at thesame battle before Lichfield (I1.52-5). Since the spoil included slow-moving animals it must be in the north, 95 It istempting to associate Penawg with godir penawg in CU 13a,tosomewhere but t h e place-name may have been a common one; see the notes CU 13.

06I twouldalso accordwithBede's accountofthefloodofthe river Winwaed which undoubt edly caused difficulty in recovery of bodies.

8 16 See R.J. Thomas, Enwau Afonydd a Nentydd Cymru (EANC] (Caerdydd, 1976), pp. 177132

the sub-kingdom of the Magonsaetan also date from about t h esame time; Leominster c.660 and Wenlock c.680.6 Cynddylan's floruit, if the reference to his

26 Even Finberg, Lucerna, p. 80, ducks the question ofa break in the alliance by calling the battle a 'cattle-raid', an event which presumably might shake a friendship but would not

necessarily cancel a longstandingalliance. Thedescription a n dallotment of two long verses to the battle make i tclear that it was far more important than a mere raid.

« Geraint Gruffydd offers the interesting suggestion that the fighting around Lichfield

could date to the three-year period of Northumbrian rule in Mercia after Penda'sdeath, according perhaps with the note in the Annales Cambrineabout the comingof Oswiu to take

spoil; 'Marwnad C.', p. 15. The myneich would then be easily explained as Northumbrian

clerics or missionaries, but the bishop o rarchbishop and Bede's silence on the battleare less easily explained, see below.

6 The number might seem excessive, and could eb exaggerated. On hte other hand, a Northumbrian army could have ravaged the Merciancountryside before battle was joined

Penda would notbein a position to insist on return to Mercia of the animals. The horses and hamess look like a normal spoilof war fromthe fallen. " John Morris, The Age of Arthur (London, 1973), p. 243,also suggests the enemy was Oswiu,

but his speculations on Morfael are typical of the overimaginative and groundless reconstructions which mar this work.

6 EH, p. 280.

6 Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, p. 120.

1 Finberg, Early Charters, p.217.

133

C A N U HELEDD

EARLY W E L S H SAGA POETRY

at Cogwy/Maserfelth is reliable, would probably fall before substan. participation H al ecclesiastical organization had grown up ni Mercia since line 29, as noted above, suggests he died fairly young.*

I t is therefore often conjectured that the esgob and myneich were memb ers of a Celtic church surviving inMercian territory. Some continuing Romano-British Christian influencein Lichfield has been postulated. *It seems rather unlikely thar these remnants, ifthey existed, would be os organized. Kirby, following Gould' lead, suggests that the British monks at Lichfield were killed becauseCynddylan and hte Welsh did not approve of'collaboration'with the English.?"This does nor what they were doing at thebattle,and is i npart based on ahostile explain reference to anghyfyawn ueneich ni 'Englynion Cadwallon'. The import si unclear ni the englynion, and at any rate belongs ot much later saga not necessarily based on the s a m e traditions

This crucial line is open ot more than one interpretation. fI 'the bishop (or,

alternatively Cynddylan) did not provide refuge for book-grasping monks', these

clerics can best be taken as ecclesiastics serving the religious needs of a Northumbrian army. Bede records several conspicuous acts of piety on the part of Northumbrian kings before battle, and religiousleaders would be expected in their train on

along expedition into pagan parts. The phrase myneich llyfrafaelhas a scornfulring

to it, and might even have beena contemptuous nickname for the Northumbrian warriors, who, if Bede is to be trusted on this point, seem to have had a strong sense of their spiritual superiority over the pagan Mercians and heretical Welsh. The cult of their former king, Oswald, as a saint might also h a v e given a clerical cast t othe

Northumbrian army in Welsh eyes. Pen esgob, if correct, is otherwise unattested, and may also not denote a literal

bishop or archbishop. One would not expect Bede to be silent if the Lichfield battle

was in any way a concerted attack on either the infant Mercian church o rclergymen in Edwin's host. The best solution may be that myneich is the subject of noddes:

96 Melville Richards, The "Lichfield" Gospels', p. 143, offers an interesting but unconvine-

ing explanation of the monks as Mercian ecclesiastics. Taking the line as 'he (Cynddylan or

the bishop) did not protect book-grasping monks', he suggests Cynddylan attacked Mercia and specifically its church t o avenge the slaughter of the Bangor Is-Coed monks at Chester,

book-grasping monks ddi not protect there',nI that casethe monks need not have Tben atackedro even present- omyli mocked sa inetlectualspiritual protectorsfo rot ebot thmon epagksanatM kynddylan'senemi es. Theseenemies.is nurse, coudl ion ercfield ians Lich Despite problems of interpretation this hostile allus juggests, as does hte general trend ofpointecal history in hte opening halt fohte sentury, that it was notabattle between Mercia and Powys. The theory that Cynddylan diedin alliance with Penda at Winwaed offersan

ofGwynedd.This explanation of why Marwnad Cynddylan si addressed ot hte king thepoem, and onewhich cannopting t be itognored i themost exceptional feature ofT hye win tb anyone seeking to interpret it.? he poet si obviously not attem kingof Gwynedd for a new patron. Acomplete panegyric wouldeb ni order for

that, notmerely aflattering, but brief, introductionto a poem pledging lifelong devotion ot the fallenking of Powys. Thefirst w t o stanzas are explicable if the poet addressed the poemto thesuccessor of Cadafael, whether this was Cadwaladror someone else. Hsi intention then would be to remind Gwynedd of its former after Cadafael's alliance with Cynddylan and Penda which must have lapsed desertion at Winwaed." The stress on hte bravery of the faithful partyand the losses suffered by themcontains no direct accusation -this would not be politicbut it would certainly obliquely remind Gwynedd of its recent shame. Cadafael's successor, however, si given the chanceto renew hte alliance and make up for the

treachery. The defeat of Cynddylan and many of his supporters must have made his heir's position vis-à-vis the overlordship of Powys, and perhaps even his own kingdom, precarious, fi not untenable." In that case the appellation 'prince of

Dogfeiling' for theruler ofAberffraw may be optative rather than descriptive ni the poem. Dogfeiling si aregion more likely ot be ni the handsof a prince of Powys,

most probably one of the Cadelling.? The Cyndrwynyn appear ot be willing ot sacrifice the area in return for support from Gwynedd, or more likely, stating in a

subtle way that ifGwynedd cares to claim the region,and thus make trouble for the Cadelling and remove pressure from Cynddylan's successors, they would not object. The marwnad, then, may be a reworking ofa lamentcomposed immediately after Cynddylan's death intended to influence the outcome ofa political mission to Gwynedd.

This remains a possibility even fi Cynddylan did not fallat Winwaed. The poem suggests that he and his followers had met a catastrophe large enough to warrant

and to avert athreat to Powys. Since he equates Pyd with Peada, he places the battle after the foundationof the see of Lichfield. (This identification is very unlikely; see t h enotes tothe

marwnad1.28 in the Appendix to this chapter.) The reign of a grandson of Penda would be very late for Cynddylan to be active, and avenging a battle more than fifty years pastseems no

particular reason for attacking the ecclesiastical centre of Mercia which moreover had not taken part int h e battle of Chester. Also had t h e r e b e e n asubstantial attack o n Mercian monks

at thislaterdate one would expect notice by Bede who was fairly well-informedon Mercian church history and would be as outraged as he was by Cadwallon's ravagingof the infant Northumbrian church. Bede's silence, in fact, is an obstacle against taking these lines as indicating theslaughterof clerics in the battle unless, asnoted below, they were the unimpor

t a n t r e m n a n t of B r i t i s h c l e r i c s !

7See limGould,Letocetum, Christianity and Lichfield (Staffs.)', Trans. of hte South Staf

fordshire Archaeologicaland Historical Soc. 14 (1972-3), pp. 30-1; Dorothy and Jim Gould, 'St.

Michael's Churchyard, Lichfield, Staffs., Trans.of theSouth StaffordshireArchaeological and

Historical Soc. 23 (1976), pp.58-61. 17 'British Bards', p. 37; also Geraint Gruffydd, 'Marwnad C.', pp. 15-6. 134

27 Only Geraint Gruffyddapproaches this problem; for my rejection of his explanationsee thenote toline 9 in the edition in the Appendix to thischapter

7 It is unlikely that the occasion could be to encourage a reluctant Cadafael to take part in

Penda's northern expedition which culminated at Winwaed. tI is improbable that Powys

would seek to musteran alliance after the d e a t ho fCynddylan and manyother leaders in some previo us battle.

# The stanzas i nCanu Heledd on Caranfael's difficulties (90-7), fi they have any historical

basis, may refer to his struggle with more experienced Powysprinces,and not tobattle with the English.

"The eponymous ancestor of the region, Dogfael, is said to be a son of Cunedda which may

indicate a claim by Gwynedd on the area. Kirby, 'BritishDynastic History', p. 91, castsdoubt on the genealogical connection. The Cadelling appear to have been centred around the northw est of Powys.

135

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

hte survivors seeking outside help. Unlike the picture presented in Canu H eledd, this would have been adynastic, not aterritorial disaster. In the final awdl the poet

speaks of visiting his home around theAlun. Althoughthearea is denudedof fighting men, there si no mention ofwider destruction as in Canu Heledd. Thepoer does not call upon Gwynedd ot help ot defend the eastern borders of Powys. Thisis in part borne outby thelater history of the family.Although evidence for

the political history of early Powys is scanty,noneof Cynddylan's successors obtaine dthe same pre-em inence." Caranfael si remembered in eulogistic terms in Canu Heledd, but there isalso a suggestion there thathe failed ot maintain Cynddylan's position. The Cyndrwynyn line,however, is followedthrough him ni the Harleian genealogies and is carried up ot a date more orless contemporary with the

compilation. Cynddelw names the Cyndrwynyn among the swelygorddau Powys,

suggesting anoble and important standing for them inlater times, but for Cvn.

ddelw the Cadelling are associated with the kingship of Powys." Thsi istrue even ni Canu Heledd

CANU HELEDD

been examined, evio far Welsh evidence of a long alliance with Mercia has S

dence whcih suggests that Cynddylaris reign is oto early for h te conquest oflarge

wys ysaapsrehtseewel Wesslh,h, bbuutt dalsisoosupport supportM irthisesupposi sceposititoonr afrolm brecaonrodtheteer scant ppeaartrslyofasPo newpoint. Itis virtually impossibleot date theconquest ofShropshire within the reign of Penda, Cynddylans' contemporary. As Finbergnotes, Penda's extensive

as well recorded campaigns areallagainst his eastern and southern neighbours, suchsaa flank. Even against Northumbria, and hissuccess presumes a safe western redoubtable warrior as Penda could hardlyhavesustained aserious defeatat againsts tchfield, retaliated bycrushing Powys, and mounted three invasionstoward Northumbria - and allthis without incurring suspicion of Mercias's intent Wales on the part of Gwynedd and the other British kingdom whose leaders s ambitions accompanied Penda to Winwaed." Whatever the nature of Penda' over most of power s i h d extende e h lda Bretwa a being t a Stenton doubts he aimed

where Powys si called (t)ir brochuael (37c), an inappropriate kenning for a daughter of the Cyndrwynyn. Asecondary group of place-names in Canu Heledd around the rivers Evyrnwy and Rhiw may represent the centre of the

southern England and attemptedot subdue Northumbria.* There seems to have

The occupation of northeast Powys (including north Shropshire) indicated in Canu Heledd could also be due to expansion from the original centre of power of the Cyndrwynyn. Marwnad Cynddylan offers no clue to the location of Cynddylan's

periods for lasting conquest of hte Shropshire regions of Powys. For three years

after Winwaed, Oswiu was overlordof Mercia and southern England. He ruled Mercia initially through Penda's son, Peada, but after Peada was murdered ni 656,

tradition in the Life of St Melangell associates Brochfael of the Cadelling with Pengwern. Ifor Williams also cites as evidence B T 33 keint ... yn doleu hafren/ rac

raised another son of Penda, Wulfhere, to the throne. Oswiu seems then to have recognized his inability tocontrol the southern English, and subsequently con-

family's influence in a later period.78

kingdom except for the reference ot doing battle tra Thren. Alate and unreliable

brochuaelpowys, suggesting doleu hafren here describes the location of Pengwern, but this is very vague." The later records of the family, however, conflict with the picture in Canu H e l e d dof the complete extinction of the Cyndrwynyn and must like many other features cast doubt on the poet's historical knowledge.

been no period inPenda's career when ti was ot the advantage of Mercia ot break the alliance with the Welsh.

The reigns of Penda's immediate successors also do not appear to be likely

Oswiu took over the rule of the kingdom directly. The Mercians rebelled in 657 and

fined his attention to Northumbrian and ecclesiastical affairs until his death in 670.83A note in the Annales Cambriae forthe year following Winwaed reads:Osguid

unit et predam duxit.$ The entry suggests Oswiu extracted payment from the

Welsh ( f o rtheir alliance with P e n d at Winwaed?), but did not a t t e m p tany punitiveconquest

Wulhere's reign (657-74) proved to be even more glorious than Penda's. Once again, however, the attested expansion of Mercian influence under him was to the east and south, not to the west. Wu l f h e r ealso did not abandon his father's designs

7 However, the epithet regularly given to another ofthe sons ofCyndrwyn, Elfan Powys (CH

31, 49, ByA) may indicate that he also obtained the overlordshipat some point.

* The line, except by marriage, haddiedout, but the name, like the Coeling in Gwynedd, had

potent ancestral connotations. The statement in the Historia Brittonum that Cadelland his

heirs were the only rulers of Pows (HB, p. 176) isundoubtedly incorrect, but represents the theoretical ideal.

87 The genealogies of three saints attached to the family are also helpful in defining the sphere of influence of the Cyndrwynyn. ByS 36 (EWGT, p. 36) has: Elhayarn y Kegitua m y

Powys, a Llwchayarn yg Ketewyng, aChynhayarn yn Eidonyd, meibyon Hygaruael m. Kyndrwyn

oLystin Wynnan y Kereinyawn. Lystin Wynnan has possibly been identified by .J P.Brown, 'Cynddylan Werydre', YFaner, Rhag. 15, 1978, p. 10, as Stingwern Hill, to the south of the Rhiw not far from Caereinion.

» for Williamssupported this vague evidence with information from the life of Melangell; CLIH, p. 192. However, C. A . Ralegh Radford and W.J.Kemp, 'Pennant Melangell: The Church and the Shrine',Arch. Camb. 108 (1959), pp. 83-5, judge that the opening passageof the saint's life concerning Brochfael and Pengwern is an antiquarian gloss based on the

speculations of sixteenth-century Welsh scholars. 136

08 Lucerna, p.75. For Penda's wars see Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 45, 53, 67, 83 .4 I§ Finberg, Lucerna, p. 73, suggests that Cadwallon 'was i nquite strongenough position to strike a bargain withhis Mercian ally,even fi necessary at theexpense ofa Welsh neighbour.' Presumably he means by this that Cadwallon may have granted the lands to the east of the Severn to Penda. The presumed alliance of Powys with Cadwallon at Meigen is against this theory. It is also highly unlikely that the Cadelling and Cyndwynyn would have joined forces with Penda at Maserfelthin 642 if partsof Powys had been ceded to Penda some ten years before; see the objections made above.

28 Anglo-Saxon England, p. 83.

# Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 84-5.

* Phillimore, 'Harleian Ms. 3859,p. 158. Kathleen Hughes, T ' he Welsh Latin Chronicles',

p.238, suggests thisnotice is out of orderand concerns the treasure of atbretiudeu, but this is

not overly co nv in ci ng

137

CANU HELEDD

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

on Northumbria, although eh waited until late ni his reign, when his pow er over

the southern English had been wel established." nI 674, Wulfhere invaded Nor

hat si hte significance ofitslackof Canu Heledd is sohistorically inaccurate, and w

Castorical basis? Whatsortoftime lapse must be postulate sor traditionsabout

thumbria with ahost containingrepresentatives from each of hte southern kingdoms. Despite this great host he was defeated by Ecgfrith, Oswiu's son. The confederation was broken, and Mercia seems ot havefallen,tonly for ashort time,

hinddylan and the fal ofShropshireot becomeos garbled? Some clue si givenni ye moer obvious anachronisms in hte poetry, particularlyni the place names. hte seems likely that h te lostkingdomni northern Shropshire was remembered, at feastin its broader outlines.Tra Threnni Marunad Cynddylanis beyondthe border

south. tI can eb appreciated, however, that formost ofthe seventh century Mercian kings depended on peace on hte western border to pursue their ambitions against

ater tradition may be ni part shaped by Can Heledd rather than the traditional historical sources used by the poet of Canu Heledd, yet ti si persistent. Giraldus Cambrensis states t h a t the county calledShropshire was formerly part of

oncemoreunder Northumbrianhegemony. But Ecgfrith's own defeat taNechtanesmere in685 against the Picts marks the end of Northumbria as a power ni the Northumbria and the southern English.%

his period, Cynddylan's floruit was probablylong past.Thekings of Mercia B y t674-704 from were weak, and the evidence of Welsh raiding in Felix's Lfie of st

Guthlac may indicatethat itwas the Welsh who initially broke with Mercia.s?

Mercian conquests in Powys ni the late seventhand early eighth centuries may be indirectl y indicated by the inscription on the pillar of Eliseg which records for the

mid-eighth century victories and the reclaiming of 'the inheritance of Powys' st

The reigns from Aethelbald (716-757) onwards marked the increased domination by Merciaof Powys, setting the scene for what for Williams believed ot be hte true historical background of Canu Heledd, the state of Powys in the poet's own time.

Finberg's theory ofthe peaceful nature of the English settlement in Shropshire in

the seventh century cannot be discussed in any detail here. He supports the evi. dence for cooperation in the political sphere by the lack of evidence for conflict with the Magonsaeton kingdom to the south of the Severn, as indicated by the

records of Much Wenlock abbey. The settlement of the border region waslate, less extensive, and allowed for more preservation of Welsh place-names and custom than elsewhere in England, but analysis is complicated by later movements of

people, and the shifting border due to conquest and reconquest.

Undoubtedly much work remains to be done on the political and cultural history

of the b o r d e r area o f t h i s time. Available evidence, however, strongly suggests that the picture presented in Canu Heledd of C y n d d y l a n ' s f a l lhas no historicalbasis, or

rather, the picture of the cataclysmic defeatattributed to his reign has its historical basis in another time and place. The question which then must be asked is why

efPowys, asitistolater poets preserving atraditional conceptothe kingdom. Thsi

Powys. Shropshirewasincluded in the territory claimed by OwainGlyndwr in in WilliamsMs. 233 describes theTripartate Indenture.The author ofalate history Heledd: the boundaryof Wales in Canu a kingdom closer ot that delineated sbury)... and al the countries north (Shrew ern Pengw t o er Chest m o r f ed stretch andwest beyond that line and the River Severn belonged ot Wales." Similarly, Lewis Morris ni Celtic Remains repeats hte tradition that hte northern part of Shropshire was once part of Wales." This rather vague northern kingdom hte bounded by the Terncan be discerned in the main body of Canu Heledd; the miscel-

secondary group of place-names around Caereinion occur only in

laneous verses of thesecond half. On the other hand, no mention si made of the Severn which si surely the dominant natural feature of this area." The poet's lack of detailed knowledge ofthis kingdom si further suggested by some place-names which seem to be anachronistic. Eglwysau Basa (mdn. Baschurch) appears ot contain theOld English personal name, Bassa." Ercalalso appears ot be English; normal Welsh develpment would give*Erchal.Dinlle Vreconn may be an error for Dinlleu Gwrygon, but the form may also be influenced by

Old English Wreocen (mdn. The Wrekin) itself borrowed from the Romano- British name. YDrefwen, fi not descriptive, may be a mistranslation of Wittington (from Hwita, a personal name) since Wittington is known in later Welsh sources as Y Drefwen. The information about the courses of rivers in stanzas 67 and 68 is

garbled, but these verses may be strays. The location of YDrefwen between Tren

and Trafala n dTren and Trodwydd (55, 56) is so vague as to be m e a n i n g l e s s if these rivers are correctly identified. The s e t t i n gof t h ecycle in Shropshire is one element which s h o w s historical consciousness, but the p l a c e - n a m e sare a warning of the

poet's (or his source's) probable deficiencies in genuine historical traditions. . Stenton, 'On the Supremacy of the Mercian Kings', Preparatory toAnglo-Saxon 58 See F.M England, ed. Doris Mary Stenton, (Oxford, 1970), pp. 49-50.

8 Finberg, Lucerna, p. 75. .F M. Stenton also writes i n his Foreword to Offa's Dyke, Cyril Fox

It is doubtful t h a t the saga evolved to preserve historical information, although to what extent the poet of the main body himself shaped his story is a question for

(London,1955), p. xix, concerning the date of Wat's Dyke that ti cannot be assigned withany likelihood to Wulfhere's reign:'...

it may b e doubted whether h e was e v e r secure enoughin

his overlordship to concentrate a major effort on the western border of his own kingdom."

Kirby, however, assigns the conquestof eastern Powys ot Wulfhere's reign on the basisofhis

reading of the poetry about Cynddylan, The Making of Early England, pp. 61-2, and 'British

Gerald of Wales, The Journey through Wales/ The Descriptionof Wales, transl. Lewis Thorpe

(Penguin, 1978), p. 223.

Bards and the Border', p. 35. 78 Stenton, Foreword, p.xx.

9 p. 12a. The exclusion of the land south of the Severn, Magonsaeton territory, supports Finberg's theory. ?° p. 362.

settled with the agreement of Powys, and certainly none of the identifiable place-names in

names around Caereinion,not the northern loopof the Severn.

8 EWGT, pp. 1-3; Stenton, Foreword, pp. xx-xxi § See Lucerna, pp. 69-78, and Early Charters, pp. 209, 217-23. He believes the kingdom was

Canu Heledd lie tothe southof the Severn loop, and noneof the identifiable charter lands of Wenlock in the late seventh century lie to the north of it. 138

* The reference ot (H)ymyr hafren y m a dwylan dwyryw (CH 71) belongs ot thecomplex of

n this name and the following ones see the fullerdiscussion ni the notes ot stzs 45, 77, 81, *O

52,67-8, and 37.

139

CANU HELEDD

EARLY W E L S H S A G A POETRY

the next section of thischapter. do anticipate,it appearsthe poet was using na alreadywel- known story of teledd and Cynddylan./GwynIhomasarguesforthe historicity of the material at the root of Canu Heledd, Canu Llywarch and Care Urien primarily because he findsit impossible ot agree with for Wiliams thathte stories were created by their authors ni orderot portray their contemporary situa tion." He is certainly correct ni stating that this sort of compositionsi not medieval practice, but rather that medieval composition involved reshaping of traditional stories.% It is unlikely, however, that Ifor Wiliams meant that the stories were deliberately composedni this manner. It is possible for historical characters ot be

requite efaced. "-By dwelingso borgiantheinaccurackofthe historical picture fo beau Heledd it can more fierbly biseplaced ni its true historieal context, and hte

genuine history fohte period eb usedot reconstruct hte background tale foCanu Heled

d.

oems II: The P

assigned ot roles in pre-existing traditional typesof stories, perhaps on the basisof some similarity to the character's realcareer,however slight. We have seen an example ni chapter2 in the 'Pen Urien' cycle which assigns Urien and his kinsmen

the previous section has attempted to show thatthe historicalbackground given

detect a clear story, but several traditional story themes may bepresent and have

merits areobvious, evenif the background story is not completely clear. Several smal points suggest that the story isofmore complex thanthe usual reconstructions the story is speculative, fi accepted, the cycle

classic instory of conflict of interest, probably becauseof traditions that Urien toasa killed w interne cine warfare. nI the case of Canu Heledd ti si not so easyto

effected the shaping of the story which in one sense would be 'new', ie. not evolved through transmission of information onan actual event, but which also does not depart from medieval modes of composition. Even if historical traditions available ot the shaperof the saga consisted solely ofmemory that Cynddylan wasa king of the lost Shropshire region of Powys and was killed ni agreat battle with the English it is easy to see how his story could evolve into one of the violent destruction of the Shropshire kingdom based on more recent events. At least two reasons for Heledd's central role in the saga can be postulated

deriving from traditional archetypes. Either one of these might haveentered the story of Cynddylan's fall independently.The narrative rationale for her importance may well be a tale founded again on a scrap of historical tradition, butone

erroneously interpreted (see below). The mention of a brother and his sister in Marwnad Cynddylan may alsohaveencouraged the development of this typeoftale about Cynddylan and Heledd, although as seen above the lines do not refer to them. It is possible that some of the allusive linesi n the marwnad misread mayhave helped to shape the saga of Heledd and perhaps in that way contributed to rapid

loss ofgenuine historical knowledge about Cynddylan." About three-hundred years i s a fairly short time for traditions about Cynddylan

in Can Heleddis not reliable.ot T hissection wil primarily study the poems as hte other englynion poems. The cycle's literary literature and relate hte cycle

indicate. Whilethe reconstruction s forthe takes on added significance. The assumptions also have repercussion

thematic consideration of fate ni hte major cycles and hte question of hte structure ofthe englynion sagas.

The story in broad terms seems perfectly clear and is sufficient to appreciate and

understand most of hte poetry. More than any other cycle,in fact, Canu Heledd

seems ot have little or noneed ofexplanatory prose passages connecting the poems as we now have them. Briefly, hte cycle begins with Heledd, daughter of Cyndr-

wyn, contemplating the still-warm ruins of theroyal seat of Pengwern ni Powys. 01 W e learn that her brothers - the foremost of them si Cynddylan - have al been

killed and their land invaded by the English. Through stanza 51 or more likely 65 there are several clearly-defined poems or series which follow one another in what seems to be a chronological sequence. 1 0 All are laments by Heleddforher brothers or ruined places associated with the former life in Powys. Stanzas 66 to 111 com-

prise more miscellaneous material although it is possible to contain most of it in a frame story in which Heledd later continues to wander Powys remembering

former glory and lamenting her fate. Some of these stanzas may be later additions or material n o t originally connected with the cycle.

must have been the fortunes of Powys between 700 a n d the building of Offas's Dyke.* In t h i speriod Mercia became a threat to the very existence of Powys. It is likely that at first old alliances with the enemy would be p l a y e dd o w nand in time

The major question unanswered by this plot extracted from the poetry is thatof the choiceof narrator, and fi it is to be answered in any but the vaguest terms a more complex story background must be envisaged. This question has not received previous consideration although of vital importance. The world of the englynion

come to seem incredible and be forgotten. AsFinberg says, echoing Ifor Williams:

saga is afully heroicone in which w o m e nhave little place. Except for C a n u Heledd

That century of bloody warfare has coloured all later history and legend. Yet the two generations of peaceful coexistence which preceded it left marks that could not

allusions to their existence are rare. P y l l ' s wife is mentioned as a mirror for his

to be so completely reversed, even given the above processes. The major factor

59 YTraddodiad Barddol, p.81. % p.82.

and some of the very late dialogues women do not speak or appear, and even manliness (CLI34), Llywarch misses the love of unnamed maidens ('Cân'6, 15, 19),

* Lucerna, p.82

79 This si explored with proper caution by Geraint Gruffydd, 'Marwnad C.', p. 18.

9 for Williams, CLIH, p. 210, notes, for instance, the obviously anachronistic reference for the seventh century to the long suffering of Powys (CH 37c). 140

01 This reconstruction follows Ifor Williams, CLIH,pp. Ixi-ixv 11 Ifor Williams, CLIH,pp. Ixii-Ixili, argues for a break at 51, but 52-65, 'Ffreuer', seem completely ni keeping with what has gone before 141

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

and Gwyn ap Nudd si given hte epithet 'lover of Creiddylad'. Although not major

characters in any other cycle, the remaining references ot women in the early sagas appear because they play a role in the story, in some way influencing events

oractively. blesses the aghysbell wrach who instructed whether M aen to passively bring his knife, hte crLl y yowarch f Mererid si referred ot in the Seithennin poem

because accordingto Bromwich'sreconstruction of the tale shewas responsible for the inundation,and Efrddyl'sgriefs highlighted probably because her marriage resulted in the 'Pen Urien' narrator's conflict of loyalties. 201 Heledd is not anecessary choice for either the role of hte 'last

or or lamenter of her family. Llywarch ni a more limited sense takes bothsurviv roles ni his

cycle. The last survivor in Beowulf is an old man, andthe exilewho hasoutlived lord

and companions in The Wanderer may be comparatively young. While there is

some evidence of women lamentingthe dead as inthe Irish keen, the formal mode in early Welsh literature, both bardicand saga,is, again withthe exception of

Heledd, an exclusively malepreserve. Judging from Llywarch's lament for Gwên or 'Pen Urien' ti si impossible to maintain that amale narrator from Cynddylan's

court or teulu would not be a suitable figure to compose intensely lyrical laments.103

I t si imperative, then, ot assume Heledd's central role sa narrator of the saga

depends on acentral role in the background story which cannot be simply thatof

thereconstructionoffered above. This conclusion is supported by Heledd's enig-

matic assertions that she si responsible for the destruction (stzs 46, 57, 86). In chapter 1 it was argued that Ifor Williams's explanation of her guilt - that it was

punishment for her boastful pride - si inadequate and inappropriate. Attributing

CANU HELEDD

anoble womansi sni this way. One kenning for re honot the problem of settlinge',feud e failu ofmarriage to although time and againnithB theoduwebbe'weaver ofpeac eowulf citedin chapter (as ni the Finnsburg episode solve differences is notedessed gnomically in I1. 2030-1 of Beowulf:Oftseldan hwzer

2). The usual result si expr whereafter the fall point for resentment, aconstant in fact, the presence of the bride may gbaeveafocal rise tothe marriagesettlement. This isch reminder of theenmity or feud whi rm com the case ni Branwen ni theMabinogi although this story does not confo

aHter leod-hryre lytleofahw ile bongar bused, beat seo bryd cluge. Very seldom anyprince does the deadly spearrest, though the bride pleases.) n important parallel for CanuHeleddis Branwens' pletelyot the classical type. MA

' achaws i' ('two good islandshave been Final words d'a a dwy ynys adiffeithwytom t of moral guilt, because of her

made desolate because of me. )us Although innocen

marriage she si responsible for the passions which led ot warfare and destruction.

I fthe story ofHeleddis one of afailed peace-weaver historical as wel as literary

instances can eb cited a sparallels. Bede records several marriages between

members of English ruling houses whose kingdoms were habitually at war. The strengthening of alliances by marriage may also have taken place between the

Welsh and English although evidence si slight. Oswiu's marriage, with Rhieinmelth, possibly the great-granddaughter of Urien, is attested both in the Historia

Brittonumand the Durham Liber Vitae. I Geoffrey of Monmouth's information that

Cadwallon married a daughter of his ally, Penda, is plausible and accepted in Bonedd yr Arwyr. 71 Given the evidence for peace and cooperation between Mercia and Powys intermarriage between royal and noble houses may well have occurred.

the destruction of her family and land to shortcomings in moralvirtue would be the actual height of arrogance and diminish her stature unduly. In Llywarch's caseand in the case of the 'Pen Urien' narrator their misfortune depends as much on their own actions as on malevolent fate. The only clue to Heledd's action is that, like Llywarch, her speech was responsible (cf. 46 vyn tauawt ae gwnaeth.) But despite the poem in stanzas 98 to 101 in which Heledd mocks and attempts to incite her sickly brother, it is unlikely that her problems stemmed from egging on Cynddylan. She might have spurred him by taunting into making an unwise attack on his border, yet stanza 65 indicates that Heled and her sisters took no interest in

It has been suggested in the previous section that later warfare effaced or reinterpreted such scraps of earlier information which survived. tI is easy to see how traditions of a marriage between ruling housesof kingdoms which later became deadly enemies could be cast into the saga mode of a temporary trucegained by this sort of settlement. Again, the line in Marwnad Cynddylan (60), nid engis or ffosawd brawd ar ei chwaer, may have inspired a story in which Cynddylan and his

warfare in their sheltered and fearless days.

-her sympathies are totally with her brothers and Powys. This would be natural, however, if the marriage were of short duration, against her will, and no child

Heroicliterature and history indicates one sort of story whichgives prominence and importance to w o m e n and sufficient independence of action so that t h e ycan

besaid to influence events. In it awoman is given in marriagei n an attempt to settle differences between two opposing factions. As we have seen, the ties of loyalty of the narrator of the 'Pen Urien' group may depend ultimately on this type of marriage, accounting for the specific mention of Efrddyl. In most cases, however,

disaster would be more immediate. Germanic literatures give a good deal ofatten-

102 See Rachel Bromwich, 'Cantre'r Gwaelod and Ker Is', The Early Cultures of North-West

Europe, ed. Cyril Fox and Bruce Dickins (Cambridge, 1950), pp. 221-2; on Efrddyl see

chapter 2

103 The Heledd poems were ascribed ot Llywarch ni the works of the late eighteenth- and early n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y antiquaries. 142

sister were protagonists. Such a story would go far to explain the central importance of Heledd, but some

further elaborations are necessary. Heled is clearly not torn by opposing loyalties

resulted. Also account must be taken of Heledd's insistence on the guilt of her tongue which is not merely passive failure to keep the alliance. If thepoem 'Heledd a'i brawd claf' (CH 98-101) is integral to the cycle it could indicate that her fault,like

Llywarch's, involved unwise and bitter taunts even though her tragedy is not likely to be the result of inciting her more active brothers. As noted in chapter 1it is

1a The feud begins after hte marriage but the tale si perhaps influenced by the Constance story;see A . O. H. Jarman, 'Mabinogi Branwen: Crynodeb o ddadansoddiad W.J.Gruffydd',

LIC4 (1956-7), pp. 132-3. 501 PKM, p. 45. 601 Jackson, 'On the Northern British Section', p. 41. 701 EWGT, p. 91. 143

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

often awoman's role ni saga, both Germanic and Celtic, to initia te warfare by

remiresult ndingoher husband rongsss.u1navHeled engedd'and intimating that hsi inaction si the f cowar dice o ofr w lazine s unfortunate tongue can be ex-

plained it while in the Mercian courtshe made ataunting reference ot wrongs not fullysatisfied by the peace seftlement or an unwise boast about Cynddylan's There is nothing specific ni the poetry ot support this explanation of 's role in the saga. There are, however, hints that the story background Heledd si more involved than that which can eb readily recovered from the poetry. Heledd makes

C A N U HELEDD

pengwer, notorfm them, intimesfowaked should endeavesurvivedan om c and pers the destruction when it was safe dens ot which Hereish conlandlatetene pprriinmceedssia.teY pecil:etafteonrmthaeth oofrdhteer bdaattele hal hse aalapntpeaarot rsioovecorant ebcompelleetyl coaulortnceaa.nadsstate taily aludes ot hte ols fothe inhabitantsed karnedylahis prettdets or sinatit

C oundyalnssthyeoethrgereoihryennthaa:t H Heeleeldadd wteaas ur speciaall ppoessititoionnotot thhtee ccoonnqquueeroronrss ssaa support ni aaspeci

englisishh ra words. the maidens couldd ebbe hheerrEngl proposed above. Perhaps Heledd W her husband fulfil his response to her words. The maidens coul

two enigmatic references ot treachery or failure onthe part of her brothers' supporters. One is the gnomic statement in her lamentfor Cynddylan, ny mat wsie baraf am y drwyn swrnybo swell no morwyn, which undoubtedly has specific application. Alater poem suggests thatHedyn, another brother, was also failed ata

importantractis to beuctio takennand/o intorslavery . theent. servants or women ofthe court aboudestr She may have enslavem that Heledd si spared ni the general Thestory of . useful longer o n e f wi a iating been left behind sa a means of repud it was possiblefor a wife ot refuse ot

brothermust beraised becauseitis sosimilartothe earliergnomic complaint: N y

caspectto have this condition honoured.!Again, Heledd's 'last survivor' status, sex,epoints to adefinite narrative of like her unexpected importance despite heroutlin above is incorrect.

critical moment (88c meuyl barueu made hedyn). FinallyHeledd's insult ot her sick

mat wiscbriger nywo dirper o wr yn diruawr gywryssed. But these may be references ot asubsidiary tale rather than that of Heledd. It is usual (and natural) to attribute the

defeat of heroes to tricks and treachery outside the control of even their superior might.

There si one other allusion to the earlier part of Heledd's tale which requires

consideration. This is the opening stanza:

Sefwch allan vorynnyon a syllwch gyndylan werydre.

Ilys benngwern neut tande.

Thordis ni Icelandic sagaalso shows that her ot retain sufficient continue with aman who had destroyed her family and for some complexity even fi the hypothesized

I nthe final analysis, however, the choice of Heleddasnarrator ofthe poems may depend on myth sa much as history orsaga. Heledd'slaments for the royal line of Pows and for the land and its privileges strongly recall the concept that the land or

kingdom isa goddess who is wedded ot the rightfulking and whomourns his death and the resultant devastation of the land. The myth is ancient and IndoEuropean, although best attested ni Celtic sources. ' The myth with its various aspects si deeply impressed in Celtic story and symbolism and appears frequently inbothveiled and obvious forms almost to the present day. Early Irish sources (and

gwae leueinc a eidun brotre.

As explained below, the verse is not part of the lament for Cynddylan. It seems to serve as a prologue which perhaps accounts for its anomalous form; it may be an early example of an englyn with an extra line added for weight and dignity. The picture it gives is a vivid one, but one which raises unanswerable questions. Who are the maidens and why do they subsequently disappear? From where are they asked to come f o r t h to look at the ruin? f o r Williams explains them as the maidens

of Pengwern who have been sent to hide in the woods and hills. 109 All evidence, however, suggests that the defenseless population fled to fortified places such as

Celtic prose tales in general) stress the hero's attainmentof his kingdom through marriage with the goddess of sovereignty. Aclassic example is the tale told of Niall

of the Nine Hostages who obtained the kingship of Tara for himself and his descendants by agreeing to kiss a hideous hag. She immediately turns into a beautiful woman who declares herself to be 'Sovereignty' and prophesizes Niall's

glorious future."' Amore symbolicinstance occurs in Baile in Scáil in which Lugaid

has avision of a magnificent queen pouringout drink into a golden cup and giving

10 In Gisli Saga, see Theodore M . Andersson, The Icelandic Family Saga (Cambridge,

301 For Germanic instances see Shippey, Old English Verse, p. 15,and the footnote onp. 195;

Massachusetts, 1967), pp.178, 184.

p. 394; and the third branch of the Mabinogi in which Rhiannon and Cigfa try to incite Manawydan to action (PKM, pp.56-8).

quelques légendes politique de Rome et des peuplesCeltiques', Ogam6 (1954), pp. 3-8; T. F. O'Rahilly, 'On the Originof the Names Érainn andEriu', Eriu 14 (1946), pp. 7-28, particularly pp. 14-21, P . Mac Cana, 'Aspects of the Theme of King and Goddess', pp.76-114, 356 413, . A . Breatnach, 'The Lady and the King: a theme of Irish Literature', Studies 42 (1953), 59-65; R E 9 (1960-1), Pp. 321-36; Rachel Bromwich, 'Celtic Dynastic Themesand the Breton Lays', C pp. 439-74; Glenys Goetinck, 'Sofraniaeth yn y Tair Rhamant, LIC 8 (1964-5), pp. 168-82, Peredur: AStudy of the Welsh Tradition ni the Grail Legends (Cardiff, 1975), Chapter ill 'Sover. McKenna, 'The Theme eignty Themes in Peredur, Owein, and Gereint', p. 129ff.; Catherine A

Njals Saga, transl. Carl Bayerschmidt and L. M. Hollander (London, 1956), pp.41, 116; Laxdaela Saga, transl. M . Magnusson and H . Palsson (Penguin, 1969), chapters 48, 53 and 60. For Celtic examples cf. 'The Death Tale of Fergus mac Leide', Ancient Irish Tales, ed.TomPeate Cross and Clark Harris Slover (New York, ï936), p. 485; Caithreim Cellaig discussed byProinsias Mac Cana, 'Aspects of the Theme of King and Goddess in Irish Literature', EC7 (1955-6),

901 CLIM, p. Ixii. Jackson, 'IncrementalRepetition', p. 319, referring perhaps ot the theory hte

poems were dramatically presented states: 'This phrase has never been explained, a n d has no

consequence in the poem, but ti sounds remarkably like a stereotypedopening invocationby

a chorus-leader ot a chorus ot come forward and begin hte song. tI is unlikely ot be that

detached from the cycle, and the drama theory is weak; s e echapter 6. 144

. O I There are several important studies of the myth and its variousattendant themes. See T Maille, 'Medb Cruachna', ZCP 17 (1927), pp. 129-46; G. Dumezil,'Méretriceset virgines dans

of Sovereignty ni Pwyll'

, BBCS 29 (1980), pp. 35-52 21 Ademythologized version is,of course,Chaucer's The Wfie ofBath's Tale. 145

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

CANU HELEDD

tibanfheiss, ot the futaurewedding kings fofeast Irelaonfdtheinnew turn.king Theto ihis naugurat ion of hte king si seen sa a country. 1 While variousreferences revealthat the country without aking orwithna unjust

while her personal grief and love are evidentti si grief for the ruler and his rule Whcihsi stressed: thus Cynddylan is Cynddylan Powys (12, 31), he si her ner (24), winaf(30), dledyrkat calon argoerois (45), etined kyndruynyn (47 .For Heledd heis y bratul. The stress on kingship may have realistic Inimarily vy slyto (2), not wm rounds, buthte exclusion foreferences to famil bonds must surely be due ot a

king was thought to suffer, the laments of the goddess are not directly depictedni the early period." (Her sometime aspect as hag, however, must reflect this idea.) Aslong as native hegemony survived the joyous succession of the kingship was stressed, although itis possible there was aritual lamentation fo the land/goddess

for adead king corresponding ot the inauguralwedding feast. It is significantthar with the fall of the Stuarts, the last kings generally acceptedaskings of Ireland, a

poetic traditionemergesofthe Aisling (vision). In ti the poetsees in adream Ireland laments herwoesand thewoesof the land because she si as afair awoman without consort.who 16 Of course

ni Wales and particularly in the border region loss of

sovereignty occurred much earlier. Did the situation evoke a similar poeticre. sponse?

There the are several features in Canu Heledd which suggest that Heledd has inherited mantle of the goddess of the kingdom lamenting the final loss of

overlordship, although her added significance appears to be a subconscious re sponse of the poet to the myth rather than a deliberate evocation. ' Heledd is not

Cynddylan's wife. This si na important departure,but si probably due ot the poet's use of apre-existing story (this willbe returned to below)and because he has been

influenced by the myth but si not depicting ti directly. The single most revealing

stanza shows just h o w indirect this evocation is:

Bei gwreic gyrthmwl. bydei gwan hediw. bydei bann y disgyr

subconsciousin athweaporenetesrys.of hte very different symbolic relationship Heledd hasot Cynddylan

The first poeminwhich Heledd clearly mourns T for her family also summarizes a tymyr a gwynaf! (62) his latter functioni s notable her role: o' ym brodyr m

hroughout, and particularly in the poems toEglwysau Basaand YDrefwen. Sorow for her destroyed homeland si arealistic feature to which depth isaddedby the superimposed figure of the landlamenting its lostsovereignty.There is a great emphasis on the loss of the rightfulownershipof the land. Tren trefy datisconis 'digarat. frasted with tren trefdiffeith in theopening poem. Stafell Gynddylan of the heir itance inher e h t at h t noted s i t i ness bitter great h t i W t. pieua b e n r y y d swe

of the Cyndrwynynhas shrunk to agraveplotni Eglwysau Basa (17). The lack of a rightfulowneris thetheme ofa short poemin stanzas 104-6 whereHeledd remembers her four lordly brothers and announces that now: n' y wyr tren perchen

udu; ny wyr tren perchen keugant; nyt oes ydrenn berchen mwyn.' There seems to be a

play on the meaningof difa whichisboth destroyed by war and inalegal sense

land with the male line extinct' ni stz 50, Eglwysseu bassa ynt diua heno/ ychetwyr! ny phara or 'extinct, without issue' ni the stanza quoted above, hi gyua diua y

gwyr.! Eglwysau Basa si also described as having lostits breint (49), its privileges

in the legalsystem which would cease without a king ot uphold them. Many of the

poems are laments for thepassing of a people and society into which these more

hi gyua diua y gwyr. (CH 76)

The poet has Heledd imagine that if the region of Gyrthmw| were a woman it would

be suffering and lamenting - we have the tradition at an imaginative remove. But Heledd herself is a woman who has previously described herself aswan (58, 62) and whose cries of lament have consistently been raised. The imagined action is actually performed and retains its symbolic significance. This is also seen in the language in which Heledd couches her laments. No one would argue that the characterization of Heledd is n o tan artistic triumph - the poet never falters in his reconstruction of her emotions and reactions. Yet it should be

noted that it is not until stanza 57 that Heled alludes to her family relationship with Cynddylan. He and her other brothers are mourned as lords and protectors.

13 The intoxication by the goddess is also revealed in the name of Medb; see O Maille,

'Medb', and below. 14 For the use of priawd in Welsh b a r d i cpoetry as a reflection of this concept see Rhian Andrews, 'Rhai Agweddau ar Sofraniaeth yng Ngherddi'r Gogynfeirdd',BBCS 27 (1976), pp

23_30.

Is The partially euhemerized sovereignty figures, Mis, Mor Mugain and Créide,however, sing laments for their dead spouses; see Mac Cana, 'Aspects of the Theme of King and

specific references to the loss of legal sovereignty must be fitted. Nevertheless,

they are sufficiently prominent to assert that they in part owe their place to the complex of ideas concerning the relationship of the king with his land. The aspect of the infertility of the land and suffering of the people as theresult of the loss of the rightful king is less clear, probably because it is obscured by realistic reasons for these circumstances, the warfare with the English. 12 The poem to Y Drefwen, for i n s t a n c e , presents a powerful a n dthoroughly realistic picture of the

breakdownof agriculture when the normal tillers of thesoil are constantly engaged in war. However, the narrative reasons for the devastation of Powys need not exclude consciousness of the mythic reasons. It can at times be sensed in the juxtaposition of ideas, as in stanzas 4-6 where Tren is called diffeith where once it was defended as the inheritance of Cynddylan. In the two poems on the feasting

eagles, 'Eryr Eli' and 'Eryr Pengwern', the focus is shifted from the birds of prey feeding on the warriors of Powys - with particular emphasis on Cynddylan - to statements about the suffering of the country (37 dir brochuael hir ry godet, 43 ry gelwir trenn tref difawt.) Two stanzas proclaim that the land is now tirion 'fallow,

Goddess', pp. 79, 363, 392. Interestingly, Mor's second husband p u t sa nend to her lament.

81 Note y chetwyr, as fi it was felt, like Gyrthmwl, ot eb a female personage although the

the myth could be and was reshaped around various historical figures because its signifi-

12 Rhian Andrews, however, discusses how hte Gogynfeirdd depictthe fall of kings as a

16 See Breatnach, 'The Lady andthe King', pp. 322-5. 17 Mac Cana's article, 'Aspects of the Themeof King and Goddess', stresses repeatedly how

cance was a continuing one.

146

plural pronominal and verbal forms are otherwise consistently used for EglwysauBasa. 19 See the note s t o the poem.

natural catastrophe of the land; 'Rhai Agweddauar Sofraniaeth'. 147

E A R LY W E L S H S A G A P O E T R Y

CANU HELEDD

er in realistic terms minimalso particularly suggestive since the marwnad ot Ffreu

unproductive (48, 80). Again this can be attributedot warfare rather than super. natural causes, althoughitis reasonable ot suppose that the observed results ofhte ldoessv aosft aktiinogn .and protector ni turbulent times ni itself lies at hte root of hte myhtci

ales herimportanceas compare dylent odesir afterilard/instarta37 hte areathe

Afew remaining pointsconcerning Heledd andher sisters can be cited ni the lightofthe probable connectionwith the goddess ofsovereignty, although itis not lay too called much 'N stress on them. Most of these points are raised by the necessary brief poemto(69-72) ewid

daughters foCyndrwyn or alternativelythe daughters of Cyndrwyn were given some attributes of the cult or myth of the goddess..

Byd' in Canu Llywarch Hen. Lkie much of hte materialdiscussedabove, thepoem makes perfect sensewithinthe realisticnarra

collocation of possible characteristics of the goddess, tiveframework. howeve r, suggestsThe asecond levelof meaning. Heledd laments that she used tohave

trained horsesand splendid clothes and trappings, but now she has nocloak, onlya

rough covering of goatskin. Her thin legs aer alluded to also. A s noted above, the

goddess, a beautiful maiden or splendid queen, in the absence of the king is often transformed into apoor hag. Heledd's changed appearance has a naturalcausein her change of circumstances. But the picture may not depend totally on poignant reality since this same poem also presents a picture of Heledd which may be

analogous to the sovereignty figure of Baile ni Scail. In contrast ot her present poverty and humble state Heledd says she was formerly intoxicated by the mead of Bryn and Tren. " The association of sovereignty with drink has already been noted, and this association is further suggested by the specification here that the mead was that of the regions of Bryn and Tren. It is not stated whether Heledd served out the drink herself. However, the name of the Irish goddess, Medb, is

cognate with meddw, and scholars are not in agreement on whether the name has active or passive connotations, or both (i.e. 'the intoxicating or intoxicated one'.)

In Irish the name of the g o d d e s s r e p r e s e n t i n g the land is often i d e n t i c a lto that of

the land or used figuratively to denote the country (cf. Eriu, Banba, Mór Mugain) 12 While in Welsh it is common to use the name of a former king or hero as a kenning (cf. (t)ir brochuael 'Powys' in 37), the two instances in Canu Heledd in which the

land is associated with Heledd's sisters invites comparison with the Irish mythological sources. The most striking is the calling of the land seen from Dinlleu

Vreconn (the Wrekin?) 'Ffreuer werydre' (81), a poetic compound which cannot have the same political sense as (C)yndylan werydre in the opening stanza. 12 (It is 12 The names of two of Heledd's sisters may contain the elementmedd: Medlan 65,108 and

Medwyl in 108. Ifor Williams, BBCS 8 (1936) derives the name of the latter from medd + hwyl.

inefe ofEli oppresses is caled Dyilent Meisir alter another fothe daughters of caindrwn. It seems that either localdeities sa sociated whti the Powys region and Commemoraetd inplace-names were given dustrieat and human existence as

Thelaments ni Canu Heledd for the passing of the old orderare deeplymoving andtake on an added dimension in the light of their mythological prototypes. it might in fact be argued that the poet succeeded so well inportraying Heledd and hergrief because of his instinctive recourse ot this potent idea of land, king and sovereignty. Although there si no continuing tradition comparable to the Irish have disling, it si interesting ot note that popularized versions of Canu Heledd elicited agooddeal of contemporary response unlike the other englyn cycles. Itmay i npart bedue ot hte concept of the unionwith the land that hte link between the loss of Welsh sovereignty inthe border regionand the steady erosion of Welsh culture and language si readily perceived and lamented again ni hte guise of Heledd.

Recognition of the lost narrative background and the underlying significance of the surviving poems may also provide clues to the structure of theenglynion sagas. This will be dealt withmore fully in chapter ,5 but ti should be noted here that whatever the narrative background was the saga of Heledd as we have ti begins after all the major action has taken place. Not only are we given only the most sketchy and allusive picture of Cynddylan's fall and Heledd's role in it, but the narrative element in Canu Heled is remarkably small. The sagaat the point Canu Heledd begins could not be maintained without the poetry. Also the narrative

elements required - whichare primarily there to give rise t odifferent laments- can

be largely supplied by the poems themselves with little or no need for connecting prose. 125

The explanatory prose for the point up to Cynddylan's fall, however, wouldhave to have been extensive. fI the storyof Heledd is envisioned as one continuous saga in prose and verse, the presentation is curiously unbalanced. This is possible, especially since Heledd's sufferingafterCynddylan's death gives particular scope to lyric laments. Conventional explanations of this type o fsaga, however, argue that the poetry is used to heighten various parts of the story - a theory seemingly borne out by some of the surviving material. I tis inconceivable if Heledd's tale originated as a prose-verse saga that some aspects of the tale beforethe destruction

There is also probably a reference to this symbolic aspectof sovereignty, of the gifts of the

land flowing for the king in CH 3 cu a rodeist yr cwrwf tren. Ifor Williams compares this with the idea of talu am fedd found in The Gododdin, but that represents the repaymentof the teulu to their lord while Cynddylan himself is the lord in this instance. If he hasobtained drink ti is

from his union tothe country which he upholds. In Irish the drink of sovereignty is often ale because of the homonyms flaith 'ale' and flaith 'sovereignty'. 12 O'Rahilly, 'On the Origin of the Names Erainn and Érin' 123 Ffreuer could be in origin a river-name < ffreu 'flow', cf. Nanffreuer in Meirioneth and

Geirfa. In Celtic myths rivers are often seen as goddesses.Both Gwledyr and Gwladus, two

other sisters from the late lists only, may have as the first element of their names gwlad

Lloyd-Jones derives Gwledyr from a masculine n a m e *ulatorix. The first element, however, could also be gwledd which is again associated with drink. 148

12 Both processes are attested in the Irish tales of 'historical' kings a sMacCana shows; "Aspectsof the Theme of King and Goddess'. Also possibly to beidentified withaspects of the goddess are Heledd'swandering, herding and madness (this latter is uncertain). Mac Cana has shown these to be part of some of the Irishtales, but ti si notcompletelycertain fi these are integral elements of the myth of the goddess bereft. The poem by Hywel Foel ni H55 which

has agreat dealof sovereignty imagery seems ot contain the motif of madness: diffrwythws daear oenod ysharchar aedaecargan wyllon 'the earth has beenmade unfruitful because heis inprison, let those who love him go with the wild/mad ones.' See also thediscussion of H 55 byBrynley F.Roberts, D ' wy Awdl Hywel Foel ap Griffri', Bardos, pp. 63, 69.

S 31 As noted in CLIH, p. Ixi.

149

EARLY W E L S H SAGA POETRY

C A N U HELEDD

werpoetr woyudlsurvnoived t ha.ve(Can been He present poeest try aanndd highly unlikely that hfoonP eeonfsthis ledd eisdtheinlong most unified cycle yb

far) The best explanation seemsot be that ataleof the loss of Pengwern Powy,

which in part hinged on hte behaviour of Cynddylan's sister was shaped atafais remove from events and became fairly well-known, A t some later point, perhaps inspired bythe sufferingof ninth-century Powys andpotent myths about the land anopoet choseit, odepen t depicding t Heledd' ef. H ece'sseeknow ms toledge haveofbehtgeun his saga where w e w have on hiss gri audien independent tale of

Heledd and Cynddylan.To whatextentsuch a composition,requiring little or no not truly narrative, aprose-verse saga si one which requires prose and further consid eration . This mcaayn nboetcalled be represe

ntative of the origin organiza. ton of all the saga englynion and cycles - ni fact, ti is probably neitherandunique typical. The problems raised by the relationship of the story ot the poetry ni Cannour Heledd, however, suggest that we should not be searching for arigid frameworkin which to fit the englynion.

The lack of narrative interest si only one of the problems overcome by the poet's artistry. The basic subject matter in the cycle remains the same: Heledd's laments for her brothers, her own fate, and the destruction of Powys. Variety is introduced by relatively minor changes in situation and emphasis, but for the most part forward momentum si provided ni the artistry of hte poems themselves. Heledd's

character, too, is static. Unlike Llywarch who discovers his true nature and motivation in the course of the cycle, Heledd's awareness of her past errors and misconceptions has taken place before the cycle begins. tI thus begins on avery high

level of emotional intensity which does not slacken. While moving, ti is not

oppressive because of the exceptional control exercised overall. This is part of the

characterization of Heledd: time and again factual, dispassionatestatements are alternated by outbreaks of i n t e n s eemotion. Canu Heledd makes extensive use o f

cymeriad geiriol - almost every stanza is linked by verbal repetition to another emphasizing the unbroken tracks of grief in which Heledd's mind moves but also giving a formal unity to t h e work, transmuting pain to art. The artistry of expression is such that each recurrence of thoughts and themes has the effect of elaborat-

ing and deepening that which has gone before rather than just repeating. The various strengths of the poet's treatment of his material are evident in the first poem, in many ways the most conventional in Canu Heledd. The subject matter and form are in part determined by traditional saga marwadau such as those in Canu Llywarch. Cynddylan's deeds, generosity, and nature are praised with the more public eulogistic function emphasized by the tighter organization found here than in any other poem in the cycle. As in other saga marwnadau

more passionateand personal as it prostesses with aswitch rom praising cynot direct apostrophe ni the second. third person ni hte almost adylan poem certainly consists of stanzas 2 ot 16, not 1ot 71 as printed ni The n prenn and 16 ends with the caml Llywarch Hen. Stanza 2begins with thewords V same. The expression issufficiently rare that thisisunlikelyot be fortuitous, and em w ith the same words si awel-known thefeature of beginning and endingthaeposaga englynion, but si found ni 'Englynion ni device. ' It is not aswell-attested

Cadwalon' (see below), the marwnad proper ni M ' arwnad Gwên' (14-22) and ni

en' "Pen Uri

The two remaining verses, 1 and 17, are also marked apart bytheir subject

a mater. Stanza 1hasalready been discussed above.If original, it probablyforms ed with hte opening stanza of the prologue. Its formalaspect has been compar (BC 106) which calls upon Seithennin insimilar terms to look Seithennin poem B

upon the destructionof Maes Gwyddno (Seithenhin sawalsoed aallrare an. atype, cedrychuir de an englyn varanresmor. maes guitnew ry toes.)12 The other stanza is

burcrwca, although this form issomewhat more common ni Canu Heledd than in

the other cycles. Itwouldseem to be out of place or intrusive sinceit describes the

preparing of Cynddylan's body for burial while ni 34-14 the body isnot yet re-

covered and si being devoured by birds of prey. True, ni stanza 2 Heledd says'mae

m y bed d y ysswyt', butthis is probably such aconventional way of saying' your

shield si dead' that the poet neglected to think of the literal connotations.I Stanza 17,however, does have the heavy alliteration on c typical of this poem. But amore important metrical considerationi n this respectis the fact that stanzas 1and 17 are the only two stanzas in the first half of the cycle (1-65) without verbalcymeriad linking them to another verse or series of verses. The extensive use the poet makes of cymeriad, particularly v e r b a lcymeriad and incremental repetition, is evident in the m a r w n a d ,as ist h e subtlety with which the

poet employs these features. The first verse is linked thematically and verbally to the final two, in part because of the use of verbal evocation of the opening in the close. D e s p i t e t h e fact t h a tt h i s i s a l a m e n t for C y n d d y l a n ' s fall all t h r e e v e r s e s a r e in

the dramatic present. This is obscure in the fi r s tenglyn which presents the scene in purely gnomic terms:

n prenn ygwydvit a gouit arnaw

o dieinc ys odit. ac a u n n o duw derffit.

There is some disagreement on the precise meaning of gwyddfid and the reason for alone tree symbolizing the leader. 130 The intent, however, is clearwhen taken with

Cynddylan isn a m e d in every stanza but t h e fi r s t . His name also forms all or part of

the initial cymeriad linking verses (cf. 'Marwnad Gwên' stzs 14-9) and there is a high amount of alliteration on c. Other cymeriadau are used to form elaborate groups and sections within the poem. 126 At the same time, the form of expression is appropriate for Heledd. Asi n'Marwnad Gwên' and 'Pen Urien' the poem becomes

1 SeeP. L . Henry, A ' Celtic-English Prosodic Feature', ZCP 92 (1962), pp. 91-9; PT, p. 16, and

chapter 7.

621 The sections are dealt with more fully ni the notes ot the poem and adiagram si given fo part. 150

81 CLIH, p. 192 1 C.r also Pen Urien' 21 where it is certain that the subject is not vet buried

See thenotesto the poems for full discussion. 151

EARLY WELSH S A G A POETRY

CANU HELEDD

to stanzas. Theri connection si further stressed yb hte gnomesni line hte last w Kynndylan kae di y riw.

yn y daw lloegyrwys hediw. amgeled am vn ny diw. Kyndylan kae di y nenn. yn y daw lloegyrwys drwy dren. n y e l w i r coet o v n p r e n n .

In all threeversesthe inability ofa single warrior to turn the tide of battle si stressed. is horrific Heledd is relivingthe scene andwilling itto be reversed while herItrationa l misince nd recogn izes the hopelessness of her wil ot change the

course of events. There is aterrible tension between the impassioned outburstsof the first two lines of 15 and 16 and the calm factualness of the gnomes which echo the numb resignation - ca a uynno duw derffit - with which the poem begins.The

ending of the poem demonstrates that despite hte formaland conventional aspects of the marwnad it is still fully adapted to the character of the narrator.

Also particularly appropriate toHeledd si her helplessness - shecan concentrate al her hope with Cynddylan, but knows even so that it si of no use. This helplessness si returned to later on, and in some ways is symbolic of the dependence of the

people on a strong defender and king. tI si for this reason ni part that Cynddylan is seen as the one figure who might have prevented English domination; there can be

no question that the affair was settled by single combat, as h a sbeen suggested. 13

Also, as we have seen in previous marwnadau, the concentration on the person

en structure basede along, tightly-wov s m r o f n o i t sec s i h T . tes no e t h ssion ni th e e s ; r e h t g each o opening cymeriadof Kyndylan -, aforward linkin prongreform ula. o l l a K era n ov a l y e d h n t y K en n echoing repeat of the

lynion, and a so obviously structured, but si organized with the body of hte eng ot eriadau The rest of the poem si nd yb various otherncdym yndylan and linked a i r e m y c g rases. ph a rds wo f o continuing openinofalliteratioofnK g n oi ech d n a me rhy and of ison ion par etit suchas rep ks the verbal pattern of 7to9, yet carries on the com ula form Stanza10 brea hte opening verbal links other than Cinddylan ot wild beasts.There are nohow ever, is found ni both 10 and 11, and this instanza 1. The same rhyme scheme,

in stificiently rareot suggestdeliberaly melting brotothe leasro-to batte. tileads is sconcise picture ofhte warriorequally wiling-togato thereastor tobatte,tleads itaturallyni 12ot Cynddylan/s generosity ni providinBleasts and hospitality ne

ha theefw referencesot the king's peacetime responsibilities and indicative ofthe atentality of constantwyn warfakwyn re behind hte poetry. for this function,loo, he is itor). This impersonal statement si followed by

mourned (keneu kyndr ceding stanza by the use of both name and patron

metricallylinked ot the premeledd's turning ot direct address of the dead man, ymic. Stanzas 31 and 41 forma

13 ni gnomic terms speaks of a loosepair by their contrastingsubject matter:praises Cynddylan for the heroic warrior not worthy of his manhood while 14

Virtues of ahacked shield and disregard forlong life. This switch ot direct address

prepares the way for Heledd's final outburst discussed above.Heleddhas sucreeded in giving a formal, dignified lament for the fallen king, but passionate grief

l i e s bel ow this sur fac e.

This grief is given full play in the second poem in the cycle, 'Stafell Gynddylan',

mourned excludes consideration of the rest of the combatants. In fact, there are later references to the role of Cynddylan's brothers and his host i nthe more general laments. Heledd's exclusive concern for Cynddylan is best seen as part of the

wanderwhich is not limited by the formal conventions of the marwnad. Heledd's

convention of the marwnad rather than a culpable defect in h e r character as Ifor

o f the poet seen in the first poem, however, si also present here and succeeds in unifying Heledd'semotional expression of grief without intruding on the surface

Williams argues. 132 The tight organization seen in the link from the beginning tothe end of the poem is alsoseen in the body. Again there are strong verbaland thematic repetitions, but these a r e neither obtrusive nor mechanical. The praise for C y n d d y l a nas r u l e rofhis

ing in hte ruined hall provides occasion for lamenting Cynddylan and other sons of Cyndwyn, the people of the court and their lost way of life. The controlled artistry

impressionof unchecked lyric outpouring. Initial cymeriad and other types of verbal repetition again provide the major unifying factors, but the usage is somewhat different from that in the firstpoem. For each line o fthe englyn there are

people is traditional, and although well-expressed, the chief glory of the poem lies in its exceptional metrical unity. Stanzas 3 to 6 explore various aspects of Cynddylan's responsibility i n peace and war to Tren, with the reference to Tren i n each case

two or three set verbal patterns. However, unlike most englynion poems making

in line c. The initial cymeriad of 3 and 4 is Kynndylan callon, and this is also the

random permutations throughout the poem. This g i v e sa far f r e e rstructure to the p o e m while the verbal echoes maintain a sense of u n i t y.The technique is wellsuited to reflect Heledd's e m o t i o n a l state in this the most unrelievedly emotional

opening formula in 7, 8 and 9. In 3 and 4, however, his heart is compared to fire ice while 7, 8, and 9 compare his heart to that of various ferocious wild beasts. intervening two stanzas are incremental. They do not so much interrupt the variations on the theme of Kynndylan callon x as link them by verbal echoes.

and The two The

third line of stanza 5, amuse trentref x, connects it to 4c, yn amwyn tren tref x, and kynndynyawe llu in 6b is echoed by Sc keneu kyndrwyn kundynyawc. (Stanza 8 should probably immediately follow 6 since 7 and 9 are incremental variants of

extensive use of verbal repetition, the poet here does not place the variants in

groups with line a matching line a or line c echoing .c Instead the patterns recur in

poem in the cycle. As has been noted before verbal repetition is important in the saga englynion both for metrical structuringand portrayal of deep feeling. Words-

worth justifies his use of repetition in his introduction to an experimental poem on the latter grounds:

t h e Reader cannot be remindedtoo often that Poetry is passion: it is the

13 H. Wagner 'Beitrage in Erinnerung an Julius Pokorny', ZCP 23 (1972), pp. 81-5. 132 CLIH pp. 200-1. See the notes to 15c for further discussion. 152

history or science of feelings. Now every man must know that an attempt is

rarely madeto communicate impassioned feelings without something of an accompanying consciousness of the inadequateness of our own powers, or 153

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

the deficiencies oflanguage. Duringsuch efforts there will beacravin g ni hte

mind, and aslong as itis unsatis ied the speaker wil cling ot het same words,

or words of the same character. 13

While there si also a rhetorical beauty ni repeated patterns, emotional verisimili. ost striking here. Uncontrolled, Heledd's thoughts leap wildly about, bur tuyetdeasrie m constrained in the small compass her grief sets.

The interrelationship of form and content will be returned ot below. oT ad. equately assess the achievement of thished e poet, however, it si worthwhile ot consider whetherhe waswork ing in an establ genre. Contemplation of a ruined hallsi

ofcourse found elsewhere ni the englynion and in Old English an Medieval Latin literature. It is not within the scope of this study to fully explored the genesisand

diffusion of the motif -it remains uncertain whether Canu Heledd was influenced

hetreatment of this motif elsewhere, however, does shed light by other models. T use i n Canu Heledd.

on the partic ular

A comprehensive article by Kathryn Hume, The"Ruin Motif" ni Old English Poetry', dismisses most proposed Latin sources for themotif,both Biblical and late

classical, as too far removed ni treatment and mood from the Old English examples. " Gordon, however, would seek aliterary sourcefrom earlyChristian Gaul ni various late-Latin poems depicting the ravages of hte barbarians 51 One poem which receives serious consideration as asource by both Gordon and Hume

is De Excidio Thoringiae by Venantius Fortunatus (c.580). 13 The poem was written by Fortunatus for Queen Radegunde ni an attempt ot contact her surviving

brother, then ni Constantinople, and encourage him ot come home. The opening

lines (1-12) presenta strikingly similar situation to that in Canu Heledd. The poem is placed in the mouth of Radegunde who describes the destructionof her home and the killing of her kinsmen by the Franks. She describes the hall no longer roofed except by cinders, the stripping of its gold ornaments, the enslaving ofits people, and the corpses of the dead left without burial or burial rites. Fortunatus,

however, does not exploit the possibilities of the personal, dramatic lyric. The destruction is compared to that of Troy 1(. 19) and then described in impersonal, rhetorical figures before turning to other subjects. The few specific details given by Fortunatus are not particularly original, and his reference to Troy points to his indebtedness to Virgil rather than Radegunde's memories. 31 The lacko femotional involvement makes De Excidio Thoringiae very different in treatment from Canu

13 Quoted by Kathleen Lea, 'The Poetic Powers of Repetition', PBA 55 (1969), p. 58. This article should be read in conjunction with Jackson's 'Incremental Repetition' on the more mechanical features of repetition.

CANU HELEDD

Heaeld apart orfm oin difuseriescriptions urnecay and desert ot cwtee tal Modesl for conventionad be teen or directly experiencedni Bstraction when hte ort fopeoveetrnytsofcfeorusdlnobecloosseepparal aralleelssalalththoough, ugh, ilnikceoO lddl Engl Engliisshh,, n m daedi strish am thie images fo

netransitory warriorsociety.can beebundsloserrelatedibthe Christian themeof hte sunt P.L.Henry discusses, tore tsuous poems lainerisit and he prologue to the Martyrology of Census,ni the untennilatieruin mottingad English and

shshithnegsimilarties. T heothe contrast ofthesifteals sfio Welsh, but hte disparitiesoutweiuri istian Chr r d n a c i t s a n o m f o o fl the t o d e r a p m o c s e c a l p n a pag paseot exalthte rise of hte faith. Terate tionathe ly he p.oTehtse aIrish re natpoets, urallyni ufact, ninvogolvefurth d em than ero with hte ruined places they enum

OldEnglish homiletic examples towards contempt of the fallen pagan societies as opposed to the enduring kingdom ofGod and his church. Very little em phace sisosif instan puton the physical remains ofthe pastcultures, and there is no real ruins - whether recent or long-crumbling - evoking a lament for their occupants.

10

Old English examples are closer to 'Stafell Gynddylan' and 'Aelwyd Rheged' in

treatmentand theme.Hume,like Gordon,is willing ot entertain hte possibility of Celtic influence on the Old English poemsin this respect, but thinks ti more likely t ohave arisen spontaneously ni both literatures because of the similar social

significance of the hall in a warriorsociety. " The twoclassicexamples in Old

English poetry are a fragmentary poem, The Ruin' (a modern title) and ll. 73-110 of TheWanderer. " Also sharing some of the same elements are two passages in Beowulf, 11.2236-70, known as 'The Layof the Last Survivor' and II.2444-66, "The

Old Man's Lament' 13 The speakers in 'The Ruin' and The Wanderer are not themselves former inhabitants of the ruins they contemplate, but this detracts only

slightly from the elegiac mood since ni boththe speaker identifies with the warrior

society with which his imagination peoples the ruins. The theme of ubi sunt is developed in The Wanderer, but in a different spirit from that of the Old Irish poems. Admiration and pity for the vanished society is the dominant mood. The Old English contemptus mundi is not necessarily for the heroic world and its

m a t e r i a laspects, but rather r e j e c t i o no f this world is based on the sad fact that the

1S Although Gordon may be correct in asserting that the Latin poems encouraged literary expression of contemporary events b y native poets.

19 EECL, pp. 229-34. The third poem (p. 228) which he evokes is the exact opposite, noting the endurance ofarath while its rulers have perished; cf. CH 87 pereid y rycheu. ny phara ae

goreu.

13 Anglia 94 (1976), pp.343-6.

135 Gordon, The Seafarer, pp. 19-20. Cf. also Nora Chadwick,The Celtic Background of Early

Anglo-Saxon England', Celt and Saxon, pp. 312-3.

I (Berlin, 1881), pp. 136 Ed. Friedrich Leo, Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auct. Ant V

271-5.

Celtic and Old 137 Hume, 'The "Ruin Motif"', p. 347. Gordon's point, however, is that the more vivid and ng produci ions, convent ntal contine tired into life breathed poets English esis can be hypoth her how see o t lt difficu s i it nt differe so s i result final the lyrical poetry. If proved or disproved.

154

1 Although hte later Fenian poems have elegies for lost societies and regret for placesonce

visited, these are not inspired by physical remains. 1* Hume, T'he Ruin Motif'"', pp. 356-60.She calls into doubt whether a'ruin motif as such exists inOld English poetry, but

remain apossibility.

considering the smallcorpus of Old English poetryi t must

in Se Hume,pp. 351-5, for details and discussion. his hal of music, feasting and warriors, but itisabandoned, notinruins.

1 nI hte first passage from Beowulf afather si lamenting hisson's death which has emptied 155

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

menwhic od not laostst. distin Thsi pguish hilosoesphithcecOoldntem plaisthionlyrics ofanfrcom ient destructionis s ofent tw heork elem hm Engl the w t o Welsh examples. l yd Rhesed has been touched uponni chapter?, The relative weaknessof Aew

am ndenits hitafell s otherGyndd earlyylan' We.lshAlthoug exampleh w hich particularly highlights the achieve. t of 'tS unlike the O

dl English speakers the mar. ratorof'Aelwyd Rheged' states that he knew theinhabitants and the hal ni their glory, his personal response si scarcelygreater than that of the Old English nan rators. This may be due ot the poet's failure to imaginatively enter the characterof hisnarrator ni 'Aelwyd Rheged', but his failure si also due ni part ot form, asIfor W i l l i a m s notes:

Cymharer y canu ffurfiol i Aelwyd Ddiffaith Rheged, td. 18-9, à chanu angerddol i Stafell Gynddylan, td. 35-7. ...Gorffen ycyntaf bob englyny gytbwys a threfnus; ond tyrr angerdd teimlad ra draws cyferbynnu celfydd yng.nghan yllall. Nid oes dagrau nason amddeigryn uwchAelwyd Rheged. On llifa' r dagrau ar ruddiauHeledd wrth edrych ar ei chartref, achlywir wei

chwyno ym m h o b gair o'r llinell, wylaf wers, tawaf wedy

Dyna gelfyddyd ac ymatal heb ei fath, ond yn yr englynion hyn! Ac yn wir,

dull Heledd yw wylo ennyd, a thewiwedyn, nes i rymteimlad, wed ei gronni'n rhy hir, rwygo'r argae adyfod allan ar ruthr....14

'Aelwyd Rheged' uses much the same imagery as 'Stafell Gynddylan', especially contrasting past light and activity with the overgrown ruins. Some aspects of 'Aelwyd Rheged' are in fact stronger: thechoice ofthe hearthas pars pro totois more

powerful than the hall itself, and the picture of nature busily obliterating all traces

of human existence rivals the more common picture of destruction by man. On the other hand, even if the poem did have more personal response by the narrator, its form dooms it to lifelessness. It makes somewhat more use of incrementalrepetition than 'Stafell Gynddylan', but i t demonstrates that althoughcymeriadgeiriol and incremental repetition can heighten the emotional response to poetry, it is not an automatic result. Only line c does not regularly follow set patterns. The variants for a and b are very limited and tend to be used in continuous large blocks -for

example in 50-56 the second half of line ahas theformula neus cudx (a type of plant)

The ruined state is alwaysdescribed only in line a, and although this contrasts with

the picture of the hall as it was in the past in b and ,c it is too predictable, losing the effect of s h o c k a n d t h e r e f o r e horror.

1# 'Compare the formal poem to the Ruined Hearth ofRheged, pp. 18-9, with the passionate

neatly; poem toCynddyla n's Hall, pp. 35-7. . . . The first ends every englyn with balance and poem. Thereare other the in ts contras artistic studied across breaks feeling of h but the strengt the Hearth of Rheged. But tears flow downHeledd's neithertears nor mention of atear above the w of her lament is heard in every word of the and home, cheeks as she looks at her line,

wylaf wers, tawaf wedy.

That si artistry and restraintwithout compare, except ni these englynion! A ndin fact, too long held then fall silent until the strength offeeling, Heledd's wayis to weep for awhile, out in a rush.. . . CLIH, pp.Ixi-ii. back, breaks the d a m and comes

156

CANU HELEDD

ni State rhymed yhar and these are used ni many. There era far more formulaikeeA ' elwyd Rheged' hte first line si generaly descrip

waysot vary the contrast. L ese lines, however, are intertve of the ruined state (18-22, 24-6, 28, 31-2). Th

spersed whti lines si vins Meredie, or with desertptionsnin plyingda statotionat

sparel syndylanma stuan ygue ewormain abernstons seas bornelineanb,eam otionlaasl s wel etc.). Two main patterns haerebxusheedbxfor response (ys oergei, ys22araf, o s l apattern a us ad ost frequent si dy....,Thes (in , 24, 32). The m some unique linTes elines include twice inline. he other si more directly contrastive: gwe win the expression of hten' (id ea after the fine things that usedot be (21, 23,tallin 28,es 3) and 'after the destructio 30,31),showing hte flexibility of theincremen as used here. The finalline is largely unpatterned. There are w t o instances of heb * hebx, but both areslight variationson the type usedni line b(34c has threeparallel phrases, the second in 29c is modified by averbal clause). Also atype ofpatterned pne isfound in28, 31, and32which lists the Cyndwynyn. Contrast is more sharplydrawn in'Aelwyd Rheged',but the picture ofUrien'scourt si os remote and self-contained as to have a type of continuing existence. Lossisfarmore evident ni 'Stafell Gynddylan' and si emphasized bythe fact that al the evocations of the past are ni negative statements;theformer lifeinCynddylan's hall must eb reconstructed by what is gone on the night Heledd speaks. Finally, the gair cyrch

mostfrequently used, heno,implies contrast and gives immediacy. Because it si

not used ni every verse it retains more force. With 'Stafell Gynddylan' the subjects for lament are wider. Besides the loss of Cynddylan, the loss of a society, as symbolized bythe hall, si mourned. Admit-

tedly, this is developed more fully elsewhere, in part because it is the sudden loss of the actual members of this society, from the royal family on down, which is most evident in the immediate aftermath of the destruction. Cynddylan, as noted above, is presented solely as king and lord of the society, although Heledd's

personal feeling si clear in her desperate outbursts after factualstatements of loss, a s in 30:

Stauell gyndylan ys araf heno. gwedy colli y hynaf.

y m a w rdrugarawc d u w pa wnaf.

(Cf. also 23, 27.) He was the main protection, as long as he was alive such destruction could not t a k eplace (22). T h edescriptive line in 24c c a na l m o s tbe taken as cause and effect: heb ner heb niver h e b amwyth. In this broader lament, however, the subordinate r o l eof others in the defense of Powys can also be mentioned. Chief

among them are Heledd's other brothers, but the anonymous host i salso mentioned as well as the society of the court in general (29). While 'Aelwyd Rheged' emphasizes the central roleof the hall in riotous feasting, 'Stafell Gynddylan' with

light touchesachieves a broader picture oflife in the court,just as later poems show concern for the surrounding countryside.

A s ni other cycles, the opening marwnad for the central figure is followed by the narrator's bewailing of personal fate. Aspects of Heledd's fate arestill inexplicit

here-neither the loss of her family nor her responsibility for the fall of Pengwern is made clear here, although these would undoubtedly be known to the original

audience. In keeping with the hall as the focusfor her grief, Heledd mourns thelack 157

EARLY WELSH S A G A POETRY

uintim nbasately idhumtied an otneetd prot , coddy mplan' anisoncou shiprtanthat d choem fort. Y et these ear os heessoci etyecto ofr c Cyn r lament and despair O bvti.ouTshlye mai do nnotport comion e from naledd hardshi ere si no hope of replacemen of Cp aneursoHel conspistsaloonfea, th series of laments with each diterentiated bofththe e poets ice osf vivid alocusinangd mem m i ageorab or situation which makes vario us aspectsy fal oc fhpPow le. Despite th e lack of narrative development and hte basic unity of subject matter th e cycl e s i not mons otonous even if the emotional weight is continuous. The poems a r e comp lemen. tary and form a lyric whole.

In 'Eryr Eli' and'Eryr Pengwern" the poet exploits asituation by giving new and

macabre life ot the typical battlefield image of the birds of prey consuming the

dead.This is achieved by Heledd's position asnarrator: she sees or imagines w to eaglesfeasting on the fallen, but is powerlessto venture into thewoodsot drive themaway.Theloudcries of the eaglesare referred tothroughout 3(4 6, 38, 40 434)indicatingtheir greedydelight and the impossibility ofHeledd turning her

thoughts from the gruesome scene. As is usual the poem makes useof acontrast or bare, factual description and Heledd's emotional reaction which greatly adds to

the horror by giving it sudden, personal focus, as in 35: Eryr eli gorelwi heno

ygwaet gwyr gwynn novi.

CANU HELEDD

in, Agnai therearerartadtionin boht poems HeledS chougrsare herselfewdi 1) how? Despite hte situati Even trademartsted it oughts aer farmore whti

sowys than whti her family-tni battle and apiriturialespresentedni dess, Fits Hsi hte tshuepponulyr lalanndd hheedlld ybybthesinarwe ewhhar Piect,htegralovsesisofnow 9).). A 40 are dina(4(5 o goed nw the Cyndrwynym

arrow hirect result the township of Eglwysau Basa si alsodina (50), has lost its privileges,

andsi uncultivated (4 boraled this poem hte myhtci aspects fohte loss fohte aightful kinghearefirstfirstpoeelaborated: m ot stress Heledd's importance on anarrative level. Her is also t

It of responsibility comes on contemplating the reddened ruins of firstconfession : sa Ba Egiwysau

Eglwysseu bassa ynt ffaeth heno.

vyn tauawt ae gwna eth rud ynt wy rwy vy hiraeth.

(46)

n The declaration itself si not repeated, but the refrain ni line csi used with variatio

twomore times (including the last line of the poem),suggesting that her un-

bearable grief si closely linked to an unbearable sense of guilt. Other than this only line afollows apattern, like mostof hte poems ni hte cycle. This openingformula, santue Eglwysseu bassaynt › heno, si broken only once ni 49a: Eglwysseu basa collas breint. The break in pattern and rhythm emphasizes this importantaspect of Cyn-

ef ygoet trwm hoet ymi.

nI contrast ot the subject matter, 'Eryr Eli' is particularly beautifully ornamented, making use of verbal cymeriad and incremental repetition sa well as extensive

alliteration and internal rhyme. ' T h e poem ends with an original twist to another heroic commonplace:

d d y la n 's

fall.

YDrefwen' is one of the most moving poems in the cycle, and certainlyone of the

most unusual poems from the early Middle Ages as regards its theme. 16The poem does not depict a ruined town like Eglwysau Basa although one surmises that it is

destroyed since its people are dead. Instead the poet recalls its life in the period of constant warfare before Cynddylan's fall, and laments the fact that the peaceful

ae llawch llywdit y draha 39c

Warriors are frequently said to 'feed' ravens by their battlefield carnage, but the

pursuits of agriculturewere largely supplanted by fighting on the part of the town's inhabitants. At first sight t h i s poem seems to support the theory that the

use of lochi 'spoil' gives this s y m b o l i cactivity a personal face, and one which suggests a cruelly i n h u m a n enemy.

englyn cycles show a more advanced attitude to warfare and modification of heroic

'Eryr Pengwern' has the same situation, but derives its effect from relentless repetition. Unlike 'Eryr Eli' which ranges over several images and ideas, 'Eryr Pengwern' is tightly incremental. Stanzas 40 to 42 present a picture of the bird devouring flesh which in life was Cynddylan whom Heledd loved. As in the best examples of this technique the incremental repetition both emphasizes and gives subtle development to the idea. The abrupt shift from grief for Cynddylan's dead

social sensibility in Canu Heledd, it is not an anti-heroic one. It is likely that in times of crisis there was a levy, analogous to the Old English fyrd,o nthe free farmer class, who unlike the nobility did not ordinarily take part in raids and sorties.

body to the destruction of Tren a n d its warriors is a measure of Cynddylan's importance a n d his intimate connection with the land (43, 44).

This consideration for the suffering of the land, its settlements and people, however, is for the first time fully developed in two poems to specific places, ' Drewen'. In the first there is a nominal situation behind 'Eglwysau Basa' and Y

ideals as compared to the earlier hengerdd.* But while there is a wide-ranging

(Even fi this were nota regular institution presumably in the caseof invasion there would be a turnout of all able and qualified to bear weapons.) The poet, ex-

ceptionally, gives full credit to these yeomen turned soldiers. Their deeds are celebrated with heroic commonplaces such as gwaet ar wellt, gwaet dan draet, ysgwyt tonn. However, the opposition of the peacetime and wartime occupations of the inhabitants of Y Drefwen should be compared with the poet's statement

about Cynddylan:

thepoem - it seems to commemorate the burial of Cynddylan amidst the ruins (45

541 The position of the internal rhyme, after the caesura, also gives emphasis ot the most important words; cf. 35c ef ygoet trwm hoetymi; 37c dir brochuael hir ry godet. 158

" This si possibly areflex of Heledd's inheritance of aspects of the goddess of sovereignty,

butthe poet'sbroad concern for the long suffering of his land si clear. 1

See chapter1, pp. 36-9.

159

EARLY W E L S H S A G A POETRY

yd adei. y gallon mor wylat. gantaw mal y gwrwf y gat.

CANU HELED D

sie hte ot: 1m uald raina tularch ulm i fhuair (Hebrdiean Foklsongs sit Gpuararticm 51h ularly close

(11)

XXVI)

oed gnodach y gwaet ar wyneb y gwellt noc e r e d i c b r y n a r.

(56)

nI hte first case the two aspects of the warrior'slife are complem y, and the change-over from one toanother part of the order of things. Ithardlyentar rates mention

except ot indicate that Cynddylan conformed ot the heroic code and took equal

to aspect s otsf oitsf the life.same In thelifesty secole;ndthey exam ple, however, thew del ightiesniarethenottwotwo activit aspec canno

t even be encom.

passed in the same line. Constant warfare si not fitting for the farmer and indicates tironic he disastrous disruption the veryni structure ofsociety. *This is made pointed by use of gnodach m ' oreof usual' 55 and 56 and

efras custom' ni 25 and 53 - an

Cûl fäin neac h nan dual . 152

s attributed ot Gormlaith also gives aprogression ot le Irishfigpoem One of the Midd e: ur ga is sa the griefs of th

Marbh mh'athair, marbh mo mháthair, "Sas marbh mo dhiasd e a r b hrathair, Marph mh'oid e míadhach molta, Is márbh mo dhá chomhalta.

unusual statein the generally predictable world of agriculturehas become more usual than not. These five stanzasgive an objective and factual picture with nostatementof Heledd's emotional reaction, but even without the preceding 'Eglwysau Basa' ti is easy ot sensethe deep distress in the lines. Although the

people are described ni heroic terms there si none of the customary pride and exultation which underlie even the bitterest marwnad for a warrior who has lived

(etc. for t w o s t a n z a s )

Gé do-c[h]uadar sin uile Don bhioth bhúadhach bharrbhuidhe Is doilghe leam Domhnall dil Do bheith aghaidh fo thalmhuin. 351

up to the heroic code.

At this point the first question of unity arises. Ifor Williams would see al the material after 56 as possibly belonging ot a differentperiod of composition.There are good arguments, however, for taking 'freuer' (57-65) as part of the original composition. The chronological position of'YDrefwen', after all, si not cleareither:

while presumably they are not as immediate a response to events as 'Stafell Gyn-

ddylan' or 'Eglwysau Basa','Y Drefwen' and 'Ffreuer' can be classed as laments by

Heledd in the early days of her grief, whereas in the later miscellaneous stanzas a considerable time seems to have elapsed. Certainly 'Freuer' is closely related to the first part in mood, theme, and technique. Again there i sextensive use of the englyn penfyr with the gair cyrch in five cases h e n (there is only one instanceof heno/hediw as a gair cyrch in the second part; it occurs some 27 times in the first part.) There is also use of cymeriadgeiriol with the slight break in pattern in60a which would seem to be the poet's trademark. 149 The imaginative u s eof the poet of traditional forms and themes a l s o seems to

point to the p o e t o f the first section. This i s the first poem in whichHeledd laments her family as kinsmen rather than nationalprotectors. The poem is a sort of antimarwnad to Ffreuer: Heledd takes the s t a n c e that she does not mourn f o rFfreuer

because Ffreuer is fortunate to be dead and because of her greatergrief for her brothers. 150 This latter pretexti s found in several modern Scottish Gaelic folksongs,

Cha n-e cumha mo charaid thair m'aire n' ceart uair No cumhamo leannain, Ged a dh'fhanadh e bhuam Ach cumha mo bhràthar,

This doesnot indicate callous lack of normal feelings, but emphasizes the magnitude of the greatest sorrow. 'Ffreuer' is more sophisticated, and succeeds in show-

ing Heledd's grief for her brothers in this emphatic way while demonstrating that her avowed unconcern for Ffreuer is but apose. As in amore regular saga marwnad,

151 Ed. J. L.Campbell and Francis Collinson (Oxford, 1969), pp. 122-3. Cf. also I. 1. 10-6,XXV, 891-902.

'Tis not lamenting afriend That fills my mind now, Nor lamenting my sweetheart, Though parted we were. But lamenting my brother

With his long curling hair.' Dead is my father, dead my mother,

Deadare my two brothers, Dead my fosterer, honoured and revered, D e a dm y two foster brothers.

18 The three estates is a common conception in medieval times-and is also traced in the

I n d o - E u r o p e a n m y t h i c system.

941 This often shows itself, as here, as areluctance ot use hen as the gair cyrch ni everystanza,

Despitethe extensive use of heno, if the two 'Err' poems are taken together not one poem has

Though all these have gone

From the yellow-topped earth,

Sorer to m e is t h a tdear Domnall

Should eb one night under the earth.'

Osborn Bergin, Irish Bardic Poetry, ed. David Greene and Fergus Kely (Dublin, 1970), pp

150 It is not clearwhether Ffreuer died previously or in the fall of Pengwern. It seems, however, to be afairly recent death since Heledd seems to bedenying theexpected order of

210-1, transi. p. 312. Cf.also Buile Shuibhne (London, 1913),ed. J.G. O'Keeffe, pp. 94-7, where the deaths of the madman's kinsmenare falselyannouncedone after another.Heexpresses grief ni each instance, but si prostrated by the supposed deathofhis sonnamed laappropriate s t.

160

161

heno i nevery stanza.

things; i.e. that her sister's death tonight would be occupying her thoughts.

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

freuer si named ni each stanza, and again following the usual pattern, yb hte end The poem opens with aparadox, ashock technique sometimes found ni the englynion with their love o f juxtaposition and contrast:

she is addressed directly by Heledd.IS

CANU HELEDD

queot hte difference ni subject matter; the first section shows the ruinof Pows on Heeldd although the trame story of wanderingpermits continuation ofsome of the same themes. Thehtradition that the narrator wasasister of Cynddylansi very alf andpresumably based on fuller knowledge of the cycle

and the importance she yndaylan sa king and protector She second focuses more

Efreuer'sblessedness si amystery in the light of the loss ofher family and Heledds'

tong ni the second on in nce ot accompanying morwyniverse nd the narrative background. Theandrefere e t h in e m a n y b ioned ment e s o h t l a stanza 1supports afemale narrator, r e sons of Cyndrwyn. Whileother figures might be suggested for the same helpassrole - the sick brother of stanzas 98-101 or an aged retainer' - thereis no

angheu ffrever. Thestatementof Heledd's responsibilityand her personal loss ni the opening enslyn is followed by someofthemostintenseavowals of Heledd's

Heledd and most of the miscellaneous stanzas.The name, Heledd,is taken from stanzas 78 and 79.Most of the other daughtersof Cyndrwyn,like Ffreuer,can be

G w y n n y byt freuer mor yw diheint. heno gwedy colli kenueint.

o anffawt vyn tauawt yt lesseint.

misfortune, although this is quickly explained by thenew cymeriad ni 59: No

grief. Her state si like adisease: she is weak and I (60, 62), burning (59), shaking

(61)and yellow-cheeked (61). Sleeplessness,early-morning waking, and tearsare

alluded to (59-61)' Heledd's condition supportsherassertion that Ffreuer is blessed ot be dead and demonstrates thatthisseeminglyhard-hearted statementis neither callous nor self-centred.(It should becompared, too, toHeledd's more y gat and 71c gwae openly expressed longing for death sa ni 23c wi aangheu byrr m vi duw vy mot y n vyw.)

This is further shown by her switch to praise of her dead brothers in 63 and 64

after the explanation that her illness si due ot grief for her brothers and country.

Addressing Ffreuer, Heledd reminds her of their brothers' protection ni the past.

The final stanza is one of the most poignant in the cycle. There is a change to the present tense which seems to be deliberate; as in the last stanzas in the marwnadto Cynddylan Heledd's intensity causes her to relive the past and endlessly suffer.

Her evocation of past protection suddenly places her back in the days when she and her sisters innocently believed their brothers' power invincible. 156 M i a f f r e u e r am e d l a n .

kyt ytuo cat ym b o p mann. nyn tawr ny l a d a w ran rann. Heledd is the only survivor to know this confidence was misplaced. This brief

picture of h e r happy, if ignorant, past is as effectiveas any direct description or lament in revealing her tragedy and that of Powys. As noted above, 'Ffreuer' is the first poem to identify the narrator of Canu Heledd as a s i s t e r of Cynddylan. While there seems to b e little d o u b t o f its connec-

objectionto the identification of Heledd asthe narrator of thefirst part of Canu

diminated by the narrator's referenceto them. The identification of Heledd is also strongly supported by the indirect evidence ofthetriads which show her to be a Llemenig, whose figure of saga,and associated with two figures, Llywarchyand stories are presented ni englynion. The attribution of an engl n ot her ni 'Englynion Clyweit' also suggests shewas known as afigureof saga.S" with stanza 66 the more miscellaneous p a r t of Canu Heledd definitely begins.

There are textual difficulties with this verse which concerns driving acow. As in much of this latter part, a considerable length of time seems to have passed since the destruction of Cynddylan's court, andHeledd seems to be wandering aimlesslv, renewing her griefat scenes of desolation and graves. The next two stanzas are obvious interpolations, but are interesting since they

suggest that the englyn was used to preserve topographical lore in amnemonic

fashion. The many place-names in Canu Heledd may haveencouraged the addition of this lore on the confluence of rivers, including Tren. The information, however, must be corrupt for unless theseare the circular watersof paradise Tren cannot flow into Trydonwy a n d Trydonwy into Tren. The other four rivers seem to be near the present border. The inaccuracy, unless it is purely textual, suggests like the names in the saga section that memory of the Shropshire kingdom was vague. These verses, however, are consistent w i t hthe tendency of the l a t t e rhalf to locate Heledd and her brothers a r o u n d the border rather than in Shropshire.

This is seen in 69-72, in Canu Llywarch Hen called 'Newid Byd', which has been discussed above as possibly showing Heled's affinity with aspects of the sovereignty goddess. A further interesting p o i n t is that 7 1contains t h eonly reference

tion with themain body of the cycle, ti does suggest some caution on applying this

to the Severn, surely the most important landmark of Cynddylan's kingdom. However, Heledd refers to (t)ymyr hafren y am dwylan dwyryw. If Dwyryw is

respect, with extensive references by the narrator toh e r brothers a n d sisters being

correctly i d e n t i fi e d this is the lower reaches of the river Severn near t h epresent

evidence to the earlier verses. Certainly the two parts are unbalanced in this found in the second part (71, 78-9, 83-6, 99-101, 104-6, 107-9). This, in part, may be

border, nott h e northern loop bounded by the Tern. The fact that Tren is named in

the same poemmay indicate that the place-names around the borderfound in the second halfdo not necessarily represent a later and even more anachronistic set-

ting for the saga. On the one hand, Heledd logically would have to retreat to the

451 Unlike the usual marwnad, however, other people are named, but this si unavoidable given the basic pretext that Heledd mourns others, not Ffreuer.

51 Early dawn is associated both with griefand repentance; see chapter .4 Her state might be connected with guilt as well as grief.

1s6[disagree,of course, with IforWilliams's conclusion (CLIH, p. Ixili) thatitshowsculpable pride; see chapter 1

162

51 The early reconstruction of the life of Llywarch Hen managed to assign all this verse to

him, composed while he was apensioner at Cynddylan's court.

I Bromwich,TYP,pp. 172-3,197; 'Clyweit' stz. 28,p.12 163

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

C A N U HELEDD

Powys heartland soon a

fter hte fal ofPengwern. The change inlocation marked in thesecond secti which si so ay be due ot the background story. M verses in this section displayonthm esame themes and moodas the earlier poaneymso,f the considerable artistry as wel. Lac nd king the proof of clear chronological progressiaon verbrkal altinaknsy orate ne sicasnunchotthassert these areition parts.ofNev auerth nified cycle ni The andewo fram at wouth ldatattra ct add eless, the verses

shovriaata single concept fohte narrator and her roel underlies mos,t fi notal hte ¿The ynio w t o n'vesrstime es andmayafrabgeminter entpola (73-7tions 5) consince cerninhisg htkingd e lackom,of cat tle reaving ni Gorw Edei material in the cycle, as in Canu Llywarch.

rnionnear Corwen, is far from the border region associated with these p o e m s . Bonedd yr Arwyr names Gorwynion as one of Llywarch's sons. The interp olation of these stanzas maybeexplained by alater reference to Gorsedd Orwynion ni stanza80 which by verbal cymeriad should be near Dinlleu Vreconn. Stanzas 76-87 (with the possible exception of 82, anoth er fragment) form along

section within thesfeledd cycle anland d containing some of its finest poetry, althoughtotaly mainly epigram on the ruined rather thansustaine d lyric laments

The stanza Gyrthmwl verses in theabout penfyr metre showhas been quoted above. The other epigrammatic similar contrast in line cas ni 'Gyrthmwl: hi gyu

a diua y gwyr. Contrast is again emphasized by ornament in the stanza about Ercal (77):

Tywarchen ercal a rerdywal wyr. o e t i u e d moryal.

stablish od ofdesolatioured ni partot hte myetic paradgimstoofceletiebraaltemand en,t ste gerats acthoem and urstpoem y a b e a t w e r s l o v e d y b c o n t e m p o r a r y e v e n t s s i c e l e b r a t e s nt eve ary t or poets were moved by contempor

ider section ofsocies forehalnd und hte memoriest hodls. oonnoneeusirfeel no apw artof Heledds' laments ofr the land anse leenem ni themeandreiaitue sand81.igThraemfimrstatisic hteversm re: powertuland closely relatedni themeand technique eso t othe ep

dir. Neur sylleis olygon ar dirion

. o ors ed orw yn ny on

hir hwyl heul hwy vyghouyon.

the alnd si tirion 'untilled' or 'fallow, with theimplied height of tieledds veiwe

the e seables nse ofgives isolaan tionimita andtive desolation. obress eempothaline ne bceand at drufully point addingot thosyll slow prog

alliterating mon

s are w n csame ompaetern redalwtracks ith hte. Stresses hwy after hte caesura.*' Heledd'st,hought htee they follow course of the sun, for although they larange the ver, howe her, Toget Stanza 81 has the same opening formu but is less striking. ers and her land. two are ni keeping with other laments for her broth her name and an epithet, Heledd gives 79, and A short poem of two stanzas, 78 c/anhyfodawc'un-

anvodaw ring', sa ni the triadic epithet God: hwyedic, perhaps 'wande why are her brothers' of ion quest le werab unans an asks d Heled 2 6 1 settled' wealth and land given ot others? Her aimless journeyingand obsessional grief it, but this is not rets may at this point be due to madness, as Ifor Williams interp

in some completely clear. Madness appears to be an aspect of the goddess bereft

ag w e d y rys mac rys m a l .

As in otherportions of Canu Heledd starkrealism suffices to convey grief. One is

reminded of the brave farmer-warriors of Y Drefwen. The men of Ercal have returned to the earth which nourished them. The acceptance that this is part of the natural order of things i snegated by the sharpparallel contrast in line c: it hasbeen achieved by unnatural slaughter rather than the rollof years. Stanza 87 also laments the tillers of the soil. 16 Here again contrast is made between two parallel phrases, this time forming the internal line of an englyn byr crwca:

Teneu awel tew lletkynt

pereid y rycheu . n y phara ae gore.

[tru] ar a uu nat ydynt. While the idea is likewise commonplace, the choice of furrows as the works of men which endure after them links this epigram to the preceding poems with pity for the land and its people. Grief is clearly expressed both before and after the factual

statement. This is the only englyn in Canu Heledd to make use of nature imagery to

Trish instances, and avoidance of settlementsand wandering alone are typical o fCeltic madmen and wild men (cf. Suibhne, Owain). But it has been shown that i n Irish tradition mourning women have striking characteristics in common withthe gealta, probably because in both cases their state places them apart from

society. 161 For Heledd amotif of expiation seems also possible. The triadic tradition of refuge in a court is nowhere reflected in the poetry of the cycle, and as suggested before may b ed u eto a spurious grouping with Llywarch on the basis of similarity

o f the poetry rather than story. The second half, in fact, trails off with no real resolution although there are hints of additiona l narrative behind three of the

poems dealt with below. It is possible that she was depicted as finding eventual

1 6The same technique of using one adjective for a series of descriptions with the true point

described with the comparative or superlative is found in many hen benilion; cf.:

Melys awn yw llais aderyn Fore hafar ben y brigen Ond melysach cael gan Gwenno Eiriau heddwch wedi digio.

(HenBenillion, no. 359, ed. T. H.Parry-Williams (Llandysul, 1965). C.f also nos. 116, 269, 313,

159 Line c in stz 83 exactly repeats 4c and 86b again refers to Heledd's anffawt, but these echoes

319, 349, 370, 415, 436.

are too slight to be conclusive.

1 Ifor Williams suggests79isan echoinganswerof 78,butone would expecta more fully incremental verse. Fordiscussion see t h e notes to the poems. 1 Angela Partridge,WildMen and Wailing Women', Eigse 81 (1980), pp. 25-37.

160 Ifor Williamstakes 87as the opening stanza ot Hedyn (CLIH pp. Ixv, 44), but the stanzais

complete i nitself and t h ethird plural verb argues against commemoration of Hedyn alone.

164

162 TYP, pp. 173, 197. On hwvedic see the notes ot the poems

165

EARLY WELSH S A G A POETRY

CANU HELEDD

peace ni areligious community. The Balck Book beddau give hte location fo one grave at Han Helet, probably Han tiledd ni Monmouthshire Is The compile sseleb eemsrates ot haCyn ve ddyl identan. ifiedLikethishteHereco leddnstru withction hte osfagathedigotuhreersinarra nce the next verse tive elements,

however, this remains speculation.

Only w t o short poems remain which clearly belong to the simple frame tale of Heledd's sorrowful wandering in Pows. Boht celebrate her brothers. The first or these, 83-6, recalls the opening verses, but the tonesi morereflective. The final line

ofstanza 83 repeats anearlier line, and85 again compares the warriors ot trees asin 2 and 16. The image is somewhat different: B r o d y r a m b w y a t n y vall.

a dyuynt ual gwyal coll o vn y un edynt oll.

The poem ends with Heledd reiterating her responsibility, placed under God's providence:

Brodyr am bwyat a duc duw ragof. vy anffawt ae goruc.

The opening cymeriad of these two stanzas resembles 1.46 of Marwnad Cynddylan,

Brodyr am bwyad gwell ban fythyn. This could be coincidence, but it should be

placed with other suggestions that Canu Heledd was partially shaped by mis. understanding of the marwnad.

This form is echoed again in 'Heledd a'i Brawd Claf' (99a brodyrambwyat inneu) and is similar to the opening formula of 104-6, Pedwarpwnn broder am bu.16s Here Heledd describes her lordly brothers, ready for war, but the lament is for the loss to

Tren of its rightful owners. With these poems we are on familiar thematicgrounds, even fi we cannot be sure if they had a more precise narrative background or

situation.

There are three poems in the second half, however, which require further narrative elucidation although the poetry gives only enough hints to indicate the need

for exposition. The first, 'Hedyn' (88, 89) is too brief to be really worrisome. The hero's name is given as Hedyn or Ehedyn; an Ehedyn appears ni the Bonedd yr

Arwyr list of Cyndrwyn's sons. The family consists of eleven brothers in this

compilation with Cynddylan surprisingly omitted. The number raises the question of how many are original in Heledd's saga, if not history, although the omis-

sion of Cynddylan suggests that the poetry was not the only source. As seen above Heledd speaks of having pedwarpwnn broder. Apart from Hedyn, five are named certainly in the poetry as having taken part in the defence of Powys: Cynddylan, Elfan (28, 31, 49, 99), Cynwraith (83, 110), Cynon (32, 103?), Gwion (32, also named in TYP 60). 167 A possible interpretation would be that these four were lords under

Cynddylan. However both Hedyn and Gotwraith wow are named onltie hete

Itmay show that thesaga of Heledd pen ot doubt. otter part ofCanu Heledd are otinu ing ot develop, fi only ni terms of antiquarian the Cyndrwynyn was con

aand rpansion analogous ot the later growth t r anu duwarch. the names ni the exteld yr Arwyr list and the triadic stanzason the daughtersof Cyndrwyn below sthe uggw est this also.) Lkie the latter too. babay have attracted extraneous material. t o beddau stanzas (102, 103) probably belong ot this category despite the n fact, it is foundni theBlack Book occurrence of a Cynon in one of them. A

collection.) If Hedyn is apart ofthe original story or fuly incorporatedinto the saga hedyn might eb connected with earlierhints of

u13. made l barue atalater stage,meuy za an st n i e ad m treachery The poem concerning Caran fael also presents several problems. As noted above,

the identification ofCaranfael as m ' ab kynndylan'is almost certainlyincorrect historically. Also, althoughHeleddis tentatively assignedthe poembecause it si placed withother poemsfromher saga, the information seems ot be outofkeeping withearlier narrative hints. Inthis poemCaranfaelseems to havecarried on the fightafter Cynddylan's deathandtaken over, literallyandfiguratively, his mantle

nI the first part and most of the second, however,the lineofCyndrwyn issaid tobe destroyed (difa) and Tren and other placeswithout hope of arightful ruler. It has

been suggested above that Caranfael, Cynddylan's first cousin, washis heir. Possiblythis poem si interpolated from a quitedifferent saga oftheCyndrwynyn,

one closer to the historical events after Cynddylan's death fi still far from accurate. The poem appears to be amarwnad, but the form, particularly the question whether there are two speakers, is unclear. (For discussion see the notes.) Oviously, if itwas originally part of Canu Heledd the narrative background would again be more

complicated than in previous reconstructions. Caranfael may have been presented as seeking revenge after his growth to manhood, or perhaps the poem should be earlier in t h ecycle concerning events on the fall of Pengwern. Both possibilities, however, seem to contradict earlier narrative details.

The most perplexing of these poems is 'Heledd a'i Brawd Claf' although the meaning and the text are clearer in this poem than the other poems requiring narrative exposition. It almost certainly belongs to Heledd's story although itcould be a late addition. This poem is the onlycertain dialogue in the cycle. Heledd states

s h e will not show respect f o ra m a n w h o complains, and calls t h eone she addresses

claf gornwyt 'one afflicted by boils, ?leper'. He responds that he too had brothers (either something is missing or this anticipates Heledd's next speech) who were fortunate not to suffer from his illness ((c)leuyt cornnwydeu). Their n a m e s , Cynddylan and Elfan, reveal the relationship. H e l e d then makes her i n d i r e c tgnomic accusation t h a t a man who is not worthy in battle does not do well to w e a rthe hair

fashiono fa warrior, an accusation strongly resembling that in stanza 13. She also states that her brothers were n o t cowards. Thes i c k brother's r e s p o n s e i s crucial to

interpretation and may indeed show cowardice on his part. Ratherthan appealing

to the excuse of his illness as he did in 99,h e seems to say that were it not for fearof 165 CLIH, p. 227.

in 64a Ffreuer wen 16 The possessive formed by bod +infixed dative pronoun is also found

brodur ath uu and in108, 109 Chwiorydd m a byddiddan, chwioryddam bu hefyd. al figure ni 167 Gwyn(stz 32)could be aghost figure; see the notes. If not this gives an addition the fi r s t half.

166

wounds and death he would not be a wailer. If Heledd's accusation is valid

possibly he was held to have been stricken with illness because of his baseness; see

the next chapter on beliefs concerning leprosy. However, fi he were genuinely ill

before hte struggle took place, Heledd's scorn and attempt at inciting him si 167

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

inexplicable and highly unpleasant. tI si possib wesee here hte type of im. possible expectations which led ot her downfall by lemaki ng unreasonable claims or

prominst ses.ructIioA any rate isasponeimpclearly demonstrates the lack of afull narrative Peco nt whe ther itthw rose inter spersed with the verse or pre-existing

as an independent tale. Unlike the poetry of hte first part hte former type of presentation is more likely here.

I Xl. 107-112) deserve sep. (LH W 4973 C L Finally, the additional stanzas from N

arate attention, ifonly for the vital englyn linking Cynddylan with Maes Cogwy (111).As noted inPart I several factors indicate that the sourcefor these extra stanzas not in theWhite or Red Book wasamanuscript written by RobertVaughan, YCynfeirdd Cymreig. It ispossible that these stanzas were notall at the end in Vaughan's copy, but scattered throughout. Dr Davies's usual practice would be ot insert hte verses ni the margin with indicationsof their correct place, but the groups in 107-9 and 112-3 may have led him ot write al the variants on a separate sheet. His own words onthe source are open to this interpretation:'ar olhyn yr oedd

mewon un llyfr yr hyn sydd yn yr ail tu or ddalen 371', but most likely it means that the englynion were found ni agroup after the White Book/Red Book text. In whatever form they appeared, the collection seems ot eb composite. The first three verses give the daughters of Cyndrwyn in a mnemonic triad listing whichrecalls the late

CANU HELEDD

inked whtifromHeelthdelittandle L se raivardh about han survvinig hte languuag ageenini hteese material about him surviving. The langere attracted to

his story If the Llemenig stanzas w stanzas si heroic, and celebrates awarrior. led Heele adn.d.e? ya aslo be tdecesent narativve e itrad radiitio tionn htthaan n Ccaannuu H satnd ieleddhatthistim gestion t belongs ot adifferent narrati sug ugget Hieledd as it nowtem exists fatdoefol s loolw itforarW ilannens urnugs uthese sec secoond nd ppart ar sin seei William w g ptin Itis n. atio aniz org m i t of rall ove sion e Greek tragedy ni its compres nd half as asadditions attracted ot acore resembling seco e t h ever, is generally high ni try, how e and place. The standard of poe and themes. The poems are much shorter- som y nsit well,with similarlyric inte similar use of the englyn penfyr,

epigrams only -but the longer ones display

emeriadgeiriol and incrementalrepetition. aVaturesi little used either forsimiles

crevocative description, and gnomes are also relatively rare. Judging fromornament and style both sections of Canu Heledd belongot the middle period of saga composition (see chapter 7). The conclusionisthat there are on rigorous criteria for separating hte first and second section of Canu Heledd,although admitedly some versesin the latter aresurely additions. The same poet may beresponsibleforboth, oratleast there si suchacloseidentity of concept that asecond poetcontinuedthe

saga with similarityofstyleand even na echoing of wording, the shape ofthesaga,

poems codifying Llywarch's sons. Thelanguage si simple and straightforward and ornament minimal, although there are some verbal echoes of other poems in the cycle. The list in Bonedd yr Arwyr by its grouping si obviously dependent on these stanzas although theorder is somewhat different.Only Ffreuer, Heledd and Meisir

however, remains perplexing. Itstill seems preferableto take the opening as alyric comment on apre-existing story. Perhapsthenthe poet aftershapinganew the figure of Heledd continued her story in order todevelop his theme, adding new

are named in the core of the poetry, but the importance of these daughters, like the many daughters of Brachan, again suggests they were identified with the land. Also they may have been given traditional marriage alliances linking their in-

andclues ot the association ofnarrative and verse which regrettably do not balance

heritance w i t hother Powys families.

points ofscholarship might further enhance our understanding of the poetry, but fortunately elucidation is not necessary to appreciate the poems as among the

The single englyn, no. 110, is more like the stanzas in the second half of Canu Heledd. It is very close to stanza 83 which itself echoes a n earlier line. Both NLW

4973 and one of Robert Vaughan's notebooks,NLW 9094, show that the reading of line c should be gwae fi fair aros eu llaith. 16 Although the cult of Mary is one of the

narrative for variety and change of situation. Canu Heledd offers bothchallenges

each other into a clear solution.It remains useful as a check on assumption made

rable from other cycles and as a test of otherperformance theories. These unanswe finest and most moving lyrics of the early Middle Ages

earliest cults of the saints, all the other e x c l a m a t i o n sand religious references in

Canu Heledd and in the other cycles are to God. However, these references are far more frequent in Canu Heledd, and as in the others Heledd throws h e r woe on

Englynion Cadwallon

h e a v e n . 170

Because of the similar historical backgroundand its importance for evidence of a Powys-Gwynedd-Mercia alliance against Northumbria a discussion of the Cad-

There can be little doubt of the e a r l ydate of the final three stanzas judging from

their ornament and vocabulary. Stanzas 107 to 110 are transparent in language, which does not necessarily mean they are late, but clearly sets them apart from the

final three. The Maes Cogwy englyn, 111, has been discussed in the first part of this chapter. The final two appear to be from a cycle concerning Llemenig m. Mawan,

wallon englynion is included here. * In treatment the poem is very different from

11 TYP 65 and 77. Some mss of Trioedd yMeirch give Llemenig's horse Ysgwydfrith; TYP 43.

H emay also be the Llemenig listed ni the BBC beddau, stz 50. 17 In language and form theCogwy englyncould also bea fragment of abardic praise poem, although this is impossible to prove in isolation. For possible panegyric in the early englyn

861 As for Williams interprets this poem, although I do not believe that inciting her brothers

form s see chapter 6.

169 In CLIH, gwae fifawr aros eu llaith, from the copies of NLW 4973

enough to be statistically revealin g.

was the fault which led to the fallof Pengwern, as argued above.

' an' 9, 'Gwahodd'2; C U none; Claf 252,9, 071 EXs.:CH st252, 19, 30, 71,78,79, 86, 88;CLI3; C 30.

168

' Theenglyn byr crwca si also unusually prominent in both sections although notcommon I Thetranslationand notesby R.GeraintGruffydd make extensive discussion unnecessary, although his emphasis is somewhat different, 'Canu Cadwallon', pp. 34 44. 169

EARLY W E L S H SAGA POETRY

Canu Heledd; ti might better be

included among antiquarian verse discussed in chapter 6rather than saga. The mai n purpose ispreserving in verse alist of Cad.

walons' chief battles. Such alist si found within different types of poetry ad. ynan Garwyn' PT IandTP XI, but here it forms the mani subjet, "TrawsgofanutheC matter poem. Suchtouches as suggest asaga po

can mostly be dismissed as irrelevant since themnemonic and antiquarian verseemborr owed freely from saga

techniques and occasionally, like gnomicverse,they echo personalexpressions as wel. The use of heno in stanza 21istypical ofsaga immediacy, but outof placeni a remi niscent f thealsopast. nI st'broth anza51er-in hte-arm speas,kercomr calls Cadwalion oym histotherwi brawt. Howse ever, since this o can mean

ade' one need not assume afamily relationship on hte part of the narrator. 57 The chief claim thepoem

has to being within the saga tradition is that it seems to be an eclectic marunad which replacespraise with battle listing. The opening versetellsof Cadwallon's battles before he died and 71 inacryptic manner laments his death with detailsthat

suggesta narrative background. (The battles, too,have some individual detail whichmight suggestmore specific stories about them.)Cadwallon si namedin everyenslyn, butby theformula lluestgatwallawninall butthefirst and last, amore

CANU HELEDD

raditions about Cda walne contemporary praise poetry,but ofies clearly be.

pPoangrticout lathrelytype uess hteofh andistooraclegatehich lnnoiionn flou tourrishe shedd..TT ehhe ccatatalooggue lyy gg nn e ee htle rical saga in which ta

losthe ofnithoenHaebnoguw M ti an user MThe contents ofHeng wotr15are givenn:. Iis lection t Cadwalon. " The contents of Hengwit 15 are give ofensly

Brut e H is to ria 'r Bibl Duned Cyfoesi

Englynion i Gadwallon

The listing aftertheCyfoesi suggests thesemaybe enslyrionof the oldtypeand not those ofthe White Book/Red Book since Waughan consistently cals the latter poem

51, now Peniarth 20, si not comMarwnad Cadwallon'. Unfortunately Hengwrtfrom Englynion Cadwallon' have s No quote are missing. oo plete and these englyniongh ks. ticed in Vau an's noteb yet beenasno be those of several periods it is difficult ot y a m battles Since noted above the cal or legendary career. derive much information either about Cadwallon'shistori specifically named as the

indirect reference to the subjectthan is usual ni the saga marwnadau. Acertain

The first battle listed is in Anglesey with the enemy

found in the marwnad for Cynddylan and the marwnad proper for Gwên. (Stanza 18 must be excluded from this poem since it does not conform in

perhaps this batle onthe banks ofthe river Caint refers to the tradition of Cad-

Cynon, too, si named ni stanza .7 The poem begins and ends with Cadwallawn, the poetic device pattern or subject matter. If it does pertain ot Cadwallon ti could be a stray verse from a wider saga cycle added at the end.)

Thanks to Cadwallon's intrusion in the affairs of Northumbria a few details of the final two years of his career are recorded by Bede. Other accounts such as his

flight toIreland andreturn to Anglesey are attested only ni Welsh tradition making

it difficult to sort fact from legend and assigndates. 1 7 This is also true of the battles here of which only Meigen is otherwise known. (For this, and confusion with Bede's Healthfield see above.) Others might be associated with various stages of his campaigns, but it is likely, as in other antiquarian battle lists, that battles with different commanders and of differing dates have been added to Cadwallon's

roll. 17 If Geraint Gruffydd's hypothesis that the battles run in a clockwisecircle around Wales is correct they may primarily represent a symbolic conquest or

overlordship of Wales. 178 Other traditions about Cadwallon, particularly in the awdl, 'Moliant Cadwallon', suggest he made claims to the overlordship of Britain and the Cymry, the first instance of which is putatively found in 'Moliant Cad-

English. The third line can be interpreted as aformula for release from bondage so

wallon's return fromIreland I Battles beyondthe borders of Wales are probably

listed ni stanza3on the Idon,probably the Eden ni Cumberland,where hte enemy isthe English and in stanza 01 concerning a hosting tra chaer. I The destructionof one-hundred armies, heroes and fortresses referred to suggests amajor campaign like theravaging of Northumbria. The two battles or extended campaign around

Meigen have been discussed above. The englynion along with the traditions of the

triads and later Powys poets indicate the importance of this battle unrecorded in historical sources. T h e o t h e r battle sites which can be identified a r eall in Wa l e sa n da l t h o u g hthe enemy is not specified we can presume in most cases t h e yare Welshmen of other

kingdoms from north to south. It is unlikely that these are historical since there hardly seems time for Cadwallon to have engaged i nwarfare on this scale as well as h i s historically recorded campaigns. In addition it seems improbable t h a th e could

launch an attack on North Britain if his neighbours o nall sides were up in arms

wallon'. 179

While later tradition assigns the mythic role of the deliverer to Cadwaladr,

Cadwallon's son, ti is clear that in the early Middle Ages a considerable body of

1 SeeGrahamC.J. Thomas, 'Dryll o hen lyfr ysgrifen', BBCS 23 (1970), pp. 309-16 and 'Llinellau o Gerddi i Gadwallon ap Cadfan', BBCS 26 (1976), pp. 406-10. . D . Jones, 'Introduction to the Peniarth Manuscripts', Handlist of Manuscripts ni the IS See E

National Library of Wales Vol. 1(Aberystwyth, 1943), pp.xv-xxiii 571 But see GeraintGruffydd, 'Canu Cadwallon', p. 35, where ti si suggested the narrator si a f a m i l y m e m b e r like H e l e d d .

12 From Panton 72 (NLW Ms. 20371). 183 See thenotes for alternative suggestions.

19 See PT, p. 37,Jackson, LHEB, p. 554; for a possible differentidentification of Ydon see J.E .

Cerwyn Williams, BBCS 21 (1966), pp. 227-31.Geraint Gruffydd,'CanuCadwallon', p. 34,

176 Bromwich,TYP, pp. 294-5.

17 See KennethJackson, 'Once Again Arthur's Battles', Modern Philology 43 (1945), p. 57. 178 'Canu Cadwallon', pp. 34-5. 179 'Canu Cadwallon', p. 28. 170

lavours Carmarthen for Caer here on the basis of the seeming circuit of Wales and the

identification of Cowynas ariverin Carmarthenshirein the following stanza. Fordiscussion se e the no te s

171

C A N U HELEDD

E A R LY W E L S H S A G A P O E T RY

against Gwynedd. fI these battles are not later ones ascribed ot Cadwalon they

Inky yare bycadiator, hte calm i of overlordship of Waels and Britain most

likely made by Cadwallon. 185

the final englyn is the only one ot alude ot astory about Cadwalon but ti is

unfortunately perplexing:

O gyssul estrawn ac anghyfyawn ueneich

noatbel unising/Eens ngllyrm ytioetre nered. iselfiprispmrinarialyrtyaantrniqu iquaria artanabo nniinutinte inhist teres reoric sttbbuueal itseillfis mem oeo s. Theilpp poems saga touches. The preservation of semi-legendary lore popular contains the englynion sagas are the works of higher rather than characters suggests

chids,apoint returnedot ni chapter 7afetr afuler reveiw fohte evidence.

d i l l y d d w f y ro ff y n n a w n .

tru t r w m d y d am gatwallawn.

The final line undoubtedly refers ot his death and the second line perhap s as wel

Celtichagiography si ful ofinstances ni which the bloodofa slainsaint orinnocent causes a spring ot burst forth. * Cadwallon is given the epithet bendigeit ni the triads and hisson, Cadwaladr, si sometimesreckoned a saint.Traditionsaboutthe two suggest sharing ofattributes and confusion ofidentityWCyssul estrawn prob

ably lays blame for the disastrous battle on Cadwallon's foreign ally, Penda,

whether by treachery or misjudgment is unknown. The unrighteous monks(an¿hytyawn ueneich) are amystery. Gruffydd suggests it may come from hte account ni Adamnan's Lfei of St Columbathat Columba appeared ot Oswald ni adream the nightbefore the battle with Cadwallonand promisedhim victory, but hte story does not appear to be a widespread one. 1 Ethelfrith looked on the praying monks of Bangor as unfaircombatants, and Bede notes particularly that Cadwallon, who unlike his pagan ally had no excuse, did not spare the Northumbrian church 189 One is reminded of the myneich in Marwnad Cynddylan who received no quarter or gave no protection in the battle at Lichfield. Again ti can be suggested that myneich may have been a contemptuous name for the pious Northumbrian army under Edwin and Oswald. 91 On the other hand, the line can be read that unrighteous

monks from Cadwallon's side, like the foreigner, gave him bad advice, o rwere againsthim in some way. Stories of saints cursing tyrannical and famouskings are such commonplaces of Welsh hagiography that one would be reluctant to assume

the tale ofBeuno's curse o n Cadwallon told in t h e saint's Life had common currency a n d is r e f e r r e d to h e r e . 191

'Englynion Cadwallon', like Canu Heledd, and the Urien englynion, show how the dramatized saga englynion arose out of history. Even when the saga tale is closer to pseudo-history, the stories themselves are plausible, not fabulous. 19 Also

581 For the evidence of the use of Cymry and Prydein ni the awdl se Gruffydd, 'Canu Cad wallon', p. 28.

186 Cf. G w e n f r e w i , D u n a w t in Buched Dewi.

187 Bromwich, TYP, pp. 150, 292.

183 'Canu Cadwallon', p. 35. It is not mentioned by Bede who would have no reason for supressing a story linking Iona and the Northumbrian church.

189 EH, p. 202.

a 190 The story in the Life of St Columba and the account in Bede show that Oswald had

religious ceremony before the battle; EH, p. 214. 191 See Henken, Traditions of the Welsh Saints.

291 Thereisan immense difference ni this respect between the saga englynion and hte tales about historical figures in medievalprose texts.

172

173

APPENDIX

Marwnad Cunddulan

1

Marwnad Cynddylan

Dyhedd deon diechir by|g]eledd

The war of unyielding, menacing nobles: Rhiau, and Rhirid, and Rhiosedd, and Rhigyfarch the generous prince of fiery heat. Iwill mourn until I am in my oaken grave

Rhiau a Rhirid a Rhiasedd

a Rhygywarch lary lyweirassedd 5

e fc u i n i w i n uuift im derwin fedd o leas Cynddylan yn ei faured?

because of the death of Cynddylan in his greatness. The grea tnes s of swo rdpl ay - did I think

Maured? gymined a feddyliais

to go to Menaialthough there is no wadeable land for me?

myned i fenai cyn nim bai fais

c a r a fi a m e n e i r c h o d i r k e m e i s

gwerling dogfeiling Cadelling trais 10

Ef c u i n i w i n i u u v f t i m d e r w l l e d n a i s

10

oleas cynddylan colled annofaiss Maured gymined ei feddyliaw

The greatness of swordplay - to think of

goingto Menaialthough Idid not swim.

myned i fenai cyn nim bai naw

I l o v ehim who greets me from Aberffraw,

c a r a fi a m e n e i r c h o A b e r t f r a w 15

gwerling dogfeiling Cadelling ffraw Ef cuinif i n uuyf im d e r w i n taw. ol e a s Cynddylan a'i luyddaw

(=fraw)

1 5

collais pan amuiths alaf penawg

gwr dewr diachor diarbedawg cyrchai drais tra Thren' tir trahawg ef cuinif ini uuyf yn ddaear fodawgio o leas Cynddylan clod Caradawg!

the prince of Dogfeiling, the terror of Cadell's line. I will mourn until I am in m ys i l e n toaken coffin because of the death of Cynddylan, and his hosting.

Maured gymined gwin waretawg' wyf coddedig wen hen hiraethawg 20

Ilove him who greets me from the land of Cemais, the prince of Dogfeiling, the oppression of Cadell's line. I will mourn until I am in my lowly oak (coffin) because of the death of Cynddylan, a very deep loss.

The greatness of swordplay - beneficial winelam?

20

,.. I am old and sorrowful.

Ilost when he fought for the cattleof Penawg a brave, eager, unsparing warrior.

He brought violence beyond Tren, to the presumptuous land. I will mourn until I am earth- residi ng because of the death of Cynddylan, of Caradog's fame.

1 ms: ef cwn w i mi wyf; see Ifor Williams, ed., 'Marwnad Cynddylan', BBCS 6(1932), p.

137. 2 ms: fanred 3 ms: Manred; also 12, 18, 25, 33, 42, 52, 63.

* ms: Ef cynnif mi wyf; also 16, 23, 31, 40, 50, 61.

5 ms: coled a nofiais

6 ms: (in margin) ffaw > The t in waretawg is oddly shaped, and appears to be written over another letter. § ms: a m m t h

9 ms: tra hren, (in margin) tra Thren 01 ms: yn naear foddawg I ms: Ceiriadawg 17 4

175

EARLY WELSH S A G A POETRY

25

30

CANU HELEDD

ne The greatness of swordplay - how good was the fortu which Cynddylan had,thechampionof a?host Seven hundred lords were under his hospitality

Maured gymined mor fu da fawd a gafas Cynddylan cynrhan cyffrawd saith gant rhiallu in y speidiawd12 pan fynnwys mab pyd mor fu parawd

ny13 darfu yn neithawr ni bu priawd gan d d u w py amgen plwyf py du daearawd e fcuinif ini uuyf in erv v e t r a w d o leas Cynddylan clod a d d w y n d a w d

30

Maured gymined mor wyf gnodaw 35

pob pysg a milyn yd fydd teccaw i drais a gollais gwir echassaw Rhiau Rhirid a Rhiadaw

35

45

Maured gymined a weli di hyn yd lysg fynghalon fal ettewyn hoffais mewreddi6 eu gwyr ai gwragedd ni ellynt fyn nwyn brodir am buiad gwell ban vythin canawon artir wras dinas degyn

a r m y.

The captured ones complained, cattle bellowed and lowed. 40

My heart burns like a rush light.

45

gore under ravens, and severe arising.

50

Pymtheccant muhyn a phum!° gwriael pedwar vgeinmeirch a seirchcychafae|2 pen esgob hunob ym mhedeirael

The greatness of swordplay - great booty -

55

Of the brightchampions who fell in their blood-field

ef cuinif ini uuyf in erv tra gwael23

13

m s : A l

eighty horses, and harnesses ?besides. The archbishop ?. Book-clutching monks did not protect them.

nid engis21 or f o s s a w d brawd ar y chwaer Diengynt ai herchyll ffrewyl|22 yn taer

21 ms: ni yspeidiawd

I will mourn u n t i lI am in the land of my r e s t i n gplace

before Lichfield Morfael took it: fifteen-hundred head of cattle and five .?

a gwyddws yn eu creulan o gynrhan claer

ol e a s Cynddylan clodrydd pob hael.

They broke shields ?of warriors, the sons of Cyndrwynyn.

because of the death of Cynddylan, the honoured one of lords.

y rhag Caer Luitcoedisneus dug moriael

60

refuse me

Before Lichfield they caused (it):

briwynt calch ar gwyn feibionCyndrwynyn ef cuinif i n uuyf yn nhir gwelyddyn

nis n o d d e s myneich llyfr afael

1? enjoyed the wealthof their men and women; they could not I had brothers (in arms) - it was better while they were alive ?strong-handed whelps, a resolute protection.

Maured gymined mawr ysgafael

55

I will mourn until I am in a lower plot of land

because of the death of Cynddylan famed in every region

The greatness of swordplay - do you see this?

crau y dan frain a chrai gychwyn

o l e a s Cynddylan clodlawn v n b y n

it is thefinest. Every fish and animal (is) where iors: I lost to violence most brave warr Rhiau, and Rhirid, and Rhiadaf,

They drove their flocks from the river-mead ows of the Taf.

rhag Caer Luitcoed! neus digonsyn

50

because of the death of Cynddylan, of the fame of nobility.

and Rhigyfarch the generous lord of the host, on every side of the

caith cwynynt brefynt's g r y d y n talaw ef cuinif ini uuyf in erv penylaw

o leas Cynddylan clod pob eithaw

¡ will mourn until Iam in the plotof(my)grave

The greatness of swordplay - how most accustomed I am.

a rhygyfarch lary lu pob eithaw Dyrrynt eu preiddau a doleu taw 40

When the son of Pyd desired, how ready he was!d. marrie He did not have a brida l feast, he was not (his) burial? s i ?where people, other what (with) O God,

60

a brother did not escape from the b a t t l ed e s p i t ehis sister. T h e yescaped with their w o u n d s ?striking vigorously. I w i l l mourn until I am in my very lowly plot of ground because of the death of Cynddylan, the honoured one of the nobility.

51 ms: briwynt 61 ms: Mewed is written above mewredd.

71 ms: Caer Luydd coed 81 ms: Caer luydd coed

91 ms: o ffin is written above a phum. 20 ms: cuhawael.

12 ms: ni ddiengis 2 ms: trewyll 32 m s : t r a w a e l 176

177

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

65

CANU HELEDD

Maured g y m i n e d mor o d d eitun21 gan fy mryd pan a t h r e i d d w n pwll ac Alun ir uruin25 y dan fy nrhaed hyd bryd cyntun

The greatnessof swordplay - how desirable did my heart consider it when I used ot visit Pwll and Alun. Green rushes under my feet until hte time of sleep, feather ?pillows under me to my knee.

plwde y danaf hyd ymhen fynghlun

a chyn e i t h u i u ey n o im bro fy h u n

And although I went there, to myown country,

there is not one of my relations whom birds do not restrain.

n i d o e s v n car n e u d adar iu? warafun

70

a chynim dyccer i dduw ri digfryn

And though I may not be brought ot God, ot the hill of wrath,

ni ddigones n e b o bechawd cyhawal i mi hun 70

2

No one has committed a sin the like of my own

m s : ercun

25 ms: irwonn 26 ms: ethniwe 72 ms: in

178

179

C A N U HELEDD

EARLY W E L S H SAGA POETRY

The poemsi edited by

r Wiliams ni BBCS 6andprinted with the orthography modernized in Can LlyIfowarc h Hen, pp.50-2. Amore definitive edition byR Geraint Gruffydd, based on NL W 4973, is found in Bardos, pp. 10-28. The poem is

shabula201ry and contents ear la consistent whti aseventh-century daet for hte

Theentexbtyherei s takDavi en efros,mMall ILW 49,7.3c,1631 pp. 1-4,018a-1tI09si6,thetheolde manuscriptofhengerda writt Dr John wyd st extantcopy of the

noets ni BBCS 6and Grutedar ni bardos, altaougloccasionally information has been repeated when tisi of particular importance ofr understanding hte poem.

translated toClancy. modern191 Welsh by Gruftyad, and into English yb Thomas Jones and JosephinP.

bly defective) has thentgent aft consistent wern asevered, centuer daet moreit . poem

ohte notes whichfollow are intended mainly as asupplement ot Ifor Williams's

poem; Panton 41and B L Add! Ms. 14567 are copies ofit.. The text is corruptand

TITLE: The title is found ni NLW 4973 and could eb original fi the beginning si not defective; see below. BYIGIELEDD: NLW 4973 has by followed by a considerable space and then

signs ofite havithe ngmod beenerniz modernized ybalafeatu copyist who understood little ofhte sconte howsnts. Desp ation sever

res remain in hte orthography

w hichsuggest that the apsoehm as copied from a manuscript with the same or. thogra phic conve ntions te w BBC: I for(Ol, wfor ,f ufor wandifor .y?1 The poem is

eledd; the other two mss omit the final letters. Although a large gap is indicated, the line as it stands has ten syllables which rules out an extensive

by aMrprophecy D ' yddddyfi d tregid dewaint, and anote on page110b: fol lowed Allan o lufr Thomas ,Gruffyd Arglwy dd Llanbedr. This note may refer ot the prophecy only is Afew other pieces of old poetry in the same orthography,

addition. Reading bygeledd = bygyledd gives suitable sense without increas-

unt. ing the syllable co The suggestion made by Gruffydd, p. 18, that eledd is the remainsof an

however,are alsoextantinseventeenthandeighteenth-century copies. These are alsosaid tohave comefrom Mr Thomas Gruffydd's book or anunnamed velum

attribution to [H]eledd si unlikely. The large space may be misleading since

Davies tends to leave a big gap for the slightest missing text (cf. his copy of

manuscript. for Williams's conclusion is that the source for al these poems is

the RB Cyfoesi in NLW 4973). Heledd, too, was not well-known in thelater

ultimately the book of Thomas Gruffydd and that it was a manuscript of about the

Middle Ages,and for the earlier period Rachel Bromwich has shown for the case of Llywarch that poetry about him was not confused with poetry by him.

s a m e d a t e a s t h e Black Book. 199

Although DrDavies regularly modernized the orthography of the texts he

No antiquary before Lhuyd mentions her by name.

The poem may have

copied, ti si difficult ot believe that his copy was taken directly from the original. His modernization is usually quite accurate, and h i s copy of the poems from the

been attributed to Meigant, as in the Myvyrian (see Ifor Williams, 'MC',

Black Book in Pen 98 shows that he was familiar with that orthographic convention and able to deal with it. He often copies his original faithfully when unsure of a reading. Some corruption may be due not only to the chain of copying by anti-

bydedd is based on a rather doubtful line in CU; see the notes to CU 35b.

p. 134), but the a g e of that ascription is uncertain. Gruffydd's emendation to

There may be o n e or more l i n e s m i s s i n g at the beginning of the poem. This is the shortest a w d , the o n l y one w i t h o u t the initial cymeriad,and the open-

quaries, but the great age of the poem even in the thirteenth century.The modernized versions by Ifor Williams and Geraint Gruffydd should be referred to since they often obviate the necessity for a note on orthographic forms. The lines are regularly of nine or ten syllables, but the 'refrain' (the last two lines

ing is rather abrupt a n ddisjointed.

EIRASSEDD:Transl. Gruffydd '[yn dwyn] ffaglau'. This expansion is unnecessary since the warrior in battle fury was believed to give off heat o reven

of every awdl except the final one) has lines of ten o releven syllables. The poems

flame. GPC, however, lists this under the less common, but earlier attested

consists of nine short awdlau of varying lengths (5 lines, 6, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 8). The

meaning of 'pillar, post', taking this as a plural; cf. Thomas Jones.

incremental refrain is somewhat exceptional, but a similar sort is f o u n d in t h eearly poem 'Preideu Annwvyn' (BT 54 6).200 Every awdl except the first (which is prob-

EFCUINIW INI UUYF: The ms. Ef cwn iw mi wyf,etc., is restored a se fwiniw ini uuyf (efgwynif yny fwyf) by Ifor Williams. Cf. CA 1376-7 ys meu e gwynaw/ ene vwuf y dyd taw.

CYNNIM BAI FAIS: Bais 'solid ground' usually meansa fording place;see for

193 In Letocetum: The Name of the Roman Settlement at Wall, Staffs.', by Jim Gould, Trans. of

Williams, BBCS 4, pp.342-3. The poet or his reciter d i dnot w a l kor swim

the Lichfield and South Staffordshire Archaeological and Historical Society 5 (1964), pp.52-4. 194 The Earliest Welsh Poetry, pp. 87-9. 195 For a discussion of this manuscript see Part II.

(1.13) to Anglesey, although it was possible at certain tides to cross by Trelafan sands. This a n d the reference in 1.13 probably indicates that the poet

91 Gerald Morgan, 'Testun Barddoniaeth y Tywysogion', BBCS 20, p. 102. Ifor Williams was

came by boat, most likely with the permission or at the invitation of the king of Gwynedd who w o u l dcontrol shipping in the MenaiStraits.

apparently unaware of the copy in NLW 4973,so his text in both BBCS 6and CLIH is based on the two later copies.

197 IforWilliams, 'Marwnad Cynddylan', p. 134. Also, probably, ff for f; see below. 198 Gerald Morgan, 'Testun Barddoniaeth y Tywysogion', p. 102.

91 See Ifor Williams,'Daleno Femrwn', BBCS 4, pp.41-8; 'Marwnad Cynddylan', p. 135, 'Hengerdd', BBCS 7, pp. 23-32. 20 For a full analysis ofthe metricalfeature of these two poems see Marged Haycock, "'Preideu Annwn" and the Figure ofTaliesin', SC 18/19 (1983-4), pp.52-3. 180

9

DOGFEILING: A cantref in Clwyd.

" Ifor Williams, Marwnad Cynddylan', pp. 134-5. Some doubt has been cast on the men-

tion of Cadell however; see the discussion below. 181

C A N U HELEDD

EARLY WELSH S A G A POETRY

,951 laterto Cadeling/factsunnecessary and has causeats/s emendaoitn ora. latin. Io, noariana, er AdiW4973 hie kne pierstess ofered asa varianie. bovist. 61 crocklivan us Nervothe Kihe ic phrases should ebparalel nto.

yr oual H 176 lloeg

of Bro Gynsig B 1341 braw bro gynssic 'the terror R by Gruffydd, p. 24. This interpretation si also made man Britain: History and Legend', pp. Recently David Dumvile, 'Sub-Ro

Ab boderffr ersaw yn.ataKirb ckcay,lyni.m strehlesDy tbunast nesticic-iHis sCotory nyr';npe.d1d02,th,and erulerW atC emaisand 'Buritis elsh Bards and

1967, has suggestedthat Cadel si a ninth-century invention, citing the

confusionand contradictions of the various Powys genealogies and thein cal provenance of the story of Cadell's accession told

the Border, Pop.36-7, takes I , and the refer to Cynddylan. Thsi wound require extensive emendation, for fi the line refersot Cynddylan ithason aappo ntecesition dent otorthconnect hti t,hbut e rest oftheld baewnote d!. (The phrase can beon e objectionof w caraf ti shou dt

obvious ecclesiasti

the place ot re-examine the Powa.s the Historia Britonum. This si notever was aloose confeder genealogies. tI seems probable, how , that Pows sion ofminor kingdoms led by an acknowledged overlord from among the strongestlines atany giventime. (See Gruffydd, Marwnad C.,pp.13, 17; Kirby, 'British Dynastic History', Pp.101-11; WendyDavies, Walesin the Early MiddleAges (Leicester, 1982.) In this sort of situation genealogists may have sought to harmonize genealogical information from more than one line, either deliberately rout of misunderstanding concerning hte 'king' of Powys and the royal line. tI is also difficult ot believe that hte extensive

hat fe cuinifin the h a s n o direct object; t h e thought runs cuintf...oleas Cyndylan I wi refrain mourn ... because of hte death of Cynddylan',

with fe simply apreverba particle.) There si no evidence, too, that Cynddylanwas consid ot beone OftheCadelling sa Kirby argues. The late tract Achau yMamau ered (EWGT,p. 91

states that the mother of Cadwallon was asister of Cynan Garwyn, but even assuming the accuracy ofthis assertion the king ofGwynedd, too, woudl not

be one of the Cadelling, the leading line of Powyskings. The translations the violent one of the line of Cadell' and *'hte fame of hte line ofCadell are not appropriate.

must be explained, and his suggestion causes no syntactical or historical

medieval tradition of the Cadelling derivesfrom the late ecclesiastical legend alone, since ti is unlikely that Celtic chieftains with their intense pride ni ancestry would accept descent from a base-born man, however saintly, ni preference ot an older tradition of descent from a noble, however

paralleled here. This poem,however,primarily concerns Cynddylan, al.

ing Cynddylan's descent. Also, there isis such a great difference between

Gruffydd notes that hte relationship of hte poet ot the king at Aberffraw

wicked. tI should be noted that the subject of thepoem is not one of the Cadellingand that therefore the poet had no particular axe to grind concern-

problems. Hedraws attention ot references ot chief patrons ni poemsto lesserlords by later bardic poets (p. 16), and suggests that the laterpracticeis

Canu Heledd and Marwnad Cynddylan although both are localized in Powys that it it is difficult to accept both are from about the same period,a necessary assumption if the reference to Cadell indicates aninth-century date for the

though the lines ot the king of Gwynedd are rather too extensive ot be merely areference. Also the note of surprise the poet expresses about his crossing Menai suggests he is not addressing his main and usual patron.

marwnad. The evidence brought forward by Dumville does not s e e mat this

The reading of 1.15, 'the terror of the Cadelling', parallel to line 9 'the

point sufficient to condemn the poem as post-dating the HB; see also Gruffrdd, 'Marwnad C.', p. 17.

oppression of the Cadelling', is based on Ifor Williams's note in 'Dalen o

Femrwn', p. 43, on the orthography of the group of poems putatively from

Thomas Gruffydd's book of hengerdd. In the BBC (v] was sometimes represented by ff (for examples see 'Daleno Femrwn', p. 43,and CLIH,pp. 220-1). This group of poems showing signs of being copied from the onemanuscript also have an example of this in the Pen 111 copy of 'Dydd dyuit', 1.29 arbedaffe. The double f for single fcould also be a copying error influenced by Aberffraw directly above. The phrases Cadelling drais, Cadellingfraw can be compared to the following expressions in the works of the Gogynfeirdd

18

19

ap Maredudd.In medieval usage the Coeling are the princes of

Gwynedd, said to be descended from Coel Hen. Since the poem is addressed to a Deheubarth lord the meaning 'one who bringsviolence

Gruffydd takes wen as GPC gwên 2 'prayer, petition, request and translates

t o t h e l i n e o f C o e l ' i s c l e a r. )

of Wa l e s .

RB 1393 baran llew lloegwys oual 'a violent warrior, the cause of care

to the men of England.'

182

CODDEDIG WEN: The two later mss have colledig wen h a v i n g lost t h eability

to smile'. Unfortunately there is no independent basis for that reading. For coddedig GPC gives 'angry, wrathful; wronged; wounded, injured'; Geirfa includes the definition gofidus a n d gives twoexamples which resemble this line: H 150 neud wyf godedic digawnand Pen3 neud vyfguyngodedyc.Taking wen as standing forgwynn or wyn, however, destroys the rhyming link with the second half of the line, wen/hen. Coddedig wen can perhaps be taken 'injured with respect to my smile/laughter', i.e. 'deprived of laughter'.

RB 1390.14 llyw koeluein koeling drais (in a poem to Owain fab Madog

H186 gwyr vrawgwir urenhin kymry 'the terror of warriors, true king

GWIN WARETAWG: Gruffydd takes this as gwareddog and translates: '[a minnau wedi fy] hyweddi à gwin.

'yr wyf (bellach| yn ofidus fy ngweddi'.

20

PAN AMUITH ALAF PENAWG: Amwyn can mean both 'to fight for' and 'to

defend'; the uncertainty of the occasion makes interpretation difficult. Godir Penawg is mentioned in CU 13a apparently near thesite of Urien's last battle. The English place-names cited in the notes tothat stanza suggest that 183

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

Pennog was afairly common place-name despite hte alck fo surviving

examples in Wales. 22

se CLI,t pp.19 5,and hte notesot C H i 30.as stue,labordersorPouys. invasion ofMercia only, Tern.

23

although thatis the territory immediately acro ss the

N Y DDAEAR FODAWG: I take the ms yn nae ar foddaws as an error for un

daeahow r-fodeve arosr,,occu onersconst ipara thelleleartlines, h/ c.osH SIti isdeyperh erinaps(onebestburied). y 'in' ni aalntlthyen ot follow Gruffydd's translation: 'yn y ddaear ddi-syfl'.

25

F DAFAWD: Ct. 1.23 mor fu parawd, for otherexamples of hte con. M O RU struction see 'Marwnad Cynddylan', pp. 138- 9. Ifor Wiliams suggests do. fawd is an otherwise unattested compound daffawd'good fortune', but one

would expectan adj in this construction. Translate:'how good wasthe fortune', cf. RB 1053 moryw gwael gwelet. 28

MABPYD:Thisisalmost certainlyPenda, althoughhisfather's name isgiven asPybbaorPubbainAnglo-Saxon sources and ni theHB. The tract Boneddyr

Arwyrhas the following entry: MamGatwaladyr Vendigeit, merch Pyt, chwaer Bannaap Pyt (EWGT, p. 91). Thegenealogical information is possibly y derived from Geoffrey o f Monmouth, but the forms of the names preserve

independent Welsh tradition. Panna si the regular form of Penda ni Welsh. The third series of Englynion y Beddau also has Pyd for Penda'spatronymic;

III9 Bedd Pannafab Pyd. The B C series has Bet Run mab Pyd (I10a), probably

avariant of the third series verse which seems to preserve the better reading

of the name.

CANU HELED D

30

xclamaalleled. TransI. sa na eG ion is odd and not par od and h t i CAN DDUW:The express W ' ch Dduw.' Or take with plwyf: ,O fydd f ' God'; pcf.leGru hon?:O ?' er p eo w h a t o th

represent anumber of U DAEARAWD: Daearawd si uncertain and could PYD PYrds. Daearatud si given ni GPC sa 'earththw thening first'baturia itestl,atinte ionrme in htnte eithmea fifteenth century. Pughe's dictionary gives 'tointer, bury: ings of the vb daearu which is not impossible given the mean but could easily have been formed , ) c. (14th e t a l ted attes The verb is also

Tartier since one ofhte meanings of daearsi the earth of h te grave* (GPO).It

eataru issufficiently early,the form can beanalysed asthe 3rds pres/fut andic impersonal in -(hawt meaning 'whereis heburied?' It daear si the main element acompound fo daear +rhawd as ni beddrawd can be postulated

withthe meaning 'grave';una R cf.ttes dacarva g'rave" B R 13301. and daearued B ted. ise 1230.31. This is otherw

Daerawt according ot Geirfa isa variant ofdaeret. As a noun it means a'

giving, putting by,deposit, tribute, tax, mortuary gift or fee.Lloyd-jones

believes hte last meaning si influenced bydaear, daearuand there iscertainly

a good deal of confusion of forms.Daerawd, daeret as a deposit, something

put away' may have developed themeaning'a puttingin the grave, burial quite early. Geirfa gives two possible examples from the works of the Cywyddwyr under daeret.

There is also a verb daeredu with a wide range of meanings including 'to

come, arrive, reach, happen, befall; set, go down (of sun); pay 'daered, pay tribute', etc. (GPC). The 3rd sg pret indic form isdaerawd but the pres/fut impersonal termination -(hawt may accountfor the pres/fut usage, as in H 301 which links daeredu with the complex beddrawd and daear:

Pyd, unlike Panna, cannot be explained as a regular Welshdevelopmentof

an English name. In an as yet unpublished work on the beddau, Patrick Sims-Williams suggests that the patronymic is a deliberate corruptionof Pybba to resemble the Welsh noun pyd 'danger'. He compares it to the nicknames given to English leaders in other sources, most notably in the historical poems of Taliesin and in the HB. The precise patronymic of foreigners would not be important. Despite the evidenceof thesetwo sources Melville Richards, The "Lich field Gospels'"', , p. 142, takes mab Pyd to be a son o f Peada, Penda's e l d e s tson. The derivation of Pyd from Peada is highly unlikely and it is difficult to see why Welsh tradition should remember him. Peada was murdered in 655a year after his father's death, no son o f his is recorded, and thedate would be very late for Cynddylan's floruit. 29

Betrawd an daerawd pob deurut prydus p r y d e r w n yn achlut.

d a e a r u n k y u a r a n kut.

(The grave will befall us, every fair-cheeked one.

Let us be c o n c e r n e da b o u tour death. The earth - one association - w i l lcover us.)

Another possible meaning for daeredu is 'to set (in the earth)as a deposit, bury'; see further C A ,p. 138, CLIH,p. 125, and BBCS 2, pp. 1-5. All the possible translations suggest that the poet is referring to Cyndylan's death or burial, and that the place is unexpected o rperhaps un-

NI BU PRIAWD: Cf. CA, pp. 66-8, 84. In The Gododdin the statement that the

certain. (The interpretation by Gruffydd of py du as pa gladdiad trist, py adu instead o fpy du 'where', is less interrogative, however.) The expression can be compared to CA 19-20 marth ym pa vrol llad on mab marro concerning a

fighting to settle down. This is probably an important clue to the length of

warriorkilled far from h i shome. If the noun daerawd or daearawd is to be read

warrior was unmarried indicates that hewas still young and too involved in

Cynddylan's reign. nI CH he si represented as having a son,Caranfael, old enough to attemptto succeed him, but the genealogical material discussed above shows that Caranfael was Cynddylan's first cousin. 184

the line can be transl. 'where is (his) grave?'. If it is the verb daeredu in the sense 'to deposit, bury', 'where washe buried?'. 'Where did ti happen?' with daeredu 'to happen, befall si weak and prosaic, but the example from H301

suggests i tcould also be taken 'where was it fated to happen?';cf. also CU 25c 185

CANU HELEDD EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

daerarather wt. NoetthaninthC A13-16 and 52-1 the warrior hastensot early adeath lm rym inbattle emarriage feast. The same connection ofideass

here. pro bab ly pre sen t in lI. 29-30

This solves some s 53-55 ot rhyme ni se-ae.l the line s end em d yd uff name Morial Gr : L E A F t o A G YS would like e H . ers oth ny ma rse and ses rai problems, but ni CH 77b (in rhyming position), but this si astray veorf ael is M s . ear yn rw app which that Morial was a son of Cyofnd-al and -ael is very ly imp ily sar ces ne t o n s doe s. The rhyming 76-7 have na alterlist of Cyndwyn's dsonfrom C B given ni the ByA po CA and B cite s sed parallel . nI 'Some Aspects of ster clu unlikely; the supi and ant son a final con ore bef a e en we bet ion nat y', BBCS 03 (1983), pp. 234-8, I have argued thate

52

R V VETRAWD: Ms: erurth wawd. Ifor Wiliams offers several possible NI E

31

readings in 'Marwnad Cynddylan', p. 139. InCLIHhe emends to erwyda

rawd. Erwydd 'rods, rails, staves' (GPC) si first attested ni the fourteenth century. He notes, however, ni the earlier edition that this lineshould per.

Proest in Early Welsh ePoetr of proest, but

haps be parallel ot 1.40 ni ero penylaw and 62in ero trawael. Ew r in these instances isthe plot ofland ni which hte poet's grave willbe; cf. also51yn whri vetrawd=( feddrawd swelyddyn. Erwrth wawd appears to be a mistakeonforoferoinsular r, n and .u

this is an accepted typ

with t for dd mismodernized to th and confusi

This line seems ot be na aphorism of uncertain relevance,if any. Asomewhat better reading would eb milyn yn yd fyddwith lossof ynafter milyn explained A 659 men yd ynt eilyassafelein. It si possible that avery bv haplography;cf. C

34

in an attempt ot make corrupt line has been shaped into a natureforgnome CA 740. s is postulated sense of it; a similar proces

36

relative particle is ungram. AGOLLAIS: Perhaps an error for yr gollais? The matical here. RHIADAW: Rhiadaf si listed asone of the sons of Cyndrwyn in Bonedd yr

37

lation smoother and Gruffydd ammends ul to liu = llyw which makes trans

38

, pp ADOLEU TAW: For rivers of this name or with the root *tam see EANC

35

5 4

not mentioned in CH. Arwyr (EWGT, p. 85). He is bove. agr ees w i t h lin e 4a

44, 45 45

, meith/ mal yd llysc gwynnawn gan oteith Cf. H 48 yd lysc wy ghallon yg cof emendations see CLIH, p. This is the only break in the metre. For suggested . 52, a n d Gruffydd, pp. 21-2

5 5

5 6

found in VYTHIN: Echoes of this l i n e can be BRODIR AM BUIADGWELL BAN that the the marwnad (for example 59)bysugit,gest did not but CH85, 89 and 99. Afew lines inCan ced u Heledd were influen poet or poetsw h o composed ban

49

cwyn.

The ending - ob M MHEDEIRAEL: Hunob is unknown.later PEN ESGOB HUNOB Y copies carry ng of esgob. The two may be mistaken reco pyin g of the endi discussion of this to an extreme with the reading pob esgob hunob. In the that hunob sted sugge Marwnad Cynddylan in Cylch yr Hengerdd it was Cambriae es Annal the in used is re Dormi should be hunwys 'fell asleep, died'.

and goes well fell inthe battle at Lichfield the usage would be highly ironicline. Gruffydd, ing with the contem pt of myneich lyfr afael in the follow

'weak, poor'. Bede's 'Marwnad C.', p. 27, suggests hunob may be from Linops us Welsh, and the perfidio the by Mercia in silence about slaugh ter of clergy taking 'pen esgob' t agains argue s perhap would , attack presumed date of this

or 'muneich literally here; see above in the chapter discussion

Another more

but thisi s an translating 'yng nghweryl',

'similar, equal' would give ASEIRCH CYCHAFAEL: Ms: cyhawael. Cyhafalss it shows alternation here as unle e rhym good sense but is precluded by the is a variant of cychafael 'to raise in amrafal, amrafael. GPC suggests cyhafael

If the archbi shop(? ) and in the Irish annals for the peaceful death of clerics.

, p.52. is eme nde d to Arthur fras in CLIH CANAWON ARTIR WRAS: This InJur < *artir as; likely reading is arddyrnfras 'strong-handed'

yrnuras. cf. H 281 prifwyr eryr ard again a two cop ies have ar drwyn which is BRIWYNTCALCH AR GWYN: The for calch etc. i torr ase by the ms. The phr angwyr for r better reading, but unjustified erro an be ld cou yn ll-known. Ar gw 'fine, fair' and breaking a shield is we 'Gwên' 11a. Arwynn occurs meaning ar and cwÿn, o t note the see rs; rrio 'wa as t i s take d d shields. Gruffyd ngs of is suitable with wh ite- wa she extension of the usual meani

and ael 'herd'. The other animals enunmer represents offi written above in NLW4973eme ndation reading a phumgwriael, but fi ftheDav his ies's original and not hfield the correct interpretation o "Lic 'The s, hard me. Melville Ric on Gwriael is probably a place-na reas r othe no for y sibl pos of? swine', Gospels"', translates 'five herds y. als to drive off as boot

above, augment'

C 92.6 Gueisson am buyint oetgwell understand it completely. Cf. also BB nad C.', p. 18. uitint and the discussion by Gruffydd, 'Marw

46

e. a break in the rhyme schemh offin may has dl aw er oth o N s. rule phonetic ng attestedunlike gwriael althoug "battle' has the advantage of beiemendation. The same is true forcyhafal, but be Dr Davies ownsuggested h' si not attested, and si rather an extension aet Ysgafael vsgafal, translated as 'eiddoy'hel M, p. 155) and yscaualaf 'private'. K P ( vac from yscaualwch 'pri sense in the context. 'spoil' makes better iog, nwyfus' from gwery 'lively' GWRIAEL: Geirfa suggests ?' torllwyth byw ated as part of the spoil support the

logical anim than pigs, like horses and cattle, are

177-8.

43

sam -al/-aer/-ael would not follow the ¡Gwriall

w Pedeirael occurs for a garment in RM 102 llen o borffor pedeir ael ymdanabe could t I edges. four or s border four having cloak a to and may refer is 'four-sided/ ecclesiastical vestments here. Also possible if pedeirael -edged' is a litter o rs o m esort of portable throne.

57

MYNEICH LLYER AFAEL: I take llyfr afael as a compound describing the

monks: cf. the transl. of Thomaslones. Gruffydd takes gafaelas the subject of noddes: 'seizing hte monks' books did not protect. This involves some con187

186

EARLY WELSH S A G A POETRY

notprotect iced direlesot Cyndaylat ed noddedni atr orfm dear.fI he dei

w bsihotphe coudlld not not uoflferter sup Supernatur aturalal pro prottect ectioion n diot his notfoll spaow re roersotaga hteinst w ohho cou onslaught. Inthe chapter ern discussion ti issuggested that myneich is the sub.

C A N U HELEDD

61

hum,treba

A m is lish Eelmentni Weslh (London, 1900. 8. at ought woudl eVe and tense, ti cannEng ot belishac(OceEpDted13itth trce.) w wooutald scarc scareeely ly ebbecearlie aaliarrinthaan n the theredatedersotf

nIce falen alit deadotni the next linct pronoun refering eitherot hte egold. t h e fallen a l l u d e d to in t h e n e x t line.

59

attestation in ael the u were mismodernizedto win traw the exemplar ofNLW 4973. IfOWgw text. con the hich suits original reading would be tra ael v' ery lowly' w

O R FFOSSAWD: The definite article is unlikely ni an early poem . Or ffossatur (cf. yn eu creulan) is a preferable reading.

pedryfael 'four-sided' occursas avariant of pedrua,pedryfatusedinelthteo se PKM, p. 217. Emending trawant description of Branwen's grave; rathe long. *Tryfael could be avaria of (peltrywael would make the lineunlikelyr shape for a grave. See also the distrufal 'triangle', but this si an pp. 27-8.

W ar =at'to", aform not well-attested BRAWD AR YCHWAER: Arsi either M incarly poetry (D. Sm i on Evans, AGrammaroFMiddle Weslh (GMWIDublin, 1964), .p187), or a variant ofyr, er "despite: This line could have helped ot

shape the saga of Heleddalthough it is unlikely thatthe line refersot her muchasone is temptedto makethe connection because of the enslynion. The

Cyndrwynyn appear ot have been victorsatLichfield, taking great spoiland slaughter. s customary in marwnadau ot dwell on the hero's expcausing loits in life far moreIt ithan on the occas ion of his death. Thebrother, then,

appearsto have beena victim of hte Cyndwynyn attack, and the allusion was probably ot a well-known figure. He could beone of the enemy whose sister had been married ot alord of the opposing side during a previous truce. One can compare Bede's account of the marriage of Penda's son,

64

65

Peada, to a daughter of Oswiu, and of Cyneburh, Penda's daughter who married Alfrith son of Oswiu (HE, p. 278). The line would indicate either that the brother was not spared despite the alliance his sister had sealed or that he did not return to his sister. The import of women as tools of marriage al-

liances has been discussed in chapter 2 and in this chapter. Mention of

women in a heroic context can often be explained in this way. It is highly unlikely a formal court marwnad would mention any of Cynddylan's sisters, let alone single one out to whom her brotherdid not return. Heledd's central role in the saga poems of the englyn cycle is an entirely different matter, as argued in the chapter discussion. FFREWYLL YN TAER: The ms form Trewyll is uncertain. Trewylleiin some manuscripts of the triads is taken by Dr Bromwich as an error for treulei; TYP,

pp. 147-8. Eurys Rowlands, 'Adolygiad TYP', p. 234, suggests connecting i t

with traw-, the stem of taro, but treulio m a k e s better sense in the triad. Ifor

Williams reaches no firm conclusions on treullyawt in CA 614 leaving the

existence of trewyll itself uncertain. Ffrewyll occurs as a variant offfrowyll,

nad C.', cussion by Gruffydd, 'Marw arily PWLL AC ALUN: For Pwll see the notes to CH 41 on Trebwll (not necess

thesameplace); identification is uncertain. The Alunis a major river ni

Powysgiving its name ot Ystrad Alun,a Powys commote. CYNTUN:? imi vy gev. ath vradas < t e > am tuyllas ynnev. 5.

ym. bangor ar paul cored.

edrich poen imy gan mor pryued. 6.

Misce llane ous S t a n z a s

B l u i t i n I l a u n i m ry d o d e d . 1.

y m mhell o d d i w r t h dai ar na w r a n d a w e r t a w a i

Bei ys cuypun ar vn. mor amluc guint. y vlaen bric guit fallum. ar a vneuthum bith nys gunaun 2.

Meinoeth kiclev lew heid.

pengethin pell ban dygneid.

Trystan Fragments .1

Clywais aran a lefai / ym mhwll

*ony lochir llaur ny ffeid.

Fechid diristan o t h i w o d .

mi nyth ervill im djod.

om parth guertheiss e marchirod. 2.

Dial kyheic am oet blis. am y kywrev ymelis. och corr d y sorr ym b ewnis.

The Three Juvencus Englynion 1.

niguorcosam n e m h e u n a u r henoid mitelu nit g u r m a u r mi a m f r a n c d a m ancalaur

2.

nicanamniguardam nicuasam henoid cet i b e n m e d n o u e l

mi amfranc dam anpatel

BBC 101. No separation from the two stanzas i nan awl metre indicated. 1b

o m i t mi, o r e m e n d t o n u

2c

ms: sorr de ymi bu

NLW 4973, p. 4036 Cambridge University Library Ff.4.42, text from Ifor Williams, "The Juvencus Poems', BWP

BBC 97 466

46 7

TRANSLATIONS: CANU LLYWARCH 10.

The horn which Urien gave you

with its band of gold around its mouthpiece blow on it if you come to have need. 11.

C a n u Llywarch 12.

13.

1.

When I was the age of the youth over there w h o wears his s p u r sof gold it w o u l d b e swiftly that I r u s h e d to the spear.

'Gwên and Llywarch' 1(a)

Despite battle-horror before the warriors of England I will not mar my g r e a t n e s s I w i l lnot awaken maidens.

Thin is my shield on my left side. Although I may be old, I can do it: I will keep watch at Rhodwydd Forlas.

Certainly your assertion is true: you are alive and your witness slain.

No old man w a sa weakling in youth.

Do not arm afterdinner; let your thoughts not be heavy. Sharp is the w i n d ;bad feeling is hurtful. My mother tells me that I am your son.

2.

'Marwnad Gwên'

I k n o w in my heart

that we spring from one stock.

You are tarrying a precious while, Gwên.*

3.

4.

5.

Sharp is my spear, bright in battle. I intend to keep watch on the ford. Although I may not escape, God be with you. If you escape, I will see you. If you are killed, I will lament you. Do not lose the h o n o u rof a warrior despite battle hardship.

I will suffer hardship before I will yield ground.

?a scant protection in battle - frequent is fleeing by big talkers There will be breaking of shields where I am.

16.

Gwên by Llawen kept watch last night with his shield against his chin. Since he was my son he did n o tescape.

17.

Gwên, ?warrior, it afflicts my mind. Your death is a great?.

18.

A promise which is not fulfilled is useless.

19

that there will be a broken, shattered shield before I retreat.

Gwên, I knew your nature: you were of the rush of an eagle in the estuaries.

If I were wise you would have escaped. 20.

A wave thunders; i tcovers the e b b flow.

When warrio rs go into battle,

Waves spread out around the bank of a fortress, a n d I intend

Gwên of the mighty thighs kept watch last night by the s i d eof Rhyd Forlas. Since he was my s o nhe did not retreat.

Soft is swampy ground; firm the slope.

The edge of a bank gives way beneath the hoof of a white steed 9.

Gwên by Llawen kept watch last night with his shield o n h i s shoulder. Since he was my son he was ready.

I have that which I speak about. I will not say that I will not flee.

8.

15.

R u n n i n g is a wave along the beach; s o o n i n t e n t i o n s break -

7.

Gwên by Llawen kept watch last night.

Despite the onslaught he did not retreat. Sad is the tale on the green bank.

I will not lose your honour, battle-ready man, w h e n w a r r i o r s a r m f o r t h e border.

6.

14.

Gwên, woe to the too-old one because of longing for you 21.

A wave thunders; i tcovers the tidal flow.

When warriors go to their attack, Gwên, woe to the too-old one who has lost vou.

* Reading trigyd. 468

469

EARLY W E L S H SAGA POETRY

22.

23.

My son was a warrior, he was of s p l e n d i d privilege, and he was a n e p h e w of Urien.

On Rhyd Forlas Gwên was killed.* (A fierce warrior in spear fight, of ready boldness, he caused the English to be a crushed host.

TRANSLATIONS: CANU LLYWARCH

34.

35.

The skull of a stout warrior is broken by Pyll; rare is a ?refuge in which one might shelter. The weak are caused to be destitute.

36.

Pyll Wyn of far-travelling fame, I am happy ?for your sake because of your ?dying in youth and ?pleasantly knowing you.

This is the grave of Gwên ap Llywarch Hen.) 24.

I had twenty-four sons, a gold-wearing, princely host. G w ê n w a s t h e b e s t of t h e m .

25.

Ih a d twenty -four sons, a gold-wearing, princely troop.

37.

I h a d twenty-four sons,

( T h e b e s t t h r e e u n d e r t h es u n

who guarded their h o m e

G w ê n w a s t h e b e s t o f h i s f a t h e r ' s sons. 26.

When he stopped before his tent on a splendid steed Pyll's wife o w n e d she h a da man.

w e r e Pyll a n d S e l f a n d S a n d d e f . )

38.

I gave a shield to Pyll -

gold-wearing, princely lords.

b e f o r e h e d i e d it w a s s h a t t e r e d .

Compared with Gwên they were puny lads.

It is a pity to leave it unregarded.

27.

There were twenty-four sons in the family of Llywarch, brave, fierce warriors;

28.

Twenty-four sons of the nurture of my body through my tongue they have been killed.

39.

Though both the host of England and many from afar might have come to Wales

the coming of too great fame is a fault.

Pyll would have taught t h e msense.

The coming of a little is good - they have been lost. 'Maen' 'Pyl' 29.

Maen Wyn, when I was y o u rage my mantle was not trampled underfoot, my land was not ploughed without bloodshed.

When my son, Pyll, was killed there were shattered splinters and blood o n horrible hair,

Maen Wyn, while I was ?fervent and my young warriors following me

and on the banks of the Ffraw ?flowing.

the e n e m ydid not break across my border.

2.

(of s h i e l d s )

30.

.1

It was possible to make halls from the planks o fshields

3.

31.

32.

Maen Wyn, while I was ?ardent

while he stood his ground in battle.

following my young warriors t h eenemy did not love my anger.

My choice among my sons

Maen Wyn, while I was vigorous

when everyone attacked his enemy was Pyll Wyn, with the spirit of fire shooting up a chimney.

I would do the deed of a man although I was a youth.

which were broken before Pyll's hand

Well did he put his thigh over the saddle of his steed

I was fierce in slaughter. 5.

far a n d n e a r ,

Pyll Wyn with the spirit of fire shooting up the smoke-hole.

6.

33.

he was a fortress on the border, Pyll Wyn, he was a splendid? 470

Maen Wyn, strike wisely. There is need of counsel?...... Let Maelgwn seek another steward.

My choice is a warrior wearing his armour, sharp as a thorn. It is n o t a v a i n t a s k to h o n e M a e n . 471

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

7.

8.

TRANSL ATIONS: CANU LLYWAR CH

A gift f r o m D y f f r y n Mafwr n concealed in a vessel has been taken away from me. With sharp iron it was struck from the hand.

'Enwer meibon' 1.

May the strange old hag be blessed w h o from the d o o rof her hut said:

'Maen Wyn, do not leave your knife behind.'

Beautifully sings the bird on,the p e a r tree above Gwên. Before he was buried u n d e rsod the son of Llywarch Hen used to break shields. The three best m e n in their country

2

for defending their home are Eithyr and Erthyr a n d Argad.

Miscellaneous Stanzas about Llywarch's Sons 40.

Three sons of Cynfarch, three bold in battle, t h r e e fi e r c e c h a m p i o n s :

Neither Pyll nor Madog would have been long-lived

Llew and Arawn and Urien.

because of the custom they kept:

whether or not they granted it they never asked for a truce (first). 41.

42.

4.

because of his being left by the bank of the river

Here is the grave of a faultless one, good to bards.

with a host of whithered cow-parsley.

His fame used to go where Pyll would not have gone (even) if he had lived longer.

Bull of battle, foremost in war, p i l l a rof warfare, candle .? Lord of Heaven,?

Maen and Madog and Medel, brave warriors, lively brothers,

6.

44.

are Pyll and Selyf and Sanddef.

N

The grave of Gwell is i n Rhiwfelen; the grave of Sawyl is in Llangollen;

when Mwng Mawr Drefydd was attacked

Sod c o v e r sa b r o w n grave -

the horses of Mechydd were not pampered.

?.

8.

f u r t h e r is r e p r o a c h .

9.

I drank h i s w i n e from a bowl he leads the m e n of Rheinwg.

I regret that when Dwg asked me that it is not with them that he attacked,

10.

I do not g o ;disability prevents me. 11.

You are not a cleric; y o uare not a ?grey-haired lord, y o u a r e n o t called o n t h e d a y o f need.

b e c a u s e of that).

Alas, Cynddilig, that you were not b o r na woman. 12.

I k n e w the speech of Cyni

when he would drop into the drinking hall. The chief of men deserves a cup of wine. 49.

Snow falls; it covers the valley. Wa r r i o r s r u s h to battle.

although a month of life would not have come to the generous one 48.

A cry is raised on the top of Llug Fynydd above the grave of a warrior/Cynllug. Mine is the blame; I caused it.

Dwg's spears were like the wings of dawn 47.

They fought around Cafall There was a bloodied, disregarded corpse i n t h e a t t a c k of R h u n a n d t h e o t h e r b r a v e one.

Far from here is Aber Lliw,

Talan you deserved tears today. 46.

In the m o r n i n gat the break of day

Llorien watches over Llam y Bwch

the grave of Llyngedwy fab Llywarch. 45.

T h e three best m e n u n d e r Heaven

to defend their home

Selyf, Heilin, Llawr, Lliwer. 43.

Complaints are easier for me

Farfrom here is Aber Lliw, f u r t h e r is r e p r o a c h .

Talan, you deservedtears today.

Althou gh there were o n e - h u n d r e d men in one hall I k n e w Cyni's concerns.

The chief on men deserves the top seat on the bench. 472

473

TRANSLATIONS: CANU LLYWARCH

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

Before I was bent-backed I was bold.

'Gwahodd Llywarch i Lanfawr'

I was welcomed in the drinking hall of Powys, the paradise of Wales.

Horseman of the plain, like Meurig,

with t h e sword of Echel and the fame of Urien, can you provide hospitality for an old man? 2.

Before I was bent-backed I w a sdazzling. My spear was the front spear, it was first to strike.

3.

1am hunch-backed, depressed and wretched.

Horseman of the plain, like Meurig,

so long as the Lord desired good for me

Little wooden staff, it is autumn.

4.

I did not eat mast like pigs. 3.

Bracken is red; stalks are brown. Thave turned away from that which I love.

Llywarch Hen, do not be sad.

You will get hospitality, friend. Dry your eyes. Shush. Do not weep. 4.

5.

I am old - I do not understand you.

Give me counsel, where shall I seek?

Little wooden staff, it is spring. Cuckoos are brown; audible is theirplaint. I am rejected by maidens.

U r i e n is d e a d ; I a m in need. 5.

Is it your counsel to go to Brân . . . and renowned?

7.

The sons of Urien are all dead. 6.

Do not trust Brân; d o not trust Dunawd, . . . . . . . . in battle. Let the h e r d s m a n of calves go to Llanfawr.

8.

let you uphold an old a n d longing man,

There is a Llanfawr beyond Bannawg

a faithful wood for going t oand fro.

9.

where the Clwyd goes into Clywedawg,

10.

and I do not k n o w if that is the one, Llallawg.

I am Llywarch of long speech. 11.

Herdsman o fcalves, they lead to Llanfawr.

11.

Thin is m y shield on my left side. Although I m a y be old, I can do it.

Old age is mocking me from my hair to my teeth

and the protuberance the young used to love.

A wretched fate was assigned to Llywarch

from the night he was born: long labour without casting off fatigue.

Little wooden staff, be helpful support m ebetter.

Seek the Dee and go along its length from Meloch as far as Traweryn.

10.

It is grief for me to look on your beak. Little wooden staff, supporting branch,

Lallogan, I do not know if that is the one.

t h e o c e a n t h u n d e r s b y it.

9.

Little wooden staff, it is summer. The furrow is brown; new shoots are curly.

Llywarch of constant speech. Little wooden staff, solid branch, God of protection will welcome me. You are called

There is a Llanfawr across the sea -

8.

Little w o o d e n staff, it is winter. Men are talkative over drink. My bedside is without greetings. (i.e. unvisited)

12.

Old age is mocking me from m y hair to my teeth and the protuberance w o m e n used to love.

13.

I will keep watch on Rhodwydd Forlas.

?Swirling the wind; white the aspect of the edge of the woods. The stag is bold; the hill hard. Feeble is the old m a n ; slowly he rouses.

14

'Cân ur Henwr' 1.

This leaf, the wind drives it to and fro. W o e to it for its fate. It is old. T h i syear it was born.

Before I was bent-backed Iw a s ready with words, is adm ired .

?. ..

The men of Argoed always supported me. 474

4 75

EARLYWELSH SAGA POETRY

15.

Those things which Iloved since I was a youth are hateful to me: a girl, a stranger, and an unbroken horse. It is n o t f o r m e t h a t t h e y a r e a p p r o p r i a t e .

16.

17.

The four things I have always hated most have come together at the same time: coughing and old age, disease and depression. 1am old, I am lonely, I am shapeless and cold after (having had) an honourable sleeping place.

C a n u Urien

I am wretched, I am bent in three.

18.

19.

Wo m e n do not love me; no one visits me. I cannot go about. A l a s that d e a t h d o e s n o t c o m e to m e .

20.

Fierce Unhwch furious in asking for peace u s e d to instruct m e :

'It is better for you to kill than to supplicate.' Fierce U n h w c h u s e d to i n s t r u c t m e .

2.

he causes battle slaughterI will lead t h e h o s t s o f ? L I w y f e n n y d d .

Neither sleep nor h a p p i n e s s comes to me

since the killing of Llawr and Gwên. I am a c a n t a n k e r o u s carcass - I am old.

21.

'Unhwch'

I am bent-in-three old, I am fickle and silly, I am foolish, I am uncouth. Those w h o loved me do not love me.

FierceU n h w c h used to instruct me: • it was said at Drws Llech

3.

t h a t D u n a w d a b P a b od o e s n o t retreat.

A wretched fate was assigned to Llywarch from the night he was born:

Fierce Unhwch used to instruct me,

4.

long labour without casting off fatigue.

cruel and fierce, with l a u g h e rlike the sea, an inciter in war, [victorious ...] 5.

Ardent Urien Rheged o fthe eagle's grasp is the enemy of Unhwch, brave and generous, ferocious in war, a victorious prince.

6.

Ardent Urien Rheged o fthe eagle's grasp is the enemy of Unhwch, the owner of abundance, the storehouse of Llyr, fair streams, a table for warriors.

'Pen Urien' I carry a head on my side: he was an attacker b e t w e e n two hosts,

the proud son of Cynfarch is he whose it was. I carry a head on m y side,

the head of generous Urien - he used to lead a host. And on his white breast is a black raven

9.

I carry a head on m y belt,

the head of generous Urien - he used to rule a court. A n d ravens o n his white breast consume him.

476

477

TRANSLATIONS: C A N U URIEN

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

10.

21.

I carry a head in my hand.

Alas, my hand, for the killing of m ycousin.

lord and soldier, a spender of spears.

I carry ahead on the side of my thigh.

11.

22.

he was a prop in war, a snare of the enemy. I carry a head on my right side -

23.

I carry a head from the region of Pennawg-

Alas, my hand, for the killing of the son of Cynfarch 24.

the head of eloque nt and celebra ted Urien.

15.

15(b)

16.

Alas, my hand, for the killing of my lord. 25

I carry a head on my shoulder -

The slender white corpse is being buried today u n d e r e a r t h a n d ?a s t a n d a r d .

his hosts were far-travelling 14.

The slender white corpse is being buried today amidst soil and sods.

better he alive than in his grave. He was a fortress for the ?aged. 13.

The slender white corpse is being buried today u n d e r stones it has been left. Alas, my hand, for the f a t e which was fated for me.

He was a shield o v e r the c o u n t r y, a wheel in battle,

12.

The slender white corpse is being buried today in soil and an o a kcoffin.

He was shepherd over Erechwydd,

The slender white corpse is being buried today

s h a m e d i d n o t u s e to r e c e i v e m e -

u n d e r soil a n d sand.

alas, my hand, (for) the strikin g of my lord.

Alas, my hand, for the fate which has befallen me.

I carry a head on my arm. He made of the Bernicians after battle a b u r d e n for biers.

26.

I carry a head from the side of a post,

27.

The slender white corpse is being buried today u n d e r soil a n d nettles.

Alas, my hand, for the fate which has been brought about for me. The slender white corpse is being buried today

the head of Urien, a warlike lord,

u n d e r soil and grey stones

and thoughJudgme nt Day were to come I do not care.

Alas, my hand - it caused my fate.

I carry a head in t h e grasp of my hand

of a generous lord - he used to lead a country.

The chief suppor t of Britain has been carried off.

17. 18.

I carry ahead whichcared for me. I know it is n o tfor my good. Alas, my hand, it perform ed harshly. I carry a head from the side of the hill

and on his lips is a fine foam of blood. Woe to Rheged because of this day. 19.

'Difficulty' 28.

It would be difficult until Judgment day to gather us around the drinking horns, around the ladle, the royal host, the army of Rheged.

29.

It would be difficult until Judgment day to gather us around t h edrinking horns, around the table, the royal host, the army of Rheged.

It has wrenched my arm, it has crushed my ribs, it h a s b r o k e n m y heart.

I carry a head which cared for me.

'Efrddy!* 30

Efrddyl is mournful tonight and many others

In Aber Lleu was the k i l l i n gof Urien.

'Celain Urien' 31. 20.

The s l e n d e r white corpse is being buried today under soil and stones.

father. Alas, my hand, for the killing of Owain's 478

Efrddyl is mournful because of his tribulation tonight a n d b e c a u s e of t h e fate w h i c h h a s befallen m e .

In Aber Lleu was the k i l l i n gof her brother. 479

32.

EARLY WELSH S A G A POETRY

TRANSLATIONS: CANU URIEN

'Marwnad Rhun'

'Elno'

Friday I saw the great affliction on the armies of the world.

42

?A b l a d e beat o n t h e tent

A swarm without a queen bee is thus. 33.

I saw w h e n E l n o was killed.

Rhun Rhyfeddfawr gave me a h u n d r e d hosts and a h u n d r e d shields

pole and tent from his region. 43.

a n d o n e h o s t w a s better ?...

34.

R u n , desirable ruler, gave me a h u n d r e d h o m e s t e a d s with ah u n d r e d oxen, and one homestead was better than the others.

35.

In the lifetime of Rhun, ruler of war, f e t t e r son the horses of the wicked.

A s e c o n d t i m e a f t e r t h e b a t t l ec r y

I saw a shield on Urien's shoulder. Elno Hen was second there.

miscellaneous verses 44.

Need has befallen Erechwydd because of fear of a horseman ..?. Will there ever be another Urien?

45.

My lord is b a l d ,of powerful custom, warriors do not like his enmity. He has expended the wealth of a chieftain.

46.

I consider Urien's passion grievous,

a stray verse

36.

Alas, how well I know my affliction! E v e r y o n e is ?active e v e r y s u m m e r.

an attacker in every region

No one knows anything about me.

after Llofan Llaw Ddifro.

47.

Quiet is the breeze by the side of a long slope. That which may be praiseworthy is rare.

Except for Urien no leader is of worth.

'Dwy Blaid' 37.

38.

D u n a w d , horseman of slaughter, intended to make corpses in Erechwydd against the onslaug ht of Owain. Dunawd, lord of a land, intended to do battle in Erechwydd

'Aelwyd Rheged' 48.

Many a lively h o u n d and spirited hawk were fed on it floor before this place was ruins.

49.

This hearth - ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

against the onslaught of Pasgen. 39.

Gwallawg, horseman of battle, intended to m a k ecorpses in Erechwydd against the o n s l a u g h t of Elffin.

40.

Brân fab Ymellyrn intended to exile me, to burn my homesteads:

It w a s m o r e a c c u s t o m e do n its fl o o r

to mead a n ddrinkers petitioning. 50

While its guardian was alive

a wolf w h o ? h o w l e d at t h e breach.

41.

Morgant - he and his warriors - intended to exile me, to burn my land: ashrew who scratched at a crag. 480

This h e a r t h- nettles hide it.

51.

This hearth - borage hides it. In the lifetime of O w a i nan d Elffin

its cauldron used to boil booty. 481

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

52.

This hearth - grey lichen hides it. It would have been more accustomed to fierce, fearless

swordfighting for its food. 53.

T h i s h e a r t h - f a i r b r a m b l e s h i d e it. It h a d a fi n e c u s t o m :

C a n u Heledd

Rheged was accustomed to giving. 54.

T h i s h e a r t h - t h o r n s h i d e it. Its w a r r i o r s w o u l d h a v e b e e n m o r e a c c u s t o m e d to

the benefits ofO w a i n ' s companions.

55.

This hearth - ?... hide it. It would have been more accustomed to bright rush lights and loyal fellow-carousers.

56.

T h i s h e a r t h- d o c k l e a v e s h i d e it. It w o u l d h a v e b e e n m o r e a c c u s t o m e d o n its floor

Prologue C o m e out, maidens, and look at C y n d d y l a n ' s land.

The court of Pengwern is a raging fire. Woe to the young who desire a ?mantle.

to mead a n d mead-drinkers petitioning.

57.

This hearth - a wild pig digs in it. It would have been more accustomed to the rejoicing

'Marwnad Cynddylan'

of warriors and carousal around drinking horns. 58.

This hearth - a chick digs in it.

A single tree i na forest in hardship if it escapes it is a rare thing. Let that which God wills come to pass.

2.

N e e d d i d n o t u s e to t r o u b l e i t

in the lifetime of O w a i n and Urien.

59.

Cynddylan with a heart like winter ice,

This pillar and the one yonder -

who ran a boar through its head, you gave a dear? thing for the sake of Tren's beer.

around it the merry-making of the host and a path for gift-giving would have been more customary.

Cynddylan with a heart like spring heath-fire

4.

?because of the enemy's gift, d e f e n d i n gTren, a desolate town.

Cynddylan, fair supporter of the border land, the chain-wearing, s t u b b o r n one of the host, defended Tren, his patronymy.

Cynddylan, noble, of shining wisdom, the gold chain-wearing, unyielding one of the troop,

6.

defended Tren as long as he lived.

Cynddylan with the heart of a hunting hound w h e n h ed e s c e n d e d i n t o t h e t u m u l t

o fbattle he used to slay. 8

Cynddylan with the heart of a hawk ?.

the unyielding whelp of Cyndrwyn. 9.

4 82

Cynddylan with the heart of a wild boar w h e n h ed e s c e n d e d in the ?main attack of a battle t h e r e were two layers of corpses. 483

TRANSLATIONS: CANU HELEDD

EARLY WELSH S A G A POETRY

10.

Cynddylan, a warrior like Culhwch, a lion,

21.

a wolf-pursuing attacker-

Woe to him who does not do the good which comes to him.

t h e b o a r will n o t r e t u r n to h i s f a t h e r ' s t o w n . 11.

Cynddylan - as long as i t was allowed he ?..

22.

13.

Cynddylan Powys, you had a splendid purple cloak, a storehouse for (feeding) guests, ?the existence of a lord. The whelp of Cyndrwyn is mourned.

23.

15.

Oh death, why does it leave me behind? 24.

The h a l l of Cynddylan is without comfort tonight on the top of a ?mighty crag, without a lord, without a host, without ?defense.

Cynddylan, you are an harasser (of enemies). You intend that you will not be grey-haired. Around Trebwll your shield is shattered

25.

The hall of Cynddyla n is dark tonight, w i t h o u t a fire, w i t h o u t songs . Tears wear away the cheeks.

Cynddylan, block the slope

26.

The hall of Cynddylan is dark tonight,

Cynddylan Wyn, son of Cyndrwyn, not well does am a n sport ab e a r d a r o u n d hisn o s e

without a fire, without a household troop. My tears are a b u n d a n t ?where it falls.

where the English come through Tren. Anxiety for one man does not avail.

16.

Cynddylan, block the ?place where the English come through Tren. A single tree is not called a forest.

27.

a stray verse

How grievous does my heart find the joining of the white flesh of Cynddylan, the champion of a h u n d r e d troops, to black planks.

The hall o f C y n d d y l a n - it pierces me to see it w i t h o u t roofs, w i t h o u t a fi r e .

My lord is dead; I myself alive.

28.

17.

The hall of Cynddylan is abandoned tonight after h e w h o o w n e d it.

w h o is n o b e t t e r t h a n a m a i d e n . 14.

The hall of Cynddylan - you have become bereftof form. Your shield is in the grave. While he was alive there was not a broached gate.

like to b e e r to b a t t l e .

12.

The h a l l o f C y n d d v l a n - its r o o f i s b l a c k

after having h a da fi n e company.

29.

The hall of Cynddylan is desolate tonight after having had staunch warriors: Elfan and gold-wearing Cynddylan.

The hall of Cynddylan is cold and harsh tonight after the respect which I had, without the warriors, without the women who kept it.

30.

The hall of Cynddylan is s i l e n t tonight

after losing its lord. Great merciful God, what shall I do? 31.

The hall of Cynddylan - its roof is black after the killing by English warriors of C y n d d y l a n and Elfan Powys.

32.

The hall of Cynddylan is dark tonight [after] the children of Cyndrwyn:

'Stafell Gunddylan' 18.

The hall of Cynddylan is dark tonight, without a fire, without a bed. I will weep for awhile; afterwards I will fall silent.

19.

The hall of Cynddylan is dark t o n i g h t ,

without a fire, without a candle. Except for God, who will give me sanity? 20.

Cynon and Gwion a n d Gwyn.

33.

The hall of C y n d d y l a n - it pierces me constantly

after the great conversing I saw on your hearth side.

The hall of Cynddylan is dark tonight, without a fire, without light. Sorrow comes to me because of you. 484

485

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

TRANSLATIONS: CANU HELEDD

'Eryr Eli' 34.

35.

The eagle of Eli - high is his cry tonight.

'Eglwysau Basa' 45.

h i s fi n a l a b o d e -

the heart blood of Cynddylan Wyn.

the support in battle, the heart of the men of Argoed.

The eagle of Eli has cried out loudly tonight.

46.

He has wallowed in the blood of warriors.

It is the eagle of Eli I hear tonight. He is gory - I do not defy him.

47.

The eagle of Eli - how grievous tonight

it is the land of the grave of Cynddylan Wyn. 48.

is the fine valley of Meisir. The land of Brochfael has been long afflicted. 38.

The eagle of Eli watches over the seas:

The eagle of Eli travels through the woods tonight. His feasting is to his fill. The violence of he who indulges him succeeds.

Baschurch is ?fallow land tonight; its clover is bloody. It is r e d d e n e d ; too m u c h is m yemotion.

49.

fi s h do not penetrate into the estuaries. He calls, ?he feasts on the blood of warriors. 39.

Baschurch is c o n fi n e d tonight for t h e heir of t h e C y n d r w y n y n :

He is in the wood; sorrow is heavy upon me.

37.

Baschurch is ?crumbling tonight my tongue caused it. It is reddened; too great is m ysorrow.

H e is in t h e w o o d ; s o r r o w is h e a v y for me.

36.

Baschurch is his resting place tonight,

H e h a sd r u n k a b l o o d y d r i n k :

Baschurch has lost its privilege after the slaying by English warriors of C y n d d y l a nand Elfan Powys.

50.

Baschurch is destroyed tonight; its w a r r i o r s a r e n o m o r e .

Men know and me here.

51.

Baschurch is glowing embers tonight

and I am sorrowful. It is reddened; too great is my grief.

'Y Dr efw en'

'Eryr Pengwern' 40.

The grey-crested eagle of Pengwern - tonight

52.

on the surfaceof its grass its blood.

greedy for the flesh which loved. 41.

53.

The fair town in its lands its c u s t o m ? . . . . its blood u n d e r the feet of i t s warriors.

The grey-crested eagle of Pengwern - tonight his talons are very high, greedy for flesh Ilove.

54.

The fair town in its valley -

The eagle of Pengwern will call for a long time tonight.

55.

The grey-crested eagle of Pengwern - tonight his ?... is very high,

greedy for the flesh of Cynddylan. 42.

43.

happy?.. at the confusion of battle. Its people have perished.

The eagle of Pengwern calls for a long time tonight. H e f e a s t s o n t h eb l o o d o f w a r r i o r s .

Tren [was] called a splendid town. 486

The fair town between Tren and Rhodwydd more usual was a broken shield coming from battle

H e will feast o nt h e b l o o d of warriors. T r e n is c a l l e d a n u n f o r t u n a t e t o w n . 44.

The fair town on the slope of the woods this was ever its custom:

his screech is very high,

56

than oxen going to the noon-time resting place. The fair town between Tren and Trafal more usual was its blood on the surface of its grass t h a np l o u g h i n g fallow land. 487

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

T R A N S L AT I O N S : C A N U HELEDD

'Ffreuer' 57.

58.

' O n the Courses of Rivers'

Blessed is Ffreuer - how painful it is tonight after the loss of family. Because of the misfortune of m y tongue they have been slain.

67.

Blessed is F f r e u e r - how sad it is tonight after the death of Elfan

68.

and the hero of Cyndrwyn, Cynddylan. 59.

Similarly o n the b o r d e r

does Tren go into Roden and Twrch into Marchnwy. Similarly on the land does Roden go into Tren and Geirw into Alwen.

It is not the death of Ffreuer which torments me tonight.

Because of the ?slaughter of my ?ardent brothers I wake, I weep at morning. 60.

It is not the death of Ffreuer which causes me grief tonight from the beginning of n i g h t till the d e a d of night. I wake, I weep at daybreak.

61.

62.

'Newid Byd'

It is not the death of Ffreuer which moves me tonight and causes me to have yellow cheeks and (shed)t e a r s of blood over the bedside.

69.

It is not the death of Ffreuer which I grieve for tonight, but rather for myself, weak and ill.

70.

the mead of Bryn made me drunk.

64.

Ffreuer We n , b r o t h e r s n u r t u r e d y o u -

t h em e a d o f Tren m a d e m e d r u n k .

they did not spring from among the wicked -

After my brothers from the region of the Severn and on the banks of the two Rhiws,

w a r r i o r s w h o d i d not n u r s e fear.

alas,G o d ,that I am alive.

Ffreuer Wen, you had brothers.

71.

72.

W h e n they h e a r dof a powerful host ?faith did not leave them.

65.

Before my coverlet was the hard skin of a goat, the kid fond of holly,

I mourn for m y brothers and my land. 63.

Before my coverlet was the hard skin of a goat greedy for holly,

After broken horses with red trappings a n d great, yellow plumes,

my leg is thin, I do not have a mantle.

Myself and Ffreuer and Meddlan -

though there might be battle everywhere it does not worry us - our side will not be killed.

'Gorwunion'

'Herding' 66.

73.

they did n o tgo on anyone's journey

The m o u n t a i n - although it may be higher

in the lifetime of Gorwynion, a fine warrior.

I will not suffer its bearing my cow. Some consider my mantle light.

The cattle of Edeirnion were not wayfaring;

74.

T h e c a t t l e o fE d e i r n i o n w e r e not w a y f a r i n g ;

they did not go with anyone's troop in the lifetime of Gorwynion, a wise warrior. 75.

48 8

?The shame of a cattle reaver becauseof a gentle refusal. He who has oppression - dishonour will come to him. Iknew what w a sgood: blood for his companions, nobleman. 489

76.

EARLY W E L S H SAGA POETRY

T R A N S L AT I O N S : C A N U HELEDD

'Gyrthmyl'

'Heledd's Brothers'

fI Garthmyl were a woman she would be weak today,

83.

Cynan, Cynddylan, Cynwraith,

her wail would be loud: she is whole; her warriors destroyed .

'Ercal' 77.

T h e s o d o f Ercall is o n b r a v e m e n of t h e d e s c e n d a n t s o f Morial.

My brothers were slain at one time,

defending Tren, a desolate town. 84.

Princes did not trample on Cynddylan's nest. He never r e t r e a t e d a foot. His mother did not raise a feeble son.

85.

I had brothers, ..?. who grew like hazel saplings. One by one they all went.

86.

And after it n o u r i s h e d t h e m , it grinds them to dust.

I h ad b r o t h e r s w h o m G o dtook from me. My misfortune caused it.

They did not gain fame by deception.

'Heledd Hwyedig' 78.

Epigra m

I am called ?wandering Heledd. Oh God, to whom are given m y b r o t h e r s ' h o r s e s a n d their land?

79.

87.

Thin is the breeze, thick depression. The furrows remain; those who made them do not. It is wretched that those who were are no more.

?Wandering Heledd greets me. Oh God,

to w h o m are given the dark trappings

of Cynddylan and his fourteen steeds?

'Hedun'

'Gazing' 88.

80.

I have gazed on ?uncultivated land

from t h em o u n d of Gorwynion.

Long is the course of the sun; longer my remembrances. 81.

shame on their manhood for failing Hedyn.

89.

t h e c o u n t r y o f F f r e u e r.

'The Boar's Den'

Fragment A horseman from Caer ... u n d e r him

I n t h e l i f e t i m e o f H e d y n h e u s e d t os h o o t f o r t h

?. enduring on the battlefield. With the grey spears of a lord he incited.

I have gazed from Dinlleu Gwrygon,

There is sorrow for the ?slaughter of my ?ardent brothers.

82.

Let both God and man hear it,

let both the young and older ones hear:

90.

I w o n d e r, ? . . . . not back. Able companion, listen.

In the lair of the boars piglets are cracking nuts 490

491

TRANSLATIONS: CANU HELEDD

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

'Caranfael' 91.

I d o n o t k n o w if it is m i s t or s m o k e

'Beddau' 102.

Maes Maoddyn - ice covers it.

or warriors contending.

B e c a u s e of t h e d e s t r u c t i o n of t h e w e l l - n u r t u r e d o n e

On the hayfield battle is grievous.

on the grave of Erinfedd there is thick snow.

92.

I have left the hayfield o f battle. A broad shield, a fortress for s t r o n g men, the best warrior is Caranfael.

93.

Caranfael, you are in tribulation.

103.

'The m o u n d of Elwyddan - rain wets it. Maes Maoddyn lies b e n e a t h it. Cynon deserves to be lamented.

I know your nature from battle. Frequent on the cheek of a warrior is a scar. 94.

95.

Mirth-provoking, generous-handed, fame-seizing son of Cynddylan, the rear guard of the Cyndrwynyn was Caranfael.

97.

104.

I had four ?lordly brothers, a n d e a c ho n e h a d a p e n t e u l u .

Tren does not know a ?... owner.

Wretched, disinherited, and deprived of patronymy were those who sought Caranfa el as a judge.

96.

'Tren'

Caranfael, mirth-provoking, praise-distributing son o fCynddylan, was not a judge although it was desired of him.

105.

106.

I had four lordly brothers and each one ? . Tren does not k n o w a t r u e owner.

Four ardent, fine, lordly brothers I had from Cyndrwyn.

Tren does not have a gentle owner.

W h e n Caranfael wore the b a t t l ecloak of Cynddylan and shook his ash spear

the Frank did not get peace from his lips.

'Heledd's Sisters' 107.

'Heledd a'i Brawd Claf'

108.

In the time when they were fair the daughters of C y n d r w y n were loved: H e l e d d , Gwladus, a n d G w e n d d w y n .

I had pleasant sisters. Ilost them all totally:

98.

99.

When I w a s well-fed I w o u l d n o t raise my thigh for a m a n w h o complained, scabrous one.

Ffreuer, Meddwyl and Meddlan. 109.

I h a d s i s t e r s also.

Ilost them all together: Gwledyr, Meisir a n dCeinfryd.

I too had brothers t h e s i c k n e s s of b o i l s d i d n o t a f fl i c t t h e m :

Elfan f o rone, Cynddylan two.

100.

Not well does one wear his hair like a warrior

'Cynddylan and Cunwraith'

who does not deserve tofrom being a warrior in great contention. My brothers were n o t wailers.

101.

110.

Were it not for death and great pain and the wound of grey spears

Cynddylan was slain, Cynwraith was slain, defending Tren, a desolate town. Woe is me, enduring their death.

I t o o w o u l d n o t b e a w a i l e r. 492

493

111.

EARLY WELSH S A G A POETRY

TRANSLATIONS: CANU HELEDD

'Maes Cogwy'

'Englynion Cadwallon' Cadwallo n before his ?death achieved ?our success:

.1

I saw on the ground of the field of Cogwy armies and battle affliction. Cynddylan was an ally.

fourteen chief battles around great, fair Britain

a n d sixty clashes.

The encampment of Cadwallon by the Caint: England in affliction, ?tribulation from birds of prey, a releasing hand - letting go wasa privilege.

2.

'Llemenig' 112.

113.

3.

Holly dries beside a fire. When I hear noisy tumult it is the host of Llemenig mab Mawan. Lord entitled to sit on the dais, openly armed, ferocious, victorious h o u n d of war, a maker of flame is a r d e n tLlemenig.

The encampment of Cadwallon by the Idon:

ungentle grief to his enemies, a lion with hosts against the Saxons. 4.

The encampmentof fameworthy Cadwallon on the summit of Digoll Mountain: seven months with seven battles daily.

The encampment of Cadwallon by the Severn and from the opposit e side to Dygen

Freiddin the burning of Meigen. 6.

The encampmento fCadwallon by the Wye: treasure after a voyage over water

and the arranging of the battleof the border. 7.

The encampment of Cadwallon by Ffynnon Bedwyr: before soldiers he nurtured his right

Cynon there showed skill.

8.

The encampment of Cadwallon by the Taf: it is n u m e r o u s t h a t I s e e

the powerful host of the lord strong in battle. 9.

The encampment o fCadwallon by the Tawy: the hand o fa smiter in the breach, praiseworthy, one s e e k i n gt ochastise.

10.

11.

The encampment o f Cadwallon b e y o n dCaer:

one-hundred armies with one-hundred ardent warriors, one-hundred battles and the destroying of one-hundred fortresses The encampment of Cadwallon by Cowyn: a weary hand on the reins, multitudi nous the l a m e n t sof English warriors.

12

The encampment of Cadwallon tonight is across the l a n d in the region of Penfro.

Unless there was great support their fleeing was difficult. 13.

The encampmentof Cadwallon by Teifi: blood mixed with salt water. He kindled the passion of Gwynedd. 495

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY 14.

The encampment of Cadwallon by Dufyrdd river: he made eagles full; after battle corpses were their reward.

15.

The e n c a m p m e n t of Cadwallon my brother on the heights of D u n a w d ' s land:

'Claf Abercuawg' and 'Kyntaw geir'

his anger was not gentle in battle. 16.

The e n c a m p m e n t of Cadwallon by Meirin: al i o n with n u m e r o u s soldiers, ag r e a t host, very cruel i t s a s s a u l t .

17.

Because of the counsel of a f o r e i g n e rand unrighteous monks

'Claf Abercuawg'

w a t e r fl o w s f r o m a f o u n t a i n .

Wretched the day of mourning for Cadwallon.

18.

My spirit craves to sit for a long time on a hill b u t n e i t h e r d o e s that b e s t i r m e .

The woods have put on the fair mantle of s u m m e r ;

My journey is short, my homestead is desolate.

t h e fi e r c e o n e m a k e s h a s t e to b a t t l e .

May we fight around Elfed.

2.

Piercing is the wind; bare ?.. When the woods p u ton the fair colour of summer. I am ?feverishly ill today.

3.

I am not active, I d o not keep a host,

I cannot go about. While it pleases the cuckoo let it sing. A vocal cuckoo s i n g s with the daybreak

a loud song in the meadows of Cuawg. A prodigal is better than a miser. 5.

In Abercuawg cuckoos sing on flowering branches. Vocal cuckoo, let it sing for a long time to come.

6.

In Abercuawg cuckoos sing on flowering branches.

Woe to the sick man who hears them constantly.

In Abercuawgcuckoos sing. My h e a r tfi n d s it wretched t h a t o n e w h o h a s h e a r d t h e m d o e s n o th e a r t h e m also.

I have listened to a cuckoo on an ivy-covered tree. My clothing has b e c o m eloose. Grief for that which Iloved i sgreater. On the height above the strong oak Ilistened to the cries of birds.

Noisy cuckoo, everyone remembers that which he loves. 10.

Singer of continual song, i t s cry full of longing, intending to wander, of hawk-like movement is the v o c a lcuckoo in Abercuawg. 497

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY 11.

TRANSLATIONS: CLAF ABERCUAWGAND KYNTAW GIER

N o i s y a r e t h e b i r d s ; w e t t h e valleys.

The moon shines; the dead of night is cold.

24.

My heart is raw because of the affliction of disease. 12.

[Noisy are the birds; wet the|* valleys; the dead of night is long Every rarity is admired.

25

I deserve a reward of sleep from old age. 13.

14.

Noisy are the birds; wet the shingle. Leaves fall; the exile is dispirited. I will not deny I am ill tonight. Noisy are the birds; wet the shore. Bright the sky; expansive is

26.

16.

Noisy are the birds; wet the shore; bright the wave of expansive movement. That which was loved in boyhood I would love if I were to get (it) again.

Noisy are the birds on the highland of Edrywy.

27.

18.

19.

20.

Early summer - fair on the region. When warriors hasten to the battlefield I do not go; my affliction burns me.

I have heard a heavy-pounding wave,

loud b e t w e e n the beach and shingle .

Cowparsley is sweet; laughing the wave. The cheek cannot conceal the distress of the heart.

Frequent is the sigh which ?betrays me

29.

according to my wont.

God does notallow good for the diriaid. 30.

W h e n w a r r i o r s h a s t e n to b a t t l e

I do not go; an affliction does not permit me.

Cups are ?upraised; the attacker is ?. Men are merry o v e rale.

Branching is the tip of the oak; bitter the taste of the ash.

28.

High the cry of hounds in the wasteland. Early summer- every growth is fair.

.?.. wicked. When the Lord judges on the long day the false will be black; the true bright.

My heart is raw becauseof depressiontonight.

Noisy the birds again.

17.

There will be grief when it is atoned for: exchanging for a little thing a great one.

Whithered are the stalks; the cattleare in the shed.

the wave. The heart is withered because of longing. 15.

It concocts treachery - an evil deed.

31.

Good to the diriaid may not be allowed , only sorrow and care. God will not undo that which he does.

Despite that which may be done in an oratory diriaid is h e w h o r e a d s it -

hated by man here; hated by God above. The leper was a squire; h e was a bold warrior

32.

The top of the hill is washed out; fragile the tip of the ash. From the estuaries a shining wave flows out. Laughter is far from my heart.

in the court of a king. May God be kind to the outcast.

Today for me is the e n do fa month in the hostel which he has left.

My heart is raw, fever ?has seized me. 21.

'Kuntaw Geir'

Clear is the sight of the watcher. The idle one performs generosity.

The first speech I w i l lutter

M y h e a r t is raw; i l l n e s s w a s t e s m e . 22.

The wise man does not desire discord. The b o n d o f u n d e r s t a n d i n g is patience. 23.

in the morning when I arise:

Cattle are in the shed; mead is in the bowl.

Cattle a r e in the shed; ale is in the bowl. Slippery are the paths; fierce the shower.

? . . the ford. The m i n d concocts treachery.

may the cross of Christ be as armour about me. 2.

Under the protection of my lord I will gird myself today h

e

a

ro n e s n e e z e .

It is not m yGod; I will not believe in it. 3.

I will gird myself finely. I will not believe in an o m e n since it i s not right.

He who created me will give me strength

†See t h e n o t e s

498

499

EARLY WELSH S A G A POETRY

4.

My mind is set on a journey, seeking to go on the sea.

A beneficial purpose; it will be a blessing. 5.

M y m i n d d e s i r e sc o u n s e l ,

seeking to go on the sea. A beneficial purpose. He is Lord. 6.

Miscellaneous Saga Poems

A raven raises its wing desiring to go far.

A beneficial purpose; it will be better. 7.

'Llym awel'

A raven raises its wing

desiring to go to Rome.

Sharp is t h e wind, bare the hill; it is difficult to obtain shelter. The ford is spoiled; the lake freezes:

.1

A beneficial purpose; ti will be fine. 8.

a m a n c a n s t a n d o n a s i n g l e reed.

Saddle the c h e s t n u t with the white bridle, eager to run, with a rough coat.

2.

Lord of Heaven, he would be necessary. May God be with us

9.

summits-

Saddle the s h o r t - h a i r e dchestnut,

one can hardly stand up outside.

free-moving in hard going, with an ambling course. Where there's a nose there'll be a sneeze!

10.

11.

13.

Cold is the bed o f the lake before the stormy wind

of winter. Brittle are the reeds; broken the stalks; blustering is the wind; the woods are bare. 4.

Weighty is the company of the world; thick the leavesof the briars; bitter the d r i n k i n g horn of sweet mead. Lord of Heaven, make easy my journey.

12.

3.

Saddle the chestnut with the long leap,

free moving in hard going, desiring to amble. An unlucky sneeze will not hinder the brave.

Wave upon wave covers the edge of the land; very loud are the wails (of the wind) against the slope of the upland

Cold is the bed of the fish in the shadow of ice; lean the stag; bearded the stalks; short the afternoon; the t r e e sare bent.

5.

Offspring of the Ruler, victorious Redeemer,

It snows; white is its surface. Warriors do n o tgo on their expeditions.

a n d Peter h e a d of every nation,

The lakes are cold; their colour is without warmth.

Saint Bridget, bless my journey.

It snows; hoarfrost is white.

Sun of intercession, Lord of petition, Christ in Heaven, piller of boon, may I atone for sin by my deed.

The wind is very great; it freezes the grass.

Idle is a s h i e l d o n t h e s h o u l d e r o f t h e old.

Snow falls on top of ice; wind s w e e p s the top of the thick woods. Fine is a shield on the shoulder of the brave. 8.

Snow falls; it covers the valley. Warriors rush to battle.

I do not go; an injury does not allow me. 9.

Snow falls on the side of the hill.

The steed is a prisoner; cattleare lean. It is not the nature of a summer day today. 10.

Snow falls; white the slope of the mountain. Bare the timbers of a s h i pon the sea. A c o w a r dnurtures m a n y counsels.

500

501

TRANSLATIONS: MISCELLANEOUS SAGA POEMS

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY 11.

12.

13.

co ld t h e p a t h s ; b r i g h t t h e sky.

Strong the wind; bare the woods; withered the stalks; lively the stag.

The afternoon is short; the tops of the trees are bent.

Faithful Pelis, what land is this?

24.

Goldhandles on drinkinghorns; drinking horns around the company; Bees are in shelter; weak the cries of the birds. The day is harsh; . . White-cloaked the ridge of the hill; red the dawn.

Bees are in shelter; cold the covering of the ford.

-

25.

it would not cause fearful darkness to me; I could lead the host to Bryn Tyddwl. 26.

Ice f o r m s w h e n it will.

Despite all evading, death will come.

14.

15.

Bees are in captivity; green-coloured the sea; withered the stalks; hard the hillside. Cold and harsh is the world today.

27.

Bees are in shelter against the wetness of winter; ;.. hollow the cowparsley. An ill possession is cowardice in a warrior.

28.

Long is the night; bare the moor; grey the hill;

29.

Rough the seas; there will be rain today. the valley; Dry is the wind; wet the path; .?.

30.

There is bad weather on the mountain; rivers are in strife.

You are not a cleric, you are not a ?grey-haired lord,

The stooped stag seeks the head of a sheltered valley.

In the morning at the break o fday when Mwng Maw Drefydd was attacked the horses of Mechydd were not pampered.

32.

Ale d o e s not give m e joy because of the news w h i c h has been conveyed to me.

Mechydd, there is a covering of wood on you. 33.

The thrush of the speckled breast, the s p e c k l e - b r e a s t e d thrush.

the clash of Rhun a n d the other brave one. 34.

stag.

22.

Lord of Heaven, you have caused me grief. 35.

the sea wave is very foamy. Short is the day; l e t your c o u n s e l be accomplished.

23.

Since the spearmen of Mwng killed Mechydd brave lad, I do n o tc o m p r e h e n d i t-

The e d g e of a bank breaks against the hoof of a lean, stooping, bowed

Very high is the loud-wailing wind: scarcely, it is true, can one stand outside. The first d a yof winter; brown and very dark are the tips of the heather;

They fought around Cafall.

There was a bloodied corpse, without regard:

Ice breaks; the regions are bare. A brave warrior can escape from many a battle. 21.

Since a lord has gone into Rhodwydd Iwerydd,

31.

you are not called o n o n the day of need. Cynddilig, alas that you were not aw o m a n .

20.

The one whom G o ddeliver from the too-great bond of prison, the type of lord whose spear is red: it is Owain Rheged who raised me.

After mead do not wish for disgrace.

Flood wets the lowland of homesteads. 19.

Before bearing arms and taking up your shield, defender of the hostof Cynwyd, • Pelis, in what country were you raised?

oh w a r band, do not flee.

cold the growth; lean t h estag. There is a flood in the river. There will be fine weather. 18.

Attacking the country of ?. following Owain on a white horse.

silver-grey the shore; the seagull is in sea spray.

17.

Since you so easily find the ford and river crossing and so much snow falls, Pelis, how are you (so) skilled? does not cause me anxiety in Britain tonight,

?.

16.

Though it should snow up to the cruppers of Arfwl Melyn

Warriors in battle; t h e f o r d will be frozen

Cold the wave; multicoloured the breast of the sea. Lord, let him give w i s ecounsel. 36.

Mechydd mab Llywarch, bold lord, comely and fair (his) swan-colo ured mantle.

The first who tied up his horse.

Under the s h e l t e rof a shield on a spirited steed with brave, dauntless warriors

the night is fine to attack the enemy. 502

503

EARLYW E L S H SAGA POETRY

' G e r a i n t fab E r b i n '

.1

When Geraint was born the doors of Heaven were open, Christ gave that which was prayed for: a c o m e l y f o r m , B r i t a i n ' s g l o r y.

2.

And after battle, a harsh pondering.

I saw white, bowed, blood-stained horses, Before Geraint, the oppression of the enemy, I saw white horses - their coats were bloodstained, and after battle, harsh covering.

In Llongborth I saw weapons, warriors, and gore flowing, and after battle, a harsh burial. In Llongborth I saw battle, and biers in gore,

and bloodstained warriors because of the rush of the enemy.

8.

16.

before the rush of great Geraint, his father's son 17.

In Llongborth Geraint lost brave warriors from the region of Dynaint. And before they were killed, they killed.

18.

In Llongborth Arthur lost brave warriors, they hewed with steel, the ruler, leader of battle.

19.

It was swiftly that the long-legged horses ran under Geraint's thighs, growing sturdy on grain, of the rush of a heath fire on m o u n t a i n wastes.

20.

21.

22.

23.

It was swiftly that the l o n g - l e g g e d horses ran

It was swiftly that the long-legged horses ran

under Geraint's thighs, worthy of grain, reddened with blood, of the rush of grey eagles. 24

It was swiftly that the long-legged horses ran

under Geraint's thighs, grain-scattering, reddened with blood, of the rush of red eagles.

In Llongborth I saw tumult, t h e feast of r a v e n s o n e n t r a i l s ,

25.

It was swiftly that the l o n g - l e g g e dhorses ran

under Geraint's thighs - grain was their feed -

and on the cheek of a warrior a red wound.

reddened with blood, of the rush of g r e y eagles.

In Llongborth I saw spurs, and warriors who did not retreat before the spear,

26

In Liongborth I saw battlehaze, an d warriors suffering misfortune,

and prevailing after succour. 504

It was swiftly that the long-legged horses ran

under Geraint's thighs, nurtured on grain, reddenedwith blood, of the rush of black eagles.

and drinking wine from clear glass vessels. 13.

It was swiftly that the long-legged horses ran

under Geraint's thighs, (fed on) wheat, reddened with blood, of the rush of speckled eagles.

Every warrior endures hardship.

12.

It was swiftly that the long-legged horses ran under Geraint's thighs, grain-nurtured, reddened with blood, of the rush of bold eagles. under Geraint' s t h i g h s , grain-co nsuming , reddened with blood, of the rush of white eagles.

In Llongborth I saw hewing, c o n fl i c t ? . . .

11.

In Llongborth I saw slaughter, warriors in battle and blood on skulls

In Llongborth I saw bloodshed, and b i e r s because of weapons, a n d b l o o d s t a i n e d w a r r i o r s because of the rush of d e a t h .

10.

before the great rush of the son of Erbin.

In Llongborth I saw battle-fury, and uncountable biers, and bloodstained warriors because of the r u s hof Geraint.

9.

In Llongborth I saw conflict,

Before Geraint, the affliction of the enemy and after battle, a bitter grave.

6.

15.

Before Geraint, ?the d r i v e rof the enemy,

I saw bowed, bloodstained horses because of battle.

5.

In Llongborth I saw strife, warriors in b a t t l e and blood on feet. He who w o u l d be Geraint's warrior let him make haste.

Let all praise ?his bloodstained companions.

an enemy to an Englishman, a friend to Christians.

4.

14.

w a r r i o r s in b a t t l e a n d b l o o d u p t o t h e k n e e s

Lord, I myself shall praise Geraint, 3.

TRANSLATIONS: MISCELLANEOUS SAGA POEMS

27.

It was swiftly that the long-legged horses ran u n d e r Geraint's thighs, greedy for grain, the tips of their manes white with silver.

505

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

'Gwun ap N u d d ' 1.

Bull of battle, fierce, terrible, leader of a host, not easy to anger, of faultless faith, is there protection for me?

2.

From the warrior of strong rule, leader of a host, lord of wrath,

TRANSLATIONS: MISCELLANEOUS SAGA POEMS 14.

'Mi a wum'

you shall h a v e protect ion since y o u ask for it. 3.

4.

Since you give me such fi n e protection Iwill ask you, lord of a host, from whence do you come?

1.

I come from battleand great hewing

2.

I have been where G w e n d d o l a u was slain,

the son of Ceidio, pillar of poetic craft, when ravens rushed to gore.* I h a v e b e e n w h e r e Brân w a s slain,

w i t h s h i e l d s i nh a n d .

5.

son of Ywerydd of wide fame,

Spear blows shattered heads.

w h e n carrion crows rushed.

I address you, ready

I have been where Llachau was slain, son of Arthur, terrible in songs, when ravens rushed to gore.

3.

warrior, with his shield in battle, staunch battler, what i sy o u rdescent?

6.

Carngrwn is my horse, of battle tumult

4.

Since you, Gwyn, a r ea true warrior, I will not conceal myself from you: I am G w y d d n o Garanhir.

5.

I have been where Meurig was slain,

son of Careia n of honou red praise, w h e n ravens rushed to flesh.

Thus am I called: G w y n m a b Nudd, lover of Creiddylad d a u g h t e rof Lludd.

7.

8.

affliction of England, the son of Lleenawg. 6.

The white horse does not allow me conversation with y o u

I have been where the warriors of Britain were slain, f r o m t h e e a s t to t h e n o r t h .

He hurries to m y battle of Tafwy and Nedd. It is not the n e a r e s tTafwy I speak to you about

Iam alive; they are in t h egrave. 7.

b u t t h eT a f w y furthest a w a y

by the shoreof the sea, a fierce ebbing. 10.

I have been where Gwallawg was slain, son of a privileged dynasty,

H e leads with his bridle.

9.

Red-nosed Dormach, what nature does he have since I cannot follow your course above on the sky?

My ring is engraved, gold the saddle of my white horse. B e c a u s e of my v a n i t y

I have been where the warriors of Britain were slain, from the east to the s o u t h I a m alive; they are dead.

*or, 'croaked on gore'; 2c. 'croaked'; 3c'croaked on gore'; c4 'croaked on flesh'

I saw battle before Caer Fandwy. 11.

Before M a n d w y I s a w a h o s t .

Shields were shattered; spears were broken. The honoured, f a i r o n e caused violence.

12.

'Taliesin and Ugnach'

Gwyn ap Nudd, benefit of hosts, armies

H o r s e m a n w h o makes for his fortress

would fall before the hooves of your horse

with his white hounds and his loud hunting horns.

more quickly than severed reeds to the ground. 13.

My h o u n d is b e a u t i f u land he is fair a n d it i s h e w h o i s b e s t of h o u n d s :

Dormach, who belonged to Maelgwn. 506

I w h o have seen you d o not k n o w you 2

H o r s e m a n w h o makes for the estuary

upon a strong horse, steadfast in battle, come with me - I m a y not be denied. 507

T R A N S L AT I O N S : M I S C E L L A N E O U S S A G A POEMS

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY 3. •

The cry of Mererid from t h e heightof the fortress today

I will not go there n o w, the intention of battle will not be delayed.

is raised up to God. F r e q u e n tafter p res ump tio n is long destruction.

May the blessing of Heaven and earth go (with you). 4.

Oh warrior who has not seen me daily,

The cry of Mererid is from the height of the fortress today.

5.

S h e m a k e s her a t o n e m e n t to G o d . F r e q u e n t after p r e s u m p t i o n is r e m o r s e .

like to a blessed man,

how f a rdo you go and from whence do you come? 5.

I come from Caer Seon from fighting w i t hJews.

6.

Frequent after p r e s u m p t i o n is a fall.

I go to the fortressof Lleu and Gwydion. 6.

Come with me to the fortress you will have mead which has matured

7.

and fine gold on your (shield) boss. 7.

I do not k n o w the bold warrior

Come with me to my home. You shall have overflowing wine.

The cry o fMererid from the back of a fine c h e s t n u tsteed bountiful G o d caused it. Frequent after too much is want. The cry of Mererid drives me tonight

8.

who promis es me mead and a bed. Fairly and sweetly you speak. 8.

The cry of Mererid angers me tonight

and prosperity does not come easily to me.

a w a y f r o m m y room.

Frequent after presumption is long defeat. 9.

The grave of Seithennin of high sense* is between Caer Cenedir and the sea shore.

Ugnach is my name, s o n of Mydno.

H e w a s a n o b l e w a r r i o r.

9.

Ugnach, blessing on your court. May you have dignity and honour.

*or, 'The grave of proud Seithennin'

10.

Taliesin, chief o f warriors,

I am Taliesin, I will repay you for your feast.

challenger in bardic contest, stay h e r e until Wednesday. 11.

Ugnach whose wealth is greatest, may you have grace in the chief country. I do not deserve censure; (but) I will not stay.

'Gwallawg' 1.

Because the one-eyed man is so wealthy / generous and this is by Gwallawg's court I myself will be wealthy. May the goose be cursed which p u l l e dout his eye on h i s face -

'Seithennin' 1.

2.

3.

Gwallawg the s o nof Llennawg, a lord.

May the black goose be cursed

Seithennin, stand and come out and look at the fury

which pulled out his eye from his side -

of the sea. It has covered Maes Gwyddno.

Gwallawg the son of Llennawg, the head of a host.

May the maiden, the server oft h e wild sea,

May the white goose be cursed which pulled out h i seye from his head -

who released after lament the fountain be cursed.

Gwallawg son of Llennawg, a leader.

May the maiden, the server of the desolate sea,

5.

May the grey goose be cursed

w h o released after battle

which pulled out his e y e in his youth -

the fountain be cursed.

Gwallawg son of Llennawg of nobility. 508

509

1.

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

TRANSLATIONS: MISCELLANEOUS SAGA POEMS

'Ysgolan'

Miscellaneous Verses

Black is your horse; black is your cloak;

At midnight I heard the cry o fa host

black your head; black yourself. Black skull - is that you, Ysgolan? 2.

I am Ysgolan the clerk, of weak mind, ?flitting.

2.

Woe to him who does not please, who (rather)angersGod. 3.

of a red-headed one from afar, of lofty fate; unless a c h a m p i o n is satisfied he will not desist. I heard a crane that c r i e dout on a pond

far from dwelling places That which may not be listened to fell silent.

Because of b u r n i n g a church and killing a school cow

and drowning a votive book my penance is a heavy affliction. 4.

Creator of creation, of t h e g r e a t e s t powers, forgive me my wrong. H e w h o b e t r a y e d y o u t r i c k e d m e too.

5.

For a full year I was placed on a pole in a weir in Bangor. Regard the pain caused to me by sea worms.

6.

If I had k n o w n what I know how evident is wind to the tips of the .?. trees. I would never have done that which I did.

Trystan Fragments 1.

Trystan ?hides because of your ?coming. He will not accept y o u rcasting me off. For my part, I betrayed March for you.

2.

It would be my desire to avenge Cyheig b e c a u s e o f h i s s w e e t words.

Alas, dwarf, your anger was hostile to me.

The Three luvencus Englynion .1

I will not speak .… ?.. tonight. My warband is not overly big -

I and my freedman around our cauldron. 2.

I will not laugh, I will not speak tonight, although we drank matured mead,

I and my freedman around our bowl. 3.

Let no one ask for merriment from me tonight my company is lowly. Two lords may converse - one speaks. 510

511

NOTES: C A N U LLYWARCH

flats at low tide ... The technique of depositing raftsacross unstable groundis prehistoric, and, though traces of the Liffey ford have n o tyetbeen found . .. [a] programof research excavation conducted in t h e right places would almost certainly uncover the substantial remains of the postulated rafts.'

Morlas Brook appears o nmodern maps and is noted by RobertVaughan(NLW 9094) in his list of Shropshire rivers: 'Morlas riseth in Selatton and by Marton.' See further below, 18b.

CANU LLYWARCH

There isno early title; the first poem is given the title 'Gwên ap Llywarch a'i Dad' ni CLIH.It follows without any indication of abreak in the mss CLIH I 'Cân yr Henwr'

1a

b

1(a) From NLW 49736, but also foundas the final verse of 'Gwahodd Llywarch i Lanfawr (CLIH V), ultimately from a copyof NLW 4973a. The englyn is written in the margin of

NLW 49736 with an arrow indicating its proper position.The style of the writing,

exampleo fefor y.The scribes may have failed to modernize their exemplarbecause of the fortuitous association with the f. noun, awel.The same sentence is found in 'Claf

scripts above for circumstantial evidence that the additional stanzasof C a n Heledd

'Abercuawc' 2a again written llem awel, although 4973b has llym awel in this instance,

found in the latter part of the NLW 4973 came from Vaughan's collection of hengerdd. Llywarch is the first speaker, Gwên the second, and both are allotted one englyn apiece

as in the opening words of BBC 89, 'Llymawel'. However, concord does occur i nother types of copula sentences, so despite the lack of an unambiguous example the possibility that this is a nexample of concord which coexisted with the oppositepractice cannot be totally ignored.

throughout.

CY BWYF: Emended ni CLIH, p. 22, ot cyld] bwyf, but see the note by Thomas Jones,

Awel is defined as 'breeze, light wind' in GPC, but in early poetrythe usage indicates that 'wind' and even 'high wind' are often appropriate; thesedefinitions are found in Geirfa 'awel, gwynt, mawwynt'. CHWERW GWENWYN: Literally 'bitter (is) poison, but both words are used figu-

BBCS 24, pp. 272-3, in which he shows that the ms form could be interpreted a scyfwvf

(cf. cyuel) with the same meaning as cyd bwyf. This could b e a remnantofOW orthogra-

phy, but ba n d o are frequently confused in medieval mss. (Thomas Jones incorrectly states that one of the sources of CLIH V, B L Addl. Ms. 14867, is in the hand of Thomas

ratively.Chwerw can mean 'painful, rough, severe, sharp; hurtful, angry,cruel', etc.; see GPC. Gwenwyn has appropriate figurative meaningsas well,as given in GPC (b) 'jealousy, malice, anger,bad feeling' a n d(c) 'bitterness, pain; grief; cruelty'. Although cast in general, gnomic terms, the sentence probably refers to Llywarch's obvious ill-will and bitterness in taking up arms as a goad to Gwên. AMGYHUD: Either from am + cyhuddaf, cf. amcawdd (as the lenited g suggests) or a'm cyhudd. There are two examples in H 14 and H 21. The first clearly supports taking

Wiliems and isa copy of lost portions of the White Book. BL Addl. Ms. 14867 is written by William Morris, and the section in question contains variant readings and additions t a k e nfrom NLW 4973.)

AS GALLAF: Ifor Williams,CLIH, p. 159, suggests reading os gallaf'ifIcan doit'. There is certainly some confusion of o and a in NLW 4973. With the conditional cyfwyf. however, it may be preferable to take as as the infixing preverbal particle a +3rd sg m. object pronoun: 'Although Imay be old, Ican do it', anticipating the following line. For

amgyhuddas a compound verb: Ardwyraef ... arbarabylperwawd ardraethawddras. am kyhut am ut(yawn) essilit idwal 'Texalt ... in sweet poeticspeech, ina treatise on lineage

this form see GMW, pp. 55-6, PT, p. 74. Gallu with the particlery is attested as 'to take away, snatch', etc., see below, CU 16c, but there is no evidence for the simplex mean-

It proclaims concerning a just lord, a descendantofldwal'.Sincethe poet is speakingof his own composition, a'm cyhudd 'it tells me' is unlikely. GPC, however, lists these examples under cyhuddaf; Geirfa also lists them under chudaw, but notes t h a tamgyhudaw i s possible. The MnW meaning o fcyhuddo is 'to accuse', but MW meanings include ' t odeclare, assert, make known',etc. (GPC), as it is here.The reading of NLW 4973b, namcyhudd, appears to be the sourceof the reading found in Pughe's edition and originally ac-

ing to ' hold' as in the alternative translation given in CLIH, p. 159. RODWYDD FORLAS: Rhyd Forlas is named as the scene of Gwên's death in18b, 22c. Rhodwydd and rhyd are often used interchangeably (for exs. see CLIH, pp. 159-60.) Ifor Williams suggests that rhodwydd was a fortified rivercrossing or afortress near aford, taking the second elementas GPC 4gwydd 'grave, . . burial mound, tumulus', and the first as rhawd or rhod. Despite the suggestive place-names,Castell y Rhodwydd and Rhodwydd Geidio, for fortresses, most examplesare clearly near-synonyms for rhyd,

c e p t e dby f o r Williams. For h i s account of h o w he c a m e to reject this i n t e r p r e t a t i o n see

and on the whole gwydd and its compounds are connected with funerary sites, not

LEWP, p.38. WYF: Wyf rhymes with vrwyn /gwenwyn, indicating composition i nthe OW period when (-u] from [-m] was still a nasal; see chapter 7. Ydd dwyn from NLW 4973a appears

fortifications. Another possibility, if the elements are rhod (cf. rhodfa) and gwydd

'trees, branches, shrubs', etc., is a construction of withies or branches to aid passage

through a ford with a considerable current or a soft bottom, a sort of causeway ford.

Such acauseway ford is attested in the Irish name for Dublin, AthCliath, cf. Howard B . Clarke, T ' he Topographical Development of Early Medieval Dublin', Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquariesof Ireland, 107 (1977), p. 36: 'The word cliath refers presumably to rafts of hurdle-work staked to the river bed, weighted down b ymassive stones,

and designed to provide a footway for people and domestic animals across the mud 512

LLEM AWEL: An example of the type of nominal sentence commonly found in the englynion: predicate + subject with the copula understood, 'sharp i sthe wind'. Concord between a feminine nounand the predicative adjective is n o tnormally found: cf. EWGP III.16 brith bronn twrr; 17 brith bronn kreic; 26 brith bronn gwyd; 'Duad' I1.2

gwyrdd gwaneg. Ifor Williams therefore takes lem here not as the f. oflym, but a san

particularly ofthe h, si that used by Dr John Davies in the latter part of NLW 4973. The source may be Robert Vaughan's lost YCynfeirdd Cymreig; see the section on manu-

b

NA WISC: Gwisgaw here is 'take up arms, arm oneself'; see GPC. KWYN: < Lcena, 'the evening meal, feast' (CLIH,p.55; GPC) VRWYN: GPC brwyn 'sorrowful, grievous, sad, heavy; pensive'.

to b e an a t t e m p t to r e g u l a r i z e t h e r h y m e a n d m a k e s n osense.

2a

NEUT: For neu(t), an affirmative preverbalparticle, see GMW pp. 169-70. AT W E N AR: G P C adnabod ar 'to k n o w from o b s e r v a t i o n of'.

AWEN: Not the usual 'poetic inspiration' here, but 'mind, spirit'; CLIH, p. 56, GPC. It can b e t r a n s l a t e d 'I k n o w in m y heart'.

513

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

NOTES: CANU LLYWARCH

UNACH EN: with RB, P,achen. Thave A cusnIfor achen. GPC cun 'fine, beautiful,pleasant, dear gives .b O suitable sense William

takes it, wyneb gwr (4c) cannot be parallel to wyneb, trin wosep w.r The two metrical

s notes, however, hanfod si frequently

grounds given for omission of dy a r enot compelling, and it is argued in the chapter discussion that the inclusion of dy si deliberate and telling. (Ifor Williams's later

byo,andcould so emends cun tooun. This si supportedby NLW 4973a onu since followed four minims the easily be misread. O un also gives a more regular line of seven syllables. In CLIH, pp. 56-7, examples are given of the same idea, and the close parallel

translation of the line, LEWP, p. 39, retains the personal pronoun unlike the earlier

translation in 'Poems',p. 137.)

from Kulwch ac Olwen si alsocited of the heart feeling common ancestry. Arthur saysot Culhwch(who has not yet revealed his descent): mae vyg calon ny tirioni worthyt. mia

TRIN WOSEP WR: Athree-part compound. Gwoseb or gosebaccordingtoGPCis 'gift,

present, boon

wn dy hanuot om gwaet.

TRIGWXD ORIC ELWIC: Orci is from awr'hour,time' with the diminutive ending

can hardly be synonymous with o' filwr dewr'.Thechoice of words mustbe ironicsince Llywarch has quickly given over the fight to someone else and is also ridiculously

a' short time, alittle while'. Elwic si na adj from ew l 'benefit, profit', ect,. ni GPC -i'gb,eneficial,

advantageous, profitable, precious', etc. English 'valuable time, precious

i n c a p a b l e .'Battle-ready' in this instance may r e f e rto Llywarch's typical quarrelsome-

time' c o r r e s p o n d s well to oric elwic.

ness rather than his martial qualities. Ford's 'war-worthyone' (Poetry,p. 85) is unju-

Trigwyd is the passive perf indic of trigo t'o stay, abide, dwell, remain, delay'. Itcan

be taken as a true impersonal: 'someone has delayed a valuable while',and this would

be typical of Llywarch's often indirect mode of attack. nI LEWP, p. 37, this line is translated 'Long has thou stayed away,OGwên!'. As noted ni CLIH, p. 57, dfor final[d

is rare in t h e RB, so the reading of the passive perf is somewhat uncertain here. tI is

stified. b

C.

sion, where ti si argued that Gwên has not necessarily been away from home. (Oric,

indeed, does not suggest a protracted length of time.)

usual form, and an ending -fi would not be expected in a vb with u in the stem; see

Ford, Poetry, p. 83, rejects the emendation o un achen and translates: I' know by my awen/ That we are a noble line/ It has endured a good while, O Gwên.' This is more

GMW, p. 157, WG, pp. 387-8. At any rate, 9c kynn techaf, shows that there is no real

problem with taking mudif as indicative.

strained a n d less satisfactory. 6b.

vocative particle, giving a more regular 7-syllable line, but destroying the pun.

b

PAR: 'spear, light spear'. GRYT: Here 'battle'. See GPC gryd for other meanings.

ARMAAF: .J Lloyd-Jones, BBCS ,4 pp. 147-8, and in Geirfa suggests the meanings basis of this and other examples f o rWilliams proposes 'intend, prepare' (CLIH, p.57), and this is followed in GPC. DUW GENNYT: A form of farewell; CLIH, p. 58.

WELIF, GWYNIF: The rhyme with gnif (line c) and meaning show that the 1st sg pres/fut indic ending from i-stems, -if should be restored here. The mss show consi d e r a b l e confusion.

b

OTH RY LEDIR: The perfective particle ry gives a past sense to the pres/fut verb.The infixing of the object pronoun into the conjunction o(d) is perhaps late or a copying error; one would expect *o ryth ledir. WYNEB GWR: 'Honour of a warrior'; cf.Olr enech,a n dWelsh wynebwerth,in law the

price paid for insult. The singular gwr makes better sense than the plgwyr found inthe

mss; see CLIH, p. 58.

verb u s ed w h e n there are no p r e v e r b a lparticles. It is one of the few reflexes of the

system of absolute a n dconjunct in Welsh although it i s fully operative in Old Irish.See further GMW, pp. 118-9, a n dchapter 7 9с

KAT [AGDO]: The mss have ca ado, a gado, but the superscription in NLW 4973a ced agdo supports the emendation made in CLIHto agdo. Examples of acdo, ado and agdo are given in CLIH, pp. 61-2. Geirfa w i t h query gives the meaning 'gorchudd tenau' to

agdo and takesacdo separately with the meanings'? gorchudd, llen, cysgod'. GPC takes both forms together with the definitions '? covering, shelter.' It is possibly from ang'narrow, restricted' and to 'covering'.

fI agdo means 'mantle', kat agdo can be compared with catpeis(CH 97a). An address

to Gwên ispossible, 'oh one wearinga battle-cloak'; less probably it canbe taken with

aruaeth,'the resolution of one wearinga battle-cloak soon breaks'.The bestsolution is

DY WYNEB: In CLIH, p.59, omission of dy is suggested on metrical grounds and to

to take kat agdo as 'a thin covering', commenting o nt h e protective powers o f one who breaks h i s promises. GNAWT F O AR FFRAETH: This proverb occurs in the RB list, col. 1065, and in Llan 52, p. 105, as gnawt ffoo ffraeth.There are t w o main definitions for ffraeth (1) 'ready, swift' and (2) 'fluent, talkative'. The second suits t h econtext better: ' o n etoo fluent in

usually falls on the fifth syllable, this is not invariable, cf. 'Cân' 15, CH 35, 80, 84,

making promises often flees'. Lines 200-1 of The Battle of Maldon canbe compared:pat ber modlice manega spracon/ be eft at bearfe polian nolde*.. that many spoke boldly

AR GNIF: Possibly an expression with the prep ar, but ar is foundas a variantof yr /er 'despite', the reading found in P, T, and NLW 4973a. For gnif'deed, feat, feat-of-arms; battle' see GPC.

5a

ECH ADAF: Ech 'out', cognate with Lex; adaf'hand'. I n CLIH, pp. 60-1, various other figurative expressions with 'hand' are cited. In GPC under ech the expression ech adaf is translated 'out of (one's) hand;out of hand,at once, immediately', i n GMW, p. 192, it is taken as 'after, afterwards'. TORRIT: Given the proverbial a n doblique approach to Llywarch'scriticism of Gwên

this is most likely the 3 r d s pres/fut absolute in -it, although in form ti couldalso be impersonal imperfect.The3rd sg pres/fut absolute forms preserve the endings of the

'cynnal, dwyn, dal; cryfhau, nerthi, none of which suit the context here well. O n the

Aa,

PORTHAF GNIF: Cf. 'Gereint' 10c porthitgnif bob kyniuiat. Porthiis 'to bear, endure, MUDIF LLE: Apparently an expression for 'to give way, yield ground'. Mudif is the 3rd sg pres/fut indic (see above). Kyn 'before', however, is often followed by the pres subjunctive; see Geirfa kynn (1) for examples. The construction cyn + vn is also common, and mudif might be an old vn as suggested in CLIH, p. 60. Mudaw,however, i sthe

your precious time; you are wasting valuable time'. For this see the chapter discus-

За

YR YSTRE: RB; ar ystre: P, NLW 4973a. Either 'For the borderland' or'on the borderland'. For ystre 'border, edge, bank; borderland, region' see CLIH, p.59; CA, p. 184. suffer' here.

perhaps best ot take the form as an error for trigyd 2nd sg pres/fut indic y' ou tarry, you delay', and translate 'you tarry for a preciouswhile', or more loosely, 'you are taking

A WEN: 'Oh Gwên', a play on words with awen in line .a P , T, NLW 4973a omit the

;.. giver; ready, at hand, prepared; generous.' In t h i scontext 'battle-

ready warrior'.Although a praiseworthy epithet asnoted inCLIH, p. 59, in its setting it

increase parallelism with 4c. Although internal rhyme with the want of a penfyr

'Gereint' 1. Also if trin wosep wr is an address to Llywarch, as Ifor Williams himself 514

there who later would not endure in need' 515

NOTES: CANU LLYWARCH

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

7a

YSSIT YM: 'there is ot me; Ihave'. See GMW, p. 142. Ysym also occurs frequently. nI

10b

this line I' have the capacity to fulfil whatever I might say'. b

BRIWAW: The orthography is ambiguous here. Briwaw can be the vn or stand for briwaf 1st gs pres/fut indic. Either'therewill eb breaking of spears' or I' willbreak spears'. Ford's 'Though spears shatter' (Poetry, p. 85) is incorrect.

N Y LAUARAF NA FFOWYF: 'I wil not/do not say that I might not fleet; for the significance ofthis line see the chapter discussion. Ford's T'l notcry out nor shallIflee

attached at two ends, not just at the mouthpiece. The definition 'gold b a n d(of ornam e n t ) b e s t s u i t s t h e context.

11a

in GPC, with the meaning 'warriors' or'bandits'. The first element is explained as anc

'hand' as in angad and crafanc, or as the an found in di-anc and engi. A further

also states that llefaru s'eems ot mean "utter asound or cry'"', perhaps thinkingof

possibility si ang as in e-ang, a variant of yng 'constricted, narrow', which alsohas the

llefain. For the connection of llafar and its derivatives with 'speech', see CLIH, p. 106;

figurative meaning 'battle'.

GPCIlafar; also DD lafaru'loqui'; lafar 'vocalis, sonorus, canorus'; lleferydd'vox,dictio,

vocabulum'.

b

12a

MIGNED: 'swamps'; CLIH, p. 62.

CANN: 'white horse'. See CLIH, p. 62,for thepoetic convention of using thedescrip-

disregarded since the reading in P is as in the other mss.)

obvious aside. If the englyn should be a penfyrthen y gwas hoew/glow draw can be read; with the suffixed pronoun given full metrical weight this gives a penfyrof 9, 7, 8, an acceptable pattern. Prost in a penfyr is poorly attested, but gwaew is often substi tuted for an older gwoew; see GPC undergwayw.Since even in t h emilwr stanzas proest is rare, gwoew should undoubtedly be restored here.

B 1062, 'Englynion y EDEWIT NY WNELHER NY DIW: This proverb si found ni R

i see .J .ECaerwyn Williams, Clyweit' 18c (nyd iw), and Pen 17.265 (nyd iw). For ny dw 'Difod, diw, pyddiw', BBCS 23 (1969), pp. 217-33. The meanings deduced are b' od yn

9a

GWASGARAWT: Tgwasgarawc, 4973a gwasgarawdd. The variant readings seem based on confusion of c and .t Gwasgarawg si possible sa na adj 'spreading, dispersing,

•

Y ' Delfryd Arwrol', p.145, argues that the golden spurs indicate: . . mai segura ac ymorchestu mewn moeth a wnai Gwên yn lys Urien.' Butdescriptions of the splendid

early poetry, and the action of t h e waves i sbetter seen as a continuous one. Gwasgarawtcan be 3rd sg fut indicof the vbgwasgaru;see GMW, p. 119. The form mightalso be present giving a somewhat more suitable sense, although most of the examples of

equipment of heroes are common in Celtic literature, and do not suggest that the warriors who wear such armour and carry such weapons are effete and ineffectual; usually the opposite is true.

-(h)awt a r e f u t u r e .

BYDEI RE RUTHRWN: The preverbalparticleyin RB is unnecessary; see CLIH,p.65,

Line a is defective. The lack of end-rhyme and the 6syllables in line b suggest that it should be reconstructed as a penfyr; if so, at least two syllables are lacking in linea. If

and chapter 7. Re 'swiftly, quickly'

YWAEW: Either Llywarch rushed to grab his spear when warfare was athand, or he

the line refers to the upcoming fight, am glawd caer forlas could be read,a description

rushed swiftly towards the enemy's spear. The latter is more likely.

which would accord with the location on a ford. With two other versions of the

line also seems gnomic and symbolic: streams will break and disperse when they come to a n obstacle, and so too does afirm warrior break an onslaught. A reconstruction which would be more general is gwasgarawt neint am eithaf clawd with eithaf

giving rhyme on the gwant. Ifor Williams, CLIH, p.64, suggests addingcereint or

emending neint toceneint and adding Ilif, but he is not specificas to where in the line c

A WISCO EUR YOTTOEW: The reading of NLW 4973b is best here as proved by

rhyme. The normal syntax, a wisc yottoew o eur, has been reversed for rhyme. Jarman,

separating', but only gwasgar isattested. The 3rd sg perf indic ending -awdd is rare in

place-name found (Rhyd Forlas, Rhodwydd F.), Caer Forlas mightbe a bit much. The

DUHUNAF: The i of dihunaf has been assimilated to the following u. Cf. the opening line of 'Maen Wyn'. DRAW: The rhyme draw/ottoew/gwaewappears faulty. This can be solved by reading

ygwashow or gloew. fI the englyn isa milwr then draw must be omitted. Itisdifficult to see how draw would be substituted for glow/hoew, but this speech of Llywarch's isan

tive adj or phrase alone for ahorse. (The note on the line concerning racshould be

bresennol, bod o werth, tycio'. The proverb can be compared to one found in DD: Odid eddewid a ddel, 'Rare is a promise which is fulfilled'.

ANGWYR: anghywyr RB; anghwyr P, T; angen wyr. NLW 4973a Anghywir 'false' is unlikely. Anghenwyr < anghen 'battle'and gwyr i spossible, but otherwise unattested Angwyr also does not occur elsewhere, but is the reading accepted in CLIH, p. 65, and

(Poetry, p.85) translates na as 'nor',although afootnote states that it si 'so that not,and not'. The constructions he cites ot justify his translation are allof adifferent type. He

S a

ARWEST EUR: In GPC arwest 1(a)'string, cord; band, sling, girdle,belt'. It is not likely to mean a golden chain for slinging the horn over the shoulder, since a cordwould be

13a

DIWEIR:GPC diwair (b) 'faithful, loyal; reliable; honest, true'. P, T,4973a have dywir

< dy- (intensive) and gwir'true', 'very true'. For examples see Geirfa. It is less common t h a ndiweir, and might be accounted the lectio difficilior.

DY WAES:Gwaes, gwaes GPC 1 'assertion, statement'. GPC rejects the association suggested with gwaesaf 'to guarantee, pledge' and connectsgwaes with the defective vbdywa, gwa; see GPC *dywa:*dywa'toutter, speak, say'; cf. H267 efyn atteb ny dywnes

these changes are to be made and the intended meaning.There is not sufficient

nac. Since the second line of t h eenglyn indicates that this is a direct address to Lly-

evidence to make a positive emendation.

warch, the noun gwaes preceded by the 2nd g possessive pronoun is better than the 3rd pret indic of the vb dywa as i t is classified in Geirfa. It cannot be translated as 2nd sg

YSGWYT (BRWYT] BRIW: The form bryt in the mss makes little sense, although Geirfa under brwyt suggests that it could be from pryt 'appearance, face, beauty', etc.

Ifor Williams compares this phrase to RB 1387.15-6 Gnawt vot ysgwyt vrwyt vriwdoll arnaw, a line showing the typical poetic use of several near-synonymous adjectives. Brwyd GPC includes the definitions 'bloodstained, multi-coloured, decorated' and

'broken, shattered'. The problem remains of lack of lenitionafter the .f noun ysgwyd. The mss may have preserved an older orthography in which lenition was not indi-

cated, especially if brwyt became bryt at a nearly stage of transmission. On the other hand, confusion of v and b is fairly common; read, as in the RB poem, ysgwyt orwyt vriz

present indic as does Ford, Poetry, p.87. NY BU EIDYL HEN YN WAS: The sentence hasa gnomic flavour, and appearsin the proverb list of RBcol. 953. Ifor Williams suggests that eidyl hen could b eacompound 'feeble and old one', reading ni bu eiddyl-hen yn was, that is, the old man was never a

youth, he has forgotten what it is like (p. 67).Thisconcepthas a modern ringto it,and

also the construction of yn +predicate is rare and restricted in u s e i n the englynion (see

chapter 7). Yn was is better taken 'as a youth, in the state of being a youth';cf. tra vum i yn oety gwas draw above. This supports the alternative interpretation given in CLIH,

'the old man was not a weakling in youth', or, translating so as to keep the gnomic

516

517

EARLY WELSH S A G A POETRY

quality inWelsh,'no old man was aweakling ni youth.' For adiscussion of the

significance of t h i s statement see chapter 1.

NOTES: CANU LLYWARCH

AR YSGWYT AR Y YSGWYD: Ysgwyd ar ysgwydd si a common bardic phrase

15b

because of its sense a n dassonance. Since t h earticle is fairly rare in the englynion, the

reading ai ysgwyd ar ei ysgwydd from 4973a si perhaps preferable; cf. CA 796 A e ysgwyt ar y ysgwyd. But 16b also reads a rysgwyta rygnis and there are no variant readings. In

'Marwnad Gwên' 14a

WRTH LAWEN: Rhodwydd Forlas and Rhyd Forlas(18b, 22c) indicate that the site of

Welsh the article is sometimes used w h e r e a possessive pronoun might be expected,

thebattlewas on the river Morlas; probablyMorlasBrook on modernmaps. Llawen,

particularly whenownership is unambiguous; seeGMW, p. 25. (This example, in fact, is clearer than the ones given there.) Translate: 'with his shield'. CAN: Mss a chan. This line is rather long,and has been emended as in 16ca n dthe additional note in 4973a. 18c also has a chan; this too mightbe read simply as can. One could equally wellchoose to change ymi to ym t o shorten the line,b u t unlike canthere is no evidence for this in the mss. fI both shorter forms are read the line has 7 syllables, but 8 is sufficiently common.

then, is unlikelyto be another river-name unless Morlas is an error ni each instance (see below, 14c). For place-names with llawen as an element see CLIH, p. 67. No Llawen isfoundnear Morlas Brook today, but there is a Preesgween < prys +?Gwên ni the

region which may be associated with Gwen ap Llywarch. Powys and particularly the Argoed region are named sa Llywarch's home in 'Cân yr Henwr',but Morlas cannotbe

identified certainly as the brook on the Shropshire border since the name si not

HYWYD: CLIH, p. 69, ?' ready, swift, prepared'. GPC adds 'skilful, expert', etc., and connects it with gwybod.

u n c o m m o n .

Y D WELAS: Lines 15a and 16a show that e standsfor y here. The verb is gwylio t'o

watch, keep watch'. It is preceded by the pre-verbal particle yd which lenites the

following consonant; see GMW, p. 171. The orthography of the R B is exceptional; yt

16b

GNIS: RB guis; P, T, 4973a, 4973b gris. See CLIH,p .69. Ifor Williams'sconclusion that gnis is the correct readingand that it is cognate with Irgnus i sgenerally accepted. GEC lists this example under the meanings 'jaw, chin,countenance, face'; see also BBCS 13

would be expected. The mss in the W B school have ith suggesting that the exemplar

had it which the WB took as ith and the RBas ydd. See further CLIH, pp. 67-8. In 14a-16a and 18a the various endings of the 3rd sg pret indic are exploited for

(1948), pp. 193 4, and PT, pp.55-6. Ford's 'with the shield facing the battle' (p.87) is based o n a dictionary meaning (see P C ) and takes no account of modernscholarship.

rhyme a n d variety.

b

His footnote, however, refers to an attested meaning: I' take gnis to refer to the tumult or commotion of the onrushing host', as in Geirfa under gnis (2). This meaning is

[YRJATHUC: RB, P , Tathuc; 4973a ath hug, 4973b Arthur. In CLIH the emendationcat gadug is proposed as a sangiad description of Gwên. The th is assumed to come from misinterpretation of t as th rather than d=( dd). Cadgaddug occurs as an epithetof Kynvawr Catgaduc in the triads (TYP 6); caddug is discussed in TYP, pp. 11-2, where

rejected with cause in PT, p. 56. The noise oft h ederivative verb, gnisiaf, is that which comes from the mouth or snout (gnis), such as groaning o rbellowing; see also GPC.

NYD [EGIS]: Mss ny diengis. The simple verb givesbetter metre; see CLIH, p. 70.

further references are given. GPC defines it as 'mist, fog, murkiness ...; covering,

armour, coat of mail', so cat gaduc would be 'a covering(protection) in battle' or 'one

As noted in CLIH, p. 70, this englyn is defective. With additions it could be eithera

17

who raises a battle-fog' . Caerwyn Williams, BBCS 21 (1964),pp. 26-7, si The emendation suggested by .J E

milwr or penfyr, but there is insufficient evidence to reconstruct it. The meaning is consequently unclear, and furthermore the verse seems to be out of order. GWGYD: Apparently the nominal termination -ydd + gwg which had a wider seman-

more satisfactory. H e reads: Yr aducny techas. Addug i sa rare word, apparently meaning 'attack'. Its rarity would explain the failure of the copyists to modernize the orthography of their exemplar.The omission of yr is also readily understandable since

tic range the MnW'frown'. (The 2nd sgpres indicoftheverb gwgaf is also possible, but

very unlikely.) Under gwc in Geirfa there i sa comprehensive discussion of the various forms with the r o o tgwg and their meanings. The possible verbalmeaningo f 'to attack, threaten, fight' are raised for gwgaf. As a noun gwg can mean 'anger, wrath'. Gwydd,

the preceding word, neithwyr, ends i nyr making it easy for the scribe to skip across a following yr.

c

NY TECHAS: In a non-relative clause spirant mutation would be expected. Again there maybe a failure to modernize the orthography of the exemplar. If, however, it

then, can be compared gwyth-wr 'wrathful one, warrior', a meaning suggested in

stands for ni dechas a nominal antecedent such a s cat gadug must be sought ratherthan yr aduc since ni is followed by lenition in a relative clause (see GMW, pp.61-2). In general, as seen in chapter 7, medieval scribal tradition is poor in distinguishing the two typesof clauses from the undifferentiated Old Welsh orthography, so t o o much weight need n o t be placed on the form. The ni thechas of 4973a and 4973b is probably due to Dr Davies's normalization of his text. OER ADRAWD: Oer can mean both 'cold' and 'sad'; with adrawd 'report' only 'sad is appropriate. Cf. H 247 (in a marwnad) chwetyl oer y euruab ywein AR GLAWD GORLAS: If the defensive bank was of turf, gorlas 'very green' makes

GOCHAWD: GPCgochoddaf:gochoddi < go +coddi, 'to afflict, grieve, sadden,offend';

good sense. On the other hand, the similarity to Morlas suggests there may be corruption here even though the meaning is acceptable. Reading Morlas for gorlas here

would destroy the alliteration. In a November 1978 meeting of Cyich yr Hengerdd, Patrick Sims-Williams suggested that gorlas should be read instead of morlas in 18b

and 22c. He noted that morlas occurs in lenited position and that an earlierguorlas

would give ryt worlas (ryt orlas) misunderstood as Rhyd Forlas. This would leave the

site of Gwên's death uncertain. See further t h ediscussion by D. M. Ellis, BBCS 16 pp. 273-4. 518

CLIH, p. 70, and accepted w i t hquery in Geirfa. The word i snot included i n GPC.

the form is 3rd sg pres/fut indic. YS MAWR: Mawr i s n o ta suitable adjective for describing leas unless it is taken a sa substantive: 'yourdeath is agreat matter'. It can be taken with casnaras the punctua-

b

tion in the R B suggests,although lenition is not shown. With themetricalirregularity a c

word could be missing before mawr: d yleas ys x mawr. CASNAR: Uncertain, with the meaning further obscuredby the two ways in which the line can be read: either dy leas ys mawr casnar or casnar nyt car ath ladawr.Casnar occurs both as a proper name and common noun. Nar 'lord' is self-evident, but whethercas in personal names such as Caswallawn, etc., shouldb eassociatedwithcas 'enmity, hatred' is not certain; see .J Ellis Evans, Gaulish Personal Names, p p .167-70

GPC gives the meanings for the common noun (a) 'wrath, grief, pain . . . '(b) 'hero, lord'. With Ileas 'grief, pain' is appropriate. For further problems with thesecond reading see below. NYT CAR ATH LADAWR: If casnar is taken as the subjectof thissentence, ameaning such as 'an enemy, not a relation/ friend' would be expected. The tense of the verb, 519

EARLY W E L S H SAGA POETRY

NOTES: CANU LLYWARCH

future impersonal, si amajor difficulty. It can be emended without loss of rhyme ot

Iladawd 3rd sg pret indic, although hte termination -awdd would not be expected ni early poetry. Furthermore, both 'itisan enemy, not afriendwho killed you' and itis no friend who killed you' seem uncommonly triteand obvious. Nyt si often a mistake

presumably the picture evoked is that of the incoming waves covering the retreating

ebb flow of the preceding waves. Ford's 'breakers cover the coast and'the tide covers the coast' in 21a are loose (Poetry, p. 89). KYNREIN: Also 21b. The mss readings are varied: RB, :T kyrein (RB 21b kyfurin), P cynrein, 4973a cyngrain, 4973b (margin) cynrain / cyngrain. Cynran, pl cynrein 'warrior' is attested, as is cynfrein 'warriors' and cyngrein 'warriors'. The meaning thus is

b

for the positive particle neut, but ti israther unlikely that this si a confessionof Llywarch's guilt: 'it is a relation who killed you'.

unaffected by t h e choice of mss variants, but an original cynrein would b e s texplain t h e

Perhapsthis should be compared with CA 455 an gelwite nef bit athledhawrym mud. nI CA, p. 189, the tentative suggestions of Geirfa on athledhawr are repeated plus anote 'enwyngolygu "amddiffynnydd" a weddai orau'. GPC, however, takes ti asamistake for adleddawr ?' slaughterer, killer', a noun from adledd, adladd 'great slaughter'. Nyt car

adledawr 'the killer si not a friend' is little better in sense than nyt car ath ladawr although preferable to the future verbal form.

Averb adladdaf: adladd is also attested; the meanings given in GPCare to' strike, kill again' and later 'to strike back'.Apossible extension of meaning would be 'avenge',if

range of forms found. For a discussion see CLIH, p . 73. YGOVIT: Here 'into battle'.

c 21a b

their' see GMW, p. 54.

the meaning 'strike back' is sufficiently early. The line might then be read i't si not a relation who will strike back (at those who killed you', or it could bereconstructednut

car ath adladawr 'it si not a relation who will avenge you'. This gives reasonable sense considering that Llywarch has no more sonsand si himself feeble, but in light of the numerous difficulties any emendation would be highly speculative. See also CLIH, p 70.

22a

mabymi. Verses 71 and 19 arelinkedby the simpler opening cymeriad, Gwen, whichof

was of splendid privilege' or 'clear privilege' makes good sense, but the additional meaning 'stubborn' is proposed in CLIH,p. 75: H ' e was stubborn (indemanding his) rights'. 4973a has haul, but this is probably a rare example of D rDavies failing to

order also places the verses in which Llywarch addresses the dead man directly to-

heul.

cymeriad of 14-16 as well as the cymeriadgeiriol found inline cof verses 15 and 16, canbu course also links thisgroup of two (17, 19) to the group 14,15, 16, 18. Finally, therevised gether at the end, a more satisfying emotional progression: cf. CH 2-17.

VORDWYT TYLLURAS: See the note in PKM, p. 44, on Mordwyd Tyllyon, and CLIH,

pp. 70-1, for further examples. Rather than seeing the word sa a compoundof twll 'pierced' and bras, in CLIH it is suggested that twll in these instances means 'mighty' making tyllfras a compound of two near-synonymous adjectives; cf. CA 976 Gueleys y wyr tylluras.

b

YGOROR RYT UORLAS: The most suitable meanings for goror here are 'side,bank, boundary', see GPC.

19a

EISSILLUT: GPC 'nature, disposition'. Botheisillud and eisilud occur. The latter may

be original with the former influenced by eisillydd; see CLIH,p. 71. b

Cf. CA 31 ruthyr eryryn ebyr ban lithiwyt which explains why (apart from rhyme) eagles ruthur are particularly swift and strong in estuaries, a n d also 'Geraint fab Erbin' below

eriron, etc. RB, P, Thave ruth only, but the reading ruthyr rather than tuth(as in 'Claf

tuth hebawc) is further confirmedby the readings of 4973a and 4973b.

OEDUT: 2nd gs imperf indic, as is dianghut (used as a conditional): 'You were of the

rush of eagles in estuaries'.

BETWN: See WG, p. 349. Betwn, pettwn is a fairlyearly contraction of peiyt own, Istsg imperf subjunctive, cf. PKM, p.57, bei et uwni. Betwn, however, is morelikely here to preserveolder orthography forthe Istsg imperf conditional, byddwn, 'were I, if were'. For this usage, cf. CH 76.

DEDWYD: For the range of meanings see the discussions in chapters 1and4. They include 'fortunate, blessed, wise'. 20a

RYTH GOLLES: The perfective particle, ry, is used here as a relative particle with the infixed 2nd sg object pronoun. H 128 Agheu am lut gwen gwae rwy golles 'Death prevents my smiling (gwên). Alas he who has lost him'seems to echo this line,although *there is not much correspondence of meaning. OED DISGYWEN HAWL: The reading of 4973a confirms the emendationmade in CLIH, p .75. GPC disgywen'splendid,proud, bold,brave, fearless; clear, manifest'. "He

This englyn should come before no. 17. tI carries on, with slight variation, the opening

18

ETLIT: Here 'longing, sense of loss, regret, sorrow', see GPC. From ad + llid. ACHES: < L accessus;GPC'1(a) sea, (b) tide, (c) flood of river'. Cf. 20a above. Y NEGES: Mss ygnes; see CLIH, p . 74, comparing it to 'Llym awel' 5b nida kedwir oe neges. Neges 'expedition, raid, attack' here corresponds to gofidin 20b. For y = y'y 'to

modernize the orthography of his exemplar ratherthan froman original *oed disgywen b

NEI Y VRYEN: Nei 'nephew' also applies to the sons of cousins and second cousins,

etc., often with a qualifier specifying the relationship suchas nei uabceuynderw. See Timothy Lewis, A Glossary of Mediaeval Welsh Law (Manchester, 1913), p. 231, and Thomas Charles-Edwards, 'Some Celtic Kinship Terms', BBCS 24 (1971), pp. 105-22, and 'Nei, keifn, and kefynderw', BBCS 25 (1974),pp. 386-8. Naii is the usualexpression, , T, 4973a have simply nei Vrien. This makes the line rathershort, unless the but P three-syllable form of Urien was originally used; see PT, pp. xlviii, 42. This stanza is not part of the poem, b u t has been insertedfrom one of the beddau series. A variant is found in the BBC collection: P i e vy b e td a y cystlun

a w n a iar loegir. Iv kigrun bet gwen ab Ilyuarch hen hun.

Asimilar instance of an intrusive antiquarian stanza can be found also in the following poem to Pyll (no. 37 below). Additional material o fantiquarian interest sometimes entered texts from marginal entries,but in this case the verse seems to have been deliberately incorporated in the poem at some stage of its transmission. The differ-

ences in the text of the stanza and that of the BBC can be explained as changes made to fit the verse into the poem rather than unconscious alterations made i noral transmission. The opening Prennyalgives an alliterativecymeriad with t h enext few verses

beginning pedwarmeib, and eliminates the typical beddau formula, piev y bet. The

TYRUIT: 3rd sg pres indic of tyrfu < L turbo. This form, like toit, is absolute; see above 6 b torrit.

ERUIT: GPC erfid '(b) ebb; breakers, sea; stream'. This image is a bit unclear, but 520

location is also well-chosen for insertion. Verse 22 is the end of the marwnad proper to

Gwen, and forms a separate section of the poem metrically delineated by the use of framing; i.e. the section begins and ends withGwen. 521

NOTES: CANU LLYWARCH

EARLY W E L S H S A G A POETRY

The metrical problems can be solved by recourse to older Celtic usage of numerals

The structure of thetwo poems,thedialogue and marwnad, also provides indica. tionsthat thisstanza is an insertion.If the verse 1(a)in the dialogue si accepted saan original part of the poem andthisbeddaustanza in the marwnad eliminated the w to parts e a c h h a v e 14 s t a n z a s , a parallelism p r o b a b l y n o tcoincidental.

In Old Irish for numerals compounded of adigit and amultiple of ten the noun follows

thedigitwith the multiple of ten immediately following in thegenitive: dilitir fichet'22

letters', etc.; see R.Thurneysen, A Grammar of Old Irish (GOI] (Dublin, 1965), p. 245. The preposition ar, however, is used to join multiples of ten to substantive numerals: dias ar fichit '22 persons '.This latter construction is also used with larger numbers .

a PRENNYAL: CLIH, .p 76 ' spearfight, battle' < pren +gal. Se further PT, p. 122, CA , p. 287.

The usual form in Medieval and Modern Welsh resembles this latterconstruction in

GAL: GPC 1'enemy, adversary' 2 enmity, hatred; passion; valour, boldness'.

Old Irish, but for 11-19 traces of an older system survive in Welsh and in theother Brythonic languages. The numerals aresimplycompounded with ten;cf.MW undec, Br unnek, W deuddeg, C trethek; etc. (also cf. L undecim, duodecim); CCCG, p. 191, and

YSGWN: CLIH,p. 77, 'ready,swift,strong,bold, brave, stubborn?The same phrase,

A 189a. Several translations of the line are possible; ni CLIH, gal ysswn, occurs ni M p. 77, the line is rendered: The fierce one ni the spearfight, eh of the stubborn va-

Henry Lewis, 'YRhifolion 11-19', BBCS 5 (1930), pp. 93-6. The qualified noun appears to follow the compound number: H 165 Undec uadawen undecued awvt. This construction is n o tdirectlyattested for 21 and above, but in Cornish and Breton nasalization of ugent / ugans has been explainedby Lewis and Pedersen a spossibly'... a relicof an original construction without the prep., arising first from the numerals 7, 9, 10

lour.'

b

GORUC AR LLOEGYR: Only 4973a shows the expected resistance of I to lenition

after r ni the early period; see CLIH, p. 77; GMW, p. 20. Gwneuthur ar si an expression

meaning'to inflict upon,bring upon, commit against, bring about,cause,accomplish (GPC). Cf. H48 gwr a wnaei ar lloegyr llwyr anreith. Further examples can befound in Geirfa.

which orig. ended in -n, then spreading by analogy;the n- then being retainedafter "the introduction of war: *dek n-ugans, dek war -n ugans.' (CCCG, p. 191)

LLU CYNGRWN: The reading of 4973a corresponds to that of the BBC version of this englyn, kigrun, andis obviously correct. RB, P, Thave kyndrwyn, apersonal name. This error can be explained interms of an Old Welsh exemplar which used the grapheme n-c- for [-nh-] in cynghrwn (the medial consonant cluster would be aspirated prior to

For stanzas 24-26 and 28, then, the initial line would b e regular if read: *pedwaru-

geint meib am bu (somewhat doubtful because of the ambiguity), or, fi the Or pattern were used: *pedwarmeib hugeint am bu. Stanza 27 might be reconstructed as a substant-

the accent shift.) If t h e second c in *cincrun were read as at, a common e r r o r in insular

ive construction: pedwar ar hugeint ... o wyr, again following the Old Irish pattern. Ifar

script, *cintrun, or, with further misreading of the final minims, *cintruin, would result. Since the grapheme -nc- for [-nh-] appears to be used only in the early periodof Old Welsh, this error suggests an exemplar of the poem was written not very long after the accepted date of composition. See further chapter7 and Rowland, 'An EarlyOld Welsh Orthographic Feature'

GPC cyngrwn 'round, compact, full, rotund, plump; hunched'. In CLIHexamples

b

are given, and it is concluded: 'Gyda llu yn y testun 'cryno, compact', nid ysgarmes ddidrefn, ond brwydr reolaidd.' While this suits many of the examples, it is not very satisfactory here. The usage of gwneuthur a r shows that llu cyngrwn should be something Gwên inflicted on the English, unless t h i sexample is exceptional, making the interpretation 'he formed against the English a tight band' rather unlikely. It is possible, however, to retain the usual meaning ofgwneuthur ar fi one translates 'he caused the English tob e a huddled host'; i.e. remnants driven together, cf. PT XOwein ae cospes... mal c u t (y]n dylut deueit, or, a' hunched host', boweddown and broken by warfare as in H 27 Gweleis loegyr yn grwnn gweleis eis yn dwnn a thonn waed ar es-

occurred in one of the stanzas its spread to the others would be facilitated, but at any rate the archaic construction couldeasily be replaced by the more modern, even at detriment to metre. Although this must remain speculative, it is difficult to offer any other satisfactory emendation which will give reasonable sensea n dconsistent metrical regularity EURDORCHAWC: 'Gold torque-wearing'. Althoughprobablyarchaiceven in The Gododdin this description of t h e ornament of nobles continues through the works of the Gogynfeirdd, perhaps with a changeof meaning; for examples see Geirfa under the compounds of eur, for a discussion see Jackson, The Gododdin,p .34.

TYWYSSAWC: < tywys 'to lead'. Usually a noun, 'prince, leader', but at least one example occurs as an adj 'noble, princely' in Brut y Brenhinedd: Cotton Cleopatra A Version, ed. John Jay Parry, p . 11: am hynny y kymyrth y genedyl tywyssawe y coedyt y eu cudiaw yndunt. However,tywyssawe llu 'leader of a host' is a frequently used phrase to further confuse matters. As noted in CLIH, p. 78, it makes better sense to have the twenty-four sons described in lines a a n db for the sake of contrast with Gwên n a m e d

trawn.

in line c. Tywyssawc unbynn in 26b is more naturally taken as 'princely lords' than a

The line is rather long. Yw can be omitted as in the BBC version.

'prince oflords'. For a translation which takes line b as also referring to Gwên only see Ford, Poetry, p.91.

24a

PEDWARMEIB AR HUGEINT: Meib is a pl of mab used only with numerals.There

are metrical difficulties with the opening lines of 24-8. The first line of 24 has 8 syllables, an acceptable variant, but 2 5and 26 have 9 syllables which is too long for a

milwr. Stanza 28 at 11 syllables is also rather long for a penfyr. Ifor Williams suggests omitting meib and connecting the first line with the second, eurdorchawe tywyssaucx. This makes fair sense with 26b unbunn, but is less likely with llu (24b) and cat (25b). One would also expect the preposition oi n that construction as in 26b which would

then make the second line too long.

522

25c 26a

OE: Variant of i'w, i'i; see GMW, p. 53, foran explanation of t h e forms. BWYN: In CLIH, p. 78, t h i s form is t a k e nas b w y - y n ( t ) , 3rd pl c o n s u e t u d i n a l p a s to fbod, cf. BBC 96 Gueisson am buyint. In WG, p. 349, it is i n t e r p r e t e d as bu-yn, the a p p a r e n t

reading of 4973a and 4973b. Morris-Jones takes the alternate stem of the consuetudinal past indic as bu-, as in buei, and sees the BBC form as standing for bu-yint. Bwyat, however, is also found as a 3rd sg in this tense. 523

NOTES: CANU LLYWARCH

EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY

'Pyll'

One example of the 3rd pl of the verb with loss of final t is found as early as the

Juvencus englynion, and rhymes of the 3rd pl with - n are found in Armes Prydein; see

A new marwnad, apparently to a son of Llywarch. Llywarch is not named in the poem, but there is a reference to vy meibon in 31a which seems typical of the persona. The medieval scribes included this poem among 'Englynion Llywarch' and Pyll is named

CLIH, p. 79 and GMW, p. 120.

GWEISSYONEIN: Adiminutive ofgweision,according ot CLIH, p. 79. GPCand Geir. fa, under was, explain the form as a double plural, but with a diminutive force as is

with other presumed sons in 'Enwev meibon llywarch hen' and in one of the antiqua-

evident from the context. 27a b

rian verses, no. 40 below. Another antiquarian stanzaalso in t h eBBC is interpolated in the marwnad, stanza 37. A Pyll is named in I.357 of CA. Thedate would b ecorrect and the name is rather rare, but there is no proof of identity. The Pyll in t h eUrienpoems, stanza 42, is not certainly a personal name. See further the chapter discussions.

KENUEINT: Either 'family' or 'host' issuitable here; see GPC cenfaint.

GALWYTHEINT: