Ere thou didst obtain thy nuptial dowry;
which reading would be supported by the allusion to the nuptial feast in
the preceding passage. Nevertheless the term "argynrein," occurring in
three other copies, would certainly point to the signification given in
the text; "argyvrein" being capable of the same meaning, whilst
"argynrein" has no reference whatever to the nuptial dowry.
{81a} The manner in which the person here commemorated is associated
with the ravens, leads us to suspect that he was none other than Owain ab
Urien, who is traditionally reported to have had an army of ravens in his
service, by which, however, we are probably to understand an army of men
with those birds emblazoned on their standard, even as his descendants
still bear them in their coats of arms. Not only do the Welsh Romances
and Bards of the middle ages allude to these ravens, but even Taliesin
and Llywarch Hen, seem pointedly to connect them with Urien or his son.
Thus the former in an Ode on the battle of Argoed Llwyvaen, (Myv. Arch.
vol. i. p. 53) in which Owain commanded the Cumbrian forces, under his
father against Ida, says,--
"A rhag gwaith Argoed Llwyfain
Bu llawer celain
Rhuddei frain rhag rhyfel gwyr."
Because of the battle of Argoed Llwyvain,
There happened many a dead carcase,
And the ravens were coloured with the war of men.
And Llywarch Hen in his "Elegy on Urien Rheged" has the following
expressions;--
"Pen a borthav ar vy nhu; Pen Urien,
Llary, llyw ei lu;
Ac ar ei vron wen vran ddu.
Pen a borthav mywn vy nghrys; pen Urien,
Llary llywiai lys:
Ac ar ei vron wen vran ai hys."
I bear by my side a head; the head of Urien,
The mild leader of his army;
And on his white bosom the sable raven is perched.
I bear in my shirt a head; the head of Urien,
That governed a court with mildness;
And on his white bosom the sable raven doth glut. (Owen's Ll. Hen.
p. 24.)
This supposition would considerably enhance the point and beauty of the
passage in the text; for a sad or unbecoming thing, indeed, ("cwl," _a
fault_) would it be that one who fought by the aid of ravens should
himself be eventually devoured by them.
Moreover, a tradition prevails, that Owain the son of Urien was actually
engaged in the battle of Cattraeth. Thus Lewis Glyn Cothi, a poet of the
fifteenth century, observes;--
"Bwriodd Owain ab Urien
Y tri thwr yn Nghattraeth hen.
Ovnodd Arthur val goddaith
Owain, ei vrain a'i fon vraith." (I. 140.)
Owain son of Urien overthrew
The three towers of Cattraeth of old;
Arthur dreaded, as the flames,
Owain, his ravens, and his parti-coloured staff.
But to the view which would identify our hero with the son of Urien there
is this objection, that the poem describes the former as the son of Marro
or Marco; nor can the difficulty be got over, without supposing that this
was another name of Urien. Or if that be inadmissible, the line, in
which Owain's name occurs, may be translated,--
Alas, the beloved friend of Owain;
an alteration, which will do no great violence to the allusion about the
ravens.
{82a} Al. "March," as if addressing the horse of the slain;--
O steed, in what spot
Was slaughtered, &c.
{82b} "Cynhaiawc," (cyn-taiawg.) Adopting this version for the sake of
variety, and under the impression that all the different readings of this
poem are not the mere result of orthographical accident, but that the
forms of obscure or illegible words were sometimes determined by
tradition, we must believe that the _taiogion_, who composed the army of
Madog, were simply his own tenants or dependants.
{83a} "Diffun," (di-ffun.) _Ffun_ is any thing united together, and is
used at line 803 for a band of men. Some read "diffyn," (protection or
defence) and in that case the sense of the passage would seem to be,
He brought protection to women, and mead he distributed.
The former reading is preferred, inasmuch as it exhibits in a more
natural and consistent manner the twofold character of Madog, as a
soldier and a courtier, which appears to be the object of the Bard to
delineate. Our inference on this point is moreover supported by more
obvious passages of that description, which occur again in the Poem, such
as,--
"Ragorei veirch racvuan
En trin lletvegin gwin o bann."
He surpassed the fleetest steeds
In war, but was a tame animal when he poured the wine from the
goblet.
The epithet "cynhaiawc," assuming it to be the proper term, would also,
by reason of its contrasting effect, considerably enhance the value of
our hero's domestic and social courtesy.
{83b} "Twll tal y rodawr." Dr. Owen Pughe translates this "the front
opening of his chariot;" "twll ar ysgwyd," however, in the lxxxvii
stanza, evidently refers to a shield, and this sense is, moreover,
supported by "tyllant tal ysgwydawr," in Taliesin's Ode on Gwallawg, as
well as "rac twll y gylchwy," used by Cynddelw. The meaning therefore
appears to be that wherever the battle raged, there would the chief be
found, so boldly and _directly_ fighting as to have the very boss of his
shield perforated by the spears of his enemy.
{83c} "Brwyn." From the practice which the Welsh Bards commonly had of
adapting their descriptive similes to the names, armorial bearings, or
some other peculiarities of their heroes, we may infer that the
chieftain, who is celebrated in this stanza, is none other than Madog ab
Brwyn. Indeed one copy reads "mab brwyn," the son of Brwyn, rather than
_mal_ brwyn, as above. He is distinguished in the Triads with Ceugant
Beilliog and Rhuvon, under the appellation of the "three golden corpses,"
because their weight in gold was given by their families to have their
bodies delivered up by the enemy. (Myv. Arch. vol. ii. p. 69.) Madog ab
Brwyn was the grandson of Cunedda Wledig, lord of Gododin.
{84a} A maritime region in the north, as we infer, not only from the
works of Aneurin, but also from those of Taliesin and Merddin.
{84b} The rest having been slain.
{84c} "Erwyt" (erwyd) a pole, or a staff to mete with, and, like the
_gwialen_, an emblem of authority. "I will--mete out the valley of
Succoth." (Psalm lx. 6.) A similar expression occurs in Llywarch Hen's
Poems with reference to Urien Rheged, viz.
"Oedd cledyr cywlad rhwydd."
which W. Owen has translated,--
"That was the prompt defender of his neighbourhood."
{84d} Llywarch Hen says in like manner of his own son Gwen,--
"Rhythr eryr yn ebyr oeddyd."
In the assault like the eagle at the fall of rivers thou wert.
The eagle was probably the armorial badge of the hero of this stanza.
{84e} Al. "y lyr," to our shore. We have here an instance of the
kindred signification of some of the different readings found in the
Poem. Both words are used in juxtaposition in the following extracts;--
"Gwelais ar vorwyn--
Lliw golau tonau taenverw gwenyg
Llanw _ebyr_ ar _llyr_, lle ni mawr-drig." (Cynddelw.)
I beheld on a maiden
The bright hue of the spreading ebullition of the breakers of the
waves,
Of the flood of the effluxes of rivers, on the strand, where it
tarries not long.
"Oedd ei var--
Megys twrv _ebyr_ yn _llyr_ llawn." (Cynddelw.)
His rage
Was like the tumult of the mouths of rivers with a full margin.
"Calan hyddvrev, tymp dydd yn edwi,
Cynhwrv yn _ebyr_, _llyr_ yn llenwi." (Ll P. Moch.)
The beginning of October, the period of the falling off of day,
There is tumult in the mouths of rivers, filling up the shore.
{85a} "I ammod." This was probably a confederation entered into by the
different princes, for the purpose of uniting their forces against the
common enemy; a supposition corroborated by the word "cywlad," just used.
The poet might, however, have intended a play upon the word "ammod,"
because of its great resemblance in sound to "ammwyd," a _bait_, to which
the eagle was allured, "llithywyt" (llithiwyd) a strictly sporting term.
{85b} "A garwyd," al. "a gatwyt" "was preserved, or protected."
{85c} The connection between "arvaeth," and the bannerial device is very
obvious at lines 110, 111.
"Mor ehelaeth
E aruaeth uch arwyt."
With such a magnificent
Design of enterprize blazoned on his standard.
{85d} "O dechwyt," i.e. _tech wyd_.
{85e} We have adopted "Manawyd" as a proper name, under the impression
that the different stanzas of the Gododin, albeit regular links of the
same general subject, are nevertheless in a manner each complete in
itself, and therefore that it would be more natural, where the drift of
the paragraph allowed, or seemed to have that tendency, to look out for
the names of the chiefs, who may be thus distinctly introduced; according
to the tenor of the following declaration which is appended to "Gorchan
Cynvelyn." (Myv. Arch. vol. i. page 61.)
"Canu un Canuauc a dal pob Awdyl o'r Gododin heruyd breint yngcerd
amrysson. Tri chanu a thriugeint a thrychant a dal pob un or
Gorchaneu . . . Achaws yu am goffau yn y Gorchaneu rivedi Guyr a
aethant y Gatraeth nog y dyle gur vyned i ymlad heb arveu; Ny dyle
Bard myned i amrysson heb y gerd honno."
Every Ode of the Gododin is equivalent to a single song, according to
the privilege of poetical competition. Each of the incantations is
equal to three hundred and sixty-three songs, because the number of
the men who went to Cattraeth is commemorated in the Incantations,
and as no man should go to battle without arms, so no Bard ought to
contend without that Poem.
It is true that in the Vellum MS. as transcribed by Davies, this does not
form a distinct stanza, but is a continuation of the preceding one.
Nevertheless in other copies a detached position is given to it, which
seems required also by the opening sentence, and particularly by the
rhyme.
We find, moreover, that Manawyd was anciently used as a proper name, for
not to mention Manawydan and Culvynawyd, we have Manawyd in one of
Taliesin's Poems as undoubtedly the name of a person.
"Ys gwyr Manawyd a Phryderi." (Myv. Arch. vol. i. p. 67.)
The name of Pryderi occurs further on in our Poem.
Manawyd is mentioned likewise in the Dialogue between Arthur, Cai, and
Glewlwyd,--
"Neus duc Manavid eis tull o Trywrid" (Myv. Arch. vol. i. p. 167.)