MEDIAEVAL AND MODERN WELSH SERIES

MEDIAEVAL AND MODERN WELSH SERIES

Published
Volume VI
I. PwYLL PENDEUIC DYUET, ed. R. L. Thomson
II. BRANWEN UERCH LYR, ed. Derick S. Thomson
III. THE POEMS OF TALIESIN, ed. Sir lfor Williams and J.E.
Caerwyn Williams ARMES PR.YDEIN
IV. OWErN, ed. R. L. Thomson
V. BRUT Y BRENHINEDD, ed. Brynley F. Roberts
VI. ARMES PRYDEIN, ed. Sir Ifor Williams and R. Bromwich
x THE PROPHECY OF
A GRAMMAR OF MIDDLE WELSH, ed. D. Simon Evans
(Supplementary Volume) BRITAIN
In preparation From the Book of Taliesin
KuLHWCH AC ◊LWEN, ed. Idris Ll. Foster
MATH FAB MATHONWY, ed. B. Rees
MANAWYDAN FAB LLYR, ed. A. 0. H. Jarman EDITED AND ANNOTATED BY
DAFYDD AP GwILYM (selection), ed. Thomas Parry
SIR IFOR WILLIAMS
POEMS OF THE GoGYNFEIRDD, ed. J.E. Caerwyn Williams
D.Litt., LLD., F.B.A.
HANES GRUFFYDD AP CYNAN, ed. G. Melville Richards
LIFE OF S. DAVID, ed. D. Simon Evans
POEMS OF THE CYWYDDWYR, ed. E. I. Rowlands
ENGLISH VERSION
YsTORI ALEXANDER A LODWIG, ed. Thomas Jones
BY
RACHEL BROMWICH

THE DUBLIN INSTITUTE FOR

ADVANCED STUDIES
1972
 PREFACE

THE Welsh edition of Armes Prydein was published by the

University of Wales Press in 1955. The text, notes, and
glossary had been printed off eight years previously, but a
period of illness intervened before Sir Hor could complete
the work by finishing his introductory essay. In this essay he
established the poem in its historical and literary context. His
interpretation of the text and his views on the historical
circumstances which gave birth to 'The Prophecy of Britain'
had, however, been gradually evolving in his mind over a long
period. Many of the textual difficulties had already been
clarified as far back as 1916, in Sir Ifor's review of J. Gwen-
ogvryn Evans's Poems from the Book of Taliesin (Y Beirniad,
vi. 207-14). In this review he stated his reasons for believing
that the poem was composed 'in the late ninth century or in
the beginning of the tenth at the latest' : he showed
that beyond doubt it is pre-Norman. In his Lectures on
Early Welsh Poetry, delivered in Dublin in 1943 under the
auspices of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (and
published in 1944), he gave a more precise exposition of his
ideas as to the time and place of the poem's composi-
tion, and these ideas were further developed in the
Gregynog Lectures which Sir Ifor delivered at Aberystwyth
in 1950.
The political background of the poem, he shows us, was
that of a period of active negotiation between certain of the
Celtic and Norse inhabitants of the British Isles-the Irish,
the Danes of Dublin, the peoples of Wales, Scotland, Strath-
clyde, Cornwall, and even (in the poet's wishful thinking, at
least) of Brittany over the sea-in the rising tide of opposition
to the aggressive policy of Athelstan, king of England: a
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN
vi PREFACE PREFACE vii
policy which culminated in 937 with the destruction of the framework and allusions it helps to account for and to
Norse-Celtic forces at Brunanburh. Although in the event elucidate.•
the Welsh princes did not participate in the campaign, yet I can myself testify that much of Sir lfor's interpretation
the actual coalition between British Strathclyde, Dai Riada, of the poem's significance was already complete in his mind in
and the Danes of Dublin can hardly have been achieved with- the late 1930s, when I had the privilege of being one of his
out intensive negotiations over a period of several previous students in Bangor with whom he read and discussed the
years. And though Brunanburh placed no more than a text in class. The translation which I have offered here, though ,
temporary check to resistance from some of these peoples, it is based primarily on Sir Ifor's published notes, owes much
yet it seems impossible to believe that such an all-inclusive of its actual wording in English to the translation which I
pan-Celtic alliance could have even been contemplated at a took down at that time from his own lips. I have included this
later date than the date of Brunanburh. The turbulent events translation principally for the sake of those whose main interest
of Athelstan's reign-some time between 927 and 937- in the Armes is as a historical document. Students of the
remain in the end the only credible historical milieu for the original text are reminded that many of the English renderings
poem. The oppressive tribute which Athelstan imposed upon which I have advocated tentatively for individual passages
the Welsh princes when he made the Wye their frontier pro- will be found more fully discussed in the notes which follow
vides the background for the repeated allusions to the belli- the poem.
gerent requital by the Welsh of the English tretheu or taxes, In translating Sir lfor's introduction I have at times para-
and Sir Ifor showed that it is Athelstan himself who is alluded phrased or slightly expanded the wording of the original, both
to satirically as mechteyrn, 'Great King' or 'Overlord'. Lin- in the interests of clarity, and in conformity with normal
guistic and metrical considerations reinforce the editor's English modes of expression, but my aim has been to do this
conclusions as to the poem's pre-Conquest date. Thus it was without detriment to Sir lfor's meaning. In those instances in
that in his Dublin Lectures Sir Ifor described the Prophecy which I have made additions to Sir Ifor's text by introducing
both as 'a historic document' and as 'most valuable to the comments of my own, by making suggestions as to the inter-
student of Welsh literature'. Since the historical evidence pretation of certain passages, or by quoting suggestions made
(presented later in full by Sir Ifor in his 1955 introduction to to me by others, I have in each case placed such additions
the poem) enabled him to date it with confidence to a period within square brackets, except only that I have freely supple-
within the ten years previous to the Battle of Brunanburh, he mented the older grammatical references by references to
felt able to assert with equal confidence in the Lectures that D. Simon Evans's Grammar of Middle Welsh (GMW), since
'we can now use it as evidence of Welsh poetic diction and this is now the standard grammar of the older language, and is
prosody about 900 to 930. With it we can compare the slightly 1
earlier Juvencus poetry, the Llywarch Hen poetry, and last, See R. Wallis Evans, 'Trem ar y Cywydd Brud', Harltch Studies
ed. B. B. Thomas (Univ. Wales Press, 1939), 149 ff.; Glanmor
but not least, the rest of the poetry ascribed to Taliesin and Williams, 'Proffwydoliaeth, Prydyddiaeth a Pholitics yn yr Oesoedd
Aneirin.' One may add that the poem is the first of a long Canol', Taliesin, 16. 31 ff., and for an older and more general account,
succession of political prophecies in Welsh verse, whose W. Gannon Jones, 'Welsh Nationalism and Henry Tudor', Cymmr.
Trans., 1917-18, 1 ff.
viii PREFACE
the one most readily accessible to students. I have added
certain references to work which has been published sub- CONTENTS
sequently to 1955, and I have also supplied cross-references
between the notes and the introduction, which the circum- V
PREFACE
stances of its composition rendered impracticable in the case
of the earlier edition.
Since in his notes to the text Sir Ifor assembled for reference,
INTRODUCTION xi
,
according to his custom, the complete corpus of lexicographical ABBREVIATIONS
!iii '
data on which his interpretation of a particular line was based,
I have been reluctant to condense these notes, even when TEXT AND TRANSLATION
much of the material has since been collected in J. Lloyd-
NOTES
Jones's Geirfa Barddoniaeth Gynnar Gym,aeg, and in
Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru. In a number of instances, how- VOCABULARY
ever, it will be found that I have transferred to the vocabulary
words which present no special difficulty in themselves, and PROPER NAMES 86
upon which Sir Ifor only commented very briefly in his
notes. The vocabulary supplements the brief glossary given
in the earlier edition, and it aims at completeness.
I wish to record my gratitude to Professor Idris Foster and
to Professor Proinsias Mac Cana, both of whom read through
my typescript and made a number of valuable suggestions; and
also to Professor J. E. Caerwyn Williams, who read a proof, and
proposed certain further improvements. I am indebted to the
University of Wales Press Board for giving permission for
the publication of this translation of Armes Prydein, and to the
Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies for inviting me to pre-
pare the work, and for undertaking its publication. Lastly, I
would wish to record my thanks to the staff and printers of
the Oxford University Press, for the skill and care which
they have given to the book's producton.
RACHEL BROMWICH
Tyddyn Sabel, Bethesda
University College, Cambridge
Augud 1971
 INTRODUCTION

Armes Prydein is a prophecy: the poet's concern is with the

future, and not with past events. As in other poems of the
kind in Welsh, the poet's intention is to encourage his country- '
men to endure the tribulations of the present, by holding out
to them the prospect of future triumph over their oppressors.
The usual theme is to recall the nation's ancient glory, to
exult in the memory of the heroes of former days; and then,
taking heart from these recollections, to assert that a better
state of affairs is just round the corner- a day of bloody
vengeance on the enemy and of complete and final victory for
the Welsh. In this poem, as in other early prophecies, the
leaders of the unconquerable armies of Wales will be Cynan
and Cadwaladr. Later on the promised deliverer becomes
Owain Lawgoch, and in the end Owain is in his turn superseded
in folk-lore by Arthur the Great. 1 It seems that Gwynedd
possessed her own deliverer, Hiriell: for Mon and Arfon are
called 'the land of Hiriell'- in them are to be found 'Hiriell's
offspring'- and on a certain Tuesday, so the poet prophesies,
there will be a battle between Powys and Gwynedd, and
Hiriell will arise 'from his long repose' to defend his land: as
though he, like Arthur, had gone to sleep in a cave until the
day should dawn when his people would feel the greatest need
of him.2 Evidently Hiriell was a local hero-no memory of
him has survived except his name. In this poem, on the other
hand, we have the Prophecy of Britain as a whole, and there-
fore it is necessary that the traditional heroes of the whole
nation, Cynan and Cadwaladr, should be described as the
leaders.
1 For a full discussion see M. E. Griffiths, Early Vaticination in

Welsh (Cardiff, 1937). 2

BBC 57. s; B iii. 50-2.
 INTRODUCTION xiii
xii INTRODUCTION
but this concerning this Island! Let David be the leader of our
The Date of the Poem
1.
warriors! In this crisis a haven is to be found in Gelli Gaer,' and
Armes Prydein is to be found on pp. 13-18 of the Book of God is constant and unchanging.
Taliesin, a manuscript which has been dated by Dr. Gwen- That is the poet's dream. Is there any way to discover the
ogvryn Evans to c. 1275.1 The actual date of the poem's com- appropriate background to these hopes and fears? I believe
position must be determined from the historical allusions there is.
which are to be found in it. Here is a brief synopsis of the To begin with, the Armes must of necessity be dated before
poem's contents: the coming of the Normans in 1066, because what purpose
After an intentionally obscure introduction about the recon- would there be in dreaming of getting rid of the Saxons from
ciliation of the Welsh with the men of Dublin, and an allusion Britain if the Normans were still left in possession? There is no
to the agreement between the Welsh, the Irish of Ireland, and mention of the Normans at all. The 'foreigners' (allmyn) are
the men of Cornwall and Strathclyde, reference is made to the the Saxons, the strangers who came here with Hengist and
'stewards' (meiryon) of a certain 'Great King' (mechteyrn)
collecting heavy taxes from the Welsh; to the insufferable Horsa. The poet knew of the work of N ennius (about 800), and
boasting of the Saxons, the offspring of Hengist and Horsa- he alludes to the tradition in his Historia Brittonum that the
those 'scavengers (cechmyn) of Thanet'-who came here in Saxons were exiles from their country. Nis dioes daear, 'they
poverty, possessing no land, but who are now bent on exter- have no land'. On their arrival in the river-mouths, they did
minating the Britons and appropriating their country. The not know where to wander (ll. 29-30). After they had bought
armies of the Welsh and of the Saxons will meet on the banks
of the river Wye; there will be a great slaughter of the 'stewards' Thanet, Hengist and Horsa had a rather lean time of it (I. 32 ).
and of their army in Aber Peryddon. The Welsh of the South It was at the cost of the Welsh that they achieved success.
will refuse to pay the tax that is demanded from them. Cynan Being without nobility or hereditary right, it was through
and Cadwaladr will drive the foreigners before them in headlong stealthy assassination that these slaves managed to snatch the
flight to Winchester. The enemy are called the lwys. In the crown of the Island. Gwedy rin dilein keith y mynuer, 'after the
battle the corpses will be so numerous that there will be no
space for them to fall down. The banner of St. David will lead secret slaughter, slaves now wear a crown' (I. 34).
the Irish to fight on our side; and the 'tribes of Dublin' (i.e. Amongst the allies of the Welsh the men of Dublin and
the Danes) and the brave warriors from Strathclyde and from the Irish of Ireland are named (II. 9-10); in another place, the
Brittany will all do so likewise. Disgrace and death will come to foreigners of Dublin and the Irish (11. 130-1). The period
the Saxons; fame beyond measure to Cynan and Cadwaladr; they when such a distinction would have been made between the
will possess everything from Manaw Gododdin (the district
surrounding Edinburgh) to Brittany, from Dyfed to Thanet. inhabitants of Dublin and the rest of Ireland was after the
Then the lwys, the 'foreigners' (allmyn), and the Saxons will middle of the ninth century, when the Scandinavians had estab-
make for their ships in the port of Sandwich, and set out lished themselves in Dublin, and had maintained themselves
once more in exile, to wander the seas without finding any place there for a considerable while. Dublin was taken by the Norse-
where they may settle. Let no one seek for any other Prophecy men in 837 or 838; they erected a fortress there in 841-2 (Todd,
1 [More recently, N. Denholm-Young has given reasons for dating War of the Gaedhil with the Gail/, p. liii). The Danes came there
BT to the second quarter (?)of the fourteenth century, Handuriting in 1 [But see note to I. l 97].
England and Wales (Cardiff, 1954), p. 44.]
xiv INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION xv
in 852 and captured the fortress from them (ibid., p. lxii; Morgannwg that was used by Nennius about Soo and by Asser
Arthur Jones, The History of Gruffydd ap Cynan, pp. 101, 161). at the end of the century. 1
After this date, some time in the second half of the ninth The Armes also uses an old name for the men of Wessex
century, therefore, it is possible to speak of the 'men of (the enemy}-/wys (108), Iwis (181). Asser gives the name
Dublin' as constituting a separate people from the Irish Geuuis as that of one of Alfred's early ancestors, and he adds
themselves. In the version of Brut y Tywysogion contained 'from him the Britons call the whole of that nation the
in the Red Book of Hergest there is a note 'Acy diffeithwyt Geguuis'. 2 So also Bede (Hist. Etc. iii. 7): 'gens occidentalium
Iwerdon a Mon y gan bobyl Dulyn', 'Ireland and Man were Saxonum qui antiquitus Geuissae vocabantur'. Stevenson
destroyed by the people of Dublin'- in the year 918 (RBB 261). says that the meaning of the first quotation is 'that the West
This passage provides evidence that they were so described Saxons, who even in Bede's time had ceased to be called
at that date. It is not possible, therefore, for the Armes to be Gewisse, were still known to the Britons by this name'. As the
older than 852, but it could belong to the beginning of the Welsh form shows, g in Anglo-Saxon was pronounced like i
tenth century.1 before a palatal vowel; and Stevenson found an example of
This gives us c. 900 as a possible indication for its date. this name as Iewisse in a charter of the end of the tenth century.
Such a suggestion is supported by the archaic name that is The orthography of Old Welsh is responsible for the second g
used for south Wales. The poet was a man of the south, and in Geguuis: w can be either vocalic or consonantal, and at that
the Welsh of the south are nearest to his heart. This is seen period gu was written to denote the latter value. Thus in a
in 1. 99: 'Na chrynet Dyfet na Glywyssy(n)g', 'Let neither manuscript written in 820, petguar is found for pedwar,
Dyfed nor Glywyssyng tremble', and 1. 77: 'Gwyr Deheu eu eguin for ewin, and Asser gives Degui for Dewi. Glywysing has
tretheu a amygant', 'The men of the South will fight for their already been mentioned: in two early manuscripts of Nennius's
taxes'. According to Sir John Lloyd (HW 273-5) Glywysing Historia Brittonum (eh. 41) Gleguissing is given for it; Asser
meant originally the district between the Tawy and the Usk; gives Gleguising. He means by it the people or territory of
but he says that Meurig ap Tewdrig, about 630, was lord of Glywys; in an inscription which was found at Ogmore Castle,
Gwent as well, so that his territory reached from the Tawy to Glamorgan,3 we find the form Gliguis for a saint of this name.
the Wye; afterwards the boundaries of Glywysing varied, he In addition to this text, 'lwys' is used for the men of Wessex
says, in the eighth and ninth centuries. According to Phillimore
(Owen, Pemh. i. 208) before about A.D. 1000 the name Glywy- ' Cf. AC 864, Duta uastauit gliuisigng ( Gliguising).
• Stevenson, Asser's Life of King Alfred (1904); second edn., ed.
sing was always used to mean Morgannwg, including Gower D. Whitelock, 1959; p. 2: qui fuit Geuuis, a quo Britones totam illam
but not Gwent. This is what we find in Asser (De Rebus Gestis gentern Geguuis nominant; see also note, pp. 161- 2. [See K. Sisam,
Alfredi, c. 80): he speaks of Hywel ap Rhys as rex Gleguising, 'Anglo-Saxon Royal Genealogies', Proceedings of the British Academy,
xxxix (1953), 303. Dr. Sisam regards Asser's king Geuuis as an
but of Brochfael and Ffyrnfael sons of Meurig as reges Gwent, eponymous figure who owes his existence solely to the tribal name.]
In any case, Dyfed and Glywysing represent for this poet i Arch. Camb. 1932, p. 232. [See also V. E. Nash-Williams, The
the whole of south Wales. The Armes keeps the name for Ea,ly Christian Monuments of Walu (Cardiff, 1950), pp. 41, 160.
The same name may occur as Gliuissi on an inscription at Merthyr
• This was my argument in Y Beirniad, vi. 208, 2r2 (1916). Mawr, ibid., pp. 40, 154.]
xvi INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION xvii
in the Brut which has been preserved in the Red Book of by the bishop of Winchester. Who, then, are the Gewissas?
Hergest (RBB 26o) ; under 900 there is a reference to the The answer is, first, that they are the Royal Tribe, the King's
death of 'Alvryt urenhin lwys' ('Alfred King of the lwys'); in own people, because the name Gewis occurs in the royal
the oldest copy of the Annales Cambriae, 1100, we find the pedigree.' It was of no importance to Young whether Gewis
same entry in an older orthography 'Albrit rexgiuoys moritur' . 1 was a real ancestor or a legendary figure. 'But presumably if the
In one of the old prophetic poems there are named 'Eigil King lived at Wilton his people lived round him. And when we
ywuys lloegruis keint' (- the Angles, the Iwwys, the men of examine our earliest surviving documents we find evidence that
,
Lloegr and of Kent). The orthography of the poem is in
favour of a date for the original from which it was copied of
the same age as the Black Book of Carmarthen; and the
original prototype can be taken back into the Old Welsh
period.2 Yet another example comes from the awdl to St. David
the people round Wilton are in many ways a race apart, distin-
guishable not only from the Jutes of Hampshire . .. but from
the Saxons of the Thames valley, and even of North Wiltshire.'
This seems to me very like the way the Sons of Cunedda
are referred to in Wales, the Cynferchin{g) in North Britain,
'
by Gwynfardd Brycheiniog in the Hendregadredd manuscript, and the Cyndrwynin{g) around Shrewsbury-the royal tribe
p. 205: 'seint lloegrwys ac iwys a seint y goclet' ('the saints receiving titular precedence and honour. Dunoding became the
of Lloegr and lwys and the saints of the North'). In his elegy name of a district (cf. Seisyllwch and Morgannwg) and Glywys-
to Madog ap Maredudd in 116o (H 28), the poet Gwalchmai ing, as we saw, that of a region.
shows how the name was pronounced by contemporary Welsh The reference to the mechteyrn in the Prophecy is still more
poets: he rhymes Iwys with eglwys, garawys, cynmrys, and the important for the problem of the poem's date. I have given
like; therefore it was as 1-wys that the word was pronounced my arguments for interpreting it as 'great king' in B x. 39-40.
at that time. This may have been by analogy with such Welsh In BT 54. 14 God is called the 'mechteyrn' of the world (see
names as Cludwys, Gwennwys, and in particular Lloegrwys. 3 also 41. 4). Who would be known as the 'great king' amongst
In his Last Essays (edn. of 1950), G. M. Young quotes a the lwys? Without doubt the allusion must be to Athelstan.
letter from Daniel, Bishop of Winchester, to Bede, in which According to Stenton 1 'In his royal title he sometimes claimed
he says 'that apart from the South Saxons, of whom he has authority over the whole of Britain. He appears as king of all
taken temporary charge, he has under his care the Jutes in the Britain on one of his coins; and in many of his charters he is
South of Hampshire who "belong to the region of the Gewissas". described as " King of the English and ruler of all Britain" .'
That the Gcwissas are the predominant partner appears from In his charters there are found such titles as monarchus,
the fact that "Bishop of the Gewissas" is the style often borne basileus, imperator. What wonder that the poet should use the
• Cy. ix. 167. Perhaps it is a copyist's error for giuuis; perhaps term mechteyrn in reference to such a ruler? What wonder
-oys, -ois is a variant of -wis, -wys. • B iv. 45. that the Welsh should be almost overcome with rage at seeing
' -wys in these names cornea from the Latin -msis and its plural
-mses (cf. CLIH u9 ; WG 46). Both give -wys, and therefore -ion their former 'slaves' wearing the mynfer, or crown, so arro-
became attached to express the plural without ambiguity, cf. M<m- gantly, and at seeing the original possessors of the soil made
wysion. [For a further discussion of the origin of the names Gewissi, landless because 'foreigners' were establishing themselves in
Iwy,, aee M. Gwyn Jenkins, 'Geviaaae ac Iw~: Dwy Ddrychiolaeth',
B XX, I-II.] • Anglo-Saxon England (1943), p. 34S·
C7•6• b
xviii INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION xix
their place? It was a deathly blow to their national pride. May them to make submission and to agree to pay him a yearly
the Trinity prevent it! Captives to be crowned! And yet, that tribute, 'a thing which no previous king had even dared to
is what happened. 'And thus,' says Brut y Brenhirn:dd about think of'-twenty pounds in gold and three hundred pounds in
the Saxons, 'after casting off the lordship of the Britons from silver; 25,000 cattle, with as many hounds and hawks for
them, they thereupon ruled all England with E<klstan hunting as he might wish; and he set the Wye in the place of
(= Athelstan) as their prince, who first of the English wore the Severn as a boundary to Wales in the south. These
the Crown of the Island of Britain' (see RBB 255). figures almost border on the impossible-though not abso-
Professor Stenton emphasizes the fact that the councils held lutely, in the opinion of Stenton. If the historian expresses
by this king were of a new kind.I 'Under Athelstan a new kind surprise at the size of the tribute, one can imagine what
of assembly appears, in which, even for ordinary business, would be the effect on those who were expected to pay it. I
the bishops, ealdormen, and thegns of Wessex were combined think that it is to this the Prophecy refers, not once but
with magnates, lay and ecclesiastical, from every part of the repeatedly, and with increasing anger. The overseers or
land.' The Armes alludes to these councils (II. 107---9): stewards of the 'Great King' are coming to collect their taxes,
Dysgogan awen dydaw y dyd. but the Welsh are determined not to pay them (11. 21-4);
pan dyffo lwys y vn gwssyl.
Vn cor vn gyghor a Lloegyr lloscit. terrible will be the taxes they will collect (I. 72); the men of
'The awen foretells the day will come when the men of Wessex south Wales will fight for their taxes (l. 78); death will be
will come together in council, in a single party, of one mind the fate of the stewards, the end of their taxes will be that
with the incendiaries of Lloegr.' they will know death (I. 84); they will never round up their
The Iwys will join in a coalition with the men of Lloegr to tribute of cattle (I. 86); the tribute will be avenged when their
plot our destruction, the poem says; that is, Wessex will join corpses are so thickly packed on the battlefield that they have
with Mercia: and thus in fact it came about under Athelstan, no room :o fall (II. 122-3). From all this we gather that the
king of Wessex, who was also recognized as king of Mercia-a tribute was thoroughly unpopular!
new event in history. 2 But there is more here than an angry protest against oppres-
By reason of this alliance, the king of Wessex and Mercia sive taxation. Conflict on all sides between the Welsh and the
was in a better position to oppose the Scandinavians who had English is foretold, and on both banks of the river Wye
established themselves in York: in 927 Athelstan received (I. 58). The new boundary was not acceptable either. Perhaps
homage from the king of Scotland and the king of Strathclyde, it is to the greed of the Saxons in this matter that allusion is
and took possession of York. About this timeJ Athelstan made in I. 53, 'they perform shameful acts for want of a
forced the Welsh princes to meet him at Hereford, and obliged patrimony', that is, for want of a place to live. Sir John Lloyd
1
Ibid. 347. believes that already in the seventh century the Wye was a
~ Ibid. 335. [On the use of Lloegr with primary reference to boundary between the two nations for a considerable distance
Mercia, seep. 50 below, n. to I. 109.J
3
In 926 or 9:17, according to HW 335. 'Within the next four years' up from its mouth. I
is Stenton's opinion. The story is given by William of Malmesbury, 1
HW ::174. Tewdrig was slain on the ford of Din-dyrn on the Wye
De Gestis Regum Anglorum, i. 148. before 630.
XX INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION n:I
To conclude: the Prophecy was composed before the
II. The Battle of Brunanburh
coming of the Normans; some time after the settlement of the
Norsemen in Dublin in the middle of the ninth century; This belief gains support from another consideration. The
the author uses the name Glywysing, which was used at that poet prophesies an extended alliance against the 'Great King'.
time for a kingdom which included Gower as well as Morgan- The Welsh will get support from various countries (llwyth
nwg, and he calls the men of Wessex by the old name of I wys; l/iaws gwlat, I. 128) against the oppressor, and with the help
he calls their king, perhaps sarcastically, the 'Mechteym' or of these he believes confidently that they will be able to drive
'Great King'. In 925 Athelstan came to the throne, and he the English to the sea, and regain the 'Monarchy' (unbeiniaeth)
exulted in the most boastful of royal titles (monarchus, of Britain for its old rightful possessors.
imperator, and basileus-the Greek word for king), claiming to He foretells that an army from Cornwall will be fighting on
wear the crown of the Island of Britain, since he had ruled the side of the Welsh. In 930 this seemed very probable-
directly over Wessex and Mercia from the beginning of his there was the old bond of blood and of language, as well as
reign, and had won Danish York soon afterwards by conquest; the new one of mutual fear under the oppression of Athelstan.
while his supremacy was recognized in Strathclyde and in He expected the help of other fellow Britons-from the old
Scotland, as well as in Wales. His claim to allegiance from the northern British kingdoms, Strathclyde and Rheged, the
Welsh took the form of exacting an oppressive tribute from home of the heroes of former days in song and in story, such
them: in the south he set the Wye as a boundary. He subdued as Taliesin's patron Urien Rheged, and others like him. Was
an insurrection in Cornwall immediately afterwards, expelling it not fortunate to have gained a temporary alliance with the
the Britons from Exeter, and setting the river Tamar as their Danes, who had recently lost their kingdom in the North,
boundary henceforth. and seen the destruction of their chief citadel, York? They
It is Athelstan who is to be identified with the 'Great King' had fellow-countrymen in Dublin, and these possessed a
of the Armes. Unfortunately the historians are not able to powerful fleet, and an army long accustomed to fighting:
give an exact date for the council at Hereford; only that it was without doubt they would obtain generous support from their
some time between 927 and 930. In the poem we do not find kinsmen with which to retaliate. And, indeed, the poet fore-
a complaint about an ancient wound, but a reaction to the tells that the Welsh will also come to terms with the men of
insupportable torment of a new one. Therefore, it seems to Dublin. After these there will come troops of the Irish of
me, we must date the Armes 'about 930'. 1 Ireland, Gwyr gwychyr gwallt hiryon ergyr dofyd 'valiant
1 In 1894 thirteen English and oriental coins were dug up in a long-haired warriors skilled in blows' (I. 147), and the Irish
garden behind a house which is now the Midland Bank, High Street, of one of these Vikings one would expect to find just such a mixture
Bangor. One of them bears the inscription of Sihtric Gale, of Nor- of coins as this. Notice the dates: they were lost about 927. May they
thumbria, 925--'7; another was minted in York, St. Petef's coinage, not therefore perhaps have been in the possession of one of the
925; another by Edward the Elder, 901--25; and five from the East Scandinavian envoys, who had come to Bangor to try to persuade the
were minted in Samarkand, Turkestan, to the east of the Caspian, in king of Gwynedd to join in the war against Athelstan? Mr. Ralegh
902--g. They are now preserved in the Museum of the University Radford agrees with the suggestion. [For illustrations and descrip-
College of North Wales, Bangor. It is thought that their owner was tions of the coins, see V. E. Nash-Williams, A Huridred Y ears of
a Viking, since the Scandinavians traded with the East: in the purse Welsh Archaeology, pp. 118--22.]
ll:Xii INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION Xltlll

of 'Prydyn' (i.e. Pictland, but here meaning the Irish who had join in a war against Athelstan. This also, for what it is
settled in Scotland). Added to them there will be an innumerable worth, supports the suggested date of about 930 for the period
host of Welshmen, the armies of Cadwaladr and Cynan: -when the Armes was composed.
Llym llifeit llafnawr llwyr y lladant (1. 79) With this exception, the poet's forecasts as to what might
('With keen whetted blades they will strike thoroughly'). happen were extremely probable. In 934 Athelstan attacked
But it is difficult to understand how the poet felt able to list the Scotland by land and sea, but without bringing the Scots to
Bretons as well in his prophesied army: open battle with him. In 937 Olaf from Dublin, the king of '
Scotland, and the king of Strathclyde united their forces and
Dybi o Lydaw prydaw gyweithyd
ketwyr y ar katueirch (11. 153-4) attacked him. After a long and hard battle at a place called
('There will come from Brittany a brave company, Brunanburh (Brune in the Annales Cambriae; ryfel brun in
Warriors on war-horses ... '). RBB 261 = Br. Tywys. 12), they lost the day completely;
their armies scattered, leaving five kings, seven earls from
They were related to the Welsh by blood and language,
Ireland, and the son of the king of Scotland, dead on the field.
certainly; but it was altogether unlikely that they would join
Athelstan won a great victory over all his enemies. 1 He had
in the war, since Athelstan had shown more kindness to the
justified his claim to be called a ~echteyrn. . .
Bretons than to any other section of the surviving Britons. In
But the victory cost him dearly m men. It ts easy to beheve
919 an army of Scandinavians had attacked Brittany, and
that the forces of Wales could have turned the balance;
many Bretons had fled for protection to England. Amongst
Brittany was in enough domestic trouble of its own, and
them was Alan (grandson of Alan the Great, the last ruler of the
Cornwall had only recently experienced defeat in a war
whole of Brittany). Perhaps he was born in England, says
against Athelstan. But what about the Welsh? Where was
Stenton; 1 in any case he was baptized there, and Athelstan
Gwynedd? Her king at the time was ldwal Foel, son of
was godfather to him, and his protector ever afterwards. The
Anarawd-and it is said that he was accustomed to frequent the
Bretons rose up against their oppressors, and Alan joined in
'councils' of Athelstan. What about Dyfed and Glywysing?
the battle: when the attempt failed disastrously, he returned
Hywel the Good was in authority there, and he was above all
to England in 931. In 936, with the help of Athelstan, he
the lesser Welsh kings in his fidelity to these 'councils', and
brought many of his fellow-exiles back to their country, and
in his loyalty to the king of England. It is best to quote Sir
re-established himself in his family's old patrimony. It is only
John Lloyd's words on the subject: 'All that is known of
fair to conclude that the conditions in Brittany were not such
Hywel points him out as a warm admirer, not ?~ly of Alfred,
as to lead to any confident expectation that the Bretons would
but also of English civilization: he led no exped1t1on across the
1
Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, 343. [On the poet's attitude to border, but instead secured to Athelstan the faithful allegiance
the Bretons, see note to I. 18:i below. If my proposed interpretation • Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, 338. I_n a manuscril?t of ~e tenth
of this line be accepted, the allusions in the poem to Brittany would century there are to be found six four:lmed stan_zas m ~atm cele-
suit the circumstances of Anglo-Breton relations both before and brating the victory; Du Meri!, Poenes populaires lat1nes, 1843,
after 931. On Alan Barbetorte, see E. Durtelle de Saint-Sauveur, 270-1. There is also a contemporary Anglo-Saxon poem; see A.
Histoire de Bretagne, i. 81---2, 101 ff.] Campbell, Th£ Battle of Brunanburh, 1938.
 INTRODUCTION XXV
u.iv INTRODUCTION
of his brother chiefs, even in that year of rebellion, when the accustomed to welcoming Irish scholars on their way to Eng-
league against Wessex included the Scots, the Danes, and the land and the Continent. To pay for their welcome, they would
Strathclyde Britons, and only the southern Britons held recount the 'latest news' to their hosts. If the king of the
aloof.' 1 Danes was collecting together a royal fleet in Dublin and the
Very little is known of Idwal, except this: on the death of other Irish ports, one would expect these wandering monks
Athelstan he rose up in rebellion against the English, and he to know about it, and to have their own ideas about the purpose ,
was slain (in 942). In the normal way, his sons !ago and Idwal for which the expedition was intended. And the news would •
would have inherited Gwynedd after him. But Hywel the travel from monastery to monastery. This suggests that the
Good came from the south (he was a grandson of Rhodri poet was not only a man of south Wales, but that he was a
Mawr) and drove them out, and conquered Gwynedd (and member of a monastic community. I believe that there are a
Powys, in all probability) for himself, until he was ruler over number of allusions in the Prophecy which support this theory.
very nearly the whole of Wales; and that, of course, as sub- He alludes to the Trinity (trindaurt, 11. 41, 98), to the Son
king under the king of England. of Mary (Mah Meir, 11. 25, 45); the warriors dedicate themselves
However that may be, after the Welsh had lost their to God and to Dewi (l. 51); the banner of Dewi will be raised
unparalleled opportunity to join against Athelstan, and had in front of the army (l. 129); he prays 'May Dewi be the
seen the tragic overthrow of the strongest members of any leader of our warriors' (l. 196); the privileges of our saints are
possible coalition against him at the Battle of Brunanburh, can being trodden under foot, especially 'the rights of Dewi'
one believe it possible that any Welshman would have had the (reitheu Dewi, 11. 139-40); victory will be won through the
heart to compose 'The Prophecy of Britain'? The poem must intercession of Dewi and the saints of Britain (l. 105); they are
therefore be dated before 937. fighting on the side of God (o pleit Dofyd, 1. 166); God's
princes have kept their faith (a th.eyrned Dews rygedwys eu ffyd,
111. The Poet 1. 180); in difficulties Gelli Gaer• stands on the side of God;
Whoever the poet was, it is difficult to believe that he had and the poem ends with praise to the eternal Lord, for ever
not heard that there was such an alliance as this afoot. It would One and unchanging.
be hardly possible to prepare for so important an expedition It is not too daring to suppose, therefore, that this poet had
without a great deal of consultation, and sending envoys from something to do with the Church, and that his home was in
one member to another. It would be necessary to collect the neighbourhood of Gelli Gaer. He was not a professional
together an army and a fleet on a considerable scale for an poet, or he would not speak so contemptuously of the 'greedy
expedition such as that of 937, and there was no way of doing poets'- poets who were miserly and avid for payment (cf.
that in complete secrecy. The most likely place to hear news agawr brydyd, 1. 193). Presumably he meant his allusion
of these preparations was in a monastery. It is known that to strike home among the professional poets of his day.
there were intimate relations between the monasteries of In the same breath he mentions someone else whom the
south Wales and of Ireland: St. David's in particular was Welsh are not to seek out nor to listen to-the llyfrawr-
'HW 336. [' See note to l. 197 below.]
xxvi INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION xxvii
a word which Professor Thomas Jones has shown to be a and it was in order to counter them, I think, that this book was
borrowing from the Latin librarius.' Usually it means 'a composed in the particular way that it was. Asser was a monk
scribe or keeper of books', but he has found good examples of St. David's, and a Welshman, in spite of his biblical name,
of it with the meaning 'a sorcerer, a magician', who pro- which is paralleled in that of many another Welshman.
phesied events that were to come-and demanded payment Stevenson is in considerable perplexity concerning the
for his work. That is certainly a suitable meaning for the word derivation of the name Asser (seep. lxx of his book); he says
in the text, where instructons are given that no one is to seek that there are examples of it in Wales but not in England, and
a llyfrawr or a greedy poet (angawr brydydd) in order to yet it is not of Celtic derivation ! The explanation is found in
obtain knowledge as to the future. The only true forecast Genesis 30, 13: As(h)erwas son ofJacob by Leah; cf. the index
about the fate of this Island is that of the Prophecy! to the Book of Llan Div, which lists a number of other Welsh-
If the poet was a monk of south Wales, about 930, he must men who bear such names as Abraham, Daniel, Dafydd or
have been a subject of Hywel the Good, and at the same time Dewi, Iago (Jacob), Isaac, Ismael, Samson, Salomon or
a fierce and fiery opponent of his policy of recognizing the Selyf. Alfred invited Asser to his court, in order to obtain his
supremacy of the king of England, of living in peace with the help in teaching his people; he became fond of him, and after
English, and of paying tribute to the Iwys. He is the spokesman a while made him Bishop of Sherborne. In 893, a little before
of the nationalist opposition. He shows what the spirit was the death of Alfred ( ?899), Asser wrote a biography of him,
that was rife among the churchmen of the period : among the 'one of the most important and at the same time most difficult
men who could read Latin; and he used the customary method of the sources of our early history', said Stevenson. 1
employed by Welsh poets to incite both the leaders and the I will only mention two of the difficulties relating to this
rank and file to go to war with the traditional enemy-that is, interesting and difficult book. This is the first. Asser writes in
he composed a prophecy. His urgent and fiery poem bears Latin, and yet, time after time, after naming a place in
witness to his enthusiastic spirit as a Welshman, and to the England, he explains the name in Welsh, or else he gives the
bitterness of his disappointment in his king. Welsh name and then explains it in Latin. Like this:
IV. Asser Cap, 30. The Danes came to Snotengaham,
'quod Britannice " Tig guocobauc" interpretatur,
We can estimate the strength of the anti-English feeling Latine autem "speluncarum domus".'
from Asser's Life of Alfred, written a generation earlier. It is
The place is Nottingham, its Welsh name is tig guocobauc, and
clear that the same feelings and ideas were rife at that time,
this is explained by the Latin phrase 'house of caves'. Even
1
B xi. 137-8. (The equation between these terms had previously today, these caves in the rock are one of the oldest and most
been pointed out briefly by A. W. Wade-Evans, Welsh Christian
Origins (Oxford, 1934), p. 209.) Cf. also BT I. 17: 'neu leu a gwydyon. famous wonders of Nottingham.
a uuant ge/uydyon, neu a wdant lyfyryon.' 'Do Lieu and Gwydion (who Cap. 49. ' Exanceastre (Exeter); Britannice autem CainJuisc'
were skilful enchanters) know, or do llyfyrion know, what they will do (the Welsh name means 'the fortress on the river Exe').
when night and storm come?' I believe that we have here the plutal of
llyfrawr: llyfrorion (cf. cerddorion), and not a form of the plural of 1 W. H. Stevenson, Asser's Life of King Alfred (Oxford, 1904),

Ilyfwr , llwfr 'coward'. • second edn., ed. D. Whitelock, 1959, p. xi.

xxviii INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION xxix
Cap. 52. 'Cippanham (Chippenham) . . . in orientali ripa lord. Also Anarawd son of Rhodri (and his brothers) renouncing
flwninis, quod Britannice dicitur Abon' (i.e. afon 'river'). finally his friendship with the men of Northumbria, from which
Cap. 55. 'Saltus qui dicitur Seluudu (Selwood), Larine he had obtained no advantage, but rather loss, earnestly sought
autem "sylva magna", Britannice Coet Maur' (Coed Mawr the friendship of the king, and came into his presence ... and
'Great Wood'). submitted, with all his followers, to his lordship.
Cap. 57. Cirrenceastre (Cirencester), quae Britannice The old proverb is true enough 'Two Welshmen will never
Cairceri nominatur. (Notice that Kaer Geri occurs also in agree'. When it was necessary to choose an overlord, each
I. 69 of the Prophecy, where the lenition is shown after province of Wales preferred a foreigner. Hywel the Good was '
caer, a feminine noun.)
only following the example of his predecessors. 1
There is another interesting example in chapter 49. 'Werham This brings us to the second problem concerning Asser's
(Wareham) . . . inter duo flumina Frauu (et Terente) et in book. In his history of Alfred he represents him as an excep-
paga quae dicitur Britannice Durngueir, Saxonice autem tionally good man and a good king: indeed, too good to be
Thomsaeta (Dorset)'; cf. Stevenson (pp. 247-50). Dunwvaria true. In Asser's Life of King Alfred (1908), L . C. Jane says
was the form in the second century, which gave Durngueir in (p. 40) that his description of the king and his court is
Asser (and Dyrnwair in later orthography). 1 This element truthful in substance. 'At the same time there is every reason
survives in Dorchester and Dorset. to regard that account as idealized and exaggerated. We can-
The first problem is, why did Asser translate the English not accept as literally true the author's description of the royal
names, and leave the Welsh place-names without explanation? household, which is false alike to the period and to human
Surely, as certain historians have suggested, because he was nature. Nor can it be doubted that there is gross exaggeration
writing his book for the Welsh, and not for the English. in the account of the administration of the king . . . Alfred
This becomes even more clear in chapter 80. was not all that he is represented to be by our author, nor was
At that time and for a long time before, all the districts of his reign a golden age.' Hodgkin, in his History of the Anglo-
southern Britannia (that is, Wales) belonged to Alfred the King, Saxons (p. 537), has observed similarly: 'The side of Alfred's
and they still belong to him: that is to say Hyfaidd, together character with which Asser could best sympathize was the
with all the inhabitants of Dyfed, submitted to his royal
religious. The biographies known to Asser were the Lives of
authority, because of the oppression of the six sons of Rhodri
(that is, the men of Gwynedd). Also Hywel, son of Rhys, king Saints, and he was therefore naturally inclined to magnify,
of Glywysing, and Brochfael and Ffymfael, sons of Meurig, according to the conventions of hagiography, the saint-like
kings of Gwent, because of the violence and oppression of characteristics of his hero' (p. 676); 'Asser's Alfred is almost
Earl Eadred and the men of Mercia, voluntarily betook them- a crowned monk, worthy of a niche by the side of St. Louis
selves to the same king, so that they might obtain lordship and of France.'2
protection from him against their enemies. Also Elisedd son
of Tewddwfr, king of Brecknock, because of the violence of the 1
[Cf. TYP, no. 68, and note, pp. 179-81. The triad offers some
same six sons of Rhodri, voluntarily sought the above king as confirmation for the existence of nationalist opposition in Dyfed
during the time of Asser. See also D. Whitelock, op. cit. di, note.]
1
On gwair, cf. B xi. 82-3; Dwrn, cf. Din-dym. Frauu corresponds • See Lloyd, HW 324 30, for the details; Jane, Asser's Li/~ of King
to the Ffraw in Aberffraw, and Terente (Tarrant) to T(a}ramion. Alfred, pp. xxx- xxx.iv, for the idea. Hodgkin wonders at Asser's
XXX INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION xxxi
Enough as to the style of his writing. What about his purpose Geoffrey was the author, and that he composed it in u50-1.
in over-colouring Alfred's sanctity? He is trying to win his If the Armes was composed about 930, Geoffrey could easily
Welsh readers (the clerics) to his party, by showing them how have seen a copy of it, especially as it had a particular associa-
odious it was that the Welsh leaders should be supporting tion with south Wales (Glywysing), and with ecclesiastical
pagans, the idol-worshipping Danes-rather than upholding circles in the south. Also, it was a prophecy, and Geoffrey was
that shining Christian, Alfred, who was a pattern of all a king more interested in prophecies than in anything else: the
should be, as a man, as a religious believer, and as a governor. Vita contains passages which are undoubtedly derived from
The author of the Prophecy stands out as a representative early poems such as those which are preserved for us in the
of the other side, and he is a witness that this opposition was Book of Taliesin, the manuscript in which the Armes is found.
living and vocal a generation after Asser wrote his book. Or The Book of Taliesin belongs to a period later than Geoffrey,
else, it is necessary to believe that Athelstan's boastful and but although it was written about 1275, there is plenty of
tyrannical ostentation had re-awakened hatred towards the evidence that some of its contents were written at a much
English, and given rise to the same opposition as before. earlier period- certainly long before 1150-as is shown by
Certainly, Athelstan's nature was very different from that of the archaic spelling which has survived here and there.
Alfred. Even Asser, had he been alive in 930, could hardly have However, the Vita Merlini contains very few certain traces
made out that Athelstan was a humble and submissive saint, of influence from the Armes. Of course, the promised de-
and have succeeded in making the Welsh believe him. If Hywel liverers in both poems are Cynan and Cadwaladr: but these
the Good imitated the good king in Alfred, perhaps Athelstan's two are referred to in other prophetic poems (BT 3 1. 12 ;
bad example was too much for him, when the opportunity 74. 24; BBC 52. 3-4; 58. 12), and Cadwaladr alone in others
came of attacking Gwynedd. (BT 76. 21; 77. 5, 22; 78. 8, 17; 80. 17, 20; BBC 48. 2; 51. 16;
60. 5). But there appears to be one fairly certain allusion to
the Prophecy in the Vita, II. 967-71. The Welsh will remain
v. The Vita Merlini conquered by the Saxons for a long time, says Merlin
If the above argument regarding the date of the Armes is (Myrddin):
correct, it is worth while now to consider its relation to the Donec ab Armorico ueniet temone Conanus,
Latin poem Vita Merlini, which is attributed to Geoffrey of Et Cadwaladrus Carnbrorum dux' uenerandus,
Monmouth. The opinion of Professor J. J. Parry• is that Qui pariter Scotos, Carnbros, et Comubienses,
Annoricosque uiros sociabunt federe finno,
description of Alfred rushing into battle aprino more--'like a wild Amissumque suis reddent diadema colonis,
boar from the forest', cap. 38. But he was only drawing on the Hostibus expulsis, renouato tempore Bruti.
vocabulary of the early Welsh poets; cf. twrch 'boar' for a brave 'Until Cynan comes from Brittany (or 'from a Breton chariot')
warrior, and taro, tn'n 'bull of battle', for similar comparisons in the
old poetry. [See TYP 11, 93-4 on these and similar epithets in the work of previous editors (Black, Michel, Thomas Wright, San-
early Welsh poetry.] Marte) and of the manuscripts; he has emended the text, and has
' J. J. Parry, The Vita Merlini, University of Illinois Studies in given a translation of the whole.
Language and Literature (1925), p. 13. He gives a good account of 1
In place of dum in the manuscript. So also San-Marte.
 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION xxxiii
xxxii
and Cadwaladr, the revered leader of the Welsh, and there be translates : 'The Welsh shall attack the men of Gwent and
formed together in a strong confederation the Scots and the afterwards those of Cornwall', but I find it difficult to ~gree
men of Strathclyde, the men of Cornwall and those of Brittany, with him. The Gewissi are not 'men of Gwent', and why
and the crown that they had lost they shall restore to their people, should the Welsh be making war on them, and afterwards upon
after driving the enemy forth and renewing the days of Brutus.'
Cornwall? There is a different reading of the first line in three
It is possible that the Scoti here mean the Irish as well as manuscripts: Cambri Gemussos Gemussi Cornubienses. Emend
the inhabitants of Scotland; so that this confederation would here again to Gewissi, and understand it as the men of Wessex,
include all the participants who are named in the Prophecy, and there is a fairly intelligible prophecy-the Welsh making
except for the Danes of Dublin. Perhaps Geoffrey did not war against Wessex, and Wessex in tum against Cornwall.
know that they were the 'men of Dublin' referred to by the (See p. xv for Iwys = Gewissi.) But this will not do either.
poet! Perhaps that made no difference to him. In the first line, Geoffrey used Gewissi in a wholly arbitrary fashion, and not
he says to his patron that the Vita is a poem which is iocosa, 1 in its historical meaning. In I. 986, Vortigern (Gwrtheyrn) is
that is, an amusing poem, not a serious one. His purpose is called 'consul Gewissus'; so also in the Historia Regum
to amuse his listeners. That is why he puts in it such a Britanniae (vi. 6) 'consul Gewisseorum'-in the Welsh Brut
mixture of material, and sets no value upon anything so 'iarll oed hwnnw ar Went ac Ergig ac Euas' 1 ('he was earl over
uninteresting as a strict regard for truth. There is reason to Gwent and Erging and Ewyas'). Octavius' title of 'dux
think that Geoffrey composed his Historia Regum Britanniae Geuuisseorum' is rendered in the Dingestow Brut as 'Eudaf
(in Welsh, Brut y Brenhinedd) in the same spirit: it is a kind (sic) earl of Ergyng and Yeuas'.2 Certainly, the similarity of
of historia iocosa. This is Sir John Lloyd's opinion of that the name of the district of Ewias (in Hereford and Monmouth-
work: 'It is idle to look for history, in any guise, from a shire) caused the Welsh to believe that it was the same place
writer who allowed himself such freedom, and whose first and as the home of the Gewissi. in later times. For as regards sound,
last thought was for literary effect.' 2 Ewias certainly came a good deal closer to Gewissi. than did
Apart from the possible allusion suggested above, I do not either Gwent or Gwennwys I
see anything one can quote as an echo of the Prophecy. Lines Perhaps it is a waste of time to look for any sort of con-
599--000 are no exception: sistency in Geoffrey's work. But it is possible, nevertheless,
Cambrigei missos post illos Cornubienses to suggest an explanation for his use of these names. If he was
Afficient hello. ignorant of the names Iwys and Gewissi. as applied to the
It is easy, with San-Marte, to correct the two first words to Saxon inhabitants of Wessex: that is, if it can be supposed
Camhri gemissos, and to take the second, with Parry, as a that he had overlooked the information supplied by Bede and
misreading of Gewissos (or better still, Geuuissos). Parry Asser concerning the West Saxons-and if he had nevertheless
I RBB 127.

1 Professor Parry translates iocosa here by 'humorous', but by • See the note by Professor Henry Lewis, BD 228-9. He gives the
oldest Welsh forms for the name from the Book of Lian Dllv: Eugias
'pleasant' in 1. 201; 'laughingly' does not go "".ith ?do~at in 1. 5_32
either. It is an adjective probably corresponding m tts use with Euias, Ewias, and adds 'A misreading caused the later pronunciatio~
Euas, instead of Ewias: the consonantal i- became lost, giving Ewas.'
Uawen in the Mabinogi. ~ HW 526-8.
C7'b' C

-
xxxiv INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION XXXV

seen the allusions in the Armes to the lwys in Gaer Geri Myrddin is introduced in connection with the allusion in I. 18:
(Cirencester), and Gaer Wynt (or Gaer Went, Winchester) it may be therefore that there was in existence some prophecy
-it is perhaps no wonder that he should have supposed that attributed to Myrddin which foretold events connected with
the Gewissi lived in a district that contained Gloucester, and Aber Peryddon, and that this prophecy was older than our
perhaps also Hampshire. (Notice the allusions to Kaerkeii- present poem.
a mistake for Kaer Keri-in the Vita, l. 593, and Kaerwen for Geoffrey wrote the book which San-Marte calls the Pro-
Kaer Went, l. 1485-although the two names occur in different phetia Merl£ni (and which others call the Vaticinium) as a
contexts.) This misunderstanding could have been the reason separate work from the Historia Regum, and with a different
which caused Geoffrey to plant Octavius in the middle of the dedication-namely, to Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln. Then
Roman period, and Vortigern at the end of that period, the Prophetia was incorporated as Book VII of the Historia.
both of them as rulers of an imaginary region on the south- In this book there occurs the following allusion, both in the
east marches of Wales. It also enabled him to turn the Gewissi Latin and in the Welsh texts:
into a respectable British tribe, which he was able to locate in
Er hen gvynn ar uarch guelv yn diheu a drossa auon Perydon,
the very district which, centuries later, became occupied by ac a guialen wen a uessur melin arnei. Cadwaladyr a eilv Kynan,
Saxon raiders who bore this identical name of Gewissi. a'r Alban a dwc yn y gedymdeithas. Ena y byd aerua o'r estravn
It is not so difficult to understand how the name lwys = genedloed. Yna y llithrant yr auonoed o waet. Ena y llaven-
Gewissi came to be strange to the Welsh. Notice how the haant mynyded Llydav, ac o'r deymwialen y coronheir y
Brytannyeit. Ena y llenwir Kymry o lewenyd, a chedemyt
Welshman who translated Geoffrey's Latin in the Dingestow Kernyv a irhaa.1
Brut put Y euas, instead of Euas, for their home.Was he trying to ('The white-haired old man on a white horse will surely divert
make the name more like Iwys? On the orthographical evidence the river Peryddon, and with a white rod will measure a mill
provided by this version of the Brut Professor Henry Le~s upon it. Cadwaladr shall call upon Cynan, and will bring
says of the text 'it is based ultimately on an exemplar which Scotland into the alliance. Then there will be a slaughter of the
foreign peoples. Then the rivers will flow with blood. Then the
was written early in the thirteenth century' . 1 By that date little
mountains of Brittany will rejoice, and the Britons will be
memory of the men of Wessex would have survived among the crowned with the sceptre. Then Wales will be filled with joy,
Welsh, for by then the Normans had become the enemy. and the might of Cornwall will be refreshed.')
'Niveus quoque senex in niveo sedens equo ftuvium Perironis
v 1. The river 'Peryddon' divertet, et cum candida virga molendinum super ipsum meta-
In l. 18 of the Armes there is an allusion to Aber Perydon bitur. Cadualladrus vocabit Conanum, et Albaniam in socie-
tatem accipiet. Tune erit strages alienigenarum: tune flumina
as the place where the meiryon mechteyrn (the 'stewards of the sanguine manabunt. Tune erumpent Armorici fontes et Bruti
Great King') will meet to collect their taxes; in l. 71 the diademate coronabuntur. Replebitur Cambria laetitia: et
stewards of Caer Geri (Cirencester) complain that their robora Cornubiae virescent. ' 2
coming to Aber Perydon has been unfortunate. I understand l BD 107.

this to be the old spelling for Aber Peryddon. The name of • San-Marte, p. 22. [Cf. Geoffrey of Monmouth: The History of
1 Ibid., xxxv and 70.
the Kings of Britain, translated with an introduction by Lewis Thorpe
(Penguin Books, 1966), p. 175.]
xxxvi INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION xxxvii
It will be noticed that the Latin text varies to some extent name is unknown today, as far as I know: but Dr. Gwen-
from the Welsh. In both we have an old man (11iveus senex = ogvryn Evans's belief that this 'Llan Oronwy' was to be
er hengvynn} who is going to divert a river (Pen·ron or Perydon), identified with Rockfield in Monmouthshire, seems to me to
and raise a mill upon its bank. ( Gwneud tTosfa-cf. the be very probable. The boundary starts from Mingui, that is,
Brut's a drossa- is the expression which has survived until the river Monnow, then goes to the spring of Dioci, then
today in Arfon for making a mill across a river, to divert part 'arhit iguuer bet nant catlan. catlan ini hit bet aper periron'. 1
of its waters into a mill-stream or lake.) Who is this white- ('Along its tributary as far as Nant Cadlan; along the Cadlan ,
haired old man who is so anxious for water for his mill ? One as far as Aber Periron.') Here is the very same name in the l
can only speculate. In the Latin text we meet once more with same spelling as in Geoffrey's Latin, and in a copy of a
Cadwaladr and Cynan, an alliance with Scotland, a slaughter of charter which has been assigned to the epoch of Hywel the
foreigners, and rivers of blood-exactly as in Armes Prydei~. Good.2 Indeed, he is named in it: 'not only through the
In place of the mountains (the mynyded of the Welsh text 1s kingdom of King Morgan ... but also through the kingdom
presumably derived from a Latin text_which read monte_s)' of of Hywel the Good, son of Cadell, who rules over all Wales'.
Brittany rejoicing, we get the fountains (fontes) of Bnttany If it is authentic, here is contemporary evidence for the place
bursting forth. Wales will be filled with joy, and the oak-trees and for the form of the name. Rockfield stands some three
(or might) of Cornwall will flourish. All this is closely reminis- miles to the north-west of the town of Monmouth: on the
cent of the Armes, where we find precisely the same alliance map there can be seen a little river running into the river
(except for the men of Dublin and the Irish) that we find in Monnow. Eighteen miles to the north is Hereford, where
Geoffrey. Athelstan summoned the Welsh princes to meet him when he
The name of the river is Periro11 in the Latin text published placed on them the oppressive taxes. One would expect that
by Griscom as well ; it is avon Peryron in the Dingestow Brut,2 it would have been from Hereford that the tax-collectors
but Perydon in the corresponding place in the Red Book,3 and would have set out to collect them. And since Geoffrey had
avon Beirydon in the text of Havod MS. 2. some connection with Monmouth- perhaps his home was
Since the Aber Peryddon of the Armes was on the way by there, as his name suggests- it is not difficult to believe that
which the stewards of Cirencester would be expected to pass he would have known quite well about the river Periron
to collect their taxes from south Wales, I suggest that the which ran close by.
possibility is worth considering that it is to be identified with
1 Then it goes on, 'catlan nihit bet mingui. mingui nihit diuinid
a river whose name is preserved in the Book of Lian Dav, bet penn arciueir ar pant in icecin ubi incepit armingui.' As far as I
p. 241. The reference to it is found in a charter under the can see, this means that the Cadlan is the chief river, and that the
name of Morgan Hen ah Owain, a contemporary of Hywel the Periron is a stream running into it; Cadlan is still its name, until
it joins with the Monnow.
Good, which gives the boundaries of Lann Guoronui. The • [On the date of the charters in the Book of Lian DAv, see now
Christopher Brook, 'The Archbishoprics of St. David's, Llandaff
• Cf. Griscom, Hist. Reg. Brit. 388, erumpent armorici montts. and Caerleon-on-Usk', in N. K. Chadwick (ed.), Studies in the Early
• BD :254. British Church (Cambridge, 1958), :201-4:2 ; and John Morris, Welsll
3 RBB 147. History Revier,,, i. ~30 ff.)
xxxviii INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION xxxix
In later spelling one would expect Periron to appear as same as the Aber Periron of Geoffrey, and of the charter in
Peryron, cf. BD's reading (Peniarth 16). What we find, how- the Book of Lian Dav, which form of the name is the correct
ever, in the orthography of BT is Perydon, with d for dd; that one ? Geoffrey is an unsatisfactory witness to the authenticity
is to say, Peryddon. And that is the form which occurs in other of name-forms: for instance, he was capable of creating Merlin
parts of Wales. Some suppose (seep. 25 below, note to I. 18) in place of the Welsh name Merddin, in order that it might be
that Peryddon is a name for the Dee; John Jones Gellilyfdy easier for the French to talk about the prophet. He performed
says that there is another name for this river, the Aerfen, various other linguistic miracles: for instance, he declared that ,
cf. Roberts, Gwaith Dafydd ah Edmwnd, p. 61, 'o Lann vrfvl Cymraeg came from Cam Roeg, 1 'Crooked Greek', the speech
i lynn Aerfen' ('from Llanwrthwl to glyn ( ?) Aerfen'). In of the descendants of the Trojans. It is better therefore not to
praising a man of Edeirnion, 1 Tudur Aled says 'Mae breuddwyd depend too much upon him as regards Periron. It would have
am Beryddon / Yr ~i gaer hir ar gwrr hon' ('there is a dream been entirely in accordance with his usual method, if he had
(or vision) about Peryddon / That a tall castle should be raised interpreted the word itself as containing a prophecy, and had
there')-an obvious allusion to some prophecy. Dafydd Benfras understood it as derived from peri 'cause', and rhoo, the name
addressed his Marwnad i'r Trywyr Ynghyd2 to Llywelyn the of Arthur's spear. That was the philology of the time! Take
Great, Gruffudd, and Dafydd: for instance the way in which the author of the Life of St.
Tri eres armes trachwres trychion . . . Illtyd explained the name of the saint (in its Latin form,
Tri chleu eu pareu fal Peryddon I/tutus) as 'ille ab omni crimine tutus' .2
('Three stout and ardent, wonderful portents ( ?) ••• It is not so easy to cast aside lightly the evidence of a
Three with spears swift as Peryddon').
charter contemporary with the Armes. Yes, but what assur-
This may mean that they were three who could hurl their ance is there that it is contemporary? We have a copy of it in
spears against the enemy with the swiftness of the Peryddon's the Book of Llan Dav (about 1150), and there were successive
current. In the 'Stanzas of the Graves' 3 the grave of Gwalch- editions of the works of Geoffrey throughout the period
mai is situated in Peryddon, as though it were the name of 1135-50.3 It is possible, therefore, that the copyist of the
a district. charter in u50 was influenced by Geoffrey's manner of
Supposing that the Aber Peryddon of the Armes is the writing the name. It is possible-and that is all. What is
1 T. Gwynn Jones, Gwaith Tudur Aled, I, p. 163. In his note, II,
certain is that the boundaries given in the Book of Llan Dav
p. 584, he says 'there is a Nant Beryddon not far from Llandderfel'. I
heard from a native of Llanuwchllyn, Mr. T. Roberts, of the Normal do not keep to the spelling of the original charters letter for
College, Bangor, that Afon Peryddon is somewhere near Rhos Gwalia.
[More usually known as Nant Beryddon, according to a note contri- ' Historia Regum, i. 16 [trans. Thorpe, 72); BD 19.
buted by Machreth Ellis, B xxi. 229-30. It is the name of a small 2
Wade-Evans, Vitae Sanctorum Britanniae, p. 194.
stream which flows into the Dee opposite Bodweni.] 3
Loth decisively rejects Dr. Evans's theory that Geoffrey composed
• MA• 222a. 47, 54, from Panton 53; J. G. Evans, Poetry by the Book of Lian Dfi.v; see RC xv. 369. For the dates of publication
Medieval Welsh Bards, p. 309. of Geoffrey's works, see HW 524-5, and the summary of different
3 BBC 63. 15. [Ed. Thomas Jones, The Black Book of Carmarthen
opinions in BD xii-xv. [See now J. S. P. Tatlock, The ugendary
'Stanzas of the Graves', Rhys Memorial Lecture, Proc. Brit. Acad. History of Britain (California, 1950), and Christopher Brook, op. cit.
vol. )iii (Oxford, 1967), p. 118.] p. :1.07, TI. 1,}
xl INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION xii
letter (cf. the forms Ebrdil, Euirdil, Efrdil, Emrdil; the two There are ten syllables in the first line, and ten also in the
last in the same charter). second, if the word is pronounced armes. So again in a series
My suggestion is that the original read Periuon : r in the of octosyllabic lines by Cynddelw:
tenth century, as we know from the glosses, was very liken, Armet gwr gwythlawn y ober (H 146. 3)
and therefore also like u. One could misread u, n, and r, the ('the a1'1MS of a man of ferocious deed').
one in place of the other. Periuon stood for Pery/on, with
Peryddon as a colloquial variant, cf. Ei.fionydd, Eiddionydd; In Dr. Parry's Gwaith Dafydd ap Gwilym, p. 231, the poet ,
gwyryfon, gweryddon. Pery/ occurs quite frequently in the addresses his deceitful love: ~
early poetry both for God and for terrestrial rulers. By adding Enwog y'th wnair, gair gyrddbwyll,
-on to it we get a personal name in the singular, like gwr, Armes, telynores twyll
Gwron; teym (a word of similar meaning to peryf), Teyrnon; ('Thou wilt be made famous, a weighty word,
A (false) prophecy, a deceptive harpist'),
or the name of a goddess, and hence the names of rivers like
Aeron, leithon, Daron, cf. Rhiannon. That is why Periuon i.e. she will become famous like an Armes, or false prophecy
could be a name for the Dee, or part of it, or of a river running (and like a harp with untuned strings); everyone will know
into it, in spite of the doubts of the Welsh authorities;' and about her, no one will believe her. (See B i. 35-6, for further
although the Dee would not suit at all as the Afon Peryddon of details concerning the word and its meaning.)'
the Armes. There are various rivers which have the same name, ' Prydain Fawr' in the title Armes prydein vawr (BT 13)
like the Aeron found both in Cardiganshire and in the old does not mean 'Great Britain': / awr refers to the length of
British North; Menei in various places in the south and in the the Prophecy, not to the size of Britain. Similarly, Gwawt
north; Trannon in Wales and Trent in England (from Trisantona). lud y mawr ('The great praise of Lludd') is given as the title
of a poem, BT 74. On the margin opposite the beginning of
VII. Another Prophecy
another poem (BT 76) is found [ Y]man:var llud mawr ('The
In BT 13 the title Arymes prydein vawr is given to the great discussion of Lludd'). Before a short poem on p. 78 is
poem, and in 1. 194 below is found Arymes yr ynys hon 'the found Ymarwar llud bychti, that is bychan 'little'. Afterwards,
Prophecy of this Island'. In BT 27, in a series of five-syllabled p. 79, Kanu y byt mawr ('The great song of the world') and a
lines, occurs 'o erymes fferyll' ('from the prophecies, of Vergil'), lesser one, p. 80, Kanu y byt bycha(n).
as though erymes was to be pronounced as ermes; in BT 31: One would expect, therefore, to find a short poem corre•
Tri dillyn diachor droch drymluawc, sponding to the long Prophecy, and I believe that such a one
Teir llyghes yn aches arymes kyn brawt is to be found, BT 70. 16.-71. 6. There is no title to it, nor
('Three strong (or 'invincible') hosts ( ?) .. • three fleets in the 1 In BT 10 before a long poem describing the Day of Judgement, a
ocean; affliction before Judgement Day')? later hand has added in the gap that was left vacant in I. 4 for the
• Davies, Diet. Duplex, 'Ego existimo esse nomen proprium viri'. title {originally not supplied}-Y~s det brawt 'The Prophecy of
• [Sir lfor subsequently discussed this poem and sug1rested a Judgement Day'. This is a good example of the word, where its meaning
translation of the passage here quoted, in Chwedl Taliesin {Cardiff, is quite unambiguous, 'a foretelling of the future', its tribulation, its
1957), pp. :22- 4.] terror, and its joy.
xiii INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION xliii
place for one, but the first four lines of Armes Prydei.n are given, Awna kyfamrud. who will make slaughter
to start with, and then a different vaticination follows : 25 Achat ygynhon. and battle (with ?) the
foreigners;
1 Dygogan awen dygo- The awen foretells, they will Arall adyfyd Another will come,
bryssyn. hasten, pellenawc y luyd from afar his hosts,
Maranhed ameuued a hed wealth and property and peace llewenyd y vrython. a joy to the Britons.
genhyn. with us,
A phennaeth ehalaeth and wide dominion and ready
affraeth vnbyn. leaders,
Notice how the four first lines of this Armes lead to
three more lines (5---7) with the same end-ryhme in -yn, thus
,

'
A gwedy dyhed anhed ym (and) after commotion, settle-
pop mehyn. ment in every place. forming an (W)d[, according to the early definition. Then the
s Seith meib o veli dyrch- Seven sons of Beli will arise, remainder has the same main rhyme, in -on, forming another
afyssyn. awtll. It is necessary to alter the end word in 9, since there is
Kaswallawn allud aches- Caswallawn and Lludd and •.• no rhyme for hafwyn. I suggest kaffon in its place (cf. BT 57. 4)
tudyn.
diwed plo coll iago o tir . . . the loss of lago from the [and see PT 38] to get the correct metre and to give good
prydyn. land of Prydyn. sense; and in II-12 I take haelder as rhyming internally with
Gwlat uerw dyderuyd hyt A land in commotion as far rygystlyned, since -er and -ed(d) make 'Irish' rhyme, such as
valaon. as (Penrhyn) Blathaon ( ?), was permitted in the early period. The metre is easy to
lludedic eu hoelyon ym- Weary their heroes (haelyon ?), follow from 13 to 28. Emend o gwd in 23 to o gud (that is
deithic eu hafwyn. roving their horses (?).
Gwlat wehyn vargotyon.
o gudd).
10 A land devastated (or 'Devasta-
ting the land') (to its) In this last part, it is prophesied that a 'Llyminawg', i.e. a
borders ( ?). greedy or predatory man, will come to conquer Anglesey, and
Kollawt kymry oll eu The Welsh will lose all their destroy Gwynedd from end to end: his face will be angry, and
haelder. nobility; he will submit to no one, neither Welsh nor English. A man
Ynrygystlyned o pennaeth Servants pressing their claim
weisson. to lordship.
will come out of hiding and fight against the foreigners (cf.
Rydybyd llyminawc There will come a 'llymin- the Armes, 11. 131, 176, 183-gynnon is a common word both
awg' for the English and for the Danes). Another will come as
auyd gwr chwannawc who will be a predatory man well, with an army from afar, who will be a cause of joy to the
y werescyn mon to conquer MOn Britons. Reading this, one's mind turns at once to Gruffudd
arewinyaw gwyned. and lay waste Gwynedd
oe heithaf oe pherued
ap Cynan in the North and to Rhys ap Tewdwr in the South,
from her furthest border to
her centre, both of them exiles from their country at about the same time,
oe dechreu oe diwed. from her beginning to her end, but both eventually successful, by perseverance, in regaining
A chymryt y gwystlon. and take her hostages; their lost patrimony. The author of the History of Gruffydd
20 Y stic y wyneb Angry his face ap Cynan 1 supposed that there was an allusion to Gruffudd
nyt estwg y neb who submits to nobody,
in a prophecy attributed to Myrddin, 'Ef ae daroganws Merdin
na chymry na saesson. neither Welsh nor English.
Dydaw gwr o gwd A man will come from hiding 1
HGC 110,
 INTRODUCTION xiv
xliv INTRODUCTION
treatise was first composed in Latin, and that it has been
ef ynni val hynn' ('Myrddin prophesied to us thus-'), and
preserved for us only in a later Welsh translation.
he gives his prophecy:
Llyminawc lletfcr a daroganer v 111. Ormesta Britanniae
Anaeth diarvor dygosel
llegrur y enw llycrawt llawer. 1 In the third chapter of the Life of St. Paul of Leon in
Brittany by Wrmonoc (A.O. 884), 1 there are references to
Then he gives a Latin translation, 'Saltus ferinus praesagitur / Saint David, to Samson, and to Gildas. Concerning the book ,
uenturus de marl insidiaturus / cuius nomen corruptor quod composed by the last 'which they call Ormesta Britanniae' it \
multos corrumpet.' is said that it was written by him 'de ipsius insulae situ
Saltus ferinus (if the reading is correct) is not an exact atque miseriis'. It appears therefore that this book 'concerning
translation, but it shows how llyminawc was understood by a the position and tribulations' of the island (which is known to
Welshman of the twelfth century, that is as a derivative of us as De Excidio Britanniae or 'Concerning the overthrow of
llam.2 With the adjective lletfer it means a warrior who leaps Britain') was known in Brittany in the ninth century under
upon his enemy, like a wild animal on his prey; a fierce mad another name, and one which caused a certain amount of
leaper, a tiger of a man! He comes 'from over the sea' as difficulty in its interpretation.
Gruffudd came; he is known as a corruptor, a spoiler, and he Cuissard drew attention to a similar title in a manuscript
will act as one. It is difficult to refrain from comparing the belonging to Fleury (on the border of Brittany) where the
other prophecy, about the predatory man who will come to work of the fifth-century historian Orosius is described as
conquer Mon (like Gruffudd) and hence to lay waste (rhew- Orosii presbyteri in Ormesta mundi; and he refers to the
iniaw) Gwynedd from its outer edge to its centre, and from fuller title given in another manuscript, Incipit capitulationis
beginning to end. And certainly, during the first attacks of in librum Historiarum Orosii sanctissimi viri de Miseria hominum.
Gruffudd, and indeed for some time afterwards, Gwynedd We find therefore Ormesta Mundi used as though it were
was cruelly ravaged and laid waste. synonymous with 'de Miseria hominum' .1
Perhaps it is a coincidence that the prophecies agree so well
with history; perhaps this proves that both were composed in 1 [Ed. Cuissard, RC v. See also G. H. Doble, The Saints of Corn-

the last quarter of the eleventh century; perhaps they are parts wall (printed for the Dean and Chapter of Truro, Chatham, 196o),
of a single prophecy; but, be this as it may, the History of part i, 13.]
2 [See a note by C. Brett on ormesta in E. J. Jones, A His!ory of
Gruffydd ap Cynan illustrates the firm belief in prophecies Education in Wares (Wrexham, 1931), 28o-3. The manuscripts of
which was held even by learned Welsh ecclesiastics at that Orosius give the variants Ormesta, Hormesta, Ormista, and the work
is referred to as Ormesta by various mediaeval writers. It is clear that
date. It is to be remembered that this interesting biographical
from the eighth to the fifteenth century this was understood to be
1 Notice the 'Irish' rhyme in -el, -er, and the rudimentary
the title of Orosius' History: Ormesta Mttndi or 'the misery of the
world' being 'a natural assumption from the contents and intent of
cynghanedd. . . . Orosius' History'. In ZCP iv (1903), 462-3, however, A. Anscombe
2 Cf. the gloss lmienic on salax; Loth, VVB 172: he gives its Insli
suggested that the title OnMsta mundi originated simply as a corrup-
cognate, liimnech. It occurs for Urien, BT 42. 8, and !n older orth~- tion of historia mundi.]
graphy, lleminawc, 55. 5; cf. llegrrcr for llygrwr; J',,Jerddm for Myrddm.
xlvi INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION xlvii
With regard to this Gaidoz observes that Ormesta is a form also in his gospel of hope. But the account of the tribulations
of Wormesta, the Breton word which corresponds to Gormes formed the burden of his song. As a description of the woes
in Welsh, and that the termination -ta has been added to it to of the Britons, one might with considerable justice call
Latinize it. 1 He concludes that the similarity in subject-matter Gildas' book an Armes. As the history of Picts and Scots and
caused the Breton clerics to transfer the title of Gildas' book Saxons attacking Britain, and settling the greater part of it,
to the work of Orosius. Dr. Hugh Williams accepts this in his neither armes nor gormes is entirely appropriate, but gormes-
discussion of the Vita Gildae,2 the work of a monk from the oedd.1 Armes would do, however, in the sense that it was a
monastery of Ruys in Brittany. The latter states, in a sentence forecast of the afflictions to come before Judgement Day. In
which reminds us of the title De Miseria above, 'Inter cetera the poetry in the Red Book of Hergest there is a prophecy
vero, quae ipse sanctus Gildas scripsit de miseriis et praevari- which is called 'Cyfoesi Myrddin a Gwenddydd ei chwaer'
cationibus et excidio Britanniae, hoe etiam de ilia praemisit'.3 (Myrddin's Colloquy with his sister Gwenddydd).2 Gwen-
Here is an indisputable equation between de miseriis and de ddydd puts a question to Myrddin in an englyn, and Myrddin
excidio Britanniae. But gormes does not seem to be a good answers in another, each in tum, making a long series. In one
translation of miseria; 'wretchedness', 'affliction', or 'tribula- englyn she asks him 'Who will rule after Merfyn ?' Here is his
tions' (in the plural) would be better. Gormes, on the other answer:
hand, means violence, oppression. Would not armes, in its Dywedwyf nyt odrycawr.
secondary meaning, correspond better to ormesta? Does not a ormes brydein pryderawr.
prophet usually prophesy heavy weather and tribulations- wedi Meruyn Rodri Mawr. 3
together with fair weather and prosperity to follow afterwards, (I say there will be no delay;
at some indefinite time in the future ? That is what is expected the ormes of Britain will be pondered ( ?),
after Merfyn, Rhodri Mawr.)
of him; that has always been the purpose of every prediction
and vaticination and prophecy-to raise the spirits of the Next, there is talk about Gruffudd ruling over the land of
afflicted during a period of national tribulation. The present Britain, and she asks to whom it will belong after Gruffudd.
affliction was true enough. By putting the forecast of this He replies:
adversity, which was in itself undeniable, into the mouth of Dywedwyf nyt odrycker.
some Myrddin or Taliesin of the previous age, belief was won ormes prydein pryderer.
(perhaps) for the message of hope which followed. It was Gwedy Gruffud Gwyn Gwarther.•
known by bitter experience that the prophet was right as (I say there will be no delay;
the ormes of Britain will be pondered ( ?),
regards the sad part of his prophecy, and it was this which after Gruffudd, Gwynn the Noble.)
helped those who were in affliction to believe he was right
1 1
RC v. 413, 458-6<>. [For gorrnes used in this sense, cf. TYP, triad 36, and note, pp.
2
Hugh Williams, Gildas, 319 n. 84-6.]
3
Ibid. 3%4-5. Hugh Williams translates 'Indeed amongst other • RP 577-83. 3
Ibid. 578. 42-3; 579. 1-2.
matters which St. Gildas himself has written about the mi1me$ and • Ibid. 580. 4-6. [Gwyn Gwarther was a name for Owain Gwyn-
transgressions and ruin of Britain', etc. edd, see G 625.]
xlviii INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION xlix
In another copy, older by a hundred years than the Red Book, Taliesin, hydr ar fydr fu,
the orthography varies a little: Gobaith proffwyd, a'i gwybu'
Dywedwyf nyt o dryker ('Taliesin, he was powerful in verse,
armes prydein pryderer. 1 A prophet's hope, he knew it').
Here is an allusion to Armes Prydein, or Ormes Prydein, as In his cywydd to the home of Gwilym ap Gruffudd of Penrhyn,
something which is to be seriously considered, or to be studied Rhys returns again to the point:
carefully.2 It is very unlikely that the allusion is to the work Y mae armes Taliesin, ,
of Gildas. There is more to be said for supposing that it is to A'i fawl penceirddiaidd o'i fin, \
the prophecy of 930. Perhaps the History of Britain is meant; Yn cymwyll, heb hirdwyll hawl,
cf. the use of Ormesta above, for Orosius' history. Perhaps there Taer yw, y ty eiriawl.2
were a mass of prophecies current, in both oral and written form. 3 ('The history ( ?) of Taliesin
In his argument with Llywelyn ab Y Moel, Rhys Goch with a pencerdd's praise from his lips
mentions, without deceptive claim
Eryri enquires whence is the source of poetic inspiration;
fervently, the snow-white house.)
Llywelyn replies that his inspiration comes from the Holy
Spirit; and that it was on the first Whit Sunday that the Holy I do not know what his evidence is for saying that the Armes
Spirit first bestowed the gift of poetry: Taliesin mentioned that house; he may allude to one of the
Ac yn armet Taliesin host of prophecies and stories of every age that became
Drud yn llys Faelgwn fu'r drin, fathered on Taliesin, in the tale which was later known as the
Pan ollyngawdd, medrawdd mwy, Hanes Taliesin. Perhaps Armes Taliesin was its original name,
Elffin o eurin aerwy.• when the emphasis was on the prophecies which it contained;
('And in the history(?) of Taliesin and this turned into Hanes Taliesin when the story came to
the contest was severe in the court of Maelgwn the forefront. However that may be, here is an instance of
when he released (he was capable of more)
Armes being used as the equivalent of Hanes.
Elffin from the golden chain'.)
Rhys contradicts him as to the Whit Sunday dating (the awen, rx. The Text
he claims, is far older, and was imparted to Adam in Paradise),
I have followed the text of the Book of Taliesin almost
but praises him as regards the second point: the gift of poetry
without alteration. For the reader's convenience, however, I
came from Heaven, he says, and
have made a division between words which the scribe has
1 B iv. 114, from Peniarth J (about 1300). joined together, contrary to our modern practice, as in II. 2-3:
• See PKM p. 158, [TYP 496--7], for some of the old meanings of
pryderu.
'ahed gennyn. Aphennaeth ehelaeth affraeth vnbyn.' I have
' [Cf. Giraldus Cambrensis, De Vaticiniis (Rolls Series V, p. 401) ignored the different forms for the letters w and r and s. I
for a reference to such oral prophecies current in the twelfth century, 1
Ibid. 172. 1-2.
and to the writer's discovery of a book containing written prophecies • 311. 2,7-30. [GPC 208 gives for armes the meanings of (i) pro-
'in a most remote district of Gwynedd which is called Lein (Lleyn)'.1 phecy, prediction, and (ii) calamity, tribulation; and classifies all
• IGE• 167. 25-<}. the above examples under one or other of these.]
C7454 d
 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION
have supplied capitals for names of places and persons. What- but a small capital, similar to that which he put sometimes at
ever I have added to the text, I have put in square brackets the beginning of a line. At the beginning of the ninth awdl he
(see 11. 35, 37, 60). In 1. 106 I have changed allan to all[myn] left a gap and a small d in the middle, for himself or someone
as required by the rhyme. else to supply an illuminated D in its place-but it was never
Instead of employing the spelling which occurs in the supplied. His second awdl, as it appears in the manuscript, is
manuscript for the title of the poem, ATymes, I have thought it shown by its rhymes to be a mixture of three.
preferable to use the form which is used by the Poets of the A peculiarity of the rhyme-scheme is that so many 'Irish'
Princes and by Dafydd ap Gwilym, that is Amzes. The y in rhymes occur: that is to say, the vowels or diphthongs corre- ,,
Arymes cannot be a full vowel, nor can the word be a tri- spond, but the consonants vary (see Canu Aneirin, p. lxxv).
syllable. If it were a trisyllable, the accent and the emphasis There are rhymes between -eT, -ed(d);-yl, -yr, -yd(d);yn(n), -yg
would fall on the second syllable, with the result that this (= -yng), -yrn. Perhaps there is consonance or half-rhyme
syllable would have been preserved, and arjmes would have (proest) in 1. 29, and internal rhyme (odl gyrch) between 11. 15 1
continued to be heard. By starting with armes it is possible and 152, -eiT, -ein.
to understand why arymes came to be a variant: in a combina- To come back to the second awdl. From I. 17 to l. 23 the
tion such as Tm an epenthetic vowel tends to be introduced rhyme is in -yn, as in II. 1-16. Then comes:
when one passes from the r to the m, and this may be denoted
Ny dyfl'ei a talei yg keithiwet.
in the spelling by an e or a y; for instance, garym is written Mab Meir mawr a eir pryt na thardet.
for garm ('shout'), and gwrym for gwrm ('black, brown; dark rac pennaeth Saesson ac eu hoffed.
grey'). Such words are not disyllables, but monosyllables;
the y in them had not developed the strength of a full vowel. From 1. 26 to 1. 44 -ed(d): -eT is the rhyme, except for the half-
In PKM 88 there occurs the word garymleis 'a scream'; it is rhyme in l. 29, dayar. To get rid of an irregularity, I suggest
not a trisyllable but a disyllable, from gaTm and llais (a com- reading thar<ler (pres. subj. impers.) in place of thaTtht in
l. 25: -er instead of -et gives perfect 'Irish' rhyme to join the
pound of synonyms, like torf-lu). In the same school of ortho-
line to the following lines. Also Mab Meir is now clearly shown
graphy armes came to be written as arymes.
In the Book of Taliesin the text is not written in lines like to begin a new awdl, as in l. 45:
poetry, but continuously as though it were prose. It has been Mah Meir mawr a eir pryt nas terdyn.
printed in lines in my text. The copyists' method of indicating
Lines 1-23 can therefore be united, and regarded as forming
the end of a metrical line was to put a full stop after the
a single awdl.
rhyming word which came at the end: I have kept to that
There is still one line, 24: Ny dyffei a talei yg keithiwet,
rule. In the early days a poem which had a single main-rhyme
which remains entirely on its own, without any metrical
throughout was called an awdl; at the beginning of each awdl
connection either with what precedes or with what follows. I
of the kind, the scribe put a large capital letter. In the
suggest, therefore, that it was a gloss on the original text
Armes there are nine such awdlau: he forgot the large
which was copied by the scribe of the Book of Taliesin, and
capital in the fourth, the fifth, and the sixth-giving nothing
Iii INTRODUCTION
that it was intended to explain I. 22: yg ketoed Kymry nat oed
a telhyn-and that it was included by mistake in the text. ABBREVIATIONS
The ambiguity of the word talu was the reason for the gloss.
If this be accepted, then the first awdl contains ll. 1-23, the AC Annales Cambriae in Y Cymmrodor, ix. 152-69.
ACL W. Stokes and K. Meyer, Archiv fur celtische
second II. 25-44, and I. 24 is omitted. Its meaning is, nobody Lexicographie (Halle a. S., 1898-1907).
would be willing to pay the new tax under compulsion. This is ACS A. Holder, Alt-Celtischer Sprachschatz (Leipzig,
not the only example in the Book of Taliesin in which a gloss 1896-1913).
AL A. Owen, Ancient Laws and Institutes of Wales, i, ,
has been included as part of the text!
ii (London, 1841). ~
The usual metre of the Armes is Cyhydedd Naw Ban. Lines Andrews E. A. Andrews, A Copious and Cn'tical Latin--
of nine syllables occur in 92 of the lines, interspersed English Lexicon (London, 1852).
Arch. Camb. Archaeologia Cambrensis. The journal of the Cam-
with lines of ten syllables. For the most part the nine-
brian Archaeological Society {I 846- ).
syllabled lines are divided by a medial pause or caesura into B The Brtlktin of the Board of Celtic St11dies {Cardiff,
groups of 5+4, the ten-syllabled into groups of 6+4. But in 1921- ).
BBC J. Gwenogvryn Evans, The Black Book of Carmar-
23 of the ten-syllabled lines the caesura comes after the fifth
then {Pwllheli, 1906).
syllable, giving two half-lines of 5+5. There are also 8 longer BD H. Lewis, Brnt Dingestow (Caerdydd, 1942).
lines, divided by caesura into 6+ 5. This accounts for 189 of Br. Breton.
BrCl. J. J. Parry, Brut y Brenhi~dd, Cotton Cleopatra
the 199 lines in the poem: the remaining ten lines are easily Version (Cambridge, Mass., 1937).
arranged or adapted to conform to one or other of these Br. Tywys. Thomas Jones, Brm y Tywysogyon or the Chronick
lengths. One can see how fond the poet was of making the of the Princes, Red Book of Hergest Versio.n
second half of the line into one of four syllables, following (Cardiff, 1955).
BT J. Gwenogvryn Evans, The Book of Talieti,i
the pause. The lines are embellished with alliteration and (Llanbedrog, 1910).
internal rhyme; frequently the end of the first half-line rhymes CA lfor Williams, Canu Aneirin (Caerdydd, 1938).
CCh. R. Williams, Campeu Charlymaen. Selecti<ms from
with the second syllable in the second half, sometimes the
the Hengwrt MSS., vol. i (London, 1878).
rhyming words are in the first half. CIL K. Meyer, Contrib11tions to Irish Lexicography.
Suppl. to ACL.
CLIH Ifor Williams, Can11 Llywarch Hen (Caerdydd,
1935).
Contrib. Contributions to a Dictionary of the Irish Language
(Dublin, Royal Irish Academy); in progress.
CT Ifor Williams, Canu Taliesin (Caerdydd, 1960).
(See PT.)
Cy. Y Cymmrodor {London).
Cymmr. Trans. The Transactirms of the Honourable Society of
Cymmrodorion (London, 1877- ).
ChBr J. Loth, Chrestomathie bretonne (Paris, 1890).
ChO !for Williams, Chwedlau Odo (Wrecsam, 1926;
new edition, Caerdydd, 1958).
!iv ABBREVIATIONS ABBREVIATIONS lv
D J. Davies,DictionariumDuplex(Britannico-Latinwn) Parry-Williams, Llawysgrif Hendregadredd (Caer-
(Londini, 1632). dydd, 1933).
DB H. Lewis and P. Diverres, Delw y Byd (Caerdydd, HB T. Momrnsen, Monumenta Germaniae Historica,
1928). Chronica Mjnora, vol. iii, fasc. I (edition of
DGG Thomas Roberts and ]for Williams, Cywyddau Nennius, Historia Brittonum) (Berlin, 1894).
Dafydd ap Gwilym a'i Gyfoeswyr(Bangor, 1914; HE C. Plummer, Baedae Opera Historica (Oxford, 1896).
new edition, Caerdydd, 1935). Hen.MSS R. Williams, Selections from the Hengwrt Manu-
DGVB Leon Fleuriot, Dictiomwire tks gloses en view,; scripts (London, 1876-1892).
bretJJn (Paris, 1964). HGC. A. Jones, The History of Gru.ffydd ap Cynan
DWS William Salesbury, A Dictionary in Englyshe and (Manchester, 1910). ,
Welshe, London, 1547 (reprint, 1877). HGCr. H. Lewis, Hen Gerddi Crefyddol (Caerdydd, 1931). ~
EEW T. H. Parry-Williams, The English Element in Hogsn, Onom. Edmund Hogsn, S.J., Onomasticon Goede[icum
Welsh (London, Hon. Soc. Cymmrodorion, (Dublin, 1910).
1923). HW J.E. Lloyd, A History of Wales, 2 vols. (London,
EL Henry Lewis, Yr El/en Ladin yn yr faith Gymraeg 1911, !939).
(Caerdydd, 1943). IGE H. Lewis, T. Roberts, and I. Williams, Cywyddau
Etym. W. M. Lindsay, Isidori . . . Etymologiarum Sive Iolo Gach ac Eraill (Bangor, 1925; new edition,
Originum Libri, 1911. Caerdydd, 1937).
EWGT P. C. Bartrum, Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts LEWP lfor Williams, Lectures on Early Welsh Poetry
(Cardiff, 1966). (Dublin, 1944; reprinted 1954, 1970).
FAB W. F. Skene, The Four Ancient Books of Wales LHEB K. H. Jackson, Language and History in Early
(Edinburgh, 1868). Britain (Edinburgh, 1953).
G J. Lloyd-Jones, Geirfa Barddoniaeth Gynnar LL J. G. Evans and J. Rhys, The Text of the Book of
Gymraeg (Caerdydd, 1931- ). Lian Dav (Oxford, 1893).
GBC Rhys Jones, Gorchestion Beirdd Cymru (Shrews- LP H. Lewis and H. Pedersen, A Concise Comparative
bury, 1773). Celtic Grammar (Gottingen, 1937).
GDG T. Parry, Gwaith Dafydd ap Gwilym (Caerdydd, LIA J. Morris.Jones and J. Rhys, The Elucidarium and
1952; new edition, 1963). other Tracts (Oxford, 1894).
GG Ifor Williams, Gwaith Guto'r Glyn (Caerdydd, LIB S. J. Williams and J.E. Powell, Cyfreithiau Hywel
1939; new edition, 1961). Dda yn 61 Llyfr Blegywryd (Caerdydd, 1942).
Gildas Hugh Williams, Gildae De Excidio Britanniae LILIC H. Lewis, Llawlyfr Llydaweg Canal (Caerdydd,
(London, Hon. Soc. Cyrnmrodorion, 1899, 1935).
1901). LIO Orgra.ff yr Iaith Gymraeg, Adroddiad Pwyllgor
GMB E. Emault, Glossaire moyen-breton (Paris, 1895). Ll~n Bwrdd Gwybodau Celtaidd, Prifysgol
GMW D. Simon Evans, A Grammar of Middle Welsh Cymru (Caerdydd, 1928).
(Dublin, 1964). MA1 The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales (Denbigh,
GMWL T. Lewis, A Glossary of M ediaet1al Welsh Law 1870).
(Manchester, 1913). MBr. Mediaeval Breton.
GOI R. Thumeysen, A Grammar of Old Irish, translated MHB H. Petrie-). Sharpe, Monumenta Historica Britannica
by D. A. Binchy and Osborn Bergin (Dublin, (London, 1848).
1946). ModBr. Modern Breton.
GPC Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru (Caerdydd, 1950- ). ModW Modem Welsh.
Gr. Greek. MW Mediaeval Welsh.
Gwyn. !for Williams, Gwyneddan MS. III (Cardiff, 1931). OBr. Old Breton.
H J. Morris-Jones, Rh. Morris-Jones, and T. H. QI Old Irish.
lvl ABBREVIATIONS
ow Old Welsh.
Owein R. L. Thomson, Owein: or Chwedyl Iarlles y
Ffynnawn (Dublin, 1968).
Owen, Pemb. Henry Owen (ed.), The Description of Pembrokeshire.
By George Owen of Henllys (1552-1613).
(Cymmrodorion Record Society, London, 1892-
1906.) With notes by E. Phillimore.
Ox. I Oxoniensis Prior= Bodleian MS. Auct. F. 4. 32. ARMES PRYDEIN VAWR
Ox.2 Oxoniensis Posterior = Bodleian MS. 572.
PKM lfor Williams, Pedeir Keinc .J' Mabinogi (Caerdydd,
1930; new edition, 1951).
PT Ifor Williams, The Poems of Taliesin; English
Version by J. E. Caerwyn Williams (Dublin,
1968).
RBB J. Rhys and J. G. Evans, The Text of the Brutsfrom
the Red Book of Hergest (Oxford, 1890).
RC Revue csitique (Paris, 1870-1934).
RM J. Rhys and J. G. Evans, The Text of the Mabinogion
from the Red Book of Hergest (Oxford, 1887).
RP J. G. Evans, The Poetry in the Red Book of Hergest
(Llanbedrog, 1911).
RWM J. G. Evans, Report on Ma,mscripts in the Welsh
Language (London, 1898-1910).
San-Marte San-Marte, Die Sagen von Merlin (Halle, 1853).
TW T. Wiliems, Dictionarium Duplex (Latino-Britan-
nicum) (Londini, 1632). (See D.)
TYP R. Bromwich, Trioedd Ynys Prydein (Cardiff, 1961).
VKG Holger Pedersen, Vergleichende Grammatik der
keltischen Sprachen (Gottingen, 1909, 1913).
VVB J. Loth, Vocabulaire vieux-breton (Paris, 1884).
w Ernst Windisch, Irische Texte mit Worterbuch
(Leipzig, 1880).
WG J. Morris-Jones, A Welsh Grammar (Oxford, 1913).
WM J. G. Evans, The White Book Mabinogion (Pwllheli,
1907).
WML A. W. Wade-Evans, Welsh Mediaeval Law (Oxford,
1909).
W-P A. Walde and J. Pokorny, Vergleichendes Worter-
buch der indo-germanischen Sprachen (Berlin,
Leipzig, 1930-2).
YCM S. J. Williams, Ystor.)'a de Carolo Magno (Caer-
dydd, 1930).
ZCP Zeitschrift fur celtische Philologie (Halle a. S.,
1899- ).

B
 THE GREAT PROPHECY OF BRITAIN
ARMES PRYDEIN VAWR
THE Awen foretells, they will hasten:•
DY Go GAN awen dygobryssyn. we shall have wealth and property and peace,
maraned a meued a hed genhyn. and wide dominion, and ready leaders;
A phennaeth ehelaeth a ffraeth vnbyn. (and) after commotion, settlement in every place.
Brave men in battle-tumult, mighty warriors, s
A gwedy dyhed anhed ym pop mehyn.
swift in attack, very stubborn in defence.
Gwyr gwychyr yn trydar kasnar degyn. s The warriors will scatter the foreigners as far as Caer Weir-
escut yg gofut ryhyt diffyn. they will rejoice after the devastation,
and there will be reconciliation between the Cymry and the
Gwaethyl gwyr hyt Gaer Weir gwasgarawt allmyn.
men of Dublin,
gwnahawnt goruoled gwedy gwehyn. the Irish of Ireland and Anglesey ( ?) and Scotland, 10

A chymot Kymry a gwyr Dulyn. the men of Cornwall and of Strathclyde will be made welcome
among us.
Gwydyl lwerdon Mon a Phrydyn. IO
The Britons will rise again ( ?) when they prevail ( ?),
Cornyw a Chludwys eu kynnwys genhyn. for long was ( ?) prophesied the time when they• will come,
Atporyon uyd Brython pan dyorfyn. as rulers whose possession is by (the right of) descent.
Pell dygoganher amser dybydyn. The Men of the North (will be) in the place of honour about
them, 15
Teyrned a bonhed eu gorescyn. they will advance in the centre of their van of battle.
Gwyr Gogled yg kynted yn eu kylchyn.
ymperued eu racwed y discynnyn. M yrddin foretells that they will meet
in Aber Peryddon, the stewards of the Great King. 2
(And though it be not in the same way, they will (all) lament
Dysgogan Myrdin kyueruyd hyn. death)
yn Aber Perydon meiryon mechteyrn. with a single will they will offer battle. 20
The stewards will collect their taxes-
A chyny bei vn reith lleith a gwynyn. in the armies ( ?) of the Cymry, there was nobody who would
o vn ewyllis bryt yd ymwrthuynnyn. 20 pay (? ).
Meiryon eu tretheu dychynnullyn. He is a noble man who says this:
(nobody would pay them under compulsion).
yg ketoed Kymry nat oed a telhyn.
yssyd wr dylyedawc a lefeir hyn. 1
i.e. Cynan and Cadwaladr.
• Athelstan.
(ny dyffei a talei yg keithiwet).
4 ARMES PRYDEIN VAWR THE GREAT PROPHECY OF BRITAIN s
Mah Meir mawr a eir pryt na tharde[r]. Son of Mary (great the Word), how is it that they do not burst
rac pennaeth Saesson ac eu hoffed. forth(?) 25
because of the dominion of the Saxons and their boasting-
Pell bwynt kychmyn y Wrtheyrn Gwyned.
Far off be those scavengers of Gwrtheyrn Gwynedd!
ef gyrhawt allmyn y alltuded. The foreigners will be driven into exile:
nys arhaedwy neb nys dioes dayar. no one will receive them, they have no land.
ny wydynt py treiglynt ym pop aber. 30 They do not know why they wander in every estuary, 30
pan prynassant Danet trwy ffi.et called. when they bought Thanet through false cunning, ,
gan Hors a Hegys oed yng eu ryssed. with Hors and Hengist, their power was straitened; \
their gain was ignoble, and at our cost:
eu kynnyd bu y wrthym yn anuonhed. after the secret slaughter, 1 churls now wear a crown.
gwedy rin dilein keith y mynuer. Much mead-drinking means drunkenness, 35
dechymyd meddaw[t] mawr wirawt o ved. 35 many deaths mean want,
dechymyd aghen agheu llawer. women's tears mean affliction,
dec[h]ymyd anaeleu dagreu gwragt:d oppressive rule will give rise to sorrow,
a world which is overturned ( ?) means grief.
dychyfroy etgyllaeth pennaeth lletfer.
When the scavengers of Thanet become our princes 40
dechymyd tristit byt a ryher. let the Trinity ward off the blow that is intended!
Pan uyd kechmyn Danet an teyrned. to destroy the land of the Britons, and the Saxons (to be)
Gwrthottit trindawt dyrnawt a bwyller. occupying it.
y dilein gwlat Vrython a Saesson yn anhed. Sooner may they retreat into exile
poet kynt eu reges yn alltuded. than that the Cymry should become homeless.
no mynet Kymry yn diffroed.
Son of Mary (great the Word), how was it that they did not
burst forth- 45
Mah Meir mawr a eir pryt nas terdyn. 45 the Cymry- because of the infamy of lords and of chieftains;
Kymry rac goeir breyr ac vnbyn. both suppliants and their patrons bewail in the same
manner:
kyneircheit kyneilweit vn reith cwynnyn.
they are of one mind ( ?), of one counsel, of one nature.
vn gor vn gyghor vn eissor ynt. It would not be through pride that they would not discuss it-
nyt oed yr mawred nas lleferynt. but to avoid infamy that they would not make peace. 50
namyn yr hebcor goeir nas kymodynt. 50 They commend themselves to God and to Dewi,
y Dduw a Dewi yd ymorchymynynt. let Him pay back, let Him reject, the deceit of the foreigners!
They are performing (?)shameful acts for want of a patrimony.
talet gwrthodet flet y allmyn. Cymry and Saxons will meet together
gwnaent wy aneireu eisseu trefdyn. 1
Perhaps referring to the 'Treachery of the Long Kni,·es' as
Kymry a Saesson kyferuydyn narrated by Nennius.
 THE GREAT PROPHECY OF BRITAIN 7
6 ARMES PRYDEIN VAWR
on the bank, destroying and charging; 55
y am Ian ymtreulaw ac ymwrthryn. SS with immense armies they will test each other
o diruawr vydinawr pan ymprofyn. and about the hill (there will be) blades and cnes and
Ac am allt lafnawr a gawr a gryn. thrusting-
Ac am Gwy geir kyfyrgeir y am peurllyn. and about the Wye, shout answering shout across the shining
A Human adaw agarw disgyn. water,
Amal [bwyt] balaon Saesson syrthyn. 60 and (men) leaving behind their banners and fierce attacking;
and like (food for) wild beasts the Saxons will fall. 60
Kymry kynyrcheit kyfun dullyn. The supporters of the Cymry will form orderly ranks,
~

blaen wrth von granwynyon kyfyng oedyn.

meiryon yg werth eu geu yn eu creinhyn.
Eu bydin ygwaetlin yn eu kylchyn.
Ereill ar eu traet trwy goet kilhyn.
Trwy uwrch y dinas ffoxas ffohyn.
6s
their van to (their enemy's) rear, the 'pale.faces' will be
hard•pressed ( ?),
the stewards in payment for their lies will wallow in their
( own blood),
their army all blood•Stained about them.
'
Others on foot will flee through the forest: 65
ryfel heh dychwel y tir Prydyn. through ramparts of the fortress the 'foxes' will flee;
Attor trwy law gyghor ma! mor llithryn. war will not return to the land of Britain ;
they will slip back in sad counsel like the (ebb of) the sea.
Meiryon Kaer Geri difri cwynant.
rei y dyffryn a bryn nys dirwadant. 70 The stewards of Caer Geri will lament bitterly,
in valley and on hill, some do not deny it- 70
y Aber Perydon ny mat doethant.
not fortunately did they come to Aber Peryddon,
anaeleu tretheu dychynullant. affiictions are the taxes they will collect.
naw vgein canhwr y discynnant. Nine score hundred men, they (will) attack-
mawr watwar namyn petwar nyt atcorant. What a mockery! only four (hundred) will return.
dyhed y eu gwraged a dywedant. They will tell the disastrous tale to their wives; 7S
75 they will wash their shirts full of blood.
eu crysseu yn !lawn creu a orolchant.
The supporters of the Cymry (will be) reckless of their lives:
Kymry kyneircheit eneit dichwant. the men of the South will fight for their taxes,
gwyr deheu eu tretheu a amygant. with keen whetted blades they will strike thoroughly:
llym llifeit llafnawr llwyr y lladant. no surgeon will get much profit from what they do. 80
ny byd y vedyc mwyn or a wnaant. So The armies of Cadwaladr will come bravely;
let the Cymry attack, they will do battle,
bydinoed Katwaladyr kadyr y deuant. they have sought inescapable death,
rydrychafwynt Kymry kat a wnant. as an end to their taxes, they1 will know (only) death.
lleith anoleith rydygyrchassant.
yg gorffen eu tretheu agheu a wdant.
1 i.e. the English.
8 ARMES PRYDEIN VAWR THE GREAT PROPHECY OF BRITAIN
ereill arosceill ryplanhassant. They afflicted ( ?} others ...
oes oesseu eu tretheu nys escorant. never again will they (be able to) round up their taxes.

Yg koet ymaes [ym bro] ym bryn. In forest and on plain, on hill (and dale)
canhwyll yn tywyll a gerd genhyn. a candle in the darkness goes with us:
Kynan yn racwan ym pop discyn. Cynan striking foremost in every attack;
the Saxons will sing their lamentation before the Britons, 90
Saesson rac Brython gwae a genyn. 90
Cadwaladr will be a shaft of defence with his chieftains,
Katwaladyr yn baladyr gan y unbyn. skilfully and thoroughly seeking them out,
trwy synhwyr yn llwyr yn eu dichlyn. when their people will fall for their defender ( ?}
Pan syrthwynt eu clas dros eu herchwyn. in affliction, with red blood on the foreigners' cheeks:
yg custud a chreu rud ar rud allmyn. as an end to all defiance, immense booty. 95
yg gorffen pop agreith anreith degyn. 95 The English will flee straightway to Winchester as quickly as
possible.
Seis ar hynt hyt Gaer Wynt kynt pwy kynt techyn.
Happy will be the Cymry when they say
gwyn eu byt wy Gymry pan adrodynt. 'The Trinity has delivered us from our ( ?} former tribulation;
ryn gwarawt y trindawt or trallawt gynt. let neither Dyfed nor Glywyssing tremble:
na chrynet Dyfet na Glywyssyg it will not bring praise• to the stewards of the Great King 100
nys gwnaho molawt meiryon mechteyrn. 100 nor the champions of the Saxons, though they be fierce (?);
na chynhoryon Saesson keffyn ebryn. no more will intoxication bring them enjoyment at our cost
without inescapable payment for as much as they obtain
nys gwnaho medut meddawt genhyn.
in orphaned and famished children. 104
heh talet o dynget meint a geffyn. Through the intercession of Dewi and the saints of Britain
0 ymdifeit veibon ac ereill ryn. the(foreigners} will be put to flight as far as the river Ailego ( ?).
trwy eiryawl Dewi a seint Prydeyn. 105
hyt ffrwt Ailego ffohawr all[myn]. The Awen foretells, the day will come
when the men of Wessex will come together in council,
Dysgogan awen dydaw y dyd. in a single party, of one mind with the Mercian ( ?) incen•
pan dyffo I wys y vn gwssyl. diaries,
hoping to bring shame on our splendid hosts, uo
Vn cor vn gyghor a Lloegyr lloscit. and the foreigner(s) will be on the move, and daily in flight:
yr gobeith anneiraw ar yn prydaw luyd. 110 he does not know where he will travel, where go, and where
A cherd ar alluro a ffo beunyd. remain.
ny wyr kud ymda cwd a cwd vyd. They1 will rush into battle like a bear from the mountain
to avenge the bloodshed of their fellows;
Dychyrchwynt gyfarth mal arth o vynyd.
1 Lit. 'make praise', i.e. 'they will have nothing to boast about'.
y talu gwynyeith gwaet eu hennyd. 2
The Welsh.
10 ARMES PRYDEIN VAWR THE GREAT PROPHECY OF BRITAIN 11

Atvi peleitral dyfal dillyd. there will be spear-thrusts in a ceaseless flood, 115
nyt arbettwy car corff y gilyd. no friend (of ours?) will have pity for ( ?) the body of his
Atui pen gaflaw heh emennyd. opponent.
Atui gwraged gwedw a meirch gweilyd. There will be heads split open without brains,
women will be widowed, and horses riderless,
Atui obein vthyr rac ruthyr ketwyr.
there will be terrible wailing before the rush of warriors,
A lliaws Haw amhar kyn gwascar lluyd. 12.0 many wounded by hand; before the hosts separate no
Kennadeu agheu dychyferwyd. the messengers of death will meet ,
pan safhwynt galaned wrth eu hennyd.
Ef dialawr y treth ar gwerth beunyd.
when corpses stand up, supporting each other.•
The tribute and the daily payments will be avenged- \
ar mynych gennadeu ar geu luyd, and the frequent expeditions and the wicked hosts.
The Cymry will prevail through battle, D5
Dygorfu Kymry trwy kyfergyr. well-equipped, unanimous, one in word and faith.
yn gyweir gyteir gytson gytffyd.
The Cymry will survive ( ?) to order battle
Dygorfu Kymry y peri kat. and they will assemble the people of many lands;
a llwyth lliaws gwlat a gynnullant. they will raise on high the holy standard of Dewi,
to lead the Irish by means of a linen banner ( ?). 130
A Human glan Dewi a drychafant.
The foreigners of Dublin will stand with us-
y tywyssaw Gwydyl trwy lieingant. 130 when they come to battle, they will not deny us.
A gynhon Dulyn genhyn y safant. They will ask the Saxons what it was they had been seeking,
pan dyffont yr gat nyt ymwadant. how much of the country do they hold by right?
gofynnant yr Saesson py geissyssant. where are their lands, from whence they set forth? 135
where are their peoples? from what country do they come?
pwy meint eu dylyet or wlat a dalyant.
Since the time of Gwrtheyrn they have oppressed us:
cw mae eu herw pan seilyassant. 1 35 not rightfully will the inheritance of our kinsmen be won.
cw mae eu kenedloed py vro pan doethant. -Or why have they trampled upon the privileges of our
yr amser Gwrtheyrn genhyn y sathrant. saints?
ny cheffir o wir rantir an karant. Why have they destroyed the rights of Dewi? 140
When they come face to face with each other, the Cymry will
Neu vreint an seint pyr y saghyssant. take care
neu reitheu Dewi pyr y torrassant. that the foreigners shall not go from the place where they
ymgetwynt Gymry pan ymwelant. stand
nyt ahont allmyn or nen y safant. until they repay sevenfold the value of what they have done,
with certain death in return for their wrong.
hyt pan talhont seithweith gwerth digonsant. 1 i.e. the press will be so great, that there will be no room for the
Ac agheu diheu yg werth eu cam. dead to fall ,
12 ARMES PRYDEIN VAWR THE GREAT PROPHECY OF BRITAIN IJ
ef talhawr o anawr Garmawn garant. The kinsmen of Garmon will be paid back with vigour ( ?)
y pedeir blyned ar petwar cant. the four hundred and four years. 146

Gwyr gwychyr gwallt hiryon ergyr dofyd. Valiant long-haired warriors, adept in fighting,
o dihol Saesson o I werdon dybyd. will come from Ireland to expel the Saxons.
Dybi o Lego lyghes rewyd. From Lego ( ?) there will come a rapacious fleet;
rewinyawt y gat rwyccawt lluyd. it will devastate ( ?) in battle, it will rend the hosts. 1 so ,
Dybi o Alclut gwyr drut diweir Brave faithful men will come from Alclud
y dihol o Prydein virein luyd. to drive them from Britain, splendid hosts;
Dybi o Lydaw prydaw gyweithyd. a brave company will come from Brittany-
ketwyr y ar katueirch ny pheirch eu hennyd. warriors on war-horses, they will not spare their enemies.
Saesson o pop parth y gwarth ae deubyd. Shame will befall the Saxons on all sides: 155
ry treghis eu hoes nys dioes eluyd. their time has passed, they have no country.
dyderpi agheu yr du gyweithyd. Death will come to the black host,
clefyt a dyllid ac angweryt. sickness and flux ( ?) and shame ( ?).
Gwedy eur ac aryant a chanhwynyd. After (enjoying) gold and silver adornments ( ?)
boet perth eu disserth ygwerth eu drycffyd. t6o let a bush be their refuge, in return for their bad faith. z6o
boet mor boet agor eu kussulwyr Let sea and anchor be their counsellors--
boet creu boet agheu eu kyweithyd. Let blood and death be their companions.
Kynan a Chatwaladyr kadyr yn lluyd. Cynan and Cadwaladr, with splendid hosts,
Etmyccawr hyt vrawt ffawt ae deubyd. will be honoured till Judgement Day: success will be theirs.
Deu vnben degyn dwys eu kussyl. Two overpowering lords of profound counsel; 165
deu orsegyn Saesson o pleit Dofyd. two conquerors of the Saxons, in the cause of God;
deu hael deu gedawl gwlat warthegyd. two generous lords, two noble raiders of a country's cattle;
deu diarchar barawt vnffawt vn ffyd. two ready fearless ones, one in fortune and in faith;
deu erchwynawc Prydein mirein luyd. two defenders of Britain, with splendid hosts;
deu arth nys gwna gwarth kyfarth beunyd. 170 two bears to whom daily fighting brings no shame. 170

Dysgogan derwydon meint a deruyd. Wise men foretell all that will happen:
o Vynaw hyt Lydaw yn eu Haw yt vyd.
they will possess all from Manaw to Brittany,
o Dyuet hyt Danet wy bieiuyd.
from Dyfed to Thanet, it will be theirs;
o Wawl hyt Weryt hyt eu hebyr.
from the Wall to the Forth, along their estuaries,
14 ARMES PRYDEIN VAWR THE GREAT PROPHECY OF BRITAIN 15
Llettawt eu pennaeth tros yr echwyd. 175 their dominion will spread over Yr Echwydd. 175
Attor ar gynhon Saesson ny byd. There will be no return for the tribes of the Saxons:
Atchwelwynt Wydyl ar eu hennyd. the Irish will return to their comrades.
rydrychafwynt Gymry kadyr gyweithyd. May the Cymry rise up, a fair company;
bydinoed am gwrwf a thwrwf milwyr. hosts about the ale-feast, and the noise of warriors,
A theyrned Dews rygedwys eu ffyd. and God's princes,1 who have kept their faith. 180

Iwis y pop llyghes tres a deruyd.

The Iwis will take to their ships, commotion will cease;
there will be concord between Cynan and his fellow.
,
A chymot Kynan gan y gilyd.
ny alwawr gynhon yn gynifwyr
namyn kechmyn Katwaladyr ae gyfnewitwyr.
Eil Kymro llawen llafar a uyd.
Am ynys gymwyeit heit a deruyd.
The foreigners will not be called warriors,
but the slaves and hucksters of Cadwaladr.
The sons of the Cymry will be merry and loquacious;
as for the affiictors of the Island-a swarm that will pass
away.
185 '
When corpses stand up, supporting each other
pan safhwynt galaned wrth eu hennyd. as far as the port of Sandwich-may it be blessed!
hyt yn Aber Santwic swynedic vyd. The foreigners (will be) starting for exile,
Allmyn ar gychwyn y alltudyd. one (ship) after another, returning to their kinsmen, 190
ol wrth ol attor ar eu hennyd. the Saxons at anchor on the sea each day.
Saesson wrth agor ar vor peunyd. The Cymry, believers ( ?), tillJudgementday will be victorious;
let them not seek a sorcerer, nor a greedy poet:
Kymry gwenerawl hyt vrawt goruyd.
there will be no Prophecy but this for this Island.
Na cheisswynt lyfrawr nac agawr brydyd. Let us beseech the Lord who made Heaven and Earth, 195
Arymes yr ynys hon namyn hyn ny byd. may Dewi be the leader of our warriors.
Iolwn i ri a grewys nef ac eluyd. 1 95 In straits it is the heavenly fortress ( ?) and my God who is
poet tywyssawc Dewi yr kynifwyr. (leader):
He will not die, He will not escape, He will not retreat,
yn yr yg Gelli Kaer am Duw yssyd.
He will not fade, reject, nor waver, nor (will He) diminish.
ny threinc ny dieinc nyt ardispyd.
ny wyw ny wellyc ny phlyc ny chryd. 1 Cynan and Cadwaladr 1
 NOTES
latable in English (to render it by 'muse' is to introduce irrelevant
associations). Awen originates in the common Celtic inheritance of
technical terms associated with poetry, which are attested in Welsh
NOTES and in Irish alike; cf. its Irish cognate al, which in the oldest texts
is precisely similar in meaning to the Welsh word (see Contrib. 'A',
88). In both languages, the poet's 'inspiration' implied occult know-
I. dygogan, prophesies, foretells. s has been written above the -yg- ledge, and hence the ability to foretell the future. The Armes is
in fainter ink; cf. below 11. 17, 107, 171, dysgogan. But in BT 70, 16- 17, composed throughout in a disjointed and exclamatory style, which
where the first four lines of the A~s form the introduction to another fully accords with the traditional language of vaticination, and is in
prophecy, the form is dygogan. In BT 74. 26, 77. 18, dysgogan; 75. 5, this respect reminiscent of the archaic Irish prophecies which have
dyscogan; BBC 49. 3, discogan(a)we; 51. 9, disgogan; 53. 4, 54. 7, survived among the verse-passages composed in the alliterative
disgoganafe; 55. 8, discoganaue; 58. 10, disgoganaue; 62. 15, dysgo- metres. Professor Calvert Watkins has discussed the meaning and
ganawe. The two prefixes dy-wo are contracted to dy-o and then to do-, common derivation of awen and al in Celtica vi. :u5- 16. In the poem,
exx.: dodrejn, dosbarth, dolef; whereas di-u;o gives dio-, exx.: diogel awn, is used here and in 1. 107 below, in a manner parallel to the use
dioddef. Jn OW, cf. the glosses in Ox. 1, diguolouichetic (VVB 102); of Myrdin in 1. 17 (seen.), and of derwydon in I. 171 (seen.).]
OBr. doguolouit, doguoreminam, douohinuom, douolouse (VVB 109, 112) dygobryssyn. Old Welsh orthography for dy-o-frysyn(t), a com-
[these readings have been corrected following Fleuriot, DGVB]. In pound of brysio, with the old termination of the 3 pl. pres. indic. in
the Eutyches section of Ox. 1 is found doguohintiliat, doguomisuram -yn(t); GMW 120. Cf. 11. 12, 13, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, below. [In all these
(VVB 109); in Ox. 2, dowomisurami (VVB J 13). Which pair of prefixes instances the verbs are future in meaning.]
is present in dygogan ? I incline to think dy-wo-. In tenth-century :z. genhyn. I pl. pronominal form of the preposition gan; see GMW
orthography both were written as di-guo- (since i was used for both y 60. Analogous forms occur in the I pl. with other prepositions:
and i) and this caused trouble to later copyists. Consider the list in CA amdanan(n), attan(n), arnan(n), rhagon; see GMW 58, 59; RP u76.
4o6 of words in dy-go-, dywo-, dyo-; there is not one in di-go-, diwo-, 41; 1177. 1; MA• 22:ia. 40; cf. also the verbal form iben ( = yfem) in
cf. below dy-go-bryssyn; l. 13 dygoganher; and dy-gor in dygorfu II. 125, the Juvencus, B vi. 107.
127 (cf. Ox. 1, diguormahis VVB 103; B v. 237). The line should therefore be understood as referring, not to the
lnMBr. Emault gives dioueret(= ModW diofryd), dio11guel( ModW promised deliverers, but to the Welsh themselves. The deliverers are
diogel), and diougan 'promise, threaten, prophesy', GMB 173. This on the way, and therefore we, the Welsh, will receive wealth and
last corresponds to the word in the text, but it does not prove neces- peace, etc., as described in the next two lines.
sarily that di- is the first element in it.
One might argue that the -s- in the form dys- is the infixed 3. pennaeth. Used now for a lord or chieftain, but earlier also for
pronoun, see CA 129 on ermygei and erysmygei: or else it is the prefix 'lordship'. The meaning is ambiguous in I. 38 below, but in 1. 175 it is
-ex-. Therefore it is possible that disgogan is a new formation on the certainly 'lordship' ; cf. also BT 54. 17, py (• ry?) ledas y pennaeth
analogy of words like distaw: to avoid ambiguity the prefixes have been dros traeth mundi; 29. 3-4, dedeuant etwaeth ... pedeir prif pennaeth
altered, and the emphasizing dis- has taken the place of dy-o, so that (here fern. as in RP 579. 10, y bmnaeth yn llaw howal); H 96. 23-4,
there should be no confusion with di-ogan, 'reproachless', cf. the way hyd aeron yt aeth I y bmnaeth o bennmon; MA• 181b. 38, Ny symmut
in which gollewin, goddiwes were altered to gorllewin, gorddiwes. y b~th. In BBC 54. 13, penaetheu bychein anudonauc, the plural is
Note that the first g in dygogan is merely a survival of OW ortho- equivalent in m_eaning to ModW penaethiaid: so also in RBB 272,
graphy, as in the glosses given above. The sound was dy-o-gan, a tri- vchtrut uab etwm, a howel uab Goronw, a llawer o bennaetheu ereill
syllabic word, as is shown by the metre: syncope had not yet taken gyt ac wynt. Cf. Irish cmn 'head', cennacht 'headship, supremacy'
place. (fem.), (Contrib. 'C', 128).
[In G 417-18, 429, J. Lloyd-Jones suggests that the forms with and In combination with ehelaeth in the text, although the meaning
without medial •s• may represent two separate but synonymous could be 'generous chief' (CA 102), I prefer the other alternative. It was
verbs, and lists them accordingly.] not a great prince who was expected, but an enlargment of the bound-
[awen 'poetic gift, genius or inspiration, the muse' (GPC) is a aries of Wales and of the authority of the Welsh, cf. ll. 171-5 below.
word still current in ModW, but its nuances are virtually untrans- ffraeth, ready, see CA 88. Here the allusion is to the readiness of
07.U C
 NOTES NOTES 19
the leaders (unbyn, pl. of unben, see I. 91) to give, rather than thei r oed wych11ryd casna, I y diwet boed y duw trugar: that is, at the be-
readiness to speak. ginning of his life he w:i~ a man of high aspirations like Casnar (i.e.
4. anhed, cf. the double meaning of Eng. settlement. In I. 42 below, proud and warlike), but may his end be different (i.e. may he receive
Saesson yn an/uJd means 'having settled down' in Wales. In HGC 142, God's mercy). It seems as though Casnar was proverbial for his love
mudassant argluydi powys • . . ac eu hanhedeu ganthunt hyt ar of war, cf. above H 112. 20, casnar car hetwch. What is the meaning
gruffud; 152, gossot y anheddeu ae vileinllu ar gwragedd ar meibeon in CA II. 1367- 8, Kynvelyngasnar I ysgwn bryffwn bar? CLlH 1. 17
yn drysswch mynyddedd Yryri (cf. BT 75. 4, diffeith moni a lleenni. (an englyn which is textually imperfect in the Marwnad Gu•en) also
ac eryri anhed yndi): one would hardly transport houses, even wooden contains this word. If it were to be emended as
houses, from place to place. The Breton cognate annez has developed Dy leas ys mawr (gawdd)
the meaning of 'furniture, gear'; anneza 'to furnish'; annezer 'furniture Casnar nid car a'th laddaw(dd)
dealer'; and movable dwellings in this sense can therefore mean
furniture and gear of every kind, cf. PKM 56, na thy nac anhed; it would give good sense and at the same time present an antithesis
H 44. 16 (in ref, to Llangadfan) ny chollir oe thir nac oe thewdor between car and casnar ( Q a cruel enemy?) If this reading is accepted,
annhet troetued yr dyhet dihawt hepcor; MA• 477b (aethant i'r) I see nothing against taking Casnar as a man's name, and casnar as a
dyffeythwch yn y lie yd oedynt y anhedeti yn eu haros; RBB 45, common noun, to be synonymous. The word is more of an adjective
yn y lie ydoed yr anreitheu ar gwraged ar meibon, = BO 7, yr anhedeu than a noun, but it can be used as a name, cf. Taliesin, Talhaearn,
a'r gwraged a'r meybyon. Gwynn, Penwyn. This would mean rejecting the explanations given
The a at the beginning of the line is metrically redundant, and can for it in the old glossaries (Cy. vii. 202, ix. 332; Bi. 3z4), in which it
be disregarded. Alternatively, read hed instead of anhed (cf. RP 585. 7, is translated by words meaning 'anger, battle', as well as 'lord' ; and
ympop hed gwled a gyuyt), which presents a more satisfactory anti. also the meanings given by Loth, RC xlii. 79, 'combat, m~lee, carnage,
thesis to dyhed. trouble', and those given in G 115, 'llid, gofid, poen' ('anger, battle,
mebyn, dim. of ma 'place', cf. BT II. 4, 21. 4, 43. 1, 61. 15, 76. 1; pain'). All these depend on the reading 'dy leas ys mawr casnar' in the
RWM i. 395, kat ymob mehyn. Cf. Irish maigen 'a spot, place' in the above englyn, which leaves the line too short by two syllables. I do not
widest sense, di maigin 'on the spot, immediately' (Contrib. 'M', know of any other example which seems to require an abstract meaning
31-2) corresponding to Welsh yn y fan, yn y lie. In an old glossary for casnar.
(Cy. be. 332) we find Meyn 'lie (place)', 333 Mehyn a men yw lie. In the text, kasnar ckgyn is a compound adj. used to describe brave
5. gwycbyr, perhaps disyllabic; cf. CA 132; G 728. men in battle. It is not necessary for the first word in such a compound
kasnar. The meaning is unknown. Cassnar occurs as a man's name, to be an adjective, cf. I. 95, anreith degyn, or better still, RP 584. 4,
PKM 27, Cassnar Wledic, and there are occasional allusions to this rieu ryuel dgynn 'lords steadfast in war'. A suggestive example occurs
character by the Gogynfeirdd and in RM (see G 115; PKM 162). in CLlH xi. 10, Cyndylan, Gulhwch gynnifiat: here the personal name
The bards were fond of introducing the names of historical and forms the first element in the compound-Cynddylan was a warrior
legendary heroes into their praise of contemporaries, e.g. H 112. 7 ff, like Culhwch. The personal name has itself almost become an adjective.
where Cynddelw describes the Lord Rhys as having the energy of This may be the case in kasnar degyn also--these were warriors like
Teyrnon, the nature of Unhwch, and the passion of Matholwch: this Comar, one who was famous for his merciless ferocity. It is only
causes uncertainty as to the meaning of lines such as the following, going a step further to make casnar into a full adjective: 'fierce', or
which occurs in the same awd/; 'na dala uar casnar cas hetwch' 'angry, ferocious' as is suggested in G u5. Whether the personal
(I. 20). Is this the personal name, or is it a common noun? In MA2 name meant this in the first place is another matter, since there is no
161a. 7 (H 132. 9), at the end of Cynddelw's elegy for Cadwallawn fab agreement as to the meaning of car in a name like Caswallawn, or on
Madawg, 'As deupo casnar kar kyngreinyon •.• Cadell Brython •.. that of na, (see CA 182). But all the allusions agree in making of
yg kein adef (nef)nawt eggylyon', the obvious meaning is 'May Cadwall• Casnar Wledig a stubborn, ferocious warrior, His aura adheres to the
awn receive the protection of angels in Heaven; he was a man like word for ever; cf. the use of the name Nero--or Judas.
Casnar and like Cade/I'. That is to say, the name casnar is used as 6. gofut. The forms gofud and gofid both occur in old manuscripts
equivalent to the name of another famous warrior, just as names (see PKM 157, CLIH 74).
such as Eigr and Luned came to be used generally to denote any rybyt, cf. MA 2 183a. 7, Caru guyt yn ,yhyt yn ruy; z45b. 5, Kuluyd
beautiful girl. MA2 283b. 5-6 can be understood similarly: y dechreu an goreu ni ac an gueryt I Argleitryat vab rat ryhyt I O garchar bu ef
20 NOTES NOTES
a gyrchuys y arvedyt (RP u45. 34, o garchar ryhyt. o garchar); and Taliesin, in which the Welsh are always called Brython. But in
RP u43. 12-13, Rygellynt gallem agcredu, yg kryt byt ryhyt ryuedu. In the Arme.r we have sixteen instances of Kymry as against three of
the first example, ryhyt seems to mean 'very long' (of time)-to love Brython (see Index to Proper Names, p. 86). The latter is here
sin too long and too much-in the second, Christ delivers his people employed in the widest sense to denote all branches of the Brittonic
from their long imprisonment. For rhy with a similar force (not Celts, the nation as a whole. Until a comparatively recent date,
'too', but 'very') cf. rhy-hwyr, rhwyr, 'very late, high time' in dialect, Cymry was used both of the people and of the country; the earliest
In the text, these men are praised because they defended their instance recorded in GPC in which the new form Cymru is employed
position to the last, 'men very stubborn in defence'. Their alacrity in to differentiate the country from the people, belongs to the sixteenth
attack is contrasted with their tardiness in retreat. century.)
gwyr Dulyn. This means the Norsemen who had settled there; ,
7. gwaethyl gwyr, old orthography for gwaethlwyr 'fighters,
warriors'. On gwaethl see J. Lloyd-Jones, B iv. 221; G 270, on they are described in I. 131 as gynhon Dulyn. '
kywaethyl. 10. Gwydyl lwerdon, the inhabitants of the rest of Ireland, cf.
Caer Weir, cf. BT 69. 12, Ergrynawr Cunedaf ..• yg kaer weir a I. 130,
chaer liwelyd. In Y Beirniad vi. :io8, I suggested that Caer Weir is Mon. A suggestion that the Irish were in Anglesey at that time
Durham, on the river Wear (Ptolemy's Vedra developing regularly unless perhaps Mon is used here for the Isle of Man. In favour of th;
into Welsh Gweir; see B xi. 82). first altemative is a brief reference in Annales Cambn'ae under the
gwasgarawt, fut. 3 sg. (GMW 119; LP 279). Possibly for year 90:i, lgmunt in insula men uenit. et tenuit maes osmeliawn. See
gwasgarawnt (3 pl.), taking as the subject the men who are described Lloyd, HW 330, 'In 902 the Celtic element won a temporary triumph
in II. 5, 6, and the gwaethlwyr in this line. Cf. gwnahawnt in next line. over the Scandinavian in Ireland; Dublin was cleared of its heathen
allmyn, foreigners, here the English. The word is composed of folk, and very many of them, under the leadership of one lngimund
all 'other' as in allfro (cf. I. 111), alltud, ar-all, and myn, pl. of mon made their way to Anglesey, intending, no doubt, to found a ne~
'man', as in porthmon, porthmyn; hwsmon, hwsmyn. Later it was settlement in the island. They were stoutly resisted by the inhabitants
regularly affected to ellmyn. Just as the English labelled the Cymry and forced to look elsewhere for a foothold, which they ultimately
as Welsh, or 'foreigners', so they are paid back here by being called found, if an Irish account is to be trusted, in the neighbourhood of
the same thing themselves, in a name that is half Welsh and half Chester' (see also his footnote). Note the reference in BT 67. 14, Ton
English. The second element appears again (with greater scorn) in iwerdon, a thon vanaw a thon ogled. A thon prydein toruoed uirein yn
kechmyn, 11. 40, 184; kychmyn, l. :i7. petwared. Here the form is Manaw, not Mon, and the allusion is
certainly to the Isle of Man. Also in HGC 104, it is claimed that the
8. gwehyn, see B i. 113. A word meaning 'to drain (water), pour it out,
grandfather of Gruffudd ap Cynan was king of Dublin, and also of
empty, exhale, breathe out': it translates Lat. haurio. It is used in the enys vanaw ••. a mon ... a gwyned (see note, p. 159). The allusion is
sense 'to destroy utterly, to lay a country bare of everything', cf. CA
worth noting, although it refers to a later period than the Armes,
287; BT 70. 23; 76. 2, a gofut am wehyn; BBC 53. 5. In the text rejoic- because it does not allow of any confusion between Mon and Manaw.
ing is promised after a period of lamentation, or one of devastation.
Cf. also RBB 261 [ • Er. Tywys. 10), where it is said 'Acy diffeithwyt
9. (Kymry, pl. of Kymro (I. 185) < •combrogos 'fellow-countryman'. lwerdon a men y gan bobyl Dulyn' ('Ireland and Anglesey were
This derivation was first proposed by Sir John Rhys (Celtic Britain•, destroyed by the men of Dublin')-in a section which refers to the years
139-40, 143-4). If I. W.'s dating of the early poetry be accepted, the between 910 and 920; cf. AC for the details. It shows there was need
numerous instances of the name Kymry in the Armes are among the for the reconciliation referred to in 1. 9.
earliest on record (the only exceptions being those in the Moliant Prydyn. The Irish name for the Picts of Scotland was Crothni
Cadwallawn, B vii. :i4-5; in CLIH i. 39a, ii. 2c; and possibly that in sing. Grothen, and Cruthne was the name of their country. The nam;
BT 31. 11-1:i,-i.e. in another early prophetic poem, whose date is of the people corresponds to Pryden in Welsh, and this form is
discussed by I. W., Chwedl Taliesin, 22-3). The 'fellow-countrymen' attested by the rhyme in CA I. 475, gwydyl a phryden (sic leg., see
originally denoted the inhabitants of Wales and of Cumbria; see note: the rhyme is in -en(n) throughout the stanza). Compare enys
Phillimore's note, Cy. xi (1892), 95-101, for tenth- and eleventh- bry·dein, CA I. 153 (rhyming in -ein), a name derived from Britannia.
century instances in which Cumbri unmistakably denotes the Strath- Pryden and Prydain, as the name of the people, are perpetually con-
clyde Welsh. The name is unknown in the older poetry of Aneirin fused in texts, and also in pronunciation. Pryden for the people seemed
 NOTES NOTES
too much like a singular, and by analogy with words such as Llaen, Brython. Here pl., as is shown by the pl. verb. [See note to Kymry,
Lleyn; myharen, myheryn, a new plural Prydyn was formed, as here. I. 9.J
The allusion is to Scotland, and to the Irish who had settled there. Be- dyorfyn. [For the forms of this verb see GMW 146-7; on the
low, in!. 67, it is quite certain that by tir Prydyn, Ynys Brydainis meant, meaning see note to I. IZS below.] On the absence of -t in the 3 pl.
or at least the southern part of it; in I. 105, seint prydeyn (rhyming in ending, cf. 11. 1, 13, 16, 17, etc.
-yn) means the saints of the whole island, although the bard used the
:13, pell ('far') is used of time as well as of place; cf. I. 27; CLIH 106.
form Prydyn. In JI. I 52, 169 Prydeinoccurs twice (rhyming with mirein),
dygoganher. For dy-go- in OW orthography, see note on I. 1. The
denoting the island. [On Prydyn and Prydein, see K. Jackson, Scottish
termination -her is the impersonal fonn of the pres. subj., which is
Historical Review, xxxiii (1954), 16-18.)
often used with a future sense (WG 324, 339; GMW u3); cf. •
n. Cornyw, the men of Cornwall. [This is the only recorded occur- BBC 2. 6; 5. 5, 6; 6. 1; CLIH vi. 30: Day dirieit ny atter ( = ni edir; '
rence of this spelling; elsewhere it is always Cernyw; G 136.) cf. WM 456. 19, ny atter y mywn) ; B iii. 256, 8, hit ni ri tamher; 10,
Cludwys, the men of Strathclyde, in southern Scotland. Below, hit ni ri tarner.
in I. 1 s 1, their chief city, Alclud or Allclud, is mentioned: this is Dum- [But in the context a past tense seems to be required, if dy(s)gogan
barton. has here its ordinary meaning of 'to prophesy', and dygoganher
eu kynnwys. See the discussion of verb-noun constructions by should therefore perhaps be emended to dygoganhet ( -ed), subj.
Henry Lewis, B iv. 179-89, and especially 185-9; GMW 163-4. It imperf. pass. 'was prophesied'. For the possibility of a similar confusion
is used here as a passive, 'will be received'. On cynnwys 'receive with between -et and -er, see note to tardet, 1. 25 below, and to gyrhawt
welcome' see G 259, CA 162, CLIH 101; BT 67. 17, Creawdyr celi an ( = gyrhawr?), 1. 28; and cf. GMW 129. As an alternative possibility,
kynnwys ni yn trugared; with gan, BT 68. 22, Hae) archaedon gan Professor Mac Cana suggests to me that dygoganher here may bear a
egylyon cynwyssetor; 54. 15, y nef kynnwysgenhyt. It has also the sense less restricted meaning than is usual, and could be translated 'will be
of 'making room', as in WM 171. 34 ac y graessawawd hi peredur yn long spoken of, commemorated'. He compares lrishfor-cain 'teach',
llawen ae gynnwys ar y neillaw. In Gwynedd 'Cynnwys!' is used as a which can also occasionally mean 'prophesy'. Such a meaning would
command to a cow to move up in the byre and so to make room for be apt in the context, and would be consistent with the use of the
the person milking her. In the Laws, when the ninth man comes to verb in a future tense.J
ask for land, and his claim to it has expired, the law may give him arnser, cf. BT 42. 19, Ac amser pan wna mor mawr wrhydri. To be
cynnwys, or 'make room' for him on special terms; cf. AL i. 172. taken with dygoganher.
dybydyn ( • dybydant, GMW 133), consuetudinal pres. or fut.
:i:z.atporyon, pl. of attpaur in BBC 35. 12, HGCr 1. 12. In Rhys
Cf. CA I. I 44, ef dybydei.
Goch's satire of Siem Cent (IGE 185. 36), reference is made to
atborion cler 'the remnants of the poets'; RP 1208. 12 (after the poet :14. teyrned, trisyllabic; cf. BT 45. 26, teg,•rned, where the OW
has lost his protector), neut atwed kerdawr ••• neut atueil bueil ..• orthography has been kept.
neut atboryon Mon; 1049. 33 (in a prophecy), Gorffit vrythyon abonhed. Neither in BT nor in the poetry in the Red Book can I
(- Brython) yn atporyon arantyrron gywethyd; GBC 96 (in a satire find a single example of bonhedd in its later sense of 'nobility, nobles',
of the fox), Llyfaist adborion droppion drippa. The meaning is some- and this is confirmed by G 70, which gives 'ach, tarddiad, neu dras
thing like 'remnants', an allusion to the state of the Britons, enervated aruchel', i.e. '(noble) descent' as the consistent meaning in the old
by war and oppression, and with their best men killed. Cf. G 46. poetry. One must therefore read a in the sense of o ('princes of noble
(Attpaur may be compared with adladd 'aftermath, after-grass' descent'), turning bonhed into vonhed, or else change abonhed into
(GPC), i.e. the crop which grows up after the first mowing; cf. Eng. anvonhed 'anfonedd' (as adj. 'churlish, dishonourable, despised'; used
'after-grass' and 'after-pasture'; Irish athbronnad 're-grazing, after- in I. 33 below for the English); cf. I. 40, pan uyd kechmyn danet an
grass' (Contrib. 'A', 450). Hence attpaur 'what grows up after the teyrned; or else take bonhed with eu gorescyn. l believe that the last
first grazing'. In this sense, therefore, the meaning would be 'renewed, alternative is the best, since it does not require the alteration of a
revived' or '(that which) springs up again, rises again'. This inter- single letter in the text. Take teyrned as the predicate of dybydyn. For a
pretation gives better sense and better force to the line, as well as long time there has been a prophecy about the time when the two
providing a more striking image: I have therefore translated accord- princes (Cynan and Cadwaladr) will come to take possession of their
ingly. I am indebted to Professor Foster for this suggestion.] territory by right of descent.
 NOTES NOTES 25
bonhed. In D, 'nobilitas, ortus, origo'; WML 81, Bonhed gwenyn llu racwed en ragyrwed en dyd gwned yg kyvrysed, Mynyddawg's
o paradwys pan yw. ac o achaws pechawt dyn y doethant odyno. The gosgordd or retinue is alluded to as the harbour or refuge of the army,
primary meaning is 'origin, beginning'; cf. Irish bunad 'origin, stock, and as the llu racwedd or troop which led the van in battle, the place of
growth', bunadas 'origin, source', CIL .i91. greatest honour (see note, CA 311). The poet Cynddelw (RP 1165. 21)
gorescyn. The ordinary meaning 'to conquer' does not fit here, addresses himself first to God, and in the second place to Tysilio, a
but cf. the meaning of the word in Dyfed, according to D, possesno, ganwyf y'm rwyf o'm racwed 'which I may sing to my king from my
pouidere; WML S3, Tri chamwerescyn yssyd: gwerescyn yn erbyn y eminence ( ?)'; meaning perhaps, because of his great honour for him.
perchennawc oe anuot a heb vrawt. Neu werescyn trwy y perchennawc The allusion is again to God in BT 4. 10, pell pwyll rac rihyd racwed:
ac yn erbyn y etiued ... Neu werescyn trwy wercheitwat ac yn erbyn the meaning of 'rhihydd' is royal splendour or majesty, and this is
y iawn dylyedawc oe anuod a heb vam; AL i. 138, 139 n. gorescin 'a strengthened by racwed. The exact meaning in the text depends on ~
term used for taking possession of land to which a person is entitled', how discynnyn is to be understood. '
The Armes belongs to south Wales, and one must therefore follow discynnyn. In the old poetry, disgyn can have its ordinary meaning
the usage of the south in considering its language. The meaning of 'descend' and also certain other meanings such as 'attack, make for'
b<mhed eu gorescyn in the context is the basis, or claim, which the (see G 371 for examples of each). In!. 73 below, the meaning is 'to goto
two princes would have to take possession of this country, that is of the battle'; in I. 89, Cynan leads the van (fights in the front) in every disgyn
whole Island of Britain; cf. BT 76. 6, Y prydein yna y daw datwyrein. 'attack'. Since racwed is also a word that is used for a troop or host, I
brython o vonhed rufein. This is the ultimate meaning behind the suggest that we should interpret this passage as meaning 'the Men of
later use of the word brut-to trace the Britons back to Brutus. rrhe the North will march to battle in the forefront of the Welsh army, side
claim of the Britons to be descended from Brutus (and therefore of the by side with the nation's picked warriors, in the place ofgreatest honour'.
venerable stock of the Trojans) may have been in the poet's mind,
since this claim is already made in the Historia Brittonum of Nennius.] 17. dysgogan, see note to I. 1,
Myrdin. A special prophecy concerning these events is attributed
15. Gwyr Gogled. The men of Rheged, Strathclyde, and Manaw of to Myrddin in the following lines. But which Myrddin, Myrddin
Gododdin, who lived in the north of England and southern Scotland, Emrys or Myrddin Wyllt? In favour of the first is the allusion in I. 18
were called Gwyr y Gogledd, the 'Men of the North'. For their to Aber Perydtkm; see Introduction, section VI ; where it seems that
genealogies, see Wade-Evans, Arch. Camb. 1930, 339; [EWGT 73, Geoffrey is either referring to the Armes itself, or to a very similar
TYP .i38~]. and RP 1050. 1-3, where there is mention of Urien prophecy.
Rheged, and of the tri theyrn ar dee o'r gogled, the 'thirteen princes [On the allusion to Myrddin in the text, see TYP 469,472, and on
of the North'. the question of Myrddin's historicity, see my note, B xxi. 33.
yg kynted, i.e. in the most honourable place in the hall, see Giraldus Cambrensis was the first writer to make a distinction between
PKM 131. Merlinus Ambrosius (Myrddin Emrys) and Merlinus Sylvester (Myrddin
yn eu kylchyn, cf. 1. 64, 'about them'; see G 230. The idea is that Wyllt). The reason for this lay in the differences between the story of
the Men of the North will be present as allies in the courts of Cynan Merlin's life as presented in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum
and Cadwaladr, receiving great honour there. and the story indicated by the early Welsh poems, as these are reflected
16. perued. Cf. BT 25, 1, ef lladei a pherued ac eithaf a diwed 'he in the same writer's Vita Merlini.]
struck in the middle, the furthest point, and the end'-alluding to the kyferuyd hyn. In the manuscript, kyferueyd, with a point of
different parts of the enemy's army, deletion under the second e. Read kyferuydhyn, fut. 3 pl. of cyfarfod;
racwed. The force of the rac- is clear enough, but -wedd is ambi- see G 202, and cf. 1. 54 below, kyferuydyn. The subject, meiryon,
guous. It is used to form both abstract and concrete nouns, cf. blaen- comes in the next line.
wedd 'summit' (G 57; RBB. 41. 33, or diwed y deuai ar vlaenwed 18. Aber Perydon. [See Introduction, section VI.] It is clear that
goruchelder anryded); olwedd 'residue' (B vii. 373, y gwlybyreu ereill this river was somewhere on the border of Wales, in the path of the
pan eu dineuer ... wynt a adawant ryw olwed yn y llestr; that is, they meiryon (stewards) who would come from Caer Geri, i.e. Cirencester.
do not flow out of the vessel completely, but leave a small residue In RWM ii. 844 J. G. Evans quotes a passage from Panton MS. 37,
behind). Therefore rhagwedd could mean 'precedence' or the like, giving an account of the Battle of Chester, in which afon Beryddon is
'supremacy, special honour'. In CA II. 1014-19, Porthloed vedin ... a clearly intended to denote the river Dee. The editor then cites a note
26 NOTES NOTES
by John Jones Gellilyfdy, 'Etto i mae Ptolemaeus yn ei galw hi common to everyone-that is, death (/leith), though not everyone dies
Dyfrdeu yn Y fl~?dyn 140_. A hefyd y mae enw arall ar yr afon yma in the same manner. The whole line may be understood as standing
• • • sef Aerfen ; 1.e. the nver-name Dyfrdwy (Dee) is recorded as in parenthesis: it is the poet's curse upon the stewards.
early as Ptolemy in the second century. [On Aerfen as a variant name
for the Dee see J. Rhys, Celtic Folklore, ii. 441.) :20. ewyllis, see PKM 199, for the various endings of this word,
meiryon, pl. of maer; cf. the gloss merion in Juvencus on actores pl. in -is, -us, -ys, -wys.
of actor 'agent, overseer', 'perhaps so called as collector of reven~es'
bryt. The line is too long, and this word may be omitted; alter•
(Andrews). Ther~ is also a Breton gloss meir (actores templi), another natively delete yd as in I. 51 below, since ewyllys bryd may be an idiom
pl. of maer; Whitley Stokes, The Breton Glosses at Orleans, no. 79 similar to ewyllys calon,
ymwrthuynnyn, compound of gwrthfyn which means (i} receive,
[DGVB 253). In Ox. 2, mair glosses praeposit14; VVB 180. For the
welcome, and (ii) receive in battle, oppose (G 716). Which of the
form cf. bardd, beirdd, beirddion; saer, seiron (BT 1. 30).
two meanings is present here? Since the language of prophecy is
mechteyrn, great king; here.the king of England [AthelstanJ; see
intentionally obscure, it is difficult to say (cf. 11. 2 ff., where one can
B x. 3'r40 [TYP 71-2) for a discussion of mechteyrn. In BT 41. 4,
54• 14, God is described as mechteyrn. only guess who it is that is alluded to).
According to I. 71, it would appear that Aber Peryddon is the
[Similarly, in a triad, TYP no. 33, Aneirin is mechteyrn beirdd
furthest point reached by the stewards in their journey: there will be
'Great Prince (or 'High King') of Poets'.]
a battle there, and they will be driven back in shame and dishonour,
Both here and in I. 100 below, -yrn is rhymed with -yn (from
with great losses. They will have reason to bemoan death (19}. Then in
-ynt, -ynn); cf. also the internal rhyme in I. 27. According to the
I. 20, with a single will yd ymwrthuynnyn, 'they will receive (each
system of'lrish rhyme' (so-called because its use by the earliest Welsh
other}'. This can hardly mean they will greet each other in friendly
poets is similar to the usage in Irish poetry}, r could rhyme with n: so
agreement. It is better, therefore, to take the word in its second sense
that the rhyme here between -yrn and -ynn is permissible; cf. the
'to give battle', cf. lladd and ymladd. If 11. 19 and 20 are taken in
rhymes ~n, the famous e~glyn in the hand of leuan ap Sulien, bishop of
reverse order, however, the development of thought is clearer. The
St. Davids (1071-89~, m Corpus Christi College Cambridge MS. 199, stewards will come, they will fight, they will lament death. They will
between try~: treisguenn, Cyrrguenn, Patern (National Library of
try to fulfil their office as stewards, which is to collect taxes, in face
Wales Journal, 11 (1941-2), 69). In BT 41. 4, there is a similar rhyme
of fierce opposition by the Welsh. That is why the subject comes
between bryn(n) and mechteyrn. [See above, p. Ii introduction.]
first in I. 21 , then the object, and the verb last.
19. vn, reith. Cf. _I. 47 belo~, and reitheu, I. 140; Irish recht 'law,
statute, Breton rl'lz: Eng. nght and Lat. rego, rectus. The common 22. ketoed, pl. of ced; 'gifts' makes no sense here, but it is possible to
root has developed numerous meanings in different languages: there understand it as meaning 'treasuries'. Alternatively, Lloyd-Jones
is the meaning of 'straight, correct', the meaning 'to stretch' and of (G 119} suggests emending to katoed in the sense of 'hosts'. They
course the strictly legal meaning. There are also the me:U:ings of were taxes which none of the Welsh intended to pay-or which it was
rule and order, to rule and to lead, custom and manner; cf. the not worth their while paying-see I. 24. [Another possibility would be
different meanings of Eng. rule, a ruler, erect and direct, order. In to understand oed in a modal sense, and to interpret the line 'in the
BT 9. 9, among the Pleasant Things of Taliesin, we find 'reith a treasuries of the Cymry there would not be anything which they would
pherpheith neithawr' ('a legal ( ?) and perfect marriage feast'): in the pay'. Cf. I. 49 below, where a similar modal sense is possible.]
Laws, rhaith is the name given to a number of men who go on their 23. yssyd. [ yssit ?, see GMW 141-2 and G 62a for the suggestion
oath that the accused person is innocent (GML 259 'compurgation, that yssyd wr = ys gwr.] Here it is emphasized that it is a lord-a gwr
body of compurgators'); a rheithiwr was one of their number. To Dr. dylyedawc, or nobleman- who speaks these words.
Davies in 16~2, rhaith was 'iusiurandum, iuramentum' (oath): but a lefeir hyn, who says this, i.e. what is stated in I. 22, and perhaps
subsequently 1t has become usual to employ the compound cyf-raith also in I. 24. They were taxes which none of the Welsh were prepared
to denote 'law' in Welsh. to pay at that time, nor would there ever be one among them who
In 47 below, it is said that both high and low lament in un rhaith. would submit to paying them in the future, he said.
It must mean 'in the same manner', everyone saying the same thing
like a body ?f compurgators in a court of law. The text may be under~ 24. yg keithiwet, i.e. by compulsion and against the privilege of
stood here m the same way; here also the complaint is one which is free men. [On the whole line, see Introduction, pp. Ii-Iii.]
28 NOTES NOTES 29
:15. Mab Meir, cf. l. 45. Horsa and the Saxons into Britain, see TYP 392~.J In Nennius'
mawr a eir, mawr o eir, lit. 'great of word', i.e. 'a great word', cf. Historia Brittonllm (eh. 40), it is said that after G11orthigirn11s had
PKM 115, ys glut a beth. The 'word' here is not, however, the state- been cursed by St. Germanus, he invited magicians to visit him; and
ment that is quoted in I. 24, because this same phrase occurs in I. 45 the advice of these was that he should build a fortress in the furthest
where it comes at the beginning of a new section. It should be taken corner of his dominions, to defend himself from the Saxons. After a
as referring to Christ, and to the authority of the divine Word, rather futile search throughout the country to find a suitable place 'he came
than to the Virgin Mary in virtue of her powerful intercession (cf. in the end to a land which was called Gwynedd' (ad regionem vocatur
DGG xlvi. 37, myn Mair air artn-a similar oath}. If it were this Guined}, and tried there to erect a fortress among the mountains of
last, one would expect mawr to be lenited; cf. Gwyn, 3. :i9, Da Fair Eryri (Snowdon). The story of the fighting dragons which follows is
loiw-air: 30, Fair ddawnair. well known, and of the little boy Ambrosius (later, in Geoffrey's
pryt na, cf. 1. 4S below; WG 43S, GMW 244. Usually 'when account, Mwrlinus), who overcame the magicians and won Dinas
(since} ... not'; 'seeing that ••• not' [cf. Owein so]. The meaning is Emrys ( • 'the fortress of Ambrosius'-near Beddgelert) for himself.
usually temporal, but in this instance there is more of a sense of In the end it was necessary for Gwrtheym to wander far southwards
exclamation and surprise--something like 'O God, how was it that to the bank of the Teifi (eh. 47), and build Caer Gwrtheyrn there.
(they) did not burst forth?' The Irish cognate of pryd is cruth, which For his connection with Gwrthzyrnion (between the Wye and the
can be used by itself in OI as a conjunction (see GOI 546) 'how, as', leithon} see HW :i53- 4, HB eh. 47•
as an abbreviation of the usual in chruth 'in the form, manner'. [In an article entitled 'Nennius's "Regio Guunnessi" ', Trans.
tarde[r], see CA 180-1, 351, tarddu, Breton tarz, Comish tardh: Caernarvomhire Historical Society, 1963, 21---'7, Professor Melville
'split, break forth , crack, burst'-thesc are the primary meanings. The Richards cites the evidence of onomastics and of local tradition which
verb is followed by rac both here and in I. 45. The meaning is clearer favours the early localization of the story of Gwrtheym's death at
in the latter instance, with Kymry as subject, and rac goeir as the Nant Gwrtheyrn in Caemarvonshire, where Pennant records the
predicate following: the poet marvels that the Cymry did not burst discovery of a stone coffin in a tumulus known as Bedd Gwrtheyrn.
forth against their enemies because of the shame and humiliation; cf. This tradition, which may well be early, would account for the
YCM 1 54, llidyaw a wnaeth y brenhin yn diruawr y ueint-breid na epithet Gwrtheyrn Gwyned (which occurs nowhere else) in this line.]
holkles. So here, it was a wonder that they did not break forth because Notice the 'Irish rhyme', -myn, -yrn (for which see note to I. 18).
of the oppression and arrogance of the English. [On the irnpers. 28. eCgyrhawt. This could be the fut. 3 sg. of vb.gyrru (GMW 119);
irnperf. ending in -et see GMW 126. In his introduction, p. Ii above, with ef'he will drive'. But if so, who is the subject? Not Gwrtheym,
Sir Ifor suggests that the MS reading, tard11t, should here be emended certainly: he never put the Saxons to flight, and I know no reason to
to tarder (pres. subj. impers.} to give ' Irish' rhyme between final -er suppose that the poet would have thought he was likely to do so.
and -ed(d) in the following lines. I have adopted this suggestion, and Mah Meir, I. :is, is too far back (orelseonemightcomparel.41 1 where
have translated accordingly.) Trindilwt is the subj. of gwrthottit}. If we read ef gyrhawr, with ,.
27. pell bwynt. Cf. ModW 'Pell y Mnt' 'May they be far!'; pell is instead of t, and ef like the pre-verbal particle Je (GMW 172), the
here used in its ordinary sense denoting distance; on bwynt see bot in allusion could be to the manner in which Hengist and Horsa left
glossary. their country. According to Nennius, when Gwrtheym was ruling
kychmyn, emend to kechmyn, as in I. 40. In reply to the 'boasting' in Britain, and in constant fear of his enemies~£ the Picts, the
of the English, the most degrading status possible is attributed to Irish, the Romans, and of Ambrosiu&--it so happened that three
them. ships came to land in Britain, and in them were the two brothers
y Wrtheyrn Gwyned. Perhaps the original reading of the line was Hengist and Horsa. Their ships are called ciulae, 'keels', and it is
Pell bwynt kychmyn gwrth11yrn; it would then be easy for a copyist to said that they came from Germany, and that they had been forced
change the beginning of the personal name into y wrth, the preposi- into exile (interea venerunt tres ciulae a Germania expulsae in exilio).
tion which is used regularly after pell (y} ho (cf. YCM1 136, Poet pell Gwrtheym received them kindly, and gave them the island which in
y wrthyf kywilyd kymeint). If Gwrtheyrn is restored, it has also the their language is called Tanet (HB eh. 31). Afterwards he employed
advantage of giving alliteration with Gwyned (but see note on I. 28). them to fight against his enemies. This is the account given by the
Gwrtheyrn Gwyned. [For Welsh references to Gwrtheym Welshman, Nennius, and it is this account which was followed
Gwrtheneu ('G. the Thin') or Vortigern, who first invited Hengist and by the author of the Armes, not that of Bede, who says that
30 NOTES NOTES
Wyrtgeorne sent for the Saxons (HE c. xv, T11nc Ang/orum sive 30. py. The meaning here is 'Why?'; see GMW 76-7 n. for further
Saxonum gtmS invitata a rege praefato, in Brittaniam tribus longis examples.
navibus advehitur). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (under 449) follows
the account of Bede, but instead of saying that Wyrtgeorne invited 31. Danet, the island of Than~t in Kent. ~e_e ~en_nius, HB eh. 3~,
Guorthigirnus suscepit eos bemgne et trad1d1t e1s msulam, quae m
the gens, or the whole nation of the Saxons, it says that he invited
Hengist and Horsa, and it does not say that they had three ships. lingua eorum vocatur Tanet, Brittanico sermone ~uoihm, '_Gw~-
In the twelfth century, Geoffrey of Monmouth keeps nearest to theym received them kindly, and ga_ve to the~ the island wh1c_h •~
Nennius' form of the story; he mentions the three ships, and says their language is called Tanet, but m the British to~gue, Ru~1h'?'.
(Variants of the two names are tanett, thanet, tenet: ru,chum, ruoich_1m,
that Hengist and Horsa and their soldiers had been exiled from their
country because the population had increased too much-they were ruoichin, roihin, ruimh). Note that in the poem the word has ra~1c~l ,
D-. Is this the result of lenition after Ynys? But cf. Deodnc m ~
not expelled as a punishment for any crime, but they were chosen
by lot; as for the two princes themselves, it is claimed that they were Nennius for Theodric, the son of Ida.
of royal descent. They offered themselves as mercenary soldiers to fflet, cf. l. 52 below. RP 1164. 1-2, Brenhin gogonet ..• ny c_heit oe
barthret na phlet na phla; 1355. 10 (in a satire of Madawg), tristgom
Vortigem. [On the historicity of these references, see now D. Kirby
'Vortigern' B xxi, 37 ff.] rise ffiotyatwiscffeet· MA• 208a. 9-10, Yssym eur ac aryant nydfled; 34,
Since the Annes continually emphasizes the low status of the English Ac or pryd y pro~af nad fled I Nath adws yessu eissywe~. Loth's
and the nobility of the Welsh, it is fitting that it should begin reviling explanation will not do (ACL iii. 40) ; 'deceit' or :~alseh~od' 1s prefer-
able. The Breton fled fietenn 'a bed on the floor 1s a different word;
the English by stating that they came as exiles to Britain, that they • Anglo-Saxon, flett 'floor': fiettrest 'bed'. .
were homeless wanderers and beggars, who had been driven out of with it, cf. Sweet, Diet.
their own country. The next lines, 29-34, indicate the progress of called. I believe that there are two separate words, one of w~1ch
their conquest. Gyrhawt can be understood as synonymous with denotes growth, wood, 'stalks' (cf. CA 331-2), while the other 1s a
noun derived from call 'skilful, crafty, cunning'; cf. MA• 223a, a llu o
gy"awr (cf. GMW 121), and the meaning is the same if this form is
kept, 'they are (will be) driven'. I believe that there is no difference Ffreingc ffyr ffrawdd galledd. I do not see that it is necessary to
between -(h)awt and -(h)awr in some texts; cf. RP 584. 41, torredawd identify the two (as is done in G 99; onffrawdd see CA 339). Here,
geir a chreireu I (eu) diuanwawt gwir lletawt geu. The meaning is the with .ffeet 'through crafty deceit, false cunning'.
same in 585. 2, diuannwawr gwyr lletawr gwat. (Or cf. RP 1028. 22, hyd 32. Hors a Hegys. The names are given in the same order by
hellawt, where -awt is attested by the rhyme. Since the reference is to Nennius, Hors et Hengist [as also in the Triads. See TYP 406-7 for
stags, it must mean that they 'are hunted', rather than that they 'hunt'). refs.].
yng eu ryssed. On rhysedd see CA 351-2. T~e Saxons were
29. arhaedwy, 3 sg. pres. subj. arhaeddafused as fut., G 42. See PKM straitened (cyfyng) when they came here first; or, m North Wales
197, and cf. Breton dirhaes 'reach', GMB 175. There are other com- dialect, 'yr oedd hi yn fain iawn arnynt' 'it ~as very lean on them'.
pounds-dihaeddaf, cyrhaeddaj, as well as the simple verb haeddu (cf. There is consonance between yng and Heng- m He(n)gys(t).
W-P ii. 481-2, on haeddel). Jn the text 'no one will have them'.
dioes, cf. I. 156 (again referring to the English) nys dioes eluyd 'they 33. ywrthym, i.e. 'oddi wrthym' 'from us, at our expense'. Cf. GMW
have no land'-the same point as is made here; BT 37. I (to the Wind) 200-I.

ny dioes eisseu gan greaduryeu; 21. 9, pan yw rud egroes neu wreic ae anuonhed, see note to bonhed, I. 14 above. The word is not here
dioes; RP 582. 24, A chiwtawt plant adaf . . . A dioes gwaret hyt a noun (as in G 27), but an adj. 'ignoble'.
urawt; G 363 explains dioes as meaning 'amgyffred, adnabod, 34. rin, cf. cyf-rin-ach 'secret, mystery', ~nd r~in-w;dd , D 'arcanum,
cadw', etc., i.e. 'to comprehend, recognise, keep'. I prefer to under- secretum' and also 'mos, ingenium, quahtas, v1rtus .
stand it as the equivalent of MBr. deveux; 1 sg. am eux; 2. az e11x; dilein,'cf. 42, verb-noun of dileaf, see CA 285. The corresponding
3. en deveux, he deveux 'he has, she has'; see Lewis, Llawlyfr Llydaweg noun is dileith, PKM 1481 and this would perhaps suit better here, to
Canol, 46-7. In the text it is to be understood as 'they have no land'- rhyme with keith. I believe that rin-bilein (or rin-bi~eitli)_ refers to the
i.e. they are displaced people, landless. [On dioes cf. further CT 38 Slaughter of the Long Knives, as told by Nenmus, 1.e. slaughter
( - PT 42), where the parallel form pres. subj. 3 sg. difo is explained accomplished through treachery.
as coming from di-fod 'to have'.] For the half-rhyme in -ar, -er, cf. yanynuer, see PKM 249, BT 61. 16 ( • PT vii. 21), ~at yn ~t
CLlH 1 . 13a dywaes, fas, was. alclut kat ymynuer; BBC 88. 4-61 kyuo(e)thauc duu dou1t. a peris
 NOTES NOTES 33
lleuver lleuenit, hael vynver heul in dit. The last example shows that 'sadness, g rief', and then a lord or government which is half-barbarous.
mynver is applicable to the sun, either because of its ffashing light and The order here is certainly verb, object, subject: a cruel government
splendour, or else because of its form, a complete circle. The two causes sorrow, not the opposite-sorrow producmg a cruel government.
examples recall the gloss minn in Martianus Capella on sertum (VVB Then there comes dechymyd with tri:Jtyd and an obscure clause, hyt
186); Irish mind (Windisch: W 691, 'insigne, diadema'; Contrib. a ryher, which can be taken as equivalent to pen11aeth /let/er in the
'M', 144 'a crown, a diadem'); on this last see Loth, RC xliv. 362-8, preceding line, since etgyllaeth and tristyd are synonymous. Then the
and the references there. whole passage is closed with 'when the English are lords over us'.
The second element in mynfer is ber (cognate with Lat. fero, Eng. Silvan Evans gives dechymyd under dychymod 'to agree or accord
bear), cf. lieu-fer, which is used for a lamp, and also for light, PKM with, to be consistent with, to be usual': he quotes the text, and also
283. Mynuer may sometimes mean one who wears a diadem or coronet the proverb 'Ni ddygymmydd medd a chybydd', 'Mead is not usual
(cf. caeawg, CA 69; taleithyavc, TYP 37), sometimes the crown or with a miser'. To him, the form is a pres. 3 sg. of a compound of
coronet itself. In BBC 88, hael vynver heul means the sun beneath its bo_d. This may be so, but the ordinary construction requires a or ag
flashing crown of glory, like a crowned prince. In the text here it is with cymod (see G 236) and dygymod, and there are no instances of a
said sarcastically that the Saxon ceith or 'slaves' now wear the crown; in any of the lines referred to. Another verb is therefore required.
the y is the predicative particle, so that ymynuer is equivalent to yn One signifying 'to mean, entail' would give a suitable sense in these
fynfer; 'churls now wear a crown'. There is a clear echo of the same lines, and the same order in each. Much mead-drinking means
sentiment in Sion Cent's poem (IGE• 267): dru;1kenness, then (following the same construction-verb, object,
subJect) many deaths mean that there will be widows and orphans in
Nid ym un fonedd heddiw want; the meaning of women's tears is tribulation; where there is
A 'n galon, hil gweision gwiw: barbarian oppression there is grief; and where the world is out of
Nac un gyff, iawn y gwn gur, joint and the slave in authority, it means, just as certainly, that griefs
A Hensist a Hors hensur. will flourish and proliferate.
I am unable to associate this verb with OBr. cemidiet which glosses
('We are not of the same nobility today as our enemies, a fair Lat. concidit _'break up, destroy, slay' ([DGVB 101), VKG ii. 461-3),
race of slaves; nor of the same stock-well do I know the grief- and hence with the compounds of hen- in Irish, since it is the form of
as sour old Hen(g)ist and Hors.') the word alone, and not the meaning, which corresponds; see ZCP
The We!sh were nobly born, and of noble pedigree: the English 21. 300. The Breton form may be associated with ysgymmyddio
were an ignoble race of slaves-that is the key which is struck from (equated with Lat. trunco and obtrunco 'strike, slay, decapitate' by
the time of the Armes down to that of Sion Cent, and afterwards. TW) and ysgymmydd (equated by TW with subiculum 'chopping
block') or ysgemmydd (which D renders by scamnum 'bench'). See
35. dechymyd. The word occurs again in 36, 39 and in older ortho- GG 35:z, [TYP 42- 3), for examples and discussion.
graphy in 37, decymyd, with c for eh. I am uncertain as to the meaning. meddaw is the reading of the manuscript. Emend to meddawt in
It introduces four out of five statements which lead up to l. 40, pan uyd order to rhyme with wirawt, cf. 102. On gwirawt, see CA 116.
luchmyn Danet an teyrned, but in its place we find dychyfroy at the
beginning of the fourth, and that suggests that the words are synony- 37· anaeleu, cf. 72. For anaele D gives 'dolor, noxa', but all his
mous. In the first statement there is a reference to drunkenness and examples give the form anaeleu, as in 'Liaw pawb ar ei anaeleu' (cf.
to a lot of drink. If dechymyd is a verb, and is used to relate the two Pawb a'i fys lle bo'i ddiJlur, 'Everyone feels his own sorrow'); GDG
things together, the meaning must be that to drink much mead causes 91. 25, Gweau anaelau o nych; RP 1217. 32, a phechawt y cnawt cnwt
drunkenness, or produces it, or leads up to it. The order in this line is anaeleu (with rhyme in -eu) = MA• 315b, cnut anaeleu. In Hirla.s
therefore verb, object, subject. In the next line dechymyd is used with Owein (MA• 191b, = RP 1434. :zo), when the prince realizes that he
angen 'want', and with 'many deaths'. This is ambiguous; it could mean h~ lost two of his chief warriors, he breaks out: Ochan Grist, mor
that want causes many deaths, or that many deaths lead to want. In dr1st wyv o'r anaeleu I O goll Moreitig mawr ei ei.rsieu. G gives anaele
the third statement, we have anaeleu 'pain, grief', and women's tears. 'grief'; and anaeleu as an adj. 'terrible', as a noun 'grief, sorrow'.
Which is the subject here? Women's tears sometimes lead to war and 'Sorrow' or 'affliction' is the meaning in the text.
suffering, but the other way round is more natural, that suffering should 38. dychyfroy, old orthography for dychyffrwy or a variant of it
cause women's tears. Then there comes dychyfroy with etgyllaeth (like moe in the Llyfr Ancr for mwy); cf. BT 29. 1<,--20, rac rynawt tan
C 7•5• D
34 NOTES NOTE S 3S
dych>frwy mwc ; B iv. 46. 39, dychyffruy kenhyf yg kyman I peleidir blow that is intended'- that is, the destruction of Britain, as in the
guyr go ieithin unbaran (modernized in B vu. 28. 37 to Dychyffry next line.
cynnif yn ghyman). The verb also occu rs in BT 43. 21, Aduwyn gner pwyller, equivalent to pwyllir; for the meaning here, cf. CLIH 135.
yssyd ae kyffrwy kedeu (see Cymmr. Trans. 1941, 74: 'There is a .op. y dilein. Even if y is omitted, the line is too long; but cf. the length
fine fortress resounding with songs (?)'). This last is the only example of of I. 110. The plan is to destroy the land of the Britons, and after-
cyffrv,y in the work of the Cynfnrdd, and G 222 suggests for it wards for the English to settle down to live in it (yn anhed).
'cynyddu, amlhau, cynnull( ?)'; 'increase, extend, collect'. 43. reges, see Y Beirniad, 1916, 213 (and the examples collected in
The simplest derivation offfrwy is from •sp(h)reig-, W-P ii. 683, a ZCP v. 570-1]; a borrowing from Lat. recessus (parallel to aches from
root which means 'to swell', and is found in Gr. sphrigao 'to be full accessus, CLIH 74) 'a going back, retiring, retreat, departure', the
to bursting, to b e plump and full, to swell with pride'. This would opposite to accessus; so used of the ebb of the tide (Andrews). May the
suit in BT 43. 21, if we read the following word either as cedeu 'gifts' English return into exile sooner than that the Welsh should be without
or cer(d)eu 'songs'. The fortress is full to overflowing with both the one their own land.
and the other. The verb is transitive, as is dychyffrwy in the text: the
meaning could be that oppressive rule means that there is widespread 44. diffroed, di-froedd, cf. B ii. 128, 130, 'exile, solitude, sadness';
affliction in the country. In BT 29. 30, where the verb is intransitive, on mfro see CLlH 141 [TYP 424], 'homeless', then 'foreign, exiled',
it may be translated in a very similar way; where there is a great fire afterwards 'sad'.
there will be abundance of smoke, or more exactly 'puffs' of it (com- 45. Mab Meir, cf. 25.
paring the manner in which the English 'puff' is used both for smoke, terdyn, see note to I. 25. [The verbal ending could equally well be
and also for a swelling). There is a similar double meaning in the root fut. as irnperf. indic.]
•sp(h)ereg-, 'to be full to overflowing, to swell', and also, like the simple 46. goeir, go-air, cf. 50: the meaning is very near to that of an-air,
root •1p(h)er-, 'to scatter, disperse, jump up'. From this comes the Eng. 'shame, infamy', though the Irish cognatefogur.JoghaT 'sound, speech',
spring, and, from another form of it,ffrwst in Welsh. It is not unsuitable etc. (Contrib. 'F', 240) has not the same significance. But cf. the use
to speak of smoke as 'jumping up' or 'springing (from)'. This brings us today of gair gwan 'low repute', the opposite of geirda.
to cyffro 'jump up', and we may note how B iv's dychyffruy is modern- breyr, or brehyr; see G 76, 'uchelwr, arglwydd', 'lord'. Cf. AL i.
ized in B vii to dychyffey, pres. 3 sg. of dychyffroaf in B vii. In the text, 350, LIB 5. 12, Tri ryw dyn yssyd brenhin a breyr a bila(e)n ac eu
etgyUaeth 'sorrow' is the object of the verb, see G 222 on cyffeo and haelodau; brayr is explained by the editor as a 'mote-man', 'a baron':
the examples of its occurrence with various words denoting grief, according to the note, LIB 168, breyr corresponds in the usage of the
cawdd, galaT, dolur. Cf. also RP 1056. 6, dychyffre gwaew gwaetlin: the South to uchelwr 'nobleman' in the Venedotian code; the first is very
verb here may directly represent the root •sp(h)ereg-. (G 408 renders common in LIB, but the second only occurs six times. According to
dychyffrwy by 'taenu, gwasgar', 'spread, scatter'.) Wade-Evans, WML 328, a brayr is 'a noble, representing a higher
pennaeth lletf'er, a government or kingdom which is cruel, oppres- grade of the bonheddig or gentle class ... in the early Latin texts it is
sive, barbarian. The meaning of lied- is 'partly, semi-'; ffer, 'strong', represented by optimas, as bonheddig is by nobilis'. Note that this poem
fierce', CA 172; CLIH 88. In HGC 110, lletfer translates Lat. ferinus was composed by a man of south Wales, so that the occurrence of the
(for the passage, see Introduction, p. xliv above). word here is consistent with southern usage.
Breyr could come from a compound brogo-rix, 'king of the country',
39. tristit, old orthography for tristyd, rhyming with byt. a form which Holder records as a Galatian name, and as part of
ryher, perhaps for reher, pres. subj. impers. of rhe; cf. dy-re,
another name, Andeln-ogoriJc, ACS 139, 621. I prefer this to Loth's sug-
atre, pelre, olrheaf, dwyreaf, CA 252, Lloyd-Jones, B iv. 53; Loth,
gestion, RC xl. 450, that it comes from •wig-. The second o has been
RC xlvi. 218-19, and cognates such as Lat. rego, Ir. regaid, and Eng.
affected by the long i in rix toy (as in Teudorix > Tudyr; Maglorix >
reach, rack. The meaning required by the context is that of a world
Meilyr, etc.), and the first o to e (as in cyfegydd, OW cemecid, cf. ogi,
overturned; everything gone awry, slaves turned into princes,
cyfogi 'to whet'). The -h- comes from -gh- < -g-, cf. the h in mehyn
and so on. Altematively, it may be for ar y her ['in transition, in a state and the Gaulish magos.
of flux'?) (from •ser- 'to flow, rush, run' ; cf. note to I. 68 below).
vnbyn. Here used for nobles of a lower rank than the breyr.
41. gwrthottit, equivalent to gwrthoded; cf. WG 329, § 177, 2. ii, 47. kyneircheit (61, kynyrcheit; 77, kyneircheit), BT 5. 14, Seint
GMW 129 for the form. The meaning is 'Let God ward off the ••• ketwyr neb (nef?) cu kyneircheit. G 263 gives two meanings for
36 NOTES
NOTES 37
the word, 'cynhyrchydd', 'producer' (taking cynyrchiad as the basic
form, and cynnyrch as the root}, and 'follower' or 'member of retinue' 'noise', and often perplexity and 'turning about', With the whole
-recognizing at the same time that in this meaning it may sometimes line, cf. BT 73. I, Deu lu yd ant bydant gysson. yn tin redyfvn eir kyweir
have the sense of 'suppliant', 'suitor'. Since eirchiaid 'suitors' was a kymon; and in II. 108--g below, vn gwssyl, vn cor vn ll}"ghor; I. 126, yn
common name for people who sought bounty from a lord (including gyweir gyteir gytson gytffyd. Note zm-eir, cyt-eir; cyt-son-com-
the bards!}, it would seem that the second meaning suits best here-- pounds of son and gair which express perfect agreement. The meaning
something like the Lat. clientes; in general terms, the men of the court is the same in the text, when everyone is said (figuratively} to be
-not the lowest, but the highest of them in rank-that is the force 'yn un gan'; that is, 'unanimous'.
of the cyn- or cynt- in the compound. In the text, the contrast in- vn gygbor, i.e. here meaning 'counsel', not 'council' ; everyone of
tended is between them and their patrons, the cyneilweit-and it the same opinion, unanimous in their decision.
is this which determines the meaning. [Cf. D. A. Binchy, Crith eissor, see G 463. The word is frequently used by the Gogyn-
Gabhlach, p. So and K. Jackson's discussion of the client or cei/e in feirdd with the name of a warrior, as in MA• 140a, eissor Medrawd,
early Irish society, The Oldest Irish Tradition: A Window on th~ Iron 174b, Kaswallaun eissyor; kyueissor, G :i07, 'one of similar nature,
Ag~ (1964), g-10, :ig-30.] companion, equal'.
kyneilweit, from vb. kynhelwaf 'support, maintain'. See a discussion 49· nyt oed yr mawred, cf. BT :i4. 23, Bedw ... bu hwyr gwiscyssit.
of all the various forms of the noun, CA 198; HGC 110, a christ a vo
nyt yr y lyfyrder. namyn yr y vawred ('the birch-tree was slow in
ar1dur a chynhelwr ynn y henne ac nyt diana nac apollo: cf. the various arming, not out of cowardice, but out of pride'). [I interpret oed here
meanings of Lat. auctor 'father, author, instigator, one by whose as modal; cf. note to I. 62 below.]
influence, advice, etc., anything happens or is done; a voucher,
surety, witness, etc.'; Isidore, Etym. vm. ix, Pythonissae a Pythio
nas lleferynt. In the following line nas kymodynt occurs in a
precisely similar construction: in both cases the verb denotes the
Apolline dictae, quod is auctor fuerit divinandi. So in HGC the thing which they refused to do, cf. CA 100 on kyn kystlwn kerennyd,
meaning is that Christ, not Apollo, is the protector or 'patron' of the 'before starting to talk about peace'. The negotiations come first,
historian, one who inspires, supports, and helps him.
and afterwards the truce. But the Welsh would not agree to either the
vn reith, see note to 1. 19; 'everyone alike saying the same thing'. one or the other. [Alternatively, the main verb in both lines may be
48. vn gor. Cor has a number of meanings in Welsh, and as a help understood as future; cf. the similar ambiguity in I. 45.]
towards classifying them it is useful to compare the various meanings
of cor in Irish, cf. CIL 486, 'a throwing, casting, putting; a cast, a 50. yr hebcor (see note to I. 48 on cor), 'to spare, save, get rid of', D
twist, a plait, a tum, occasion; a stir, a moving; start, leap', and also 'parcere, vtnon necessarium relinquere, omittere'; Richards 'to spare, to
'a setting to music, melody, tune'. With the last, compare the musical leave anything as not necessary, to omit', but cf. RP 1244. :i6, Hepkor
terms in Welsh, MA• 1073, coraldan, corsiman (cf. Ir. siansa 'harmony, goror mor mon ny allaf ('I cannot avoid leaving the shore of Mc3n'},
melody, clamour'; siamsdn 'merriment, noise, whizzing', siamdn 'a 1390. I, Ny hepkoraf y rwyf ••• yr delw cur ('I will not take le<roe of
buzzing or humming noise'). The book of Gruffudd Hiraethog gives my prince •. .'); BT 66. 19, dydaw dy mbcyr (for the ebb of the sea);
Cor Alun, Cor Elt,yw, Cor Elvan, etc., and these are sufficient to CLIH vi. 19b, 0 ebyr dyhepkyr tonn (see note, p. 167).
prove that cor has a musical meaning. Cf. also H 86. 21, nyd adwyd 51. y Dduw, an early example of dd.
(athwyd = aethost} hebof heb gof heh gor, 'without memorial or song'. Dewi, invoked here as the saint of Deheubarth (or south Wales),
In regard to the present instance, LI.-J. (G 163-4) is undecided be- cf, 105, 1:i9, 196.
tween the meanings 'purpose, intention' (cf. bwriad from bwrw, whose yd is metrically redundant, and may be omitted; cf. 20 and n.
basic meaning is 'to cast'), and 'turn' as in the compound un-gor 52. talet, i.e. 'May God (or Dewi) pay back the foreigners for their
(cf. edaflJdd ungor), cf. the meanings of Irish cor quoted above. To deceit, and prevent their success', cf. 31 above, and n. onjflet.
me, however, it is easier to understand un gor here as 'one song'
(coming as it does between un reith and un gyghor), even though it 53• gwnaent. In ModW this would be imperfect 3 pl., but in MW it
can mean 'a single plait' when used of thread (D, Cadamach yw'r is imperative, andgwneynt is used for the latter (GMW 130, 131). For
edau yn gyfrodedd nag yn ungor, 'a thread is stronger twisted than in instances of -ent as pl. imperative, cf. BT 11. 15, a digonwy kamwed
a single plait'). Nor is it easy to decide on the meaning of cor in ymchoelent y parthgled; PKM 15, diskynnent wynteu am ben y llys.
cyngor 'council', since one might say that in these there is both I do not know what was the usage in OW, other than that -int was
usually the ending of the 3 pl. pres. indic. (but cf. B v. 237 on bint).
38 NOTES NOTES 39
The Breton gloss roricseti (VVB 212) appears to me to be a mistake 57. lafnawr, old orthography for llafnawr 'blades'. For the plural
for roricse(n)t, pluperfect 3 pl.-a form which usually corresponds termination in -awr cf. bydinawr in l. 56 [GMW 28).
with that of the imperfect pl. rrhis reading has now been confirmed 58. am Gwy, on both sides of the river Wye. OW _orthography is
by Fleuriot, DGVB 299.) If gwnaent here is imperfect, then 'they preserved in the unlenited initial G of Gwy (cf. Nenn1us, HB eh. 70,
used to do' ; if it is imperative, then 'let them do'. This last would be !lumen quod vocatur Guoy). .
parallel to ta/et, gwrthodet, in I. 52, but I think that it gives a more geir kyfyrgeir, shout answering shout. OW orthography 1s
probable meaning if we read gwnaant (pres. indic.) as in I. 80 below. again represented by the g in kyfyrgeir; see G 215- 16 for compound
aneireu, pl. of aneir; cf. 46, 50 goeir. I hestitate as to whether the nouns in cyfr-, such as cyfrgoll. But cf. also cyfergyr, •~~ttle'. .
second element is gair or nair (cf. 110, anneiraw, the verb which peudlyn. This could be a mistake for pennllyn; but 1t 1s more likely
corresponds) or air as in cyf-air, cyfeirio, gogyfair, cf. Ir. comair. For that it represents peuyrllyn (pefr- and llyn). For pefr, see PKM 286,
nair, cf. G 8, adneir 'reproach, blame, slander'; RM 185. 4 ( Owein, 'disglair, hardd, golau', 'shining, light! fair'. In M'Y o:thography,
I. 615), nyt hawd gennyf i dy atneiryaw di yr hynny ('find fault with -y- is found regularly between f and r m words of this kmd (though
thee, blame thee'); BBC 24. 9, Nac imadneiron {'let us not reproach this is not so in OW, cf. Cy. ix. 183, dubr duiu- for Dwfr Dwyw).
each other'); MA1 227a. 7, Einioes enryded •.• a geiff a gaffer yn Probably the original reading was pebr which gave peur in BT.
diatneir ( = di-fai 'blameless'); 315b. 8 (referring to Christ) brotyeu y am here counts as two syllables.
diatneir ('faultless judgements'); BrCl. 120, dechymygwn ... y peth ny
59. Human, cf. I. 129, some kind of banner or standard; D llumman
allo bot. ac erchi keisiaw hwnnw; a hwnnw ny cheffir byth. ac yvelly 'vexillum, insigne, signum militare'; llumbren ' hastile vexilli', D'YS
y bydwn diatneir nynhcu; y wrth y brenhyn ('we shall be blameless
'a baner' ; MA1 162a. 59, kochliw luman; 164b. 9, gwaed Luman hw;
before the king'). If it were possible to arrive at the simple meaning of
1743, Perchennauc parchus luman; 189a, Gnawd gan draws lyw maws
nair without any preposition, it might be possible to reach a more
luman archauad I yn aergad y ar gann; 2ua, Liu racdaw a Jlaw ar
satisfactory meaning for Neirin, Aneirin, than that suggested in CA lluman; 325, llommach I no llumman Llanferrais; Lewis, GMWL 205,
lxxxvii. llumenitiah 'ensignship' (var. lumanyaetli); RP 1053. 32, cur llauur
In the text the meaning depends to some extent upon the mood of
lluman. Lumangoch gwnn vot; 1365. 9 (satire of a 'surcoat') hi a vu
the verb. I suggest 'They are performing shameful acts'.
yn lluman cregyn lleumeirch; 1412. 18, tair lluman llydan o vlaen ~b
eisseu 'for want of', cf. CA 79, gwerth yng ngwerth; a noun in
llu; Hen.MSS ii. 2o6, deuth y rywprocessiwn yny erbyn yn gyw(e)1r o
the oblique case as the equivalent of the noun governed by a prepn.,
grogeu a llumannett a thapreu cwyr. These examples show that the
cf. note to I. 63 below, and WG 413- 4. lluman was carried in the hand, on horseback, and lifted up in front
trefdyn, from tref 'dwelling' and dyn(n), as in ty-ddyn, Creu-ddyn, of the army; RP 1365. 9, where a tattered cloak is satirically called a
gwely-ddyn, Jlys-dyn (llystyn), and cf. Ir. dind 'height, hiJJ, fortress,
lluman, proves that the name included the brocade of the flag, and not
town•. There is a tendency for -ef- to become -eu- in some compounds,
only the shaft; this must also be the case in I. 130 below, where the ban-
cf. defnydd, deunydd; «Jef, edeu (VVB 124, etem); in this way tr~fddyn ner of Dewi is described as llieingant. Such a banner is described as
became Treuddyn in place-names. (With rcaard to -dynn in the above
'blood-colour' (or 'stained with blood') MA2 164b, and they were
compounds, it should be noted that the meaning of tyddyn in the Laws
carried in religious processions. I do not know why the banner of
is 'a building', not a piece of land.)
Llanferrais should have been proverbial for its 'bareness' possibly
55. yam (cf. oddi am); here read am(am lanamtreulaw acamwrthryn), there was nothing left of it except its shaft, and the brocade had all
cf. I. 58, am and yam; BT 8. 23- 4, atwyn y am kyrn kyfyfet. disappeared. In the text, the phrase lluman adaw 'leaving banners'
am lan, cf. CLlH i. 29C, Ac am dwylann Ffraw; xi. 71b, y am denotes that the enemy is in shameful flight; cf. RP 1052. 14, a lluman
dwylan Dwyryw 'on both sides'. aelaw.
ymwrthryn, from grynn 'to push, thrust', CA 92, B iii. 54-5. To agarw. Either as a single word, to alliterate with adaw, or else as
be taken with diroawr t1ydinawr in the next line. two words, a garw. [The meaning is similar in each case.]
56. ymprofyn, cf. MA2 214b. 40, Ny chawsan genhyn . • . eithyr 6o. a mal. In OW, a little before the time of the Armes, amal is
gwarth a gwrthrynn wrth ymbroui; H 99. 9, hud ymbraw am breityaw found as a gloss on Lat. ttl (VVB 36; Juvencus). It is derived from
breisc nenn; WM 196a, arueu ... ual y caffv.'Yf ymbrawf ar marchawc Celtic samal- (cf. Lat. simil•i$), and this gives the adj. hafal. As a
(= Oivei11 743; RM 249, ymbraw). The idea is. that each side will preposition or a conjunction it has come down in three forms, ma[, fa[,
put the skill and courage of the other to the test 1n battle.
 NOTES NOTES 41
and fel. The compound hafalhyn became hefelhyn, and later hefellyn, Dinbych [also CT 3:t = PT 36J. The word is composed of grann
since the y in the last syllable affected the two as before it to e, and lh 'cheek', and gwyn, cf. CA 11. u70-1, kwydassei lafnawr I ar grannaur
turned into ll. The h- was lost to give ejellyn (cf. Breton evelhen), then gwin 'blades had fallen on white faces'. Since in some of the examples
the -n, giving efelly, and finally the -e was also lost, giving Jelly. it is certainly the enemy who is referred to as granwyn, granwynion, I
From this last came the re-formation fel. In the same way, fal was suggest that it was in the first place a nickname, given by the Welsh,
derived from hafal with nouns which had no -y- to cause affection. who were dark, to their fair-haired English opponents, just as the
Mai came about by analogy, working back fromfal; or else by a wrong American Indians called their enemies 'Palefaces'. Here it is claimed
division of hamal, amal into a+ mal, before the -m- had become lenited that the van of the Welsh anny, or their foremost spears, will be in
to f. Perhaps amal ought to be read in the text (rather than a con- the rear of the English, driving them to flight. f
junction a ma[, like acfel), cf. 68 below. kyf'yng oedyn. Read bydyn? They (the Cymry) will be on their
balaon, pl. of beleu, 'marten'; cf. ceneu, cana(w)on. The -w- has been enemy's heels, or 'they will be hard-pressed'. [Alternatively, oedyn
preserved in BBC 47. 10, Ac am gewin i'r aeluid bttid balawon. could perhaps be modal 'would be hard-pressed'. Cf. the use of oed in
Evidently some kind of predatory animal is intended both here and ll. i2, 49, and WM 17. 27, oed /lessach i'r march.]
in the text. (In BT 70, the poem quoted p. xiii of introduction
above, G 54 suggests that hyt valaon is really a place-name, perhaps 63. yg werth. To give alliteration with geu, read gwerth 'in return
Blathaon; cf. also ACS i. 335, Balavo, now Baillou, a place-name for,' i.e. in payment for their falsehood, see CA 79.
on the Continent.) In CA, I. 110:t, o grwyn balaot, we have a different yn eu. Read yn era,, or yn eu creu creinhyn 'the stewards, to pay for
pl. of the same word; cf. /lewod (as compared with /ler,on in BBC their lies, will wallow in (their own) blood'-since this gives to the
96. I 3), and pairs like eryron, eryrod. line both sense, and also internal rhyme and alliteration. For crein,
I do not see any sense in saying that the English will fall 'like wolves', see B ii. 48. Ymgreinio is used of a horse rolling, when it turns on its
and I suppose that it was this passage which caused D in his dictionary back with its hooves upwards.
to put the responsibility for rendering balaon as 'wolves' on William
64. gwaetlin, from gwaed and llin, 'course or flow of blood', CA 155.
Llyn and TW, and to add the further explanation 'vid. an etiam yn eu kylchyn, about them; cf. the gloss circhinn, VVB 73.
Nodos oculosque pullulantium arborum significet'-and then he
quotes this line. D was followed by Loth, ACL i. 458, and he trans- 65. traet. Perhaps one should read troet to rhyme with goet.
lates the word as 'shoots, buds' ('rejeton, pousse d'arbre'). I have kilhyn. There is no -h- in the verbal forms in -ynt from I. 45 onwards,
not seen anything that supports his suggestion. Beleu (in the form until we reach creinhyn in 63. In ffohyn, 66, the -h- may be derived
bela) is a word still current in Caemarvonshire for 'marten'. from -gh- < -g-, Lat. fuga 'flight'. But here it could also arise by a
On the evidence of BBC 47, I suggest, therefore, that the text misplacement of letters, cilynt, cilynh, cilhyn, or through analogy.
should be emended to Amal or Ma[ (bwyt) balaon. It is an example
of homoeoarkton, a common error in copying: the copyist passed over 66. bwrch, from Anglo-Saxon burh, cf. Niwbwrch, Newborough,
from one b to the b in the next word. The meaning is that the English Anglesey [EEW 35J.
will fall as prey for wolves, or the like. ft'o:icas, again a borrowing from Anglo-Saxon, where •as occurs as
the pl. of nouns [see EEW 38].
61. kyfun, unanimous, G :t18. The word is formed either from un 67, Prydyn, see note to I. 10 above.
'one', or else from un-o as in dymuno, see Bx. 41, CA 278.
dullyn, i.e. they will take their place in an orderly manner in the 68. attor, G 46 • ?dychweliad', 'return'. With the prepn. ar, this is
army; see CA 86, 140 on emdullyaw as a military tenn; on dull 'array, certainly the meaning in I. I 76, attor ar gynhon Saesson ny byd. But
line of battle', see CLIH u8. here and in I. 190, it is more like 'yn ol', 'back, back again'. To explain
the -tt- it is necessary to assume something like •ate-sor-, ad-hor-, cf.
62. blaen wrth von, cf. BT i7. 23, a wdosti pwy gwell ae e von ae y W-P ii. 497, on •ser- 'to flow, rush, run, move suddenly' (cf. Gr.
vlaen. horme, hormao). To this same hor- is to be traced go-hor in BT 68. 14,
bon is used for the root of a tree, or for the hind-quarters of an ani- ny bu clyt coet gwynt ygohor, if the allusion is to the rushing of a
mal or a man; cf. nicknames like bongam 'bow-legged', or PKM 44, strong wind, H 86. :t3, gwr diohor, perhaps 'imperturbable, quiet'
dcu Wydel uonllwm 'bare-backed, breechless'. (G 365, 'difalch, tirion', 'gentle'). The pres. indic. 3 sg. of the verb
granwynyon, see Cymmr. Trans. 1940, 79 on granwyn in Etmic occurs in RP 1396. 34, Nym gwehyr gwahanarch. neum kynnwys
42 NOTES NOTES 43
dreic bowys drwy barch; cf. H r38. r 1- u, horitoryglot ••. kertoryon 75. dyhed, usually 'war', 'disturbance caused by war', as in I. 4 above.
ae daduer. Here, the story of war, any terrible tale.
The prepn. ate- (ad-) gives the force of Eng. re- in return, cf. atcor
in the Gododdin I. 28 (CA 74). 77. kyneircheit, cf. 47, 61. They are named in the next line-gwyr
llaw gyghor• from /law 'small, low, sad'; see Y Beirniad vii. r 87; Deheu.
CA 87. Llawfrydedd, 'sadness, melancholy', is the opposite of eneit dichwant, compound adj. 'reckless of their lives'. It is an
mawrfrydedd 'pride, magnanimity'. Liaw gyghor is the equivalent in echo of I. 696 of the Gododdin, gwyr en reit moleit eneit dichwant,
meaning of llawfrydedd. see CA 249; MA• 191b. 54 (= RP 1434. 32, Hirlas Owein), Cad ymer-
llitbryn, Cf. Eng. 'slip away'. Llithro was used formerly for 'to run, bynieid eneid dichwant.
to flow', cf. LIA 18, ffynnawn y drugared a lithrawd or wyry veir (de
Virgine emanavit); BD 3r6 (llithrav = uergere, elapsus, dilabuntur,
78. amygant, see CA 249-50. The verb amwyn, amygaf can fre-
quently be explained as meaning 'defend', but this meaning will neither
manabit, etc.); 104, ac auonyd y glynneu a lithrant o waet ( RBB
suit here nor in various other examples. In the Gododdin it is said of
144, a redant); ro5, aryant a lithyr o garneu (RBB 146, a ret),
the warriors 'Gwin a med a amucrant', I. 698. This does not mean that
DB 57 (• labitur); 55, odyna y Uithir yn groew y'r ffynhonneu. Ac
they were defending their drink, but that they imbibed it; see B x. 136,
odyna yndaw e hun y llithyr ( = refiuit); 87. 2. In the text, the
where I have suggested that the verb-noun amwyn can sometimes be
retreating enemy is compared to the ebb of the sea.
translated 'mwynhau', 'enjoy'. I believe now that we can come even
69. Kaer Geri. In the Life of Alfred, MHB 482, Asser comments on nearer to the meaning by understanding it as 'cymryd gafael', 'seize,
the place-name Cirrenceastre (Cirencester), 'quae Britannice Cairceri retain possession of, fight for', cf. CA 11. 528-9, Pan vuost di . .. en
nominatur', see Introduction, p. xxviii above. Asser died in 909 or 910, amwyn tywyssen gordirot (i.e. 'when thou wert taking (or seizing) the
and therefore his use of Welsh is evidence for the Welsh of the same crops of the border'); I. 557, o nerth e kledyf claer e hamuc (the poet is
period as the Armes. For a later Welsh adaptation of the English imprisoned; a warrior comes and 'seizes' or 'delivers' him, cf. CA
name, see H. Lewis, Bx. r27-8, on Gaer Fuddai. p. 209). Here, as in certain other examples, the meaning is equivalent
to that of achub 'to seize, to take possession of'< Lat. occupo; and
70. y dyffryn a bryn. y can denote both i and .l~I: cf. ar fryn a dot. 'occupy' will often translate both verbs. E.g. CCh. 17, eu bot y amwyn
They will lament everywhere, without concealment or denial, that vyn teymas oc eu swynneu = B v. 218, eu bot yn achub vyn teymas
their expedition to Aber Peryddon was a disaster. oc eu swynneu (the French are accused of seeking to occupy the land
of Hu Gadarn). In the text, the meaning is that the men of south Wales
7r.. mat. See B ii, 12i~; CA zz4, ny mat with a following verb. Mat
intend to hold back their taxes.
doethant forms a compound verb, and a verb with initial m- is not
lenited after the negative. The verb-noun amwyn gives help also in elucidating namwyn,
namyn 'except'. Of this prepn. it is said in WG 442, 'It is sometimes
72. anaeleu, see note to I. 37 above. In the manuscript, eu follows this found without n- by false division', and Morris-Jones then cites the
word, but it has been crossed out, and there are deletion-points under use of amyn and amen in the Laws (cf. Black Book of Chirk, 16, na
it. dely ef teghu amyn yu kom, 'he ought not to swear (JJCcept (or exupt-
ing) by his horn'). Since namwyn, namyn, amyn may all be translated
73. y discynnant. The y shows that naw ugein canhwr is in the by Eng. except (a borrowing from Latin), it is worth considering the
oblique case, 'with 18,000 men they (will) attack' [i.e. '18,000 strong1, various meanings held by Lat. excipio 'to take to oneself, to catch,
capture, take, receive'. All these meanings suit with the examples of
74. mawr watwar, a kind of exclamation, 'What a shame, what
mocking!' amygaf, amwyn, as verb and as verb-noun. Is it not therefore legiti-
mate to conclude that from the verb-noun amwyn there has been derived
namyn, a monosyllable, as in 50, 184, 194; BT 54. 24, Tri lloneit
prytwen yd aetham ni idi, nam seith ny dyrreith o gaer sidi. In the the prepn. namwyn 'except'?; cf. the rendering given above for the
corresponding refrain in the other stanzas of the same poem, the sentence from the Black Book of Chirk. The meaning of cant namyn
form is namyn, BT 55. 7, 12, 18, 24. The full form was namwyn; for un is 'a hundred except one', or 'excepting one'. I suppose, therefore,
this, see note on I. 78 below. For nam, see CLlH 141; Hafod 1. 21a, that namwyn 'except' came from yn amW_l'n 'excepting'- the first is
nam seith mlyned, cf. twym, twymn, twy,nyn. merely a compressed form of the second(cf. LL 173,nihit = 'yneihyd';
B xi. 88, 89, Neithyr - 'yn eithr', 'but', or the way in which N'ad <
44 NOTES NOTES 45
Na ad (imper. gadu) has given a new verb nadu, and heb ado un 'not this line and in 163 (cf. also gr) proves the correctness of the form
leaving one' has resulted, through various forms, in bado un, bod ag un). in -dr < -atr-, since -adr- in Celtic would have given -aer. (See
Amyn has not arisen, therefore, from a wrong division of namwyn, VKG i. 323, on the derivation, in preference to WG 185.)
namyn, but is a form derived from the verb-noun amwyn itself, equi- 82. a wnant. Read a wnaant for the metre. See note to I. 80 above.
valent to amwyn with a prepn., cf. the use of gwerth in the Gododdin,
and yng ngwerth as a variant of it, as in I. 63 above. There is therefore 83. anoleith, see B ii. 130, vi. 221. The meaning of goleith is 'avoid,
no connection between namwyn and OW nammui 'only': the meaning escape from'; with the neg. an- 'unavoidable, inescapable'.
does not correspond, and they are quite unrelated. [On namwyn and 84. yg gorlfen, cf. I. 95, and Ir. hi foirciunn 'at the end', gloss on
nammui ( Irish nammd) see GMW 232-3.J in fine St. Gall 18b (Stokes and Strachan, Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus,
79. llifeit, sharpened; see CA 131 on the termination -eit = -edig. ii. 69).
llwyr, c:f. CA 217 'completely'; yn llwyr, 92 below. (Cf.gwerth:yng 85. arosceill, or ar osceill. G does not give any compound with
ngwerth; notes on II. 63, 78 above.) aros- as the first element in it. The whole line is obscure to me.
So. mwyn. Besides 'ore, metal', mwyn can mean 'profit, treasure'; ryplanhassant, cf. planthonnor, gloss on Jodit1ntur in Juvencus
see B ii. 129 for exx. The meaning here is that after their achievements (VVB 205, where it is used of the damned): aetemum miseri poena
in battle they will leave no work (or payment) for any doctor. fodientur iniqui. Fodio means 'to dig, to prick, pierce, stab' (Andrews),
gwnaant. The form in OW would have been guragant. Gur- became not simply to plant. Note that the tense of the verb varies in these
changed into gwn-, medial -g- (or -gh-) was lost, to give gwnaant as lines; here and in 1. 83 it is pluperf., with the enemy as (the understood)
here, then it became syncopated to gwnant. (See GMW 130.) Line 82 subject, even though they are not named- but in the next line, the
below reads a wnant, although the metre requires a wnaant. verb is pres. or fut. I take er(ill as the object: i.e. the enemy had
[In a note in B xxi. 234, Professor Thomas Jones points out, after afflicted others, and never again will they be able to collect their taxes.
comparing this line with I. 82 below (see note), that it is improb- Arosceill may be a pl. adj., describing the innocent who were afflicted
able that the original text repeated the identical verbal form twice by them, or it may be an adv. describing the manner in which they
over to sustain the rhyme in two closely adjacent lines within the were afflicted.
same awdl. The phrase gwneuthur kat is of too frequent occurrence 86. oes oesseu, cf. Book of St. Chad, LL xliii, in ois oisou, 'for ever'
in poetry for us to doubt the authenticity of the reading in I. 82; but -the earliest extant occurrence of the phrase: later, y11 oes oesoedd.
he suggests that the original reading in I. 80 was •guanaant = (g)wan- Note that yn is omitted in the text; cf. byth bythoedd.
ant, from the vb. gwanu 'to pierce, strike'. The meaning of the line escorant, cf. BT 42. 16, where God is called plwyf escori, because
would then be that it would be fruitless for any doctor to seek to cure He gathers His people into the fold. The meaning is different from
the enemies whom the Welsh would strike and wound, for they would esgor 'to give birth'; here it is rather 'to gather into the fold, yard, or
all be dead: cf. CA I. 401, e neb a wanei nyt atwenit. Old forms of the place of defence', cf. CA 103, on ysgor 'fortress, cattle-pen'; Win-
vb. gwneuthur attested in CA are I. 783, riguanaid ( - ry wnaeth); 1. 771, disch, W 761-2, on Ir. scar, scorim; [Contrib. 'S', 102, scor 'a paddock,
guereit ( = gwreith); cf. also AL ii. 6, guanaet; ii. 10, gueneutur. Thus enclosure for horses, meadow, pasture, camp']. I understand the text
it would have been easy for a copyist to misunderstand •guanaant in his similarly; the taxes consist of the cattle that the enemy claims, but
original as (g)wnaant. (The double vowel is not of infrequent occur- they will never be able to round up any of them into their pens. Cf.
rence in OW orthography.)J MA• 160a, yn llat esgarant pan esgores; BT 62. 7-8, neu via weleis
81. Katwaladyr. One of the two princes whose prophesied return wr yn buarthaw; 26. 9, bum yn yscor gan dylan eil mor; H 99. 12, hud
would deliver the Welsh from the English invaders; the other was arnnawt hirulawt hir wen y ysgor, In I. 113 of the Gododdin we find
Kynan, 89; see also 91, 163, 182, 184. The two are repeatedly named eidyn ysgor; in I. 1441, BSgor eidin; this illustrates the possible ortho-
in early prophetic verse in the Book of Taliesin, the Black Book of graphical variants.
Carmarthen, and the Red Book of Hergest. It is worth noting that
Arthur is never named as a promised deliverer. [On Kynan and 88. canhwyll. Cf. the similar use of Irish caindel as an epithet for a
Katwaladyr see TYP 316-18, 292-3.] hero [Contrib. 'C', 35J. The hero referred to here is Cynan, I. 89.
kadyr, cf. OBr. cadr (VVB 62) gloss on decoreo (DGVB 92); MBr. tywyll, rhyming with canhwyll; tywyll was therefore the original
pronunciation, WG 47.
cazr, ModBr, kaer (with variants). The rhyme with Katwaladyr in
 NOTES NOTES 47
R9. kynan. [I conclude this to be Cynan Meiriadoc, the legendary cmyl, cysul, cusul. Also B vi. 112, the gloss custnudieticc on confecta
founder of the Breton colony; see TYP 316-18, and notes to Katwal• (Martianus Capella).
adyr, I. 81 above, and to I. 182 below.] a chreu rud ar rud, red blood on the cheek (grudd). The early
racwan, to rush forward in attack, see CA 82. poets were fond of playing on two words which were similar in sound
but different in meaning.
90· gwae a genyn. They will sing 'Woe (gwae) to us!'
91. paladyr, a tree-trunk, spear-shaft. Here used metaphorically: 95. agreith {var. anghreijft, G 17). In B ii. 44-6 I derived it from
a strong support, a defence. Lat. increpito ('to call out to one, to challenge, to blame, rebuke').
gan y unbyn, with his chief warriors; cf. 1. 3 above. 'Challenge, defiance' is more suitable here than 'rebuke'. A defiance
leads to battle, and then to anreith 'spoil' which will be dengyn
92· trwy synhwyr, with wisdom, wisely, skilfully. For trwy in 'mighty' (cf. I. s above), and the English will be put to flight. Cf. ,
constructions which are now strange to the language, cf. CA I. 7 27, MA• 332a. 2, 11am drin breenhin Brynaic/1 angraitli. \
drwy var; I. 874, mal yuet med drwy chwerthin; I. 997, godef gloes
angheu trwy anghyffret; BT 4. 23, meint dyduc duw trwy nodet; 11. 7, ,6, ar hynt. 'at once, straightway'; see CA 312.
ac eryf trwy alar ac enynnu trwy var, cf. I. 125 below. In none of these hyt. The line is too Jong: hyt is redundant if we take Gaerwynt as
examples is the meaning of trwy the usual one. being in the oblique case (lenited, without prepn.) as in Gwyr a aeth
dic~yn. As a verb 'to choose, select' (G 328, 'dewis, dethol'; with Ododin; Gwyr a aeth Gatraeth. [On the construction, see TYP
RC xln. 87-8, contrast VKG ii. 539-40). If the allusion is to the chief- 63- 4.]
tains, then one must accept the meaning 'choose'. But does it mean caerwynt. A Welsh adaptation of Winchester; from the old name
that the pri~ce was to choose his chieftains? I believe that it gives V enta in Brittonic one would expect Caencent. But cf. PKM 145
better sense 1f we ?11derstan~ eu in this line as referring to the English [LHEB 28~, 387).
of I. 90; the English lamentmg, Cadwaladr with his chieftains yn eu kynt pwy kynt, When a comparative adj. is doubled, it denotes
diclilyn 'seek_ing them out' with skill and thoroughness-that is the an increase in quality, cf. mwyfwy 'more and more', gwaethwaeth
sequence of ideas. The examples which Silvan Evans gives of dichlyn 'worse and worse' (cf. Breton goaz oz goaz, muy ouz muy; on ouz, oz
sh~w that from the seventeenth century onwards the meaning was see Lewis, LILlC 14). To the positive form of the adj. the prepn. i
quite clearly 'to choose'. He quotes dichlynig 'assiduous0 exact may be added, and followed by a comparative: o ddrwg i waeth 'from
careful' fro?1 Lewis Glyn Cothi (Gwaitli Lewis Glyn Co thi, ed'. bad to worse '. Pwy here may represent py ( - lr. co 'to') = o gynt i
Walter Davies_ a~d John Jone~, Oxford, 1837; 35. 18). According to gynt, i.e. the flight of the enemy became faster and faster. Pwy was
Lloy~-Jones, 1t 1s to be associated with 01 teclaim (< to-ess-glenn-) introduced by analogy with pwy gilydd 'each other' (from *po-i, the
meaning 'to choose' [Contrib. 'T', 105; teclaim 'to choose, collect prepn. with the infixed pron.; GMW 97, n. 1); or else by confusion
(a crowd of pe~ple, body of soldiers)']. Without the preverb to-, the with the constr. 'gorau po gyntaf' 'the sooner the better', since pwy
lr. compound 1s found as a gloss on uestigant 'to trace'; rimari 'to could also come from poe ( - po, 3 sg. pres. subj. bod). Cf., however,
seek',. and the .vn. as a gloss on discussionem and indagine {a word for Hen.MSS ii. 82; B v. 225, kynt bwy kynt.
~.atch~g an,a~unal ?r ~ enemy,_ from in1ag_o to follow like a dog, then 97. pan adrodynt, when they (the Cymry) say; see CA 72-3; BT 57,
mve~t1gate , look mto somethmg). This 1s the shade of meaning I lloegrwys ae gwydant pan ymadrodant. The substance of their speech
find m the text: it is a word for pursuing, seeking for. Later it
is given in the following lines. Wy is not counted in the metre.
developed into 'seek out the best, and choose it'; then 'select'.
93• erchwyn. With the meaning 'bed-side' cf. CLIH xi, 61c. Here g8, y trindawt. There is no need for the def. art. y, cf. 41 above.
the enemy are described as sinking into their beds in pain, after having or maybe a mistake for o'n 'o ein', 'from our',since n was so much
~ed w~un~e~ from ~e ~attle. [G 483 lists the additional meaning liker in the old orthography.
amdd1ffyn, defence ; this could as well mean 'defender' in the con- 99, Dyfet, Pembrokeshire, or south-west Wales; see HW 261;
text, and I have translated accordingly, cf. erchwynawc, l. 169 below.] Phillimore, Cy. xi. 56-7, for its exact boundaries,
94· custud, i.e. cystudd, 'affliction', etc., CLIH 204, CA 108. For the Glywyssyg, Glywysing, south-east Wales, from Pembroke to
alternation between-y-u and-u-u,cf. below, 108, cwssyl( ... cusyl); 16 1, Monmouthshire; or as Sir John Lloyd says (HW 273, and n. 254), it
kussulwyr: see CLIH 152 and the examples there given of cusil, was the land between the Tawe and the Usk; he is not sure whether
 NOTES NOTES 49
it included Gwent or not. Dyfed and Glywysing taken together mean, 103. talet, verb-noun in -et; see GMW 157.
generally speaking, the whole of south Wales. (But Glywysing_ was o dynget, cf. o raid 'by necessity', They cannot evade the punish-
a separate kingdom under its own rulers, and these gave no allegiance ment which Fate will impose on them.
to Hywel Oda. In the Introduction, p. xxiii above, I. W. appears to meint a geffyn, i.e. all that they get, or may get; cf. CA 71, and
identify the political interests of these two kingdoms. See A. O. H. I. 171 below.
Jarman's review of the poem, Llln Cymru iv. 55-8.]
104. o ymdifeit veibon. To be taken with talet, cf. CA I. 1408, vyg
100. nys. What is the force of the -s here? It may be a pl. infixed werth y a wnaethant I o eur pur.
pron. in the dative case, anticipating the indirect object, meiryon ryn, see CA 9:z-3. Some of their children will be orphans and
mechteyrn; cf. 170, deu arth nys gwna gwarth kyfarth beunyd 'two
bears , .• fighting brings no shame to them'.
others will be rhynn. Of the various meanings possible, the root of the
verb rhynnu is most suitable here, 'starved with cold, famished'. The
,

'
gwnaho. The force of the subj. here may be either future or root of the verb is here used as past participle passive.
optative; GMW u3. 10,S, Dewi, cf. 51.
101. cynhoryon, chief warriors, 'champions'; those who fought in Prydeyn, mistake for Prydyn, since this is the fonn attested here
the cynnor, the front rank of the army; CA_ 69. . by the rhyme, although the meaning is Prydain; on the confusion
keft'yn, cf. 103, G 94. The fonn is ambiguous: 1t may be pres. or between the two, see note to I. 10 above.
fut. 3 pl. of cael, caffael (cf. 103), or impe~f. subj. (cf. GM:W 149); 106. ffrwt ailego. Gwenogvryn Evans (BT 16. 6) reads arlego, but I
Alternatively, it may be taken as pl. of keffei, cf. CA 130 (cy though can only distinguish i, although the stroke that would turn it into r
+bei) 'though they be'. has perhaps been added, across the /, but high up. On the basis of
ebryn. I am uncertain of the meaning; cf. BT 11. 1 (about Judge- this reading he identifies arlego with Ir. Port Lairge (Waterford); see
ment Day), ebryn pob dyhed pan losco mynyded; 75. 25, Vch o vor his note, BT 85, and the variants of the name cited by Hogan, 0110m.
vch o vynyd. Vch o vor ynyal ebryn. coet maes tyno a bryn. In RC 564. But not one of the forms cited resembles either ailego or arlego,
xxxii. 302-3, Loth holds that the meaning is 'sm~oth, level, without and in any case, ffrwt does not mean 'port', but 'river'. The reading
hills', deriving it from ek- and bryn, and comparing egwan, eg~ur. l of I. 149 below, Dybi olego lyghes, etc., should perhaps be restored in
do not see how k can disappear so completely before b; would 1t not this line, cf. 151, Dybi o alclut; 153, o iydaw. (This prevents us from
give egfryn? Nor is ek- a negative in the other examples: egwan does reading Allego to alliterate with Alimyn.) Yet the metre requires a
not mean 'strong' but 'very weak'. If bryn is the second element, syllable here before !ego, so that it seems reasonable to supply the
ebryn could come from adbryn, just as aber comes from ad-ber. -db- preposition o 'from'.
gives first of all -p-, which is then lenited to -b-; a is changed to ., An additional argument against Gwenogvryn's interpretation is
before y. As regards the meaning, ad is an intensive, and not a that one would not expect the English to be fleeing to Ireland, but to
negative particle (cf. add-fwyn). Eb-_'horse' is found in eb-a~I, ~ran, the furthermost corners of England or to the Continent, as in I. 7, hyt
ebodn 'horse manure' (perhaps also m eb-rwydd), and there 1s a rhyn
Ga61' W <lir (Durham) gwasgarawt allmyn. Holder cites Aleuo ( Vico)
which means 'hill' as well as gryn 'to push'. In addition, there is the from Merovingian coinage (ACS i. 90, 95) St. Malo (also Alleco
ebr in dadtbru 'to 'revive, refresh', cf. BT 47. 16 (referring to God), (vico) = Aleto). I do not know how the -o could have survived in the
byt adebryat (adeibriad), i.e. one who re-vitalizes the world. Welsh word, even if Holder had been more certain of his form.
If we take keffyn to mean 'though they be', I suggest that ebryn is an Nevertheless, it is difficult to make sense of ffrwt ar followed by a
adj. from rhynn 'rough, fierce' (CA 93), with eb- strengthening it, as place-name; cf. also 149.
in eb-rwydd. ffohawr allan. The rhyme proves that allan here is a mistake for
[In G 434, Lloyd-Jones suggests that ebryn is a ma~c. nou~ rr,iean- allmyn. Ffoi has now become an intransitive verb, 'to flee', but formerly
ing 'cyffro, cynnwrf, ymryson', 'disturbanc~, conte~t1on, stnf~ ~d 'to put to flight'; cf. BBC 5. 4-6, Llyaus ban brivher. llyaus ban
he compares Irish eachrann with similar mean~ng, notmg the poss1b1hty foher.
that in this sense ebryn is to be connected with r(h)ynn.)
1o8. Iwys, the men of Wessex, cf. 181, lwis, In RBB 260 Br.
102. medut, see CA 168 (noun from meddu 'to enjoy'), lntoxfcation Tywys. 10, Alfred is called Alvryt urenhin lwys : AC 900, Albrit
will give them no enjoyment or satisfaction. rex giuoys (cf. Phillimore's note 'King of the Gev:issi, i.e. of
genhyn, cf. :z above. Here meaning 'at our cost'. Wessex'). In the genealogy of Alfred, Asser gives (MHB 468) Elesa,
07~, E
so NOTES NOTES SI
qui fuit Geuuis, a quo Britones totam illam gentem Gegu11is nominant l;rien Rheged in PT, so that it would not be wise to try to restrict
(cf. ibid. 3oz, Giwis; 305, Gewis, in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle) ; the name too closely: 1t could have included the old British North, or
B iv. 45 (in a prophecy) Eigil, ywuys lloegruis keint ( = vii. 27, Eingl, at least a part of it. However, since Lloegr has come to be the name
i wrys( !), Lloegrwys Caint); BT 79. 8, Brythonic yn iwis dydyrchefis. given by the Welsh to the English part of Britain in general, it is right
Asser's evidence is sufficient to prove the meaning of Jwys at the date to look for its origin in a region which was on the border of Wales.
of the Prophecy. [In B xix. 8-z3, M. Gwyn Jenkins collects the instances of Lloegr,
vn gwssyl, cf. 161, kusmlwyr; 165, kussyl (rhyming as here with Lloegrwys from Aneirin and Taliesin. The conclusion he reaches is
-yd(d) and-yr); VVB 92, Ox. 1, cusil; CA So, ogussyl; G 188. Later it that Llo11gr was originally the name of the British people living in the
turned into cusul, cysul; see CLIH 152. The meaning is 'council' < east central midlands, and he identifies the name with that of Leicester:
Lat. consilium. [On the nature of the 'councils' held by Athelstan, see Legor > Lloegr; Legorensis > Lloegrwys (but see now K. Jackson,
introduction, p. xviii above.] B xx1ii. 26-7, who rejects this derivation). In a note in B xxii. 47, P. C.
Bartrum points out that this derivation was advocated as long ago as
109. a Lloei)'t' lloscit. The rhyme proves that -it here must repre- 1611 by John Lewis of Llynwene in his History of Great Britain.)
sent old orthography for -id, -ydd. Thomas Jones (B x. 134) suggests no. Notice the length of the line: two halves each of six syllables,
a further change to luossit, comparing lluossit in BBC 66, and reading as in 42.
Lloegyr luossydd as 'the armies of Lloegr', with the subordinate prydaw (cf. 153, p. gyweithyd; 178, kadyr gyweithyd). From pryd
genitive coming first-a common word-order in the old poetry. This 'form, beauty,' as adj. 'handsome' (cf. Lat.Jonna andformosus, 'shape'
would give good sense, and would not require much alteration of the and 'shapely'). The termination -aw recurs in 117, gafiaw, cf. Llydaw,
actual letters; it would also preserve an old construction. But the Manaw, and CA 264 ( • OW-am).
full alliteration of initial ll- would be lost, and there would be five
syllables after the caesura, or pause, in the middle of the line. There III. a cherd. There is no immediate connection with the previous
are four syllables in over 150 of the lines in the poem, and five line, but a reference back to I. 107; it is likely enough that a line has
in less than thirty of them [cf. Introduction, p. Iii above]. L/osgydd been lost which foretold that things would turn out contrary to the
could perfectly well be an adj. describing Lloegr,and the spelling would hopes of the lwys, but in accordance with those of the Wclsh--a cherd
require no change in order to give good sense. What is emphasized ar alluro, 'and the foreigners (will be) on the move' .
is the English custom of burning the possessions of the Welsh; cf. the cerd. Not the word for 'song', but the root of cerdded, see CA 368;
nickname Ffiamddwyn, 'Flame-bearer', applied to one of the English Breton kerz; Old Cornish cerd (gloss on iter); later Cornish kerth
leaders in the poems of Taliesin (PT vi. 3 ; x. 11 ; [ cf. TYP 351 ]). (ACL i. 107). For cerd ar, cf. PKM 12. u8, a pha gerdet yssyd amat
a is here the prepn. 'with', not the conjunction 'and'. ti? [cf. PT i. 13, aercol ar geriut].
Lloegyr. In B iv. 45, the 'Eingl, Iwys, Lloegrwys, and Caint (men aralluro. Read ar alluro here--even though arallfro docs occur in
of Kent)' arc named as though they represented sub-divisions of the other texts (see G 35)-because ar completes the meaning of cerd;
English nation. The other names are geographically identifiable, but i.e. the Eng lish are ar gerdded 'on the move'.
what about the Lfoegrwys? Were they not the inhabitants of Mercia? alluro, a foreigner, one from another country, cf. alltud; Gaulish
Geoffrey of Monmouth, though he receives little respect today, either allo-brog-es: as opposed to Cymro, one from the same country (see note
as a linguist or as a historian, nevertheless lived nearer to these early to I. 9 above).
times than do we, and he collected traditional material: so we may ac-
cept for what it is worth his statement (Hist. Reg. 11 . i, RBB 6o) that n::r.. kud. For cudd 'hiding-place', see G 184. Read here (with G 188)
Locrinus ruled over the middle part of the island 'which after him was cwdd, a var. of cw(d}, which meant 'Where?' as further on in the line,
called Loegria'. There is no need to believe in Locrinus, but the and cf. also 135, 136, cw mae. BBC 88. 8-10, merwerit mor. cv threia, cud
midlands of England would suit well with Lloegr in the text. North- echwit. Cv da, cud ymda. Cv treigil, cvthrewna. Pa hid. a. Nev cvdvit.
umbria was not on the border of Wales in 930, but both Mercia and According to the usual orthography of BBC, one must read cw da
Wessex were. The Lloegrwys (men of Lloegr) were the enemy who cwd ymda, but G gives several exx. of cwb, see also WG 291, 293;
attacked Cynddylan in Shrewsbury (CLIH xi. 15, 16)-surely the W-P on Lat. ubi, etc. [See now GMW 79, LEWP 13.)
men of Mercia. However, we have to remember that L/oegrwys was ymda. See CLIH 211 on gorymda, and HGCr. 134 on pret. 1 sg.
also the name given to the enemies of the Gododdin tribe and of imteith, BBC 22. 9-10 ( = ymddaith in modern orthography). See
 NOTES NOTES 53
further LP 296-7, 335; and G 106 on canhymddeith (cf. D canymdaith the meaning here is very close to 'hoof-beats', or to a verb-noun for
comitari; canymdoi comitari ... ii can, ym, et toi), [GPC 419]. the beating of hooves on the ground (see G u3, carnyal 'sathr, sarnu,
cwd a. [a is here the 3 sg. pres. indic. mynet; see glossary.] pystylad', 'trampling, stamping'. Pending a fuller investigation, I
113. [dychyrchwynt, cf. 83, rydygyrchassant. On the variation suggest that peleitral means 'a thrusting with spear-points in battle'.
which appears in this and other verbs between lenited and aspirated dyfal, see CA I. 305, dywal y gledyual. It is difficult to distinguish
forms following a pre-verbal particle, see GMW 62.) between the words dyfal and dywal in early orthography (since u
cyfarth, see CA 259; PKM 237; G 203; Trans. Anglesey Antiq. sometimes = w, sometimes f; w too can stand for both w and/).
Soc. r923, 52 on Lias arth yn y gyfarthfa 'Slain was the bear at bay' The meaning of dyfal is 'restless, passionate, earnest'; dywal is 'brave
bold, fierce'. See CLlH 76, 144, CA 171. ,
(an allusion to the death of Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd in the battle
of Pentraeth, Anglesey, MA• 346a. 13). Cyfarth was originally a dillyd ,(cf. 158 below, dyllfd), G 356 'llifo, arllwys, tywallt', 'flow,
pour out ; RP 1044. 5-6, d1llyd dwfyr o ffynnawn; BT 21. 24, 47.
lI
hunting term, used of an animal defying the hounds, who would be
barking (cyfarth) around it; rhoi cyfarth is 'to stand at bay'. Later it 13-14, parth pan dillyd nilus ( - the river Nile in Egypt). The allusion is
came to be used for warriors 'standing their ground' in a similar to the spears which are hurled against the enemy, not just in showers
way, and then simply for 'battle', as here. but in a ceaseless flood (taking dyfal with dillyd, not with peleitral).

114. talu gwynyeith 'avenge', see Y Beirniad iv. 65-6; CA 86. The 116. arbettwy, pres. subj. used in a future sense; cf. note to I. r3
meaning of gwyn(n)yeith when used of battle is 'revenge, slaughter', above, and GMW u3. [According to my class-notes taken at the
but when used of a saint, it means 'miracle'. For the phrase used here, time, Sir lfor rendered this line in 1939 as 'No (fellow) tribesman will
cf. talu'r pwyth, 'pay back'. spare the body of his enemy'. For car in this sense, cf. 11. 138, 145,
hennyd, cf. 122, 154, 177, 187; B iv. 339, CA 100 'fellow, com- where the pl. carant is used for the Welsh in general ; the semantic
panion; opponent'; Breton hentez, Cornish hynse. Cilydd is used development is in fact analogous to that of Kymry (see note to I. 9).
similarly both for 'companion' and for 'enemy', cf. 1 r6 below. Y gilyd in the sense of 'opponent' is paralleled in the similar range of
meanings held by its Irish cognate ceile, and it was in this sense that
:n:5. peleitral, cf. peleidryal CA I. 9rr (though it is perhaps here a Sir Ifor understood the word in the present context. But GMW u3
mistake for peleidryat), and on paladr, note to I. 91 above. The renders the line 'a kinsman will not spare the body of another'· if
ending in -al, -ial occurs in various words. Sometimes it is a lenited this is accepted, we must take arbettwy as parallel to its Irish cogn'ate
form of gal (cf. dial, arial, Irish digal, argal); sometimes it is the ar-cessi 'to pity, have compassion for', and understand the poet to be
ending of a verb-noun (see WG 392 for later examples, corrected ex~ressin~ a wish ~at the Cymry will fight with a passion and ferocity
by Loth, RC x.xxvii. 49), as it is in Breton. Early examples are CA which will over-ride all respect for persons, even for their own
11. 679 ysgynnyal, 1355 disgynnyal. Sometimes this ending corresponds comrades. A third possibility is that the phrase is to be taken as a
better with the Gaulish termination in -ialos, -ialum, Holder, ACS traditional formulaic element adopted out of earlier battle-descriptions
ii. 7 (where it is necessary to correct the note), which appears in the (cf. note to eneit dichwant, I. 77 above), and consequently not strictly
name of the commote of lal in Powys, and in anial, ynial; Penna/, adapted to the present context.]
Penial. But it would take up too much space to discuss all the examples,
since there is considerable difficulty in classifying and interpreting n7. pen gaflaw, i.e. a head 'split open'. The meaning of gafiaw is
some of the words. [See J. Lloyd-Jones, 'The compounds of Gal', in 'forked', from gafi 'fork', with the adj. termination -aw (as in prydaw,
Seamus Pender (ed.), Feilscrlbhinn Torna (Cork, 1947), 83-g.] I. r ro). In BT 70. 3, am ryafiaw hallt am hydyruer mor, the allusion
The form peleitral suggests that -al has been added to the pl. is to the salt sea, which is being split open or torn by ships; cf. also
peleidr, or else that the ending is -ial, and that the consonantal i has VVB 128 (Martianus Capella) fist/ gabla11, gloss on fistula bilatrix (in
affected the previous syllable of paladr. Since the allusion is to a pl. bilatris). For carnafiaw, carnafiawc, the name of a horse 'Cloven-
military weapon, it appears to me that peleidr(i)al is parallel to hoof(ed)', see G u3, [TYP 10r]; and cf. BT 23. 24 5, ilyffan du
cleddyfal, a blow with a sword, see G 145, CA r53. The references gafiaw. Gafiaw is also used for a kind of fish (D salar, species salmonis);
prove that cleddyfal is synonymous with cleddyfawd: it is used for a gafiawec, a net with which it is caught.
blow on the head or on the nose. Cf. also H 88. r, krynei uaes carnet
n8. gweilyd, D (of an oath) 'vacuus, inanis'. In Gwynedd, gweili is
rac carnnyal y ueirch (although there is no -i- affection in this case); used of a horse returning yn weili, that is, without a cart, or a plough,
54 NOTES NOTES SS
or any load. According to AL i. 784, there are three places in which beunyd. Evidently the lenition was not shown in the original, and we
a man ought not to make a llw gweilydd: on a single-plank bridge may read arwerth y dreth (see G 43 for arwerthu). In the great battle
without a hand-rail, at the gate of a graveyard (since one should to come, the revenge inflicted upon the enemy will be an adequate
chant the pater nosier there on behalf of a)l Christians), and at the repayment for the tribute that was imposed, for the frequent expedi-
door of a church. The meaning here is a vain, thoughtless, or ill- t ions into Wales to collect it, and for the host of lying tax-collectors. I
considered oath (not 'the oath of an absolver' as it is translated in AL). am tempted to read ef talawr 'there will be paid' in place of ef dialawr
But in the context of battle, a march gweilydd is a horse that has lost 'there will be avenged'. It may be that for the poet, treth made a kind
its rider; cf. MA• I4Ia. 25 (= H 4. Io), Ni chronnai naseirch nameirch of rhyme withgwerth, cf. also B iv. 47, where elyrch,gwrych, gwrthrych
gweilyt (in Meilyr's marwnad to Gruffudd ap Cynan); that is, he did are rhymed. If these can be regarded as rhyming, so can gwerth,
not keep arms without anyone to wear them, or horses without anyone treth. But treith also suggests itself as a possible reading (see below).
to ride them. Note that in II. 2 I, 72, 86 the pl. tretheu is used, not the sing., as here.
treth. In old orthography this could be for treith, which recalls
119. obein, mistake for ubein 'to howl, to wail' (D 'clamitare, ejulare'; MBr. treiz, for the crossing of a river or a strait. Loth, ChBr 235,
MA• 271 b. 7-10 (in ref. to hell), a phawb yn ubain a phawb yn germain quotes Kaer 611 treth as a form dating from the year 1237 corresponding
a phawb yn llefain nas lladd angeu; RP 1157. 30, yn y mac ubein. yn to Kerantreiz in I572, and he distinguishes between treiz, 'crossing',
y mae lleuein; DWS ubain 'shoute', To read ubein in the line gives and traez, MBr. for 'beach' ( = W. traeth). He supposes that trei:l
vocalic alliteration with uthyr. corresponds with W. treth, and that the original meaning was 'toll',
ketwyr. Note the Irish rhyme in -yr, -ydd. or the payment exacted for crossing. On the other hand, assuming
that treth in the text is in fact an older spelling for treith, the latter
120. Haw amhar, a compound adj. describing lliaws, from llaw
form would then be the exact cognate of MBr. treiz, 'crossing', and
'hand' and amhar, the root of amharu 'to injure'; the meaning is
it is therefore worth considering whether the line may possibly
therefore that some were wounded 'in their hands', or else 'by hand'.
Or else, cf. /law 'sad, wretched, small' (as in I. 68 above), 'many allude to the crossing of the Wye or the Severn, and the payment
which was made for this.
sadly wounded'. [The second half-line would seem to support the
gwertb. If treith be accepted as the reading here, it would not
first interpretation; the reference is evidently to close hand-to-hand
necessarily follow that gwerth should be altered into gweith 'battle'.
fighting.)
If gwerth is retained, one of its meanings is 'payment', cf. DGG
121. kennadeu agbeu, cf. H 38. 21-22, kyn dyuot kyunod ny xlviii. 5- 8 ( = GDG 67), Pell yw i'm bryd obrwyaw I Llatai drud i'w
kyfnerthrwyt. I kennadeu agheu yn gyuarwyt, i.e. Death sending his llety draw I Na rhoi gwerth i wrach ... er llateirwydd; Llanstephan
messengers about us, as guides, to lead us to his throne. 2. 226, yr gwertheu a gobreu (see G 670).
dychyferwyd, not cyuarwyt 'guide' as in the line quoted above,
but with w for f; cf. RP 1049. 39, Arth or deheu. kyuyt ynteu. dychyu- 125. dygorfu. The d is a capital letter in the manuscript, as if it
eruyd I lloegyrwys lledi. afriuedi. o bowyssyd. Here the rhyme proves denoted the beginning of a new awdl, but no change in the rhyme
that -fydd is the last syllable, not -wydd, cf. also RP 1056. 6, dychyv- comes until I. I27. The past tense is not suitable in a prophecy, and
eruyd trwch a thrin. Is it the same a here as that which precedes therefore it is better both here and in 127 to read dygorfi or dygoryw.
lliaws in l. I20? The messengers of Death will be seeking out many If the archetype had digorui, it would account for either of these
of the wounded before the end of the battle. readings in the orthography of BT. The pres. fut. 3 pl. of the same
verb occurs in I. 12 above. Gorfu is followed by i when it means 'it
:122. calaned, pl. of celain, see CA IJ2. Note the old constr. by
was necessary', and the y ( ... i) is in fact preserved in I. 127, but not
which the subject is lenited following its verb in the pl. here. If the verbal form here is in the present or the future, without i,
hennyd. See note to I. I 14. The press of battle will be so great that then the most likely meaning for it is that the Welsh will be wholly
there will be no room for the dead to fall, and they will be holding united in battle-or else, that they will be unanimous in going to
each other up. The line is repeated, I. I87 below. battle. [It is possible to suggest a simpler meaning for dygorfi than
123. dialawr, 'will be avenged'. In the manuscript there are marks of that which is here advocated by Sir Ifor, and one which w,11 suit in
transposition before they of y treth and at the end of the word. If we each of the three contexts in which this verb occurs in the poem: in
read as so directed, the line would be Ef dialawr ar gwerth y treth 11. I2, I2S, 127. If we attribute to dy{g)oruot the same potential range
56 NOTES NOTES S7
of meanings as are borne by goruot, i.e. 'to survive' as well as 'to conquer, kenedloed duon . . . Acy diffeithwyt kacr efrawc ygkat dubkynt. For
to win the day' (G 425-6; GPC), etc., then the meaning 'to prevail' gint in personal names in OW, cf. LL 32, Bledgint (= Bleddyn(t)).
will give good sense in each of these instances, and I have translated Dulyn, cf. I. 9 above.
accordingly. I am indebted to Professor Foster for this suggestion. 132. nyt ymwadant. According to D 'abnegare, renunciare'; for
Cf. Branwen, ed. D. S. Thomson, I. 386, where it has been shown the first TW gives 'gwadu, ymwadu, gwrthod, gommedd' ('to deny,
that as a vn. goruot bears the meanings of both 'victory' and 'survival' renounce, reject, refuse'). Although both were acquainted with the
simultaneously; Lat. superesse.] Cf. GMW 146-7; PKM 212. biblical meaning of the word, they retained its older one. In the text,
trwy kyfergyr. For trwy in another unfamiliar construction, see 92 it is emphasized that the Irish were ready to stand together with the
above and note. For kyfergyr, see PKM 289. The lenition here is not Welsh in good faith, and to go to battle with them; that is, they would
shown.
not break their agreement and turn back. Cf. the story of Gruffudd
126. cyweir, in reference to soldiers and horses 'ready, equipped ap Cynan, for his difficulties with the Irish and the Norsemen: they
(with armour)'; of a musical instrument 'in tune'; see B iii. 55-6 on betrayed him on the day of battle, because they were offered more
Irish c6ir as a cognate; G 271, for the various meanings; and cf. money by the enemy (HGC 122, 144, 148).
OW int couer, B vi. 223-4 'in perfect order'; PKM 107, u4, 131, IJ+ pwy meint. On pwy with a noun 'what is? who are ?' (< •<j'ei -
269. Words synonymous in meaning are repeated in this line, as in Ir. cia) see GMW 74-5, GOI § 466; LP § 373.
11. 48, 108--9. dylyet. Emend to o dylyet, 'by right', taking dylyet in the same
u7. dygorfu, see note to I. 125. Read dygor:fi (cons. pres. and fut.), sense as Jr. dli'ged 'law, duty, right' (cf. 138 below, o wir, with the
giving internal rhyme with peri. With y the meaning here may be same meaning). If this is accepted, pu,y meint is to be taken with
that the Welsh will be compelled to give battle. [Or, that they will or wlat.
'survive' to order or arrange battle once more. With peri kat cf. CA 135. herw, D, 'fugio, profugium'; on henca see PKM 247; herwr,
I. 70, trychant trwy beiryant en cattau, and note, pp. 89-90.) 'robber, outlaw'; herwlong, 'pirate-ship'. One meaning of ar herw is
kat gives internal rhyme with gwlat in I. 128. 'wandering'; cf. T. Parry, Theater du Mond Rhosier Smyth (Cardiff,
128. llwyth, here 'tribe, people,' cf. Irish lucht(W 671), For the com- 1930), 6:i, morvvyr ... yn oystad megis raideisiaid beunydd ar hervv;
bination with lliaws, cf. BT 78. 19-20, llwyth lliaws anuaws eu hen- 67 (a similar description of merchants) ... ag yr ydys y' tybied nad oes
werys; for other instances in which it means 'tribe', cf. BT u. 8-10, dim rhagor rhvvngthynt a hen;vyr, ond bod i hervvaeth ynthvvy oi bodd
Pan dyffo trindawt ... llu nef ymdanaw. llwyth llydan attaw; 33. 17, ai evvyllys i hunain; 99, 100. Irish serb, 'theft, villainy' may also be
an nothwy rac gwyth /lwyth agh(ym)es; [cf. TYP 2 on llethic/vyth]. compared. We may interpret the text 'Where is their wandering?', but
129. lluman, see note to I. 59. It is interesting to note the allusion to the line is short of syllables, and I suggest reading eu heru-i, pl. of erw
the standard of Dewi leading the Welsh armies [cf. Introduction, pp. 'acre', here used for land in general. The first question is, 'Where is
xxxv-xxxv1]. their patrimony, their homeland?' Then, 'Where are their people ?
From what country do they come?'
130. tywyssaw, to lead the van, cf. CA 282-3. seilyassant. D gives sail, 'fundamentum, solum': seilio, 'fundare';
Gwydyl, see note to 1. 10. i.e. 'to found'. I believe, however, that seil- has another meaning, cf.
llieingant. On cant 'circle, edge, partition', see G 109; B vi. BT 5. 19, dan syr seint ryseilwys; 12. 22, Crist iessu uchel ryseilas
352- 3. [?Here ~ 'banner'.] trychamil blwydyned er pan yttiw ymbuched; 28. 14, Agheu seilyav.·c
131. gynhon, pl. of gynt cognate with Lat.' gens, gent-is 'tribe' (cf. ym pop gwlat ys rannawc; MA• 274a, Ath folaf Duw naf . .. Pwy
EL 40). It is used for the pagan peoples who harassed the Welsh (see nith fawl ... a ry seilych; 144b, Gnawd wedi ryserch ryseiliaw cas. Sail
CA 127); cf. 176, gynhon Saesson ; 183; CA I. 197, gogyuerchi ynhon in its ordinary meaning is derived from Lat. so/ea 'sole of a shoe', but
deivyr; B iv. 47, kad kyffylad ar Saesson I gwall ... uu arvoll ar kynhon its meaning is nearer to that of Lat. solum, 'bottom, base, floor' (from
(vii. 26, arfoll ar gynhon: an allusion to the act of Gwrtheyrn in wel- the same root as solea). If it is a Celtic word, cf. the root •st(h)el- that
coming the English in the first place); Cy. ix. 165, AC 850, Cinnen a is found in Greek stello, 'to set, place, furnish, equip (of a ship or an
gentiiibus iugulatur; 853, Mon uastata a gentiiibus nigris; 866, Vrbs army), start, set forth'; stolos, 'equipment, army, fleet; stalk, stem'.
ebrauc uastata est id est cat dub gint; RBB 259 Br. Tywys. 8, Acy Perhaps there are two words, one native and the other a Latin borrow-
tagwyt kyngen y gan y genedloed. Ac y diffeithwyt Mon y gan y ing; every example must be considered separately. Perhaps sel is
 NOTES NOTES 59
sometimes the correct reading, cf. CA 366, dy sel; HGC 110, dygosel. ymchwelant (cf. 177, atchwelwynt). In OW orthography this woul~
In the text, we may translate 'Where are their lands, from whence have been imguelant, with -gu- for -chw-; cf. glosses such as guaroi-
they set forth?' maou; or CA 1. 938, guec guero for chweg chwerw, 'bitter-sweet'. This
has given rise to ambiguity, since •gu- can also sometimes represent
136, py vro, cf. CA 19, pa vro, and n. Then comes pan 'whence' as
in 135.
-w-, cf. petgrtar for pt d11,a r.
142. ahont, pres. subj. (as fut.) of mynet (GMW 133). It became
137. yr amser Gwrtheyrn. See Nennius, Historia Brittonum, chs. superseded by elont from a different root.
32-49 for the stories that were told about Gwrtheym at the end of the nen. The ordinary meaning is 'roof-top', also 'head, ruler', but
eighth century. The exact year of the coming of the Saxons to Britain neither of these suits here, any more than they do in CLlH xi. 16a,
is a matter of argument; Hengist and Horsa were received by Gwr- Kyndylan, kae di y nenn I Yn y daw Lloegyrwys drwy Oren (see note).
theyrn some time in the fifth century. [On the traditions of Gwrtheym If 'head' was the original meaning, cf. tal in tal-ar and ardal, and the
(Vortigem) in general, see TYP 392-6; D. W. Kirby, 'Vortigern', pen in Penllyn, Pencoed, and phrases such as 'y pen yma i'r wlad', 'this
B xxiii. 37-59; and on Nennius' use of native sources for his account, end of the country'. [Or nen may be a corruption of men, obl. case of
!for Williams, 'Hen Chwedlau', Cymmr. Trans. 1946--7, 28-58.J Cf. man, 'from the place'.}
I. 27 above.
143. gwerth, as in 63, 123, 144.
138. o wir, cf. 134, 145. The meaning here is not 'truth', but 'right',
i.e. 'legal right'; cf. BBC 59. 14, 62. 5, 65. 2; 66. 15, gur oet hvnnv 144. diheu, see CA t 59, 'certain'; cf. also 'di-am-hell', 'without doubt'.
guir y neb ny rotes (that is 'he would not give up his claim to anyone'); [For the form -heu from geu 'falsehood' see W,G 11~. 3.] .
103. 7 (in ref. to Madawg ap Maredudd of Powys), hydir y wir ar cam. Notice the rhyme with -ant. If -nt 1s equivalent to •nn, 1t
Saesson; LL 120 (the Privilege of Teilo), dyuot brennhin morcannhuc could make 'Irish rhyme' with -mm: see Meyer, Primer of Irish
y gundy teliau yn lann taf dy ( = i) gunethur guir ha cyfreith; Book of Metrics, 7, [G. Murphy, Early Irish Metrics, 32}.
St. Chad, LL xliii, diprotant gener tutri o guir ('of his right'); MA•
145. o anawr. According to G 26, perhaps 'clod, moliant', 'fame'; _I
192a. 27, ni byt wrth wir; 238a. 24, Perchen gwir a thir a theyrnged;
myself suggested 'c ymorth, amddiffyn', 'help, defence', on the evi-
248b. 3 I, Kedwis gwir y dir ae deyrnged; 249b. 20, Llwytyd gwir a
dence of this example see CA 118; and cf. BBC 103. 1-5, Goduryw a
thir yn y threfad; AL i. 542, Pwy bynnac a holho tir eglwyssic . . .
glyuaw ... Teulv m;dauc mad anhaur. Mal teulv. bann benlli gaur.
agoret vyd gwir idaw pan y mynho (but cf. LIB 130, kany allo gwir a
Not much help is given by the example in CA I. 150, Anawr gynhoruan
chyfreith kytgerdet ym pob lie, kyt kytgerdont yn vynych). With o, cf.
MA• 186a. 23-26, Ny thelir o wir . .. ebediw gwr briw ... yn dyt
I huan arwyran· or by the Breton gloss annaor 'quandoquidem',
brwydyr rac bron y arglwyt, 'by right'.
VVB 41. But cr.'
PKM 73, Ac o nerth grym ac angerd a hut a lledrith,
Gwydyon a oruu. Would not the meaning of 'nerth, .g~, angerdd',
rantir. In the Laws 'a measure of land containing 16 acres',
'strength, vigour' suit equally in all these examples, with ~ m the sense
GMWL 257, but in general, D, 'pars haeriditaria, sors'; so here
of 'by means of'? (cf. o in o wir, 138 above). Is the meanmg that ven-
'patrimony, inheritance'-the land which is the share of our relatives.
geance will come by means of the 'vigour' or 'strength' of the Welsh?
an karant, see note to I. 116 above, and G 110 on car 'relative,
In the example from BBC, anhaur describes the militacr strength of
friend'. These words are intended as spoken by the Irish. [But see
the war-band of Madawg ap Maredudd. I prefer to consider the next
note to Garmawn garant, I. 145 below.] line of the text however, before deciding. [On the Breton gloss, see
139. pyr < py+yr, see GMW § 84 (a); HGCr. 127-9. now DGVB 66: where the editor reads ann a or and interprets 'depuis
140, reitheu, see note to 1. 19. l'heure que, des !ors que', 'since' (a or = OW or aur > o'r awr);
see also refs. there cited.}
141, ymgetwynt Gymry. Cymry is the subject; cf. I. 1u above Garmawn garant the kinsmen (friends) of Garmawn or Car-
for a similar lenited constr. The verb is 3 pl. in -ynt from ymgadwaf. mawn. Jn Y Beirniad ~i.211, I referred to Baring-Gould and Fisher,
The ym-, am- is not here reflexive in meaning, but am = 'about', cf. its Welsh Saints iii. 63, on St. Germanus. It is there maintai'."'e~ th~t there
different force in ymladd 'fight' and jmltidd 'wear oneself out'. The was more than one saint of that name; two in Ireland, 1t 1s said. One
Welsh will take take care that the al/myn do not escape. of them gave his name to the church of Kilgorman, in Wexford, and
ymwelant, when they and the enemy come face to face; or read it is claimed that the harbour of Wexford, Lough Garman, was also
60 NOTES NOTES 61
called after him; cf. RBB 326 = Br. Tywys. 150, hyt yn iwerdon.,. It is not worth while trying to unravel the chronological problems
ac yr tir y doethant y lwch garmcm; HGC 1:20, hyt en llwch garmawn raised by this statement in a brief note Iike this (or to discuss the con-
en ywerdon y kerdassant, cf. Hogan, Onomasticon 499, loch garman. fusion which existed between the dates of the birth of Christ and of the
O'Donovan, Three Fragments of Annals 218, says of Dun Carman Crucifixion); it is sufficient for the present purpose to note the
'This was the name of an ancient seat of the kings of Leinster, th~ occurrence of the statement in a document which originated at a
site of which is now occupied by the town of Wexford'; 221, Carman date not much later thnn that of the Armes. If the statement in the
(on which see Hogan, Onom. 156-8). Itis not for me to decide between poem is in fact derived from a similar reckoning, it must be understood
Carman and Garman, or to distinguish further between the various as referring to the supposed date of the coming of the Saxons. Note,
saints of this name: the reference in the text is to the Irish, the men however, that the poem gives 404 years, and the introductory note to
of Dublin, and the inhabitants of Ireland. If they are carant Garmawn, the Annales gives 400 from one reckoning, and 4 from another one: ,
the Germanus referred to cannot be the saint who came from France; the poet may himself have been responsible for combining the two \
he must be an Irish saint. The author of the Armes was a poet from reckonini s together.
south Wales; directly across the sea from St. David's was Wexford, In Nennius' Historia, eh. 16, however, it is said that it was 405
and the Welsh pronunciation of the name for Wexford harbour was years from the birth of Christ till the year of Patrick's coming to the
Llwch_ Garmawn. To an inhabitant of Dyfed who knew of the place, Irish (a nativitate domini usque ad adventum Patricii ad Scottos
'the kinsmen of Garmawn' would have been the Irish of Leinster. CCCCV anni sunt}-yet another date which calls for a lengthy treatise!
[In a review of Armes Prydein, Cymmr. Trans. 1956, 138-41, I 405 is not the same as 404, but to anyone who has been accustomed to
suggested alternatively that the allusion here is in fact to 'the saint from trying to make sense out of the dates given by Nennius, they come to
France', the St. Germanus whom Nennius depicts as the contem- almost the same thing. What point would there be in alluding in the
porary and opponent of Gwrtheyrn. The passage in the poem is at Armes to the supposed date of Patrick's coming to Ireland? This,
this point more likely to be expressive of the feelings of the Welsh perhaps: it was the year when Patrick the Briton went across to the
than of the Irish; I take it, indeed, that the Welsh are the subject of Irish carrying the gospel of salvation. Perhaps the implication is that
the whole awdl: there can be no doubt they are the subject at least as the year is about to come when the debt will be repaid, when the Irish
far back as I. 137, since it is they and not the Irish who have been 'op- of Ireland will come across to deliver the Britons from the oppression
pressed since the time of Gwrtheyrn'. Since the poet evidently knew of the Saxons.
the story of Gwrtheyrn as told by Nennius, he may be presumed to Which of these two suggestions is the most likely to be true, is a
have been also familiar with the story of the continental St. Germanus, question which cannot be answered without a final explanation of
which in Nennius' account is closely linked with that of Gwrtheyrn. o anawr in the previous line, which would include an explanation of
For Nennius' treatment of the two stories, see Ifor Williams 'Hen talu in the same sentence (does it mean that the Saxons will have to
Chwedlau', Cymmr. Trans. 1946-7, 44 ff.] ' pay for their offences, or that the Irish will repay the Welsh for
having given them a saint?); and one must remember also the pay-
i46. y pedeir blyned ar petwar cant (cf. RBB 257, Petwar ugeint ment that is alluded to in I. 143.
mlyned a whechant oed oet crist, pan vu . , ,). The reference in the
text seems to be to a special year, rather than to a period of years: i47. gwallt hiryon. It was the privilege of freemen to wear their
at least, I for one would not feel able to date the poem 404 years hair long : cf. BT 41. 25, Gwenhwys gwallt hiryon. am gaer wyragon.
after the first coming of the English. The only native sources available Both the old man and the youths in Breuddwyd M axen wore chaplets to
to us in which to search for a sufficiently significant date to fit the hold back their hair (WM col. 181). The Book of Leinster Tdin (ed.
allusion are Nennius' Historia Brittonum and the Annales Cambriae, Windisch, 1. 2718; cf. C. O'Rahilly, Tdin B6 Cualnge (Dublin, 1967),
and the chronology of both of these is too uncertain to be of much p. 204) refers to Cu Chulainn's long hair falling across his shoulders.
help. In an introductory note appended to the Annales Cambriae Clerics, on the other hand, used to shave their heads in order to be bare
(Cy. ix. 152) it is said that it was in the fourth year of the reign of in the presence of God a sign of service, and of servitude.
Gwrtheyrn that the Saxons came to Britain, and that this event took ergyr oofyd, a compound adj. from ergyr, 'blow', and dohdd,
place in the four-hundredth year of the Incarnation (in quarto anno 'lord,master', cf.Cy. xlii. 275; [Bxv. 198-2oo;TYP33- 4ongalo11yd].
regni sui saxones ad brittanniam uenerunt, Felice et Tauro consulibus, They were 'masters of blows', or 'skilful in giving blows'. [Cf. Do/yd
quadringentesimo anno ab incarnatione domini nostri Iesu Christi). 'God', 1. 166 below.]
6:z NOTES NOTES
1,48. o dihol, mistake for y dihol, as in 152 below; see G 352 on 154. [y ar. When the reference is to riding on horseback, y ar
dihol, diol 'to exile'; PKM 245, diholedic. ( < di ar) is equivalent to ar; see CA 152; B xiii. 6; TYP to9, 115, for
other instances of this idiom.]
149. dybi 'will come', cf. 151, 153, and cf. atvi in I t5. ny pheirch eu hennyd, cf. 114 above. 'They will not spare their
o Lego, see note to 1. 1o6. The previous lines have described the enemies', cf. EL 44, on parch < Lat. parco. [On the spirant mutation
help which will come from Ireland; now, the deliverers are coming of p, t, c after the neg., see GMW 62; T. J. Morgan, Y Treigladau a'u
o Lego, in 151, o Alclut, in 153, o Lydaw. But in I. 11, Cornyw was also Cystrawen (Cacrdydd, 1952), 355-6.]
named: can this be a fleet from Cornwall? So far my search has been
in vain for a place-name there which could correspond with Lego. 155. y. To be understood as eu, or better still, omitted.
rewyd, D, 'lasciuia, lascivus', BBC 61. 7-8, guraget revit; RP t337. ae deubyd, 'will come to them'. Thee in ae is the infixed pronoun
37, Lie rewyd kethlyd kathlodic (i.e. 'on heat'); BrCl. 134, Ni wybyd in the dative case.
y tat y mah priawd; canys o deuawd yr anyueilieit y rewydant { = las- 156. treghis (from tranc, trengi) 'died'; cf. 198 below, treinc; CA 192;
ciuient); MA1 194-ll. 18, hyt goruynyt rewyt redeint; BBC 7. 5 {of a B iii. 87, heh drar,g heb orffen; iv. 45, tregit deweint, 'night comes'.
dream) ny ritreithir y reuit (cf. RP 1427. 23); D, Gan rewydd nid As a rule it is synonymous with marw.
pell fydd rhin: Gnawd gan rewydd ry chwerthin. It is clear that the dioes, see note to I. 29, 'they have no country'.
word usually has a pejorative meaning, but, like Engl. 'wanton' and eluyd. See B vi. 134 on the derivation of elfydd < Albio (also PT,
Lat. lascivus, it can mean 'mocking, playful' as well sometimes. Here notes to ii. 1o and iii. 2) [and for a similar semantic development in Irish
perhaps 'fiery, ardent' is the meaning [or 'rapacious'?). cf. the relationship advocated by T. F. O'Rahilly between 01 lriu,
150. rewinyawt. It may be a verb pres. indic. 3 sg. (in future sense, gen. lrenn 'land' (< •Jveriju, W. Iwerddon) and its doublet Eri11
GMW 119) 'will destroy'; it may be used impersonally { = gyrrawr 'Ireland', Eri11 xiv. 10, though this was queried by Bergin, Eriu xiv.
'will be destroyed'; cf. note toef gyrharot, I. 28 above); or it may be 147 ff., 152 f.]. In BBC 103, the retinue of Madawg ap Maredudd is
a noun {cf. molawt} 'destruction'; see PKM 235, rewin < Lat. ruina. called mur eluit elllan ga11r; that is, the defence of the land of Elfan
rwyccawt. For the meaning of the verb, cf. CA 107, t31, 346. Is (brother of Cynddylan, king of Powys}--they were like a wall to
it possible that we should read rwyciat 'one who rends' here, cf. Powys. In I. 195 below, the meaning is 'earth' in the sense of 'world'.
CA 1. 209, pareu rynn rwygyat? If not, both rewinyawt and rwyccawt 157. dyderpi, 'will happen', Cf. the various meanings of daruot,
should be taken as fut. 3 sg. G298.
151. Alclut, Dumbarton on the river Clyde, cf. 11 above, Cludwys. 158. a dyllid; cf. 115 above, and for the meaning, cf. Eng. 'flux'.
In AC 870, it is called arx alt clut. Alt would give both allt and all, These words should be moved to the end of the line to preserve the
and the likelihood is that the I here represents the old orthography rhyme in -ydd; if they are written according to the normal orthography
for ll. of the poem, read dillyd(d) or dyllyd(d).
drut, sometimes 'foolish', sometimes, as here, 'brave, foolhardy, angweryt. This may be the pl. of anwaret, a word whose meaning
reckless'. is somewhat ambiguous: 'sicknesses for which there is no cure, or
diweir, faithful, 'staunch'; cf. PKM 302-3; [TYP 57~2, for the similar dangers', seems to be a possible rendering (cf. G 32). Another
triads of the Faithful (diweir) and Faithless (anniweir) Warbands]. On possibility is to relate it to dmiwaret, 'scorn, contempt, mockery'.
gweir see B xi. 82. Or, if it represents anwerydd, it is a noun from anwar; cf. llawenydd
from llawen. Yet another alternative is suggested by the occurrence
152. y dihol, 'to exile them', since the y includes both the prepn. of Gweryt as a river-name (see note to I. 174 below): if the same word
and the infixed pron. 3 pl. (GMW 53-4 n.). If so, virein luyd cannot is present here in angweryt, the meaning could be 'flood', with an-
be the object, but a conventional adj. referring to Britain, cf. 169 as an intensifying particle. [GPC renders 'pain, sorrow', and compares
below.
anwar, 'cruel, savage, rough'.]
153. prydaw gyweithyd, equivalent in meaning to mirein luyd 159. canhwynyd, G 1o6, '?addurniadau, ceinion', 'adornments,
above, 'a splendid host'. For prydaw cf. 1 ro; for cyweithJ•d 'company, treasures', but the reading is uncertain, and Lloyd-Jones suggests
host' see PKM 45, llyma gyweithyd yn kyuaruot ac wynt, o wyr a that it should be emended to canhwyl(l)ydd. This is a simple emenda-
gwraged, G 272; B vi. 108, coueidid; and 157 below. tion, for II can easily be misread as n in old manuscripts. But what
 NOTES NOTES 65
about the meaning? It could be either a man holding a candle, or r~ferring to the leviathan) , l'th bob! yn fwyd dodaist efo I Wrth
else an uncommon pl. of cannwy/1. This last would hardly be unnatural, dreiglo yn y ddyserth (i.e. in the wilderness).
since the context has reference to dishonourable burial. But some In the text, the wish is expressed that the enemy should have
doubt is caused by the fact that canhwynawl is to be found as a word nothing but a 'bush' as a shelter, after having lost their splendid
for 'a thoroughbred' (see D, canhwynol, cynhwynol, 'boneddig c. courts. It is the punishment for their bad faith.
fydd Cymro fam dad, heh gaeth, heh alltud, heh ledach ynddaw ... ygwerth eu drycffyd. The Welsh of that period had no respect
Brito ingenr,us, generosus, genuinus'). In CA 1353, canhwynawl cann, for the religion of the English, and St. Aldhelm, Abbot of Malmesbury,
it seems to be a word for a thoroughbred white horse, or else complains of this contempt. At the request of an English synod, he
for a white-headed lord. Even more confusing is a reference in sent a letter to Geraint, king of the Britons of Devon and Cornwall,
B viii. 228-9 to oryeu kanhwynawl 'canonical hours'. In Gaulish, and to his clerics, in the year 705. He protests against the behaviour
kanlnla occurs several times for some kind of offering that was made of the priests of south Wales beyond the Severn (Demetia) in per-
in the Celtic temples in Gaul, and cantuna is found twice in inscrip- sisting in their refusal to worship in the same church or to eat at the
tions in Germany; see ACS i. 745, 755. Various meanings have same table as an Englishman (see Gougaud, Christianity in Celtic
been suggested for both of them: amongst others 'canteen'. lAnds, 1932, 200--1; Bede, Hist. Ecc. v. 181; Aldhelmi Opera: Monu-
Since dwyn is attested as a girl's name (Dwyn-wen, Llan-ddwyn), menta Germaniae Historica XV (Berlin, 1919), Ep. 4, pp. 482-4).
and in the adj. addwyn 'pleasant, handsome'-a word which may
162. creu. Cf. RP 1419. 31 (in ref. to the battle of Porthaethwy),
either be derived from Lat. dignus 'worthy' (cf. RC xxxiii. 215, for
oed yng oed angheu an kymar: danger and death were the companions
the meaning: Kanys Duw athangosses yn aduyn y gymryt Meir}, or of the men of Gwynedd at that battle.
be cognate with it, from the same root as Lat. dee-et, decus-it would
be possible to derive canJ1wynawl as a compound of the prepn. cant- 163. Kynan a Chatwaladyr, see notes toll. 81, 89 above.
with dwyn (cf. cant+dal > cynnal), and to understand canhwynydd kadyr, see note to I. 81 above.
as 'beauty, adornment'. The word cannot come from Lat. condignus
because of the -h- in it, in spite of the suitability of the meaning 'very 16.f. etmyccawr, 'will be praised' (GMW 121) ; i.e. Cynan and
worthy' for a 'Cymro cynhwynol' (as described by D). Perhaps the Cadwaladr (not their 'fortune'). On the verb see CA 84, 124.
phrase oryeu kanhwynawl is to be explained as a mixture of canonawl hyt vrawt, cf. 192, 'till Judgement Day'; cf. the Book of St. Chad,
with canhwynawl-two words equally familiar in the world of the LL xliii, hit (not bit as it is there printed) did braut.
nobly born. ffawt ae deubyd. The clause stands in parenthesis: '(Good) for-
But if canhwynydd contains the element cant 'circle, partition', cf. tune, success will come to them•, with the infixed pronoun in the dative
words like colwyn, morwyn, with the termination -wyn- (from -ig,ro-, case.
-ogno-, LP 32). It would then be possible to explain canhwynydd in [165. dwys eu kussyl, 'of profound counsel'. Cf. the similar descrip-
the text as 'courts', pl. of a noun •canhwyn 'building'. But until we tion of Manawydan, oet duis y cusil, BBC 94. 10.]
can get a certain example of •canhwyn (sg.), it is safer to work on the
166. deu orsegyn. Sengi is used for 'to trample under foot, to
basis of the meaning for canhwynawl which is best attested by the
evidence. conquer completely', as in MA• 300a, aerdorf sengi. There is no
need to emend to (g)oresgyn; gor+ sef.n)gi is itself a stronger word for
In old orthography, there would have been a kind of internal
rhyme between aryant and chan(t)-wynydd. complete conquest: 'to trample under foot'. [Here it may be either a
noun, or a verbal form pres. indic. 3 pl. in future sense; see G 572.]
16o. disserth. In Y Beirniad vi. 214, I compared 01 dtsert 'a hermit- o pleit 'on the side of'; see CA 230-1 on o bleid and o blegid. With
age, an asylum', CIL 660, a borrowing from Lat. desertum, and a Dofydd, 'Lord (God)', it means 'on behalf of God, for God's sake'.
word which survives in Irish place-names, and in Wales as Diserth. For plaid = 'side' see PKM 184.
It has had a parallel semantic development to the word llan [ - 'enclo-
sure', then 'church']. For desertum TW gives 'diffaith, lie ynial, 167. gwlat warthegyd, a compound noun 'a raider (of cattle) of a
disserth', 'a wilderness, a waste place, a retreat'; for desertus 'ynial, country'; cf. PT ii. 2, am wledic gweithuudicgwll1'thegyd; viii. 16, nym
disserth', 'desolate, secluded'. Silvan Evans (and others) altered the gorseif gwll1'thegyd; cf. preiddiwr ( < praidd, 'flock').
word by turning it into dyserth (as if it had come from dy- and serth) 170. deu arth, cf. u3. Arth is fem. except when it is used of a hero
but he retains the old meaning, and quotes Edmund Prys (Ps. 74: 14, who is stubborn in battle, as in CA I. 149, arth en llwrw byth hwyr e
o 7454 F
66 NOTES
NOTES
techei. There were wild bears in Britain until the eighth century Gweryt, the Firth of Forth, see Cy. xxviii. 61--2; Skene, FAB i. 56,
(see Antiquity, March 1941, 41).
'An old description of Scotland, written in 1165 by one familiar with
nys. The -r is in the dative case here as in 100, 156: daily battles Welsh names, says that the river which divides the "regna Anglorum
(cyfarth, see note to 1. n3) brought no shame to them. et Scotto rum et currit juxta oppidum de Strivelin" was" Scottice vocata
[17:i:. derwydon. See G 313 on derwydd. This may be the earliest Froch(Froth), Britannice Werid"' (Chronicleof thePictsandScots, 136~;
instance in Welsh of the word ckrwydd(on), with the possible AL i. •04, Ac odhena e lluydhaus Rud ( Run) uab Maelcun a guir
exceptions of the following, of uncertain date, which Lloyd-Jones Guinet kanthau ac e doethant hid e glan Guerit en e Koclet, ac ena e
and GPC cite from BT: 27. 8, derwydon doethur. darogenwch y buant en hir en amresson pui a heley en e blaen druy auon Guerit.
arthur; 32. 25, dawn y derwydon; 74. 26, Dysgogan den1yd (?) auu a eu hebyr. Ebyr is pl. of aber, see G 5; CLIH n6, and xi. 38b, Ny
uudyd; 47. 8, Dygwerthydyd pop vchis rac d6rwydon (where the ref. threid pyscawt yn ebyr.
is to the 'wise men' of the East). TW and D were the first to identify
the Derwyddon with the druids of classical sources: derwyddon - 175. llettatawt is the manuscript reading: a mistake for llettawt
Druides, Sapientes, vates. A l>pvs, Quercus, vt quA arbore nihil sacra- 'will spread', cf. RP 584. 42, diuanwawt gwir lletawt geu: 1049. z8,
tius habebant Druides, ac yml ... ; TW 'Druider = Doethion yr hen lloegyrwys yd aa. Lletawt yna ; 1422. 25, lliwelyd Llettawt dy volyant;
Gymru'. Lloyd-Jones rejects the derivation from derw 'oak', and that H 350. 15, molyant llew lletawt om banyar ... dros dayar; BBC 25. 6,
suggested by Morris-Jones from derw 'true', Irish derb (WG 224), lletaud; 59. 14, Arth o deheubarth a dirchafuy. Ry llettaud y wir ew
and advocates a derivation from the prepn. dar (> der) and gwyd tra thir mynvy.
(< gwyd: gwybot), 'know'.) pennaeth. Here for 'dominion', cf. 26, 38 above.
:i:72. Mynaw. Not the Isle of Man, but Manaw (of Gododdin) near yr Echwyd, or Yrechwyd, see CL!H 117; Cy. xxviii. 68-,o, for
Edinburgh; see CA xix-xx. [On the ambiguity caused by the use of the various opinions. It was the name of a district, or of a people, who
this name in the early sources for two distinct places, see now K. Jack- were subject to Urien Rheged, and therefore it lay somewhere in the
son, The Gododdin (Edinburgh, 1969), 69-75.] old northern kingdoms. After 1. 174, one might well argue that it was
yn eu. Read 'neu, since it is possible for they in yn to be lost; cf. the land between the Wall and the Forth. For the poet, it may not
LL 173, nihit = in i lu"t, 'yn ei hyd'. have been any more than a name for 'somewhere in the Old North';
and yet we must remember that there were only two centuries between
174. Gwawl, an old word for a wall or boundary; here for the his time and the time when the name would have held a precise geo-
Roman Wall of Hadrian across north Britain. Cf. Ir. fdl 'fence, graphical meaning. Yr may here be the article, but against this is the
hedge', W 537, ACL i. 300, iii. 192, [Contrib. F-fochraii:, 35). Nennius. fact that the bards tended to dispense with the article before the
HB eh. 23, Severus ... murum et aggerem a mari usque ad mare per names of peoples, and so it is possible that yr-, er- here is the affected
latitudinem Britanniae . . . deduxit, et vocatur Britannico sermone form of the prepn. ar-, and that it means 'before, alongside of', as in
Guaul (some manuscripts add 'a Penguaul, quae villa Scottice Cenail, Arfon, Argoed, arfor, Arberth, Arddreiniog (Erddreiniog).
Anglice vero Peneltun dicitur, usque ad ostium fluminis Cluth et (I. W. then discusses, and rejects as unacceptable in the present
Cair Pentaloch, quo murus ille finitur rustico opere, Severus ille prae- conteitt, the various other meanings of echwydd, giving numerous
dictus construxit'). On the two walls, Lloyd (HW 95) says 'the first, examples. I omit this discussion, since these meanings and the
running from the Tyne to the Solway Firth, had been constructed in appropriate references have been concisely listed in G, pp. 436-7, as
the time of the Emperor Hadrian; the second, connecting the Forth follows: (i) noon, midday, resting-time for animals in the midday
and the Clyde, under his successor Antoninus Pius'. The southern wall heat, cf. Br. ec'hoaz, which has this latter meaning; (ii) running
is the one most likely to have been known by this name in tenth- water, waterfall, in which sense it is also used adjectivally, as equiva-
century Wales. For the use of the name, cf. BT 64. 23; MA2 203a, tra lent to croyw 'fresh, clear' (of water); (iii) vb. to run, flow, etc. ; (iv) as
gwawl; 225b, rutlan is gwawl; 200a, o hir wawl hiraduc; RP U7l, 32, the name of a place and of its inhabitants (the meaning I. W. accepts).
geyr gu,awl gweilgi. All these examples carry a suggestion of the mean- Sir lfor then continues:]
ing 'boundary'. [One may question whether Gwawl is here intended to Urien is called 11dd or lord of Yr-echwydd (Er-echwydd) in BT
denote the southern Wall of Hadrian. The opposition in this line be- [ - PT vi. 13]. According to Sir John Morris-Jones, Cy. xxviii. 68,
tween Gwawl and Gweryt (the Forth) suggests rather that the northern Yr Echwydd corresponds with Lat, Catarracta, 'Thus Udd yr Ech-
or Antonine Walt was intended by this name.] wydd " Lord of yr Echwydd" is parallel to Llyw Catraeth' when applied
68 NOTES
NOTES
to Urien. For him the meaning of echw:)'dd is 'flow'; dwfr echwydd
'flowing water'; and, he adds, 'the prefix (ar-, er-) denotes "a district 18o. Dews, Lat. Deus; cf. BBC 86. 10, Nid ew ym crevis dews diffleis
adjoining" as in Aroon'. l do not believe that 'flowing' is the meaning; yr guneuthur amhuill, and G 323 for further refs.
cf. BBC 88 (in margin) redecauc duwyr echwit, In BBC 87. 13; BT rygedwys, ry- with the pret. 3 sg. cadw, which is cedwis (GMW
69. 11, echwydd is contrasted with hallt in reference to the sea; cf. 122), later cadwodd. The termination can never have been -wys, since
also DB 55, Hallt uyd dwfyr y mor, melys ac yscawn vyd y dwfyr a it would not have affected the -a- of the stem to -e-, and -ws is not
hanffo o bedeir auon paradwys. The contrast intended here is not attested as an ending in this verb; see G 91.
between '.flowing' and its opposite 'at peace, stagnant', for the sea is eu ffyd, cf. 160, 168 above.
never completely at rest, but it is between hallt 'salt' and echwydd. 181. lwis, cf. I08 above; H 28, 6, a gawr daer drac iwys (rhyming
We approach nearer to Sir John's conclusion if we take dwfr echwydd with eglwys, cf. B iv. 45, ywuys).
as 'river-water', and hence Ar-echwydd as synonymous with Ar-a/on,
the land alongside some famous river. If this is so, we might follow the 182. cymot Cynan. Among the old stories which have been lost there
must have been one which told of a quarrel between Cynan and Cad-
suggestion made in the Armes and choose the river Tweed, leaving
Are-cluta ( = 'alongside the Clyde') to the other branch of the northern waladr; cf. B v. 133, pa gerddor a gan pan alwer Kynan ••. gar bron
Britons. The salt taste of the Forth prevents us from making it our Kydwaladyr .•• pan vo'r drank druan ar Gynan ab Bran. [On this point
see TYP 317- 18 and nn.; Cymmr. Trans. 1956, 140. I interpret the
choice! Or one might choose the Ouse or the Swale in Yorkshire. [See
line as expressing a wish on the part of the poet for a reconciliation
now PT xlii- xliii, where Sir Ifor returned to the problem, confirmed
his previous opinion that dwfr echwydd meant 'fresh water'--either between the Bretons, represented by Cynan (Meiriadoc), and the
of a river or of a lake--and gave it as his final opinion that Yrechwydd other Britons, represented by Cadwaladr (with the phrase, cf. I. 9).
For the situation in Brittany at this time, see Introduction, p. xxii
was Swaledale, with Catraeth (Catterick) as its chief fortress.]
above; the political repercussions of the long-standing intimacy
[176. attor. Cf. ll. 68, 190, where the reference is in each case to the between Alan Barbetorte and Athelstan must have been well known
return of the English to their overseas home. But 1f ny byd is the correct to the poet, who nevertheless alludes twice in the poem to the men
reading, attor must in this case refer to a possible return of the of Llydaw (II. 153, 172), and evidently wished to include them in his
English to Britain; cf. Y Beirniad vi. 212 where Sir lfor interpreted projected pan-Celtic coalition. (CT 1. 13 aercol ar gerdet provides a
the line in this sense 'the English will never come back (here) again'. possible analogy: here the name of Aergol Lawhir, a historical
On the analogy of ll. 68, 190 it is tempting, however, to suggest that sixth-century ruler of Dyfed (EWGT 10), is perhaps used to denote
ny byd is a corruption for hu byd, with the affirmative particle hu(t) his descendants in general; see the note on this line by I. LI. Foster
(GMW 170-1), alluding to their return to the Continent.] in Foster and Daniel, Prehistoric and Early Wales (1965), 229.) It
may be noted that the reference quoted above by Sir Ifor from B v. 13 3
177. atchwelwynt. The force of the at- is 'back': 'they will be free is in fact to a different Cynan : Cynan ap Bran Galed, on whom see
to return home'.
TYP 286; EWGT 90, no. 23.)
Wydyl. The subject is lenited after a pl. verb in this constr.; cf.
141, 178. 184- namyn; with the form cf. I. 74 above [GMW 232-3).
ar eu hennyd, i.e. to their comrades, to the others. Ar = at 'to' is cyfnewitwyr, 'merchants', see G 212; here used disparagingly,
quite common in old texts, cf. CA 314 (I. 1040) on ar dan; PKM 203, 'chapmen, hucksters'.
where at in WM ar in Peniarth 6; WM 227b, dos ditheu ar arthur. 185. eil Kymro, the sons or posterity of the Welsh; on eil cf. PKM
178. rydrychafwynt, ry + pres. subj, 3 pl. of drychafael, dyrchafael 213, CA 171, 256, [TYP 497).
with fut. sense 'they will rise up' [? or as optative 'may they rise up', 186. am is to be taken with llawen in 185.
cf. GMW 168]. cymwyeit. Not a place-name, as is suggested in G 241, but pl.
179. am gwrwf', 'about the ale(feast)', For this use of am, cf. CLlH of the noun kymwyat in the sense of 'affiictor, tormentor'. The Welsh
127, 146; B vi. 107 (dam). people will be joyful at seeing the affiictors of Britain lying dead
as far as the port of Sandwich.
twrwf. For the form see PKM 149, and cf. cwrwf above. The mean-
heit a deruyd, a phrase in parenthesis, describing the English-
ing is sometimes 'noise' (cf. cynnwef)and sometimes 'crowd'; see B xi.
they are a swarm that will cease to be, pass away. For heit 'swarm', used
91, 145, for a full discussion of the word and of its derivation.
both of bees and of men, see CA 243; CLlH 132.
70 NOTES NOTES
x87. pan sat'hwynt, a repetition of 1. 122. only for one who copied books, but also for a magician or enchanter,
188. Aber Santwic, i.e. Sandwich in Kent, a busy port at that time; This meaning would suit admirably here. [Seep. xxvi above, note.]
cf. the allusions in MHB, e.g. Anglo-Saxon Chron. 851, 'king Aethel- 194. Arymes. For the meaning of the word, see Introduction,
stan and Ealchere the ealdorman fought on shipboard, and slew a pp. xlv-xlix, [Professor Jarman suggests (Llen Cymru iv. 58) that this
great number of the enemy at Sandwich (Sondwic) in Kent. And line was originally the last line in the poem, and that what follows is
took nine ships, and put the others to flight.' For further refs. to the an addition.]
importance of the port of Sandwich in early times, see Y Beirniad vi.
136. 195. iolwn i ri, see D, 'ioli est gweddio ait LI. (W. Llyn), adolwg ait
swynedic. D gives swyno - incantare, benedicere; excusare; cf. G. T. (Gwilym Tew) diolch ait T. W. (T. Williams}', and he adds, ,
also Prydydd y Moch (H 281, 8), Duw o nef ath swynas 'benedixit'. 'Quae omnia videtur significare'. Here 'Let us beseech God . , .' I
Here it is the poet's exclamation of joy 'May it be blessed' [i.e. the port and the prayer follows in 196, 'May Dewi be the leader of our I
of Sandwich, because it will be the port from which the enemy will be warriors!' Eiriol, eiryawl (105) is a compound of the same word. [On
evacuated? Or swynedic vyd 'it will be brought about', comparing PKM the verb ioli 'to pray, to seek' see PT 24-5.]
283, where I. W. establishes for swyno the alternative meaning creu, eluyd, see note to l. 156. Here it is used for the whole world.
ffurfio 'create'.] 196. Dewi. Cf. 11. 51, 105, 129, 196.
189. ar gychwyn, see CA 167. Here 'starting', cf. H 285. 29-30, yr. It is preferable to read y'n 'to our'.
Gnawd oe law y lavur cochwet. y gychwyn allmyn alltudet (Prydydd 197. yn yr yg, 'in straits' (yng). Read yn yg.
y Moch). This is certainly an echo of the Armes, as is RP 1051. 22, Gelli Kaer. This is very probably an allusion to Gelli Gaer, the
allmyn ar gychwyn gochwed dyghet breoled dachwed gyrded gerthet. fortress in Glamorgan. According to T. Morgan, Glamorganshire
alltudyd, cf. alltuded(d) in 43 above. There are derivative nouns Place Names (Newport, Mon., 1901) the place derived its name from
both in -ydd (cf. llawenydd) and in -edd. the castle which was built beside the village in 1140; but cf. Caemar-
190. ol wrth ol 'one after another', since 61 is used for tracks, foot- von a fortress which is older than Edward I's castle. For the form, cf.
marks. Gelliwig in one word: Gelli Gaer in two. [In his review, Llln Cymru iv.
55- 8, Professor A. 0. H. Jarman points out the improbability of the
192. gwenerawl, cf. RP 1146. 11, Donyawc didrist grist groes allusion here being to a place which was outside the borders of Hywel
nnnwedawl. didlawt yn gwarawt dyd gwenerawl ( = H 322. 7-8).
Dda's dominions (see note to I. 99 above), and suggests thattheoriginal
According to Gwenogvryn Evans (BT 86), it is a borrowing from
reading was Celi Gaer, 'the fortress of Heaven', and that a copyist
Lat. venerdbilis: this would give good sense in the example quoted
(falsely attempting to modernize) turned the original l into ll. For a
from RP above, but there may also be an allusion to Dydd Gwener y parallel expression, cf. BT 54. 15, nef kaereu. I have accepted this sug-
Groglith (Gwd Friday). Here it is simply a eulogistic epithet applied gestion, and translated accordingly.]
to the Welsh. The photograph in the facsimile shows a dot under the
first w; if this is intentional, we must read generawl < Lat, genera/is, and 14)8. ardispyd, see G 37, '? gwanhau; ? diflannu, cilio' ('weaken;
the poet would be alluding to the Welsh in general, 'all the Welsh'. vanish, retreat'). This is the only example G gives of the compound,
If we take the correct reading to be generawt < Lat. generatio ('race, but cf. G 372, dispyd11, 'to exhaust, empty, release'. D connects the
kind, generation', Baxter-Johnson), it would provide a parallel with word with hysb, forming from it dyhysbyddu, 'euacuare ... exhaurire';
I. 185, eil Kymro, and it would also give internal rhyme with vrawt. LIO 84, 85. dihysbydd and disbyddu; LBS iv. 425. 4; BD 103. In spoken
[See G 659, where Lloyd-Jones advocates the meaning 'religious, Welsh one hears 'sbydu. The meaning in the text is 'He will not flee,
devout', originally in the sense of 'honouring Friday' (dydd Gwener).] retreat'. Cf. Pen. 53, J, naw fynnon a a yn ispydd.
hyt vrawt goruyd. The Welsh nation will be victorious for ever--
199, gwellyc, D gwellygiaw, 'facere vt defectum patiatur, parui
taking Kymry together with generawt (-awl), as the subject of the verb.
restimare, deficere'; LIA 54, Am wellygyaw ohonunt . .. ac am wel/yg-
193. na cheisswynt, either a wish or a command: 'Let them not yaw ohonunt kyffessu y pechodeu ( = 212, quia ... neglexerunt ..•
seek' or 'May they not seek'. quia hie peccata confiteri despexerunt); 64, b11ched Iessu. ac yn hwnnw
llyfrawr, pl. of llyfr, or else a borrowing from Lat. librarius. In megys ymywn llyuyr y darlle pawb bcth a u·ellygyassont ( = 220,
B xi. 137-8, Thomas Jones showed that the Latin word was used not neglexerunt); TW negligo, esgeuluso, . • . gwallygu, diddarbodi;
72 NOTES

AL ii. 114, ny dylyir dirwyaw nep ymywn lluyd rac gwellygyaw

gwassanaeth y arglwyd neu y lesteiraw; BBC 86. 3 (a prayer to God)
nam gwellic ymplic im ple(i)d dirad. Nam gollug oth law .•. N~ VOCABULARY
ellug gan llu_ du digarad; MA• 190a. 14; 201a. 17, gwellygyaw uyg kert
yw uyg kot1; :u1b. 42; 226a. 47, b. 12, In the text 'He will not cast
us away scornfully' or the like. THE word-order in the vocabulary follows that of the roman alphabet,
plyc, cf. H 77. 2_0, doeth i lwyth hwva pla plyc I Oed plyc dwyn except that (i) C and K are not distinguished, and are listed together
terrwyn yn y tyrre1 bobyl; 246, kyn plyc mah meuryc (in elegy to under C, (ii) consonantal u is listed under /, and (iii) medial or
Rhys ap Meuryg); 249. 15, Marwnad heh plyc hirddryc hart bellach final t • d is entered as if it were d, e.g. kat ( = cad) below. Mutated
a (a)llaf oe gert; 257, yd blygyad kymry. Ny phlyc is to continue the initial consonants have been restored to the radical. Nouns are
same, without wavering in one direction or the other. normally entered under the singulllT, and the plural follows (even
ny chryd, from cryddu, G 182, 'lleihau, crebychu' 'lessen shrivel'· when the pl. form alone occurs in the text); verbs are entered under
Gpc 'to shr"ink, lessen, waste away, pine'. Hengwrt 'MSS. ii.' 245, Ar, the verb-noun; and the pronominal forms of the prepositions under
~al hynny •.. heh na thyfu na chrydu mwy no hynny na symutaw the simple preposition. The orthography reproduces that of the text in
dun or un anssawd; RC xxxvii. 299, on Ir. creadhbh 'contraction'· every particular, except that where d in the manuscript represents the
Dinn~e,n, _'a ~aw~ng, a shrinking, withering'. Br. C:.ezz, 'miserly'; voiced spirant, the letter b has been employed in the vocabulary. It is
crezm! miserliness may be compared; cf. W. cn·nwas for a miser; and a characteristic of the poem that a large number of verbal forms in
Y Seint Greal (Hengwrt MSS. i) 174. 21-4, (Arthur) nyt oes gennyfi the pres. indic. and pres. subj. are used with a future meaning: it is
chweith e~llys _Y wneuthur da na ehalaethder •.. namyn vy medwl to be noted that present and future meanings of these tenses (GMW
yssyd wed1 tross1 ar wander a chrydder callon, ac am hynny y colleis vy 108-g; u3) have not been distinguished in the vocabulary. Where the
marcho~on; DB 49, dan chwerthin a chrydu eu gwefleu (Lat. rictus meanings of a word are many and various, the English equivalents
contrah1t). Cf. BT 21. 24, (afon) gogwn pan wesgryd. Used in the text selected have been limited to those which are relevant to the under-
of God, who remains the same: 'He does not diminish.' He is un- standing of that word in its context. For more detailed information
changeable. the student is referred to the Notes, to GMW, and to the appropriate
dictionaries.

1. a pre-verbal particle (GMW 172) 19, etc.

2. a re!. particle who, which, that (GMW 6o) 22, 24, 39, etc.
3. a, ac conj. and, 2, 3, 9, etc.; with possess. pron. 1 sg. am 197,
3 sg. ae 184 etc.
4- a prepn. = o of, from, 25 (seen.).
aber nmf. estuary, river-mouth 30; Aber Perybon 18, 71; Aber
Santwic 188; pl. ebyr 174.
adaw vn. leave, leave behind, drop 59.
aduot vn. be, happen {GMW 145); consuet. pres., fut. 3 sg. atvi 115,
117, u8, 119.
adrawb vn. say, narrate; pres. indic. J pl. adrobynt 97.
agarw a. fierce, cruel 59.
a(n)gawr a. greedy 193.
a(n)ghen nm. need 36.
a(n)gheu nm. death 84, 121, 144, 162.
a(n)gor nm. anchor 161, 191.
a(n)greith nf. ( ?) challenge, defiance 95.
angweryt n. shame(?) 158 {see n.).
74 VOCABULARY VOCABULARY 75
alluro nm. foreigner 111. imperf. 3 sg. oeb 2.2.; 3 pl. oebyn 62 (= bybyn?); pres. subj. 3 pl.
allmon nm. foreigner; pl. allmyn 7 (see n.), 2.8, 52., 94, 106 (see n.), bwynt 2.7.
142., 189. bon nm. rear (of army) 62.,
allt nf. hill 57. bonheb nm. (noble) descent 14 (cf. anuonheb).
alltudeb nm. exile 28, 43, allt11dyb 189. brawt nf. Judgement Day 164, 192.
am prepn. about 57, 58, 179; concerning 186; yam SS, 58. breint nm. privilege 139.
amhar a. wounded, wounding; in compound llaw amhar 120 (seen.). breyr nm. nobleman, lord 46 (see n.).
amser nm. time 13, 137. bro nf. dale, lowland (supplied in 87); land, country 136.
amwyn vn. seize, fight for, etc.; pres. indic. 3 pl. amygant 78 (see n.).
an possess. pron. 1 pl. (GMW 53) 40, 138, 139.
bryt nm. thought, intent, will 20 (seen.).
bryn nm. hill 70, 87.
,
anaeleu nm. grief, sorrow, affliction 37 (seen.), 72..
anawr nm.(?) strength, vigour, passion 145 (seen.).
aneir nf. infamy, slander, shame; pl. aneireu 53; cf. anneiraw.
anuonheb a. ignoble, unworthy 14, 33.
anheb nf. abode, settlement, dwelling-place 4, yn anheb in occupation
42..
anneiraw vn. slander, defame, bring shame upon 110 (seen.).
bwrch nm. fortress, 'burgh' 66.
bwyt nm. food (supplied in 60).
byt nm. world 39; in exclam. gwyn eu byt 91, see gwyn.
by'Oin nf. army, host 64; pl. bybinawr 56, bybinoeb 81, 179.

kat nf. battle 82., 12.7, 132., y gat ( = yng nghad) 150.
katuarch nm. war-horse; pl. katueirch 154.
'
anoleith a. unavoidable, inescapable, certain 83. cadw vn. keep; perf. 3 sg. rygedwys 180 ( = rygedwis, see n,),
anreith nf. booty 95. kadwr nm. warrior; pl. ketwyr 119, 154.
ar prepn. on, upon (GMW 183) 65, etc.; to (GMW 187) 177. kadyr a. fine, brave Sr, 163, 178.
arall a. and pron. other; pl. ersill 65, 85, 104. cael, caffael vn. get, obtain (GMW 149); pres. indic. 3 pl. ceffyn
arbet vn. spare, save, have pity for (?); pres. subj. 3 sg. arbettwy 116 103; impers. ceffir 138.
(seen.). caeth nm. captive, slave; pl. keith 34.
arbispy'Ou vn. (?) be exhausted, retreat, flee; pres., fut. 3 sg. arbispyb calle'O nm. wiliness, cunning, trickery 31.
198 (see n.). cam nm. wrong, injury 144.
ar(y)mes nf. (IT. ardmer?) prophecy, prediction, (story of) affliction, canhwyll nf. candle(= hero) 88.
tribulation, loss 194 (see Introduction, p. xlvi). canhwynyb n. adornments(?) 159 (seen.).
arosceill a. or adv.? 85 (see n.). can(t) num. a hundred 146; canhwr (can+gwr) a hundred men 73•
arrae'O vn. Cf. GPC arhaeddaf 'reach, allow; have, receive'; pres. canu vn. sing; pres. indic. 3 pl. cenyn 90.
subj. 3 sg. arhaebwy 'will receive' 2.9 (see n.). car nm. kinsman, relative; friend 116; pl. karant 138, 145.
arth nmf. bear 113, 170, kasnar nm. enemy; warrior 5 (seen.).
aryant nm. silver 159. kechmyn npl. (cach+ m<m) wretches, scavengers 40, 184; kychm}"111.7.
atcor vn. return: pres. indic, 3 pl. atcorant 74. ced nf. gift; pl. ketoeb 'treasuries' 22 (see n.).
atchwelu vn. return; pres. subj. 3 pl. atchwelwynt 177. kedawl a. generous, splendid, noble 167.
atpawr nm.? remnant, remainder, leavings; pl. atporyon 12. (seen.). keffyn 'though they be' 101 (see n.), 103.
attor nm.? return 176; as adv. 'back' (again) 68 (seen.), 190. keissyaw vn. seek (for); pluperf. 3 pl. ceissyssant r 33; pres. subj. 3 pl.
awen nf. poetic inspiration, etc. J (seen.), 107. ceisswynt 193.
keithiwet nm. slavery, 'compulsion' 24 (seen.).
beleu nm. ('marten'), wild beast, wolf; pl. balaim 60 (seen.). celein nf. corpse; pl. calaneb 12.2, 187.
beuny'O adv. daily 111, 12.3, 170; peunyb 191. kenedl nf. people, nation; pl. kenedloeb 136.
blaen nm. point, van (of anny) 62. cennat nf. errand, expedition; pl. cennadeu 124; kennadeu messengers
blwybyn nf. year; pl. (with numerals) blyneb 146. 121.
botvn. be,occ~r,happen (GMW 136-8); pres.indic. 3 sg.mae 135,136; cerb nf. journey, wandering I 11.
yssyb ( = yss1t ?) 2.3, rel. 197; 3 pl. ynt 48; consuet. pres., fut. 3 sg. byd cerbet vn. walk, go; pres. indic. 3 sg. cerb 88.
112., 172., 176,185, 194; imper. 3 sg. boet 160,161, r62.,poet43, 196; kilyaw vn. retreat, flee; pres. indic. (or subj. ?) 3 pl. kilhy11 65.
 VOCABULARY VOCABULARY 77
cilyb nm. (lr. cik) companion, other, opponent u6 (see n.), 182. kynnor nm. champion; pl. cynhoryon 101.
clas run. (monastic community), community of fellow-countrymen, cynnul] vn. gather; pres. indic. 3 pl. cynnullant 128.
people 93. kynnwys vn. welcome, receive It (see n.).
clefyt run. sickness 158. kynnyb run. conquest, gain (in land) 33 (see B ii. 299).
coet nm. wood, forest 65, 87. kynt a. sooner, earlier 43; kynt pwy kynt 'as quickly as possible' 96
cor nm. (choir), song 48 (seen.); crowd, party 109 (seen.). (seen.); adv. gynt earlier, sooner, in time past 98.
corff nm. body 116. kynte'b nm. upper part of hall 15 (seen.).
creinyaw vn. wallow, roll, cause to fall; pres. indic. 3 pl. creinhyn 63. kynyrchyat nm. follower, client, etc.; pl. kyneircheit 47 (seen.), 77,
1. creu vn. create; pret. J sg. ~-rewys 195. kynyrcheit 61.
:i. creu run. blood 76, 94, 162. cyweir a. equipped, ready, united, unanimous 126.
crybu vn. lessen, wither, diminish, waste away; pres. indic. 3 sg. cyweithy'b nm. company, host 153, 157; companions 162, 178. '
cryb 199.
crynu vn. tremble; imper. crynet 99. daly vn. hold, possess; pres. indic. 3 pl. dalyant 134.
crys run. shirt, under-garment; pl. crysseu 76. daruot vn. (GMW 145-6) happen; cease; consuet. pres., fot. 3 !If,
kud see cw(t). deruyd 171, 181, 186.
kussulwr nm. councillor; pl. kussulwyr 161. dayar nf. land 29.
custub (cystud) nm. sorrow, affliction, tribulation 94. decbymyd, see dychymot.
cw(t) pron. where? whence? whither? u2 (GMW 79) (seen.), 135, de(n)gyn a. brave, strong, stubborn, immovable, mighty (CA 91) 5;
136. overpowering 165; immense ( ?) 95.
cwrw(f) nm. (feast of) ale 179. debeu nmf. the south; i.e. south Wales 78.
cwssyl nm. council 108, kussyl 165. deig(y)r nm. tear; pl. dagreu 37.
cwynaw vn. lament; pres. indic. J pl. cwynyn 19, 47, cwynant 69. derwy'b nm. prophet, magician, poet ('druid'); pl. derwybon 171
cychwyn vn. start, set out 189. (seen.).
kyteir (kyt+geir) a. in agreement, unanimous 126. deu num. two 165-70.
kytffydd a. of the same faith, belief 126. dial vn. avenge; pres. indic. impers. dialawr 123 (GMW 121).
kytson a. (kyt+son) united in speech 126. dianc vn. escape; pres. indic. 3 sg. dieinc 198.
cyfarfod vn. meet; pres. indic. 3 pl. kyferuydyn 54; kyferuyd hyn 17. diarchar a. brave, fearless, unconquerable 168.
kyfarth nm. (barking; standing at bay), battle 113 (seen.), 170. dichlyn vn. chase, seek out 92 (see n .).
kyfergyr nf. contention, conflict, battle 125. dichwant a. careless of, reckless, regardless 77.
cyfnewitwr nm. merchant, 'huckster', pl. cyJnewitwyr 184. difri adv. earnestly, bitterly 69.
kyfun a. united, unanimous 61. diffroeb nm. exile, banishment; adj. homeless 44.
kyfyng a. narrow, straitened, confined 62. diffyn vn. defence 6.
kyfyrgeir (?cyfr+geir) geir kyfyrgeir 58 (see n.). digoni vn. make, do; pret. 3 pl. digonsant 143.
cy(n)ghor nm. counsel, decision 48, 109; /law gyghor 68 (see llaw). diheu a. certain, sure 144.
kylcbyn (nm. circle), as prepn. yn eu kylchyn about, around (them) di(h)ol vn. exile 148, 152.
15, 64. dilein vn. destruction, death 34, 42.
cymot nm. concord, reconciliation 9, 182. dilly'b vn. flow, shed, pour (out): as n. 'flood' ( ?) 11 s; ? dyllib 'flux'
cymodi vn. to become reconciled, make peace; impf. (or fut.?) 3 pl. 158 (see n .).
kymodynt 50, dinas nf. fortress 66.
cymwyat run. affiictor, tormentor; pl. cymwyeit 186. dioes 'have' 29 (see n.), 156.
cyn prepn. before 120. diruawr a. very great, huge, immense 56.
cyn(n) conj. although; cyn ny(t) although •.. not (GMW 235-6) dirwadu vn. refuse, deny; pres. indic. 3 pl. dirwadant 70.
cyny bei 'although it be not' 19. ' disgyn vn. (descend), attack 59, 89; pres. indic, 3 pl. discynnyn 16
kynheilwat nm. supporter, protector, patron; pl. kyneilweit 47. advance (seen.); discynnant 73.
kynifwr nm. warrior; pl. kynifwyr 183, 196. disserth nf. wilderness, retreat, refuge 160.
 VOCABULARY VOCABULARY 79
diweir a. faithful, loyal Is 1. dy(s)gogan vn. prophesy, foretell; pres. indic. 3 sg. dygogan 1,
dofyb nm. master, ruler, lord; in compound ergyr bo/yb 147 (seen.); dysgogan 17, 107,171; pres. subj. pass. dygoganher (fordygoganhet?)
= God, 166. 13 (see n.).
dros (tros) prepn. over, across, for 93. dywedut vn, say; pres. indic. 3 pl. dywedant 75.
drut a. daring, brave, courageous, reckless 151. ebryn nm. strife, ferment, agitation ( ?) or a. fierce ( ?) 101 (see n.).
drycffyb nf. (drwg+ .ffydd) bad faith 160. etgyllaeth nm. grief, sorrow, lamentation 38.
drychaCael, see dyrchafael. etmygu vn. honour, praise; pres. indic. impers. etmyccawr 164.
du a. black 157. efpreverb. particle (GMW 172) 28, 123, 145.
dullyaw vn. array, marshal, draw up (in battle); pres. indic. 3 pl.
dullyn 61.
ehelaeth a. spacious, full, extensive 3.
eil nm. (other, second), son, descendant, successor 185.
,

'
dwys a. deep, profound 165. eiryawl nm. intercession 105.
dychwel vn. return 67. eisseu nm. need, want 53.
dychyuaruot vn. meet; pres. indic. 3 sg. dychyferwyd 121. eissor nm. (similar) manner, way, nature 48.
dychyffro vn. spring up, scatter, disperse; pres. subj. 3 sg. dych,f- eluy'b nm. earth, land, country 156; the world 195.
roy ( = dychy.ffrwy) 38 (see n.). emenny'b nm. brain(s) 117.
dychymot vn. follow, produce(?); 'mean, signify'(?); pres. indic. eneit nm£. life 77.
3 sg. dechymyd 3S (see n.), 36, 39, decymyd 37. erchwynnm. (side, edge of bed, etc.), border,jig. defence, defender 93.
dychynull (dyg-, cf. GMW 62) vn. gather, collect; pres. indic. 3 pl. ercbwynawc run. defender 169; see erchwyn.
dychynnullyn 21, dychynullant 72. ergyr nm. blow 147.
dychyrchu, see dygyrchu. escor vn. bring in, round up; pres. indic. 3 pl. escorant 86 (see n.).
dyb nm. day 107. escut a. swift, keen, ready 6.
dybaruot vn. happen; fut. 3 sg. dyberpi 157. eu possess. pron. 3 pl. 11, 14, 15, etc.
dyfal a. earnest, severe 115 (or .., dywal 'fierce', seen.). eur nm. gold I 59.
dyuot vn. come (GMW 133- 5); pres. indic. 3 sg. dydaw 107 (GMW ewyllis nf. will, desire 20.
136, n. 5), 3 pl. deuant 81; consuet. pres., fut. 3 sg. dybyd 148,
deubyd 155, 164, dybi 149, 151, 153, 3 pl. dybydyn 13; pret. 3 pl. ffawt nf. £ate, success, good fortune 164; vn.ffawt 168.
doethant 71, 136; pres. subj. 3 sg. dy.ffo 1o8, 3 pl. dyffont 132; past fflet nf. (?) deceit, cunning, trickery 31, 52.
subj. 3 sg. dy.ffei 24. ffo nm. flight II 1.
dyffryn nm. (broad) valley 70. ffoi vn. flee, retreat, be put to flight; pres. indic. (orsubj. ?) 3 pl.ffohyn
dygobryssyaw vn. hasten; pres. indic. 3 pl. dygobryssyn 1 (see n.). 66; impers . .ffohawr 1o6 (GMW 1:u).
dygogan, see dysgogan. ffozas npl. 'foxes' 66 (see n.).
dygorl'u, see dyoruot. ffraeth a. ready, swift, generous 3.
dygyrchu, dychyrchu vn. bring, come with, seek; perfect 3 pl. ffrwt nf. river 106.
rydygyrchassant 83; attack, make for, rush upon; pres. subj. 3 pl. ffyb nf. faith 168, 180.
dychyrchwynt IIJ (GMW 129). gaflaw a. forked, split open u7 (see n.).
dyhe'b nm. war, distress, wretchedness, commotion 4; (tale of) galw vn. call; pres. indic. impers. galwawr 183.
disaster 7S (seen.). gan prepn. with, by 32, 39; pron. forms: I pl. genhyn 2, 11, 88, 10:z
dylyet nm. desert, legal right, claim 134. (seen.), 131, 137.
dylyedawc a. noble, high-born, privileged 23. gawr nf. battle-shout, battle (G 523-4) 57.
dyoruot vn. (dy+ go,fod) conquer, survive, win the day, prevail (see geir nm. word 25, 58.
notes to 11. 12, 125); fut. 3 pl. dyorfyn 12; unite in battle (?) geu nm. falsehood, treachery, deceit 63; a. false, deceitful 124.
dygo,fu (= dygorfi?) 125 (seen.), 127 (?;seen.). I, glan a. pure, holy, fair 129.
dyrchafael, drychafael vn. arise, attack; pres. indic. 3 pl. drych- :z. glan nf. bank 55.
afant 129; pres. subj. 3 pl. rydrychafwynt 82, 178. gobeith nm. hope 110.
dyrnawt nmf. blow 41. goeir nm. infamy 46, 50.
80 VOCABULARY VOCABULARY
gofut nm. pain, weariness, hardship, battle 6. iwynyeith nm. revenge, slaughter n4 (see n.).
gofyn vn. ask; pres. indic. 3 pl. gofynnant 133. gwywaw vn. wither, decay, fade; pres. indic. 3 sg. gwyw 199.
gorescyn vn. take possession, conquer 14. 1. gynt run. and collect. (foreign) tribe, people, nation; pl. gynhon
goruot vn. conquer, be victorious; consuet. pres., fut. 3 sg. gomyd 192 131, 176, 183.
(GMW 146). :z. gynt adv., see kynt.
goruoleb run. rejoicing 8. gyrru vn. drive; pres. indic. 3 sg. gyrhowt 28 (GMW n9) (seen.).
gorlfen vn. end, finish; yg gorjfen 84, 95.
gorolchi vn. wash; pres. indic. 3 pl. (g)orolchant 76. hael (a. noble, generous), as subst, generous lord, nobleman 167.
gorse(n)gyn run.(?) conqueror 166 (seen.). heb prepn. without 67, 103, 117.
granwyn nm. 'white cheek', 'pale-face'; pl. g,anwynyon 62 (see n.). hebcoi- vn. save, avoid, dispense with 50.
gru'O nf. cheek 94. heb nm. peace :i.
gryn(n) run. push, thrust, fight 57. heit nf. swarm (of bees, men, enemies) 186 (see n.).
gwae run. woe, lamentation 90. hennyb nm. other, friend, enemy 114 (seen.), 12:a, l54, 177, 187, 190.
gwaet nm. blood 114. herw nm. raid, roving; eu herw 135 (= eu herwi, seen.).
gwaetlin nf. flow of blood 64 (see n.). hir a. tall, long; pl. hiryon 147.
gwaethyl gwyr ( = gwaethlwyr) npl. fighters, warriors 7 (see n.). hoffeb nm. pride, arrogance, boasting (B ii. 39-41) 26.
gwallt run. hair 147. hyt prepn. as far as, to 7, 96, 106, 172, 173, 174; until 143, 164, 19::i.
gwaret vn. deliver; pret. J sg. gwarawt 98. hyn demonstr. pron. neut. 23, 194, f. hon 194.
gwarth run. disgrace, shame 155, 170. hynt nf. way, course, ar hynt 'straightway' 96.
gwarthegyb run. cattle-raider 167. ioli vn. pray, beseech; imper. 1 pl. iolwn 195,
gwascar vn. separate, scatter 120; pres. indic. 3 sg. gwasgarawt 7,
gwatwar nm. mockery 74. Uab vn. strike, slay; pres. indic. 3 pl. llabant 79.
gwedy prepn. after 4, 159. llafar a. loquacious, talkative 185.
gwebw a. widowed 118. llafaru vn. speak; pres. indic. 3 sg. (l)lefeir 23; impf. (or fut.?) 3 pl.
gwehyn vn. pour, exhaust, empty, devastate 8 (seen.). llejerynt 49.
gweilyb a. idle, riderless 118. llafn nm. blade; pl. (l)fu/nawr 57.
gwellygiaw vn. reject, cast aside, fail (?); 3 sg. gwellyc 199 (seen.). 1. llaw nf. hand 120, 172; llaw amhar 'hand-wounded', i.e. wounded
gwenerawl a, believing ( ?) (i.e. Christian), devout ( ?) 192 (see n.). by hand 120 (seen.).
gwerth run. worth, value 143; yg werth 'in return for' 63, 144, :z. Haw a. small, low, sad; llaw gy(n)ghor sorrow, sad counsel 68
160; ar gwerth 'in payment' 123. (seen.).
gwir nm. truth, right; o wir 'by right' 138 tsee n.). llawen a. joyful, merry i85.
gwirawt nm. drink 35. llawer a. many 36.
gwlat nf. land, country 42, 128, 134, 167. Uawn a. full 76.
gwneuthur vn. make, do (GMW 130-2); pres. fut. 3 sg. gwna 170, lletfer a. cruel, oppressive, ferocious 38.
3 pl. gwnahawnt 8 (GMW 120), (g)wnant 82; imper. 3 pl. lleith nm. death 19, 83.
gwnamt S3 ( = gwnaant, see n.) pres. indic.; pres. subj. 3 sg. lletu vn. expand, spread; pres. indic. 3 sg. lletawt 175 (GMW n9).
gwnaho 100, I0l. lliaws run, multitude, host 1::10; a. many 128 (GMW 10::i).
gwr nm. man 23; pl. gwyr S, 78, 147, 151. llieingant nm. 'linen circle', i.e. banner ( ?) 130.
gwreic nf. woman, wife; pl. gwrageb 31, 75, II8. llifeit a. sharpened 79.
gwrthod vn. refuse, repel, ward off; imper. 3 sg. gwrthottit 41, llithl'o vn. slip, run (away); pres. indic. 3 pl. llithr}'fl 68.
gwrthodet 52. lloscit nm. ( - llosgyb ?) incendiary 109 (see n.).
gwybot vn. know (GMW 147-8); pres. indic. 3 sg. (g)wyr 112, 3 pl. llu nm. host, army; pl. llu3•b 110, 120, 124, 150, 152, 163, 169.
gwdant 84, (g)wydynt 30. lluman nm. banner, standard 59, 129,
gwychyr a. fierce, brave, courageous S, 147. llwyr adv. completely 79; yn llwyr 9:i.
gwyn a. in idiom gwyn eu byt 'happy' 97. llwyth run. tribe, people 128.
0
 VOCABULARY VOCABULARY
llyfrawr nm. (copyist), sorcerer, magician 193 (seen.), o prepn. of, from 20, etc,, o • • , pan 56, see pan; or with def. art. 98 ;
lly(n)ghes ftcet 149, i.e. 'ships' 181. or with demonstr. pron. (GMW 70-1) 80.
llym a. keen, sharp 79. obein vn. (ubein) howl, wail 119,
mab nm. son 25, 45; pl. meibon 104. oes nf. age 86; lifetime I 56; oes oesseu 'for ever' 86.
mat a, good, fortunate, lucky 71. ol nm. track, footstep; ol wrth ol 'one after another' 190.
maer run. steward; pl. meiryon 18, 21, 63, 69, 100.
maes nm. plain 87. paladyr nm. spear-shaft, support 91. .
mal conj. as, like 60, 68, 113, pan interrog. pron. (GMW 79-80) whence? 135, 136; conJ. when 40,
maran(n)e'b run. wealth, treasure 2.
macch nm. horse; pl. march n8.
93, 97, 13:a, 143, 187; rel. o pan 56.
parawt a. ready, prepared 168. ,

'
mawt' a. great 25, 35, 45, 74• parchu vn. respect, spare (in battle); pres. indic. 3 sg. peirch 154.
mawre'b run. pride 49. parth nm. part, side, district 155,
mechteyrn nm. great king 18 (seen.), 100. petwar num. four 74, 146; f. pedeir 146.
me'b nm. mead 35. peurllyn (pefr+llyn) nm. 'shining water' 58 (see n.).
meddawt run, intoxication 35, 102, peleitral nm. ( ?) spear-thrust 115 (see paladyr).
me'but nm. enjoyment 102. pell a. far, long 13, 27.
me'byc nm. surgeon, doctor 80, pen nm. head 117.
mehyn nm. place 4 (see n.). pennaeth nmf. chief, lord; lordship, dominion 3 (seen.), 26, 38, 175,
meint nm. size, bigness; before re]. clause 'as much as, all that'
penie't> nm. centre 16.
(GMW 94) 103, 171; pwy meint 'how much?' 134. peri vn. cause, order, arrange (battle) 127.
meue't> nm. wealth, possessions 2. perth nf. bush, hedge 16o.
milwr nm. warrior; pl. milwyr 179, peunyb, see beuny't>.
mirein a, fine, noble, splendid 152, 169. pieu 'belong' (GMW 80-1); fut. 3 sg. pieiuyd 173.
molawt nmf. eulogy, praise 100. plannu vn. pluperf. 3 pl. ryplanhassant 85 (see n.).
mor nm. sea 68, 161, 191. pleit nf. party, side 166.
mwyn run. gain, wealth 80. plygu vn, bend, waver; pres. indic. 3 sg. plyc 199.
pop, pob a. each, every, all 4, 30, 89, 155, 181.
mynet vn. go (GMW 132-3) 44; pres. indic, 3 sg. a 112; pres.
subj. 3 pl. ahont 142, pryt nm. time; pryt na 25 (see n.), pryt nas 45.
mynuer nm. diadem, crown, crowned ruler 34. peydaw a. handsome, splendid 110, 153.
mynycb a. frequent 124. prydy't> nm. poet 193,
myny't> nm. mountain 113. prynu vn. buy; pluperf. 3 pl. prynassant 3 I.
pwy interrog. pron. who? (GMW 74-6) ; kynt pwy kynt 96 (seen.);
:i:, na(c) conj, nor (GMW 232) 99, 101, 193. pwy meint how much? 134.
a. na neg. imper. (GMW 174) 99, 193. pwyllaw vn. purpose, intend; pres. indic. impers. pwyller ( = -ir) 41.
nat neg. part., see nyt. py interrog. pron. what? why? (GMW 75) 30 (seen,), 133, 136.
namyn conj. but 50, 184; prepn. but, except 74, 194. pyr (py+yr; GMW 77) why? 139, 140,
naw num. nine 73.
neb pron. anyone; with neg. no one 29 (GMW 105-6). rac prepn. before, for 46, 90, u9.
nef nf. heaven 195. racwan vn. (rac+ gwanu) lead an attack, strike in the forefront, rush
nen nf. place(?) 142 (seen.). against enemy 89.
neu conj. or 139, 140. racweb nm. precedence, forefront, the van of battle 16 (seen.).
no conj. than 44. rantir nf. patrimony, inheritance t 38.
ny(t) neg. part. not (GMW 173) 24, 74, etc; with inf. pron, 3 sg. nys 70, reges run. departure, retreat 43.
J pl. nys 29, 100, 156; dependent neg. na(t) 22, 25; with inf. pron. rei pron. some 70. .
3 sg. nas 49, 3 pl. nas 45. reith nf. rule, law, right, 'manner' 19 (seen.), 47; pl. rntheu 140.
 VOCABULARY VOCABULARY 85
rewinyaw vn. destroy, devastate (?); pres. indic. 3 sg. rewin;•awt treth nf. tax, tribute 123; pl. tret~ 21, 72, 84, 86.
150 (seen.). trindawt nf. the Trinity 41 , 98.
rewy'o a. high-spirited, ardent, rapacious 149. tristit ( = -yd) run. sorrow 39.
ri run. lord, king; God 195. troet run. foot; pl. trtut 65.
rin nf. secret 34. tros, dros prepn. across 175.
ru'o a. red 94. trwy prepn. through, by 31, 65, 68, 92 (seen.), 105, 125, 130.
ruthyr nm. rush, hastening 119. trydar nm. noise, battle (CA 146) 5.
rwygaw vn. rend, tear; pres. indic. 3 sg. ro,yccawt 150. twrw(f) nm. noise, clamour 179.
ry perfect. part. (GMW 166-8); ryd,ychafwynt 82, 178; rydygyrchassant tynget nf. fate, necessity 103.
83; ryplanhassant 85; rygedwys 180; with infuted pron. 1 pl. ryn tywyll nm. darkness 88. ,
(ry'n) 98. tywyssaw vn. lead 130. '
ryfel nmf. war 67. tywyssawc run. leader 196.
ryher 39 (? = pres. subj. impers. v. rhe-; seen.). vgein nutn. twenty 73.
ryhyt (ry+hyd) a. 'tenacious, stubborn' 6 (seen.) vn nwn. one, a single 19, 20, 47, 48, 109.
ryn a. starved, famished 104.
vnben run. chieftain, lord 165; pl. vnbyn 3, 46, 91.
rysse'o run. splendour, authority, power 32. vthyr a. terrible, dreadful 119.
sa(n)gi vn. tread down, trample, transgress; pluperf. 3 pl. saghys- wrth, y wrth prepn. from, against, at, by (GMW 213-4) 62, 12:2;
sant 139. pron. form I pl. y wrthym 33.
sant run. saint; pl. seint 105, 139. wy(nt) indep. pron. 3 pl. they 53, 97, 173.
sathru vn. trample, oppress; pres. indic. 3 pl. sathrant 137. 1, y def. art. 52; with prepn. y, yr 133.
seuyll vn. stand; pres. indic. 3 pl. safant 131, 142; pres. subj. 3 pl. :a. y prepn. to 28, 51 , 67;y am SS, 58;yar 154;ywrthym 33 (seewrth).
safhwynt 122, 187. y(d) preverb. part. (GMW 64, 141) 20, 51; yt 172.
seilyaw vn. found, set out ( ?); pluperf. 3 pl. seilyassant 135 (seen.). 1. yng a. narrow, straitened 32.
seithweith nutn. (seith+gweith) seven times 143. a. y(n)g run. straits, distress 197.
swyned.ic a. blessed, happy 188 (see n.). ymbraw vn. contend with; pres. indic. 3 pl. ymprofyn 56.
synhwyr nm. wisdom, skill 92. ymdeith vn. travel, go; pres. indic. 3 sg. ymda 112.
syrthyaw vn. fall; pres. indic:. 3 pl. syrthyn 60; pres. subj. 3 pl. ym'oifat run. orphan; pl. ymbifeit 104.
syrthwynt 93. ymgadw vn. pres. indic. 3 pl. ymgetwynt 'guard themselves, take care'
141 (see n.).
talet, talu vn. pay 103, 114; pres. indic. impers. talhawr 145; imperf. ymorchymyn vn. commend oneself; pres. indic. 3 pl. ymqrchymynynt
3 sg. talei 24; pres. subj. 3 pl. talhont 143 ; past subj. 3 pl. telhyn 22; 51.
imper. 3 sg. talet 52. ymtreulaw vn. destroy each other 55.
tarbu vn. burst forth; imperf. subj. tarbet 25 (leg. tarber, seen.), 3 pl. ymwadu vn. refuse, reject,deny; pres. indic. 3 pl.ymwadant 132 (seen.).
imperf. indic. or fut. terbyn 45. ymweled vn. come face to face, see each other; pres. indic. 3 pl.
techu vn. flee; pres. indic. 3 pl. techyn 96. ymwelant 141 (? = ymchwelant, seen.).
teyrn run. prince; pl. teyrneb 14, 40, 180. ymwrthuyn vn. oppose (in battle); pres. indic. 3 pl. ymwrthuynnyn
tir nm. land 67. 20 (seen.).
torri vn. break; pluperf. 3 pl. torrassant 140. ymwrthryn vn. fight, attack, charge 55.
trallawt nm. tribulation, grief 98. 1. yn prepn. in, into s; before labials ym 4, 16, 30; before velars
trei'byn run. home, patrimony 53. y(n)g 6, 22.
trengi vn. die, pass away; pres. indic. 3 sg. treinc 198; perf. 3 sg. :a. yn predic. part. (GMW :215-16 n., 228) 33, 42, 76, etc.
ry treghis 156. 3. yn possess. pron. our 110.
treiglo vn. travel, wander; pres. indic. or imperf. 3 pl. treiglynt 30. ynys nf. island 186, 194.
tres nf. uproar, disturbance (CA 308) 181. yr, er prepn. for, because of, to (GMW 219) 49, 50, uo; since 137.
 PROPER NAMES 87
Lloegyr, (men of) Mercia (?) 109,
PROPER NAMES Llydaw 153, 17:z.

Meir, mab M. :z5, 45.

Aber Perybon 18, 71. Mon, Anglesey 10.
Aber Santwic, Sandwich 188. Mynaw, Manaw (of Gododdin?) 17:z.
Ailego 106. Cf. Lego. Myrbin 17.
Alclut, Dumbarton 151.
Prydein, Britain 15:z, 169, Prydeyn 105.
Brython (pl.) 12, 42, 90. Prydyn, Scotland 10, 67 (= Prydein?); seen. to line 10.
Katwaladyr 81, 91, 163, 184. Saesson, the English 26, 42, 54, 60, 90, 101, 133, 148, 155, 166, 176,
Caer Geri, Cirencester 69. 191; Seis 96.
Caer Weir, Durham(?) 7.
Caer Wynt, Winchester 96. Yr Echwyb 175.
Cludwys, (men of) Strathclyde 11.
Cornyw, (men of) Comwall n.
Kymro 185.
Kymry 9, 2:z, 44, 46, 54, 61, 77, 8:z, 97, 125, 1:z7, 141, 178, 19:z.
Kynan 89, 163, 182.

Danet, Thanet 31, 40, 173.

Dewi, St. David 51, 105, 129, 140, 196.
Dews, Lat. deus 180, Duw 51, 197.
Dofyb, God 166.
Dulyn, Dublin 9, 131.
Dyfet 99, 173.

Garmawn, St. Germanus 145.

Gelli Kaer 197.
Glywyssy(n)g 99.
Gogleb, gwyr G. 'Men of the North' 15.
Gwawl, the Wall (of Hadrian) 174.
Gweryt, the Firth of Forth 174-
Gwrtheyrn Gwyneb, Vortigem 27, 137.
Gwy, the R. Wye 58.
Gwybyl, the Irish 10, 130, 177.

He(n)gys 3:z.
Hors 32.

Iwerbon, Ireland 10, 1~.

Iwys, (men of) Wessex 108, 181.

Le10 ( ?) 149.