Y Gododin: A Poem of the Battle of Cattraeth - 3

Hael mynawc oedut

LXXXVIII.

Diannot e glot e glutvan
Diachor angor ygkyman
Diechyr eryr gwyr govaran
Trin odef eidef oed eiryan
Ragorei veirch racvuan
En trin lletvegin gwin o bann
Kyn glasved a glassu eu rann
Bu gwr gwled od uch med mygyr o bann

LXXXIX.

Dienhyt y bob llawr llanwet
E hual amhaual afneuet
Twll tall e rodawr
Cas o hir gwythawc
Rywonyawc diffreidyeit
Eil gweith gelwideint a mallet
Yg catveirch a seirch greulet
Bedin agkysgoget yt vyd cat voryon
Cochro llann bann ry godhet
Trwm en trin a llavyn yt lladei
Garw rybud o gat dydygei
Cann calan a darmeithei
Ef gwenit adan vab ervei
Ef gwenit adan dwrch trahawc
Un riein a morwyn a mynawc
A phan oed mab teyrn teithyawc
Yng gwyndyt gwaed glyt gwaredawc
Kyn golo gweryt ar rud
Llary hael etvynt digythrud
O glot a chet echyawc
Neut bed garthwys hir o dir rywonyawc

XC.

Peis dinogat e vreith vreith
O grwyn balaot ban wreith
Chwit chwit chwidogeith
Gochanwn gochenyn wyth geith
Pan elei dy dat ty e helya
Llath ar y ysgwyd llory eny llaw
Ef gelwi gwn gogyhwch
Giff gaff dhaly dhaly dhwc dhwc
Ef lledi bysc yng corwc
Mal ban llad llew llywywc
Pan elei dy dat ty e vynyd
Dydygei ef penn ywrch pen gwythwch penn hyd
Penn grugyar vreith o venyd
Penn pysc o rayadyr derwennyd
Or sawl yt gyrhaedei dy dat ty ae gicwein
O wythwch a llewyn a llwyuein
Nyt anghei oll ny uei oradein

XCI.

Peum dodyw angkyvrwng o angkyuarc
Nym daw nym dyvyd a uo trymach
Ny magwyt yn neuad a vei lewach
Noc ef nac yng cat a vei wastadach
Ac ar ryt benclwyt pennawt oed e veirch
Pellynic e glot pellws e galch
A chyn golo gweir hir a dan dywarch
Dyrllydei vedgyrn un mab feruarch

XCII.

Gueleys y dull o bentir a doyn
Aberthach coelcerth a emdygyn
Gueleys y deu oc eu tre re ry gwydyn
O eir nwython ry godessyn
Gueleys y wyr tylluawr gan waur a doyn
A phen dyuynwal vrych brein ae knoyn

XCIII.

Gododin gomynnaf oth blegyt
Yg gwyd cant en aryal en emwyt
A guarchan mab dwywei da wrhyt
Poet yno en vn tyno treissyt
Er pan want maws mor trin
Er pan aeth daear ar aneirin
Mi neut ysgaras nat a gododin

XCIV.

Llech llefdir aryf gardith tith ragon
Tec ware rac gododin ystre anhon
Ry duc diwyll o win bebyll ar lles tymyr
Tymor tymestyl tra merin llestyr
Tra merin llu llu meithlyon
Kein gadrawt rwyd rac riallu
O dindywyt en dyuuwyt yn dyvuu
Ysgwyt rugyn rac doleu trin tal vriw vu

XCV.

Dihenyd y bop llaur llanwet
Y haual amhal afneuet
Twll tal y rodauc
Cas o hir gwychauc
Rywynyauc diffret
Eil with gwelydeint amallet
Y gat veirch ae seirch greulet
Bit en anysgoget bit get
Uoron gwychyrolyon pan ry godet
Trwm en trin a llain yt ladei
Gwaro rybud o gat dydygei
Gant can yg calan darmerthei
Ef gwenit a dan vab uruei
Ef gwenit a dan dwrch trahauc
Un riein a morwyn a menauc
A chan oed mab brenhin teithiaug
Ud gwyndyt gwaet kilyd gwaredawc
Kyn golo gweryt ar grud hael etvynt
Doeth dygyrchet y get ae glot ae echiauc
Uot bed gorthyn hir o orthir rywynauc

XCVI.

Am drynnv drylav drylen
Am lwys am diffwys dywarchen
Trihuc baruaut dreis dili plec hen
Atguuc emorem ae guiau hem
Hancai ureuer uragdenn
At gwyr a gwydyl a phrydein
At gu kelein rein rud guen
Deheuec gwenauwy mab gwen

XCVII.

Am giniav drylav drylen
Trym dwys tra diffwys dywarchen
Kemp e lumen arwr baruawt asgell
Vreith edrych eidyn a breithell
Goruchyd y lav loften
Ar gynt a gwydyl a phryden
A chynhyo mwng bleid heb pren
Eny law gnavt gwychlaut ene lenn
Prytwyf ny bei marw morem
Deheuec gwenabwy mab gwen


THE GODODIN.

I.

He was a man in mind, in years a youth, {79a}
And gallant in the din of war;
Fleet, thick-maned chargers {79b}
Were ridden {79c} by the illustrious hero;
A shield, light and broad,
Hung on the flank of his swift and slender steed;
His sword was blue and gleaming,
His spurs were of gold, {80a} his raiment was woollen. {80b}
It will not be my part
To speak of thee reproachfully,
A more choice act of mine will be
To celebrate thy praise in song;
Thou hast gone to a bloody bier,
Sooner than to a nuptial feast; {80c}
Thou hast become a meal for ravens,
Ere thou didst reach the front of conflict. {80d}
Alas, Owain! my beloved friend;
It is not meet that he should be devoured by ravens! {81a}
There is swelling sorrow {82a} in the plain,
Where fell in death the only son of Marro.

II.

Adorned with his wreath, leader of rustic warriors, {82b} whenever he
came
By his troop unattended, {83a} before maidens would he serve the mead;
But the front of his shield would be pierced, {83b} if ever he heard
The shout of war; no quarter would he give to those whom he pursued;
Nor would he retreat from the combat until blood flowed;
And he cut down like rushes {83c} the men who would not yield.
The Gododin relates, that on the coast of Mordei, {84a}
Before the tents of Madog, when he returned,
But one man in a hundred with him came. {84b}

III.

Adorned with his wreath, the chief of toil, his country’s rod {84c} of
power,
Darted like an eagle {84d} to our harbours, {84e} when allured
To the compact {85a} that had been formed; his ensign was beloved, {85b}
More nobly was his emblazoned resolution {85c} performed, for he
retreated not,
With a shrinking mind, {85d} before the host of Gododin.
Manawyd, {85e} with confidence and strength thou pressest upon the
tumultuous fight,
Nor dost thou regard {86a} either spear or shield;
No habitation rich in dainties can be found,
That has been kept out of the reach of thy warriors’ charge. {86b}

IV.

Adorned with a wreath was the leader, {87a} the wolf {87b} of the holme,
Amber beads {87c} in ringlets encircled his temples; {87d}
Precious was the amber, worth a banquet of wine. {87e}
He repelled the violence of men, as they glided along;
For Venedotia and the North would have come to his share,
By the advice of the son of Ysgyran, {88a}
The hero of the broken shield. {88b}

V.

Adorned with his wreath was the leader, and armed in the noisy conflict;
Chief object of observation {88c} was the hero, and powerful in the gory
field,
Chief fighter {88d} in the advanced division, in front of the hosts;
Five battalions {89a} fell before his blades;
Even of the men of Deivyr and Bryneich, {89b} uttering groans,
Twenty hundred perished in one short hour;
Sooner did he feed the wolf {90a} with his carcase, than go to the
nuptial feast; {90b}
He sooner became the raven’s prey, than approached the altar; {90c}
He had not raised the spear ere his blood streamed to the ground; {90d}
This was the price of mead in the hall, amidst the throng;
Hyveidd Hir {90e} shall be celebrated whilst there remains a minstrel.

VI.

The heroes marched to Gododin, and Gognaw laughed, {91a}
But bitter were they in the battle, {91b} when they stood arranged
according to their several banners;
Few were the years of peace which they had enjoyed;
The son of Botgad caused a throbbing by the energy of his hand;
They should have gone to churches to do penance,
The old and the young, the bold and the mighty; {91c}
The inevitable strife of death was about to pierce them.

VII.

The heroes marched to Gododin, Gwanar {92a} laughed,
As his jewelled army {92b} went down {92c} to the terrific toil.
Thou slayest them with blades, when there is not much chattering;
Thou, powerful supporter of the living law, producest the silence of
death. {92d}

VIII.

The heroes marched to Cattraeth, loquacious was the host;
Blue {93a} mead was their liquor, and it proved their poison; {93b}
In marshalled array they cut through the engines of war; {93c}
And after the joyful cry, silence {93d} ensued!
They should have gone to churches to perform penance;
The inevitable strife of death was about to pierce them.

IX.

The heroes marched to Cattraeth, filled with mead and drunk,
Compact and vigorous; {94a} I should wrong them were I to neglect their
fame;
Around the mighty, red, and murky blades,
Obstinately and fiercely the dogs of war {94b} would fight;
If I had judged you to be of the tribe of Bryneich, {94c}
Not the phantom of a man would I have left alive. {94d}
I lost a friend, myself being unhurt,
As he openly withstood the terror of the parental chief;
Magnanimously did he refuse the dowry of his father-in-law; {94e}
Such was the son of Cian {95a} from the stone of Gwyngwn.

X.

The heroes marched to Cattraeth with the dawn;
Their peace was disturbed by those who feared them;
A hundred thousand with three hundred {95b} engaged in mutual overthrow;
Drenched in gore, they marked the fall of the lances; {96a}
The post of war {96b} was most manfully and with gallantry maintained,
Before the retinue of Mynyddawg the Courteous. {96c}

XI.

The heroes marched to Cattraeth with the dawn;
Feelingly did their relatives {96d} regret their absence;
Mead they drank, yellow, sweet, ensnaring;
That year is the point to which many {96e} a minstrel turns;
Redder were their swords than their plumes, {97a}
Their blades were white as lime, {97b} and into four parts were their
helmets cloven, {97c}
Even those of {97d} the retinue of Mynyddawg the Courteous.

XII.

The heroes marched to Cattraeth with the day;
Was not the most celebrated of battles disgraced? {97e}
They put to death {98a} Gelorwydd
With blades. The gem of Baptism {98b}was thus widely taunted;—
“Better that you should, ere you join your kindred,
Have a gory unction {98c} and death far from your native homes,
At the hand of the host of Gododin, when the day arrives.”
Is not a hero’s power best when tempered with discretion?

XIII.

The hero {98d} marched to Cattraeth with the day;
Truly {99a} he quaffed the white mead on serene nights; {99b}
Miserable, though success had been predicted, {99c}
Proved his mission, which he undertook through soaring ambition; {99d}
There hastened not to Cattraeth
A chief, with such a magnificent design of enterprize
Blazoned on his standard;
Never was there such a host
From the fort of Eiddin, {99e}
That would scatter abroad the mounted ravagers.
Tudvwlch Hir, {100a} deprived of {100b} his land and towns,
Slaughtered the Saxons for seven days; {100c}
His valour should have protected him in freedom; {100d}
His memory is cherished by his fair {100e} associates;
When Tudvwlch arrived, the supporter of the land, {100f}
The post of the son of Kilydd {100g} became a plain of blood.

XIV.

The heroes {100h} marched to Cattraeth with the dawn,
But none of them received protection from their shields,
To blood they resorted, being assembled in gleaming armour; {101a}
In the van was, loud as thunder, the din of targets. {101b}
The envious, the fickle, and the base,
Would he tear and pierce with halberts;
From an elevated position {101c} he slew, with a blade,
In iron affliction, {101d} their steel-clad commander; {101e}
He subdued the Mordei that owed him homage; {101f}
Before Erthai {102a} even an army groaned. {102b}

XV.

When the tale shall be told of the battle of Cattraeth,
The people will utter sighs; {102c} long has been their grief on account
of the warriors’ absence;
There will be a dominion without a sovereign, {102d} and a smoking land.
The sons of Godebog, an upright clan,
Bore the furrower {102e} on a long bier.
Miserable {103a} was the fate, though just the necessity,
Decreed for Tudvwlch and Cyvwlch the Tall; {103b}
Together they drank the bright mead by the light {103c} of torches,
{103d}
Though pleasant to the taste, it proved a lasting foe. {103e}

XVI.

Before, above the splendid fort of Eching {103f} he shewed a frowning
aspect; {103g}
Whilst young and forward men composed his retinue;
Before, on the Bludwe, {104a} would the horn cheer his heart, {104b}
Making all the Mordei full of joy; {104c}
Before, his beverage would be braggett;
Before, he displayed the grandeur of gold and rich purple;
Before, pampered steeds would bear him safe away,
Even Gwarthlev, who deserved a comely name; {104d}
Before, the victorious chief would turn aside the ebbing tide;
His command was ever to go forward, {105a} loth was he to skulk.

XVII.

And now the early leader,
The sun, is about to ascend,
Sovereign of the revolving {105b} lights, {105c}
In the heaven of Britain’s isle. {105d}
Direful was the flight before the shaking
Of the shield of the pursuing victor; {105e}
Bright {105f} was the horn
In the hall of Eiddin; {105g}
With pomp was he bidden {105h}
To the feast of intoxicating mead;
He drank the beverage of wine,
At the meeting of reapers; {106a}
He drank transparent wine,
With a battle-daring purpose. {106b}
The reapers sang of war,
War with the shining wing; {106c}
The minstrels sang of war,
Of harnessed {106d} war,
Of winged war.
No shield was unexpanded {107a}
In the conflict of spears;
Of equal age they fell {107b}
In the struggle of battle.
Unshaken in the tumult,
Without dishonour {107c} did he retaliate on the foe;
Buried {107d} was whoever he willed,
Ere the grave of the gigantic {107e} Gwrveling
Itself became a green sward.

XVIII.

The complement {107f} of the surrounding country {107g}
Were, three forward chiefs of the Novantæ; {107h}
Five battalions of five hundred men each; {108a}
Three levies {108b} of three hundred each;
Three hundred knights of battle {108c}
From Eiddin, arrayed in golden armour;
Three loricated hosts,
With three kings wearing the golden torques; {108d}
Three bold knights,
With three hundred of equal quality;
Three of the same order, mutually jealous,
Bitterly would they chase the foe,
Three dreadful in the toil;
They would kill a lion flat as lead. {108e}
There was in the war a collection of gold. {108f}
Three sovereigns of the people
Came from amongst the Brython, {109a}
Cynrig and Cynon {109b}
And Cynrain {109c} from Aeron, {109d}
To greet {110a} the ashen lances {110b}
Of the men who dropped from Deivyr. {110c}
Came there from the Brython,
A better man than Cynon,
Who proved a serpent to his sullen foes?

XIX.

I drank of the wine and the mead of the Mordei;
Great was the quantity of spears,
In the assembly of the warriors;
He {110d} was solemnising a banquet for the eagle.
When Cydywal {110e} hurried forth to battle, he raised
The shout with the green dawn, and dealt out tribulation, {110f}
And splintered shields about the ground he left,
And darts of awful tearing did he hew down;
In the battle, the foremost in the van he wounded.
The son of Syvno, {111a} the astronomer, knew,
That he who sold his life,
In the face of warning,
With sharpened blades would slaughter,
But would himself be slain by spears and crosses. {111b}
According to the compact, {111c} he meditated a convenient attack,
And would boast {111d} of a pile of carcases
Of gallant men of toil,
Whom in the upper part of Gwynedd {111e} he pierced.

XX.

I drank of the wine and the mead of the Mordei,
And because I drank, I fell by the edge of a gleaming sword, {112a}
Not without desiring a hero’s prowess; {112b}
And when all fell, thou didst also fall. {112c}
Thus when the issue comes, it were well not to have sinned.
Present, in his thrusting course, showed a bold and mighty arm. {112d}

XXI.

The heroes who marched to Cattraeth were renowned,
Wine and mead out of golden goblets was their beverage,
That year was to them one of exalted solemnity,
Three hundred and sixty-three chieftains, wearing the golden torques;
{113a}
Of those who hurried forth after the excess of revelling,
But three escaped by valour from the funeral fosse, {113b}
The two war-dogs {114a} of Aeron, and Cynon the dauntless, {114b}
And myself, from the spilling of blood, the reward of my candid song.
{114c}

XXII.

My friend in real distress, we should have been by none disturbed,
Had not the white-bannered commander {115a} led forth his army;
We should not {115b} have been separated in the hall from the banquet of
mead,
Had he not laid waste our convenient groves; {115c}
He crept into the martial field, he crept into our families. {115d}
The Gododin relates how that, after the fight in the fosse,
When we had no dwellings, {116a} none were more destitute. {116b}

XXIII.

Scattered, broken, motionless is the weapon, {116c}
That used to penetrate through the great horde, {116d} the numerous
{117a} horde of the Lloegrians. {117b}
Shields were strewn on the sea coast, {117c} shields in the battle of
lances;
Men were reduced to ashes, {117d}
And women rendered widows,
Before his death. {117e}
O Graid, son of Hoewgi, {117f}
With thy spears
Didst thou cause an effusion of blood.

XXIV.

There was the hero, with both his shoulders covered, {118a}
By a variegated shield, and possessing the swiftness of a warlike steed;
There was a noise in the mount of slaughter, {118b} there was fire,
{118c}
Impetuous were the lances, there was a sunny gleam, {118d}
There was food for ravens, the raven there did triumph, {118e}
And before he would let them go free,
With the morning dew, like the eagle in his glad course,
He scattered them on either side, and like a billow overwhelmed them in
front.
The Bards of the world judge those to be men of valour,
Whose counsels are not divulged to slaves. {119a}
The spears in the hands of the warriors were causing devastation;
And ere was interred under {119b} the swan-white steed, {119c}
One who had been energetic in his commands,
His gore had thoroughly washed his armour: {119d}
Such was Buddvan, {119e} the son of Bleiddvan the Bold.

XXV.

It were wrong not to record his magnificent feat;
He would not leave an open gap, through cowardice; {120a}
The benefit of Britain’s minstrels never quitted his court
Upon the calends of January; {120b} according to his design, {120c}
His land should not be ploughed, though it might become wild;
He was a mighty dragon of indignant disposition;
A commander in the bloody field, {120d} after the feast of wine,
Was Gwenabwy {121a} the son of Gwên, {121b} in the strife of Cattraeth.

XXVI.

True it was, as the songs relate, {121c}
No one’s steeds {121d} overtook Marchleu;
The lances {121e} hurled by the commanding earl,
In his prancing career, {121f} strewed a thick path;
As he had been reared for slaughter by the aid of my mother, {121g}
Furious was the stroke of his sword whilst lending support to others;
{121h}
Ashen shafts were scattered from the grasp of his hand, {122a}
Above the narrow summit {122b} of the solemn pile, {122c}
The place where one caused the smoke to ascend; {122d}
He would slaughter with the blade, whilst his arms were full of furze;
{122e}
As when a reaping comes in the interval of fine weather, {122f}
Would Marchleu {123a} make the blood to flow.

XXVII.

Lower down {123b} was sent from the southern region, {123c}
One whose conduct {123d} resembled the flowing sea; {123e}
He was full of modesty and gentleness,
When allowed to quaff the mead:
But along the rampart to Offer, {123f} even to the point of Maddeu,
{123g}
Enraged, he was glutted with carnage, and scattering, with desolation;
{124a}
His sword resounded on the heads of mothers;
He was an ardent spirit, {124b} praise be to him, the son of Gwyddneu.
{124c}

XXVIII.

Caredig, {124d} lovely is his fame;
He would protect and guard his ensign,
Gentle, {125a} lowly, calm, before the day arrived
When he the pomp of war should learn;
When comes the appointed time of the friend of song, {125b}
May he recognise his home in the heavenly region.

XXIX.

Ceredig, {125c} amiable leader,
A wrestler {126a} in the impetuous {126b} fight;
His golden shield dazzled {126c} the field of battle,
His lances, when darted, were shivered into splinters,
And the stroke of his sword was fierce and penetrating;
Like a hero would he maintain his post.
Before he received the affliction of earth, {126d} before the fatal blow,
He had fulfilled his duty in guarding his station.
May he find a complete reception
With the Trinity in perfect Unity.

XXX.

When Caradawg {126e} rushed into battle,
It was like the tearing onset of the woodland boar; {127a}
Bull of the army in the mangling fight,
He allured the wild dogs by the action of his hand; {127b}
My witnesses {127c} are Owain the son of Eulat,
And Gwrien, and Gwynn, and Gwriad; {127d}
But from Cattraeth, and its work of carnage, {127e}
From the hill of Hydwn, ere it was gained, {127f}
After the clear mead was put into his hand,
He saw no more the hill {128a} of his father.

XXXI.

The warriors marched with speed, together they bounded onward;
Short lived were they,—they had become drunk over the distilled mead.
The retinue of Mynyddawg, renowned {128b} in the hour of need;
Their life was the price of their banquet of mead.
Caradawg, {128c} and Madawg, {128d} Pyll, and Ieuan,
Gwgawn, {129a} and Gwiawn, Gwynn {129b} and Cynvan,
Peredur {129c} with steel arms, Gwawrddur, {129d} and Aeddan; {129e}
A defence were they in the tumult, though with shattered shields; {130a}
When they were slain, they also slaughtered;
Not one to his native home returned.

XXXII.

The heroes marched with speed, together were they regaled
That year over mead, and mighty was their design;
How sad to mention them, {130b} how doleful their commemoration! {130c}
Poison is the home to which they have returned, they are not as sons by
mothers nursed; {130d}
How long our vexation, how long our regret,
For the brave warriors, whose native place was the feast of wine! {130e}
Gwlyget {131a} of Gododin, having partaken of the speech inspiring
Banquet of Mynyddawg, performed illustrious deeds, {131b}
And paid a price {131c} for the purchase of the battle of Cattraeth.

XXXIII.

The heroes went to Cattraeth in marshalled array, and with shout of war,
{131d}
With powerful steeds, {131e} and dark brown harness, and with shields,
With uplifted {131f} javelins, and piercing lances,
With glittering mail, and with swords.
He excelled, and penetrated through the host,
Five battalions fell before his blade;
Rhuvawn Hir, {132a}—he gave gold {132b} to the altar,
And gifts and precious stones {132c} to the minstrel.

XXXIV.

No hall {132d} was ever made so eminently perfect,
So great, so magnificent for the slaughter; {133a}
Morien {133b} procured {133c} and spread the fire,
And would not say but that Cynon {133d} should see {133e} the corpse
Of one harnessed, armed with a pike, and of a wide spread fame; {133f}
His sword resounded on the summit occupied by the camp, {133g}
Nor was he moved {134a} aside in his course by a ponderous stone from the
wall of the fort, {134b}
And never again will the son of Peithan {134c} be moved.

XXXV.

No hall was ever made so impregnable; {134d}
Had not Morien been like Caradawg, {134e}
The forward Mynawg, {134f} with his heavy armour, {134g} would not have
escaped;
Enraged, he was fiercer than the son of Pherawg, {135a}
Stout his hand, and, mounted on his steed, {135b} he dealt out flames
upon the retreating foe.
Terrible in the city was the cry of the timid multitude,
The van of the army of Gododin was scattered;
His buckler {135c} was winged with fire for the slaughter;
In the day of his wrath {135d} he was nimble—a destructive retaliator;
The dependants of Mynyddawg deserved their horns of mead.

XXXVI.

No hall was ever made so immoveable
As that of Cynon with the gentle breast, sovereign of the saints; {135e}
He sat no longer on his elevated throne, {136a}
Whom he pierced were not pierced again, {136b}
Keen was the point of his lance,
It perforated the enamelled armour, it penetrated through the troops;
Swift in the van were his horses, in front they tore along;
In the day of his anger {136c} blasting was his blade,
When Cynon rushed into battle with the green dawn.

XXXVII.

A grievous descent was made upon his native territory;
He {136d} suffered an encroachment—he fixed a limit;
His spear forcibly pushed the laughing chiefs of war;
Even as far as Ephyd {137a} reached the valour of the forward Elphin:
The furze was kindled by the ardent spirit, the bull of conflict.

XXXVIII.

A grievous descent was made upon his native territory,
The price of mead in the hall, and the feast of wine;
His blades were scattered about between the two hosts;
Illustrious was the knight in front of Gododin;
The furze was kindled by the ardent spirit, the bull of conflict. {138a}

XXXIX.

A grievous descent was made in front of the extended riches, {138b}
But the army turned aside, with trailing {138c} shields,
And those shields were shivered before the herd of the roaring Beli.
{138d}
A dwarf from the bloody field hastened to the fence; {139a}
And on our side there came a hoary headed man, our chief counsellor,
{139b}
Mounted on a prancing iebald psteed, and wearing the golden chain.
The Boar {139c} proposed a compact in front of the course—the great
plotter;
Right worthy {139d} was the shout of our refusal,
And we cried “Let heaven be our protection,
Let his compact be that he should be prostrated by the spear in battle,
{139e}
Our warriors, in respect of their far famed fosse, {139f}
Would not quarrel if a host were there to press the ground.”

XL.

For the piercing {140a} of the skilful and most learned man, {140b}
For the fair corpse which fell prostrate on the ground,
For the cutting {140c} of his hair from his head,
For Gwydien, the eagle of the air, {140d}
Did Gwyddwg {141a} bring protection to the field, {141b}
Resembling and honouring his master.
Morien of the blessed song, brought protection
To the ruined hall, {141c} and cleft the heads
Of the first in youth, in strength, and in old age.
Equal to three men, though a maid, was Bradwen; {141d}
Equal to twelve was Gwenabwy, the son of Gwen. {141e}

XLI.

For the piercing of the skilful and most learned woman,
Her servant bore a shield in the action,
And with energy his sword fell upon the heads of the foe;
In Lloegyr the churls cut their way before the chieftain. {142a}
He who grasps the mane of a wolf, without a club {142b}
In his hand, will have it gorgeously emblazoned on his robe. {142c}
In the engagement of wrath and carnage,
Bradwen perished,—she did not escape.

XLII.

Carcases {142d} of gold mailed warriors lay upon the city walls;
None of the houses or cities of Christians {142e} was any longer actively
engaged in war; {142f}
But one feeble man, with his shouts, kept aloof
The roving birds; {143a}
Truly Syll of Virein {143b} reports that there were more
That had chanced to come from Llwy, {143c}
From around the inlet of the flood;
He reports that there were more,
At the hour of mattins, {143d}
Than the morning breeze could well support.

XLIII.

When thou, famous conqueror!