'and before they were slain, they slew'
Gereint filius Erbin
('Geraint son of Erbin')
En llogporth y gueleise arwev
guir. a guyar in dinev.
agvydi gaur garv atnev.
En llogporth y gueleise. y arthur
guir deur kymynint a dur.
ameraudur llywiaudir llawur.
En llogoporth y llas y gereint.
guir. deur o odir diwneint.
a chin rillethid ve.llatysseinet.
~ ~ ~ ~
At Llongborth I saw the weapons
of men, and gushing blood,
and after the battle-cry, grim burial.
At Llongborth I saw Arthur's
brave men, they hewed with steel,
emperor, leader in toil.
At Llongborth were slain Geraint's
brave men from the lowlands of Devon,
and before they were slain, they slew.
('Geraint son of Erbin')
En llogporth y gueleise arwev
guir. a guyar in dinev.
agvydi gaur garv atnev.
En llogporth y gueleise. y arthur
guir deur kymynint a dur.
ameraudur llywiaudir llawur.
En llogoporth y llas y gereint.
guir. deur o odir diwneint.
a chin rillethid ve.llatysseinet.
~ ~ ~ ~
At Llongborth I saw the weapons
of men, and gushing blood,
and after the battle-cry, grim burial.
At Llongborth I saw Arthur's
brave men, they hewed with steel,
emperor, leader in toil.
At Llongborth were slain Geraint's
brave men from the lowlands of Devon,
and before they were slain, they slew.
posted by scribe at 6:18 pm
2 Comments:
Ah, the warrior ethos. Powerful, though... I like it.
Thanks. Yes, on the one hand it's pretty heroic typically male stuff, but it also tells us quite a bit about warrior status and Arthur in medieval welsh. He is described as "emperor" for the first time in literature (but wether this is pre-Geoffrey of Monmouth is debatable) and it gives an indication of a cultural awareness as Arthur and his kin as a political force. Anyway, I won't go on :P I'll bore you more on msn or something ;)
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