| Canu Cadwallon | |
|---|---|
 Sixteenth-century copy of lines from 'Gofara Braint' and 'Moliant Cadwallon', in the hand ofRobert Vaughan of Hengwrt[a][1] | |
| Author(s) | ?Afan Ferddig [cy] ('Moliant Cadwallon' and 'Gofara Braint') |
| Compiled by | Robert Vaughan (Hengwrt MS 120) |
| Language | Middle Welsh |
| Date | ?7th c. ('Moliant Cadwallon' and 'Gofara Braint') ?10th c. ('Englynion Cadwallon') |
| Manuscript(s) | list:[2]
|
| First printed edition | Gruffydd 1978 |
| Genre | panegyric, elegiac, and antiquarian poetry |
| Setting | Wales,Deira,Bernicia,Elfed |
| Period covered | Migration-period Britain |
| Personages | Main subjects: Cadwallon ap Cadfan Edwin of Northumbria Allusions: |
Canu Cadwallon (Welsh pronunciation:[ˈkanɨ̞kadˈwaɬɔn]) is the name given byR. Geraint Gruffydd and subsequent scholars to fourMiddle Welsh poems associated withCadwallon ap Cadfan, king ofGwynedd (d. 634 AD). Their titles come from the now-lost book entitledY Kynveirdh Kymreig 'The EarliestWelshPoets' (HengwrtMS 120), compiled by the seventeenth-centuryantiquarianRobert Vaughan of Hengwrt. Later catalogues derived from this manuscript preserve the titles of these poems. Three of the four poems concerning Cadwallon were copied in other texts. One surviving poem is called 'Moliant Cadwallon' by modern scholars or 'Cerdd y Cor a'r Gorres' in the catalogues of Vaughan's manuscript. Fifty-six lines of the poem survive. It appears to refer to events just before theBattle of Hatfield Chase (Old Welsh:Gueith Meicen) in 633, as Cadwallon's final victory overEdwin of Northumbria is not mentioned in the poem. After narrating Cadwallon's expulsion of the English from Gwynedd, the poet exhorts the king to take the fight to Edwin, "setYork ablaze" and "kindle fire in the land ofElfed".
There are two other poems concerning the king, with one known as 'Marwnad Cadwallon ap Cadfan' or 'Englynion Cadwallon', and the other as 'Gofara Braint'. The former poem lists Cadwallon's battles and ends with a reference to his death in theBattle of Heavenfield (Old Welsh:Cant Scaul) in 634, but is thought to be ninth- or tenth-century at the earliest, based on its similarities to other early Welsh 'saga' literature likeCanu Heledd andCanu Llywarch Hen. 'Gofara Braint' survives only in five lines, and refers to Edwin's head being brought to the court ofAberffraw after the battle of Hatfield Chase. The last poem, titled 'I Gadwallon ap Cadfan, brenin Prydain' by Vaughan, is completely lost. Were this poem earlier than 'Englynion Cadwallon', it may have informed some of the content of that poem, perhaps together with the lost sections of 'Gofara Braint'.
There is no author given to any poem in the manuscripts, though theWelsh Triads give the name of Cadwallon's chief poet asAfan Ferddig [cy]. Excepting one copy of 'Englynion Cadwallon' which survives in the fourteenth-centuryRed Book of Hergest, the three surviving poems exist only in seventeenth-century manuscripts. Nevertheless, scholars ofmedieval Welsh literature generally regard 'Moliant Cadwallon' as a genuine seventh-century composition, which would make it one of the oldest works in Welsh literature alongside those attributed toAneirin andTaliesin. While not edited as part ofCanu Cadwallon, there is also a fragmentary verse inPeniarth MS 21 supposedly composed by Cadwallon ap Cadfan which narrates an episode of his exile in Ireland.
Cadwallon ap Cadfan is a very well-attested monarch by the standards of the seventh century in Wales. According to the tenth-centuryHarleian genealogies, his father wasCadfan ab Iago and his great-great-great-grandfather wasMaelgwn Gwynedd.[3][4][b] In the fifteenth-century genealogical tractBonedd yr Awyr, Cadwallon's mother is given as Tandreg Ddu, daughter ofCynan Garwyn and sister ofSelyf ap Cynan, who was slain byÆthelfrith at theBattle of Chester inc. 615.[4][5][6][c] Cadwallon came to power in Gwyneddc. 625 following his father's death, and commissioned a Latin tombstone for Cadfan which still survives.[4][d] Besides this poetry, the main sources for Cadwallon's life areAdomnán'sVita Columbae (c. 697–700) andBede'sHistoria Ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (c. 731), as well as some entries in theWelsh Annals. However, Adomnán only narrates events leading to the battle of Heavenfield concerningOswald, who grew up in Adomnán's monastery ofIona. He reports thatColumba appeared to Oswald in a dream on the night before the battle and encouraged the young king, promising that God would grant him victory over Cadwallon, killer of his uncle Edwin.[4][8]
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Bede's account of Cadwallon is problematic because Cadwallon opposed Edwin of Northumbria.[4][6] Edwin is a main protagonist of Bede's narrative since on Easter 627 he accepted baptism, the first Northumbrian monarch to have done so.[9] Bede reports that Edwin ruled over 'all the inhabitants ofBritain,English andBritons alike, except forKent... he even brought under English rule the Mevanian Islands (Anglesey andMan) which lie betweenIreland and Britain and belong to the Britons.'[4][10] The Welsh Annals record that Cadwallon was besieged oninsulaGlannauc in 629.[4][11] This must refer to a final stage in Edwin's conquest of Anglesey, but the date should be corrected to 631 or 632, given that the Welsh Annals record events three years too early, such as Edwin's death in 633.[4][12][13] There are later Welsh traditions suggesting that Cadwallon was for a time an exile in Ireland, and so he may have gathered support there to recover his kingdom.[14][15] This may be paralleled by the exile in theNorthern Uí Néill- andDál Riata-sponsored monastery of Iona of Oswald andOswiu, sons of Æthelfrith and therefore also threats to Edwin's rule.[16]
Under unclear circumstances, Cadwallon returned to Britain and, together with his junior allyPenda ofMercia, slew Edwin on 12 October 633 at the battle ofHæthfelth, probablyHatfield Chase.[4][17][18] Hatfield Chase would have been in the kingdom ofElfed until its conquest by Edwin inc. 620, and was situated between Deiria, Mercia, andLindsey.[19] The battle is also recorded in the Welsh Annals (asGueith Meicen), in theAnnals of Tigernach, and in theAnnals of Inisfallen.[12][20] Bede refers to Cadwallon's rule over Northumbria as the "ill-omened" year, and calls him a "savage tyrant" of "outrageous tyranny", "even more cruel than the heathen (i.e. Penda)".[4][17][21] He even suggests that Cadwallon was "meaning to wipe out the whole English nation from the land of Britain" and "spared neither women nor innocent children".[4][17] Cadwallon slew Edwin's cousin and successor inDeira,Osric, as well as Edwin's nephewEanfrith, son of Æthelfrith by Edwin's sisterAcha. Eanfrith succeeded Edwin toBernicia, and was slain whilst entreating Cadwallon for peace.[4][21][e]
Ultimately, Cadwallon was in turn killed by Oswald, Edwin's nephew and Eanfrith's brother, sometime in 634.[4] Oswald returned from his own exile at the head of an army "small in numbers", but still triumphed.[21] This was atHefenfeld (Latin:Cælestis campus), recorded asCantscaul in the Welsh Annals and theHistoria Brittonum, where Oswald is called OswaldLamnguin "O. Bright-blade".[12][24][25]
It appears that Robert Vaughan (d.16 May 1667) sought to assemble all poetry sung to or about Cadwallon.[26] Vaughan was a descendant ofCadwgan, son ofBleddyn ap Cynfyn, and a native ofDolgellau. His maternal uncle Robert Owen mortgaged the manor home ofHengwrt to Vaughan's father, Hywel.[27] Vaughan's pursuit of Welsh antiquities continued unperturbed by thetumults of the seventeenth century.[27] He was close to other antiquarians of the period such asDr. John Davies,William Maurice, andJohn Jones of Gellilyfdy.[27] When John Jones died inc. 1658, Robert Vaughan came into possession of all his manuscripts, and curated a great library at Hengwrt, "the finest collection of Welsh manuscripts ever assembled by an individual".[27] This extensive collection provided Vaughan with ample material from which to compile poetry concerning Cadwallon, and thus all the surviving poems except 'Englynion Cadwallon' are found in his manuscripts.[28]
One manuscript (Hengwrt MS 120) was written in order to collect the earliest specimens of Welsh poetry, and was titledY Kynfeirdh Kymreig 'The Earliest Welsh Poets'.[26] Unfortunately, it has since been lost, but William Maurice and Robert Vaughan himself wrote catalogues of the manuscripts in the Hengwrt library which preserve the titles of the poems therein.[29] Vaughan gave the poems concerning Cadwallon the following titles:
Only two folios of Hengwrt MS 120 survive, bound in a manuscript ofLewis Morris (BLAdd. MS 14907).[30] However, these two pages preserve much of the material of 'Cerdd y Cor a'r Gorres', known as 'Moliant Cadwallon' by modern scholarship.[26][31] NLW MS 9094A, a compilation of Vaughan's notebooks on British history, contains four and a half lines of this poem which appear in BL Add. MS 14907, six which are absent in BL Add. MS 14907, and five lines of 'Gofara Braint'. These lines were copied into NLW MS 9094A because he interpreted the poems as referencing 'Cymru' as a place-name, though the word might instead stand forCymry 'the Welsh', since the two words were identical in Middle Welsh.[26][32] Two folios of this manuscript have dates of 1652 and 1658, and the latter part of the manuscript was probably written while Vaughan was working on a chronology of British history forArchbishop Ussher.[33]
The third poem in this list, 'I Gadwallon ap Cadfan, brenin Prydain' is completely lost.[34] The fourth poem, 'Marwnad Cadwallon ap Cadfan', called 'Englynion Cadwallon' by Jenny Rowland and subsequent scholars, is the only poem to survive in a complete form, in the fourteenth-centuryJesus College MS 111 and in BL Add. MS 31055, written byThomas Wiliems.[26][35]
A high tide fills in. It surged forward in ranks of thundering eddies:
the clamorous host of generous Cadwallon. The army returns
of an opponent who is like a stag with wild fire in him,
who very freely gives out battle stallions and the largess of his mead feasting…
There was grumbling since the birth of the profoundly gifted man of the Cymry,
when Christ created Cadwallon.
May God grant protection for His bold high hosts (or the high hosts [going] to Deira),
so that the wind and waves do not exhaust them…
May Cadwallon accomplish something that will be thought about throughout the world
for as long as heaven remains above the surface of the earth.
If there is a high place in Anglesey, he has pitched tents on it,
a man like Maelgwn, [both] generous lords of the land.
He has not negotiated, not at the bidding of the Bernicians,
with Edwin over them as father — that's too much of a big lie…
…In the warband's encampment, the bright lodgings for mounted warriors,
deliverance from the exhaustion of the ship in an enclosure of swords,
the hospitality of Cadwallon on the summit of Caer-Garadog,
as he raises his army to set York ablaze.
The chief men of the stronghold are ready for the sovereign of Britain,
anxious to restore a victorious prince.
He kept the honour of the Cymry by the protection of his shield…
…Let the heathen tribe be gone; they have been driven as far as a briny anointing
Standing before a giant, one may fail to comprehend
what could be higher than you, generous diademed lord,
except the treetops, sky, and stars:
Cadwallon, another Einion: theimperium…
…to kindle fire in the land of Elfed by the Cymry…
— Ll. 1–4, 12–15, 20–25, 34–40, 46-51i. a of 'Moliant Cadwallon', translated byJohn T. Koch.[36][f]
The most important of the poems edited as part ofCanu Cadwallon by R. Geraint Gruffudd is known as 'Moliant Cadwallon'. This is in contrast to Robert Vaughan, who entitled it 'Cerdd y Cor a'r Gorres' ('Song of the Dwarf and the Dwarfess') in Hengwrt MS 120. This title is difficult to understand as there are no reference to dwarves in the poem. R. Geraint Gruffydd suggested that a copyist at some point in the transmission of the poem may have mistook the occurrence of "Efrawg" in the poem as referring to the father ofPeredur, in whoseeponymous story there exists a pair of dwarfs who prophesy the young knight's future.[38][39]Sir Ifor Williams therefore retitled the poem 'Moliant Cadwallon' (Praise of Cadwallon).[40] There are fifty lines ofawdlau in BL Add. MS 14907, while six further lines are copied in NLW MS 9094A. Because it survives only in fragments, R. Geraint Gruffydd suggested the original may originally have had at least eighty lines, though it perhaps had even more.[41][32]
The poem begins with a narration of Cadwallon's resistance to Edwin's conquest of Anglesey (ll. 1–27), where it is recalled that "if there is a high place in Anglesey, he has pitched tents on it".[42] Edwin's oppressive rule over Gwynedd is alluded to, where "men [are] killed in lethal combat of fighters who would not submit".[43] However, this is contrasted with the 'hospitality of Cadwallon of the summit of Caergaradog" — which appears to be going on at the time of the singing of the poem.[44] The Caergaradog here is not the presentCaer Caradoc in Shropshire, which is first named in the eighteenth century under antiquarian influence, but is probably Caradog in Herefordshire, recorded in 1292 asCayrcradoc.[45] This hill is three miles north-west of Ross-on-Wye, and so would have been a strategic location for Cadwallon.[46][g] In the 630s, this hill would have lain in the Welsh kingdom ofErgyng, perhaps then a subkingdom ofGwent.[47] Cadwallon's attack on Edwin does not appear to have been preceded by a recovery of Gwynedd. Instead, he may have gathered his forces near the region of Mercia controlled by Penda. The seemingly spontaneous fighting in Gwynedd would have acted as a diversion, allowing Cadwallon and Penda to strike deep into Northumbria while Edwin was preoccupied in Gwynedd.[48] The poet's urging of Cadwallon to "set York ablaze" and "kindle fire in the land of Elfed" seems to prefigure this campaign which would end with Edwin's death at Hatfield.[49][50]
The poet then declares of the Anglo-Saxons: "let the heathen people be gone; they have been driven as far as a briny anointing".[51] This is followed by "Cadwallon, anotherEinion: theimperium."[52] This references Einion Yrth, an early king of Gwynedd and Cadwallon's ancestor. The only apparent deed of note attributed to him, according to the narrative of theHistoria Brittonum, was driving out the Irish from Wales, alongside his father,Cunedda.[53] The geographical focus of this stanza is on south-east Wales, with a reference toPortskewett occurring before this comparison, so perhaps this refers to the aftermath of the victory of the philo-Cambrian Penda in the 628Battle of Cirencester, in whichWessex expansionism had been checked across theSevern Sea.[54] However, considering Einion's legendary act of ethnically cleansing the Irish from Wales, the poet might be urging Cadwallon to emulate his ancestor's actions against the Anglo-Saxons of Northumbria.[55] If this was in agreement with Cadwallon's aims, it may have been the inspiration for Bede's assertion that Cadwallon sought to utterly destroy the Anglo-Saxons.[56] John T. Koch argues that the wordymher in line 50 (derived from and thus translated as Latinimperium) is an echo of Bede's concept of theimperium Britanniae (Old English:Bretwalda), which Edwin was the fifth king to possess.[57] Cadwallon ultimately slew Edwin and assumed this office, while Oswald in turn killed Cadwallon and took theimperium from the king of Gwynedd, though Bede ultimately excluded Cadwallon from his numbering of rulers with this authority.[58]
None of the poems edited asCanu Cadwallon have authors attributed to them in the manuscript. However, 'Moliant Cadwallon' is the only poem of this collection widely considered to date from the seventh century.[59] This would make the poem among the oldest in the Welsh language, nearly the age of the poems attributed to Aneirin and Taliesin.[60][61] This judgement is not without criticism, however.David Dumville doubted that the poem could be genuine, as it would imply that theGododdin was known in Gwynedd in the 630s, since it says 'FierceGwallog caused the greatly renowneddeath toll at Catraeth', the event about which the poem was written.[62][63] However, John T. Koch argued that the poet could have known about the battle of Catraeth from other sources and that the reference would be very apt as Edwin was likely descended from the Deiran leader in that battle.[64]Alex Woolf hypothesised that the Cadwallon in Bede's narrative was not Cadwallon ap Cadfan, but rather Cadwallon Lyw, a shadowy figure in the northern British genealogies.[65][h] However, Koch notes that this theory would mean that not only would 'Moliant Cadwallon' be ignorant of basic historical facts, but alsoHistoria Brittonum, the Welsh Annals, and probably the Gwynedd lineage in theOld Welsh genealogies.[67]Thomas Charles-Edwards also rejects Woolf's argument, and says it sees 'in Bede's account implications which, to me, are invisible'.[6] Likewise,Oliver Padel suggests the poem should be seen as literature and not history, in his judgement like all the rest of theHengerdd.[68]
The Welsh Triads name Cadwallon's chief bard as Afan Ferddig ('little bard' or 'favourite bard').[69][70] His name was known by later poets, and so it may be that what survives of 'Moliant Cadwallon' may be his work.[71]
The title of this poem as given by Vaughan is apparently corrupt. It should instead be amended to 'Gofera Braint',gofera meaning 'overflow'.[72][73] This poem survives only in five lines in the metre known ascyhydedd naw ban [cy].[74] Its only copy (NLW MS 9094A) was created by Vaughan because the lines mention 'Cymru/Cymry' or the Britons.[26]
i. It is easier for me to proceed without strife
from leaving Wales after my counsel.
ii. Because Edwin's head came to Aberffraw's court
and [all] Wales becomes one assembly.
iii. Gwynedd brought joy to Britons.
— 'Gofara Braint', translated from R. Geraint Gruffydd'smodern Welsh paraphrase.[75][i]
This poem is important for a number of reasons. It flatly contradicts the testimony of Bede, who says that Edwin's head was brought toYork Minster after his death.[17] This may suggest the poem is not from the seventh century, though Bede's chronology does not rule out the possibility that Edwin's head was brought to York some time after his death.[72] Given the disruption that Northumbria faced after the death of Edwin, his relatives and the flight of their royal family, it would seem most likely that Edwin's head was not brought to York Minster until Oswald's reign, making the series of events narrated in 'Gofara Braint' plausible.[76] If this poem genuinely dates from the seventh century, it would also be one of the earliest references to Aberffraw as the chief court of the kings of Gwynedd, together with 'Marwnad Cynddylan'.[77]
Since the poem sayso adaw Kymbry wrth ynghussyl 'from leaving Wales after my counsel', the poem refers to events after Cadwallon's death at Heavenfield.[78] The title appears to anthropomorphise the riverBraint in Anglesey, suggesting it bursts its banks for mourning of Cadwallon, though this is not explicitly stated in the surviving five lines of the poem. The river Braint is not far from the royal centre of Aberffraw, and shares its name with the goddessBrigantia, both of which are ultimately derived fromProto-Celtic*brigantī.[79] Other rivers in Britain are derived from the names of Celtic goddesses, such as theAeron andAyr, both of which are named for*Agronā, 'the goddess of slaughter and battle'.[80] It has been argued that the Welsh word for 'king',brenin, originally referred to the ruler who was in ahieros gamos with the goddess, and who was afterwards called*brigantīnos, the male counterpart of Brigantia.[81][82] If this theory is true, the river Braint overflowing with grief may represent a memory in the Christian era of the idea of the land being personified by asovereignty goddess, here Brigantia, who mourns for the death of her mortal consort.[83]
As mentioned, this poem was called 'Marwnad Cadwallon ap Cadfan' by Robert Vaughan, as he understood the poem to be an elegy for Cadwallon. It also is the only poem inCanu Cadwallon to survive in a medieval manuscript, as it is found in the Red Book of Hergest. However, Jenny Rowland edits and translates the poem as 'Englynion Cadwallon', a name which is followed by most subsequent scholars, though John T. Koch refers to it as 'Marwnad Cadwallon' in his edition of 'Moliant Cadwallon'.[84] Rowland renamed it because she understood it to be a later antiquarian composition of the tenth century based on its metre and content, specifically, it replaces the regular tropes of elegy with a catalogue of Cadwallon's battles, and it would therefore be of similar date to early Welsh 'saga' literature likeCanu Heledd andCanu Llywarch Hen.[85][86][87] This catalogue is fifty-five lines in eighteen stanzas, the first inenglyn unodl crwca and the rest inenglyn milwr, though Rowland argues that the eighteenth stanza was not originally part of the text.[88] The list appears to be symbolic of Cadwallon's overlordship over Wales as the battles are recorded in a clockwise fashion around the country.[89] This desire for a preeminent status over the Welsh is also reflected in 'Moliant Cadwallon'.[41] In stanza 15, the speaker calls Cadwallonvym brawt 'my brother', and so R. Geraint Gruffydd understood the speaker to have possessed a similar narrative role as Heledd, who mourns her brother in the sagaenglynion known asCanu Heledd.[85] However, Jenny Rowland notes thatbrawt can also mean 'brother-in-arms, comrade', so a family relationship between the speaker and Cadwallon need not be assumed.[88] Nevertheless, 'Englynion Cadwallon' shows how dramatised and historically plausible sagaenglynion could be created from history, even if many of their events are ultimately pseudo-historical fictions.[90]
In the early Middle Ages, it appears that many traditions about Cadwallon were in circulation.[91][92] This poem appears to make reference to some stories which are now lost, and the battles do not appear to be arranged in chronological order. It may be that the lost stanzas of 'Gofara Braint' informed the content of this poem, assuming that 'Gofara Braint' is earlier than this poem.[93] The only battles which much can be said about are those which are related to Cadwallon's campaign against Edwin.[94] The second stanza mentions a battle 'by the Caint', which is identified with theCeint, a tributary of theRiver Cefni in Anglesey.[95] The third stanza mentions the 'Idon', probably to be identified with theRiver Eden inCumberland.[96] The fifth stanza may refer to a departure fromBreiddin to Hatfield Chase, though note that the fourth stanza recalls also refers to a battle ofMeigen which must be in Powys rather than in Northumbria.[97] The last three stanzas of the poem refer to places in the north of Britain. The 'land of Dunawd' is probably that ofDunod ap Pabo, a ruler somewhere in the 'Old North'.[98] Likewise, the[M]eirin in the sixteenth stanza is probably theSolway Firth, which is known asMerin Reget elsewhere in medieval Welsh literature.[99][100] All other stanzas of the poem not presented below refer to Cadwallon's battles in Wales, but these are difficult to reconcile with what is known of his chronology and activities, so they may be purely figurative claims of overlordship.[101]
Cadwallon before his ?death
achieved ?our success:
fourteen chief battles around great, fair Britain and sixty clashes.
The encampment of Cadwallon by the Caint:
England in affliction, ?tribulation from birds of prey,
a releasing hand – letting go was a privilege.
The encampment of Cadwallon by the Idon:
ungentle grief to his enemies,
a lion with hosts against the Saxons…
The encampment of Cadwallon by the Severn
and from the opposite side to Dygen
Freiddin the burning of Meigen…
The encampment of Cadwallon my brother
on the heights of Dunawd's land:
his anger was not gentle in battle.
The encampment of Cadwallon by Meirin:
a lion with numerous soldiers,
a great host, very cruel its assault.
Because of the counsel of a foreigner and unrighteous monks
water flows from a fountain.
Wretched the day of mourning for Cadwallon.
The seventeenth stanza refers to Cadwallon's death at Heavenfield at the hands of Oswald, which is why it was given the title 'Marwnad Cadwallon ap Cadfan' by Robert Vaughan. The reference to water flowing from a fountain may hint at a tradition where Cadwallon was held to be a saint, and he is indeed calledbendigeit 'blessed' in one of the Welsh Triads.[104] Cadwallon and his sonCadwaladr often had details of their lives and legends confused in later tradition.[105] Other fountains were said to have sprung from the place where a saint or innocent is slain in Welsh hagiography.[106] The references to the 'counsel of a foreigner' and 'unrighteous monks' are also difficult to interpret. The former probably lays blame on Penda, Cadwallon's Anglo-Saxon ally, for the events of the battle, though whether through treachery or misjudgement is unknown.[107] R. Geraint Gruffydd thought it referred to the intervention by Saint Columba recorded in Adomnán'sVita Columbae.[85] However, Jenny Rowland notes that this story does not seem to have been particularly widespread, and suggests that 'monks' may be a contemptuous name for the pious Northumbrian army under Edwin and Oswald, as Oswald held a religious ceremony before the battle.[108] It may also be that these monks ill-advised, betrayed, or even cursed Cadwallon, as he is similarly cursed byBeuno in that saint'sLife.[107]
In addition to these poems edited together asCanu Cadwallon, there are also someenglynion which are said to have been composed by the king himself. They are rubricatedKatwallaw[n] vab Katvan av kant 'Cadwallon ap Cadfan sang them' in the manuscript in which they appear.[109] They occur at the bottom of f. 38r of Peniarth MS 21, below a copy ofBrut y Brenhinedd, during a section running from 37v to 39v concerningGeoffrey of Monmouth's narrative of Cadwallon.[110] At least half an inch has been cut off from the bottom of f. 38, leaving only seven lines of the poem mostly intact.[111]
Broad is the [ocean/ship]'s resolute protection, its long side […]
of the same colour of the blue-green wave before the city of Dublin
before the city of Dublin
Very bright are the bluish-green waves around me
Through fate the seeing of my enemy
my head is wet before […] waves
The ocean is my license, woe is me, God…
The poem reflects the tradition in the Welsh Triads of Cadwallon as one of the "Three Frivolous (Amateur?) Bards".[113] As mentioned, it seems that Cadwallon went into exile in Ireland and gathered his forces before launching his campaign against Edwin. However, Geoffrey of Monmouth recorded that Edwin employed a seer to intercept Cadwallon whenever he would try to land in Britain from his exile, and so this may be the 'fate' causing Cadwallon to see his 'enemy' in the fifth line.[114] It is not certain if Geoffrey invented the story, however, and this may therefore be a fragment of a longer verse saga concerning Cadwallon, though it also likely the scribe may have been the author, and was inspired by the text above on the folio.[109]
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