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Y GODODIN

PREFACE

Aneurin, the author of this poem, was the son of Caw, lord of CwmCawlwyd, or Cowllwg, a region in the North, which, as we learn froma Life of Gildas in the monastery of Fleury published by Johannes aBosco, comprehended Arecluta or Strath Clyde. {0a} Several of his brothers seem to have emigrated from Prydyn in companywith their father before the battle of Cattraeth, and, under the royalprotection of Maelgwn Gwynedd, to have settled in Wales, where theyprofessed religious lives, and became founders of churches.  Hehimself, however, remained behind, and having been initiated into themysteries of Bardism, formed an intimate acquaintance with Owen, Cian,Llywarch Hen, and Taliesin, all likewise disciples of the Awen. By the rules of his order a Bard was not permitted ordinarily to beararms, {0b} and thoughthe exceptional case, in which he might act differently, may be saidto have arisen from “the lawlessness and depredation” {0c}of the Saxons, Aneurin does not appear to have been present at Cattraethin any other capacity than that of a herald Bard.  Besides theabsence of any intimation to the contrary, we think the passages wherehe compares Owen to himself, and where he makes proposals at the conference,and above all where he attributes his safety to his “gwenwawd,”conclusive on the subject.  His heraldic character would be recognisedby all nations, according to the universal law of warfare, whereas itis very improbable that any poetic effusion which he might have delivered,could have influence upon a people whose language differed so materiallyfrom his own.

The Gododin was evidently composed when the various occurrences thatit records were as yet fresh in the author’s mind and recollection. It is divided into stanzas, which, though they now amount to only ninety-seven,are supposed to have originally corresponded in point of number withthe chieftains that went to Cattraeth.  This is strongly intimatedin the declaration subjoined to Gorchan Cynvelyn, and cited in the notesat page 86, and thence would we infer that the Gorchanau themselvesare portions of the Gododin, having for their object the commemorationof the persons whose names they bear.  Of course all of them, withthe exception of the short one of Adebon, contain passages that havebeen transposed from other stanzas, which may account for their disproportionatelengths.  This is especially the case with Gorchan Maelderw, thelatter, and by far the greater portion whereof, is in the CarnhuanawcMS. detached from the former, and separately entitled “Fragmentsof the Gododin and other pieces of the sixth century.”  Thatthey were “incantations,” cannot be admitted; and if theword “gorchan,” or “gwarchan” mean here anythingexcept simply “a canon, or fundamental part of song,” weshould be inclined to consider it as synonymous with “gwarthan,”and to suppose that the poems in question referred to the camps of Adebon,Maelderw, and Cynvelyn:-

“Gwarchan Cynvelyn ar Ododin.” {0d}

According to the tenor of the Cynvelyn statement, every stanza wouldbring before us a fresh hero.  This principle we have not overlookedin the discrimination and arrangements of proper names, though owingto evident omissions and interpolations, an irregularity in this respectoccasionally and of necessity occurs.

Aneurin, like a true poet of nature, abstains from all artful introductionor invocation, and launches at once into his subject.  His eyefollows the gorgeously and distinctively armed chiefs, as they moveat the head of their respective companies, and perform deeds of valouron the bloody field.  He delights to enhance by contrast theirdomestic and warlike habits, and frequently recurs to the pang of sorrow,which the absence of the warriors must have caused to their friendsand relatives at home, and reflects with much genuine feeling upon thedisastrous consequences, that the loss of the battle would entail uponthese and their dear native land.  And though he sets forth hissubject in the ornamental language of poetry, yet he is careful notto transgress the bounds of truth.  This is strikingly instancedin the manner in which he names no less than four witnesses as vouchersfor the correctness of his description of Caradawg.  Herein heproduces one of the “three agreements that ought to be in a song,”viz. an agreement “between truth and the marvellous.” {0e}

He also gives “relish to his song,” {0f}by adopting “a diversity of structure in the metre;” forthe lyric comes in occasionally to relieve the solemnity of the heroic,whilst at the same time the latter is frequently capable of being dividedinto a shorter verse, a plan which has been observed in one of the MSS.used on the present occasion; e. g. the twelfth stanza is thus arranged,-

Gwyr a aeth Gattraeth gan ddydd
      Neusgoreu } gywilydd
      O gadeu }
      Wygwnaethant } gelorwydd
      Yn geugant}
   A llafn aur llawn anawdd ym bedydd
   Goreuyw hyn cyn cystlwn carennydd
      Ennaintcreu} oe henydd
      Ac angeu}
      Rhagbyddin} pan fu ddydd
      Wawdodyn}
   Neus goreu dan bwylliad neirthiad gwychydd.

But though Aneurin survived the battle of Cattraeth to celebratethe memory of his less fortunate countrymen in this noble composition,he also ultimately met with a violent death.  The Triads relatethat he was killed by the blow of an axe, inflicted upon his head byEiddin son of Einigan, which event was in consequence branded as oneof “the three accursed deeds of the Isle of Britain.” {0g}

His memory, however, lived in the Gododin, and the estimation inwhich the poem was held by his successors has earned for him the titleof “medeyrn beirdd,” the king of Bards.  Davydd Benvras1190-1240, prays for that genius which would enable him

“To sing praises as Aneurin of yore,
The day he sang theGododin. {0h}

Risserdyn 1290-1340 in an Ode to Hywel ab Gruffydd speaks of

“A tongue with the eloquence of Aneurin of splendid song.”