A NEW INTERPRETATION OF A KEY PORTION OF THE DEATH-SONG OF UTHER PEN

Marged Haycock, in her edition of the elegy of Uther Pen[dragon], makes this assessment of the poem's structure:

"The speaker of the present poem presents himself in lines 1-25 as a warrior

above all. In the second half, lines 26-35 the emphasis is on the speaker’s poetic

skill, and his ability as a harpist, piper and crowder (player on the crwth). Other

poems in this collection such as §5 Kat Godeu indicate that both martial and

artistic qualities (as well as others) coexist in the delineation of Taliesin himself,

and it is tempting to assume that he is the speaker of the whole poem.

Alternatively, the second half may have been originally a ‘Taliesin’ piece which

became attached to a soliloquy (?by Uthr) because of the very marked egocentric

nature of the two, and perhaps because Taliesin was imagined to have sung the

deathsong of Uthr (not necessarily the first part of our poem), just as he was the

putative author of Dylan’s elegy and the poem on Cunedda (§§22 and 23)."

While I cannot say whether Taliesin is speaking about himself throughout the elegy, I do now feel I can offer a better translation of some of the more difficult lines.

Below I have given the Welsh text and English, as well as relevant notes from Haycock's commentary.  The two lines I will be dealing with here are highlighted.

Neu vi luossawc yn trydar:

It is I who commands hosts in battle:

ny pheidwn rwg deu lu heb wyar.

I’d not give up between two forces without bloodshed.

Neu vi a elwir gorlassar:

It’s I who’s styled ‘Armed in Blue’:

vy gwrys bu enuys y’m hescar.

my ferocity snared my enemy.

5 Neu vi tywyssawc yn tywyll:

It is I who’s a leader in darkness:

a’m rithwy am dwy pen kawell.

. . . . .

Neu vi eil Sawyl yn ardu:

It’s I who’s a second Sawyl in the gloom:

ny pheidwn heb wyar rwg deu lu.

I’d not give up without bloodshed [the fight] between two forces.

6 a’m rithwy am dwy pen kawell G emends am dwy > an Dwy(w) ‘our Lord’,

understood as the subject of 3sg. subjunct. rithwy ‘transform’ etc., but yn adwy

‘in the breach’ or yn ardwy ‘as a defence’ would give a more regular three

syllables in the central section. Kawell ‘basket, pannier; cradle; fish-trap; creel,

cage; quiver; belly, breast’ (GPC) seems unlikely, as do cowyll ‘maidenhood-fee;

clothing, covering’ (with G s.v. coŵyll), sawell ‘chimney, kiln’ (see on §4.246),

or nawell ‘nine times better’. Cannwyll is sometimes a rhyme partner for tywyll

(e.g. AP line 88 cannwyll yn tywyll; CC 18.13; R1056.15), and would yield full

rhyme. ‘May our Lord, the guiding/chief light, transform me’ is a possibility; or

(with yn adwy) ‘May the guiding/chief light (i.e. God) transform me in the

breach’. Or is pen kawell a basket to collect up the heads he cuts off (line 18)? If

Uthr is the speaker, is vb rithaw to be connected with his transformation through

disguise (see introduction)? Obscure.

7 eil kawyl yn ardu G emends kawyl > Sawyl, the personal name (from Samuelis

via *Safwyl). Sawyl Ben Uchel is named with Pasgen and Rhun as one of the

Three Arrogant Men, Triad 23, as a combative tyrant in Vita Cadoci (VSB 58);

and in CO 344-5. Samuil Pennissel in genealogies, EWGT 12 (later Benuchel),

Irish sources, and in Geoffrey of Monmouth. Other Sawyls include a son of

Llywarch, and the saint commemorated in Llansawel: see further TYP3 496,

WCD 581 and CO 104. Ardu ‘darkness, gloom; dark, dreadful (GPC), sometimes

collocated with afyrdwl ‘sad; sadness’ (see G, GPC).

The first line in question seems, to me, to be fairly straight-forward - if we allow for kawell (cawell), 'basket', being for cafell, 'sanctuary, temple, chancel, choir, cell, chamber.'  As it happens cawell and cafell are related, both being derivatives of Latin cauella. 

"Our Lord, chief of the sanctuary, transforms me."

The second line is probably

"It's I who's a second light (cannwyll - often found in its earliest attestations with one /n/) in the darkness."  I have no doubt this is correct, because cannwyll also has a figurative sense of 'leader', which would match Line 6's 'leader in darkness.'

This motif of transformation apparently provided Geoffrey of Monmouth with his excuse to have Merlin turn Uther into Gorlois (Gorlois = Uther himself as gorlassar).  In reality, Uther is transformed into the second light (or 'candle, luminary, transf. of star, sun, moon, lamp').  We are reminded immediately of Geoffrey of Monmouth's star, which Uther witnesses:

"On his way to the battle, Uther saw a most remarkable spectacle in the skies. There appeared a star of such magnitude and brilliance that it was seen both day and night. The star emitted a single ray of light that created a fiery mass resembling the body and head of a dragon. Shining from the mouth of the dragon came two rays of light. One extended out across the skies of Britain and over Gaul. The other extended out over the Irish Sea culminating in seven lesser beams of light. Such was its magnitude, it could be seen all across Britain and beyond, and filled the people with fear and dread not knowing what it might portend."

Merlin tells the king this about the star:

"For the star, and the fiery dragon under it, signifies yourself, and the ray extending towards the Gallic coast, portends that you shall have a most potent son, to whose power all those kingdoms shall be subject over which the ray reaches. But the other ray signifies a daughter, whose sons and grandsons shall successively enjoy the kingdom of Britain.” 

Alternately, if we retain kawell/cawell, and we allow for Taliesin speaking to us about himself, we could have for the first line -

"Our Lord transforms me, Chief of the Basket."

Haycock may be right; the basket could be for holding trophy heads.  This would be especially apt if it is Urien's decapitated head that is speaking his own elegy.  But, the basket could also be a reference to the transformation of Gwion Bach into Taliesin inside the hide-covered basket, i.e. a coracle.  The boy's "radiant (or shining/bright) brow" is uncovered during the night, giving him his name.  The second line would not need to be altered in this case, as Taliesin's forehead really was a 'second light' in the darkness.  

Sawyl, which I once accepted because Lloyd-Jones is considered an authority on these early sources, plainly does not work as an emendation in the second line.  

If we adopt my first proposed reading, the sanctuary or temple could well be a reference to Lindisfarne.  Urien perished at Aber Lleu (Ross Low) opposite the island after a prolonged engagement against the English on the Holy Island.  But the second reading would mean that much of the MARWNAT VTHYR PEN is about Taliesin himself, and that would add considerable confusion to any attempted interpretation of the poem.

Lindisfarne Castle