It is incumbent to sing of the gay and illustrious tribes,
That went upon the message of Mynyddawg, sovereign of the people,
And the daughter [170a] of Eudav the Tall, of a faultless gait, [170b]
Apparelled in her purple robes, thoroughly and truly splendid.
LXVIII.
The soldiers [171a] celebrated the praise of the Holy One,
And in their [171b] presence was kindled a fire that raged on high.
On Tuesday they put on their dark-brown garments; [171c]
On Wednesday they purified their enamelled armour;
On Thursday their destruction was certain;
On Friday was brought carnage all around;
On Saturday their joint labour was useless;
On Sunday their blades assumed a ruddy hue;
On Monday was seen a pool knee deep of blood. [171d]
The Gododin relates that after the toil,
Before the tents of Madog, when he returned,
Only one man in a hundred with him came. [172a]
LXIX.
At the early dawn of morn, [172b]
There was a battle at the fall of the river, [172c] in front of the course; [172d]
The pass and the knoll were pervaded with fire; [172e]
Like a boar didst thou [172f] lead to the mount;
The wealth [172g] of the hill, and the place,
And the dark brown hawks [173a] were stained with gore. [173b]
LXX.
Quickly rising, in a moment of time, [173c]
After kindling a fire at the confluence, [173d] in front of the fence, [173e]
After leading his men in close array,
In front of a hundred he pierces the foremost. [173f]
Sad it was that you should have made a pool of blood,
As if you but drank mead in the midst of laughter; [174a]
But it was brave of you to slay the little man, [174b]
With the fierce and impetuous stroke of the sword;
For like the unrestrained ocean [174c] had the foe [174d] put to death
A man, who would otherwise have been in rank his equal.
LXXI.
He fell headlong down the precipice, [174e]
And the bushes [174f] supported not his noble [174g] head;
It was a violation of privilege to kill him on the breach, [175a]
It was a primary law that Owain should ascend upon the course, [175b]
And extend before the onset the branch of peace, [175c]
And that he should pursue the study of meet [175d] and learned strains.
Excellent man, the assuager of tumult and battle,
Whose very grasp dreaded a sword, [175e]
And who bore in his hand an empty corslet. [175f]
O sovereign, dispense rewards
Out of his earthly shrine. [176a]