I could wish to have been the first to shed my blood in Cattraeth,
As the price [186a] of the mead and beverage of wine in the hall;
I could wish to have been hurt by the blade of the sword,
Ere he was slain on the green plain of Uphin. [186b]
I loved the son of renown, who sustained the bloody fight, [186c]
And made his sword descend upon the violent.
Can a tale of valour be related before Gododin,
In which the son of Ceidiaw [186d] has not his fame as a man of war?
LXXXIII.
Sad it is for me, after all our toil,
To suffer the pang of death through indiscretion;
And doubly grievous and sad for me to see
Our men falling headlong to the ground, [187a]
Breathing the lengthened sigh, and covered with reproaches.
After the strenuous warriors have extended their country’s bounds,
Rhuvawn [187b] and Gwgawn, [187c] Gwiawn and Gwlyged, [187d]
Men at their post most gallant, valiant in difficulties,
May their souls, now that their conflict is ended, [187e]
Be received into the heavenly region, the abode of tranquillity.
LXXXIV.
Tres repelled the foe through [188a] a pool of gore,
And slaughtered like a hero such as asked no quarter, [188b]
With a sling and a spear; [188c]—he flung off his glass goblet
Containing the mead, [188d] and in defence of his sovereignty overthrew an army;
His counsel always prevailed, and the multitude would not speak before him, [188e]
Whilst those that were cowards were not left alive,
Before the onset of his battle-axes, [188f] and his sharpened sword, [188g]
And where his blue banner was seen to wave. [188h]
LXXXV.
There was a reinforcement of [189a] troops,
A supply of penetrating weapons,
And a host of men in the vanguard,
Presenting a menacing front;
In the days of strenuous exertion,
In the eager conflict,
They displayed their valour.
After the intoxication,
When they drank the mead,
Not one was spared.
Though Gorwylam
Was awhile successful,
When the retort was made, it broke the charge
Of the horses and men, by fate decreed.
LXXXVI.
When the host of Pryder [189b] arrives,
I anxiously count [190a] the bands,
Eleven complete battalions;
There is now a precipitate flight [190b]
Along the road of lamentation.
Affectionately have I deplored, [190c]
Dearly have I loved,
The illustrious dweller of the wood, [190d]
And the men of Argoed, [190e]
Accustomed, in the open plain, [191a]
To marshal their troops.
For the benefit of the chiefs, the lord of the war [191b]
Laid upon rough [191c] boards,
Midst a deluge of grief,
The viands for the banquet,
Where they caroused together;—he conducted us to a bright [191d] fire,
And to a carpet of white and fresh [191e] hide.