The former reading is preferred, inasmuch as it exhibits in a more natural and consistent manner the twofold character of Madog, as a soldier and a courtier, which appears to be the object of the Bard to delineate. Our inference on this point is moreover supported by more obvious passages of that description, which occur again in the Poem, such as,—
“Ragorei veirch racvuan
En trin lletvegin gwin o bann.”He surpassed the fleetest steeds
In war, but was a tame animal when he poured the wine from the goblet.
The epithet “cynhaiawc,” assuming it to be the proper term, would also, by reason of its contrasting effect, considerably enhance the value of our hero’s domestic and social courtesy.
[83b] “Twll tal y rodawr.” Dr. Owen Pughe translates this “the front opening of his chariot;” “twll ar ysgwyd,” however, in the lxxxvii stanza, evidently refers to a shield, and this sense is, moreover, supported by “tyllant tal ysgwydawr,” in Taliesin’s Ode on Gwallawg, as well as “rac twll y gylchwy,” used by Cynddelw. The meaning therefore appears to be that wherever the battle raged, there would the chief be found, so boldly and directly fighting as to have the very boss of his shield perforated by the spears of his enemy.
[83c] “Brwyn.” From the practice which the Welsh Bards commonly had of adapting their descriptive similes to the names, armorial bearings, or some other peculiarities of their heroes, we may infer that the chieftain, who is celebrated in this stanza, is none other than Madog ab Brwyn. Indeed one copy reads “mab brwyn,” the son of Brwyn, rather than mal brwyn, as above. He is distinguished in the Triads with Ceugant Beilliog and Rhuvon, under the appellation of the “three golden corpses,” because their weight in gold was given by their families to have their bodies delivered up by the enemy. (Myv. Arch. vol. ii. p. 69.) Madog ab Brwyn was the grandson of Cunedda Wledig, lord of Gododin.
[84a] A maritime region in the north, as we infer, not only from the works of Aneurin, but also from those of Taliesin and Merddin.
[84b] The rest having been slain.
[84c] “Erwyt” (erwyd) a pole, or a staff to mete with, and, like the gwialen, an emblem of authority. “I will—mete out the valley of Succoth.” (Psalm lx. 6.) A similar expression occurs in Llywarch Hen’s Poems with reference to Urien Rheged, viz.
“Oedd cledyr cywlad rhwydd.”
which W. Owen has translated,—