[J 111 →]
I
Duw dinag, dinas^{1 dinag, dinas G 360 suggests that an adjective should undergo soft mutation following Duw (therefore Duw ddinag, ddinas …); however, as noted in TC 119, Duw was often treated as a common noun in Middle Welsh.} tangnefedd,
Duw, dy nawdd, na’m cawdd i’m camwedd,
Duw doeth^{2 Duw doeth Cf. G 413 where doeth is taken to be the third singular preterite form of dyfod; contrast GCBM i, 3.3 where it is understood as the adjective ‘wise’. Lines 3–4 refer to God’s coming from heaven, as Christ, to dwell in the ‘partimony’ of earthly kings.} i deithi teÿrnedd,
Teÿrnas wenwas wirionedd;
5 Duw a’m dwg i’m dogn anrhydedd
I’w wenwlad, i’w rad, i’w riedd,
Yn elwch, yn heddwch, yn hedd,
Yn hoddiaw ^{1 hoddiaw J 111 hodyaỽt is accepted in HG Cref 33 without explanation. Hoddiawd is not listed in GPC Ar Lein, and the form is taken to be an error for hoddiaw, which is tentatively defined, ibid., as an adjective ‘quiet, fortunate, pleasant’, or as a verb ‘clear the way for, facilitate, make or become easy’, c. Hoddiaw and hedd also occur together in GC 2.160 hoddiaw hedd, 7.234 hedd hoddiaw.} yn hawdd farannedd.
Ac eilrodd, eilrodd^{3 eilrodd, eilrodd Eil- is understood as the ordinal ‘second’ in the first eilrodd, but as the noun meaning ‘a weaving’ in the second, the same element that occurs in the root of the verb adeiliaw ‘to weave, to build’, and which was often used figuratively in relation to the composition of poetry, see GPC Ar Lein s.v. ail 2 and cf. l. 10 eildeg ‘intricate weaving’. After praising God (ll. 5–8), Cynddelw presents his second gift to his lord (rwyf), Tysilio (l. 13).} gyhydedd,^{4 cyhydedd Its basic meaning is ‘consistency, equivalency’ and in early poetry it is often found with tryganedd (ll. 10); see G 228; GPC Ar Lein and cf. PTal 58, ‘It is obvious that tryganedd and cyhydedd were synonyms for some kind of song’; also, GMB 2.18 Gvaud tryganet, gvaud kyhidet ‘the consistency of praise, the equivalency of praise’.}
10Areilreg, eildeg dryganedd
A ganwyf i’m rhwyf o’m rhagwedd,
Rhagorfan rhad, rhan ^{2 Rhagorfan rhad, rhan J 111 ragor uam rat ram. As pointed out in HG Cref 176 the text is likely to be defective, the scribe having miscounted minims, twice reading m for nn.} rhagyrwedd:
Tysiliaw terwyn gywrysedd,
Parth amnawdd, ^{3 amnawdd Cf. J 111 am naỽd; amnawdd is taken as a noun, cf. GCBM i, 3.14, G 24 and GPC Ar Lein s.v. amnawdd 1 ‘defence, protection’. If we read a’m nawdd, then Parth a’ m nawdd could be translated as ‘a safe place which affords me protection’.} adrawdd adrysedd.
15Peris nêr o’r nifer nadredd
Praff wiber,^{5 Peris nêr o’r nifer nadredd / Praff wiber … Is the poet referring to Tysilio’s birth in ll. 15–16? See n54(e) for the use of sarff ‘serpent’ as an epithet by the early royal family of Powys. If Tysilio is the wiber ‘viper’ here, then the couplet could be taken as a description of Tysilio himself, and of his eminence amidst his brothers, the lesser nadredd ‘snakes’. This would lead on naturally to the next four lines which name Tysilio’s parents. It may also be possible that Cynddelw is referring to a miracle performed by Tysilio, perhaps associated with the following recorded in Albert le Grand’s version of the Life of Suliau: Le Grand 1837: 484–5, L’heureux Prélat S. Samson, visitant son Diocese, se divertit expressément pour venir voir S. Suliau, lequel le reçcut dans son Monastere & l’y logea trois jours, le traittant, à l’ordinaire du Monastere, de pain, legumes & laitages. Il y avoit, en la compagnie du S. Archevêque, un certain delicat lequel, ne trouvant bon le pain du Monastere, cacha sa portion dans son sein, laquelle incontinent, fut convertie en un serpent, qui luy ceignit le corps (‘The blessed prelate St Samson, visiting his diocese, took a detour expressly to visit St Suliau, who received him in his monastery and put him up there for three days, feeding him in accordance with the usual diet at the monastery of bread, vegetables and dairy products. In the archbishop’s company there was a rather dainty person who, disliking the bread in the monastery, hid his portion in his bosom, which instantly was transformed into a serpent which coiled itself around his body’, translation in SoC, v, 110).} wibiad amrysedd:
Mab Garddun,^{6 Garddun Garddun Benasgell, the daughter of Pabo Post Prydain and the mother of Tysilio. She is named Arddun in ‘Bonedd y Saint’ (see EWGT 59; WCD 21) and also in a poem by Hywel Dafi where he describes Lleucu, the wife of his patron, GHDafi 8.24 Arddun ei hun ydyw hi ‘she is Arddun herself’. The alliteration with ardduniant in Cynddelw’s poem may also support reading Arddun here, despite the manuscript reading, cf. G 521. On Arddun, see further LBS i, 167–8 where it is suggested that she is remembered in the place-name Dolarddun , a township in the parish of Castell Caereinion, to the south-east of Meifod and close to Llannerchfrochwel, see WATU 59.} arddunig fawredd, ^{4 fawredd J 111 naỽred. We can be certain that the scribe intended uaỽred, but the first letter is closer to n than u; cf. n38(t) on Feifod.}
Maboliaeth arfoliaeth waredd,
Mab Brochfael⁠^{7 Brochfael Brochfael Ysgithrog, prince of Powys and father of Tysilio, see EWGT 59 and WCD 60; cf. also n6(e) on Garddun. Brochfael is further associated with Powys in l. 183, and again by Cynddelw in poems to Owain ap Madog ap Maredudd, GCBM i, 15.14 Gwlad Urochfael Ysgithraỽc ‘the land of Brochfael Ysgithrog’ and Owain Cyfeiliog, ibid. 16.232 Powys wenn, ỽlad Urochuael ‘blessed Powys, the land of Brochfael’. For the poetry associated with Taliesin to Cynan Garwyn, another of Brochfael’s sons, see Haycock 2007: 279–80 s.v. rac Brochuael Powys. As well as Llannerchfrochwel near Meifod, see n6(e), Brochwel is found as an element in place-names in Anglesey, Denbighshire and Meirionnydd, see ArchifMR, but it is unclear whether it is the same Brochfael that is named in each of those place-names (cf. n83(e) on Pen Mynydd).} bron hael hawl ornedd,
20Gorpu nef yn Eifionydd⁠^{8 nef yn Eifionydd For the location of the commot of Eifionydd, see WATU 65, 266. Part of the parish of Beddgelert formed the northern boundary of Eifionydd, and if Llan Llydaw, n64(e), is to be associated with an old Celtic clas church in Beddgelert, Cynddelw may be referring here to a period Tysilio spent in that region. However, no further evidence has been found to associate him with the area. The poets frequently describe a church or monastery as ‘heaven’, cf. Gwynfardd Brycheiniog’s description of the church of Brefi, DewiGB l. 247 Nefoedd i gadau o’u hanoddau ‘a heaven for armies in the midst of their misfortunes’; and Ieuan ap Rhydderch’s description of Mynyw, DewiIRh l. 71 Rhyw dud nef ‘a kind of land of heaven’. But is there further significance to this reference to heaven in Canu Tysilio? In Albert le Grand’s Life of Suliau (which was, as we saw in the Introduction, based on hagiographical material concerning Tysilio that had been taken from Wales to Britanny), the saint is said to have led une vie plus Angelique qu’humaine (‘a more angelic than mortal life’) during his exile from Meifod (Le Grand 1837: 482–3). However, a more literal interpretation of gorpu nef is given in Jones and Owen 2003: 59n where the line is taken to refer to ‘Eifionydd as the place of his death’. For further discussion, see the Introduction.} dudedd.^{9 On paper the line seems too long by a syllable, but it would contract naturally to its correct length when rendered orally, Gorpu nef ’n Eifionydd dudedd.}
Mad gyrchawdd garchar alltudedd,
Cyrch cyflawn cyfle difröedd.^{10 Lines 21–2 refer to Tysilio’s journey into exile. This may possibly be connected with the reference to Eifionydd (l. 20), but in the Breton Life of St Suliau, as recounted by Albert le Grand (a Life which was based, as explained in the background note above, on material that derived ultimately from a lost Life of Tysilio which had come from Wales), we are told of two occasions when Suliau was forced to flee into exile. On the first occasion, he spent seven years in a priory associated with Meifod on Ynys Sulio in the Menai Straits, where he had escaped from his father, Brochfael Ysgithrog, whom he believed would force him to abandon his life as a religious (Le Grand 1837: 482; SoC, v, 107–8). On the second occasion, Suliau fled from the widow of his brother, Jacob, after she became malicious towards him because he refused to marry her. As she was threatening to harm the community at Meifod, Suliau decided that he should absent himself for a while (Le Grand 1837: 483–4; SoC, v, 109). He fled once again to Ynys Sulio, but as his sister-in-law was now threatening the monks of Meifod, he decided to leave the country and sail to Brittany, where he settled near the mouth of the river Rance near Saint-Malo. According to another source, associated this time with St Sulian and recorded by Dom Lobineau in the 18th century, the saint fled to Buelt from an unkind woman named Haiarme (she is not described as a sister-in-law this time), and built a church and monastery there: see SoC, v, 112, and n67(e) on llan Gamarch.}
Mad gymerth arnaw praw prudded,
Prif obrwy, obryn trugaredd;
25Mad ganed^{11 mad ganed We would expect mad aned following the pattern of Mad gyrchawdd and Mad gymerth in the two previous couplets, but the alliteration firmly supports the non-mutated ganed here, cf. l. 27 Mad gorau. The two varying practices can perhaps be explained if mad is understood as having adverbial force in this present line (and in l. 27): ‘well was he born’, rather than forming a compound as such with the verb.} o geneddl ^{5 geneddl J 111 genedyl; in this manuscript medial -d- can represent either ‘d’ (cf. l. 21 alltuded ‘alltudedd’) or ‘dd’ (cf. l. 27 madeu ‘maddau’). It is shown in G 129 and GPC Ar Lein s.v. cenedl, ceneddl, that it is often the form with ddl that is found in the earliest texts.} fonedd
Mawrwledig mawrwlad dyllyedd;^{12 tyllyedd A word whose meaning and form is uncertain, see n6(t). 6 dyllyedd J 111 tyllued. A three-syllable form is needed for the metre, and it is unclear whether the reading represents tyllyedd, tyllẅedd or tyllüedd; cf. GMB 23.1 tyllued (= ‘tyllyedd’). For its meaning, and use in the Laws, see GPC Ar Lein s.v. tyllwedd, c., ‘concord, harmony, peace, silence, … pledge, security’, c., and see further GCBM i, 3.26n, also GMB 23.1n where it is explained as a compound of twll ‘period’ + llw/lly ‘pledge’ + -edd ‘a period under (the security of the) pledge’ and paraphrased as ‘cymodlonedd’ (= ‘conciliation’). Both tyllyedd and tyllẅedd are thus acceptable forms, cf. the variant forms of llw ‘pledge’: llwon, llyfain, c. Tyllyedd mutates here in combination with mawrwlad, on which it is dependent; the non-mutated form in the manuscript shows the regular hardening of -d d- > t.}
Mad gorau maddau marthöedd^{13 maddau marthöedd For maddau ‘to let go, … give up, be or do without, abstain from’, c., see GPC Ar Lein. Marthöedd is a hapax form, and the disyllabic ending -öedd is proved by the end-rhyme. It is tentatively taken to be a form of marth, possibly plural, corresponding to the Middle Breton and Cornish marzh ‘wonder, marvel’; the Welsh marth has more negative connotations according to GPC Ar Lein where it is translated as ‘sorrow, distress, ?painful wonder or surprise, fright; ?shame, disgrace’. The couplet (ll. 27–8) describes Tysilio’s attempt to avoid (maddau) the ‘shame’ his sister-in-law was causing him.}
Ac er Duw diofryd gwragedd.
Gwraig enwawg,^{14 gwraig enwawg Probably a reference to Tysilio’s sister-in-law who pursued him when he refused to marry her following her husband’s death; see n10(e) where it is noted that his pursuer was called Haiarme (= ?Haearnwedd) according to one Breton source.} anwar ei throsedd,
30A’i treiddwys^{15 a’i treiddwys Lines 29–32 are taken together, with the proleptic infixed third singular pronoun ’i referring to the object of the verb, llan fechan, in l. 31.} – bu trwy enwiredd –
Llan fechan,^{16 llan fechan A description of Tysilio’s small church in Llandysilio on the Menai Straits, where the saint fled from his vengeful sister-in-law; it is described as a church ‘whose treasures are few’, in comparison with the great church of Meifod or, perhaps, with the royal court where Tysilio had been brought up. Contrast the suggestion in Ellis 1935: 154 that llan fechan could be a variant form of Llanfechain, a parish to the north of Meifod; cf. the forms given in ArchifMR s.n. Llanfechain. The patron saint of the church of Llanfechain was Garmon, another saint with strong associations with Powys, cf. n7(t) (where it is suggested that the beginning of the next line has a reference to Llan Armon) and see HW 245n88; Richards 1970–1: 335.} fychod ei berthedd,
Llan [ ] ym mron ei challedd. ^{7 Llan [ ] ym mron ei challedd The line lacks two syllables, which probably came after Llan. Llan Armon would provide a convenient internal rhyme with mron. Did the angry widow follow the saint there, causing him to flee to the Menai Straits? There is another instance in l. 206 of omitting a word in J 111.}
Dyniawl ^{8 Dyniawl This reading was key in creating the stemma; see the note on the manuscripts.} bobl ni borthant iawnwedd,
Iawn i Dduw ddifanw eu rheufedd,
35Ar eubryd eu bradawg fuchedd,
A’u gweryd, ac Ef a’u gomedd.^{17 Lines 33–6 are a description of those people (such as the vengeful woman, l. 29) whom God rejects (gomedd). Lines 34 and 36 are taken together (Iawn i Dduw ddifanw eu rheufedd … A’u gweryd). Ar (l. 35) is understood as the preposition ‘by (means of), using; as a result of, on account of, because of; on (the grounds of)’, see GPC Ar Lein s.v. ar 1 (6), and (g)eubryd is taken to be a compound noun, following J 111. (HG Cref 33 suggests reading eu bryd, so that the alliterating br/d occurs around the accent as it does in bradawg: eu brýd … brádawg.)}
Cedawl udd, Cadell etifedd,^{18 Cadell etifedd Cadell Ddyrnllug, one of the traditional founders of the royal line of Powys, was Tysilio’s great-grandfather according to the genealogies, see EWGT 59, 107; WCD 73 and the references in GCBM i, 3.37n. Cadell’s lineage, known as the Cadelling, came to an end c.850 with the death of Cyngen ap Cadell, but it was remembered long afterwards as the royal line of Powys; cf. Gwalchmai’s description of a hill in Powys as [C]adellig ure uro Dyssiliaw ‘the hill of Cadell’s descendants in the land of Tysilio’, GMB 9.130n. Cynddelw also mentions the Cadelling in his poem ‘Gwelygorddau Powys’ (‘The Lineages of Powys’), suggesting that some in Powys still claimed descent from this lineage in the 12th century. The second lineage of Powys named in that poem is described as Bleinnyeid reid kunyeid Cadellig ‘The chieftains from the lineage of Cadell are leaders in our hour of need’, GCBM i, 10.28. See also n48(e) on Gwaith Cogwy.}
Cadair côr yn cadw ^{9 cadw Another important reading for the creation of the stemma; see the note on the manuscripts.} haelonedd,^{19 cadw haelonedd For this use of cadw in the sense of ‘upholding’ or ‘guarding’ generosity, cf. GDB 3.17 haelonaeth – a geidw ‘he upholds generosity’; GBF 23.16 Gỽr cadwent, kedwis haeloni ‘A hero in battle, he upheld generosity’.}
Cedwis draig dragon^{20 draig dragon Words commonly used by the poets for a prince who was a military chieftain; they are taken here to refer to Tysilio and his monks, possibly as soldiers who fought against sin and creulonedd ‘cruelty’, l. 40.} gynhaddledd,
40Casäu caru creulonedd.
Cared bawb ceradwy ddiwedd,
Cerennydd^{21 cerennydd ‘Friendship, love, reconciliation’, c., GPC Ar Lein s.v. carennydd, referring here to reconciliation with God at the end of life (l. 41 diwedd), before the time comes for those who are not in a state of reconciliation with God to receive punishment for any sins committed (cyn cerydd caredd): cf. GMB 23.25–6 Kymhennaf y dyn kynn y diwed / Kymodi a Duỽ kyn mut y med ‘The wisest thing for man to do before his end / is to reconcile with God before moving into the grave.’} cyn cerydd caredd.
Ceritor fy ngherdd yng nghyntedd^{22 cyntedd The most honourable part of the hall, cf. GPC Ar Lein ‘part of the hall in which the king sat in medieval times’. The poets often state that it was in the cyntedd that they declaimed their poetry and received mead in return; cf. Cynddelw’s claim in a poem for Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd, GCBM ii, 6.238–9 Rydyrllid uyg kert yg keinyon – o uet / Yg kyntet Teyrnon ‘My poem is worthy of my honourable drink of mead in the cyntedd of Teyrnon’.}
Yn yd gâr gwŷr gwanar gwinwledd;
45Caraf-i lan ^{10 Caraf-i lan J 111 Caraf ylañ. As it stands, the line is too long by a syllable. For the use of affixed pronouns in the poetry of the Poets of the Princes, and whether they should be counted in the line-length or not, see Andrews 1989: 13–29. The author of Gramadeg Gwysanau (c.1375) seemed to view these pronouns as a feature of orthography, see Parry Owen 2010: 26 (note on l. 57 karaue eos). As Cynddelw’s lines tend to be of standard length, the affixed pronoun is not included in the syllable count here.} a’r llên^{23 llên The scholars or clerics at Meifod; cf. DewiGB ll. 67–8 Gwelaf i wir yn llwyr a llewenydd mawr / A llên uch allawr heb allu clwyf ‘I will see complete authority and great joy / and clerics above the altar who do not suffer any injury’.} gan gadredd
Ger y mae Gwyddfarch⁠^{24 Gwyddfarch The founder of the earliest of the three churches at Meifod: see ‘Eglwys Gwyddfarch’, in Thomas 1908–13: i, 496–7; also Coflein s.n. St Tysilio and St Mary’s Church, Meifod, ‘The site is believed to have become a Christian foundation c.550, dedicated first to St. Gwyddfarch, and later to St. Tysilio. The remains of this early church were still visible in the eighteenth century, but little trace remains today. A second church was built in the twelfth century by Madoc Maredudd, whose remains are believed to be buried within the grounds; much of the fabric of this building remains today.’ Gwyddfarch is also associated with Gallt yr Ancr near Meifod, where there was once a place called Gwely Gwyddfarch. The Breton Life of St Suliau claims that Gwyddfarch (Guymarcus) was the first abbot of the monastery that was founded by the princes of Powys at Meifod, and that it was to him that Suliau went when he decided to relinquish his life as a soldier and become a monk; see Le Grand 1837: 481–2; SoC, v, 106–7. For his lineage, see EWGT 60 Gỽyduarch yMeiuot m. Amalrus tywyssawc y Pwyl.} uch Gwynedd:^{25 uch Gwynedd Uch probably means ‘beyond’ here, see GPC Ar Lein s.v. uch 1, and cf. Richards 1964–5: 9–18 who demonstrates that the preposition u(w)ch originally meant ‘on the other side’ in place-names, whilst is denoted the location of the administrative centre or caput of a cantref or cwmwd. According to Jones and Owen 2003: 59–60, this reference to uch Gwynedd ‘places “Canu Tysilio”, not in the court of the prince of Powys sometime during the reign of Madog, … but in Gwynedd, probably in the last decade of the reign of Owain Gwynedd who died in 1170’. That suggestion is rejected and the reference to Gwynedd here is taken in the context of the poet’s earlier description of Tysilio fleeing there to escape his vengeful sister-in-law. After describing the saint’s small church on the Menai Straits, without actually naming it (see in particular ll. 29–32 and n16(e)), Cynddelw dedicates the ending of the caniad to describing Meifod which lies ‘beyond Gwynedd’. For this line, see further the Introduction.}
Gwyddfidle glywdde glew dachwedd,^{26 tachwedd ‘Slaughter, also fig.’, according to GPC Ar Lein. The line praises the cemetery at Meifod, a burial-place for those who had fallen in a ‘brave slaughter’ (glew dachwedd). 11 dachwedd J 111 deachwed, the first e being unclear; the form is unknown and causes the line to be too long by a syllable. Tachwedd is used by Cynddelw to mean ‘battle’, cf. GCBM ii, 433.}
Gŵydd fynwent, gwyddfa brenhinedd,^{27 gwyddfa brenhinedd The Chronicle of the Princes informs us that it was in the cemetery of Tysilio’s church in Meifod that Madog ap Maredudd, the prince of Powys, was buried in 1160: BT (RB) 140, 141: Ac yMeivot, yn y lle yd oed y wydua, yn eglwys Tissilyaw sant y cladwyt yn enrydedus ‘And in Meifod, where his burial-place was, in the church of St. Tysilio, he was honourably buried’. Unfortunately we do not know where Maredudd ap Bleddyn, Madog’s father, was buried in 1132 (ibid. 112), but later princes of Powys, including Owain Cyfeiliog, were buried at Strata Marcella at the end of the century.}
Beirdd neued, niferawg orsedd,
50Braisg adorth, eorth ehofnedd,
Breinawg log, leudir cyfannedd,
Meifod wen: nid meiwyr a’i medd!

Nis medd trais, nis traidd ysgeraint,
Nis daered trefred y trisaint.^{28 trisaint The three saints associated with Meifod, namely Gwyddfarch, Tysilio and Mary. The dedication to Mary was made in 1155, see BT (RB) 132–5, and this gives us a terminus post quem for the poem. Roberts 1956–8: 183 argued that the third saint was Sulien, and not Mary; however Richards 1965: 32 explained that Sulien and Tysilio were one and the same, Tysilio being a variant form of Sulien, with the hypocoristic element ty- and the ending -io associated in particular with saints’ names (cf. Teilo).}
55Mwy yndi ^{12 yndi J 111 yndi. Third person singular feminine of the preposition yn; cf. CadfanLlF ll. 103, 150 see Sims–Williams 2013: 46 et passim. The form yndi (as opposed to ynddi) is often proved in later poetry by cynghanedd, e.g. GHDafi 36.30 Ni’m edwyn undyn yndi ‘Not a single man knows me therein’. But it is quite possible that yndi here represents ‘ynddi’, as the scribe regularly used d for ‘dd’ following n, e.g. kyndelỽ ‘Cynddelw’.} – gwesti gwesteifiaint –
Ei balchnawdd nog amrawdd ^{13 amrawdd J 111 amraỽt (which suggests ‘amrawd’) is taken as an error for amraỽd, with GPC Ar Lein s.v. amrawdd. Both amrawdd and amraint occur together in another line by Cynddelw in GCBM ii, 16.100 O amraỽd amreint diara (J 111 text), and the ending -awdd is confirmed by the internal rhyme for cynghanedd sain ibid. 4.24 O’e amraỽt, gwarthulaỽt gorthorrynt (LlGC 6680B text).} amraint: ^{14 The punctuation in J 111 suggests that the scribe interpreted ll. 55–6 as a toddaid. If that was the case, this would be the only toddaid in the entire poem, and the 11:5 division of syllables, instead of the standard 10:6, would be unusual for Cynddelw’s poetry. The lines have therefore been interpreted as a standard cyhydedd fer.}
A’i balchlan yrhwng ei balchnaint,
A’i balchwyr a’i balchwyr ^{15 balchwyr … balchwyr J 111 balchwyr … balchwyr. It is assumed that the poet is repeating the same word, in the first instance referring to the brave men who defended Meifod’s sanctuary and in the second more specifically to the religious men of Meifod. John Davies interpreted the second balchwyr as ‘balchwir’ in LlGC 4973B (an indirect copy of J 111), which would give ‘and her brave men and her proud justice full of zeal’.} tesaint,
A’i balchlwys eglwys eglurfraint,
60A’i balchradd^{29 balchradd The second element, gradd, could also mean ‘order, class (of angels, clergy, nobility, c.)’, referring to the monks at Meifod, see GPC Ar Lein.} a’i balchrodd tramaint,
A’i balchwawr yn awr yn newaint,
A’i balchgor heb achor echwraint,^{30 echwraint ‘Destruction’ or ‘force’, following G 436; contrast GPC Ar Lein which gives for this instance the meaning ‘defence, protection, succour’. Cynddelw is praising the security of the church in the dead of night.}
A’i balch offeiriad a’i hoffeiriaint, ^{16 The line is too long, and offeiriad was probably meant to be disyllabic (’ffeiriad).}
A’i pharawd offeren hoffaint.
65Balch ei bagl, bagwy aur ei hemiaint,
Balch ei llog rhag^{31 rhag Cynddelw is praising the church building (llog) of Meifod which can withstand (stand against) floods from nearby water courses (cf. the reference in l. 57 to the church’s location amidst its streams). In contrast, ll. 67–70 describe the weak throng (plaid) who failed to stop hell being overwhelmed by various plagues, floods and fire. On rhag and its wide range of meanings, see GPC Ar Lein.} y llifeiriaint,
Annhebig i’r blaid a blyg haint,
Afflau ffrau a phryfed llyffaint^{32 pryfed llyffaint The combination is understood to mean ‘frogs’ (or perhaps ‘toads’, if its meaning varied according to dialect in Middle Welsh as it does today). For pryf ‘(small) wild animal, beast, creature’ in general, see GPC Ar Lein s.v. pryf 1 (f). Frogs or toads, like snakes, were often envisaged as being found in hell, e.g. LlDC 7.29 mentions its llyffeint a nadret ‘frogs/toads and snakes’.}
A thân poen, ^{17 A thân poen Cf. J 111 athan poen, but if we read Affan poen with GCBM i, 3.69, there is cymeriad (alliteration) with the beginning of l. 68 Afflau and l. 70 Uffern. Affan ‘pain, torment’, c. (cf. GPC Ar Lein), often occurs with uffern in the poetry, cf. GCBM ii, 17.123–4 Yn uffern gethern … / Yn affan poethuann; GMB 22.13–14 Yn taerdan aphann uffernaỽl / Vffern …} porthloedd ^{18 porthloedd J 111 porthoed. The earliest example of porthoedd, plural of porth ‘entrance’, given in GPC Ar Lein (s.v. porth 2) is late (16th cent./17th cent.), and so the emended form porthloedd given in LlGC 4973B is adopted here; cf. l. 195 porthloedd (J 111 porthloed), and for further examples of the word in Cynddelw’s poetry, see GCBM ii, 2.36, 4.146. It is possible that John Davies emended the form in LlGC 4973B on the basis of meaning (because a singular noun is more likely here), or perhaps he followed Siôn Dafydd Rhys’s emendation in his now lost copy of the poem in Pen 118; see the note on the manuscripts.} digofiaint,
70Uffern wern ffyrf ^{19 ffyrf J 111 ffuryf. The suggestion in HG Cref 179 to read ffyrf ‘cadarn’, c., is followed here. As the line is a syllable short, ffyryf may contain two syllables, or perhaps the reading should be emended, as in GCBM i, 3.70 Uffern wern ffurf, ffyrf ei henaint ‘in the form of hell’s mire, of great antiquity’.} ei henaint.
Cyn arnaf ernywed wythaint,
Wyth prifwyd^{33 wyth prifwyd John Cassian (d. 435) named eight deadly sins, but by the Age of the Princes, seven was the more unusal number: see Capps 2000: 11–12. However, there are further references to the eight cardinal sins in twelfth-century poetry, cf. GMB 14.46, 24.36.} wyth prifwyth gymaint, ^{20 Wyth prifwyd wyth prifwyth gymaint J 111 wyth p’f ỽythprif wyth p’fkymeint, which is obviously defective. The reading suggested in HG Cref 179 is adopted here (but with the soft mutation of cymaint for the sake of meaning; the manuscript reading may be the result of the hardening of g- > c- following -th). Prifwyth and prifwyd occur together again in GCBM ii, 17.42 Kyfyrdwyth kyfarfyrdwyth prifwyth prifwyd ‘the intense hardship that follows the chief rage of the deadly sin’. Soft mutation follows the numeral wyth in GMB 14.46 wyth bechaỽd ‘eight sins’, 24.36 Wyth brifwyt ‘eight deadly sins’, and that was the original pattern, according to TC 135. However, as the non-lenited consonant follows in GLlF 25.19 Wyth cad ac wyth cant ac wyth teulu – taer ‘Eight hundred and eight armies and eight ardent retinues’, the manuscript reading is followed here, rather than emending > Wyth brifwyd, wyth brifwyth.}
Cyn ergryd penyd poenofaint,
Porthwyr Duw, poed wynt fy ngheraint
75Pan fo pawb, pan fwyf heb henaint
Yn oed dewr dengmlwydd ar hugaint:^{34 dengmlwydd ar hugaint For the idea that everyone will be thirty years of age at the time of their resurrection, namely Christ’s age when he was crucified, cf. Elidir Sais’s reference to the end of life, GMB 19.13–14 Ys bwyf yn oed dyn dengmlwydd – ar hugain / Rhag deulin fy Arglwydd ‘May I be the age of a thirty-year old man before the knees of my Lord’; also Siôn Cent, IGE 274.3–4 Pawb yn ddengmlwydd, arwydd Iôr, / Ar hugain heb ddim rhagor ‘Everyone, the sign of the Lord, being thirty years old and no more’.}
Pan ddêl brawd rhag bron uchelsaint,
A’m rhoddwy Creawdr cyreifaint!
Cyn minnau, ^{21 minnau J 111 mimneu; a consequence of miscounting minims.} cyn ni bwyf^{35 cyn minnau, cyn ni bwyf … The syntax is rather unusual, but seems to be a means to emphasize the verb’s subject. Cf. the repetition of can in ll. 237–8 Can drugar, can wâr weryddon, / Can derrwyn, can dorf engylion.} gywraint, ^{22 cyn ni bwyf gywraint J 111 kynnybỽyf gywreint. Cf. G 119, s.v. ke, where kynny here is understood as a compound of cy(d) ‘although’ and the negative ni; for cyn ni ‘although … not’, see GMW 235–6.}
80 Cynddelw wyf, cynhelwaf^{36 cynhelwaf For the meaning of the verb in the context of a poet’s song for his patron, cf. DewiGB l. 4n (explanatory) on cynnelw.} o fraint,
Cerdd newydd i’m rhebydd rhygaint,^{37 rhygaint An archaic form of the first person preterite of rhyganu; for caint ‘I sang’, see GMW 124; G 109; and cf. DewiGB ll. 6 hynny dygaint. As the orthography does not differentiate between rh- and r-, it is difficult to decide whether the verb should undergo soft mutation here. The alliteration with rhebydd favours rhygaint, and there are plenty of examples in the poetry of the syntactical pattern object + non-mutated verb, without a relative pronoun connecting them, cf. GMW 181; and further on the preverbal particle rhy-, see ibid. 166–8.}
Cain awen gan awel bylgaint.^{38 Cain awen gan awel bylgaint Cf. in particular Gwynfardd Brycheiniog’s petition at the beginning of his poem for St David: DewiGB ll. 1–2 A’m rhoddo Dofydd (dedwydd dewaint) / Awen gan awel pan ddêl pylgaint ‘May God give me (blessed is the dead of night) poetic inspiration with the breeze at the break of dawn’, and see DewiGB l. 2n (explanatory) for the meaning and form of pylgeint, ‘matins’ or ‘morning prayer’ as well as ‘dawn’, and the further suggestion that Gwynfardd may be echoing this line by Cynddelw.}

Pylgeinau^{39 pylgeinau For pylgain, an earlier form of plygain, see DewiGB l. 2n (explanatory). Does this couplet suggest that Cynddelw was honoured by contributing to the service itself (rhwyddgadr yd genir) – is it to such a context that his poems to God (GCBM ii, poems 16–17) also belong?} raddau ^{23 raddau J 111 radeu which could represent either raddau (the lenited form of graddau) or radau (the lenited form of rhadau). The first interpretation is followed here, the poet describing the particular respect shown towards him at Meifod. This reading also gives full cynghanedd sain in the line. However, rhadau is also possible, especially as rhad and rhoddi in their various forms often occur together in the poetry: Pylgeinau radau a’m rhoddir ‘the blessings of the matins services are given to me’.} a’m rhoddir,
Rhodd rhwyddgall, rhwyddgadr yd genir:
85Canu draig Brydain⁠^{40 draig Brydain Is this Tysilio, whose success as a military leader in seventh-century Powys is described in the following caniad?} a brydir,
O bryder berthfalch yd berchir.
Berth ^{24 Berth J 111 beth; the emendation given in LlGC 4973B Berth is accepted as the word is repeated at the beginning of each line (cymeriad) to l. 91.} y mae Meifod a’i hamdir,
Berth elfydd rhag Elfed⁠^{41 Elfed A kingdom in the Old North, corresponding to south-west Yorkshire, and remembered in contemporary place-names as Elmet, e.g. Barwick in Elmet: see Koch 2006: ii.670–1, and the map which shows that the southern border of Elfed lay adjacent to the territory of Mercia. This mention of the hostile people of Elfed is understood in HG Cref 180 as a reference to Powys and Mercia’s struggle against Oswald, king of Northumbria, which culminated in the battle of Cogwy, see ll. 117–18, 127–8.} enwir;
Berth ei llog wrth ei lleu ^{25 wrth ei lleu J 111 ỽrth lleu. The pronoun ei is added, following HG Cref 179, as we would expect soft mutation following the preposition wrth (cf. CA l. 138 wrth leu babir ‘by rushlights’, and see TC 385). Adding ei also ensures the correct line length and alliteration between lleu and llog.} babir,
90 Berth ei chlas a’i chyrn glas gloywhir;
Berth radau Rhiau rhygredir,
A’u credwy, credwch na thwyllir!
Tranc ar Dduw traethaf na ellir,
Trawd ar ddyn a’i tremyn trwy ddir,
95Periglus, pellus, pell ddygir,
Pall arnaw pwyllaf y dognir.
Preswylgoll drwydoll^{42 trwydoll The feminine form of the adjective trwydwll, a variant of trydwll ‘full of holes … shattered’, see GPC Ar Lein s.v. trydwll. It is understood as a description of the effective assault brought upon those who dare attack Meifod by force (trwy ddir, l. 94). Praising a church’s immunity from external violence is a common theme in the poetry to saints, suggesting the effectiveness of a particular saint’s protection; cf. the description of Cadfan’s church in Tywyn as a place where no violence dares to go, Myn na llefais trais trasglwy fyned ‘the place where violence does not venture to go by intent’, CadfanLlF l. 18.} engir, ^{26 The line is short of a syllable and may possibly be corrupt.}
Present fradw, fradawg y’i gelwir,
Pobl fyd yn ein gwŷd ^{27 Pobl fyd yn ein gwŷd J 111 Pobyl vyd yn an gỽyd which, following the usual orthography of J 111, suggests ‘Pobl fydd yn ein gwŷdd’. However, for the sense, d is taken to represent ‘d’ in both words, rather than ‘dd’, following HG Cref 35 and GCBM i, 3.99.} y’n gelwir,
100Pawb ohonam ^{28 ohonam For a suggestion that the original form used here was ohonan, see Sims–Williams 2013: 12–13. However, the cynghanedd favours ohonam.} am ein cam y’n cosbir.
A wnêl iawn (rhadlawn rhymolir^{43 rhymolir As in l. 107 llawen rhygyrchir and l. 108 a fo llachar, rhyllochir, the object of rhymolir is not expressed, but it is given in the translation. Generally (but not without exception) rhy- is followed by the soft mutation of p, t, c in Cynddelw’s poetry, and by non-mutation of the other consonants. Reading rhy’i molir (with the object expressed as an internal pronoun, ’i) is also possible.})
A fydd rhydd y dydd yd fernir;
A fo gŵyl, golau yd noddir,
Golwg Dduw arnaw a ddodir;
105A fo gwan wrth wan, wrth iawnwir,
Yn llwrw pwyll, pell yd adroddir;
A fo llary, llawen rhygyrchir,
Ac a fo llachar, rhyllochir;
A fo gwâr, gwell yd foddëir
110Nog a fo anwar ac enwir!

Enwir ddyn a êl i’th erbyn,^{44 Enwir ddyn a êl i’th erbyn Lines 111–16 are taken together, and the poet seems to be addressing his audience at Meifod. The enwir ddyn is understood to refer to Tysilio, who is described in ll. 111–14. He is the one who will welcome you (êl i’th erbyn) on Judgement Day. (For the use of yn erbyn in a similar context, cf. DewiGB ll. 37–8 Tra êl yn erbyn, i’r parth nodawg, / Padrig a’i luoedd yn lluosawg ‘while Patrick and his hosts in a great multitude go to meet him in the appointed place’.) The beginning of this caniad is therefore linked thematically with the end of the previous one. For mynd yn erbyn ‘to go and meet’, see GPC Ar Lein s.v. erbyn: mynd yn erbyn (iii). At first it seems unexpected that Tysilio is described as an ‘overpowering’ man (see GPC Ar Lein s.v. enwir), but he is praised throughout this caniad as a military leader, and it is his military strength that will enable him to defend Meifod from its enemies. However as the element en- sometimes has a strengthening or affirmative force (cf. enfawr ‘very big’), enwir may mean ‘very true / faithful’ here (although GPC Ar Lein s.v. enwir 2 suggests that enwir in this sense was a late eighteenth-century coinage).}
Enwawg fydd, fegys ei herfyn,^{45 fegys For fegys, an older form of megis, fegis, cf. GMB 28.4 where it makes internal rhyme with uelys. Cynddelw refers to the ‘supplication’ or ‘petition’ (erfyn) of Meifod (feminine noun) on behalf of its people.}
Enw ddraig, ddragon amddiffyn,
Anwar fâr, feddgyrn eisyddyn:
115 Tysiliaw teÿrnedd gychwyn,^{46 teÿrnedd gychwyn A loose combination (containing a verbal noun, cychwyn, preceded by its object, teÿrnedd) used adjectively to describe Tysiliaw. On such combinations, see Parry Owen 2003: 248–9 and cf. especially GLlLl 12.47 Milỽr milwyr gynytu ‘A soldier who causes soldiers to succeed’. Contrast Williams 1926–7: 59, who translates ‘of the race of kings’, taking cychwyn to be a noun.}
Trais wenwyn terrwyn, ^{29 terrwyn J 111 terwyn. It forms an internal rhyme with gwenwyn (-ŵyn), see n41(t).} torf erchwyn.
Pan aeth^{47 Pan aeth … The destination, Gwaith Cogwy, is expressed without a preposition following a verb of motion, aeth, see n30(t).} gŵr, gormes ufelyn,
Gwaith Cogwy,^{48 Gwaith Cogwy This is the battle of Cogwy which was fought c.642, when Oswald, king of Northumbria, was defeated by Penda, king of Mercia. The battle is named Bellum Cocboy in the ‘Historia Brittonum’ and the ‘Annales Cambriae’, see Williams 1926–7. According to Bede it was fought at Maserfelth, traditionally located near Oswestry; see Stancliffe 1995: 84–96. Powys and Mercia seem to have formed a coalition against Northumbria from the early 630s onwards, and the battle of Cogwy is generally interpreted as an attempt by Oswald to attack this powerful force, see Finberg 1964: 73. Cynddelw clearly believed that Tysilio (from the lineage of the Cadelling) fought with the confederates, and the following stray verse from Canu Heledd records a tradition that Cynddylan, Heledd’s brother, from the lineage of the Cyndrwynyn, was also present: Gweleis ar lawr Maes Cogwy / Byddinawr a gawr gymwy. / Cynddylan oedd kynnorthwy ‘On the ground at Maes Cogwy I saw / armies and the toil of battle: / Cynddylan was a supporter’, CLlH XI verse 111: see further Rowland 1990: 124–5; Koch 2013: 231–3. Was there a tradition in twelfth-century Powys that the lineages of the Cadelling and the Cyndrwynyn, under the leadership of Tysilio and Cynddylan, had formed a coalition with Penda to defeat their common enemy, Oswald of Northumbria? We can never know whether Tysilio did indeed take part in this battle, but if the Brocmail who, according to Bede, fought at the battle of Chester in c.616 was Tysilio’s father, Brochfael Ysgithrog, then it is chronologically possible (Bede is quoted in Koch 2013: 107, and see further ibid. 109–10; but see WCD s.n. Brochwel for other possibilities). Whatever the truth may be, this reference by Cynddelw to a battle fought in the 7th century provides evidence of the ‘especially lively interest in the older heroic traditions at the court of Madog ap Maredudd in the mid-twelfth century’, as noted in TYP xcvii. 30 Gwaith Cogwy LlGC 6680B Gweith cogwy; J 111 gỽeith gogỽy. Although the proper noun usually mutates following gwaith ‘battle’ (e.g. GCBM i, 24.20 gweith Ueigen; GCBM ii, 1.40 Gweith Uadon), there are a few instances where the non-mutated consonant occurs (e.g. GCBM ii, 1.56 Gweith Brynn Dygannhwy; GDB 18.28 Gỽeith Canyscaỽl). The earliest manuscript is followed here. Note also that Gwaith does not mutate here as the ‘destination’ of a verb of motion, TC 227–8; for further examples of withstanding mutation after a metrical break, in the middle or at the end of a line, see ibid. 196.} gwythgad ymosgryn,
Pan gyrchwyd, ymlynwyd rhwyd rhyn
120Ym mhlymnaid, ym mhlaid ^{31 ym mhlaid LlGC 6680B ym pleid; this is missing from J 111, where the line lacks two syllables.} ymwrthfyn,
Yn rheiddun orun oresgyn
Yn nydd rhaid â rhodawg yng ngryn,
Yn rhodwydd^{49 rhodwydd GPC Ar Lein rhodwydd 1 ‘defensive dyke, defence, ?ford’, and cf. the suggestion in CLlH 159 that it was used in the poetry to describe the location of the fiercest fighting in battle. It also occurs as a place-name, and that is possible here, see Rowland 1990: 512–13.} ebrwydd yn erbyn,
Yn rhodle gwyach^{50 gwyach The poetry suggests a bird of prey that fed on corpses following battle: e.g. GCBM i, 12.30–1 gwaed gwyr y ar wlith, / A gwyach hylef, hylith ‘the blood of men upon dew, / and a loud well-fed gwyach’, also GCBM ii, 4.19. GPC Ar Lein notes that it is cognate with Old Irish fíach ‘raven’, both deriving from a root *ues- ‘to feast’. Eighteenth-century lexicographers seem to have associated it with the grebe, a bird which feeds on small fish and insects, however this does not tally with Cynddelw’s description of gwyach; see Jones 1999: 125–8.} gwyarllyn,
125Yng nghyfrgain gyfwyrain ^{32 gyfwyrain J 111 kyfwyrein; it mutates following the adjective cyfrgain ‘excellent’ (although the unmutated form would give full cynghanedd sain).} cyfrbyn,
Yng nghyfrgoll ^{33 yng nghyfrgoll J 111 ygkyrgoll. Cynddelw places cyfrgoll and cyfwyrain together again in GCBM i, 17.3 O win kyuyrgein nyd kyuyrgoll.} tewdor ddôr ^{34 tewdor ddôr J 111 tewdor tor which is understood as a nominal compound with dôr being the principal element and therefore undergoing soft mutation: literally, ‘the defence (dôr) of a stronghold (tewdor)’ / ‘defence of strength’. The mutation of the feminine noun dôr > ddôr is proved by alliteration with the following adjective ddychlyn. For tewdor ddôr ddychlyn, cf. l. 182 tewdor ddôr ddiffryd, also GCBM i, 16.93 teudor dor Dygen (= ‘tewdor ddôr Ddygen’) ‘the defender of the strength of Dygen’.} ddychlyn,
Yng nghyfranc Powys, pobl ddengyn,
Ac Oswallt fab Oswi Aelwyn,^{51 Oswallt fab Oswi Aelwyn Oswi was, in reality, Oswald’s brother rather than his father, both being the sons of Aethelfrith, king of Northumbria: see ODNB s.n. Oswiu [Oswy] 611/12–670. When Oswald perished at the battle of Cogwy (see n48(e)), he was succeeded by his brother: BD 202.10–11 A guedy llad Oswallt y doeth Oswi Aelwyn y uravt yn urenhin wedy ef ‘And when Oswald was killed, Oswi Aelwyn, his brother, became king after him’. Some later poets also refer to Oswi with the epithet Aelwyn (e.g. GLGC 112.95 Oswy aelwyn) although the combination does not seem to occur outside Welsh sources. Oswi had a son named Aelfwine, who became king of Deira in 670–9. Did the Old English Aelfwine become Aelwyn in Welsh, the f- disappearing as it did in names such as Golystan (< Wolfstan) and Elystan (< Ælfstan), and was that name misinterpreted in Welsh as an epithet ‘of white eyebrows’ (Jones 1926–7: 32)? The fact that the author of the ‘Historia Brittonum’ refers to Oswald as Lamnguin ‘of shining blade’ suggests that there was a Welsh tradition of giving epithets to old Northumbrian kings as early as the 9th century, see ODNB s.n. Oswald [St Oswald] (603/4–642). Aelfwine died young in a battle against Mercia near the river Trent. This reference to the name by Cynddelw, despite being inaccurate, suggests that the memory of Aelfwine had survived as late as the 12th century at least in Powys.}
Yn aele ofal amofyn,^{52 A difficult line. Tentatively it is taken to describe the ambitions of Tysilio and his men in battle, namely to seek to cause (amofyn) woeful (aele) trouble (ofal) for their enemies.}
130– Oedd aelaw coel cwynaw Canfryn⁠^{53 Canfryn It is tentatively interpreted as a place-name, cf. GCBM i, 3.130n. If the location of the battle of Cogwy is indeed to be associated with the old hill fort near Oswestry, known today as Old Oswestry (see n48(e)), then Canfryn (can(t) ‘an enclosure’ + bryn ‘hill’) would be a credible description of the hill. However, no evidence has been found to support this suggestion. For Old Oswestry and images of the hill in earlier times, see English Heritage ‘History of Old Oswestry Hillfort’. See also n35(t). 35 Canfryn It is tentatively understood as a place-name (see n53(e)); however, as J 111 gives it as two words, can vrynn, can could be interpreted as a preposition, and the line translated as ‘The signs of grief are numerous over the hill’ (a description of the destruction on the hill following the battle of Cogwy).} –
Yn rhyfel yn rhyfawr ddisgyn,
Wrth ddisgyr cedwyr cadr wehyn,
Yng nghynnif seirff oedd sarff^{54 seirff … sarff For the juxtaposition of seirff and sarff here, cf. GCBM i, 16.58 Digriuỽch dragon, dreic ofrwy ‘The pleasure of warriors, a brilliant warrior’, also ibid. 21.10. Sarff and seirff are rather uncommon metaphors in the poetry for ‘warrior(s)’: three of the other four instances belong to Cynddelw, GCBM i, 8.45, 11.9, 24.105 and GLlLl 4.9 (the few other instances occur in the context of hell and the devil). For an instance from the earlier period, cf. CA l. 718. Is it likely that Cynddelw is recalling the epithet Sarffgadau (lit. ‘serpent of battles’) associated with Selyf, Tysilio’s nephew, the son of his brother, Cynan Garwyn? In his poem ‘The Privileges of the Men of Powys’, Cynddelw described the warriors of Powys as cosgort Dyssilyaỽ ‘the retinue of Tysilio’, and further as Canaon Selyf, seirff cadeu – Meigyen ‘the descendants of Selyf, serpents of armies of Meigen’, recalling Meigen, another historical battle fought in the 7th century through which the men of Powys gained privileges: see GCBM i, 11.4, 9.} unbyn, ^{36 J 111 yngkynnif sarff unbyn; the line is two syllables short, and the suggestion in HG Cref 181 to extend it by adding seirff oedd is accepted here.}
Sefis ef, sefid Duw gennyn!

135Can fodd Duw yd fu ’n ei ddilen,^{55 dilen ‘Death, (disastrous) end’ and ‘evil fate, ruin, destruction’, according to GPC Ar Lein s.v. dilen 1; however, the definition ‘didoliad, neilltuad’ (= ‘retreat, defection’) added tentatively in G 353 gives better sense here, especially as the poet refers in the following lines to Anglesey, where Tysilio spent time having escaped from his father and later his unpleasant sister-in-law (see the Introduction).}
Tud wledig, elwig elfydden:
Tir gẃraidd gorwyf rhag unben,^{56 gorwyf rhag unben Gorwyf is understood as the first person singular present form of gorfod, with perfect meaning, ‘I gained, I won’ (> ‘I visited’), cf. G 565. The unben ‘lord’ in question is probably Tysilio. Is Cynddelw suggesting that he visited the saint’s church in Anglesey? If gorwyf is taken to be a noun meaning ‘pride’, c., a sense given tentatively in GPC Ar Lein s.v. gorwyf 2 (with citations from the 14th century onwards), the line could be translated, ‘a fine territory having pride because of its leader’.}
Tirion Môn,^{57 tirion Môn Tirion could be an adjective (‘Anglesey is pleasant’), but it is more likely to be a noun here, cf. GPC Ar Lein s.v. tirion 2 ‘?lands; territory, plain, grassland’. Both tirion and meillion occur together again in LlDC 5.11 Myn y mae meillon / a gulith ar tirion ‘Where there is clover / and dew upon grassland’. We learn from the Breton Life of St Suliau that the saint retreated twice to a priory which belonged to Meifod located on an island in the Menai Straits, and that this island later took his name: un Prieuré dependant de son Monastere de Meibot, situé dans une isle, qui fait le fleuve Mené, laquelle, depuis, fut de son nom apellée Enez Suliau …, Le Grand 1837: 382.} meillon ym morben.
Tysiliaw, teÿrnedd nenbren,
140Teÿrnas dinas diasgen,^{58 Teÿrnas dinas diasgen Teÿrnas dinas is taken to be a nominative compound describing Tysilio, ‘citadel of a kingdom’, modified by the adjective diasgen; cf. dinas teÿrnas by Cynddelw of another patron, GCBM i, 19.29, 20.41. We would usually expect soft mutation in the main element, dinas (cf. hydref ddail ‘the leaves of autumn’), but there is provection here following the preceding s, ensuring that dinas alliterates with diasgen, which also has a non-mutated consonant as dinas was usually a masculine noun in Middle Welsh.}
Teÿrnfardd a’i cân,^{59 a’i cân The internal proleptic pronoun ’i refers to the object of the verb, teÿrnwawd, which is expressed in l. 142, see GMW 56–7: ‘a royal poet sings royal poetry’. Both cadr eurben and teÿrnwyr Cyngen refer to Tysilio.} cadr eurben,
Teÿrnwawd teÿrnwyr Cyngen.^{60 Cyngen Cyngen Glodrydd, the grandfather of Tysilio on the side of his father, Brochfael Ysgithrog. According to the genealogies in ‘Bonedd y Saint’, Cyngen was the son of Cadell Ddyrnllug, who was named in l. 37; see EWGT 59. Cynddelw refers to Powys in another poem as [b]ro Gyngen ‘the land of Cyngen’, see GCBM i, 24.121.}
Cynyddwys cynnif cyngorffen,
Cynnwys glain cyn glas dywarchen,^{61 After praising Tysilio as the effective military leader, Cynddelw now describes the saint’s final victory as he is being welcomed by the saints (l. 144 Cynnwys glain) before the end of his life. If this is the correct interpretation, it seems that Cynddelw is modelling Tysilio’s career on the lives of the many twelfth-century princes who retreated at the end of their lives to the monastery they had supported during their lives (as Owain Cyfeiliog retreated to Strata Marcella). Cynddelw does not name Meifod here, but he may well have that church in mind in ll. 147–8.}
145Cynnaddl cerdd, cerennydd gymen,
Gain wenwas heb gas, heb gynnen.
Llan a wnaeth â’i lawfaeth loflen,
Llan llugyrn,^{62 llan llugyrn In ll. 151–4 the poet lists churches associated with Tysilio, and ll. 147–8 are taken to refer to Meifod, which is described, without being named, as a church (llan) full of lamps (llugyrn). The identification would have been obvious to the audience present at Meifod listening to the poet’s song for Tysilio in candlelight, probably during the celebration of his feast day.
However, it has been suggested that llan llugyrn represents an early form of the place-name Llanllugan: LBS iv, 303 (regarding this line), ‘“The church of Llugyrn (Llorcan)” … Llanllugyrn we believe to be Llanllugan … in Montgomeryshire.’ It is further suggested that the church was founded by a certain Llorgan Wyddel and reconsecrated later to Tysilio: LBS iii, 378; Thomas 1908–13: i, 484; cf. also WATU 133 where Llanllugyrn is given as a variant form of Llanllugan . However, ArchifMR shows that Llanllugan occurs as early as the 13th century, and this line is the only evidence given for Llanllugyrn ; also, it seems that the association of Tysilio with Llanllugan is dependent on this line and on the presumption that Llanllugan was the same as the text’s llan llugyrn.} llogawd offeren,
Llan tra llŷr, tra lliant wyrddlen,
150Llan dra llanw, dra llys Ddinorben,^{63 dra llys Ddinorben Dinorben was an ancient hill fort in the parish of Llansain Siôr (St George) near Abergele in the cantref of Rhos, Gwynedd Is Conwy, see Gruffydd 1989–90: 7–8 where it is suggested that it may have been associated early on with Cunedda. If Cynddelw is singing from the perspective of Meifod here, he must be referring in ll. 149–50 to a church ‘beyond’ Dinorben, and therefore in Gwynedd Uwch Conwy – possibly Llandysilio on the Menai Straits or the church of Llydaw (see the following note). It is not known whether Dinorben was an active site by Cynddelw’s time (see Coflein s.n. Dinorben: destroyed hillfort) but Gwalchmai’s reference to arth Orben, GMB 8.56n, strongly suggests that the court’s historical significance was still remembered in the 12th century.}
Llan Llydaw,^{64 llan Llydaw HG Cref 181 suggests that this is a reference to a church founded by Tysilio in Llydaw ‘Brittany’; l. 149 would be an apt description of its location ‘beyond the sea’. (The name Llydaw seems to derive from the Brythonic *litavia ‘beach, shore’, cognate with Latin litus of the same meaning, therefore it bears the same meaning as Armorica, see EANC 216.) As explained in the Introduction, Tysilio’s Life (possibly in Latin) was taken early on to Brittany; however, it is generally accepted that Tysilio never travelled there himself.
There are two possible explanations for the place-name here: [i.] that Cynddelw believed that Tysilio had been to Brittany, possibly influenced by the stories about the saint that had been carried to Brittany but had now been brought back, in a revised form, to Wales; [ii.] that Llydaw is to be located in Wales. In GCBM i, 3.151n the name is associated with an old clas church in Beddgelert, not far from Llyn Llydaw on Snowdon. This Llydaw in Snowdonia is the only name listed in ArchifMR containing the element Llydaw; cf. in particular the reference quoted there from the Brut to mynyded Llydaw, neu Eryri ‘the mountains of Llydaw, or Snowdonia’, suggesting that Llydaw had a wider meaning in the context of Snowdonia. For the old church at Beddgelert, see Coflein s.n. St Mary’s Church, Beddgelert; St Mary’s Priory (Augustinian), and Monastic Wales s.n. Beddgelert.
It is suggested in WCD, s.n. Llydaw, that Llydaw may once have been the name of a region in south-east Wales (‘Just as Devon [Dumnonia] and Cornwall gave their names to Domnonée and Cornouaille in Brittany, so Llydaw [Brittany] seems to have had its duplicate in Britain’), possibly located in Brycheiniog, according to an earlier suggestion in Rhŷs 1901: 531–6. It is further suggested in WCD that this may have been the Llydaw where St Illtud was born, according to his Life, and where he returned to die; this would concur with ‘a tradition that he was buried in the parish of Defynnog in Brycheiniog’. If so, is llan Llydaw to be connected with the reference to llan Gamarch in l. 154 below?
As llan is feminine, we would expect soft mutation in the following proper name, cf. ll. 152–4; but for the lack of mutation in ll- following n, see TC 103.} gan llydwedd wohen,
Llan Bengwern,^{65 llan Bengwern Another church of uncertain location. As gwern ‘alder-marsh, swamp’, c., is a fitting description of many a location in Wales, it is not surprising that ArchifMR lists several instances of Pengwern from all over the country: from Anglesey (Llanddona) to Cydweli in the south. However, Pengwern, according to tradition, was also the name of the court of Brochfael Ysgithrog, Tysilio’s father, and this is likely to have been the Pengwern associated by Gerald of Wales with Shrewsbury: Thorpe 1978: 223, ‘The place where Shrewsbury Castle now stands used to be called Pengwern.’ Gerald further adds, ibid. 171, that Pengwern was the main court of Powys, one of the three main courts of Wales, along with Dinefwr and Aberffraw. If this is the same Pengwern that Cynddelw has in mind, then the connection with Brochfael would explain his description of it as ‘the foremost land’ (bennaf daearen). It is suggested in LBS iv, 303 that Cynddelw is referring to the church of St Julian in Shrewsbury (as a result of associating Julian with Sulien?). For a full discussion on the location of Pengwern in the old englyn poetry, see Rowland 1990: 572–4.} bennaf daearen,
Llan Bowys,^{66 llan Bowys Probably Meifod, the main church of Powys. Cf. n95(e) and the Introduction.} baradwys burwen,
Llan Gamarch,^{67 llan Gamarch Llangamarch was a parish in the cantref of Buellt, now in modern Breconshire. The church’s patron saint is Cynog, and no evidence has been found to associate it with Tysilio, but see n64(e). The present church is a modern building, see CPAT s.n. Llangammarch Wells. However, in the Latin Life of St Sulian, recorded by Dom Lobineau in Brittany in the 18th century, we are told that Sulian fled to Buelt (not to Anglesey) to escape from an unpleasant woman named Haiarme, and that he built a church and a monastery there: see SoC, v, 112 and for the Latin text, see ibid. 125.} llawbarch i berchen.

155Perchen côr, cerdd wosgor wasgawd,
Ced wasgar, cas llachar lluchnawd,
Lluch faran, lluchfan ei folawd,
Arfoliant urddiant urdd enwawd;^{68 enwawd See n37(t). Instead of understanding it as an adjective, could it be a third person singular present verb, the ending -awd often having a future meaning, see GPC Ar Lein s.v. -awd 1? If so, Arfoliant … enwawd / Berth Feifod could be translated as ‘a praise poem will mention beautiful Meifod’. 37 urdd enwawd LlGC 6680B urt ena[ ] with a line break following the a, cf. the suggestion in G 481 s.v. enwawt to read urt e nawd there; J 111 vrd enwaỽt. As this is the only instance of enwawd, GCBM i, 3.158n suggests interpreting J 111 vrd enwaỽt as vrden waỽt, comparing GCBM i, 21.2 Aỽdyl urten. Against that suggestion is the fact that there is a space following urt in both manuscripts. J 111’s reading is tentatively adopted here; cf. G 32 s.v. anwawt. See n68(e).}
Berth Feifod, ^{38 Feifod J 111 veinot; an error for veiuot ‘Feifod’; cf. n4(t).} ofirain ^{39 ofirain J 111 o virein, which is accepted as two words in HG Cref 37. The mutated form of govirein would give better sense here, the go- being the affirmative prefix added to nouns and adjectives. However, gofirain is not recognized in GPC Ar Lein or G 546.} logawd,
160Llog^{69 llog From the Latin locus ‘place’, see GPC Ar Lein s.v. llog 2, possibly referring here to the church enclosure of Meifod, including its cemetery (beddrawd) for the nobility (meddfaith, literally ‘those nourished on mead’). For llog, and its use in Breton place-names in particular, see Jankulak 2000: 76–8.} fawrfaith am feddfaith feddrawd.
Tremynt ^{40 Tremynt LlGC 6680B tremynt; J 111 teruyn. For tremynt ‘(eye)sight, vision; gaze, look, glance; view; appearance, aspect’, c., see GPC Ar Lein s.v. tremynt 1. The poet is referring here to the vision of Rome that Gwyddfarch saw at Meifod; see n70(e). If the reading in the source manuscript was tremyn tec (for the variant forms tremynt and tremyn, see GPC Ar Lein s.v. tremynt 1), then there would be an internal rhyme in the line.} teg i’m terwyn ^{41 terwyn J 111 terwyn. There were two possible forms both meaning ‘fierce, ardent’, c.: terrwyn (rhyming with -ŵyn) and terwyn (rhyming with -yn), see GPC Ar Lein and for further discussion, GMB 3.12n. Without the presence of a rhyme it is almost impossible to choose between them (the presence of -rr- or -r- in the manuscript form does not seem to be a trustworthy guide). The internal rhyme with (g)wenwyn in l. 116 suggests terrwyn there, but as tremyn tec was possibly the original reading at the beginning of this line (see n40(t)), terwyn is more likely here, as it would make an internal rhyme with tremyn.} beiddawd,
A weles, ni welir hyd Frawd:^{70 In ll. 161–70 the poet describes an occasion when Abbot Gwyddfarch had a vision of Rome in Meifod. Le Grand (1837: 483) gives an account of the incident in his Life of St Suliau. Suliau had received permission from Abbot Guymarch to leave Meifod for a while, and to escape from his father, Brocmail, to Enez Suliau on the river Mené (‘le fleuve Mené’), because he thought that his father would make him leave the Church. However, after spending seven years on the island, Suliau was summoned back to Meifod because Guymarch desired to take a trip to Rome. Suliau, realizing the damage the absence of the abbot would cause to the community in the monastery, persuaded him not to go, by promising him a vision of Rome in Meifod itself. And one afternoon, il mena l’Abbée sur un petit tertre, ou colline, qui estoit dans l’enclos du Monastere, d’où il luy fit voir distinctement toutes les Eglises, les palais, amphiteatres, obelisques & autres raretez de cette grande ville … (‘he led the abbot to a little eminence, or hill, which was in the monastic enclosure, from which he caused him to see distinctly all the churches, palaces, amphitheatres, obelisks and other rarities of that great city …’, translated in SoC, v, 108). This was doubtlessly considered to be one of Tysilio’s miracles. Malcolm Thurlby suggested that this description of a vision of Rome was an attempt to raise the profile of Meifod, by emphasizing its direct relationship with Rome: ‘This must surely be read as a strong statement in favour of the clas church, in that Meifod was associated with Rome without any Norman intermediary to impose or supervise Gregorian reform’, see Thurlby 2006: 248–9 and the Introduction.}
Caer Rufain, ryfedd olygawd,
Caer uchel, uchaf ei defawd.
165Caer eang, eofn ei chiwdawd,
Ni chyfred ei phobl â phechawd; ^{42 â phechawd J 111 ae phechaỽt; the sense requires emending ae > a as in LlGC 4973B (emendation either by that manuscript’s scribe, John Davies, or by the scribe of his source, Siôn Dafydd Rhys, in his now lost copy of the poem in Pen 118).}
Caer araul, caer ddidraul ddidrawd,
Caer bellglaer o bellglod addawd:^{71 The idea expressed here is that Rome could be seen clearly despite being so far away (bellglaer) from Meifod, whose fame is also far-reaching (bellglod): see n70(e). The ambiguity in ll. 169–70, as regards which place is being referred to, is probably intentional, with Meifod and Rome becoming one in the poet’s mind.}
Caer barchus, barhäus barawd,
170A berid i bererindawd.

Peniadur cerygl, ceresyd^{72 ceresyd An archaic third person singular preterite form of caru, see GMW 123n1. The subject is presumably Tysilio.}
Ced^{73 ced It could refer to Tysilio’s spiritual gift or blessing to those who visited his church; but Cynddelw probably has in mind the gifts that the pilgrims themselves would present to the church as they offered their faith and devotion ([c]red a chrefydd) to the saint. Lines 171–2 suggest that Tysilio was pleased by the gifts offered in his name by the pilgrims who visited Meifod.} a chred a chrefydd i gyd;
Periglawr^{74 periglawr For its meaning, and the difference between a periglor and an offeiriad ‘priest’, see Pryce 1986: 68–9, where it is associated with the Latin parochia, which usually referred, before the 12th century, to the extent of a church’s authority, or that of a monastery or diocese; the periglor therefore was a priest whose authority extended over the parochia in the old sense. As parochia came to refer to a ‘parish’ in a narrower sense, there was no longer any need to differentiate between a periglor and an offeiriad. Pryce further notes that Cynddelw’s use of the word regarding the people of Gwynedd here, and those of Powys in l. 232, may reflect the original periglor’s charge; it would thus be a fitting description of Tysilio whose care extended not only over the people of Powys but also those of Gwynedd, as the church in Llandysilio in the Menai Straits belonged to Meifod.} peryglus^{75 peryglus An adjective describing the people of Gwynedd who are ‘in peril’. This could be understood in the context of twelfth-century politics, as in Jones and Owen 2003: 59–60; however, it is more likely that it refers to the general peril that faces us all at the end of life; cf. Gwalchmai’s use of the verb periglo ‘to be in danger’ in his poem to God, GMB 14.65.} Wyndyd,^{76 Gwyndyd Either the people of Gwynedd or the country itself, see GPC Ar Lein. According to the Breton hagiographical material discussed in the Introduction, Tysilio fled from his father and spent a period of seven years in a church belonging to Meifod on the Menai Straits, returning there later to flee from a cruel woman. See n83(e) on elfydd Pen Mynydd. This line is interpreted in the context of twelfth-century politics in Jones and Owen 2003: 59–60.}
Gwyndawd gwyn, gwirion ormoddbryd:^{77 gwirion ormoddbryd TWS 271 translates ‘the innocent one who ate too many meals’; but the earliest example of pryd in the sense of a ‘meal’ given in GPC Ar Lein s.v. pryd 1 (c) belongs to the 16th century. It is taken, rather, as an example of pryd 2 ‘appearance, face’, c., see ibid., with gormodd having an assertive force; cf. ibid. gormoddgas ‘full of hatred’ and prydfawr ‘very beautiful or graceful’. 43 ormoddbryd LlGC 6680B [ ]or mo[.]hbryd (the letters o[.]h are unclear, and the o should possibly be an e); J 111 ormodbryt. No further examples of meithbryd or mothbryd / moddbryd are found, therefore J 111’s reading is accepted, see n77(e).}
175Pereidwawd ^{44 Pereidwawd Cf. J 111 pereit waỽt. Peraid is not listed in GPC Ar Lein, but for the adjectival ending -aid, see GPC Ar Lein s.v. -aid 2, and cf. ariannaid, honnaid, c. (If the manuscript pereit is an error for pereid (‘peraidd’), the combination could be taken as pereiddwawd.)} pernawd perhëyd,^{78 perhëyd An old third person singular present indicative form of parhäu, see GMW 119.}
Pêr foliant esborthant esbyd.
Pair cyfraith, cyfrwydd y’n cyfyd,
Cyfoeth Duw a’n dug^{79 Cyfoeth Duw a’n dug Cyfoeth Duw is taken to be the indirect object of the verb dug: ‘he (?Tysilio, or possibly the contemporary leader of Meifod) has led us to God’s authority / kingdom’.} yng ngwynfyd:
Cyfa fydd i’r prydydd a’i pryd
180Prydest loyw pryder ddihewyd.
Diwahardd i fardd ei fenwyd,
Diffleistor, tewdor ddôr ddiffryd;
Diffyrth hael hil ^{45 hil Cf. LlGC 6680B hil; J 111 hir. For Brochfael, Tysilio’s father, see n7(e).} Brochfael broglyd,^{80 The sentence order is verb (diffyrth) + subject (hael) + object (hil Brochfael broglyd); however, diffyrth could also be an intransitive verb here, cf. HG Cref 182–3, with hael hil Brochfael broglyd all referring to Tysilio (‘the generous one from the lineage of Brochfael whose land is safely defended [for his people]’).}
Gradd ufel, ^{46 Gradd ufel J 111 graduuel; a compound where the main element comes first, literally ‘leap of a flame’ (for gradd ‘pace, leap, jump’, see GPC Ar Lein s.v. gradd (2)). If the word is meant to alliterate with greidiawl, then graduuel could be an error for (or a variant of) Gradifel, the patron saint of the parish of Penmynydd, which was also called Llanredifael, WATU 174. On Gradifel, see LBS iii, 148–9. But a reference to that saint is not very meaningful here, nor is it certain that Cynddelw is referring to the Penmynydd in Anglesey in l. 196.} greidiawl ei wryd.
185Gwyrth a wnaeth ni wneir hir ^{47 hir LlGC 6680B hir; J 111 hyt. Cynddelw uses hir ennyd again in GCBM ii, 17.46.} ennyd,
Ni wnaethpwyd eirioed er yn oes byd:
O’i adaf etewyn tanllyd ^{48 etewyn tanllyd LlGC 6680B etewyn ta[.]llyd (the second e is unclear); J 111 etwyn canllyt. Etewyn is needed for the meaning as well as the line length.}
I dyfu ^{49 I dyfu LlGC 6680B y dyfu; J 111 ydyfu: namely the preposition i and the mutated form of the verbal noun tyfu ‘to grow, to generate’. For the use of the preposition and verbal noun here, cf. CA l. 63 dadyl diheu angheu y eu treidaw ‘the certain meeting with death came to them’. Dyfu could also be understood as the third singular preterite form of dyfod, preceded by the preverbal particle y ‘before the verb at the beginning of a sentence’, GMW 171; however, the sense of the couplet would not be so clear.} a dail ar ei hyd.^{81 Lines 185–8 describe one of Tysilio’s miracles in which he seems to caused a dead piece of wood to grow leaves and produce fire. Nothing similar has been found in the Breton material which could explain this miracle, but TWS 272 describes how Kentigern transformed a branch from a hazel tree into a lantern: see further Forbes 1874: 44–5.}
Gwyrth arall, gwerthfawr ei dedfryd,
190Gran yng ngre, bu de, bu dybryd, ^{50 bu de, bu dybryd LlGC 6680B b[.] d[.] dybryd; J 111 dybu dybryt, which causes the line to be a syllable short.}
Gre yng ngreddf yn lleddf yn llugfryd,
Yng ngharchar yn naear, yn ŷd!^{82 A rather unclear description of another of Tysilio’s miracles. Gre usually refers to a herd of animals, horses or cattle, and gran can mean ‘cheek’, ‘face’ or even ‘beard’ or ‘hair’, see GPC Ar Lein s.v. gre, gran. A face seems to have appeared to a herd of animals, and as a result they were full of sadness (lleddf ) and anxious (llugfryd), being held fast (yng ngharchar) to the land and to the corn, as a consequence of doing what came naturally to them (yng ngreddf), i.e. eating the crop.
In Albert le Grand’s version of the Life of St Suliau (Le Grand 1837: 483–4) there is an incident that might shed some light on matters. Suliau had travelled from Wales to Brittany (Letau) to escape from his vengeful sister-in-law, and had landed in a city named Guicaleth (near present-day Saint-Malo, see Lanigan 1829: i.165). The saint and his monks walked along the river Rance until they found a peaceful location. They held discussions with a local lord who presented them with some land on which Suliau built a small monastery for himself and his men; on the rest of the land he planted corn. The crop grew well, until one evening when a herd of animals came by and trampled all over it. (The animals are referred to as bestail or bétail by le Grand, ibid., and as turba ferarum in ActaS xlix 196.) When he learned about this devastation, Suliau went out with his staff and traced a line around the field, raising four posts in each of its four corners. He prayed that God would keep the animals at bay. The next evening the animals returned, but as soon as they crossed the imaginary line that Suliau had traced, they froze to the spot, as if they were stuck to the land and to the corn. Is this the scene that Cynddelw has in mind, the gran being the saint’s angry face staring at the offending animals?}
Post Powys, pergyng cedernyd,
Pobl argledr, arglwydd diergryd;
195Porthloedd budd, porthes ^{51 porthes LlGC 6680B porthes; J 111 porthloes. A verb is needed here. For another example of porthi penyd, see GCBM ii, 18.79.} o’i febyd
Yn elfydd Pen Mynydd⁠^{83 Pen Mynydd Pen mynydd is understood as a common noun in HG Cref 38, ‘the far reaches of the mountain’. If it is a place-name, then several possibilities are listed in ArchifMR: e.g. in Abergele, in Tremeirchion and Y Cwm in Flintshire, in Amlwch, Bodedern and Llanfechell in Anglesey, in Llandudno and Llanerfyl, &c. The most obvious one in later centuries was the home of the Tudors in Dindaethwy, and it is with this location that Cynddelw’s reference is identified in GCBM i, 3.196n and Jones and Owen 2003: 59 (cf. the references to Anglesey in l. 138 and to Gwynedd in l. 173); but this would be the earliest reference to it.} penyd!

Penydwr pennaf ei grefydd
A gredws Duw, ^{52 a gredws Duw LlGC 6680B a gredws duỽ; J 111 agredỽys duỽ. LlGC 6680B’s reading gives internal rhyme and cynghanedd sain, as well as the correct syllable count. For the distribution of the -wys / -ws ending in the poetry, see Rodway 2013: 128–53 and ibid. 137, ‘Overall, I favour accepting -ws as the original form of the ending -w(y)s.’} Dëws Dofydd;
Creded bawb i Bair ^{53 Creded bawb i Bair LlGC 6680B Creded paub i beir; J 111 cretet baỽp y peir. It is possible that the source manuscript did not regularly show mutation and that the variant readings here demonstrate an attempt by both scribes to modernize the source orthography. (Cf. the tendency in the Black Book of Carmarthen not to show the soft mutation of some voiceless plosives, e.g. LlDC 37.1 ar claur corresponds to LlGC 6680B am glaỽr, the latter reading necessary for alliteration.) According to the principle noted by T.J. Morgan, it is the mutated forms of the subject (pawb) and the indirect object (pair) that are needed here: TC 185 (my translation), ‘We can be fairly sure of one thing: where soft mutation is given we can be fairly confident (apart from a few copying errors) that it is what the copyist intended …’ This gives alliteration in the middle of the line. The subject has also undergone soft mutation in l. 41 Cared bawb, and in GMB 32.25 Credet baỽp y Duỽ ‘May everyone believe in God’; cf. TC 211–12 where it is shown that the subject originally underwent soft mutation after a third person singular imperative verb ending in -ed (and it is suggested that LlGC 6680B paub should be emended to paub here).} lluosydd,
200Lluosawg ei ddawn i ddedwydd.
Credaf dda ni ddifa, ni ddifydd,^{84 ni ddifydd The verb is understood in an intransitive sense ‘to leave, depart, disappear’, following G 339; this sense is not given in GPC Ar Lein s.v. dyfyddaf: difod, but see Williams 1968–70: 218.}
Ni ddiffyg onid i ddiffydd;
Credaf fi fy Rhi, fy Rhebydd, ^{54 Rhebydd LlGC 6680B rebyt; J 111 rybyd. These are variant forms of the same word (GPC Ar Lein s.v. rhebydd) with rhybydd possibly being the product of assimilation, e..y > y..y.}
Fy Llywawdr, Creawdr, Credofydd;
205Credaf-i ^{55 Credaf-i Cf. ll. 207, 209. As Cynddelw’s poetic lines are very regular in their length, the affixed pronoun is taken to be non-syllabic here (unless the manuscript reen is monosyllabic, Rhên). For the use of affixed pronouns in the Poetry of the Princes, and the question of whether or not they should be included in the metre / syllable count, see n10(t).} wên a’m Rheen a’m rhydd
Mad gynnull mawrddull merwerydd; ^{56 The line is short of two syllables in J 111 mat gynnull maỽrweryd but correct in LlGC 6680B.}
Credaf-i Bost ^{57 Bost LlGC 6680B bost; J 111 post. Cf. l. 209 where LlGC 6680B has beryf but J 111 has peryf. See further n53(t).} present preswylwlydd
A’m peris o’r pedwar defnydd;^{85 pedwar defnydd For the four elements, from which everything was created, according to the medieval mind, see Lloyd ac Owen 1986: 106–9 and cf. DB 25.1–2 Ac yna y gwnaethpwyt y pedwar defnyd, a’r defnydyeu hynny yssyd ym pop peth, nyt amgen, tan, awyr, dwfyr, dayar ‘And then the four elements were created, and those elements are found in everything, namely fire, air, water and earth’.}
Credaf-i Beryf nef yn elfydd
210A’m gwnaeth o burawr yn brydydd!

Prydydd wyf rhag Prydain ddragon,^{86 Prydain ddragon It is understood as a reference to the contemporary prince of Powys, Madog ap Maredudd, and probable patron of the poem; see the Introduction. He is the Glyw of l. 213 who gifted his poet with marvellous horses. Gerald of Wales refers to Powys’s valuable horses in the twelfth-century, cf. Crouch 1992: 119, ‘Powys, according to Gerald of Wales, was famous for its exceedingly valuable horses, a breed he believed had been introduced there by Robert de Belleme, earl of Shrewsbury (exiled 1105).’}
Priawd cerdd, cadair prydyddion.
Glyw a’m rhydd rhagorfeirch gleision,
Gleisiaid liw, glas^{87 gleisiaid liw, glas Cynddelw often compares the colour of grey horses with that of a gleisiad (a young salmon), cf. GCBM i, 1.24 Eiliw pysgaỽd glas, gleissyeid dylan ‘the colour of grey fish, young salmon of the sea’; GCBM ii, 4.169 Fraeth leissyon, leissyeid kynhebyc ‘swift grey ones, similar to young salmon’.} ganoligion,
215– Mau dedfryd maint gwryd gwron! –
Mal y gwnaeth mechdëyrn haelon
Meirch ar geirch yn garcharorion,
Maith gerdded, mygr gydred geidrion.^{88 I.e., as soon as the lord (Madog ap Maredudd) has nurtured excellent horses by feeding them effectively in stalls, he gives them as gifts to his poet.}
Ym Meifod y maent arwyddon
220Arwraidd i ẃraidd Frython:
Ei mawrwledd, ei medd, ei maon,
Ei threthau i’w thraethadurion.^{89 traethadurion One of the many words used by Cynddelw and his contemporaries for a poet: cf. GCBM i, 21.180; GCBM ii, 33.16; GLlF 25.32 Traethadur Prydein wyf yn prydu ‘I sing as the poet of Britain’. 58 thraethadurion Cf. LlGC 6680B and J 111 traethaduryon; restoring the spirant mutation, as in GCBM i, 6.222, strengthens the alliteration.}
Ei deugrair, gywair gyweithion,
A gyfyd yn gyfoethogion:^{90 cyfoethogion Cyfoeth and cyfoethog had a wide range of meaning in Cynddelw’s day, and could refer not only to material wealth but also to authority over land as well as power in general, see GPC Ar Lein s.v. cyfoeth, cyfoethog.}
225Ei hynaf^{91 hynaf The head of Meifod church; see n94(e) on sygynnab.} henyw o’i thirion,
Handid^{92 handid Third person singular present indicative of hanfod, followed by a non-lenited predicate, see TC 332 (where its uncertain etymology is discussed). It is synonymous with mae ‘it is’ here.} rhydd rhwng ei dwy afon;^{93 rhydd rhwng ei dwy afon For the use of rhydd ‘free’ here to describe land that enjoyed legal freedom, one of the privileges of a monastery, cf. DewiGB ll. 31–2 Ei fraint wrth ei fryd i freiniawg – ysydd / A’i elfydd yn rhydd ‘His privilege for the privileged is at one with his will and his land is free’, also ibid. l. 107. The river Efyrnwy is an obvious border to the south of Meifod, and it is suggested in HG Cref 183 that the second river is the river Einion.}
Ei sygynnab^{94 sygynnab A borrowing from the Latin secundus abbas which is discussed in Thomas 1956–8: 183, where attention is drawn to another instance of the word in an ecclesiastical document from the reign of Edward III, there referring to an official in the diocese of St Asaph (see n95(e)). The form is cognate with Old Irish secnap, defined in RIA as ‘the prior of a monastery (inferior in status to the abbot …)’. That is probably its meaning here also, with hynaf, l. 225, referring to the abbot himself. For further discussion on the form, see Charles–Edwards 1971: 180–90; GPC Ar Lein s.v. segynnab, sygynnab. 59 Ei sygynnab J 111 y sygynuab; it is very unclear in LlGC 6680B. For the confusion between u and n in J 111, see n4(t). For the etymology and meaning of sygynnab, see n94(e). Contrast the suggestion in HG Cref 39 and G 247 to read Ysy gynuab.} glew, gloyw roddion,
A folaf, a folant feirddon;
Caraf-i ^{60 Caraf-i For the affixed pronoun i which does not count towards the line length here, see n55(t) on Credaf-i.} barch ei harchddiagon,
230 Caradawg⁠^{95 ei harchddiagon, / Caradawg ‘The chief deacon, … the chief of the attendants on a bishop’, see OED Online s.v. archdeacon; the next in authority to the bishop of St Asaph in this context. The diocese of St Asaph was divided in the 12th century into eight archdeaconries, and Meifod, which had previously been an important clas church, became the centre of the archdeaconry of Powys, see Thomas 1997: 38; Pearson 2000: 35–56; Stephenson 2016: 55–6. A certain Sulien is named as a witness in nine of the Strata Marcella charters which were drawn up between 1180 and 1215; if he is the same as the Suglen filio Caradauc who was a clerical witness for the foundation charter of c.1170, then it is suggested in Thomas 1997: 39 that his father Caradog may be the person whom Cynddelw names as archdeacon here. It is further suggested that he can be identified with Caradog ap Gollwyn ap Llawr Grach of Meifod, named in WG1 ‘Llawr Grach’ 1. Cf. Thomas 1997: 38, ‘archdeacons were nearly all native Welshmen drawn from the ranks of the boneddigion, often belonging to clerical families and holding their office by hereditary succession’; and see further Pearson 2000: 42–3.} freiniawg, fraisg roddion,
Cardd olaith, olud ^{61 olud LlGC 6680B olut; J 111 olud. The orthography of both manuscripts suggests reading ‘(g)oludd’, which would give adequate sense if we could translate as ‘one who avoids shame for preventing feasts’, but it is difficult to see how the word order conveys the meaning ‘for’ here. ‘(G)olud’ is therefore deemed better. For another occurrance of golaith and golud together, cf. especially GCBM i, 21.29 Py uyt cart oleith, olud angkraỽn? ‘Who will avoid shame, unstinting with his wealth?’} esborthion,
Periglawr porthfawr Powysion.
Delw ydd ŷm yn ddiamryson
Am lugyrn, am gyrn, am geinion, ^{62 am geinion LlGC 6680B am [ ]y[.]n (with the am at the end of the line and the sign // denoting that the word is split over two lines); J 111 amgeinyon. Amgeinion is not listed in GPC Ar Lein as a plural form of amgen, and so it is interpreted as two words, the preposition am and the noun ceinion ‘the first and best liquor brought into the hall’ (ibid. s.v. cain 1).}
235Yn undref, undraul wleddolion
Yn undawd, undad^{96 undad A description of the brethren at Meifod, united under the church’s ‘father’, the abbot; but tad could refer to God, and the ambiguity is probably intentional.} frodorion,
Can drugar, can wâr weryddon,^{97 gweryddon The plural of gwyry(f), which was usually used of female virgins, but it could also refer to saintly men, see GPC Ar Lein s.v. gwyry 1(a) and 1(b).}
Can derrwyn, ^{63 derrwyn LlGC 6680B derrwynn; J 111 terỽyn. LlGC 6680B’s reading is followed, as regards mutation, and for the form, see n41(t).} can dorf engylion, ^{64 engylion LlGC 6680B egylyon; J 111 eglynnyon. An obvious error in J 111 as the poet is describing the scene in heaven.}
Can dorfoedd, niferoedd neifion,^{98 neifion An uncommon word whose meaning is uncertain; see GPC Ar Lein s.v. neifion 1 where this example is tentatively given the meaning ‘?heaven(s); lord(s)’.}
240Can fodd Duw, can fod yn wirion:
A’m rhoddwy Gwledig gwleidiadon ^{65 gwleidiadon Cf. LlGC 6680B gỽleidyadon which suggests ‘gwleidiadon’; J 111 gỽleityadon which suggests ‘gwleidiaddon’. Both forms are listed in GPC Ar Lein s.v. gwleidiaddon, gwleidiadon, gwleiddiadon; the earliest manuscript is followed here.}
Drefred gwlad wared worchorddion! ^{66 worchorddion LlGC 6680B worchortyon; J 111 worthordyon (where t is given for c).}