Y Gododin: A Poem of the Battle of Cattraeth
Cerdd o'r chweched ganrif, a briodolir i'r bardd Aneirin, yw "Y Gododdin", sy'n coffáu rhyfelwyr teyrnas y Gododdin a syrthiodd ym mrwydr Catraeth. Yn ôl yr hanes, casglodd Mynyddog Mwynfawr dyrfa o wŷr dewr i'w lys yn Nin Eidyn, a'u gwledda am flwyddyn gyfan â medd a gwin cyn eu hanfon i ryfela yn erbyn y Saeson. Marchogodd y fintai i Gatraeth, ond bu'r frwydr yn drychineb: lladdwyd bron pob un o'r arwyr, ac Aneirin, yn ôl ei dystiolaeth ei hun, oedd un o'r ychydig a ddihangodd yn fyw i ganu eu clod.
Cerdd o alar a moliant yw hon, sy'n dathlu dewrder, ffyddlondeb ac anrhydedd y gwŷr a fu farw dros eu gwlad. Trwy bortreadau byw o bob pennaeth fesul pennill, mae'n cydblethu gogoniant y gad â'r galar a adawyd ar ôl. Fel un o gerddi hynaf yr iaith Gymraeg, mae'n drysor o'n traddodiad barddol ac yn dyst i fyd arwrol yr Hen Ogledd.
How it begins
Aneurin, the author of this poem, was the son of Caw, lord of Cwm Cawlwyd, or Cowllwg, a region in the North, which, as we learn from a Life of Gildas in the monastery of Fleury published by Johannes a Bosco, comprehended Arecluta or Strath Clyde. [0a] Several of his brothers seem to have emigrated from Prydyn in company with their father before the battle of Cattraeth, and, under the royal protection of Maelgwn Gwynedd, to have settled in Wales, where they professed religious lives, and became founders of churches. He himself, however, remained behind, and having been initiated into the mysteries of Bardism, formed an intimate acquaintance with Owen, Cian, Llywarch Hen, and Taliesin, all likewise disciples of the Awen. By the rules of his order a Bard was not permitted ordinarily to bear arms, [0b] and though the exceptional case, in which he might act differently, may be said to have arisen from “the lawlessness and depredation” [0c] of the Saxons, Aneurin does not appear to have been present at Cattraeth in any other capacity than that of a herald Bard. Besides the absence of any intimation to the contrary, we think the passages where he compares Owen to himself, and where he makes proposals at the conference, and above all where he attributes his safety to his “gwenwawd,” conclusive on the subject.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain.