Page:Origin and Growth of Religion (Rhys).djvu/415

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V. THE SUN HERO.

309

touch of his wand into his former shape. Now the scribe of the Mabinogi gives these verses in a very confused orthography, clearly leaving it to be seen, as he does also in other parts of the tale, that he was copying from an old manuscript which he did not always understand. When restored to what must have approximately been their original form, they require us to read not Llew but Lleu, and they would then run somewhat as follows:^[1]

1.
Dar a dyf y rwng deulynn, Gordufrych awyr a glynn: Oni dywettaf i eu, Eulodeu Lleu pan yw hynn.	An oak grows between two lakes; Black and speckled are sky and glen If my speech be not untrue, Here are the members of Lleu.
2
Dar a dyf yn ardfaës Kis gwlych gwlaw nis mwy tawd tes Naw ugein angerd a borthes Yn y blaen Lleu Llawgyffes	An oak grows in a ploughed field— Rain wets it not nor heat melts it more: Nine score pangs have been endured In its top by Lleu Llawgyffes.
3
Dar a dyf dan anwaeret Mirein medr i'm i welet Oni dywettaf i eu Ef dydaw Lleu i'm harffet	An oak grows below the slope; A fair hit that I should see him— If my speech be not untrue, Lleu will come to my lap.

↑ The manuscript reads: 'Dar a dyf y rỽng deu lenn. gorduwrych awyr a glen, ony dywetaf i eu oulodeu. lleỽ pan yỽ hynn.' 'Dar a dyf yn ard uaes. nys gỽlych glaỽ. nys mỽ y taỽd. naỽ ugein angerd a borthes. yn y blaen lleỽ llaỽ gyffes.' 'Dar a dyf dan anwaeret. mirein medur ym ywet. ony dywedaf i ef. dydaỽ lleỽ ym harffet.' See the R. B. Mab. pp. 78-9. Lenn for lynn, and glen for glynn, show the same fashion of spelling as Res for Rhys on a highly ornamented cross at Llantwit, which can hardly be later than the 11th century: see Hübner's Inscriptiones Brit. Christianæ, No. 63, and Westwood's Lapidarium Walliæ, p. 11, plate 5. The ou of oulodeu, for later eulodeu, more usually written aelodeu, 'limbs, members,' must date, if my translation be right, from the spelling of Old Welsh in the technical sense of the term, let us say of the 9th or 10th century.

[1] The manuscript reads: 'Dar a dyf y rỽng deu lenn. gorduwrych awyr a glen, ony dywetaf i eu oulodeu. lleỽ pan yỽ hynn.' 'Dar a dyf yn ard uaes. nys gỽlych glaỽ. nys mỽ y taỽd. naỽ ugein angerd a borthes. yn y blaen lleỽ llaỽ gyffes.' 'Dar a dyf dan anwaeret. mirein medur ym ywet. ony dywedaf i ef. dydaỽ lleỽ ym harffet.' See the R. B. Mab. pp. 78-9. Lenn for lynn, and glen for glynn, show the same fashion of spelling as Res for Rhys on a highly ornamented cross at Llantwit, which can hardly be later than the 11th century: see Hübner's Inscriptiones Brit. Christianæ, No. 63, and Westwood's Lapidarium Walliæ, p. 11, plate 5. The ou of oulodeu, for later eulodeu, more usually written aelodeu, 'limbs, members,' must date, if my translation be right, from the spelling of Old Welsh in the technical sense of the term, let us say of the 9th or 10th century.

[1]