This short paper is an
extract from my forthcoming book to get feedback on the analysis and
translation of this difficult stanza.
THE GRAVE OF MERDDIN
EMBRAIS
“Bedd
Ann ap lleian ymnewais, fynydd
lluagor llew Ymrais
Prif ddewin
Merddin Embrais”1
(T. Jones 1967)
This
brings us now to the notice of the Grave
of Merddin Embrais in
the Englynion y
Beddau (The
Stanzas of the Graves).
This
controversial and later addition to the grave stanzas were first
transcribed and translated from the difficult and possibly corrupted
orthography from the seventeenth century Peniarth
MS 98b, copied
by Dr. John Davies, from
a manuscript transcribed in the sixteenth century by William
Salesbury, now lost.
So
we are twice removed from the original.
There
appear to have been three related versions of this stanza in
differing orthography, the earliest of which appears to be in The
Myvyrian Archaeology of Wales: Collected Out of Ancient Manuscripts,
by
Owen Jones in 1870.3
Then
there is the version transcribed by Thomas Jones in 1967 which has
later orthography. In a more corrupted form is the version copied
from the widow Wynne manuscripts in Archaeologia
Cambrensis in
1900,4
that
has varying orthography similar to that of both the Myvyrian
and
the Thomas Jones version.
We
will use the Myvyrian and Thomas Jones versions in this work, but the
Wynne version can be found in this footnote.5
First
some background to the contents. The first line of the stanza
describes the mother of Merddin Emrys, called lleian
(nun)
and her “misfortune” (anap)
at having been inseminated by a demon, the result of readings from
the HB and Geoffrey's HRB. In effect anap
lleian ('nuns
misfortune') was a poetical kenning for the name Merdin
Emreis, which
was then corrupted to An
ap [y] lleian (An
son of the nun or son of Lleian) in this stanza and other works to be
discussed. We know that anap
is
likely the correct form because, in the fifteenth century, Lewes Glyn
Cothi (c.1420 – 1490) wrote a verse in praise of saints Simon and
Jude that included this phrase:
“tad
y mab nid adnabu, “No
one knew who the boys father was,anap
y fam neb pwy fu” The
misfortune of his mother, from whom he came.”
The
GPC appears to say this was known about since 1765 and it was
mentioned by the reverend Evan Evans in 1825 in the Cambrian
Quarterly Review and
re-quoted from this by Lewis Morris (1878) in his Celtic
Remains6,
who writes: “The poets call him anap
y lleian,
that is, ‘the mischance of the nun”, which Dr. Davies, in his
Catalogue, mistook for a proper name, and wrote it An
ap y Lleian.”
By 'poets' we must presume poets of the eighteenth century and
earlier who used this kenning for Merlin. Evans and Morris then quote
the above two lines from Glyn Gothi, which they say, were applied to
Merlin. The phrase would have been used of lleian,
probably long before the fifteenth century, as we shall now see from
the confusion started in the fourteenth century
Cleopatra
version
of the Brut y
Brenhinedd.7
In
this anap lleian
was
early misconstrued as “An
ab y lleian,” i.e.
“Before
that the boy was called An
son of the Nun,
and after that he was given [the name] Merdyn, because he was found
in Kaer Vyrdyn.”8
By
the sixteenth century this corruption was perpetuated in genealogies
with Anan9
becoming
a nephew to Lleian, her 'sister's son' (nai
uab chwaer).
This is slightly complicated by the fact that the Prose
Brut of
the thirteenth century gives Merlin's mother's
name
as Adhan.10
This
shows how completely new characters and confusion can be created from
simple misreadings and even further, then become attached to the
landscape. Gruffudd Hiraethog in the sixteenth century11
wrote
a note on a local feature at Llysan in the parish of Llanfihangel
Glyn Myfyr,:
“Maen
[read Main] y Bardd [The Bard's Stones] is on the road between Cadair
Dinmael and the chapel above the fields (cayav) within the township
of Llys An vab y
lleian.
And within those stones is a little round tomb [where] was found An
ab y lleian;
and murddyn y
lleian [the
nun's ruin] is below that, near the place called Y Llysdir.”
We
can now relate the Stanza in Peniarth
98B. Due
to the corrupted forms of the stanzas in the manuscript, it was in
the past difficult to tell whether the format of the stanza was in
the poetic metre englyn
penfyr or
englyn milwr.
The earliest transcribers might have thought milwr,
as
the stanza before is milwr.
Later transcribers make it englyn
penfyr.
There does appear to be a pattern in the last six stanzas of
alternating penfyr
then
milwr,
which would make our stanza in this sequence penfyr.
The format of englyn
milwr, according
to Jackson, consists, within narrow limits12
of seven syllables per line that rhyme on the last word of each line.
Our stanza if milwr
would
possibly be within these narrow limits of 8-8-7.
According
to Nicholas Jacobs (2012), the format of englyn
penfyr would
require a first line of nine to eleven syllables, a second line of
six and a third of seven.13
Our stanza would satisfy this perfectly in the syllabic format
10-6-7. This means that there is a non rhyming gair
cyrch at
the end of the first line (the word vynyd),
which is an addendum to a line (the last few syllables of a ten
syllable line that follow the placement of the main rhyme), marked by
a caesura (gwant).
The gair cyrch
in
our stanza could, if we follow Jenny Rowland, might be seen as the
beginning word of the next line,14
which is probably why in an early transcription vynyd
was
put on the second line, as in our first example below, which makes it
into a milwr.15
There
also appears to be an internal rhyming scheme (called a llusg),16
where a syllable from the first half of a line, is rhymed in a
syllable of the second half of the line e.g. Prif
ddewin Merdin
Emreis. There
are difficulties with this stanza, to be discussed, and it has at
least three rhyming schemes, showing that it was put together with
great skill and thought. This version which appears to have older
orthography17
was transcribed in 1870 by Owen Jones and translated by some
nineteenth century historians such as Thomas Stevens in 1876 like
this:
Syllables
8
“Bed An
ap llian18
ymnewais,
The
grave of the son of nun,
8
Vynyd lluagor
llew Emreis, The
companion of the lion of Emreis,
7
Prif ddewin
merdin
Emreis.”
The
chief diviner Merdin Emreis.
Is in Newys mountain.19
The
first thing to note is that ymnewais vynyd is
translated as 'Newys mountain' (resembling Ben Nevis, to be
discussed) and pushed to the end; lluagor is
translated as 'companion', and An is
left untranslated. Owen
Jones saw ymnewais
as
yn+newys,
(newis/dewis
– 'chosen')20
and
lluagor
as
lluwagor –
'generous/bountiful'
(lawagor).
However, lluagor
is
also evident in one of the Triads
as
the name of a horse – “Lluagor
march Karadawc Vreichvras”, “Lluagor
(host splitting) the horse of Caradoc Freichfras.” So 'host
splitter', llu+agor,
in
the sense of 'mounted battle', appears sound.21
This
might derive from Geoffrey's HRB where he states that Ambrosius was
“a brave soldier on foot, even better on horseback” or from the
Romance tales in which Merlin was portrayed as a military strategist
and battle leader.22
The
Welsh is certainly difficult. The most up to date translation is by
Nicholas Tolstoi in 2016 from Jones' transcription in 1967, where
there is later orthography more common to the sixteenth century, i.e.
bedd,
lleian,
Ann and
Merddin.
Progress has been made and the format is now correct as englyn
penfyr.
Internal rhyming schemes highlighted.
Syllables
10
Bedd Ann
ap lleian
ymnewais fynydd
The
grave of the nuns misfortune on Newais Mountain,
6
Iluagor llew
Ymrais
Causing
gaps in a host, lion of Embrais,
7 Prif
ddewin Merddin
Embrais.23
Chief
diviner, Myrddin Emrys.24
We
can see here a few changes with this translation. The words Ann
ap lleian have
been translated as -
'nuns
misfortune', even
though by this time it had become corrupted to 'Ann
son of Lleian.' The
word vynyd
('mountain/plain')
has
been transcribed as fynydd
– 'mountain'.
Emrais
of
the second line is now ymrais,
compare
the similar Welsh word, ymrain/emrain,
'semen', so Emrais
would
appear to be meant. The reason for the form ymrais
was
poetic, the second internal rhyming scheme.25
“Newais”
mountain has not been associated with Merddin Emrys in any known way
before, the word in Welsh having no ready meaning, only the place
Nefyn
has,
with Merlin
Sylvestris, but that's on a sandy bay, not on a mountain, although it
is backed by them.26
So
let's use the above versions and try to come to a suitable
translation starting with the first line. As discussed “Bedd
Ann ap lleian ymnewais, fynydd” appears
sound. As
we have also seen, an
ap lleian is
a corruption of anap27
lleian – “the
nun's/virgin's misfortune”. This is followed by Sims-Williams
(2015) who agrees about anap
and
suggests an 'easy' emendation from ymnewais
vynyd to
yn Emrais fynydd
-
“within (yn)
the mountain (fynydd)
of Emrys.” (i.e. Dinas Emrys?).28
That's
a pretty big emendation though with yn
Emrais >
ymNewais
requiring
quite a leap of faith.29
The
idea itself though is not without merit. Following Geoffrey's HRB in
1136, John of Tinmouth in 1366 called Stonehenge Mons
Ambrosii30
-
'Mount Ambrosius' in the Vita
Sancta Dubricii,
as did John Twine in 1550,31
and
this continued well up to the eighteenth century.32
It's
possible therefore, that there was some confusion and conflation of
Geoffrey's Mount
Ambrius with
Ambrosius and Stonehenge. Therefore the Welsh version of this could
indeed have been Emrais
fynydd.
This
confusion has prompted Dr Adrian Price to suggest33
that
as Geoffrey had already conflated Ambrosius and Merlinus Silvanus he
may have transposed the fortress of Dinas
Emrys to
Salisbury plain, renaming it Mount
Ambrius,
possibly influenced by the fact that Welsh mynydd
can
mean ‘plain’. However Geoffrey already knew of the monastery and
its three hundred monks and did not attribute it to Ambrosius himself
strangely enough, but to a previous monk called Ambrius. He also did
not conflate Ambrosus with Silvanus until the later vita
Merlini of
c.1150. Dr Price then suggests that in this stanza a possible
original Emrais
vynyd was
rewritten as Nevais
vynyd > ymnewais vyned under
the influence of ‘Ben Nevis’ because of a scribal error. In
effect he proposes ymnewais
fynyd is
'in mount Ambrius' and therefore suggests that Sims-Williams'
solution may also be the correct one. As we have seen above, there
was a conflation between mount
Ambrius – Amesbury
with Stonehenge, and by the fifteenth to sixteenth century there was
a Welsh proverb Mal
gwaith Emrys -
“Like the work of Emrys” referring to Stonehenge.34
But
what we should note, is that by the fifteenth century when this
stanza was written, the legend of Merlin was quite mature and its
contents of this stanza are likely to be all about Merlin rather than
having elements of Ambrosius except in name (Embrais). In conclusion,
although yn Emrais
fynydd >
ymnewais vynydd
appears
to be an enticing corruption, it may just be a leap too far
considering that there was only a short time between when this stanza
was written and then copied, and yn
Emrais is
not apparent in any of the three known versions. It would also mean
that Emrais
would
be the rhyming element in all three lines, which would appear
unlikely and not give too much credit to the creators, certainly no
other stanzas show such naming rhymes.
As
to vynyd,
the
consensus35
appears
to be that we see it as fynydd
– 'mountain'
and there is ample evidence for this.36
The
earliest form37
of
vynyd traceable
however in the GPC is vynyd
– 'plain',
a lenited form of mynedd,38
noted
at about 1400AD as a description for the Salisbury plain: “Ar
vynyd salysbri y mae mein mawr ar weith gor”-
“Upon Salisbury plain where there is a wonderful/great work of
stones in a circle.”39
This
is significant if we remember that this is where both Ambrosius and
Merlin are closely associated, and where Ambrosius is mythically
buried. But this lenited form of mynedd
would
not really work in the word order and grammar of the stanza.40
Ymnewais
of
the first line then is the problem. Thomas Jones in 1967 did not even
attempt to translate ymnewais,
showing
the extent of the difficulty with this word.41
Ym/yn means
variously, 'to be', 'enclosed/in', 'my', 'before' etc.42
That
leaves newais.
Owen
Jones' suggestion of newys/dewis43
- 'chosen
one'? has some merit (as Emrys was chosen/found by Vortigern), but
newis
is
problematical for newais
in
this construction, with no examples in the GPC, so must be rejected.
We are left then with Price's and Sims-Williams' suggestions above,
which require special pleading.
The
word newais,
could be construed to be Nevis, meaning Ben Nevis44
in
Scotland.45
The
Gaelic genitive form of the name is Beinn
Nibheis (pronounced
'Neevis' or 'Neevish'),
which
would suggest a Welsh version could have been Newais,
from an earlier Neweis.
The
Gaelic version was long ago proposed to mean something along the
lines of nem
– 'heaven'
and bathais
-
'top of a man's head', hence 'head in the clouds'46
but
the solution is disputed as Gaelic Nem
here
is problematical, as is deriving it from Gaelic neimh,
'poison,
venom'.47
The
suggestion of the Latin genitive word for 'snow' – nivis,
is
often dismissed (even though some wrote Nevis in the form Nivis
as
long ago as 1790),48
others
though have supported the solution.49
In
classical Latin the -i-
was
pronounced long as in -ee-,
which would agree with the Gaelic orthography and pronunciation, and
in some modern works 'snow' is given as the meaning.50
It's more than likely then that this name in the Latin genitive,
montis Nivis - 'snowy mountain' was then adapted into the
Gaelic genitive form.
So
ymnewais
vynedd can
be translated as “[enclosed] in Nevis mountain,” or “[enclosed]
in Ben Nevis.” Ben Nevis is in the region of the Caledonian forest,
and Geoffrey in his 1150 Vita
Merlini has
the wild-man Merlin live on the summit of a mountain in the
Caledonian forest which is where the association with Ben Nevis
probably arose.51
In
the same work Merlin says in his old age that he will remain forever
in the woods of Caledon until he dies or has 'everlasting life'.52
Merlin's
death or entrapment stories are all French Romance tales that
variously have him trapped forever in a rock, tree, cave or tower
(probably to dress Geoffrey's idea of making Merlin have everlasting
life). There is however a late legend that Merlin was buried in
Wiltshire. In around 1215, Alexander Neckham mentioned in a poem:
"Merlin's tumulus gave your name, Merleburgia (Marlborough)”.53
The
town's motto Ubi
nunc sapientis ossa Merlini - ‘Where
now are the bones of wise Merlin’ confirms the legend existed.
However, the town appears in the Doomsday book of 1086 as Merleberge
(Maerla's Hill), most likely a Saxon name. So the association is most
likely post Galfridian54
and
is an example of how Geoffrey's work was used to form legends in
various places throughout Britain. There is another late legend, said
to be related by monks concerning 'Merlins Hill' or Bryn
Myrddin near
Carmarthen, where Myrddin Emrys is reputed to be buried, but this
would not be a suitable association with newais.
In
the second line of the stanza llew
is
literally 'lion', but in a figurative sense can mean 'illustrious',
'valiant' and 'prophesied hero.'55
However, in the Estoire de Merlin, or
Vulgate Merlin of
the early thirteenth century, Merlin
relates a prophecy of a wolf and a lion, and how the wolf will
overpower the lion and bind it. Merlin then states that the prophecy
relates to himself, so he is the lion. The wolf turns out to be
Viviane, who will entrap Merlin with magical rings to bind him
forever in a cave or tree.56
As this relates directly to a grave
of Merlin, it could be significant for this stanza. It may also
indicate that the entire stanza is about Merlin Emrys, rather than
the second line applying to Ambrosius/Emrys. The Romance tales make
Merlin a warrior wizard. The
last line of the stanza is easy enough, so needs no examination.
It
might be a good time to point out again, that the entire fiction of
this stanza descends from Gildas saying that Ambrosius' parents were
killed by the Saxons, hence Ambrosius was the boy without a father.
This legend may even have been formulating at the time Gildas wrote,
as he had to mention Ambrosius' parents and their nobility in De
Excidio as
though to qualify his descent. The stanza then, would have been
written sometime after Geoffrey's HRB and Vita Merlini, where the
'nun' aspect was introduced and the association made with the
northern wild man Wyllt, Sylvestris or Llailoken, and after the
Vulgate Merlin of
the
early thirteenth century. By the mid thirteenth century the first
stanzas of the graves were being written in the Black
book of Carmarthen,
but the orthography of our stanza is later57
so
was likely influenced by the fourteenth century Cleopatra version of
the Brut Y
Brenhinedd's, “An ab y lleian”.
The older ei
(Emreis) orthography
of the Myvyrian version would indicate the stanza being written
sometime between the fourteenth and fifteenth century. The
alternative rhyming scheme and orthography ymnewais,
ymrais and Embrais are
examples of Welsh ei
to
ai, which
is a late development of the fifteenth century onwards.
So
a fifteenth century date seems appropriate for our stanza, to be
copied by Salesbury in the sixteenth century with updated
orthography. Therefore, to honour the skill of the original internal
and ending rhyming schemes I will keep Newais
for
Nevis, Lleian
as a name as seems to be intended, 'legion' for 'host' and use 'sage'
for 'prophet'. The stanza could be translated thus:
Bedd
Ann ap lleian ymnewais fynydd The
grave of Ann son of Lleian in Newais mountain,
Lluagor
llew Ymrais,
The
legion-splitting lion, Emrais,
Prif
ddewin Merddin Embrais.
The
foremost sage, Merddin Embrais.”