#englyn

[dissociative-disaster]

Pa uffern do’ ni ar y bryniau hyn?

Creulon ein dyfeisiau,

ein hoff ddiniwed-arfau;

Daw prin ddigonus ddagrau.

- Englyn fer am yr olygfa o chwareli’r Eryri drwy fy ffenestr.

[graywyvern]

( via / via via @violetbondart )

Helix Noise - 230520.

"lego shiba"

too much fun for the small screen platforms in chaos gangrene i prowl among the darkling screnery remarking gray & green

lego shiba i distill dingleberries of my will & hope to avoid the killing locale of a fallow skull-hill

Mod dancer.

"Sad Song of Cuacuauhtzin

My heart craves the flowers, that they be in my hands. With songs I am saddened, I only try to compose songs on the earth. I, Cuacuauhtzin, with anxiety I desire the flowers, that they be in my hands, for I am dispossessed.

Where would we go that we never have to die? Though I be precious stone, though I be gold, I will be dissolved, there in the crucible melted down. I have only my life, I, Cuacuauhtzin, I am dispossessed.

You make resound your kettle drum of jade, your red and blue conch shell, you, Yoyontzin, Panting One. Now he has come, now the singer has risen. For a short time be happy, come and be present, those with the sad heart. Now he has come, now the singer has risen.

Open the corolla of your heart, let it tread the lofty heights. You have hated me, you have marked me for death. Now I go to His house, I will perish. Perhaps because of me you will weep, because of me you will be sad, you, my friend, but now I will go, now I am going to His house. Only this my heart tells, I will not return, never will come back to the earth, now I will go, I am going to His house.

Only useless effort, enjoy, enjoy, my friends. Should we not be happy, should we not have pleasure, my friends? I will take with me the beautiful flowers, the beautiful songs.

Never I do it in springtime, I alone am in need, alone am I, Cuacuauhtzin. Should we not enjoy, my friends? I will take with me the beautiful flowers, the beautiful songs."

--Fifteen Poets of the Aztec World, Miguel León-Portilla (1992)

Coming Soon.

[matildazq]

Write the Year 2023—Week 29: Multiplicity

I lost my mind this week; on Tuesday, I took a bunch of pictures (just on my phone) while out on a Danger Beagle walk. I had intended to just do, like an Instagram post or something and call it “Texture Tuesday” or some other nonsense. I never did, so instead, I guess I wrote 12 short poems? The form and a link to it follow each poem below. Title: LashesWC: 14 Lashesdowncast, demure.Idle, they…

[gingersnaptaff]

(Okay, so I know I said I was gonna do marriage laws and queenship stuff in regards to welsh laws - and I will! - but here is a nice, quick round-up about BARDS

*SHREDS ON A HARP*

Okay, so this is inspired by @gawrkin 's recent posts on bards because the laws surrounding them are SUPER FUN. And Wales LOVES LOVES LOVES their bards. (Myself included.)

Right, so, without further ado, ONWARDS.

*shreds harp aggressively again*

So the 'spurious triads' the author is referring to are presumably to do with IOLO MORGANNWG *ominous thunderclap*.

I shan't go too much into him as suffice to say, we gotta keep this shit SHORT, but he was a massive forger from Glamorgan (that's what Morgannwg means. It's his bardic name. Iolo is Edward.) who made up a bunch of triads and Celtic / medieval manuscripts including some of the Welsh Triads. Also, he is the reason why the Eisteddfod has the Gorsedd of bards.

So a mixed bag, y'know.

ANYWAY. They're very high-rank on account of being the literally Yellow Pages of Celtic and medieval Welsh societies. If you had a question that needed answering you'd ask a bard. They were like Google. They would know a man's lineage (and Welsh lineages are confusing. There were men named Dafydd ap Dafydd ap Dafydd ap Dafydd. No, I'm not joking.) battles, monarchs, myths, songs, stories. Anything.

And they had to SING. And play an instrument. Namely either a harp or a crwth.

This baby is crwth! It's a little like a violin but much darker in tone. They were extinct for a while but they've undergone a revival and they are FUN!

Also, the court bard had to SING to the queen about Camlann 'in a low voice.' I've heard various reasons suggested as to why and one of them is to remind her that Gwenhwyfar's infidelity was the main reason for King Arthur's downfall, but I think it's probably because of The Slap. Idk though. I'm just guessing, buddies.

Still, it's cool that the queen got a special sing-song.

Also, the bard being 'invested with a chess board' suggests to me that the game of Gwyddbwyll that Arthur and Owain play in the Mabinogion signals that they're bards. Gwyddbwyll being the type of chess the bards would've been familiar with. Plus, we know Arthur is somewhat of an amateur bard (Culhwch and Olwen being the prime example where he sings his terrible englyn about Cai to his face. Arthur, ur a fuckin BASTARD.) so it's in keeping with his character.

Also, I think it's adorable that the harp 'always descended to the youngest son.'

If you want a story that deals with bards and their privileged position in Welsh society and also wants ur heart RIPPED OUT may I suggest 'The Assembly of the Severed Head' by Hugh Lupton. It deals with a bard in a monastery after he's almost perished in a raid and the monks writing out the Mabinogion so they can give it to Llywelyn Fawr. It deals with war, love, loss, and also stonking good historical context. Also lots of poetry!!!!

Final fact: bards in Wales weren't wiped out by Edward the First. That's a fuckin myth. Don't come round here with ur fuckin myths. Old Longshanks has done enough already. May he eat shit.

(Also, Taliesin gets all the good rep but what about my boy Aneirin?)

Okay, BYEEEEE!!!!

P.S.: have an Eisteddfod chair!

[midwestbramble]

The Book of Celtic Magic Book Review

When I first started on my journey, I was interested in Celtic paganism and witchcraft (after my stint with Wicca). This book is a hold over from that time.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Content:

Synopsis

What I liked

What I Didn't Like

Overall Thoughts

Conclusion

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Published 2014

"Delve into the depths of a magical current that spans over two thousand years. The Book of Celtic Magic provides the unsurpassed power of practical magic and the transformative forces of ancient Celtica.

Druid priest Kristoffer Hughes invites you to explore the pantheon, myths, and magic of his native Wales. Discover the magical allies, the gods and goddesses, and the spirits of place that form the foundation of this vibrant tradition. Practice rituals that draw you closer to the divine energy of the trees, plants, and animals that surround you. Work with spells, conjurations, invocations, and magical tools that have been developed and refined from genuine Celtic sources. Complete with exercises and a glossary of terms, this step-by-step guide is a definitive source of authentic Celtic magic."

-from the back of the book

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

What I Liked

The book starts of with defining a few words such as englyn/englynion, as well as what the author means by "Celtic magic." A big section is set aside for Awen specifically and it's symbol, the three rays of light. Each ray is also given a meaning with definition and an exercise to connect with that idea. Right from the beginning we get exercises to help us put into practice what we are learning in the chapter. I highly encourage anyone reading this book to do the exercises as you're going through. Some of them I was drawn to more than others but they are all profound.

Most of this book is talking about magical allies, whether that be deities and demigods or plants and animals. Very specifically there is a chapter focused on introducing the concept as well as making sure the reader understands what their functions are. The more popular Welsh deities are each given a chapter where they are the focus (or if they are often paired with others then the couple (or triple) are focused on). The first is Madron and Mabon, which I felt was apt seeing as many people only know Mabon as a holiday on the Wiccan wheel of the year instead of an actual deity (which has nothing to do with the autumn equinox). You're given a run down of each with historical and primary information, then an exercise to help you connect with the deity or connect with an idea associated with them.

When I first got the book, the part that I was most drawn to was the section an working with the genius loci, ancestors, and plants and animals. Though for me, the sections on genius loci and ancestors wasn't enough but may work for those who are more into Celtic paganism than I was (even when I was trying). There's a big section on trees and working with them in the Celtic tradition, with the ogham and Kat Godeu given a lot of attention. This is a great book for more information on Ogham and working with the trees within that system. Other plants are given their own section and the part I found the most interesting was Hughes' connecting certain plants with different points on "the Great Wheel of the Year." He also uses the Physicians of Myddvai to inspire different recipes for working with different plants. Lastly, the section on animals would be very good for those looking to work in the Celtic system. It ultimately did not work for me as I am not culturally Celtic, despite half my ancestors coming from Wales and Scotland. However, I do think this can work well for others.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

What I Didn't Like

The chapters on the deities are, admittedly, short for my taste. I wish there was more for me to have been able to jump off of instead of a quick dip of the toe. Hughes definitely appears knowledgeable and the book isn't small, so maybe there was a size limit. I just wanted more to go off of since I had already known most of the myths in this book. I did learn new things from it, just wanted more.

The end of the book has a chapter on what Hughes calls "the Forts of Truth" and that just confused me. It's a divination system that Hughes himself came up with based on island forts of Annwn in the Book of Taliesin poem "the Spoils of Annwn." I probably just didn't have enough background knowledge on Annwn itself when I read through it the first time, but it had my eyes spinning trying to make heads or tails.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Overall Thoughts

If you're interested in Welsh druidism or Welsh paganism, this is a good book to start, in my opinion. The author is (at least at the time of the publishing of this book) chief of the Anglesey Druid Order and a member of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD), so I feel like this would be a good resource. You may need to eventually go out and do your own research for a few key pieces of myth for certain deities, but otherwise this was a good read.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Conclusion

At one point I would sell some of my witchcraft and pagan books so I could make room on my shelf for more, but this one stayed because it does have good information that I want to reference now and then. Specifically for folklore. If you would like to read it yourself, it can be found on Amazon, the OBOD store, it's publisher Llewellyn, 13 Moons, and more.

[gawrkin]

Rereading Trystan ac Essyllt again and it's...

Combined with the "Dialogues" between characters like Arthur, Eliwlod, Melwas and Gwenhwyfar, you get the impression no-one talks normally in Welsh Camelot.

Everyone has to speak to each other in englyns to have a serious conversation.

No-one talks in normal prose, they have to speak in three-to-four syllabic lines.

We have King Mark and his men talking normally to each other and to Arthur, but when Arthur negotiates with Trystan, suddenly everyone's eloquent and verbose.

Could you imagine Dinadan, Mordred, Morgan le Fay and the other characters talking this way?

[tigertrotter]

How do you know so many different styles of poems. I took AP English for most of highschool and these poem type names are only vaguely familiar. I hope others find you work too.

So, the reason why I know so many different types of poetic forms is all thanks to an article I found on the Writer's Digest website. The article, known as 168 Poetic Forms for Poets, gives off a list of poetic forms-both iconic and obscure-with short introduction descriptions included.

Apparently, this was the article where I learned many poetic forms that have become popular on my Archive of Our Own page, the Clogyrnach (a Welsh Poetic Form with an AABBBA Rhyme Scheme) being one of my favorites to do.

But on the other hand, I use that site to learn more poetic forms and look at examples. This is how I learned the Englyn Cyrch, the Haiku Sonnet, and the mysterious Magic Nine.

Anyways, I thank you for your question! I am planning to write for new poetic forms in the future such as the Italian Stornello and the French Huitain.

[quidam-sirenae]

I’m normal about arthuriana im normal about bedivere and Kay I’m normal about Mordreds name being written in the annales cambriae I’m normal about beaumains I’m normal about Kay trying to steal Arthur’s birthright I’m normal about ector im normal about preiddu annwfn and the rhyme scheme it has im normal about pa gur and the epithets in it im normal about missing pieces of a manuscript im normal about the englyn Arthur sings at Kay im normal about Gawain showing up early to his own death im normal about the kissing game im normal about the beheading game im normal about tor coming to Arthur’s court im normal about alliteration I actually am normal about Lancelot I know nothing about French Arthur a legend lmao

[tobacconist]

need a welsh bard to tell me how legit this is rn bc if it is i am truly floored

EDIT: i suspected the english translation here was a bad one (never trust translations of poetry that rhyme!)

its actually about the spider and is titled Englyn i’r Pryf-Copyn, heb un gytsain (a verse on the spider, without one consonant) and means something like:

From its fine egg it goes to weave—and its webs It weaves from its eggs It weaves its winter web And wefts of ice are its weavings!

and apparently fully grammatically correct!

[cymdeithasceredigion]

YR EISTEDDFOD – TESTUNAU

Beirniad: y Prifardd Gwenallt Llwyd Ifan

Mae’r holl gystadlaethau yn agored i bawb

Gwobr Goffa Pat Neill: Cerdd neu gasgliad o gerddi caeth neu rydd (heb fod dros 40 o linellau): Gwres

Gwobr: Cadair Fechan a £50    

Englyn: Unrhyw gantor / cantores

Englyn Ysgafn: Parti

Telyneg: Cannwyll

Cywydd: Tiriogaeth (hyd at 18 o linellau)

Cân ysgafn: Yr ymadawiad

Triban: Yn cynnwys enw tref neu bentref yng Ngheredigion

Parodi: Parodi ar unrhyw gerdd Gymraeg ar y testun ‘Cystadlu’

Ysgrif neu Stori Fer: Agored

Erthygl ar gyfer papur bro: Agored

Cystadleuaeth Ail Iaith: Pennill ‘Croeso’

Llên Meicro i bobl dan 25 oed: Pum darn o lên meicro ‘Gobaith’

Gwobrau ar gyfer gystadlaethau 1-11: £10

Gwobrau eraill i’w cadw am flwyddyn:

Cadair Her am y darn barddoniaeth gorau (ac eithrio cystadleuaeth Pat Neill)

Cwpan Her Ben Owens am y darn rhyddiaith gorau.      Rhaid i bob ymgais unigol fod o dan ffugenw, gydag enw'r ymgeisydd ar wahân.  Derbynnir cynigion drwy’r post arferol neu drwy e-bost. Y cyfansoddiadau i law Gwenda Evans, Awelfor, Sarnau, Llandysul, Ceredigion SA44 6QS  01239 654552 gwendaevans257@btinternet.com erbyn y dyddiad cau, dydd Llun 17 Chwefror 2025

[graywyvern]

( via / via )

"And I do love using the word influencer to talk about any of these heartless posturing cruelty-peddling alpha male half-melted douche-popsicles, because it genuinely seems to bother them to be lumped in with a job they all tend to associate purely with women they disdain, when people like Jordan Peterson and Andrew Tate and even Joe Rogan have never been any different from a girl in tight pants hawking essential oils and sad neutral home decor on Instagram."

"short shrift on the longbow"

clown-nose orange instead of red halcyon the spring but arid nothing new this risible dread stirring whirring like bat radar

Wolf.

"The atmosphere he had noticed on the upper levels was a clear odor now--sleepy, half-remembered, smiling, sad and quite strong. That is the way Time smells." R.A. Lafferty (via @djfrankelee)

Whispered into the Afternoon.

[howardswnynant]

YR EISTEDDFOD – TESTUNAU

Beirniad: y Prifardd Gwenallt Llwyd Ifan

Mae’r holl gystadlaethau yn agored i bawb

Gwobr Goffa Pat Neill: Cerdd neu gasgliad o gerddi caeth neu rydd (heb fod dros 40 o linellau): Gwres

Gwobr: Cadair Fechan a £50    

Englyn: Unrhyw gantor / cantores

Englyn Ysgafn: Parti

Telyneg: Cannwyll

Cywydd: Tiriogaeth (hyd at 18 o linellau)

Cân ysgafn: Yr ymadawiad

Triban: Yn cynnwys enw tref neu bentref yng Ngheredigion

Parodi: Parodi ar unrhyw gerdd Gymraeg ar y testun ‘Cystadlu’

Ysgrif neu Stori Fer: Agored

Erthygl ar gyfer papur bro: Agored

Cystadleuaeth Ail Iaith: Pennill ‘Croeso’

Llên Meicro i bobl dan 25 oed: Pum darn o lên meicro ‘Gobaith’

Gwobrau ar gyfer gystadlaethau 1-11: £10

Gwobrau eraill i’w cadw am flwyddyn:

Cadair Her am y darn barddoniaeth gorau (ac eithrio cystadleuaeth Pat Neill)

Cwpan Her Ben Owens am y darn rhyddiaith gorau.     

Rhaid i bob ymgais unigol fod o dan ffugenw, gydag enw'r ymgeisydd ar wahân.  Derbynnir cynigion drwy’r post arferol neu drwy e-bost. Y cyfansoddiadau i law Gwenda Evans, Awelfor, Sarnau, Llandysul, Ceredigion SA44 6QS  01239 654552 gwendaevans257@btinternet.com erbyn y dyddiad cau, dydd Llun 17 Chwefror 2025

[ofglories]

While he was doing just that they made wooden tweezers. When Cai knew for sure that he was asleep he dug a pit under his feet, the biggest in the world, and he struck him an almighty blow, and pressed him down in the pit until they had plucked out his beard completely with the wooden tweezers. And after that they killed him outright. And from there both went to Celli Wig in Cornwall, and with them a leash from the beard of Dillus Farfog, and Cai handed it to Arthur. And then Arthur sang this englyn: A leash was made by Cai From the beard of Dillus son of Efrai. Were he alive, he would kill you. And because of that Cai sulked, so that the warriors of this island could hardly make peace between Cai and Arthur. And yet neither Arthur's misfortune nor the killing of his men could induce Cai to have anything to do with him in his hour of need from then on.

Arthur truly is just an atrocious poet like holy shit. If I heard even a jokey poem that was that awful about me I'd be pissed too-

for the use made of the englyn, see also the Second and Fourth Branches of the Mabinogi. As a result of Arthur's satiricial verse, Cai takes offence and disappears from the story. Furthur englyion are furthur attributed to Arthur in other sources, while in the triads Arthur is acknowledge as one of the Three Frivolous (Amateur?) Bards of the Island of Britain.

Arthur Pendragon: canonically one of the worst poets in all of Britain.

[gingersnaptaff]

u know i gotta ask u about gwynhwyfar for the fave fact/headcanon post (,,,n' also arthur if ur feeling generous. trying to pick between the two had me in Agonies 😂) –🧡

For Gwyn I headcanon that if she wasn't fated to marry Arthur/ become queen / bring about the fall of the kingdom alongside her sister she would've escaped her dad and chilled out in a little cottage by the sea with a dog. (She still would've found Dylan.) Also, she tries to take up the harp but she really does not like it.

Fun fact: when I first dreamed her up I had imagined her as a lot more bull-headed than I think she is currently.

Arthur fancies himself as a great poet. Shame everything he writes is terrible. (Which is canon if u read Culhwch and Olwen. His englyn smears Cai's reputation and is just bad.) Also, he takes his doggo, Cafall, on war campaigns with him.

Also, once he becomes king that time Gwyn pushed him into a horse trough in anger becomes a ballad. It's secretly his favourite although he won't tell Gwyn that.

Also when I was writing him I DID NOT think he'd fall in love with Gwyn AND Dylan. That's on me, honestly.

[orwellsunderpants]

I wonder whether whoever did the translation for Chuckles’ oath translated it badly on purpose, knowing that neither he nor anyone else around him would know the difference, but that Welsh speakers would totally get it.

Also thank you for the translation of the englyn and the explanation of the poetic form!

Did you see that the Welsh version of Chuck's pledge uses the word "curse" instead of "swear"? I don't speak Welsh, but I saw this on the internets and it sounds on brand.

OKAY I HAD TO LOOK THIS UP

Here's what it should be!

I swear by almighty God/Tyngaf i Dduw holl alluog

Here's what it is!

Byddaf i yn rhegi i Dduw omnipotent.

WHICH MEANS, BASICALLY,

I WILL SWEAR AT "OMNIPOTENT" GOD

...

...

...

Okay I mean FIRST OF ALL that means the Welsh pledge breaks one of the ten commandments so that's a Choice and SECOND OF ALL I just checked and Google Translate actually translates this correctly so now I have a thousand questions and they really boil down to WHO EXACTLY TRANSLATED THIS GIVE ME A NAME