The Song of the Creation of Cymru

The storied wanderer speaks to this land, as sea spoke to sky:
An enchanter's song to name mighty powers, creating himself anew.
So with himself, all things are made again as before…

* * *

Before eye or ear, mouth or word,
The soundless chasm, the great radiance,
The alternation of darkness and light,
Summer growing day, winter returning night,
All coming to be: a lay of greatest power.

The story of invasions, north and south,
Of emergences from water and darkness,
I tell of the Woman of earth and water,
Daughter of the world,
Of her husband the Ancient White One, swelling mighty,
Son of the ocean deep.

Of women emerging and sinking out of sight,
Of Don's children, of Llyr's offspring,
Of Llew in Eagle shape, of Gwydion’s magic,
Of the Prince whose sons divided Britain,
And Corineus, killer of giants,
Of Cunedda and his eight sons, lords in the north,
The coming of ancestors, men and women.

Dark and light, fire and water, summer and winter ice:
World; Ocean; Land and Rivers; the Ancient White Entity;
Waters and Lands made different;
Waters overcoming; Waters receding,
Conquerors crossing water; contests fought; songs of naming.

* * *

The naming of sky and earth,
Sun, moon and lake;
Rivers, many fruits,
Soaking rain,
Much wealth of sea,
Mouths, ears,
Eyes, treasures,
Feet, hands,
Warriors and storytellers.
Horses, swords,
Bright chariots,
Barbed spears,
Embossed shields,
Men's faces, women's faces,
Children running,
Dew, mist on rivers,
Stones on plains, sheen on leaves,
Day and night,
Ebb and flow…

* * *

One Land with five sovereign peaks at its center,
That great center a source of rivers,
Five lands fair, of Cunedda's sons, of Pwyll's headship,
Lands of the Children of Don,
Lands of the Children of Llyr,
Lands contending with Annwn and its Master,
The Sovereign Land of Gwrtheyrn,
A land dripping with plenty and song;
Lands of the south, friendly to women.
And the giants below sea, lake, and ridge,
Darkly holding the life of plenty in yielding soil
Rendered up in due season, from the white woman's body.

* * *

Great honor to the people of the land, every one,
To every hill on which a fire blazes;
The shining courts, the halls and tables,
The heroes of boastful fame and sturdy arm,
The people of farm and valley and dripping wood.

Great honor to the Sacred Knowledge,
And the people of sacred art-
Of poetry and remembrance, of sacrifices and law;
Honor to the people of strength and force,
Of peace preserved, of bloody fights;
Honor to the people of the fertile plain,
Of the fruits of peace, of plentiful herds.

Honor and fame to the victorious ones,
The hosts of Math, of Gwydion, of Llew,
To their triumph over darkness, to their gallantry,
To the bonds they made with mortal women and men;
To their siring of heroes, their coming among villages,
The ever-young, ever living Lords of hidden lands
And royal dwellings under the ancient mounds.
By their leave every art and every needful craft
And every good favor comes to man:
A generous flame to every hearth and peace in every breast.


* * *


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All Text, aside from given citations, is Copyright © 2009 by Cuan Maqq Beli
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