From The “Historia Brittonum” Commonly Attributed to Nennius; From a Manuscript Lately Discovered in the Library of the Vatican Palace at Rome: edited in the Tenth Century by Mark the Hermit with an English Version, Fac Simile of the Original, Notes and Illustrations, by the Rev. W. Gunn, London: Printed for John and Arthur Arch, 1819; pp. 41-44.
THE primary domestic bard,
Am I to Elphin,
And my original country
Is the region of Cherubims.l
Joannes the divine
Called me Merddin,
At length every king
Will call me Taliesin.
I was full nine months
In the womb of my mother Cyridwen;m
I was little Gwionn heretofore,
Taliesin am I now.
42
I was with my Lord
In the superior state,
When Lucifer did fall
To the infernal deep.
I have borne a banner
Before Alexander:
I know the names of the stars
From the north to Auster.
I have been in the circle of Gwdion
Tetragrammaton;o
I conducted Heanp
To the depth of Ebron vale,
I was in Canaan
When Absalom was slain,
I was in the Court of Donq
Before Gwdion was born,
I was an attendant
On Eli and Enoc;
I was on the cross-devoting sentence
Of the son of the merciful God.
I have been chief keeper
Of the work of Nimrod’s tower;
I have been three revolutions
In the circle of Arianrod.r
I was in the Ark
With Noah and Alpha;
43
I beheld the destruction
Of Sodoma and Gomorra;
I was in Africa
Before Rome was built;
I am come here
To the remnants of Troia.s
I was with my Lord
In the manger of the she ass;
I strengthened Moses
Through the Jordan water.
I have been in the firmament
With Mary Magdalen;
I have been gifted with genius
From the Cauldron of Cyridwen.
I have been bard of the harp
To Teont of Lochlyn;u
I have endured hunger
For the son of the Virgin.
I have been in White Hillx
In the court of Cynvelyn,
In stocks and fetters,
For a year and a day.
I have had my abode
In the kingdom of the Trinity;
It is not known what is my body
Whether flesh or fish.y
I have been an instructor
To the whole universe;
44
I shall remain till the day of doom
On the face of the earth.
I have been in an agitated seat
Above the circle of Sidin,z
And that continues revolving
Between three elements:
Is it not a wonder to the world,
That it reflects not a splendor?
From Meyrick’s History of Cardiganshire, p. 65,
2 vols. London, 1806.
FOOTNOTES
l According to the Bardic theology, the soul is an intelligence lapsed from the region of light or knowledge, and in this world making its progress through the circle of inchoation to its original state of happiness.
m A mythological being; that is, the smile of procreation; Venus.
n A mythological person.
o The Galaxy.
p The divine spirit.
q Llys Don, or the court of Don, is a name for the constellation of Cassiopœoia. Don was father of Gwdion. So the Saxons say, Woden came from the banks of the Don.
r Literally, the circle of the silver wheel, the same as the constellation, now called the Northern Crown.
s Alluding to the supposed origin of the Britons, as taught them by the Romans.
t Some copies have Lleon, others Theon (Thane?).
u Denmark.
x A name givien to the Tower of London.
y Alluding to his being found at sea.
z Literally, the revolving circle. The name would well apply to the Zodiac; but it is not certain whether that is meant, Caer Sidin, and Caer Sidydd, or some particular constellation.