Heresy 05 Confusion in the Forest (long)
Mark L. Vines
Let me remark at once that, despite having some Welsh blood, I have
even less expertise concerning Welsh than I have concerning _Macbeth_.
Moreover, the _Cad Goddeu_ (there's a circumflex ^ accent over the "a" in
_Cad_, by the way) confuses many of the experts. They agree that the
title means _Battle of the Trees_. If aware of the modern Canadian
pop-musical group Rush, they agree that the _Cad Goddeu_'s imagery
impressionistically resembles that of the Rush song, "Confusion in the
Forest," which it may have inspired.
But the experts agree on little else: whether the _Cad Goddeu_ is one
poem or several; which lines belong to it & which do not; whether the
most complete version of the text was partly an 18th-century (C.E.)
forgery by Iolo Morganwg or not; & so forth. In any case, the "battle"
of the title was fought against Arawn King of Annwm (the abyss) by
Gwydion & Amathaon, the sons of Don, & was "occasioned by a Lapwing, a
White Roebuck and a Whelp" (dog) "from Annwm" (the abyss).
In one sense Gwydion, & in another his descendant Gwion / Taliesin, is
considered the notional "author" & first-person voice of the poem or
poems. Taliesin is an ancient Welsh hero-figure with an aptitude for
riddles. The _Cad Goddeu_ is something of a riddle itself. It can be
rather frustrating: not everyone has the patience to read it. Here is
the (possibly inaccurate) English translation by D.W. Nash, now in the
public domain:
> CAD GODDEU
>
> (The Battle of the Trees)
>
> I have been in many shapes,
> Before I attained a congenial form.
> I have been a narrow blade of a sword.
> (I will believe it when it appears.)
> 5 I have been a drop in the air.
> I have been a shining star.
> I have been a word in a book.
> I have been a book originally.
> I have been a light in a lantern.
> 10 A year and a half.
> I have been a bridge for passing over
> Three-score rivers.
> I have journeyed as an eagle.
> I have been a boat on the sea.
> 15 I have been a director in battle.
> I have been the string of a child's swaddling clout.
> I have been a sword in the hand.
> I have been a shield in the fight.
> I have been the string of a harp,
> 20 Enchanted for a year
> in the foam of water.
> I have been a poker in the fire.
> I have been a tree in a covert.
> There is nothing in which I have not been.
> 25 I have fought, though small,
> In the Battle of Goddeu Brig,
> Before the Ruler of Britain,
> Abounding in fleets.
> Indifferent bards pretend,
> 30 They pretend a monstrous beast,
> With a hundred heads,
> And a grievous combat
> At the root of the tongue.
> And another fight there is
> 35 At the back of the head.
> A toad having on his thighs
> A hundred claws,
> A spotted crested snake,
> For punishing in their flesh
> 40 A hundred souls on account of their sins.
> I was in Caer Fefynedd,
> Thither were hastening grasses and trees.
> Wayfarers perceive them,
> Warriors are astonished
> 45 At a renewal of the conflicts
> Such as Gwydion made.
> There is calling on Heaven,
> And on Christ that he would effect
> Their deliverance,
> 50 The all-powerful Lord.
> If the Lord had answered,
> Through charms and magic skill,
> Assume the forms of the principal trees,
> With you in array
> 55 Restrain the people
> Inexperienced in battle.
> When the trees were enchanted
> There was hope for the trees,
> That they should frustrate the intention
> 60 Of the surrounding fires....
> Better are three in unison,
> And enjoying themselves in a circle,
> And one of them relating
> The story of the deluge,
> 65 And of the cross of Christ,
> And of the Day of Judgement near at hand.
> The alder-trees in the first line,
> They made the commencement.
> Willow and quicken tree,
> 70 They were slow in their array.
> The plum is a tree
> Not beloved of men;
> The medlar of a like nature,
> Overcoming severe toil.
> 75 The bean bearing in its shade
> An army of phantoms.
> The raspberry makes
> Not the best of food.
> In shelter live
> 80 The privet and the woodbine,
> And the ivy in its season.
> Great is the gorse in battle.
> The cherry-tree had been reproached.
> The birch, though very magnanimous,
> 85 Was late in arraying himself;
> It was not through cowardice,
> But on account of his great size.
> The appearance of the ... [?]
> Is that of a foreigner and a savage.
> 90 The pine-tree in the court,
> Strong in battle,
> By me greatly exalted
> In the presence of kings,
> The elm-trees are his subjects.
> 95 He turns not aside the measure of a foot,
> But strikes right in the middle,
> And at the farthest end.
> The hazel is the judge,
> His berries are thy dowry.
>100 The privet is blessed.
> Strong chiefs in war
> Are the ... [?] and the mulberry.
> Prosperous the beech-tree.
> The holly dark green,
>105 He was very courageous:
> Defended with spikes on every side,
> Wounding the hands.
> The long-enduring poplars
> Very much broken in fight.
>110 The plundered fern;
> The brooms with their offspring:
> The furze was not well behaved
> Until he was tamed.
> The heath was giving consolation,
>115 Comforting the people.
> The black cherry-tree was pursuing.
> The oak-tree swiftly moving,
> Before him tremble heaven and earth,
> Stout doorkeeper against the foe
>120 Is his name in all lands.
> The corn-cockle bound together,
> Was given to be burnt.
> Others were rejected
> On account of the holes made
>125 By great violence
> In the field of battle.
> Very wrathful the ... [?],
> Cruel the gloomy ash.
> Bashful the chestnut-tree,
>130 Retreating from happiness.
> There shall be a black darkness,
> There shall be a shaking of the mountain,
> There shall be a purifying furnace,
> There shall first be a great wave,
>135 And when the shout shall be heard --
> Putting forth new leaves are the tops of the beech;
> Changing form and being renewed from a withered state;
> Entangled are the tops of the oak.
> From the Gorchan of Maelderw.
>140 Smiling at the side of the rock
> (Was) the pear-tree not of an ardent nature.
> Neither of mother or father,
> When I was made,
> Was my blood or body;
>145 Of nine kinds of faculties,
> Of fruit of fruits,
> Of fruit God made me,
> Of the blossom of the mountain primrose,
> Of the buds of trees and shrubs,
>150 Of earth of earthly kind.
> When I was made
> Of the blossoms of the nettle,
> Of the water of the ninth wave,
> I was spell-bound by Math
>155 Before I became immortal.
> I was spell-bound by Gwydion,
> Great enchanter of the Britons,
> Of Eurys, of Eurwn,
> Of Euron, of Medron,
>160 In myriads of secrets,
> I am as learned as Math....
> I know about the Emperor
> When he was half burnt.
> I know the star-knowledge
>165 Of stars before the earth (was made),
> Whence I was born,
> How many worlds there are.
> It is the custom of accomplished bards
> To recite the praise of their country.
>170 I have played in Lloughor,
> I have slept in purple.
> Was I not in the enclosure
> With Dylan Ail Mor,
> On a couch in the centre
>175 Between the two knees of the prince
> Upon two blunt spears?
> When from heaven came
> The torrents into the deep,
> Rushing with violent impulse.
>180 (I know) four-score songs,
> For administering to their pleasure.
> There is neither old nor young,
> Except me as to their poems,
> Any other singer who knows the whole of the nine hundred
>185 Which are known to me,
> Concerning the blood-spotted sword.
> Honour is my guide.
> Profitable learning is from the Lord.
> (I know) of the slaying of the boar,
>190 Its appearing, its disappearing,
> Its knowledge of languages.
> (I know) the light whose name is Splendour,
> And the number of the ruling lights
> That scatter rays of fire
>195 High above the deep.
> I have been a spotted snake upon a hill;
> I have been a viper in a lake;
> I have been an evil star formerly.
> I have been a weight in a mill. (?)
>200 My cassock is red all over.
> I prophesy no evil.
> Four score puffs of smoke
> To every one who will carry them away:
> And a million of angels,
>205 On the point of my knife.
> Handsome is the yellow horse,
> But a hundred times better
> Is my cream-coloured one,
> Swift as the sea-mew,
>210 Which cannot pass me
> Between the sea and the shore.
> Am I not pre-eminent in the field of blood?
> I have a hundred shares of the spoil.
> My wreath is of red jewels,
>215 Of gold is the border of my shield.
> There has not been born one so good as I,
> Or ever known,
> Except Goronwy,
> From the dales of Edrywy.
>220 Long and white are my fingers,
> It is long since I was a herdsman.
> I travelled over the earth
> Before I became a learned person.
> I have travelled, I have made a circuit,
>225 I have slept in a hundred isles;
> I have dwelt in a hundred cities.
> Learned Druids,
> Prophesy ye of Arthur?
> Or is it me they celebrate,
>230 And the Crucifixion of Christ,
> And the Day of Judgement near at hand,
> And one relating
> The history of the Deluge?
> With a golden jewel set in gold
>235 I am enriched;
> And I am endulging in pleasure
> Out of the oppressive toil of the goldsmith.
Gibberish, perhaps, but strangely tantalizing: the phrases approach
intelligibility only to zip away again, "occasioned," as the _Red Book_
says, by Dog, Roebuck & Lapwing. Talk about confusion in the forest!
8-) But I want to start a rumor that makes this riddle interesting.
According to my rumor, J.R.R. Tolkien may have solved the riddle of _Cad
Goddeu_. Furthermore, he may have encoded the solution, like a picture
made of alphabetic shapes, like a birthday jest for Shakespeare, into his
Middle-earth mythos: specifically, into the mystery of the disappearance
of the Entwives.
========================================================================
When emailing me with flames or other comments, please remember to
mention my name (Mark) in the subject line; otherwise your message may
go to someone else instead of me. Also when flaming, please keep in
mind the following words:
> I much prefer history, true or feigned, with its varied applica-
> bility to the thought and experience of readers. I think that many
> confuse 'applicability' with 'allegory'; but the one resides in the
> freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of
> the author.
>
> -- J.R.R. Tolkien, foreword to _The Lord of the Rings_
So all I am doing here is exercising the freedom of the reader &
sharing some of the ways in which Tolkien's Middle-earth mythos can be
applied to this reader's thought & experience.
========================================================================