Is acher in gaíth in-nocht...

Dia dibh, (hello!)

O my god, I can't believe it's been a few months since I wrote something! I'm terribly sorry, I didn't have the time and the inspiration, but now I have enough for some more blogposts :)

So I started my second year in the BA Celtic Languages & Culture, and I love how that sounds (H) I'm loving it even more than I did last year, though I am drowning in homework and I am stressed out almost 24/7. But as I passed both stupid obligatory courses (Linguistics and Literature), I will only have to do Celtic courses! Big yay! And that means that I'm studying Old Irish now, the hardest language I have ever tried to understand, and Medieval Latin (lots of monks and saints and popes and..) and still Middle Welsh. Next to my studies there are lots of interesting things happening (lots of musicals, reviews will come), especially with Twibv! Last week we did a mini-gig at an event organized by my mother, we did two songs which was really awesome to do. And this Thursday we will play an hour in the local hospital. Awesome. So we are busy big time!!

Now, to make this blogpost somewhat more interesting, some Old Irish poems!!

This poem is found in a manuscript of Priscian's Institutiones Grammaticae, scribbled on the paper. It is probably written in the 9th century, when monasteries were often raided by the Vikings. The poem speaks about fear for such a raid.
Is acher in gaíth in-nocht
Fu-fúasna fairggae findfolt
Ní ágor reimm mora minn
Dond láechraid lainn ua Lothlind

The wind is bitter tonight
It tosses the sea's white hair
I do not fear the coursing of a quiet sea
By the fierce warriors from Lothlend


Having studied Modern Irish for a few months, I was delighted to notice some words that I recognized immediately! In-nocht is the Old Irish form for anocht, a word that's used a lot in Modern Irish (I'm going to the pub tonight! Will you be at the pub tonight?), and fairggae looks like farraige, meaning sea. I always liked that word, no idea why. It sounds mysterious ^^
But despite these things that do seem familiar, Old Irish is way more complicated than Modern Irish. The verbs are conjugated as many times as you can think of, it's really annoying if you turn a page and see moooore paradigms.. Compare:
O-I:                                                M-I
Do-biru                                           Tabhair mé
Do-bir                                             Tabhair tú
Do-beir                                           Tabhair sé/sí 
Do-beram                                       Tabhair sinn
Do-berat                                         Tabhair sibh
Do-beiraid                                       Tabhair siad
(this is actually the same verb. Explanation for those of you who would like to know: Do-beir is a so-called 'deuterotonic' form, and if you use it in a conjunct form (so after a conjunct) you would get *ní-do-beir. But 'ní' and 'do' are both unstressed, and you can't have two unstressed sounds after each other. SO the stress shifts from 'beir' to 'do', and then something unpredicatble happens: 'do-beir' changes to 'tabair'. And this is the form that survived in Modern Irish) (this is again an example why Old-Irish is annoyingly complicated)


I will write some more about Old-Irish, it's just too weird and I love it, and coming up: Reviews about Miss Saigon, John Spillane's Irish Songs We Learned At School, and some more musicrelated stuff!!


Until next time,
Slán,
Lian

Croíbhualadh

Hi guys,

My homework for tomorrow was translating an Irish poem. Normally, I'm not really a poem-person, but this one is really beautiful. The poem is by Louis de Paor, translation by me!!


Croíbhualadh (Heartbeat)


Marble rain
Is clattering on the roof,
Fingernails of anxiety
drumming
on my skull.
I can't sleep.


Behind her shut eyes,
She follows the sun
through long halls of sleep
Her stretched body
lying against me
without temptation


For a smaller distance
than the smallest distance
her breath stops
at its peak
indrawn,
a phone before ringing
a car before crashing


The wind holds a breath
and a listening ear.


The noise
of a hundred maladjusted clocks
smothers the whisper of blood
in my bruised heart


Until her chest drops
and releases
sweet burden of air
in a smothered muffler
the fear of my mouth


Happy furore bursts in my pulse,
with noise of bumpercars
on a fair day in Youghal,
a rattling of a phone
in closed exchange,
shoes of the rain
on the slate floor above me,
until the whispering of the insensible clock
wakes my clapping heart
to tell me later on
that her breath will stop
for a longer time
than eternity


the rain continues
shovelling stone above me.
Can't sleep.

Louis de Paor reads this poem in Irish:

Bean Pháidín

Hi all!

As I told you guys before, I started the course Irish for Beginners at the university a few weeks ago. And at this course, we got to hear an Irish song, Bean Pháidín, that has stuck in my head ever since. I lóve it, it is so catchy, and I love the lyrics!
It's about a girl who is madly in love with Páidín. Unfortunately, he's already married. And now she wishes that Páidín's woman breaks all her bones and dies ^^ I love the Irish.

So here are the lyrics and a translation, and the youtube song. I recommend you check out the animation too, it's brilliant.

WARNING: this will stick in your head for-ev-ah. Seriously. Forever.

S é'n trua nach mise, nach mise                It is so unfortunate that I am not, that I am not
'S é'n trua nach mise bean Pháidín            It is so unfortunate that I am not Páidín's wife
'S é'n trua nach mise, nach mise               It is so unfortunate that I am not, that I am not
'S an bhean atá aige bheith caillte             And the woman he has should be dead 

Rachainn go Gallaí' go Gallaí'                             I'd go to Galway, to Galway
Is rachainn go Gallaí' le Pháidín                         And I'd go to Galway with Páidín
Rachainn go Gallaí' go Gallaí'                             I'd go to Galway, to Galway
Is thiocfainn abhaile sa mbád leis                       And I'd return in the boat with him

Rachainn go haonach an Chlocháin                    I'd go to the fair of Clifden
Is siar go Béal Á' na Báighe                              And into Ballinaboy
Bhreathnóinn isteach tríd an bhfuinneog             I'd look through the windows
A' súil is go bhfeicfinn bean Pháidín                   Hoping to see Páidín's wife

Go mbristear do chosa, do chosa                     May your legs, your legs be broken
Go mbristear do chosa 'bean Pháidín                May your legs be broken, Páidíns wife
Go mbristear do chosa, do chosa                     May your legs be broken
Go mbristear do chosa 's do chnámha              May your legs and bones be broken

As you hear, it's a really happy song! Now if you really lóve the song (and I can't image that you don't), here are some other versions.

This a version by Lasairfiona Ní Chonaola, it is very laid-back and cute. I love the bódhran in the background! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhyWXnyykds&feature=related

This is a version by Planxty, thé Irish folk band. I love how he can sing and play the bodhran at the same time. Pretty sick, actually. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9f8CBoTpaZs&feature=related

I heard Anúna had a version of this song too, but I wasn't able to find it anywhere. So if you do, let me know! ^^

Slán!

Tudur Aled - Clod Tir Iâl

Hi everyone, 

As you've noticed, I love Celts and I love poetry. This year we had to translate middle welsh poems, which I loved. The rhyme and stilistic thingies in these welsh poems are extraordinary, and that really impressed me. I'm not even impressed by poetry anymore because it is simple if it 'merely' rhymes. 

So here is a poem by Tudur Aled. He lived from 1465 until 1525 (probably) and was a master in 'cynghanedd'

                                               Clod Tir Iâl

1.                 Af i'r ty, fyth, a'r fort fawr

I dir Iâl, hyd yr elawr

At yr haelaf yn treuliaw

Tudur Llwyd, da Duw i'r llaw

5.                 Dy dad a wnaeth dy dai'n wych

Dyma nhwy, da mwynheÿch

Muroedd calch Moreiddig cynt

Mur Sanddef a'r Mars ynddynt

Etifedd wyt Dafydd dda

10.               Llwyd, dewrder llew, at wrda

Tudur, ŵyr Tudur arall,

Tudur Llwyd, tydi yw'r llall

Byw Ifan gynt, bu fan gwyn

Bwyall Iâl, fab Llywelyn

15.               Bron Ynyr bro Anianus

Bryn yn ŷd, heb ronyn us.

As I don't assume everybody understands Welsh I'll post my translation beneath. But this poem is not about what it's about (you gettit?) but about how it sounds, the so-called cynghanedd.
If we just take one line as an example:  Tudur Llwyd, da Duw i'r llaw
Now, ignore all the vowels:                   t   d  r ll     d,d     d      r  ll  w
Now you can split the verse in two:       t   d  r ll   |  t        d      r ll 
And now you see that the consonants match in the two parts of the verse. Now, some of you are really watching closely: why are the two d's a t, and is the last w eliminated?
Well, those are the rules of the cynghanedd. If there's a word that ends with a d, and next is a word that begins with a d, you'll notice that if you pronounce it, the words kind of stick together and form a t- sound.
And the w at the end is not always a consonant in welsh. Really myserious.
Because of this, every sentence is a piece of art. And really, in évery sentence you'll find a kind of cynghanedd. You try this in your language. You'll fail.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynghanedd)

So here's my translation! I originally translated into dutch and made it real poetic, but a simple english translation will do here. I won't come close to Tudur, poetically speaking.

The fame of the country of Iâl

I'll go to the land, fast, and the big fort
In the land of Iâl, until the deathbed
To the most generous of spilling
Tudur Llwyd, to the hand of Good God

Your father made great houses
Watch them, may you enjoy them
Chalk walls of Moreiddig in old times
The walls of Sanddef and the March

You are the heir of Dafydd Llwyd the Good
Brave as a lion, and a nobleman
Tudur, the grandson of another Tudur
Tudur Llwyd, you were the other Tudur

In Ifan's life in old days it was a sacred place
At Iâl, son of Llywelyn
The hill of Ynyr, land of Anianus
A hill full of corn, without a grain of chaff

There are many interpretations possible of this poem, and this was my interpretation. So it's not necessarily the right one. As you see, it's a poem about the mecenas of Tudur Aled, Tudur Llwyd. He praises his lord and his country, and he was probably well paid doing so.

Coming week I'll start school again, after two weeks of doing nothing, so I'll be more busy with learning Irish (hell yeah!) than with other stuff. So then I'll teach you some Irish! ^^

Llywelyn ap Gruffudd

Tomorrow I have a test of the course 'Wales in the Middle Ages', and as I'm noticing avoiding-study-behaviour, I'll tell you all about a figure in the Welsh history I have to know a lot about.

Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (nicknamed The Last Prince, tah-tah-tah-taaaaah)

His father Gruffud was the eldest son of Llywelyn the Great, but as this Llywelyn favoured his younger son Dafydd above his eldest, Gruffudd was locked up for half of his life. Dafydd became king but sucked at it, so Gruffud tried to seize power, which he failed to do. Dafydd and the english king locked him up in the Tower of London, where he died at an attempt to escape. (He tied up some sheets and climbed out the window, and fell dead. Pretty pathetic, I know.)

But when Dafydd died childless, the sons of Gruffudd were next in line. Henry III divided parts of Wales under them in the Peace of Woodstock. (That's got nothing to do with hippies.) When Llywelyn, the youngest, defeated his elder brothers and seized control over a big part of Wales, Henry III wasn't amused but let it happen. He didn't see Llywelyn as a threat.
Off course, he couldn't have been more wrong. Llywelyn was a stubborn prince, that never really obeyed Henry. In 1255 he defeats his brother Dafydd (I know, another one) who conspired against him with the lord of Powys. Llywelyn doesn't kill them, but claims Powys as his own. At this point, he's got whole Wales in his hands except for Pembrokeshire and Glamorgan.
In 1265 Llywelyn decides to ally with Simon de Montfort, an english baron, by engaging with his daughter. Henry is pretty pissed about this, and they aren't allowed to marry.
But Llywelyn's power becomes greater and in 1267 he is declared 'Prince of Wales' in the treaty of Montgomery. Woohoo! But then Edward I succeeds Henry III, and Edward is really fixed on defeating Wales. He spends a lot of money on the conquest and Llywelyn's power starts to crumble. But after eleven years of engagement, he is finally allowed to marry Elinor de Montford! Yeah, love rules all! ^^ Pity she dies a year later when giving birth..

In 1282 the Last Battle begins. His brother Dafydd starts a revolt, and Llywelyn decides to join him, but he isn't really happy about it (because Dafydd tried to kill him. So cute they get together in the end!)
But Edward is the least happy about it! The final military conquest of Wales begins and though he loses his fleet and loses the battle of Llandeilo, the revolt starts to crumble and at Builth Castle, Llywelyn is killed by someone who didn't know who he was killing, but well, he's pretty much dead. His head is sent to the king of England, who probably did a little happy dance there.

After Llywelyn's death, Dafydd fights on, but in the end he gets caught and dies a traitor-death (which is nasty. Remember Braveheart?)
So Edward's got Wales, puts all Llywelyn's daughters in monasteries, and thus the royal line of Wales dies out. Darn.

Welcome to my Blog!

Hi there,

I was thinking of creating a blog for quite some time now. Especially because I like so many things, and I want to tell everybody about those things without being annoying.

But the thing I like most, are Celtic languages, culture, music and all other things! I am BA students of Celtic Studies at Utrecht University, I'm in my third year, and the thing I like most is telling all the people I know about every amazing thing I get to learn everyday.

Since I wanted to share those things with the world, and convince everyone how Celtic studies are the most interesting studies, I will update this blog every once in a while with Celtic facts or texts or whatever!!

Kisses,
Lian