Armes Prydein

Arm Prydein [' poor ' prɘdein ] (" The Prophecy of Britain "), even arm Prydein VAWR ( "The Great Prophecy of Britain " ), is a program written in the first half of the 10th century prophetic poem in the Welsh language. Originally written on Altwalisisch, the text is delivered in a historic 14th-century manuscript of the "Book of Taliesin " ( Llyfr Taliesin ), NLW MS Peniarth 2, mittelwalisischer language. The poem consists of 199 written in the so-called awdl - meter line.

Content

Construction

The shape of the arm Prydein can be divided into four segments, characterized by nine different awdlau.

In the exposition the ambitions of the British to reconquer Britain are in verses 1 to 23 set out with the help of the allied nations and makes it clear that the stumbling block to the Welsh imposed unfairly controlling the high King, and to be collected by the tax collector ( meiryon mechteyrn ) were. Line 24 seems to be a commentary or an insertion from another poem, since this line breaks the rhyme scheme. The illegitimacy of the supremacy of the Anglo-Saxons, whose humble origin and dishonest approach is found in verses 25-44. The Anglo-Saxons are represented as pagan pirates who had been lucky in their conquests.

The climax of the poem is achieved in verses 147-170, in which the various allies of the Welsh are described in detail, and the Anglo-Saxons in fact a curse is pronounced, culminating in a song of praise to the two resistance heroes Cadwaladr and Cynan.

At the end of the arm Prydein in verses 170-199 is the restoration of the Welsh lordship over the entire Britain and the unordered and desperate retreat de Anglo-Saxons after whence they came, celebrated. Finally, the Holy David is once again called to lead the uprising.

Dating and origin

Due to topographical details and explicit reference to the Holy David, who is the patron saint of Wales, and is said in the poem, he should lead the uprising against the Anglo-Saxons, the place of writing, the arm Prydein in the south Wales - probably in Dyfed - suspected at first, as the author of a spiritual writer is accepted.

Function

Unlike other contemporary heroic poems, such as in the written in Old English poem The Battle of Maldon, is described in arm Prydein not only a glorious past, thought of the Fallen or played a battle, but looked optimistically to the future, in the on the date on which the united British power would have the Anglo-Saxon conquerors, especially the West Saxons and their tax collectors sold. At the same time, the present is not analyzed with reference to persons and heroes of the legendary British past as Merlin, Cadwaladr and Cynan, which is being either Cynan Garwyn or the Bretons Conan Meriadoc, and predicted a glorious future, free in the UK by Anglo-Saxons would be, though, given the historical realities of the 10th century, this hope had to seem unrealistic.