islanders said that some of the mighty had passed away. For as a lamp on being lit, they said, brings with it no danger, while on being extinguished it is grievous to many, just so with regard to great souls, their beginning to shine forth is pleasant and the reverse of grievous, whereas the extinction and destruction of them frequently disturb the winds and the surge as at present; often times also do they infect the atmosphere with pestilential diseases. Moreover, there is there, they said, an island in which Cronus is imprisoned, with Briareus keeping guard over him as he sleeps; for, as they put it, sleep is the bond forged for Cronus. They add that around him are many deities, his henchmen and attendants.”
To return to the Black Book, I may mention that another of the Stanzas of the Graves is worth citing here, though it does not name Arthur. It alludes, however, to Camlan, the Camelot of Malory and the romances, and that in the same strain of apparently historical definiteness as the entry in the Annales Cambriæ cited as mentioning Camlan. The lines in question run thus[1]—
Bet mab osvran yg camlan.
gvydi llauer kywlavan.
Bet bedwir in alld tryvan.
Osvran’s son’s grave (is) at Camlan,
After many a slaughter,
Bedwyr’s grave (is) in Allt Tryvan.
We next come to a poem headed Gereint filius Erbin, which describes a battle at a place called Llongborth. Gereint is the poet’s hero, but he introduces Arthur as Gereint’s superior and lord, as follows[3]:—
- ↑ Evans’ Facsimile, fol. 32b.
- ↑ There are several mountain tops in the Snowdon district called y Tryfan, “the Tryvan,” and Moel Tryfan, “the round-topped hill of Tryvan.” Lady Charlotte Guest (Mabinogion, ii. 167) has been misled by somebody to indulge in the impossible spelling Trivaen.
- ↑ Evans’ Facsimile, fol. 36b.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 I am not certain what documents exactly Prof. Zimmer had in view when he wrote as to Arthur, “Nirgends führt er den Titel amherawdyr”; or whether he would regard ameraudur here as a title or not: see the Gött. gel. Anz. for 1890, p. 524.
