CELT: Bards, was Re: CELT: Spoken Conlangs

[Padraic Brown <agricola@WAM.UMD.EDU>]

On Fri, 27 Mar 1998, Sally Caves wrote:

> So, Andrew and Padraig, if I understand this aright as I'm gradually
> absorbing this, Brithenig has its own timeline and alternate universe?
> How far back do you go?  What do you do with beloved Arthur?  Is there a
> Taliesin? any other ancient Cambrian bards?

The POD (Point of Departure) between the universes is sometime after the
Scampering of the Legions, with the necessary ingredient that Romance be
the language in operation (at the expence of Brittish).  The Comro were
able to make a go of it, and, well, the rest is, as it were, history.

Well, the Universe as We Know It probably dates back to the order of 20 to
40 billion years.  Brithenig isn't quite that old. ;-)

Last I knew, Andrew was doing some enquiry into Our Beloved Arthur.  I'll
let him clarify that.

Don't know about Taliesin.  One quite famous bard of the 12th or 13th
century was a fellow called Samorigos.  He is most famous for "la canta
dell Magan Lav", the Utterly Romantic tale of a Kerno warrior, Artomoros,
who "came into" the kingship of a wee patch in Brittany and was married
to, besides his wife Daccobena, his new realm.  He spends many stanzas
reminiscing the good old days and mourning the separation of himself from
his beloved Kerno, saying things like "Truly am I miserable, in my lorldy
castle, yet torn from my beloved native land!"  Near the end of the piece
Samorigos makes a dramatic entrance and Artomoros retains him.  The King
asks him if he knows even one Kerno song; to which the Bard replies that
he knows not one, but indeed he knows at least 15, and as many as 21.
Needless to say, this makes Artomoros very happy, and Samorigos very
famous.

It was the first thing I wrote in Kernu, and only consists of two verses,
from near the end:

Ay yn rex in Bretonterre, do li ill nom 'ill Magan lav'.   a le ce bardh
        gwadev.
ys fu ill rex di Bretonterre, mas fu yn nomm de Kernoterre,   yn fil yn
        Kemran gwen.
'donam-ti lla mbenwenid,' dichev li ill Magan Lav;   'canti a Bhardh, sis
        plech!'
do le mbardh ay chantou mhult; d'Iwru, Alpu i Bretu.   'nun na-sabz
        Kernu?'
'nay yn mbard dol castre-l me, nay nyn nomm a chantarmi;   nay lla chant
        Chernu!

'gwerment yo ham afelich, in ma ngastre doumnorich,   ke dist dim terr
        am'u!'
'a mha rhex da nGomroterre, ki nabiz ne in nderre am'u,   eo ist asdechu:
eo na-sabu ngante nun, mays eo sabu pymp-i-theck,   i ply do tri-de-naw!'
'gwerment felich ym fachet', a ki thristes seirur fu!   yn fest bendit
        avra!'
avra dy moches casstues, avra dy vins i cerves freid,   i alch di chante
        Chernu!'

I hope that answers a few of your questions.

>
> Sally
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> Sally Caves
> scaves@frontiernet.net
>
>             Mr. Book:  "Shut it down!!"
>                             _Dark City_
>
>         niffodyr tweluanrem letteuim an
>       "The gods have retractable claws"
>                    The Gospel of Bastet
>        (from "Ketamine," F&SF Mar 1995)
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
Padraic.