J.C.’s review of The Gododdin: Lament for the Fallen > Likes and Comments
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Jan-Maat, I loved your perception of the poet Aneirin's mysterious self-portrait as sitting within a poetic tradition rather than a literal one - thank you ! Also for giving me the opportunity (missed to my review) to clarify the book's structure. The Old Welsh is on the left page and Gillian Clarke's version on the right. It's not a literal translation, though, but a poetic version in English. With my limited knowledge of modern Welsh I could pick up where G.C. had transposed lines, or sometimes had a fairly free hand with the text. She does draw on a linguistic translation, by Kenneth Jackson, who calls it "the earliest Scottish poem" as the men are from the English/Scottish border lands and the feast takes place in Edinburgh.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1..., and also on Jarman, also a facing-page translation (see AI summary of translators below).
Kenneth H. Jackson (1969):
The Gododdin: The Oldest Scottish Poem, a classic scholarly prose and verse translation providing extensive historical context.
Joseph P. Clancy (1970):
The Earliest Welsh Poetry, featuring a well-regarded, flowing literary translation.
A.O.H. Jarman (1988):
Y Gododdin: Britain's Oldest Heroic Poem, offering a comprehensive modern English translation alongside the Middle Welsh text.
Gillian Clarke (2021): The Gododdin: Lament for the Fallen, a lyrical, modern poetic version by the former National Poet of Wales.
The AI symmary above doesn't make clear that Gillian Clarke's translation is into English.
I would answer your comment more comprehensively but I am on the ferry, travelling light, and had to leave the book behind this morning. But Gillian Clarke's preface is worth reading, and her poetry is beautiful, whether or not you read Welsh. You can see the rhymes and repeated consonants as in an early move towards cynghanedd, the formal Welsh poetry still popular today.
Fascinating review Jeanne! Great how you bring out the linguistic elements that went over my head.
The book you were asking about is Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Story of English by John McWhorter.
Ian wrote: "Fascinating review Jeanne! Great how you bring out the linguistic elements that went over my head.
The book you were asking about is Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Story of English by John Mc..."
Thank you! I knew you'd come up with the goods. I should read that book!
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Jan-Maat, I loved your perception of the poet Aneirin's mysterious self-portrait as sitting within a poetic tradition rather than a literal one - thank you ! Also for giving me the opportunity (missed to my review) to clarify the book's structure. The Old Welsh is on the left page and Gillian Clarke's version on the right. It's not a literal translation, though, but a poetic version in English. With my limited knowledge of modern Welsh I could pick up where G.C. had transposed lines, or sometimes had a fairly free hand with the text. She does draw on a linguistic translation, by Kenneth Jackson, who calls it "the earliest Scottish poem" as the men are from the English/Scottish border lands and the feast takes place in Edinburgh.https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1..., and also on Jarman, also a facing-page translation (see AI summary of translators below).
Kenneth H. Jackson (1969):
The Gododdin: The Oldest Scottish Poem, a classic scholarly prose and verse translation providing extensive historical context.
Joseph P. Clancy (1970):
The Earliest Welsh Poetry, featuring a well-regarded, flowing literary translation.
A.O.H. Jarman (1988):
Y Gododdin: Britain's Oldest Heroic Poem, offering a comprehensive modern English translation alongside the Middle Welsh text.
Gillian Clarke (2021): The Gododdin: Lament for the Fallen, a lyrical, modern poetic version by the former National Poet of Wales.
The AI symmary above doesn't make clear that Gillian Clarke's translation is into English.
I would answer your comment more comprehensively but I am on the ferry, travelling light, and had to leave the book behind this morning. But Gillian Clarke's preface is worth reading, and her poetry is beautiful, whether or not you read Welsh. You can see the rhymes and repeated consonants as in an early move towards cynghanedd, the formal Welsh poetry still popular today.
Fascinating review Jeanne! Great how you bring out the linguistic elements that went over my head.The book you were asking about is Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Story of English by John McWhorter.
Ian wrote: "Fascinating review Jeanne! Great how you bring out the linguistic elements that went over my head.The book you were asking about is Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Story of English by John Mc..."
Thank you! I knew you'd come up with the goods. I should read that book!
I imagine that the answers to your questions would be in the broader context, probably not so much the history, but the poetic tradition