I have assumed a multitude of forms
Before attaining my definitive shape.
I remember it with perfect clarity.
I have been a narrow lance of gold.
I believe in that which is clear.
I have been a drop of rain in the air.
I have been the deepest of stars.
I have been a word among letters.
I have been a book in its origin.
I have been the light of a lamp.

For a year and a half
I have been a vast bridge
Cast across three score estuaries.
I have been a path, I have been an eagle.
I have been a fisherman’s boat upon the sea.
I have been provisions at the feast.
I have been a drop of the shower.
I have been a sword in the grasp of hands.
I have been a shield in battle.
I have been the string of a harp,
Thus for nine years.

In water, in foam,
I have been a sponge in fire.
I have been a tree of mysterious wood.

“I am not one who will refrain from singing
Of the battle, though I be small.
I shall sing of the battle of the saplings
Before the Chief of Britain,
Guardian of the swift horses
And master of many fleets.

“There was a beast with wide jaws,
Possessing a hundred heads.
A battle was fought
Upon the root of its tongue,
And another was fought
Upon the crown of its head.

It was a black toad
Reclining upon a hundred claws,
A spotted serpent crested high.
A hundred sinful souls
Were tormented within its flesh.

“I was at Kaer Vevenir,
Where trees and herbs assembled.
The musicians sang, the warriors marvelled.
A resurrection of the Britons
Was wrought by Gwyddyon.

Appeal was made to the Creator
And to Christ to judge the cause,
Until the Eternal
Deigned to aid His creatures.

The Lord replied
Through the voice of the elements:
Assume the forms of trees,
Set yourselves in battle array,
Drive away all those
Who are unskilled in close combat.

“Thus were they enchanted into trees,
And while awaiting their release from that form,
The trees raised their voices
In four streams of harmony.

The fighting ceased.
Let the days of violence be ended.

“Then, restraining the tumult, a woman
Advanced, bold and provocative.
At the head of the host stood a woman.
The advantages of a shameless woman
Shall not cause us to yield.
The blood of men shall rise to our thighs.

“The greatest of the three warrior desires
Was set upon the world,
And men ceased to reflect
Upon the Flood,
Upon the Crucified Christ,
And upon the coming Day of Judgement.

“The alders, at the head of the host,
Formed the vanguard.
The willows and the rowans
Drew up behind them.
The rare plum trees
Astonished the warriors.

“The young medlars
Were the pivots of the battle.
The thorny rose-bushes
Fought against a great multitude.
The raspberry thickets, standing firm,
Proved best of all
The fragility of life.

“The privet and honeysuckle,
With ivy upon their brows,
Went forth to battle with the gorse.

The cherry tree played the provocateur.
The birch, despite its noble spirit,
Was placed in the rear,
Not through cowardice,
But through its greatness.

The golden laburnum proved
Its wild nature to the stranger.

“The pines stood at the fore,
At the heart of the mêlée
Which I greatly exalted
In the presence of kings.

The elm and its faithful companions
Did not move a step.
They fought against centre, flank, and rear.

“As for the hazel trees,
Their great martial fury was evident.

Happy was the role of the privet.
It was the bull of the battle, the master of the world.

Morawg and Morydd
Performed feats in the form of pines.

The holly was splashed with green;
It was the bravest of all.

“The hawthorn, guarding itself on every side,
Had its hands wounded.

The aspen was lopped,
Cut down amid the fray.
The fern was ravaged.

The broom, at the front,
Was wounded in a ditch.
The gorse was not spared,
Though it spread everywhere.

The heather was victorious, guarding all sides.
The multitude was enchanted
During this battle of men.

“The oak, swift in its advance,
Made heaven and earth tremble.
A valiant guardian against the enemy,
Its name is held in great honour.

The bluebells fought
And inflicted great pain.
They crushed and were crushed;
Others were pierced through.

“The pear trees were the great slayers
In the battle of the plain,
By reason of their violence.

The forest became a torrent of ashes.
The timid chestnut trees
Gained little triumph.

Jet turned black,
The mountain was made stunted,
The forest was full of holes
Like the ancient great seas,
From the moment the war-cry was heard.

“Then the summit of the birch covered us with its leaves
And transformed our withered aspect.

The branches of the oak enchanted us
Through the incantations of Mael-Derw,
Smiling beside the rock.

“The Lord is not of a fiery nature.
He has neither father nor mother.

“When I came to life,
My creator formed me
From the fruit of fruits,
From the fruit of the primordial god,

From primroses and the flowers of the hill,
From the blossoms of trees and bushes,
From the earth and its earthly course.

I was formed
From the flowers of the nettle,
From the waters of the ninth wave.

“I was marked by Math
Before becoming immortal.

I was marked by Gwyddyon,
The great purifier of the Britons,

By Eurwys and by Euron,
By Euron and by Modron,

By five times five masters of knowledge,
By the learned sons of Math.

“At the time of the great separation
I was enchanted by the master
When he was half-burnt.

“By the Sage of Sages I was marked
Before the existence of the world.

At the time I received life,
The peoples of the world were worthy,
And the bards were richly rewarded.

“I bowed before the song of glory.
I played in the night.
I slept at dawn.

“I was in the boat,
With Dylan, son of the Wave,

Upon a bed at the centre,
Between the knees of kings,

When waters like unexpected spears
Fell from the sky
Into the deepest abyss.

“In the battle there shall be
Four times twenty hundreds.

They shall act according to their will.
There is none older, none younger
Than I among their ranks.

A marvel: a hundred men were born,
Each of the nine hundred was with me.

My sword was stained with blood.

Great honour was bestowed upon me
By the Master, and protection where he dwelt.

“If I go to where the Boar was slain,

He shall compose and decompose,
He shall compose praises,

He whose name is radiant and whose hand is mighty:

With lightning he restrains his troops
Who spread like flame upon the heights.

“Upon the mountain heights I have been a spotted serpent.
I have been a viper in the lake.

I have been a star with a curved beak.
I have been an aged priest
With my chasuble and my cup.

“I utter no false prophecies.

In four score columns of smoke
I foretell the destiny of every man.

Five times five armed hosts.

I have mastered beneath my knee
Six horses of yellow hue.

Yet far better
Is my horse Melygan:

Gentle as a seabird
That never leaves
The peaceful shore.

“I have been the hero of blood-stained meadows
Among a hundred chiefs.

Red is the stone of my belt.
My shield is edged with gold.

“They are not yet born in the abyss,
Those who have visited me,

Save Goronwy
Of the meadows of Edrywy.

“Long and white are my fingers.

Long ago I was a shepherd.

I wandered long upon the earth
Before becoming skilled in the sciences.

I wandered, I walked, I slept on a hundred islands.
I stirred within a hundred cities.

“O you, wise druids,
Ask Arthur

Who is older than I
In song.

One has come
To contemplate the Flood,

The Crucified Christ,
And the coming Day of Judgement.

“A gem of gold within a jewel of gold,
I am radiant, I am skilled
In the working of metals.