catterer of the brave,
Serpent, piercing pike,
And immovable stone in the front of the army."

{164f} Al. "Oppressor, dressed in thy shining white robes."

{165a} "Gwaenawr." Al. "The spears." Al. "The stones."

{165b} That is, the fosse of the Catrail, or that which surrounded one
of the camps.

{165c} See lines 386, 524, 534. Al. "like ploughing the furrow."

{165d} The Bard in this stanza evidently plays upon the names of three
of the British heroes, showing how appropriately they represented their
respective characters; _Cywir_, _enwir_; _Merin_, _mur_; _Madien_, _mad_.
Perhaps it would be better to transpose the two first, and read the line
as it occurs in one stanza of the Gorchan Maelderw;

"Enwir ith elwir oth gywir weithred."
Enwir art thou named from thy righteous deed;

for in "Kilhwch and Olwen" we meet with a person bearing the name of
Gweir Gwrhyd _Ennwir_, who is said to have been an uncle of Arthur, his
mother's brother.

{165e} "Bulwark of every tribe." Al. "of every language." _Gorch.
Maelderw_.

{165f} Merin the son of Merini ab Seithenyn, king of the plain of
Gwyddno, whose land was overflowed by the sea. He is said to have been
the founder of the church of Llanverin, or Llanvetherin, Monmouthshire.
In the Gorchan Maelderw Merin is called the son of Madieith.

{166a} Al. "Gwynedd."

{166b} I.e. the drinking horn. "Dial;" _Gorch. Mael_. "to take
vengeance for the contribution of mead." Owain Cyveiliog alludes to this
circumstance in his Poem on the Hirlas Horn;--

"Kigleu am dal met myned dreig Kattraeth." (Myv. Arch. i. 266.)

That this author was acquainted with the Gododin appears further from the
following,

"Nid ym hyn dihyll nam hen deheu;"

where he evidently refers to line 290 of our Poem.

{166c} "Cyvyringet," those who met together between the two armies; from
cyvrwng, cyd-rhwng.

{166d} "Cibno ced," seems to have been the cup of drink presented to
bards and minstrels by their entertainers. (See line 345.) Not even the
speech inspiring influence of this cup, could elicit an adequate
description of the slaughter which ensued at Cattraeth.

{167a} Or, "the gallantry of the glorious knight of conflict."

{167b} Lit. "Ruddy reaping." Al. "Ruddy reaper, thou pantest for war."

{167c} Al. "Thou man of Gwynedd."

{167d} Lit. "Thou unmanest;" di-mwng.

{167e} "Llain." Al. "lance."

{167f} The expression "until blood