Gododdin
Gododdin, or in its earlier version Goutodin, refers to both the people and to the region of a
Dark Ages British kingdom south of the
Firth of Forth, extending from the Stirling area to the Northumberland kingdom of
'Brynaich', and including what are now the
Lothian and
Borders regions of eastern
Scotland. Those living around
Stirling were known as the Manaw Gododdin.
In the
1st century the
Romans recorded the
British tribe inhabiting the area as the
Votadini, the Latin form of the name Gododdin, which provides a link to their earlier history.
Gododdin became an independent kingdom following the break-up of the ancient
British kingdom of the North, from about
470. Its capital was probably at first the Traprain Law hillfort in East
Lothian, moving later to
Din Eidyn. Scotland's
capital city is still known as
Důn Čideann in
Gaelic.
In the
6th century its southern neighbour 'Brynaich' was invaded by the
Angles to become
Bernicia.
Y Gododdin
\nThe poem Y Gododdin by the bard Aneirin, composed at the time in Brythonic (a Medieval Celtic language closely akin to Welsh), records the Gododdin expedition in about 600 to try to fend off these Angle invaders. It survives as a 13th century manuscript known as the Book of Aneirin, and is well appreciated in Wales, but in Edinburgh where it is thought to have been composed few have ever heard of the poem or of the Gododdin. A reference in the poem to Arthur hints at a link to Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh.
The poem tells of the Gododdin king providing his warriors drawn from several British kingdoms with training in the form of a year's feasting and drinking mead in his halls in Din Eidyn, and gives a lyrical description of their beauty and honour, and of the tragedy of their heavy defeat at the Battle of Catraeth (thought to be Catterick in North Yorkshire).\nThe poem has 99 verses; as a sample a translation of verses 1 and 11 is given below.
Man in might, youth in years, courage in battle.
\nSwift, long-maned stallions under the thigh of a fine lad.
\nBehind him, on the lean, swift flank, his target, broad and bright,
\nSwords blue and bright, clothes fringed with gold-work.
\nThere will be no reproach or enmity between us now
\nRather I shall make you songs in your praise.
Men went to Catraeth at dawn: their high spirits shortened their life-spans.
\nThey drank mead, gold and sweet, ensnaring; for a year the minstrels were merry.
\nRed their swords, leave the blades unwashed; white shields and four-edged spears,
\nIn front of the men of Mynyddawg Mwynfawr.
\n*"Y Gododdin"-translation into English provides a better translation of the whole poem.
The fall of Gododdin
\nThe Angle invasion continued, and by about 638 the capital of the Gododdin, 'Din Eidyn', had fallen to siege and was renamed Edinburgh. To what extent the native population was replaced is unknown.\nThe region came under the Anglo-saxon rule of Bernicia which became part of Northumbria, and by 954 was overrun by the Norse kingdom of York. Shortly afterwards this came under a unified England, then in 1018 Malcolm II brought the region as far as the River Tweed under Scottish rule.
External links
\n*Ancient Lothian - Histories - Celtic Gododdin\n*Kingdoms of British Celts - Goutodin\n*"Y Gododdin"-translation into English\n*Edinburgh Castle, and comment on "Y Gododdin"
