Juvencus Manuscript

The manuscript was originally produced somewhere in Wales as a text of the Latin poem Evangeliorum Libri IV by Juvencus. This text was produced by more than ten different scribes, working around 900. One had the Old Irish name Nuadu. Another included his name as a cryptogram in Greek letters: the Welsh name Cemelliauc (modern Welsh Cyfeilliog), who could have been the same person as the Bishop Cameleac whom the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle describes as being captured by Vikings in 914. To this text the scribes added a large body of glosses in Latin and Old Welsh, along with a few in Old Irish, showing that the manuscript was produced in a milieu influenced by both Welsh and Irish scholarship.John T. Koch, 'The Juvencus Manuscript', in Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia, ed. by John T. Koch (Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2005), s.v.

As edited and translated by Jenny Rowland, the text reads:Jenny Rowland, Early Welsh Saga Poetry: A Study and Edition of the 'Englynion’ (Cambridge: Brewer, 1990), pp. 466-67, 510.

{{Verse translation|lang=cy|

niguorcosam nemheunaur henoid

mitelu nit gurmaur

mi am [franc] dam ancalaur

nicanamniguardam nicuasam henoid

cet iben med nouel

mi amfranc dam anpatel

namercit mi nep leguenid henoid

is discirr micoueidid

dou nam riceus unguetid

|

I will not speak ?...... tonight.

My warband is not overly big --

I and my freedman around our cauldron.

I will not laugh, I will not speak tonight,

although we drank matured mead,

I and my freedman around our bowl.

Let no one ask for merriment from me tonight --

my company is lowly.

Two lords may converse -- one speaks.}}

In Rowland's estimation,

several points of the language remain unclear but enough is intelligible thanks to Ifor Williams's work to give a view of a short saga poem in fully Old Welsh guise. The poem is not long enough to invite comparison with any extant tale or cycle, but the situation clearly demands a story background. As in Canu Llywarch and Canu Heledd the speaker appears to be a 'last survivor', but a more active one, like the narrator of "The Wanderer". Instead of a party of his equals he is reduced to the company of a mercenary or freedman and thus takes no pleasure in the evening drinking. The skilful use of repetition builds a picture of the narrator's condition and emotional state, although only lightly ornamented englynion are used.Jenny Rowland, Early Welsh Saga Poetry: A Study and Edition of the 'Englynion’ (Cambridge: Brewer, 1990), p. 249.

As edited in the nineteenth century by William Forbes Skene and as translated in 1932 by Ifor Williams, the text reads:William Forbes Skene, The Four Ancient Books of Wales, 2 vols (Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1868), II, 1-2, https://books.google.com/books?id=7uEIAAAAQAAJ 'Périodiques I', Revue Celtique, 51 (1934), 164-70 (p. 167), https://archive.org/details/revueceltique51pari.

{{Verse translation|lang=cy|

Omnipotens auctor

Ti dicones adiamor

P...

Nit arcup betid hicouid

Canlon cetticeidin gui-- haguid

Uor --rdutou ti guirdoned

Dicones pater harimed

Presen isabruid icunmer

Nisacup m-- arwp leder

Dicones Ihesu dielimu

Pbetid aguirdou pendibu

Guot capaur anmer-- adu

Gur dicones remedau

Elbid aguirdou anguoraut

Niguru gnim nolim trinta[ut]

It cluis inban iciman

Guorsed ceinmicun ucmount ran

Ucatrintaut bean trident[an]

It cluis it humil inhared celmed

Rit pucsaun mi detrintaut

Gurd meint iconidid imolaut

Rit ercis o-- raut inadaut

Presen pioubui int groisauc

Inungueid guoled trintaut

Un hanied napuil heper

Uuc nem isnem nitcouer

Nit guorgnim molim mapmeir

|

Almighty Creator

Thou hast made

....

The world cannot express in song bright and melodious

Even though the grass and trees should sing

All thy glories (miracles, riches), O true Lord!

The Father has wrought [such a multitude] of wonders in this world

That it is difficult to find an equal number

Letters cannot contain it, letters cannot express it.

Jesus wrought on behalf of the hosts of Christendom

[such a multitude] of miracles when he came

(? like the grass is the number of them).

He who made the wonder of the world,

will save us, has saved us.

It is not too great toil to praise the Trinity.

Purely, without blemish

In the great assembly,

Let us extol...

Purely, humbly, in skillful verse

I should give praise to the Trinity,

According to the greatness of his power.

He has required of the host in this world that belong to him

That they should at all times

All together fear the Trinity.

The one who has both wisdom and dominion above heaven,

Below heaven, completely;

It is not too great toil to praise the son of Mary.}}

The main edition is The Cambridge Juvencus manuscript glossed in Latin, Old Welsh, and Old Irish: text and commentary, ed. by Helen McKee (Aberystwyth: CMCS Publications, 2000). A digital facsimile of the manuscript is available for viewing at the [http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-FF-00004-00042 University of Cambridge library website], though there is an earlier printed facsimile too.McKee, Helen (ed.), Juvencus Codex Cantabrigiensis Ff.4.42: llawysgrif o'r nawfed ganrif gyda glosau Cymraeg, Gwyddeleg, a Lladin (Aberystwyth: Cyhoeddiadau CMCS, 2000). The poetry has been edited previously:

• Ifor Williams, 'Tri Englyn y Juvencus', Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies, 6 (1933), 101-10 (edition of the three-stanza englyn-poem)
• Ifor Williams, 'Naw Englyn y Juvencus', Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies, 6 (1933), 205-24 (edition of the nine-stanza englyn-poem)
• The Beginnings of Welsh Poetry, ed. by R. Bromwich (Cardiff, 1972), pp. 89ff (editions and English translations of both the three- and the nine-stanza englynion)
• Marged Haycock, Blodeugerdd Barddas o Ganu Crefyddol Cynnar (Llandybïe, 1994), pp. 3–29

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Category:Welsh-language literature

Category:Welsh poetry