Copyright © 2003, 2004 all rights reserved. This page most recently revised on: May 31, 2004
This unit's text is another descriptive passage, this time from the tale of Culhwch and Olwen. Following the passage will be some additional vocabulary you will need.
1. Read the text in the original and make your best guess at turning it into our "standardized" spelling. Use not only the principles that you have been taught, but also your own familiarity with the langauge. If a word looks like it could be one that you know by applying or not applying some of the variable changes (like "lenition" of internal consonants), then go with your instincts and see if it works.
2. Translate the text.
3. Any time the word that appears in the text is not identical to the citation form in your vocabulary, explain why. E.g., plural, mutation (give the mutation and the cause), etc.
[And she came, with a gown of flame-red silk about her, and a torque of ruddy gold about the maiden's neck, and precious pearls on it and red jewels.]
Oed melynach y fenn no blodeu y banadyl. Oed gwynnach y chnawd no distrych y donn. Oed gvynnach y falueu a'e byssed no chanawon godrwyth o blith man grayan fynhawn fynhonus. Na golwc hebawc mut, na golwc gwalch trimut, nyd oed olwg tegach no'r eidi. No bronn alarch gwynn oed gwynnach y dwy uron. Oed kochach y deu rud no'r fion.
[Anyone who saw her would be full of love for her. Four white clover blossoms sprung up in her tracks wherever she would go. And for that reason she was called 'Olwen' (white track).]
| Word | Category | Plural | Gloss |
| banhadlen | n.f | banadl | broom (plant) |
| cenaw | n.m | canawon | (usually) cub, (in this context)sprout, shoot |
| ffion | n.m | -eu | foxglove, rose |
| godrwyth | n.m | marsh trefoil | |
| greyenyn | n.m | graean | sand, gravel |
| mud | n.m | a mewing, a moulting (i.e. the period when a hawk is kept in the mews to moult) | |
| o blith | preposition | from the midst of | |
| trimud | thrice-mewed (see "mud") |
Check your attempted normalization of the text using the following link. Then go back to your interpretation and see if there's anything you want to change before checking it for correctness.