"Song to Mead" ca. 1200 A.D.

I found this poem while working on another project, thought I'd share it with you fellow mead loving folks.

It is from the Welsh language manuscript Llyfr Taliesin (Book of Taliesin), copied in about 1250 AD, though the poetry is older, sometimes much older. The date above is a stab in the dark, but a cursory look at the language doesn't look like Old Welsh to me. The translation follows.


Medhet maelgwn mon ac an medwa.
Ae vedgorn ewyn gwerlyn gwymha.
As kynnull gwenyn ac nys mwynha.
Med hidleit moleit molut y pop tra.
Lleaws creadur a vac terra.
A wnaeth duw y dyn yr y donha.


May Maelgwn of Mona be affected with mead, and affect us,
From the foaming mead-horns, with the choicest pure liquor,
Which the bees collect, and do not enjoy.
Mead distilled sparkling, its praise is everywhere.
The multitude of creatures which the earth nourishes,
God made for man to enrich him.

--Maelgwn is obscure, but is mentioned as a 6th century king elsewhere.

Hope you enjoy.

Cheers to that!

Slainte!

Interesting that it says "foaming mead-horns".

'Vedgorn ewyn': that's an exact translation.

Mead, wine and ale were traditionally served from horns in many Northern European Iron Age cultures. In medieval welsh law codes, if I recall, there is a position in the kings retinue dedicated to serving the king from the horn.

I need me one of those.