King Arthur - Song in Late British | The Skaldic Bard

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Here’s an ambitious song I’ve been working on for quite some time, this time about the glorious King Arthur. The song imagines the Britons marching behind King Arthur to the Battle of Badon in 537, where they fought and beat the Saxons who had been conquering Britain for over a century (though the details are debated, as is much of Arthurian history). As a half-Welshman, I have always been fascinated by our legendary Warrior King, so I felt compelled to dedicate a song to him. I have incorporated elements of his legend (such as Excalibur and the Knights of Camelot) as an extra nod to his rich cultural contributions.

The song is written in a reconstruction of Late Proto-Brythonic, otherwise known as Late Common British (or if you want to be absolutely precise, Common Archaic Neo-Brittonic). I wrote this once again by using comparative linguistics, supplemented with help from the works of David Willis and the late John Morris Jones on Brythonic philology. Very little is known about the hypothetical British language (which had many dynamic phases of change), but there is enough evidence from the historical corpus and comparisons between the modern Breton, Cornish and Welsh languages to piece together a phonology and grammar. In this song, I have taken a phonologically conservative stance appropriate for the 6th century, generally favouring long vowels over diphthongs in the relevant positions, while employing the initial consonant mutations so unique to the Celtic languages that were thought to have developed just prior to King Arthur’s time.

Once again, there may be some errors in my attempt, and I can’t (and wouldn’t) claim that my reconstruction is perfect; however, I’m at least pretty confident that it’s close to the mark.

Anyhow, I won’t bore you any longer with heavy linguistic talk. I hope you enjoy the song, and I hope that my admiration for Arthur Pendragon comes through clearly enough. It also goes without saying that I mean no disrespect to my English brothers with this one!

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Lyrics
Di̯erxi Sėɨs tir brɨθonig hai̯oiẟ iloβ̃ an kɵ̇mrüɣ.
Dringissont gu̯ornom haβ̃al blėẟ ɨnos
Bɨnamm i haβ̃al klėẟɨβ̃ o ɣu̯ėɣin.

Aɣun gu̯or aβon ha mönɨẟ,
ag bɨẟ tank pan elor Saɨson.
Amken gu̯lėdɨẟ gu̯urθ brɨθoniėd,
ag bi an broɣ brɨθonig o arβ̃or di arβ̃or.

Mėpi̯on ɨnɨs ɣu̯en, na β̃ɨt oβn gu̯ornox!
Hint Brɨθoni̯ėd krɨβ̃i̯on gu̯iri̯on βėpi̯on ɨnɨsou̯ hɨn.

Briɣent Arθur penndragon mab Uθir!
Amdinnid Kaledβulx tir ɨneiẟ lọβ̃!
Amu̯oẟ Arθur, ɨs duɨu̯ ɨneβ̃ am nerθ!
Niɣɵ̇rėɣimm tank hit dɨẟ brod!

Sɨrθi̯ont Saɨson ɨnaɨr hanoθ.
Niɣu̯orkosont ɨnan tir henoɨθ.
Marxọgi̯on berθi̯on Kamlodin!
Drėg gɵ̇mrėɣig diβönɨẟ!

Briɣent Arθur penndragon mab Uθir!
Amdinnid Kaledβulx tir ɨneiẟ lọβ̃!
Amu̯oẟ Arθur, ɨs duɨu̯ ɨneβ̃ am nerθ!
Niɣɵ̇rėɣimm tank hit dɨẟ brod!

Sɨrθi̯ont Saɨson ɨnaɨr hanoθ.
Niɣu̯orkosont ɨnan tir henoɨθ.
Marxọgi̯on berθi̯on Kamlodin!
Drėg gɵ̇mrėɣig diβönɨẟ!

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