Kingdom Level Arts & Sciences Award in Welsh

A&S Award wording in Welsh

Words by Maminka

Every year, An Tir does a competition to eat away at our scribal backlog.  Entrants get 48 hours to prepare and research, then another 48 hours to start and complete the scroll.  The top two of each category (novice, intermediate, and advanced) gets bragging rights.  The only downside to not finishing in 2 days is being disqualified for competing for bragging rights.

I don't do it to win, but rather because I'm weird and enjoy it despite the undue pressure I put on myself.  I'm rather neurotic about my own authenticity.  I'm not really concerned with others', but I see it as a personal challenge because I know what's accurate for my persona (Irish without specific time period) and I know how to achieve it.  In theory, anyway.

How does this fixation relate to the competition?  Well, the recipient’s persona is a Welsh potter and how did I spend my prep time?  Translating the wording into Welsh, of course!

Narrator: she does not speak Welsh.

I emailed the lovely Welsh Viking on YouTube who recommended the dictionaries below.  Between comparing each word on the two, Welsh conjugation tables, and checking by translating back into English on Google Translate, my translation was dubbed "a hell of a lot better than many fluent speakers cod [sic] manage."  He offered edits to make the tone more formal and fix gender.  I'll never grok gendered languages.  How the hell is a table female?

Now I am by no means a calligrapher.  I can't just sit and practice, I want a finished piece to show for my effort!  And what hand did my exemplar, the Llanbelig Book of Hours, use?  My nemesis: the very precise blackletter.  To save time I didn’t print the wording in an appropriate font to trace, instead I threw it on top of a lines guide from CaliDraw on my light table and winged it.

Narrator: she did not save time.

The pergamenata fought me at every step because it had been rolled up for months and I didn't think to store it flat for when I'd need to write on it.  I had to tape it within an inch of it's life and still it buckled.

Recently I cursed myself because just the other week I was thinking I'd never accidentally dropped ink on a scroll.  Even as I thought that I knew the universe was gonna fix that soon.  Now on top of the timeline, there's a theme or two that must be incorporated somehow.  This year it was bunnies and heraldic blue.  Those splotches became bunny prints and a bunny bum sticking out of a warren.  I even tried to paint it the same colour as a Welsh hare.  Note: tried, not necessarily succeeded.On top of all this, I've never really done whitework. I did say that I don't like practicing without something to display, use, or gift.

I flipped around a capital B, but forgot to adjust the right side and if I hadn't been in a rush, I could have found an A elsewhere in the book, but I am not a wise person.

I'm really proud of the vignette, actually, which is painted to look just like her save for the period potters wheel and spectacles.  Even her eye colour.  Her device, however, doesn't really look like a dragons head, I'm afraid, but that lozenge is about .5 inch across.  It's a tiny head.

Oh and the colours kept muddying when I tried to blend and it was just a disaster I had to keep painting over, let dry, and try to blend again.

I did win first place in the novice category, so yay!  But even more so I'm happier it's done and off to the recipient who's been patiently waiting for her scroll since 2000.  She's now a Laurel.

Translation by Máel Brigte ingen Aimirgin with editing by Jimmy, the Welsh Viking 

Welsh dictionaries: Geiriadur yr Academi

Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru

Fel adlewyrchwn ogoniant y Goron, felly y maent ein hanwyledig deilliaid yn adlewyrchu gogoniant anfynog Ein Teyrnas.

Am fod y mae cydnabod ac anrhydeddu rhagoriaeth creadigol ymhlith ein prif bleserau, clywch Ein geiriau a chyhoeddwch ar hyd a lled Ein Teyrnas Ein fod, ar hwn yr Ail [DATE], Ni, yr Anrhydeddus [KING’S NAME], Brenin cyfiawn a grymus [KINGDOM], a’r Ogoneddus [QUEEN’S NAME], Brenhines Ysbrydoledig [KINGDOM], yn ddwysol fodlon ac yn weddol orfoleddys wrth addefu [RECIPIENT’S NAME] i’n hysbrydoledig a rhagorgampus Radd [ORDER].

Gorchmynwn i chi ymaith a rhannu eich gelfyddra a’ch wybodaeth er mwyn i’ch ddawn cyfoethogi Ein Teyrnas am byth.

Gosodwyd gan Ein llaw, felly y bydd.

Just as We reflect the glory of the Crown, so do Our beloved subjects reflect the eminent glory of Our Kingdom.  

As it is one of Our greatest pleasures to recognize and honor creative excellence, Hear Our words and may it be proclaimed throughout Our Realm that on this [DATE]

We, Honorable [KING], Rightful and Powerful King [KINGDOM], and Glorious [QUEEN], Inspirational Queen [KINGDOM], are profoundly satisfied and indeed exceedingly jubilant as We admit [RECIPIENT’S NAME] into Our inspired and most accomplished Order of the [AWARD NAME].  

We charge you now to go forth from this day and share your skill and knowledge that Our Kingdom may ever after be enriched by your gifts.

Set by Our hand and seal, so will it be.

Note: The plural of king is “brenhinedd” and the plural of queen is “breninesau.”