Grandeur!

This is coolbert:

From the November 2011 edition of the National Geographic we have this account of war and battle as fought about 650 A.D., the Mercians [ancient kingdom in what is now England] in mortal combat with the Welsh!

The spoils of war carried away to number a head of cattle, an enormous herd, a prize of value and prestige. In the Indo-European tradition the wealth of the noble or lord measured by the number of "beeves on the hoof"!

[The] "Event and place are commemorated in the Welsh poem 'Marwnad Cynddylan . . . 'The Death Song of Cynddylan'":

"Grandeur in battle! Extensive spoils
Morial bore off from in front of Lichfield.
Fifteen hundred cattle from the front of battle;
four twenties [score] of stallions and equal harness.
The chief bishop wretched in his four-cornered
house, the book-keeping monks did not protect."

War in the ancient manner the man-at-arms a retainer adept and proficient at all types of weaponry whose role was to protect the cattle of the lord or noble from predation at the hands of adversaries, a manifestation of which was what we now call cattle rustling. As in the way of the kshatriya warrior of India, the hajduk [hey-duke] of eastern Europe, the stock detective of the Rhodesian Bush War.

And let is not of course forget the epic poem of the Irish people: "The Great Cattle Raid of Cooley". For those so interested, read the entire epic as found at: "The Cattle-Raid of Cooley (Táin Bó Cúalnge)". Or as an alternative, view and follow the continuing graphic novel [some prefer to call it a webcomic but much more than a comic!] dealing with the same subject as done by the outstanding artist Paddy Brown.

"The Cattle-Raid of Cooley (Táin Bó Cúalnge) is the central epic of the Ulster cycle. Queen Medb of Connaught gathers an army in order to gain possession of the most famous bull in Ireland"

Gain possession of! WAR!

coolbert.