Eisteddfod may alter motto over mistranslation
LLANGOLLEN International Eisteddfod is considering changing its motto for fears it could be misinterpreted as racist.
The motto “byd gwyn” comes from the first part of a verse composed by Welsh language poet, T Gwynn Jones.
In the verse, the “byd gwyn” refers to “blessed world” but the literal translation in English is “white world”.
According to the BBC, the event is considering changing the motto to “reflect the world we live in now”; however, a former boss of the festival has argued that inaccurate online translations were not a good enough reason to change the motto.
The international music festival, which takes place in the Denbighshire town of Llangollen, attracts thousands of people to its grounds every year.
The full motto, which has been associated with the festival for more than 75 years, reads in full: “Byd gwyn fydd byd a gano. Gwaraidd fydd ei gerddi fo”, which translates into English as: “Blessed is a world that sings. Gentle are its songs”.
According to its executive producer, Camilla King, while the poem is an “incredibly important part of the Eisteddfod’s heritage”, research has shown that it could be misinterpreted by people using online translation.
There have also been discussions on the term “fo” used in the verse, which has a literal meaning and translation of “his”. But that the main concerns lay with the “byd gwyn” literal translation.
Camilla King said during a recent review, feedback from Welsh and nonWelsh speakers found that they had spotted the potential translation confusion with “byd gwyn”, and according to the executive producer it was “too great to be ignored”.
“We understand that there is currently no gender-neutral variant in Welsh, and at this time are more concerned with the connotations of the ‘white world’ translation,” she said.
“[We are] an organisation whose roots and beliefs are so strongly rooted in peace and reconciliation.
“We welcome tens of thousands of performers and visitors from all over the world to Llangollen each year, many of whom are unfamiliar with the Welsh language. There will be those who are very likely to find the translation ‘white world’ when searching for the meaning of the wording online.”
However, former chairman of the Eisteddfod Dr Rhys Davies said that he personally didn’t see “the need to change it”, but he understood entirely that non-Welsh speakers or visitors may want to look up at the terms meaning only to find the translation as “white”.
Although he agreed with the need for modernisation, he was concerned that the use of online translation tools such as Google Translate was “affecting our history, our heritage and our language”.
He added that if people found the “byd gwyn” offensive, then something had to be done, and that if changes were to be made to the verse that it needed to work poetically and the original message behind it remained the same.
“It’s fine at the moment; however, I think to appease people we may well have to make some minor changes and I hope they are only minor,” he said.
“We should be trying to protect our language, and we should be saying to people, ‘No, it doesn’t just mean white, it means blessed’.
“Maybe we should be trying to get in touch with Google and getting them to change their Google Translate, but I doubt we will get very far with that.”
He added: “In reality there is going to be some change, but I’d like it to be minimal.”