Dear Mr. Cornwell,

Please can you translate for me the prayer that Father Pyrlig says in one of the old Celtic languages: “Ein tad, yr hwn wyt yn y nefoedd, sancteidder dy enw.”  This is in your book The Pale Horseman. I have no idea how any of it would be pronounced either and I’d love to know that as well. Due to the preponderance of y’s I assume it might be Old Welsh?

I am fascinated with old languages and history both, and would love to learn both Old English and Old Welsh, if that is still possible. Like many of us in America, during the Covid pandemic we searched for things to do that avoided contact with people, and many of us had our DNA researched during that time. My results were 47.5% Celtic (although whether Irish, Welsh, or Scottish, they did not say) and 45.5% English as well as 3% Finnish. I was surprised by the Finnish as my family have never mentioned anyone Finnish. Of course, to be English is to be a mixture, so perhaps there were Finnish Vikings as well as the Norse and Danish ones?

Thank you for your fascinating glimpses of history and language! I’m enjoying your books.

Emily Gillispie  . .