Arthur, Origins, Identities and the Legendary History of Britain (Explorations in Medieval Culture, 25)

Beyond the search for escape and nostalgia, by understanding the formative texts of early Arthurian historical narrative and the foundation stories with which Arthur is inextricably linked, we may better understand our own ethnic and individual identities in an age of increasing anonymity and globalization. Contents Contents 6 Acknowledgements 12 Introduction 14 1 Contextualizing Geoffrey’s Historia, Arthur, and the Early French Brut Tradition 33 2 Structure of Arthur, Origins, Identities 36 1 Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae: Part 1 41 1 Introduction 41 1.1 Galfridian Scholarship 41 1.2 Introductory Overview of Geoffrey’s Contemporaries 46 1.3 Geoffrey’s Possible Intentions 51 2 Description of Britain, Arrival of Brutus, Foundation Myth: Geoffrey and His Predecessors 57 2.1 Gildas, Bede, and “Nennius” (the Historia Brittonum) 57 2.2 Geoffrey and the Foundation Myth of the Britons 67 3 Adventus Saxonum and the Passage of Dominion 75 3.1 Geoffrey’s Predecessors 75 3.1.1 Gildas 77 3.1.2 Bede 80 3.1.3 Historia Brittonum 85 3.2 Geoffrey’s Contemporaries: William of Malmesbury and Henry of Huntingdon 88 3.2.1 William of Malmesbury: Gesta Regum 88 3.2.2 Henry of Huntingdon: Historia Anglorum 92 3.2.3 Henry of Huntingdon: Epistola ad Warinum 96 2 Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae: Part 2 104 1 Geoffrey of Monmouth: Adventus Saxonum and Preview of Other Landmark Events 104 2 King Arthur 120 2.1 King Arthur and His Precedents in Gildas, Bede, and the Historia Brittonum 120 2.2 King Arthur in William of Malmesbury and Henry of Huntingdon 124 2.3 King Arthur: Geoffrey of Monmouth. Overview 126 2.3.1 Arthur’s Birth 134 2.3.2 Arthur as Military Commander and Statesman 136 3 Post Arthur: Gormund’s Donation, Augustine’s Conversion of the English, the Passage of Dominion (Reprise) – Cadwallader and the Final Days 144 4 Postscript: Geoffrey’s Ideas on Multiple Ethnicities, Nationalities, Allegiances – including His Prejudices Interwoven with Origin Stories as Part of His Endeavor to Negotiate Identities 150 3 The First Variant Version 167 1 Introduction 167 2 Dating and Authorship of the First Variant Version 170 3 The Description of Britain and the Foundation Myth 180 4 Adventus Saxonum 195 5 King Arthur 203 6 Stages of the Passage of Dominion 217 7 Cadwallader and the Final Passage 232 8 Conclusion 245 4 Wace’s Roman de Brut, Part 1: Gaimar’s Estoire des Engleis 252 1 Introduction 252 2 Setting the Stage: Gaimar’s Estoire des Engleis 254 3 The Prologue to the Estoire des Engleis 256 4 The Foundation Myth, the Adventus Saxonum, and the Passage of Dominion 266 5 The Epilogue to the Estoire des Engleis 271 5 Wace’s Roman de Brut, Part 2 272 1 Wace’s Roman de Brut: Organization of the Chapter 272 2 Foundation Myth 272 2.1 The Britons Settle the Land 272 2.2 The Giants 281 2.3 The Importance of Language, and the Changing of Names 285 2.4 Shifting Identities: Brittany and the Theme of Ethnic Separatism 291 3 The Adventus Saxonum 294 4 King Arthur 300 4.1 Introduction 300 4.1.1 Birth and Rise to Power 301 4.1.2 Arthur’s Battles 305 4.1.2.1 Arthur and the Scots 313 4.1.2.2 The Beginning of Arthur’s Foreign Conquests 320 4.1.3 The Founding of the Round Table and More Foreign Conquests 321 4.1.4 Organization and Governance; Arthur’s Plenary Court 325 4.1.5 The Roman Campaign and Its Context 339 4.1.6 Arthur’s Last Battle: The Battle of Camlann 350 4.1.6.1 The “Breton Hope” 352 5 Gormund’s Donation and the Passage of Dominion; Gormund and Arthur as Leaders 355 6 Augustine’s Conversion of the English 372 7 Cadwallader and the “Final Days” 381 8 Conclusion: The Role of Language, Ethnic/Cultural Separatism, and the Characterization of Arthur as Insider/Outsider, Barbarian and Civilizer 387 6 The Anonymous Verse Brut Tradition 396 1 General Introduction 396 2 Contextualizing the Anonymous Verse Bruts: Wace and Authorial Voice 399 3 Overview: Anonymous Verse Bruts 401 4 Common Content of the Anonymous Verse Bruts Relative to the Historia and Wace 405 5 Anonymous Verse Bruts 407 5.1 Munich Brut (Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek C. Gall. 29) 407 5.1.1 Background 407 5.1.2 Roman Material/Universal History 408 5.1.3 Description of Britain 410 5.1.4 More Roman History/War against Pandrasus/ Founding of New Troy 411 5.1.5 Leir 413 5.1.6 Conclusion: Comparative Look Back at Membritius; MB’s Political Agenda 418 5.2 The Royal Brut (London, British Library Royal 13.A.XXI) 421 5.2.1 Overview 421 5.2.2 Trojan Foundation Myth 424 5.2.3 Giants; Group Identities 425 5.2.4 Coming of Christianity to Britain 429 5.2.5 The Adventus Saxonum 430 5.2.6 Revival of Christianity among the Britons 431 5.2.7 Conclusion 435 5.3 London, College of Arms 12/45A 436 5.3.1 Overview of the Narrative(s); Prologues 436 5.3.2 Comparative Study of Cassibellanus (Geoffrey, Wace, Royal, and CA) 442 5.3.3 Hengist and Horsa 445 5.3.4 Vortigern’s Search for Merlin, Opening of the Prophecies 448 5.3.5 Ending of CA’s Anonymous Verse Brut 450 5.3.6 Introduction to Incomplete Copy of Wace’s Brut, and Summary of Remainder of Dorse 451 5.3.7 Lacunae in CA’s Copy of Wace’s Brut 454 5.3.8 Continuation of the Anonymous Brut and Wace Text; Conclusion 456 5.4 The Harley Brut (London, British Library Harley 1605) 458 5.4.1 Overview of the Five Fragments 458 5.4.2 Fragment 1: the Adventus Saxonum 462 5.4.3 Fragments 3 and 4: Arthur’s Reign 464 5.4.4 Fragment 5: the Last of Arthur’s Battles 467 5.4.5 Fragment 2: Merlin’s Prophecies and Merlin’s Prediction of Vortigern’s Death Up through Uther’s Capture of Octo and Eosa 468 5.4.6 Tentative Conclusions 475 5.5 The Egerton Brut (London, British Library Egerton 3028) 475 5.5.1 Overview of the Manuscript, the Poem, Authorial Voice, and Egerton’s Goals 475 5.5.2 Egerton’s Cutting of Passages to Achieve Its Goals 484 5.5.2.1 Trimming of Maritime and Martial Scenes 484 5.5.2.2 Trimming of Speeches 485 5.5.2.3 Trimming of Naming Passages, and Other Cultural Markers Such as Court Festivities 486 5.5.3 Egerton and the Church 488 5.5.4 The Adventus Saxonum 488 5.5.5 Future of the Britons 489 5.5.6 Scotland 491 5.5.7 Continuation of the Egerton Brut on English History 492 5.5.8 Egerton: Conclusions 493 6 Chapter Conclusion 494 Conclusion 499 Appendix 1: Wace’s Roman de Brut in Its Manuscript Contexts 510 Appendix 2: Anonymous Verse Bruts 520 Appendix 3: Arthur’s “Twelve Battles”: Comparative Chart 525 Bibliography 528 Index of Persons 571 La quatrième de couverture indique : "Geoffrey of Monmouth's immensely popular Latin prose Historia regum Britanniae (c. 1138), followed by French verse translations - Wace's Roman de Brut (1155) and anonymous versions including the Royal Brut, the Munich, Harley, and Egerton Bruts (12th -14th c.), initiated Arthurian narratives of many genres throughout the ages, alongside Welsh, English, and other traditions. Arthur, Origins, Identities and the Legendary History of Britain addresses how Arthurian histories incorporating the British foundation myth responded to images of individual or collective identity and how those narratives contributed to those identities. What cultural, political or psychic needs did these Arthurian narratives meet and what might have been the origins of those needs? And how did each text contribute to a "larger picture" of Arthur, to the construction of a myth that still remains so compelling today?"