The Historia Brittonum, or The History of the Britons, is a historical work that was first written sometime shortly after AD 833, and exists in several recensions of varying difference. It purports to relate the history of the Brythonic inhabitants of Britain from earliest times, and this text has been used to write a history of both Wales and England, for want of more reliable sources. Nennius is traditionally named as the author of the text, though this interpretation is questioned.

Text

The text itself is a collection of excerpts, chronological calculations, glosses, and summaries based on earlier records, many of which no longer exist. As a result, the reliability of this work has been questioned both in part and in whole. The archaeologist Leslie Alcock observed that in one recension of this manuscript the author called his work a heap of all he could find, and suggested that if we were to extend this metaphor, this text is:

like a cairn of stones, uneven and ill-fitting? as an example of the historian's art it is atrocious. But it has the virtue of its defects. We can see the individual stones of the cairn, and in some cases we can trace the parent rock from which they came, and establish its age and soundness.^[1]

Another view is offered by Professor David Dumville, who has done a great deal of research into the transmission of this text and the relationship of its recensions. Dumville believes that this text has been revised, supplemented, and rewritten many times and in many ways between the date of its apparent origin, and the date of its surviving manuscripts.^[2] The intent of its author was to produce a synchronizing chronicle after the manner of Irish historians in his own time. And since this manuscript offered the only history of Wales complementary to Bede's own Ecclesiastical History of the English People, it was reproduced and revised to meet this demand. N. J. Higham has suggested that the Historia Brittonum was written primarily for Merfyn Frych ap Gwriad, king of Gwynedd from 825 to 844.^[3]

Author

Traditionally, the Historia Brittonum is ascribed to Nennius, a Welsh monk of the 9th century. However, examination of the numerous recensions show that Gildas was also claimed as its author (likely because Gildas was the only historical author its scribes knew), while others (such as the British Library manuscript Harleian 3859) do not name an author. Dumville's research has shown that the ascription of this work to Nennius originated in the 10th century in one branch of the manuscript transmission, created by a scribe seeking to root this work in the intellectual traditions of that time.

Associations with King Arthur

The Historia Brittonum has drawn attention because of its role in influencing the legends and myths surrounding King Arthur. It is the earliest source which presents Arthur as a historical figure, and is the source of several stories which were repeated and amplified by later authors.

Vortigern and Ambrosius

The Historia contains a story of the king Vortigern, who allowed the Saxons to settle in the island of Britain in return for the hand of Hengest's daughter.^[4] One legend recorded of Vortigern concerns his attempt to build a stronghold near Snowdon, called Dinas Emrys, only to have his building materials stolen each time he tries. His advisers tell him to sprinkle the blood of a boy born without a father on the site to lift the curse. Vortigern finds such a youth in Aurelius Ambrosius, who rebukes the wise men and reveals that the cause of the disturbance is two serpents buried under the ground.^[5] Ambrosius later has disputes against Vortigern and is mentioned as a high king later in the story.

The tower story is repeated and embellished by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae, though he attributes it to Merlin, saying "Ambrosius" is the sage's alternate name. Geoffrey does include Ambrosius as a king in his own right, and also includes other characters such as Vortimer and Bishop Germanus of Auxerre.

Arthur's battles

Chapter 56 discusses twelve battles fought and won by Arthur, here called dux bellorum (war leader) rather than king:

At that time, the Saxons grew strong by virtue of their large number and increased in power in Britain. Hengist having died, however, his son Octha crossed from the northern part of Britain to the kingdom of Kent and from him are descended the kings of Kent. Then Arthur along with the kings of Britain fought against them in those days, but Arthur himself was the military commander ["dux bellorum"]. His first battle was at the mouth of the river which is called Glein. His second, third, fourth, and fifth battles were above another river which is called Dubglas and is in the region of Linnuis. The sixth battle was above the river which is called Bassas. The seventh battle was in the forest of Celidon, that is Cat Coit Celidon. The eighth battle was at the fortress of Guinnion, in which Arthur carried the image of holy Mary ever virgin on his shoulders; and the pagans were put to flight on that day. And through the power of our Lord Jesus Christ and through the power of the blessed Virgin Mary his mother there was great slaughter among them. The ninth battle was waged in the City of the Legion. The tenth battle was waged on the banks of a river which is called Tribruit. The eleventh battle was fought on the mountain which is called Agnet. The twelfth battle was on Mount Badon in which there fell in one day 960 men from one charge by Arthur; and no one struck them down except Arthur himself, and in all the wars he emerged as victor. And while they were being defeated in all the battles, they were seeking assistance from Germany and their numbers were being augmented many times over without interruption. And they brought over kings from Germany that they might reign over them in Britain, right down to the time in which Ida reigned, who was son of Eobba. He was the first king in Bernicia, i.e., in Berneich.^[6]

Most of these battle sites are obscure and cannot be identified. Some of the battles appear in other Welsh literature, though not all are connected explicitly with Arthur. Some scholars have proposed that the author took the list from a now-lost Old Welsh poem which listed Arthur's twelve great victories, based on the fact that some of the names appear to rhyme and the suggestion that the odd description of Arthur bearing the image of the Virgin Mary on his shoulders at Guinnion might contain a confusion of the Welsh word iscuit (shield) for iscuid (shoulders).^[7] However others reject this as untenable,^[8] arguing instead that the author included battles which were not previously associated with Arthur or perhaps made them up entirely. A similar story to that attached to Guinnion also appears in the Annales Cambriae; here, Arthur is described as carrying "the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ on his shoulders for three days and three nights?", though here the battle is said to be Badon rather than Guinnon.^[9] T. M. Charles-Edwards argues that these accounts both refer to a single source.^[10] Other scholars, however, such as, Thomas Jones and N. J. Higham, argue that theAnnales account is based directly on the Historia, in which case name of the battle would have been switched from the unknown Guinnon to the famous Badon, and the icon Arthur carries replaced with a more common one.^[11]

The Battle of Mount Badon is associated with Arthur in several later texts, but is not associated with him in any that predate the Historia.^[12] It was clearly a historical battle, being described by Gildas, who does not mention the name of the Briton's leader (he does, however, mention Aurelius Ambrosius as a great scourge of the Saxons immediately prior.^[13]) Of the other battles, only the Battle of Tribuit is generally agreed to be associated with Arthur in another early Old Welsh source.^[14] Tribuit appears as Tryfrwyd in the Old Welsh poem Pa Gur?, dating to perhaps the mid-9th century. Here it is associated with cinbin, or dogheads; Arthur's men fight them in the mountains of Eidyn (Edinburgh) and spar with a character named Garwlwyd (Rough-Gray), who is likely identical with the Gwrgi Garwlwyd (Man-Dog Rough-Grey) who appears in one of the Welsh Triads.^[15][16][17] Arthur's main protagonist in the fight is Bedwyr, later known as Sir Bedivere, and an earlier reference in the poem indicates that the euhemerized god Manawydan is involved as well.^[17] "The City of the Legion" may be a reference to Caerleon, whose name translates as such, but it might also refer to Chester, the site of a large Roman base.^[18]

Cat Coit Celidon is a reference to the Caledonian Forest (Coed Celyddon) which once covered the Southern Uplands of Scotland. Scholar Marged Haycock has suggested this battle can be identified with the Cad Goddeu, the "Battle of the Trees", best known from the 10th-century poem Cad Goddeu.^[19][20] Arthur is mentioned towards the end of this poem, and a fragment of a story about the battle preserved in manuscript Peniarth 98B states that the battle had an alternate name, Cad Achren, which suggests a connection with the Caer Ochren raided by Arthur in the earlier poem Preiddeu Annwfn.^[21]

Various writers have asserted that this chapter supports a historical basis for King Arthur and have tried to identify the twelve battles with historical feuds or locales (see sites and places associated with King Arthur). However, scholar Thomas Green argues that the fact that the only identifiable battles linked explicitly with Arthur in Old Welsh sources are exclusively mythological undermines any claims that the battles had a basis in history.^[22]

Marvels

The Historia also contains a list of marvels, or wonders, in a section known as de mirabilibus britanniae. Several of these are associated with Arthur (Chapter 73):

There is another marvel in the region which is called Buelt. There is a mound of stones there and one stone placed above the pile with the pawprint of a dog in it. When Cabal, who was the dog of Arthur the soldier, was hunting the boar Troynt, he impressed his print in the stone, and afterwards Arthur assembled a stone mound under the stone with the print of his dog, and it is called the Carn Cabal. And men come and remove the stone in their hands for the length of a day and a night; and on the next day it is found on top of its mound.

There is another wonder in the region which is called Ercing. A tomb is located there next to a spring which is called Licat Amr; and the name of the man who is buried in the tomb was called thus: Amr. He was the son of Arthur the soldier, and Arthur himself killed and buried him in that very place. And men come to measure the grave and find it sometimes six feet in length, sometimes nine, sometimes twelve, sometimes fifteen. At whatever length you might measure it at one time, a second time you will not find it to have the same length--and I myself have put this to the test.

The sections that provide these stories are present in the Harleian manuscript, but not in all of the existing recensions.

Germanus

There are also chapters relating events about Saint Germanus of Auxerre that claim to be excerpts from a (now lost) biography about this saint, a unique collection of traditions about Saint Patrick, as well as a section describing events in the North of England in the sixth and seventh centuries which begins with a paragraph about the beginnings of Welsh literature (ch. 62):

At that time, Talhaiarn Cataguen was famed for poetry, and Neirin, and Taliesin and Bluchbard, and Cian, who is called Guenith Guaut, were all famous at the same time in British poetry.

Associated works

There are a number of works that are frequently associated with the Historia Brittonum, in part because some of them first appear with the text preserved in the Harleian manuscript, and partly because whenever the Historia Britonum is studied, these sources eventually are mentioned.

• The Lebor Bretnach. A Gaelic translation of Historia Brittonum, and a recension of the 'Nennian' Historia Brittonum.
• The Annales Cambriae. This is a chronicle consisting of a series of unnumbered years, from AD 445 to 977, some of which have events added. Two notable events are next to AD 516, which describes The Battle of Badon, and 537, which describes the Battle of Camlann, "in which Arthur and Mordred fell." A version of this was used as a starting point for later Welsh Chronicles.
• Welsh Genealogies. One of many collections of Welsh genealogies, this documents the lineage of Hywel Dda, king of Wales, and several of his contemporaries. The Pillar of Eliseg is frequently discussed in connection with these genalogies.
• Anglo-Saxon Genealogies. This is a version of a collection of the genealogies of five pre-Viking kingdoms -- Bernicia, Deira, Kent, East Anglia, and Mercia -- better known in its independent form.

Notes

References

• Bromwich, Rachel (2006). Trioedd Ynys Prydein: The Triads of the Island of Britain. University Of Wales Press. ISBN 0-7083-1386-8.
• Green, Thomas (2007). Concepts of Arthur. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Tempus. ISBN 978-0-7524-4461-1.
• Lacy, Norris J. (Ed.) (1991). The New Arthurian Encyclopedia. New York: Garland. ISBN 0-8240-4377-4.
• Translations based on J. A. Giles, Six Old English Chronicles, 1848. Full text from Fordham University

External links

• Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews?s reconstructed original text
• ''Historia Brittonum'' in English
• ''Historia Brittonum'' in Latin
• ''The Wonders of Britain'': The ''de mirabilibus britanniae'' section, with details

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