Layamon's Arthur The Arthurian Section of Layamon's Brut (lines 9229-14297)

Layamon's Brut is a landmark in English literature, the first major work in English after the Norman Conquest, and the precursor of a rich Arthurian literature, from Malory to Tennyson and on to our own time. This edition combines a fully-edited version of the original text with a close parallel prose translation, together with a lengthy Introduction, textual notes and a full and up-to-date bibliography. Written c.1200-1220, the Brut develops the themes of its principal source, RobertWace's Roman de Brut, itself a version of Geoffrey of Monmouth's bestseller, the Historia Regum Britanniae, in a metre and idiom reminiscent of Old English. It demonstrates the fundamental strength of a native culture which survived two centuries of French dominance to re-emerge as a fusion of a national tradition and continental influences.