Geoffrey Gaimar (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1130s), also written Geffrei or Geoffroy, was an Anglo-Norman

chronicle A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events ...

r. His contribution to medieval literature and history was as a translator from

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

to Anglo-Norman. His ''L'Estoire des Engleis'', or ''History of the English People'', written about 1136–1140, was a chronicle in eight-syllable rhyming couplets, running to 6,526 lines.

Overview of his work

The ''L'Estoire des Engleis'' opens with a brief mention of

King Arthur According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...

, whose actions affect the plot of the interpolated tale of Havelok the Dane. That aside, most of the first 3,500 lines are translations out of a variant text of the ''

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the ninth century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of ...

'' and subsequent portions from other (Latin and French) sources that remain unidentified. Gaimar claims to have also written a version of the '' Brut'' story, a translation of Geoffrey of Monmouth's chronicle ''

Historia Regum Britanniae (''The History of the Kings of Britain''), originally called (''On the Deeds of the Britons''), is a fictitious account of British history, written around 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. It chronicles the lives of the List of legendary kings o ...

'' (c. 1136) into Anglo-Norman verse, which was commissioned by Constance, wife of Ralph FitzGilbert, a

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

landowner. Constance appears to have been implicated in the writing process. Gaimar's translation, if it existed, antedated Wace's Norman ''Roman de Brut'' (c. 1155), but no copy of Gaimar's ''Brut'' (also known as ''L'Estoire des Bretuns'') has survived, being superseded by the latecomer.Ritson notes: "poet anterior to Wace, etc." Ian Short argues that Gaimar's ''Estoire des Bretuns'' was no more than a short

epitome An epitome (; , from ἐπιτέμνειν ''epitemnein'' meaning "to cut short") is a summary or miniature form, or an instance that represents a larger reality, also used as a synonym for embodiment. Epitomacy represents "to the degree of." A ...

of the pre-Arthurian section of Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Historia Regum Britanniae'', which might explain why Wace's later, full translation of the text became more popular and ultimately superseded Gaimer's. Gaimar did not create two separate and distinct chronicles, and the two ''estoires'' were merely the former and latter sections of a long-running history starting from the

Argonauts The Argonauts ( ; ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War (around 1300 BC) accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, ''Argo'', named after it ...

' quest for the Golden Fleece to the reign of William II "Rufus" (died 1100) that Gaimar set out to write. Gaimar's scheme was greatly expanded in scope from the translation work on Geoffrey of Monmouth, the former part, which the patron had requested. Ironically, it was solely the latter part covering the Anglo-Saxon period that was transmitted by later copyists, as a continuation to Wace. The scribe of one such copy, in a late 13th-century manuscript ( B.L. Royal 13 A xx i), dubbed the portion with the title ''Estoire des Engles''. The so-called "lost ''L'Estoire des Bretuns''" (History of the Britons) was an expedient term coined by 19th-century commentators."Lestorie des Bretons" as spelt in: A version of Havelok the Dane occurs at the beginning of ''L'Estoire des Engles'', which must have originally been interpolated in between the history of the Britons and the history of the English, serving as a bridge. Unlike the Middle English version of the legend, Gaimar's version connects Havelok to

(making him responsible for destroying the Danish kingdom that Havelok would inherit.)There is also an Anglo-Norman lai version, but that is thought to be later and derived from Gaimar. Additionally there is a mention of a sword, Caliburv. 46, (

Excalibur Excalibur is the mythical sword of King Arthur that may possess magical powers or be associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. Its first reliably datable appearance is found in Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. E ...

), pointing to Gaimar's knowledge of Galfridian legendary history that predated the advent of Wace's ''Brut''.

Explanatory notes

Citations

Bibliography

Texts and translations * * *. Archived from the origina
Vol. I TextVol. II Translation
on 7 August 2007. * * Studies *Bratu, Cristian, "Translatio, autorité et affirmation de soi chez Gaimar, Wace et Benoît de Sainte-Maure." ''The Medieval Chronicle'' 8 (2013), pp. 135–164. *Harper-Bill, Christopher & van Houts, Elisabeth (eds.), ''A Companion to the Anglo-Norman World'', Boydell, 2007. . *Legge, Mary D., ''Anglo-Norman Literature and its Background'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1963. *Short, Ian R., "What was Gaimar's Estoire des Bretuns?", in: ''Cultura Neolatina'' 71, 2011, pp. 143–145. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaimar, Geoffrey Anglo-Norman literature 12th-century English historians Norman-language poets 12th-century births 12th-century deaths English chroniclers 12th-century translators

Overview of his work

See also

Explanatory notes

Citations

Bibliography