History Of The Britons
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''The History of the Britons'' () is a purported history of early Britain written around 828 that survives in numerous
recension Recension is the practice of editing or revising a text based on critical analysis. When referring to manuscripts, this may be a revision by another author. The term is derived from the Latin ("review, analysis"). In textual criticism (as is the ...
s from after the 11th century. The ''Historia Brittonum'' is commonly attributed to
Nennius Nennius – or Nemnius or Nemnivus – was a Welsh monk of the 9th century. He has traditionally been attributed with the authorship of the ''Historia Brittonum'', based on the prologue affixed to that work. This attribution is widely considered ...
, as some recensions have a preface written in that name. Some experts have dismissed the Nennian preface as a late forgery and argued that the work was actually an anonymous compilation.


Overview

The ''Historia Brittonum'' describes the supposed settlement of
Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...
by Trojan settlers and says that Britain was named for Brutus, a descendant of
Aeneas In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas ( , ; from ) was a Troy, Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus (mythology), Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy ...
. The "single most important source used by
Geoffrey of Monmouth Geoffrey of Monmouth (; ; ) was a Catholic cleric from Monmouth, Wales, and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur. He is best known for his chronicle '' The History of ...
in his pseudohistorical ''
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 ...
''" and through the enormous popularity of the latter work, this version of the early history of Britain, including the Trojan origin tradition, was incorporated into subsequent
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 ...
s of the long-running history of the land, such as the
Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English pe ...
'' Brut of England'', also known as ''The Chronicles of England''. The work was the first source to portray
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 ...
, who is described as a '' dux bellorum'' ('military leader') or '' miles'' ('warrior, soldier') and not as a
king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
. It names the twelve battles that Arthur fought, but, unlike the ''
Annales Cambriae The (Latin for ''Annals of Wales'') is the title given to a complex of Latin chronicles compiled or derived from diverse sources at St David's in Dyfed, Wales. The earliest is a 12th-century presumed copy of a mid-10th-century original; later ...
'', does not give any actual dates. The reference in the ''Historia Brittonum'' to Arthur carrying the image of
St. Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
on his shoulders in a battle has been interpreted by later commentators as a mistranslation of Arthur bearing the image of Mary on his
shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry like spears or long ranged projectiles suc ...
; the words in Welsh are very similar. The 19th-century
classicist Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...
Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; ; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th ce ...
divided the work into seven parts: Preface (''Prefatio Nennii Britonum''); I. The Six Ages of the World (''de sex aetatibus mundi'') (§1-6); II. History of the Britons (''historia Brittonum'') (§7-49); III. Life of Patrick (''vita Patricii'') (§50-55); IV. Arthuriana (§ 56); V. Genealogies (''regum genealogiae cum computo'') (§c. 57–66); VI. Cities of Britain (''civitates Britanniae'') (§66a); VII. Wonders of Britain (''de mirabilibus Britanniae'') (§67—76). The ''Historia Brittonum'' can be dated to about 829. The work was written no earlier than the "fourth year of he reign ofking Mermenus" (who has been identified as Merfyn Frych ap Gwriad, king of
Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...
). Historians have conservatively assigned 828 to the earliest date for the work, which is consistent with the statement in chapter 4 that "from the Passion of Christ 796 years have passed. But from his Incarnation are 831 years"., p. 926. The text makes use of two narrative techniques that are generally considered not reliable by modern academic standards: synthesizing and synchronizing history. Synthetic history combines legendary elements with fact, which makes the veracity of the text challenging to evaluate. Various specious causal connections and attempts to synchronize material from different sources and traditions also contribute to undermining the reliability of the chronicle.


Authorship, recensions and editions

The question of the nature of the text of the ''Historia Brittonum'' is one that has caused intense debate over the centuries. Some scholars have taken the position that treating the text as anonymously written would be the best approach as theories attributing authorship to Nennius have since been disputed by subsequent scholars.


Classical debate

Repudiating the so-called vindication of Nennius in 1890 by the Celtic scholar
Heinrich Zimmer Heinrich Robert Zimmer (6 December 1890 – 20 March 1943) was a German Indologist and linguist, as well as a historian of South Asian art, most known for his works, ''Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization'' and ''Philosophies of Indi ...
, Mommsen returned to the earlier view of a ninth-century Nennius merely building on a seventh-century original, which he dated to around 680.G. O Sayles, ''The Medieval Foundations of England'' (London 1966) p. 4 The historian
Ferdinand Lot Ferdinand Victor Henri Lot ( Le Plessis Piquet, 20 September 1866 – Fontenay-aux-Roses, 20 July 1952) was a French historian and medievalist. His masterpiece, ''The End of the Ancient World and the Beginnings of the Middle Ages'' (1927), ...
swiftly challenged Mommsen; but it was not until 1925 that the Anglo-Saxon scholar
Felix Liebermann Felix Liebermann (20 July 1851 – 7 October 1925) was a German historian, who is celebrated for his scholarly contributions to the study of medieval English history, particularly that of Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman law. Life Felix Liebermann ...
offered a major reconstruction of the Mommsen view, arguing that Nennius in fact first put the whole work into shape in the ninth century. Re-analysing the eleven manuscript variants of Mommsen, he produced a two-stemma analysis of their hypothetical descent, noting however that “Only one branch, viz. C2d2 of the second stem, preserves Nennius's name”. His overall conclusion (based on uniform particularities of style) was that “The whole work...belongs to Nennius alone”, but this did not prevent him from recognising that “we must lower Nennius's rank as a historian... utpraise his patriotic heart."


Recent re-assessments

The Nennius question was re-opened in the 1970s by the historian David Dumville, who revisited the
stemmatics Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts (mss) or of printed books. Such texts may range i ...
of the various recensions and published the Vatican version. Dumville called the Nennian preface (''Prefatio Nennii'') a late forgery, and believes that the work underwent several anonymous revisions before reaching the forms that now survive in the various families of manuscripts. Dumville's view is largely accepted by current scholarship, though not without dissent. Peter Field in particular has argued for the authenticity of the preface, suggesting that it was left out of many recensions because it was seen as derogatory to British scholarship. However, Field believes Liebermann's earlier argument for Nennius's authorship still bears consideration.


Compiler's approach

Various introductory notes to this work invoke Nennius's (or the anonymous compiler's) words from the ''Prefatio'' that "I heaped together (''coacervavi'') all I could find" from various sources, not only concrete works in writing but "our ancient traditions" (i.e. oral sources) as well. This is quoted from the ''Apologia'' version of the preface. Giles's translation rendered this as "I put together", obscuring the fact that this is indeed a quote from the work and not from some commentator ''(See Morris's more recent translation as given in wikiquote: Historia Brittonum)''. Leslie Alcock was not the first to draw attention to the phrase though he may have started the recent spate of interest.


Arthuriana

The ''Historia Brittonum'' has drawn attention because of its role in influencing the legends and myths surrounding
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 ...
. It is the earliest source that 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 Vortigern (; , ; ; ; Old Breton: ''Gurdiern'', ''Gurthiern''; ; , , , etc.), also spelled Vortiger, Vortigan, Voertigern and Vortigen, was a 5th-century warlord in Sub-Roman Britain, Britain, known perhaps as a king of the Britons or at least ...
, who allowed the
Saxons The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...
to settle in the island of Britain in return for the hand of Hengist's daughter. One legend about Vortigern says he tried to build a stronghold near
Snowdon Snowdon (), or (), is a mountain in Snowdonia in North Wales. It has an elevation of above sea level, which makes it both the highest mountain in Wales and the highest in the British Isles south of the Scottish Highlands. Snowdon i ...
called Dinas Emrys, only to have his building materials disappear every time he tried. His advisers told him to sprinkle the blood of a fatherless boy on the site to lift the curse. Vortigern found such a youth in Ambrosius, who rebuked the wise men and revealed that the disturbance was caused by two dragons buried underground. The tower story is repeated and embellished by
Geoffrey of Monmouth Geoffrey of Monmouth (; ; ) was a Catholic cleric from Monmouth, Wales, and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur. He is best known for his chronicle '' The History of ...
in his ''
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 ...
'', though he attributes it to
Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...
, saying "Ambrosius" is the sage's alternative name. Geoffrey includes Aurelius Ambrosius, another figure mentioned in the ''Historia'', as a king in his own right, and also includes other characters such as
Vortimer Vortimer (Old Welsh Guorthemir, ), also known as Saint Vortimer (,  "Vortimer the Blessed"), is a figure in Matter of Britain, British tradition, a son of the 5th-century Britons (historical), Britonnic ruler Vortigern. He is remembered for ...
and Bishop Germanus of Auxerre.


Arthur's battles

Chapter 56 discusses twelve battles fought and won by
Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...
, here called ''dux bellorum'' (war leader) rather than king: Many of these battle sites are obscure and cannot be identified with any certitude. Some appear in other Welsh literature, though not necessarily explicitly connected to Arthur. Some scholars have proposed that the author incorporated the list from a now-lost Old Welsh poem, based on the fact that some of the names appear to rhyme. The odd description of Arthur bearing the image of the
Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
on his shoulders at Guinnion might stem from a conflation of the Welsh word (shield) with (shoulders). Others reject this as untenable, arguing that the author included battles not previously associated with Arthur, perhaps even made them up entirely. A similar story to that attached to Guinnion also appears in the ''
Annales Cambriae The (Latin for ''Annals of Wales'') is the title given to a complex of Latin chronicles compiled or derived from diverse sources at St David's in Dyfed, Wales. The earliest is a 12th-century presumed copy of a mid-10th-century original; later ...
''; 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 Guinnion. T. M. Charles-Edwards argues that these accounts both refer to a single source. Other scholars, however, such as Thomas Jones and N. J. Higham, argue that the ''Annales'' account is based directly on the ''Historia'', suggesting the name of the battle was switched from the unknown Guinnion to the famous Badon, and that the icon Arthur carries was replaced with a more common one. The Battle of Mount Badon is associated with Arthur in several later texts, but not in any that predate the ''Historia''. It was clearly a historical battle described by
Gildas Gildas (English pronunciation: , Breton language, Breton: ''Gweltaz''; ) — also known as Gildas Badonicus, Gildas fab Caw (in Middle Welsh texts and antiquarian works) and ''Gildas Sapiens'' (Gildas the Wise) — was a 6th-century Britons (h ...
, who does not mention the name of the Britons' leader. He does however mention Aurelius Ambrosius as a great scourge of the Saxons immediately prior. Of the other battles, only the Battle of Tribruit is generally agreed to be associated with Arthur in another early Welsh source. Tribruit appears as ''Tryfrwyd'' in the Old Welsh poem '' Pa Gur?'', dating to perhaps the mid-ninth century. This poem follows the story of a battle against , or dogheads, whom Arthur's men fought in the mountains of '' Eidyn'' (Edinburgh); in the Tryfrwyd battle they spar with a character named Garwlwyd (Rough-Gray), who is likely the Gwrgi Garwlwyd (Man-Dog Rough-Grey) who appears in one of the Welsh Triads. Arthur's main protagonist in the fight is Bedwyr, later known as Sir Bedivere, and the poem also mentions the euhemerized god Manawydan. "The City of the Legion" may be a reference to
Caerleon Caerleon ( ; ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in Newport, Wales. Situated on the River Usk, it lies northeast of Newport city centre, and southeast of Cwmbran. Caerleon is of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable ...
, whose name translates as such, but it might also refer to
Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...
, the site of a large Roman base. ''Cat Coit Celidon'' is probably a reference to the Caledonian Forest (''Coed Celyddon'') which once covered the
Southern Uplands The Southern Uplands () are the southernmost and least populous of mainland Scotland's three major geographic areas (the others being the Central Lowlands and the Highlands). The term is used both to describe the geographical region and to col ...
of Scotland. Scholar Marged Haycock has suggested that this battle can be identified with the ''Cad Goddeu'', the "Battle of the Trees", best known from the tenth-century poem ''
Cad Goddeu ''Cad Goddeu'' (, ) is a medieval Welsh language, Welsh poem preserved in the 14th-century manuscript known as the Book of Taliesin. The poem refers to a traditional story in which the legendary enchanter Gwydion animates the trees of the forest to ...
''. 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''. 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 Arthurian legend). On the other hand, Caitlin Green argues that the only identifiable battles linked explicitly with Arthur in Old Welsh sources are mythological, undermining any claims that the battles had a basis in history.


Mirabilia

Attached to the ''Historia'' is a section called ''De mirabilibus Britanniae'' (or simply ''Mirabilia'' for short, a Latin word meaning 'marvels, miracles'). It gives a list of 13 topographical marvels, or wonders of Britain, followed by a few marvels of
Anglesey Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...
(''Menand insulae'' or Mona) and of Ireland. The ''Mirabilia'' section is thought to not be part of the original work, but to have been composed shortly after (early 9th cent.). Two of the marvels are Arthurian lore (Chapter 73 of the ''Historia''). Old editions give "Troynt" as the name of the great boar and "Anir" as the name of Arthur's tragic son in the Harleian manuscript, but Fletcher suggested the variant readings "Troit" and "Amr" be preferred since they are closer to the Welsh forms of those names. The first concerns Arthur's dog, Cabal ( Cavall in Welsh) and the footprint it left while chasing the boar Troynt (→Troit) Twrch Trwyth: The second concerns Arthur's son Anir or Amr ( Amhar in Welsh) and his sepulchre:


Germanus

Chapters relating events in the life of Saint Germanus of Auxerre claim to be excerpts from a (now lost) biography of the saint. The document includes a collection of traditions about Saint Patrick, as well as a section describing events in the North of England in the sixth and seventh centuries, starting with a paragraph about the beginnings of
Welsh literature Welsh literature is any literature originating from Wales or by Welsh writers: *Welsh-language literature Welsh-language literature () has been produced continuously since the emergence of Welsh from Brythonic as a distinct language in a ...


Associated works

A number of works that are frequently associated with the ''Historia Brittonum'', in part because some of them first appear with the Harleian manuscript, and partly because when the ''Historia Britonum'' is studied, these sources are eventually mentioned. *The Frankish Table of Nations. Written around 520, this is a short genealogical text in the mould of the Biblical
Table of Nations The Generations of Noah, also called the Table of Nations or ''Origines Gentium'', is a genealogy of the sons of Noah, according to the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, Genesis ), and their dispersion into many lands after Genesis flood narrative ...
. Both tables are incorporated into the genealogical sections of the ''Historia''. The Frankish Table transmits to the ''Historia'' some information derived from
Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...
' ''
Germania Germania ( ; ), also more specifically called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superio ...
'', albeit in garbled form. It is probably
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
in origin. *The '' Lebor Bretnach''. An Irish translation of the ''Historia Brittonum'' and a recension of the ' Nennian' ''Historia Brittonum''. Text ID Number: T100028 *The ''
Annales Cambriae The (Latin for ''Annals of Wales'') is the title given to a complex of Latin chronicles compiled or derived from diverse sources at St David's in Dyfed, Wales. The earliest is a 12th-century presumed copy of a mid-10th-century original; later ...
''. 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 The Battle of Camlann ( or ''Brwydr Camlan'') is the legendary final battle of King Arthur, in which Arthur either died or was mortally wounded while fighting either alongside or against Mordred, who also perished. The original legend of Caml ...
, "in which Arthur and
Mordred Mordred or Modred ( or ; Welsh: ''Medraut'' or ''Medrawt'') is a major figure in the legend of King Arthur. The earliest known mention of a possibly historical Medraut is in the Welsh chronicle ''Annales Cambriae'', wherein he and Arthur are a ...
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 Hywel ap Cadell, commonly known as Hywel Dda, which translates to Howel the Good in English, was a Welsh king who ruled the southern Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth and eventually came to rule most of Wales. He became the sole king of Seisyllw ...
, king of Wales, and several of his contemporaries. The Pillar of Eliseg is frequently discussed in connection with these genealogies. * Anglo-Saxon Genealogies, a collection of genealogies of the kings of five pre-Viking kingdoms –
Bernicia Bernicia () was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England. The Anglian territory of Bernicia was approximately equivalent to the modern English cou ...
,
Deira Deira ( ; Old Welsh/ or ; or ) was an area of Post-Roman Britain, and a later Anglian kingdom. Etymology The name of the kingdom is of Brythonic origin, and is derived from the Proto-Celtic , meaning 'oak' ( in modern Welsh), in which case ...
,
Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
,
East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...
, and
Mercia Mercia (, was one of the principal kingdoms founded at the end of Sub-Roman Britain; the area was settled by Anglo-Saxons in an era called the Heptarchy. It was centred on the River Trent and its tributaries, in a region now known as the Midlan ...
. A similar collection either derived from or sharing a similar source with this collection is found in the stand-alone Anglian collection of royal pedigrees, and embedded within annals 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 ...
.


Notes


Citations


References


Primary sources


Mirabilia only

* *


Texts and translations

* ** reprinted, with emendations, in * * (lacks Mirabilia) * *
''Nennius's History of the Britons'' (Giles tr.)
in ''Six Old English Chronicles'', 1, (1848) (Mirabilia section is edited but untranslated). * * (includes Mirabilia).
google


* * * * * wikisource:History of the Britons (tr., composite of Gunn, Giles, and others).


Secondary sources


General and dictionaries

* (Reprint, paperback: , Peter Bedrick Books, 1987) *; *


Manuscript catalogues

* * ( Rolls Series:Rerum Britannicarum medii Ævi Scriptores (Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland during the Middle Ages)), p. 318- (#776-).


Critical studies

* * *
Alt URL
* * * *)


Further reading

*P. J. C. Field, 'Nennius and His History' ''Studia Celtica''f 30 (1996) 159-65


External links











* ttp://www.heroofcamelot.com/docs/Nennius-Historia-Brittonum.pdf ''The Historia Brittonum'' in a freely-distributable PDF document* {{Authority control 9th-century history books Arthurian literature in Latin Sub-Roman Britain Welsh chronicles Welsh mythology 9th-century books in Latin