Nennius

  • Nennius was a Welsh Christian Monk from Powys, Wales, who lived during the 9th century CE, and was outside of the Anglo Saxon territories.
  • Nennius is credited with writing the Historia Brittonum, although he appears to have compiled the work from older sources. He is the first author to mention the legend of King Arthur.

Works

  • Historia Brittonum (c. 830 CE)
    • The ‘Historia Brittonum’ means ‘The History of the Britons’ and was written in c.830 CE.
    • The Work is not historically accurate and contains a mixture of history, Legends and Myths. He writes the history of the Britons by tracing their lineage back to the Romans.

Legend of King Arthur

  • Nennius was the first author to mention the Legend of King Arthur and his twelve battles in the Historia Brittonum c.830 CE..
  • The other two early Works that mention King Arthur are the ‘Annales Cambriae’ (10th century CE) and ‘The History of the Kings of Britain’ by Geoffrey of Monmouth (12th century CE).
  • Nennius describes King Arthur as a post Roman King of the Britons who defends Britain against the Anglo-Saxon invasions during the 5th-6th centuries CE.
  • However, it was Geoffrey of Monmouth (c.1085-c.1155 CE) who introduced the characters of Merlin and Guinevere along with the sword Excalibur and the castle of Tintagel.
  • The French writer Chretien de Troyes (1160-1191 CE) added Lancelot, Gawain, Perceval and the Holy Grail.

Nennius’ 33 cities of Britain

  • Nennius listed 33 cities as existing in Britain during his time (9th century CE), which are nearly all extant today.

 

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