num_pages: 362
description: 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, Robert Wace'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.
language: English
title: Layamon's Arthur: The Arthurian Section of Layamon's Brut
titlecomplete: Layamon's Arthur: The Arthurian Section of Layamon's Brut (Exeter Medieval Texts and Studies LUP)
characters: King Arthur
genres: Arthurian, Medieval, Poetry
ratings_count: 63
places: Britain
publisher: Liverpool University Press