CatholicaJ. Stevenson (ed.), Nennii Historia Britonum (1838) — Latin text with the editor’s English notes and variant readings. Rendered into English; the manuscript sigla (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, a, b) are retained where Stevenson prints a materially different text, and the editor’s notes are condensed.
§ 1–2. Prologue #
(Stevenson’s text begins mid-sentence; the standard preface runs:) …lest the memorial of things that were passing away should be lost — a rich harvest once snatched piecemeal by the hostile reapers of foreign nations — I have taken care, heedless of the shame of the envious, to commit it to the memory of posterity. For indeed, being bound to many masters, and scarcely able hitherto to understand even the surface of other men’s dictations, much less being sufficient on my own anvil, but like a barbarian mangling another’s language, I rashly undertook the work. Yet I bore it ill, turning the inward wound about my heart, if the name of my own nation, once famous and renowned, should melt into smoke, eaten away by forgetfulness. But since I would rather be the historian of the Britons, however poorly, than have none at all — although many are found who could far better discharge this labour laid upon me — I humbly ask that all whose ears my unpolished words offend may hold themselves bound to grant the indulgence I crave. For feeble powers often fail in achieving what a fervent will would not let them fail in. Therefore let a sufficient charity serve those for whom the unpolished simplicity of my words cannot suffice; and let not the truth of the history grow cheap in the ears of the hearers, which my rusticity has dared to plough with the unskilled share of my tongue. Indeed it is safer to drink a wholesome draught of instruction from any lowly vessel than to taste first from a golden cup the poison of falsehood mixed with the honey of sweet eloquence.
§ 2. I earnestly ask the diligent reader to store up in the granary of memory the grains of this history from the chaff of my words; since it is proved that we should attend not to who speaks or how it is said, but to what is said, as the witness of truth; for no one esteems a gem the less after he has wiped off the clay in which it lay, since he has thought it worthy thereafter to be added to his treasury. I yield indeed to my betters and the more eloquent, whoever, kindled with a benign ardour, have striven to smooth down with the file of Roman eloquence the material of a stammering tongue — provided they leave unshaken the column of the history which I have set up to endure. I have essayed this work therefore to aid our weaker brethren, not in envy of my betters, in the eight hundred and fifty-eighth year of the Lord’s Incarnation, and the twenty-fourth of Mervyn king of the Britons; and I ask that the reward of this labour be repaid me by the prayers of my superiors. But let these prefatory remarks suffice; dutiful obedience shall supply the rest according to my powers.
The Apology of Nennius, Historian of the Britons #
§ 3. I, Nennius, a disciple of the holy Elbodugus, have taken care to write some excerpts which the dulness of the nation of Britain had cast aside, because the learned men of that island of Britain had no skill nor set down any record in books. But I have gathered together all that I found, both from the annals of the Romans and from the chronicles of the holy Fathers — that is, of Jerome, Eusebius, Isidore, and Prosper — and from the annals of the Scots and Saxons, and from the tradition of our elders, which many learned men and scribes attempted to write but, I know not by what means, left unfinished — whether on account of the very frequent mortalities or the continual disasters of wars. I ask that every reader who reads this book grant me pardon, because after so great men I have dared to write such things, like a chattering bird or some feeble judge. I yield to him who knows more in this learning than I.
The History of the Britons, by Nennius #
§ 4. From the beginning of the world to the Flood, two thousand two hundred and forty-two years; from the Flood to Abraham, nine hundred and forty-two years; from Abraham to Moses, six hundred and forty years; from Moses to David, five hundred years; and from David to Nebuchadnezzar there are five hundred and sixty-nine years.
§ 5. From Adam to the Babylonian Captivity there are four thousand five hundred and seventy-nine years; from the Babylonian Captivity to Christ, five hundred and sixty-six; but from Adam to the Passion of Christ there are five thousand two hundred and twenty-eight years; and from the Passion of Christ seven hundred and ninety-six years have been completed; and from His Incarnation there are eight hundred and thirty-one years.
§ 6. The first age of the world, therefore, is from Adam to Noah; the second, from Noah to Abraham; the third, from Abraham to David; the fourth, from David to Daniel; the fifth, from Daniel to John the Baptist; the sixth, from John to the Judgement, in which our Lord Jesus Christ shall come to judge the living and the dead and the world by fire.
§ 7. The island of Britain is called after a certain Brutus, a Roman consul. It stretches from the northern Ocean westwards, having a length of eight hundred miles and a breadth of two hundred. In it are twenty-eight cities, and innumerable headlands, with numberless castles built of stones and brick; and four peoples dwell in it — the Scots, the Picts, the Saxons, and the Britons.
§ 8. It has three great islands, of which one lies opposite the Armorican coast and is called Inisgueith (Wight); the second lies in the navel of the sea between Ireland and Britain, and its name is Eubonia, that is, Manau (Man); the other lies at the extreme limit of the world of Britain beyond the Picts, and is called Orc (Orkney). So it is said in the old proverb, when there was talk of judges or kings: “He judged Britain with its three islands.”
§ 9. There are in it many rivers which flow to all quarters — east, west, south, and north. Yet there are two rivers more illustrious than the rest, the Thames and the Severn, like two arms of Britain, along which ships once sailed to carry riches for the sake of trade. The Britons once ruled it, filling it from sea to sea.
§ 10. If anyone wishes to know at what time after the Flood this island was inhabited, I have found the account in a twofold form. In the annals of the Romans it is written thus: Aeneas, after the Trojan war, came to Italy with his son Ascanius; and having conquered Turnus he took in marriage Lavinia, daughter of Latinus, son of Faunus, son of Picus, son of Saturn; and after the death of Latinus he obtained the kingdom of the Romans, or Latins. Ascanius founded Alba and afterwards married, and she bore him a son named Silvius. Silvius married, and his wife was with child; and it was announced to Aeneas that his daughter-in-law was pregnant; and he sent to his son Ascanius that he should send his magus to examine the woman and discover what she had in her womb, whether male or female; and the magus examined her and returned. On account of this prophecy the magus was slain by Ascanius, because he told Ascanius that the woman bore a male in her womb, who would be a son of death, since he would kill his father and his mother, and would be hateful to all men. So it happened: at the child’s birth the woman died, and the boy was reared, and his name was called Brutus. After a long interval, according to the prophecy of the magus, while he was playing with others, he killed his father with an arrow-shot — not on purpose but by accident. And he was driven out of Italy and was at Arminilis(?), and came to the islands of the Tyrrhenian Sea, and was driven out by the Greeks on account of the slaying of Turnus whom Aeneas had killed, and came as far as the Gauls, and there founded the city of the Turones, which is called Turnis (Tours). And afterwards he came to this island, which received its name from his name, that is Britain, and filled it with his stock and lived there. From that day Britain has been inhabited even to the present day.
§ 11. Aeneas reigned three years among the Latins; Ascanius reigned thirty-seven years, after whom Silvius son of Aeneas reigned twelve years; Posthumus thirty-nine years — from him the kings of Alba were called Silvian — whose brother was Brutus. When Brutus was reigning in Britain, Eli the priest judged in Israel, and then the Ark of the Covenant was held by foreigners. His brother Posthumus reigned among the Latins.
§ 12. After an interval of many years, not less than eight hundred, the Picts came and occupied the islands called Orkney, and afterwards from the islands wasted many regions and occupied them on the left (northern) side of Britain, and remain there to this day. They held and hold a third part of Britain to this day.
§ 13. Last of all the Scots came from the parts of Spain to Ireland. First came Partholomaeus with a thousand people, men and women together, and they increased to four thousand souls; and a mortality came upon them, and in one week they all perished, and not even one of them remained. Secondly, Nims, a certain son of Agnomin, came to Ireland, who is said to have sailed on the sea for a year and a half, and afterwards made port in Ireland, his ships being wrecked, and stayed there many years, and again sailed with his people and returned to Spain.
And afterwards there came three sons of a certain soldier of Spain with thirty ships (ciulae), and with thirty wives in each ship, and they stayed there for the space of one year. And afterwards they saw a glass tower in the middle of the sea, and they saw men on the tower and sought to speak with them, but they never answered; and one year they hastened to the assault of the tower with all their ships and all their women, except one ship which was wrecked, in which were thirty men and as many women. And the other ships sailed to attack the tower; and when they all landed on the shore which surrounded the tower, the sea covered them and they were drowned, and not one of them escaped; and from the family of that ship which was left behind on account of its wrecking, all Ireland was filled even to this day. And afterwards they came gradually from the parts of Spain and held many regions.
§ 14. Last came Damhoctor and lived there with all his race until today in Britain. Istorith, son of Istorinus, held Dalrieta with his people; but Builc with his people held the island of Eubonia and others round about; and the sons of Liethan obtained in the region of the Demetae and in other regions — that is, Guir (Gower) and Cetgueli (Kidwelly) — until they were driven out by Cunedda and his sons from all the British regions.
§ 15. But if anyone wishes to know when or at what time Ireland was uninhabited and desert, the most learned of the Scots have told me thus. When the children of Israel came through the Red Sea, the Egyptians came and followed them and were drowned, as is read in the Law. There was a nobleman of Scythia with a great household among the Egyptians, and he was expelled from his kingdom, and he was there when the Egyptians were drowned, and he did not go after the people of God. Those who survived took counsel to expel him, lest he should besiege and occupy their kingdom, since their brothers had been drowned in the Red Sea — and he was expelled. And he wandered through Africa for forty-two years; and they came to the Altars of the Philistines by the Lake of Salinae, and they came between Rusicada and the mountains of Azaria, and they came by the river Malva, and passed along the coast to the Pillars of Hercules, and sailed the Tyrrhenian Sea, and came as far as Spain, and lived there many years and increased and multiplied exceedingly, and their race multiplied exceedingly. And afterwards they came to Ireland, a thousand and two years after the Egyptians were drowned in the Red Sea, and to the regions of Dalrieta at the time when Brutus reigned among the Romans — under whom the consuls began to be, and then tribunes of the people and dictators. And the consuls again held the republic for four hundred and forty-seven years, which before had been condemned to royal dignity. The Britons came to Britain in the third age of the world; but the Scots obtained Ireland in the fourth. But the Scots who are in the west and the Picts from the north fought unanimously and with one onset continually against the Britons, because the Britons were without arms. And after a long interval of time the Romans obtained the monarchy of the whole world.
§ 16. From the first year in which the Saxons came to Britain to the fourth year of king Mervyn are reckoned four hundred and twenty-nine years. From the birth of the Lord to the coming of Patrick to the Scots there are four hundred and five years. From the death of Patrick to the death of St Brigid, sixty years. From the birth of Columba to the death of St Brigid, four years. The beginning of the computus: twenty-three nineteen-year cycles from the Incarnation of the Lord to the coming of Patrick to Ireland — and these make four hundred and thirty-eight years. And from the coming of Patrick to the nineteen-year cycle in which we are there are twenty-two cycles, that is four hundred and twenty-one years, and two years in the ogdoad up to this year in which we are.
§ 17. I found another account of this Brito in the old books of our elders. The three sons of Noah divided the world into three parts after the Flood: Shem in Asia, Ham in Africa, Japhet in Europe extended his borders. The first man of the stock of Japhet to come to Europe was Alanus, with his three sons, whose names are Hessitio, Armenon, Negue. Hessitio had four sons: Francus, Romanus, Britto, Albanus. Armenon had five sons: Gothus, Valagothus, Gebidus, Burgundus, Longobardus. Negue had three sons: Wandalus, Saxo, Boguarus. From Hessitio arose four peoples — Franks, Latins, Albans, and Britons. From Armenon, five — Goths, Valagoths, Gebidi, Burgundians, and Lombards. From Negue, four — Boguarii, Vandals, Saxons, and Turingi. These peoples were divided throughout all Europe. Alanus, as they say, was the son of Fetebir, son of Ougomun, son of Thoi, son of Boib, son of Simeon, son of Mair, son of Aurthach, son of Oth, son of Abir, son of Rea, son of Ezra, son of Izrau, son of Baath, son of Jobaath, son of Jovan, son of Japhet, son of Noah, son of Lamech, son of Methuselah, son of Enoch, son of Jared, son of Mahalalel, son of Cainan, son of Enos, son of Seth, son of Adam, son of the living God. I found this genealogy from the tradition of the elders who were the first inhabitants of Britain.
§ 18. The Britons are named from Brutus. Brutus was the son of Hisition; Hisition of Alaneus; Alaneus was the son of Rea Silvia, daughter of Numa Pompilius, son of Ascanius; Ascanius was the son of Aeneas, son of Anchises, son of Troi, son of Dardanus, son of Flisa, son of Juvan, son of Japhet. Japhet had seven sons: first Gomer, from whom the Gauls; second Magog, from whom the Scythians and Goths; third Madian, from whom the Medes; fourth Juvan, from whom the Greeks; fifth Tubal, from whom the Hebrews and Spaniards and Italians; sixth Mosoch, from whom the Cappadocians; seventh Tiras, from whom the Thracians. These are the sons of Japhet, son of Noah, son of Lamech.
And now I return to that from which I digressed.
§ 19. The Romans, when they had taken the dominion of the whole world, sent legates to the Britons to receive hostages and tribute from them, as they received from all regions and islands. But the Britons, being tyrannical and haughty, despised the embassy of the Romans. Then Julius Caesar, when he had taken sole rule and first obtained the kingdom, was very angry, and came to Britain with sixty ships, and made the mouth of the Thames, where his ships suffered shipwreck while he was fighting against Dolobellus, who was proconsul to the British king — who was himself called Bellinus, and was the son of Minocannus who had occupied all the islands of the Tyrrhenian Sea. And Julius returned without victory, his soldiers slain and his ships wrecked.
§ 20. And again, after the space of three years, he came with a great army and three hundred ships, and came as far as the mouth of the river called Thames. And there they joined battle, and many of his horses and soldiers fell, because the aforementioned proconsul had placed iron stakes and a war-seed, that is Cetilou (caltrops), in the shallows of the river, which was a great destruction to the soldiers of the Romans and an invisible artifice; and they departed without peace on that occasion. A third battle was fought near the place called Trinovantum; and Julius obtained the empire of the British race, forty-seven years before the birth of Christ — but five thousand two hundred and fifteen years from the beginning of the world.
Julius therefore first came to Britain and held the kingdom and people; and in his honour the Romans decreed that the month Quintilis should be called July. And on the Ides of March Gaius Julius Caesar was slain in the senate-house, Octavian Augustus holding the monarchy of the whole world, who alone received tribute from Britain — as Virgil says: “Woven in, the Britons raise the purple curtains.” (Georgics iii. 25.)
§ 21. Second after him came the emperor Claudius, and ruled in Britain forty-eight years after the advent of Christ, and made a great slaughter and war, not without loss of soldiers; yet he was victor in Britain, and afterwards went with his ships to the Orkney islands and subdued them and made them tributary. In his time Britain ceased to give tribute to the Romans, but it was paid to British emperors. He reigned thirteen years and eight months; his monument is shown at Mainz among the Lombards, where he died while going to Rome.
§ 22. One hundred and sixty-seven years after the advent of Christ, Lucius, a British king, with all the petty kings of the whole British race, received baptism, a legation having been sent from the emperors of the Romans and from Eucharistus, the Roman pope. (A marginal note in MS P observes that this is mistaken, since the first year of Eleutherius — who should have been named — was A.D. 161.)
§ 23. The third was Severus, who crossed over to the Britons; where, that the recovered provinces might be made safer from barbarian inroad, he carried a wall and rampart from sea to sea across the breadth of Britain — that is, for one hundred and thirty-two thousand paces — and it is called in the British tongue Guaul (the Wall). For this reason he ordered it to be made between the Britons and the Picts and Scots, because the Scots from the west and the Picts from the north fought unanimously against the Britons, for these were at peace among themselves. And not long after, Severus died within Britain.
§ 24. The fourth was Caritius (Carausius), emperor and tyrant, who also came to Britain by usurpation, since he was a tyrant on account of the slaying of Severus; and with all the leaders of the Roman race who were with him in Britain he pierced through all the petty kings of the Britons, and avenged Severus upon them with a vengeance, and occupied the purple of Britain.
§ 25. The fifth was Constantius, the father of Constantine the Great, and he died there, and his sepulchre is shown near the city called Cair Segeint (Caernarfon), as the letters which are on the stone of the tomb show. And he sowed three seeds there — of gold, of silver, and of bronze — in the pavement of the aforementioned city, that no poor man should ever dwell in it; and it is called by another name Minmanton.
§ 26. The sixth, the emperor Maximus, reigned in Britain; from his time consuls began to be, and they were never afterwards called Caesars. And St Martin in his time was illustrious in virtues and signs, and spoke with him.
§ 27. The seventh emperor who reigned in Britain was Maximianus (Magnus Maximus). He went from Britain with all the soldiers of the Britons, and killed Gratian, king of the Romans, and held the empire of all Europe; and he would not let the soldiers who had gone with him return to Britain to their wives and children and possessions, but gave them many regions — from the lake which is on the summit of the Mountain of Jove (the Great St Bernard) to the city called Cantguic (Quentavic), and to the western Mound, that is Cruc Ochidient. These are the Armorican Britons, and they have never returned here to this day. For this reason Britain was occupied by foreign nations and the citizens were driven out, until God shall give them help. In the ancient tradition of our elders there were seven emperors from the Romans in Britain; but the Romans say there were nine.
The eighth was another Severus, who at times stayed in Britain and at times went to Rome, and died there.
The ninth was Constantius, who reigned sixteen years in Britain, and in the sixteenth year of his reign died in Britain.
§ 28. Thus far the Romans reigned over the Britons, four hundred and nine years. But the Britons cast off the rule of the Romans, and neither gave them tribute nor accepted their kings to reign over them; nor did the Romans dare any more to come to Britain to rule, because the Britons had slain their leaders.
§ 29. The narrative must return again to the tyrant Maximianus (Maximus). Gratian with his brother Valentinian reigned six years; and Ambrose bishop of Milan was illustrious in Catholic doctrine. Valentinian reigned eight years with Theodosius. A synod was assembled at Constantinople by three hundred and eighteen fathers, in which all heresies were condemned. Jerome, then a presbyter at Bethlehem, was famous throughout the whole world. While Gratian was ruling the empire in the whole world, Maximus was made emperor in Britain by a mutiny of the soldiers. And when he immediately crossed into Gaul, Gratian was overcome at Paris by the treachery of the master of the soldiers Merobaudes, and fleeing to Lyons was taken and killed. Maximus made his son Victor partner of the kingdom. Martin, bishop of Tours, was illustrious in great virtues. After a long interval of time, in the third stone from Aquileia, he (Maximus) was stripped of his royal garments, set before the consuls Valentinian and Theodosius, and condemned to death. His son Victor was killed in the same year in Gaul by Count Arbogast.
§ 30. Three times the leaders of the Romans were slain by the Britons. But the Britons, when they were harassed by the barbarian nations, that is by the Scots and Picts, sought the help of the Romans. And while legates were being sent with great mourning, and with sand upon their heads, they entered and bore great gifts with them to the consuls of the Romans for the admitted crime of the slaying of the leaders; and the consuls received the pleasing gifts from them, and they promised with an oath to take the yoke of the Roman law, however hard it might be. And the Romans came with a very great army to help them, and set emperors over Britain; and when the emperor was settled with his leaders, the army returned again to Rome — and thus they did alternately for three hundred and forty-eight years. But the Britons, on account of the heaviness of the imperial rule, kept killing the Roman leaders, and afterwards sought help. And the Romans came for dominion and for aid, and to take vengeance; and, Britain being plundered of gold and silver, with bronze and every precious garment and honey, they returned with great triumph.
§ 31. Now it happened after the aforementioned war — that is, the one between the Britons and the Romans when their leaders were slain — and after the killing of the tyrant Maximus, and when the rule of the Romans in Britain was finished, that for forty years they were under fear. Guorthigirnus (Vortigern) reigned in Britain; and while he reigned in Britain he was oppressed by fear of the Picts and Scots, and by a Roman attack, and also by fear of Ambrosius. Meanwhile three ships, exiled from Germany, arrived in which were Horsa and Hengist, who were also brothers, sons of Guictgils, son of Guitta, son of Guectha, son of Woden, son of Frealaf, son of Fredulf, son of Finn, son of Folcwald, son of Geta — who was, as they say, a son of God. He is not that God of gods, Amen, the God of hosts, but is one of their idols whom they themselves worshipped.
Guorthigirnus received them kindly and gave them the island which in their tongue is called Tanet, in British speech Ruoihin (Thanet). In the reign of Gratianus Secundus Aequantius, the Saxons were received by Vortigern, in the four hundred and forty-seventh year after the Passion of Christ.
§ 32. In his time St Germanus came to preach in Britain, and was illustrious among them in many virtues; and many were saved through him, and very many perished. Some of the miracles which God wrought through him I have determined to write.
His first miracle. There was a certain wicked and very tyrannical king named Benli. The holy man wished to visit him and prepared to hasten to the wicked king to preach to him. But when the man of God had come to the gate of the city with his companions, the gatekeeper came and greeted them, and they sent him to the king; and the king gave them a harsh answer and said with an oath, “Though they go or stay till the year’s end, they shall never come into the middle of my city.” While they waited for the porter to report to them the tyrant’s reply, the day declined toward evening and night drew on, and they knew not where to go. Meanwhile one of the king’s servants came out of the middle of the city and bowed himself before the man of God, and told them all the words of the tyrant, and invited them to his house; and they went out with him, and he received them kindly. And he had nothing of all kinds of cattle except one cow with her calf; and he killed the calf and cooked it and set it before them. And St Germanus commanded that they should not break one of its bones — and so it was done; and the next day the calf was found before its mother, sound and alive and unharmed.
§ 33. Again in the morning they rose to obtain an audience with the tyrant; and while they prayed and waited by the gate of the fortress, see, a man came running, and his sweat was streaming from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet. He bowed himself before them, and St Germanus said, “Believe you in the Holy Trinity?” and he answered, “I believe,” and was baptised, and Germanus kissed him. And he said to him, “Go in peace; at this hour you shall die, and the angels of God wait for you in the air, that you may go with them to the Lord in whom you have believed.” And he entered the fortress rejoicing, and the prefect seized him and bound him, and he was led before the tyrant and slain. For it was the custom of that most wicked tyrant that unless a man came to his service in the fortress before sunrise, he was put to death. And they stayed the whole day by the gate of the city and did not obtain leave to greet the tyrant.
§ 34. The aforementioned servant came as usual, and St Germanus said to him, “Take heed that not one of your people remains in the fortress this night.” And he returned to the fortress and brought out his sons, nine in number, and they returned with him to the aforementioned lodging. And St Germanus commanded them to remain fasting, and when the doors were shut, said, “Watch; and if anything happens, do not look toward the fortress, but pray without ceasing and cry to your Lord.” And after a short interval of the night, fire fell from heaven and burned the fortress, and all the men who were with the tyrant, and they have never been seen to this day; and the fortress has not been rebuilt to this day.
§ 35. On the next day that man who had been their host believed and was baptised with all his sons, and the whole region with him; whose name was Catel, and Germanus blessed him and added, saying, “A king shall not fail from your seed” — he is Catell Durnluc — “and you alone shall be king from this day.” And so it happened; and that was fulfilled which is said by the prophet: “He raises up the needy from the dust, and lifts the poor from the dung, that he may sit with princes and hold the throne of glory.” According to the words of St Germanus a king was made from a servant, and all his sons were made kings, and from their seed the whole region of the Powysians is ruled to this day.
§ 36. Now after the Saxons had been quartered in the aforementioned island of Thanet, the aforementioned king promised to give them food and clothing without stint; and it pleased them, and they promised to fight his enemies bravely. But those barbarians, when they had multiplied in number, the Britons could not feed. When they demanded food and clothing as had been promised them, the Britons said, “We cannot give you food and clothing, because your number has multiplied; but depart from us, for we do not need your help.” And they took counsel with their elders to break the peace.
§ 37. But Hengist, being a learned and shrewd and cunning man, having observed that the king was inert and that his people were without arms, took counsel and said to the British king, “We are few; if you will, we shall send to our homeland to invite soldiers from among the warriors of our region, that our number may be larger for fighting for you and for your people.” And he obtained leave for them to do so, and they sent; and the envoys crossed the Tythican (Scythian) vale and returned with sixteen ships, and chosen soldiers came in them, and in one of the ships came a girl beautiful of face and very comely, the daughter of Hengist. After the ships had arrived, Hengist made a feast for Vortigern and his soldiers and his interpreter, who was called Ceretic, and ordered the girl to serve them wine and strong drink; and they were drunken and sated beyond measure. And while they drank, Satan entered the heart of Vortigern to love the girl, and he asked her from her father through his interpreter, and said, “Everything you ask of me you shall obtain, even to the half of my kingdom.” And Hengist, having taken counsel with his elders who had come with him from the island of Oghgul (Angeln) as to what they should ask of the king for the girl — the one counsel of them all was to ask for the region which in their tongue is called Cantguaraland, but in our tongue Kent. And he gave it them, Guoyrancgonus then reigning in Kent, who knew not that his kingdom was being handed over to pagans, and that he himself was secretly being given into their power; and the girl was given to him in marriage, and he slept with her and loved her exceedingly.
§ 38. And Hengist said to Vortigern, “I am your father, and will be your counsellor; and never neglect my counsel, for you shall not fear to be overcome by any man or by any nation, because my people are strong. I shall invite my son with his cousin, for they are warriors, that they may fight against the Scots; and give them the regions which are in the north, by the wall called Guaul.” And Vortigern ordered him to invite them; and Octha and Ebissa were invited with forty ships. And they, as they sailed around the Picts, wasted the Orkney islands, and came and occupied many regions beyond the Frenessic Sea, as far as the borders of the Picts. And Hengist kept inviting ships to him little by little, so that the islands from which they had come were left without inhabitant; and when his people had grown in strength and multitude, they came to the aforementioned city of the Kentishmen.
§ 39. Now Vortigern, adding to all his other evil deeds, took his own daughter as wife, and she bore him a son; and when this became known to St Germanus, he came to rebuke him with all the clergy of the Britons. And when a great synod of clergy and laity had assembled in council, the king beforehand warned his daughter to go out to the assembly and give her son into the bosom of Germanus, and to say that Germanus himself was the father of the child; and the woman did as she had been instructed. Germanus received him graciously and began to say, “I will be a father to you, nor will I let you go unless a razor with scissors and comb be given me, and it be allowed you to give it to your carnal father.” And the boy obeyed, and went to his grandfather and carnal father Vortigern, and the boy said to him, “you are my father; cut my head and the hair of my head.” And he was silent and held his peace and would not answer the boy, but rose up and was very angry, so that he fled from the face of St Germanus, and was cursed and condemned by St Germanus and by the whole council of the Britons.
§ 40. And afterwards the king invited his magicians to him, that he might ask them what he should do. But they said, “Go to the farthest bounds of your kingdom, and you shall find a stronghold in which to defend yourself; for the people whom you have received into your kingdom envies you and will kill you by guile, and will occupy with your whole people all the regions you have loved after your death.” And afterwards he went with his magicians to acquire a fortress, and they ranged through many regions and many provinces; and not finding one, they came at last to the region called Guined (Gwynedd), and there surveying the mountains of Hereri (Snowdon), he at last reached a place on one of the mountains where it was fit to build a fortress. And the magi said to him, “Make a fortress in this place, for it will be safest against the barbarian nations for ever.” And he gathered workmen — stone-cutters — and gathered timber and stones; and when all the material had been gathered, in one night the material was carried away; and three times he ordered it to be gathered, and nowhere did it remain. And he summoned the magi and asked them what was the cause of this malignity, and why this happened. But they answered, “Unless you find a fatherless boy, and he be killed and the fortress sprinkled with his blood, it will never be built for ever.”
§ 41. And he sent messengers throughout all Britain, at the counsel of the magi, to see whether they would find a fatherless boy. And ranging through all the provinces and many regions, they came to the Plain of Elleti, which is in the region called Gleguissing (Glywysing), where boys were playing at ball. And see, two were quarrelling with each other, and one said to the other, “O man without a father, you shall have no good.” They diligently asked the boys about the boy, and questioning the mother whether he had a father, she denied it and said, “I know not how he was conceived in my womb, but one thing I know — that I never knew a man”; and she swore to them that he had no father. And they brought him with them to king Vortigern and presented him to the king.
§ 42. And the next day an assembly was held that the boy might be killed. And the boy said to the king, “Why have your men brought me to you?” To whom the king said, “That you may be killed, and that your blood may be sprinkled around this fortress, so that it can be built.” The boy answered the king, “Who showed you this?” And the king answered, “My magicians told me.” And the boy said, “Let them be called to me.” And the magicians were summoned, and the boy said to them, “Who revealed to you that this fortress should be sprinkled with my blood, and that unless it be sprinkled with my blood it will never be built? But I shall discover who made this known about me.” Again the boy said, “Now, O king, I will explain to you and show you all things in truth; but I ask your magicians what is beneath the pavement of this place. It pleases me that they show you what lies under the pavement.” But they said, “We know not.” And he said, “I have discovered it — there is a pool in the middle of the pavement; come and dig, and so you will find it.” They came and dug, and so it was. And the boy said to the magicians, “Tell me what is in the pool?” and they were silent and could not reveal it to him. But he said to them, “I will reveal it to you — there are two vessels; and so you will find it.” They came and saw it was so. And the boy said to the magicians, “What is held within the closed vessels?” and they were silent and could not reveal it to him. But he declared, “In their middle there is a tent; separate them, and so you will find it.” And the king ordered them separated, and a folded tent was found, as he had said. And again he asked the magicians, “Declare now what is in the middle of the tent,” and they could not know. But he revealed it: “Two serpents are in it, one white and one red; unfold the tent.” And they unfolded it, and two sleeping serpents were found. And the boy said, “Watch and observe what the serpents do.” And the serpents began so that each drove the other out, the one setting its shoulders against the other so as to drive it to the middle of the tent — and thus they did three times. Yet at last the red serpent seemed the weaker, and afterwards it turned, stronger, upon the white and drove it beyond the edge of the tent; then the victor pursued the other across the pool, and the tent vanished. And the boy reported to the magicians, “What does this wondrous sign that has been wrought in the tent mean?” and they declared, “We know not.” And the boy answered, “Lo, this mystery is revealed to me, and I will disclose it to you.” And he said to the king, “The tent is the figure of your kingdom; the two serpents are two dragons; the red serpent is your dragon, and the pool is the figure of this world. But the white dragon is the dragon of the nation which has occupied many peoples and regions in Britain, and will hold it almost from sea to sea; and afterwards our people shall rise and shall valiantly cast the people of the English beyond the sea. But you, depart from this fortress, for you can not build it; and go around many provinces till you find a safe fortress, and I will remain here.” And the king said to the youth, “By what name are you called?” He answered, “I am called Ambrosius” — that is, he was seen to be Emrys Guletic (Ambrosius the Prince). And the king said, “Of what progeny are you?” “One of my parents is of the Consuls of the Roman race.” And the king gave him the fortress with all the kingdoms of the western side of Britain; and he himself with his magicians went to the left (northern) quarter and fled as far as the region called Guunnessi, and there built the city which is called by his name Cair Guorthigirn.
§ 43. Meanwhile Guorthemir (Vortimer), the son of Vortigern, fought stoutly against Hengist and Horsa and their people, and drove them to the aforementioned island called Thanet, and there thrice enclosed them, besieged them, struck them, broke them, terrified them. And they kept sending messengers across the sea to Germany, calling for ships with an enormous number of warriors. And afterwards they fought against the kings of our people: sometimes they won and extended their borders; sometimes they were defeated and driven out.
§ 44. And Vortimer eagerly waged four battles against them. The first battle is as aforementioned; the second was on the river Derguentid (the Derwent); the third battle at the ford which is called in their language Episford, in ours Rit Hergabail — and there fell Horsa, together with the son of Vortigern whose name was Categirn. The fourth battle he joined in the field by the Stone of the Title, which is on the shore of the Gallic sea; and the barbarians were defeated and he was victor, and they turned to flight and returned to their ships, entering them like women. But he died after a short interval, and before his death he said to his household that they should place his tomb in the port from which the enemy had come, on the shore of the sea — “in which I commend it to you; though in another place they hold the port of Britain and have lived there, yet in this land they shall not remain for ever.” But they despised his command and did not bury him in the place in which he had enjoined them.
§ 45. But the barbarians returned in great force, since Vortigern was their friend on account of his wife; and no one could drive them out boldly, because it was not by their own strength that they occupied Britain, but by the will of God — for who can strive against the will of God? But as the Lord willed, so He did; and He rules and governs all nations.
Now after the death of Vortimer son of king Vortigern, and after the return of Hengist with his multitudes, they, urged on by a false plan, resolved to work treachery upon Vortigern and his army. They sent envoys to obtain peace and that a lasting friendship might be made between them. And Vortigern with his elder counsellors took counsel with all of them and deliberated what they should do; at last the counsel of all was to make peace; and their envoys returned, and afterwards they brought about a conference, that Britons and Saxons should meet together without arms on both sides, that there might be a firm friendship.
§ 46. And Hengist ordered all his household that each one should place his knife under his foot in the middle of his shoe — “and when I shall cry to you and say, ‘Eu Saxones, nimith eure saxes!’ (You Saxons, take your knives!), draw your knives from your shoes and rush upon them and resist them bravely; but do not kill their king — hold him, for the sake of my daughter whom I gave him in marriage, since it is better for us that he be ransomed from our hands.” And they brought about the conference and met together; and the Saxons spoke in a friendly way, but in their minds they were acting the fox; and they sat man by man in fellowship. Hengist, as he had said, cried out, and all the three hundred elders of king Vortigern were slain, and he alone was taken and chained; and he granted them many regions for the ransom of his soul — that is, Essex, Sussex (and Middlesex) — that he might separate himself from the unlawful union.
§ 47. But St Germanus preached to Vortigern that he should turn to his Lord; but he fled miserably to the region which took its name from him, Guorthigirniaun, to hide there with his wives. And St Germanus followed him with all the clergy of the Britons, and stayed there forty days and forty nights, and prayed upon a rock, standing day and night. And again Vortigern ignominiously departed to the fortress of Guorthigirn, which is in the region of the Demetae by the river Teifi. And in the accustomed manner St Germanus followed him, and stayed there fasting with all the clergy for the space of three days and as many nights; and on the fourth night, about the hour of midnight, the whole fortress fell by fire sent from heaven suddenly, burning with celestial fire; and Vortigern, with all who were with him and with his wives, perished. This is the end of Vortigern, as I have found in the Book of St Germanus; but others have said otherwise.
§ 48. After all those of his nation — among the powerful and the weak, among slave and free, among monks and laity, among small and great — had become hateful on account of his crime, and while he wandered from place to place, at last his heart burst and he died, not with praise. Others said that the earth was opened and swallowed him in the night in which the fortress was burned around him; for no relics of those who were burned with him in the fortress were found.
He had three sons, whose names are: Guorthemir, who fought against the barbarians as we have said above; the second, Categirn; the third, Pascent, who reigned in the two regions of Buelt and Guorthigirniaun after the death of his father, by the grant of Ambrosius, who was the king above all the kings of the British race. A fourth was Faustus, who was born to him by his daughter; and St Germanus baptised and reared and taught him, and he founded a great place on the bank of the river called Renis, where it remains to this day. And Vortigern had one daughter, who was the mother of St Faustus.
§ 49. This is his genealogy, which runs back to the beginning. Fernmail is he who now reigns in the two regions of Buelt and Guorthigirniaun, son of Teudubir. Teudubir is king of the region of Buelt, son of Pascent, son of Gaidcant, son of Moriud, son of Eldat, son of Edoc, son of Paul, son of Mepurit, son of Briacat, son of Pascent, son of Guorthigirn, son of Guortheu, son of Guitataul, son of Guitolin, son of Gloui. Bonus, Paul, Mauron, and Guotolin were four brothers, sons of Gloui, who built a great city on the bank of the river Severn, which is called in British speech Cair Gloui, in Saxon Gloucester. Enough has been said of Vortigern and his race.
§ 50. St Germanus returned to his own country after Vortigern’s death. And St Patrick was at that time a captive among the Scots, and his master was named Milchu, and he was a swineherd with him; and in the seventeenth year of his age he returned from captivity and, by God’s will, was afterwards instructed in the sacred letters, and went as far as Rome and stayed there a long space to read and to search out the mysteries of God, and ran through the books of the sacred Scriptures. For when he had been there seven years, Palladius the bishop was first sent by Celestine, bishop and pope of Rome, to the Scots to convert them to Christ; but God hindered him by certain tempests, because no one can receive anything on earth unless it be given him from heaven above. And that Palladius departed from Ireland and came to Britain, and there died in the land of the Picts.
§ 51. When the death of bishop Palladius was heard, another legate, Patrick, was sent — Theodosius and Valentinian reigning — by Celestine, the Roman pope, at the prompting of an angel of God named Victor, and at the persuasion of St Germanus the bishop, to convert the Scots to the faith of Christ. Germanus sent with him the elder Segerus to a certain wonderful man, the supreme bishop Amatheus, a king dwelling nearby. There the saint, knowing all that was to befall him, received the episcopal degree from the holy bishop, king Amatheus, and assumed the name Patricius, for before he was called Maun. Auxilius and Iserninus and the rest were ordained in a lower degree together with him.
§ 52. Then, receiving the blessings and all things completed, in the name of the Holy Trinity he boarded the prepared ship and came to Britain, and preached there for not many days; and omitting all the windings of the journey, with utmost speed and a prosperous wind he descended upon the Irish sea with his ship. And the ship, laden with transmarine wonders and spiritual treasures, went to Ireland, and he baptised them.
§ 53. From the beginning of the world to the baptism of the Irish there are five thousand three hundred and thirty years; in the fifth year of king Lóegaire he began to preach the faith of Christ.
§ 54. St Patrick therefore preached the gospel of Christ to foreign nations for forty years; he wrought apostolic miracles, enlightened the blind, cleansed lepers, made the deaf hear, drove demons from possessed bodies, raised the dead to the number of nine, and ransomed many captives of both sexes at his own expense. He wrote three hundred and sixty-five abecedaria (alphabet-books), or more, and founded as many churches — three hundred and sixty-five. He ordained three hundred and sixty-five bishops, or more, in whom was the Spirit of God; and he ordained up to three thousand priests, and converted and baptised twelve thousand men in one region of Connacht to the faith of Christ (and baptised the seven kings who were the sons of Amolgaid in one day). For forty days and forty nights he fasted on the summit of mount Eile, that is Cruachan Aigle; on which hill, with the sea before him, he mercifully asked three petitions for those who received the faith of the Irish. His first petition, as the Scots say, is this — that each one should receive penance, even at the last state of his life; the second, that they should not be consumed by barbarians for ever; the third, that no Irishman should survive at the advent of the Judgement, because they shall be blotted out, for the honour of Patrick, seven years before the Judgement.
And on that hill he blessed the peoples of Ireland; and he ascended it that he might pray for them and see the fruit of his labour. And innumerable birds of many colours came to him, that he might bless them — which signifies that all the saints of both sexes of the Irish shall come to him on the day of judgement as to their father and master, to follow him to the judgement. Afterwards he departed in a good old age, where he now rejoices for ever and ever. Amen.
§ 55. In four ways Moses and Patrick are alike: first, an angel speaking in the fiery bush; second, he fasted on a mountain forty days and forty nights; third, they were alike in age, a hundred and twenty years; fourth, no one knows his sepulchre, but he was buried in a hidden place, no one knowing. Fifteen years in captivity; in the twenty-fifth year he was consecrated by the holy bishop Amatheus; eighty-five years he preached in Ireland. The matter would demand that I speak further of St Patrick, but for the shortness of my account I have wished to abbreviate it.
§ 56. In that time the Saxons grew strong in multitude and increased in Britain. And when Hengist died, Octha his son passed from the left (northern) part of Britain to the kingdom of Kent, and from him arose the kings of Kent. Then Arthur fought against them in those days with the kings of the Britons, but he himself was the leader of battles (dux bellorum). The first battle was at the mouth of the river called Glein. The second, third, fourth, and fifth on another river called Dubglas, which is in the region of Linnuis (Lindsey). The sixth battle on the river called Bassas. The seventh battle was in the Caledonian wood, that is Cat Coit Celidon. The eighth battle was at the castle Guinnion, in which Arthur bore the image of St Mary the ever-virgin on his shoulders; and the pagans were turned to flight on that day, and there was a great slaughter of them through the power of our Lord Jesus Christ and through the power of St Mary the Virgin, His mother. The ninth battle was fought in the City of the Legion (Chester). The tenth he fought on the shore of the river called Tribruit. The eleventh battle was fought on the mountain called Agned. The twelfth battle was on Mount Badon, in which nine hundred and sixty men fell in one day by a single onset of Arthur; and no one laid them low but he alone; and in all the battles he stood forth victor. And they, while they were being laid low in all the battles, sought help from Germany, and were multiplied continually without intermission; and they brought kings from Germany to reign over them in Britain, until the time when Ida reigned, who was the son of Eobba — he was the first king in Bernicia, that is, in Berneich.
§ 57. Woden fathered Beldeg, Beldeg fathered Beornec, Beornec fathered Gethbrond, Gethbrond fathered Aluson, Aluson fathered Inguec, Inguec fathered Aedibrith, Aedibrith fathered Ossa, Ossa fathered Eobba, Eobba fathered Ida. Ida had twelve sons, whose names are Adda, Aedlric, Theodric, Edric, Deothere, Osmer, and one queen, Bearnoch; Ealric fathered Aelffrs — he is Aedlfered Flesaur. For he also had seven sons, whose names are Anfrid, Osguald, Osbiu, Osguid, Osgudu, Oslaph, Offa. Osguid fathered Alcfrid and Aelfguin and Aechfird. Ecgfrid is he who made war against his cousin, who was king of the Picts named Birdei (Bridei), and there he fell with all the strength of his army, and the Picts with their king were victors; and never again did the Saxons seek tribute from the Picts; from the time of that battle it is called Gueithlin Garan (Nechtansmere). Osguid had two wives, of whom one was called Riemmelth, daughter of Royth, son of Rum; and the other was called Eanfled, daughter of Eadguin, son of Alli.
On the Genealogy of the Kings of Kent #
§ 58. Hengist fathered Octha, Octha fathered Ossa, Ossa fathered Eormenric, Eormenric fathered Ealdbert, Ealdbert fathered Ealdbald, Ealdbald fathered Ercunbert, Ercunbert fathered Ecgberth.
On the Origin of the East Angles’ Kings #
§ 59. Woden fathered Casser, Casser fathered Titinon, Titinon fathered Trigil, Trigil fathered Rodmunt, Rodmunt fathered Rippan, Rippan fathered Guillem Guechan — he first reigned in Britain over the people of the East Angles. Guecha fathered Guffa, Guffa fathered Tydil, Tydil fathered Ecni, Ecni fathered Edric, Edric fathered Aldulf, Aldulf fathered Elric.
On the Genealogy of the Mercians #
§ 60. Woden fathered Guedolgeat, Guedolgeat fathered Gueagon, Gueagon fathered Guithleg, Guithleg fathered Guerdmund, Guerdmund fathered Offa, Offa fathered Ongen, Ongen fathered Eamer, Eamer fathered Pubba. This Pubba had twelve sons, of whom two are better known to me than the others — that is, Penda and Eua. Eadlit was son of Pantha, Penda son of Pubba, Eadlbald son of Alguing, son of Eua, son of Penda, son of Pubba. Ecgfrid was son of Offa, son of Duminfert (Thingfrith), son of Eandulf, son of Ossulf, son of Eua, son of Pubba.
On the Kings of the Deiri (and Bernicians) #
§ 61. Woden fathered Beldeyg, Brond fathered Siggar, Siggar fathered Sebald, Sebald fathered Zegulf, Zegulf fathered Soemil — he first separated Deur (Deira) from Birneich (Bernicia). Soemil fathered Sguerthing, Sguerthing fathered Giulglis, Giulglis fathered Usfrean, Usfrean fathered Iffi, Iffi fathered Ulli (father of) Aedguin, Osfrid, and Eadfird. The two sons of Edwin fell with him in the battle of Meicen (Hatfield), and from his stock the kingdom was never renewed, because not one of his family escaped from that battle, but all were slain with him by the army of Catguollaun (Cadwallon), king of the region of Gwynedd. Osguid fathered Ecgfird — he is Ecgfird Ailguin; Oslach fathered Alhun, Alhun fathered Adlsing, Adlsing fathered Echun, Echun fathered Oslaph. Ida fathered Eadric, Eadric fathered Ecgulf, Ecgulf fathered Liodguald, Liodguald fathered Aetan — he is Eata Glinmaur; he fathered Eadbyrth and bishop Ecgberth, who was the first of their nation (to be a bishop).
Ida son of Eobba held the regions in the left part of Britain, that is, of the Umbrian sea (the Humber), and reigned twelve years, and joined Dinguayrdi to Guurth-Berneich (Bamburgh to Bernicia).
§ 62. Then Dutigirn (Outigern) in that time fought bravely against the nation of the English. Then Talhaearn Cataguen was famed in poetry, and Neirin (Aneirin) and Taliessin, and Bluchbard, and Cian who is called Guenith Guaut — together in one time they were renowned in British poetry.
Mailcunus (Maelgwn) the great king was reigning among the Britons, that is, in the region of Gwynedd; for his great-grandfather, that is Cunedag, with his sons, whose number was eight, had come earlier from the left part, that is from the region called Manau Guotodin, a hundred and forty-six years before Mailcun reigned, and expelled the Scots from those regions with a very great slaughter; and they never again returned to dwell there.
§ 63. Adda son of Ida reigned eight years; Aedlric son of Adda reigned four years; Deoric son of Ida reigned seven years; Fritheuwald (Fridolguald) reigned six years — in whose time the kingdom of Kent received baptism, Gregory sending it. Hussa reigned seven years: against him four kings fought — Urbgen (Urien), and Riderchhen (Rhydderch Hen), and Guallanc, and Morcant. Deodric (Theodoric) fought bravely against that Urbgen and his sons. But in that time, sometimes enemies, now citizens, were defeated; and Urien besieged them for three days and three nights in the island of Metcaud (Lindisfarne); and while he was on the campaign he was slain, Morcant arranging it, out of envy, because in him above all kings was the greatest valour in the renewal of war. Eadfered Flesaurs (Æthelfrith) reigned twelve years in Bernicia and another twelve in Deira — twenty-four years between the two kingdoms — and gave to his wife Dinguoaroy, which is called Bebbab, and from the name of his wife it received its name, that is Bebbanburch (Bamburgh). Eoguin (Edwin) son of Alli reigned seventeen years; and he seized Elmet and expelled Certic, king of that region. Eanfled his daughter received baptism on the twelfth day after Pentecost, with all her people, men and women with her. Edwin indeed received baptism at the following Easter, and twelve thousand men were baptised with him. If anyone wishes to know who baptised them: Rum map Urbgen (Rhun son of Urien) baptised them, and for forty days he did not cease to baptise the whole race of the English, and through his preaching many believed in Christ. (MSS G. K. add: as my master Beulan the priest and Elbodugus, holiest of bishops, have handed down — that is, Paulinus archbishop of York baptised them; and they add that Nennius omitted the other genealogies as useless.)
§ 64. Oswald son of Eadfred reigned nine years — he is Oswald Lamnguin (“Fair-hand”); he slew Catgublaun (Cadwallon), king of the region of Gwynedd, in the battle of Catscaul (Heavenfield), with a great slaughter of his army. Osguid (Oswiu) son of Eadlfrid reigned twenty-eight years and six months. While he reigned there came a mortality of men, Catgualart (Cadwaladr) reigning among the Britons after his father, and he perished in it. And Oswiu slew Pantha (Penda) in the field of Gai (the Winwæd); and now is made the Slaughter of the Field of Gai, and the kings of the Britons were slain who had gone out with king Pantha on the expedition as far as the city called Iudeu.
§ 65. Then Oswiu restored all the riches which were with him in the city into the hand of Penda, and Penda distributed them to the kings of the Britons — that is Atbret Iudeu (“the Restitution of Iudeu”). But Catgabail (Cadafael) alone, king of the region of Gwynedd, escaped with his army, rising up by night — therefore he was called Catgabail Catguommed (“Cadafael the Battle-dodger”). Ecgfrid son of Osbiu reigned nine years. In his time St Cuthbert the bishop died in the island of Medcaut (Farne); he it was who made war against the Picts and fell there.
Penda son of Pybba reigned ten years; he first separated the kingdom of the Mercians from the kingdom of the Northerners, and slew by guile Onnan (Anna), king of the East Angles, and St Oswald, king of the Northerners. He made the battle of Cocboy (Maserfield), in which fell Eua son of Pippa his brother, king of the Mercians, and Oswald king of the Northerners — and he was victor through devilish art. He was not baptised and never believed in God.
§ 66. From the beginning of the world to Constantine and Rufus (consuls) are found five thousand six hundred and fifty-eight years.
Also, from the two twins Rufus and Rubelius to Stilicho the consul there are three hundred and seventy-three years.
Also, from Stilicho to Valentinian son of Placidia and the reign of Vortigern, twenty-eight years.
And from the reign of Vortigern to the discord of Guitolin and Ambrosius there are twelve years, which is Guoloppum, that is Catguoloph (the Wallop-battle). Vortigern held the rule in Britain while Theodosius and Valentinian were consuls, and in the fourth year of his reign the Saxons came to Britain, Felix and Taurus being consuls, in the four hundredth year from the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
From the year in which the Saxons came to Britain and were received by Vortigern to Decius and Valerian there are sixty-nine years.
On the Wonders of Britain #
§ 67. The first wonder is the lake of Lumonoy (Loch Lomond), in which there are sixty islands, and men dwell there; and it is encircled by sixty rocks, and an eagle’s nest is on every rock; and sixty rivers flow into it; and no river runs out of it to the sea except one, which is called the Lein (the Leven).
The second wonder is the mouth of the river Trahannon (Tras Annwn), because in one wave like a mountain it covers the shores at high tide, and recedes like other seas.
The third wonder is a hot pool in the region of the Huich (the Hwicce — Bath), which is surrounded by a wall made of brick and stone; and men go into it at all times to bathe, and for each one, as it pleases him, so the bath is made for him according to his will — if he wishes a cold bath, it is cold; if hot, it is hot.
§ 68. The fourth wonder: salt springs are found in the same region, from which springs salt is boiled, from where various foods are salted; and they are not near the sea, but emerge from the earth.
Another wonder is Duo Rig Habren, that is, the Two Kings of the Severn. When the sea floods at high tide into the mouth of the Severn, two heaps of foam are gathered separately and make war on each other in the manner of rams: each advances against the other, and they dash against one another, and again one withdraws from the other, and again they advance at each tide. This they have done from the beginning of the world even to this day.
§ 69. Another wonder is Operlinn Liuan (the Pool of Liuan). The mouth of that river flows into the Severn; and when the Severn floods at the tide, and the sea likewise floods into the mouth of the aforementioned river, it is received into the pool of the river-mouth in the manner of a whirlpool, and does not flow upward; and there is a beach beside the river, and as long as the Severn floods at the tide that beach is not covered; and when the sea and the Severn recede, then the pool Liuan belches out all that it had swallowed from the sea, and that beach is covered, and like a mountain it belches and bursts in one wave. And if the whole army of the region in which it is should set its face against the wave, the wave drags the army by force, their clothes filled with moisture, and horses are dragged likewise. But if the army should turn its back to it, the wave does not harm it; and when the sea has receded, then the whole beach which the wave covered is bared behind it, and the sea withdraws from it.
§ 70. There is another wonder in the region of Cinlipluc: there is a spring named Finnaun Guur Helic; no stream flows into it, nor out of it. Men go to fish in the spring; some go into the spring on the east side and draw fish from that part, others on the right, others on the left, and on the west — and they draw fish from every side, and a different kind of fish is drawn from each of the sides. It is a great wonder that there are fish in the spring when no river flows into it nor out of it; and four kinds of fish are found in it, and it is not of great size or depth. Its depth is up to the knees; it is twenty feet in length and breadth, and has high banks on every side. Beside the river called the Guoy (Wye), apples are found on an ash-tree on the slope of the wood which is near the mouth of the river.
There is another wonder in the region called Guent (Gwent). There is a pit there from which the wind blows at all times without ceasing; and when the wind does not blow in summertime, from that pit it blows incessantly, so that no one can endure it, nor stand before the depth of the pit. And its name is called With Guint in the British tongue, but in Latin Flatio Venti (“the Blowing of the Wind”). It is a great wonder that wind blows out of the earth.
§ 71. There is another wonder: in Guhyr (Gower) there is an altar in the place called Loyngarth, which is held up by the will of God. The history of that altar seems to me better to tell than to keep silent. It happened while St Illtud was praying in the cave which is by the sea that washes the land of the aforementioned place — the mouth of the cave is toward the sea — and see, a ship was sailing toward him from the sea, and two men sailing it, and the body of a holy man was with them in the ship, and an altar above his face, held up by the will of God. And the man of God went to meet them, and the holy man’s body and the altar stood inseparably above the face of the holy body. And they said to St Illtud, “That man of God charged us to bring him to you and to bury him with you; and you shall not reveal his name to any man, lest men should swear by him.” And they buried him; and after the burial those two men returned to the ship and sailed away. And St Illtud founded a church around the body of the holy man and around the altar, and the altar remains to this day, upheld by the will of God. A certain regulus came to test it, bearing a rod in his hand; he bent it about the altar with both hands and held the rod on either side and drew it toward him — and so he proved the truth of it; and he did not live thereafter for a whole month. Another looked under the altar, and lost the sight of his eyes, and ended his life before a whole month had passed.
§ 72. And there is another wonder in the aforementioned region of Guent: there is a spring beside the rampart of the pit of Mouric, and a log in the middle of the spring; and men wash their hands and faces, holding the log under their feet while they wash. For I myself tested it and saw: when the sea floods at the spring-tide the Severn is spread over all the coast and covers it, and it is carried as far as the spring, and the spring is filled with the tide of the Severn, and it drags the log with it as far as the great sea, and it is turned about in the sea for the space of three days, and on the fourth day it is found in the aforementioned spring. And it happened that one of the country folk buried it in the earth to test it — and on the fourth day it was found in the spring; and that rustic who hid and buried it died before the end of the month.
§ 73. There is another wonder in the region called Buelt (Builth). There is a heap of stones there, and one stone set on top of the pile, with the footprint of a dog in it. When he hunted the boar Troynt (Twrch Trwyth), Cabal — which was the dog of the warrior Arthur — imprinted his footprint on the stone; and Arthur afterwards gathered the heap of stones beneath the stone on which was his dog’s footprint, and it is called Carn Cabal. And men come and carry away the stone in their hands for the space of a day and a night, and the next day it is found upon its heap.
There is another wonder in the region called Ercing (Archenfield). A tomb is there beside a spring which is named Licat Anir; and the name of the man who is buried in the mound was likewise (Anir). Anir was the son of the warrior Arthur, and he himself slew him there and buried him. And men come to measure the mound: in length sometimes six feet, sometimes nine, sometimes fifteen. At whatever measure you measure it on one occasion, you will not find it again at one measure; and I myself alone have tested it.
§ 74. There is another wonder in the region called Cereticiaun (Ceredigion). There is a mountain there called Cruc Maur; and there is a tomb on its summit. And every man who comes to the tomb and stretches himself beside it, however short he be — in one length the tomb and the man are found; and if the man be short and small, likewise the length of the tomb is found equal to the man’s stature; and if he be long and tall, even if it be four cubits long — beside the stature of each man the mound is so found. And every weary traveller, if he makes three genuflections beside it, weariness shall not be upon him until the day of his death, and he shall never again be burdened with weariness, even if he should go alone to the farthest bounds of the world.
§ 75. (Of the wonders of the Isle of Man:) The first wonder is a shore without a sea; the second wonder is a mountain there that turns three times in a year; the third wonder is a ford — when the sea floods, it floods, and when the sea ebbs, it diminishes; the fourth wonder is a stone that walks by night over the valley of Citheinn, and was once cast into the whirlpool Cereuus, which is in the middle of the sea called Mene, and the next day was found beyond doubt on the bank of the aforementioned valley.
§ 76. (Of the wonders of Ireland:) There is a lake called Luchlein (the Lakes of Killarney), encircled by four rings: by the first ring a mass of tin surrounds it, by the second ring a mass of lead, by the third a mass of iron, by the fourth a mass of bronze; and in that lake many pearls are found, which kings place in their ears.
There is another lake which makes wood harden into stone: men shape pieces of wood and, after they have carved them, cast them into the lake; and they remain in it until the year’s end, and at the end of the year a stone is found — and it is called Luch Echach.
The Names of the Ancient Cities #
These are the names of all the cities which are in all Britain, whose number is twenty-eight:
Cair Guorthigirn, Cair Guinntguic, Cair Mincip, Cair Ligualid, Cair Meguaid, Cair Colun, Cair Ebrauc (York), Cair Custoeint, Cair Caratauc, Cair Granth, Cair Maunguid, Cair Lundein (London), Cair Ceint (Canterbury), Cair Guiragon, Cair Daun, Cair Legion (Chester), Cair Guricon (Wroxeter), Cair Segeint (Caernarfon), Cair Legeion guar Uisc (Caerleon), Cair Guent, Cair Brithon, Cair Lerion (Leicester), Cair Draitou, Cair Pensa vel Coyt, Cair Urnac (Worcester), Cair Celemion (Camelot?), Cair Luit Coyt (Lichfield).
(Here Stevenson’s printed text ends.)