Layamon

Layamon

Layamon (latinx|Laȝamon, using the archaic letter yogh), or Lawman, [On the spellings of his name, cf. the [http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Medieval_Studies/lawman_conference/program.html program] of The Fifth International Conference on Lalatinx|ȝamon's Brut at Brown University (retrieved October 21, 2006): "BL MS Cotton Caligula A.ix spells it "Lalatinx|ȝamon" (the third letter is called a "yogh"). BL MS Cotton Otho C.xiii spelled it "Laweman" and "Loweman". Print-era editors and cataloguers have spelled it "Layamon", "Lazamon", or "Lawman". The form "Layamon" is etymologically incorrect.] was a poet of the early 13th century, whose "Brut" (c. 1215) is a history of England in verse written in a form of Middle English, although this is at times bastardized to include more modern Anglo-Norman forms, and at times, deliberately "archaistic" Saxon forms which were quaint even by Anglo-Saxon standards. Although based on the earlier "Roman de Brut" written in Anglo-Norman by Wace (incorrectly known as Robert Wace), itself based on Geoffrey of Monmouth's "Historia regum Britanniae", the poem is itself the first historiography written in English since the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Layamon's poem is also remarkable for its abundant Anglo-Saxon vocabulary; the scholar Roger Loomis counted only 150 words derived from Anglo-Norman in the 16,000 long-lines. Many scholars believe the language of the poem to be intentionally archaised, rather than indicative of the Middle English commonly written and spoken during Layamon's lifetime. Layamon describes himself in his poem as a priest, living at Areley Kings in Worcestershire. His poem provided inspiration for numerous later writers, including Sir Thomas Malory and Jorge Luis Borges, and had an impact on medieval history writing in England.

The "Brut's" versification has proven extremely difficult to characterise. Written in a loose alliterative style, and sporadically deploying rhyme, as well as a caesural pause between the hemistichs of a line, it is perhaps closer to the rhythmical prose of Ælfric of Eynsham than verse per se. Especially in comparison with later alliterative writings such as "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" and "Piers Plowman", Laȝamon's alliterating verse is difficult to analyse, seemingly avoiding the more formalised styles of the later poets.

An authoritative edition of the "Brut" is the parallel text edition by Brook and Leslie. It includes the account by both the Caligula and the Otho manuscripts on facing pages. Published by EETS, the first volume was issued in 1963 and the second in 1978.

Notes

References


*Cannon, Christopher . "The Grounds of English Literature", Chapter 2. Oxford University Press. 2004. ISBN 0-19-927082-1
*Lewis, C. S. "The Discarded

*Loomis, Roger S. "Layamon's "Brut" in "Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages", Roger S. Loomis (ed.). Clarendon Press: Oxford University. 1959. ISBN 0-19-811588-1

External links

*gutenberg author| id=Layamon | name=Layamon
*" [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-old?id=LayBruC&tag=public&
] " by Layamon (British Library, MS Cotton Caligula A.ix manuscript version)
*" [http://layamon.free.fr Le "Brut" de Layamon] " by Marie-Françoise Alamichel
*Citation
last=Layamon
author-link=Layamon
year=c. 1215
date=c. 1215
editor-last=Madden
editor-first=Frederic
editor-link=Frederic Madden
contribution=
title=Layamons Brut, or Chronicle of Britain; A Poetical Semi-Saxon Paraphrase of The Brut of Wace
volume=I
publisher=The Society of Antiquaries of London
publication-date=1847
publication-place=London
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=DOJRHk2MM9YC&printsec=frontcover - with translation
*Citation
last=Layamon
author-link=Layamon
year=c. 1215
date=c. 1215
editor-last=Madden
editor-first=Frederic
editor-link=Frederic Madden
contribution=
title=Layamons Brut, or Chronicle of Britain; A Poetical Semi-Saxon Paraphrase of The Brut of Wace
volume=II
publisher=The Society of Antiquaries of London
publication-date=1847
publication-place=London
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=0xE7AQhSPuMC&printsec=frontcover - with translation
*Citation
last=Layamon
author-link=Layamon
year=c. 1215
date=c. 1215
editor-last=Madden
editor-first=Frederic
editor-link=Frederic Madden
title=Layamons Brut, or Chronicle of Britain; A Poetical Semi-Saxon Paraphrase of The Brut of Wace
volume=III
publisher=The Society of Antiquaries of London
publication-date=1847
publication-place=London
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=AIIlAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover - with translation


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  • Layamon — war ein Dichter des frühen 13. Jahrhunderts, dessen Brut (um 1200; vielleicht ca. 1215) eine Geschichte Englands ist, geschrieben in alliterierenden Versen in mittelenglischer Sprache. Er behandelt die sagenhafte Geschichte Britanniens von Brutus …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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  • Layamon — [lā′ə mən, lī′ə mən] fl. c. 1200; Eng. poet and chronicler …   English World dictionary

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  • Layamon's Brut — (ca. 1190 1215), also known as The Chronicle of Britain, is a Middle English poem compiled and recast by the English priest Layamon. The Brut is 16,095 lines long and narrates the history of Britain: it is the first historiography written in… …   Wikipedia

  • Layamon — biographical name flourished 1200 English poet …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Layamon — /lay euh meuhn, lah yeuh /, n. fl. c1200, English poet and chronicler. Also called Lawman. * * * or Lawamon flourished 12th century Middle English poet. A priest who lived in Worcestershire, he is the author of the romance chronicle the Brut (с… …   Universalium

  • Layamon — o Lawamon ( siglo XII). Poeta medieval inglés. Fue un sacerdote que vivió en Worcestershire. Es el autor de la crónica novelada el Brut ( 1200), producto sobresaliente del renacimiento de la literatura inglesa del s. XII y el primer trabajo en… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • LAYAMON —    early English poet who flourished in the 12th century, and was by his own account priest near Bewdley, on the Severn; was author of a long poem or chronicle of 32,250 lines called Brut d Angleterre, and which is of interest as showing how… …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

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