Layamon - Wikipedia Layamon From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Layamon or Laghamon (UK: /ˈlaɪ.əmən, -mɒn/, US: /ˈleɪ.əmən, ˈlaɪ-/; Middle English: [ˈlaɣamon]) – spelled Laȝamon or Laȝamonn in his time, occasionally written Lawman – was an English poet of the late 12th/early 13th century and author of the Brut, a notable work that was the first to present the legends of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table in English poetry. J. R. R. Tolkien valued him as a transmitter of early English legends in a fashion comparable to the role played with respect to Icelandic legend by Snorri Sturluson.[1] Contents 1 Life and influence 2 Brut 3 Spelling of name 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 External links Life and influence[edit] Layamon describes himself in his poem as a priest, living at Areley Kings in Worcestershire. His poem had a significant impact on medieval history writing in England and the development of Arthurian literature[2] and subsequently provided inspiration for numerous later writers, including Sir Thomas Malory and Jorge Luis Borges. Brut[edit] Main article: Layamon's Brut Brut (ca. 1190) is a Middle English poem compiled and recast by the English priest Layamon. It is named after Britain's mythical founder, Brutus of Troy. It is contained in the MSS. Cotton Caligula A.ix, written in the first quarter of the 13th century, and in the Cotton Otho C.xiii, written about fifty years later (though in this edition it is shorter). Both exist in the British Library. The Brut is 16,095 lines long and narrates the history of Britain. It is largely based on the Anglo-Norman Roman de Brut by Wace, which is in turn inspired by Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae. It is, however, longer than both and includes an enlarged section on the life and exploits of King Arthur. Among the new material Layamon provided were an account of the birth of Merlin and one of the origins of the Round Table,[3] as well as details of Arthur's departure by ship to Avalon to be healed by the elf-queen.[4] It is written in a combination of alliterative verse, deriving from Old English, and rhyme, influenced by Wace's Roman de Brut and used in later Middle English poetry. Spelling of name[edit] Print-era editors and cataloguers have spelled his name in various ways, including "Layamon", "Lazamon", or "Lawman". Brown University suggests that the form "Layamon" is etymologically incorrect; the Fifth International Conference on Laȝamon's Brut at Brown University stated, "BL MS Cotton Caligula A.ix spells it 'Laȝamon' (the third letter is called a "yogh"). BL MS Cotton Otho C.xiii spelled it 'Laweman' and 'Loweman'."[5] See also[edit] Alliterative Morte Arthure The Fall of Arthur Notes[edit] ^ T. Shippey, The Road to Middle-Earth (1992) p. 300 and p. 57 ^ I. Ousby ed, The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English (1995) p. 536 ^ J. R. Tanner ed., The Cambridge Medieval History VI (Cambridge 1929) p. 826 ^ C. Tolkien ed., The Fall of Arthur (2015) p. 146-8 ^ program Medieval Studies Department, Brown University Retrieved October 21, 2006 References[edit] Ackerman, Robert W. (1966), Backgrounds to Medieval English Literature, New York: Random House. Barron, W. R. J., ed. (2001), Layamon's Arthur: The Arthurian Section of Layamon's Brut (lines 9229–14297), translated by Weinberg, S. C., Exeter University Press, ISBN 978-0-85989-685-6. Cannon, Christopher (2004), The Grounds of English Literature, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-927082-1. Everett, Dorothy (1978), "Laȝamon and the Earliest Middle English Alliterative Verse", in Patricia Kean. (ed.), Essays on Middle English Literature, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Lewis, C. S. (1964), The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Loomis, Roger S. (1959), "Layamon's Brut", in Roger S. Loomis (ed.), Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages, Clarendon Press, ISBN 0-19-811588-1. Solopova, Elizabeth; Lee., Stuart D. (2007), Key Concepts in Medieval Literature, New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Tiller, Kenneth J. (2007), Layamon's Brut and the Anglo-Norman Vision of History, University of Chicago Press, ISBN 978-0-7083-1902-4. External links[edit] Wikiquote has quotations related to: Layamon Works by Layamon at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Layamon at Internet Archive Brut by Layamon (British Library, MS Cotton Caligula A.ix manuscript version) Le Brut de Layamon by Marie-Françoise Alamichel Layamon (1847) [c. 1215], Madden, Frederic (ed.), Layamons Brut, or Chronicle of Britain; A Poetical Semi-Saxon Paraphrase of The Brut of Wace, I, translated by Madden, London: The Society of Antiquaries of London. Also, Vol. II and Vol. III. Authority control BNF: cb12141345g (data) GND: 118640364 ISNI: 0000 0003 8167 026X LCCN: n50039805 NKC: jo2016928611 NTA: 074481398 PLWABN: 9810539900705606 SELIBR: 194171 SUDOC: 029881145 VIAF: 261980768 WorldCat Identities: lccn-n50039805 Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Layamon&oldid=1002569748" Categories: Writers of Arthurian literature 13th-century Roman Catholic priests 13th-century English poets 12th-century Roman Catholic priests 12th-century English poets Middle English poets People from Wyre Forest District English chroniclers Hidden categories: Articles containing Old English (ca. 450-1100)-language text Articles with Project Gutenberg links Articles with Internet Archive links Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with NKC identifiers Wikipedia articles with NTA identifiers Wikipedia articles with PLWABN identifiers Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikiquote Wikisource Languages العربية Čeština Cymraeg Deutsch Español Esperanto Français 한국어 Italiano Nederlands Norsk bokmål Polski Português Русский Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Українська Edit links This page was last edited on 25 January 2021, at 01:44 (UTC). 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