History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth

Last updated on: October 30, 2016 at 8:22 pm by Joseph Reninger

History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth 2016-10-30T20:22:09-05:00 Joseph Reninger

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth

Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote this fictionalized version of English history that starts with the Trojan War. Aeneas flees from Troy and founds Rome. His great grandson Brutus leaves Italy and eventually founds Britain. The book covers a vast range of time, from the fall of Troy in the 1100s B.C. to circa A.D. 700. He covers a lot of ground, much of it mythical or at best historically dubious. The highlights for me were his passages about King Lear (as in the character from Shakespeare’s excellent play) and about King Arthur. Arthur and Merlin take up a big portion of the middle of the book, with Merlin getting as much space as Arthur. The most fascinating bit was how they took what we now call Stonehenge from Ireland and set it up in Britain as a burial ground for royalty. Arthur’s military conquests are also chronicled but not the various quests of his knights (which comes in later literature maybe inspired by Geoffrey). The last third of the book tells of the Saxons coming to the island and how often they betrayed the local kings and dukes. After a while, it seemed like a lot of anti-Saxon propaganda!

The book was written in Latin and translated by Sebastian Evans in 1903 with a very Elizabethan-styled text. The style gives the book a sense of archaicness that can be off-putting for readers, with liberal use of words like “natheless” and “howbeit so” and other constructions that were surely antiquated even in the early 1900s. I eventually got used to the style; others may adapt more or less quickly. The style does give the book an ancient feel.

The other challenge in reading the book is the sometimes quite massive liberties that are taken with the history. At this point, scholars consider it ahistorical, which is pretty obvious especially when reading about the Roman invasions of Britain that don’t match up with any other history. Many portions just describe a few battles by the noble British kings against invaders and betrayers, or when they invade or reconquer Brittany (the part of France across the English Channel). The accounts all start to blend together. Even though it’s fiction, it’s still fairly dry reading for many parts.

What this book really needs is a “highlights” version compiling all the good bits in a shorter volume. The book is only 270 pages long but a hundred page “best of” version would be more readable and leave out the less interesting parts.

This book was on our shelf of “read and keep or get rid of” and unfortunately, it has landed on the “get rid of” side. If you want some ancient British history, read Bede’s History.

Previous Post

October 4, 2016

Book Review: Discovery

Next Post

October 31, 2016 The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Art Bible Study Bulletin Board Catholic Church Excerpt Faith-y Stuff Funny Stuff Good Deals Listening Now Patheos Book Club Personal Reading Challenge Podcast Alert Random Bookishness Resources Review Uncategorized Well Said What I'm Reading

Select a Month January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 January 2016 December 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz