Layamon's Arthur : the Arthurian section of Layamon's Brut (lines 9229-14297) (Rev. ed)

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 the 21st century.

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 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