Layamon or Laghamon (pronounced /ˈleɪə.mən/; Middle English: Laȝamon, Laȝamonn), occasionally also written Lawman was a poet of the early 13th century and author of the Brut, a notable English poem of the 12th century that was the first English language work to discuss the legends of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. 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.
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, while The Fifth International Conference on Laȝamon's Brut at Brown University mentions: "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". [1] Main article: Layamon's BrutBrut (ca. 1190) is a Middle English poem compiled and recast by the English priest Layamon. It is named for Britain's mythical founder, Brutus of Troy. It is contained in the MS. Cotton Caligula A ix, written in the first quarter of the 13th century, and in the Cotton Otho C xiii, about fifty years later (though in this edition it is shorter). Both exist in the British Museum. 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, though is longer than both and includes an enlarged section on the life and exploits of King Arthur. The rhyming style is the alliterative verse line style commonly used in Middle English poetry. [edit] References - Cannon, Christopher . The Grounds of English Literature, Chapter 2. Oxford University Press. 2004. ISBN 0-19-927082-1
- Lewis, C. S. The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1964.
- 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
- Ackerman, Robert W. Backgrounds to Medieval English Literature. 1st. New York: Random House, Inc., 1966.
- Everett, Dorothy. "Laȝamon and the Earliest Middle English Alliterative Verse." Essays on Middle English Literature. Ed. Patricia Kean. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1978.
- Solopova, Elizabeth, and Stuart D. Lee. Key Concepts in Medieval Literature. 1st ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
- Barron, W. R. J., Weinberg, S. C. (2001) Ed., & trans. Layamon's Arthur: The Arthurian Section of Layamon's Brut (lines 9229–14297). Exeter: Exeter University Press ISBN 9780859896856 (first published by Longman 1989)
- Tiller, Kenneth J. (2007)Layamon's Brut and the Anglo-Norman Vision of History University of Chicago Press ISBN 9780708319024
[edit] External links - Works by Layamon at Project Gutenberg
- Brut by Layamon (British Library, MS Cotton Caligula A.ix manuscript version)
- Le Brut de Layamon by Marie-Françoise Alamichel
- Layamon (c. 1215), Madden, Frederic, ed., Layamons Brut, or Chronicle of Britain; A Poetical Semi-Saxon Paraphrase of The Brut of Wace, I, London: The Society of Antiquaries of London, 1847, http://books.google.com/books?id=DOJRHk2MM9YC&printsec=frontcover - with translation
- Layamon (c. 1215), Madden, Frederic, ed., Layamons Brut, or Chronicle of Britain; A Poetical Semi-Saxon Paraphrase of The Brut of Wace, II, London: The Society of Antiquaries of London, 1847, http://books.google.com/books?id=0xE7AQhSPuMC&printsec=frontcover - with translation
- Layamon (c. 1215), Madden, Frederic, ed., Layamons Brut, or Chronicle of Britain; A Poetical Semi-Saxon Paraphrase of The Brut of Wace, III, London: The Society of Antiquaries of London, 1847, http://books.google.com/books?id=AIIlAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover - with translation
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