7 h 54 minAudiobook9 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Troy lies in ruins, and across the sea a new kingdom waits to take shape.
Layamon's Brut is a long English poem that follows Britain's legendary kings from Trojan exile to Arthur's rise. Brutus leads his people across the sea to found a kingdom. Leir and his daughters enter the story, while later rulers face invasions, treachery, and the struggle to hold their land together.
Vortigern seizes the crown and invites the Saxons into Britain, hoping for protection. Merlin brings wisdom and magic into the royal story, while Arthur seeks to defend Britain and rule with justice. Layamon tells these legends in rough, strong verse, with old English habits of sound and rhythm.
What you’ll discover
- A kingdom born from exile Follow Brutus from the scattered survivors of Troy toward the founding of a new home.
- Arthur at the roots Meet the young king in the earliest long Arthurian poem in English.
- Merlin's wisdom and magic Discover a fatherless boy who reads signs of the future and serves the royal house.
- Crowns held through conflict Explore how pride, loyalty, and treachery shape the struggle to hold Britain together.
- The force of old verse Feel the strong rhythms of an English poem from a world ruled by Norman French speakers.
Who will love it
For readers who love the Arthurian legend at its roots, enjoy old chronicles, or want to see how English survived and grew after 1066.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A priest decides to record Britain's past
- Brutus leads the Trojans to Albion
- Kings rise and fall before Rome arrives
- Vortigern, the Saxons and the boy Merlin
- Arthur is born, crowned and sweeps Europe
- Pride, loyalty and the sound of old verse
Who’s who
- BrutusA Trojan exile and descendant of Aeneas who leads his people across the sea to found a new kingdom and gives Britain its name.
- VortigernA king who seizes power by treachery and invites the Saxons into Britain, hoping they will protect him from his enemies.
- MerlinA fatherless boy of great wisdom who reads signs of the future and later serves the royal house with his magic.
- Uther PendragonA brother of Aurelius who becomes king of the Britons and desires Igerne, with Merlin's help, to the lasting cost of others.
- ArthurThe son of Uther and Igerne, crowned young, who seeks to protect Britain from the Saxons and to rule with justice and generosity.
- GuinevereThe noble lady whom Arthur marries, who shares in the splendour of his court as his queen.
- ModredArthur's nephew, a trusted warrior at court whose ambitions will be tested when the king's power is at its highest.
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- Audiobook
- 7 h 54 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 9 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Le Brut de Layamon
by Layamon · 1200
Arthur takes the crown young and seeks to protect Britain from the Saxons, ruling with justice and generosity.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Layamon's Brut is a long poem in English about the early kings of Britain. It was written around the year 1200 by a priest named Layamon, who lived at Areley on the River Severn.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A priest decides to record Britain's past
The poem opens with the poet himself. Layamon says he was a priest at a church on the bank of the Severn, near a place called Areley. He tells us he travelled widely across the land and wanted to learn the noble deeds of the English. That is how he describes it, though the people whose history he gathers are really the Britons who lived there long before.
He names the books he used. He took the English book of Saint Bede, and he took the French book of the poet Wace, who had given Geoffrey of Monmouth's Latin history a lively verse form. Layamon laid these books out before him and turned the leaves, as he puts it, and then he wrote his own version. He did not simply translate. His poem is about twice as long as Wace's, and it adds scenes, speeches and details of its own.
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What is Layamon's Brut about?
It is a English poem about the legendary kings of Britain. It begins with Brutus, a Trojan exile who founds the nation, and moves through many reigns, including Leir, Vortigern and Arthur, to the late British kings.
Who was Layamon?
Layamon was a parish priest at Areley on the River Severn who wrote around 1200. He says he gathered books and wrote his own English version of the history of Britain. The Brut is the only work known to be his.
Is Layamon's Brut a true story?
No. It is a verse chronicle in the old style, mixing legend with real names and places. Its main sources, Wace and Geoffrey of Monmouth, are not reliable history, though the poem shows how people then imagined their past.
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