Nennius is the purported author of the Historia
Brittonum (History of the Britons), an early ninthcentury compilation containing the first literary
reference to Arthur (later called King ARTHUR) as
hero of the British people.
Of Nennius himself we know next to nothing.
Clearly he was Welsh, said to be a monk from Bangor in north Wales, and wrote in the early ninth
century. The Historia Brittonum seems to have
been inspired by a resurgence of Welsh nationalism, and Arthur is described as a heroic warlord.
The Historia itself is something of a mishmash, cobbled together from the earlier texts of
GILDAS, BEDE, St. JEROME, and oral tradition. Nennius says that he “made one heap” of everything
that he found. It begins with a section on the “Six
Ages of the World,” beginning with the Creation
and ending at Doomsday. A geographical description of Britain follows, with references to Scots,
Picts, and Britons. Nennius mentions, for the first
time in literature, the tradition that Britain is
named for Brutus, descendent of the Trojan Aeneas. There is an account of the Roman occupation of Britain, a discussion of the British king
Vortigern’s folly allowing the Saxon invasion, and
mention of Vortigern’s dread of his rival and ultimate successor, Ambrosius. This section relies
mainly on Gildas and Bede. It is interspersed with
largely irrelevant lives of St. Germanus and of St.
Patrick in Ireland, and is followed by the discussion of Arthur.
Nennius makes Arthur dux bellorum, or “leader
of battles,” and describes his defeating the Saxons
in 12 battles, including the Battle of Mount Badon,
at which Arthur is said to have killed 960 Saxons by
his own hand. Many scholars believe that this list
of battles is based on a lost Welsh poem.
Following these accounts is a series of AngloSaxon genealogies, a section on northern British
history, and a fascinating section on “Marvels of
Britain and Ireland.” The marvels contain two specific accounts of Arthurian interest: a stone near
Builth Wells said to display the paw print of
Arthur’s dog, Cabal; and the tomb of Arthur’s son,
named Amr. The tomb is said to change its length
every time it is measured—a phenomenon Nennius claims to have witnessed himself. But of chief
interest in this story is not the elastic tomb but
the legend surrounding it: that Arthur killed his
own son—a motif that forms the seed of the
Arthur-Mordred rivalry that becomes a vital part
of later versions of the Arthurian legend.
The Historia Brittonum survives in some 35
manuscripts, to the earliest of which (Harley MS
3859) is appended the Welsh Annals (ANNALES
CAMBRIAE).
Bibliography
Alcock, Leslie. Arthur’s Britain. London: Penguin,
1971.
Bengle, Richard L. Arthur King of Britain: History,
Chronicle, Romance and Criticism. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1964.
Morris, John, ed. and trans. Nennius: British History
and The Welsh Annals. London: Phillimore, 1975.