Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
Historia Regum Britanniae is as historically accurate as I am Ryan Gosling, and the fact Geoffrey begins his text by essentially saying 'my source is one book and I've shoved in some extra details off the top my head', I wonder why it took till the Renaissance before anyone really called bullshit.
Pride was probably the reason, with The History performing the same glorifying act for Britain as Virgil's [b: The Aeneid|12914|The Aeneid|Virgil|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386923968l/12914._SY75_.jpg|288738] did for Rome. Almost exactly the same actually, since apparently my ancestors were also displaced Trojans, led by Brutus (no, not that one), who enjoyed some dashing adventures before hitting the Isles and comitting mass genocide against the native British giants.
The History covers about 1100BC to almost 700AD and details the lives of many Kings with no historical basis, how we colonised half of Europe, married British nobility to Roman Emporers and built huge cities that rivalled Rome, all of which we lost due to the Isles' oldest and most diabolical nemesis, the Saxons. Geoffrey also hates the Scots, the Welsh and 'effeminate degeneracy' with all the growling passion of a complete gammon.
I found this book hysterical. It's dry, pompous and unforgivably long in places, but that po-facedness makes it wonderfully funny when we have chapter titles like this:
Despite the ludicrous stories of Julius Ceasar being beaten back by his own sword (after it lodges in his British opponent's helmet and he can't retrieve it), or the rapist giants, magicians, angels and dragons that appear in this "history", we do have to thank Geoffrey for providing the basis for three British legends that later, better writers would improve upon: King Lear, Merlin and Arthur.
These first references to the Arthurian legend are partly why I read this, and you can recognise the foundation stones for later works. There's Merlin changing Uther Pendragon's appearance into that of a woman's husband, so he can molest her. Arthur has a decent sword called Caliburn, which would become Excalibur. We have the villainous Mordred, who is Arthur's nephew but not his incestuous love child, and Arthur has a wife called Guanhumara (Guinevere). There's also a weird chapter where Arthur pauses conquering half of Europe to praise a pond with unusual fish activity, and it's never mentioned again. I'm guessing someone went 'Why is this bit in here? Sod it, I'll dunk in a magic sword throwing woman in my version'. As the earliest account of the Arthurian legend, it's entertaining enough, save for when we first meet Merlin and the infamous wizard gives what must have been fifteen bloody pages of one long, nonsense, cryptic prophecy.
The weird and magical stuff is still a fairly small part of The History, and Geoffrey mostly discusses battles, battle speeches, who begat who and whether they ruled peacefully. You will need to sift through that to find the truly ridiculous realms, and sadly it's not an easy book to read. My edition had some spelling mistakes (not Geoffrey's fault), and it's not always clear who's speaking or being referred to (Geoffrey's fault). But what's worse is that there are no dates given until almost the very end, when Geoffrey says 'and in the year of our Lord, 689, this bloke died'. Determining any other date requires guess work, like when real life Roman Emporers appear, but since the vast majority of the people Geoffrey writes about don't exist, it becomes a timeless maze of meaningless names and deeds.
It's an extremely flawed piece of fiction that will make any history lover weep with frustration, but very important for its influence on British culture and literature. It ultimately gave us Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and for that film alone I love that this silly book exists.
Pride was probably the reason, with The History performing the same glorifying act for Britain as Virgil's [b: The Aeneid|12914|The Aeneid|Virgil|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386923968l/12914._SY75_.jpg|288738] did for Rome. Almost exactly the same actually, since apparently my ancestors were also displaced Trojans, led by Brutus (no, not that one), who enjoyed some dashing adventures before hitting the Isles and comitting mass genocide against the native British giants.
The History covers about 1100BC to almost 700AD and details the lives of many Kings with no historical basis, how we colonised half of Europe, married British nobility to Roman Emporers and built huge cities that rivalled Rome, all of which we lost due to the Isles' oldest and most diabolical nemesis, the Saxons. Geoffrey also hates the Scots, the Welsh and 'effeminate degeneracy' with all the growling passion of a complete gammon.
I found this book hysterical. It's dry, pompous and unforgivably long in places, but that po-facedness makes it wonderfully funny when we have chapter titles like this:
Malgo, king of Britain, and a most graceful person, addicts himself to sodomyor this:
Constantine, having murdered the two sons of Mordred, is himself killed by Conanwhich, when taken out of context, sounds like the synopsis of an epic crossover fanfiction.
Despite the ludicrous stories of Julius Ceasar being beaten back by his own sword (after it lodges in his British opponent's helmet and he can't retrieve it), or the rapist giants, magicians, angels and dragons that appear in this "history", we do have to thank Geoffrey for providing the basis for three British legends that later, better writers would improve upon: King Lear, Merlin and Arthur.
These first references to the Arthurian legend are partly why I read this, and you can recognise the foundation stones for later works. There's Merlin changing Uther Pendragon's appearance into that of a woman's husband, so he can molest her. Arthur has a decent sword called Caliburn, which would become Excalibur. We have the villainous Mordred, who is Arthur's nephew but not his incestuous love child, and Arthur has a wife called Guanhumara (Guinevere)
Spoiler
who also betrays her husband and runs off to a nunnery, but she does this with Mordred, as Lancelot hadn't been invented yetThe weird and magical stuff is still a fairly small part of The History, and Geoffrey mostly discusses battles, battle speeches, who begat who and whether they ruled peacefully. You will need to sift through that to find the truly ridiculous realms, and sadly it's not an easy book to read. My edition had some spelling mistakes (not Geoffrey's fault), and it's not always clear who's speaking or being referred to (Geoffrey's fault). But what's worse is that there are no dates given until almost the very end, when Geoffrey says 'and in the year of our Lord, 689, this bloke died'. Determining any other date requires guess work, like when real life Roman Emporers appear, but since the vast majority of the people Geoffrey writes about don't exist, it becomes a timeless maze of meaningless names and deeds.
It's an extremely flawed piece of fiction that will make any history lover weep with frustration, but very important for its influence on British culture and literature. It ultimately gave us Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and for that film alone I love that this silly book exists.
This is in a weird way one of my favourite books. I don't know why but it has become my holiday book. Reading something that is so old and yet so ridiculous never stops being enjoyable. You're lead through an utterly unbelievable idea of how Britain could have come about and it's a pleasure to read as a Brit as the story carries itself through your country, through places you know, because it's got such an easy romance to it. It's just a purely fun book to read. It's actually next to me as I type this and it's a book I know I can go back to if I want to read something that is so simply fun and fantastical.
Geoffrey's history is a fascinating mix of mythology and history where sweeping history, classical antiquity, and Welsh myth and mytho-history collide. Also, this work is the bedrock for King Arthur stories, which is a plus.
This is the authoritative text on all things relating to Britain. Honestly, this book is a must read for anyone interested in British literature or history, especially if they’re going into a career in English Lit. It offers a lot of contextualization for references made throughout English lit. and I found it incredibly helpful
Though the battles and successions of various kings are often repetitive, this is a surprisingly entertaining and magical account of british history, albeit fabricated in many places. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
No star rating.
I read Geoffrey of Monmouth's History for a university module. The language was easy to read and it helped shaped the early interpretations of Arthur for my module.
I read Geoffrey of Monmouth's History for a university module. The language was easy to read and it helped shaped the early interpretations of Arthur for my module.
Geoffrey’s history is too much chronology and too little history. He’s left the story out of the history—ironically because so many stories were generated by his chronicle of stick figures squabbling. Geoffrey’s account is about as interesting and listening to someone else reciting their genealogy for hours on end.
informative
slow-paced