Layamon's Brut

Lore & Background

Layamon's poem is longer than both and includes an enlarged section on the life and exploits of King Arthur. It is written in the alliterative verse style commonly used in Middle English poetry by rhyming chroniclers, the two halves of the alliterative lines being often linked by rhyme as well as by alliteration.

Reader's Guide

Its deliberate use of archaic Anglo-Saxon vocabulary and alliterative style reflects Layamon's interest in preserving Old English conventions. The poem is now regarded as valueless as history, but it remains one of the best extant examples of early Middle English. Several original passages suggest Layamon was interested in carving out the history of the Britons as the people 'who first possessed the land of the English'.

Did You Know?

• It was the first work of history written in English since the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
• The poem includes an enlarged section on the life and exploits of King Arthur.
• Layamon's Brut is based on the Anglo-Norman French *Roman de Brut* by Wace.