Roman de Brut

The Brut or Roman de Brut (completed 1155) by the poet Wace is a loose and expanded translation in almost 15,000 lines of Norman-French verse of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Latin "History of the Kings of Britain". It was formerly known as the Brut d'Engleterre or Roman des Rois d'Angleterre, though Wace's own name for it was the Geste des Bretons, or Deeds of the Britons. Its genre is equivocal, being more than a chronicle but not quite a fully-fledged romance. It narrates a largely fictional version of Britain's story from its settlement by Brutus, a refugee from Troy, who gives the poem its name, through a thousand years of pseudohistory, including the story of king Leir, up to the Roman conquest, the introduction of Christianity, and the legends of sub-Roman Britain, ending with the reign of the 7th-century king Cadwallader. Especially prominent is its account of the life of King Arthur, the first in any vernacular language, which instigated and influenced a whole school of French Arthurian romances dealing with the Round Table – here making its first appearance in literature – and with the adventures of its various knights.
Composition.
The Norman poet Wace was born on the island of Jersey around the beginning of the 12th century, and was educated first at Caen on the mainland and later in Paris, or perhaps Chartres. He returned to Caen and there began writing narrative poems. At some point in this stage of his life he visited southern England, perhaps on business, perhaps to conduct research, perhaps even wanting to visit Geoffrey of Monmouth, whose Latin "Historia Regum Britanniae" he translated as the "Roman de Brut". The "Brut"'s subject, the history of Britain from its mythical Trojan beginnings, was calculated to appeal to a secular Norman readership at a time when Normandy and England formed part of the same realm. Working under the patronage of Henry II, he completed his poem in 1155, and presented a copy of it to Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry's wife. Its success is evidenced by the large number of surviving manuscripts, and by its extensive influence on later writers.
Treatment of sources.
The primary source of the "Roman de Brut" is Geoffrey of Monmouth's "Historia Regum Britanniae", a pseudo-history of Britain from its settlement by the eponymous Brutus and his band of Trojans down to the eclipse of native British power in the 7th century. It magnifies the prestige of British rulers at the expense of their Roman contemporaries, and includes an account of King Arthur's reign. Wace knew this work in two versions: the Vulgate, written by Geoffrey himself, and the Variant, a rewriting of Geoffrey's text by person or persons unknown.
Wace made two significant additions to the story on the authority, as he tells us, of Breton tales he had heard. One is King Arthur's Round Table, which here makes its appearance in world literature for the first time, and the other is the Breton belief that Arthur still remains in Avalon. There may, however, be quite a different reason for giving Arthur a Round Table, since there is good iconographic evidence to suppose that round or semi-circular tables were commonly used before Wace's time for ostentatious feasts. Other minor sources of the "Brut" include the Bible, Goscelin's life of St. Augustine of Canterbury, the "Historia Brittonum", William of Malmesbury's "Gesta Regum Anglorum", Geoffrey Gaimar's earlier translation of the "Historia Regum Britanniae", and such "chansons de geste" as the anonymous "Gormond et Isembart". Certain changes he made in geographical details suggest that Wace also drew on his personal knowledge of Normandy, Brittany and southern England.
Wace makes some omissions of controversial or politically charged passages from his source text, notably the whole of Book 7 of the "Historia Regum Britanniae", Merlin's prophecies, which he tells us he will not translate because he does not understand them. He also shortens or cuts out some passages of church history, expressions of exaggerated sentiment, and descriptions of barbarous or brutal behaviour, and in battle scenes he omits some of the tactical details in favour of observations bringing out the pathos of war. In the material he keeps he makes many changes and additions. He presents the action of Geoffrey's story with greater vividness, the characters have clearer motivation and more individuality, a certain amount of humour is added and the role of the supernatural is downplayed. He adds a good deal of dialogue and commentary to Geoffrey's narrative, and adapts it to the royal listeners it was intended for, adding details drawn from 12th-century military and court life. The overall effect is to reconcile his story to the new chivalric and romantic ethos of his own day. He is especially assiduous in highlighting the splendour of the court of king Arthur, the beauty of its ladies and gallantry of its knights, the relationship between Guinevere and Mordred, the depth of Arthur's love for Guinevere and grief over the deaths of his knights, and the knightly prowess of Gawain, Kay and Bedivere. He expands with descriptive passages of his own episodes such as Arthur's setting sail for Europe, the twelve years of peace in the middle of his reign, and his splendid conquests in Scandinavia and France. By such means he expands Arthur's share of the whole story from one fifth of the "Historia" to one third of the "Brut".
Style.
Wace's chosen meter, the octosyllabic couplet, was in the 12th century considered suitable for many purposes, but especially for translations from Latin. He had already used it in earlier works, and in the "Brut" managed it with facility and smoothness. His language was a literary form of Old French, the dialect being Norman, but not markedly so. He was a master of the architecture of the phrase and the period, and also of rhythmic effects. The rhetorical devices he most favoured were repetition (both in the forms of anaphora and epizeuxis), parallelism, antithesis, and the use of "sententiae", or gnomic sayings. He had a rich vocabulary, could employ an almost epigrammatic irony, and, while conforming to the conventions of poetic art, gave an appearance of spontaneity to his verse. His style was neat, lively, and essentially simple. His poem is sometimes garrulous, but moderately so by medieval standards, and he avoids the other medieval vice of exaggeration. As an authorial voice he distances himself from the narrative, adding his own comments on the action. Often he confesses ignorance of precisely what happened, but only on very minor details, thereby buttressing his authority on the essentials of his story. He conjures up his scenes with a remarkable vividness which his Latin original sometimes lacks, and his descriptions of bustling everyday life, maritime scenes and episodes of high drama are especially accomplished.
Influence.
The emphasis Wace placed on the rivalries between his knights and on the role of love in their lives had a profound effect on writers of his own and later generations. His influence can be seen in some of the very earliest romances, including the "Roman d'Enéas" and the "Roman de Troie", and in Renaud de Beaujeu's "Le Bel Inconnu" and the works of Gautier d'Arras. Thomas of Britain's romance "Tristan" draws on the "Brut" for historical details, particularly the story of Gormon, and follows its example in matters of style. His influence is especially evident in the field of Arthurian romance, later writers taking up his hint that many tales are told of the Round Table and that each of its members is equally renowned. There are general resemblances between the "Brut" and the poems of Chrétien de Troyes, in that both are Arthurian narratives in octosyllabic couplets, as well as stylistic similarities, but there are also specific signs of Chrétien's debt. He adapts Geoffrey's narrative of Mordred's last campaign against Arthur in his romance of "Cligès", and various passages in the "Brut" contribute to his account of the festivities at Arthur's court in "Erec and Enide".