Index

To

The Myth of Brutus the Trojan

Trans. Devon. Assoc., 1880, Vol XII, pp. 560-571.

by

R.N. Worth, F.G.S etc..

Prepared by Michael Steer

Brutus, or Brute of Troy, was a legendary descendant of the Trojan hero Aeneas, known in medieval history as the eponymous founder and first king of Britain. This legend first appears in the Historia Brittonum, an anonymous 9th-century historical compilation to which commentary was added by Nennius, but is best known from the account given by the 12th-century chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae. The foundation myth of Brutus having settled in Britain was still considered as genuine history during the Early Modern Period, for example Holinshed's Chronicles (1577) considers the Brutus myth to be factual. (The claim, as told by Geoffrey of Monmouth, is that "Voyaging amidst perils, upon the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea they found four nations of Trojan descent, under the rule of Corinaeus, who afterwards became the Cornish folk. Uniting their forces the Trojans sailed to the Loire, where they defeated the Gauls and ravaged Acquitaine with fire and sword. Then Brutus 'repaired to the fleet, and loading it with the riches and spoils that he had taken, set sail with a fair wind towards the promised island, and arrived on the coast of Totnes. The island was then called Albion and was inhabited by none but a few giants'.") The article, from a copy of a rare and much sought-after journal can be downloaded from the Internet Archive. Google has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. These books, on which copyright has expired, are available for free educational and research use, both as individual books and as full collections to aid researchers.