Nennius – orNemnius orNemnivus – was a Welsh monk of the 9th century. He has traditionally been credited with authorship of theHistoria Brittonum, based on the prologue affixed to that work.[1]
Nennius was a student of Elvodugus, commonly identified with the bishopElfodd ofBangor[2] who convinced British ecclesiastics to accept the Continentaldating for Easter, and who died in 809 according to theAnnales Cambriae.
Nennius is believed to have lived in the area made up byBrecknockshire andRadnorshire in present-dayPowys, Wales.[3] Thus, he lived outside the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, isolated by mountains in a rural society.[4] Because of the lack of evidence concerning the life of Nennius, he has become the subject of legend himself. Welsh traditions include Nennius with Elbodug and others said to have escaped the massacre of Welsh monks byEthelfrid in 613, fleeing to the north.[5]
Nennius was traditionally credited with having written theHistoria Brittonumc. 830.[6] TheHistoria Brittonum was highly influential, becoming a major contributor to theArthurian legend, in particular for its inclusion of events relevant to debate about thehistoricity of King Arthur.[2] It also includes the legendary origins of thePicts,Scots,St. Germanus andVortigern, and documents events associated with theAnglo-Saxon invasion of the 7th century as contributed by a Northumbrian document.[7]
Evidence suggests that theHistoria Brittonum was a compilation of several sources, some of which are named by Nennius, while others are not. Some experts say that this was not the first compiled history of the Britons and that it was largely based onGildas'De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae written some three centuries before.[8] Other sources included aLife of St Germanus and several royal pedigrees.[9] Most other sources have not survived and therefore cannot be confirmed. The surviving manuscripts of theHistoria Brittonum appear to be redacted from several lost versions: information about Nennius contained in thePrologue and in theApology differs, thePrologue containing an expanded form of theApology that is only found in editions copied during the 12th century, leading experts to believe that later versions of the document were altered.[10] The largest known edition contains seventy-six sections including thePrologue and theApology. The work was translated into Irish by Giolla Coemgin inc. 1071 and is the earliest example of the originalHistoria Brittonum,[11] that includes the author's name, Nennius.[12]
Originally written as a history of the Britons in an attempt to document a legitimate past, theHistoria Brittonum contains stories of legend and superstition alike.[13] The historical accuracy of theHistoria Brittonum is at best questionable, but the document is internally consistent and provides information from and indirectly about Nennius' sources.[9] Some historians[who?] argue that theHistoria Brittonum gives good insight into the way 9th century Britons viewed themselves and their past.[14] Nennius makes several attempts to trace the history of the Britons back to the Romans and Celts through his empirical observations of what he refers to as"The Marvels" or"Wonders of Britain".[13] These include ruins, landmarks and other aspects of the British countryside that Nennius deems worthy of documentation. His explanation of the physical landmarks and ruins take on a mystical interpretation despite Nennius being a Christian monk. Within the writing of Nennius is a sense of nationalist pride attempting to legitimise the people of Britain and embellish the past through legend much as the Romans used the story ofRomulus and Remus to legitimise the founding of Rome.[15] One such example of Nennius stressing legend is in his accounts of Arthur and his twelve battles. TheHistoria Brittonum would come to be the basis on which later medieval authors such asGeoffrey of Monmouth would write theHistoria Regum Britanniae, one of the earlyWelsh chronicles and romantic histories of King Arthur.[2][16] Nennius however never refers to Arthur as a King instead calling him a "Dux Bellorum" who led the kings of Britain in battle, a military commander.
The Prologue, in which Nennius introduces his purpose and means for writing theBritish History, first appears in a manuscript from the twelfth century. The prologues of all other manuscripts, though only included marginally, so closely resemble this first prologue that William Newell claims they must be copies. "The preface has evidently been prepared by someone who had before him the completed text of the treatise. It appears in the first instance as a marginal gloss contained in a MS. of the twelfth century;' under ordinary conditions, the chapter would unhesitatingly be set aside as a forgery."[17] He counters Zimmer's argument by reasoning that the Irishman responsible for the "superior" Irish translations might have added his own touches, further claiming that if a Latin version of theHistoria had been available in the 12th century, it would have been replicated in that language, not translated.
David N. Dumville argues that the manuscript tradition and nature of the Prologue in particular fail to substantiate the claim that Nennius was the author ofHistoria Brittonum. In his argument against Zimmer, he cites a textual inconsistency in the Irish translation regarding a place called Beulan, concluding that "we must admit to ignorance of the name of [theHistoria's] ninth-century author."[18]
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