§ 36.1 It came to pass after the Saxons had taken up quarters in the above mentioned island of Thanet that the above mentioned king promised that food and clothing should be given them without fail. And it pleased them, and they promised to fight bravely against his enemies. But the barbarians, when they had multiplied in number, the Britons were not able to feed them. When they demanded food and clothing, as it had been promised them, the Britons said, ãWe are not able to give you food and clothing, because your number is multiplied, but withdraw from us, because we do not need your assistance.ä And they took counsel with their elders to break the peace.
§ 37. But Hengist, inasmuch as he was a shrewd man and crafty and cunning, when he had found that he had to do with an indolent king and his people, who were wont to live without arms,2 took counsel and said to the British king, ãA few we are; if thou art willing, we will send to our country and invite soldiers from the soldiers of our region, that there may be a larger number to fight on thy behalf and on behalf of thy people.ä And he 59 bade them do so and they sent. And ambassadors sailed across the sea.3 And they returned with sixteen keels, and picked soldiers came in them, and in one of the keels came a girl4 of beautiful countenance and most comely, the daughter of Hengist. After the keels had come, Hengist made a banquet for Guorthigirn and his soldiers and his interpreter,5 who is called Ceretic.6 And he bade the girl to serve them with wine and beer and they drank heavily and were drunken. Whilst they were drinking, Satan entered into the heart of Guorthigirn that he loved the girl and demanded her of her father through his interpreter and he said, ãAll that thou demandest of me thou shalt obtain, though it be the half of my kingdom.ä And Hengist, having taken counsel with his elders who came with him from the island of Oghgul7 as to what they should ask of 60 the king for the girl, there was one counsel with them all, that they should ask for the region which in their language is called Canturguoralen,8 but in ours Chent. And he gave it to them, Guoyrancgonus 9 the while reigning in Kent, who was unaware that his kingdom was handed over to the pagans and that he himself was secretly surrendered into their power. And so the girl was given to him in marriage, and he slept with her and loved her exceedingly.
§ 38. And Hengist said to Guorthigirn, ãI am thy father and thy counsellor, and never do thou let my counsel pass, because thou shalt not fear to be overcome by any man or by any nation, because my nation is strong. I will invite my son together with his cousin, for they are warlike men, to fight against the Scots, and give thou to them the regions which are in the north by the Wall, which is called Guaul.ä10 And he bade him to invite them, and he invited Octha11 and Ebissa with forty keels. And these, when they had sailed round the Picts, wasted the Orkney Islands, and came and occupied very many regions beyond the Frenessic Sea12 61 even to the border of the Picts. And Hengist always invited keels to him little by little. So that they left without inhabitants the islands from which they had come. And while his nation increased both in strength and number, they came to the above mentioned city of the Kentishmen.
§ 39.13 Now adding to all his evils Guorthigirn took his own daughter to be his wife, and she bore him a son. And when this was discovered by Saint Germanus, he came to reprove him with all the clergy of the Britons. And when a great synod of the clergy and the laity had been convened in one council, the king advised his daughter to proceed to the assembly and to place her son in Germanusâs lap and declare that he14 was the father of the son. And the woman did as she was instructed. Germanus received him kindly and proceeded to say, ãA father I will be to thee,15 nor will I let thee go unless there be given me a razor with scissors and comb16 and it be allowed thee to give them to thy carnal father.ä And the boy obeyed and went to his grandfather, his carnal father, Guorthigirn. And the boy said to him, ãThou art my father, shave my head 62 and the hair of my head.ä And he was silent and held his peace and refused to reply to the boy, but rose up and was very angry, so that he fled from the face of Saint Germanus, and he was execrated and condemned by Saint Germanus and the whole council of the Britons.
§ 40.17 And after these things the king summoned to him his magicians to inquire of them what he should do. And they said, ãGo to the extreme borders of thy kingdom and thou wilt find a fortified citadel to defend thyself, because, the nation, which thou hast received in thy kingdom, looks askance at thee and will kill thee by craft and will seize all the regions, which thou hast loved, together with the whole of thy nation after thy death.ä And after these things he with his magicians came to acquire the citadel and they went about through many regions and many provinces. And as they found it not, they arrived at last in the region which is called Guined, Gwynedd, And whilst he was surveying among the mountains of Hereri, Eryri,, Snowdonia, he at length found a place on one of the mountains whereon it was fit to construct a citadel. And the magicians said to him, ãMake a citadel in this place, for it will be most safe from barbaric nations for ever.ä And he brought together skilled workmen, that is stone-cutters, and he collected together timber and stones. And when all the material had been brought together, the material was taken away in a single night. And three times he ordered it to be collected and never did it remain. And he summoned the magicians and inquired closely of them what cause of mischief this might be and why this should happen. And they replied, ãUnless thou dost find a child without a father and he be put to death and the citadel be sprinkled with his blood, it will never be built.ä
63§ 41. In accordance with the counsel of the magicians he sent messengers throughout the whole of Britain that they might find a child without a father. And while surveying all the provinces and very many regions they came to Campus Elleti,18 which is in the region which is called Gleguissing, Glywysing.19 And there were boys playing ball, and lo, two of them were quarrelling, and the one said to the other, ãO fellow without a father, no good will be thine.ä And they made close inquiries of the boys concerning the boy, inquiring too of the mother whether he had a father. She denied and said, ãI know not how he was conceived in my womb, but one thing I know, that I have never known a man.ä And she swore to them that he had no father. And they took him with them to King Guorthigirn and they introduced him to the king.
§ 42. And on the morrow a meeting took place that the boy might be killed. And the boy said to the king, ãWhy have thy men brought me to thee?ä The king says to him, ãThat thou mayest be killed and thy blood sprinkled about that citadel, so that it may be possible for it to be built.ä The boy answers the king, ãWho shewed it thee?ä And the king, ãMy magicians told me.ä And the boy said, ãLet them be called to me.ä And the magicians were summoned, and the boy said to them, ãWho revealed to you that citadel should be sprinkled with my blood, and that unless it be sprinkled by my blood it will never be built? But that he may know this, who, tell me, discovered me to you?ä Again the boy said, ãNow to thee, O king, I will reveal and satisfy thee as to the truth in everything, but I question thy magicians what is in the pavement of this place? It pleases me that 64 they should shew thee what is to be found under the pavement?ä And they said, ãWe know not.ä And he said, ãI know, in the midst of the pavement is a pool. Come you and dig, and so you will find.ä They came and they digged and it fell in. And the boy said to the magicians, ãTell me what is in the pool?” And they were silent and could not make known to him. And he said to them, ãI will make it known to you. There are two vases, and so you will find.ä They came and so they saw. And the boy said to the magicians, ãWhat is to be had in the closed vases?ä20 And they were silent and could not make it known unto him. And he said, ãIn the midst of them is a tent; separate them, and so you will find.ä And the king ordered them to be separated and a tent folded was found so, as he had said. And again he asked his magicians, ãWhat is in the midst of the tent, and tell it straightway.ä And they could not know. And he disclosed, ãThere are two vermes,21 badgers, in it one white and one red. Unfold the tent.ä And they opened it out and two badgers were found sleeping. And the boy said, ãWait and see what the badgers may do.ä And the badgers began, the one to drive out the other; the one was setting its shoulders to drive back the other to the half of the tent, and so they did three times. Nevertheless at last the red badger seemed the weaker, and afterwards it was stronger than the while and drove it outside the tentâs edge.22 Then the one pursued the other across the pool, and the tent vanished. And the boy turns to the magicians, ãWhat means this wondrous sign, which was done in the tent?ä And they answered, ãWe know not.ä 65 And the boy replies, ãBehold, this mystery is revealed unto me, and I will unfold it unto you. The tent is a figure of thy kingdom. The two badgers are two dragons.23 The red badger is thy dragon, and the pool is a figure of this world. And the white dragon is of that nation, which has seized nations and regions very many in Britain, and almost from sea to sea will they hold it. And afterwards our nation will rise and will violently beat away the nation of the Angles across the sea.24 Nevertheless go thou from this citadel, because thou art not able to build it, and go about many provinces 25 that thou mayest find a secure citadel, and I will remain here.ä And the king said to the youth, ãBy what name art thou called?ä He replied, ãI am called Ambrosius,ä26 that is Embreis Guletic he was seen to be. And the king said, ãFrom what stock art thou sprung?ä And he, ãOne of the consuls of the Roman nation is my father.ä And he gave him the citadel27 together with all the kingdoms of the western side of Britain, and he himself with his magicians proceeded to the northern side, and arrived 66 at the region which is called Guunnessi, and there he built a fortress, which is called by his name Cair Guorthigirn.28
§ 43.29 In the meantime Guorthemir, Vortimer,30 son of Guorthigirn, was fighting daringly with Hengist and Hors and with their nation, and drove them as far as the above said island, which is called Tanet,30 Thanet, and he thrice enclosed them there, besieged, smote,
67
diminished, and terrified them. And they sent over messengers beyond the sea to Germania to summon keels with a vast number of warlike men. And afterwards they used to fight against the kings of our nation. Sometimes they were victorious and extended their borders, sometimes they were overcome and driven back.31
1 The story of Hengist is now resumed. This section is in accordance with the Loss (w) as to the granting of supplies in return for military assistance. This particular is evidently borrowed from the Loss.
2 This particular, too, that the Britons were unarmed is borrowed from the Loss (k), where Maximus is made to have stripped Britain of every military weapon.
3 The expression Tithicam vallem, meaning ãthe sea,ä again shews the influence of the Loss (o), whence it is taken.
4 Geoffrey of Monmouth (vi, 12, 14) was the first to provide her with a name, viz. Renwein, Renwen, Roawen, Rowen.
5 The word ãinterpreterä in British was gwalstawt, borrowed from the Anglo-Saxon wealhstód. Bede (v, 23) mentions a bishop of this name as his contemporary in 731, namely, Wahlstod, Bishop of ãHereford,ä who had previously been Abbot of Glastonbury (B.M. Cott. Tiberius B. 5). Such a person would have been familiar with the traditions of the peoples who lived between Gloucester and the Isle of Wight.
6 qui vocatur Ceretic. This is the only mention of Ceretic. All the verbs here (except vocatur) are in the past tense, suggesting the passage is taken from a gloss. The name ãCeretic,ä written and signed by Wahlstod, the above-mentioned Abbot and Bishop, in the margin of the Loss (u) opposite the unnamed ãproud tyrant,ä might well have been misunderstood as ãCeretic interpreter.ä
As already noted, the story of Hors and Hengist, who arrived as exiles, is a different story from that of the Three Keels (with prognostics aboard), which arrived by invitation. The former pertains to the Jutes of Kent; the latter to the Jutes of Hampshire and Wight. The former concerns the Oiscings; the latter concerns Cerdic of the Gewissi and the Jutes, Stuf and Wihtgar. It is to the latter that Ceretic belongs, who is none other than Cerdic himself, the original villain of the piece.
7 Bede (i, 15) says the Angles came from Angelus, reported to have remained desert from that time (cf. § 38, how the English left their islands ãwithout inhabitantä).
8 I.e. Cantguaraland.
9 Guoyrancgonus, now Gwrangon, a well-known British name as in Cair Guiragon, one of the twenty-eight cities in § 66 bis, commonly but erroneously identified with Worcester. There is a Caerwrangon near Pencarreg church in Carmarthenshire, not far from Craig Gwrtheyrn, where Vortigern perished. Gwrangon, the name of a stream at Penderyn, Breconshire; the name of a man, ãGuiragon,ä in the ãLife of St. Cadogä (69); also Cwsmrangan in Cumberland. In an ancient poem (ãBook of Taliesin,ä 41-2), which names Ynyr (of Gwent), Gwrweddw (of Erging), and Ruduedel (of Vortigernâs family), appears Gwenhwys gwallt hiryon am Gaer Wyragon, ãlong-haired Gwentians about Caer Wrangon.ä Gwrangon (like Vortimer below) seems to have been transported by the story-teller into Kent from Gwent.
10 See § 23.
11 That Octha was son to Hengist is a tradition independent of Bede (ii, 5) and different. It is also found in the codex. C.C.C.C. 183 (see § 58 below).
12 ultra mare Frenessicum. Other MSS. read trans mare Fresicum (except MN, which omit the words altogether), ãacross the Frisian Seaä. Some think this refers to the Irish Sea or a part of it, like the Solway Firth; others that it is the Firth of Forth, especially as the district of Culross in Fife is called Litus Frescium, ãFrisian Shore,ä in Jocelynâs ãLife of Kentigernä; others, again, that it is the German Ocean.
13 This section constitutes the Second Excerpt from the Book of Germanus, and has nothing to do with the Saxon invaders. The locality is not named, but seems to be Arfon and neighbourhood, where Nant Gwrtheyrn, ãVortigernâs Valley,ä is still found and Llanarmon, ãthe Church of Germanus,ä not far off.
14 This implies that Vortigern's daughter had been under the saint's care, for Auxerre was a resort of British and Irish Chrisitans even under Bishop Amator, more so under Bishop Germanus (Bury, 49).
14 This means that a son of Vortigern was also with Germanus, who is identified in § 48 with Faustus, Bishop of Reii.
15 Kuhlwch is told by his father, ãArthur is first cousin to thee. Go thou to Arthur to cut thy hair.ä When the boy arrives, he says to Arthur, ãCutting my hair I want.ä The Arthur takes a golden comb and scissors with silver loops, and combs his head. And Arthur says, ãMy heart melts towards thee. I know thou art sprung from my blood: (Ellis and Lloyd, Mabinogion, i, 173).
16 §§ 40-42 form a distinct episode. Vortigern is attended by magicians with no mention of St. Germanus or clergy. The invaders are called gens Anglorum, not Saxones. The king is evidently King of Britain, as in the Loss, who had received the English into the island.
17 Campus Elleti, near Palus Elleti (B.L.D., 148), in the neighbourhood of Llansannor, Glamorgan; the campus, Welsh maes, field, may survive in Llanmaes, near Llantwit Major.
18 Glywysing was for centuries the name of a kingdom in South Wales extending westwards from the river Usk, embracing what is now Glamorgan. It is called after Glywys, the father of St. Gwynllyw (of St. Woolos, Newport, Monmouthshire), and grandfather of St. Cadog of Llancarfan in Glamorgan.
19 in vasis conclusis. Presumably the two vases were a pair of dug-outs pressed one against the other.
20 vermes, vermin, i.e. mammals injurious to game such as foxes, weasels, badgers, etc. The Welsh pryf is used in this sense, e.g. parva silvestria animalia, i.e. prevet, ãsmall sylvan animals, i.e. pryfedä (Anc. Laws of Wales, ii, 76).
21 See § 43, for the three obsessions of Thanet by Vortimer, and his three victories in § 44, with the total expulsion of the barbarians.
22 The purple dragon was the Roman Imperial Standard. Ammianus Marcellinus (xvi, 39) describes how Cæsar was recognized in a battle by the purple standard of the dragon, which, fixed to the top of a long spear, fluttered in a state ragged with age (McClure, 137, n. 1). This symbol of Roman Imperialism thus lived on in Wales in the sub-Roman age, and survives today among the Welsh as Y Ddraig Goch, the Red Dragon.
23 See Loss (x) where the English are made to have consumed almost the whole island from sea to sea; also (w) where it is foretold that they will occupy the land for exactly three hundred years.
24 multas provincias circumi. Cf. § 48 for VortigernÎs final wanderings.
25 Ambrosius, i.e. Emreis or Emrys Wledig. See §§ 31, 48, 66; also Loss (y), where he is called Ambrosius Aurelianus. It is Geoffrey (vi, 17) who first calls him ãMerlin.ä
26 I.e. emperors, for according to § 26 the Cæsars were called consuls after the time of Maximus.
26 Dinas Emrys, an isolated rocky eminence, in the parish of Beddgelert, Caernarvonshire. It was previously known as Dinas Ffaraon Dandde, ãfiery Pharaoh,ä i.e. Vortigern; and before that it belonged to Helen, wife of Maximus (Ellis and Lloyd, 158, 146, ãthe most exalted fort in Arvonä).
27 All attempts to identify this place seem to have failed. ãTo the northern sideä should mean the Lowlands of North-West England. But it might mean the extreme north of Wales. The Owen Rhoscomyl placed it in ãGwnnws in the land of Lleyn,ä where (he says) the name survives on the slopes of Yr Eifl, i.e. near Nant Gwrtheyrn, where one ãmay still see what are reckoned to be the foundations of his castle, and the green mound under which his ashes are believed to be buried.ä
William of Malmesbury, i, 2, mentions ãWirtgernesburgä at or near Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire.
28 §§ 43-46 resume the story of Hors and Hengist, who so far have been presented, first, with Thanet, and secondly, with Kent. They are now made to have been driven out of both into the sea. There is nothing of all this in the Loss, which in fact it contradicts. Vortimerâs victories are to be read in conjunction with the account of the struggle between the dragons in § 42. There seem to be two versions of the story: (1) of the three blockades of Thanet (possibly transferred from Gwent and the Forest of Dean); (2) of the four (three) victories of Vortimer in Kent (a manipulation from Gwent of a Kentish story).
29 Guorthemir, better known as Vortimer from Geoffrey of Monmouth (vi, 12-15); unknown to Bede and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Vortimer was a man of Gwent, who like Gwrangon of § 37 has been transferred by the story-teller to Kent. He is remembered at Wonastow, formerly known as Gurthebiriuc, Gwrthefyriwg, ãVortimerâsä (like Morgannwg, ãMorganâsä) in Monmouthshire (B.L.D., 403, 408). He was the father of Madrun, i.e. Matrona the saint of Trawsfynydd, Merionethshire, who in one early version of Bonedd y Saint, viz. B., is made to have married Ynyr of Gwent. She may also have left her name at Garth Madrun (Talgarth, Breconshire).
30 As the Forest of Dean was sometimes known as Llwyn Danet (Brut y Tywysogion, A.D. 1171) it is possible that this story of Vortimerâs blockades of Thanet is based on events which occurred about the lower reaches of the river Wye, in Gwent and western Gloucestershire.
31 Cf. Loss (z) and § 63.