Layamon's Brut

by active 1200 Layamon

That heard Walwain, who was Arthur's relative, and angered him much with Cador, who said these words; and thus answered Walwain the good: "Cador, thou art a powerful man; thy counsels are not good; for good is peace and good is amity, whoso freely therewith holdeth, and God himself it made, through his divinity; for peace maketh a good man work good works, for all men are the better, and the land is the merrier."

Then heard Arthur the dispute of these knights; and thus spake the mighty man with his fierce folk: "Sit ye down quickly, my knights all, and each by his life listen my words!" All it was still that dwelt in the hall. Then spake the bold king to his noble folk: "My earls, my barons, my bold thanes, my doughty men, my dear friends; through you I have conquered under the sun, so that I am man most powerful, and fierce against my enemies; gold I have and treasure; of men I am ruler. I won it not alone, but we did, all clean. To many a fight I have led you, and ever ye were well skilled, so that many kingdoms stand in my hand. Ye are good knights, brave men and active; that I have proved in well many lands" The yet spake him Arthur, noblest of kings: "But now ye have heard, my noble thanes, what the Romanish men counsel them between, and what words they send us here, into our land, with writ and with words, and with great wrath. Now we must bethink how we may with right defend our country and our great honour, against this powerful folk, against this Rome-people, and send them answer with our good words; with much wisdom send our writ to Rome, and learn at the emperor, for what thing he us hateth; for what thing he greets us with threat and with scorn Exceeding sorely it incenseth me, and immoderately it shameth, that he reproaches us our loss that we before have lost. They say that Julius Caesar won it (Britain) with combat in fight. With strength and with fight men do many wrongs; for Caesar sought Britain with bold strength. The Britons might not against him defend their land, but with strength they went in hand, and delivered him all their land; and thereafter soon all became his men. Some of our kin they had slain, and some with horses drawn to pieces; some they led bound out of this land; and thus this land won with wrong and with sin, and now asketh by right tribute of this land! All so we may do, if we it do will, through right of Belin king, and of Brenne, his brother, the Duke of Burgundy. These were our ancestors, of whom we are come; these belay Rome, and the realm all conquered, and before Rome the strong their hostages up hung, and afterwards they took all the land, and set it in their own hand, and thou ought we with right to besiege Rome. Now will I let remain Belin and Brenne, and speak of the caiser, Constantine the strong, he was Helen's son, all of Britons come (descended), he won Rome, and possessed the realm. Let (leave) we now of Constantine, who won Rome all to him, and speak of Maximian, who was a man most strong, he was King of Britain, he conquered France. Maximian the strong he took Rome in hand, and Alemaine (Germany) he won eke, with wondrous great strength, and all from Rome into Normandy. And all these were my ancestors, my noble progenitors; and possessed all the lands that unto Rome lay; and through such authority I ought to obtain Rome. They yearn of me in hand tribute of my land; all so will I of Rome, if I have counsel. I desire in my thoughts to possess all Rome; and he desireth in Britain to bind me most fast, and slay my Britons, with his evil attacks. But if my Lord grant it, who formed day and night, he shall sorely pay for his bold threat, and his Rome-people shall therefore perish; and I will be bold, wherein he now ruleth! Dwell ye now all still, I will say my will, no man shall do it otherwise, but it shall stand thereon. He desireth all, and I desire all that we both possess; have it now and ever who may it easier win, for now we shall prove to whom God will grant it!"

Thus spake the bold king, that had Britain under his rule, that was Arthur the king, Britain's darling! His warriors sate, and to his words listened; some they sate still, a great while; some they made much communing between them; some it seemed to them good; some it disturbed their mood.

When they had long listened to the king, then spake Howel the fair, noble man of Britanny, and said these words before the fierce king: "Lord king, hearken to me, as I ere did to thee. Thou hast said sooth wordsmay fortune be given to thee!—For it was of old said, what we now shall learn, in the years before what is now here found. Sibeli it said; her words were sooth, and set it in book, for example to folk, that three kings should go out of Britain, who should conquer Rome, and all the realm, and all the lands that thereto lie. The first was Belin, who was a British king; the other was Constantine, who was king in Britain; thou shalt be the third, that Rome shalt have. And if thou wilt it begin, thou shalt it win, and I will thereto help, with great strength, I will send over sea, to my good thanes, to my bold Britons-the better we shall proceed,—I will command all, the nobles of Britain, by their limbs and by their lives, over all my lands, that they be ready soon with thee to march to Rome. My land I will set in pledge for silver, and all the possessions of my land for silver and for gold, and so we shall proceed to Rome, and slay Luces the emperor, and for to win thy rights, I will lead to thee ten thousand knights." Thus spake Howel, noblest of Britanny.

When that Howel had said what seemed good to him, then spake Angel the king, Scotland's darling, and stood upon a bench, and both his brothers, that was, Loth and Urien, two most noble men. Thus said Angel the king to Arthur the keen: "Lord Arthur, I say to thee through my sooth words, the same that Howel hath spoken, no man shall it avoid, but we shall perform it by our quick lives! And, lord Arthur the noble, listen to me a while, call to thee to counsel thy earls rich, and all the highest that are in thy folk, and bid them say to thee with their sooth words, in what they will help thee thy foes to destroy. I will lead to thee knights of my land, three thousand champions brave, all chosen, ten thousand men on foot, to fight most good, and go we to Rome, and conquer the realm. Full greatly it may shame us, and full greatly it may us anger, that they should send messengers after tribute to our land. But so help us the Lord that formed the daylight, they shall pay for it with their bare life! For when we have Rome, and all the realm, we shall seize the lands that thereto he, Poille (Apuha?) and Alemaine, Lumbardy and Britanny, France and Normandy—then it hight Neustrie—and so we shall tame their immoderate mood (pride)." When the king had said then answered all. "Disgraced be that man that will not help thereto, with goods and with weapons, and with all his might!"

Then was Arthur's folk sternly incensed, knights were so enraged, that all they gan to be agitated. When Arthur had heard the clamour of his folk, then gan he call—the king was angry—"Sit ye down still, knights in hall, and I will you tell what I will do. My writs I will make, that shall be well indited, and send to the emperor minds sorrow and mickle care, and I will full soon fare into Rome. I will not thither any tribute bring, but the emperor I will bind, and afterwards I will him hang; and all the land I will destroy, and all the knights put to death, that stand against me in fight!"

Arthur took his writ in hand, with hostile words, and delivered it to the men, that had brought the errand, and afterwards he caused them to be clothed with each pomp, with the noblest garments that he had in bower, and bade them fare soon to Luces of Rome, and he would come after them as quickly as he might.

These twelve went their way toward their land; were in no land knights so bedecked with silver and with gold, nor through all things so well arrayed as these were by Arthur the king. Thus Arthur them treated, all for their words! These twelve knights proceeded until they came to Rome; they greeted their emperor, their sovereign: "Hail be thou, Luces, thou art highest over us! We were with the fierce man, with Arthur the king, we have brought thee writs, words exceeding great Arthur is the keenest man that we ever looked on, and he is wondrous powerful, and his thanes are bold, there is every knave as if he were knight, there is every swain as if he were rich thane, there are the knights as if it were kings, meat there is most abundant, and men most bold, and the fairest women that dwell alive; and Arthur the bold himself fairest over all! By us he sendeth word to thee, that he will come to this land, no tribute he will bring, but thyself he will bind, and afterwards he will thee hang, and this land all destroy, and take Alemaine and Lumbardy, Burgundy, France, and Normandy. And Frolle he slew, his foe, so he will to us all do, and possess himself alone the land that we own all clean, hereto he will lead kings, earls, and chieftains. And here we have in hand the writs that he thee sendeth that telleth thee what he will do, when he cometh in hither."

When the errand was said, the emperor was a full sorrowful man, and all the Rome-folk were stirred with strong wrath. Oft they went to counsel, oft they went to communing, ere to them might be determined what they would do. Nevertheless at the end a counsel they found, that was through the senator, who held the senate, the emperor they counselled that he should write letters, and send his messengers over many kingdoms, and bid them all come soon to Rome, from every land, who loved them aught, and all that willeth with fight obtain land or goods. Folk there came soon to the burgh of Rome, so mickle as there never ere any man assembled! They said that they would march over Muntgiu, and fight with Arthur, wheresoever they him found, and Arthur slay or hang, and his host all destroy, and possess for the emperor Arthur's realm.

The first king that there came, he was a man exceeding keen, Epistrod, king of Greece; Ethion, Duke of Boeotia, came with a great force; Irtac, King of Turkey; Pandras, King of Egypt; of Crete the King Ypolite; of Syria the King Evander; of Phrygia the Duke Teucer; of Babylon, Maptisas; of Spain the Caiser Meodras; of Media the King Boccus; of Libia the King Sextorius; of Bitunia, Pollidices; of Ituria the King Xerxes; Ofustesar, King of Africa; was there no king his like; with him came many an African; of Ethiopia he brought the black-men. The Rome-people themselves marched them together, that were at nearest, of Rome the noblest; Marcus, Lucas, and Catel, Cocta, Gaiut, and Metel; these were the six, who the Senate all ruled.