Columbia University's Plimpton manuscript 261, an English manuscript c. 1440, contains a version of the Croniclis of Ingelond purported to be by Richard Rede and apparently a rather slavish translation of a Latin original (Cod. Rawlinson B. 398, also attributed to Rede; it may be he is the Latin author, and the scribe merely kept the attribution in the English translation). It is written in a clear and legible Gothic book hand with very few abbreviations, mostly at the ends of lines, and with separate chapters begun with large blue initials on red ground, and rubricated throughout in blue and red (Croniclis of Ingelond, preface page). The script is written on four lines, with capital letters and k, h, d, l, long s, f, t, and b extending above the smaller letters (though t, f, and s often do not extend as high as the others), and h, f, long s, p, y, ž, g, , and some of the capitals extending below the line to varying degrees. Most minims are rounded off as in a rotunda script, with some having precissa-style feet instead.

The plummet lines in the manuscript are visible and the margins are very well delineated, the scribe preferring to split or truncate words or superscript letters rather than breaking the marginal lines; no word runs into the margins for more than one and one-half letters, and few run that far.

The long s is used in initial or medial position, and the rounded s almost exclusively in final position; v and u also alternate, with v being used initially and in numbers, and u in the medial and final position in words. The two-chamber a, with the bottom line often all but invisible, is the only form used in the text body, though the marginal notes and page headers use a simpler, rounded a (the catchwords use the two-chamber form). The d is the more insular rounded exclusively, though the capital is used. The standard Gothic r is used, as well as the rounded r after not only o and a, but occasionally other letters as well, such as the ž in "žrew" ( pg. 38, II, iv). Yogh is also used throughout, in positions where modern spelling generally provides gh.

The runic letter Thorn (ž) is used throughout, alternating inconsistently with th. The y is generally shown with two marks above it , most likely to distinguish it from the thorn , which in this form would otherwise be easily confused with it, but this use is not consistent, as occasionally the y is unmarked. This often appears to be the case when the y would have been acting as an unstressed vowel between two consonants (i.e., "openyd", p. 38, I, xxii), and perhaps the omission of the mark is due to an opinion on the part of the scribe that the letter in this position was unlikely to have been misread.

In the position after o, and sometimes after other letters, the n (and occasionally m) is most often given an overscore , either to aid in distinguishing its two minims from those of the u, or to indicate a "long" or double nasal. Occasionally, this overscore also seems to stand in for the n, as in (p. 40, II, xx), but this is apparently only done at the ends of lines, and shows the scribe's continued efforts to save space; conspicuously, this overscore never otherwise appears to mark, as it does in other scripts, the omission of a nasal. Similarly, the i is almost always designated by a diagonal line over it . Names of people and places are usually though not always capitalised. A dot is used both as a full stop and often where modern usage places a comma. Frequently after a full stop, and always after a paragraph mark, the first letter of the next word is capitalised, as is the first letter following a decorated littera notibilior. Double l is frequently crossed , a practice apparently not unusual in Middle English texts.

At the top right of each right-hand page is a key word or phrase, in a smaller version of a contemporary Bastard Anglicana hand, describing in brief the contents of that page (i.e., "", pp. 37 & 38). Where phrases are given, they are in Latin, i.e., "int(er)p(re)tatio pendragon" for the page on which the origin of Uther's ("Uter" in this text) name is given. There are also occasional marginal notes, usually giving alternate spellings of personal or place names, as "york" in the margins of two lines which mention "yorke" (pg. 40, I, xvi & xxii). These are given either in English ("callid Seynt Albanes", pg. 39, I, ii) or in Latin ("stella et iu(r)ata", pg. 39, I, xxii). At the bottom of one page in the selection (41, I) is a catchphrase composed of the first five letters of the next page, though notably the did of the word "comandid", which begins the following page, is glossed ded in the catchphrase.

The story itself as presented in this text is unusual in that the Arthurian portion of this chronicle comprises only eight and one-half pages of a 133-page text; this is in sharp contrast to Geoffrey of Monmouth's chronicle Historia Regum Britanniae (c. 1136), wherein the same material takes up 61 pages of the 231-page modern translation (Thorpe, 1966). Geoffrey's is the more usual model, in that most chronicles — for instance the Bruts of Wace and Laamon, c. 1155 and 1189-1210 respectively — dwell heavily on the Arthurian material, making it a main portion of the narrative. In addition to this discrepancy, as much time is spent in this text on the parentage of Arthur and the origin of the name "pendragon" as is spent on Arthur's entire reign.

In this initial section, the text goes into great depth as to Uther's meeting with and passion for Igerna, and his conceiving (with the help of Merlyn) Arthur by posing as her husband Gorloys:

Uter že brožer of Aurelyus, when
his brožer was dead, was y ma
de kyng. žat tyme Otta že son of hengis
tus and his coyn Gosa futtyng a geyns že
kyng dyde hym greet desese. And že kyng wižston
dyng them toke hem and putt hem in p(re)sone at lon
don. And a non ožer Saxons began to flee. Att
že ester folowyng že kyng bade to feste in london
all že lordis and gentyls of his reme. Among
whom was Gorleys že Duke of Cornu(a)ll and his
wyff Igerna whos fayrenes passed all ožer wo
men of Britan. With whos loue že kyng was
gretely y take when he saw her. Wherfore he sende
to her dyuerse messes wiž wordis of loue. And //
when her husbond considered žis he was wroth and
wente out of že kyngys courte hauyng no licens
wher with že kyng was sore y meved and com
ded hym to come agayn. And he wolde not žeu
že kyng had indignacion žer of and swore žat
he wolde destroie že dukes londis but yf he wolde
come to make satisfaction. In že tyme žat
discorde reyned bitwixte hem. že kyng went into
cornuall settyng fire on citeys and castels. Gor
loys dredyng že kyngis power and to lese his wiff
putt her in the surest place žat he had oon že see
side že which is callid Tyngotell and hymselph
wente in to a nožer castell. žen že kyng bise
gid žat castell. Stettyng eny way žat he scholde
come out bi. In že mene tyme že kyng asked con
sell of merlyn hom he mytte performe his will
with Igerna. And merlyn vsyng new crafts
t(ra)nsposed že kyng in to Gorloys likenes and hym
self and a nožer familiar man of že kyngis he
made like to Gorloys 2 secretaries. And so že
kyng forsoke že scege and wente toward Tyngo
tell. And a non že gatis žer of were openyd and
žei y had in and so že kyng a bide all nyth wiž
Igerna and fulfilled his luste. And žat nyth he //
begate kyng Artiur že whiche afterward was a
man of greet name. In žis menetyme while
že kyng was absent že hoost doyng by noo consell
žrew downe že castell žat was bisegid and slewe
Gorloys. žen come messangers to Igerna telli(n)g
her of že dukes deeth and when žei saw že kyng in
Gorloys likenes žei merueyled greetly. Žen že kyng
com nere to Igerna and seide y am not y slayn. But
yett y lyve as ye may se. And now schall y go ma
ke an onement with že kyng. And when že
kyng com out of že castell reformyd to his owne
likenes and wente to his hooste. Žen že kyng we
ded Igerna and bigate of her a son and a douter
žat is to say Artur and An.

From here, the text goes straight to the death of Uther, using the tradition noted as far back as Geoffrey of Monmouth's work of his death due to drinking well-water poisoned by the Saxons. Interestingly, this text joins Geoffrey in mentioning Uther's prior illness, yet giving no further explanation for it.

Feržermore Otta
and Gosa. že whiche were in že kyngis prisone at
london skaped in to Normandi. and žere gedryng
a grett nany retornyd for to destroie žis lond. and
destroide Scotlond with fire and dyntt of swerde.
But Loth seyng že kyng y vexyd with gret
sikenes often tymes fowte with hem compellig
hem to fle. And also putt žem to flitt unto že ty
me žat žis lond was all moost destroide. žen
že kyng comaunded a bere to be made for hym
for ožer wise mytte he nott be caried his sikenes //
was so greet. And with a greet hoost he com
to Verolan where žat his enemyes vexed his
peple and žer fittyng with hem he hadde že
victory. And Otta and Gosa were y slayn. Att
že laste while žat he lay att Verolan he dranke
of a welle že whiche was y venemyd of že Sax
ons. And žer of he dide and is y beryed bi his bro
žir Aurelius

It is at this point in the narrative that this text chooses to deal with the question of Uther's name "pendragon", rather than dealing with it at the beginning of his realm when the naming occurs, as does Geoffrey. (It is of tangential interest that given the frequently spurious linguistics of medieval texts, "pen" does indeed mean "head of" in Welsh).

More ouer for to haue že interpretation
of žis name pendragon. We moste returne to
Merlyons prophesie že which was prophesied
in že tyme of Aurelius Ambrosius. What
tyme Aurelius was y poisoned in Wynchester.
a sterre appered of a meruelus gretnes and britt
nes castyng but oon beme. At že whiche beme
apperyd a fyry gobett in likenes of a dragon. Out
of whos mowth yrore 2 fyry bemys wherof
žat oon was extendid toward Fraunce. And //
žat ožer toward že yrysth see. Že whiche was y
dyuyded into 6 less bemys. Of že apperyng
of žis sterre many men were sore a ferde. And Uter
at žat tyme bataylyng in walis agayns paste
ctus. Vortigerinis son and Gillomanius že kyng
of Irelond and žere sleyng hem bi že side of me
nen fore also y steryd of žis sith comaunded mer
lyn to expowne že cawse of že apperyng of žis ster
re že whiche a non cryeng owte seide. Aureli
us že kyng of Britan is deed. Žerfor žu noble p(re)u
te hye že to bataile agayns žyne enemyes for že
victorie schall be to že and žu schalt be kyng of
britan. The sterre and že firy dragon signe
fieth že. The beme žat extendeth hym toward F(ra)un
ce notefieth a mytti son žat žu schalt haue whos
power schall be on all že remys žat že beme fire
chith ouer. And žat ožer beme betokeneth ži dout(er)
whois childrn and žeire childron schall succedeli
teli regne in Britayne. Then Uter y made
kyng hauyng mynde of Merlyns exposition co
maunded 2 dragons to be made of gold after že
že likenes of žat dragon žat he sawe at že appe
ryng of že sterre. And when žei were crafli
y made he offred žat oon in že cathedrall church //
of wynchester. And žat ožer he kepte for to bere in to
bataylis. From žat tyme was he called Uter
pendragon žat in britons language is y called. dra
gons hede for cause žat Merlyn bi že dragon prophe
side hym to be kyng

At this point, the text turns to Arthur's reign, though he is now named Uther's brother rather than his son ("brožer" can also mean "close kinsman", but this use is uncommon), and is said to be fifteen years old, though little time seems to have passed between his conception and crowning.

Arthur after his brožer Uterpendra
gon bi že assente of že britons was
y made kyng žorow že suggestion of Dubricius
archibischepp of Merlyns cyte. The Britons had
nede žerto for že Saxons heryng of že deeth of Uter
pendragon called žeire felowes out of Germany
and Duke Colgrinus beyng žer leder žer be gon to
putt out že britons. That tyme žei gete
all žis yle from že water of humber to že cathenes
see. Žen Arthur beyng 15 yere of age gederyng a
gret multitude of peple com to yorke where žat
Colgrinus was.

If this is an attempt on the part of this scribe or his model to legitmise the rule of a king who would have been conceived a bastard, it is very curious that so much time is spent on dealing with his conception. If it is merely a slip on his part, or results from the telescoping of many events into so small a time, it is interesting to consider the fact that the scribe may have been unfamiliar with other Arthurian tales, or may have indeed been very slavishly copying from the Latin original.

A good deal of what is left out are the details of individual battles and campaigns, as well as any mention of peacetime activities. Where many of the other chronicles (as well as the romances that form a major portion of Arthurian literature) name numerous knights and ladies and discuss the strategies and numbers used in each battle and describe with often gruesome detail the individual fights in each war, this text deals only cursorily with each, saying which leaders fought and were killed, mentioning some numbers, but never individual fights, except to tell that one leader kills another; no details are given.

Wherfore Colgrinus callyng
to gedre saxons. scottis and pictis. mette with
hym at že water of Duglas. Wher by
batayle bože p(er)ties stode in perell. neu že latter
Artur had že victori. And folowyng Colgrin(us)
y turnyd to flith be segyd hym in yorke. Bal
dulphus heryng of his brožers flith com to že
sege with že 6000 men to helpe his brother: //
The whiche abode že comyng of duke Childe
ricus owte of Amayn to be žer socour. And žei
ordeyned žat he scholde breke in bi nyth. Butt
kyng Artour y warnyd here of comaunded Cador
že duke of cornuall to mete wiž hym že same
nyth with 6000 fotemen. ...
messangers returned from germany bryngi(n)g
with hem to childericus in Britan 600 schip
pis y lade with knythis. žen Artur hery(n)g
here of com in to london and bi assent of že com
myn counsell: he sende into že lasse Britan to
Hoelus kyng tellyng hym in what destresse žis
londe stode. Žis hoelus was Artures susters son //
že whiche sende že žowsand of armyd men to helpe
hym. Žat londed at hampton and with in schortt
tyme Artur and hoelus wente to lyncoln žat ty
me y beseged of že forsaide paganys. And 6000
of že saxons y slayn. že remenant began to voy
de. And Artur folowyng bestette hem in Cele
don wode. že whiche y constrayned with hunger
asked out goyng in žis condicion žat žei scholde
for go all žeire siluer and gold and go to Germany
with žeire schippis promittyng germany to be tri
butary to hym and žerto žei lefte men in plegge
to hym. And žen žei hadde graunte. But (indeed)
when žei were in že see saylyng homward žei re
pented hem of že couienant žat žei had made w(i)t(h)
Artur. Wherfore žei returned to Britan comyng
in to že water of Totenes and destroyng že contr(y)
down to Seuern besegyng že costis of Bado. And
when kyng Artur herde herof. a non he lett honge
žeire pleggis. faste hyeng to destroye že scege. bey(n)g
full sory žat he lefte bi hym hoelus his cosyn ley
yng seke. And when he assayled že Saxons in
schorte tyme he slew Colgrinus and his brožer bal
dulphus and many žowsand mo. puttyng Childe
ricus to flitt. Že kyng hauyng že victory coman//
did Cador že Duke of Cornuewayle to folow hem
žat fledde and he slew Childericus. After all
žise grett bataylis žat Artur had wiž že Saxons
he wente into F(ra)unce a geyns lucyus y sende from
že romayns to aske tribute of Artur. and compel
lyng his hooste to flee. he kylde že same lucyus.

Furthermore, individuals and places are named only as they affect major events — Guinevere (here Gwenora or Guenora) is never mentioned except as a reason that Arthur must return to Britain — Mordred (here Mordredus) has married her and seized the kingdom:

Žen was hit y tolde že kyng goyng toward Rome žat mor
dredus his cosyn to whom he comytted že rewle
of že reme. traitorly had take on hym že crowne
and how he had y wedded Gwenora. his quene des
pisyng že furste weddyng. Wherfore he retur
nyd to Britan. where he foute twies with mor
dredus and putt hym to flitte. And att že žirde ty
me he slew him. ... And že quene Guenora endyd her lyff
in že cyte of legions a monges že mynchons.

In addition, Mordred is called Arthur's "cosyn", meaning kinsman or perhaps specifically nephew, and no mention is made of his also being Arthur's son. Aside from these two, only a handful of other names are mentioned, and among these the only of Arthur's men that are named are Cador, Duke of Cornwall, Hoel (here Hoelus), Duke of Brittany, and Loth, king of Scotland (though neither his rank nor his marriage to Arthur's sister are mentioned in this text). It is notable that as many personal names and details are mentioned during the tale of Arthur's conception as throughout his entire reign. This contrasts sharply with the example of Laamon, who not only mentions many of Arthur's knights and allies, but discusses their parentage and holdings in depth (eleven lines deal with Gawain's schooling), and Malory's Morte Darthur, c. 1480, which includes entire books (such as the Book of Sir Tristram de Lyones, his retelling of the Tristan story) making little or no mention of Arthur.

The names that are mentioned tend to take their Latinate forms — Colgrinus and Baldulphus, and Hoelus ("Hoel" in Wace), Mordredus — or more standard variations — Uter, Art(h)ur, Igerna, Cador. Of note are the o/e alternation in Gorloys/Gorleys, most likely due to the influence of Old French, in which the two letters were often interchangeable, the alteration of Geoffrey of Monmouth's "Eosa" to "Gosa", and the transposition that has occurred, changing the more usual placename "Tintagel" into "Tingotell". The use of "Otta" for "Offa" has at least one analogue in the Brut of Michigan University ms 225.

This retelling of the Croniclis not only makes no mention of the comparatively recent French addition to the legends Lancelot, but fails to note any other knights, including Gawain and Kay, who are intimately connected with Arthur throughout the Arthurian corpus, from early Welsh works, through Geoffrey and the chronicles of Wace and Laamon, and on as late as Malory.

Part of this difference is no doubt due to a difference in purpose — Malory's work was meant as an entertaining piece of fiction, whereas chronicles were designed merely to depict the history of the land as a whole. However, the detailed description of Uther's wooing of Igerna leaves some confusion as to why the reign of Arthur is treated so perfunctorily. The inclusion of other episodes also gives rise to some speculation, such as the folkloric tale of Baldulphus' attempt to rescue his brother Colgrinus from Arthur's prison:

Bal
dulphus beyng sory her of and takyng avise
ment how he myth delyuer his brožer. schauyd
his hede and his beerd and toke on hym a iogelers
rayment and an harpe. And žen he walked
up and don in že kyngis court and made hym
self an harper. And seying žat no man p(er)seyuyd
hym bi no suspescion he drew hym toward the
wallis. And when he was a spide of hem ž(at)
were žere he was lett don to his brother bi roo
pis.

Why is this occurrence dealt with in such detail, and the similar event of Arthur's battle with the giant at Mont St-Michel, which occupies three and one-half pages in the translated Historia Regum Britanniae, and the same amount of space in Malory's work, summed up in one sentence?

He kylde also att seynt michaell mownte an
horrible gyant. že whiche had rauyschid helene že
cosyn of hoelus Duke of lasse Britan.

Neither the monster's harrying of the peoples around the Mount, nor the rather gruesome tribute (Arthur's beard) that he asks are mentioned in this text; no details of the battle are given. The entire episode has become nothing more than a footnote to Arthur's campaign against Rome, which itself is a two-line footnote to his fights against the Saxons. This contrasts with the alliterative Morte Arthure, which dates from the same time and deals exclusively with the Roman campaign and Mordred's treachery, taking over 4,300 lines to do so (Stone, 1988).

One more fact that is worth noting is the explicit mention of Arthur's death and burial at Glastonbury:

And Artur hauying his dethis
woundes neuerželasse yett leuyng a while dide
and is y beried at Glastenbury the yere of grace 5/42.

an element which does not enter the legend until quite late, in an attempt by the Anglo-Norman royalty to discredit the idea that this hero of the Britons was gone to Avalon to have his wounds healed and would return to save them in their time of need, a part of the story present throughout most of the earlier texts. Later works equate Glastonbury, a monastery surrounded at the time by swampland, with this legendary isle, and shortly after the reign of Henry II, Arthur's grave was actually "discovered" there, though whether an attempt by the king to invalidate Arthur's returning or a bid by the monks to gain further pilgrims is open to debate.

Overall, this section of this particular chronicle seems most noteworthy for the brevity with which it treats its subject. In a tradition that has tended rather to increase the importance of Arthur and his knights, pulling in other legends such as the Tristan and making them a part of the Arthurian material, this work jettisons not only those other legends, but nearly everything else related to Arthur with the exception of his birth and his battles against the Saxons. Why this may be is uncertain; it may be that by this time (the same time as the alliterative Morte Arthure and only shortly before Malory's works) the stories of Arthur were losing credence as history, being taken more for fiction, and so became less important, or that this particular chronicle was concerned only with events that occurred within the realm of Britain. In either case, this would seem to show a trend away from inclusion of the Arthurian legend in the English chronicles, though other texts would need to be consulted to determine if this trend bears out.

References

Barron, W. R. J., and S. C. Weinberg, eds. & trans. 1989. Lazamon's Arthur: The Arthurian Section of Lazamon's Brut (lines 9229 - 14297). Essex: Longman Group UK Limited.

Brut. Michigan University ms 225, Retrieved 17 November, 1998 from the World Wide Web.

Cappelli, Adriano. 1954. Dizionario di Abbreviature Latine ed Italiane. Milan: Tipografia Sociale.

Croniclis of Ingelond. University of Columbia. Microfilm of Plimpton 261.

Stone, Brian, trans. 1988. King Arthur's Death: Alliterative Morte Arthure and Stanzaic Le Morte Arthur. New York and London: Penguin Classics.

Vinaver, Eugčne, ed. 1971. Malory: Works. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Pages designed by Lorelei Feldman
e-mail questions or suggestions to
loreleif@ix.netcom.com
Pages last updated 17 January 2002