The History of the Kings of Britain

On his head he placed a golden helmet, with a crest carved in the shape of a dragon.’ Completed in 1136, The History of the Kings of Britain traces the story of the realm from its supposed foundation by Brutus to the coming of the Saxons some two thousand years later. Vividly portraying legendary and semi-legendary figures such as Lear, Cymbeline, Merlin the magician and the most famous of all British heroes, King Arhtur, it is as much myth as it is history and its veracity was questioned by other medieval writers. But Geoffrey of Monmouth’s powerful evocation of illustious men and deeds captured the imagination of subsequent generations, and his influence can be traced through the works of Malory, Shakespeare, Dryden and Tennyson.