Late Medieval Books, Life of Merlin

Life of Merlin is in Late Medieval Books.

Vita Merlini, or The Life of Merlin, is a Latin poem in 1,529 hexameter lines written around the year 1150. It is believed to be by Geoffrey of Monmouth.

But after Merlin saw so many bands of men approaching,

At post quam tantas hominum merlinus adesse

He could not endure them.

Jnspexit turmas- nec eas perferre valeret

For he was seized by madness, and once again filled with fury,

Cepit enim furias- iterum que furore repletus

He longed to go to the forest and sought to withdraw in secret.

Ad nemus ire cupit furtim que recedere querit

Then Rodarchus ordered that he be held under guard,

Tunc precepit eum posito custode teneri

And that a lyre be played to soothe his madness.

Rodarchus- cithara que suos mulcere furores

Grieving, he stood before him and, with words and prayers,

Astabat que dolens uerbis que precantibus illum

Begged him to regain his reason and remain with him,

Orabat ratione frui- secum que manere

Neither to seek the forest nor to live in the manner of a wild beast.

Nec captare nemus- nec uiuere more ferino:

To wish to hold royal sceptres beneath the trees,

Velle sub arboribus dum regia sceptra tenere

And to exercise justice over fierce peoples.

Posset et in populos ius exercere feroces

Then he promises him that he will give him many great gifts.

Hinc promittit ei se plurima dona daturum.

And he orders to be brought forth garments, birds, and dogs,

Afferi que iubet uestes- uolucres que canes que

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The Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough, a canon regular of the Augustinian Guisborough Priory, Yorkshire, formerly known as The Chronicle of Walter of Hemingburgh, describes the period from 1066 to 1346. Before 1274 the Chronicle is based on other works. Thereafter, the Chronicle is original, and a remarkable source for the events of the time. This book provides a translation of the Chronicle from that date. The Latin source for our translation is the 1849 work edited by Hans Claude Hamilton. Hamilton, in his preface, says: "In the present work we behold perhaps one of the finest samples of our early chronicles, both as regards the value of the events recorded, and the correctness with which they are detailed; Nor will the pleasing style of composition be lightly passed over by those capable of seeing reflected from it the tokens of a vigorous and cultivated mind, and a favourable specimen of the learning and taste of the age in which it was framed." Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback.

Swift quadrupeds, gold, and glittering gems,

Quadrupedes que citos- aurum- gemmas que micantes

Goblets that Wayland [Map] carved in the city of Sigen.

Pocula que sculpsit guielandus in urbe sigeni

Rodarchus displays each item to the prophet and offers them.

Singula pretendit uati rodarchus et offert

And he urges him to stay with him and abandon the forests.

Et monet ut maneat secum siluas que relinquet

But the prophet, answering, rejected such gifts.

Talia respondens spernebat munera vates

'Let the leaders who are troubled by poverty have these,

Jsta duces habeant sua quos confundit egestas

For they are not content with little, but seek the greatest things.

Nec sunt contenti modico- set maxima captant

To these, I prefer the forest and the broad oaks of Caledon,

Hiis nemus et patulas calidonis prefero quercus

And the lofty mountains with the green meadows below.

Et montes celsos- subtus virentia prata

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The Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke. Baker was a secular clerk from Swinbroke, now Swinbrook, an Oxfordshire village two miles east of Burford. His Chronicle describes the events of the period 1303-1356: Gaveston, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, the murder of King Edward II, the Scottish Wars, Sluys, Crécy, the Black Death, Winchelsea and Poitiers. To quote Herbert Bruce 'it possesses a vigorous and characteristic style, and its value for particular events between 1303 and 1356 has been recognised by its editor and by subsequent writers'. The book provides remarkable detail about the events it describes. Baker's text has been augmented with hundreds of notes, including extracts from other contemporary chronicles, such as the Annales Londonienses, Annales Paulini, Murimuth, Lanercost, Avesbury, Guisborough and Froissart to enrich the reader's understanding. The translation takes as its source the 'Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke' published in 1889, edited by Edward Maunde Thompson. Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback.

Those things please me—these do not. Keep such treasures

Illa michi- non ista placent- tu talia tecum

For yourself, King Rodarchus. My Caledonian

Rex rodarche feras- mea me calidonis habebit

Forest, rich in nuts, shall have me, which I prefer above all things.

Silua ferax nucibus- quam cunctis prefero rebus

At last, when no gift could keep the sorrowful man,

Denique cumnullo potuisset munere tristem

The king ordered him to be bound with a strong chain,

Rex retinere uirum- forti vincire cathena:

Lest, once freed, he seek the wilderness of the forests.

Jussit- ne peterit nemorum deserta solutus

Then, when the prophet felt the bonds around him

Ergo cum sensit circum se uincula vates

And could no longer freely go to the Caledonian woods,

Nec liber poterat siluas calidonis adire:

He immediately grieved, remained silent and sorrowful,

Protinus indoluit tristis que tacens que remansit

Withdrew all joy from his face,

Leticiamque suis subtraxit uultibus omnem

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The Deeds of King Henry V, or in Latin Henrici Quinti, Angliæ Regis, Gesta, is a first-hand account of the Agincourt Campaign, and subsequent events to his death in 1422. The author of the first part was a Chaplain in King Henry's retinue who was present from King Henry's departure at Southampton in 1415, at the siege of Harfleur, the battle of Agincourt, and the celebrations on King Henry's return to London. The second part, by another writer, relates the events that took place including the negotiations at Troye, Henry's marriage and his death in 1422.

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So that he neither spoke a word nor moved to smile.

Ut non proferret uerbum- risum que moueret