Rereading again the “Historia Regum Brittaniae” is reminding me how badarse Corineus is. I mean… look at this man! He just lost his sword, grabbed the nearest axe and proceeded to wreck everyone who got in his way!
And then further down the text, it turns out that Corineus chose Cornwall exactly for the reason that he just loves wrestling giants. That man shucked Gogmagog down a cliff! 😆
And if you add the Middle English "Merlin; or the early history of King Arthur" (which you can read here), it turns out that, according to Book X, Corineus is also descended from giants too. That adds so much nuance to HRB!
Moreover, if you think, Corineus and his axe was a one-time thing, well... it isn't! Years and years later, that man still has his axe and he's threatening Brutus' son, Locrinus, with it because "So, help me the gods if you don't marry my little girl, I'll chop you to pieces!" (🥲 that's such a girl dad thing to do and he's just watching out for his and his daughter's interests).
So, I was planning to read the books from my book list, but then I got distracted and started reading another book that wasn’t on my book list. 😅😆 What book do I speak of? Well, none other than Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae.
Who is Geoffrey of Monmouth? This dude was a monk. He wrote a story of the Welsh (or Britons as he calls them), which he says he translated from the Briton language into the Latin. He used many sources and added his own take of things. Long story short, his work made its way across Europe, and it just spread like wildfire with people from different countries adding to it and proceeding to create the Arthurian Multiverse. Monmouth and his Welsh compatriots (in my opinion) can be thus considered the Fathers of Arthuriana.
Anyways, Historia Regum Britanniae (or HRB for short) comprises of 12 books. And thus, I start a new reading journey! So, I read Book 1. Lemme tell you, it has a nice mix of everything, such as a little bit of mythology here, a pinch of history there and Monmouth creating his own O.C. (his name is Brutus, btw).
Book 1 starts with Monmouth dedicating his book to important people, then he proceeds to describe Britain, its climate, among other things. Afterwards, he starts his story. Once upon a time, Aeneas ran away from Troy for all the reasons we know (since this is taken straight from Homer’s The Iliad). But this is not his story, this is the story about his great-grandson Brutus.
You see, fifteen-year-old Brutus killed his dad Silvius by accident (it was prophesied apparently) and makes a run for it because his family is pissed at him. So, this teenager hangs out in other cities and runs into distant relatives that are slaves. A few years later, the descendants of Trojans are flocking around him because they want Brutus to kick the Greeks’ arse. There’s also this Greek dude Assaracus (he has Trojan ancestry, btw) who wants in into the conspiracy because his half-brother didn’t let him inherit property his father left him on account of him being the son of a concubine. As such, there’s plotting done by Brutus and company.
Brutus sends a letter to King Pandrasus. He’s like, “Dear King Pandrasus, you have enslaved the Trojans for so long and it’s not cool, so they have decided to go live in the woods instead to avoid slavery. Therefore, don’t be angry at them, because seriously, man, they want their freedom. If you don’t give them their freedom, then kick them out so that they can go out to another country or something.
Pandrasus gets the letter and he’s like, “Hahaha, no, I’m not freeing the Trojans.”
Then, the king gathers his council, and the decision is made to go after the Trojans. Brutus gets information that Pandrasus and his army are coming, so he takes the Greeks by surprise. Brutus and his army proceed to kick the Greek Army’s arse. And it’s a bloody battle, and Pandrasus’ brother Antigonus, and his companion, Anacletus, are captured.
Pandrasus reconvenes with what’s left of his troops and makes plans to besiege the town Brutus took over. The town (which is called Sparatinum) asks Brutus for help, because “Bruh, they’re besieging us and we’re afraid we won’t win. Please help!” And Brutus wants to help them, but he can’t because he doesn’t have enough men, so he plans to sneak into the Greek camp and take them by surprise so he can kill as many as he can. As such, he threatens to kill Anacletus if he doesn’t do as he says, which is to lie to the camp that he has Antigonus and to help him out.
Anacletus doesn’t want to die, and he doesn’t want Antigonus to die either, so he accepts and betrays his countrymen. Basically…
Anacletus comes to the Greek camp being like, “Heeeey, I’m back!”
Everyone: (suspicious) Are you really? Why should we believe you? Who says you haven’t betrayed us?
Anacletus: LE GASP! What!? Moi? Never! I escaped from the Trojan camp with Antigonus, but he needs helps because he has fetters on.
Everyone: 😒 We don’t believe you.
Anacletus’ friend: (sees what’s going on) Guys, guys, he’s cool! You should totally trust this guy!
Yeah… the Greek watch falls for it and they come with Anacletus, and they get slain. Then, Brutus divides his men and tells them to await his signal to attack the Greek camp. Afterwards, he gives his men the signal to attack said camp, and it’s a bloody massacre. Pandrasus gets spared because Brutus has plans for the king. The king is taken to town under watch and Brutus gathers his men to discuss what to do and what to request. The council is full of indecision.
Someone: We could demand land in some part of the country for our people.
Others: Yeah, no, we should ask for supplies for our voyage in order to leave.
No one can agree until this dude called Mempricius is like, “Why don’t y’all make up your minds already!? Seriously, staying here ain’t a good idea since we just made enemies by killing the Greek armies and their families will want revenge. I suggest that Brutus asks to marry Pandrasus’ eldest daughter, Ignoge, and asks for money and supplies so that we can leave for another country.”
Everyone agrees with Mempricius. So, they do as he says, and Pandrasus be like, “Yeah, I agree with your terms. Because I seriously don’t wanna die.”
The King gives them 324 ships full of supplies and gives them riches. He also marries his daughter to Brutus, who is very sad that she must set sail and never see her country and family again. Thus starts the journey!
During the voyage, Brutus and the Trojans land in this deserted island called Leogecia. The men hunt for food and discover this abandoned city with a temple of the goddess Diana. Brutus, his augur Gerion and twelve of his most trusted men decide to offer sacrifices so they can know how they’ll do. The goddess Diana tells Brutus where to go while he’s sleeping, and the next morning Brutus tells his men about the dream. They heed the goddess’ words, and they continue their voyage, which has its ups and downs.
The Trojans run out of supplies, so they make a stop in Mauretania and proceed to gather them by laying waste of the whole land. Then, they proceed to leave and pass by the Pillars of Hercules, where they encounter sirens who almost destroy them. They keep traveling until they land somewhere and encounter more people who are descended of the Trojans. Their leader is this dude Corineus, of whom the Cornish people are descended of. Brutus and Corineus decide to join forces, so there’s more Trojans on board. More traveling ensues and they land in Aquitaine, France, where they survey the land for about a week.
Naturally, the King of Aquitaine, Goffarius Pictus, is worried so he sends ambassadors to inquire what the hell does Brutus’ people want. A diplomatic incident happens regarding the king’s hunting grounds. Then, war ensues because Corineus killed Goffarius’ ambassador. Long story short, but Corineus proceeds to wow everyone by fighting with a battle axe, killing Goffarius’ army left and right.
Ahahaha, Corineus is fights in berserker mode the Pictavian army. WTF!? 😂 (Are we sure this isn’t Gawain in disguise or Gawain’s ancestor?) Anyways, Brutus decides to help Corineus since the dude is killing people left and right, so Brutus and his men join on the battle. And the Pictavian army is like, “Yeah, no, let’s get the hella outta here!” As a result, Goffarius goes to Gaul, so they help him expel the Trojans, and the twelve princes of Gaul promise to help him expel them from Aquitaine.
Brutus and company proceed to spread chaos around Aquitaine by killing and looting towns and cities. Then, he camps to rest and gets word that Goffarius is coming with a sizeable army. And Brutus is just afraid of that, but at the same time he hopes he can defeat him with the help of his men. Then this happens…
GOFFARIUS VS. BRUTUS.
Winner? Brutus, at first. Then, Goffarius proceeds to kick his arse.
So this makes him super mega worried and Corineus appears and presents him with the solution to surprise Goffarius and Brutus loves the plan. The next day…
GOFFARIUS VS. BRUTUS (happens again).
Lots of people die from both sides, and just when Goffarius thinks he’s winning, Corineus surprises him and proceeds to kick his arse, so the win goes to Brutus. The problem with continuing the fight is that Brutus knows he’s going to lose to Goffarius because his army is increasing, so he decides to strategically retreat to his ships and set sail to the island Diana told him. I forgot to mention that Brutus’ nephew, Turonus, dies in battle, but that dude killed 600 people alone (what the hell does he eat!?).
At long last, Brutus and company arrive at Albion. He orders everyone to spread out and they also expel the remaining giants. Brutus divides the land in accordance with his commanders and what not. He calls the island Britain to perpetuate his name, and the people are called Britons. Corineus names his part of the island Corinea and his people, Corineans (later Cornish).
Long story short, this giant called Goemagot and twenty of his giant friends decide to attack the Britons during a festival of the gods. A lot of people die as a result, so Brutus and his men gather and strike back and killed all the giants, except Goemagot. Brutus wants Corineus to fight Goemagot the giant, which delights Corineus because he wants to fight him. Thus, it is…
CORINEUS VS. GOEMAGOT!
It’s human vs. a giant. Goemagot breaks three of Corineus' ribs, which makes the dude so mad that he picks up the giant and runs and shucks him down a cliff. 😂 And so dies Goemagot the giant.
All is well afterwards, and Brutus builds at the banks of the river Thames a city called New Troy. Brutus establishes laws to rule over his new kingdom. There’s a timeline comparison that establishes that the House of Priam is ruling over different places and that Eli the Priest from the Bible live around the same time. And so, ends Book I of Historia Regum.
Lesson? Make sure to prepare your hunting equipment so that you don’t kill your father by accident. Also, don’t mess with Corineus. Otherwise, he’ll go berserker on your arse with a battleaxe or shuck you down a cliff in anger.
Olá, boa tarde! Fizemos parte de um projeto juntos no qual eu saí por motivos bem pessoais, não sei se continua lá. Eu era dono da url @gracejar! Como tem sido seus dias desde então? A vida tá corrida? Por que aqui tá foda kkkkk /espanhol
Boa tarde | Rebloguei <3
De momento estou apenas no NovosPoetas, eu lembro mais ou menos de você, pelo menos a url gracejar não me é estranha xD mas não lembro se foi neste projeto ou num dos outros dois…
A vida aqui tem estado estável por agora, sabe? Não está corrida e felizmente não está parada, as coisas continuam difícies, tem dias bons e maus obviamente xD mas de modo geral não posso reclamar, mas fala aí, tá foda pque?
Vou reblogar autorias de quem me mandar uma pergunta na ask
