Editing Nennius

{{About|the 9th century Welsh monk}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}

'''Nennius''' – or '''Nemnius''' or '''Nemnivus''' – was a Welsh monk of the 9th century. He has traditionally been attributed with the authorship of the ''[[Historia Brittonum]]'', based on the prologue affixed to that work.<ref>[[J. A. Giles]] (translator). [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/nennius-full.html ''Nennius: The History of the Britons'', in ''Six Old English Chronicles'' (1847)]</ref> This attribution is widely considered a secondary (10th-century) tradition.<ref>{{cite web|first1=David|last1=Dumville|author-link1=David Dumville|url=http://www.britishhistoryclub.com/bhc/sources/nennius_hb.html|title=British History Club Sources|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907061426/http://www.britishhistoryclub.com/bhc/sources/nennius_hb.html|archive-date=7 September 2008 }}</ref>{{rs?|date=November 2023}}

Nennius was a student of Elvodugus, commonly identified with the bishop [[Elfodd]] of [[Bangor, Gwynedd|Bangor]]<ref name=lambdin>{{Cite book| title = Arthurian Writers: A Biographical Encyclopedia - Google Books| isbn = 9780313346828| access-date = 2018-04-14| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=6LBFCZY-ml8C| last1 = Lambdin| first1 = Laura C.| last2 = Lambdin| first2 = Robert T.| year = 2008| publisher = Bloomsbury Academic}}</ref> who convinced British ecclesiastics to accept the Continental [[Easter controversy|dating for Easter]], and who died in 809 according to the ''[[Annales Cambriae]]''.

Nennius is believed to have lived in the area made up by [[Brecknockshire]] and [[Radnorshire]] in present-day [[Powys]], Wales.<ref>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Nennius|volume=40|page=218}}</ref> Thus, he lived outside the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, isolated by mountains in a rural society.<ref>Gransden, Antonia. ''Historical Writing in England''. Ithaca, New York: Cornell UP, 1974. 12</ref> Because of the lack of evidence concerning the life of Nennius, he has become the subject of legend himself. Welsh traditions include Nennius with Elbodug and others said to have escaped the massacre of Welsh monks by [[Ethelfrid]] in 613, fleeing to the north.<ref>Lee, Sidney, ed. "Nennius." ''Dictionary of National Biography''. XL. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1894. 221</ref>

==Authorship of the ''Historia Brittonum''==
{{Main|Historia Brittonum}}
Nennius was traditionally credited with having written the ''[[Historia Brittonum]]'' {{Circa|830}}.<ref>Gransden, Antonia. ''Historical Writing in England''. Ithaca, New York: Cornell UP, 1974. 6</ref> The ''Historia Brittonum'' was highly influential, becoming a major contributor to the [[Matter of Britain|Arthurian legend]], in particular for its inclusion of events relevant to debate about the [[historicity of King Arthur]].<ref name=lambdin /> It also includes the legendary origins of the [[Picts]], [[Scoti|Scots]], [[St. Germanus of Auxerre|St. Germanus]] and [[Vortigern]], and documents events associated with the [[Anglo-Saxon invasion]] of the 7th century as contributed by a Northumbrian document.<ref>Marsh, Henry. ''Dark Age Britain: Some Sources of History''. Hamden, Connecticut: Archon Books, 1970. 84</ref>

Evidence suggests that the ''Historia Brittonum'' was a compilation of several sources, some of which are named by Nennius, while others are not. Some experts say that this was not the first compiled history of the Britons and that it was largely based on [[Gildas]]' ''[[De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae]]'' written some three centuries before.<ref>Gransden, Antonia. ''Historical Writing in England''. Ithaca, New York: Cornell UP, 1974. 7</ref>   Other sources included a ''Life of St Germanus'' and several royal pedigrees.<ref name="FS75-6">[[Frank Stenton|Stenton, Frank]]. ''Anglo Saxon England''. New York: Oxford UP, 1971. 75–76</ref>  Most other sources have not survived and therefore cannot be confirmed.  The surviving manuscripts of the ''Historia Brittonum'' appear to be redacted from several lost versions: information about Nennius contained in the ''Prologue'' and in the ''Apology'' differs, the ''Prologue'' containing an expanded form of the ''Apology'' that is only found in editions copied during the 12th century, leading experts to believe that later versions of the document were altered.<ref>Lee, Sidney, ed. "Nennius." ''Dictionary of National Biography''. XL. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1894. 218-19</ref>  The largest known edition contains seventy-six sections including the ''Prologue'' and the ''Apology''.  The work was translated into Irish by Giolla Coemgin in {{Circa|1071}} and is the earliest example of the original ''Historia Brittonum'',<ref>Lee, Sidney, ed. "Nennius." ''Dictionary of National Biography''. XL. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1894. 219</ref> that includes the author's name, Nennius.<ref>Gransden, Antonia. ''Historical Writing in England''. Ithaca, New York: Cornell UP, 1974. 9</ref>

Originally written as a history of the Britons in an attempt to document a legitimate past, the ''Historia Brittonum'' contains stories of legend and superstition alike.<ref name="Gransden, Antonia 1974">Gransden, Antonia. ''Historical Writing in England''. Ithaca, New York: Cornell UP, 1974. 11</ref>  The historical accuracy of the ''Historia Brittonum'' is at best questionable, but the document is internally consistent and provides information from and indirectly about Nennius' sources.<ref name="FS75-6" />   Some historians{{who|date=April 2014}} argue that the ''Historia Brittonum'' gives good insight into the way 9th century Britons viewed themselves and their past.<ref>Marsh, Henry. ''Dark Age Britain: Some Sources of History''. Hamden, Connecticut: Archon Books, 1970. 8</ref>  Nennius makes several attempts to trace the history of the Britons back to the Romans and Celts through his empirical observations of what he refers to as ''"The Marvels"'' or ''"Wonders of Britain"''.<ref name="Gransden, Antonia 1974"/>  These include ruins, landmarks and other aspects of the British countryside that Nennius deems worthy of documentation.  His explanation of the physical landmarks and ruins take on a mystical interpretation despite Nennius being a Christian monk.  Within the writing of Nennius is a sense of nationalist pride attempting to legitimise the people of Britain and embellish the past through legend much as the Romans used the story of ''[[Romulus and Remus]]'' to legitimise the founding of Rome.<ref>Gransden, Antonia. ''Historical Writing in England''. Ithaca, New York: Cornell UP, 1974. 8</ref>  One such example of Nennius stressing legend is in his accounts of Arthur and his twelve battles.  The ''Historia Brittonum'' would come to be the basis on which later medieval authors such as [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]] would write the {{Lang|la|[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]}}, one of the early [[Welsh chronicles]] and romantic histories of King Arthur.<ref name=lambdin /><ref>Marsh, Henry. ''Dark Age Britain: Some Sources of History''. Hamden, Connecticut: Archon Books, 1970. 65</ref> Nennius however never refers to Arthur as a King instead calling him a "Dux Bellorum" who lead the kings of Britain in battle, a military commander.

==Debate regarding his life and works==
The Prologue, in which Nennius introduces his purpose and means for writing the ''British History'', first appears in a manuscript from the twelfth century.  The prologues of all other manuscripts, though only included marginally, so closely resemble this first prologue that William Newell claims they must be copies. "The preface has evidently been prepared by someone who had before him the completed text of the treatise. It appears in the first instance as a marginal gloss contained in a MS. of the twelfth century;' under ordinary conditions, the chapter would unhesitatingly be set aside as a forgery."<ref>Newell, William Wells. "Doubts Concerning the British History Attributed to Nennius." ''PMLA''. 20.3 (1905): 622–72.</ref> He counters Zimmer's argument by reasoning that the Irishman responsible for the "superior" Irish translations might have added his own touches, further claiming that if a Latin version of the ''Historia'' had been available in the 12th century, it would have been replicated in that language, not translated.

David N. Dumville argues that the manuscript tradition and nature of the Prologue in particular fail to substantiate the claim that Nennius was the author of ''Historia Brittonum''.  In his argument against Zimmer, he cites a textual inconsistency in the Irish translation regarding a place called Beulan, concluding that "we must admit to ignorance of the name of [the ''Historia's''] ninth-century author."<ref>Dumville, D. N.  ''Histories and Pseudo-histories of the Insular Middle Ages''. Aldershot: Variorum, 1990.</ref>

==Associated historians and authors==
* [[Gildas]] – Sixth-century historian who lived in South-west Britain.  Wrote ''[[De excidio et conquestu Britanniae]]'', which focused largely on the history of Christian Britain but fails to give an in-depth look of the pagan period.<ref>Gransden, Antonia. ''Historical Writing in England.'' Ithaca, New York: Cornell UP, 1974.</ref>
* Bede (the [[Venerable Bede]]) – Lived in Northumbria about half a century prior to Nennius. He wrote ''[[Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum]]'' (Ecclesiastical History of the English People) over many years (completed 731 or 732). It includes a geographical description of the British Isles and focuses on the history of the Anglo-Saxon Church from [[Augustine of Canterbury|St. Augustine]]'s 597 mission though his preamble covers earlier ages.
* [[William of Malmesbury]] – Early twelfth-century historian.  Recorded history of Britain by compiling both Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman traditions.  He was the first historian of England to make use of topography and ancient monuments as historical sources.
* [[Geoffrey Gaimar]] – Twelfth-century Norman historian who wrote ''[[L'Estoire des Engleis]]''.  It was the first known Romance in vernacular verse written in England.

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
*{{Citation
|last=Nennius
|author-link=Nennius
|date=c. 796
|editor-last=Todd
|editor-first=James Henthorn
|editor-link=James Henthorn Todd
|editor2-last=Algernon
|editor2-first=Herbert
|title=Leabhar Breathnach Annso Sis: The Irish Version of the Historia Britonum of Nennius
|publisher=The Irish Archaeological Society
|publication-date=1848
|location=Dublin
|url=https://archive.org/details/leabharbreathnac00nennuoft
|access-date=10 August 2008
}}

==References==
* Gransden, Antonia (1974) ''Historical Writing in England''. Ithaca, NY: Cornell U. P.
* Dumville, David N. (1975) ''Nennius and the "Historia Brittonum"'' in: ''Studia Celtica'', 10/11 (1975/6), 78–95
* Chadwick, Nora K. (1958) "Early Culture and Learning in North Wales" in her: ''Studies in the Early British Church''
* Christiane M.J. Kerboul-Vilhon (1999) [http://servijer.net/mediaoueg/Nennius-Historia-Brittonum Historia Brittonum, Nennius]

==External links==
{{Wikisource author}}
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Nennius |volume= 19 |last= Davis |first= Henry William Carless |author-link= Henry William Carless Davis | page = 371 |short= 1 }}
* {{Gutenberg author |id=765}}
* {{Internet Archive author}}
* {{Librivox author |id=660}}
* [http://avalon.law.yale.edu/medieval/nenius.asp ''Historia Brittonum''] at the [[Avalon Project]].
* [http://www.bartleby.com/211/0503.html Nennius and ''Historia Brittonum''] commentary from ''[[The Cambridge History of English and American Literature]]'', Volume 1, 1907–21.
* [http://www.wondersofbritain.org/index.html ''The Wonders of Britain'']: The ''de mirabilibus britanniae'' section of the Historia Brittonum, with details

{{Authority control}}

{{Short description|9th-century Welsh monk and writer}}

[[Category:9th-century births]]
[[Category:9th-century deaths]]
[[Category:Geoffrey of Monmouth]]
[[Category:Medieval Welsh literature]]
[[Category:Writers of Arthurian literature]]
[[Category:9th-century Welsh historians]]
[[Category:9th-century writers in Latin]]
[[Category:9th-century Christian monks]]
[[Category:Welsh Christian monks]]