Brut: Analysis of Major Characters
The "Brut: Analysis of Major Characters" provides an overview of significant figures within the narrative of Brutus, a legendary ancestor of the ancient rulers of Britain. Central to this tale is Aeneas, the Trojan hero, and his lineage, particularly his grandson Brutus, who is portrayed as an ideal leader reminiscent of the heroic traditions seen in works like Beowulf. The characters surrounding Brutus, such as Assaracus, Corineus, and Locrin, contribute to the themes of bravery, leadership, and the complexities of power dynamics, with Locrin's downfall illustrating the dangers of personal choices on national stability.
The story also features notable figures like Arthur, a legendary king who confronts treachery and embodies noble virtues, alongside characters such as Guinevere, whose actions complicate the narrative of love and loyalty. Additionally, the text introduces historical figures, including Roman emperors and early Christian leaders, offering a rich tapestry of myth and history that reflects the cultural and moral values of the time. The characters and their intertwined fates highlight significant themes of honor, betrayal, and the quest for a just rule, inviting readers to explore the complexities of leadership and legacy in a mythic context.
Brut: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Layamon
First published: c. 1205
Genre: Poetry
Locale: Britain
Plot: Epic
Time: From the fall of Troy to the seventh century
Aeneas (ee-NEE-uhs), the Trojan hero, legendary ancestor of the ancient rulers of Britain.
Ascanius (as-KAY-nee-uhs), his son.
Brutus (BREW-tuhs), his grandson, who colonizes Britain with a group of Trojan descendants. Brave and generous to his followers, he is an ideal leader in the tradition of Beowulf.
Assaracus, the heir of a Greek knight and his Trojan concubine. He is Brutus' companion and military aide.
Corineus, the ruler of a Trojan colony in Spain and, later, of Cornwall. He is a man of violent temper and great bravery.
Geomagog, the giant who rules Logice, the island where Brutus lands.
Locrin, Brutus' successor, who brings chaos upon his country by repudiating his wife, Corineus' daughter, for his mistress, a maiden of his enemies, the Huns.
Camber and Albanact, his brothers, rulers of Wales and Scotland.
Humber, the king of the Huns, defeated by Locrin and Camber.
Aestrild, Locrin's mistress.
Guendoline, Locrin's rejected queen, who raises an army to defeat her husband and kill her rival.
Leil, a monarch who dies of sorrow at the uprising of his Barons.
Ruhhudibras, the founder of Winchester and Canterbury.
Bladud, his heir, whose discovery of hot springs is considered evidence of his consultation with devils.
Leir, the legendary original of William Shakespeare's Lear. He divides his kingdom between two of his daughters but rejects the third for her refusal to flatter him. After suffering persecution from the elder two, he is happily reunited with his youngest child.
Gornuille, Ragun, and Cordoille, his daughters.
Aganippus, the king of France, Cordoille's husband.
Gorbodiago, a good king, the model of the title figure in Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville's Gorboduc (1565).
Fereus and Poreus, his sons, murdered and murderer.
Jadon, their mother, who takes Poreus'life to avenge his killing of Fereus.
Cloten, the Duke of Cornwall, the man with the greatest right to Gorbodiago's throne. He lacks wealth and power to claim it.
Donwallo Molinus, his son, the fairest king of England, who brings peace, quiet, and good laws to his people.
Belen and Brennes, brothers and joint rulers. They conduct successful campaigns against Scandinavian and Roman forces.
Julius Caesar and Claudius, Roman emperors and rulers of Britain.
Luces, the just monarch in whose reign Christianity reaches England.
Asclepidiot, the ruler who expels the Romans.
Helen, the daughter of Coel, king of Britain, and Constantine's mother, who discovers the Cross of Christ in Jerusalem.
Constantine, her son, who reigns in Britain and expels the tyrant Maxenz from Rome.
Vortiger, a powerful earl, controller of half of Wales. To acquire power, he instigates a plot to place on the throne his king's son Constance, who is a monk and is therefore ineligible to rule.
Constance, a weak king.
Uther, his brother, a fine warrior who, before he becomes king, defeats both the Irish and the invading heathens under Hengest.
Hengest, the leader of the Germanic tribes who joins Vortiger's court at his own request.
Vortimer, Vortiger's son and heir, a Christian ruler who tries to expel Hengest.
Merlin, a magician, “son of no man,” who serves as counselor to Uther and Arthur.
Ygaerne, the wife of Gorlois, Earl of Cornwall. Uther desires her.
Arthur, the son of Uther and Ygaerne, recalled from his home in Brittany to be a wise and generous king of England and sworn enemy to the Saxon invaders. A fierce warrior, he extends his conquests to Rome itself. Mortally wounded in battle against his treacherous nephew, Modred, he departs for Avalon to be healed by the fairy queen, promising to return.
Wenhavere (Guinevere), his queen. She betrays him with Modred and retreats to a nunnery after her lover's defeat.
Walwain (Gawain), Arthur's nephew, a noble, virtuous knight, prototype of the hero of Pearl-Poet's Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (fourteenth century), who is debased in Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur (1485).
Kay, one of Arthur's trusted knights.
Beduer (Bedivere), Arthur's steward and another of his favorite knights.
Modred, Walwain's treacherous brother.
Luces, the Roman emperor killed by Arthur after he had demanded tribute from the British.
Austin, a priest sent, years later, to introduce Christianity into Britain a second time.
Æthelbert, his royal convert.
Aeluric, his enemy, a Northumbrian king.
Penda, the king of Marcia, who treacherously murders the son of his ally, King Edwine.
Cadwalader, the last of the British kings, beset by plague and famine.
Athelstan, the first English king of all England.