"The Ancient Tradition of our Elders": A Structural Analysis of the Historia Brittonum

Analysis of the structure of the Historia Brittonum suggests that an extended, very early account of British history is embedded therein. This account began with Britain’s founding by Britto, included at least seven Roman emperors, and ended with the military exploits of the Post-Roman figures Arthur and Guorthemir. In the Ninth century the historian Nennius then dismantled this original account and dispersed its various parts to their present positions. The HB56 citation about an alternate victor for the battle of Badon, which refuted the earlier historians Gildas and Bede, fully explains Nennius’ frustration with Insular historians in the Historia Brittonum’s Prologue. Most important, reassembling these narratives into their original sequence provides one of the earliest Insular accounts of events in Post-Roman Britain.