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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
All About History Books
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.
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
Swift quadrupeds, gold, and glittering gems,
Quadrupedes que citos- aurum- gemmas que micantes
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
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
All About History Books
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.
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
So that he neither spoke a word nor moved to smile.
Ut non proferret uerbum- risum que moueret