Nennius also tells of the building of Vortigern’s tower, a suggestion by his advisers as a fortress that he could hide away in if the Saxons or barbarians were to pursue him. The Saxon problem became a bigger problem than the barbarian problem. So too are Vortigern’s failures, for inviting the Saxons to the Isle in hopes they would help put down the barbarian uprisings. Patrick, are told with enthusiasm and awe. The lives and achievements of saints, like St. He tells us of Roman invasion and occupation, relating many of the myths mixed with genuine history about how Britain was first populated, like the coming emperors, the Brythonic slaughter of these emperors, long voyages of ancient tribes, and constant waves of newcomers, invaders, and the rule of many kings until giving more space to the reign of Vortigern. His book is a good short history of the peoples of the British Isles. Humble Nennius belittles his own competence as a scholar and apologizes for what he expects the reader to find a drab and worthless tome. Like a lot of old history, it’s part factual, part traditional, part myth, part genuine. Since it went through the hands of multiple scribes over the years it is possible that certain sections were written at different times, and not all by Nennius. Nennius wrote this brief history of the Britons around 828 AD, although his prologue implies it was written in 858, and elsewhere it is implied it was compiled in the tenth century. Nennius is believed to have lived in the area made up by Brecknockshire and Radnorshire in present-day Powys, Wales. Nennius was a student of Elvodugus, commonly identified with the bishop Elfodd of Bangor who convinced British ecclesiastics to accept the Continental dating for Easter, and who died in 809 according to the Annales Cambriae. Germanus and Vortigern, and documents events associated with the Anglo-Saxon invasion of the 7th century as contributed by a Northumbrian document. It also includes the legendary origins of the Picts, Scots, St.

The Historia Brittonum was highly influential, becoming a major contributor to the Arthurian legend, in particular for its inclusion of events relevant to debate about the historicity of King Arthur.

He has traditionally been attributed with the authorship of the Historia Brittonum, based on the prologue affixed to that work, This attribution is widely considered a secondary (10th century) tradition. Nennius - or Nemnius or Nemnivus - was a Welsh monk of the 9th century.