Geoffrey Gaimar

Geoffrey Gaimar (fl. 1130s),[1] also written Geffrei or Geoffroy Gaimar, was an Anglo-Norman chronicler. His lasting contribution to medieval literature and history was as a translator from Old English to Anglo-Norman. His L'Estoire des Engleis, or History of the English People, written between about 1136 and 1140,[2] was a chronicle in eight-syllable rhyming couplets, running to 6,526 lines.[2]

Overview of his work

The L'Estoire des Engleis opens with a brief mention of King Arthur, whose actions affect the plot of the interpolated tale of Havelok the Dane. That aside, most of the first 3,500 lines are translations out of a variant text of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and subsequent portions from other (Latin and French) sources that remain unidentified.[2]

Gaimar claims to have also written a version of the Brut story, a translation of Geoffrey of Monmouth's chronicle Historia Regum Britanniae (c. 1136) into Anglo-Norman verse, which was commissioned by Constance, wife of Ralph FitzGilbert, a Lincolnshire landowner.[2] Constance appears to have been implicated in the writing process.[3] Gaimar's translation, if it existed, antedated Wace's Norman Roman de Brut (c. 1155), but no copy of Gaimar's Brut (also known as L'Estoire des Bretuns) has survived, being superseded by the latecomer.[2][4][lower-alpha 1] Ian Short argues that Gaimar's Estoire des Bretuns was no more than a short epitome of the pre-Arthurian section of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, which might explain why Wace's later, full translation of the text became more popular and ultimately superseded Gaimer's.[5]

Gaimar did not create two separate and distinct chronicles, and the two estoires were merely the former and latter sections of a long-running history starting from the Argonauts' quest for the Golden Fleece to the reign of William II "Rufus" (died 1100) that Gaimar set out to write.[2] Gaimar's scheme was greatly expanded in scope from the translation work on Geoffrey of Monmouth, the former part, which the patron had requested.[2] Ironically, it was solely the latter part covering the Anglo-Saxon period that was transmitted by later copyists, as a continuation to Wace. The scribe of one such copy, in a late 13th-century manuscript (B.L. Royal 13 A xx i), dubbed the portion with the title Estoire des Engles.[2] The so-called "lost L'Estoire des Bretuns" (History of the Britons) was an expedient term coined by 19th-century commentators.[6]

A version of Havelok the Dane occurs at the beginning of L'Estoire des Engles, which must have originally been interpolated in between the history of the Britons and the history of the English,[6] serving as a bridge. Unlike the Middle English version of the legend, Gaimar's version connects Havelok to King Arthur (making Arthur responsible for destroying the Danish kingdom that Havelok was to inherit.[7])[lower-alpha 2] Added to this is a mention of the sword Calibur[8] (Excalibur), demonstrating Gaimar's knowledge of Galfridian legendary history that predated the advent of Wace's Brut.

See also

Explanatory notes
  1. Ritson notes: "poet anterior to Wace, etc."
  2. There is also an Anglo-Norman lai version, but that is considered to be later and derived from Gaimar. Cf. Fahnestock (1915). A study of the sources and composition of the old French Lai d'Haveloc. Jamaica, New York: The Marion Press. p. 121.

Citations
  1. Ian Short, "Gaimar, Geffrei", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.
  2. Keller, Hans-Erich (1995). "Geffrei Gaimar". In Kibler, William W. (ed.). Medieval France: An Encyclopedia. Manchester: Psychology Press. p. 388. ISBN 0824044444.
  3. Berat, Emma (2010). "The Patron and her Clerk: Multilingualism and Cultural Transition". New Medieval Literatures. 12: 33. doi:10.1484/J.NML.1.102175.
  4. Ritson, Joseph (1802). Ancient Engleish Metrical Romanceës. 1. Nicol. p. lxxxviii.
  5. Short, Ian R. "What was Gaimar's Estoire des Bretuns?", in: Cultura Neolatina 71, 2011, pp. 143–145.
  6. "Lestorie des Bretons" as spelt in: Israel (1898). Hamlet in Iceland. London: David Nutt. p. lx.
  7. vv.409-422, Hardy, Martin & 1888-89, p. 13
  8. v.46, Hardy & Martin 1888–89, p. 2

Bibliography
Texts and translations
Studies
  • Bratu, Cristian, "Translatio, autorité et affirmation de soi chez Gaimar, Wace et Benoît de Sainte-Maure." The Medieval Chronicle 8 (2013), pp. 135–164.
  • Harper-Bill, Christopher & van Houts, Elisabeth (eds.), A Companion to the Anglo-Norman World, Boydell, 2007. ISBN 978-1-84383-341-3.
  • Legge, Mary D., Anglo-Norman Literature and its Background, Oxford University Press, 1963.
  • Short, Ian R., "What was Gaimar's Estoire des Bretuns?", in: Cultura Neolatina 71, 2011, pp. 143–145.

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Cousin, John William (1910). "Gaimar, Geoffrey". A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London: J. M. Dent & Sons – via Wikisource.

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