Layamon

la'ya-mon, a British chronicler of the thirteenth century. Layamon was a priest at Ernleye, on the banks of the Severn. The work for which his name is remembered is Brut. It is an amplified translation of the French Brut d'Angleterre of Wace. Layamon's Brut is of linguistic, rather than literary interest. It is a specimen of early English before it had become gallicized, that is, before the influence of the Norman-French invasion had affected the language to any marked degree. Only about ninety words derived from the French appear in the entire poem of 56,000 lines. Nothing of Layamon's life is known, and the exact date of the Brut is a question. The date given usually is 1205.