Brut, short for Brutus was a name often applied to those histories of Britain which began with the adventures of Brutus, and in Welsh tradition to any history of the Welsh.
Welsh Bruts[]
There are a number of Welsh adaptations of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae, at least three independent translations. These Welsh Bruts generally use the same Welsh forms in translation. There are a large number of mixed redactions. The so-called Brut Tysilio is a late abridged version.
Wace’s Roman de Brut[]
The long poem called Geste des Bretons (‘Deeds of the Britons’) completed in 1155 by Wace was renamed Roman de Brut by scribes who copied it, and is often known as “Wace’s Brut” today.
Lawman’s Brut[]
The Englishman Lawman produced his expanded translation of Wace’s Brut not long after 1190. Presumably he called his work Brut because he knew Wace’s poem as the Brut. For more information see Brut.
Rauf de Boun’s Petit Brut[]
The Petit Brut was created in 1310 for Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, by a certain Rauf de Boun. It mostly follows Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae. In several places in his tale Rauf refers to “the other Brut” for corroboration of his story. This other Brut is no longer known. See Petit Brut for more information.
The Large Brut[]
The large Brut was a prose history of Britain from the days of Brutus up to the time of its writing, about 1272, and later in later versions. The work exists in French and in English translation, and for the early period is an abridged version of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia or of Wace’s Brut. See Large Brut for more information.