Chapter I

Summary

Brutus, son of Silvius, son of Aschanius, son of Aeneas, ruled first in Britain. It was said of him in prophecies that he would kill his mother and father, and so it came to pass in the following manner. For his mother died in giving birth to him and, at the age of fifteen, the boy killed his father while he was hunting, striking him inadvertently with an arrow because he thought he was a wild beast. On account of this he was banished from Italy. Driven out as an exile, he went to Greece, where Trojans, living in exile under King Pandrasus, gathered around him. With the help of these Trojans, Brutus made war on Pandrasus to set them free, defeating and capturing him. But, on the advice of the leading men of the kingdom, Innogen, Pandrasus's daughter, was given to Brutus in marriage, along with gold, silver, and three hundred and twenty-four ships loaded with corn, wine and oil, and everything necessary for a journey. The king was released from prison and the Trojans were freed from exile and, together with their liberator, they set to sea. After they had sailed two days and one night they landed on an island where there was a temple to Diana. Brutus made sacrifices and prayed to the goddess, as follows:

‘Mighty Goddess of the woods, terror of woodland boars

You who can travel through celestial orbits

And through the halls of death, unfold your earthly powers

And say in which lands you wish us to dwell.

Name the settled home where I can worship you forever,

And where I can dedicate to you temples and choirs of virgins.’

And the reply to him was:

‘Brutus, to the west, beyond the kingdoms of Gaul,

Lies an island of the ocean, surrounded by sea on every side.

Insula in occeano est habitata gigantibus olim,

nunc deserta quidem, gentibus apta tuis.

Hanc pete, namque tibi sedes erit illa perhennis.

Hic fiet natis altera Troia tuis.

Hic de prole tua reges nascentur, et ipsis

totius terrae subditus orbis erit’.