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- Title
'BRUT SETT LONDEN STON': LONDON AND LONDON STONE IN A 14th-CENTURY ENGLISH METRICAL CHRONICLE.
- Authors
Clark, John
- Abstract
In October 2018 the last, sadly unimpressive, remnant of the legendary London Stone was unveiled, now enclosed in a splendid new stone surround, in its familiar location in Cannon Street in the City of London. This event prompts a reconsideration of the supposed traditional belief that the stone embodies the well-being of the city, in the context of a narrative poem known as the Anonymous Short English Metrical Chronicle, composed in the early 14th century. One version of this text was written in London and clearly intended for a London readership, and among much unconventional and unlikely history it contains episodes and references of particular London interest, and probably reflecting local knowledge. One of these is the attribution to Brutus, legendary Trojan founder of London, of the setting up of London Stone and a prophecy of London's future greatness. This paper considers this episode alongside other apparently novel references, which may reflect ways in which medieval Londoners interpreted the past of their city.
- Subjects
READERSHIP; NARRATIVES; TRANSLATIONS
- Publication
Transactions of the London & Middlesex Archaeological Society, 2018, Vol 69, p171
- ISSN
0076-0501
- Publication type
Article