The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21).
Volume I. From the Beginnings to the Cycles of Romance.
IX. Latin Chroniclers from the Eleventh to the Thirteenth Centuries.
§ 17. Giraldus Cambrensis.
| Of all these writers none has contrived to blend information and entertainment more successfully than Giraldus Cambrensis. A scholar trained at Paris, an insatiably curious student of men and books and every form of odd lore, a fighter and an intriguer to his fingertips, an inveterate gossip, yet a man capable of high ideals and far-reaching schemes of public policy, the intimate friend of kings and statesmen, popes and prelates, yet withal a passionate lover of his own native little Wales—Gerald is one of the most romantic figures in all medieval literature. The most stirring episode in his life was the struggle in which he engaged, 22 “for the honour of Wales”; and is still deservedly beloved among his countrymen as the devoted champion of one of the most creditable of lost causes and impossible loyalties. But his enduring title to fame rests upon the writings which, alike for brilliancy of style and for variety of interest, remain unsurpassed among the Anglo-Norman literature of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. |
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