"This volume considers the reception in the early modern period of three popular medieval myths of nationhood--the legends of Brutus, Albina, and Scota--tracing their intertwined literary and historiographical afterlives. The book is particularly timely in its dialogue with current investigations into early modern historiography and the period's relationship to its past, its engagement with pressing issues in identity and gender studies, and its analysis of British national origin stories at a time when modern Britain is considering its own future as a nation"--
Robinson-Self analyzes the intertwined literary, political, and historiographical fortunes in early modern Britain of three mythologies of national origin. The earliest and probably most influential is Brutus of Troy, he says, a descendant of Aeneas who conquered and named Britain, thus giving the British a classical heritage. Less accepted were Albina, leader of a group of women who killed their husbands and escaped to Britain in a bid for agency, and Scota, a daughter of a Pharaoh who arrived first in Ireland. Medieval Institute Publications is at Western Michigan University. Annotation ©2019 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
This volume considers the reception in the early modern period of four popular medieval myths of nationhood the legends of Brutus, Albina, Scota and Arthur tracing their intertwined literary and historiographical afterlives. The book thus speaks to several connected areas and is timely on a number of fronts: its dialogue with current investigations into early modern historiography and the periods relationship to its past, its engagement with pressing issues in identity and gender studies, and its analysis of the formation of British national origin stories at a time when modern Britain is seriously considering its own future as a nation.
