When Arthur was king – hearken now a marvellous thing – he was liberal to each man alive, knight with the best, wondrously keen! He was to the young for father, to the old for comforter, and with the unwise wonderfully stern.
• Line 9945; vol. 2, p. 413.
• Line 9945; vol. 2, p. 413.
“
Þa þe Arður wes king hærne nu seollic þing.
he wes mete-custi ælche quike monne.
cniht mid þan bezste wunder ane kene.
he wes þan yungen for fader þan alden for frouer.
and wið þan vnwise wunder ane sturnne.
— Layamon
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Þa þe Arður wes king hærne nu seollic þing.
he wes mete-custi ælche quike monne.
cniht mid þan bezste wunder ane kene.
he wes þan yungen for fader þan alden for frouer.
and wið þan vnwise wunder ane sturnne." in the context of "When Arthur was king – hearken now a marvellous thing – he was liberal to each man alive, knight with the best, wondrously keen! He was to the young for father, to the old for comforter, and with the unwise wonderfully stern.
• Line 9945; vol. 2, p. 413." to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Layamon" (Sourced, Brut: Line-numbers refer to the Caligula Ms. text, as published in the Early English Text Society edition. Page-numbers and translations are from Sir Frederic Madden (ed.) Brut; or, Chronicle of Britain (London: Society of Antiquaries, 1847).)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
About Layamon
About Layamon
Layamon (fl. c. 1200) was an English poet known only for his epic Brut, arguably the first great poem to be written in Middle English; it introduced such legendary kings as Arthur, Cymbeline and Lear to English literature. Layamon's name is also given in the forms Laзamon, Lazamon and Lawman.
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