BOOK III. THE MIDDLE AGES AND THE RENAISSANCE




I. BRIAN THE GOOD AND QUEEN GLAMORGAN

The kings of Alca were descended from Draco, the son of Kraken, and they
wore on their heads a terrible dragon's crest, as a sacred badge whose
appearance alone inspired the people with veneration, terror, and love.
They were perpetually in conflict either with their own vassals and
subjects or with the princes of the adjoining islands and continents.

The most ancient of these kings has left but a name. We do not even know
how to pronounce or write it. The first of the Draconides whose history
is known was Brian the Good, renowned for his skill and courage in war
and in the chase.

He was a Christian and loved learning. He also favoured men who had
vowed themselves to the monastic life. In the hall of his palace where,
under the sooty rafters, there hung the heads, pelts, and horns of
wild beasts, he held feasts to which all the harpers of Alca and of
the neighbouring islands were invited, and he himself used to join in
singing the praises of the heroes. He was just and magnanimous, but
inflamed by so ardent a love of glory that he could not restrain himself
from putting to death those who had sung better than himself.

The monks of Yvern having been driven out by the pagans who ravaged
Brittany, King Brian summoned them into his kingdom and built a wooden
monastery for them near his palace. Every day he went with Queen