The Normans, then, brought tales of Arthur with them when they
came to England. They heard there still other tales and improved
them, and Arthur thus began to grow into a great hero. I will
now go on to show how he became still greater.

In the reign of Henry I. (the third Norman king who ruled our
land) there lived a monk called Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was
filled with the love of his land, and he made up his mind to
write a history of the kings of Britain.

Geoffrey wrote his book in Latin, because at this time it was the
language which most people could understand. For a long time
after the Normans came to England, they spoke Norman French. The
English still spoke English, and the British Welsh or Cymric.
But every one almost who could read at all could read Latin. So
Geoffrey chose to write in Latin. He said he translated all that
he wrote from an old British book which had been brought from
Brittany and given to him. But that old British book has never
been seen by any one, and it is generally thought that Geoffrey
took old Welsh tales and fables for a foundation, invented a good
deal more, and so made his history, and that the "old British
Book" never existed at all. His book may not be very good
history - indeed, other historians were very angry and said that
Geoffrey "lied saucily and shamelessly" - but it is very
delightful to read.

Geoffrey's chief hero is Arthur, and we may say that it is from
this time that Arthur became a great hero of Romance. For
Geoffrey told his stories so well that they soon became famous,
and they were read not only in England, but all over the