The ancient, mythological and poetic Isle of Albion
Albion is the oldest known name of the island of Britain and features in the mythology and early history of the island. Today, it is still used poetically to refer to Britain. The name for Scotland in the Celtic languages is related to Albion: Alba in Scottish Gaelic, Albain in Irish, Nalbin in Manx and Alban in Cornish, Breton and Welsh.
Mythology
In the mythical story of the founding of Britain, Albion was a giant son of Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea. Albion ruled over the island which would one day be called Britain. The isle was inhabited by his giant descendants until about 1100 years before Julius Cæsar's invasion of Britain, when Brutus of Troy came and defeated the small number of Giants that remained.
According to the 12th century Historia Regum Britanniae ("The History of The Kings of Britain") by Geoffrey of Monmouth, the exiled Brutus of Troy was told by the goddess Diana;
"Brutus! there lies beyond the Gallic bounds an island which the western sea surrounds, by giants once possessed, now few remain to bar thy entrance, or obstruct thy reign.
To reach that happy shore thy sails employ there fate decrees to raise a second Troy and found an empire in thy royal line,
Which time shall ne'er destroy, nor bounds confine".
After many adventures, Brutus and his fellow Trojans escape from Gaul and "set sail with a fair wind towards the promised island".
"The island was then called Albion, and inhabited by none but a few giants. Notwithstanding this, the pleasant situation of the places, the plenty of rivers abounding with fish, and the engaging prospect of its woods, made Brutus and his company very desirous to fix their habitation in it." After dividing up the island between themselves "at last Brutus called the island after his own name Britain, and his companions Britons; for by these means he desired to perpetuate the memory of his name" Geoffrey goes on to recount how the last of the giants are defeated, the largest one called Goëmagot is flung over a cliff by Corineus.
The Legendary Giants of Albion
Corineus, in medieval British legend, was a prodigious warrior, a fighter of giants, and the eponymous founder of Cornwall.
According to Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain (1136), he led the descendants of the Trojans who fled with Antenor after the Trojan War and settled on the coasts of the Tyrrhenian Sea. After Brutus, a descendant of the Trojan prince Aeneas, had been exiled from Italy and liberated the enslaved Trojans in Greece, he encountered Corineus and his people, who joined him in his travels. In Gaul, Corineus provoked a war with Goffarius Pictus, king of Aquitania, by hunting in his forests without permission, and killed thousands single-handedly with his battle-axe. After defeating Goffarius, the Trojans crossed to the island of Albion, which Brutus renamed Britain after himself. Corineus settled in Cornwall, which was then inhabited by giants. Brutus and his army killed most of them, but their leader, Gogmagog, was kept alive for a wrestling match with Corineus. The fight took place near Plymouth, and Corineus killed him by throwing him over a cliff.
Corineus was the first of the Legendary Dukes of Cornwall. After Brutus died the rest of Britain was divided between his three sons, Locrinus (England), Kamber (Wales) and Albanactus (Scotland). Locrinus agreed to marry Corineus's daughter Gwendolen, but fell in love instead with Estrildis, a captured German princess. Corineus threatened war in response to this affront, and to pacify him Locrinus married Gwendolen, but kept Estrildis as his secret mistress. After Corineus died Locrinus divorced Gwendolen and married Estrildis, and Gwendolen responded by raising an army in Cornwall and making war against her ex-husband. Locrinus was killed in battle, and Gwendolen threw Estrildis and her daughter, Habren, into the River Severn. Therefore the ancient Isle of Albion was divided into four: Cornwall (Corineus), England (Locrinus), Wales (Kamber) and Scotland (Albanactus).
The four historic nations of the Isle of Albion
William Blake's Vision
William Blake's image of Albion, accompanying the words,
"Albion rose from where
he labourd at the Mill with Slaves
Giving himself for the Nations he
danc'd the dance of Eternal Death"
