View source for Logres

{{Short description|Realm of King Arthur}}
{{about|the literary realm of King Arthur's Britain|the historical region of southeastern Britain|Lloegyr}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox fictional location
| name       = Logres
| image      = 
| imagesize  = 250px
| caption    = 
| source     = [[Matter of Britain]]
| creator    = 
| genre      = [[Arthurian legend]]
| type       = Realm and/or city
| locations  =
| people     = [[King Arthur]]
}}
'''Logres''' (among various other forms and spellings) is [[King Arthur]]'s realm in the [[Matter of Britain]]. The geographical area referred to by the name is south and eastern England. However, Arthurian writers such as [[Chrétien de Troyes]] and [[Wolfram von Eschenbach]] have differed in their interpretations of this. 
==Etymology==
It derives from the medieval [[Welsh language|Welsh]] word ''[[Lloegyr]]'', a name of uncertain origin referring to South and Eastern [[England]] (''Lloegr'' is modern Welsh for all of England).

==Geographical area in various Arthurian works==
In Arthurian contexts, "Logres" is often used to describe the [[Celtic Britons|Brittonic]] territory roughly corresponding to the borders of England before the area was taken by the [[Anglo-Saxons]]. According to [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]]'s influential but largely fictional history ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]'', the realm was named after the legendary king [[Locrinus]], the oldest son of [[Brutus of Troy]]. In his ''Historia'', Geoffrey uses the word "Loegria" to describe a province containing most of England excluding [[Cornwall]] and possibly [[Northumberland]], as in this example from section iv.20 (from the [[Penguin Classics]] translation by [[Lewis Thorpe]]):

{{blockquote|Parishes were apportioned off, [[Deira]] being placed under the Metropolitan of [[York]], along with [[Alba]]ny, for the great River [[Humber]] divides these two from Loegria.  Loegria itself was placed under the Metropolitan of [[London]], along with Cornwall. The [[Severn]] divides these last two provinces from Kambria or [[Wales]], which last was placed under the [[Caerleon|City of Legions]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Geoffrey of Monmouth |author-link=Geoffrey of Monmouth |translator= Lewis G. M. Thorpe |translator-link= Lewis Thorpe |title=The History of the Kings of Britain |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iy5l4TUgqGYC&q=%22divides+these+two+from+Loegria%22 |year=1966 |publisher=Penguin |location=Harmondsworth, UK |isbn=9780140441703 |page=125 |oclc=3370598}}</ref>}}

It was described by [[Chrétien de Troyes]] as "The Land of [[Ogre]]s" (''l'Ogres'') in his poem ''[[Perceval, the Story of the Grail]]''. In various French works, Logres appears as the name of the land or the capital city (otherwise [[Camelot]]), its inhabitants can be known as either Loegrwys or Lloegrwys. Translating and compiling such texts for his ''[[Le Morte d'Arthur]]'', [[Thomas Malory]] conflated Logres with his contemporary [[Kingdom of England]] and usually used just "England" instead, except for the names of some of the [[Knights of the Round Table]]. In some medieval German works, Logres is the personal domain of [[Gawain]], as established by [[Wolfram von Eschenbach]].
==Use in modern fiction==
The name "Logres" is also used in several works of modern fantasy set in Britain; for example, [[C. S. Lewis]]'s ''[[That Hideous Strength]]'', [[Susan Cooper]]'s ''[[Over Sea, Under Stone]]'', and Charles Williams' ''Taliessin Through Logres''.

==See also==
* [[Albion]]
* [[Prydain]]

== References ==
<references />

==External links==
*[http://www.circleoflogres.com/ Logres] at Encyclopædia Arthuriana

{{England topics}}
{{Arthurian Legend}}
{{Geoffrey of Monmouth}}

[[Category:Locations associated with Arthurian legend]]
[[Category:Geoffrey of Monmouth]]
[[Category:Terminology of the British Isles]]


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