Crocea Mors

Did You Know?

• Geoffrey of Monmouth erroneously names the tribune killed by Nennius as Labienus, confusing him with Titus Labienus; the actual tribune was Quintus Laberius Durus.
• In the Old Norse translation Breta sögur, Nennius dies immediately the same night because the sword had been tainted with poison.
• The Anglo-Norman chronicle Scalacronica calls the sword Crochi Amour ('Crooked Love'), possibly a scribal error.
• Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene Book II (1590) claims Caesar's sword could still be seen in the Elizabethan era, likely referring to an alleged artifact kept in the Tower of London.

Geoffrey's account

In Geoffrey's account, Nennius fought Caesar in single combat during the invasion. Caesar struck Nennius on the head, but his sword lodged in Nennius's shield. After the two separated in the melée, Nennius discarded his own weapon and used Caesar's sword against the Romans, killing many, including the tribune Quintus Laberius Durus. The sword was called Crocea Mors because anyone wounded by it had no hope of recovery. Fifteen days after the battle, Nennius died of his head wound and was buried at London near the North Gate, with Crocea Mors interred alongside him.

Later versions

Wace's Roman de Brut expanded the combat, describing Caesar's defeat and the sword stuck in Nennius's shield, with Caesar forced to retreat when Nennius's friends arrived. Wace added that the name Crocea Mors was stamped in gold letters on the upper part of the sword near the hilt. Middle Welsh translations name Nennius as Nynniaw or Nynnyau and sometimes include a fourth brother, Llefelys.

Modern era

During the Tudor period, Nennius became a patriotic symbol, and Crocea Mors featured in The Mirror for Magistrates, where Nennius accused Caesar of poisoning the sword tip. Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene mentions that Caesar lost his sword when slaying Nennius and that the sword could still be seen in the Elizabethan era, likely referring to an alleged artifact kept in the Tower of London. In Jacobean plays, Nennius appears as a fighting spirit in Jasper Fisher's Fuimus Troes and anachronistically as a general of Boudica in John Fletcher's Bonduca.