Brutus and Britain

A follow-up to Eponym of Britain

In the Middle Ages, the story of Troy was hugely popular, and most European countries strove to trace their national origin back back to the descendants of Troy. Britain is not exceptional claiming the right as an inheritor (through "Brutus" of Troy, an eponymous founder of the island).

Brutus of Troy

When Brutus first set foot in the island, he found nothing except a few giants. He had one of his battle-loving retinues wrestle with the chief giant, and eliminates it. Giant-killing is an event, or act of hero that signals the foundation of a new nation. After the event, Brutus searched for the suitable land where he can build a second Troy.

The 14th-century chronicle describes the scene as follows:

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þis Brut lete felle adoun wodes, & lete erye & sowe londes, & done mow medes for sustinaunce of hym & of his peple. & he departed þe land to hem, so þat eche of hem had a certayn place for to dwelle vpon. And Brut lete Calle al þis land Britaigne, after his owne name, & his folk he lete calle Britouns.

(This Brutus had trees cut down and lands cultivated and sown with seeds, and meadow mowed for sustenance for him and his people. And he divided the land among his people so that each of them has a certain place to dwell upon. And Brutus had the whole land called Britain, after his own name, and he had the people called Britons.)
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"Naming" the land is tantamount to "occupying" the land.