A Historian's Apology

Humilis servorum Christi minister et servus Nennius, Dei gratia sancti Elboti discipulus, cunctis veritatis obauditoribus, salutem. Vestrae sit notum caritati, quod cum rudis eram ingenio et idiota sermone, haec pro modulo meo, non propriae nitens scientiae, quae vel nulla vel admodum rara et exilis est, Latinorum auribus idiomatizando tradere praesumpsi, sed partim maiorum traditionibus, partim scriptis, partim etiam moninientis veterum Britanniae incolarum, partim et de annalibus Romanorum, insuper et de cronicis sanctorum patrum, Isydori scilicet, Ieronymi, Prosperi, Eusebii nec non et de historiis Scottorum Saxonumque licet inimicorum non ut volui, sed ut potui, meorum obtemperans iussionibus seniorum, unam hanc historiunculam undecumque collectam balbutiendo coacervavi, et remanentes spicas actuum praeteritorum, ne penitus calcatae deperirent, quarum ampla seges quondam extranearum gentium infestis messoribus sparsim praerepta est, posterorum memoriae pudibundus mandare curavi. Quippe multis obnoxiis, qui vix aliorum dictamina superficie tenus, prout utile esset, intelligere hucusque qui veram, nedum propria incudere sufficiens, sed velut barbarus aliorum linguam infringens temere commendavi. Attamen internum vulnus circum praecordia volvens aegre ferebam, si propriae gentis nomen, quondam famosum et insigne, oblivione corosum fumatim evanesceret. Sed quoniam utcumque historigraphum Britannorum me malo esse quam neminem, quamvis adeo plures inveniantur, qui hunc laborem mihi iniunctum satius explere poterant, relegentes humili prece posco, quorumcunque aures inconcinnitate verborum offendero, quo veniam maiorum voto parenti facili exauditione ex debito se noverint praebituros. Errat namque multotiens impotentis effectus, quem errare, si posset, non sineret fervens affectus. Serviat itaque sufficiens caritas, quibus sufficere non potuerit verborum meorum inconcinna simplicitas, nec vilescat in auribus audientium historiae veritas, quam imperito linguae vomere exarare sic ausa est mea rusticitas. Siquidem tutius est salubrem documenti haustum quolibet vili vasculo ebibere quam mixtum melle dulcis eloquentiae venenum mendacii aureo poculo praegustare. Nec ergo te pigeat, diligens lector, excussis verborum paleis istoriae grana horreo memoriae condere, quoniam non quis dicat aut qualiter dicatur, sed quid dictum sit, veritatis testimonio magis attendendum esse probatur. Nam nec contemptibilem aestimat gemmam, postquam de caeno, in quo iacuerat, extersit. Nennius, Historia Brittonum Source:  here

Nennius, a humble minister and servant of the servants of Christ, by the grace of God a disciple of Saint Elbotus, to all the hearers of truth, greetings. Let it be known to your charity, that being dull of intellect and rough of speech, not trusting to my own ability, nor relying on my own knowledge, which is nothing, or most slight and rare, I have presumed to deliver these things in the Latin tongue, which are partly from the traditions of our ancestors, partly from the writings and monuments of the ancient inhabitants of Britain, partly from the annals of the Romans and the chronicles of the sacred fathers, Isidore, Jerome, Prosper, Eusebius, and even from the histories of the Scots and Saxons, although our enemies, and this not as I would wish but as I was able, obedient to the commands of my elders, with stammering speech, then, gathering together this history from numerous sources, the few remaining ears of corn of past deeds, that they might not be utterly crushed under foot, seeing that an ample crop has already been snatched away by the hostile reapers of foreign peoples, which, then, I have taken care, amid shame, to deliver to posterity. Indeed many were the obstacles to one who has not only yet been hardly able to understand and express, even superficially, despite their utility, the sayings of other men of his own people, but like a barbarian, feared to shatter the tongues of others. However in sorrow I bore about with me a troubling inward wound, that the name of my own people, once famous and distinguished, should disappear into oblivion, like smoke in the wind. But because I prefer to be a historian of the Britons than nobody, and although there are many who might be found more able to perform this labour imposed on me, with a humble prayer I ask my readers, whose ears I may offend by the inelegance of my words, that knowing this work is on account of a vow to my elders, that they show the indulgence of a parent in hearing it. For weak efforts very often err, which fault enthusiasm, were it able, would not allow. Thus may love supply where the rough inelegance of my words is not able to satisfy, and may the truth of this history not revolt the ears of my hearers, which my untutored tongue has pushed forth to trace out its furrows in my rusticity. Certainly it is safer to drink a wholesome draught of truth from a humble vessel, than the honey of sweet eloquence mixed with the venom of lies from a golden goblet. Nor refuse, diligent reader, to winnow my chaff, and lay up the wheat in the storehouse of your memory, for care must be taken not for the speaker, nor the manner in which something is spoken, but for what is said, if is to be approved as the testimony of truth; truth does not judge a jewel contemptible after she has taken it from the mud in which it has been cast. Nennius, History Of The Britons