NOTE: others may have existed but none survived

What little is known about Wace coems from his last work, Roman De Rou, a verse history of the dukes of Normandy: written for Henry II of England. He began it in 1160 being supplanted by Master Beneeit at the King's insistance.

Five years before the Norman compilation, Wace undertook the task of translating Geoffrey of Monmouth's Latin text History of the King's of Britain into French. This was dedicated to Henry's queen, Eleanor of Aquitain and presented to her in 1155.

Wace was born on the Norman controlled island of Jersey in the early 12th century (possibly around 1110). Educated in Caen in Normandy (Wace calles it the city of Kay) then near Paris but spent most of his later life in Normandy. Wace was of Germanic stock but his sympathies in Roman de Brut lie with the British and Celts.

Wace is noted for his lively narration and ability to create scenes and characters with a few strokes of the brush. He excels in dramatic episodes but is weak in scenes of violence.

NOTE: Wace is the first author to mention the Round Table

Wace refers directly to the Briton storytellers who linked Celtic Britain with Europe showing that they existed around 1150. The minstrels would be necessary for the transmission of remote Celtic materials to the mainland.

Briton Hope became attached to Arthur's ending: claims that Arthur never fully died and will return to free the Celts from the Saxon dominators.

- James J. Wilhelm, Wace: Roman de Brut (Merlin Episodes and "The Birth and Rise of Arthur"), The Romance of Arthur II, ed James J. Wilhelm, New York: Garland Publishing Inc., 1986