Geoffrey of Monmouth is the earliest source for the legends of King Arthur and King Lear.

• A. Geoffrey of Monmouth
• B. Geoffrey Chaucer
• C. Ovid
• D. Bede

Answer: (A)

Geoffrey of Monmouth is the earliest writer who shaped both legends into a single, circulating narrative through his Historia Regum Britanniae, written in the early 12th century. This work purposefully compiles and popularizes British kings, presenting Arthur as a real king of Britain and expanding his adventures into a continuous legendary history that later medieval writers draw on. It also contains the story of Leir, the king whose tale Shakespeare later reworked into King Lear. Because Geoffrey’s chronicle is the first substantial written source to anchor these legends for medieval readers, it remains the best answer. The other figures are connected to different literary traditions or later periods and do not serve as the earliest sources for these legends.