See p. 12 and p. 181, s. 119.]

•Hettend crungun

Sceotta leoda

and scipflotan'

fæge feollan.
Feld dænnede
secgas hwate

si ban sunne up
on morgen tid.
mære tungol.
glad ofer grundas
Godes condel beorht
eces Drihtnes

of sio apele gesceaft
sah to setle.'

Gewitan him pa Norpmen nægled cnearrum® dreorig darada laf on dinges mere ofer deop water Difelin secan⚫ and eft hira land æwisc mode. Swilce pa gebroper begen ætsamne cyning and æbeling cyppe sohton Wesseaxena land⚫ wiges hreamige.

Letan him behindan
hræ bryttian

saluwig padan⚫
bone sweartan hræfn⚫
hyrned nebban⚫

and bane hasewan padan⚫
earn æftan hwit
æses brucan.
grædigne guðhafoc
and þæt græge deor*
wulf on wealde.
Ne wærd wæl mare.
on bis eiglande
æfer gieta
folces gefylled⚫

beforan pissum.

sweordes ecgum

þæs be us secgad bec

ealde udwitan'

'Departed then the Northmen

in their nail'd barks,

the darts' gory leaving, on the roaring sea,* o'er the deep water, Dublin to seek, Ireland once more, in mind abash'd. Likewise the brothers, both together, king and ætheling,t their country sought, the West Saxons' land, in war exulting. They left behind them, the carcases to share, with pallid coat, the swart raven, with horned neb,

and him of goodly coat,

the eagle [or erne] white behind, the carrion to devour, the greedy war-hawk,

and that grey beast,

the wolf in the weald.

No slaughter has been greater

in this island

ever yet

of folk laid low,

before this,

by the sword's edges,

from what books tell us,

old chroniclers,

mere.'

↑ Athelstane and Edmund.

EXTRACT IV.

THE GRAVE.

See p. 12.]

'De wes bold gebyld

Er du iboren were;

De wes mold imynt
Er du of moder come.
De hit nes no idiht,

Ne deo deopnes imeten;
Nes til iloced,
Hu long hit de were,
Nu me de bringæ
Wer du beon scealt,
Nu me sceal de meten
And a mold seorda:
Ne bio no dine hus
Healice itimbred,
Hit bid unheh and lah;
Donne du bist derinne,
De helewages beod lage,
Sidwages unhege.
De rof bid ybild
Deie brost full neh,
Swa Su scealt in mold
Winnen ful cald,
Dimme and deorcæ."
Det clen fulæt on hod.
Durelæs is Sæt hus,
And deorc hit is wiðinnen;
Dær du bin fest bidyte,
And Dær hefd da cæge.
Laɣlic is Sæt eord hus,
And grim inne to wunien.
Der Su scalt wunien,
And wurmes de to-deled.

For thee was a house built
Ere thou wast born,
For thee was a mould shapen
Fre thou of mother camest.
Its height is not determined,
Nor its depth measured,
Nor is it closed up
(However long it may be)
Until I thee bring
Where thou shalt remain,
Until I shall measure thee
And the sod of earth,
Thy house is not
Highly timbered,
It is unhigh and low;
When thou art in it
The heel-ways are low,
The side-ways unhigh.
The roof is built

Thy breast full nigh;
So thou shalt in earth
Dwell full cold,
Dim, and dark.

Doorless is that house,
And dark it is within ;
There thou art fast detained,
And Death holds the key.
Loathly is that earth-house,
And grim to dwell in ;

There thou shalt dwell

And worms shall share thee

pp. 271-3.]

for be k. Steph. ofer sæ to Normandi. and þer wes underfangen. forði þ hi uuenden he sculde ben alsuic alse be

eom wæs. and for he hadde get his tresor. ac he todeld it and scatered sotlice. Micel hadde Henri k. gadered gold and syluer. and na god ne dide me for his saule tharof. pa þe king S. to Englal. com pa macod he his gadering æt Oxeneford. and þar he nam beb Roger of Sereberi, and Alex. ₺ of Lincol. and te Canceler Roger hise neues. and dide ælle in prisun. til hi iafen up here castles. pa be suikes undergæton he milde man was. and softe. and god. and na justise ne dide. þa diden hi alle wunder. He hadden him manred maked, and athes suoren. ac hi nan treuthe ne heolden. alle hi wæron forsworen. and here treothes forloren. for æuric rice man his castles makede and agæenes him heolden. and fylden þe land ful of castles.' 'Nu we willen sægen sum del wat belamp on Stephne kinges time. On his time be Iudeus of Noruuic bohton an Xristen cild beforen Estren. and pineden him alle be ilce pining ure Drihten was pined. and on Lang Fredæi him on rode hengen. for ure Drihtines luue. and sythen byrieden him. Wenden pit sculdo ben forholen, oc ure Drihten

'AN. MC.XXXVII. In this year king Stephen went over sea to Normandy, and was there received; because they imagined that he would be such as his uncle was, and because he had got his treasure: but he distributed it and scattered it foolishly. Much had king Henry gathered of gold and silver, and no good was done for his soul thereof. When king Stephen came to England (a. 1139), he held an assembly at Oxford, and there he took the bishop Roger of Salisbury, and Alexander bishop of Lincoln, and the chancellor Roger, his nephew, and put them all into prison, till they gave up their castles. When the traitors perceived that he was a mild man, and soft, and good, and did no justice, then did they all wonder. They had done homage to him, and sworn oaths, but had held no faith; they were all forsworn, and forfeited their troth; for every powerful man made his castles, and held them against him; and they filled the land full of castles.' 'Now

we will say a part of what befel in king Stephen's time. In his time the Jews of Norwich bought a Christian child before Easter, and tortured him with all the same torture with which our Lord was tortured; and on Longfriday (i.e. Good Friday) hanged him on a rood, in love [hatred] to our

atywede he was hali martyr. and te munekes him namen, and bebyried him heglice in be minstre. and he maket bur ure Drihtin wunderlice and manifældlice miracles, and hatte he S. Willelm,'

Lord, and afterwards buried him. They imagined that it would be concealed, but our Lord showed that he was a holy martyr. And the monks took him and buried him honourably in the monastery; and through our Lord he makes wonderful and manifold miracles, and he is called St. William.'

pa buhte him on his swefne: þar he on slepe læi.

bat his lauedi Diana:

hine leofliche biheolde.
mid wnsume leahtren :
wel heo him bi-hihte.
and hendiliche hire hond:

on his heued leide.
and bus him to seide:
þer he on slepe lai.

Bi-gende France i þet west : bu scalt finden a wunsum lond. bat lond is bi-urnan mid þære sæ; þar on bu scalt wrban sael. bar is fugel bar is fisc: per wuniad feire deor. bar is wode bar is water: þar is wilderne muchel. þat lond is swipe wunsum: weallen þer beo feire. wunia i bon londe : eotantes swide strōge, ALBION hatte þat lond: ah leode ne beoð þar nane.

per to pu scalt teman :

and ane neowe Troye þar makian. per scal of pine cunne:

Then seemed it to him in his dream, where he asleep lay, that his lady Diana beheld him lovingly, with winsome smiles, well she him promised, and courteously her hand on his head laid, and thus to him said, where he asleep lay: 'Beyond France, in the west, thou shalt find a winsome land; the land is by the sea surrounded thereon thou shalt prosper. There is fowl, there is fish ; there dwell fair deer;

there is wood, there is water; there is much desert;

the land is most winsome springs there are fair; dwell in the land

Eotens [gian's] most strong ALBION is the land named, but men are there none. Thereto thou shalt proceed, and a new Troy there make there shall of thy kin.