Guthlac Translation

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2008-11-13T08:00:00.000-08:00

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[Guthlac A: The Life and Trials of St. Guthlac of Croyland

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Prologue*

There will be the fairest of joys when they meet at the beginning,
an angel and a blessed soul—when she gives up this earthly joy
and forsakes these loaned pleasures—when she is parted from her body. (1-3)

Then the angel speaks, since its holds the elder order, one spirit greets
the other and announces God’s embassy: “Now you may venture
to where you have striven for a long time, again and again.
I shall lead you myself — for you
the ways will be pleasant
and revealed is the splendorous light of glory.
You are now a fated-farer on your way to the holy home. (4-10a)

“There regret for its miseries will never come,
a seeking beyond the hedge—
instead there will be an ecstasy of angels,
peace and beatitude, and the couch of souls
where they may always rejoice to their furthest moment,
rejoicing with their Lord,
when they have performed his judgments here on earth.
God will keep perpetual recompense for them in the heavens,
where the Loftiest of All, the King of Kings, governs the cities.
Those are buildings that do not decay,
nor will life fail through wretchedness for those that abide therein,
rather it will become better for them the longer it goes on.
They will enjoy youth and the mercies of God. (10b-21)

“To that place the souls of the soothfast may come after death,
those that teach and perform Christ’s law here,
and uprear his praise;
those that subdue accursed spirits
and obtain for them the repose of glory,
that place where the heart of man must climb, before or after,
when he attends his solitary and sublime spirit,
so that these good souls will be allowed,
immaculate, to come into God’s possession.” (22-9)

There are, throughout middle-earth, many orders of men
beneath the heavens, those who rise up in the number of the holy.
We can rightfully heed any one,
if we wish to keep the holy commandments.
The wise man now can take advantage
of the opportunity of good hours,
and his spirit can venture, desiring the way. (30-7a)

The world is perturbed — love for Christ cools,
and many temptations have arisen throughout middle-earth,
just as the prophets of God have said wordfully in former years
and through their divination declared all just as it is happening now.
All earthly abundance elders
and from their beauty fruiting things fade—
in such late seasons all seeds become weaker in power. (37b-46a)

Therefore a man needs not think much upon this world
for its improvement, but that God will bring us a delight
more fair over these evils that we now endure,
before the ending of all creation, which he established in six days,
when he brings forth now these orders under the heavens,
both great and small. (46b-53a)

So this middle-earth is shared out into halves.
The Lord watches where they dwell that keep his law—
he sees his judgments decline every day and stray
from the worldly rule that he established by his own word.
He finds many, but few will be selected. (53b-9)

Some desire to clothe themselves in the glory of their estate
by words alone but do not perform their own station.
For them earth-weal over the Life Eternal is their highest expectation,
that which must become estranged from all fold-dwellers.
Therefore they now condemn the heart of saints,
those who have confirmed their thought in the heavens,
who know that their true homeland will endure
perpetually for the multitudes who throughout middle-earth
serve the Lord and through their good works
desire that precious home. (60-70a)

So these world-treasures will be exchanged for a good
more renowned when they yearn for it,
those for whom the fear of God bends over their heads.
They will be rebuked by that highest majesty
and they profit by their life according to his commandments
and wish and hope for the better one hereafter.
They procure glory— they give alms and comfort the wretched.
They are generous with their rightful possessions.
They show their love with gifts to those that own less.
Daily they serve the Lord, and daily the Lord observes their deeds. (70b-80)

Some dwell in desert places. They willingly seek out and occupy homes
in the shadows. They await their dwelling among heaven’s kind.
Often one drives loathsome terror upon them,
he who would snatch away life. Sometimes he reveals
terrifying thoughts to them, sometimes idle glories—
the killer, wise in woven lies, has both skills and persecutes the sole-dweller.
Before these men stand angels, armed with ghostly weapons;
they are mindful of their well-being and keep the spirits of saints,
who know their joy is with the Lord. These are the proven champions
that serve the King, who never refuses recompense
for those that endure in his love. (81-92)

We can now relate what was recently revealed to us by a holy order,*
how Guthlac stretched out his heart to the delight of God,
rejected all wickedness and his earthly honors,
mindful of what lies above, his home in the heavens.
His hope was upon that place, after he that readies the life’s way
for souls illuminated him, and gave him angelic gifts,
so that he alone began to inhabit a mountain-home,
and through humility sold all his proper possessions,
which he in his youth must have applied to the joys of this world.
A holy warden from the heavens held him close, who eagerly strengthened
Guthlac’s pure heart with goodness of spirit. (93-107)

Guthlac A I

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So, we have often heard that this holy man in his earliest age
loved many perils. The time yet came for the judgment of God,
when He gave an angel unto Guthlac and his understanding
so that his desires for sins could be assuaged.
The time was at hand; and two guardians kept watch over him,
fighting each other in a contest—an angel of the Lord and a fearsome specter.
Their counsels could be not any less alike,
which they bore many times into his heart’s reason. (108-18)

One of them said that all things of earth were fleeting in the wind,
and praised the enduing good in the heavens, where the souls of the holy recline
in victor-glory upon the joys of the Lord, who frankly doles out recompense
for their deeds to those who would give thanks for his gifts and who
would utterly give up the world instead of eternal life.* (119-26)

The other incited him to seek by night the assembly of criminals
and acquire worldly goods by malicious acts, as do banished warriors
who mourn not for the mortal souls* who bring plunder to their hands,
save that they may have spoil by them. (128-32)

And so they exhorted Guthlac on either side until the Lord of Hosts
decreed an end to the struggle in the angel’s favor. The enemy was routed.
Afterwards the Comforting Spirit dwelt within Guthlac for his help,
held him dear and instructing him the more eagerly the longer
the lesson went on,* so that he came to cherish the land’s joys—
his home on the hill. Often there came terror, frightful and uncouth,
the malice of the old foe, so cunning in artifice. They revealed their own faces
to Guthlac. They had held many seats there previously, but had since withdrawn
themselves, deprived of glory, thence into wide wandering, flapping on the breeze. (133-46a)

That plot of land had been concealed before the eyes of men
until the Creator revealed a hill within the woods,
when the builder arrived and reared there a holy home.
Guthlac cared nothing for life-wealth loaned through covetousness,
but pleasantly protected his goods after that champion of Christ subdued the enemy.
There he was tried within the time of remembering men,
who yet worthy him for his ghostly wonders and hold dear
the report of his wisdom, which that holy servant exercised
with strength, when he rested alone in that secret place. (146b-59a)

There he unfolded and uplifted the praise of the Lord.
Often by speech he declared God’s embassy to those who adored
the martyrs’ custom, the sagacity of life which the spirit had revealed to him,
so that he denied his body-house all things of pleasure and world-bliss,
a softer seat and feast-days, likewise from the vain delights of the eyes
and proud clothing. His fear of God was greater in his thoughts
than his desire to devote himself to satisfaction in mortal glory.* (159b-69)

Guthlac A II

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Guthlac was a good man. He bore in his soul heavenly expectation
that he would attain the salvation of eternal life. An angel,
a faithful peace-guard, was near him, one of a very few that dwelt
in that march-land. There he became an example to many in Britain,
after that warrior, blessed and battle-stern, had ascended the mountain.
He prepared himself with spiritual weapons. He blessed the plain,
which the Rood of Christ had just recently raised for him as a war-camp,
where that champion had subdued many perils
and many of God’s martyrs were made bold. (170-182a)

We thus ascribe to the Lord the precious portions of Guthlac.
He gave him victory and prudent craft, his mighty protection,
when enemy multitudes roused their feud against him with far-flung arrows.
They could not abandon their enmity, but drove many temptations
at Guthlac’s soul. Assistance was near him—the angel strengthened him
with courage when they whipped up wrath and the horrible welling of fire at him.
They stood about him in infantry-bands, saying that he must burn upon that hill
and the flame would swallow his body-house;
that misery and mind-trouble would befall absolutely his kinsmen,
if he would not turn away from the fight’s flash-point
and apply himself to human joys, perform willingly and better
his familial duty among man-kind, allowing this conflict to still. (182b-99)

And so he raged, that one who spoke for all the multitude of fiends—
and not a bit more fearful was Guthlac’s soul. God had given him courage
against the terror so that the shoal of these malign old-foes suffered shame.
These wrong-workers were filled with agony. They said that Guthlac alone,
save God himself, had wreaked the most misery upon them, since he,
overweening in the wastes, had broken the mountains where they, wretched enemies,
were previously able to brook an abode after their torments for a time,
when they had come to rest, weary from wanderings, from the currents of time*
and rejoice in the repose that was permitted them for a little while.* (200-14)

That secret space stood high in the thoughts of the Lord—
though abandoned and man-devoid, far from any land-claims,
it waited for the petition of a better guardian* to whom the elder-foes
harbored a hatred, and so they suffer perpetual sorrow.
These devils may not enjoy an abode on earth, nor will the breeze
slumber them into the limb’s repose. Rather they will suffer shelterless of home,
calling out their cares, longing for death, desiring the Lord manifest for them,
through the pangs of death, an end to their tribulations. (215-25)

The demons were neither allowed to harm Guthlac’s soul,
nor separate soul from body with a painful blow—
but they heaved up harm-songs with cunning falsehoods,
cast aside their laughter and sighed their sorrow, when a greater guardian
overcame them on the plain. Mourning the wrack-kin had to abandon
their green mounds. Nevertheless the deniers of God spoke vicious verses,
fiercely promising that Guthlac should suffer the division of death if he endured
their more loathesome assembly any longer, when they would return
with a greater crowd that felt little anxiety for his life. (226-38)

Guthlac addressed them, saying that they needed not to boast
of their deeds against the Lord’s might. “Though you have promised me
death, the Lord that dominates over your hardships,
will preserve me from your hates. There is but one Almighty God—
he can shield me easily and cherishes my life. (239-43a)

“I wish to speak many truths to you.
Alone I can oppress you all—while on my rump—
without much hardship.* I am not so destitute as I stand before you,
lacking a host of men but no small portion of sacred soul-mysteries
indwells and increases within me, and they bolster me up like a staff.
I shall build myself, readily and alone, a house and couch here.
The lessons within me belong to the heavens:
It seems not a little unlikely that an angel will conduct
unto me the spectacular success of all my deeds and words. (243b-54)

“Now begone, accursed ones and weary-minded,
from this ground here where you stand! Fly into the far-way!
I desire to seek peace for myself with God,
nor shall my spirit endure error among you all.
Instead the Hand of God acts as my guardian with its might.
Here shall be my earthly homeland—
It is no longer yours in any wise.” (255-61)

Guthlac A III

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At that moment arose a clamor.
The exiled family* surrounded the mountain in a band,
their speech climbing up, an anxious shout.
Many demon advocates called out, vaunting their crimes:
“Often we have observed between the two seas the habits of humans,
the prideful force of those that control their life by chance.
We have never found a greater arrogance in just one man throughout middle-earth.
You have vowed that you will occupy our home in our very midst?
You are God’s poorling! And though you possess this land,
by what shall you live? No man will nourish you here with meals—
hunger and thirst shall be your harsh adversaries,
should you go forth like a wild animal, alone from your homeland. (262-77a)

“There is nothing to this venture! Give up your refuge!
No man can give you better counsel than all this horde brings!
We will be loyal unto you if you will heed us, else we will seek you
again ill-prepared for our greater strength—so that we need not strike you
with hands nor fell your corse with weapons’ wounds.
We can beat down this hut with our feet—
our folk with both cavalry force and foot soldiers will trample it.
They will be swollen in rage then when strike you down—
pounding you and paining you, wreaking upon you their violent rage.
They will carry you away with bloody footprints if you think to resist us.
We will assault you with malicious deeds.
Start desiring sanctuary for yourself—flee to where
there is hope for friends if you care about your spirit!” (277b-91)

But Guthlac was prepared — God had made him
strong of answer, strong of courage. He did not quail
at these words, but spoke sorrow to his opposing foes
knowing full well the truth: “Wide is the wilderness—
there are many wrack-homes here, secret ground for wretched ghasts.
They are pledge-breakers that inhabit these houses.
Though you have congregated all these devils, each laboring for wider strife,
you will draw out a victory-less journey in pursuit of raging vengeance. (292-302a)

“I do not intend to bear sword, a worldly weapon, against you
with a rage-swollen hand. This good country shall not become inhabited
through bloodshed, but I think to satisfy my lord Christ with a dearer sort of play.*
Now that I have ascended this land your idle words offered me many other lands.
My breast-core is not afraid or appalled, but he that wields all power
over his work keeps me in peace over mankind. (302b-12a)

“There is not a speck of love due to you, nor may you do the tiniest part of evil.
I am the servant of the Lord: he often comforts me through an angel.
Therefore few longings visit me, and rarely sorrow.
Now a soul-kindred shepherd preserves me. My hope is with God—
I do not care for anything of earth-weal for my own use,
nor do I yearn for much with my heart. Instead every day
the Lord sends me what I require by hands of men.” (321b-322)

So he exulted standing against the many,
glory’s worthy warrior supported by the strength of angels.
The entire multitude of fiends departed thence.
The time was not great that they intended to grant Guthlac.
He was brave and humble-hearted, dwelling on the dale—his desired home—
forsaking the longings for loaned pleasures. He did not separate himself
from the mercy of men, but asked for the health of every soul,
when in the desert he lowered his face to the ground.
His inner-heart became incited with a joyful spirit. (323-35)

Often, with an angel near him, he meditated upon how
he might least need to brook the joys of this world.
He did not doubt the truth for terror of wretched devils,
nor did he defer the time that he should endure for his Lord,
so that neither sleepy slumber nor sluggish spirit
would deprive him of the strength to rise up.
Thus a warrior should always campaign for God in his heart,
and often bear his soul into hatred of him that wishes
to prosecute every soul wherever he can betray them. (336-47)

Always the demons found Guthlac stout in God’s will,
whenever the wild-fliers came through the darkness of night—
those ones that occupied secret dwellings—
seeking whether his delight in that plain had decreased.
They desired that a sorrow for human love should invade his heart,
so that he would make a journey again to his homeland. (348-55a)

There was no such enterprise: when the angel in the wasteland
approached Guthlac most eagerly and gave him gifts so that yearning
could not hinder him for the will of God. Instead he remained
in covenant with his instructor. Often he asserted:
“Indeed! It behooves that the Holy Spirit directs him
into determination and bolsters his works, inviting him with gentle words,
promising life’s repose, so that he heeds the teachings of the Leader
and does not allow the Olden-Foe to misturn his mind from his Maker.
How shall my spirit come to safety, unless I give to God
my handsome heart in order that my inner thoughts to him […]* (355b-68)

Guthlac A IV

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[The manuscript resumes in the middle of Guthlac’s speech]

“…early or late there may come an end
to when you can deceive me with your power.
Nor may my body-house against this perishing creation partake of death,
but it must fail, just as the entire earth upon which I stand.
Although you carry away my flesh-home to the fire’s welling,
fierce-minded with greedy flames, you will never avert me from this word
so long as my wit endures. Although you afflict my body with pains,
you can never approach my soul—you will rather bring it into a better state.
Therefore I wish to suffer what my Lord deems proper for me. (369-79a)

“There is no worry for death in me. Though my bones and blood
both will be rendered to the earth’s profit, the perpetual part of me
shall voyage into bliss, where it may enjoy a homestead more fair.
There is no home on this mountain as good or better that befits a man
who labors daily in the passion of his prince’s will. Nor must the servant
of the Lord desire in his heart-case more of these earthy possessions
than his sole share, so that he may keep an exculpation for his body.”* (379b-89)

Then there was, just as before, the malice of olden-foes,
their quarrel brought again to boil — there resounded a second cry,
not at all small, when the clamor of care-ridden demons mounted the breeze.
Always the praise of Christ swelled and dwelt in Guthlac’s heart
for good things, and the God of Multitudes maintained him
on the mountain, as he keeps every spirit in safety, wherever he thrives
in ghostly customs. Guthlac was one of these men—
he worked not after worldly things, but instead heaved the pleasures
of his heart up into Eternal Glory. Who could have been greater than he?
A lone warrior revealed within our own times, the champion
for whose sake Christ manifested more mortal wonders? (390-403)

Guthlac A V

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God shielded Guthlac against the loathsome clutches of spirits,
wretched and wracking—they were fierce to rush upon him
with greedy grasp. God did not will that his soul should suffer bodily pain
from them, he granted that the harmers* may only touch
him with their hands, and that his peace was protected against them. (404-11)

Then the demons heaved Guthlac onto the high breeze,
giving him power beyond the kindred of men, so that he was shown
before his eyes everything under the dominion of holy shepherds,
the bearing of men in monasteries whose use their lives in lusting,
idle possessions and arrogance, in ostentatious clothing,
as will be the custom of youth where they are not
checked by the fear of the elder.* (412-20)

The fiends need not have rejoiced there—
rather they had too swiftly consumed the fruits of their endeavor,
only granted them for a short while. They might not
long afflict his body-house with tortures,
nor vex him by any abuse they might achieve. (421-26)

Then they conducted him from the air to his most beloved home
on earth, so that he again climbed the mountains in the grove.
The killers groaned and moaned mournsomely that a child of man
had excelled them in calamities, and thus, destitute and alone,
this would come as a hardship to them, if they could not
painfully pay him a greater blow in return. (427-34a)

Guthlac set his hope in the heavens, trusting in salvation—
he had endured the fiends’ embrace with his life.
The insurrection of miserable demons was a temptation vanquished.*
The champion remained, happy on the hill: his reward was with God.
It seemed in his thought that he was blessed among mankind
who protected his noble soul alone so that the Enemy’s hand
at the uttermost end should hurt him not, when the Lord’s glory
would guide him, compelled to die at last. (434b-45)

Nevertheless yet, remembering their griefs, the blame-blabbers
promised him miseries with furious blasphemies.
His faith was revealed:
that God had rewarded Guthlac with courage
with his favors since he struggled alone. (446-50)

An accursed demon said to him wordfully:
“We should not need to toil this arduously for you,
if you would have readily heeded the precepts of friends.
When you first came, humbled and wretched, into this flash-point,
then you vowed that the Holy Ghost would shield you readily
against hardships, because of the token that turned the hand
of men away from your noble face.” (Within that mask
live many men, resigned to fault—they don’t serve God at all,
but please their bodies for love of delicate food’s delights)* (451-63a)

“So you all render unto the Lord worthy memorials
with a dull song. You all hide before men many things
that you conceive in your heart. Although you practice them in secret,
your deeds will not be kept hidden. We conducted you
upon the breeze, depriving you of the land’s joys, for we desired
you would see for yourself that we have bring the truth against you.
All of these torments you have endured because you could not change this fact.” (463b-9

Then it happened that God wished to give him favor after his suffering,
so that he esteemed martyrdom in his breast. He gave Guthlac wisdom
in his heart’s thoughts and a might-fast memory. He stood against many
old devils, emboldened by courage, and said to vex them that they,
vanquished, must abandon that green plain. (470-77)

“You are scattered! Sin weighs upon you!
You know not how to beseech the Lord of Multitudes,
nor humbly seek for mercy, even though he permitted you a little
time that you were allowed to possess power over me.
You were willing to accept that with patience,
but conducted me up angrily so that I could see from the air
the buildings of the land. The radiant light of heaven was revealed to me,
though I may have endured your fury. (478-87)

“You set me in scorn because I suffered meekly
the roomy regula and the wild hearts of young men
in God’s temples. By this you would make game of the praise of saints.
You sought the inferior, and did not judge the better by their deeds.
Yet these acts shall not be kept secret. (488-93)

“I will speak a truth refuting you all—
God has shaped the youth and the delight of men
so they cannot bear themselves with maturity in their early bloom
but instead they delight in the joys of the world until the count of winters
subdues their youngness. Thus their spirit feels affection
for the demeanor and deportment* of a more mature state,
which many throughout middle-earth appropriately serve in their ways.
Men will reveal their wisdom to other people:
they lose their arrogance after their youth flees folly. (494-504)

“You do not distinguish that fact, rather you speak of the sins
of the wicked, and will not celebrate the hearts and practices
of the soothfast. You rejoice in crimes and do not look for the comfort
that you may experience any improvement in your wrack-journeys.
Often you stand accused, for which comes chastisement from heaven.
That one who has sent me can reconcile us,
he that controls the length of every life.” (505-12)

So the sainted soldier shouted out—he was a martyr for mankind,
sundered from his sins. Yet he must endure his share of pain,
though the Lord ruled over his torments. Listen—
that seemed some wonder to men that Guthlac would further
allow miserable demons to strike him with savage seizures,
and that it happened yet! (513-20)

Greater still was that Christ sought middle-earth himself, and shed his blood
into the hands of slayers. He held dominion over both life and death
when he suffered willingly and meekly the malice of persecutors on earth.
Therefore it is now fitting that we consider the deeds of law-fast men,
and say praise to the Lord for all these exempla, the wisdom that his books
reveal for our sakes through his glorious works. (521-9)

Guthlac A VI

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Grace in sacred power was discovered within Guthlac—
There is much to relate, all after the beginning, what he endured in courage:
the vanguard whom the Almighty Father himself
had decreed against the hidden adversaries of life.
There his soul became pristine and proven.
It is widely known throughout middle-earth that his heart
flourished in God’s design—there is still much to tell about what he suffered himself
under the narrow bonds of those malicious spirits. (530-40)

Then he scorned the pain and always was mindful of his soul,*
of the protector that kept his mind, so that Guthlac did not doubt
the truth in his breast, nor with grieving injure his spirit,
but that steadfast heart dwelt in the holy man
until he had overcome these troubles. (541-6)

His torments were harsh, grim the servants, all of them that promised
his life’s downfall. They were not allowed to condemn Guthlac to death,
these herders of sin, but his soul waited within its body-house until a dearer hour.
Readily they observed that God would deliver him from hatred.
He would sternly judge their forceful vengeance. So the Lord can,
Almighty and alone, easily protect every one of the blessed against hardships. (547-56)

Nevertheless, fury-swollen, the wracked wrathfully brought him,
the champion of glory, the holy host-thane, to the doors of hell,
where the doomed spirits of the sinful first seek entry after their death-pangs
into that horrible house, the bottomless pit down below the cliffs.
They shook him, wickedly offering him battle, dread and hatred,
and a savage journey, as is the custom of fiends, when they wish
to betray the souls of the soothfast with sins and crafty tricks. (557-68)

Grim-hearted they began to harass God’s warrior in his heart,
affirming strongly that he must go into that terrible and grim place
and go down humbled to hell’s citizens and there suffer in burning bonds.
They desired to drag the miserable wretch in hopelessness
among the angry words, the Creator’s champion. It could not be so! (569-76)

Lornsome and loathly to Christ, they spoke to Guthlac harshly:
“You are not worthy, no servant of the Lord, pristinely proven,
nor a righteous champion, well known by word and deed,
holy in his heart. Now you must dive deep into hell, to have
no more of the light of the Lord in Heaven, the lofty houses, the seat in the sky,
because you have performed too many sins and evils in your flesh-home.
We wish to repay you a bounty for every blot, where it will be
the most loathsome for you, in the most horrific soul-torment.” (577-89)

Guthlac the blessed man gave answer to them in his spirit,
with the power of God: “Do so much, if Christ the Lord,
the Light-Origin of Life will permit you, the Wielder of Hosts,
to be able to led his pledge-pilgrim* into that hateful flame.
That deed would be in the power of the Glory-King,
Christ the Savior, he that humiliated you and routed you
into servitude under close confinement. (590-8)

“I am his humble serving-man, his vassal patient.
I must submit myself wholly to his sole judgment everywhere
and wish forever to be subordinated to him eagerly
with my soul’s thoughts, and faithfully follow my Savior,
in both my practice and presence. I wish to thank him
for all these gifts that God shaped—first the angels
and then the earth-dwellers. I will bless him with a blithe heart
the Light-Origin of Life and day and night sing praises to him
through honor befitting, praise in my heart the Warden of the Heaven-Realm.
It will never be allowed you from above, in the light’s leniency,
that you may speak the Lord’s praise. Rather you must,
welling with woe in death, whooping bewail your lamentation
in Hell, to never have the holy exaltation of the Heaven-King. (599-617)

Guthlac A VII

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“I will worthy that Deemer by words and deeds in my days,
love him in my lifetime, as his lesson and grace spring forth
as sprouting speech,* to those who with their works accomplish his will.
You are pledge-breakers, so you have lived long on the exile’s track,
given flame to drink, enticed by darkness, deprived of heaven,
bereaved of joy, committed to death, caught up in crimes and hopeless of life—
you would devise a cure for your blindness. You readily scorned
then the fairer creation in former-days, the spiritual heaven-joy,
when you conceived contrary to the Holy Lord.
You would not ever be allowed to abide in joy-days,
but in shame were shaven with sins for your over-pride,
in eternal fire, where you must suffer death and darkness,
wailing the width of your years.
Never should you expect an improvement to this state. (618-36)

“And I believe that fact in the Life-Origin,
the Eternal Ruler of all creation, that he,
for his mercies and powerful means, the Savior of Men,
never will abandon me in the valor-works for which I have
long campaigned for God in my body-house and in my soul
through the mysteries of multifold powers. Therefore I trust
in the glory of the brightest Trinity, which holds in its hands
heaven and earth, by their consent—so that you never can,
rage-hearted with malice drag me into torments, vile murderers
and man-harmers,* dark and unvictorious.
Truly I am by graceful belief and with the love of the Lord
satisfied, fairly in my soul-box, instigated in my breast
unto that better home, enlightened in my limbs
to that everlasting dwelling most precious. There is my native land,
pleasant and joyous in the Father’s Glory,
where the light’s radiance nor life’s hope in God’s realm
was never rendered to you for the savior’s sake,
because of your over-pride that mounted you in mind
through idle boast all too powerful. (637-62)

“You believed and desired, you evil-thinkers,*
that you must be like the Shaper in glory.
There a worse thing happened to you,
when the Wielder gave you wrath to wassail in gloomy torment*—
there a pyre was kindled for you afterwards, blended with poison,
and through his deep doom expelled you from joy, the society of angels.
Now and forever it shall be so that you have damnation
in welling-flame, and no blessings at all.
Nor need you believe, beshorn of glory, that you,
sinful in the shade with guile-tricks, can shove me into shame,
nor drag me into the fire-blaze down into this hell-house,
where a home for you has been created, the darkness
of everlasting night, strife without end and grim ghast-killing.
There you mourning must be dragged into death while I will have
the delight of joys among the angels in that lofty realm of the stars,
where is the Lawful King: the succor and salvation
for the race of heroes, their company and community.”* (663-684a)

Then came a messenger of the Lord, holy from the heavens,
who with his voice pronounced fear of a sublime sort
for the miserable demons. He ordered them to immediately lead
glory’s champion limb-whole and unharmed from that wrack-trip,
so that the dearest soul, prepared in God’s protection,
should set forth unto joy. The press of fiends were trembling in their terror.
The powerful being spoke, the Lord’s precious thane, shining day-bright.
He held the soul of Guthlac in his power, the proud protector
rich in mighty deeds. He bound the servants of darkness with agonizing
restraints, imposing hardship and earnestly commanding them: (684b-97)

“Let there be no break of bone nor bloody wound,
no welts on his body nor one whit of injury
which you could do to harm to him. Rather you will place him whole
where you grabbed him. He shall control the countryside —
you may no longer defend that place against him.
I am the judge; the Lord commanded me to utter at once,
that you will heal him of every injury with your own hands,
and after be obedient to him in his own judgments.
I must not conceal my countenance before the lot of you.
I am the servant of the Maker. I am one of twelve who he cherished
in his heart, most faithful in the form of men. (698-710)

“The Lord dispatched me here from heaven, seeing that you,
on the earth for your envies, lay torments upon this pledge-pilgrim.
He is my brother, his hardship grieves me.
I bring this about, where my friend dwells in his refuge,
that I will keep in peace with him. Now I may aid his task —
and for that you will often be shown my face.
Now I will seek him out frequently.
I must conduct his words and works to the Lord in witness—
and so he will know his deeds.” (711-21)

Guthlac A VIII

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Then Guthlac's spirit was overjoyed after Bartholomew
had proclaimed God’s message. The obedient captives* stood ready,
those who did not deviate from the word of that saint.
Glory-blessed the Lord’s champion then began to draw himself
on the dear journey to that desired portion of earth. They bore him
and held him from breaking, heaving him with their hands and protecting him
from a fall. Smooth and soft, their travels were done under the terror of God. (722-32a)

Victor-triumphant the builder returned to the mountain.
Many species, the race of tree-fowl blessed him with insistent chirping,*
revealing the return of the blessed man in tokens.
Often he held out food for them when they flew about his hands,
hungry and greedily eager, exulting in his aid. So that mild heart parted himself
from the joys of mankind, serving the Lord and taking unto himself the joys
of wild beasts since rejecting those of the world. (732b-41)

Tranquil was the triumph-field and the hall renewed,
the voice of birds fair and the earth blossoming;
the cuckoos announced the spring.
Guthlac was allowed, blessed and resolute, to brook his dwelling.
That green plain stood in God’s protection. The warden,
who had come from the heavens, had banished the fiends.
What design has become fairer in men's lifetime,
which our elders remember or we know for ourselves since? (742-51)

What wonders are these known to us! All this has come to pass
within the period of our own times. Therefore none of men’s kind
across the earth need doubt it, indeed such good is worked
as a confirmation to the souls’ life, lest weaker hearts have need
to turn from that testimony when they might profit by the truth in their own sight. (752-9)

So the Almighty adores all creation beneath the breeze
in its body-housing, the tribes of men throughout middle-earth.
The Wielder wishes that we always and prudently swallow up his wisdom,
so that his truth becomes a recompense for his gifts
among us, which he grants and sends to us as an honor and understanding,
clearing lenient life-courses for our souls that reach towards radiance. (760-8)

This is certainly not the least that his love makes known,
when it builds godly gifts in the heart of men.
So he exalted Guthlac's days and deeds through his decree.
The originator was firm in fights with his foes, set against sins,
where he wanted afterwards for little vigilance.
Often his word was sent up to God through his humility;
his prayer allowed to come into that bright creation. He thanked the Prince
for those things he was allowed to endure in his sufferings—
until the moment when, through God's will, a better life may be given him. (769-80)

And so was Guthlac’s spirit carried into the high-heavens
in the embraces of angels, conducting him lovingly
before the face of his Eternal Judge. The reward was granted
him, a seat in the skies, where he might always exist
established in life and continue in calm forever. The Child of God
is his patient protector, the Mighty Lord and Holy Herdsman,
the Warden of Heaven's-Realm. (781-9)

So the souls of the sooth-fast may climb up
into that perpetual home, the realm of the stars,
those who accomplish the Glory-King’s life-long lesson here
in words and works, and in their life’s season earn eternal life on earth
and a home on high. Those are the Host-men,
chosen champions dear to Christ, bearing in their breasts bright belief
and holy hope. With clean hearts they worthy the Wielder,
holding thought both prompt and prudent onto the forth-way
to their Father’s homeland. They ready the soul’s house,
expertly overfighting the Enemy and eschewing the sinful desires
in their own breasts. These men attend to brother-love eagerly—
in God's purpose they trouble themselves, adorning
their souls with holy thoughts. The command of the Heaven-King
they effect on earth. They love fasting—they are sheltered
from baleful evil and strive after their prayers.
They struggle against sins and keep truth and right. (790-810)

Their hence-going will never grieve them after,
when they voyage to that holy city,
departing directly for Jerusalem, where
they may joyfully behold the face of God
and her peace and panorama unto the world’s end,
where she truly abides, beautiful
and glory-fast, for the entire width of life,
in the delight of the land of living. (811-8)

and so ends the first legend of the miracles and death of St. Guthlac of Croyland—

Guthlac B: The Death of Saint Guthlac of Croyland

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I.

It is widely known among the generations of men,
heard by the people, that the God of Beginnings,
the Almighty King, created the first of the kindred of men
from the purest earth. Then was the novel origin of the race of men,
a joyous composition, fair and rejoicing.
Adam the Father was first conceived by God’s favor in Paradise-plain,
where there was no want of delightful things nor decay of prosperity,
the fumbling of life nor tumbling of body,
the crumbling of delight nor the arrival of death*—
instead Adam was allowed to live in that land free from all frailties,
and enjoy these new pleasures at length. (1-15a)

There he had no need to await, through the passing season of men,
the end of life or delight in that radiant home, but after a time was allowed
to return to the joys of the most beautiful heaven-realm—
limbs and body and the spirit of life as one,
and there afterwards always in ever-delights would be allowed to dwell
for the expanse of life in the sight of the Lord, without the journey of death,
if they had desired to keep the word of the Holy One bright in their breasts,
and execute his decrees and labor in his homeland. (15b-25a)

It wearied them right at first that they should work at the Wielder’s pleasure,
but his wife Eve seized by the serpent’s lore the forbidden fruit
and plucked from the tree a blossom prohibited by the word of God
the Glory-King. Then she by the Devil’s guile gave the mortal-making morsel
to her husband so that the couple was constrained to die. (25b-33)

Afterwards that land was estranged to Adam and Eve—
the bright country of choice carried away, and so with their children
and heirs following, they were shoved into the struggling world,
shamefully shivering in a strange land. They paid the price for this deed,
these profound faults, through the killing blow of death,
which they had brought to pass through their folly. Since their sin-wrack
women and men must be punished for their great sin,
a God-guilty grief through soul-parting, for these profound faults.
Death crowded in upon the kindred of men—
our enemy tyrannized us throughout our world. (34-47a)

There was never again any man from that triumphant stock
so eager for God’s will or so wise that he might be able to avoid
that bitter drink which Eve gave Adam of old,
that his young bride poured out for him.
It injured both of them in their beloved home.
Death reigned over earth-dwellers, although there were many
that did God’s will, spirit-holy in various human habitations,
throughout the open fields. Some early, some late,
and some within our own times’ memory,
by the date, sought the reward of victory. (47b-60a)

Books tell us how Guthlac became blessed in Anglia
through the pleasure of God. He elected eternal power
and protection for himself. Renowned wide and broad
were his miraculous works, famous in the cities
throughout the interior of Britain:
how, by the power of God, he often healed many that sought him
from the travel-ways; men of heavy torments, heart-sorrowed
and tremble-minded, bound by disease, discomforted and sorry.
Always they found comfort ready there at the side
of that champion of God, help and healing. There is no man
that can recount or reckon the number of all of those miracles
that Guthlac here in this world here performed
for the multitudes through the grace of the Lord. (60b-75)

Guthlac B II

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Often to that habitation came a death-powered host of devils,
in gangs shorn of glory, bearing down on him where the sainted
and resolute servant of valor defended his dwelling.
There they raised a resounding army-shout with many voices,
of diverse noise, in the waste, denied shape and deprived of their joys.
The champion of the Lord, the bold battle-leader, ably withstood
the swarming enemy. The hour of horrid ghasts was never delayed,
nor was it long to await the crime-wrights to heave up a war-cry,
joylessly clamoring, audibly moving to and fro. (76-88)

Sometimes the furious ones would cry like wild animals in packs,
sometimes again the malicious man-harmers turned into human shape
with the greatest noise, and other times the accursed pledge-breakers
drew themselves into the form of dragons, pained and plague-clad*
spewing forth venom. Always they found Guthlac prepared
and prudent of thought. He awaited them patiently, though
the band of fiends should menace him with life-killing. (89-97)

Sometimes the kindred of birds flew to his hands, urged by hunger,
where they would assuredly find sustenance and worthied him
with insistent chirping.* Sometimes again human messengers humbly
sought him and there, journey-bold on the triumph-plain,
they found help at the hand of the holy servant, and solace of the soul.
Indeed there were none that journeyed back again ashamed,
abased, without hope—rather the holy man healed through virtuous power
both body and soul of every man that tormented sought him in need,
heroes heart-sorrowed as long as the Warden of Life, the Eternal Almighty,
wished to grant that Guthlac be allowed to enjoy the fruits of life here on Earth. (98-114a)

Then the ending-day of Guthlac’s earthly struggle and miseries
pressed closely, the enforced separation of life. Then, fifteen years
after he had chosen his dwelling-place in the desert, the Spirit of Succor
blessedly was sent from above to the Law’s proclaimer,
holy from the heights. Guthlac burned with his breast,
goaded unto his going-forth. Suddenly disease shot through him.
Yet in courage undismayed, he awaited the bright promises,
restful in his refuge. His bone-close was oppressed closely
during the night-gloom, his breast-hoard enfeebled.
His joyful spirit was eager for the forth-way. (114b-127a)

The Father of Angels did not wish to allow him to endure
in this miserable worldly life a long-space after that, that sinless man
who pleased him with his deeds here during his days’ time
with acts of quick spirit. Then the Help-mighty* let his hand
come where his sainted servant waited, brave-minded and doom-blessed
in his secret cell, stern and strong-hearted. Guthlac’s joy was renewed,
the bliss in his breast. His bone-coffer was kindled in sickness, fixed with inward
bands; his body-hoard unclosed. His limbs heavied, persecuted by pains. (127b-39a)

Guthlac recognized the truth that the Almighty sought him from above,
the Maker for his mercies. He fortified his heart’s mind stoutly
against the hedging-fear* of the fiends’ struggles. Yet he was not afraid—
neither taloned fever* nor death-parting was terrifying in his mind.
Instead the praise of the Lord burned in his breast, his brand-hot love
triumph-true in his spirit, which had always surpassed his every pain.
Nor was there pained anxiety in this loaned time, though his body
and soul, a conjugal pair, should soon separated their precious joined meal.* (139b-52a)

The days danced past, the night-helms’ darkness.
The moment was near when he must satisfy that former-deed
through the arrival of death, draw lots for glory,
even that same death as our fallen parents assumed of old,
and as that first race of creatures did before them.* (152b-158)

Guthlac B III

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Then was Guthlac’s strength wearied in that dire moment,
the heart so stern and steadfast of courage. The disease was terrible,
hot and savage. His breast welled within, his bone-case burned.
The barrel was tapped that Eve brewed for Adam*
at the start of the world. The Enemy first poured it for that woman—
and afterwards she served up that bitter tankard for Adam, her own dear husband. (158-67a)

Ever since their children have paid a terrible price for these former deeds:
so that none of the human race, no man on the earth after its start,
has been able to defend himself and avoid that miserable drink,
the deep death-cup, instead in that cruel moment the door opens
itself at once, revealing the entrance to him. (167b-75a)

Powerful or humble no one can, caught up in flesh,
oppose that end with his life, but it rushes upon him
with greedy claws. So, cruel and solitary and close to Guthlac,
after the night-shade, Death was encroaching nearby,
a slaughter-greedy warrior.* (175b-81a)

A single serving-man dwelt with him, who visited him every day.
Deep-hearted and wise-minded, he went to God's temple, where he knew
the native apostle, his chosen teacher most dear, would be
and when he went inside to speak blessedly, he wished to hearken
to the saint’s instruction, conversation with the meek man.
Then he found his patron wearied with his disease, a fact
that fell heavy upon his heart. Heart-sorrow moved him, a great mind-care. (181b-92a)

Guthlac’s servant then asked him: “How has it happened,
my cherished lord, my father, shelter to his friends, that your spirit
is thus afflicted and closely assailed? I have never found you,
dearest lord, distressed like this before. Can you muster
a word in conversation? It seems to my mind that some weakness
from the onset of disease has afflicted you during the recent night,
persecuting you with pained wounds. That will be the keenest of sorrows
in my breast until you comfort my heart and spirit. Do you know,
my generous lord, what end must be decreed for this illness?” (192b-204)

After a moment Guthlac replied to him—he could not immediately draw
in a breath: this bitter bane-sickness had sunk within him.
The bold one spoke, blessed in courage, and gave answer:
“I wish to say that agony has reached out to me, pain wading
through in this wan night, unlocking my body-hoard.
My limbs grow heavy, beset by pains. This soul-house,
this fated flesh-home must be covered over in its earth-lodge,
my limbs in a loamy shroud, and, fixed upon my final bed,
abide upon the couch of death. The warrior approaches, quick to battle-play.
My wait for soul-parting will be no longer than seven nights’ time-mark,
when my spirit will seek its end hence on the eighth day that passes.
Then my days upon this mould-way will have bounced by:
my sorrow will have abated and then I might be allowed to gain
my meed, renewed gifts at the knees of the Creator, and to follow
the Lamb of God ever after in perpetual joys. Now my soul is eager
and ready for the journey there. Now you readily know of my limbs’ life-parting.
Long is the lingering of this worldly life.” (205-229a)

There was wailing and lamentation then: the heart was newly sad
and the mind mourning after the serving-man heard that the saint
was eager for the going forth. For that fearful news he knew sorrow
for his patron, heavy in his heart. His breast darkened within,
his regretful mind anxious after he saw his lord eager for death.
He could hardly keep composure for this, but let his burning tears flow,
suffering his grief, welling wave-drops.
The world’s way could not contain life, that dear ornament,
in anyone fated to go for longer than was ordained for them. (229b-41)

Guthlac B IV

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Holy of soul, Guthlac perceived the pensive heart of his sad-minded servant.
Then that shelter of the multitude, glad at heart and dear to God,
cheered the younger man, speaking in words to his dearest friend:
“Don’t be upset, though this disease burns me within.
It is no hardship to suffer the will of the Prince, my Lord:
I have no sorrow in my mind for death in this infirm hour,
nor do I dread much the reaving raiders of Hell’s thanes,
nor can sin’s first-born set any torment or frailty of body upon me.
Instead they must be frustrated in flame, seething in pain and welling
in sorrow, weeping in the wrack-way, beshorn of pleasures
in that Death-hall, of every glory, of love and leniency.
My cherished child, do not be so sick at heart.
I am hastening to the journey to take up
my heavenly home, eager for its rewards in eternal joy,
and to see, for my life-deeds, the Victorious Lord. (242-62a)

“My beloved son, there will be no suffering or struggle,
when I seek the God of Glory, the Heaven-King,
where is peace and bliss, the joy of the glory-fast,
and the Lord is present, who I in this dreary hour have readily satisfied
with soul-secrets and deeds, with mind and might.
Faultless I will know at that moment my reward,
my perpetual recompense, holy on the heights.
There my hope guides me to seek, my soul aspires
from this body-vessel towards those enduring joys in blessed weal.
There is no homeland for me, neither pain nor sorrow.
I know there is an eternal requital after the body’s crumbling.” (262b-275)

Then glory’s servant grew still, the stout secret-keeper:
he was in need of rest and weary-minded. The sky grew dark
over the children of men, the count of nights passing by,
murky over their multitudes. Then the day arrived when the Living God,
The Lord and Eternal Almighty was joyfully resurrected
within his body-shroud; when he arose from death, in single dominion
of the earth at Easter-tide, Majesty of All Majesties, heaving up
the greatest crowd to the heavens; when he climbed up from hell. (276-86)

So then on that bright day, in that noble hour, clamorous
with grace, the blessed man, mild and modest,
not soft in strength, worked courageously.
Then the joy of noble men, stern and heart-wise,
rose as quickly as he could, weary from his great affliction.
Then his mind confirmed his dazzling belief, and Guthlac offered
thanksgiving in God’s temple, meditating upon soul-mysteries
according to the will of the Lord. And Guthlac began to proclaim
the good news unto his thane, as the Lord rose through the grace of the spirit,
to speak in triumph-tokens. He strengthened his servant’s mind
by miracles of glory and happy weal in that lovely creation,
as he had never heard in this loaned time, no other lesson like it,
before nor since nor ever in his life—nor the secrets of the Lord
so deeply narrated, in such broad understanding, by human mouth.
It seemed to him more likely that it was the word of a heaven-kindred angel
down from the soaring joys, a much greater servant of power
than the teaching of any man among earthly men. The sight seemed to him
to be the greatest miracle, that such learning-craft was kept
in the breast of any noble man among the children of men.
Every word, all his wisdom was so profound and the composure of this man,
his mind and mighty skill that the Maker of Angels,
the Succor of Souls had given to Guthlac. (287-315)

Guthlac B V

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Then the number of four days had passed by, which the thane of the Lord
endured bravely, assaulted by disease, harried in agonies.
Guthlac did not bear in sorrow grievous thoughts of soul-parting,
his dreary heart. Death drew near him, stepping in its thieving course,
strong and swift seeking his soul-house. (316-23a)

Then came the seventh day, present to the people, since it sank
within him, fierce, near to his heart, in war-showers
a flickering of fletched force, unlocking his life-hoard,
seeking him with crafty keys. When the wise hero, the messenger,
his serving-man, sought out that nobleman at that holy home.
He found him then hopeless, reclining and eager for the forth-way,
ghost-holy in the temple of God, boiling in bubbling troubles.
It was the sixth hour then, at mid-day,
when the final-moment approached his master. (323b-34)

Guthlac was assailed with the closeness of his unavoidable ordeals,
struck with slaughter-spears. Though he could not easily draw in breath,
he raised his voice in brave speech. Then his servant, heart-saddened,
shivering and soul-weary, began to beseech the man, exhausted
yet mind-glad and eager to die, asking him, if he by the Shaper of Might
could muster his word-talk and heave up speech so that he might declare to him
the news and reveal the course of his words, how he trusted his own counsels,
his practice in that hidden disease before death had laid him flat. (335-44)

The blessed man gave him answer, a beloved man among the beloved,
although he could but slowly, the courage-hard nobleman,
draw in breath: “My precious child, it is not now very far to that uttermost end
day of needful parting, so that you, who never lacked reward,
must obey my instruction, the last of my words in this worldly life,
no long while long from now. Attend faithfully to all your promises
and friendship, those words we spoke to each other, dearest of men.” (345-55a)

“I will never in your need, my master,
permit our brotherly love to weaken.” (355b-7a)

“Be ready for a journey after my body and limbs and this soul of life
sunder their conjugal meal by spirit’s separation. Hasten after that moment
and tell my dearest sister* of my forth-way to the eternal home upon a long road
to fair joy. Also reveal my words to her, that I have kept myself from her face
all the days of this world-life for I desired that we would be allowed
to see each other soon, free from our frailties, in the perpetual pleasances
of Heaven-glory and the sight of our Everlasting Redeemer.
There must our love remain pledge-fast, where we will always may
enjoy delights in that radiant city, prosperity among the angels.
Say to her as well that she must entrust this bone-vessel
in a barrow, enclose it in clay, my soul-less shell in a dark enclosure,
where it afterwards must abide for a time in its sandy house.” (357b-78)

Then his serving-man’s thought became greatly troubled, overwhelmed
by oppression, by the words of that prince, when he recognized at once
the soul-parting of his master, that end-day was not far away.
Then he speedily began to converse wordfully to his dear lord:
“I beg you by the Ward of Souls, most beloved hero of the kindred of men,
joy of noblemen, that you ease my heart-sorrowed breast. The end is not far
as I have recognized in your orations. Often my sad thought reminds me
of my anxieties, hot at heart, my lamenting mind constrained by night
and I would never dare, my father, my comfort, to question you. (379-93)

“Always I have heard, when Heaven’s gem, the joy-candle of men,
declines to the west, the heaven-bright sun hastens to its setting
in the evening time, another man in debate with you. I have heard the words
of that lord, that unknown herald often seeking you between the day-roar
and the dark night, the conversing words of this man, and in the morning
so sorrow-minded perceived the speech of a sagacious spirit
on your dwelling. Indeed, I yet do not know, until you, my lord, reveal more
to me through your words, whence his origin might be.” (394-405)

And then the blessed man returned a reply to his dear servant
after a long while, so he could slowly, his courage evident, wield his breath:
“Listen, you address me, my friend, in words questioning this hastening man
of secrets which I have never wished to become informant to any men
across the earth, the servants among the people, except to you now,
lest that men and women should marvel at it and pour it forth in folly,
in songs while I still lived. Truly, I never wished through boasting words to hinder
the comfort of my own soul, nor provoke the wrath of God, my Father.”* (406-19)

“Indeed in the second year-space since I began to inhabit this hermitage,
my Victor-Lord, Life-Granter to man, has always sent to me a holy spirit,
an angel of height-kind, a mighty thane of the Creator,
who was to seek me every evening and morning too, fixed in victory,
and heal me of every pain and heart-sorrow.* And glory’s favorable
messenger enclosed in my breast the gift of wisdom much more complex
than any known in this life, which is permitted to reveal to no living man,
so that one could but scarcely conceal what he conceived
in his heart’s thoughts, after he was visible before my eyes. (420-37)

“Until this day I always had concealed in my mind the glorious arrival
of the Lord from every man. Dearest of men, now for your love
and companionship that we have long observed between us, I do not wish that you
may ever be sorrowful after my life-decree makes you an exhausted
and heart-sick man, seethed in welling sorrow. Ever I desire to keep peace with you.
Now my soul hastens from my breast-box unto its true joy.
The time is not delayed, this bone-vessel grows weak, the earth-hoard mourns,
the soul hurries him into its eternal home, eager for its outward journey,
to be given its seats. Now I am greatly wearied with work.” (438-51a)

Then Guthlac collapsed against the wall, bending his head,
still courage braced him within. From time to time he drew breath by force,
a spirited man, and from his mouth came the sweetest smell.
Like in summer’s time blossoming flowers are smelled joyfully across
the fields, fixed in their places by the root and honey-flowing, so that saint’s breath
was drawn forth the whole day long until coming of evening. (451b-60a)

Then the radiance of the glorious heavens sought its setting-course,
the north-heavens darkened, black under the clouds,
the world was drawn over by mist, covered over by shadows—
the expanse of night thronged over the earth’s adornments.
Then came the greatest brilliance, holy from heaven,
shining radiantly, bright over the sheltering hall.
Obliged to do so, Guthlac, blessed in valor,
awaited his last day, struck by slaughtering arrows.
The splendor of glory, noble about that noble, all night long, sparkled clearly.
The shadows receded, dissolving under the breeze.
The radiance of light was all about that holy house, the heavenly candle,
from the even-gloom until from the east came the dawn's roaring
across the profound path, the warm weather-token. (460b-75a)

The servant of glory rose, blessed and mindful of bravery, speaking
to his serving-man, splendid to his faithful companion: “It is time
that you go and remember all of my errand. Carry it with haste,
as I have instructed you earlier, my message to my dear sister.*
Now from my body, eager for God-joys, my soul is quite ready.” (475b-481)

Then Guthlac raised his hands, fed by the Host and humble from that honorable bite,
he also opened his eyes, the holy head gems, seeing then to the Reign of Heaven,
glad-minded for the rewards of its joys and then he sent by his deeds
his beautiful soul into the Delight of Majesty. (4826)

Guthlac B VI

2008-08-05T09:36:00.002-07:00

Then was Guthlac's spirit carried away, blessed upon the lofty road.
Angels carried him unto that enduring delight, and his body cooled,
unlifed under the lofty sky.* Then a brilliance blazed there, brightest of trees:
That beacon was entirely about the holy house, heavenly of arms,*
rising straight up from the earth like a flaming tower up to the roof of the stars,
visible under heaven, more splendid than the sun, the beauty of the noble stars.
Troops of angels sang triumphant hymns,
their voice heard in the wind beneath the heavens, the saints’ joy. (487-98)

So that sheltering stead* was filled with happiness throughout
its inner parts, with the sweetest odors and skyward miracles—
the ancestral seat of the blessed and the song of angels. There was more*
of the surpassing and overjoyed than any voice in this world could reckon:
how that fragrance and that melody were heard;* the heavenly sound and holy song;
God’s high-majesty; how each voice harmonized with its accompanying voice.*
That island quaked, the earth-field trembled. (499-508a)

Then Guthlac’s messenger was afraid, wanting courage, when he hastily departed;
an unhappy man that climbed into a boat and drove that wave-horse,
a journey upon a water-runner, swift under his sorrows.
The sky glittered warmly, shining over the shelter-hall. The brim-wood hurried,
light and fast on its course. The lake-steed made speed, bearing on the harbor,
that sandy place where the sea-floater would perch after its swim-play,
grinding against the gravel. (508b-17a)

He bore his mourning sadness burning in his breast, his sad heart,
his weary mind-sense, he who knew his master, his dearest friend,
watched his tracks, having sailed away from life. The ring of his woes
reminded him grievously. Tears welled forth in waves, hot cheek-drops,
and he carried in his chest a great mind-care. He had to deliver to that woman
Guthlac’s message, hateful news all too true. (517b-25)

Then the spirit-cold servant came to where the woman lived, glory’s joyous maid.
He did not conceal what had occurred,* the forward-course of the doomed,
but sang out, friend-lacking, a parting song and spoke these words: (526-9)

“Courage is best for him that very often must endure lord-killing—
he must deeply meditate upon the oppressive prince-parting
when its ill season comes, woven with fate-songs.
He knows that who grieves sad-souled…
Ah! he knows that his beloved treasure-giver is buried.
He must depart from there, abjected and sad.
A lack of mirth is the hardship that he often suffers in his pained heart. (530-8a)

“At any rate, I need not make so light of his hence-journey.
My lord, leader of warriors and your own brother, best of those between the seas*
who we in England have ever heard, conceived in child’s form,
and of the kindred of men. He has turned toward the judgment of God,
the support of the weary. He has turned from worldly joys,
O delight of your cherished kin,* perchance into the majesty of glory and his protection.
He is departed to seek out dwellings, a home upon the upward way. (538b-48a)

“Now his portion of earth, the bone-house broken out of its refuges
from within, abides upon its death-couch, and his portion of glory
voyages from its body-vessel into the light of God, its triumphant reward.
I am ordered to say to you that you two will always be allowed
to take a common home at your desire, in those everlasting joys
among the brethren-rights, the glorious rewards of your deeds,
and to enjoy its profit and blissful things. (548b-56a)

“My victory-lord also ordered me to announce to you, when he was eager
for the journey, that you, dearest maid, should cover over his body-home.
Now you know my journey’s purpose at once. Now I, pain-souled,
low-minded must go forth now with my heart drooping…”
(556b-61)

[End missing]

Guthlac Notes

2008-08-05T09:33:00.000-07:00

Editions of the Guthlac Poems:

Gollancz, Israel, ed. The Exeter Book. EETS os 104, 194. London: Paul, Tench & Trübner, 1895-1934. 104-87.
Krapp, George Philip and Elliot Van Kirk Dobbie, ed. The Exeter Book. New York: Columbia UP, 1936.
Muir, Bernard J. The Exeter Anthology of Old English Poetry. Exeter: U of Exeter P, 1994. 2 vol.
Roberts, Jane. The Guthlac Poems of the Exeter Book. Oxford: Clarendon; New York: Oxford UP, 1979.
Thorpe, Benjamin, ed. Codex Exoniensis. London, 1842. 107-84.

Translations of Guthlac:

Bradley, S. A. J. Anglo-Saxon Poetry: an Anthology of Old English Poems in Prose Translation. London: Everyman, 1982. [prose]
Gollancz, Israel, ed. The Exeter Book. EETS os 104, 194. London: Paul, Tench & Trübner, 1895-1934. 104-87. [verse]
Gordon, R. K. Anglo-Saxon Poetry. London: Dent, 1967. [prose]
Kennedy, Charles W. The Poems of Cynewulf, Translated into English. London: Routledge & Sons; New York: Dutton & Co.: 1910. 264-305. [Included in the section “Poems attributed to Cynewulf”; prose translation, marred by an over-reliance on Elizabethan poetic diction]
Thorpe, Benjamin, ed. Codex Exoniensis. London, 1842. 107-84. [Verse translation printed in double columns, each line facing a half-line of OE verse]

As with Andreas before, I don't normally work with all the extant versions in front of me. I have an electronic version based on Krapp & Dobbie on my laptop, which I check against Muir as I go. I cross-reference the translation against Kennedy and Bradley, and make frequent use of the wordlist at the end of Roberts's edition.

Footnotes (keyed to the line number of the original, and indicated by an asterisk in the translation):

Prologue (1-107): The Exeter Book provides indications of a major section break at what is now considered the first line of Guthlac. Early editors and translators, including Kennedy and Gordon, begin Guthlac at line 30 "Monge sindon geond middan-geard," and hold the first twenty-nine lines to be either a "second ending" to Christ III, or else an interpolated lyric accidentally taken to be part of Guthlac. As a beginning for a narrative poem, the first twenty-nine lines are unusual, and feel as if the poem is embedded into a specifically homiletic frame. I have decided to treat the section as if it were a prologue, rather than the first part of the story proper. Probably quite boringly, I elected to make the first section start at line 108 "Hwæt, we hyrdon oft þæt se halga wer" since it can be productively compared to the beginnings of numerous other poems (Beowulf, Andreas, Dream of the Rood, and Juliana, among others).

The Exeter Book consistently marks the start of sections within Guthlac with one or two small capitals, and does so at the start of line 93 (Magun we nu nemnan). I have chosen to violate this editorial organization only after a great deal of thought, and have otherwise maintained it throughout Guthlac A.

11) eder-gong: The compound is unique to the extant OE corpus, and there has been little consensus on its meaning. Bosworth shows the first part of the kenning to be related to eodor, "hedge, home," and defines the whole as "a home-seeking." Bradley, following Grein, translates the word as "beggary," perhaps taking the idea of traveling outside the boundaries of the home as a form of exile or penury. Though I feel the word "beggary" to be unsatisfactory, I agree that there is a negative connotation to the movement beyond the hedge in Guthlac, given its context.

94) þurh haligne had gecyþed: This half-line continues the prologue's concatenation of the word had "state, order, condition," furthering the prologue's discussion of the distinctions between the various ethical groups men place themselves into by their actions and beliefs. If we are to believe that one of these holy orders were this author's actual source for the legend of Guthlac, then perhaps this half-line specifically refers to the Abbey at Croyland, reputedly established on the site of Guthlac's grave, and of which Felix, author of the Latin Vita Sancti Guthlaci, was supposed to be a member.

125-6) þas woruld/ uttor lætan þonne þæt ece lif: The concluding lines of the angelic spirit's exhortation for Guthlac to consider the transience of life and the rewards of heaven recalls the narrator's critique of hypocritical monks and other men who yearn too much for earthly wealth.

130) þa þe ne bimurnað monnes feore: This line recalls Andreas 154b: Feorh ne bemurndan (they mourned not for the spirit) and Solomon & Saturn 110: feorh ne bemurneð (it mourns not for the spirit), though the variation in the metrical pattern suggests a much more general form of borrowing than that evident in Andreas, which frequently borrows lines and passages wholesale from earlier poems. The language in Guthlac frequently recalls other poems, but does not quote them precisely, which I feel presents an interesting challenge to the theory that OE poetry is composed from a common stockpile of metrically-correct half-lines.

138b) lenge hu geornor: As in line 20's "bið lenge hu sel," this phrase literally reads "however long, the more eagerly" but I have added "it went on" to complete the sense.

169) þrymme æfter þonce þegan wolde: Roberts suggests that the otherwise unusual verb þegan here should not be understood as a form of þicgan "to accept, partake, eat" (as in BT), but rather as an unusual form of þeowian "to serve, devote oneself to" since the context requires it take a dative object, which þeowian more regularly does. This verb, in a conjugated form, is perhaps seen again in line 461 (see below).

176) ond-wiges heard: This is the only attested appearance of this kenning, combining anda, -an, m. — grief, anxiety, malice with wig, -es, m. — battle. Kennedy and Gordon translate this line as "ond wiges heard" (and stern from battle).

178) wæpnum wong bletsade: Krapp posits that an unknown number of lines are missing between wæpnum and wong, perhaps from the sense that there seems to be something lacking in the line metrically. However, the line works as is and so there is not really any reason to fret about a gap here.

213a) restan ryne-þragum: BT defines this kenning as "a space of time," but I feel that the semantic register of ryne includes motion or course (whether of a ship, a river, the motion of a heavenly body, or time). If the kenning should be translated just as a "while" then it is strictly repetitive. While this is not necessarily wrong given this poet's extensive use of repetition, the kenning seems to connote a more active sense of motion, since the lines are describing the endless motion of the fugitive demons. I render the kenning as "currents of time" to retain that sense of movement.

217) Note the heavy use of legal language here: eþel-riehte (hereditary claim to land), bisæce (conflict, but also litigation (given here as "petitition), hyrdes (guards or herdsman, but also guardians or wardens in the legal sense).

229) ahofun hearm-stafas: This compound is defined in BT as meaning simply "hurt, harm, sorrow, trouble, affliction," a definition followed by Kennedy, Gordon, and Bradley. The kenning promises, however, an interpretation a bit more complicated than that. The final part stæf is cognate with ModE "staff" in both the sense of a stick and a verse or piece of writing (which we now only use to mean a musical staff). I translate it as "harm-song," a meaning that seems most appropriate especially with the use of the verb ahofun or "to lift up, heave up," a verb often used to denote the action of sending words up or out (cf. Elene 723b, Andreas 561a). Sar-stafum, in line 234, is another form of the same kenning.

244b) Mæg ic þis setl on eow: Setl appears quite often throughout Guthlac, and means "seat, throne or home, house" but also the part of the body that one sits upon, the buttocks. The general tone of boastfulness in Guthlac's speech here seems compatible with the reference to his body.

307a) leofran lace: This has often been translated as "gift," which is a perfectly acceptable interpretation. I have chosen to render it as "war-play" to match the talk of weapons and battle in the previous lines (lac is related to the verb lacan, meaning 1. to swing, wave, move about like ship on waves, bird in the air, or flames do; 2. to play, wield a weapon, fight; 3. play a musical instrument (BT). Either way it is rendered, the repetitions of lac throughout the poem are a punning reference to Guthlac's name, which means "war-gift" or "battle-play."

368) A folio is missing from the Exeter Book, containing perhaps 60 lines. It is tough to say what is missing here with any confidence. Roberts (1979) posits that Guthlac's speech that bookends the gap continues uninterrupted, and that the text most likely marked a section break somewhere on the missing page (141-2). Bradley posits another demonic foray in the missing portion (259). At any rate, my section IV is pretty short compared to others (369-402, or 33 lines), following Roberts.

389) he his lic-homan lade hæbbe: Lad commonly is interpreted as "course, way," though there is a legal meaning that can not be ruled out, given the poem's frequent use of legal diction. The legal sense of the word is "excuse" or "alibi"; an exculpation or defense. If this is how lad should be translated here, then the sense of the passage fits more readily into the poem's also-frequent invocation of the necessity of earthly things to survive, and the determination of how much is sufficient. In this case, then the needful amount of property becomes exculpatory, a defense to the charge that one should renounce all earthly things.

409) lyfde seþeana: The MS reads se þeana, with a space between the words. Roberts glosses this as a version of swa þeah "so," however the line seems a bit skimpy without some more substantive word in this place. I wonder if it is not an error for sceaþeana, or harmers.

420) þær þæs ealdres egsa ne styreð: Ealdor has a broad array of valences, as reflected in the available translations. Kennedy renders it as "old age," Bradley as "the Lord," BT cites this line as an example of ealdor meaning 'life.' Roberts suggests the most attractive possibility as "elder" in the sense of a monastic superior (145). The pointed nature of Guthlac's vision, revealing to him specifically monastic violations make this interpretation highly likely. There are other moments in Guthlac A that sound like critiques of monastic life (cf. 460-3).

437) Wæs seo æreste earmra gæsta: Most editors and translators have rendered æreste as an adverb "first," and so Kennedy's "So was the first temptation of those woeful spirits overcome" (276). However, there are two problems: First, this is the fourth confrontation between Guthlac and the demons. Second, I find the separation of the article seo from its noun costung to be a bit extreme, even for this poet (there are, after all, numerous moments of highly fractured syntax, see line 95 for example). Since we have already seen the noun ærist, -e, f. "a rising" in line 342 ("þæt hine æreste elne binoman" ("would deprive him of the strength to rise up"), and will see it again in line 1100), I am wondering if that noun could be used here, giving the sense a smoother syntax. I realize that æreste could also be read as "most recent," and this may invalidate my interpretation, but I will hold onto it for the time being, until I've chewed on it a bit longer. "Insurrection" might be too strong a word here, at any rate.

460-3) In þam mæg-wlite... : Roberts finds it interesting that no previous editors have found this passage unusual, and suggests that this should be read as an narratorial aside, rather than a part of the demons' speech (146-7), an idea that I find highly congenial. The lines break the flow of the speech, and feel more like the narrator's voice. This aside continues the pattern of monastic critique that drives this temptation. "Mask" for mæg-wlite might be too anachronistic, but since the gist of the passage is the difference between inner self and outer reality, it might be allowed to stand. þigað should be read as a form of þeowian (just as in line 169). Wista here seems to connote inappropriate food for a monastic eater, and so "delicate food."

542) [gemunde]:

594) his wer-gengan:

621) to spowendre spræce gelæded:

650) myrðran ond man-sceaþan:

663) Wendun ge ond woldun, wiþerhycgende: This line is quoted, with minor contextual changes, in Andreas 1072, describing the mental states of the Mermedonians as they find their food-prison emptied and their guards horribly murdered. Given the Guthlac A-poet's practice of alluding to lines without specifically quoting them, I feel that the Andreas-poet had to have borrowed the line from the Guthlac A, rather than vice versa.

666) ða eow se waldend wraðe bisencte:

683-4) help ond hælu hæleþa cynne,/ duguð ond drohtað:

725) hæftas hearsume: The "obedient captives" probably are the devils, who have often been referred to as imprisoned in Hell. However, the possible connotation of the human damned, make this moment a crafty exercise in multiple typology, alluding to both the Harrowing of Hell and the Fall of the Angels.

734) meaglum reordum: A similar phrase "meaglum stefnum" will used again in Guthlac B 101 to describe the persistently demanding birds that surround Guthlac. The image is rather charming, recalling the bird-related mischief and miracles of Felix's Vita Guthlaci. I have taken a liberty by translating the phrases as "insistent chirping," but feel that the characterization is appropriate.

752-818) I have not separated out this section into a epilogue, but these lines neatly refer back to the themes of the prologue and wrap the entire up into an orderly whole.

Guthlac B notes:

Guthlac B immediately follows A in the Exeter Book, featuring the usual editorial division of a new major item. Most editions and translations of the Guthlac poems present the two parts as sections of a single item, and number the lines consecutively, beginning Guthlac B at line 819. Muir's edition of the Exeter Book is an exception, and I have followed his line numbering. To cross-check lines from my edition to the ASPR or Roberts's edition, add 818 to my line number.

6) onstæl wynlic:

9) on neorxna-wong: One of my favorite A-S words, neorxna-wang which is used fairly frequently (about 140 appearances), and is glossed by Ælfric as “Paradisum.” Except for the -wang part (“plain, field”), it is uncertain how the word is derived, nor is there any scholarly consensus on the word’s origins. Alan K. Brown, in a 1973 article, presents an (perhaps overly) ingenious solution, positing that the first part of the compound is the result of alphabetic play and riddling, consisting of a reversal of greone [green], originally spelled with the gyfu-rune (which looks like an X), and then varied through multiple copies over time (“Neorxnawang,” Neuphilologische Mitteilungen 74, 610-23). The argument relies a bit heavily on the traditional narrative that literacy was a dramatic revolution of thought for the Anglo-Saxons, which has been the object of much justifiable critical suspicion. Also, for all that to end up just meaning “green field” is something of an anticlimax.

11-2) ne lifes lyre ne lices hryre,/ ne dreames dryre ne deaðes cyme: The rhyming words in these two lines are derived from leosan (to lose), hreosan (to fall to the earth) and dreosan (to crumble or decay), respectively, class II strong verbs that dramatically change their stem in the second preterite and past participle, ending in -uron and -oren. The resulting chiming of sound is often exploited as internal rhyme in AS poetry, most notably in the Ruin lines 3, 5 & 7. It feels appropriate that these verbs of loss and change should involve a radical alteration of their sound as the tense recedes into the past.

76) deofla deað-mægen duguþa: Literally, "death-strong," but I like the sound and sense of "death-powered," which is strkes me as acceptably defamiliarized.

94) earme adl-oman: A hapax legomenon of uncertain derivation. Most editors and translators take its parts as ad "fire" and loma "lame," which I have followed here. There is no reason why it couldn't be from adl "disease, sickness" and some form of hama or homa "skin" or "home" (dropping the h), giving the kenning a meaning like "plague-clad."

98-9) Hwilum him to honda hungre geþreatad/ fleag fugla cyn: The sudden break in expected progression, set up by the anaphora on hwilum, is particularly satisfying, extended by using the menacing-ounding geþreatad "crowded, thronged" and changing the imitation wild beasts from line 89 into various kinds of birds. The parallel is continued through describing their insistent voices; their meaglum stefnum contrasting the cacophonous voices of the devils (mislice mongum reordum (80), breahtma mæste (92)). The anaphora will be continued in lines 101a-5a, with the arrival of human visitors to be healed and comforted. The effect of all three hwilum statements is to emphasize that all three types of visitors demonstrate Guthlac's sanctity. For "insistent chirping," see the note on A 734.

132b) se hæl-mihtiga: The only time this word appears in either Guthlac: it is usually taken for a error for Æl-mihtig "Almighty," and emended without comment. BT has no entry for the word, nor does it list it as a known variant of ælmihtig. The Dictionary of the Old English Corpus lists only one occurrence for the compound, in Ælfric's Letter to Wulfgeat, line 7: "Nu sæde ic þe ær on ðam ærrum gewritum, hu se hælmihtiga god, se ðe ne ongan næfre, se þe ana is soð god, gesceop ealle þing gesewenlice and ungesewenlice þurh his soðan wisdom" [Now I said to you before the first scripture, how the Almighty God, he that never began, he that alone is the true god, shaped all things visible and invisible through his true wisdom.] (in Angelsächsische Homilien und Heiligenleben, ed. Assmann (Kassel, 1889): 1-12. Repr. with intro. by P. Clemoes (Darmstadt, 1964).)

There may well be a relationship between the two passages, given the unusual spelling and nominative ending -a, clarified by the pronoun se. Beyond that the Ælfric does not help that much: the word in his passage seems almost certainly to be mean "Almighty," especially given the kenning's close proximity to two very standard epithets for God.

I have attempted to puzzle out a possible meaning for the kenning as it is spelled here; taking hæl- as deriving from the noun hælu "health, safety, salvation." That has been a common word throughout the poem, and seems to be particularly relevant in the account of Guthlac's final disease.

142) wið þam fær-hagan: Another hapax legomenon, this one has been interpreted variously as either "peril," "assault," or a "perilous enclosure." I like the idea of enclosure in haga ("home" or "hedge") alongside the poem's emphasis on the enclosing structures of the body.

144) seo adl-þracu: Yet another hapax legomenon, this one combines "disease" and "force, violence." The context seems to imply swiftness and seizure, which I feel "taloned" connotes effectively.

150) hyra som-wiste: BT defines sam-wist as "A living together, cohabitation, matrimony." Like æt-wist above, the word signifies human relationships founded by and maintained with shared food.

156-7) swa him biforan worhton /þa ærestan ælda cynnes: A problematic ending to the sentence. We have already regressed to the start of human history with Adam and Eve, returning to the meditation that started Guthlac B, and this final clause seems to suggest that there was a race of humans before even them. Bradley translates this passage just that way, but it seems more likely that ærestan ælda cynnes should be understood less literally, signifying the fallen angels. The line is metrically difficult too, like many in Guthlac B so far.

162-4) Bryþen wæs ongunnen: Literally, “A brewing was started that Eve brewed for Adam at the world’s start.” My translation takes only the liberty of adapting the verb onginnan to suit the drinking metaphor, and switching through metonymy “barrel” in for bryðen. For the unusual nature of the word bryðen, see Smithers, “Five Notes on Old English Texts,” English and German Studies 4 (1951-2), 74 n. 9; Roberts, 166; Muir II.441-2. A sorg-byrðen (a brewing of sorrow) appears in Andreas 1532, and is the only other appearance of the word in the extant Anglo-Saxon corpus.

361) sweostor minre: This woman remains nameless in Guthlac B, identified only as his sister, who is implied to be an inhabitant of a convent. Consequently, “sister” does not have to mean just a sister of blood, but also a spiritual sister. His words to her are surprisingly romantic, and suggest the possibility that Guthlac wishes to send his regards to a former lover or wife, from whom his hermit lifestyle has separated.

480) lac: In this context, this broadly signifying word should be understood as meaning “message.” As in other places in the Guthlac poems, its use is onomastic, ironically punning on the saint’s name. Here, the ironic is quite grim, as Guthlac’s servant must bring his lac or message to Pega, which contains just about as much of Guthlac as his cold, lifeless lic (body) does.

490) belifd under lyfte: Belifd is a hapax legomenon, showing the past participle form of a weak verb, which clearly differentiates its from a form of belifan “to remain, abide.” It is thought to be a form of be-libban “to deprive of life.” I chose to express this unusual word in an unusual way, creating a Modern English calque word, “to un-life.”

491) beama beorhtast: The noun beam signifies both "tree," "wood," and anything that runs in a straight line, "a beam of wood" and "a beam of light." The ambiguity here creates the possibility that the beacen (sign, token, signal) that appears around Guthlac's house is an enormous illuminated cross. The uncertainty can be extended to the heofonlic leoma in line 492, which could be translated as either "heavenly arms" or "a heavenly illumination." -a is a permissible plural ending for feminine nouns, and leomu and leoma both appear in the poem, although the word means "limb" more often in B (leomu A 221; B 19, 137, 210, 213, 227). Leoma is seen twice in A, at lines 655 and 659. A blazing, miraculous cross would certainly have "heavenly arms."

502) Þær wæs ænlicra: It appears that a word meaning “more” is either missing here or is to be understood, which the plural genitive adjectives require.

504-6) hu se stenc ond se sweg… gehyred wæs: This should probably be taken as synaesthesia brought on by the impossibility of narrative to express what is occurring. Although the narrator has already mentioned the swetum stencum of this vision of divine power, its repetition here depends on a main verb that does not correspond to the human sense that normally apprehends it.

507) breahtem æfter breahtme: Literally, “a voice according to [another] voice,” this phrase has to be describing the heavenly harmony of the angelic song.

521) wopes hring: See Andreas 1278, Elene 1131, and Christ 537 for the same phrase. Hring can signify both a ring or ring-shaped object and a ringing sound.

527) One of the secondary goals of the ASNPP is to never translate wyrd as “Wyrd”: as if were always a personification or divine force. It has numerous connotations of fate, fortune, accident, occurrence, happening that are entirely common, natural, and without character or value judgment.

561) End missing: Although the servant's speech could conceivably end here, it is posited that unknown amount of text is likely to be missing. The top of folio 53, the first leaf in a new gathering, is missing, which has damaged the beginning of Azarias, the next item in the Exeter Book.