Legends of the holy rood; Symbols of the passion and cross poems. In Old English of the eleventh, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries. Edited from Mss. in the British Museum and Bodleian Libraries, with introduction, translations, and glossarial index, by Richard Morris.

                                
                                  to finde þat hali tree sum-quare
                                
                                  and make a kirke be raisid þare.
                                
                                  benciras and ansiers,
                                
                                  þer twa men was messagers,
                                  Line 68 
                                
                                  þai ware sende to þe quene fra rome;
                                
                                  bot herkenis how þai gaue dome.
                                
                                  ¶ þis lauedi had þen hir wiþ
                                
                                  a cristen man, was gode goldsmiþ,
                                  Line 72 
                                
                                  quat þing þat ho him of walde mouþ[e]
                                
                                  atte hir deuise make he couþe,
                                
                                  bot pouer he was of litil aȝt.
                                
                                  and to a iew mikil he aȝt
                                  Line 76 
                                
                                  a soumme of money for to amount,
                                
                                  and askid him ful harde a-count;
                                
                                  þe couenand was made ful harde
                                
                                  and saide he made him suche forwarde,
                                  Line 80 
                                
                                  if he his money muȝt noȝt gett,
                                
                                  þat he sulde ȝilde him for his dett
                                
                                  þat ilk weȝt at þer was lesse
                                
                                  he sulde ȝilde of his awen flesse.
                                  Line 84 
                                
                                  þe dai Is past, þe dette vn-quit,
                                
                                  þe bodi be-houis be-leue for hit.
                                
                                  ¶ þe cristen dred ful sare þe pine,
                                
                                  bot þe iew walde neuer fine.
                                  Line 88 
                                
                                  baþ to þe quenis court þai come,
                                
                                  þe iew þrali bad gif him dome.
                                
                                  sharp grundin knife in hande he bare,
                                
                                  þe cristen [MS. has iew altered to cristen.]  stode nakid be-for him þare;
                                  Line 92 
                                
                                  þai walde for money had him boȝt,
                                
                                  bot grante of þe iew gatte þai noȝt;
                                
                                  of raunsoun na mare þen a risshe
                                
                                  walde he take bot of his flesshe.
                                  Line 96 
                                
                                  ¶ Saide benciras and ansiers:—
                                
                                  "þou sal haue broþer al þi fers,
                                
                                  þe quene has biddin vs to deme
                                
                                  And al þat resoun is to queme,

                                  Line 100

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Title: Legends of the holy rood; Symbols of the passion and cross poems. In Old English of the eleventh, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries. Edited from Mss. in the British Museum and Bodleian Libraries, with introduction, translations, and glossarial index, by Richard Morris.
Author: Morris, Richard, ed. 1833-1894,
Canvas: Page 110
Publication: London,: Pub. for the Early English text society, by N. Trübner & co.,; 1871.
Subject terms: Crosses -- Legends.

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Collection: Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse
Link to this Item: https://name.umdl.umich.edu/aha2702.0001.001
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Full citation: "Legends of the holy rood; Symbols of the passion and cross poems. In Old English of the eleventh, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries. Edited from Mss. in the British Museum and Bodleian Libraries, with introduction, translations, and glossarial index, by Richard Morris." In the digital collection Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/aha2702.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 31, 2025.

Legends of the holy rood; Symbols of the passion and cross poems. In Old English of the eleventh, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries. Edited from Mss. in the British Museum and Bodleian Libraries, with introduction, translations, and glossarial index, by Richard Morris.

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