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.

the stenche is torned in to swetnesse canticorum j / This exal|tacion of the holy crosse is solempnysed and halowed solempnly of the chirche: for the fayth is in it moche enhaunced: for the yere of our lorde vj C and xv our lorde suffryd his peple to be moche tormented by the cruelté of the paynems. And cosdroe kyng of perceens subdued to his empyre all the reames of the worlde / and he cam in to iherusalem and was aferde and adredde of the sepulcre of our lorde: And retourned: But he bare with him the parte of the holy crosse / that saynte Helene hadde lefte there:

And thenne he wolde be worshypped of al the peple as a god. And dyde doo make a tour of golde and syluer / wherein precyous stones shone· And made there in the ymages of the sonne. and of the mone: and of the sterres And made that by subtyll conduytes water to be hydde. And to come downe in maner of Rayne.

And atte the laste stage. he made horses to drawe charyottes rounde [folio CClxviii:1] aboute lyke as they had meuyd the tour and made it to seme as it had thondred / and delyuerde his reame to his sone / and thus this cursid man abode in the temple and dyde doo set the crosse of our lorde by him and commaunded that he sholde be callyd god of all the people / And as it is rede in libro de mit[r]ali officio / The sayd cosdroe resident in his trone as a fader / set the tree of the crosse on his right side in stede of þe sone / and a cocke on his lyfte side in stede of the holy goost / and commaunded that he sholde be called fader / And thenne heracle the emperour assembled a grete oost / and came for to fyghte wyth the sone of cosdroe by the ryuer of danubye / And thenne it pleysed to eyther prynce: that eche of theym sholde fyghte one agaynst that other vpon the brydge / and he that sholde be vaynquysh and ouercome: his aduersarye sholde be prynce of thempyre wythout hurtyng eyther of bothe oostes / and soo it was ordeinyd and sworn· And who someuer sholde helpe his prynce. sholde haue forthwyth his legges and armes cut of: and to be plonged. and cast in to the ryuer: And thenne heracle commaunded him all to god / and to the