The story of the rise[I-22] of the legend from the _Acta Martyrorum_, the earliest records concerning the saints, to the martyrologies, the records of the recognized martyrs in each individual church, which in turn were expanded after the 8th century, from mere lists of names to the Latin legendaries upon which rest the OE. collections of legends,--all this forms an interesting chapter in the history of the church and in the history of literature, but has no place here except in so far as it throws light on the origin of the poem with which we are concerned. The relation too of the legend to the service of the church has a very much involved history. The _Lectiones_ or ‘readings’ in the daily offices of the church were of three kinds: either (1) selections from the Scriptures, or (2) selections from the commentaries or homilies of the church fathers, or (3) the _Acta Sanctorum_. The last kind came generally to be denoted as _Legenda_, or ‘legends.’ At first treated with distrust, in time the legend came to play an important part in the service of the church. It seems to have first found its full development in the ‘nocturns,’ into which it was admitted apparently by the Benedictines in the 8th century. There it first appeared in an amplified and extended form. The height of the legend’s development lies in the 12th and 13th centuries, and coincides with the period (Horstmann, as above, p. xv) of full bloom of the cult of the saints. At this time the number of saints’ days multiplied. Each church honoured its special saints. One celebrated not alone the death-day of the saint, but that of the burial and the translation. New saints came to be venerated, and long-forgotten ones were again brought to memory. The relics and traditions were collected, and the lives were written. Special church offices were made for them, and hymns and songs were written in their praise. In these new _offices_ of the church the legend found its use. These special festivals often fell on week-days, and one had to fill in _lectiones_ for which nothing was ready. Under these circumstances the legend offered itself as if expressly fitted, and became the key to the entire religious celebration. In this situation, amid these most favourable circumstances, the legend developed its full power, and must have been an important factor in the religious life of the period.