Great Britain -- History -- Anglo-Saxon period, 449-1066; Middle Ages -- Sources
"Woe to the red dragon, for his banishment hasteneth on. His lurking
holes shall be seized by the white dragon, which signifies the Saxons
whom you invited over; but the red denotes the British nation, which
shall be oppressed by the white. Therefore shall its mountains be
levelled as the valleys, and the rivers of the valleys shall run with
blood. The exercise of religion shall be destroyed, and churches be laid
open to ruin. At last the oppressed shall prevail, and oppose the
cruelty of foreigners. For a boar of Cornwall shall give his assistance,
and trample their necks under his feet. The islands of the ocean shall
be subject to his power, and he shall possess the forests of Gaul. The
house of Romulus shall dread his courage, and his end shall be doubtful.
He shall be celebrated in the mouths of the people; and his exploits
shall be food to those that relate them. Six of his posterity shall sway
the sceptre, but after them shall arise a German worm. He shall be
advanced by a sea-wolf, whom the woods of Africa shall accompany.
Religion shall be again abolished, and there shall be a translation of
the metropolitan sees. The dignity of London shall adorn Dorobernia, and
the seventh pastor of York shall be resorted to in the kingdom of
Armorica. Menevia shall put on the pall of the City of Legions, and a
preacher of Ireland shall be dumb on account of an infant growing in the
womb. It shall rain a shower of blood, and a raging famine shall afflict
mankind. When these things happen, the red one shall be grieved; but
when his fatigue is over, shall grow strong. Then shall misfortunes
hasten upon the white one, and the buildings of his gardens shall be
pulled down. Seven that sway the sceptre shall be killed, one of whom
shall become a saint. The wombs of mothers shall be ripped up, and
infants be abortive. There shall be a most grievous punishment of men,
that the natives may be restored. He that shall do these things shall
put on the brazen man, and upon a brazen horse shall for a long time
guard the gates of London. After this, shall the red dragon return to
his proper manners, and turn his rage upon himself. Therefore shall the
revenge of the Thunderer show itself, for every field shall disappoint
the husbandmen. Mortality shall snatch away the people, and make a
desolation over all countries. The remainder shall quit their native
soil, and make foreign plantations. A blessed king shall prepare a
fleet, and shall be reckoned the twelfth in the court among the saints.
There shall be a miserable desolation of the kingdom, and the floors of
the harvests shall return to the fruitful forests. The white dragon
shall rise again, and invite over a daughter of Germany. Our gardens
shall be again replenished with foreign seed, and the red one shall pine
away at the end of the pond. After that, shall the German worm be
crowned, and the brazen prince buried. He has his bounds assigned him,
which he shall not be able to pass.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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