Great Britain -- History -- Anglo-Saxon period, 449-1066; Middle Ages -- Sources
"Three springs shall break forth in the city of Winchester, whose
rivulets shall divide the island into three parts. Whoever shall drink
of the first, shall enjoy long life, and shall never be afflicted with
sickness. He that shall drink of the second, shall die of hunger, and
paleness and horror shall sit in his countenance. He that shall drink of
the third, shall be surprised with sudden death, neither shall his body
be capable of burial. Those that are willing to escape so great a
surfeit, will endeavour to hide it with several coverings, but whatever
bulk shall be laid upon it, shall receive the form of another body. For
earth shall be turned into stones; stones into water; wood into ashes;
ashes into water, if cast over it. Also a damsel shall be sent from the
city of the forest of Canute to administer a cure, who, after she shall
have practised all her arts, shall dry up the noxious fountains only
with her breath. Afterwards, as soon as she shall have refreshed herself
with the wholesome liquor, she shall bear in her right hand the wood of
Caledon, and in her left the forts of the walls of London. Wherever she
shall go, she shall make sulphureous steps, which will smoke with a
double flame. That smoke shall rouse up the city of Ruteni, and shall
make food for the inhabitants of the deep. She shall overflow with
rueful tears, and shall fill the island with her dreadful cry. She shall
be killed by a hart with ten branches, four of which shall bear golden
diadems; but the other six shall be turned into buffalo's horns, whose
hideous sound shall astonish the three islands of Britain. The Daneian
wood shall be stirred up, and breaking forth into a human voice, shall
cry: Come, O Cambria, and join Cornwall to thy side, and say to
Winchester, the earth shall swallow thee up. Translate the seat of thy
pastor to the place where ships come to harbour, and the rest of the
members will follow the head. For the day hasteneth, in which thy
citizens shall perish on account of the guilt of perjury. The whiteness
of wool has been hurtful to thee, and the variety of its tinctures. Woe
to the perjured nation, for whose sake the renowned city shall come to
ruin. The ships shall rejoice at so great an augmentation, and one shall
be made out of two. It shall be rebuilt by Eric, loaden with apples, to
the smell whereof the birds of several woods shall flock together. He
shall add to it a vast palace, and wall it round with six hundred
towers. Therefore shall London envy it, and triply increase her walls.
The river Thames shall encompass it round, and the fame of the work
shall pass beyond the Alps. Eric shall hide his apples within it, and
shall make subterraneous passages. At that time shall the stones speak,
and the sea towards the Gallic coast be contracted into a narrow space.
On each bank shall one man hear another, and the soil of the island
shall be enlarged. The secrets of the deep shall be revealed, and Gaul
shall tremble for fear.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account