Great Britain -- History -- Anglo-Saxon period, 449-1066; Middle Ages -- Sources
Others shall come into the quarrel, and kill one
another. A fifth shall succeed those that are slain, and by various
stratagems shall destroy the rest. He shall get upon the back of one
with his sword, and sever his head from his body. Then throwing off his
garment, he shall get upon another, and put his right and left hand upon
his tail. Thus being naked shall he overcome him, whom when clothed he
was not able to deal with. The rest he shall gall in their flight, and
drive them round the kingdom. Upon this shall come a roaring lion
dreadful for his monstrous cruelty. Fifteen parts shall he reduce to
one, and shall alone possess the people. The giant of the snow-white
colour shall shine, and cause the white people to flourish. Pleasures
shall effeminate the princes, and they shall suddenly be changed into
beasts. Among them shall arise a lion swelled with human gore. Under him
shall a reaper be placed in the standing corn, who, while he is reaping,
shall be oppressed by him. A charioteer of York shall appease them, and
having banished his lord, shall mount upon the chariot which he shall
drive. With his sword unsheathed shall he threaten the East, and fill
the tracks of his wheels with blood. Afterwards he shall become a
sea-fish, who, being roused up with the hissing of a serpent, shall
engender with him. From hence shall be produced three thundering bulls,
who having eaten up their pastures shall be turned into trees. The first
shall carry a whip of vipers, and turn his back upon the next. He shall
endeavour to snatch away the whip, but shall be taken by the last. They
shall turn away their faces from one another, till they have thrown away
the poisoned cup. To him shall succeed a husbandman of Albania, at whose
back shall be a serpent. He shall be employed in ploughing the ground,
that the country may become white with corn. The serpent shall endeavour
to diffuse his poison, in order to blast the harvest. A grievous
mortality shall sweep away the people, and the walls of cities shall be
made desolate. There shall be given for a remedy the city of Claudius,
which shall interpose the nurse of the scourger. For she shall bear a
dose of medicine, and in a short time the island shall be restored. Then
shall two successively sway the sceptre, whom a horned dragon shall
serve. One shall come in armour, and shall ride upon a flying serpent.
He shall sit upon his back with his naked body, and cast his right hand
upon his tail. With his cry shall the seas be moved and he shall strike
terror into the second. The second therefore shall enter into
confederacy with the lion; but a quarrel happening, they shall encounter
one another. They shall distress one another, but the courage of the
beast shall gain the advantage. Then shall come one with a drum, and
appease the rage of the lion. Therefore shall the people of the kingdom
be at peace, and provoke the lion to a dose of physic. In his
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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