Yet grim shall he be when again he cometh, 825 Harsh and righteous. Then the heavens shall rock, And the measureless ends of the mighty earth Shall tremble in terror. The triumphant King Shall avenge their vain and vicious lives, Their loathsome wickedness. Long shall they wallow 830 With heavy hearts in the heat of the fire bath, Suffer for their sins in its surging flame. 779. The passage following contains the runes from which we obtain the name Cynewulf. The runes are at once a word and a letter, in the same way that our letter _I_ is also the symbol for the first personal pronoun. In the places where the meaning fits, Cynewulf has written the runes that spell his name. 804. In this passage the runes omit the _e_ of the poet's name, although it is found in the other runic passages. SELECTIONS FROM THE ELENE [Critical edition: Holthausen, _Kynewulf's Elene_, Heidelberg, 1905. Translation: Kennedy, _The Poems of Cynewulf_, pp. 87 ff.; Kemble, _The Poetry of the Codex Vercelliensis_, with an English translation, London, 1856. Source: _Acta Sanctorum_ for May 4. The first passage describes the vision of the cross by the Emperor Constantine, the second the finding of the true cross by his mother, Helena, in Old English, "Elene." The poem is usually regarded as Cynewulf's masterpiece.] 1. The Vision of the Cross . . . . . . . . Heart-care oppressed The Roman ruler; of his realm he despaired; He was lacking in fighters; too few were his warriors, His close comrades to conquer in battle 65 Their eager enemy. The army encamped, Earls about their aetheling, at the edge of the stream, Where they spread their tents for the space of the night, After first they had found their foes approach. To Caesar himself in his sleep there came 70 A dream as he lay with his doughty men, To the valiant king a vision appeared: It seemed that he saw a soldier bright, Glorious and gleaming in the guise of a man More fair of form than before or after 75 He had seen under the skies. From his sleep he awoke, Hastily donned his helmet. The herald straightway, The resplendent messenger spoke unto him, Named him by name --the night vanished away: "O Constantine, the King of angels bids-- 80 The Master Almighty, to make thee a compact, The Lord of the faithful. No fear shouldst thou have, Though foreign foes bring frightful war, And horrors unheard of! To heaven now look, To the Guardian of glory: Thou shalt gain there support, 85 The sign of victory!" Soon was he ready To obey the holy bidding, and unbound his heart,