United States or Mali ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Penda had been succeeded on the throne of Mercia by his eldest son, Peada; and he, in conjunction with Oswy, brother of King Oswald, determined to "rear a minster to the glory of Christ and honour of Saint Peter." In Bede no mention is made of royal patronage, and the whole credit of founding the abbey is given to Saxulf.
"Is there no inn, no Christian dwelling near, where we may repose? Verily my limbs bend beneath me with fatigue," said Father Cuthbert. "There is no dwelling of Christian men nearer than the halls of the Thane of Rollrich, and we shall scarcely reach them for a couple of hours," said Oswy, the serf. "Thou art a Job's comforter. What sayest thou, Anlac?"
Nay, it must be so." Alfred, who could scarcely stand for very fatigue, was forced to yield, and that night he slept soundly in the camp of Edgar. At the first dawn they aroused him from sleep, and he found a splendid warhorse awaiting him a gift, they told him, from Edgar. Two attendants, well mounted, awaited him in company with Oswy.
"For their devil worship, I suppose; you see those five stones which stand at some little distance?" "They are the Five Whispering Knights," said Oswy. "They are the remains of a cromlech or altar whereon they offered their sons and daughters unto devils, and shed innocent blood, wherefore the Lord brought the Romans upon them." "But the Romans were idolatrous, too."
"Yet their religion was milder than the one it superseded. Jupiter required no human sacrifices; and even otherwise, God has said that the wicked man is often His sword to avenge Him of His adversaries." "Oswy looks as if he had a tale to tell." "Speak out, Oswy, and let us all hear," said the good father.
He threw himself from his horse, and taking the axe which he had slung behind him, commenced hacking away at the bridge. But although the bridge was old, yet it was tough; and although Alfred, and Oswy who was armed with a small battle-axe, assisted with all their might, the work seemed long. Before it was completed, they heard the voices of their pursuers calling to each other amongst the ruins.
Alfred and Oswy stood before him, their arms bound behind them, in the great hall, while the soldiers retired at a signal a short distance from them. "What has brought you here?" "To deliver my brother." "To share his fate, you mean. Know you into whose hands you have fallen?" "Yes; into those of my cousin Ragnar." "Then you know what mercy to expect."
The Mercians on the further bank now observed them, and at first, not knowing them, seemed disposed to treat them as foes; when Oswy cried aloud, "Spare your arrows; it is Elfric of Aescendune;" and they crowded to the bank joyfully, for the purpose of the attack was known to all, and now they saw its object placed beyond the reach of further risk of failure.
They are all feasting like hogs; they will not know, and if Ragnar meet me, why, he or I must die;" and he put his hand convulsively upon the sword which was dependent from his girdle. "Lead on, my lord; you will find your thrall ready to live or die with you!" said Oswy.
"Well, then," said Oswy, "these were not once stones at all, but living men a king, five knights, and sixty soldiers who came to take Long Compton, the town down there, in the valley; but it so happened that a great enchanter dwelt there, and being out that morning he saw them coming, muttered his spells, and while the king that stone yonder was in front looking down on his prey, the five knights all whispering together, and the sixty soldiers behind in a circle, they were all suddenly changed into stone."
Word Of The Day