| Translation |
The destruction of Lindisfarne:
[...] Through the four corners of the earth you can now witness /
the collapse of kingdoms foretold by the words of the prophets. /
The noblest city in the realm and chief bulwark of its kings, /
mighty babylon, alas, lost the kingdom of Chaldea. /
The Persian who excelled in war and won great triumphs, /
was brought down by a solitary woman with her darts. /
Evious fate cut off Alexander, conqueror of the world, /
in the prime of his life and at the height of his success. /
Of Rome, capital and wonder of the world, golden Rome, /
only a barbarous ruin now remains. /
[...] Broad Asia groans, oppressed by the chains of the pagans /
ground down and despoiled by a people hostile to God. /
Africa, the third part of the great world, is now enslaved. /
she is entirely given up - alas - to baneful masters! /
The people of Spain, once a race excellent at warfare, /
are now enslaved by the hands of a power they hate. / [...]
The whole of Italy lamented in the time of the Gothic invasions, /
when the enemies of God laid waste to the temples everywhere /
and the blood of saints was shed in waves in the halls /
where due respect was once paid to omnipotent God. /
For nine years the whole of Gaul suffered at the swords /
of the Huns, despoiled of its goods, /
while hallowed churches, towns, villages, and castles /
and the peoples in them were devoured by the ravening fire. [...]
Most beloved brotehr, I lament your disaster, /
tears flow down my cheeks, my heart grieves with unhappiness, /
often groaning to myself in a speechless murmur, /
of how painful to everyone was that day when, alas, /
a pagan warband arrived from the ends of the earth, /
descended suddenly by ship and came to our land, /
despoiling our fathers' venerable tombs of their finery /
and befouling the temples dedicated to God, /
and Sorech, the most pure vine of the divine Christ, /
was suddenly gnawed by the teeth of foxes. $$$ |
