Before the Conquest, Or, English Worthies in the Old English PeriodNimmo, 1870 - 394 pages |
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Before the Conquest, Or English Worthies in the Old English Period (Classic ... W. H. Davenport Adams No preview available - 2018 |
Common terms and phrases
abbey Abbot Ælfred Æthelred Alfred Anglia Archbishop armed army attacked authority battle Bayeux Bishop brother camp Canterbury castle character Christian Church Cnut coast conqueror court crown Danes Danish death Duke Dunstan Eadgar Eadmund Eadwine Earl Godwine endeavoured enemy England Engleiz English king Englishman father favour fight fleet Florence of Worcester Freeman Godwine's Gyrth hand Hardrada Hastings heart heathen Henry Hereward holy honour invaders invasion King Eadward King Harold king's kingdom knight land leader living London Lord Mercia monastery monks mult never noble Norman Conquest Normandy Northmen Northumbria Odo of Bayeux Ordericus Vitalis Osbern patriot peace prelates priest prince reign Roman de Rou royal Saxon Chronicle says seems Senlac ships shire soldiers sovereign spirit Stigand Swegen sword terrible thegns thou throne tion Tostig victory warriors Welsh Wessex West Saxon William of Malmesbury William of Poitiers wise Witán
Popular passages
Page 74 - BEHOLD a pupil of the monkish gown, The pious ALFRED, King to Justice dear ! Lord of the harp and liberating spear...
Page 15 - I made them lay their hands in mine and swear To reverence the King, as if he were Their conscience, and their conscience as their King, To break the heathen and uphold the Christ, To ride abroad redressing human wrongs, To speak no slander, no, nor listen to it, To honor his own word as if his God's, To lead sweet lives in purest chastity, To love one maiden only, cleave to her, And worship her by years of noble deeds, Until they won her...
Page 73 - I shall to another world, and thou shalt be left alone in all my wealth. I pray thee (for thou art my dear child), strive to be a father and a lord to thy people. Be thou the children's father, and the widow's friend. Comfort thou the poor, and shelter the weak ; and with all thy might, right that which is wrong.
Page 113 - mid Angles a worse deed done than this was, since they first Britain-land sought. Men him murdered, but God him glorified. He was in life an earthly king ; he is now after death a heavenly saint.
Page 8 - A saint without superstition, a scholar without ostentation, a warrior all whose wars were fought in the defence of his country, a conqueror whose laurels were never stained by cruelty, a prince never cast down by adversity, never lifted up to insolence in the day of triumph — there is no other name in history to compare with his.
Page 273 - Hold fast to your ranks, remember, such amongst you as fought with me against Hardrada, — remember that it was not till the Norsemen lost, by rash sallies, their serried array, that our arms prevailed against them. Be warned by their fatal error, break not the form of the battle; and I tell you on the faith of a soldier who never yet hath left field without victory, — that ye cannot be beaten. While I speak, the winds swell the sails of the Norse ships, bearing home the corpse of Hardrada. Accomplish...
Page 63 - These things being thus disposed of, the king began, as was his practice, to consider within himself what more he could do to augment and show forth his piety. What he had begun wisely, and thoughtfully conceived for the public benefit, was adhered to with equally beneficial result, for he had heard it out of the book of the law, that...
Page 272 - This day, O friends and Englishmen, sons of our common land — this day ye fight for liberty. The Count of the Normans hath, I know, a mighty army; I disguise not its strength. That army he hath collected together, by promising to each man a share in the spoils of England. Already, in his court and his camp, he hath parcelled out the lands of this kingdom ; and fierce are the robbers who fight for the hope of plunder!