: Moyra Caldecott
: Etheldreda Saint Etheldreda, Princess of East Anglia, Queen of Northumbria and Abbess of Ely
: Mushroom eBooks
: 9781843193166
: 1
: CHF 3.90
:
: Erzählende Literatur
: English
: 240
: DRM
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: ePUB

Etheldreda, Princess of East Anglia, Queen of Northumbria and Abbess of Ely, was a remarkable woman who lived in restless, violent times not unlike our own, when old beliefs were dying and new ones were struggling to emerge. Pagan clashed with Christian as the seven kingdoms of the Germanic tribes warred against each other and against the native Celts. Occasionally an uneasy peace was bought by the skilful use of the 'diplomatic marriage', and twice Etheldreda, though vowed to chastity, submitted to marriage for political reasons. When her second husband refused to accept the 'arrangement' between them, she fled south, her escape to the Island of Ely apparently aided by storms that intervened on her behalf. She lived only a few years as abbess of the religious community she founded at Ely before dying of plague. Ever since, pilgrims have turned to her for miracles of help and healing.
But this is not just the story of a seventh-century Anglo-Saxon saint. It is about the general human struggle to comprehend the enigma of existence and to come to terms with Christ's God, faced as we are by a violent and cruel world. It is about the periods when we give up the struggle, reverting either to the darkest negativity or to superstition - and the rare but wonderful periods when we are lifted high by the inrush of spiritual certainty.
This edition also contains several pages of chronology, genealogy, place names, notes and a map.

Chapter 2


The marriage of Saxberga


King Anna looked gravely down upon the mutilated bodies of three Mercian soldiers that had been laid proudly at his feet as he entered Garbaldisham.

‘I would rather these men were alive,’ he said quietly.

‘My lord,’ protested the young man who brought them to him, ‘they killed my mother and my wife.’

The king nodded sadly.

‘They kill your family, so you kill them. Their family must kill you in revenge for their death, and your kin must kill their kin in revenge for your death. And so it goes on. When will the killing stop if we do not stop it now? Why do we speak of being born again into a new life, if we do not change our ways?’

‘But my lord, my wife and mother must be avenged!’

‘“Vengeance is mine,” said the Lord. “I will repay”,’ the king murmured, almost under his breath.

There was an uneasy silence among the people gathered before him, until at last one spoke, a challenging spark in his eyes.

‘Is it true, my lord, that your own daughters have been killed by the Mercians?’

A shadow passed over Anna’s face and a muscle twitched in his cheek. He took a long time to answer this, and when he did his voice was full of pain.

‘It is true.’

‘And do you still say we must not take vengeance?’

There was another long pause. He shut his eyes and took a deep, slow, breath. Those who were near could see his knuckles white as he clenched his fists. But when he opened his eyes again, his gaze was steady and clear.

‘I do,’ he said simply.

The crowd murmured and shifted restlessly in front of him.

‘Take these men away,’ he said, straightening his shoulders and suddenly speaking in quite a different tone of voice. ‘I do not believe in vengeance, but I do believe in self-defence. We have driven the Mercians from our land, but they will be back. Next time they must not penetrate the dykes. I want every man, woman and child in the country to pledge two days out of every week for digging at the dykes until I am satisfied that they are too high and strong for Penda’s men to take. Those who live far from the place may work their days off in groups of ten, returning to their homes for the intervening weeks. Make this known,’ he commanded, and leapt upon his horse.

After he had gone there was murmuring, some complaining about having to work on the dyke, others relieved that King Anna, though Christian like King Sigbert and willing to forgive his enemies, was shrewd enough at least to see the necessity of strong defence. They remembered also that he had delivered them from Penda.

The council of elders and priests, thegns and earls, had no hesitation in confirming Anna’s claim to the crown, and people flocked to him from far and wide willing to take the oath of allegiance.

It is said that when the news of his daughters’ safe return was brought to him he fell down on his knees in the mud and wept.

Later, at Rendilsham, he heard the details of their escape and was introduced to Ovin, who, only with the greatest difficulty, had been persuaded to come out of hiding and throw himself on the king’s mercy. When Anna had listened to his story he sent for the man who had been Ovin’s master.

That night the youth tried to run away, feeling sure that he had been betrayed, but he had gone no further than the stockade that surrounded the royal buildings when he found himself seized by the belt of his jerkin. He