Page:The Elene of Cynewulf.djvu/23

, many a helmet and glorious boar-crest, were there to be seen among the warriors. The spearmen, heroes about their queen, were eager for the march. The brave fighters, heralds of the emperor, warriors clad in armor, went forth rejoicing into the land of the Greeks. Many a gold-set jewel, the gift of their prince, was to be seen there among the company.

But the blessed Elene, zealous and earnest of purpose, was mindful of her lord’s will that over fields of battle she should seek the land of the Jews with her trusty band of shield-bearers, her company of spearmen; and so it befell within a little space thereafter that the multitude of men, heroes famed in war and chieftains of spear-renown, entered into the city of Jerusalem in a vast throng with the noble queen.

Then she bade summon the wisest of the dwellers in the cities among the Jews, far and wide, each man of them, to come unto a council for deliberation, those who knew how to expound justly and fully the hidden things of God. And there was gathered together from far ways no small multitude of those who could expound the law of Moses. They were in number three thousand men, chosen for teaching.

Then the well-beloved woman spake unto the men of the Hebrews in these words:—‘This have I learned well by the mystic sayings of prophets in the books of God, that in days of yore ye were dear unto the King of glory, loved of the Lord