Page:The Elene of Cynewulf.djvu/43

 Then was the soul of the king rejoiced at that fair news, and his heart filled with gladness. And in the city there was no want of richly-clad questioners concerning what was come from afar. The greatest comfort in the world, a joyful soul, was come unto him at these glad tidings which the messengers, leaders of the army, brought to him over the eastern ways, how the warriors with the glorious queen had made a prosperous voyage over the sea into the land of the Greeks. The emperor bade them prepare themselves again for the journey with the greatest haste. The warriors made no delay when once they heard the answer, the message of the prince. He bade them, heroes hardy of soul, give greeting to Elene, renowned in war, if they should survive the sea and make a prosperous voyage unto the holy city. And Constantine furthermore bade the messengers charge her to build a church there on the mountain-slope for the weal of them both, a temple of the Lord on Calvary for the joy of Christ and the solace of men, there where the holy rood was found, fairest of all trees the dwellers on earth have ever known.

And thus she did when her friends brought many a kind greeting over the fastness of waters from the west. Then the queen bade seek far and near those skilled in the arts, the best of those who could work most wondrously in the laying of stone upon stone, that they might raise a temple of God upon that place. As the Lord of spirits counseled her from the heavens, she bade deck out the rood with gold