Gvydo de Warwyke1   Regnante in Anglia inclito rege Athelstano — anno dominiee incarnacionis, vero eiusdem regis regni tercio — in tantum Danorum crudelissime persecucionis inualuit rabies, quod terras conprouincialium tam crudeliter itinera legendo, depopulando inuasit, ut fere usque Wyntoniam non erat ciuitas, villa vel castrum, quod penitus non dirutum vel remaneret incombustum. Interea, acri ignessente furore, tanto elacionis stimulo insonuit barbarorum principum pompositas et ambicio, Anelaphi scilicet et Gonelaphi, quod regi Athelstano, tunc temporis cum suis prelatis et proceribus regni apud Wyntonyam ciuitatem super prouincie desolacione salubrius affectans festinati auxilii solamen, moram trahendi oportunam, nuncios dirigerent legacione sua triplici articulo roborata ita fungentes, scilicet aut rex Anglie regni sui diadema Danorum ducibus sine dilacione vna cum regno Anglie resignaret aut sub se regnaturus Athelstanus fidelitatem, homagium et tributum secundum voluntatem paganorum persolueret aut inter duos viros vtriusque partis ad inuicem valde pugnaces conserto prelio regis — regis videlicet vtriusque — et regni negocium expediretur, hoc superaddito ex parte Anelaphi, quod, si cedat victoria Athelstano, sine mora se cum suis compatriotis pro perpetuo regnum abiuratum, contrario permanente regni diadema abque contradiccionis innouacione sibi et suis, videlicet Dacis, concederetur. Vltimo proposito rex Anglorum codescendens, apud Wyntoniam regni prelatos et ceteros magnates conuocat. Ipsis comparentibus sciscitatur ab eis, quis super se hoc prouincie lucrum, deuicto, barbarico gigante nomine Colbrando, adquireret premium pro reportato lucro recepturus. Set non inuento, dolore cordis Athelstanus concutitur pro maximo. Indicto igitur trium dierum ieiunio, cum precibus et lacrimis ad deum altissimum quam deuote profusis eius exorabant clemenciam, quatinus ipsis militem concedere dignaretur, qui pro illis iure et libertate regni inimicos inuictissime expugnaret. Timore enim nimio percutitur gens anglicana eo, quod non est, qui consoletur eam ex omnibus caris eius, Herando, milite inuict-issimo, in transmarinis partibus agente perquirendo Reyburnum, filium Gwydonis, domini sui, comitis de Warwyk, qui furtim, cum adhuc infans esset, a mercatoribus ignote nacionis asportatus est; set et comes Rohandus, pater comitisse Gwydonis, vir inter mille bellicosus, morte superueniente nature debitum soluit; Gwido vero in crastino sue desponsacionis, vir fortissimus ac in pugna robussimus, peregrini propositum suscepit et ignorabatur, quid de eo accideret. Set altissimus, motus suorum fidelium lacrimis, nocte natiuitatis sancti Johannis baptiste, rege Athelstano apud castrum Wyntonie ante cubiculum prostrato, preces pro statu et patrie prosperitate deo recomendate et infra breue pre nimio vigiliarum tedio in soporem aliquantisper resoluto, misit dominus angelum suum, qui regem confortaret in agonia constitutum. Qui cum sic allocutus est: ‘Athelstane rex, dormis an uigilas? Ecce, missus sum ad te angelus domini a domino Jesu Christo, ut dicerem tibi, ne timeres frustratus auxilio. Set cras mane surge et propera ad borialem portam ciuitatis et expecta ibi mendicancium pauperum aduentum, inter quos vnum peregrinum venientem reperies. Quem apprehensum reduc eum tecum et pugi onus super eum impone. Quod enim postulas, non negabit.’ Hiis dictis angelus disparuit. Rex, euigilans et deo pro sibi de supernis prestita reuelacione gracias agens, summo mane surgens, duos pontifices secum accipiens et duos comites, predictam adiit portam, expectans mendicancium aduentus horam, qua ciuitatem intrare solebant. Et ecce, nutu dei in vigilia natalis sancti Johannis baptiste, hora, qua sol oriendo primo radios mittit in terram, Gwydo, comes de Warwyk, miles strenuus et insignis, apud portysmowth Angliam, natale solum, reuisurus. Qui certificatus ab Angligenis de Herandi, militis nobilissimi, et filii sui, ut pretactum est, absencia et de morte comitis Rohandi, cuius filiam in coniugem acceperat, et de regis ac domini sui Athelstani et procerum regni angustia et mesticia, festinato cursu eadem die Wyntonie terminos petit. Perueniens nocte illa ad hospitale quoddam pauperum, quod tunc temporis ducentis quinquaginta passibus distabat versus borealem plagam a loco, in quo nunc nouum edificatum est monasterium, quod hospitale in honore sancte crucis erat fundatum, — ad quem locum ueniens, fatigatus ex itinere pernoctando, fatigata membra refocillando consolabatur. Diem vero reportans, dum solis aureus reuoluitur axis, recto tramite ad sepe dictam ciuitatis cum suis sodalibus graditur portam, rege eius expectante aduentum, tamquam David, a patre luminum regi Sauli missus in golia philisteos deuicturus, et iste in Colbrando de Dacis triumphaturus. Quo viso, per peregrini habitum cognito, arripuit eum rex, introducens eum, et pre gaudio cum lacrimis Anglorum princeps imprecatur, vt sibi instante necessitate subueniat et cum inhumano illo Colbrando regni negocia pugnando pro victoria expedire. Qui, aliqualiter dissimulans, confitetur se etate debilem sudoreque pere-grinacionis virtute vigoris soporata desiderare regis et procerum minime explere valentem. Tandem, principum precibus et lacrimis victus, sperati auxilii promittit leuamen statutoque congressionis die — videlicet quarto idus iulii — conueniunt ambo, miles strenuus et inuisus ille Colobrandus, in loco quodam extra predictam portam, que modo anglice ‘the hyde-mede’ vocatur, qui vocabatur antiquitus et etiam a quibusdam adhuc appellatur ‘Den-marche’. Qui dum mituos enses alter in alterum mitterent, prosiliebant ex ictibus ignes, ac si tonitrua coruscaciones procrearent, percussoque gigante super sinistrum humerum erumpenteque sanguinis copia, ille, male meditacionis non ignarus, acri ignescens ira, in militem irruit confractoque militis mucrone ipsum reddit inermem: gaudium magnum Danis, timor nimius Anglis intonuit. Gwydo vero, dum aliquid genus armorum a Colbrando, cuius plurima erant, requireret, set voto suo non optento, dum diucius inter se sermocinarentur, ocius elabitur et celeriter de armis gigantis quandam sicam arripuit iterumque cum eo facta congressione cum proprio pagani instrumento sinistrum abscidit humerum. Quod prospiciens, inhumanus ille, nitens arripere gladium retro iacentem, post tergum cum manu dextera dum se inclinaret, Gwydo, leuata sica et fortiter ictum inferens, gigantem amputauit capud. Quo facto, Danis repatriantibus nauibus inuectis, confusio nimia ipsis concipitur, dum ferox pugio trucidatur. Gwydo vero, sollempni processione a rege, clero et populo honorifice receptus, ad cathedralem ecclesiam Wyntonie deducitur, qui coram summo altari predictam sicam deo et ipsius ecclesie patrono optulit, quod instrumentum vsque hodie in vestiaro eiusdem ecclesie sub firma custodia reseruatur et vocatur Angligenis materna lingua ‘Colbrondis axe’ usque in presentem diem. Preterea depositis armis militaribus, peregrini habitu resumpto, Gwydoni insistit rex Athelstanus inquirendo, quid sit euis nomen et cuius condicionis vir esset. Ille uero regis peticioni minime fore satisfacturum respondit tali non obseruata condicione, quod extra ciuitatem, longe a Wyntonia, semotis regiis ministris, inter regem et comitem soliloquium admitteretur et nulli militis denudaretur consilium ex tune, quousque bini suum compleuerit cursum. Promisso regio de hiis obseruandis sub iureiurando stabilito, procedunt ambo per viam, qua Gwydo ad ciuitatem tendebat, nemine subsequente, quousque, peruenientes ad quandam crucem, procul a ciuitate starent, vlterius non progredientes. Cum autem illie peruenissent, Gwydo, genua flectens humum: ‘Domine’, inquit, ‘mi rex Athelstane, vester seruus in omnibus sum, fui et ero. Comes de Warewyk, Gwydo, nomen mihi imposuerunt me de salutiferi fontis suscipientes lauacro.’ Quo audito rex ruit in eius amplexus gratanter eum osculando, multa sibi promittens donaria, si in eius conuersari vellet palacio. Qui, omnia relinquens et principi benignissimo suum recomendans secretum, dicit se habitem, quo tune iudutus erat, vit comite nunquam depositurum. Qui sibi inuicem cum lacrimis valefacientes, rex ad sua, Gwydo vero uersus Warewyk calles aggreditur. Cum autem villam suam peruenisset, ignotus omnibus, tribus diebus vnus de tresdecim pauperibus, quos comitissa sua cotidie pro amborum corporis incolumitate animeque salute, ab vxore propria ignotus — scilicet resedendo — est depastus; post prandium sue perendinacionis graciarum acciones dilecte comitisse tamen vicem pro vice rependens, desertum peciit, longo itineris spacio pertransito inter opaca siluarum cuisdam heremite colloquio refoueri postulat solo. Set, quo paulo ante mortis nexibus depresso, eius successorem Gwydo se ipsum constituit in multiplicium virtutem virens floribus. Duobus igitur inibi feliciter viuens annis, obitum suum biduo ante reuelacione presciens angelica, misit vnicum sibi seruientem ad vxorem suam cum anulo matrimonialis federis, sibi illud resignans, exortans eam, vt festinando se preparet ad eius perficere sepulturam, quem, cum venerit, ante altare in capella inueniet recubantem, debita in morte resolutum, additoque, quod peracto quindecim dierum curriculo post eius mortem nature debitum et ipsa erat persoluenda. Hiis impletis, veniente vxore Gwydonis cum euisdem diocesis ordinario, cum clero et populo ad heremitagium viri sui, Gwydonis, et inuento corpore eius, sicut nunciatum fuerat, miro fragrante suauitatis odore et iacente totum in terra prostrato, eleuatum de terra principis more in eodem habitaculo, ut decuit, honorifice reconditum est. Circa cuius sepulcrum et ipsa, transactis XV diebus, vinculis carnis absoluta decentissime humata est, hereditatem paternam filio suo Reyburno relinquens, ut ipse memoriale parentum in pectoris sui armariolo quem tenerrime sigillando inprimeret, inde pro meritis celestia regna mercaturus. Jstud extractum est ex scriptis Girardi Cornubiensis in libro de gestis regum Westsaxonum in capitulo XI et eciam habetur Wynton in tabula pendente iuxta maius altare ecclesie cathedralis sancti Stephani. Explicit Gwydo de Warwyk et vxor eius Felicia.

Gerald of Cornwall’s Life of Guy of Warwick2   When the famous king Athelstan reigned in England — in the [927th] year of Our Lord’s incarnation, that is, the third year of his reign — the fury of the utterly cruel harrying of the Danes gained strength to such a pitch, since it so cruelly attacked the lands and the roads of the locals with pillaging and plundering, that almost right up to Winchester there was not a city, country house, or castle which was not thoroughly demolished or stood unburnt. In the meantime, with this fierce, burning frenzy, the pride and ambition of the barbarian princes Anelaph and Gonelaph resounded under such a goad of exaltation that they sent a delegation to King Athelstan, who was at that time with his prelates and nobles of the realm at the city of Winchester to seek speedy relief of the desolation of the province, delaying as necessary. The ambassadors delivered a message stiffened with a threefold ultimatum, namely, that either the king of England should transfer the crown of his kingdom to the leaders of the Danes without the least delay, along with the kingdom of England; or Athelstan should reign under them and render loyalty, homage, and tribute according to the will of the pagans; or a duel should be arranged between two mighty warriors, one from either side, in order to settle the business of the kingdom, that is, who would be king; and Anelaph added that, if the victory fell to Athelstan, he and his compatriots would quit the kingdom forever without delay; otherwise the crown of the kingdom would be granted in perpetuity to him and his, the Danes, without objection thereafter. The king of the English agreed to the last proposal and summoned the prelates and other magnates of the kingdom to Winchester. When they were gathered, they were asked who of them would secure above and beyond his own interest, the good of the land by defeating a barbarian giant called Colbrand and receive a reward for restoring that wealth. But no one was found and Athelstan was struck to the heart with the utmost grief. So a three-day fast was proclaimed, and faithfully pouring forth prayers and tears to God Most High, they besought His mercy that He might deign to grant them a warrior, who for their sakes and the right and freedom of the kingdom might altogether invincibly drive out their enemies. For the English people were struck with terrible fear that there was no one who might relieve them of all their cares, since Herandus, a thoroughly invincible warrior, was busy in lands across the sea searching for Reyburn, the son of Guy, his lord, the count of Warwick, who while he was still an infant had been secretly carried off by merchants of an unknown nation; and Count Rohandus, the father of Guy’s countess, a warrior amongst a thousand, had died unexpectedly, paying his debt to nature; and indeed Guy, on the day after his marriage, a man superlatively brave and strong in battle, had taken up the pilgrim’s vocation, not knowing what lay ahead. But the Most High was moved by the prayers of his faithful, and on the eve of the nativity of St. John the Baptist, while King Athelstan was at the castle of Winchester, prostrate before his chamber, offering prayers to God for the safety of his homeland and then falling asleep for a time from sheer weariness at his vigil, the Lord sent His angel to encourage the king, who was fixed in agony. The angel spoke to him thus, “King Athelstan, do you sleep or keep vigil? Behold! I am an angel of the Lord sent to you by the Lord Jesus Christ that I might tell you not to be afraid or disappointed of hope. Rather, tomorrow morning get up and hurry to the north gate of the city and wait there for the arrival of some mendicant paupers, amongst whom you will find one who is a traveling pilgrim. Take him and bring him back with you and set the burden of the duel on him. For what you ask, he will not deny.” With these words the angel disappeared. The king, waking up and giving thanks to God for this revelation and taking two bishops and two counts with him, went to the gate mentioned earlier, awaiting the arrival of the beggars at the hour when they were accustomed to enter the city. And behold, by the will of God on the vigil of the birthday of St. John the Baptist, in the hour when the sun in its first rising sheds its rays on the earth, Guy, the Count of Warwick, a doughty and famous warrior, landed at Portsmouth, returning from his wanderings in distant parts across the sea once more to see England, his native land. He had been informed by his countrymen about the absence of Herandus, the most noble warrior, and of his own son, as was touched on previously, and about the death of Count Rohandus, whose daughter he had taken as wife, and about the predicament and sadness of his lord and king Athelstan and the nobles of the kingdom; and he set out by a speedy course for the bounds of Winchester on that very same day. He came that night to a certain hospice for beggars, which at that time stood against the north gate a hundred and fifty paces distant from the place in which a new monastery has now been built, founded as a hospice in honor of the Holy Cross. Coming to this place, and worn out by his journey through the night, he relieved his weary limbs by warming them. While the golden axis of the sun was turned over, bringing back the day, he took the right way to the oft-mentioned gate of the city with his companions, where his king was awaiting his arrival. Just as David had been sent from the Father of lights by King Saul to defeat Goliath the Philistine, so Guy himself was intended to gain victory over Colbrand of the Danes. When he was seen and recognized by his pilgrim’s garb, the king took hold of him and brought him inside, and with tears of joy the prince of the English besought him to undertake this pressing need and settle the business of the kingdom by fighting for victory with the beastly Colbrand. Guy demured somewhat and insisted that, weak with age and the exertion of travel, he felt the want of his now-diminished strength and vigor and he would hardly discharge the office of king’s and nobles’ champion at all well. At length, won over by the prayers and tears of these princes, he promised the assistance they wished for, and on the day decided for the duel, namely the fourth of the Ides of July [12 July], they both came together, the mighty warrior and the unbeaten Colbrand, in a certain place outside of the aforementioned gate, which is called in English the Hyde-Mede, a place which was anciently called and is also referred to by some up to the present as Dene-marche. While they thrust their swords the one against the other in turn, and sparks leapt from their blows, as if those flashes might produce thunder, the giant was struck on the left shoulder and a quantity of blood gushed forth, and he, not unacquainted with evil thinking, and burning with fierce anger, rushed against the warrrior, breaking the point of Guy’s sword and rendering him weaponless. A great joy resounded amongst the Danes, and a greater fear amongst the English. When Guy asked for some kind of weapon from Colbrand, who had many, his plea was not granted, but when they had been conversing with each other for some time, Guy very quietly slipped away and quickly snatched a dagger from among the giant’s weapons. When the duel resumed, Guy cut off the pagan’s left arm at the shoulder with his own weapon. When that savage man saw this, he strove to seize the sword lying behind him, and while he bent backwards with his right hand, Guy raised the dagger and delivered a mighty blow that cut off the giant’s head. As soon as this happened, the Danes leapt aboard their homeward bound vessels. A great confusion had arisen amongst them while the fierce dagger worked its slaughter. Then Guy was received in solemn procession by the king, clergy, and people and led forth to the cathedral church of Winchester, where before the high altar he presented the aforementioned dagger to God and the patron of this same church, and this weapon is preserved under close guard up to the present day in the vestry of the same church and is called in the mother tongue of the English people “Colbrand’s axe” to this very day. Meanwhile, once Guy had set aside his warlike weapons and resumed the garb of a pilgrim, King Athelstan pressed him, asking his name and of what position he might be. But he replied to the questioning of the king that he would very shortly give an answer, though not in such an open and public situation, but rather beyond the city, far from Winchester, distant from the royal ministers, where a private conversation between king and count would be possible. Guy would reveal his counsel to no one but the king when the two of them had finished their walk. The royal promise to observe these conditions was granted and confirmed under oath, and they both went along the road by which Guy came to the city, and, arriving at a certain cross, they stood at a distance from the city and did not proceed any farther. When they arrived there, Guy knelt on the ground and said, “My lord king Athelstan, I am your servant in all things, have been and will be. The Count of Warwick, Guy, is the name they set upon me when they took me up from the cleansing water of the saving font.” When he heard this, the king joyfully ran into his embrace, kissing him and promising him many gifts if he wished to return to the palace. But he, refusing all of them and commending his secret to the most kindly prince, said that he would never exchange his pilgrim’s garment for that of a count. They bid each other farewell with tears, and the king went home and Guy went along the road to Warwick. When, however, he arrived at his own manor he was not recognized by anyone, and for three days he ate as one of the thirteen paupers whom his countess [tended to] for the safety of their bodies and the salvation of their souls. He was unknown to his own wife, no doubt by keeping back; and, after dinner on the third day, he took his turn to give thanks to his beloved countess and sought a desert place, and after traveling a lengthy space of road amidst the shade of the woods he sought no more refreshment than the conversation of a certain hermit. But, a little while before the hermit was weighed down with the bonds of death, he named Guy, fresh with the flowers of manifold virtues, as his successor. After Guy had been happily living there for two years, he foresaw his own death two days beforehand in an angelic vision; and he sent one of his attendants to his wife with his wedding ring, returning it to her and prevailing upon her to hurry and get ready to carry out his burial, since she would find him lying before the altar in the chapel, having paid his debt in death, adding that fifteen days after Guy’s death, she herself would pay her debt to nature. When these things had been done, Guy’s wife went with the ordinary of that diocese, with the clergy and the people, to the hermitage of her husband Guy, and when his body was found, just as it had been announced, it was fragrant with a marvelous smell of sweetness and lying stretched out full length on the ground. It was lifted up from the earth and in the manner of a prince was honorably buried in the same dwelling place, as was seemly. At this tomb she also, after fifteen days had passed, broke the chains of the body and was very properly interred, leaving her father’s inheritance to her son Reyburn, that she might impress a memorial to his parents upon his breast with the most tender sealing, and so purchase heavenly kingdoms with her merits. This extract is from the writings of Gerard of Cornwall, in the book about the deeds of the kings of Wessex, in the eleventh chapter, and it is also preserved on a tablet hanging by the high altar of the cathedral church of St. Stephan. Thus ends “Guy of Warwick and his wife Felicia.”