Silent Inscription, Spoken Ceremony: Saint Erkenwald and the Enshrined Judge

Abstract

Through its form, content, and implicit dialogue with contemporary ceremonial practices, the Middle English Saint Erkenwald reveals a poetics of enshrinement underlying late-medieval literate culture. Saint Erkenwald depicts the interaction between the English saint and a reanimated pagan dignitary, who speaks from a tomb embellished with golden inscriptions. After some opening comments about the establishment of Christianity in the British Isles, the poet alludes to the conversion history of a number of formerly pagan temples in seventh-century England, which have become Christian churches. One such structure is Saint Paul’s, which when the poem begins is undergoing further renovations. In the process of digging a new foundation, the workmen come upon a splendid tomb, garnished with marble gargoyles and embellished with a border of beautiful but indecipherable golden letters. The lid is pried open, and the assembled crowd presses forward to see what is inside. The tomb contains the perfectly preserved body of what seems to be an ancient king, attired in gold, pearls, and miniver, crowned and holding a scepter. Learned clerks consult the chronicles, but no one can figure out who this enigmatic figure is, and the people become troubled and anxious. The eponymous protagonist—a bishop during his lifetime—hurries to London to investigate the mysterious tomb.