On Holy Ground
A traveller went into a Shropshire pub looking for information about a patch of grass with peculiar properties.
642
Anglo-Saxon Britain 410-1066
A traveller went into a Shropshire pub looking for information about a patch of grass with peculiar properties.
642
Anglo-Saxon Britain 410-1066
Oswald was King of Northumbria from 634 to 642, when he was defeated, aged 38, in battle by the pagan King Penda at Maserfield near modern-day Oswestry in Shropshire. He was soon venerated as a saint, for his own piety, and for bringing St Aidan over from Iona to preach Christianity with a simple kindness others had not shown.
IN 642, King Oswald of Northumbria fell in battle against invaders from Mercia.* Near the place stood an inn, and one day not long afterwards a traveller rode up, looking for a bed.
The landlord was inclined to talk, and confided that he was anxious about his niece, who was paralysed, and seemed to be failing. In turn, his guest told him about his horse, which only a few miles back had suffered a dreadful fit, but recovered amazingly after rolling onto a patch of grass. Was there anything special about that place?
Indeed there was, said the landlord. That was where good King Oswald fell, a true Christian to the poor and sick alike. So they fetched a cart, and after trundling the helpless girl out to that exact spot, laid her down expectantly. She promptly fell asleep.
But when she awoke, she splashed some water on her face, got to her feet, adjusted her hair and bonnet, and walked all the way home.
Oswald died at the Battle of Maserfield, traditionally identified with Oswestry in Shropshire. If this was indeed the battlefield, then Oswald was in enemy territory, taking the fight to the invaders. Penda was himself defeated by Oswald’s brother Oswy (Oswiu) at The Battle of the Winwaed in 655.
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Why was the inn’s landlord anxious?