120 A CITY OF MANY WATERS 



as he could conveniently carry, made a most offensive 

 harangue to the ladies, seized hold on the king, rammed 

 the crown on his head, and, assisted by Cynesius, forcibly 

 carried him back into the banqueting-hall. Edwy had 

 plenty of spirit ; he chastised Dunstan for this outrage by- 

 stripping him of his abbotcy, and sent him into banish- 

 ment. But he was not strong enough to fight the Church . 

 all his kingdom north of the Thames slipped from his 

 grasp, and the virulent Odo pronounced a divorce betweer 

 him and his queen. 



Ill-starred Elgiva! not content with thus ruining ler 

 fame, Odo caused her to be seized in her palace of W>1- 

 vesey, branded in her beautiful face, and banished to 

 Ireland. Worse was in store for her. ' After a whuV as 

 Osberne, with redundance of vituperation, ungallffitly 

 describes, 'her wounds being healed, but with the defomity 

 of her shameless mind still gaping, she left Irelanc and 

 came to Gloucester, steeped in the obstinacy of a tfack 

 heart.' Homo homini lupus: the vengeance a the 

 Church which she had incurred was wreaked with d/vilish 

 atrocity. Elgiva was seized ab hominibus servis ]n by 

 men in the service of God acting, that is, undeiorders 

 from Odo and Dunstan and the sinews of her l^s were 

 severed, so that she might wander no more. Incrdible as 

 it might seem, were it not testified by the wrings of 

 Osberne, who was briefed by the clerical party, w young- 

 queen was actually hamstrung by these fiends. <r course, 

 to palliate such severity, Elgiva is made to appJr a dis- 

 solute, unworthy female ; but the testimony of pen who 

 could carry out such abominations as their owl annalist 

 describes is not worth much against the character of their 

 victim. She died under her torments ; and Edy himself 



