{"id":147234,"date":"2026-09-14T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=147234"},"modified":"2026-09-14T08:39:53","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T12:39:53","slug":"eleanor-parker-a-fourteenth-century-translation-of-the-crux-fidelis-for-the-feast-of-the-holy-cross","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=147234","title":{"rendered":"Eleanor Parker–a fourteenth-century translation of the\u00a0Crux Fidelis for the Feast of the Holy Cross"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross (‘Holyrood day in harvest’, as it was sometimes called in the Middle Ages), so here’s a fourteenth-century translation of the Crux Fidelis<\/em>, a verse of the sixth-century hymn Pange Lingua<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steddefast Crosse, inmong alle other,
Thou art a tree mikel of prise;
In brawnche and flore swilk another
I ne wot non in wood no ris.
Swete be the nalis, and swete be the tree,
And sweter be the birdin that hangis upon thee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steadfast cross, among all others
Thou art a tree great of price;
In branch and flower such another
I know not of, in wood nor copse.
Sweet be the nails, and sweet be the tree,
And sweeter be the burden that hangs upon thee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the Latin:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crux fidelis, inter omnes arbor una nobilis:
nulla silva talem profert,
fronde, flore, germine.
Dulce lignum, dulces clavos,
dulce pondus sustinet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This verse is used in the liturgy several times through the course of the year, and at different seasons its poetry will resonate in subtly different ways. This tree is like no other, and it bears at once both flower and fruit; what kind of tree you picture as you sing this verse will depend on what your eyes are seeing in the world around you. The hymn is sung in the spring, on Good Friday and at the cross’ first feast in May, and at that time of year the image of a flowering tree evokes blossom<\/a> and the spring of new life; and it’s sung again at this feast in the autumn, when trees are laden with fruit (their own ‘burden’), and the image instead speaks of fruitfulness, sustenance, the abundance of divine gift. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>

14 September is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, once known as 'Holyrood Day in harvest'. As summer moves into autumn, this festival extols a holy tree, bearing the fruit of life, standing steadfast at the still point of the turning world. https:\/\/t.co\/4GPLwUH3hE<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/rGuc7yPzLd<\/a><\/p>— Eleanor Parker (@ClerkofOxford) September 14, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote>