Then the Lord of mankind hastened on his journey; heaven’s protector,
the most righteous of all kings, intended to demolish and cast down the walls
of hell, to carry off the great body of people in that stronghold. HE did not care
about helmeted soldiers for that battle nor did he intend to lead armor-clad
warriors to the gates of that stronghold, but instead the locks and bars
dropped off that city. The king, the ruler of all mankind, who gives glory to
the hosts rode in and hastened on. The exiles throned forward, to see which of
them might see the victorious Son—Adam and Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, many a
brave man, Moses and David, Isaiah and Zechariah, many patriarchs, likewise an
assembly of men, a host of prophets, a throng of women, many virgins, a
countless number of people. (Old English Poems of Christ and His Saints [trans.
Mary Clayton; Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library 27; Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
University Press, 2013], 151)
