And thus she did when her friends brought many
a kind greeting over the fastness of waters from the
west. Then the queen bade seek far and near those 1020
skilled in the arts, the best of those who could work
most wondrously in the laying of stone upon stone,
that they might raise a temple of God upon that
place. As the Lord of spirits counseled her from
the heavens, she bade deck out the rood with gold
and with gems, adorn it most artfully with precious 1025
stones; then to seal it with locks in a casket of silver.
There hath the rood of life, best tree of
victory, dwelt since then, indestructible in its nobleness.
There shall it be ever ready, a solace for 1030
the ill of any disease, affliction, or sorrow. Then
straightway shall men find aid and divine grace
through that holy form.