The “Ancrene Wisse” (AW), or “Ancrene Riwle”, is a rule written to give direction and encouragement to a trio of sisters who were anchoresses in England in the 1200s. It was a favorite text of J.R.R. Tolkien, and was one of the books on Thomas Merton’s bookshelf at the time of his passing.
I recently shared this quote with a friend who is taking on an exciting new adventure and it seems like this might be useful here.
And it just makes me happy.
Amongst a lot of very interesting discussion points, the AW speaks about good and bad anchoresses – the bad ones the writer compares to foxes, the good ones to birds. Because the good ones, “leave the earth, that is their hearts yearn after heaven.”
“Heo spredeð hore hwingen, and makeið a creoiz of ham suluen, ase brid deð hwon hit flihð”
and my translation: “She spreads her wings, and makes a cross of herself, as a bird does when she flies.”
~ Heidi +