recited thrice a day to protect the person who used it from all
possible injury and accident. I give this Prayer as illustrating the
state of our language about A.D. 850.

And the georne gebide gece and miltse fore alra his haligra
gewyrhtum and ge-earningum and boenum be [hiwe]num, tha the _domino
deo_ gelicedon from fruman middan-geardes; thonne gehereth he thec
thorh hiora thingunge. Do thonne fiorthan sithe thin hleor thriga
to iorthan, fore alle Godes cirican, and sing thas fers: _domini
est salus, saluum fac populum tuum, domine, praetende misericordiam
tuam_. Sing thonne _pater noster_. Gebide thonne fore alle
geleaffulle menn _in mundo_. Thonne bistu thone deg dael-niomende
thorh Dryhtnes gefe alra theara goda the ænig monn for his noman
gedoeth, and thec alle soth-festæ fore thingiath _in caelo et in
terra_. _Amen_.{1}

{Footnote 1: I write _hiwenum_ in l. 2 in place of an illegible
word.}

That is:--

And earnestly pray for-thyself for help and mercy by-reason-of the
deeds and merits and prayers of all his saints on-behalf-of the
[households] that have pleased the Lord God from the beginning of
the world; then will He hear thee because-of their intercession.
Bow-down then, at the fourth time, thy face thrice to the earth
before all God's church, and sing these verses: The Lord is my
salvation, save Thy people, O Lord: show forth Thy mercy. Sing then
a pater-noster. Pray then for all believing men in the world. Then
shalt thou be, on that day, a partaker, by God's grace, of all the