The are three medieval

mystery plays Mystery plays and miracle plays (they are distinguished as two different forms although the terms are often used interchangeably) are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the represe ...

dating to the late fourteenth century, written primarily in

Middle Cornish Cornish (Standard Written Form: or ) , is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. It is a revived language, having become extinct as a living community language in Cornwall at the end of the 18th century. However, ...

, with stage directions in Latin. The three plays are (The Origin of the World, also known as , 2,846 lines), (The Passion of Christ, also known as , 3,242 lines) and (The Resurrection of Our Lord also known as , 2,646 lines). The

metre The metre ( British spelling) or meter ( American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pre ...

s of these plays are various arrangements of seven- and four-syllabled lines. means "prompt" or "service book". (in: ''Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature'') (in: Koch and Minard edd. ''The Celts'') Origo Mundi kynsa gwersow

First play

The first play, called , begins with the Creation of the World, the Fall of Man, and

Cain and Abel In the biblical Book of Genesis, Cain ''Qayīn'', in pausa ''Qāyīn''; gr, Κάϊν ''Káïn''; ar, قابيل/قايين, Qābīl / Qāyīn and Abel ''Heḇel'', in pausa ''Hāḇel''; gr, Ἅβελ ''Hábel''; ar, هابيل, Hābīl ...

, followed by the building of the

Ark Ark or ARK may refer to: Biblical narratives and religion Hebrew word ''teva'' * Noah's Ark, a massive vessel said to have been built to save the world's animals from a flood * Ark of bulrushes, the boat of the infant Moses Hebrew ''aron'' * ...

and the Flood; the story of the temptation of Abraham closes the first act. The second act gives us the history of Moses, and the third represents the story of

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

and of the building of

Solomon's Temple Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple (, , ), was the Temple in Jerusalem between the 10th century BC and . According to the Hebrew Bible, it was commissioned by Solomon in the United Kingdom of Israel before being inherited by t ...

, curiously ending with a description of the martyrdom of St Maximilla as a Christian by the bishop placed in charge of the temple by Solomon. An offshoot of the is the ''Creation of the World with Noah's Flood'' ('': the Creacon of the World''), written in Cornish with English stage directions, copied by William Jordan in 1611. (Appendix I, The Cornish Trilogy, The Death of Pilate

Second and third plays

The second play, , represents the

Temptation of Christ The temptation of Christ is a biblical narrative detailed in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. After being baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus was tempted by the devil after 40 days and nights of fasting in the Judaean Desert. At the ti ...

in the desert, and the events from the entry into Jerusalem to the

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagi ...

, including the Passion. This goes on without interruption into the third play, , which gives an account of the

Harrowing of Hell In Christian theology, the Harrowing of Hell ( la, Descensus Christi ad Inferos, "the descent of Christ into Hell" or Hades) is an Old English and Middle English term referring to the period of time between the Crucifixion of Jesus and his re ...

, the

Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, whic ...

, and the Ascension, with the Legend of

St Veronica Saint Veronica, also known as Berenike, was a woman from Jerusalem who lived in the 1st century AD, according to extra-biblical Christian sacred tradition. A celebrated saint in many pious Christian countries, the 17th-century '' Acta Sancto ...

and

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...

, the death of

Pilate Pontius Pilate (; grc-gre, Πόντιος Πιλᾶτος, ) was the fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official who presided over the trial of J ...

, the release of

Joseph of Arimathea Joseph of Arimathea was, according to all four canonical gospels, the man who assumed responsibility for the burial of Jesus after his crucifixion. The historical location of Arimathea is uncertain, although it has been identified with several ...

and

Nicodemus Nicodemus (; grc-gre, Νικόδημος, Nikódēmos) was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin mentioned in three places in the Gospel of John: * He first visits Jesus one night to discuss Jesus' teachings (). * The second time Nicodemu ...

from prison,

The Three Marys The Three Marys (also spelled Maries) are women mentioned in the canonical gospels' narratives of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, several of whom were, or have been considered by Christian tradition, to have been named Mary (the most c ...

. As in the '' Poem of the Passion'', the pseudo-Gospel of Nicodemus and other legendary sources are drawn upon.

Relationship to the ''Legend of the Cross''

However, running through the whole and interwoven with the

scriptural Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual prac ...

narrative comes the beautiful and curious Legend of the Rood (Legend of the Holy Cross). The legend, most of which is in the Ordinalia, is this:

Extant manuscripts

There are three manuscripts of this

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...

in existence: * Bodley 791, Oxford manuscript of the fifteenth century, given to the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the sec ...

by James Button on 28 March 1614. This manuscript is the original from which the others were copied, and from which Dr

Edwin Norris Edwin Norris (24 October 1795 – 10 December 1872) was a British philologist, linguist and intrepid orientalist who wrote or compiled numerous works on the languages of Asia and Africa. His best-known works are his uncompleted ''Assyrian Dic ...

edited the plays in 1859. * Bodleian MSS 28556-28557, another Oxford manuscript, presented to the Bodleian Library by Edwin Ley of Bosahan about 1859, with a translation by John Keigwin. The copy of the text is older by a century than the translation. * Peniarth MS 428E, a copy which was in the library of Sir John Williams, Bart., of

Llansteffan Llansteffan, is a village and a community situated on the south coast of Carmarthenshire, Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Tywi, south of Carmarthen. Description The community includes Llanybri and is bordered by the communities of: ...

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

, with an autograph translation by Keigwin. On the death of Sir John it went to the National Library of Wales as part of his bequests.

Footnotes

Citations

References

Editions, translations

* (, ) dition and translation
volume 2
(, notes) * Harris, P. P., 'Origo Mundi, First Play of the Cornish Mystery Cycle, The Ordinalia: A New Edition' (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Washington) dition* ''The Cornish Ordinalia'', trans. by Markham Harris (Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 1969) ranslation* ''Ordinalia: The Cornish Mystery Play Cycle'', trans. by Alan M. Kent (Francis Boutle Publishers, 2006), ranslation

Secondary sources

* * (With additional bibliography.) * A

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital libr ...

eBook.
A brief history of the Cornish language.

External links

Origo Mundi
from Wikisource
Passio Christi
from Wikisource
Resurrexio Domini
from Wikisource {{DEFAULTSORT:Ordinalia 14th-century plays Cornish-language literature British plays Christian plays Theatre in the United Kingdom Medieval drama Religious vernacular drama Literary trilogies Middle Cornish literature Pontius Pilate