The are three medieval mystery plays dating to the late fourteenth century, written primarily in Middle Cornish, 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 (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...

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 and Abel are the first two sons of Adam and Eve. Cain, the firstborn, was a farmer, and his brother Abel was a shepherd. The brothers made sacrifices, each from his own fields, to God. God had regard for Ab ...

, followed by the building of the Ark 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") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

and of the building of

Solomon's Temple Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple (), was a biblical Temple in Jerusalem believed to have existed between the 10th and 6th centuries Common Era, BCE. Its description is largely based on narratives in the Hebrew Bible, in which it ...

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

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthag ...

, 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 (; Greek language, Greek: – "the descent of Christ into Christian views on Hell, Hell" or Christian views on Hades, Hades) is the period of time between the Crucifixion of Jesus and his Resurre ...

, the

Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...

, and the Ascension, with the Legend of St Veronica and

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...

, the death of Pilate, the release of

Joseph of Arimathea Joseph of Arimathea () is a Biblical figure who assumed responsibility for the burial of Jesus after Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion. Three of the four Biblical Canon, canonical Gospels identify him as a member of the Sanhedrin, while the ...

and

Nicodemus Nicodemus (; ; ; ; ) is a New Testament figure venerated as a saint in a number of Christian traditions. He is depicted as a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin who is drawn to hear Jesus's teachings. Like Lazarus of Bethany, Lazarus, Nicode ...

from prison,

The Three Marys The Three Marys (also spelled Maries) are women mentioned in the Gospel, canonical gospels' narratives of the crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. The Gospels refer to several women named Mary. At various points of Chris ...

. 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 often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and ...

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 distinct works 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. Three-part works that are considered components of ...

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

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

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. ...

, 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, Phyllis Pier (1964). '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 li ...

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 of the United Kingdom Medieval drama Religious vernacular drama Literary trilogies Middle Cornish literature Pontius Pilate Harrowing of Hell Resurrection of Jesus Ascension of Jesus The Three Marys Joseph of Arimathea Nicodemus