His measures against St. Dunstan, as they are related in the tale, have
the authority of history; although it is needless to say that the agents
are in part fictitious characters. The writer's object has been to
subordinate fiction to history, and never to contradict historic fact;
if he has failed in this intention, it has been his misfortune rather
than his fault; for he has had recourse to all such authorities as lay
in his reach.[i] Especially, he is glad to find that the
character he had conceived as Edwy's perfectly coincides with the
description given by Palgrave in his valuable History of the Anglo-Saxons:
"Edwy was a youth of singular beauty, but vain, rash, petulant,
profligate, and surrounded by a host of young courtiers, all bent on
encouraging and emulating the vices of their master."
Another object of the tale has been to depict the trials and
temptations, the fall and the recovery, of a lad fresh from a home full
of religious influences, when thrown amidst the snares which abounded
then as now. The motto, "Facilis descensus Averno," etc, epitomises the
whole story.
In relating a tale of the days of St. Dunstan, the author has felt bound
to give the religious colouring which actually prevailed in that day. He
has found much authority and information in Johnson's Anglo-Saxon
Canons, especially those of Elfric, probably contemporaneous with the
tale. He has written in no controversial spirit, but with an honest
desire to set forth the truth.
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