In "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," the poet tells us in ll. 764 and 765
that "Nade he sayned hymself, segge, bot þrye / Er he watz war in þe wod of
a won in a mote" -- "No sooner had Sir Gawain signed himself thrice / Than
he was ware, in the wood, of a wondrous dwelling" (Boroff trans.). *The
Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church*, which is all I have at hand,
states that the sign of the cross is attested as far back as Tertullian but
it seems to imply that it was used by priests and such rather than secular.
Now my question is this: When did the sign of the cross become commonplace
among lay folks?
Clinton Atchley, Ph.D.
Department of English and Foreign Languages
Box 7652
Henderson State University
Arkadelphia, AR 71999
Phone: 870.230.5276
Email: [log in to unmask]
URL: http://www.hsu.edu/faculty/atchlec
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