Week 3 Story: The Brave Saint Margaret

The Brave Saint Margaret

The holy virgin Margaret was promised to a provost, but when he came to collect his bride, she refused him, for he did not believe in God as she did, instead worshiping a set of other gods. She told him she would not accept him unless he took up her Lord. He refused, for fear that he would be beheaded if he were to agree, but when Margaret refused to give in, he grew frustrated and ordered her flesh to be torn and scraped from her bones, in the hope that she might see the frivolousness of her conviction.

The people wept at seeing the beautiful Margaret reduced to such a state, but she remained strong in face of her torment, and she refused to give up her belief. So the provost had her thrown into the dungeon, and she would be beheaded in the morning. 

While she spent her night in the dungeon, a devil appeared before her in the form of a dragon, and it tried to consume her. But before it could consume her, she used her fingers to form a cross and smote the devil where he stood.

Later in the night, a devil appeared before her again, in human skin this time, and tried to tempt her to give in and pray to the gods of the provost, so that she might be freed. She resisted the devil's temptations and grabbed it by the skull and threw the creature to the ground. She planted her heel upon its throat and asked "why have you come?"

"I was sent to offer you a way to be free of your confinement, in such a way that you would fall from the graces of Heaven and slip into temptation," the devil cried.

"You shall not succeed this night," Margaret declared. "Now flee back into the realm from which you came, wretched thing."

Great rents appeared in the ground, and the devil was sucked into them, and then the fissures slammed shut with a dull clap.

In the morning, she was brought from the dungeon and into the square, and she was tossed into a great fire and prodded with brands to sear her flesh further because she refused to pray to the provost's gods. After this, she was pulled from the fire, thoroughly bound, and then submerged into a pool of water so as to further her suffering.

Yet, Margaret did not drown, and instead rose up from the pool of water unbound and whole once again. She was then crowned in gold by a dove that flew down from the heavens. In awe of this sight, five thousand men forsook their former gods and took the God of Margaret into their hearts, and were thus executed for their betrayal of the emperor's gods. The dove told Margaret that the gates of Heaven were open for her, waiting for her return to the Lord.

She then prayed upon the platform that was to be the location of her execution, and then she told the executioner "go and cut off my head, so that I might return to the hall of my Lord." But the executioner shook with fear in his heart, unwilling to slay as holy a maiden as her. "Do as the provost commanded of you," Margaret said. "If you really have seen the error of your ways, then you may pass as soon as the deed is done, and be accepted into the graces of the one true God."

And so the executioner struck off her head, and promptly fell dead next to her, and their spirits ascended into Heaven above.

Thus is the story of the Saint Margaret, who was martyred in the name of the Lord.

Author's Note

The story of Saint Margaret, also known by the name of Saint Marina the Martyr, is largely the same as I told it here in terms of the overall plot points, albeit much wordier, and with more dialogue. Most of the dialogue I ultimately decided to cut, but I took my own interpretation of the final dialogue of Saint Margaret, and I also made my own, much abridged, version of Saint Margaret's conversation with the devil. 

In the original text, Saint Margaret has a much longer conversation with the devil before she banished it. The original story was likely written as it was in part to highlight a reason that devils are evil, in order to help drive home the point that one must stay away from temptation.

I chose to instead focus the story more on Saint Margaret, rather than on the devil she meets during her night in the dungeon, since Saint Margaret and the things she faced were the point of interest for me. 

My beginning is also quite a bit shorter and somewhat different to the source material, which has the provost fall in love with her on sight and have her brought to him, and it's focused more on him working to convert her, rather than the other way round. I thought the switch made for a more consistent narrative, since she repeatedly shows her dedication to her Lord. The ending with the executioner is also somewhat tweaked, so as to fit with this theme as well.

I hope you enjoyed my rendition of this story!

Bibliography

Story Source: Saint Margaret from The Golden Legend, edited by F. S. Ellis

Image Source: St. Marina the Martyr hammering a devil