¹ For Saint Iltutus was the son of a most noble soldier named Bicanus, and his mother was Rieinguilida, daughter of the king of Lesser Britain. Commended by his parents to learning, when he came to youthful age he set his mind on military service. Such indeed was his memory that, hearing a judgement of his teacher only once, he retained it firmly in his heart for all time. Hearing moreover of the magnificence of King Arthur, his kinsman, he decided to visit him, and was received by him with honour. At length, coming to the king of the Morganians, he governed his court under him, being made second to the king. It happened one day, when he was leading the royal household hunting through the territory of Saint Cadoc, that the company, having halted, sent to the abbot Cadoc with harsh words that he should send them a meal; otherwise, they would seize food by force. And when the saint of God had sent back what was sufficient, the household, reclining, wished to dine, but the food set before them lacked nourishment. For because of the unlawful demand sacrilegious offence, the earth swallowed up the wicked crowd. But Iltutus, the leader of the soldiers, because he did not wish to consent to the unjust demand, escaped alive; and he was not present in the place where the household had been waiting for food, but had gone some distance away, holding a hawk. And seeing what had been done to his companions, he was afraid; hastening to Saint Cadoc, he fell on his knees and asked counsel from him on how to amend what he had done wrong. But he gave him counsel to abandon secular dress and, throughout the whole span of his life, to serve the supreme Creator for the sake of eternal recompense.

² He, assenting to the words of the saint, when he had given his limbs to sleep, saw an angel of the Lord, who among other things said to him thus: “You were once a soldier, honoured by kings; but now I command you to serve the King of kings, and no longer to love transient things. For the ambusher is present, who tries to deceive you, desiring with all his power to condemn you. He sees you; you do not see him with bodily sight. Unless you are cautious and protect yourself, he will be able to destroy you. He is more savage than a lion, swifter than a bird, an invisible sorcerer who snatches away and drags back, and, having seized, refuses to restore, punishing those who are liable to punishment. For on the next day, when you rise, direct your steps toward a wooded valley facing the western quarter, where you will have a dwelling.”

³ When morning came, and a suitable dwelling was found, he went to Dubricius, bishop of Llandaff, who, having cut his hair, blessed his crown, and sent him back to his place. And so, when the church had been built, Iltutus kept vigil by constant fasting and prayed without ceasing; he laboured with his own hands, not relying on the labour of others. At midnight he entered cold water, and from there, going to the church and bending his knees, he poured forth prayers to the supreme Creator. Now when the king of that province on a certain day was engaged in hunting and urged his dogs after a single stag, the beast, driven hard, sought flight, entered the cell of Saint Iltutus, and, as if in human fashion, seeking refuge from him, worn out, fell down before the feet of the saint. But the dogs, waiting, were struck with amazement and ceased from barking. And the king, marvelling at the silence of the barking, came and found the dogs calmed and the stag tame. The king, angered because the servant of God had presumed to dwell there without his permission, demanded the stag; but Iltutus refused to give it back. At length the king, considering the humility of the man of God and the miracle, did not enter to him, but willingly granted to him the stag, divinely given.

⁴ And when Iltutus had invited the king, who was hungry, to a meal, he sent a servant to the pond, who, having caught with a net a fish of wondrous size, set it before the king. But because there was no salt set upon the table, he was unwilling to taste it. Iltutus, however, having neither bread nor salt at that hour, prayed, saying: “The Maker of all creatures and the giver is able to bring it about, if you taste, lord king, that in the fish you have tasted you may have what you desire to have.” When the king heard this and ate, he experienced in one kind the flavours of various foods, and when he tasted the water offered to him by Iltutus, he perceived diverse drinks in that single draught. Then the king, at the command of an angel who appeared to him, granted to Iltutus the whole of that place, to build a monastery there. Very many disciples flocked to Saint Iltutus, among whom were Samson, Paulinus, Gildas, and David. For he appointed fifty brothers, who were to keep continual remembrance of souls. For the place was afflicted by frequent inundations of the sea and by a river’s encroaching flood; and so, a prayer poured out to God, and rising early at the command of an angel of the Lord, he came to the sea with his staff, and the sea began to flee as though it were a living, sentient thing. And when the shore appeared dried, he struck it with his staff, and a most clear spring burst forth from the earth; and although it is near the bridge, it nevertheless always sends forth clear and sweet water. Nor has the sea returned to its former course even to the present day. In the autumn season birds began to pluck the harvest of Saint Iltutus and, with the ears almost emptied, to abandon it. When this was discovered, he ordered his disciples to guard the crop in turn, each on successive days. But Samson, one of the disciples, when he was keeping his turn and could not preserve the crop safe and untouched, sought divine counsel and help; and it was granted to him by God to drive off the birds without flight. For they tried to fly and could not; and he compelled them to go before him, as though they were domestic four-footed animals of their own will. Forced to the doorway, and the door being opened, they entered without delay.

⁵ When this was known on the following day, Iltutus granted them freedom to fly wherever they wished, and forbade them to presume to touch his crop any further. When this miracle was made known abroad, messengers having been sent, Samson was chosen as bishop of Dol; and when he received the diaconate from Dubricius, bishop of Llandaff, there appeared to the bishop and to Abbot Iltutus a dove, whiter than snow, sitting upon the head of the young man at his ordination. And when Samson had governed the see of Dol in Lesser Britain for many years, after the end of his life, when his body had been placed in a sarcophagus, suddenly a strong wind arose and lifted it up to the sea, and, having crossed the sea, it came to the mouth of the Iltutus; and he placed it in an honourable place with hymns and canticles. For the former wife of blessed Iltutus, living chastely, used daily at the ninth hour to break her fast with barley bread and water. She, wishing on one occasion to visit Iltutus, saw him an industrious digger, muddy over his face from continual trenching, and leanness had also thinned his features. She sought from him gentle conversation; the inquiry displeased him as he listened, and he who was questioned returned no answer; he did not wish to see her nor to be seen by her. And since, because of the ill-timed visit, she had lost the sight of her eyes, Iltutus, though asked, implored divine help, that she might recover her former sight; and he was heard, and the woman returned to her place.

⁶ The steward of a certain king, whose life was hateful to all, frequently troubled Abbot Iltutus and his clergy, falsely claiming many things unjustly seized by his lord the king, though the king was unaware of it and without his command. He was angry with everyone, and all hated him, uttering curses against him. Therefore the almighty Lord caused him to melt like softened wax, liquefied by burning fire, and he appeared nowhere in the world. When this was heard, the king, angered, in excessive fury planned to kill Saint Iltutus and to destroy the clergy. Therefore the man of God, yielding place, went away to a certain river, and hid for a year in a secret cave, lying every night upon a cold rock. At the ninth hour each day one barley loaf and one portion of fish were sent to him from heaven; and drawing water from a nearby spring, he quenched his thirst. Though sought everywhere in woods, glens, and hiding places, with God protecting him he could not be found.

⁷ Meanwhile a certain messenger of Gildas the historiographer was passing by there, carrying a bronze bell, made by Gildas and sent to the holy bishop David; and look, without any human motion the bell began to ring clearly. When Iltutus heard this, he came out, and admiring its beauty and sound, learned where it was being carried. But when Saint David held the bell in his hands and it gave forth no sound, he asked whether it had been tested or touched by anyone on the way. And when he heard what had happened, he said: “I know that our master Iltutus desired it and did not ask for it, knowing that it was being sent to me. Return therefore to the cave, and strive to present the bell on my behalf to my master.” When these things were heard, the monks came and joyfully brought Abbot Iltutus back to the monastery.

⁸ A steward of the king did not fear often to oppose and trouble the servant of God and the brothers by shutting off the grazing lands of flocks and herds; at times he confined the cattle for three days and did not allow them to go out. But Iltutus continually prayed to God that, returning to his senses, he might be corrected and turn from his injustice. And when he scorned to amend his life, the earth, opening its mouth, swallowed him up. When this was heard, the king, offended, wishing either to kill Saint Iltutus or to drive him entirely from his dominion, went out armed from the fortress and came to the gate of the monastery. And while he stood ready to commit murder, the earth swallowed him up. At last Iltutus, burdened by the multitude flocking to him and hindered in his prayers, remained for three years in a certain cave, each day at the ninth hour receiving heavenly food brought to him by an angel. On a certain night two thieves stole a herd of pigs belonging to the holy man; and when they thought they were keeping to the right road, wandering through the whole night, at dawn they were found at the gate of the monastery. And when they presumed to commit the same crime on the second night, and as before returned at dawn, the heavenly King transformed their bodies into two stones, shown even to this day as a testimony of the miracle.

⁹ When Iltutus wished to visit the church which is on Mount Tumba, he ordered the brothers that all the grain of the monastery, once threshed, should be placed in the granaries. After returning from the pilgrimage, when he saw many afflicted by hunger, he humbly implored the Lord; and look, grain was divinely brought as far as the desired harbour in Lesser Britain, from which the whole country was fed by the power of God, and there was enough also for sowing. After this, having crossed the sea, he came to his monastery; and when the end of his life was drawing near, having returned to Lesser Britain, near the city of Dol, renowned for miracles and signs and famous for wonders, he committed his body to the earth and his spirit indeed to God, on the eighth day before the Ides of November.

¹⁰ Edgar, king of the English, stirred by raging fury, set his army in motion because of the disobedience of the Morganians, and bringing it there, by violating the territories of the saints and even the temples themselves, he left no village untouched by devastation. In this invasion, therefore, the bell of Saint Iltutus was taken from his church and carried to England by a certain plunderer. For when the army was returning, the bell was fastened around the neck of a certain horse, which, together with the other horses of the army, was grazing grass on a certain hill. And at midday, while the king was resting in his tent, it seemed to the king that a certain terrible warrior had pierced his breast with a lance; and the king, awakened in great distress and sighing, related what he had seen, and commanded the army to restore to God and Saint Iltutus the plunder that had been seized. He promised amendment for the offence, and ordered that a church be built in honour of the same saint, and granted the whole territory to the servants of that place. Yet this promise and intention of the king seemed to profit only his own soul; for after the evil done to the inhabitants, on the ninth day he departed from this life.

¹¹ Meanwhile the same horse, bearing the bell, with no one driving it, crossed the Severn together with the whole troop of horses, following the sweetness of the bell, and came as far as the door of the church of Iltutus. There indeed the bell at once fell upon a stone; and from the fall it shows to this day a fracture on one side, visible in memory of the miracle. And when each of the brothers had received one horse, and discord had arisen because of inequality of value, on the following day they saw that all the horses were equal, and that none surpassed another in worth.

¹² A certain brother was daily harassed by his thoughts for nine years, so that through fear itself he despaired of his salvation, and judged himself, saying: “I have lost my soul; and since I am lost, I will go into the world.” And when he was going away, a voice came to him on the road, saying: “The temptations which you have endured for nine years are your crown. Return therefore to your place, and I will relieve you of evil thoughts.” From this it is known that it is not good for anyone to despair of himself because of those things which come in thoughts; for these thoughts rather provide us with a crown, if it happens that we overcome and endure them well.