maner
of herbes . . . And yet he bileveth not on God, he is a Jewe, the
wysest in conynge, and especially he knoweth the vertue of stones. I
shewde hym this ryng, he saide that they were the thre names that Seth
brought out of Paradys, when he brought to his fadre Adam the oyle of
mercy. And who somever bereth on hym thise thre names, he shal never be
hurte by thondre, ne by lyghtnyng, ne no witchecraft shal have power
over hym, ne be tempted to doo synne. And also he shall never take harm
by colde, thaugh he laye thre wynters nyghtis in the feelde, thaugh it
snowed, stormed, or froze never so sore, so grete myght have thise
wordes.
This
wonder-working ring was set with a stone "of three maner colours," red,
white and green. The red part had the fabled quality of the ruby for
"the shynyng of the stone made and gaf as grete a lyghte as it had been
mydday." The white portion was, a remedy for diseases of the eye, for
headache, and, indeed, for almost all ills, "sauf only the very deth,"
if the part affected were stroked with the stone, or, when the malady
was internal, if the patient drank of water in which the stone had been
placed. The third color was "grene lyke glas," with some small spots of
purple. This procured love and friendship for the wearer and also
victory in battle; even should he be "al naked in the felde agayn an
hondred armed men," he would escape with honour. However, the ring must
only be worn by one of gentle birth.
The
"Lapidario," an astrological treatise on stones, written at the
instance of the Castilian King, Alfonso X, the Wise, (1221-1284),
ostensibly a translation from a "Chaldee" original, but probably mainly
based on Arabic lore, gives, under the obscure name ceritiz, an account of an Indian stone found on the banks of the river of the same name. It was of a very dark
