My homecoming, as sweet as I imagined, presented me with a dilemma. I envied the Lindisfarena copyists whose labour simply involved reproducing and illustrating gospels already inscribed. I wondered if Gregory the Great and Sulpicius Severus, who like me had written ex novo, had wrestled with the same tormenting doubts I was experiencing. Had I completed Book I? Were there serious omissions or could I improve the contents? In this state of mind, there were two solutions I could fall back on: meditation or stalling.
ex novoSince I believe that Time is a great counsellor, I opted for the latter. To do this, without wasting time, I retrieved my illustration prepared in anticipation of Book II, gnashed my teeth and tore it to pieces. Only my best would do for the king. I still wanted to illus
