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History of the Franks
St Gregory of Tours, tr. Dalton, 1927
Book 8, 17. Of Signs Which Appeared
During our sojourn in this place, we beheld for two nights signs in the heaven, namely rays in the north so clear and splendid, that none such were ever seen before; on both sides, east and west, were blood-red clouds. On the third night, about the second hour,1 these rays appeared again; and while we gazed in wonder at them, lo! from the four quarters of the earth there rose others like them, and we saw them covering the whole sky. In the middle of the heavens was a gleaming cloud to which these rays gathered themselves as it were into a pavilion, the stripes of which, beginning broad at the bottom, narrow as they rise, and meet as it were in a hood at the top. In the midst of the rays were other clouds, flashing vividly as lightning.2 This was a great sign, and filled us with fear. For we looked that some disaster should be sent upon us out of heaven.
Notes
- Between 7 and 8 o’clock, after sunset.
- Cf. VI. 8 (14), 24 (33).