Sophocles Cadfael's Bones

Cadfael, a Welsh monk living in Shrewsbury England in the year 1137, sets out to obey a vision received by another monk, brother Columbanus, from ‘St. Winifred’. The vision entails that the Shrewsbury Monks must retrieve the St.’s bones from a town called Gwytherin, to bring back as a relic for their Monastery. The monks travel to Gwytherin, where a murder takes place shortly after their arrival. Cadfael is assigned the task of solving the mystery by the Prior Robert of Shrewsbury. The St.’s bones are found, and Cadfael discovers that brother Columbanus is the murderer. Columbanus is accidentally killed, and to cover the incident Cadfael replaces the St.’s bones with his body. It is the opinion of some that Cadfael was wrong to replace St. Winifred’s bones with Columbanus’ body, while others believe that Cadfael made the right decision in replacing the St.’s bones. …show more content…
Though it was thought that Cadfael had not solved the murder case, he had. He had also restored the St. to her grave where he believed she belonged. Gwytherin continued to be blessed with miracles from the St.’s presence, though they did not know that her remains were still in their town. Everyone believed that the relic was in the Shrewsbury Abbey. Cadfael’s decision to replace St. Winifred’s bones with Columbanus’ body
Cadfael made the right choice to replace St. Winifred’s bones with Columbanus’ body and return her to her grave. The first reason is that it was a clever way to conceal the fact that Columbanus was the murderer. The second reason is that the Shrewsbury Abbey would still believe that they had the St.’s bones. Third, it created a happy ending for most of the characters. The fact that Cadfael replaced the St.’s bones mattered to the Monastery because it saved them from being accused of having a murderer, and they were able to return to Shrewsbury Abbey