History of Vardan and the Armenian War

This copy of the Andzevatsyats appears to have passed through or been kept in the Narek Monastery original: "Narekay vans". For where Eghishe mentions by name the bishops who answered, that is, Bishop Dprayr of the Andzevatsyats, in this copy we found from another scribe, "Whose throne was allotted to our lord Khosrov." It seems indisputable that the scribe refers to the Great Khosrov, father of the sainted Grigor.

There is also another short, touching colophon which we could not read without shedding many tears. For where Eghishe stamped the names of the brave men who had inscribed their own names in the heavenly book, someone added below with a trembling hand and heart:

Pray, martyrs of Christ,
for the peace of those in distress and for the salvation
of this world,
and glory to Grigoris of the Pahlavunis,
a true Aryan In this context, an honorable, noble person of Armenian lineage.,
and not merely to the name of this world.

And who, upon reading such heart-rending words from Grigor Magistros, would not, with us, offer a reverent kiss to the writing, or not feel his sighs stirred while praying for peace and salvation?

Here we have touched in passing upon the external circumstances of this wonderful manuscript. As for its internal qualities, let us only say this: the work and the concept are the products of a skilled and experienced hand, truly worthy of the princely house for which it was written. We leave to another time a detailed indication of the differences between our copy and those published to date. It should suffice for the readers to know that in many places where the meaning remained obscure, it now comes to light, clarified by this Andzevatsyats copy.

We hope that we shall not be seen to have brought forth this new publication in vain, and we consider ourselves blessed if we have been able to ease the longing of the heart of the magnificent and holy author, who wished that his history might reach the hands of both great and small, "So that they might read daily, hearing the bravery of the virtuous and the worthlessness of the laggards," so that by imitating the latter, they might hold back, and by imitating the former, they might strive to tread the path of bravery, for only from such efforts can one hope for anything for our suffering homeland.

The readings in this printed text are marked with the letter A in cases where, departing from the Andzevatsyats copy we chose for comparison, we have replaced its reading in the text...