l. 232 it means toward, in the direction of (from the place opposite):

comp. ‘Ben ðese hangen ðe sunne agen,’ GE 4075.

231. #sunne--schadewe#: comp. ‘te sunne were dosk ȝif hit to þi blisfule bleo mihte beo euenet,’ OEH i. 269/26 (Wohunge); ‘Iesu al feir . aȝein hwam þe sunne nis buten ase a scheadewe,’ id. 200/9; HM 39/32; AR 100/4.

233. #schawere#, mirror; OE. #scēawere#. T has scheawere, R schadewe. The idea was possibly suggested by ‘per speculum in aenigmate,’ 1 Cor. xiii. 12. Comp. ‘Ȝe schulen, ase ine scheauware, iseon ure Lefdi mid hire meidenes,’ AR 92/26.

235. #an#, one; not ‘and,’ Morris: the expression translates individua Trinitas.

236. #summes weis#: see 121/162.

237. #blisful#: wunderful R.

238. #rixleð#: the absence of a connecting word is perhaps due to the original Latin: ‘Aliquantisper tamen intuitus sum Dominum Iesum Christum in dextera patris sedentem, in aeterna vita regnantem, quamvis super omnem creaturam adeo speciosum, ut in eum desiderent Angeli prospicere, ad haec (? adhuc) tamen vulnera passionis, quibus nos redemit, in corpore suo habentem, patri pro nobis assistentem,’ V 208 _d_.

239. #ful . . . to bihalden#, sated with gazing: a peculiar use of the, historically, dative infinitive as a genitive: comp. ‘sead . . . to iseonne,’ 133/30; ‘upo hwas nebschaft þe engles ne beoð neauer fulle to bihalden,’ HM 39/32: NED quotes under date 1607, ‘full to provide,’ fully occupied in providing. Sometimes ‘of’ is added, as 52/388; ‘Hit bieð sume þat non imeðe ne cunnen of hem seluen to feden,’ VV 139/23. In OE. the dat. inf. is often used to translate the Latin gerundive in the genitive, as ‘swa mycel getydnes ⁊ gelærednes to sprecanne’ = ‘tanta dicendi peritia,’ Bede, ed. Miller, 362/27. For #ich iseh# R has is, T iseh.

240. #etscene#: eðsene R, edscene T.

243. #heouenliche#, heavenly ones: T adds weoredes: comp. l. 251. ‘super omnes ordines beatorum Angelorum . . . exaltatam,’ V.

244. #in#, on.

245. #istirret#: isterret T. #weoleful#: meinful R, powerful.

246. #þear ich iseh as#, I saw where: usually the words are not separated: comp. 127/342; ‘he is ase buruh wiðuten wal, þer ase uerd mei in oueral,’ AR 74/6: so ‘þider as,’ whither, 126/334. For ase, where, comp. 125/272, ‘ine Jerusalem, ase he wunede,’ AR 172/2.

248. #þa#, when. R has after mahte, na mare of hire iþolien; T reads, mihte of hire na le{n}gre þolie{n}.

249. #biseh to#, looked upon, beheld: comp. 3/45; ‘Ða biseh ure drihte mildeliche to hire penitence,’ OEH ii. 145/9, and the similar ‘belocest to,’ 13/36; ‘hwa bihalt to þeo þet beoð of lowe liue,’ AR 276/26; ‘iseh towart’ = intuitus sum 124/254; ‘on to biseonne,’ 136/137. But ‘to . . . bisihð’ 134/81 means, looks up to, like ‘hwon ȝe habbeð touward me eien oðer honden,’ AR 76/16: ‘biseon to’ 136/134, look after, provide for, as in ‘Bisih to me lauedi briȝt, | Hwenne ich schal wende heonne,’ OEM 160/18. T omits ⁊--archangles, probably taking ‘þe oðre þe beoð buuen ham’ to mean the archangels. The Latin is, ‘Sed hanc admirabilem claritatem matris et filii diu ferre non sustinens, converti aspectum meum ad illos beatorum spirituum ordines, qui ante Deum assistunt.’ Probably the author meant by ‘þe oðre’ the four and twenty elders and the four beasts in perpetual adoration about the throne (Rev. iv. 4-11).

251. #unwergeð#: unwerched T. #Nihe wordes#: see 16/138: T has woredes, R ord`r´es, corrected out of wordes.

253. #onsihðe#: see 64/55.

255-8: ‘miro exultantes gaudio, qui eam quam olim a longe salutaverant patriam obtinent, qui ea quae in spiritu praeviderant completa conspiciunt,’ V 209 _a_. See Heb. xi. 13. #ꝥ#, because.

256. For #igret#, greeted, OE. #gegrētan#, R has igreiðet, prepared.

259. #poure#: ‘de pauperibus et de infirmis tam gloriosos tamque sublimes factos,’ V. T of poure, R `ꝥ´ poure `weren´; omitting on eorðe. #bigoten#, drenched, perfused: comp. ‘Eall ic wæs mid blode bestemed | begoten of þæs Guman sidan,’ Dream of the Rood, 48; ‘ꝥ ha al were bigoten of þe blode,’ SJ 27/6.

261. #alle cunnes ledenes#: RT have the usual alles: the MS. has alleṣ, where the dot may be only a casual resting of the pen: see 81/80, and comp. l. 264.

264. #talden to#, esteemed: for ‘to’ T has of, which is the usual construction, comp. 164/256, ‘telleð lutel þerof,’ AR 200/12, but ‘to’ at 129/30; ‘tellest herto lutel,’ AR 100/20. #aȝeines#: see 123/230.

266. #haliche#: read haliliche with RT.

267: ‘fulgent quasi stellae in perpetuas aeternitates,’ V 209 _b_, from Daniel xii. 3. #wlite#: ‘Regem in decore suo vident,’ V from Isa. xxxiii. 17. The writer omits any reference to monks, to whom the last clause of this sentence, ‘ꝥ--ehnen’ (Rev. vii. 17), is applied in the Latin. It is significant that he greatly expands the passage which describes the maidens; which should be compared with AS. Hom., ed. Assmann, 42/460-72 (Ælfric, de Virginitate), HM 19/9-15.

269. #ferreden#: comp. ‘i þe feire ferreden | of uirgines in heouene,’ SK 2309. #ilikest towart engles#: so, ‘þu ofearnest meiden to beo engle euening iþe heȝe blisse of heuene,’ HM 13/5; ‘to singen wið engles hwas felahes ha beoð,’ id. 19/8, 21/31.

270. #feolohlukest#, best fitted as associates and equals to rejoice and be glad with them. An isolated superlative of felaȝlich: comp. ‘wunderlukest,’ 34/88; ‘wurðlukest,’ L 25496. The comparative adv. is more common: ‘dimluker,’ 56/43, ‘creftluker,’ 131/88, ‘greatluker,’ 70/157, ‘monluker,’ 66/110, ‘oðerluker,’ 38/149, 86/135, ‘witerluker,’ 125/285: in AR ‘ȝeorneluker,’ ‘gledluker,’ ‘wisluker,’ ‘uestluker,’ 234/5, 7, 8, 9; ‘wunderluker,’ OEH i. 93/28. For #u# in these forms see Bülbring, §§ 420, 421. #ouergað#: see 22/143.

271. #flesches lahe#, desires of the flesh: #lahe# is custom, habit; its use was perhaps suggested by ‘Video autem aliam legem in membris meis . . . captivantem me in lege peccati,’ Rom. vii. 23. #cunde#, natural propensities: comp. 160/209; ‘heald þin cunde,’ follow nature, OEH ii. 31/6.

272. #as#, where: comp. 124/246. There should be a full stop at wunieð, as in RT.

274. R omits þe--singen. The arrangement in T shows how the mistake arose from the similar endings of two lines:

na tu{n}ge telle{n}. Alle ha singeð ꝥ ter beoð. Ah hare song ne mahe nane bute{n} heo singen Se swote smal ham folheð hwi.

#hare song#: ‘Nam cantabant canticum, quod nemo alius poterat dicere,’ V 209 _c_, from Rev. xiv. 3 (altered).

275. #smeal#: smel R, smal T. ‘Sed odor in regione earum tam suavis erat, ut omnia aromatum genera exuperet,’ V.

277. #aȝein# &c., to receive their petitions. #ꝥ alle# &c.: ꝥ alle þe oðer `he´ walden sitti{n}de ihereð R, ꝥ alle þoðre halhen sittinde hi{m} hereð T.

279. #Ah nu# &c.: ‘De singulis beatorum Ordinibus mira disseris, quaesumus ut quae sit eorum in communi actio edicas,’ V 209 _d_. The stop should come not after setnesse, but after sunderlepes, as in T; R puts it after sumhwet, which is tolerable. #setnesse#, OE. #setness#, properly ordinance, arrangement, is here by extension, order, class: R has the isolated tosetnesse, corresponding to an OE. *#tō-setness#, division into classes, which is probably the original word. The sense is, Well, thou hast now spoken so admirably about each class of the blessed severally, tell us somewhat as to what bliss is common to all alike. W explains #setnesse# as = swetnesse.

282. #lengðe#: ‘Vivunt, sapiunt, amant, gaudent, laudant, veloces sunt, securi sunt,’ V 209 _d_.

283. In T #murie# by punctuation goes with ‘loft song,’ which is OE. #lof-song#, Lauds, hymns of praise; see 126/318.

287-330. The messenger proceeds to explain the nature of the seven blisses. The scribe marks off each section with a special capital, but has omitted one at ‘her,’ 126/317.

287. #brihtre#: comp. ‘seouesiðe schenre þen þe sunne,’ HM 41/2; AR 100/4; SK 1665; SM 23/13; a phrase of this group. See Ælf. Lives, i. 538/820.

288. #buten--swinc#: ‘current et non laborabunt,’ Isa. xl. 31.

289. #in a steal#, in one station, condition: contrasted with man’s state on earth, ‘numquam in eodem statu permanet,’ Job xiv. 2, ‘never continueth in one stay.’ R has stel.

290. #wið ute wonunge#: ‘sine diminutione.’

291. #hare lif# &c.: ‘Vita eorum visio et cognitio beatae Trinitatis,’ V, quoting further S. John xvii. 3. R adds ‘in’ after #is#.

295. #nebbe to nebbe#: ‘tunc autem facie ad faciem,’ 1 Cor. xiii. 12. Comp. ‘secheð earst upon hire nebbe to nebbe,’ HM 17/7; ‘cristes wille bo us bitwon. | neb wið neb for him to son,’ OEH i. 61/109. #wise# &c.: ‘Sapiunt consilia atque iudicia Dei, quae sunt abyssus multa,’ V 209 _e_; partly from Ps. xxxv. 7.

296. R has godes runes ant his reades ꝥ. Comp. 1/5; ‘Godes derne runes ⁊ his derne domes,’ AR 96/3; ‘his derne runes ⁊ his heouenliche priuitez,’ id. 154/2; ‘þe deopschipe ⁊ te derne run,’ SK 1333.

297. #sea dingle# answers to ‘abyssus’: #dingle# is not otherwise known till the seventeenth century: see NED _s.v._ #ha seoð# &c.: so, ‘Alle þeo ine heouene iseoð ine God alle þing,’ AR 96/1.

298. #hwi ⁊ hwerto#: ‘Sapiunt causas et naturas et origines omnium rerum,’ V. R omits.

300. #bi ham idon#, acted towards them, dealt with them: comp. 80/58. R omits ham.

301. #deorewurðe#: muchele R. #milce# is _dat._, #hwet# _acc._ after ȝelden. R omits ase muchel.

302. R omits al, se muchel is not in RT and is not original: the correlatives are ‘Se gleade’ . . . ‘ꝥ ne mei.’

303. #munne#: comp. ‘⁊ monie ma murhðen | þen alle men mahten | wið hare muð munnen | ⁊ tellen wið tungen,’ SK 1697-1700, and 119/85.

304. #Euchan--ahne#: comp. ‘ylc blissæþ on oðres gode ⁊ on oðres murhðe, swá on his aȝene,’ Twelfth Cent. Hom. 120/11; AR 282/14-17.

306. #ase--alle#, as many gladnesses as all the saints in heaven are many: ‘tot gaudia habent quot socios,’ V. R omits alle.

308. #hwen#, since.

310. #of#: see 110/272. #wið uten ei etlunge#, beyond all estimate: comp. ‘wiðuten eni etlunge,’ HM 39/35. eilung{e} R, a scribe’s error.

311. #Neomeð# &c. The Latin of this passage is clear enough: ‘Si ergo cor uniuscuiusque vix capit suum gaudium, quomodo capit tot et tanta gaudia? Ideo dicitur, _Intra in gaudium Domini tui_: non intret gaudium Domini tui in te, quia capi non posset,’ V 209 _b_. If _hu_ be read for #ꝥ# in l. 313, it gives a similar turn of expression and sense. As the text stands, it means, Now then note that, even if the heart of any one man can never find room for its own joy taken separately (so great beyond measure is the bliss of the individual) yet it does receive into itself so many and great joys [of others]. That is the meaning of our Lord’s saying, ‘Enter into the joy of thy Lord’ (S. Matt. xxv. 21). You must enter into the joy, it does not enter into you, for you cannot take it in. Such verbal ingenuity is common in scriptural interpretation at this period. #nu þenne#, now, that being so; see 60/8 note.

312. #iseide#, meant, taken: for this use of seggen, see 56/46. T omits, B is defective here.

313. #þe#: #þen# R, te T. ꝥ would in a modern sentence come after ‘ȝeme,’ l. 311.

316. #blisse#: hus R. #bigotten#: see 124/259: biȝeoten R, biȝoten T.

317. #neomen#: in the absolute use of betake itself, proceed: see 213/539: #in# is a mere repetition of the preceding ‘in’: comp. 143/67 note. #her of# begins the expansion of ‘laudant’: it does not refer to what precedes, but means, for the reason given in the following verse, ‘Beati qui habitant in domo tua, Domine; in saecula saeculorum laudabunt te,’ Ps. lxxxiii. 5.

318. #lusti#, finding pleasure: ‘sine fastidio.’ #songes#: read song{e}, as in R.

321. Comp. ‘Alle þeo ine heouene schulen beon ase swifte ase is nu monnes þouht, ⁊ ase is þe sunne gleam, þet smit from east into þe west, ant ase þe eie openeð ⁊ tuneð[;] . . . tet bodi schal beon hwar so euer þe gost wule in one hondhwule,’ AR 94/21.

322. #tuneð# &c.: ‘In momento, in ictu oculi,’ 1 Cor. xv. 52: ‘as tu turnest þin hond,’ HM 25/12.

324. #etstonden#: see 121/158.

325. #ȝe#: Ȝea T. #makie to cwakien#: for the dat. inf. of purpose, comp. 128/370; ‘he wæs . . . geneded to onfonne þa ðegnunge biscophades,’ Bede, 368/17. The construction has its equivalent in an object clause, as ‘makeð ham ꝥ ha beoð,’ 131/101.

327. The writer has neglected the translation of ‘de tali velocitate’ after blisse. #ꝥ hit# &c.: ‘quod nullum finem, nullam diminutionem, nullum detrimentum habebunt,’ V 209 _b_. #me# is miswritten for mei; mai T.

329. #nower neh#, nowhere near, falling far short of the reality; a phrase of this group, comp. ‘Nis hit nower neh gold al ꝥ ter schineð,’ HM 9/15; ‘ne schaltu nower neh | se lihtliche etsterten,’ SK 2094. R reads, Ah nower neh ne neh al[;] ne ꝥ ich iseh . ne ne con ich al tellen: T, Ah nower neh ne seh ich al . ne þat ȝet ꝥ ich seh ne con ich half tellen. Both are quite intelligible, R is nearest the original. W emends, ah nowðer ne seh ich al, | ne þ{et} ȝet þ{et} ich iseh | ne con ich half tellen. The Latin is, ‘Neque enim ut vidi dicere, neque ut sunt videre potui.’ #ȝet#, even.

331. #efter þi sihðe#, in accordance with what you saw: ‘vera vidisse, vera narrasse te intelligimus,’ V 209 _c_.

332. #bisið him#, takes heed to himself.

333. #towart#: see 121/161.

334. #þider as#, to the place where: see 124/246. þider þer T.

335. #an#, for ant: ⁊ RT. #blisse . . . bale#; comp. ‘in blisse buten euch bale,’ SK 1755; ‘my blysse, my bale ȝe han ben boþe,’ E. E. Allit. Poems, 12/373. R has wið uten balesið.

336. #folhin#, to follow after, or to practise, does not suit the context; but fonden T, to experience, gives a good sense and a characteristic combination: see 123/224. R has folhen an finden. #hwet# &c.: ‘Quis ergo nos separabit a charitate Christi? . . . Certus sum enim quia neque mors neque vita . . . poterit nos separare a charitate Dei,’ Rom. viii. 35, 38, 39.

337. #halden us þeonne#, keep us away from him: comp. ‘halde we us from uniwil,’ OEH i. 69/264. #þeonne#, not ‘then,’ but thence, therefrom: contracted from þeonene, OE. #þanone#: usually meaning from that place and seldom applied to a person as here.

339. #haueð#: the subject is _he_ contained in the preceding ‘his.’ #tresures#: a mistake for tresurers: tresorers T: possibly the earliest instance of its use.

340. #under his wengen#, i. e. if we have his protection: from ‘protegar in velamento alarum tuarum,’ Ps. lx. 5: similar expressions in Pss. lvi. 2, lxii. 8, xc. 4.

341. #warschipe#: T has rihtwisnesse, with the Latin, where Justitia pronounces judgement (comp. l. 350) and Fortitudo executes it (l. 343), while Temperantia says what is translated in ll. 349-52.

342. #þer as#, where: see 124/246. #murðes#: murhðes T.

343. #nu ut quod strenðe# is omitted by T.

344. #ende#: see 96/34. Nu nu q{uoð} fearlaic . T.

345. #lessere# &c., inferior in importance to that of mirth’s messenger; so Morris, taking sondes as _s. gen._ balancing ‘mi’ after þen. T has sonden.

346. #unbihefre#: see 91/108. #licwurðe ne icweme#: comp. ‘Hesteres bone þe cwene was þe kinge Assuer licwurðe ⁊ icweme,’ AR 146/7, 120/25, 326/13.

347. #ow#: T adds q{uo}ð meað.

349. #þah# with #nu#, nevertheless at this time, on this occasion. T has, flutte nu þah fearlac.

351. ‘Forsitan tu admitteris si Desiderium vitae aeternae aliquando loqui cessaverit,’ V 209 _d_.

352. #stutteð#, ceases: a word characteristic of the group: comp. ‘þa ne cuðen ha neauer stutten hare cleappe,’ AR 72/14 (Corpus MS.); ‘Stute nu þenne ⁊ stew þe, | ⁊ stille þine wordes,’ SK 1529; ‘Wið þis ꝥ ha stutte stoden þe cwelleres,’ SJ 64/12; ‘stute nu ant stew þine unwittie wordes,’ SM 6/2: it is mostly used of cutting short a discourse: cognate with Du. stuiten (Franck), G. stutzen.

353. #ituht efter#, disciplined in conformity with: similarly #don efter#, l. 355, to behave in subservience to: comp. 106/197.

355. T has, se ful itohen ⁊ don al as ha{m} luste ase wil hare lafdi ⁊ nawt ase wit ham tuhte[;] lustneð &c.

356. #fondeð# &c., each one, owing to those two messages which they have heard, and (owing to) that which the four sisters have taught in addition, ever strives, in discharge of his office, to keep his watch and to guard faithfully against the entrance of each vice.

357. #þurh#: R has the contraction þ with oblique stroke through the lower part of the staff here and at 128/371, not ꝥ. #ꝥ fowr#: to fowr R.

358. #for#, against, with ‘witene’ and ‘warden.’ #warde# &c.: comp. 118/50.

359. #ant--treowliche#: T omits.

360. #ofte# &c.: see 32/47.

361. #þe islep#: ꝥ iþe slep of ȝemles T. For #ȝemeles# comp. 54/10, 17. #hire#: his T. ‘Sic debet quisque torporem suum excutere,’ V 209 _d_.

362. #efter þeos#: aft{er} þe tidings of þe T. #biseon to#, gaze up to: comp. 124/249: with _on_, 120/122. Here V ends.

364. T reads his hinen. #efter#, in accordance with that which: after þat his wil T.

365. #ꝥ is#: þe wise T. #tuhten ⁊ teachen#: comp. 47/272: in Specimens connected with ‘wule,’ ‘as Wit . . . will discipline and instruct’; by Morris made to depend on ‘husebonde,’ both wrongly. They depend on #ah#, l. 360, which governs the whole series of infinitives ‘te þenchen,’ ‘awecchen,’ ‘biseon,’ ‘To habben,’ ‘leaden,’ ‘tuhten ⁊ teachen,’ ‘witen,’ l. 368: one ought to train and teach (himself and his servants, l. 363) that Wit should always go before.

366. #teache#: T has the correct reading, drahe. #dihteð ⁊ demeð#, arranges and decrees to be done. The combination is uncommon, but comp. ‘al ich wule dihten | þe domen of mi kinedom,’ SK 1460 (MS. Titus); ‘he dihte feole domes,’ L 7221.

367. #þer fore#: not in T; it is a blundering anticipation of the two words following.

370. #te fleon#: see 126/325. #ontent#, inflames: comp. 70/168; ‘þe hali gast | þe, in furene tungen, | ontende þe apostles,’ SK 1402; ‘Ontend me wiþ þe blase of þi leitinde loue,’ OEH i. 185/6. T has ontende{n}.

372. #feder# &c.: fader ⁊ te hali gast an godd i þrehad rixleð ai bute ende T. #ant e sune# is a strange mistake: comp. 88/190.

374 ff. are not in T. #iohan# is the copyist: comp. 74/237, 75/209; ‘Ant he ꝥ her least on wrat swa as he cuðe,’ SJ 79/18. He may have been the author of the doggerel which follows.

377. #swa#, accordingly, i.e. by reading it.

381. #ꝥ lif#, such a life.

384. #Þet# means that, in conjunction with 381, so that, with 382. Johan was a good scribe, and a poor poet.

_Cross-References_

1/3 (note) = I. A (Worcester Fragments) 7/52 (note) = III. (The Peterborough Chronicle) 13/34 (note) = V. (A Parable) 46/273, 46/292, 48/299 (notes) = VIII. (Poema Morale) 60/8 (note) = IX. B (Ancrene Wisse: Outer Rule) 66/120, 72/179, 74/229 (notes) = IX. B (Ancrene Wisse: Outer Rule) 118/40 (note) = XVI. (Sawles Warde) p. 269 = V. (A Parable) p. 288 = VI. (The Proverbs of Alfred) Phonology, under “ea”. p. 355, 357-62 = IX. (Ancrene Wisse) under Manuscripts. “described on p. 373” = same, under Dialect “mentioned on p. 373” = same, under Style p. 450 = XIV. (Layamon)

_Errata_

#Sources:# ... ‘Et qui veniunt cum illa?’ [illa.] #Phonology:# (1) =of B.= [_=of B.= misprinted as plain (not spaced)_] greot 93 for grot RT (#grot#, particle) [R. T.] #ea# before #r# ... schulde 158 (R{1} has scylde _subj._), [_comma missing_] #a# + #g# ... (R{1} has #frægnast#, Li, #fregna#) [_reference “Li” unexplained: Lindisfarne glosses?_] tintreohen 264 with eo, _å_-umlaut of #e# [_#e# misprinted as plain (non-bold)_] ... The stop #c# is usually _k_ before _e_, _i_, [_“e” and “i” misprinted as plain (non-italic)_] Sweet, Oldest E. Texts, p. 149 [OE. Texts] #Dialect:# ... its _u_-, _å_-umlauts; [_“u” and “å” misprinted as plain (non-italic)_] 8. #hire# ... [_all punctuation in this paragraph printed as shown_] ... the embodiment of the latter [later] 28. #forte breoke . . . abuten#: [#... abuten#;] 73. ... ibreuet in R is pp. of *breuen, [* breuen,] 116. ... tam immanissimum hostem [immannissimum] 157. ... T reads eðeliche ⁊ wake · vnwearnede [_anomalous mid-dot unchanged_] 331. ... vera vidisse, vera narrasse [narasse]

XVII. SAINT KATHERINE

#Manuscripts:# As for Sawles Warde. The text of this extract is from the Royal MS.

#Editions:# Morton, James, The Legend of St. Katherine of Alexandria, Abbotsford Club, London, 1841 (text from MS. Titus D 18, with variants from the Royal MS.). Hardwick, Charles, An Historical Inquiry touching Saint Catharine of Alexandria: to which is added a Semi-Saxon Legend, Cambridge, 1849 (text from MS. Titus). Einenkel, Eugen, The Life of Saint Katherine, London 1884 (text based on the Royal MS. with readings of all the manuscripts, the Latin original and an English translation): also as Appendix to The Life and Martyrdom of Saint Katherine of Alexandria, Roxburghe Club, 1884.

#Literature:# (1) =Of the present version.= Einenkel, E. (see p. 493/7); *Stodte, H. (see p. 493/9); Victor, Otto, Zur Textkritik und Metrik der frühmittelenglischen Katharinenlegende, Bonn, 1912; Luick, Karl, Anglia, Beiblatt, xxiii. 226-35 (review of Victor’s dissertation); Bartels, L. (see p. 450/23). (2) =Of the Legend in general.= Knust, H., Geschichte der Legenden der h. Katharina von Alexandrien und der h. Maria Aegyptiaca, Halle, 1890; Varnhagen, H., Zur Geschichte der Legende der Katharina von Alexandrien, Erlangen, 1891; id., Zur Geschichte der Legende der Katharina von Alexandrien, Erlangen, 1901.

#Source:# The most widely spread of the Latin lives of the Saint, called by Varnhagen the Vulgata, and printed opposite the English text by Einenkel. Varnhagen’s tract dated 1891 gives a good account of all the Latin versions and their sources.

#Phonology:# This is of the same type as that of MS. A of the Ancrene Wisse and of MSS. B, R of Sawles Warde. Noteworthy are cang 88 with _a_ for #a# before a lengthening group, and therefore a loan-word; wastum 24 with _a_ for #æ# after #w#; icuret 25 participle of ME. curen, derivative of #cyre#; dale 33 from #dāl#, not #dǣl#; medschipe 79 (#gemǣdd# pp.); teeð 64 with doubled vowel for length; roðeren 21 (reoderen B) from #hrȳðer# through ruðeren L 8106 (roþere O); awariede 48, 82, wariet 67 without _i_-umlaut of #ea#; horte 38 French writing for heorte; steðeluest 24 _u_-umlaut of #a#; woorld 97 probably miswritten for weorld (weorlde B); hersumin 49 representing *#hēarsumian# without umlaut; storede 4 French writing for steorede from #stēoran# without umlaut; scheop 73, 80, 103 (#scēop#). Dreien 12 is #dragan# with _å_-umlaut of #a#; for plohen 36 see 360/19; slaht 67 is Anglian #slæht#; seheliche represents *#gesegenlic#, Li has geseen; rewfule 55 has _ew_ from #ēow#. A glide _e_ is added in halewunde 78, ludere 69; _e_ is lost in ȝeinde 54, wettres 93; #e# is _u_ in halewunde 78 (#hālwende#) through an intermediate _i_; #o# is _u_ in þrittuðe 15. In ȝurinde 54 #r# has been lost, #d# is _t_ in wurðmunt 73 (wurðmund T); _ð_ in cweðen 45 is from the singular; _ð_ is lost in wurgin 19, wurgið 93 (wurðgin B, ME. derivative of #wierðig#); _ȝ_ is written for #g# in ȝeinen 60 (OWScand. gegna); initial #h# is lost in lowinge, ludinge 48, remes 55.

#Accidence:# This has been sufficiently described in the texts mentioned above. Noteworthy is heoren 85, perhaps the earliest instance of the form with _n_ added from min, þin.

#Vocabulary:# Scandinavian are bule 21, crokes 43 with its derivative crokinde 87, euene 20, ȝeinen 60 (keinen T), (god)lec 98, 101, hap 62, keisere 60, lates 35, menske 45, witer(liche) 96: possibly hird 53, ȝeinde 54. French are lay 55, mawmez 21, mawmetes 48: possibly cang 88, crauant 45.

#Dialect:# As for Sawles Warde.

#Style:# What has been said about the arrangement of Sawles Warde in Layamonic verse applies to Einenkel’s distribution of SK in Otfridic verse, which Trautmann, the discoverer of Otfrid’s verse in England, afterwards recognized as Layamon’s. It produces such strange divisions as, ‘þet an engel ne com | lihtinde, with swuch | leome, from heouene,’ 666-8; ‘He haueð iweddet him to | mi meiðhad mit te ring,’ 1507, 8; ‘to habben ant to halden þe | cwic, þen to acwellen þe,’ 1867, 8; ‘ant heo duden; drohen hire | wið uten þe burhȝetes,’ 2173, 4, and such rhythms as, ‘hwet he warpe a word aȝein ow,’ 643; ‘for hwas nome ich underneome,’ 765; ‘ant kénest of ow álle óf þe créft,’ 814; ‘ant cweðe ham al sker up,’ 867, with many others. There is a parallel to SK in the OHG. Himmel und Hölle printed as verse in MSD i. 67. It is described by Einenkel (p. xxi) as ‘a poem which, curiously enough, is in its unrhymed form unique in O.H.G., and forms the only perfect analogy to our three legends and to numerous other Old and Middle English poems of the same class,’ while Steinmeyer (MSD ii. 162) is of opinion that to treat it as verse and so create an unique rhymeless poem in the earliest German literature is a very doubtful proceeding.

#Introduction:# This is the first version of the Legend extant in English. It was followed by six other redactions in Middle English, all in verse: they are enumerated and traced to their originals in Varnhagen’s tract of 1901.

1. #Maxence#: a mistake of the Latin original and of its source, Simeon Metaphrastes, for Maximinus, as correctly given in the Menologium Basilianum (Hardwick, p. 11). Galerius Valerius Maximinus was raised to the rank of Caesar by his uncle, the Emperor Galerius, and made governor of Syria and Egypt in 303 A.D. He died in 313. See 138/16. #as#, as being: comp. 122/180, 131/103, 139/15, 141/49, 142/57, 145/105, 108.

2. #hehest i rome#: comp. 140/32.

3. #þurh#: the usual prep. is _bi_, as ‘ðe ferden al bi fendes red,’ GE 2921: ‘be his witena ræde,’ Ælf. Lives, ii. 106/591. #hwiles#: hwile BT, which is grammatically correct; but comp. ‘umbehwiles,’ l. 5 (where BT have again hwile); ‘sumehwiles,’ AR 272/28; ‘oðer hwiles,’ HM 33/31.

4. #refschipe#: comp. 143/71.

5. #comen#: subject _hi_, contained in preceding ‘him’: see 6/18. Similarly #warð#, l. 10.

7. #walde#: for omission of gan, see 2/2.

9. #of him siker#, secure so far as he was concerned, fearing no danger from him. #of his cume#: comp. 94/24.

10. #lei into#, appertained to, was subject to; comp. 143/72: a charter expression: B-T quotes ‘ælc ðara landa ðe on mines fæder dæge læg into Cristes cyrcean,’ Kemble, iv. 232/8: in modern dialect it means, to border on.

11. #wedwulf#: ‘repentina rabie incitatus’: comp. ‘þe þurs Maxence, | þe wed wulf, þe heaðene hund,’ SK 1858.

14. #Oleast#, at last, as a final resort: the prefix is _on_: comp. ‘a last,’ Castel off Loue, 457, AR 18/15.

15. #tintreo#: comp. 144/98, 145/119. tintreohen B, tintrohen T. The first form which occurs five times in R corresponds to OE. #tintrego#, pl. of #tintreg#: the others to #tintregan#, pl. of #tintrega#.

16. #okine seotle#: comp. ‘set in kineseotle,’ SK 722.

18. #iþe tun# does not mean ‘in the town,’ Morton, but, in the court, the enclosure in which the temple was built. The Latin is ‘ad templum deorum suorum.’

20. #bi his euene#, according to his ability, means: ‘iuxta possibilitatem suam’; comp. ‘efter hire efne,’ AR 126/31; ‘mys motinde men alle by here euene,’ Böddeker, AE. Dicht. 110/38. OWScand. efni: Einenkel points out that it has taken the place of OE. #hæfen#, as in ‘Be his agene hæfene,’ Ælf. Hom. Cath. i. 582/28. #to wurgen#: wur`d´gede B.

21. #mahte#: so B; mihte T.

22. Add full stop after briddes.

23. #ȝung of ȝeres#: comp. 139/23; ‘ȝung of ȝeres ase he was,’ AR 158/17; ‘ȝunglich of ȝeres,’ SK 545. #twa wone of twenti#: ‘duo de viginti’: see 52/368 and comp. ‘Abraham on wane of an hundred told,’ GE 1028. #feier ⁊ freolich#: comp. 123/209, 138/22. #o wlite# &c.: comp. ‘schan al of wlite ant of wastum,’ SM 2/34: similarly, ‘O schene nebschaft | ⁊ schape se swiðe semlich,’ SK 1446.

24. #steðeluest# goes closely with ‘of treowe bileaue’; not ‘steadfast within, of true faith,’ Morton: comp. ‘stalewarde ⁊ kene ine treowe bileaue,’ AR 272/6. OE. #staþol-fæst# usually takes _on_, like ‘a þanke unstedefeste,’ 44/241. ‘speciosa valde, sed quod pluris est religiosa fide.’

25. #icuret clergesse#, a choice female scholar: comp. ‘Sum is clergesse, ⁊ sum nis nout,’ AR 6/12.

26. #of#, from: comp. ‘Þah ich beo in alle | of se earliche ilearet,’ SK 858.

27. #wisliche#: see 18/16.

28. #herd#: OE. #heord#, flock: not ‘custodia,’ Einenkel, which is OE. #heorde#. It does not fit the context, and eard B points to an original erde, dwelling-place, ancestral home. Morton took herd to mean hearth, hall. #com of# &c.: com hire of burde B, com hire of burðe T, came to her by birth: Victor quotes ‘⁊ tat com þe of burðe,’ OEH i. 273/27.

30. #telleð wel to#: see 124/264.

32. #kepte . . . of#: like ‘let of,’ 44/260; ‘tellen of,’ 164/256; ‘Hold it of wel litel pris,’ Floriz, 350: ‘nichil cum mundo habere commune decreverat.’

34. #in#, upon.

35. #lasteles lates#, blameless gestures, bearing.

36. #lihte plohen# apparently answers to ‘puellares iocos,’ and Morton’s ‘trifling amusements’ seems preferable to ‘frivolous plays,’ Einenkel. #luue--songes#: sotte songes Nalde he nane ronnes BT.

37. #leornin# refers to ‘songes,’ #lustnin# to ‘runes,’ talk; see 102/159.

39. #to leaf ⁊ to lare#, to belief and to learning: comp. ‘ꝥ tu were iset ȝung | to leaf ⁊ to lare,’ SK 384. #underueng#: undernom B, undernam T.

41. #underneomen#, ‘entrap,’ Morton, a translation which suits also ‘me to underneomene,’ SK 652, but is hard to parallel elsewhere, the usual senses being to receive (in one’s mind), to reprehend. Perhaps the writer had in mind OF. susprendre, to catch in one’s words; ‘ut eum caperent in verbo,’ S. Mark xii. 13. The Latin has attemptassent.

42. #wrenchen . . . ut of þe weie#: a phrase characteristic of this group: Einenkel quotes ‘mahen wrenchen sum rihtwis of þe weie,’ SJ 43/5; ‘tu ne maht . . . me . . . wrenchen ut of þe weie,’ SM 4/25. #crefti crokes#, crafty devices; a figurative use of croke, hook: comp. 131/87, 148/141; SJ 35/5; ‘Mast he cuth o crafte and crok,’ CM 700, 740.

43. #ȝeincleppes#, blows in return, counter strokes; apparently only here: ȝeincleappes B, ȝainclappes T.

45. #crauant#, vanquished: comp. ‘he is crauant ꝥ me wende to ouercumen,’ SM 11/19. #cweðen . . . up#, yield, resign: comp. ‘al ich forsake her | ⁊ cweðe ham al sker up,’ SK 866: possibly an imitation of L. abdicare.

47. #burde boldes#: burðe boldes T: it corresponds to ‘in palatio patris,’ and may mean, ancestral mansion; it occurs only here: at l. 439 is ‘buriboldes,’ = palatium. #murhðe#: murð T, nurð B, which is doubtless correct: see 118/22.

48. #towart#, in the direction of.

49. Comp. ‘gleowinde of euch gleo,’ SK 1667; ‘ꝥ euch mon ah to hersumin | ⁊ herien in eorðe,’ id. 352; 131/84.

51. #were# is subjunctive in a dependent question: contrast with ‘wes’ in preceding line. #sone so#, as soon as: comp. 94/18: ‘Þe child him answerde | Sone so he hit herde,’ KH 199, where MS. L has the alternative ‘so sone.’

52. #of#: comp. ‘þat he of þe holy gost · so vre heorte a-tende,’ OEM 52/548, but ‘wið’ is usual, as at 70/168. #wod--walde#: similar expressions are frequent in this group: comp. 130/81; 146/121; ‘þet wod he walde iwurðen,’ SJ 66/7; ‘for neh wod he walde iwurðen,’ SM 7/34.

53. #hwuch as#, those whom: less common than the equivalent ‘hwich þat.’ For a similar use of _as_, comp. 72/192.

54. #ȝeinde ⁊ ȝurinde#: comp. ‘⁊ he to rarin reowliche · to ȝuren ant to ȝein,’ SJ 49/4; ‘þe heaðene hundes ȝellen | ⁊ ȝeien ⁊ ȝuren on euch half,’ SK 2013. #wið rewfule remes#: comp. 141/39.

57. #hire#: heo BT; both are necessary and _in_ besides: read, þen heo in hire heorte iwundet inwið: comp. 139/28; ‘Nes þis meiden nawiht | herfore imenget | in hire mod inwið,’ SK 607; ‘Constu bulden a burh | inwið i þin heorte,’ id. 1642. Einenkel reads heo and says that ‘heorte’ is instrumental.

58. #wraðe#: the usual meaning, angry, is unsuitable: the word is connected with OE. #wrīþan#, to twist, OHG. reid, ‘curled’, and crooked, perverse, would give a good sense here and in such places as ‘iboren owraðe time,’ SJ 57/3; ‘to wraðer heale,’ 141/64.

60. #þah#: so all three MSS. Einenkel reads þa, and translates, ‘as she was alone (to strive) against’; rather, when she singly should be against, &c. If any alteration is to be made, ꝥ for þat would be preferable, but þah, even if, as in ‘ꝥ we ne cunnen | ⁊ tah we cuðen, | ne nullen ne ne duren,’ SK 1322, gives a quite sufficient sense.

61. #hef#, lifted: comp. ‘tu schuldest þin herte heouen þiderward as tin heritage is,’ HM 25/34; AR 86/5.

62. #hap#, good fortune, success. #wisliche#, truly.

63. #wepnede#: ‘sumentes scutum fidei,’ Eph. vi. 16; ‘induti loricam fidei,’ 1 Thess. v. 8.

65. #rode taken#: see 17/145.

66. #itend of lei#: comp. 130/52; ‘al þe cwarterne, of his cume | leitede o leie,’ SK 671; but, ‘leitinde al on leie,’ id. 1651; ‘þe halwende lei | of þe hali gast,’ id. 1401. #bimong#: see 66/97 note.

67. #deoulen#, _dat. pl._, deouele BT, _dat. sing._ #to lake#, for a sacrifice.

69. #ludere stefne#, _dat._, as in ‘þa cleopode he hludre stefne,’ BH 181/18; but ‘⁊ ȝeide lude steuene,’ SK 2033; ‘ȝeiden lude stefne,’ SJ 64/12.

71. #ȝeld#, tribute, resumed in ‘hit,’ l. 72.

72. #driueð#: comp. 60/11.

73. #⁊ al walt#: omit al and ⁊ after wisdom, with BT.

75. #he him ane#, he and only he: see 123/200 note.

76. #þah--þolie#, though he be long-suffering; ‘longanimiter ferens,’ Heb. vi. 15.

78. #halde#, keep: comp. ‘haldeð his heastes,’ SK 1788; ‘heaste halden,’ HM 5/28.

80. #wið# is adverbial and repeats ‘þurh’: see 62/24 note, and add, ‘vor vuel ꝥ ter kumeð of hit,’ AR 52/2; ‘þu ꝥ dest eni þing hwarof þer mon is fleschliche ivonded of þe,’ id. 58/22. The repetition of conjunctions is also found as in, ‘nis he fol chepmon þet, hwon he wule buggen hors oðer oxe, ȝif he nule biholden bute þet heaued one?’ AR 208/6; of pronouns, as ‘ꝥ þe muð ne mei uor scheome, þe liht eie spekeð hit,’ id. 60/6. B omits wið. #þen# = þen ꝥ.

81. #schad#: see 122/176. #wit ⁊ . . . wisdom#: see 22/142. #wurðen# &c.: see 130/52.

82. #forð#: se uorð B, se forð T: se being wanting in this text, the following #ꝥ# must mean, so that.

83. #unwitlese#: so B unwitelese, but T witlese, senseless, the meaning required. #wuneð in#: the idea that idols are inhabited by demons is as old as Porphyry: it is frequently expressed in the legends: comp. 145/118; SJ 22/14; CM 2303; SK 553; ‘praecipio tibi, daemon, qui in eo [ydolo] latitas, ut simulacrum istud comminuas,’ Legenda Aurea, ed. Graesse, 39/2; ‘In hoc ydolo quidam daemon habitabat,’ id. 540/30.

84. #hereð# &c.: see 130/49.

87. #fint#: ‘malorum omnium inventor diabolus.’ #crokinde creftes#, comp. 129/42: not ‘crooked crafts,’ but either, perverting devices, or more probably, devices by which he hooks his victims; the idea of both words being pursued in ‘keccheð’ and ‘creftluker’: for the termination of the latter, see 125/270.

88. #cang#: see 58/82.

89. #ꝥ he makeð#, by his making.

92. #sunne# &c.: the Latin has only ‘elementis mundi’; perhaps the author had in mind, ‘Nam solis lunaeque simulacra humanum in modum formant, item ignis et terrae et maris: quae illi Vulcanum, Vestam, Neptunum vocant,’ Lactantius, de Origine Erroris, ch. vi (ed. Spark, 143/5).

95. #bute ꝥ ow þuncheð#, but by your thinking, lit. but that it seems to you; the explanation of ‘þing.’ #schulen#: so B, but T has correctly sehen.

97. B reads, ant of nawt ant i.

98. #of#: comp. 83/5.

99. #ha ꝥ walden#, must mean, they desired that. But BT have correctly he ꝥ walde.

100. #þurh cunde#, by reason of their nature.

101. #makeð# &c.: see 126/325. #in eche#, eternal: T omits in, but the phrase occurs again 149/182, SJ 79/14.

103. #as in sum time#, as conditioned by time: comp. 128/1. BT have ham for as.

104. #ꝥ . . . in#, in which. #ne# does not negative the clause: it continues and emphasizes the negatives of the principal sentence: see the quotations in note on 25/241.

_Cross-References_

62/24, 66/97 (notes) = IX. B (Ancrene Wisse: Outer Rule) 123/200 (note) = XVI. (Sawles Warde) 360/19 = IX. Ancrene Wisse, Phonology, under “a + g”. p. 450 = XIV. (Layamon) p. 493 = XVI. (Sawles Warde) under Literature.

_Errata_

#Style:# ... unique in O.H.G. [O. H. G.] while Steinmeyer (MSD ii. 162) [MSD.] 47. ... ‘in palatio patris,’ [_close quote invisible_]

XVIII. THE ORISON OF OUR LADY

#Manuscript:# Cotton Nero A 14, British Museum. See p. 355.

#Editions:# Morris, R., OEH i. 191-9 (with translation), and Specimens, 129-32 (part only); Zupitza-Schipper, AE. Lesebuch, ed. viii. 106-10.

#Literature:# Kölbing, E., ES i. 169; Lauchert, F., ES xiii. 83; xvi. 124. Marufke, W., Der älteste englische Marienhymnus, Leipzig, 1907; Vollhardt, W. (see p. 269/19).

#Phonology:# This section should be compared with the account of MS. N of the Ancrene Wisse, pp. 363-5, the copy of which is by the same scribe as the Orison.

Oral #a# is _a_, hauest 9, uare 119; #a# before nasals is _o_, mon 74, nome 126, hwon 112, 119, but me 45; #a# before lengthening groups is _o_, londe 16, ilong 96, but and 4: þeonne 118 is influenced by heonne. #æ# is regularly _e_, et 90, gled 54, hedde 144, nes 68, once _ea_, sead 30, and _a_ in habbe 82 (4 times), hwat 106, was 88 (4). #e# is _e_, aleggen 133, seggen 158; before lengthening groups, engles 27, schende 92, but _i_ in siggen 134, siggeð 72, 73: in seoruwe 60, 89, 120 _eo_ represents #œ#, _i_-umlaut of #o#. #i# is _i_. #o# is _o_, uorst 38, hopie 110, note 88; before lengthening groups, gold 34, nolde 143: þene 93, 127, 169 is LWS. #þæne#: #on# without stress is _a_ 9. #u# is _u_, kume 117, unne 164; before lengthening groups, bunden 123, murnen 44. #y# is _u_, agult 82, muchele 14 (7), sunne r. w. wiðinnen 92; before lengthening groups, guldene 45, 52, welsprung 72 r. w. þing, but chelle 45: king 57, kinestol 25 have the usual _i_. #ā# is _o_, holie 126, loðe 93, one 21, but a _adv._ 129, a _art._ 150; before two consonants, wost 145: nenne 131 represents #nǣnne#. #ǣ{1}# is divided between _e_ (15), clenenesse 163, er 66, techen 48; before two consonants, euer 54, lefdi 2 (5), neuer 30 (3), and _ea_ (10) in cleane 42 (3), todealen 95, deale 154, heale 6 (3), healen 124, leafdi 170: ilch 81 is OE. #ylc#. #ǣ{2}# is regularly _e_, uorbere 106, greden 155, misdeden 156, were 105, but _a_ in hwar 106. #ē# is _e_, greten 152, swete 17, but _eo_ in steoren 45, weopen 44 represents umlaut #œ̄#, and idreaued 58, 82, from #drœ̄fan#, descends in form from #drǣfan#. #ī# is _i_, arine 127, bliðe 116, hird 51, but _u_ in hwule 12, 153, swuðe 14 (6), wummon 23, wummen 19. #ō# is _o_: #ū#, _u_: #ȳ#, _u_, kuðe 118 r. w. siðe, fulðe 94 r. w. dweoluhðe, luðere 123, luðernesse 107, schrude 139 r. w. wide, ischrud 51.

#ea# before #r# + cons. is _e_, der 158, erme 64, ert 158, 160, herm 36, ȝeruh 132, but ȝeirkest 49. #ea# before #l# + cons. is _a_, al 4 &c., uallen 111, ualuwen 39, schalt 149: the _i_-umlaut is seen in wille 46 (#wiell#). #eo# before #r# + cons. is _eo_, eorðe 159 r. w. wurðe, ueor 94, ȝeorne 80, 103, heorte 4 (5); to the #wur# group belong wurðie 7, wurðeð 21, wurð 122, wurschipe 13: beornen 104, wurðe 138, 160 are without umlaut. #eo# before #l# + cons. is _u_ in suluen 64, 66, 100. The _u_- and _å_-umlaut of #a# is wanting in kare 120, iðauien 142; it may possibly account for _e_ in were 71, comp. #helwearum# VP 29/4, #Sodomwearena# VH 7/62. #eo#, _u_-umlaut of #e# is _eo_, dweolðe 148, dweoluhðe 93, heouene 77 (3), heoueriche 24, 150. #eo#, _å_-umlaut of #e# is _eo_, ueole 9. #eo#, _å_-umlaut of #i# is _o_, hore 22, 42. #ea# after palatals is _a_, schal 45, and _e_, ȝef 100. #ie# after #ġ# is _i_, ȝiue 162, ȝif 102, 126, ȝiuest 34 (3), uorȝiuenesse 110, 132, but _e_ in forȝelden 135. EWS. #gief# is ȝif 42, 84. #eo# after #sć# is _u_, schulen 41, 43; #ie# after #sć#, _i_, ischild 120. #eom# is am 112, 113, ham 98; #heom#, ham 56.

#ēa# is _ea_, deað 36, leasung 75, read 53, but _e_ in ek 87, ec 159, edmodnesse 79, isched 88; its _i_-umlaut is _e_, aulem 94, alesed 15, ȝeme 163, ȝemeð 42, ȝeme 121, ihere 84, but dreameð 27, without umlaut. #ēo# is regularly _eo_, beon 113 &c., biseon 134, deoflene 15, leoue 2 (10), but looue 100, 170, apparently for lōue; the _i_-umlaut is _e_, onsene 27. #ēo# after #g# is _eo_, ȝeomer 40: #gīet# is ȝet 109.

#a# + #g# is _aw_, drawe 128, 141. #æ# + #g# is _ei_, dei 50, feier 137, mei 31, but daie 8, dai 166, fawe 142 (#fagen#). #e# + #g# is also _ei_, awei 94, pleie 62, reine 58 r. w. kwene. #i# + #g# final is _i_, holi 70, i 97, 106, moniuold 61, murie 27. #i# + #ht# is _iht_, wiht 31, 47. #u# + #g# is _uw_, muwen 65. #ā# + #g# gives _ow_, owen 13, owune 112; #ā# + #h#, ouh 7. #ō# + #h# is _ouh_, auouh 119, brouhte 86, inouh 62. #ū# + #g# is _uw_, buwe 3. #ie#, _i_-umlaut of #ea#, + #ht# is _iht_, miht 133, nihte 8. #eo# + #ht# is also _iht_, briht 19, uihte 60; the _i_-umlaut is seen in bisihð 81. #ēa# + #g# gives _ei_, beie 3, beien 18. #ēo# + #ht# is _iht_, liht 5, lihtliche 133, 135. #ēa# + #h# is seen in þauh 82, 105. #ā# + #w#, bloweð 37, soule 5, snou 38, but iseie (? #gesǣge#). #ēo# + #w#, kneon 3, kneouwunge 136, reoweð 101, þeoudome 98.

#Swā# is so 53. For #e#, _u_ is written in owune 112; for #o#, _e_ in heouene 77, sumer 39: _e_ is added in clenenesse 163, heuede 108, heuedest 107, neuere 143, but neure 111; #e# is lost in hird 51; the suffix #ing# is _ung_ in gretunge 135. #on# is weakened to a 9. _u_ is added in dweoluhðe 93, muruhðe 61, seoruwe 60 (3), þuruh 122 (3); comp. ‘seluðe,’ AR 354/4.

Metathesis of #r# is seen in spert 140; #rr# is simplified in der 158; #ll# in wil 62; #mm# in ȝimstones 55. #n# is lost in i 50, o 96, 114 and medially in heoueriche 24, 150. #bb# is simplified in sib 60. #f# is generally preserved in combination with other consonants, deoflene 15, efter 76, lefdi 2; before _u_, ful 35, fulðe 94; finally, ȝif 126, lif 6; initially after a word ending in a voiceless sound, fawe 142, feier 137, fif 102, forboren 109, forȝelden 135. Otherwise it is _u_, _v_, uorst 38, aulem 94, auouh 119, iureden 38; exceptions are hefedest 143 and the contract hedde 144. _t_ is added by inadvertence in þuruhtut 70; #tt# is simplified in biset 55: #þ# is omitted in wurschipe 13, wurchipe 130. After þet, þu becomes tu 72, 84, 91, but vort þu 64, þet þe 73, 74, bit þe 132, et ðe 90. #ts# is represented by _c_ in milce 79 (3): #bletsung# is blescinge 162. #ss# is simplified in blisful 19. Initial #sć# is _sch_, gledschipe 14, schende 92, but wurðscipe 141, wurchipe 130; medially it is _ssc_, englissce 167, _ssch_, wassche 139. #c# [k] is _k_ before e, i, u, ȝeirkest 49, sike 97, kinescrud 34, kunne 9, _c_ before o, com 36, icoren 67, in other positions it is indiscriminately _c_ or _k_, Cristes 1, krune 55, kneon 3, licame 163, kare 120, woc 40, ek 87, ec 159. #č# is _ch_, eche 35, techen 48, stenches 44; #čč# is _cch_, drecche 148, wrecche 130, but arechen 47: #cw# is _kw_, kwene 57, but once queadschipe 42: #cg# is _gg_, aleggen 133, seggen 158. Palatal #g# is written _ȝ_, ȝef 100, forȝelden 135, ȝimstones 55: the prefix #ge-# is preserved as _i_, ilong 96. The stop #g# is doubled in singges 8. For #h#, _ch_ is written in ðurchut 142; _h_ is added in ham 98, dweoluhðe 93, ȝeruh 132 (as at AR 394/12), lost in is 126, licame 163, arine 127 (#ahrīnan#), lefdi 2, ringes 34, but #hw# is kept in hwar 106.

#Accidence:# Strong declension of _masc._ and _neut._ nouns. In the _s. n._ sune 57 represents #sunu#, gome 62 has lost final #n#. _Gen._ -es, deaðes 120, kunnes 92, but heoueriche 150 is not inflected: _dat._ -e, daie 8, deaðe 90, reine 58, siðe 101, wille 46; no exceptions. In the _a._ schrifte 152 has added e. The _pl. n. a._ of masculines ends in -es, engles 27, beies 34, but were 21: neuters are þing 71, kneon 3. Genitives are kunne 9, meidene 21, þinge 76; weak forms are deoflene 15, englene 16 (4); there are no datives. The _fem._ nouns of the strong declension have -e in the _s. n. a._, kwene 57, ore 73, sorinesse 36, bene 84, except sib 60, help 116 (often _m._ in OE.). _Gen._ -e, helle 44, 104, soule 5: _dat._ -e, blisse 16 (5), fulðe 94, honde 15, mihte 7. _Pl. dat._ are honden 32, misdeden 156, wunden 102; _a._ heorte 18, wunden 124. Nouns of the weak declension have -e in all cases of the singular, except lefdi 2 (6): plurals are _n._ blostmen 37, _d._ wrecchen 63, uote 155. The minor declensions are represented by mon _s. n._ 74, wummon 23, men _pl. n._ 13, ureondmen 166, wepmen _pl. a._ 20, wummen 19; nihte _s. d._ 8, 59, niht _s. a._ 50; moder _s. n._ 1, 67; ureondes _pl. a._ 33.

Adjectives which in OE. end in a vowel have -e throughout, eche 35, 39, 62, 120, swete 17. Of the weak declension are _s. n._ leoue 2 (5), looue 100, 170, _d._ erme 64, fule 94, heie 66, 165, holie 126, leoue 125, _a._ englissce 167, leoue 26, 76, loðe 93. Strong inflections are _s. d. m._ guldene 45, _s. d. f._ hwite 51, _s. a. m._ fulle 65, _s. a. f._ fulle 110, gode 121: iliche 23, 68 is #gelīca#. The plurals of all adjectives end in -e, holie 71, hwite 37, luðere 123, reade 37; exceptions are gled 54, sead 30, hwit, read 53; gold-ring 34 is an OE. combination. #mycel# is _s. n._ muchel 79, _s. d._ muchele _m._ 14, _f._ 89, 140, _neut._ 49. #āgen# gives owune 112. #ān# occurs once as a 150; #āna# is one _s. d. m._ 125, _f._ 21: #nān# is _s. n._ no 23 (9), non 24, 39 (pronominal), 47 (before heorte), 40, _s. g. neut._ none 92, _a. m._ nenne 131. Adjectives used as nouns are god _s. a. neut._ 49, muchel 151: superlatives are best 129, leouest 76.

The personal pronouns are ich, i 97, 106, me, we, us, þu, tu 72 (4), after þet, þe. The pronoun of the third person is _s. n._ hit _neut._ 63, _a._ 11; _pl. n._ heo 30 &c., _d._ ham 29, _a._ 15. Reflexives are mi suluen 100, ðe suluen 64, 66: possessives, _s. n._ mi 6 &c., min 6, 96, 158 (pronominal), _g._ mire _f._ 5, mine 5, 157, mines _neut._ 2, _d._ mine _m._ 117, mire _f._ 75, mine 7, 107, mine _neut._ 126, _a._ mine _m._ 152, _f._ 135, mi _neut._ 133, min 4; _pl._ mine _n._ 166, _d._ 156, _a._ 3: _s. n._ þi 25 (3), þin 24 (7) before vowel or h, 157 (predicative), _d._ ðine _m._ 26 (4), ðire _f._ 149 (5), þine 18 (8), þin 27, ðine _neut._ 89, _a._ þine _m._ 116, _f._ 31 (3), þi _neut._ 30; _pl._ þine _d._ 32, 155, _a._ 33: is 126: ure 18, 86: hore 22, 42. The definite article is _s. n._ þe 53 &c., _g._ þes 100 (pronominal), _d._ ðe _m._ 90, þere _f._ 85, 88, _a._ þene _m._ 93, 127, 169; _pl. g._ þer 24 (for þere). The compound demonstrative is _s. n._ þes _m._ 78, _d._ þisse _neut._ 64, 119, _a._ ðesne _m._ 167, 170. The relative is þet 23 &c., once þe 41; ðet 12, during which; interrogative is hwat 106; indefinites are me 45; ilch _s. d. m._ 81; sume _s. d. m._ 101; ueole _pl. g._ 9; _s. n._ al 5, _g._ alle _neut._ 93, _d. m._ 42, _f._ 7, _a._ al _m._ 100, _neut._ 48 &c.; _pl. n._ alle 13 (6), _g._ alre 76, _a._ alle 19.

The infinitives of the second weak conjugation end in -ien, iðauien 142, karien 43, luuien 17, except ualuwen 39; others, 32 in number, end in -en, but without n are deale 154, singge 8, þonkie 12, wurðie 7, iseo 165: to biseonne 137, to iseonne 30 are _dat._ infinitives. Presents are _s._ 1. beie 3, hopie 110, liuie 12, offrie 4, þonkie 11, wene 111, wurðie 146; 2. ȝiuest 34, ȝeirkest 49; 3. hateð 145, likeð 29, wurðeð 144, contracted bisihð 81, bit 80, 132, let 56, spert 140, wurð 68, 122; _pl._ 3. bloweð 37, wurðeð 21: _subjunctive s._ 1. habbe 116, 156, iðeo 121, 130; 2. bringe 169, ȝiue 162, kume 117, kuðe 118, makie 91, schrude, wassche 139, werie, wite 147; 3. arine 127, derie 148, drawe 128, drecche 148, habbe 82, ihere 84, schende 92, to-drawe 141, unne 164; _pl._ 1. kumen 66: _imperative s._ 2. auouh 119, aulem 94, ȝeme 163, haue 159, ȝif 102, 126, ischild 120, iþench 100, nim 121, þole 127. Past of Strong Verbs: I a. _s._ 1. ȝef 100; 2. iseie 105: I b. 3. com 36; _subj. s._ 2. uorbere 106: I c. _s._ 3. funde 170 (weak form): IV. _s._ 1. uorsoc 99; 2. stode 90. Participles past: I b. forboren 109, iboren 23, 68, ibroken 151, ikumen 112, inumen 107: I c. bunden 123, iholpen 9, isungen 167: III. icoren 67, uorloren 74, 108: V. isched 88. Past of Weak Verbs: _s._ 1. heuede 108, wreðede 101; 2. heuedest 107, 143: _subjunctive s._ 3. brouhte 86, hedde 144. Participles present: liuiinde 40 _adj._; past: agult 82, alesed 15, biset 55, ibrouht 10, 98, idreaued 58, 82, ischrud 51, isend 16. Minor Groups: wot 1 _pr. s._ 103, wost 2 _pr. s._ 145; ouh 1 _pr. s._ 7, owen 1 _pr. pl._ 18, owe we 17, owen _pr. pl._ 13; kunne 1 _pr. s. subj._ 134; der 1 _pr. s._ 158; schal 1 _pr. s._ 104, schalt 2 _pr. s._ 149, schal _pr. s._ 45, 95, schulen _pr. pl._ 41, 43; miht 2 _pr. s._ 133, mei _pr. s._ 31, 74, muwen 1 _pr. pl._ 65; mote 1 _pr. s. subj._ 165; beon _inf._ 74, 113, to beonne _dat. inf._ 29, 138, am 1 _pr. s._ 112, 113, ham 98, ert 2 _pr. s._ 5, 158, 160, is _pr. s._ 25, nis 23 (4), beoð _pr. pl._ 52, beo 1 _pr. s. subj._ 23, 116, _pr. s. subj._ 122, 129, 138, _pr. pl. subj._ 166, was 1 _pt. s._ 106, _pt. s._ 88, nes 68, were 2 _pt. s. subj._ 105; wulle 1 _pr. s._ 12 (3), wule 113, wult 2 _pr. s._ 121, 133, 142, wule _pr. s._ 142; don _inf._ 13, do 152, dest 2 _pr. s._ 149, doð _pr. pl._ 41, 56, dude 1 _pt. s._ 106.

Noteworthy are the adverb þereuore 63, 83, an early example of the meaning, that being so, and the prepositions anunder 32, OE. #anunder# (Morsbachs Studien, l. 171), ine 104 (4), onuppe 25 (comp. ‘anuppon’ 77/46).

#Vocabulary:# Scandinavian are laste 69, lasten 123, lune 126, wonteð 73, possibly trust 125. French are cherite 161, ciclatune 51, krune 52, ikruned 52, lai 167, paradise 10, 49, 108, seruise 50, seinte 17, seynte 1, trone 22. Latin are cherubine 25, lilie 53, munuch 169, rose 53, seraphine 26, all OE. borrowings, except the last. The inflectional -e of cherubine, seraphine appears to be quite isolated.

#Dialect:# The Orison in its present form agrees substantially with the copy of the Ancren Riwle in the same manuscript; both are in the dialect of the scribe, that of the Middle South. But the Midland i for #y#, #ȳ# is attested by the spoilt rhymes þing : welsprung 71; wiþinnen : sunne 91; kuðe : siðe 118; schrude : wide 139, which also point to an original filðe : dwilðe 94 (the forms dweoleð, dweoluhðe, dweolðe are found only in this manuscript), and chille : wille 45. There is nothing else in the rhymes to help to a nearer localization of the author: it can only be said that his dialect was Midland.

#Metre:# This is in dispute. Schipper sees in it a mixture of septenaries, alexandrines, and alliterative verse. He regards l. 28, pléieð and swéieð and síngeð bitwéonen as the only indubitable example of the last, but first half-lines have two accents only in, to þé ich búwe 2; and þónkie wúlle 12; ne wéopen ne múrnen 44, 72, 77, and second half-lines in, þi uéir to iséonne 30; mid gúldene chélle 45; mid énglene wílle 46, 52, 70. The alexandrine is a French verse of six stresses equally divided into two half-verses by a caesura; the ending of each half-line may be masculine or feminine; each half-line may also take a prelude. The scheme of the verse is accordingly (x)x́xx́xx́ (x) || (x)x́xx́xx́(x). Such is held to be the rhythm of nís no | wúmmon i|bóren || þét ðe | béo i|líche 23; þíne | blísse ne | méi || nó wiht | únder|stónden 31, where the stress on ‘þet’ and ‘no’ is forced. It is found necessary to employ all the licences of English prosody in scanning this foreign metre, which moreover in its native form is never mixed with other metres, and rhymes, not in couplets, but only in ‘laisses’ or fours. Scanned as septenaries are, biuór|en ðín|e léo|ue súne || wiðín|nen sér|aphíne 26; þú ham | ȝíuest | kíne | scrúd || beíes | and góld|ringes 34. But a line like vor heo neúer ne beoð séad . þi ueír to iséonne 30 may be scanned as an alliterative long line as marked, or as a septenary, vór heo | néuer | né beoð | séad || þi uéir | tó i|séonne, or as an alexandrine, vor heo neú|er ne béoð | séad || þi uéir | tó i|séonne. On the other hand, Kaluza refuses to admit such an admixture of metres: he regards the poem as written throughout in septenaries. So the first line is to be scanned, Crístes | mílde | mód|èr || séynte | Már|íè. The unstressed syllable in a foot is often wanting; sometimes all the syllables of a word are stressed, as in the first half of l. 55, Mid bríht|e ȝím | stòn|ès. It is very artificial and unconvincing.

The matter is complicated by the fact that the Orison is only a copy, probably a copy of a copy, perhaps one of a succession of copies. A scribe dealing with an older text was generally little concerned about the form and much about the matter and the transcription of its language into his own dialect and idiom. That the text of the Orison has suffered from this preoccupation is evident from the rhymes; it is fairly certain that the author wrote lefdie 2, 11, 17, 170, sorinisse 36, mildheortnisse 78, 149, 164, edmodnisse 79, luðernisse 107, rene 58, leste 69, leasinge 75, gretinge 85, þas 100, seggen 134, and it may be inferred that alterations, including substitution of words, have been made within the verse. But even taking this into account, it is very doubtful whether the poet meant to write syllabic verse at all. Rather his metre exhibits the alliterative long line in the last stage of its dissolution, in which systematic rhyme has largely displaced the older and once essential elements of the verse. If rhythms occur, which can with some violence be forced into the moulds of purely syllabic verse, they are not of the author’s express purpose; precisely the same phenomenon is seen in Layamon (464/5). Moreover the alliterative element is considerable; the poet starts with two perfect lines, and ll. 60, 94, 101, 115, 153, 157, 171 have each three alliterating words; l. 3 is up to the Layamonic norm, and there are twenty-seven others equally good. But the development of the verse towards rhyme is complete and no longer, as in Layamon, occasional and for the most part imperfect (464/16).

#Introduction:# The author speaks of himself as a monk and of his composition as an English lay, as though it were an original production. He shows acquaintance with the earlier English literature, his manner is English, and the French element in his vocabulary is remarkably small. The highly conventional character of his language makes it difficult to speak with any confidence of his reading, but he would find much of it in his service books, and he was probably acquainted with Adgar’s Mary Legends and the long series of Orationes ad Sanctam Mariam Virginem with the Psalterium S. Virginis of S. Anselm (ed. Gerberon, pp. 276-87, 303-8), the enthusiastic promoter of the cult of the Virgin Mary in England. For the same reason it is impossible to give much weight to the series of parallels from the writings of S. Edmund of Pontigny (Edmund Rich, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1234-40), by which Marufke has sought to prove his authorship of the Orison.

In #ureisun# of the title, both pretonic and tonic _u_ are characteristic of early Anglo-French: _ei_ is historic spelling, and at this time alternates in AF. with phonetic _e_.

1. Comp. 134/67; ‘O mater alma Christi charissima,’ York Brev. ii. 182; ‘virgo singularis: inter omnes mitis,’ id. ii. 477; ‘La duce mere al Salueur,’ Adgar 131/39.

2. #mi leoue lefdi#: comp. ll. 11, 17, 63, 115, 170; ‘ma douce dame,’ Wright, Lyric Poetry, 55/1.

3. #buwe . . . beie#: see 143/84.

6. Comp. 134/96, 136/153; ‘te spem meam singularem, te salutem computo,’ Guibert of Nogent, De Laude S. Mariae, 6; ‘Vita, dulcedo et spes nostra, salve!’ l. 2 of Salve Regina; ‘Ki est salu, ueire esperance | A tuz Crestiens, sanz dutance,’ Adgar 107/845; ‘Þu art hele and lif and liht,’ OEM 160/11. #mid iwisse#: see 32/40.

8. #bi daie# &c.: comp. 133/50.

9. #aueole kunne wise#, lit. in fashion of many kinds, i.e. in very many ways: comp. 62/30, 114/64, 151/20; ‘a vele kunne wise,’ OEM 39/53, 44/241; ‘Aþre cunne wise,’ id. 38/33; L 1717. OE. #fela#, much, many, is an indeclinable noun followed by a genitive case, and this construction is occasionally found in EME., as at 27/300, 34/70 (76/19 is ambiguous), but generally in ME. fele, many, is pl. adj. or pronoun of all cases, as _nom._ 15/83, 16/115, 18/2; _gen._ 85/105; _acc._ 30/9. For the expression with #wise#, comp. ‘on ælches cunnes wise,’ L 8072; ‘on aiȝes cunnes wisen,’ id. 25778; ‘an almes monnes wise{n},’ id. 19641: the genitive is, of course, equivalent to an adjective, as in ‘a seolcuðe wise{n},’ id. 27835; ‘on moni are wisen,’ id. 555.

11. #hit#: see 115/120.

13. Comp. ‘Ceste Dame deit hoem loer | E mult seruir e honurer, | Ki rent as soens si bon luier, | Ke cors e alme lur uelt saluer,’ Adgar 225/65.

15. #of#: see 52/394.

19. Comp. ‘Marie, ki fu si bele, | Vnke si bele ne uit pucele,’ Adgar, 22/75; ‘gaude gloriosa: super omnes speciosa,’ York Brev. ii. 493.

21. #were# Björkman (Archiv cxxii. 398) takes as a scribe’s mistake for wered; comp. ‘He gesceop tyn engla werod,’ Ælf. Hom. Cath. i. 10/12. But comparing 134/71, it is more probable that it represents OE. #wara#, #waru#, as in Lundenwaru, in an extended sense of, host, company: possibly influenced in form by OWScand. -veri, -verjar.

22. #blostme#: comp. ‘Leuedi, flour of alle þing,’ OEM 195/28.

23. Comp. 134/68; ‘nis non maiden under sunne | þe mei beo þin eueni[n]g,’ OEH ii. 256/43: ‘Sancta maria, non est tibi similis orta in mundo in mulieribus,’ York Brev. ii. 491.

25. Comp. 124/243; ‘Exaltata est sancta dei genetrix: Super choros angelorum ad celestia regna,’ York Brev. ii. 477; ‘atque in regni solio sublimata post Christum gloriosa resedit,’ id. ii. 492; ‘Tibi thronus regius ab angelis collocatur in aula aeterni regis,’ Sermon of Fulbert of Chartres, in S. Augustini Opera V^2, 246.

26. #wid innen#, surrounded by.

28. #sweieð#, make melody. #bitweonen#: see 148/6.

29. Comp. ‘Kar li angele funt nuit e ior | Son plaisir, par grant amur,’ Adgar 165/287.

30. See 124/239. #sead . . . to iseonne#: see 76/17. For #ueir# as a noun, beauty, comp. 139/27; ‘þe mone ⁊ þe sunne wundrieð of faire · swo fair is ure louerd ihesu crist,’ OEH ii. 19/29.

32. Comp. ‘Tuit est en sa main atachie | Li ciels e li munz ensement,’ Adgar 165/282.

33. #riche#: see 19/34.

34. Suggested by such places as, ‘Tulitque annulum de manu sua, et dedit eum in manu eius: vestivitque eum stola byssina, et collo torquem auream circumposuit,’ Gen. xli. 42; Esther vi. 8. #beies#, crowns; comp. 133/55 note, or less probably, collars, armlets; comp. 202/194.

35. Comp. 50/360.

36-40, 59-62. These passages describing the joys of Paradise have many analogues in the earlier literature. Kölbing, ES i. 169, thought they were borrowed directly from the OE. Phoenix: he compares with l. 38, ‘Ne mæg þær ren ne snaw, | ne forstes fnæst . . . | wihte gewyrdan,’ Ph. 14, 15, 19; with l. 37, ‘is þæt æþele lond | blostmum geblowen,’ Ph. 20; with l. 39, ‘Wintres ⁊ sumeres wudu bið gelice | bledum gehongen,’ Ph. 37, 38; with l. 36, ‘Nis þær on þam londe laðgeniðla | . . . ne se enga deað,’ Ph. 50, 52, and he might have added, ‘ne feallað þær on foldan fealwe blostman,’ Ph. 74. For similar descriptions comp. Grau, G. (Morsbachs Studien, xxxi), p. 130; Pseudo-Cyprian, De Resurrectione Mortuorum, ed. Hartel, iii. 316/193-268; De Die Iudicii (attributed to Bede), 128-47; Christ, 1650-65; BH 65/16-22, but the parallels between the text and the Phoenix are remarkable.

36. #þer ðe#, where: comp. ‘ȝet doð þer þe heo beoð,’ OEH i. 9/9.

37. #hwite ⁊ reade#: lilies and roses; symbols of virgins and martyrs: comp. Be Domes Dæge, 18/286-9.

39. #ualuwen#: see 29/6.

43. #swinken#, be distressed: comp. 134/97, and see 40/194 note.

44. #stinken#, smell, perceive: comp. ‘wrieð hore fulðe so ꝥ heo hit ne muwen stinken,’ AR 86/17.

45. #steoren# &c., cense with golden censer: probably suggested by Rev. viii. 3. #chelle#: OE. #cylle#, vessel; only here in ME.

46. #mid englene wille#, ‘with angels’ joy,’ Specimens; comparing OWScand. vili. But this use of ME. wille for state of felicity is at least rare, and besides something more concrete is needed to balance ‘mid guldene chelle’; wille represents OE. #wiell#, #wiella#, fountain, with allusion to the ‘fluvium aquae vitae’ of Rev. xxii. 1, and to such places as ‘Haurietis aquas in gaudio de fontibus salvatoris,’ Isa. xii. 3; ‘torrente voluptatis tuae potabis eos,’ Ps. xxxv. 9. The sense then would be, and pour out for them eternal life by means of the water of Paradise. The writer uses #englene# vaguely for, of Heaven; comp. ll. 16, 70.

47-50. An application of 1 Cor. ii. 9 already in Adgar, ‘Certes, nul ne poet escrire, | De cuer penser, de buche dire | Les biens de la Dame uaillante, | Ki de tuz biens est puissante, | Ke as soens fait chascun ior, | Vers cels, ke el’ ad puint d’amur,’ 224/7. See 46/285, 119/85. With l. 50 comp. ‘Nostre Dame serui nuit e ior, | El soen seruise out grant amur,’ Adgar 117/27.

51. #ciclatune#, originally a fine silken stuff of Persian origin, usually red. Almeria, in Spain, was the seat of a flourishing manufacture of this stuff in the twelfth century. Comp. 140/37.

53. Comp. ‘eall heora neb-wlite wæron swilce rose and lilie,’ Ælf., Lives i. 536/780.

55. Comp. ‘þær se beorhta beag brogden wundrum | eorcnanstanum eadigra gehwam | hlifað ofer heafde,’ Phoenix 602.

58. Comp. ‘Þær ne hægl ne hrim hreosað to foldan | ne windig wolcen, ne þær wæter fealleþ | lyfte gebysgad,’ Phoenix 60.

60. #uihte#, variance: ‘gewindagas,’ days of strife, Phoenix 612. Comp. also, ‘sib butan niþe,’ Christ 1660; 70/158 note.

61. #teone ⁊ treie#: see 24/208.

62. For #Gleobeames#, harps, gleodreames is suggested in Specimens, with a reference to Beowulf, 3021, ‘gamen ⁊ gleo-dream,’ sport and social joys. #inouh# goes with gome. #liues wil#, joy of life.

63. #long hit þuncheð#: comp. ‘ne biþ him wynne hyht, | þæt hy þis læne lif long gewunien,’ Phoenix 480.

64. For #vort#, see 72/179 note.

67. #Swete#: comp. ‘Bidde we ure lauedi | swetest alre þinge,’ OEM 166/81. #icoren#: comp. ‘Mildest quene ant best icorn,’ E. E. Lyrics, ed. Chambers and Sidgwick, 90/41; ‘Of þe he makede his moder · vor he þe hedde ycore,’ OEM 38/22, 88/37. The expression comes from the service books, ‘praeelecta ut sol,’ York Missal ii. 20; ‘Ista est speciosa electa a domino,’ York Brev. ii. 540.

69. Comp. ‘moder unwemmed ⁊ maiden clene | swich in world non oþer nis,’ OEH ii. 255/3; ‘Virgene en l’emfantement, | Deuant e apres ensement,’ Adgar 225/53.

70. #reste#, abode.

71. #were#: see 132/21.

72. #liues welsprung#: apparently suggested by ‘quoniam apud te est fons vitae,’ Psalm xxxv. 10. In the York Breviary she is called ‘puteus aquarum viventium,’ ii. 480.

74. Comp. ‘Ki fu refuse u cumfus, | Ki unkes out fiance en uus?’ Adgar 107/825.

75. A word has dropped out after soule. In Specimens, leome is supplied, in Zupitza-Schipper, liht, as in l. 5.

79-81. Comp. ‘Duze Dame tresimple e coie, | Plein de misericorde e de uertu, | E de grant grace, mere Jhesu; | Mult tost mustrez uostre duzur | A checun dolent pecheur. | Mult se poent en uus fier, | Ki uus uolent merci crier,’ Adgar 26/243, 38/17, 65/64.

80. #of helpe . . . missen#, fail to obtain help: comp. ‘Þu hauest ymyst of fayrhede,’ ON 581, 825; ‘Hi wenden to wisse | of here lif to misse,’ KH 121 note.

81. #to#: see 124/249. #milce ⁊ ore#: comp. 135/102; ON 1083, 1404.

82. #agult#, offended; a transitive use; the word is usually followed by to, wið, toward, of the person; comp. ‘ne ne warien hwon me agulteð to ou,’ AR 186/2.

84. #ȝif þi wille is#: a common tag: comp. 77/60; ‘ȝef hit were þin wille,’ L, MS. O 20815; ‘ȝef þi deore wil is,’ SJ 37/9; ‘mi swete leuedi, her mi bene | ⁊ reu of me, ȝif þi wille is,’ OEH ii. 255/7.

85. #gretunge#: the first of the five joys of the Virgin; see OEM 87/1-8, as l. 87 refers to the greatest of her sorrows: comp. ‘Bidde we seinte Marie | for hire milde mode. | For þe teres þat heo wep | for hire sone blode,’ OEM 190/93.

93. #loðe#: comp. 46/283. #kunnes#: see 81/80. #dweoluhðe#: also at 136/148 in a similar context, for delusions, deceptions practised by the devil: see AR 224/12, and comp. ‘et ideo prae ceteris | volo te precari, | ne sinas me daemonis | dolo defraudari,’ Mone, Lat. Hymnen ii. 108/85.

94. #fule fulðe#: comp. 29/33.

95. #to dealen#: comp. Rom. vii. 39.

96. #ilong#, dependent: comp. 135/114; ‘Þæt wæs swiþost on ðæm gelong þæt Hasterbal swa late fleah,’ Orosius 198/26: ‘is seo bot gelong | eal æt þe anum,’ Christ 153: ‘On hire is al mi lif ilong,’ OEM 158/1; ‘ꝥ is long on felefelde iuele lastes,’ OEH ii. 71/31: in mod. English, along of. See also ‘bilong,’ 200/112.

97. #wel ilome#: see 32/47.

98. #þeoudome#, bondage: comp. ‘ic em in þine loue bende,’ OEH ii. 256/35.

101. #sume siðe#, at one time, in former days: comp. ‘giet sume siþe,’ Christ 318, yet one day.

102. #fif wunden#: comp. ‘Þat we moten to him cume · for his wundes fyue,’ OEM 57/696; ‘He make vs clene and bryhte | for his wundes fyue,’ id. 87/23; Minot i. 91.

103. #þet# is explained by the noun-clause, l. 104. #wel ȝeorne# and ‘ful ȝeorne,’ l. 145, appear to mean, very accurately, very well. Mätzner quotes in support, ‘Me awaiteð ou, þet wute ȝe ful ȝeorne, wiðuten,’ AR 174/15, which might be punctuated otherwise.

105. #stille#, silent: comp. 36/112.

106. #þauh#, and yet.

107. #wreche inumen#, taken vengeance: different is the sentiment in ‘Sunful ich am an wrecche. | Awrec þe nu on me leuedi. | Er deþ me honne fecche. | Do nim þe wreche ich am redi,’ OEM 162/42.

109. #ȝet#, further, longer.

111. #uallen# &c.: comp. 80/47.

112. #hwon#, since, seeing that. #hine#, household servant: comp. ‘Eyez merci, quar en mon vivant | Serroi vostre lige serjaunt,’ Lyric Poetry, ed. Wright, 56/13; ‘E sa duce mere e chere | Pitusement fist sa preiere, | K’il eussent de sun serf merci,’ Adgar 5/44; ‘Vne nuit, par auisiun, | Vint la Dame a cel son barun,’ id. 56/7; ‘swete leuedi of me þu reowe[;] ⁊ haue merci of þin knicht,’ OEH ii. 255/15; ‘ic crie þe merci, ic am þi mon,’ id. 256/23.

115. #longeð#: impersonal construction, with acc. of person: comp. ‘Loð is me þis eorðliche lif . ⁊ me longeð to criste,’ OEH ii. 149/29.

117. Comp. ‘Bi-sih to me lauedi briȝt. | Hwenne ich schal wende heonne,’ OEM 160/18; Anglia i. 391/45; and elsewhere.

120. #kare#, anxiety about; practically, fear: comp. 121/150.

123. #þuruh#, tightly. #bunden#: see 81/67.

125. Comp. ‘Dame! En uus sule ai ma fiance,’ Adgar 101/649; ‘Apres Deu ne ai autre refui,’ id. 106/818.

126. #lune#, rest, occurs only here in ME.; for the word in modern dialects see EDD _s.v._ lown, quiet, shelter, which is Northern and North Midland: the solitary instance recorded for Hampshire is probably a stray. Dan. luun; OWScand. logn: see Björkman, 250.

127. #þet he me arine#: a clause instead of an infinitive; comp. 126/325; analogous is 151/21.

129. #so# &c., so that whatever happens may ever be the best for me: comp. ‘And he þat haueþ þis rym iwryten . beo hwat he beo | God in þisse lyue . hyne lete wel iþeo,’ OEM 57/697.

132. #to bote ȝeruh#, ready to make amends: comp. ‘sunbote,’ 80/58; ‘deadbote,’ 119/75.

134. #biseon to me#: see 124/249.

136. #swinc . . . sor#: comp. 40/194.

140. #spert#: comp. 89/44.

141. #to drawe#: tear in pieces, destroy: comp. ‘ichot þe cherl is def, þe del hym to drawe,’ Böddeker, AE. Dicht. 177/34. Morris explains ‘entice me (to sin),’ referring to the glossary to Hampole, Prick of Conscience, where the word so explained is ‘drawe.’

142. #wule#: supply, to-drawen me.

144. Nor that any man that honoureth thee should have gladness: #he# resumes #no mon ꝥ þe wurðeð#; comp. 77/39, 138/12: similar are, ‘Þe wreche peoddare more noise he makeð to ȝeien his sope,’ AR 66/17: ‘ꝥ þe muð ne mei uor scheome þe liht eie spekeð hit,’ id. 60/6.

147. #wite# &c.: see 118/50.

148. #dweolðe#: see 134/93.

149. #dest#: supply witen ⁊ werien.

150. #schalt# can hardly mean, ‘shalt give,’ as Morris translates: some word such as _delen_ has dropped out after me: comp. ‘to pore men dalt his dale,’ Sir Amadas 43. #aueir dol#, a fair, handsome, portion.

151. Comp. ‘De cest e d’el uus frai dreit, | Selunc ceo que uus sui forfait,’ Adgar 163/221.

153. #lif . . . heale#: comp. 132/6.

156. #vort#: see 72/179 note.

157, 8. Adgar has similar uses of lovers’ language: ‘Ne ia, Dame, uus ne larrai; | Kar espuse prise uus ai. | Ja ne larrai uostre amistie, | Ne uostre amur,’ Adgar 163/213, 162/178-85.

160. #al so#, even as; not ‘as much as,’ Morris.

163. The line lost after this may have been something like, and ek mine soule vor þine eadmodnesse.

164, 5. Comp. ‘Pur amur de la Dame chere, | Ki nus duinst la seinte Deu grace, | E Deu nus duinst ueer sa face,’ Adgar 40/98.

166. #ureondmen#, friends: a rare word, which occurs again in OEH ii. 183/23; CM 20242.

170. #bi#, concerning.

_Cross-References_

40/194 (note) = VIII. (Poema Morale) 72/179 (note) = IX. B (Ancrene Wisse: Outer Rule) p. 269 = V. (A Parable) p. 355 = IX. (Ancrene Wisse) under Manuscripts.

_Errata_

#Metre:# ... nó wiht | únder|stónden 31 [wiht|únder] and góld|ringes 34 [_text unchanged: error for “rínges”?_] But a line like vor heo neúer ne beoð séad . þi ueír to iséonne 30 [_text unchanged: errors for “néuer” and “uéir”?_] or as an alexandrine, vor heo neú|er ne béoð [_text unchanged: error for “néuer”?_] 6. ... Adgar 107/845; ‘Þu art [107/845; | ‘Þu] 9. ... i.e. in very many ways [_“i” in “i.e.” invisible_]

XIX. SAINT JULIANA

#Manuscripts:# i. Bodleian 34, Oxford (B). ii. Royal 17 A 27, British Museum (R): for descriptions see p. 492. In this life R is abbreviated, as Einenkel shows; the joints are often visible.

#Edition:# Cockayne, O., Þe Liflade of St. Juliana (parallel texts with translations). E. E. T. S., O. S. 51.

#Literature:# Backhaus, O., Über die Quelle der mittelenglischen Legende von der heiligen Juliane und ihr Verhältnis zu Cynewulfs Juliana, Halle, 1899; Einenkel, E., see p. 493; Stodte, H., see p. 493; Stratmann, F. H., ES iv. 94 (emendations).

#Phonology:# This has been sufficiently described at pp. 493-9: a few forms call for comment. (1) =in R=. #a#: þeauien 102 has _å_-umlaut. #æ#: awakenin 55 (#āwacenian#), pal 36, hauene 135, if descended from #hæfen#, have _a_ for #æ#; _ea_ appears in breas 118, feader 3. #e#: heolen 43, speoken 59, toteoren 63, weolen 54, seotel 114 have _å_- or _u_-umlaut of #e#; sutelin 98 descends from #swutol# with _u_-umlaut of #i# and loss of #w# as in suster; hatterliche 91 is elsewhere in SJ heatterliche, probably representing _u_-umlaut of *#hator#; comp. #hatol#, #hetol#; unweommet 28, 120, 133 shows rounding of #e# to [ö] between labials; bitild 36, OE. #beteldan#, comp. ‘tilden’ 82/110, ‘bitillen,’ L 27852, perhaps owes _i_ for #e# to #tilian#; sulliche 48 comes from #syllic#. #i#: neomen 45 has _å_-umlaut of #i#. #y#: unduhti 18 represents #dyhtig#. #ā#: lechnunge 23 follows #lǣcnian#, the OE. noun is #lācnung#. #ǣ{1}# is _e_ in lefdi 7, erndunge 8, unmeð 17, wreððen 78, wreððede 46, and _a_ in wraðði 42 instead of the normal _ea_; the adverb eisweis 68 (also in SM 13/26, MS. R, but eanies weis, MS. B) corresponds to #ǣniges weges#. #ǣ{2}# is exceptionally _ea_ in forreadeð 96, reade 55; leoten 63 is imitative of words with umlaut like beoren, eoten (Bonner Beiträge, xv. 128). #ea# before #r# + cons. is _a_ in harmen 107; the _i_-umlaut is _e_ in merrið 104, sumchere 21 (#cierr#): the _i_-umlaut of #ea# before #l# + cons. is absent in afal 137, which is in form #āfeallan#, fall, in meaning #āfiellan#, fell; for healden 118 see 359/7. #eo# before #r# + cons. is _a_ in darc 122, perhaps the earliest instance of this spelling; the _i_-umlaut is seen in iȝirnd 34, firsin 86 (but see Bülbring, § 187 anm. on Anglian #firr#). For ȝeouen see 359/34; #geond# is ȝont 35. #ēa# is _e_ in les 75, but lease 135, _e_ in ȝet 93 descends from #gēt# beside the normal #gēat#; the adverb #gēara# is ȝare 83. The _i_-umlaut of #ēo# is seen in derure 90; strupen 91 descends from *#strȳpan#; hei[e]nde 17, as if from *#hegan#; the Anglian form is #hēan#. #a# + #g#: for dreihen 122, see 360/13. #æ# + #g#: in fehere 104 (#fægerra#) the spirant is retained; comp. ‘feȝerest,’ L 29485, but feire 53. #e# + #g# final: #tintreg# is tintreow 98. sy 54, with _y_ written for _i_, represents #sige#; ‘syge’ in L 17409. #ȳ# + #g#: druifot 137, with _ui_ for long u. #ea# + #h#: waxen 55, iseh 22. #eo# + #h#: mix 96 (Anglian). #ēo# + #g#: lihinde 7.

duheðe 18 represents #duguð#: _e_ is added in fuheles 63, liðeri 92: #m# is lost in limel 67 (#lim mǣlum#), #f# in leowinde 95 (#lēofwende#); _t_ occurs often for final #d#, after mit for mid or miþ, þin becomes tin 52. For the stop #c#, _ch_ appears to be written in senchtest 137. The loss of #g# in list 43 is OE. (#līst# for #ligst#). _h_ is added in selhðe 54; nest 129 is Anglian #nēst#, WS. #nīehst#: es 100 has lost initial #h#, so im in ichim 85.

(2) =in B=. Many of those noticed in R occur in B also; other forms in B only are, chearre 166 (#cierran#), see 359/4: neolechin 43 represents a by-form #nēolǣcan#, while nehlechen R 31 comes from the normal #nēahlǣcan#: lattow 170 is OE. #lāttēow#. _ch_ in wlech 151 (#wlæc#) is due to the influence of #wlæce# (Björkman, 148).

#Accidence:# (1) =of R=. were 79 has added e in the nom. cun _s. d._ 11 is exceptionally without inflection, comp. cunne 19. fetles 97 is a contracted plural; OE. #fǣtels#, _pl._ #fǣtelsas#, occasionally #fǣtels#. aldrene 14, dahene 117 are weak _pl. gen._ The dual pronoun occurs in inc _pl. d._ 107. urne 119 is _pt. s. subj._ from #irnan#. The contracted þrof 59, the prepositions ine 16, bimong 132, for which see 398/97, are characteristic of the group.

(2) =Of B.= burhene 72, folkene 57 are possibly weak _pl._ genitives, like aldrene, dahene above, but they are more probably adjectives formed on the analogy of words in -en, like cristen, from nouns. For leoflukest 82, see 125/270.

#Vocabulary:# Scandinavian are bistaðet bisteaðet, crokes, derf, feolahes, lahe, lufte, liðin, menske; probably ihondsald, lustnin, truste; possibly ȝeien, hauene, keiser: in R only, baðen, derfliche; possibly trukeneð: in B only, feolahscipe, ilated, menskin, witere. French are ciclatun, furneise, leuns liuns, maumez mawmez, misspelt mawmex 144/97, purpre, rente, seinte: in R only, cumseð (commencer), serui, tur (MS. reading 140/36), uie: in B only, cendals, eoli.

#Dialect:# See p. 503.

#Introduction:# For style and authorship see pp. 504-6. The author states, 139/7, that he translated from a Latin source. The Life of S. Juliana, printed in Acta Sanctorum under Feb. 16th, is pronounced by Backhaus not to be the immediate source of SJ, because when compared with it the English shows considerable omissions, additions, and divergences. Yet SJ stands in about the same relationship to that Latin text as SK does to what is generally regarded as its original and as Sawles Warde does to the treatise of Hugh of S. Victor (p. 493). The author of these pieces is no mere translator, but an adapter who weaves other matter into his free imitation of his originals. He was apparently unacquainted with Cynewulf’s Juliana. Grau (Morsbachs Studien, xxxi. 157) shows that the earlier writer also introduces ideas into his poem which had been used by him in other works.

S. Juliana never attained in England to the popularity of her associates, S. Katherine and S. Margaret, but there is another life in rhymed septenaries printed as an appendix to Cockayne’s edition of SJ from MS. Ashmole, no. 43 (_c._ 1310), and a third in the Scottish Legendary, ascribed by the editor to Barbour, the source of which is the Aurea Legenda; it is printed in Barbour’s Legendensammlung, ed. Horstmann, ii. 190.

The references are to B, unless R is prefixed.

3. #feader . . . of frumscheft#: OE. ‘#fæder frumsceafta#,’ Christ, 472.

5. #glideð#, proceeds: comp. ‘þe hali gast · ꝥ glit of inc baðen,’ SM 21/33; ‘⁊ te hali gast, hare beire luue, | þe lihteð of ham baðe,’ SK 1772. #unagin#: found here only; it appears to mean, without beginning: OE. #unāgunnen# with that meaning occurs in ‘on unagunnenre Godcundnysse and on ongunnenre menniscnysse,’ Ælf. Hom. Cath. ii. 292/16: perhaps the ME. form has been influenced by angin, beginning. #euch godes ful#, full of every good: contrast ‘euches cunnes gode,’ 141/58.

6. #lideð ⁊ lusteð#: comp. ‘Lusteð me . . . ⁊ liðeð ane hwile,’ SJ 73/14; ‘God make alle soon blithe, | Who so wil lystne and lithe,’ K. Alisaunder 5750.

8. #wið þon þat#, in order that.

R 7. #lif hali#, holy of lif: comp. ‘to summe oðre lif-holie monne,’ AR 346/4; OEH ii. 51/10, 133/10.

9. #lihnide# is probably a miswriting of lihinde as in R, lying, deceptive: ME. lihen, OE. #lēogan#, but it is possibly a _pp._ of ME. lihnen, OE. #līgnian#, to deny. #eche#: supply lif.

11. #of munne#, commemorate: usually transitive in this sense as, ‘þis meiden þe we munnid wes marherete ihaten,’ SM 2/13, but comp. ‘His deope wounden bledeth fast, | Of hem we ohte munne,’ Lyric Poetry, ed. Wright, 112/22.

12. #i Nichomedese burh#: ‘in civitate Nicomedia’: the adjectival termination is Anglo-French -eis as in Hispaneis, L. Hispanensis: the scribe has ‘Nichomedesse,’ 77/9: ‘iþe Nomecuðe burh Nicomede inempnet,’ 79/9. In Sammlung AE. Legenden, ed. Horstmann, 51/628, Ianuesse means Genoa; Arimminence 20/784, Rimini; Iponence, 79/1046, Hippo.

13. #heascede#, insulted: comp. OE. #hyscan#.

R 12. #of--deaðe#, more than any other heathen he drew cruelly to death those that were Christians: #ham# represents the real object, ‘þeo ꝥ cristene weren’: see 136/144: the Latin has, ‘qui et ipse erat persecutor Christianorum.’

15. #as þeo ꝥ#, as being one to whom: for #as#, see 128/1; for #ꝥ# = to whom, 46/292. #ilenet#: the ME. texts often confuse lǣnen and lēven, to permit.

17. #schupte#: see 2/2. #wealdeð#: comp. 34/84; ‘weldinde ⁊ wissinde | alle worldliche þing,’ SK 933, 1780; L 5279.

R 16. #redegunge# (= redeȝunge) appears to be pres. part. of ME. rǣdien, to discourse (119/81); for ȝ, comp. ‘heriȝinge,’ OEH i. 5/1. But it is possibly a miswriting of ‘redunge’ as in B, which corresponds to L. lectio.

19. #Maximien#: see 128/1 note.

20. #heriende ⁊ heiende#: a favourite phrase with this writer: comp. 149/180; SJ 41/5, 55/10; SK 459, 1041.

R 18. #unduhti duheðe#, ill-spent splendour; because used for the glorification of idols: probably the original reading. In Specimens translated ‘unworthy body of retainers.’

23. #riche of rente#, with a large income. #ȝunge mon of ȝeres#: see 129/23.

24. #wel#, on good terms: comp. 138/21.

25. #iunne#, bestowed; generally said of conferring a favour, but ‘þe þe ufel unnen,’ L 28117, means, who inflicted harm on thee.

27. #utnumne feire#, exceptional beauty: see 133/30; but R 22 means exceptionally beautiful and charming: comp. 123/209; ‘se unimete feier,’ 124/239.

28. #in wið in#: see 130/57.

30. #lechnunge#, healing, medicine: a rare word, found in the Ureisun of God Almihti, OEH i. 202/16.

31. #wið ute longe steuene#, ‘without a long tale,’ Brock. But it seems preferable to connect the noun with OE. #stefn#, time, giving the sense, without long delay, much the same as ‘efter lutle stounde’: the repetition is quite in the manner of the writer; comp. ‘doð hire biliue to deað buten abade,’ SJ 73/3; ‘Anan þrefter sone com a seli wummon,’ id. 77/9.

R 25. For omission of the subject #ha#, see 6/18. #hire unwilles#, to her sorrow, an adverbial genitive: #unwil# is the opposite of ‘wil,’ joy, pleasure, 133/62. A similar adv. phrase is #hire unwil# in 141/36; comp. ‘min unwil hit is[;] to don al ꝥ ti wil is,’ SM 13/3. For the construction see 10/167, and 165/263.

37. #truked# = trukeð from trukien is the usual form; see 72/183: the derivative trukeneð R 26 appears to be quite isolated.

38. #daheðes# is apparently genitive of *daheð, daȝeð, noun derivative of ME. daȝien, to dawn, used adverbially, at dawn. In R 27 euch deis dei means at daylight (dawn) of each day: it is apparently without parallel. The Latin has ‘per singulos dies.’

39. #reowfule reames#: see 130/55. #wissede#, would direct: _pt. subjunctive_.

R 30. #summes weis#, some while, as at 124/236, corresponding to summe hwile in B.

42. #lihten se lahe#, descend so far: comp. 176/20, 199/79, 206/306; ‘loke þenne her bi hwa se of hire maidenhad lihteð in to wedlac; bi hu moni degrez ha falleð duneward,’ HM 23/24; ‘liht to ure lare,’ SK 1011.

44. #hehest i Rome#: comp. 128/2. #heh reue#: ‘praefectus.’

46. #lette#: supply as subject, Keiser.

R 35. #⁊ te riche riden in#, and to ride in his domain: an addition necessitated by the mistake in ‘tur.’ #tuhen#: the subject heo is to be supplied.

47. #ouertild#, canopied.

48. #purpres ⁊ pelles#, purple cloths and rich stuffs: a frequent combination for gorgeous clothing: comp. ‘ischrud ⁊ iprud ba wið pel ⁊ wið purpre,’ SK 1449; here used of a canopy. #ciclatuns#: see 133/51. #cendals#: sendal is a thin silken stuff, mostly red.

49. #As þe ꝥ#: comp. 128/1.

50. #rihten ⁊ to readen#: comp. 121/141; 147/158.

54. #iswechte# is explained in Specimens as _pp._ wearied, descending from OE. #geswenct, geswenced#, _pp._ of #geswencan#: the disappearance of _n_ would be difficult to account for; it might be due to the analogy of þencan: in any case the word is for iswecht + te, thyself. #wreaðe# &c.: see 34/86.

56. #leauen þe lahen#: comp. ‘ant leaue alle þe lahen ꝥ tu list inne,’ SJ 24/3.

57. #folkene froure#: comp. OE. #frōfor-gāst#; ‘folkes froure’ (of the B. V. M.), OEH ii. 255/2; ‘Vroure ⁊ hele folkes fader heouenliche drichte,’ id. 258/5; ‘þe hali gast moncunne froure,’ SM 18/18; ‘folkes feader,’ 149/173, 19/33; ‘froure moncunnes,’ L 9075. #folkene# as _gen. pl._ appears to be quite isolated; the usual ME. form is folce, OE. #folca#.

58. #igret#, magnified: OE. #grēatian#: ‘greaten’ is in AR 128/1.

59. #windi of#, turned away from, done with: comp. ‘windi (wundi R) of wisdom,’ devoid of wisdom, SK 376. Comp. MHG. wendic, wendec.

R 47. #droh him#, put him off, like L. trahere: apparently without parallel in this meaning.

61. #Efter ꝥ#, notwithstanding the fact that. In R, it means practically, when.

63. #him#: see 13/34 note.

64. #to wraðer heale#, to perverse fortune: see 130/58, and comp. 145/109; L 29556; ‘to ufele hele wes ic iboren,’ OEH i. 33/24; ‘Godere hele þu hit scalt iseon,’ id. 57/44; ‘to goderheale þin he hit þoleð,’ HM 29/10.

67. For ‘fon on,’ to handle a matter, to proceed, comp. 143/85, 97; 157/135; ‘⁊ he bigon to fon on | þisses weis towart hire,’ SK 1863. If the punctuation of the MS. goes for anything, the second #on# is an otiose repetition of the first, and the meaning is, proceeded gently at first to try if &c., as at l. 85. Such repetitions are not uncommon in this group: comp. 126/317; ‘Hef up forði, mid treowe bileaue ⁊ mid herdie, up þine þreo uingres,’ AR 290/29; ‘sitteð al stille, ꝥ hwon he parted urom ou, ꝥ he ne cunne ower god,’ id. 64/20. But in Specimens on to lokin are connected, proceeded at first ‘fairly (= kindly) to look upon her.’

69. #sy . . . selhðe#: comp. 147/157; SJ 24/13; ‘isi ant iselhðe,’ SM 23/13. #sy#: OE. #sige#, victory; in this phrase it must mean something like, prosperity. #weolen# &c.: comp. 121/161.

70. #awakenen#: see 54/24.

R 55. #inoh#, fully, quite: see 62/41.

71. #refschipe#: ‘praefectura’: at 128/4, the imperial dignity.

72. #liggeð#: see 128/10.

73. #luuien ⁊ leuen#: a stock phrase of this group: comp. 142/66, 145/104; ‘ileueð ⁊ luuieð,’ AR 410/11; also 180/135, 194/590.

R 57. #as þeo þat#: see 128/1.

75. #ich--is#: comp. 90/73.

76. #for#, before: I call to witness Apollo; comp. 145/101: somewhat different is ‘for mi lif,’ 145/106, upon my life, staking my life on the fulfilment of my promise.

78. #haldest her on#, perseverest in this determination; comp. ‘hald hardiliche | on ꝥ tu hauest bigunnen,’ SK 677; ‘ȝif me hit halt eure forþ in on,’ ON 356.

79. #toluken# &c.: comp. ‘⁊ leoten toluken þi flesch | þe fuheles of þe lufte,’ SK 2092; ‘þer ase wilde deor limmel to luken ham,’ SJ 79/5; 34/83.

81. #aȝein þe#, in reply to thee, answering thy oath by Apollo and Diana: the stop after #aȝein# is to be disregarded. #ich swerie# &c., I call Christ to witness: the _acc._ after swerien is perhaps without a parallel, but it gives a sense somewhat different from that which would be gained by the insertion of bi or to.

83. #i leitinde leie#, in flashing flame: comp. ‘for al þe cwarterne, of his cume | leitede o leie,’ SK 671; ‘⁊ i þe reade leie, | ⁊ i þe leitinde fur,’ id. 1360; ‘⁊ leitinde al on leie,’ id. 1651. The full stop after #leie# and the following capital obscure the structure of the sentence--though I be burnt alive, I will not &c.

84. #þe#, _dat._: comp. ‘buhð him ase he bit,’ AR 288/24; ‘all we sal him bu,’ CM 16712; ‘þe lauerdes leofmon ꝥ (= to whom) alle kinges buheð,’ HM 5/24. #her onont#, as regards this matter. #Þreate# &c.: see 34/86. #buhe ne beien#: comp. 132/3; SJ 27/10, 43/9; ‘buhsume ⁊ beisume,’ SK 1787.

86. #leoftede# is translated in Specimens, ‘flattered,’ and derived from OE. #lyfettan#, which is hardly possible: leotede luueliche, made affectionate gestures, behaved affectionately, would give a known combination: comp. ‘wið luueliche lates,’ SM 14/4; ‘ȝif þu makest ei semblaunt, oðer eni luue lates touward unðeauwes,’ AR 90/17; ‘mid leofliche læten,’ L 19396; 110/273, but the weak forms of læten are not elsewhere found before the fifteenth century.

88. #wið þerean ꝥ# is explained in Specimens as for wið ꝥ þerean, the last word being taken with wenden as, in respect of that matter; but that seems very improbable, though the order of words is often strange enough in this piece. Stratmann suggested that #þerean# is a mistake for þen, which does not account for the corrupt form. Possibly the scribe had before him, wið þē (= þen) ane ꝥ, on the sole condition that: see 72/192 note. #wið ꝥ# in R 70 means, on condition that.

89. #do#, join.

91. #To soðe#: see 90/73.

92. #Vnwurð#, despicable: see 26/258.

R 75. #ꝥ . . . to#, to whom: see 1/3.

95. #him#: _dat._ with lihen; _acc._ with leauen: comp. for the former, 29/2, 191/474; ‘Iff iosephus ne legeð me,’ GE 1281: the combination is uncommon. #weole# &c.: see 121/161.

96. #wa . . . wontreaðe#: comp. ‘wurðe him wurst of wa ⁊ of wontreaðe,’ SJ 27/12; ‘hauest ifunden weane þrin ⁊ wondraðe riue,’ HM 9/4; AR 156/4. See also 58/76.

R 77. #wa . . . wunne#: the repetition of the latter word is probably a scribe’s mistake for weane: comp. ‘ah al þe weane | ⁊ te wa wente,’ SK 1166, 2104.

R 79. #Me#: a word characteristic of the Katherine-group and frequent in AR, where it has been misunderstood by Morton: it wavers between conjunction and interjection, ‘well! but,’ and often introduces a question which offers an objection, or applies what has been said, like, ‘well then’: comp. AR 310/17; SK 325, 589; SM 6/19, 7/22. Its origin is obscure; if another guess may be hazarded, it is perhaps Anglo-French mes (F. mais, L. magis), which was used in contemporary French in much the same way.

98. #ꝥ . . . to#, to whom.

99. #se forð#, so far: comp. ‘ert ibrouht so uorð ouer,’ AR 294/7; ‘to uorð,’ too far, id. 294/14: see also 64/85. #letest lutel of#: see 44/260.

100. #ꝥ ich wite#, so far as I know.

103. #lette lif#: see 118/28.

104. #ꝥ me of þuncheð#: see 30/10. #luuie . . . leue#: see 143/73.

105. #as#: see 121/1; similarly 145/108.

106. #laðin# &c., his love shall be hateful to thee: so, ‘ꝥ te schal laði þi lif,’ HM 9/2.

108. #as on ernesse#, as a foretaste: probably the first occurrence of ernes. #besmen#: so, ‘beateð hire bare bodi wið bittre besmen,’ SM 5/19; ‘mid besman swingan,’ Orosius 68/11. Before #ꝥ# something like, ꝥ þe wule of þunchen, has dropped out. As the reading of R, which means, that it shall turn to misfortune that you were woman, is plainly an attempt to mend a faulty original, it may be concluded that the omission belongs to an earlier stage of the transmission. For #to wraðerheale# see 141/64.

111. Here the scribe became confused: his original had probably, ꝥ ti wil is wurch þu, but he began with _wur_, and erasing it forgot to add it at the end. Then he omitted het before #swiðe#, and tried to mend matters by changing leggen into #leggeð#, but forgot #strupen#. #bliðeliche#, gladly, is strange.

113. #liðeri#, should be in a lather: comp. ‘ꝥ hire leofliche lich | liðerede al o blode,’ SK 1542; ‘leiden swa luðerliche on hire leofliche lich[;] ꝥ hit . . . liðerede o blode,’ SM 5/20.

115. #beaten# &c.: see 34/86.

118. #fetles#, vessels, i.e. dwellings; comp. 131/83.

119. #heien ne herien#: see 139/20. #teone ne tintreohe#: comp. ‘ne schal þe na teone | ne tintreohe trukien,’ SK 402, 623, 1503, 1795. With #timbrin# comp. ‘to timber trey and tene,’ Minot vi. 2 note.

R 101. #allescunnes#: see 81/80 note.

120. #sutelin#, be made plain: comp. ‘isuteleð ⁊ ischeawed,’ AR 154/2; ‘sutel ⁊ eðcene,’ id. 154/22; ‘for sutel is ⁊ eðsene,’ SK 381.

125. #þeauien ⁊ þolien#, permit and suffer: comp. ‘þauieð ant þolieð,’ SM 15/19; ‘þatt Godd ne þole nohht | Ne þafe,’ Orm i. 188/5456. #mucli#: comp. ‘þi lauerd godd it þoleð him to muccli þi mede,’ HM 47/16. #muchelin#, R 102, is a form characteristic of the group. #mede . . . murhðe#: comp. 147/157; ‘mi murhðe ⁊ mi mede,’ SK 2350.

126. #eauer se# goes with #mare#.

128. #drehen . . . derf#: for the combination, characteristic of the group, comp. ‘ꝥ hit ne sem . . . ꝥ ich derf drehe,’ SM 5/31; ‘abeore bliðeliche þe derf ꝥ tu drehest,’ HM 17/31; ‘hwen ha schulen | þe derf of deað drehen,’ SK 2392; ‘to deaðe | deruest þing to drehen,’ id. 2100.

R 106. #willes#, spontaneously: so, ‘willes ⁊ woldes,’ AR 6/26; ‘willes wiðuten neode,’ id. 242/19; ‘willes ⁊ waldes,’ HM 27/2.

131. #Þet#, because.

134. #bicumen#, arrive, come: comp. 175/434.

135-7. #wei--forð# is a parenthesis (alas for your fates that ye were born in the world and brought forth), and so is #awei--weren# in R 111; comp. ‘Wa me þære wyrde, pæt min wynn alæg,’ Psalter (Thorpe) 373/5. For #se#, which can only mean so, to must be substituted, and if #ȝe schule# is retained, it must be regarded as a mere repetition of the preceding ‘ȝe schulen,’ due to the parenthesis. #to wraðer heale# in R 111 goes with #sinken#; in B its position is ambiguous: probably in the original it belonged to the parenthesis, and the right order in R is, to wraðer heale, sinken ow: for the reflexive, see 13/34 note. For #sar . . . sorhe# see 52/374.

141. #ehsihðe#: a word characteristic of the group: comp. SM 17/27; SK 2315; ‘eihsihðe,’ OEH i. 209/28. In the passage here omitted, Eleusius tries to win her over, but neither suasion nor scourging shake her resolution.

142. #festnin# &c.: comp. ‘to festnin ham | in treowe bileaue,’ SK 1985; 180/143.

143. #isoðe bileaue#: see 89/28: R 116 without it gives a poor sense. #don . . . ut of dahene#, put out of life: the expression is common: comp. ‘þat we haue done him of daghe,’ CM 4168.

144. As #brune# is everywhere else a noun (see 119/83), of must have fallen out after it here. #wallinde bres#: comp. 60/103.

145. #healden#, pour, as at 72/197. Brock translates, ‘hold.’

148. #þer . . . in#, in which. The writer had in mind the second lection in the Breviary for the feast of S. John ante Portam Latinam (May 6th), ‘in olei ferventis dolium missus: ex quo tamen divina se protegente gratia tantum liber exiit a dolore corporis: quantum alienus erat a corruptione carnis,’ York Breviary, ii. 277.

149. #liues lauerd#: OE. #līf-frēa#; ‘auctorem vitae,’ Acts iii. 15. #him#, for himself.

151. #wod þa#, then mad; the text seems defective. With R 121, comp. ‘to weden ⁊ to wurðen | ut of his ahne witte,’ SK 1257; 130/52.

157. #murhðe . . . mede#: comp. 145/125. #sy . . . selhðe#: comp. 143/69. #ꝥ . . . efter#, after whom.

158. #al#, completely, qualifies #bisteaðet ⁊ bistonden#, circumstanced and beset; a combination characteristic of the group: comp. ‘ich iseo me . . . bistaðed ant bistonden as lomb mit wed wulues,’ SM 3/24; AR 264/24. #Riht . . . read#: comp. 121/141.

161. #nestfalde#, nearest: apparently here only. NED compares OE. #nēahfeald#.

162. #mine--hearmen#: ‘et inimici hominis domestici eius,’ Mic. vii. 6, S. Matt. x. 36. #inhine# does not occur elsewhere, but its meaning, ‘household servant,’ is assured by the Latin imitated. In R 130 #heanen# makes no sense, perhaps heanende is to be read.

163. #anes#: see 74/207 note.

164. #wil cweme# apparently answers to OE. #wel-gecwēme#, which is quoted in B-T. as a gloss on beneplacitus in Spelman’s Psalter cxviii. 108, cxlvi. 12.

165. #ilated se luðere#, so wickedly mannered, behaved. #ilated# is a new formation from lat, usually _pl._ lates, looks, manners: see 129/35. In Specimens translated, ‘visaged so horribly.’

167. #Al#, if not a mistake for Als, goes with #ham#.

168. #wid#, against: see 48/299 note.

169. #wite . . . were#: comp. 118/50 note. #witere#, make wise, teach. In R 134, #ant witen# is to be altered into ant were.

170. #liues lattow#, life’s guide: OE. #lātþēow#, #lāttēow#.

171. #hauene of heale#: ‘salutis portum,’ see 5/12 note. In R 135 with #lestinde#, understand lif.

173. #⁊ tu#, thou too, even so do thou &c. #folkes feader#: see 141/57.

174. #to drif#, drive away; usually means, drive asunder, dispel.

176. #ȝet# goes with #iseon#.

177. #schrenchen ⁊ schunchen#, deceive and terrify: an uncommon combination. #of#, out of, from: comp. ‘wrenchen sum rihtwis of þe weie,’ SJ 43/5.

178. #wið#, see 82/118, 117/5.

179. #crefti crokes#: see 129/42. #crechen#, scratch; if it be a form of cracchen: in NED said to be for crochen, catch with hooks or claws, from F. crocher: comp. ‘crefti crokes,’ 129/42; ‘crokinde creftes,’ 131/87.

180. #iheiet ⁊ iheret#: comp. 138/17.

_Cross-References:_

5/12 (note) = II. (Saint Godric’s Hymns) 13/34 (note) = V. (A Parable) 48/299 (note) = VIII. (Poema Morale) 72/192, 74/207 (notes) = IX. B (Ancrene Wisse: Outer Rule) 81/80 (note) = XI. (Hic Dicendum est de Propheta) 128/1 (note) = XVII. (Saint Katherine) 359 = IX. Ancrene Wisse, Phonology, under “ea”. 360 = the same, under “a + g”. 398/97 = _note to line_ 97 of IX. B (Ancrene Wisse: Outer Rule) pp. 492, 493-99, 503, 504-506 = XVI. (Sawles Warde) under the corresponding headings (Manuscripts, Literature etc.).

_Errata_

#Edition:# ... E. E. T. S., O. S. 51. [E.E.T.S., O.S.] #Phonology:# ... _u_-umlaut of #i# [_#i# misprinted as italic instead of bold_] neomen 45 has _å_-umlaut of #i# [_a_-umlaut] #ǣ{1}# is _e_ in lefdi 7 [#æ{1}#] Anglian #nēst#, WS. #nīehst# [W.S.]

XX. THE OWL AND THE NIGHTINGALE

#Manuscripts:# i. Jesus College, Oxford, E 29 (J); see p. 285. ii. Cotton Caligula A 9, British Museum (C); see p. 450. They are copies of a common exemplar X, which was probably taken directly from the poet’s original. X was written by two scribes; the work of the first is represented in ll. 1-353 of the present selection; that of the second in ll. 354-437; the former was accustomed to French scribal methods. The writer of C was a mechanical copyist and not at home in English, consequently he reproduces X with tolerable accuracy. The scribe of J was more independent (see p. 293).

#Facsimile:# Of J. The Owl and the Nightingale, ed. J. E. Wells.

#Editions:# Stevenson, J., Roxburghe Club, London, 1838; Wright, T., Percy Society, no. xxxix, London, 1843 (text of C); Stratmann, F. H., Krefeld, 1868 (critical edition); *Wells, J. E., Boston, 1907 (parallel texts with notes); Gadow, W., Palaestra, no. lxv, Berlin, 1909 (text of C with variants of J).

#Literature:# Borsch, J., Ueber Metrik und Poetik der altenglischen Dichtung The Owl and the Nightingale, Münster, 1883; *Breier, W., Eule und Nachtigall, Halle, 1910, completed in Morsbachs Studien, no. xxxix, Halle, 1910; ES xlii. 306, 408; Ebisch, W., Zur Syntax des Verbs im altengl. Gedicht Eule und Nachtigall, Leipzig, 1905; Gadow, W., Eule und Nachtigall, Berlin, 1907 (completed in edition as above); Kenyon, J. S., Journal of English and Germanic Philology, xii. 572-92; Koch, J., Anglia, Beiblatt, xxi. 227-40; Noelle, H., Die Sprache des altengl. Gedichts von der Eule und Nachtigall, Göttingen, 1870; Sherman, L. A., A Grammatical Analysis of the OE. Poem The Owl and the Nightingale, Transactions of the American Philological Association, vi. 1875. Wells, J., Anglia, xxxiii. 252-69; Modern Language Notes, xxv. 108, xxvi. 139-41.

#Phonology:# (1) =of C=. The spellings of (a) ll. 1-353 and (b) ll. 354-437 are distinguished, when they show a characteristic difference. Significant rhymes are recorded. Oral #a# is _a_, fare 422, tale 3; #a# before nasals wavers between _a_ (10 times) and _o_ (14), can 126, vram 119, man 334, mani 399, þan 22, 24, þane 39, wanne 308, bigon 13, con 199, from 154, monnes 254, moni 355, nome 405, þonkes 70, won 240, wone 243, wonne 38, exceptionally þenne (#þænne#); #a# before lengthening groups is _o_, honde 400, onde 297, longe 45, tonge 112, but andsuare 105, answare 55, 277; #and# is and 4, an 7 &c.; #man#, indefinite, me 32; ferden 432 r. w. uerde, descends from #fēran#. #æ# is regularly _a_, bare 56, 106 r. w. answare, glad 312, hadde 275 r. w. iladde, smal 73 r. w. al. #e# is _e_, bet 21, hen 291; before lengthening groups, ende 386, felde 357: (a) suich 283, suiche 134 is from a form in #i#, (b) swucche 354, swuch 374 from one in #y#: a diphthong has developed in imeind 18, 306 (#gemenged#, comp. 451/25). #i# is _i_, bile 79, chirche 339, is 388 r. w. wis, (a) wile 141 r. w. sckile; before lengthening groups, bringe 311, linde 393, but wsome (= ysome) 136, (b) wulle 373, nulleþ 407, wuste 10 r. w. custe, neltu 106 (#nelt#), wolcumeð 318, with _o_ written in this text for _u_ from _e_ by labial influence, comp. wulcume L 8528 &c., grulde 98 (*#gryllan#). #o# is _o_, bodi 73, horne 234, word 45, wolde 128, nolde 115, but walde 370 r. w. scholde; þane 414 is LWS. #þane#, wan 334, #hwan#: on _prep._ is reduced to an 239 and often to a 20 &c. #œ#, _i_-umlaut of #o#, still lingers in seorhe ON 1599. #u# is _u_, cumeþ 298, luueþ 188, wunest 254, but _o_ in lo`u´ue, where `u´ was possibly meant as a correction of _o_, ouerkome 386, wode 322 r. w. rude, woning 403, in which _o_ is associated with _m_, _n_, _w_; #u# before lengthening groups is _u_, dumb 294, tunge 194, but tonge r. w. iþrunge. #y# is _u_, kume 314 (perhaps with [u] from cuman), murie 261, vuele 63, stude 410 (#styde#) r. w. mide, muchel 404, muche 413 (#mycel#); before lengthening groups, cunde 88, hurne 14; but unrounded in þincþ 430, þincþe 46, þinche 262, wirche 340; wrchen 286 is probably French writing for wurchen.

#ā# is regularly _o_, bore 286, hoten 192, swo 76, 381, so 52, 289, 415, o 249, 331, þos 95, but a 45, 104, 112, an 4, 80, Portesham 434, swa ON 1577, wa 425, þeos 413 (#þās#); before two consonants _o_, wostu 334, but axest 325, 329, hattest 191. #ǣ{1}# is regularly _e_, brede 130, ledeþ 216, sprede 315 r. w. mede, þen 386, but þare 28 &c., þan 156 (3); before two consonants _e_, fleshe 83, ileste 257, meshe 84 (*#mǣscan#), neuer 60, but iladde 276, wranne 360. #ǣ{1}# is elsewhere sometimes _ea_, eauer ON 922, deale ON 954, bileaue ON 1688. #ǣ{2}# is also _e_, forlete 36, rede 425; before two consonants, oferd 277, but _a_ in lat 194 (4), lateþ 372 (3), ofdrad 387, þar 16 &c., þareafter 271, þareuore 210, whar 64, war 392, uareuore 203, 333, these pronominal forms probably come from shortened #ǣ#: before two consonants, fnast 44, raddest 115, misraddest 116. #ē# is _e_, breme 158, kene 212; before two consonants, dest 49, 237 r. w. preost, spedde 435, but dost 307, dostu 174, 289, doþ 112, 238 with _o_ from the plural. #ī# is _i_, wile 155, pipe 22, suiþe ON 376; before two consonants, þriste 127 r. w. liste, wisdom 399, but (a) suþe 2, 12, 111 from #swȳþe# with absorption of _w_, comp. such from swuch. #ō# is _o_, brode 93, ilome 49, noþeles 105, but neoþeles 357 (15 times in Layamon, see 452/8); before two consonants, blostme 315, softe 6. #ū# is _u_, kuþe 332, tukest 63, hule 4 &c., but houle 428, a French writing. #ȳ# is _u_, hud 120, lutle 356, þuuele 214 r. w. foȝle, but litle 419, þe 19, 34, 401, forþe 69, vorþi 65, hwi 407, whi 106, wi 174 (#hwī#).

#ea# before #r# + cons. is _a_, areȝ 285, ȝare 171 r. w. aiware, hardeliche 280, þaref 146, but eardingstowe 28; the _i_-umlaut before a lengthening group is _e_ in uerde 433 r. w. ferden: #cierm# is chirme 221 (see Bülb. 187 anm.) but bichermet 215. #ea# before #l# + cons. is _a_, al 8 and the numerous forms of #eall#, hale 2 r. w. dale, schaltu 165; before lengthening groups _o_, which descends from Anglian unbroken lengthened #a#, as in Layamon 452/15, bold 233 (3), boldeliche 279, biholde 71, holde 3 (4), wolde 367, but once belde 358: without umlaut are falt 37, halt 32. #eo# before #r# + cons. is _o_, for 328, vorre 243, horte 37, 43, rorde 227; before a lengthening group, ilorned 172; but daisterre 244 r. w. vorre: forbernest 297 is from #bærnan#; #wyr# words are worse 219 r. w. mershe, worste 10, worþ 283, wrs 34, elsewhere wurs ON 793, wrþ 256, unwrþ 255, elsewhere wurþ ON 769. #eo# before #l# + cons. is seen in sulue 69. The _u_-umlaut of #a# is wanting in hauekes 207 (3). #eo#, _u_-umlaut of #e# gives houene 335, 346 r. w. steuene, 350. #eo#, _å_-umlaut of #e# is seen in feole 415, but uele 20, and fale 365, auale 410 (#feala#). #eo#, _u_- and _å_-umlaut of #i# is _o_ (for _eo_) in honne 66 r. w. kunne, hore 216 &c., noþerward 100, soþþe 240, but (b) heore 418. #ea# after palatals is _a_, schal 143, ȝaf 55, 105, aȝaf 95, before nasal, schame 50 (3), but schome 123. #ie# after #g# is _e_, biȝete 344, uorȝete 343, underȝete 124, ȝeueþ 419, but ȝiueþ 416, ȝiue 410. #ie# after #sc# is _i_ in schille 98, 364, _e_ in schelde 356 r. w. felde. #gef#, EWS. #gief# is ȝif 51 &c., ȝef 429. #eo# after #sc# is _o_, scholde 371 r. w. walde, sholdest 54, short 73, but Anglian schulde 390 r. w. wule. #eom# is Angl. am 126, 212, nam 387, #heom#, hom 62, 94.

#ēa# is regularly _e_, blete 57, dreme 230; before two consonants, cheste 133 r. w. unwerste, but earen 254, unneaþe ON 1605, dreim 21 (a scribal error). The _i_-umlaut is _e_, grettre 74, ȝeme 345, ihere 180 r. w. fere, iherde 2, ihert 406, but ihire 228. #ēo# is (a) _o_, a French writing, blo 108, 319, bon 198, 342, bo 107 (9), boþ 75 (4), flo 33 (4), flon 106, floþ 214, ho 19 (13), hom 353, iso 243, isoþ 302, lof 159 (3), oftoned 190, so 34, swore 73, tone 50, prostes 351, þo 26, 155, þos 41 (4), holde 12, hold 100, athold 270, bihold 30, but the corrector has added e in preost 238 r. w. dest, weode 236; (b) _eo_, beo, beoþ 378, 418, heo 360 (9), heom 407, 408, but ho 368. The _i_-umlaut is seen in atfliþ 37 (Angl. #flīþ#), þuster 154 (3). #gesīene# is isene 122, 211 r. w. kene; #gīet#, ȝet 225. #ēo# from #ō# after #g# is _o_ in ȝomere 293 r. w. sumere, #ēa# from #ā# after #sc#, _e_ in schede 153.

#a# + #g# is _aȝ_, draȝe 209. #æ# + #g# is _ai_, dai 89 &c., vaire 15 &c., mai 141 (4), fawre 138, miswritten for fayre, but _ei_ in seide 9, 289, 424, 265 r. w. rede, 325 r. w. dede, rhymes which indicate sede 33, 173 representing #sǣde# as the original form, so ised 273 r. w. red is #gesǣd#. #e# + #g# is _ei_, aȝein 431, pleie 169, wei 224, under this head come seist 50 (4) from #segst#, seiþ 132 from #segð#, seie 173 from #sege#: aȝen 7, 314 is #agēn#, snailes 87, #snægl#. #i# + #h# is _iȝ_, adiȝte 242, wiȝt 312, or _ih_, diht 399; for #iht#, _ist_ is written in mist 78: final #ig# is _i_, bodi 73. #o# + #g# is _oȝ_, itoȝen 368. #u# + #g# is _uȝ_, fuȝele 64 r. w. vuele, but the spirant has been absorbed in fuelkunne 65; foȝle 213 r. w. þuuele, is a French spelling. #y# + #h# is unrounded in hiȝte 208, hiȝteþ 314. #ā# + #g# is _oȝ_, oȝe 195, þroȝe 196. #ǣ{1}# + #g# is _ei_ in eiþer 9, 141, but aiþer 7, aiware 172. #ǣ{2}# + #g# is seen in iseȝe 303. #ō# + #g# is _oȝ_, boȝe 15, woȝe 120. #ō# + #h# is _oȝ_, broȝte 150, noȝt 58 (#nōht#), roȝte 305, þoȝte 269, but _oh_ in brohte 369. #u# + #h# is _uȝ_, þuȝte 21, ofþuȝte 275. #ea# + #h# is _eȝ_, iseȝ 29, ouerseȝ 30; the _i_-umlaut is _iȝ_, miȝt 64, 177, miȝte 42, 411, miȝtest 192, niȝt 89, but mihte 392. #eo# + #ht#, ariȝt 278, briȝter 108, viȝte 128, riȝt 76, riȝte 120 r. w. liȝte 398, but riht 379, unrihtfulnesse 385; bituxen 390 represents WS. #betux#: the _i_-umlaut gives isiþ 285, but isoþ 302 without umlaut. #ēa# + #g#, #h# is (a) eȝe 304 r. w. iseȝe, neȝ 44, þeȝ 48, but þoȝ 220, (b) þeg 367, þah 422. #ēo# + #h# is (a) _iȝ_, liȝte 119 r. w. riȝte, (b) ih, lihtlich 402, 417; the _i_-umlaut is seen in fliȝst 89, 183, fliȝt 132, 224, atfliþ 37: #dīegel# is diȝele 2. #ā# + #w# is _ow_, crowe 220, croweþ 251, snov 308, asnowe 291, owel 80 (*#āwul#), but nawt 383; clawe 109, 110 is probably #clawe#. #ī# + #w#, howe 108 (Anglian #hēow#). #ō# + #w#, bigrowe 27, -stowe 28, but nouþer 375 (#nōwþer#). #ēa# + #w#, gleu 149, unþeu 150, but sewi 107. #ēo# + #w#, eu 436, ower 379, tro _d._ 316, representing occasional _dat._ #trēo#.

In bisemar 104 _a_ appears for #e#, in svikel- 118, 119 _e_ for #o#, in munekes 347 _e_ for #u#, in gladur 19, uairur 108, _u_ for #e#, but gladdere ON 737. #ā# is _o_ in oferd 277, elsewhere aferd 288. _e_ has been added in areȝ 285 (#earg#), areȝþe 282, arehþe 359, bareȝ 286, bisemar 104, hardeliche 280, narewe 68, steuene 345, 363, þaref 146, lost in warni 246, as already in OE. #warnian#; houẹneriche 335, houẹneliȝte 350, represent #heofon-rīce#, #heofon-lēoht#, similarly þornewode 322, þarẹuore 210, warẹuore 203, 333. The prefix in atschet 44 is #oþ#; #be-# is regularly _bi-_, bigrede 220, bitelle 199; _a_ in adun 164 is #of#; the prefix #ge-# is fully preserved as _i-_; the suffix -hede, 118 &c. is *#hǣd#.

#w# is written _u_ in suiche 134, 283, tuengst 112, but more frequently _v_, sval 7, tosvolle 101; it stands for _wu_ in wrchen 286, wrs 34, wrþ 256, unwrþ 255, for _wi_ in wle 284, for _uu_ in wl 31, wle 35 (#fūle#); in wole 8, as Breier explains, the original had uuele (#yfele#), the copyist took uu as w and read wole (#fūle#). Metathesis of #r# is seen in unwerste 134; #rr# is simplified in for 328. #n# is lost in þane 39 &c., wane 298, 352, ope 124, #on# is often reduced to _a_, adwole 420 &c.; #nn# is simplified in hen 291, kun 332. For #f# initial, _f_, _u_, _v_ are used indiscriminately, faire 114, vaire 15, fiȝt 132, viȝte 128, for 328, vorre 243, foruorþ 276, for 32, uor 19, vor 43, vram 119, from 62; it is once _w_ in waste (#fæst#), and _w_ = _uu_ in wl 31, wle 35; between vowels #f# is regularly _u_, buue 164, auale 410 beside fale 365, touore 371, similarly eure 251, cliure 78 (3), sulue 67, but _v_ in eve 41, over 64, _f_ in afere 177, aferd 288, ifare 278, oferd 277; in other positions it is commonly _f_, efne 229, stefne 230. #t# is lost in blosme 16 as already in OE. #blōsma#, nel tu 106, doubled in sittest 89; for #t#, _d_ is written in ad 241; #tt# is simplified in wit 420. For #d#, _t_ is written in ihert 406; #d# is mostly omitted in an 7 &c., beside occasional and 4, 294, also in answare 55, 277, as rarely in OE., but andsuare 105; spene 121 is a new back formation from the _pt._ tense and _pp._ of spend (NED); #dd# is simplified in bed- 240, midel- 349. For #þ#, _d_ appears in haued 123, lodlich 32 (3), _t_ in witute 139, 200, bigredet 67, biledet 68, hatiet 186, schuniet 185, singet 152, wit 56, 222; dostu 174, 289 is a compendium for dost þu, similarly axestu 329, wenestu 219. #sć# is _sch_, schal 143, schende 210, bischopen 404, schuniet 185, but occasionally _sh_, shal 258, ishote 23, mershe 220, and once _s_, sewi 107. The stop #c# is regularly _k_ before _e_ and _i_, unker 107, loki 56, also in kon 326, kume 314, kun 332, kunne 144, kuþe 332, and _ck_ in eck 130, haueck 219, otherwise _c_, cunne 47, 48, cuþe 360, hauec 223, spac 274: #cc# is _ck_, flockes 216, þicke 17, 308; it is simplified in stoc 25: (b) ah 357 (6) is Anglian #ah#, but (a) ac 83 (6). #cw# is (a) _qu_, quaþ 143, but (b) cwaþ 372 (5). #č# is expressed by _ch_, chirche 339, ich 1, swuche 354, unwrenche 125, ilich 232, 234, but ilike 113 r. w. biswike. #čč# is _cch_, recche 60, wrecche 251, but reche 58; #čǧ# is _gg_, alegge 272, hegge 17, 59 (*#hecg#), legge 164, segge 18. Palatal #g# is written _ȝ_, ȝare 171, ȝaf 105, areȝþe 285, murȝþe 257 (3), areȝ 285, bareȝ 286, folȝeþ 223, isuolȝe 102, unwroȝen 118, but arehþe 359, ibolwe 101. #ng# appears in lengþe 130, strengþe 129, but strencþe 356 (Horn, Beiträge, 60). #h# has been added initially in his 404, hunke 376, hure 141, and dropped in abbe 130, is 281. #hr# is _r_ in rise 19; #hl#, _l_ in lud 6, luste 99; #hw# is _hw_ in hwile ON 1591, _wh_ in what 60, but otherwise _w_, aiware 172, wat 141 &c., wan 334, wile 6 (3), wa 425, wo 152, wonne 38, wone 243, won 240, wider 342.

(2) =Of J.= Mainly a record of divergences from C. #a# is more frequently _o_ before nasals, grome 49, lome 375, mon 334, 355, and before lengthening groups, ondsware 105, onsware 55. Beside hwanne 121, 308, hwenne occurs 38 (4). ewel 80 takes its initial vowel from #æl#. #æ# is _e_ in hedde 102 (3), queþ 372 (3), wes 1 (7). #e#, sweche 354, but such 374, suche 134 (#swylc#). #i# is often written in French fashion _y_, especially in conjunction with _m_, _n_, _u_, _h_, myne 51, ynne 208, clyures 111, fyht 132; #willaþ# is wille 373; welcometh 318 has _wel_ substituted for #wil#; with cleures 84, 206 comp. ‘cleafres,’ AR 102/5, ‘claures,’ Corpus MS. #o#, wolde 370. #u#, tunge 37, vnne 382, but schonyeþ 185, vowele 213, a French use. #ā#, hwo 425, no 202, meaning nor, but naþeles 105, 357. #ǣ{1}# dayrewe 244, wrenne 360 (3); eoch 231, euche 151, euych 187 descend from #ylc#, comp. 288/8; meysse 84 (*#mǣscan#), vleysse 83, with #ǣ# before #sć#, may, in this text, be French spellings, but comp. 428/6. #ǣ{2}# is with fewer exceptions _e_, efne 239, let 194 (4), leteþ 372 (3), ofdred 387. #ē#, dome 426 is misspelt for deme. #ī#, swiþe 2, 12, swyþe 149. #ȳ#, hwy, with y written for i. #ea# before #r# + cons. is _e_ in erdingstowe 28. #eo# before #r# + cons. is _eo_, veor 328, veorre 243, heorte 37, reorde 227, steorre 244, ileorned 172. #ie#, bichirmeþ 215. No umlaut in heuene 346 r. w. stefne, heueryche 335, fele 415, but veole 20. #eo#, _u_- and _å_-umlaut of #i#, heonne 66, heore 216 &c. neþerward 100, seþþe 240. #ea# after palatal and before nasal, schome 50, 374, schomye 117. #ie# after #g# is regularly _e_, yeue 410, yeueþ 416, 419. #gief# is if 283 &c.: #heom#, heom 62 &c. #ēa#, eren 254, drem 21; the _i_-umlaut, ihere 228. #ēo# is mostly preserved, fleo 33, heo 33, heolde 51, leof 159, preostes 351, teone 50, but he 19, holde 12, lesen 267, prest 238, swere 73.

The new diphthongs have reached a more advanced stage in which w displaces ȝ; y is used extensively for i. #a# + #g#, drawe 209, mawe 138. #æ# + #g#, day 89, vayre 15, but seyde 9, iseyd 273. #e# + #g#, ayeyn 7 (3), pleye 169, seyþ 132, snayles 87, seist 50. #i# + #h#, adihte 242, bitwihen 390 (#betwih#), myht 78. #i# + #g#, unwryen 118. #o# + #g#, itowen 368. #u# + #g#, vowele 64, fowel 65, muwe 62. #ā# + #g#, owe 195, þrowe 196. #ǣ{1}# + #g#, eyþer 9; ihware 172 is OE. #gehwǣr#. #ō# + #g#, bowe 15, wowe 120. #ō# + #h# is _ouh_, brouhte 156, 369, þouhte 269, roughte 305, but þoutest 113. #ū# + #h#, þuhte 21, of þuhte 275. #ea# + #h#, iseyh 29, ouerseyh 30; the _i_-umlaut, myhte 42, nyht 252. #eo# + #h#, ariht 278, brihter 108, vyhte 128, ryht 76; the _i_-umlaut, isihþ 285. #ēa# + #g#, eyen 75, 100, eye 304, neyh 44; #þēah# appears as þeih 367, þeyh 137 &c., þey 287, þah 422 (stressed), þe 48, 220. #ēo# + #h#, lyhte 119, ryhte 120; the _i_-umlaut, flyhst 89, flyhþ 132; #dīegel# is dyele 2. #ā# + #w#, snouh 308, nouht 58, nowiht 256, noht 183. #ī# + #w#, hewe 108. #ēo# + #w#, eure 379, treo 316.

#i# is levelled to _e_ in chireche 339, clerekes 340, 347, mureþe 257, murehþe 336, 343; in gretture 74, _u_ appears for _e_; _e_ is inserted in bolewe 101, swikedom 119.

_w_ stands for _u_ in hw 46, 435; it is written for _wu_ in wrche 340, wrse 219, wrste 10, wrþe 278, and for _we_ in wre 159; it is _u_ in suych 283. Final #n# is omitted in a 241 &c. #f# is _v_ in ivi 27. _d_ is written for #t# in bid 319; it is doubled in gladdre 19. For #þ#, _t_ is written in wit 57, _h_ in bihouhte 155. #sć# is _s_, sarp 79, atset 44, sende 210, _sc_, biscrycheþ 67, scrichest 179, scort 73, _sch_, schewi 107, scholdest 54, schulle 320, mersche 220. Beside sweche 354 are such 374, suche 134. Final #c# is written _k_ in spak 279, 288; #cc# is _kk_ in þikke 308; #cw# is _qu_ in iqueme 427. nyk 202 (OE. #nič#) is a Midland form, and probably due to Scandinavian influence; ic is ic 245 (7) beside ich 1 &c.; ilyche 113 r. w. biswike. Palatal #g# is very regularly written _y_, yaf 55, 105, ayaf 95, yomere 293, voryete 343. After _l_, _r_, #g# passes into the spirant _w_, bolewe 101, foleweþ 223, iswolwe 102, amorewe 310, moreweninge 361, sorewe 309, but arehþe 282 (areh + þe). #g# is lost initially in if 260 &c. #h# is lost in þoutest 113. #hw# is generally preserved, hwan 334, hwar 64, hwi 204, hwile 158, ihware 172.

#Accidence:# (1) =of C=. Strong declension of _masc._ and _neut._ nouns. In the _s. n. a._ bile 79, 205, griþbruche 377, kume 314 (possibly _d._), hete 123 have their OE. vocalic ending; songe 259 is a scribe’s mistake for song; bodi 73 has lost final g, eve 41, final n. _Gen._ -es, fuȝeles 259, speres 355: _d._ -e, boȝe 15, bore 286, daie 352, houene 346, sumere 1, 294, wintere 293, but adai 89 (3), aniȝt 89, 175, awinter 290; with loss of final consonant, amorȝe 310, eue 239 (3), iui 27; OE. are blo 108, 319, (Portes)hom 395, tro 316; king 371 is miswritten for kinge. The _pl. n. a._ of masculines ends in -es, snailes 87, tunes 348, but cliuers 111, 206, fuȝele 64 (see note): neuters are ibere 178, þinge 225, wiȝte 87, 160, and with _masc._ termination, wiȝtes 309, wordes 134, unwiȝtis 174. Genitive is cunne 20; datives have mostly -e, foȝle 213, rise 19 (3), songe 82, stude 410, þinge 312, 415, þuuele 214, vnwrenche 125, volde 72, worde 114 (7), but craftes 329, cliures 84, toppes 306, bischopen 404. The _fem._ nouns of the strong declension have -e in _s. n. a._, answare 55, 277, blisse 298, 346, eardingstowe 28, godhede 267, skentinge 324, stefne 233, unrihtfulnesse 385, cheste 133, sorȝe 309, but hen 291, insiȝt 151, woning 227, 403, so ME. grucching, luring 301: þuster 154, 186, 188 is neuter. _Gen._ -e, worlde ON 476: _dat._ -e without exception, blisse 335, brede 130, ME. pipinge 232, 253, see 397. _Pl. d._ is dede 188, 406; _a._ blisse 311, clawe 109, tale 193, tide 26. Nouns of the weak declension have -e throughout, _s. n._ swore 73, mose 69, _d._ deme 426, frogge 85, eȝe 304, wise 20, but uo 281, _a._ daisterre 244, grame 49, ȝeme 345, but dairim 244, iuo 359: _pl. n._ blosme 16, eȝene 75, _d._ fere 179, but earen 254. Minor declensions: uote _pl. d._ 51; man _s. n._ 210 (3), monnes _s. g._ 254, 304, men _pl. n._ 302, manne _pl. d._ 365, menne 368, men _pl. a._ 246; boke _s. d._ 266; mus _pl. n._ 87; niȝt _s. n._ 250, middelniȝte _s. d._ 241, but aniȝt 89, 175, niȝt _s. a._ 247, 252, niȝtes _pl. n._ ON 523; childre _pl. d._ 419.

Adjectives which in OE. end in #-e# have e in all cases, breme 158, grene 18, isene 122, 211, murie 261, þicke 17, riche 413, similarly those in #-a#, lame 375, unwille 300, but hoked 79 has lost #e#, while ope 124 has vocalic ending by loss of #n#, and fastrede _s. n. m. st._, r. w. unrede, has added e. Those in #-ig# lose g, holi 339. Otherwise the _nom._ is unchanged. Datives have -e in all genders, _str._, gode 223, riȝte 170, 200, 212, _wk._ faire 317, 319, fule 93, 295, olde 163, so _acc. m. f. str._ stronge 205, vaire 15, bolde 288, schille 98, 364, but stif 205, lodlich 32 before vowels, unwrþ 255, _wk._ gode 414, longe 247, but ful 94: wrecche _s. a. m. wk._ 251 has taken the form of #wrecca# sb. (Breier). The _acc. neut._ is uninflected, god 131; wole 8 is corrupt. #mycel# is _s. n._ muchel 404, _s. d._ muchele ON 1217: #āgen# has lost n in oȝe 195. The _pl._ of all adjectives ends in -e, _n._ brode 75, isome 378, _d._ belde 358, smale 213, _a._ gode 206, scharpe 109, but scharp 206 before a vowel. OE. #ān# is _s. n. m._ on 25, 238 before vowel, 82, 330 (pronominal), o 331 (num. adj.), _f._ a 112, an 80 before vowel, _s. d. m._ one 2, 15, &c., _f._ ore 17, 393, 397, one 14, 235, _neut._ one 1, 236, _s. a. m._ one 102, a 94, o 249 (num. adj.), _f._ one 4, 155, 324, an 4, one 403 (num. adj.), _neut._ a 45, 104. #nān# is _s. n. m._ no 210, _f._ 146, _s. d. m._ none 168, 387; as adv. na more 169 (3). Adjectives used as nouns are wise _s. n. m._ 132, _pl. d._ 181, bare _s. d._ 106, _s. a._ 56, gode _s. d._ 338, ille 299, longe 45, vuele, wroþe 63 (see note), blete _s. a._ 57, woȝe 120, 154, worste 10, but god 245. Comparatives have -e, betere 330 (3), grettere 74, mildre 418, worse 219, but briȝter 108, gladur 19, icundur 85, uairur 108.

The personal pronouns are ich, i 353, me, unker _dual g._, of us two 107, we, hure _pl. g._, of us 141, us, þu, (speddes) tu 125, þe, hunke 376 (see note), ȝe, eu. The pronoun of the third person is _s. n._ he _m._ 21 &c., ho _f._ 19, 368, heo 360, 372 &c., he 97, 274, 279, hi 141, hit _neut._ 28, _d._ him _m._ 167, hire _f._ 104, him _neut._ ON 682, _a._ hine _m._ 392, hi _f._ 29, 30, 32, hit _neut._ 92, _pl. n._ hi 10 &c., ho 66, 76, heo 418, 434, 435, _d._ hom 94, heom 408, _a._ hi 420, hom 62 (possibly _d._), heom ON 930: reflexive are hi 155, heom 407; definitive, sulue 69. Possessives are _s. n._ mi, before vowel or pronom. h, min, _d._ mine _m._ 46, mire _f._ 384, mine 59, 245, _neut._ 83, 218, _a. m._ 36, 242, _f._ 196; _pl._ mine; _s. n._ þi, before vowel or h, þin, _d._ þine _m._ 58, þin 117, þire _f._ 307, 383, þine 40 (6), _neut._ 88, _a. m._ 119 &c., þin 249, þine _f._ 194, þin _neut._ 121 (before vowel), þi ON 104; _pl._ þine, but þin _pl. n._ 75, 113 before vowel; his 188, is 281, his _neut._ 267; hire 26; ure 298; ower 379; hore 216, heore 418; unker 423, 425, 426. The definite article is _s. n._ þe _m._ 132, þo _f._ 26, 155, þe 13, 29 &c., þat _neut._ 10 &c., þe 352, _g._ þas _m._ 254, þare _f._ 28, _d._ þan _m._ ON 125, þen 386, þe 322, 371, þare _f._ 31, 397, þe ON 96, þan _neut._ ON 133, þe 56, _a._ þane _m._ 414, þe _f._ 13, þat _neut._ 8, 10; _pl. n._ þe 315. The article is also used demonstratively as _adj._ þat 5, 8 &c., þare 96, as pronoun, þat 82, þan 156, 405. The compound demonstrative is _s. n._ þes _m._ 195, þos _f._ 41 (3), þeos ON 1667, 1707, _d._ þis _neut._ 437 (the metre requires þisse), _a._ þos _f._ 133, þis _neut._ 156 (4); _pl. n._ þos 348, þeos 413, _d._ þisse 432, _a._ þos 95, þeos ON 1653. The relatives are þe ON 1346, þat 10, 144; meaning to which 187, that which 78, 115, 174. Interrogatives are wa 425, wo 152, wat 141, 271, 353, what 60, (to) wan 334, wuch ON 1378 and the correlative suich _n. s. m._ 283, swuch _s. a. f._ 374, suiche _pl. n._ 134, swucche _pl. d._ 354. #gelīc# is ilich _s. n. m._ 232, 234; #gelīca#, ilike _pl. n._ 113. Indefinites are me 32 &c., man 341; sum _s. a. f._ 6, summe _pl. n._ ON 1648; eiþer 9, 141, aiþer 7; oþer _s. d. f._ 54, _s. a._ 7, _s. a. f._ 326, oþeres _s. g._ 9, oþer _pl. n._ 160, _pl. a._ 225; ech _s. n. m._ 231, _neut._ 312, eche _s. d. m._ 151; eurich _s. n. m._ 150, _f._ 257, _neut._ 185, _g. m._ 304; eni _s. a. f._ 326, _neut._ 338; moni _s. n. m._ 355, mani _s. a. m._ 399, manie 398, monie _pl. d._ 72, _a._ 193; uale _s. d. m._ 410, uele _pl. g._ 20, fale _pl. d._ 365, feole 415; al _s._ throughout, except all _s. d. f._ 129, alle _s. a. f._ 247; alle _pl._, except alre _g._ 10.

The infinitive ends in -e, singe 39 (5), wirche 340 and 40 other instances; exceptions in -en are losen 267, singen 327 before vowel or h, abiten 77, smiten 78 at end of line, hoten 192, speten 39, wrchen 286; the second weak conjugation has -i, liki 258, sewi 107; contract verbs are flo 284, 319, flon 106 before vowel. The _dat. inf._ is not inflected, to biholde 71, for teche 408, [for] ȝiue 410, to seche 402 (virtual nominative): no examples in -en. Presents are _s._ 1. abbe 130, adiȝte 242, kep (ich) 110; of second wk. conj. warni 246, wndri 184; of contract verbs, iso 243, so 34; 2. axest 325, singest 247 (3), passive, hattest 191, axestu 329, wenestu 219, ME. clackes 81; with -ist, singist 175, wenist 231; seist 50 (4) represents #segst#; syncopated forms are telst 226, tuengst 112, wenst 47, the metre requires woldẹst 84, hauẹst 109; a contract verb is fliȝst 89, 183, fliȝst(e) 283; 3. blisseþ 313, croweþ 251 and 17 others, singet 152, schuniet 185; syncopated forms are numerous, abid 421, berþ 281, bit 319, 323, demþ 420, diht 399, falt 37, fiȝt 132, halt 32, helpþ 127, lat 224, liþ 308, lust 168, 169, singþ 339, telþ 256, þincþ 430, worþ 283, writ 399, þincþe 46 (= þincþ þe); seiþ 132 represents #segð#; contract verbs are atfliþ 37, fliȝt 132, 224, isiþ 285, isoþ 302; _pl._ 3. bigredeþ 215, habbeþ 309, 406, bigredet 67, biledet 68, haued 123, floþ 214: _subjunctive s._ 1. holde 59, schilde 57; second wk. conj., loki 56; 2. clawe 110, wepe 182; 3. bitide 52, uorȝete 343; _pl._ 1. lete 133, ute 422, fo 135; 3. bigrede 220; _imperative s._ 2. hud 120, stond 431, loke 122, schamie 117, seie 173, flo 33; _pl._ 2. fareþ 379, lateþ 372 (3), lusteþ 372. Past of Strong Verbs: I a. _s._ 3. aȝaf 95, ȝaf 55, 105, iseȝ 29, ouerseȝ 30, quaþ 143, 145, sat 15, 101, spac 274, 288; _pl._ 3. seten ON 1102; _subj. s._ 3. iseȝe 303: I b. _s._ 3. com 361; _pl._ 3. bicome 434: I c. _s._ 3. bigon 13, song 20 (4), sval 7, warp 45; _subj. s._ 3. wrþe 278: II. _s._ 3. abod 41: III. _s._ 3. atschet 44: IV. _s._ 3. stod 25: V. _s._ 3. athold 270, bihold 30, hold 100, let 8; _pl._ 3. holde 12; _subj. s._ 1. holde 51. Participles past: I a. awreke 198, bispeke 381, underȝete 124: I b. ibore 334: I c. ibolwe 101, ibred 367 (#breden#), isuolȝe 102, iþrunge 38, tosvolle 101: II. itoȝen 368: II, III. vnwroȝen 118: III. ishote 23: IV. ifare 278: V. bigrowe 27, bihote 388, iholde 366, ofdrad 387. Past of Weak Verbs: _s._ 1. iherde 3; 2. raddest 115 (weak form), þoȝtest 113, speddestu 125; 3. broȝte 156, hadde 102, sede 33, seide 9; _pl._ 3. spedde 435, ferden 432: _subj. s._ 3. roȝte 305. Participles past: acoled 161, aferd 288, ihert 406, iladde 276 (#lǣded#), ilorned 172, imeind 18, 306, ised 273, oferd 277, oftoned 190. Minor Groups: an 1 _pr. s._ 382; can 1 _pr. s._ 126, 436, con 199, kon 326, con _pr. s._ 415, cunne 1 _pr. s. subj._ 47, kunne _pr. s. subj._ 144, kuþe _pt. s._ 332, cuþe 360; þaref _pr. s._ 146; wot 1 _pr. s._ 61, wostu 2 _pr. s._ 334, wot _pr. s._ 151, ?wte 2 _pr. s. subj._ 318, wiste _pt. s._ 103, wuste _pt. pl._ 10, nuȝte ȝe 2 _pt. pl._ 394; schaltu 2 _pr. s._ 165, schal _pr. s._ 143, shal 258, shulle 1 _pr. s. subj._ 320, 323, sholdest 2 _pt. s._ 54, scholde _pt. s._ 371, schulde 390; mai 1 _pr. s._ 184, miȝt 2 _pr. s._ 64 (3), mist 78, mai _pr. s._ 141, muȝe 1 _pr. pl._ 138, _pr. pl. subj._ 62, miȝtest 2 _pt. s._ 192, miȝte _pt. s._ 42, mihte we 1 _pt. pl._ 392, miȝte _pt. s. subj._ 411; mote 1 _pr. s. subj._ 52; bon _inf._ 198, bo 146, beo 378, ?be 296, am 1 _pr. s._ 212, icham 126, nam 387, art 2 _pr. s._ 38, nart 285, is _pr. s._ 34, his 404, nis 162, boþ _pr. pl._ 75 (5), beoþ 418, bo 2 _pr. s. subj._ 127, _pr. s. subj._ 107 (4), bo 1 _pr. pl. subj._ 137, 2 _s. imp._ 197, beoþ 2 _pl. imp._ 378; was 1 _pt. s._ 1, were _pt. pl._ 16, _pt. s. subj._ 21, nere 22, weren _pt. pl. subj._ 76, were 305; wille 1 _pr. s._ 198, wilt 2 _pr. s._ 121, nel tu 106, wile _pr. s._ 170, wle 284, wulle ȝe 2 _pr. pl._ 373, nulleþ _pr. pl._ 407, wille 2 _pr. s. subj._ 77, _pr. s. subj._ 144, wile 141, wille _pr. pl. subj._ 222, wolde 1 _pt. s._ 128, nolde 115, woldest 2 _pt. s._ 84, wolde _pt. s._ 70, walde 370; don _inf._ 115, do 374, 1 _pr. s._ 245, dest 2 _pr. s._ 49, 237, dost 307, dostu 174, 289, deþ _pr. s._ 359, doþ 112, 2 _pr. pl._ 377, _pr. pl._ 113, misdoð 413, do we 1 _pr. pl. subj._ 424, do 2 _s. imp._ 431; gon _inf._ 170, goþ _pr. pl._ 221.

The adverb aiware 172, widely, OE. #ǣghwǣr# has added e; B-T. quotes #ǣghwāre# from Lye. Adverbs and prepositions in #-an# have -e, abute 16, bute 403, buue 164, honne 66 (#heonane#), soþþe 240, vorre 243, ine (#innan#) 266 (3), upe (#uppan#) 351, touore 426, witute 139, but bituxen 390: mid 18 (4) and mide 411, oft 36 and ofte 81 occur.

(2) =Of J.= The few divergences are briefly indicated. Nouns: eyen _pl. n._ 75, song _s. n._ 259; adjectives: vuele _s. a. neut. wk._ 8, iliche _s. n. f. str._ 235, o _a. s. f._ 403, non _s. d. m._ 168, icundere _s. n. neut._ 85 (unmetrical), beter _s. n. m. str._ 330, 331. The pronoun of the first person is often ic 245, 385; vr _pl. g._ 141; heo _s. n. m._ 23, 280, 375, 394, he _s. n. f._ 19, hi _pl. n._ 76, my _s. a. m._ 36, þi _s. a. m._ 264, þin _s. d. m._ 125, þine _s. d. f._ 383, eure _s. d. m._ 379; þe _s. n. f._ 26, þon _s. d. neut._ 350; þisse _s. d. neut._ 437, þeos _s. a. f._ 133; oþres _s. g._ 9, 11. Tellest 226, biholdeð 30, helpeð 127 are not syncopated; wenest 231, hateþ, luuyeþ 186, abit 421; wite 2 _pr. s. subj._ 318, unwryen _pp._ 118 (#wrigen#), vnne 1 _pr. s._ 382, beo _inf._ 198; beon _pr. pl. subj._ 137. Noteworthy are muchele _adv._ 413, ne conjunction 74, than.

#Vocabulary:# French are acorde 137, afoled 162, castel 131, certes 412, clerkes clerekes 340, 347, fals 166, gente 160, granti graunti 157 (the latter Anglo-French), grucching 301, ipeint 76, kanunes 347, maister maistre 147, 421, pes pays 373 (the former phonetic, the latter traditional spelling), plait plaid 5, 380, plaidi 140, plaiding 12, rente 410, schirme 222, possibly crei 251. Scandinavian are ilete lete 281, 358, 35, ille 299, lah(fulnesse) 384, nai 202, skentinge 324, sckile 142, þoȝ 220, wronge 152, possibly wailawai 176 and wise 54, if it means song. Noteworthy is the large number of expressive words bearing a popular stamp, such as clackes, clechest, crempe, galegale, misrempe, snepe, spale, totose, ȝollest, ȝoȝelinge.

#Dialect:# The poem was presumably written in Dorsetshire and so in the dialect of the Middle South; the evidence of the rhymes confirms this. But in its present form there are considerable traces of Anglian influence, and these, as appearing equally in both manuscripts, may be set down to the transcriber of their common exemplar or to one of his predecessors.

#Metre:# The short rhymed couplet, in its original French form, has regularly eight syllables, with masculine ending or nine with feminine ending. But the Anglo-French poets, like Chardry, whose Petit Plet, ‘estrif mut delitus’ is in both our manuscripts, allow themselves more freedom, and the form of the verse in ON is varied by all the licences of native English prosody. The types are i. masculine ending, eight syllables, four stresses, iambic rhythm, as, þat plaít | was stíf | and stárc | and stróng 5; so 7, 8, 29, 30, 43, 44, 174, 176, 183-185, 248, 250, 252, 256, 260, 338, 353, 394: i a. the same, but with trochaic beginning, as, Mé is | þe wúrs | þat ích | þe só 34, 149, 319: i b. seven syllables with light syllable wanting in first foot, as, þíd|er fúnd|eþ eúr|ich mán 337: ii. feminine ending, nine syllables, four stresses, iambic rhythm, as, þat ál|re wórst|e þát | hi wúste 10, 12, 15, 17, 19, 20, 27, 35, 36, 40, 45, 46, 55, 56, 67, 69, 72, 82, 93, 95, 96, 99, 105 and 104 other lines: ii a. the same with trochaic beginning, as, wénst þu | þat ích | ne cún|ne sínge 47, 38, 52, 78, 80, 98, 121, 122, 215, 222, 225, 244, 295, 302, 304, 318, 325, 334, 342, 349, 352, 406, 417, 424: ii b. eight syllables with light syllable wanting in first foot, as, ánd | me schíld|e wít | þe bléte 57, 70, 71, 87, 91, 110, 117, 131, 147, 148, 217, 378. The unstressed element in a foot is doubled in i. þi bód|i is shórt | þi swór|ẹ is smál 73, þu chát|ẹrest so dóþ | on ír|ish préost 238, Hit lúu|eþ þúst|er and hát|iet líȝt 186, þat þín|e píp|inge nís | ilích 232: i a. Grétter|ẹ is þin héu|ed þán | þu ál 74, Cértes | cwaþ þe húl|e þát | is sóð 412: i b. þát | ho sóng | hirẹ a bís|emár 104: ii. Eurich þíng | mai lós|en hís | godhéde 267, Me lúst|e bet spét|en þán|e sínge 39, 62, 317, and þúȝ|te wel uúl | of þár|e húle 31, 425, þoȝ crów|e bigréd|ẹ him bí | þe mérshe 220, þe níȝt|ingál|e bigón | þe spéche 13, 116, 154, 187, 253, 262, 266, 354, þe wér|ẹ icúnd|ur to ón|e frógge 85, alsó | ho hád|dẹ one frógg|ẹ isuólȝe 102, Þo quáþ | þe húl|e wo schál | us séme 143: ii a. wénes | tu þat háu|eck bó|þe wórse 219, álle | þat ihér|eþ þín|ẹ ibére 178, Schíld þin|e svík|eldom vrám | þe líȝte 119, 234, 359; ii b. Hó | ne míȝt|e no léng | biléue 42, 264, 347, þár | þo v́l|e sóng | hire tíde 26. The light syllable is missing in i. and mák|ẹst þine sóng | só | unwúrþ 255, He wún|eþ át | pórt|es hóm 395, Ich síng|e bét | þan þú | dést 237, vor suích | worþ bóld | ȝif þú | flíȝst 283, 284: ii. On mé | hít | is wél | iséne 211, Ich wót | þat þú | árt | unmílde 61, 303, 390, wel fíȝt | þat wel flíȝt | seíþ | þe wíse 132, werẹ aférd | ho spác | bóld|e tále 288, Bet þúȝt|e þe dreím | þat hé | wére 21: ii a. Nís he | vor þé | nóȝt | afóled 162, Bít me | þat ích | shúll|e sínge 323. Inversion of the accent is fairly frequent, as i. Þat ích | shúlle | to hír|e fló 320, An díht | and wrít | máni | wisdóm 399, He náu|eþ bút|ẹ óne | woníng 403: ii. Ne hélpþ | nóȝt þat | þu bó | to þríste 127, 392, 408, 425, Þo stód | on óld | stóc þar | bisíde 25, 32, 199, 372, 381, 422, vor hír|e lú|uẹ óne | skentínge 324, 396. Synizesis takes place in monie 72, 193, 398 (pronounce monye), schamie 117, schuniet 185, hatiet 186, murie 261, unmurie 262, lilie 317. The e of a middle syllable after the stress in a trisyllabic word suffers syncope; certain instances are, sumẹre 1, 327, diȝẹle 2, oþẹres 9, 11, vuẹle 63, fuȝẹle 64, hauẹkes 207, chatẹrest 238, wintẹre, ȝomẹre 293, sumẹre 294, betẹrẹ 330, 331, 401, steuẹne 345, 363, houẹne 346, 350, also warẹuore 333, morẹȝeninge 361, probable are narẹwe 68, eȝẹne 75, svikẹdom 123, as avoiding a three syllable foot. With regard to -est, -eþ of the _sing. present_, the only certain examples of syncope are woldẹst 84, cumẹþ 298, in all other possible cases there is the alternative of a three syllable foot. But taking into account the preponderance of forms syncopated by spelling, and the dissyllabic norm of the foot in the French verse which served as model, it seems more likely that the poet scanned þretẹst 83, hauẹst 109, speddẹstu 125, schirchẹst, ȝollẹst 179, miȝtẹst 192, wenẹst 195, bicumẹþ 207, wenịst 231, singẹst 247, 310, 175, crowẹþ 251, singẹþ 292, forbernẹst 297, cumẹþ 298, hauẹþ 356, nullẹþ 407: similarly werẹn 76, ovẹr 64, euẹr 421 are probable. What has been said about syncope applies also to the relative spheres of elision and hiatus. The letter which suffers elision is weak, mostly inflectional, final e before an initial vowel or pronominal h, presumably also before an inorganic h as in hule; there is no elision in the case of such words as me 38, 164, we 133, he 303, ope 124. It certainly takes place in Bet þúȝt|e þát | he wér|ẹ ishóte 23, and in the same position in 50, 63, 75, 77, 81, 123, 125, 137, 160, 161, 168, 177, 178, 181, 236, 257, 277, 281, 308, 315, 336, 346, 364, 397, 428, alsó | ho hád|dẹ one frógg|ẹ isuólȝe 102, þát | ho sóng | hirẹ a bí | semár 104, Þo húl|ẹ one wíl|e hí | biþóȝte 155. Hiatus, which is the maintenance of e under the same conditions, is certain in ll. 28, 31, 92, 140, 163, 168, 173, 227, 268, þat þẹ húl|e hád|de hír|ẹ iséd 273, 289, 305, 344, 386, 409, 418, 425. In all other cases the choice lies between a three syllable foot with hiatus and a two syllable foot with elision; the latter is probably to be preferred.

The few lines which are metrically faulty are easily amended, Ilóm|e þu dést | me múch|ẹle gráme 49, þu cúþ|est þát | þu árt | unwíȝt 90, þu féd|ẹst on hóm | a fúl|ne fóde 94, 107 MS. J is correct, þan þú | mid áll|e þín|e stréngþe 129, 164 MS. J is correct, þat hé | for þé | fálse | dom déme 166, Ne maí | no mán | þarẹuór|ẹ me schénde 210, vor þí | ich lóþ | am smál|e fóȝle 213, 235 MS. J is correct, Ích | do gód|e mid mín|e þróte 245, and éu|re seíst | þin ón|e sóng 249, Ac nó|þẹles spác | he bold|elíche 279, þu fár|est ál|so dóþ|þe ílle 299, To uór|e þe kíng|e þáh | heo schólde 371, An dó | þan kíng|e swúch|e scháme 374, þeos rích|e mén | múchel | misdóð 413, 437 MS. J is correct. Peculiar in rhythm are, and mák|ẹst þine sóng | só | unwúrþ 255, þat he míȝt|ẹ héom il|óme | be míde 411. The rhymes are generally correct, but kunne : honne 65, cunde : schende 209, foȝle : þuuele 213, ȝomere : sumere 293, stude : mide 410 are inexact. The poet was all the same a very skilful metrist.

#Introduction:# There has been a wide difference of opinion as to the time when ON was written, but the weight of recent authority is in favour of a date somewhere about A.D. 1220. The references in the poem to passing events are mostly vague or obscure; only the passage ‘þe king Henri | Jesus his soule do merci’, ON 1091, 2, which can refer to no other than Henry the Second, fixes a superior limit of A.D. 1189. It would equally appear to exclude the reign of Henry the Third, for, as ten Brink concedes, such an indefinite expression would hardly be used when another Henry was on the throne. It is further arguable that its use points to a time when the death of the king was recent. Again such a reference as that to the minstrel go-between saved by the intervention of King Henry the Second from the vengeance of a wronged husband would be to a recent event. Furthermore, it would give point to the expression, ‘ȝet nis he (i. e. the king) nouþer ded ne lame’, 171/375, if it were referred to the good peace kept by the Justiciar Hubert Walter, during Richard the First’s absence from England in A.D. 1194-8. These external considerations, slight though they be, are in favour of the end of that reign as the date of the composition of the poem. The stage of development reached by the language may be held to support this view. Our manuscripts are copies of a copy, probably not far removed from the original poem. That copy is primitive in the fullness of the inflections, the extensive preservation of grammatical gender and the form of the new diphthongs.

Of the author nothing is known. A certain Johan of Guldeuorde is recorded in a copied note in MS. J as declining to sing more, but any connexion of his with ON cannot be determined. If the author were the Nicholas de Guldeuorde mentioned in the poem, it would lend a characteristic spice of humour to the excellent testimonial which he gives himself (157/147-170, 173/389-401). His name indicates that he was a native either of Guildford in Surrey or of Guldeford near Rye in Sussex. What sort of court he presided over cannot be determined; he may have been bailiff of the hundred court, or steward of a manor, or commissary for the neighbouring Abbotsbury. The attempt made by Gadow to identify him with a certain Nicholaus Capellanus, who appears in the diocese of Salisbury in A.D. 1209, 1220, is not convincing.

The poem is in the favourite _débat_ form of the contemporary French literature. The Owl is the Cleric, living a secluded life under a strict rule, the Nightingale is the Minstrel, amateur of the open air and vagabond freedom, the Wren is a poet, like Philippe de Thaün, who has gained a secure place at Court. Though he tries to hold the balance even, the author’s secret sympathies are with the Nightingale; he had been himself sometime a wandering scholar.

Read 150/16 þat, 152/57 wit, 154/104 bysemar, 160/183 nyht, 160/185 vych, 160/191 quaþ, 166/289, 167/289 Þule, 167/310 eue, 168/336 Murehþe ilyche, 168/339 holy.

The references are to C, unless J is prefixed.

1. #sumere#, summer, _adj. s. d._ agreeing with dale; a summer valley. Gadow compares OE. #sumer-lida# and similar compounds. But Stratmann explains it as _s. d. f._ of sum, certain.

2. #diȝele#: comp. ‘on ænne swiðe faire stude. | in ane dale deope[;] diȝelen bihælues,’ L 26933. ‘North of Portisham is a valley now called Mystecomb, formed by Hampton and Ridge Hills, and on the east side of the former are some pits, where the hundred courts were formerly held and hundred silver paid,’ Hutchins, Dorsetshire, i. 556. Was this the scene of the ‘plait’?

5. #starc#: comp. ‘þat fiht was swiþe strong[;] swiþe starc and swiþe lang,’ L 4170, MS. O.

6. #among#, at intervals, at times: comp. 152/81; ‘þar was weping strong[;] þar was gredinge among,’ L 23563, MS. O, and see KH 1527 note. Similarly ‘bitweonen’, 132/28; ‘And also cussed his feet amyd’, CM 14015, MS. T.

7. #sval#, was puffed out with anger, like L. tumeo. Rare in this absolute use; for a common expression comp. ‘þin heorte in wið þe swelleð of sar grome,’ HM 31/27: see also 155/101.

11. #hure and hure#: see 15/91 note.

J 13. #þo speke#, then to speak: the scribe had before him þo speche, the speech, þo representing OE. #þā#, _s. acc. f._ of #se#, usually þe in these texts. Mistaking þo for the adverb, meaning then, he altered speche into speke, spoiling the rhyme. (Breier, 125.)

14. #breche# probably represents OE. #bræc#, #brec#, which occurs in the boundaries of charters and appears to mean land left untilled among cultivated fields, such as would be covered with underwood; it would go well with #hurne# in its dialectal meaning of ‘a nook of land projecting into another parish, district or field.’ The phrase would then mean, in a corner of a spinney, just the position where the nightingale would feel safe; see 153/59, 60. Mätzner takes the word to mean fallowland; there is a dialectic breck, mostly northern and not recorded for the south and a literary word break, given in NED under date 1674, with that meaning. #beche# in J is generally identified with Layamon’s bach, bæch, valley, but Kenyon holds that it represents OE. #bēce#, beech, if so, hurne must have its secondary sense of hiding place.

J 16. #þat#: a scribe’s mistake for þar.

17. #ore#: OE. #ānre#, _s. d. f._: #hegge# is descended from a strong fem. *#hecg#, but it is treated as masc. at l. 59, perhaps by confusion with OE. #hege#. #waste#: written for vaste, that is, faste (comp. ON, J 796), which Breier takes for an adverb qualifying þicke, very thick. But there is no evidence in ME. for the adverb, except with verbs and participles. It is an adjective, secure, safe, as in ‘wel he makede his castles[;] treowe ⁊ swiðe uæste,’ L 11897; comp. 153/53, 56-60, 157/130, 131, or possibly, dense.

18. Tall grasses and green flag plants grew up through the hedge.

19. #rise#, boughs; comp. ‘blisse was among þe rise,’ ON 1664.

20. #auele#: see 132/9 note.

21. #he#: see 135/127 note.

22. #þan#, than that.

26. #hire tide#, her hours; see 163/230 note, and comp. ‘Gif preost on gesetne timan tída ne ringe oððe tida ne singe, gebete þæt,’ Liebermann, Gesetze, i. 382/36.

27. #⁊#: comp. 81/82 note. #bigrowe#, overgrown: comp. ‘mid iui grene al bi-growe,’ ON 617.

30. #ouerseȝ#, looked down at from her higher position: comp. 34/75.

31. #þuȝte#: impersonal; supply hire from the subject of the preceding sentence: #wl# is predicative adjective.

35. #lete#, behaviour, i.e. hooting: comp. 165/281, 171/358.

37. #atfliþ#, takes flight, deserts me: comp. ‘expavit cor meum et emotum est de loco suo,’ Job xxxvii. 1. Mostly with _acc._, but comp. ‘leste þe heorte etfleo ⁊ wende ut,’ AR 50/19. #falt#, folds, collapses: comp. ‘and þi tunge foldet,’ PRL 250/3, 249/2; OEM 101/4 and see 2/19 note.

38. when you thrust yourself on me. Comp. ‘Bruttes him þrungen to[;] þræfliche swiðe,’ L 27796.

39. #Me luste bet#, it would please me better.

40. #of#, by reason of, as the result of.

41. #fort#: comp. 163/248 and see 72/179 note. #for# in J is due to the scribe who avoids the unusual word; comp. 162/248, 166/310.

42. #bileue#, hold in, keep still; a somewhat forced sense.

44. #atschet#, shot out, drove out of her body; its subject and that of warp in the next line is heo, contained in the preceding hire: comp. 98/71. The editors, however, treat fnast as the subject, but in the only other place where the verb occurs, ‘Ah þah mi lif me beo at-schote,’ ON 1623 it is transitive.

45. #warp#, sent forth; see 13/45.

48. #writelinge#, ‘trilling, singing in shakes and flourishes,’ Specimens; a meaning apparently deduced from the context here and ON 914, the only places where the word occurs. It may be a miswriting of wrixelinge or wriselinge; OE. #wrixlian#, to modulate, vary the voice, as in ‘Ic þurh muþ sprece monȝum reordum. | wrencum singe, wrixle ȝeneahhe | heafodwoþe, hlude cirme,’ Riddle ix (by some interpreted of the nightingale), Grein, iii. 189/1, to which Toller parallels ‘Vox mea diversis variatur pulcra figuris,’ Aldhelm, 252/27; ‘wrixleð woðcræfte . . . | beorhtan reorde,’ Phoenix 127.

49, 50. #grame . . . tone . . . schame#: comp. 40/165 note.

51. #on#, within the compass of, under.

52. May it so happen that I have the opportunity, a parenthesis; #⁊# in the next line is equivalent to and if.

54. #wise# may mean, song.

56. #loki--bare#, guard myself against the open, i.e. keep in my thicket, as at l. 59, 155/106. Other adjectives used as nouns are blete, l. 57, unsheltered place; woȝe ll. 120, 154, crooked conduct; harde, ON 459, 527, bitter weather, 703, difficulty; toȝte 703, puzzling situation. #loki wit# appears to be without parallel, but wiþ is common in conjunction with similar verbs, see 48/299 note; from is usual, 149/77 as with schilde, 153/62, 157/119.

63. #tukest#: the usual construction of this verb in OE. and ME. is seen in, ‘þa halgan . . . to ealre yrmðe tucode,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 494/106 (afflicted the Saints with every kind of misery); ‘ha tukeð ure godes to balewe ⁊ to bismere,’ SK 551. Whether to is to be inserted, or wroþe (which is a noun, ON 944) and vuele are to be regarded as adverbs, in any case the verb must have a direct object; #over# is probably a misreading of the common original MS. for oþer; comp. ON 1524 where J has correctly oþer and C over. The mistake would lead to the omission of to before wroþe. The sense then is, thou dost harass with evil and harm other small birds wherever thou canst. #fugele# as _pl. acc._ in rhyme can be supported by bridde : amidde, ON 123; wrenche : atprenche, id. 813.

67. #bischricheþ#, screech at; apparently only here. Comp. 160/215.

68. #narewe#, strictly, harshly; comp. 74/203 note. #biledet#, treat, like L. afficere; comp. ‘He iseyh hw ihesu crist. wes vuele biled,’ OEM 45/278; ‘And luþre heom biledeþ | Mid pykes and myd eaule,’ id. 83/329. The word appears to descend as to form from OE. #belǣdan#, to lead (astray), and as to meaning from OE. #belecgan#, to treat (ill), afflict, through the intermediary of their common _pp._ #belēd#. The expression is somewhat like ‘mettre à l’estroict, to put vnto the pinch,’ Cotgrave.

70. #Hire þonkes#, gladly; see 10/167 note.

72. #in monie volde#, lit., in many folds, that is, in many respects. The phrase seems to be a mistaken resolution of some such adverbial expression as *#on manigfealdum#; in ME. on manyfolde, bi manifold are found, as well as many a folde. A natural extension is seen in, ‘ne uint he red in one (none J) uolde,’ ON 696.

76. #Riȝt swo#, just as if; comp. 155/98, 163/222.

78. #cliure#, claw: six times in ON, only once again in ME., see ES xxxi. 7, 17. ‘#clifra#, _ungularum_,’ OE. Glosses, ed. Napier, 135/5341, 148/458.

80. #owel#: see 58/67 note.

J 81. #euer among#: see 148/6 note.

83. #to#: the construction appears to be quite isolated, for #þrēatian#, þreatien take the _acc._ of the person or thing threatened. The simple _dat._ is seen in, ‘swiþe hii gonne þretie[;] Arthur þan kinge,’ L 20341, MS. O. Comp. ‘escade to,’ 77/44 note.

85. Lit. It would be more natural to thee in respect of a frog, i.e. A frog would suit you better. #to one frogge# is the virtual subject of #were#. The same construction is implied in ‘Ov nas neuer icunde þarto,’ ON 114. Different is ‘Ne lust him nu to none unrede,’ 159/168, for lusten has a prepositional construction (see 52/383 note), while icunde has not. For the usual construction of icunde, see 3/32 note.

86. #cogge#: probably for cog-stone, a stone propped up at the edge.

88. #cunde . . . riȝte#: datives singular.

90. #on# should be omitted, it is unmetrical and, no doubt, due to un- in the following word. #unwiȝt#, hideous.

92. #Bi#, with reference to; see 4/30, 13/18, and comp. the similar use of ‘on’ in l. 94.

94. In them (i.e. in their case) thou rearest a very foul brood. For #on hom# comp. 161/211 note.

100. #noþerward#, downward: comp. 56/51.

101. #to svolle# &c.: comp. 149/7; ‘heorte to-bollen ⁊ to-swollen,’ AR 282/8.

104. #a bisemar#, a mockery, but ‘a bisemere,’ ON 1311 means in mockery.

106. #bare#: see 152/56.

107. #þare#: so the MS.; Wells thinks it a scribe’s mistake for ware representing #hwæþer#, but C has elsewhere only hwaþer, wather, hweþer, weþer, and the interrogative pronoun is apparently not contracted. Probably the scribe has left out the first syllable and has been influenced in writing the second by bare in the preceding line.

109. The nightingale answers.

110. #Ne kepich noȝt# &c., Nor do I care for your clawing me, i.e. I would rather that you did not claw me.

112. #tonge#, pair of tongs.

113. #so--ilike#, as those like you do, after the manner of your kind.

118. #svikelhede#, attempt at deception: apparently only here and at ON 838.

120. And conceal your wickedness beneath an appearance of righteousness. For the combination comp. ‘myd wowe ne myd ryhte,’ OEM 49/412; ‘þat is woh ⁊ na wiht riht,’ L 4333, 5043, 6373; ‘Man mai þer of et inoȝ | Al wiþ riȝt and noȝt wiþ woȝ,’ Heuser, Kildare-Gedichte, 146/62.

J 121. The second #þu# is a scribe’s mistake for þin.

125. #unwrenche#, evil tricks; comp. ‘For þine fule sunnen | ⁊ for þin uniwrenche,’ OEM 174/93, and for the rhyme 29/2.

127. #to þriste#: see 30/17.

128. #liste . . . strengþe# are often contrasted, ‘Betere is liste þen luðer strencðe’, AR 268/27; ‘hit wes ȝare iqueðen | þat betere is liste[;] þene ufel strenðe. | for mid liste me mai ihalden[;] þat strengðe ne mai iwalden,’ L 17209.

130. #on brede . . . lengþe# goes with #god#, good in all dimensions, in every respect: comp. ‘A fairer child neuer i ne siȝ, | Neiþer a lingþe ne on brade,’ Sir Beues 536, with Kölbing’s note.

132. ‘Wel fyht þat wel flyþ,’ Hendyng, Böddeker, AE. Dicht. 291/77; ‘Mieuz vaut bone fuie que mauvaise atente,’ Li Proverbe au Vilain, no. 64; ‘þu most turne þe rug ȝif þu wult ouercumen ⁊ wið fluht fehten,’ HM 17/28.

133. #lete awei#, give up, drop; comp. 50/348 note.

135. #fo we on#, let us proceed; comp. 143/67.

136. #wsome#: miswritten for ysome, concordant, peaceable, which is _adj._ as at 171/378: Kenyon points out that the word-order is idiomatic. In J, #some#, concord, is a noun; comp. 70/158 note.

137. #at one acorde#: the phrases at accord, in accord and with one accord are all found, but this combination is at any rate rare: a similar tautology is seen in ‘Two dogges and one bone | Maye never accorde in one,’ Rel. Ant. i. 233.

140. #foȝe#, fitness, decency: OE. #fōg#, a joint. Kock (Anglia, xxv. 323) translates, ‘reason, reasonableness, justice and moderation.’ Wells compares G. mit Fug und Recht. The word does not occur elsewhere in ME.; soþe in J is a substitute for a word not known to the scribe.

143. #us seme#, reconcile us, settle our dispute. OE. #sēman#.

148, 149. Comp. 18/16, 30. In J 149, #worde# is faultily repeated from l. 148.

151. #wot insiȝt in#, has skill in: the usual verb is seen in ‘insiht he cuðe[;] a winde and a mone,’ L 30497.

153, 154. Comp. 157/120 and 161/186.

J 155. #bihouhte# appears to be a scribal error for biþouhte, which occurs in the same text in a similar line, ‘Ful wel myd rede hire biþouhte,’ l. 704. It can hardly represent OE. *#behogode# or *#behogde#, pasts of #behogian#, #behycgan#.

158. #wile#, at one time.

161. #suþe acoled#, made cold or grown cold. In J, #nu þe# may mean now for thee; Skeat takes it for nuþe, now: but the scribe had probably suþe in his original.

164. Should condemn me and give you the upper hand: legge goes better with adun than with buue. Comp. ‘That brynges me vnder ⁊ not above,’ Ipomedon 43/1428, 106/3681; ‘who so . . . may not come to his above,’ id. 1/5 with Kölbing’s note; ‘Leve thy resoun and bileve in the wondir | For feith is aboven, and reson is undir,’ Rel. Ant. i. 127.

167. #him#: see 13/34 and add ‘Þe ston hym hys of swiche grace,’ KH MS. O. 585; ‘For horn hym was so longe,’ id. 977. #fastrede#, steadfast of purpose.

168. #to#: comp. 52/383.

170. #a#, on.

171. #ȝare#, J #ware#: the same variation occurs ON 488, 860. #ȝare# is the better reading.

181. #þinchest#: a scribe’s mistake for þincheþ. #snepe#, foolish; apparently only here: now a Lincolnshire dialect word.

184. #þar of#: comp. ‘Þes meiden wes awundret swiðe of þes wordes,’ SJ 37/1; ‘þe sunne wundrieð of faire,’ OEH ii. 19/29. For #of# = at, see 121/132.

186. Comp. 159/154.

187. #þat#, to which: see 44/250, 257 note, 46/292 note.

188. #to his dede#, as accompaniment of his actions.

194. Let thy tongue have a holiday. #spale#: OE. #spala#, a substitute, #spelian#, to take the place of another, ME. spelien mostly means to use sparingly. A related word is spell, a neutral word with meaning like þroȝe l. 196, a stretch of time; so a spell of work, a spell of rest: in Somerset dialect it means relaxation, in Australia, cessation from labour.

200. #riȝte soþe#: comp. 156/140. #spelle#, long story; comp. 175/437.

202. #nich ne nay#, not I nor nay.

203. #lust#: imperative, as at l. 199; but Skeat, ‘I am pleased to tell,’ which would require me lust.

208. #wune#: miswritten for wunne as the rhyme shows. The original probably had ƿ̇unne, which the scribe of J copied as ynne.

209. #me draȝe to#, incline towards, act in accordance with. The physical sense, betake oneself, is seen in ‘þes duc mid his drihte[;] to þare sæ him droh,’ L 92, and intransitively at 32/47. Comp. also ‘heald þin cunde,’ follow thy nature, OEH ii. 31/6.

210. #me#, as in J, seems necessary as the object of schende, immediately before which it should be inserted.

211 is formal; comp. ‘on me hit is isene,’ ON 367; ‘On þe hit is wel eþ sene,’ OEH ii. 255/5; Minot viii. 79 note. #on me#, in my case; for this use of on, comp. 155/94; similar is bi, 4/30. #hit# represents l. 212.

212. #vor riȝte cunde#, it is purely because of my nature that I am so keen.

215, 216. Comp. 153/67, 68. #to me ledeþ#, lead against me, bring to attack me; comp. ‘Me þinkþ þu ledest ferde to me,’ ON 1672.

220. #bi#, near.

221. #goþ#: go might have been expected, as bigrede is subjunctive.

222. #Riȝt so#: comp. 153/76.

223. #rede#: dative.

225. #me . . . of#, about me; comp. 1/3. #Þet# in J is a mistake for ȝet.

227. #woning#: comp. 159/176, 182.

228. #to ihire#, to be heard, to listen to; comp. 159/180.

229. #efne#, uniformly, without trillings; comp. 153/48.

230. #Mid fulle dreme#, with good round volume of sound, in contrast with the nightingale’s thin shrill pipe, ll. 235, 236.

236. #weode unripe#, half-grown weed, like Milton’s ‘scrannel pipes of wretched straw.’

239-246. #a riȝte time#. The owl takes credit for singing, not all night like the nightingale, l. 247, but only to call the religious to their hours, #an eue#, Vespers (#æfen-sang#); #bedtime#, Compline (#niht-sang#); #ad middelniȝte#, Mattins with Lauds (#ūht-sang#); #dairim#, Prime (#prīm-sang#), ‘þærrihte upasprungenum dægriman dægredsang sy begunnen,’ Benedictine Rule, ed. Schröer, 32/22. S. Brendan in his wanderings came to the bird’s paradise where ‘þe foweles sunge ek here matyns: wel riȝt, þo hit was tyme, | ⁊ of þe sauter seide þe uers: ⁊ siþþe also prime, | ⁊ vnderne siþþe ⁊ middai: ⁊ afterwardes non, | ⁊ eche tyde songen of þe dai: as cristene men scholde don,’ Legendary, ed. Horstman, 225/223. #note#, employment, here divine service; comp. 74/210. The nightingale claims her share in this at ll. 347-353.

248. #fort#: see 72/179 note.

251. #crei#: found here only; it has been explained as crowing, or crying, it can hardly be connected with F. cri, but it may possibly be, as Breier suggests, connected with OE. #crāwan#. More likely it is an imitative word invented by the writer.

252. #þat#, so that.

256. A mixed construction combining (i) that one esteems nothing of thy song, values thy song at nothing, and (ii) thy song is worth nothing; with the latter comp. ‘nis noht wurð þratte[;] buten þer beo dede æt,’ L 26555, with the former 124/265 note; ‘Thei tolde right nauȝt of thyn awe,’ Laud Troy Book, 2178. #of þar#, thereof, of thy song.

258. #wel unwreste#, right feebly.

261. Be the song pleasing beyond all measure, ever so pleasing. #ne# does not negative the verb, but goes with and strengthens neuer; comp. ‘Ne beo he nefre swa riche, forð he scal þenne is dei cumeð,’ OEH 35/21; similarly 23/168, 43/225; ‘treouðe nefde he nane[;] to nauer nane monne,’ L 25471.

262. #þat# is not the correlative of so in the preceding line, which is a conditional clause; it is an illogical repetition of ‘þat’ in ll. 256, 258: the sense is, though the song be ever so pleasing, it must appear unpleasing, if it continues &c. For #ne#, see 25/240.

263. #ouer unwille#, ‘beyond what is desirable,’ Specimens, but in the glossary unwille is translated, displeasure. Wells takes unwille as an adverb qualified by ouer, ‘too unpleasantly.’ Probably #ouer# is written for ower which with #unwille# would form an adverbial phrase, against your will, or pleasure, representing OE. #ūrum unwillum#, the latter element being _pl. d._ of #unwilla#; comp. ‘ure gast biþ swiþe wide farende urum unwillum,’ Boethius 152/4. Similar combinations descending from OE. #unwill# are seen in ‘þe man . . . here wuneð on wanrede ⁊ þoleð his unwille hwile druie, ⁊ hwile wete,’ OEH ii. 123/5; ‘hire unwilles,’ 140/25; ‘hire unwil,’ 141/136, HM 31/32; ‘min unwil,’ SM 13/3: see 140/25 note.

264. #aspille#, waste.

268. #unmeþe#: comp. 118/47.

276. #so foruorþ iladde#, carried so far, i.e. she had said so much. #foruorþ#, lit. far onwards; but forþ comes to mean simply, far; comp. ‘uorþ ase ȝe muwen,’ AR 46/10; ‘ouer al ase forð as imei,’ SJ 47/6. With #iladde# comp. ‘Of ðis kinge wil we leden song,’ GE 699; ‘talewise men þe speches driuen,’ OEH ii. 193/27.

278. #ifare#, ‘conveyed,’ Specimens, as if a strong _pp._ from the weak verb #ferian#. But the writer has elsewhere (l. 1709) ifare as _pp._ of #faran#, and the sense yielded, ‘should not be presented, conveyed, aright,’ does not suit the context. #Weorðan#, wurðen are sometimes used with past participles of intransitive verbs, ‘Denum eallum wearð | æfter þam wælræse willa gelumpen,’ Beowulf 823; ‘swa hit agangen wearð | eorla manegum,’ id. 1234; ‘þa þat forme ȝer[;] wharð forð igan,’ L 4942; and similarly ‘þe arcebiscop ongan to tellende . . . hu hit gefaran wes,’ AS. Chron. ed. Plummer, i. 130/30: the natural meaning of #ariht faran# is, to fare well, to prosper, and the present phrase may well mean, that her answer might not turn out prospered, well.

281. #berþ grete ilete#, assumes a haughty bearing; comp. 151/35, 171/358, and for _pl._ 110/273, 129/35.

282. So that he do not, through cowardice, give up his case, give way. #hit# is a vague object; comp. 42/214 note.

284. #svicst#: see footnote: Wells adopts the correction of the MS. and reads vicst, fightest, and Breier thinks the original had fihst; in Specimens niswicst is read without reference, and explained, ‘ceasest not.’ The readings of the MSS. may be accounted for thus. The author probably wrote biswicst (comp. 155/114, ON 930), deludest by a show of fight; the copyist of the exemplar common to CJ, with iswiken (#geswīcan#), cease, in his mind, altered to iswicst; C copied that, but noting its unfitness emended it to vicst, spoiling the rhythm, while J rejected i and adopted swykst, deceivest.

286. He will make a barrow-pig of a boar, i.e. he will climb down, from a fierce animal he will become quite tame. The boar is typically fierce, ‘brem as a bare,’ Sir Degrevant, 1240.

298. #cumeþ to londe#, comes to dwell with us, like ‘Þa æstre wes aȝeonge[;] and sumer com to londe,’ L 24241 (‘to toune,’ MS. O). See KH 153 note.

299. #þe ille#, the evil one, the devil; in modern dialect, the ill man, the ill thief: comp. ‘wurse’ 98/81. Wells says ‘the evil man.’

305, 306. Nor would he mind though flocks (coarse felted stuff made of refuse of wool and cotton) were muddled up with fine carded wool and hair, that is, he would take a perverse delight in a confusion which would be troublesome to sort out. #roȝte#: _pt. s. subj._ appears to owe its time to #wolde#. With #flokkes# comp. ‘xv capella nigra . . . falsi operis et mixti de lana et flokkes,’ Munim. Gildh. Lond. iii. 433 (quoted in NED, _s.v._ flock^2). #Imeind bi#: #mengan#, mengen mostly take wiþ, ON 131 or mid, 151/18, 38/142, ON 870; #bi# appears to be quite isolated.

310. #fort#: see 72/179.

312. #for mine þinge#, on my account: comp. ‘Ða ic þas stemne gehyrde and for minum þingum ongeat beon geclypode,’ Ælf. Lives ii. 32/485; ‘þat ich for þine þinge[;] mid sæxe me of-stinge,’ L 5033.

313. #blisseþ hit# can mean only, causes it to rejoice, comp. 14/50, 52. Alteration to hine would give a common reflexive use, rejoices; comp. ‘Ne mei nan mon . . . blissien him mid þisse wordle,’ OEH i. 33/29: hine would go with #hiȝteþ# also, as in ‘hyhte me myd my skentinge,’ ON 532; ‘ic . . . | ellen wylle | habban ⁊ hlyhhan | ⁊ me hyhtan to,’ Cod. Exon. ed. Thorpe, 456/19. J means, blesses my coming.

318. #þat--wte# may mean, that thou mayest know, but the reading of J gives a better sense, though you find fault with her action, and #þat# is probably a scribe’s mistake for þah.

320, 323. #shulle#: the ordinary construction of #biddan# where its object is expressed by a clause is þat with the subjunctive of the verb, as at 77/60, 141/39; ‘þa bæd he eaðmodlice þæt he hiene ne sende,’ Cura Past., 48/6; the insertion of #shulle#, which apparently does not alter the sense, is new; comp. ‘Ðeo apostles hine beden ꝥ he scalde suggen hwet þeo saȝe bicweðe,’ OEH 133/23.

327. #sume#: a mistake of the common exemplar for sumere, as Mätzner pointed out: comp. ‘vor sumeres tide is al to wlonc,’ ON 489.

328. Comp. ‘eorlum bringe | blisse in burgum,’ Grein, Poesie, iii. 189.

333. Comp. 161/203.

334. #to wan#, to what end, for what purpose: OE. #tō hwan# (#hwon#).

340. #ginneþ . . . wurche#, do compose, or, sing: for the periphrasis see KH 1277 note, Anglia xxix. 129. But Sweet translates ‘anginnað ðonne oftrædlice mare secggean,’ Cura Past. 66/3 ‘often try to speak more.’

341. #bi#, through the agency of.

342. Comp. 42/210, 48/326, 327. #shal#, must go: comp. 2/2 note. bon: _inf._ depending on shal.

345. And note from the church song.

348. #wicke tunes#, monasteries and other religious houses: OE. #wīctūn#, which translates L. atria, ‘introite in atria ejus,’ ‘ingangað on his wic-tunas,’ Ps. xcv. 8, xcix. 3: in form the ME. word is possibly influenced by #wīce#, office; wike occurs three times in ON.

349. #to#, at; see 163/241.

351. #prostes#: that is, seculars, #upe londe#, in their parishes, as distinguished from the clerks (l. 347), who are either monks or canons.

353. Repeated from ON 484. #wat# (hwat), as far as; an adverbial _acc._ of extent: comp. ‘wet we on þisse middelerd liuien,’ OEH 11/2, as long as; ‘also wat se we sinegen,’ OEH ii. 101/29, as soon as; ‘also wat swo þe þridde dageð,’ id. 103/26: see ‘alwat,’ 15/84, 215/26.

354 begins a paragraph with large initial in both MSS., but it goes with the preceding line ‘heo walde neoþeles ȝefe answere.’ The owl’s language was threatening. Comp. ‘Þe niȝtingale at þisse worde, | mid sworde an mid speres orde, | ȝif ho mon were, wolde fiȝte,’ ON 1067; ‘men weorreð mid þreo kunne wepnen, mid scheotunge, mid speres ord ⁊ mid sweordes egge,’ AR 60/14.

356. #⁊--schelde# goes with orde.

358. #ilete#: see 165/281.

363. #þah#, not in J, is necessary to the sense.

365. #awille#, to their pleasure.

367. Added at bottom of leaf. #awolde#, in the woodland; for though by her place of birth she was weak in woodcraft, she had learnt wisdom from the men among whom she had been brought up.

369. #þenne#, thence.

371. Even if she had to speak in the king’s presence. #Touore# takes a dative: see 102/144 and read kinge with J.

373. #Hwat#: an exclamation, What!

374. #þan kinge#: correction by Stratmann: perhaps his is to be read for #þis# in the preceding line: comp. l. 377.

375. #lame#, crippled, unable to act: comp. ‘_Debilis uel eneruatus_ lame,’ Wright-Wülcker, Vocab. 162/1.

376. #Hunke#: strange in form, as in meaning: we should expect inc, as Wells points out: we, J 377 is more consistent.

378. #Lateþ beo#, cease from your strife.

384. #do# obviates the repetition of an: comp. 122/185. #lahfulnesse#, loyal holding to her offer, ll. 145-147, contrasted with #unrihtfulnesse#, l. 385.

J 390. #eu# is, of course, a mistake for us.

391. #An ȝef# is clearly wrong, while #ȝet# in J, meaning moreover, gives a poor sense. The original may have been, ȝif, als ich wene, þat he wolde, if, as I think, he would be willing to act as umpire. Ȝif þat, if, occurs in ‘ac ȝif þat he forlost his wit,’ ON 693, where J rejects þat and spoils the metre: perhaps the avoidance of the construction has caused the corruption of the text.

394. #nuȝte#: in all probability the original had nuste. The scribes, being acquainted with the graph st for ȝt, ht (see KH 249 note), mechanically substituted the latter here. C, starting correctly from nuste, wrote nuȝte; J read the original as miste, which for him meant myhte. There is a similar trouble in the text of ON 1300, where for nustest C has miȝtest or mistest and J nustest, ‘very like mistest,’ Wells.

397. #utlete#: the passage to the sea, now represented by the Fleet between the Chesil Bank and the mainland. Portisham is now about three miles inland, near Abbotsbury, to the monastery in which place it formerly belonged (Dugdale, Monast. iii. 52).

400. #þurh# &c.: by his delivered judgements and by his writings; that they righted matters as far as Scotland is a playful exaggeration.

407. Why will they not betake themselves to counsel, that is, take counsel: comp. ‘þe traytours of Scotlond token hem to rede, | þe barouns of engelond to brynge to dede,’ Bödd. AE. Dicht. 133/225; ‘Þe Irise oft tok hem to red, | To ston þat douhti kniȝt to ded,’ Horn Childe, 214; ‘Cnihtes eoden to ræde,’ L 19238; Minot vi. 68 note.

409. #for teche#: see 40/180.

410. #rente#, income of any sort, here probably from church preferments. #a uale stude#, in many a place; another playful touch.

413. #riche men#, men in high place.

414. #leteþ#, neglect.

415. #of . . . con#: comp. ‘He couþe of wode ⁊ of ryuere,’ R. of Brunne, Chron. 4006, and contrast ‘Brennes cuðe on hundes[;] Brennes cuðe an hauekes,’ L 4895.

417. See 44/260 note.

418. #litle childre#: the appointment of well-connected boys to valuable preferments was an abuse of that time. Comp. ‘Si nepotibus suis paruulis [prelati] mille animas strangulandas tradiderint et dixerint adulatores quod bene faciunt, tales in curiis laudantur,’ Eudes de Cheriton, p. 262. It is frequently referred to in Grosseteste’s letters, as no. 17, 19, 26, 30 &c.

420. In this way their wit adjudges them in error, namely, inasmuch as Master Nicholas continues to endure such neglect. #swo# is explained by the clause which begins with #þat#. Wells translates, ‘So they condemn their intelligence [as] in error (foolish),’ but that is against the order of the words and syncopated _pres. plurals_ are rare.

423. In J, #þat# is a mistake for þar.

425. #rede#, present, report.

428. #al#: _acc._ after telle. #ende of orde#, end from beginning, that is, from beginning to end; a strange expression, but not more so than ‘ord fram þan ende,’ L 15770, 22983. In OE. as now, ‘from ord oð ende forð,’ Elene, 590; ‘ord and ende,’ Ælf. Hom. ii. 220/34.

430. #misrempe#: only here and in ‘misrempe ⁊ misdo,’ ON 1353, where J substitutes ‘misnyme,’ and the scribe of C adds in the margin ‘steppe’ as a gloss on rempe. The simple verb occurs twice, ‘Oft mon biþ suiðe rempende,’ Cura Past. 149/12, corresponding to ‘praecipitata actio’ of the Latin original, and ‘þe Bretons sawe þer syde ȝede lowe | þey rempede þem to reste a þrowe,’ R. of Brunne, 3491, where Wace has ‘a une part se sont retret,’ 3160. The root of the word, as of OHG. rimpfan, G. rümpfen, F. rampe, a slope, OE. *hrimpan, Gk. κράμβος, Eng. rimple, rumple, appears to mean, crooked, out of straight, hence ‘rempende’ said of headlong action, ‘rempede,’ drew aside, ‘misrempe,’ to go crooked, out of the straight path, in this place, to act on the cross, be dishonest.

431. #crempe#, restrain, check; only here and in the compound forcrempeþ, ON 510: related to cramp, and ultimately to the word with which it here rhymes.

433. Absolutely without army or following; comp. ‘Ne scalt þu neuere þider faren[;] bute mochelere ferde,’ L 3678.

434. #ꝥ#: þat, until; comp. 72/179 note; ‘æuere heo uerden alle niht[;] þat hit wes dæi-liht,’ L 19200; KH 123 note. #þer# in J may mean where, but it is more probably a mistaken expansion of the original. For #bicome# see 147/134.

_Greek_

κράμβος [krambos]

_Cross-References_

2/19, 3/32 (notes) = I. B (Worcester Fragments) 10/167 (note) = III. (The Peterborough Chronicle) 15/91 (note) = V. (A Parable) 48/299, 52/383 (notes) = VIII. (Poema Morale) 58/67 (note) = IX. A (Ancrene Wisse: Seven Deadly Sins) 72/179 (note) = IX. B (Ancrene Wisse: Outer Rule) 132/9, 135/127 (notes) = XVIII. (The Orison of our Lady) 140/25 (note) = XIX. (Saint Juliana) 148/6, 163/230 (notes) = _present selection_ p. 285 = VI. (The Proverbs of Alfred) under Manuscripts. p. 293 = VI. (The Proverbs of Alfred) under Metre. p. 450 = XIV. (Layamon) 452 = XIV. Layamon, Phonology, near end of “ā” section

_Errata_

#Phonology:# ... þane 414 is LWS. #þane# [L.W.S.] #ea# before #r# ... #gef#, EWS. #gief# [E. W. S.] #a# + #g# ... liȝte 119 r. w. riȝte [liȝte] In bisemar 104 ... _u_ for #e# [_#e# misprinted as italic instead of bold_] (2) =Of J.= ... #eo#, _u_- and _å_-umlaut of #i# [_#i# misprinted as italic instead of bold_] #ēo# is mostly preserved [#eo#] The new diphthongs ... of þuhte 275 [ofþuhte] #Accidence:# ... OE. are blo 108, 319, (Portes)hom 395 [319 (Portes)hom] Adjectives ... #āgen# has lost n [agen] #Metre:# ... þíd|er fúnd|eþ eúr|ich mán 337 [_text unchanged: error for “éur|ich”?_] þe níȝt|ingál|e bigón | þe spéche [níȝt | ingál|e] He wún|eþ át | pórt|es hóm [pórt | es hóm] Þo húl|ẹ one wíl|e hí | biþóȝte [húl | ẹ] Read ... 160/185 vych [_corrected by author from “160/186”_] 5. ... L 4170, MS. O. [L.] 132. ... Hendyng, Böddeker, AE. Dicht. [Æ. Dicht.] 167. ... KH MS. O. 585 [KH.] 239-246. ... the bird’s paradise [_text unchanged: expected word “birds’”_] 298. ... (‘to toune,’ MS. O) [Ms. O]

XXI. THE BESTIARY

#Manuscript:# Arundel 292, British Museum: on vellum, 200 × 130 mm.: late thirteenth century. Its miscellaneous contents, English, Anglo-French, and Latin, are described in Altdeutsche Blätter, ii. 141-148. The Bestiary is written continuously, but the initials of the lines and, in the long metres, of the half lines are mostly rubricated. In most cases the long lines are divided into half lines by a space and a stop, sometimes one or both are missing. At ll. 439, 493, two words are carried below the last full line of the folio. Final g of ll. 42, 43, 316, 317, 332, 333, 338, 339, 358, 359, 463, 464, 475, 476, 477, 478, 542, 543, 662 has a stroke or hook added, which appears to be merely ornamental: similarly the g of wrengðe 69, among 147, ðing 392, strong 509; h and b are much alike; ƿ is open at the top as in Genesis and Exodus. Latin headings are in red, some are on the margin, the others at the head of their sections. As will be seen from the footnotes, the manuscript was much corrected or altered over erasures, and that after it was finished, for the substituted words do not always fill the gaps left by the scraper. The first leaves of the exemplar were probably damaged at the lower margin, since defective or difficult passages occur at regular intervals, so l. 32, ll. 89-92, 120, 121, 143, 144, 173, 200, 201.

#Editions:# Wright, T., Altdeutsche Blätter, Leipzig, 1836, 1840, ii. 99-120; Reliquiae Antiquae, London, 1841, i. 208-27. Mätzner, E., Altenglische Sprachproben, Berlin, 1867, i. 55-75. Morris, R., An Old English Miscellany, 1872, 1-25.

#Literature:# (1) =of the English Bestiary=. Hallbeck, E., The Language of the M. E. Bestiary, Lund, 1905. Holthausen, F., Archiv, lxxxviii. 365-9 (emendations). (2) =of the Bestiaries in general=. A detailed bibliography will be found in Anglia, Beiblatt, x. 274-87, xii. 13-23, xiii. 18, 19, 236-9. The following will provide an introduction to the subject: Ahrens, K., Zur Geschichte des sogennanten Physiologus, Ploen, 1885; Carus, J. V., Geschichte der Zoologie, München, 1872; Land, J. N. P., Encyclopaedia Britannica, _s.v._ Physiologus; Lauchert, F., Geschichte des Physiologus, Strassburg, 1889; Mann, M. F., Französische Studien, vi. Heft 2, Heilbronn, 1888; Peters, E., Der Griechische Physiologus und seine orientalischen Uebersetzungen, Berlin, 1898.

#Source:# With the exception of the last section, the English poem is generally an adaptation of the Latin Physiologus, written in a variety of verse forms as the concluding line informs us, by one Tebaldus or Thetbaldus, who is variously described in the headings as Italicus, Senensis, Placentinus episcopus, and is identified by some with the Abbot Theobald who presided over Monte Cassino from 1022 to 1035. The poem is extant in a large number of manuscripts and early printed editions, the first of which latter with place and date is that of Antwerp, 1487. It will be found printed in Hildeberti Turonensis Archiepiscopi Opera, ed. D. A. Beaugendre, Paris, 1708, p. 1174, from which it is repeated in Migne, P. L., tom. 171, p. 1218, and also as Appendix i, p. 201 in An Old English Miscellany, ed. Morris. The text is very unsettled, apparently scribes and editors felt themselves free to rewrite it on occasion. The passages where the English adapter notably departs from his original are pointed out in the notes. He was, no doubt, acquainted with one of the older Latin prose versions of Physiologus enumerated by M. F. Mann in Anglia vii. 443-6; there is no positive evidence that he knew the Bestiary of Philippe de Thaün.

#Phonology:# Oral #a# is _a_, dareð 310, late 453; #a# before nasals is _a_, bane 370, man 194, ðan 157, ðanne 13, wan 386, wanne 10, wankel 446; #a# before lengthening groups is _o_, among 147, folde 33, fondeð 532, stonden 497, but gangen 110 (3 times), gangeð 153, 177, gangande 530, standen 531 with Anglian shortening; in gandre 532 _d_ is inorganic; funt 93 (OE. #fant#) descends from OE. *#funt#, its use here possibly influenced by Anglo-Fr. funt. #æ# is mostly _a_ (82 times), barlic 192, fast 161, fasteð 109, qual 598 r. w. al, togaddre 482, 525, ðat 3 &c., was 26 &c.; the exceptions mostly descend from OE. forms in #e#, or are due to analogy, defte 23 (#gedeftan#), dele 4 (comp. #dell#), festeð 438, festen 417, feste 143, 160 (comp. #feste# _adv._, Scandinavian influence is also possible), heruest 177 (#herfest#), meche 586 r. w. reche (#gemečča#, but make 574, 576, 578, #gemaca#), nese 3, 223 (#næs-#), resteð 178, 504 (#restan#), steppeð 6 (#steppan#), steppes 5 (#stepe#), weder 270, 521 (#hweþer#): togiddre 282 has _e_ raised to _i_ before a dental, wos 628 is *#hwās# with vowel from #hwā#. #e# is _e_, be 588, fel 109; before lengthening groups, felde 307, lengðe 437, trendled 606, but bi 4, 24 (#bi#); wilc 4, swilc 248, swilk 338, sille 449 (#syllič#) r. w. ille, represent forms with #y#; tetireð 318 (#to-teran#) has _i_ from Fr. tirer, as in tireð 336, possibly helped by the contracted sing. 3, #tyrþ#; seie 613 (4) r. w. haliweie, seien 385 imitate other parts of the verb without _c_, similarly leigeð 272. #i# is _i_, biddan 101, is 384, 414 r. w. fis, 509 r. w. fuligewis, mirke 80 r. w. kirke, wile 71 r. w. bile, wille 607 r. w. stille; before lengthening groups _i_, finden 7, singeð 448, but es 183 r. w. gres, nes 518, merk 341 r. w. werk (due to labial influence), wulle 634, wullen 314. #o# is _o_, bodes 136, nos 303 r. w. gōs; before lengthening groups, hornes 236, sorgeden 559 (without _i_-umlaut), word 35, but forwurden 108, wulde 74 (4), wuldest 385 by consonant influence; ouese 362, eaves, is without _i_-umlaut, comp. #ofesc, owisc# and modern Essex dialectal oavis, but in Layamon eouesen. #u# is _u_, cumeð 40 &c., dure 134, wude 181, wune 281; before lengthening groups, bunden 443, hunger 306, but towrong 42 r. w. strong, with _o_ before _n_, ðrist 231, 428 r. w. list (analogy of #þyrstan#, #þyrstig#). #y# is _i_, dine 646 r. w. wiðerwine, fille 373 r. w. stille, mankin 168, 243 r. w. win, 569 r. w. dim, pit 624 r. w. offrigt, stireð 11 (4), unride 389, 507 r. w. wide, 522 r. w. side, wirm 106 (4); before lengthening groups, birdene 289, minde 263 (3); but dede 171, elp 522 (3) (comp. OE. #elpend#), stereð 309, furg _dat._ with _u_ from the nominative, hungren 428, hungreð 390 (analogy of #hungor#), sundren 577 (analogy of #sundor#), tunder 419 r. w. wunder (once ‘tunderi,’ Oldest E. Texts 570; comp. also OWScand. tundr), vuemest 639 (#ufemest#), come 664 r. w. nome. #ā# is regularly _o_, cof 124, invariably non 494 r. w. bon, no 148, on 490 (7) r. w. gon, 635 r. w. bon, one (#āna#) 579 (3), ston 66 r. w. on; before two consonants, bitokneð 152, golsipe 245, gost 214; but a, an frequently, anoðer 262 (unstressed shortened #ā#), atter 121, 241 with shortened #ā# extending from the oblique cases (Bülbring § 344), gast 435 r. w. stedefast, 640 r. w. vuemest, which Morsbach, ME. Gr., § 135, anm. 8 deduces from shortened _a_, nummore 208, 455, through loss of stress, comp. ‘wumme’ 235/21, 121/133. #ǣ{1}# is _e_, hete 56 r. w. wete, mene 248 r. w. ouerwene, rede 38 r. w. guðhede, stel 419 (#stǣli#), wete 190, 209; before two consonants, fles 114, 435, eure 402, neure 16, but haliweie 612, through association with #hālig#, most 501, moste 384 from #māst#, goð 66 (5) with _o_ from the plural, oni 378 from #ānig#, ilk 82 (4), ilc 256, ilkines 180 from #ylc#. #ǣ{2}# is also _e_, dede 82 r. w. mede, forleteð 191, leteð 114, 658, let 156, sed 180 r. w. wed, 658 r. w. ned, slepen 452 r. w. waken, ðer 19 (17), ðere 207, 369, were 61 (8), weren 80 (4), wete 57 r. w. hete, 615 r. w. swete; before two consonants, neddre 107 (3), but lat 327, 328, lateð 271 r. w. wadeð, ðar 8 (7), ðore 81, 88 r. w. lore (#þāra#), wor 514 (5) from #hwāra#, wore 578 r. w. more, broken 242 in both of which _o_ represents #ā#. #ē# is _e_, let 642, mede 84 r. w. dede, swetnesse 613; boke _dat._ 665 has the vowel of the nominative, doð 141 (8) the vowel of the plural. #ī# is _i_ without exception. #ō# is _o_, but kam 29, 352, cam 564, te 107. #ū# is _u_ without exception. #ȳ# is _i_, briche 293, 592 r. w. heuenriche, fir 123, ðirl 112; before two consonants, filðe 156, wissing 246.

#ea# before #r# + cons. is _a_, art 139, dar 647, narwe 113, sarpe 318; before lengthening groups, harde 499 (4), forðward 160, but _e_ in ern 73, ernes 37, flerd 351, middelerd 352 and _u_ in wurð 566 (#wearþ#) by confusion with the present tense. The _i_-umlaut is _a_ in chare 457, char 519 (see 359/4), warmen 421, but derne 21, 75, dernelike 326. #ea# before #l# + cons. is _a_, al 116 &c., fallen 56, galle 654, half 460, salt 155; before lengthening groups _o_, biholdeð 365, kold 495, holdeð 573, olde 581, told 459, twifold 322, wolden 139, wolde 482, but the contracted? bihalt 520, biwalt 521 have shortened _a_; in helden 136 _e_ is probably miswritten for _o_: the _i_-umlaut is _a_ in falleð 58 (5), 526 r. w. calleð, _e_ in elde 40, 108, elded 139, eldere 171, 241, unwelde 41, all before lengthening groups, welle 46, 253. #eo# before #r# + cons. is regularly _e_, berges 481, bergen 8, fer 265, herte 136 (3), stert 6, werc 340; before lengthening groups, erðe 20 (3) and its compounds. To the #wur# group belong forwurðes 138, forwurðe 196, wurðeð 59 and other forms of #weorþan#, wurði 346, wurðlic 173, but not forwerpen 257, werpeð 236. The _i_-umlaut is seen in hirde 33, 34 (#hirde#), tirgen 275 (not original); hertien 277 is very doubtful: a #wyr# word is wurdi 145, without umlaut. The _u_- and _å_-umlauts of #a# are wanting, bale 172, 379, care 563, but heuekes 664: _o_ in noule 444 (*#nafola#, contrast ‘neauele’ 120/98) is ascribed by Morsbach, ME. Gr. § 87, anm. 4, to the influence of _v_, but a diphthong appears to have developed, the modern East Anglian dialectic word is nowle. The _u_- and _å_-umlauts of #e# are also wanting, forgelues 138, hert 218 (3), heuene 49 &c., werlde 106, fele 297, 463. #eo#, _u_- and _å_-umlaut of #i# is _e_, here 280 (5), senden 63, 441, seuene 50, 652, clepeð 221, leneð 510, 523, but limes 41 (3), niðer 4, 500, niðerward 444, siðen 227 r. w. swīðe, liuen 412: widue 578 is Anglian #widwe#, but wude 181 (*#wiudu#) has normal _u_ (Bülbring § 264). #ea# after palatals is _a_, chaueles 397, sal 16 &c., sakeð 193, sadue 524 r. w. togaddre, but seftes 356; before nasal, same 193, 339, 346 r. w. name, and before lengthening group, _o_ in sonde 431. #ie# after #ġ# is _e_, geld 338, gelt 316, bigeten 490, 494, forgeten 451, but giueð 291; after #sc#, also _e_, seld 130 (but #scildan# gives silden 34, sildeð 130), sending 339, seppande 356 (_i_-umlaut of #ea# after #sc#). EWS. #gief# is gef 274 (5), if 35 (9): if is used from l. 35 to l. 265 and once again at l. 578, gef, which is probably the author’s form, begins at l. 274. #eo# after #ġ# is _u_ in gungling 543, guðhede 39, _i_ in ging 162, gingen 259, gingid 238, after #sc#, _u_, sulde 123, suneð 193, sunen 210, 285 r. w. munen, sulen 203 (4). #heom# is hem 281 &c.

#ēa# is regularly _e_, ches 586, ded 26 (9), slep 635, lefful 585, queðsipe 298; the _i_-umlaut is _e_ (Anglian), gemen 260, here 2 &c., leueð 85, nede 100 (9), nedeð 113, 164, remeð 527; before two consonants, bekneð 213. #ēo# is also _e_, be 21 &c., bet 213, bitwen 281, crepeð 111 (3), deuel 164 (5), der 322 r. w. her (4), undergede 568 r. w. manhede, wel 600 (Ang. #hwēl#, Bülb. § 217) r. w. wel; before two consonants, brest 117 (4), helde 173, but diuel 21, an early instance of this shortening, cripelande 111 from #crypel#; the _i_-umlaut is _e_, strenen 485, ten 109. #gesīene# is sene 356, #gīet#, get 62, 385 r. w. flet. #ēa# after palatals is _e_, ger 492 r. w. her, sep 34, 483.

#a# + #g# is _ag_, dages 607, drageð 6, sage 475, but daies 109, 635; mugen 323 has the form of the subjunctive #mugon#; sei 159 descends from #sege#, seieþ 347 from #segeþ#, seit 577 from #segð#. #æ# + #g# is divided between _ai_ and _ei_, dai 29 (7), 582 r. w. ai, daies 109, 635, faier 629, lai 28, 633, mai 110 (9), maig 64 (3), mainles 110; breid 548, breides 344 (#bregd#), dei 216, 576, deies 309, meiden 23, 442, seide 191, 353, seid 549: fagen 394, 415 r. w. dragen is Anglian #fagen#; muge 126, 187 descends from LWS. #muge#. #e# + #g# is _ei_, weie 4; forbredes 138 comes from #forbrēdan#, agen 185, 457 from #agēn#: #e# + #h# is seen in hightes 135, 161, hightest 133. #i# + #g#: the spirant has been absorbed in lieð 15; final #ig# is _i_, mani 429, manie 441, wurði 346. #i# + #h# is _ig_, idigt 364, sigte 92, wigt 235. #o# + #h# is _og_, ðogt 501, 559, but forbroiden 108, not from #-brogden#, but #-brōden#, with a variation which perhaps mimics the alternation of the ME. infinitives breden (#brēdan#) and breiden (#bregdan#), see NED. _s.v._ broiden. #u# + #g# is _ug_, fugeles 308, mugen 503, 643, but the spirant has disappeared in fules 305, 312. #y# + #h# is _ig_, drigten 26 (3), fligt 43, 54, offrigt 625 (late North. #fryhta#). #ā# + #g#, #h# is _og_, og 263 (3), ogen 210 (4), ogt 623 (#āht#), but ovt 560 r. w. ðogt 577, out 521, forms due to the scribe: steg 639 (#stāh#) has borrowed _e_, as often elsewhere, from the third class of strong verbs. #ǣ{1}# + #g#, #h# is _ag_, agte 477, er, meaning or, 99 (9) is descended from #ǣgþer#, while er, before, 191 (4) is #ǣr#: neggen 122, negge 3 represent #genēgan#. #ǣ{2}# + #g# is seen in haliweie 612 (#wǣg#). #ī# + #g#: in sti 152 r. w. bi, #g# has disappeared. #ō# + #g#, #h# is _og_, inog 118, ðogte 354, nogt 122 (9), but nout 11, 593, 622 r. w. ogt, nowt 192, 214, forms due to the scribe. #ȳ# + #g#, drie 615. #ea# + #h#, #ht# is seen in magt (#mæht#) 426, magti 175, waxe 196, waxeð 124, waxen 445 (#wæxan#); the _i_-umlaut in migt 234, 532 r. w. wiht, migte 21 (3), nigt 47, but sloð 329 (WS. #sliehþ#) r. w. loð, corresponds to North. #slāþ#, influenced by OScand. slá. #eo# + #ht# is _igt_, brigt 55 r. w. fligt, figtande 128, rigt 52, rigten 102, rigteð 125, but sexe 50 (Anglian #sex#), bitwixen 293 (#betweohs#); without umlaut is seð 49 r. w. teð (WS. #siehþ#) as if from #sēoþ#. #ēa# + #g#, #h# is _eg_ (Anglian), egen 16 (5), heg 18, hege 562; eilond 387, 414 (#īegland#) is from Anglian #ēgland#. #ēo# + #g# is also _eg_, fleges 366, flegeð 48 (3), legeð 350, 577; #ēo# + #h#, ligtlike 315; without _i_-umlaut are fleð 123, 165 (comp. #flēð#, Durh. Rit.), teð 48 r. w. seð, 274, but ligten 20, 289. #ā# + #w# is _ow_, _ou_, _ov_, knoweð 106, sowles 103, soule 158 (4), knov 133, but soge 386 as if from *#sāhe#, sawen 599, possibly miswritten for sowen. #ī# + #w#, appears in newe 60 (5), neweð 39 (5), newe 141, all from Anglian forms with #ēo#. #ō# + #w#: nowor 35 represents *#nōwar, nōwer# from #nāhwǣr, nāhwār#. #ēa# + #w# is seen in ðewes 143 and finally in deu 7: #ēo# + #w# in rewen 437, rewe 206, reufulike 528, speweð 116, finally in gu 549 (4): tre 508, 516, 524, 551 r. w. we, is Anglian #tre(o)#: the _i_-umlaut is wanting in trewe 163, 589, untrewe 61, 96.

In syllables without stress #o# is levelled to _e_, wankel 446, hunger 203, siker 207, wunder 194, sumer 176, te 107. _a_ appears for #e# in mereman 442, influenced by man. An _e_, generally unmetrical, has been inserted in deuẹles 436 (but deules 665), folegen 269, folẹgeð 431, 620 (but folgen 439, 643), fugeles 308, lagelike 573, steuẹne 561, husebondes 299, sineginge 149, wisedom 324, and _i_ similarly in hardilike 177, fulịgewis 508 (comp. fuliwis 445), haliweie 612 (‘haleweie,’ L 23072), sinịging 256: _e_ is omitted in biforn 62, 68, 268, but metre requires everywhere biforen. The prefix #be-# is _bi-_, bisetten 167: #ge-# is _i_ in imong 476, it appears also in uniemete 459 (#ungemǣte#) with ie for i as in attrie 228, perhaps an Anglo-Norman interchange of these symbols. But #ge-# is generally lost, as in bodes 136, minde 263, vnride 389, unwelde 41. #on-# is _a_ in among 147, #to-#, _te_ in tetireð 318. redi 125 (3) is a ME. formation from #gerǣde# + #ig#, the termination in sille is #-lic#; #-ung# is _ing_, drowing 567, groning, woning 662, lesing 478.

Geminated final consonants are invariably simplified as web 363, coc 300, stoc 224, fel 109, hil 18, spel 335, den 8, fen 630, mankin 168, sin(ful) 82, win 244, char 519, dar 647, fer 265, pit 624; often too medially as #rr#, chare 457, dure 145; #nn#, wiðerwine 645, cune 148, cunen 457; #þþ#, siðen 41 (5); #cc#, fecheð 179, reche 585, meche 586. For #w#, _u_ is written in sadue 524. #r# is doubled in warre 456; metathesis occurs in ðrist 231, 428. _n_ is added in hauen 183, boðen 181, boden 525, doubled in drigtinnes 242, vnneðes 113, omitted in euelike 213, and frequent o for #on#. #p# is doubled in steppes 5, inserted in sampnen 484. #f# between vowels and vowellikes is _u_, rauen 311, geuelic 173, ouese 362, culuer 650, derue 205, once #v# in weveð 360 (but weueð 363), otherwise it is _f_. #f# is doubled in off _prep._ 104, 241, 264, 616, while the adverb appears as of 657. #t# is doubled in little 200, 432, beside litel 131, lost in beste 514, for it _th_ is written in cethegrande 383: #ts# is _sc_ in giscing 245, _c_ in milce 151. #d# is doubled in togaddre 482, gaddreð 180, omitted in selcuðes 441, as already in OE. #selcūþ# and in sille 449, but already #syllic# in OE. For #d#, _ð_ is written in ðon 328, faðer 13, queðsipe 298, seð 191, for #þ#, _d_ in boden 525, broder 287, dede 31, 625, filde 160, lodlike 357, swide 360, swideð 54, dat 634, de 165, dridde 29, drowing 567, wurden 250, mostly due to the scribe’s failure to complete ð: #þ# is _t_ in forsaket 81, wit 136: after voiceless _t_, _s_ pronominal words begin with _t_ instead of #þ#, tanne 216, tat 18, te 209, (at) te 134, 361, 586, ter 329, tin 161, tine 159, tis 73, 154, tu 133 (7), tus 77 &c., but de 192, once after _d_, tu 150. In forðward 160, _ð_ has been wrongly inserted. #sć# is _s_, initially, sadue 524, sakeð 193, sal 16 &c., same 193 (3), sarpe 318, seftes 356, seld 130, sending 339, sep 34, seppande 356, silden 34, sinen 12, sipes 411, sonde 431, sop 356, sulde 123, suneð 193, sures 203, once _sc_, scrifte 159, once _sk_, skinbon 272, NED compares NFris. skenbiin, WFris. skynbonke; medially, golsipe 245, queðsipe 298, but _ss_ in wissing 246 (*#gewȳscung#); finally, fis 383, fles 114, 435. The stop #c# is _k_ before _e_ and _i_ and in combination with other consonants, forsaket 81, kinde 10, bitokneð 152, drink 158, but craft 111, in other positions mostly _c_, cam 564, uncuð 396, blac 598, swic 149, but kam 29, 352, unkuð 97, swik 344, suk 454, smake 3 (ME. formation from #smæcc#): #cc# is _ck_, necke 303. #č# is _ch_, chaueles 397, ches 586, erðchine 308, chare 457, char 519, briche 293, 592, eche 139, quenchet 256, riche 480, but ic 38 &c., sekeð 46, kirke 78, Scand. in form, kolde 486, kold 495, mirke 80, merk 341 (see Björkman 146), micle 536, mikle 542 (comp. OWScand. mikil), wilc 4, swilc 248, swilk 338, ilik 343, lic 662. #čč# is _cch_, dreccheð 88, feccheð 301, but fecheð 179, reche 585, meche 586 and fetchen 265, witches 427, early instances of tch, but ?wikke 468. #cw# is _qu_, _qw_, quenchet 256, qwemeð 190, queðsipe 298, quike 253. Palatal #g# is written _g_, bigeten 490, forgeten 451, gemen 260, geld 338, forgelues 138, ger 491, get 62, ging 162, gingen 259, gingid 238, giueð 291, gu 549, gungling 543, guðhede 39, undergede 568 (#undereode#); it is doubled in negge 3, neggen 122, lost in if 35 &c. The voiceless spirant is also represented by _g_, as in egen 16, ðogte 354, soge 386, furg 307, inog 118, ðurg 3: doubled in suggeden 559 (in Orm suhhghen), now dialectal, mostly Northern, sough, soo. #h# is lost in ire 183, added in heten 421: #hl# is _l_, lene 110, lepeð 230, lides 16, list 585, listen 74, louerd 19, lude 377; #hn# is _n_, necke 303; #hr#, _r_, raðe 317, rem 13, remeð 527, rewen 437; #hw#, _w_, wan 386, wat 95, weder 270, wel 600, wete 190, wilc 4, wile 648, wite 599, wos 628, wu 20 &c., and _qu_ in qual (Northern).

#Accidence:# Strong declension of _masc._ and _neut._ nouns. In the _s. n. a._ dine 646, heuenriche 18, 292, hirde 33, bale 379, golsipe 245, se 404, tre 508, 516, wete 190, 209 have e corresponding to their OE. vocalic ending, bodi 172, sti 152 have lost final #g#; seppandẹ 356 and haliweie 612 r. w. seie have added e; mere 448 is shortened from meremenn. _Gen._ -es, bukes 330, foxes 314, sees 407, but heuenriche 558; brest 121, 160 is a composition form: _dat._ -e, bale 172, bile 70 and 15 others with vowel termination in the _nom._, hauen 183 has added n (nunnation, 457/11), dede 31, dele 4 and 31 others with inflection, of which ouese 362 is the only word of more than one syllable: without inflection are bodi 130 (3), drigtin 104, meiden 23, stel 419, der 322, 627, rem 13, 611 and 90 others mostly with long stem vowel or of more than one syllable; always o dei 576, bi dai 47 &c.; many examples are in rhyme as mod 249, 348, muð 395, ðogt 501, 559, wold 620. The _pl. n. a._ of masculines ends in -es, chaueles 397, witches 427, daies 109, fodredes 361; there are no weak forms: neuters are limes 41, 63, sipes 411, 417, 454, bodes 136, 213, lides 16, sep 34, 483, ger 491, 492, ðing 358: datives have -es, berges 481, breides 344, briddes 660, finnes 445, ðewes 143, ðornes 237, limes 131, wiles 297, but der 603. Of the _fem._ nouns of the strong declension mire 175, neddre 107, 129, same 193, widue 578 have e corresponding to their OE. vocalic ending in the _nom._, dede 468, 469, sowle 586 have added e, all others are without e, culuer 650, ned 142, woning 662 (the verbal substantives are rarely inflected in any case). Genitives are sinnes 158, sowles 103: birde 117 (comp. #byrdtīd#), erðe 630, helle 638 (comp. #hellewīte#), heuene 638 (comp. heuen 170), kirke 134, 586, soule 158 may be genitives, but are more probably composition forms. _Dat._ -e, birdene 289, filde 160, godcundnesse 644, manhede 567, migte 587, werlde 106, sineginge 149, stefninge 451, but blis 140, 638, hid 120, magt 426, migt 416, tunder 419, werld 201, and the verbal nouns lesing 478, reming 542, sending 339, swiking 477, wissing 359 are without inflection. In the _acc._ forðward 160, migt 234, 532, ned 659, stund 309, 408 and the verbal nouns billing 316, 338, foxing 333, giscing 245, drowing 567, siniging 256, tokning 463, wissing 246, 255 are without inflection, bote 150, guðhede 39, nede 100, 216, 280, soule 172, 478, steringe 451 with 27 others have e, besides fille 319, 373, forbisne 322. _Pl. n._ are fedres 56; _dat._ harmdedes 299, misdedes 151, sinnes 75; _a._ forbisnes 219, kindes 218, seftes 356 (sometimes _masc._), sinnes 159, stefnes 448, agte 477. Nouns of the weak declension have -e in the _nom._, bane 370, sunne 12; _d._ make 576, erðchine 308; _a._ fode 64 (5), wille 330, but fod 207, licham 214 before a vowel: genitives are belles 541, huntes 548: _pl. n._ egen 44, 80, fleges 366, husebondes 299; _dat._ egen 16, 87; _a._ egen 55, willen 515. The minor declensions are represented by fet (steppes) _pl. a._ 5; teð _pl. a._ 318; man _s. n._ 73, mannes _s. g._ 148, man _s. d._ 444, _a._ 124, men _pl. n._ 305, sipmen 451, manne _pl. g._ 24, men ?_pl. d._ 144, manne 359, men _pl. a._ 428; boc _s. n._ 350, boke _s. d._ 38 (4); furg _s. d._ 307; gos _s. a._ 302; nigte _s. d._ 588, bi nigt 47, 150, o nigt 576, nigt _s. a._ 582; faðer _s. n._ 13, fader 30, _s. d._ 640; broder _s. n._ 287, _s. a._ 535; fend _s. n._ 349.

Adjectives which in OE. end in a vowel have -e throughout, briche 592, eche 139, minde 263, newe 210, softe 176, but swet _s. d. neut._ 231 (comp. #swētnes#, #swōt#) and merk _s. d. f._ 341 have lost e; those in #-ig# lose g, attrie 228 (with ie for i), droui 407, holi 642, redi 311, weri 511. Weak inflections are _s. voc._ cristene 133, _d._ rigte 70, sinfule 340, _a._ olde 210, 581: strong are _s. n. f._ bare 121, ilike 442, like 444, _s. d. m._ rigte 435, _s. d. f._ quike 253; others are uninflected in the singular: mikel _s. n. m._ 565 has _d._ mikle 542, but mikel 230, _pl. n._ mikle 433, 536: litel _s. n. neut._ 131 has _s. a. f._ little 200, _pl. n._ 432. The _pl. n._ has -e, kolde 486, leue, loðe 594, warre, wise 456; the exceptions are all predicative, fagen 394, 415, kold 495, siker 207, strong 63, twifold 471, uncuð 396, war 204, wod 250; _dat._ -e, iuele 343, wite 599, but dern 75 r. w. ern; _acc._ -e, erðliche 213, but brigt 55 r. w. fligt. #ān# as article unstressed is a 28, 46 &c., before consonants, an 391, 282 before vowels and h, twice 106, 596 before w, divided in a neilond 387, 414, while the numeral and indefinite pronoun is on 268, 530, (on) on 223, 635, one _s. d. neut._ 264; #āna#, alone, is one 579, 580, 622: #nān# as adj. is no 148, 444 &c., non 64 &c., none _s. d. neut._ 65, as pronoun, non 267, 271, 285, 494, 556, 597. Adjectives used as nouns with inflection are _s. d._ geuelike 214, 593, gode 65, nakede 165, _pl._ grete 400, sinfule 167, selcuðes 441, smale 399: nouns used as adjectives are flerd, fox 351. Comparatives and superlatives have -e, _s._ fairere 597, more 194, beste 514, firste 552, moste 384, swetteste 392, _pl._ eldere 171, 241, but best 667 r. w. nest, vuemest 639 r. w. gast, most 501 before vowel.

The personal pronouns are ic 38 (6), before vowel, h or palatal g, i 37 (5) before consonants, we, wes (= we es) 651, ur _pl. g._ 285, 661, vs, ðu, tu 133 &c., ðe, te 142, gu _pl. d._ 549, 575. The pronoun of the third person is _s. n._ he _m._ 2, 330, ge _f._ 175, 179, get (= ge it) 195, it _neut._ 29, 450, itt 601, _d._ him _m._ 5, 521, hire _f._ 184, 499, ire 183, _a._ him _m._ 13, 128, hire _f._ 299; _pl. n._ he 264, 625, _g._ her 556, _d._ hem 281, 546, _a._ 369, is 7, 137, 304. Reflexives are us 663, ðe 160, him _s. d._ 64, 103, 109, himself 65, hire 372, him _s. a._ 8 (13), hire 178, 365, hem _pl. a._ 413, 421, 484: definitive is himseluen 520: possessives are _s._ ðin 156, tin 161, ði, before consonant, 160, 478, _pl._ ðine 151, tine 159, ðin 477 before vowel; _s._ his 3 &c., _pl._ hise 16 &c., his, before vowel, 44, 55; hire 179, 496; vre 19 &c., here 280, 427. The definite article is ðe without inflection, te 13, 623, de 165, 192, atte 134, 361, 586: _s._ ðat 18 &c., tat 18, _pl._ ðo 432, 604 are demonstratives. The compound demonstrative is _s._ ðis 77, tis 73, _pl._ ðise 398. The relatives are ðe 19; it means, of which 621, during which 201, and ðat 13, it means, in which 517, on which 206, about which 191, that which 184, 470, dat, for whom, 634. Interrogatives are wat 127, 133, 170, wos 628, wilc 4; the correlative is swilc 248, swilk 338. Indefinites are wo so 335, 577; wat 95; man 2, 194, 221, 304; sum 461; oni 378; oðres _s. g._ 273, oðer _s. d._ 378, _a._ 267, _pl._ oðre 276 (6), oðer 603; an oðer 10, 262; ilk 82, ilc 256, ilkines 180; eurilc 257, 286; mani 429, _pl._ manie 441 (4), manikines 358; fele 297, 463; al 54 &c., all 211, _pl._ alle 5, 241.

Only three verbs have the infinitive in -e, biswike 327 r. w. dernelike, chare 457 r. w. ware, rede 38 r. w. guðhede, one or two in -ien, luuien 135, ?hertien 276, the rest, in number 111, of which 18 are of the second weak conjugation, end in -en. The _dat. inf._ is not inflected, its sign is to (31) or for to (6). Presents are _s._ 1. haue 549, mene 248, seie 557 (4); 2. hauest 137, forbredes, forgelues, forwurðes 138; 3. falleð 58 (4), wakeð 33, wuneð 401 (5) and over 200 others in -eð; hatieð 304, rotieð 311; forsaket 81, quenchet 256; atbrested 548, bekned 213, gingid 238, bilimpes 275; contract verbs, fleð 123, 165, teð 48 r. w. seð, 274, seð 49, sloð 329 r. w. loþ, contracted forms are abit 581 r. w. sit, bet 213, bit 195, 211, 370, 379 (read biteð in all these places), bit 330, bit 192 (read bideð), biwalt 521 r. w. bihalt, fet 214, 337 r. w. ket, 605, fint 209 (read findeð), flet 386 r. w. get, fret 319, 373 (read freteð in both places), gelt 316, geld 338, hitt 365, lat 327, 328, lið 11 (read lieð as in l. 15), seit 577, sit 520, 576, 580 r. w. abit, smit 391, underset 516 r. w. bet, stant 2; _pl._ 1. hauen 176 (3), wunen 201, haue we 295, fele we 552, haue 659; 3. beren 278, cumen 276 (4), haten 299, noten 488, sundren 577, waken 453; sen 413, ten 266, hatien 305, cume 536: _subjunctive s._ 3. fare 99, se 122, tide 499, but derie 186; _pl._ 1. bimene we 663, leue we 590, luue we 587, 590, seke we 207, wende we 588: _imperative s._ 2. bid 150, help 144, swic 149, herkne 506, newe 141, reche 585, sei 159, deme 145; _pl._ 2. hereð 45, muneð 575. Past of Strong Verbs: I a. _s._ 3. lai 28, 633; _subj. s._ 2. soge 386; 3. sete 388: I b. _s._ 3. bar 24, kam 28, 352, cam 564; _pl._ 3. broken 242; _subj. s._ 3. come 22: I c. _s._ 3. wan 632, wurð 566: II. _s._ 3. ros 31, 637, steg 639: III. _s._ 3. ches 586: IV. _s._ 3. sop 356, stod 557: V. _s._ 2. hightest 133, hightes 135, 161; 3. fel 551, let 642, slep 635; ?_subj. pl._ 1. helde we 173. Participle present: V. gangande 530; past: I b. broken 137, forbroken 108: I c. bred 117, bunden 443, doluen 27, forbroiden, forwurden 108, towrong 42 r. w. unstrong: II. fordriuen 411, sinen 12, writen 572: III. forloren 69: IV. faren 589: V. IV. waxen 445: V. biholden 512, fallen 570, sawen 599. Past of Weak Verbs: _s._ 3. dennede 23, filstnede 30, seide 191, ðogte 354; _pl._ 3. remeden 561, suggeden 559, wuneden 493. Participles present: cripelande 111, figtande 128, secande 536; past: cloðed 124, cristned 134, elded 139, eried 308, herd 459, idigt 364, ikindled 10, lered 239, offrigt 625, seid 549, set 220, tokned 627, told 621, 628, trendled 600; inflected are cloðedẹ _s. d._ 166, forbisnede _s. d._ 464. Minor Groups: og _pr. s._ 263 (3), ogen 1 _pr. pl._ 210 (3), _pr. pl._ 653; can _pr. s._ 79, canne (= can he) 534, cunen _pr. pl._ 457, cune 2 _pr. s. subj._ 148, cunne _pr. s. subj._ 7 (3); dar _pr. s._ 647, dure 2 _pr. s. subj._ 145; salt 2 _pr. s._ 155, sal _pr. s._ 16 &c., sulen 1 _pr. pl._ 203, 292, _pr. pl._ 485, 594, sulde _pt. s._ 123; mai _pr. s._ 110 (9), maig 64, 400, 433, mugen 1 _pr. pl._ 323, 643, _pr. pl._ 503, muge _pr. s. subj._ 126, 187, migte _pt. s._ 21, 554, 556, migten _pt. pl._ 560; moten 1 _pr. pl._ 210, mote 2 _pr. s. subj._ 151; ben _inf._ 84 (4), to ben _dat. inf._ 263, 653, art 2 _pr. s._ 140, 162, is _pr. s._ 10, 662, es 183, nes 518, beð 313, ben 1 _pr. pl._ 34, 204, be we 205, arn _pr. pl._ 41 (11), aren 394, 415, ben 450, senden 63, 441, be _pr. s. subj._ 21, 615, ben 1 _pr. pl. subj._ 207, 293, be we 589, 655, ben _pr. pl. subj._ 282, be 2 _pr. s. imp._ 163, was _pt. s._ 26 &c., weren 1 _pt. pl._ 250, _pt. pl._ 80, 559, 625, were 2 _pt. s. subj._ 134, _pt. s. subj._ 61 (7), wore 578; wile 1 _pr. s._ 575, wille 37, wile _pr. s._ 71 (12), wille 34 (5), wulle 634, wilen _pr. pl._ 367, wullen 314, wile _pr. s. subj._ 4, 327, 328, wuldest 2 _pt. s._ 385, wulde _pt. s._ 553, 2 _pt. s. subj._ 74, _pt. s. subj._ 353, 354; don _inf._ 330, 531, ðon 328, fordon 354, to don _dat. inf._ 212, 515, 661, doð _pr. s._ 141 (10), do we 1 _pr. pl. subj._ 172, 205, 657, dede _pt. s._ 171, don _pp._ 663; gon _inf._ 155, 225, goð _pr. s._ 66 (5), gon _pr. pl._ 482, 491, 1 _pr. pl. subj._ 35, 254, go 2 _pr. s. imp._ 157, undergede _pt. s._ 568.

Noteworthy among adverbs are lic, equally, 662, nede, of necessity, 129 (#nīede#), ðer wile, whilst, 648, welle, very, 18 (also in Layamon, 29622), which seems to have added a superfluous adverbial e; among prepositions, mitte 454, 546, one 334, 388, onẹ 420; conjunctions, ⁊ (ant), meaning if, 2, er, or, 99 &c., wiles, whilst, 88 (4), wor so, wheresoever, 602 (4).

#Vocabulary:# The Scandinavian element is large: ai 46 (7), arn 41 &c., aren 394, 415, blast 541, bone 101, boðe 47, boðen 181, boden 525, brest 458 (OE. #byrst# would in this text be birst), brennen 249, brenning 229, brinneð 227, bro 598 (OWScand. brá), calleð 527, call(ing) 563, costes 284, derflike 313, feg 160, fro 31 &c., gapeð 390, gres 182, heil 59, ille 410, ill(ing) 317, ket 336, lage 15 &c., leiðe 357, oc 55, 159, or 76, 116, 119, rapelike 178, reiseð 13, reisen 553, renneð 178, scaðe 447, skemt(ing) 332, skies 50, swideð 54, takeð 71, til 12, ðeðen 364, ðog 21 &c., (un)skil 331, wille 35, wrengðe 69, wrong 62, probably hileð 318, vncost 148, wore 578, possibly fikeð 532, listneð 306 (comp. #hlystan#), liuenoðe 200, (o) twinne 195; influenced in form are atbrested 548, atbrosten 458, come 664, frame 323 (#fremu#), in meaning, onde 310. French are bec 42, capun 300, caue 186, cete 397, cul 604, dragunes 622 (‘draguns,’ P. de Thaün), gin 521, grace 104, haleð 184, leun 2, market 378, panter 596, poure 144, pride 247, prophetes 555, rime 572, robb(inge) 657, simple 655, spuse 587, tireð 336, turtres 572, uenim 116 (venin); pre-Conquest Latin is crede 98. The proper name Moyses 553 is the Vulgate form.

#Dialect:# The author of the Bestiary lived in East Anglia, sufficiently near its northern border to account for such rhymes as loð : sloð 328, 329, stedefast : gast 434, 435, vuemest (read -mast) : gast 639, 640. The large Scandinavian element also points to the northern part of East Anglia. How far he was responsible for the Northern or North Midland broken 242, offrigt 625, qual 598, sawen 599, senden 63, 441, soge 386, s as the regular and frequent representative of #sć#, as in sadue, sal, sarpe &c., the 2, 3 pr. s. in -es, bilimpes 275, forbredes, forgelues, forwurðes 138, higtes 135, 161, and the participles in -ande it is impossible to determine. But he certainly did not write gangande 530, secande 536, and transmission through a Northern or North Midland copy may accordingly be assumed. Our manuscript was written by a scribe of the Southern border of East Anglia. He has left his mark in a number of syncopated presents which spoil the metre and probably in the case of others where the full form is metrically admissible, in luuien 135, hatieð 304, rotieð 311, wulle 634, wullen 314, and probably in were 134 &c., since wore 578 r. w. more is the only form controlled by rhyme. He is also responsible for dede 171, stereð 309, #æ# + #g# as _ei_, dei 576, meiden 23 &c., for vuemest 639, daies 109, 635, out 521, ovt 560, nout 11, 593, 622, nowt 192, 214, occasional alterations without any systematic attempt at revision. We may perhaps venture the guess that the poem was written in Lincolnshire and copied in Essex.

#Metre:# Thetbaldus attempts a variety of metres, ‘temptans diversis si possem scribere metris;’ leonine hexameters for his Lion, Eagle, Siren, Onocentaur and Panther, leonine elegiacs for the Ant, Fox, Stag, Whale and Elephant, sapphics for the Serpent, catalectic dactylic tetrameter for the Spider, adonics for the Turtle. The English adapter emulates his versatility and moreover mixes different kinds of verse in the same article. In alliterative long line are ll. 1-24, 32-35, 106-151, 156-161, 164-166, 170-173, 175-179, 184-197, 199-204, 297-299, 304-315, 318, 356, 357, 360-370, 376-381, 441-448, 451, 458, 459. Of these the great majority are of the first kind described on p. 463, lines with alliteration only, as 2-8, 10, 11, 15, 18-21, 23, 106-111 &c. Of the second are 13, 16, 114, 134-136, 141, 150, 171, 173, 176, 185, 195, 312-315, 364, 370, 376, 379, 380, 459, of the third, 24, 112, of the fourth 12, 116, 118, 144, ?298, 305, 306, 362, 381, but groups of lines in this class, such as 26-31, 152-155 have attained to their full development as syllabic verse and are printed like the octosyllables and similar metres from which they are indistinguishable. Lines of the fifth class are discussed in the notes. They are numerous, indeed the parts written in alliterative verse are in much worse state than the rest of the text, probably because the scribe’s ignorance of the technique of the native metre gave him greater scope for alteration. The changes he has made are of the kind described on pp. 464, 465, prominent among them is the rearrangement of words, mostly in a prose order, which often results in the elimination of rhymes. These rhymes are mostly imperfect; inflectional as reiseð : makeð 13, drinkeð : neweð 118 &c., luken : egen 16, leuen : luuien 135, name : queðsipe 298, ouese : felde 362, or partial in correspondence of sound, as sinen : abuten 12, dure : were 134, herte : kirke 136, men : abuten 144, hulen : fules 305, wunder : hunger 306, mere : -mete 459. The most frequent alliterative combination is 2 + 1, as at 4, 15, 18, 19, 106-109, 113, 115, 117, 365 (#h#itt, #h#ole, bi#h#oldeð) &c., it occurs in at least one third of the lines; next in number is 1 + 1, as in 5, 10, 16, 20, 21, 23, 34, 35, 110, 196 (for#w#urðe, #w#axe), 458 (at#b#rosten, #b#rest) &c., 2 + 2 is seen in 111, 123, 160, 363, 367, 1 + 2 in 2, 11, 114, 128, 135, crossed alliteration in 3, 6, 148, 157, 161, 170, 203, 360, 445 (#f#is, #f#uli#w#is, #f#innes, #w#axen), 448, distinct alliteration in 147, 165.

The septenarius is the metre of ll. 205-216, 294, 295, 572-579, 585-594. For the structure of this verse, see p. 327; the following is a restoration and scansion of the passages in the Bestiary.

do wé | forðí | so dóð | ðis dér || ðánne | bé we | gléwe, 205 Ón ðat | daí ðat | dóm sal | bén || ðát it | ús ne | réwe. Séke we | hére | sóules | fód || ðat wé | ben sík|er ðóre, Só ðis | wírm in | wínter | ís || ðan gé | ne tíl|eð móre. ðe mír|e sún|eð ðe bár|lic séd || ðanne gé | fíndeð | ðe wéte; ðe óld|e lág|e we óg|en súnen || ðe né|we we mót|en séken. 210 ðe córn | ðat gé | to cáu|e béreð || ál get | bíteð o|twínne; ðe lág|e us lér|eð gód | to dón || ant ús | forbéd|eð sínne: It bét|eð ús | érðlich|e bódes || ant bék|neð héu|enlíke; It féd|eð ðe líc|ham ánt | te góst || oc nógt | o géu|enlíke. vre lóu|erd críst | it lén|e ús || ðát his | láge us | féde 215 nú in | érd ant o | dómes | deí || ant tán|ne we háu|en néde.

ðús is | úre | lóuerdes | láge || lúue|líke to | fíllen; 294 hérof | háue we | míkel | néd || ðat wé | ðar wíð | ne díllen.

In bók|e ís | ðe túr|tres líf || wríten | ál o | ríme; 572 wu lá|gelík|e ge hóld|eð lúue || ál hir|e líf|tíme. géf ge | ónes | máke | háueð || fro hím | ne wíl|e séden: múneð|, wímmen|, híre | líf || íc it | wíle gu | réden. 575 bi hí|re mák|e ge sít | onígt, || o deí | ge góð | ant flégeð: wó so | séit he | súndren | ógt || i seí|e ðát | he légeð. Oc if hér|e mák|e wér|e déd || ant gé | wídu|e wóre, ðánne | flégeð ge | óne ant | fáreð || non óð|er wíl|e móre.

Líst ilk | léfful | mán her|tó || ant hér|of óft|e réche; 585 vre sówl|e át|te kírk|e dúre || chés hire | críst to | méche. hé is | úre | sóule | spúse || lúue we | hím wið | mígte, ant wénd|e wé | néure | fro hím || be daí|e né | be nígte. ðog he bé | fro úr|e sígt|e fáren || bé we him | álle | tréwe: non óð|er lóu|erd ne léu|e wé || ne lúu|e nón|e néwe. 590 léue we | ðát he | líueð | aí || úp on | héuen|ríche, ant ðéð|en hé | sal cúm|en éft || ant bén | us ál|le bríche, fór to | démen | álle | mén || oc nógt | on géu|elíke; hise lóð|e súl|en to héll|e fáren || hise léu|e tó | his ríche.

The writer handles this metre skilfully; the stresses coincide generally with the natural accent and the rhymes are good. The variations from the norm of the verse are those described on p. 328, but in proportion fewer.

For the octosyllable see p. 564. In this metre are ll. 26, 27, 37-46, 48, 49, 54-59, 62-64, 68-71, 230-236, 238, 239, 250, 257-260, 262-271, 276, 278, 279, 281, 282, 284, 285, 288, 289, 292, 293, 322, 323, 325-331, 334-337, 341, 343-354, 359, 371, 372, 383-388, 390-402, 405-416, 419-424, 426-439, 454, 455, 463, 465, 466, 475, 476, 480-491, 494-496, 499-501, 508-511, 516-526, 528-533, 536-541, 546-549, 551-570, 580-583, 596-625, 627-648, 650-667. Of these some are to be emended, others are peculiar in scansion, as, ðo úr|e drígt|en déd | wás 26, ánt | his ég|en ár|en dím 44, His béc | is gét | bifór|en wróng 62, Bíll|eð tíl | his béc | bifóren 68, háueð | ðe wréng | ðe ál | forlóren 69, Ne háu|eð ðát | uením | non mígt 234, so hért | doð hís|e hórn|es ál 258, óc | on swímm|eð bí|forén || ant áll|e ðe ód|re fól|egén 268, 269, álle | ðe óð|re míd|e cúmen 276, bér|en him óf | ðat wát|er grúnd 278, ant bríng|ẹð us in sínn|ẹ ant tér | us slóð 329, ét|en ant drínk|en wíð | unskílle 331, máni | alsó | ðe fóx|es náme 345, wúr|ði árn | to háu|ẹn to sáme 346, dóð | ge hém | non óð|er gód 372, Céthe | gránde | ís a | gret fís 383, ðerforẹ óð|re físs|es tó | him drágen 393, wúneð | ðis fís | wið ðé | se grúnd 401, ne maí | it wún|en ðán | ðer ínne 406, aneí | lond he wén|en ðát | it ís 414, Of stón | mid stél|e ín | ðe túnder 419, wo só | him fól|ẹgeð fínd|eð sónde 431, ne cúm|en hé | nummór|e úp 455, Féle | men háu|en ðe tók|eníng 463, ðat wán|ne hír|e hárd|e tíde 499, slépeð | bi ðe tré | ál in | ðe sádue 524, ðán|ne cúm|eð ðér | on gángen 530, mánie | ant mík|le cúm|en sáken 536, ðis élp | he reís|en só | on stálle 547, Móy|ses wúld|e hím | up reísen 553, mígt|e hé | it nó | wigt fórðen 554, áft|er hím | prophét|es álle 555, ðo rém|ẹden he áll|e lúd|ẹre stéuẹne 561, hem tó | cam críst | urẹ héu|en kíng 564, ðre dág|es ál | he slép|en wílle 607, ðánne | áfter | ðe ðrídd|e daí 608, wið swét|nessẹ áls | ic ít | gu seíe 613, wor só | he wálk|eð ón | ðe lónde 617, wor só | he wálk|eð, wor só | he wúneð 618, ful wél | his lúu|ẹ he táun|ẹde mán 631, ðannẹ hé | was déd | in blód | ant bón 636, v́p | he rós | ant rém|ẹdẹ iwís 637, ínto | his gód | cundnéss|ẹ afín 644, it óg|en áll|e to bén | us mínde 653, gé | ne háu|eð in hír|ẹ non gálle 654, ðe wírm | ge lét|eð ant líu|ẹð bi séd 658, In wát|ẹr ge is wís | of héu|ẹkes cóme 664, In hól|ẹ of stón | ge mák|ẹð hirẹ nést 666.

Verses of three measures are ll. 28-31, 47, 50-53, 60, 61, 65-67, 152-155, 162, 163, 167 (two lines), 168, 169, 180-183, 218-229, 237, 241-249 (241, 242 originally four lines, see note), 251-256, 272-275, 277, 280, 286, 287, 290, 291, 300-303, 316, 319, 320, 324, 332, 333, 338-340, 358, 373, 374, 389, 403, 404, 417, 418, 450, 456, 457, 461, 464, 467-474, 477, 478, 492, 493, 497, 498, 502, 503, 527, 534, 535, 542-545. Noteworthy are, bó|ðe bi nígt | ant bi daí 47, so rígt|e só | he cúnne 52, ánt | he bíll|eð ðer ón 67 (anapaest in last foot occurs several times in this metre), ðis líf | bitók | neð ðe stí 152, ðát | tu sált | ðurg gón 155, aí | ðe sín | fúle || bisétt|en hé | wíle 167, gáddr|eð ílk|ines séd 180, bóð|ẹ of wúd|ẹ ant of wéd 181, of córn | ánt | of grés 182, ðat man clép|ẹð físi | ologét 221, He ðrág|eð ðe nédd|rẹ of ðe stón 222, wiðínn|ẹ he haú|ẹð brenníng 229, bi swílc | átter | i méne 248, drínk|en hís | wissíng 255, it quénch|et ílc | sinịgíng 256, on óðr|es lénd|ebón 273, gef hím | ðat téð | bifóren 274, ?ant hélp|en hím | to hérten 277, hélp|en him át | his néde 290, god gíu|eð ðér|forẹ méde 291, ge fécch|eð óft|ẹ in ðe tún 301, frét|eð hí|re fílle 319, ánt for his | sínful|e wérk 340, bute frét|eð hír|e fílle 373, ðis fís | ðat is ðús | unríde 389, tíl | it cúm|ẹð ðe tíme 403, ðat stórm | stíreð | al ðe sé 404, síp|es ón | to fésten 417, ant áll|e úp | to gángen 418, súm ðing | tókneð | bi ðís 461, ant wík|ke ís | herẹ déde 468, ?on wérld|e wún|en hér 493, ðat he múg|en rís|en wíð 503. Verses of two measures are ll. 317, 449 (mánie | ant sílle), 452, 460.

Common Metre consists of alternate octosyllable and three-bar lines arranged in stanzas of four lines, rhyming a : b : a : b. In this are ll. 73-104, 504-507, 512-515. Scan, ðó|re sát|anás | forsákeð 81, to ihés|u críst | him sélf | bitákeð 83, His múð | is gét | wél | unkúð 97, bídd|en bón|e gérn | to góde 101, ánt | his múð | ðus rígten 102, to dón | wel hís|e wíken 515. The stanza, ll. 89-92, is desperate.

Syncope of the middle vowel takes place in filstnẹde 30, heuẹne 49, 51, 562, 565, 639, seuẹne 50 (but seuene 652), sinịging 256, iuẹle 344, chauẹles 397, folẹgeð 431, 620, deuẹles 436, slumẹren 452, wunẹden 493, stedẹfast 509, suggẹden 559, sorgẹden 559, remẹden 561, steuẹne 561, taunẹde 631, heuẹkes 664: e is also slurred or lost in ouẹr 48, 629, 630, clepẹð 221, hauẹð 229, ogẹn 284, arẹn 394, forbisnẹde 464, bergẹs 481, cumẹð 543, oðẹ 549, makẹn 556, watẹr 664, makẹð 666; in many other cases there is the alternative of a three-syllable foot, as for instance, of an anapaestic last foot in 502, 604. Hiatus occurs in stille 28, golsipe 245, giuernesse 246, pride 247, 257, alle 264, 418, 540, nede 267, raðe 333, same 339, wulde 354, were 387, eure 402, ðanne 485, 511, name 489, wanne 499, helpe 538, 546, migte 556, oliue 583.

#Introduction:# Before the middle of the second century A.D., there appeared at Alexandria a Greek book, in which marvellous accounts of the nature and properties of certain animals, plants, and stones were used as allegorical and mystical illustrations of the dogmas of the Christian faith. The natural history element was an amalgam of popular conceptions and travellers’ tales, sheltering under the authority of ὁ Φυσιολόγος, the Naturalist, by whom the compiler probably meant Aristotle, and from whom the book itself was in later times called Physiologus. The didactic portion was a product of Alexandrian Judaeo-Christian theology, inspired by similar moralisations in the Septuagint and influenced by the pervading atmosphere of Egyptian nature symbolism.

In its primitive form the book is probably best represented by the version printed in Lauchert, pp. 229-270. It had an amazing success, it passed everywhere with the Christian faith and soon found translators into Ethiopic, Armenian, Syriac (more than once), and Arabic. There is evidence of a prose version in Latin as early as the fifth century; from Latin it passed into most of the literatures of Europe. But the metrical version of Thetbaldus appears to have driven out the older Latin versions, one of which, however, is the main source of the Anglo-Norman poem written by Philippe de Thaün on English ground about 1130 A.D.

1-35. Compare generally CM 18641-60.

2. #⁊# = ant, with the subjunctives #here#, #smake# means if; some explain it by supposing ellipsis of ȝif.

3. #smel#, sense of smell, power of smelling; Mätzner compares ‘Smel of neose is þe ueorðe of þe vif wittes,’ AR 104/17; ‘Þonne is þe hundes smel for-do,’ ON 822. #Smake#, perceive by smell; a rare transitive use; see 211/497 for the intransitive, give out a smell.

4. ‘Qualicunque via descendit vallis ad ima,’ T.

5. The second half line is short; read he self filleð.

6. #[dun]#: supplied in Specimens with a reference to l. 22.

7. #deu#: Holthausen suggests fen, mud, restoring the alliteration; comp. 195/630. #he#, the hunter.

8. #driueð dun#, hastens down; comp. ‘se ferliche ha driuen dun to þe eorðe,’ HM 21/20, ‘driue adun swireforð,’ id. 23/32; with ‘ðeðen,’ 187/364. #bergen#: Holthausen conjectures dernen, which is apparently not used in ME. of living things: possibly dennen should be read as in l. 25; the writer is fond of such repetitions. There is nothing in T. corresponding to this line.

10-13. ‘Natus non vigilat dum sol se tercio girat | Sed dans rugitum pater ejus suscitat illum,’ T.

11. #lið#: read lieð, as in l. 15.

12. Holthausen transposes, Til ðe sunne haueð ðries · sinen him abuten. But the inflectional rhyme is sufficient.

13. Transpose, his faðer him reiseð. #makeð#: perhaps remeð; comp. 193/540.

15. #lage#: a variant on ‘kinde,’ l. 10, characteristic, habit; comp. ‘þenne hafest þu þes hundes laȝe,’ OEH i. 25/4; ‘Ðe unwise man and forwened child habbeþ boðe on laȝe,’ OEH ii. 41/23, and see 20/63.

16. ‘Qui quociens dormit nunquam sua lumina claudit,’ T. ‘Crederis esse leo vigilanti semper ocello,’ Ruodlieb iv. 85.

17. This interpretation springs from, ‘Catulus leonis Iuda: ad praedam fili mi ascendisti: requiescens accubuisti ut leo, et quasi leaena, quis suscitabit eum?’ Gen. xlix. 9; see Honorius Augustod. 935 c.

18. #hil#: comp. ‘Twen heuone hil and helle dik,’ GE 281.

20. #wu--liked#, how (anticipating ‘hu,’ l. 22), when it pleased him; similar is ‘hu,’ 192/504. #ligten#: see 141/42 and comp. 199/79.

21. Comp. ‘ah þurh þe mon ꝥ he wes | ischrudd ⁊ ihudd wið, | he bicherde þene feont, | ⁊ schrenchte þen alde deouel, | ⁊ teschrapet his heaued,’ SK 1181. #derne#, cunning.

22. The missing half line may have been something like, to ðis dale niðer, as in l. 4.

23. #dennede him#, hid himself as in a den, suggested by den in l. 8; comp. ‘caldeliche dennet in a beastes cribbe,’ OEH i. 277/29.

24. #to manne frame#, for men’s benefit; #manne# is _pl. gen._, but the original reading was probably manne to frame with the usual _dative_: comp. 15/110; ‘naht him to mede ac hus to freme ⁊ to fultume,’ OEH i. 217/17; ‘folce to frofre,’ Beowulf 14: see 3/37, 85/107, 86/126, 110/295, 186/323, 187/360.

27. #doluen#, buried; comp. ‘Brend and doluen was ðat folc soth,’ GE 3685. so for #also# would improve the rhythm; comp. 177/33.

29. #it#: formal subject; comp. ‘Til hit sprang dai liȝt,’ KH 124 note: similar is 114/90.

30. #filstnede#, helped; a derivative beside the more common filsten; comp. ‘He badd hiss maȝȝstre fillstnenn himm,’ Orm i. 181/5236, 213/6170.

32. A half line is missing, something like, liues louerd so he is, corresponding to ‘mortis vindex’ in T. Comp. 147/149. #vs--holden#, to hold us to life, maintain us alive, save us from death; add to before holden; comp. ‘Butt iff þatt Godd himm hullpe þær, | ⁊ helde himm þær to life,’ Orm ii. 63/12033: similarly ‘þa alde[;] þe to fehte heom scolde halden,’ L 9458, the elders who had to keep them fighting. But this transitive use is rare.

33. #wakeð#, keeps watch. ‘Tu nos custodis, tu nullo tempore dormis | Pervigil ut pastor ne demat de grege raptor,’ T. This is the explanation of natura iii. #hirde#: some such word as wakeman 113/56 would restore the alliteration.

35. #heren to#, obey. OE. #hīeran# with this meaning takes the dative, ‘Ne mæg nan mon twæm hlafordum hieran,’ Cura Past. 128/23, but it is rare in ME. #nowor wille#, nowhere, in no case, never, astray; comp. ‘ðo fleg agar fro sarray, | . . . | In ðe diserd, wil and weri,’ GE 28/973, 5; ‘In a foreste þay were gone wylle,’ Ysumbras 157.

37. #kinde# is without rhyme and Holthausen suggests that a line like l. 263 or l. 653 has fallen out. T. has ‘Esse ferunt aquilam super omne volatile primam | Quae se sic renovat quando senecta gravat’: something like, ðe moste ðat on lift we finde, would correspond, comp. 188/384.

39. ‘renovabitur ut aquilae iuventus tua,’ Ps. cii. 5.

40. #cumeð ut of elde#, divests himself of old age.

41. #Siðen#, after, practically means when; comp. ‘Siðen ghe brocte us to woa, | Adam gaf hire name eua,’ GE 237, not ‘since,’ Mätzner. It is an adverb at l. 70 and nine other places, meaning afterwards. With #unwelde# comp. ‘Vn-welde woren and in win, | Here owen limes hem wið-in,’ GE 347.

42. #wrong#, awry; OWScand. rangr; comp. ‘⁊ all þatt ohht iss wrang ⁊ crumb | Shall effnedd beon ⁊ rihhtedd,’ Orm i. 321/9207; see also 177/62, 178/69, 70: al to is then altogether, exceedingly. But Mätzner assumes a participle *#to-wrungen#, which is without parallel. T. has, corresponding to ll. 61, 62, ‘Est autem rostrum quo carpitur esca retortum,’ but nothing here; with ll. 41-43 comp. ‘Solet dici de Aquila dum senectute premitur, quod rostrum illius aduncetur et incurvetur, ita ut sumere cibum nequeat et macie languescat,’ H. de S. Victor, ii. 417.

46. ‘Fons ubi sit quaerit qui nunquam surgere desit,’ T., from ‘fons aquarum, cuius non deficient aquae,’ Isa. lviii. 11.

48. #⁊# rubricated as though beginning another line. #teð#, proceeds; comp. 184/266, 274; ‘To-warde egipte he gunne ten,’ GE 1953.

50. #seuene#: he flies through seven to the highest, eighth, heaven; comp. ‘Eiȝte firmamenz þare beoth: swuche ase we i-seoth. | þe Ouemeste is þe riȝtte heouene: in ȝwan þe steorrene beoth. | for godes riche is þare a-boue: þat last with-outen ende | . . . | þare bi-neoþe beoth seoue firmamenz,’ SE. Legendary, 311/413.

52. as directly in front as he is able.

53. #houeð#, remains poised, floats; comp. 188/395, 189/409, Minot iii. 83.

54. #swideð--fligt#, burns all his wings; comp. ‘In dai swiþe noht sunne (MS. sinne) þe sal,’ Surtees Psalter, MS. E. cxx. 6 (= ‘Per diem sol non uret te’). T. has, ‘Tunc sibi sol ambas incendit (_a. l._ accendit) fervidus alas. | Et minuit grandes alleviatque graves.’

56. ‘ex calore poris apertis et pennis relaxatis subito descendens in fontem ruit,’ Bartolomeus Anglicus, lib. xii.

57. #mide#, therewith; comp. 212/513 and see 1/19 note.

58. #grund#, bottom, see 188/401.

59. #heil ⁊ sund#: comp. 184/279, 188/402; ‘Tel him ꝥ þou ert sund and hale,’ CM 5112; ‘hol and isunde,’ OEM 42/186.

61. If his beak were not crooked; not ‘unzuverlässig,’ Mätzner, but as artificers still use true, noun and verb, in various expressions, as ‘out of true,’ ‘to true up,’ &c.

62. #biforn#, in front, the upper mandible has curved over the lower, as S. Augustine explains, iv. 1. 839: it is mostly used with verbs of motion, as at 76/10.

64. #tilen#, procure; comp. 179/103, 182/199; ‘In swinc ðu salt tilen ði mete,’ GE 363.

65. with any benefit to himself. Comp. ‘Mare hit hem deð to herme þenne to gode,’ OEH i. 27/12; ‘hi þonne ne mihtan nawþer ne him sylfum, ne þære heorde . . . nænige gode beon,’ BH 45/14. ‘Vix valet ex aliquo sumere pauca cibo,’ T.

67. #billeð#: comp. 186/316, 334, 338; ‘ad petram elidit, immo comminuit et conterit,’ Neckam, De Naturis Rerum, 72.

69. #wrengðe#, distortion: derivative of wrong; apparently here only: see Archiv cxxvii. 47. Add al before forloren.

70. #rigte#, straightened.

75. #sinnes dern# would in any other context mean sins done in secret, but T. has ‘Est homo peccatis que sunt ab origine matris | Qualis adest (_a. l._ idem est) aquila, sed renovatur ita,’ which requires the sense of original sin not manifest in word or deed. This is clearer in Philippe de Thaün, ‘Pur general pechié (i.e. the universal sin of the human race) | Est enfes baptizié, | E quant il est levez | Cum aigle est renuvez; | Quant il est baptiziez | Dunc est rejuveigniez: | Vertu e veement | En baptisteire prent,’ 78/2115-22. The infant is old in inherited sin, in baptism he renounces Satan and becomes a Christian, then he learns priest’s lore, pater noster and creed: ll. 93-102 are simply variations on the preceding. ‘Nubes transcendit solisque incendia sentit. | Mundum cum pompis despiciendo suis. | Fit novus in Christo ter mersus gurgite vivo. | . . . | Os terit obliquum per verba precancia Christum,’ T.

78. #nimeð#: see 213/539.

79 goes with l. 78, he must betake himself to the Church, before he can find repentance; his eyes were previously too dim to see his guilt.

81. Transpose, ðore satanas forsakeð, and for l. 83 read to ihesu crist him self bitakeð: comp. ‘Ich wole ȝou nou bitake ihesu crist,’ E. E. Poems 106/165.

84. #mede#, reward, gives a poor sense; beten his nede would suit the context; comp. 184/280, ‘For he wende bete his nede,’ Rel. Ant. ii. 278/10; ‘er he bete þy nede,’ Lib. Desconus, 1582.

86. #lereð# &c., learns what the priest teaches, i.e. the articles of the faith.

88. #dreccheð#, tarries: comp. ‘ne wold he ðor | Ouer on nigt drechen nunmor,’ GE 1420.

89-92. This stanza is imperfect, ll. 89, 91 do not rhyme. The former is on an erasure. There is nothing corresponding in the original: it is probably due to the scribe.

89. #to godeward#: not toward God; #ward# is a mere tag, as at 179/115, 180/146, 184/259, 194/588; comp. ‘frommard,’ 58/66 note, 70/165; ‘efterward,’ 77/63 note. For the construction comp. 89/28, 96/58, ‘ich hopie to mede,’ AR 148/16; ‘hopieð to here michele wisdome,’ VV 67/13, 131/18; SJ 29/16; ‘forðæm hie gemunon ðone tohopan þe hie to ðæm gestrionum habbað,’ Cura Past. 344/1.

90. #lereð#: Emerson restores the rhyme by reading leteð; but ‘leten of’ is apparently always accompanied by an adverb of degree; see 44/260 note.

91. #ðat# apparently refers to ‘gode’ l. 89: in one edition of the Latin original ‘solis incendia’ is glossed ‘iusticie calores.’

93. #funt fat#: probably here only in ME. for the usual fantston, as at 85/101; CM 29200: OE. #fant-fæt#.

95. The punctuation of Mätzner and Morris, buten a litel; wat is tat? involves taking ‘litel’ as a little thing. The meaning appears to be, but a small something (= a slight imperfection) is that his mouth is still crooked. Comp. ‘And þeonne sum lutel hwat he mei leggen on þe,’ AR 346/22; ‘Ah ȝette me an hwet,’ SK 767.

96. #untrewe#, with double meaning, crooked and unfaithful.

97, 98. #unkuð wið#, unacquainted with, not knowing (insciens); comp. 191/469 and ‘uncuð . . . of,’ 188/396, apparently the only three places where the word has this meaning. Elsewhere uncuð with the dative means unknown (ignotus); comp. ‘hit is us uncuð ⁊ ungeliefedlic,’ Orosius 214/21.

99. Whatever he does, under all circumstances; comp. 34/86 note.

100. He shall find out what is wanting to him.

101, 102. ‘Os terit obliquum per verba precancia Christum,’ T. After #bone#, a word of one syllable has dropped out, probably gern.

103, 104. ‘Panis is est Christus, fit sine morte cibus,’ T.

105. With this section should be compared OEH ii. 199, which deals with the same subject.

106. #o werlde#, in the world: comp. 180/140.

107. #te name#, a predicative phrase: him has fallen out before it. Comp. ‘fox is hire to name,’ 185/298 = fox is for name to her; ‘him . . . se gemyndega papa Petrus to naman scop,’ Bede 405/31 (‘cui papa memoratus Petri nomen imposuerat’). Mätzner quotes ‘þam is to naman nemned Drihten,’ Psal. lxvii. 4 (Dominus nomen est ei). A curious variation is seen in ‘þat lond þat is to water nemned,’ OEH ii. 177/3. The usual ‘bi name’ is at 176/24. For the noun toname, comp. ‘Ðes wimman hadde ec on toname magdalene,’ OEH ii. 143/12.

108. A padded line; the last half was probably, ⁊ elde forwurðen.

109. #him#: see 80/47 note. #ten#: the bestiaries say forty.

110. #lene#: read megre; ‘jejunans macie perhorret,’ T. #iuele#, with difficulty; an early instance of the meaning. ‘Vix movens sese veniensque tandem,’ T.

111. #craft . . . kiðeð#: comp. ‘Who so kouth wele his craft þare might it kith,’ Minot v. 69 note.

112. #ðat . . . on#, in which: see 1/3 note.

113. Narrow the hole is, but he forces himself to go through it: comp. ‘Long silence ⁊ wel iwust nedeð þe þouhtes up touward þer heouene,’ AR 72/17. #Nimeð#: see 213/359 note. ‘Querit angustum lapidis foramen | . . . | Inde pertransit spoliatque carnem | Pelle vetusta,’ T.: ‘cumeð to ane þurlede ston ⁊ criepeð nedlinge þureh nerewe hole ⁊ bileueð hire hude baften hire,’ OEH ii. 199/25. Transpose him nedeð.

115. #ward# is merely expletive; see 178/89 note.

116. #or#, previously, before drinking; comp. ‘siðen,’ 118. #speweð#: the explanation is in 181/159, 160: comp. ‘heo schal speowen al ut þet wunder,’ AR 346/6; ‘þet is þet beste þeonne speowen hit ut anon mid schrifte to þe preoste,’ id. 240/6; 119/91, 92, mostly with ut. Read here, Oc he speweð ut or. al ðe uenim ðor; for or : ðor comp. GE 4033 with 3845.

118. Transpose, inog siðen drinkeð, making a rhyming line.

120. #of . . . naked#, stripped of, without: #nacod# takes the genitive. Read, Ðanne ðe neddre is newe. ⁊ of his hid naked: comp. 181/162.

121. An abridged line; read, ⁊ in bodi ⁊ in brest. bare of his atter. Comp. ‘helden ham cleane ai fra fleschliche fulðen ibodi ⁊ ibreoste,’ HM 23/1. For #of# comp. ‘bare of euch blisse,’ SK 845; Minot vi. 25 note.

123. Transpose, him fro. #sulde#, would be bound to, obliged to.

124. Read, . cof ⁊ kene: comp. ‘Biforenn kafe ⁊ kene,’ Orm 19962. In AR 66/13 ‘þe coue,’ wrongly translated ‘the chough’ means, the keen one; similarly, ‘þe luðere coue deouel,’ id. 66/14.

125. #rigteð him#: ‘Surgit in ipsum,’ T.

126. #to ded maken# may be a construction by analogy of don, bringen &c., but it is more likely that to has been wrongly repeated and should be omitted. #forðen#, further, effect; comp. 184/280, 192/533, 193/554; ‘for to forðen is fendes wil,’ GE 341.

127. #wat if#: elliptical for, what results if? as at 181/170, what matters it if? Transpose, wurðe war, be on his guard: comp. 9/122, 48/330, 203/204.

128. #figteð#: read fliteð, contends, offers resistance; comp. ‘Ierusalem ⁊ babilonie . . . fliteð eure ⁊ winneð,’ OEH ii. 51/10. #fareð# &c., advances fighting against him; ‘sequiturque multum,’ T. For #on#, comp. ‘hie alle on þone Cyning wærun feohtende,’ AS. Chron. ed. Plummer, 48/4; ‘for to finde me a freke to feȝte on my fille,’ Anturs of Arther, 15/27.

129. After #siðen# insert he seð · ðat, after he sees that he must needs.

130. ‘Negligit corpus, facit inde scutum; | Verticis vero tenet usque curam, | Ne moriatur,’ T. Comp. ‘Ðare næddre ȝeapnesse is ðat hie lið al abuten itrand, ⁊ hire heaued on midden, for to berȝen ðat heaued,’ VV 101/19.

131. #litel--of#, little he cares about, he does not much mind what happens to: see 8/84 note. #bute#, if only.

133-142 are based on ‘Fonte qui sacro semel es novatus, | Denuo peccans, silicernus extas. | Ergo sis semper imitator anguis, | Cum veterascis,’ T.

134. #Atte kirke dure#, at the font, placed symbolically at the entrance to the church: comp. ‘heore godfaderes ⁊ heore godmoderes scullen onswerie for hem et þe chirche dure ⁊ beo in borȝes et þe fonstan,’ OEH i. 73/29.

135. Transpose, on him to leuen. For #leuen . . . luuien# see 143/73 note.

136. For #bodes#, hestes should probably be read; comp. 130/78; ‘þe heste of hali chirche,’ OEH i. 85/18.

137-140. Re-arrange, If ðu hauest is broken. al ðu forbredes. | forwurðes ⁊ forwelkes. eche lif to wolden. | Elded art fro blis. so ðis wirm o werld is. #forgelues#: only here; it may be connected with OE. #geolwian#, and so mean, to spoil by becoming yellow, to fade. But it is suspect; possibly the original word was forwelkes, dost wither. There is nothing in the original to correspond with l. 138; the adapter had perhaps in mind ‘decidat, induret et arescat,’ Ps. lxxxix. 6. #Eche lif to wolden#, so far as the attainment of eternal life is concerned. #Elded#, severed by age, is the writer’s interpretation of silicernus. Silicernium, a funeral feast, is used in Terence, Andria iv. 2. 48, as an abusive term for an old man, hence L.L. silicernus, senex; but the Catholicon, citing this place in T., says ‘Item silicernus ponitur quandoque pro firmo et duro ut silex.’

141. Add at the end, him bi, meaning, in his own case. For the rhyme comp. ‘And manige of ðo greten forði | ðat he adden ben hard hem bi,’ GE 3207, 3208; for the use of bi, see 13/18 note.

142. See 123/210.

143-151. Based on, ‘Sit cibus parcus, minuantur artus. | Unde non mandis miseros (_a. l._ pauperes) juvabis | Penitens defle dominoque semper | dic miserere,’ T.

143. #Feste# &c. is explained, confirm thyself in steadfastness; but for this ethical sense festnen is used everywhere else (see 147/142) and of seems to be without parallel, though ‘steðeluest . . . of’ occurs at 129/24. The expression is rather pointless and corresponds to nothing in the ways of the serpent, while ll. 109, 110 are the only ones which have no interpretation in the ‘significacio.’ Furthermore the last half of the line is defective. Now l. 144 clearly represents the second line of the original quoted above, which means, from what you do not eat you will help the poor, and it depends for its point on the sparing of food enjoined in the preceding line of the original. Accordingly we should expect something in l. 143 to correspond to it, which as printed above means, let your food be sparing and your limbs reduced by bloodletting (minutio, see 66/103-105 notes). If the poet had before him, or misread his copy so, muniantur artes, he might translate, Feste þe of fastenes. ⁊ filste þe of þewes, that is, fortify thyself by fastings and help thyself by virtues. For he would find ars explained by Papias as bene recteque vivendi virtus . . . ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρετῆς, id est a virtute. And the scribe by anticipating ste þe from the last half of the line might readily produce stedefastnesse.

145. #wurði--loken#, worthy to presume to look.

146. #ward#: see 178/89 note.

147. #wið#, in contact with, on: comp. 188/401, 201/148.

150. #bote bid#, pray for deliverance: for the usual combination see 179/201. With l. 151 comp. ‘bidden for heom deies ⁊ nihtes þet crist heom milcie of heore misdede,’ OEH i. 7/36.

152. #sti# is subject of bitokneð: ‘Signat hunc callem lapidis foramen. | Signat et christum petra, nam per ipsum | Fit novus quisque,’ T. Perhaps for tis, l. 154, we should read Christ.

156. Comp. 181/160. #Let#, permit it to escape, as in ‘þe king bigan to grete | ⁊ teres for to lete,’ KH 889. Transpose ðe fro.

157-160. ‘Cuius ad celsum veniendo templum, | Ut bibas sacrum beatumque verbum, | Evomas primum quod habes nocivum | Corde venenum,’ T.

158. A defective line; read drench · þi sinnes to cwenchen. Comp. 28/10; ‘swa bihoueð þe saule fode[;] mid godes wordes mid gode mode,’ OEH i. 63/153; ‘to cwennkenn oþre sinness,’ Orm 11652.

160. Omit #brest#. #forðward#: read forward, covenant of 180/133: the combination is formal; comp. ‘my forwarde with þe I festen on þis wyse,’ E. E. Allit. Poems, 47/327; ‘Pepigi fedus cum oculis meis . . . Ich habbe ivestned, seið Job, foreward mid min eien,’ AR 62/23; ‘ꝥ ich þis forward wulle[;] fastliche halden,’ L 23607. After this there are eight lines in the Latin which are not represented at all in the English poem, which is only slightly dependent on the original for the rest of the section.

161. #firmest#, first of all, at the very beginning.

163. #forðward#, henceforth; at 81/90 it means, straight ahead.

164. #Nedeð#, presses on, vexes: comp. 179/113; ‘I me sellf all ah itt wald | Þatt deofell maȝȝ me scrennkenn, | Þurrh þatt I do min lusst tærto, | To don summ hefiȝ sinne | Þatt he me maȝȝ wel eggenn to, | ⁊ nohht ne maȝȝ me nedenn,’ Orm 11815, a passage which may have been in the writer’s mind here. But Mätzner suggests neggeð, comparing 179/122. Omit the second nogt, and in l. 165 transpose ðe fro.

166. #cliuer#, expert in seizing: the only ME. example of the word clever: noted by Sir Thomas Browne as an East Anglian word. See NED _s.v._ clever; the connection with #clifer#, claw, suggested by this use is illustrated by, ‘Hweðer þe cat of helle claurede euer toward hire ⁊ cauhte mid his cleafres hire heorte heaued,’ AR 102/4. With #on# comp. ‘gredi uppen woreld richeise,’ OEH ii. 195/1.

169. #nið ⁊ win#: comp. 183/244: ‘nið and strif’ is the equivalent in GE 373: nið usually takes to, ‘he haueð to us muchel nið,’ OEH i. 55/11, but see 197/11.

170. Comp. ‘he haueð leue to fonden mon,’ OEH i. 67/232.

171. Transpose, us for to deren: it is a rhyming line.

172. let us subject the body to pain: #bale# was probably suggested by ‘bote,’ 180/150. The meaning is made clear by, ‘lyued in penance hys lyueȝ longe | With bodyly bale hym blysse to byye,’. E. E. Allit. Poems, 15/476. Omit ðe before bale.

173. that (i.e. the soul) is equal to the head, that is, the head figuratively signifies the soul. But the Latin finally identifies the head with Christ, ‘Hoc caput dico quod habes in ipso | Principe christo,’ which is from ‘omnis viri caput Christus est,’ 1 Cor. xi. 3. #helde# might be _subj. past_ from #healdan#, if we were to keep, but that would give a poor sense; and it cannot be from heldan (#hieldan#) incline, for that would require to: silde should probably be read; comp. 180/130; ‘Semper illesum caput est habendum,’ T.; the meaning would be, let us protect it as it deserves.

176. Transpose, weder softe: sen hauen ofte. #softe#, mild; comp. ‘ðis weder is softe,’ GE 3061.

177. Read, heruestes hete; comp. ‘Heruest, with the heite ⁊ the high sun, | Was comyn into colde,’ Destruction of Troy, 407/12465. #hardilike#: #heardlīce#, energetically; the glide _i_ takes the place of the usual _e_.

178. #renneð rapelike#: comp. 187/368.

181. #wed#, weed, used, no doubt, for the rhyme: for a more usual expression, see 21/112.

182. Comp. ‘He deden on gres and coren deres,’ GE 3088, 3049.

183. #ire# is for hire. #hauen#, wealth; comp. ‘man hoh . . . loc to chirche bringen ⁊ wurðin þermide godes bord[;] alse his haue beð,’ OEH ii. 217/6: n has been added as to ‘boðen’ 181/181 and elsewhere in this text and GE. Lit., that is to her for wealth; which constitutes her wealth.

185. #winter agen#, to meet, resist, winter: comp. ‘Þe blake cloð . . . is þiccure aȝein þe wind,’ AR 50/15; ‘Ðat arche was a feteles good | set and limed agen ðe flood,’ GE 561. ‘Ut valeat brume fieri secura future,’ T.

186. Holthausen restores alliteration by substituting colde for winter.

187. #hule#, hut, shelter. Mätzner takes the former #ðat# as demonstrative, and divides bi liuen, that is meat by which she can live, quoting ‘mete quorbi ðei migten liuen,’ GE 573. More probably the former ðat has displaced mide (comp. 191/503), then mete is the object of tileð, procures.

188. Transpose, ðar tileð.

189. #it#: the book Physiologus; so 192/506; see 177/38, 183/221.

190. ‘Haec frumenta legit, si comperit; ordea spernit,’ T. #finde ge#, if she find: cleche for finde would restore the alliteration. #corn#, grain or seed, so OE. #hwǣtene corn#, #corn hwǣtes#, ‘granum frumenti,’ S. John xii. 24.

191. Omit al, and for forleteð read sedeð, sheds. #ðat--seide#, of which I have already spoken.

192. ‘She biteth not the barley to bear it about,’ Specimens. Mätzner also takes bit as biteð, eats, but explains beren abuten, about the barn. But #bit#, OE. #bīt#, is contracted form of bideð, endures, which is to be restored here: she cannot endure the carrying of the barley about.

193. but shunneth it and hurries away, as though it were a shame to have anything to do with it. #sakeð#: comp. 192/536; ‘nes þer nan biscop[;] ꝥ forð on his wæi ne scoc | na munec ne nan abbed[;] ꝥ he an his wæi ne rad,’ L 13245; ‘and with his batayle forth he schoke,’ Laud Troy Book, 4886.

195. Omit ðe corn, for #bit# read biteð (so too at l. 211), and transpose, otwinne biteð. #al--biteð#, she bites it all asunder. #otwinne#, on twain: comp. OWScand. tvinnr, double. ‘Sed ne de pluviis aspersum germinet udis, | Aut ea ne pereat, esse quod hinc nequeat, | Granum quod legit prudens formica bipertit,’ T.

196. Add wurþ before #forwurðe#: comp. ‘Ich schal mid one bare worde | Do þat þi speche wrþ forwurþe,’ ON 548. #ne waxe# &c., nor germinate so as to be lost to her.

200. Defective: ðis little wile. ðe we on werlde wunen appears to form a line: Long and liuenoðe are probably the first and last words of a line; the latter must be dative. The Latin original has ‘Nosque laboremus, fratres, dum tempus habemus;’ something too is wanted to balance ‘mikel ge swinkeð,’ 181/175, like, Longe þat we labouren . for ure liuenoðe. This conjecture assumes an earlier use of labour than any recorded.

202. #of#, off, away, _adv._ representing off ðis werlde; comp. ‘ær ic . . . of gewite,’ ‘prius quam eam,’ Psal. xxxviii. 16. #winter#: ‘tempore judicii, quod simile est hiemi,’ T.

203. #harde sures#, sore troubles; comp. ‘to put þe of peril · i haue ney perisched oft, | ⁊ many a scharp schour · for þi sake þoled,’ W. of Palerne, 4513; ‘ffull sharpe was the shoure (printed shoute), shent were þere mony,’ Destruction of Troy, 10069: the adjective in this sense is usually sharp; ‘hard shoure,’ Destr. of Troy, 11048 is a fierce attack, but ‘sorful scurs,’ CM 24602. Similarly, ‘weorre ⁊ weane baðe | ⁊ untidi wederes,’ SK 2599.

204. The line may be completed by, er we henne wende; see 22/117. The rest of this section consists of rhymed septenaries.

205. For #derue# read glewe, wise, prudent.

206. Transpose, us ne, and omit harde. So that we do not deeply regret our improvidence at doomsday.

207. For #ure# read here, for #ðere#, with Holthausen who cites 178/88, þore. For #liues#, soules should perhaps be read, as at 179/103.

208. For #nummore# read more.

209. After #barlic# add sed or corn. In the earlier bestiaries barley stands for heretical writers: Eudes de Cheriton, p. 247, explains wheat as good works.

210. Omit #to#. #hauen moten#, must have, is feeble and does not rhyme. Holthausen suggests hauen geten, have to observe: moten geten, must get, or moten seken, which makes up for an indifferent rhyme by its contrast with sunen, seem better. ‘Ipse novam legem colligo, non veterem,’ T.

211. get as at l. 195 would be better metrically.

212. Transpose, god to don, and, us forbedeð.

213. ‘Hoc est quod binas lex habet una vias, | Quae terrena sonat, simul et celestia monstrat. | Nunc mentem pascit, et modo corpus alit,’ T. The corrections bet, offers, and erðliche are due to Mätzner. #bodes#, not ‘biddings,’ Specimens, but teachings, information. #bekned#, points to, indicates, proclaims. The meaning of the original depends on the special use of lex, according to Papias ‘a legendo dicta lexis græce, latine locutio, id est quælibet syllaba uel uox, quæ scribi potest,’ hence the written word, here the ‘facts’ of natural history, useful to know for our bodily sustenance, but also charged with spiritual instruction. The ant, as the Latin puts it, ‘in suis factis res monstrat spirituales.’ The English version has obscured the sense by adding, without authority, l. 212, where lex is taken in its natural meaning of law. #euelike#, heavenly (teachings).

214. #o geuelike#, on an equality, equally: OE. #ge-efenlic# _adj._ here used as _noun_: comp. 194/593.

215, 216. ‘Nos utinam repleat, famis ut formido recedat, Tempore judicii, quod simile est hiemi,’ T.

216. The first half is short; add, in erd after #nu#.

217. Next to the Ant in T. comes the Fox and then the Hart.

218-221. ‘Cervus habere duas naturas atque figuras | Dicitur a phisio, cum docet inde, logo,’ T. How the hart renews its youth is again told in the Deposition of Richard the Second, 15/8-20, and there is a curious use of the fable in Nova Legenda Anglie, i. 254/23-29.

221. #fisiologet#: the termination is probably borrowed from the familiar donet, a Latin grammar; OF. donet.

223. #ðurg his nese#, by drawing in his breath, ‘spiritu narium,’ or as T. puts it, ‘cum naribus extrahit.’ #on on#, continuously; at 207/339, forthwith.

224. #stoc . . . ston#: ‘de caveis terrae, de latebrisve petrae,’ T. The translator uses a familiar combination.

225. #it#: the adder.

226. #sweleð#, miswritten for swelgeð, swallows: the scribe was probably led by ‘brinneð’ in the next line to think of the word which for him represented #swǣlan#.

227, 228. #ðerof . . . of#: tautology is frequent in this piece: comp. 184/260. The impersonal use of #brinneð# appears to be without parallel: the meaning is, that poisonous matter burns him afterwards.

230. ‘Estuat ad liquidas pergere fontis aquas,’ T.; estuat is glossed festinat, hence #lepeð#; comp. Psal. xli. 1. #wið--list#, displaying great prudence, wisdom: comp. ‘To the fischers hous þai went wiþ list,’ Gregorlegende, ed. Schulz, 52/1015.

232-238. ‘Quas cum forte bibit, his plenus toxica vincit, | Se juvenemque facit, cornua quando jacit,’ T.

235. #non wigt#, no whit, not at all.

236. #er#, before he recovers.

238. #gingid him#, renews his youth; comp. 184/259: a rare word, perhaps only here.

241-249. ‘Nos quoque cum prisci serpentis fraude revicti, | Virus contrahimus, urimur et facibus, | Haec est luxuria quae fert odium vel et iram, | Aut etiam nimia est aeris auaricia,’ T.

241, 242 were no doubt originally couplets, perhaps, Alle we atter dragen | of ure eldere misdeden || ðe broken drigtinnes sonde | ðurg ðe neddres onde: comp. 40/192, 193. #eldere# seems to have been suggested by prisci.

244. #nið ⁊ win#: see 181/169.

245. #giscing#, covetousness: OE. #gītsung#; comp. ‘He bad him chesen steres-men . . . ðe niðing and giscing flen,’ GE 3429, 3432; ‘Mid yuernesse and prude . and yssyng wes þat on,’ OEM 38/35.

246. #wissing#: to OE. #wȳscan#: its meaning as a sin is shown by, ‘Ne wrec þu þe mid wussinge . ne mid warienge,’ OEH ii. 179/22, avenge not thyself by wishing evil or cursing.

247. #ouerwene#, presumption: found here only.

248. Insert bi before #swilc#.

252, 253. ‘Ad fontem vivum debemus currere christum,’ T.

255. #wissing#, instruction. ‘Qui cum nos udat, sumpta venena fugat,’ T. udat is explained, with quotation of this line, in the Catholicon as balneat.

257. #forwerpen# and #gingen# 259 depend on #bihoueð# 252. Holthausen restores the missing rhyme by reading, forwerpen pride hornes | so hert doð hise in þornes. It would be simpler to add al (comp. 178/73, 180/137, 182/191, 190/443), meaning completely, entirely, after hornes; it would balance eurilcdel, and the rhyme is possible; see 190/465, 466.

259. In this way renew our youth to God, that is, restore the baptismal relation to him; comp. 181/162 and 178/89.

260. take heed to ourselves afterward henceforth, ever after. Comp. ‘ðe sunenday | ðat is forð siðen worðed ay,’ GE 261.

263. That ought to be present in thought to us all: comp. 191/487, 196/653; ‘þine beoden þe beoð þe so imunde,’ SM 13/8. #minde# is OE. #gemynde#.

265. ‘Longius et pergunt pascua quando petunt,’ T.

266. #ouer water ten#: ‘Si fluvios tranant,’ T.; ‘quant passent braz de mier,’ Bozon, Contes moralisés, 56/3; ‘Cervi . . . maria trameant gregatim nantes porrecto ordine, et capita imponentes praecedentium clunibus, vicibusque ad terga redeuntes,’ Pliny, N. H. viii. 32, 114. See Fecunda Ratis, 105/522 note, as to the use of this story by the Fathers.

268. Read biforen.

272. #skinbon#, shinbone; OE. #scin-bān#, tibia, which if placed on the haunch of the preceding hart would make swimming difficult. He should have written chin: ‘Portant suspensum gradientes ordine mentum, Alter in alterius clunibus impositus,’ T.; ‘chescun de eux met sa test sus autri croupe,’ Bozon, 56/4.

274. Transpose, teð biforen: ‘Sed qui precedit fessus ad ima redit; Sic se vertentes cuncti mutuoque ferentes | Nunquam deficiunt, atque viam peragunt,’ T.

275. #tirgen#, to be fatigued: OE. #tiergan#, #tyrgan#, to vex. ‘Tirwyn, or make wery, lasso,’ Prompt. Parvul., col. 499. But the word is not original, it does not rhyme. Teren, representing #tēorian#, #teorian#, to tire, would be better; *toren with shifted accent, perhaps influenced by tor, difficult (see NED tor, tere) would restore the rhyme.

276. Transpose, mide cumen.

277. #hertien# is Mätzner’s correction, comparing 199/75, 76; but the _inf._ in -ien is very doubtful. The original word was probably beren.

278. #grund#: see 188/401: the poet has misunderstood ‘ad ima redit,’ the weary leader, who has no rest for his chin, falls in at the rear of the procession.

280. and supply their necessity; ‘nunquam deficiunt,’ they never fail one another. A line is wanting, such as, ⁊ cumen to here stede, answering to ‘atque viam peragunt.’

281. ‘Hunc retinent usum, si sint vel in agmine centum,’ T. #hem bitwen#, among themselves.

284. ‘Per tales mores alienos ferre labores | Cum pietate monent atque juvare docent,’ T. #costes#, habits, ways: comp. ‘knewen he nogt ðis dewes cost,’ GE 3327.

285. Connect ur non, no one of us.

288. #his wine#, to his friend.

289. ‘Alter alterius onera portate, et sic adimplebitis legem Christi,’ Gal. vi. 2.

291-294. ‘Sic lex est Christi nobis complenda magistri | Cuius, qui faciet, pascua repperiet,’ T.

293. #bitwixen us . . . brice#, useful, serviceable to one another: comp. 194/592.

294. #lage#: _acc._ after to fillen, which is subject of is.

295. #ðar wið ne dillen#, be not sluggish about that: comp. ‘Hymself to on sware he is not dylle,’ E. E. Allit. Poems, 21/679. The first half of the line is feeble: perhaps dred for ned would be better.

298. #hire# follows the gender of vulpes. For #to name# see 179/107. #queðsipe#: Holthausen suggests flerdscipe to restore the alliteration, with reference to 187/351; the compound does not occur elsewhere. Perhaps fikenunge, deceit; or, for the last half-line read for ure unframe, comp. ‘Quad esau, rigt is his name | hoten iacob, to min unframe,’ GE 1565. But the writer may have intended an inflectional rhyme.

299. #harm-dedes#, injurious action; a compound which apparently occurs here only.

301. #feccheð#, steals: comp. ‘Bothe my gees ⁊ my grys . his gadelynges feccheth,’ P. Plowman B. iv. 51. #tun#, the enclosed farmyard.

305. #hulen# is hardly possible; it is not found elsewhere till the end of the fourteenth century and the construction with the direct _acc._ hire is improbable. Mätzner suggested hunten, Holthausen, hurlen, drive: huten, revile seems preferable; comp. ‘⁊ ȝiff mann wollde tælenn þatt, | ⁊ hutenn hire ⁊ þutenn,’ Orm 2033, 4875. So chauntecler says to the fox, ‘Acoursed be thou of Godes mouthe,’ Rel. Ant. ii. 273/19. Further the repetition of #hatien# is feeble; harien, persecute, would give a good sense, while huntes (176/21, 192/512) for men would restore the alliteration. So the line would run, harien ⁊ huten . boðe huntes ⁊ fules.

307. #furg#, furrow. ‘In terram scissam se tendit atque supina | Et quasi mortua sit, flamina nulla trahit,’ T.

308 is made up of halves of two lines which may have run thus: fugeles to bilirten . mid hire fel wrenche | In eried lond er in erðchine . ge strekeð adun. #bilirten#, deceive, ensnare, a Midland and Northern word: OE. #belyrtan#. #eried lond#, ploughed land, ‘terram scissam,’ the ‘furg’ of l. 307. #erðchine#, a cleft in the ground: a compound found here only.

309. #stund#, portion (of time): rarely with defining genitive.

310. #dareð#: comp. 187/374, 195/624: here, to lie motionless, in the other places, to lie hid, to lurk; comp. ‘fare man . . . to þam scræfe þær þa wiðer-sacan inne dariað behydde,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 506/321, and see Minot i. 9 for further illustrations of the uses of this word.

311. #swiðe redi#, very prompt to seize the opportunity: comp. 187/368.

312. #fallen bi#, alight near; a use of the verb determined by the needs of alliteration: Mätzner adduces OE. #befeallen#, but that requires on; so in ME. ‘Gredi foueles fellen ðor-on,’ GE 947. ‘insidet ut comedat,’ T. Transpose, bi hire fallen · fode for to winnen.

313. Transpose, beð ded.

314. Mätzner alters #wullen# to billen, spoiling the secondary alliteration: the absolute use of willen, to desire to go, is common enough. #fel#: in Eudes de Cheriton, 303/7 and Jacques de Vitry, no. ccciv, the fox puts out his tongue and the birds make for it, a device which greatly improves the fox’s chance. Transpose, feleð wel.

315. #letteð#, stops, hinders: OE. #lettan#. Transpose, up lepeð . ⁊ hem sone letteð.

317. #illing#, evil treatment. ‘Dentibus et tristem reddit edendo vicem,’ T.

318. #tetoggeð#, pulls to pieces; see 68/145.

323. #frame#: see 176/24.

324. For the combination, see 18/16.

325. ‘Nunc zabulo similis, par aliquando viris,’ T.

327. ‘Nos et dissimulat quod mala non faciat,’ T. #lat#, pretends; comp. 203/222: influenced in form at any rate by OWScand. láta.

329. Omit a and he.

330. #bukes#, belly’s: see 4/19, where it means body.

331. #wið unskil#, without discretion: comp. ‘Ne rend, ne beat nogt wið vnskil,’ GE 3506; Orm 427.

332. And while we are amusing ourselves, he quickly plays us a fox’s trick. #foxing#, a nonce-word in this sense, but it is common in dialect for shamming.

334-341. ‘Cuius (read eius) edit carnem quisquis rem fingit inanem, | Hoc est peccatum quodlibet et malum | Quem quasi deglutit, cum secum ad tartara ducit,’ T.

335. #idel spel#: ‘verbum otiosum,’ S. Matt. xii. 36; ‘tel heom þer spelles,’ L 26538 appears to mean, tell them tales there.

336. Whoever feeds on sin, he tugs at the fox’s flesh.

338. #geld#, requites; comp. l. 316.

339. #sending#, disgrace, confusion; OE. #scendan#.

341. #merk#, dark, murky; OE. #mirce#: comp. 190/439, 193/570.

343, 344. ‘Daemon ab insidiis vulpeculae est similis,’ T. #breides#, stratagems, tricks; comp. 193/548. #swik#, deception; comp. 188/396: OE. #swīc#.

345, 346. ‘Sic cum fraude viri sunt vulpis nomine digni, | Quales hoc plures tempore sunt homines,’ T. For #man# read mani, omit ⁊, transpose wurði arn and insert to before #same#, and many likewise are worthy of the name of fox to their disgrace. Comp. ‘Euerilc ðhing haued he geue name, | Me to sorge, scaðe and same,’ GE 301.

347. #oðer#, to another.

348. Comp. ‘Danne ðogte eue on hire mod,’ GE 333; KH 281 note.

349. #iwis#: see 32/40 note. There is nothing in T. corresponding to ll. 347-349; the writer had probably in mind, ‘Ut quid cogitatis mala in cordibus vestris?’ S. Matt. ix. 4.

350. #legeð# &c., lies not, misleads not in this; so, ‘Iff iosephus ne legeð me,’ GE 1281.

351-354. ‘Herodesque fuit, qui christum querere jussit, | Credere se simulans, perdere dissimulans,’ T.; comp. S. Luke, xiii. 32. #herodes#: Orm has Herode in his English text. #fox ⁊ flerd#: nouns used as adjectives: for the former comp. 29/15; #flerd#, deceit, occurs in Orm, ‘falls ⁊ flærd,’ 12177: OE. #fleard#: see Björkman, 160.

354. #fordon#: ‘Futurum est enim ut Herodes quaerat puerum ad perdendum eum,’ S. Matt. ii. 15.

356. #Seftes# &c.: comp. 2/2. #sene--werlde#, it is seen in the case of the world; parenthetic; but Mätzner takes #ðing# as subject of #is#. With #on# comp. ‘þat was on Tristrem sene,’ Sir Tristrem 1205; ‘On þe hit is wel eþ sene,’ OEH ii. 255/5; ‘Ful soth it was apon vs sene,’ CM 24333.

357. #leiðe#, hateful: OWScand. leiðr = OE. #lāð#: lodlike, OE. #lāðlic# is synonymous. #ðus#: either, as has already been said, that the Creator made these loathly things, or, as follows, that He made them to this end, for the instruction of men generally. The latter is a common medieval idea; men, says Gilbert of Hoyland, contemplate God ‘in speculo creaturarum et scripturarum aenigmate,’ S. Bernardi Opera, ii. 170.

358. #manikines#: see 81/80 note.

359. #manne#: dat.; see 176/24 note.

360. Holthausen supplied web (see l. 363), and swiðe or wide. ‘Plurima fila net (_a. l._ nectit) assiduus,’ T.

361. Transpose, atte hus rof festeð. #festeð#, binds. #fodredes#, plans, means of securing food: a word found here only.

362. #so--elde#, so it is for her in age, is senseless in this context: read, hire is so on felde, it is for her as if on a field, that is, she moves on a ceiling as if she were on the ground. #so#, as if; comp. 194/583 with 195/625; ‘His brunie he gan lace | So he scholde in to place,’ KH 717.

363. #werpeð#, throws, with perhaps a reference to the specific meaning of warp, OE. #wearp#, stamen.

364. Transpose, al idigt haueð. With #driueð# comp. 176/8.

365. #it#, the web.

366. Transpose, fleges ðer faren . ⁊ ðerinne fallen.

367. #wiðeren#, struggle; properly, resist.

368. #renneð# &c.: comp. 181/178. #redi#: comp. 185/311.

369. #nimeð . . . to#, makes for; see 213/539. #nimeð#, seizes: the repetition is tolerable, because of the different meanings of the word.

370. #bit#: read biteð. #bane#, destroyer: OE. #bana#, mostly used of the agent.

372. This line appears to be derived from ‘Et placet inde sibi nimium | Quando nocere potest alium’ which comes in the application or ‘significacio.’ If so, it means that in this action she finds her greatest profit. But probably hem should be substituted for hire.

373. Read freteð.

374. #dareð#: see 185/310 and 195/624.

376. ‘Hos sequitur homo vermiculos | Decipiendo suos socios,’ T. For man read were.

377. #on--stalle#, in any place whatsoever: comp. ‘i stude ⁊ i stalle,’ SK 683. B-T quotes from a charter, ‘ꝥ hi . . . næfre ne beon on stede ne on stealle þær æfre undon worðe ꝥ ure foregengles geuðen,’ Thorpe, Diplom. Angl., 348/28. The words are synonymous, so, ‘Þer þe fir he has his stall,’ CM 396. See 192/537.

377. #stille er lude#, under any circumstances: see 25/226 note.

378. #mot#, place of meeting, especially in a court of law. For #wise# read mene: comp. ‘mannes mene,’ society of men, GE 501. See 26/266.

379. Read, sarp he him biteð; corresponding to ‘bitterlike’ 187/370; comp. ‘sarp on bite,’ GE 2989. ‘Quos comedit faciens miseros,’ T. #bale selleð#, does him an injury. ME. sellen, to give, is rarely used with immaterial object, but comp. ‘sylle heom forȝefenesse,’ Twelfth Cent. Homilies, 132/20. Similar is ‘nuste noht Bruttes þere[;] þat balu heom wes ȝiueðe,’ L 29817. Transpose, bale him.

380. Transpose, his blod drinkeð. #dreueð#, vexes, annoys.

381. For #hem# read him; the scribe corrected ll. 379, 380, but overlooked this. Transpose, ⁊ ðo him al freteð.

382. #cetegrandie#: genitive of ‘cete grandia,’ Gen. i. 21, treated as though it were one word and a noun singular. Cetegrandia is not in Papias or the Catholicon; it is quite possibly the invention of the present writer; the heading in T. is ‘De Balena’ or ‘De Ceto.’ The word in l. 383 appears to have been formed directly from it; the OF. Bestiaries have cetus only.

383-388. ‘Est super omne pecus quod vivit in aequore cetus, | Monstrum grande satis, cum superexstat aquis | Prospiciens illum, montem putat esse marinum, | Aut quod in oceano insula sit medio,’ T. Insert gret before fis.

385. #ðat#: pronoun anticipating the clause ðat--neilond, l. 387. #get#, too; comp. ‘Of thre ȝere in þe temple sett, | And þerto fourtene winter gett,’ CM 10531.

389. #vnride#, enormous, monstrous; OE. #ungerȳde#; the general idea of the word is excessive. Comp. 192/507, 522, 120/125.

390. #hungreð#: impersonal as at 60/99; comp. ‘crist him ȝeueð swilcne mete ꝥ him nefre eft ne hungreð,’ OEH i. 37/30; ‘þer in onliche stude him hungrede,’ AR 162/1. Omit he. #gapeð# &c.: ‘os aperit | Unde velud florum (_a. l._ hamum) se flatus reddit hodorum | Ad se pisciculos ut trahat exiguos,’ T.

391. #it smit an onde#, a breath rushes forth; comp. 126/321 note: it is formal nominative, the real subject is #onde#; comp. 188/403; ‘Til hit sprang dai liȝt,’ KH 124 note.

393. #to him dragen#, move towards him: comp. 189/416, 32/49; ‘And whatena hauld shall we draw to?’ Child, Ballads, iii. 434.

394. #it#, the sweet breath.

395. #houen#: see 177/53.

396. #swike#: see 82/111. #uncuð . . . of#: see 179/97.

397. ‘Piscis pisciculos claudit, deglutit et illos,’ T.

401. #wið#, on; comp. 180/147. #se grund#, bottom of the sea; comp. 177/58, 184/278, 189/423; ‘þai sail in þe see gronde . fissches to fede,’ Minot x. 4 note; ‘I’ll set my foot in a bottomless boat, | And swim to the sea-ground,’ Child, Ballads, i. 448.

402. #heil ⁊ sund#: see 177/59.

403. Insert perhaps harde or ille before time. ‘Si sit tempestas, cum vadit vel venit estas, | Et pelagus fundum turbidat omne suum,’ T.

404. For #se#, Holthausen suggests brine, salt sea, by way of improving the rhyme, but comp. time: bi me, KH 533, 534.

405. #winnen#, come into conflict, at the change of the seasons.

407. #droui#, turbid; comp. OE. #drōf#, #drēfan#: comp. ‘Þer faure citees wern set nov is a see called, | Þat ay is drouy ⁊ dim,’ E. E. Allit. Poems, 68/1016.

408. #ðat stund#, at that time; comp. 185/309.

409. ‘Continuo summas se tollit caetus ad undas,’ T. #stireð#, moves; comp. ‘ðis asse is eft of weige stired,’ GE 3961, but stirteð would be more appropriate; comp. ‘And pharaon stirte up anon,’ GE 2931; ‘Þe fisches sturten op with þis song,’ South English Legendary, 232/456. #houeð stille#: comp. ‘Louerd crist, þat swch a best: scholde houi so stille | And soffri men opon him gon: and don al heore wille,’ id. 230/375.

411. #sipes#: Mätzner suggested siperes, OE. #scipere#, but that does not apparently occur in ME. and it would be unmetrical, sipmen might be read, if any change were necessary. #fordriuen#, driven about, so ‘We beoþ séé-weri men[;] mid wedere al for-dreuen,’ L MS. O, 6205: but OE. #fordrīfan# means to drive away, banish, drive out of course.

412. There is nothing in the original corresponding to this line: comp. 91/88.

413. #biloken#: Mätzner explains, look around, comparing ‘Brid . . . biwent him ofte, ⁊ bilokeð him euer ȝeorneliche al abuten,’ AR 132/26, but the meaning of the verb is there qualified by ‘abuten.’ Here its natural sense is better, they look to themselves, they consider their plight.

414. Add ðat after #wenen#: comp. 185/311. ‘Est promontorium cernere non modicum | Huic religare citam pro tempestate carinam | Nautae festinant utque foras saliant,’ T.

416. #mid here migt#, striving their hardest: ‘bi his mihte,’ OEH ii. 189/11.

417, 418. These lines probably ran, Sipes on to festen | ⁊ alle up to gangen. #festen on#, moor.

419, 420. ‘Accendunt vigilem quem navis portitat ignem,’ T.; ‘vigilem,’ ever burning, Virgil, Æn. iv. 200. #wel to brennen# may mean, to light a good fire, but such absolute use of brennen is without support. For #wel# read welm, blazing fire: OE. #wielm#, #wylm#; comp. ‘he wolde hine ifusen[;] to ane bare walme,’ L 22123: the word is common enough in OE. but rare in ME., and so may have puzzled the copyist, who would find wel in the next line. The sense is, They all go up on land to light a blazing fire on this monster by a spark struck out of flint by steel into tinder.

421. #warmen . . . heten . . . drinken# depend on #gangen#: ‘ut cale se faciant aut comedenda coquant,’ T.

423. #grunde#: see 188/401. For the whale mistaken for an island, comp. the South English Legendary, 224/155-176.

426, 427. ‘Viribus est zabulus quasi cetus corpore magnus, | Ut monstrant magni quos facit ille magi,’ T. #wið#, of, as in ‘mekill of maine,’ Minot, i. 85.

427. #hauen# gives a fair sense with ‘wil ⁊ magt’ as object, but the original word was probably taunen (comp. 195/631), rendering ‘monstrant.’

428, 429 are due to a misunderstanding of the original, ‘Mentes cunctorum qui sunt ubique virorum | Esurit atque sitit, quosque potest perimit;’ the devil hungers and thirsts for the souls of men and he destroys all he can.

430. #tolleð#, allures: the earliest occurrence of the word.

431. Omit he. #sonde#, shame.

432. #in leue lage#, low (weak) in faith; a phrase apparently without parallel. ‘Sed modicos fidei trahit in dulcedine verbi, | Namque fide firmos non trahit ille viros,’ T.

435. #in rigte leue#: see 89/28. #mid fles ⁊ gast#, in body and soul.

437. #on lengðe#, in the long run, at length: more commonly used of measure, ‘hit is on lengþe[;] four and twenti mundes,’ L MS. O, 21993.

438. #festeð#: comp. 1/23; ‘In him i hafe min hope al fest,’ CM 5288: ‘spem sibi ponit,’ T.

439. #helle dim#: comp. 186/341.

440. This article is mostly original. #Sirene#, genitive of sirena; the title in T. is ‘De Sirenis’; classical Latin has only siren, -is, _fem._ In T. they are female and birds in the nether half; his account is very brief and general, and it is followed closely by that of the onocentaur, which is ‘biformis’ like the siren; the ‘significacio’ is common to both. An earlier description is found in Layamon, 1322-1347, which is based on Wace, Brut, 733-771. The author of the Bestiary was acquainted with one or both of these. Comp. also Bozon, Contes Moralisés, p. 47.

441. #selcuðes#, marvels: the word is mostly adjective. ‘Item mare est animancium et monstrorum multiplicis forme productivum; mare enim longe producit monstra et mira quam facit ipsa terra,’ Bartholomeus Anglicus, lib. xiii.

442. #mereman#, mermaid: a better form is meremin, _pl._ merminnen, L 1322: merman is a much later masculine formed from mermaid. The first half of the line is short: perhaps muchel should be added after is.

443. #oc--bunden#, but in her resemblance to a maiden she is altogether limited to this extent of breast and body. This use of bind has perhaps been helped by Layamon’s ‘wifmen hit þunchet fuliwis[;] bi-neoðe þon gurdle hit þuncheð fisc.’

444. ‘Poisson sunt del nombril aval,’ Wace 737. For the second half line read, ge is noman ilik.

445. #to fuliwis#: see 32/40 note. #waxen#: explained by Mätzner as furnished, in meaning of OE. #beweaxan#, which however is used only of extraneous growths, as ‘burgtunas brerum beweaxne,’ town-dwellings with briars o’ergrown, Cod. Exon. 443/16. Comp. ‘a win-tre | ðat adde waxen buges ðre,’ GE 59/2059.

446. #wankel#, unstable; OE. #wancol#: comp. ‘wanclen,’ weaklings, L 31834. The modern dialect word, wankle, is current in the North and Midlands, and often used of uncertain, unsettled weather, and so probably here of stormy, disturbed seas.

447. #ðer--sinkeð# is a half-line, #sipes--werkeð# a complete line: the former may have run, ðer ðe water sinkeð . dun on west halue, where the sea slopes away down to the west; for the second half-line comp. ‘an æst halue an west halue,’ L 29287. ‘Et modo naufragium, modo dant mortale periclum,’ T.

448. #mirie#: ‘Dolces vois ont, dolcement chantent,’ Wace, 738; ‘Þeos habbeð swa murie song,’ L 1326. Holthausen omits #ge#. #mere#, a shortened form of mereman. #manie#: ‘Sirenae sunt monstra maris resonancia multis | Vocibus et modulis cantus formancia multis,’ T.

449. #sille#, marvellous; OE. #syllic#.

450. #it ben#: see 1/10 note.

451. The scribe should have put the stop before #forgeten#. ‘Li fol home qui le cant oent, | . . . | Lor voie oblient et guerpissent,’ Wace, 743, 745.

452. ‘Quae faciunt sompnum nimia dulcedine vocum,’ T.

454. #suk#, suck, expressing the sound made by the water closing over the vessel.

456-459 appears to be based on the experience of Brutus; ‘Brutus iherde siggen[;] þurh his sæ-monnen | of þan ufele ginnen[;] þe cuðen þa mereminnen | . . . | Þa mereminnen heom to svommen[;] on alchare sidan. | swiða heo heom lætten[;] mid luðere heora craften. | Neðelas Brutus at-bræc[;] al buten burstan, | ⁊ ferde riht on his wei,’ L 1334-1337, 1342-1347.

456. #wise . . . warre#: see 18/16.

457. know how to return, that is, to escape: comp. ‘hwan ic aȝen cherre[;] al ic þe ȝelde,’ OEH i. 79/12, and for the noun, ‘Þer deþ so redi fynt dore opene, | Ne may helpe no ȝeyn char,’ Desputisoun, 76/167; ‘efter-charr,’ CM 21922.

458. Often they have burst away, made good their escape: comp. 193/548 where the verb has an object in the _acc._ of the thing escaped from, as occasionally in OE., and as probably here also. For the second half of the line in its present form yields no satisfactory sense. Mätzner, who completed he[re], translates, with their heart incorruptible, inflexible, equating #ouel# with OWScand. ófalr. Read, ofte arn atbrosten mid hele . here brest iuel, often have they safely escaped from their evil danger. Comp. ‘Þe king Goffar iseih his burst[;] ⁊ unæðe him seolf atbreac,’ L 1610; ‘þa ofte ure Bruttes[;] makeden hufele burstes,’ id. 19856, and with the form brest, ‘or thei take reste | Er schal thei suffre mochel breste,’ Laud Troy Book, 4226; ‘To-quils þai duelled þar to rest, | O water had þai ful mikel brest,’ CM 6308.

459. Mätzner deletes #herd#, to correspond with, ‘Quod (_i.e._ periculum) qui fugerunt, hii tales esse tulerunt,’ T.; but in view of L 1334-1337 quoted above, it would be better to leave out #told#; the wise escape because they have been forewarned. With either alteration, the line remains formless: better, he hauen herd tellen . of tis mere unimete, with distinct alliteration in each half-line (comp. 464/15). Holthausen supplies is after #ðat#: the scribe probably understood the connection as, which, monstrous in this wise, as being half human and half fish, has a moral application (‘significacio’, ‘bitacnunge,’ 79/15) in virtue of this monstrosity.

463, 464. Many men illustrate what is signified by this creature here adduced as a symbol. ‘Quam plures homines sic sunt in more biformes,’ T.; comp. 191/471.

465. Mätzner altered #wulues# to sepes; the source is, ‘Attendite a falsis prophetis, qui veniunt ad vos in vestimentis ovium, intrinsecus autem sunt lupi rapaces,’ S. Matt. vii. 15.

467, 468. ‘Utpote sunt multi qui de virtute locuti, | Turpibus indulgent,’ T. Perhaps of should be inserted before godcundhede.

469. #vncuð wið#: see 179/97. ‘Qui foris ut fantur, sic intus non operantur,’ T.

474. #ðe legen#, lie to thee, by presently breaking their oath: ‘unum dicentes, aliud mox tibi facientes,’ T.

475. #sage#, discourse: OE. #sagu#: comp. ‘heo wenden þat his sawen[;] soðe weren,’ L 749.

476. #ðer imong#, all the time they are promising.

477. #agte# and #soule# l. 478 are apparently accusatives in a sort of apposition to ‘ðe’ l. 476. OE. #swician# requires #ymb# or #on# with the name of the thing about which deceit is practised.

480. #Elpes#: the OE. forms are #elpend# and #ylp#; elp is probably a shortened form of the former. #Inde riche#, the realm of India.

481. #berges ilike#, like mountains; ‘bene firmares montibus esse pares,’ T.; ‘ylp is ormæte nyten mare þonne sum hus,’ Ælf. Lives, ii. 104/366.

482. #o wolde#, in the woodland: comp. 195/620.

484, 485. ‘Adversi coeunt, cum sibi conveniunt.’ The scribe has put #sampnen# in the place of some less common word; Holthausen proposes hemen which gives an assonance at any rate: if a verb *menen may be inferred from mæne, mene, intercourse, it would fit still better.

486. #kolde of kinde#, chaste by nature: comp. 191/495; ‘so kinde cold,’ GE 1999.

487. #minde#: see 184/263.

488. #noten of#, make use of: see 84/45. #gres#, herb, medicinal plant.

489. #ðe#, to which: see 46/292. #mandragores#, mandrake: L. mandragoras; in Philippe de Thaün mandragora. It is discussed at length in Bartholomeus Anglicus, lib. xvii, ‘dicitur autem habere virtutem prebetivam mulieribus concipiendi.’ There is no mention of it in T., but it is common matter in the Bestiaries.

490-494. ‘Hique semel pariunt quamvis tot tempora vivunt, | Hoc est ter centum, nec faciunt geminum, | Ast unum generant et per duo tempora gestans,’ T. (‘duo tempora’ = duos annos). See Ælf. Lives, ii. 104/569. #wuneden#: read wunen: #more# is probably an addition by the scribe.

495. #blod ⁊ bon#, subject of is: for the phrase, meaning the whole body, comp. 196/636; ‘nys non so feyr of blod ant bone,’ KH MS. L, 916 note.

496. ‘Cum parit in magna, ne cadat, exstat aqua,’ T. The Bestiaries generally say that she takes to the water for fear of the dragon. #sal#, has to, must.

498. #to mid side#: nothing corresponding in T., but ‘Tresque à sun ventre en l’unde,’ P. de Thaün, 1442; ‘pergit ad lacum magnum et ingreditur usque ad ubera,’ H. de S. Victor, ii. 427. #midside# is a compound noun; contrast ‘with a sadel to the midside,’ Desputisoun, ed. Linow, 59/517 (Laud MS.) with the corresponding, ‘Wiþ a sadel to middle þe syde,’ 101/517 (Digby MS.).

499. #wanne--tide#; Mätzner translates, ‘when mischief betides her,’ treating harde as a noun, like 152/56 note. The construction would then be the same as in ‘Aþulf tit no wounde,’ KH MS. L, 1352, and #harde# might better be translated birth pangs. But the order of the words is against that interpretation: #tide# is impersonal and #harde# is an adverb: comp. ‘wel þe sal bityde,’ L MS. O, 2236.

500. #ðat# is often repeated when a clause interrupts the construction, as in ‘sitteð all stille, ꝥ hwon he parted urom ou, ꝥ he ne cunne ower god, ne ower vuel nouðer,’ AR 64/20.

502. ‘Non habet ut (_a.l._ unde) surgat, quia nunquam crura recurvat,’ T. The elk is also without joints in its legs; see Elton, Origins of English History, p. 54.

504. #Hu--wide# depends on l. 506. With #he# comp. 119/77, 194/602.

505. #walkeð wide#, travels to a distance; a favourite phrase in the romances: comp. ‘Ihc habbe walke wide,’ KH 953 note.

506. #her#: in Physiologus.

507. For resting is difficult because his huge bulk prevents him from lying down.

508. #to fuligewis#: see 32/40.

509. ‘Incumbit trunco arboris haut modico,’ T.

510. #trostlike#, confidingly: ‘Idunc dort a seür,’ P. de Thaün, 1550.

511. #of walke weri#, weary from walking; so, ‘weri of sorȝen,’ L 28081.

512. #ðis# anticipates l. 514: the hunter notes the elephant’s favourite support, ‘his beste wune.’

514. #wune#, resort; usually custom, but comp. ‘Vyche day in þe temple . wes myne ywune,’ OEM 43/207. Eudes de Cheriton, 316/26, has, ‘Elephas, more consueto super illam appodians, simul cum illa cadit.’

515. For #willen# read wiken: to don hise wiken, to perform his functions, here, to sleep. The phrase ‘don wiken’ occurs in OEH i. 137/11, meaning, to do services. Comp. 84/45 note.

516. #underset#: ‘Quam notat atque secat venator, et obice celat,’ T. Mätzner translates, underprops; rather, wedges up, underpins.

517. #bet#: used for the rhyme, where best might have been expected.

518. #he#, the elephant. #it . . . war#, aware of it: see 200/116 note.

519. #makeð char#, returns: comp. 190/457.

520. ‘Clamque sedens spectat dum requiem repetat,’ T. #biwalt# is Mätzner’s correction for biwarlt; it is a rare word and means to rule, manage, wield, as in ‘þe holie þremnesse þe shop ⁊ biwalt alle shafte,’ OEH ii. 25/8. He explains the passage as, the hunter sits alone, observes whether his device helps him in any way. But #olon# for al one or one as in this text, 194/579, 580, the absence of a conjunction before #bihalt# and the meaning given to #biwalt# all raise doubts. Morris translates the last word as ‘deceiveth.’ Perhaps in olon lurks al on, which with *bihalt, observation, would give, intent on watching. *bihalt, noun of bihalden, is not found, but may be inferred from OE. #geheald#. #biwalt# may be miswritten for biualt, representing OE. #befealleþ#: l. 521 might then mean whether his device results in anything for him.

522. #unride#: see 188/389.

524, 525. ‘Ille velud quondam securus ad arboris umbram, | Cum venit, incumbit, cumque ruente ruit,’ T. #boden#, for boðen.

530. #ðer#, to that place. #gangande#: the author wrote gangen, and at l. 536 seken or more probably saken: comp. 108/232; ‘þer com o schelchene gon,’ OEM 45/279, 285; ‘Þer com go a wel fair mon,’ South English Legendary, 223/139, 226/265, 227/272; ‘þat him com biforen gon[;] a wunder ane fair mon,’ L 32064. The infinitive defines; here it means, on foot. ‘Tunc unus currit, qui relevare cupit,’ T.

531. #ut# is a scribe’s mistake for up.

532. #Fikeð#, bustles, fusses: still in dialectic use in the northern counties and Scotland. See Björkman, 145, 306. The combination with #fondeð#, tries, does not occur elsewhere.

533. #forðen#: see 180/126. #no wigt#, not at all.

534. #canne#, can he; nor can he do anything else. ‘Sed nequit et satagit: complorans hic quoque barrit,’ T.

536. #manie#: in the older Bestiaries twelve besides the first try to raise him. The original reading of the MS., sacande, for saken (shake), is preferable to the correction: see 182/193.

537. #on stalle maken#, put him in a standing position, set him up again; comp. 193/539, 547, 556, 557; ‘cumen . . . on stalle,’ 193/539. A deer is said to stall when it stands still in covert.

538. #for#, in spite of, notwithstanding; comp. ‘For roting es na better rede,’ CM 11505; ‘thei scholde come with-outen dwellyng | And speke with him for any thyng,’ Laud Troy Book, 3103: contrast ‘For,’ in consequence of, 193/542.

540-549. ‘Cum nequeunt omnes, contendunt mittere voces, | Ad quas fit subitus parvulus ac minimus | Cuius (et est mirum) promuscida sublevat illum, | Et sic predictas effugit insidias,’ T.

548. Comp. 186/344, 190/458. #atbrested#: supply he (the fallen elp) as subject: see 6/18 note.

552. #ðat fele we#, for that we suffer.

553. Holthausen would read, Moyses wulde him reisen rigt, | migte i forðen no wigt; but reisen : forðen is sufficient rhyme for this author. The lines are, however, short; insert up before reisen, he after migte.

556. #her non#, none of them.

557. By ‘upright’ I mean in his former position as possessor of the riches of heaven. For #iseie# see 56/46 note. Comp. ‘heoueriche wunne,’ AR 242/4; ‘heouenriche murhðe,’ OEH i. 115/1.

559. #suggeden#, sighed; comp. ‘Forr iwhillc mann birrþ wepenn her, ⁊ sikenn sare ⁊ suhhȝhenn,’ Orm 7923. #weren in ðogt#, were very anxious: comp. ‘Euer ⁊ oo for my leof icham in grete þohte,’ Bödd. AE. Dicht. 179/7.

560. #ovt#: read ogt, in any wise, at all.

561. #onder steuene# is meaningless. Mätzner suggested mid are steuene, with one cry; Holthausen for #onder#, luder. But #alle# is superfluous and the rhythm is defective: the original may have been, remeden he ðo ludere steuene. Comp. ‘Þa quað Membricius[;] ludere stefne,’ L 927; ‘Numbert heom to clepede[;] mid ludere stefne,’ id. 1428.

563, 564. ‘Ipsorum precibus venit ad hoc dominus,’ T. #care#, anxiety. #hem . . . to#, to them: see 1/3.

566. #litel#: ‘parvus, quoniam deus est homo factus,’ T.

567. #drowing ðolede#, endured suffering: comp. ‘Ac of cristes þruwinge · þet he þolede her,’ OEM 37/4; ‘He ðrowede and ðolede un-timing ðat,’ GE 1180.

568. #under gede#, went to the help of; said with a reference to l. 545: L. subvenire.

570. #dim#: comp. 186/341.

571. For the Turtle, the author follows the Latin original pretty closely.

572. #boke#: Physiologus. #o rime#, in verse: insert al before o.

573. #lagelike#, loyally, faithfully: comp. ‘ȝif ha hare wedlac laheliche halden,’ HM 13/33.

574. #make#: comp. ‘Forr fra þatt hire make iss dæd | Ne kepeþþ ȝho nan oþerr,’ Orm 1276. #siðen#: read seden, separate, depart, OE. #scēadan#; comp. ‘Þurrh þatt he wollde stilleliȝ | Fra Sannte Marȝe shædenn,’ Orm 2922, 16240. Omit ge as unmetrical.

575. #muneð#, keep in mind; comp. 185/284.

576, 577. ‘Nocte dieque juncta manebit | Absque marito nemo videbit,’ T. #sundren ovt#, separate at all, at any time: comp. 195/623.

578-583. ‘Sed viduata si caret ipso | Non tamen ultra nubet amico, | Sola volabit, sola sedebit: | Et quasi vivum corde tenebit | Opperiensque casta manebit,’ T.

579. #one#, alone: OE. #āna#. #fareð#, passes her life.

581. #luue abit#, awaits, watches for the return of her beloved.

585. #reche#, take heed, bethink thyself.

586. See 180/134. #meche#: ‘Namque maritus est sibi (_i.e._ animae) Christus,’ T.

588. #fro himward#: see 178/89 note. The metre requires the omission of -ward.

590. Read luue none: for the combination #leue . . . luue#, comp. 143/73. #ne--newe#, nor love any new one; comp. ‘Allas! is every man thus trewe, | That every yere wolde have a newe,’ Chaucer, H. F. 301; ‘He wolde not him chawnge for no newe,’ Guy of Warwick, 122. This gives the best sense and rhythm, but luue may be a noun governed by leue, and l. 581 favours that interpretation.

591-593. ‘Quem superesse credit in aethre, | Inde futurum spectat eundem | Ut microcosmum judicat omnem,’ T.

592. #briche#: see 185/293.

593. #on geuelike#: see 182/214.

594. Omit #men#. #his loðe#, those hateful to him.

598-600. ‘Qui niger ex albo conspergitur orbiculato,’ T. #bro#, eyebrow: OWScand. brá: see Björkman 231. Mätzner sees in the whale’s brow an expression for whalebone: Pliny says ‘ora ballaenae habent in frontibus, ideoque summa aqua natantes in sublime nimbos efflant,’ N. H. ix. 6, 16. The explanation is not convincing. Such comparisons are generally made with familiar objects, so ‘colblake,’ 153/75; ‘And worth al black sum ani cole,’ CM 22489; ‘Al blak so cole-brond,’ King Alisaunder 6260. Perhaps, so brond of cole: the scribe is given to leaving out the end of his words, and the rhyme cole : al is no worse than fel : al, 190/465. In other Bestiaries the panther is of many colours.

600. #trendled# &c., rounded as a wheel.

601. And it sets him off, adorns him, exceedingly: an early instance of this meaning. Comp. ‘þe kirtel bicom him swiþe wel,’ Guy of Warwick, Auch. MS. 14/210.

602. #he#: see 119/77 note.

603. #der#: T. has ‘Diversis pastus venatibus et saciatus,’ but the Bestiaries generally avoid making him carnivorous; ‘Divers mangiers manjue,’ P. de Thaün, 474; ‘Saoulee . . . De boenes viandes plusors,’ Guillaume, 1958, 1960; ‘diversis herbis vescitur,’ Honorius Augustod. (Migne), 887.

604. #cul#, rump: the earliest appearance of this French word in English. Mätzner explains it as cowl, fell.

607. After #dages# insert al: comp. 195/635.

609. #lude so#, as loudly as: but lude should probably be omitted, as the line is too long.

610-615. ‘Exit odor talis de gutture, tamque suavis, | Ut virtute sua superet vel aromata cuncta,’ T. #mid . . . forð# may be equivalent to forð mid, along with (see 1/19), but #forð# is more probably adverbial, far, as in, ‘Sum was wið migte so forð gon, | ðat hadden he under hem mani on,’ GE 835. #oueral#, widely spread.

612. #haliweie#, more usually halewei, some preparation of a balsamic nature used both as a lotion and a drink. It corresponds to an OE. *#hǣlewǣg#, healing water, but the spelling in the text shows an association with #hālig# (NED.). Comp. ‘hwo þet bere a deorewurðe licur, oðer a deorewurðe wete, as is bame, in a feble uetles, healewi in one bruchele glese,’ AR 164/13; ‘Kumeð þerof smel of aromaz, oðer of swote healewi,’ id. 276/11.

615. Comp. ‘For na drie ne for na wate,’ CM 6365. #wete# is by form a noun, as at l. 57; comp. ‘hwīlum fliht se wǣta ꝥ dryge,’ Boethius, ed. Fox, 234/10.

617. #wor so . . . of londe#, wherever in the world; comp. ‘Wher he beo in londe,’ KH 416 note. But the metre requires on ðe londe.

620. #folegeð#: ‘Ferunt odore earum mire sollicitari quadripedes cunctas,’ Pliny, N. H. viii. 17, 62. The original has ‘Ad quem mox tendit quae vocem belua sentit, | Ac sectatur cum nimia dulcedine plenum.’ Eudes de Cheriton says, ‘animalia crudelia, ut Lupus et Leopardus . . . eam pro bono odore sequuntur et non infestant,’ 232: he explains the sweet smell as the soft answer that turns away wrath.

621. #ðe#, of which: comp. 46/292 note.

623-625. ‘Cum sonat, aut fugiunt, aut segnes corpore fiunt | In caveisque latent, nec in ipso tempore parent,’ T. #ogt#, at all.

624. #daren#: see 185/310.

627. #tokned#: ‘per mistica dictus,’ T.

629. ‘Speciosus forma prae filiis hominum,’ Psalm xliv. 3.

630. #fen#, mud; comp. ‘Or or flum noe spredde his fen,’ GE 490.

631. #taunede#, displayed: taunen is an aphetic form of *at-awnen (see NED. _s.v._ tawne): it is found only here and several times in GE. ll. 631, 632 are the interpretation of ll. 603-605: ‘At satur ille fuit, quia quot vult, tot sibi sumit,’ T.

634. Well is it for the man for whom he was willing to suffer it. ‘Et somnum cepit cum nos moriendo redemit,’ T. For the omission of the verb after #wel#, see 21/92 note: for #dat#, to whom, see 46/292 note.

635. #on on#, continuously.

636. #blod ⁊ bon#: see 191/495.

637. Perhaps #in wis# of the MS. should not have been altered, as it occurs again in GE at 214/575: it may be a genuine, though mistaken, resolution of iwis.

639. #vuemest#, highest.

641. #smel#: ‘nimio suae incarnationis odore,’ H. de S. Victor, ii. 426.

642. #let her#, left behind in the world.

643. For #him#, hin, shortened form of hine, may be read: comp. ‘fleges kin sal hin ouer-gon,’ GE 3004.

644. For #fin# read afin or in fin; the meaning will be, into his divine presence at our ending. The original has ‘Celos ascendens, ubi regnat cum patre presens, | Quem gentes cuncte sunt sic credendo secute:’ the parallel passage in the description is l. 620. #godcundnesse# properly means, divinity, divine nature, here apparently, the manifestation of that divinity in heaven. For #fin#, death, comp. ‘Alle ðhe olde deden ðor fin,’ GE 3852.

645. ‘Serpens antiquus qui nobis est inimicus,’ T.

646. #dine#, sound, preaching: suggested by ‘rem,’ 195/611, and possibly by S. Paul’s use of Psalm xviii. 5, ‘in omnem terram exivit sonus eorum,’ Rom. x. 18.

648. #ðer wile#, whilst, so long as; comp. 198/37, 205/288, 446/59, ‘And mete quorbi ðei migten liuen, | ðor quiles he woren on water driuen,’ GE 573; ‘Therwhile, sire, that I tolde this tale | Thi sone mighte tholie dethes bale,’ Seuyn Sages, 701. #he--beren#, they maintain obedience and cherish love: #he# refers to #noman#: #beren# goes naturally with #luue#, with #lage# it stands for lage halden, to keep the commandments (of God).

649. Thetbald ends with the Panther, and this section is generally said to be taken from Neckam’s De Naturis Rerum, c. xlvi. His dove has eight ‘natures,’ three of which are wanting in our author’s seven, and lacks two of those given here (ll. 656, 657; ll. 660, 661), while Neckam’s explanation of the fifth, ll. 662, 663, is quite different. The matter is common to the Fathers and medieval writers, and our author may have drawn from more than one, but Hugh of S. Victor, De Bestiis et aliis Rebus, lib. i. c. 11, most nearly resembles him. His dove has ten qualities, six of which are here, and there is something resembling the seventh: each of them is quoted.

651. #wes#, we them. #hauen in mode#, keep in mind: so, ‘ben us minde,’ l. 653: see 184/263.

653. Mätzner takes #alle it# together as, all of them, comparing 190/450, where he says it = them, but see 1/10 note: the construction is similar here, #it# is a mere introductory word like there: the order is, it ogen alle &c., and the meaning, they ought all to be present in thought to us.

654. ‘Caret felle, id est, irascibilitatis amaritudine,’ V. Comp. ‘Loke nu þet tu, þet he cleopeð kulure, habbe kulure kunde, þet is wiðuten galle,’ AR 292/19; ‘Forr cullfre iss milde ⁊ meoc ⁊ swet, | ⁊ all wiþþutenn galle,’ Orm 1258; ‘Lauedi scho es o leuedis all, | Mild and mek witouten gall,’ CM 101.

655. #simple#: Comp. ‘_Estote simplices sicut columbe_ · buð admode alse duue,’ OEH ii. 49/25, that is, humble. #softe#, gentle.

656. ‘Non vivit ex raptu, quia non detrahit proximo,’ V. Mätzner divided bi lagt and explained #lagt# as _pp._ of lacchen used substantively as prey: the word does not occur elsewhere.

657. The scribe probably understood this line as, Let us do aback all thieving; that is, renounce, reject, like ‘werpeð abec,’ 16/142: though aback descends from #on bæc#. But the rhyme is bad, and the emendation hac, due to Mätzner, does not improve it, besides being difficult of interpretation. If it is for ac (comp. 217/87) the meaning might be, Let us also put away from us all thieving. Morris suggests hagt = agt, mind, and the rhyme lagt : hagt occurs in GE, see 201/135, but the word hagt means, in ME., only care, anxiety, peril. Holthausen proposed iþagt, OE. #geþeaht#; in the sense, put out of our counsel, thoughts: the form apparently does not occur elsewhere, and it makes a metrical difficulty. Probably the corruption of the line began with #Ilc#; it may have run, Noman do we robbing of aght; comp. ‘If i giue þe for to kepe | . . . | Hors or ani oþer aght, | And it wit wiþerwin be laght,’ CM 6763; ‘For to spare his aune aght, | þis pore manes schep he laght,’ id. 7927.

658, 659. ‘Colligit grana meliora, id est, meliora dicta. Non vescitur cadaveribus, id est, desideriis carnalibus,’ V. #leteð#, abstains from. Omit #ðe# before #sed#.

660, 661. ‘Geminos nutrit pullos, id est, amorem Dei et amorem proximi,’ V, which is not like the text. Comp. rather, ‘Alienos pullos nutrit dum errantes a regno Dei alienos per poenitentiam reducit,’ Honorius Augustod., 962. #ur ilk#, each of us.

662, 663. ‘Columba pro cantu utitur gemitu, quia quod libens fecit plangendo gemit,’ V. #woning# &c.: see 2/15. #lic#: apparently _adv._, equally; likewise; her song is at the same time a lament: the order of the words and the absence at this date of a preposition with woning is against the meaning, her song is similar to a lament: comp. ‘Forr þeȝȝre (cullfre ⁊ turrtle) sang iss lic wiþþ wop,’ Orm 7931. For #bimene#, _reflexive_, see 40/168 note.

664, 665. ‘Super fluenta aquarum (Canticum Canticorum, v. 12) residet, ut, visa acciptris umbra, venientem citius devitet, quia in scripturis studet, ut supervenientis diaboli fraudem declinet,’ V. #wis of#, a variant of ‘war of,’ suggested by the frequent association of ‘wis and war:’ see 18/16. #nome#, seizing, clutches: only here and at 206/322.

666, 667. ‘Nidificat in foraminibus petrae, quia spem ponit in Christi passione,’ V.

_Greek_

ὁ Φυσιολόγος [ho Physiologos] ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρετῆς [apo tês aretês]

_Cross-References_

1/3, 1/10, 1/19 (notes) = I. A (Worcester Fragments) 6/18, 8/84 (notes) = III. (The Peterborough Chronicle) 13/18 (note) = V. (A Parable) 21/92, 25/226 (notes) = VI. (The Proverbs of Alfred) 32/40, 40/168, 44/260, 46/292 (notes) = VIII. (Poema Morale) 56/46 (note) = IX. A (Ancrene Wisse: Seven Deadly Sins) 80/47, 81/80 (notes) = XI. (Hic Dicendum est de Propheta) 119/77, 143/73 (notes) = XIX. (Saint Juliana) 176/24, 178/89 (notes) = _present selection_ 200/116, 213/539 (notes) = XXII. (Genesis and Exodus) p. 327 = VIII. (Poema Morale) under Metre. 359 = IX. Ancrene Wisse, Phonology, under “ea”. p. 463, 464, 465 = XIV. (Layamon) under Metre. p. 564 = XX. (The Owl and the Nightingale) under Metre.

_Errata_

#Phonology:# Oldest E. Texts 570 [OE Texts] #a# + #g# ... Anglian #tre(o)#: [#tre (o)#] #Accidence:# ...nigt _s. a._ 582; [582:] The personal pronouns ... oðer 603 [oder] eurilc 257, 286 [euerilc 257, eurilc 286] Only three verbs ... I c. _s._ 3. wan 632 [3,] For the octosyllable ... cundnéss|ẹ afín 644 [afin] Verses of three measures ... tíl | it cúm|ẹð ðe tíme 403 [timé] Syncope of the middle vowel ... sinịging 256 [sinigịng] 113. ... #Nimeð#: see 213/539 note. [213/359] 173. ... _subj. past_ from #healdan# [_subj. past._] 185. ... AR 50/15 [AR/50/15] 257. ... it would balance eurilcdel [euerilcdel] 260. ... Comp. ‘ðe sunenday | ðat is [_open quote missing_] 356. ... subject of #is#. [_period (full stop) missing_] 357. ... the Creator made these loathly things [_final “r” in “Creator” invisible_] a common medieval idea [_“l” in “medieval” invisible_] 414. ... Huic religare citam pro tempestate carinam [pre] 428, 429 ... Mentes cunctorum qui sunt ubique virorum [_text unchanged: error for “ubicunque”?_] 467, 468. ... Turpibus indulgent,’ [_close quote invisible_] 489. ... habere virtutem prebetivam [_text unchanged: error for “prebitivam”?_] 612. ... It corresponds to an OE. *#hǣlewǣg# [OE *#hǣlewǣg# ]

XXII. GENESIS AND EXODUS

#Manuscript:# Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, 444, former mark R 11; on vellum, 186 × 116 mm., in one hand of the end of thirteenth or of the beginning of the fourteenth century. It contains on 81 folios the poem from which the present extract is made. On f. 1 r is the name of a former owner, Richard Southwell, with a motto nearly obliterated, Sapit qui sustinet, or suscepit (James). See further A Descriptive Catalogue of the MSS. in the Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, by M. R. James, vol. ii, p. 357.

#Editions:# Morris, R., Genesis and Exodus. E. E. T. S., O. S. 7, 1865, revised 1873. Mätzner, E., Altenglische Sprachproben, i. 76-90. Specimens, 153-170. Emerson, O. F., ME. Reader, 21-35.

#Literature:# Fritzsche, A., Anglia, v. 43-90 (authorship, phonology, grammar, metre, notes); Hilmer, H., Ueber die Sprache der altenglischen Story of Genesis and Exodus, Sondershausen, 1876; Holthausen, F., ES xvi. 429-33, Archiv, xc. 143, 144, 295, cvii. 386-92, Anglia, xv. 191-4, xxii. 141 (notes and emendations); Kölbing, E., ES iii. 273-334, xvii. 292-6 (notes and emendations); Schumann, W., Anglia, vi. Anzeiger, 1-32; Stratmann, F. H., ES ii. 120, iv. 98 (notes).

#Analogue:# Die altfranzösische Histoire de Joseph, ed. W. Steuer, Erlangen, 1903, also as L’Estoire Joseph, ed. E. Sass, Berliner Dissertation, 1906.

#Phonology:# This section should be compared with pp. 581-586; explanations of abnormal forms offered there are not repeated. Oral #a# is _a_, asses 427, crauen 420; #a# before nasals is _a_, gan 8, man 446 r. w. chanaan, nam 84, quanne 14, ðanne 199; men 204 (3 times) is a reduced form of the indefinite pronoun #man#; #a# before lengthening groups is _o_, among 587, fond 30, but and 6 &c., handful 15, Orm’s hanndfull, with consonant following the lengthening group. #æ# is _a_, at 25, bad 93 (14), bar 22 (6), dale 79 r. w. bale, faste 93, 248, quat 37, ðat 9, was 1 &c.; the exceptions are fest 427 r. w. best, queðer 111, reste 82, reste 466 (5), weche 514, weches 521 (comp. ‘weciað,’ Vesp. Ps. 126/1), togider 406 r. w. hider. #e# is _e_, beden 266, beðen 501, deren 402 r. w. sheren, stede 81 r. w. dede, wel 10 &c. (#wēl#, Bülbring, § 284); before lengthening groups, ende 588, engeles 587, feld 29, but hate 12, 32, 33, influenced by haten, #hatian# and perhaps by OWScand. hatr, bi 150, quilke 134 (3), swilc 33, bliscing 452, influenced by #blissung#, rejoicing, wol 384, GE 621, ‘wol wel he dede,’ id. 724, ‘ðehg wol wel,’ id. 1266, due to labial influence and weakness of stress (Gabrielson, Influence of W-, 207, 8); seigen 548, seið 404 (#secgað#). #i# is _i_, bid 563, driuen 219, is 74 &c., ðider 55, wile 180, wliten 343 r. w. eten; before lengthening groups, bringen 213, wilde 71, winden 502; beðen 552 is a miswriting of bidden, welin 585 of wilen. #o# is _o_, biforen 16, on 32, soren 15, wrogt 36 r. w. nogt; before lengthening groups, forð 190, gold 194, ‘wolde,’ GE 1418, but an 95, a 40, 108, without stress, wulde 9 (4), wurðen 517. #u# is _u_, kuppe 101, wukes 527; before lengthening groups, grund 164, hunger 204, murnen 107, but boden 67, storue 54, ‘domme,’ GE 2821, French writings. #y# is regularly _i_, bigen 220, kin 240, 244 r. w. beniamin, kire 505 r. w. ȳre; before lengthening groups, kinde 129 (5), kinges 87, but deden (#dǣdon#) 2, 154, 265 r. w. beden, 431, 504, 538 r. w. abiden, dede 44, 82 r. w. stede, come 321, sundri 81 (3), analogy of #sundor#. #ā# is _o_, agon 292 (#ongān#), gon 242 r. w. pharaon, 249 r. w. symeon, non 283 r. w. symeon, on 320 r. w. symeon, ðo 13, wrot 581 r. w. mot; with _oo_, ‘ooc,’ GE 1873, ‘wooc,’ id. 1874; but ‘loac,’ GE 1798, ‘ðoa,’ id. 3894 r. w. salmona, 4129 r. w. fasga, ‘woa,’ id. 880 r. w. oba: slo 35, slon 34 r. w. on, come from forms with #ā#; before two consonants, homward 430, but a 81, an 58 &c., unstressed article, anoðer 43, ali 482, 493, 526, hali 492, clad 174? with shortened _a_ as if from *#clādd#, gast 482, 492, quam 374 (#hwām#), bilef, 214, 251 (‘belāf,’ Peterborough Chron., _an._ 1131), probably by confusion with #belǣfan#, but Kluge, Grundriss § 125, assumes a change of ablaut, ‘ða,’ GE 1901 r. w. bozra, ‘wac,’ id. 1197 r. w. ysaac. #ǣ{1}# is _e_, bilewen 287, clene 493, leden 358 r. w. speden, 355 r. w. ðeden, segeð 286, form from #sǣgan#, meaning from #sīgan#; before two consonants, fette 154, helðe 398, lesteð 564, but _ea_ in ear 202, 483, _a_ in ani 235 (#ā# with shortening), ðan 212, 389, 550 (#þām# with shortening), and _o_ in most 350, 422 (l N #māst#), _ei_ in fleis 143 (= fles, comp. treweiðe 358), _i_ in ilc 409, 410, 421 (#ylc#). #ǣ{2}# is _e_, bedden 327 (#bǣdon# from #biddan# in form, but #budon# from #bēodan# in meaning), dede 41 (4), mel 466 r. w. wel, red 45, 191 r. w. sped, 568 r. w. dead, sel 442 r. w. wel, ðer 95 r. w. prisuner, 170 r. w. buteler, weren 255 (6), were 228, wet 342, 396 r. w. gret; before two consonants, lewse 44, 407 (#lǣswe#), redden 34, vnselðehe 370, but ðor 42 r. w. sor, 48 &c., 471 r. w. ger, ðore 324, wor 82 (#hwāra#), quuor 482 (3), quor 462, wore 139, 246, woren 434 r. w. biforen, and six other instances. #ē# is _e_, bene 565, sped 46 r. w. red; before two consonants, kepten 25, but doðes 230. #ī# is _i_, but _y_ is written for it in yre 506. #ō# is _o_, written _oo_ in good 121, 448, ‘booc,’ GE 4124, ‘tooc,’ id. 4123, but cam 55 (8), bicam 202, breðere 7 (14), an umlaut form, wep (OE. #wōp#) 382 is a new formation from #wēpan#, briðere 325. #ū# is _u_, but ‘town,’ GE 2739, ‘out,’ id. 72. #ȳ# is _i_, hid 364, kid 411 r. w. bitid, srid 73 r. w. bitid, but ðe 357 (#þȳ#).

#ea# before #r# + cons. is _a_, harme 368; before lengthening groups, forward 290, harde 94 (3), but _e_ in erd 148 (3), gerken 309, speren 248, sperd 93, 147 and wurð 116 (9). The _i_-umlaut is _e_, derne 46, erue 44, werneden 261, but chare 444. #ea# before #l# + cons. is _a_, alle 34 &c., salt 20 (3); before lengthening groups _o_, bold 13, 175, cold 39, 584, holden 94 (3), old 3 (3), sold 4 (4), wold 40 (4), but geld 206, ‘geald,’ GE 2581; the _i_-umlaut is _e_, eldere 483, 560, welden 197 (see 359/7 and comp. Bülbring § 175 anm.). #eo# before #r# + cons. is _e_, berge 583, fer 483, feren 31, herte 32 (6), sterres 17. To the #wur# group belong wurðe 111, 128, wurðen 465, 481, wurðed 20, wurðeden 18, wurðing 194. The _i_-umlaut is _i_, hirde 449, hirdnesse 26, but hertedin 76, smeren 496, 502 (#smierwan#), smered 509, 511, smerles 508 are without umlaut: a #wyr# word is wurð 39 (5). The _u_- and _å_-umlauts of #a# are wanting, as in bale 80 r. w. dale, faren 292, misfaren 7, as are also those of #e#, werlde 288 (7), beren 138, fele 425. #eo#, _u_- and _å_-umlaut of #i#, is _e_ in her 13, but biueð 334, cliued 59, cliueð 438, liued 60, nimen 416, 532, siluer 268 (comp. OWScand. silfr, Björkman, 112), siðen 115 (6) have no umlaut. #ea# after palatals is _a_, sal 79 &c., shauen 174, bigat 332 r. w. get, forgaf 553, forgat 146, gaf 45 (5). #ie# after #ġ# is _e_, bigetel 88, bigeten 234, forgeten 156, geuen 452, 512, but forgiue 549 r. w. liuen, ME. gifte 520; after #sc#, _e_, sheren 401 r. w. deren. EWS. #gief# is if 7 (3). #eo# after #ġ# is _u_ in gunge 335, gungest 214 (4); after #sc#, _u_, sulen 22 &c., sulde 9, sulden 355, ‘suuen,’ GE 107. #eom# is am 129 (4), #heom#, hem 9 &c.

#ēa# is _e_, bed 101, bred 102, dede 519, eddi 140, gret 341, 395 r. w. wet, lepes 132, _ee_ in neet 151; before two consonants _e_, eðimod 303, lefful 578, but _ea_ in bead 548, bread 133, dead 1 r. w. unred, 485, 547, 567 r. w. red, dead 286, eares 158, and _a_ (shortening) before two consonants in chapmen 85, chafare 47, gatte 531, 567 (Björkman, 109). The _i_-umlaut is _e_, herde 107, heren 585, nede 215, 219, ned 295, 578 r. w. red, nedful 184. #ēo# is invariably _e_, bed 127, bedden 552, for beden, ben 10 &c., dep 38 r. w. slep, leue 475, sen 26 &c., ðeden 356 r. w. leden, ðre 132 r. w. me; it is written _ee_ in seen 492, ‘teen,’ GE 1344; before two consonants _e_, fellen 326, 551, leuere 139; but _ei_ in weis 343 (#wēox# from #weacsan#), comp. fleis 143: miswritten _i_ in lif 481 for ‘lef,’ GE 340 (6). The _i_-umlaut is _e_, dere 301, 453, ten 51 r. w. men. #gīet# is get 39 (6). #ēa# after #ġ# is _e_, ger 1 (11).

#a# + #g# is _ag_, dragen 100, lages 500, slagen 58, but daiges 499, 509, 525, laiges 510, 526, daies 123. #æ# + #g# is _ei_, dei 141 r. w. weilawei, freinde 107, seide 19 (6), seiden 218 (7), seid 479, 482, and _ai_, abraid 165, dai 249, 359 r. w. wei, faire 447, mai 19 (6), waines 416, written _ay_ in may 36: fagen 321 (3) is from #fagen#: #æ# + #h# is seen in lagt 135, ‘vnachteled,’ GE 796. #e# + #g# is _ei_, leid 284, weie 293: agen 55 r. w. sen, 125, 304, 403 r. w. ben comes from #agēn#. #i# + #g# is _ig_ in manige 234, 332, but the spirant is absorbed in birien 478, biried 571, ybiried 574, and manie 446: birigeles 528, biriele 542 (#byrgels#) are analogic: beries 116 is LWS. #berie#. Final #ig# is _i_, eddi 140, seli 568; stiward 87, 317 is LWS. #stīweard#: #i# + #h# is seen in ‘sigðhe’ (#gesihþ#), GE 1630. #o# + #g#, #h# is _og_, bogt 90, drogen 456, wrogt 78, 272, ‘dogtres,’ GE 1090, 1094, but dowter 201 (? Northern). #u# + #g#, #h# is _ug_, fugeles 135, mugen 144. #y# + #h# is seen in ME. frigti 18. #ā# + #g# is _og_, ogen 108, but owen 40; #ā# + #h#, _og_, ‘oget,’ GE 324, but agte 363 (? influence of #ǣht#). #ǣ{1}# + #h# is _ag_, agte 144 (#ǣht#), bitagt 97 r. w. hagt: #ǣ{2}# + #g#, leigen 16. #ō# + #h# is _og_, brogt 274, nogt 35 r. w. wroht, sogt 30, other spellings are ‘broghten,’ GE 1008, ‘ðohgteful,’ id. 1437, ‘sowt,’ id. 2870, ‘ðhowtes,’ id. 3544, ‘wroutis,’ id. 456. #ō# + #g# is _og_, _ug_, ‘bog,’ GE 608, ‘ynog,’ id. 3670, buges 114, ynug 210. #ū# + #g# is _ug_, drugte 161, ðhugte 118. #ea# + #h# is seen in sag 7 (6), waxen 114; the _i_-umlaut in migt 504, migte 68 &c., nigt 103, 515 r. w. rigt. #eo# + #h# is seen in rigt 15, brictest 6, but sextene 3 (comp. Mercian #sex#, #sexta#, Bülbring § 319 anm.); fe 89 represents #feoh#, dat. #fēo#. #ēa# + #g# is _eg_, bege 194; hegest 196 may represent #hēahsta#, but is more probably a new formation from #hēh#; #ēa# + #h#, ‘ðehg,’ GE 1266. #ēo# + #g# is also _eg_, drege 262; #ēo# + #h# is seen in wex 211; wexen 158, 556; the _i_-umlaut in ligten 79 (#līhtan#). #ā# + #w# is _ou_, _ow_, sowen 401, soules 578, sowle 579. #ī# + #w#, newe 412 is Anglian #nēowe#. #ēa# + #w# is _ew_, shewed 67, ðewed 10. #ēo# + #w# is also _ew_, knewen 31, 216, reweli 382, rewðe 393, trewthe 390, but gure 232 (5), final, gu 314 &c., knew 221, 222, wintre 113; without umlaut are trewið 91, trewed 439.

In syllables without stress #a# is levelled to _e_, moneð 516, vten 460, so _o_ in hunger 230; ofrigt 104, 279 representing #āfyrht# has been influenced by ME. offriȝt: #on# is an 95. An _e_, often unmetrical, has been inserted in bodẹward 336, bodẹwurd 548, breðere 7 &c., briðẹre 325, coren 158 (9), engẹles 587, manigẹfold 556, gadẹren 188, eldẹre 483, 560, fugeles 135, 143, leuelike 329, leuere 139, reweli 382 (but rewli 64), vnselðẹhe 370, similarly _ei_, _i_ in trewẹịðe 358, birịgeles 528 (#byrgels#); an irrational _e_ is added finally in ðogẹ 24, towardẹ 49; #e# is omitted in bettre 44, biforn 326, first 185, forward 88, 318, gur 314, herdne 127 (#ǣrende#), mor 260 r. w. or: _i_ is written for #e# in michil 260, and inserted in eðimod 303 (#ēaþmōd#), sinịgeden 259. The prefix in tawnen 180 is #æt#; #be-# is regularly _bi_, biforen 16, biment 256, bitwen 23; #ge-# is generally lost, kinde 129, lefful 578, seli 192, writ 70, but it survives in gede 43, 341 (yet g may be merely parasitic), yoten 470, ynug 210, it is disguised in to ful in wis 575 (comp. 196/637); the suffix #ung# is regularly _ing_, ending 283, wurðing 194.

Metathesis of #r# takes place in wrigtful 258, wrigteleslike 130; #rr# is simplified in chare 444 r. w. fare, charen 490 r. w. faren, duren 293, fer 483, feren 31. #ll# is simplified in al 167 &c., handful 15, wil 28 (3), wilen 358. _n_ is added in dalen 27, against metre, and lost in a 40, 108, o 103, 177, 280 for #on#; #nn# is simplified in gunen 432, mankin 460 (#manncynn#), quane 4, 356. _p_ is inserted in dempt 92, ME. drempte 37, 103, and lost in ME. chafare 47. #f# between vowels and vowellikes is _u_, crauen 420, erue 44, louerd 237, luue 18, ouer 541, wiue 201, written _w_ in bilewen 287, wiwes 91, but ‘wifwes,’ GE 857, ‘wifuede,’ id. 1588 and even ‘wifes,’ id. 453 also occur; otherwise it is _f_, fare 85, lif 493; it is doubled in off 476, and lost in lord 226. #t# is doubled in bettre 44, lutten 217, lost in best 350 and finally in an 122, 575 (the original had ant), ða 128, 244, 372, ef 391, GE 3081, ‘hef,’ id. 4019, ‘flig,’ id. 3084; #tt# is simplified in fet 152; for #t#, _þ_ is written in anð 218, and _th_, ‘soth,’ GE 3685, ‘leth,’ id. 3385: #ts# is _sc_ in bliscing 452; a curious letter substitution is _p_ for #t# in waspene 6, GE 1440 (#wæstm#). #d# is doubled in bedden 327, 552, eddi 140 (? shortening); _b_ is written for it in glaðe 351 r. w. scaðe, wurðen 517 and frequently elsewhere: #dd# is simplified in fordred 245. For #þ#, _th_ appears in trewthe 390, ‘tholen,’ GE 508; it is often written _ðh_, biðhogte 169, ðhenke 126, ðhing 476, ðhogt 165, 221, 308, ðhogte 24 (3), ðhugte 118, ðhurg 246, welðhe 428, but ðinkeð 457, ðogte 448. Initial #þ# in pronominal words is seldom assimilated after #t#, #s#, so, ðat ðin 189, ‘malt ðat,’ GE 1017, ‘salt ðu,’ id. 1043, but ‘at te,’ GE 2756, ‘and (for ant) te,’ id. 615, ‘and tin,’ id. 926, ‘is tis,’ id. 334. For #þ#, _d_ is written in dan 54, dat 70, 534, de 97, dogt 486, dor 45, endede 575 (#endeð#), helped 77, kude 168, quad 35 (4), wid 41 (4), and _t_ in quat 77, 383, ‘Betel,’ GE 760. #þþ# is simplified in siðen 115 &c., _d_ is substituted for it in siden 509. Noteworthy is derke 291, 399 with _rk_ for #rþ#. #sć# is mostly _s_, sal 79, salt 20, soren 15, srid 73, srud 61, 421, sulde 9, sulen 22, finally, fleis 143, weis 343 (#cs#), doubled in wassen 345, but shauen 174, sheren 401, shewed 67, schilde 579; she 21, ‘sche,’ GE 235, ‘sge,’ id. 1444, ‘che,’ id. 1227 are equivalent. The stop #c# is _k_ before _e_ and _i_ and in combination with other consonants, biwaken 498, wukes 527, kid 411, drink 106, often before _u_, kumen 31, 48, kuppe 101, kude 420, but cloðes 73, folc 82, ranc 159, cumen 123 &c., cuppe 364, 372, cuðe 208, and the proper names ‘Cedar,’ GE 1257, ‘Ceturam,’ id. 1446; otherwise it is _c_, cam 55, comen 75, coren 158 &c., spac 395, woc 165. For #c#, _g_ is written in ‘ðig,’ GE 564, ‘swing,’ id. 566, ‘ðengen,’ id. 1571. #č# is _ch_, chare 444, childes 61, lich 495 (5), michel 89, riche 324, but biseken 546, euerilk 379, ic 21, swilc 33 &c., are not palatalized: swil 442 has lost c; similarly ‘Qwel,’ GE 170, ‘quil,’ id. 3631. #čč# is _ch_, drechen 42, fechen 417, rechen 140, 176, rechede 178, reching 112, wech 514, weches 521: smaken 497 is a ME. formation. #čǧ# is _g_ in bigen 220, 300, comp. 481/7, 8. #cw# is regularly _qu_, quad 35 &c. Palatal #ġ# is written _g_, geld 206, ger 1, gunkeste 5; #ġe# is _y_ in yoten 470, ynug 210; it is lost in if 7 &c. An interpolated _y_ sound appears to be indicated by _g_ in ‘digere’ (#dīere#), GE 3483, ‘tgen’ (#tēon#), id. 3824, ‘tgen’ (#tīen#), id. 3413, 3418, ‘tgelt,’ id. 1840, the second and third also appear as ‘then,’ GE 1514, 3305 (h pronounced separately), similarly ‘thaunen,’ GE 32: comp. 365/23. The guttural spirant is _g_ in swolgen 72, sorge 74 (comp. Orm’s bollȝhenn, sorrȝhe); later forms are sorwe 59 (3), morwen 359; it is lost in sorfull 380. The voiceless spirant is also written _g_, frigti 325, nigt 103, sogt 30, sag 7, ðog(e) 24, ðurg 577, so probably drugte 161 (#drūgað#, in Orm, druhhþe), other representations of the same sound are seen in brictest 6, ‘brocte,’ GE 237, ‘hicte,’ id. 713: ‘sagt,’ GE 1301, ‘burgt,’ id. 727 have added an irrational _t_ by analogy of sogt &c. Noteworthy is the insertion of the spirant in the French words haigre 73, ‘olige,’ GE 1624, ‘astronomige,’ id. 792, where ig may be written for ī, but olie 512. #ǧ# appears in egypte 86 &c. #h# is lost in adde 14 (5), adden 504, 505, ali 482 (3), aue 442, aueð 523, e 39, 395, 476, is 14 (9), om 324, yoten 470, also by coalescence in fonde 29, madim 62, weli 582, wexem 11. _h_ is added in halle 394, herdes 464, herdne 127, hunne 303, hure 260, 549. #hl# is _l_, lene 153, lord 226: #hr#, _r_, rad 535, raðe 367, rem 58, ring 193: #hw#, _qu_, quane 4, quan 190, quat 37, queðer 111, quiles 37, quilke 134, quam 374, quor 462 and _quu_, quuan 365, quuor 482, but #nā-hwǣr# is ‘nogwer,’ GE 1271.

#Accidence:# Strong declension of _masc._ and _neut._ nouns. In the _s. n. a._ hate 12, stede 43, 81, sune 5, 72, wlite 342, kire 505, mete 138, bale 80, erue 44, herdne 127 have e corresponding to their OE. vocalic ending, bege 194, bode 69, 437 (#gebod#, comp. #boda#, messenger), liche 542, 569 (but lich 495), weie 305 have added e, wliten 343, GE 3614, n, fe 89 represents #feoh#, drugte 402, #drūgaþ#. Gen.-es, flodes 150, kinges 87, wiwes 91, but louerdis 326: dat. -e, bale 92, 579, come 321, ende 588, here 533, mete 348, stede 468, 521, sune 443, with vowel termination in the nominative, dale 79 (dalen 27 has added n, against metre), gilte 463, harme 368, kinge 235 (but king 451), liue 471 (but lif 493), londe 386, 572 (but lond 129 &c.), ofspringe 236, tune 365, wastme 6, wedde 252, weie 293, 534, wiue 201; without inflection are fulsumhed 182, grund 164, strem 150, ðogt 384 and a large number of others, mostly with long stem vowel or of more than one syllable; yre 506 has lost n, tre 113 is an Anglian nominative form #trēo#, wo 458 is indeclinable. The _pl. n. a._ of masculines end in -es, fugeles 135, sunes 2 (7), lepes 132, muðes 270, but meten 133, 309, r. w. eten (translating cibos, panes; at GE 363 it is probably singular with added n), sunen 229 r. w. cumen: neuters are der 71, folc 498, 505, ger 181 (7), ?kin 556, neet 151, srud 421, gere 190, bones 566, geres 207, liches 501, wiues 417. Genitive is teres 342, 396, datives, engeles 587, semes 427, teres 410. Of the _fem._ nouns of the strong declension helpe 83, herte 339, luue 340 have original e in the nominative, bene 565, bere 535, blisse 122, dede 41 (3), rewðe 393, sonde 367, trewðe 513, vnselðehe 370, sinne 36, sorwe 59, sorge 74 (3), wede 68 have added e, without it are ending 474 and other verbal substantives in -ing, ned 295, sped 192. Genitives are drugte 161, soules 578, werldes 494; helle pine 584, helle dale 79 may be regarded as composition forms. Dative -e, blisse 586, helðe 398, lewse 44, nede 215, 219, werlde 288 (7); onsagen 99, ðeden 356 have added n; but bering 232, hond 197 (3), as often in OE., ned 578, smerles 508, sped 46, 275, wurðing 194 are without inflection. _Acc._ -e, fare 85, hirdnesse 26; gifte 520, kinde 490 have added e; without inflection are bimening 538, bliscing 452, ending 283, forward 88 (3), stund 95, 163 and, as in OE., hond 117, migt 504. _Pl. n._ are blisses 404, dedes 513, hertes 13, lages 500, sondes 219, agte 144; _d._ laiges 526; _a._ agtes 278, laiges 510, agte 198, weden 423. Nouns of the weak declension have -e in the _nom._, bode 529, bredwrigte 131, wille 388; _d._ wune 6; _a._ kuppe 101, time 474; genitive is weches 521, but ‘sterre,’ GE 134. _Pl. n._ are sterres 17, wukes 527; _d._ wunes 347, but ‘feren,’ GE 1275; _a._ asses 427, beries 116, feres 532, but ‘wunen,’ GE 3137. The minor declensions are represented by fot _s. d._ 326, 551, ‘fote’ _pl. d._, GE 376; man _s. n._ 167, _s. d._ 302, men _pl. n._ 184, chapmen 85, hirdemen 449, men _pl. d._ 587, _pl. a._ 47; moneð _s. a._ 516; boc _s. n._ 576; biri _s. d._ 311; nigt _s. d._ 103, _s. a._ 515, _pl. a._ 501 (5), nigtes 499; fader _s. n._ 19, faderes _s. g._ 229, fader _s. d._ 8; broðer _s. n._ 110, _s. a._ 244, breðere _pl. n._ 21 (9), briðere 325, breðere _pl. g._ 267, _pl. d._ 429, _pl. a._ 7; moder _s. d._ 338; dowter _s. a._ 201; childes _s. g._ 61, childre _pl. n._ 282, _pl. a._ 304, childer 203; eares _pl. n._ 158; bred _s. a._ 102, bread 133.

Adjectives which in OE. end in a vowel have e throughout, bliðe 413, 429, riche 324, 327, 408; those in #-ig# lose g and are invariable, miri 312, sundri 81, 408, 468, similarly rewli (#hrēowlic#) 64. Weak inflections are gunge _s. n. m._ 335 (insert þe before it), leue _s. a. m._ 475, wis[e] _s. d. m._ 461 (similarly ‘ðe strong[e] god of israel,’ GE 1846 is to be read). All others are uninflected in the singular; they either belong to the classes mentioned above, or are predicative, or come after the noun qualified. #mycel# is michil _s. n. f._ 281, michel _s. n. neut._ 89, #lȳtel#, litel _s. a. f._ 95. The plural has -e, fette 158, fulle 400, glaðe 351, gode 513, harde 108, smale 161; the exceptions, mostly dissyllabic or predicative, are bold 13, fulsum 207, nedful 184, niðful 13, ranc 159, 162, sorful 380, wis 533 (read wisẹ), wrigtful 258. #ān# as article without stress is before consonants, a, an, 58, 64, 81, 149, 159 &c., once on 469, before h, an 455, 555, as elsewhere before a vowel. The numeral and pronoun is on, 101, 179, 227, 233 &c.; #nān#, pronoun and adjective is mostly non, but the adjective is twice no, 296, 352. Adjectives used as nouns with inflections are _pl. n._ fette 164, _d._ dede 519, fette 154, _a._ fette 155, sibbe 557. Comparatives have -e, bettre 53, more 420, leuere 139, eldere 483, but bet 420 (adverb form); superlatives are mostly without it, best 350 (3), brictest 6, first 185, gungest 214, 239, hegest 196, most 350, but gunkeste 5, gungeste 244 have weak inflection: boðen is _pl. n._ with added n, 179, _pl. d._ 103.

The personal pronouns are ic 21 (4), ‘hic,’ GE 34, rarely i, id. 309, me, we, ur _pl. g._ 316, us, ðu, (‘redes)tu,’ GE 2934, ðe, ge _pl. n._, gure _g._ 372, gu _d._ 314, _a._ 561, ge 406. Dual forms occur elsewhere, ‘wit,’ GE 1775, ‘unc,’ id. 1776, ‘gunc,’ id. 2830. The pronoun of the third person is _s. n._ he _m._ 4 &c., e 29 (4), (wel) i 582, she _f._ 21, ‘sche,’ GE 235, ‘sge’ id. 1444, ‘che,’ id. 1227, ghe 203, ‘ge,’ GE 1024, it _neut._ 12, (was)t 53, (‘stod)et,’ GE 590, with _pl._ verb, id. 1770, _g._ ‘hire’ _f._ id. 2035, _d._ him _m._ 60, (mad)im 62, ‘hin,’ GE 47, ‘hire’ _f._, id. 322, ‘it’ _neut._, id. 6, _a._ him _m._ 37, ‘hine,’ GE 3468 r. w. dine, ‘hin,’ id. 3004, ‘in,’ id. 3887, ‘hire’ _f._, id. 971, it _neut._ 63, (‘tell)et,’ GE 3526; _pl. n._ he 31 &c., once ‘ðei,’ GE 573, _g._ here 263, 410, 421, ‘ere,’ GE 2855, her 312, _d._ hem 14, (wex)em 11, _a._ hem 26 &c., is 184, 458, 503 (‘warp)es,’ GE 3025, ‘hes’ (= he them), id. 911, 943. Reflexives are ‘ðe self,’ GE 934, gu 358, him 169, hem 256, 355, ‘himseluen,’ GE 1338, ‘hemseluen,’ id. 537; definitive is self _s. d. m._ 235; possessives, mi _s. n. m._ 110, mine _f._ 565, in other cases min 72, 80, 371; _pl. n. a._ mine 566, min 282, 304, 404; ði _s. n. f._ 388, _s. a. neut._ 143, in other cases ðin 110, 125, 189, 436; _pl. n._ ðine 21; his 8 &c. as general form for the singular, written is 15 (6), but hise 91, 191, 236, 396, 474, 475, 490, 495, 569, 579, at all these places his is metrically admissible; _pl._ hise as the general form 25 &c., but his 40, 73, 75, is 14, 410, 429, hise being in all these places metrically admissible; ‘hire’ _f._, GE 333; ‘his’ _neut._, GE 120, ‘is,’ id. 327; ure 315, 547, 560, hure 260, 549, ur 226; ‘gunker,’ GE 398, gure 232 (4), gur 314; here 16 (8), ‘ere,’ GE 3773, her 13. The definite article is ðe 82 &c., de 97, ‘(at) te,’ GE 2756, miswritten ðo 164, instrumental, ðe 357, for ði 11; ðat 169 &c., ða 244, _pl._ ðo 98 &c. are demonstratives: wið ðan ðat _conj._ 389, miswritten wið ðanne ðat 550. The compound demonstrative is _s._ ðis 19, 131, ðes 166; _pl._ ðise 185, ðis 179, 186, ðes 253, in the last three places ðise is admissible. The relatives are ðat 22, 185 (= that which), ðe 102. Interrogatives are ‘quo,’ GE 2821, ‘quase,’ id. 2870, quam 374, quat 107 (5), ‘Queðer,’ GE 1471, quilc _s._ 474, ‘quil,’ GE 3631, quilke _pl._ 134, 404, ‘qwel,’ GE 170; the correlative is swilc _s._ 33, 59, 393, swil 442, _pl._ swilke 234, swilc 236, 500 (metre requires swilke in the latter place). Indefinites are quat so 37, 40, 388, quat so euere 386; men 204, 232, 277, ‘man,’ GE 1, 3; sum 515, 516, 517, ‘summe’ _pl._, GE 399, 401; ani 235; oðer _s._ 202, oðere _pl._ 183 (5), toðere 394, oðer 133, 510 (read oðre); anoðer 43, 157; ilc 410, euerilc 152, euerilk on 379; ‘mani,’ _s._, GE 696, manie 446 (read mani), manige _pl._ 234, 332, ‘manie,’ GE 4068; fele 425; fo 457; al _s._ 167, but allẹ _s. d. f._ 428, _pl._ alle 16 &c., halle 394, al 250, 325 (read alle).

Only two verbs, fare 443, reste 82, have infinitive in -e; all others, including thirteen of the second weak conjugation, end in -en. Contract verbs are bisen 195, sen 19 (5), seen 492, ten 9. The dative infinitive is not inflected, it has for prefix mostly to, but for to with bigen 300, cumen 123, geuen 452, slon 34. Presents are _s._ 1. bid 563, chare 444, rede 187; 2. findes 374, ‘betes,’ GE 3974, ‘haues,’ id. 360 and others in -es, ‘tregest,’ GE 3975 is isolated; 3. bimeneð 280, liueð 437, cliued 59, endedẹ 575, haued 92, helped 77, liued 60, ðinked 461, trewið 91; contracted are bitid 235, bit 292, hað 560, lið 12 (‘ligeð,’ GE 889, against metre), wurð 39 (5); _pl._ 1. holden 290, drege we 262; 2. senden 294, cume ge 225, haue ge 369; 3. hauen 72, wunen 518: _subjunctive s._ 2. friðe 389; 3. berge 583, helpe 582, leue 586, wurðe 111, deren 534 r. w. here, with irrational added n; _pl._ 1. liuen 550: _imperative s._ 2. bed 127, tel 110, forgiue 549, ðhenke 126; _pl._ 2. bereð 297, hoteð 564, seið 404. Past of Strong Verbs: I a. _s._ 3. bad 93, 175, bigat 332, forgaf 553, forgat 146, gaf 45, quad 35, quat 77, quað 121, sag 7, spac 395; _pl._ 3. bedden 327, leigen 16: I b. _s._ 3. bar 22, bicam 202, cam 55, nam 84, tobar 200; _pl._ 3. comen 75, nomen 61: I c. _s._ 1. gan 459, wrong 118, wurð 116; 3. abraid 165, bigan 462, fond 30, gan 8, geld 206, unbond 277, wurð 145, freinde 107 (weak form); _pl._ 3. funden 69, gunnen 546, gunen 432, gunne 49 (if the word following ends in n, there is a tendency to drop the verbal n, comp. 10, 420), wurðen 104: _subjunctive s._ 1. wurðe 128; 3. wurðe 272, wurð[e] 477: II. _s._ 3. bilef 214, 251, ros 32, wrot 578; _pl._ 3. abiden 537, smiten 163: III. _s._ 3. bead 548, bed 101, gret 71; _pl._ 3. boden 67, lutten 217: IV. _s._ 1. stod 113; 3. stod 15, swor 487, understod 264, woc 165; _pl._ 3. foren 536, token 254: V. IV. _s._ 3. wex 13, 291, weis 343; _pl._ 3. wexen 158: V. _s._ 3. forlet 494, het 419, knew 221, let 222, slep 37; _pl._ 3. fellen 326, knewen 31. Participles present: ‘sigande,’ GE 1436, ‘betende,’ id. 2713, ‘stondende,’ id. 3149; past: I a. beden 266, ?forgeten 233, freten 155, geuen 512: I b. bicumen 281, boren 214, cumen 190, forholen 371, fornumen 282, numen 32, ouercumen 162, stolen 129, soren 15, vndernumen 189: I c. bunden 270, swolgen 72, worpen 39, wurðen 517: II. driuen 375: III. drogen 456, forloren 565: IV. dragen 100, grauen 485, shauen 174, slagen 58, sworen 530: V. IV. waxen 114: V. fordred 245, holden 94, hoten 239, yoten 470, inflected, hotene _s. d._ 562. Past of Weak Verbs: _s._ 1. hadde 117; 3. bitagte 193, gatte 531, herde 107, likede 353, made 580, seide 19, missed 57, trewed 439, set 58, told 177, ðoht 352, went 543; _pl._ 1. sinigeden 259, werneden 261; 3. chidden 23, ferden 360, leiden 65, luueden 206, maden 88, senten 66, skinden 85, hertedin 76, biried 571, shewed 67, stunden 83. Participles present: ‘tuderande,’ GE 164, ‘wuniende,’ id. 2742; past: maked 524, smered 509, ðewed 10, bitid 74, mad 469, seid 479, sperd 93, srid 73, biment 256, ?fest 427, filt 361, ligt 306, ofrigt 104, went 365, inflected, welkede 161. Minor Groups: ‘witen’ _inf._, GE 328, wot 1 _pr. s._ 231, _pr. s._ 166, ‘witen’ _pr. pl._, GE 74, wiste 2 _pt. s._ 383, _pt. s._ 316, wisten _pt. pl._ 271; hunne _pr. s. subj._ 303; og 1 _pr. s._ 241, ‘oc’ _pr. s._, GE 197, ogen _pr. pl._ 108, owen 40, ‘agtes’ 2 _pt. s._, GE 1762, agte _pt. s._ 363, ‘oget,’ GE 324; duren _pr. pl._ 293, ‘durste’ _pt. s._, GE 2593, ‘dursten’ _pt. pl._, id. 1863; can _pr. s._ 176, ‘cunen’ _pr. pl._, GE 4054, cuðe _pt. s._ 208, kude 168, ‘cuðen’ _pt. pl._, GE 2996, kude 420, ‘kuð’ _pp._, GE 2666; sal 1 _pr. s._ 79, salt 2 _pr. s._ 20, ‘sal,’ GE 1815, ‘saltu,’ id. 1041, sal _pr. s._ 126, sulen 1 _pr. pl._ 22, 2 _pr. pl._ 408, sule ge 242, sulen _pr. pl._ 143, ‘sule’ GE 305, ‘suldes’ 2 _pt. s._, id. 3984, sulde _pt. s._ 24, sulden _pt. pl._ 355, sulde 10; ‘munen’ _inf._, GE 1622, ‘mune,’ id. 972, ‘to munen’ _dat. inf._, id. 197, ‘for to munen,’ id. 687, muneð _pr. s._ 463, ‘munen’ 1 _pr. pl._, GE 558, mune ?_pr. s. subj._ 476, ‘mune’ 2 _pr. s. imp._, GE 45; ‘mugen’ _inf._, GE 1818, mai _pr. s._ 19 &c., may 36, ‘muwen’ 1 _pr. pl._, GE 3316, ‘mugen’ _pr. pl._, id. 3017, ‘mogen,’ id. 3227, mugen _pr. pl. subj._ 144, migte 1 _pt. s._ 137, _pt. s._ 68, migt he 238, ‘migten’ _pt. pl._, GE 573; mot _pr. s._ 582, ‘mote’ 1 _pr. s. subj._, GE 1621, _pr. s. subj._, id. 2645, ‘muste’ _pt. s._, id. 2624; ben _inf._ 10, for to ben _d. inf._ 196, am 1 _pr. s._ 129, ‘best’ 2 _pr. s._, GE 2884, ‘beas,’ id. 365, ‘art,’ id. 356, is _pr. s._ 74, ‘beð,’ GE 182, ben 1 _pr. pl._ 258, 2 _pr. pl._ 223, _pr. pl._ 123, be 454, aren 282, ‘arn,’ GE 16, be _pr. s. subj._ 388, 565, ben _pr. pl. subj._ 566, beð 2 _pr. pl. imp._ 317, was 1 _pt. s._ 120, ‘wore’ 2 _pt. s._, GE 1759, was _pt. s._ 1, wast (= was it) 53, were we 1 _pt. pl._ 228, weren _pt. pl._ 255 (6), woren 100 (7), ‘worn,’ GE 61, wore _pt. s. subj._ 139, 246; wile _pr. s._ 180, nile 59, wilen 2 _pr. pl._ 358, welin (for wilen) _pr. pl._ 585, wulde _pt. s._ 9, ‘wolde,’ GE 912, ‘wulden’ _pt. pl._, id. 1075, ‘wolden,’ id. 3756, ‘nolden,’ id. 3029; ‘don’ _inf._, GE 194, vndon 168, to don _d. inf._ 28, doð(es) _pr. s._ 230, don 2 _pr. pl._ 285, _pr. pl._ 519, do _pr. s. subj._ 568, 2 _pr. s. imp._ 387, doð 2 _pr. pl. imp._ 405, dede _pt. s._ 44 (9), deden _pt. pl._ 2, dede 82, don _pp._ 41, 128, 315, 477, 542, do 142; gon _inf._ 238, ouergon 340, ‘to gon’ _d. inf._, GE 3078, ‘gon’ 2 _pr. pl._, id. 3124, ‘go’ 2 _pr. s. imp._, id. 2815, ‘goð’ 2 _pr. pl. imp._, id. 3585, gede _pt. s._ 43, ‘geden’ _pt. pl._, GE 1034, gon _pp._ 291.

#Vocabulary:# Scandinavian are ai 287, aren 282, blomede 115, boðen 103, 179, (bi)calleð 368, fo 457, fro 31, geren 495, grot 74, groten 80, hagt 98, heil(nesse) 122, eðen 242, ille 12, kides 63, lages 500 laiges 526, laðes 188, lit 64, liðeð 131, lote 382 loten 312, nai 35, oc 229, or 1, orest 115, raken 186, ransaken 377, rapen 430 rapeð 403, scaðe 352, seck 363, semet 223, skinden 85, (ouer)takeð 367, tiding 412, til 60, ðeden 84, ðog 24, 217, ðral(dom) 376, wante 298, witter 6, witter(like) 374, wopnede 533; probably busk 159, vnhillen 8; possibly bond 130, cartes 416, twinne 421; in sonderemen 65, er is probably due to Scandinavian influence. French are butuler 109 buteler 169, cisterne 38, feið 241, feste 524, fin 424, flum 540, fruit 301, graunte 590, haigre 73, hardi 175, lettres 581, merci 237, messe(song) 520, offiz 125, olie 512, paid 269, pais 589, plates 52, poure 233, present 327, pris 301, prisun 94, prisunes 98, prisuner 96, scite 469, seruede 105, spices 48, spice(like) 497, spies 223, spien 226, strif 494; possibly the interjection A 237, rospen 186 (OF. rosper). Latin are crisme 512, elmesse 520.

#Dialect:# East Midland of the Southern border. Its general character is definitely East Midland, but #ā# as occasionally _oa_ in rhymes like ðoa : salmona GE 4129, woa : oba GE 880, the occurrence of hine : dine GE 3468, hin, id. 3004, yoten 470 beside hotene 562, wuniende GE 2472 as assured by the metre, #æ# + #g# as _ei_ beside _ai_ testify to contact with the South. The large proportion of French words may point in the same direction. Evidence of transmission through a North Midland copy is furnished by #ā# as occasionally _a_, #sć# as _s_, the pronouns ghe, ge beside she, ðei beside he _pl._, the 2 _pr. s. ind._ of verbs in -es, the _pres. part._ in -ande, and occasional aren beside usual ben. It was probably at this stage that the metre suffered by loss of final -e; some feminine endings may have become masculine. The scribe of our manuscript was probably faithful to his exemplar, for he was imperfectly acquainted with the language.

#Metre:# The short rhymed couplet, as in ON. It is not so skilfully handled here as in ON, but it was no less regular in its construction before the copyists tampered with the text. Skeat’s description of it as a verse of four accents, ‘the unaccented syllables being left, as it were, to take care of themselves’ is misleading, for it is a verse of four feet with the regulation number of accented and unaccented syllables. It differs from the verse of ON in the predominance of masculine endings, in the larger proportion of trisyllabic feet, and in the number of fourth feet with an additional syllable. The types, as in ON (see pp. 564, 565), are i. ðat hé | wel ðéw|ed súld|e bén, 10; so 11, 33, 46, 63, 64, 70, 73, 75, 89, 93 &c.: i a. Naí quad | rubén | slo wé | him nógt, 35; so 45, 72, 101, 110, 145, 202, 221, 297, 302, 331, 387, 408, 422, 435, 459, 460 &c.: i b. ðát | ðu sált | ðus wúrð|ed bén, 20; so 23, 30, 36, 222, 272, 295, 578: ii. He knéw|en hím | fro fér|en kúmen, 31; so 47, 80, 85, 87, 92, 100, 123, 124, 133, 137, 156, 157, 181, 207, 218, 230, 265, 299, 322, 324, 337, 344, 351, 355, 371, 405 &c.: ii a. Wúrðed|en hím | wið frígt|i lúue, 18; so 333, 334, 343: ii b. Né | ðat mét|e fró | hem béren, 138; so 469, J́t | was v́nd|ren tím|ẹ or móre, 323. The unstressed element in a foot, and especially in the third foot, is often doubled; one of the syllables often admits of being slurred: i. Twelwe gér | or ýs|aác | was déad, 1; so 246, 363, ðo wéx | her hért|es niðfúl | and bóld, 13; so 28, 34, 42, for thrít|ti plát|es to ðó | chapmén, 52; so 57, 71, 96 &c., Wið ðó | prisún|es to líu|en in hágt, 98, Jacób|es sún|es déd|en unréd, 2; so 29, 39, 40, 62, 84, 97, 369: i a. Ál but ðe | ton bróð|er sým|eón, 250, Sónder|e mén | he it leíd|en ón, 65; so 69, Goód is | quað jós|eph to drém|en of wín, 121; so 184, féllen | bifórn | ðat lóu|erdis fót, 326; so 436, 439, 451, 564: i b. dón | for ðe déd|e chírch|e góng, 519, Wénd|e him slág|en set úp | an rém, 58; so 328, ðát | ðe bár | sulen lút|en ðé, 22; so 78, 83, 127, 148, 171, 193, 200, 228, 254, 286, 289, 301, 308, 350, 427, 440, 452, 453, 487, Jác|ob ðús | him bimén|eð o rígt, 280; so 383, 391, 403: ii. seue eár|es wéx|en fétt|ẹ of córen, 158, Hu he sét|tẹ at ðe mét|e hís|e súnes, 348, Jc réd|e ðe kíng | nu hér | bifóren, 187; so 235, 270, 288, 294, 321, 338, 374, 437, 502, 537, He wás | iacób|es gunkést|e súne, 5; so 81, 88, 155, 162, 217, 220, 281, 367, 431, 463, 530, 565, 585, Jn tó | egípt|e lédd|en ðat wáre, 86; so 309, 357, 400: ii a. Tóward | here fád|er he gún|en drágen, 432, so 467, Ság he | ðor kúm|en wið spíc|es wáre, 48, Gáf he | is bréð|ẹre wið hért|e blíðe, 429: ii b. Ór | for misdéd|e or fór | onságen, 99, ðát | is hánd|ful stod rígt | up sóren, 15; so 79, 185, 219, 300, 362, 385, 402, 538. The light syllable is omitted in ii. Ne wíst|e he nógt | quát | he wóren, 434: ii b. Húr|e sínn|e ðú | hím | forgíue, 549, with good effect. Inversion of the accent is infrequent, i. ðu sált | áfter | ðe ðríd|de deí, 141, 517: i a. Kínde | lúue | gan him óu|ergón, 340, Jósep | háued | hem áft|er sént, 366, J́c am | iosép | drédeð | gu nógt, 397: ii. He bád | cártes | and waín|es nímen, 416, Quuor ié|su críst | wúlde | ben bóren, 484, He dógt | wið hém | réste | to háuen, 486, And ebrís|se fólc | ádden | an kíre, 505, Egípt|e fólc | áueð | him wáked, 523, He bád | síbbe | cumen hím | bifóren, 557. Synizesis occurs in olie 512, birigeles 528, biriele 542. Syncope of the syllable after the accent in trisyllabic words is certain in breðẹre 21, 325, 429, blomẹde 115, rechẹde 178, euẹrilc 268, lerẹde 354, eldẹre 483, luuẹde 554, and similarly in arẹn 282, comẹn 356, wilẹn 358; it is probable, though not assured by the metre in seruede 105, wrigteles 130, leuere 139, fugeles 143, euerilc 152 &c., gaderen 188, faderes 229, 347, oðere 253 (oðre 573), breðere 51 &c., werneden 261, wunede 471, eldere 560, hotene 562; the medial e in words of this type is nowhere necessary for the scansion. The verbal termination -eþ has probably full syllabic value everywhere, as it has at 77, 92, 286, 367, 523. Elision takes place in allẹ 16, wantedẹ 209, sentẹ 213, listnedẹ 276, ðhogtẹ 347, witterlikẹ 479, hiatus in 153, 155, 233, 246, 252, 262, 367, 378, 425, 551, 586: in a large number of lines there is a choice between elision and hiatus; in view of the author’s liking for trisyllabic feet, the preference should perhaps be given to the latter.

Proper names of three syllables have, with few exceptions, two accents, those of two syllables are very often stressed on the second, according to the current clerical use, for Mammotrectus says ‘nulla dictio de natura acuit ultimam nisi . . . hebraica · ut David ⁊ Jacob.’ So ábrahám, adád, béniamín (10), but béniamin 422, chánaán, ‘cánahán,’ GE 726, dotáym, ebrón, éffraým, gálaád, génesís, gersén, iurdón, mánassén, pháraón 119 (7), pháraún 172 r. w. prisun, but pháraon 191, 465, pharáon 411, pútifár 87, 199, but pv́tifar 91, rámesé, sichém 25, but síchem 29, sýmeón, ýsaác. Otherwise egípte, once egípt 213, iácob, ácob 445, jacóbes, iésu, jóseph, jósep, ósep (18), iosép 92, 266, joséph 139 r. w. swep, in many other places the metre admits of either accentuation, josépes, júdas 387, elsewhere indeterminate, as Vdas 45, móyses, pháran, rúben 55, elsewhere rubén is possible; adjectives are cristéne 510, ebrísse. The spelling of the proper names mostly follows Comestor or the Vulgate, but ebron, egipte, jurdon, pharaon are French, and probably ramese; in view of the variants, no conclusion can be drawn from initial j in Jacob, Judas, and Joseph; for the last the author probably wrote iosep throughout.

The corruptions of the text consist mostly of inversions of the word order and additions which aim at greater clearness or emphasis. Line 6, read witter of wune (H = Holthausen); l. 7, hise breðere sag (H); l. 8, gan it; l. 24, ðog ðhóg|te iác|ob it súl|de bén; l. 53, was it; l. 60, Til he him; l. 77, it helpeð (H); l. 82, Wor sé|li fólc | hem rést|e déde, comp. GE 257; l. 91, his; l. 108, Harde drém|es óg|en a wóld|e ðát; l. 118, ðorin, comp. GE 3634; l. 130, And wrígt | ẹleslík|e hóld|en in bónd; l. 134, omit ðe; l. 149, read ðo drémp|te phá|raón | a drém; comp. 200/119, 127; l. 159, ránkẹ on | an búsk | and wél | tidí; l. 163, To sám|en smít|en and ón | a stúnd; l. 172, omit ðe king; l. 173, omit ðo; l. 180, omit king; l. 182, read In fúl | sumhéd | súlen | ben númen, comp. 207/351, 208/400; l. 183, And séu|e súl|en áft|er bén; l. 186, ðisẹ óð|ẹre súl|en rósp|en and ráken; l. 189, ðat ðin fólc | ne wúrð|e v́nd|er númen; l. 190, omit forð (H) and read ger; l. 191, omit king; l. 199, read was v́n|der hím | ðo pú|tifár; l. 214, biléf | at hóm | was gúng|est bóren; l. 225, And cúm|en fór | non óð|er ðíng; l. 241, Nú | bi ðe feíð | ic og phár|aón (H); l. 269, H would read here for ðe, but ?pai-ed; l. 275, omit so; l. 279, omit ðanne; l. 285, read If bén|iamín | ge; l. 287, Aí | sal hé | wið mé | biléwen; l. 290, omit non; l. 293, read Óc | he ne dúr|en weí | cumen ín, comp. 206/305; l. 310, omit alle; l. 311, omit alle; l. 312, read Here nón | ðo lót|en hád|den míri; l. 317, Béð | nu stíll|e quád | þe stiwárd; l. 341, Sone gé|de he út; l. 358, If gé | gu wíl|ẹn wið tréw|ðẹ léden, comp. 212/512; l. 361, omit alle; l. 370, read Grét | vnsélð|e is gú | cumen ón; l. 384, ðát | ic ám | wol wítt|er o ðógt; l. 386, Quat só | on lónd|e wúrð|e stólen, comp. 198/37, 40, 208/388, GE 270; l. 394, he dé|de ut áll|e ðe tóð|ẹre gón; l. 396, ðat ál | his wlít|e wurð tér|es wét; l. 400, Get fúll|e fíu|e súl|en ben númen; l. 411, omit king, and in line 412, newe; l. 421, omit here; l. 438, read Al egípt|e ín | his wíll|e clíueð; l. 446, Ánd | of his kínd|e mán|i a mán; l. 476, On ðhíng | ðat óff | og é | wel múne; l. 477, read wurðe; l. 492, Hál|i gást | it him déd|e sén; l. 495, read his; l. 498, And egípt|e fólc | him faír|e biwáken; l. 500, read swíl|ke; l. 514, ðo bén | ðam ál | ðat wéch|e déde; l. 528, scan get ádd|e jác|ob bír|{y}els nón; l. 529, omit king; l. 531, omit it; l. 542, scan ðor ís | ðat lích | in bír|{y}els dón; l. 545, read Hise bréð|ẹre ðán|ne cóm|en him tó; l. 546, omit alle; l. 550, read Wið ðán | ðat wé | ðe v́nd|er líuen; l. 577, ðe móy|ses eár | ðurg gód|es réd; l. 579, read his; l. 587, éngẹles | amóng | and sé|li mén, comp. GE 700, 785. In ll. 66, 67, it, though metrically admissible, is superfluous: l. 68 may be scanned, Jf his chíld|es wéd|e it mígt|e bén: ll. 250, 251 are unrhythmical and al in the former, ungrammatical, perhaps, álle but | here bróð|er sým|eón might be read, for l. 251 Holthausen proposed, biléf | ðis bróð|er ðór | in bónd: in l. 291, ðe dérð|e wéx | would improve the rhythm, as ure for ur in l. 316: scan l. 470, ðe wás | y-ót|en rám|esé. A considerable use is made of alliteration.

#Introduction:# The author tells us that his song is drawn out of Latin and written in simple language for those who are not book-learned. He was probably a secular priest, for there is no reference to the monastic life in his work. His source was almost exclusively the Historia Scholastica of Peter Comestor (here quoted from the edition printed by Crespin at Lyons in 1526), but he occasionally referred to the Vulgate. As his purpose was narrative, he leaves out most of Comestor’s learned disquisitions, but he retains those at ll. 81-4, 501-21 and somewhat enlarges the latter. The source of ll. 354-58 has not been discovered; it may have been an interpolated Comestor. The addition of ‘ouer pharan’ in l. 541 is probably due to the author.

2. #unred#, folly, an ill-advised thing; OE. #unrǣd#: comp. ‘He has me don oft vnresun,’ CM 3747; ‘vnwit,’ Laud Troy Book, 4285.

3. #For# &c. is the remnant of a calculation in Comestor of Jacob’s age at the time when Joseph was sold. See Gen. xxxvii. 2.

6. ‘prestantior corpore et sapientior ceteris,’ Comestor. #wastme# is Mätzner’s emendation; Morris suggested wasteme: the same scribal error, ‘of faiger waspene’ occurs at GE 1440. OE. #wæstm, wæstem# means growth, stature; the sense here is, countenance: comp. ‘hire wliti westum,’ SK 310, answering to ‘vultus ipsius claritas.’ #of witter wune#, discreet in behaviour: the explanations of Mätzner, ‘of intellectual capacity,’ and of Morris, ‘of good ability,’ seem to force the meaning of wune, which is, custom, use, so ‘for kinde wune,’ GE 1405, by family custom, usage. Comp. 208/384; ‘witter of figt,’ GE 864; ‘o resun . . . rijf,’ CM 14837; ‘o reson . . . ranc,’ id. 21024.

7. #misfaren#, go astray, misbehave.

8. #gan--baren#, uncovered and laid bare: the auxiliary use of gon is frequent in GE.

9, 10. He would have them discipline themselves, so that they might be of good moral character. Possibly the second #he# stands for Jacob; that is, Joseph wished Jacob to discipline them. Comp. for #ten#, 171/368; ‘þat he hine sculde wel i-teon[;] ⁊ tuhlen him teachen,’ L 2418.

11. #him# was added by Mätzner. For #wið#, against, comp. ‘⁊ all þatt follc toc niþ wiþþ himm,’ Orm 10267. #nið# is often associated with #hate#; comp. 198/33; ‘þurrh hete ⁊ niþ,’ Orm 1404, 8013; ‘stormes of nið · ⁊ of onde · ⁊ of hatienge,’ OEH ii. 177/4.

12. #for--lið#: Morris inserts herte after ille, producing a truism and spoiling the verse. Mätzner translates ‘quia situm est in malo,’ treating #ille# as a neuter noun, evil. Possibly #ille# means, evil men, but more probably the place is corrupt, and we should read, And hate sor þat ille in it lið, (envy) and bitter hatred which wickedly co-exists with envy, that is, envy which produces hatred of the person envied. For ille as adverb, comp. GE 1706, 4029.

13. #ðo . . . Quanne#, then especially . . . when: ‘Causa tamen odii maior fuit visio somniorum,’ Comestor. #bold#, shameless: Lucifer is ‘ðat neddre bold,’ GE 323.

15, 16. ‘Putabam . . . vestros manipulos adorare manipulum meum stantem,’ C. #soren#, shorn.

16. And all theirs lay before them. #it# may be meant for a reinforcing dative; see 13/34: but its occurrence elsewhere, as at 201/163, 202/182, where it is hard to explain or otiose and metrically in excess, makes it probable that it is due to the scribe, as it certainly is at GE 385, 387.

17. #xi^e# is by the rhyme endluue or elluue.

18. #frigti luue#, love and awe, ‘luue eie,’ 72/200: comp. ‘ðo wurð abraham frigti fagen,’ GE 1331.

19. #sen#: Mätzner takes this word to be the infinitive of the substantive verb, corresponding to OHG. sīn, MDu. sijn; how may this be? But if the word ever existed, it would surely be found elsewhere in ME. He quotes ‘Hu mai it hauen, hu mai it sen,’ GE 298, where if hauen is equivalent to se habere, sen may be to videri. In the third place instanced, ‘To sen gode witnesse ðor-on, | ðat wond was in ðat arche don,’ GE 3843, it appears to go closely with ðor-on, as in ‘so faiger he was on to sen,’ id. 2659 and to represent in both places #tō sēonne#.

22. #luten# usually takes to, as at 193/544, but comp. ‘Þa kingess fellenn dun, itt seȝȝþ, | To lutenn Crist ⁊ lakenn,’ Orm 7348.

24. #ðoge#; read ðog. As a probable source of the line, Fritsche quotes Josephus ii. 2, ‘eventurum olim quando tam a parentibus quam a fratribus adoratione dignus haberetur;’ but perhaps it may be regarded as a natural inference from ‘pater vero rem tacitus considerabat,’ Gen. xxxvii. 11.

26. #Hirdnesse#: OE. #hierdnes#; custody, guard; here used for flocks: comp. ‘for te loken hirdnesse fare,’ GE 2771, to look to the welfare of the cattle.

30. #he--sogt#, he sought and found them; invenit eos quaesitos; a form of expression much used by the author, suggested by such places in the Vulgate as, ‘requisita non invenieris ultra in sempiternum,’ Ezech. xxvi. 21. Comp. 203/215, where join, ‘to josep sogt for nede;’ ‘ðer het god abre ðat tagte lond,’ GE 827; ‘And son he fand þe soght cite,’ CM 3254; ‘Ai quen þat þe folk him soght sau,’ id. 7473.

31. #fro feren#, from afar: see 118/40.

32. Hatred conceived in their hearts arose in them. Such phrases are common in our author, as ‘olie in trewðe geuen,’ 212/512; ‘song . . . on soðe sagen,’ GE 14. On the other hand such expressions as ‘drugte numen,’ 201/161; ‘sorge numen,’ GE 368, where the participle is used like L. captus, suggest taking it here in dependence on #hem#. With #on# comp. 210/454.

35, 36. ‘Nel feron mie, | ce sereit desverie,’ Joseph 273.

37. #drempte#: impersonal with two accusatives, Quatso and him; so too at 200/103, 202/170, and probably at 201/149: more commonly the thing dreamt takes of, or is a clause, 200/113, 120, 201/132. #ðor quiles#, whilst: see 196/648.

38. #cisternesse#: the MS. has ðisternesse here (it occurs correctly at GE 58), and ‘ðis ðhisternesse’ at GE 66, where ‘ðis’ is in excess, and cisternesse at l. 56. The original had, no doubt, cisterne or cistern in both places, and in this line probably In cisterne ðise, imitating ‘proiicite eum in cisternam hanc,’ Gen. xxxvii. 22 (comp. ‘He ðrowede and ðolede untiming ðat,’ GE 1180): having blundered here, the scribe altered cistern l. 56 in conformity, spoiling the metre.

39. #Get#, still, in spite of his dreams. Above #e# of #wurðe# a small he is added in the MS.

40. The phrase #owen a wold# means, to have in one’s power, like its synonym hauen a wolde (see 52/387 note); it occurs in its literal sense at 200/108, distressing dreams were responsible for that, and in ‘Luue wel michil it agte a wold, | Swilc seruise and so longe told,’ GE 1671, very strong love was capable of such hard service and so protracted. Here it has the derived sense of import, mean, like power, force used for meaning expressed by letter or phrase: comp. ‘Quat oget nu ðat for-bode o wold,’ GE 324, what now was the import of that prohibition; ‘And vndernam him ðat it agte awold,’ id. 2727, and questioned him as to what it meant; ‘ðor is writen quat agte awold, | ðat ðis werld was water wold,’ id. 525, therein is written what it signified that this world was destroyed by water.

41. #wid herte sor#, presumably on Reuben’s part.

42-44. ‘et recessit Ruben meliora querens pascua,’ C. #lewse#, so again at GE 1576: OE. #lǣs#, _g._ #lǣswe#.

45. #dor quiles#, meanwhile; comp. 204/265, and see 196/648.

46. ‘that was carried out in secret haste,’ Morris, who proposes derue for derne. But the meaning is, advice that was filled full of secret gain. For #of# comp. 217/91, 94, for #sped#, ‘of euerilc sed, | Was erðe mad moder of sped,’ GE 121. In the OF. Joseph, it is said of Judas, ‘mult iert escientous | et auques coveitous,’ ll. 347, 348, and he makes a speech to his brothers, ‘Touz temps somes berchier, | onc n’ëumes denier. | Ore en porrons aveir | senz vendre nostre aveir,’ ll. 365-368.

48. #spices ware#: ‘aromata & resinam & stacten .i. myrram,’ C.

52. #xxx plates#: all the early MSS. of the Vulgate have ‘viginti argenteis,’ but ‘triginta’ C., ‘deniers treis feiz dis,’ Joseph 414; the change is due to the desire to perfect the parallel with Christ. #plates#, silver coins: comp. ‘I nul sulle my Loverd [for] nones cunnes eiste, | bote hit be for the thritti platen that he me bitaiste,’ Rel. Ant. i. 144/25. The metrical stress requires ðo for ðe.

53, 54. ‘Melius est ut venundetur Ismaelitis, et manus nostrae non polluantur,’ Gen. xxxvii. 27. #dan#, than that. #in here wold#, in their power, at their hands.

57. #ðhogte swem#, felt sorrow, as in ‘Of paradis hem ðinkeð swem,’ GE 391, if so, the verb is impersonal and him must be supplied from #he#: or perhaps, experienced a feeling of faintness: the OF. poem has ‘Quant l’enfant ne trouva, | par poi ne forsena. | Il ne set que il face, | pasmez chiet en la place,’ ll. 433-436.

58. #set up#, raised: ‘credens eum interemptum scissis vestibus eiulabat,’ C. Comp. ‘ðis folc ðo sette up grot and gred,’ GE 3717.

59. #him cliued#: the MS. reading is meaningless; that in the text is Mätzner’s, who explains, cleaves to him. But in view of, ‘And atter on is tunge cliuen,’ GE 372; ‘Al egipte in his wil cliueð,’ 210/438, it is doubtful whether even the pronoun can be used in this sense without a preposition. Now cleave is associated with cling in ‘My hert doth clynge and cleve as clay,’ Coventry Mysteries (54), where cling, wither up, is used metaphorically for, shrink in fear (see 3/32 note and comp. ‘I clynge as cleyȝ, icauȝt in care,’ Horstmann, S. A. Legenden, 178/388), and it is also used transitively. Is it not probable that cleave had also some such metaphorical meaning which would be suitable here?

62. If #in# is right, it goes with #ðe#, in which. But its absence would improve the verse, and #ðe# alone can mean with which: see 46/292. In any case #prud# is _adj._, splendid; comp. 209/422; ‘Wið gold and siluer and wið srud, | ðis sonde made ðe mayden prud,’ GE 1413.

63. #wenten#, turned it round and round, rather than, altered it; although the Latin, ‘tinxerunt,’ favours the latter.

64. #an rewli lit#, a pitiable dye.

65. #Sondere men#, messengers; _sing._ ‘sonder man,’ GE 2871; ‘sanderrmann,’ Orm 19383; ‘sondes man,’ L 13615.

73. #in haigre srid#, clad in a hair, a hair shirt; see 62/31.

74. #grot and sorge#: comp. 214/583, similarly ‘grot and gred,’ GE 3717; ‘In grot and in srifte,’ id. 3692.

76. #hertedin#: read herten; comp. 184/277.

79. #ligten#, descend: see 141/42. ‘Descendam lugens ad filium meum in infernum,’ C.

81-84. ‘Erat enim tunc in inferno quidam locus beatorum longe semotus a locis penalibus · qui ob quietem et separationem ab aliis sinus dicebatur. . . . Et dictus est etiam sinus abrae · quia etiam abraam ibi erat in sustentatione usque ad mortem christi,’ C., commonly called Limbus Patrum: ll. 83, 84 refer to the Harrowing of Hell, for an account of which in ME. literature see Hulme’s edition of the legend, E. E. Text Society.

85. #skinden here fare#, hasten their journey: the verb, which occurs only here in ME., represents OWScand. skynda.

88. #bigetel#, advantageous: the adjective of ‘biȝete’ 60/12; only here.

90. Insert him before #sold#, with Holthausen. The expression is formal, mostly used of betrayal; comp. ‘ic am i-boust ant i-sold to-day for oure mete,’ Rel. Ant. i. 144/26; ‘How þat ioseph was boght and sald,’ CM 142; ‘Dickon thy maister is bought and sold,’ Shakspere, Richard III, v. 3. 305. Strunk in Mod. Lang. Notes, xxvi. 51 suggests He (Putifar) haueð him bogt.

93. The line is printed as in the Specimens, but a better order would be, He bad him sperd ben faste dun. The last word does not go well with sperd, which takes in or wiþinne, 201/148, 204/248. C. has ‘Ille nimis credulus coniugi vinctum ioseph tradidit in carcerem regis,’ the OF. version, ‘mist le en la prison | au fort rei Pharaon;’ the Vulgate, ‘in carcerem ubi vincti regis custodiebantur,’ all mentioning the king. The original may have had Him bad ben sperd king Pharaun: for the rhyme see 202/171.

95. #an#: comp. 201/163.

96. #prisuner#, gaoler. #prisunes#, prisoners.

98. #to liuen in hagt#, to live in care, goes with l. 100: comp. 201/136. #hagt#: see 196/657 note, and comp. ‘Twin-wifing ant twin-manslagt | Of his soule beð mikel hagt,’ GE 485; ‘Amalechkes folc fledde for agte of dead,’ id. 3384.

99. #onsagen#, accusations, charges; OE. #onsagu#: apparently only here in ME.

103. #drempte#: see 198/37.

105. #on sel#, at a time, on one occasion: comp. ‘And moyses was numen an sel | In ðe deserd depe sumdel,’ GE 2769; ‘on midel sel, ðat ilc nigt,’ id. 3159. Kölbing translates timely, that is, early in the day, quoting, ‘Ad quos cum introisset Ioseph mane,’ Gen. xl. 6, and, ‘And made swiðe on sele ðat mete,’ GE 1537, where however swiðe gives the special sense, in quick time. But the expression appears to mean happily in, ‘And he folgede is red on sel,’ GE 1866; ‘on good sel,’ id. 1375, 1545.

108. This is the answer of the dreamers. See 198/40 note.

111. #strong#: see 21/94 note.

112. #on god bilong#, pertaining to God, in God’s power. ‘Numquid non domini est interpretatio .i. numquid adiutorio dei potest interpretari,’ C. #bilong# is an isolated form, apparently made of bi + long, OE. #gelang# which in ME. is commonly ilong; see 134/96 note. Mätzner would read ilong here.

114. #waxen buges#, full-grown boughs, or shoots. ‘Videbam coram me vitem & in ea tres fundos oculos (principal buds) scilicet unde funduntur palmites. Alii ponunt tria flagella, vel tres propagines quod idem est,’ C.

116. Morris by his punctuation makes #beries# _acc._ after #bar# and #wurð ic war# parenthetic; but the construction is the same as at 9/122, 192/518; ‘quanne he it wurð war,’ GE 1462, 3387; ‘And quane ðe king wurð war ðis dead,’ id. 2983; ‘ðan pharaon wurð war ðis bot,’ id. 2957: wurð war is treated as though it meant observed. But it takes of at 203/204.

121, 122. ‘Deus dedit in bonum hominibus vsum vini . . . soluit lites et tristitias · et bona est eius visio,’ C.

127. #herdne#: OE. #ǣrende#, mission, but here affected in meaning by #ǣrendian#, to intercede: make intercession for me.

128. #ða#: for ðat: the scribe not seldom drops final t.

129. #kinde#, native; so, ‘ðog it was nogt is kinde lond,’ GE 1279: ‘car a tort sui chaitis | en estrange païs,’ Joseph 837.

130. #wrigteleslike#, undeservedly: OE. #gewyrht#, thing done, merit, in Orm, wrihhte.

132. #lepes#: ‘canistra,’ C.

135. #ðor on#: comp. ‘On was tette he sone aueð lagt,’ GE 2621. The construction with #on# is rare, the verb in this sense regularly takes an accusative.

136. #hagt#: see 200/98.

140. #swep# occurs in the same connection at 202/166, and in ‘For þai can swyth of a sweuyn · all þe swepe tell,’ Wars of Alexander, 248, evidently with the meaning, scope, significance. Mätzner refers it to OE. #swǣp#, for which see Napier, OE. Glosses, 78/2894 note; its meaning, persuasion, or more probably, deceit, does not suit our word. More probably its OE. congener is seen in #ymbswǣpe# which glosses L. ambages, Sweet, Oldest E. Texts, 599; if so, it would mean compass, content, like the noun sweep of more recent origin.

144. #ðat#, from that: #werien# usually takes wið (50/335), fram, but the pronouns are frequently used alone in all sorts of loose syntactical relations: see 46/292 note. Omit #sal#; though it might be defended by GE 1818, agte is commonly plural. Not in the Vulgate or Comestor, but ‘It sal na raunsun ga for þe,’ CM 4494; ‘te trenchera la teste; | ne te lera raendre,’ Joseph 854.

145. #ðat# is subject of #wurð#.

148. Divide #wið uten-erd#; for #wið#, on, see 180/147. #uten-erd#, foreign land; OE. #ūtan# + #eard#: comp. ‘uten erdes sorge sen,’ GE 956; ‘into vten stede,’ id. 1741. At 210/460, it is used adverbially in conjunction with her, and at 210/464 it develops an adverbial form, ‘uten herdes.’ Comp. L. extorris.

149. #pharaon#: probably _acc._; see 200/104.

150. #flodes strem#: ‘Putabat se stare super fluuium,’ C.

151. #vii#: seuene.

158, 159. ‘Septem spice plene pullulabant in culmo vno,’ C. #busk#, bush, for stalk is curious. #ranc and wel tidi#, luxuriant and very healthy-looking; the phrase qualifies ‘eares.’

161. #drugte numen#: ‘percusse vredine,’ C.; ‘uredo . . . dicitur corruptio ex urente vento proveniens quando stantes segetes aduste videntur in campo,’ Catholicon: ‘de gelée brulez,’ Joseph 904. With #numen# comp. 198/32: drugte, sorge are genitives. Similar constructions without prepositions are frequent in this author, ‘water wold,’ 526, overpowered by water; ‘sinne wod,’ 1073, demented by sin; ‘elde swac,’ 1528, weakened by age; ‘herte hard,’ 2936, hard of heart; ‘hungur fordred,’ 3313, in fear of hunger; ‘nede driuen,’ 3165; ‘deades driuen,’ 1125, under the sway of death. See 207/342.

163, 164. There is nothing in Comestor or the Vulgate corresponding to these difficult lines. Mätzner takes #it# as equivalent to they, and quotes for the intransitive use of #smiten#, ‘Heo smiten to-gædere,’ L 5183, to which may be added, ‘Bitid a stund þai samen smate | In a dale biside a wate,’ CM 2495. Schumann objects that smiten is transitive everywhere else in the poem; he proposes, To-samen is smiten, them dashed together, apparently depending on #ranc#. It would probably be better to omit #it# (see 197/16 note); adopting Fritsche’s ðristen he in the next line, the meaning would be, Next (ðo) the lean ears have overcome the full ears, dashed together in conflict, and in a moment they have thrust the full ears to the ground. The participial phrase is quite in the manner of the author.

164. #ðo#: miswritten for ðe.

166. #wot#, where wiste might be expected, is perhaps due to anticipation of nogt.

168. Who could solve the riddle involved in the dream: comp. 1/4.

170. #of ðat#: supply a relative as accusative to drempte: see 198/37, 200/103.

174. #shauen#: ‘ioseph totonderunt. Uincti enim et exules incrementa crinium patiuntur,’ C.

175. #hardi ⁊ bold#: Comp. ‘Þe king of Beme had cares colde, | Þat was ful hardy and bolde,’ Minot iv. 68.

176. #wold#, power, meaning. See 201/140.

180. ‘quod facturus est deus ostendit pharaoni,’ C.

182. #numen#, taken, in the sense of dealt with, experienced. Comp. 208/400; ‘Ðe seuend moned was in cumen, | And seuene and xx^ti dais numen,’ GE 593; ‘Seue nigt siðen forð ben numen,’ id. 1687.

184. The editors take #Sori and nedful# with #men#, but they might qualify #is#, them, and that would be more consonant with the original, ‘quos (annos) sequentur alii .vii. tante sterilitatis. vt obliuioni dent cuncta retro abundantia,’ C.

186. #rospen and raken#, waste and scrape away: in these meanings the words are apparently without parallels.

187. #her biforen#: miswritten for ear biforen: see 211/483 note: for #her# = ear, comp. ‘ðor he quilum her wisten wunen,’ GE 801.

189. #vndernumen#, taken unawares: comp. ‘Ðis godes folc was undernumen, | Quan he segen ðis hird al cumen,’ GE 3221, where it appears to mean, surprised: perhaps influenced in this rare meaning by undergan, as in, ‘Þou hast me gyled and vndurgone’ (= circumvenisti), Horstmann, S. A. Legenden, 33/479, 75/790.

194. #bege#: ‘collo torquem auream circumposuit,’ C. Comp. 133/34.

195. #bisen#: see 12/14 note.

197. #welden# &c., so, ‘neme hit in here honde,’ KH 60 note. #vnder his hond#, l. 210, in his control; comp. 204/252; ‘Unnderr þe laþe gastess hand,’ Orm 11146.

199. #ðo . . . ðanne# together are strange and the line is unmetrical. Read, was vnder him ðo putifar.

200. #hem so to bar#, caused such dissension between them; OE. #toberan#, to carry in different directions.

202. #Oðer . . . ðan#, different from what: see 100/122 note. ðan is Mätzner’s correction.

206. Comp. for the form of the sentence, ‘He was hem lef, he woren him hold,’ GE 793.

212. #x#: The scribe writes tgen (2), then (1), ten.

215. #for nede sogt#: depends on josep: comp. 198/30, and ‘for nede driuen,’ 203/219.

217. #ðog#, nevertheless; that is, though he was their brother, they unwittingly fulfilled the prophecy of 197/21, 22.

219. #for#: but ‘ðo wurð pharaon nede driuen,’ GE 3165.

222. #Als he let#: read, Let he als, he pretended as if: comp. ‘Sho lete als sho him noght had sene,’ Ywain, 1809.

226. For #spien# with acc. comp. ‘Bot er yee comen þe land to spi,’ CM 4824; ‘vous venez ceste terre | espier et conquerre,’ Joseph.

230. #doðes#: Mätzner’s suggestion, doð us, causes us, gives the best solution. Comp. 206/303.

233-236. ‘Impossibile est enim viro idiote tales filios esse · cum etiam regibus talis filiorum copia valde sit difficilis,’ C. #forgeten#: explained by Mätzner as forgotten, with meaning, of no account, obscure, which is without parallel. Probably for geten, for progeny, offspring: get is however not instanced in that sense before the fourteenth century.

235. For seldom hath it befallen even to a king: for this practically adverbial use of #self#, comp. ‘God haued swilc fair-hed him geuen, | ðat self ðe fon it leten liuen,’ GE 2609: ‘Self his kinde nile ðat wune forgeten,’ id. 1806.

240. #for# &c.: as the name Benjamin implies.

244. #gure# is due to Morris.

245, 246. ‘Timebat enim ne forte et in illum (Benjamin) aliquid deliquissent,’ C. #he#, Benjamin. #hem#, the brethren. #forred#, betrayed.

247. #dun#, to an underground prison.

253. #sone on on#, soon forthwith, very quickly: a favourite phrase of our author.

255. If #sone# be correct, it must stand for sone so, as soon as, as in, ‘sone so loth ut of sodome cam,’ GE 1109. But that is inconsistent with ll. 263, 264, where, as in the Vulgate and C., their lamentations are uttered in the presence of Joseph. Probably sone has been repeated from l. 253, displacing or, before: so ‘ðor,’ l. 257, means, in Joseph’s hearing.

258. #Wrigtful#, guilty; deserving punishment for our misdeed; ‘Merito hec patimur,’ C.; comp. wrigteleslike, undeservedly, 201/130. But Kölbing suggests that the original had Rigtful, justly, rightfully; comp. ‘Rihtful was iacob cald his name,’ CM 3742.

260. #michil mor#, much more than we now suffer.

263. None of them suspected that they were understood: ‘nescientes quod intelligeret eos ioseph, quia per interpretem loquebatur eis,’ C. #on his mod#: a common tag; comp. ‘ðo ðogte thare on his mod, | long bigging is here nogt god,’ GE 717; ‘He þoȝte vpon his mode | Hit nas for none gode,’ KH 281 note.

265. #ðor quiles#, meanwhile, as at 198/45, usually whilst, as at 196/648.

270. #ðor biforen#, ‘there as before,’ Morris; ‘over it,’ Kock. biforen here and at 205/299, 207/362 has plainly the meaning of, in addition, besides. The development of meaning is parallel to that of besidan, by the side of, in addition to: so biforen, in the presence of (the common meaning in our author, as at 207/337), in addition to. #ðor biforen# then means, in addition to that; ðor rounds off the expression, as in ðor quiles.

273. #ouerðogt#, ‘vexed,’ ‘grieved,’ NED.; ‘anxious,’ Bradley-Str.; ‘very anxious,’ Morris: it apparently occurs here only. The original had probably, o seri ðogt, of sorry mood; comp. 208/384 for the form of the expression and ‘dredful and bleð and sori mod,’ GE 3520; ‘And sumdel quemeð it his seri mood,’ id. 408.

277. Comestor does not mention that one of the sacks was opened on the way: our author follows him, not the Vulgate, Gen. xlii. 27.

279. #sori#, sorely; comp. ‘wiste hire drogen sori for ðrist,’ GE 977. Holthausen suggests sor.

280. #o rigt#: the meaning is doubtful, it may be justly, reasonably, OE. #on riht#, but for that the author has ‘wit rigt,’ GE 52. In the other place where it occurs, ‘Abraham was buxum o rigt,’ GE 1299, it means, straightway.

283. #ending non#, Of Joseph I know not how he ended: comp. ‘Of his endinge ne wot ic nogt,’ GE 487.

286. #segeð#, descends: OE. #sǣgan#, cause to sink.

288. #ðor quiles#, as long as: see 196/648.

289. #us--hard#, it will go hard with us.

290. #no#: probably ne should be read.

291. #derke#: so too at 208/399: it seems hardly a mere scribal error for derðe.

293. Mätzner thinks #he# is a mistake for we, but see the examples of sudden transition from indirect to direct speech in Kellner, Syntax, 60.

296. Kölbing suggested the addition of non: Schumann would substitute non for #no#, but the former gives a better verse. Mätzner reads, And ic ne can, following Morris, who translates, And _I_ know no better plan. Understand quan after And.

298. That there be wanting to the Egyptians none thereof; comp. ‘ne nawiht ne wonteð ham | of al ꝥ ha wilneð,’ SK 1670.

299. #ðor biforen#, besides: see 205/270.

300. #wið#, with which.

304. #agen#, back; so 208/375.

305. Join #forð rigt#, straightway, or, by the nearest way.

306. Mätzner rightly omits #cumen# as a gloss. For #ligt# as a verb comp. ‘Nu am ic ligt to fren hem ðeðen,’ GE 2787; 141/42. ‘Igitur filii iacob descenderunt in egyptum,’ C.

308. #Kinde ðhogt#, natural affection; comp. ‘kinde blod,’ 206/330. #was# is evidently a substitute for some rhyming word; Emerson suggests lag, Kock, stag, Morris, ðag. It was probably some uncommon word which the scribe altered, possibly wag, stirred, moved, OE. #wæg#, which is sometimes used intransitively. In the passage corresponding to 207/340, C. has ‘Commota sunt viscera eius,’ which our writer seems to have used here.

311. #biri#, palace: at 12/7 it means, court.

312. #Her non#, none of them: so #ur non#, l. 316.

316. #wiste . . . gilt#, was conscious of wrong-doing: ‘non est in nostra conscientia quis posuerit eam in marsupiis nostris,’ Gen. xliii. 22.

318. #min forward# is explained in Specimens of the condition that Benjamin should be brought, as in 205/290; but that stipulation was Joseph’s, not the steward’s. It looks like a vague rendering of C., ‘Pax vobis . . . pecuniam quam dedistis mihi probatam (i.e. checked, found correct) ego habeo.’ The French version has, ‘Vostre aveir seit tout vostre, | car nous avons le nostre’; and the English text may mean, for the price which I was ordered to charge for the corn is actually in my possession.

320. #on and on#, one by one; comp. 208/377, 214/573.

322. #to nome#, as captive: comp. 196/665; probably the only instances of its use in ME.; noun of #niman#.

323. #vndren time#: ‘meridie,’ C. See 74/209.

324. For #riche#, see 6/30.

325. #of frigti mod#, through their feeling of fear; comp. ‘Wið reuli lote and frigti mod,’ GE 1162.

329. #understod#, received; comp. 210/447.

334. I know there none who does not tremble; a parenthesis which would be better placed before l. 333. #ðat he# is practically equivalent to who.

336. #after bodeword ðin#, in accordance with your commandment; comp. ‘for ðhu min bode-word haues broken,’ GE 361.

339. #ouerwente#: an isolated past of *ouerwenden, in the intransitive use recorded in NED., to go over, pass over; giving the meaning, his heart went out to him forthwith. But the absence of to before him renders this explanation doubtful. More probably #him# refers to Joseph and reinforces #his#, as in ‘þat his ribbes him to brake,’ KH 1077 (see also 80/47 note), with meaning, his heart overflowed forthwith. C. has, ‘commota sunt viscera eius.’

340. For #ouergon#, overcome, see 22/143.

342. #teres wet#: comp. 208/396; teres appears to be _pl. gen._, of, with tears, so ‘swerdes slagen,’ GE 3721, where swerdes is _s. gen._ Contrast ‘of is teres wet,’ 209/410.

345. Holthausen omits #and#; the scribe has taken it from the next line, as he did again at ll. 2839, 2840. #him biforen#, in his presence.

347. #wunes#, custom: the _pl._ is used for the rhyme. ‘Deposuitque ioseph fratres secundum ordinem etatis eorum · sicut in domo patris sedere consueuerant,’ C.

349. #sonde#: see 13/30.

354. For omission of the subject, see 6/18. There is nothing in the Vulgate or Comestor corresponding to ll. 354-358. There is a similar passage in CM 4863-82, in which Joseph tells his brethren that Pharaoh has no mercy for thieves.

355. Omit #And#, with Holthausen.

356. #vnkinde#, foreign; a singular use, but comp. ‘ðog it was nogt is kinde lond,’ GE 1279; ‘to wende into þaire kindely lande,’ CM 3914; ‘He left bath kiyth and kyndli thede,’ id. 11103.

358. Read trewðe, as elsewhere.

360. #Or or#: this doubled or is frequent in GE; perhaps the second or was felt to be adverbial: a further redundancy is seen in ‘or or ðe flod was long biforn | of noe bigeten,’ GE 905.

362. #biforen#: see 205/270.

365. #ut#, out of: the rare prepositional use.

368. And accuses of harm and damage.

370. #on#: see 210/454. Read unselðẹ, as elsewhere.

371. #forholen#: this verb takes the dative of the person, 34/77, 208/385, or wiþ, as in, ‘forhele hit wid þin arege,’ OEM 117/244.

373. #sikerlike#, confidently.

374. #Vp#, upon; comp. ‘Of ȝoure hors aliþteþ[;] and vp ȝoure feot stondeþ,’ L MS. O, 5862.

375. #agen#: comp. 206/304.

382. Comp. ‘Wið bedes and gret and teres wep,’ GE 3888.

383, 384. ‘An ignoratis quod non sit similis mihi in auguriandi scientia. Forte ioco dictum est · nec est imputandum,’ C. The French version has ‘ne saviez vous | que je sui engignous | et tant sai deviner | que je n’en truis mon per,’ but GE and CM omit all reference to divination.

389. #Wið ðan ðat#, on condition that.

390. Morris added him after #ledde#; the omission of the relative is fairly common in GE.

396. Read, al his. #teres wet#: see 207/342.

398. ‘pro salute vestra misit me dominus ante vos,’ C.

400. #sulen . . . ben numen#, are to be gone through; comp. 202/182.

404. #min blisses#: ‘gloriam meam,’ C.

407. #gersen#: ‘Gessen,’ Vulgate; ‘iessen,’ C., the form in GE was probably influenced by ‘Gerson,’ Gen. xlvi. 11.

408. #sundri# appears to mean, apart from the Egyptians, and to be derived from ‘Hec (i.e. pastores sumus) dicetis vt habebitis seorsum ab egyptiis in optima terra iessen,’ C.; comp. 210/468; Gen. xlvi. 33, 34.

413. #in herte fagen#: so, ‘in herte wooc,’ GE 1874; ‘in herte mild,’ id. 2635.

414. For #him# read hem, Joseph’s relatives; for #migte# in the next line migten. ‘Gauisusque est pharao et dixit ad ioseph. De fratribus tuis. Tollite plaustra de egypto ad subuectionem coniugum,’ C.

415. Because of Pharaoh’s love for Joseph they were enabled to prosper. ‘Omnia vestra adducite vobiscum · dabo vobis omnia bona egypti,’ C. #timen#, to fare well or ill, mostly the former, is almost confined to GE in this sense: comp. ‘Amalech fleg and israel | Hadde hegere hond and timede wel,’ GE 3391; ‘Bi ðan sal sarra selðe timen,’ id. 1023; ‘ðis folc, sprungen of israel, | Is vnder god timed wel,’ id. 4023.

421. #twinne srud#: ‘Deditque ioseph singulis binas stolas,’ C.

422. Comp. 198/62.

425. #Al so fele#: ‘totidem,’ C. He sent his father a present similar to that of Benjamin.

426. #in--wil#, at his father’s disposal.

427. #fest# is taken by Mätzner as the _pp._ of esten; so, ‘with burdens fastened’: it might be _adj._ #fæst#, ‘with burdens loaded,’ Morris. In either case it is a strange phrase. Probably lest, OE. #hlæst#, is to be read, meaning, with the burden of a horse load.

434. He did not know them in their rich dresses; ‘þai com ham noght als prisuns like, | Bot als þai war knigthes rik; | Cled þai war wit riche wede,’ CM 5133.

438. #in--cliueð#, remains fixed, stands at his disposal. ‘Joseph viuit et dominatur in egypto,’ C. Comp. 209/426.

441. #Wel me#: see 2/13 note, 21/92 note, 195/634. If #wel is me wel# is correct it must mean, it is very wel for me: perhaps we should read, me is wel wel; comp. ‘wol wel he dede,’ GE 724, ‘Wel wel was hit bitoȝe,’ L MS. O, 23253; ‘Hijs lauerd he kneu wel wel biforn,’ CM 11033: or, fel it me wel; comp. ‘Niðede ðat folk him fel wel,’ GE 1521.

442. That I have thus lived to see such good fortune. #swil[c] sel# usually means in GE such time, as ‘it wurð soð binnen swilc sel,’ 1032, it came true within the stated time, so GE 417, 1204, and it may have that meaning here.

444. #sen#: supply as object sune from the preceding line.

453. #dere# is Mätzner’s correction.

454. #ger#: read geres, 203/207, or gere, 202/190. #be ðe on#: constructions with on are frequent in GE; comp. 205/286, 208/370; ‘ðat burgt folc ðat helde was on,’ GE 1063; ‘For swinc and murning hem was on,’ id. 3205, in each case rhyming with don. Comp. the Latin inscription, ‘scire laboras, annos quod tulerim mecum.’

455. #xxx#: ðritti.

456. Have I suffered wo here in the world, not, ‘Have I suffered here in [this] world’s woe’; for dregen generally takes an accusative in GE, and the intransitive use, as at GE 3235, is rare.

457. #offen# is very doubtful, while ðor of occurs frequently in the poem. The original had probably, ðor of an fo, answering to ‘An hundred ger.’

460. Here among men, away from my true home: comp. 201/148; ‘And uten erdes sorge sen,’ GE 956. #vten erd# was suggested by ‘Dies peregrinationis vite mee,’ C., on which he comments, ‘Peregrinationis dixit · quia sancti vitam hanc pro incolatu habent,’ words which are paraphrased in ll. 461-464. Comestor had in mind, ‘Heu mihi quia incolatus meus prolongatus est,’ Ps. cxix. 5 (actually quoted in Zainer’s ed. of 1473).

461. #So# is explained by l. 464.

466. If #seli# represents OE. #gesǣlig#, happy, its use with #mel#, meal, is singular. But ‘he seruede his fader wel | Wið wines drinc and seles[t] mel,’ GE 1541 suggests sele, good, as the right word here.

467. #him#: corrected by Mätzner.

468. #sundri#: see 209/408: ‘sciens gratum esse egyptiis separari a se pastores,’ C.

472. #xiiij#: The Vulgate and C. say seventeen.

474. #Quilc time#, at what time, when.

476. One thing whereof he should be right mindful. Mätzner inserts he after #ðat#: Schumann suggested the division of offe. But the line is still unmetrical, and the subjunctive mune for should remember is very doubtful; probably og has dropped out after off: comp. ‘And for hise sinne oc (= og) he to munen,’ GE 197, for the infinitive without to, ‘Cristene men ogen ben so fagen,’ id. 15 and for the infinitive in e, ‘fare’ 210/443 in rhyme as here.

477. #wurð--don#, was finished with him: NED quotes ‘He knewe well that it was doon of him,’ Caxton, Sonnes of Aymon, i. 56.

479. #witterlike#, definitely; that is, not merely in Hebron, but in the cave where Abraham was laid; ‘in sepulchro maiorum suorum quod abraamium dicitur,’ C.

482. #stille#, in secret: comp. ‘And stille he dalf him [in] ðe sond,’ GE 2718.

483. #fer ear biforen#, very long beforehand: comp. ‘ðe was of hin fer ear biforen | Or ani werldes time boren,’ GE 47; ‘ear fear biforn,’ id. 253. See 202/187.

484-486. #hem#: Jacob’s ancestors, as in the frequent ‘dormivit cum patribus suis.’ C. has ‘Cura fuit sanctis sepeliri in terra qua sciebant Christum resurrecturum · ut cum eo resurgerent’ (in Zainer’s text the last clause is ‘vbi cum eo multa corpora sanctorum surrexerunt cum eo’). Accordingly Kölbing proposed to read for #hem#, him, referring to Christ, of whom our author says that he ‘restede him after ðe ded,’ GE 257. A further change of #reste# to arist would make the correspondence with C. complete, but it is more probable that the author omitted the clause.

489. This line appears to represent ‘Cumque videret diem obitus sui imminere · vocauit Joseph,’ C. which comes in the narrative before l. 415. There is a mixture of constructions, (1) when he felt his departure at hand, and (2) Before his departure. Mätzner proposed to substitute migte for #wiste#.

491. And prophesied of their future: Gen. xlix.

493. Comp. 212/526.

494. #strif#: ‘Militia est vita hominis super terram,’ Job vii. 1. Comp. ‘He made on werlde al erue tame, | ðe sulde him her, in swinkes strif, | to fode and srud, to helpen ðe lif,’ GE 174.

498. #bi waken#, ‘waked,’ watched by his body: comp. ‘He was biwaked richeliche, | And wel faire browt on erthe,’ Seuyn Sages (Weber), 2578.

502. #biqueðen#, ‘bewail,’ Morris, whom Mätzner follows. But this use is without parallel and is not a natural development of OE. #becweðan#: possibly it descends from #cwīþan#, to lament. In NED, bigreden, lament, or bigreiðen, prepare, make ready, are suggested. Perhaps biwreðen, representing OE. #bewrīðan#, to surround with bands: the line would then mean, to anoint, shroud and enwrap.

504. #migt#, power, that is, means, wealth.

506. Not to bury it speedily with iron tool. For #wið yre#, comp. Minot iii. 102 note.

507. #rigt#, properly, carefully.

510-522. This passage is based on ‘Fideles modo quia mortuos suos fide et virtutibus conditos aiunt .xxx. diebus eos plangunt .i. speciales missas sub numero tot dierum pro ipsis celebrant. Quidam tertiam diem maxime celebrant · pro spiritu anima et corpore. Alii septimam,’ C.

510-512. Christian folk have other customs. They are anointed during their lifetime with chrism and oil; with chrism and the oleum catechumenorum at baptism, with the oleum infirmorum in Extreme Unction. #in trewðe geuen#: administered with faith in their efficacy: in Extreme Unction, the ministrant said, ‘da fiduciam tui muneris exequendi.’ ‘Oratio fidei salvabit infirmum,’ S. Jac. v. 15.

513, 514. For #ðon#, Morris read don, Mätzner, ðor. More probably it is a mistake for ðo induced by the ending of the next word, #ðan# also has been corrupted out of ðam. For acts of faith accompanied by charity, those are for Christians in place of all that watching of the dead: an idea repeated in ll. 519-521. Strunk, Mod. Lang. Notes, xxvi. 51, proposes for #ðon ben#, don bet, with meaning, For truth and good deeds therewith avail more than that vigil. For #mide#, see 177/57, 212/532.

515. #Sum# is subject of don, l. 519. #on#, the first day. The Officium Mortuorum and masses of requiem (‘chirche gong,’ l. 519) were celebrated for thirty days and with special solemnity on the day of the deposition, the third, seventh, thirtieth (the month’s mind) and the anniversary; these or some of them were accompanied by doles (‘elmesse gifte,’ l. 520). See Rock, Church of our Fathers, ii. 315, 516-519.

517. Mätzner explains #wurðen#, ‘accomplished,’ that is, completed: which is the sense required, but such use of the participle is hard to parallel, although ‘þenne weoren heore iwil[;] allunge iwurden,’ L 19656, comes near it. Awurden, ended, would present less difficulty, and would improve the verse. A participial expression with the same meaning is seen in ‘fowerti winter vten led,’ GE 3348.

526. #laiges# was corrected by Morris. See 211/493 and comp. ‘Clense ðis folc wel ðis to daiges, | And bidde hem leden clene la[i]ges,’ GE 3453.

529. #bode#: ‘Significauit autem Joseph Pharaoni per intercessores quod iurauerat patri de sepultura,’ C. #bōda#, messenger.

531. #ðor--dede#, wherein he (Joseph) acted well, his pious act.

533. #wis of here#: neither in OE. nor in ME. does #here# mean war, battle, but only army, devastation. Morris reading heren, translates, ‘skilful in armed expeditions,’ which seems forced. Probably were is to be read: comp. ‘Als it were wopnede here, | Redi to silden him fro were,’ GE 1787. A similar phrase is ‘witter of figt,’ GE 864. In l. 534 read dere.

535. #rad#: comp. ‘And iacob was of weie rad,’ GE 1783.

536. #abuten#, making a detour: ‘timentes bella deuiauerunt a recto itinere veneruntque ad aream azad,’ C. #adad#: ‘atad,’ Vulgate and LXX; not in Codex Amiatinus.

539. #numen#, proceeded: comp. 13/28, 178/78, 179/113, 187/369; ‘And ðeðen he nam to mirie dale,’ GE 745, and often. There is an ellipsis of wei; comp. 206/305. So ‘his weige ðeðen ches,’ GE 2736, compared with ‘Anon of lond he ches,’ Sir Tristrem 2221.

541. #ouer pharan#: not in Comestor or the Vulgate; comp. GE 1248. The desert of Paran on the west side of the Dead Sea is meant.

542. #biriele#: this form without final _s_ is suspect.

544. #sent#: s added by Morris.

549. ‘nos quoque oramus vt patri tuo dimittas iniquitatem hanc,’ C.

550. #Wið ðan(ne) ðat#, inasmuch as, seeing that: differently at 208/389.

552. This line is corrupt: Holthausen’s ‘To bidden meðe and beden bot’ gives a good sense and restores the rhyme. He compares ‘Moyses bad meðe,’ GE 3011: see 36/126 note.

556. This line is unmetrical and otherwise difficult: #kin# should be _sing._, #wexen# is _pl._, #manige fold# for #manigfeald# is strange. Perhaps we should read, His kin was waxen manig fold.

557. Mätzner adds his before #sibbe#, which makes the line too long; perhaps #cumen# is in excess.

559. #biforen# qualifies #hað . . . sworen#.

561. #in#: comp. ‘Tac ðin sune ysaac in hond,’ GE 1287; ‘An. vii. kinge-riches lond | Ic sal hem bringen al on hond,’ id. 2789.

564. Fulfil it then, promise it now: so, ‘ðat ic ðe haue hoten wel, | Ic it sal lesten euerilc del,’ GE 2905.

568. #seli red#, happy counsel, possibly in the sense of what is advantageous, helpful; but ‘seli sped,’ 200/192, GE 240 suggests a simpler reading.

570. #egipte like#, after the Egyptian fashion.

571. Add he before #biried#. #hem#, his bones, l. 566.

572. #late#, after many years: ‘nec motus donec egressi sunt filii israel de egypto,’ C.

573. #on and on#: comp. 206/320.

578. #soules# is _sing._, comp. ‘for liues helpe and soules red,’ GE 496; ‘for sowles frame,’ id. 626.

579-590. Not by the author.

580. #engel tale#: ‘on engleis speche,’ GE 14; ‘on engleis tale,’ id. 450; ‘On engle speche,’ id. 814.

582. ‘May God help him kindly,’ Morris; this involves helpe, mot, where we should expect helpen, mote. Mätzner suggested wel e mot, God help him, well he may.

583. #sorge ⁊ grot#: see 199/74.

584. #cold ⁊ hot#: see 44/232-236.

586. #spilen#, disport themselves.

589. Comp. ‘And to alle cristene men | beren pais and luue bitwen,’ GE 7. After #us#, Holthausen adds be: perhaps, ben ús | bitwén.

_Cross-References_

2/13, 3/32 (notes) = I. B (Worcester Fragments) 12/14 (note) = V. (A Parable) 21/94 (note) = VI. (The Proverbs of Alfred) 36/126, 46/292, 52/387 (notes) = VIII. (Poema Morale) 100/122 (note) = XIV. (Laȝamon) 134/96 (note) = XVIII. (The Orison of our Lady) 196/657 (note) = XXI. (The Bestiary) 197/16 (note) = _present selection_ 211/483 (note) = XXII. (Genesis and Exodus) 359 = IX. Ancrene Wisse, Phonology, under “ea”. pp. 564-565 = XX. (The Owl and the Nightingale) under Metre.

_Errata_

#Phonology:# ... but ‘loac,’ GE 1798 [GE.] #ǣ{1}# is _e_ [#æ{1}#] #ēa# is _e_ ... (#wēox# from #weacsan#) [wæcsan] #a# + #g# ... #ǣ{2}# + #g# [#æ{2}#] #Accidence:# ... onsagen 99, ðeden 356 have added n [adden] #Vocabulary:# ... til 60, ðeden 84 [ðeðen] #Metre:# ... Goód is | quað jós|eph [quáð] ii b. Ór | for misdéd|e or fór | onságen [ii. b.] quát | he wóren, 434: [434;] i a. Kínde | lúue | gan him óu|ergón [1 a.] J́c am | iosép | drédeð | gu nógt [Jć am] euẹrilc 268 [_text unchanged, but body text has eu{er}ilc almost throughout_] 308. #Kinde ðhogt#, [đhogt] which our writer seems to have used here. [here.’] 356. ... CM 3914 [CM.] 371. ... OEM 117/244. [OEM.]

XXIII. KENTISH SERMONS

#Manuscript:# Laud Misc. 471, Bodleian Library; on vellum, 188 × 130 mm.: consists of two manuscripts bound together; the former, mostly Latin, has at f. 65 r, ‘Man may longe liwes wenen’ (see p. 308). The second manuscript, of the end of the thirteenth century, begins at f. 92 with Grosseteste’s Château d’Amour; on f. 128 r is Maurice de Sully’s sermon for January 1st in French, then follows the present article. Other sermons in French by Sully begin on f. 138 v^2, but they do not include the originals of these English translations.

#Facsimile:# Skeat, W. W., Twelve Facsimiles, Oxford, 1892; plate v gives ll. 19-78.

#Editions:# Morris, R., An Old English Miscellany, pp. 26-36. Kluge, F., Mittelenglisches Lesebuch, pp. 19-25.

#Literature:# Danker, O., Die Laut- und Flexionslehre der mittelkentischen Denkmäler, Strassburg, 1879; Heuser, W., Zum kent. Dialekt im Mittelenglischen, Anglia, xvii. 73-81; *Konrath, M., Zur Laut- und Flexionslehre des Mittelkentischen, Archiv, lxxxviii. 47-66, 157-180, lxxxix. 153-166; Reimann, M., Die Sprache der mittelkentischen Evangelien, Berlin, 1883. =Of the French original, Manuscripts and Text=: Meyer, P., Romania, v. 466, xxiii. 178, xxviii. 245; Documents manuscrits, Paris, 1871, pp. 157, 158, 244; Boucherie, A., Le Dialecte poitevin au xiii^e siècle, Niort, 1873; =the Author=: Mortet, V., Maurice de Sully, évêque de Paris, in Mémoires de la Société de l’histoire de Paris, xvi. 105; Bourgain, L., La Chaire française au xii^e siècle, Paris, 1879; Lecoy de la Marche, A., La Chaire française au Moyen Âge, Paris 1868.

#Phonology:# Oral #a# is _a_, habbe 75, last 212; awakede 172 has its form from #āwacian#, its meaning from #āweccan#. #a# before nasals is _a_, fram 35 (5 times), man 120 &c., þan _conj._ 34, þanne 47, 160, wanne 21 (4); #man# indef. pron. is man 112, me 34; apparently lengthened in naam 237, from the plural. #a# before lengthening groups is _o_, belongeth 86, fond 206 (3), hond 138, londes 31, longe 246, 275, but shortened and 10, answerden 18, and amenges 217, influenced by #gemengan#. #æ# is divided between _e_, efter 22 (3), hedde 41 (8), hedden 11 (12), nedden 242, hest 101, smech 50, 53, þet 10 (47), wet 42, 151 and _a_, hadde 173, spac 20, 87, þat 54 (23), uastinge 57, was 6 &c., wat 26, 86, 174, 221, watere 91 (6), stressless at 84 (6), ate 229; from OE. forms in #a#, almichti 5 (6), fader 48, habbe 67; flexion form bak (biteres) 111; iheed 248 represents OE. #gehæfd#. #e# is _e_, be _prep._ 39 &c., iþenche 282, wrench 275; before lengthening groups ende 161, strengþe 267; but bi 54 &c., swiche 127 (4), siche 179, wiche 145, wyche 112; #e# is raised to _i_ in sigge 53 (11), togidere 95 from the umlaut form togedere, wrichede 59, comp. #wrecca#; with bie _prep._ 94, 228 for bi, comp. ‘beo’ for be, Reimann § 18. 2 f; in angles 150 _a_ is probably due to French influence, although _a_ for umlaut #e# before nasal is characteristic of the South-Eastern area, see 439/9-13, 269/25-27. The isolated _o_ in ongel 28 beside angles may be set down to the representation of OF. a before nasal + cons. in Southern ME. indifferently as _a_ or _o_, so in Ayenbite, chambren, chombre, chongi (Behrens 78), but the scribe of KS writes always sergant, serganz. #i# is _i_, wille 22, finde 24, often written _y_, especially in contact with #m#, #n#, agyn 212, hym 13; here 85, her, is an early instance of the spelling with _e_. #o# is _o_, dorste 87, wolde 23, but an 71, ane 242 (#an#), a 192 through loss of stress; þane 175, 274, 281 is LWS. #þane#. #u# is _u_, icume 216, 253, to cumene 284, luuie 74, hifunde 21, undren 205 (3), but _o_ in awondrede 177, come 60, comme 55, cometh 22, 159, icomen 215, ffolvellet 90, fonden 208, ifonden 27, louie 243; see 269/31. #y# is _e_, spusbreche 110, chereche 149, dede 205, euele 107 (12), ferst 96 (7), uuluelden 93, manken 41, senne 61 (14), þenche 245, werm 55, berdene 219, but forþingketh 221, due to palatal influence, kinges 7, mirre 11, 54, as in French original, niste 98, analogy of #wiste#, formeste 134 (#formest#). #ā# is _o_, aros 169, holi 5 &c., no 55, none 156, on _art._ 202, one 134, 199, o 14, one _numer._ 117 &c., doubled in aróós 171, hool 137, hóót 74, 280, noon 148, 221, 282; before two consonants, _o_, bitockned 107 &c., gost 48, onlepi 48; but the indef. article is mostly an, ane, a, so too anoþer 30, anoþren 34; askede 13, 17, haleghen 146 have shortened _a_, contrast ‘oxi,’ Ayenbite 114/1; with namore 87 comp. nammore 231/14. #ǣ{1}# is regularly _e_, anhet 115, wreþe 188, doubled in anhéét 116, 124, before two consonants, clensed 139, euerich 122 (5), leuedi 83, leuedis 31, but aueriche 69, lauedi 6, 87, goth 51, with _o_ from the plural. #ǣ{2}# is also _e_, euen 206 (5), þer 60 &c., wer 13 (4), were 91 (4), ofdred 16, werefore 69 (3), but war 26 (#hwār#), ware 91, waren 215, 216. #ē# is _e_, akelþ 108, deþ 70 (3), he 15 &c., se _art._ 13 &c., wenden 216, but doþ 179, with _o_ from the plural, ha 20 &c., a 250, 264, mostly stressless. #ī# is _i_, hwilem 19, niþing 121, wyn 84; doubled in hij 248; before two consonants, wyman 87, winyarde 203; the only exception is bleþeliche 182, comp. ‘blethliche,’ Seuyn Sages 503 (Kentish), ‘bleþeliche,’ Ayenbite, 20/26; according to Konrath (p. 172) #ē# in MK. had a very close sound approaching #ī#, which led to their interchange, but there is also ‘bluðeliche’ 119/80, OEH i. 31/4 which needs accounting for. #ō# is _o_, comen 35 (4), into 12, to 22, sothfast 38, doubled in good 120, 183, 281, goodman 202, but _a_ in kam 12 (4) and reduced to _e_ in te 7, 20, 256, te dai 5 (4), euerte 135, neuerte 248, inte 250, 251. #ū# is _u_, bute 279, ut 239, upward 51, doubled in uut 202, but _o_ in bote 244, don 170. #ȳ# is _e_, bredale 80, fer 112, ueréé 51, here 203, herde 208, iherde 228, iherede 232, iherd 248, prede 188, wéé 207 (#hwȳ#); before two consonants, bredgume 99, but ihierde 236 where _ie_ may be a writing for _ē_, or equivalent to [je], litle 143 (#litel#).

#ea# before #r# + cons. is _a_ in art 124, 125, winyarde 203 &c., to . . . ward 51, but _e_ in forewerde 203, 204 in syllable of minor stress. #ea# before #l# + cons. is _a_, al 8 &c., and its compounds, falle 155, halt 283, before #ld#, _a_ in chald 109, schald 108, _o_ in chold 124, itold 67, 222 (as bold, bolde in Ayenbite), but before #lde#, _ia_ (as for #ēa#) in ialde 39, ihialde 101; this alternation of _a_ (not _o_) and _ia_, as short and long, is specifically Kentish. The _i_-umlaut is _e_, elde 260, 268, 270. #eo# before #r# + cons. is _e_, verrene 35, herte 45 (6), sterft 154, sterre 7 (4), werkes 50 (8), werkmen 203 (3), before lengthening groups, erþe 82, 135, erþliche 65, husberners 111; Kentish absence of _i_-umlaut (Bülb. § 187) in ismered 55; uerste 223. #eo# before #lf# is _e_, selue 115, seluen 123, 183. #eo#, _u_- and _å_-umlaut of #e# is _e_, fele 224, 270, heuene 29 (9); after #w#, _o_ in wordle 191, world 228. #eo#, _u_- and _å_-umlaut of #i# is _e_ in beneme 186, clepie 181, clepeþ 262, selure 64, here 11 (10), but hire 27, 30, 185. #ea# after palatals is _a_, sal 34 (4), yaf 158, 214. #ie# after #ġ# is _e_, yeue 210, 251, yeft 35, yefþ 272, yeue 71, 159, yef 213, yeld 211, yeftte 37. EWS. #gief# is yef 24 &c. #eo# after #sć# is _o_, solle 271, sollen 200, 254, solde 14 (5), solden 250, but sulle 223. #eom# is am 184, #heom#, hem 10 &c.

#ēa# is _ia_, beliaue 41 (6), diadlich 41, 264, diadliche 143 (7), diath 41, diaþe 274, griat 201, griate 234, 272, _ya_ in yare 282, but _ea_ in beleaue 45 (6), great 141, 169, greater 267, _a_ in belaue 67, _e_ in gret 171, grete 143: slon 24 is from a form with #ā#. The spelling with _e_ [ē] is not Kentish, that with _a_ is probably meant for _ea_, which is historic spelling of the same import as the specifically Kentish _ia_, _ya_. The phonetic value of the latter is in dispute. Sweet says probably [jaa], that is, with accent shifting; Konrath [jœ̄] for the initial, [œ̄] for the medial position; Heuser maintains that the symbols must have the same value wherever placed and suggests for it [eǣ]. The _i_-umlaut of #ēa# is _e_, beleue 47, 250, bileue 75, bileued 242, beleuede 103, iherde 14, 19, iherd 62 (4), ihere 282, ihereþ 106, 224, onlepi 48, onlepiliche 65, but _ie_ in ihiereth 42, niedes 181, 185, nyede 180. #ēo# initial is _ye_, yede 12 (7); medial, _ie_ bien 18, 192, bieth 59, 68, bieþ 152 (10), bied 116, biedh 143, dieule 61, forbiet 73, liese 16, liesed 114, liest 145, 153, forliest 154, but _e_ in betuene 9, deuel 187, deueles 241, frend 221, helden 235, iuel 84, prest 40, and _i_ in sike 58, sikman 136; final, _ie_, _ye_, bie 178, 223, 156, 207, ibye 219, hie 207 (#hēo#), hye 87, þrie 7 (5) and _i_, bi 14, 71, 139, si 6 (10), hi 87, but _e_ in be (swo) 263, ibe 238, 239, 241, 246, 247. The medial _ie_, which is characteristic of Kentish, has, according to Sweet, the value of diphthongic [jee], according to Konrath, of the monophthong ē; final _ie_, _ye_ is ī. The _i_-umlaut of #ēo# is _e_, þefte 144. #ēa# after #ġ# is _e_ in yere 66, #ēo#, _e_ in yemer 114, yemere 113, yemernesse 56, but Morsbach (Anglia, Beiblatt, vii. 326) regards it as umlaut e. #gīet# is yet 118.

#a# + #g# is _agh_, daghen 252, laghe 17 (3), but _ai_ in daies 66: mowe 53, 260, moue 72, muee 33 represent the subjunctive form #mugon#: seith 183, 242, seiþ 184, seyth 201, seid 113, 274 come from #segeþ#. #æ# + #g# is _ai_, dai 5 &c., day 33 (5), mai 148 &c., may 58 (5), maidene 237, vaire 177, but deai 219: seide 20 &c., seyde 88 (6), seiden 172, seyden 217, iseid 19 represent #segde# &c.: sede 86, seden 230 descend from #sǣde#, #sǣdon#. #e# + #g# is _ei_, ileid 170, weye 30: ayen 30, 206, agenes 269 descend from #ongēn#, so toyenes 235; tojanes 8 (influence of _n_), from #tōgēanes#, comp. 428/37. #i# + #g# final is _i_, bodi 60, mani 118, peni 251; lauedi 87, leuedi 83 represent #hlǣfdī#; the spirant is lost in bodie 158. #u# + #g#: mowe 75. #ā# + #g# is seen in oghe 112, #ǣ{1}# + #h# in tachte 249 (shortened #tāhte#), #ō# + #h# in ibrocht 99, nocht 23 (5); in cróós 90 the spirant has been absorbed; nacht 65, 104, 146 comes from shortened #nāht#. The _i_-umlaut of #ea# + #ht# is _e_ in the specifically Kentish manslechtes 111 (Bülb. § 180 b), but _i_ in almichti 5, micht 137, michte 24, nicht 28. #ēo# + #ht# is _i_ in bricht, brichtnesse 44, richt 209, unricht 221: wesse 92 is #wēoscon#. #ēo# + #g# is _e_ in legheþ 275; #īe# + #ht#, #i# in licht 46. #e# + #w#: iseghe 176 comes from #gesegen#. #ā# + #w# is _au_, saule 159, saulen 191: seghe 105, seghen 25, 215 come from #sǣgon#. #ī# + #w#: newe 134. #ēa# + #w# is seen in feaue 224, seaweth 199, seawede 37, 39, seauede 237, seaude 249, seauinge 8, seywinge 32, miswriting, perhaps for sewinge. #ēo# + #w# occurs in biknewe 8, furti 266 shortened, yure 64, final yu 89, 210, yw 174, 251. Accents are more sparingly used than in piece v, 275/40; they appear to emphasize the length of a vowel already doubled to indicate length in anhéét 116 (anheet 124), aróós 171 (aros 169), cróós 90, hóót 74, 280 (hot 88, 279), wéé 207; in beleauéé 230, icornéé 224, ueréé 51, séé 169, 175 short inflectional e is doubled and accented, possibly to point out that it is not silent, but muee 33 is without accent; similarly iléke 61 (ileke 72, 73, ilke 59), offréde 38 (offrede 38): in galiléé 78 (Vulgate Cana Galilaeae) separate pronunciation of the vowels is indicated.

In godespelle 5, 32, 199, haleghen 146, iherede 232, ileke 61, leuedis 31, leuedi 83, lauedi 6, moreghen 202 a glide _e_ has been inserted, a final _e_ added in ate 229, ofte 275; #e# is lost in icornéé 224, mor 34. For #e#, _ie_ is written in sollie 160, #o# is _e_ in sikerliche 187. The prefix in akelþ 108 is #a-# intensive; in agyn 212, alast 236, anhet 115 &c., #an-#, #on-#; in astrengþed 179 #a-# from #ar-#; in answerden 18, #and-#; in awondrede 177, #of-#: #be-# is mostly _bi-_, but betokned 116 (3), #ge-#, _i-_, ihende 55, iwil 114, but it is lost in bore 71. The suffix in sothfast 38 is #-fæst# (in the Ayenbite it appears as -uest), in felarede 147, #-rǣden#, in childhede 262, #-hǣd#; the termination of verbal nouns is -ing, as in ME. gauelinge 144; in baþieres 92 the suffix is Fr. -ière.

#w# is written _u_ in betuene 9, suo 135, uilleth 200; it has disappeared in siche 179, so 59: vrefore 246 is miswritten for werfore. Metathesis of #r# is seen in undren 205, in loruerde 103 the scribe has added #r# by anticipation. #ll# is simplified in ffolvellet 90, uuluelden 93, godspel 242, iwil 114 &c.; Kentish wordle 191 &c. alternates with world 228. #m# is doubled in comme 55; #mm# simplified in wyman 87. The preposition in is reduced to i 5 &c.; #nn# is simplified in clenesse 92, cumene 284, done 191, heþenesse 8; #n# is lost in heueriche 252, 256, 281. #bb# is simplified in habeþ 259. Initial #f# is _u_, _v_ in vaire 177, uastinge 57, velaghes 218, ueréé 51, verrene 35, uerste 223, uuluelden 93 and medially between vowels and vowellikes, ffolvellet 90, iuel 84, over 26, senuulle 142, with exceptions bifore 25, 104, underfonge 254, þerefore 254, werefore 238, vrefore 246, otherwise _f_ occurs under all conditions. #f# is assimilated in hedde 41, lost in hest 101, iheed 248, lordes 32, lordinges 31. For #t#, _th_ appears in wath 102 (comp. ethe in Ayenbite), and _td_ in hotestd 266: #t# is doubled in yeftte 37, lost in beste 100, last 212 and finally in þa 82, 180, þe 39, 280. #d# is doubled in risindde 8; #dd# simplified in ofdred 16. For #þ#, _th_ is often written in verbal terminations, _t_ occurs in habbet 62, 64, 85, maket 121, _d_ in bied 116, bitockned 107, bitokned 142, betokned 116, 143, 152, 266, drinked 115, hatied 278, _tþ_ in habbetþ 219, _dh_ in biedh 143, clepiedh 185, hatedh 73, mudh 113. Initial #þ# is _t_ twice, to 58, 175 after and; the scribe must have had ant in mind or in his exemplar. A parasitic #þ# has been inserted in alþer 266, OE. #ealra#, an early instance of a form common in the South. For voiced #s#, _z_ occurs in sechez 21, serganz 88, 89, signefiez 142, but it is not used initially. #ss# appears as _sc_ in blisce 70. #sc# is _s_, sal 34, seawede 37, solle 271, sulle 223, srifte 159, flesliche 43, fles 237, but ssipe 168 (4), wesse 92, flesce 56, flessce 59. The stop #c# is _k_ before _e_, _i_, akelþ 108, wakie 57, before _a_, _u_, kam 12, kuþe 17, in combination with consonants, biknewe 8, tokningge 141, folk 135, except _cl_, _cr_, clenesse 92, croos 90: it is _c_ before _o_, cometh 22. Finally it is _c_ or _k_, spac 20, bak 111, tok 139, 175: #c# is written _ck_ in betockneþ 225, bitockneþ 268, bitockned 107, and _gk_ in forþingketh 222. The graph #xp# (= χρ) is used in xpisteneman 107 &c., xpisteman 109: the Latin text has chana 78 for Cana. #č# is _ch_, besech 125, bisecheth 182, chald 109, chold 124, chereche 149, child 21, euerich 122, -lich 41 &c., michel 15, kingriche 16, seche 36, speche 33, swiche 127, techinge 231, þenche 245, wiche 145, wrench 275, _sch_ in schald 108, but hic 22 &c., besekeþ 68: #čč# is _ch_, smech 50, wrichede 59. Palatal #g# is written _y_, ayen 30, toyenes 235, (wyn)yarde 203, yaf 158, ye 21, yemer 114, yere 66, yeue 210, yeftte 37, the doubling in winyyarde 272 was without intention: _y_ is lost in iyue 133, #gegiefen#. It has developed to _w_ in mowe 53, moue 72 and is lost in muee 33; other spellings are seen in tojanes 8, hye 64: yu 89, yure 64 have imitated ye, #gē#. #g# is lost finally in words ending in #-ig#. #čǧ# is _gg_ in sigge 53 &c. The guttural stop is written _g_, gold 11, king 15, doubled in tokningge 141: for #ng#, _nk_ appears in kink 38, offrinke 34, 36, þinkes 74, 112. The spirant is _gh_, daghen 252, haleghen 146, laghe 17, legheþ 275, oghe 112, seghe 105, moreghen 202, sorghen 185. Similarly the guttural spirant #h# is represented by _ch_, ibrocht 99, nacht 65, nocht 23, þurch 119 &c., but þurh 188; palatal are bricht 44, licht 46, michte 24, nicht 28, richt 209. _h_ is added in hac 87, hic 66 &c., hifunde 21, his 218, hure 178, 198, hut 279, hye 64: #h# is lost in i 43, 250, is 232, ise 168, 246. #hr# is _r_, raþe 140, as already in OE., #hw#, _w_, wee 207, wer 13, vrefore 246, wiche 145, wo 48, wylem 38, but hwilem 19, 258, hwylem 117.

#Accidence:# Strong declension of _masc._ and _neut._ nouns. In the _s. n._ sune 48 represents sunu. _Gen._ -es, domes 192, liues 275; heueriche 252, 256, 281 is a composition form: _d._ -e, bodie 158, with short stem vowel, daye 69, daie 220, 227, gode 49 (10), marcatte 206, ueréé 51; exceptions are god 47, gost 72, iwil 157; peny 203 is probably accusative: the time words dai 5 (11), midday 205 (3), euen 235, moreghen 202 (5), undren 205 (3) are treated as accusatives, as occasionally in OE. #tō-dæg#, #on mid-dæg#, #on undern#. In the _acc._ bodi 60, peny 213, 215, 216, peni 251, 255, 281 have lost final #g#. The _pl. n. a._ of masculines ends in -es, bakbiteres 111, lordinges 31, daies 66, but husberners 111, croos 90; neuters are _n._ þinges 59, 61; _a._ þinges 73, 74, þinkes 74, werkes 50 (5), faten 91, 93. _Pl. d._ -es, angles 150, londes 31, 36, werkes 68 (4), writes 183, but daghen 252, wyntre 266 (comp. _nom._ #wintru#). All feminine nouns of the strong declension have -e throughout the singular, except _n._ lauedi 87, leuedi 83; _d._ lauedi 6, world 228, 238, 258, 263, wordl 230 (but wordle 191, 236, 243); _a._ hond 138. Plurals are _n._ deden 111, saulen 191, sennen 145, leuedis 31, tides 227; _d._ hertes 72, niedes 181, 185, offringes 63, wordles 259, sennen 147, sorghen 185; _a._ sennen 142, 143, 160. Nouns of the weak declension have -e throughout the singular, _n._ sterre 7, tunge 282, yare 282; _d._ bredgume 99, sunne 44, time 168; _a._ beliaue 41; plurals are _d._ haleghen 146; _a._ time 228. The minor declensions are represented by man _s. n._ 123, sikman 136, xpistenman 69, goodman 202, wyman 87, mannes _s. g._ 147, cristenemannes 45, men _s. d._ 260, manne 46, 120, cristenemanne 52, 69, man 265, 267, 268, _s. a._ 120, men _pl. n._ 15, _pl. d._ 153, _pl. a._ 142, werkmen 203; fader _s. n._ 48; frend _s. n._ 221; child _s. a._ 21; nicht _s. d._ 28. The French nouns have -es in the _pl._, except geus 15, gyus 13, paens 245, 247, serganz 88, 89.

Adjectives which in OE. end in e retain it throughout; those in #-ig# lose g and are invariable in the singular, so stille, newe, holi, onlepi 48. Weak inflections are _s. n. m._ euele 107, 109, gode 44, 45, vaire 177, _f._ gode 52, _s. g. m._ gode 45, _s. d. m._ euele 120, gode 46, 52, _f._ griate 272, ialde 39, _neut._ wrichede 59; strong, _s. g. neut._ longe 275, _s. d. m._ gode 67, 230, _f._ diadliche 150, 153, 154, 157, 189, 278, griate 234, _neut._ euele 157, _s. a. m._ gode 173. Not inflected are weak _s. a. neut._ heþen 239; strong, _s. d. f._ diadlich 264, _neut._ good 183, yemer 114, _s. a. m._ god 234, good 120, hool 137, _s. a. f._ gret 171, griat 201. French words have no inflection. The plural ends in -e, bitere 59, diadliche 143, euele 109, 156, senuulle 142, verrene 35, but heþen 252 and the predicative idel 207, 238, 241, 246 are uninflected. #litel# is litle, _s. d. m._ 174, _pl. d._ 147, _pl. a._ 143; #āgen#, oghe, _s. n. m._ 112. #ān# _adj._ is _n._ an before vowel 28, a before consonant 80, 136, 169, o 14, _d._ ane _f._ 81, _neut._ 168, _a._ ane 203, 213, 214, 216, emphatic form on _n._, a certain, 202, one _d._ 134, _a._ 199: the numeral and pronoun is _d._ one 117, 118, 168, on 221, _a._ on 218: #nān# _adj._ is _s. n._ no 55, 148, 273, noon 282, _d. f._ no 263, _neut._ none 157, _a. neut._ noon before vowel 221, no 85, _pl. d._ none 156: the pronoun is _n. s._ noon 148, non 247, 274. Adjectives with inflection used as nouns are euele _s. d._ 126, 138, gode 126, eueles _pl. d._ 190, godes 65, gode _pl. a._ 58; euel 186, good 281, unricht 221 are _s. a. neut._ Comparatives are greater _s. d. f._ 267 (2); more 217, namore 87 used as nouns: superlatives, formeste 134, beste 100, 102; used as nouns are ferste _pl._ 213, uerste _pl._ 223, laste _pl._ 218, 224; predicative are hotestd 266, ferst 224, last 223.

The personal pronouns are hic 22 (8), i(ne) 104, 221, me, we, us, þu, þe, ye, hye 64, yu, yw 174, 251. The pronoun of the third person is _s. n._ he _m._ 15 &c., ha 20 (21) often stressless, a 250, 264, ha in has 69, hi 26 for he, hi _f._ 87, hye 87, hit _neut._ 18, with _m. f._ nouns 50, 175; _d._ him _m._ 11, hire _f._ 86; _a._ hine _m._ 172, 283, hyne 10, hin 27 before vowel, hym 13 (possibly dative), hit _neut._ 21; _pl. n._ hi 8 &c., hie 207, i 43, 250; _g._ here 216; _d._ hem 10; _a._ hi 185, 204, hij 248, hem 17 (possibly dative), is in has 69, his 218. Reflexives are hine 148, him 170, him seluen 123, hem _pl. d._ 217, _pl. a._ 25, 92, 177; definitive are himselue _s. d. neut._ 115, himseluen 183: possessives, mine _s. d. m._ 209, 250, 251, _f._ 137, _neut._ 138, min _s. a. neut._ 222; þine _s. d. m._ 219; his _s._ 211 &c., is 232, _pl._ hise 15, 83, 171, ise 168, 246, his 103, 146, 150, 233; here 85; ure 5, 68, 280, hure 178, 198; yure 64; here 11 (10), hire 27, 30, 185. In the following account of the article and demonstrative the translator is assumed to have taken the genders of French nouns from the French original. The definite article is _s. n._ se _m._ 13 (15), þe 211, þe commencement 102, þe miracle 140, þo 265, si _f._ 31 (6), and with _masc._ nouns 6, 12, 45, si miracle 31, 177, þe 141, 255, þe custome 93, þe nature 266, þet _neut._ 32 (12); _g._ þes _m._ 214 (perhaps miswritten for his); _d._ þo _m._ 9 (17), þe 50 (13), þo _f._ 8 (18), þe 45 (6), þe cite 6, þo _neut._ 5 (12), þe 33 (8); _a._ þane _m._ 175, 274, 281, þan 206, 235, þo 25, 269, þo miracle 176, þe 44 (7), se 107, þo _f._ 70 (11), (and) to 175, þe 53 (7), þet _neut._ 21 (8); _instrumental_ þe 105, 178: _pl. n._ þo 24 (17), þe 226, 247; _d._ þo 7 (11), þe 183; _a._ þo 56 (12), (and) to 58, þe 58, 89, 228, 229, 245. Þet is demonstrative _adj._ 42 (3), 49, 54 (2), 281, also þa _s. d. m._ 82, _s. d. neut._ 82, 180, þo _s. d. m._ 267; the plural is þo 59, 72, 73, 74 (2), 145, 147, 176, þa _d._ 252: þet is demonstrative pronoun 22, 68, 281, þat 150, 152, 161, þe[t] 280; for þet 15, 23, 24 means because, be þet 37, by that that: the plural is þo, mostly with relatives, þo þet 108 &c., those who, 231, those to whom, 283, for those who: other pronominal uses of the article are seen in se þet 96, 154, 180, he who, for þan 272, on that account, er þane 171 (read þan), before. The compound demonstrative is _s. n._ þes _m._ 225, þis, þis commencement 102, þis miracle 140, 177, þis _f._ þis signefiance 122, þis tempeste 171; _d._ þise _m._ 210, _f._ 152 (4), þis 229 (6), þise _neut._ 84, 97; _a._ þise _f._ 204, 222, þis _neut._ 20: _pl. n._ þos 210, 217, _a._ 90, 91. The relative is þet and þat; it means that which in 43, 209, 243, 278, 279, 280, in which 82, anyone who 208. Interrogative are wat 86, 174, 221, wet 42, 151, wiche 145, wyche 112; the correlative is swiche _s. d. m._ 179, siche _s. a. m._ 179, swiche _pl._ 127, 191, 262: #ilca# is ilke _pl._ 59, ileke 61, 72, 73, ilek 74. Indefinites are wo so 48; me 34, 38, 58, 145, man 112, 274; oþer 188, oþre _pl._ 111, 121, 210, oþer 100, 153; anoþer _s. d. m._ 30, anoþren 34; euerich 122, 216, eueriche _s. d. m._ 213, 260, aueriche 69, euerich 214; mani 118, 234; fele 224, 270; feaue _pl._ 224; al _s._ 243 &c., alle _pl._ 15 &c., _pl. g._ alþer 266.

Verbs in #-an#, except the contract slon 24, have infinitive in -e, bidde 75, bileue 75, yeue 251 and twenty-five other examples; those in #-ian# with short stem vowel have -ie, luuie 74, hatie 72, makie 34, 137, wakie 57, with long stem vowel, -i, loki 148. French verbs with consonant stems follow the latter, acumbri 187, anuri 22, onuri 24, serui 75 (3), somoni 16, suffri 41, targi 273, uisiti 57, with these is associated offri 10. The _dat. infinitive_ is inflected in to cumene 284 only; it has -en in to siggen 123, 152, 231, otherwise -e, with prefixed for te, habbe 256, here 203, liese 16, wende 273; with to, seche 36, sigge 90 (3), slepe 170; Fr. for to anuri 10, to serui 273. Presents are _s._ 1. beneme 186, habbe 67, sigge 104; Fr. sucuri 185; 2. makest 218, syncopated hest 101; 3. belongeth 86, betockneþ 225, luueþ 279 and twelve others in -eþ, bitockned 107, betokned 116, 143, 152, 266, bitokned 142, luued 74, maked 119, hatedh 73, loket 60, maket 121; Fr. ofserueth 112, signefieth 40 (4), turneþ 265, amuntet 52, defendet 54, ofseruet 70, signefiet 55, 57, signified 50, 113, signefiez 142; syncopated are akelþ 108, anhet 115, forbiet 73, forliest 154, liest 145, 153, halt 283, hath 48, hot 88, 279, hóót 74, 280, licht 46, seith 183 (4), seid 113, 274, sent 264, sterft 154, telþ 32 (5), yefþ 272; the syncopated forms are thus as numerous as the full forms: _pl._ 1. bisecheth 182, habbeth 219 (3), redeth 5, habbetþ 219, hopieþ 256 (verbs in #-ian# with short stem vowel have -ieþ in _pr. pl._, -ie in _subj._); Fr. perisset 173; 2. habbeth 21, 106, habbet 62, 64, 151, luuieþ 278, hatied 278, syncopated dret 174; Fr. ofserueþ 281; 3. betockneþ 226, habbeþ 100, 218, drinked 115, liesed 114, habbet 85, luuieþ 283, clepiedh 185, syncopated yeft 35; Fr. defendet 60: _subjunctive s._ 3. helpe 182, loke 122, wende 126, yeue 71, 159, yef 191 before vowel, luuie 244; Fr. deliuri 190, granti 284, serui 244, sucuri 181; _pl._ 1. beleue 47, loke 152, grede 186, 189, offre 42, 47, sigge 189, clepie 181; Fr. perissi 190; 2. falle 155: _imperative s._ 2. agyn 212, besech 125, yef 213, yeld 211, clepe 211; Fr. saue 172, sauue 189; _pl._ 2. bereth 96, cometh 22, 159, ihiereth 42, lokeþ 155, offreth 65, ffolvellet 90, forleted 159, greded 158, sechez 21; Fr. anuret 22, moveth 95. Past of Strong Verbs: I a. _s._ 3. spac 20, 87, yaf 158, 214; _pl._ 3. seghen 25, 215, seghe 105, speken 13: I b. _s._ 3. kam 12 (4), naam 237; _pl._ 3. comen 35 (4), nomen 9: I c. _s._ 3. fond 206 (3); _pl._ 1. fonden 208: II. _s._ 3. aros 169, 174, aróós 171: IV. _s._ 3. tok 139, 175: V. IV. _pl._ 3. wesse 92: V. _s._ 3. het 29, iuel 84; _pl._ 3. biknewe 8, helden 235. Participles present: II. risindde 8; past: I a. iseghe 176, iyue 133: I b. ibore 6 (4), bore 71, icume 216, 253, icomen 215: I c. idrunke 97, hifunde 21, ifonden 27: III. icornéé 224: V. behote 19, ihialde 101, underfonge 254, ofdred 16. Past of Weak Verbs: _s._ 3. ansuerede 220, answerde 86, clepede 89, makede 118, made 103, 135, offrede 38, seauede 237, seaude 249, hedde 97 (5), iherde 14 (5), iherede 232, seide 20 &c., sente 204, tachte 249; Fr. aperede 28, apierede 7, aresunede 245, failede 84, onurede 136, sucurede 180, paide 214; _pl._ askede 13, awakede 172, beleuede 103, offrede 40 (4), seawede 37, 39, hadde 173, hedde 41 (3), seyde 208, answerden 18 (3), hedden 11 (9), nedden 242, maden 63, seiden 172, 217, seden 230, uuluelden 93, wenden 216, wenten 25; Fr. anurede 27, gruchchede 217, seruede 88, 230, serueden 258. Participles past: astrengþed 179, bileued 242, clensed 139, icleped 81, _pl._ iclepede 91, 224, imaked 81 (3), maked 119, imad 204, ioffred 64, ismered 55, istrengþed 106, iþoled 219, iheed 248, iherd 62 (5), ileid 170, iseid 19, 259, itold 67, 222, anheet 116, 124, ibrocht 99, iwent 94; Fr. anud 15, anured 71, aparailed 11, asoiled 160, deseiurd 147, deseuerd 156, deseurd 148, 149, ientred 254, isauued 192, iserued 96, itravailed 218, iwarisd 140. Minor Groups: wot _pr. s._ 274, wiste _pt. s._ 173, _pt. pl._ 98, niste 98; kuþe _pt. pl._ 17; dorste _pt. s._ 87; sal 1 _pr. s._ 210, 251, _pr. s._ 34, 178, sollen 1 _pr. pl._ 200, 254, sollie 2 _pr. pl._ 160, sulle _pr. pl._ 223, solle 271, solde _pt. s._ 14 (4), _pt. pl._ 30, solden 250; micht 2 _pr. s._ 137, mai _pr. s._ 148 (3), may 58 (5), mowe 1 _pr. pl._ 53, 260, moue 72, muee 2 _pr. pl._ 33, mowe 1 _pr. pl. subj._ 75, michte _pt. s._ 24; mote 2 _pr. s. subj._ 127, _pr. pl. subj._ 192; bi _inf._ 14, 71, bie 178, 223, bien 18, 192, am 1 _pr. s._ 184, art 2 _pr. s._ 124, 125, is _pr. s._ 31 &c., his 122, nis 146, 148, bieþ 1 _pr. pl._ 152 (3), 2 _pr. pl._ 155 (5), bie ye 207, bieth _pr. pl._ 59 (5), biedh 143, bi 2 _pr. s. subj._ 139, be (swo) _pr. s. subj._ 263, bie 2 _pr. pl. subj._ 156, be _pr. pl. subj._ 263, bieþ 2 _pr. pl. imp._ 160, was _pt. s._ 6 (6), were _pt. pl._ 91 (3), weren 176, ware 91, waren 215, 216, ibe _pp._ 238 (5), ibye 219; wille 1 _pr. s._ 22, 139, wilt 2 _pr. s._ 137, wille _pr. s._ 182, 187, wile 180, nel 55, uilleth 1 _pr. pl._ 200, wolde _pt. s._ 23 (3), wolden _pt. pl._ 10; do _inf._ 58 (6), misdo 62, don 200, to done _d. inf._ 191, for to done 241, to do 58 (_nominative_), do 1 _pr. s._ 221, 222, deþ _pr. s._ 70 (3), doþ 179, 2 _pr. pl._ 279, 280, _pr. pl._ 100 (3), do _pr. s. subj._ 125, 126, 2 _pr. pl. subj._ 279, doþ 2 _pr. pl. imp._ 89, dede _pt. s._ 16 (5), deden _pt. pl._ 235, ido _pp._ 50, 101; go _inf._ 22, 57, gon 10, 192, goth _pr. s._ 51, go 2 _pr. s. imp._ 212, goþ 2 _pr. pl. imp._ 20 (3), yede _pt. s._ 12 (5), _pt. pl._ 210, yeden 252, igo _pp._ 239.

Noteworthy adverbs are al 8, 11, 212, alast 236, euerte 135, neuerte 248, ihende 55, 60, onlepiliche 65, also in Ayenbite; prepositions, the alternatives an 71, ane 242, a 192; at 84, ate 229; for 41, fore 67, 105; in 81 (11) mostly before vowels, ine 18 (33) mostly before consonants, inne 154, i 5 (5) followed by the definite article; to 22, te 5 &c. stressless, inte 250, 251, and amenges 217, an early instance, wath 102; conjunctions, ase so 110, 144 translating si cume, al wat 26, þe 39 for þet, þo þet 242, 246 meaning inasmuch as.

#Vocabulary:# Scandinavian are velaghes 218, fela(rede) 147, scab 142, and probably bakbiteres 111, as a compound. French are †acumbri 187, †age 265, †amonestement 61, †amuntet 52, †anud 15, †anuri 10, onuri 24, †anvie 188, †aparailed 11, †aperede 28, apierede 7, apostles 246, †aresunede 245, †asoiled 160, auenture 84, †bunte 272, chaste 120, cite 6, †commandement 214, †commencement 102, †compainie 149, conseil 9, †contrarie 101, †cors 55, custome 93, †cuuenable 37, deciples 84, †defendet 54, deliuri 190, †deseiurd 147, deseuerd 156, deseurd 148, †diuers 259, †ensample 35, failede 84, folies 121, geus 15, gyus 13, †glorius 31, glutunie 144, grace 72, granti 284, gruchchede 217, †hasteliche 94, †ientred 254, †iwarisd 140, large 121, lecherie 110, lechur 120, lepre 137, leprus 136, †maladie 140, manere 188, merci 158, miracle 98, montayne 134, †moveth 95, †nature 267, †naturel(liche) 115, nature(liche) 108, offrendes 12, 27, (of)serueth 112, †orgeilus 120, †paens 245, paide 214, †painime 71, †pardurable(liche) 148, patriarches 229, †pelrimage 57, peril 180, †perissi 190, poure 58, prechur 249, profetes 19, prophete 249, religiun 92, roberie 110, †sacrefise 39, sarmun 135, saue 172, sauue 189, seinte 6, sergant 211, serui 75, seruise 200, †signefiance 62, †signefieth 40, somoni 16, spus(breche) 144, †sucuri 181, suffri 41, †targi 273, †tempeste 170, †trauail 212, †itravailed 218, †umble 120, ure 218, urisun 67, †verray 39, uertu 126, uisiti 57, †ydres 90. The words marked † appear for the first time in English. marcatte 206 is probably a post-Conquest borrowing: offri 10 is French in form, but its meaning is the restricted one of OE. #offrian#. Latin are Architriclin 96 (pre-Conquest), probably clerekes 17, the French original has clers, possibly religiun 92. The French borrowings are often Anglo-French in form. The prefix in acumbri is en-, in ofseruet, English of-, with meaning for the compound, gains by serving; anud (enuier) and ensample for essample show an exchange of prefixes; in anvie _a_ is written for e before a nasal; anuri is a contamination of aorer and honorer; in contrarie the affix is AF. -arie for OF. -aire, in manere, AF. -ere for OF. -iere, so -ur for -eor in lechur, prechur; OF. -ee (Latin -āta) is _e_ in contre. In grant, OF. graanter, _a_ is lost, in age, _e_ initially, and after ai in painime, also between l and r in pelrimage. In sarmun, e becomes _a_ before r + cons., but not in serganz; _ie_ for e in apierede, as often in AF. texts, is probably here Kentish interchange of e, ie; _u_ for o before n appears in amuntet, bunte, religiun, urisun, but not in commandment, commencement, the same substitution takes place in suffri; ai before s is phonetic _e_ in aresunede; ai followed by e is _ae_ in paens; ai + n _mouillé_ is simple _ai_, _ay_ in compainie, montayne; ei before vr is _e_ in deseuered, deseur[e]d, but deseiur[e]d 147; ei before l _mouillé_ is _ai_ in aparailed; OF. juiu, later giu, is represented by geus, gius, as in MS. A; OF. ue is _o_ in moveth; the regular representation of L. ŏ + l _mouillé_ is seen in asoiled, but orgeilus is an isolated spelling, the usual diphthong being oi, ui, perhaps the writer was influenced by English orgel. OF. üi is _u_ in anu[e]d. _ch_ for c before i is doubled in gruchchede; n is lost in cuuenable, as in MS. A; r is doubled in verray; z has the value of _ts_ in serganz; the spelling deciple is in MS. A.

#Dialect:# A scribe, not Kentish but probably South Midland, has copied with tolerable fidelity a Kentish manuscript, but alien forms such as aueriche 69, lauedi 6, war 26, ware 91, waren 215, spac 20, yaf 158 intrude; chold 124, as a compromise between chald of the exemplar and cold is significant.

#Introduction:# Maurice de Sully, bishop of Paris from 1160 to 1196, composed in Latin a series of sermons on the gospels for the Sundays and other festivals of the Christian year, which were intended for the use of the priests in his diocese. The French versions of these are, in the opinion of Bourgain and Lecoy de la Marche, free reproductions by various preachers. That they were exceedingly popular is shown by the large number of manuscript copies which have survived. These have been classified by Meyer in two redactions. Our translator has used a manuscript of class A, and indeed one differing little from MS. Douce 270, Bodleian (D), written in England early in the thirteenth century. It has, however, a _plus_ not represented in the English translation, which occasionally rather resembles MS. Ashmole 1280, Bodleian (A) also of the thirteenth century.

The translator gives a very literal rendering of his original; it influences his idiom, order and choice of words, even to the borrowing of an occasional inflection, as in sechez 251/21 (= querrez) and probably in signifiez 218/42 (= signefie). As the French sermons are not easily accessible, the fourth is here printed from D, with some variants from A. ‘Nos trouon lisand (lisons) en saint eu{a}ngille dui . ke n·s· dex entra une fiez en une nef ⁊ si disciple le siuirent. Et si cu{m} il furent en la mier . si leua un g{ra}nt torment ⁊ n{ost}re sire se esteit cochiez dormir . en la nief . deua{n}t ceo ke li tormenz comencast. Et si disciple eurent g{ra}nt pour[;] del torment . sil esueillerent . ⁊ si li distrent . Sire sauue nos[;] ke (k{ar}) n{os} p{er}isons . ⁊ il estoit chose de ce . kil nauoent c{re}ance (bone fiance) `i´ oi c{re}ance ne fiance en lui . ⁊ il lor dist . Que c{re}mez u{us} gent de petite fei? si leua sus . si chosa deliurem{en}t les uenz . ⁊ la m{er} . semp{re}s se furent appeisie. Et cum li hom q{ui} erent en la m{er} (nef) eurent ueu le miracle . si sesm{er}ueill{er}ent mout. Ceo `est´ li bo{n}s (beaus) miracles ke leu{a}ngille dui nus reconte . si en duit estre afferme n{ost}re c{re}ance. Car bien deit len c{re}ire en celui seignor q{ui} tel miracle pot fere . ⁊ fet q{ua}nt il ueut. OR nus besoigne q{ue} cil q{ui} securut ses desciples en icel p{er}il[;] quil n{us} suc{ur}re en noz perilz . ⁊ il le fra uolentiers se nus len c{ri}on merci . p{ar} bone uolentie. Si cum il meisme dist par la sainte esc{ri}pture . Je sui fet il la saluetie del pople . q{ua}nt il mapeleront en lor besoig{ne} . [e]t en lur angoises . Jo les orroj . ⁊ serrai lur deu p{ar}durables. Prion lui donc m{er}ci seureme{n}t se diable n{us} uout enconbrer . par peche . par orgoil . ⁊ par enuie . o p{ar} ire . . . c{ri}ons li m{er}ci . ⁊ si li disons . Sire saluez nos . ke n{us} ne p{er}isons . . . ⁊ q{ue} il nus deliure de tuz mals . ⁊ q{ui}l n{us} doinst tot bien . ⁊ n{us} dont tels oures a faere en cest siecle q{ue} les almes ⁊ les cors (cors de nus) poisent estre sauuie . al ior del ioise.’

The French quotations without reference are from the Douce MS.

1. The text is from the beginning of the gospel for the feast of the Epiphany, S. Matt. ii. 1, 2. D has a wrong heading, _In die nat. domini_.

5. #ase#: ‘ke quant.’

6. #þet--apierede#: ‘ke lestoille ki est demustrance de la nessance apparut.’ Supply þet after #sterre#.

8. #heþenesse#: ‘paenime.’ #tojanes#: ‘uers,’ towards. #al swo . . . swo#: even as . . . so; ‘com . . . si’: similarly in ll. 11, 12; 215/26, 27.

11. #hedden--offrendes#: ‘ourent apparaillees lor offrendes.’

12. #kam#: apparently the translator read uint. D has ‘siuirent’; A, ‘siwerent’: Boucherie’s text, ‘se mistrent apres.’

13. #hym askede#: an order of words like ‘li demanderent,’ so at 215/17.

15. #anud#: ‘trublez.’

17. #þe laghe#: ‘les escriptures’: see 182/213 note.

18. #Hi--ierusalem#: ‘cil respondirent · ke en bethleent.’

23. This sentence is in D, but not in A. #he . . . herodes#: see 119/77.

25. #hem wenten#: ‘sen alerent’; appears to be used as the past of go; elsewhere the writer has yede, yeden.

26. #al wat hi kam#: ‘iusquil uint.’ For #al wat#, until, see 15/84. For #hi# read he, i.e. the star.

27. For omission of the subject before #hin#, see 6/18.

30. #ayen wende#: ‘alassent,’ D; ‘returnassent,’ A. #wende#: ‘sen repeirassent,’ D; ‘returnassent,’ A.

35. #verrene#: ‘lointenes.’

36. #offrinke#: ‘offrendre,’ D, A.

37. #be þet hi#, by the fact that they, inasmuch as: ‘por ceo quil,’ D; ‘par iceo quil,’ A. #cuuenable yeftte#: ‘couenables dons.’ #seawede# &c.: ‘demostrerent kil auoent uerraie creance quil esteit reis uerrais’: there is a similar shortening in the English at l. 39.

39. #to here godes sacrefise#: ‘au sacrifice damlede.’

42. This interpretation of the gifts is as old as Irenaeus and is a medieval commonplace. Comp. ‘Monstrant auro regem esse, | praesulem designant thure, | mirram signum tumuli | tribuere domino,’ MSD i. 41/28-30.

43. #Gostliche#: ‘esperitielment.’

44. #glareth#: ‘resplendist.’

46. #licht#, lights, lightens.

48. #he is#: an addition, not in the French.

50. #werkes#: D has, ‘Li encens signefie bon oure . (ure A) ⁊ bone preiere;’ Boucherie, ‘bone ovre e bone prière.’ Our writer has translated ‘ovre,’ but not ‘preiere,’ on the other hand in l. 52 he mentions prayer, ‘biddinge,’ but not good works. #ido--ueréé#: ‘mis el fu del encensier,’ D, but A has only ‘mis el fuz.’

55. #ihende#, near: OE. #gehende#.

56. #is#: due to the French, ‘la bon oure . ki est amiere.’ #to þo yemernesse#, to the wretchedness: ‘a la chiche ⁊ a la maluoistie de nostre char,’ to the stinginess and the evil disposition of our flesh.

57. #uastinge# &c.: ‘ieuner pur deu . ueiller . alier en pelerinage.’

59. #so#, in the same way as myrrh is bitter to the taste: ‘Jces choses si sunt ameres a nostre malueise char,’ A.

60. #loket#: ‘defent.’

61. #amonestement# is conveyed directly from the French original.

66. #i þo yere#: ‘de uostre uie,’ DA.

67. #fore Gode belaue#: ‘par ferme creance:’ similarly #for# and #for# in the next line are mistranslations of ‘par.’

69. #þo cristenemanne#: dative, from the christian, ‘requiert tuz iors a son crestien.’ #werefore# &c.: ‘ke (par qui, A.) li crestien se il le faeit desert ⁊ conquiert la glorie perdurable.’

76. #Quod--dignetur#: supply, qui vivit et regnat Deus per omnia secula seculorum. Amen.

77. #euangelica#: drawn from the gospel for the day, S. Joh. ii.

81. #cite#: ‘cithe’; A has ‘uile.’

82. #flesliche#: ‘corperelment:’ comp. 217/103. #To# &c.: ‘A cel noces fud madame saint Marie,’ A.

84. #so iuel auenture#: ‘si auint par auenture:’ per or by may have fallen out in the English, but the expression in the text occurs elsewhere with fell and befell.

86. #Wat# &c.: ‘Que apartient a mei ⁊ a tei femme;’ ‘Quid mihi et tibi est, mulier,’ S. Joh. ii. 4.

88. #Serganz#: ‘serganz.’ #of#: partitive; comp. ‘and of þe cupe serue,’ KH 234 note.

90. #ffol vellet# &c.: ‘Emplez fist se il les ydres de eue.’ #þet--faten# is an addition of the translator’s.

92. #baþieres#: ‘bognoeres,’ D; ‘baignur,’ A. #for religiun#, ceremonially: ‘pur religion.’

94. #was#: for omission of the subject see 6/18 note.

95. #Moveth togidere#: D has ‘Puissiez ore,’ A, ‘Espucet,’ and the Vulgate, ‘Haurite nunc.’ The translator probably read esprucet (with AF. u for o) = esprochez; his rendering would then mean, Draw nigh, approach.

96. #þat--iserued#: apparently from Comestor, Historia Euangelica, c. xxxviii, ‘architriclino ·i· primati inter conuiuantes in triclinio;’ the French is quite different.

97. Possibly he has dropped out before #hedde idrunke#, but A has ‘e cume out guste.’

99. #ibrocht#: ‘puissie,’ D; ‘espuce,’ A. The word seems to have puzzled the translator here, as at l. 95.

100. #doþ forþ . . . ferst#: ‘mettent auant.’

101. #ihialde#: ‘estuie,’ stored up.

102. #wath nu#, until now: ‘desque aore.’ See 15/84.

103. #þo beleuede#: ‘Et si crurent en lui si disciple.’

107. This interpretation is singular. In Bede, vii. 205; Alcuin, ii. 464, Ælfric, Hom. Cath. ii. 56, the water is knowledge of holy scripture.

109. #chald of#: ‘froid del amor;’ comp. 218/124.

110. #Ase so# here and in l. 144 appears to be an attempt to render ‘si cume,’ A.

111. There is nothing in the French for #husberners#. In CM 26234, ‘Fals wijtnes and trouth breking, | Mans slaghter and hus brening’ are sins reserved to the bishop’s absolution: see Pollock and Maitland, History of English Law, ii. 492. #bakbiteres# is the compendious equivalent for ‘tuz cil ki despeisent ⁊ clamnent lur pronie,’ A.

112. #ofserueth#: ‘deseruent.’

115. #naturelliche#: ‘naturelmen.’ #anhet#: ‘eschaufe.’

117. #ine one time#: comp. 128/1.

119. #gostliche#: ‘esperitelment.’

121. #of--large#: ‘Del auier large,’ of the covetous, generous. #and--folies#: there is nothing in the French corresponding to this: probably so has dropped out before #of#.

122. #Nu# &c.: ‘Or esguard chescon uer sei meismes.’

126. #of# &c.: ‘de mal en bien.’

130. S. Matt. viii. 1, 2, as adapted in the lesson of the missal.

133. #iyue#: ‘liure.’

135. #euerte#: comp. 11/190; ‘neuerte,’ 221/248: compounds of #ǣfre#, #nǣfre# + #te#, to, like hitherto, heretofore: mostly Kentish. ‘le primier sermon quil onques feist en terre.’

136. #a sikman#: the translator’s gloss on ‘leprus.’ #onurede#: ‘aora.’

137. #of mine lepre . of mine euele#: the last three words are added by the translator. ‘de ma lepre,’ D; ‘de male lepre,’ A.

138. ‘n·s· si li dist · si estendi sa main ⁊ tocha sa liepre.’ #tok#, touched: comp. ‘If erf or man ðor one take,’ GE 3456.

139. #al so raþe#, as quickly as the word was spoken. ‘isnelepas,’ on the spot.

141. #tokningge#: ‘signefiance.’

144. #Gauelinge#: ‘usure.’

146. #haleghen#, saints: the French has ‘amis.’

147. #þet--loki#, against which no man can guard himself: ‘dont nuls ne se pot guardier.’ For #þet# = wið þet, see 46/292 and comp. 153/56.

148. #pardurableliche#: ‘perdurablement.’

149. #for lepre#: The French has, ‘Por le lepre est deseurez hom de la compaignie dautres genz . car cil qui moret en pecchie criminel . . . cil pert la compaignie de deu . ⁊ de ses amis . ⁊ de ses angles perdurablement.’ Probably the translator’s eye wandered from the former ‘compaignie’ to the latter; he then added ‘þat is to sigge’ &c., and afterwards in l. 153 he returned to the omitted sentence.

159. #forleted#: ‘guerpissez.’

164. S. Matt. viii. 23, 24; the last sentence altered from S. Mark vi. 48, ‘erat enim ventus contrarius eis.’

168. #one time#: ‘une fiez.’

169. #so . . . so#: ‘Et si cum il furent en la mier . si leua un grant torment.’

170. #was ileid him# &c.: ‘se esteit cochiez dormir.’

173. #ha wiste wel# &c.: ‘il estoit chose de ce . kil nauoent creance,’ D, it was a fault that they had not faith; ‘il les chalenga de ceo qui il naueient bone fiance en lui,’ A. The translator had in mind choisi.

174. #wat dret yw# is usually explained as, what terrifies you, a very rare meaning for dreden, or possibly as an impersonal construction, which is without parallel. The French has ‘que cremez uus,’ the Vulgate, ‘quid timidi estis.’ The usual construction in ME. is reflexive, comp. 208/397, ‘ne drede ȝe ow nawiht,’ SK 1393; ‘Ne dred te, Zacariȝe, nohht,’ Orm i. 2/151; ‘him ne dret naȝt to do zenne,’ Ayenbite 34/14, and if dret may be taken as a syncopated plural, that construction would be exemplified here. Syncopated plurals are rare, and where they occur, they are usually said to be scribal mistakes; such are ‘yeft,’ 215/35, ‘spekþ,’ Ayenbite 58/15, ‘brekþ,’ id. 16/21, ‘zeneȝþ’ id. 155/3. Perhaps they are specifically Kentish. If this view be accepted, #wat# is an acc. of reference like quid and practically equivalent to why.

175. #tok#, rebuked: ‘chosa.’

177. #so awondrede hem#: ‘si sesmerueillerent;’ see 54/27.

180. #þet se þet . . . þet#: ‘que cil qui securut . . . quil nus sucurre.’ For the repeated þet, comp. 220/200; ‘sitteð al stille, ꝥ hwon he parted urom ou, ꝥ he ne cunne ower god,’ AR 64/20.

183. ‘Salus populi ego sum, dicit Dominus: de quacumque tribulatione clamaverint ad me, exaudiam eos: et ero illorum Dominus in perpetuum,’ Introit for xix^th Sunday after Pentecost, and for Thursday after the iii^rd Sunday in Lent. The French version ends, ‘serrai lur deu pardurables:’ in l. 186 the English translator has deserted, as he rarely does, his original.

187. #sikerliche#, with confidence: ‘seurement.’ #acumbri#, load, oppress; ‘enconbrer:’ apparently the earliest instance of its occurrence.

191. #yef--done#, grant us to do such works. #þo saulen# &c., ‘les almes ⁊ les cors de nus,’ A.

194. #sexagesima# should be septuagesima.

195. S. Matt. xx. 1.

200. #þet . . . þet# repeated as at 219/180: ‘ke si nus uolons faere le son seruise . ke nus en aurons loiers.’

202. #goodman#, head of a household; an early instance in this sense. ‘pruzdom,’ D; ‘prudome,’ A.

203. #for--forewerde#: ‘au couenant dun dener.’

205. #undren#: ‘tierce;’ ‘circa horam tertiam,’ Vulg.; about nine o’clock: see 74/209.

206. #ayen þan euen#: ‘enuers la uespre.’ Comp. 221/235.

210. #mid þo oþre#: ‘ourer ensemble as autres.’ #hi wel#: read hit was, as at l. 205. ‘Quant uint au seir.’

212. #agyn to#: ‘comence a cels.’ #al--ferste#: ‘iusquas premerains.’

214. #þes--commandement#: ‘le comandement sun seignor.’

215. #hi . . . þo#: ‘Et com ceo uirent cil qui par matin esteient uenu:’ the clause #þo--icomen# is in apposition to, and explains #hi#, just as ‘cil--uenu’ does ‘ceo.’

217. #habbe#: the translator has left out ‘Mes com li sergantz uint a els paer . si ne dona a chascun ke un denier.’

219. #berdene#: ‘le fes de la peine,’ A; ‘les feissels ⁊ la paine,’ D.

221. After #unricht# there is a considerable omission. #Wat# &c., What displeases you in my doing as I will: ‘tei ke peise se io faz ma bunte’ (‘uolunte’ A).

227. #tides#, hours: ‘diuerses ores.’ Comp. 38/137.

228. #time# &c.: ‘les diuers tens de cest siecle.’

234. #þet# &c.: ‘qui par grant amur a lui se tindrent . ⁊ firent le suen seruise.’ #to him# depends on #helden#.

236. #alast of þis wordle#, towards the end of the world. alast is an adverb and its use with a dependent noun here is remarkable. ‘uer la fin del siecle.’

237. #seauede#: ‘se demustra:’ him has probably dropped out before ine.

238. #Werefore#, because: ‘car.’

241. #for to done# &c., so far as concerned the doing of the works of the devil, they had been industrious enough at that. But that is idleness in God’s sight. ‘Il nauient mie estie oiseus damier le diable . ⁊ de fere les lecheries ⁊ de feire les mauues enginz de gahannier (cultivate) lor terres . de faere lor uignes.’

243. #For--man is#: the French has, ‘Car ce que home faet (fet, A) en cest siecle, desque il deu nen aime[;] ne ne sert[;] tote deit estre recontie pur oiseyse.’ Apparently the translator has read seit for faet.

244. #al# &c., he may count it all as loss and idleness. #for#, as; comp. 27/304: ‘tote deit estre recontie pur oiseyse . ⁊ tot reuient a nient.’ But Bülbring, Ablaut 25, takes for lore for past participle.

245. #aresunede#, called to account; ‘chosa.’

246. #þo þet#, inasmuch as, so in l. 242; lit. when that: ‘quant,’ A.

248. #neuer te#: see 218/135. Restore the MS. iheed in the text. ‘Ceo est a dire . que il nauient onques eu ne prophete ne apostre.’

256. #al so . . . ase#, just as.

259. #of diuers wordles#: ‘del diuers tens del siecle.’

260. #elde#, age, period of life: ‘aez,’ D; ‘age,’ A.

262. ‘quant il apele de tels ia a son seruise.’ #þer bieþ# appears to be a false translation of ‘ia,’ already, as if it were i a.

263. #beswo þet#, provided that: an early instance of the phrase.

264. #At undren# &c.: ‘Et cels met il en sa uigne a tierce . quil torne en son seruise en la hie (= ae, L. aetas) de xx anz.’

267. ‘issint est humene nature de greinor chalor en cest aage.’

269. #agenes þo euen#: ‘uers le uespre:’ see 220/206.

270. #fele#: ‘les plusors.’ #As so . . . ase#, just in the same way . . . as: ‘issint . . . si come.’

272. All the same no man should put off turning to God, trusting to His forbearance. ‘Nepurquant ceste grant buntie . damledeu quil done as ous com as autres . ne se deit nul asseurer (asurer ne targer, A) de sei torner a deu . ne targier de lui seruir.’ With #Nocht for þan#, not on that account, comp. 25/240.

274. #þane dai#: ‘le ior ne lore,’ probably a reference to ‘Vigilate itaque, quia nescitis diem, neque horam,’ S. Matt. xxv. 13, but #þet holi writ#, ‘lescripture’, is applied to other books than the Bible. #for Man--wrench#: see 21/108, 29/1, 2 note: there is nothing corresponding to it in the French, but after ‘seruir’ (note on l. 272) ‘quil ne seit suspris de mort dementres.’

280. #and#, if: comp. 176/2.

283. #halt alle þo#, keeps in reserve for all those; ‘quae praeparavit Deus iis, qui diligunt eum,’ 1 Cor. ii. 9: ‘pramet ⁊ estore a ceus qui lui aiment.’

_Greek_ χρ [chr]

_Cross-References_

6/18 (note) = III. (The Peterborough Chronicle) 182/213 (note) = XXI. (The Bestiary) 269 = V. A Parable, under Phonology p. 308 = VII. (Memento Mori) 439 = XIII. Vices and Virtues, under Phonology

_Errata_

#w# is written ... A parasitic #þ# has been inserted [#ꝥ#] #Accidence:# ... The _pl. n. a._ of masculines [_“pl.” misprinted as plain (non-italic)_] The personal pronouns ... _d._ þise _m._ 210 [_“m.” misprinted as plain (non-italic)_] #Vocabulary:# ... geus 15, gyus 13 [15 gyus] 174. ... The usual construction in ME. is reflexive [ME is]

THE END.

* * * * * * * * *

_Inconsistencies_ noted by transcriber but not changed:

spelling of the names Batiouchkof(f), Horstman(n) variant spelling of medi(a)eval NED and NED.