Part 18

"Sette," he (Lucifer) said, "mi sete I sal Gain him þat heist es of alle; In þe _north_ side it sal be sette, O me seruis sal he non gette."—(Cursor Mundi, fol. 4b.)

282 _geuelic_ = _geuenlic_ = like. Cf. the A.S. _ge-efenlæcan_, to be like, to imitate. O.E. _euening_ = equal.

"And ðeðen he sal cumen eft, and thence he shall come again, . . . . . . for to demen alle men, for to judge all men, oc nout _on-geuelike_. but not a-like."—(O.E. Miscell. p. 23.)

"It (the law) fet ðe licham and te gost oc nowt o _geuelike_." It feedeth the body and the spirit but not alike. —(Ibid. p. 10.)

295 _ðis quead_ = this wicked one. In Early English writers we meet with several derivatives of this word, as _kueadliche_, wickedly, _kueadvol_, sinful. (See Ayenbite of Inwyt, p. 4, and extract in Note to l. 271, p. 125.)

301

_Euerilc ðhing haued [haueð] he geue name_, To everything hath he given name.

309-310 Yet I ween I know of a device, that shall bring them misfortune.

P. 10. l. 314 _ðor buten hunte_, there without search, or hunting, without delay; _or_ thereabout to _hunt_ or search. 316 _bilirten_, to deprive of by treachery, to cheat a person out of a thing.

"ða herodes gesægh for-ðon bisuicen [& _bilyrtet_] wæs from dryum, [& tungul cræftgum] urað wæs suiðe." (Matthew ii. 16, Northumbrian version.)

"Listneð nu a wunder, ðat tis der doð for hunger: goð o felde to a furg, and falleð ðar-inne, in eried lond er in erð-chine, forto _bilirten_ fugeles."

Listeneth now to a wonder, That this deer (fox) doth for hunger: Goeth a-field to a furrow, And falleth therein, In eared land or in earth-chink, For to deceive fowls. —(O.E. Miscell. p. 13, l. 403.)

318 _dreue_ = trouble, disturb. Cf. O.E. _drove_, to trouble, _droving_, tribulation. "Þa Herodes þæt gehyrde, þa wearð he _gedrefed_,[397] & eal Hierosolim-waru mid him."—Matt. ii. 3.

"& for-þi þatt he sahh þatt ȝho Was _dræfedd_ of his spæche He toc to froffrenn hire anann."—(Orm. i. p. 74.)

"And because that he saw that she was troubled at his word, he took to comfort her anon." Southern writers, by metathesis, formed from _dreuen_ (_dreue_) the vb. _deruen_ (_derue_), thereby confounding it with another vb. _deruen_ or _derue_, pret. _dorue_, p.p. _doruen_ (A.Sax. _deorfan_, pret. _dearf_, p.p. _dorfen_), to labour, perish, be in trouble. _Dreue_ is a transitive vb. of the weak conjugation, while _derue_ is intransitive and of the strong conjugation, nevertheless we find _derue_ (pret. _dorue_), taking the signification of _dreue_. "Stute nu earme steorue ant swic nuðe lanhure swikele swarte deouel, þ_a_t tu ne _derue_ me na mare."—(Seinte Marherete, p. 12.) "Stop now, poor stern one, and cease now at once, deceitful swart devil, that thou harm me no more." In Laȝamon we find not only pret. _drof_ = distressed, but _derfde_, and the p.p. _iderued_. In the Owl and Nightingale (ed. Wright), p. 40, we find the p.p. _idorve_ = troubled, injured.

"Other thou bodest cualm of oreve (orve), Other that lond-folc wurth _i-dorve_."

322

_And senkede hire hure aldre bale_ = And poured out to her the bale of us all,

_i. e._ gave her the cup of sorrow, of which we all drink; _senkede_ = _schenkede_, to pour out, to give to drink, to _skink_. See Orm. ii. 181. Laȝ. ii. 202, 431; Alys. 7581; Owl and Nightingale, p. 70.

324

_Quat oget nu ðat for-bode o-wold_ = What does now that prohibition signify?

_i. e._ What is the meaning of the prohibition; _oget_ = has, possesses _o wold_ = _a wold_ = in force, in signification. Cp.

_Quat-so his dremes owen a wold_ = What-soever his dreams do mean.

In ll. 1671, 2122 _wold_ occurs as a noun = interpretation, meaning. The connection between the idea of _power_, and _meaning_, _interpretation_, is not, after all, so very remote. Do we not speak of the _force_ of a word, its _power_, _use_, etc., in an expression? See Ormulum, p. 56, l. 11815.

327

_for is fruit sired [sireð?] mannes mood_, = for its fruit enlighteneth (cleareth) man's mind.

330 _witent_ for _witen it_ = know it. 333 _on hire mod_ = in her mind. 339 _scroðt_ = _scroð_ = solicited; the pret. of _scriðe_. The original meaning of the verb is, (1) to go; (2) to cause to go, to urge; (3) to solicit.

341

_for to forðen is fendes wil_, for to further (do) his foe's will.

"For up he rigteð him redi to deren, to deren er to ded maken if he it muge forðen."—(O.E. Miscell. pp. 5, 6.)

342

_At he ðat fruit, and dede unskil_, Ate he that fruit and committed sin.

_unskil_, literally, signifies indiscretion, folly, and by an easy transition, sin, crime. (See Ormulum, vol. i. p. 12. Cf. O.E. _unskilwis_ = irrational.)

P. 11. l. 345 _Vn-buxumhed_ = disobedience; but in line 346 it signifies weakness, _un-lithesomeness_.

347-8

_Vn-welde woren and in win Here owen limes hem wið-in._

Their own limbs within them Were powerless and in strife.

_vnwelde_ = unwieldy = the S. Saxon _vniwælde_, heavy.—(Gower i. 312.)

"——hise limes arn _unwelde_."—(O.E. Miscell. p. 3.)

(_i. e._ weak with age); _in win_, in strife, conflict.

"and wið al mankin he (the devil) haueð nið and _win_" (envy and strife). (O.E. Miscell. p. 8.)

"ðis fis wuneð wið ðe se grund, and liueð ðer eure heil and sund, til it cumeð ðe time ðat storm stireð al ðe se, ðanne sumer and winter _winnen_ (strive)." (O.E. Miscell. pp. 16, 17.)

"Þar aros wale and _win_." There arose slaughter and strife.—(Laȝ. i. 18.)

349

_flesses fremeðe and safte same boðen he felten on here lichame._

Lust of flesh, and shame of form both they felt in their bodies.

_fremeðe_ seems connected with _fremen_ and _frame_. In the translation I have connected _fremeðe_ with O.E. _frim_, vigorous; but it may be another form of O.E. _frumðe_, beginning. Then the translation of l. 349 would be 'the beginning of flesh and shame of form.'

360

_ðu haues ðe sorges sigðhe waked._ Thou hast for thyself a sight of sorrow roused.

_sigðhe_ = sight, but if it be an error for _siðhe_ it will signify adversity, mishap. 362 _ut luken_ = shut out. 363 _tilen ði mete[n]_ = earn thy food. _tilen_ (till), earn, procure.

"Ne maig he _tilen_ him non fode." He is not able to procure food for himself. (O.E. Miscell. p. 3.)

364 _wid_ = _wið_, with. _swotes teres_ = tears of sweat, _i. e._ drops of sweat. We may, however, by spoiling the metre, read _swotes & teres_, for in O.E. writers _swot_ is frequently used in the singular and makes the plural _swotes_.

365, 366

_Til gu beas eft into erðe cumen_, Till thou art again into earth come.

_beas_ = _be'st_ = art. The present has also a future signification.

369 _niðful_ = envious.

"O _nyth_ þare springes mani bogh, Þat ledes man to mikel wogh, for _nithful_ man he luuves lest, Þe quilk he wat es dughtiest." —(Cursor Mundi, MS. Cott. Vesp. A iii. fol. 153b.)

_loð an liðer_, loathsome and vile.

372

_And atter on is tunge cliuen_, And poison on his tongue shall cleave.

373 _san_ = _schand_, disgrace, shame. Did the scribe originally write _sam_ = shame? 377 _pilches_. This word answers to the "coats of skin" in our English version of the Scriptures. In modern English _pilch_ is merely the flannel swathe of an infant, but it formerly signified a fur garment. Cf. Ital. _pellicia_, _pelizza_, any kind of fur; also Fr. _pelisse_ (pelice), a furred garment.

"Here kirtle, here _pilche_ of ermine, Here keuerchefs of silk, here smok o line, Al-togidere, with both fest, Sche to-rent binethen here brest."—(Seven Sages, 473.)

P. 12. l. 384.

_Cherubin hauet [haueð] ðe gates sperd_, Cherubim have the gates bolted (barred, fastened).

391 _swem_ = sorrow, grief. See Gloss. to Allit. Poems, s.v. _swemande_. Legends of Holy Rood, pp. 135, 201.

392

_Of iwel and dead hem stondeð greim_ Of evil and death they stand in awe.

A similar phrase occurs in l. 432, p. 13. The phrase _stande awe_ is not uncommon in O.E. writers.

"Than sal be herd the blast of bem, The demster sal com to dem, That al thing of _standes awe_." (_i. e._ stands _in_ awe of.) —(Met. Hom. p. xii.)

"For Crist com sal be sa bright Þat thoru þat mikel lauerd might Him sal of _stand sa mikel au_, Þat alle þe filthes of his maugh Sal brist ute at his hindwin, For dred he sal haf of drightin." —(Antichrist and the Signs of the Doom, in _Jahrbuch für Romanische und Englische Literatur_, 1863, p. 203, l. 408.)

"Thereof ne _stod him non owe_."—(Seven Sages, 1887.)

See Havelok the Dane, p. 9, l. 277.

393 _on sundri_ = _asunder_ = apart, separate.

398

_And leded_ (ledeð) _samen gunker lif_. And lead (pass) together your (two) lives.

_leded_ = _ledeð_, is a verb in the imperative mood; _gunker_, the A.S. _incer_ (_dual_) = your two, of you two. Cf. _ȝunkerr baþre_ = of you both.—(Orm. i. 214.)

408

_And sumdel quemeð it his seri mood_ And somewhat it cheereth his sorry mood.

411

_More for erneste dan [ðan] for gamen_, More for necessity than for pleasure.

P. 13. l. 417 _al swilc sel_ = all such time.

420

_ðan he was of is broðer wold_, When he was by his brother killed.

421, 422

_An hundred ger after is dead, Adam fro eue in srifte abead._ A hundred years after his death, Adam from Eve in shrift (penance) abode.

(_i. e._ on account of the death of Abel.)

"A hundred winter of his liue fra þan forbar Adam his wiue, for soru of Abel þat was slayn."—(Cursor Mundi, fol. 8.)

See Legends of the Holy Rood, pp. 20, 21.

431 _and wurð ut-lage_ = and became an outlaw.

432

_wið dead him stood hinke and age._ Of death he stood _in_ dread and fear.

_hinke_ = _inke_, doubt, dread. See note on l. 392.

436

_ðeft and reflac ðhugte him no same_, theft and robbery appeared to him no shame.

_Reflac_ = robbery with violence, rapine. (See Laȝ. i. 172, 272, 424; ii. 526.)

"Þe first sin is o covatise Þat revis mani man þair praise, O þis cumes blindnes and tresun, _Reuelaic_, theft, extorsiun." —(The Seven Deadly Sins: _Cursor Mundi_, _Cott. MS. Vesp. A_ iii.)

438 _stonden agon_ = withstand, oppose. Cf. O.E. _again-stande_, to oppose.

439

_Met of corn, and wigte of fe_, Measure of corn, and weight of goods.

The only objection against explaining _fe_ by goods or money is that in the poem it signifies cattle, the proper term for goods, etc., being _agte_. In Laȝamon _fe_, however, has the meaning of goods, money.

440

_And merke of felde, first fond he_, And he first devised division (boundary) of fields (lands).

444 _at ðe sexte kne_ = at the sixth degree. _Kne_ in this sense is used by Robert of Gloucester, p. 228:—"He come of Woden þe olde louerd, as in teþe kne" (_i. e._ tenth generation). 450 _On engleis tale_ = in English speech.

P. 14. l. 451 _kire_, modesty, purity. See Laȝ. l. 8077. K. Horn, l. 1446.

456

_He was hirde wittere and wal._ He was herdsman wise and experienced (skilful).

See Gloss. to Allit. Poems, s.v. _wale_.

457-8

_Of merke, and kinde, and helde, & ble, sundring and sameni[n]g tagte he._

He taught of (concerning) the character, breed, age, colour [of cattle], the keeping them asunder, and the matching them together. _merke_ refers, perhaps, to the _form_, _shape_, etc., of the cattle, and _kinde_ to their _pedigree_. 459 _glew_, music, still exists in glee, _gleeman_, etc., O.E. _gleowinge_ = singing. _gleu_, to amuse by singing.

"Bi a piler was he þar sett To _gleu_ þaa gomes at þair mete."—(Cursor Mundi, fol. 40b.)

Cf. _gleo_, music.—(Laȝ. i. 298.) _gleo-cræften_ = glee-crafts, arts of music.—(Ibid. i. 299.) _gleo-dreme_ = glee-sound.—(Ibid. i. 77.) _gleowen_, _gleowien_, to chant, play.—(Ibid. ii. 382, 429.) 466 _a sellic smið_, a wonderful (rare) smith. 468 _To sundren and mengen_ = to separate (the ore from the dross) and to mix (alloy).

469

_Wopen of wigte and tol of grið_ = weapon of war and tool of peace.

_wigte_ = _wig_ = war. _Wigte_ may signify sharpness; it usually = strong, brave.

470

_wel cuðe egte and safgte wið._

This line seems to be very corrupt and to stand in need of some emendation. I would propose to read as follows:—

_wel cuðe he fegte and sagte wið_

= well could he _fight_ [_i. e._ with the _wopen_ of _wigte_] and _heal_ with [the _tol_ of _grið_]. If this interpretation be right _tol of grið_ would refer to some curative agents. 472 _wurð bisne_, became blind.

"Þis Lamech was called Lamech þe blind, Caym he slogh wit chaunce we find."—(Cursor Mundi, fol. 10.)

475

_Al-so he mistagte, also he schet,_ As he mistaught, so he shot.

477 _wende_ = _weened_, thought. 480-481 Cain unwarned, received it (the arrow), groaned, and stretched (fell prostrate), and died with that (immediately). _unwarde_ may be an error for _unwarnde_ = unwarned, or for _unwared_ = A.S. _unwered_ = unprotected. 484 _dedes swog_ = death's swoon. _Swog_ = O.E. _swowe_, _swoughe_.

"_Aswogh_ (in swoon) he fell adoun An his hynder arsoun (rise of the saddle), As man that was mate."—(Lybeaus Disconus, 1171.)

The verb to _swoon_ occurs often in English under the form _swoghen_ (p.p. _yswowe_),

"The king _swoghened_ for that wounde."—(Kyng Alys., 5857.)

Cf. Laȝ. 130, "_he fel iswowen_;" i. 192, _stille he was iswoȝen_ (the later copy reads _iswoȝe_).

486

_Of his soule beð mikel hagt._ On his soul is much sorrow.—(See l. 2044, p. 59.)

The literal signification seems to be thought, care. (See _Agte_ in l. 3384.)

P. 15. l. 490 _or or_, etc. = first ere, etc. = first before, etc. _fen_ = mud, dirt.

"Man here is nathyng elles Bot a foule slyme, wlatsom til men, And a sekful of stynkand _fen_." —(Hampole's P. of C., l. 566.)

See R. of Gloucester, 6; Ps. (in Surtees' Psalter) xvii. 43. 492 _drinkilden_ = were drowned; _drinkil_ is a derivative of O.E. _drinke_, to drown, a softer form of which is _drenche_, which often signifies in O.E. a drink, potion (R. of Gl., p. 151; Ayenbite, p. 151, _deaþes drenche_), as well as to drink and to drown. See Laȝ. i. 64.

"& att te lattste _drunncnenn_ þeȝȝ þa wrecchess, þat hemm trowwenn. And at the last drown they The wretches who them trow (believe)."—(Orm. ii. 181.)

"The see him gon _adrynke_ That Rymenil may of-thinke."—(Kyng Horn, 978.)

494

he began holy custom Of prayers, and of god-fearing-ness, for life's help and soul's comfort (counsel).

500 _alied_ = _halihed_ = holiness; _toch_ = _toc_ = took. 501 _fro mannes mene_, from man's fellowship, society. The usual form of _mene_ in O.E. is _ymene_, _ymone_ = common, general. 503-510 From Hampole's Pricke of Conscience, pp. 122-126, we learn that both Enoch and Hely (Elijah) shall come before doomsday to turn the Jews from following Antichrist to the Christian law:—"For 1260 days, or three years, shall they continue to preach. Antichrist, in great wrath, shall put the two prophets to death in Jerusalem, where their bodies shall lie in the streets for three days and a half, after which they shall ascend to heaven in a cloud. After their death Antichrist shall only reign fifteen days, at the end of which time he shall be slain before the Mount of Olivet." Some "clerks" affirm that he shall be slain by St Michael in Babylon, "that great hill." (See "_Antichrist and the Signs before the Doom_," in Jahrbuch für Romanische und Englische Literatur, 1863.) 517 _Metodius_. In the "Polychronicon Ranulphi Higdeni," p. 23, ed. by Churchill Babington, 1865, amongst the "auctores names" we find mention made of "Methodius etiam martyr et episcopus, cui incarcerato revelavit angelus de mundi statu principio et fine." 518 _sighe sir_ = _sigðhe sir_ = _sheer insight_, clear fore-knowledge.

P. 16. l. 525 _quat agte awold_ = what should happen. 526 _water wold_, destroyed by water. _wold_ may = _walled_, flooded, from _wallen_. 530 _hore-plage_, whore-play, whoredom. Cf. O.Sax. _hor-uuilo_; O.H.G. _huorgilust_. In O.E. _hore_ (not _w_hore) was an epithet applicable to men as well as women. It occasionally signifies adultery. It is found in combination as a qualifying term in _hore-cop_, _horesone_, a bastard; _hore-hous_, a brothel. The O.E. _horwed_, defiled, unclean; _horowe_, foul (Chaucer); _hori_, _ouri_, dirty; Provincial E. _horry_ (Devonshire), seem to belong to another family of words.

532

_Wimmen welten weres mester_ Women wielded a man's art.—(See Rom. i. 26.)

See Allit. Poems, p. 46, ll. 269-272.

533

_And swilc woded wenten on_, And such madness (folly) went on.

_woded_ = _wodhed_. Cf. _alied_ = _alihed_ = holiness (l. 500, p. 15). "Þe oþer ontreuþe þet comþ of prede is _wodhede_, me halt ane man _wod_ þet is out of his wytte, in huam skele is miswent."—(Ayenbite, p. 12.)

534

_Golhed hunkinde he gunnen don_, Unnatural lust they did commit.

_Golnes_ = lust, lasciviousness, occurs in the Owl and Nightingale, l. 492. Ancren Riwle, p. 198. Ps. lxvii. 14.

"Non lest (listen) on man do amys Thorȝ hys oȝene _gale_ (lust)."—(Shoreham, p. 107.)

_hunkinde_ = _unkinde_, unlawful, unnatural. 536 _quad mester_, wicked craft (practices). See Allit. Poems, p. 46, ll. 265-268. _Quad_ takes several forms and meanings in O.E.; as _qued_, wicked (Kyng Alys., 5619; evil, 4237); the devil (R. of Gl., 314); _quead_, wickedness (Ayenbite, p. 4); _quathe_, _wothe_, _wathe_, evil, harm (Hampole's P. of C., 2102, 4558; Allit. Poems, B. 885).

"De _quât_ deit, de schuwet gêrn dat licht."—(Reynard the Fox.)

537 _hun-wreste plage_, wicked lust; _hun-wreste_ = _unwreste_, weak, frail, and hence wicked.

"Mærling _vnwærste_ [_onwreste_] man Whu hæuest þu me þus idon."—(Laȝ. ii. 228.)

"Þenne þat hæfd (leader) is _unwræst_ [_onwrest_] Þe hæp (host) is þæ wurse."—(_Ibid._ vol. ii. 259.)

"Thanne aȝte men here wyves love, Ase God doth holy cherche; And wyves nauȝt aȝens men Non _onwrestnesse_ werche, Ac tholye, And nauȝt _onwrest_ opsechen hy Ne tounge of hefede holye."—(Shoreham, p. 57.)

See Orm. i. 168-9. A.Sax. Chron., 1052. Wright's Lyric Poems, 37. Kyng Alys., 878. Owl and Night., 178. 538 _A ðefis kinde_ = in thief's kind, in sodomy. _thief_ in O.E. was a general term of reproach. Perhaps in _ðefis_ we have an allusion to _Cain_.

542

_And leten godes frigti-hed_ And forsook the fear of God.

544

_And mengten wið waried kin_ And intermixed with accursed kin.

545

_Of hem woren ðe getenes boren_ Of them were the giants born. —(See Genesis vi. 4.)

546

_Migti men, and figti, for-loren_ = _Migti men, figti and forloren_, Mighty men, warlike and forlorn (doomed).

548 _litel tale_, little account (worth). 553 _blissen_ = _lessen_ = _be-lessen_ (?) or _bi_ + _leschen_, to soften. Cf. _blinnen_ and _linnen_ = to cease. See ll. 3653, 3803.

554

_ðat it ne wexe at more hun-frame_ lest it should grow to greater evil.

_hun-frame_ = _unframe_, loss, disadvantage. 556 _deres kin_ = animals.

P. 17. l. 560 _grið_, protection, safety.

"he wuneden (dwelt) seoððen (afterwards) here inne _griðe_ and inne friðe (peace)."—(Laȝ. ii. 50.)

"Lauerd, lauerd, ȝef (give) me _grið_."—(Ibid. iii. 35.)

Cf. _greth_, quarter (Sir Cleges, 292). _grith-bruch_, breach of the peace (Owl and Nightingale, 1043). _grith-sergeant_ (Havelok, 267). 561 _feteles_, a vessel, a _fat_ or _vat_.

"þe firrste _fetless_ wass Brerdfull off waterr filledd."—(Orm. ii. 148.)

"Sex _feteles_ of stan war thar stan[d]and, Als than was cumand in the land And Crist bad thaim thir _feteles_ fille Wit water, and thai did son his wille." —(Met. Hom. p. 120.)

562 _set_, made, formed. _limed_, daubed, pitched. 564 _sperd_, _sparred_, barred. See Orm. D. 261; H. i. 142, ii. 68; Havelok, 448. _spere_ or _sparre_ signifies also to lock, shut up. _Chaucer_, Troilus and Creseide, v. 455; _Bone Florence_, 1774. _ðig_ = _ðic_, thick.

566

_ðor buten noe(.) long swing he dreg._ Thereabout Noah endured long toil.

_swing_ = _swinc_, toil, labour. 568 _welken_, pass away, literally to fade, wither; and usually applied to plants and flowers.

"It wites als gresse areli at dai, Areli blomes and fares awai; At euen doun es it brogt, Un-lastes, and _welkes_, and gas to noght."—(Ps. lxxxix. 6.)

See Hampole's P. of C. l. 707. 576 _arche-wold_. See note to l. 255. 582 _gette_ or _get_, poured down. _gette_ is the preterite of _geten_ or _gete_. See l. 585. Cf. O.E. _yhete_ (_ȝete_); pret. _yhet_; p.p. _yhoten_ (_iȝote_).

"_Yhet_ over þam þi wreth."—(Ps. lxviii. 25.)

See Ps. xli. 5, lxxiii. 21. Percy's Reliq. vol. ii. 81. Cf. "a metal _geoter_," a metal caster, Kyng Alys. 6725. _out-yhetted_, poured out, Hampole's P. of C. 7119. See Gloss. to Allit. Poems, s.v. _Gote_. 592 _moned_ = _moneð_ = month.

P. 18. l. 598 _dragen_ by metrical license for _wið-dragen_, withdrawn. _ðe watres win_ = the water's force (strife). _Winne_ in O.E. has the signification of to fight, contend with, strive, and hence to get. Cf. O.E. _wunne_, victory; _wan_, contrivance, remedy. See l. 347.

"Alle we atter dragen off ure eldere, ðe broken drigtinnes word ðurg ðe neddre; ðer-ðurg haueð mankin boðen nið and _win_."—(O.E. Miscell. p. 11.)

607 _est_ = east. Probably only an error for _eft_ = again. 614 _arche-wolde_. See note to l. 255. 617 _Rad_ = hasty, rash. Literally it signifies ready, and frequently occurs in O.E. writers with this meaning. Cf. O.E. _gerâd_, _rædlîce_, _rædliche_, _radely_, _radly_, promptly, quickly, suddenly. See l. 2481, and Owl and Nightingale, ll. 423, 1041, 1279; Laȝ. 25603; St Marh. p. 10; Avow. Arth. xix. 6.

P. 19. l. 630 _tudered_ (see note to l. 164).

631-637

Often he prayed with timid prayer, That such vengeance as God then did Should no more on the world come, What vengeance so _ever_ there should be taken. God granted it in token of love, Showed him in the welkin above A rainbow, they call it, red and blue.

_so_ after _swiulc_ is a true relative, as in the oldest period.

635 _gat_ = granted. It is the preterite of a verb _gate_, to grant.

"Fourti dais he sal [tham] _yate_ Þat fallen ar ute o þair state Þoru foluing o þat fals prophet, Þat þai mai þam wit penance bete." —(_Antichrist_, in Jahrbuch für Romanische und Englische Literatur, 1863, p. 204, l. 428.)

_gate_ or _yate_, pret. _yatte_, is the Northern form of the word, the corresponding southern term is _ȝete_, pret. _ȝette_.

"& ȝho ne wass nohht tær onnȝæn, Acc _ȝatte_ hemm hĕre wille & _ȝatte_ þatt ȝho wollde ben Rihht laȝhelike fesstnedd Wiþþ macche, swa summ i þat ald Wass laȝhe to ben fesstnedd."—(Orm. i. 80.)

"& þe king him _ȝette_ swa Hengist hit wolde."—(Laȝ. ii. 172.)

"& þe king him _ȝette_ al þat he ȝirnde."—(Laȝ. i. 189.)

See Seinte Marherete, p. 18. Allit. Poems, p. 17, l. 557. _a_ = _an_ = in. 637 _men cleped_ = one calleth it; _cleped_ = _clepet_ = _clepe_ + _et_; _et_ = it. We have a similar construction in l. 1082:

"for al ðat nigt he sogten ðor ðe dure, and _fundend_ neuere mor."

_fundend_ = _funden_ + _ed_ = _founden_ + _et_ = found it. The author of the poem constantly joins the pronoun _et_ = _it_ to the preterite of weak verbs. See line 479, where _letet_ = let it. 590 _stodet_ = _stod it_ = it stood. 1654 _kiddit_ = _kidd it_ = showed it. As the plurals of the present indicative do not end in _-eþ_ or _-et_ in the poem, but in _-en_ (_-n_), _cleped_ may be an error for _clepeð_ or _clepeth_ = calls, and _men_ = O.E. _me_ = one. See line 750.

643-644

And as high the flame shall go, As the flood flowed on the downs (hill).

_lowe_, a northern term (of Norse origin) for flame, the southern form (of A.Sax. origin) is _leie_. Religious Songs in Old Eng. Miscell., pp. 67, 182.

"Of his neose-þurles cumeð þe rede _leie_."

See also Legend of St Brandan, 512.