Part 19

"Þair throtes sal ay be filled omang Of alle thyng þat es bitter and strang, Of _lowe_ and reke with stormes melled, Of pyk and brunstane togyder welled." —(Hampole's P. of. C., l. 9431.)

653 _vten_ = _wið-vten_, without, besides. See l. 656. Cf. l. 596, with l. 598. 655 _bi tale_, in number.

P. 20. l. 676 _gan ille wune_, began wicked practices. 678 _muni[gin]g_ = remembrance. 692 _fendes fleiðing_, fiends' strife. Probably _fleiðing_ = _flitting_, contention, strife. The phrase _fendes fleathe_ = ? _fendes fleiðing_, occurs in Shoreham's poems, p. 97.

"ȝyf thou rewardest thyne eldrynges nauȝt A-lyve and eke a-dethe, That were wel besy to brynge the forthe, . . . . . . . . ȝyf thou hy gnaȝst and flagȝst eke, Ryȝt hys that _fendes fleathe_."

P. 21. l. 713 _hicte_ = _higte_, was called, named. 724 _wol wel_ = _wel wel_ = very well, extremely well. Cf. the O.E. expressions _wel ald_, _wel lang_, etc., very old, very long, etc.; _wol wel_ corresponds exactly to the O.H.G. and M.H.G. _vil wol_; Mod. Ger. _sehr wohl_. See Erec. (ed. Haupt. 1839), 2017.

725

_Thare let hur, and ðeðen he nam_, Terah left Ur, and thence he went.

_let_ (pret. of _lete_) = left; _nam_, literally took, and hence took the way, departed, went. See ll. 744, 745. 727 _burgt_, an error for _burg_.

P. 22. l. 743 _for_, went. See l. 763.

748

_Of weledes fulsum and of blis_ Rich of (in) wealth and of (in) bliss.

_weledes_ is an error for _welðes_; it may = _werldes_ = world's; _fulsum_ = rich, plenteous, bountiful, occurs in O.E. _fulsumhed_ (see l. 1548), _fulsumly_.

749 _ist_ = _is it_, is there.

751

Each thing dieth that therein is cast.

753 _ðus it is went_ = thus is it turned _or_ changed. 754 _brimfir_, if not an error for _brin-fire_ (burning fire; see l. 1164), signifies wild-fire, _i.e._ brimstone. Cf. A.Sax. _cwic-fyr_ = fire of brimstone. 763 _hunger bond_. We ought, perhaps, to read _hunger-bond_, corresponding to the German _hungersnoth_, famine, dearth. Cf. luue-bond, l. 2692, force of love. 764 _feger_ = _feyer_, far. 767 _to leten_ = to lose.

P. 23. l. 787 _erdne_ = _ernde_, errand, prayer, petition, message.

"Ih scal iu sagen imbot, gibot ther himilisgo Got, Ouh nist ther er gihorti so fronsig _arunti_."—(Otfried's Evangelienbuch.)

_to god erdne beren_ = to intercede with God. _Ernde_ occurs in Lyric Poetry, p. 62, in the sense of to intercede. 792 _arsmetike_ = _arsmet[r]ike_ = arithmetic.

793

_He was hem lef, he woren him hold_, He was dear to them, they were true to him.

795 _sat_ = _schat_, treasure, still existing in _scot_, _shot_. 796 _vn-achteled_, unestimated, immense; from _achtel_, to estimate, reckon. See Stratmann, s.v. _ahtlien_.

801

_ðor he quilum her wisten wunen_, Where they formerly wished to dwell.

P. 24. l. 813 _atteð_ = _hatteð_, is called.

827

_ðer het god abre ðat tagte lond_, etc. There God promised Abraham that promised land, etc.

_tagte_ = _bitagte_, literally, assigned, appointed. 832 _giscinge of louerd-hed_ = desire of lordship, greed of dominion. _Giscinge_ = covetousness; the correct form is _gitsing_ (_ȝitsung_, _ȝittsung_), but _ȝissinge_ is found in Laȝ. ii. 227. Cp. _yssing_, O.E. Miscell. p. 38. _icinge_, Ayenbite, p. 16, and see Orm. i. 157.

"Al his motinge (talk) was ful of _ȝitsinge_."—(Laȝ. i. 280.)

833

_Neg ilc burge hadde ise louereding_, Nigh each borough (city) had its lord.

834 _kumeling_ is literally a stranger, foreigner, but here signifies a king or ruler not of native blood, one of foreign extraction. See _Comeling_ in Prompt. Parv. p. 89.

"For I am a _commelyng_ toward þe And pilgrym, als alle my faders was." —(Hampole's P. of C., 1385.)

"Wande ein _chomelinch_ ih bin mit dir unde ellente also alle uatere mine."—(Wendb. Ps. xxxviii. 22.)

P. 25. l. 842 _ferding stor_, a great army. See O.E. Hom. 2nd S. p. 189.

844 _gouel_, tribute, tax. Later writers use the word _gauel_ or _gouel_ in the sense of usury. See Ayenbite, p. 35; O.E. Miscell. p. 46. Cf. _gaueler_, usurer. Ayenbite, p. 35; Ps. cviii. 11. 847 _haued_ = _haueð_, hath. 848 _here-gonge_, invasion.

"For ich am witi ful iwis, And wot (knoweth) al that to cumen is: Ich wot of hunger [and] of _hergonge_." —(Owl and Nightingale, l. 1189.)

851 _fowre on-seken and fifue weren_ = four attack and five defend. _on-seken_ = attack.

"heo wenden to beon sikere. They weened to be secure þeo Belin heom _on-sohte_." when Belin attacked them. —(Laȝ. i. 241.)

864 _witter of figt_ = skilled in fighting. See Gloss. to Allit. Poems, s.v. _wyter_, and Laȝ. i. 260, 409; ii. 247.

866

_Abram let him tunde wel_, Abram caused himself to be well surrounded (well guarded).

869 _wenden_, thought.

875

_wið-ðuten [= wiðð-uten] ðo ðe cuden flen_ = except those who could flee.

P. 26. l. 882 _bat_ = _bad_ = _bead_ = literally offered, and hence restored. _bat_ = _bette_ occurs in Legends of Holy Rood for _amended_, restored, p. 210, l. 6. 886 _Borwen_, delivered, rescued, the p.p. of _bergen_ (O.E. _berȝe_, _berwen_).

"Þis boc is ymad vor lewede men vor vader and vor moder and vor oþer ken Ham vor to _berȝe_ vram alle manyere zen þet in hare inwytte ne bleve no voul wen." —(Ayenbite, p. 211.)

"And huo þat agelt ine enie of þe ilke hestes him ssel þer-of vor-þench, and him ssrive, and bidde God merci yef he wyle by _yborȝe_."—(Ibid. p. 1.) Orm uses _berrȝhenn_, to save, preserve, from which he forms the derivative _berrhless_, salvation. 888 _feres wale_, brave companions (allies). _Wale_ signifies select, choice, worthy, and hence brave. See Gloss. to Allit. Poems, s.v. _Wale_.

893

_He froðer[ed]e him after is swinc._ He comforted him after his toil.

Herbert Coleridge (Gloss. Index, p. 33) connects _froðere_ with the A.Sax. _frofrian_, to comfort. Of course there is nothing to be said against the interchange of _f_ and _th_ (cf. _afurst_, thirsty; _afyngred_, hungry, etc.); but the A.S. _freoðian_, to protect, render secure, is nearer in form, and there is the O.E. _vreþie_ (Ayenbite) to prove that this verb had not gone out of use. 895 _ðe tigðe del_ = the tenth part. _tigðe_ = _tithe_ = tenth. 898 _bargt_ = _barg_ (the pret. of _bergen_) preserved. 910 _wið-uten man_ = except the men. The rhyme seems to require us to read _nam_; the meaning would then be "without exception _or_ reserve."

911

_Alle hes hadde wið migte bi-geten._ He had them all with might begotten (obtained).

_hes_ = _he_ + _es_ = he + them. The combination _hes_ occurs again in l. 943. _es_ or _is_ = them, as in l. 949. See Note to l. 135, and Preface to O.E. Miscell. p. xv, and O.E. Hom. 2nd S. p. xii.

P. 27. l. 913 _meðelike wel_, with great moderation, very meetly. Cf. _unmeaðeliche_ in Seinte Marherete, p. 10. _meðeliche_ in O.E. Hom. 2nd S. p. 7. _meðleas_, Ancren Riwle, p. 96. 918 _algen_ = _halgen_ = hallow. 920 _bi-told_ (rescued) should be the pret. of a vb. _bitellen_, but no such word occurs in the poem. See O.E. Hom. 1st S. p. 205. Owl and Night. l. 263. Laȝamon uses _bi-tellen_, to win.

"Ac wih him we scullen ure freoscipe (freedom) mid fehte _bitellen_."—(Vol. i. p. 328.)

"Bi-ðencheð eow ohte (bold) cnihtes to _bi-tellen_ eoweore rihtes."—(i. 337.)

The editor explains _bitellen_ by to _win_, but _regain_ would suit the context.

"Nu þu hauest Brutlond, Al _bi-tald_ to þire hond."—(Vol. ii. p. 335.)

"Nu ich mi lond habben _bi-tald_."—(Vol. iii. p. 258.)

924

_Quo-so his alt him bi-agt_ = Whoso them (goods) holdeth, him it behoveth (yield as tithes).

_His_ = _is_ = _es_, them. 927 _gulden wel_, requited well.

934

_Of ðe-self sal ðin erward ten_, Of thyself shall thine heir come.

_erward_ = _eruweard_, heir. 939 _nam god kep_ = took good heed to, attended carefully to. _kep_ = care. See R. of Gl. 177, 191. Owl and Night. l. 1226. Hampole's P. of C. ll. 381, 597. 941 _Euerilc_, each, every one. _euerilc_ is the same as the O.E. _euerich_, Mod. Eng. _every_.

943

_Vndelt hes leide quor-so hes tok_, Undivided he laid them where-so he took (brought) them.

This line refers to the "_duue and a turtul_," in the following line. See Genesis xv. 10. 945 _on-rum_ the same as _a-rum_, apart, aside.

"Tho Alisaundre sygh this, _Aroum_ anon he drow, ywis, And suththe he renneth to his muthe (army)." —(Kyng Alys., 1637.)

946

_And of ðo doles kep he nam._ And of the pieces care he took.

P. 28. l. 949 _kagte is wei_, drove them away. _kagte_ is the pret. of _kache_, to drive.

"And he ansuered als he war medde, And said, Allas and wailewaye. That ever I com at yon abbaye, For in na chaffar may I winne Of tha lurdanes that won tharinne For likes nan of thaim my play, Bot alle thar _kache_ me away."—(Met. Hom. p. 151.)

953-954 God said to him in true dream, the _future_ condition of his seed. _beren-tem_ = _barn-teem_, offspring, descendants.

"We are alle a (one) man _barn-teme_."—(Cursor Mundi, fol. 27b.)

956

_And uten erdes sorge sen._ And in foreign lands sorrow see (experience).

Cp.

"_Outen_ sones to me lighed þai, _Outen_ sones elded er þai."—(Ps. xvii. 46.)

"Filii alieni mentiti sunt mihi, filii alieni inveteraverunt."

Cf. _uten stede_, l. 1741. O.E. _utenlande_, a foreigner. Havelok, l. 2153. 958 _Hor_ = _or_, before. 960 _ðat hotene lond_, that promised land. 964 _untuderi_, barren. The usual O.E. term is _unberand_, unbearing. See O.E. Hom. 2nd S. p. 177. 965 _abre_ = to Abram. 969-971 And Sarai would not suffer it, that Hagar were thus swollen (with pride). She held her hard in thrall's wise (treated her as a slave). 974 _one and sori_, solitary and sad. 975 _wil and weri_, lonely and weary. _Wil_ literally signifies astray, _wild_, from the verb _wille_, to go astray. See Gloss. to Allit. Poems, s.v. _Wyl_.

"He is hirde, we ben sep; Silden he us wille, If we heren to his word ðat we ne gon nowor _wille_."—(O.E. Miscell. p. 2.)

"And child Jesus _willed_ them fra."—(Met. Hom. p. 108.)

977

_wiste hire drogen sori for ðrist._ Knew her to be suffering sorely for thirst.

_drogen_ may be an error for _drogende_ = suffering. _sori_ as an adjective is not sorrowful, as most editors interpret the word, but heavy, painful, and hence anxious, etc. See l. 974.

"Quen thai him (Jesus) missed, thai him soht Imang thair kith and fand him noht, And forthi Joseph and Mari War for him sorful and _sari_."—(Met. Hom. 108.)

978 _quemede hire list_, satisfied her desire.

P. 29. l. 984 _folc frigti_, formidable folk, _frigti_ does not here signify, as in other parts of the poem, _afraid_, but _to be feared_. 991 _in sunder run_, secret speech or secret communing, private conversation. See O.E. Hom. 2nd S. p. 29. 1010 _ðe ton_ = the one. _ton_ = that one the first; _toðer_ = that other, the second.

P. 30. l. 1019 _quamede_ = _quemede_, pleased.

1021-1024

Quoth this one, "this time next year, Shall I appear to thee here; By that time shall bliss befall Sarah, That she shall of a son conceive."

1026

_And it hire ðogte a selli ðhing_, And it appeared to her a marvellous thing.

1028 _on wane_, wanting one, _i.e._ one less. "In þis burh was wuniende a meiden swiðe ȝung of ȝeres, _two wone_ of twenti."—(St. Kath. 69.)

1032

_And it wurð soð binnen swilc sel_, And it became so (came to pass) within such time.

1035 _stelen_ = go away stealthily or secretly.

1036

_Ne min dede abraham helen_, Nor my deed from Abraham hide.

1037 _sinne dwale_ = complaint of sin (see l. 1220); _dwale_ may be taken as an adj. = grievous, mischievous. 1038 _miries dale_, an error for _mirie dale_ = pleasant dale. See l. 1121.

1039-40

_ðo adde abram-is herte sor, for loth his newe wunede ðor_, Then had Abraham's heart grief, For Lot, his nephew, dwelt there.

1041-4 "Lord," quoth he, "how shalt thou do (this), if thou shalt take vengeance thereon; shalt thou not the righteous protect (spare), or for them (for their sake) to the others mercy bear (show)?" _með beren_ = to bear mercy, to show mercy to. See ll. 1046, 1242.

1046

_Ic sal meðen ðe stede for ðo_, I shall have mercy upon the place for those (for their sake).

_Meðen_ signifies to use gently, act with moderation towards any one, to compassionate, to show mercy to. (See Allit. Poems, p. 45, l. 247; p. 51, l. 436; p. 54, l. 565; O.E. Hom. 2nd S. p. 153.) 1049 _at-wot_, departed. There is no such verb as _æt-wítan_, to depart, in Bosworth's A.Sax. Dict. The only meaning given to _atwiten_ by Stratmann is to reproach, twit. _At-wot_ may be a blunder for _at-wond_, departed. See l. 3058. Laȝ. l. 87. We have the O.E. _at-flegen_, _at-gon_, _at-scape_, etc. The simple verb _wite_ is not uncommon in Early English authors.

"The first dai sal al the se Boln and ris, and heyer be Than ani fel of al the land, . . . . . . . . . And als mikel the tother day Sal it sattel and _wit_ away."—(Met. Hom., p. 25.)

"When this was sayd, scho _wyte_ away."—(_Ibid._, p. 169.)

1054 _quake_ is evidently an error for _quate_ = _wait_, look for.

P. 31. l. 1055

_He ros, and lutte, and scroð him_ [hem?] _wel._ He rose, and bowed, and urged (invited) them well.

1060

_He wisten him bergen fro ðe dead._ They wished to preserve him from death.

_bergen_ is literally to preserve, but it may be here used passively, as the infinitive often is by O.E. writers, and we must then render the line as follows:—"They wished him to be preserved from death."

1062

_And he him gulden it euerilc del._ And they him requited it every whit.

1063

_Oc al ðat burgt folc ðat helde was on._ But all that townsfolk that were old enough.

1073

_ðat folc vn-seli, sinne wod._ That wretched folk, mad with sin.

1076 _wreche and letting_ = vengeance and failure.

1079

_Wil siðen cam on euerilc on._ Blindness _or_ bewilderment afterwards came on every one.

1082 _fundend_ = _funden_ + _id_ = _funden_ + _it_ = found it. 1084 _don red_ = do (obey) counsel, i.e. take advice.

P. 32. l. 1095 _in sel_ = in time, timely, opportunely.

1097

_ðat here non wente agen._ That none of them should turn back.

1101 _gunde under dun_, under yond hill. 1103 _sren_, if correct, might signify _screen_, but it seems to be an error for _fren_, to set free, and hence to save.

1105

_Ai was borgen bala-segor._ Aye was saved Bela Zoar (little Bela).

See Gen. xiv. 2; xix. 20, 22. 1107 _hine_ = him, the name of the town being regarded as of the masculine gender. 1108 _erðe-dine_ = earthquake.

"Á hundyr á thowsand and seẅyntene yhere Frá þe byrth of our Lord dere, _Erddyn_ gret in Ytaly And hugsum fell all suddanly, And fourty dayis frá þine lestand."—(Wyntown, p. i. 289.)

The verb _dinne_ in O.E. has not only the sense of to _din_, but to shake, quake. See Seinte Marherete, p. 20.

"Þe erth quok and _dind_ again." —(Cursor Mundi; Cott. MS. Vesp. A. iii. fol. 11b.)

1109 _Sone so_, as soon as. 1110 _brend-fier-rein_, rain of burning fire.

1116

_Ne mai non dain wassen ðor-on_, None may dare to wash therein.

_dain_, if not an error for _darin_ = _daren_, dare, venture, may = _ðain_, a man, a servant, or = _duen_, avail. 1119 _wente hire a-gon_, turned her aback. See l. 1097. 1120 _wente in to a ston_, turned into a stone.

1121

_So ist nu forwent mirie dale_, So is there now changed merry (pleasant) dale.

_ist_ = _is_ + _it_, _is it_, there is. 1125 _deades driuen_, held (influenced) of (by) death.

P. 33. l. 1127 They say the trees that are near it, come to maturity in time, and bring forth fruit and thrive, but when their apples are ripe, fire-ashes one may see therein. _fier-isles_, fire-ashes. For the meaning of _isle_, see Gloss. to Allit. Poems, s.v. _Vsle_. 1131-2 That land is called dale of salt, many a one taketh thereof little heed (account).

"Of thair schepe thai gif na _tale_, Whether thai be seke or hale."—(MS. Harl. 4196, fol. 92.)

1137 _biggede_, dwelt. It signifies more properly to _build_. 1139-40 Here is an allusion to the destruction of the world by fire mentioned in lines 640-644, p. 19. Those maidens erewhile heard some say that fire should all this world consume. 1140 _forsweðen_, to burn up entirely, from the O.E. _swethe_ or _swithe_, to burn, scorch. See Ancren Riwle, p. 306 (footnote). Gloss. to Allit. Poems, s.v. _swythe_. 1142 _fieres wreche_, vengeance (plague) of fire. 1143-4 The Cursor Mundi says that Lot's daughters seeing only their father, thought that all men had perished.

"Bot Loth him held þat cave wit-in, He and his doghtres tuin; For þai nan bot þair fadre sau, Þai wend alle men war don odau, Thoru þat ilk waful wrak; Þe elder to þe yonger spak: 'Sister to þe in dern I sai, Þou seis þe folk er alle awai; Bot Loth our fader es carman (male) nan, Bot we twa left es na womman; I think mankind sal perist be, Bot it be stord wit me and þe.'"—(fol. 18.)

1147 _vnder-gon_, (1) to go under, (2) to cheat, deceive. In line 1160 _under-gon_ = to undertake, take up again.

Cp.

"ȝet our by-leave wole _onder-gon_, That thyse thre (Persons of the Trinity) beth ryȝt al on." —(Shoreham, p. 142.)

"Ope the heȝe eȝtynde day He _onder-ȝede_ the Gywen lay."—(Ibid. p. 122.)

"And tus adam he [Christ] _under-gede_, reisede him up, and al mankin, ðat was fallen to helle dim."—(O.E. Miscell. p. 22.)

1151 _eiðer here_, each of them. Cf. O.E. _eiðer eȝe_, each eye, both eyes. 1159-60 Now behoveth us to turn back and take up _the_ song concerning Abraham.

1162

_Wið reuli lote and frigti mod._ With mournful cheer and frightened mood (mind).

_reuli_ = sad, rueful, from the verb _rue_, to pity, compassionate, grieve for. Cf. O.E. _rueness_, compassion; _Ruer_, a merciful person; _reuthe_, pity.

"He saith 'we ben ybore euerichone Making sorwe and _reuly_ mone.'"—(MS. Addit. 11305.)

_lote_, fare, cheer.

"Þis isah þe leodking grimme heore _lates_."

The king saw this, their grim gestures. —(Laȝ. ii., 245.)

"Þat freond sæiðe to freonde, mid fæire _loten_ hende, 'Leofue freond, wæs hail!'"

That friend saieth to his friend With fair comely looks, "Dear friend, wassail!" —(_Ibid._ ii., 175.)

P. 34. l. 1163 _Roke_, East Anglian for _reke_, smoke. See Prompt. Parv. p. 436; Beve's, l. 2471.

1164

_And ðe brinfires stinken smoke_, And the sulphur's stinking smoke.

_stinken_ = _stinkende_, stinking. 1166 _him reu_. The verb _rewe_ is used impersonally in O.E. 1167 _suðen_ = southwards. (See Gen. xx. 1.) 1171-2 Erewhile as first Pharaoh her took, now taketh Abimelech her also. 1177 _wif-kinnes_, womankind. 1178 _wið-helð_ = _wið-held_. 1179-80 In dream to him came tidings why he suffered and underwent that misfortune. 1180 _untiming_ is literally that which is unseasonable. We have the same notion expressed in O.E. _unhap_ (mishap), misfortune; E. _happen_, happy, and E. _hap_, _happen_, etc. Cp. _untime_, in Ancren Riwle, p. 344. 1184 _ðat il sel_, that same time, immediately.

1186

_And his yuel sort was ouer-gon_, And his evil lot was passed.

1188

_ða ðe swinacie gan him nunmor deren_, When the quinsy did him no more vex (annoy).

Our author or his transcriber is certainly wrong about the "_swinacie_;" for the punishment of "_lecher-craft_" was _meselry_ (leprosy), the quinsy being the penalty for _gluttony_. The seven deadly sins were thus to be punished in Purgatory:—

1. Pride, by a daily fever. 2. Covetousness, " the dropsy. 3. Sloth, " the gout. 4. Envy, " boils, ulcers, and blains. 5. Wrath, " the palsy. 6. Gluttony, " the quinsy. 7. Lechery, " meselry or leprosy.

1192 _ðat faire blod_, that fair woman. _blod_ in O.E. was used as a term of the common gender, as also were such words as _girl_, _maid_, etc. See Gloss. to Allit. Poems, s.v. _blod_.

1193

_Bad hire ðor hir wið heuod ben hid_ = _Bad hire ðor-wið hir heuod ben hid_? Bad her there-with her head to be hid, (That is, she was to buy a veil for her head).

1194 _timing_, good-fortune, happiness. See note to line 1180. 1195 _bi-sewen_, be seen. _so_ in this line seems an unnecessary addition of the scribe's. 1197 _wurd_ = _wurð_, became; _on elde wac_, in age weak (feeble). _Woc_ = weak; the older form is _wac_. See Laȝ. ii. 24, 195, 411.

"Forr icc amm i me sellfenn _wac_, & full off unntrummnesse."—(Orm. ii. 285.)

"Vor nout makeð hire _woc_ but sunne one." For nought maketh hir weak but sin only. —(Ancren Riwle, p. 4.)

See O.E. Miscell. p. 135; ll. 581, 595.

1198 _trimede_ is, perhaps, for _timede_ = _teemed_ = brought forth; if not it must be referred to O.E. _trumen_. See _trimen_ in l. 1024.

P. 35. l. 1200 _a-buten schoren_ = about shorn, is merely the explanation of circumcized.

"O thritte yeir fra he was born, was ysmael wen he was _schorn_."—(Cursor Mundi, fol. 16b.)

1201 _lay_ is another form of _law_. Cf. O.E. _daye_ and _dawe_. 1204 _al swilk sel_, even at such time. 1206 _is told_, is reckoned. 1208 _fro teding don_, removed from his mother's care (?). _teding_ = _tending_ (?), nursing, care, not _teðing_ = _teething_. "_fro teding don_" in the Cursor Mundi is expressed by the phrase _spaned fra the pap_ = weaned from the breast.

1209

_Michel gestninge made abraham_, great feasting _or_ entertainment made Abraham.

_gestninge_ (feasting) seems to be the same as the S.Saxon _gistninge_, a banquet. The original meaning is hospitality; O.E. _gesten_, to entertain a guest; S.Sax. _gistnen_, to lodge. See Ancren Riwle, p. 288_a_, 414. Laȝ. ii. 172.

1212

_And ysmael was him vn-swac_, And Ishmael was to him (Isaac) disagreeable.

_vn-swac_, displeasing, distasteful. There is no such word as _un-swæc_ to be found in the A.Sax. glossaries, but we have _swæc_, savour, taste, from which I have deduced the meaning here given to _un-swac_. See Ancren Riwle, p. 48, where _spekung_ = _swekung_, and cp. _swæc_, stenc, and hrepung, in Ælfric's Hom. i. 138.

1213 _un-framen_, to annoy, from O.E. _frame_, to benefit, to profit.

1216 _Hir was ysmaeles anger loð_, To her was Ishmael's anger displeasing.

1217 _Ghe bi-mente hire to abraham_, She bemoaned her to Abraham. _bimente_ = pret. of _bimene_, to complain, lament.

"_bimene_ we us, we hauen don wrong."—(O.E. Miscell. p. 25; see R. of Gloucester, p. 490.)

1220 _dwale_, complaint, grief. See l. 1037.

"Be þu neuere to bold, to chiden agen oni scold, ne mid mani tales to chiden agen alle _dwales_." (O.E. Miscell., p. 127. See p. 126, l. 414.)

1221 _rapede_, hastened, hurried away. See Rich. Cœur de Lion, 2206.

"The wretche stiward ne might nowt slape; Ac in the morewing he gan up _rape_."—(Seven Sages, l. 1620.)

"The king saide, 'I ne have no _rape_ (I am in no hurry) For me lest yit ful wel slape.'"—(Ibid. l. 1631.)

1224

_In sumertid, In egest sel_, In summer time, in the highest time (the hottest season) of the year.

Cp. 'in a _hyȝ_ seysoun.'—Allit. Poems, p. 2, l. 39. 1228 _hete gram_, fierce heat. 1229 _wexon ðrist_. The sense requires us to read _wex on ðrist_, with fatigue and heat thirst waxed on them.

1231

_Tid-like hem gan ðat water laken_, Soon did that water fail them.

P. 36. l. 1238

_Bi al-so fer so a boge mai ten_, By as far as a bow may reach.

1239 _sik and sor_, sighing and sadness. 1241 _dede hire reed_, brought her help.

1242

_An angel meðede hire ðat ned_, An angel alleviated her distress.

_hire_ is the dative of the personal pronoun. 1244 _seli timing_, a fortunate occurrence. See note to l. 1180. 1247 _nam fro ðan_, went from that place. _fro ðan_ = Sc. _fra thine_, from thence. 1252 _mikil and rif_, great (powerful) and wide-spread. 1254 In Arabia his kin dwell. 1258 _kungriche_ = _kineriche_, kingdom. Cf. _kungdom_ = _kunedon_ = kingdom, l. 1260. _kunglond_, _kunelond_ = _kinglond_, kingdom, l. 1262. _guglond_ = _kunglond_, kingdom, l. 1264.

1261-2