Part 2

The Ormulum, the Bestiary, and Genesis and Exodus have some few other points of agreement which will be found noticed in the Grammatical Details and Glossary. There are, however, grammatical forms in the latter works which do not present themselves in the former, and which, in my opinion, seem to indicate a more Southern origin. (See Preface to O.E. Homilies, 2nd Series.)

I. Plurals in _n_.

I do not recollect any examples of plurals in _n_ in the Ormulum, except _ehne_, eyes; in this poem we have _colen_, coals; _deden_, deeds; _fon_, foes; _siðen_, sides; _son_, shoes; _steden_, places; _sunen_, sons; _tren_, trees; _teten_, teats; _wunen_, laws, abilities, etc. (see p. xxii.)

II. The pronoun _is_ (_es_) = them.[22] In the fourteenth century we only find this form _is_ (_hise_) in pure _Southern_ writers.[23]

"Diep he _iſ_ dalf under an ooc."[24]—(_Gen. and Ex._, l. 1873, p. 54.)

"For ſalamon findin _iſ_ ſal."[25]—(_Ibid._, l. 1877, p. 54.)

"He toc _iſ_."[26]—(_Ibid._, l. 2654, p. 76.)

"Alle hise fet steppes After him he filleð, Drageð dust wið his stert (_O.E. Miscell._, p. 1.)

ðer he steppeð, Oðer dust oðer deu, ðat he ne cunne _is_ finden."[27]

Our author, however, employs this curious pronoun in a way quite peculiar to himself, for he constantly joins it to a _pronoun_ or a _verb_,[28] and the compound was at first rather perplexing. _Hes_ = _he_ + _is_, he, them; _wes_ = _we_ + _is_, we, them;[29] _caldes_, called them; _dedis_, did (placed) them; _settes_, set them; _wroutis_, wrought them, etc.

"Alle _hes_ hadde wið migte bi-geten."[30]—(_Gen. and Ex._, l. 911, p. 26.)

"Vndelt _heſ_ leide quor-so _heſ_ tok."[31]—(_Ibid._, l. 943, p. 27.)

"Ðe culuer haueð costes gode, alle _wes_ ogen to hauen in mode."[32]—(_O.E. Miscell._, p. 25.)

"Bala two childre bar bi him, Rachel _caldes_ dan(.) neptalim; And zelfa two sunes him ber, Lia _calde is_(.) Gad(.) and asser."[33]—(_Gen. and Ex._, l. 1700, p. 49.)

"ðe tabernacle he _dedis_ in."[34]—(_Ibid._, l. 3830, p. 109.)

"He _settes_ in ðe firmament."[35]—(_Ibid._, l. 135, p. 5.)

In the Kentish Ayenbite of 1340 _he_ never coalesces with _hise_ (them), _e.g._:—

"He (the devil) is lyeȝere and vader of leazinges, ase he þet made þe verste leazinge, and yet _he hise_ makeþ and tekþ eche daye."—(Ayenbite of Inwyt, p. 47.)

(He is a liar and the father of leasings, as he that made the first leasing, and yet _he them_, i.e. lies, maketh and teacheth each day.)

In Old Kentish Sermons (Old Eng. Miscell p. 28) _has_ = _ha_ + _es_ = he them.

III. The pronoun _he_, they (Southern _hii_, _heo_; Northumbrian _thay_). Orm uses _þeȝȝ_, as well as _þeȝȝer_ (their), _þeȝȝm_ (them).[36]

IV. _hine_, _hin_, _in_ = him. This form occurs as late as 1340, and still exists under the form _en_, _un_, in the modern dialects of the South of England, but is not employed by Orm; nor do we find any traces of _whan_ (whom), another very common example of the _-n_ accusative inflection, either in the Ormulum or the present work.

V. The substitution of _n_ for a vowel-ending in nouns. Dr Guest has noticed this peculiarity, but he confines this substitution to the _nominative_ case of nouns of the _n_ declension,[37] and to the definite form of the adjective, which has, no doubt, given rise to the O.E. _himseluen_, etc., _bothen_ (both), as well as, perhaps, to _ouren_ (ours), _heren_ (theirs), etc.

In the present poem, however, the _n_ seems added to the vowel-ending of all cases except the possessive, in order to rhyme with a verb in the infinitive, a passive participle, or an adverb terminating in _-en_, and is not always limited to nouns of the _-n_ declension, but represents in A.S. an _a_ or _e_: 'on _boken_,'[38] on book, l. 4; 'on _soðe-sagen_,' on sooth-saw, l. 14; _meten_, (acc.) meat, l. 2255, (nom.) 2079; _sunen_, (nom.) son, l. 1656; 'of _luuen_,' of love, 635; 'after ðe _wunen_' (after the custom), l. 688; _steden_, (nom.) place, 1114; 'for _on-sagen_,' for reproach, 2045; _wliten_, (nom.) face, 3614, (acc.) 2289; 'wið _answeren_,' in answer, 2673; _bileuen_, (acc.) remainder, 3154; _uuerslagen_, (acc.) lintel, 3155.

Dr Guest considers this curious nunnation to be a Northern peculiarity, but as we do not meet with it (as far as I know) in any Northumbrian work, his statement is rather doubtful. On the other hand, it is well known that the plurals _bretheren_ (_broðeren_[39] in Shoreham), _calveren_[40] (calves), _children_,[41] _doren_ (doors),[42] _eyren_ (eggs),[43] _honden_ (hands),[44] _kine_,[45] _lambren_ (lambs),[46] _soulen_ (souls)—very common forms in the _Southern_ dialects in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries—are examples of the substitution of _n_ for, or in addition to, the vowel-ending, and were unknown in the Northern dialect.

The Southern dialect could drop or retain, at pleasure, the _n_ final in the past participles, the preterite plurals, and infinitive mood of verbs.

VI. A very small Norse element in the vocabulary.

The only words of undoubtedly Norse element that occur in the present poem, and were unknown to Southern English, are—_fro_ (from), _ille_ (bad), _for-sweðen_ (to burn), _flitten_ (to remove), _laðe_ (barn), _lowe_ (flame), _mirk_ (dark), _ransaken_ (to search), _swaðe_ (flame), _til_ (to), _uglike_ (horrible), _werre_ (worse).[47]

The Ormulum, being more Northern, contains a _larger_ number of words that must be referred to one of the Scandinavian idioms:[48]—_afell_ (strength), _afledd_ (begotten), _beȝȝsc_ (bitter), *_blunnt_ (blunt, dull), _bracc_ (noise), *_braþ_ (angry), *_braþþe_ (anger), *_brodd_ (shoot), _brodden_ (to sprout), _broþþfall_ (fit), *_bun_ (ready, _bound_), *_clake_ (accusation), *_croc_ (device), *_derf_ (bold), *_dill_ (sluggish), *_eggenn_ (to urge, egg on), *_egginng_ (urging), *_ettle_, *_flittenn_ (to remove, flit), *_flitting_ (change, removal), *_forrgart_ (opposed, condemned), *_forrgloppned_ (disturbed with fear, astonishment), *_gate_ (way), _gowesst_ (watchest), *_haȝherr_ (dexterous), _haȝherleȝȝc_ (skill), *_haȝherrlike_ (fitly), _hof_ (moderation), _hofelæs_ (immoderately), *_ille_ (bad), *_immess_ (variously), *_kinndlenn_ (to kindle), *_lasst_ (crime, fault), _leȝhe_ (hire, pay), *_leȝȝtenn_ (O.E. _layte_, inquire, seek), _o-loft_ (aloft), *_loȝhe_ (fire), *_mune_ (must, will), _naþe_ (grace), _nowwt_ (cattle, O.N. _naut_; the Southern form is _neet_, _nete_, A.S. _neát_), *_ploh_ (plough), *_radd_ (afraid), *_ros_ (praise), *_rosen_ (to boast), *_rosinng_ (boast), _rowwst_ (voice), *_scaldess_ (poets, O.E. _scald_, a great talker, boaster, E. _scold_), *_sit_ (pain), *_sket_ (quickly), *_skirpeþþ_ (rejecteth), *_sloþ_ (track, path), _smikerr_ (beautiful, Eng. _smug_), _sowwþess_ (sheep), _stoffnedd_ (generated, O.E. _stoven_, trunk, stem), *_summ_ (as), *_till_ (to), *_tór_ (hard, difficult), *_trigg_ (true), _uppbrixle_ (object of reproach, O.E. _brixle_, reproach), _usell_ (wretched), *_wand_ (rod), *_wandraþ_, O.E. _wandreth_ (trouble), *_werre_ (worse).

As most, if not all, of the words in the foregoing list are not found in works written in the Southern dialect,—so far as we at present know them—we may reasonably suppose that they indicate fairly the Danish element in the English literature of the 12th and 13th centuries. In the Northumbrian, and the West, and East-Midland productions of a century later this element prevails to a much larger extent, and Herbert Coleridge's list of such words may be largely increased (Phil. Soc. Trans., 1859, p. 26-30).

GRAMMATICAL DETAILS.

I. NOUNS.

1. _Number._—The plural is generally formed by adding _-es_ to the singular. Some few nouns make the plural in _-en_, as _feren_[49] (companions), _fon_ (foes), _goren_ (spears), _loten_ (features), _sunen_ (sons), _teten_ (teats), _tren_ (trees), _weden_ (garments), _wunen_ (laws). The plurals of _brother_ and _child_ are _brethere_ and _childere_. _Der_ (deer), _erf_, _orf_ (cattle), _got_ (goat), _neat_ (oxen), _sep_ (sheep), _scrud_ (garbs), _wrim_ (reptiles), of the neuter gender, are uninflected in the plural. _Winter_, _ger_ (year), and _nigt_ (night), are plural as in Anglo-Saxon.

2. _Gender._—As a general rule the names of inanimate things are of the neuter gender. The names of towns, however, are considered as masculine.

3. _Case._—The genitive singular and plural of masculine and feminine nouns end in _-es_. Occasionally proper nouns form the genitive in _-is_. The means or instrument occasionally stands in the genitive without the preposition: '_deades_ driuen,' influenced by death; '_swerdes_ slagen,' slain of the sword; '_teres_ wet,' wet with tears. Cf. '_floures bred_,' bread made with flour; '_bredes_ mel,' meal consisting of bread; '_wines_ drinc,' drink consisting of wine.

Corresponding to the modern word _kinsmen_ we have such forms as '_daiges-ligt_' (daylight), '_hines-folk_' (servants), '_wifeskin_' (women). The genitive is used adverbially, as _newes_, anew; _liues_, alive.

We have a few traces of the genitive in _-e_ in the following examples: '_helle_ nigt,' l. 89 (hell's night); '_helle_ bale,' l. 2525 (hell's bale); '_sterre_ name,' l. 134 (star's name); '_safte_ same,' l. 349 (shame of form); '_werlde_ nigt,' l. 1318 (world's night).[50]

The genitive of _fader_ and _moder_ is, as is very seldom the case in Early English writers, _fadres_ and _modres_.

An _n_ is often added to the final _-e_ (representing an A.Sax. vowel-ending) in the nom., dat., and acc. of nouns. For examples, see p. xxi.

II. ADJECTIVES.

1. Adjectives have a definite and an indefinite form; the former is used when the adjective is preceded by the definite article, a demonstrative adjective, or possessive pronoun.

Indef. _wis_ (wise), _god_ (good). Def. _wise_, _gode_.

2. _Number._—The plural is formed by the addition of _e_ to the singular.

SINGULAR. PLURAL. _fet_ (fat), _fette_. _gret_ (great) _grete_. _other_, _othere_. _tother_, _tothere_.

But the _-e_ (pl.) is seldom added to the past participle of irregular verbs. _This_ forms the plurals _thes_ (oblique cases _these_), _this_ (_thise_). _Tho_ is the plural of _that_.

_Cases._—_One_ makes the genitive _ones_; as, '_ones_ bles,' of one colour. The gen. pl. _-re_ occurs in _ald-re_ (= _alre_), of all; as, 'hure _aldre_ bale,' the bale of us all; 'here _aldre_ heuedes,' the heads of them all.

_Degrees of comparison._—The comparative ends in _-ere_ (_-er_), the superlative in _-este_ (_est_).[51] Very few irregular forms occur in the present poem.

POSITIVE. COMPARATIVE. SUPERLATIVE. ille, werre. —— lite, lesse, leist. long, { leng. } —— { lengere. } mikel, { mo, } moste. { mor, } neg, —— neste. old, eldere, eldeste.

_Numerals._—The Northumbrian forms in _-nde_ have superseded the Southern ones in _-the_; as, _seuende_ (seventh), _egtende_ (eighth), _tende_ (tenth).[52]

III. PRONOUNS.

1. The first personal pronoun _Ic_ is never found softened into _Ich_ as in Laȝamon's Brut, the Ancren Riwle, and other Southern works. _I_ is found only once or twice throughout the poem.

2. The first and second personal pronouns have a _dual_ as well as a plural number; as, _wit_, we two; _unc_, us two; _gunc_, you two; _gunker_, of you two.

3. _Hine_ (_hin_, _in_) (acc.) occasionally occurs, but more frequently _him_ (dat.) does duty for it.

4. _Ge_, _ghe_,[53] she, represents the A.Sax. _héo_ (O.E. _heo_, _ho_, and _hi_). The curious form _sge_ (= _sye_), as well as _sche_, occurs for she, the earliest instance of which is _scæ_ in the A.Sax. Chronicle.

5. The neuter pronoun is written _it_ and not _hit_, and is frequently used as a plural. It coalesces with the pronoun _ge_, _ghe_[54] (she), and with the preterite of verbs terminating in _-de_ or _-te_,[55] and with some few irregular verbs; as, _sagt_ (saw there), p. 37, l. 1301. The curious form _negt_ (in l. 3964, p. 112) = _neg_ + _it_ = nigh it.

6. The A.Sax. _hi_ (they) is represented by _he_ = _hie_.[56] _He_ is common enough in the Romance of Havelok the Dane.[57]

The pronouns, as has already been shown, coalesce with the plural (acc.) _is_ (them), and give us the compounds _hes_, he + them; _wes_, we + them;[58] mes = _me_ + _hes_ = one + them.[59]

Not satisfied with joining _he_ (they) to the pronoun _is_, the author of this poem occasionally employs the more perplexing combination _hem_ = _he_ + _hem_, he, them.

bred kalueſ fleiſ, and flures bred, _Roasted calves' flesh, and flour-bread,_ And buttere, _hem_ ðo sondes bed, _And butter, he them the messengers offered._—(l. 1014.) In ſichem feld ne fonde _hem_ nogt, _In Shechem field found he them not._—(l. 1933.) Ðo ſette ſundri _hem_ to waken, _Then set sundry he them to watch._—(l. 2551.) ðo ſeide ðuſ quanne _hem_ cam dun, _Then said thus when he to them came down._—(l. 4022.)

In l. 2673 _hem_ seems to stand for _he_ + _hem_, they + them.

And _hem_ ſeiden wið anſweren,[60] _And they to them said in answer._

The Southern _me_, one (Fr. _on_), is absent from this poem as well as from the Ormulum; its place is supplied by _man_ and _men_[61] used with a verb in the singular number. _ðe_ is frequently used as a relative pronoun as well as _ðat_, but uninflected; _quo_ (who), _quat_ (what), are interrogative; _whether_ signifies which of two.

TABLE OF PRONOUNS.

SINGULAR.

Nom. Ic, I ðu Gen. min ðin Dat. me ðe Acc. me ðe

DUAL. PLURAL. DUAL. PLURAL.

Nom. wit we —— ge Gen. —— ure gunker gure Dat. —— us —— gu Acc. unc us gunc gu

SINGULAR.

Nom. He ge, ghe (sge, sche) It Gen. His Hire Is, His Dat. Him Hire It Acc. { Hin } Hire It { Him }

PLURAL. Masc. Neut. Interrogative.

Nom. He It | Quo Gen. Here Here | Quase } | Was } Dat. Hem It | —— Acc. Hem It | Quam

The third personal pronoun is occasionally used reflexively; as _him_ = himself. _Self_ is used adjectively in the sense of own, very, and the form _selven_ (from the A.Sax. _sylfa_) is joined to the personal pronouns; as _ðeselven_, _himselven_, etc.

The independent possessives are _min_, _ðin_, _his_ (_hise_), _hire_ (hers), _ure_ (ours), _gure_ (yours), _here_ (theirs).[62]

IV. VERBS.

_Infinitive Mood._—The infinitive terminates in _-en_, which is seldom dropped.

There are no infinitives in _-y_ or _-ie_, as in Southern English writers, nor do we find them in the Ormulum, or in Robert of Brunne's "Handlyng Synne," and they were, most probably, wholly unknown to the East Midland district.

The _t_ in the 2nd pers. sing. pres. is occasionally dropped, as _beas_ (= _best_), art, _betes_, beatest, _findes_, findest, etc.; but not in the preterite of regular verbs.

There are no instances of the 3rd pers. sing. present in _-es_ in this poem.

The final _e_ of the first and third persons (sing.) of the preterite tense is often dropped before a vowel or an _h_,[63] and, in a few cases, through the carelessness of the scribe,[64] it is unwritten before a consonant, where we should expect to, and do, find it in the majority of instances.

Some few strong verbs have become weak, as _grapte_ (grasped, felt), _gette_ (poured), _smette_ (smote).

_Imperative Mood._—Verbs forming the past tense in _de_ or _te_ take no inflexion in the 2nd pers. sing. imperative.

_Participles._—1. The active or imperfect participle ends in _-ende_ or _-ande_, the former being the Midland and the latter the Northumbrian form. The Southern affix is _-inde_, from which we have the modern _-ing_ (O.E. _-inge_).

Our author rhymes _specande_ with _lockende_, and in the Bestiary we find that the participle in _-ande_ rhymes with an infinitive in _-en_,[65] and this accounts for such forms as _stinken_ = _stinkende_, _brennen_ = _brennende_, in the present poem.

2. The passive or perfect participle of regular or weak verbs terminates in _-ed_; of irregular or strong verbs in _-en_. In _bigote_ (begotten), _funde_ (found), _geue_ (given), the absence of the _n_ is probably an error of the scribe.

3. The prefix _i-_ or _y-_ (A.S. _ge-_) is not of frequent occurrence either in this poem or in the Bestiary; in the former we have _i-wreken_ (avenged), _i-wrogt_ (wrought), _ybiried_ (buried), _y-oten_ (called); and in the latter we find _i-digt_ (arranged).

There are two conjugations of verbs, regular (weak) and irregular (strong). The regular verbs form their past tense in _-ede_, _-de_, or _-te_; the past participle ends in _-ed_, _-d_, or _-t_. Irregular verbs form their past tense by a change of vowel, and the past participle terminates in _-en_.

CONJUGATION OF REGULAR VERBS.

I. CLASS. INFINITIVE MOOD—_Loven_, love.

INDICATIVE MOOD.

PRESENT. Singular. Plural. 1. love, 1. loven, 2. lovest, 2. loven, 3. loveð. 3. loven.

PAST TENSE. Singular. Plural. 1. lovede, 1. loveden, 2. lovedest, 2. loveden, 3. lovede. 3. loveden.

SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD. PRESENT. PAST. Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural. love, loven. lovede, loveden.

IMPERATIVE MOOD. Singular. Plural. 1st form. 2nd form. 2. love. loveð, love.[66]

PARTICIPLES. PRESENT OR ACTIVE. PAST OR PASSIVE. lovande, } lovende, } loved.

II. CLASS. INFINITIVE MOOD—_Heren_, hear.

INDICATIVE MOOD. PRESENT. PAST. Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural. 1. here, heren, 1. herde, herden, 2. herest, heren, 2. herdest, herden, 3. hereð. heren. 3. herde. herden.

SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD. PRESENT. PAST. Singular. Plural. here. heren. (Like the Indicative.)

IMPERATIVE MOOD. Singular. Plural. 1st form. 2nd form. 2. her. hereð. here.[67]

PARTICIPLES. PRESENT. PAST. herande, } herende. } herd.

III. CLASS. INFINITIVE MOOD—_Seken_, seek.

INDICATIVE MOOD. PRESENT. PAST. Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural. 1. seke, seken, 1. sogte, sogten, 2. sekest, seken, 2. sogtest, sogten, 3. sekeð. seken. 3. sogte. sogten.

SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD. PRESENT. PAST. Singular. Plural. seke. seken. (Like the Indicative.)

IMPERATIVE MOOD. Singular. Plural. 1st form. 2nd form. 2. sek. sekeð. seke.

PARTICIPLES. PRESENT. PAST. sekande, } sekende. } sogt.

CONJUGATION OF IRREGULAR VERBS.

A. (no change of vowel in the plural preterite.)

INFINITIVE MOOD—_Holden_, hold.

INDICATIVE MOOD. PRESENT. PAST. Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural. 1. holde, holden, 1. held, helden, 2. holdest, holden, 2. helde,[68] helden, 3. holdeð. holden. 3. held, helden.

SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD. PRESENT. PAST. Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural. holde. holden. helde. helden.

IMPERATIVE MOOD. Singular. Plural. 1st form. 2nd form. 2. hold. holdeð. holde.

PARTICIPLES. PRESENT. PAST. holdande, } holdand. } holden.

B. (change of vowel in the preterite plural.)

INFINITIVE MOOD—_Helpen_, help; _singen_, sing.

INDICATIVE MOOD.

PRESENT TENSE. Singular. Plural. 1. helpe, singe, } 2. helpest, singest, } helpen, singen. 3. helpeð. singeð. }

PAST. Singular. Plural. 1. halp, sang, } 2. holpe,[69] sunge,[69]} holpen, sungen. 3. halp. sang. }

SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD. PRESENT. PAST. Singular. Plural. helpe, singe. holpen, sungen.

IMPERATIVE MOOD. Singular. Plural. 1st form. 2nd form. 2. help, sing. helpeð, singeð. helpe, singe.

PARTICIPLES. PRESENT. PAST. helpande, singande, } helpende, singende, } holpen, sungen.

TABLE OF VERBS.

A.—REGULAR.

Present. Preterite. Passive Participle.

Class I. Loven (to love), lovede, loved. etc. etc. etc.

Class II. (_a_) Callen (call), calde, cald. Feden (feed), fedde, fed. Greden (cry), gredde, gred. Heren (hear), herde, herd. Leden (lead), ledde, led. Sriden (clothe), sridde, srid. Wenen (think), wende, wend. etc. etc. etc.

(_b_) Bimenen (lament), bimente, biment. Bitiden (betide), bitidde, bitid. Delen (divide), delte, delt. Demen (judge), dempte, dempt. Kepen (keep), kepte, kept. Wenden (go), wente, went.

Class III. Bigen (buy), bogte, bogt. Biseken (beseech), bisogte, bisogt. Biteche (assign), bitagte, bitagt. Cachen (drive), kagte, kagt. Lachen (seize), lagte, lagt. Sellen (sell), solde, sold. Tellen (tell), tolde, told. Worchen (work), wrogte, wrogt.

B.—IRREGULAR VERBS.

DIVISION I.