Preface

The order of the vowels in the phonological sections follows Bülbring’s Altenglisches Elementarbuch, that of the consonants, Sievers’ Old English Grammar, translated by Cook. The basis of comparison is Early West Saxon. The object of these sections has been to provide collections for the interpretation of the teacher. In accidence Sievers has been followed generally, but Zupitza’s classification of the strong verbs has been adopted for convenience of use with Bülbring’s Geschichte der Ablaute. In the literature sections books marked with an asterisk are those which the student will find more immediately useful.

This book has been a long time in preparation; it will perhaps help to excuse some lack of uniformity if it be known that a great part of the notes was in type by the end of 1915.

J. H. WOODSTOCK, January, 1920.

CORRIGENDA.

225/39. Omit stop after Orm here and elsewhere.

231/1. unseihte represents #unsæht#

249/8. After &c., add wart 122

250/31. Add wart

253/27. Omit comma after sc͞i

254/20. Dr. Bradley’s restoration in M. L. Review, xii. 73, þa þestreden sona þas landes, appears to me certain.

263/31. wile

266/26. #ālīesednesse# (but once #ālȳsendnesse#)

266/27. #ā# + #w#

271/13. #sǣdon#

312/36. After Bodleian add (D)

318/37. #gēar#

356/1. C 6

396/6. Add with before which

428/14. Add ia in giarked 84

428/38. #tōgēanes#

457/8. Add #hn# to n before nap

567/13. nyht, 160/185

Errata

Omit stop after Orm [_superfluous . (“Orm.”) occurs 21 times in the text. Corrections are not individually noted_] 254/20. Dr. Bradley’s restoration ... [_the reference is to the note for l. 20, i.e. line 16 of the printed page_]

NOTES

#Abbreviations:# AR Ancren Riwle, ed. Morton; Archiv [für das Studium der neueren Sprachen]; BH Blickling Homilies, ed. Morris; CM Cursor Mundi, ed. Morris; ES Englische Studien; GE Genesis and Exodus, ed. Morris; HM Hali Meidenhad, ed. Cockayne; KH King Horn, ed. Hall; L Layamon, ed. Madden; NED New English Dictionary; OEH i Old English Homilies, ed. Morris First Series; OEH ii Second Series; OEM Old English Miscellany, ed. Morris; ON Owl and Nightingale, ed. Wells; PRL Political, Religious, and Love Poems, ed. Furnivall, second edition; SJ St. Juliana, ed. Cockayne; SK St. Katherine, ed. Einenkel; SM St. Marherete, ed. Cockayne; VV Vices and Virtues, ed. Holthausen.

Erratum

SM St. Marherete, ed. Cockayne [spelling as in Cockayne]

I. WORCESTER FRAGMENTS

#Manuscript:# Worcester Cathedral Library, 174. It consists of sixty-six leaves of vellum, ‘which had been cut and pasted together to form covers for a book in the Cathedral archives’ (Catalogue of the Chapter Library, ed. Floyer and Hamilton, Oxford, 1906). Its contents are (1) an incomplete copy of Ælfric’s Grammar and Glossary, used by Zupitza for his edition of the text (Berlin, 1880); (2) the scrap here marked A; (3) the pieces B and C with five more fragments of the same poem. A completes the page on which the glossary ends, and B is on the verso of the leaf. The leaves have been slightly shorn at one side and reduced at top and bottom, but probably to no great extent: the conjectural complement, which is here printed within square brackets, is for the most part fairly obvious, the more so as portions of the lost letters often remain. The whole MS. is in the same large square hand, but the pieces in verse, which are written continuously, like prose, are less carefully executed. The handwriting is of the second half of the twelfth century, perhaps about 1180 A.D. The Latin headings are not in the MS.

#Editions:# Phillipps, Sir T., Fragment of Ælfric’s Grammar, &c., London, 1838; Wright, T., Biographia Britannica Literaria, AS. Period, p. 59, 60, London, 1842 (omits the last four lines); Varnhagen, H., Anglia, iii. pp. 423-25.

#Phonology:# The scribe is mainly faithful to the orthography of his original, which was in Anglo-Saxon script (as is shown by Sipum for Ripum) and older language. He still uses the rune for w. His spelling wavers between old and new, #ǣ# survives in ilærde, lærden, læreþ, beside e in ilerde, weren; #ea# persists in wireceastre, but wincæstre, rofecæstre; the inflection is not levelled in leodan, but leoden, hoteþ, losiæþ (æ = e). Drihten represents an OE. form in i; #ie# is e in derne; #ā# is o in hoteþ, eo (= o) in leore. OE. #æ# + #g# is æi in fæire, fæier, sæiþ; #e# + #g# is ei in lorþeines; #ēo# + #h# is i in liht; #ēa# + #h#, eih in unwreih. Bocare goes back to late OE. #bōcre#; #c# is written ch in wisliche; #sć# [š] is still sc in sceolen.

#Accidence:# The def. article is s. n. neut. þet 17, 19; s. a. f. þa 5; pl. n. þeo 3, 17; pl. d. þen 19; pl. a. þeo 4. Noteworthy nouns are the mutation pl. bec 7; diȝelnesse, s. a. 5; leoden, pl. n. 3, 18, leodan, pl. a. 15 (weak forms); leore, pl. n. 17. The relatives are þe, þeo 18 (as in L 257, 2999), þet 3: the demonstrative þis, pl. n. neut. 22, þeos, pl. n. m. 15, pl. a. m. 9 (properly a sing. form): possessives, ure 9, 15, 18; heore 16. Glod 16 is a weak preterite beside strong #glēow#, but the cognate forms in other languages are weak, and this may be a borrowing from the Norse (NED s.v.).

French are questiuns, probably its first appearance, and feþ 23, with its peculiar monophthong (OF. feid in which d was the spirant [ð]); comp. 8/91 note.

#Dialect:# Middle or Western South.

#Metre:# Alliterative long line, of somewhat rude construction, without transitional rhymes or assonances. The alliteration extends mostly to two consonants, sometimes to three, as 5, 17; l. 16 is pure syllabic verse. The scribe sometimes misplaced the pause stop, as at 9, and sometimes omitted it.

#Introduction:# In this scrap, some English patriot laments the wholesale substitution of foreign prelates for English under William the Conqueror. At the end of 1070 A.D. there were only two native bishops, Wulfstan at Worcester and Siward at Rochester. This may point roughly to the time, as the preponderance of names connected with Winchester to the place, of the composition. The absence of the names of Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester (1002-1016 A.D.) and Archbishop of York (1002-1023), the author of the Homilies; of Wærferth, Bishop of Worcester (872-915), translator of Pope Gregory’s Dialogues; of the later Wulfstan (1062-1095), under whose rule there was great activity in the collection and transcription of Homilies and other literature in English (Keller, W., Die litterarischen Bestrebungen von Worcester in AS. Zeit, p. 64); together with the writer’s ignorance of the North, shows that it was not composed at Worcester. And the mistakes in Sipum 1/11 and heoueshame 1/12 would hardly be made by a Worcester transcriber.

The heading is from Numbers xxvii. 17.

2. #⁊# = and: ond apparently does not occur in the twelfth century. [#writen#]: Varnhagen supplies bec. Comp. ‘þa writen me beoð to icume,’ L 9131. #awende#. Bede translated into English the Gospel of S. John and some extracts from Isidore (Baedae Opera Historica, ed. Plummer, i. pp. lxxv, clxii).

3. #ꝥ . . . þurh#, by which. The preposition separated from its relative and placed with the verb is common in ME. See Anklam, Das Englische Relativ im 11. und 12. Jahrhundert, pp. 15-19, 44-6. Comp. in these texts, þet . . . bi, 72/182; inne, 84/45, 131/104; of, 38/155, 66/96, 116, 117/8, 139/11, 211/476; on, 96/53, 179/112; to, 142/75, 79, 143/98; þe . . . embe, 81/77; inne, 11/3, 4; mide, 81/79; offe, 85/84; one, 83/9, 119/73; to, 96/54; uppe, 84/71; þer . . . in, 7/59, 54/1, 147/148; of, 64/61; on, 106/210; to, 89/32; wið, 48/300. Similarly hem . . . to, 193/564; þa . . . to, 96/58.

4. #C[not]ten#: completed by Holthausen, Archiv, cvi. 347. Comp. ‘siȝewulf . . hine befran . . be ȝehwylcum cnottum þe he sylf ne cuþe,’ Interrogationes Sigewulfi, ed. MacLean, 58/12; ‘Ich habbe uncnut summe | of þeos cnotti cnotten,’ SK 1150, 1; and 202/168. With #unwreih#, comp. ‘Ac Augustinus se wisa us onwreah þas deopnysse,’ AS. Homilien, ed. Assmann, 5/103; ‘him þa toweardæn þing unwreah ⁊ swytelode,’ Twelfth Cent. Hom. 98/17; Cursor, 22445. #questiuns#: probably Bede’s In Libros Regum Quaestiones Triginta, answering questions put by Nothelm (Plummer, p. cli). But there appears to have been a work known as Bedae Quaestiones in utrumque Testamentum (Plummer, clv note), and there may be a reference to such of his commentaries as were replies to the queries of Acca, Bishop of Hexham. #hoteþ#: Wright supplies we after þe as in 6, but hoteþ may mean here ‘are called,’ though the passive sense is commoner in Central than in Early ME.

5. #derne diȝelnesse#. Comp. ‘Þatt dærne diȝhellnesse | Þatt writenn wass þurrh Moysæn,’ Orm 12945; and 125/296.

6. For Aelfric the Abbot see Skeat in E. E. T. S., O. S. 114, pp. xxii-xliv. The writer appears not to know his translations of Joshua, Judges, Esther, and possibly Job. His identification of Aelfric with Alcuin, who liked to call himself Albinus, is possibly due, as MacLean suggests, to the former having translated Alcuin’s Sigewulfi Interrogationes (p. 47, and Anglia, vi. pp. 463, 4).

7. #bocare#. Comp. ‘Beda, se mæra bocere,’ AS. Hom., ed. Assmann, 22/210. [#fif#]: supplied by Varnhagen.

8. #Vtronomius#: probably a blunder, but possibly an original attempt at abbreviation. Or the writer may have had in mind the explanation given in De Mirabilibus Sacrae Scripturae, ‘Deuteronomium, hoc est, iterationem Legis,’ S. Augustini Op., iii. App. p. 13a. Observe that he places the title next to Exodus; he would know from Jerome’s preface that it means ‘secunda lex.’ #Numerus#: so Ælfric, ‘on Lyden Numerus and on Englisc Getel,’ Grein’s Prosa, i. p. 179.

10. #þet weren.# Comp. for the singular of the demonstrative, 80/35: ‘Soðlice ða eagan þæt bioð ða lareowas, & se hrycg þæt sint ða hiremenn,’ Gregory’s Pastoral Care, ed. Sweet, 28/12; ‘hwet beoð þas vii ȝeate? Det beoð ure egan,’ OEH i. 127/29. Sometimes the verb also is singular, as at 76/8. Similarly hit, it, 117/13, 190/450. #bodeden#: this verb usually takes an acc. as here, so 15/86; ‘bodian þa soðen ileafen,’ OEH i. 97/31; but ‘bodiende umbe godes riche,’ id. 95/19.

11. #Wilfrid#, Bishop of York, d. 709. #Ripum#: Ripon; Beda’s Inhrypum (Plummer, i. 183, ii. 104). #Johan of beoferlai#, Bishop of York, d. 721. He is commonly associated with the foundation of a monastery at Beverley in Yorkshire, but see Memorials of Beverley Minster, Surtees Society, 1898, pp. xv-xix. Beverley is Beoforlic in AS. Chron. MS. D 721 (but written about 1070 A.D.); Beoferlic in MS. E; Bevrelie in Domesday (see Stolze, Zur Lautlehre der AE. Ortsnamen im Domesday Book, p. 28, and Zachrisson, Anglo-Norman Influence on English Place-Names, p. 152). #Cuþb[ert]#, Cudberct, Bishop of Lindisfarne, d. 687. Dunholm occurs in AS. Chron. MS. D 1056 as the oldest name; Durham descends from AN. Dureme. The episcopal mint from Beke 1283 A.D. to Langley 1437 A.D. has Dunholm, Dunelm, and Dureme indifferently. The seal of Richard de Marisco (1217-1226) has Dunholmensis. Comp. Zachrisson, 133-5. #Oswald#, Bishop of Worcester, 962-91, Archbishop of York, 972-91, d. 992 (see Keller, pp. 11-21). For Latin books attributed to him, see Wright, Biographia, i. pp. 466, 7. Worcester in AS. Charters is Wigeran or Wiogeran Ceaster, also Wigernaceaster, Wigraceaster; in Domesday, Wirecestre. #Egwin#, Bishop of the Hwiccas, i.e. see of Worcester; founder of the Abbey of Evesham, d. 717 A.D. For works attributed to him, see Wright, Biographia, i. p. 227. #heoueshame#: in Domesday Evesham; in the foundation charter Egwin writes, ‘In quo loco (i.e. Ethomme) quum beata Virgo Maria cuidam pastori gregum, Eoves nomine, comparuisset (ob cujus viri sanctitatem eundem locum Eoveshamiam nuncupavi),’ Chronicon Abbatiae de Evesham, ed. Macray, p. 18. #æl[dhelm]#, Abbot of Malmesbury and Bishop of Sherborne, d. 709 A.D. (Plummer’s Bede, ii. pp. 308, 9). William of Malmesbury says in his Gesta Pontificum, p. 336, ‘nativae quoque linguae non negligebat carmina; adeo ut, teste libro Elfredi . . . nulla umquam aetate par ei fuerit quisquam.’ He is said to have translated the Psalms. #Swiþþun#, Bishop of Winchester, d. 862. #æþelwold#, pupil of S. Dunstan, Abbot of Abingdon, Bishop of Winchester, 963, d. 984 A.D. In the Latin Life by Ælfric as revised by Wulfstan, it is recorded, ‘Dulce namque erat ei adolescentes et iuvenes semper docere, et latinos libros anglice eis solvere,’ Acta Sanctorum, August, i. p. 94. His translation of the Rule of S. Benedict was edited by Schröer in the Bibliothek der AS. Prosa, ii. Kassel, 1885-8. #Aidan#, Bishop of Lindisfarne, d. 651. #Biern#: Birinus, Bishop of Winchester, d. 650. The spelling with ie appears to be analogic with the i-umlaut in such words as #ierre#, and so to belong to the scribe’s original. #wincæstre#: in the Chronicle, anno 744, Wintanceaster; Venta Civitas in Bede. #[Pau]lin#, Paulinus, the Missionary Bishop of York, and, after 634 A.D., Bishop of Rochester, seems more likely than the less-known Cuichelm, Bishop of Rochester, suggested by Wright. The MS. has lin not lm. #rofecæstre#: in AS. Chronicle, anno 604, Hrofesceaster; ‘in ciuitate Dorubreui, quam gens Anglorum a primario quondam illius, qui dicebatur Hrof, Hrofæscæstræ cognominat,’ Beda, i. 85. #Dunston#. S. Dunstan was Bishop of Worcester, 957-9, Bishop of London, 958, 959, Archbishop of Canterbury, 959, d. 988. #ælfeih#: S. Ælfheah, succeeded Æþelwold as Bishop of Winchester in 984 A.D., became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1006, and was martyred by the Danes in 1012 A.D. #cantoreburi#: a French spelling, as Canteberi, 10/174; contrast Cantuarabirȝ, 11/4. L has still Cantuarie buri, 94/15; Cantwareburi, 2821; where O has Cantelburi.

15. #on englisc#, repeating 9. The writer does not mean that all these produced works in English, but only to contrast them with French-speaking clerics.

16. Comp. ‘Si ergo lumen, quod in te est, tenebrae sunt, ipsae tenebrae quantae erunt?’ S. Matt. vi. 23.

17. #nu is#: so Wright and Varnhagen, but read nu beoþ; for beo lore, those teachings, is plural.

19. #lorþeines#, teachers, apparently an ἅπ. λεγ., of which the second element represents OE. #þegn#, servant, disciple. Comp. the usual ‘larþawes,’ 15/82, ‘lorþeu,’ 20/68, ‘lorþeawes,’ 84/61, ‘larðewes,’ OEH ii. 41/28 (OE. *#lārðēowas#), ‘lareaw,’ OEH i. 241/21 (OE. #lārēow#). #losiæþ#, in the rarer intransitive use, perish. Comp. ‘ꝥ þa men ne losien, þe on him ilyfæð,’ Twelfth Cent. Hom. 2/31, 34/1, 38/23; ‘þenne losiað fele saulen,’ OEH i. 117/18. #forþ mid#, together with, also with, here in the rare adverbial use. Comp. ‘þenne losiað fele saulen ⁊ he seolf forð mid for his ȝemeleste,’ OEH i. 117/18; ‘& him seolf þer forð mide,’ L 608. It is common as a preposition, as at 40/176, 77/55, 195/611; ‘his þenegas forð mid him þe he þyder brohte,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 528/645; ‘forswoleȝeð þene hoc forð mid þan ese,’ OEH i. 123/11.

20. ‘Sicut aquila provocans ad volandum pullos suos, et super eos volitans, expandit alas suas, et assumpsit eum, atque portavit in humeris suis,’ Deut. xxxii. 11, spoken of God’s care and training of his people. See Bozon, Contes Moralisés, p. 60, for an elaborate application of the text.

22. #to worlde asende.# Comp. ‘fram Gode hider on world sended,’ BH 209/23.

23. [#festen# &c.]. Comp. 190/438, 10/154. The sense required is, That we should put our full trust in him.

Greek

ἅπ. λεγ. [hap. leg.] [_short for ἁπαξ λεγόμενον [hapax legomenon], “something that has been said only once”, i.e. an otherwise unattested form_]

Errata

#Editions:# ... London, 1842 (omits the last four lines); [text has : for ;] 6. For Aelfric the Abbot see Skeat in E. E. T. S., O. S. 114 [E.E.T.S., O.S.] 11. ... Ælfric as revised by Wulfstan [Wulstan: spelling “Wulfstan” used everywhere else] 20. ... Contes Moralisés, p. 60 [Moralises]

B, C

#Manuscript:# As for A, p. 223.

#Editions:# Phillipps, as above; Singer, S. W., The Departing Soul’s Address to the Body, London, 1845; Haufe, E., Die Fragmente der Rede der Seele an den Leichnam, Gryphiswaldiae, 1880; Buchholz, R., Die Fragmente der Reden der Seele an den Leichnam, Erlangen, 1889; afterwards enlarged in *Erlanger Beiträge, ii. 6. 1890.

#Literature:# (1) =of the Worcester Fragment=. Haufe, E., Anglia, iv. 237 (emendations); Holthausen, F., Anglia, xiv. 321 (emendations); Kaluza, M., Litteraturblatt, ii. 92; *Zupitza, J., Archiv, lxxxv. 78 (review of Buchholz). (2) =of the Desputisoun=. Heesch, G., Language and Metre, Kiel, 1884; Holthausen, F., Anglia, Beiblatt, iii. 302; Kaluza, M., Litteraturblatt, xii. 12; *Kunze, O., Critical Text, Berlin, 1892; Linow, W., Erlangen, 1889, edition enlarged in Erlanger Beiträge, i. 1. 1889; Mätzner, E., AE. Sprachproben, i. 90-103; Varnhagen, H., Anglia, ii. 225-52; Zupitza, J., Archiv, lxxxv. 84. (3) =of the Legend in general=. *Batiouchkof, Th., Romania, xx. 236; Bruce, J. D., Modern Language Notes, v. col. 385-401; Dudley, Louise, The Egyptian Elements in the Legend of the Body and Soul, Bryn Mawr, 1911; id. An Early Homily on the ‘Body and Soul’ Theme, Journal of English and Germanic Philology, April, 1909; Gaidoz, H., Revue Celtique, x. 463-70; Kleinert, G., Halle, 1880; Paris, Gaston, Romania, ix. 311-14; Varnhagen, H., Anglia, ii. 225, iii. 569; *Zupitza, J., Archiv, xci. 369.

#Phonology:# For an account dealing with all the seven fragments see Buchholz: what follows is based on the two here printed, with references, where necessary, to his text of the other five.

Oral #a# is a, so ac, farene, habban: #a# before nasals usually o, as from, mon, but a in licame (wavering characteristic of the Middle South): #a# before lengthening groups is o, as honden, imong, longe, psalm-songe. #æ# is a after w, as was, watere D 12, but nes D 19; otherwise e, as crefte, þene (OE. #þænne#), þet, but the traditional spelling survives in æt, æfter D 42, goldfæten, igædered, gæderedest (OE. #gæderian#), þæs, wræcche (OE. #wræcca#), wrænches G 48 (OE. *#wrænc#). Messe is a French loan-word. #e# is regularly e, as bedde, heui, met, þenchen, wel, &c., but i in siggen F 7, siggeþ G 34 (characteristic of South-East and Kent). #i# is regularly i, as him, nimen, willæn; it is u after w in nulleþ, wulleþ C 35; but i in wihte D 3, nowiht D 19. #o# is regularly o, as bodeþ, iboren, sorhliche; before nasal, onȝean C 6; after w, woldest D 50, noldest, iwurþen F 46; but a in aȝan C 18. eo is written for o in feorþsiþ. #œ# (o + i) is eo in seoruhfule, seorhful, seoruhliche, &c., neose. #u# is regularly u, as biwunden, cumeþ, ful, tunge, &c., but o in iworþen F 45 after w. #y# is u, as ifulled, ikunde, lutiȝ, sunne, ufel, wunne, wurmes, but y is preserved in synne F 33: iflut 2/30 is Scandinavian, OWScand. flytja; drihtenes 4/33, kinges E 39 descend from OE. forms in i.

#ā# is normally o, as bon, loc, more, sor, woniende; but a is often preserved as þa 2/18, lac 4/25, mare E 39, wa F 4. eo is written for o in þeo 2/2, greoning, greoneþ; and oa in woaning 2/15, woaneþ 2/25, is an attempt to express graphically the [a^o] sound. Þe [ȝet] E 3, 36 occurs twice beside þa, þo. OE. #wāwa# gives weowe 2/7. #ǣ{1}# (WG. ai + i) is mostly æ, idæled, tæcheþ, ilærede, and before two consonants, ilæsteþ, æffre; but e in bideled C 32, ilered G 29, ilesteþ, efre D 41, þen (= OE. #þǣm#) 3/36. It is exceptionally a in þam C 25, facen (OE. #fǣcne#) G 10, atterne G 17. In bileafen D 6, ea is written for æ. #ǣ{2}# (WG. ā) is still æ in þær, þærof, wæde, grædie, wære E 28, but commonly e, þerinne, seten, beden, were, misdeden, gredi. a is exceptional in hwar 3/4, 5, 7, 9, 10 (= OE. #hwār#). #ē# is usually e, swetnesse, þe, 2/2, me, ne, also before nasals, fenge, icwemdest. #ī# is normally i, bi, lif, iwiteþ, liþ, hwile, &c., but after w it is u in hwule, swuþe: hwui 4/17 beside hwi D 22 is an attempt to express more fully the sound of w. #ō# is normally o, to, moder, flore, &c. #œ̄# is eo in weopinde 2/10. (OE. #wœ̄pan#). #ū# is regularly u, hus, wiþuten, ut, &c. #ȳ# is u, ifuled, luþerliche, &c.

#ea#, breaking of #a# before #r# + consonant is ea, earfeþsiþ, eart, scearp, æ in ært 4/16, e in ert D 15, scerpe F 29, imerked G 39; no examples of a. It is ea before lengthening cons. groups, earde, bearn. The i-umlaut of #ea# (WS. #ie#) is e in all cases, scerpeþ, erming D 18, yerde bidernan F 6. #ea#, breaking of #a# before #l# + cons. is a, alle, also, scalt, wale G 2 (#wealh#): before lengthening groups normally o, colde, coldeþ, itolde, holden G 32, 45, iwold C 8, isold D 38, monifolde, but e, heldan C 35. The i-umlaut is seen in wældeþ, 4/41. #eo#, breaking of #e# before #r# + consonant, is eo, heorte D 49 and o herborwen C 23: after #w# also eo, andweorke F 42, OE. #handgeweorc#, and e, werke D 30: the group #weor#, in LWS #wur#, has u, iwurþe F 45, wurþe G 25, unwerþ 4/37, o, beworpen D 12; before lengthening groups eo, yeorne, eorþe C 5. The i-umlaut of #eo#, which after #w# had already become #y# in OE. is here u, wurþest, deorwurþe, wurst D 30, wurþliche G 36. #eo# before #l# + consonant gives u in sulfen C 27, suluen F 28 (already #sylf# in LWS). #eo#, u-umlaut of #e#, is eo in heouene; å-umlaut of #e# is eo in freome, feole, weolen (Bülbring, § 234); u- and å-umlaut of #i# is eo, seouene, seoþþen. libbe 2/13 is OE. #libban#. #ea#, palatal diphthong, is ea, eæ in isceaft F 35, isceæftan; a in schal, scal. #ie# after #g# is e, ȝerde, biȝete C 13 (Bülbring, § 151 n.), i in ȝiuen 4/21. #eo# < WG. #o# after sc is o in scorteþ, scoldest C 28, but eo in sceoldest G 42. #eo# < #u# is u, onscunedest, sculen C 38. OE. #heom# is heom and ham C 18; #eom#, eam, am F 14.

#ēa# is normally ea, deaþ, heafod, bereaued, seaþe E 8, &c., but æ in dædan 3/42, beræfed C 7, sæþe, and e, birefedest G 12. The i-umlaut of #ēa# is e, alesed, iheren E 26, semdest 4/18, &c. (Bülbring, § 183 n.); and u, huned D 47 (WS. #ȳ#). #ēo# is normally eo, beoþ, teoreþ, leoflic, freonden, &c. Its i-umlaut does not occur; deore C 47, neowe C 29, neode F 5, retain eo (Bülbring, § 189, anm. 1). #īe# is e in isene, E 40; yet C 2.

#a# + #g# is usually aw, as in dawes 2/14, gnawen C 42, mawe C 49, but the older deaȝes survives 3/40. #æ# + #g# is normally ei, iseid, but isæid G 19, and once dai E 13. #e# + #g# is ei, ileide: weile 4/19 may represent OE. #weg lā# (see Björkman, Scandinavian Loan-Words, 51). OE. #ongegn# is onȝean C 6, aȝan C 18. #o# + #g# is ow, bowe C 4, forhoweþ: #o# + #h#, douhter G 31, wrouhte E 16, but wrohten D 25: #u# + #ȝ#, fuweles 4/42: #y# + #h#, tuhte E 22. #ā# + #g# is ow in owen C 45, sidwowes C 30: #ā# + #h# is seen in ohtest C 8, ahte E 2, 29 (a survival). #ǣ# + #g# is eiȝ, iseiȝe D 8, leiȝe D 11, keiȝe F 16; ei in clei: #ǣ# + #h#, aeihte 3/13, bitæiht G 52. #ē# + #g#, sweiȝe E 24. #ō# + #g#, #h#, inouh, unifouh D 39, souhte, ibrouht. #ū# + #h# is seen in þuþte 3/12 (= þuhte). #ea# + #ht#, becomes ei, istreiht, unseihte D 45. #eo# + #h# (LWS #i#) has i in riht; the i-umlaut is represented by besihþ 3/45. #ēa# + #g#, eiȝen, heiȝe E 39, but eȝen 3/42 and heie G 40: #ēa# + #h# is eih in neih, heih G 42, but þauh G 27. #ēo# + #g#, dreiȝen G 6, but driæn 4/36, written for drien, is due to the scribe and may be Mercian; ifreoed 4/28 is noteworthy. #ā# + #w# is usually ow, sowle C 2, blowen E 32, nowiht D 19, but soule, nouht. #ō# + #w#, touward F 29, but reoweþ C 45. #ēa# + #w#, strau D 14. #ēo# + #w#, usually eow, cneow C 27, icneowe C 27, þeow, þeowdome, but reouliche F 19, heou G 22.

In the vowels of final syllables, levelling has generally taken place, but a few older forms, isceæftan, heafod, dædan, cumaþ, biddan, offrian, weolan, remain from the original MS. In lufedæst, willæn, driæn, &c., æ is written for e. The prefix #ge# is represented by i.

The consonants present little of note. OE. #nā māra# becomes one word with doubled m and shortened a in nammore 3/34 (comp. wumme 2/13 note). farene 4/28, with n for nn, is exceptional. OE. #ǣfre# is æffre 2/14, so næffre C 6, but æfre 3/3. For #f# between two vowels u is generally written, bereaued 2/22, but beræfedest E 20. In mænet 2/7 t is French writing for þ: schal 2/9 is isolated, sc [š] is the rule, as in onscunedest 3/3: k is written mostly before e and ie, while ȝ is used initially for the palatal (y in yield) and between vowels, once finally in lutiȝ 3/2 where the original probably had lutiȝe; g in other cases and mostly in combination with consonants. For #cw#, French qu is used once in quale 4/42.

#Accidence.# The #ā# and #jā# stems add e in the nom., blisse 3/8, bote 3/11, seoruwe 3/8, sowle 2/28, soule 3/45, modinesse 3/4, accusatives are hwule 3/1, lore 4/29, soule 2/9, sunne 4/22, Godnesse 3/3. The g. of strong nouns ends in -es, the d. in -e, the pl. n. a. of Masculines in -es; of Feminines in -e; Neuters as ban 2/21 are uninflected, pl. g. has -e, d., -en, as honden 3/38. Markes 3/6, pundes 3/5 have adopted masc. endings; honden 3/39, isceæftan 2/2, goldfæten 3/7 have joined the weak declension. Of the latter dædan 3/42, weolan 4/32 are g., heouene 4/28 (nom. s. heouene F 38 (OE. #heofone#), molde 3/34, d., and exceptionally willæn 4/33, an archaic form preserved by its phrasal character; a. is deade 3/40; æren, eiȝen 2/17, lippen 2/18, are pl. n., weolen 4/16, d., eȝen 3/42 a.

The predicative adjective often shows strong declension, as grædie 3/13, fuse 4/15, ikunde 3/32; but heui 2/15, leas, lutiȝ 3/2, loþ 4/37, &c., and the adjs. in #ig# are not inflected. Inflected attributives are deope 4/40, s. d. m., muchele 2/23, s. d. f.; durelease 4/40, s. d. neut.; seoruhfulne 4/19, s. a. m.; alle 4/37, pl. d. m., &c. The termination of the weak declension is -e in all cases, as seoruhfule 2/8, s. a. m.; reade 4/27, s. d. neut.; dimme 3/42, pl. a. neut.

The pronoun of the third person has pl. d. ham, heom. The def. art. is s. n. þe- þeo- þat, d. m. þen, a. þene- þeo- þat, pl. n. þeo- þa -þa, þeo, þe. The relative is s. þet, s. and pl. þe, þeo, pl. only þa.

The terminations of the verb are inf. -en (but driæn, offrian); ind. pr., e -est (contr. list 4/38), -eþ (but cumaþ 3/44, mænet 2/6); contr. sæiþ 2/13, biþ 2/22, met 3/33, liþ 3/36; pl. -eþ. Come 3/11 is 2 pr. s. subj. Ind. pt. of weak verbs, s. -de, -dest (but lufedæst 3/4), -de; part. pt. -ed, d, t in ibrouht 4/39, part. pr. -inde, ende. Strong pasts are ȝeat 4/27, beden 3/11, 4/21, seten 3/10; part. pt.; iboren 2/6, &c.

#Dialect:# The Dialect is Southern, outside the Kentish area, and probably Middle South, with forms deriving from a Saxon patois. The poem may have been written, as the preceding piece probably was, in or near Winchester. The orthography belongs to two distinct stages of development, the later showing the copyist’s practice towards the end of the twelfth century, the more primitive being that of the original, which may have been fifty or sixty years earlier. The phonetic position of the scribe is in some respects more advanced than that of the Layamon MS. A.

#Metre:# Alliterative long line of loose construction mixed with rhymed syllabic verse. Occasionally four consonants alliterate, 2/6, 4/41, but usually three 2/5, 8, or two 2/4, 23. Crossed alliteration of consonants occurs at 2/16, 22, 27; 4/32, of consonant and vowels at 2/17; vowel alliteration at 4/37. At 2/4, read ⁊ lif ⁊ soule · him on ileide; at 3/11, bote come. The rhymes are sometimes perfect, as at 2/15, 25; 3/6, 8; 4/15, 27, 44, but assonances like lif : siþ 2/29; wif : siþ 3/43; dome : lore 4/29, and partial correspondences of sound like crefte : idihte 2/3; bedde : libbe 2/13; honden : wenden 3/38; modinesse : lufedæst 3/4; wæde : lufedest 3/9 are valid for this transitional verse. Sometimes alliteration and rhyme are combined, as at 2/3, 10 (read weopinde cumeþ), 3/4. Lines without either alliteration or rhyme must be regarded as corrupt. We may perhaps read semeþ for þuncheþ 3/39; riht ⁊ godnesse 3/3; beden þe fore 4/21: icwemen woldest for icwemdest ær 4/42. Compare the section on metre in the introduction to No. vi.

#Introduction:# This poem, in which, after an introduction on the miseries of birth and death, a lost soul reproaches the body it has just left, represents the original type of one of the most popular subjects of the Middle Ages. The idea is ancient, for Kunze, p. 3, quotes a passage from a treatise ascribed to Plutarch, and Linow, p. 2, another from the Talmud, which contain it in the germ. But as it is used in Christian literature, it originated in Alexandria under the influence of Egyptian conceptions of death and the unseen world. In England before the Conquest it had inspired (1) the poem printed in Grein-Wülker, ii. 92-105 from the Exeter and Vercelli MSS., in which a lost soul speaks; (2) the fragment from the latter MS., in which a blessed soul consoles the waiting body, id. 105-7; (3) the homily printed in Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, ed. Thorpe, ii. 396-400 (8vo ed.); (4) the homily in Wulfstan, ed. Napier, 140, 1. Versions 3 and 4 are based on a Latin original represented by an eleventh-century text, which is printed by Batiouchkof in Romania, xx. 576-8, comp. Zupitza in Archiv, xci. 369. This Latin prose text professes to be the relation of a vision by a monk to Macarius of Alexandria (d. 393 A.D.), and it, according to Batiouchkof, is based on earlier Greek legends wherein Macarius is himself the dreamer. The homily (5) printed in Angelsächsische Homilien, ed. Assmann, Kassel, 1889, p. 167, and (6) that published by Zupitza, Archiv, xci. 379, are independent of the Latin original just mentioned, and they have been influenced by the Judgment Day literature. The former contains addresses of a lost and a saved soul to their respective bodies on the Judgment Day, the homily (6) has only the latter.

After the Conquest, contemporary with (7) the Worcester Fragment, there is (8) the Oxford Fragment printed by Buchholz, p. 11. The theme is again treated in (9) the twelfth-century homily, De Sancto Andrea, OEH ii. 181, 3, which preserves as a quotation one line of its Latin original, see 4/19 note. Closely related to the last three versions is (10) the passage in the thirteenth-century poem printed in OEM p. 173, ll. 65-216. In (11) the Desputisoun bitwen þe Bodi and þe Soule, ed. Linow, based on the Latin Visio Philiberti, the matter is thrown into debat form for the first time in English. The Vision of Fulbert is again adapted in (12) the fifteenth-century poem printed by Halliwell, Early English Miscellanies (Warton Club), p. 12. Shorter passages in ME. literature, as OEM 83/331-6, Böddeker, Altengl. Dicht., 235-43 are fairly numerous.

The position of the Worcester Fragment among this literature is not easy to define. It appears to form a group with 8 and 10, to which 9, though too scanty to permit of an assured judgment, may be admitted. They probably descend from a lost Latin original. Our author may indeed have been acquainted with the oldest English version (1) and have drawn thence the leading ideas for his poem. If so, he treated them with much originality, for there is a wide difference between the austere simplicity and concentrated energy of the older composition and his diffuse and picturesque style, which reflects the influence of the new literature imported from the Continent.

The lacunae in the text were mostly filled up by Singer. It seemed unnecessary to assign to each editor his contributions to this complement, much of which is obvious. For [fei]ge 2/30 and foot-note, read [fei]ȝe.

The heading is from the Book of Job, xxv. 6.

1. #en earde# is probably the remnant of on middenearde; elsewhere the writer uses eorþe for the uncompounded word.

2. And all the created things which pertain to it, i.e. to the earth. With #isceæftan# comp. ‘He iscop þurh þene sune alle isceafte,’ Frag. F 47, 34/84, 130/80, 139/17, 187/356. For the position of #to# comp. on, 2/4; fore 4/21, 23; 96/53, 54, mostly with relative pronouns. #[s]cu[l]en#, the tops of long s and l are cut off, as also those of h and f in the next line. It is not an auxiliary verb with ellipsis of a verb of motion (H., B.); it has independent meaning as in ‘Þas wyrte sculon to (= are proper for) lungen sealfe,’ Leechdoms, iii. 16/6.

3. #[þe]ne#. Singer’s þonne, then, next, adopted by H., may be right.

4. Comp. ‘se us lif forgeaf | Leomu lic and gæst,’ Christ, 775, 6, for which Grau, Quellen . . . der älteren germ. Darstellungen des jüngsten Gerichtes, p. 39, gives as source the poem ascribed to S. Cyprian, De resurrectione mortuorum, ‘Qui sibi conplacitum hominem formavit in aevum, | Hanc manibus caram dilexit fingere formam | Decoramque suam voluit inesse figuram, | Spiritu vivificam adflavit vultibus auram,’ Opera, ed. Hartel, iii. App. 310/51, 57-9. #ileide on#, put into, a meaning apparently without a parallel; perhaps, entrusted to.

5. #Softliche#, painlessly. #isom[nede]#. H. completed Singer’s isom[ne]. #sor idol#, a painful parting; comp. l. 8.

6. #ꝥ# = þet; see 3/43. The child by crying at its birth predicts the sorrowful separation of soul and body at death; comp. 2/23-28; ‘Þæt cild, þe bið acænned, sona hit cyð mid wope | ⁊ þærrihte witegað þissere worulde geswinc | ⁊ þa toweardan costnunga,’ AS. Hom. ed. Assmann, 77/126-8; ‘Quotquot nascuntur, vox illis prima doloris: | Incipit a fletu vivere quisquis homo,’ S. Anselm, p. 199, col. 2 b; ‘Omnis homo cum dolore mundum ingreditur, cum dolore iterum egreditur. Mox natus plorat, quia laborem et dolorem sibi futurum pronunciat,’ Honorius Augustod. Migne, P. L. clxxii, col. 1083.

7. The line is too short, but Buchholz’s conjecture is too long for the gap. Perhaps the original had hit woaneþ ⁊ weopeþ · ⁊ mænet þeo weowe.

8. B. translates #siþ# here and at 2/16 by ‘weg’; rather lot, experience, as in ‘wa heom þæs siðes þe hi men wurdon,’ Wulfstan, 27/3; ‘minegede alle his wrecche siðes, þe he þolede on þis wrecche worelde,’ OEH ii. 169/8; ‘weop for hire wei-sið | wanede hire siðes[;] ꝥ heo wæs on liues,’ L 25846-8. For compounds with siþ see 2/27. #sori#, not ‘schmerzlich,’ B, but mournful, sad.

9. Haufe’s completion is based on l. 28, where the verb is intransitive, but the construction is supported by, ‘for þat he deleð þe sowle[;] and þe lichame, þanne he wit of þisse woreld,’ OEH ii. 7/3. But the usual construction is seen in ‘gif he þurh ferliche deð[;] saule fro þe lichame deleð,’ id. 61/31, and it would be better to read [fro li] came here, for the position of ⁊ is awkward. Another construction is shown in ‘wið þone lichaman seo sawle gedælan,’ AS. Hom., ed. Assmann, 164/17.

10. #weopinde ⁊ woniende#, so, ‘wop and woninge,’ VV 17/32; see 42/231 note.

11. Haufe’s completion is too short, Singer’s too long, for the gap. For #[swo]#, stressed form, comp. 3/4.

12. #he#, i.e. licame. #walkeþ ⁊ wendeþ#, tosses and turns in his bed. #[oftes]iþes# H. followed by B., who afterwards expressed his preference for [þe weas]iþes, based on ‘ȝet ic wulle þe ætwi[ten þ]e weasiþes,’ Frag. G 7. Singer read [his si]þes.

13. #wo me#, though written as one, are separate words; coalesced they become wumme; comp. 121/133; ‘wumme ꝥ ich libbe,’ SJ 72/5; ‘wumme ꝥ ich shal wunien on uncuðe erde,’ OEH ii. 149/10; ‘wel me,’ 210/441.

15. #greoning . . . woaning#: comp. 2/25; 196/662; ‘Heo woneþ ⁊ groneþ day and nyht,’ OEM 152/187.

16. biwunden. See 2/27, 79/13, 81/79, and for similar phrases comp. ‘swo faste bunden ⁊ swo biwunde þarinne,’ OEH ii. 11/9; ‘mid sorȝen ibunden,’ L 12635; ‘mid sorinesse bistonden,’ OEH ii. 147/26, 181/1.

17-21. Comp. ‘Hyse eres shullen dewen, | & his eyen shullen dymmen, | & his nese shal sharpen, | & his skyn shal starken,’ PRL 253/3-6, and the similar piece OEM 101/1. An adaptation of the last quoted line has been inserted at l. 19 to restore the alliteration. For him, comp. 80/47. #deaueþ#, become deaf, a rare meaning, but paralleled in the quotation above. OE. #ā-dēafian# has that meaning; see Deave, NED. So too #scerpeþ#, l. 18, grows sharp, usually means to make sharp.

19. #scorteþ#. Comp. ‘[þin] tunge is ascorted,’ Frag. G, l. 9. The phrase appears to be without parallel: the corresponding texts have, ‘And þi tunge voldeþ,’ OEM 101/4; ‘& his tonge shal stameren, oþer famelen,’ PRL 253/8.

20. #teoreþ#, flags, droops. Comp. ‘Ðin mægn is aterod · and þa mihte þu næfst,’ Ælfric, Lives, i. 86/611.

21. #[siden]#. S reads heorte, H muþ; something more extensive is wanted, and sides is often used vaguely for body (see passages in Minot, i. 15 note). #liggeþ . . . stille# occurs again, Frag. E 11, otherwise one might be tempted to conjecture, liggeþ he stan stille, as in Minot, ii. 32, with improved alliteration.

23. #at#, as in ‘beræfed | At þene eorþliche weole,’ Frag. C 7, 8. So L, ‘biræiuie hine at liue,’ MS. C 9205: it is the usual construction in the older version (but simple dat. in ‘biræfued þan liue,’ 15283), while MS. O has regularly of. With the meaning seize it takes the acc., ‘he biræuede mi{n}e æhte,’ MS. C 8801. #also#, an emphasized so, quite so, all the: comp. al = entirely, 2/29.

26, 27. #So . . . so#, even as, even so. #feorþsiþ#: comp. 135/117, 3/41, 24/189, 119/74: similar combinations are ‘balesið,’ L 567; ‘fæisið,’ L 3731; ‘houdsiþ,’ ON 1586; ‘sorhsiðes,’ L 11109; ‘vnsiþ,’ ON 1164; ‘wosið,’ OEH ii. 209/3; ‘wræc-sið,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 538/808.

29. This line is repeated with variations as a sort of refrain, Frag. C 15, 37; D 9, 16, 42; F 19.

30. #iflut#, transferred from the bed to ashes laid on the floor in the form of a cross. Comp. ‘Sori is the fore | Fram bedde to the flore,’ Rel. Ant. i. 160; ‘on flore licgende, bestreowod mid axum, on stiðre hǽran,’ Ælf. Hom. Cath. ii. 516/30; ‘Postremo redimens elemosinis malefacta | Ipsaque confessus mortuus in cinere est,’ Epicedium Hathumodae, 557; ‘Cum viderint iam eius exitus horam imminere, cilicium expandunt, cinerem desuper aspergunt, et infirmum de lecto levatum in cilicium submittunt,’ Consuetudines Cluniacenses, Migne, P. L. cxlix, col. 772; ‘esto memor cineris in quo tandem morieris,’ Hauréau, Notices, ii. 183/9. See other texts in Rock, Church of our Fathers, ii. pp. 299-301.

31. #eastward.# Burial with the feet to the east was formerly the usual practice (Rock, ii. p. 473), but the eastward placing of the dying man is a detail which I cannot illustrate.

32. #[col]deþ.# Zupitza’s conjecture fits the place, gives a good meaning, and accords with l. 36, but the usual phrase is seen in ‘þei clungin so þe cley,’ Archiv, xcvii, 309/17; ‘As a clot of clay þou were for-clonge,’ Hymns to the Virgin, 13/31; ‘ant clyngeþ so þe clay,’ Böddeker, AE. Dichtungen, 211/17; ‘The clot him clinge,’ M. L. Review, V. p. 105. #hit is him ikunde#. Comp. 154/85; ‘Nes hit þe nowiht icunde þet þu icore[n] hefdest | Nes hit icunde þe more þen þine cunne biuoren þe,’ Frag. D 19, 20; ‘unfæger, swa him gecynde wæs,’ AS. Hom., ed. Assmann, 176/208; ‘Ah nim þu þene kine-halm[;] he is þe icunde,’ L 18158, 22004, 23196; VV 57/28.

34, 35. Comp. ‘Now schaltow haue at al þi siþe | Bot seuen fet, vnneþe þat,’ Desputisoun, 91, 2.

36. Comp. ‘Nu lið þe clei-clot | al so þe ston,’ OEM 172/73, 4.

37. #þeo he#, those to whom he. With 37-40 comp. 4/15, 16, 37; 32/34; ‘& he þonne se deada byð úneaþe ælcon men on neaweste to hæbbenne,’ BH 59/14; ‘& se man næfre toðon leof ne bið his nehmagum & his worldfreondum, ne heora nan hine to þæs swiþe ne lufað ꝥ he sona syþþan ne sý onscungend, seoþþan se lichoma & se gast gedælde beoþ, & þincð his neawist laþlico & unfæger,’ id. 111/27-30; ‘Alle his frendes he shal beo loþ. | And helud shal ben wiþ a cloþ,’ PRL 253/1, 2. #freome dude#. Comp. ‘him to fremen and do frame,’ GE 173: and see 176/24, 186/323.

38. #riht wen[den]#, set straight.

41. The copyist has allowed his eye to wander to the very similar line 43 and has transferred the second half of it here, to the exclusion of something like þe woneþ þe feorþsiþ.

43. #[þon]ne#. The last half of n and e are in the MS. #riche# is probably a mistake for wrecche, as S. suggests.

44. For love turns miserably into an evil under the stroke of misfortune. To have loved and lost is an evil thing.

45. #besihþ . . . to#, contemplates; comp. 124/249 note. Zupitza quotes, ‘When þe gost it schuld go, | It biwent ⁊ wiþstode, | Biheld þe bodi þat it com fro,’ Desputisoun, 9-11. Comp. ‘cum educerent eam (i.e. animam) de corpore commonuerunt eam angeli tercio, dicentes: O misera anima, prospice carnem tuam unde existi,’ Visio Pauli, Texts and Studies, ii. 3. 18/7.

The heading is added from the Book of Job, vii. 11.

1. S., H., and B. fill the lacuna with Hwui noldest biþenchen from 4/17, but this does not fit the lower half of the letters left in the MS. where ligge as the end of the preceding line is fairly certain, followed by a word of three letters, the middle one being o and another word of two or two and a half letters, of which the first is w. Perhaps loþ we[re] should be read. A question is not suited to the context. The opening lines evidently correspond to OEH ii. 183/16-19, ‘longe habbe ich on þe wuned. swo wo is me þe hwile, for al þat me was leof[;] hit was þe loð · þu ware a sele gief ich was wroð. To gode þu ware slau and let · and to euele spac and hwat.’

2. This line is repeated at Frag. D 28.

4. #[mo]dinesse.# Comp. 77/52, ‘He hadde ben a modi kniȝt,’ Desputisoun, 5; ‘Me nimeð þe licome | ⁊ preoneð in a clut. | ꝥ wes so modi ⁊ so strong | ⁊ so swiþe prud,’ OEM 172/67-70; and for the passage at large, ‘Hwær beoþ þonne his welan & his wista? hwær beoð þonne his wlencea & his anmedlan?’ BH 111/33; ‘Hwar byð þonne heora wela, þe hi ahtan her on life? ⁊ hi dæghwamlice gesam nodon ma ⁊ ma togædere ⁊ nystan nænigne ende, hwænne hi ꝥ forlætan scoldan,’ AS. Hom., ed. Assmann, 165/35-7; ‘Whar ben þine markes ⁊ þine pou{n}des?’ Desputisoun, 33.

5. #þurh [pa]newes igædered#, scraped together, or, more probably, wrung from the poor, ‘Quare pecunias et alienas facultates et substantias pauperum tulisti et congregasti in domo tua?’ Batiouchkof’s text, p. 577. Comp. also 34/67, 46/296.

6. #itolde.# Comp. ‘and þa paneȝes weoren italde,’ L 29460. An early use of #bi# with unit of measurement.

7. #Guldene# is corrupt; with the help of ‘Hwer beoþ þine nappes | þat þe glyde to honde,’ OEM 175/107, 8, we may restore, hwar beoþ [nu] þeo Goldfæten . þe glyden to þine honden. Then comen is a gloss on glyden; though it is found in this connexion elsewhere, ‘þe schal com an hors to hande,’ Richard, 5554.

8. #fornon#, also at 4/44 is not OE. #for-nēan# (H.), which means nearly, but #foran on#, in front, ahead, still to come. Comp. ‘foren an his hafde,’ L 23968, with local meaning, in front of his head (Germ. vorn an); ‘⁊ aȝȝ þeȝȝ tokenn efft forrnon | To serrfenn wukemalumm,’ Orm 16/553 (= in continuation of the series); OEM 149/92. L has also ‘aforen on, afornon,’ 10413. Similarly, ‘þe sorȝe is him biforen,’ OEH i. 63/164.

9. Comp. ‘Whare ben al þine worþliche wede,’ Desputisoun, 25.

10. #[sibbe]# is added to fill out the line. #ofer þe#, by the sick man’s bedside; #ofer#, opposite to; more commonly expressed by over against.

11. #bote#, cure or relief, an ambiguous word.

12. #þuþte#, for þuhte, like cniþt for cniht, L MS. O 346 a purely graphic variation. On the other hand, hauef for haueþ, Frag. G 26, like of[ ]þufte for of[ ]þuhte, 46/271, and soþte for softe, KH MS. L 392, represent a difference in pronunciation. See W. Horn, Beiträge zur Geschichte der englischen Gutturallaute, pp. 91-4.

13. Comp. 22/129; ‘Þi fals air schal be ful fain | Þi fair fe to vnderfo,’ Desputisoun, 105, 6; ‘And his freondes striveð | to gripen his i-won,’ OEM 172/75, 6.

14. #[heo]#. B. reads [heo hit], which is too long for the gap, and translates ‘sie thun es ohne dich.’ But it means, they put you outside; which is varied in 15, 16. Comp. ‘Me wule for þin ahte | make striuinge, | And pute þe wið-uten | of alle þine þinge,’ OEM 176/133-6. See 22/130.

16. #of weolen . . . bedæled#. The OE. construction is seen in ‘mínra bóca bedæled,’ Ælfric, De vet. Test. 1/22, and it is the same generally in L, ‘liues bidæled,’ 17365; ‘windes bidelde,’ 28239; but ‘of folke bidæled,’ 12743.

17. Comp. ‘Wai hwi noldestu er | of þisse beon icnowe,’ OEM 178/167, 8.

18. #semdest#, didst load; see 84/73. The phrase seems to be without a parallel; perhaps the use of the verb was suggested by ‘forðon gie sémað menn mið seamum ðaðe gebeara ne magon,’ S. Luke xi. 46 (Lindisfarne MS.).

19. This motiv is common to the versions. Comp. ‘heu me, heu me, quare unquam in corpore illud tenebrosum et pessimum ingredi merui,’ Batiouchkoff, p. 577; ‘Heu michi cur olidum · fueram tibi iuncta cadaver. Aweilewei þu fule hold ꝥ ich auere was to þe iteied,’ OEH ii. 183/14, 15; ‘Walawa ⁊ wa is me. ꝥ ic efre com to þe,’ Frag. F 4; Wulfstan, 140/20-23; ‘Ue mihi, habitacio tua mersit me in infernum,’ Revue Celtique, x. 469; ‘for hwon sceolde ic æfre ingangan on þisne fulestan ⁊ wyrrestan lichoman,’ Thorpe, ii. 398/9. ‘Heu me miseram, quod unquam creata fui ac nata, seu in hoc corpus maculatum posita,’ S. August. Opera, Migne, P. L. xl. col. 1357. For #buc#, comp. 186/330; ‘Awai þu wrecche fole bali,’ OEM 172/83.

20. #[lo]kien#, preserve, maintain, as 77/46; 78/85; ‘uorte loken riht bitweonen ou,’ AR 286/6; ‘beloken (= to look to) þe sicnesse of þe sowle,’ OEH ii. 77/32; or perhaps, look for, seek after, as in ‘Haueden al þa reuen[;] . . . iloked tweiene eorles,’ L 5273, 7. The phrase with [ma]kien, the conjecture of H., seems not to be earlier than the sixteenth century. #ilærede men#, ‘lerdemen,’ OEH ii. 31/9; ‘leredmen,’ 8/83; ‘bokilered,’ 18/2, 19/39. Comp. ‘alle þat weoren ihadded | & þreo biscopes wise[;] a boke wel ilæred,’ L 21856-8; and for the sense, ‘Noldest þu ær gode men for lufe g[od dæ]lan,’ Frag. D 4, and 89/33-44.

21. #fo[re]#. See 2/2 note, and comp. fore after its noun in 4/23.

26. #þæne#. B. takes þære of the MS. as gen. sing. referring to messe; H. as gen. pl. representing ilærede men, but þurh with the genitive is very rare. It might be dative; but Zupitza’s correction is certain; #þæne# refers to Christ, as is required by his and he in the next line, and were is 2 sing. past indicative as at 4/32. Comp. ‘þam soðfæstan gode | þas lac geoffrian þe us alysde fram deaðe,’ Ælfric, Lives, i. 66/284; ‘Ac us is mycel neodþearf ꝥ we geþencan, hu drihten us mid his þrowunge alysde fram deofles anwealde, þa he a rode ahangen wæs ⁊ his ꝥ deorweorðe blod for us ageat,’ AS. Hom., ed. Assmann, 164/7-10; ‘Hwi noldestu gelyfan þinum drihtene, þe wæs ahangen for us and us alysde fram helle wite,’ id. 167/80, 1; ‘alesde us of helle grunde,’ OEH i. 19/8.

29. #fenge#, betook thyself, #þurh--lore#. Comp. ‘Þurh þæs deofles lore, þe þe licode wel,’ Frag. G 14, 43.

30. #Bi#, concerning, comp. ‘bi hwam ure Louerd seið,’ AR 158/9; ‘Nu mon mæi [seg]gen bi þe,’ Frag. C 9; 155/92.

31. Probably not a quotation, but an imperfect reminiscence of ‘Qui enim divitiarum servus est, divitias custodit ut servus,’ Bedae Opera (1612), v, col. 378.

33. #for drihtenes willæn#, for the Lord’s sake (Germ. um Gottes willen). Comp. ‘for willan þæs ælmihtigan,’ Ælfric, Lives, ii. 112/683, and contrast ‘[Nol]de he nefre þærof don his drihtenes wille,’ Frag. C 11.

35. #from# must be taken closely with forloren, not as B. translates, ‘bist du verloren, fern von allem, was du liebtest.’ Comp. ‘And fra folke forlese we þa,’ Surtees Psalter, Ps. 82, v. 5, translating ‘disperdamus eos de gente.’ But it is an uncommon combination.

37. Comp. ‘Mid clutes þu ert for [bu]nden and loþ alle freonden,’ Frag. F 17; and see note on 3/37. For #unwurþ# see 26/258.

38. Comp. 12/11.

39. #þær--scalt#, where thou must remain. H. quotes ‘Nu me þe bringæð þer ðu beon scealt,’ from the Oxford Frag. (The Grave) 5, and for 40 (which is repeated in Frag. E 8) ‘Dureleas is þet hus,’ id. 13.

41-3. B. explains, There worms dispose of all that was most prized by thee, birds friendly to Death, all that thou didst formerly delight with all kind (reading kunde) of sweetness, which thou didst dearly love. But to call worms birds friendly to Death, is a flight of imagination beyond our writer’s power, and the suggested arrangement of the two halves of 41, 42 is artificial, though not without parallel. A comparison of ‘Heo wulleþ freten þin fule hold,’ Frag. C 41; ‘Ac þu heo (i.e. the earth) afulest mid þine fule holde,’ Frag. E 5; ‘Aweilewei þu fule hold,’ OEH ii. 183/15, suggests here fulest alre holde, foulest of all bodies. The meaning is then easy and straightforward. His body was what the dead man had most prized and pleasured, ‘For þin wombe was þin god,’ Frag. D 36; ‘þine þermes, þeo þe deore weren,’ Frag. C 47.

43. #[þære]#. The staff of the first letter has survived in the MS.; it goes below the line.

44, 45 are repeated with small variation in Frag. D 40, 41. For #fornon# see 3/8 note. With the rhyme of 45, comp. ‘Beornen [þer e]fre · ende nis þer nefre,’ Frag. E 49.

Cross-References

3/8, 4/19 (notes) = I. C (Worcester Fragments) 42/231 (note) = VIII. (Poema Morale)

Errata

#Literature:# ... (3) ... *Batiouchkof, Th., Romania, xx. 236; [Th. Romania] [the passage cited as xx. 236 is actually xx. 1 and 513] Bruce, J. D., Modern Language Notes [Languages Notes] #ā# is normally ... #œ̄# is eo in weoþinde 2/10. (OE. #wœ̄þan#). [text has “weoþinde,” and “wœ̄þan”] #ea# ... å-umlaut of #e# is eo in freome, feole, weolen (Bülbring, § 234); u- and å-umlaut of #i# is eo [_first “å-umlaut” misprinted as bold instead of italic; second misprinted as “a-umlaut”_] ... The prefix #ge# is represented by i. [#ge# misprinted as italic instead of bold] The consonants ... k is written mostly before e and ie [“k” misprinted as plain (non-italic)] #Accidence.# ... Neuters as ban 2/21 are uninflected, pl. g. has -e, d., -en [-e, d, -en] ... The def. art. is s. n. þe- þeo- þat, d. m. þen, a. þene- þeo- þat, pl. n. þeo- þa -þa, þeo, þe. [all hyphens printed as shown] The terminations of the verb ... part. pt. -ed, d, t [“-ed, d, t” misprinted as italic]

[IB.] 30. ... ‘Postremo redimens elemosinis [_form “elemosinis” for expected “eleemosinis” is in the source text_] ... Hauréau, Notices, ii. 183/9. [Haureau] 32. ... M. L. Review, V. p. 105 [M.L.]

[IC.] 26. #þæne#. B. takes þære of the MS. as gen. sing. [pære] 33. ... and contrast ‘[Nol]de he nefre þærof [[Nol] de] 35. ... as B. translates, ‘bist du verloren [#b#ist with anomalous bold #b#] 37. ... For #unwurþ# see 26/258. [#unwurp#]

II. SAINT GODRIC’S HYMNS

#Manuscript:# Royal 5 F vii, British Museum; described in Casley’s Catalogue of the Manuscripts of the King’s Library, pp. 88, 89. The pieces, with musical notation, in the order B, A, C, occur in a Latin life of Godric by Geoffrey, a monk of Durham, on f. 85, apparently an inserted leaf. This leaf is in a different hand from that of the life, and belongs to the beginning of the thirteenth century; a hand of the fourteenth century has added a Latin version beneath the lines of the first stanza of A, and onfong above onfo in l. 3. The Royal MS. alone contains C, but the first stanza of A, together with B, are found in two MSS. of the life of Godric, written by his contemporary Reginald of Durham, Laud Misc. 413, Bodleian Library, and Harley 153, B.M., and the first stanza of A, also in another MS. of the same life, Harley 322 B.M., and in Mm. iv. 28, Cambridge University Library. Two MSS. of Roger of Wendover, Douce 207, Bodleian, and Otho B v, B.M., and three of Matthew Paris, C. C. C. Cambridge 26, Nero D v, and Harley 1620 B.M., have the whole of A. Most of these give Latin versions of the English words. The filiation of the English copies has been determined by Zupitza in the exhaustive article mentioned below: he gives a critical text based on the Royal MS.

#Facsimile:# Saintsbury, G., History of English Prosody, frontispiece to vol. i. London, 1906.

#Editions:# Ritson, J., Bibliographia Poetica, 1-4; Hazlitt’s Warton, iii. 154 (reprint of A only); *Zupitza, J., Englische Studien, xi. 401-32.

#Literature:# Zupitza, J., Archiv, lxxxvi. 408 (note on the pronunciation of druð).

#Phonology:# Godric’s Northern dialect has been well preserved, but he would have written scild 3, ric 4, and probably birth 13. #a# is a in scamel (#sćeamol#) 9; #æ# is a in þat, bare 10, at 13. #e# is e in help 3, itredie 10. #i# is i in schild 3, dilie 7, and y (written for i before m) in tymbre 12. #o# is o in godes 4. #y# is i in sinne 7, winne 8. #ā# is a in swa 9, clenhad 6. #ǣ{1}# (WG. ai + i) is e in clenhad 6, iledde 9; #ǣ{2}# (WG. ā) is a in bare 13, þare 14. #ō# is o in moder 2, onfo 3, mod 7, fote 10. #ū# is u in bur 5, hus 12. #eo# before #r# + consonant is e in erðe 10. #æ# + #g# is ai in faire 12; #ēa# + #h#, eȝ in heȝilich 4 (#hēa(h)līce#). Scone 12 is Norse, the OE. is #scīene# (Björkman, Scandinavian Loan-Words, p. 77), and burth 13 is probably so (id., p. 162). Sainte, uirgine, flur, druð, are French. The scribe uses þ initially, ð in other positions, and once th. So he has ƿ generally, but once w in wel. In selfd 8, d is due to anticipation of the following word: in wid 10 d is scribal error for ð.

#Grammar:# moderes is a new genitive (OE. #mōdor#, #mēder#); e of the dative is lost in mod, scamel, burth. fote 10 is pl. d., sinne acc. pl. Of the possessives mine 10 is pl. d., the others are uninflected; min sinne 7 is noteworthy, because the pl. forms at this period are usually inflected. Iledde is a solitary ind. pt. pl., silde subj. pt. sing.; the other verbs are imperatives: rix = rixe. A new present stem appears in onfang; it may be as old in the North as Godric’s time; elsewhere it appears about 1200 A.D.

#Dialect:# Specifically Northern are the representation of #ā#, the form silde and the early simplification of the inflection. The development of #æ#, #ǣ#, and #y# exclude the South.

The long lines 9, 10 are based on a combination of two Latin ones, Críst and | saínte | Marí|e swá || on scá|mel mé | ilédd|è, like Áve | cúius | in fíl|iúm || Proclám|at fíd|es már|tyrúm | but with omission of light syllable in the last foot; and þat íc | on þis ér|ðe né | sílde || wíd mine | báre | fótẹ i|trédie | imitates indú|ti stó|la gé|mína || Dúplex | dícunt | Álle|lúia, but with doubling of light syllables twice and elision.

In Godric’s verse the strict syllabic principle, with its consequent abandonment of alliteration, save for ornament, and its consistent attempt at end-rhyme, has obtained already a complete mastery, whilst in most of the contemporary poetry it is still struggling with the traditional alliterative metric. His methods rank him with the writers of popular topical verse, while the more conscious artists still linger in the old ways.

#Introduction:# S. Godric, the hermit of Finchale, near Durham, died 1170 A.D. In his earlier days he had travelled much as merchant and pilgrim, and learnt to venerate S. Nicholas as the patron of those in peril of the sea. Reginald tells us that the Virgin Mary, accompanied by S. Mary Magdalene, appeared to S. Godric, in the chapel which he had dedicated to her at Finchale, and taught him both words and melody of the first piece (Vita, ed. Stevenson, Surtees Society, no. 20, pp. 117-19). The occasion of the second piece was as follows. His sister Burgwen having died, S. Godric earnestly desired to know what judgement had been passed upon her, and he was privileged to see the Virgin Mary followed by two angels, clothed in albs, bearing the soul of his sister, who, from the centre of the altar in the Oratory, sang the hymn which filled the saint with joy (Reginald, 143, 4). The third piece was unknown to Reginald, but Godric told him that on one occasion S. Nicholas appeared to him, with a company of angels, and bade him join them in their hymns (id. 202).

The literary value of Godric’s verses is small, but they are the first compositions we have in Northern English after the Conquest, and metrically interesting. There are, however, three earlier documents which have been printed by Liebermann in Archiv, cxi. 275-84; the first of these, Gospatric’s letter, is also in the Scottish Historical Review, i. 62, 105, 344, 353; ii. 340: it is possibly pre-Conquest.

1. #marie# has three syllables with the accent on the second; in OE. it is usually Maria with accent on the first (but ‘þæt is MARÍA · mædena felast,’ Be Domes Dæge, 18/293); in Orm naturalized as Marȝe and in ME. generally Marye. From his Latin models Godric takes his pronunciation and the associated uirgine, apparently its first occurrence in English.

2. #ihesu#, the general form for any oblique case, here genitive. #nazarene# is an invariable adj. like cristene, but Orm has, ‘Forr Nazarenuss tacneþþ sannt,’ 308/8865.

4. #heȝilich#, with honour; gloriose in the MS. version. MS. Harley 322 has hegliche and translates cito; the Cambridge MS. hehtlic, wrongly rendered eternaliter as though it represented #ēcelīce#; Zupitza explains it as the adverb of #higð#, ME. on hihðe, in haste; MS. Harley 153 reads hehliche, rendered alte.

5. #xpistes bur#: comp. ‘Maria, Dei thalamus,’ Anselm 303/5; ‘Ave, de cuius intimo | Christus processit thalamo, | in sole tabernaculum | fixit, qui regit saeculum,’ Mone, ii. 234/69-72, which shows that this use of the word came from Psalm xviii. 6 ‘In sole posuit tabernaculum suum et ipse tamquam sponsus procedens de thalamo suo exultavit ut gigas ad currendam viam.’ For xp = Χρ, Chr, see Traube, Nomina Sacra, 156 ff.

6. The translation in some of the MSS. is ‘virginalis puritas, matris flos.’ Godric has in mind, ‘Ave mater per quam via | Immaculata patuit | Quia (Qui à in text) Deo flore | Virginitas effloruit,’ Anselm, 306/93-6; ‘Ave coeleste lilium | Per florem cuius unicum,’ &c., id. 305/153, 4. Christ then is the Virgin’s pure offspring, the mother’s flower to whom the next two lines are addressed, and þe in l. 8 (which Zupitza rejects) presents no difficulty. The abandonment of the vocative for a new subject is artless. The first half of 7 corresponds to, ‘O Christe, proles Virginis | Patris compar altissimi | Per tuae mortis merita | Dele nostra peccamina,’ Anselm, 303/22-5, and the second to ‘Ave mater cuius partus | Deus in coelis habitat | In sanctorum dum mentibus | Dulcedine sua regnat,’ id. 306/111-4.

9. #scamel#, from L. Lat. scamellum, dim. of scamnum, step, stool; it often means the little stool for the hands of cripples, but it is also synonymous with scabellum, which in the phrase scabellum pedum occurs nine times in the Vulgate, with the meaning footstool. In two of these, Psalms xcviii. 5, cix. 1, the Surtees Psalter translates by schamel, Eadwine’s Canterbury Psalter by scæmol, the Paris Psalter by sceamul, the earliest Eng. Prose Psalter by shamel, the Lambeth Homilies (OEH i. 91/11) by fot-sceomele. Comp. ‘Vor þi alle þe halewen makeden of al þe worlde ase ane stol (scheomel, C; schamel, T) to hore uet, uorto arechen þe heouene,’ Ancren Riwle, 166/15, 6. Psalm cix. 1 ‘Dixit Dominus Domino meo: Sede a dextris meis, donec ponam inimicos tuos, scabellum pedum tuorum,’ is quoted five times in the New Testament, and there may be a reference to it here. Zupitza suggests that l. 10 is based on ‘Quoniam angelis suis mandavit de te, ut custodiant te in omnibus viis tuis. In manibus portabunt te, ne forte offendas ad lapidem pedem tuum,’ Psalm xc. 11, 12; but on þis erðe itredie is a weak representation of offendas ad lapidem. Now we are told by Reginald that the angels who bore the spirit of Burgwen halted ‘supra Altaris crepidinem,’ and the Harleian MS. has, more definitely, ‘eam super Altaris crepidinem statuerunt.’ The scamel is simply the footpace of the altar on which she has been set. Reginald’s version points in this direction, ‘Sancta Maria super scamni sedile me deduxit’; as also Geoffrey’s paraphrase, ‘Ne pede calcarem terre contagia nudo (a. l. mundo), | Sic mea me domina deduxit sancta Maria.’ The meaning then is, I have been conducted to this altarstep in such a way that I should not touch this earth with my bare foot. I am divinely protected and lifted above the world. And Godric understood, ‘statim intellexit quod anima sororis suae super coelestibus Angelorum choreis esset associata’ (p. 145).

11. #Nicholaes# occurs in AS. Chron. E. 1067 as Nicolaes. It corresponds to Nicolaus, which in the Latin hymns is always four syllables, and so, I think, it must be here.

#godes druð#: comp. ‘dilectus Dei Nicholaus,’ Aberdeen Breviary; ‘amicus Dei,’ York Breviary, ii. col. 106; ‘et amico Dei magno | Nicolao condole,’ Anselm, 307/168, 9; ‘godes drut,’ Be Domes Dæge, 18/290.

12. #hus# does not rhyme and has no reference to anything in the legend of S. Nicholas. But he was invoked by sailors in peril (York Breviary, ii. 105), and we are told that Godric would often interrupt a conversation by saying ‘Quaeso, fratres, oremus; quia ecce, navis in pelago periclitatur,’ and that, ‘facta oratione, iterum consuevit adjicere, “Nunc navis mea applicuit”’ (Reginald, p. 130). If huð might be restored here, as an un-umlauted form of #hȳð#, harbour, on the evidence of to huþe = ad portum, quoted in Bosworth-Toller from the Lambeth Psalter, it would correspond to ‘O beate Nicolae, | Nos ad maris portum trahe’; ‘Gloriose Nicolae, | Ad salutis portum trahe’ of the Sequence. #tymbre# can mean provide, prepare, see Minot, vi. 2.

13. Zupitza connects this line with druð, but its position requires it to be taken with tymbre or bring, #at# means from, by the merits of (NED i. 529 †11). The singular piety of the infant Nicholas is told in all his legends, ‘quarta et sexta feria tantum semel (= semel tantum) sugebat ubera,’ Aurea Legenda, ed. Graesse, p. 22; ‘Qui in cunis adhuc iacens | Servando ieiunia | a papilla coepit summa | promereri gaudia,’ in the Sequence. And he was helpful in his tomb, ‘Ex ipsius tumba manat | unctionis copia | quae infirmos omnes sanat | per eius suffragia.’

Greek

Χρ [Chr]

Errata

#Manuscript:# ... Harley 322 B.M., [B.M,] #Phonology:# ... #e# is e in help 3, itredie 10. [3.] 4. ... #ēcelīce# [#ecēlīce#]

III. THE PETERBOROUGH CHRONICLE

#Manuscript:# Laud Misc. 636, Bodleian Library (MS. E). Described in Plummer, ii. xxxiv, v. A new hand begins with 1132 and continues to the end in 1155 A.D.

#Facsimile:# Keller, Wolfgang, Angelsächsische Palaeographie, Berlin, 1906: plate xii gives ll. 1-25.

#Editions:# For the earlier editions see Plummer, ii. cxxvii-cxxxv. Thorpe, B., The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 2 vols., London, 1861; Earle, J., Two of the Saxon Chronicles parallel, Oxford, 1865; *Plummer, C., Two of the Saxon Chronicles parallel, 2 vols., Oxford, 1892, 1899; Emerson, O. F., A Middle English Reader, New York, 1905.

#Literature:# Behm, O. P., The Language of the Later Part of the Peterborough Chronicle, Gothenburgh, 1884: Würzner, A., Review of Behm, Anglia, viii, Anzeiger, 18-24: Meyer, H., Zur Sprache der jüngeren Teile der Chronik von Peterborough, Jena, 1889: Horst, K., Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Altenglischen Annalen, ES xxv. 195-218: Robertson, W. A., Tempus und Modus in der altenglischen Chronik, Marburg, 1906. =For History:= Hugo Albus, ed. Sparke in Hist. Angl. Scriptores, Londini, 1723 (comp. Liebermann, F., Ueber ostenglische Geschichtsquellen, Hannover, 1892): Gesta Stephani in Chronicles of the Reign of Stephen, Rolls Series; William of Malmesbury, Historia Novella, Rolls Series; Bridges, J., History of Northamptonshire, 2 vols., Oxford, 1791: Norgate, K., England under the Angevin Kings, 2 vols., London, 1887: Round, J. H., Geoffrey de Mandeville, London, 1892.

#Phonology:# #a# is regularly a, whether oral, faren 9, makede 23, ac 39, pades 59 (*#pad#); or before nasals, Godman 22, nam 42; or before lengthening groups, land 1, enmang 26. It is e in henged 55, 56 influenced by Scand. hengja; æ, which in this text lies near e, in the Scand. loan-word tæcen 120, 139; o in oc 7, but, through influence of Scand. oc, also. #æ# is mostly a, was (34 times), þat (9), at (5), -masse (3), but no instance of after; the pasts, bar 85, spac 141, stal 165; but e, wes (7 times, all between ll. 20 and 76), þet (once), -messe (once), efter (15), analogy of #eft#; and æ, wæs (9), þæt (once), æt (6), -mæsse (once), æfter (once), stæl 132. #e# is generally e, nefe 7, wel 72; before lengthening groups, sende 4, 9, þrengde 61 (*#þrengan#), ferde 166; but æ in bæron 63, 66, wæl 95, 203, þæ 100, æten 124. #i# is regularly i, milce 4, scip 14, but y is sometimes written for it, uurythen 58, suyken 135, wyd 141. #o# is regularly o, ouer 13, smoke 56, o 74 (= #on#); before length. groups, uuolde 3, gold 24. It is a in an 14, a 20; u in durste 22. #u# is regularly u, sunne 15, cumen 18, sturuen 75; before length. groups, wurþen 17, hungær 67, wurthen 147. It is omitted in of uundred 17 (a French spelling). #y# is i, dide 9, 18, bebiriend 22, sinnes 88, mint 98; written y in byrthen 24, yfel 29, 51, 88, fyrst 30, fylden 49, 51, styred 136.

#ā# is normally a, þa 1, sua 3, an 10, athes 46, mare 76, 87, mar 136; before two consonants, halechede 28 (#hālgode#), halechen 87 (#hālgan#), axen 128. It is o in nan more 71, nan mor 6, to 111, 117 through loss of stress. #ǣ{1}# is e, todeld 39, neure 73, flec 74, hethen 77, here, her 190, or æ, æuricman 20, sæ 13, ælc 102, æuez 117 (#ǣfæst#), todælde 178; exceptionally a in ani 52, lastede 68; o in onne 63 (#ǣnne#). #ǣ{2}# is normally e, slep 14, uueron 84, ormete 114, eten 123, or æ, wæron 6, 54, þær 61, 145, ræd 156, but a occurs before #r# some fifteen times, uuare 16, 183, uuaren 50, 75, war 85, 172, thar 40, 84, 136, thare 96, 149, bare 24, forbaren 78, nadres 59, stali 147. #ē# is mainly e, fet 55, slep 86, refen 92, cuen 145; before consonant groups, underfeng 27, uuenden 38, spedde 171, but æ in læt 92, 164, and rounded into eo before rd in feorde 6, 125, feorden 34, 150. #ī# is regularly i, suithe 8, lic 21, for which y is sometimes written, suyðe 49, 92, gysles 157. #ō# is o, com 1, oþre 5, moste 97. #ū# is u, ut 9, abuten 16. #ȳ# is i, litel 35.

#ea# before #r# + cons. is a in quarterne 59, nareu 60; æ in scærpe 61, 64, iærd 78, 102; a generally before lengthening groups, uuard 15, 18, 122, 189, 201, forewarde 157, 185, nowiderwardes 65, but æ in wærd 176, 177, 193. The i-umlaut is represented by æ, e, eo, færd 115, 180, ferd 133, feord 164. #ea# before #l# + cons. is regularly a, als 15, alre 30, alle 45, hals 65; but ælle 43; before #ld#, ald 16, halden 143, 186, 189; but manifældlice 113. Palatal #ea# is a, iaf 10, 128, 129, 158, 205; æ in begæt 96, 98. Palatal #ie# is generally i, y after #g#, gyuen 9, 71, ííuen 144, 158, but gæildes 70, bigæton 170; after #č#, cęste 60. #eo# before #r# + cons. is eo, weorces 50, weorkes 103 (influence of w); e in sterres 16; before length. groups e, erthe 85, eo, eorl 116, æo, æorl 132. To the #wur# group belong wurscipe 11, wurtscipe 93. #w# + #ie#, umlaut of #eo# before #r# + cons. is represented in uuerse 69, wærse, 156, 159. #eo# before #l# + cons. is e in helde 184, æ in sælf 202. #eo#, umlaut of #i#, is e in clepeden 70, here 44; i, y in sithen 153, siððan 32, sythen 79, sylure 24, syluer 40, 53. #eo# after #g# is seen in iunge 178; after #sc# in sculde 18, 38, scort 60; after #w# in suster 170; beionde 196, heom 34, represent #eo# of obscure origin.

#ēa# is mostly e, ded 19, 176, 177, 193, hefed 56, estren 108, forles 140, reuede 173; or æ, ræuede 20, ræflac 29, ræueden 71, ræueres 83, hæued 58, but eo in eom 38, beom 64. Its i-umlaut is seen in flemden 118, herde 163, cæse 74. Palatal #ēa# after #g# is æ in gære 13, 18, undergæton 44; ea in gear 1, a in iafen 44 (#gēafon#).

#ēo# is mostly e, underþeden 3, ben 7, frend 21, helden 32, undep 61, ieden 75, but æ in dær 23, gæde 58, scæ 140 (*#sēo# Anglia, Beiblatt, vii. 331), iæde 165, wæx 127, and eo in heolden 47, 49, deoules 51, preostes 80, freond 151. Its i-umlaut is seen in þestrede 15, 122, dære 74, sæclede 201 and atywede 111 (#ætīewan#). #gīet# is gæt 76, get 38.

#æ# + #g# is æi in dæi 15, 16, 19, 52; ei in dei 11, 14; ai in lai 14, mai 67; æ in sæde 143, sæden 17, 86. #e# + #g# is æi in æie 22, sæin 87, læide 173, læiden 70; ei in eie 196, sei 24. #ongegn# is represented by agænes 48, 130, agenes 30, 180, so togænes 116. #i# + #g# is i in ani 52. #o# + #h# is oh in wrohte 91, bohton 107. #u# + #g# is ug, flugen 76, 135, 147; #u# + #h#, uh in fuhten 117. #ǣ{1}# + #h# is seen in bepaht 4. #ē# + #g# is ei in uureide 2, beien 176. #ī# + #g# is i in fridæi 109. #ō# + #g#, #h# is oh in onoh 63, brohten 21, brohte 92. #ea# + #h# gives uh in muhten 147. #ēa# + #g# is eg in rachenteges 63; #ēa# + #h#, eh, neh 4, fleh 140, 149, 165, hehlice 204; but heglice 112.

#ā# + #w# gives au in saule 40; #ō# + #w# is represented in nouther 78, 154 (#nōhwæðer#), noht 8 (#nōwiht#); #ēa# + #w# in fæumen 117; #ēo# + #w# in neuuæ 93, treuthe 47, 154, treothes 47.

In syllables of minor or no stress, #swā# is reduced to se, alse 38, 55, ware se 172; #o# to e, altegædere 79, enmang 26. æ is written for e, flugæn 82, forcursæd 84, War sæ 85, neuuæ 93, bletcæd 198. In sona 30, a is traditional spelling, instead of e. The suffix in wreccehed 76 represents *#hæd#. Inflectional vowels are mostly levelled to e, but a persists in the infinitives winnan 115, rixan 176, and is found in the pt. plurals, tocan 32, coman 82; o in wæron (11 times), undergæton 44, bræcon 62, brendon 72, heoldon 143, fæston 154; in macod 41, begunnon 210 and the inf. bæron 63, bigaeton 170. In wicci 155 i is miswritten for e.

For #w#, the scribe adds to the OE. symbol ƿ the French uu, which occurs for the most part initially, as uureide 2, but medially in þohuuethere 33, Noruuic 107; and for #sw#, #cw#, su, cu, as sua 3, cuen 145. Once for #cw# he has French qu in quarterne 59. In cusen 201, cosan 204, s has been substituted for #r#, by influence of #cēosan#, #cēas#, &c. An inorganic n appears in conjunction with d in bebiriend[en] 22, þolenden 87. In umwile 70, the prefix is O. Scand. #um#; þumbes 56 (#þūma#) has inorganic b: in hauen, 131, #bb# has passed through f, by analogy of #hafað#, to u; similarly liuen 98. #f# between vowels is generally represented by u, as æuez 117, ræueres 83; but hefed 56, yfel 29: it is also u in æure 69, deoules 51, sturuen 75: it is assimilated in wimmen 53, lammasse 13. #t# is lost in efsones 156, and misplaced in sa`t´hleden 153: OE. #milts# is milce 4. #d# has fallen off in þusen 66, and interchanged with þ in wurþen 17, wurthen 147. The contraction ⁊ = and 47, 198, but the d as well as that of mid 142, 160 was evidently pronounced t when followed by te for þe. #þ#, #ð#, #th# all occur indiscriminately; the last is French. #þ# of the article þe is assimilated to a preceding t, as ð{at} te 3, þatte 8, æt te 13, ⁊ te 5, and often, ⁊ to 111, 117, mid te 142, 160, but not after d in fand þe 90, nor in mid þemperice 160, wyd þemperice 162, where the article coalesces with the noun. In wurtscipe 93, &c., wart 122, t has displaced #þ#; while in wurscipe 11 #þ# has been lost: #þ# often interchanged with d, as uuard 15, 176, 201, nowiderwardes 65, fordfeorde 125, wyd 141, widuten 147. In bletcæd 198 (#bletsod#) c is written for #s#, as in emperice 141. #Sc# is [š], sh in ship; so sculde 7, scip 14, lundenisce 27, scort 60, scærpe 61, scæ 140, -scipe 11, &c. Voiced #s# is once written z, æuezmen 117.

The scribe uses ch, as often in Anglo-Norman, with the value of [k] to represent #c#, #g#, as rachenteges 63 (#racente#, always with k elsewhere in ME.), halechede 28 (#hālgode#), halechen 87 (#hālgan#), folecheden 148 (#folgodon#), Burch 2, burch 163 (#burg#); being all the instances of ch which occur. But he also has c with the same value as folc, com, tocon, macod, &c., and c for #č# (ch in chin), which may be assumed for ricemen 30, cæse 74, circe 78, ceste 60, cild 107, cusen 201, cosan 204, -cestre 133, -rice 9, and for final ic.

Palatal #g# is mostly i, iaf 128, 129, 158, 205, iafen 44, aiauen 168 (#āgiefan#), ííuen 144, 158, iunge 178, iærd 78, 102, beionde 196, iæde 165, ieden 75 (#ge-ēodon#), but g in gear 1, begæt 98, get 38, gæt 76, gæde 58, bryniges 57. In sloghen 118 (#slōgon#) the guttural sound is expressed.

Initial #h# in words of less stress has largely disappeared, so, it 8, &c., but hit 189: it is added in hær 159, here, her 190. #hw# is reduced to w, War 85, wile 69, umwile 70, and is wu in Wua 24. #h# is lost in þur 112 through confusion with the following word, but its guttural character is sufficiently indicated by added c in þurhc 155, 156. þ is written for #h# in þoþ 35, þoþwethere 91, 181; but þohuuethere 33.

#Accidence:# In the strong declension #sunu# m. is levelled to sune s. n. 21; f. sæhte s. n. 184 has added e. Gen. s. -es, as kinges 29; no examples of fem. or neut. nouns. The dative is mostly without distinctive inflection, as land 1, king 2; eie 196, sune 184, rice 177, genge 119 do not differ in termination from the nom., but exceptionally kinge 28, tune 73; lande 10, 76, gære 13, quarterne 59, wiue 179 have e. The dat. fem. forms saule 40, ceste 60, strengthe 99, 145, rode 109, forewarde 157, and the accusatives milce 4, treuthe 47, blisse 175 probably correspond in this text to ME. nominatives with added e, as is the case with the acc. fare 72, helpe 169, sahte 182. Men 23 is probably dat. sing.: the gen. is mannes 65. Sylure 24 is probably for syluer, as at 53. The plural n. d. a. inflection is -es; sandes 34, tunes 70, 72; once s in martyrs 54. Neuters in es are gæildes 70, landes 92, weorkes 103, but wunder 46, 67 pl. a. retains the OE. plural. Fote 165 is prob. pl. d. (= #fōtum#); wintre 69, 89 is a pl. a. corresponding to OE. pl.#winter#; similarly threniht, pl. a. 16. Pining 54, 108 (#pīnung# f.) appears to be treated as a neut. pl., comp. pines 68: freond 151 is OE. pl. a. #frēond#. No example of pl. gen. occurs.

The weak declension of all genders has e in all cases of the singular; n. mone 16; d. messe 11, lammasse 13, smoke 56, pape 95, time 106, luue 109; a. throte 65, cyrce 79. But sunnen (dæi) 198 preserves an old genitive; cyricen 203, circewican 97, horderwycan 98 are datives. The plurals are mostly in -es. n. nadres 59, d. þumbes 56, a. neues 43; but halechen pl. n. 87, estren pl. d. 108 descend from OE. forms.

Most of the adjective inflections are lost, and there is little trace of the distinction between strong and weak. There is no instance of undoubted inflection of a strong adj. in the singular, but ful 56, an 60, scort 60, al 66, 88 are uninflected: micel is invariable. Strong pl. in e are sæhte 35, alle 45, 62, 67, 68, 72, 96, 129, yuele 51, scærpe 61, suilce 86, manie 102, gode 104, wunderlice, manifældlice 112: not inflected are al 15, cnotted 57, hethen 77, mani 103. I take untellendlice 54, alle, ilce 108 as pl. a. The weak declension is exemplified in the singular, lundenisce 27, 139, yfele 88, ilce 200; but ilc 18, &c. Wise 182 is plural; not inflected, æuez 117, &c. onne 63, s. a. f. corresponds to #ǣnne#, rather than #āne#.

The personal pronouns are i 67; he, him; hi pl. n. 37, her pl. g. (#hiera#) 154, heom, and once hi pl. a. 51; scæ 140 (first appearance), hire; it: relatives þe, ð{at}, used also in oblique cases, pl. g. 63, s. d. 116: article s. pl. þe, but pl. to 111, 117 (for þo).

Strong verbs have inf. in -en, but bæron 63, bigæton 170. The dat. inf. with to, but uninflected, occurs 63, 71, 124, 170, 186, 189; part. pr. are sittende 73, ridend 82; pr. pl. lien 97; pt. s. I a. iaf, lai, besæt, begæt, spac: I b. com, nam, bar, stæl, stal: I c. warth, uuard, ward, wærd, wart, fand, wan, belamp: III. fleh, forles: IV. for, toc, suor, forstod: V. underfeng, held, slep, læt, wæx, hatte; pt. pl. usually ends in -en, but on, an, æn also occur; I a. iafen, undergæton 44, drapen, eten: I b. comen, coman 82, namen, bæron, forbaren, stali (error for stalen) 147, bræcon 62: I c. wurþen, fuhten, fuhtten 181, sturuen: II. risen, uurythen, suyken: III. flugen, flugæn 82, 135, cusen: IV. tocan 32, sloghen: V. helden, heolden, hengen: iafen 44, bræcon 62 are possibly subjunctives; bare 24, helde 184 are pt. s. subj.: pp. I b. forholen: I c. begunnon: III. cosan, forloren: IV. suoren, forsworen: V. underfangen.

Weak verbs have inf. in en, but rixan 176, uuerrien 33, sæin 87, sei 24; dat. inf. with to, but uninflected, at 33, 98, 131; pr. s. maket 112, pt. s. in -de, -ede; but besætte 131, wrohte 91: beteht 117, goded 92, henged 55, 56, læd 135, macod 41, mint 98, scatered, to-deld 39 have lost final e; gæde 58 is pt. s. subj.; þole(n)den 1 pt. pl. 87; pt. pl. in -en, as sæden 17, &c.; once in on, brendon 72. bebiriend 22, bebyried 111 are for bebyrieden; comp. byrieden 110, the loss of en is due to the following word; part. pt. in -ed, but forcursæd 84, bepaht 4.

Noteworthy among the Anomala are myhtes 2 pt. s.; muhten pt. pl.; cunnen 1 pr. pl.; durste pt. s.; wæron, uuaren pt. pl.; uuare 16, ware 183, pt. s. subj.; hatte 113, gehaten 11, 202.

#Dialect:# This is, no doubt, substantially the North-East Midland of Peterborough, but with traces of Northern influence, such as the form saule 40, and the extensive representation by a of #ǣ{2}# before r; of #ā#; and of #a# before lengthening groups. The last two perhaps need no such explanation in this early text; they are indeed usual in Orm fifty years later, but the inclination to #o# is marked in other East Midland texts. There is a considerable survival of traditional spelling, especially noticeable in the use of #æ# and in inflections of the verbs.

#Vocabulary:# French are acordede, canceler (pre-Conquest), castles, carited, cuntesse (first appearance), curt (f. a.), emperice (f. a.), justise, iudeus (f. a., OF. judeu, Reimpredigt 14/27), messe, miracles (f. a.), pais (f. a.), prisun, processiun, rentes (f. a.), sot(lice), Standard, tenserie, treson (f. a.), tresor (f. a.), tur, uuerre, uuerrien 33: Latin are crucet (hus) 60, priuilegies 96; anno 94 is an early use. Scandinavian are bathe 52, brendon 72 (OWScand. brenna), bryniges, carlmen (already in OE.), drapen, hærnes, sæht, sæhtlian, tæcen 139, þoh, til (in OE.), um (while).

#Introduction:# The Peterborough Chronicle continues the history for seventy-five years beyond any of the other redactions of the AS. Chronicle. The last section of it here printed differs in form and language from the rest. It is not in annal form; only six dates are given as headings and events are not recorded in their chronological order. Places like 6/29, 7/68, 8/88, 104 show that, at least from the first-mentioned passage, the whole was written down at the same time, and that not long after 1155 (comp. 11/210). Though there is considerable variation in spellings, there is no evidence of progressive change, or of the influence of earlier documents. These variations are distributed quite impartially over the whole piece, and witness to nothing but the strong effort of the scribe to express as accurately as possible the sounds he heard. For I think it was taken down at the dictation of an old monk, who had lived through the Anarchy, by a younger man acquainted with French scribal methods. His mistakes, such as false grouping of syllables 6/20, failure to grasp what was said 7/62, dropping and altering of end syllables under the influence of the following word, 6/22, 8/111, 8/112, 9/147, the omissions shown by the interlineations, are mistakes of dictation. And the brevity and absence of subordination in the sentences, the confusions in construction, as at 7/64-7, the frequent changing of the number of the verbs 7/48, 9; 7/56, 7; 7/60, 61, are hardly consistent with deliberate written composition.

Throughout this time there was an historian at Peterborough. Hugo Albus was a monk there from 1114, and sub-prior from 1134 to 1154. In advanced age he wrote the History of the Monastery in Latin, in which, at any rate, he utilized the English Chronicle. Some have thought him the author of the latter also, but that view is rejected very decidedly by Liebermann (Ueber osteng. Geschichtsquellen, 5). His strongest argument is the difference of style, the comparative smoothness, elaboration, and coldness of the Latin. Some of that may be due to lapse of time, for there is probably fifteen years between the two compositions. Something too should be allowed for the difference in language and in purpose.

1. King Henry returned from Normandy to England in July, 1131. Henry of Poitou had been in turn bishop of Soissons, monk and prior of Cluny, prior of Savigny, abbot of S. Jean d’Angely in 1104, and, ‘quia versutus erat et callidus et ingeniosus,’ as Hugo says, he acquired the archbishopric of Besançon, from which he was expelled by the abbot of Cluny after three days’ tenure. Then he got and lost in the same way the bishopric of Saintes, which he held for a week. In 1123 he came to England as legate for the collection of Rome-scot, and returning in 1127 on the same errand he told the king, to whom he was related, that being old and tired of war and dissension in his own land, he desired to abandon S. Jean for Peterborough. But being made abbot of the latter in 1128, he held both till the monks of S. Jean expelled him in 1131, when he went to Cluny and was detained there till he swore to the abbot that, if permitted to return to England, he would procure the subjection of Peterborough as a priory to Cluny. What he charged the monks with is not known.

2. #burch#: S. Petri Burgum: ‘Medeshamstede monasterium . . quod nunc . . Burch vulgariter nominatur,’ Hugo, 23.

3. #ð# = þat 6/34, 7/60, 64; but þet 11/186 and þæt demonstrative 11/195, each once only.

4. #sende efter#: summoned the monks to Brampton in Hampshire: ‘rex . . misit propter monachos apud Bramtune,’ Hugo, 75. With #efter# comp. 5/9, 6/28.

5. Roger of Salisbury, chancellor 1101; named bishop of Salisbury 1102, but not consecrated till 1107; ‘secundus a rege,’ Henry of Huntingdon, 245; deprived of his castles at Oxford 1139 (6/42); died in the same year. Alexander, nephew of Roger, created bishop of Lincoln 1123; died 1148. #b# = biscop, see 8/83, 9/140. #Seresberi# with inorganic s is Sereberi 6/42, OE. #Searoburg#: Sælesberi in the AS. Chronicle MS. F anno 552 has dissimilated r, while the corresponding Latin is Seleberi: #lincol# is influenced by the common French form, Nicol: on Lincollan occurs at E 627.

6. In #he feorde#, he may be the king, who had to deal with guile: comp. ‘Al es bot a fantum þat [we] with ffare,’ ES xxi. 201/1; ‘Tandem non post multum temporis post haec intellexit rex fraudulentias eius,’ Hugo, 75. If he is the abbot, as in the next sentence, the sense is, he employed guile, so ‘Iactantia, ꝥ is idelȝelp on englisc, þenne mon bið lof-ȝeorn ⁊ mid fikenunge fearð,’ OEH i. 103/29. With the next sentence comp. ‘Cum autem quod cogitaverat perficere non posset, voluit nepotem suum Gerardum haeredem & abbatem facere pro se, ut quod ille non potuit, iste perficeret,’ Hugo, 75.

9. Henry returned to S. Jean. Hugo says he made a good end. His successor, Martin de Vecti, native of the Isle of Wight, usually called Martin de Bec, first prior after its second foundation of St. Neots, a cell to Bec, was received by the monks on June 29th, 1132. #S’# = seint, sometimes sein; a French fashion. In MS. E, from 1066 to 1122, where a new section begins, sc̄e for sancte is normal and frequent, exceptions being Octab{us} sc͞i Martini 1114, Octab{us} sc͞i Joh{ann}is 1117, while sc͞e Marie is treated as a genitive depending on words like nativitas. From 1122 to 1131, S’ is regular save for three entries in 1125 and sc͞e Marie twice as genitive. #neod# = Neotus may be due to the Anglo-Norman tendency to substitute d for final t (Stimming, Boeve de Haumtone, 221). The pronunciation persisted, for in the church of St. Neots in Cornwall, whence the body of the saint was stolen by the people of St. Neots in Huntingdonshire, there is a tablet over his tomb with verses said to have been written in the sixteenth century, in which occurs the line ‘The vulgar call it now St. Need’s’ (Gorham, History of Eynesbury, 340). Sancti Neothi occurs twice in a document, Palaeograph. Society, First Series, pl. 193. The name is now pronounced like mod. Eng. neats.

10. Comp. ‘An preost wes on leoden[;] Laȝamon wes ihoten,’ L 1: ‘he co{m} to þere dune oliueti his ihaten,’ OEH i. 3/5. This paratactic construction with hatan is confined to names of persons and places; it is colloquial and does not involve ellipsis of a relative.

11. #mid micel wurscipe#: ‘cum magno honore et gaudio,’ Hugo, 75: comp. 8/93, 11/188, 197, 207, 108/241.

13. #gære#: 1133 A.D. The eclipse took place on August 2nd ‘ð oþer dei’; it lasted ‘ab hora fere 3 usque ad horam 6,’ Liebermann, Anglo-Normannische Geschichtsquellen, 79. Henry died at Lions-la-Forêt on the night of December 1st, 1135, and was buried January 6th, 1136.

18. #sua dide#: Comp. ‘sua diden’ 10/152; ‘swa ibeoð’ 14/70: similar are 8/84, 110, 9/115, 10/165, 176, 12/v. 5, 140/30, 146/117, 215/27, 217/97. The subject is often omitted when it would represent the same thing as a noun or pronoun in an oblique case in the preceding clause or phrase, as at 16/122, 45/239, 98/71, 102/133, 118/42, 128/5, 140/25, 207/354, 217/94; see KH 1268 note.

19. #Andreas# is the Vulgate form.

20. #þe mihte#: comp. 8/81.

21. #sune . . . frend#: Robert of Gloucester and Hugh, archbishop of Rouen, were at his death-bed.

22. ‘Corpus eius . . . apud Radingum in monasterio cuius ipse devotus fundator largusque ditator exstiterat, sepultum est,’ William of Newbury, 30. #Redinge#, L. Radingia.

23. #wið#: the usual prepositions are against and to, but comp. ‘nalde na mon mis-don wið oðre,’ OEH i. 15/17, 35/2, and see 48/300 note. #dær#. Their peace was soon broken, ‘Ferae quoque, quae in tota prius regione, tanquam in indagine reclusae, cum summa pace reservabantur, nunc quaquaversum turbari, a quolibet passim dispergi, ab omnibus, abiecto metu, prosterni,’ Gesta, 4.

27. #blais#: L. Blēsae: ai is an English graph for ei. Tonic e free (L. ē) passed through ei to oi in most French dialects, but in Norman it stopped at the first stage: in the Norman patois of to-day, L. me(n)sem is meis, mes. Similarly L. Pictavum passed through Peitou to Poitou in central French, but remained at the first stage for some time in Anglo-Norman; see 10/179. Stephen was ‘filius comitis Blesensium’; he was himself ‘comes Boloniensis.’

28. #Willelm curbuil#, Guillelmus Curbuliensis, W. of Corbeil (L. Corboilum), a canon regular of the Augustinian Order, became archbishop of Canterbury in 1123, and died 1136. The subject of #halechede# is lundenisce folc: according to the Gesta (p. 4) they claimed the right to elect. #mide-wintre dæi#, Christmas Day; the pre-Christian name for the festival.

30. #ricemen#, powerful men, nobles: comp. 8/99, 19/34, 206/324. #Balduin de Reduers#, Balduinus de Radvariis; in France, Baudouin de Réviers (near Caen). An e for Fr. ie is characteristic of Anglo-Norman. He was created Earl of Devon sometime before June, 1141. The order of events is here confused. The settlement with David of Scotland by which Stephen granted the earldoms of Carlisle, Huntingdon and Doncaster to David’s son, Henry, was made before Easter, 1136; Hugh Bigod seized Norwich castle in May; Stephen laid siege to Bampton in June and took Exeter in September; Milo of Beauchamp held Bedford castle against the king early in 1138. Stephen was much blamed for his clemency to the rebels at Exeter; see Round, 24.

31. #Execestre# is the spelling of Domesday Book; OE. #Exanceaster#. Similarly gloucestre 9/133, OE. #Glowecester#; Wincestre 9/140 (contrast wincæstre 1/13), and Rouecestre 10/149 (contrast rofecæstre 1/14): all show the Anglo-Norman [ts]. In the two last words the English sound has prevailed.

35. #forstode#: comp. 10/155. Morris translates availed, as in ‘hu micel forstent · and hu mære is · seo soþe hreow,’ Be Domes Dæge, 4/55; but the ME. dictionaries and NED have only hinder, which would answer here.

37. #underfangen#, &c., accepted as ruler, for they thought he would be exactly like his uncle, and he had still something to give away. Elsewhere 6/27, 11/187, 197, 207 used of ceremonious welcome.

39. #sotlice#, foolishly, not ‘soothly’ (Norgate). Stephen lavished it in personal expenditure, payments to mercenaries and subsidies to discontented barons. ‘Habebat enim . . . rex immensam vim thesaurorum, quos multis annis rex Henricus avunculus suus aggesserat; aestimabantur denarii . . . fere ad centum milia libras. Hanc copiam gazarum habenti auxiliatores deesse non poterant; praesertim cum esset ipse in dando diffusus et, quod minime principem decet, prodigus,’ Malmesbury, ii. 540; Annales de Wintonia, 50.

40. #na god#, &c. Comp. 4/20-28.

42. The Oxford Council was held in June, 1139. The Chancellor Roger Pauper was Bishop Roger’s son. The castles surrendered were Devizes, Malmesbury, Newark, Sherborne and Sleaford.

44. #milde#: ‘lenis et exorabilis hostibus, affabilis omnibus,’ Malmesbury, 539. For a modern estimate see Norgate, i. 280.

45. #na iustise ne dide#, inflicted no punishment, as in OF. faire justise, justiser; comp. ‘de li iert faite granz justise: | a glaive sera turmentee | u vendue en altre cuntree,’ Marie, Lais, ed. Warnke, 154/60.

46. #wunder#, dreadful deeds, destruction; a development of OE. #wundor#, portent: comp. 7/67, 66/120; ‘þa scipen wenden to wu{n}dre,’ L 7855; ‘of hem ðat haued ðis wunder wrogt,’ GE 3588. The picture of oppression and desolation which follows was probably drawn from the doings of Geoffrey de Mandeville in the Fen country during Dec. 1143-Sept. 1144 (Round, 214-19). Comp. L 4034-53, an original passage based on the tradition of this evil time. #hi nan#, none of them; extension of the OE. appositional constr. in #hi sume#. Comp. ‘alle he,’ 7/47.

49. Under the treaty of Wallingford one thousand one hundred and fifteen ‘adulterine’ castles were to be razed. With #suencten# comp. 44/250; and Round, 416.

52. #þe--hefden#, lit. whom they thought that they had any property. For this periphrasis comp. 119/58, 9; ‘breðren ꝥ he hefde iherd ꝥ weren of muche speche,’ AR 74/9. The subject of the dependent verb is not expressed.

53. #efter#, with an eye to, to extort; a use mostly with verbs of pursuit or desire, but comp. 60/12, 118/28. See Round, 214 note for instances of these extortions.

54. #pining#, notwithstanding the scribe’s punctuation, is a cognate acc. to pined; with the adj. it is practically equal to unutterably; comp. 8/108.

55. Comp. ‘Sumne hi o{n}hengon be þan fotu{m} ⁊ sumne be þan earmum,’ AS. Hom., ed. Assmann, 171/36. After henged the object heom is omitted as being the subject of the previous verb.

58. #to ð#, to the extent that, so far that, so that. OE. #to þon þæt#.

60. #crucethus#, torture house: the first element is L. cruciatus. Comp. ‘Heo deden heo in quarterne[;] in ane quale-huse,’ L 3769; ‘þis meiden wes bicluset | þe hwile in cwarterne | ⁊ i cwalmhuse,’ SK 600.

62. #him . . . þe limes#, his limbs. Emphatic is ‘þ{a}t his ribbes him to brake,’ KH 1077. #lof ⁊ grim#: the passage is corrupt: grī may be gri{n} or gri{m}; lof can only be for loþ, as Thorpe suggests in his translation, ‘loathly and grim,’ as if two adjectives for the name of the contrivance. Possibly grine has dropped out after grī; the words are associated in ‘Forðon he me alysde of laðum grine’ = ‘Quoniam ipse liberavit me de laqueo,’ Paris Psalter, xc. 3. But more probably the scribe has heard indistinctly an unfamiliar word such as, wæron loþ engins. It is true that engine, device, machine does not appear in English till 1300, but it is found in Anglo-Norman books in the last half of the twelfth century, and it must have come to England with the castle.

63. #rachenteges#, chains, fetters; but the gloss #collario# racentege (Napier, 2062) is noteworthy in the present connexion. #ð . . . onne#, one of which.

64. This may mean, ‘That was adjusted in this way, namely it is fastened,’ &c., but it is not clear. Perhaps it has been lost before is. The contrivance must have resembled that described in Reade’s It is Never too Late to Mend, ch. xi.

66. #bæron#: supply sculde out of myhte.

70. #æure umwile#, at regularly recurring times; it became a regular tax. #tenserie#, protection money. Round, 215, quotes from a letter of Pope Lucius to Archbishop Theobald, ‘Quidam etiam sub nomine tenseriarum villas et homines suos spoliant.’ LL. tensare means, to protect, and, through extortion of money on pretence of protection, to rob. See Round, 414 and NED s.v. Other references for tenserie, tenser are Wistasse le Moine, 2112; Roman de Rou, 9554.

71. Worcester was burnt in 1139, Nottingham in 1140 and 1153, Winchester in 1141, Oxford in 1142, Cambridge by Geoffrey in 1144.

72. Comp. ‘Ærst aswond þat corn here[;] ȝeond al þas kineriche. | þer aft{er} hit wes swa deore[;] & al folc gon to deȝen. | swa þat þu mihtes fare[;] fulle seouen nihte | ꝥ no mihtest þu þurh nene chep[;] finde neouwer na bred. | an b{ur}ȝe and on londe,’ L 31793-31801; ‘ꝥ folc ut of londe[;] flah on ælche ænde. | monie hundred tune{n}[;] bi-læued weoren of monne{n}. | þat lut me uinde mihte[;] me{n} uaren ȝeond londe,’ L 31845-50.

75. #ieden on#, ‘went about asking,’ Norgate. This meaning requires the verbal subst.; rather, ‘subsisted on,’ with on of manner.

78. #ouer sithon# is usually taken as, everywhere subsequently, which is not suitable here. Earle equates it with OE. #ofer sīþum#, as meaning times past reckoning, but #ofer# in the sense of surpassing requires an acc., and the phrase is without parallel. Perhaps sithon is a weak acc. sing. of #sīþ#, which is often weak in ME.; the phrase might then mean, contrary to experience. For #ofer# in that sense, comp. ‘ofer aþas ⁊ treowe’ = ‘contra fidem iurisiurandi,’ Bede, 148/10. William of Ypres burnt Wherwell, plundered Abingdon, and tried to burn S. Albans. Geoffrey de Mandeville sacked Ramsey in 1143; ‘nec ecclesiis nec coemiteriis parcebant,’ Ann. de Wintonia, 52; Malmesbury, ii. 540. #forbaren#, abstained from injuring; comp. ‘That the pore is thus i-piled, and the riche forborn,’ Pol. Songs, 337/312.

81. #ouer#, written for ower, anywhere. OE. #āhwær#. #Gif#, &c.: comp. ‘Ubicunque alter alterum in itinere conspicebatur, totus protinus contremiscere, meticulose visum effugere, vel prope in silva vel in divortio aliquo latere, usquequo, resumpto tandem spiritu, viam coeptam tutior carperet, et audacior,’ Gesta, 41.

83. #leredmen#: see 4/20.

84. #oc--þarof#, lit. but to them was nothing concerning that; it concerned them not at all. Comp. 46/292; ‘ne beo ha{m} nawt of’ = let them be unconcerned, 70/167; ‘þe dead (d.) nis nout of, þauh he ligge unburied’ = the dead does not mind, AR 352/5; ‘þe deade nis nan more of scheome þen of men[s]ke,’ AR 352/29 (in both places Morton wrongly takes nis as ne wis); ‘Wha summ itt iss þatt mann, þatt niss | Nohht off to wurrþenn fullhtnedd,’ Orm 140/4074. Similarly 180/131; ‘lutel me is of ower luue, leasse of ower laððe,’ SJ 27/14. With #of# comp. 44/260, 164/256.

86. #xpist slep#. Said by the wicked, H. of Huntingdon, 277; by the good, W. of Newbury, i. 45. See Norgate, i. 335 note, and comp. ‘Sed . . . unicum mihi consilium superest, Deum hominem . . . exorare: qui velut in navi dormiens, fidelium precibus excitandus est, ut procellam componat naufragantis Ecclesiae,’ John of Salisbury, Metalogicus, 206.

89. #suinc#: ‘cum maximo labore abbatiam tenuit, sed adiuvabant eum monachi sui, et tamen invenit eis abbas, et hospitibus, quicquid necessarium fuit, et erat caritas magna in domo illa,’ Hugo, 76.

91. #carited#: d is written for ð: similar forms are ‘kariteþ,’ ‘cariteþ,’ Orm 3000, 3008; ‘kariteð,’ VV 19/34, &c.; ‘Natiuiteð,’ Chron. E 1116; ‘plenteð,’ GE 3709. This ð represents the final t (sometimes d) of the corresponding French words in the older texts, which had a voiced [ð] or a voiceless [þ] sound according to the beginning of the following word. This final t disappeared from Central French in the eleventh century; it lingers on in Anglo-Norman texts of the twelfth: see Behrens, Beiträge, 175, 6. The word may mean alms, but caritas had the technical meaning of commemoration feasts, ‘epulae solennes et extraordinariae’ ‘caritativae comestiones,’ Ducange, at the anniversaries of benefactors, &c., ‘gaudies.’ #þoþwethere#, nevertheless: ‘et in omnibus tribulationibus hiis operatus est in ecclesia,’ Hugo, 76. #sette þarto#, assigned for that purpose; ‘ad ecclesiam faciendam, villam Pilesgatam & omnes decimas & omnes offerendas . . . constituit,’ Hugo, 78.

92. #Rentes# are incomings generally, not rent. #goded#, endowed, i.e. with the aforesaid lands, tithes, and offerings. Comp. 72/190 for another meaning. #læt it refen#, had it covered (with lead). Thorpe translates ‘had it provided with vestments.’

94. The fire took place on August 4, 1116. The convent entered the church (Martin built the choir only and the transepts were added by his successor) on June 29th, 1140, according to the text and Hugo, but the Chronicon Petroburgense and John the Abbot say 1143.

95. #fram#, by. Comp. ‘wearð Romeburg getimbred from twam gebroðrum,’ Orosius, 64/21; ‘Her swealt Herodus from him selfum ofsticod,’ AS. Chron. A 3; ‘I sothlike set am for-þi | King fro him,’ Surtees Psalter, ii. 6 (= ‘constitutus sum rex ab eo’).

96. The termination of #priuilegies# is due to direct borrowing of the technical term from L. privilegium. The two documents are printed in Hugo, 78, 82, and the former also in Dugdale, Monasticon, i. 390. They are dated A.D. 1146: Eugenius was elected in 1145. The former protects the lands, property, and rights of the monastery in general, and these are given in detail: the latter recounts and confirms that part of the properties which was specially allocated for the expenses of the sacrist (#ciricweard#) (‘terras, quae ad sacristiam pertinent,. . . vel decimas, vel servitia plurimorum, & domus,’ Hugo, 82). #of#, for, relating to.

97. #lien to#, appertain to: a phrase of the charters. B-T. quotes, ‘mid eallon ðá[m] þingon ðe ðǽr fyrmest tólæg,’ Kemble, vi. 190; ‘ǽlc ðára landa ðe . . . læg intó Cristes cyrcean,’ id. iv. 232. #gif#, &c., if he might have lived longer, he meant to do the same for the office of store-keeper; ‘similiter & redditus cellerarii & camerarii affluenter augere & Romae confirmare, si posset vivere, cogitaverat,’ Hugo, 87. The camerarius had to keep the stores of clothes and bedding for the monastery, the thesaurarius was an officer in charge of the sacred vessels and the plate under the direction of the sacrist. Martin did assign two manors for the provision of clothes, but he did not live long enough to get the protection of a privilegium for the appropriation. #Hordere# is a word of wide application; in Wright, Vocabularies, 330/18, it glosses cellerarius; here it is the reilþein (vestiarius) of the Chronicle, 1131. For the purpose of these special appropriations see Plummer’s note, ii. 311.

98. He recovered property of the Abbey in the shape of lands which powerful men possessed by force. In Domesday the Abbey has holdings at Cotingeham (Cottingham, Bridges, ii. 208), Ascetone (Easton-Mauduit, id. 163), Erdiburne (Irthlingborough, id. 235), Stanwige (Stanwick, id. 195), and Eldewincle (Aldwincle, id. 208), all in Northamptonshire. They are all in one group in the first privilegium, duly protected under threat of excommunication. #Malduit# (Maledoctus; Hugo says Maledictus) was constable of the king’s castle of Rockingham and warden of the Forest. #Rogingham# is Roegingahám in a charter dated 811, Kemble, i. 243. Hugo has Rogingeham 43, Rochingham 88, Rokingham 89. Hugh de Waterville, lord of Adington Parva and Thorp Waterville, was probably kin of the succeeding abbot, 11/202. He paid to Peterborough sixty shillings per annum for Aldwincle (‘LX solidos de Aldewincle reddendos annuatim,’ Hugo, 88). Dele stop after sol in text.

102, 3. ‘Conventum quoque de viginti monachis augmentavit,’ Hugo, 88, 89. #winiærd#. For vine-growing in England see Plummer, Bedae Opera, ii. 5, and Anglia, Beiblatt, xvii. 208. The #weorkes# were domestic buildings, ‘cameram abbatis & aulam ad familiam aedificavit.’ #wende#, ‘Forum mutavit,’ Hugo, 88. He changed the site of the town and afterwards of the market, it is supposed, from the east to the west of the monastery.

106. #Stephnes kinges#: see 15/87 note.

107. #iudeus# is pl. of iudeu, Orm’s Judeow, Judew, OF. Judeu. English forms Judeas pl. a., Judea pl. g., occur in the early part of MS. E. #bohton#. In Thomas of Monmouth’s Life of S. William of Norwich, ed. Jessop and James, the mother of the boy is said to have been persuaded, by a gift of three shillings, into letting him go away with the supposed cook of the Archdeacon of Norwich, to be a helper in his kitchen, p. 17.

108. #pining#: see 7/54. #ð#, with which; see 46/292.

109. #langfridæi#: see 85/101. The date in the Life is Wednesday before Easter, March 22nd, 1144, but the chroniclers differ as to the year (Plummer, ii. 311). A miraculous light in the sky led to the discovery of the body. The charge of ritual murder at large has been investigated by Dr. Strack in Das Blut im Glauben und Aberglauben der Menschheit, München, 1900.

111. The body was first buried in the wood where it was found, then about a month after in the monks’ cemetery, and after six years it was translated to the chapter-house, probably the occasion referred to in the text. It was afterwards moved twice at least.

114. David crossed the Tweed in April, 1138. The battle of the Standard was fought at Cowton Moor on August 22nd.

116. #Albamar#: ‘Willelmus de Magna Villa, comes de Alba Mara apud Gisortum,’ Ricardus Divisiensis, 389; William of Albemarle (Aumale), recently created Earl of York. #þe#, to whom; see 46/292.

117. #euorwic#: OE. #Eoforwic#; see Zachrisson, 63. Other English captains were Walter Espec, Walter of Ghent, Ilbert de Lacy, and Robert Bruce. The English were greatly inferior in numbers to the invaders.

120. Robert landed with the empress at Arundel in September, 1139. Leaving her at Arundel he rode across the south of England to Bristol with a few followers; ‘ediscensque [Stephanus] a veris exploratoribus comitem cum suis evasum Bristoam sub nocturno silentio tetendisse . . . ipse ad capiendum comitem totus intendit,’ Gesta, 55.

122. #wart it war#: comp. 48/330, 203/204; #it# = of it, may be regarded as an acc. of reference, comp. 192/518, 200/116.

124. March 20th, 1140.

125. William of Corbeil died in 1136; Theobald was elected Dec. 24th, 1138, and consecrated, Jan. 8th, 1139.

126. #the bec#: the monastery of Le Bec-Hellouin; the village and commune of to-day have the same name. It is stated that the article appears where bec means a beak or wedge of land at the junction of two streams, but not where it is the Scandinavian loan-word meaning stream. The rule does not hold here, for the monastery was built ‘in vallem ad rivum, qui Beccus dicitur,’ Robert de Torigni, 27.

128. The king gave Ranulf des Gernons all that he asked for, save the earldom of Carlisle, which was held by Henry of Scotland. William de Roumare (de Rollonis mara: o for ou is Anglo-Norman) was his elder half-brother. The king appears to have made him Earl of Lincoln about this time. The brothers got into Lincoln Castle by a trick, and Stephen at the appeal of the men of Lincoln besieged them there. The battle was fought on Feb. 2nd, 1141.

135. Comp. ‘plurimis autem antequam manus consererent, ut comes Mellonensis et Willelmus ille de Ypra, proh pudor! fugitantibus,’ Gesta, 70; ‘Capto itaque rege, tota Anglia concussa obstupuit,’ id. 71.

137. #þer efter com.# She had been in England more than four months. The news of Stephen’s capture reached her at Gloucester, and her brother joined her there with his royal captive on Feb. 9th. The interview with Bishop Henry (9/140) took place before Winchester on March 2nd. The empress was elected queen, with an interim title of ‘domina,’ on a second visit to Winchester on April 8th at the Great Council summoned by the bishop (Round, 70). At this meeting was pronounced the excommunication of l. 143. The empress reached London some time in June and fled from it on the 24th. She reached Winchester on July 31st, and laid siege to the bishop’s stronghold, but was herself besieged by Stephen’s queen (l. 145), and fled on the 14th of September, when Robert of Gloucester was taken.

139. #Angou#: the scribe has made a better attempt in Angæu 10/167, 176. His predecessor wrote Angeow at 1111 E and eleven times after (ge = Fr. j).

150. #minstre.# She was at Ludgershall, Devizes and Gloucester in her flight. The last is, no doubt, meant.

151. The negotiators were Stephen’s wife and Mabel, Countess of Gloucester.

152. Early in 1142, when Stephen was on his way to York, he was met at Stamford by Ranulf and William de Roumare. There the king and the earl bound themselves by oath to mutual fidelity (Round, 159). But the barons compelled the king to proceed against him at Northampton in 1146. He was seized and only regained his freedom at the price of surrendering his castles. He gave up Lincoln at any rate. On his release he attacked Lincoln and Coventry. The Gesta (p. 124) calls the ‘wicci ræd’ of the barons ‘sanum consilium.’

154. #treuthes fæston#, made solemn declaration of fidelity: comp. ‘To the kyng Edward hii fasten huere fay,’ Pol. Songs, 214/9; ‘treowðe staðeluæste,’ L 9819.

155. #hamtun#, Northampton: p in the modern spelling is parasitic.

157. #to ð forewarde#, on condition: comp. ‘Al Denemark i wile you yeue, | To þat forward þu late me liue,’ Havelok, 485, 6. This rare use of to has probably developed from the notion of associated with.

159. #dide . . . sculde#: ‘did worse here than he should,’ Thorpe. For #hær sculde#, read ær dide: comp. her, 11/190.

163. Oxford Castle was surrendered to Matilda in the summer of 1141, and Stephen’s men entered the city, Sept. 26th, 1142. Matilda escaped a few days before Christmas 1142; she left England early in 1147.

164. #sægen#, if a noun, OE. #sægen#, means report; it is a verb at 8/106, and may be here.

165. #mid rapes#, a detail peculiar to the Chronicle.

167. By 1144 Geoffrey of Anjou was completely master of Normandy. The Angevin house was not popular there. #here thankes#, with their goodwill, willingly: thankes is an adverbial genitive, here, poss. adj. Comp. 116/155, 153/70: with gen. noun, ‘warschipes vnþonkes,’ 118/42; with gen. of possessive pron. ‘þines þonkes,’ OEH i. 17/35; ‘hares unþances,’ 14/56: absolutely, ‘sume þances sume unþances,’ AS. Chron. MS. C 1066: uninflected, ‘unþonc hise teð,’ HM 47/26, comp. ‘þat him wes mucheles unðonc,’ L 22370; ‘mid his gode þonke,’ 34/69.

170. #suster#, Constance, sister of Louis VI of France. The betrothal took place in 1140 when Eustace was about ten years old. The attempt to secure Normandy took place in 1151. Just before his death, Aug. 18th, 1153, Eustace ravaged East Anglia and tried to extort money from Bury St. Edmunds.

174. #Canteberi#: see 1/14.

176. #rixan#: Stephen sought in vain to have Eustace crowned in 1152. Geoffrey of Anjou died Sept. 7th, 1151; Matilda of Boulogne, May 3rd, 1152. Louis VII was divorced from Eleanor of Aquitaine, March 18th, 1152; she married Henry of Anjou at Whitsuntide. She sent for Henry, and he hastened to Poitiers where the marriage took place; ‘ad nuptias ducis quas concupierat convolavit,’ Ann. Monast. iv. 28.

180. Henry landed in England Jan. 6th, 1153. He captured Malmesbury, demolished Stephen’s tower at Wallingford, took Stamford and Nottingham. By Nov. 6th he had come to terms with Stephen at Wallingford.

184. ‘Rex Stephanus ipsum ducem . . . adoptavit in filium,’ Gervase, 1375; ‘Ducem siquidem Normannorum rex in filium arrogavit,’ R. de Diceto, 527. #sib ⁊ sæhte#: comp. ‘betere weore sæhte[;] þene swulc vnisibbe,’ L 9844, and see 70/158.

188. #lundene#, L. Lundonia: Lundone 656 E, but generally with -en.

190. Comp. ‘Annis enim iam plurimis fere nudo regis nomine insignis, tunc recipere visus est huius rem nominis, et quasi tunc primo regnare coepit,’ W. of Newburgh, 91. #æuert#, ever as yet: comp. 218/135, 221/248, with #her# (#ǣr#), ever at any time previously.

194. #fauresfeld#, Faversham, where Stephen and his queen founded a Clugniac abbey in 1147, is meant: in the charters Febresham, Feferesham, Ferresham. Lambard, Perambulation, 270, says it is called in Saxon Fafresfeld, a statement probably founded on this place. The mistake was probably due to confusion with the place now called Fairfield, a manor once belonging to Christ Church, Canterbury, which Hasted (iii. 486) says was anciently called Feyrsfelde.

196. Comp. 6/22.

198. #sunnen dæi#, December 19th. Martin died Jan. 2nd.

201. #innen dæis#: Thorpe translates ‘within a day’; that is the sense required: comp. ‘Eodem vero die, quo [Martinus] obiit, convenit omnis congregatio in unum, ut quempiam ex suis eligerent . . . ne propter moram aliquis extraneus per pecuniam se inmitteret,’ Hugo, 89. But the text does not give that sense, and innen with a gen. is strange: read, ‘in an dæis wile,’ within the space of one day.

202. William de Waterville was one of Henry’s chaplains at the time of his appointment. He belonged to a family founded by Ascelin (Azzelino) de Waterville, who was a tenant of Peterborough in 1086 at Thorp Waterville in Northamptonshire. Hugo, 8/100, was a descendant of his. William de Waterville was deposed in 1175 for sheltering a relation who had incurred the king’s displeasure (Hoveden, ii. 86).

204. #sone#: on the day after his election.

206. #bletcæd#: by Robert of Chesney, bishop of Lincoln. The new abbot made a tour of the surrounding monasteries, which had many interests in common with his own: Ramsey, Benedictine Abbey in Huntingdonshire (Dugdale, ii. 546); Thorney, Benedictine Abbey in Cambridgeshire (D. ii. 593); Spalding, Benedictine Priory in Lincolnshire (D. iii. 206). The gap before Spallding may be filled by Bourn, that after it by Sulby baresworth. Sulby Priory, to the south-west of Peterborough, is said to have been founded about 1155; it was connected with the Waterville family and had extensive possessions in Baresworth; possibly the abbot’s visit was connected with its inauguration. The last gap may have held Croyland. In the last two lines the italics indicate letters in the MS. which are very faint and doubtful. #Ramesæie# corresponds to L. Rameseia, Fr. Rameseie, in contemporary documents: #Torney# is mostly Torny in Domesday; sometimes in L. Torneia.

Cross-References

15/87 (note) = V. (A Parable) 48/300 (note) = VIII. (Poema Morale)

Errata

#Phonology:# ... þat (9), at (5), -masse (3) [(5) -masse] æ, wæs (9), þæt (once) [æ misprinted as bold instead of italic] æ in bæron 63, 66 [œ] ... #eo#, umlaut of #i# [#i# misprinted as italic instead of bold] #ā# + #w# gives au [“au” misprinted as plain (non-italic)] For #w# ... þumbes 56 (#þūma#) has inorganic b [inorganic m] In wurtscipe 93 &c., wart 122, t has displaced #þ# [“wart 122” added by author] Most of the adjective inflections ... onne 63 [“onne” misprinted as bold] Strong verbs .. I c. warth, uuard, ward, wærd, wart [“wart” added by author] pt. pl. usually ends in -en [“-en” misprinted as italic] V. helden, heolden, hengen: iafen 44, bræcon 62 [braecon] Weak verbs ... gæde 58 is pt. s. subj. [final . invisible] Noteworthy among the Anomala are myhtes 2 pt. s.; muhten pt. pl.; cunnen 1 pr. pl.; durste pt. s. [final . missing in first “pt. s.”, invisible in second] #Dialect:# ... representation by a of #ǣ{2}# before r [æ{2}] 9. ... exceptions being Octab{us} sc͞i [superfluous comma after “sc͞i” deleted by author] 20. #þe mihte#: comp. 8/81. [Author’s Corrigenda: Dr. Bradley’s restoration in M. L. Review, xii. 73, þa þestreden sona þas landes, appears to me certain.] 95. #fram#, by. [“by” printed in bold] 97. ... B-T. quotes, ‘mid eallon ðá[m] þingon ðe ðǽr fyrmest tólæg,’ [ðær] 201. ... ‘in an dæis wile,’ within the space of one day. [corrected by author from “hwile”]

IV. CHARTER OF HENRY THE SECOND

#Manuscript:# Harleian Charter 111 B. 49, British Museum. The upper half contains a version in Latin, excepting the passage ‘sacha . . . frimþa,’ which is in English; the names of six witnesses are appended. On the lower half is the present text; on the back, ‘carta reḡ. H. ii de sacha & socne.’ The document is in a French record hand, and the writer was evidently little versed in the insular script. He uses both þ and th, ƿ and w.

#Facsimile:# Keller, plate xiii.

#Editions:# Hickes, G., Linguarum Vett. Septentrionalium Thesaurus, i. p. xvi; Dugdale, W., Monasticon, i. 111; Birch, W. de Gray, Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature, New Series, xi. 312; Stratmann, F. H., Anglia, vii. 220; Earle, J., A Handbook to the Land Charters, 346 (with the Latin); Kluge, F., Mittelenglisches Lesebuch, 5.

#Phonology:# The language is not contemporary, for the drafter, who was not the scribe, used as a model a charter (H^2) in the same terms, granted to William of Corbeil (see 6/28) and the monks of Christ Church by Henry the First in 1123 A.D., a copy of which exists in Campbell Charter, xxi. 6, B.M., reproduced in Facsimiles of Royal and other Charters in the British Museum, i. no. 6, and printed in Lye’s Dictionary, ii. appendix. H^2 differs from our text in its dialect, which is mainly Southern, with some Kentish forms, in greater regularity of grammar, in details of names and relationships, but in little else. It was derived from a charter (H^1) granted to S. Anselm and Christ Church by Henry the First, c. 1107 A.D., extant in Campbell Charter, xxix. 5, and Cotton Charter, vii. 1, printed in the Journal of the British Archaeological Association, xxix. 242, also imperfectly in Hickes and in Dugdale, i. 109, 111. It also shows traces of its Kentish origin. But it was ultimately based on the Charter (E) granted by Edward the Confessor to Archbishop Stigand, c. 1052 A.D., Campbell Charter, xxi. 5, reproduced in Facsimiles of Ancient Charters in the British Museum, part iv, no. 38, and printed in Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature, i., New Series; and the chain extended back to the first extant example of the formula, the charter (C) of Cnut to Æthelnoth, A.D. 1020, preserved by a copy in a Canterbury book, the MacDurnan Gospels (now at Lambeth), and printed in Earle, 232.

There is another copy of the present document, but fragmentary and decayed, in the muniment room of Canterbury Cathedral.

H^1, H^2, and the Harley Charter (H^3) here printed, have been accepted by Dölle in his book, Zur Sprache Londons vor Chaucer (Morsbach’s Studien, xxxii), as specimens of the English of the London Chancellery. As the editors of the Facsimiles of Royal and other Charters point out, H^1, H^2 are in a book hand, not that of an official court scribe; they are without witnesses or place of execution. Their seals do not prove them to be the original grant, for both H^1 and its duplicate Cotton Charter, vii. 1, have seals, and a note on the back of the latter appears to indicate that it is one of four copies. The duplicate of H^3 also has its seal, attached, like the others, in an unusual way to the left side of the document, as if to show that both documents and seals are replicas of the original. They are, in fact, copies, and the natural assumption is that they were made at Canterbury to provide against risk of loss or damage to the actual grant.

H^3 is on a different footing: it is properly attested, its place of origin is given, and its seal is attached in the usual way at the foot. But it is not in a charter hand, and its language shows that it was prepared by a Canterbury scribe to be placed before the king for his acceptance.

It should be noted that the English words from saca to frimtha also appear in the Latin version with the following variants: Sacha, Wude, felde, tolnes, grithbreches, thiofes, flemene.

The charter is then a patchwork of old and new; its phonological position may be defined by an attempt at a version in Late West-Saxon. Ic Henric · þurh Godes gife Englalandes cyng · grēte ealle mīne bisceopas ⁊ ealle mīne scīrgerēfan ⁊ ealle mīne þegnas frencisce ⁊ englisce · on þām scīrum þe Þeobald ærcebisceop ⁊ se hīrēd æt xpīstes cyrican on Cantwarabyrig habbað land inne frēondlice · ⁊ ic cȳðe ēow þæt ic hæbbe heom geunnen ꝥ hi bēon ǣlc þāra landa wurðe þe hi hæfdon in Ēadweardes cynges dæge · ⁊ on Willhelmes cynges mīnes furðor ealdefæder · ⁊ on Henrices cynges mīnes ealdefæder · ⁊ sace ⁊ sōcne · on strande ⁊ on streame · on wudum ⁊ on feldum · tolles ⁊ tēames · griðbryces · ⁊ hāmsōcne · ⁊ fōrstealles · ⁊ infangeneþēofes · ⁊ flȳmena fyrmðe · ofer heora āgene menn · binnan burgum ⁊ butan · swā ful ⁊ swā forð swā mīne āgene wīcneras hit sēcan sceoldon · ⁊ ofer swā fela þegnas swā ic heom tolǣten hæbbe · And ic nelle ꝥ ǣnig mann ǣnig þing þǣrof tēo · butan hī ⁊ heora wīcneras þām þe hi hit betǣcan willað · ne frencisce ne englisce · for þām þingum þe ic hæbbe Crīste þās gerihta forgifen minre sāwle to ēcere ālȳsednesse · ⁊ ic nelle geþafian ꝥ ǣnig mann þis ābrece be mīnum fullan frēondscipe. God ēow gehealde.

It will be seen that the OE. phonetic position is largely maintained; noteworthy divergences are: #æ# as e in hebbe, ercebisceop; as a in habbe (occasionally in OE.), ealdefader; as ea (= #e#) in eafdon, #æ# + #g# in deȝe. ænglelandes (also in H^1, H^2) shows a survival of primitive #æ#, characteristic of the south-east. en 12/6 for #on# is due to loss of stress; Layamon 8059 has æn; #e# + #g# is ei in þeinas. #y# is e in grithbreces of the Latin text and H^1, H^2 (but grithbrices is OE. #griðbrice#); i in Cantuarabirȝ. #ǣ# is e in bitechan, enig, eni, echere, toleten, þer; #ȳ#, e in keþe. #ea# before #l# + cons. is a in forstalles; frimtha is descended from #fiermð# with metathesis of r: the others have fermþe and H^1 also feormþe, forms without umlaut: #giefu# appears as ȝefu, but #giefan#, forgifan. #heora# is heara (early Kentish hiara) beside heore; scolden answers to a non-diphthonged OE. form. #flīema# gives flemene in the Latin text (so E, H^1, H^2, the latter also flæmene) and fleamene: alisendnesse is OE. #ālīesednesse# (but once #ālȝsendnesse#), the others have alysednesse. #ēo# is e in frenscipan: io in thiofes of the Lat. text, ia in thiafes; #ā# + #w# is au in saule; #ēo# + #w# appears as geau (ȝeu, Poema Morale, Digby MS.) with ȝ borrowed from the nom., helped, no doubt, by the general tendency exemplified in gearfoþe, ungeaþe of the MK. gospels.

#w# is written u in Cantuarabirȝ; an inorganic n is inserted in alisendnesse; #f# is u in geþauian, scirereuan. The dentals are confused: þ for #t#, t for #þ#, t for #d#, d for #þ# appear in theames, theo, teobalt, hiret, habbad, ford; #d# is omitted in frenscipan, as in stan, halen, &c., of the MK. gospels; #č# is written ch in chyrchen, bitechan, echere, ich, grithbriches; the scribe apparently uses ch for [k] in Sacha of the Latin text; #h# is omitted in eafdon; cht for #ht# in gerichtan is an attempt to indicate the guttural sound.

The inflections of OE. are largely preserved, but levelling of #a# to e is shown in fele, fleamene, fullen, heore, lande (pl. g.), þare, Wicneres, while a is written for older #e# in frimtha, saca, wurþa, and o for #e# in geunnon. OE. #um# is an in burgan, feldan, minan, sciran, þingan, wudan; #þām# appears as þan. Weak forms are gerichtan, frenscipan; ȝefu is nom. form for accusative.

#Dialect:# The levelling of #y#, #ȳ#, #æ#, #ǣ# to e; #ea# as a, the old Kentish #io#, #ia# in thiofes, thiafes, heara point to Kent. The absence of v, z for #f#, #s# initial, the retention of #a# in lande, strande, and of #n# final either mark an early stage in the dialect, or show the conservative influence of the older documents.

#Introduction:# King Henry the Second grants, or rather confirms, to Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, and the monks of Christ Church their lands and privileges of jurisdiction. The date is February, 1155 (Eyton, Itinerary of Henry II. 5) and the place York. For alisendnessee 12/15, read alisendnesse.

1. #gret . . . mine#, verb of the third person, pronoun of the first: so CE; it is formal, and not a scribe’s error as Stratmann thinks; H^1, H^2 have grete. #bissceopas#, &c.: in Latin, ‘Ep{iscop}is · Com{itibus} · Bar{onibus} · Justic{iariis} · Vi{c}e{comitibus} · Cet{er}isq{ue} suis fidelib{us}.’

3. #þe . . . inne#, in which; see 1/3 note. E has þær . . . inne.

4. #Cantuarabirȝ#; see 1/14.

5. #ꝥ# = þet. #ælc#, each of them: the archbishop and the monks severally, as well as jointly; so H^1, H^2; E omits.

6. #kinges#: see 15/87 note.

7. #saca# and the other genitives are, like lande, dependent on wurþa. Each of these words has a threefold aspect: (1) the simple meaning of the word itself; (2) the right to adjudicate in connection with that; (3) the right to profit by fee or fine arising out of such jurisdiction. #Sacu# and #sōcn# are glossed, litis, contestatio and quaestio, inquisitio respectively. #Sōcn# is the leading word and #sacu# was added to round off the phrase; together they express a single idea, inquisition into a disputed matter (sometimes the area of jurisdiction); then the right to adjudicate privately within one’s own jurisdiction on certain cases which arise within it, and the right in consequence to appropriate the proceeds in fines, &c. #Toll#, tax on merchandise, sometimes exemption from such, the right to collect it, the profit arising therefrom. Sometimes merely the right to tallage one’s villeins. #Tēam#, vouching to warranty, right to adjudicate in cases which involved the production of a guarantor (#getēama#), right to forfeitures, &c., arising out of such processes (see B-T. s.v.). #Griðbryce#, breach of a special peace, that is, a protection accorded specially to a person, place, or period of time by the king, the right to try such cases and fine. #Hāmsōcn#, in Domesday hāmfare (OE. #hāmfaru#), attack on a man’s house, trial for the offence and fine. #Fōrsteall#, assault on the king’s highway; in Norman law, ‘assultus excogitatus de veteri odio’ (PM. ii. 453). #Infangeneþēof#, thief caught red-handed in a privileged area, the right to judge and hang him. In = within, adverb: fangene = #fangenne#, s. acc. of the participle agreeing with þēof: as the phrase was almost always acc. after a verb of granting, these formed a compound regarded as the nom. as well, but a nom. by form is sometimes found as acc., ‘infangenðeóf,’ Kemble, iv. 226. The dat. ‘mid infangenumþeofe’ occurs, id. 227, but usually ‘mid infangeneðéf,’ id. 190; gen. ‘infangeneðeófes,’ id. 193. C, E, H^1, H^2 all have both words inflected gen. as here: I have not found the double inflection elsewhere. #Ūtfangeneþēof# was the right to hang one’s own thief wherever caught, if he were found in possession of the stolen property: it appears to have been rarely granted. #Flȳmena fyrmð#, the harbouring or supporting of a wrongdoer or fugitive from justice. (Liebermann, Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen; Pollock and Maitland, History of English Law.)

10. #binnan Burgan#, &c.: a phrase for everywhere. Comp. ‘on ǽlce styde, be lande and be strande,’ Earle, 344/11; ‘be wætere and be lande,’ id. 344/21; ‘inne tíd and út of tíd, binnen burh and búten burh, on stráte and of stráte,’ id. 340/21.

11. #swa ful ⁊ swa ford#: ‘in tantum et tam pleniter,’ as fully and extensively as my own officers are in duty bound to exact: comp. ‘swá wel and swá freolíce swá ic hit meseolf betst habbe,’ Earle, 343/16.

12. #habben#: read habbe as in H^1, H^2; C, E have hæbbe. For #toleten#, granted, E, H^1, H^2 have to gelæten. The Latin has ‘super tot theines[;] quot eis concessit Rex Willelmus proauus meus,’ which is probably the correct version.

13. #þeron theo#: ‘þær on teo,’ C, E; ‘þær on tyo,’ H^1; ‘þer on tyo,’ H^2. The Latin ‘se intromittat,’ meddle (also in H^1, H^2), is not an equivalent, but rather ‘subtrahere,’ ‘exigere,’ ‘ad se trahere’ of similar documents. The meaning is, take any thing from these lands and rights: for #þer on#, comp. ‘ne teó se hláford ná máre on his ǽhte butan his rihtan heregeate,’ Schmid, Gesetze, 308. Fuller expressions are ‘ænig þæra sócna him to hánda drægen,’ Kemble, iv. 222: ‘fram honde téo,’ id. 212, 196: ‘of handa átéo,’ id. 226. #þe#, to whom: see 46/292.

14. #for þan þingan#, for the reason that, because: see the examples of the phrase in B-T., p. 1060. C has for þā; H^1 for þam þingan; E, H^2, as in the text.

15. #to echere alisendnesse#, for the eternal salvation of my soul; comp. ‘to ecere alysednysse,’ Ælfric, Lives, 258/320, ii. 154/178. Keller prints eche, treating the curl attached to the final e as a mere flourish, but the scribe’s model, H^2, had æcere: see 23/161.

16. #bi#, as concerning, having regard to, i.e. on pain of losing. Comp. ‘unrihtwisan deman þe heora domas awendað æfre be þam sceattum,’ Ælfric, Lives, 430/233; ‘bebead eallum his folce, be heora life, þæt hí sceoldon feallan adune,’ Ælf. Hom. Cath. ii. 18/23; ‘þat ælc mon bi his liue[;] comen to him swiðe, | bi heore liue & bi heore leme,’ L 19434.

Cross-References

1/3 (note) = I. A (Worcester Fragments) 15/87 (note) = V. (A Parable)

Errata

The charter is then a patchwork ... land inne frēondlice [printed as shown: expected form “frēondlīce”] binnan burgum ⁊ butan ... butan hī ⁊ heora [printed as shown: expected form “būtan”] ... alisendnesse is OE. #ālīesednesse# (but once #ālȝsendnesse#) [initial ā in both words corrected by author from “a”] #ā# + #w# is au in saule [#ā# corrected by author from #a#] 7. ... #Ūtfangeneþēof# was the right to hang one’s own thief wherever caught [Utfangeneþēof]

V. A PARABLE

#Manuscript:# Cotton Vespasian A 22, British Museum. It is composite; a second MS., 224 × 153 mm. in two columns, begins at f. 54 with the pieces printed in OEH i. 217-45. It is written in a small and crabbed hand unlike that of a professed scribe. The use of the contraction marks is unsystematic and the readings are sometimes uncertain. The other articles bound up with this MS. before and after are historical and largely connected with Rochester Monastery.

#Editions:# Morris, R., Old English Homilies, i, pp. 231-41 (with translation), and Specimens of Early English.

#Literature:# Vollhardt, W., Einfluss der lateinischen geistlichen Litteratur auf einige kleinere Schöpfungen der englischen Übergangsperiode, Leipzig, 1888; Lauchert, F., Englische Studien, xiii. 83; Heuser, W., Anglia, xvii. 82.

#Phonology:# #a# is a, fram 38, maniȝe 54, lange 83, sandon 30, but o in longe 155, sonden 161. #æ# wavers between e (28 times), feder 42, hwet 17, stef creft 89, þes 72, &c., wes 1, 94, 96, and a (16), fader 40, hwat 49, þas 43, was 19, 27, water 46. #e# is regularly e, engel 41, menn 31, but æ in ængles 166 (#ængel#), mæn 22, 78, næmmie 112, and a in anglene 139, angles 146, man, pl. 23, 76. #i# is i, for which y is written in cyldren 42, cyrce 108, scyft 117: it is e in ȝeðe (= iþe) 165, þeser 74, þeses 113, repen 169 (= #ripon#), swepen 13; u in swupen 132. #o# is o, but a, an 4, &c. (= on), þann 120, þáleð 123 (comp. the dialectic taal, Dan. taale, EDD). #u# is u, but o in come 7, icome 115, sonne 46, all associated with m or n. #y# is regularly e, berie 7, ded 73, drench 46, euel 41, ferst 167, gelty 153, senne 91, 95, 151, but i in þrimsettles 36, (dier)chin 45; y in cyme 87 (? #cime#); o in formest 50, 72. #mycel# is represented by mucele 129, 137, moche 90: king 1, drihte 52 have i, as often.

#ā# is mostly a, fa 25, na 55, þa 106; but o in anon 12, cofe 27, cofer 17, gefo 22, go 22, more 97, 120, non 38, soriȝe 104, to 147, þo 140. clone 15, an isolated form, represents #clāne#. #ǣ{1}# is mostly e, arerde 80, clene 103, elc 112 (3), er 117, geð 157, helendes 87 (4), þer 139 (4); the traditional æ appears in ælc 91, 152, ær 18, 99, æer 21, ærst 69, ærndraches 16, 69; but it is a in halende 93, lat 124, stanene 81, þar 19 (7), unwraste 23; ea in unwreaste 79, 100, 104, 130, and eo once in leorde 109 (#lǣrde#) between l and r. #ǣ{2}# is uniformly e, adredeð 147, letes 129. #ē# is regularly e, but dieð 51 (= #deð#). #ī# is i; written y in tyme 77: gescung 54 is apparently #gītsung#. #ō# is o without exception. #ū# is u; but uncoðe 22. #ȳ# is normally e, ceðen 16, 70, 113, fer 46, 143, 155, scred 42; but litl 160, leoðre 169.

#ea# before #r# + cons. is a in arme 51, barn 60, middenard 39 (5), widerwardnesse 24; ea in bearn 50, 159, ȝearceon 6, ȝearnede 27; æa, gæarced 156; æ in ærfeð 3, and e in merchestowe 124. #ea# before #l# + cons. is regularly a, alle 4 (21), manifald 79; but manifeald 46, 90. The i-umlaut of #ea# is represented by weregede 131 (#wiergod#). #eo# before #r# + cons. is eo in eorðe 36 (4), heorte 72, leorninchnihtes 106; e in sterren 47; æ in ærlen 20. In the #wur# group, wur is written in wurð 143, otherwise wr = wur, derewrlice 10, wrð 77, 123, wrðeð 108, wrhmint 65, 93. The i-umlaut is represented by birne 154, abernð 143, sterfeð 163, werpð 45 (#wierpð#), werpeð 142, ?stiarne 13 (#stierne#). #eo# before #l# + cons. is seen in self 61 (7), sielfe 48. #eo#, u-umlaut of #e# is e in heuene 107, 163, hefenen 36, but heofene 171; å-umlaut is seen in fele 83; #eo#, umlaut of #i#, is e in clepeien 49, ȝeclepien 6, lefede 102, 155, lefie 155, seþe 51, 76, 170; eo in neowelnesse 36; i in silure 92 (#silofr#); u after w in cwuce 162, wude 47. Here also belong tolie 44, #teolian# and hare 85, 172, hares 56 from #heora# through #heara#, both with shifted accent. #ea# after palatals is a in gat 13, 117; e in scel 135; eo in sceol 147, ea in ȝesceafte 93, ia in ȝiaf 97; scandlice 151 is #sceandlice#, before nasal, ȝescepe 56 is #gesceapen#. #ie# after #g# is i in gife 86, ȝife 88, 109; ie in gief 98, ȝief 119, ȝiefe 11, forȝiet 60, underȝeite 4; e in forȝeten 59, 61, bigeten 55; #scieppend# gives sceappend 65, 93, sceppend 40, 41. The conj. #gif# is gief 12 (EWS. #gief#), ȝief 60, gif 63, ȝef 9. #eo# after #g# is seen in iunglenges 107 (#geongling#); #eo# after #sc# in sceolde 7, 25, 87, sceolden 12, 160; #heom# is ham 18, 55, heom 5; #eom# is am 162, ham 63.

#ēa# is ea in bread 162 (4), lean 135, deade 115, deaþe 123 (4), abreað 83; a in admoded 104, brad 29 (4), ȝecas 81, grate 6, hafed 51, hafedmen 108; e in eðelice 124; æ in ære 166. niatt 45 represents #nēat#, ȝie 49, #gēa#. The i-umlaut of #ēa# is represented by unhersamnesse 84. #ēo# medial is eo in beoð 108, &c., ibeoð 70, beon 69, bitweone 9, underþeod 6, 66, underþeoden 3, 17, leoem 45 written for leome (#lēoma#); e in betwenen 169, befel 3, 4, ȝede 95, fend 5 (8), frend 5 (9), frenden 28, 157, lefe 96, prestes 111; ie in bieð 54, 65, bienn 135, to bienne 43, diefles 95, dierchin 45, frienden 21, lief 59, underþiede 137; io in þiode 91. Final #ēo# is i, hi 50 (4), ibi 135, isi 55 (4), si 50 (6), þri 99, 101, and ie, besie 14 (#besēon#). The i-umlaut of #ēo# is seen in dierewurð 20, istriened 96, þiestre 53, þiesternesse 14; but derewrþe 138, derewrlice 10, fendes 133, aþestreð 144, þesternesse 27. #īe# gives ie in giet 53, ȝeiet 56, ȝie 24, 26. #ēo# from #ō# after #sc# is eo, ȝesceod 8, toȝesceodeð 117, ȝesceop 33, 39; but ȝescod 74, ȝescop 54.

#a# + #g#, #h#, is ag, lage 71, &c.; muȝe 49 has u by imitation of other pret. presents. #æ# + #g# is ei, deie 126, 137, meide 139, meiden 141, meidenes 166, neiles 146, seið 158, seieð 153; eȝ in deȝe 108, isegd 27, seȝð 163; eiȝ in seigd 34; e in sede 117, 119, seden 69, 160 (= #sǣdon#), ȝesed 114, mede 94 (= #mæden#); ai in mai 152, maie 148. The peculiar spellings dȝeie 68, dȝeies 52, dȝei 134 show the development of a y sound, but deȝie 7, 8, 116, maȝie 59, maȝi 34 appear to be for deiȝe, maiȝe, maiȝ. #e# + #g# is ei, þeinen 21, rien 47, written for rein: þenið 142, þeninge 46 go back to #þēnian#, #þēnung#: #ongegn# is represented by aȝen 101, aȝenes 24. A y sound has developed in ȝeie 43, 142 (#ege#); aȝeie 64 seems to have been influenced by OWScand. agi. #ig# is preserved in niȝen 138; #ih# in dihte 39, 41: exceptional is forðteh 42 (#forðtihþ#). #o# + #g# is seen in abroden 134, 156, abruden 27; heretoche 80; #u# + #g# in ȝebugon 25; #y# + #h# in drihte 52. #ā# + #g#, #h# give oge 59, ogen 60, oȝeð 64, aȝen 88, ah 43, fa 5. #ǣ{1}# + #h#, echte 55, tehten 110: #ō# + #h#, brochte 101, ibrocht 146, innoh 152: #ū# + #h#, þuhte 11.

#ea# + #h#, #ht# is ea in leahtrum 79, a in wax 81; miht, niht have uniformly i. #eo# + #ht# is i in cnihten 20: the i-umlaut is represented in isecgð 148, iseȝð 150 (= #siehð#), ȝesecðe 134, 156 (#gesiehð#). #ēa# + #g#, #h# is ag, ah, hagefaderen 140, hahes 171, þah 112, þahhweðer 60. #ēo# + #h# is e in wex 168; ih in rihtwisnesse 40, richtwise 147, 148, brictnesse 145, with ct for ht: lichte 50, 53; loht 45 is #lēoht# with shifted accent: #īe# + #h# gives nixtan 73. #ā# + #w#, daw 47, ȝesawen 165, sawe 44, sawle 42 &c., but feawe 96, scewie 22: ahte 122, nahte 33, ahct 49 come from #āht#, #nāht#. #ǣ{1}# + #w# occurs in ȝecnowe 71: #ēa# + #w# in unþeawes 132: #ēo# + #w# in ableow 42, bleowu 168, treowe 92, fierðe 105 (#fēowerða#), ȝeu 24, 113, ȝehw 119, ȝiu 117, ȝiure 52.

The vowels of the inflections are generally levelled to e, but a few remain from the scribe’s original; inf. wunian 159; pr. s. blissið 50, pr. pl. þenið 142; cwaciað 147; pt. pl. arerdon 85; pl. dunan 37, lagan 70, sandon 30; s. d. nixtan 73; pl. d. leahtrum 79; buton 38, 72, 95, bufon 149. Among vowels of minor stress are noteworthy ie in laðienge 6 (#laðung#), ȝelaðieres 82 (*#laðere#); a for #e#, þina 37; æ for #e#, anæ 6, ȝæarced 156; e for #æ#, rigtleceden 86, 103; e for #i#, iunglenges 107; e for #o#, hefenen 36, 107, sicernesse 128; i for #e#, adiligde 79, 84; eo for #ie#, ȝearceon 6; ei for #i#, clepeien 49. ableow 42 possibly represents #onblēow#. e is lost in ærndraches 16 (4), witȝin 89, and added in seneȝeden 153: seneȝden 154 is for senȝeden. The prefix #ge#, once written ge, gelest 2, is largely retained, but it is reduced to i in pp. ibroht, icome 115, idon, imaced, isent, istriened; inf. ibite, isi; ibruce 25, ibeoð 70, isecgð 148, iseȝð 150, innoh 152, uniredlice 131, iwiss 37; noteworthy is unitald 47.

#w# is lost in sa 54, se 86, alse 115; it represents wu in the #wur# group, wrð 77, wrhmint 65, derewrlice 10 &c., and similarly wlcne 145: u is written for it in uin 160, wu in bleowu 168, hwu 99. #l# is lost in swice 75, wic 142: final #ll# often becomes l, befel 3, bispel 31, ful 102. #mm# is simplified in wiman 59. The loss of final #n# in inflections is characteristic: it occurs also in bine 90 (#binnan#), bitweone 9, bute 17, morȝe 119, to fore 138, to for 22, upe 132: #n# is assimilated to m in næmmie 112, it is added in hesne 98, doubled in bienn 135, sennenn 132, þann 120 &c. #on# is weakened to a 126 (an 153). #bb# is simplified to b in habe 161; it is u in sweueð 53, perhaps influenced by Scand. svefja. For #f# the scribe writes þ in sielþe 48, selþ 61, 149, which perhaps represents an individual pronunciation. The voiced sound between vowels is represented by f, not u. The added #t# in mistlice is found in OE., that after n in berient, melstanent 170 is local, as sarment, suddent, varmint in the SE. modern dialects: #t# is doubled in fett 14; #ts# is s in milsi 59, c in milce 102. In an 130 #d# is lost (and 145), as in hlafor 21: it is written for þ in dierewurd 20, had 152, hafd 56, sede 170. For #þ#, f is written in of 11, 15, 108, ft in oft 134, 136; t in to 36 (?), 147 after ⁊ = ant: #æt þǣre# is eter 13, 117: it is lost after h in forðteh 42, and intrudes before h in awiðhst 37. #sc# is [š] in biscopes 111, sceolde 7, scandlice 151; ss is written for it in wasse 10, 123. #c# is palatalized in cheðen 70 (ceðen 16), dierchin 45 (fiscynn 46), ærndraches 16, machede 41 (macede 91). #c# is doubled in accenned 94. #g# is lost in witien 140 and final in almihti 32, ȝegen 156, leornin (ch[n]ihtes) 106: it is ch in heretoche 80, c in strencþe 97. The scribe generally uses ȝ for #ġ#: exceptions are gelest 2, gife 86, gief 98, gif 63, bigeten 55, iunglenges 107. The development of a y sound is seen in ȝeðe (= #iþe#), ȝeie 43; ȝ in ȝeu 24, ȝiu 117, ȝehw 119 has been adopted from the nom. #ȝe#. Initial #h# before a vowel is often omitted, abben 160, afeð 150, alste 36, is 28 &c., us 167; before consonants, laford 12, 61, wa 4, wat 24 (hwet 17), wic 142, wile 82: it is added in her 160, his 128 &c., hofne 170, hur 65, hure 44, hus 43, and hwe 69, which helps to the understanding of ȝehw 119. For #ht#, cht is written in echte 55, ibrocht 146, lichte 50, richtwise 147: ahct 49 is for acht (= #āht#); ct in brictnesse 145.

#Accidence:# Strong decl. of m. and neut. nouns. Sing. n. halende 93, helende 109, 163, sceppende 41 with participial terminations (sceppend 40), endedeie 118, gate 117 have added e: tacne 145 is #tacen#; drihte 52 has lost n. Gen. -es. Dat. -e: exceptions, anginn 115, bearn 50, barn 60, fer 155, gat 13 (gate 117), ȝegen 156, innoð 60, godspel 161 (godspelle 165), hlaford 65, licht 53 (lichte 50), mancyn 99, sceappend 65 (sceappende 93), þing 53. Acc. as nom.: accennende 103, a participle used as noun, fultume 47 with added e. Plur. n. m. -es: deade 115 has adj. term., wude 47 (#wuda#); neut. wlcne 145. Dat. -en, as apostlen 139, bearnen 159, bredene 81, cnihten 20, aldren 20, esten 158, kingen 32, martiren 140, melstanent 170, þeinen 21: exceptions, had 139 (= #hādum#), leahtrum 79, meiden 141, neiles 146, write 85, and ME. repples 13. The accent on hlafordé 32 may be a contraction mark. Acc. m. -es: neut. folc 68, niatt 45, þing 33, 101, 109; þrimsettles 36 has masc. form. Weak are anglene 139, pl. g., esten 159 pl. n., hefenen 36 s. g. comp. hefene 163. Strong decl. of fem. nouns: blisse 125, eorðe 45, lare 90, mihte 38, þiode 91, underþiede 137 (treated as compound of #þēod#), witnisse 149 have added e in the nom. sing.: ȝefered 138 has lost en; its dat. is ȝeferede 20. The other cases sing. and pl. which occur end in e, as merche (stowe) 124, rode 145, s. g.; echte 55 (possibly pl.), gife 86, 88, 109, s. d.; hesne 98, laðienge 6, lage 80, s. a.; senne 80, 91, 151, pl. d.; ahte 122, pl. a. Exceptions are wrldes 77, a masc. form, berient 170 (= #byrgenne#), ȝescung 54, gief 98 (possibly for gife), hand 37, nicht 53, s. d.; wrhmint 65 (wrhminte 93), s. a.; ceðen 16, 70, 113, underþeoden 17, pl. d.; hand 14, pl. a. underþeod, 6 is adj. used as noun. Weak forms are dunan 37, pl. a., lagan 70, pl. n., sennenn 132, pl. a., underþeoden, pl. n. 3.

Weak declension: Sing. nom. halege 126, mone 47, sonne 46, tyme 77, witiȝe 35: d. ære 166, heorte 72, heretoche 80, time 84, witie 57, uuantruce 122, acc. deme 148, lichame 41, 126: leoem 45 is probably for leome. Plur. nom. ȝeferen 15, sterren 47, 144; dat. swepen 13, swupen 132, witȝin 89, witien 140; acc. witiȝe 85, ȝefo 22. ærndraces 69, pl. n., 16, pl. a. have adopted a strong inflection: nixtan 73, s. d. is adj. used as noun.

Minor declensions: burh 166, berie 7, s. d.; fader 40, 44, feder 42, s. n., feder 48, s. d., hagefaderen 140, pl. d.; fett 14, pl. a.; frienden 21, 28, 157, pl. d.; mannes 72, 118, s. g.; man 76, s. d., 41, s. a.; menn 31, hafedmen 108, man 23, 76, pl. n.; mannen 153, pl. d., 159, pl. g.; mæn 22, mænn 78, pl. a.

Adjectives: Remnants of the strong decl. linger in ecer 128, s. d. f., soðe 65, grate 6, s. a. f.; and perhaps hage(faderen) 140 (= #hēagum#); of the weak decl. in fulle 127, gode 121, s. n. m., lefe 96, s. n. f., mucele 137, s. d. m., 129, s. d. f., richtwise 148, soriȝe 104, s. a. m., unwreaste 104, s. a. neut. hahes 171 is a strong form for weak; haliȝe 102 a strong fem. qualifying lif, neut. The pl. inflection in all cases is -e, so ȝeredie 131, stanene 81. Longer words are often uninflected, as manifald 79, 90, dierewurd 20 (derewrþe 138), wrldlic 55; also ful 54, gelty 153, hali 122, 140. Adjectives used as nouns are senfulle 147, s. n.; fa 25, fo 156, latst 8, 69, nixtan 73, s. d.; innoh 152, s. a.; richtwise 147, pl. n.

Pronouns: Noteworthy are hwe 69, ȝie 24, 26 (ȝe 116); ȝeu 24, 113, ȝiu 117, 160, ȝehw 119. The pronoun of the third person is, Sing. n. he, m. hi 50, 51, 59, 60, f.; hit, neut.; d. him, m.; a. hine 10 &c., him 14, m. hit, n. Plur. n. hi, i in combinations icome 17, ibeoð 70, mihti 55; d. heom 5, ham 18, 55, 147; a. m. hi 117. From *seo f. are his 81 s. a. f. (= is) and his 117, pl. a. m. (= is), es in letes 129, pl. a. n., for which forms see Anglia, Beiblatt vii. 331, xi. 302. The dat. s. pl. with self uninflected occurs as definitive adj. 61, 81, 149; s. and pl. with selfe as reflexive, 55, 91, 151, 152; us sielfe 48. Possessives are mine 64, mi 63, s. n. m., mine 25, 156, s. d. m., mire 24 (with rice neut.) 26, 154, mine in other cases; þina 37, s. d. f.; ure, hure, ur, hur 65, with ures 87, 106, s. g. m.; is, his, hire; ȝiure 52, ȝeur 153; hare 85, 172, hares 56, s. g. m. his 21, 29, pl. d. is used as noun, his men. The def. article is, Sing. n. m. se, once seo 66; f. si, with neut. tacne 145, but rode is fem., gate 117; neut. þat 143: g. m. þes, with wrldes 77, ses 87, by analogy from #se#; neut. þes: d. m. þa, þe, (to) ðe 22; f. þare 93, with neut. gate 129, þar 19, þer 139, (i)þer 123, with m. 141, with neut. 13, 117; neut. þam, þan 118, 158, þe 50, 145, (i)þe 161, ȝeðe 165, þa 110, probably for þa{n}: a. m. þann 120; f. þa 54 &c., neut. þat 168. Pl. n. m. þa, þe, (⁊) to 147; d. m. þa, þo: a. m. þe 85. Used pronominally si 83, s. n. f.; þat 97, s. n. neut.; þa 26, pl. n. m.; þan 141, pl. d. m. The compound demonstrative is, Sing. n. m. þes; f. þes; neut. þis: d. m. þese 48; f. þisser, þesser, þeser; neut. þese 118, 163: a. f. þas 80; neut. þis. Pl. n. þes, þas: g. þeses: d. þesen: a. þes. Exceptional is þas 43, s. n. neut. (OE. occasional #þæs#). The relative is þe 26, 32, 97; wam 48, 96, s. d.; introducing dep. questions, wa 4, 66, hwa 67: interrogatives, hwat, hwet, wat 24, wic 142: indefinites are n. m. an 1; d. m. ane 68, neut. ane 164, ene 7, an 53; a. m. ænne 7, f. anæ 6, neut. a 57; n. m. f. ælc, elc; g. m. elces 118; a. m. elce 116; swice, pl. n. m.; nahte 33, s. d. n. Sum 17, s. n. has oblique cases in e 56, 82, but sum 92, pl.: fele 83, maniȝe 54, 109 are plurals: oðre (once oðere) is constant: #eall# is sing. n. all, al; d. f. alle 66, neut. 4, 24 (rice is regarded as fem.); a. f. alle 96, neut. all, al 47. The plural is alle; but all 15, al 141.

The infinitive of verbs ends mostly in e, fandie 130: noteworthy are besie 14, isi 55: ȝief 119 has lost e before him. wunian 159 is a survival; others in n are ȝearceon 6, ȝeclepien 6, clepeien 49, don 88, finden 173, forȝeten 59, abben 160. Dat. inf. with inflection, bienne 43, donne 152; without inflection abiden 11, bigeten 55, don 51, fulforðie 98, ȝelaðie 17, 78, isi 137, sawe 44, tolie 44. Pres. s. 1. forȝete 61, lefie 155, nell(ic) 60; 2. awiðhst 37, belocest 37, halst 36; 3. blisseð 52 and 8 others, but contracted forms predominate, abernð 143, belimpð 128, cumþ 114, 121, 129, ett 163, fett 42, fet 171, ȝemet 133, ȝestrenð 112 (#gestrengeþ#), isecgð 148, iseȝð 150 (#siehð#), lat 124 (#lǣdeþ#), sit 138 and 9 others. Exceptional are blissið 50, had 152 (#hæfð#), scred 42 (#scrȳt#), scyft 117, forðteh 42 (#tyhð#). Subjunctive pr. s. forȝiet[e] 60, habbe 74, letes 129 (lete + es), milsi 59, underfo 126. Pres. pl. 1. habbeþ 48, siggeð 114, wene (we) 49; 3. adredeð 147, aþestreð 144 &c.; but cwaciað 147, þenið 142 (Archiv lxxxix, 160-6). Subj. pr. pl. næmmie 112, scewie 22. Imp. pl. understandeð 31, 99, witeð 155, wite (ȝe) 125. Past of Strong Verbs: Sing. I a. cweð 21, et 28, ȝiaf 97; I b. com 19, nam 5; I c. dranc 28, ȝelamp 1; II. astah 162, wratẹ 81 (#wrāt#); III. abreað 83, ȝecas 81; IV. ȝesceop 33; V. ableow 42, bleowu 168, befel 3, wex 168. Pl. I a. cweðe 18, 1. pl.; I b. come 9; I c. sturfe 28; II. repen 169; III. ȝebugon 25. Subjunctives are I b. come 12, 20; V. ȝewold[e] 55. Pp. I b. icome 115; I c. abruden 27, abroden 134, 156; II. begripe 95; III. belocen 16; IV. ȝescepe 56, understande 116; V. beswapen 151, ȝesawen 165, ȝewasse, uniwasse 123. Past of Weak Verbs ends in -de, -ede, arerde 80, clensede 103 &c.: diht 41, gelest 2, send 78, sett 72 have dropped final e. Pl. -den; once arerdon 85: sede 117, 119, lefede 155, acolede 90, ȝearnede 27 have lost n. The pp. ends in -ed, -d, -t; once acende 101, beside accenned 94: unwemmede 94, weregede 131 are inflected. Minor groups: wat 54, pr. s.; ah 43, pr. s., oȝeð 64 (#āgon#), 1 pr. pl.; scel 135, sceol 147, pr. s., scule 26 &c., pr. pl., once sculen 161, sceolde 87, pt. s., sceolde 7, sceolden 12, 160, pt. pl.; mai 152, pr. s., but maȝi 34, maie 148, maȝie 59, pr. s. are subjunctive in form; muȝe (we) 49, 1 pr. pl., mihtí (mihte hi) 55, mihten 86, pt. pl.; am 162, ham 63, 1 pr. s., his 33 &c., is 36, pr. s., beoð 70, 108, 146, bieð 54, 65, pr. pl., beon 69, bienn 135, pr. pl. subj., was 19, wes 1 &c., pt. s., were 99 &c., wer 69, 75, pt. pl., were 5, 10 &c., pt. s. subj., 8, 15, 16 &c., pt. pl. subj., ibi 135 (*#gebion#), pp.; don 72, 73, pr. s. subj. but plural in form, ded[ė] 73, pt. s.; to gað 145, pr. pl., go 22, 1 pr. pl. subj.

Accents are used extensively, but on no consistent principle, so láge 79, lage 80; arerde 80, arérdon 85; áȝenes 34, aȝénes 24. They are mostly placed over long vowels, but they are used to indicate separate pronunciation of the vowels in méé 158, bethléem 167, besíé 14. Similarly they show that a vowel is not to be slurred in belocést 37, clénséde 103, macéde 91, ?Æér 21; that i is to have its full vowel value (not y) in ȝeclepíen 6, ȝelaðíe 17, halíe 85, 107, halíȝe 140, maníȝe 54, 109, witíe 57, 62, witíge 85; and that final e is to be pronounced in forté 137, mihté 38. Sometimes the accent has been exchanged with a contraction mark, as hlafordé 32, acénde 101. It is only a diacritic, answering to the printed dot, in íunglenges 107, ímaced 164, þenínge 46 &c., and over y written for i in scýft 117, cýme 87, týme 77. In diphthongs it marks the stressed element, séo 66, unterþéod 6, líef 59, níatt 45; in leóem 45 it shows shifted accent (as in loht 45), so feáwe 96, ?bleówu 168, ?leórde 109: sónne 46, féce 7 are hard to understand. In unwēmmed 139, the contraction mark has been kept, although m has been added; hīne 133 is curious.

#Dialect:# There is a considerable survival of older spellings from the West-Saxon original. The scribe’s language is South-Eastern strongly affected by Kentish, a mixed dialect such as might be current on the south-eastern border of Kent, or used by a southern man, not of Kentish extraction, but resident in the county, possibly at Rochester.

#Introduction:# This piece, like its predecessor in the MS., which is a transcription of Ælfric’s De Initio Creaturae, is, at least in part, an adaptation of an older, probably pre-Conquest homily, as is shown by the occurrence of archaic inflections and constructions (comp. to 8, hungre 28, hatrede 24, &c.; the extensive use of the subj. mood), and by its OE. vocabulary (þrimsettles 36, hagefaderen 140 &c.) almost free from any foreign element. Vollhardt suggested as its source the 46th chapter of the Liber de S. Anselmi Similitudinibus, a collection of parables and sayings of S. Anselm recorded by his biographer Eadmer, probably after the death of his master in 1109 A.D. This is printed in Anselmi Opera, ed. Gerberon, App. 161; Migne, P. L. clix., 625 and Vollhardt, 25. That the two versions are related cannot be doubted, but a consideration of dates compels the conclusion that they have a common source, or that the Latin is not S. Anselm’s.

The parable and its application is in the Latin brief and direct, in marked contrast to the vivacity, fullness of detail, and diffuseness (comp. 3. 19, 136) of the English. The latter has also expanded the application of the parable by much extraneous matter: i. The Creation Theme, 31-66; ii. The Five Ages of the World; iii. The Doomsday Theme, 136-156; iv. The Living Bread, 160-173, all of which is wanting in the Latin.

For filii 58 read filio, and for descendit 162, descendi.

There is no title in the MS.: Rex Suos Judicans is from Anselm’s title.

2. #gelest#, extended; probably the earliest example of the word in this sense. OE. #gelǣstan#, to accomplish, follow, last. With #wide ⁊ side#, spacious, extensive, comp. ‘Ðu leof cyningc leod-scipas ðine wide and side þu hætst,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 496/145; ‘⁊ ta wass Romess kinedom | Full wid ⁊ sid onn eorþe,’ Orm 173.

3. #ærfeðtelle#, difficult to number; comp. ‘earueðhealde,’ 48/311; ‘Earfoðfynde,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 492/82; ‘arueðwinne,’ OEH ii. 49/14. OE. #earfoðe#, #ēaðe#, #unēaðe# are usually followed by the dat. of the infinitive, ‘earfoðe is ænegum men to witanne,’ Cura Past. 51/5, to which corresponds, ‘Hit is arfeð to understonden,’ OEH ii. 205/14; but they are also associated with a kind of verbal noun having a dat. termination in e, in imitation of the Latin supine in u, as earfoðlǣre, ēaþlǣre, unēaþlǣce, and the two words come to be treated as a compound adjective. For the acc. inf. comp. ‘Ac þe ben swo fele ꝥ hie ben arfeð tellen,’ OEH ii. 201/30.

4. #ꝥ--befell#, lit. that it occurred to him in purpose, that he formed a resolution: comp. ‘Ich wilnie a mine þo{n}ke[;] to walden al Rome,’ L 25091; ‘þat him wes on þonke,’ id. 13258.

5. #nam him to rede#, lit. took to himself for counsel, adopted the plan: comp. 110/298; ‘nam him to ræde,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 64/230; ‘let him to ræde,’ id. 506/319; ‘hwæt him to ræde þuhte,’ id. 244/113; ‘him to ræde fand,’ BH 201/25. See Minot vi, 68 note. For omission of subject after ꝥ, see 6/18 note.

7. #berie# was meant to supersede #curt#, but the scribe forgot to put dots under the latter. He uses berie regularly afterwards. With ꝥ comp. ‘& swa he nom enne dai[;] þat come heore drihtlice folc,’ L 2550.

8. #be þe latst#, at the latest; so 14/69. #to#, at: comp. 14/68; ‘to þan dæie heo comen,’ L 13187.

9. #mistlice#, variant of mislice (Bülbring § 535). It means, diversely, of different sorts, friends and foes. But note fastlice, 16/114.

10. #derewrlice#, so as to confer honour on him.

11. #formemete#, first meat, breakfast, the ‘morȝemete’ of 16/125; ‘mixtum cibi,’ Ans. With #to lang#, comp. 4/38.

12. #none#, after formemete is probably for nonemete, midday meal, dinner: though #to# might mean at, as at l. 8. See 206/323.

13. #stiarne swepen#: ‘strong whips,’ Morris: ‘stiff (strong) whips,’ Specimens: comp. 16/132. But the adj. is rarely applied to a thing: perhaps stearce or smerte would suit better.

14. #besie#, look to, provide for, handle: comp. underfangeð 16/131; ‘Euele thai gonnen him bisen,’ Seuyn Sages, 507 (said of a whipping); bisen, 202/195 is similar, look after.

15. #abide#, inf. depends on he sceolde understood from sceolden 12. #clone#, without exception, entirely: comp. ‘Ne dude hit noht þe king ane[;] ah duden we alle clæne,’ L 8825; ‘mare ich habbe ane[;] þane þa oðere al clæne,’ id. 13059, 13264.

17. #hwet bute icome#, lit. What but they came? i.e. What did they but come? they came of course. Comp. ‘nis þer bute þonken God.’ AR 382/26 with ‘Hwæt magon we secgean buton ꝥ hi scotedon swiðe,’ AS. Chron. E 1083. Similar in effect but exclamatory is ‘Hwæt þá se casere cwæð him tó andsware,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 46/358; OEH i. 229/26.

18. #bi ham#, with reference to them, in their case: comp. ‘gif þu witan wille hwæt be Criste gedón wæs on Iudea lande,’ BH 177/1.

23. #wente he hin#, ‘then turned he,’ Morris, as though for hine. But #hin# is rather for in.

24. #lacede#: Morris altered to makede, but the text means, of what did you feel the want?

25. #ȝewinne#, with the rare meaning of contend; usually, to conquer. It takes #wið# in OE., but comp. ‘wunnen aȝean,’ AR 238/17. #ȝebugon#, not ‘bow to, be obedient to,’ Morris, but, turned aside from me and to my foes; L. declinare: comp. ‘hi alle to rede gebuȝon,’ OEH i. 219/27. #Swa ibruce# &c., As surely as I possess my kingdom: #brūcan# usually takes a genitive; here with dative or accusative.

26. #mete ibite#: comp. ‘ne moste he nauere biten mete,’ L 15340; KH MS. L 1131 note.

28. #þe#: conj. = #þæt# consecutive, with the result that: see 50/334 note. #sturfe hungre#: contrast 7/75: the construction, like that of the dat. ‘hatrede ⁊ widerwardnesse’ 24, is OE., ‘menn . . . lætað cwelan hungre Cristes ðearfan,’ Cura Past. 326/5. Morris translates nam hit him, betook himself: for the correction in the text comp. 17/157, 213/539 note.

30. #sandon#, courses: comp. 207/349; ‘þas beorn þa sunde[;] from kuchene to þan kinge,’ L 24601. For the meaning of #vii.# comp. ‘Id enim frequens & usitatum est in sacris Litteris, ut septenarius numerus interpretetur dona illa, quae perfecta sunt, & quae desursum sunt,’ Gilbert of Hoyland in S. Bernardi Opera, ii. col. 120.

31-39. A parallel passage is ‘He is ealra cyninga Cyning, and ealra hlaforda Hlaford. He hylt mid his mihte heofonas and eorðan, and ealle gesceafta butan geswince, and he besceawað þa niwelnyssa þe under þyssere eorðan sind. He awecð ealle duna mid anre handa, and ne mæg nan þing his willan wiðstandan,’ Ælf., Hom. Cath. i. 8: comp. OEH i. 219, 1-3 for a modernization of the first half to geswince. Our writer was acquainted with the De Initio Creaturae, but he has translated ‘Qui celorum,’ l. 35, independently. The ultimate source is the antiphons, &c., at vespers in October and November. ‘Benedictus dominus qui creavit celum et terram,’ York Breviary i. 597; ‘Domine rex omnipotens in ditione tua cuncta sunt posita: et non est qui possit resistere voluntati tue,’ id. 599; ‘Qui celorum contines thronos et abyssos intueris, domine rex regum, montes ponderas, terram palmo concludis,’ id. 610.

34. #wiðstande# has double construction (#1#) with #aȝenes#, (#2#) with #him#: for the former comp. ‘Ic wiðstande ongen eow,’ ‘Ponam faciem meam contra vos,’ Levit. xxvi. 17; for the latter the quotation from Ælfric in the preceding note. #him seigd#: this use of the dative pronoun, mostly in the third person, with intransitive verbs to reinforce the subject, is seen in ‘warschipe hire easkeð,’ 119/75; ‘Affrican hire feader wundrede him swiðe,’ 141/62; ‘ȝe schulen . . . sinken . . . ow,’ 146/111; ‘He is him ripe,’ 159/167; 197/16; ‘ꝥ word him herde Androgeus,’ L 8525; ‘þer him cumeþ iudas,’ OEM 42/174, 38/31; ‘men sullen . . . hem þar bidden,’ OEH ii. 23/21; KH 137 note: with acc. exceptionally, ‘And gon hyne to abidde,’ OEM 41/156. See also 54/27, 81/90, 215/25.

35. #witiȝe#: the antiphon is drawn from Isaiah xl. 12, Daniel iii. 55; see 14/57.

36. #to#: Morris altered to tho without necessity, if it is the art. (see 17/47); but it is probably a preposition, see 124/249 note.

37. #· iii · prou.#: Morris read in pon. The reference is to the Third Book of the Proverbs (the division into books, as in Bede’s commentary, preceded that into chapters), and probably to ch. xxx. 4.

38. #for þan þe# is the usual expression: for þat þe may be right.

42. #sawle ableow#: comp. ‘God þa geworhte ænne mannan of láme, and him on ableow gast,’ Ælf. Hom. Cath. i, 12/28; ‘him on bleow gast’, OEH i. 221/17; ‘him anbleow sawle,’ id. 223/9; ‘And his licham of erðe he nam, | And blew ðor-in a liues blast,’ GE 200; ‘dû bliese im dînen geist în,’ MSD i. 81/7. #fett# &c.: comp. ‘he scryt me wel and fett,’ Wright’s Vocabularies, i. 93/27.

43. #þas#: Morris read [vel as].

44. #his# as a correction is not inevitable, but it improves the rhetorical effect.

45. #werpð#, lit. casts, i.e. sends forth: comp. 151/45. #leoem ⁊ lif#: comp. ‘to lif ⁊ to leomen,’ SK 1046.

48. #of wam#: from ‘In ipso enim vivimus et movemur et sumus,’ Acts xvii. 28.

49. #acht#, acc. used as adv., in any wise, at all: comp. ‘Ne mihte he neuere finde{n} mon[;] þe him oht wolde fulsten,’ L 6601. #moder#: comp. ‘Sed et tu, Jesu, bone Domine, nonne et tu mater? Annon es mater qui tanquam gallina congregat sub alas pullos suos?’ Anselmi Opera, 300.

50. #chereð#. The MS. reading cheteð is explained, console, cheer, as possibly from OWScand. kǣta, but this is rejected by Björkman, 260. There is no other instance of the word. #be# = mid, l. 52, with.

52. All this doth your lord.

53. Comp. ‘Est autem noctis umbra mortalibus ad requiem corporis data, ne operis avida continuato labore deficeret ac periret humanitas,’ Bedae Opera, ed. Giles, vi. 158.

55. #ȝewold#, for omission of subject see 6/18 note.

56. #hares unþances#, see 10/167 note.

57. #word#: Morris reads worden, in wonderful words, which may be right: the same scribe writes wordon once, wordum twice elsewhere. #Numquid# &c. The Vulgate has ‘Numquid oblivisci potest mulier . . . ut non misereatur filio?’ Isaiah xlix. 15.

59. #la lief#, O beloved: comp. ‘Eala men þa leofoston,’ BH 165/32; ‘La leof ic bidde eow,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 522/580; ‘Eala, leof hlaford’ = O mi domine, Thorpe, Analecta, 19. #his#: OE. #wīmman# is masculine.

61. #be -- is#, as regards his being father.

62. In the Vulgate, ‘Si ergo Pater ego sum ubi . . . et si Dominus ego sum’ &c., Malachi i. 6.

63. #manscipe#, the first occurrence of the word in the sense of homage. In OE. it means humanity, courtesy.

64. #G. m.#, Gode men.

70. #fif lagan#: the five laws correspond to five ages of the world. The division here is unusual. The English writers mostly follow S. Augustine, who gives six, so Bede, Alcuin, Ælfric, de vetere Testamento; but Wulfstan has seven, Anselm and Herbert de Losinga eight. In another place Ælfric has five, but different from those of our writer; see Hom. Cath. ii. 74.

71. #ȝecnowe#, revealed.

74. #ȝescod#, discretion, reason: see 122/176.

77. #nas tid# &c. Comp. ‘he fram frymðe middaneardes oð his geendunge ne ablinð to asendenne bydelas and láreowas to lǽrenne his folc,’ Ælf. Hom. Cath. ii. 74/10, which is probably from ‘a mundi huius initio usque in finem ad erudiendam plebem fidelium praedicatores congregare non destitit,’ S. Greg. Hom. i. xix.

79. #adiligde#, was destroyed: passive use, OE. #ādīlegian#, to destroy. #unwreaste leahtrum#: see 118/30 note.

81. #wrate# &c. Comp. ‘God awrát ða ealdan ǽ mid his fingre on ðam stǽnenum weax-bredum,’ Ælf. Hom. Cath. ii. 204/1. #his#, the law.

82. #ȝelaðieres#: comp. ‘sende hire his sondesmen biforen, þet weren þe patriarkes ⁊ þe prophetes of the Olde Testament,’ AR 388/14.

83. #fele#; see 132/9.

84. #wat#, until: comp. 217/102: often with al, 215/26; ‘al hwat hie hine fordemden,’ VV 51/12 and frequently: #wat# is relative conj. substituted for þat, with same meaning; see 72/179, 108/245: so þen exchanges with hwanne, þer with hwær. #þe#, when, so þa 93.

85. #arerdon#, set up, established: comp. ‘þæt is þonne ǽrest þæt ic wylle þæt man rihte laga upp arǽre,’ Schmid, Gesetze, 270.

87. #hlafordes . . . helendes . . . cristes#: this appositional construction is OE.; comp. ‘on drihtnes naman ures hælendes cristes,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 366/46: it is fairly common in early ME.; comp. 8/106, 9/121, 9/137, 12/6, 7.

89. #stef creft#: OE. #stæf cræft#, the art of letters, and hence, book learning.

90. #Eft bine fece ⁊#: with this superfluous and connecting a phrase to the main sentence, comp. ‘Him þa gyt sprecendum ⁊ soþlice þa beorhtwolcn hig oferscean,’ S. Matt. xvii. 5. (= ‘Adhuc eo loquente, ecce nubes lucida obumbravit eos.’) #acolede#, cooled, lost its vigour: comp. ‘⁊ forþam þe unryhtwisnys rixað manegra lufu acolaþ,’ S. Matt. xxiv. 12 (= ‘refrigescet charitas multorum’). See 159/161.

91. #hur ⁊ hur#, especially: a doubling for emphasis of OE. #hūru#, at least: comp. 149/11.

92. #awente# &c.: ‘Qui commutaverunt veritatem Dei in mendacium: et coluerunt et servierunt creaturae potius quam Creatori,’ Romans i. 25.

95. #begripe#, seized, in the grip of: comp. ‘seo sawul bið micele atelicor, gif heo mid mislicum leahtrum begripen bið,’ Ælf. Hom. Cath. i. 122/23. #diefles muðe#: comp. 17/150. Mediaeval art gave a very literal rendering of ‘infernus . . . aperuit os suum absque ullo termino: et descendent fortes eius, et populus eius, et sublimes, gloriosique eius ad eum,’ Isaiah v. 14; see Wright, History of Caricature, 69-71.

97. #sette#, ordained, established: comp. ‘þis synd þa . . . laga þe drihten gesette betwyx him and Israhela folc,’ Levit. xxvi. 46.

99-104. Comp. ‘Triplici morbo laborat genus humanum: principio, medio et fine, id est nativitate, vita et morte. Nativitas immunda, vita perversa, mors periculosa. Venit Christus, et contra triplicem hunc morbum attulit triplex remedium. Natus est enim, vixit, mortuus est: atque eius nativitas purgavit nostram, mors illius destruxit nostram, et vita eius instruxit nostram,’ S. Bernardi Op. ii. 776. The Liber Sententiarum, from which this passage comes, is placed by Mabillon among the doubtful works. There can be little doubt that it is the source of the English passage.

100. #ful#: comp. 29/33. #grislic#: inspiring terror and shrinking: see 120/94.

101. #þer aȝen#, to remedy these blemishes of our nature: L. remedium.

102. #efer þurh#, ever through, throughout, perpetually. #milce#, not the active mercy, compassion, but meekness, patience.

103. #acennende#, the being born, birth: present participle with the same meaning as the new verbal noun acenneng, 100. The OE. noun is #ācennednes# or #ācennes#.

104. #admoded#, submissive: ‘Humiliavit semetipsum factus obediens usque ad mortem,’ Philippians ii. 8. The contrast is between man’s shrinking from death and His voluntary acceptance of it.

105. #ȝelice#: read grislice as suggested by W. H. Brown, Mod. Lang. Notes, vii. 226.

106. Omit þer, put full stop after iunglenges, and understand from the previous sentence were ærndraces.

110. #þa# may be dat. sing of the article as at 14/57, but more probably it = þan, then. #folce to freme#, for benefit to the folk; see 176/24 note. #bedeles#, heralds: comp. ‘Þa halgan apostolas, þe ðam hælende folgodon, wæron þa getreowan þeowan ⁊ ða fyrmestan bydelas, þe godes lare geond þas land toseowon,’ AS. Hom. ed. Assmann, 56/141; ‘wearð se halga iohannes ætforan him asend swa swa heofonlic bydel,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 342/94; Orm 19/633.

112. They are all one in God’s purpose. For #on# comp. ‘Alle hie bieð forsakene o{n} godes awene muðe,’ VV 3/2.

114. #fastlice#, in steady flow, or, corresponding to ‘þicce þringeð,’ 116, crowding. It sometimes means vigorously, as in ‘hi fengon togadre fæstlice mid wæpnum,’ Ælf. Lives, ii. 98/489; sometimes firmly, ‘þing ðe godd fastliche ðe forbett,’ VV 37/23. See 12/9.

117. #his#, them. #scyft#, separates, is a mere synonym of ‘to ȝesceodeð.’ Perhaps scryft = #scrifeþ#, fixes their destiny.

119. #morȝe mete#, the ‘forme mete’ of 12/11.

120. #more mete#, the ‘fulle mete’ of 16/127; ‘none,’ 12/12; ‘vii sandon,’ 13/29.

121. #witetlice# of the MS. may represent OE. #witodlīce#, assuredly.

122. #uuantruce#, failure; as being compounded of #wan#, wanting, and the noun of #trucian#, to fail, it should mean absence of failure. #hað#: for omission of nom. see 6/18.

123. For the pain of dying as penance, comp. ‘Quidam autem electi in fine suo purgantur a levibus quibusdam peccatis,’ Isidore vi. 361; ‘Nullus tui Ordinis peribit, si Ordinem amaverit; aut in morte purgabitur, aut in brevi post mortem,’ Arnulf of Boheries in S. Bern. Opera, ii. 802.

124. #eðelice lette#, easy hindrance, i.e. slight delay. #merchestowe#: Morris suggests ‘merthestowe, a place of mirth,’ or alternatively translates the MS. reading, place marked out, place of separation. The word is not found elsewhere; it is probably a special coinage for the intermediate state, the place of the soul waiting for the body, the place of the ‘morȝemete,’ the limited joy of which the soul is capable in its severed state (‘requies ei, sed in anima sola, interim datur,’ Anselm, in Eadmer, 161 col. 2 B); the banquet of perfect felicity, ‘se fulle mete,’ follows when soul and body meet again at the resurrection, 17/157 (‘in anima simul & corpore laetabuntur,’ Ans.). Comp. #March#, ‘myddys be-twyn ij cu{n}treys,’ Prompt. Parv. ed. Mayhew, 282.

128. #belimpð hit#: a superfluous nominative, as if, what is it that happens?

129. #letes# in Specimens is resolved into lete + his, the latter being gen. of hit, governed by fandie, and so like ‘ȝif we his abiriȝdon,’ OEH i. 223/22. But support is lacking for enclitic es = his: it seems better to take letes as lete + es, pl. acc., them, or even as s. a. f. used incorrectly as neuter.

131. #anu# is taken by Morris as for anu{m}, but neither his ‘at once,’ Specimens, nor ‘only,’ OEH, is satisfactory. Probably the original had anūge (= #ānunge#) gerǣde, entirely, quite ready, very keen.

132. #hade#, a past among the presents, is probably a mistake for habe subj. pres. of indefinite comparison, Howsoever many vices he has on him, just so many fiends he there encounters: fele has dropped out after swa 133.

135. In Specimens [habbeþ] is inserted after hi, with the translation, ‘and they shall have for their reward the home that long shall last.’ The text given means, they shall be thrust from his sight and into their reward which must last long for them. For #hin# = in, comp. 13/23, and for #abroden into#, 13/27. But the original may have had, ⁊ higien him to hire lēan þe lange sceal gelǣstan.

136. #a þa mucele deie#: comp. ‘on þam miclan dæge,’ Christ 1049, and often; ‘in iudicium magni diei,’ S. Jude, 6. See Deering, W., The Anglo-Saxon Poets on the Judgment Day, 8.

138. #niȝen anglene had#: ‘Novem esse distinctiones, vel ordines angelorum sacrae scripturae testantur: id est, Angelos, Archangelos, Thronos, Dominationes, Virtutes, Principatus, Potestates, Cherubim et Seraphim,’ Isidore, vi. 137.

141. #þer midenarde . . . werpeð abec#. The article is s. d. fem., the noun s. d. masc. The phrase might mean, with all those who for his love turn backwards to the world, but not, ‘put aside the world,’ Morris. It seems to be without parallel: such expressions as, ‘projecerunt legem tuam post terga sua,’ ii Esdras ix. 26, suggest the acc. þes midenard here.

142-146. The ultimate source is Ephraem Syrus, ‘Quomodo sustinebimus, Fratres, quum videbimus igneum fluvium . . . comburentem omnem terram et quae in ea sunt opera? Tunc, dilecti, ab illo igne flumina deficient et fontes evanescent, stellae cadent, sol extinguetur, luna abibit, coelum plicabitur ut volumen, sicut scriptum est . . . Quomodo sustinebimus tunc, Christo dilecti, quum videbimus terribilem thronum praeparatum et signum crucis apparens, in quo affixus est Christus voluntarie pro nobis,’ ed. Lamy, ii. 192. Comp. with the present passage BH 91.

144. With #aþestreð# comp. 123/230.

145. #to gað#, should ordinarily mean, parts in sunder, but in view of plicabitur in the quotation above (‘et complicabuntur sicut liber caeli,’ Isaiah xxxiv. 4), it may mean here, is rolled up. Comp. ‘& on þæm dæge heofon biþ befealden swa swa boc,’ BH 91/25. #si hali rode tacne# usually means, the sign of the cross, 130/65; BH 237/21; AR 106/9; here and OEH i. 121/9 it is the cross itself as a sign. Comp. ‘et tunc parebit signum Filii hominis in caelo,’ S. Matt. xxiv. 30, ‘and seo hea ród | Ryht aræred rices to beacne,’ Christ 1063. See also Deering, 42.

147. #cwaciað#: comp. 34/94; ‘oðe dom of Domesdai, þer þe engles schulen cwakien,’ AR 116/19. #senfulle#: comp. ‘þer þe crysmechild for sunnes sore schal drede,’ OEM 90/11. The passage bears considerable resemblance to ‘hinc erunt accusantia peccata, inde terrens justitia: subtus patens horridum chaos inferni, desuper iratus judex: intus urens conscientia, foris ardens mundus. Justus vix salvabitur; peccator sic deprehensus in quam partem se premet?’ S. Anselmi Op. 208.

148. #bechece# is translated in Specimens, ‘gainsay’ and connected with #cigan#, which is difficult both as to form and sense: probably it is written for beceche, deceive. #beswice#, get the better of.

151. #beswapen#, clothed: ‘et induit maledictionem sicut vestimentum,’ Ps. cviii. 18; ‘Qui oderunt te, induentur confusione,’ Job viii. 22.

152. #an himselfe#, concerning himself: comp. ‘Eft ne mot nan mann . . . secgan on hine sylfne,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 274/177.

153. #ecenesse# is strangely said of man’s earthly existence. Perhaps recelesnesse.

158. #esten#, dainties: comp. 50/359; metaphorically, it means delight, at 159. #Delicie# &c.: Prov. viii. 31; sunt is not in the Vulgate.

160. #litl her#, a little time ago.

161. #Ego# &c.: S. John vi. 51; in Vulgate, descendi.

162. #astah#: OE. #astīgan# is a neutral word the direction of which is indicated by an adverb. When alone, it is generally used of rising; but comp. ‘Ah crist . . . asteh of heuene riche,’ OEH i. 17/25; ‘he (Christ) asteh to þisse liue,’ id. 19/7.

164. #alswa se#, not, ‘as he also,’ Morris, but, just as, even as, 17/173: so alswa alse, 17/169; alse, 13/42, alswa, 17/170 = as.

165. #⁊ c.#: ‘cadens in terram mortuum fuerit, ipsum solum manet,’ S. John xii. 24. #was ȝesawen#, at the Annunciation. The fanciful comparison is common in mediaeval writers: comp. ‘Elegit autem sibi quasi granum tritici Deus corpus de Spiritu sancto in utero virginali conceptum . . . in cruce illa [grana] moluit, in resurrectione cribravit,’ Petri Cellensis Sermones (Migne, P. L. ccii), 808.

167. #com#, sprang up; a common use in mod. dialects. #ꝥ cweð us of breade# is translated in Specimens, ‘which speaketh to us by bread.’ It means, of course, that is called house of bread: comp. ‘Bethleem is gereht “Hlaf-hús,” and on hire wæs Crist, se soða hlaf, acenned, þe be him sylfum cwæð, “Ic eom se liflica hláf,”’ Ælf. Hom. Cath. i. 34/14; ‘In coelis erat panis angelorum, set in bethleem factus est panis hominum. Merito igitur locus iste domus dicebatur panis, unde angelorum et hominum carnaliter fuerat oriundus panis,’ H. de Losinga, ii. 12; Orm 121/3528-35.

170. #melstanent#: ‘Pastor farinam moluit in cruce tanquam in molendino,’ P. Cellensis, 807. #berient#: the tomb as the oven is original. Comp: ‘Iste est ille, qui seipsum coxit in clibano passionis,’ Bede, vii. 369 (Cologne ed.); ‘Et sicut panis igne coquitur, ita Christus in camino passionis assatur,’ Elucidarium Honorii Augustodun., 1129; Adam. Praemonstr. 178 (Migne, P. L. cxcviii); Petrus Blesensis, iv. 33.

173. #Ego sum# &c.: S. John xv. 1.

Cross-References

6/18, 10/167 (notes) = III. (The Peterborough Chronicle) 50/334 (note) = VIII. (Poema Morale) 118/30, 124/249 (notes) = XVI. (Sawles Warde) 176/24 (note) = XXI. (The Bestiary)

Errata

#Phonology:# ... y in cyme 87 (? #cime#) [cyme,] .... #ǣ{2}# is uniformly e [#æ{2}#] #ē# is regularly e, but dieð 51 (= #deð#) [text unchanged: error for “dēð”?] ... Final #ēo# is i, hi 50 (4), ibi 135, isi 55 (4), si 50 (6) [(4) si 50] ... #æ# + #g# ... eiȝ in seigd 34 [seigð] e in sede 117, 119, seden 69, 160 (= #sǣdon#) [corrected by author from #sædon#] #ǣ{1}# + #h# [#æ{1}#] Minor declensions: ... feder 48, s. d. [d. s.] ... man 76, s. d., 41, s. a. [41.] The infinitive of verbs ... Pres. s. 1. forȝete 61 [1:] ȝestrenð 112 (#gestrengeþ#) [ȝestrend] V. ableow 42, bleowu 168 [V ableow] oȝeð 64 (#āgon#), 1 pr. pl. [1. pr. pl.] muȝe (we) 49, 1 pr. pl. [1. pr. pl.] 26. ... KH MS. L 1131 note. [Ms.] 28. ... see 50/334 note. [final . missing] 37. #· iii · prou.# [anomalous spacing unchanged]

VI. THE PROVERBS OF ALFRED

#Manuscript:# Jesus College, Oxford, E 29, formerly Arch. i. 29 (J). It consists of two distinct MSS. bound in one; the second begins at f. 217 r. (new foliation) and was written not long after 1276 (Anglia xxx, 222). Its contents are best described in the Owl and the Nightingale, ed. J. E. Wells, Boston, 1907, at pp. ix-xiii. Our piece is written continuously as prose, each stanza forming a paragraph, but iv and v are in one without l. 54, which is here supplied, while l. 43 is written at the end of the preceding paragraph and similarly the lines beginning viii-xvii, xix-xxiii. The scribe was evidently struggling with an original which he could not always read; see footnote to l. 105.

Another MS. is B. 14. 39, Trinity College, Cambridge (T): see The Western Manuscripts in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge, by M. R. James, vol. i. p. 438. It gives a much longer text very badly copied by a scribe little skilled in English.

A third copy in MS. Cotton Galba A. xix was destroyed in the fire at Dean’s Yard in 1731. But Wanley had printed a specimen (W), corresponding to ll. 1-21 of this edition, in his Catalogue (published in 1705), p. 231; and Richard James (1592-1638) had copied, from a transcript furnished to Thomas Allen (1542-1633), Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford, by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (1571-1631), in what is now MS. James 6, Bodleian Library (RJ), p. 68, pieces corresponding to ll. 1-23; 27-49; 52, 53; 55-64; 78-85; 168, 9; 173, 4; 211-13; 204-206; 236, 7; 307, 8, and two fragments which correspond to the text in MS. T, ll. 516-32; 652, 3, but are not in MS. J. Allen’s MSS. passed into the possession of Sir Kenelm Digby, who presented them to the Bodleian in 1638. But the transcript was not among them. It is a curious mistake to think that it ever formed part of MS. Digby 4, which has been caused by Langbaine’s calling the copy of the Poema Morale in that MS., Alfredi Regis Parabolae. This is clear from MS. Rawlinson D 325, which consists of Hearne’s notes to Spelman’s Life of Alfred; it contains the note printed on p. 131 of the Life, which is immediately followed by a cancelled extract from the Poema Morale in the Digby version. Allen’s transcript has disappeared.

The Cotton MS. was again used by Sir John Spelman (1594-1643) for his Life of Alfred. He says that ‘by the Courtesy of Sr Thomas [Cotton, 1594-1662] I am provided of a Copy of them.’ Apparently he was himself the copyist, for he speaks of the MS. as ‘faulty and ill writ, in a mungrel Hand (as well as Language).’ He gives what corresponds to ll. 1-64, and a paraphrase of six stanzas more. It is hard to say what Spelman actually wrote, for his own MS., which was probably University Coll. MS. 136. 8, has disappeared, and the three versions of it differ considerably. They are (1) Hearne’s transcript (SH^1) of Spelman prepared for the printer, now MS. Rawlinson D 324 (p. 225); (2) the Life of Alfred in English (SH^2), published in 1709; (3) the Latin translation (SL) published in 1678. A fragment of the latter was copied in MS. Stowe 163, B.M. ff. 101-135; of the English poem it has ll. 1-19. The evidence which is to be got from the Spelman sources as to the text of MS. Galba is suspect. S signifies their agreement.

#Editions:# Wright, T., in Reliquiae Antiquae, i. 170 (J,T): Kemble, J. M., Salomon and Saturn. (T only). This book, without title-page, is dated in pencil in my copy, 1845, 6. It seems a first attempt for the following: Kemble, J. M., The Dialogue of Salomon and Saturnus. Ælfric Society, London, 1848, p. 225. Morris, R., An Old English Miscellany, 1872 (J; and T from Wright and Kemble), p. 53: *Skeat, W. W., The Proverbs of Alfred, Oxford, 1907 (J,T); *Borgström, E., The Proverbs of Alfred, Lund, 1908 (J,T).

#Literature:# Wülker, R., Ueber die neuangelsächsischen Sprüche des Königs Ælfred. Paul-Braune, Beiträge, i. 240: Gropp, E., On the Language of the Proverbs of Alfred, Halle, 1879: Zupitza, J., Anglia, iii. 570; Holthausen, F., Archiv, lxxxviii. 370-2 (emendations). Ekwall, E., Anglia, Beiblatt, xxi. 76-8. Skeat, W. W., Transactions of the Philological Society, 1895-8, p. 399. =For Proverbs:= Förster, M., in ES xxxi. 1-20: Kellner, L., Alteng. Spruchweisheit, Wien, 1897: Kneuer, K., Die Sprichwörter Hendyngs. Leipz. Dissert. 1901: Skeat, W. W., Early English Proverbs, Oxford, 1910; Tobler, A., Li Proverbe au Vilain, Leipzig, 1895: Catonis Disticha, in Baehrens, Poetae Latini Minores, iii. 205-42: Senecae Monita, ed. Woelfflin: Publilii Syri Sententiae, ed. Woelfflin, Lipsiae, 1869: Alanus de Insulis, ed. C. de Visch, Antwerpiae, 1654: Arnulf, Deliciae Cleri, Romanische Forschungen, ii. 211: Columbani Monostichon, Poetae Lat. Aevi Carolini, i. 275: Fecunda Ratis, ed. Voigt, Halle, 1889: Florilegium Gottingense, Rom. Forsch. iii. 281, 461: Florilegium S. Omer, id. vi. 557: Florilegium Vindobonense, Müllenhoff u. Scherer, Denkmäler, xxvii: Otloh, Beda, i. 1080: Proverbia Heinrici, MSD: Proverbia Rustici, Rom. Forsch. iii. 633: Regimen Sanitatis Salernitanum, ed. Croke, Oxford, 1830: Wipo, ed. Pertz., Hannoverae, 1853.

#Phonology:# Oral #a# is a; #a# before nasals and lengthening groups, o, but can 231, manyes, 295, fremannes, 299: me, indef. pron. < #man# is due to loss of stress: þanne, þane, þan, hwanne are usual, but þenne 72, 91, hwenne 254. #æ# is mostly a, as always in after, at, fader, hwat, war 16, but e in eþelyng 44, gedelyng 214, gled 209, glednesse 30, gres 81, heuedest 187, queþ 19, &c., þet 154 (once), þes 63 (once), wes 4 and always; Ealured 6 occurs beside Alured 12, &c. #e# and #e# before lengthening groups is e, but ny 124 < #ne#: imulten 276 represents #myltan#. #i# is i, often written y, mostly in conjunction with n, but wule 91, 254, 286 (beside wile 154, wille 142), nule 69, after w, nele 254, OE. #nele#. #o# is o, but #on# is weakened to a 112, 200; #ðone# is þane 247, 248, þene 114, 116, 198 (LWS. #ðane#, #ðæne#). #œ# is represented in seorewe 151, 233, serewe 156. #u# is u, but bycome 138, where o is associated with m. #y# is u: munye 25 is OE. #mynian#; vordrye 227, OE. #fyrþrian#, is a French spelling; king, kyng, dryhten with y for i are exceptions as usual; steorne 207 is corrupt.

#ā# is o; a remains in bihat 245, mayþenes 130, madmes 133, 276. #ǣ{1}# is e: exceptions are vyches 276, euer uyches 54, which descend from #ylc#, agoþ 146, ouergoþ 143, without umlaut: nenne 296 is #nænne#. #ǣ{2}# is also e, but þar 4 &c., always. #ē# is e, but doþ 81. #ī# is i, often written y, but me 140 (#mīn#) is due to loss of stress. #ō# is o, but reowe 96 (#rōwan#), a French spelling. #ū# is u: for it w is written in hw 11, 22, 42. #ȳ# is u in byhud 163, cuþe 254, cuþeþ 170, lutel 215, 277, 312, luþre 257, but litel 281; #þȳ# has i in forþi 304, e in þe 82.

#ea# before #r# + cons. is e in erewe 156, a in arewe 152, þarf 108, 244; before length. groups, e in bern 311; its i-umlaut is seen in churreþ 53 (#cierran#), and, before length. group, yeorde 328 (#gierd#): #ea# before #l# + cons. is a, as al 105, &c.; before length. groups, e in weldan 130 &c., awelde 320, o in cold 237, holde 42, 102, 280, 304, &c., vpholde 113; its i-umlaut is seen in ealde 319, 330, elde 68, 71, 72 (#ieldo#), ildre 125 (#ieldran#). #eo# before #r# + cons. is eo in heorte 163, 166, smeorte 164, but e in werk 15, werke 16; before length. groups, eo in cheorl 58, eorl 4, eorþe 81, &c., yeorne 66, 69, leorne 170 &c., but furþ 113; its i-umlaut is shown in durlyng 7, hurde 6, vrre 136. The #wur# group has invariably u. #eo# before #l# + cons. is eo in seolf 308 &c., but sulue 284 (#sylfe#). #ea#, u-umlaut of #a#, is wanting in balewe 282, baleusyþes 189. #eo#, å-umlaut of #e#, is shown in feole 2, 249, and weole 78 (5), but fele 2, 132, 302 is without change; vale 300 is #feala# with shifted accent. #eo#, u- and å-umlaut of #i#, is seen in heonne 115, heore 11, seoluer 121, 134, but is wanting in huntseuenti 79; #leofian# appears only as libben 135. #ea# after palatals is a in schal 35 (8), #gesc(e)apen# is ischapen 92; #ie# after #g# is e in foryeteþ 137, yeue 90: #eo# after #g# is o in yong 195, yonge 328, yongmon 87; youþe 105, youhþe 66, 69, 98 (#geogoð#) show combination with the following g: #eo# after #sc# is o in scolde 87 &c., scholden 11: #heom# is heom 9.

#ēa# is normally a, but reade 80, lyen (= #lēan#) 289; its i-umlaut is e, foryemeþ 137, ilef 132, 248, nexte 265, iherest 251, but u in ihure 10, ihurd 205. #ēo# is normally eo, but e in forleseþ 137, fremannes 299, o in wolde 278, loþ 234, the latter miswritten for leoþ, r. w. forteoþ; the rhyme istreon 125 : lone (#lān#) is noteworthy: neode 141, 217, 265 is LWS. #nēod# arising beside #nied# by confusion with #nēod#, desire. #īe# in #scīene#, #gesīene# gives schene 213, isene 75.

#a# + #g# is aw, but seye 152, seyþ 234, 246, sayþ, 305: #æ# + #g# is ay, but seyde 24, iseyd 236, ised 230: #e# + #g# is always ey: ayeyn 95 = #ongegn#: #o# + #g# always ow: #u# + #g# gives mvwe 113 (LWS. #muge#), doweþes 118 (#duguða#).

#ā# + #g# is always ow: #ā# + #h# is ah in ahte 79: #ǣ{1}# + #g# occurs in feye 113; #ǣ{1}# + #h# in ayhte 125, 171, 274, but eyhte 145: #ī# + #h# in lyeþ 109 (#lihþ#): #ō# + #g# in inowe 133, plouh 61, brouhte 181: #ū# + #g# in buwe 201.

#ea# + #h# occurs in wexynde 112, 113, iauhteþ 171 (#geeahtian#), probably a miswriting of iachteþ in the scribe’s exemplar (T has hachte for #æht#, nocht, &c.): #eo# + #h# in bryht 211, rihtwis 34, mixe 276 (#meox#), vouh 129 is #feoh#; in case it corresponds to #fēo#, dative; Skeat and Borgström read veoh. #ēa# + #h# gives þeih 88 (9), þey 79. #ā# + #w# is ow in mowe 53, 60, sowen 59, isowen 80, au in saule 23, ou in nouht 35 &c. and ey in iseye 186 (#gesāwe#): #ēa# + #w# is ew in fewe 301, þewes 195, 312, vnþewes 262, eu in glev 256, vnþev 198, eaw in gleaw 30: #ēo# + #w# is eow in greowe 81, reowe 330, treowe 202, ew in rewe 71: the pron. #ēow# is ou 21, eu 142, #ēower# ower 141, eure 20, 23.

The acute accent is used twenty-one times over long vowels, in ten cases over e representing #ǣ#: séé 95, 132 is furnished with two, as often in MS. O of Layamon, comp. 95/2. In v́uel 217 it serves to distinguish the vowel.

The consonants show little divergence from OE. use. For #w#, u is written in uexynde 112, for #u#, w in hw 22, 42: #wur# is wr in wrþsipes 22, wrþie 36, 286, wrþe 124: iwrche 83 is OE. #gewyrcan#, wrt 112 is #wyrt#. OE. #swa# is regularly so, but once swo 99, influenced by the initial sw of the following word. #l# is lost in vyches 276, eueruyches 54 and other pronominal words of similar formation: #n# is dropped in euelyche 49, owe 111, wyndrunke 184; uppe prep. 132 occurs beside vpen 123. #f# between vowels is commonly v, u, but hafst 133, oferhoweþ 323, wife 185 where it is probably voiced; initially it is largely maintained, but it is v, u in urouer 37, velde 112, vouh 129, forvare 147, 260, vere 148, vordrye 227, vayre 245, 6, avynde 291, vale 300, in all these cases before a vowel. #d# is t in huntseuenti 79; schaltu 168 has t for #þ# after a dental: #þ# is represented by d in vordrye 227; madmes 138 answers to LWS. #mādm#: #t# is omitted in lest 316. #c# + #s# is represented by x in arixlye 329. #hw# is generally preserved, but wile 149: in initial combinations with other consonants #h# is lost: swyhc 159 is written for swych, iscohte 303 for ischote. The prefix #ge# is regularly i: k is often used for #c#; #cw# is qu; #č# is ch, as chireche 57, cheorl 58, &c. #sc# is generally sch, but scolde 87, wrþsipes 22: #ġ# is regularly y.

In syllables of minor stress the vowels have mostly been levelled to e, as in egleche, sadelbowe, sikerliche, vppen, &c. An e, generally slurred in scansion, is inserted in clerek, euere, seorewe, arewe, erewe, foleweþ, pouere.

#Accidence:# Nouns of the strong declension m., neut. have s. g. -es, cristes 283, cunnes 276; d. -e, bure 212, balewe 282, &c., but the termination is sometimes not written before a vowel, god 104, word 16, or omitted by the scribe, lyf 28, lond 12, mod 224, þing 188, or an accusative form is used, cotlyf 174, fryþ 58, loþ 234, through confusion of the prepositional constructions. The plural of masculines ends in -es, n. þeynes 1, d. wrenches 257, a. acres 79: neuter nouns with masc. terminations are n. wordes 24, a. sedes 59, þinges 21, wyttes 40, but the normal þing, pl. a. 143; treowe 202, pl. n. represents #trēowu#; þinge 250 is an isolated pl. a.; worde 300 is probably pl. g., an OE. construction after vale; worde 301 is pl. d.: englene pl. g. 6, &c. (#Engla#), iwriten pl. a. 67 are weak forms. Of the strong feminines, ayhte 125, blisse 31, 282, 310, lone 126 (read lon), neode 141, vnhelþe 73, youþe 105 have added e in the s. n., and worlde 278, wunne 279 in the s. a.: worldes 22, s. g. shows confusion of declensions: the s. d. ends regularly in -e, except world 122 (see note): s. a. in e. The general termination of the pl. is e, n. eyhte 145, ayhte 274, leode 20 &c., wene 74; g. quene 237 (#cwēna#), or s. g. (#cwēne#); d. leode 264, honde 259; a. custe 170, saule 23, but d. blissen 31, deden 47, spechen 249: tales 295, pl. d. medes 60, pl. a. (#mǣdwa#) show confusion of declensions: doweþes 118 appears to be meant for s. g., but it answers to OE. #duguþa#; perhaps doweþe is to be read. Loss of final n has greatly simplified the weak declension, so s. d. heorte 163, sadelbowe 153, weole 82, 103, ivere 144, vere 148, wille 35; s. a. tunge 190, tyme 114, weole 91, 100, wille 185 &c., but wyllen 283: dwales 296 is a strong pl. a. The minor declensions are represented by mon s. n. 17, monnes s. g. 54, fremannes 299, mon s. d. 159, wymmon s. a. 204, monne pl. g. 32, pl. d. 253, 269; boke s. d. 39; fader s. n. 33, s. g. 212, moder s. d. 203; freond s. a. 83, 245, pl. v. 25, pl. a. 267.

Remnants of the strong declension of adjectives are longes s. g. neut. 109, reade s. d. n. 80 (#rēadum#), yonge 328 (#geongum#), godne s. a. m. 45, vuelne 231, swikelne 252; wenliche s. n. m. 68, godlyche 204 have e, contrary to OE. usage, but vnlede s. n. m. 238, is OE. #unlǣde#. Weak forms are wise s. n. m. 287, betere s. n. neut. 325, 327, wysuste s. n. m. 17; for mildest s. n. m. 32 mildeste should be read. OE. #āna# is one 29, 41, 118, #ān# is o 79, 278. The participial #āgen# gives s. n. neut. owe 149, d. f. owere 54, a. m. owene 318, a. neut. owe 128. With exception of the above, the adjective is not inflected in the singular. The plural in all cases ends in e. Adjectives used as nouns are arewe s. d. 152, erewe s. n. 156, fayre s. d. 172, feye s. g. 113, frakele s. a. 172, god[e] s. d. 225, god s. a. 90, ifon pl. n. 129, ivo pl. d. 186, ildre pl. g. 125, loþe s. a. 247, more s. a. 162, pouere s. d., riche s. d. 268, s. a. 50, vuele s. d. 90.

The personal pronouns are ich, we, us, þu, þe, ye, ou 21, eu 142: s. n. he m. 9, heo f. 169 &c.; d. him m. 35, 71, 88, 330, n. 312, 316; a. hine m. 36 &c., hyne 144 &c., hi f. 187, 192, 242, hit n. 118, it 96; pl. n. hi, heo 76; d. heom 9; a. hi 80, 170. Reflexives are him seolue 260, hymseolue 137; definitives, heo seolf 308, himseolf 41, seoluen 38: possessives, mi, me 140, myne pl. 25, 26; þi s. n. m. 272, þin s. n. f. 166, þire s. d. f. 163, þin s. a. neut. 323, þi 168, in all other cases þine, þyne; hire, hyre, once heore 11; vre; eure, ower 141. The definite article is s. n. þe m. 4 &c., f. 141; þes g. m. 63, þas 113; þan d. m. 55, 152, þare f. 5, 217, þe 216 (read þare); þane a. m. 247, 248, þene 114, 116, 198, þe f. 95 &c., þe n. 220, 234, þat 46, 56; pl. þe in all cases; for þan adv. 240. The compound demonstrative is þis s. n. f. 63; d. 122: the relatives, þe, þat, once þet 154, hwat 181: interrogative, hwat 84: indefinites, oþre pl. d. 242; non n. 38, no 112, nones g. 299, none d. 169, a. f. 280, non a. neut. 308, nenne pl. a. 296; eny s. d. neut. 225: nouht n. 35, nouhte d. 275: me 245, 247: fewe pl. d. 301: fele, feole 2, 249, vale 300: vyches s. g. neut. 276, echere s. d. f. 161, eueruyches s. g. m. 54: hwych s. a. neut. 52: swuch 53, swyhc 159: al s. n. neut. 105, alle d. f. 29, 30, a. m. 185, al a. f. 278, 279, a. neut. 89 &c., alre pl. g. 62, 110, in other cases of the pl. alle; mid alle 128.

Two-thirds of the infinitives end in e, ie, ye, y, lokie 41, wrþie, 36, 286, wyssye 21, arixlye 329, leorny 69, weny 244; n is retained mostly before vowels and at the end of lines and half-lines, but leten and forleten occur six times against lete once. A dative infinitive with inflection is to fone 55, others without inflection are leden 46, mowen 60, reowe 93, sowen 59, swynke 96, for to do 229, for to werie 56, for to vordrye 227. Presents are s. 1. holde 304, munye 25; 2. hauest 151, hafst 133, lest 316 (#lǣtest#); 3. leorneþ 66, seyþ 234 &c., foþ 289, wurþ 209, iwinþ 100 (read iwinneþ), let 204, 329, bihat 245: pl. 1. wurcheþ 283; 3. ibureþ 45, forteoþ 235: subjunctive s. 3. fare 64, lykie 88, lyke 155, loke 64; pl. 1. biþenche 284; 2. adrede 27, luuyen, lykyen 28: imperative s. 2. seye 152, leorne 170, ilef 132, 248, ryd 153, let 165, wurþ 184, but wrþe 124; pl. 2. lusteþ 140. Past of Strong Verbs: s. 3. Ia. cweþ 19 &c.; Ic. bigon 9, pl. Ia. sete 1; subj. s. 2. Ia. iseye 186; 3. Ib. bycome 138; V. greowe 81, wolde 278. Participles present: I c. singinde 153; V. uexynde 112, 313; past: I b. iboren 138, 328, vnbore 327; I c. forswunke 200, aswunde 76; II. biswike 76, idryue 61; III. idrowe 105, iscohte 303; IV. ischapen 92; V. isowen 80; VI. bitowe 106. Past of Weak Verbs: s. 2. heuedest 187; 3. brouhte 181, hadde 80, luuede 15, seyde 24, wiste 181. Participles present: lyuyinde 188, werende 316; past: ihurd 205, ilered 2, 39, iseyd 236, ised 230, iwreþþed 187, 222. Minor Groups: wot pr. s. 118, 156, not 114; ahte pt. s. subj. 79; on pr. s. 160, 162; con pr. s. 154, 302, kunne pr. s. subj. 40, cunne 41; schal pr. s. 35 &c., schulle 1 pr. pl. 127, schulen 276, schulle pr. pl. 49 &c., schule pr. s. subj. 42, 1 pr. pl. subj. 119, scolde pt. s. 87 &c., scholden pt. pl. 11; myht 2 pr. s. 159, 263, may pr. s. 38 &c., mawe 1 pr. pl. 286, 2 pr. pl. 10, mvwe pr. s. subj. 113, myhte pt. s. 199 &c., 2 pt. pl. 22; mote pr. s. subj. 149; beon inf. 68, nys pr. s. 112, 125, biþ pr. s. 322, beoþ pr. pl. 74, 76, beo pr. s. subj. 35 &c., pr. pl. subj. 202, wes pt. s. 4, were pt. pl. 24, pt. s. subj. 200, 325, nere 82; wille 1 pr. s. 142, wile pr. s. 154, wule 91 &c., nele 254, nule 69, wolde pt. s. 21, 2 pt. pl. 20, pt. s. subj. 191; do inf. 197, for to do dat. inf. 229, deþ pr. s. 288, 321, doþ 81 (read deþ); agoþ pr. s. 146, ouergoþ 143, ago pr. s. subj. 145.

Noteworthy adverbs are frakele 246, ifurn 236 (#gefyrn#), lihte 198, muchele 162, vuele 171, 176, vayre 245, 246: #oft# is always ofte.

#Dialect:# Southern, free from South-Eastern influence. The wavering in the representation of #a# before nasals points to the Middle South, but ihure 10, ihurd 205 are South-Western. But this representation of #īe#, as well as lyen (= lēan), is found in MS. e of the Poema Morale, which is generally taken as of the Middle South. The forms vyches, eueruyches occur elsewhere in MS. J, and are probably due to the scribe.

#Metre:# The system is that of Layamon and the Bestiary; the Worcester Fragment B shows an earlier stage of its development. It is a mixture of the national alliterative verse loosely constructed and rhyming couplets. The latter are bound together by perfect, imperfect, even inflectional rhymes, and assonances. The halves of the couplets as they appear in MS. J are of varying lengths, two measures as 73, 216, more frequently two and a half 7, 44 &c., three 51 &c., three and a half 8 &c. Three-syllable measures are common, as, ‘hé wes þe | wýsuste | mòn,’ 17, ‘his sé | des to sów | èn,’ 59, ‘his mé | des to mów | èn’ 60. The alliterative combinations present every possible variety, 2 + 2, as 16; the normal 2 + 1, as 67; 1 + 2, as 142; 1 + 1, as 23 and often. The couplet has sometimes the added ornament of alliteration, as 46, 47. Where a line has neither alliteration nor rhyme, it may be assumed that the formless text is corrupt, as at 26, 68 &c.

There is then little to be gained by a metrical analysis of the poem in its present condition. It had originally a quite definite and regular structure, but this has been spoiled by copyists with little feeling for the structure of the verse and possessed by a strong desire to renovate the antique. It is highly probable that the last of them, the writer of MS. J, had a large hand in this alteration, for the copy of the Poema Morale in the same MS. has undergone a drastic revision which sets it apart among the versions of that poem, and the version of the Owl and Nightingale has suffered, though not to the same extent. On the other hand MS. T was copied by a man who was incapable of remodelling it; though a ruin, it often preserves in details the original.

The dilapidations wrought by the copyists may be classed as follow: i. Archaic and uncommon words are rejected: for þeynes 1, read sweynes; comp. L 28359, O 3297, 14953 for this word as meaning the immediate dependants of the king; the line then divides after ‘sete’: l. 13, see note: l. 24 for seyde þe, read wordede; comp. ‘þe king wordede þus,’ L 13052: l. 26 with the help of T may be restored, arme ⁊ edie leode · of lifis wisdom: l. 38, see note: l. 56, adopting ‘here’ from T, read þat land for to werie | wiþ hunger and wiþ here (the Danish marauding host was forgotten): l. 62, for bihoue read biliue (bilif T, W): l. 68, for beon read wurþen: l. 71, 330 for rewe read suwe, smart; comp. 72/199: l. 82, see note and comp. L 30903: l. 87, for howyen, read ȝeomeren, be depressed: l. 88, 155, for lykie read wurþe: comp. ‘Ne scyle nán wís monn gnornian to hwæm his wise weorþe,’ Boeth. 40, 3 (B-T): l. 111, see note: l. 115, for turne read rume (rime T): l. 122, see note: l. 133, for inowe read muche (moch T): l. 136, for Monymen read moni gume: l. 137, for him seolue read his saule, with T: l. 138, for bycome read were, with T, restoring a couplet: l. 143 for þing, read weole (welþe T): half a line is lost after lere: read, And ich eu lere wille · [leoue freond myne] | wit and wisdom · þat alle weole ouergoþ.: ll. 202, 207, see notes: l. 278 for mon read wiht: l. 280 for holde read lenge, as in T. ii. Older forms and constructions are modernised: ll. 159, 160, see note: l. 169 read þat heo þe bringe, making a couplet: l. 187 read heuede: l. 216 read þare for þe: l. 305, read alle for al, comp. 185: other instances are noted in Accidence. iii. Words are rearranged mostly in a prose order, spoiling rhyme and rhythm: read l. 25, leoue freond myne: l. 41 himseólf one lokie: l. 55 bihoueþ þan knyhte, for the alliterating word in the first half of the line comes almost invariably last, the rare exceptions being mostly verbs: for l. 56 see above: read l. 80 and he isowen hadde: l. 118 hit one wot dryhten: l. 130, vre maþmes welden | and vs byhinde leten: l. 142, lere wille: l. 156, if þu hauest serewe | and hit wot þe erewe: l. 203, þe kat museþ: l. 211, wiþute is bryht: ll. 232, 233, þe hire rede folẹweþ | to seorewe heo bringeþ: l. 245, þat he habbe freond: ll. 321, 322, þanne hit sone deþ | þat þe unyqueme biþ. iv. Lines and parts of lines are transposed, most of these as affecting the interpretation have been dealt with in the notes, see 40, 90, 144, 186, 247; read ll. 72, 73, þenne cumeþ vnhelþe | and ek uniselþe: though the combination in the text is found elsewhere as 40/197, elde seems to be due to the preceding line; at l. 190 we should perhaps read wymmon is tungwod · ⁊ haueþ wordes to wroþ. v. Padding is freely used: l. 4 omit þe: l. 7 read On Engelonde king: l. 9 read gon for bigon: omit l. 24, þe before king; l. 35, ne; l. 49, he; l. 66, his; l. 69, þat; l. 98, þe mon, and read þe on youhþe swo swinkeþ | and worldes weole her iwinneþ: l. 105, read on ȝouþe þat he haueþ idrowe: omit l. 132, þu; l. 149, owe; l. 152, þu; l. 188, hit; l. 189, scholde, forþ; l. 192, nowiht, and read ll. 191, 192 as an alliterative line: omit l. 205, ne, he; l. 209, blyþe and; l. 210, þe mon: l. 219-23, with the help of T we may restore, Ne ared þu nouht to swiþe | þe word of þine wyue. | If heo be i wreþþed · myd worde oþer dede; l. 231, for þat wymmon read heo; comp. T: l. 242 omit þe mon: l. 249, see note: l. 254, omit þe before wule: l. 262 omit þe, see note: l. 275, for schulle bicumen read bicumeþ: l. 280, for none read no: ll. 294, 296, omit þu: l. 324 omit þe. vi. The rhymes may, in some cases, have been spoiled by the substitution of alien dialectic forms; it is tempting to read ihere 10, iherd 205, but the u forms do not appear to belong to the dialect of the scribe of J: at l. 102 helde, a patois form (Bülbring § 175 note), might be read: at l. 240 þon. The combinations brouhte : myhte, 181, 182; ayhte : nouhte, 274, 275 are remarkable.

Many intractable lines remain, such as 284, where perhaps bet has been lost at the end.

Elision and slurring are frequent; pronounce þeorl 4, lawẹlyche 47, euẹlyche 49, euẹruyches, owẹre 54, &c.

#Introduction:# The ascription of the Proverbs to Alfred rests on no firmer ground than an affectionate remembrance of the great king as a sage and teacher of his people. The only part of the poem which could with even artistic fitness be attributed to him is ll. 19-64, the rest is mostly the cautious wisdom of the common people, varied by reflections in a higher strain on the favourite mediaeval theme of the shortness and uncertainty of life. Up to l. 64 the poem is connected; afterwards it is without apparent plan, though there is occasionally a slender thread of union between the stanzas. The editors indeed see a new exordium and the beginning of a second section in stanza xiii, which appears to me to be a weak imitation of stanza vii. Perhaps a structural difference may be detected between the more general observations of the first part and the advice to an individual which begins with stanza xiv. Stanza xxi appears to have strayed from its natural place beside stanza vii.

The version of MS. J is not necessarily the more primitive because it is shorter than that of T. A poem of such loose structure readily lends itself to selection on the part of the copyist; and the scribe of MS. J was evidently a critic.

If the suggestions offered in the section on metre have any weight, a considerable time and several copies must have intervened between the original and the present form of the poem. The composition of that original should, I think, be placed somewhere about 1180 A.D.

1. #Seuorde#: siforde T; Sifforde W, RJ, which is identified by Spelman 126 with ‘Shifford, six miles west from Oxford.’ That it is ‘remote from the use of the southern dialect’ does not prevent it from being the place where Alfred discoursed. But Seaford, a seaport in Sussex, is more likely to have been associated in the popular mind and tradition with Alfred.

2. #Biscopes#, &c.: comp. ‘Forð iwenden eorles[;] forð iwenden beornes. | forð iwenden biscopes[;] & þa boc-ilæred m{en}[;] forð iwenden þæines[;] forð iwe{n}den sweines | . . . at þan hustinge,’ L 14620. With #bokilered# comp. 19/39, 4/20 note.

3. #egleche#, valiant: OE. #aglǣca#, a fierce warrior. egloche S.

4. #Alurich#: An Ælfric thesaurarius witnesses a charter of King Alfred, A.D. 892, Birch, Cart. Saxon. ii. 209.

5. #of . . . wis#: comp. 212/533.

6. #hurde#: comp. ‘Swa se æþela lareow sægde, þæt se cyning & se biscop sceoldan beón Cristenra folca hyrdas,’ BH 45/24; ‘folces hyrde,’ Beowulf 610.

7. #Englene durlyng#: so, ‘com Alfred þe king[;] Englelondes deorli{n}g,’ L 6316: he has also ‘Bruttene, Orka[n]es, Denemarkes, Irisce mo{n}nen, utlaȝen deorling.’ See KH 488 note.

9. #bigon#: gon T, gan W,S: set to work to teach.

13. #and# may be redundant, as often in Layamon, as ‘Ic wlle mine riche to-don[;] & alle{n} minen dohtren,’ 2945 but #Alured#, though it is in all the copies, may be an error for Ælder: comp. ‘& þu seolf læuerd king[;] leoden þu ært ælder,’ L 16835, 17252, in the latter place, leader. T,W,S read a.

16. #wis . . . war#: comp. 129/27, 156/148, 186/324, 190/456; ‘þe wes þe wiseste[;] þe wes þe warreste,’ L 2107; ‘wisliche þauh ⁊ warliche,’ AR 138/7.

21. #wisliche#, wise, advisable: OE. #wīslīc#: Layamon has ‘to iwisliche{n} þinge,’ 21052. T has, of wi[s]liche þinges.

28. #lykyen#, please: in this sense it governs a dative, which may be understood out of hine. But Mätzner translates, like.

29. #one#, alone: comp. 19/41, 22/118, 60/2.

30. #glednesse#: after the manner of l. 29, we expect gleawnesse, but comp. ‘Of alkin gladnes es þar gleu,’ CM 23359. T has ⁊ he is gleu | ouer alle glade þinhes: S omits. Line 31 is probably a gloss upon l. 30.

34. #riche#, powerful: comp. 6/30, 133/33; ‘hit ne gerist nanum ricum cynincge,’ Ælf. Lives i. 382/260.

35, 6. that there shall not be wanting anything he desires to him who is purposed to honour Him here in this world. For the construction of #wone#, see 52/368: for the double negative comp. ‘for he ne mihte beon wurðe[;] na þing of his wille,’ L 18704: in the MS. wc the scribe mistook þ for w. T has apparently þo, not wo: Skeat reads [hwo]: that relative is not found in J.

37. For stanza iii generally comp. ‘Decet regem discere legem. | Audiat rex quod praecipit lex. | Legem servare hoc est regnare. | Notitia litterarum lux est animarum,’ Wipo 1-4. An echo of this stanza is evident in, ‘The ferste seide, “I understonde | Ne may no king wel ben in londe, | Under God Almihte, | But he cunne himself rede, | Hou he shal in londe lede | Everi man wid rihte,”’ Wright, Pol. Songs, 254/7 (date 1311 A.D.).

38. #may# has possibly its independent force, is strong, has power, comp. 29/12, but the line is evidently corrupt; #ryhtwis# is a reminiscence of l. 34, as is also riche in T. It is easy to supply beo after #king#, for TS have ben. But RJ, S are nearest the right reading with, Ne mai no riht cing ben under crist selve (selve SH{1}; self SH{2}, selfe SL). Read Ne may beon ryht king. #vnder criste#, a favourite expression in Layamon, as, ‘Ȝe beoð under criste[;] cnihten alre kennest | and ich æm rihchest alre kinge[;] vnder gode seolue,’ L 27230, 27976, 28056.

40. It is obvious to substitute for #wyttes#, wrytes, or better iwriten, as at 20/67, 70, after #writes# in T, but ‘his writings,’ i.e. manuscripts, seems suspicious, and if correct gives a feeble threefold repetition of the same idea; and further the relation between ll. 41 and 42 requires the explanation of #hw# as, ‘so as to know how,’ Skeat. A transposition of ll. 40, 41 with welde read for #kunne# (which seems to be due to the following line), will give a better sequence of ideas, obviate repetition, and restore the alliteration. Comp. ‘ælc bi his witte[;] wisdom sæiden,’ L 25627; ‘he wes swiðe wis mon[;] and witful on bocken,’ id. 22097. For cunne RJ, S have icweme.

41. #lokie#, consult, examine, refer to records for himself: comp. ‘þat yow tels sent Ieremi, | If yee wald lok his propheci,’ CM 9333.

46. #leden#, guide; usually with personal object.

49. #he#, resumes the subject #clerek and knyht#: a frequent construction in this poem, comp. 20/66-68, 21/98-105, 24/204, 5; similarly 24/209, 10 where the pronoun is explained by a noun. It is common in AR ‘þe wreche peoddare more noise he makeð to ȝeien his sope,’ 66/17. Borgström takes #he# as referring to #eorl and eþelyng#, l. 44, with #clerek# and #knyht# as object of #demen#, on the ground that clerks and knights did not exercise judicial power. The matter is not so simple. #Clerek# may include bishops, who sat in pre-Conquest shire-courts by the side of the Alderman, and lawyers generally. And #demen# is a word of wide meaning, comp. ‘Ne wandige ná se mæsse-preost no for rices mannes ege, ne for féo, ne for nanes mannes lufon, ꝥ he him symle rihte deme, gif he wille sylf Godes domas gedégan,’ BH 43/9; ‘Ne sceall nan godes þegn for sceattum riht deman,’ Ælf. Lives i. 430/244; ‘And he hæhte alle cnihtes[;] demen rihte domes,’ L 22115. Alfred meant that there should be no discrimination between rich and poor; discrimination between clerk and knight was not likely. #demen riht# is a phrase in which riht is a noun: comp. ‘Se rihtwisa dema sceall deman æfre riht,’ Ælf. Lives i. 430/239: sometimes, as in the quotation above, it means simply, to administer justice.

52, 3. Comp. ‘Ech man sal eft mowen bi þan þe he nu soweð,’ OEH ii. 159/15; i. 137/31, 131/24; all referring to ‘Qui parce seminat, parce et metet,’ 2 Cor. ix. 6: here the reference is to ‘Quae enim seminaverit homo, haec et metet,’ Galat. vi. 8: l. 54 means that the judgment passed on each man is of his own making: comp. 36/115.

55. #on to fone#, may mean, to take on himself; its ordinary use is, to begin, 143/85. Skeat translates, undertake, but in the place referred to in support, L 31415, the meaning is, proceed. T, RJ have cnouen, cnowen; S. mowen: the former has been explained, to study, to know how to. I think these readings are substitutes for something the scribes did not understand, such as, keneliche to kepen, or keneliche him kepen.

56. T has, of here ⁊ of heregong, where of is remarkable: the simple dative in OE., wið, 48/321, 141/41, and later from are the usual constructions with werien, of the thing guarded against.

57. #gryþ#: ‘pax regia per manum data,’ Liebermann, Ueber die Leges Edwardi Confessoris, 28: here it means vaguely, protection, much as frið with which it is constantly associated; comp. ‘þonne nam man grið ⁊ frið wið hi,’ AS. Chron. 1011; ‘a þisse londe he heold grið[;] a þisse londe he hulde frið,’ L 9912; Orm 116/3380; 116/133.

58. Comp. ‘þe ælc cheorl eæt his sulche[;] hæfde grið al swa þe king sulf,’ L 4260.

59, 60. Comp. ‘cornes heo seowen[;] medewen heo meowen. | al heo tileden[;] ase heo to þohten,’ L 1941.

62. #bihoue#: comp. 91/108: ‘to his awere bihoue,’ L 4565. T has bilif.

63. #lawe#, rule of conduct, practice: at 176/15, habit. In spite of the consensus of the MSS., the reading of the original was probably lare.

64. Let the knight see that it thrive, i.e. be well kept.

65-71. Comp. ‘Disce puer, dum tempus habes, euo puerili, | Ne te nil didicisse fleas etate senili,’ Flor. Gott. 98: ‘Qui vacat in iuventute turbatur in senectute,’ Wipo 63; Cato 231/12; ‘He ꝥ in ȝouþe no vertu vsiþ, | In Age Alle honure hym refusiþ,’ ES xli. 262/27. See Kneuer, p. 19.

69. #lorþeu#: see 1/19.

72. #elde . . . vnhelþe#: for this combination, see 40/197, where unhelðe rhymes with uniselðe.

75. #wroþe#, pl. adj. agreeing with #wene#, to which latter #heo# and #hi#, variant forms of the pl. n., refer. When age and ill-health come, then the expectations of the improvident man are in experience found to be utterly perverse: not only are they cheated, but they actually vanish, i.e., he is left without hope at all. There is a play on wene and wenliche, l. 68.

78. Comp. ‘Melior est sapientia, quam secularis potentia | Plus unicus sensus quam multiplex census,’ Wipo 7.

82. #furþer#. T has wrþere, more worthy, which is, no doubt, original, as it alliterates with weole. noht wurþ, RJ.

83. #of frumþe#, from the beginning, betimes: comp. 65/59; ‘þah þu liuedest of adames fru{m}ðe,’ OEH i. 33/31. RJ reads of fremðe, but T fremede, and Skeat adding [of] translates, out of a stranger. But the point is not the making friends early or out of strangers, but the having wisdom along with your gold. Stanza xiii. is a weak echo of vii. and l. 144 is the key to l. 83. Read hine to freme for him of frumþe, with the meaning, Unless he make Wisdom his friend to his profit. See 15/110; 176/24 note.

87-92. Comp. ‘ȝif þou be visite[d] w{ith} pou{er}te, | take it not to hevyle, | for he ꝥ sende þe Adu{er}site, | may t{ur}ne þe Aȝen to wele,’ ES xli. 261/5: Li Proverbe au Vilain, no. 133.

87. #howyen#, be anxious, distressed: comp. ‘Ne beo ge na hogiende ymb þa morgenlican neode,’ S. Matt. vi. 34.

89. #welde#: comp. 4/41.

90. Comp. ‘After vuele cumeð god[;] wel is him þe hit habbe mot,’ L 3608. A transposition here restores the alliteration in two verses.

92. Comp. 195/634, where the verb is omitted after wel, as is usual in such expressions; ‘Wel him ðe is clene iþrowen,’ VV 95/30; ‘Ah wel hire ꝥ luueð godd,’ HM 27/35. For #þat#=for whom, see 46/292 note, and for #ischapen#, destined, comp. ‘after ðan ðe hem iscapen is,’ VV 105/4: hit is, of course, good after evil, weal after woe.

94. Comp. ‘Whoso roweth aȝein the flod, | Off sorwe he shal drinke; | Also hit fareth bi the unsele, | A man shal have litel hele | Ther agein to swinke,’ Pol. Songs, 254/20; ‘werig sceal se wiþ winde roweþ,’ Exeter Book, 345/12. For #strong#, difficult, tough, comp. 48/312, 76/18, 200/111; ‘hu strong hit is to arisen of vuel wune,’ AR 326/28: ‘þes ilke Mon is strong to sermonen’ (difficult to preach to, a tough subject), OEH i. 81/14.

98. #mon# is a suspended nom., the construction being changed at l. 105: analogous to 19/48.

102. #idelnesse holde#, enjoy leisure. T has hednesse, OE. #ēadnes#, happiness, comfort. ‘Honestior est qui senectutem ad otium rettulit, quam quem in otio invenit,’ Monita 22/75.

106. #wel bitowe#, well employed, profitably experienced. Comp. ‘alle þe ȝeres weren wel bi-toȝe,’ L 19902; VV 13/2; ON 702; ‘uuele bitohe,’ 74/225.

108. See 26/244 note, and for the form of the expression, comp. ‘Ah her, þu wenest ȝet | ꝥ tu wenen ne þerf,’ SK 1153.

110. #lyues#: read lyf is . . . luued: ‘Qui enim vult vitam diligere,’ &c. 1 S. Peter iii. 10.

111. #lyf his owe#: the order is strange, and #owe# is pointless, quite different from 22/128, 23/149, 27/277, where there is a contrast with one’s possessions, &c. Possibly the original had lifes leowe, life’s warmth, shelter, OE. #hlēow#: comp. ‘herd leouwe,’ AR 368/12, poor housing. The word was uncommon and likely to puzzle the copyist.

112. #wrt#: Comp. ‘Herba nec antidotum poterit depellere loetum; | Quod te liberet a fato, non nascitur horto,’ Fecunda Ratis 132/725. Skeat quotes as a proverb, ‘Cur moriatur homo, cui salvia crescit in horto?’ It is from the Regimen Sanit. Salern. l. 177, and the next line is, ‘Contra vim mortis non est medicamen in hortis.’ #a wude#: comp. 181/181.

113. #þas feye furþ#, the life of the doomed man.

118. #doweþes louerd#: prob. the original had duȝeðe, pl. gen.: ‘duguða dryhten,’ Christ, 781 = Dominus exercituum, Dominus virtutum. T has domis louird.

122. Skeat explains the MS. reading, givest away and controllest; an unnatural order: Borgström takes yefst = yhefst < OE. #gehæbban#, ‘If thou hast and possessest.’ Morris’s conjecture, yetst, may mean, gettest, gainest. The passage is corrupt: T has ‘ȝif þu hauest welþe awold iwis ȝerlde:’ #in þis world# is mere padding arising from #vpen eorþe#: the original may have been, Gif þu havest a wold | seoluer and gold: comp. 22/133, 4; ‘Whil ȝe habbeþ wyt at wolde,’ Hendyng 299; 52/387 note.

125. #ildre istreon#: comp. ‘þæt he of his yldrena gestreone hine sylfne fercian mote,’ Ælf. Lives i. 524/597, 528/669; ‘þæ castles aðele weore[;] of his eoldrene istreon,’ L 18608.

126. #lone#: Skeat quotes ‘divitiæ . . . donum Dei,’ Eccles. v. 18.

127. #þar of#, from them: comp. 22/117: the expression is unusual.

128. ‘Homo vitæ commodatus, non donatus est,’ Syri Sent. 220.

129. #vouh#, for veoh: OE. #feoh#. Comp. 3/13: ‘ffrendles ys þe dede,’ Hendyng 288.

130. #Mayþenes# for maþmes: see 102/134. #leten . . . byhinde#: Skeat explains as, forget us; but 4/14 suggests a more pointed meaning.

131. Comp. ‘Cum fueris felix, quae sunt adversa caveto,’ Cato 218/18; ‘Tranquillis rebus semper diversa timeto,’ id. 232/26. The first four lines are imitated in, ‘The ferthe seide, that he is wod | That dwelleth to muchel in the flod, | For gold or for auhte; | For gold or silver, or any wele, | Hunger or thurst, hete or chele, | Al shal gon to nohte,’ Pol. Songs 256/1, where the writer has evidently misunderstood l. 132.

132. #fele# as adverb is not common; Einenkel, Anglia, xxxiii. 531, quotes ‘þonne moton we . . . fela for urum synnum þrowian,’ Wulfstan 151/5, and the present passage: add Beowulf 1385; ‘He bounde{n} hi{m} so fele sore,’ Havelok 2442. #see#, the flowing tide of success: comp. ‘Swo floweð þis woreld þenne men michel tuderið . . . ⁊ beð michel blisse among mannen,’ OEH ii. 177/16.

134. #gnyde# in the intransitive meaning, ‘be rubbed away’: elsewhere active. T has wurþen. Comp. 27/274-6.

135. #to duste . . . dryuen#: comp. ‘makede . . . godes deore temple to driuen al to duste,’ SJuliana 41/1; a less frequent intransitive use. #Dryhten#, &c.: comp. ‘geong ealdian · god us ece biþ,’ Exeter Book, ed. Thorpe, 333/22.

136. #godes vrre#: comp. 46/276.

137. #foryemeþ# &c.: comp. 122/167, 8; ‘Forrletenn ⁊ forrȝemmdenn,’ Orm 259/7502.

138. #by come#: comp. 27/275: in T, were.

142. #wit and wisdom# are often so coupled: ‘Wyt and wysdom is god warysoun,’ Hendyng 21; Kneuer, 20; 130/81: with sing. masc. pronoun hyne, l. 144.

143. #ouergoþ#, surpasses in worth: comp. ‘Þeo luue . . . ouergeð ham alle uoure ⁊ passeð ham alle,’ AR 394/1; an extension of the meaning of OE. #ofergān#, conquer, overcome, which is that of 125/270, 207/340: at 29/45 it means, pass away, so ‘deð ꝥ ouergeað,’ SK 1883; ‘ðæt hi geðencen hu hrædlice se eorðlica hlisa ofergǽð,’ Cura Past. 447/29.

144. #sitte#: comp. 26/270. The recurrence of þe--vere at l. 148 and the divergence of T which gives for the last half of this line, and hwo hem mide senden, preserving the alliteration, shows that something is wrong here. A rearrangement in the order 143, 147, 148, 144, reading syker he may sitte ⁊ þat him mide syndon, 145, 146, 149 gives a good sense.

151, 2. Comp. ‘Tel þou neuer þy fo þat þy fot akeþ,’ Hendyng 93; Kneuer, 29. #arewe#, apparently found only here, malicious person, enemy: OE. #earg#, #earh#.

153. #þe#, an ethical dative; see 13/34 note.

154. The subject of wile is the clause #þet--con#, he who is not acquainted with your circumstances. With 155 comp. 21/88.

158. #teleþ#, derides, makes sport of.

159. #swych mon þat#, &c., such a man as wishes you very well, said ironically: þat is not conjunction, but relative pronoun, and the construction is parallel to, ‘talem igitur te esse oportet qui primum te ab impiorum civium . . . societate seiungas,’ Cic. Fam. x. 6. 3; just as #so . . . þat#, 24/184, 5 is matched by, ‘Quis est tam lynceus qui in tantis tenebris nihil offendat?’ id. ix. 2; and similarly ‘nec tamen ego sum ille ferreus, qui fratris maerore non movear,’ Cic. Cat. iv. 3. Where the expression is generic, the dependent verb should be subjunctive, as is the case with segge, and probably here the original had monne--onne. Comp. ‘ic bidde . . . swælc monn seðe to minum ærfe foe,’ Thorpe, Diplom. 471/16; ‘Nes þo non so hardy · þat on me leyde honde,’ OEM 43/209; ‘þat na man ne wurðe swa wod[;] ne witte bi-dæled, | þat in his hirede breke grið,’ L 10282; ‘þat na mon on worlde[;] swa wod no iwurðe, | no swa ær witte gume[;] þat his grið bræke,’ id. 22069, 787. With #on# comp. ‘ne beo he no swa luðer mon[;] þat his freond him wel ne on,’ L 22963: Skeat’s insertion of hit spoils the meaning. #Swyhc mon# = such a one: swillc an appears for the first time in Orm 11595.

166. #bywite#: þenkeþ T.

169. Comp. ‘Uxorem fuge ne ducas sub nomine dotis,’ Cato 228/12: ‘Monimon for londe wyueþ to shonde,’ Hendyng 280; Kneuer, 57.

170. #custe#, qualities, virtuous or otherwise.

171. #vuele iauhteþ#, estimates falsely, makes a bad bargain.

172. #of fayre#, not, out of what is fair, but, in choosing a fair wife: of = in the form of, in the person of. For #frakele#, comp. ‘he bið wið-uten feire ⁊ frakel wið-innen,’ OEH i. 25/27. ‘Munditiam seruat sinceram rara uenustas,’ Fec. Ratis 114/581.

175. #So#: Holthausen, Archiv lxxxviii. 370, suggests wo, which gives a common phrase, ‘Wo is hym alyue,’ OEM 183/221; ‘wa is me on liue,’ L 3422.

177. #vppen eorþe#, a favourite tag: see 28/315; KH 247 O.

179-82. These lines are repeated with small variation in Hendyng, 133-7, but the ‘wyf’ is ‘ȝonge’; Kneuer, 53. Zupitza, Anglia, iii. 370, quotes an inscription in Low German from a room in the Lübeck Rathskeller, which is identical with the English proverb, and Holthausen, Archiv, lxxxviii. 371, contributes two more versions in the same dialect.

184. #so wod . . . þat . . . segge#, so mad as to say: see 23/159; and comp. ‘Ne wurðe nan cniht swa wod[;] ne kempe swa wilde,’ L 8593, ‘& þa drihliche gumen[;] weoren win drunken,’ id. 8125.

185. #wille#, all that is in thy mind: comp. 27/305, 23/166.

186. #þu#: T has hue, and Skeat alters here to heo, but the text may very well mean, if you ever found yourself. Perhaps the original had: For if þu hi myd worde · iwreþþed heuede | And heo iseye þe · bi vore þine ivo alle. Comp. ‘confundet te in conspectu inimicorum,’ Ecclus. xxv. 35.

188. #lete#, omit, refrain from: form and meaning from OE. #lǣtan#, but with construction, þat- clause with subj., of OE. #lettan#.

189. Omit #scholde#, a mere repetition from the preceding line. Comp. ‘gyf þonne þissa þreora þinga ænig hwylcne man lette, þæt hine to ðam fæstene ne ónhágje,’ Wulfstan 285/3 (quoted in B.-T.). #forþ#, openly, freely: comp. ‘ðane sei ðu forð mid seinte Petre: Tu es Christus,’ VV 25/31. #baleusyþes#, cast up to you your misfortunes: comp. 2/27. But one expects, after l. 185, something like, will reveal all your secrets.

190. #woþ#: T has wod and wordwod may mean word-mad; in that case the second half of the line is little more than repetition. But T has often d for þ, and so his reading may be the same in effect as that of J, which does not put þ for d. Now in Layamon the younger MS. writes woþ for wouh, woh in the elder, 3327, 4333, where the sense requires the latter, and word woh, perverse of speech, would fit well here.

191. #wel wolde#, though she desired it ever so much, she cannot control it at all.

194. #ouerprute#, excessive pride: the noun apparently only here; the adj. ouerprut is commoner. In T, orgul prude. Comp. ‘Bruttes hafden muchel mode[;] & vnimete prute,’ L 19408.

196. After #þat#, heo has dropped out.

198. That vice she would readily give up, if she were often in a sweat exhausted with toil. Comp. ‘moni swinc moni swæt[;] . . þolede ich on folde,’ L 2281, 7; ‘he swonc i þon fehte[;] þat al he lauede asweote,’ id. 7488.

202. Read, þat beon uulle treowe: lit. though it is ill to bend what are full-grown trees, i.e. though full-grown trees are hard to bend. It is not necessary to alter #beo#, but #n# of #nule# probably belongs to it; it is subjunctive in an object clause expressing a class of things. For #uulle# comp. 42/219; ‘min fulla freond,’ Thorpe, Diplom. 525/8; ‘heo beoð ure fulle feond,’ L 963; ‘Ech god giue ⁊ fule giue cumeð of heuene dunward,’ OEH ii. 105/17; ‘fulliche cristene mon,’ OEH i. 73/5. ‘Dum curuare potes, vel curuam tendere virgam, | Fac sit ut ad libitum plantula ducta tuum: | Cum vetus in magnum fuerit solidata vigorem | Non leviter flectes imperiale caput,’ Alanus 435. It is difficult to alter a grown-up.

203. #after#, following the example of: comp. ‘Prendere maternam bene discit cattula predam,’ Prov. Heinrici 169; ‘Muricipis proles cito discit prendere mures,’ id. 109: said of innate tendencies. The hindrances to the training of the young wife are that she is already grown up and has an inherited disposition.

204. #þe mon þat . . . he#: see 19/49. Comp. ‘Femina quem superat, nunquam uiuit sine pena; | Libertate caret, turpi constrictus habena,’ Flor. Gott. 724.

205. #ihurd#, listened to, or perhaps, spoken of, as having any independence in what he says. Had the writer in mind, ‘labia nostra a nobis sunt, quis noster Dominus est?’ Ps. xi. 5.

207. #steorne# is strange in form (it should be sturne in this text), and does not suit the context, and the verbs to-trayen, to-teonen are apparently found nowhere else. Read, turne to treye and to teone, change his life to sorrow and affliction: in that case the two lines should be printed as one alliterative long line. The combination is common; comp. Minot vi. 2 note, and 133/61. T has, ac he sal him rere dreiȝe, but he shall provide trouble for himself.

210. #þe mon# resumes #he# of l. 209. #qued# occurs again as quet T 702, in the metaphorical sense of devil, evil man. Here Skeat translates, aversion; Borgström, following Morris, contempt, scorn, without any support from other examples. The word is a coarse term of contempt for a ‘poor creature,’ based on the primitive sense of OE. #cwead#: it is easily paralleled in modern dialects.

212. #fader# is pointless: the reading of T, in hire faire bure, which is for, faire in hire bure, points to the right way. Read, So is mony burde · bryht on hyre bure: ‘bright in bower’ is a common tag in the romances; see Guy of Warwick 2674 with Zupitza’s note.

213. #Schene vnder schete#: comp. ‘swete in bedde,’ Havelok 2927.

214. Comp. ‘Ne sont pas tuit chevalier, qui a cheval montent,’ Li Proverbe au Vilain, no. 201.

215. This line is to be rejected: it spoils the symmetry of the contrast, and is not original.

216. #glede#, ‘beside the glowing coal,’ Skeat; ‘in mirth,’ Borgström; glede being identified with OWScand. gleði, joy, with an allusion to boasting at the feast. The original word was probably wede, comp. ‘in wlanke wede,’ Eng. Met. Homilies (ed. Small), 42/2 = mollibus vestimentis indutus; ‘Whyle þe wlonkest wedes he warp on hym-seluen,’ Sir Gawayne, 2025; ‘awlencð his lichame,’ OEH ii. 211/36. The contrast would then be between his gay clothes and his unserviceableness. T has werȝe, for which Borgström reads werwe, steed; and Skeat weiȝe, way: for the former might be quoted, ‘Nis so wlonk vnder crist · ridynde on stede,’ OEM 91/19. With 217, comp. 26/265.

221. #arede#, take as advice. ‘Femina quod iurat, errat qui credere curat,’ Prov. Hein. 64.

222. ‘Coniugis iratae noli tu verba timere; | Nam lacrimis struit insidias, cum femina plorat,’ Cato 229/20.

226. #lude ⁊ stille#, under all circumstances: comp. 28/317, 188/377; ‘don we hit wullet | lude and stille,’ L 3665: Minot viii. 54 note.

228. ‘Didicere flere feminae in mendacium,’ Syrus 74/130; ‘Muliebris lacrima condimentum est malitiae,’ id. 87/343; Fecunda Ratis 39/163.

231. Not said by Solomon, but by Syrus, ‘Malo in consilio feminae vincunt viros,’ 86/324.

234. #loþ#, read leoþ; OE. #lēoþ#, song.

235. Skeat equates #scumes# with Icel. skūmi, twilight, and translates, ‘like twilight-shadows (they) mislead (us),’ which is fanciful. #Scumes# may be miswriting for scunnes, which would represent OE. #scēones#, #scȳness#, suggestion, temptation, as in ‘deofol þonne þurh þa attor berendan næddran mid hire þære yfelan scéonesse . . . beswác þone ærestan wifmon,’ BH 3/17. The sense would be, as temptation they mislead. But more probably the place is corrupt, and the original may simply have had, as cwen us forteoþ, with an allusion to Eve’s bad counsel.

237. Björkman, 14, thinks that this proverb was originally Scandinavian, and it adds point to understand #cold# in the meaning, disastrous, of the Icelandic version. Comp. ‘Wommennes counseils been ful ofte colde,’ Chaucer, C. T., B 4446. ‘Mulier cum sola cogitat, male cogitat,’ Syrus 87/335.

240, 241. Skeat’s version, ‘I do not say this because a good woman is not a good thing,’ shows that he takes #for þan þat# together, which is contrary to the metrical stress on #þan# and gives no sufficient sense: #for þan#, is, therefore, i.e. in spite of all the hard things I have said about women: #hit# is an anticipatory object, which is expanded in the object clause, #þat . . . wymmon#. The scribe deleted n before #ys#, Skeat restores it; T also has #is#, for which Skeat substitutes [n]is, quoting, ‘Hic ne sige nout byþan | þat moni ne ben gentile man,’ T 665. I think that what the scribe wrote should be retained. It is clear that the relation between a negative principal clause and its dependent object clause was often in ME. very loose and illogical. Comp. ‘For sco was traist and duted noght, | þat godds wil ne suld be wroght,’ CM 12321; ‘Ne doð ham no þing swo wo | . . . | swo ꝥ hi niten, ꝥ here þine | ne sal habben ende,’ Poema Morale, MS. D. 140 (see 46/290); ‘ihc nas na wurdra[;] þenne ich nes weldinde,’ L 3466; also 100/104. ‘Ðat ne forȝeit ðu naure · þat ðu godd ne heriȝe,’ 93/149, means, That forget thou never that thou honour God; what is more natural than to leave out the negative, if the contrary meaning is required? Our text may be paraphrased, Whatever I have said about women in general, I do not say it with reference to the proposition that a good woman is a good thing. For the sentiment comp. ‘Femina raro bona, sed que bona digna corona,’ Prov. Hein. 65; ‘Femina pauca bona est; si forte inveneris ullam, | De celo cecidit, tessella caractere miro,’ Fecunda Ratis 153/919.

242. #þe mon þe#, for the man who. #icouere#, &c. win her from his rivals.

244. Repeated from 21/108.

245. Comp. ‘Nulla sevior pestis quam familiaris hostis. Nis non werse fo[;] þene frakede fere,’ OEH ii. 189/33; ‘Gravior est inimicus, qui latet in pectore,’ Syrus 79/200.

246. #vayre . . . frakele#: see 23/172 note.

247. Skeat explains #þane loþe#, the hostile one, and #lead#, keep on one’s side, #so#, by fair words. T reads So mo{n} mai welþe lengest helden, which is easier of interpretation, but is just as inept. I think both scribes or their exemplars have altered as best they could a displaced line to fit it into its new context. Its proper place is after the good advice of ll. 248-51 (comp. l. 263), and it may have originally run, So myght þu fayre lif · lenguste leden.

248. ‘Nolito quaedam referenti credere saepe: | Exigua est tribuenda fides, qui multa locuntur,’ Cato 224/20.

249 is a very lame verse; we might read, þat feole speken can.

251. With #singen#, comp. ‘Noli homines blando nimium sermone probare: | Fistula dulce canit, uolucrem dum decipit auceps,’ Cato 220/27.

252. #swikelne#, deceitful: comp. ‘Ueond þet þuncheð freond is swike ouer alle swike,’ AR 98/5; ‘Habet suum venenum blanda oratio,’ Syrus 80/214.

254. #cuþe#, give warning.

256. Alfred would hardly have said that a man learns wisdom from proverbs and prudence from good luck. Read for #sawe#, sorewe (the scribe has overlooked the contraction for re), and for #hiselþe#, uniselþe, misfortune. Comp. ‘In þes middeneardes iscole · selðen ⁊ uniselðen,’ OEH i. 243/7: ‘Vitat maiora sapiens post dampna minora,’ Prov. Hein. 240. Borgström reads his elde, where his is surely doubtful and þ interchanging with d without parallel.

258. The editors leave out #And#, which is not in T, but l. 257 is complete in itself; #And vnwurþ#, and despicable, is a sort of afterthought: for the combination comp. 4/37; ‘þat he biðe vnworð & lah’ (loþ, MS. O), L 3464, and further for this meaning of #vnwurþ#, 143/92; ‘þe idele ȝelp us beo eure unwurð,’ OEH i. 107/8.

259. #hokede#, thievish: in thieves’ slang, a hook is a pickpocket, his fingers are hooks. Comp. ‘Sutoribus custodem addidit et ut eorum curvos ungues observaret . . . rogavit,’ Disciplina Clericalis, ed. Hilka u. Söderhjelm, 28/19; ‘Arpiis similes armantur in ungue ferino,’ Fec. Ratis, de Predonibus, 173/1154. #þat he bereþ# is rejected by Skeat as a ‘gloss.’ It is certainly feeble; perhaps we should read, þat he herȝeþ, with which he plunders; the relative would be under the régime of the preceding #þurh#.

261. #From--wune#, (dis)accustom thyself from lying: a singular phrase.

262. #þe# may be the reflexive dat. as at 13/34, but it is more probably a mistake, due to #þe# in the previous line: its omission improves the metre.

263. #on þeode#, a tag beloved of Layamon: with him it is always local; comp. ‘he þohte to quellen[;] þe king on his þeode{n},’ 20056 (in his londe, MS. O); ‘þa weoren Rom-leoden[;] bliðen on heore þeoden,’ id. 11144: it corresponds to ‘vpen eorþe,’ 22/123, and differs from #in alle leode#, among all the people, Layamon’s ‘on folke,’ 2218.

265. Comp. ‘behoueð ðe ðat ðu bie well warr ꝥ tu luuiȝe ðine nexte, ðat is, aurich mann ðe berð ðin anlicnesse,’ VV 39/13: a translation of proximus, S. Luke x. 29. #þe#: comp. 22/141, 25/217: ‘Au besoing voit on qui amis est’, Li Proverbe au Vilain, no. 72.

266. Comp. 188/378; ‘Vrom mulne ⁊ from cheping, from smiðe ⁊ from ancre huse, me tiðinge bringeð,’ AR 88/26; ‘At chireche and at chepyng | hwanne heo to-gadere come,’ OEM 189/57; Böddeker, AE. Dicht. 112/82.

270. #sytte#: comp. 22/144: rest in contentment; ‘sit soft.’

271. Skeat takes #lond le# as a mere scribal error for londe which T reads. I think it points to an original londe ⁊ se: comp. 40/194; ‘Mid mede man mai ouer water faren And mid weldede of giue[;] frend wuerche,’ OEH ii. 41/20 (possibly a reminiscence of this place). For the proverb comp. ‘Mieux vaut amis en voie, ke deniers en corroie. Melius valet amicus in via quam denarius in corrigia,’ Hauréau, Notices et Extraits, ii. 283.

274-6. Comp. 22/133-5. #mixe#: T has nocht.

280. #holde#, maintain: ‘vpholde,’ 21/113.

285. Comp. 18/9-11.

288. Comp. generally 32/39-65; 29/20-24. Perhaps the allusion is to ‘In timore Domini esto [tuum cor] tota die: Quia habebis spem in novissimo, et praestolatio tua non auferetur,’ Prov. xxiii. 17, 18.

289. #lyen#: comp. ‘ꝥ sind þa gecostan cempan þa þam cyninge þeowað | se næfre þa lean alegeð þam þe his lufan adreogeð,’ Exeter Book, ed. Gollancz, 108/91. See 32/64 note.

293. #gabbe#, talk mockingly or derisively: the meaning of Fr. gaber, to talk boastingly, would suit well here, but it lacks support. #schotte# is difficult: the obvious sense is, to pay scot, to take part in convivial assemblies, but this does not go well with #gabbe#. Borgström thinks that it may be schoute, to shout, or possibly to scout, sneer, modified for the sake of the rhyme. If that principle may be admitted, stroute, to swagger (Havelok, 1779), would be preferable.

294. #chid#, wrangle, engage in a ‘flyting,’ or scolding match: ‘Ne respondeas stulto iuxta stultitiam suam,’ Prov. xxvi. 4. Whether #tales# be taken with the preceding or the following line, it is equally unsuitable, unless it may mean reproaches, charges, after OE. #talian#. It goes best with l. 296; ne should be omitted before chid. #dwales#, not ‘fools’ in the general sense, but erring ones; dwall in mod. dialects means to wander in mind, to talk incoherently. With #cunnes# comp. 81/80.

298. ‘Rumores fuge, neu studeas novus auctor haberi,’ Cato 218/12. With 299 comp. ‘Pauca in convivio loquere’, id. 217/51. ‘Inter convivas fac sis sermone modestus,’ Columbanus 92; ‘Contra verbosos noli contendere verbis: | Sermo datur cunctis, animi sapientia paucis,’ Cato 217/10.

302. #biluken#, enclose, comprehend: the brief utterances of the wise man are weighty.

303. See Hendyng 85 and Kneuer 28.

305. With #wille#, comp. 24/185.

307. Comp. Hendyng 144 and Kneuer 55; Förster’s note, ES xxxi. 6; ‘Osse caret lingua, secat os tamen ipsa maligna,’ Prov. Hein. 149; ‘Mo sleað word þene sweord,’ AR 74/1; ‘plaga . . . linguae comminuet ossa,’ Ecclus. xxviii. 21.

310. ‘Exultat gaudio pater iusti,’ Prov. xxiii. 24: ‘Him stondes wel þat god child strenes,’ Havelok 2983.

311. #ibidest#, dost obtain: OE. #gebīdan#, to await, experience, attain to.

312. #mon þewes#: comp. ‘hauest þu nu quene þeouwes inume,’ L 30281. ‘Curva cervicem eius in iuventute, et tunde latera eius dum infans, ne forte . . . erit tibi dolor animae,’ Ecclus. xxx. 12. The ‘child unþewed’ is one of the ‘Ten Abuses,’ OEM 185/9.

314. The better things will ever go in the world. For #buuen eorþe#, see 23/177.

316. #werende#: Skeat reads wexende; if any alteration is made, wuniende would give a common OE. and ME. combination: as ‘þæt he her in worulde wunian mote,’ Christ 817; ‘wuniende ⁊ rixlende on worlde,’ OEH 1. 25/17. But #weren# is equated in Stratmann-Bradley with Mid. Dutch, OHG. weren, to remain, with this place as the only instance.

317. #lude and stille#: see 25/226.

327. Comp. ‘For betere were child ounboren þen ounbeten,’ Hending, MS. O, Anglia iv. 191/4.

328. ‘Qui parcit virge, sua pignora protinus odit,’ Fec. Ratis 93/438; ‘Quippe diu male cesus lamentabitur infans,’ id. 65/289. #spareþ#, with dative.

329. #areche#, get at, control.

Cross-References

13/34 (note) = V. (A Parable) 23/172 (note) = present selection 46/292, 50/334 (notes) = VIII. (Poema Morale)

Errata

The Cotton MS. ... MS. Stowe 163, B.M. ff. [Stowe, 163 B. M.] ... #īe# in #scīene#, #gesīene# gives schene 213, isene 75. [#scīene# #gesīene#] #ea# + #h# occurs in wexynde 112, 113, iauhteþ 171 [113 iauhteþ] The personal pronouns ... a. f. 280, non [non,] s. g. neut. 276, echere [echere,] ... Past of Weak Verbs: s. 2. heuedest 187; [187:] 1. #Seuorde#: siforde T; Sifforde W, RJ, which is [RJ.,] 38. ... #ryhtwis# [rightwis] 87-92. ... sende þe Adu{er}site [Aduersite] 129. #vouh#, for veoh [“veoh” misprinted as bold] 144. ... the divergence of T [of B] 258. ... which is not in T, [T.,] 271. Skeat takes #lond le# as a mere scribal error [“lond le” misprinted as plain (non-bold)]

VII. MEMENTO MORI

#Manuscript:# As for no. vi. There are other copies in (C) MS. Cotton Caligula A ix., B.M., of the first quarter of the thirteenth century, and (B) MS. Laud 471, Bodleian, of the end of the same century. In (A) MS. Arundel 57, B.M. there is a fourteenth-century version of nine lines. CJ form a group, B belongs to another branch.

#Editions:# Of CJ; Morris, R., OEM, pp. 156-9 under the inappropriate title, Long Life: of B; Zupitza, J., Anglia i. p. 410: of B, corrected by CJ; Kluge, F., ME. Lesebuch, p. 56; of C; Wright, T., Percy Society, vol. xi. p. 63. Of A; Morris, R., Ayenbite of Inwyt, p. 129.

#Literature:# Zupitza, J., Anglia i. 410; Varnhagen, H., Anglia ii. 71; ii. 67.

#Phonology:# The position is the same as that of piece vi: words not in it are blench 4 (#blencan# vb.); falwy 6 (#fealwian#); luteþ 29 (#lūtian#); sterk 11 (#stearc#); steo 38 (#stīgan#, imitating in the inf. flēon, wrēon, Bülbring, Ablaut 88), sunne 10 (#synn#). MS. C does not differ materially from it: it has however drinche 8, deaþes 8, sterch 11, strench 14, tahte 23, fole 33, wormes 34, nowt 50. MS. B is South-Eastern bordering on Kent; it has rene 3 (#rēn#), senne 10, starc 11, sene 13, to yenes 16, Man let lust a{n}d senne stench 19, sede 23, stie 38 and st for ht in brigst 13. The text is often faulty as if written down from memory, and l. 26 is missing, but the rhymes are correct: the original was doubtless in the South-Eastern dialect.

#Accidence:# longe s. g. neut. 1 (comp. longes 21/109); heyust adv. 38; endi inf. 39 (#endian#), last 2 pr. s. (#lǣdest#) 36 are the only forms which require notice.

#Metre:# The ten-line stanza of this poem is unique in ME. literature. It is an expansion of the common eight-line stanza: its rhyme formula is abab | baab | bb, two quatrains with contrasted rhymes and a two-line close in which the sentiment of the stanza culminates. In the last stanza the effect is spoiled by the absence of a break at the end of the eighth line.

#Introduction:# The comparative smoothness and finish of the verse points to a date considerably later than that of the Proverbs: perhaps about 1210 A.D. The piece seems to have been inspired by stanzas x and xxi of the earlier poem.

1. A man may look forward to a long life, but the trick often deceives him; an oft-quoted proverb, as at 21/108, 222/274; ‘Mani man weneþ þat he wene ne þarf, longe to liven, and him lieþ þe wrench,’ Hending MS. O, Anglia iv. 200. The second line occurs in another connection in AR, ‘moni mon abit to schriuen him uort þe nede tippe. Auh ofte him lieð þe wrench,’ 338/18. For the case of #liues# comp. ‘Ðær sceolan þeofas . . . lifes ne wenan,’ Christ 1608; with #wrench . . . blench# comp. 157/125; ‘wrenceþ he ⁊ blenceþ · worn geþenceþ · hinder-hoca,’ Exeter Book, ed. Thorpe, 315/18.

3. #turneþ#: went, BA.

4. #makeþ#: hit makeð, C; the subject is weder, neut.: turneþ he, B; i.e. reyne (OE. #regn#, m.). Comp. ‘Hope maketh fol ma{n} ofte ble{n}kes,’ Havelok 307; ‘þe{n}ne þe ky{n}g of þe kyth a cou{n}sayl hy{m} takes, | Wyth þe best of his burnes, a blench for to make,’ Cleanness 1201, 2.

6. #falwy#: falewi, BC: comp. 133/39, ‘faleweþ so doþ medewe gres,’ OEM 93/16.

8. #deþes drench#: comp. ‘Þær Cristess mennisscnesse | Drannc dæþess drinnch o rodetreo,’ Orm 45/1373.

9. #bench# implies feasting: comp. ‘Ne schaltu neuer sytten · on bolstre ne on benche | Ne neuer in none halle · þar me wyn schenche,’ OEM 175/89; ‘Ye þat weryeþ þat riche schrud · and sytteþ on eure benche,’ id. 169/3; ‘Ac þu sete on þine benche, underleid mid þine bolstre,’ Worcester Frag. C, 26; L 9693.

10. With #aquench#, comp. ‘Her-of we owe þenche. | And vre sunnen aquenche. | Mid beden and myd almesse,’ OEM 79/217.

12. B reads, þat may agein deaþes wiþer clench, that has power against death’s hostile grip: wiþer-clench appears to be without parallel. In our text, Morris takes #ago# for agon, escape, but, as Zupitza points out, it is probably for agon = agein, which is also found as age, aȝe. Stratmann-Bradley translates #wiþer-blench#, attack, quoting this place only: more probably it means sly, treacherous attack.

14. #ryueþ#, rakes: Icel. rifja, to rake hay into rows: ‘Ryvyn, or rakyn,’ Prompt. Parvul. ed. Mayhew, col. 386. #on o streng#: so B, but C in one strench, which would represent OE. #strenc#, a by-form of #streng#, recorded in Funiculus, modicum funus, rap uel strenc, Wright, Vocabularies 245/6, just as drench, wrench represent #drenc#, #wrenc#. If that be the case here, then C agrees with BJ, save in the preposition in. For Death armed with a rake comp. ‘Hwen he com to arudden | of deaðes rake oðre, | hwi deide he him seoluen?’ SK 1137: Satan is often so represented, ‘Þer is sathanas þe qued · | redi wyþ his rake,’ OEM 181/213; SM 11/11; SK, MS. C 917. Death sweeps in his victims with his rope; ‘Ded has vs wit-sett vr strete, | · | All sal we rin into his rape,’ CM 23727; ‘Ded sal rug us til his rape,’ CM 21920; ‘Deþ shal take vs al in rape,’ id. MS. T. The conception then is that of Death sweeping in all sorts and conditions with the same rope. It is just possible that the reading of C, strench, is meant for strech, i.e. stretch, the word still used in Dorsetshire for ‘the space taken in at one stretch of the rake,’ EDD. v. 813. Streche is not common at this period, but comp. 42/231; ‘on his modes streche,’ OEH i. 111/25, in the sweep, or compass, of his mind.

15. #fox#, adj.: comp. 187/351; ‘fox of fyl’ (read wil), Horst., S.A.L. 12/251; Orm 230/6646: for #wrench#, comp. ‘Alse þe fox þe mid his wrenches walt oðer deor[;] ⁊ haueð his wille þerof,’ OEH ii. 195/7.

16. B has, ne mai him noma{n} to yenes.

17. #þreting#, menace, or possibly upbraiding: B has weping. The nouns #þreting#, #bene#, #Mede#, &c., are subjects of may, l. 16.

18. #Mede#, bribery: B reads, ne listes ne leches drench.

21. Possibly a reference to the advice given at 27/288.

23. Do as He who bringeth thee to thy end taught thee and said. Comp. 27/282-286.

25. #mysdo#, misfare. B leaves out #þenne# and the whole of the following line, which means, But thou hast good reason to live in fear and trembling. ‘A peyne joie avra un sul jur | Ke de sa fyn bien pensera,’ MS. Lambeth 522, Archiv lxiii. 76/23.

27. #such#, such and such a man, indefinitely.

29. #luteþ#, lurkeþ. Comp. ‘Ja n’ert tant prus ne tant vaillanz, | Ne tant de richesces en avra, | Ke tuit nel perde a un launz: | Kar mort tapit enmi sun gaunt, | Kant meyns quide | Chescun,’ Archiv lxiii. 76/33; ‘within the hollow crown | That rounds the mortal temples of a king | Keeps Death his court,’ Shakspere, K. Richard II, iii. ii. 160. The reading of B, ‘deþ him ledes on his sóó,’ apparently means, death on his shoes (OE. #scōum#) directs his footsteps.

33. #fule fulþe#: comp. 134/94. ‘Cum faex, cum limus, cum res vilissima simus, | Unde superbimus? Ad terram terra redimus,’ Hauréau, Notices, vi. 124.

37. Comp. ‘Quor deades strenge warp him dun,’ GE 21/714.

38. Comp. 21/110; ‘Quen þu best wenis to haf all, | Fra al þan sal þou titest fall,’ CM 21939; ‘þenne þu wenest ꝥ þu scalt libben alre best · þenne gest þu forð,’ OEH i. 7/23; ‘quant mielz quidet vivre | e estre a delivre, | la mort li cort sore,’ Reimpredigt 32/16.

41. Comp. ‘Wela · weolla · wella[;] hu þu biswikest monine mon. | þenne he þe treoweðe alre best on[;] þenne biswikes tu heom,’ L 3411.

45, 6. Evidently a popular saying, so ‘Mon let þi fol lust ouergo · and eft hit þe likeþ,’ Poema Morale MS. J. 15 an interpolated line; ‘auh let lust ouergon ⁊ hit te wule liken,’ AR 118/26; ‘Let lust ouergon ⁊ hit þe wule liken,’ id. 238/27; Hendyng 53. For #likeþ# comp. 30/11, and for #ouergo#, pass by, 22/143.

Errata

#Manuscript:# ... (B) MS. Laud 471 [printed as shown: error for “Laud Misc.”?] #Editions:# Of CJ; Morris, R., OEM [R. OEM] As a rule ... Món may | lónge | lýues | wéne [lyúes] 4. #makeþ#: hit makeð, C; the subject is weder, neut. [neut]

VIII. POEMA MORALE

#Manuscripts:# i. Lambeth 487 (L), a small quarto, 177 × 135 mm., of 67 leaves, written towards the end of the twelfth century. Its contents are described in Wanley, p. 266, and printed in OEH i. pp. 2-189: nos. x, xi. of this book are also taken from it. The words printed in clarendon in these three pieces are written in red, not inserted afterwards by a rubricator but done at the same time as the rest of the text. The PM ends with fordemet, l. 270, in the middle of a page; the final t has a flourish for its cross stroke; the copyist had apparently no knowledge of any more.

ii. iii. Egerton 613, B.M., described in the List of Additions, 1843. Its contents are mostly in Norman French, but it has two copies of the PM: the second (e) furnishes here a complement to the Lambeth MS. as far as l. 370, with which it ends; the first (E) is used to complete the text. e was written in the first quarter of the thirteenth century, E is somewhat later; the former has accents, the latter none. In e every other line has a red initial, but the rubricator went wrong at ll. 308, 312. These copies are in different hands.

iv. Trinity College, Cambridge, B. 14. 52 (T), on vellum, 135 × 105 mm.; written early in the thirteenth century. Its contents are described in James, M. R., The Western Manuscripts in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge, 1900, i. 459. A leaf is lost after f. 8, and a new hand begins with f 9; the PM appears to be a distinct MS. (Anglia, iv. 408). The initials of each line are capitals and written apart from their words. A later hand has glossed aihte 42, goodes; ore 53, favour, grace; lean 64, deserving; manke 70, Manca, Mancus.

Other MSS. are v. Digby A 4, Bodleian D, of the beginning of the thirteenth century; described in Macray, W. D., Catalogue of the Digby MSS., Oxford, 1883. The PM is written in half lines and stanzas; it is in a hand found nowhere else in the MS., which was probably copied at Christ Church, Canterbury (James, M. R., The Ancient Libraries of Canterbury and Dover, Cambridge, 1903; Förster, M., Archiv cxv. 167). Its dialect is Kentish. vi. Jesus College, Oxford, E 29 (J): see p. 285. vii. McClean MS. 123 (M), Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 122 leaves on vellum, 262 × 167 mm.: about 1300: the Nuneaton Book, described by Miss Anna C. Paues, who discovered this copy of the poem, in Anglia xxx. 217-26, and in A Descriptive Catalogue of the McClean Collection of Manuscripts by M. R. James, Cambridge, 1912. Like Egerton 613 it has the Bestiary of William the Norman and the Gospel of Nicodemus in French. The dialect of PM is South-Eastern, bordering on Kent. It begins with two lines from Sinners Beware (OEM p. 72), and has four other lines not found in any other copy: on the other hand, it wants seventy lines found in T; it diverges from the other MSS. in the order of the lines, and in other respects gives the impression of having been written down from memory.

#Facsimile:# Of vi. Skeat, W. W., Twelve Facsimiles, Oxford, 1892; plate vi gives ll. 1-34.

#Editions:# Of L: OEH i. 159-75 with modern version. Kluge, F., ME. Lesebuch, 57-61. Of E: Furnivall, F. J., Early English Poems. Philological Society, 1862, 22-34, with readings of e and OEH i. 288-95, 175-83. Of e: Zupitza-Schipper, Alt- und Mittelenglisches Übungsbuch, Wien, 1907, 80-91, completed from E. Of T: OEH ii. 220-32 and Specimens 195-221. Of J: OEM 58-71 and Specimens 194-220. Of D: Zupitza, J., Anglia i. 6-32, part in Hickes i. 222. Of M: Paues, A. C., Anglia xxx. 227-37 (I read l. 29, hire; 63 þon; 65 na{m}more; 71 ouersicþ; 84 þurȝsicþ; 105 diaþe; 147 þar pine; 152 ysicþ; 191 ofspreng; 223 hi neure; 236 Mot; 268 wulle; 314 hī = hi{m}; 333 ḅyseo = yseo).

A critical edition based on all the MSS. then known was issued by H. Lewin, Halle, 1881. He adopted Zupitza’s filiation of the MSS. as expressed in the following table:

+------------- L +--- X ---+ | | +--- E +--- Y ---+ +--- W ---+ | | +--- e | | U ---+ +----------------------- J | | +----------------------- T +--- Z ---+ +----------------------- D

Miss Paues thinks that M is descended from V co-equal with U, thus displacing the latter from its position of original: to me it seems to belong to the Z group, and to be most nearly related to D.

The MSS. thus fall into two groups, which are here adequately represented by the printed texts, for D is inferior and J much altered, indeed often rewritten. U, the original, was probably written about 1180 A.D.

#Literature:# Einenkel, E., Anglia iv. Anz. 88-93; Jordan, R., ES xlii. 38-42 (dialect of L); Krüger, A., Sprache und Dialekt der ME. Homilien in der Handschrift B. 14. 52. Trinity College, Cambridge, Erlangen, 1885; Paues, A. C., Anglia xxx. 217-37; Zupitza, J., Anglia i. 5-38; iii. 32, 33; iv. 406-10.

#Analogues:# Reimpredigt, ed. H. Suchier, Halle, 1879; Le Sermon de Guischart de Beauliu, ed. A. Gabrielson, Upsala, 1909; Guischart de Beauliu’s debt to religious learning and literature in England, by A. Gabrielson, Archiv cxxviii. 309-28.

#Phonology:# (1) =of the Lambeth MS.= Oral #a# is a, baþien 245, faren 176; #a# before nasals is normally o, mon 22, þonc 71, but a in manke 70, þanke 241, and þenne, þene, þen, wenne are the usual spellings, with occasional þanne 18, 160; #a# before lengthening groups is o, honde 81, ifonded 147; ent 159 is Anglian #end#. #æ# is mostly e, brec 183, et 92, feder 148, efþ 171 (#hæfð#), hwet 92 &c., weter 248, but a in bað 218, fader 186, 195, habbe 3, 5, hwat 90, water 142, 194, 240. #e# is e, beren 95, ende 179, strengþe 168, but sullic 181 (#syllic#; comp. seollic L 18035), ni 77, meind 142 (#mengde#). #i# is i, biden 125, binden 216, child 148; after #w# it is u in wule 34, 39, 155, wulleð 97, 226, uuel 123 (= nule), nute 236, nusten 102, 225. It is e in þerdde 138, u in ofsprung 207; boð 120 is miswritten for bið. #o# is o, bifore 16, borde 260, but after #w#, a, walde 49, nalde 185, 261; cumen 202 is #c(w)omon#. The prep. #on# is mostly a, sometimes an; #u# is u, cumeð 234, funde 68, but come 124, 221, iwoned 57 in contact with #m#, #n#, #w#. #y# is mostly u, abuȝeð 195, cunne 202, duden 265, sunne 201, swuch 80, þunchen 62; before lengthening groups, sungede 258, but i in afirst 37, hwice 136, lifte 83, ofþinchþ 130 (5), swich 80 (3), and e in dede 2, vnnet 5: king 50, drihten 80, drihte 110 are the only forms of these words.

#ā# is normally a, an 26, are 179, hwam 202, þa 190; before consonant groups, are 207, hattre 247, but it is o in hom 95, hwon 105, þo 53, wori 142, e through loss of stress in se 80 &c., þe 169. #ǣ{1}# is e, eni 53, er 11, þen 71, ech 32, efre 68, ledden 209, but a in anige 269, þan 74: uches 90 descends from ylc. #ǣ{2}# is always e, adrede 6, brede 143, lende 122, uniselðe 198. #ē# is always e; #ī#, i; #ō#, o, but e in te 108: na 134 is Anglian #nā#. #ū# is always u. #ȳ# is normally u, cudde 191, fur 76, hud 77, lutel 46, but litel 28, hwi 104.

#ea# before #r# + cons. is regularly e, erȝe 17, þerf 43; before lengthening groups, erninge 64, herde 157, 169, wernin 228, but arme 227, warni 226: the i-umlaut is represented by derne 78, smirte 114. #ea# before #l# + cons. is once ea, bifealt 7; normally a (Anglian absence of breaking), al 7 &c., salt 248, ald 4, -fald 54, 247, waldeð 84, but welde 2, welden 55 (by confusion with #gewieldan#): the i-umlaut is seen in elde 14, 15, eldre 192, helde 197, but alder 1. #eo# before #r# + cons. is mostly e, herte 74, werke 27 (9), but horte 113; before length. groups it is o in ȝorne 49, horþe 75, orðe 81, orðliche 153. The #wur# group is represented by wurð 140; the i-umlaut by wurs 236, wurst 217, 219: bernd 249, berninde 218, bernunde 245 come from #bærnan#. #eo# before #l# + cons. is written o [ö], solf 12 (13), but u in sulf 214 (LWS. #sylf#). #ea#, u-umlaut of #a# is represented by kare 45. #eo#, u-umlaut of #e# is o, houene 25 (7), world 153, 222, but e in heuenriche 42, 63, and by influence of #w#, u in suster 148, 185: #eo#, å-umlaut of #e# is written o [ö], brokeð 91, fole 9 (4), unfrome 226, but is e in fele 70, 166, wele 222. #eo#, umlaut of #i# is written o [ö], binoþen 87, hore 101, solure 264, souene 26, soððen 9, 117, but is e in biclepie 107, iclepede 104, seue 140; u in suððen 205, hure 141. The palatal diphthong #ea# is a in scal 24, 35, schal 19, -gate 180; e in scefte 84, ȝere 110; #sceamian# is skamie 163, 165, #sceomu#, scome 166. #ie# after #g# is regularly e (Anglian), ȝeuen 64, 261, ȝefð 144, ȝeue 45, 74, ȝelde 45, forȝeten 34, 98, but i in giue 56; after #č#, e, chele 197, 233 (without umlaut); after #sc#, i, scilde 220. #eo# after #g# is u in ȝung 4, 10; after #sc#, u, sculen 20 (8), sculde 118, 263, sculden 60, 265, but o once in solde 51. #eom# is em 1, 4, #heom#, hom 18 &c.

#ēa# is ea in deaþe 182, uneade 181, otherwise e, brede 189, chep 68, deðe 115, uneðe 189: lan 64 is Scandinavian. The i-umlaut is e, alesed 134, iheren 262, ileuen 255. #ēo# is eo in beoð 17, beo 29, freonde 220, seon 16, otherwise regularly o, bon 2 (5), bo 134 (10), boð 26 &c., dore 143, doule 97 (5), frond 30 (4), son 158, þoue 43, but e in lef 252, sec 199, tening 253: bið 233 is due to confusion with the singular. The i-umlaut is represented by dore 144, 184, fond 219, frond 220, node 261, þostre 78, but once þestre 76. #gīet# is ȝet 5; #gēar#, ȝer 140. #ō# after #sc# is seen in scop 84.

#a# + #g# is aȝ, draȝen 47, 49, laȝe 170: ah 14, 119, ach 58 is Anglian #ah#. #æ# + #g# is ei, dei 134, mei 14, seið 114, 133. #e# + #g# is eȝ in weȝes 72, ei in eie 18, weien 63: #ongegn# is aȝein 76; #e# + #h# is seen in hechte 268; #i# + #h# in iwichte 212; #o# + #g# in unwron 160 (#unwrogen#); #o# + #h# in bohte 184, unbocht 59; #u# + #g# in fuȝeles 83, luȝen 159, muȝe 21, wruȝen 160; #y# + #g# in abuh 144 (#abygþ#). #ā# + #g# produces aȝ, aȝen 30 (5), maȝe 29, but ahen 161: #ā# + #h# is seen in ahte 2, achten 129. #ǣ{1}# + #g# is ei in eiðer 62, seiden 223; #ǣ{1}# + #h#, eh in ehte 259, echte 42 (3), but ach in tachte 268. #ǣ{2}# + #g# gives eȝ in iseȝen 98, 102, but ei in mei 29, 185. #ē# + #g# is seen in forwreien 97; #ō# + #g# in inoch 235; #ō# + #h# in biþocht 8, brochte 183: uwer 88 is #ōwer# < #ōhwǣr#, comp. ouhwar AR 60/25. #ea# + #h# gives mihte 13, michte 16, 52, mahte 222, isech 261; the i-umlaut is represented in nihte 78: #eo# + #h#, brichte 75, rihte 109; its i-umlaut is represented in ouersich 75, þurþsicheþ 90. #ēa# + #g# is eȝ in eȝen 75; #ēa# + #h# gives þah 4, þach 102, 222, þech 181; #ēo# + #h#, lihte 76, lihtliche 145. #ā# + #w# is au in cnauð 146, knauð 110, saule 136, 245, naut 48, 212; aw in nawiht 150, 249 (but noht 190, nocht 132 are from #nōwiht#); auw in iknauwen 161; otherwise aw, blaweð 136, mawen 20. #ēa# + #w# is aw in scaweð 135. #ēo# + #w# is ou in ou 50; ow in ow 228, rowen 19, sowen 20, eow in eow 25: its i-umlaut is represented in untrownesse 265.

In syllables without stress #a# is levelled to e, abuten 267, bihinden, binoþen 87, biforen 25, sone 38, but biforan 63; #o# to e, atter 142, siker 41, swikele 251. e is added in areles 216 (#ārlēas#), ofte 57. The prefix #ge# is i, ilome 47, iswinc 36, itit 125.

For #sw#, su is written once in suilch 120; qu is the regular equivalent of #cw#, iquemen 95, quike 79. An #l# is lost in ful 6, 145, fulenden 243: gg is written for #ng# in biginnigge 119. Initial #f# is once u in uersc 248: #f# between vowels or vowel and voiced consonant is generally u, buuen 87, eure 86, iuere 229, solure 264, uuel 251, but f in ufel 59, 93, ufele 17, ifere 102; frure 232 is probably #frōfre#. In heste 242 t is added, but hese 91: #ts# is c in milce 72. #d# is lost in leden 93 and added in ordlinghes 103: t is written for #d# in ent 159, fordemet 270, idemet 106, 171, maket 230, undret 208, 247. #þ# is lost in abuh 144, ouersich 75; written for #d# in hefð 147; for it th is written in with 216, t in etlete 148, 153, 257, hauet 65, ofþinchet 10, seit 133, þunchet 233, d in cud 159 (but kuðe 9), uneade 181, h in þench 33, wih 220, c in eclete 74: it is assimilated in attere 127, at ta 156. #sc# [š] is sc in scal 24, scameþ 165, scilde 220, sch in schal 19, s in bisunien 152, ss in fisses 83 and notably sk in skamie 163. #č# is generally ch, chele 197, child 3, ich 1, but drunke 258, smike 16; #c# [k] is palatalized in hech 232, werch 108, 116, werche 254, but werc 177; it is g in þingþ 5; ah 14, 119, 120, ach 58, 166, hi 221 (= ih) have Anglian #h#: #čč# is ch, feche 222, reche 221, rechð 133, streche 231, stuche 189, wreche 232: #cg# is gg, seggen 94, buggen 65, but abuȝeð 195. Palatal #g# is very regularly represented by ȝ, forȝeten 34, ȝeue 74, ȝere 110, but i in medierne 256 (#georne#), h in ahen 161 and g in anige 269: gate 180 is plural: #ng# is ngh in ordlinghes 103, ngg in eueningges 162: #g# is lost in murþe 154. The prefix #ge# is lost in bon 137, hud 77, meind 142, write 101. h has been added initially in hech 232, helche 89, his 72, 121, 229, honde 193, dropped in is 217, raþer 131, undret 208, 247: þ displaces #h# in þurþ 90. For #hw#, w appears in wa 114, wet 79, 94, h in hom 95. ch for #h# is frequent, achten 129, brochte 183, brichte 75, hechte 268, isech 261, ouersich 75, þurþsicheþ 90, &c. In soht 30, ht is written for #tt#.

(2) =of the Trinity College MS.= Oral #a# is a, fare 180, habben 39; #a# before nasals regularly a, man 20, þanc 245, þanne, þane, þan are the usual forms, but þene 343; #a# before lengthening groups is o, fonded 149, longe 3, but hangeð 312. #æ# is regularly a, after 28, almesse 28, brac 185, fader 150, water 244, but sæd 392, hweðer 240. #e# is e, bed 222, beren 95; before lengthening groups, bende 398, felde 348, imengd 144, strengðe 317, but ængles 94, angles 284, 355, 380. #i# is i, þridde 140, child 3, finde 54, but e after #w# in nele 336, nelle 291, nesten 229, 388, also in ofspreng 211, þese 312, þesse 328, 383, þesses 338 (#ðyssum#, #ðysses#), u after #w# in swunche 208, 373, as also in ofsprung 198. #o# is o, bode 264, borde 311, but #on# prep. is most frequently a, an. #sorg# is soreȝe 142 (4), but sareȝe 378. #u# is invariably u, bigunne 218, grunde 180. #y# is e in deden 269, 270, euel 26 (11), hlesten 230, 387, kenne 206 (4), senne 129 (7), senden 290 (#syndun#), steche 191, vnnet 5, unwenne 212; u in abugeð 197, abuið 146, bugge 65, dude 2, duden 96, fulle 352, furst 37, gulteð 315 (4), gult 197 (4), hulle 351, misduden 101, 194, muchel 76 (8), murie 156, murihðe 396, þunche 62, ofþunche 207 (3), sunegeden 262; i in tihte 272, þincheð 5, 10, 166, swilch 79, 399, hwilch 138, unwinne 250: king, drihten, drihte are the only forms of these words.

#ā# is mostly o; the exceptions are aquerne 366, bihat 368, hat 308, hatere 251, hwan 206, lac 203 (loc in corresponding line 73). #ǣ{1}# is mostly a, ani 53, are 124, has 91, 349, hate 236, sa 83, sade 131 (LWS. #sǣde#), tache 305, þare 346; before two consonants, ache 235 (4), afre 86, mast 7, unhalðe 16 (4); but e in hete 199, mene 170, ðer 216, and before two consonants arerde 172, ech 23 (8); æ in ænes 185; ea in hease 296. In forgoð 358 a plural form is used for the singular. #ǣ{2}# is mostly a, adrade 6, dade 3 (4), lache 306, misdade 132, 166, 275, rade 4, strate 235 (4), before two consonants naddren 277, ofdrad 43, 94, 288, unisalðe 200, 378, wapne 340, but e in mere 393, misdede 209 r. w. ofdrade, unsele 201, iselðe 15; æ in læte 345, and ia in þiar 165. #ē# is e, beten 242, demde 274, iquemd 174, but a in ache 364 (#ǣce#): doð 35 (8) is plural form for singular. #ī# is i, abiden 140, þriste 19, but syrreue 50, ȝietceres 271 (Bülbring, § 306, anm. 1). #ō# is o except in cam 117 (4), te 316. #ū# is invariably u. #ȳ# is e in forbet 307, here 45, kedde 193; u in cuðen 99, fure 43, 152, hudden 162, i in litel 46, 264, 331.

#ea# before #r# + cons. is, as a rule, a, arme 231, narewe 343, swarte 282, before lengthening groups mostly a, hardde 171, warnie 304, but e in erninge 64, metheschele 366; ea, æ in middeneard 140, 200, middenærd 195: the i-umlaut is represented by erminges 323, derne 77, smierte 114. #ea# before #l# + cons. is regularly a, alle 22, biualle 198, before lengthening groups mostly ea, bihealde 288, eald 4, but bihelden 392, holde 55: the i-umlaut is seen in elde 16 (5), elder 1, 326, elderne 194. #eo# before #r# + cons. is mostly e, herte 74 (3), werc 108 (10), but storre 279, hierte 113; before lengthening groups it is ie in ȝierles 324, ȝierne 49, e in erðe 75, erðeliche 155. In the #wur# group u is the rule, wurðe 142, wurðen 334. The i-umlaut after #w# gives werse 299, werest 221 (LWS. #wyrsa#, #wyrrest#): barneð 253, barnende 222, descend from #bærnan#; oerre 280 represents #eorre#. #eo# before #l# + cons. is always e, self 131 &c. #eo#, u-umlaut of #e# is e, heuene 27, wereldes 271, but o in woreldes 226, 338; the å-umlaut is represented by fele 9 (3), wele 155 (4): #eo#, umlaut of #i# is e, icleped 104, henne 400, seðen 9, seuene 28, bineþen 87, but binime 44, ȝieue 74, niþer 347, quike 78, 192, siluer 268, and after #w#, suster 150, 187, wude 348. #ea# after palatals is a in sal 21, 26, safte 84, same 168, samie 165, sameð 167, scat 367. #ie# after #g# is ie in biȝiete 105, 126, ȝielde 45, forȝiete 34 (4), ȝieuen 64 (12), forȝieue 217; after #sc#, #c#, it is i, silde 224 (5), e in chele 199, 236, bicherd 322. The conj. #gif# is ȝief 121, 166. #eo# after #g# gives ȝeunge 10, ȝeunger 326, jung 4, ȝieuð 377 (#geogoð#): #eo# after #sc#, solde 37, 267, solden 60, sulle 22, sullen 103. #heom# is hem; #eom#, am.

#ēa# is mostly ea, breade 191, deaðe 106 (7), eaðe 210, 288, 376, uneaðe 183, 191, but ec 46, 107, eðlate 74, 150, 261, rauing 257. The i-umlaut of #ēa# has regularly e, alesed 136, hereð 89, ileuen 49, temen 108, but ȝiemeð 80. #ēo# is mostly e, ben 39 (12), biflen 154, deflen 97, lef 73, frend 30, rewen 358, but ie in bien 389, bie 4 (4), biede 266, bieð 291, 315, diere 145, fiendes 223, friende 224, lief 203, 261, hielden 172, 298, isien 18 (5), swiere 146, þieue 43; i in sic 201. The i-umlaut is represented in diere 146, 186, fiend pl. n. 283, friend pl. a. 224, niede 265, þiesternesse 281, but derlinges 389, frend 185, 304, þuster 77. #gesīene# is isene 344; #gīet#, ȝiet 5, 293; #gēar#, ȝier 142: #ō# after #sc# is seen in sop 84.

#a# + #g# is aw in drawen 47, aȝ in laȝe 172, 295. #æ# + #g# is ai, dai 370, fair 392, mai 16, 44, but maiȝ 88, 124, 217. #e# + #g# is ei, wei 353, eiseliche 285, eie 20, seið 112, 135, but treiȝe 375, weiȝ 341, weiȝen 63: #ongegn# is aȝien 351. #i# + #g# is ie, nieðe 342, unwrien 162; final #ig# is i, peni 300, weri 244: #i# + #h# is ih, sihte 369, wihte 78. #o# + #h# is oh, bohte 186. #u# + #g# is uȝ, luȝen 161, muȝe 23, 55, muȝen 159, but fueles 83. #y# + #h#, drihte 79, 110 with i as usual, abuið 146, abugeð 197. #ā# + #g#, #h# is oȝ, moȝe 187, oȝen 163; ow, mowe 29, owen 30; oh, foh 365. #ǣ{1}# + #g# is ei in eiðer 62, 239, but aiðer 306, aihware 88: #ǣ{1}# + #h# is ai, aihte 42 (5), taihte 272, but eihte 321. #ǣ{2}# + #g# is æi in mæi 29; ai in mai 187, grai 365; ei in iseie 118, iseien 98, 99, 102. #ē# + #g# occurs in forwreien 97, leie 282: #ō# + #g#, #h# in inoh 391, inoȝh 389, biþoht 8, brohte 185. #ea# + #g#, #h# is ei, iseih 265; the i-umlaut is seen in mihte 15, 52, 202, 226, mihte 76, nihte 77, 370. #eo# + #h# is ih in brihte 75, rihte 109, rihtwisnesse 72, unriht 93; the i-umlaut is represented in ouersihð 75, þurhsihð 90. #ēa# + #g# is seen in eien 75, 381, raketeie 283; #ēa# + #h# in heie 16, 284, þeih 4, 102, 131: #ēo# + #g# in drie 292, lie 291; #ēo# + #h# in liht 316, 382, lihtliche 147. #ā# + #w# is ow, bloweð 138, cnoweð 110, icnowen 163, nowiht 152, sowle 138, but naht 48, &c., naðer 367. #ī# + #w# is seen in glie 292; #ēa# + #w# in feawe 349; #ēo# + #w# in newe 313, rewen 21, sewen 22, untrewnesse 269: #ēow# is eow 157.

In unstressed syllables levelling to e takes place as in L: e is inserted after #r# between consonants in arefeð 315, harem 198, iboreȝe 167, narewe 343: quica 192, þa 349 have a for #e#; comp. alla 81/76, blaca 82/99.

#r# is lost medially in metheschele 366; #rr# is simplified in werest 221. #n# is lost medially in ore 383, raketeie 283, druken 257, seuenihte 142; #nn# is simplified in done 37, isiene 392. #bb# is simplified in haben 53, 100, habeð 179, 194, libeð 208. #f# between vowels is u, buuen 87, eueten 277, deueles 179, but deflen 97, defles 258. #t# is dropped in a te 92, foremes 197, nah 129; #ts# is represented by c in milce 8, by ch in milche 219. #d# is lost in godcunnesse 393, exchanged with ð in idemð 173, and doubled in hardde 171. For #þ#, d is written in habbed 141, 177, bed 104, 381; th in lothe 61, metheschele 366, sathanas 287: #þþ# is simplified in seðen 9, 117, 209. #sc# [š] is sc in scat 367; s in bisunien 154, safte 84, sal 21, same 168, sameð 167, samie 165, senche 335, silde 224 (5), sineð 279, solde 37, sop 84, srud 367, sulle 22, syrreue 50; ss in fisses 83. #gītsere# is ȝietceres 271. #č# is expressed by ch, muchel 12 (23), ich 1 (25), but mukel 209, ic 12, 229: #čč# is also ch, feche 226, reche 135, 225, steche 191, ?wichen, 103: #cg# is gg, seggen 92, g, abugeð 197 (but abuið 146), ligeð 283: #cw# is always qu, aquerne 366, quike 78. #ġ# is regularly ȝ, forȝieuenesse 302, forȝiete 34, but j in jung 4. A y sound has developed initially in ȝierles 324; comp. ȝeie 13/43. #g# before #ð# is c in strencðe 170, h in murihðe 396. For almihtin 337 see 79/17 note. #hw# initial is preserved, but #hr# is r, raðer 133, rewen 358.

#Accidence:# (1) =of L.= Strong declension of masc. and neut. nouns. In the s. n. were 31 has added e; sune 186 represents #sunu#. Gen. -es, swinkes 64; golde 70 is probably miswritten for goldes: d. -e, gode 73, middenerde 193, fure 43, werke 27; exceptions are festen 145, god 49, hunger 145 (#hungre#), king 63 (r. w. erninge), middenerd 198, unriht 209, mostly before vowels, fur 150, werch 116, at mid pause of the verse: misse 234, acc. has added e. The pl. n. a. of masculines ends in -es, engles 94, weȝes 72, bendes 188, but wintre 208 (#wintru#): neuters are -ȝer 140, iswinc 36, lif 246, þing 84, word 9, 158, doule 97 (#dēoflu#), gate 180 (#gatu#), werkes 63, 72, 111 with masc. termination; g. manke 70; d. doulen 269, wrenchen 251, bende 134, wintre 1, 4, write 101. Of the fem. nouns, blisse 233, endinge 120, mihte 211, milce 72, murþe 154, rihtwisnesse 72, sorȝe 140, 194, sunne 201, tilþe 57, unhelðe 197, witnesse 113, 116, wombe 145 have added e in the s. nom., echte 42, 55, ehte 259, node 261 in the acc. The other cases sing. and pl. end in e, helle 216, s. g., are 179, s. d., 53, s. a., but tening 253; pl. n. are blisse 153, glede 218, mihte 77, saule 136, uniselðe 198, wihte 79; g. misdede 130, souenihte 140, a. dede 10, hese 91, saule 245, scefte 84, sorȝe 166, stunde 147, sunne 238, tide 137: worldes 222 s. g. is a masc. form, deden 89 pl. a. a weak form. In the weak declension the termination of all cases in the singular is e; n. mone 76; g. houene 65; d. deme 96, wawe 151; a. grome 166, swore 144: plural n. are reuen 256, swicen 103, eȝen 75, ifere 102, iuere 229. The minor declensions are represented by mon s. n. 22 &c., monnes s. g. 30, monne s. d. 117, but mon 201, 259, men pl. n. 41, monne pl. g. 161, pl. d. 18, but men 18; boke s. d. 118, (a) boken pl. d. 224 (#on bōcum#); feder s. n. 148, fader s. g. 195, s. a. 186; broðer s. n. 148, s. a. 185; suster s. n. 148, 185; frond s. n. 30, freonde pl. d. 220, frond pl. a. 183, 219, 220, fond 219.

With the exception of the weak forms laþe 268, betere 26, 142, hattre 247, loure 29, 263, mare 2, 18, wunderlukeste 68, the adjective in the s. n. is uninflected: alder 1 is #ieldra#. The s. d. regularly terminates in e, except uuel 24. The s. a. is mostly uninflected, as wurst 217, but endelese 141, herdne 169, lesse 60, muchele 191, 205. The participial #āgen# is unvaried, aȝen 30, 108, 113, 116, 261, once ahen 161. The pl. n. ends in e, arme 227, erȝe 17, herde 169, orðliche 153, but words in #-ig#, gredi 264, edi 227, weri 240 and idel 9, lut 104 (#lȳt# indeclinable), ofdred 94 are uninflected: pl. d. are fulle, gode 219, uuel 251; pl. a. with e, bare 137, ȝunge 10, sare 36, uuele 170, wreche 170, 250. OE. #āna# is ane 86, 110, 213: #ān# is an s. n. f. 26, are d. f. 205, 207, enne a. m. 137; #nān# is na n. 22, 80, 181, nan 59, nane d. neut. 236, nenne a. m. 119, nane a. f. 235; naþing a. neut. 98. Adjectives are used extensively as nouns, s. n. sullic 181, ufel 59, uersc 248; s. a. beste 51, litel 28, lutel 46, lesse 71, lest 112, mare 2, 54, mest 7 (4), muchel 28. In the s. d. and throughout the pl. the termination is regularly e, s. d. gode 21, 61, laðe 61, ufele 17; pl. n. eldre 192, fremede 34, laðe, loue 44, sibbe 34, unholde 36, pl. a. dede, quike 190, uuele 192.

The personal pronouns are ich, hi 221 (= ih), i in ilede 5, me, we, us, þu, þe, ȝe, eow 25, ou 50, ow 155, 228. The pronoun of the third person is s. n. he m. 21, hit neut. 11, d. him m. 24, 44, a. hine m. 12, 34, 116, him 110, ha f. 215 (Mercian), es (see p. 274) 55, 239, is 144, his 40, 259; hes, hies 56 (= he + es), hit neut. 15, 38, pl. n. hi 66 (4), ho 19 (11), d. him 165, 184, hom 18, 62, 181, hi a. 180, hom 182, 184. Reflexives are him s. 124, him solue 23 (5), him solf 115; definitives, solf s. 46, 129, sulf 214, þe solf 29, him solf 40, 114, 184, hom solf pl. 225; possessives, mi 2, þin 29, his 30, 31, 42, is 217, hire 31, vre 57, 247, hore 101, hure 141. The definite article is s. n. þe m. 39, 68, þe f. 74, þa 116, 201, g. þes neut. 193, d. þe m. 63, 92, 96, þa 156, (at) ta 156, þere f. 233, (at) tere 127, þe 83, þan neut. 212, a. þe m. 232, þe f. 13, 261, þat neut. 51, pl. n. þe 94, þa 103, 136, (ent) ta 103, a. þa 190. The article is also frequently used as pronoun antecedent to relatives, þe ðe 69 (5), þa þe 215, þo þe 53, 261, þe þet 55, he who; þa þe 93 (8), þa þi 173, þo þe 61, 96, they who; þa þe 250, þe þe 252, þe ꝥ 263, they to whom; with þa þe 216, with those whom; þen þe 71, to him who; þan þe 225, to those who; ꝥ þe 58, what. Other pronominal uses are of þan 74, of him of whom, þe 169, þa 270, they; þer fore 144, for it. The compound demonstrative is represented by þisse s. g. f. 267, þes pl. n. 41, þas pl. a. 230. The relatives are þe 33 &c., þa 12, 139, 169, þi 173, often meaning he who, they who 12, 19, 23, 253, þet 21 &c., often meaning that which, what: þe 10 is genitive, of which, ꝥ 65, 257 dat.: þen 269 is þe + en. Interrogatives are hwa s. n. 133, hwam d. 202, hom 95; hwat 244, hwet, wet 79, 103, to hwon 105; hweþer 236, hwilke s. d. m. 130, hwice s. n. f. 136, correlative suilch s. n. 120, swich, swuch 80, swilche pl. d. 220: #ilca# is ilke s. d. 212. Indefinites are wa se 114; me 48 &c.; sum s. 25, summe pl. 147; fole 9 (4), fele 70, 166; eiðer 62; oðers s. g. m. 30, 263, oðer 257, s. d. m. 186, s. a. neut. 147, oþre pl. n. 166; ech s. n. 32 &c., hech 232, ec 171, uches s. g. m. 90, elches s. g. f. 222, eche s. d. 231, ilche s. d. m. 86, helche s. a. f. 89; eni s. n. m. 68, anige s. d. f. 269, eni s. a. neut. 53; moni s. n. 38, monies s. g. 36; al s. n. a. 81, 54, alle pl. n. a. 79, 173, 174, 195, 84, alre pl. g. 161, 187.

Five-sixths of the infinitives end in en, showing Anglian influence, the remainder mostly in e, as bode 262 r. w. node, ileste 242 r. w. unstedefeste, ofþinche 203 r. w. swinke; exceptional are wernin 228, warni 226, seon 16, son 158. Dative infinitives are to baþien 245, beten 132, habben 39, swenchen 250, swinden 57, þenchen 252, for . . . cumen 154, for habben 53, for lesen 180, 182; possibly to frure 232, see note. Presents are s. 1. adrede, biþenche 6; 3. biswikeð, fulieð 12, þunchet 233, ofþinchet 10, hauet 65, þurþsicheþ 90, and the contracted forms (as numerous as the uncontracted), abuh 144, bernd 249, bet 126, 164, bit 126, iherð 89, itit 125, lest 167, sent 42, 46, ouersich 75, þench 33, wit 84: pl. 1. abuȝeð 195, brokeð 91, þenke we 190; 3. fareð 232, þolieð 202, wuneð 136: subjunctive s. 1. bidde 134; 2. wende 86; 3. ȝeue 122, giue 56, helpe 156, lipnie 22, 31, rede 8, 156, scilde 220, wite 122, wurð[e] 140: pl. 3. ?come 124: imperative s. 2. wende 86: pl. 2. sendeð 25, vnderstondeð 227. Past of Strong Verbs: I a. s. 3. isech 261; pl. 1. iseȝen 102; 3. 98: I b. s. 1. com 221; 3. binom 259, brec 183, com 117, nom 205; pl. 3. comen 139, 202, helen 160, stelen 159: I c. s. 3. unbond 188; pl. 3. bigunnen 243, swunken 254; subj. s. 3. bigunne 214, funde 68: II. pl. 3. witen 244, writen 224, wruȝen 160: III. pl. 3. luȝen 159: IV. s. 3. scop 84: V. s. 3. let 260, hechte 268 (weak form); pl. 3. biheten 242, holden 170, sowen 20, leten 266. Participles present: I c. berninde 218, bernunde 245: V. wallinde 218; past: I a. biȝeten 105, forȝeten 98, iqueðen 9: I b. bistolen 15, forholen 77, iborene 105: I c. iborȝen 165, r. w. sorȝe, ifunde 177, sprunge 173, unforȝolden 59: II. iwriten 118: II, III. unwron 160: III. biloken 81, icorene 104, forlorene 106: IV. forsworene 103. Past of Weak Verbs: s. 1. hefde 13, sede 155; 3. biþohte 150, cudde 191, herde 262, likede 11, seide 129, r. w. misdede: pl. 1. hefden 51, leden 93; 3. ledden 209, luueden 93, iquemde 269: subj. s. 3. hefde 137, hefð 147 (miswritten for hefde). Participles past: alesed 134, ibet 132, idemet 106, 171, fordemet 270, igult 27, hud 77, ihud 28, ofdred 43, offerd 157, meind 142, iclepede 104. Minor Groups: wat pr. s. 79, 89, 111, nute hi pr. pl. 236, wiste 1 pt. s. 15, wisten pt. pl. 139, nusten 1 pt. pl. 102, pt. pl. 225; ahte pt. s. 2, achten 1 pt. pl. 129; kon pr. s. 71, cunne pr. s. subj. 213, kuðe 1 pt. s. 9; þerf pr. s. 43, 44, 45, 163; scal pr. s. 24, 35, schal 19, sculen 1 pr. pl. 47, 95, 161, scule we 92, 95, sculen 2 pr. pl. 20, 49, pr. pl. 94, sculde pt. s. 263, sculden 1 pt. pl. 60, solde 51, sculden pt. pl. 265, sculde pt. s. subj. 118 (the past forms in u are Anglian); mei 1 pr. s. 14, mai pr. s. 35, 40, 69, mei 65, 88, 124, 145, muȝen 1 pr. pl. 157, 206, pr. pl. 66, 237 (in form subjunctive), muȝe pr. s. subj. 21, 55, 125, muȝen 2 pr. pl. subj. 25, pr. pl. subj. 19, mahte 1 pt. s. (Anglian #mæhte#) 222, mihte 13, michte 16, 1 pt. pl. 52, mihten pt. pl. 200; mot pr. s. 33; bon inf. 2 &c., bo 134, em 1 pr. s. 1, 4, is pr. s. 26, his 72, 121, 229, nis 77, 80, boð pr. s. 120 (in form plural), beoð 1 pr. pl. 17, boð pr. pl. 26, 75 &c., bið 233 (in form singular), bo 1 pr. s. subj. 4, pr. s. subj. 21 (7), beo 29, bo pr. pl. subj. 177, bon 94, wes 1 pt. s. 1, pt. s. 187, 208, weren pt. pl. 102, 230, 251, were pt. s. subj. 153, nere 199, ibon pp. 3; wule 1 pr. s. 155, pr. s. 34, 39, wile 55, uuel (miswritten for nule) 123, wulleð pr. pl. 97, 226, walde 1 pt. s. 14 (Anglian), pt. s. 35, r. w. unholde 149, wolde 147, nalde 185, 261, nolde 138, walde ȝe 2 pt. pl. 49, wolden pt. pl. 244, 266, nolden 238; don inf. 37, 69, 92, do 185, 186, to done inf. dat. 17, 37, deð pr. s. 35 &c., doð 53 (plural form), doð 1 pr. pl. 58, 60, misdoð 206, doð pr. pl. 19, 79, do pr. s. subj. 18, 21, 69, 210, dede pt. s. 2, misduden 1 pt. pl. 99, duden pt. pl. 265, misduden 192, dude 96, idon pp. 7 &c., fordon 270.

(2) =of T.= Strong declension of masc. and neut. nouns. In the s. n. aquerne 366, were 31 have added e: sune 188 represents #sunu#. Gen. -es, godes 313, goldes 70, werkes 64: d. -e, ate 262, biede 266, daie 80, 158; exceptions are deað 200, deuel 273, druken 262 (for drunke), fasten 147, 339, god 284, hunger 147 (#hungre#), peni 300, siluer 268 (#seolfre#), þanc 245, þing 320, mostly before a vowel, and fur 152, middenærd 195, peni 67, werc 116 at mid pause of the verse: misse 238 s. a. has added e. The pl. n. a. of masculines ends in -es, ængles 94, ȝietceres 271, bendes 190, but wintre 212, 356: neuters are folc 217, ȝier 142, iswinc 36, þing 84, word 9, 160, ibede 301 (#gebedu#), werkes 63 (4) (with masc. termination), deflen 97, a weak form: g. angles 355, 380, manke 70: d. dichen 41, ibeden 339, wallen 41, wrenchen 255, bende 136, 293, 398, wapne 340, winter 4, worde 312, write 101, angles 284, derlinges 389, erminges 323, gultes 318, werkes 258, wines 223. Of the strong feminines blisse 237, 380, este 363, idelnesse 7, mihte 76, 215, milce 72, reste 364, 373, rihtwisnesse 72, senne 129, 196, 205, sihte 369, soreȝe 142, 196, 378, strate 345, tilðe 57, þiesternesse 281, unhalðe 327, unisalðe 378, witnesse 113, 116, wombe 147, have added e in the s. n., aihte 42, 55, 263, niede 265 in the s. a. The other cases sing. and pl. end in e, s. g. blisse 357, helle 220, sowle 306; d. bote 318, dade 3, dure 124; a. milche 219, murihðe 396; pl. n. glede 222, unhalðe 199, wihte 78; g. blisse 355, misdade 132, 275, seuenihte 142; d. aihte 271, 321; a. dade 10, 89, 160, laȝe 172, soreȝe 168. Exceptions are woreldes 226 (4) s.g., sa 83 s. d., has 91 s. a., rauing 257; wihten 285 pl. n., honden 81 pl. d., luues 314 pl. a., tiden 139. Nouns of the weak declension have e in all cases of the singular; n. moȝe 187, almesse 28; g. lichame 306; d. deme 96, herte 309; a. grame 168, swiere 146: pl. n. are eien 75, 381, eueten 277, iferen 102, 233, 297; a. swiken 278. The minor declensions are represented by man s. n. 165, noman 24, mannes s. g. 30, 90, 113, manne s. d. 117, man 20, maniman 205, men pl. n. 162, 260, manne pl. g. 163, 380, pl. d. 342, men 263, 354; boc s. d. 118, 228; broðer s. n. 150, s. a. 187; fader s. n. 150, faderes s. g. 197, fader s. a. 188; suster s. n. 150, 187; frend s. n. 30, friende pl. d. 224, frend pl. a. 185, 304, friend 224; fiend pl. n. 283, fiendes pl. d. 223, r. w. friende.

Remnants of the strong declension of adjectives are wreches s. g. m. 338 (with woreldes f.), ealde[s] 195, euele s. d. m. 335, godelease 348, wrongwise 48, bare s. d. f. 211, stronge 283, gode s. d. neut. 73, unstedefaste 320, wilde 145, hardne s. a. m. 171, endelease 143, possibly dat., muchele s. a. f. 396. Weak are ealde s. n. m. 287, loðe 272, 287, narewe 349, swarte 282, brode s. n. f. 345, murie 156, bare s. d. m. 348, heuenliche 96, muchele 92, muchele s. d. f. 156, narewe s. a. m. 343, brode s. a. neut. 341, the comparatives and superlatives as betre 28, wunderlukeste 68, except elder 1 (#ieldra#), niðer 299, 347, werest 221. All other adjectives are uninflected in the singular: the termination in all cases of the pl. is e; arȝe n. 19, lichamliche d. 398, wreche a. 172, but arefeðheald 315, eadi 231, euel 172, 233, gradi 268, idel 9, iwar 334, weri 244 are not inflected. #āgen# is owen 30, oȝen 113, 116, 163, 265 without variation: #āna# gives one n. s. m. 86 (7): #ān# is on n. s. m. 67, f. 28, one s. d. m. 348, on 335, ore s. d. f. 383, one 209, 211, one s. d. neut. 384, on s. a. f. 139, #nān#, none n. s. m. 367, non 110, no 37, 50, non s. n. f. 289, nones s. g. neut. 372, none s. d. neut. 240, s. a. f. 239: #ilca#, ilke s. d. neut. 216. Of the numerals twam 312 is dat. Adjectives are freely used as nouns, s. n. foh, grai 365, sellich 183; s. g. godes 371, 372; s. d. gode 23, lothe 61, juel (#yfle#) 19; s. a. emcristen 310, beste 51, lasse 71, mast 112: the pl. has e, n. fremde 34, elderne 194, heie 164, unholde 36; a. deade 192; exceptions are elder 326 (#ieldran#), ȝeunger 326 (#geongran#), quica 192.

The personal pronouns are ich, i in ibie 4, ibiðenche 6, idude 2, ilade 5, ime 6, ine 16, 225, me, we, us, þu, þe, ȝie, eow. The pronoun of the third person is s. n. he m. 21, hie 114, ?hi 38, hit neut. 13; d. him m. 20, 21, 44; a. hine m. 110, 116, 385, him 34, him f. 129 (masc. form), hes 219, 241, his 263, hies 243, hes 40 (= he + es), 55, 56, hit neut. 17; pl. n. hie 22 &c., hi 382, he 248 (5), d. hem 62, 167, 180, 239 &c., a. hem 184, 305, hes 102, 186, 288, 314, mes 259 (= me + es). Reflexives are us self 310, him 21, 124, him selfen s. 14, 107, 115, him selfe 25, him self 111; definitives, þe self 29, him self 40, 114, 186, self 131, 218, 379, pl. hemself 229; possessives, mi 2, mine pron. 304, þi 29, his 30 &c., hire 31, ure 57, pron. 251, here 101. The definite article is sing. n. se m. 287, þe 39 &c., þa 349, þe f. 116, 205, þet 68 (neut. form), d. þan m. 63, 96, þe 83, 158, te in ate 92, þare f. 346, 347, 397, þe 83, 237, (a)te 127, ðer neut. 216 (fem. form), a. þane m. 341, 343, 353, þene 343, þe f. 265, þat neut. 51; pl. n. þe 103, d. þo 291, 340, 354, a. þo 278, þe 192, 278. The article is also frequently used as pronoun antecedent to relatives, as þe þe, he who 25, 66, se þe 53, 55, se þit 112 (= se þe hit), þan þe, to him who 71, þo þe, those who 213, 234, þar þat, of those who 192, þo þe, to those who 229, those to whom 267, 275, those who and those to whom 256, wið þo þe, with those whom 220. Other pronominal uses are of þare, of that other 328 (representing neut. noun), þar fore, for it 146, after þan(e) þe, conj., according as 362, þo, those 171. The compound demonstrative is þis s. g. f. 271, þesses 338 (masc. form), þesse s. d. neut. 328, 383, þos pl. n. 351, 352, ?þes 103, þese pl. d. 312, þos pl. a. 234, 303, 314; relatives þe 33, 73, in combinations þis 156, 251 (= þe is), þit 112, 141 (= þe hit): þe often means he who 14, 21, 30, se 221; þe, they who 257, þat, that which 22 &c., þe, to whom 296, of which 10. Interrogatives are hwo 135, hwat 78, 103, 137, hwan d. after prep. 95, 206, 330, to hwan, why 105, hweðer 240, hwilch 138 with correlative swilch 79, 399; #ilca# is ilke 216: indefinites, hwo se 114; me 48, 63, 342; sume pl. 149, 361; fele 9, 70, 212; feawe 349, 354; eiðer 62, 239, aiðer 306; oðer s. g. 30, 261, 267, 363, s. d. 116, 188, 360, s. a. 149, þoðre pl. 168 (= þe oðre), oðer 390; elch s. n. m. 107, 173, eche 344, ech 23, elch s. n. f. 360, aches s. g. f. 226, neut. 371, eche s. d. m. 86, achen 350, ache s. d. f. 235, elche s. a. m. 132, f. 89; ani s. n. m. 68, d. f. 273, a. neut. 53; mani n. s. m. 38, s. g. m. 36; afric s. n. m. 32, africh 65, afri 117; al s. n. m. 198, neut. 7, alle s. d. neut. 307, 340, pl. n. m. 22 &c., f. 78, alre g. 163, 189, 355, alle d. 318, 389, a. m. 224, a. f. 84, 89, a. neut. 84.

The infinitives are equally divided between -en, including isien 18, 379, 385, and -e: exceptions are fulendin 247, warnin 230, 232. Those of the second weak conjugation have -ien, -ie, wunien 153, 181, 249, samie 165, wunie 214, 376. A dat. inf. with inflection is to isiene 392, uninflected are to bete 134, to bihelden 392, to falle 316, to habben 39, te læte 345, te stonde 316, to swenche 254, to swinde 57, to þenchen 256, for to haben 53, for . . . to fulle 352, for lesen 182, 184. Presents s. 1. adrade 6, bidde 136; 3. barneð 253, bihoteð 38, exceptionally biswicað 14, mislicað 13, haued 70, 340, singed 311, contracted forms, three-sevenths of the total number, abit 130, abuið 146, bet 126, 166, bit 126, 357, itit 125, last 169, lat 129, lat 342, sent 42, wit 84 and others; pl. 1. abugeð 197, brekeð 91, findeð 332, wilnieð 319, but ileued 176, þenche we 192; 3. fareð 236, folȝeð 346, but habbed 141, 177: subjunctive s. 2. wende 86; 3. bringe 397, cume 156, ȝieue 56 (4), ȝeue 317, helpe 158, hopie 31, rade 158, reche 135, sende 27, silde 224, 303, warnie 304, wurðe 142; pl. 1. late 307, 341, luue 309, silde 308, ute 337, werie 339, all followed by we, haben 100, wurðen 334; 3. wende 400: imperative s. 2. wende 86; pl. 2. understondeð 231. Past of Strong Verbs: I a. s. 3. sat 266, iseih 265; pl. 1. iseien 98, 99, 102; subjunctive s. 3. iseie 118: I b. s. 3. brac 185, cam 117 (4), nam 209; pl. 1. come 330; 3. binomen 263, comen 206, halen 161, stalen 162, come 141: I c. s. 3. swanc 362, unbond 190; pl. 3. bigunnen 247, gunne 276, swunken 258; subj. s. 3. bigunne 218, funde 68: III. pl. 3. luȝen 161: IV. s. 3. sop 84: V. pl. 3. biheten 246, hielden 172, 298, leten 270, 352, sewen 22, lete 264. Participles present: I c. barnende 222: V. wallinde 222; past: I a. biȝiete 105, forȝieten 98, ispeken 9: I b. bistolen 17, forholen 76, iborene pl. 105: I c. iboreȝe 167, ifunde 179, sprunge 175, unforȝolden 59: II. iwrite 117, write 228: II, III. unwrien 162: III. biloken 81, icorene pl. 104, forlorene 106: IV. forsworene 103: V. biualle 198. Past of Weak Verbs: s. 1. hadde 15, sade 157; 3. bohte 186, kedde 193 (#cȳðde#), likede 13, sade 131, taihte 272; pl. 1. ladden 93, luueden 93; 3. arerde 172, hudden 162, ilaste 246, iquemde 273, leide 263, saden 227, sunegeden 262; subj. s. 3. hadde 139, 149 (= hadde he); pl. 1. swunke we 321. Participles past: alesed 136, ibet 100, 134, bicherd, bikeihte 322, idemd 106, demde 274, ofdrad 43, 288, ofdradde pl. 94, ispend 12, teald 120, wuned 57. Minor Groups: witen inf. 386, wot pr. s. 78, 89, 111, not 148 (= ne wot), witen pr. pl. 294, niten 240 (= ne witen), iwiste 1 pt. s. 17, wiste pt. pl. 141, nesten pt. pl. 229, 388 (= ne wisten); oh pr. s. 2; cunnen inf. 336, can 1 pr. s. 306, pr. s. 71, cunnen pr. pl. 305, cunne pr. pl. subj. 217, cuðe 1 pt. s. 9; þarf pr. s. 43, 45, 165; sal pr. s. 21, 26, sullen 1 pr. pl. 163, sulen 58, sulle we 92, sullen pr. pl. 103, sulle 22, 106, solde pt. s. 37, 267, solden 1 pt. pl. 47, 60, solde 51, solden pt. pl. 269; mai 1 pr. s. 16, miht 2 pr. s. 129, mai pr. s. 35, 44, maiȝ 88, 124, 217, muȝen 1 pr. pl. 159, 210, 332, pr. pl. 241, 288, 374, muȝe 207, pr. s. subj. 23, 55, 125, 338, muȝe we 1 pr. pl. subj. 325, mihte 1 pt. s. 15, 226, pt. s. 202, 1 pt. pl. 52; mot pr. s. 33, moten 1 pr. pl. subj. 317, 400; ben inf. 39 (12), bien 389, to be 2, am 1 pr. s. 1, is pr. s. 7, 72, nis 76, 79, beð 23, 32, 114, 1 pr. pl. 19, pr. pl. 75, 94, 237, bieð 291, 315, bed 104, 381, senden 290, bie 1 pr. s. subj. 4, 136, pr. s. subj. 29, 77, be 32, 251, bien pr. pl. subj. 80, ben 28, was 1 pt. s. 1, pt. s. 189, 212, waren 1 pt. pl. 100, 333, pt. pl. 102, naren 383, ware pt. s. subj. 155, nare 201, 1 pl. 322, iben pp. 3; wille 1 pr. s. 227, wulle 157, nelle 291, wile pr. s. 39, 55, nele 336, willeð pr. pl. 34, 97, 230, nelleð 374, wolde 1 pt. s. 16, pt. s. 35, nolde 140, 187, 265, wolde ȝie 2 pt. pl. 49, wolden pt. pl. 248, 270, nolden 247, nolde 242; don inf. 37, 69, 270, to done inf. dat. 37, to don 19, deð pr. s. 21, 221, doð 35 (8), 1 pr. pl. 60, pr. pl. 61, 78, do pr. s. subj. 8, 20, 23, 214, 1 pr. pl. subj. 308, dude 1 pt. s. 2, duden 1 pt. pl. 96, misduden 101, deden pt. pl. 269, 270, misduden 194, idon pp. 7, ido 304, fordon 274; forgoð pr. s. 358, goð pr. pl. 351, go we 1 pr. pl. subj. 343, 353.

#Dialect:# L is a copy of a Southern original made by a Midland scribe of the Southern border. His alterations, casual and inconsistent, affect mainly the sounds; the inflections are on the whole Southern, but the extensive retention of inflectional #n# is due to the scribe: the pronoun ha 215 and the infinitives warni 226, wernin 228 are Mercian features of the Katherine Group. T is South-Eastern bordering on Kent, with some trace of Midland influence, such as the exclusive representation of #æ# by a, the development of #æ# + #g# as ai, distinct from that of #e# + #g# as ei, the absence of breaking in #ea# before #l# + consonant, the past participles without prefix, the infinitives in -in, features which point to the northern border of the South-Eastern area as its place of origin. In phonology it closely resembles Vices and Virtues. The dialect of #e# is Middle South: its rhymes are mostly correct, and it is probably the best representative of the original. MS. E is assigned by Jordan to the same area, but nearer its northern border.

#Vocabulary:# The foreign element in these texts is small. French are bikehte bikeihte (first appearance), cunin kuning, ermine (f. a.), martres 50/362 (f. a.), sabeline (f. a.), serueden, werre: sōt is pre-Conquest French, soht 30/30, written for sŏtt, a pre-Conquest Latin borrowing: Sathanas with th is French. Scandinavian are bene, efninges eueningges (influenced by #efen#), ille, laȝe loȝe, lofte, niþinges, þralles þrelles, wrange wronge, and possibly fruden frute, lan 32/64: baþe boþe in a Southern text may descend from OE. #bā þā# (Björkman, 108).

#Metre:# The Septenarius is a purely syllabic metre of seven feet, with or without end-rhyme, fashioned on the model of such mediaeval Latin verse as the well-known méum | ést pro|pósit|úm || ín ta|bérna | móri; the first section of the line having four stresses with a masculine and the second three with a feminine ending. The trochaic rhythm of the verse is very often changed into iambic by the addition of a syllable as prelude before either half of the verse: the full scheme is accordingly (x)x́xx́xx́xx́ || (x)x́xx́xx́x̀. This is perfectly exemplified in the Ormulum with its invariable line of fifteen syllables, but in the PM, the earliest known attempt at the metre in English, the influence of the native prosody is strong, and a regular line like Þe Món | þe wúl|e sík|er bón || to háb|ben Gód|es blíssè L 39 is uncommon. The following scansions of L illustrate the deviations from the norm of the verse:

ich ém | nu áld|er þénẹ | ich wés || awín|tre ént | a láre Ich wél|de má|re þénẹ | ich déde || mi wít | áhte | bon máre Wel lóngẹ | ich háb|be chíld | ibón || a wórd|e ént | a déde þáh ich | bó a | wíntre | áld || to ȝúng | ich ém | on réde v́nnet | líf ich | hábbẹ i|léd || ⁊ ȝét | me þíngþ | iléde 5 þénnẹ ich | mé bi|þénche | wél || ful sárẹ | ich mé | adréde mést al | þét ich | hábbẹ i|dón || bífealt | tó child|háde Wel látẹ | ich háb|be mé | biþócht || búte | Gód me nu | réde Fólẹ id|el wórd | ich hábbẹ | iquéðen || sóððen | ich spék|e kúðe fóle | ȝúnge | dédẹ i|dón || þe mé | ofþínch|et núðe 10 Mést al | þét me | líkedẹ | ér || nú hit | mé mis|líkeð þa múch|el fúl|iéð | his wíl || híne | sólf he bi|swíkeð Ich míh|te háb|be bét | idón || héfdẹ ich | þé i|sélþe Nú ich | wáldẹ ah | ích ne | meí || for éldẹ | ⁊ fór | unhélþe Élde | me ís | bistól|en ón || ér ich | hít | wíste 15 ne míchtẹ | ich séon | bifór|e mé || for smí|ke né | for míste Érȝe | we béoð | to dón|e gód || ⁊ to úf|elẹ ál | to þríste Marẹ éi|e stónd|eð mén | of mónne || þánnẹ hom | dó of | críste þe wél | ne dóð | þe hwílẹ (þe) | ho múȝen || wél oft | hít schal | rówen þénnẹ ho | máwen | scúlen ⁊ | répen || þét ho | ér | sówen 20 Dó he | to gód|e þét | he múȝe || þe hwílẹ (ꝥ) | he bó | alíue ne líp|nie ná | món | to múchel || to chíld|e né | to wíue [þé] þe | hím | sólue | forȝét || for wí|ue né | for chílde hé scal | cúmen in | úuel | stúde || bútẹ him | Gód bo | mílde Séndeð | sum gód | bifór|en éow || (þe) hwíle | (ꝥ) ȝe múȝẹn | to hóuẹne 25 for bét|erẹ is án | elmés|se bifórẹn || þénne | bóð efter | sóuẹne Álto | lómẹ ich | hábbẹ i|gúlt || a wérk|e ént | o wórde Ál to | múchẹl ich | hábbẹ i|spént || to lítẹl | ihúd | in hórde Ne béo | þe ló|ure þé|ne þe sólf || ne þín | mei né | þin máȝe Soht is þét | is óð|ers món|nes frónd || bétre | þén his | áȝen 30 for þer wé | hit mích|te fínd|en éft || ⁊ hább|en bút|en énde 52

Elision of e occurs under the usual conditions: pronouns like me 6, 10, 15, þe 23, and nouns of the type of wintre 1, 4 are not subject to it. Instances of hiatus are worde 3, þe 13, werke 27. Syncopation of e occurs in muȝẹn, houẹne 25, biforẹn, souẹne 26, litẹl 28, and probably in muchẹl 28, though it might be regarded as forming part of a trisyllabic verse. The prelude is wanting in the first section, 4, 5, 6, 14, 20, 27, 28; in the second section, 8, 12, 13, 15, 18, 19, 26, 30; in both, 7, 11, 20, 24. It is doubled in the first section, 30, 52; in the second, 17. The first foot of each section is sometimes a trochee instead of an iamb; so in the first section, 9, 15, 17, 21, 25; in the second, 9. The unstressed element in a foot is sometimes wanting, 15, 20, 22; sometimes it is of two syllables, 8, 12, 24, 26 (three times), 29. Feminine endings before the caesura are not uncommon, 2, 9, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24; but the ending of the line is invariably feminine. A comparison of the manuscripts shows that the author’s practice was more correct than the representation of any of them; thus the unmetrical second section of 25 is in e, þe hwílẹ | he méi | to héuẹne. But it is clear that he used all the licences detailed above.

#Introduction:# The Moral Ode is, to all appearance, an original work, the natural product of an old man’s musings on life with its lost opportunities, death, and judgement. Its manner and spirit, simple, earnest, austere, sententious, are of the Old English cast. The author lived in Hampshire somewhere near the junction of the Stour with the Avon. He was probably a secular priest, for he makes no reference to the life of the cloister and names no saint or holy place. His theological learning was of a commonplace kind and without subtilty. He may have had some skill in medicine. He lived through the Anarchy, and the faithless vassal and the tyrannous noble wallow in his Inferno with the corrupt judge and extortionate official.

Another poem of similar content, the Sermon of Guischart de Beaulieu in Anglo-Norman, was written in England about the same time as the Poema Morale. If the author took his name from Beaulieu in Hampshire, where King John founded a Cistercian Abbey in 1204 A.D. (Dugdale v. 680), he may have written not far from the home of our poet. It abounds in striking parallels to the PM, but the editor of the Sermon thinks the resemblances are not sufficiently close to prove that Guischart used the English poem.

1. #nu#: in LT only. #awintre ⁊ a lare#: a winter and ek on lore J; of wintre ⁊ of lore M. ⁊ = ent; see 38/159.

2. #welde mare#: not in the usual meaning, possess more wealth, as at 21/89, 22/122, 130, 32/55, but either, am more respected, honoured, as at 18/22; ‘for worulde weorðscypes wealdan,’ Thorpe, Laws, ii. 324. 4, or more probably, possess more knowledge; if so, ‘knowledge comes but wisdom lingers.’ Comp. ‘of wisdom wilde,’ OEM 96/94. For #welde# D reads ealdi, M eldi, age, grow old.

3. #child#: comp. ‘Adhuc enim non pueritia in nobis sed, quod est gravius, puerilitas remanet: et hoc quidem peius est quod auctoritatem habemus senum, vitia puerorum,’ Seneca, Ep. iv; ‘To longe ich habbe sot ibeo | Wel sore ich me adrede,’ OEM 160/31. #a worde#, &c.: comp. 30/27: on worde ⁊ on dede D; of wordes & of dede M.

4. #a#: on D; of JM. #on#: at E; á e; of M.

5-8. Comp. ‘Ki se fie en cest secle por fol tenc mult celui | Par mei meimes le sai ne mie par altrui | Folement le menai itant cum ieo i fui | Kar unkes ne fis riens de quanke faire dui | Trop i dui demurer trop tart men apercui,’ Guischart 32-36; ‘vnnut lif to longe ich lede | hwanne ich me biþenche[;] wel sore ich me adrede,’ OEM 192/3, 4.

6. #wel ful#: wel, wel D; ful J; the other MSS. wel, but T alters the first half of the line. #wel# qualifies biþenche.

7. #ꝥ# = þet; see 32/55. #bi fealt# &c. is not original, but an avoidance of the rare word chilce, which is in E e J T; D has chilðe, M chilse. #chilce#, childishness, appears to be formed from child, on the analogy of milce from mild; it occurs here only. L alters l. 8 for the sake of the rhyme; the other MSS. are with T.

8. #bute#, unless; comp. ll. 24, 210, 271.

9. #iqueðen#: ispeken T; ispeke J. Comp. ‘Ifurn ich habbe isuneȝet mid wurken ⁊ midd muðe | ⁊ mid alle mine lime siððe ich sunehi cuðe | ⁊ wel feole sunne ido þe me ofþincheð nuðe,’ OEM 193/29-31.

10. #þe#: so T e, but þat EJM; þet D. OE. #ofþyncan# is impersonal, it takes dative of the person and genitive or, rarely, nominative of the cause; ‘him ðæs slæpes ofþuhte,’ Ælf., Hom. Cath. i. 86/19 is normal. The indeclinable relative þe here and in similar places, as ‘Ne do þu non oðer man þing þe þe wolde ofþunche gief me hit dude þe,’ OEH ii. 179/20, may be doing duty for the genitive (see 46/292 note). But in ME. generally hit is expressed as subject, 52/370, or the cause is nominative, 38/164, 42/203 (notwithstanding the verb in the singular), 145/104, or the subject is actually personal, 46/271; ‘his freonden hit ofþuhten,’ L 197. Þat in the other texts is nominative.

11. Comp. ‘Or me semblet puillent co ke ieo mult amai | Quant del plait me souent enz en mun queor mes mai,’ Guischart 1205, 6. #Mest#: Best J. The scribe should have put the stop after er.

12. Comp. ‘Mult est fous ke fait trop de sa volontez,’ Archiv lxiii. 84/301. After this line J interpolates, Mon let þi fol lust ouer-go · and eft hit þe likeþ; see 29/45.

13. #þe# is possibly miswriting of þen. M has also þe selþe, but e T D þo; E þer; J eny selhþe. The meanings given in the dictionaries for iselþe, luck, good fortune, happiness, do not give a good sense here; if it could mean experience, the sentiment would be like ‘si jeunesse savait, si vieillesse pouvait.’ Morris in OEH i. 160/13 translates discretion.

14. #elde# &c.: comp. 20/72; 40/197; 48/323.

15. #wiste#: awuste E; á wyste e; iwiste TD; er þan ich hit wiste JM.

16. #smike#: smeke E; smeche e D; smoke J; smiche M.

17. #al to þriste#, all too bold, ready; comp. 157/127.

18. #stondeð#: B-T quotes under #standan# (of direction) ‘Swa micel ege stod deoflum fram eow,’ Ælf. Hom. Cath. i. 64/25, with meaning, came over; similar is ‘Norð-Denum stod atelic egesa,’ Beowulf, 783. In ME. stonden has developed the meaning, exists (comp. Fr. être < stare). For the construction comp. ‘non eige ne stand of louerde,’ OEH ii. 39/20, 139/28; ‘of iwel and dead hem stondeð greim,’ GE 392: #men# here is dative like #hom#. Variations are, ‘þer hem stod eie[;] þer hem ne sholde,’ OEH ii. 73/30; ‘him ne stod æie to naþing,’ L 11694; ‘alle heom stod him æie to,’ id. 27100; ‘wið dead him stood hinke and age,’ GE 432; 62/37; ‘uor elles vuele us stode,’ AR 312/9. For #do#, subjunctive after þanne with comparative, comp. 31/28; ‘he brycð swiðor on ðone suðdæl þonne he do on þone norðdæl; ⁊ sio hæte hæfð genumen þæs suðdæles mare þonne se cyle þæs norðdæles hæbbe,’ Orosius 24/26.

19. See 32/35. #hwile þe#: comp. 32/33, 55: elsewhere L has the more usual hwile ꝥ (always unmetrically), or hwile.

20. #ȝe#: hy E e; hi DM: but J has, Hwenne alle men repen schule · þat heo ear seowe. For #ꝥ# E has þer þe; e, þer; M, her þat.

21. #to gode#, for good; comp. 32/61. #he# (muȝe): hi D; ȝe E e M; ye J: similarly in the case of the following he.

22. #lipnie#, depend on, trust to: hopie E e; leue D; truste M.

24. #bute--milde#: a formula of frequent occurrence; see KH 80 note.

25. D alters, Sende sum god biuoren him | man, ꝥ wile to heuene; the scribe of E copied the end of l. 21, reading, þe wyle ȝe ben aliue, and in the second half of the next line, þanne ben after vyue.

27, 28 are misplaced, the other MSS. have them as in T. With 27 comp. ‘Ifurn ich habbe isunehed mid worke ⁊ mid worde,’ OEM 193/21; and with 28, ‘muchel ich habbe ispened[;] to lite ich habbe an horde. | Hord þat ich telle · is almesse dede,’ id. 193/24, 25; ‘Ne des altres uertuz nule ne reseruai | . . . | Or ai si despendu ke ieo nule nen ai,’ Guischart 1184, 6.

29, 30 are wanting in D. #þe solf#: þi self EJ. With #mei . . . maȝe#, comp. ‘Ne naueþ he mey ne mowe. | þat durre one þrowe. | Bi hym sitte ne stonde,’ OEM 79/208-10, 179/161, 2. With l. 30 comp. ‘Qui mieux aime autri que sei au molin fu mort de sei.’ ‘Videtur enim quod quis alium plus quam se amat qui alios admonitionibus et correctionibus pascit et seipsum non emendat,’ Hauréau, Notices, ii. 281, an application which robs the proverb of its apparent crude selfishness.

31. #lipnie#: lipne J; hopie E e T D; truste M.

32. #ech#: vych J; the others are with T.

33. #to him#: the others have him. #þe mot#: he is to be understood from him in the preceding clause, see 6/18 note. E has þe he mot, D, ꝥ he, M, þat he, the other MSS. he.

34. #fremede . . . sibbe#: a formula, see KH 64 note. A variant is, ‘to freomede ⁊ to kunne,’ OEH ii. 259/30. #wule# is singular; comp. T.

35. Comp. 30/19, 44/238. The proverb is common, as, ‘he ne mei hwon he wule, þe nolde hwule þet he muhte,’ AR 338/19; ‘hit is riht Godes dom, þet hwo ne deð hwon he mei, he ne schal nout hwon he wolde,’ id. 296/22; Hendyng C., stanza 46.

36. The fruits of many a man’s hard toil often pass into the possession of his enemies. Comp. 22/129, 30. From ‘Scrutetur foenerator omnem substantiam eius: et diripiant alieni labores eius,’ Psalm cviii. 11, in the OE. version, ‘Ealle his æhta unholde fynd, rice reðe mann, rycene gedæle; and his feoh onfon fremde handa,’ Thorpe, Psalter, 317/11. #sare iswinc# is plural.

37. #don afirst#, put off: OE. #fyrst#, respite: comp. ‘Vre deð he do in firste ȝet,’ OEH i. 71/294. #slawen#: so e; but sclakien E; slakien J; sleuhþen D; sclakie M. ‘Nolite deficere benefacientes,’ 2 Thess. iii. 13.

40. #he his#: he it E; he hit JD; he e M. #mid iwisse#, of a certainty: OE. #mid gewisse#: ‘mid iwissen,’ 38/139 is #mid gewissum#: ‘iwis,’ 187/349 represents s. neut. of #gewiss#: ‘fuliwis,’ 79/17, ‘fullȝewiss,’ 89/20 is the same strengthened by ful: ‘to fuliwis’ 190/445 shows the same treated as though it were a noun: similarly ‘to fuligewis,’ 192/508, a compound of fulli + #gewiss#; Orm has contracted ‘fuliȝwiss.’ From #to wisse#, #mid wisse# come ‘to nafre none wisse,’ 45/240, ‘mid neure nane wisse,’ 44/236. See KH 1209 note.

42-65. Comp. generally 27/274-291.

43 T. After For, þar ne has been omitted by the scribe.

44. #þerf he#, copied by mistake from the preceding line. The MSS. agree substantially with T: e has, þer ne mei hí be nime. #laðe . . . loue#: formal; comp. ‘mid lufe ge mid laþe,’ BH 45/8; ‘litel me is of ower luue, leasse of ower laððe,’ SJ 27/14.

45. #of ȝeve ne of ȝelde#, of bribes to officials and of taxes; things which subtract from his gains on earth. Comp. ‘hem þat desireth | Ȝiftes or ȝeresȝyues · bi cause of here offices,’ Piers Plowman, B. iii. 98, 99; Böddeker, Alteng. Dicht. 104/53; 44/256: Mede was very busy in those days. This is undoubtedly the original reading; J D concur, but E has of wiue ne of childe, similarly e; M of ȝunge ne of ȝelde: #here# in T is hire, usury.

46. For #solf bereð# E has the singular variant, suuel and bred, savoury meat and bread.

47, 48. Not in D. #draȝen ⁊ don#, convey our wealth and deposit it: comp. ‘La devriüm traire | trestot nostre afaire, | nostre estage prendre, | le nostre doner | por nos delivrer, | partir e despendre,’ Reimpredigt 56/110, which is possibly the source of the English; see also 51 note. Otherwise #draȝen# with #þider# would naturally mean, proceed to that place, as in ‘Traez uers cel pais chascon a grant espleit,’ Guischart 1259, but that leaves #don# without meaning. It has the sense of the fuller phrase in l. 42: see NED, #do# I 3. Morris indeed connects don wel which is against the metrical pause as indicated by the point after #don# in E e J: E e moreover read wel oft ⁊ wel ȝelome, and J has hit in l. 48 for naut. For #wel ofte# see 49/329, for wel ilome, 134/97. M reads þider we scolde bere ⁊ draȝe, ofte ⁊ wel ylome, with hit in the next line, as in J. #ofte ⁊ ilome#: OE. #oft and gelōme#; comp. 48/325, 119/78, 127/360; ‘Hi hedden teone and seorewe · ofte and ilome,’ OEM 89/14, 169/22; ON 1545; L 16500.

48. #wrangwise dome#: comp. 44/256. E reads mid wronge ne mid woȝe.

50. #ne reue#: ne se ireue e, the others with T. The ‘reue’ is the sheriff. Comp. ‘Ia nuls hom ki cel (i.e. luer) ad ne se deit esmaer | Kar li nel pot tolir ne prouost ne ueier,’ Guischart 614, 15; ‘Il nen i ad prouost ne nad plaiz ne contez | Sun aueir ni ert pris ne a marche menez,’ id. 375, 6.

51. #hefden#: hedde e; the others have the present. Comp. ‘Tut le mielz ke auum a deu nus deurum traire,’ Guischart 329.

53. #er#, for her, which the other MSS. have.

55. #halden wel#, possess to good purpose, make good use of. M reads wel wile wite.

56. #hies#: his E e; hit J; hi D; he M. #hes#: heo hit E; he his e; he hit J; he hi D; hi M.

58. #doð#: yeueþ J, with T.

62. #Eiðer#, both. Both of them shall hereafter seem both too little and too much; a curious way of saying, He shall think his good deeds too little and his bad deeds too much. The MSS. are in accord. Comp. ‘De tut le plus kat fait est dolens e pensanz | Del bien li semble poi · li mals li semble granz,’ Guischart 30, 31.

63. #weien#: comp. ‘Dunc serrat a chascon tuz ses biens demustrez | Sulum nostre labur dunc serrum mesurez | E les biens e les mals tuz nus serrunt pesez,’ Guischart 442-4.

64. #swinkes lan#: comp. ‘⁊ ta shall ure Laferrd Crist | Att ure lifess ende | Uss ȝifenn ure swinnkess læn | Wiþþ enngless eche blisse,’ Orm 111/3256-9; ‘lure ow is to leosen | ower swinkes lan,’ SK 804; ‘La receura chacon luer de sun labor,’ Guischart 311. #lan#: lyen E; lien e M; lean JTD: see 27/289.

66. #þe (mare)#: þe þe E e M; se ꝥ D. J rewrites, þe riche and þe poure boþe · ah nouht alle ilyche. #muȝen#: mai E; mei e; the others omit as T.

67. #Al se#, just the same: e Eal se, omitting the nominative, like L, but He alse E; þe poure J; Al suo on D; Ase wel þon M. #alse oðer#: se þe oþer E e; alse þe oþer M; swo oþer D; þe riche J.

68. #cheþ#: ware e J D T M; ȝare E, a case of letter substitution.

69. #mid--þonke#: equivalent to ‘of gode wille,’ l. 73: see 10/167 note.

70. #se þe þe#: se þe E e; swo se D; so he M; J omits 69, 70. #manke#: the mancus was ‘not current coin but merely money of account,’ Grueber, Handbook of Coins, introd. p. ix: ‘fif penegas gemacjað ǽnne scylling and þrittig penega ǽnne mancus,’ Ælf. Gram. ed. Zupitza 296/15, 16. The word was in OE. #mancus#, g. -es. m. its pl. n. #mancussas#, pl. g. #mancussa#; s. mancs, #pl.# mancsas also occur (ES xxxix. 349). The Latin forms were mancusa, mancus, manca, from the last of which may have been derived an OE. *#manc# with pl. a. *#mancas# = mancys, Kemble, Codex Dipl. ii. 380, and pl. g. *#manca#, the original of manke here. e reads marke. #golde# may mean, in gold; OE. #on golde#, but more probably it is a mistake for goldes as in the other MSS. For #fele# with genitive see 132/9 note.

71. #kon mare þonc#, acknowledges, feels more thankful; like Fr. savoir gré. #þen þe#, to him who: ðan þe E e D; ye þat J; him þat M.

73, 74 T: see 203, 204 T.

74. #ec lete# appears to be a mistake for eðlete, of small account as in the other MSS.; ȝeþlete M: comp. Et lete 38/148, 153. #of þan#, of whom, of him whose; ðenne E e; þer J; þanne D; of him þat M. J rewrites ⁊ lutel he let on muchel wowe · þer þe heorte is ille; wherein ‘wowe’ is explained by Kock (Anglia xxv. 318) as = vowe, votive offering.

76. #houen fur#, probably daylight; possibly lightning or the stars: heuene · ⁊ fur J; dai ⁊ fur E; dei ⁊ fur e; ⁊ alle sterren D; sterre ⁊ fur M. #þestre#: see 123/230. T omits this line and substitutes a new line at 80, not in the other MSS.

79. #þenkeð . . . doþ#: doþ . . . queþeþ M.

80. #swich se#, such as: swilc se E e; comp. ‘þa com þær heofonlic leoht . . . swilc swa hi ær ne gesawon,’ Ælf. Lives, ii. 184/262; 76/29. #swilch# in T, with which the other MSS. agree, = such as; comp. 36/120; ‘Ðonne ic wæs mid Iudeum ic wæs suelc hie,’ Cura Past. 101/5. The fuller expression is seen in, ‘we ne magon . . . nan þing geseon swylc swilc hyt is,’ Blooms, ES xviii. 354/26.

80 T is probably the scribe’s own attempt to remedy the omission of l. 76: #Boðe# appears to refer to ‘crist’ and ‘drihte.’ #þe his bien#, such as be his, his own.

81. #biloken#: comp. 13/37.

82. #wettre . . . londe#: a common formula: comp. 26/271 note; 40/194; ‘Vor hi bynomen him saulen · in water ⁊ in londe,’ OEM 56/682, 162/13; ‘a londe ⁊ a watere,’ L 550, 562, 17990. See KH 245 note.

83. #fuȝeles# &c.: comp. 143/79.

84. #wit ⁊ waldeð#: wit ⁊ walt E. Comp. 139/17.

85. #buten#: abuten, in both places E e; al buten D: a buten ende represents OE. #ā būtan ende#, ever without end; by union of the first two words a false form abuten, without, grew up, as at 52/369, 371, 373, alongside abuten, OE. #abūtan, onbūtan#, around, about. J rewrites, He wes erest of alle þing · and euer byþ buten ende.

86. #wende# &c., go where you will; so ‘Ga quar þou ga,’ CM 14072; ‘for wende woder þou wende[;] þine daȝes beoþ at þe ende,’ L 16110. Expressions of the same form are ‘comen þer heo comen,’ L 20667, 23021; ‘fare wha swa auere fare,’ id. 20849, 23223; 104/176; ‘likien swa me liken,’ L 22511, 30544; ‘wreaðe se þu wreaðe,’ 141/54; 143/84; 145/115.

88. #þe--wille#: the MSS. have the order in T. #uwer#, anywhere: aihwar D (= OE. #ǣhwǣr#, everywhere); ichwer J; oueral M; but E e have eiðer, OE. #ǣgðer#, both; perhaps for eaðe, or eaðere, easily, more easily.

90. #Wi#, alas; not in E e; wy J; wai D. Comp. 36/105; ‘wei þet he eure hit wule iþenche,’ OEH i. 21/28; ‘Awi leof ware þu me, Heu dilecta mihi,’ OEH ii. 183/7: Heu is translated by Aweilewei, id. 183/15. #hwat--rede#, what shall be to us for advisable? a common tag; see KH 825 note.

91. #gulteð#, &c.: comp. 117/18.

92. #et--dome#: comp. ‘at þa{n} muchele dome,’ L 23056; 16/136 note. D has at to heaȝe dome; M, atte heȝe dome.

93-96 are omitted in D. J has them in the order 93, 96, 94, then a new line, Crist for his muchele myhte · hus helpe þenne and rede, 95, 97.

94. #engles#: comp. 17/146; ‘Dunc tremblerunt li angle qui tant sunt beaus e clers | E nus que ferum dunc chaitif maleurez | Ki en peche uiuom,’ Guischart 446-8.

95. #beren biforen us#: e, omitting us, has the right reading. The phrase is Fr. mettre avant, put forward, allege as a plea; comp. ‘Mes tu iés si engresse e fole, | qu’avant vuels metre ta parole,’ Marie de France, Fables, ed. Warnke, 305/15, 16. Gabrielson, Archiv cxxviii. 327, notes the similarity of the expression to ‘Mais eiez charite ke uus metez de uant,’ Guischart 1896, but the metaphor there is that of interposing a shield against the darts of the devil. #hom#: wan E; hwan e J T; wham M: all the readings mean, what.

96. #þo#, a mistake for we, which the other MSS. read. #deme# is object of #iquemen#.

99. The variant #iseien# is peculiar to T: it is evidently due to l. 98.

101. Comp. 119/70, 72.

103. Comp. ‘Quant ileoc tremblerunt martir e confessur | Dites mei que ferunt pariurie e traitur,’ Guischart 319, 20. #þes wichen# in T may be a false division of words, or it may be a deliberate variation, meaning, these witches (#wicca#, #wicce#).

104. #hwi#: the other MSS. have the exclamation like T; a wei D; Awi M. The corruption in L has brought about the insertion of ⁊, which is also in D. ‘Multi enim sunt vocati, pauci vero electi,’ S. Matt. xxii. 14.

105. #wi hwi#: comp. ‘Wei hwi beo we uule on þisse wrecche world,’ OEH i. 33/36; ‘Wi qui þan mak we us sa kene,’ CM 23845. #to hwon#: to hwi D; hwi J.

107. #bi clepie#, accuse. D has biclepien, bitelle ⁊ deme.

108. All MSS. except L have temen or teme. For #he# J has hit, which is probably object of temen, the subject of schal being that of the preceding line.

110. #ȝere#, fully; OE. #geare#: the other MSS. have wel. For him J has, his þonk.

112. #bi seiþ#, declares; with #mest#, has most to say about it. Comp. ‘Seó wearð gebróht and besǽd þám cyninge,’ B-T. suppl. s.v. #besecgan#; ‘elch sinne þare him seluen biseið,’ OEH ii. 173/6. he seið e J; the others seiþ only; seit E. With #stille#, silent, comp. 135/105; ‘sedebit solitarius et tacebit, Me schal sitten him one ⁊ beon stille,’ AR 156/18.

114. #hal#: vnhol J. M has Þe man þat saiþ þat he is lame, himself he wot þe smerte.

115. ‘Igitur ex nostro iudicio iudicat nos Deus,’ Alcuin ii. 131.

116. J agrees with L, but E e have oðer with T, and D aider: all meaning, either death or life.

117. #com to monne#, was born; comp. 113/30.

118. The original is preserved in swilc hit si abóc jwriten e, as if it were written in a book; similarly E; J has Al so he hit iseye; D swich hit were on boc iwrite, | isien he sel hit þanne. #iþenchen#, remember: OE. #geþencan#.

119-121. Compare generally, ‘forðan ðe god ne besceawað na, hwilce we ær wæron, ac he besceawað, hwilce we beon, þonne we dælan sceolon sawle ⁊ lichaman. Þæt is to witanne, þæt god ne secð na þæs godan weorces angin, ac he secð þæne ænde, forðan ðe ælc man sceal beon demed be ðam geearnungum, þe he hæfð, þonne he of ðisum life hwyrfan sceal,’ AS. Hom., ed. Assmann, 149/138-43; Orm 111/3248-55. S. Bernard quotes as from Isidore, ‘Non iudicat Deus hominem de praeterita vita, sed de suo fine,’ Opera ii. 840: for further parallels see Alcuin ii. 141; Fecunda Ratis 4/8.

119. #efter#: in accordance with: comp. 119/80.

120. #suilch#, such as; comp. 34/80: swulc se E; swich se e; DM have iteald, iteld, estimated; J rewrites, Ah dom schal þolyen vych mon · after his endinge.

121. #ȝefe# is probably due to ȝeue in the next line; ȝif E e; ȝef M; yef J; ef D. The inversion in T is peculiar to it. e reads for the last half of the line ⁊ gód ȝíf gód ís þenne.

122. #wite--lende#: in T lende is probably pr. s. subj. of lenden, OE. #lendan#, to arrive, in the very rare causal use, bring to land (#lǣnde#, pt. of #lǣnan#, would, by rule, be lande in this text): the sense then may be, grant that he convey us to heaven, a forced meaning for lende; similarly J with, God yef vs vre ende gód · hwider þat he vs lende. On the other hand the scribe of D, regardless of the rhyme, can have meant only #lǣnde# in writing, wite whet he us lende, meaning, preserve what he has entrusted to us, i.e. our souls; the expression of a familiar idea as at 121/144; 127/339, 368, and similarly lenne in e r. w. þenne, must be taken to represent #lǣne#, pr. s. subj. of #lǣnan#. The meaning of L, with which E and M agree, is probably the same, but if #lende# means convey, then #wite# must have the rare sense of, see to it, provide, as in, ‘Wite ȝe þet ȝe ȝemen þenne halie sunnendei,’ OEH i. 11/28. It would seem that all the texts derive from a corrupt source; the author may have written ⁊ wite us þen we wende; comp. ‘For-þi er we wende. | Makie we us clene and skere. | Þat we englene ivere. | Mawe beon o buten ende,’ OEM 73/27-30; 21/116-17.

123. #uuel#: mistake for nule, due to the persistence of uuel from 121.

124. J reads, þat deþ cume to his dure. #him# is in L only: comp. 30/6.

126. #for þi#: þi E e, with same meaning; D omits. #biet# is difficult; possibly it is a mistake for beiet, kneels; see 132/3; 143/84. For #bit ⁊ bet#, prays for pardon and amends, comp. 86/120. The variations in the MSS. here look like attempts to mend a faulty source. E, like T, has bit ⁊ beȝit ⁊ bet, prays for pardon, obtains it and amends: e has beot ⁊ beat ⁊ bit, the first verb probably from beoden, the second possibly for beȝat: þat bit ore J; þat ore bit M gives a good sense, but is plainly from the previous line. Finally the reading of D, ꝥ bit ⁊ bete ⁊ bet, suggests that the author wrote, þat beot bote ⁊ bet, that offers satisfaction and reforms; comp. 136/132, and for bet, 38/164.

127 T. #þe deað#: the article is often so prefixed in ME.; see NED. iii. 73 for examples.

128. #latheð#: leted E; leteþ e J M; uorlet D: probably the scribe of L meant to write lateð as in T, he does not elsewhere use th.

129, 130 T. These lines, not in L, were added on the margin of e and then partially erased. They are not, in my opinion, original. J has, Bilef sunne hwil þu myht · and do bi godes lore. | And do to gode hwat þu myht · if þu wilt habben ore. #nah#: for naht; Sin leaves you and not you it, when you cannot commit it any longer. #him# shows confusion of genders, #synn# is fem. For him þan þu, e has hi þanne þus, E hire þanne þus (= þu es). With the sentiment comp. ‘Nulla igitur laus est non facere quod facere non possis,’ Lactantius 579; ‘Si enim tunc vis poenitentiam agere, quando peccare non potes; peccata te dimiserunt, non tu illa,’ Alcuin ii. 135; ‘Or l’estuet laissier, | ne puet mais pechier, | n’at mais a durer,’ Reimpredigt 36/71 (l’ = son pechié).

130 T. #abit#, puts off, delays.

129, 130. Comp. ‘Ceo dit escriture: | Tant cum li huem dure | en sa poesté, | se dunc se repent: | a deu veirement | s’est ja acordé,’ Reimpredigt, 38/73. The reference is possibly to Isa. lv. 7. #ꝥ#: E e agree with T; For we hit ileueþ wel J; Swa ileuen we hit muȝen D.

132. #þer#: probably a miswriting of er, previously, hitherto: her T; hier D, in this world. #haueð to#: scal E; sceal e.

134. #Ne--bet#, ought I not rather to pray? In 136 T, #bie ich# means, may I be. For #alesed . . . of bende#, see 52/394. D reads, ne recche ic bote bi ic alesd; and M similarly.

135. #scaweð#, shows, is pointless: with T the other MSS. have icnaweð e; iknoweþ J D; knoweþ M; but icwoweð E, an error of anticipation.

137-140. Comp. generally, ‘El mund n’ad nul home, tant eit de leaute, | S’il aveit par mort le siecle trespasse, | E en enfern un oret este | E sentu la puur e veu le oscurte, | S’il reveneit en vie e en prosperite, | Ke james feit mal, tant serreit effree,’ Archiv lxiii. 81/152-7. In 138 T #hit# is a scribe’s mistake for hete.

137. #twa bare tide#, merely two hours; comp. 221/227. After 138, J has Swiþe grimlych stench þer is · ⁊ wurþ wyþ vten ende | ⁊ hwo þe enes cumeþ þer · vt may he neuer þenne wende, which are not in any other MS., followed by two lines corresponding to 42/221-2, which fit in better here.

139. #þa hit#: þit E T = þe hit; ꝥ e; ꝥ hit D; heo hit J; & wite hit M. The allusion is to such legends as those of Owain and Tundale. For #mid iwissen#, see 32/40.

140. #wa wurð#: so T M; but, uuel is E e; þer wurh D; þer þurh J. #for#, in exchange for.

141. #In# is a scribe’s mistake for Ent: wa wurð, or in E e uuel is, must be supplied from the preceding line. The second #þe# is a superfluous repetition of the last word on the preceding recto. J avoiding #for# reads ⁊ for þe blysse þat ende haueþ[;] endeles is þe pyne.

142. #water drunch#, water-drink; comp. ‘Alls iff þu drunnke waterr-drinnch,’ Orm ii. 149/14482. The other MSS. avoid the compound; water to drinke E; weter í drunke e; wateres drung J; betere were drinke wori weter D; wateres drinch M. #atter#: comp. ‘God for ure secnesse dronc attri drunch o rode,’ AR 364/17.

143. #brede#, roast meat; OE. #brǣde#: comp. ‘he nom his aȝe þeh | . . . þer of he makede brede. | he bredde heo an hiȝinge,’ L 30581, 3, 4.

144. All too dear he buyeth it, who giveth his neck for it.

145. ‘Plenus venter facile de ieiuniis disputat,’ S. Jerome, Epist. 158, 2.

146 is intelligible if of pine is understood after #cnauð#. E has þe naht not · hu hi scullen ilesten; similarly e.

147. #stunde#: hwile E.

148. #Et lete#: see 34/74 note. J reads ⁊ lete for crist beo wif.

149, 150 are wanting in e M. For #oðerluker#, see 125/270.

151. #wawe . . . wene#: the combination is formal: comp. 142/77: but E has wa . . . pine, e, wa . . . wawe; D, wo . . . wope; J, Eure he wolde in bonen beon · ⁊ in godnesse wunye | Wiþ þat he myhte helle fur · euer fleon ⁊ schonye, and similarly M.

152. #Wið ꝥ þe#, provided that, if only; wid þan þe E, wið þan ðe e M, = #wīþ þǣm þe#; Wiþ þat J; wið þet D. T J D M add he, unnecessarily, as it is in the principal clause.

153. J reads, ⁊ lete sker al þes worldes weole, where ‘sker’, utterly, is OWScand. skǽrr, clean.

154. L appears to mean, Because to attain to that great bliss is joy of a certainty. But #cume# in T E e, come in D are subjunctives dependent on for, in order that he may come, the subject not being expressed because of him in the principal clause; see 6/18: #for . . . cumen# in L could have the same meaning, comp. ‘for lesen’ 40/180, 182, but a subject is needed for #is#. #For# with the subjunctive is not common, but see NED. iv. 412, col. 3; in this use it descends from #for þǣm þæt#. J has Wiþ þat he myhte to heouene cumen. In Te #þis# = þe is; D has þet is, E þat is heuenriche. For #mid iwisse#, see 32/40.

155. #ꝥ . . . of#: see 1/3.

157. #eþe#: so E e D; J M omit; sore T is isolated, but J reads ⁊ sore vs of-drede.

158. #he#: in L only: the others agree with T: #al# is in L T only.

159, 160. #þer men#, wherein men. #stelen . . . helen# change places in T M only. #wruȝen . . . ⁊ helen#: the combination is formal; comp. ‘ase þe uikelares wreoð ⁊ helieð,’ AR 88/18; a reminiscence of ‘quoadusque veniat Dominus, qui et illuminabit abscondita tenebrarum et manifestabit consilia cordium’, 1 Cor. iv. 5.

162. #riche#: so J only; heiȝe E; heȝe e D M.

164 T. #to þe#: a mistake which has probably arisen out of an original þo: efning is constructed with wið.

163-166. Not in J. After scal E has þei, e þeh, D þeð, T þeih, nevertheless.

164. #ofþincþ#: see 30/10 note. The subject of #bet# is he, as implied by him preceding.

165. #scameþ . . . gromeð#: comp. ‘Teonen þolien ⁊ gromen ⁊ schomen umbe stunde,’ HM 7/8, and for the corresponding nouns in the next line, ‘Þu vs hauest iwroht þes schome. | And alle þene eche grome,’ OEM 83/334, 5; ‘Me to sorge, scaðe and same,’ GE 302; OEH ii. 173/13, 14, 23.

166. #þo þre#: so D þoðre, but þe oþre E e M. #oft#: e D M agree with T; but E has, þat sculle beon forlorene.

167, 168. Comp. ‘Ia ne porrat nuls dire ke il seit enganez | En tant com li oil clot serrat li plaiz finez,’ Guischart 444, 5.

168. #mene#, with #him# reflexive, complain; comp. ‘þat he ne mahte nanes weis | meanen him of wohe,’ SK 1235, 6. D has bimene; comp. ‘Men hem bimenin of litel trewthe,’ Rel. Ant. ii. 121/11. At 196/663, 205/280 it has the more usual sense, with reflexive, of bemoan. #strengþe . . . wronge#: comp. 19/48-51, 32/48-50, 44/256: the perversion of justice by bribed or overawed judges is a common theme in the literature of the time; see Wright, Political Songs, pp. 224-30. #strengþe#, violence, has usually a determining adjective in this sense, as ‘nawt wið luðer strencðe,’ SK 1234; ‘liste ne luðer strengðe,’ id. 1516, but see 60/18.

170. #uuele holden#, handled, treated, hardly; comp. ‘and heom heold swa harde[;] ⁊ mid hærme heo{m} igrette,’ L 29937, 8. #redde#: a mistake for rerde, as in E; the others have arerde, set up, instituted; comp. 15/80, 85.

171. #ec#: Ac E; End e; ech D; Euerich M. 171, 172 are not in J.

176, 178. #forð mid#: see 1/19.

177. #habbeð doules were#: nabbeð god idon E e: comp. 44/254.

178. #grunde#: comp. 46/295; ‘alesde us of helle grunde,’ OEH i. 19/8; ‘al forloren into helle grunde,’ id. 21/35; see also 119/82. For #faren forð mid#, E e have, falle swiþe raþe.

179. #are#: ore E J D. The text means, ever without mercy and without end, but Lewin confusing ore with orde as in ‘Wiþþutenn ord ⁊ ende,’ Orm 234/6775, translates ‘ohne Anfang und Ende.’ e reads á ⁊ buten ende.

180. #gate#: dure E e J D; M omits. #for lesen#: for lese e; the others have to. The infinitive of purpose with for is uncommon, comp. 173/409.

181. #sullic#, wonder. #wa . . . uneade#, OE. #unēaðe#, are historically adverbs, lit. though to them it be wofully and grievously; bet, wwrs, &c., are used in the same construction; see 46/289: comp. with #uneade#, ‘þer fore hire wes uneðe,’ L 4503; ‘an heorte him wes unneðe,’ id. 26730. J has, he mawe wunye eþe, they may easily remain there.

182. #for lesen#: variants as in l. 180, but E for lesen. Comp. ‘Ki deu ne uolt conustre tut serrat cureicus | Il ne morrat ia meis ne por mei ne por uus,’ Guischart 223, 4.

183. #helle brec#, harrowed hell. ‘The Gospel [of Nicodemus] probably reached the climax of its popularity in England during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries,’ The ME. Harrowing of Hell, ed. Hulme, p. lxviii.

184: Comp. ‘Tant cher nus achatað de sun sanc precius,’ Guischart 220; OEM 49/434, 187/20. #hom#: hi D; the others, us.

185. #mei . . . mei#: comp. 30/29, where L has the usual pair, representing OE. #mǣge#, kinswoman, #mǣg#, kinsman: mouwe . . . mey E; maȝhe . . . mei e; moȝe . . . meie D; moȝe . . . mei M: but J Nolde hit nomon do for me.

188. #bendes#: comp. 81/67.

192 T. #þar þat#, of those who: comp. 1 Cor. vi. 2.

192. #ꝥ#, because. #uuele#: harde J D M, meaning hardship; comp. ON. 459, 527. #habbeð . . . on honde#, have to do with, have to suffer: similar expressions are ‘sorhen heom com on honde,’ L 30428; ‘for al hit trukeð us an hond[;] ꝥ we to temden,’ id. 16799; ‘and eoden him luðere an hond,’ id. 31265: ‘him for ðissere worulde wel on hand eode,’ Ælf. Lives i. 488/13. For the matter, comp. 183/241, 193/551-2.

193. #honde#: comp. 56/50: ande e.

194. #sake#: in L only. It means here, guilt, as in ‘Þa lakess mihhtenn clennsenn hemm | Off sakess ⁊ off senness,’ Orm 36/1126, 7. Other similar combinations are ‘sorge, scaðe and same,’ GE 302; ‘sorge and sare,’ Ælf. Lives i. 266/90; ‘swinc and sorwe and deades strif,’ GE 268. With T comp. 42/204, 136/136; ‘on sorhge leofodon and on geswincum,’ Ælf. de Vet. Test. 3/10; ‘labor et dolor,’ Psalm lxxxix. 10. For #a watere#, &c., see 34/82; on se ⁊ on londe D.

195, 196. Comp. ‘Adam le (i.e. nostre pais) nus tolit e sa fole moiller | E nus ki deaus uenimes lauum conpare chier | En grant cheitiuison mult nus pot en nuier,’ Guischart 695-7. #forme#: formes E e; uormes D.

197. Comp. 48/323; ‘þurst and hunger · chele and hete · þis beoð stronge pyne,’ OEM 37/9; ‘muchel hunger ⁊ hæte[;] at æuer ælche monnes ȝete,’ L 20441, 2. #helde ⁊ unhelðe#: comp. 20/72, 30/14, 48/323, 52/373. But, eche ⁊ al unelþe E; eche · ⁊ eal un helðe e; ache and vnhelþe J; ecðe (= eche) ⁊ al unhelðe D; eche ⁊ unhelþe M, show the original reading: OE. #ece, æce#, ache.

198. #uniselðe#: comp. 52/374; 26/256 note. J has vnyselyhþe.

199. #unsele#: vnhele J; vnvele D.

200. #a hele#: on hele E e D; myd blysse and myd wele J.

203, 204 T are copied by mistake from ll. 73, 74. As in both cases the lines are at the top of a folio, it may be inferred that the scribe of T was copying a MS. exactly page by page, and that l. 202 completed a gathering in his original with an added catchword Litel; that he, after beginning f 5^a with the catchword, laid aside his work, and on resuming it began at the wrong place. On discovering his mistake he started afresh.

201. #lutel--mon#: so T J D, it seems a small matter to many a man; but E e omit hit, read iþenchð, iðencð, and hu for ac, many a man little thinks how great, &c.

202. #hwam#: hwan e; whan M; whon J = #for hwǣm#, #for hwon#, why; vor hwy D = #for hwȳ#; E has for þan. #hore# must mean Adam and Eve; M reads adammes: but e reads þe, D þo, yet they begin the next line with Heore e, Here D, and J with heore in this line has Vre sunne and vre sor · vs may sore of þunche.

203. #ofþinche#: see 30/10.

204. #sorȝe#: see 40/194.

206. #eðe#: sore E J M.

208. #an helle pine# &c.: e M go with L; E with T; in pyne ⁊ on vnwunne J.

209. #ledden#: the other MSS. have the present tense. #mid unriht#: comp. ‘Ne wurþ þer vnryht ne wrong,’ OEM 143/85.

210. #buten--do#, unless God’s mercy intervene. #longe#: comp. 48/327, 169/342.

212. #bi þan ilke iwichte#, by the same measure, i.e. as great as his might; comp. 53/384: ah al by one wyhte J; nis him no þing litlinde, | ac bi emliche wihte D (litlinde, decreasing, see 126/327; emliche, equal). In T 216 mihte is a mistake for milce.

213. ‘Nuls ne pot tant pecher com deus pot parduner,’ Guischart 948.

214. #hit bigunne#, made a beginning, took the first step, i.e. repentance, #hit# being indefinite; comp. ‘Li sires est tut prest certes de nus aider | Se il en fust alkun kil uosist comencer,’ Guischart 703, 4. Less probable is, began to show mercy, Einenkel, Anglia iv., Anz. 92. Morris takes #bigunne# as subjunctive of bigan, to seek for. E reads, it bidde gunne.

218. #wallinde#: the other MSS. add pich, and have bed instead of bað: see 44/245, 120/104.

219. Comp. ‘Ke plus fait sun servise, plus fait ke maleurous,’ Archiv lxiii. 81/171; ‘Ki plus fait sun plaisir a celui fait il pis,’ Guischart 59; ‘Ki kunques mielz le sert cil ad peines plus granz,’ id. 102; ‘Hec est natura Diaboli, qui semper malefacit amicis suis et non aliis; pessime remunerat illos qui ei seruiunt,’ Eudes de Cheriton 232/7. #fulle#, utter, deadly: comp. ‘þat is my fulle i-vo,’ OEM 42/174; ‘nawt ane to hare freond, ah to hare fulle fon,’ HM 31/3; 24/202. For #frond#, E e M have wines; D wine. J omits ll. 219-22. #Wurst# is adverbial.

220. #wih#: wihd E; wið e D; fram M.

221. #hi# = ih, I.

222. #þer--feche#, might there procure for myself: but E e D M have for þer me, þerinne, þarinne, and D wende for mahte.

223. #ꝥ his# is a misreading of an original þeh ic, and #on# is for ou. #wise men#: comp. ‘De ceo ke io dirrai asez en ai garanz | Les mielz de seinte glise e tuz les plus uaillanz,’ Guischart 9, 10.

224. #aboken#: comp. ‘Hit is write in þe bok · þer me hit may rede,’ OEM 41/131.

226. #unfrome#, detriment: unfreme e; unureme M; hearme E; harme J; unwines D.

227. #edi men ⁊ arme#: comp. ‘Arme ⁊ edie ledin,’ Prov. of Alfred, ed. Skeat 7/39; ‘ne ermne ne eadine,’ OEH i. 115/19. For arme M reads strangely areȝe. ‘Entendez ca uers mei les petiz e les granz,’ Guischart 1.

229. #twa uuele#: uuele twa e, and similarly the other MSS. #iferen# in T is certainly the noun, companions, so iueren D and probably #iuere# in L: in the others #ifere#, in company.

230. #maket niþinges#, made worthless men, a reading due to the misunderstanding of the compound, as in T and the other MSS., stingy in giving away food: comp. ‘mete custi,’ L 19266. M has, þat were niþinges here.

231. For #waning#, D has sorinesse; for #wow#, all MSS. wop; comp. ‘þær nan stefne styreð butan stearc-heard | wop and waning, na wiht elles,’ Be Domes Dæge, 14/200; 2/10. #efter eche streche#, at every stride, on every hand; comp. 29/14; ‘bið swa mihtles on his modes streche,’ OEH i. 111/25, for the verb, ‘bot inwyth not a fote, | To strech in the strete þou hatȝ no vygour,’ E. E. Allit. Poems, 29/969. The other MSS. agree with T: #after ache strate#, along each road: for #after# comp. ‘Ðonne licggeað ða giemmas toworpne æfter strætum’ (= dispersi per plateas), Cura Past. 135/4; ‘Al þat verden æfter wæi,’ L 13776. M reads in eueriche strete.

With 232-4 comp. 120/100-2. #from hete to hete# may mean from one degree of heat to another, but the MSS. agree with T. The last half of the line which is peculiar to L does not mean, ‘and nearly freeze the wretches,’ as Morris translates, but, and each (change) for comfort to the wretches. The construction is probably the same as at 86/125; see 176/24 note: if #to frure# is a dat. inf., it is the only one in L without final n.

233. #blisse#: J has here and l. 235, lisse, rest, respite; a word often associated with blisse, as ‘Blisse ⁊ lisse ic sende uppon monnen’, OEH i. 15/2.

234. #of--misse#, they feel the privation of heat. The verb is also constructed with of, ‘Hwo þat for lyue þisse | þer-of schal mysse,’ OEM 73/34, 5, 87/7, 8; Minot ix. 13 note.

235. #hi#, heat and cold; the MSS. agree with T. The omission of the subject to nabbeð T 239 is grammatically correct, but the metre requires hie. #lisse#: T, so E e J M.

236. D reads Niteð hi hwer hi wonieð mest, they know not where they lament most. For #mid--wisse#, see 32/40.

237. #walkeð#: not ‘rolls’ as at 2/12; the place in the writer’s mind is ‘Cum immundus spiritus exierit de homine, ambulat per loca inaquosa, quaerens requiem; et non inveniens dicit,’ &c., S. Luke xi. 24.

238. See 32/35.

239. #for þi#: so J; for hi D; ⁊ hi M, but E has ac þi; e þi, therefore; comp. ‘Ich rede þi þat man bo ȝare,’ ON 860, 1548: ‘þi bileafden heo heore timbrunge,’ OEH i. 93/23.

240, 241. Suggested by ‘Qui enim haesitat similis est fluctui maris, qui a vento movetur et circumfertur,’ S. James i. 6; ‘Vir duplex animo inconstans est in omnibus viis suis,’ id. i. 8. #walkeð# here seems to mean, rolls, tosses; see 2/12. #weri#: comp. ‘wery so water in wore,’ Bödd., AE. Dicht. 148/32, said however of stagnant water. For #weri# J substitutes þar boþe.

241. #a þanke#: comp. ‘stif he wes on þonke,’ L 2110. For #boð#, D has seden, for senden. For the last three words J substitutes Mid hwom me heold feste; Morris, thinking it corrupt, conjectures, hwom me ne heold feste, or, me heold vnfeste, whom men considered unsteadfast. But the scribe of J has deliberately substituted for the men of infirm purpose those who fare sumptuously. These are they who in this world were those with whom men feasted.

242. #⁊ þa þe#: e reads ⁊ to, which gives the best sense. #heste#, not often in the sense of promise: auht E; aht e. In T 246, naht has dropped out before #ilaste#.

243. #ful enden#: fulendi D; OE. #fullendian#, finish.

244. #witen#, went; OE. #gewītan#: the other MSS. have weren E e D; were J M.

245. e reads, þere is pich ðe æure wealð · þer sculle baðie inne, and so the others, but for þer--inne J has, ꝥ heo schulle habbe þere, and M, þat sculle þe beo inne. See 42/218 and comp. ‘In a bytter baþ | ich schal baþe naked. | Of pych and of brunston | wallynde is i-maked,’ OEM 181/209-12.

246. #here#: vuel E; uuel e. #in werre ⁊ in winne#, in war and in strife: the combination is at least rare. M has, mid werre ⁊ mid ywinne. #unwinne# in T 250, meaning distress, is also a rare word; comp. ‘Sinne me hauiþ in care ibroȝt | broȝt in mochil vnwinne,’ E. E. Poems, 21/5, 6: e has, in feoht end in iginne, where iginne is miswritten for iwinne; E in feoh (= feoht) end in iginne (= iwinne), in fighting and strife; comp. ‘ne bilæfde he næuer nænne[;] þat heold feht and iwin,’ L 9042, 4, 11522. D reads, in wele ⁊ in senne; J vnwreste · and eke false were.

247. E has ll. 249, 250 before 247, 248. In 251 T #þis# = þe is.

248. #uersc#, fresh water; OE. adj. #fersc# used exclusively of fresh as opposed to salt water. The other MSS. agree with T: nauene strien ne sture E; nauene striem ne sture e; ne auene strém · ne sture J; Hauene stream ne Sture D. There are two places where rivers called Avon and Stour meet, in Warwickshire near Stratford-on-Avon, and in Hampshire near Christchurch.

249. #nawiht#: nomon J; no þing D.

250. #þa þe--lof#, those to whom it was too pleasing, those who took too much delight in: ll. 250, 251 may be a reminiscence of the Anarchy; see 7/49, 6/44.

252. Those who had the power to do evil, (and) those (without the power) to whom it was sweet to contemplate it. But the other MSS., except T D, and M which omits the line, agree with E, þo þe ne mihte euel don · ⁊ lef was it to þenche. In T 256 #þe# does double duty as nom. to mihten, and as dat. to lief; comp. 118/28.

254. ⁊ á · on ðes deofles weorc · bliðeliche swunche e; comp. 40/177; ‘qui laetantur cum malefecerint, et exultant in rebus pessimis,’ Prov. ii. 14.

255. ‘Or ne set lum ki creire tant est fel e muanz,’ Guischart 13. Comp. 7/47.

256. #Medierne#, greedy of bribes. Comp. 32/48.

257. #ꝥ#: so þe E e, meaning, he to whom; comp. 161/187: Þe þat J; þo ꝥ D: wes has fallen out after #wif#.

258. #ete#: méte J; comp. ‘Inne mete ⁊ inne drinke ic habbe ibeo ouerdede,’ OEM 193/41. A variant is, ‘on hete and on wete,’ OEH i. 101/24; ‘on æte oððe on wæte,’ Ælf. Lives i. 354/270. #druken# in T 262 is miswritten for drunke (#drynce#) through confusion with druken 257 (#druncen#).

259. Who took from the poor man his property, and added it to his store. See 7/51, and comp. ‘leggeþ ine hord,’ OEM 47/364; ‘Vych mon hit scholde legge on hord,’ ON 1224.

260. #lutel let of#, held in small esteem; comp. 113/45; 143/99; ‘Ac se kyngc let lihtlice of oð ꝥ he com to Englalande,’ AS. Chron. D 211/16; ‘ne lete he nout wel of þet he is Godes ȝerde,’ AR 184/21; ‘þat prophet | þat drightin of sa mikel let,’ CM 9149; ‘þat of his wordus lette pure liht,’ AE Legenden, ed. Horstman, 44/206; ‘he let lutel to þe,’ HM 33/14. For similar expressions see 8/84, 124/264, 129/32, 173/417. #borde#: comp. 48/307: bode E J D; bibode e; hest M.

261. #⁊--aȝen#: End te his aȝen e, and to his own relatives, and similarly in L T D, though the preposition be wanting. J has þeo þat almes, adding as next line, Ne his poure kunesmen · at him ne myhte nouht spede. E has And of his owen nolde ȝiuen.

262. #sonde#: so E J; sande e: but D agrees with T. In the second half of the line L stands alone, with an easy phrase, when he heard it announced. But E e have preserved the original, þer he sette his beode, nor would listen to God’s messenger, when He spread His table; the reference being to the parable of the marriage feast, S. Matt. xxii. 4, as expounded at 85/84-7. The OE. word #bēod, bīed# occurs in ‘Þu gearwodest beforan me swiðe bradne beod’ = ‘Parasti in conspectu meo mensam,’ Psalm xxii. 5. The readings of T, of D, þer he set (= sat) at his biede, and of J, þar he sat at his borde, are all corruptions of that original with identical meaning, as in ‘Noldest þu nefre helpen þam orlease wrec[che]n; | Ac þu sete on þine benche, underleid mid þine bolstre,’ Worcest. Frag. C. 25, 26.

263. #ꝥ# does double duty as dat., to whom, to loure, and as nom., who, to weren in the next line; similarly T: see 44/252. #hit#: him M; leuere þan beon schulde J.

265. #þon þe#: þam þe e, both meaning, to those to whom. E has ȝam, miswritten for þam, to whom. J rewrites, ⁊ luueden vntrewnesse · þat heo schulden beon holde; Morris translates þat, in which; it is a mistake for þar, which M reads. Comp. ‘treowe and holde,’ OEM 38/48: the offence is in OE. #hlāford-swīcung#, Morsbach’s Studien, l. 167. D omits ll. 263-6: J adds after 265, Heo schulleþ wunyen in helle · þe ueondes onwolde.

267. #weren . . . abuten#, were bent on; see 74/229 note. The other MSS. agree generally with T: ȝysceres E; ȝetseres D; ȝeseres M; gaderares J; witteres e = knowing, wise.

268. #hechte to ⁊ tachte#, bid and taught (them) to do: hem tihte ⁊ ec tauhte E; heom tihte ⁊ to tehte e; heom tycede and tahte J; ham tichede to ⁊ taðte D; tiȝte do ⁊ tehte M. The original was probably tuhte to ⁊ tehte, instigated and taught. Comp. 127/365; ‘Þe deofel heom tuhte to þan werke,’ OEH i. 121/33.

269. #þen#: so E e; it = þe en (40/196), in; ꝥ anie wise D; þat in alle wise M; And alle þeo þe myd dusye wise J, in foolish fashion.

270. #fordon# &c.: comp. ‘fordon ⁊ fordemed,’ SK 427; ‘fordude ant fordemde,’ SM 2/32. Here the Lambeth MS. ends.

271. #of ðufte#: see 30/10.

273. Comp. generally 76/27-32; 120/95-7. #frute#, toads: frude E; fruden J D: akin to OWScand. frauðr (Björkman, 76). Frod is a child’s name for a frog in Yorkshire, EDD. ii. 504. NED. iv. 570 quotes from Dives and Pauper, ‘Some man hadde leuer for to mete with a froude or a frogge in the waye than to mete with a knyght or a squyre.’

274. #speke#: speken E; spekeð J D. #niðfulle#: ondfulle D.

276. #hate#: so M; but hete E J D; OE. #hete#, enmity. #eorre#: ȝeorre E; herre D; erre M.

277. #uuel#: muchel J M.

278. #swierte leie#: comp. 76/17; 119/86-8: þiester leie D.

280. #ꝥ beoð þa#: comp. 1/10.

281. #ateliche . . . eisliche#: comp. ‘swo eiseliche and swo ateliche,’ OEH ii. 171/24: J reads ateliche ueondes ⁊ grysliche wyhtes.

282. #ifon#, seize: the other MSS. agree with T: ison E. #ðurh sihte#: bi sihtes J; mid isiȝte M. NED. explains bi sihtes, by looks or glances. The context rather requires, with open eyes, knowingly, wilfully, but I know no parallel. Comp. Heb. x. 26.

283. Comp. 134/93; ‘sathanas þe cwed,’ OEM 180/213. #ealde#: ‘serpentem antiquum, qui est diabolus et Satanas,’ Apocal. xx. 2: comp. ‘Se ealde deofol þe is mid andan afylled,’ Ælf. Lives ii. 180/183; ‘For to beon yuonded · of sathanas þen olde,’ OEM 38/28, 76/130; OEH i. 75/30; SK 1184; HM 15/14. #belzebud#: belsebuc E; belzebuc M: ‘est finalis litera b,’ Catholicon.

285. A common formula; comp. 119/85, 133/48; OEM 173/57-60; AR 144/21.

287. #Wið#, as regards: it has apparently the same meaning in ‘god heom aredde wið heore ifan,’ OEH i. 87/18, for aredden usually takes of or ut of. E T have of, about: comp. 187/350; J For al.

288. #gamen ⁊ gleo#, a favourite combination: comp. ‘Iluued ich habbe gomen and gleo,’ OEM 160/33; Minot iv. 57 note.

292 T. #of þat#, as concerns what; so far as what one may suffer here is concerned.

289, 90. ‘Tut est desespere iceo les par confund | Ke il seuent tres bien ia merci nen aurunt,’ Guischart, 125, 6; CM 23261-4. #deð--wa#, affects them so wofully, causes them such sorrow: see 40/181: such uses of don are very extensive in ME.; comp. 34/69; ‘don us mare wa on,’ SJ 43/8. #naht#: noþing J.

290. #ꝥ#, as that: bute þat E; Ase ꝥ J; swo ꝥ D.

292. #þe#, to whom. The use of þe as oblique relative is not common in OE.; comp. ‘he sealde his dohtor . . . þæm cyninge . . . þe he ær Æpira rice geseald hæfde,’ Orosius 118/27, where #þe# is preceded by another dative. It occurs more frequently in EME.: for þe = to whom, see 9/116, 12/13, 139/15; = in which, 113/36; with which, 88/4. Similarly þat is used in various relationships, with which 8/108, possibly 26/259; to whom, Orm 118/3439, HM 5/24; for whom, 21/92, 195/634; against which, 201/144, 218/147. E reads þe heom, to whom; the personal pronoun is given a relative force by the addition of the relative þe; comp. ‘þe holie man iob þe non ne was his efning on eorðe,’ OEH ii. 69/32, whose equal was not on earth: þet . . . hire 117/10 is analogous. J reads þet = to whom; comp. 143/84; D þer naht of godes bode, a hopeless corruption. #þe nes naht of#, who heeded not: see 8/84 note.

293-6. ‘Quant fustes baptizez de funz regenerez | Ke dunkes premisistes gardez ne li mentez | Ki or nirrad a lui il ert deseritez | Come fel e traitre pus en ert apelez | En destreit serrat mis e a tel ert liurez | Ki nel rendrat pas pus por mil mars dor pesez,’ Guischart 554-9.

294. #cristen dom#, baptismal vow. #heolde#, kept; see 48/310.

295. #on--grunde#: comp. 40/178. J reads anyþe helle grunde: a nyþe is found only here. It may be a preposition formed from #an# + #neoþan# (comp. anunder), like beneoþan and with the same meaning; but probably it is for a niþer as in T and D in niþerhelle grunde.

296. #ut#: so D: but E J vp. ‘Ne porrat morir | n’a merci venir, | senz fin i serat,’ Reimpredigt 34/67. #marke#: see 34/67, and comp. ‘myd markes and myd punde,’ OEM 89/18.

297. #ibede#: bene D.

298. D, vor naht hi solden bidde þer | ore ne ȝeuenesse, in agreement with T, in which hi must be supplied from hem in 301: see 6/18. ‘Almones ne ben faiz ne lur profiterunt | Messes ne ureisuns ia certes nes garrunt,’ Guischart 127, 8.

299. #of#: so E; but T J D M have wiþ, which is normal, as at 304, and for schilden 50/346, 82/121; biwerien 50/334; werien 50/335; biwiten 117/5, 149/168; witen 82/118, 149/170, 178. Less usual are ‘misdon wið’ 6/23 note; ‘loki wit’ 153/56. #of#, in respect of, as regards; a rare use for, against; comp. ‘uor to warnie wummen of hore fol eien,’ AR 54/26: and note wið interchanging with of, 46/287.

300. #þer wið#, against it, i.e. hell pine: see 1/3. #habbe#: wille D; wulle M. With #ido# T 304 comp. 122/185 note.

302. #sceal#, must. #leche#: comp. ‘Of vre louerd ihesu crist · þat is soule leche,’ OEM 51/508. From this place it has been inferred that the writer was a priest with some knowledge of medicine. Perhaps he is only asserting the claim of Christianity to benefit the body as well as the soul, as in 1 Thess. v. 23, and often in Missal and Breviary, ‘mente et corpore pariter expediti,’ &c.

304. #we ꝥ#: wel, swo D.

306. #emcristen#: euen cristen J; nexte M; see 26/265. After #eal#, se has probably dropped out: alse E; as J; swo D; al suo M.

307. Every thing we hear in the services of the Church: comp. ‘Al þet me ret and singeð . . . in halie chirche,’ OEH i. 125/27; ‘al þet holi chirche redeð ant singeð,’ AR 268/9; OEM 91/43. #bifore godes borde#, at the altar.

308. #hanget ⁊ bihalt bi#, derive their authority from and depend on. S. Matt. xxii. 40.

311. #earueðhealde#, difficult to keep; see 12/3. J rewrites, Ah soþ ich hit eu segge · ofte we agulteþ alle.

312. #strang#: see 21/94. #lange#: veste D. #liht#, easy: comp. 72/178; ‘All þiss to shæwenn niss nohht lihht | Shorrtliȝ wiþþ fæwe wordess,’ Orm 99/13032, 3: so lihtliche, 50/343, readily.

314. #unne#: lete J; leue M. #bote#: see 80/58 note.

315. #wele#: ayhte J.

316. #eal#: mest leggeþ vre swynk J; leggeð almest D; muchel M. Comp. 32/57.

318. #of#: for oft: ofte J D M; E omits. #bicherd#, misled. #bi kehte#, ensnared, deceived. But J reads for the latter, vuele by þouhte, saddened by remembrance of our sins: comp. ‘þe man kið him seluen mildhertnesse þe biðencheð on his sinnen,’ OEH ii. 189/5.

319. #erminges#, miserable mortals: mostly an adj. in ME. as at 76/22, 31. Morris suggested erninges, gains.

320. #en#: of E J. #her ⁊#: oþer E J D M.

321-3. Comp. 40/197, 8.

324. #of þere#, of that: J has þer of.

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

327. #lange#: comp. 42/210; 168/342.

328. J substitutes ⁊ after gode wel wurche · þenne ne þuruue noht kare, and be vigorous in pursuit of good: comp. 30/21, 32/61.

330. Unless we are on our guard, this world will make us drunk: the meaning of #fordrenche# is fixed by drinche l. 331. adrenche D M, drown. With #wurðe . . . iwer#, comp. 9/122; with #us#, 13/34.

331. #scenche#, draught; OE. #scencan#, to pour out; comp. KH 369 note. #deofles#: M reads, of one duole scenche, of a stupefying draught.

332. A man must know how to protect himself well, if it (i.e. the drink) is not to trip him up. See B-T. s.v. #screncan#. J is defective here; D omits ll. 331, 2.

333. #Mid#: Vor D. For #almihtin#, 337 T, see 79/17.

334. #ꝥ#: þe J; see 13/28. #he#: he ne E; heo . . . ne J; hi ne D.

335. #werie . . . wið#: see 48/299.

336. #bi ȝiten#: in e only; ȝiuen alle mancunne E; and similarly in the other MSS. The text may mean, acquired for mankind.

337. #bene#, pleasant, agreeable: ‘spatiosa via . . . quae ducit ad perditionem,’ S. Matt. vii. 13. J reads grene, rejecting, as often, the unusual word: comp. ‘the broad way and the green’ of Milton’s sonnet.

338. #niȝeðe del#, nine-tenths, the great majority: niȝende del D.

339. #wei grene#: the path to heaven is compared to what is still in some parts called a ‘green road’ or a ‘green way,’ ‘a road over turf between hedges,’ EDD., the ‘unmetalled road’ of the Ordnance maps, because, unlike the highway, it is used by few. J has, þene wey so schene, and in the next line, and þat is wel eþ-sene; M, ⁊ þat is þe worlde on-sene. The last half of T 344 appears to be corrupt.

341. #us lað#: comp. ‘lað þah him were,’ L 244; 145/106.

342. #eal#, wholly; but M al hare wil.

343. #mid--hulde#, along the lower (downward) slope: nuðer E; niðer helde D M. J omits ll. 343-4. #mid#, in the same direction as, like the modern ‘with the stream.’

344. #godliese#: gutlease D: the earliest quotation for godless, impious, in NED. is under 1528; words before that time are ranged under goodless, comfortless, worthless. But Mätzner puts examples from SK and HM under the former. Are the cheerless wood and the bare field Virgilian? Aeneas passes by the ‘descensus Averni’ ‘per tacitum nemus’ to the ‘lugentes campi’. #bare#: brode D.

345. #hese#: hes E; heste J M; hesne D. #ðer#: þat J, cognate acc.; comp. ‘I am a man farand þe way,’ CM 3295.

346. #ꝥ beoð ða#: see 1/10. #sculdeð . . . wið#: see 48/299: silten D (for silden, shielded); schedeþ wel J, possibly, separate themselves completely, but scheden requires from, 159/153, and in the presence of wið the reading may be regarded as a mistake for schildeþ.

347. #ȝeanes#: to ȝeanes E; ayeyn J; aȝenes M; D omits ll. 347, 8. Not, ‘along the cliffs,’ but, breasting the steep slope, up the high hill; comp. Milton’s ‘labour up the hill with heavenly truth.’

348. J reads, þeos leteþ awei al heore wil; comp. 157/133. #fulle#, perform; OE. #fyllan#: M has felle.

352. #ne ðincð# &c.: comp. 12/11 (piece v). J substitutes, Wel edy wurþ þilke mon · þat þer byþ vnderuonge.

353. þe lest haueþ murehþe J; Se ꝥ lest haueð blisce D.

354. #for ðas#, for the bliss of this world.

355. #uuel#: pyne J; hunger M.

358. In accordance with their deeds here, in proportion to the severity of their effort.

359. #este#: comp. 17/159.

360. Comp. ‘giueð hem to medes eche lif · ⁊ blisse · ⁊ heuene mid him seluen,’ OEH ii. 67/25; 74/233.

361. #fah ne græi#: fou ne grei E; fou ne grey J; foȝ ne grei M; D omits ll. 361-2. For the association of the words comp. ‘Ne hedde he none robe · of fowe · ne of gray,’ OEM 39/66; ‘gold · ne seoluer · vouh · ne gray,’ id. 94/28; ‘Monye of þisse riche. | þat werede fouh and grey,’ id. 165/27, 8. In French they are vair (L. varius) and gris, as in ‘jamais ne vestirai vair ne gris ne hermine | n’afulerai mantiel ourle de sabeline, | ne coucerai en lit covert de marterine,’ Le Chevalier au Cygne, in Bartsch & Horning, 349/14-16. OE. #fāȝ, fāh#, variegated, coloured, is also in ME. an adj., as at 81/82; ‘fah clað,’ L 24653. As a noun it means a variegated or shaded fur, as distinct from one of uniform colour, like #græi#, which is badger. #kuning#, rabbit fur, but #cuniculus# is glossed marderis, i.e. marten, in Fecunda Ratis 450, where it is associated with migale, ermine, which would go better with the general idea of sumptuosity. But marten is in the next line. konyng J; cunig EM.

362. #aquierne#, squirrel: OE. #ācwern#, in oldest form #ācweorna#, Sweet, Oldest E. Texts, 590: ocquerne E; Okerne M; Ne oter ne acquerne J. #martres cheole#, marten’s throat, explained by Mätzner as throat-piece, collar or boa of marten; but the expression, found here only, is a bad attempt at translating F. gole martrine, fur dyed red, as in ‘ses mantels fu riches et chiers | et fu toz faiz a eschaquiers; | l’uns tavels ert de blanc hermine | et l’altre ert de gole martrine,’ Eneas, 4029-32; a chess-board pattern in white and red. The pelisson of the period was a tunic of fur enclosed between cloths which permitted the red-dyed fur to be seen only at the front edges of the garment. These borders were called goules; comp. ‘Lermes li moillent le menton | E les goles del peliçon,’ Roman de Troie, ed. Constans, 15543-4; ‘Goules de martre, ne vos vuel plus porter,’ Raoul de Cambrai, 6227: the resemblance to the French word for throat has led to the translation here, as to the erroneous explanation of goules, gole, by ‘collet’ in Florence de Rome, 1959; Roman de Thebes, 6375-6. M has simply martrin, OF. martrine, marten’s fur. #metheschele# in T is for merðes chele, the first element being OE. #mearð#, marten; it is equivalent to the reading of E e. #beuer#, &c.: Beuveyr ne sablyne J.

363. #sciet#: sced E; scete D descend from OE. #scīete, scēte#, cloth, but scat T; schat M from OE. #sceatt#, property, money; as in ‘srud and sat,’ GE 795, 881, ‘srud or sat,’ id. 3169. J has, Ne þer ne wurþ ful iwis · worldes wele none. #scrud#, dress; not ‘shroud.’

365. See 125/291.

367, 368. D omits. #na wið uten#: noþing ȝit vten E; nowiht wiþ vte J: the latter and T appear to mean, there is nothing wanting to him: e is probably a corruption of na wiht uten, and ȝit in E is miswritten for wit = wið, as ȝihte 380 for wihte.

368. #wane#: T has the usual construction, as ‘deest mihi pecunia, mê ys fêos wana,’ Ælf. Gram. 202/11; ‘He nis naht fulliche cristene þat (= to whom) is ani wane of þese þrie,’ OEH ii. 15/22; 19/35; in E e #wane# is an adj. as in ‘ic eom wana of ðâm getele,’ Ælf. Gram. 202/11; 129/23. J has Nis heom nones godes wone.

369. #gane#, miswritten for wane, misery, the reading of D T; J has wone; E grame.

370. #of ðinche#: see 30/10. e ends with this line; what follows is from E.

371. #treȝe#: so D: J has the often-associated teone; comp. 133/61; 24/208 note. ‘La est uie senz mort ki tut tens li durreit,’ Guischart 1255.

373. #ulde . . . vnhelðe#: see 40/197.

374. #sorewe . . . sor#: comp. 147/137; ‘mid seorwen and mid seore,’ L 6885; ‘to forswelten isar ⁊ isorhe eauer,’ SJ 79/7; ‘iseien sor ⁊ seoruwe,’ AR 190/15; SK 1164: so too, ‘sorwȝe and sariness,’ VV 19/2; ‘seoruhful ⁊ sori,’ AR 88/12.

375. Seoþþe me dryhten iseo. So J, which cannot mean, ‘Afterwards one shall see the Lord’: probably in Seoþþe lurk Swo þer, and schal has fallen out, as it has in T. #swa#, even as, more fully in T, swo se; comp. 34/80: D reads, swo ase he is. For omission of the subject in T comp. 6/18 note. #mid iwisse#: see 32/40. Comp. ‘Kar deus sicum il est tuz tens senz fin uerunt,’ Guischart 117; ‘En l’un qui serat | dampne deu verrat | toztens en present,’ Reimpredigt 54/107.

377-80 are wanting in J. #And ðeh#, and yet.

378. #ði#, because. The reading of T, which is supported by D M, gives a better sense.

380. #ȝihte#, miswritten for wihte; comp. 52/367 note: wiȝte M; rihte D. See 42/212.

381. #seon#: wite M.

382. #icnawen ⁊ iwiten#, understand and get to know: iseon and iwyten J; iknowen ⁊ isien D; biknowe ⁊ yseo M. For #mihte#, J has Milce; M milse.

383. #to#: þer to D; may luste J. The usual preposition is after, as ‘þa lisste himm affterr fode,’ Orm ii. 39/11333; ‘Aȝȝ lisste himm affterr mare,’ id. i. 356/10220: but comp. 158/168; ‘Hi sete adoun ⁊ ete faste: for hem luste wel þerto,’ Legendary, 223/127. #hleste# in 387 T is explained in Specimens as a noun, desire: it can only be OE. #hlystan#, listen, suggested by ‘isien’ in the next line.

384. #hali boc#: in liue boc D; on lyues be{c} (MS. bee) iseon J.

385. #alle &c.#: to alle derlinges J.

386. #he#: so J D: for #oþere# J has wordliche.

387. #wealded#: haueð on wealde D, has in his power, under his rule: see 22/122, 198/40 for the synonymous ‘owen a wold.’

388. #of him to sene#, of seeing him; comp. 124/239 note. #sed#: so D. OE. #sæd#, sated, appears to be used here as a noun, for satiety. The adj. is common enough, ‘Ich nam noht giet sad of mine sinnes,’ OEH ii. 75/8; ‘for selden y am sad þet semly forte se,’ Bödd., AE. Dicht. 149/5. ‘Mult porreit estre liez quant deu senz fin uerreit,’ Guischart 1256. J has, Him to seonne murie hit is. In the second half of the line J D agree with T.

389. #mere#: OE. #mǣre#, glorious: swete J.

391. #oþer#: oþre D, both meaning, to another; Ne may nomon hit segge · ne witen myd iwysse J.

392. #godes#: heuene J. Here D adds, Vten eftin þiderward | mid aldre ȝernuolnesse | ⁊ vorsien þisne midelard | mid his wouernesse. || Ef we vorsieð þis loþe lif | vor heuenriche blisce, | þanne selð us Crist ꝥ eche lif | to medes on ecnesse. Zupitza notes that eftin is for efstin (that is, hasten, OE. #efestan#), and wouernesse is OE. #wǣfernes#, pomp, show.

393. #rixlet#: rixeð D; ricscleþ M; lesteþ J. #abuten#: buten J D; ay bute M: see 34/85.

394. #of#: comp. 38/134; 112/11; 132/15: but ‘alesede hem eche deaðe,’ OEH ii. 5/26. Lines 393-4 are echoed in ‘And yef þat eche lif · þat neuere ne haueþ ende. | Hwanne vre soule vnbynd · of lykamlyche bende,’ OEM 53/551, 2. #licames#: J D M agree with T.

395. #ȝyue#: lete J; leue M. #swilc#: swichne D; suicchne M.

396. After this J adds, Bidde we nu leoue freond · yonge and ek olde. | þat he þat þis wryt wrot · his saule beo þer atholde. Amen.; which I take to be a prayer for the scribe himself, not for the composer of the Moral Ode.

Cross-References

6/18, 8/84, 10/167 (notes) = III. (The Peterborough Chronicle) 30/10, 34/74, 46/292 (notes) = present selection 74/229 (note) = IX. B (Ancrene Wisse: Outer Rule) 79/17, 80/58 (notes) = XI. (Hic Dicendum est de Propheta) 132/9 (note) = XVIII. (The Orison of our Lady) 176/24 (note) = XXI. (The Bestiary) p. 274 = V. (A Parable, under Pronouns) p. 285 = VI. (The Proverbs of Alfred) under Manuscripts.

Errata

iv. ... A leaf is lost after f. 8 [f 8] Other MSS. are v. Digby A 4, Bodleian D [“D” added by author] The dialect of PM is South-Eastern [printed as shown: error for “M” alone?] #ēa# is ea in deaþe 182 [paragraph break added by transcriber for consistency] .... #ā# + #g# produces aȝ, aȝen 30 (5), maȝe 29, but ahen 161: [final : invisible] For #sw# ... qu is the regular equivalent of #cw# [#cw# misprinted as italic instead of bold] #ēa# is mostly ... but ie in bien 389 [“ie” misprinted as bold instead of italic] #gēar#, ȝier 142 [corrected by author from “gear”] #a# + #g# ... #ǣ{1}# + #g# is ei [#æ{1}#] #ēa# + #h# in heie 16 [#ea#] ... #þþ# is simplified in seðen [#þ#] #Accidence:# ... d. -e, gode 73 [-e misprinted as italic] s. g., are 179, s. d., 53 [s. d. 53] ... The s. d. regularly terminates in e [“e” misprinted as italic] Remnants of the strong declension ... (with woreldes f.) [f] The infinitives ... past: I a. biȝiete 105, forȝieten 98 [forȝieten, 98] 18. ... (comp. Fr. être < stare) [être > stare] 82. ... OEM 56/682 [OEM.] 142. ... Orm ii. 149/14482 [“ii.” added by transcriber] 153. ... OWScand. skǽrr, clean. [OW Scand.] 185. ... maȝhe . . . mei e [meie] 201. ... read iþenchð, iðencð [iþenchð, iꝥencð corrected from Zupitza] 257. ... wes has fallen out after #wif#. [#wif# misprinted as plain (non-bold)] 265. ... to those to whom. [to whom,] 292. ... where #þe# is preceded by another dative [#þe# misprinted as plain (non-bold)] 361. ... in Bartsch & Horning [Hornung] 385. #alle &c.#: to alle derlinges J. [printed as shown, with bold “&c.”]

IX. ANCRENE WISSE

#Manuscripts:# i. Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, 402 (A); on vellum, 215 × 150 mm. The fly-leaf fastened down has the mark S. 15, then follow three leaves with writing in a seventeenth-century hand (? Joscelin), mostly a translation of the piece beginning in Morton, p. 6, ‘Nan ancre bi mi read,’ then 117 folios, on the first of which is a marginal rubric, J þe feaderes ⁊ i þe sunes | ⁊ i þe hali gastes nome | her biginneð ancrene | wisse, as at the beginning of SJ (139/1) and SM in MS. Bodley 34. On the lower margin of f. 1 r in a fourteenth-century hand is Liber ecclesie s{an}ct{i} Jacobi de Wygemore: que{m} Joh{ann}es Purcel dedit | eide{m} eccl{es}ie ad instancia{m} fr{atr}is Walt{er}i de Lodel{awe} senioris t{u}nc p{re}ce{nt}oris. The Abbey of Wigmore was dedicated to S. James (Dugdale, vi. 344). There are glosses in red pencil and words underlined in red. The revival of Anglo-Saxon studies under Archbishop Parker, partly prompted by the desire to use in defence of the Reformation the evidences as to the tenets of the early Church in England, caused such books as this to be carefully read. William L’isle extracted from it some of the prayers (in Morton, 26, 28, 30) and, treating them as debased Anglo-Saxon, turned them into the latter speech as he understood it. His efforts are recorded in MS. Laud Misc. 201; they have led Dr. Heuser (Anglia, xxx. 103) to conclude that the Ancren Riwle is not a ME. but an OE. document.

The MS. belongs to the second quarter of the thirteenth century. It cannot be earlier than 1225 A.D., for it mentions the Dominicans and Franciscans, and it is probably later than 1230. It is the most correct, but it has additions to the original, such as 62/46-64/62, 64/73-78. See further A Descriptive Catalogue of the MSS. in the Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, by M. R. James, vol. ii, pp. 267, 8.

ii. Caius College, Cambridge, 234 (B); on vellum, 124 × 93 mm.; 368 pages; late thirteenth century. Pages 1-185 consist of extracts from the AR, but not in the order of the other manuscripts (ES iii. 536). It is addressed to ‘friends’ 55/1, not sisters, and the second passage printed here is not in this MS. The contents of the manuscript are given in A Descriptive Catalogue of the MSS. in the Library of Gonville and Caius College, by M. R. James, vol. i, p. 298.

iii. Cotton Nero A 14, British Museum (N); on vellum, 146 × 114 mm.; written in the second quarter of the thirteenth century. Its contents are ff. 1-120 r, the Ancren Riwle; 120 v-123 v, The Orison, printed at pp. 132-7 of this book; 123 v-131 v, the pieces printed in OEH i, pp. 200-17. It forms the text of Morton’s edition.

iv. Cotton Titus D 18, British Museum (T); on vellum, 158 × 120 mm.; 148 folios in double columns, written from f. 14, where AR begins, to the end, about 1220 A.D. Its relationship to two other manuscripts in respect to their contents is shown by the following table:

+---------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------+------+ | Manuscripts. | SK | SJ | SM |Sawles| HM |Wohunge| AR | | | | | |Warde | | | | +---------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------+------+ | Royal 17 A 27 | -- | -- | -- | -- | | | | +---------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------+------+ | Bodley 34 . | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | | | +---------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------+------+ | Titus D 18 . | -- | | | -- | -- | -- | -- | +---------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------+------+

For the Royal and Bodleian MSS. see the introduction to No. xvi.

v. Cotton Cleopatra C 6, British Museum (C), on vellum, 196 × 140 mm.; 196 folios of 19 to 26 lines to a page in a peculiar angular hand, written about 1240 A.D. The scribe, after finishing the book, had access to another manuscript, either A or one closely resembling it, and interlined or put on the margin passages from it which were not in the first exemplar. C was presented to Legh Abbey, Co. Devon, by Matilda de Clare, by whom the Abbey was converted into a Nunnery about 1285 A.D. (Dugdale, vi. 333).

vi. The Vernon MS. of the Bodleian Library (V), a very large book, written in two columns of eighty lines to the column, has a fourteenth-century version of the AR, which begins at folio 371 v^2. It contains our first extract, but only a fragment of the second.

vii. Another version of portions of the AR, written at the end of the fourteenth century, discovered by Miss Paues, exists under the title of the Recluse in the Magdalene College MS., Cambridge, Pepys 2498 (P).

viii. A fragment in a hand of 1330-40, corresponding to p. 138, l. 25 &c. of Morton’s edition, was described by Napier in the Journal of Germanic Philology, ii. 199-202.

ix. Magdalen College, Oxford, 67 (M). A Latin version in writing of the end of the thirteenth century; on f. 1 r it begins, Hic incipit p{ro}hemiu{m} ven{er}abilis patris Magistri Simo|nis de Gandauo episcopi sar{um} in libru{m} de uita solitaria | quem scripsit sororibus suis Anachoritis apu`d´ tarente. It ends on f. 95 r, Explicit liber septimus de uita solitaria: Octauus omnino taceatur:--with the addition in a later hand, eterna taciturnitate. The second extract is therefore not represented in this version.

x. Cotton Vitellius E 7 (L): fragments of a Latin version rescued from the fire of 1731, said by Macaulay to be the same as the Magdalen MS. version, but with the addition of the eighth part. In Smith’s Catalogue (1696) it is said to have had the note, Regulae vitae Anachoretarum utriusque sexus scriptae per Simonem de Gandavo, Episcopum Sarum in usum suarum sororum. Hunc librum Frater Robertus de Thorneton, quondam prior, dedit claustralibus de Bardenay. Bardney Abbey is in Lincolnshire (Dugdale, i. 623).

xi. Cotton Vitellius F 7 (F). A French version, written about 1300 A.D., but retaining many forms of the considerably older manuscript from which it was copied. This manuscript also suffered in the fire; the top half of the folios is scorched and shrunken, and a line or two is lost on each page: it consists of 164 folios in double columns. In Smith’s Catalogue it is described as, La Reule de femmes Religieuses et Recluses; sive de vita solitaria & anachoretica per Simonem de Gandavo, Episcopum Sarisburiensium in usum sororum ipsius.

#Facsimiles:# Of T. Palaeographical Society; Second Series, plate 75. Of C. Ibid., plate 76. Of P. The Recluse, ed. J. Påhlsson. Lund, 1911.

#Editions:# The Ancren Riwle, edited and translated by James Morton, B.D. Camden Society, no. lvii, London, 1853. Mätzner, E., Altenglische Sprachproben, ii. 8-41 (the second part of AR with introduction and notes). Shorter extracts in Sweet’s First Middle English Primer, 19-41, Emerson and Kluge. The text of all the preceding is from MS. N. Heuser, W., Anglia, xxx. 108-10 (passage from MS. A). Påhlsson, Joel, The Recluse, Lund, 1911.

#Literature:# Bramlette, E. E., Anglia, xv. 478-98 (the original language of AR); Brock, E., Philological Society, 1865, 150-67 (Accidence in N); Dahlstedt, A., The Word-Order of the AR, Sundsvall, 1903; Heuser, W., Anglia, xxx. 103-22; Kölbing, E., ES iii. 535, 6; ix. 115-17; xxiii. 306; Lemcke’s Jahrbuch, xv. 179-97 (collations and dialect); Landwehr, M., Das grammatische Geschlecht in der AR, Heidelberg, 1911; *Macaulay, G. C., The ‘Ancren Riwle’, Modern Language Review, ix. 63-78, 145-60, 324-31, 463-74 (collation of A and general discussion); Mühe, T., Über den im MS. Cotton Titus D. xviii enthaltenen Text der AR, Göttingen, 1901; Anglia, xxxi. 399-404; Napier, A. S., Modern Language Review, iv. 433-6; Ostermann, H., Lautlehre des germanischen Wortschatzes in der von Morton herausgegebenen Handschrift der Ancren Riwle. Bonner Beiträge, xix, Bonn, 1905; Påhlsson, J., ES xxxviii. 453, 4; Paues, A. C., ES xxx. 344-6; Redepenning, H., Syntaktische Kapitel aus der ‘Ancren Riwle’, Berlin, 1906; Williams, Irene F., Anglia, xxviii. 300-4 (language of C); Wülker, R., Paul-Braune, Beiträge, i. 209-39; Zupitza, J., Anglia, iii. 34.

#Sources and Illustrations:# Ælredi Regula, in Lucae Holstenii Codex Regularum Monasticorum et Canonicorum, Augustae Vindelicorum, 1759, vol. i, p. 420; also as Ailredi Rhievallensis de Vita Eremitica ad Sororem, in S. Augustini Opera, Antwerp, 1700, vol. i, p. 640; English version of ch. xxi-lxxviii from the Vernon MS. in ES vii, pp. 304-44; Vita S. Gileberti Confessoris: Institutiones beati Gileberti in Supplement to vol. vi, pt. 2, of Dugdale, W., Monasticon Anglicanum, London, 1830; Eckenstein, Lina, Woman under Monasticism, Cambridge, 1896; Cutts, E. L., Scenes and Characters of the Middle Ages, London, 1872.

#Phonology:# (1) =of A.= Oral #a# is a, calices b 17, cat b 2; #a# before nasals and lengthening groups is o, dronc 21, gomen 83, brondes b 161, wombe, 97; þen, þenne, hwen, hwenne, selthwenne b 195 are the usual forms, but once hwon b 116: #and# is ant 26 &c., #man#, indefinite, me 16. #æ# is usually e, bres 103, ed b 121, efter b 12, gedereð 87 (#gæderian#), hetter b 28, oðerhwet b 177, neppes 94, þet b 126, wes b 3, wicchecreftes 7, esken 79, 85 (#æsce#), weschen b 145, vesscheð b 112 (#wæscan#), but ea, an EME. writing for #æ# in bearuot b 39, bleasie b 162 (#blæse#, sb.), feader b 173, b 231, feaste b 42 (3), gleadliche b 186, measse b 83, readliche b 94, noðeleater b 169, weater b 94, inohreaðe 43 (#hræþe#), and a in awakenet 24, awakenið b 61, b 91 (#awacenian#), blac b 23, warliche b 148 (flexion forms), cappen b 45: habbe 25 &c., nabben b 130 descend from LWS. forms in #a#: quoð b 76 (#cwæþ#) is due to loss of stress. #e# is regularly e, bedde b 25, bereð 64 (but beore b 136), spekeð b 57 (but speoke b 132); before lengthening groups, ende 100, englene 76. Between #w--f#, #e# is rounded to eo in tweolue b 112; before a palatal it is raised to i in rikenin 25, rikeneres 82: stude b 171, sullen b 12, 14, swuch b 18 are due to OE. forms in #y#. #i# is regularly i, bidde b 237, binimeð b 221 (but neome b 34 &c.); before lengthening groups, blod binde b 69 (#binde#), bringen 49, child 22, but u in wule 72 and other forms of #willan#, nute b 130 (#nyte#). #o# is normally o, biuoren 57, hosen b 39, word 65, but a in an(an) b 87; nalde 90, walden 42, iwraht b 24 are Anglian. #u# is u, cume b 90, cuppe 103, sunderliche 24, wunder b 63, but i in kimeð 94, b 200 (#cymeð#; Bülbring, Ablaut, 74). #y# is u, brune b 160, sundreð b 161, sungið b 191, but i in pilche clut 68: #mycel# is muchel b 91, muche 82; sturne b 195 represents #styrne#.

#ā# is regularly a, are b 229; before two consonants, gast b 231; length is indicated by doubling in aa, b 162, b 234: man b 8 is *#mān#. ea for #ā# appears in eanes b 34, b 189, easkin b 181, easki b 78, easkeð b 118, b 203, wreaðfule 32, 63, coming from forms in #ǣ#. #ā# is o in cop b 142 (#cōp#), e in se b 67 &c., but swa 73. #ǣ{1}# is, as a rule (41 times), ea, ageasten 58, arearen b 159, asneasen 69, eani 8; before two consonants, eauer 54 &c., leafdi b 235, wreaððe b 153, b 166, but e in þer b 155, and before two consonants in flesch b 26, flesches b 91, fleschlich b 78, fleschliche b 75, leste b 37, b 54 (beside leasse 61 (4), leaste b 188), and a before two consonants in attri 12, attreð b 80 (? analogy of #āttor#). #ǣnig# is mostly ei 8 (possibly shortening of eiðer,--Holthausen); #ǣlc# is euch 34 &c. #ǣ{2}# is e (32 times), dreden b 196, her b 141, neddre 31, wepmen b 22, but eo in leote b 131, b 19, feorle 100. ea appears only in ileanet 16, read b 13, b 37, reade b 2 (but reden b 188, redeð b 223, b 224, b 228, ired b 235): þear 41 is probably a scribal error for þer, but comp. þiar 39/165. The difference in the representation of #ǣ{1}#, as ea, rarely e, and #ǣ{2}#, as e, rarely ea, is also found in the Katherine group, and is Anglian (Stodte, p. 31). #ē# is always e; #ī#, i, but wummon b 21 (5) after #w#; #ō# is o; #ū#, u; #ȳ# is regularly u, fur b 160, hudest b 57; before two consonants, cuððe b 144, fulðe b 113, but i in schriden b 85, beside schruden 90.

#ea# before #r# + cons. is ea, bearm 71, nearewe b 204; before lengthening groups, bearnes 75, heard b 44, but a in scharp 64, 65, 67 and always after #w#, warde b 231, -ward as in frommard b 165, inward 36, toward b 89, utward 37, warm b 23, warneð 11. ea in chearre b 238, wearien b 6 represents #æ#, i-umlaut of unbroken (Anglian) #a#. #ea# before #l# + cons. is regularly a (Anglian), alle 7 &c., falleð 6, halden b 193. The i-umlaut has ea = #æ# from unbroken #a#, ealde b 124, healden b 197, both before a lengthening group. #eo# before #r# + cons. is regularly eo, heorte 51, keorue b 34; before length. groups, eorðe 85, sweord 65, Beornard b 219, but Anglian smoothing is seen in werkes b 62, b 67, b 81. To the #wur# group belong wurðen 88, forwurðen 23, forwurðe b 95: warpere 64, warpeð 66 are Scandinavian; WS. forms are #weorpere#, #wierpð#. The i-umlaut is wanting in heordemonne b 6, iheortet 31; #wier, wyr# words have u, vnwurðe b 108, b 219, wurse 16, 56, b 37, iwurset b 191. #eo# before #l# + cons. is eo in seolf 59, seoluen b 204 &c. #ea#, the u- and å-umlaut of #a#, is seen in eateliche 58, 69, eawles 67 (#awul#), meaðeleð 73, 96, streapeles b 42, vnsteaðeluest 5; fearen b 197, misfearen 13, and analogically (Bülbring § 228 anm.), feareð 79, b 120, forfearinde 29, gleadie b 232, heatien b 141, ?peaðereð 81, ?skleatteð 53. This umlaut is specifically Mercian. #eo#, u-umlaut of #e#, gives heouene 3, b 185, but world 40, worldliche b 79 &c.: #eo#, å-umlaut of #e#, beoden b 124, b 206, b 237, breoken b 20, eoten 99, ȝeouen b 71 (from Mercian #ġefan#), and analogically, beore b 31, b 136, forbeoren b 149, breoke b 216, eote b 127, eoten b 150, ȝeoue b 131, b 173, b 233, forȝeoued b 200 (but ȝef 102), speoke b 132, speoken b 138: an Anglian feature. #eo#, u- and å-umlaut of #i#, is seen in cleopede 9, 11, bicleopet b 192, leoðeliche b 28 (#liþig#, OWScand. liðugr), neomen b 72, b 174, neome b 34, neomen b 189, neomunge 7, seoue 21, seouene 4, seolc b 69, seoluer 84, sweoke b 160, teolunges 6, but hare 5 &c. is the regular representative of #heora#, suster b 4 &c., of WS. #sweostor#, Anglian wike b 189, of WS. #wucan# (*#wiucu#). #ea# after palatals is a, schal 42 &c., ischauen b 101, schape b 146, but e in ȝeten b 128 (WS. #gatu#), eo before nasal, scheome b 51: schapieð b 70 is a ME. formation. #ie# after #ġ# is e (Mercian monophthong), ȝef 102, 104, ȝeueð b 68, ȝelden 15, b 7, forȝelde b 175, ȝelp 37; this e with å-umlaut gives forms in eo, ȝeouen &c. as above. #ȝef#, EWS. #gief#, is ȝef 9. #eo# after #ġ# is u, ȝungre b 132; after #sc#, schule 99, schulde 22 &c. (Anglian). #eom# is am b 236 (Anglian), #heom#, ham 4 &c.

#ēa# is regularly ea, beate b 31, deade 41, eadmode b 119, greatluker b 157, reaflac 15, but e in chepeð b 12, chepilt b 11, cwedschipe b 93, eð b 214, edscene b 147, and a in chaffere b 11, chapmon b 12, shortening due to stress on following syllable: its i-umlaut is e (Anglian), bemen 39, 76, bemere 42, bemin 43, dremen b 206, ȝeme b 190, ȝemeles 10 &c., ȝemeð 16, ȝemen b 98, iȝemen b 90, ihereð 53, leue b 174, b 207, leue b 36, misleue b 182, lefunge 7; but greattre b 67 is #grēatra#. #ēo# is eo, beon 4, cneon b 150, feondes 92, feorðe 21, but e in seke b 108, secnesse b 111, before #c#. The absence of its i-umlaut is Anglian, deore 71, feond s. d. 34 &c., neod b 1, neodeð 88, istreonede 23; e in nedlunge b 8, tene b 112. Absence of palatalization, characteristic of Mercian, after #ġ#, #sć# is seen in ȝer b 101, schende b 52 (Bülbring § 289), schon b 38, but scheos b 39, ischeoed b 40. #ȝīet# is ȝet b 193, the second element in edscene b 147, is #gesīene#.

#a# + #g# is ah, dahes b 105, drahe b 53, draheð 36, mahen 50 &c.; isleine 33 is #geslegen#; seið 46, 89, #sægð#; dreaieð b 233 (comp. dreaien 147/153, dreihen, 146/122) descends from *#dreagaþ#, form with å-umlaut (WS. #dragaþ#). #æ# + #g# is regularly ei, deies b 21, feier b 123, heiward b 6, mei 4 &c., meiden b 96, seide 46, b 117, iseid 26: mahe b 148, b 180 comes from LWS. #mage#. #e# + #g# is also ei, abreiden 75, aȝein 5 (#ongegn#), toȝeines b 56, eie b 18, eili b 9, leið b 152, pleien 67, b 139, b 146, pleieð 64, but plohien b 218 which descends with shifted accent from *#pleogan# with å-umlaut (comp. #pleogede# in a SW. Mercian text of Bede, ed. Miller, ii. 82). The MS. has in other places pleien as above, but the noun in Morton’s text pleowe 184/4, pleouwe 218/8 is in MS. A regularly plohe, in MS. C ploȝe. #i# + #g#, #h#, pliht b 97, ipliht 18, sihðe b 61, onsihðe b 55, wriheles b 49, but sygaldren 6: lið 71, b 93 is #līþ# < #ligeð#, il in ilespiles b 31, #īl# < #igil#. In twien b 210 from #twiga# the spirant has disappeared, as in monie b 168. Final #ig# is regularly i, bisi b 89, dusi 18. #o# + #h#, #g# is oh, bitohe b 225, dohter b 52, but dehtren b 15 with e from the dative singular. #u# + #g#, duhen b 59, muhen b 44: #y# + #g#, #h#, buð b 11, b 187, drihtines 41, b 206. #ā# + #g#, #h#, ah 17, ahne b 61, ahnes b 207, ahte b 181, lahe b 141, b 152, wah b 58. #ǣ{1}# + #g#, #h#, ahte 84, bitaht 16, tahte b 75, but eiðer 53 (#ǣgþer#). #ē# + #g#, iueitsomet b 168, iheiet b 234: #ī# + #h#, wrihen b 50 (*#wrīhan# inf.), wriheð b 58: #ō# + #g#, inoh b 79, inohreaðe b 41, ibroht b 214, þohten 39. #ea# + #ht#: lahtre 50, mahte b 213 come from Anglian forms in #æ#; the i-umlaut gives mihte b 230, niht b 215, but a in lahhen b 139, lahheð 97, monslaht 24 also represents Anglian #æ#. #eo# + #ht#, riht 51, rihten b 99: sist b 57, sið b 89, b 159 are Anglian forms corresponding to WS. #siehst#, #siehð# with i-umlaut (Bülbring § 217). #ēa# + #g#, #h#, deh b 66 (North, #dēg#), ehe 51, ehnen b 63, heh b 186, hehe b 185, neh b 90, b 120, but þah b 7, b 63, as if from Ang. *#þæh#. #ēo# + #g#, #h#, dreheð b 233, but lihte b 39, lihtliche b 3, b 87. #īe# + #h#, nest b 26, b 29 (North. #nēsta#), lihtin b 101. #ā# + #w# is aw, blawen 40, icnaweð b 201, itawet b 24, nawiht b 9, nawt b 53, sawle 94, slaw 12, but nowðer b 48 represents OE. #nōwþer#, nohwer b 33, b 41, #nō(h)wǣr#, similarly nohwider b 126, eawiht b 235, eawt 52 (*#ǣwiht# with i-umlaut, NED.); sehe b 139 is Anglian #sēge#, WS. #sāwe#. #ǣ{1}# + #w# is also aw, rawe 33, slawðe 11, 18. #ēa# + #w#, þeawes b 81, þeawfule b 106, but schawin 38. #ēo# + #w# is ow, fowr 39, b 101, trowðe 18, ow 99 &c., ower b 1; eo finally in gleo 47: neowe b 137 has no umlaut; the WS. form is #nīwe# (Bülbring § 306, anm. 5).

Unstressed #swā# is se 15 &c., but swa 73: a occurs for #o# in anan b 87; e for #o# in streapeles b 42, sunderliche 24, vnsteaðeluest 5; i for #e# in drihtines 41, b 206; u for #i# in dimluker 43, greatluker b 157, monluker b 110, as in the Katherine group; #e# is lost in earst b 52, meidnes b 106, b 183, added in luðere 32, ȝiuere 92; #o# is lost in unbischpet 19. The prefix #ge# is i; #ǣr#, ear in earunder b 209; #æt# is ed b 178; #þǣr# is syncopated in þrin, þrinne, þrof, þron, þrefter, þruppe, forms characteristic of the Katherine group, found also in MSS. C, T, but not in N.

#w# is assimilated in frommard b 165; isehen b 62 descends from #gesegen#, not from #gesewen#. Metathesis of #r# is seen in iwraht b 24 (late North. #wroht#). #ll# is simplified in druncwile 105; #mm# in grim 62. #n# is lost in earunder b 209, and often in iþe 1, i 25 for #in#, o 7 for #on#; #nn# is simplified in monluker b 110. #p# is inserted in nempneð b 48: #bb# is simplified in neb b 54. #f# is regularly u between vowels, or vowel and liquid, biuoren 94, heaued 8, froure b 221, bearuot b 39, underueð 74, vnsteaðeluest 5, but lefunge 7; once v appears initially, vet b 42, but not u. #t# is doubled in hetter b 28, lost in best b 43, olhnin b 6; d for #t# occurs in ed b 121 &c., edhalden 13, b 73 (but ethalt 87), prude 30: #t# is assimilated in ȝisceunge 14, 16 (#gītsung#), ȝiscere 79: milce b 182 is #milts#, milci b 175 #miltsie#: #tt# is simplified in cat b 2. #d# has disappeared in mungunge b 52; it is doubled in foddre b 5: t for #d# appears in ontfule 31, worltlich 36, b 107, b 108 (but worldliche b 139): mið 53 is Anglian for mid: #dd# is simplified in bidest b 238. Initial #þ# often becomes t after t, d, te 5, 32, b 178, b 216, tis 83, teo b 179, ter b 196, but þe b 43, b 171, þah b 196, þat b 215; it is lost in forfearinde 29, d is written for it in edscene b 147, ladlich b 7, t in leste b 37. For #s#, ce appears in ȝisceunge 14, 16; ȝiscere 79 is #gītsere#: #sć# is regularly sch, schrift 19, schende b 52, weschen b 145, but ssch in dissches 93. The stop #c# is commonly written k before e, i, kemese b 83, kene 69, kimeð 94, awakenet 24, lokeð b 215, makien 48, rikenin 25, stikeð 92, and ck after another consonant in þonckið b 228, also in easkeð b 203, esken 79; in other positions c, cat b 2, com b 74, cumeð 41, locunge b 143, exceptions are kues b 5, kun b 72: ah 25 is Anglian #ah#, WS. #ac#: k is inserted as a glide sound in skleatteð 53; see Archiv cxxxi. 305. #č# is ch, chearre b 238, cwencheð b 165, brech b 41, iþench b 237, kealche 103, swuch b 18, but keorue b 34, keoruinde 65, conformed to #curfon, corfen#. #čč# is cch in wicche(creftes) 7; isticchet b 142 is a ME. formation descending from OE. #stiče#; contrast stikeð 92 (Bülbring § 499, anm. 5). #cw# is usually preserved, cwide 13, forecwidderes 57, but quoð b 76. Palatal #g# is regularly written ȝ, biȝete 12, ȝemeð 16; h is written for #g# in murhðe b 221, orhel 38, teoheði 12; #g# is lost in sygaldren 6; #čǧ# is gg, liggen b 28, seggen b 72. Initial #h# is lost in lahheð 97, lahtre 50, lud 38, lust 54, ring b 64; #hh# is simplified in laheð 83 and #h# doubled in crohhe 94 (#crōh#).

(2) =Of B.= The principal divergences from A are noted. Some of them are due to the scribe’s inexperience; his handling of the consonants in particular is confused. eo in eondfule 48 for o from #a# before length. group is a French writing; similar is neolden 89. #æ# is a in bras 103, inohraþe 42, hwat 9, nappes 94, þat 16, craftes 7. cwude 12 is from #cwyde#; liki 50 is a mistake for loki; #u# is o in open 64 (#uppan#); #y# is i in mint 97. In leouerð 49, eo is for o from #ā#; ea 53 represents #ā#, ever; comp. nea L 1552, 1555. #ǣ{1}# is a in agastan 57, ilad 4, 19, e in asnesen 68, hest 17, lesse 60, wredfule 32, ae (= æ) in aetri 31, ea in eawer 72, 99: #ǣnig# is ai 8, 15, ei 7. #ǣ{2}# is e in ilened 15, as generally in A.

#ea# before #r# + cons. is a in barm 70, e in bernes 74, sherpe 64, but sharpe 63, 66: #eo# before #r# + cons. is e, swerd 64, but sweordes 68. There is no å-umlaut in ateliche 57 (but eateliche 68), vnstaþelfast 5, fared 78, forfarinde 29, paþered 80, as in A: skletteð 53 is OWScand. sletta. #seofon# is sewe 28. #ēa# is e, drem 37, 75, reflac 14; #ēo# is also e in strenes 28, thehewen 12: #gief# is gif 9. #æ# + #g# gives mai 4, 25; #ā# + #w#, out 51, slauwe 70, slaþ 11 miswritten for slaw; #ǣ{1}# + #w#, areawe 32, slauþe 20, slouþe 10; #ēo# + #w#, trouþe 17. In syllables of minor stress a appears for #e#, bemares 36, galnasse 23, warpare 63; e for #æ#, ethalden 12, i for #u#, neominge 7; e for #ō#, te 15 &c., tegederes 79: #on# is a 74. e is often inserted medially between consonants, bolehed 85, iboregen 41, deoueles 42, deouelen 57, iugelurs 46, wigeled 96.

For #w#, u is written in uule 72. #l# is lost in fundes 12, #n# in cunen 46, druch 20. For #p#, b is written in unbischbed 17: #f# medial occurs in bifore 39, biforen 60, vnstaþelfast 5, but biuoren 62 as in A, deoules 70 and w for u in biworen 94, eawer 72, 99, giwere 105, keorwinde 64, 69, kniwes 62, underweng 73. For #t#, d appears in bihald 82, blend 80; #ts# is ss in gissere 78, gissunge 14, but giscunge 13; #d# is lost in an 25 (but and 86 and consequently ⁊ þe 31, 73); it is unaltered in ondfule 31, wondrede 76, worldlich 35, where A has t: t is written for #d# in hont 60, lauert 95, ð for #d#, leouerð 49; d is often written for #ð#, beod 19 &c., drahed 35, gemed 15, libbed 33, puffed 36, serued 34, shuled 52, slead 30, tutelid 71, wid 2, wredfule 32, wigeled 96, wurden 87; t for #þ#, fondet 29, gat 2, w for #þ#, thehewen 12, warwið 89. #sc# is regularly sh, dishes 93, shal 87, shruden 90, &c.: etheliche 76 is miswritten for echeliche; in richkeneres 81, k was added above as a correction of ch not deleted; #cw# is qu in forquiddares 56. g is used for #ġ#, agein 5, bigete 11, ge 1. cht for #ht# is frequent, drichtines 40, iplicht 17, richte 14; þ for #h# occurs in þwitel 89, th for #h# in þothten 38, for t in thehewen 12.

(3) =Of N.= For an account dealing with the whole of Morton’s text see Ostermann: the examples given in the following summary illustrate such differences as exist between N and A. Oral #a# is a, blasie 143 (#blase#, sb.), wasshen 124, wassheð 95; gledie 204 is influenced by #glæd#: #a# before nasals and length. groups is o; hwon 6, 87, seldwhonne 179 are the usual forms, but þeonne 5, 144, 181 by influence of heonne. #æ# is regularly e, keppen 38, veder 154, ueste 37, gledliche 168; occasionally ea, heater 29, readliche 77; a in hateren AR 104/24, later 151, was 3 (Bülbring, Ablaut 62), water 76, and the flexion forms baruot 34, warliche 127. #e# is e, blodbendes 64; raised to i before a palatal, sigge 110, 130, siggen 152 (South-Eastern and Kentish); u in stude 153, sullen 12, swuche 18 &c. #i# is i, but u in hwuder 103, wute 138, nute 107. #o# is o: #u# is u, kumeð 184: #y#, u, drunch 187, wurcheð 70. #ā# is regularly o, anon 69, boðe 105, mone 8, more 196, but oa in moare 154, woanes 19 (comp. woaning 2/15, 2/25); eo in beoðe 173, 182, and a in lates 127 (Scand. lát). #ǣ{1}# is regularly e, clene 22, eni 93, geð 100, wreððe 133, but ea in arearen 140, unweawed 119, heale 193. #ǣ{2}# is mostly e, leten 108, lete 19, but ea in heare 36, readeð 208, weaden 125, and a in hwarse 95, hwarto 126. The representation of #ǣ{1}# and #ǣ{2}# is therefore practically identical. #ē# is e; #ī#, i, but u in hwule 71, 198, ihwulen 73, swuðe 197, wummen 171: #ō# is o; #ū#, u; #ȳ#, u, hure 167, schruden 67, but ui, expressing length, in huire 6, 164, 205.

#ea# before #r# + cons. is mostly e, hermes 7, hermie 9, neruwure 189; before length. groups, herde 28, herdure 189, and a, after #w#, urommard 146, warme 25; in other conditions occasionally a, sparke AR 296/13, or ea, schearpe AR 82/11; a in warien 6 is to be explained as ea in wearien 60/6. #ea# before #l# + cons. is a, halue 174, before length. groups o, holden 177; the i-umlaut is seen in elde 100, helden 181. #eo# before #r# + cons. is mostly eo, heorden 28, leornen 79, but e in hercnen 73, werc, werke 70, werkes 62; to the #wur# group belongs forwurðen 77; #wyr# words are iwursed 174, wurðe AR 38/17: the i-umlaut is wanting in heordemonne 6. #eo# before #l# + cons. is u in sulf 32, suluen 189. The u- and å-umlauts of #a# are not represented. #eo#, u-umlaut of #e#, occurs in heouene 167, but worlde 206, worldliche 90, 115; #eo#, å-umlaut of #e#, in beoden 100, ueole 33: #eo#, u- and å-umlaut of #i#, in bicleoped 175, seolke 64, but hore 105, sustren 1, wike 172. #ea# after palatals is a, schal 27, 181, ischauen 84, ea in ȝeate 105, scheape 125, but often e, ȝet AR 74/12; schepieð 65 is from #sćeppan#. #ie# after #ġ# is i, ȝiue 155, 205, uorȝiueð 185, e in ȝelden 7, forȝelde 156: #gef# is ȝif 20 &c. #eo# after #ġ# is u, ȝungre 108; after #sć#, schule 66, schulde 72. #eom# is am 210, #heom#, ham 188. #ēa# is regularly ea, cheapeð 13, cheapild 12, cweadschipe 75, but e in chepmon 13, cheffare 11, gretluker 137, gretture 62; its i-umlaut is e in ȝeme 173, ȝemen 80, ȝemeleaste 175, leue 156, 193, misleue 165, but ea in dreamen 192. #ēo# is regularly eo, but e in seke 91, secnesse 93; the i-umlaut has e in nede adv. 9, but neode 20, neodeð 26. Palatalization after #ġ#, #sć# is absent in ȝere 83, schon 33. #gīeta# is ȝete 176; #gesīene# is represented in eðcene 126.

#a# + #g# is aw, dawes 88: auh 54 is the equivalent of Anglian #ah#, WS. #ac#. #æ# + #g# gives ei, deie 94, feir 100; muwe 163 is LWS. #muge# for earlier #mæge#. #e# + #g# is also ei, eilie 9, weie 100: seihtnesse 139 is #sæhtness#. #o# + #g#, bitowen 198: #o# + #h#, iwrouhte 25. #u# + #g#, muwen 37, 67. #ā# + #g#, owen 167, owune 67, 190: #ā# + #h#, ouh 10, 80, ouhte 163, louh 121, lowe 118, louwe 131, nouhwuder 103. #ǣ{1}# + #h#, eihte 3, 8. #ī# + #g#, iueied 149, iheid 206. #ō# + #g#, inouh 36, 210, þouht 10. #ea# + #h#, muhte 116. #ie# + #h#, nihtes 22, isihð 23, 71, 140: lauhwen 115 corresponds to lahhen in A. #eo# + #h#, rihte 136. #ēa# + #g#, deih 56, eien 54, heie 168, 176: #ēa# + #h#, neih 72, heie 118, but þauh 7 &c., as if from þah > *#þĕah#. #ēo# + #g#, drieð 205. #īe# + #h#, nexst 27. #ā# + #w#, nout 10, nouhtunge 145, nouðer 112, 159, but drawe 11, itauwed 25 (forms from the scribe’s exemplar), iseie 116. #ō# + #w#, touward 71, 112, 199. #ēa# + #w#, þeaufule 89. #ēo# + #w#, four 83, our 91, ower 175, seouweð 65.

#Swā# is so 62 &c., once se 187, and in composition hwo se 29, hwer se 60. For #e#, a is written in demare 176, for on in akneon 129; for #o#, e in strapeles 37; e is added in heuede 197, sunegeð 174, ȝeorneliche 177, u in gretture 62, herdure, neruwure 189: in contrast with A, syncope is rare. The suffix #-lēas# is unchanged in wimpelleas 37.

#w# is assimilated in urommard 146, uppard AR 216/28. iwrouhte 25, corresponding to iwraht in A, has metathesis of #r#. #ll# is simplified in griðfulnesse 4; for #l#, r appears in irspiles 30. Final #n# is lost in iðe 83, o 141, but it is otherwise very regularly retained; it is simplified in monluker 93. #f# is kept in the combinations fd, ff, fs, ft, lefdi 208, cheffare 11, ofte 19, lufsumere 54; as a final, strif 134; initially after a word ending in a voiceless sound, foddre 5, fondunge 74, forwurðen 77 (with exceptions at 54, 90, 150, 172); also before u, ful 36, fur 142, 146, þeaufule 89, to avoid uu. Otherwise it is u, v, at the beginning of a sentence, Vor 5, Uorði 23; after a syntactical pause, vor 72, 94; after a word ending in a voiced sound, uet 37, ueond 69, or a liquid, uor 69, ueste 124, uere 110; or medially, iuestned 10, luuien 180. But f is exceptionally written sometimes after d, for 14, four 83, especially after and 147, 156, 204, 209, where the exemplar had ant, as well as in flesshes 74: #of# is shortened to o 195, 208; w is written for u in unweawed 119. #ts# is c in milce 157, 165. #þ# is assimilated in ette 160, but and te 189 is due to ant te in the scribe’s exemplar; #þ# is d in lodlich 7. For #s#, c is written in eðcene 126: #sć# is initially sch, schal 27, schon 33, medially ssh in flesshes 74, wasshen 124, but fleshe 27. #c# [k] is c before consonants, clene 22, hercnen 73, but akneon 129, iknotted 36, iknowed 185; k is regular before e and i, keppen 38, makien 129, and as frequent as c before other vowel sounds, kat 2, kom 75, kume 102. #č# is ch, but ecchenesse 207: istihd 119 is miswritten for istichd. Palatal #g# is regularly written ȝ; #rg# is rw in midmorwen 162; #ng# is nc in strencðe 18; #čǧ# is gg, liggen 29, sigge 110. #hs# is written xs in nexst 27.

(4) =Of T and C.= According to the careful investigation of Mühe, MS. T exhibits a varying mixture of Anglian and Southern forms, the former being predominant. MS. C differs in no main feature from A. As in the Lambeth MS. of the PM (317/6) ch for #h# is frequent, olchni 6, þocht, nawicht 10, iwracht 25, þach 53, echnen 54; noteworthy is the interpolated y sound in muchȝen 67 (#mugon#), sechȝe 116, lachȝe, hechȝe 118, iueiȝet 149 &c.

#Accidence:# (1) =of A.= Strong declension of masc. and neut. nouns. In the s. n. sune b 231 represents #sunu#. Gen. -es, gastes b 165, bearnes 75: d. -e, bedde b 25, bure b 186, chearre b 238, hame b 122 (WS. #hām#), but the inflection is wanting in more than half the instances, clað b 23, hus b 148, &c. The pl. n. a. of masculines ends in -es, bemeres 36, brondes b 161, but scheos b 39, and schon b 38, a weak form: neuters, with the exception of word 65, have taken the masc. termination, felles b 24, b 31, gomenes b 218, þinges b 140, werkes 62, wordes 96, &c., or have joined the weak declension, beoden b 124, b 206, deoflen 58, 67, sygaldren 6: wa b 186, pl. a. is indeclinable: genitives are cunne b 30, englene 39, 76, þinge b 200; datives have mostly -es, breres b 32, streones 5 and 19 others, but beoden b 237, cneon b 150 (Mercian #cnēom#), ȝeten b 128, siðen b 19, b 101; mel b 177, þing b 129 are acc. in form. The fem. nouns of the strong declension have -e in the s. n., fulðe b 113, hure b 184, neode b 17, b 202, þuftene b 123; exceptions are heast 18, b 115 (#hǣs#), neod b 1, b 20, b 217, þuften b 119; the acc. also has -e. Gen. -e, helle 76, heorte 86: dat. -e, honde b 121, worlde b 234, sawle b 175, b 176, but uninflected half 40, 52, help b 75, hond 34, 95, luft 52, world 40, b 234. Pl. n. are teolunges 6, esken 85, weden b 146; d., esken 79, honden b 14, sunnen 21, talen b 106, wunden b 198, sawles b 176; a. ahte b 3, kemese b 83, leasunges b 140, secnesses b 36, glouen b 65, honden b 29, spechen b 139, sunnen 24, talen b 137. The extension of the weak declension at the expense of the strong is Southern. Nouns of the weak declension have -e in all cases of the singular; exception, leafdi s. a. b 235. Pl. n. are neddren, tadden 88, ancres b 188, leafdis b 46, b 79; pl. d. bemen 39, 76, cappen b 45, earen b 206, ehnen 48, b 63, heorden b 27, hosen b 39, nomen 25; pl. a. earen 54, b 136, blodbinde, huue b 69, teone b 187 (Anglian absence of n). The minor declensions are represented by vet s. d. b 42; wummon s. n. b 41, monnes s. g. b 58, wepmonnes b 56, mon s. d. b 220, chapmon b 12, wummon b 47, s. a. b 21, cunnesmon b 144, men pl. n. 99, monne pl. g. b 15, b 70, wummone b 194, heordemonne b 5, wepmen pl. d. b 97; boc s. d. b 223, (o)boke b 134; brech pl. a. b 41; kues s. g. b 5; niht pl. n. b 215; feader s. n. b 173; broðer s. n. b 75, breðer s. d. b 76; moder s. n. 21; dohter s. n. b 52, dehtren pl. n. b 15; suster s. n. b 4, sustren pl. n. b 1, b 232, sustres ?pl. g. b 208; child s. n. 22, godchild s. a. 20, childrene pl. g. b 96; feondes s. g. 92, feond s. d. 34, 63, b 159; hettren pl. a. b 70 (#hæteru#): hetter s. d. b 28 is a ME. formation.

Adjectives which in OE. end in e retain that termination in all cases, as cleane b 21, softe b 198, swete b 43. Instances of weak inflections are s. n. eadmode b 119, fleschliche b 75, hehe b 185, swote b 43; g. sunfule b 51; d. dredfule 76, grurefule 40, hehe b 192, wide 103; a. greate 97, ondfule 50, rihte 15: a solitary strong inflection is linnene s. a. m. b 26. All other adjectives are uninflected in the singular, as ful b 93, heh b 186, riht 51. Those in #-ig# lose g, almihti b 231, attri 12; druncwile 105 represents #druncwillen#; lute b 116, #lȳtel#; #mycel# is mostly muche, but s. n. muchel b 18 (3); d. muchele 60, b 225; a. b 226; pl. a. 80: #āgen# gives s. n. ahne b 61; g. ahnes b 207; d. ahne b 205; pl. n. 57. The pl. ends in e, bĭsie b 121, idele b 137; exceptions are hāli b 14, idel b 87. OE. #āna# is ane b 2 &c.; #ān# is an, a; s. g. anes 14: #nān# is nan, na; s. g. nanes 51; pl. a. nane b 68, b 137, b 218. Adjectives used as nouns are inflected, as s. gode b 238, idele 74, nearewe b 204, slawe 71, wide b 205, wreaðfule 63, wurse 56; pl. neodfule 90, ontfule 31, prude 30, wreaðfule 32; exceptions are ȝemeles (predicative) 10, 12, god 53, 73: feorle 100 represents #fǣrlic#. Comparatives end regularly in e, lufsumre b 64, except dimluker 43, greatluker b 157: of superlatives only leaste b 188 is inflected.

The personal pronouns are ich, me, us, þu, þe, ȝe, ow b 37, b 196. The pron. of the third person is s. n. he m. 66, ha f. b 4 &c., heo b 127, hit neut. 5; d. him m. 88; a. him m. 69, hire f. b 89, hit neut. b 2; pl. n. ha 33, 51, 53, b 147, b 191, heo b 143, b 149; d. ham 4; a. 58 &c. Reflexives are ow b 106, ow seoluen b 85, him 27, him seolf 81, b 208, him seoluen b 234, hire b 30, b 33, hire seolf b 32, ham b 166, b 170, ham seolf b 138, b 194: definitive is ham seolf 59: possessives are mi s. b 91, mine pl. 99, b 1, b 232, þin b 162, ure b 173, ower b 1 &c., his 11, hire b 9, hare pl. 5 &c. The definite article is mostly þe, te after t; inflected forms are þet s. a. neut. b 205, þer s. d. f. b 155, þen s. d. neut., in ear þen b 126. Þet is used demonstratively 52, 53, 54, b 152, þet ilke b 152, b 153, b 161: the article is also used pronominally in þeo þe, those who b 86, which 25, þeo, that one b 122, teo, those b 179: þer buten, without that, b 103. The compound demonstrative is þes s. n. m. 74, þeos s. n. f. b 117, þis 82, þis s. n. neut. b 158, s. d. f. b 223, s. a. neut. b 188, tis 83, þes pl. n. 81, þeos 20, 56, þeose pl. d. 28, 43, b 115, pl. a. 97. The relatives are þe, þet b 126; þe sometimes means he who 11, she who 21, b 103. Interrogative is hwuch 9; its correlative is swuch b 18, b 65, b 146; #ilca# is ilke b 152; #þyllic#, þullich 104, þulliche pl. 3, 20. Indefinites are hwa se 15, hwam se d. 73, hwet se b 183; me 16, b 7; sum 27, summe pl. 47, b 46; eiðer 53 &c.; oðres s. g. 14, oþer s. d. 8, 47, oþre 66, b 239, pl. n. 26, oðer pl. g. b 15; oðerhwet b 177; euch 34, euche s. d. b 188, b 223; #ǣnig# is mostly ei 8 &c., but eani 8, b 111, b 213; nowðer b 48; eawt 52, nawt b 15, b 89; monie pl. 80, b 168; al s. n. a. 82, 72, alle s. g. b 207, s. d. b 149, pl. n. 20, d. 7, a. 24, mid alle b 20.

Three-fourths of the infinitives end in -en; those of the second weak conjugation mostly in -ien, as makien, þolien; with -in are bemin 43, grennin 59, hungrin 99, lokin 51, b 145, rikenin 25, 82, schawin 38 and the ME. niuelin 59, olhnin b 6, toggin b 145, wimplin b 51; with -i, teoheði 12; with -e, cume b 90, drahe b 53, forwurðe b 95, habbe b 2, teache 19, wrenche 48; contract verbs are underuon b 100, wreon b 50. The dat. inf. is inflected in forte donne b 227, to witene 17. Presents are s. 1. bidde b 237, hopie b 224; 2. hudest, sist b 57; 3. attreð b 80, bodeð 66, forms in -ið are þreatið 97, winkið 51, contract verbs, sið b 89, b 159, sleað 30, contracted forms, being about one-fifth of the total number of 3rd presents, bihalt 83, 97, ethalt 87, blent 82, buð b 11, b 187, hat b 135, leið 72, b 152, lið 71, b 93, punt b 6, seið 89, send b 127, understont 83, went b 204; pl. 2. dreheð b 233, feleð b 111, makieð b 80; 3. bihateð b 201, bodieð 57, makieð 38, in -ið, awakenið b 61, leornið 61, sungið b 46, b 191; also seoð b 22: subjunctive s. 3. arise b 55, beate b 31; in -i, biblodgi b 32, binetli b 33, easki b 78, eili b 9, frouri b 232, hearmi b 9, milci b 175; in -ie, bleasie b 162, gleadie b 232, makie b 18, b 155, b 217, trukie b 183; from contract verbs, seo b 143, wreo b 54; pl. cussen b 156, dreden b 196, heatien b 141, makien b 150, plohien b 218, þolien b 43; in -in, bemin b 206, lokin b 147; with apocope of n, ȝeoue b 131, segge b 172, ticki b 219; from contract verb, underuon b 151, underuo b 130: imperative s. 2. ȝef 104, ȝeot 103, loki b 9; pl. 2. ariseð 40, schurteð b 106, schapieð b 70, seowið b 70, talkið b 105, þonckið b 228, forȝeoued b 200, driue ȝe b 11, fondi(n), leue ȝe b 36, makie ȝe b 67, b 80, wite ȝe b 15, gruchesi ȝe b 177. Past of Strong Verbs: I a. s. 3. quoð b 76; subj. s. 3. sehe b 139: I b. s. 3. com b 74, b 93: I c. s. 3. dronc 21, swonc b 236: V. pl. 2. edheolden, underuengen b 73. Participles present: I c. keoruinde 65, 69, singinde b 124: II. bitinde b 199: III. lutinde b 152: IV. drahinde 45, forfearinde 29: V. wallinde 103; past: I a. isehen b 62: I b. iboren b 213, ibroken b 21, utnume adj. b 221: I c. iborhen 42, icoruen b 141, fordrunke adj. 96, ilumpen b 19: II. iwritene 28: II, III. bitohe b 225: III. bilokene 26: IV. ischauen b 101, isleine 33: V. edhalden b 215, ileten b 103, ilete b 104. Past of Weak Verbs: s. 1. cleopede 9, hefde b 225, seide b 117; 3. schende b 52, gulte b 157, tahte b 75, ondswerede b 76; pl. 3. liueden b 14, þohten 39. Participles present: suhinde b 199, wundrinde b 76; past: awakenet 24, biburiet b 76 and 28 others in -t, ilead 4, igurd b 28, istreonede 23, iturnde b 147, ontende b 168 and six others in -d. Minor Groups: nat 1 pr. s. 3, wat pr. s. b 7, nat 10, wite pr. s. subj. b 226, nute b 130, witen pr. pl. subj. b 158; ah pr. s. 17, ahen pr. pl. b 184, ahte pt. s. b 181 (with present meaning); duhen inf. b 59, deh pr. s. b 66; con pr. s. b 134, cunnen pr. pl. 47, b 171; schal pr. s. 42, schulen 2 pr. pl. b 28, schule 99, b 105, b 191, schulen pr. pl. 58, 89, schule ȝe 2 s. imp. b 71, schulde 1 pt. s. b 90, pt. s. 22; mei pr. s. 4, mahen 2 pr. pl. b 29, b 85 (4), pr. pl. 50, b 79, mahe pr. s. subj. b 148, b 180, muhen 2 pr. pl. subj. b 44, mahte pt. s. 25, b 140, b 213; mot pr. s. b 5, mote pr. s. subj. b 208; beon inf. 4 (9), beo b 4 (4), to beonne dat. inf. b 195, beonne b 74, forte beon 41, am 1 pr. s. b 236, is pr. s. 2, nis 5, beoð 2 pr. pl. b 104, b 223, pr. pl. 3, 20, 26, beo pr. s. subj. b 9 (9), beon 2 pr. pl. subj. b 203, pr. pl. subj. b 38 (5), beoð 2 pl. imp. b 45 (3), beo ȝe b 86, wes pt. s. b 3, were pt. s. subj. b 96; wule pr. s. b 53, b 160, wulleð 2 pr. pl. b 101, b 113, b 205, wule pr. s. subj. 72, b 27, wullen 2 pr. pl. subj. b 45, nalde pt. s. 90, walden pt. pl. 42; don inf. b 22 (3), do b 226, forte donne dat. inf. b 227, to fordonne 30, dest 2 pr. s. b 60, deð pr. s. 50 (3), doð 2 pr. pl. b 67, b 227, pr. pl. 38, 82, do pr. s. subj. b 154, don pr. pl. subj. b 180, b 205, dude pt. s. 22, idon pp. b 176; gan inf. 19, b 39, geað pr. s. b 124, gað 2 pr. pl. 1, 2 pl. imp. b 210, ga pr. s. subj. b 124, b 126, b 129, aga b 160.

(2) =Of B.= This differs from A in being somewhat more fully inflected: divergences from A are noted. londe 2, schrifte 18 have dative inflection; domes 40 is probably a mistake for dome; sunnen 26, earen 71 are s. d.: þes 82, 92 is s. g. m. of the article, þen 103 s. d. m., 32 pl. d.: ha 60 is probably miswritten for hare. In the inflection of the verbs i is occasionally found, skirmin inf. 66, seruin 46, seruid pr. s. 48, tutelid pr. s. 71, shuli inf. 47, liki (loki) 50: other noteworthy forms are agastan 57, a survival, maken 47 inf. of the second weak conjugation, ablent 84 contracted pr. s., bitahted 15 pp.

(3) =Of N.= The inflections are generally better preserved than in A. Strong masculine and neuter nouns have -e in the dat. sing., deie 94, weie 100 &c.; exceptions are cloð, drunch 187: mele 158, þinge 90 are pl. d., blodbendes 64, pl. a. Of the strong feminines n. s. are neode 20, seihtnesse 139; s. d. ȝemeleaste 175, halue 174, hwule 198; s. a. hwule 21, 71, leasunge 117, ?mone 8; pl. d. soulen 157; pl. a. eihte 3: weak is ancren n. pl. 171. In the minor declensions ueonde 139 is s. d., monne 9, 109, 124, pl. d. The adjectives godere 182, heie 168 are s. d. f., sorie 91, pl. n., worldliche 90, pl. d. #ān# is on, o 138, g. ones 193, d. one 94, 208, on 29, a. one 22; #nān#, non 27, no 23, g. none[s] weis 3, a. m. nenne 20, 23, 108, no 27, a. f. none 11, 101, a. neut. no 11; pl. d. none 9, 109, 124: #āgen# is represented by owune s. d. 67, 190. The n. s. f. of the pronoun of the third person is heo: possessive mine 73 is a. s. f.: #ēower# is our 91, ower 175, #heora#, hore 105. Inflections of the article are s. n. þe m., þe f., þet neut. 140, d. þer f. 130, 170, a. þene m. 6 (4), þeo f. 21, 71; pl. a. þeo 88. The compound demonstrative has s. d. f. þisse 195, 208, s. a. f. þeos 209. The relative is þet; swuche 18, 92, 125 is s. d., sume 140, s. a. f., 90, pl. d.; ueole pl. a. 33; eueriche 195, s. d. m.; #ǣnig# is eni 8, 93.

Infinitives end in -en, those of the second weak conjugation mostly in -ien, but loken 124; forms in -in, -i are absent. An inflected infinitive is forto donne 199, in other cases the simple form is preceded by uorto, uorte, for to, except to schruden 67. Inflected forms with -i are not found in any part of the verb. The contract verb #sēon# gives isihð pr. s. 23, 71, 140: contracted forms of the pr. s. occur about as frequently as in A: the pr. pl. ends in -eð, drieð 205, sunegeð 174, but iseoð 23; the pr. subj. ends in -e, -en, eilie 9, gledie 204, hermie 9, milce 157, sigge 130, siggen 152, but iseo 119. Past of Strong Verbs: I a. iseie subj. s. 3. 116: II. wrot s. 3. 209. Participles present: I c. singinde 100: II. bitinde 183: III. lutende 131; past: I a. iseien 53: I b. ikumen 19: II, III. bitowen 198. Past of Weak Verbs: heuede 1 pt. s. 197. Inflected past participles are isette a. s. f. 164, iwrouhte pl. 25. Minor Groups: wot pr. s. 198, wat 7, wute ȝe imp. pl. 138 (Anglian); ouh pr. s. 10, 80, owen pr. pl. 167, ouhte pt. s. 163; deih pr. s. 56; schullen 2 pr. pl. 29, schulen 87, 175; muwe pr. s. subj. 163, muwen 2 pr. pl. subj. 37, 67, muhte pt. s. 116; beon inf. 4, pr. pl. subj. 24, to beon dat. inf. 179, was pt. s. 3; uorto don dat. inf. 199, don 2 pr. pl. subj. 62; uorto gon dat. inf. 34, geð pr. s. 100, go pr. s. subj. 100 (4).

(4) =Of T=: mainly a statement of divergences from A. In the strong declension of masc. and neut. nouns, wede s. n. 125 represents OE. #gewǣde#; heordes 6 is s. g. As in A, the dat. sing. is mostly uninflected, but ȝate 105, hame 98, rihte 164, tune 109. schon 33 is a weak n. pl., beodes n. pl. 192, a. pl. 100 has masc. termination, þinge 184 is pl. g.; datives have mostly -es, -s, cneos 129, 135, giltes 150, wahes 19, but siðe 19, 83, þinge 117; meal 158, þing 106, 188 are acc. in form. Strong declension of fem. nouns: somentale n. s. 139 represents #-talu#; dat. -e, lokinge 18, but uninflected are hond 97 (#hond#), rest 92; acc. -e, without exception: fondinges 74 pl. n. has masc. termination, tales 89 is pl. d., acc. are gloues 56, leasinges 117, speches 115, tales 114, ahte 3. Nouns of the weak declension are s. g. ancres 8 (4), chirches 66, schirches 32 (= chirches), d. deme 176, eare 192, fere 110, anker 165, lauedi 155, lafdi 112; pl. n. ancres 171, d. ehne 54, hose 35, heordes 28, a. cappes 38, eares 112. The tendency to substitute the terminations of the strong declension for those of the weak is Midland. In the minor declensions namon 9 is s. d.; sustre 204, pl. n.; childrene 78, pl. g.

An adjective inflected in the sing. is hehe 176: plurals have -e, with the exception of bisi 97, idel 69, sari 91: pl. a. is nane 115. Beside ich 86 (3), i occurs 72 as pers. pronoun. The n. s. f. and n. pl. of the pronoun of the third person is ho 4, 122; hom 167 is miswritten for ho; #heora# is hare 125, 127, hore 126. The relative pronoun is þat: the demonstrative #þā#, those, is seen in (⁊) ta 68, 161: the indef. is mon 8 (5); hwat as noun occurs at 145, 159; #āwiht# is oht 208; alle is s. d. 128, pl. d. 116.

Infinitives are divided equally between -en and -e; those in -ien are hatien 117, þolien 87, 169, in -ie, werie 27, but loke 124; forms with -in, -i are absent. Dative infinitives are for to biginnen 199, for to puffen 143, to habben 56, with four others in -en; to breke 20, to haue 11, to lose 94, to reare 140. The 3rd pr. s. ends in -es, askes 188, blawes 190, and 32 others, none being contracted forms, but lis 76, seos 71, 140, and bueð 170; the 3rd pr. pl. in -en, bihaten 186, hauen 208, and 13 others, but suneheþ 174; the subjunctive pr. s. in -e, blawe 148, cume 102, blodeke 32, eile 9, like 35, make 135, but blasie 143, gladie 204, trukie 166, werie 27, seo 23, pl. in -en, bemen 192, hauen 66, nabben 106, halden 202 (but halde 147), luuien 180, makien 129; imperative s. 2. in -e, loke 9, were 30, pl. in -es, biddes 201, haues 21, habbes 26 and twelve others, driue ȝe 12, gruse ȝe 158, &c. Past of Strong Verbs: I a. subj. s. 3. sehe 116: I c. s. 3. swanc 210: III. pl. 2. drehden 205, a weak form; comp. HM 37/6. Participles present: II. bitende 183: III. lutende 131; past: II, III. bitohen 198: V. bifallen 19, ileten 85, 87. Past of Weak Verbs: s. 1. hafde 197. Participles present: seiende 100, suhiende 184; past: bicleopet 175, iset 164, ifest 149 and 8 others in -t, idodded 83, ilaced 37, iturnde 126, gurd 30, red 208, icnotten 36. Minor Groups: duhen inf. 24, deah pr. s. 56; cunnen pr. pl. 172, cunen 152; schule 2 pr. pl. 175, schuln 29, schule pr. pl. 122; mai pr. s. 4, muhen 2 pr. pl. 67, 89, 173; beon inf. 53, 196, beo 4 (6), to beon dat. inf. 179, arn 2 pr. pl. 87 (5), pr. pl. beon 126, 147, 149, beos 97, beo pr. s. subj. 148, 206, beon 2 pr. pl. subj. 189, pr. pl. subj. 33, 105, beos 2 pl. imp. 188, 201, beo ȝe 69, was pt. s. 3, were pt. s. subj. 198; wile pr. s. 28, 168, nule 29, wiln 2 pr. pl. 96, 191; don inf. 89, for to donne dat. inf. 199, to do 199, dos pr. s. 142, 189, don 2 pr. pl. 200, 201, pr. pl. 129, 157, 2 pr. pl. subj. 62, do 191, idon pp. 157; to gan dat. inf. 34, gas pr. s. 100, ga pr. s. subj. 100, 141. The termination of ladli adj. 7, gladli adv. 168, nomeli 149 is due to Scand. -ligr, -liga; nedinge 9 represents OE. #nēadinga#; wið prep. 20, 22 (in N mid), ni conj. 55 &c., and til conj. 172 are noteworthy.

(5) =Of C.= This differs little from A. Nouns of the weak declension are ancres s. g. 8, blodbinden pl. a. 64. The pronoun of the third person s. n. f., pl. n. is ha 4, 122. While the pr. s. of the verb regularly ends in -eð, makes 8, 20 survives from the Midland original; so too don 2 pr. pl. 200 beside doð 201, beon 126, 149. iburð pr. s. impers. 56, befits, represents OE. #gebyreþ#; other verbal forms are sechȝe pt. s. subj. 116, segginde pres. p. 100, nach for ne ah pr. s. 80, achȝen pr. pl. 167, muchȝen 2 pr. pl. 67, muȝen 92, wullet 2 pr. pl. 96, 191 beside wulled 84, wullen 38. The adv. nedunge 9 represents OE. #nēadunga#.

#Vocabulary:# The Scandinavian element is large: ai T 206, arn T 87 &c., blast T 144, eskibah 79, flutte b 182, geineð b 163, grið(fullnesse) b 4, hesmel N 118, lah b 143, lahe b 152, lane 13, lastunge 56, lates b 147, meoke b 38, b 66, nai b 48, b 76, riue b 83, riueð b 82, riuunges b 83, sahtnesse b 158, (but seih[t]nesse N is English), scale 95, semes T 3, skile b 118, skleatteð 53, tiþinges NT 114, tidinges b 138, C 114, til TC 172, wanes b 19, warpere 64, warpeð 66 (worpare, worpeð N are English), windowe b 59, wontreaðe 76, wursnet T 174: probably baðe T 105, T 156, T 187, brendes C 141, hird B 33, hwitel 89, lustni b 90, lustnen T 73, meaðeleð 73, 96, rukelin 80, rukeleð 86, ruken 81, somen (tale) T 139, suhinde b 199, suhiende T 184, suwinde N 184, umben b 229, TC 201: possibly dusten 68, glopnen T 56/58. The French element is very extensive; many of the words appear for the first time: accidie 11, amendeð N 65, mendið b 70, amices b 78, angoise 60, apostle b 50, atiffi b 63, untiffet b 64, tiffunge b 53, aturn b 146, augrim 81, best N 2, beastes 28, boistes b 16, broche b 65, caliz C N 17, chaliz T 17, canges 82, celer 92, change b 222, ichanget b 117, chartres b 16, cheres 48, complie b 179, criblin b 81, curt 34, cuuertur 89, cyrograffes b 17, dame b 129, (deuleset TC 198), disceplines b 35, dute N 79, eise b 187, eise b 223, eoli b 197 (Bonn. Beitr. xv. 110), familiers T 113, figures 81, folliche 18, frut b 177, gloire b 80, glutun 92, grace b 174, graces b 171, greueð b 105, gruchunge b 135, haire T 36, hurte b 214, hurten b 213, inobedience 6, iuglurs 47, large b 203, laz b 69, ilacet b 42, leattres b 99, leon B 30 liun 30, manciple 92, mantel C 120, imantlet C 121, meistre b 2, imembret b 65, meoster 35 mester B 48, mustreisun b 80, noise 38, obedient b 129, ore 7, parures b 79, penitence b 169, poure b 70, pouerte b 114, prophetes 57, religiun b 74, riwle b 116, rund b 59, sacrement 8, scoren b 16, scurge b 32 schurge N 31, seinte C 46, semblant 60, seruant b 181, seruin 47, seruise 43, silence b 180, skirmi 67, sot(schipe) b 111, spece 5, stamin b 27, strif b 154, isturbed N 163 isturbet b 181, suffreð N 205, surpliz b 66, taueles b 82, temptaciuns b 35, tendre b 73, terme 15, tohurten b 164, triccherie 17, vnicorne 32, ures b 135, vampez b 40, veiles b 45, veine b 80, uestemenz b 17. Latin borrowings are auez b 134 auees C 111, cuchene 93 (pre-Conquest), false 6, falsliche 19, paternostres b 134, presumptio 9, purses b 68, scapeloris C 120, unbischpet 19, venie b 150.

#Dialect:# The AR has hitherto been generally regarded as Southern, partly because of the prevailing Southern dialect of the manuscript printed by Morton, and partly because of the fancied connexion of the treatise with Tarrant Kaines in Dorsetshire. But the presence of Midland and Northern forms to a greater or less extent in all the manuscripts, although four of them at least were written by Southern scribes, points to the Northern border of the Midland area as the home of the original, while the large Scandinavian element in the vocabulary and the absence of the characteristic u in unaccented final syllables (-ud, -un, -us, -ut) decide for the East against the West Midland. MS. N is a copy made by a scribe of the Middle South; his alterations of the inflections are systematic, but with occasional lapses like timbrin Morton, 12/24, blescið 18/11, seihtni 28/19, kalenges tu 54/2, wenes tu 54/5 (beside wenest tu 54/20), muhtes 304/13 (but muhtest 270/3) &c.; more frequently he copies Anglian sounds from his exemplar. He also substitutes, as far as he can, English and French words for Scandinavian, e. g. hercnen 73 for lustnin, yet he retains such purely Northern elements as suwinde 184, and the suffix in godleic Morton, 136/15, ureoleic 192/25. Peculiar to the scribe are his representations of #a# + #h#, #ā# + #h#, #ō# + #w# (touward occurs in Layamon). MS. A presents the characteristic features of the Katherine Group; it is a copy by a scribe of the Northern border of the South. The Midland element in its sounds is considerable, but the inflection is mainly Southern; the u- and å-umlauts of #a# appear to be due to the scribe and not to the original. MS. B is closely related to A, but it is somewhat more Southern in preservation of the inflections; the scribe was more accustomed to French than to English. MS. C also closely resembles A, but in the flexion North-Midland forms appear more often by inadvertence. In MS. T, both sounds and inflections are predominantly Midland: still in other parts of the manuscript the Southern element is more evident than in our extract. This manuscript stands nearest in dialect to the original; it appears to be a copy of a North-Midland text made by a scribe not long enough resident in the Midland area to have quite forgotten his native Southern speech.

#Style:# MS. N is not only the most remote from the original in dialect, it has also been altered in language more than the others, partly from a desire to make the meaning plainer, partly from a dislike of any singularity of expression. The changes made may be classified as i. insertion of connecting particles, ‘and,’ ‘vor,’ ‘þeonne,’ N 144 &c.; ‘so uorð so’ in A is altered into ‘uor so’ Morton, 136/13: ii. expansions like ‘ȝe habbeð’ N 95, ‘he nout’ N 101, ‘to þer eorðe’ N 130, ‘þeo þinges’ N 160: iii. re-arrangement of words in a prose order, ‘kume hom’ N 102, ‘so’ N 115, ‘dreamen wel’ N 192: iv. substitution of nouns for pronouns, ‘nenne mon’ N 23; the writer has a peculiar affection for the word mon, so, ‘ase deð, among moni mon, sum uniseli ancre,’ Morton 128/23, where A has ‘monie’ without noun: v. elimination of words and expressions used in a figurative way, ‘hit is’ N 99 for ‘driueð,’ ‘kumeð--heouene’ N 170, destroying the alliteration. These alterations have tended to obscure the peculiar rhythmic movement of the prose, which was a feature of the original as of Sawles Warde, the Katherine Group, Hali Meidenhad and some smaller pieces. It is discernible in the other manuscripts, especially in elevated passages, as b 182-7, b 205-8, b 231-5, and the scribe of MS. A often shows by his punctuation that he recognized its existence.

#Introduction:# The Ancren Riwle, as it was called by Morton, the Ancrene Wisse (the Anchoresses’ Guide) as its title is in MS. A, was written for the instruction of three sisters, ‘gentile wummen,’ of whom the author says ‘ine blostme of ower ȝuweðe, uorheten alle worldes blissen ⁊ bicomen ancren’ (Morton, 192). Their dwelling is under the eaves of a church, they are ‘under chirche iancred’ (M. 142); there is but a wall between them and the Host (M. 262). They live in separate cells, for they send messages to one another by their attendant maids (M. 256), and they are fully provided for, ‘euerich of ou haueð of one ureond al þet hire is neod[;] ne þerf þet meiden sechen nouðer bread ne suuel, fur þene et his halle’ (M. 192). They are greatly beloved, ‘vor godleic ⁊ for ureoleic iȝerned of monie’ (M. 192); their whole life in so strict an order is as a martyrdom, ‘ȝe beoð niht ⁊ dei upe Godes rode’ (M. 348).

As they were not subject in their anchorhold to any recognized monastic rule, they sought some regulations for their way of life, and the treatise they received is represented, so far as the matter is concerned, best by MS. N. But a book so helpful was certain to be copied for the use of other anchorites, with suitable adaptations and possibly additions; such a copy is MS. A, made a considerable time after the original. It omits the important reference to the author, found only in MS. N, wherein he speaks of the practice of the lay brothers of the community to which he belonged (Morton, 24), the word ‘leawude’ in ‘ure leawude breðren’ (M. 412/8), and the passage addressed by the author to the ladies for whom the book was composed (M. 192) containing the biographical details quoted above: of the numerous additions the most interesting is that in which reference is made to the general adoption of the rule by anchoresses all over England, with such unanimity that it is as though they were all gathered within the walls of one convent at London, Oxford, Shrewsbury, or Chester (M. L. Review, ix. 470). As MS. T is imperfect at the beginning, its first leaf corresponding to Morton, p. 44, it cannot be known whether it left out the first passage (Morton, 24) mentioned above, but it does omit the second passage (Morton, 192), and further eliminates commendatory references to the sisters found in Morton, 48/2-4, 50/20-24; it is therefore adapted like A. So too is the French version; it contains some of the additions of A, and is subsequent to it. A third stage is reached when the book is recognized as profitable reading for others who are not anchorites, for nuns, as in the Latin version of MS. M, in which the first ritual part is abridged and the last wholly left out as inapplicable to those who have a definite rule of their own, such as the Cistercian sisters at Tarent, for whom Simon of Ghent may well have executed this translation. Similarly the extracts of MS. B were probably made for the use of seculars.

Hitherto no plausible guess as to the author has been made. Simon of Ghent, who died in 1315 A.D., is manifestly out of the question. Bishop Poor (d. 1237) has been drawn in solely because of his connexion with Tarent (Dugdale, v. 619), of which he was the principal benefactor. From internal evidence it may be gathered that the writer was a disciple of S. Bernard (1091-1153), whom he quotes some twelve times expressly, and from whose Liber Sententiarum he says he takes most of his sixth book; ‘hit is almest Seint Beornardes Sentence,’ Morton, 348/14. He was acquainted with Ailred of Rievaulx and with the treatise which Ailred wrote for his sister the anchoress (Morton, 368), of which he made extensive use. He belonged to some monastic order, for he speaks of ‘vre leawede breþren,’ and ‘ure ordre’ (Morton, 24). He appears to have been acquainted with other anchoresses (Morton, 102, 192, 410). There is a note of weariness at the end of the book, as of one already advanced in years, and indeed the accumulated experience of a long life must have gone to its making. He was a widely read man; he quotes from many authors, of whom, after S. Bernard, S. Augustine and S. Gregory were the chief, but he drew on the Bible twice as often as on all the others put together. Finally, the Scandinavian element in his native speech was exceptionally large, and French was so familiar to him as to colour his English far more than that of any previous writer.

There were two men living towards the end of the twelfth century who might answer to this description, Gilbert of Hoyland, Abbot of Swineshed in Lincolnshire (Dugdale, v. 336), and S. Gilbert of Sempringham. The former completed the treatise on the Canticum Canticorum begun by S. Bernard, in which the mystic interpretation is quite different from that which runs all through the Ancren Riwle. But for S. Gilbert (1089-1189) I think a good case can be made out. He was brought up in South Lincolnshire, where the Danish element was strong, and not far from the northern border of the Midland area, for Lincolnshire north of the Witham was more Northern than Midland. In later years his visitations took him often to his houses of Watton and Malton in Yorkshire. He received his early education mostly in France, and he probably visited that country often in later life; he spent more than a year there in 1147, 1148 A.D. To no other person would the recluses have been so likely to apply for a rule, since he was famous as the greatest director of pious women in England; ‘vir eximiae religionis, in feminarumque custodia gratiae singularis,’ says Trivet in his Annales; ‘vir plane mirabilis, et in custodia feminarum singularis,’ W. of Newburgh. His own foundation for women and men, the order of the Gilbertines, had its beginnings in an anchorhold which he built for seven maidens against the north wall of his own church of S. Andrew at Sempringham sometime about 1131 A.D. (Dugdale, vi, pt. 2, *ix). For these he framed a Rule, ‘dedit . . . eis praecepta vitae et disciplinae,’ and provided servants ‘puellas aliquas pauperculas in habitu seculari servientes.’ When, after a long visit to S. Bernard, he returned to England with his Institutiones confirmed by Eugenius III, his order was regularly founded, with himself as Master. The Rule of his nuns was framed on Cistercian lines, but with modifications from many sources. While it differs of necessity from regulations suitable to the life of the recluse, it shows the same extraordinary attention to details (‘non solum magna et maxime necessaria, verum etiam minima quaedam et abiecta . . . non omisit,’ Dugdale, *xiii) which is displayed in the Ancren Riwle. And the two Rules often agree in these details, as will be seen in the notes; the most remarkable example is the similarity of the devotions of the lay brethren of the order to which the writer belonged, as described in the AR (Morton, 24), to the rule for the Hours of the Fratres in the Sempringham Order (Dugdale, *lx). There are numerical differences in the number of Paternosters and Psalms, but the Gilbertine Rule, as we have it, is a revision, probably a relaxation, of Gilbert’s, and the principle is the same. This method of saying the Hours is given by the writer to the recluses as an alternative use to the more elaborate one already prescribed, and he adds, ‘Gif ei of ou wule don þus heo voleweð her, ase in oþre obseruances, muchel of ure ordre.’ Gilbert was intimate with Ailred of Rievaulx, and sought his advice in the case of the nun at Watton (Twysden, Decem Scriptores, i. col. 420). Unfortunately, no authenticated writing of his, save a formal letter addressed in his last days to the Canons of his Order (MS. Digby 36, f. 189 b), has come down to us. But the first of his biographers tells us that, when in the course of his constant visitations of his houses he rested for a time anywhere, he did not eat the bread of idleness, but among other occupations wrote books, ‘scripsit quandoque libros’ (Dugdale, *xv), and the writer of the Nova Legenda Anglie, i. 471, says ‘libros multos scripsit; verba eius nichil aliud quam sapientiam et scientiam sonuerunt.’ The first members of his Order would surely multiply copies of the works of their founder, and it is not likely that all of these have disappeared. The Ancren Riwle was probably one of them. But there is besides a group of writings which are seen in their true setting when regarded as a product of the Gilbertine movement; the table on p. 356 gives the contents of three manuscripts which are in my opinion collections of the works of S. Gilbert. Among them is that ‘Englische boc of Seinte Margarete’ (M. 244/20) possessed by the recluses, as the writer of the AR knew.

There has been much dispute as to the language in which the AR was written. The older scholars, Dr. Thomas Smith (1696 A.D.), Wanley (1705), Planta (1802) had no doubt that it was Latin. Morton (1853) championed the English version, but some of his arguments were refuted, others shaken by Bramlette. Muhe, holding the priority of the Latin proved, was obliged to adopt an involved and improbable view of the relationship of MS. T to the other manuscripts. It should be observed that these scholars were unable to take into account the Corpus MS. and the French version. The first to pronounce from a knowledge of all the materials was G. C. Macaulay in the M. L. Review, xi. 61. He appears to have disposed effectually of the claim on behalf of the Latin version, but his arguments in favour of French as the original language are not convincing. It must suffice here to say that nothing he adduces appears to be so crucial as the passage at 58/79, or even 56/38, 56/54, 70/170. In a general comparison, the English has all the vigour and raciness of an original work, while the French gives the impression of being unidiomatic and wanting in spontaneity.

In the foot-notes p. 60, l. 12, add C after chepilt: p. 61, l. 17, read chirche: p. 65, l. 62, add C after grettere: p. 67, l. 96, read wull{et} C for wulh C., also at p. 75, l. 191.

A. THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS.

The references throughout are to the Corpus MS., unless otherwise stated.

1. #wildernesse#: of the world; he has already said, ‘Iþisse wildernesse wende ure Louerdes folc, ase Exode telleð, touward tet eadie lond of Jerusalem . . . ⁊ ȝe, mine leoue sustren, wended bi þen ilke weie toward te heie Jerusalem,’ AR 196/28-30. Comp. ‘alse longe se we iðese westen of þesser woruld wandrið,’ OEH i. 243/3; ‘Claustrales in huius mundi deserto exulantes,’ Alanus de Insulis, 65. #þer . . . in#, in which; see 1/3: ‘ou vous aleȝ enȝ,’ F.

3. #beastes . . . wurmes#: The Lion of Pride, the Serpent of Envy, the Unicorn of Wrath, the Bear of Sloth, the Fox of Covetousness, the Swine of Greediness, the Scorpion of Lechery, each with its whelps. The conception comes from S. Jerome, ‘quasi inter scorpiones et colubros incedendum ut . . . iter per insidias saeculi huius et inter venena faciamus possimusque . . . terram repromissionis intrare,’ iv. 796. Comp. also, ‘Per superbiam enim quasi a leonibus lacerantur, per invidiam tanquam viperarum morsu percutiuntur,’ Cesarii Sermo lx, in S. August. v. App. 301 B. It is not in the manner of the Bestiaries, where the lion and the unicorn are types of Christ, though the influence of the Bestiaries is often shown in the AR.

4. #ilead . . . to#, traced to, classified under; ‘reduci ad,’ M; ‘menee od,’ F.: a rare use; comp. 54/20. #seouene#: in the older English literature the number is eight; Superbia being followed by Vana Gloria. See Max Förster, Über die Quellen von Ælfric’s Homiliae Catholicae, Berlin, 1892, pp. 47-9 for a good summary of the changes in the lists. #seoluen# B: so T seluen.

5. #streones#: ‘hweolpes,’ AR 198/7; ‘engendrures,’ F. #vnsteaðeluest#: ‘Destable,’ F. literally, unstabled. #nis hit# &c., is it not the species of Pride called Disobedience? CTN agree with B; the meaning is the same: T reads, nis hit of prude. Jnobedience. Her to falleð sigaldres: M has ‘Jnconstans fides. cont{ra} sacram doct{ri}nam. nu{n}c ex sup{er}bia inobedi{enci}e est: ad h{oc} p{er}tine{n}t sortilegia.’ The division in Morton is therefore wrong: P has Inobedience ne falleþ it to sigaldrie. ‘Þe vifte hweolp [of þe Liun of Prude] hette Inobedience,’ AR 198/17.

6. #Herto falleð#, come under this head; comp. ‘alle þe þing ꝥ lust falleþ to,’ AR 52/24, 58/9; ‘⁊ falleð to biȝete,’ SK 24/471. #false teolunges#, wrongful practices, especially in treatment of the sick by means of herbs gathered with incantations and of other pagan devices; comp. ‘Se cristena mann ðe on ænigre þissere gelicnysse bið gebrocod, and he ðonne his hælðe secan wyle æt unalyfedum tilungum, oððe æt wyrigedum galdrum, oþþe æt ænigum wiccecræfte, ðonne bið he ðam hæðenum mannum gelic,’ Ælf. Hom. Cath. i. 474/19-22. These ‘unallowed practices’ are, at the same place, contrasted with ‘true leechcraft,’ the skill of a doctor: comp. ‘uncundelich lechecreft,’ 62/36, and see the Homilia de sacrilegiis, ed. Caspari, ch. iv and notes, for abundant illustrations of these superstitions. Comp. also, for a wider use of #teolung#, ‘to æghwylcre neode man hæfð on cyricbocum mæssan gesette and tilige man (= let one set to work) georne mid þam . . . þæt is hwene betere, þonne man to wiccan, and to wigleran tilunge (= treatment) sêce æt ænigre neode,’ Wulfstan, 171/7-12 (B-T). Morton translates ‘false reckoning,’ which hardly comes under the head of unsteadfast belief; ‘fals takynges’ P.

7. #lefunge o swefne · o nore#: this order is peculiar to A. For the Dream Books of mediaeval England see Förster in Archiv cxxi. 33, cxxv. 39, cxxvii. 31. #o nore#: so BCT; N has on ore ⁊ of swefnes; PV have nothing corresponding; M is vague, ‘ad h{oc} p{er}tine{n}t sortilegia · ⁊ quecu{n}q{ue} infidelitas · credere sompniis · ⁊ h{u}i{us modi}’: in F the place is at the damaged top of the folio; it has, apparently, ‘credence en estrenies en songes ⁊ toutes manieres de sorceries.’ #ore# cannot represent OE. #ār#, which has no meaning like luck, nor can it be connected with L. #augurium#, the contemporary French form of which is #eür#. I think it is F. oré, favourable weather, favourable occasion, as in ‘Nos n’avrons ja tens ne oré | Desci que li vienge a plaisir,’ Roman de Troye 5952, 3: the particular form of ‘unsteadfast belief’ meant being the trusting to the system of favourable and unfavourable days for different kinds of work &c., embodied in such books as the Calendar printed in M. L. Review, ii. 212-22, where it is stated that the first day of the month is good for beginning a piece of work, the second for marrying, the third is a bad day for taking up one’s abode in a town, and so on (for the literature see Archiv cx. 352). The collection in Caspari’s note on § 12 of the Homilia already cited shows that the superstition was often attacked in sermons as pagan; he quotes ‘Nullus Christianus observet, qua die de domo exeat, vel qua die revertatur, quia omnes dies Deus fecit; nullus ad inchoandum opus diem . . . attendat,’ Pseudoaug. Sermo cclxxviii. Comp. ‘time,’ OEH ii. 11/13 and VV 27/22-29.

8. #heaued sunne#: Orm’s ‘hæfedd sunne,’ 98/2728; peccatum capitale: ‘cum mortali peccato,’ M. Comp. ‘Nu syndon eahta heafod leahtras,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 354/267.

9. ‘þe ueorðe [hweolp of þe Liun of Prude] is Presumptio,’ AR 198/14.

10. #ȝemeles#: so BPV, negligent, adj. for noun, negligence, carelessness: N has the noun ȝemeleste; C scheomeles. #under#, classified under the head of: ‘þe seoueðe [hweolp of þe Bore of heui Slouhðe] is Gemeleaschipe,’ AR 202/13.

11. For #uuel# C has lure: NT have incorrectly lure for biȝete; so in M, ‘Qui non p{re}munit aliu{m} de dampno u{e}l inco{m}m{od}o.’ Not to warn a man against something hurtful is slothful negligence; not to apprise him of something to his advantage is venomous envy. The sins are different and come under different heads. The first half of the sentence is in effect hypothetical, and equivalent to, if a man does not warn &c.; so 54/21; 66/120, and F, ‘Ki ne garnist altre de son mal ou de son gaig[ne][;] nest ceo perescouse negligence ou venimouse envie.’

12. For #slaw ȝemeles# C has slauðe scheomelese. #teoheði mis#: Contrast ‘rihtliche teðien,’ OEH ii. 215/32; ‘giuen rihte tiðinge,’ id. 129/32; ‘theoþe ryht vnder his honde,’ OEM 77/149. teouðen C; tiheðe T; Mis iteoðeged N, the being mistithed; a remarkable use of the participle; ‘male decimare,’ M; ‘mes doner,’ F, a vague expression, which looks like a translator’s failure. How S. Gilbert once dealt with a ‘mistither’ may be read in his life, printed in Dugdale, vi., pt. ii., p. *vii. #mis# is aphetic for amiss, wrongly; comp. 56/48.

13. #edhalden#: edhalde C; OE. #oþhealden#, withhold; so at 64/73: comp. ‘Lante ⁊ thyng me was taght | I held ouer-lang as i noght aght,’ CM 28398. #oðer--mis fearen#, or treat badly, is peculiar to A.

14. #ȝisceunge#: ‘Þe Vox of ȝiscunge haueð þeos hweolpes: Tricherie ⁊ Gile, Þeofðe, Reflac,’ AR 202/18. #⁊ anes cunnes# is peculiar to A.

15. #strong reaflac#: ‘rapina,’ M. #hwa--mei#, if one is able to pay it: peculiar to A. #þe--ȝisceunge#: ‘species cupiditatis,’ M; ‘qi est desouȝ couoitise,’ F.

16. It is sinful ‘biseon ȝemeleasliche eni þing þe me mide uareð, oðer ouhte to ȝemen,’ AR 344/6.

17. #þen--hit#, than the owner of it thinks right: M has here p{ri}us for peius. #ȝemeles of slawðe#, negligence, a subdivision of Sloth. The author has already classified under Gemeleaschipe, ‘miswiten ei þing þet heo haueð to witene,’ AR 202/14. C reads scheomeles of slauðe.

18. #alswa is dusi#: alswa · idusi C: apparently OE. #gedysig#. #longe--unbischpet#: ‘diu e{ss}e s{i}n{e} confirmac{i}one,’ M.

19. #falsliche#, insincerely. #abiden#, put it off: N connects it with what follows by reading uorte for ne.

21. #moder#: so he writes of the ‘seoue moder sunnen,’ AR 216/21.

23. #istreonede#, pp. as noun: ꝥ te istreonede T; ꝥ þe streonede C. #strong monslaht#: ‘fort homicide,’ F; ‘homicidiu{m},’ M.

24. #galnesse#: comp. ‘þe Scorpiun of Lecherie[;] þet is, of golnesse,’ AR 204/15. #awakenet#, originated; comp. 64/61, 66/91, 143/70; AR 44/9, 220/9; HM 27/8, 31/5; ‘woden . . . whence first awoke the West-Saxon bloud royall,’ L’isle, Divers Ancient Monuments, sig. f 3 v. #of galnesse awakenet# are not represented in M, though necessary to the argument.

25. #nomeliche#, particular, proper; exceptionally an adj. here; in l. 27, as usually, an adv. corresponding to OE. #namcūþlīce#; comp. ‘ne ne muhte, ase ich wene, mide none muðe nomeliche nemen ham,’ AR 226/6. ‘touȝ peccheȝ seueralment par lour p{ro}pre nouns[;] ne porreit nul hom contier,’ F.

26. #beoð bilokene#: ‘includu{n}tur,’ M: comp. ‘Auh ine þeo þet beoð her etforen iseid alle þeo oðre beoð bilokene,’ AR 226/7. ilokene CT.

27. #understonden him#, perceive; see 13/34 note and comp. ‘þenne aȝe we to understonden us | from alle uuele he scal blecen us,’ OEH i. 57/63, 64; ‘Peter · anon þer after · hyne vnderstod · | Hwat his louerd hedde iseyd,’ OEM 45/297, 8. #of#: the genitive of the thing perceived is found in OE., ‘ðe hiora ðeninga cuðen understondan,’ Cura Past. 3/4.

28. #imeane#, ‘general heads,’ Morton, evidently taking it for the adj. used as a noun: it seems better to regard it as the adv. generaliter, referring each species of sin to its genus. T omits; B alters by inserting þat, which I indicate. ‘Nec est a{liqui}s ut puto qui [non] possit intellig{er}e suu{m} p{ec}c{a}t{u}m sub aliquo p{re}d{i}c{t}or{um} contineri,’ M.

29. #anlich#: comp. ‘he (S. John Baptist) . . . wende into onliche stude iðe wildernesse,’ AR 160/7. #þe--for donne#: nothing corresponding in M. #for fearinde#: forð farinde CT; uorðfarinde N; ‘passanȝ,’ F.

31. #hehe . . . iheortet#: comp. ‘ase of prude[;] of great heorte[;] oðer of heih heorte,’ AR 342/24. #hehe#, adverb; LWS. #hēage#, comp. 68/142. #ouerhohe#: ouerhoȝe C; ou{er} hehe T; ouer heie N. Apparently they all mean, too loftily; the forms with o may be due to the influence of ouerhowien (comp. 28/323): ouerhowe, contempt, occurs as a noun, ‘ouerhowe of eorðliche þinges,’ AR 276/3, HM 43/4 (comp. OE. #oferhoga#, a contemner): for hehe in B is corrupt. M has ‘elatos corde.’

32. #iþonket#: iþonked C; iðoncked N, is explained as a new formation from iþanc, OE. #geþanc#, thought, thus meaning thoughted, but the versions connected it with þankien, OE. #þancian#, ‘Serpens uenenosus inuidos ⁊ ingratos,’ M; ‘La venimouse serpente lenuious ⁊ ceauȝ qe sunt de male voluntee vers lour bienfetours,’ F. T has ‘þe ondfule ⁊ te luðere iþohtet: ꝥ beo{n} malicius ⁊ luðere aȝain oðere’; luþere J·hertet V. The unicorn stands for Pride, not Anger, in the patristic literature; comp. Cohn, Zur literarischen Geschichte des Einhorns, ii. 8.

33. #o rawe#, in their order, in succession. #to--isleine#: ‘Int{er}fecti quo ad d{eu}m,’ M; ‘q{a}nt a dieu[;] il sunt tueȝ,’ F. Comp. ‘mest al þe world, þet is gostliche isleien mid deadliche sunnen,’ AR 156/9.

34. #hond#, control: the MSS., except V which has warde, agree with B: ‘in eius excercitu,’ M; ‘de sa meignee,’ F. #of#: comp. 56/48; a locative use = in.

35. #falleð#, is proper to, is in accordance with his nature; comp. 54/6: ‘quilib{et} de officio ad se p{er}tinente,’ M, ‘qe a lui apent,’ F.

36. #draheð wind#: the germ of this comparison is possibly, ‘Qui inflantur superbia, vento pascuntur,’ Isidore vi. 241/4. Comp. also, ‘Dominus cuidam heremite ostendit in spiritu tres homines quorum unus in monte excelso trahebat ventum ore aperto . . . Hii sunt vani et superbi homines qui vane glorie ventum attrahunt et multa opera faciunt ut ab hominibus laudentur,’ Jacques de Vitry, ed. Crane, 68/2.

37. #hereword#: comp. 84/69; ‘don hware þuruh me buð þene kinedom of heouene, ⁊ sulleð hit for a windes puf of wor[l]des hereword[;] of monnes heriunge,’ AR 148/2; OEH ii. 83/20; ‘vent de veyn glorie,’ Bozon 89/25. #idel ȝelp#: comp. ‘Se seofoða leahter is iactantia gecweden | þæt is ydel gylp on ængliscre spræce,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 356/300; OEH i. 103/29; VV 5/20; Orm 10/391; SK 470.

38. #orhel#, pride: so T; oreȝel C; horel N; gle P; craft V; ‘pompose melodie,’ F, confusing it with orgel, organ.

39. #o--world#, in four quarters of the world: comp. ‘æt þissum feower endum middangeardes,’ BH i. 95/13; ‘þenne sculen engles mid bemen blauwen on fower halue þe world,’ OEH i. 143/18. As to the form of the expression, N reads, a uour halue þe worlde; P, on foure half þe werlde; all the other MSS. have uninflected half and world (word B), and omit of. For the ellipsis compare the similar construction of side: half apparently follows the analogy of pound and similar words of measure.

40. #grurefule . . . grisliche#: see 120/95. #Ariseð#: see 58/77.

42. #iborhen#: iboreȝen C; iboruwen N; iburhen T; ‘saluab{itur},’ M.

43. #inohreaðe#: a favourite word with our author, comp. 62/41; 143/74, and not found outside AR and the group associated with it. It means literally, quite quickly, quite readily, but in AR it is mostly a sentence adverb meaning, quite possibly, probably; comp. ‘ant so ofte inouhreðe ne dest tu hit nout i rihte time,’ AR 270/6. inochraðe C; inohraðe T: ‘parauenture,’ F. #dimluker#: of this comparative, descending from an OE. *#dimlīce#, there does not appear to be any other example: for the termination see 125/270. Elsewhere in ME. dim is used of the voice. ‘min{us} sonare{n}t,’ M; ‘plus coiement son{er}eient lour busme,’ F.

44. #Jeremie#: sein Jerem’ T; sein Jerome C. #solitarius#: ‘assuetus in solitudine,’ Jer. ii. 24. M has ‘Onag{er} in desiderio . . . sui ·i· vane gl{ori}e.’ T omits sui.

45, 46. N, apparently puzzled by seið ABCT, remodels, Of þeo ðet draweð wind i{n}ward uor luue of hereword · seið ieremie[;] ase ich er seide. The other MSS. agree with A, but T has prud for wind, and C omits in. #seið#, means; ‘And seið syon ase muchel on englische leodene ase heh sihðe,’ HM 5/6. P omits #seið--seide#.

47. #iuglurs#: joculatores, called ‘menestraus,’ AR 84/11; ‘nebulones,’ W. of Malmesbury, ii. 438, were usually a combination of minstrel, storyteller, tumbler and buffoon, but those in the text are limited in their means of making mirth.

48. #makien--ehnen#, pull faces, twist their mouths awry, look obliquely with their eyes: ‘mutare uultu{m}. curuare os. obliq{ua}re oculos,’ M; ‘faire cheres besturner la bouche ⁊ trestourner les eoilȝ delesclent,’ F. #schulen#, #schuleð#, l. 53, are found only in this passage: OE. #(be) scȳlan#; dialectic sheyle, shyle. T has schuldi (? through confusion with #scyldan#), but sculeð at l. 53: P, sculleh (for scullen, scowl); V, staren.

49. #seruið#: comp. with this and the following paragraphs a passage from an anonymous sermon of the fourteenth century, ‘Nota quam bonos (servos) habet diabolus qui ad nutum sibi obediunt, imo qui nutum eius praeveniunt. Habet suos ioculatores, scilicet lascivos; suos traiectores qui trahunt de sacco plus quam sit in sacco, omnes male iudicantes et maledicos; suos thesaurarios, omnes avaros; suos gladiatores, omnes contentiosos; suos advocatos, omnes detractores; suos insidiatores, omnes invidos; suos latrinarios, omnes gulosos; et sic de aliis. Certe periculosum est servire tali domino,’ Hauréau, Notices, iv. 101. #bringen o lahtre#, induce to laugh; a curious expression, which seems to be without parallel: ‘ut ad risu{m} prouocet,’ M, ‘p{ur} mettre en risee,’ F.

50 B. #liki# is a scribe’s mistake for loki. Comp. ‘Riht so hit farþ bi þan ungode | Þat nouht ne isyhþ to none gode,’ ON 245, 6.

51. #þider#: þiderwart C; þiderward N. #riht--heorte#: comp. ‘þa eagan minre heortan,’ Ælf. Lives, ii. 28/425, 38/559; ‘mid þe eȝene of his horte,’ OEH i. 157/28, 203/11; ‘Ablinde þe heorte, heo is eð ouercumen,’ AR 62/10, 90/22, 178/16; ‘opene to vnderstonde þe ehne of þin heorte,’ HM 3/15; ‘espiritel sacrement | Ke nus od le oil de cuer ueum,’ Adgar, 175/283. See also 115/119, and comp. ‘lay to the eere of thy herte,’ Rule of St. Benet, 1/3. For #ehe# C has echȝe. #winkið#: the writer had perhaps in mind, ‘Annuens oculo fabricat iniqua . . . novissime autem pervertet os suum, et in verbis tuis dabit scandalum,’ Ecclus. xxvii. 25, 26.

52. #o ꝥ half#: on C; oþere half N. He closes the eye which looks in the direction of the good deed: ‘S{ed} ex p{ar}te illa co{n}niue{n}t oclis,’ M. The readings of the passage which follows are, ⁊ bi halt o luft · ȝef þer is eawet to edwiten oðer · ladliche þiderwart schuleð wið eiðer · C; ⁊ biholdeð oluft ⁊ asquint · ⁊ ȝif þer is out to eadwiten · oðer lodlich[;] þiderward heo schuleð mid eiðer eien · N; ⁊ bihaldeð oluf ȝif þer is eyt to edwite{n} · oðer loken laðliche þiderward · sculeð mid eiðer hwe{n} &c. T. A means, turn away their unclosed eye to the left and suspiciously try to pick holes in the good, or else they scowl wickedly at it with both eyes. BCV seem to have lost an infinitive after oþer. In N lodlich agrees with out. M has ‘⁊ q{uas}i a sinist{ri}s vident · si q{ui}d sit ibi q{uo}d rep{re}hendant · u{e}l displicent{er} se h{abe}nt’: F ‘regardent del senestre sil i ad rien qe rep{ro}uer ou laid cele part regardent en esclench · dautre part q{a}nt il oient le bien,’ &c. #o luft#, on the left side, askance, an expression of suspicion, Milton’s ‘squint suspicion,’ Comus 413, or of incredulity as to the genuineness of the good deed. But ‘ibi’ in M suggests another explanation; he looks in another direction to see if he can there find something else to find fault with.

53. #skleatteð--adun#, slaps down the flaps of his ears: scletteð C; sleateð N; sclattes T; ‘dep{ri}m{un}t aures,’ M.

54. #lust#, hearing; ‘auditus’ M: OE. #hlyst#. C has luft, and F accordingly ‘Mes la senestre enqore al mal est touȝ iours ou{er}te.’ T has luf and P loue. In 53 B #ea# may be miswritten for aa, ever.

55. After #muð#, CNV add mis.

56. #lastunge#: so CN; ‘ampliori det{ra}ctac{i}one,’ M; leasinge T; sustenynge V, due to confusion with lasten, endure: ‘par plus entocch{er},’ F.

58. #eateliche#: atterluche T; no adj. in P. #ageasten#: glopnen T; rapelich glutten P, the former word due to reading #ȝet# as ȝer. There is an OWScand. glúpna, to be surprised, but Björkman (241) thinks a Scand. origin of the English word doubtful. Comp. the modern dialectic gloppen in the North and North Midland; glottened, startled, is also recorded for Shropshire.

59. #niuelin#: niuelen CNT; nyuelen V; P omits: probably means to snuffle: M has ‘geme{n}t’; F, no equivalent: is possibly a form of snivel, and is recorded in EDD. for Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, to turn up the nose in disdain. #makien sur semblant#, wear a rueful countenance: comp. 117/19; ‘ȝif þu makest ei sembla{u}nt,’ AR 90/18: loþly semblaunt P; ‘frunt vn egre semblant,’ F.

61. #hond#: ha{m} T.

62. #makien grim chere#: comp. ‘niuelen ⁊ makien sure ⁊ grimme chere,’ AR 240/4; ‘makeð hire ueire cheres,’ id. 218/11. M has ‘q{u}i{a} p{rius} discu{n}t officiu{m} suu{m} · ut facia[n]t horribilem’ [uultum].

63. #skirmeð#: Master Walter Leskirmissour, who performed before Edward the First at Whitsuntide 1306, was, no doubt, an artist of this sort. A picture of one who is keeping three knives and three balls going in the air may be seen reproduced in Strutt, Horda Angelcynnan, i. plate 19. #⁊#: BC omit.

64. #warpere#: so C; worpere N; cast{er}e T. M has ‘Iracu{n}dus coram diabolo pu{n}g{na}t ut pugil · cu{m} cultellus est p{ro}tector cultelloru{m}’; his original had probably cultellis, and projector; possibly protector represents a mistake, warde, or wardere.

65. #eiðer beoð#: eiðer baðe ha beoð C, with same meaning.

66. #he . . . him . . . he#: ho . . . hire . . . ho T, and so hire for him in the next three lines. #warpeð#: so C; warpes T; worpeð N. #from#: frommard N; see 77/63 note. #skirmeð#, directs, aims: ‘i{m}pu{n}g{na}t,’ M. P has kerueþ.

67. #eawles#, hooks; comp. 120/126: used of the torturer’s hook, SK 2178; SM 6/28; the ‘īsen hoc’ of BH 43/25. In Ælf. Gloss. 316/6 #āwul# glosses L. fascinula (= fuscinula), the Vulgate word at 1 Sam. ii. 14, which is a diminutive of fuscina, ‘quoddam instrumentum ferreum . . . quo vtuntur . . . piscatores ad pisces capiendos, coci ad carnes extrahendas de caldario,’ Catholicon. F has ‘crochouns’; M ‘cum creag{ri}s’: creagra (= κρεάγρα), fleshhook, occurs in the Vulgate at 2 Paralip. iv. 11, 16. Similarly, ‘And when þai hadde on hym ylayd | Her scharpe hokes al þo | It was in a sori playd | Ytoiled boþe to ⁊ fro,’ Desputisoun, ed. Linow, 56/477.

67-69. #skirmi--ut#: M has dimicabunt for #pleien#; but otherwise nothing corresponding to this passage: F ‘ietteru{n}t, lun vers laltre[;] sicome pesce de policon ⁊ despeies denf{er} le p{er}cer{un}t parmi.’

68. #dusten#, fling; a word characteristic of the group SK, SJ, SM; comp. 120/127: dunchen P, push, strike. #pilche clut#, rag of a pilch, whether that means a garment of fur or skin, or the nether garment of an infant: but the latter meaning is not evidenced till the seventeenth century.

69. #asneasen#: snesen C; sneasin T; alsnesien N; stingen V; pierce: OE. #āsnǣsan#. For #ꝥ# see 1/10 note.

72. #tutel#, mouth: the word, which occurs only in AR, descends from a Teutonic root, meaning something projecting, comp. Franck, s.v. Tuit; in its English use it has acquired a derivative meaning like its O. French congener tuel, tuelet, pipe, passage: comp. ‘þe veond of helle . . . went þurh þe tutel ꝥ is euer open into þe heorte,’ AR 74/7, ‘ȝeoniinde tuteles,’ (= aures prurientes) 80/15. For the verb #tuteleð#, whispers, comp. 64/88; ‘þinne tutelinde muð,’ AR 106/28; ‘garulat ei q{ui}cq{uit} uult,’ M. For #eare# C has arm.

73. #hwam se#: se C. #idel of god#, not occupied in good; comp. 64/87; ‘uol of zennes, and ydel of alle guode,’ Ayenbite, 131/12; ‘ydel of guode workes,’ id. 218/20: the construction with of is rare; Wiclif has from: ‘huclif (read hucsif) de bien faire,’ F; ‘ociosis,’ M.

74. #underueð#: underfeð C; underuoð N; vndertakes T; vnderfongeþ P; vnderuongeþ V: underweng B is no doubt for underuengþ. #ȝemeles#: C has scheomeles corrected into ȝemeles. #is þes#: is tis T; is wel C.

75. #bearnes#: so C; barnes V: but bermes N; barm T; barme P: ‘le dormir al filz del diable ⁊ a la fille,’ F; ‘Ociu{m} ⁊ negligencia ⁊ so{m}nus sunt pueri diaboli,’ M, surely a translator’s mistake. For #abreiden# T has abreien.

76. #wontreaðe#: comp. 121/129, 143/96: wṛontrede C; wondrede N; wand{re}ðe T: OWScand. vandrǽði (Björkman, 92, 290). V substitutes serwen: P for this and the next word, wonderlich.

77. #echeliche#: so T; ateliche CN; ferfulliche V. M has nothing corresponding to ⁊--wakien: F ‘en la meseise denf{er} pardurablement veillera,’ but no Latin quotation. #Surgite# &c.: all the MSS. agree with B in this quotation. Part of it is in S. Jerome, ‘Semper tuba illa terribilis vestris perstrepet auribus, Surgite mortui, venite ad iudicium,’ ed. Martianay, 1706, v. 438; also in Alanus, ‘Vos qui iacetis in sepulchris surgite et occurrite ad iudicium salvatoris,’ 63 b.

79. #Þe--esken#: the readings are, Þe giscere is his eskebach fareð abuten esken C; Þe ȝisc{er}e is his askebaðe · fares abute{n} askes T; Þe ȝiscare is þes feondes askebaðie ⁊ lið eu{er} iþen asken · ⁊ fareð abuten asken N; Þe couetous mon · is þe fendes askebaþi · ffareþ abouten asken V; Þe coueitouse man haþ swich a bay þ{a}t he liþ eu{er}e in þe askes ⁊ askes al aboute{n} hym P. askebaðe is a Scandinavian word, meaning one who bathes or sits in ashes, similar are Danish askefis, blower in ashes, askepot, wallower in ashes (Björkman, 135, 6), and the English dialectal ashypet. #feareð abuten esken#, is busy with ashes: the usual prep. is with; comp. 5/6. The form of the expression agrees with 56/36, 58/92, and contrasts with the vague ‘Cupidi est officiu{m} cineres co{n}gregare · cumulare ⁊ cumulos multiplicare’ M: F has ‘Li couoitous en son despit enfant qest touȝ iours entour la ceindre ⁊ ententiuement sentremette damonceiller la ceindre ensemble a g{ra}nȝ ⁊ plusours monceals,’ where despit is probably a mistake for esp{er}it and qest for gist; the passage looks like a translation of an original wrongly read as, þe ȝiscere in his estre babe lið euer abuten asken.

80. #ruken#, heaps: probably a Scandinavian word (Björkman, 252): used in this sense still in North and North-Midland dialects.

81. #peaðereð#, pokes, stirs up: paðereð CN; puðeres T; poþereþ P; Piþeriþ V. A word of obscure origin: potter, pother, of same meaning, represent it in modern Yorkshire and Lincolnshire dialects: ‘palpat ⁊ planat,’ M; ‘Trestourne la cendre de fusiaus,’ F. #augrim#: ‘algorismi,’ M; arithmetic.

82. #canges#, fool’s: for the word, which is characteristic of the AR, SK, HM group, see Björkman, 290, note 4. T substitutes askebaðes. P reads conions; F has ‘cangon.’

84. After #wis mon# T adds ⁊ wummo{n}, and for #eorðlich# T has worldlich.

85. #ahte# appears to have been repeated by mistake from the foregoing. #ablendeð#, probably from ‘Quid aliud detrahentes faciunt, nisi in pulverem sufflant, atque in oculos suos terram excitant,’ S. Gregorii Opera, ii. 193.

86. #bolheð#, inflates: boleȝeð C; boluweð N; bolhes T; bolneþ P; bloweþ V. M strangely, ‘excecant (i.e. cineres) insufflantem ⁊ inflant’: F ‘Cest qi se enfle par eus en orgoil de queor.’

87. #mare--neodeð# belongs to #ethalt#: T has mare þen hire nedes.

88. #wurðen him#, become for him; ‘vertet{ur},’ M. T has hire, and similarly twice in the next line. #tadden#: frouden P; see 46/273. #ba#: boðe N; Baðe T.

89. #hwitel#: whittel P; OE. #hwītel# is usually a mantle, cloak; the sense here accords better with Icel. hvítill; it means a blanket spread over the bed straw to lie on. So the poor man in Piers Plowman has a too short ‘substratum,’ ‘when he streyneþ hym to strecche · þe straw is hus whitel,’ C 284/76; Walter of Henley quotes as an English proverb, ‘wo þat strechet forþerre þan his wytel wyle reche, in þe straue his fet he mot streche,’ Husbandry 4/6. ‘de v{er}mib{us} erit tam coop{er}toriu{m} q{ua}m substratoriu{m},’ M; ‘son cou{er}tour ⁊ sa coilte,’ F; coilte meaning mattress. The reading of N, his kurtel ⁊ his kuuertur, spoils the meaning.

90. #Subter# &c.: Isa. xiv. 11; the Vulgate has erunt vermes.

92. For #manciple# M has mancipium, which may = manceps, purveyor. #ah#: Uor N: TP omit.

94. #neppes#, drinking cups, but Morton translates ‘table cloth.’ nepp C; neppe N; nappes TP; cuppe V; ‘ciphis,’ M; ‘hanaps,’ F. #crohhe#: so T; crochȝe C; OE. #crōh#: crocke NPV; OE. #crocca#: ‘urceolo,’ M; ‘poot,’ F.

95. #bismuddet#: so BT, a form found here only; comp. ‘smod,’ stain, E. E. Allit. Poems, 59/711: bismotted V, from be + smot; both words mean besmutted, smudged. C has bismuðeled, which, with ð for d, appears to be a derivative of *besmud. bismitted N; OE. #smittian#, to stain; discoloured. bismoked P, grimed with smoke, is a substitution for a less familiar word. #bismulret#: bismurlet T; bismorlet V point to a *#smyrlian# from #smyrels#, ointment: bismeored C; bismeoruwed N; bismured B; bismered P, besmeared, are variant spellings of the same word; OE. #besmierwan#. ‘perfusus et fedatus,’ M, a colourless expression beside the vigorous English; ‘esmite ⁊ enbroe,’ F. #scale#: OWScand. skál, bowl (Björkman, 92, 93): schale CP; scoale N; skale T; bolle V.

96. #mis wordes#, words mispronounced; comp. 62/43 note for another meaning: ‘iargoune paroles corrumpneme{n}t,’ F. P omits all from Meaðeleð to fallen. #haueð imunt#, has an inclination; OE. #gemyntan#, intend, purpose: the use here is peculiar: þat is in poynt to fallen V; ‘en pensee de cheir,’ F.

98. ‘Ecce servi mei’ &c., Isa. lxv. 13.

99. #hungrin#: impersonal; comp. 188/390.

100. #feorle#: apparently for feorli = OE. #fǣrlic#, sudden; used in ME. for wonder: it may have been suggested by vos confundemini in the next verse: comp. ‘Tamquam prodigium factus sum multis,’ Ps. lxx. 7. But all the MSS. are with B, and F has ‘vous serieȝ la pouture del enemy.’ #Quantum# &c.: Apocal. xviii. 7. The following #Contra# &c. is adapted from ‘in poculo, quo miscuit, miscete illi duplum.’ M has the Latin of the text. CN read luctum ⁊ tormentum.

103. #kealche#: kelche BT; keache C. V has ȝif þ{o}u þe kelche þe cuppe. Wallynde bras to drinken, and P ȝiue þe gloton þe coppe · he þat wil eu{er}e drynk · Coppe in glotonye ȝiue hy{m} wellande bras to drinken, from which it is evident that they regarded kelche as an independent word, perhaps as = OE. #celic#, cup, used for drinker. But the construction points to a compound, kelche-cuppe, of which the first element must be a verb, perhaps the word which has survived in the Northern dialects as kelch, to throw up, keiltch, an upward lift or push; giving a meaning for the combination of tosspot. M has ‘miscete ei duo. pro cyphatu potus: date ei es candens’; where cyphatus means the man provided with a cup (scyphus). N has gulchecuppe, compound from gulchen, to swallow greedily; comp. ‘ne beo hit neuer so bitter, ne iueleð he hit neuer[;] auh gulcheð in ȝiuerliche,’ AR 240/2 (gluccheð A; glucches T). #wallinde bres#: comp. 146/118.

104. #swelte inwið#, burn within: form from #sweltan#, to swoon, die, with meaning from #swelan#, to burn: aswelte wiðinnen N: ‘qil arde tout de denȝ,’ F; M has nothing corresponding to ȝeot--inwið. #aȝein# &c.: comp. ‘Aȝaines an likinge; habben twa ofþunchunges,’ HM 7/35.

B. THE OUTER RULE

Passages in C (mostly interlined or marginal) which are not in N are inserted between asterisks in the text of the latter. The collations at the foot of pp. 60-75 show the other divergences of C and those of T from N; when not followed by any letter they give the readings of T; those followed by C are the readings of C, while B indicates agreement of T and C as against N.

The Eighth Book of the Ancrene Wisse consists of a brief introduction, to the effect that the outer rule is not rigidly binding, and seven sections (‘stucchenes’ 72/188) treating of i. eating and drinking; ii. worldly possessions and dealings, ll. 1-25; iii. clothes, 26-67; iv. occupations, 67-100; v. care of the person, 101-20; vi. servants, 120-222; vii. use of the rule, and conclusion, 223-39.

1. #bute--reade# corresponds to frequent phrases in the Gilbertine Rule, like ‘nisi necessitas postulet aliqua hoc fieri,’ ‘nisi magister aliter iusserit.’ With the former compare 60/18, 62/20, 64/84, 74/217; with the latter 60/13, 62/30, 37, 66/98; ‘þes riwle ⁊ alle oðre beoð in owres scriftes read ⁊ in oweres meistres breoste,’ MS. C f. 190. The master is ‘presbyter aliquis senex maturus moribus, cui raro, nisi de confessione et animae aedificatione, [inclusa] loquatur. A quo consilium accipiat in dubiis, in tribulationibus consolationem,’ Ailred, 642 c.

3. #þuncheð bet#, seemeth to be rather. The contrast of Martha and Mary, the active and the contemplative life, is a favourite topic in the AR; ‘Husewifschipe is Marthe dole[;] and Marie dole is stilnesse and reste of alle worldes noise,’ 414/16. Less frequently it is Lya and Rachel that are opposed, Hugh of S. Victor, i. 133.

5. #for# &c.: the passage is based on Ailred, ‘Aliae [inclusae] . . . pecuniae congregandae vel multiplicandis pecoribus inhiant: tantaque cum hac sollicitudine in his extenduntur, ut eas matres vel dominas familiarum existimes, non anachoretas. Quaerunt aliquibus pascua, pastores . . . Sequitur emptio et venditio’ &c., 641 c, but its vivid detail and interest are all the writer’s own.

6. #Olhnin#, wheedle, get on the right side of; a word peculiar to AR, SJ, SK, SM; ‘couendra . . . de querre la g{ra}ce de messer,’ F. #heiward#: OE. *#hægweard# occurring in dat. hæigwerde; adopted by the writer of Quadripartitus, p. 22 (c. 1100), as heiwardo, d., but often called messor; among other duties, he kept cattle out of the enclosed fields and impounded strays: see Liebermann, Gesetze, i. 452; Leo, Rectitudines, 245. #wearien#: warien NCT; OE. #wergian#, curse, revile; comp. ‘ne ne warien hwon me agulteð to ou,’ AR 186/2, 284/22; ‘Ȝe ne schulen uor none þinge ne warien, ne swerien,’ 70/20: ‘mandir (for maudir) le q{a}nt il les enparke,’ F.

7. #ȝelden# &c., and moreover pay for the damage done. #wat crist#: comp. ‘Deu le set,’ AR 382/17. #hwen# &c., when there is complaint among the people at large about the recluse’s cattle, or possibly, wealth. The order of the words forbids the explanation, ‘complaint of anchoresses’ cattle in an enclosure,’ Morris. For the vague use of #in tune#, comp. KH 153 note. Comp. ‘si bestias haberetis, aliena pascua forsitan occupare{n}t, essetque magnus clamor vicinorum dicentium: Utinam isti eremitae nunquam advenissent, nam multiplex eorum possessio multiplex nobis infert impedimentum,’ S. Stephani Grandimontensis Regula; De bestiis non habendis; Migne, P. L. cciv. col. 1143: possibly the source of this place.

8. #Nu þenne# introduces a command, 123/218, 126/311, or request 119/78, or argument 122/191, but its use here for still, notwithstanding, is peculiar. Note that the scribe of T deleted þenne in favour of þah.

10. #ifestnet#: L has nothing corresponding to the following ancre--heorte, but instead ‘Cauens en{im} psalmista [di]cente. Nolite cor appon[ere]’; a reference to Ps. lxi. 11.

11. #driue#, practise, pursue: comp. 130/72; ‘þa þe þone ceaþ drifað,’ Benedictine Rule, ed. Schröer, 95/11; ‘ꝥ nis bute dusilec | al ꝥ ha driueð,’ SK 424, 5, 1798; ‘long wune is her driuen,’ GE 1681. #chepilt#, a female trader, one who buys to sell at a profit, as the text explains.

12. #efter#: see 7/53. #chepeð#, offers for sale, with dat. chapmon; comp. ‘And chepte heom to sullen vre helare,’ OEM 40/115, but with prep. in sense of buying, ‘Ȝif me cheapeð on of þeos et ou,’ AR 190/8.

14 C: the addition þah--wordes, not in any other MS., is noteworthy: F has nothing corresponding to it or to the sentence in A, þing--honden.

14. #sumhwile#: he is probably thinking of the Fathers of the Desert, who plaited mats of palm, for the Vitas Patrum was a favourite book of his. The regulation is only of general application, these sisters being fully provided for.

15. #wite#, take charge of: in troublous times the anchorhold would be regarded as a place of safe deposit. #of#: so CN, but T omits (correct footnote by deleting B); it depends on #Nawt#. ‘Rien ne gardeȝ en v{os}tre maisone daltrui choses,’ F. In N #of# must be partitive, for witen takes the acc. of the thing guarded: see 118/52 note.

16. #boistes#, boxes, caskets, mostly for ointment, but here probably jewel cases. #chartres#, deeds; probably the earliest instance. #Scoren#, scrolls: OF. escroe; comp. ‘Scrowe oðer quaer,’ AR 282/29.

17. #cyrograffes#, indentures, bonds; an early instance of the word. #calices#: there was a special objection, ‘nulla femina . . . calicem Domini tangat,’ Udalrici Sermo Synodalis, Migne, P. L. cxxxv. 1071 b.

18. #strengðe#, violence: comp. 40/168: ‘bute vor neod one, als strengðe ⁊ deaðes dred,’ AR 6/23; ‘auh teares doð him strencðe’ (= lacrima cogit), id. 244/27; ‘Ne dede dieuel him none strengþe,’ VV 113/19. F has ‘force.’

20. #makeð--hus#, causes your house to be laid open; comp. 117/8, 118/28; ‘oðer ȝif þu iherdest þeoues breken þine woawes,’ AR 242/23. The Gilbertine Rule, while forbidding access to the nuns ordinarily, says ‘propter ignis incendium vel mortis instantis periculum, vel propter furtum et latrocinium omnibus sustinemus introitum,’ p. *lxxvi.

22. #seoð#: comp. ‘Nullich ꝥ no mon iseo ou bute he habbe leaue speciale of ower meistre,’ AR 56/21; ‘inclusa etiam facie velata loqui debet cum viro,’ Ailred, 642 d. #wel mei don of#, it matters little about: #don# means originally, serve, suffice, as in ‘that will do,’ but the phrase with the words in this order is specialized: comp. ‘Ah wel mæi do{n} hu hit ga[;] for wræcches we beoð æuere ma,’ L 12754, 5; ‘Scheome is understonden bi þe reade[;] auh wel mei don,’ AR 356/11, where Morton mistranslates. Quite different is, ‘an olde ancre mei don wel ꝥ tu dest vuele,’ AR 52/9. T has duhen here, as A at 64/59 and C at 65/52, ordinarily meaning to be of profit, to avail, but the sense is the same as in the phrase containing don. The construction is impersonal; ancre is dative at 64/59, 65/52, as at 64/74: for #of#, concerning, comp. ‘he . . . dyde of heom ꝥ he wolde,’ AS. Chron. D 208/9. ‘De colore aute{m} vest{ium} non est m{u}ltu{m} curandu{m},’ L; ‘ne puit chaler de voȝ draps,’ F.

23. #unorne#, plain, rough: ‘vils,’ F; ‘du{m} [ta]me{n} no{n} n[im]is (?) exq{ui}site,’ L. But Förster (Morsbachs Studien l. 171) would translate, ordinary, usual.

24. #ow to neodeð#: comp. ‘nimen . . . þet hire to neodeð,’ AR 414/24. #ow# is dat. depending directly on the verb, the usual construction of the person in EME. for neoden and neod, comp. 123/210; #to# is adverbial and a superfluity, quite in the manner of the writer, comp. ‘þurh hwat muhte sonre ful luue of aquiken,’ AR 58/10; ‘þet ich spec er of þeruppe,’ id. 372/23; 130/80 note. Contrast, ‘Nefde he nane neode to us ac we hefden muchele neode to him,’ OEH i. 123/35, where to = of. #to bedde#: comp. ‘to ruggen and to bedde[;] iscrud mid gode webbe,’ L 19946, 7; ‘Nowe is the tyme of the yere when provysion was wont to be made . . . of ther wynter vesturys [to] theyr bodyes and to ther beddis,’ Wright, Suppression of Monasteries, 68/4: ‘a lit ⁊ a dos,’ F.

26. #linnene#: its use in any form was a great concession. It was noted that Abbot Roger Norreys of Evesham, in his contempt for the Rule, ‘camisiis et lintheaminibus . . . palam utebatur,’ Chron. Abb. de Evesham, 104. #hearde#, hard; pl. of heard, l. 44: #herde# N 28 is the same word, but Morris glosses it, hards, hurds, tow, and heorden, hards of flax, referring both to #heordan#, without accounting for the difference in form. The meaning, of hards and of coarse hards, is not satisfactory. F has ‘sil ne seit de stupeȝ ⁊ de grosses estoupes’; the two nouns appear to be an Anglo-French and a French form from the same Latin word, stupa. Possibly the former means tow of flax and the latter tow of hemp; anyhow the cloth was called stupacium. Comp. generally, ‘Porro talia ei vestimenta sufficiant quae frigus repellant. Grossioribus peliciis utatur, & pellibus propter hyemem, propter aestatem autem unam habeat tunicam: utroque vero tempore duas de stupacio camisias vel staminas,’ Ailred, 644 e.

27. #Stamin#: OF. estamine, an under-garment loosely woven of coarse wool, nearly as uncomfortable as a hair shirt, ‘camiseam de grossiori panno [habeant], si voluerint’ of the Gilbertine Rule, p. *lxxix. ‘Estamiȝ,’ F.

28. #hetter#, garment: ‘vn de voȝ vestures,’ F. OE. pl. #hæteru#, often in ME. as singular. ‘Vestiti quoque dormiant et cincti, vt semper sint parati,’ Grimlaici Regula Solitariorum, in Holstenii Codex, i. 291. Lay folk did not in those days wear night clothes. #leoðeliche#, loosely: the ME. adverb corresponding to the OE. adjective #liþig#, flexible; comp. OWScand. liðugr, free: liðeliche, 72/194 is OE. #līþe#, soft. The writer here and elsewhere shows himself anxious to mitigate the austerities of his pupils. F has nothing corresponding to swa--under.

30. #cunne# is historically genitive plural: see 132/9 note and 81/80 note. #schriftes#, confessor’s: the ‘meistre’ of 60/2: comp. 80/62; ‘bi ure shriftes rede,’ OEH ii. 55/29; ‘mid ðe rade of þine scrifte,’ VV 127/2. In F ‘sanȝ congie de son confessour’ corresponds to ‘wiðute schriftes leaue,’ 62/33.

31. #ilespiles felles#, hedgehogs’ skins: OE. #igil#, #īl#, hedgehog + #pīl#, prickle; the compound is used in ME. for the animal. Comp. ‘⁊ alle [sunnen] weren prikiende so piles on ile | He biþ þicke mid piles,’ Worc. Frag. F 21, 2. In #irspiles# N 30 r is probably due to OF. heriçun: F has ‘peel diricon.’

31 N. #ileðered# in this MS. only: it must mean, furnished with leather thongs: F has ‘[pl]umbee.’

32. #holin#: OE. #holegn#, #holen#, holly.

33. #binetli#, whip with nettles: NED. quotes from Cotgrave, ‘enortier, to benettle.’

34. #biuoren#, in front of the body. #ne na keoruunge#, practise no cutting or mutilation. #ed eanes#, at any one time. F ‘a nule foiȝ.’

35. #luðere#, severe, lit. wicked. #disceplines#: ‘smerte smiten of smale longe ȝerden,’ OEH ii. 207/6. Comp. ‘Disciplina pacis nostre super eum, seið Isaye, þus ure beatunge ueol upon him,’ AR 366/14, 346/24.

36. #cundeliche#: for sicknesses which come in the natural course they must not put faith in or try remedies which are unnatural, such as the nostrums of the herb-woman: see 54/6 note. The writer in another place, 368, says that recluses are apt to be far too much concerned about bodily health.

37. #leste# &c., lest worse befall you: see 30/18. #leste# descends from #þȳ lǣs þe#; this is an early instance of its use.

38. #meoke#, soft, supple; comp. 64/66: the only instances in English of the use of this word in the material sense of OWScand. mjúkr as in Icel. mjúk-hendr, soft-handed. ‘In yeme utamini sotularib{us} grossis ⁊ callidis,’ L.

39. #Hosen wiðute vampez#, stockings without feet; the ‘chausses’ were usually footed. ‘En chauces sanȝ auant pieȝ gise qi voudra,’ F; ‘In caligis sine pedalib{us} dormiet{is},’ L. #vampez#, pl. of vampe or vampey, are properly the front part of a boot, the ‘uppers’ (avant pied), here they mean the whole covering of the foot. In Cavendish’s Life of Wolsey (ed. Singer 335), Wolsey is represented as saying, ‘we do intend . . . to go afoot . . . in the vamps of our hosen,’ i.e. in our stocking feet. The second #and# in 35 N is superfluous.

40. #Ischeoed--bedde#: another prohibition of undue austerities. The passage is not in any other of the English MSS., nor in F, but L has ‘calciatis nu{m}qu{am} n{e}c nisi in lecto.’

41. #Sum--wereð#, it may be that some woman wears &c. For #inohreaðe# see 56/43; F has ‘parauenture’ here as there. #brech#, drawers; OE. #brēc#, pl. of #brōc#, answering to femoralia of the monastic Rules. #here#, haircloth; OE. #hǣre#.

42. #streapeles#, the legs of the drawers; especially so called when they were closely confined to the limb by cross-gartering. They were worn by men also: see Strutt’s Complete View of the Dress &c. i, plates 31, 49, 56, for good illustrations. OE. #strapul#: ‘Hoc tibiale: a strapylle,’ Wright, Vocab. 775/18, 734/23. F has ‘les braeis de heire m[u]lt bien noueȝ les tiguns aual desqe a pieȝ mult ferm laceȝ,’ but nothing corresponding to #ah--here#, which is in A alone: and yet it is necessary to the sense. The writer does not approve of the ‘brech of here,’ a sweet and patient disposition is better, an often-repeated idea; ‘Þis is Godes heste, þet him is muchele leouere þen þet tu ete gruttene bread, oðer werie herde here,’ AR 186/10. L is with A, ‘Alique utu{n}tur femoralib{us} ciliciu{m}. Mallem tame{n} in vobis cor humile ⁊ pote{n}s s{us}tinere dura v{er}ba · et p{ro}brosa · q{uam} duru{m} ciliciu{m} portare.’

43. #swete . . . swote#: a frequent combination: comp. ‘swete ⁊ swote iheorted,’ AR 118/3; ‘so unimete swote ⁊ swete,’ id. 102/26. #þolien#: comp. ‘A mis-word þet ȝe þolieð . . . ȝe nolden sullen hire uor al þe worldes golde,’ AR 190/7.

44. #ȝef--wullen#, If you can do without wimples, and you would doubtless wish to do so.

45. #beoð bi#, have for use: comp. ‘beoð bi þe leste þet heo euer muwen,’ AR 350/7; ‘gifð us al þat we bi ben,’ OEH ii. 69/29, 179/6. Similarly, ‘ne na mâ wifa þonne ân hæbbe, ac beo be þære anre þa hwile, þe heo lybbe,’ Wulfstan, 271/14 (B.-T.); ‘ne æac maran getilige to haldænne þonne ic gêmetlice bi beon mage,’ Blooms, ES xviii. 343/43. #cappen#: the ‘mitras lineas, nigras et forratas de agninis pellibus’ of the Gilbertine Rule, p. *lxxix.

46. #wimplunge#: so S. Bernard contrasts the wimpled fine lady and the veiled nun, ‘Risus immoderatior, incessus lascivior, vestitus ornatior wimplatae magis quam velatae congruerent,’ i. 123 f. The wimple was a long strip of fine linen which encircled the head, neck, and the top of the shoulders; at this time one end of it hung down along the left arm. There is a good illustration of it in Shaw’s Dresses and Decorations, i, on the middle figure of plate 10. Like other linen clothing, it was at this time coloured with saffron; ‘hire winpel wit, oðer maked geleu mid saffran,’ OEH ii. 163/32; Rel. Ant. ii. 15/8; the ‘ȝeolewe clað’ of 82/108. The long passage from Ancren l. 46 to wimplunge l. 59 is in AC only; in the latter it is added on the margin, which has been cropped. L is very fragmentary at this point, but it had matter corresponding to A.

47. #cundeliche#, by reason of her sex, because she is a woman, and ordered as such by S. Paul to veil her head.

48. #heaued clað#: the ‘couvre-chef,’ a veil of fine linen worn on the head. Holy Scripture says nothing of wimples or other head-dress, but speaks of covering only. ‘Si turpe est mulieri tonderi aut decalvari, velet caput suum,’ 1 Cor. xi. 6.

51-55. The source of this passage is probably, ‘Linus papa . . . constituit ut mulieres in ecclesia velatae sint. Et hoc propter tres causas fit: una est, cum sint decipula diaboli, ne laxis earum crinibus iuvenum animi illaqueentur; . . . tertia est ut reatus originalis peccati, qui per mulierem evenit, ad memoriam nobis revocetur. Iudex quippe malorum est Christus: sacerdos eius vicarius. Ante sacerdotem ergo debet se mulier velare velut rea et tanti mali sibi conscia coram iudice celare. Unde dicit Apostolus, ut mulier velata sit propter angelos, id est sacerdotes,’ Honorius Augustodunensis (Migne, P. L. clxxii) 589 d. #sunfule# goes with eue; comp. 63/44.

52. #on earst#, at the beginning, would correspond to OE. *#on ǣrest#, which is apparently not found: OE. #on ǣr# means beforehand. Comp. ‘on erest,’ AR 264/8; ‘on earst,’ SM 14/7; ‘on alre earst,’ HM 17/25; SM 14/4. The phrase is confined to AR and its group; elsewhere at erst is used.

53. #drahe#, divert from their proper use: a rare meaning. #tiffunge#, adornment.

54. If #ȝetten# means yet, furthermore, it repeats and reinforces #Eft#. As a form it seems to be quite isolated: it may be derived from ȝette and owe its final n to the influence of such pairs as ofte, often; uppe, uppen; buten, bute; seþþen, seþþe. #ȝette# 47 C is also a rare form; comp. 76/19; HM 13/9, 43/13; ‘ewt ꝥ mon seið þe oðer deð ȝette,’ id. 43/21. It can hardly come from #gīeta#, which gives ȝete; perhaps it is for ȝet + þe, like þætte for þæt þe: þe ȝet is frequent in Layamon.

55. #þurh hire onsihðe#, through the seeing of her: comp. 124/253, perhaps the only other place where the word occurs: it is possibly formed on the analogy of OE. #ansīen#. #Et hoc# &c.: ‘Ideo debet mulier potestatem habere supra caput propter Angelos,’ 1 Cor. xi. 10.

56. #iwimplet#: the writer is addressing an imaginary disciple who insists on the wimple as satisfying the requirements of S. Paul. He replies that the apostle requires more; the face also must be veiled; his words are directed against the recluse who receives visits from men. The wimple can be dispensed with by the recluse who keeps within her walls and avoids the sight of men. The visits of various people to the recluse are often referred to; see AR 56/20, 58/5, 68/16.

57. #þe# is for þe þe, as in C and at 64/60.

59. #wel# is a mistake for þurl due to anticipation of the following wel. Three windows are mentioned, that looking into the church, the ‘chirche þurl,’ AR 68/16; the parlour window, through which they converse with visitors and communicate with the servants, the ‘þurl’ of 74/209, AR 68/19; and the house window, the ‘rund windowe’ of the text. Each window was hung inside and out with black cloths marked with a white cross, AR 50/2, 96/10, and furnished with shutters; compare the elaborate regulations for the windows in the Gilbertine Rule, Dugdale, *lxxv. #wel mei duhen#: see 62/22 note: #ancre# is dative.

60. #þus ne dest#, i.e. hidest not thyself from men’s gaze.

61. #þer . . . of#, thereby, by reason of that, see 1/3 note: so ‘hwarof,’ whereby AR 58/22.

63. #þah#, if. Comp. ‘Ȝif we weopeð for ure owune [sunnen] hit is nout muchel wunder,’ AR 312/23. ‘ki qe vult estre veue mes qele satife nest pas g{ra}nt m{er}ueille,’ F.

64. #untiffet wið uten#: comp. 1 Pet. iii. 3, 4.

65. #broche#: ‘fermail,’ F; ‘firmaculos,’ L (should be firmacula). #imembret#, striped, parti-coloured: comp. ‘Singuli Fratres singulas zonas tantum habeant, sintque zonae eorum simplicis corrigiae, sine fibulis & absque omni tinctura,’ Statuta Ord. Grandimont., Holst. ii. 303. #glouen#: comp. ‘Ut nunquam induant gantos,’ Regulae Sanctimonialium Fontis Ebraldi, Migne, P. L. clxii. 1097.

57 C-61. See 66/114-19. The scribe of C copied this passage by inadvertence at the bottom of f. 193 r instead of f. 194 r.

66. #ow ne deh#, it is not proper for you. #meoke#, soft and pliant, not like the heavy sheepskin winter garments. See 62/38 note.

67. #greattre#, coarser and larger pieces of work, not fancy trifles.

68. #forte--wið#, with which to get yourselves friends. ‘nec eorum (i.e. friends) munuscula litterasque suscipias, nec illis tua dirigas, prout moris est, puta zonas, marsupia, quae diverso stamine & subtegmine variata sunt,’ Ailred, 642 e. In the Gilbertine Rule the nuns are forbidden to make purses embroidered with silk, p. *xciv.

69. #huue#, coif, skull-cap: OE. #hūfe#; Germ. haube. #blodbinde#, ligatures of silk to stop bleeding: ‘tenas,’ L (a LL. form = taenias). #laz#, not ‘lace’ Morris, but laces, i.e. strings for lacing garments: ‘laqueos de serico,’ L.

70. #chirche claðes#: ‘les vestementȝ de seint iglise,’ F.

72. #fore#, beforehand: OE. #fore#: without telling him about it beforehand, as well as the circumstances, your relationship to the persons, how often you receive them, how long you entertain them.

73. #tendre of cunne#, affectionate towards kindred. The story which follows is in Eudes de Cheriton (ed. Hervieux, 270) and in Jacques de Vitry (ed. Crane, 54). Both were active in the first quarter of the thirteenth century. Eudes may have found the story (which is, in any case, an interpolation) in AR, he quotes, p. 195, a variant of the proverb found in AR 96/24, ‘euer is þe eie to þe wude leie,’ and applies it correctly.

74. #⁊--him#, to whom came.

75. #efter#: see 7/53.

76. #dead biburiet#: probably and has fallen out between these words.

77. #dead gasteliche#: ‘mortuus sum in claustro sepultus,’ Eudes, 271; ‘Quanti monachorum dum patris matrisque miserentur, suas animas perdiderunt,’ S. Jerome, ii. 577.

78. The amice, L. amictus, is the oblong piece of linen which envelops the neck of a vested priest. For a good illustration see Bock, Gesch. der liturg. Gewänder des Mittelalters, ii. Tafel ii. To its upper edge is sewn an apparel which forms a collar to it. The parures, apparels, are pieces of richly embroidered cloth sewn on the amice and on the alb, two at the lower hem before and behind, two on the cuffs, and sometimes two on breast and back. See Shaw’s Dresses, i. plates 14, 16; Rock, Church of our Fathers, i. 424-66. The Gilbertines were allowed to use silk for these embroideries.

80. #mustreisun#, ostentation, boasting: OF. mo(n)straison, L. monstrationem: NED. records a later monstrison and monstration.

81. For #gode werkes# spoilt by publishing them, see the characteristic passage in AR 146-52. #Criblin#: the exact meaning of this word, hitherto unrecorded, is hard to determine. Its connexion with F. cribler, LL. criblare (in Mulomedicina Chironis, ivth cent.), L. cribrum can hardly be doubted; it must mean some kind of open work; either embroidery on a net foundation, ‘filatorium,’ or drawn-thread work, or, what seems most probable, ‘tambour,’ wherein the strips of linen stretched in a ring frame, with the pattern pierced by a bodkin and the edges of the holes thus made framed in needlework, would above all things suggest a sieve. Such work might be used for ornamenting altar cloths, or pyx cloths, or even albs (see Bock, ii. 35). It was elaborate work, such as recluses ought not to undertake.

82. #Taueles#, linen cloths which are spread on the mensa of the altar, the ‘tres tobaleae mundae’ of the Roman rite. LL. toualia, Eng. towel. #riueð#, stitches, sews together; OWScand. rifa, to tack, sew loosely together: in Scottish dialects, riv.

83. #measse kemese#, albs: OE. #cemes#, LL. camisia. #nomeliche oueregede#, especially such as are foolishly elaborate: #oueregede# is found here only; egede is a characteristic word of the group, AR 282/13; HM 39/2; SM 11/9.

84. #Helpeð# &c.: comp. ‘Quod ut fiat, videat inclusa, ut si fieri potest, de labore manuum suarum vivat, hoc enim perfectum est,’ Ailred, 641 d. A general injunction, not applicable to the sisters, for whom ample provision had been made, AR 192/16.

85. #se forð se#, as far as: comp. ‘so uorð so,’ 65/67; ‘se uorð ase,’ 75/187; ‘ase forð as,’ 72/201; ‘so uorð ase,’ AR 268/10, 382/11.

86. The reference is probably to ‘ne quemquam otiosum possit diabolus invenire, ne variis desideriis pateat cordis aditus, altera sororum libros scribat . . . suat altera cucullas sororum,’ Opera v. 442.

87. #lihtliche#, without good reason. #allunges#, altogether, wholly: the genitive form is less common than the dative, 70/154, which represents OE. #eallunga#. #of sumþing . . . idel#, without something to do: comp. 58/73. #anan rihtes#, immediately, straight away.

89. #for nawt#, to no purpose.

90. #iȝemen#: OE. #gegīeman# occurs only in the sense of treating as a patient, amending: ȝeme T means, take heed to, give attention, the variant in N, #ihwulen#, have leisure: comp. ‘hwon so ȝe euer muwen ihwulen,’ AR 44/5. Apparently it occurs nowhere else.

91. ‘In desideriis est omnis otiosus,’ comp. Prov. xxi. 26. For #awakeneð# see 54/24. ‘Ecce haec fuit iniquitas Sodomae, sororis tuae, superbia, saturitas panis et abundantia, et otium ipsius,’ Ezech. xvi. 49.

94. #rust#: ‘otium enim et desidia quasi quaedam rubigo sapientiae est,’ S. Jerome, ii. 773.

95, 96. From Ailred; ‘sunt quaedam inclusae, quae in docendis puellis occupantur, et cellam suam vertunt in scholam,’ 641 f. #forwurðe#, degenerate into; a meaning apparently found only in AR; its ordinary sense is, to perish, 54/23. Comp. ‘Þeo þet schulden one lecnen hore soule mid heorte bireousunge . . . uorwurðeð fisiciens ⁊ licomes leche,’ AR 368/28; ‘bicumeð (forwurðeð T) meister, þe schulde beon ancre,’ 64/24.

96. #ꝥ--of#, concerning whom it would be danger; comp. 1/3. For #of#, meaning ground, cause, comp. ‘strengðe of,’ 66/116; ‘gostlich fondunge þat is more dred of,’ AR 194/23: for #pliht#, risk, ‘Nu ne sceole ȝe halden eower child to plihte to longe hæþene,’ Twelfth Cent. Hom. 6/7: #dute# 79 N has the same meaning.

97. #bimong#: a form characteristic of AR and the allied writings.

99. See 64/68 note. In the next line #writen# probably means compose or copy books; comp. ‘Nulla etiam de nostris praesumat libros aliquos, vel orationes, vel meditationes scribere vel scribi facere sine assensu prioris omnium,’ Gilbertine Rule, p. *lxxxiii.

100. Their hair is to be cropped, #idoddet#, or shaven four times a year, or if any one prefers it, trimmed, #ieueset#, but in that case, the hair must be washed and combed more often, C 85; not more than seven times in the year according to the Gilbertine Rule.

102. #beo bi#, as at 62/45.

103. #as ofte#: four times a year, as in the Gilbertine Rule, p. *lvi. #þe#, who, equivalent to whoso; if any one can dispense with bloodletting; #þer buten#, without it: see NED. s.v. Here § 16.

105. #þe þreo dahes#, a recognized period of indulgence; ‘Minutis tribus diebus pitantia mane vinum autem bis datur . . . a laboribus vacant, ad lectos redeunt, a post prandium usque ad vesperas colloquium de bonis faciunt,’ Guigonis Consuetudines, Migne, P. L. cliii. 737.

106. #schurteð#, amuse: a rare word supposed to be cognate with Germ. scherzen. ‘Mes dalieȝ de paroles od voȝ meschines ⁊ od honestes countes solaceȝ vous ensemble,’ F.

107. #beoð#: the subject ȝe is understood from the preceding ow.

109. They were too severe in their austerities, AR 378/21, 228/18.

110. For #monluker# see 125/270 note.

115. #ꝥ--riwle# depends on #nan#. This passage corresponds to 65/57-61.

116. #strengðe#, weight, importance: a favourite word of the writer; comp. ‘of þincges wiðuten . . . nis nout muche strencðe,’ AR 12/12; ‘me schal makien strencðe of onnesse of cloþes,’ id. 12/5. For #of# see 66/97. In the introduction to part viii, he says that they must not promise, as unwise people might do, to observe any of the external rules.

117. #inre#, the inner rule, the ‘lady rule,’ to which the outer is but an handmaid: comp. AR 4/10, 12/24, 410/18.

118. #skile#, reason.

119. #þuften#, handmaid; comp. 68/123; ‘for mi lauerd biseh his þufftenes mekelac,’ HM 45/12; AR 4/11. OE. #þyften#.

120. #feareð to wundre#, goes to misfortune, ruin: OE. #wundor#, a portentous thing. Comp. 6/46 note; 117/10; ‘þu scealt to wundre gewurðan,’ AS. Hom., ed. Assmann, 174/163; ‘⁊ tukeð ham alto wundre,’ AR 380/15; ‘ȝeuest þin ahne dere bodi to tuken swa to wundre,’ HM 27/14; ‘so was ðis were to wunder brogt,’ GE 3977. #Ancre# &c.: the first clause is conditional, as at 54/11; if an anchoress have not her food close at hand, two women are busy, i.e. have plenty to do, are needed. This absolute use of #bisie#, meaning fully employed, is noteworthy. F has ‘Recluse qe nad pas sa vetaille pres · mestier ad dauer ij fe{m}mes’; L, ‘Anachorita que no{n} h{abe}t victu{m} ad manu{m} indiget duabus ancillis.’ The rule is founded on that of Ailred, ‘Itaque eligatur tibi aliqua anus, non garrula, non vaga, non litigiosa, non nugigerula . . . Haec ostium cellulae custodiat . . . Habeat sub cura sua fortiorem ad onera sustinenda puellam,’ 641 f.

121. #þe leaue#, who may remain, to stay: an intransitive use.

123. #unorne#, not ‘old,’ but plain in appearance; comp. 62/23; either a young girl or middle-aged, without adornment.

124. #beoden#, prayers: comp. ‘Cheatereð ouwer beoden euere, ase sparuwe deð þet is one,’ AR 174/24: ‘voise disant ses proiores,’ F.

129. #dame#, mistress: each of the anchoresses had her own maids; see 74/208.

132. #ȝe#: the reading of N is preferable: CT have no nominative: ‘Nul hom ne lessent entrer,’ F.

134. #oboke#, by book; comp. ‘Sum is clergesse ⁊ sum nis nout ⁊ mot . . . an oðer wise siggen hire ures,’ AR 6/12. #bi#, by the repetition of: ‘die par p{at}r{e} n{ost}res,’ F. Comp. AR 24, where the writer describes how the lay brethren of his own order say their hours.

136. Comp. ‘So þet me seið ine bisawe, “Vrom mulne ⁊ from cheping, from smiðe ⁊ from ancre huse, me tiðinge bringeð,”’ AR 88/26: Ailred, 641 b.

140. #to uuel turnen#: ‘vnde q{ui}s aliq{uid} mali pot{er}it suspicari,’ L.

141. #heaued clað#: ‘coeuere chief,’ F. #eiðer ligge ane#, let each lie by herself, comes in awkwardly among the directions about their clothes: F has it here, but T after habben, l. 143.

142. #cop# is apparently the caputium of the Gilbertine Rule: ‘Conversae vero laicae sorores vestiantur sicut monachae, cucullis et scapulari exceptis; quorum loco habeant pallia de adultis agnis forrata; et caputia earum mamillas tegentia ad formam scapulariorum sanctimonialium,’ p. *lxxxvii: so a short cape covering the shoulders instead of the longer cloak called scapular. It was to be sewn high on the breast, not closed by a brooch: hence its name #hesmel# in N, as a garment with a hole for the head to pass through; Icel. hálsmal: #istihd# in N is probably miswritten for istichd. ‘lour cotes soient par de sus closes par deuant la poitrine sanȝ fermail,’ F.

143. #unleppet#, literally unlapped, not enfolded; ‘desaffublieȝ,’ F: not in their ‘cop’ or ‘hesmel.’ OE. #læppa#, skirt. #unweawed# N, ungarmented, means the same thing, not ‘unveiled,’ Morris: comp. OE. #wǣfels#, pallium, indumentum. #open heaued#, bare-headed; ‘teste descouerte,’ F. #ihudeket# C, covered; from *#hȳdecian#, derivative of #hȳdan# (NED).

144. #cussen#: the mode of salutation then general among lay folk is forbidden them. For the custom at a much later period see Cavendish’s Life of Wolsey, ed. Singer, p. 171.

145. #toggin#, tug, pull about; comp. 186/318. T has the derivative, toggle: Sc. dialect, tuggle.

146. #aturn#, attire, or possibly, bearing, manner. OF. atourn, equipment, adornment. Comp. ‘for þi is hare aturn se briht,’ HM 23/10; ‘aturnet,’ 123/209.

147. #hwerto . . . iturnde#, in what direction they are going, what way of life they have chosen. #Hare lates# &c., let them wisely give heed to their gestures, behaviour; ‘porteures,’ F.

150. #venie#, acknowledgement of fault and petition for pardon, usually in the form of a genuflection or of a profound bow (curvatio). It was also used as a formal act of humiliation at the end of a Psalm and with the angelic salutation, as ‘cum tribus veniis totidem feci salutationes,’ Caesarius Heisterbach., ii. 33, 39: see also Ecbasis Captivi, ed. Voigt, ll. 769-72. Comp. ‘nimeð ower uenie dun et ter eorðe mid te honden one[;] oðer ualleð adun al uor muchel misnimunge,’ AR 46/27; ‘sumat veniam super terram,’ Gilbertine Rule, p. *lxxxi.

154. #do--ut#, put it utterly out.

156. #eiðer# &c., and let them raise one another and end with a kiss: #ham# in N is reciprocal.

157. #þe greatluker gulte#, who was more in fault; see 125/270.

158. #witen# &c.: see 90/73 note. #some#, concord: comp. ‘to some and to sehtnysse,’ Ælf., Hom. Cath. ii. 198/19, ‘myd sib and myd some,’ OEM 89/15; ‘sib ⁊ sæhte,’ 11/184; ‘sib wið ute uihte,’ 133/60. #somentale# in T means concord; in Orm, sammtale, in CM, samertale, concordant.

159. #umben#: see 74/229 note. For #leaððe#, OE. #lǣððo#, hatred, N has substituted the commoner #wreððe#.

160. #o brune#, alight; comp. ‘bed bringen o brune,’ SK 1355; AR 296/12. #aga#, go out; an uncommon use of a word which means, to depart. Comp. ‘That other fyr was queynt and al agon,’ Chaucer, C. T., A 2336.

161. #nond#, aphetic form of anond, onond. The emendation appears to be justified by the reading of N, although this shortened form does not occur elsewhere. All the scribes seem to have been puzzled by the peculiar use of the word; N adds a gloss ‘also.’ T has dos hond to, sets his hand to; C omits. The word is adverbial, meaning likewise; a development of #on efen#, on a level with. He doth likewise the same thing, is a tautology characteristic of the writer: ‘il fet meismes ceste chose,’ F.

162. #ꝥ he wule ꝥ#, which he wills that it should burn: comp. 7/52: ‘le quel il vult qe arde en n{ost}re queor,’ F.

163. #ne geineð nawt#, is of no avail.

164. #nohtunge#, depreciation: comp. ‘for noht oðer nohtunge,’ HM 9/1. But F interprets it otherwise, ‘ascune altre chose qe rien ne vaut.’ #to hurten#, may dash asunder: ‘par quey il seuerent lune de laltre,’ F. #to hurren# CT means, whirl asunder: comp. dialectal Danish hurre, dial. English hurr, to whirr round.

165. For #frommard# see 58/66. #cwencheð# should be cwenche or #hurten#, hurteð. An early instance of cwenchen, to be extinguished.

166. #halden ham#, let them, i.e. the brands, hold themselves firmly together.

167. #ne--of#, let them not heed; see 8/84. F has ‘⁊ ne lour seit a rien tout soffle lenemy.’

168. #monie#, i.e. brondes. #iueiet#, joined; corresponds to OE. #gefēged#, pp. of #gefēgan#: a favourite word of the author; comp. ‘iveied togederes,’ AR 26/9; ‘iueied somed,’ id. 308/17; ‘hope ⁊ dred beon euer iveied togederes,’ id. 336/9, 356/7. #ontende#: comp. 128/370; ‘of þeos two treon ȝe schulen ontenden fur of luue wiðinnen ower heorte,’ AR 402/7. For #wið# see 130/52: F has ‘nomeem{en}t ensemble. si plusours estes ensemble iointes ⁊ bien dam{ur} esprises,’ where the first ensemble is superfluous.

170. #schriuen ham#, let them make their confession: a new development in the meaning of the word: OE. #scrīfan# means, to hear confession, to impose penance (#scrift#). F has ‘Al p{re}stre ia le plus tard ne se co{n}fessent souent,’ where the equivalent of #noðeleater#, nevertheless, is noteworthy.

174. #se lengre se mare#: ‘a touȝ iours · plus ⁊ plus,’ F.

177. #gruchesi#, a hitherto unrecorded form, means, like the other readings, to munch, nibble. It is related to #gruse# T as the mod. dialect. forms growdge (Lincs.), grouge (Notts) are to grouze, to eat noisily (mostly Lincs.): #gruselie# N may be represented by gruzzle, to eat voraciously (Lanark). Similarly OF. groucier is grutch in ME., in mod. dialects, grouse, to grumble.

178. #liht#, readily given by the mistress; comp. 48/312. F appears to have read liþ, ‘le conge gist en toutes choses la ou ny ad pecche.’

179. #na word#: the rule for the anchoresses was, ‘Silence euere et te mete[;] vor ȝif oðre religiuse doð hit . . . ȝe owen biuoren alle,’ AR 68/21. #⁊ teo stille#, and those few in a low voice: N has added #beon#, and let those be &c. #complie#: after the anchoress has said compline, the servant must be careful not to disturb her obligatory silence. The times of silence are stated in Ailred’s thirteenth chapter. #aþet#, until; OE. #oð ðæt#, until that, a conjunctional phrase, as at 72/189, 77/61, 69, 118/23, but here a preposition; comp. ‘aþet endunge þissere weorlde,’ OEH i. 119/15; ‘aðet tes dei,’ SK 1305. þet, þat are used alone as conjunctions, until; comp. 162/248; ‘ꝥ come þes dei,’ OEH i. 33/32; KH 123 note. #a þa#, 78/71 (= a þe) represents #oð þe#, conj., until: so too #of# = oð, 13/15. #uort# N 73/162, until, is shortened from for te (= for to); comp. ‘slepte uort midniht,’ AR 236/25; ‘for to þe fowertuðe dai,’ OEH ii. 23/7. But it is mostly a conjunction, as at 134/64, 136/156, 151/41; ‘uort ȝe beon al greiðe,’ AR 16/6; ‘for to þe time cam,’ OEH ii. 23/4; or it forms with þet a conjunctional phrase, 73/172; ‘vort tet we speken,’ AR 64/12; ‘forte ꝥ on þen þridde dai[;] ꝥ is heorte be liht,’ OEH ii. 103/23. Finally, in ‘ȝet nabbe ȝe nout wiðstonden uorte þet þe schedunge of ower blode,’ AR 262/17, #uorte þet# is a preposition. Note the readings of TC at l. 172.

181. #hure# appears to be a repetition of the preceding: N has cloð; CT clað: ‘fors le mangier ⁊ auestir,’ F.

182. #ꝥ . . . bi#, by means of which. #flutte#, subsist; OWScand. flytja, but the meaning here answers to the reflexive flytjask, to maintain oneself: ‘dunt ele se puit sustenir,’ F. Comp. ‘þet moni þusunt muhten biflutten,’ AR 202/25, apparently the only other place where it is used in this sense. The noun fluttunge is in HM, ‘to fluttunge ⁊ to fode,’ 27/8, 29/4; SM 22/34. #Ne misleue# &c., Let no recluse’s servant have such want of confidence in God as to think that He will fail her, whatever betide the recluse. The servant may rest assured that she will be provided for in any contingency. ‘Nule ne mescroie dieu qeiqe auienge de la recluse qil lui faille,’ F. See 141/36, and for #trukie# comp. further 82/105, AR 68/6, 234/17, 356/31.

183. #þe meidnes wið uten# would seem to restrict the application of the last sentence to the aged indoor servant, see 66/121. The reading of T, þeo ꝥ arn wið ute{n}, applied to people in general who help the recluse, seems better.

184. #alswa as#, even as, just as: so ‘alriht so,’ AR 92/8. hom in T is a mistake for ho.

185. #haueð ehe . . . toward#: comp. ‘hwon ȝe habbeð touward me eien oðer honden,’ AR 76/15 (= ‘cum extenderitis manus’): ‘qi ad loil desperance v{er}s si haut louer,’ F. In N 168 ‘of’ has been lost after ‘eie,’ which cannot mean any.

186. #heh bure#, Blake’s ‘heaven’s high bower’ is quite in the manner of the writer; he has ‘breoste bur,’ AR 34/11; ‘heorte bur,’ 102/22; ‘in to þe stirrede bur bliðe to heouene,’ SM 22/12. Comp. also, ‘in to þan heuenliche bure,’ OEH ii. 167/3. A has preserved the original reading: F has ‘v{er}s si haut louer.’

187. #eise . . . este#: a frequent combination in AR, comp. ‘Eise ⁊ flesches este beoð þes feondes merken,’ AR 364/2, 136/26, 220/6, 374/27; ‘Al þe este ⁊ al þe eise is her,’ HM 29/26. ‘Od aise ne od delit ne achate hom pas tiele ioie,’ F.

188. #reden#: F has ‘lire,’ but the women would not understand French. #euche wike eanes#: ‘Quater in anno legantur scripta fratribus et sororibus,’ Gilbertine Rule, p. *xciv. #ou beoðe# in N 173, to both of you, means, to the anchoresses as well as to their servants; comp. N 176.

190. #igodet#, improved: comp. 8/92; AR 386/15.

192. #for þi as#, for the reason that: comp. 130/53. The writer affects a fullness of expression in such phrases: so ‘ȝef þet’ in the preceding line; ‘uor þi ꝥ,’ in order that, AR 66/22; ‘uor hwon þet,’ if on occasion, id. 160/3, 270/11, 300/16; ‘mid tet ꝥ,’ as soon as, id. 76/22; ‘wið þen þet,’ on condition that, id. 242/27; ‘bi þen þet,’ by that, id. 330/18. #ow#: dative, to you.

194. #liðeliche ⁊ luueliche#, gently and affectionately. #wummone lare#, teaching to women.

195. For #selthwenne sturne#, F has ‘relement estiburne’; the former word is dialectic for rarement, the latter apparently ME. stiborn, Chaucer C. T., D 456; comp. ‘Styburne, or stoburne (or sterne). Austerus,’ Prompt. Parv., ed. Way, 475: OF. estibourner, to palisade.

197. #eoli ⁊ win#. The source is probably, ‘Hinc namque est, quod docente Veritate per Samaritani studium semivivus in stabulum ducitur, et vinum et oleum eius vulneribus adhibetur, ut per vinum scilicet mordeantur vulnera, per oleum foveantur. Necesse quippe est ut quisquis sanandis vulneribus praeest, in vino morsum doloris adhibeat, in oleo mollitiem pietatis,’ S. Gregorii Pastoralis Cura, ii, ch. 6. The biographer of S. Gilbert says he applied this teaching, ‘Quoniam autem vulneribus saucii nunc vinum, nunc oleum infundere debet Samaritanus qui interpretatur custos, studuit . . . medicus iste animarum utroque uti genere medicamenti.’ Dugdale, p. *vi. Wine is mystically interpreted justice; oil, mercy.

199. #suhinde#, biting, smarting: perhaps connected with OWScand. svíða: a Northern word, see Minot, v. 12 note and EDD sou. C substitutes sturne.

200. #luue eie#, love-fear; ‘doute en am{ur},’ F. Comp. ‘With loue awe, sone, þy wyfe chastyse,’ How the Wyse Man taught hys Sone, 33/140, where the editor reads lone; ‘frigti luue,’ 197/18. The words are often associated, as ‘And quat for luue and quat for age,’ GE 3632.

201. #icnaweð#, confess: arn cnawe in T means are confessing; OE. #gecnǣwe#; see KH 983 note. #Ase forð as#: see 64/85: ‘Ausi auant come v{us} poeȝ,’ F.

203. #nearowe#, strict, sparing: comp. ‘hold hire neruwe,’ AR 268/25; ‘neruwe domesmon,’ id. 156/14; ‘et te neruwe dome,’ id. 308/9. It is a noun in the next line, as is #wide#, l. 205: ‘lestreit del corn . . . le large,’ F. #hearde#: as they in fact were; ‘Noðeleas, leoue sustren, ower mete and ower drunch haueð iþuht me lesse þen ich wolde,’ AR 412/28. Similarly Ailred, ‘parcissimo cibo vix corpus sustentas,’ 644 c.

205. #ȝe don#, may ye do, do ye.

207. #ahnes#, own; a gen. sing., corresponding to OE. #āgnes#, in a sort of apposition to #ower#: so aunes in C: the construction is probably the same in ‘His ahȝenes þonkes he þrowede for us,’ OEH i. 121/27. With #ones# N 193, alone, comp. 147/163; ‘mid his ones mihte,’ AR 160/10, where T has the curious anres as here; ‘wið his anes wit awarpen,’ SK 591, 1283; as in Latin, ‘Mea unius opera respublica salva est.’ In OE. are found, ‘mid þines anes ȝeþeahte,’ Boethius, ed. Fox, 128/19; ‘ðæt ge ures nanes ne siendon,’ Cura Past. 211/14, where the possessive has conformed to the adjective.

209. #cumeð# &c., pay a visit to your maids for relaxation. With #froure# comp. ‘iuvencula quaedam quae ei (sanctimoniali) ad solatium fuerat deputata,’ Caesarius Heisterbach., ii. 216. #cumeð . . . to þe þurl#: comp. the rule as to visits of the recluse’s friends, ‘ȝif eni haueð deore gist, do hire meiden ase in hire stude te gladien hire uere, ⁊ heo schal habben leaue to openen hire þurl enes oðer twies ⁊ makien signes touward hire of one glede chere,’ AR 68/22. #earunder#, before undern, noon: undern is from nine to twelve, sometimes twelve as here and at 206/323, sometimes nine as at 220/205: comp. ‘ereyesterday,’ the day before yesterday, quoted from Coverdale in NED iii. 267. With #ouerunder#, after undern, comp. ‘ofer non,’ Wulfstan, 205/9; ‘ouernon,’ afternoon, R. of Gloucester, ed. Wright, 7302, 7487; ‘mydouernoon,’ Hymns to the Virgin, 84/49; ‘þy feorþan dæge ofor undern,’ BH 93/14. The dialectic overday, overnight, overyear refer to the past day &c.

210. #note gastelich#, spiritual occupation, duties.

211. #sitte# &c.: do not remain at the window talking to them past the proper time for compline.

213. #hurten heorte#, wound another’s feelings, if retailed: that readily works mischief. Comp. AR 256/1-7, where the devil is said to be busy about separating the sisters with gossip.

215. #lokeð#, watches over, preserves; see 4/20. #edhalden#, entertained: comp. ‘Prohibemus . . . ne aliqua . . . praesumat alicui hospiti dare carnes . . . nec aliquem balneare, vel minuere vel ultra unam noctem retinere,’ Gilbertine Rule, p. *lxxxv. #ꝥ beo#, let it occur.

218. #plohien# is subj. pr. pl., Let not the anchoress or her maiden play; it represents OE. #pleogian# as ME. pleien does OE. #plegian#. Possibly the dialect word ploy, amusement, usually explained as aphetic for employ, is connected with this form. The #gomenes# would be backgammon, chess, and the like.

219. #ticki to gederes#, pat, caress each other, or possibly, romp, play the child’s game of ‘ticky.’ See NED s.v. Tick, v.^1 for examples of the phrase ‘tick and toy.’

220. #fleschlich froure#: the reference is perhaps to ‘Venientibus quippe ad religionem non est consideranda carnis fragilitas, ut ei delicate subserviatur, sed impedimenta fervoris spiritus, ut sollicite fugiantur,’ Opera, i. 370 b.

221. #wið ute met# &c., beyond measure (exceptional) exquisite joy. Comp. ‘utnume feir,’ SJ 6/1.

222. #þruppe# usually means, in addition, as at 127/358, but in AR it generally refers to what has previously been said. Comp. ‘Turneð þeruppe (= back to the place) þer ich spec hu he was ipined,’ AR 188/17; ‘þet ich spec er of þeruppe,’ id. 372/23; where it repeats ‘er’; ‘þeruppe is inouh iseid,’ id. 194/5, already enough has been said. The passage to which he refers them is probably ‘ne schal tu nonesweis þeos two ilke cumforz, min ⁊ te worldes--þe joie of the holi gost ⁊ flesches froure habben togederes,’ AR 102/13.

223. #eise#, at leisure, have opportunity: so ‘hwen þu art on eise carpe toward ihesu,’ OEH i. 287/11; ‘eise (= opportunity) makeð þeof,’ HM 17/24; AR 288/21; ‘aisie,’ convenient, OEH ii. 47/16; ‘efter hire eaise,’ to her liking, AR 114/10. In ‘Et te one psalme ȝe schulen stonden ȝif ȝe beoð eise,’ AR 20/27, it means, in good health, as ‘hwo se is ful meseise,’ id. 46/22, means, whoever is very infirm. The Gilbertine Rule gives leave to sit at the choir offices, especially after bloodletting, p. *lvii.

225. #biheue#: see 91/108. #bitohe#: see 21/106.

226. #wite#: subj. as in the exclamation ‘wite Christ,’ OEH i. 29/26: the ind. as in N is usual. CT have deu le set. #do me toward#, set out for Rome, a journey of hardship and difficulty; see Arnulfi Lexov. Epistolae, ed. Giles, 197. The simple infinitive after #leouere# is noteworthy: the reading of N represents the normal OE. #to donne#.

229. #beoð umben#, be bent on. The phrase is constructed with (1) inf., 70/159: (2) noun, ‘and beo ge embe þæt ylce,’ Ælf., Lives, i. 120/79, 154/120, 434/34; ‘Ac hi efre beoð ymbe þat an,’ OEH i. 221/7: (3) relative adverb as here and at 75/201: (4) with relative clause, ‘⁊ ymbe þæt wæron þæt hig hig sylfe on Hierusalem beclysan woldon,’ AS. Hom., ed. Assmann, 185/123; ‘is vmbe eueriches weis þet heo him luuie,’ AR 218/12. #beon abuten# has the same meaning and constructions: comp. 46/267, 118/29; ‘Aure to feawe men bien abuten to habben ðese hali mihte,’ VV 133/20; ‘Satan is ȝeorne abuten (= expetivit) uorto ridlen þe ut of mine corne,’ AR 234/15, and absolutely, ‘Inouh ich was abuten,’ I did my best, AR 88/8. But ‘abuten to eggen,’ AR 146/1, means, employed in inciting. #þeronuuen#, thereupon, on that object, i.e. that ye keep it better &c., where the adverb is somewhat superfluous, but in the writer’s manner. OE. #þǣr an ufan#. But #on uuen# has in two places at least the meaning of, for the future; SJ 53/9; AR 236/14; and the word in the text might mean, thereafter. #þer abuten# N 202, about that thing.

231. #wite . . . warde#: see 118/50.

233. #dreheð ⁊ dreaieð#, suffer and endure; OE. #drēogað ⁊ dragað#: comp. ‘þe alre meast derue | ꝥ eni deadlich flesch | mahe drehen ⁊ drawen,’ SK 1889; ‘þu hauest for mi luue muchel idrohen ant idrehen,’ SJ 34/9. For the form #dreaieð#, comp. 123/206, 147/153.

234. #him seoluen#: comp. 50/360. #aa#, ever: comp. 118/53, 119/90, 120/108, 125/276: so in SK (MS. R) 664, 1480; HM (MS. T) ‘aá’ 15/34. The doubling is merely an indication of length.

235. #þe leafdi#: comp. ‘Saluum la Dame souent,’ Adgar, 200/58.

236. #meaðful#, moderate: OE. #mǣþfull#; comp. 122/197.

237. #writere#, the scribe; comp. 128/375. #sum chearre#, sometimes; comp. ‘sume cherre,’ AR 108/10.

238. #þe#, for thee, dative.

Greek

κρεάγρα [kreagra]

Cross-References

1/3, 1/10 (note) = I. A (Worcester Fragments) 13/34 (note) = V. (A Parable) 54/6 (note) = present selection (A: Seven Deadly Sins) 62/22, 74/229 (notes) = present selection (B: Outer Rule) 77/63 (note) = X. (In Diebus Dominicis) 90/73 (note) = XIII. (Vices and Virtues) 118/52, 125/270 (notes) = XVI. (Sawles Warde) 132/9 (note) = XVIII. (The Orison of our Lady) table on p. 356 = present selection under Manuscripts

Errata

v. Cotton Cleopatra C 6 [corrected by author from “C 5”] #Literature:# ... Mühe, T. [Muhe] #Phonology:# ... but u in wule 72 [“u” misprinted as bold instead of italic] #ā# is regularly ... (beside leasse 61 (4), leaste b 188) [(4) leaste] #ū#, u; [u,] #ea# before #r# ... ȝeouen b 71 [ȝeouen,] #ēa# is regularly ... #ȝīet# is ȝet b 193 [printed as shown: apparent error for “gīet”] #a# + #g# ... in MS. C ploȝe [C. ploȝe] Final #ig# is regularly i [“i” misprinted as bold instead of italic] #siehst#, #siehð# with i-umlaut [“i” misprinted as bold instead of italic] #ea# before #r# ... and a, after #w# [#w# misprinted as italic instead of bold] before length. groups o [length groups] #eo#, u- and å-umlaut of #i# [#i# misprinted as italic instead of bold] (4) =Of T and C.= ... investigation of Mühe [Muhe] Three-fourths of the infinitives ... witen pr. pl. subj. [pr. pl. subj.,] idon pp. b 176; [176,] (2) =Of B.= ... sunnen 26, earen 71 are s. d. [d. s.] (3) =Of N.= ... ueonde 139 is s. d., [comma missing] Infinitives end in -en ... II. bitinde 183: [183.] Infinitives are divided ... II. bitende 183: [183;] #Vocabulary:# ... [all commas in this paragraph are printed (or missing) as shown]

[IX A.] 3. ... inter scorpiones et colubros [colubres] 32. ... F. T has ‘þe ondfule ⁊ te luðere [open quote missing] 37. ... a windes puf [þuf]

[IX B.] 26. ... Grossioribus peliciis utatur [spelling unchanged] 65. #broche#: ‘fermail,’ F; ‘firmaculos,’ [open quote missing] 68. #forte--wið#, with which to get yourselves friends [“with” added by author] 75. #efter#: see 7/53. [#efter#;] 78. The amice, L. amictus [L amictus] 103. ... p. *lvi ... see NED. s.v. Here § 16. [N.E.D.] 207. ... apposition to #ower# [#ower# misprinted as plain (non-bold)]

X. IN DIEBUS DOMINICIS

#Manuscript:# Lambeth, 487: see p. 312.

#Editions:# Morris, R., OEH i. 41-47, and Specimens, 17-21; Zupitza-Schipper, AE Lesebuch, ed. viii, 92-95.

#Literature:# (1) =of the Vision of S. Paul=. Brandes, H., Ueber die Quellen der me. Versionen der Paulus-Vision, in ES vii. 34-65; id. Visio S. Pauli, Halle, 1885; Batiouchkoff, Th., in Romania, xx. 17; James, M. R., Visio Pauli in Texts and Studies, ii. 3, Cambridge, 1893; Meyer, P., in Romania, vi. 11-16, xxiv. 357-375, and in Notices et Extraits, xxxv. 153-158; Ward, H. L. D., Catalogue of Romances in the British Museum, ii. 397-416; Cohn, O., Die Sprache in der me. Predigtsammlung der Hs. Lambeth 487, Berlin, 1887. Vollhardt, W. (see p. 269/19). (2) =of the Vision in general=. Fritzsche, C., Die lateinischen Visionen des Mittelalters, in Romanische Forschungen, ii. 247, iii. 337; Peters, E., Zur Geschichte der lateinischen Visionslegenden, in Romanische Forschungen, viii. 361-364; Becker, E. J., A Contribution to the Comparative Study of the Mediaeval Visions of Heaven and Hell, Baltimore, 1899; Bedae Opera Historica, ed. C. Plummer, ii. 294. (3) =of the Sunday Letter=. Priebsch, R., in Otia Merseiana, i. 129, and in Mod. Lang. Review, ii. 138-154; Napier, A., in An English Miscellany, 355-362.

#Phonology of x and xi:# References to piece xi are marked b. Oral #a# is a, crabbe b 84, slakien b 67; #a# before nasals, o, biwon 73, from 87, but swam b 90; #a# before lengthening groups, o, ahonge 14, ontful 53, but and 8, 85, b 25. #æ# is regularly e, cweð 45 (3 times), þet 25 &c., but abac b 86, blake b 82, b 120, blaca b 99, saterdei 71, þat 25, 68, watere b 86: with habbe b 14, b 77 comp. LWS. subj. #habbe#. #e# is regularly e, betre b 24, eten b 101, b 104 (but eoten 80), engles 5 (4), sunbendes b 67; but it is i in tilden b 110, eo in seolcuðre 17: stude 40, 41, b 26, whulche b 80, wulc b 20, swulc b 85 are due to OE. forms with #y#, hwilc b 21, swilc 21, uwilc 83, 85 to forms with #i#. #i# is i, bidde 60, wille 60, b 62, bindeð b 110, but en 59, wule 6, nule b 28 and all other parts of #willan#. #o# is o, froggen b 83, longe 47, but iwrat 79, walde 46, 47, b 93, nalde 46, 51, nalden 32, 58, all Anglian forms with a; in weord 65 (5) eo is written for o. #u# is u, bicumeð 73, sunedei 4, hundes b 38. #y# is u, cunnes b 80, cunde b 85; #mycel# is muchele 67 &c.

#ā# is regularly a, an 16, claþeð b 114, gast 87, lauerd 39 (5), na b 100 (Anglian), þas 30, swa 29, but on 43, louerd 60, þon 5, þeo b 19, þeos b 14 (4) þos b 95, b 99, se b 11, b 69; noteworthy is foage b 119: escade 44, 49 descends from #ǣscian#. #ǣ{1}# is e, efreni 27, ledde 50, but a in þare b 98, ea in eani 18, 48, sea 24 (4); ulcne b 66 descends from #ylc#. #ǣ{2}# is e, breðe 42 (Anglian #brēþ#), neddren 26, but ariste 87. #ē# is e, gleden 35, ferde 10, but deað b 58. #ī# is i, is 25, swiþeliche 90, fifte 26. #ō# is o, bicom b 9, nom b 10, bisocnie 80, but eoðre 45. #ū# is u, hus b 73, lude 33. #ȳ# is u, fur 25 (3), mus b 113, tuneð b 27 (4), uþe 24, but forþi 6.

#ea# before #r# + cons. is e, herde b 51, midelerd b 81, both before lengthening group; a between #w# and #r# appears in swart b 105, warp 16, warðe 41. #ea# before #l# + cons. is invariably a, ald 43, alle 5. The i-umlaut is e, aweriede b 29, erming 6 (3), but earming 22, bicherreð b 112. #eo# before #r# + cons. is eo, eorðe 59 (4), ȝeorne 49, heorte 16 (3), weorkes 67, but ibureȝe 36, apparently from OE. #gebeorgan# (comp. ‘bureȝe,’ OEH i. 25/16, ‘bureȝest,’ id. 39/20). The #wur# group is represented by wurþien 75, 90. The i-umlaut is wanting in beorninde 12, after #w# it is u, wurse 26, wursien b 14, unwurðe b 29: berninde 16 (3) is from #bærnan#, smurieð b 114 from #smyrian#. #eo# before #l# + cons. is seen in seolf 76, 83. #ea#, u-umlaut of #a#, appears in eateliche 17, heauekes b 38. #eo#, u-umlaut of #e#, is eo, heofene 5, 99, ȝeolewe b 107, b 108, weorlde b 91, b 100, or o, ȝolewe b 120, world b 36, but hefene 82, heueneriche 55, ȝeluwe b 83, without umlaut. #eo#, å-umlaut of #e#, is seen in beode 80, beoden b 29, beoreð b 82, eoten 80, feole 19: unaneomned 28 is perhaps an analogic form. #eo#, å-umlaut of #i#, is eo in seodðan 16, b 115, seoðþan 40, seodðe b 25, heore 6 (3); hare 31 is Anglian #heara#: analogous are dalneominde 99 (comp. ‘neoman,’ OEH i. 29/18), icleped 88 (4). #eo#, u-umlaut of #i#, is seen in seofen 41, seofe 17, seofeþe 26. The palatal diphthong #ea# appears in sceal 62, scal b 89, ȝete 13: #ie# after #ġ# in ȝeue 71, ȝefe 60, 69, geuen b 49, b 102, ȝeueð 93; #gef# is ȝef 1, gif 6. #eo# after #ġ# is u in ȝunge b 87; after #sc# it is seen in sceolde b 13, scolde b 111, sculen b 21: #heom# is heom 9 &c., ham 70.

#ēa# is e, deðe 87, eren b 27, aȝen b 90 (#ongēan#), and six others, but ædie b 19 (‘eadi,’ OEH i. 39/5), dead, deade b 59: the i-umlaut gives e, alesnesse b 76, chese b 111, iheren b 28 (12), remeð 33. #ēo# is regularly eo, beot 98, feorðe 25, iseo 58, þreo b 51, but bitwenen 83, fredome 3, þre b 69; the i-umlaut does not occur. After #sc#, #ēa# appears in scean 29.

#a# + #g# is aȝ, daȝes 98, maȝen 40 (5); slage b 57, slaȝeð b 98 are new formations from the pp. #slagen# (Bülbring, Ablaut, 96); ah 51 (5) is Anglian #ah#. #æ# + #g# is invariably ei, mei b 103, seide b 87. #e# + #g# is also ei, eisliche 12, toȝeines 60 (3), wei b 24, but awey b 94. #o# + #g# is seen in forhoȝie b 25. #ā# + #g# is aȝ, aȝene 23 (4), faȝe b 82 (3), foaȝe b 119, expressing the [ā^o] sound. #ǣ{1}# + #ht# gives ehte b 100, b 105. #ē# + #g# appear in leies 17, leit 30 (#lēget#), tweien 8; #ō# + #g# in wohe 47; #ū# + #h# in þruh b 60. #ea# + #g# is seen in gneȝeð 34 = *#gneagað#, with å-umlaut of #a#, idreȝen b 70, pp. analogous to #dreagan# inf. with the same umlaut; #ea# + #h#, #ht#, in iseh 48; the i-umlaut in mihte 42, mihte 92, niht 30. The i-umlaut of #eo# + #h# occurs in siste 26 (#siexta#). #ēa# + #g# is eȝ, eȝen 15, heȝe 12; #ēa# + #h#, eh, abeh 64, heh 45: þah 23, b 97 is Anglian #þæh#. #ēo# + #g#, #ht# are seen in liȝere 53, lihtliche b 43, the i-umlaut in lihting 72. #ā# + #w# is aw in iknawe b 24, nawiht b 22, au in saule 7 (7), snau 25. #ǣ{1}# + #w# gives eu in eubruche b 34. #ō# + #w#, noht b 11 (#nōht#). #ēa# + #w# is seen in sceawede 12 (8), sceaude 16, scawede 11, scawere b 116; #ēo# + #w# in eow 2 &c., feower b 45, heowe 17 (WS. #hīw#), reowliche 33, how b 118, fower b 80, bireusunke b 53.

In syllables without stress #a# is usually levelled to e, but it survives in dringan 47, ilca 31, locan 86, 91, pinan 36, 37: #o# becomes e in heuene 55, seofeþe 26, suteliche 3, but a in escade 44, 49; #onuppan# is anuppon 46. In alla b 76, alra b 46, blaca b 99, wiðinna 43, a is written for final e, similarly clusterlokan 41, manaðas b 34; comp. quica 41/192. The prefix #ge-# is largely retained as i, iblissieð 5; it is u in uwilc 83 &c. #e# is added in amonge 30, medially in hefede 68, swiþeliche 90, lost in onswerde 57, sceaude 16.

w is added in hwure 61. #ll# is simplified in suteliche 3; #m# doubled in summe 14 &c.; #mm# simplified in swim b 88, swam b 90, as #nn# in clenesse 51, 91, ene b 45, ine b 34: #n# is doubled in sunne 100. #p# is doubled in deoppre b 41. Initial #f# is written u in ualleð b 46, b 47, uindeð b 7, uenne b 8, b 33, but f in falleð b 106: #f# between vowels or vowel and liquid is usually u, but ȝefe 69, leofe 72, monifolde 57, ufele 42, b 94, wifes b 37, nefre 45, 51, 52, efre 97, efreni 27: #f# is assimilated in wimmen b 113, but wifmen 93. #tt# is simplified in put b 31; #ts# is c in milce 63, milcien 62. #dd# is simplified in midelerd b 81; #d# is lost in onswerde 57, 70: #d# is t in ontful 53, iseit 82, b 14, td in feðer fotetd 28, ð in forðwarð b 87, iclepeð 3, iherð 73, isceaweð b 49. #þ# is written ðd in strengðdeð b 85, dþ in redþer 68, d in dringan 47, rested 95, wurdliche 91, t in speket b 92: #þþ# is dð in seodðan 16, b 115, seodðe b 25, but seoðþan 40. #sć# [š] is sc in gledscipe 81, iscild b 121, scal b 89, scolde b 111, and other forms of #sceolan#, scrift 32 (5), s, ss, ssc in fis b 84, fisses b 88, fissce b 84: the scribe writes elsewhere ‘ichefte,’ OEH i. 77/5 (#gesceafta#), ‘iblesced,’ id. 5/7, ‘edmodnesce,’ id. 5/19. #č# is expressed by ch, chese b 111, chirche 79 &c., eche b 98, tech b 89, uwilche 74, whulche b 80; but c is used finally for the same sound in ic 57, hwilc b 21, swilc 21, swulc b 85, uwilc 85, wulc b 20. #čč# is seen in totwiccheð b 94, wrecche 7, 11. The stop #c# is k before e, i, stoke b 113, swike b 111 and in clusterlokan 41, otherwise c, locan 86, but apparently ch in musestoch b 109, b 110. #čǧ# is gg in liggeð b 34, seggen 3. #cw# appears in cweð 45 (3), but qu occurs elsewhere in the MS., as ‘quic,’ OEH i. 81/1. #ġ# is ȝ, daȝes b 45, ȝef 1, ȝeue 71, ȝete 13, slaȝed b 98, but Gif 6, slage b 57, geuen b 49: #ng# is nk in bireusunke b 53, ‘of sprinke,’ OEH i. 75/31 (comp. Horn, Beiträge, 29); but ng for #nc# occur in ‘þong’ (= þonc), OEH i. 39/33, ‘dringen’ (= drinken), id. 37/33. Initial #h# is lost in lauerdes 4 &c., lusten 1, lude 33, redliche 64, redþer 68, remeð, reowliche 33, bireusunke b 53, witsunne 88; it is added in heow b 21, how b 118, hiheren b 16; #h# is also lost in iwrat 79; for it ð is written in þurð b 53. #hw# is seen in whulche b 80, wulc b 20: siste 26 is #siexta#, Angl. #se(i)sta#.

#Accidence:# Strong declension of masc. and neut. nouns. In the s. n. sune b 120 represents #sunu#. Gen. -es, muðes b 53, cunnes b 80, but monedeis 72; d. -e, deie 3 (3 times), scrifte b 69, fredome 3, ȝete 13, but domesdei 72, sunnedei 61, gast 87, 100, scrift b 67, atter b 106, non 71, smel b 112, without inflection. Plural n. a. of masculines, -es, daȝes 98, sunbendes b 67, but euencristene b 96 with adj. termination; neuters n. are deor 28, 33, weord b 14, beode 80 (#gebedu#), but þinges b 80, with masc. termination; beoden b 29, clusterlokan 41, deoflen 21, 43, 48, weak forms; a. hors b 37, weord 65, but huses b 36, weordes b 16 (4), wifes b 37, treon 12; d. -es, rapes b 12, weorkes 67, -weorkes 94, weordes b 94, but manaðas b 34, treon 13 (? #trēum#). Of the feminines mihte 92, 94, 95 has added e in the nom., bisocnie 80 represents #-socn#. The other cases end in -e, s. g. dede b 54, but weorldes b 100, a masc. form; s. d. ireste 77, weorlde b 91, but irest 5, sea 24, 27, b 84 (#sǣ#); s. a. reste 7 (5), but rest 6, sea 24; pl. n. ehte b 105, saule 19, but gleden 35, saulen 6; pl. d. pine 27, 97, saule 7, 73, but honden 14, pinan 36, 37, sunnen b 32 (3); pl. a. laȝe 59, b 28, pine 57, saule b 98, but laȝen 46, pinen 39, saulen 14, 22, sunnen b 62 (3) are weak forms. Nouns of the weak declension have -e in all cases of the singular, n. crabbe b 84; g. heorte b 53; d. chirche b 28; a. nome b 96: the plural has -en, n. crabben b 84, neddren 26, b 82, but neddre b 91; d. eȝen 15, haleȝen 68; a. eren b 27, but licome 31. Minor declensions: fet pl. d. 14, 28, 64 (possibly sing.); mon s. n. 42 (3), s. a. 43, b 66, men pl. n. b 33, monne pl. d. 32, 74, 83, men 31, wepmen 93, wifmen 93, wimmen b 113; boc s. d. b 7; mus pl. a. b 113; þruh s. d. b 60; niht s. a. 30; feder s. n. b 120, fedre s. d. 99; moder s. n. b 88; breðre pl. n. 72; children pl. a. b 37.

The weak declension of adjectives has -e throughout the singular, n. m. alde 44, b 87, halie b 121, f. leofe b 88, foaȝe b 119, blake b 120, neut. faȝe b 91; d. m. ȝunge b 87, halie 87, 100, ufele 42, f. eche b 98, stronge b 106, neut. halie b 17; a. f. muchele b 36. The only exception is heh s. n. m. 69. The strong forms are flectionless in the singular, except s. d. f. halie b 7, b 27, b 75, heuie b 66, mildere 70, seolcuðre 17 (with heowe neut.), warde 41 (= wardre); s. a. m. sunfulle b 66, s. a. f. muchele b 15, b 49. The termination of all cases of the plural, strong and weak, is e; exceptions are blaca b 99, freo b 50, sari b 56. #āgen# is represented by aȝene s. a. f. 34, pl. 23, 35, b 98: #ān#, #nān# appear as an n. 45, 50, b 84, on 43, nan 42, b 69, naþing 79; ane d. m. b 8, a. m. 40, ene b 45, an 16, ane a. f. 20, b 9, an a. neut. 49, nan 51, na b 101. Adjectives used as nouns are deade s. d. b 59, fulle s. a. b 104, god 48, 52, b 101, sunfulle pl. d. b 76, pl. a. 11: nouns as adjectives, erming 6, 22, 31, 96, liȝere 53, wrecche 7, 11, 13: hindene b 116 has pl. adj. termination. Noteworthy among numerals are þridde 25, 95, fifte 26, siste 26, seofeþe 26 (#seofoþa#).

The personal pronouns are ic, we, us, þu, ȝe, eow, heow b 21, how b 118. The pronoun of the third person is s. n. he m. 13, heo f. 50, 86, 91 (dei like L. dies is fm.), b 88, b 104, hit neut. 10, d. him m. 12, 13, hire f. 91, a. hine m. b 10 (4), heo f. 50, hit neut. 2, pl. n. hi b 93, heo 8 (10), ha 21, b 15, d. heom 9, 56, b 39, ham 70, b 117, a. heon b 98 (for heom), ham 36, 39. Reflexives are ham 5, heom 94, heom seoluen b 117, b 118; definitive, seolf 76, 83; possessives, mine s. a. f. 63, pl. a. 58, þin s. n. m. 60, 69, þines s. g. m. b 62, þine s. d. m. 66, b 63, s. d. f. 67, pl. d. 66, his 34, hire 20, ure 55, 83, heore 6 (5), hare 31. The definite article is s. n. þe m. 4, f. 25, þet neut. 25 &c., þat 25, g. þes m. 4, f. b 100, neut. 68, d. þam m. 41, 87, þan 3 (6), þen 61, 69, þon 5, þe b 8 (4), þa 3, þare f. b 98, þere b 60, b 84, b 103, þer 15, b 106, þe 15, þan neut. b 17, þon 23, þa b 111, þe 15, a. þenne m. 75, þene 90, 97, b 59, þon 88, þe b 24, þa f. 20, b 32, þe 24, þet neut. b 70 (with scrift m.), pl. n. þa, 5, 6, b 79, d. þam 7 (4), þan 13, 32, þa 14 (4), þe 15, a. þa 11 &c.: þet 8, b 35, b 47, b 51, b 114, b 115, b 116, is demonstrative. The article is also used as antecedent to relatives, þeo þe b 19, þa þe b 39, they who. The compound demonstrative is s. n. þis m. b 84, þes b 31, þis neut. b 91, þas b 73 (comp. 13/43), d. þisse m. b 10 (3), þis b 77, þisse f. 54, b 91, neut. 31, a. þeos m. b 81, þas f. b 36, þis neut. b 39, pl. n. þas 30, b 90, þos b 95, b 99, þeos b 14, b 33, b 105, d. þas b 113, a. 57, 65, þes b 100. The relative is mostly þe, but ꝥ 43 (6), þet b 106: interrogatives are hwa s. n. 7, 73, hwet 44, hwat, ꝥ b 78, hwilc s. n. b 21, wulc b 20, whulche pl. n. b 80, correlative swilc 21, b 40, swulc b 85: #ilca# is ilke s. d. 27, pl. n. 30, ilca pl. d. 31. Indefinites are hwa 6, hwa efre 97; me 36, b 9, mon 98, b 24; sume s. d. 9, sum s. a. 95, summe pl. n. 14, 28; oðer s. d. neut. 50, eoðre 45, oðre pl. d. 27, b 35, oðer pl. a. 97; ulcne s. a. b 66; uwilc s. n. 85, uwilche pl. d. 74, uwilc 83, uwilcan s. n. 17 (#gehwilc ān#); eani 18, 48, efreni 27; monie pl. b 113; alle s. d. f. 5 (4), al s. a. m. b 81, s. a. neut. 90, b 39, alle pl. n. 17 (4), alra pl. g. b 46, alremest b 35, alle pl. d. 27, alla b 76, alle pl. a. b 121.

The infinitive ends regularly in en; locan 86, 91, iþolie b 11 are the only exceptions; verbs of the second weak conjugation have -ien, iðolien 40, lokien 46, and six others; exceptions are enden 32, iloken 85, sceawen b 21. Dative infinitives with inflection are to bihaldene 18, to brekene 30, to demene 89, to swimminde b 86, uninflected are to haliȝen 74, to wurðien 75 (virtual nominatives), for to lokien 9, for to arisen b 40 and ten others in piece xi with for to, to draȝen b 117 and fifteen others with to. Presents are s. 1. bidde 60, iseo 58; 2. bringest b 63, leist b 60; 3. bicherreð b 112, wuneð b 91, exceptional are bitacnet b 74, speked 37, speket b 92, contracted forms as beot 98, bret b 111 amount to one-third of the total number; pl. 1. cumeð b 58, slage we b 57, tuneð b 44; 2. habbeð 73, b 20; 3. beoreð b 82, wepeð 34, and of the second weak conjugation, iblissieð 5, lokieð b 115, smurieð b 114, wunieð b 80; subjunctive s. 2. ȝefe 60, 69, milcie 68; 3. ibureȝe 36, iknawe b 24, icnawe b 25, cume 61, 69, forhoȝie b 25, ilokie 97, trukie b 105; pl. 1. tunen b 44: imperative s. 2. aris 70, haue 39, iscild b 121, swim b 88, tech b 89; pl. 2. ihereð b 79. Past of Strong Verbs: Ia. s. 3. cweð 45 (3), iseh 48: Ib. s. 3. com 10 (3), bicom b 9, nom b 10: Ic. s. 3. biwon 7, 73, gon 65, bigon 54, b 89, swam b 90, warp 16; pl. 3. urnen 20: II. s. 3. scean 29; pl. 3. swiken 30: III. s. 3. abeh 64: IV. s. 3. stod b 7: V. s. 3. het 9, weop 55. Participles present: Ib. dalneominde 99: Ic. beorninde 12, berninde 16 (3): II. glidende 35; past: Ia. ibeden 71, geuen b 49, b 102, ispeken b 77: Ic. biwunden b 79, idoluen b 46: III. icorene pl. 68: IV. idreȝen b 70, istonde b 9: V. ahonge 14, 19, ihaten 4, b 52. Past of Weak Verbs: s. 3. ferde 10, ledde 50, sende 88, escade 44, 49, onswerede 70, onswerde 57, sceawede 12 (7), sceaude 16, hefde b 69, b 70, hefede b 8, seide 59, b 87; pl. 3. ledden 44, 49. Participles present: graninde 33, liuiende 42, wuniende 12, 53; past: afered b 104, ibet b 62, forgult 22, iherd b 20, iherð 73, b 77, isceaweð b 49, iseit b 14, ise[i]t 82, isend b 39, iwrat 79; fotetd 28 is participial in form; inflected are aweriede b 29, blessede b 19, iclepede b 110, forgulte 73, isende b 73. Minor Groups: witen inf. 7, 58, wat pr. s. 62, witeð 2 pr. pl. imp. b 118, b 119, wiste pt. s. 51, biwisten pt. pl. 21; aȝen 1 pr. pl. 90, b 65; sceal 1 pr. s. 62, scal b 89, sculen 1 pr. pl. b 21, sceolde pt. s. b 13, scolde b 111; mei pr. s. b 103, b 107, maȝen 1 pr. pl. 40, b 50, 2 pr. pl. 65, 92, pr. pl. b 101, mihte pt. s. 42, b 11; to beon dat. inf. b 49, is pr. s. 60, nis b 69, bið 53, b 59, beoð 1 pr. pl. b 56, pr. pl. 34 (5), beon b 19, beo pr. s. subj. 79, 84, beo 2 pr. pl. subj. b 119, pr. pl. subj. 99, wes pt. s. 8, nes 52, weren pt. pl. 17 (4), were 11, nere 23, were pt. s. subj. 44, nere b 70; wulle 1 pr. s. 62, wule pr. s. 6, nulle 85, nule b 28, b 67, wulleð 1 pr. pl. 2, wuleð 2 pr. pl. 1, walde pt. s. 46, nalde 46, nalden pt. pl. 32; don inf. 48, dat. inf. b 101, deð pr. s. 29, deað b 58, do we 1 pr. pl. b 44, doð pr. pl. b 34, fordoð b 81, idon pp. b 69; gan inf. 42, 43, eode pt. s. 10, eoden pt. pl. 9.

With ȝette adv. 19, comp. ‘ȝiete,’ OEH i. 139/13, ȝetten 64/54; mid prep. 65 with accusative is Anglian (Napier, Anglia, x. 138): leste conj. b 104 (#þȳ lǣs þe#) is an early instance of the compound.

#Dialect:# These pieces were copied by the scribe of the PM in the same MS. As was said at p. 327, he belonged to the Southern border of the Midland area. On the evidence of the spoilt rhymes in the Pater Noster, inne : sunne, OEH i. 55/23, 24 (4 times), linnen : sunnen, id. 67/230, 231, he must be located to the West of that area, where u was the representative of OE. #y#, #ȳ#.

In the present articles his exemplars were in the South-Western dialect. That of piece x was considerably the older, probably of the early transition period about the beginning of the twelfth century, as is evident from the archaic forms which have survived in the copy. There is no trace of these in piece xi, the original of which was probably little older than the copy. As in the copy of the Poema Morale, the scribe’s alterations affect mainly the sounds; the grammar remains Southern; a Midland form like beon b 19 is isolated.

#Vocabulary:# The foreign element is small; most of the Romance words are in piece xi. French are archangel 8, blanchet b 114, castles b 38, feble b 9, glutenerie b 34 (first appearance), grace b 49, lechurs b 117, manere b 84, prophete b 7, b 43, sacreð b 76, sacramens b 75, salmes 47, seint b 22, merci 39, meister 21, meistres 23, ureisuns b 75: Latin, apostles 88, sancte 8; mihhal 8 is probably a direct borrowing from the Vulgate Michahel. Scandinavian are caste b 10, icast b 68, griðe 80.

#Introduction:# The ultimate sources of this discourse are (i) the Legend of S. Paul’s visit to the other world, and (ii) the Sunday Letter as extended by the addition of the Dignatio diei Dominicae.

(1) S. Paul in his second epistle to the Corinthians, xii. 2-4, said that he had been caught up to the third heaven and heard words unspeakable. But a detailed account of what he saw, partly drawn from the Revelation of Peter (ed. M. R. James, p. 65) and coloured by Egyptian ideas of the other world, was extensively circulated in the early Church, and existed in two Greek versions as early as the fourth century. One of these, the Ἀναβατικὸν Παύλου, is lost, but it is probably represented in a Latin version discovered by Dr. M. R. James and published in Texts and Studies, ii. no. 3. The other younger Greek version, denounced by S. Augustine as ‘nescio quibus fabulis plenam’ (iii. 541 e), was printed by Tischendorf in Apocalypses Apocryphae, 34-69: he dates it about 380 A.D. There is an early Syriac version, an English translation of which is reprinted by Tischendorf under the Greek Text.

The Latin version already mentioned is the most ancient and the fullest form of the legend, and it is the main source of the Latin mediaeval versions, which have been classed by Brandes in six redactions. Of these the first alone contains an account of S. Paul’s visit to heaven, the others describe only the abode of the lost. The fourth redaction (B iv) printed in Brandes, Visio Pauli, 75, in the Cologne edition of Beda, vii. 362, as one of his sermons, and by P. Meyer from a Toulouse MS. of the fourteenth century in Romania, xxiv. 365, appears to be the main source of most of the versions in the modern languages, as of our text. Meyer enumerates twenty-three MSS. of it; he thinks that it is not anterior to the twelfth century and that it was widely circulated in England. In Notices et Extraits, xxxv. 153, he gives a list of six versions in French: (1) by Henri d’Arci, there printed; (2) by Adam de Ros, trouvère anglais, printed by Ozanam in Dante et la philosophie catholique, 1845, p. 425; (3) Anonymous, MS. Bibl. Nat. 2094, of which Brandes cites the beginning and end, p. 51; (4) Anonymous, B.M. Add. 15606, printed in part in Romania, vi. 11-16; (5) by Geoffroi de Paris, an adaptation of the preceding; (6) by an anonymous English trouvère, printed in Romania, xxiv. 357. The English versions in verse are (1) MS. Laud 108, Bodleian, printed by Horstman in Archiv lii. 35; (2{a}) MS. Jesus Coll. Oxford E 29, printed in OEM 147-155; (2{b}) MS. Digby 86, Bodleian, printed by Horstman in Archiv lxii. 403; (3) Vernon MS. Bodleian, in OEM 223-232 and ES i. 293-299; (4) MS. Douce 302, Bodleian, in OEM 210-222. There is, besides the present article, a fourteenth-century prose version printed in ES xxii. 134. The relations of the English and French versions are determined by Brandes in ES vii. 34.

Some references in the older literature should be noticed. Ælfric (Hom. Cath. ii. 332) calls the legend a lying composition, and proceeds to tell that of Fursey as true. The writer of the Blickling Homilies (43, 45) relates the episode of the wicked bishop, following a text closely resembling the oldest Latin version, which differs little from the Greek at this point. In a second passage, 209/29-211/7, he has combined vague recollections of the legend with scenery drawn from Beowulf (see the Preface to BH, pp. vi, vii).

The first part of the present article differs from B iv and agrees with F iii in substituting smoke (‘smorðer,’ l. 26) for fulgur; with F iii it omits the Fiery Wheel and the Bridge of Dread, and the punishment of usurers by name. It is therefore possible that it and F iii had a common source. But our author has exercised a free choice in details; he says nothing of the punishment of the unchaste child murderers, of the oppressors of widows and orphans, of those who broke their fast before due time, and of those in the pit; nothing of the vision of sinful and righteous souls borne through the air; all of which are in B iv. His own fantasy is probably responsible for the division of the torments of the furnace, l. 24, between the furnace, the fount of fire and the sea of hell, and for the pleading of S. Paul in ll. 56-72, which are without parallel in any of the other versions.

(2) The Sunday Letter was a fiction which originated in the south of France or northern Spain towards the end of the sixth century. It purported to be a letter, which had fallen from heaven, written in Latin by Christ’s own hand, denouncing judgement on those who did not observe Sunday rightly. It had great vogue in England before the Conquest, and furnished material for the homilies printed in Wulfstan, ed. Napier, nos. 43, 44, 45, 47, in Otia Merseiana i. 129, and in An Eng. Miscellany, 357. Latin versions are printed in the two last-named. Our author makes only general reference to it in 78/75-85, but ll. 85-91 are taken directly from a Dignatio diei Dominicae which is sometimes associated with it, and is found separately in the Pseudo-Augustine Sermons clxvii, cclxxx, and Alcuin, ed. Froben, ii. 487. It is also added to one MS. of the Visio Pauli (Brandes, 102), and it precedes the German version which he prints at p. 83. It also forms the subject of the fourteenth homily in OEH i. 139.

1. #Leofemen#: like ‘Men þa leofestan’ of the Blickling Homilies: the writer also uses, ‘Gode men.’ But ‘Lordinges and leuedis,’ 215/31 is French = Seingnurs & dames. #ȝe willeliche#: Zupitza prints ȝewilleliche (adv., meaning gladly), and the separation of the words in the manuscript is of no weight against it. But the prefix #ge# is in this text commonly reduced to i, and ȝewilleliche occurs nowhere else and has nothing to correspond in OE., the forms in which are #willīce#, #willendlīce#, while willeliche is in AR 396/20. #ȝe# is probably a repetition of the preceding by mistake for ec, which very frequently goes with and in these homilies (comp. 76/4, 78/68).

2. #hit# belongs to lusten as well as to understonden; comp. ‘þe luste nulleð þesne red,’ OEH i. 63/161, and for the postponement of #hit#, ‘Al hit us mei rede ⁊ to lare ȝif we wulleð,’ id. i. 15/5, where to goes with rede.

3. #fredome#: the Latin version in Harley 2851 has for title Priuilegia diei dominice.

4. #blisse# &c.: see 78/77.

6. #erming#, only here and at 76/22, 31 as adjective, for the usual armliche. OE. #earming#, a miserable person. #rest of#: comp. 78/96; ‘þæt is sio an ræst eallra urra geswinca,’ Boethius, 144/27; ‘hwonne him lifes weard, | frea ælmihtig frecenra siða | reste aȝeafe,’ Genesis, 1426; ‘lagosiða rest,’ id. 1486. Rare in ME., but for the verb comp. ‘thei rest of her traueilis,’ Apoc. xiv. 13 (Purvey).

7. #to soþe# &c.: see 90/73 note.

8. #þet wes#: comp. 1/10, where the verb is plural.

10. #hu--ferde#, how things went on there: ‘quia deus voluit ut Paulus videret penas inferni,’ B iv. 75/5. #Mihhal--wuniende#, there is nothing corresponding in B iv, but James has, ‘dixit [angelus] mihi: Veni et sequere me, et ostendam tibi animas impiorum et peccatorum ut cognoscas qualis sit locus,’ 28/17, and Adam de Ros, ‘Seint michiel en ueit auant | Sein pol ses hores disant,’ Ward, ii. 410.

15, 16. #eȝen#: probably a mistake for eren (= ‘auribus’ B iv), as Kölbing pointed out in ES xxii. 137. #hefede#, by the hair, ‘capillis.’ #heorte#: a strange substitution for ‘brachiis’ of B iv.

16. #ouen--leies#: ‘fornacem ignis ardentem per septem flammas in diversis coloribus,’ B iv. #he#, i.e. ouen; if not a mistake for þe, a striking example of parataxis.

17. #eateliche to bi haldene#: comp. ‘eatolice on to seonne,’ Beda, 240/21; the dat. inf. answers to the L. supine as in terribilis aspectu. In #sead . . . to iseonne#, 133/30, it corresponds to the genitive of the L. gerund, aspiciendi.

18. #strengre#: see 21/94 note, and comp. ‘ne geþæncaþ hio na, hu strang hit biþ an helle to bionne,’ Wulfstan, 225/12.

21. #meister deoflen#, principal devils: for this use of meister comp. KH 642 note. They are not in B iv, but F iv has ‘Soignours, an l’apre fornoise habitent · vij · delo[u]rs | · vij · diable l’atisent: cest lor maistre labours | Et · vij · flames an issent de diverses colours.’ #swilc#, as if; OE. #swilce#, conj.; comp. ‘He . . . geseah | modiglice menn on merebate | sittan siðfrome swylce hie ofer sæ comon,’ Andreas, 247; ‘mon geseah swelce hit wære an gylden hring on heofonum,’ Orosius, 234/8; ‘þe king Leir iwerðe swa blac[;] swlch hit a blac cloð weoren,’ L 3069. #Swylc swa# is also found with the same conjunctive sense, ‘þyslic me is gesewen . . . þis andwearde lif . . . swylc swa þu æt swæsendum sitte,’ Beda, 134/24. For #swilc swa#, such as, 76/29, see 34/80 note.

24. #þe sea of helle#: B iv has ‘Et septem plage erant in circuitu eius (i.e. fornacis): prima nix, secunda glacies’ &c. The writer or his original has changed these plagues of the furnace into waves ‘uþe’ of the ‘flumen orribile in quo multe bestie dyabolice erant quasi pisces in medio maris,’ which is mentioned at a later point in the Latin, while he alters the river into a lake, perhaps due to a recollection of the ‘stagnum ignis et sulphuris’ of the Apocalypse, xx. 9.

25. #snau#: comp. 120/100.

26. #smorðer#, thick smoke: B iv has ‘sexta fulgur’; F iv ‘Et la siste de foudres et d’avenimemant.’ F iii agrees with the English text. #ful stunch#: comp. 46/277; 133/44.

28. #unaneomned#, without a name, because they were like nothing in this world; not ‘unmentionable, on account of their number,’ Morris. There is no description of the beasts in the Latin, but such details are to be found elsewhere in the Visions literature, e.g. Visio Tnugdali, 16/7, 17, 19/26.

31. #to brekene#: dative infinitive: OE. #swīcan#, #geswīcan#, to cease from, are often constructed with dative of nouns, as, ‘gif he ðonne ðære hnappunge ne swicð,’ Cura Past., 195/11, but apparently not with the dat. inf. This construction is common with analogous verbs such as #onginnan#, #forlǣtan#, #ieldan#. In ME. the dative of the noun occurs, as ‘þa aswac worden[;] Merlin þe wise,’ L 16112; and the gen., ‘iswikeð unrihtwisra dedan,’ OEH i. 117/32 as in OE., ‘ðæs noldan geswican,’ BH 211/6. Comp. 81/85, 6. #þe--nalden#: ‘qui non egerunt penitenciam post peccata commissa in hoc mundo,’ B iv. 75/14.

32. #enden#: see 80/54.

33. #lude remeð#: ‘ululant’; comp. 120/99, 192/528.

34. #his#, each of them his; distributive in meaning.

37. #Miserere# &c.: possibly from some unprinted version of the Visio, or from some version of the Evangelium Nichodemi; comp. The Harrowing of Hell, ed. Hulme, 18/203.

39. #ham#: the writer frequently doubles the subject or object by a pronoun; comp. ‘ꝥ ic hit efre dude mid mine wrechede licome þas sunnen,’ OEH i. 29/9; ‘þe mon þe leie · xii · moneð in ane prisune nalde he ȝefen,’ id. 33/9; ‘Gif þu hine iseȝe þet he wulle,’ id. 17/13. See also 78/97 note; 136/144; 138/12.

41. #midde warðe#: OE. #middeweard# is usually an adjective, occasionally a noun: it is probably adj. here, and miswritten for middewarðre. Comp. ‘In mideward þe felde,’ KH, O 574. #clusterlokan# is explained as ‘enclosures,’ Morris; ‘cloisters,’ Strat.-Bradley. The corresponding passage in B iv appears to be, ‘Et ostendit illi puteum signatum ·vij· sigillis et ait illi: Sta longe ut possis sustinere fetorem hunc,’ and the meaning, fastening, lock, seems most appropriate here. The word is OE. #clūstorloc#: comp. Pogatscher, §§ 179, 182; L. L. claustella, pl. of claustellum, is glossed clusterlocæ, Sweet, Oldest E. Texts, 50/220; hæpsan, loca, Napier, OE. Glosses, 106/4003; clustello, loce, fæstene, id. 136/5936. The metrical versions have ‘seals,’ except the Jesus MS., ‘Seoue duren þer beoþ on’; OEM 153/235 and the second prose version renders, ‘a put ylokke wiþ seuen lockes,’ ES xxii. 136/53. Comp. also, ‘Til he vnclustri al þe lokes | þat liif ligges vnder,’ ES ix. 441/59, 60.

42. #þar neh#, near that place; an expression of rare occurrence; comp. ‘magas þa þe þær neah wæron,’ BH 139/16.

44. #escade . . . to#: see 77/49; a rare construction, not in OE., and probably influenced by F. demander à; comp. ‘Huet may þe zone betere acsy to his uader þanne bread,’ Ayenbite, 110/14: analogous is, ‘fulluht we to þe ȝeorneð,’ L 29473. But at is older, ‘hwæt axast ðu æt us,’ Ælf. Lives, ii. 74/112, and of is in Layamon, ‘he axede gauel of þan londe,’ 6122. Comp. ‘þretest to,’ 155/83.

45. In the Latin and the other versions the bad bishop is not in the ‘puteus,’ but in another place of less torment; there he is ‘avarus et dolosus et superbus,’ here he is specialized into one who iniquitously vexed his tenants and dependants by legal proceedings and steady oppression. So the Monk of Eynsham saw a bishop grievously tormented ‘quod placitoris loco inter saeculares iudices consedere plurimum delectari soleret, multis etiam bona conscientia nitentibus in litigantibus violentus contra iustitiam oppressor exstiterit,’ 698/5. Some contemporary is here meant, such as Gilbert Glanville, Roffensis (Godwin, De Presulibus, i. 572), or perhaps the earlier Gerard of York (id. ii. 27; Mapes, De Nugis Curialium, 224). The haughty maiden of ll. 50-54 is not in the Latin; in all probability she is drawn from the life.

46. #lokien#: ‘non custodivit legem dei,’ B iv. 77/21; see 4/20 and comp. ‘witen,’ 77/58.

49. #swiðe unbisorȝeliche#, with great want of care, consideration, like ‘mid mycelre reþnesse,’ said of the bishop’s treatment by the devils in BH 43/29.

52. #Elmesȝeorn#, fond of giving alms, benevolent; OE. #ælmes-georn#: it occurs here only in ME. #prud . . . ⁊ modi#: comp. 3/4; ‘So modi and so prute,’ OEM 82/300.

53. #wreðful ⁊ ontful#: comp. 56/31.

55. #forð mid#, together with: see 1/19 note. #of#, from: a common use with dative in OE.; comp. ‘Peahte ðeod com of Scyþþia lande on scipum,’ Bede, 28/7.

56. #on þunres liche#, in the likeness of thunder: the alteration of the MS. reading wunres is due to Morris, but the resultant meaning is unsatisfactory. He suggested, on þunres sleȝe, comparing ‘þær com swylce þunres slege,’ Ev. Nichod. ed. Thwaites, 13/3, and the expression occurs in ME. ‘ofdradd of ðese muchele ðþunresleiȝ ðe cumþ ut of godes auȝene muðe,’ VV 11/18. The writer has elsewhere, ‘Vre drihten wile cumen dredliche in fures liche,’ OEH i. 143/15, which may suggest the true reading here. The Latin has ‘deus descendit de celo et dyadema in capite eius’; possibly crunes lurks under wunres.

60. #toȝeines#, adv., in reply: #him# depends directly on #seide#, as in ‘ic eou habbe þet godspel iseid,’ OEH i. 5/13; ‘heom seggen godes lore,’ id. 7/33, though the construction with to is also found in these homilies. Comp. ‘Cuðberhtus him togeanes cwæð,’ Ælf. Hom. Cath. ii. 138/34. But the word is generally a preposition, as at 64/56, 86/142. #ȝef--is#: see 134/84.

61. #la hwure#, ah! at any rate. This writer uses #La# mostly with interrogatives, ‘La hu ne beað,’ 89/34; ‘Lahwet scal þis beon,’ 89/36. #a þet#: see 72/179 note.

63. #efterward#, in quest of, seeking; = ‘efter’ 7/53; comp. ‘þat ha beon þe lasse afterward swuch þing,’ HM 37/7; ‘Iohannes . . . wearð him æfterweard,’ Ælf. de Novo Testamento, 18/21. Similar uses of the compound in the sense of the simple preposition are, ‘al urommard þisse,’ AR 178/18; 58/66 note; 70/165: ‘They met Beues inwarde the paleys,’ Beues of Hamtoun, 69/1208; ‘alysde of þam witum ða þe towearde wæron,’ Wulfstan, 228/11. Similarly ‘þu most beon on ward þine sunnen,’ OEH i. 37/20 appears to mean, thou must give attention to thy sins.

64. #swiðe wa#: see 40/181 note and comp. ‘Ofte hadde horn beo wo | At neure wurs þan him was þo,’ KH 115, where him shows that horn is dative. #abeh# &c.: ‘Post hoc prostravit se Michahel et Paulus et angelorum milia milium ante filium dei,’ B iv.

66. #for#, by: comp. 94/26.

68. #þes þe redþer#, the sooner on that account, the sooner. The more regular comparison is seen in, ‘ah þes þe we heoueden mare wele on þisse liue, þes we ahte to beon þe edmoddre,’ OEH i. 5/27, 21/12.

69. #a þet#: see 72/179 note.

71. #non#, three o’clock, when the Sunday festival began; ‘ab hora nona sabbati usque in prima hora secunde ferie,’ B iv. 79/21; ‘fram nóntide þæs sæternesdæges oð monandæges lihtincge,’ Wulfstan, 207/11. #a þa#: see 72/179 note.

72. #þet efre forð#, for all future time: for #þet#, until, see 72/179 note; it is so used especially when aþet, or aþa precedes it; comp. ‘a þet ic beo ealdre oðer þet ic beo sec,’ OEH i. 23/3. #forð#, right onwards, develops the meaning, continuously, ever; comp. ‘ðat we moten forð mid ȝew on blisse wuniȝen,’ VV 21/24, 25/12, 113/16.

74. #mucheles#, by much; an adverbial genitive, mostly used in comparative phrases, as, ‘mucheles þe swuðere,’ AR 368/6; ‘mucheles þe more,’ OEM 86/74; ‘se læce bið micles to bald,’ Cura Past., 60/2.

75. #for--seið#: ‘Hanc epistolam scripsit dominus Iesus Xristus manibus suis,’ Sunday Letter in An Eng. Misc., p. 400. The Latin quotations which follow are probably from some redaction or expansion of the same fiction.

79. #Ne beo# &c.: ‘nec aliud faciatis in die dominico nisi sacerdotibus meis seruiatis,’ An Eng. Misc., 403.

80. #bisocnie#, visit, frequenting; elsewhere, petition, request: Mätzner compares ON. kirkju-sókn: see chirchsocne 82/4; hamsocne 12/9.

82. #iset#, miswritten for iseit, translating ‘dicitur.’

85. #iloken#, observe, from the idea of keeping guard over something; comp. 116/156.

86. #ester dei#: ‘Dominicum ergo diem Apostoli . . . religiosa sollemnitate habendum sanxerunt, quia in eodem Redemptor noster a mortuis resurrexit,’ Pseudo-August. Sermo cclxxx; ‘dies clarus in quo resurrexit Dominus a morte . . . in quo Spiritus sanctus descendit in Apostolos et in quo speramus Dominum nostrum . . . ad judicium venturum,’ id. Sermo clxvii. Comp. Wulfstan 219/27-29, 230/26-28; 294/5-12; Alcuin, ii. 488; OEH i. 143/7.

91. #hafð mid hire#, there is inherent in it.

92. #mihte#, virtues, the power to accomplish certain purposes.

93. #eorðe þrelles#: a combination after the pattern of #eorðwaru#, as in ‘Sunne dei blisseð togederes houeneware ⁊ horðeware,’ OEH i. 139/22: not ‘slaves,’ Morris, but said of men generally as enslaved by earthly pursuits; comp. 14/54-56.

94. #heom#: the corrupt reading of the MS. perhaps points to he heom as the original; see 77/39 note. Comp. ‘þe sonenday is best of alle | þanne aungles habbuz heore pley,’ Archiv lii. 35, the Latin has only ‘in quo [die] gaudent angeli et archangeli maior diebus ceteris.’

96. #ireste . . . of#: comp. 76/6.

97. Whosoever then observes Sunday . . . let them be participators &c., is a sentence of much the same type as, ‘Se þe Drihten ondræde herie hine, eall Iacobes cynn,’ Psalter, ed. Thorpe, xxi. 21; 77/39. Morris suggests the change of heo to he, but singular and plural in these texts often alternate: for #beo#, pl. subj., see 82/119. #þa oðer halie daȝes#: the feast-days of obligation.

100. #abuten ende#: see 34/85 note.

Greek

Ἀναβατικὸν Παύλου [Anabatikon Paulou]

Cross-References

1/19 (note) = I. A (Worcester Fragments) 21/94 (note) = VI. (The Proverbs of Alfred) 34/80, 34/85, 40/181 (notes) = VIII. (Poema Morale) 72/179 (note) = IX. B (Ancrene Wisse: Outer Rule) 77/39 (note) = present selection 90/73 (note) = XIII. (Vices and Virtues) p. 269 = V. (A Parable) p. 312 = VIII. (Poema Morale) p. 327 = VIII. (Poema Morale) under Dialect

Errata

#Literature:# ... Bedae Opera Historica [text unchanged, but work cited spells it “Baedae”] w is added ... #ġ# is ȝ [“ȝ” misprinted as bold instead of italic] #Accidence:# ... monedeis 72; [72:] The weak declension ... strong and weak, is e; [e,] The personal pronouns ... (dei like L. dies is fm.) [L dies] (1) S. Paul in ... One of these, the Ἀναβατικὸν Παύλου, is lost [Παύλου is] represented in a Latin version [Version] The Latin version ... (4) Anonymous, B.M. Add. 15606 [B M]

XI. HIC DICENDUM EST DE PROPHETA

#Manuscript:# As for piece x.

#Editions:# Morris, R., OEH i. 47-53, and Specimens, 21-25.

#Literature:# Cohn, O., Die Sprache in der me. Predigtsammlung der Hs. Lambeth 487, Berlin, 1880.

#Phonology# &c.: See piece x, pp. 407, 410, 413.

#Introduction:# No source has been found for this singular piece, which, in its treatment of Jeremiah in the pit as the type of the unshriven sinner, differs from the usual mystical interpretations of this episode in the life of the prophet. So Adam of Prémontré, ‘Pax tibi, o sanctificate in utero, virgo et sacerdos Dei, o Jeremia sanctissime! quem de lacu lutoso et funes et panni levant veteres, quia sanctos Dei ab aeterno ad vitam ab ipso praedestinatos de sordido vitae praesentis profundo et sacrae Scripturae praecepta et sancta elevant exempla,’ De triplici genere Contemplationis, Migne, P. L., cxcviii., col. 824. So for S. Gregory, the ropes are ‘praecepta Dominica,’ the old rags, ‘antiquorum patrum exempla,’ Moralia, xxv. 7, and the interpretation of Hugh of S. Victor, ii. 256, is similar.

The homily consists of two parts, very dissimilar in style and discordant in tone; the joint is plainly discernible at 81/76. The first part is an earnest insistence on the necessity of sacramental confession, a question much debated at the time of this sermon and after, till it was finally disposed of by the fourth Lateran Council in 1215 A.D. The passages in Latin, like 81/64, do not necessarily imply a Latin original, they are rather headings of the divisions of the discourse, which is probably an effort of the writer’s own ingenuity in support of his favourite contention. It contains no hint of the crabs and other ‘wurmes’ of the pit. The second part reads like a translation; it has all the vivacity and simple directness of the contemporary French Sermo ad Populum. Its leading idea was probably suggested by the famous apologue in the legend of Barlaam of the man who, pursued by a furious unicorn, fell into a well tenanted by a dragon, a four-headed snake, and two mice. This story was used by Eudes de Cheriton, p. 217, and Jacques de Vitry, no. cxxxiv.

The thirty-third Homily in OEH ii. should be compared with this second part: it is in the same style, if not by the same author.

1. The Latin is based on Jeremiah xxxviii. 6-13, but there is no authority in that place for the second sentence and the first half of the fourth. Comestor adds to the Scripture narrative, ‘et erat propheta in luto usque ad guttur.’

7. #ꝥ# = þet: see 76/8, 25.

8. #⁊ ꝥ#, and what is more, and indeed: comp. 80/33; OEH i. 121/9.

12. #claðes#: ‘veteres pannos et antiqua quae computruerant,’ Jer. xxxviii. 11.

15. #bitacnunge#, spiritual meaning, allegorical significance.

17. #fuliwis#: see 32/40. #almihtin#, comp. 51/337: according to NED., it owes its n to imitation of drihtin: Morsbach, ME. Gram. 95/4 sets it down to late OE. acc. #ælmihtigne#.

18. #Beati# &c.: S. Luke xi. 28.

23. Alanus de Insulis, Opera, ed. Visch, 78, has the same words as a quotation without naming the author. S. Gregory, Regula Pastoralis, pars iii. ch. 34 and in four other places, quotes 2 Pet. ii. 21 thus, ‘Melius enim eis non cognoscere viam justitiae, quam post agnitionem retrorsum converti ab eo quod illis traditum est.’

25. #þe#: miswritten for þen; see 80/39: þet, from the preceding clause, is to be understood with it.

26. ‘Qui declinat aures suas ne audiat legem, oratio eius erit execrabilis,’ Prov. xxviii. 9, is quoted by S. Gregory, Moral., xvi. ch. 21, with variant ‘aurem suam,’ as in Codex Amiatinus, and again Moral., x. ch. 15, with ‘avertit aurem suam.’ #Obturat# is probably due to ‘Qui obturat aures suas,’ Isa. xxxiii. 15, also quoted by S. Gregory, Op. i. 755.

28. #þe--beoð#, that proceed from him.

29. #unwurðe#: pl. OE. #unwierþ#, despicable: see 26/258. #Puteus# &c. What follows is drawn from S. Augustine’s Enarratio in Psalmum lxviii. 15, 16, ‘Eripe me de luto ut non infigar: libera me ab iis, qui oderunt me, et de profundis aquarum. Non me demergat tempestas aquae, neque absorbeat me profundum: neque urgeat super me puteus os suum,’ on which part of the comment is, ‘Magnus est puteus profunditas iniquitatis humanae: illuc quisque si ceciderit, in altum cadet. Sed tamen ibi positus, si confitetur peccata Deo suo, non super eum claudet puteus os suum,’ Op. iv^1, col. 523, an interpretation adopted by Bede, viii. 655. The writer of the homily probably had for his immediate source the abbreviated quotation in the Liber Poenitentialis of Alanus, 195. Comp. OEH ii. 43 for another comment on this passage.

32. #heueð sunnen#: see 54/8.

34. #glutenerie#, gluttony: OF. glutunerie; apparently here only.

35. #ꝥ#: comp. 1/10.

37. #hames#, estates, possessions, as in ‘hig cípton ealle hira hámas,’ Gen. xlvii. 20 = ‘vendentibus singulis possessiones suas.’

38. #tunes#, enclosures, such as parks: comp. OE. #dēor-tūn#.

39. #þe liggeð--arisen#: comp. ‘in quo lacu sunt multi qui se ibi esse non sentiunt, quia peccata sua non attendunt, nec clamant ad Dominum,’ Beda, viii. 508.

41. #propheta#, S. Augustine: the quotation in Alanus is ‘non claudet super te os suum, si tu non claudas os tuum.’

43. Comp. ‘ne ꝥ þe pit tune ouer me his muð,’ OEH ii. 43/16.

45. #feower daȝes oðer fiue#, for a considerable length of time: comp. ‘Iesus þo his wille wes · aros from deþe to lyue. | Þeyh hyne bi-wusten knyhtes voure oþer vyue,’ OEM 52/538.

46. #ualleð# &c.: probably suggested by ‘Lacum aperuit, et effodit eum: et incidit in foveam, quam fecit,’ Ps. vii. 16.

47. #him#: comp. 2/17, 120/96, 121/132. This dative instead of the possessive adj. is common with parts of the body affected: in ‘þat his ribbes him to brake,’ KH 1077 we find both. #ꝥ is ꝥ#, that means: comp. ‘ꝥ is þet þe deofel þe geð abutan . . . ꝥ he neure ne maȝe cuman wið-innan us,’ OEH i. 127/27. #þer# &c., where he never again cometh out of penance, i.e. where he must make perpetual expiation instead of a brief one on earth. For omission of the subject comp. 6/18 and for of = out of, ‘forfaren of ða rihte weiȝe,’ VV 125/30: for bote comp. 80/58. Morris, in OEH i. 48, translates, ‘from whence he will never again return to repent,’ joining þer of and taking bote as = to bote. In Specimens it is taken to mean, ‘therefrom neuer again cometh help,’ but of should be after bote for that sense, comp. 64/61, 66/116, and the examples in the note at 1/3, though the prep. is occasionally awkwardly placed before a noun which it does not govern, as at 84/45,106/210.

51. #þreo herde weies#: comp. ‘Tria debent occurrere ad hoc ut vera sit confessio; scilicet cordis contritio, oris professio, operis satisfactio. . . . Haec est via trium dierum per quam debemus ire in solitudinem,’ Alanus, 99. But it is a commonplace: see the Liber Sacerdotalis on Confession. In a French sermon we find, ‘Vocabatur [diabolus] primo, gallice “Clocuer,” claudens cor contra contritionem; secundo “Cloboche,” claudens os contra confessionem; tertio “Cloborse,” claudens bursam contra satisfactionem,’ Hauréau, Notices, iv. 159.

54. #dede wel endinge# is wrongly explained in Specimens as = wel dede endinge, completion or performance of good works. It is a very literal translation of the Latin phrase, #dede#, gen. = operis, #wel# = satis, #endinge# = factio. For enden, to perform, especially of religious observances, comp. 77/32; ‘þat oure louerd hem ȝeue grace: þis holi dede wel ende,’ E. E. Poems, 47/137. #Cordis# &c.: the source of this is unknown to me.

56. #þe[nne]#: the correction was perhaps unnecessary, for þe = when, occurs in OEH i. 79/21: possibly in both places þe is for þē = þen.

58. #sunbote#, confession, here corresponds to ‘oris confessione’: its more usual meaning is penance, ‘operis satisfactione,’ as in ‘Alle weldede beoð freomfulle to sun-bote · ah nan mare freomful denne elmes idal,’ OEH i. 135/29: so ‘bote’ in l. 48 above. In 48/314, ‘cume to bote’ has a more general sense of, find pardon.

60. #þruh#, coffin, not ‘tomb,’ Morris; the burial belongs to the third stage, 81/63.

61. #scrift underuongest#, dost undertake, submit to the penance enjoined by the priest: comp. ‘ær he hæbbe godcunde bote underfangen,’ = ‘antequam divinam emendationem susceperit,’ Schmid, Gesetze, 178/5.

62. #þenne# &c., when thou hast done penance for thy sins in accordance with the directions of thy confessor: see 62/30.

63. #þine onwalde#, authority, power over thee: #þine# corresponds to the genitive which goes with OE. #anweald#, #onweald# in the same sense, as ‘onwald . . . ðæs folces,’ Cura Past., 3/5, power over the nation.

66. #heuie# is probably a mistake for heued; comp. 80/32; but ‘heuie sennen,’ OEH ii. 11/29.

67. #sunbendes#: ‘colligationes impietatis,’ Isa. lviii. 6; comp. 85/100; ‘þeo þat ye aleseþ here · of heore sunnes bende,’ OEM 55/629. Similarly ‘bendes’ 40/188: the verb is common, 135/123; ‘Ðe ilke mann ðe is ibunden mid heaued-senne,’ VV 101/8; OEM 192/5.

76. #in alesnesse#, for the deliverance: #in# expresses purpose and the noun is historically accusative; comp. ‘in gemynd þæs wundres,’ Beda, 204/27.

77. #þe . . . embe#, about which: comp. 1/3; 89/48; 90/73; 118/44; ‘mast ðar embe spekð,’ VV 101/9. So, þe . . . mide, 79.

80. #fower cunnes wurmes#, crawling things of four kinds; in such expressions the sing. gen. cunnes often displaces the normal plural; comp. 27/295, 88/13, 92/117, 119/90, 124/264, 134/93, 187/358, and contrast ‘kunne,’ 132/9 note. So too the predicative ‘manie kinnes,’ of many kinds, 85/104, 105.

82. #⁊ beoreð#, which carry: parataxis as in 150/27; ‘Euelin iseh enne gume . . . ⁊ bar an his riht hond[;] ænne stelene brond,’ L 8435.

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Selections from Early Middle English, 1130-1250. Part 2: Notes (part 2 of 4)

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