Selections from Early Middle English, 1130-1250. Part 2: Notes (part 4 of 4)

#Phonology:# This section should be compared with pp. 581-586; explanations of abnormal forms offered there are not repeated. Oral #a# is a, asses 427, crauen 420; #a# before nasals is a, gan 8, man 446 r. w. chanaan, nam 84, quanne 14, ðanne 199; men 204 (3 times) is a reduced form of the indefinite pronoun #man#; #a# before lengthening groups is o, among 587, fond 30, but and 6 &c., handful 15, Orm’s hanndfull, with consonant following the lengthening group. #æ# is a, at 25, bad 93 (14), bar 22 (6), dale 79 r. w. bale, faste 93, 248, quat 37, ðat 9, was 1 &c.; the exceptions are fest 427 r. w. best, queðer 111, reste 82, reste 466 (5), weche 514, weches 521 (comp. ‘weciað,’ Vesp. Ps. 126/1), togider 406 r. w. hider. #e# is e, beden 266, beðen 501, deren 402 r. w. sheren, stede 81 r. w. dede, wel 10 &c. (#wēl#, Bülbring, § 284); before lengthening groups, ende 588, engeles 587, feld 29, but hate 12, 32, 33, influenced by haten, #hatian# and perhaps by OWScand. hatr, bi 150, quilke 134 (3), swilc 33, bliscing 452, influenced by #blissung#, rejoicing, wol 384, GE 621, ‘wol wel he dede,’ id. 724, ‘ðehg wol wel,’ id. 1266, due to labial influence and weakness of stress (Gabrielson, Influence of W-, 207, 8); seigen 548, seið 404 (#secgað#). #i# is i, bid 563, driuen 219, is 74 &c., ðider 55, wile 180, wliten 343 r. w. eten; before lengthening groups, bringen 213, wilde 71, winden 502; beðen 552 is a miswriting of bidden, welin 585 of wilen. #o# is o, biforen 16, on 32, soren 15, wrogt 36 r. w. nogt; before lengthening groups, forð 190, gold 194, ‘wolde,’ GE 1418, but an 95, a 40, 108, without stress, wulde 9 (4), wurðen 517. #u# is u, kuppe 101, wukes 527; before lengthening groups, grund 164, hunger 204, murnen 107, but boden 67, storue 54, ‘domme,’ GE 2821, French writings. #y# is regularly i, bigen 220, kin 240, 244 r. w. beniamin, kire 505 r. w. ȳre; before lengthening groups, kinde 129 (5), kinges 87, but deden (#dǣdon#) 2, 154, 265 r. w. beden, 431, 504, 538 r. w. abiden, dede 44, 82 r. w. stede, come 321, sundri 81 (3), analogy of #sundor#. #ā# is o, agon 292 (#ongān#), gon 242 r. w. pharaon, 249 r. w. symeon, non 283 r. w. symeon, on 320 r. w. symeon, ðo 13, wrot 581 r. w. mot; with oo, ‘ooc,’ GE 1873, ‘wooc,’ id. 1874; but ‘loac,’ GE 1798, ‘ðoa,’ id. 3894 r. w. salmona, 4129 r. w. fasga, ‘woa,’ id. 880 r. w. oba: slo 35, slon 34 r. w. on, come from forms with #ā#; before two consonants, homward 430, but a 81, an 58 &c., unstressed article, anoðer 43, ali 482, 493, 526, hali 492, clad 174? with shortened a as if from *#clādd#, gast 482, 492, quam 374 (#hwām#), bilef, 214, 251 (‘belāf,’ Peterborough Chron., an. 1131), probably by confusion with #belǣfan#, but Kluge, Grundriss § 125, assumes a change of ablaut, ‘ða,’ GE 1901 r. w. bozra, ‘wac,’ id. 1197 r. w. ysaac. #ǣ{1}# is e, bilewen 287, clene 493, leden 358 r. w. speden, 355 r. w. ðeden, segeð 286, form from #sǣgan#, meaning from #sīgan#; before two consonants, fette 154, helðe 398, lesteð 564, but ea in ear 202, 483, a in ani 235 (#ā# with shortening), ðan 212, 389, 550 (#þām# with shortening), and o in most 350, 422 (l N #māst#), ei in fleis 143 (= fles, comp. treweiðe 358), i in ilc 409, 410, 421 (#ylc#). #ǣ{2}# is e, bedden 327 (#bǣdon# from #biddan# in form, but #budon# from #bēodan# in meaning), dede 41 (4), mel 466 r. w. wel, red 45, 191 r. w. sped, 568 r. w. dead, sel 442 r. w. wel, ðer 95 r. w. prisuner, 170 r. w. buteler, weren 255 (6), were 228, wet 342, 396 r. w. gret; before two consonants, lewse 44, 407 (#lǣswe#), redden 34, vnselðehe 370, but ðor 42 r. w. sor, 48 &c., 471 r. w. ger, ðore 324, wor 82 (#hwāra#), quuor 482 (3), quor 462, wore 139, 246, woren 434 r. w. biforen, and six other instances. #ē# is e, bene 565, sped 46 r. w. red; before two consonants, kepten 25, but doðes 230. #ī# is i, but y is written for it in yre 506. #ō# is o, written oo in good 121, 448, ‘booc,’ GE 4124, ‘tooc,’ id. 4123, but cam 55 (8), bicam 202, breðere 7 (14), an umlaut form, wep (OE. #wōp#) 382 is a new formation from #wēpan#, briðere 325. #ū# is u, but ‘town,’ GE 2739, ‘out,’ id. 72. #ȳ# is i, hid 364, kid 411 r. w. bitid, srid 73 r. w. bitid, but ðe 357 (#þȳ#).

#ea# before #r# + cons. is a, harme 368; before lengthening groups, forward 290, harde 94 (3), but e in erd 148 (3), gerken 309, speren 248, sperd 93, 147 and wurð 116 (9). The i-umlaut is e, derne 46, erue 44, werneden 261, but chare 444. #ea# before #l# + cons. is a, alle 34 &c., salt 20 (3); before lengthening groups o, bold 13, 175, cold 39, 584, holden 94 (3), old 3 (3), sold 4 (4), wold 40 (4), but geld 206, ‘geald,’ GE 2581; the i-umlaut is e, eldere 483, 560, welden 197 (see 359/7 and comp. Bülbring § 175 anm.). #eo# before #r# + cons. is e, berge 583, fer 483, feren 31, herte 32 (6), sterres 17. To the #wur# group belong wurðe 111, 128, wurðen 465, 481, wurðed 20, wurðeden 18, wurðing 194. The i-umlaut is i, hirde 449, hirdnesse 26, but hertedin 76, smeren 496, 502 (#smierwan#), smered 509, 511, smerles 508 are without umlaut: a #wyr# word is wurð 39 (5). The u- and å-umlauts of #a# are wanting, as in bale 80 r. w. dale, faren 292, misfaren 7, as are also those of #e#, werlde 288 (7), beren 138, fele 425. #eo#, u- and å-umlaut of #i#, is e in her 13, but biueð 334, cliued 59, cliueð 438, liued 60, nimen 416, 532, siluer 268 (comp. OWScand. silfr, Björkman, 112), siðen 115 (6) have no umlaut. #ea# after palatals is a, sal 79 &c., shauen 174, bigat 332 r. w. get, forgaf 553, forgat 146, gaf 45 (5). #ie# after #ġ# is e, bigetel 88, bigeten 234, forgeten 156, geuen 452, 512, but forgiue 549 r. w. liuen, ME. gifte 520; after #sc#, e, sheren 401 r. w. deren. EWS. #gief# is if 7 (3). #eo# after #ġ# is u in gunge 335, gungest 214 (4); after #sc#, u, sulen 22 &c., sulde 9, sulden 355, ‘suuen,’ GE 107. #eom# is am 129 (4), #heom#, hem 9 &c.

#ēa# is e, bed 101, bred 102, dede 519, eddi 140, gret 341, 395 r. w. wet, lepes 132, ee in neet 151; before two consonants e, eðimod 303, lefful 578, but ea in bead 548, bread 133, dead 1 r. w. unred, 485, 547, 567 r. w. red, dead 286, eares 158, and a (shortening) before two consonants in chapmen 85, chafare 47, gatte 531, 567 (Björkman, 109). The i-umlaut is e, herde 107, heren 585, nede 215, 219, ned 295, 578 r. w. red, nedful 184. #ēo# is invariably e, bed 127, bedden 552, for beden, ben 10 &c., dep 38 r. w. slep, leue 475, sen 26 &c., ðeden 356 r. w. leden, ðre 132 r. w. me; it is written ee in seen 492, ‘teen,’ GE 1344; before two consonants e, fellen 326, 551, leuere 139; but ei in weis 343 (#wēox# from #weacsan#), comp. fleis 143: miswritten i in lif 481 for ‘lef,’ GE 340 (6). The i-umlaut is e, dere 301, 453, ten 51 r. w. men. #gīet# is get 39 (6). #ēa# after #ġ# is e, ger 1 (11).

#a# + #g# is ag, dragen 100, lages 500, slagen 58, but daiges 499, 509, 525, laiges 510, 526, daies 123. #æ# + #g# is ei, dei 141 r. w. weilawei, freinde 107, seide 19 (6), seiden 218 (7), seid 479, 482, and ai, abraid 165, dai 249, 359 r. w. wei, faire 447, mai 19 (6), waines 416, written ay in may 36: fagen 321 (3) is from #fagen#: #æ# + #h# is seen in lagt 135, ‘vnachteled,’ GE 796. #e# + #g# is ei, leid 284, weie 293: agen 55 r. w. sen, 125, 304, 403 r. w. ben comes from #agēn#. #i# + #g# is ig in manige 234, 332, but the spirant is absorbed in birien 478, biried 571, ybiried 574, and manie 446: birigeles 528, biriele 542 (#byrgels#) are analogic: beries 116 is LWS. #berie#. Final #ig# is i, eddi 140, seli 568; stiward 87, 317 is LWS. #stīweard#: #i# + #h# is seen in ‘sigðhe’ (#gesihþ#), GE 1630. #o# + #g#, #h# is og, bogt 90, drogen 456, wrogt 78, 272, ‘dogtres,’ GE 1090, 1094, but dowter 201 (? Northern). #u# + #g#, #h# is ug, fugeles 135, mugen 144. #y# + #h# is seen in ME. frigti 18. #ā# + #g# is og, ogen 108, but owen 40; #ā# + #h#, og, ‘oget,’ GE 324, but agte 363 (? influence of #ǣht#). #ǣ{1}# + #h# is ag, agte 144 (#ǣht#), bitagt 97 r. w. hagt: #ǣ{2}# + #g#, leigen 16. #ō# + #h# is og, brogt 274, nogt 35 r. w. wroht, sogt 30, other spellings are ‘broghten,’ GE 1008, ‘ðohgteful,’ id. 1437, ‘sowt,’ id. 2870, ‘ðhowtes,’ id. 3544, ‘wroutis,’ id. 456. #ō# + #g# is og, ug, ‘bog,’ GE 608, ‘ynog,’ id. 3670, buges 114, ynug 210. #ū# + #g# is ug, drugte 161, ðhugte 118. #ea# + #h# is seen in sag 7 (6), waxen 114; the i-umlaut in migt 504, migte 68 &c., nigt 103, 515 r. w. rigt. #eo# + #h# is seen in rigt 15, brictest 6, but sextene 3 (comp. Mercian #sex#, #sexta#, Bülbring § 319 anm.); fe 89 represents #feoh#, dat. #fēo#. #ēa# + #g# is eg, bege 194; hegest 196 may represent #hēahsta#, but is more probably a new formation from #hēh#; #ēa# + #h#, ‘ðehg,’ GE 1266. #ēo# + #g# is also eg, drege 262; #ēo# + #h# is seen in wex 211; wexen 158, 556; the i-umlaut in ligten 79 (#līhtan#). #ā# + #w# is ou, ow, sowen 401, soules 578, sowle 579. #ī# + #w#, newe 412 is Anglian #nēowe#. #ēa# + #w# is ew, shewed 67, ðewed 10. #ēo# + #w# is also ew, knewen 31, 216, reweli 382, rewðe 393, trewthe 390, but gure 232 (5), final, gu 314 &c., knew 221, 222, wintre 113; without umlaut are trewið 91, trewed 439.

In syllables without stress #a# is levelled to e, moneð 516, vten 460, so o in hunger 230; ofrigt 104, 279 representing #āfyrht# has been influenced by ME. offriȝt: #on# is an 95. An e, often unmetrical, has been inserted in bodẹward 336, bodẹwurd 548, breðere 7 &c., briðẹre 325, coren 158 (9), engẹles 587, manigẹfold 556, gadẹren 188, eldẹre 483, 560, fugeles 135, 143, leuelike 329, leuere 139, reweli 382 (but rewli 64), vnselðẹhe 370, similarly ei, i in trewẹịðe 358, birịgeles 528 (#byrgels#); an irrational e is added finally in ðogẹ 24, towardẹ 49; #e# is omitted in bettre 44, biforn 326, first 185, forward 88, 318, gur 314, herdne 127 (#ǣrende#), mor 260 r. w. or: i is written for #e# in michil 260, and inserted in eðimod 303 (#ēaþmōd#), sinịgeden 259. The prefix in tawnen 180 is #æt#; #be-# is regularly bi, biforen 16, biment 256, bitwen 23; #ge-# is generally lost, kinde 129, lefful 578, seli 192, writ 70, but it survives in gede 43, 341 (yet g may be merely parasitic), yoten 470, ynug 210, it is disguised in to ful in wis 575 (comp. 196/637); the suffix #ung# is regularly ing, ending 283, wurðing 194.

Metathesis of #r# takes place in wrigtful 258, wrigteleslike 130; #rr# is simplified in chare 444 r. w. fare, charen 490 r. w. faren, duren 293, fer 483, feren 31. #ll# is simplified in al 167 &c., handful 15, wil 28 (3), wilen 358. n is added in dalen 27, against metre, and lost in a 40, 108, o 103, 177, 280 for #on#; #nn# is simplified in gunen 432, mankin 460 (#manncynn#), quane 4, 356. p is inserted in dempt 92, ME. drempte 37, 103, and lost in ME. chafare 47. #f# between vowels and vowellikes is u, crauen 420, erue 44, louerd 237, luue 18, ouer 541, wiue 201, written w in bilewen 287, wiwes 91, but ‘wifwes,’ GE 857, ‘wifuede,’ id. 1588 and even ‘wifes,’ id. 453 also occur; otherwise it is f, fare 85, lif 493; it is doubled in off 476, and lost in lord 226. #t# is doubled in bettre 44, lutten 217, lost in best 350 and finally in an 122, 575 (the original had ant), ða 128, 244, 372, ef 391, GE 3081, ‘hef,’ id. 4019, ‘flig,’ id. 3084; #tt# is simplified in fet 152; for #t#, þ is written in anð 218, and th, ‘soth,’ GE 3685, ‘leth,’ id. 3385: #ts# is sc in bliscing 452; a curious letter substitution is p for #t# in waspene 6, GE 1440 (#wæstm#). #d# is doubled in bedden 327, 552, eddi 140 (? shortening); b is written for it in glaðe 351 r. w. scaðe, wurðen 517 and frequently elsewhere: #dd# is simplified in fordred 245. For #þ#, th appears in trewthe 390, ‘tholen,’ GE 508; it is often written ðh, biðhogte 169, ðhenke 126, ðhing 476, ðhogt 165, 221, 308, ðhogte 24 (3), ðhugte 118, ðhurg 246, welðhe 428, but ðinkeð 457, ðogte 448. Initial #þ# in pronominal words is seldom assimilated after #t#, #s#, so, ðat ðin 189, ‘malt ðat,’ GE 1017, ‘salt ðu,’ id. 1043, but ‘at te,’ GE 2756, ‘and (for ant) te,’ id. 615, ‘and tin,’ id. 926, ‘is tis,’ id. 334. For #þ#, d is written in dan 54, dat 70, 534, de 97, dogt 486, dor 45, endede 575 (#endeð#), helped 77, kude 168, quad 35 (4), wid 41 (4), and t in quat 77, 383, ‘Betel,’ GE 760. #þþ# is simplified in siðen 115 &c., d is substituted for it in siden 509. Noteworthy is derke 291, 399 with rk for #rþ#. #sć# is mostly s, sal 79, salt 20, soren 15, srid 73, srud 61, 421, sulde 9, sulen 22, finally, fleis 143, weis 343 (#cs#), doubled in wassen 345, but shauen 174, sheren 401, shewed 67, schilde 579; she 21, ‘sche,’ GE 235, ‘sge,’ id. 1444, ‘che,’ id. 1227 are equivalent. The stop #c# is k before e and i and in combination with other consonants, biwaken 498, wukes 527, kid 411, drink 106, often before u, kumen 31, 48, kuppe 101, kude 420, but cloðes 73, folc 82, ranc 159, cumen 123 &c., cuppe 364, 372, cuðe 208, and the proper names ‘Cedar,’ GE 1257, ‘Ceturam,’ id. 1446; otherwise it is c, cam 55, comen 75, coren 158 &c., spac 395, woc 165. For #c#, g is written in ‘ðig,’ GE 564, ‘swing,’ id. 566, ‘ðengen,’ id. 1571. #č# is ch, chare 444, childes 61, lich 495 (5), michel 89, riche 324, but biseken 546, euerilk 379, ic 21, swilc 33 &c., are not palatalized: swil 442 has lost c; similarly ‘Qwel,’ GE 170, ‘quil,’ id. 3631. #čč# is ch, drechen 42, fechen 417, rechen 140, 176, rechede 178, reching 112, wech 514, weches 521: smaken 497 is a ME. formation. #čǧ# is g in bigen 220, 300, comp. 481/7, 8. #cw# is regularly qu, quad 35 &c. Palatal #ġ# is written g, geld 206, ger 1, gunkeste 5; #ġe# is y in yoten 470, ynug 210; it is lost in if 7 &c. An interpolated y sound appears to be indicated by g in ‘digere’ (#dīere#), GE 3483, ‘tgen’ (#tēon#), id. 3824, ‘tgen’ (#tīen#), id. 3413, 3418, ‘tgelt,’ id. 1840, the second and third also appear as ‘then,’ GE 1514, 3305 (h pronounced separately), similarly ‘thaunen,’ GE 32: comp. 365/23. The guttural spirant is g in swolgen 72, sorge 74 (comp. Orm’s bollȝhenn, sorrȝhe); later forms are sorwe 59 (3), morwen 359; it is lost in sorfull 380. The voiceless spirant is also written g, frigti 325, nigt 103, sogt 30, sag 7, ðog(e) 24, ðurg 577, so probably drugte 161 (#drūgað#, in Orm, druhhþe), other representations of the same sound are seen in brictest 6, ‘brocte,’ GE 237, ‘hicte,’ id. 713: ‘sagt,’ GE 1301, ‘burgt,’ id. 727 have added an irrational t by analogy of sogt &c. Noteworthy is the insertion of the spirant in the French words haigre 73, ‘olige,’ GE 1624, ‘astronomige,’ id. 792, where ig may be written for ī, but olie 512. #ǧ# appears in egypte 86 &c. #h# is lost in adde 14 (5), adden 504, 505, ali 482 (3), aue 442, aueð 523, e 39, 395, 476, is 14 (9), om 324, yoten 470, also by coalescence in fonde 29, madim 62, weli 582, wexem 11. h is added in halle 394, herdes 464, herdne 127, hunne 303, hure 260, 549. #hl# is l, lene 153, lord 226: #hr#, r, rad 535, raðe 367, rem 58, ring 193: #hw#, qu, quane 4, quan 190, quat 37, queðer 111, quiles 37, quilke 134, quam 374, quor 462 and quu, quuan 365, quuor 482, but #nā-hwǣr# is ‘nogwer,’ GE 1271.

#Accidence:# Strong declension of masc. and neut. nouns. In the s. n. a. hate 12, stede 43, 81, sune 5, 72, wlite 342, kire 505, mete 138, bale 80, erue 44, herdne 127 have e corresponding to their OE. vocalic ending, bege 194, bode 69, 437 (#gebod#, comp. #boda#, messenger), liche 542, 569 (but lich 495), weie 305 have added e, wliten 343, GE 3614, n, fe 89 represents #feoh#, drugte 402, #drūgaþ#. Gen.-es, flodes 150, kinges 87, wiwes 91, but louerdis 326: dat. -e, bale 92, 579, come 321, ende 588, here 533, mete 348, stede 468, 521, sune 443, with vowel termination in the nominative, dale 79 (dalen 27 has added n, against metre), gilte 463, harme 368, kinge 235 (but king 451), liue 471 (but lif 493), londe 386, 572 (but lond 129 &c.), ofspringe 236, tune 365, wastme 6, wedde 252, weie 293, 534, wiue 201; without inflection are fulsumhed 182, grund 164, strem 150, ðogt 384 and a large number of others, mostly with long stem vowel or of more than one syllable; yre 506 has lost n, tre 113 is an Anglian nominative form #trēo#, wo 458 is indeclinable. The pl. n. a. of masculines end in -es, fugeles 135, sunes 2 (7), lepes 132, muðes 270, but meten 133, 309, r. w. eten (translating cibos, panes; at GE 363 it is probably singular with added n), sunen 229 r. w. cumen: neuters are der 71, folc 498, 505, ger 181 (7), ?kin 556, neet 151, srud 421, gere 190, bones 566, geres 207, liches 501, wiues 417. Genitive is teres 342, 396, datives, engeles 587, semes 427, teres 410. Of the fem. nouns of the strong declension helpe 83, herte 339, luue 340 have original e in the nominative, bene 565, bere 535, blisse 122, dede 41 (3), rewðe 393, sonde 367, trewðe 513, vnselðehe 370, sinne 36, sorwe 59, sorge 74 (3), wede 68 have added e, without it are ending 474 and other verbal substantives in -ing, ned 295, sped 192. Genitives are drugte 161, soules 578, werldes 494; helle pine 584, helle dale 79 may be regarded as composition forms. Dative -e, blisse 586, helðe 398, lewse 44, nede 215, 219, werlde 288 (7); onsagen 99, ðeden 356 have added n; but bering 232, hond 197 (3), as often in OE., ned 578, smerles 508, sped 46, 275, wurðing 194 are without inflection. Acc. -e, fare 85, hirdnesse 26; gifte 520, kinde 490 have added e; without inflection are bimening 538, bliscing 452, ending 283, forward 88 (3), stund 95, 163 and, as in OE., hond 117, migt 504. Pl. n. are blisses 404, dedes 513, hertes 13, lages 500, sondes 219, agte 144; d. laiges 526; a. agtes 278, laiges 510, agte 198, weden 423. Nouns of the weak declension have -e in the nom., bode 529, bredwrigte 131, wille 388; d. wune 6; a. kuppe 101, time 474; genitive is weches 521, but ‘sterre,’ GE 134. Pl. n. are sterres 17, wukes 527; d. wunes 347, but ‘feren,’ GE 1275; a. asses 427, beries 116, feres 532, but ‘wunen,’ GE 3137. The minor declensions are represented by fot s. d. 326, 551, ‘fote’ pl. d., GE 376; man s. n. 167, s. d. 302, men pl. n. 184, chapmen 85, hirdemen 449, men pl. d. 587, pl. a. 47; moneð s. a. 516; boc s. n. 576; biri s. d. 311; nigt s. d. 103, s. a. 515, pl. a. 501 (5), nigtes 499; fader s. n. 19, faderes s. g. 229, fader s. d. 8; broðer s. n. 110, s. a. 244, breðere pl. n. 21 (9), briðere 325, breðere pl. g. 267, pl. d. 429, pl. a. 7; moder s. d. 338; dowter s. a. 201; childes s. g. 61, childre pl. n. 282, pl. a. 304, childer 203; eares pl. n. 158; bred s. a. 102, bread 133.

Adjectives which in OE. end in a vowel have e throughout, bliðe 413, 429, riche 324, 327, 408; those in #-ig# lose g and are invariable, miri 312, sundri 81, 408, 468, similarly rewli (#hrēowlic#) 64. Weak inflections are gunge s. n. m. 335 (insert þe before it), leue s. a. m. 475, wis[e] s. d. m. 461 (similarly ‘ðe strong[e] god of israel,’ GE 1846 is to be read). All others are uninflected in the singular; they either belong to the classes mentioned above, or are predicative, or come after the noun qualified. #mycel# is michil s. n. f. 281, michel s. n. neut. 89, #lȳtel#, litel s. a. f. 95. The plural has -e, fette 158, fulle 400, glaðe 351, gode 513, harde 108, smale 161; the exceptions, mostly dissyllabic or predicative, are bold 13, fulsum 207, nedful 184, niðful 13, ranc 159, 162, sorful 380, wis 533 (read wisẹ), wrigtful 258. #ān# as article without stress is before consonants, a, an, 58, 64, 81, 149, 159 &c., once on 469, before h, an 455, 555, as elsewhere before a vowel. The numeral and pronoun is on, 101, 179, 227, 233 &c.; #nān#, pronoun and adjective is mostly non, but the adjective is twice no, 296, 352. Adjectives used as nouns with inflections are pl. n. fette 164, d. dede 519, fette 154, a. fette 155, sibbe 557. Comparatives have -e, bettre 53, more 420, leuere 139, eldere 483, but bet 420 (adverb form); superlatives are mostly without it, best 350 (3), brictest 6, first 185, gungest 214, 239, hegest 196, most 350, but gunkeste 5, gungeste 244 have weak inflection: boðen is pl. n. with added n, 179, pl. d. 103.

The personal pronouns are ic 21 (4), ‘hic,’ GE 34, rarely i, id. 309, me, we, ur pl. g. 316, us, ðu, (‘redes)tu,’ GE 2934, ðe, ge pl. n., gure g. 372, gu d. 314, a. 561, ge 406. Dual forms occur elsewhere, ‘wit,’ GE 1775, ‘unc,’ id. 1776, ‘gunc,’ id. 2830. The pronoun of the third person is s. n. he m. 4 &c., e 29 (4), (wel) i 582, she f. 21, ‘sche,’ GE 235, ‘sge’ id. 1444, ‘che,’ id. 1227, ghe 203, ‘ge,’ GE 1024, it neut. 12, (was)t 53, (‘stod)et,’ GE 590, with pl. verb, id. 1770, g. ‘hire’ f. id. 2035, d. him m. 60, (mad)im 62, ‘hin,’ GE 47, ‘hire’ f., id. 322, ‘it’ neut., id. 6, a. him m. 37, ‘hine,’ GE 3468 r. w. dine, ‘hin,’ id. 3004, ‘in,’ id. 3887, ‘hire’ f., id. 971, it neut. 63, (‘tell)et,’ GE 3526; pl. n. he 31 &c., once ‘ðei,’ GE 573, g. here 263, 410, 421, ‘ere,’ GE 2855, her 312, d. hem 14, (wex)em 11, a. hem 26 &c., is 184, 458, 503 (‘warp)es,’ GE 3025, ‘hes’ (= he them), id. 911, 943. Reflexives are ‘ðe self,’ GE 934, gu 358, him 169, hem 256, 355, ‘himseluen,’ GE 1338, ‘hemseluen,’ id. 537; definitive is self s. d. m. 235; possessives, mi s. n. m. 110, mine f. 565, in other cases min 72, 80, 371; pl. n. a. mine 566, min 282, 304, 404; ði s. n. f. 388, s. a. neut. 143, in other cases ðin 110, 125, 189, 436; pl. n. ðine 21; his 8 &c. as general form for the singular, written is 15 (6), but hise 91, 191, 236, 396, 474, 475, 490, 495, 569, 579, at all these places his is metrically admissible; pl. hise as the general form 25 &c., but his 40, 73, 75, is 14, 410, 429, hise being in all these places metrically admissible; ‘hire’ f., GE 333; ‘his’ neut., GE 120, ‘is,’ id. 327; ure 315, 547, 560, hure 260, 549, ur 226; ‘gunker,’ GE 398, gure 232 (4), gur 314; here 16 (8), ‘ere,’ GE 3773, her 13. The definite article is ðe 82 &c., de 97, ‘(at) te,’ GE 2756, miswritten ðo 164, instrumental, ðe 357, for ði 11; ðat 169 &c., ða 244, pl. ðo 98 &c. are demonstratives: wið ðan ðat conj. 389, miswritten wið ðanne ðat 550. The compound demonstrative is s. ðis 19, 131, ðes 166; pl. ðise 185, ðis 179, 186, ðes 253, in the last three places ðise is admissible. The relatives are ðat 22, 185 (= that which), ðe 102. Interrogatives are ‘quo,’ GE 2821, ‘quase,’ id. 2870, quam 374, quat 107 (5), ‘Queðer,’ GE 1471, quilc s. 474, ‘quil,’ GE 3631, quilke pl. 134, 404, ‘qwel,’ GE 170; the correlative is swilc s. 33, 59, 393, swil 442, pl. swilke 234, swilc 236, 500 (metre requires swilke in the latter place). Indefinites are quat so 37, 40, 388, quat so euere 386; men 204, 232, 277, ‘man,’ GE 1, 3; sum 515, 516, 517, ‘summe’ pl., GE 399, 401; ani 235; oðer s. 202, oðere pl. 183 (5), toðere 394, oðer 133, 510 (read oðre); anoðer 43, 157; ilc 410, euerilc 152, euerilk on 379; ‘mani,’ s., GE 696, manie 446 (read mani), manige pl. 234, 332, ‘manie,’ GE 4068; fele 425; fo 457; al s. 167, but allẹ s. d. f. 428, pl. alle 16 &c., halle 394, al 250, 325 (read alle).

Only two verbs, fare 443, reste 82, have infinitive in -e; all others, including thirteen of the second weak conjugation, end in -en. Contract verbs are bisen 195, sen 19 (5), seen 492, ten 9. The dative infinitive is not inflected, it has for prefix mostly to, but for to with bigen 300, cumen 123, geuen 452, slon 34. Presents are s. 1. bid 563, chare 444, rede 187; 2. findes 374, ‘betes,’ GE 3974, ‘haues,’ id. 360 and others in -es, ‘tregest,’ GE 3975 is isolated; 3. bimeneð 280, liueð 437, cliued 59, endedẹ 575, haued 92, helped 77, liued 60, ðinked 461, trewið 91; contracted are bitid 235, bit 292, hað 560, lið 12 (‘ligeð,’ GE 889, against metre), wurð 39 (5); pl. 1. holden 290, drege we 262; 2. senden 294, cume ge 225, haue ge 369; 3. hauen 72, wunen 518: subjunctive s. 2. friðe 389; 3. berge 583, helpe 582, leue 586, wurðe 111, deren 534 r. w. here, with irrational added n; pl. 1. liuen 550: imperative s. 2. bed 127, tel 110, forgiue 549, ðhenke 126; pl. 2. bereð 297, hoteð 564, seið 404. Past of Strong Verbs: I a. s. 3. bad 93, 175, bigat 332, forgaf 553, forgat 146, gaf 45, quad 35, quat 77, quað 121, sag 7, spac 395; pl. 3. bedden 327, leigen 16: I b. s. 3. bar 22, bicam 202, cam 55, nam 84, tobar 200; pl. 3. comen 75, nomen 61: I c. s. 1. gan 459, wrong 118, wurð 116; 3. abraid 165, bigan 462, fond 30, gan 8, geld 206, unbond 277, wurð 145, freinde 107 (weak form); pl. 3. funden 69, gunnen 546, gunen 432, gunne 49 (if the word following ends in n, there is a tendency to drop the verbal n, comp. 10, 420), wurðen 104: subjunctive s. 1. wurðe 128; 3. wurðe 272, wurð[e] 477: II. s. 3. bilef 214, 251, ros 32, wrot 578; pl. 3. abiden 537, smiten 163: III. s. 3. bead 548, bed 101, gret 71; pl. 3. boden 67, lutten 217: IV. s. 1. stod 113; 3. stod 15, swor 487, understod 264, woc 165; pl. 3. foren 536, token 254: V. IV. s. 3. wex 13, 291, weis 343; pl. 3. wexen 158: V. s. 3. forlet 494, het 419, knew 221, let 222, slep 37; pl. 3. fellen 326, knewen 31. Participles present: ‘sigande,’ GE 1436, ‘betende,’ id. 2713, ‘stondende,’ id. 3149; past: I a. beden 266, ?forgeten 233, freten 155, geuen 512: I b. bicumen 281, boren 214, cumen 190, forholen 371, fornumen 282, numen 32, ouercumen 162, stolen 129, soren 15, vndernumen 189: I c. bunden 270, swolgen 72, worpen 39, wurðen 517: II. driuen 375: III. drogen 456, forloren 565: IV. dragen 100, grauen 485, shauen 174, slagen 58, sworen 530: V. IV. waxen 114: V. fordred 245, holden 94, hoten 239, yoten 470, inflected, hotene s. d. 562. Past of Weak Verbs: s. 1. hadde 117; 3. bitagte 193, gatte 531, herde 107, likede 353, made 580, seide 19, missed 57, trewed 439, set 58, told 177, ðoht 352, went 543; pl. 1. sinigeden 259, werneden 261; 3. chidden 23, ferden 360, leiden 65, luueden 206, maden 88, senten 66, skinden 85, hertedin 76, biried 571, shewed 67, stunden 83. Participles present: ‘tuderande,’ GE 164, ‘wuniende,’ id. 2742; past: maked 524, smered 509, ðewed 10, bitid 74, mad 469, seid 479, sperd 93, srid 73, biment 256, ?fest 427, filt 361, ligt 306, ofrigt 104, went 365, inflected, welkede 161. Minor Groups: ‘witen’ inf., GE 328, wot 1 pr. s. 231, pr. s. 166, ‘witen’ pr. pl., GE 74, wiste 2 pt. s. 383, pt. s. 316, wisten pt. pl. 271; hunne pr. s. subj. 303; og 1 pr. s. 241, ‘oc’ pr. s., GE 197, ogen pr. pl. 108, owen 40, ‘agtes’ 2 pt. s., GE 1762, agte pt. s. 363, ‘oget,’ GE 324; duren pr. pl. 293, ‘durste’ pt. s., GE 2593, ‘dursten’ pt. pl., id. 1863; can pr. s. 176, ‘cunen’ pr. pl., GE 4054, cuðe pt. s. 208, kude 168, ‘cuðen’ pt. pl., GE 2996, kude 420, ‘kuð’ pp., GE 2666; sal 1 pr. s. 79, salt 2 pr. s. 20, ‘sal,’ GE 1815, ‘saltu,’ id. 1041, sal pr. s. 126, sulen 1 pr. pl. 22, 2 pr. pl. 408, sule ge 242, sulen pr. pl. 143, ‘sule’ GE 305, ‘suldes’ 2 pt. s., id. 3984, sulde pt. s. 24, sulden pt. pl. 355, sulde 10; ‘munen’ inf., GE 1622, ‘mune,’ id. 972, ‘to munen’ dat. inf., id. 197, ‘for to munen,’ id. 687, muneð pr. s. 463, ‘munen’ 1 pr. pl., GE 558, mune ?pr. s. subj. 476, ‘mune’ 2 pr. s. imp., GE 45; ‘mugen’ inf., GE 1818, mai pr. s. 19 &c., may 36, ‘muwen’ 1 pr. pl., GE 3316, ‘mugen’ pr. pl., id. 3017, ‘mogen,’ id. 3227, mugen pr. pl. subj. 144, migte 1 pt. s. 137, pt. s. 68, migt he 238, ‘migten’ pt. pl., GE 573; mot pr. s. 582, ‘mote’ 1 pr. s. subj., GE 1621, pr. s. subj., id. 2645, ‘muste’ pt. s., id. 2624; ben inf. 10, for to ben d. inf. 196, am 1 pr. s. 129, ‘best’ 2 pr. s., GE 2884, ‘beas,’ id. 365, ‘art,’ id. 356, is pr. s. 74, ‘beð,’ GE 182, ben 1 pr. pl. 258, 2 pr. pl. 223, pr. pl. 123, be 454, aren 282, ‘arn,’ GE 16, be pr. s. subj. 388, 565, ben pr. pl. subj. 566, beð 2 pr. pl. imp. 317, was 1 pt. s. 120, ‘wore’ 2 pt. s., GE 1759, was pt. s. 1, wast (= was it) 53, were we 1 pt. pl. 228, weren pt. pl. 255 (6), woren 100 (7), ‘worn,’ GE 61, wore pt. s. subj. 139, 246; wile pr. s. 180, nile 59, wilen 2 pr. pl. 358, welin (for wilen) pr. pl. 585, wulde pt. s. 9, ‘wolde,’ GE 912, ‘wulden’ pt. pl., id. 1075, ‘wolden,’ id. 3756, ‘nolden,’ id. 3029; ‘don’ inf., GE 194, vndon 168, to don d. inf. 28, doð(es) pr. s. 230, don 2 pr. pl. 285, pr. pl. 519, do pr. s. subj. 568, 2 pr. s. imp. 387, doð 2 pr. pl. imp. 405, dede pt. s. 44 (9), deden pt. pl. 2, dede 82, don pp. 41, 128, 315, 477, 542, do 142; gon inf. 238, ouergon 340, ‘to gon’ d. inf., GE 3078, ‘gon’ 2 pr. pl., id. 3124, ‘go’ 2 pr. s. imp., id. 2815, ‘goð’ 2 pr. pl. imp., id. 3585, gede pt. s. 43, ‘geden’ pt. pl., GE 1034, gon pp. 291.

#Vocabulary:# Scandinavian are ai 287, aren 282, blomede 115, boðen 103, 179, (bi)calleð 368, fo 457, fro 31, geren 495, grot 74, groten 80, hagt 98, heil(nesse) 122, eðen 242, ille 12, kides 63, lages 500 laiges 526, laðes 188, lit 64, liðeð 131, lote 382 loten 312, nai 35, oc 229, or 1, orest 115, raken 186, ransaken 377, rapen 430 rapeð 403, scaðe 352, seck 363, semet 223, skinden 85, (ouer)takeð 367, tiding 412, til 60, ðeden 84, ðog 24, 217, ðral(dom) 376, wante 298, witter 6, witter(like) 374, wopnede 533; probably busk 159, vnhillen 8; possibly bond 130, cartes 416, twinne 421; in sonderemen 65, er is probably due to Scandinavian influence. French are butuler 109 buteler 169, cisterne 38, feið 241, feste 524, fin 424, flum 540, fruit 301, graunte 590, haigre 73, hardi 175, lettres 581, merci 237, messe(song) 520, offiz 125, olie 512, paid 269, pais 589, plates 52, poure 233, present 327, pris 301, prisun 94, prisunes 98, prisuner 96, scite 469, seruede 105, spices 48, spice(like) 497, spies 223, spien 226, strif 494; possibly the interjection A 237, rospen 186 (OF. rosper). Latin are crisme 512, elmesse 520.

#Dialect:# East Midland of the Southern border. Its general character is definitely East Midland, but #ā# as occasionally oa in rhymes like ðoa : salmona GE 4129, woa : oba GE 880, the occurrence of hine : dine GE 3468, hin, id. 3004, yoten 470 beside hotene 562, wuniende GE 2472 as assured by the metre, #æ# + #g# as ei beside ai testify to contact with the South. The large proportion of French words may point in the same direction. Evidence of transmission through a North Midland copy is furnished by #ā# as occasionally a, #sć# as s, the pronouns ghe, ge beside she, ðei beside he pl., the 2 pr. s. ind. of verbs in -es, the pres. part. in -ande, and occasional aren beside usual ben. It was probably at this stage that the metre suffered by loss of final -e; some feminine endings may have become masculine. The scribe of our manuscript was probably faithful to his exemplar, for he was imperfectly acquainted with the language.

Proper names of three syllables have, with few exceptions, two accents, those of two syllables are very often stressed on the second, according to the current clerical use, for Mammotrectus says ‘nulla dictio de natura acuit ultimam nisi . . . hebraica · ut David ⁊ Jacob.’ So ábrahám, adád, béniamín (10), but béniamin 422, chánaán, ‘cánahán,’ GE 726, dotáym, ebrón, éffraým, gálaád, génesís, gersén, iurdón, mánassén, pháraón 119 (7), pháraún 172 r. w. prisun, but pháraon 191, 465, pharáon 411, pútifár 87, 199, but pv́tifar 91, rámesé, sichém 25, but síchem 29, sýmeón, ýsaác. Otherwise egípte, once egípt 213, iácob, ácob 445, jacóbes, iésu, jóseph, jósep, ósep (18), iosép 92, 266, joséph 139 r. w. swep, in many other places the metre admits of either accentuation, josépes, júdas 387, elsewhere indeterminate, as Vdas 45, móyses, pháran, rúben 55, elsewhere rubén is possible; adjectives are cristéne 510, ebrísse. The spelling of the proper names mostly follows Comestor or the Vulgate, but ebron, egipte, jurdon, pharaon are French, and probably ramese; in view of the variants, no conclusion can be drawn from initial j in Jacob, Judas, and Joseph; for the last the author probably wrote iosep throughout.

The corruptions of the text consist mostly of inversions of the word order and additions which aim at greater clearness or emphasis. Line 6, read witter of wune (H = Holthausen); l. 7, hise breðere sag (H); l. 8, gan it; l. 24, ðog ðhóg|te iác|ob it súl|de bén; l. 53, was it; l. 60, Til he him; l. 77, it helpeð (H); l. 82, Wor sé|li fólc | hem rést|e déde, comp. GE 257; l. 91, his; l. 108, Harde drém|es óg|en a wóld|e ðát; l. 118, ðorin, comp. GE 3634; l. 130, And wrígt | ẹleslík|e hóld|en in bónd; l. 134, omit ðe; l. 149, read ðo drémp|te phá|raón | a drém; comp. 200/119, 127; l. 159, ránkẹ on | an búsk | and wél | tidí; l. 163, To sám|en smít|en and ón | a stúnd; l. 172, omit ðe king; l. 173, omit ðo; l. 180, omit king; l. 182, read In fúl | sumhéd | súlen | ben númen, comp. 207/351, 208/400; l. 183, And séu|e súl|en áft|er bén; l. 186, ðisẹ óð|ẹre súl|en rósp|en and ráken; l. 189, ðat ðin fólc | ne wúrð|e v́nd|er númen; l. 190, omit forð (H) and read ger; l. 191, omit king; l. 199, read was v́n|der hím | ðo pú|tifár; l. 214, biléf | at hóm | was gúng|est bóren; l. 225, And cúm|en fór | non óð|er ðíng; l. 241, Nú | bi ðe feíð | ic og phár|aón (H); l. 269, H would read here for ðe, but ?pai-ed; l. 275, omit so; l. 279, omit ðanne; l. 285, read If bén|iamín | ge; l. 287, Aí | sal hé | wið mé | biléwen; l. 290, omit non; l. 293, read Óc | he ne dúr|en weí | cumen ín, comp. 206/305; l. 310, omit alle; l. 311, omit alle; l. 312, read Here nón | ðo lót|en hád|den míri; l. 317, Béð | nu stíll|e quád | þe stiwárd; l. 341, Sone gé|de he út; l. 358, If gé | gu wíl|ẹn wið tréw|ðẹ léden, comp. 212/512; l. 361, omit alle; l. 370, read Grét | vnsélð|e is gú | cumen ón; l. 384, ðát | ic ám | wol wítt|er o ðógt; l. 386, Quat só | on lónd|e wúrð|e stólen, comp. 198/37, 40, 208/388, GE 270; l. 394, he dé|de ut áll|e ðe tóð|ẹre gón; l. 396, ðat ál | his wlít|e wurð tér|es wét; l. 400, Get fúll|e fíu|e súl|en ben númen; l. 411, omit king, and in line 412, newe; l. 421, omit here; l. 438, read Al egípt|e ín | his wíll|e clíueð; l. 446, Ánd | of his kínd|e mán|i a mán; l. 476, On ðhíng | ðat óff | og é | wel múne; l. 477, read wurðe; l. 492, Hál|i gást | it him déd|e sén; l. 495, read his; l. 498, And egípt|e fólc | him faír|e biwáken; l. 500, read swíl|ke; l. 514, ðo bén | ðam ál | ðat wéch|e déde; l. 528, scan get ádd|e jác|ob bír|{y}els nón; l. 529, omit king; l. 531, omit it; l. 542, scan ðor ís | ðat lích | in bír|{y}els dón; l. 545, read Hise bréð|ẹre ðán|ne cóm|en him tó; l. 546, omit alle; l. 550, read Wið ðán | ðat wé | ðe v́nd|er líuen; l. 577, ðe móy|ses eár | ðurg gód|es réd; l. 579, read his; l. 587, éngẹles | amóng | and sé|li mén, comp. GE 700, 785. In ll. 66, 67, it, though metrically admissible, is superfluous: l. 68 may be scanned, Jf his chíld|es wéd|e it mígt|e bén: ll. 250, 251 are unrhythmical and al in the former, ungrammatical, perhaps, álle but | here bróð|er sým|eón might be read, for l. 251 Holthausen proposed, biléf | ðis bróð|er ðór | in bónd: in l. 291, ðe dérð|e wéx | would improve the rhythm, as ure for ur in l. 316: scan l. 470, ðe wás | y-ót|en rám|esé. A considerable use is made of alliteration.

#Introduction:# The author tells us that his song is drawn out of Latin and written in simple language for those who are not book-learned. He was probably a secular priest, for there is no reference to the monastic life in his work. His source was almost exclusively the Historia Scholastica of Peter Comestor (here quoted from the edition printed by Crespin at Lyons in 1526), but he occasionally referred to the Vulgate. As his purpose was narrative, he leaves out most of Comestor’s learned disquisitions, but he retains those at ll. 81-4, 501-21 and somewhat enlarges the latter. The source of ll. 354-58 has not been discovered; it may have been an interpolated Comestor. The addition of ‘ouer pharan’ in l. 541 is probably due to the author.

2. #unred#, folly, an ill-advised thing; OE. #unrǣd#: comp. ‘He has me don oft vnresun,’ CM 3747; ‘vnwit,’ Laud Troy Book, 4285.

3. #For# &c. is the remnant of a calculation in Comestor of Jacob’s age at the time when Joseph was sold. See Gen. xxxvii. 2.

6. ‘prestantior corpore et sapientior ceteris,’ Comestor. #wastme# is Mätzner’s emendation; Morris suggested wasteme: the same scribal error, ‘of faiger waspene’ occurs at GE 1440. OE. #wæstm, wæstem# means growth, stature; the sense here is, countenance: comp. ‘hire wliti westum,’ SK 310, answering to ‘vultus ipsius claritas.’ #of witter wune#, discreet in behaviour: the explanations of Mätzner, ‘of intellectual capacity,’ and of Morris, ‘of good ability,’ seem to force the meaning of wune, which is, custom, use, so ‘for kinde wune,’ GE 1405, by family custom, usage. Comp. 208/384; ‘witter of figt,’ GE 864; ‘o resun . . . rijf,’ CM 14837; ‘o reson . . . ranc,’ id. 21024.

7. #misfaren#, go astray, misbehave.

8. #gan--baren#, uncovered and laid bare: the auxiliary use of gon is frequent in GE.

9, 10. He would have them discipline themselves, so that they might be of good moral character. Possibly the second #he# stands for Jacob; that is, Joseph wished Jacob to discipline them. Comp. for #ten#, 171/368; ‘þat he hine sculde wel i-teon[;] ⁊ tuhlen him teachen,’ L 2418.

11. #him# was added by Mätzner. For #wið#, against, comp. ‘⁊ all þatt follc toc niþ wiþþ himm,’ Orm 10267. #nið# is often associated with #hate#; comp. 198/33; ‘þurrh hete ⁊ niþ,’ Orm 1404, 8013; ‘stormes of nið · ⁊ of onde · ⁊ of hatienge,’ OEH ii. 177/4.

12. #for--lið#: Morris inserts herte after ille, producing a truism and spoiling the verse. Mätzner translates ‘quia situm est in malo,’ treating #ille# as a neuter noun, evil. Possibly #ille# means, evil men, but more probably the place is corrupt, and we should read, And hate sor þat ille in it lið, (envy) and bitter hatred which wickedly co-exists with envy, that is, envy which produces hatred of the person envied. For ille as adverb, comp. GE 1706, 4029.

13. #ðo . . . Quanne#, then especially . . . when: ‘Causa tamen odii maior fuit visio somniorum,’ Comestor. #bold#, shameless: Lucifer is ‘ðat neddre bold,’ GE 323.

15, 16. ‘Putabam . . . vestros manipulos adorare manipulum meum stantem,’ C. #soren#, shorn.

16. And all theirs lay before them. #it# may be meant for a reinforcing dative; see 13/34: but its occurrence elsewhere, as at 201/163, 202/182, where it is hard to explain or otiose and metrically in excess, makes it probable that it is due to the scribe, as it certainly is at GE 385, 387.

17. #xi^e# is by the rhyme endluue or elluue.

18. #frigti luue#, love and awe, ‘luue eie,’ 72/200: comp. ‘ðo wurð abraham frigti fagen,’ GE 1331.

19. #sen#: Mätzner takes this word to be the infinitive of the substantive verb, corresponding to OHG. sīn, MDu. sijn; how may this be? But if the word ever existed, it would surely be found elsewhere in ME. He quotes ‘Hu mai it hauen, hu mai it sen,’ GE 298, where if hauen is equivalent to se habere, sen may be to videri. In the third place instanced, ‘To sen gode witnesse ðor-on, | ðat wond was in ðat arche don,’ GE 3843, it appears to go closely with ðor-on, as in ‘so faiger he was on to sen,’ id. 2659 and to represent in both places #tō sēonne#.

22. #luten# usually takes to, as at 193/544, but comp. ‘Þa kingess fellenn dun, itt seȝȝþ, | To lutenn Crist ⁊ lakenn,’ Orm 7348.

24. #ðoge#; read ðog. As a probable source of the line, Fritsche quotes Josephus ii. 2, ‘eventurum olim quando tam a parentibus quam a fratribus adoratione dignus haberetur;’ but perhaps it may be regarded as a natural inference from ‘pater vero rem tacitus considerabat,’ Gen. xxxvii. 11.

26. #Hirdnesse#: OE. #hierdnes#; custody, guard; here used for flocks: comp. ‘for te loken hirdnesse fare,’ GE 2771, to look to the welfare of the cattle.

30. #he--sogt#, he sought and found them; invenit eos quaesitos; a form of expression much used by the author, suggested by such places in the Vulgate as, ‘requisita non invenieris ultra in sempiternum,’ Ezech. xxvi. 21. Comp. 203/215, where join, ‘to josep sogt for nede;’ ‘ðer het god abre ðat tagte lond,’ GE 827; ‘And son he fand þe soght cite,’ CM 3254; ‘Ai quen þat þe folk him soght sau,’ id. 7473.

31. #fro feren#, from afar: see 118/40.

32. Hatred conceived in their hearts arose in them. Such phrases are common in our author, as ‘olie in trewðe geuen,’ 212/512; ‘song . . . on soðe sagen,’ GE 14. On the other hand such expressions as ‘drugte numen,’ 201/161; ‘sorge numen,’ GE 368, where the participle is used like L. captus, suggest taking it here in dependence on #hem#. With #on# comp. 210/454.

35, 36. ‘Nel feron mie, | ce sereit desverie,’ Joseph 273.

37. #drempte#: impersonal with two accusatives, Quatso and him; so too at 200/103, 202/170, and probably at 201/149: more commonly the thing dreamt takes of, or is a clause, 200/113, 120, 201/132. #ðor quiles#, whilst: see 196/648.

38. #cisternesse#: the MS. has ðisternesse here (it occurs correctly at GE 58), and ‘ðis ðhisternesse’ at GE 66, where ‘ðis’ is in excess, and cisternesse at l. 56. The original had, no doubt, cisterne or cistern in both places, and in this line probably In cisterne ðise, imitating ‘proiicite eum in cisternam hanc,’ Gen. xxxvii. 22 (comp. ‘He ðrowede and ðolede untiming ðat,’ GE 1180): having blundered here, the scribe altered cistern l. 56 in conformity, spoiling the metre.

39. #Get#, still, in spite of his dreams. Above #e# of #wurðe# a small he is added in the MS.

40. The phrase #owen a wold# means, to have in one’s power, like its synonym hauen a wolde (see 52/387 note); it occurs in its literal sense at 200/108, distressing dreams were responsible for that, and in ‘Luue wel michil it agte a wold, | Swilc seruise and so longe told,’ GE 1671, very strong love was capable of such hard service and so protracted. Here it has the derived sense of import, mean, like power, force used for meaning expressed by letter or phrase: comp. ‘Quat oget nu ðat for-bode o wold,’ GE 324, what now was the import of that prohibition; ‘And vndernam him ðat it agte awold,’ id. 2727, and questioned him as to what it meant; ‘ðor is writen quat agte awold, | ðat ðis werld was water wold,’ id. 525, therein is written what it signified that this world was destroyed by water.

41. #wid herte sor#, presumably on Reuben’s part.

42-44. ‘et recessit Ruben meliora querens pascua,’ C. #lewse#, so again at GE 1576: OE. #lǣs#, g. #lǣswe#.

45. #dor quiles#, meanwhile; comp. 204/265, and see 196/648.

46. ‘that was carried out in secret haste,’ Morris, who proposes derue for derne. But the meaning is, advice that was filled full of secret gain. For #of# comp. 217/91, 94, for #sped#, ‘of euerilc sed, | Was erðe mad moder of sped,’ GE 121. In the OF. Joseph, it is said of Judas, ‘mult iert escientous | et auques coveitous,’ ll. 347, 348, and he makes a speech to his brothers, ‘Touz temps somes berchier, | onc n’ëumes denier. | Ore en porrons aveir | senz vendre nostre aveir,’ ll. 365-368.

48. #spices ware#: ‘aromata & resinam & stacten .i. myrram,’ C.

52. #xxx plates#: all the early MSS. of the Vulgate have ‘viginti argenteis,’ but ‘triginta’ C., ‘deniers treis feiz dis,’ Joseph 414; the change is due to the desire to perfect the parallel with Christ. #plates#, silver coins: comp. ‘I nul sulle my Loverd [for] nones cunnes eiste, | bote hit be for the thritti platen that he me bitaiste,’ Rel. Ant. i. 144/25. The metrical stress requires ðo for ðe.

53, 54. ‘Melius est ut venundetur Ismaelitis, et manus nostrae non polluantur,’ Gen. xxxvii. 27. #dan#, than that. #in here wold#, in their power, at their hands.

57. #ðhogte swem#, felt sorrow, as in ‘Of paradis hem ðinkeð swem,’ GE 391, if so, the verb is impersonal and him must be supplied from #he#: or perhaps, experienced a feeling of faintness: the OF. poem has ‘Quant l’enfant ne trouva, | par poi ne forsena. | Il ne set que il face, | pasmez chiet en la place,’ ll. 433-436.

58. #set up#, raised: ‘credens eum interemptum scissis vestibus eiulabat,’ C. Comp. ‘ðis folc ðo sette up grot and gred,’ GE 3717.

59. #him cliued#: the MS. reading is meaningless; that in the text is Mätzner’s, who explains, cleaves to him. But in view of, ‘And atter on is tunge cliuen,’ GE 372; ‘Al egipte in his wil cliueð,’ 210/438, it is doubtful whether even the pronoun can be used in this sense without a preposition. Now cleave is associated with cling in ‘My hert doth clynge and cleve as clay,’ Coventry Mysteries (54), where cling, wither up, is used metaphorically for, shrink in fear (see 3/32 note and comp. ‘I clynge as cleyȝ, icauȝt in care,’ Horstmann, S. A. Legenden, 178/388), and it is also used transitively. Is it not probable that cleave had also some such metaphorical meaning which would be suitable here?

62. If #in# is right, it goes with #ðe#, in which. But its absence would improve the verse, and #ðe# alone can mean with which: see 46/292. In any case #prud# is adj., splendid; comp. 209/422; ‘Wið gold and siluer and wið srud, | ðis sonde made ðe mayden prud,’ GE 1413.

63. #wenten#, turned it round and round, rather than, altered it; although the Latin, ‘tinxerunt,’ favours the latter.

64. #an rewli lit#, a pitiable dye.

65. #Sondere men#, messengers; sing. ‘sonder man,’ GE 2871; ‘sanderrmann,’ Orm 19383; ‘sondes man,’ L 13615.

73. #in haigre srid#, clad in a hair, a hair shirt; see 62/31.

74. #grot and sorge#: comp. 214/583, similarly ‘grot and gred,’ GE 3717; ‘In grot and in srifte,’ id. 3692.

76. #hertedin#: read herten; comp. 184/277.

79. #ligten#, descend: see 141/42. ‘Descendam lugens ad filium meum in infernum,’ C.

81-84. ‘Erat enim tunc in inferno quidam locus beatorum longe semotus a locis penalibus · qui ob quietem et separationem ab aliis sinus dicebatur. . . . Et dictus est etiam sinus abrae · quia etiam abraam ibi erat in sustentatione usque ad mortem christi,’ C., commonly called Limbus Patrum: ll. 83, 84 refer to the Harrowing of Hell, for an account of which in ME. literature see Hulme’s edition of the legend, E. E. Text Society.

85. #skinden here fare#, hasten their journey: the verb, which occurs only here in ME., represents OWScand. skynda.

88. #bigetel#, advantageous: the adjective of ‘biȝete’ 60/12; only here.

90. Insert him before #sold#, with Holthausen. The expression is formal, mostly used of betrayal; comp. ‘ic am i-boust ant i-sold to-day for oure mete,’ Rel. Ant. i. 144/26; ‘How þat ioseph was boght and sald,’ CM 142; ‘Dickon thy maister is bought and sold,’ Shakspere, Richard III, v. 3. 305. Strunk in Mod. Lang. Notes, xxvi. 51 suggests He (Putifar) haueð him bogt.

93. The line is printed as in the Specimens, but a better order would be, He bad him sperd ben faste dun. The last word does not go well with sperd, which takes in or wiþinne, 201/148, 204/248. C. has ‘Ille nimis credulus coniugi vinctum ioseph tradidit in carcerem regis,’ the OF. version, ‘mist le en la prison | au fort rei Pharaon;’ the Vulgate, ‘in carcerem ubi vincti regis custodiebantur,’ all mentioning the king. The original may have had Him bad ben sperd king Pharaun: for the rhyme see 202/171.

95. #an#: comp. 201/163.

96. #prisuner#, gaoler. #prisunes#, prisoners.

98. #to liuen in hagt#, to live in care, goes with l. 100: comp. 201/136. #hagt#: see 196/657 note, and comp. ‘Twin-wifing ant twin-manslagt | Of his soule beð mikel hagt,’ GE 485; ‘Amalechkes folc fledde for agte of dead,’ id. 3384.

99. #onsagen#, accusations, charges; OE. #onsagu#: apparently only here in ME.

103. #drempte#: see 198/37.

105. #on sel#, at a time, on one occasion: comp. ‘And moyses was numen an sel | In ðe deserd depe sumdel,’ GE 2769; ‘on midel sel, ðat ilc nigt,’ id. 3159. Kölbing translates timely, that is, early in the day, quoting, ‘Ad quos cum introisset Ioseph mane,’ Gen. xl. 6, and, ‘And made swiðe on sele ðat mete,’ GE 1537, where however swiðe gives the special sense, in quick time. But the expression appears to mean happily in, ‘And he folgede is red on sel,’ GE 1866; ‘on good sel,’ id. 1375, 1545.

108. This is the answer of the dreamers. See 198/40 note.

111. #strong#: see 21/94 note.

112. #on god bilong#, pertaining to God, in God’s power. ‘Numquid non domini est interpretatio .i. numquid adiutorio dei potest interpretari,’ C. #bilong# is an isolated form, apparently made of bi + long, OE. #gelang# which in ME. is commonly ilong; see 134/96 note. Mätzner would read ilong here.

114. #waxen buges#, full-grown boughs, or shoots. ‘Videbam coram me vitem & in ea tres fundos oculos (principal buds) scilicet unde funduntur palmites. Alii ponunt tria flagella, vel tres propagines quod idem est,’ C.

116. Morris by his punctuation makes #beries# acc. after #bar# and #wurð ic war# parenthetic; but the construction is the same as at 9/122, 192/518; ‘quanne he it wurð war,’ GE 1462, 3387; ‘And quane ðe king wurð war ðis dead,’ id. 2983; ‘ðan pharaon wurð war ðis bot,’ id. 2957: wurð war is treated as though it meant observed. But it takes of at 203/204.

121, 122. ‘Deus dedit in bonum hominibus vsum vini . . . soluit lites et tristitias · et bona est eius visio,’ C.

127. #herdne#: OE. #ǣrende#, mission, but here affected in meaning by #ǣrendian#, to intercede: make intercession for me.

128. #ða#: for ðat: the scribe not seldom drops final t.

129. #kinde#, native; so, ‘ðog it was nogt is kinde lond,’ GE 1279: ‘car a tort sui chaitis | en estrange païs,’ Joseph 837.

130. #wrigteleslike#, undeservedly: OE. #gewyrht#, thing done, merit, in Orm, wrihhte.

132. #lepes#: ‘canistra,’ C.

135. #ðor on#: comp. ‘On was tette he sone aueð lagt,’ GE 2621. The construction with #on# is rare, the verb in this sense regularly takes an accusative.

136. #hagt#: see 200/98.

140. #swep# occurs in the same connection at 202/166, and in ‘For þai can swyth of a sweuyn · all þe swepe tell,’ Wars of Alexander, 248, evidently with the meaning, scope, significance. Mätzner refers it to OE. #swǣp#, for which see Napier, OE. Glosses, 78/2894 note; its meaning, persuasion, or more probably, deceit, does not suit our word. More probably its OE. congener is seen in #ymbswǣpe# which glosses L. ambages, Sweet, Oldest E. Texts, 599; if so, it would mean compass, content, like the noun sweep of more recent origin.

144. #ðat#, from that: #werien# usually takes wið (50/335), fram, but the pronouns are frequently used alone in all sorts of loose syntactical relations: see 46/292 note. Omit #sal#; though it might be defended by GE 1818, agte is commonly plural. Not in the Vulgate or Comestor, but ‘It sal na raunsun ga for þe,’ CM 4494; ‘te trenchera la teste; | ne te lera raendre,’ Joseph 854.

145. #ðat# is subject of #wurð#.

148. Divide #wið uten-erd#; for #wið#, on, see 180/147. #uten-erd#, foreign land; OE. #ūtan# + #eard#: comp. ‘uten erdes sorge sen,’ GE 956; ‘into vten stede,’ id. 1741. At 210/460, it is used adverbially in conjunction with her, and at 210/464 it develops an adverbial form, ‘uten herdes.’ Comp. L. extorris.

149. #pharaon#: probably acc.; see 200/104.

150. #flodes strem#: ‘Putabat se stare super fluuium,’ C.

151. #vii#: seuene.

158, 159. ‘Septem spice plene pullulabant in culmo vno,’ C. #busk#, bush, for stalk is curious. #ranc and wel tidi#, luxuriant and very healthy-looking; the phrase qualifies ‘eares.’

161. #drugte numen#: ‘percusse vredine,’ C.; ‘uredo . . . dicitur corruptio ex urente vento proveniens quando stantes segetes aduste videntur in campo,’ Catholicon: ‘de gelée brulez,’ Joseph 904. With #numen# comp. 198/32: drugte, sorge are genitives. Similar constructions without prepositions are frequent in this author, ‘water wold,’ 526, overpowered by water; ‘sinne wod,’ 1073, demented by sin; ‘elde swac,’ 1528, weakened by age; ‘herte hard,’ 2936, hard of heart; ‘hungur fordred,’ 3313, in fear of hunger; ‘nede driuen,’ 3165; ‘deades driuen,’ 1125, under the sway of death. See 207/342.

163, 164. There is nothing in Comestor or the Vulgate corresponding to these difficult lines. Mätzner takes #it# as equivalent to they, and quotes for the intransitive use of #smiten#, ‘Heo smiten to-gædere,’ L 5183, to which may be added, ‘Bitid a stund þai samen smate | In a dale biside a wate,’ CM 2495. Schumann objects that smiten is transitive everywhere else in the poem; he proposes, To-samen is smiten, them dashed together, apparently depending on #ranc#. It would probably be better to omit #it# (see 197/16 note); adopting Fritsche’s ðristen he in the next line, the meaning would be, Next (ðo) the lean ears have overcome the full ears, dashed together in conflict, and in a moment they have thrust the full ears to the ground. The participial phrase is quite in the manner of the author.

164. #ðo#: miswritten for ðe.

166. #wot#, where wiste might be expected, is perhaps due to anticipation of nogt.

168. Who could solve the riddle involved in the dream: comp. 1/4.

170. #of ðat#: supply a relative as accusative to drempte: see 198/37, 200/103.

174. #shauen#: ‘ioseph totonderunt. Uincti enim et exules incrementa crinium patiuntur,’ C.

175. #hardi ⁊ bold#: Comp. ‘Þe king of Beme had cares colde, | Þat was ful hardy and bolde,’ Minot iv. 68.

176. #wold#, power, meaning. See 201/140.

180. ‘quod facturus est deus ostendit pharaoni,’ C.

182. #numen#, taken, in the sense of dealt with, experienced. Comp. 208/400; ‘Ðe seuend moned was in cumen, | And seuene and xx^ti dais numen,’ GE 593; ‘Seue nigt siðen forð ben numen,’ id. 1687.

184. The editors take #Sori and nedful# with #men#, but they might qualify #is#, them, and that would be more consonant with the original, ‘quos (annos) sequentur alii .vii. tante sterilitatis. vt obliuioni dent cuncta retro abundantia,’ C.

186. #rospen and raken#, waste and scrape away: in these meanings the words are apparently without parallels.

187. #her biforen#: miswritten for ear biforen: see 211/483 note: for #her# = ear, comp. ‘ðor he quilum her wisten wunen,’ GE 801.

189. #vndernumen#, taken unawares: comp. ‘Ðis godes folc was undernumen, | Quan he segen ðis hird al cumen,’ GE 3221, where it appears to mean, surprised: perhaps influenced in this rare meaning by undergan, as in, ‘Þou hast me gyled and vndurgone’ (= circumvenisti), Horstmann, S. A. Legenden, 33/479, 75/790.

194. #bege#: ‘collo torquem auream circumposuit,’ C. Comp. 133/34.

195. #bisen#: see 12/14 note.

197. #welden# &c., so, ‘neme hit in here honde,’ KH 60 note. #vnder his hond#, l. 210, in his control; comp. 204/252; ‘Unnderr þe laþe gastess hand,’ Orm 11146.

199. #ðo . . . ðanne# together are strange and the line is unmetrical. Read, was vnder him ðo putifar.

200. #hem so to bar#, caused such dissension between them; OE. #toberan#, to carry in different directions.

202. #Oðer . . . ðan#, different from what: see 100/122 note. ðan is Mätzner’s correction.

206. Comp. for the form of the sentence, ‘He was hem lef, he woren him hold,’ GE 793.

212. #x#: The scribe writes tgen (2), then (1), ten.

215. #for nede sogt#: depends on josep: comp. 198/30, and ‘for nede driuen,’ 203/219.

217. #ðog#, nevertheless; that is, though he was their brother, they unwittingly fulfilled the prophecy of 197/21, 22.

219. #for#: but ‘ðo wurð pharaon nede driuen,’ GE 3165.

222. #Als he let#: read, Let he als, he pretended as if: comp. ‘Sho lete als sho him noght had sene,’ Ywain, 1809.

226. For #spien# with acc. comp. ‘Bot er yee comen þe land to spi,’ CM 4824; ‘vous venez ceste terre | espier et conquerre,’ Joseph.

230. #doðes#: Mätzner’s suggestion, doð us, causes us, gives the best solution. Comp. 206/303.

233-236. ‘Impossibile est enim viro idiote tales filios esse · cum etiam regibus talis filiorum copia valde sit difficilis,’ C. #forgeten#: explained by Mätzner as forgotten, with meaning, of no account, obscure, which is without parallel. Probably for geten, for progeny, offspring: get is however not instanced in that sense before the fourteenth century.

235. For seldom hath it befallen even to a king: for this practically adverbial use of #self#, comp. ‘God haued swilc fair-hed him geuen, | ðat self ðe fon it leten liuen,’ GE 2609: ‘Self his kinde nile ðat wune forgeten,’ id. 1806.

240. #for# &c.: as the name Benjamin implies.

244. #gure# is due to Morris.

245, 246. ‘Timebat enim ne forte et in illum (Benjamin) aliquid deliquissent,’ C. #he#, Benjamin. #hem#, the brethren. #forred#, betrayed.

247. #dun#, to an underground prison.

253. #sone on on#, soon forthwith, very quickly: a favourite phrase of our author.

255. If #sone# be correct, it must stand for sone so, as soon as, as in, ‘sone so loth ut of sodome cam,’ GE 1109. But that is inconsistent with ll. 263, 264, where, as in the Vulgate and C., their lamentations are uttered in the presence of Joseph. Probably sone has been repeated from l. 253, displacing or, before: so ‘ðor,’ l. 257, means, in Joseph’s hearing.

258. #Wrigtful#, guilty; deserving punishment for our misdeed; ‘Merito hec patimur,’ C.; comp. wrigteleslike, undeservedly, 201/130. But Kölbing suggests that the original had Rigtful, justly, rightfully; comp. ‘Rihtful was iacob cald his name,’ CM 3742.

260. #michil mor#, much more than we now suffer.

263. None of them suspected that they were understood: ‘nescientes quod intelligeret eos ioseph, quia per interpretem loquebatur eis,’ C. #on his mod#: a common tag; comp. ‘ðo ðogte thare on his mod, | long bigging is here nogt god,’ GE 717; ‘He þoȝte vpon his mode | Hit nas for none gode,’ KH 281 note.

265. #ðor quiles#, meanwhile, as at 198/45, usually whilst, as at 196/648.

270. #ðor biforen#, ‘there as before,’ Morris; ‘over it,’ Kock. biforen here and at 205/299, 207/362 has plainly the meaning of, in addition, besides. The development of meaning is parallel to that of besidan, by the side of, in addition to: so biforen, in the presence of (the common meaning in our author, as at 207/337), in addition to. #ðor biforen# then means, in addition to that; ðor rounds off the expression, as in ðor quiles.

273. #ouerðogt#, ‘vexed,’ ‘grieved,’ NED.; ‘anxious,’ Bradley-Str.; ‘very anxious,’ Morris: it apparently occurs here only. The original had probably, o seri ðogt, of sorry mood; comp. 208/384 for the form of the expression and ‘dredful and bleð and sori mod,’ GE 3520; ‘And sumdel quemeð it his seri mood,’ id. 408.

277. Comestor does not mention that one of the sacks was opened on the way: our author follows him, not the Vulgate, Gen. xlii. 27.

279. #sori#, sorely; comp. ‘wiste hire drogen sori for ðrist,’ GE 977. Holthausen suggests sor.

280. #o rigt#: the meaning is doubtful, it may be justly, reasonably, OE. #on riht#, but for that the author has ‘wit rigt,’ GE 52. In the other place where it occurs, ‘Abraham was buxum o rigt,’ GE 1299, it means, straightway.

283. #ending non#, Of Joseph I know not how he ended: comp. ‘Of his endinge ne wot ic nogt,’ GE 487.

286. #segeð#, descends: OE. #sǣgan#, cause to sink.

288. #ðor quiles#, as long as: see 196/648.

289. #us--hard#, it will go hard with us.

290. #no#: probably ne should be read.

291. #derke#: so too at 208/399: it seems hardly a mere scribal error for derðe.

293. Mätzner thinks #he# is a mistake for we, but see the examples of sudden transition from indirect to direct speech in Kellner, Syntax, 60.

296. Kölbing suggested the addition of non: Schumann would substitute non for #no#, but the former gives a better verse. Mätzner reads, And ic ne can, following Morris, who translates, And I know no better plan. Understand quan after And.

298. That there be wanting to the Egyptians none thereof; comp. ‘ne nawiht ne wonteð ham | of al ꝥ ha wilneð,’ SK 1670.

299. #ðor biforen#, besides: see 205/270.

300. #wið#, with which.

304. #agen#, back; so 208/375.

305. Join #forð rigt#, straightway, or, by the nearest way.

306. Mätzner rightly omits #cumen# as a gloss. For #ligt# as a verb comp. ‘Nu am ic ligt to fren hem ðeðen,’ GE 2787; 141/42. ‘Igitur filii iacob descenderunt in egyptum,’ C.

308. #Kinde ðhogt#, natural affection; comp. ‘kinde blod,’ 206/330. #was# is evidently a substitute for some rhyming word; Emerson suggests lag, Kock, stag, Morris, ðag. It was probably some uncommon word which the scribe altered, possibly wag, stirred, moved, OE. #wæg#, which is sometimes used intransitively. In the passage corresponding to 207/340, C. has ‘Commota sunt viscera eius,’ which our writer seems to have used here.

311. #biri#, palace: at 12/7 it means, court.

312. #Her non#, none of them: so #ur non#, l. 316.

316. #wiste . . . gilt#, was conscious of wrong-doing: ‘non est in nostra conscientia quis posuerit eam in marsupiis nostris,’ Gen. xliii. 22.

318. #min forward# is explained in Specimens of the condition that Benjamin should be brought, as in 205/290; but that stipulation was Joseph’s, not the steward’s. It looks like a vague rendering of C., ‘Pax vobis . . . pecuniam quam dedistis mihi probatam (i.e. checked, found correct) ego habeo.’ The French version has, ‘Vostre aveir seit tout vostre, | car nous avons le nostre’; and the English text may mean, for the price which I was ordered to charge for the corn is actually in my possession.

320. #on and on#, one by one; comp. 208/377, 214/573.

322. #to nome#, as captive: comp. 196/665; probably the only instances of its use in ME.; noun of #niman#.

323. #vndren time#: ‘meridie,’ C. See 74/209.

324. For #riche#, see 6/30.

325. #of frigti mod#, through their feeling of fear; comp. ‘Wið reuli lote and frigti mod,’ GE 1162.

329. #understod#, received; comp. 210/447.

334. I know there none who does not tremble; a parenthesis which would be better placed before l. 333. #ðat he# is practically equivalent to who.

336. #after bodeword ðin#, in accordance with your commandment; comp. ‘for ðhu min bode-word haues broken,’ GE 361.

339. #ouerwente#: an isolated past of *ouerwenden, in the intransitive use recorded in NED., to go over, pass over; giving the meaning, his heart went out to him forthwith. But the absence of to before him renders this explanation doubtful. More probably #him# refers to Joseph and reinforces #his#, as in ‘þat his ribbes him to brake,’ KH 1077 (see also 80/47 note), with meaning, his heart overflowed forthwith. C. has, ‘commota sunt viscera eius.’

340. For #ouergon#, overcome, see 22/143.

342. #teres wet#: comp. 208/396; teres appears to be pl. gen., of, with tears, so ‘swerdes slagen,’ GE 3721, where swerdes is s. gen. Contrast ‘of is teres wet,’ 209/410.

345. Holthausen omits #and#; the scribe has taken it from the next line, as he did again at ll. 2839, 2840. #him biforen#, in his presence.

347. #wunes#, custom: the pl. is used for the rhyme. ‘Deposuitque ioseph fratres secundum ordinem etatis eorum · sicut in domo patris sedere consueuerant,’ C.

349. #sonde#: see 13/30.

354. For omission of the subject, see 6/18. There is nothing in the Vulgate or Comestor corresponding to ll. 354-358. There is a similar passage in CM 4863-82, in which Joseph tells his brethren that Pharaoh has no mercy for thieves.

355. Omit #And#, with Holthausen.

356. #vnkinde#, foreign; a singular use, but comp. ‘ðog it was nogt is kinde lond,’ GE 1279; ‘to wende into þaire kindely lande,’ CM 3914; ‘He left bath kiyth and kyndli thede,’ id. 11103.

358. Read trewðe, as elsewhere.

360. #Or or#: this doubled or is frequent in GE; perhaps the second or was felt to be adverbial: a further redundancy is seen in ‘or or ðe flod was long biforn | of noe bigeten,’ GE 905.

362. #biforen#: see 205/270.

365. #ut#, out of: the rare prepositional use.

368. And accuses of harm and damage.

370. #on#: see 210/454. Read unselðẹ, as elsewhere.

371. #forholen#: this verb takes the dative of the person, 34/77, 208/385, or wiþ, as in, ‘forhele hit wid þin arege,’ OEM 117/244.

373. #sikerlike#, confidently.

374. #Vp#, upon; comp. ‘Of ȝoure hors aliþteþ[;] and vp ȝoure feot stondeþ,’ L MS. O, 5862.

375. #agen#: comp. 206/304.

382. Comp. ‘Wið bedes and gret and teres wep,’ GE 3888.

383, 384. ‘An ignoratis quod non sit similis mihi in auguriandi scientia. Forte ioco dictum est · nec est imputandum,’ C. The French version has ‘ne saviez vous | que je sui engignous | et tant sai deviner | que je n’en truis mon per,’ but GE and CM omit all reference to divination.

389. #Wið ðan ðat#, on condition that.

390. Morris added him after #ledde#; the omission of the relative is fairly common in GE.

396. Read, al his. #teres wet#: see 207/342.

398. ‘pro salute vestra misit me dominus ante vos,’ C.

400. #sulen . . . ben numen#, are to be gone through; comp. 202/182.

404. #min blisses#: ‘gloriam meam,’ C.

407. #gersen#: ‘Gessen,’ Vulgate; ‘iessen,’ C., the form in GE was probably influenced by ‘Gerson,’ Gen. xlvi. 11.

408. #sundri# appears to mean, apart from the Egyptians, and to be derived from ‘Hec (i.e. pastores sumus) dicetis vt habebitis seorsum ab egyptiis in optima terra iessen,’ C.; comp. 210/468; Gen. xlvi. 33, 34.

413. #in herte fagen#: so, ‘in herte wooc,’ GE 1874; ‘in herte mild,’ id. 2635.

414. For #him# read hem, Joseph’s relatives; for #migte# in the next line migten. ‘Gauisusque est pharao et dixit ad ioseph. De fratribus tuis. Tollite plaustra de egypto ad subuectionem coniugum,’ C.

415. Because of Pharaoh’s love for Joseph they were enabled to prosper. ‘Omnia vestra adducite vobiscum · dabo vobis omnia bona egypti,’ C. #timen#, to fare well or ill, mostly the former, is almost confined to GE in this sense: comp. ‘Amalech fleg and israel | Hadde hegere hond and timede wel,’ GE 3391; ‘Bi ðan sal sarra selðe timen,’ id. 1023; ‘ðis folc, sprungen of israel, | Is vnder god timed wel,’ id. 4023.

421. #twinne srud#: ‘Deditque ioseph singulis binas stolas,’ C.

422. Comp. 198/62.

425. #Al so fele#: ‘totidem,’ C. He sent his father a present similar to that of Benjamin.

426. #in--wil#, at his father’s disposal.

427. #fest# is taken by Mätzner as the pp. of esten; so, ‘with burdens fastened’: it might be adj. #fæst#, ‘with burdens loaded,’ Morris. In either case it is a strange phrase. Probably lest, OE. #hlæst#, is to be read, meaning, with the burden of a horse load.

434. He did not know them in their rich dresses; ‘þai com ham noght als prisuns like, | Bot als þai war knigthes rik; | Cled þai war wit riche wede,’ CM 5133.

438. #in--cliueð#, remains fixed, stands at his disposal. ‘Joseph viuit et dominatur in egypto,’ C. Comp. 209/426.

441. #Wel me#: see 2/13 note, 21/92 note, 195/634. If #wel is me wel# is correct it must mean, it is very wel for me: perhaps we should read, me is wel wel; comp. ‘wol wel he dede,’ GE 724, ‘Wel wel was hit bitoȝe,’ L MS. O, 23253; ‘Hijs lauerd he kneu wel wel biforn,’ CM 11033: or, fel it me wel; comp. ‘Niðede ðat folk him fel wel,’ GE 1521.

442. That I have thus lived to see such good fortune. #swil[c] sel# usually means in GE such time, as ‘it wurð soð binnen swilc sel,’ 1032, it came true within the stated time, so GE 417, 1204, and it may have that meaning here.

444. #sen#: supply as object sune from the preceding line.

453. #dere# is Mätzner’s correction.

454. #ger#: read geres, 203/207, or gere, 202/190. #be ðe on#: constructions with on are frequent in GE; comp. 205/286, 208/370; ‘ðat burgt folc ðat helde was on,’ GE 1063; ‘For swinc and murning hem was on,’ id. 3205, in each case rhyming with don. Comp. the Latin inscription, ‘scire laboras, annos quod tulerim mecum.’

455. #xxx#: ðritti.

456. Have I suffered wo here in the world, not, ‘Have I suffered here in [this] world’s woe’; for dregen generally takes an accusative in GE, and the intransitive use, as at GE 3235, is rare.

457. #offen# is very doubtful, while ðor of occurs frequently in the poem. The original had probably, ðor of an fo, answering to ‘An hundred ger.’

460. Here among men, away from my true home: comp. 201/148; ‘And uten erdes sorge sen,’ GE 956. #vten erd# was suggested by ‘Dies peregrinationis vite mee,’ C., on which he comments, ‘Peregrinationis dixit · quia sancti vitam hanc pro incolatu habent,’ words which are paraphrased in ll. 461-464. Comestor had in mind, ‘Heu mihi quia incolatus meus prolongatus est,’ Ps. cxix. 5 (actually quoted in Zainer’s ed. of 1473).

461. #So# is explained by l. 464.

466. If #seli# represents OE. #gesǣlig#, happy, its use with #mel#, meal, is singular. But ‘he seruede his fader wel | Wið wines drinc and seles[t] mel,’ GE 1541 suggests sele, good, as the right word here.

467. #him#: corrected by Mätzner.

468. #sundri#: see 209/408: ‘sciens gratum esse egyptiis separari a se pastores,’ C.

472. #xiiij#: The Vulgate and C. say seventeen.

474. #Quilc time#, at what time, when.

476. One thing whereof he should be right mindful. Mätzner inserts he after #ðat#: Schumann suggested the division of offe. But the line is still unmetrical, and the subjunctive mune for should remember is very doubtful; probably og has dropped out after off: comp. ‘And for hise sinne oc (= og) he to munen,’ GE 197, for the infinitive without to, ‘Cristene men ogen ben so fagen,’ id. 15 and for the infinitive in e, ‘fare’ 210/443 in rhyme as here.

477. #wurð--don#, was finished with him: NED quotes ‘He knewe well that it was doon of him,’ Caxton, Sonnes of Aymon, i. 56.

479. #witterlike#, definitely; that is, not merely in Hebron, but in the cave where Abraham was laid; ‘in sepulchro maiorum suorum quod abraamium dicitur,’ C.

482. #stille#, in secret: comp. ‘And stille he dalf him [in] ðe sond,’ GE 2718.

483. #fer ear biforen#, very long beforehand: comp. ‘ðe was of hin fer ear biforen | Or ani werldes time boren,’ GE 47; ‘ear fear biforn,’ id. 253. See 202/187.

484-486. #hem#: Jacob’s ancestors, as in the frequent ‘dormivit cum patribus suis.’ C. has ‘Cura fuit sanctis sepeliri in terra qua sciebant Christum resurrecturum · ut cum eo resurgerent’ (in Zainer’s text the last clause is ‘vbi cum eo multa corpora sanctorum surrexerunt cum eo’). Accordingly Kölbing proposed to read for #hem#, him, referring to Christ, of whom our author says that he ‘restede him after ðe ded,’ GE 257. A further change of #reste# to arist would make the correspondence with C. complete, but it is more probable that the author omitted the clause.

489. This line appears to represent ‘Cumque videret diem obitus sui imminere · vocauit Joseph,’ C. which comes in the narrative before l. 415. There is a mixture of constructions, (1) when he felt his departure at hand, and (2) Before his departure. Mätzner proposed to substitute migte for #wiste#.

491. And prophesied of their future: Gen. xlix.

493. Comp. 212/526.

494. #strif#: ‘Militia est vita hominis super terram,’ Job vii. 1. Comp. ‘He made on werlde al erue tame, | ðe sulde him her, in swinkes strif, | to fode and srud, to helpen ðe lif,’ GE 174.

498. #bi waken#, ‘waked,’ watched by his body: comp. ‘He was biwaked richeliche, | And wel faire browt on erthe,’ Seuyn Sages (Weber), 2578.

502. #biqueðen#, ‘bewail,’ Morris, whom Mätzner follows. But this use is without parallel and is not a natural development of OE. #becweðan#: possibly it descends from #cwīþan#, to lament. In NED, bigreden, lament, or bigreiðen, prepare, make ready, are suggested. Perhaps biwreðen, representing OE. #bewrīðan#, to surround with bands: the line would then mean, to anoint, shroud and enwrap.

504. #migt#, power, that is, means, wealth.

506. Not to bury it speedily with iron tool. For #wið yre#, comp. Minot iii. 102 note.

507. #rigt#, properly, carefully.

510-522. This passage is based on ‘Fideles modo quia mortuos suos fide et virtutibus conditos aiunt .xxx. diebus eos plangunt .i. speciales missas sub numero tot dierum pro ipsis celebrant. Quidam tertiam diem maxime celebrant · pro spiritu anima et corpore. Alii septimam,’ C.

510-512. Christian folk have other customs. They are anointed during their lifetime with chrism and oil; with chrism and the oleum catechumenorum at baptism, with the oleum infirmorum in Extreme Unction. #in trewðe geuen#: administered with faith in their efficacy: in Extreme Unction, the ministrant said, ‘da fiduciam tui muneris exequendi.’ ‘Oratio fidei salvabit infirmum,’ S. Jac. v. 15.

513, 514. For #ðon#, Morris read don, Mätzner, ðor. More probably it is a mistake for ðo induced by the ending of the next word, #ðan# also has been corrupted out of ðam. For acts of faith accompanied by charity, those are for Christians in place of all that watching of the dead: an idea repeated in ll. 519-521. Strunk, Mod. Lang. Notes, xxvi. 51, proposes for #ðon ben#, don bet, with meaning, For truth and good deeds therewith avail more than that vigil. For #mide#, see 177/57, 212/532.

515. #Sum# is subject of don, l. 519. #on#, the first day. The Officium Mortuorum and masses of requiem (‘chirche gong,’ l. 519) were celebrated for thirty days and with special solemnity on the day of the deposition, the third, seventh, thirtieth (the month’s mind) and the anniversary; these or some of them were accompanied by doles (‘elmesse gifte,’ l. 520). See Rock, Church of our Fathers, ii. 315, 516-519.

517. Mätzner explains #wurðen#, ‘accomplished,’ that is, completed: which is the sense required, but such use of the participle is hard to parallel, although ‘þenne weoren heore iwil[;] allunge iwurden,’ L 19656, comes near it. Awurden, ended, would present less difficulty, and would improve the verse. A participial expression with the same meaning is seen in ‘fowerti winter vten led,’ GE 3348.

526. #laiges# was corrected by Morris. See 211/493 and comp. ‘Clense ðis folc wel ðis to daiges, | And bidde hem leden clene la[i]ges,’ GE 3453.

529. #bode#: ‘Significauit autem Joseph Pharaoni per intercessores quod iurauerat patri de sepultura,’ C. #bōda#, messenger.

531. #ðor--dede#, wherein he (Joseph) acted well, his pious act.

533. #wis of here#: neither in OE. nor in ME. does #here# mean war, battle, but only army, devastation. Morris reading heren, translates, ‘skilful in armed expeditions,’ which seems forced. Probably were is to be read: comp. ‘Als it were wopnede here, | Redi to silden him fro were,’ GE 1787. A similar phrase is ‘witter of figt,’ GE 864. In l. 534 read dere.

535. #rad#: comp. ‘And iacob was of weie rad,’ GE 1783.

536. #abuten#, making a detour: ‘timentes bella deuiauerunt a recto itinere veneruntque ad aream azad,’ C. #adad#: ‘atad,’ Vulgate and LXX; not in Codex Amiatinus.

539. #numen#, proceeded: comp. 13/28, 178/78, 179/113, 187/369; ‘And ðeðen he nam to mirie dale,’ GE 745, and often. There is an ellipsis of wei; comp. 206/305. So ‘his weige ðeðen ches,’ GE 2736, compared with ‘Anon of lond he ches,’ Sir Tristrem 2221.

541. #ouer pharan#: not in Comestor or the Vulgate; comp. GE 1248. The desert of Paran on the west side of the Dead Sea is meant.

542. #biriele#: this form without final s is suspect.

544. #sent#: s added by Morris.

549. ‘nos quoque oramus vt patri tuo dimittas iniquitatem hanc,’ C.

550. #Wið ðan(ne) ðat#, inasmuch as, seeing that: differently at 208/389.

552. This line is corrupt: Holthausen’s ‘To bidden meðe and beden bot’ gives a good sense and restores the rhyme. He compares ‘Moyses bad meðe,’ GE 3011: see 36/126 note.

556. This line is unmetrical and otherwise difficult: #kin# should be sing., #wexen# is pl., #manige fold# for #manigfeald# is strange. Perhaps we should read, His kin was waxen manig fold.

557. Mätzner adds his before #sibbe#, which makes the line too long; perhaps #cumen# is in excess.

559. #biforen# qualifies #hað . . . sworen#.

561. #in#: comp. ‘Tac ðin sune ysaac in hond,’ GE 1287; ‘An. vii. kinge-riches lond | Ic sal hem bringen al on hond,’ id. 2789.

564. Fulfil it then, promise it now: so, ‘ðat ic ðe haue hoten wel, | Ic it sal lesten euerilc del,’ GE 2905.

568. #seli red#, happy counsel, possibly in the sense of what is advantageous, helpful; but ‘seli sped,’ 200/192, GE 240 suggests a simpler reading.

570. #egipte like#, after the Egyptian fashion.

571. Add he before #biried#. #hem#, his bones, l. 566.

572. #late#, after many years: ‘nec motus donec egressi sunt filii israel de egypto,’ C.

573. #on and on#: comp. 206/320.

578. #soules# is sing., comp. ‘for liues helpe and soules red,’ GE 496; ‘for sowles frame,’ id. 626.

579-590. Not by the author.

580. #engel tale#: ‘on engleis speche,’ GE 14; ‘on engleis tale,’ id. 450; ‘On engle speche,’ id. 814.

582. ‘May God help him kindly,’ Morris; this involves helpe, mot, where we should expect helpen, mote. Mätzner suggested wel e mot, God help him, well he may.

583. #sorge ⁊ grot#: see 199/74.

584. #cold ⁊ hot#: see 44/232-236.

586. #spilen#, disport themselves.

589. Comp. ‘And to alle cristene men | beren pais and luue bitwen,’ GE 7. After #us#, Holthausen adds be: perhaps, ben ús | bitwén.

Cross-References

2/13, 3/32 (notes) = I. B (Worcester Fragments) 12/14 (note) = V. (A Parable) 21/94 (note) = VI. (The Proverbs of Alfred) 36/126, 46/292, 52/387 (notes) = VIII. (Poema Morale) 100/122 (note) = XIV. (Laȝamon) 134/96 (note) = XVIII. (The Orison of our Lady) 196/657 (note) = XXI. (The Bestiary) 197/16 (note) = present selection 211/483 (note) = XXII. (Genesis and Exodus) 359 = IX. Ancrene Wisse, Phonology, under “ea”. pp. 564-565 = XX. (The Owl and the Nightingale) under Metre.

Errata

#Phonology:# ... but ‘loac,’ GE 1798 [GE.] #ǣ{1}# is e [#æ{1}#] #ēa# is e ... (#wēox# from #weacsan#) [wæcsan] #a# + #g# ... #ǣ{2}# + #g# [#æ{2}#] #Accidence:# ... onsagen 99, ðeden 356 have added n [adden] #Vocabulary:# ... til 60, ðeden 84 [ðeðen] #Metre:# ... Goód is | quað jós|eph [quáð] ii b. Ór | for misdéd|e or fór | onságen [ii. b.] quát | he wóren, 434: [434;] i a. Kínde | lúue | gan him óu|ergón [1 a.] J́c am | iosép | drédeð | gu nógt [Jć am] euẹrilc 268 [text unchanged, but body text has eu{er}ilc almost throughout] 308. #Kinde ðhogt#, [đhogt] which our writer seems to have used here. [here.’] 356. ... CM 3914 [CM.] 371. ... OEM 117/244. [OEM.]

XXIII. KENTISH SERMONS

#Manuscript:# Laud Misc. 471, Bodleian Library; on vellum, 188 × 130 mm.: consists of two manuscripts bound together; the former, mostly Latin, has at f. 65 r, ‘Man may longe liwes wenen’ (see p. 308). The second manuscript, of the end of the thirteenth century, begins at f. 92 with Grosseteste’s Château d’Amour; on f. 128 r is Maurice de Sully’s sermon for January 1st in French, then follows the present article. Other sermons in French by Sully begin on f. 138 v^2, but they do not include the originals of these English translations.

#Facsimile:# Skeat, W. W., Twelve Facsimiles, Oxford, 1892; plate v gives ll. 19-78.

#Editions:# Morris, R., An Old English Miscellany, pp. 26-36. Kluge, F., Mittelenglisches Lesebuch, pp. 19-25.

#Literature:# Danker, O., Die Laut- und Flexionslehre der mittelkentischen Denkmäler, Strassburg, 1879; Heuser, W., Zum kent. Dialekt im Mittelenglischen, Anglia, xvii. 73-81; *Konrath, M., Zur Laut- und Flexionslehre des Mittelkentischen, Archiv, lxxxviii. 47-66, 157-180, lxxxix. 153-166; Reimann, M., Die Sprache der mittelkentischen Evangelien, Berlin, 1883. =Of the French original, Manuscripts and Text=: Meyer, P., Romania, v. 466, xxiii. 178, xxviii. 245; Documents manuscrits, Paris, 1871, pp. 157, 158, 244; Boucherie, A., Le Dialecte poitevin au xiii^e siècle, Niort, 1873; =the Author=: Mortet, V., Maurice de Sully, évêque de Paris, in Mémoires de la Société de l’histoire de Paris, xvi. 105; Bourgain, L., La Chaire française au xii^e siècle, Paris, 1879; Lecoy de la Marche, A., La Chaire française au Moyen Âge, Paris 1868.

#Phonology:# Oral #a# is a, habbe 75, last 212; awakede 172 has its form from #āwacian#, its meaning from #āweccan#. #a# before nasals is a, fram 35 (5 times), man 120 &c., þan conj. 34, þanne 47, 160, wanne 21 (4); #man# indef. pron. is man 112, me 34; apparently lengthened in naam 237, from the plural. #a# before lengthening groups is o, belongeth 86, fond 206 (3), hond 138, londes 31, longe 246, 275, but shortened and 10, answerden 18, and amenges 217, influenced by #gemengan#. #æ# is divided between e, efter 22 (3), hedde 41 (8), hedden 11 (12), nedden 242, hest 101, smech 50, 53, þet 10 (47), wet 42, 151 and a, hadde 173, spac 20, 87, þat 54 (23), uastinge 57, was 6 &c., wat 26, 86, 174, 221, watere 91 (6), stressless at 84 (6), ate 229; from OE. forms in #a#, almichti 5 (6), fader 48, habbe 67; flexion form bak (biteres) 111; iheed 248 represents OE. #gehæfd#. #e# is e, be prep. 39 &c., iþenche 282, wrench 275; before lengthening groups ende 161, strengþe 267; but bi 54 &c., swiche 127 (4), siche 179, wiche 145, wyche 112; #e# is raised to i in sigge 53 (11), togidere 95 from the umlaut form togedere, wrichede 59, comp. #wrecca#; with bie prep. 94, 228 for bi, comp. ‘beo’ for be, Reimann § 18. 2 f; in angles 150 a is probably due to French influence, although a for umlaut #e# before nasal is characteristic of the South-Eastern area, see 439/9-13, 269/25-27. The isolated o in ongel 28 beside angles may be set down to the representation of OF. a before nasal + cons. in Southern ME. indifferently as a or o, so in Ayenbite, chambren, chombre, chongi (Behrens 78), but the scribe of KS writes always sergant, serganz. #i# is i, wille 22, finde 24, often written y, especially in contact with #m#, #n#, agyn 212, hym 13; here 85, her, is an early instance of the spelling with e. #o# is o, dorste 87, wolde 23, but an 71, ane 242 (#an#), a 192 through loss of stress; þane 175, 274, 281 is LWS. #þane#. #u# is u, icume 216, 253, to cumene 284, luuie 74, hifunde 21, undren 205 (3), but o in awondrede 177, come 60, comme 55, cometh 22, 159, icomen 215, ffolvellet 90, fonden 208, ifonden 27, louie 243; see 269/31. #y# is e, spusbreche 110, chereche 149, dede 205, euele 107 (12), ferst 96 (7), uuluelden 93, manken 41, senne 61 (14), þenche 245, werm 55, berdene 219, but forþingketh 221, due to palatal influence, kinges 7, mirre 11, 54, as in French original, niste 98, analogy of #wiste#, formeste 134 (#formest#). #ā# is o, aros 169, holi 5 &c., no 55, none 156, on art. 202, one 134, 199, o 14, one numer. 117 &c., doubled in aróós 171, hool 137, hóót 74, 280, noon 148, 221, 282; before two consonants, o, bitockned 107 &c., gost 48, onlepi 48; but the indef. article is mostly an, ane, a, so too anoþer 30, anoþren 34; askede 13, 17, haleghen 146 have shortened a, contrast ‘oxi,’ Ayenbite 114/1; with namore 87 comp. nammore 231/14. #ǣ{1}# is regularly e, anhet 115, wreþe 188, doubled in anhéét 116, 124, before two consonants, clensed 139, euerich 122 (5), leuedi 83, leuedis 31, but aueriche 69, lauedi 6, 87, goth 51, with o from the plural. #ǣ{2}# is also e, euen 206 (5), þer 60 &c., wer 13 (4), were 91 (4), ofdred 16, werefore 69 (3), but war 26 (#hwār#), ware 91, waren 215, 216. #ē# is e, akelþ 108, deþ 70 (3), he 15 &c., se art. 13 &c., wenden 216, but doþ 179, with o from the plural, ha 20 &c., a 250, 264, mostly stressless. #ī# is i, hwilem 19, niþing 121, wyn 84; doubled in hij 248; before two consonants, wyman 87, winyarde 203; the only exception is bleþeliche 182, comp. ‘blethliche,’ Seuyn Sages 503 (Kentish), ‘bleþeliche,’ Ayenbite, 20/26; according to Konrath (p. 172) #ē# in MK. had a very close sound approaching #ī#, which led to their interchange, but there is also ‘bluðeliche’ 119/80, OEH i. 31/4 which needs accounting for. #ō# is o, comen 35 (4), into 12, to 22, sothfast 38, doubled in good 120, 183, 281, goodman 202, but a in kam 12 (4) and reduced to e in te 7, 20, 256, te dai 5 (4), euerte 135, neuerte 248, inte 250, 251. #ū# is u, bute 279, ut 239, upward 51, doubled in uut 202, but o in bote 244, don 170. #ȳ# is e, bredale 80, fer 112, ueréé 51, here 203, herde 208, iherde 228, iherede 232, iherd 248, prede 188, wéé 207 (#hwȳ#); before two consonants, bredgume 99, but ihierde 236 where ie may be a writing for ē, or equivalent to [je], litle 143 (#litel#).

#ea# before #r# + cons. is a in art 124, 125, winyarde 203 &c., to . . . ward 51, but e in forewerde 203, 204 in syllable of minor stress. #ea# before #l# + cons. is a, al 8 &c., and its compounds, falle 155, halt 283, before #ld#, a in chald 109, schald 108, o in chold 124, itold 67, 222 (as bold, bolde in Ayenbite), but before #lde#, ia (as for #ēa#) in ialde 39, ihialde 101; this alternation of a (not o) and ia, as short and long, is specifically Kentish. The i-umlaut is e, elde 260, 268, 270. #eo# before #r# + cons. is e, verrene 35, herte 45 (6), sterft 154, sterre 7 (4), werkes 50 (8), werkmen 203 (3), before lengthening groups, erþe 82, 135, erþliche 65, husberners 111; Kentish absence of i-umlaut (Bülb. § 187) in ismered 55; uerste 223. #eo# before #lf# is e, selue 115, seluen 123, 183. #eo#, u- and å-umlaut of #e# is e, fele 224, 270, heuene 29 (9); after #w#, o in wordle 191, world 228. #eo#, u- and å-umlaut of #i# is e in beneme 186, clepie 181, clepeþ 262, selure 64, here 11 (10), but hire 27, 30, 185. #ea# after palatals is a, sal 34 (4), yaf 158, 214. #ie# after #ġ# is e, yeue 210, 251, yeft 35, yefþ 272, yeue 71, 159, yef 213, yeld 211, yeftte 37. EWS. #gief# is yef 24 &c. #eo# after #sć# is o, solle 271, sollen 200, 254, solde 14 (5), solden 250, but sulle 223. #eom# is am 184, #heom#, hem 10 &c.

#ēa# is ia, beliaue 41 (6), diadlich 41, 264, diadliche 143 (7), diath 41, diaþe 274, griat 201, griate 234, 272, ya in yare 282, but ea in beleaue 45 (6), great 141, 169, greater 267, a in belaue 67, e in gret 171, grete 143: slon 24 is from a form with #ā#. The spelling with e [ē] is not Kentish, that with a is probably meant for ea, which is historic spelling of the same import as the specifically Kentish ia, ya. The phonetic value of the latter is in dispute. Sweet says probably [jaa], that is, with accent shifting; Konrath [jœ̄] for the initial, [œ̄] for the medial position; Heuser maintains that the symbols must have the same value wherever placed and suggests for it [eǣ]. The i-umlaut of #ēa# is e, beleue 47, 250, bileue 75, bileued 242, beleuede 103, iherde 14, 19, iherd 62 (4), ihere 282, ihereþ 106, 224, onlepi 48, onlepiliche 65, but ie in ihiereth 42, niedes 181, 185, nyede 180. #ēo# initial is ye, yede 12 (7); medial, ie bien 18, 192, bieth 59, 68, bieþ 152 (10), bied 116, biedh 143, dieule 61, forbiet 73, liese 16, liesed 114, liest 145, 153, forliest 154, but e in betuene 9, deuel 187, deueles 241, frend 221, helden 235, iuel 84, prest 40, and i in sike 58, sikman 136; final, ie, ye, bie 178, 223, 156, 207, ibye 219, hie 207 (#hēo#), hye 87, þrie 7 (5) and i, bi 14, 71, 139, si 6 (10), hi 87, but e in be (swo) 263, ibe 238, 239, 241, 246, 247. The medial ie, which is characteristic of Kentish, has, according to Sweet, the value of diphthongic [jee], according to Konrath, of the monophthong ē; final ie, ye is ī. The i-umlaut of #ēo# is e, þefte 144. #ēa# after #ġ# is e in yere 66, #ēo#, e in yemer 114, yemere 113, yemernesse 56, but Morsbach (Anglia, Beiblatt, vii. 326) regards it as umlaut e. #gīet# is yet 118.

#a# + #g# is agh, daghen 252, laghe 17 (3), but ai in daies 66: mowe 53, 260, moue 72, muee 33 represent the subjunctive form #mugon#: seith 183, 242, seiþ 184, seyth 201, seid 113, 274 come from #segeþ#. #æ# + #g# is ai, dai 5 &c., day 33 (5), mai 148 &c., may 58 (5), maidene 237, vaire 177, but deai 219: seide 20 &c., seyde 88 (6), seiden 172, seyden 217, iseid 19 represent #segde# &c.: sede 86, seden 230 descend from #sǣde#, #sǣdon#. #e# + #g# is ei, ileid 170, weye 30: ayen 30, 206, agenes 269 descend from #ongēn#, so toyenes 235; tojanes 8 (influence of n), from #tōgēanes#, comp. 428/37. #i# + #g# final is i, bodi 60, mani 118, peni 251; lauedi 87, leuedi 83 represent #hlǣfdī#; the spirant is lost in bodie 158. #u# + #g#: mowe 75. #ā# + #g# is seen in oghe 112, #ǣ{1}# + #h# in tachte 249 (shortened #tāhte#), #ō# + #h# in ibrocht 99, nocht 23 (5); in cróós 90 the spirant has been absorbed; nacht 65, 104, 146 comes from shortened #nāht#. The i-umlaut of #ea# + #ht# is e in the specifically Kentish manslechtes 111 (Bülb. § 180 b), but i in almichti 5, micht 137, michte 24, nicht 28. #ēo# + #ht# is i in bricht, brichtnesse 44, richt 209, unricht 221: wesse 92 is #wēoscon#. #ēo# + #g# is e in legheþ 275; #īe# + #ht#, #i# in licht 46. #e# + #w#: iseghe 176 comes from #gesegen#. #ā# + #w# is au, saule 159, saulen 191: seghe 105, seghen 25, 215 come from #sǣgon#. #ī# + #w#: newe 134. #ēa# + #w# is seen in feaue 224, seaweth 199, seawede 37, 39, seauede 237, seaude 249, seauinge 8, seywinge 32, miswriting, perhaps for sewinge. #ēo# + #w# occurs in biknewe 8, furti 266 shortened, yure 64, final yu 89, 210, yw 174, 251. Accents are more sparingly used than in piece v, 275/40; they appear to emphasize the length of a vowel already doubled to indicate length in anhéét 116 (anheet 124), aróós 171 (aros 169), cróós 90, hóót 74, 280 (hot 88, 279), wéé 207; in beleauéé 230, icornéé 224, ueréé 51, séé 169, 175 short inflectional e is doubled and accented, possibly to point out that it is not silent, but muee 33 is without accent; similarly iléke 61 (ileke 72, 73, ilke 59), offréde 38 (offrede 38): in galiléé 78 (Vulgate Cana Galilaeae) separate pronunciation of the vowels is indicated.

In godespelle 5, 32, 199, haleghen 146, iherede 232, ileke 61, leuedis 31, leuedi 83, lauedi 6, moreghen 202 a glide e has been inserted, a final e added in ate 229, ofte 275; #e# is lost in icornéé 224, mor 34. For #e#, ie is written in sollie 160, #o# is e in sikerliche 187. The prefix in akelþ 108 is #a-# intensive; in agyn 212, alast 236, anhet 115 &c., #an-#, #on-#; in astrengþed 179 #a-# from #ar-#; in answerden 18, #and-#; in awondrede 177, #of-#: #be-# is mostly bi-, but betokned 116 (3), #ge-#, i-, ihende 55, iwil 114, but it is lost in bore 71. The suffix in sothfast 38 is #-fæst# (in the Ayenbite it appears as -uest), in felarede 147, #-rǣden#, in childhede 262, #-hǣd#; the termination of verbal nouns is -ing, as in ME. gauelinge 144; in baþieres 92 the suffix is Fr. -ière.

#w# is written u in betuene 9, suo 135, uilleth 200; it has disappeared in siche 179, so 59: vrefore 246 is miswritten for werfore. Metathesis of #r# is seen in undren 205, in loruerde 103 the scribe has added #r# by anticipation. #ll# is simplified in ffolvellet 90, uuluelden 93, godspel 242, iwil 114 &c.; Kentish wordle 191 &c. alternates with world 228. #m# is doubled in comme 55; #mm# simplified in wyman 87. The preposition in is reduced to i 5 &c.; #nn# is simplified in clenesse 92, cumene 284, done 191, heþenesse 8; #n# is lost in heueriche 252, 256, 281. #bb# is simplified in habeþ 259. Initial #f# is u, v in vaire 177, uastinge 57, velaghes 218, ueréé 51, verrene 35, uerste 223, uuluelden 93 and medially between vowels and vowellikes, ffolvellet 90, iuel 84, over 26, senuulle 142, with exceptions bifore 25, 104, underfonge 254, þerefore 254, werefore 238, vrefore 246, otherwise f occurs under all conditions. #f# is assimilated in hedde 41, lost in hest 101, iheed 248, lordes 32, lordinges 31. For #t#, th appears in wath 102 (comp. ethe in Ayenbite), and td in hotestd 266: #t# is doubled in yeftte 37, lost in beste 100, last 212 and finally in þa 82, 180, þe 39, 280. #d# is doubled in risindde 8; #dd# simplified in ofdred 16. For #þ#, th is often written in verbal terminations, t occurs in habbet 62, 64, 85, maket 121, d in bied 116, bitockned 107, bitokned 142, betokned 116, 143, 152, 266, drinked 115, hatied 278, tþ in habbetþ 219, dh in biedh 143, clepiedh 185, hatedh 73, mudh 113. Initial #þ# is t twice, to 58, 175 after and; the scribe must have had ant in mind or in his exemplar. A parasitic #þ# has been inserted in alþer 266, OE. #ealra#, an early instance of a form common in the South. For voiced #s#, z occurs in sechez 21, serganz 88, 89, signefiez 142, but it is not used initially. #ss# appears as sc in blisce 70. #sc# is s, sal 34, seawede 37, solle 271, sulle 223, srifte 159, flesliche 43, fles 237, but ssipe 168 (4), wesse 92, flesce 56, flessce 59. The stop #c# is k before e, i, akelþ 108, wakie 57, before a, u, kam 12, kuþe 17, in combination with consonants, biknewe 8, tokningge 141, folk 135, except cl, cr, clenesse 92, croos 90: it is c before o, cometh 22. Finally it is c or k, spac 20, bak 111, tok 139, 175: #c# is written ck in betockneþ 225, bitockneþ 268, bitockned 107, and gk in forþingketh 222. The graph #xp# (= χρ) is used in xpisteneman 107 &c., xpisteman 109: the Latin text has chana 78 for Cana. #č# is ch, besech 125, bisecheth 182, chald 109, chold 124, chereche 149, child 21, euerich 122, -lich 41 &c., michel 15, kingriche 16, seche 36, speche 33, swiche 127, techinge 231, þenche 245, wiche 145, wrench 275, sch in schald 108, but hic 22 &c., besekeþ 68: #čč# is ch, smech 50, wrichede 59. Palatal #g# is written y, ayen 30, toyenes 235, (wyn)yarde 203, yaf 158, ye 21, yemer 114, yere 66, yeue 210, yeftte 37, the doubling in winyyarde 272 was without intention: y is lost in iyue 133, #gegiefen#. It has developed to w in mowe 53, moue 72 and is lost in muee 33; other spellings are seen in tojanes 8, hye 64: yu 89, yure 64 have imitated ye, #gē#. #g# is lost finally in words ending in #-ig#. #čǧ# is gg in sigge 53 &c. The guttural stop is written g, gold 11, king 15, doubled in tokningge 141: for #ng#, nk appears in kink 38, offrinke 34, 36, þinkes 74, 112. The spirant is gh, daghen 252, haleghen 146, laghe 17, legheþ 275, oghe 112, seghe 105, moreghen 202, sorghen 185. Similarly the guttural spirant #h# is represented by ch, ibrocht 99, nacht 65, nocht 23, þurch 119 &c., but þurh 188; palatal are bricht 44, licht 46, michte 24, nicht 28, richt 209. h is added in hac 87, hic 66 &c., hifunde 21, his 218, hure 178, 198, hut 279, hye 64: #h# is lost in i 43, 250, is 232, ise 168, 246. #hr# is r, raþe 140, as already in OE., #hw#, w, wee 207, wer 13, vrefore 246, wiche 145, wo 48, wylem 38, but hwilem 19, 258, hwylem 117.

#Accidence:# Strong declension of masc. and neut. nouns. In the s. n. sune 48 represents sunu. Gen. -es, domes 192, liues 275; heueriche 252, 256, 281 is a composition form: d. -e, bodie 158, with short stem vowel, daye 69, daie 220, 227, gode 49 (10), marcatte 206, ueréé 51; exceptions are god 47, gost 72, iwil 157; peny 203 is probably accusative: the time words dai 5 (11), midday 205 (3), euen 235, moreghen 202 (5), undren 205 (3) are treated as accusatives, as occasionally in OE. #tō-dæg#, #on mid-dæg#, #on undern#. In the acc. bodi 60, peny 213, 215, 216, peni 251, 255, 281 have lost final #g#. The pl. n. a. of masculines ends in -es, bakbiteres 111, lordinges 31, daies 66, but husberners 111, croos 90; neuters are n. þinges 59, 61; a. þinges 73, 74, þinkes 74, werkes 50 (5), faten 91, 93. Pl. d. -es, angles 150, londes 31, 36, werkes 68 (4), writes 183, but daghen 252, wyntre 266 (comp. nom. #wintru#). All feminine nouns of the strong declension have -e throughout the singular, except n. lauedi 87, leuedi 83; d. lauedi 6, world 228, 238, 258, 263, wordl 230 (but wordle 191, 236, 243); a. hond 138. Plurals are n. deden 111, saulen 191, sennen 145, leuedis 31, tides 227; d. hertes 72, niedes 181, 185, offringes 63, wordles 259, sennen 147, sorghen 185; a. sennen 142, 143, 160. Nouns of the weak declension have -e throughout the singular, n. sterre 7, tunge 282, yare 282; d. bredgume 99, sunne 44, time 168; a. beliaue 41; plurals are d. haleghen 146; a. time 228. The minor declensions are represented by man s. n. 123, sikman 136, xpistenman 69, goodman 202, wyman 87, mannes s. g. 147, cristenemannes 45, men s. d. 260, manne 46, 120, cristenemanne 52, 69, man 265, 267, 268, s. a. 120, men pl. n. 15, pl. d. 153, pl. a. 142, werkmen 203; fader s. n. 48; frend s. n. 221; child s. a. 21; nicht s. d. 28. The French nouns have -es in the pl., except geus 15, gyus 13, paens 245, 247, serganz 88, 89.

Adjectives which in OE. end in e retain it throughout; those in #-ig# lose g and are invariable in the singular, so stille, newe, holi, onlepi 48. Weak inflections are s. n. m. euele 107, 109, gode 44, 45, vaire 177, f. gode 52, s. g. m. gode 45, s. d. m. euele 120, gode 46, 52, f. griate 272, ialde 39, neut. wrichede 59; strong, s. g. neut. longe 275, s. d. m. gode 67, 230, f. diadliche 150, 153, 154, 157, 189, 278, griate 234, neut. euele 157, s. a. m. gode 173. Not inflected are weak s. a. neut. heþen 239; strong, s. d. f. diadlich 264, neut. good 183, yemer 114, s. a. m. god 234, good 120, hool 137, s. a. f. gret 171, griat 201. French words have no inflection. The plural ends in -e, bitere 59, diadliche 143, euele 109, 156, senuulle 142, verrene 35, but heþen 252 and the predicative idel 207, 238, 241, 246 are uninflected. #litel# is litle, s. d. m. 174, pl. d. 147, pl. a. 143; #āgen#, oghe, s. n. m. 112. #ān# adj. is n. an before vowel 28, a before consonant 80, 136, 169, o 14, d. ane f. 81, neut. 168, a. ane 203, 213, 214, 216, emphatic form on n., a certain, 202, one d. 134, a. 199: the numeral and pronoun is d. one 117, 118, 168, on 221, a. on 218: #nān# adj. is s. n. no 55, 148, 273, noon 282, d. f. no 263, neut. none 157, a. neut. noon before vowel 221, no 85, pl. d. none 156: the pronoun is n. s. noon 148, non 247, 274. Adjectives with inflection used as nouns are euele s. d. 126, 138, gode 126, eueles pl. d. 190, godes 65, gode pl. a. 58; euel 186, good 281, unricht 221 are s. a. neut. Comparatives are greater s. d. f. 267 (2); more 217, namore 87 used as nouns: superlatives, formeste 134, beste 100, 102; used as nouns are ferste pl. 213, uerste pl. 223, laste pl. 218, 224; predicative are hotestd 266, ferst 224, last 223.

The personal pronouns are hic 22 (8), i(ne) 104, 221, me, we, us, þu, þe, ye, hye 64, yu, yw 174, 251. The pronoun of the third person is s. n. he m. 15 &c., ha 20 (21) often stressless, a 250, 264, ha in has 69, hi 26 for he, hi f. 87, hye 87, hit neut. 18, with m. f. nouns 50, 175; d. him m. 11, hire f. 86; a. hine m. 172, 283, hyne 10, hin 27 before vowel, hym 13 (possibly dative), hit neut. 21; pl. n. hi 8 &c., hie 207, i 43, 250; g. here 216; d. hem 10; a. hi 185, 204, hij 248, hem 17 (possibly dative), is in has 69, his 218. Reflexives are hine 148, him 170, him seluen 123, hem pl. d. 217, pl. a. 25, 92, 177; definitive are himselue s. d. neut. 115, himseluen 183: possessives, mine s. d. m. 209, 250, 251, f. 137, neut. 138, min s. a. neut. 222; þine s. d. m. 219; his s. 211 &c., is 232, pl. hise 15, 83, 171, ise 168, 246, his 103, 146, 150, 233; here 85; ure 5, 68, 280, hure 178, 198; yure 64; here 11 (10), hire 27, 30, 185. In the following account of the article and demonstrative the translator is assumed to have taken the genders of French nouns from the French original. The definite article is s. n. se m. 13 (15), þe 211, þe commencement 102, þe miracle 140, þo 265, si f. 31 (6), and with masc. nouns 6, 12, 45, si miracle 31, 177, þe 141, 255, þe custome 93, þe nature 266, þet neut. 32 (12); g. þes m. 214 (perhaps miswritten for his); d. þo m. 9 (17), þe 50 (13), þo f. 8 (18), þe 45 (6), þe cite 6, þo neut. 5 (12), þe 33 (8); a. þane m. 175, 274, 281, þan 206, 235, þo 25, 269, þo miracle 176, þe 44 (7), se 107, þo f. 70 (11), (and) to 175, þe 53 (7), þet neut. 21 (8); instrumental þe 105, 178: pl. n. þo 24 (17), þe 226, 247; d. þo 7 (11), þe 183; a. þo 56 (12), (and) to 58, þe 58, 89, 228, 229, 245. Þet is demonstrative adj. 42 (3), 49, 54 (2), 281, also þa s. d. m. 82, s. d. neut. 82, 180, þo s. d. m. 267; the plural is þo 59, 72, 73, 74 (2), 145, 147, 176, þa d. 252: þet is demonstrative pronoun 22, 68, 281, þat 150, 152, 161, þe[t] 280; for þet 15, 23, 24 means because, be þet 37, by that that: the plural is þo, mostly with relatives, þo þet 108 &c., those who, 231, those to whom, 283, for those who: other pronominal uses of the article are seen in se þet 96, 154, 180, he who, for þan 272, on that account, er þane 171 (read þan), before. The compound demonstrative is s. n. þes m. 225, þis, þis commencement 102, þis miracle 140, 177, þis f. þis signefiance 122, þis tempeste 171; d. þise m. 210, f. 152 (4), þis 229 (6), þise neut. 84, 97; a. þise f. 204, 222, þis neut. 20: pl. n. þos 210, 217, a. 90, 91. The relative is þet and þat; it means that which in 43, 209, 243, 278, 279, 280, in which 82, anyone who 208. Interrogative are wat 86, 174, 221, wet 42, 151, wiche 145, wyche 112; the correlative is swiche s. d. m. 179, siche s. a. m. 179, swiche pl. 127, 191, 262: #ilca# is ilke pl. 59, ileke 61, 72, 73, ilek 74. Indefinites are wo so 48; me 34, 38, 58, 145, man 112, 274; oþer 188, oþre pl. 111, 121, 210, oþer 100, 153; anoþer s. d. m. 30, anoþren 34; euerich 122, 216, eueriche s. d. m. 213, 260, aueriche 69, euerich 214; mani 118, 234; fele 224, 270; feaue pl. 224; al s. 243 &c., alle pl. 15 &c., pl. g. alþer 266.

Verbs in #-an#, except the contract slon 24, have infinitive in -e, bidde 75, bileue 75, yeue 251 and twenty-five other examples; those in #-ian# with short stem vowel have -ie, luuie 74, hatie 72, makie 34, 137, wakie 57, with long stem vowel, -i, loki 148. French verbs with consonant stems follow the latter, acumbri 187, anuri 22, onuri 24, serui 75 (3), somoni 16, suffri 41, targi 273, uisiti 57, with these is associated offri 10. The dat. infinitive is inflected in to cumene 284 only; it has -en in to siggen 123, 152, 231, otherwise -e, with prefixed for te, habbe 256, here 203, liese 16, wende 273; with to, seche 36, sigge 90 (3), slepe 170; Fr. for to anuri 10, to serui 273. Presents are s. 1. beneme 186, habbe 67, sigge 104; Fr. sucuri 185; 2. makest 218, syncopated hest 101; 3. belongeth 86, betockneþ 225, luueþ 279 and twelve others in -eþ, bitockned 107, betokned 116, 143, 152, 266, bitokned 142, luued 74, maked 119, hatedh 73, loket 60, maket 121; Fr. ofserueth 112, signefieth 40 (4), turneþ 265, amuntet 52, defendet 54, ofseruet 70, signefiet 55, 57, signified 50, 113, signefiez 142; syncopated are akelþ 108, anhet 115, forbiet 73, forliest 154, liest 145, 153, halt 283, hath 48, hot 88, 279, hóót 74, 280, licht 46, seith 183 (4), seid 113, 274, sent 264, sterft 154, telþ 32 (5), yefþ 272; the syncopated forms are thus as numerous as the full forms: pl. 1. bisecheth 182, habbeth 219 (3), redeth 5, habbetþ 219, hopieþ 256 (verbs in #-ian# with short stem vowel have -ieþ in pr. pl., -ie in subj.); Fr. perisset 173; 2. habbeth 21, 106, habbet 62, 64, 151, luuieþ 278, hatied 278, syncopated dret 174; Fr. ofserueþ 281; 3. betockneþ 226, habbeþ 100, 218, drinked 115, liesed 114, habbet 85, luuieþ 283, clepiedh 185, syncopated yeft 35; Fr. defendet 60: subjunctive s. 3. helpe 182, loke 122, wende 126, yeue 71, 159, yef 191 before vowel, luuie 244; Fr. deliuri 190, granti 284, serui 244, sucuri 181; pl. 1. beleue 47, loke 152, grede 186, 189, offre 42, 47, sigge 189, clepie 181; Fr. perissi 190; 2. falle 155: imperative s. 2. agyn 212, besech 125, yef 213, yeld 211, clepe 211; Fr. saue 172, sauue 189; pl. 2. bereth 96, cometh 22, 159, ihiereth 42, lokeþ 155, offreth 65, ffolvellet 90, forleted 159, greded 158, sechez 21; Fr. anuret 22, moveth 95. Past of Strong Verbs: I a. s. 3. spac 20, 87, yaf 158, 214; pl. 3. seghen 25, 215, seghe 105, speken 13: I b. s. 3. kam 12 (4), naam 237; pl. 3. comen 35 (4), nomen 9: I c. s. 3. fond 206 (3); pl. 1. fonden 208: II. s. 3. aros 169, 174, aróós 171: IV. s. 3. tok 139, 175: V. IV. pl. 3. wesse 92: V. s. 3. het 29, iuel 84; pl. 3. biknewe 8, helden 235. Participles present: II. risindde 8; past: I a. iseghe 176, iyue 133: I b. ibore 6 (4), bore 71, icume 216, 253, icomen 215: I c. idrunke 97, hifunde 21, ifonden 27: III. icornéé 224: V. behote 19, ihialde 101, underfonge 254, ofdred 16. Past of Weak Verbs: s. 3. ansuerede 220, answerde 86, clepede 89, makede 118, made 103, 135, offrede 38, seauede 237, seaude 249, hedde 97 (5), iherde 14 (5), iherede 232, seide 20 &c., sente 204, tachte 249; Fr. aperede 28, apierede 7, aresunede 245, failede 84, onurede 136, sucurede 180, paide 214; pl. askede 13, awakede 172, beleuede 103, offrede 40 (4), seawede 37, 39, hadde 173, hedde 41 (3), seyde 208, answerden 18 (3), hedden 11 (9), nedden 242, maden 63, seiden 172, 217, seden 230, uuluelden 93, wenden 216, wenten 25; Fr. anurede 27, gruchchede 217, seruede 88, 230, serueden 258. Participles past: astrengþed 179, bileued 242, clensed 139, icleped 81, pl. iclepede 91, 224, imaked 81 (3), maked 119, imad 204, ioffred 64, ismered 55, istrengþed 106, iþoled 219, iheed 248, iherd 62 (5), ileid 170, iseid 19, 259, itold 67, 222, anheet 116, 124, ibrocht 99, iwent 94; Fr. anud 15, anured 71, aparailed 11, asoiled 160, deseiurd 147, deseuerd 156, deseurd 148, 149, ientred 254, isauued 192, iserued 96, itravailed 218, iwarisd 140. Minor Groups: wot pr. s. 274, wiste pt. s. 173, pt. pl. 98, niste 98; kuþe pt. pl. 17; dorste pt. s. 87; sal 1 pr. s. 210, 251, pr. s. 34, 178, sollen 1 pr. pl. 200, 254, sollie 2 pr. pl. 160, sulle pr. pl. 223, solle 271, solde pt. s. 14 (4), pt. pl. 30, solden 250; micht 2 pr. s. 137, mai pr. s. 148 (3), may 58 (5), mowe 1 pr. pl. 53, 260, moue 72, muee 2 pr. pl. 33, mowe 1 pr. pl. subj. 75, michte pt. s. 24; mote 2 pr. s. subj. 127, pr. pl. subj. 192; bi inf. 14, 71, bie 178, 223, bien 18, 192, am 1 pr. s. 184, art 2 pr. s. 124, 125, is pr. s. 31 &c., his 122, nis 146, 148, bieþ 1 pr. pl. 152 (3), 2 pr. pl. 155 (5), bie ye 207, bieth pr. pl. 59 (5), biedh 143, bi 2 pr. s. subj. 139, be (swo) pr. s. subj. 263, bie 2 pr. pl. subj. 156, be pr. pl. subj. 263, bieþ 2 pr. pl. imp. 160, was pt. s. 6 (6), were pt. pl. 91 (3), weren 176, ware 91, waren 215, 216, ibe pp. 238 (5), ibye 219; wille 1 pr. s. 22, 139, wilt 2 pr. s. 137, wille pr. s. 182, 187, wile 180, nel 55, uilleth 1 pr. pl. 200, wolde pt. s. 23 (3), wolden pt. pl. 10; do inf. 58 (6), misdo 62, don 200, to done d. inf. 191, for to done 241, to do 58 (nominative), do 1 pr. s. 221, 222, deþ pr. s. 70 (3), doþ 179, 2 pr. pl. 279, 280, pr. pl. 100 (3), do pr. s. subj. 125, 126, 2 pr. pl. subj. 279, doþ 2 pr. pl. imp. 89, dede pt. s. 16 (5), deden pt. pl. 235, ido pp. 50, 101; go inf. 22, 57, gon 10, 192, goth pr. s. 51, go 2 pr. s. imp. 212, goþ 2 pr. pl. imp. 20 (3), yede pt. s. 12 (5), pt. pl. 210, yeden 252, igo pp. 239.

Noteworthy adverbs are al 8, 11, 212, alast 236, euerte 135, neuerte 248, ihende 55, 60, onlepiliche 65, also in Ayenbite; prepositions, the alternatives an 71, ane 242, a 192; at 84, ate 229; for 41, fore 67, 105; in 81 (11) mostly before vowels, ine 18 (33) mostly before consonants, inne 154, i 5 (5) followed by the definite article; to 22, te 5 &c. stressless, inte 250, 251, and amenges 217, an early instance, wath 102; conjunctions, ase so 110, 144 translating si cume, al wat 26, þe 39 for þet, þo þet 242, 246 meaning inasmuch as.

#Vocabulary:# Scandinavian are velaghes 218, fela(rede) 147, scab 142, and probably bakbiteres 111, as a compound. French are †acumbri 187, †age 265, †amonestement 61, †amuntet 52, †anud 15, †anuri 10, onuri 24, †anvie 188, †aparailed 11, †aperede 28, apierede 7, apostles 246, †aresunede 245, †asoiled 160, auenture 84, †bunte 272, chaste 120, cite 6, †commandement 214, †commencement 102, †compainie 149, conseil 9, †contrarie 101, †cors 55, custome 93, †cuuenable 37, deciples 84, †defendet 54, deliuri 190, †deseiurd 147, deseuerd 156, deseurd 148, †diuers 259, †ensample 35, failede 84, folies 121, geus 15, gyus 13, †glorius 31, glutunie 144, grace 72, granti 284, gruchchede 217, †hasteliche 94, †ientred 254, †iwarisd 140, large 121, lecherie 110, lechur 120, lepre 137, leprus 136, †maladie 140, manere 188, merci 158, miracle 98, montayne 134, †moveth 95, †nature 267, †naturel(liche) 115, nature(liche) 108, offrendes 12, 27, (of)serueth 112, †orgeilus 120, †paens 245, paide 214, †painime 71, †pardurable(liche) 148, patriarches 229, †pelrimage 57, peril 180, †perissi 190, poure 58, prechur 249, profetes 19, prophete 249, religiun 92, roberie 110, †sacrefise 39, sarmun 135, saue 172, sauue 189, seinte 6, sergant 211, serui 75, seruise 200, †signefiance 62, †signefieth 40, somoni 16, spus(breche) 144, †sucuri 181, suffri 41, †targi 273, †tempeste 170, †trauail 212, †itravailed 218, †umble 120, ure 218, urisun 67, †verray 39, uertu 126, uisiti 57, †ydres 90. The words marked † appear for the first time in English. marcatte 206 is probably a post-Conquest borrowing: offri 10 is French in form, but its meaning is the restricted one of OE. #offrian#. Latin are Architriclin 96 (pre-Conquest), probably clerekes 17, the French original has clers, possibly religiun 92. The French borrowings are often Anglo-French in form. The prefix in acumbri is en-, in ofseruet, English of-, with meaning for the compound, gains by serving; anud (enuier) and ensample for essample show an exchange of prefixes; in anvie a is written for e before a nasal; anuri is a contamination of aorer and honorer; in contrarie the affix is AF. -arie for OF. -aire, in manere, AF. -ere for OF. -iere, so -ur for -eor in lechur, prechur; OF. -ee (Latin -āta) is e in contre. In grant, OF. graanter, a is lost, in age, e initially, and after ai in painime, also between l and r in pelrimage. In sarmun, e becomes a before r + cons., but not in serganz; ie for e in apierede, as often in AF. texts, is probably here Kentish interchange of e, ie; u for o before n appears in amuntet, bunte, religiun, urisun, but not in commandment, commencement, the same substitution takes place in suffri; ai before s is phonetic e in aresunede; ai followed by e is ae in paens; ai + n mouillé is simple ai, ay in compainie, montayne; ei before vr is e in deseuered, deseur[e]d, but deseiur[e]d 147; ei before l mouillé is ai in aparailed; OF. juiu, later giu, is represented by geus, gius, as in MS. A; OF. ue is o in moveth; the regular representation of L. ŏ + l mouillé is seen in asoiled, but orgeilus is an isolated spelling, the usual diphthong being oi, ui, perhaps the writer was influenced by English orgel. OF. üi is u in anu[e]d. ch for c before i is doubled in gruchchede; n is lost in cuuenable, as in MS. A; r is doubled in verray; z has the value of ts in serganz; the spelling deciple is in MS. A.

#Dialect:# A scribe, not Kentish but probably South Midland, has copied with tolerable fidelity a Kentish manuscript, but alien forms such as aueriche 69, lauedi 6, war 26, ware 91, waren 215, spac 20, yaf 158 intrude; chold 124, as a compromise between chald of the exemplar and cold is significant.

#Introduction:# Maurice de Sully, bishop of Paris from 1160 to 1196, composed in Latin a series of sermons on the gospels for the Sundays and other festivals of the Christian year, which were intended for the use of the priests in his diocese. The French versions of these are, in the opinion of Bourgain and Lecoy de la Marche, free reproductions by various preachers. That they were exceedingly popular is shown by the large number of manuscript copies which have survived. These have been classified by Meyer in two redactions. Our translator has used a manuscript of class A, and indeed one differing little from MS. Douce 270, Bodleian (D), written in England early in the thirteenth century. It has, however, a plus not represented in the English translation, which occasionally rather resembles MS. Ashmole 1280, Bodleian (A) also of the thirteenth century.

The translator gives a very literal rendering of his original; it influences his idiom, order and choice of words, even to the borrowing of an occasional inflection, as in sechez 251/21 (= querrez) and probably in signifiez 218/42 (= signefie). As the French sermons are not easily accessible, the fourth is here printed from D, with some variants from A. ‘Nos trouon lisand (lisons) en saint eu{a}ngille dui . ke n·s· dex entra une fiez en une nef ⁊ si disciple le siuirent. Et si cu{m} il furent en la mier . si leua un g{ra}nt torment ⁊ n{ost}re sire se esteit cochiez dormir . en la nief . deua{n}t ceo ke li tormenz comencast. Et si disciple eurent g{ra}nt pour[;] del torment . sil esueillerent . ⁊ si li distrent . Sire sauue nos[;] ke (k{ar}) n{os} p{er}isons . ⁊ il estoit chose de ce . kil nauoent c{re}ance (bone fiance) `i´ oi c{re}ance ne fiance en lui . ⁊ il lor dist . Que c{re}mez u{us} gent de petite fei? si leua sus . si chosa deliurem{en}t les uenz . ⁊ la m{er} . semp{re}s se furent appeisie. Et cum li hom q{ui} erent en la m{er} (nef) eurent ueu le miracle . si sesm{er}ueill{er}ent mout. Ceo `est´ li bo{n}s (beaus) miracles ke leu{a}ngille dui nus reconte . si en duit estre afferme n{ost}re c{re}ance. Car bien deit len c{re}ire en celui seignor q{ui} tel miracle pot fere . ⁊ fet q{ua}nt il ueut. OR nus besoigne q{ue} cil q{ui} securut ses desciples en icel p{er}il[;] quil n{us} suc{ur}re en noz perilz . ⁊ il le fra uolentiers se nus len c{ri}on merci . p{ar} bone uolentie. Si cum il meisme dist par la sainte esc{ri}pture . Je sui fet il la saluetie del pople . q{ua}nt il mapeleront en lor besoig{ne} . [e]t en lur angoises . Jo les orroj . ⁊ serrai lur deu p{ar}durables. Prion lui donc m{er}ci seureme{n}t se diable n{us} uout enconbrer . par peche . par orgoil . ⁊ par enuie . o p{ar} ire . . . c{ri}ons li m{er}ci . ⁊ si li disons . Sire saluez nos . ke n{us} ne p{er}isons . . . ⁊ q{ue} il nus deliure de tuz mals . ⁊ q{ui}l n{us} doinst tot bien . ⁊ n{us} dont tels oures a faere en cest siecle q{ue} les almes ⁊ les cors (cors de nus) poisent estre sauuie . al ior del ioise.’

The French quotations without reference are from the Douce MS.

1. The text is from the beginning of the gospel for the feast of the Epiphany, S. Matt. ii. 1, 2. D has a wrong heading, In die nat. domini.

5. #ase#: ‘ke quant.’

6. #þet--apierede#: ‘ke lestoille ki est demustrance de la nessance apparut.’ Supply þet after #sterre#.

8. #heþenesse#: ‘paenime.’ #tojanes#: ‘uers,’ towards. #al swo . . . swo#: even as . . . so; ‘com . . . si’: similarly in ll. 11, 12; 215/26, 27.

11. #hedden--offrendes#: ‘ourent apparaillees lor offrendes.’

12. #kam#: apparently the translator read uint. D has ‘siuirent’; A, ‘siwerent’: Boucherie’s text, ‘se mistrent apres.’

13. #hym askede#: an order of words like ‘li demanderent,’ so at 215/17.

15. #anud#: ‘trublez.’

17. #þe laghe#: ‘les escriptures’: see 182/213 note.

18. #Hi--ierusalem#: ‘cil respondirent · ke en bethleent.’

23. This sentence is in D, but not in A. #he . . . herodes#: see 119/77.

25. #hem wenten#: ‘sen alerent’; appears to be used as the past of go; elsewhere the writer has yede, yeden.

26. #al wat hi kam#: ‘iusquil uint.’ For #al wat#, until, see 15/84. For #hi# read he, i.e. the star.

27. For omission of the subject before #hin#, see 6/18.

30. #ayen wende#: ‘alassent,’ D; ‘returnassent,’ A. #wende#: ‘sen repeirassent,’ D; ‘returnassent,’ A.

35. #verrene#: ‘lointenes.’

36. #offrinke#: ‘offrendre,’ D, A.

37. #be þet hi#, by the fact that they, inasmuch as: ‘por ceo quil,’ D; ‘par iceo quil,’ A. #cuuenable yeftte#: ‘couenables dons.’ #seawede# &c.: ‘demostrerent kil auoent uerraie creance quil esteit reis uerrais’: there is a similar shortening in the English at l. 39.

39. #to here godes sacrefise#: ‘au sacrifice damlede.’

42. This interpretation of the gifts is as old as Irenaeus and is a medieval commonplace. Comp. ‘Monstrant auro regem esse, | praesulem designant thure, | mirram signum tumuli | tribuere domino,’ MSD i. 41/28-30.

43. #Gostliche#: ‘esperitielment.’

44. #glareth#: ‘resplendist.’

46. #licht#, lights, lightens.

48. #he is#: an addition, not in the French.

50. #werkes#: D has, ‘Li encens signefie bon oure . (ure A) ⁊ bone preiere;’ Boucherie, ‘bone ovre e bone prière.’ Our writer has translated ‘ovre,’ but not ‘preiere,’ on the other hand in l. 52 he mentions prayer, ‘biddinge,’ but not good works. #ido--ueréé#: ‘mis el fu del encensier,’ D, but A has only ‘mis el fuz.’

55. #ihende#, near: OE. #gehende#.

56. #is#: due to the French, ‘la bon oure . ki est amiere.’ #to þo yemernesse#, to the wretchedness: ‘a la chiche ⁊ a la maluoistie de nostre char,’ to the stinginess and the evil disposition of our flesh.

57. #uastinge# &c.: ‘ieuner pur deu . ueiller . alier en pelerinage.’

59. #so#, in the same way as myrrh is bitter to the taste: ‘Jces choses si sunt ameres a nostre malueise char,’ A.

60. #loket#: ‘defent.’

61. #amonestement# is conveyed directly from the French original.

66. #i þo yere#: ‘de uostre uie,’ DA.

67. #fore Gode belaue#: ‘par ferme creance:’ similarly #for# and #for# in the next line are mistranslations of ‘par.’

69. #þo cristenemanne#: dative, from the christian, ‘requiert tuz iors a son crestien.’ #werefore# &c.: ‘ke (par qui, A.) li crestien se il le faeit desert ⁊ conquiert la glorie perdurable.’

76. #Quod--dignetur#: supply, qui vivit et regnat Deus per omnia secula seculorum. Amen.

77. #euangelica#: drawn from the gospel for the day, S. Joh. ii.

81. #cite#: ‘cithe’; A has ‘uile.’

82. #flesliche#: ‘corperelment:’ comp. 217/103. #To# &c.: ‘A cel noces fud madame saint Marie,’ A.

84. #so iuel auenture#: ‘si auint par auenture:’ per or by may have fallen out in the English, but the expression in the text occurs elsewhere with fell and befell.

86. #Wat# &c.: ‘Que apartient a mei ⁊ a tei femme;’ ‘Quid mihi et tibi est, mulier,’ S. Joh. ii. 4.

88. #Serganz#: ‘serganz.’ #of#: partitive; comp. ‘and of þe cupe serue,’ KH 234 note.

90. #ffol vellet# &c.: ‘Emplez fist se il les ydres de eue.’ #þet--faten# is an addition of the translator’s.

92. #baþieres#: ‘bognoeres,’ D; ‘baignur,’ A. #for religiun#, ceremonially: ‘pur religion.’

94. #was#: for omission of the subject see 6/18 note.

95. #Moveth togidere#: D has ‘Puissiez ore,’ A, ‘Espucet,’ and the Vulgate, ‘Haurite nunc.’ The translator probably read esprucet (with AF. u for o) = esprochez; his rendering would then mean, Draw nigh, approach.

96. #þat--iserued#: apparently from Comestor, Historia Euangelica, c. xxxviii, ‘architriclino ·i· primati inter conuiuantes in triclinio;’ the French is quite different.

97. Possibly he has dropped out before #hedde idrunke#, but A has ‘e cume out guste.’

99. #ibrocht#: ‘puissie,’ D; ‘espuce,’ A. The word seems to have puzzled the translator here, as at l. 95.

100. #doþ forþ . . . ferst#: ‘mettent auant.’

101. #ihialde#: ‘estuie,’ stored up.

102. #wath nu#, until now: ‘desque aore.’ See 15/84.

103. #þo beleuede#: ‘Et si crurent en lui si disciple.’

107. This interpretation is singular. In Bede, vii. 205; Alcuin, ii. 464, Ælfric, Hom. Cath. ii. 56, the water is knowledge of holy scripture.

109. #chald of#: ‘froid del amor;’ comp. 218/124.

110. #Ase so# here and in l. 144 appears to be an attempt to render ‘si cume,’ A.

111. There is nothing in the French for #husberners#. In CM 26234, ‘Fals wijtnes and trouth breking, | Mans slaghter and hus brening’ are sins reserved to the bishop’s absolution: see Pollock and Maitland, History of English Law, ii. 492. #bakbiteres# is the compendious equivalent for ‘tuz cil ki despeisent ⁊ clamnent lur pronie,’ A.

112. #ofserueth#: ‘deseruent.’

115. #naturelliche#: ‘naturelmen.’ #anhet#: ‘eschaufe.’

117. #ine one time#: comp. 128/1.

119. #gostliche#: ‘esperitelment.’

121. #of--large#: ‘Del auier large,’ of the covetous, generous. #and--folies#: there is nothing in the French corresponding to this: probably so has dropped out before #of#.

122. #Nu# &c.: ‘Or esguard chescon uer sei meismes.’

126. #of# &c.: ‘de mal en bien.’

130. S. Matt. viii. 1, 2, as adapted in the lesson of the missal.

133. #iyue#: ‘liure.’

135. #euerte#: comp. 11/190; ‘neuerte,’ 221/248: compounds of #ǣfre#, #nǣfre# + #te#, to, like hitherto, heretofore: mostly Kentish. ‘le primier sermon quil onques feist en terre.’

136. #a sikman#: the translator’s gloss on ‘leprus.’ #onurede#: ‘aora.’

137. #of mine lepre . of mine euele#: the last three words are added by the translator. ‘de ma lepre,’ D; ‘de male lepre,’ A.

138. ‘n·s· si li dist · si estendi sa main ⁊ tocha sa liepre.’ #tok#, touched: comp. ‘If erf or man ðor one take,’ GE 3456.

139. #al so raþe#, as quickly as the word was spoken. ‘isnelepas,’ on the spot.

141. #tokningge#: ‘signefiance.’

144. #Gauelinge#: ‘usure.’

146. #haleghen#, saints: the French has ‘amis.’

147. #þet--loki#, against which no man can guard himself: ‘dont nuls ne se pot guardier.’ For #þet# = wið þet, see 46/292 and comp. 153/56.

148. #pardurableliche#: ‘perdurablement.’

149. #for lepre#: The French has, ‘Por le lepre est deseurez hom de la compaignie dautres genz . car cil qui moret en pecchie criminel . . . cil pert la compaignie de deu . ⁊ de ses amis . ⁊ de ses angles perdurablement.’ Probably the translator’s eye wandered from the former ‘compaignie’ to the latter; he then added ‘þat is to sigge’ &c., and afterwards in l. 153 he returned to the omitted sentence.

159. #forleted#: ‘guerpissez.’

164. S. Matt. viii. 23, 24; the last sentence altered from S. Mark vi. 48, ‘erat enim ventus contrarius eis.’

168. #one time#: ‘une fiez.’

169. #so . . . so#: ‘Et si cum il furent en la mier . si leua un grant torment.’

170. #was ileid him# &c.: ‘se esteit cochiez dormir.’

173. #ha wiste wel# &c.: ‘il estoit chose de ce . kil nauoent creance,’ D, it was a fault that they had not faith; ‘il les chalenga de ceo qui il naueient bone fiance en lui,’ A. The translator had in mind choisi.

174. #wat dret yw# is usually explained as, what terrifies you, a very rare meaning for dreden, or possibly as an impersonal construction, which is without parallel. The French has ‘que cremez uus,’ the Vulgate, ‘quid timidi estis.’ The usual construction in ME. is reflexive, comp. 208/397, ‘ne drede ȝe ow nawiht,’ SK 1393; ‘Ne dred te, Zacariȝe, nohht,’ Orm i. 2/151; ‘him ne dret naȝt to do zenne,’ Ayenbite 34/14, and if dret may be taken as a syncopated plural, that construction would be exemplified here. Syncopated plurals are rare, and where they occur, they are usually said to be scribal mistakes; such are ‘yeft,’ 215/35, ‘spekþ,’ Ayenbite 58/15, ‘brekþ,’ id. 16/21, ‘zeneȝþ’ id. 155/3. Perhaps they are specifically Kentish. If this view be accepted, #wat# is an acc. of reference like quid and practically equivalent to why.

175. #tok#, rebuked: ‘chosa.’

177. #so awondrede hem#: ‘si sesmerueillerent;’ see 54/27.

180. #þet se þet . . . þet#: ‘que cil qui securut . . . quil nus sucurre.’ For the repeated þet, comp. 220/200; ‘sitteð al stille, ꝥ hwon he parted urom ou, ꝥ he ne cunne ower god,’ AR 64/20.

183. ‘Salus populi ego sum, dicit Dominus: de quacumque tribulatione clamaverint ad me, exaudiam eos: et ero illorum Dominus in perpetuum,’ Introit for xix^th Sunday after Pentecost, and for Thursday after the iii^rd Sunday in Lent. The French version ends, ‘serrai lur deu pardurables:’ in l. 186 the English translator has deserted, as he rarely does, his original.

187. #sikerliche#, with confidence: ‘seurement.’ #acumbri#, load, oppress; ‘enconbrer:’ apparently the earliest instance of its occurrence.

191. #yef--done#, grant us to do such works. #þo saulen# &c., ‘les almes ⁊ les cors de nus,’ A.

194. #sexagesima# should be septuagesima.

195. S. Matt. xx. 1.

200. #þet . . . þet# repeated as at 219/180: ‘ke si nus uolons faere le son seruise . ke nus en aurons loiers.’

202. #goodman#, head of a household; an early instance in this sense. ‘pruzdom,’ D; ‘prudome,’ A.

203. #for--forewerde#: ‘au couenant dun dener.’

205. #undren#: ‘tierce;’ ‘circa horam tertiam,’ Vulg.; about nine o’clock: see 74/209.

206. #ayen þan euen#: ‘enuers la uespre.’ Comp. 221/235.

210. #mid þo oþre#: ‘ourer ensemble as autres.’ #hi wel#: read hit was, as at l. 205. ‘Quant uint au seir.’

212. #agyn to#: ‘comence a cels.’ #al--ferste#: ‘iusquas premerains.’

214. #þes--commandement#: ‘le comandement sun seignor.’

215. #hi . . . þo#: ‘Et com ceo uirent cil qui par matin esteient uenu:’ the clause #þo--icomen# is in apposition to, and explains #hi#, just as ‘cil--uenu’ does ‘ceo.’

217. #habbe#: the translator has left out ‘Mes com li sergantz uint a els paer . si ne dona a chascun ke un denier.’

219. #berdene#: ‘le fes de la peine,’ A; ‘les feissels ⁊ la paine,’ D.

221. After #unricht# there is a considerable omission. #Wat# &c., What displeases you in my doing as I will: ‘tei ke peise se io faz ma bunte’ (‘uolunte’ A).

227. #tides#, hours: ‘diuerses ores.’ Comp. 38/137.

228. #time# &c.: ‘les diuers tens de cest siecle.’

234. #þet# &c.: ‘qui par grant amur a lui se tindrent . ⁊ firent le suen seruise.’ #to him# depends on #helden#.

236. #alast of þis wordle#, towards the end of the world. alast is an adverb and its use with a dependent noun here is remarkable. ‘uer la fin del siecle.’

237. #seauede#: ‘se demustra:’ him has probably dropped out before ine.

238. #Werefore#, because: ‘car.’

241. #for to done# &c., so far as concerned the doing of the works of the devil, they had been industrious enough at that. But that is idleness in God’s sight. ‘Il nauient mie estie oiseus damier le diable . ⁊ de fere les lecheries ⁊ de feire les mauues enginz de gahannier (cultivate) lor terres . de faere lor uignes.’

243. #For--man is#: the French has, ‘Car ce que home faet (fet, A) en cest siecle, desque il deu nen aime[;] ne ne sert[;] tote deit estre recontie pur oiseyse.’ Apparently the translator has read seit for faet.

244. #al# &c., he may count it all as loss and idleness. #for#, as; comp. 27/304: ‘tote deit estre recontie pur oiseyse . ⁊ tot reuient a nient.’ But Bülbring, Ablaut 25, takes for lore for past participle.

245. #aresunede#, called to account; ‘chosa.’

246. #þo þet#, inasmuch as, so in l. 242; lit. when that: ‘quant,’ A.

248. #neuer te#: see 218/135. Restore the MS. iheed in the text. ‘Ceo est a dire . que il nauient onques eu ne prophete ne apostre.’

256. #al so . . . ase#, just as.

259. #of diuers wordles#: ‘del diuers tens del siecle.’

260. #elde#, age, period of life: ‘aez,’ D; ‘age,’ A.

262. ‘quant il apele de tels ia a son seruise.’ #þer bieþ# appears to be a false translation of ‘ia,’ already, as if it were i a.

263. #beswo þet#, provided that: an early instance of the phrase.

264. #At undren# &c.: ‘Et cels met il en sa uigne a tierce . quil torne en son seruise en la hie (= ae, L. aetas) de xx anz.’

267. ‘issint est humene nature de greinor chalor en cest aage.’

269. #agenes þo euen#: ‘uers le uespre:’ see 220/206.

270. #fele#: ‘les plusors.’ #As so . . . ase#, just in the same way . . . as: ‘issint . . . si come.’

272. All the same no man should put off turning to God, trusting to His forbearance. ‘Nepurquant ceste grant buntie . damledeu quil done as ous com as autres . ne se deit nul asseurer (asurer ne targer, A) de sei torner a deu . ne targier de lui seruir.’ With #Nocht for þan#, not on that account, comp. 25/240.

274. #þane dai#: ‘le ior ne lore,’ probably a reference to ‘Vigilate itaque, quia nescitis diem, neque horam,’ S. Matt. xxv. 13, but #þet holi writ#, ‘lescripture’, is applied to other books than the Bible. #for Man--wrench#: see 21/108, 29/1, 2 note: there is nothing corresponding to it in the French, but after ‘seruir’ (note on l. 272) ‘quil ne seit suspris de mort dementres.’

280. #and#, if: comp. 176/2.

283. #halt alle þo#, keeps in reserve for all those; ‘quae praeparavit Deus iis, qui diligunt eum,’ 1 Cor. ii. 9: ‘pramet ⁊ estore a ceus qui lui aiment.’

Greek χρ [chr]

Cross-References

6/18 (note) = III. (The Peterborough Chronicle) 182/213 (note) = XXI. (The Bestiary) 269 = V. A Parable, under Phonology p. 308 = VII. (Memento Mori) 439 = XIII. Vices and Virtues, under Phonology

Errata

#w# is written ... A parasitic #þ# has been inserted [#ꝥ#] #Accidence:# ... The pl. n. a. of masculines [“pl.” misprinted as plain (non-italic)] The personal pronouns ... d. þise m. 210 [“m.” misprinted as plain (non-italic)] #Vocabulary:# ... geus 15, gyus 13 [15 gyus] 174. ... The usual construction in ME. is reflexive [ME is]

THE END.

* * * * * * * * *

Inconsistencies noted by transcriber but not changed:

spelling of the names Batiouchkof(f), Horstman(n) variant spelling of medi(a)eval NED and NED.

Spotted a typo or a problem in this chapter? Tell us

Selections from Early Middle English, 1130-1250. Part 2: Notes (part 4 of 4)

Cite this passage

MLA

APA

Chicago

Selections from Early Middle English, 1130-1250. Part 2: Notes (part 4 of 4)