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ἅπ. λεγ. (Greek)

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[Preface]

[I. Worcester Fragments (A)]

[I. Worcester Fragments (B, C)]

[II. Saint Godric’s Hymns]

[III. The Peterborough Chronicle]

[IV. Charter of Henry the Second]

[V. A Parable]

[VI. The Proverbs of Alfred]

[VII. Memento Mori]

[VIII. Poema Morale]

[IX. Ancrene Wisse]
[A. The Seven Deadly Sins]
[B. The Outer Rule]

[X. In Diebus Dominicis]

[XI. Hic Dicendum est de Propheta]

[XII. Sermons for Palm Sunday and Easter Day]

[XIII. Vices and Virtues]

[XIV. Laȝamon]

[XV. Orm]

[XVI. Sawles Warde]

[XVII. Saint Katherine]

[XVIII. The Orison of our Lady]

[XIX. Saint Juliana]

[XX. The Owl and the Nightingale]

[XXI. The Bestiary]

[XXII. Genesis and Exodus]

[XXIII. Kentish Sermons]


[Thematic Index] (added by transcriber)

SELECTIONS FROM
EARLY MIDDLE ENGLISH
1130-1250

EDITED WITH INTRODUCTIONS AND NOTES
BY
JOSEPH HALL
M.A., Hon. D.Litt., Durham University


PART II: NOTES


OXFORD

AT THE CLARENDON PRESS

M CM XX

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

LONDON EDINBURGH GLASGOW NEW YORK
TORONTO MELBOURNE CAPE TOWN BOMBAY
HUMPHREY MILFORD
PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY

[PREFACE]

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

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

J. H.

Woodstock,

January, 1920.

CORRIGENDA.

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

231/1. unseihte represents unsæht

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

250/31. Add wart

253/27. Omit comma after sc͞i

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

263/31. wile

266/26. ālīesednesse (but once ālȳsendnesse)

266/27. ā + w

271/13. sǣdon

312/36. After Bodleian add (D)

318/37. gēar

356/1. C 6

396/6. Add with before which

428/14. Add ia in giarked 84

428/38. tōgēanes

457/8. Add hn to n before nap

567/13. nyht, 160/185

Omit stop after Orm
superfluous . (“Orm.”) occurs 21 times in the text. Corrections are not individually noted

254/20. Dr. Bradley’s restoration ...
the reference is to the note for l. 20, i.e. line 16 of the printed page

[NOTES]

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

SM St. Marherete, ed. Cockayne
text unchanged: apparent error for “Margerete”

[I. WORCESTER FRAGMENTS]

[A]

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

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

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

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

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

[Dialect:] Middle or Western South.

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

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

The heading is from Numbers xxvii. 17.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Editions: ... London, 1842 (omits the last four lines);
text has : for ;

6. For Aelfric the Abbot see Skeat in E. E. T. S., O. S. 114
E.E.T.S., O.S. without spaces

11. ... Ælfric as revised by Wulfstan
Wulstan: spelling “Wulfstan” used everywhere else

20. ... Contes Moralisés, p. 60
Moralises

[B, C]

[Manuscript:] As for A, p. 223.

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

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

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

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

ā is normally o, as bon, loc, more, sor, woniende; but a is often preserved as þa 2/18, lac 4/25, mare E 39, wa F 4. eo is written for o in þeo 2/2, greoning, greoneþ; and oa in woaning 2/15, woaneþ 2/25, is an attempt to express graphically the [ao] sound. Þe [ȝet] E 3, 36 occurs twice beside þa, þo. OE. wāwa gives weowe 2/7. ǣ1 (WG. ai + i) is mostly æ, idæled, tæcheþ, ilærede, and before two consonants, ilæsteþ, æffre; but e in bideled C 32, ilered G 29, ilesteþ, efre D 41, þen (= OE. þǣm) 3/36. It is exceptionally a in þam C 25, facen (OE. fǣcne) G 10, atterne G 17. In bileafen D 6, ea is written for æ. ǣ2 (WG. ā) is still æ in þær, þærof, wæde, grædie, wære E 28, but commonly e, þerinne, seten, beden, were, misdeden, gredi. a is exceptional in hwar 3/4, 5, 7, 9, 10 (= OE. hwār). ē is usually e, swetnesse, þe, 2/2, me, ne, also before nasals, fenge, icwemdest. ī is normally i, bi, lif, iwiteþ, liþ, hwile, &c., but after w it is u in hwule, swuþe: hwui 4/17 beside hwi D 22 is an attempt to express more fully the sound of w. ō is normally o, to, moder, flore, &c. œ̄ is eo in weopinde 2/10. (OE. wœ̄pan). ū is regularly u, hus, wiþuten, ut, &c. ȳ is u, ifuled, luþerliche, &c.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[C]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[11]. bote, cure or relief, an ambiguous word.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[38]. Comp. 12/11.

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

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

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

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

Literature: ... (3) ... *Batiouchkof, Th., Romania, xx. 236;
Th. Romania
the passage cited as xx. 236 is actually xx. 1 and 513

Bruce, J. D., Modern Language Notes
Languages Notes

ā is normally ... œ̄ is eo in weoþinde 2/10.
weoþinde,

ea ... å-umlaut of e is eo in freome, feole, weolen (Bülbring, § 234); u- and å-umlaut of i is eo
first “å-umlaut” misprinted as bold instead of italic; second misprinted as “a-umlaut”

... The prefix ge is represented by i.
ge misprinted as italic instead of bold

The consonants ... k is written mostly before e and ie
“k” misprinted as plain (non-italic)

Accidence. ... Neuters as ban 2/21 are uninflected, pl. g. has -e, d., -en
-e, d, -en

... The def. art. is s. n. þe- þeo- þat, d. m. þen, a. þene- þeo- þat, pl. n. þeo- þa -þa, þeo, þe.
all hyphens printed as shown

The terminations of the verb ... part. pt. -ed, d, t
“-ed, d, t” misprinted as italic

30. ... ‘Postremo redimens elemosinis
form “elemosinis” for expected “eleemosinis” is in the source text

... Hauréau, Notices, ii. 183/9.
Haureau

32. ... M. L. Review, V. p. 105
M.L.

26. þæne. B. takes þære of the MS. as gen. sing.
pære

33. ... and contrast ‘[Nol]de he nefre þærof
“[Nol] de” with space

35. ... as B. translates, ‘bist du verloren
bist with anomalous bold b

37. ... For unwurþ see 26/258.
unwurp

[II. SAINT GODRIC’S HYMNS]

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

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

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

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

[Phonology:] Godric’s Northern dialect has been well preserved, but he would have written scild 3, ric 4, and probably birth 13. a is a in scamel (sćeamol) 9; æ is a in þat, bare 10, at 13. e is e in help 3., itredie 10. i is i in schild 3, dilie 7, and y (written for i before m) in tymbre 12. o is o in godes 4. y is i in sinne 7, winne 8. ā is a in swa 9, clenhad 6. ǣ1 (WG. ai + i) is e in clenhad 6, iledde 9; ǣ2 (WG. ā) is a in bare 13, þare 14. ō is o in moder 2, onfo 3, mod 7, fote 10. ū is u in bur 5, hus 12. eo before r + consonant is e in erðe 10. æ + g is ai in faire 12; ēa + h, in heȝilich 4 (hēa(h)līce). Scone 12 is Norse, the OE. is scīene (Björkman, Scandinavian Loan-Words, p. 77), and burth 13 is probably so (id., p. 162). Sainte, uirgine, flur, druð, are French. The scribe uses þ initially, ð in other positions, and once th. So he has ƿ generally, but once w in wel. In selfd 8, d is due to anticipation of the following word: in wid 10 d is scribal error for ð.

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

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

[Metre:] Godric’s rhythms are all to be found in the Latin hymns which probably inspired his verses. These are S. Anselm’s Psalterium S. Virginis (Opera, ed. Gerberon, p. 303) and the Sequence for the Feast of S. Nicholas, to be found under Dec. 6 in the York Missal and elsewhere. The normal line in Anselm’s hymn contains four measures with trochaic movement, as Nón est | nóbis | récens | Déus, but there are others of five and six, with admixture of iambic rhythm. Godric uses all these and applies to them the licences of native prosody, elision, slurring, omission, and doubling of light syllables. So his 1 and 5, Saínte | marí|e uír|giné |, and Saínte | marí|e chríst|es búr |, are exactly Áve | Regí|na vír|ginúm, and 6, maíden|es clén|had mód|eres flúr only differs by the slurring of e before r. Line 2, móder | ihésu | crístes | náza|réne |, has one trochee more than the normal line, one less than Cúius | laúdes | sónus | fíunt | épul|ántis, and l. 7 with mine restored before sinne is of the same pattern, dílie | míne | sínne | ríxẹ in | mín mod |. Line 8, bríng me to | wínne | wið þé | selfd Gód |, has the same mixture of trochees and iambs as Ómnis | remítt|itúr | iní|quitás |, or Áve | cúius | virgín|eó |, but with doubled light syllable in the first measure; similar is the rhythm of 4, ónfang | bríng he | ȝílich | wið þé | in gód|es ríc |. Line 3, ónfo | schíld | hélp þin | gódric, has the same movement as óbdor|míens | páti|éndo, but with omission of light syllable after stressed long syllable in the second measure.

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

In the last verse, Saínte | Nícho|láes | gódes | drúð | is Glóri|óse | Níco|láe | with added foot of one stressed syllable; týmbrẹ us | faíre | scóne | hús | is vóca|lí con|córdi|à; Àt þi búrth | àt þi bár|è resembles ùbi páx | et glóri|à, and Saínte | Nícho|láes | bríng vs wel | þáre is the normal Ád sal|útis | pórtum | tráhe | with added foot.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Manuscript: ... Harley 322 B.M.,
B.M,

Phonology: ... e is e in help 3, itredie 10.
3.

4. ... ēcelīce
ecēlīce

[III. THE PETERBOROUGH CHRONICLE]

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

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

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

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

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

ā is normally a, þa 1, sua 3, an 10, athes 46, mare 76, 87, mar 136; before two consonants, halechede 28 (hālgode), halechen 87 (hālgan), axen 128. It is o in nan more 71, nan mor 6, to 111, 117 through loss of stress. ǣ1 is e, todeld 39, neure 73, flec 74, hethen 77, here, her 190, or æ, æuricman 20, sæ 13, ælc 102, æuez 117 (ǣfæst), todælde 178; exceptionally a in ani 52, lastede 68; o in onne 63 (ǣnne). ǣ2 is normally e, slep 14, uueron 84, ormete 114, eten 123, or æ, wæron 6, 54, þær 61, 145, ræd 156, but a occurs before r some fifteen times, uuare 16, 183, uuaren 50, 75, war 85, 172, thar 40, 84, 136, thare 96, 149, bare 24, forbaren 78, nadres 59, stali 147. ē is mainly e, fet 55, slep 86, refen 92, cuen 145; before consonant groups, underfeng 27, uuenden 38, spedde 171, but æ in læt 92, 164, and rounded into eo before rd in feorde 6, 125, feorden 34, 150. ī is regularly i, suithe 8, lic 21, for which y is sometimes written, suyðe 49, 92, gysles 157. ō is o, com 1, oþre 5, moste 97. ū is u, ut 9, abuten 16. ȳ is i, litel 35.

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

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

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

æ + g is æi in dæi 15, 16, 19, 52; ei in dei 11, 14; ai in lai 14, mai 67; æ in sæde 143, sæden 17, 86. e + g is æi in æie 22, sæin 87, læide 173, læiden 70; ei in eie 196, sei 24. ongegn is represented by agænes 48, 130, agenes 30, 180, so togænes 116. i + g is i in ani 52. o + h is oh in wrohte 91, bohton 107. u + g is ug, flugen 76, 135, 147; u + h, uh in fuhten 117. ǣ1 + h is seen in bepaht 4. ē + g is ei in uureide 2, beien 176. ī + g is i in fridæi 109. ō + g, h is oh in onoh 63, brohten 21, brohte 92. ea + h gives uh in muhten 147. ēa + g is eg in rachenteges 63; ēa + h, eh, neh 4, fleh 140, 149, 165, hehlice 204; but heglice 112.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[Dialect:] This is, no doubt, substantially the North-East Midland of Peterborough, but with traces of Northern influence, such as the form saule 40, and the extensive representation by a of ǣ2 before r; of ā; and of a before lengthening groups. The last two perhaps need no such explanation in this early text; they are indeed usual in Orm fifty years later, but the inclination to o is marked in other East Midland texts. There is a considerable survival of traditional spelling, especially noticeable in the use of æ and in inflections of the verbs.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[19]. Andreas is the Vulgate form.

[20]. þe mihte: comp. 8/81.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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