Chapter I: Part 1

[This text is the “Notes” volume accompanying _Selections from Early Middle English_, Project Gutenberg e-text 26413. There is no Index or Glossary, so the notes to each selection can be treated as a free-standing unit.

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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

_Errata_

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

NOTES

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

_Erratum_

SM St. Marherete, ed. Cockayne
[_spelling as in Cockayne_]

I. WORCESTER FRAGMENTS

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; #sć# [š] is still _sc_ in sceolen.

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

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

#Dialect:# Middle or Western South.

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

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

The heading is from Numbers xxvii. 17.

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

3. #ꝥ . . . þurh#, by which. The preposition separated from its relative and placed with the verb is common in ME. See Anklam, Das Englische Relativ im 11. und 12. Jahrhundert, pp. 15-19, 44-6. Comp. in these texts, _þet . . . bi_, 72/182; _inne_, 84/45, 131/104; _of_, 38/155, 66/96, 116, 117/8, 139/11, 211/476; _on_, 96/53, 179/112; _to_, 142/75, 79, 143/98; _þe . . . embe_, 81/77; _inne_, 11/3, 4; _mide_, 81/79; _offe_, 85/84; _one_, 83/9, 119/73; _to_, 96/54; _uppe_, 84/71; _þer . . . in_, 7/59, 54/1, 147/148; _of_, 64/61; _on_, 106/210; _to_, 89/32; _wið_, 48/300. Similarly _hem . . . to_, 193/564; _þa . . . to_, 96/58.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

17. #nu is#: so Wright and Varnhagen, but read _nu beoþ_; for _beo lore_, those teachings, is plural.

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

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

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

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

_Greek_

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

_Errata_

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

B, C

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The consonants present little of note. OE. #nā māra# becomes one word with doubled _m_ and shortened _a_ in nammore 3/34 (comp. wumme 2/13 note). farene 4/28, with _n_ for _nn_, is exceptional. OE. #ǣfre# is æffre 2/14, so næffre C 6, but æfre 3/3. For #f# between two vowels _u_ is generally written, bereaued 2/22, but beræfedest E 20. In mænet 2/7 _t_ is French writing for þ: schal 2/9 is isolated, _sc_ [š] is the rule, as in onscunedest 3/3: _k_ is written mostly before _e_ and _ie_, while _ȝ_ is used initially for the palatal (y in yield) and between vowels, once finally in lutiȝ 3/2 where the original probably had lutiȝe; _g_ in other cases and mostly in combination with consonants. For #cw#, French _qu_ is used once in quale 4/42.

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

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

The pronoun of the third person has _pl. d._ ham, heom. The def. art. is _s. n._ þe- þeo- þat, _d. m._ þen, _a._ þene- þeo- þat, _pl. n._ þeo- þa -þa, þeo, þe. The relative is _s._ þet, _s._ and _pl._ þe, þeo, _pl._ only þa.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 pou{n}des?’ Desputisoun, 33.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

12. #þuþte#, for _þuhte_, like cniþt for cniht, L MS. O 346 a purely graphic variation. On the other hand, _hauef_ for _haueþ_, Frag. G 26, like _of[ ]þufte_ for _of[ ]þuhte_, 46/271, and _soþte_ for _softe_, KH MS. L 392, represent a difference in pronunciation. See W. Horn, Beiträge zur Geschichte der englischen Gutturallaute, pp. 91-4.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

38. Comp. 12/11.

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