Selections from Early Middle English, 1130-1250. Part 2: Notes

Chapter II: Part 2

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

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

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

_Cross-References_

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

_Errata_

#Literature:# ... (3) ... *Batiouchkof, Th., Romania, xx. 236;
[Th. Romania]
[_the passage cited as xx. 236 is actually xx. 1 and 513_]
Bruce, J. D., Modern Language Notes
[Languages Notes]
#ā# is normally ... #œ̄# is _eo_ in weoþinde 2/10. (OE. #wœ̄þan#).
[_text has “weoþinde,” and “wœ̄þan”_]
#ea# ... _å_-umlaut of #e# is _eo_ in freome, feole, weolen
(Bülbring, § 234); _u_- and _å_-umlaut of #i# is _eo_
[_first “å-umlaut” misprinted as bold instead of italic;
second misprinted as “a-umlaut”_]
... The prefix #ge# is represented by _i_.
[_#ge# misprinted as italic instead of bold_]
The consonants ... _k_ is written mostly before _e_ and _ie_
[_“k” misprinted as plain (non-italic)_]
#Accidence.# ... Neuters as ban 2/21 are uninflected, _pl. g._ has
-e, _d._, -en [-e, _d_, -en]
... The def. art. is _s. n._ þe- þeo- þat, _d. m._ þen,
_a._ þene- þeo- þat, _pl. n._ þeo- þa -þa, þeo, þe.
[_all hyphens printed as shown_]
The terminations of the verb ... _part. pt._ -ed, d, t
[_“-ed, d, t” misprinted as italic_]

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

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

II. SAINT GODRIC’S HYMNS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

_Greek_

Χρ [Chr]

_Errata_

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

III. THE PETERBOROUGH CHRONICLE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

9. Henry returned to S. Jean. Hugo says he made a good end. His successor, Martin de Vecti, native of the Isle of Wight, usually called Martin de Bec, first prior after its second foundation of St. Neots, a cell to Bec, was received by the monks on June 29th, 1132. #S’# = seint, sometimes sein; a French fashion. In MS. E, from 1066 to 1122, where a new section begins, _sc̄e_ for sancte is normal and frequent, exceptions being Octab{us} sc͞i Martini 1114, Octab{us} sc͞i Joh{ann}is 1117, while sc͞e Marie is treated as a genitive depending on words like _nativitas_. From 1122 to 1131, S’ is regular save for three entries in 1125 and sc͞e Marie twice as genitive. #neod# = Neotus may be due to the Anglo-Norman tendency to substitute _d_ for final _t_ (Stimming, Boeve de Haumtone, 221). The pronunciation persisted, for in the church of St. Neots in Cornwall, whence the body of the saint was stolen by the people of St. Neots in Huntingdonshire, there is a tablet over his tomb with verses said to have been written in the sixteenth century, in which occurs the line ‘The vulgar call it now St. Need’s’ (Gorham, History of Eynesbury, 340). Sancti Neothi occurs twice in a document, Palaeograph. Society, First Series, pl. 193. The name is now pronounced like mod. Eng. neats.

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

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

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

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

19. #Andreas# is the Vulgate form.

20. #þe mihte#: comp. 8/81.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

66. #bæron#: supply _sculde_ out of _myhte_.

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

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

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

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

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

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

83. #leredmen#: see 4/20.

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

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

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

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

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Selections from Early Middle English, 1130-1250. Part 2: NotesChapter II: Part 2

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