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

Chapter XXIV: Part 24

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

7. #misfaren#, go astray, misbehave.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

103. #drempte#: see 198/37.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

132. #lepes#: ‘canistra,’ C.

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

136. #hagt#: see 200/98.

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

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

145. #ðat# is subject of #wurð#.

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

149. #pharaon#: probably _acc._; see 200/104.

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

151. #vii#: seuene.

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

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

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

164. #ðo#: miswritten for ðe.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

244. #gure# is due to Morris.

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

247. #dun#, to an underground prison.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

300. #wið#, with which.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

349. #sonde#: see 13/30.

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

355. Omit #And#, with Holthausen.

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

358. Read trewðe, as elsewhere.

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

362. #biforen#: see 205/270.

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

368. And accuses of harm and damage.

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

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

373. #sikerlike#, confidently.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

422. Comp. 198/62.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

453. #dere# is Mätzner’s correction.

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

455. #xxx#: ðritti.

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

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

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

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

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

467. #him#: corrected by Mätzner.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

493. Comp. 212/526.

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

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

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

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

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

507. #rigt#, properly, carefully.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

544. #sent#: s added by Morris.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

579-590. Not by the author.

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Selections from Early Middle English, 1130-1250. Part 2: NotesChapter XXIV: Part 24

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