Chapter IV: Part 4

Accents are used extensively, but on no consistent principle, so láge 79, lage 80; arerde 80, arérdon 85; áȝenes 34, aȝénes 24. They are mostly placed over long vowels, but they are used to indicate separate pronunciation of the vowels in méé 158, bethléem 167, besíé 14. Similarly they show that a vowel is not to be slurred in belocést 37, clénséde 103, macéde 91, ?Æér 21; that _i_ is to have its full vowel value (not _y_) in ȝeclepíen 6, ȝelaðíe 17, halíe 85, 107, halíȝe 140, maníȝe 54, 109, witíe 57, 62, witíge 85; and that final _e_ is to be pronounced in forté 137, mihté 38. Sometimes the accent has been exchanged with a contraction mark, as hlafordé 32, acénde 101. It is only a diacritic, answering to the printed dot, in íunglenges 107, ímaced 164, þenínge 46 &c., and over _y_ written for _i_ in scýft 117, cýme 87, týme 77. In diphthongs it marks the stressed element, séo 66, unterþéod 6, líef 59, níatt 45; in leóem 45 it shows shifted accent (as in loht 45), so feáwe 96, ?bleówu 168, ?leórde 109: sónne 46, féce 7 are hard to understand. In unwēmmed 139, the contraction mark has been kept, although _m_ has been added; hīne 133 is curious.

#Dialect:# There is a considerable survival of older spellings from the West-Saxon original. The scribe’s language is South-Eastern strongly affected by Kentish, a mixed dialect such as might be current on the south-eastern border of Kent, or used by a southern man, not of Kentish extraction, but resident in the county, possibly at Rochester.

#Introduction:# This piece, like its predecessor in the MS., which is a transcription of Ælfric’s De Initio Creaturae, is, at least in part, an adaptation of an older, probably pre-Conquest homily, as is shown by the occurrence of archaic inflections and constructions (comp. to 8, hungre 28, hatrede 24, &c.; the extensive use of the subj. mood), and by its OE. vocabulary (þrimsettles 36, hagefaderen 140 &c.) almost free from any foreign element. Vollhardt suggested as its source the 46th chapter of the Liber de S. Anselmi Similitudinibus, a collection of parables and sayings of S. Anselm recorded by his biographer Eadmer, probably after the death of his master in 1109 A.D. This is printed in Anselmi Opera, ed. Gerberon, App. 161; Migne, P. L. clix., 625 and Vollhardt, 25. That the two versions are related cannot be doubted, but a consideration of dates compels the conclusion that they have a common source, or that the Latin is not S. Anselm’s.

The parable and its application is in the Latin brief and direct, in marked contrast to the vivacity, fullness of detail, and diffuseness (comp. 3. 19, 136) of the English. The latter has also expanded the application of the parable by much extraneous matter: i. The Creation Theme, 31-66; ii. The Five Ages of the World; iii. The Doomsday Theme, 136-156; iv. The Living Bread, 160-173, all of which is wanting in the Latin.

For filii 58 read filio, and for descendit 162, descendi.

There is no title in the MS.: Rex Suos Judicans is from Anselm’s title.

2. #gelest#, extended; probably the earliest example of the word in this sense. OE. #gelǣstan#, to accomplish, follow, last. With #wide ⁊ side#, spacious, extensive, comp. ‘Ðu leof cyningc leod-scipas ðine wide and side þu hætst,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 496/145; ‘⁊ ta wass Romess kinedom | Full wid ⁊ sid onn eorþe,’ Orm 173.

3. #ærfeðtelle#, difficult to number; comp. ‘earueðhealde,’ 48/311; ‘Earfoðfynde,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 492/82; ‘arueðwinne,’ OEH ii. 49/14. OE. #earfoðe#, #ēaðe#, #unēaðe# are usually followed by the _dat._ of the infinitive, ‘earfoðe is ænegum men to witanne,’ Cura Past. 51/5, to which corresponds, ‘Hit is arfeð to understonden,’ OEH ii. 205/14; but they are also associated with a kind of verbal noun having a _dat._ termination in _e_, in imitation of the Latin supine in _u_, as earfoðlǣre, ēaþlǣre, unēaþlǣce, and the two words come to be treated as a compound adjective. For the _acc._ inf. comp. ‘Ac þe ben swo fele ꝥ hie ben arfeð tellen,’ OEH ii. 201/30.

4. #ꝥ--befell#, lit. that it occurred to him in purpose, that he formed a resolution: comp. ‘Ich wilnie a mine þo{n}ke[;] to walden al Rome,’ L 25091; ‘þat him wes on þonke,’ id. 13258.

5. #nam him to rede#, lit. took to himself for counsel, adopted the plan: comp. 110/298; ‘nam him to ræde,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 64/230; ‘let him to ræde,’ id. 506/319; ‘hwæt him to ræde þuhte,’ id. 244/113; ‘him to ræde fand,’ BH 201/25. See Minot vi, 68 note. For omission of subject after ꝥ, see 6/18 note.

7. #berie# was meant to supersede #curt#, but the scribe forgot to put dots under the latter. He uses berie regularly afterwards. With ꝥ comp. ‘& swa he nom enne dai[;] þat come heore drihtlice folc,’ L 2550.

8. #be þe latst#, at the latest; so 14/69. #to#, at: comp. 14/68; ‘to þan dæie heo comen,’ L 13187.

9. #mistlice#, variant of mislice (Bülbring § 535). It means, diversely, of different sorts, friends and foes. But note fastlice, 16/114.

10. #derewrlice#, so as to confer honour on him.

11. #formemete#, first meat, breakfast, the ‘morȝemete’ of 16/125; ‘mixtum cibi,’ Ans. With #to lang#, comp. 4/38.

12. #none#, after formemete is probably for nonemete, midday meal, dinner: though #to# might mean _at_, as at l. 8. See 206/323.

13. #stiarne swepen#: ‘strong whips,’ Morris: ‘stiff (strong) whips,’ Specimens: comp. 16/132. But the adj. is rarely applied to a thing: perhaps stearce or smerte would suit better.

14. #besie#, look to, provide for, handle: comp. underfangeð 16/131; ‘Euele thai gonnen him bisen,’ Seuyn Sages, 507 (said of a whipping); bisen, 202/195 is similar, look after.

15. #abide#, _inf._ depends on _he sceolde_ understood from sceolden 12. #clone#, without exception, entirely: comp. ‘Ne dude hit noht þe king ane[;] ah duden we alle clæne,’ L 8825; ‘mare ich habbe ane[;] þane þa oðere al clæne,’ id. 13059, 13264.

17. #hwet bute icome#, lit. What but they came? i.e. What did they but come? they came of course. Comp. ‘nis þer bute þonken God.’ AR 382/26 with ‘Hwæt magon we secgean buton ꝥ hi scotedon swiðe,’ AS. Chron. E 1083. Similar in effect but exclamatory is ‘Hwæt þá se casere cwæð him tó andsware,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 46/358; OEH i. 229/26.

18. #bi ham#, with reference to them, in their case: comp. ‘gif þu witan wille hwæt be Criste gedón wæs on Iudea lande,’ BH 177/1.

23. #wente he hin#, ‘then turned he,’ Morris, as though for hine. But #hin# is rather for in.

24. #lacede#: Morris altered to makede, but the text means, of what did you feel the want?

25. #ȝewinne#, with the rare meaning of contend; usually, to conquer. It takes #wið# in OE., but comp. ‘wunnen aȝean,’ AR 238/17. #ȝebugon#, not ‘bow to, be obedient to,’ Morris, but, turned aside from me and to my foes; L. _declinare_: comp. ‘hi alle to rede gebuȝon,’ OEH i. 219/27. #Swa ibruce# &c., As surely as I possess my kingdom: #brūcan# usually takes a genitive; here with dative or accusative.

26. #mete ibite#: comp. ‘ne moste he nauere biten mete,’ L 15340; KH MS. L 1131 note.

28. #þe#: conj. = #þæt# consecutive, with the result that: see 50/334 note. #sturfe hungre#: contrast 7/75: the construction, like that of the _dat._ ‘hatrede ⁊ widerwardnesse’ 24, is OE., ‘menn . . . lætað cwelan hungre Cristes ðearfan,’ Cura Past. 326/5. Morris translates nam hit him, betook himself: for the correction in the text comp. 17/157, 213/539 note.

30. #sandon#, courses: comp. 207/349; ‘þas beorn þa sunde[;] from kuchene to þan kinge,’ L 24601. For the meaning of #vii.# comp. ‘Id enim frequens & usitatum est in sacris Litteris, ut septenarius numerus interpretetur dona illa, quae perfecta sunt, & quae desursum sunt,’ Gilbert of Hoyland in S. Bernardi Opera, ii. col. 120.

31-39. A parallel passage is ‘He is ealra cyninga Cyning, and ealra hlaforda Hlaford. He hylt mid his mihte heofonas and eorðan, and ealle gesceafta butan geswince, and he besceawað þa niwelnyssa þe under þyssere eorðan sind. He awecð ealle duna mid anre handa, and ne mæg nan þing his willan wiðstandan,’ Ælf., Hom. Cath. i. 8: comp. OEH i. 219, 1-3 for a modernization of the first half to _geswince_. Our writer was acquainted with the De Initio Creaturae, but he has translated ‘Qui celorum,’ l. 35, independently. The ultimate source is the antiphons, &c., at vespers in October and November. ‘Benedictus dominus qui creavit celum et terram,’ York Breviary i. 597; ‘Domine rex omnipotens in ditione tua cuncta sunt posita: et non est qui possit resistere voluntati tue,’ id. 599; ‘Qui celorum contines thronos et abyssos intueris, domine rex regum, montes ponderas, terram palmo concludis,’ id. 610.

34. #wiðstande# has double construction (#1#) with #aȝenes#, (#2#) with #him#: for the former comp. ‘Ic wiðstande ongen eow,’ ‘Ponam faciem meam contra vos,’ Levit. xxvi. 17; for the latter the quotation from Ælfric in the preceding note. #him seigd#: this use of the dative pronoun, mostly in the third person, with intransitive verbs to reinforce the subject, is seen in ‘warschipe hire easkeð,’ 119/75; ‘Affrican hire feader wundrede him swiðe,’ 141/62; ‘ȝe schulen . . . sinken . . . ow,’ 146/111; ‘He is him ripe,’ 159/167; 197/16; ‘ꝥ word him herde Androgeus,’ L 8525; ‘þer him cumeþ iudas,’ OEM 42/174, 38/31; ‘men sullen . . . hem þar bidden,’ OEH ii. 23/21; KH 137 note: with acc. exceptionally, ‘And gon hyne to abidde,’ OEM 41/156. See also 54/27, 81/90, 215/25.

35. #witiȝe#: the antiphon is drawn from Isaiah xl. 12, Daniel iii. 55; see 14/57.

36. #to#: Morris altered to tho without necessity, if it is the art. (see 17/47); but it is probably a preposition, see 124/249 note.

37. #· iii · prou.#: Morris read in pon. The reference is to the Third Book of the Proverbs (the division into books, as in Bede’s commentary, preceded that into chapters), and probably to ch. xxx. 4.

38. #for þan þe# is the usual expression: for þat þe may be right.

42. #sawle ableow#: comp. ‘God þa geworhte ænne mannan of láme, and him on ableow gast,’ Ælf. Hom. Cath. i, 12/28; ‘him on bleow gast’, OEH i. 221/17; ‘him anbleow sawle,’ id. 223/9; ‘And his licham of erðe he nam, | And blew ðor-in a liues blast,’ GE 200; ‘dû bliese im dînen geist în,’ MSD i. 81/7. #fett# &c.: comp. ‘he scryt me wel and fett,’ Wright’s Vocabularies, i. 93/27.

43. #þas#: Morris read [_vel_ as].

44. #his# as a correction is not inevitable, but it improves the rhetorical effect.

45. #werpð#, lit. casts, i.e. sends forth: comp. 151/45. #leoem ⁊ lif#: comp. ‘to lif ⁊ to leomen,’ SK 1046.

48. #of wam#: from ‘In ipso enim vivimus et movemur et sumus,’ Acts xvii. 28.

49. #acht#, _acc._ used as _adv._, in any wise, at all: comp. ‘Ne mihte he neuere finde{n} mon[;] þe him oht wolde fulsten,’ L 6601. #moder#: comp. ‘Sed et tu, Jesu, bone Domine, nonne et tu mater? Annon es mater qui tanquam gallina congregat sub alas pullos suos?’ Anselmi Opera, 300.

50. #chereð#. The MS. reading cheteð is explained, console, cheer, as possibly from OWScand. kǣta, but this is rejected by Björkman, 260. There is no other instance of the word. #be# = mid, l. 52, with.

52. All this doth your lord.

53. Comp. ‘Est autem noctis umbra mortalibus ad requiem corporis data, ne operis avida continuato labore deficeret ac periret humanitas,’ Bedae Opera, ed. Giles, vi. 158.

55. #ȝewold#, for omission of subject see 6/18 note.

56. #hares unþances#, see 10/167 note.

57. #word#: Morris reads worden, in wonderful words, which may be right: the same scribe writes wordon once, wordum twice elsewhere. #Numquid# &c. The Vulgate has ‘Numquid oblivisci potest mulier . . . ut non misereatur filio?’ Isaiah xlix. 15.

59. #la lief#, O beloved: comp. ‘Eala men þa leofoston,’ BH 165/32; ‘La leof ic bidde eow,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 522/580; ‘Eala, leof hlaford’ = O mi domine, Thorpe, Analecta, 19. #his#: OE. #wīmman# is masculine.

61. #be -- is#, as regards his being father.

62. In the Vulgate, ‘Si ergo Pater ego sum ubi . . . et si Dominus ego sum’ &c., Malachi i. 6.

63. #manscipe#, the first occurrence of the word in the sense of homage. In OE. it means humanity, courtesy.

64. #G. m.#, Gode men.

70. #fif lagan#: the five laws correspond to five ages of the world. The division here is unusual. The English writers mostly follow S. Augustine, who gives six, so Bede, Alcuin, Ælfric, de vetere Testamento; but Wulfstan has seven, Anselm and Herbert de Losinga eight. In another place Ælfric has five, but different from those of our writer; see Hom. Cath. ii. 74.

71. #ȝecnowe#, revealed.

74. #ȝescod#, discretion, reason: see 122/176.

77. #nas tid# &c. Comp. ‘he fram frymðe middaneardes oð his geendunge ne ablinð to asendenne bydelas and láreowas to lǽrenne his folc,’ Ælf. Hom. Cath. ii. 74/10, which is probably from ‘a mundi huius initio usque in finem ad erudiendam plebem fidelium praedicatores congregare non destitit,’ S. Greg. Hom. i. xix.

79. #adiligde#, was destroyed: passive use, OE. #ādīlegian#, to destroy. #unwreaste leahtrum#: see 118/30 note.

81. #wrate# &c. Comp. ‘God awrát ða ealdan ǽ mid his fingre on ðam stǽnenum weax-bredum,’ Ælf. Hom. Cath. ii. 204/1. #his#, the law.

82. #ȝelaðieres#: comp. ‘sende hire his sondesmen biforen, þet weren þe patriarkes ⁊ þe prophetes of the Olde Testament,’ AR 388/14.

83. #fele#; see 132/9.

84. #wat#, until: comp. 217/102: often with _al_, 215/26; ‘al hwat hie hine fordemden,’ VV 51/12 and frequently: #wat# is relative conj. substituted for þat, with same meaning; see 72/179, 108/245: so þen exchanges with hwanne, þer with hwær. #þe#, when, so þa 93.

85. #arerdon#, set up, established: comp. ‘þæt is þonne ǽrest þæt ic wylle þæt man rihte laga upp arǽre,’ Schmid, Gesetze, 270.

87. #hlafordes . . . helendes . . . cristes#: this appositional construction is OE.; comp. ‘on drihtnes naman ures hælendes cristes,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 366/46: it is fairly common in early ME.; comp. 8/106, 9/121, 9/137, 12/6, 7.

89. #stef creft#: OE. #stæf cræft#, the art of letters, and hence, book learning.

90. #Eft bine fece ⁊#: with this superfluous and connecting a phrase to the main sentence, comp. ‘Him þa gyt sprecendum ⁊ soþlice þa beorhtwolcn hig oferscean,’ S. Matt. xvii. 5. (= ‘Adhuc eo loquente, ecce nubes lucida obumbravit eos.’) #acolede#, cooled, lost its vigour: comp. ‘⁊ forþam þe unryhtwisnys rixað manegra lufu acolaþ,’ S. Matt. xxiv. 12 (= ‘refrigescet charitas multorum’). See 159/161.

91. #hur ⁊ hur#, especially: a doubling for emphasis of OE. #hūru#, at least: comp. 149/11.

92. #awente# &c.: ‘Qui commutaverunt veritatem Dei in mendacium: et coluerunt et servierunt creaturae potius quam Creatori,’ Romans i. 25.

95. #begripe#, seized, in the grip of: comp. ‘seo sawul bið micele atelicor, gif heo mid mislicum leahtrum begripen bið,’ Ælf. Hom. Cath. i. 122/23. #diefles muðe#: comp. 17/150. Mediaeval art gave a very literal rendering of ‘infernus . . . aperuit os suum absque ullo termino: et descendent fortes eius, et populus eius, et sublimes, gloriosique eius ad eum,’ Isaiah v. 14; see Wright, History of Caricature, 69-71.

97. #sette#, ordained, established: comp. ‘þis synd þa . . . laga þe drihten gesette betwyx him and Israhela folc,’ Levit. xxvi. 46.

99-104. Comp. ‘Triplici morbo laborat genus humanum: principio, medio et fine, id est nativitate, vita et morte. Nativitas immunda, vita perversa, mors periculosa. Venit Christus, et contra triplicem hunc morbum attulit triplex remedium. Natus est enim, vixit, mortuus est: atque eius nativitas purgavit nostram, mors illius destruxit nostram, et vita eius instruxit nostram,’ S. Bernardi Op. ii. 776. The Liber Sententiarum, from which this passage comes, is placed by Mabillon among the doubtful works. There can be little doubt that it is the source of the English passage.

100. #ful#: comp. 29/33. #grislic#: inspiring terror and shrinking: see 120/94.

101. #þer aȝen#, to remedy these blemishes of our nature: L. _remedium_.

102. #efer þurh#, ever through, throughout, perpetually. #milce#, not the active mercy, compassion, but meekness, patience.

103. #acennende#, the being born, birth: present participle with the same meaning as the new verbal noun acenneng, 100. The OE. noun is #ācennednes# or #ācennes#.

104. #admoded#, submissive: ‘Humiliavit semetipsum factus obediens usque ad mortem,’ Philippians ii. 8. The contrast is between man’s shrinking from death and His voluntary acceptance of it.

105. #ȝelice#: read grislice as suggested by W. H. Brown, Mod. Lang. Notes, vii. 226.

106. Omit _þer_, put full stop after _iunglenges_, and understand from the previous sentence _were ærndraces_.

110. #þa# may be dat. sing of the article as at 14/57, but more probably it = þan, then. #folce to freme#, for benefit to the folk; see 176/24 note. #bedeles#, heralds: comp. ‘Þa halgan apostolas, þe ðam hælende folgodon, wæron þa getreowan þeowan ⁊ ða fyrmestan bydelas, þe godes lare geond þas land toseowon,’ AS. Hom. ed. Assmann, 56/141; ‘wearð se halga iohannes ætforan him asend swa swa heofonlic bydel,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 342/94; Orm 19/633.

112. They are all one in God’s purpose. For #on# comp. ‘Alle hie bieð forsakene o{n} godes awene muðe,’ VV 3/2.

114. #fastlice#, in steady flow, or, corresponding to ‘þicce þringeð,’ 116, crowding. It sometimes means vigorously, as in ‘hi fengon togadre fæstlice mid wæpnum,’ Ælf. Lives, ii. 98/489; sometimes firmly, ‘þing ðe godd fastliche ðe forbett,’ VV 37/23. See 12/9.

117. #his#, them. #scyft#, separates, is a mere synonym of ‘to ȝesceodeð.’ Perhaps scryft = #scrifeþ#, fixes their destiny.

119. #morȝe mete#, the ‘forme mete’ of 12/11.

120. #more mete#, the ‘fulle mete’ of 16/127; ‘none,’ 12/12; ‘vii sandon,’ 13/29.

121. #witetlice# of the MS. may represent OE. #witodlīce#, assuredly.

122. #uuantruce#, failure; as being compounded of #wan#, wanting, and the noun of #trucian#, to fail, it should mean absence of failure. #hað#: for omission of nom. see 6/18.

123. For the pain of dying as penance, comp. ‘Quidam autem electi in fine suo purgantur a levibus quibusdam peccatis,’ Isidore vi. 361; ‘Nullus tui Ordinis peribit, si Ordinem amaverit; aut in morte purgabitur, aut in brevi post mortem,’ Arnulf of Boheries in S. Bern. Opera, ii. 802.

124. #eðelice lette#, easy hindrance, i.e. slight delay. #merchestowe#: Morris suggests ‘merthestowe, a place of mirth,’ or alternatively translates the MS. reading, place marked out, place of separation. The word is not found elsewhere; it is probably a special coinage for the intermediate state, the place of the soul waiting for the body, the place of the ‘morȝemete,’ the limited joy of which the soul is capable in its severed state (‘requies ei, sed in anima sola, interim datur,’ Anselm, in Eadmer, 161 col. 2 B); the banquet of perfect felicity, ‘se fulle mete,’ follows when soul and body meet again at the resurrection, 17/157 (‘in anima simul & corpore laetabuntur,’ Ans.). Comp. #March#, ‘myddys be-twyn ij cu{n}treys,’ Prompt. Parv. ed. Mayhew, 282.

128. #belimpð hit#: a superfluous nominative, as if, what is it that happens?

129. #letes# in Specimens is resolved into lete + his, the latter being _gen._ of hit, governed by fandie, and so like ‘ȝif we his abiriȝdon,’ OEH i. 223/22. But support is lacking for enclitic es = his: it seems better to take letes as lete + es, _pl. acc._, them, or even as _s. a. f._ used incorrectly as _neuter_.

131. #anu# is taken by Morris as for anu{m}, but neither his ‘at once,’ Specimens, nor ‘only,’ OEH, is satisfactory. Probably the original had anūge (= #ānunge#) gerǣde, entirely, quite ready, very keen.

132. #hade#, a past among the presents, is probably a mistake for habe _subj. pres._ of indefinite comparison, Howsoever many vices he has on him, just so many fiends he there encounters: fele has dropped out after swa 133.

135. In Specimens [habbeþ] is inserted after _hi_, with the translation, ‘and they shall have for their reward the home that long shall last.’ The text given means, they shall be thrust from his sight and into their reward which must last long for them. For #hin# = in, comp. 13/23, and for #abroden into#, 13/27. But the original may have had, ⁊ higien him to hire lēan þe lange sceal gelǣstan.

136. #a þa mucele deie#: comp. ‘on þam miclan dæge,’ Christ 1049, and often; ‘in iudicium magni diei,’ S. Jude, 6. See Deering, W., The Anglo-Saxon Poets on the Judgment Day, 8.

138. #niȝen anglene had#: ‘Novem esse distinctiones, vel ordines angelorum sacrae scripturae testantur: id est, Angelos, Archangelos, Thronos, Dominationes, Virtutes, Principatus, Potestates, Cherubim et Seraphim,’ Isidore, vi. 137.

141. #þer midenarde . . . werpeð abec#. The article is _s. d. fem._, the noun _s. d. masc._ The phrase might mean, with all those who for his love turn backwards to the world, but not, ‘put aside the world,’ Morris. It seems to be without parallel: such expressions as, ‘projecerunt legem tuam post terga sua,’ ii Esdras ix. 26, suggest the _acc._ þes midenard here.

142-146. The ultimate source is Ephraem Syrus, ‘Quomodo sustinebimus, Fratres, quum videbimus igneum fluvium . . . comburentem omnem terram et quae in ea sunt opera? Tunc, dilecti, ab illo igne flumina deficient et fontes evanescent, stellae cadent, sol extinguetur, luna abibit, coelum plicabitur ut volumen, sicut scriptum est . . . Quomodo sustinebimus tunc, Christo dilecti, quum videbimus terribilem thronum praeparatum et signum crucis apparens, in quo affixus est Christus voluntarie pro nobis,’ ed. Lamy, ii. 192. Comp. with the present passage BH 91.

144. With #aþestreð# comp. 123/230.

145. #to gað#, should ordinarily mean, parts in sunder, but in view of plicabitur in the quotation above (‘et complicabuntur sicut liber caeli,’ Isaiah xxxiv. 4), it may mean here, is rolled up. Comp. ‘& on þæm dæge heofon biþ befealden swa swa boc,’ BH 91/25. #si hali rode tacne# usually means, the sign of the cross, 130/65; BH 237/21; AR 106/9; here and OEH i. 121/9 it is the cross itself as a sign. Comp. ‘et tunc parebit signum Filii hominis in caelo,’ S. Matt. xxiv. 30, ‘and seo hea ród | Ryht aræred rices to beacne,’ Christ 1063. See also Deering, 42.

147. #cwaciað#: comp. 34/94; ‘oðe dom of Domesdai, þer þe engles schulen cwakien,’ AR 116/19. #senfulle#: comp. ‘þer þe crysmechild for sunnes sore schal drede,’ OEM 90/11. The passage bears considerable resemblance to ‘hinc erunt accusantia peccata, inde terrens justitia: subtus patens horridum chaos inferni, desuper iratus judex: intus urens conscientia, foris ardens mundus. Justus vix salvabitur; peccator sic deprehensus in quam partem se premet?’ S. Anselmi Op. 208.

148. #bechece# is translated in Specimens, ‘gainsay’ and connected with #cigan#, which is difficult both as to form and sense: probably it is written for beceche, deceive. #beswice#, get the better of.

151. #beswapen#, clothed: ‘et induit maledictionem sicut vestimentum,’ Ps. cviii. 18; ‘Qui oderunt te, induentur confusione,’ Job viii. 22.

152. #an himselfe#, concerning himself: comp. ‘Eft ne mot nan mann . . . secgan on hine sylfne,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 274/177.

153. #ecenesse# is strangely said of man’s earthly existence. Perhaps recelesnesse.

158. #esten#, dainties: comp. 50/359; metaphorically, it means delight, at 159. #Delicie# &c.: Prov. viii. 31; _sunt_ is not in the Vulgate.

160. #litl her#, a little time ago.

161. #Ego# &c.: S. John vi. 51; in Vulgate, _descendi_.

162. #astah#: OE. #astīgan# is a neutral word the direction of which is indicated by an adverb. When alone, it is generally used of rising; but comp. ‘Ah crist . . . asteh of heuene riche,’ OEH i. 17/25; ‘he (Christ) asteh to þisse liue,’ id. 19/7.

164. #alswa se#, not, ‘as he also,’ Morris, but, just as, even as, 17/173: so alswa alse, 17/169; alse, 13/42, alswa, 17/170 = as.

165. #⁊ c.#: ‘cadens in terram mortuum fuerit, ipsum solum manet,’ S. John xii. 24. #was ȝesawen#, at the Annunciation. The fanciful comparison is common in mediaeval writers: comp. ‘Elegit autem sibi quasi granum tritici Deus corpus de Spiritu sancto in utero virginali conceptum . . . in cruce illa [grana] moluit, in resurrectione cribravit,’ Petri Cellensis Sermones (Migne, P. L. ccii), 808.

167. #com#, sprang up; a common use in mod. dialects. #ꝥ cweð us of breade# is translated in Specimens, ‘which speaketh to us by bread.’ It means, of course, that is called house of bread: comp. ‘Bethleem is gereht “Hlaf-hús,” and on hire wæs Crist, se soða hlaf, acenned, þe be him sylfum cwæð, “Ic eom se liflica hláf,”’ Ælf. Hom. Cath. i. 34/14; ‘In coelis erat panis angelorum, set in bethleem factus est panis hominum. Merito igitur locus iste domus dicebatur panis, unde angelorum et hominum carnaliter fuerat oriundus panis,’ H. de Losinga, ii. 12; Orm 121/3528-35.

170. #melstanent#: ‘Pastor farinam moluit in cruce tanquam in molendino,’ P. Cellensis, 807. #berient#: the tomb as the oven is original. Comp: ‘Iste est ille, qui seipsum coxit in clibano passionis,’ Bede, vii. 369 (Cologne ed.); ‘Et sicut panis igne coquitur, ita Christus in camino passionis assatur,’ Elucidarium Honorii Augustodun., 1129; Adam. Praemonstr. 178 (Migne, P. L. cxcviii); Petrus Blesensis, iv. 33.

173. #Ego sum# &c.: S. John xv. 1.

_Cross-References_

6/18, 10/167 (notes) = III. (The Peterborough Chronicle)
50/334 (note) = VIII. (Poema Morale)
118/30, 124/249 (notes) = XVI. (Sawles Warde)
176/24 (note) = XXI. (The Bestiary)

_Errata_

#Phonology:# ... _y_ in cyme 87 (? #cime#) [cyme,]
.... #ǣ{2}# is uniformly _e_ [#æ{2}#]
#ē# is regularly _e_, but dieð 51 (= #deð#)
[_text unchanged: error for “dēð”?_]
... Final #ēo# is _i_, hi 50 (4), ibi 135, isi 55 (4), si 50 (6)
[(4) si 50]
... #æ# + #g# ... _eiȝ_ in seigd 34 [seigð]
_e_ in sede 117, 119, seden 69, 160 (= #sǣdon#)
[_corrected by author from #sædon#_]
#ǣ{1}# + #h# [#æ{1}#]
Minor declensions: ... feder 48, _s. d._ [_d. s._]
... man 76, _s. d._, 41, _s. a._ [41.]
The infinitive of verbs ... _Pres. s._ 1. forȝete 61 [1:]
ȝestrenð 112 (#gestrengeþ#) [ȝestrend]
V. ableow 42, bleowu 168 [V ableow]
oȝeð 64 (#āgon#), 1 _pr. pl._ [1. _pr. pl._]
muȝe (we) 49, 1 _pr. pl._ [1. _pr. pl._]
26. ... KH MS. L 1131 note. [Ms.]
28. ... see 50/334 note. [_final . missing_]
37. #· iii · prou.# [_anomalous spacing unchanged_]

VI. THE PROVERBS OF ALFRED

#Manuscript:# Jesus College, Oxford, E 29, formerly Arch. i. 29 (J). It consists of two distinct MSS. bound in one; the second begins at f. 217 r. (new foliation) and was written not long after 1276 (Anglia xxx, 222). Its contents are best described in the Owl and the Nightingale, ed. J. E. Wells, Boston, 1907, at pp. ix-xiii. Our piece is written continuously as prose, each stanza forming a paragraph, but iv and v are in one without l. 54, which is here supplied, while l. 43 is written at the end of the preceding paragraph and similarly the lines beginning viii-xvii, xix-xxiii. The scribe was evidently struggling with an original which he could not always read; see footnote to l. 105.

Another MS. is B. 14. 39, Trinity College, Cambridge (T): see The Western Manuscripts in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge, by M. R. James, vol. i. p. 438. It gives a much longer text very badly copied by a scribe little skilled in English.

A third copy in MS. Cotton Galba A. xix was destroyed in the fire at Dean’s Yard in 1731. But Wanley had printed a specimen (W), corresponding to ll. 1-21 of this edition, in his Catalogue (published in 1705), p. 231; and Richard James (1592-1638) had copied, from a transcript furnished to Thomas Allen (1542-1633), Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford, by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (1571-1631), in what is now MS. James 6, Bodleian Library (RJ), p. 68, pieces corresponding to ll. 1-23; 27-49; 52, 53; 55-64; 78-85; 168, 9; 173, 4; 211-13; 204-206; 236, 7; 307, 8, and two fragments which correspond to the text in MS. T, ll. 516-32; 652, 3, but are not in MS. J. Allen’s MSS. passed into the possession of Sir Kenelm Digby, who presented them to the Bodleian in 1638. But the transcript was not among them. It is a curious mistake to think that it ever formed part of MS. Digby 4, which has been caused by Langbaine’s calling the copy of the Poema Morale in that MS., Alfredi Regis Parabolae. This is clear from MS. Rawlinson D 325, which consists of Hearne’s notes to Spelman’s Life of Alfred; it contains the note printed on p. 131 of the Life, which is immediately followed by a cancelled extract from the Poema Morale in the Digby version. Allen’s transcript has disappeared.

The Cotton MS. was again used by Sir John Spelman (1594-1643) for his Life of Alfred. He says that ‘by the Courtesy of Sr Thomas [Cotton, 1594-1662] I am provided of a Copy of them.’ Apparently he was himself the copyist, for he speaks of the MS. as ‘faulty and ill writ, in a mungrel Hand (as well as Language).’ He gives what corresponds to ll. 1-64, and a paraphrase of six stanzas more. It is hard to say what Spelman actually wrote, for his own MS., which was probably University Coll. MS. 136. 8, has disappeared, and the three versions of it differ considerably. They are (1) Hearne’s transcript (SH^1) of Spelman prepared for the printer, now MS. Rawlinson D 324 (p. 225); (2) the Life of Alfred in English (SH^2), published in 1709; (3) the Latin translation (SL) published in 1678. A fragment of the latter was copied in MS. Stowe 163, B.M. ff. 101-135; of the English poem it has ll. 1-19. The evidence which is to be got from the Spelman sources as to the text of MS. Galba is suspect. S signifies their agreement.

#Editions:# Wright, T., in Reliquiae Antiquae, i. 170 (J,T): Kemble, J. M., Salomon and Saturn. (T only). This book, without title-page, is dated in pencil in my copy, 1845, 6. It seems a first attempt for the following: Kemble, J. M., The Dialogue of Salomon and Saturnus. Ælfric Society, London, 1848, p. 225. Morris, R., An Old English Miscellany, 1872 (J; and T from Wright and Kemble), p. 53: *Skeat, W. W., The Proverbs of Alfred, Oxford, 1907 (J,T); *Borgström, E., The Proverbs of Alfred, Lund, 1908 (J,T).

#Literature:# Wülker, R., Ueber die neuangelsächsischen Sprüche des Königs Ælfred. Paul-Braune, Beiträge, i. 240: Gropp, E., On the Language of the Proverbs of Alfred, Halle, 1879: Zupitza, J., Anglia, iii. 570; Holthausen, F., Archiv, lxxxviii. 370-2 (emendations). Ekwall, E., Anglia, Beiblatt, xxi. 76-8. Skeat, W. W., Transactions of the Philological Society, 1895-8, p. 399. =For Proverbs:= Förster, M., in ES xxxi. 1-20: Kellner, L., Alteng. Spruchweisheit, Wien, 1897: Kneuer, K., Die Sprichwörter Hendyngs. Leipz. Dissert. 1901: Skeat, W. W., Early English Proverbs, Oxford, 1910; Tobler, A., Li Proverbe au Vilain, Leipzig, 1895: Catonis Disticha, in Baehrens, Poetae Latini Minores, iii. 205-42: Senecae Monita, ed. Woelfflin: Publilii Syri Sententiae, ed. Woelfflin, Lipsiae, 1869: Alanus de Insulis, ed. C. de Visch, Antwerpiae, 1654: Arnulf, Deliciae Cleri, Romanische Forschungen, ii. 211: Columbani Monostichon, Poetae Lat. Aevi Carolini, i. 275: Fecunda Ratis, ed. Voigt, Halle, 1889: Florilegium Gottingense, Rom. Forsch. iii. 281, 461: Florilegium S. Omer, id. vi. 557: Florilegium Vindobonense, Müllenhoff u. Scherer, Denkmäler, xxvii: Otloh, Beda, i. 1080: Proverbia Heinrici, MSD: Proverbia Rustici, Rom. Forsch. iii. 633: Regimen Sanitatis Salernitanum, ed. Croke, Oxford, 1830: Wipo, ed. Pertz., Hannoverae, 1853.

#Phonology:# Oral #a# is _a_; #a# before nasals and lengthening groups, _o_, but can 231, manyes, 295, fremannes, 299: me, _indef. pron._ < #man# is due to loss of stress: þanne, þane, þan, hwanne are usual, but þenne 72, 91, hwenne 254. #æ# is mostly _a_, as always in after, at, fader, hwat, war 16, but _e_ in eþelyng 44, gedelyng 214, gled 209, glednesse 30, gres 81, heuedest 187, queþ 19, &c., þet 154 (once), þes 63 (once), wes 4 and always; Ealured 6 occurs beside Alured 12, &c. #e# and #e# before lengthening groups is _e_, but ny 124 < #ne#: imulten 276 represents #myltan#. #i# is _i_, often written _y_, mostly in conjunction with _n_, but wule 91, 254, 286 (beside wile 154, wille 142), nule 69, after _w_, nele 254, OE. #nele#. #o# is _o_, but #on# is weakened to a 112, 200; #ðone# is þane 247, 248, þene 114, 116, 198 (LWS. #ðane#, #ðæne#). #œ# is represented in seorewe 151, 233, serewe 156. #u# is _u_, but bycome 138, where _o_ is associated with _m_. #y# is _u_: munye 25 is OE. #mynian#; vordrye 227, OE. #fyrþrian#, is a French spelling; king, kyng, dryhten with _y_ for _i_ are exceptions as usual; steorne 207 is corrupt.

#ā# is _o_; _a_ remains in bihat 245, mayþenes 130, madmes 133, 276. #ǣ{1}# is _e_: exceptions are vyches 276, euer uyches 54, which descend from #ylc#, agoþ 146, ouergoþ 143, without umlaut: nenne 296 is #nænne#. #ǣ{2}# is also _e_, but þar 4 &c., always. #ē# is _e_, but doþ 81. #ī# is _i_, often written _y_, but me 140 (#mīn#) is due to loss of stress. #ō# is _o_, but reowe 96 (#rōwan#), a French spelling. #ū# is _u_: for it _w_ is written in hw 11, 22, 42. #ȳ# is _u_ in byhud 163, cuþe 254, cuþeþ 170, lutel 215, 277, 312, luþre 257, but litel 281; #þȳ# has _i_ in forþi 304, _e_ in þe 82.

#ea# before #r# + cons. is _e_ in erewe 156, _a_ in arewe 152, þarf 108, 244; before length. groups, _e_ in bern 311; its _i_-umlaut is seen in churreþ 53 (#cierran#), and, before length. group, yeorde 328 (#gierd#): #ea# before #l# + cons. is _a_, as al 105, &c.; before length. groups, _e_ in weldan 130 &c., awelde 320, _o_ in cold 237, holde 42, 102, 280, 304, &c., vpholde 113; its _i_-umlaut is seen in ealde 319, 330, elde 68, 71, 72 (#ieldo#), ildre 125 (#ieldran#). #eo# before #r# + cons. is _eo_ in heorte 163, 166, smeorte 164, but _e_ in werk 15, werke 16; before length. groups, _eo_ in cheorl 58, eorl 4, eorþe 81, &c., yeorne 66, 69, leorne 170 &c., but furþ 113; its _i_-umlaut is shown in durlyng 7, hurde 6, vrre 136. The #wur# group has invariably _u_. #eo# before #l# + cons. is _eo_ in seolf 308 &c., but sulue 284 (#sylfe#). #ea#, _u_-umlaut of #a#, is wanting in balewe 282, baleusyþes 189. #eo#, _å_-umlaut of #e#, is shown in feole 2, 249, and weole 78 (5), but fele 2, 132, 302 is without change; vale 300 is #feala# with shifted accent. #eo#, _u_- and _å_-umlaut of #i#, is seen in heonne 115, heore 11, seoluer 121, 134, but is wanting in huntseuenti 79; #leofian# appears only as libben 135. #ea# after palatals is _a_ in schal 35 (8), #gesc(e)apen# is ischapen 92; #ie# after #g# is _e_ in foryeteþ 137, yeue 90: #eo# after #g# is _o_ in yong 195, yonge 328, yongmon 87; youþe 105, youhþe 66, 69, 98 (#geogoð#) show combination with the following _g_: #eo# after #sc# is _o_ in scolde 87 &c., scholden 11: #heom# is heom 9.

#ēa# is normally _a_, but reade 80, lyen (= #lēan#) 289; its _i_-umlaut is _e_, foryemeþ 137, ilef 132, 248, nexte 265, iherest 251, but _u_ in ihure 10, ihurd 205. #ēo# is normally _eo_, but _e_ in forleseþ 137, fremannes 299, _o_ in wolde 278, loþ 234, the latter miswritten for leoþ, _r. w._ forteoþ; the rhyme istreon 125 : lone (#lān#) is noteworthy: neode 141, 217, 265 is LWS. #nēod# arising beside #nied# by confusion with #nēod#, desire. #īe# in #scīene#, #gesīene# gives schene 213, isene 75.

#a# + #g# is _aw_, but seye 152, seyþ 234, 246, sayþ, 305: #æ# + #g# is _ay_, but seyde 24, iseyd 236, ised 230: #e# + #g# is always _ey_: ayeyn 95 = #ongegn#: #o# + #g# always _ow_: #u# + #g# gives mvwe 113 (LWS. #muge#), doweþes 118 (#duguða#).

#ā# + #g# is always _ow_: #ā# + #h# is _ah_ in ahte 79: #ǣ{1}# + #g# occurs in feye 113; #ǣ{1}# + #h# in ayhte 125, 171, 274, but eyhte 145: #ī# + #h# in lyeþ 109 (#lihþ#): #ō# + #g# in inowe 133, plouh 61, brouhte 181: #ū# + #g# in buwe 201.

#ea# + #h# occurs in wexynde 112, 113, iauhteþ 171 (#geeahtian#), probably a miswriting of iachteþ in the scribe’s exemplar (T has hachte for #æht#, nocht, &c.): #eo# + #h# in bryht 211, rihtwis 34, mixe 276 (#meox#), vouh 129 is #feoh#; in case it corresponds to #fēo#, dative; Skeat and Borgström read veoh. #ēa# + #h# gives þeih 88 (9), þey 79. #ā# + #w# is _ow_ in mowe 53, 60, sowen 59, isowen 80, _au_ in saule 23, _ou_ in nouht 35 &c. and _ey_ in iseye 186 (#gesāwe#): #ēa# + #w# is _ew_ in fewe 301, þewes 195, 312, vnþewes 262, _eu_ in glev 256, vnþev 198, _eaw_ in gleaw 30: #ēo# + #w# is _eow_ in greowe 81, reowe 330, treowe 202, _ew_ in rewe 71: the _pron._ #ēow# is ou 21, eu 142, #ēower# ower 141, eure 20, 23.

The acute accent is used twenty-one times over long vowels, in ten cases over _e_ representing #ǣ#: séé 95, 132 is furnished with two, as often in MS. O of Layamon, comp. 95/2. In v́uel 217 it serves to distinguish the vowel.

The consonants show little divergence from OE. use. For #w#, _u_ is written in uexynde 112, for #u#, _w_ in hw 22, 42: #wur# is _wr_ in wrþsipes 22, wrþie 36, 286, wrþe 124: iwrche 83 is OE. #gewyrcan#, wrt 112 is #wyrt#. OE. #swa# is regularly so, but once swo 99, influenced by the initial _sw_ of the following word. #l# is lost in vyches 276, eueruyches 54 and other pronominal words of similar formation: #n# is dropped in euelyche 49, owe 111, wyndrunke 184; uppe _prep._ 132 occurs beside vpen 123. #f# between vowels is commonly _v, u_, but hafst 133, oferhoweþ 323, wife 185 where it is probably voiced; initially it is largely maintained, but it is _v, u_ in urouer 37, velde 112, vouh 129, forvare 147, 260, vere 148, vordrye 227, vayre 245, 6, avynde 291, vale 300, in all these cases before a vowel. #d# is _t_ in huntseuenti 79; schaltu 168 has _t_ for #þ# after a dental: #þ# is represented by _d_ in vordrye 227; madmes 138 answers to LWS. #mādm#: #t# is omitted in lest 316. #c# + #s# is represented by _x_ in arixlye 329. #hw# is generally preserved, but wile 149: in initial combinations with other consonants #h# is lost: swyhc 159 is written for swych, iscohte 303 for ischote. The prefix #ge# is regularly _i_: _k_ is often used for #c#; #cw# is _qu_; #č# is _ch_, as chireche 57, cheorl 58, &c. #sc# is generally _sch_, but scolde 87, wrþsipes 22: #ġ# is regularly _y_.

In syllables of minor stress the vowels have mostly been levelled to _e_, as in egleche, sadelbowe, sikerliche, vppen, &c. An _e_, generally slurred in scansion, is inserted in clerek, euere, seorewe, arewe, erewe, foleweþ, pouere.

#Accidence:# Nouns of the strong declension _m._, _neut._ have _s. g._ -es, cristes 283, cunnes 276; _d._ -e, bure 212, balewe 282, &c., but the termination is sometimes not written before a vowel, god 104, word 16, or omitted by the scribe, lyf 28, lond 12, mod 224, þing 188, or an accusative form is used, cotlyf 174, fryþ 58, loþ 234, through confusion of the prepositional constructions. The plural of masculines ends in -es, _n._ þeynes 1, _d._ wrenches 257, _a._ acres 79: neuter nouns with masc. terminations are _n._ wordes 24, _a._ sedes 59, þinges 21, wyttes 40, but the normal þing, _pl. a._ 143; treowe 202, _pl. n._ represents #trēowu#; þinge 250 is an isolated _pl. a._; worde 300 is probably _pl. g._, an OE. construction after vale; worde 301 is _pl. d._: englene _pl. g._ 6, &c. (#Engla#), iwriten _pl. a._ 67 are weak forms. Of the strong feminines, ayhte 125, blisse 31, 282, 310, lone 126 (read lon), neode 141, vnhelþe 73, youþe 105 have added _e_ in the _s. n._, and worlde 278, wunne 279 in the _s. a._: worldes 22, _s. g._ shows confusion of declensions: the _s. d._ ends regularly in -e, except world 122 (see note): _s. a._ in e. The general termination of the _pl._ is e, _n._ eyhte 145, ayhte 274, leode 20 &c., wene 74; _g._ quene 237 (#cwēna#), or _s. g._ (#cwēne#); _d._ leode 264, honde 259; _a._ custe 170, saule 23, but _d._ blissen 31, deden 47, spechen 249: tales 295, _pl. d._ medes 60, _pl. a._ (#mǣdwa#) show confusion of declensions: doweþes 118 appears to be meant for _s. g._, but it answers to OE. #duguþa#; perhaps doweþe is to be read. Loss of final _n_ has greatly simplified the weak declension, so _s. d._ heorte 163, sadelbowe 153, weole 82, 103, ivere 144, vere 148, wille 35; _s. a._ tunge 190, tyme 114, weole 91, 100, wille 185 &c., but wyllen 283: dwales 296 is a strong _pl. a._ The minor declensions are represented by mon _s. n._ 17, monnes _s. g._ 54, fremannes 299, mon _s. d._ 159, wymmon _s. a._ 204, monne _pl. g._ 32, _pl. d._ 253, 269; boke _s. d._ 39; fader _s. n._ 33, _s. g._ 212, moder _s. d._ 203; freond _s. a._ 83, 245, _pl. v._ 25, _pl. a._ 267.

Remnants of the strong declension of adjectives are longes _s. g. neut._ 109, reade _s. d. n._ 80 (#rēadum#), yonge 328 (#geongum#), godne _s. a. m._ 45, vuelne 231, swikelne 252; wenliche _s. n. m._ 68, godlyche 204 have e, contrary to OE. usage, but vnlede _s. n. m._ 238, is OE. #unlǣde#. Weak forms are wise _s. n. m._ 287, betere _s. n. neut._ 325, 327, wysuste _s. n. m._ 17; for mildest _s. n. m._ 32 mildeste should be read. OE. #āna# is one 29, 41, 118, #ān# is o 79, 278. The participial #āgen# gives _s. n. neut._ owe 149, _d. f._ owere 54, _a. m._ owene 318, _a. neut._ owe 128. With exception of the above, the adjective is not inflected in the singular. The plural in all cases ends in e. Adjectives used as nouns are arewe _s. d._ 152, erewe _s. n._ 156, fayre _s. d._ 172, feye _s. g._ 113, frakele _s. a._ 172, god[e] _s. d._ 225, god _s. a._ 90, ifon _pl. n._ 129, ivo _pl. d._ 186, ildre _pl. g._ 125, loþe _s. a._ 247, more _s. a._ 162, pouere _s. d._, riche _s. d._ 268, _s. a._ 50, vuele _s. d._ 90.

The personal pronouns are ich, we, us, þu, þe, ye, ou 21, eu 142: _s. n._ he _m._ 9, heo _f._ 169 &c.; _d._ him _m._ 35, 71, 88, 330, _n._ 312, 316; _a._ hine _m._ 36 &c., hyne 144 &c., hi _f._ 187, 192, 242, hit _n._ 118, it 96; _pl. n._ hi, heo 76; _d._ heom 9; _a._ hi 80, 170. Reflexives are him seolue 260, hymseolue 137; definitives, heo seolf 308, himseolf 41, seoluen 38: possessives, mi, me 140, myne _pl._ 25, 26; þi _s. n. m._ 272, þin _s. n. f._ 166, þire _s. d. f._ 163, þin _s. a. neut._ 323, þi 168, in all other cases þine, þyne; hire, hyre, once heore 11; vre; eure, ower 141. The definite article is _s. n._ þe _m._ 4 &c., _f._ 141; þes _g. m._ 63, þas 113; þan _d. m._ 55, 152, þare _f._ 5, 217, þe 216 (read þare); þane _a. m._ 247, 248, þene 114, 116, 198, þe _f._ 95 &c., þe _n._ 220, 234, þat 46, 56; _pl._ þe in all cases; for þan _adv._ 240. The compound demonstrative is þis _s. n. f._ 63; _d._ 122: the relatives, þe, þat, once þet 154, hwat 181: interrogative, hwat 84: indefinites, oþre _pl. d._ 242; non _n._ 38, no 112, nones _g._ 299, none _d._ 169, _a. f._ 280, non _a. neut._ 308, nenne _pl. a._ 296; eny _s. d. neut._ 225: nouht _n._ 35, nouhte _d._ 275: me 245, 247: fewe _pl. d._ 301: fele, feole 2, 249, vale 300: vyches _s. g. neut._ 276, echere _s. d. f._ 161, eueruyches _s. g. m._ 54: hwych _s. a. neut._ 52: swuch 53, swyhc 159: al _s. n. neut._ 105, alle _d. f._ 29, 30, _a. m._ 185, al _a. f._ 278, 279, _a. neut._ 89 &c., alre _pl. g._ 62, 110, in other cases of the _pl._ alle; mid alle 128.

Two-thirds of the infinitives end in e, ie, ye, y, lokie 41, wrþie, 36, 286, wyssye 21, arixlye 329, leorny 69, weny 244; n is retained mostly before vowels and at the end of lines and half-lines, but leten and forleten occur six times against lete once. A dative infinitive with inflection is to fone 55, others without inflection are leden 46, mowen 60, reowe 93, sowen 59, swynke 96, for to do 229, for to werie 56, for to vordrye 227. Presents are _s._ 1. holde 304, munye 25; 2. hauest 151, hafst 133, lest 316 (#lǣtest#); 3. leorneþ 66, seyþ 234 &c., foþ 289, wurþ 209, iwinþ 100 (read iwinneþ), let 204, 329, bihat 245: _pl._ 1. wurcheþ 283; 3. ibureþ 45, forteoþ 235: _subjunctive s._ 3. fare 64, lykie 88, lyke 155, loke 64; _pl._ 1. biþenche 284; 2. adrede 27, luuyen, lykyen 28: _imperative s._ 2. seye 152, leorne 170, ilef 132, 248, ryd 153, let 165, wurþ 184, but wrþe 124; _pl._ 2. lusteþ 140. Past of Strong Verbs: _s._ 3. Ia. cweþ 19 &c.; Ic. bigon 9, _pl._ Ia. sete 1; _subj. s._ 2. Ia. iseye 186; 3. Ib. bycome 138; V. greowe 81, wolde 278. Participles present: I c. singinde 153; V. uexynde 112, 313; past: I b. iboren 138, 328, vnbore 327; I c. forswunke 200, aswunde 76; II. biswike 76, idryue 61; III. idrowe 105, iscohte 303; IV. ischapen 92; V. isowen 80; VI. bitowe 106. Past of Weak Verbs: _s._ 2. heuedest 187; 3. brouhte 181, hadde 80, luuede 15, seyde 24, wiste 181. Participles present: lyuyinde 188, werende 316; past: ihurd 205, ilered 2, 39, iseyd 236, ised 230, iwreþþed 187, 222. Minor Groups: wot _pr. s._ 118, 156, not 114; ahte _pt. s. subj._ 79; on _pr. s._ 160, 162; con _pr. s._ 154, 302, kunne _pr. s. subj._ 40, cunne 41; schal _pr. s._ 35 &c., schulle 1 _pr. pl._ 127, schulen 276, schulle _pr. pl._ 49 &c., schule _pr. s. subj._ 42, 1 _pr. pl. subj._ 119, scolde _pt. s._ 87 &c., scholden _pt. pl._ 11; myht 2 _pr. s._ 159, 263, may _pr. s._ 38 &c., mawe 1 _pr. pl._ 286, 2 _pr. pl._ 10, mvwe _pr. s. subj._ 113, myhte _pt. s._ 199 &c., 2 _pt. pl._ 22; mote _pr. s. subj._ 149; beon _inf._ 68, nys _pr. s._ 112, 125, biþ _pr. s._ 322, beoþ _pr. pl._ 74, 76, beo _pr. s. subj._ 35 &c., _pr. pl. subj._ 202, wes _pt. s._ 4, were _pt. pl._ 24, _pt. s. subj._ 200, 325, nere 82; wille 1 _pr. s._ 142, wile _pr. s._ 154, wule 91 &c., nele 254, nule 69, wolde _pt. s._ 21, 2 _pt. pl._ 20, _pt. s. subj._ 191; do _inf._ 197, for to do _dat. inf._ 229, deþ _pr. s._ 288, 321, doþ 81 (read deþ); agoþ _pr. s._ 146, ouergoþ 143, ago _pr. s. subj._ 145.

Noteworthy adverbs are frakele 246, ifurn 236 (#gefyrn#), lihte 198, muchele 162, vuele 171, 176, vayre 245, 246: #oft# is always ofte.

#Dialect:# Southern, free from South-Eastern influence. The wavering in the representation of #a# before nasals points to the Middle South, but ihure 10, ihurd 205 are South-Western. But this representation of #īe#, as well as lyen (= lēan), is found in MS. e of the Poema Morale, which is generally taken as of the Middle South. The forms vyches, eueruyches occur elsewhere in MS. J, and are probably due to the scribe.

#Metre:# The system is that of Layamon and the Bestiary; the Worcester Fragment B shows an earlier stage of its development. It is a mixture of the national alliterative verse loosely constructed and rhyming couplets. The latter are bound together by perfect, imperfect, even inflectional rhymes, and assonances. The halves of the couplets as they appear in MS. J are of varying lengths, two measures as 73, 216, more frequently two and a half 7, 44 &c., three 51 &c., three and a half 8 &c. Three-syllable measures are common, as, ‘hé wes þe | wýsuste | mòn,’ 17, ‘his sé | des to sów | èn,’ 59, ‘his mé | des to mów | èn’ 60. The alliterative combinations present every possible variety, 2 + 2, as 16; the normal 2 + 1, as 67; 1 + 2, as 142; 1 + 1, as 23 and often. The couplet has sometimes the added ornament of alliteration, as 46, 47. Where a line has neither alliteration nor rhyme, it may be assumed that the formless text is corrupt, as at 26, 68 &c.

There is then little to be gained by a metrical analysis of the poem in its present condition. It had originally a quite definite and regular structure, but this has been spoiled by copyists with little feeling for the structure of the verse and possessed by a strong desire to renovate the antique. It is highly probable that the last of them, the writer of MS. J, had a large hand in this alteration, for the copy of the Poema Morale in the same MS. has undergone a drastic revision which sets it apart among the versions of that poem, and the version of the Owl and Nightingale has suffered, though not to the same extent. On the other hand MS. T was copied by a man who was incapable of remodelling it; though a ruin, it often preserves in details the original.