Note 3.—Willanexpressed originally (1)pure volition, and this is its most frequent use in O.E. It may occur without the infinitive:Nylle ic ðæs synfullan dēað, ac ic wille ðæt hē gecyrre and lybbe,I do not desire the sinner’s death, but I desire that he return and live. The wish being father to the intention,willansoon came to express (2)purpose:Hē sǣde ðæt hē at sumum cirre wolde fandian hū longe ðæt land norðryhte lǣge,He said that he intended, at some time, to investigate how far that land extended northward.Verb-Phrases withhabban,bēon(wesan), andweorðan.Verb-Phrases in the Active Voice.138.The present and preterit ofhabban, combined with a past participle, are used in O.E., as in Mn.E., to form the present perfect and past perfect tenses:Present Perfect.Past Perfect.Sing.1.Ic hæbbe gedrifenSing.1.Ic hæfde gedrifen2.ðū hæfst gedrifen2.ðū hæfdest gedrifen3.hē hæfð gedrifen3.hē hæfde gedrifenPlur.1.wē}habbað gedrifenPlur.1.wē}hæfdon gedrifen2.gē2.gē3.hīe3.hīeThe past participle is not usually inflected to agree with the direct object:Norðymbre ǫnd Ēastęngle hæfdon Ælfrede cyninge āðas geseald(notgesealde,§82),The Northumbrians and East Anglians had given king Alfred oaths;ǫnd hæfdon miclne dǣl ðāra horsa freten(notfretenne),and (they) had devoured a large part of the horses.Note.—Many sentences might be quoted in which the participle does agree with the direct object, but there seems to be no clear line of demarcation between them and the sentences just cited. Originally, the participle expressed aresultant state, and belonged in sense more to the object than tohabban; but in Early West Saxonhabbanhad already, in the majority of cases, become a pure auxiliary when used with the past participle. This is conclusively proved by the use ofhabbanwith intransitive verbs. In such a clause, therefore, asoð ðæt hīe hine ofslægenne hæfdon, there is no occasion to translateuntil they had him slain(=resultant state); the agreement here is more probably due to the proximity ofofslægennetohine. So alsoac hī hæfdon þā hiera stemn gesętenne,but they had already served out(sat out)their military term.139.If the verb is intransitive, and denotesa change of condition,a departure or arrival,bēon(wesan) usually replaceshabban. The past participle, in such cases, partakes of the nature of an adjective, and generally agrees with the subject:Mīne welan þe ic īo hæfde syndon ealle gewitene ǫnd gedrorene,My possessions which I once had are all departed and fallen away;wǣron þā męn uppe on lǫnde of āgāne,the men had gone up ashore;ǫnd þā ōþre wǣron hungre ācwolen,and theothers had perished of hunger;ǫnd ēac sē micla hęre wæs þā þǣr tō cumen,and also the large army had then arrived there.140.A progressive present and preterit (not always, however, with distinctively progressive meanings) are formed by combining a present participle with the present and preterit ofbēon(wesan). The participle remains uninflected:ǫnd hīe alle on ðone cyning wǣrun feohtende,and they all were fighting against the king;Symle hē bið lōciende, nē slǣpð hē nǣfre,He is always looking, nor does He ever sleep.Note.—In most sentences of this sort, the subject is masculine (singular or plural); hence no inference can be made as to agreement, since-eis the participial ending for both numbers of the nominative masculine (§82). By analogy, therefore, the other genders usually conform in inflection to the masculine:wǣron þā ealle þā dēoflu clypigende ānre stefne,then were all the devils crying with one voice.Verb-Phrases in the Passive Voice.141.Passive constructions are formed by combiningbēon(wesan) orweorðanwith a past participle. The participle agrees regularly with the subject:hīe wǣron benumene ǣgðer ge þæs cēapes ge þæs cornes,they were deprived both of the cattle and the corn;hī bēoð āblęnde mid ðǣm þīostrum heora scylda,they are blinded with the darkness of their sins;and sē wælhrēowa Domiciānus on ðām ylcan gēare wearð ācweald,and the murderous Domitian was killed in the same year;ǫnd Æþelwulf aldormǫn wearð ofslægen,and Æthelwulf, alderman, was slain.Note 1.—To express agency, Mn.E. employsby, rarelyof; M.E.of, rarelyby; O.E.frǫm(fram), rarelyof:Sē ðe Godes bebodune gecnǣwð, ne bið hē oncnāwen frǫm Gode,He who does not recognise God’s commands, will not be recognized by God;Betwux þǣm wearð ofslagen Ēadwine ... fram Brytta cyninge,Meanwhile, Edwin was slain by the king of the Britons.Note 2.—O.E. had no progressive forms for the passive, and could not, therefore, distinguish betweenHe is being woundedandHe is wounded. It was not until more than a hundred years after Shakespeare’s death thatbeingassumed this function.Weorðan, which originally denoteda passage from one state to another, was ultimately driven out bybēon(wesan), and survives now only inWoe worth(=be to).142.Vocabulary.ðā Beormas,Permians.ðā Dęeniscan,the Danish(men),Danes.ðā Finnas,Fins.ðæt gewald,control[wealdan].sēo sǣ,sea.sēo scīr,shire,district.sēo wælstōw,battle-field.āgan wælstōwe gewald,to maintain possession of the battle-field.sē wealdend,ruler,wielder.geflīeman,geflīemde,geflīemed,to put to flight.gestaðelian,gestaðelode,gestaðelod,to establish,restore.gewissian,gewissode,gewissod,to guide,direct.wīcian,wīcode,gewīcod,to dwell[wīc= village].143.Exercises.I. 1. Ǫnd ðær wæs micel wæl geslægen on gehwæþre hǫnd, ǫnd Æþelwulf ealdormǫn wearþ ofslægen; ǫnd þā Dęniscan āhton wælstōwe gewald. 2. Ǫnd þæs ymb ānne mōnaþ gefeaht Ælfred cyning wiþ ealne þone hęre ond hine geflīemde. 3. Hē sǣde þēah þæt þæt land sīe swīþe lang norþ þǫnan. 4. Þā Beormas hæfdon swīþe wel gebūd (§126, Note 2) hiera land. 5. Ohthęre sǣde þæt sēo scīr hātte (§117, Note 2) Hālgoland, þe hē on (§94, (5)) būde. 6. Þā Finnas wīcedon be þǣre sǣ. 7. Dryhten, ælmihtiga (§78, Note) God, Wyrhta and Wealdend ealra gesceafta, ic biddeðē for ðīnre miclan mildheortnesse ðæt ðū mē gewissie tō ðīnum willan; and gestaðela mīn mōd tō ðīnum willan and tō mīnre sāwle ðearfe. 8. Þā sceolde hē ðǣr bīdan ryhtnorþanwindes, for ðǣm þæt land bēag þǣr sūðryhte, oþþe sēo sǣ in on ðæt land, hē nysse hwæðer. 9. For ðȳ, mē ðyncð bętre, gif ēow swā ðyncð, ðæt wē ēac ðās bēc on ðæt geðēode węnden ðe wē ealle gecnāwan mægen.II. 1. When the king heard that, he went (= then went he) westward with his army to Ashdown. 2. Lovest thou me more than these? 3. The men said that the shire which they lived in was called Halgoland. 4. All things were made (wyrcan) by God. 5. They were fighting for two days with (= against) the Danes. 6. King Alfred fought with the Danes, and gained the victory; but the Danes retained possession of the battle-field. 7. These men dwelt in England before they came hither. 8. I have not seen the book of (ymbe) which you speak (sprecan).
Note 3.—Willanexpressed originally (1)pure volition, and this is its most frequent use in O.E. It may occur without the infinitive:Nylle ic ðæs synfullan dēað, ac ic wille ðæt hē gecyrre and lybbe,I do not desire the sinner’s death, but I desire that he return and live. The wish being father to the intention,willansoon came to express (2)purpose:Hē sǣde ðæt hē at sumum cirre wolde fandian hū longe ðæt land norðryhte lǣge,He said that he intended, at some time, to investigate how far that land extended northward.Verb-Phrases withhabban,bēon(wesan), andweorðan.Verb-Phrases in the Active Voice.138.The present and preterit ofhabban, combined with a past participle, are used in O.E., as in Mn.E., to form the present perfect and past perfect tenses:Present Perfect.Past Perfect.Sing.1.Ic hæbbe gedrifenSing.1.Ic hæfde gedrifen2.ðū hæfst gedrifen2.ðū hæfdest gedrifen3.hē hæfð gedrifen3.hē hæfde gedrifenPlur.1.wē}habbað gedrifenPlur.1.wē}hæfdon gedrifen2.gē2.gē3.hīe3.hīeThe past participle is not usually inflected to agree with the direct object:Norðymbre ǫnd Ēastęngle hæfdon Ælfrede cyninge āðas geseald(notgesealde,§82),The Northumbrians and East Anglians had given king Alfred oaths;ǫnd hæfdon miclne dǣl ðāra horsa freten(notfretenne),and (they) had devoured a large part of the horses.Note.—Many sentences might be quoted in which the participle does agree with the direct object, but there seems to be no clear line of demarcation between them and the sentences just cited. Originally, the participle expressed aresultant state, and belonged in sense more to the object than tohabban; but in Early West Saxonhabbanhad already, in the majority of cases, become a pure auxiliary when used with the past participle. This is conclusively proved by the use ofhabbanwith intransitive verbs. In such a clause, therefore, asoð ðæt hīe hine ofslægenne hæfdon, there is no occasion to translateuntil they had him slain(=resultant state); the agreement here is more probably due to the proximity ofofslægennetohine. So alsoac hī hæfdon þā hiera stemn gesętenne,but they had already served out(sat out)their military term.139.If the verb is intransitive, and denotesa change of condition,a departure or arrival,bēon(wesan) usually replaceshabban. The past participle, in such cases, partakes of the nature of an adjective, and generally agrees with the subject:Mīne welan þe ic īo hæfde syndon ealle gewitene ǫnd gedrorene,My possessions which I once had are all departed and fallen away;wǣron þā męn uppe on lǫnde of āgāne,the men had gone up ashore;ǫnd þā ōþre wǣron hungre ācwolen,and theothers had perished of hunger;ǫnd ēac sē micla hęre wæs þā þǣr tō cumen,and also the large army had then arrived there.140.A progressive present and preterit (not always, however, with distinctively progressive meanings) are formed by combining a present participle with the present and preterit ofbēon(wesan). The participle remains uninflected:ǫnd hīe alle on ðone cyning wǣrun feohtende,and they all were fighting against the king;Symle hē bið lōciende, nē slǣpð hē nǣfre,He is always looking, nor does He ever sleep.Note.—In most sentences of this sort, the subject is masculine (singular or plural); hence no inference can be made as to agreement, since-eis the participial ending for both numbers of the nominative masculine (§82). By analogy, therefore, the other genders usually conform in inflection to the masculine:wǣron þā ealle þā dēoflu clypigende ānre stefne,then were all the devils crying with one voice.Verb-Phrases in the Passive Voice.141.Passive constructions are formed by combiningbēon(wesan) orweorðanwith a past participle. The participle agrees regularly with the subject:hīe wǣron benumene ǣgðer ge þæs cēapes ge þæs cornes,they were deprived both of the cattle and the corn;hī bēoð āblęnde mid ðǣm þīostrum heora scylda,they are blinded with the darkness of their sins;and sē wælhrēowa Domiciānus on ðām ylcan gēare wearð ācweald,and the murderous Domitian was killed in the same year;ǫnd Æþelwulf aldormǫn wearð ofslægen,and Æthelwulf, alderman, was slain.Note 1.—To express agency, Mn.E. employsby, rarelyof; M.E.of, rarelyby; O.E.frǫm(fram), rarelyof:Sē ðe Godes bebodune gecnǣwð, ne bið hē oncnāwen frǫm Gode,He who does not recognise God’s commands, will not be recognized by God;Betwux þǣm wearð ofslagen Ēadwine ... fram Brytta cyninge,Meanwhile, Edwin was slain by the king of the Britons.Note 2.—O.E. had no progressive forms for the passive, and could not, therefore, distinguish betweenHe is being woundedandHe is wounded. It was not until more than a hundred years after Shakespeare’s death thatbeingassumed this function.Weorðan, which originally denoteda passage from one state to another, was ultimately driven out bybēon(wesan), and survives now only inWoe worth(=be to).142.Vocabulary.ðā Beormas,Permians.ðā Dęeniscan,the Danish(men),Danes.ðā Finnas,Fins.ðæt gewald,control[wealdan].sēo sǣ,sea.sēo scīr,shire,district.sēo wælstōw,battle-field.āgan wælstōwe gewald,to maintain possession of the battle-field.sē wealdend,ruler,wielder.geflīeman,geflīemde,geflīemed,to put to flight.gestaðelian,gestaðelode,gestaðelod,to establish,restore.gewissian,gewissode,gewissod,to guide,direct.wīcian,wīcode,gewīcod,to dwell[wīc= village].143.Exercises.I. 1. Ǫnd ðær wæs micel wæl geslægen on gehwæþre hǫnd, ǫnd Æþelwulf ealdormǫn wearþ ofslægen; ǫnd þā Dęniscan āhton wælstōwe gewald. 2. Ǫnd þæs ymb ānne mōnaþ gefeaht Ælfred cyning wiþ ealne þone hęre ond hine geflīemde. 3. Hē sǣde þēah þæt þæt land sīe swīþe lang norþ þǫnan. 4. Þā Beormas hæfdon swīþe wel gebūd (§126, Note 2) hiera land. 5. Ohthęre sǣde þæt sēo scīr hātte (§117, Note 2) Hālgoland, þe hē on (§94, (5)) būde. 6. Þā Finnas wīcedon be þǣre sǣ. 7. Dryhten, ælmihtiga (§78, Note) God, Wyrhta and Wealdend ealra gesceafta, ic biddeðē for ðīnre miclan mildheortnesse ðæt ðū mē gewissie tō ðīnum willan; and gestaðela mīn mōd tō ðīnum willan and tō mīnre sāwle ðearfe. 8. Þā sceolde hē ðǣr bīdan ryhtnorþanwindes, for ðǣm þæt land bēag þǣr sūðryhte, oþþe sēo sǣ in on ðæt land, hē nysse hwæðer. 9. For ðȳ, mē ðyncð bętre, gif ēow swā ðyncð, ðæt wē ēac ðās bēc on ðæt geðēode węnden ðe wē ealle gecnāwan mægen.II. 1. When the king heard that, he went (= then went he) westward with his army to Ashdown. 2. Lovest thou me more than these? 3. The men said that the shire which they lived in was called Halgoland. 4. All things were made (wyrcan) by God. 5. They were fighting for two days with (= against) the Danes. 6. King Alfred fought with the Danes, and gained the victory; but the Danes retained possession of the battle-field. 7. These men dwelt in England before they came hither. 8. I have not seen the book of (ymbe) which you speak (sprecan).
Note 3.—Willanexpressed originally (1)pure volition, and this is its most frequent use in O.E. It may occur without the infinitive:Nylle ic ðæs synfullan dēað, ac ic wille ðæt hē gecyrre and lybbe,I do not desire the sinner’s death, but I desire that he return and live. The wish being father to the intention,willansoon came to express (2)purpose:Hē sǣde ðæt hē at sumum cirre wolde fandian hū longe ðæt land norðryhte lǣge,He said that he intended, at some time, to investigate how far that land extended northward.
The present and preterit ofhabban, combined with a past participle, are used in O.E., as in Mn.E., to form the present perfect and past perfect tenses:
The past participle is not usually inflected to agree with the direct object:Norðymbre ǫnd Ēastęngle hæfdon Ælfrede cyninge āðas geseald(notgesealde,§82),The Northumbrians and East Anglians had given king Alfred oaths;ǫnd hæfdon miclne dǣl ðāra horsa freten(notfretenne),and (they) had devoured a large part of the horses.
Note.—Many sentences might be quoted in which the participle does agree with the direct object, but there seems to be no clear line of demarcation between them and the sentences just cited. Originally, the participle expressed aresultant state, and belonged in sense more to the object than tohabban; but in Early West Saxonhabbanhad already, in the majority of cases, become a pure auxiliary when used with the past participle. This is conclusively proved by the use ofhabbanwith intransitive verbs. In such a clause, therefore, asoð ðæt hīe hine ofslægenne hæfdon, there is no occasion to translateuntil they had him slain(=resultant state); the agreement here is more probably due to the proximity ofofslægennetohine. So alsoac hī hæfdon þā hiera stemn gesętenne,but they had already served out(sat out)their military term.
If the verb is intransitive, and denotesa change of condition,a departure or arrival,bēon(wesan) usually replaceshabban. The past participle, in such cases, partakes of the nature of an adjective, and generally agrees with the subject:Mīne welan þe ic īo hæfde syndon ealle gewitene ǫnd gedrorene,My possessions which I once had are all departed and fallen away;wǣron þā męn uppe on lǫnde of āgāne,the men had gone up ashore;ǫnd þā ōþre wǣron hungre ācwolen,and theothers had perished of hunger;ǫnd ēac sē micla hęre wæs þā þǣr tō cumen,and also the large army had then arrived there.
A progressive present and preterit (not always, however, with distinctively progressive meanings) are formed by combining a present participle with the present and preterit ofbēon(wesan). The participle remains uninflected:ǫnd hīe alle on ðone cyning wǣrun feohtende,and they all were fighting against the king;Symle hē bið lōciende, nē slǣpð hē nǣfre,He is always looking, nor does He ever sleep.
Note.—In most sentences of this sort, the subject is masculine (singular or plural); hence no inference can be made as to agreement, since-eis the participial ending for both numbers of the nominative masculine (§82). By analogy, therefore, the other genders usually conform in inflection to the masculine:wǣron þā ealle þā dēoflu clypigende ānre stefne,then were all the devils crying with one voice.
Passive constructions are formed by combiningbēon(wesan) orweorðanwith a past participle. The participle agrees regularly with the subject:hīe wǣron benumene ǣgðer ge þæs cēapes ge þæs cornes,they were deprived both of the cattle and the corn;hī bēoð āblęnde mid ðǣm þīostrum heora scylda,they are blinded with the darkness of their sins;and sē wælhrēowa Domiciānus on ðām ylcan gēare wearð ācweald,and the murderous Domitian was killed in the same year;ǫnd Æþelwulf aldormǫn wearð ofslægen,and Æthelwulf, alderman, was slain.
Note 1.—To express agency, Mn.E. employsby, rarelyof; M.E.of, rarelyby; O.E.frǫm(fram), rarelyof:Sē ðe Godes bebodune gecnǣwð, ne bið hē oncnāwen frǫm Gode,He who does not recognise God’s commands, will not be recognized by God;Betwux þǣm wearð ofslagen Ēadwine ... fram Brytta cyninge,Meanwhile, Edwin was slain by the king of the Britons.
Note 2.—O.E. had no progressive forms for the passive, and could not, therefore, distinguish betweenHe is being woundedandHe is wounded. It was not until more than a hundred years after Shakespeare’s death thatbeingassumed this function.Weorðan, which originally denoteda passage from one state to another, was ultimately driven out bybēon(wesan), and survives now only inWoe worth(=be to).
Vocabulary.
ðā Beormas,Permians.ðā Dęeniscan,the Danish(men),Danes.ðā Finnas,Fins.ðæt gewald,control[wealdan].sēo sǣ,sea.sēo scīr,shire,district.sēo wælstōw,battle-field.āgan wælstōwe gewald,to maintain possession of the battle-field.sē wealdend,ruler,wielder.
ðā Beormas,Permians.
ðā Dęeniscan,the Danish(men),Danes.
ðā Finnas,Fins.
ðæt gewald,control[wealdan].
sēo sǣ,sea.
sēo scīr,shire,district.
sēo wælstōw,battle-field.
āgan wælstōwe gewald,to maintain possession of the battle-field.
sē wealdend,ruler,wielder.
Exercises.
I. 1. Ǫnd ðær wæs micel wæl geslægen on gehwæþre hǫnd, ǫnd Æþelwulf ealdormǫn wearþ ofslægen; ǫnd þā Dęniscan āhton wælstōwe gewald. 2. Ǫnd þæs ymb ānne mōnaþ gefeaht Ælfred cyning wiþ ealne þone hęre ond hine geflīemde. 3. Hē sǣde þēah þæt þæt land sīe swīþe lang norþ þǫnan. 4. Þā Beormas hæfdon swīþe wel gebūd (§126, Note 2) hiera land. 5. Ohthęre sǣde þæt sēo scīr hātte (§117, Note 2) Hālgoland, þe hē on (§94, (5)) būde. 6. Þā Finnas wīcedon be þǣre sǣ. 7. Dryhten, ælmihtiga (§78, Note) God, Wyrhta and Wealdend ealra gesceafta, ic biddeðē for ðīnre miclan mildheortnesse ðæt ðū mē gewissie tō ðīnum willan; and gestaðela mīn mōd tō ðīnum willan and tō mīnre sāwle ðearfe. 8. Þā sceolde hē ðǣr bīdan ryhtnorþanwindes, for ðǣm þæt land bēag þǣr sūðryhte, oþþe sēo sǣ in on ðæt land, hē nysse hwæðer. 9. For ðȳ, mē ðyncð bętre, gif ēow swā ðyncð, ðæt wē ēac ðās bēc on ðæt geðēode węnden ðe wē ealle gecnāwan mægen.
II. 1. When the king heard that, he went (= then went he) westward with his army to Ashdown. 2. Lovest thou me more than these? 3. The men said that the shire which they lived in was called Halgoland. 4. All things were made (wyrcan) by God. 5. They were fighting for two days with (= against) the Danes. 6. King Alfred fought with the Danes, and gained the victory; but the Danes retained possession of the battle-field. 7. These men dwelt in England before they came hither. 8. I have not seen the book of (ymbe) which you speak (sprecan).