83. ‘Mult volanters vous retanrai,’ W 6957.84.ohte, doughty: OE.āht, shortened fromāwiht: so the root sense is ‘anything, good for anything, worth something.’ Comp. ‘ahte cniht wes Auelin,’ L 8141.86.scome . . . grome: see96/57 note, and for the corresponding verbs comp. ‘þerfore him ofte scomede;⁊ his heorte gromede,’ L 13763.94.dringches, warriors: OWScand. drengr, young man: the change of e to i is normal; see Björkman, 292.95.hændestis taken by the editors generally as, nearest (to him), but everywhere else in L it means, courteous, or the like: comp. 98/77: perhaps him should be omitted.97.him to, to Vortigern, butsendenis corrupt; reading, seoððen siȝen him to, the meaning would be, next the Saxon knights followed after them; comp. ‘þe eorles heom siȝen to;mid fele heore cnihtes,’ L 9996.98.aldenecannot be right, its final e does not belong to the dat. sing.: comp. ‘in alden hire denne,’ L 22027. Read aldrene, of the kin of his ancestors: comp. 98/69, 104/193; ‘of his eoldrene istreon,’ L 18609.99.hændelicheis translated by Mätzner, courteously; rather, making a brave show.100.iscrudde . . . iuædde: comp. ‘he us haueð wel iued;he us haueð wel iscrud,’ L 13573; 104/190.101.hængestis the last word on the page, and the scribe has in consequence omitted-es: forswaineread swaines.102.hehne, ‘hæhne,’ L 11378, represents OE.hēanne,acc.ofhēan, mean, humble, and ‘hæne,’ 106/204, itsnom.hēane: but ‘hæhne,’ 106/205, represents theacc.ofhēah, high (seldomhēahne, mostlyheanne).104. Comp. ‘Nes hit noh[t] longe;buten ane stunde,’ L 14423.ne: see25/241 note.longeis adverbial in form.108. Comp. ‘ꝥ lond heo þurh arnden;⁊ herȝeden ⁊ barnden,’ L 12129, 9934.109.ænde: see 96/34.iuald, they fell; comp. ‘sixti þusende;he leide to þen gronde,’ L 4751.111is formal: see 102/142, L 1035, 3147 &c.117.duden—iwune, behaved as usual: comp. ‘hu Osric Edwines sune;dude ut-laȝen wune,’ L 31270.120. Comp. ‘þat fæht wes swuðe strong;⁊ swuðe stær ⁊ swuðe longe,’ L 4170.121. ‘Por ce que vaincre les soloient | Lor costume tenir voloient; | Mais lor usage i ont perdu,’ W 6991.122.an oðer,nom. adj.agreeing with hit: the construction is frequent in L; comp. ‘ah al an oðer hit iwærd;oðer he iwende,’ L 17336: oðer,adj.is also found in the same construction; comp. 203/202; ‘ah al hit iwrað (= iwarð) oðer;þene heo iwenden,’ L 19506, but it is mostly adverbial, as, ‘ah al heo þohten oðer,’ L 5429; ‘al oþer hit schal go,’ OEM 41/140.123. Ifhelerepresents OE.hælo, safety,heommeans, to the Britons, but the transition is abrupt, and Logeman suggests thathelemay mean, thing hidden, secret; its known meanings being, concealment, hiding-place; it might be better to substitute iheled foral hele.127.feondliche, furiously; comp. ‘Dunwal i þan fæhte;wes feondliche kene,’ L 4168, where O substitutes ‘swiþe.’feollen þa fæie: an oft-repeated formula in L.130.vnnifoȝe: OE.ungefōg, immense; here, countless. Comp. ‘muchel ⁊ unifoh,’ L 8674, ‘monie ⁊ vniuoȝe,’ id. 13187; ‘For noldest þu nefre [hab]ben inouh, buten þu hefdest unifouh,’ Worcester Frag. D 39.132.on uast, close to, fast by him; OE.on+fæst: comp. ‘He makede an temple onfest þe baðe,’ L 2852: but Luhmann, p. 95, deduces it fromon œfeste, influenced by theprep.fæst bi.133. The subject ofȝefis he, contained in kinge: see 6/18. ‘Et Lindesée et bons manoirs,’ W.134. ‘unc sceal worn fela | māþma gemǣnra,’ Beowulf, 1783, 4.136.a þan ilke, on the same footing, thus: comp. ‘⁊ þus ane stonde;hit stod æ ðon ilka,’ L 3117, 3716, 14890 &c. ‘Ensi ont longement esté | Et lor amor a mult dure,’ W 7001.137. Forlondesread londe, or forþan, þas.139O.hendeliche, cleverly.141.hæȝe dæie, festival; mostly associated with religious observance; comp. ‘Hit wes an anne hæhȝe dæie;halȝedenleoden,’ L 10708. ‘Un jor trova le roi haitié | Si l’a à consel afaitié,’ W 7009.duȝeðe monnen, the men of his nobility, the retainers of his court; the first element answers to OE.duguðe,s. g.ofduguð.148.ræcchen . . . runen, expound, disclose secret counsels; comp. ‘summe heo muche runen;ræhten heom bitweonen,’ L 25123; ‘þe sunne reccheð hire rune euch buten reste,’ SM 9/30. (‘Sol in aspectu annuncians in exitu, vas admirabile opus excelsi,’ Ecclus. xliii. 2.)150.halden to wraððeapparently means, consider it a ground for anger: perhaps wenden should be read for halden.153.þine monscipe ihæȝed, advanced thy dignity; comp. ‘⁊ mine monscipe hæien,’ 5451; ‘þurh þe haueð Morgan mi mæi;is monscipe afallet,’ id. 3838.154.þine: see 92/26.157. ‘Ai jo assés aparçéu | . . . | Que tu n’en as baron qui t’aint; | Cascuns te het, cascuns te plaint,’ W 7017.158.bare, actual, absolute; comp. ‘his leode hine hateden | in to þan bare dæðe,’ L 7034; ‘bi þine bare life,’ id. 25800.þareO is a scribal error.159.stilleliche, secretly; so too stille 104/170; comp. ‘mid stilliche runen,’ L 355; ‘mid heore stil rune,’ id. 3249: withspilieðcomp. 110/266; ‘Þus speken þeos swiken;and spileden mid worde,’ L 3816.161.ambrosie: Aurelius Ambrosius: O has the former name.163.laȝen, ways, practices, a sense developed out of that of custom, but Mätzner translates, in a treasonable manner. His death was compassed by Vortigern, as O says.169.androeinnes: L has elsewhere only Androgeus, and Androgeum as in W, with once Androchiesgen.8194. The present form corresponds to Androgen, Andragen, Andragenus of the prose Brut, ed. Brie, p. 33.173.kineliche, royal, and therefore in the king’s gift.175. Comp. ‘Þin hired þe hateð for me | ⁊ ich æm iuæid for þe,’ L 14458.iuaidispp.of ȝefeogen, OE. *gefēogan: see NED v. 525,s.v.ivee.iveiþedispp.of a derivative verb from OE.fæhð, feud: it occurs four times in O.uor þe, because of yourunpopularity.ic wene&c., I expect to be killed.176.fare&c.: see 34/86.177.biclused: comp. ‘⁊ hæuede Valentin wel uaste | biclused in ane castle,’ L 12191: elsewhere O substitutes ‘bituned.’ ‘Si ai por toi maint anemi; | Ne puis par nuit estre aséur | Fors de castel et fors de mur,’ W 7040.180.of—idon: see94/9 note.182.wine maies: OE.wine mǣg, a loving kinsman: L has also vniwinen, onwines, enemies, 14466.184.hiren: comp. 94/19, 98/68. ‘Plus séurs en sera de moi | Et jo en servirai mius toi,’ W 7035.188.afeoh: ‘Et bien les recoif et conroie,’ W 7052.190.ueden . . . scruden: see 100/100.195.Þa ȝet, still: OE.þā git. Comp. ‘hafde þa ȝet an honde,’ L 8540; ‘þe ȝet þe he wes i Rome’ (= while he was still in Rome), id. 9733.196.driȝen, submit to.her&c., in this and in all things.201.stonden—hond, to be in my possession permanently: comp. ‘Nustond al þis muchele lond;a Bailenes aȝere hond,’ L 4330. Stonden in L often means little more than beon.a, unemphatic on: comp. ll. 215, 210.202.anes bule hude: Madden suggests an or bules, but in the glossary treats bule as genitive: Mätzner thinks bule may represent a Scand. gen. bola; but bule-hude is a compound of which the first element is uninflected, yet genitive in essence, and so capable of association with an adjective in that case: the principle is the same as in ahnes, 74/207 note; the meaning is, the hide of one bull.Ælches weies, in every direction, but Mätzner explains, in any wise, any way, quoting ‘Ælches weies him wes wa,’ 18703, where the meaning appears to be, in both directions, on either side.in greneO, on a green, is a curious variant, and an early use of the noun in this sense.204.hæne . . . riche; a frequent combination in L: it means the lowly . . . the exalted, the commons . . . the nobles, rather than, the poor . . . the rich.210.þer . . . on, on which: see 1/3.213.þerefers to hude.wunder ane strong: this combination of wunder ane with an adjective as here and at 106/219, 108/258, is frequent in the older text of L. So we find wunder ane brad, bliðe, cræftie, deop, fæir, laðe, lihte, monie, wod. It is also found with adverbs, as ‘Þa weop Vðer;wunder ane swiðe,’ L 18140, and once ‘bitter ane swiðe’ occurs, L 30302, where O has ‘biterliche swiþe.’ For wunder ane, O usually substitutes swiþe or wunderliche or rewrites or omits, but once for ‘wunder ane kene,’ 19935, it has kept ‘wonder one kene.’Wunderis an adverb, as in ‘Þat feht wes wnder strong,’ L 1744; ‘mid wunder muchele strengðe,’ id. 25078, andaneis OE.ǣne,āne, adverbial derivative ofān, in an extended use, uniquely, exceptionally, so that the combination means, wonderfully strong beyond all comparison. The translation in Specimens, ‘a wonderfully strong one,’ does not take into account the form of ane, and anticipates the pronominal use of an. In ‘summe heo sæten stille;mucle ane stunde,’ L 25121, ane is the acc. of the article, the meaning being, for a long time.214.cuðe a: on and of interchange with this verb elsewhere in L: so ‘And alle þe cuðe a boken,’ C 14431, ‘Ac al þat couþe of boke,’ O.218.swulc, as it were: OE.swylce: O regularly substitutes ase.220. ‘Une coroie en estendi | De coi grant tère avirona,’ W 7072. Similar tales are found in Virgil, Aeneid, i. 371; Saxo Grammaticus, ed. Holder, p. 143, of Ivar’s foundation of London: comp. Geoffrey of Monmouth, ed. San Marte, p. 313.223.muchele ⁊ mare, great and glorious: B-T. quotes ‘Mære ⁊ miclu weorc drihtnes,’ Ps. Lamb., cx. 2.224.scop . . . hire, shaped for it: OE.naman, orto naman scieppan, with dat. of person or thing named, as ‘scōp him Heor[o]t naman,’ Beowulf, 78; 179/107 note. L has a weak past also, ‘ah scupte him nome,’ 1951. ‘Cest non Vancastre li a mis, | El langage de son païs. | Vancastre cest nom del quir prent, | Sel puet l’on nomer altrement | Chastel de coroie en romans, | Kaer Kaerai en bretans. | Or l’apèlent pluisor Lancastre | Qui ne savoient l’aqoison | Dont Vancastre ot premier cest non,’ W 7075-84. The traditional site is Tong in Kent: ‘Tong Castle or rather Thong Castle, in Saxon Þwangceastre, in British Caer Kerry . . . both whiche woordes signifie a Thong of leather,’ Lambarde, A Perambulation of Kent, ed. 1576, p. 195. But Camden in his Britannia, published in 1586, p. 306, places it in Lincolnshire, at Caster, six miles from Grimsby. L specializes in place-names; see his account of London, 7099, Hampton, 9376, Caen, 27923, Cernel, 29674. The formula in l. 227 occurs at 6062, 9380 &c.228.gomeis translated ‘adventure’ by Madden, rather, proceeding, tricky device.230.lane casteland Wace’s ‘Lancastre’ can hardly be meant for Lancaster; they are possibly due to the Lincolnshire tradition.232.comis practically an auxiliary verb: comp. ‘Leir wes cumen liðen,’ Lear had arrived, L 3626, 5379; ‘Þenne þu cumes faren ham,’ when thou dost fare home, id. 4398: similarly ‘gon forð liðe,’ 108/243, 245.233. Read rideren: used vaguely for knights.234.comenis probably an interpolation.to iwiten, that is to say: comp. ‘and forð he gon liðen;mid his Brutleoden. | þat is to iwitene;mid twa hundred scipene,’ L 30914.æhtene, ‘good,’ Madden; but the meaning wanted is, eighteen large ships; ‘Vinrent dix huit nés cargies | De chevaliers et de maisnies,’ W 7087; and so Madden corrects, iii. 487. Mätzner reads æhtetene, OE.eahta tyne, but ahtene occurs again C 18015, where O has ehtetene.237.umbe while, after a (short) time: so ‘umbe stunde,’ L 26505; ‘umben ane stunde,’ id. 15924; ‘umben longne first,’ id. 287: O has usually the same variant as here, but ‘bi on lutel stunde,’ O 11969: see KH 333 note.238.mid, among, ranking with: comp. ‘cniht mid þane beste,’ L 707, ‘swike mid þan meste,’ id. 2547; ‘hærm mid þon meste,’ id. 9806.239.badin C is OE.bēad, offered him hospitality; in O, OE.bæd,invited him to a banquet, as also in C 241.gistninge, entertainment; ME. gistnen, derivative of OE.giest, influenced by OWScand. gista: see Björkman, 152.240.to ȝeines him, against his coming, to receive him: comp. ‘scipen he þer funde. | þat to-ȝenes him weoren ibonned,’ L 9731. Elsewhere in L the preposition is joined with a verb of motion.241.fæire underfon: see 5/11 note.245.ꝥ, until: see 72/179.246. ‘Le castel et l’oevre agarda, | Mult fu bien fais, mult le loa,’ W 7103.249. Layamon’s delight in descriptions of feasts and music is in strong contrast to Wace’s prosaic manner. The present passage may be compared with L 3634, 5107, 14946. Mätzner would read gomen-men, musicians, or gleomen, with change of cleopien into gleowien, butgomenmeans games, a regular accompaniment of the feast (see KH 478 note), andcleopienproclaim, as in ‘Lette þe king gan awal;⁊ lude clepien ouer al,’ L 3644.250.hetten, ordered; perhaps a mistake for letten, as L has generally hehten in this sense. Withbredencomp. ‘bordes heo brædden,’ L 18523, where O has ‘bordes hii leiden’: it means, to cover with cloth and viands.251.dræm&c.: comp. 102/146; ‘blisse wes on folke,’ L 5108, ‘blisse wes on hirede,’ id. 14947.252.þa—iloten, then had the better fallen to their lot; lucky men were they! OE.gehlēotan, to share by lot.253-268. In L 14956-81 Ronwen again appears as cupbearer.254.vnimete prude, boundless splendour: OE.prȳto, influenced in this meaning by OWScand. prýþi, ornament.255.al ꝥ scrud, all the clothing;sing., thepl.is ‘alle þa scrud,’ L 10180: the number changes inheo weoren.ibon, prepared, adorned: comp. ‘wel wes he ibon,’ L 12805, in O alle wel idiht; ‘þas scipen ibone,’ id. 32037. It is an East Scand.pp.bōin, as buen is West Scand. búinn: ‘iboned,’ L 8086, with same meaning ispp.of the derivative *ibonen parallel with bounen, derivative of buen. See Björkman, 206.256.ibrusted, made bristly, rough: comp. ‘alle þai mete-burdes;ibrusted (ibrustled O) mid golde,’ L 24667; ‘vestes auroque ostroque rigentes,’ Virg. Æn., xi. 72.261.sæt, went down on: comp. ‘þa hie for þam cumble on cneowum sæton,’ Grein, ii. 484/180: see KH 781 note.263.wæs hæilis OWScand. væs heill, be well, good health to you! In ‘Lavert King wes hel tant li dist,’ W 7115, the forms are English: comp.‘Wes þu, Hroðgar, hal!’ Beowulf, 407.for—uæin: see 94/24: O means, for thy coming is wholesome to me; forcomes, plural with meaning of singular, comp. ‘hwanan eowre cyme syndon,’Beowulf,257; ‘hwonan his cyme sindon,’ Grein, iii. 89/1196; and for the usual expression, 94/24 note.266. See 102/159.weoren, might be.267.Keredic: ‘Redic li respondi premiers, | Brez ert, si fu bons latiniers; | Ce fu li premiers des Bretons | Qui sot le langaige as Sessons,’ W 7119. The name, Cerdic, Ceredic, Cerdicelmet, is in Nennius, ed. Petrie, ch. xxxvii.sellic, marvellous, gifted.268.æris probably a scribe’s mistake for æuer, due toherfollowing.271.tiðende,pl.practice: see 96/35; and for Hit with beoðpl.1/10, 94/7. ‘Costume est, sire, en son païs,’ W 7127.272.gladieð of drenche, find enjoyment in drinking: of with the adj. is common, with the verb rare: comp. 126/310.273.Mid—hende, with pleasant courteous looks, or manner, generally including gesture: ME. lat, lot is OWScand. lát, Björkman, 91. Comp. ‘mid leofliche læten,’ L 19396; ‘mid swiðe uæire læten,’ id. 15661; ‘mid wunsumme lades,’ id. 12278. In Havelok 1246, ‘Wesseyl þe[i] ledden fele siþe,’ read seyden for ledden.274. ‘Quant ami boivent entre amis, | Que cil dist wes hel qui doit boire | Et cil drinkel qui doit recoivre,’ W 7128.drinc hail, drink health, the latter word being a noun, OWScand. heill.276.oðer—fareð, one brings another full one there. Different in W, ‘Dont boit cil tote la moitié,’ but afterwards he has ‘Et de boivre plain ou demi,’ 7143.277.þreoien: nothing corresponding in W, only ‘entrebaisier.’278.sele laȝen, pleasing customs: see KH 1110 note.284O.swipte, tossed it off: OE.swipian, to lash; comp. OWScand. svipa, to move quickly.286.fain: the English had a bad reputation for their drinking habits among their French neighbours. Wace describes their revels on the night before the battle of Hastings, ‘Bublie crient e weisseil | E laticome e drincheheil, | Drinc hindrewart e drintome, | Drenc folf, drinc half e drinc tode,’ Roman de Rou, ed. Andresen, 7377, that is, They cry, be blithe and wassail, and let it (the cup) come and drinchail, drink after and drink to me, drink full, drink half and drink to thee. ‘Fercula multiplicant et sine lege bibunt. Wessail et dringail,’ says Burnellus of the English students at Paris at the end of the twelfth century, Nigelli Speculum, 63/19. The parallel place in the prose Brut is, ‘þat was þe ferst tyme þat “whatsaile”and “drynkehaile” come vp into þis lande; and fram þat tyme into this tyme it Haþ bene wel vsede,’ 52/13.290.mod . . . main, mind and might: an OE. combination; comp. ‘ða ongunnon heo sticcemælum mod ⁊ mægen monian,’ Bede, 54/8, = ‘vires animosque resumere.’halde to, inclined to: OE.hieldan: its use elsewhere in L is quite different; ‘þa hæðene hundes;hælden to grunde,’ L 19558, is typical.291. Comp. ‘þe wurse him wes ful neh,’ L 13284, 16636; ‘þe wurs him wes on heorte,’ id. 9215; ‘þe scucke wes bi-tweonen,’ id. 276; ‘Tant l’a diables cimoné | Qui maint homme a à mal torné,’ W 7159. Forælche, swilce should perhaps be read.292.mæingde, troubled, lit. mingled: the verb is mostly passive in L, as ‘his mod him gon mengen;he morȝnede swiðe,’ 3407; comp. ‘Almast menged him his mode,’ CM 8804.293.murnede, said of painful longing.295.leoden to hærme, to his people’s hurt: comp. ‘Twenti ȝer he heold þis lond;þa leoden al to hærme,’ L 2580; 176/24 note:folkin O is dative.298.funde—ræd, thought it advisable: comp. ‘he uunde on his ræde;to don þat heo hine beden,’ L 21933; ‘Hit is on mine rede;to don þat þu bede,’ id. 31106; 12/5 in piece v. But W says he took the advice of his brother and friends, ‘Loë li ont et consillié | Que il li doint délivrement,’ W 7172.Phonology:...eoin heoreð 58 (if fromherian)missing close parenthesiswis lost ... bilæuen 39, biuoren 9539 biuoren(2)Of O.... The present forms ofwillanmisprinted as plain (non-bold)... Initialhlis reduced tol“l” misprinted as bold instead of italichnton, nap 275“hnton” added by authorAdjectives ... enne (ende) 211enne(ende)The personal pronouns ... mineneut.22 (7)22(7)Four-fifths of the infinitives ... I c.s.3. bigon 221,221;V.s.3. biheold 246, 288period after “s.” invisible(2)Of O.... mans. d.205,205.The personal pronouns ...ilcais ilkes. n. m.237, 275,s. d. m.275s. d. m.ala.93.al.Metre:... To sechen on folde;ænne brædne fæld’close quote missingcomp. ‘Þa andswarede eorles þarecomp,37. ... one MS. of WW.72-76. ... Grimm, Teutonic Mythology, 1. 122 ff122ff123. Ifhelerepresents OE.hælotext unchanged: error for “hǣlo”?175. ... because of your unpopularity.unpopularity,263. ... Beowulf, 257Beowulf 257
83. ‘Mult volanters vous retanrai,’ W 6957.
84.ohte, doughty: OE.āht, shortened fromāwiht: so the root sense is ‘anything, good for anything, worth something.’ Comp. ‘ahte cniht wes Auelin,’ L 8141.
86.scome . . . grome: see96/57 note, and for the corresponding verbs comp. ‘þerfore him ofte scomede;⁊ his heorte gromede,’ L 13763.
94.dringches, warriors: OWScand. drengr, young man: the change of e to i is normal; see Björkman, 292.
95.hændestis taken by the editors generally as, nearest (to him), but everywhere else in L it means, courteous, or the like: comp. 98/77: perhaps him should be omitted.
97.him to, to Vortigern, butsendenis corrupt; reading, seoððen siȝen him to, the meaning would be, next the Saxon knights followed after them; comp. ‘þe eorles heom siȝen to;mid fele heore cnihtes,’ L 9996.
98.aldenecannot be right, its final e does not belong to the dat. sing.: comp. ‘in alden hire denne,’ L 22027. Read aldrene, of the kin of his ancestors: comp. 98/69, 104/193; ‘of his eoldrene istreon,’ L 18609.
99.hændelicheis translated by Mätzner, courteously; rather, making a brave show.
100.iscrudde . . . iuædde: comp. ‘he us haueð wel iued;he us haueð wel iscrud,’ L 13573; 104/190.
101.hængestis the last word on the page, and the scribe has in consequence omitted-es: forswaineread swaines.
102.hehne, ‘hæhne,’ L 11378, represents OE.hēanne,acc.ofhēan, mean, humble, and ‘hæne,’ 106/204, itsnom.hēane: but ‘hæhne,’ 106/205, represents theacc.ofhēah, high (seldomhēahne, mostlyheanne).
104. Comp. ‘Nes hit noh[t] longe;buten ane stunde,’ L 14423.ne: see25/241 note.longeis adverbial in form.
108. Comp. ‘ꝥ lond heo þurh arnden;⁊ herȝeden ⁊ barnden,’ L 12129, 9934.
109.ænde: see 96/34.iuald, they fell; comp. ‘sixti þusende;he leide to þen gronde,’ L 4751.
111is formal: see 102/142, L 1035, 3147 &c.
117.duden—iwune, behaved as usual: comp. ‘hu Osric Edwines sune;dude ut-laȝen wune,’ L 31270.
120. Comp. ‘þat fæht wes swuðe strong;⁊ swuðe stær ⁊ swuðe longe,’ L 4170.
121. ‘Por ce que vaincre les soloient | Lor costume tenir voloient; | Mais lor usage i ont perdu,’ W 6991.
122.an oðer,nom. adj.agreeing with hit: the construction is frequent in L; comp. ‘ah al an oðer hit iwærd;oðer he iwende,’ L 17336: oðer,adj.is also found in the same construction; comp. 203/202; ‘ah al hit iwrað (= iwarð) oðer;þene heo iwenden,’ L 19506, but it is mostly adverbial, as, ‘ah al heo þohten oðer,’ L 5429; ‘al oþer hit schal go,’ OEM 41/140.
123. Ifhelerepresents OE.hælo, safety,heommeans, to the Britons, but the transition is abrupt, and Logeman suggests thathelemay mean, thing hidden, secret; its known meanings being, concealment, hiding-place; it might be better to substitute iheled foral hele.
127.feondliche, furiously; comp. ‘Dunwal i þan fæhte;wes feondliche kene,’ L 4168, where O substitutes ‘swiþe.’feollen þa fæie: an oft-repeated formula in L.
130.vnnifoȝe: OE.ungefōg, immense; here, countless. Comp. ‘muchel ⁊ unifoh,’ L 8674, ‘monie ⁊ vniuoȝe,’ id. 13187; ‘For noldest þu nefre [hab]ben inouh, buten þu hefdest unifouh,’ Worcester Frag. D 39.
132.on uast, close to, fast by him; OE.on+fæst: comp. ‘He makede an temple onfest þe baðe,’ L 2852: but Luhmann, p. 95, deduces it fromon œfeste, influenced by theprep.fæst bi.
133. The subject ofȝefis he, contained in kinge: see 6/18. ‘Et Lindesée et bons manoirs,’ W.
134. ‘unc sceal worn fela | māþma gemǣnra,’ Beowulf, 1783, 4.
136.a þan ilke, on the same footing, thus: comp. ‘⁊ þus ane stonde;hit stod æ ðon ilka,’ L 3117, 3716, 14890 &c. ‘Ensi ont longement esté | Et lor amor a mult dure,’ W 7001.
137. Forlondesread londe, or forþan, þas.
139O.hendeliche, cleverly.
141.hæȝe dæie, festival; mostly associated with religious observance; comp. ‘Hit wes an anne hæhȝe dæie;halȝedenleoden,’ L 10708. ‘Un jor trova le roi haitié | Si l’a à consel afaitié,’ W 7009.duȝeðe monnen, the men of his nobility, the retainers of his court; the first element answers to OE.duguðe,s. g.ofduguð.
148.ræcchen . . . runen, expound, disclose secret counsels; comp. ‘summe heo muche runen;ræhten heom bitweonen,’ L 25123; ‘þe sunne reccheð hire rune euch buten reste,’ SM 9/30. (‘Sol in aspectu annuncians in exitu, vas admirabile opus excelsi,’ Ecclus. xliii. 2.)
150.halden to wraððeapparently means, consider it a ground for anger: perhaps wenden should be read for halden.
153.þine monscipe ihæȝed, advanced thy dignity; comp. ‘⁊ mine monscipe hæien,’ 5451; ‘þurh þe haueð Morgan mi mæi;is monscipe afallet,’ id. 3838.
154.þine: see 92/26.
157. ‘Ai jo assés aparçéu | . . . | Que tu n’en as baron qui t’aint; | Cascuns te het, cascuns te plaint,’ W 7017.
158.bare, actual, absolute; comp. ‘his leode hine hateden | in to þan bare dæðe,’ L 7034; ‘bi þine bare life,’ id. 25800.þareO is a scribal error.
159.stilleliche, secretly; so too stille 104/170; comp. ‘mid stilliche runen,’ L 355; ‘mid heore stil rune,’ id. 3249: withspilieðcomp. 110/266; ‘Þus speken þeos swiken;and spileden mid worde,’ L 3816.
161.ambrosie: Aurelius Ambrosius: O has the former name.
163.laȝen, ways, practices, a sense developed out of that of custom, but Mätzner translates, in a treasonable manner. His death was compassed by Vortigern, as O says.
169.androeinnes: L has elsewhere only Androgeus, and Androgeum as in W, with once Androchiesgen.8194. The present form corresponds to Androgen, Andragen, Andragenus of the prose Brut, ed. Brie, p. 33.
173.kineliche, royal, and therefore in the king’s gift.
175. Comp. ‘Þin hired þe hateð for me | ⁊ ich æm iuæid for þe,’ L 14458.iuaidispp.of ȝefeogen, OE. *gefēogan: see NED v. 525,s.v.ivee.iveiþedispp.of a derivative verb from OE.fæhð, feud: it occurs four times in O.uor þe, because of yourunpopularity.ic wene&c., I expect to be killed.
176.fare&c.: see 34/86.
177.biclused: comp. ‘⁊ hæuede Valentin wel uaste | biclused in ane castle,’ L 12191: elsewhere O substitutes ‘bituned.’ ‘Si ai por toi maint anemi; | Ne puis par nuit estre aséur | Fors de castel et fors de mur,’ W 7040.
180.of—idon: see94/9 note.
182.wine maies: OE.wine mǣg, a loving kinsman: L has also vniwinen, onwines, enemies, 14466.
184.hiren: comp. 94/19, 98/68. ‘Plus séurs en sera de moi | Et jo en servirai mius toi,’ W 7035.
188.afeoh: ‘Et bien les recoif et conroie,’ W 7052.
190.ueden . . . scruden: see 100/100.
195.Þa ȝet, still: OE.þā git. Comp. ‘hafde þa ȝet an honde,’ L 8540; ‘þe ȝet þe he wes i Rome’ (= while he was still in Rome), id. 9733.
196.driȝen, submit to.her&c., in this and in all things.
201.stonden—hond, to be in my possession permanently: comp. ‘Nustond al þis muchele lond;a Bailenes aȝere hond,’ L 4330. Stonden in L often means little more than beon.a, unemphatic on: comp. ll. 215, 210.
202.anes bule hude: Madden suggests an or bules, but in the glossary treats bule as genitive: Mätzner thinks bule may represent a Scand. gen. bola; but bule-hude is a compound of which the first element is uninflected, yet genitive in essence, and so capable of association with an adjective in that case: the principle is the same as in ahnes, 74/207 note; the meaning is, the hide of one bull.Ælches weies, in every direction, but Mätzner explains, in any wise, any way, quoting ‘Ælches weies him wes wa,’ 18703, where the meaning appears to be, in both directions, on either side.in greneO, on a green, is a curious variant, and an early use of the noun in this sense.
204.hæne . . . riche; a frequent combination in L: it means the lowly . . . the exalted, the commons . . . the nobles, rather than, the poor . . . the rich.
210.þer . . . on, on which: see 1/3.
213.þerefers to hude.wunder ane strong: this combination of wunder ane with an adjective as here and at 106/219, 108/258, is frequent in the older text of L. So we find wunder ane brad, bliðe, cræftie, deop, fæir, laðe, lihte, monie, wod. It is also found with adverbs, as ‘Þa weop Vðer;wunder ane swiðe,’ L 18140, and once ‘bitter ane swiðe’ occurs, L 30302, where O has ‘biterliche swiþe.’ For wunder ane, O usually substitutes swiþe or wunderliche or rewrites or omits, but once for ‘wunder ane kene,’ 19935, it has kept ‘wonder one kene.’Wunderis an adverb, as in ‘Þat feht wes wnder strong,’ L 1744; ‘mid wunder muchele strengðe,’ id. 25078, andaneis OE.ǣne,āne, adverbial derivative ofān, in an extended use, uniquely, exceptionally, so that the combination means, wonderfully strong beyond all comparison. The translation in Specimens, ‘a wonderfully strong one,’ does not take into account the form of ane, and anticipates the pronominal use of an. In ‘summe heo sæten stille;mucle ane stunde,’ L 25121, ane is the acc. of the article, the meaning being, for a long time.
214.cuðe a: on and of interchange with this verb elsewhere in L: so ‘And alle þe cuðe a boken,’ C 14431, ‘Ac al þat couþe of boke,’ O.
218.swulc, as it were: OE.swylce: O regularly substitutes ase.
220. ‘Une coroie en estendi | De coi grant tère avirona,’ W 7072. Similar tales are found in Virgil, Aeneid, i. 371; Saxo Grammaticus, ed. Holder, p. 143, of Ivar’s foundation of London: comp. Geoffrey of Monmouth, ed. San Marte, p. 313.
223.muchele ⁊ mare, great and glorious: B-T. quotes ‘Mære ⁊ miclu weorc drihtnes,’ Ps. Lamb., cx. 2.
224.scop . . . hire, shaped for it: OE.naman, orto naman scieppan, with dat. of person or thing named, as ‘scōp him Heor[o]t naman,’ Beowulf, 78; 179/107 note. L has a weak past also, ‘ah scupte him nome,’ 1951. ‘Cest non Vancastre li a mis, | El langage de son païs. | Vancastre cest nom del quir prent, | Sel puet l’on nomer altrement | Chastel de coroie en romans, | Kaer Kaerai en bretans. | Or l’apèlent pluisor Lancastre | Qui ne savoient l’aqoison | Dont Vancastre ot premier cest non,’ W 7075-84. The traditional site is Tong in Kent: ‘Tong Castle or rather Thong Castle, in Saxon Þwangceastre, in British Caer Kerry . . . both whiche woordes signifie a Thong of leather,’ Lambarde, A Perambulation of Kent, ed. 1576, p. 195. But Camden in his Britannia, published in 1586, p. 306, places it in Lincolnshire, at Caster, six miles from Grimsby. L specializes in place-names; see his account of London, 7099, Hampton, 9376, Caen, 27923, Cernel, 29674. The formula in l. 227 occurs at 6062, 9380 &c.
228.gomeis translated ‘adventure’ by Madden, rather, proceeding, tricky device.
230.lane casteland Wace’s ‘Lancastre’ can hardly be meant for Lancaster; they are possibly due to the Lincolnshire tradition.
232.comis practically an auxiliary verb: comp. ‘Leir wes cumen liðen,’ Lear had arrived, L 3626, 5379; ‘Þenne þu cumes faren ham,’ when thou dost fare home, id. 4398: similarly ‘gon forð liðe,’ 108/243, 245.
233. Read rideren: used vaguely for knights.
234.comenis probably an interpolation.to iwiten, that is to say: comp. ‘and forð he gon liðen;mid his Brutleoden. | þat is to iwitene;mid twa hundred scipene,’ L 30914.æhtene, ‘good,’ Madden; but the meaning wanted is, eighteen large ships; ‘Vinrent dix huit nés cargies | De chevaliers et de maisnies,’ W 7087; and so Madden corrects, iii. 487. Mätzner reads æhtetene, OE.eahta tyne, but ahtene occurs again C 18015, where O has ehtetene.
237.umbe while, after a (short) time: so ‘umbe stunde,’ L 26505; ‘umben ane stunde,’ id. 15924; ‘umben longne first,’ id. 287: O has usually the same variant as here, but ‘bi on lutel stunde,’ O 11969: see KH 333 note.
238.mid, among, ranking with: comp. ‘cniht mid þane beste,’ L 707, ‘swike mid þan meste,’ id. 2547; ‘hærm mid þon meste,’ id. 9806.
239.badin C is OE.bēad, offered him hospitality; in O, OE.bæd,invited him to a banquet, as also in C 241.gistninge, entertainment; ME. gistnen, derivative of OE.giest, influenced by OWScand. gista: see Björkman, 152.
240.to ȝeines him, against his coming, to receive him: comp. ‘scipen he þer funde. | þat to-ȝenes him weoren ibonned,’ L 9731. Elsewhere in L the preposition is joined with a verb of motion.
241.fæire underfon: see 5/11 note.
245.ꝥ, until: see 72/179.
246. ‘Le castel et l’oevre agarda, | Mult fu bien fais, mult le loa,’ W 7103.
249. Layamon’s delight in descriptions of feasts and music is in strong contrast to Wace’s prosaic manner. The present passage may be compared with L 3634, 5107, 14946. Mätzner would read gomen-men, musicians, or gleomen, with change of cleopien into gleowien, butgomenmeans games, a regular accompaniment of the feast (see KH 478 note), andcleopienproclaim, as in ‘Lette þe king gan awal;⁊ lude clepien ouer al,’ L 3644.
250.hetten, ordered; perhaps a mistake for letten, as L has generally hehten in this sense. Withbredencomp. ‘bordes heo brædden,’ L 18523, where O has ‘bordes hii leiden’: it means, to cover with cloth and viands.
251.dræm&c.: comp. 102/146; ‘blisse wes on folke,’ L 5108, ‘blisse wes on hirede,’ id. 14947.
252.þa—iloten, then had the better fallen to their lot; lucky men were they! OE.gehlēotan, to share by lot.
253-268. In L 14956-81 Ronwen again appears as cupbearer.
254.vnimete prude, boundless splendour: OE.prȳto, influenced in this meaning by OWScand. prýþi, ornament.
255.al ꝥ scrud, all the clothing;sing., thepl.is ‘alle þa scrud,’ L 10180: the number changes inheo weoren.ibon, prepared, adorned: comp. ‘wel wes he ibon,’ L 12805, in O alle wel idiht; ‘þas scipen ibone,’ id. 32037. It is an East Scand.pp.bōin, as buen is West Scand. búinn: ‘iboned,’ L 8086, with same meaning ispp.of the derivative *ibonen parallel with bounen, derivative of buen. See Björkman, 206.
256.ibrusted, made bristly, rough: comp. ‘alle þai mete-burdes;ibrusted (ibrustled O) mid golde,’ L 24667; ‘vestes auroque ostroque rigentes,’ Virg. Æn., xi. 72.
261.sæt, went down on: comp. ‘þa hie for þam cumble on cneowum sæton,’ Grein, ii. 484/180: see KH 781 note.
263.wæs hæilis OWScand. væs heill, be well, good health to you! In ‘Lavert King wes hel tant li dist,’ W 7115, the forms are English: comp.‘Wes þu, Hroðgar, hal!’ Beowulf, 407.for—uæin: see 94/24: O means, for thy coming is wholesome to me; forcomes, plural with meaning of singular, comp. ‘hwanan eowre cyme syndon,’Beowulf,257; ‘hwonan his cyme sindon,’ Grein, iii. 89/1196; and for the usual expression, 94/24 note.
266. See 102/159.weoren, might be.
267.Keredic: ‘Redic li respondi premiers, | Brez ert, si fu bons latiniers; | Ce fu li premiers des Bretons | Qui sot le langaige as Sessons,’ W 7119. The name, Cerdic, Ceredic, Cerdicelmet, is in Nennius, ed. Petrie, ch. xxxvii.sellic, marvellous, gifted.
268.æris probably a scribe’s mistake for æuer, due toherfollowing.
271.tiðende,pl.practice: see 96/35; and for Hit with beoðpl.1/10, 94/7. ‘Costume est, sire, en son païs,’ W 7127.
272.gladieð of drenche, find enjoyment in drinking: of with the adj. is common, with the verb rare: comp. 126/310.
273.Mid—hende, with pleasant courteous looks, or manner, generally including gesture: ME. lat, lot is OWScand. lát, Björkman, 91. Comp. ‘mid leofliche læten,’ L 19396; ‘mid swiðe uæire læten,’ id. 15661; ‘mid wunsumme lades,’ id. 12278. In Havelok 1246, ‘Wesseyl þe[i] ledden fele siþe,’ read seyden for ledden.
274. ‘Quant ami boivent entre amis, | Que cil dist wes hel qui doit boire | Et cil drinkel qui doit recoivre,’ W 7128.drinc hail, drink health, the latter word being a noun, OWScand. heill.
276.oðer—fareð, one brings another full one there. Different in W, ‘Dont boit cil tote la moitié,’ but afterwards he has ‘Et de boivre plain ou demi,’ 7143.
277.þreoien: nothing corresponding in W, only ‘entrebaisier.’
278.sele laȝen, pleasing customs: see KH 1110 note.
284O.swipte, tossed it off: OE.swipian, to lash; comp. OWScand. svipa, to move quickly.
286.fain: the English had a bad reputation for their drinking habits among their French neighbours. Wace describes their revels on the night before the battle of Hastings, ‘Bublie crient e weisseil | E laticome e drincheheil, | Drinc hindrewart e drintome, | Drenc folf, drinc half e drinc tode,’ Roman de Rou, ed. Andresen, 7377, that is, They cry, be blithe and wassail, and let it (the cup) come and drinchail, drink after and drink to me, drink full, drink half and drink to thee. ‘Fercula multiplicant et sine lege bibunt. Wessail et dringail,’ says Burnellus of the English students at Paris at the end of the twelfth century, Nigelli Speculum, 63/19. The parallel place in the prose Brut is, ‘þat was þe ferst tyme þat “whatsaile”and “drynkehaile” come vp into þis lande; and fram þat tyme into this tyme it Haþ bene wel vsede,’ 52/13.
290.mod . . . main, mind and might: an OE. combination; comp. ‘ða ongunnon heo sticcemælum mod ⁊ mægen monian,’ Bede, 54/8, = ‘vires animosque resumere.’halde to, inclined to: OE.hieldan: its use elsewhere in L is quite different; ‘þa hæðene hundes;hælden to grunde,’ L 19558, is typical.
291. Comp. ‘þe wurse him wes ful neh,’ L 13284, 16636; ‘þe wurs him wes on heorte,’ id. 9215; ‘þe scucke wes bi-tweonen,’ id. 276; ‘Tant l’a diables cimoné | Qui maint homme a à mal torné,’ W 7159. Forælche, swilce should perhaps be read.
292.mæingde, troubled, lit. mingled: the verb is mostly passive in L, as ‘his mod him gon mengen;he morȝnede swiðe,’ 3407; comp. ‘Almast menged him his mode,’ CM 8804.
293.murnede, said of painful longing.
295.leoden to hærme, to his people’s hurt: comp. ‘Twenti ȝer he heold þis lond;þa leoden al to hærme,’ L 2580; 176/24 note:folkin O is dative.
298.funde—ræd, thought it advisable: comp. ‘he uunde on his ræde;to don þat heo hine beden,’ L 21933; ‘Hit is on mine rede;to don þat þu bede,’ id. 31106; 12/5 in piece v. But W says he took the advice of his brother and friends, ‘Loë li ont et consillié | Que il li doint délivrement,’ W 7172.
Phonology:...eoin heoreð 58 (if fromherian)missing close parenthesiswis lost ... bilæuen 39, biuoren 9539 biuoren(2)Of O.... The present forms ofwillanmisprinted as plain (non-bold)... Initialhlis reduced tol“l” misprinted as bold instead of italichnton, nap 275“hnton” added by authorAdjectives ... enne (ende) 211enne(ende)The personal pronouns ... mineneut.22 (7)22(7)Four-fifths of the infinitives ... I c.s.3. bigon 221,221;V.s.3. biheold 246, 288period after “s.” invisible(2)Of O.... mans. d.205,205.The personal pronouns ...ilcais ilkes. n. m.237, 275,s. d. m.275s. d. m.ala.93.al.Metre:... To sechen on folde;ænne brædne fæld’close quote missingcomp. ‘Þa andswarede eorles þarecomp,37. ... one MS. of WW.72-76. ... Grimm, Teutonic Mythology, 1. 122 ff122ff123. Ifhelerepresents OE.hælotext unchanged: error for “hǣlo”?175. ... because of your unpopularity.unpopularity,263. ... Beowulf, 257Beowulf 257
Phonology:...eoin heoreð 58 (if fromherian)missing close parenthesis
wis lost ... bilæuen 39, biuoren 9539 biuoren
(2)Of O.... The present forms ofwillanmisprinted as plain (non-bold)
... Initialhlis reduced tol“l” misprinted as bold instead of italic
hnton, nap 275“hnton” added by author
Adjectives ... enne (ende) 211enne(ende)
The personal pronouns ... mineneut.22 (7)22(7)
Four-fifths of the infinitives ... I c.s.3. bigon 221,221;
V.s.3. biheold 246, 288period after “s.” invisible
(2)Of O.... mans. d.205,205.
The personal pronouns ...ilcais ilkes. n. m.237, 275,s. d. m.275s. d. m.
ala.93.al.
Metre:... To sechen on folde;ænne brædne fæld’close quote missing
comp. ‘Þa andswarede eorles þarecomp,
37. ... one MS. of WW.
72-76. ... Grimm, Teutonic Mythology, 1. 122 ff122ff
123. Ifhelerepresents OE.hælotext unchanged: error for “hǣlo”?
175. ... because of your unpopularity.unpopularity,
263. ... Beowulf, 257Beowulf 257