Chapter 20

“K’om poet aler al mure.”

and l. 958:

“K’om pooit bien au mur et venir et aler.”

p. 9, l.295.assaile, evidently a mistake. Readassaute, as in l. 2205.

p. 9, l.298.shour, “fight, attack.” See Zupitza’s note toGuy, l. 9206.sharpe shoures, as in theDestruction of Troy, l. 5804, “sharp was the shoure.” Cf. also l. 950 of this poem, “bataile was sharpe.”

p. 9, l.300.stones thai bare, etc.Destruction, l. 967:

“Ces dedens ou grans pieres firent grant lapide.”

p. 9, l.303. French text gives (l. 975):

“Maintes pieres del mur ont contreval rue.”

p. 9, l.306. In theDestruction, l. 977:

“L’asalt dureit cel jour jusque a la nutee.”

p. 9, l.307. French: “Payen se sont retrait.”Destruction, l. 979.

p. 10, l.311. Fortyde:chiddeseeIntroduction, p. xliii.

p. 10, l.312.

“Lucafer li traitre traison ad pense,Qu’il se contrefera les armes del cite;Et tote si pense sont a Labam demonstre.‘Sire admirail d’Espaigne,’ ceo dist li diffaies,‘La cite est moult fors, et François sont doute;Ils defendront le mur, ja mais n’iert entre,Que par une voidie que jeo ai porpense.Il ad dedens un conte de mult grant crualte,Savaris ad a non, est de grant parente;Chescon jour il s’en ist, s’est oue nous melle,De la gent dieffae, mainte teste a coupe.”—Destr., ll. 986–96.

“Lucafer li traitre traison ad pense,

Qu’il se contrefera les armes del cite;

Et tote si pense sont a Labam demonstre.

‘Sire admirail d’Espaigne,’ ceo dist li diffaies,

‘La cite est moult fors, et François sont doute;

Ils defendront le mur, ja mais n’iert entre,

Que par une voidie que jeo ai porpense.

Il ad dedens un conte de mult grant crualte,

Savaris ad a non, est de grant parente;

Chescon jour il s’en ist, s’est oue nous melle,

De la gent dieffae, mainte teste a coupe.”

—Destr., ll. 986–96.

‹p104›

p. 10, l.317.Destruction, l. 997.

“J’ai bien conu ses armes et les ai avise.”

p. 10, l.331.Destruction, l. 1011:

“Tantost le mestre porte aurons moult bien ferme.”

p. 10, l.332.Destruction, l. 1057:

“Mais tot le premier bail ont Sarrasin poeple.”

p. 10, l.336.discumfiture, “defeat.” See below, note to l. 1320.

p. 10, l.339.ryme, “to speak loudly, to cry.” O.E.hrêmanorhrŷman. See Stratmann, p. 322.

p. 10, l.340. French text (l. 1063):

“De V. M. ne remendrent que iiiC sans fausser.”

See note to l. 67.

p. 10, l.341.twelfe:selve;fandvvery often stand for one another, seeIntroductionon p. xliii.

p. 10, l.344.shite:mette. See Ellis,Pronunc., I. 272, andIntroduction, on p. xliv. Cf. also ll. 2054, 2963, 2960.by than= then; see Mätzner’sWörterb.p. 217(2).

p. 11, l.346.EstragotorAstragot. This name is not to be found in the other versions, it only occurs in theSowdanand in theDestruction; cf.Destr.l. 1090–4:

“Estragot le poursuit uns geans diffaies········Teste avoit com senglers, si fu rois corones.El main tient .i. mace de fin ascier trempe,Un coup a Savaris desur le chef done.”

“Estragot le poursuit uns geans diffaies

········

Teste avoit com senglers, si fu rois corones.

El main tient .i. mace de fin ascier trempe,

Un coup a Savaris desur le chef done.”

p. 11, l.360. French text reads:

“Et la novele en ont l’apostoile conté.”—Destr.l. 1101.

“Et la novele en ont l’apostoile conté.”

—Destr.l. 1101.

p. 11, l.363.consaile:slayne. SeeIntroduction, p. xliii.

p. 11, l.364. See above, l. 78.

p. 11, l.368.erilleis not derived from the Erse, as the editor of the Roxburghe Club edition supposes. It is simply another spelling forerle, which occurs in l. 1986. O.E.eorl, Mod. Eng.earl.

p. 11, l.369. There must be a gap of some lines here; between this and the following line a space has been left of about the width of one line; l. 370 is written in a much later hand.

p. 11, l.376.lettrestranslates the French “li brief” (Destr.l. 1121),in haste= French “isnelement” (Destr.l. 1119).

p. 11, l.377.we ordeynemakes no sense. Readwere ordeyned, as in l. 2396. Cf. theDestruction, l. 1133:

“Tot troi sont coiement de la cite hastés.”

p. 12, l.379.at a posterne.On the posterns compare Skeat,Spec. of Eng. Literature, 359, 165.

p. 12, l.380.aboute mydnyghte.French: “Tote la nuit alerent ou la lune clarté.”Destr.l. 1136.‹p105›

p. 12, l.394.honde of honde, “hand to hand.”—In the Glossary of the Roxburghe Club ed. we read: “Cast. Wherewithal to throw.” This is the sense ofcastin l. 2471; but it occurs with two other meanings. In l. 394castsignifies “device, plot, intention,” as often elsewhere. In ll. 460, 2091, 2099, 2467, 2603, 2792, it means “the act of throwing, the throw.”

p. 12, l.400.hevy, “afflicted, sorrowful.” So in ll. 3037, 3224.

p. 13, l.427.Estagote, miswritten forEstragote, cf. ll. 346, 352, andDestr.l. 1090.brake on three, cf. ll. 2234, 1388, 1269.

p. 13, l.441.Sarsyns:Romaynes. SeeIntroduction, p. xliv.

p. 14, l.464.oostdoes not rhyme withbeste. Both the sense and the rhyme will be improved if we readrestforoost.

p. 14, l.473. As it stands, the line makes no sense.Thisis written indistinctly in the MS., so that we may read eitherthisorthus; the sense requires the latter, which I think is the true reading. Or else we may keepthisand writeidoneinstead ofit done.

p. 15, l.488.aras.Reada ras, and see note to l. 1349.

p. 15, l.491.and armesmakes no sense, as we are hardly entitled to takearmesfor the 2nd person plural imperative; which in this poem always ends in-eth.SeeIntroduction, p. xxxvii. I think we must changeandintoas. For the explanation of the phrase “as armes,” see note on l. 2660.

p. 15, l.495. TheAscoparsorAscopartesare mentioned in theDestructionas the subjects of the Soudan. The name of this people is not to be found in any other version.Astoparsis merely a clerical error forAscopars, which may be easily accounted for by remembering that in the MSS. the characterscandtare very often formed almost alike. The true spellingAscoparsis found in ll. 2196, 2648; cf. also theDestruction, ll. 98, 426. Nothing is known of the origin and the home of the Ascoparts. That they must have been men of great bodily strength follows from l. 496, “for ye be men of mighte,” and l. 2645, “that bene boolde and hardy to fighte.” Compare also what is said about them by Donne, in his first satire:

“Those Askaparts, men big enough to throwCharing-cross for a bar.”

“Those Askaparts, men big enough to throw

Charing-cross for a bar.”

It is worthy while to note that a giant, called Askapard, occurs in the romance of Sir Bevis of Hamptoun. See Ellis,Metr. Romances, ed. Halliwell, p. 263.

p. 15, l.500.Hois evidently a mistake forwe.rere-warde, “rear-guard;” the van is calledfowarde, ll. 502, 732, the main bodythe medyl partye, l. 735.

p. 15, l.504.than:gon. SeeIntroduction, p. xxxv.

p. 15, l.510.oonmakes no sense. I suspect the reading of this and the following stanza is quite corrupt. If ll. 510 and 511 should belong to different stanzas, theenjambement, or continuation of the‹p106›sense from one stanza to another, would be unusually strong. I am therefore inclined to think that originally a stanza began at l. 510, and that there is a line wanting after l. 509, which contained the rhyme tobon(l. 508). The scribe noticing the absence of rhyme tried to restore it himself. Addingoonto l. 510, he made it rhyme withbon(l. 508). Having thus destroyed the rhyme of ll. 510 and 512 (Alisaundre:Cassaundre, as in l. 984), he addedgayeto l. 512, which now rhymed to l. 514, where he still addedto fraye. In order to get a rhyme to l. 518, he changed in l. 516 the originallaye(:Romayne) intolan(“he ceased, stopped”), and wrote “to”the groundeinstead of “on” (cf. l. 1186) or “at” (cf. ll. 533, 435)the grounde, connecting thus these words with l. 515, whereas originally they belonged tothere he laye, or—astherealso may have been added by the scribe—tohe laye. If now we readwith mayneinstead offul evene, in l. 521, we get a perfect rhyme to l. 519; l. 520 having lost its rhyming line, he made it rhyme, by addingthanto l. 522, which originally rhymed to l. 524. Now to get a rhyme to l. 524 he composed and inserted himself l. 526. Therefore I think the original reading of these two stanzas ran as follows:

510Sir Ferumbras of AlisaundreThat bolde man was in dede,Uppon a steede CassaundreHe roode in riche weede.514Sir Bryer of Poyle a RomayneHe bare through with a spere;Dede on the ground [there] he laye,Might he no more hem dere.518That saw Huberte, a worthy man,Howe Briere was islayne,Ferumbras to quite thanTo him he rode with mayne.522With a spere uppone his sheldeStiffly gan he strike;The shelde he brake imiddis the feelde,His hawberke wolde not breke.526Ferumbras was agreved tho, &c.

Sir Ferumbras of Alisaundre

That bolde man was in dede,

Uppon a steede Cassaundre

He roode in riche weede.

Sir Bryer of Poyle a Romayne

He bare through with a spere;

Dede on the ground [there] he laye,

Might he no more hem dere.

That saw Huberte, a worthy man,

Howe Briere was islayne,

Ferumbras to quite than

To him he rode with mayne.

With a spere uppone his shelde

Stiffly gan he strike;

The shelde he brake imiddis the feelde,

His hawberke wolde not breke.

Ferumbras was agreved tho, &c.

On the rhymeRomayne:laye(l. 514) cf. ll. 536, 890.

p. 15, l.514.Bryer of Poyledoes not occur in any of the other versions.

p. 15, l.516.lan, preterite oflin, “to cease;” more common in the compoundblin, contracted from *be-lin.

p. 15, l.517.might he no more hem dere.On the order of words, cf. ll. 2954, 649, 2435.

p. 16, l.520.qwite, “to requite, reward, retaliate, pay off.” See below note to l. 780.

p. 16, l.531. Onstronge(O.E. strang) :istonge(O.E. gestungen), seeIntroduction, p. xxxv.

p. 16, l.532.astraye, “out of the right way or proper place, running‹p107›about without guidance.” O.Frenchestraier, which is derived from Latinex strada, see Diez,Etym. Wörterb.I. 402; II. 296.

p. 16, l.541.werre, “war,” seems to owe its origin to the Frenchguerre, as it is not found in O.E. It appears for the first time in theSaxon Chronicle,—he coude, “he knew, had endured.” See Mätzner’sGrammatik, II. 262.

p. 17, l.555. It is evident thatall anemust be a corruption. Perhaps the conjecture of the editor of the Roxb. Club edition, supposingall rafeto be the true reading, may be right. But he is certainly wrong to identify thisrafewith therafein l. 866, which, being the infinitive mood of a verb, cannot be taken for an adjective or adverb, which the sense seems to require in l. 555. Halliwell,s. v.Raff, gives: “in raff = speedily.” There is a Danish adjective,rap, “brisk, quick.” Cf. Skeat,Etym. Dict.s. v.raffleandrap.

p. 17, l.570.certainespoils the rhyme. The rhyme becomes perfect if we readwithout faile, as in l. 322.

p. 17, l.573.aplight, “on plight, on my word.” See Zupitza’s note toGuy, l. 8541. It is often used as an expletive.

p. 17, l.580.who the sowdan, etc. = who is the Sowdan. The verb of the sentence is wanting; cf. note to l. 2156.

p. 17, l.587. French text gives:

“Et Guion de Bourgoyne ad a lui appeléFils est de sa soror et de sa parentéCosins, vous en irrés. . .”Destr.ll. 1179,et seq.

“Et Guion de Bourgoyne ad a lui appeléFils est de sa soror et de sa parentéCosins, vous en irrés. . .”

“Et Guion de Bourgoyne ad a lui appelé

Fils est de sa soror et de sa parenté

Cosins, vous en irrés. . .”

Destr.ll. 1179,et seq.

p. 18, l.613.hight= (1) “was called,” (2) “promised,” (3) “called” (partic. past). It is the preterite tense ofhaten,hoten, orhat(l. 3154). Cf. Zupitza’s note toGuy, l. 169.

p. 18, l.614.thanseems to be a corruption, and I think must be left out.Floripis the genitive ofFlorip, which occurs as a nominative in ll. 2075, 1527. There is another nominativeFloripaswhich forms the genitiveFloripas, ll. 1659, 2350.

p. 19, l.625.Isres, the name of the “chief porter of the town,” who betrayed the city, only occurs in theSowdan; in theDestructionthe same treachery is committed byTabour,D.1203.

“Uns traitre del cit que del porte out les cles.”

p. 19, l.636.bandon, literally “proclamation,” means “power, disposal.” See Skeat,Etym. Dict.s. v.abandon.

p. 19, l.647. French:

“Le chief al portier trenche,”Destr.l. 1236.

p. 19, l.648. In theDestr.l. 1244–5:

“Dieux” fist il “te maldie, et que t’ont engendre,Kar traitour au darain averont mal dehe.”

“Dieux” fist il “te maldie, et que t’ont engendre,

Kar traitour au darain averont mal dehe.”

p. 19, l.650.met, a mistake formot, which we find in ll. 1582, 2334, 3170.‹p108›

p. 20, l.663. Cf. theDestr.l. 1260:

“Al moustier de saint Piere est Fierenbras alés.”

p. 20, l.665.the crosse, the crown, the nailes bente.The relics mentioned in theDestructionare the crown of thorns, the cross, the nails, and the “signe,” which, as I have shown in myDissertation(pp. 45, 46), does not mean “inscription of the cross,” but is the Greekσινδων,and signifies “the shroud, or winding-sheet, of the Lord, suaire, sudatorium.” In the FrenchFierabras, as well as inSyr Ferumbras, no mention is made of the cross.

p. 20, l.673.thareinstead oftherewould improve the rhyme. SeeIntroduction, p. xxxv.

p. 20, l.678.fade, O.E. fadian, “dispose, suit.”Stratmann, p. 187.

p. 20, l.679.frankencense= “pure incense.” Compare Skeat,Etym. Dict.

p. 20, l.686.roial, “excellent.” Cf. “roial spicerye,”Chaucer, ed. Morris, III. 135/142.

p. 21, l.699.Alle on a flame that cite was; cf. the French:

“Kant il vindrent a Rome si virent luy porte ouereeLa flambe en la cite moult granment alumee.Pour grant chalour qu’i fu n’i povoient entrer.”(Destr.ll. 1378–80.)

“Kant il vindrent a Rome si virent luy porte oueree

La flambe en la cite moult granment alumee.

Pour grant chalour qu’i fu n’i povoient entrer.”

(Destr.ll. 1378–80.)

p. 21, l.723. TheDestruction, ll. 1384–1408, has:

“Si dirrai de Charlon, le fort roi corone.De par totes ses terres avoit ses gens mande,N’i remest dus ne quiens ne baron el regne,Qu’il assemble ne soient a Paris la cite.Quant il i furent tous venu et ajouste,L’emperere de France en halt en ad parle:‘Seignours, or escoutes, si vous dirrai verte,Li admirails d’Espaigne a no pais gasteEt oue lui CM sarrazin diffaie.Il ont ensegie Rome, m’admirable cite,Tot le pais entour ont il pour voir robbe;Si jeo ne les soccour tot l’auront il gaste.’‘Sire,’ firent li princes, ‘a vostre volonte:Nous ne vous failliromes tant que poons durer.’Adonc en ad li rois grant joie demene.Quant si gent furent prest a complir son pense,Adonc s’en est li rois eralment aprestesEt si firent li contes de France le regne.Quant sont appareillie si sont enchemine:iii C mil chevaliers ad li rois el barneOliviers porte sa baneer que ben leu ad guie,Rollans fu en arriere, li vassals adures.De soccoure Guion s’en est li rois hastes.Tant ont il nuit et jor chivalche et erre.Qu’il sont en Romenie, n’i ont reine tire.”

“Si dirrai de Charlon, le fort roi corone.

De par totes ses terres avoit ses gens mande,

N’i remest dus ne quiens ne baron el regne,

Qu’il assemble ne soient a Paris la cite.

Quant il i furent tous venu et ajouste,

L’emperere de France en halt en ad parle:

‘Seignours, or escoutes, si vous dirrai verte,

Li admirails d’Espaigne a no pais gaste

Et oue lui CM sarrazin diffaie.

Il ont ensegie Rome, m’admirable cite,

Tot le pais entour ont il pour voir robbe;

Si jeo ne les soccour tot l’auront il gaste.’

‘Sire,’ firent li princes, ‘a vostre volonte:

Nous ne vous failliromes tant que poons durer.’

Adonc en ad li rois grant joie demene.

Quant si gent furent prest a complir son pense,

Adonc s’en est li rois eralment aprestes

Et si firent li contes de France le regne.

Quant sont appareillie si sont enchemine:

iii C mil chevaliers ad li rois el barne

Oliviers porte sa baneer que ben leu ad guie,

Rollans fu en arriere, li vassals adures.

De soccoure Guion s’en est li rois hastes.

Tant ont il nuit et jor chivalche et erre.

Qu’il sont en Romenie, n’i ont reine tire.”

p. 22, l.744.He knewe the baner of France.The French text has:‹p109›

“Guis parceut le baniere le roi de saint Dine,Encontre lui chevalche, la novele ont conte,Come la forte cite li payen ont gaste:La corone et les clous d’iloec en sont robbeEt les altres reliques. . .”

“Guis parceut le baniere le roi de saint Dine,

Encontre lui chevalche, la novele ont conte,

Come la forte cite li payen ont gaste:

La corone et les clous d’iloec en sont robbe

Et les altres reliques. . .”

p. 23, l.766.for, “notwithstanding, in spite of.” So also in l. 2904.

p. 23, l.771.Destr., l. 1425:

“Li vens en fiert es voiles que les a ben guies.”

p. 23, l.776.for south, “forsooth,” cf. ll. 2014, 897, 2024, 1025, 2246.

p. 23, l.778. French: “il sont en terre entre.”

p. 23, l.779.fonde:grounde.fondeis speltfoundein ll. 1857, 3020, 344, 2353, 2363.

p. 23, l.780.stroyeth= “destroyeth.” “Compounds of Romance origin, the first part of which is a preposition, or words derived from such, often mutilate, or even entirely drop the preposition” (Zupitza’s note toGuy, l. 576). Thus we havesail, l. 385, = “assail;”longeth, l. 3254, = “belongeth;”skomfited, l. 1320, = “diskomfited,” ll. 336, 1464;quite, l. 520, = “requite;”perceived, l. 2659, = “aperceived;”saut, ll. 619, 2200, = “assaut,” l. 615;ginne, l. 2326, = “enginne,” l. 333;playne, l. 177, = “complayn;”skaped, l. 2049, = “askaped,” l. 2218.

p. 23, l.787. French: “iiiC mile François.”

p. 24, l.812.ychoon:Mahounde. SeeIntroduction, p. xlii.

p. 24, l.820.stroke:stoupe. SeeIntroduction, p. xliii.

p. 24, l.820.stenyed, “stunned,” not from O.Fr.estaindre, as the editor of the Roxb. Club ed. suggests, but from O.E.stunian, “percellere, stupefacere.” SeeStratmann, p. 540.

p. 24, l.835. Observe the subject expressed twice; cf. ll. 723, 1031, 1682, 1814, 2331.

p. 25, l.836.Neymes.This celebrated hero has been especially famous by the advices and counsels of which even in matters of greatest difficulty he was never at a loss. “Tel conseiller n’orent onques li Franc,”i. e.the French had never such a counsellor. This passage of the romance ofAspremontmay be looked upon as containing the portrait of Neymes as we find him described in all poems. The story of his birth and youth is in the romance ofAubri le Bourgoing. He was the son of Gasselin, king of Bavaria. Cassile, an usurper, is about to seize the throne and to kill the young Neymes, when Charlemagne comes to his help and re-establishes the legitimate inheritor.

p. 25, l.836.Ogier Danoys(cf. l. 1687) is one of the twelve peers in this poem. His life is contained in the French poem of the “Chevallerie Ogier” by Raimbert de Paris. According to that romance Ogier had been delivered in his youth to Charlemagne as‹p110›a pledge to secure the discharge of the tribute which his father Geffroi, king of Denmark, was bound to pay to the emperor. The French ambassadors having once been insulted by Geffroy, Charlemagne swears to make Ogier pay with his life the offence done by his father, and Ogier is going to be executed when the emperor, following the urgent requests of messengers arrived from Rome, suddenly starts to deliver this city from the Saracens. On this expedition the French army is hard pressed by the enemy, but Ogier by his eminent prowess and valour enables Charles to enter Rome. He now is pardoned and becomes the favourite of the emperor. Several years afterwards Ogier’s son Baudouinet is slain by Charlot, the son of Charlemagne, as they were quarrelling about a party of chess. Ogier, in order to revenge his son, goes as far as to attack Charlemagne himself, but on the point of being taken a prisoner, he escapes and flees to Didier, king of Lombardy. Charles makes war on Didier, and after a long struggle Ogier is taken and imprisoned at Reims, where he is going to be starved, when a sudden invasion of the Saracens obliges Charlemagne again to have recourse to the courage and valour of the Dane. Ogier delivers France by slaying the giant Bréhus. To reward him for the service done to his country, Charles gives him the county of Hainaut, where afterwards, as the poem tells us, he died in the renown of holiness.

p. 25, l.845.it= “hit.” Cf. note to l. 41.

p. 25, l.847–50. These four lines seem to be incorrect. As they stand, the three first lines are rhymed together, and there is no rhyme to the fourth. The diction of the whole passage, which cannot be said to be ungrammatical, is nevertheless wanting in precision and exactness.

p. 25, l.866.rafe= rave.

p. 25, l.868.Moun-joyeis the name of Charlemagne’s sword in this poem (cf. ll. 3111, 850), whereas, according to all other romances, the emperor’s sword was calledJoyeuse.MounjoieorMontjoiewas the name of the French standard; it was likewise used as the battle-cry of the French, cf.Fierabras, l. 1703, andSyr Ferumbras, ll. 2285, 2652, 4577, 4727. The swordJoyeusehad been forged by the celebrated Weland or Galand, as we read in the FrenchFierabras, l. 635:

“EtGalansfist Floberge à l’acier atrempé,Hauteclere etJoiouse, où moult ot dignité;Cele tint Karlemaines longuement en certé.”

“EtGalansfist Floberge à l’acier atrempé,

Hauteclere etJoiouse, où moult ot dignité;

Cele tint Karlemaines longuement en certé.”

Compare Gaston Paris,Histoire Poétique, p. 374.

p. 26, l.875.Durnedale.This renowned sword was forged by the famous Galand or Weland. The FrenchFierabras(l. 645) is the only romance which attributes it to Munifican. It had been given by Charlemagne to Roland as the best of his warriors. As to the exploits achieved with it, Roland enumerates them himself in that celebrated passage, where in his death-hour he tries to break‹p111›Durnedale to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Saracens (Chanson de Roland, ll. 2316–2337). The steel blade of this sword has been highly praised for its extraordinary hardness. It had been tried by Charlemagne himself on that “perron,” or steel block before the emperor’s palace in Aix-la-Chapelle (seeHistoire Poétique, p. 370). Durnedale proved good as well as Almace, the sword of Turpin. But Courtain, Ogier’s sword, was then shortened by half a foot. According to l. 1407 of theSowdan, Durnedale broke; but this incident has been mentioned nowhere else. Cf.Syr Ferumbras, l. 997, andFierabras, l. 1740.

p. 26, l.876.romme, spelt alsorome,rowme,roum, is Mod. E.room, O.E.rûm, “spatium.”

p. 26, l.880.dinge; readgan dinge.Dingeis the infinitive mood, but the sense requires a preterite tense. The preterite ofdingeisdong,dongen, which occurs in l. 1263. But asdingecannot be altered here, on account of the rhyme, the passage is easily corrected by addinggan= “he began to strike, he struck.”

p. 26, l.884.Alloreynes of LoreynesandAleroyse(l. 1699) are probably identical. ThenAlloreyneswould be an error of the scribe, who having already the followingLoreynesin his mind wroteAlloreynesinstead ofAlleroyse.

p. 26, l.900.in fay= “truly,”fay= “faith, truth.” O.Fr.feiorfeid, Lat.fides.

p. 26, l.904–5. Cf.Chanson de Roland, ll. 1903–4:

“Rollanz est proz e Oliviers est sages,Ambedui unt merveillus vasselage.”

“Rollanz est proz e Oliviers est sages,

Ambedui unt merveillus vasselage.”

p. 27, l.913. I cannot tell whattreyumplemeans, or whether it be a corruption.

p. 27, l.939. This kind of prayer or apostrophe addressed to the God of War is certainly taken from another English work, which I am unable to trace, but which must have been much known at the time of our author, as we find it referred to in different authors. That it has been taken from another poem is proved by some phrases of this prayer which are somewhat obscure or rather unintelligible here, and which we certainly should be able to explain if we knew the original context in which they occurred. Then the formhase(l. 940) is somewhat suspicious, as it is the only instance of the 2nd person singular present dropping thet, which it has always in this poem. The arrangement, too, of the following stanzas differs from that generally observed in theSowdan. If we consider our poem as composed in eight-line stanzas (but seeIntroduction, p. xl) we mostly find the 1st and 3rd lines rhyming together, then the 2nd and 4th, the 5th and 7th, and finally the 6th and 8th, so thatfourdifferent rhyme-endings are necessary to one stanza. If now we consider the stanza from l. 939 to 946, we only have two rhyme-endings, all the pair lines rhyming together, and all the odd ones‹p112›together. In ll. 947 to 950 the 1st and 4th rhyme together, whilst the 2nd and 3rd are paired off together.—ll. 939–941 we find alluded to inChaucer, seeIntroduction, p. xlvi, and thePrioress’s Tale, ed. Skeat (Clarendon Press), p. xvii. Compare also Lindsay,The Historie of Squyer Meldrum, l. 390:

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