NOTES (continued 12)

ēa is regularly e, ches 586, ded 26 (9), slep 635, lefful 585, queðsipe 298; the i-umlaut is e (Anglian), gemen 260, here 2 &c., leueð 85, nede 100 (9), nedeð 113, 164, remeð 527; before two consonants, bekneð 213. ēo is also e, be 21 &c., bet 213, bitwen 281, crepeð 111 (3), deuel 164 (5), der 322 r. w. her (4), undergede 568 r. w. manhede, wel 600 (Ang. hwēl, Bülb. § 217) r. w. wel; before two consonants, brest 117 (4), helde 173, but diuel 21, an early instance of this shortening, cripelande 111 from crypel; the i-umlaut is e, strenen 485, ten 109. gesīene is sene 356, gīet, get 62, 385 r. w. flet. ēa after palatals is e, ger 492 r. w. her, sep 34, 483.

a + g is ag, dages 607, drageð 6, sage 475, but daies 109, 635; mugen 323 has the form of the subjunctive mugon; sei 159 descends from sege, seieþ 347 from segeþ, seit 577 from segð. æ + g is divided between ai and ei, dai 29 (7), 582 r. w. ai, daies 109, 635, faier 629, lai 28, 633, mai 110 (9), maig 64 (3), mainles 110; breid 548, breides 344 (bregd), dei 216, 576, deies 309, meiden 23, 442, seide 191, 353, seid 549: fagen 394, 415 r. w. dragen is Anglian fagen; muge 126, 187 descends from LWS. muge. e + g is ei, weie 4; forbredes 138 comes from forbrēdan, agen 185, 457 from agēn: e + h is seen in hightes 135, 161, hightest 133. i + g: the spirant has been absorbed in lieð 15; final ig is i, mani 429, manie 441, wurði 346. i + h is ig, idigt 364, sigte 92, wigt 235. o + h is og, ðogt 501, 559, but forbroiden 108, not from -brogden, but -brōden, with a variation which perhaps mimics the alternation of the ME. infinitives breden (brēdan) and breiden (bregdan), see NED. s.v. broiden. u + g is ug, fugeles 308, mugen 503, 643, but the spirant has disappeared in fules 305, 312. y + h is ig, drigten 26 (3), fligt 43, 54, offrigt 625 (late North. fryhta). ā + g, h is og, og 263 (3), ogen 210 (4), ogt 623 (āht), but ovt 560 r. w. ðogt 577, out 521, forms due to the scribe: steg 639 (stāh) has borrowed e, as often elsewhere, from the third class of strong verbs. ǣ₁ + g, h is ag, agte 477, er, meaning or, 99 (9) is descended from ǣgþer, while er, before, 191 (4) is ǣr: neggen 122, negge 3 represent genēgan. ǣ₂ + g is seen in haliweie 612 (wǣg). ī + g: in sti 152 r. w. bi, g has disappeared. ō + g, h is og, inog 118, ðogte 354, nogt 122 (9), but nout 11, 593, 622 r. w. ogt, nowt 192, 214, forms due to the scribe. ȳ + g, drie 615. ea + h, ht is seen in magt (mæht) 426, magti 175, waxe 196, waxeð 124, waxen 445 (wæxan); the i-umlaut in migt 234, 532 r. w. wiht, migte 21 (3), nigt 47, but sloð 329 (WS. sliehþ) r. w. loð, corresponds to North. slāþ, influenced by OScand. slá. eo + ht is igt, brigt 55 r. w. fligt, figtande 128, rigt 52, rigten 102, rigteð 125, but sexe 50 (Anglian sex), bitwixen 293 (betweohs); without umlaut is seð 49 r. w. teð (WS. siehþ) as if from sēoþ. ēa + g, h is eg (Anglian), egen 16 (5), heg 18, hege 562; eilond 387, 414 (īegland) is from Anglian ēgland. ēo + g is also eg, fleges 366, flegeð 48 (3), legeð 350, 577; ēo + h, ligtlike 315; without i-umlaut are fleð 123, 165 (comp. flēð, Durh. Rit.), teð 48 r. w. seð, 274, but ligten 20, 289. ā + w is ow, ou, ov, knoweð 106, sowles 103, soule 158 (4), knov 133, but soge 386 as if from *sāhe, sawen 599, possibly miswritten for sowen. ī + w, appears in newe 60 (5), neweð 39 (5), newe 141, all from Anglian forms with ēo. ō + w: nowor 35 represents *nōwar, nōwer from nāhwǣr, nāhwār. ēa + w is seen in ðewes 143 and finally in deu 7: ēo + w in rewen 437, rewe 206, reufulike 528, speweð 116, finally in gu 549 (4): tre 508, 516, 524, 551 r. w. we, is Anglian tre(o): the i-umlaut is wanting in trewe 163, 589, untrewe 61, 96.

In syllables without stress o is levelled to e, wankel 446, hunger 203, siker 207, wunder 194, sumer 176, te 107. a appears for e in mereman 442, influenced by man. An e, generally unmetrical, has been inserted in deuẹles 436 (but deules 665), folegen 269, folẹgeð 431, 620 (but folgen 439, 643), fugeles 308, lagelike 573, steuẹne 561, husebondes 299, sineginge 149, wisedom 324, and i similarly in hardilike 177, fulịgewis 508 (comp. fuliwis 445), haliweie 612 (‘haleweie,’ L 23072), sinịging 256: e is omitted in biforn 62, 68, 268, but metre requires everywhere biforen. The prefix be- is bi-, bisetten 167: ge- is i in imong 476, it appears also in uniemete 459 (ungemǣte) with ie for i as in attrie 228, perhaps an Anglo-Norman interchange of these symbols. But ge- is generally lost, as in bodes 136, minde 263, vnride 389, unwelde 41. on- is a in among 147, to-, te in tetireð 318. redi 125 (3) is a ME. formation from gerǣde + ig, the termination in sille is -lic; -ung is ing, drowing 567, groning, woning 662, lesing 478.

Geminated final consonants are invariably simplified as web 363, coc 300, stoc 224, fel 109, hil 18, spel 335, den 8, fen 630, mankin 168, sin(ful) 82, win 244, char 519, dar 647, fer 265, pit 624; often too medially as rr, chare 457, dure 145; nn, wiðerwine 645, cune 148, cunen 457; þþ, siðen 41 (5); cc, fecheð 179, reche 585, meche 586. For w, u is written in sadue 524. r is doubled in warre 456; metathesis occurs in ðrist 231, 428. n is added in hauen 183, boðen 181, boden 525, doubled in drigtinnes 242, vnneðes 113, omitted in euelike 213, and frequent o for on. p is doubled in steppes 5, inserted in sampnen 484. f between vowels and vowellikes is u, rauen 311, geuelic 173, ouese 362, culuer 650, derue 205, once v in weveð 360 (but weueð 363), otherwise it is f. f is doubled in off prep. 104, 241, 264, 616, while the adverb appears as of 657. t is doubled in little 200, 432, beside litel 131, lost in beste 514, for it th is written in cethegrande 383: ts is sc in giscing 245, c in milce 151. d is doubled in togaddre 482, gaddreð 180, omitted in selcuðes 441, as already in OE. selcūþ and in sille 449, but already syllic in OE. For d, ð is written in ðon 328, faðer 13, queðsipe 298, seð 191, for þ, d in boden 525, broder 287, dede 31, 625, filde 160, lodlike 357, swide 360, swideð 54, dat 634, de 165, dridde 29, drowing 567, wurden 250, mostly due to the scribe’s failure to complete ð: þ is t in forsaket 81, wit 136: after voiceless t, s pronominal words begin with t instead of þ, tanne 216, tat 18, te 209, (at) te 134, 361, 586, ter 329, tin 161, tine 159, tis 73, 154, tu 133 (7), tus 77 &c., but de 192, once after d, tu 150. In forðward 160, ð has been wrongly inserted. sć is s, initially, sadue 524, sakeð 193, sal 16 &c., same 193 (3), sarpe 318, seftes 356, seld 130, sending 339, sep 34, seppande 356, silden 34, sinen 12, sipes 411, sonde 431, sop 356, sulde 123, suneð 193, sures 203, once sc, scrifte 159, once sk, skinbon 272, NED compares NFris. skenbiin, WFris. skynbonke; medially, golsipe 245, queðsipe 298, but ss in wissing 246 (*gewȳscung); finally, fis 383, fles 114, 435. The stop c is k before e and i and in combination with other consonants, forsaket 81, kinde 10, bitokneð 152, drink 158, but craft 111, in other positions mostly c, cam 564, uncuð 396, blac 598, swic 149, but kam 29, 352, unkuð 97, swik 344, suk 454, smake 3 (ME. formation from smæcc): cc is ck, necke 303. č is ch, chaueles 397, ches 586, erðchine 308, chare 457, char 519, briche 293, 592, eche 139, quenchet 256, riche 480, but ic 38 &c., sekeð 46, kirke 78, Scand. in form, kolde 486, kold 495, mirke 80, merk 341 (see Björkman 146), micle 536, mikle 542 (comp. OWScand. mikil), wilc 4, swilc 248, swilk 338, ilik 343, lic 662. čč is cch, dreccheð 88, feccheð 301, but fecheð 179, reche 585, meche 586 and fetchen 265, witches 427, early instances of tch, but ?wikke 468. cw is qu, qw, quenchet 256, qwemeð 190, queðsipe 298, quike 253. Palatal g is written g, bigeten 490, forgeten 451, gemen 260, geld 338, forgelues 138, ger 491, get 62, ging 162, gingen 259, gingid 238, giueð 291, gu 549, gungling 543, guðhede 39, undergede 568 (undereode); it is doubled in negge 3, neggen 122, lost in if 35 &c. The voiceless spirant is also represented by g, as in egen 16, ðogte 354, soge 386, furg 307, inog 118, ðurg 3: doubled in suggeden 559 (in Orm suhhghen), now dialectal, mostly Northern, sough, soo. h is lost in ire 183, added in heten 421: hl is l, lene 110, lepeð 230, lides 16, list 585, listen 74, louerd 19, lude 377; hn is n, necke 303; hr, r, raðe 317, rem 13, remeð 527, rewen 437; hw, w, wan 386, wat 95, weder 270, wel 600, wete 190, wilc 4, wile 648, wite 599, wos 628, wu 20 &c., and qu in qual (Northern).

Accidence: Strong declension of masc. and neut. nouns. In the s. n. a. dine 646, heuenriche 18, 292, hirde 33, bale 379, golsipe 245, se 404, tre 508, 516, wete 190, 209 have e corresponding to their OE. vocalic ending, bodi 172, sti 152 have lost final g; seppandẹ 356 and haliweie 612 r. w. seie have added e; mere 448 is shortened from meremenn. Gen. -es, bukes 330, foxes 314, sees 407, but heuenriche 558; brest 121, 160 is a composition form: dat. -e, bale 172, bile 70 and 15 others with vowel termination in the nom., hauen 183 has added n (nunnation, 457/11), dede 31, dele 4 and 31 others with inflection, of which ouese 362 is the only word of more than one syllable: without inflection are bodi 130 (3), drigtin 104, meiden 23, stel 419, der 322, 627, rem 13, 611 and 90 others mostly with long stem vowel or of more than one syllable; always o dei 576, bi dai 47 &c.; many examples are in rhyme as mod 249, 348, muð 395, ðogt 501, 559, wold 620. The pl. n. a. of masculines ends in -es, chaueles 397, witches 427, daies 109, fodredes 361; there are no weak forms: neuters are limes 41, 63, sipes 411, 417, 454, bodes 136, 213, lides 16, sep 34, 483, ger 491, 492, ðing 358: datives have -es, berges 481, breides 344, briddes 660, finnes 445, ðewes 143, ðornes 237, limes 131, wiles 297, but der 603. Of the fem. nouns of the strong declension mire 175, neddre 107, 129, same 193, widue 578 have e corresponding to their OE. vocalic ending in the nom., dede 468, 469, sowle 586 have added e, all others are without e, culuer 650, ned 142, woning 662 (the verbal substantives are rarely inflected in any case). Genitives are sinnes 158, sowles 103: birde 117 (comp. byrdtīd), erðe 630, helle 638 (comp. hellewīte), heuene 638 (comp. heuen 170), kirke 134, 586, soule 158 may be genitives, but are more probably composition forms. Dat. -e, birdene 289, filde 160, godcundnesse 644, manhede 567, migte 587, werlde 106, sineginge 149, stefninge 451, but blis 140, 638, hid 120, magt 426, migt 416, tunder 419, werld 201, and the verbal nouns lesing 478, reming 542, sending 339, swiking 477, wissing 359 are without inflection. In the acc. forðward 160, migt 234, 532, ned 659, stund 309, 408 and the verbal nouns billing 316, 338, foxing 333, giscing 245, drowing 567, siniging 256, tokning 463, wissing 246, 255 are without inflection, bote 150, guðhede 39, nede 100, 216, 280, soule 172, 478, steringe 451 with 27 others have e, besides fille 319, 373, forbisne 322. Pl. n. are fedres 56; dat. harmdedes 299, misdedes 151, sinnes 75; a. forbisnes 219, kindes 218, seftes 356 (sometimes masc.), sinnes 159, stefnes 448, agte 477. Nouns of the weak declension have -e in the nom., bane 370, sunne 12; d. make 576, erðchine 308; a. fode 64 (5), wille 330, but fod 207, licham 214 before a vowel: genitives are belles 541, huntes 548: pl. n. egen 44, 80, fleges 366, husebondes 299; dat. egen 16, 87; a. egen 55, willen 515. The minor declensions are represented by fet (steppes) pl. a. 5; teð pl. a. 318; man s. n. 73, mannes s. g. 148, man s. d. 444, a. 124, men pl. n. 305, sipmen 451, manne pl. g. 24, men ?pl. d. 144, manne 359, men pl. a. 428; boc s. n. 350, boke s. d. 38 (4); furg s. d. 307; gos s. a. 302; nigte s. d. 588, bi nigt 47, 150, o nigt 576, nigt s. a. 582; faðer s. n. 13, fader 30, s. d. 640; broder s. n. 287, s. a. 535; fend s. n. 349.

Adjectives which in OE. end in a vowel have -e throughout, briche 592, eche 139, minde 263, newe 210, softe 176, but swet s. d. neut. 231 (comp. swētnes, swōt) and merk s. d. f. 341 have lost e; those in -ig lose g, attrie 228 (with ie for i), droui 407, holi 642, redi 311, weri 511. Weak inflections are s. voc. cristene 133, d. rigte 70, sinfule 340, a. olde 210, 581: strong are s. n. f. bare 121, ilike 442, like 444, s. d. m. rigte 435, s. d. f. quike 253; others are uninflected in the singular: mikel s. n. m. 565 has d. mikle 542, but mikel 230, pl. n. mikle 433, 536: litel s. n. neut. 131 has s. a. f. little 200, pl. n. 432. The pl. n. has -e, kolde 486, leue, loðe 594, warre, wise 456; the exceptions are all predicative, fagen 394, 415, kold 495, siker 207, strong 63, twifold 471, uncuð 396, war 204, wod 250; dat. -e, iuele 343, wite 599, but dern 75 r. w. ern; acc. -e, erðliche 213, but brigt 55 r. w. fligt. ān as article unstressed is a 28, 46 &c., before consonants, an 391, 282 before vowels and h, twice 106, 596 before w, divided in a neilond 387, 414, while the numeral and indefinite pronoun is on 268, 530, (on) on 223, 635, one s. d. neut. 264; āna, alone, is one 579, 580, 622: nān as adj. is no 148, 444 &c., non 64 &c., none s. d. neut. 65, as pronoun, non 267, 271, 285, 494, 556, 597. Adjectives used as nouns with inflection are s. d. geuelike 214, 593, gode 65, nakede 165, pl. grete 400, sinfule 167, selcuðes 441, smale 399: nouns used as adjectives are flerd, fox 351. Comparatives and superlatives have -e, s. fairere 597, more 194, beste 514, firste 552, moste 384, swetteste 392, pl. eldere 171, 241, but best 667 r. w. nest, vuemest 639 r. w. gast, most 501 before vowel.

The personal pronouns are ic 38 (6), before vowel, h or palatal g, i 37 (5) before consonants, we, wes (= we es) 651, ur pl. g. 285, 661, vs, ðu, tu 133 &c., ðe, te 142, gu pl. d. 549, 575. The pronoun of the third person is s. n. he m. 2, 330, ge f. 175, 179, get (= ge it) 195, it neut. 29, 450, itt 601, d. him m. 5, 521, hire f. 184, 499, ire 183, a. him m. 13, 128, hire f. 299; pl. n. he 264, 625, g. her 556, d. hem 281, 546, a. 369, is 7, 137, 304. Reflexives are us 663, ðe 160, him s. d. 64, 103, 109, himself 65, hire 372, him s. a. 8 (13), hire 178, 365, hem pl. a. 413, 421, 484: definitive is himseluen 520: possessives are s. ðin 156, tin 161, ði, before consonant, 160, 478, pl. ðine 151, tine 159, ðin 477 before vowel; s. his 3 &c., pl. hise 16 &c., his, before vowel, 44, 55; hire 179, 496; vre 19 &c., here 280, 427. The definite article is ðe without inflection, te 13, 623, de 165, 192, atte 134, 361, 586: s. ðat 18 &c., tat 18, pl. ðo 432, 604 are demonstratives. The compound demonstrative is s. ðis 77, tis 73, pl. ðise 398. The relatives are ðe 19; it means, of which 621, during which 201, and ðat 13, it means, in which 517, on which 206, about which 191, that which 184, 470, dat, for whom, 634. Interrogatives are wat 127, 133, 170, wos 628, wilc 4; the correlative is swilc 248, swilk 338. Indefinites are wo so 335, 577; wat 95; man 2, 194, 221, 304; sum 461; oni 378; oðres s. g. 273, oðer s. d. 378, a. 267, pl. oðre 276 (6), oðer 603; an oðer 10, 262; ilk 82, ilc 256, ilkines 180; eurilc 257, eurilc 286; mani 429, pl. manie 441 (4), manikines 358; fele 297, 463; al 54 &c., all 211, pl. alle 5, 241.

Only three verbs have the infinitive in -e, biswike 327 r. w. dernelike, chare 457 r. w. ware, rede 38 r. w. guðhede, one or two in -ien, luuien 135, ?hertien 276, the rest, in number 111, of which 18 are of the second weak conjugation, end in -en. The dat. inf. is not inflected, its sign is to (31) or for to (6). Presents are s. 1. haue 549, mene 248, seie 557 (4); 2. hauest 137, forbredes, forgelues, forwurðes 138; 3. falleð 58 (4), wakeð 33, wuneð 401 (5) and over 200 others in -eð; hatieð 304, rotieð 311; forsaket 81, quenchet 256; atbrested 548, bekned 213, gingid 238, bilimpes 275; contract verbs, fleð 123, 165, teð 48 r. w. seð, 274, seð 49, sloð 329 r. w. loþ, contracted forms are abit 581 r. w. sit, bet 213, bit 195, 211, 370, 379 (read biteð in all these places), bit 330, bit 192 (read bideð), biwalt 521 r. w. bihalt, fet 214, 337 r. w. ket, 605, fint 209 (read findeð), flet 386 r. w. get, fret 319, 373 (read freteð in both places), gelt 316, geld 338, hitt 365, lat 327, 328, lið 11 (read lieð as in l. 15), seit 577, sit 520, 576, 580 r. w. abit, smit 391, underset 516 r. w. bet, stant 2; pl. 1. hauen 176 (3), wunen 201, haue we 295, fele we 552, haue 659; 3. beren 278, cumen 276 (4), haten 299, noten 488, sundren 577, waken 453; sen 413, ten 266, hatien 305, cume 536: subjunctive s. 3. fare 99, se 122, tide 499, but derie 186; pl. 1. bimene we 663, leue we 590, luue we 587, 590, seke we 207, wende we 588: imperative s. 2. bid 150, help 144, swic 149, herkne 506, newe 141, reche 585, sei 159, deme 145; pl. 2. hereð 45, muneð 575. Past of Strong Verbs: I a. s. 3. lai 28, 633; subj. s. 2. soge 386; 3. sete 388: I b. s. 3. bar 24, kam 28, 352, cam 564; pl. 3. broken 242; subj. s. 3. come 22: I c. s. 3. wan 632, wurð 566: II. s. 3. ros 31, 637, steg 639: III. s. 3. ches 586: IV. s. 3. sop 356, stod 557: V. s. 2. hightest 133, hightes 135, 161; 3. fel 551, let 642, slep 635; ?subj. pl. 1. helde we 173. Participle present: V. gangande 530; past: I b. broken 137, forbroken 108: I c. bred 117, bunden 443, doluen 27, forbroiden, forwurden 108, towrong 42 r. w. unstrong: II. fordriuen 411, sinen 12, writen 572: III. forloren 69: IV. faren 589: V. IV. waxen 445: V. biholden 512, fallen 570, sawen 599. Past of Weak Verbs: s. 3. dennede 23, filstnede 30, seide 191, ðogte 354; pl. 3. remeden 561, suggeden 559, wuneden 493. Participles present: cripelande 111, figtande 128, secande 536; past: cloðed 124, cristned 134, elded 139, eried 308, herd 459, idigt 364, ikindled 10, lered 239, offrigt 625, seid 549, set 220, tokned 627, told 621, 628, trendled 600; inflected are cloðedẹ s. d. 166, forbisnede s. d. 464. Minor Groups: og pr. s. 263 (3), ogen 1 pr. pl. 210 (3), pr. pl. 653; can pr. s. 79, canne (= can he) 534, cunen pr. pl. 457, cune 2 pr. s. subj. 148, cunne pr. s. subj. 7 (3); dar pr. s. 647, dure 2 pr. s. subj. 145; salt 2 pr. s. 155, sal pr. s. 16 &c., sulen 1 pr. pl. 203, 292, pr. pl. 485, 594, sulde pt. s. 123; mai pr. s. 110 (9), maig 64, 400, 433, mugen 1 pr. pl. 323, 643, pr. pl. 503, muge pr. s. subj. 126, 187, migte pt. s. 21, 554, 556, migten pt. pl. 560; moten 1 pr. pl. 210, mote 2 pr. s. subj. 151; ben inf. 84 (4), to ben dat. inf. 263, 653, art 2 pr. s. 140, 162, is pr. s. 10, 662, es 183, nes 518, beð 313, ben 1 pr. pl. 34, 204, be we 205, arn pr. pl. 41 (11), aren 394, 415, ben 450, senden 63, 441, be pr. s. subj. 21, 615, ben 1 pr. pl. subj. 207, 293, be we 589, 655, ben pr. pl. subj. 282, be 2 pr. s. imp. 163, was pt. s. 26 &c., weren 1 pt. pl. 250, pt. pl. 80, 559, 625, were 2 pt. s. subj. 134, pt. s. subj. 61 (7), wore 578; wile 1 pr. s. 575, wille 37, wile pr. s. 71 (12), wille 34 (5), wulle 634, wilen pr. pl. 367, wullen 314, wile pr. s. subj. 4, 327, 328, wuldest 2 pt. s. 385, wulde pt. s. 553, 2 pt. s. subj. 74, pt. s. subj. 353, 354; don inf. 330, 531, ðon 328, fordon 354, to don dat. inf. 212, 515, 661, doð pr. s. 141 (10), do we 1 pr. pl. subj. 172, 205, 657, dede pt. s. 171, don pp. 663; gon inf. 155, 225, goð pr. s. 66 (5), gon pr. pl. 482, 491, 1 pr. pl. subj. 35, 254, go 2 pr. s. imp. 157, undergede pt. s. 568.

Noteworthy among adverbs are lic, equally, 662, nede, of necessity, 129 (nīede), ðer wile, whilst, 648, welle, very, 18 (also in Layamon, 29622), which seems to have added a superfluous adverbial e; among prepositions, mitte 454, 546, one 334, 388, onẹ 420; conjunctions, ⁊ (ant), meaning if, 2, er, or, 99 &c., wiles, whilst, 88 (4), wor so, wheresoever, 602 (4).

Vocabulary: The Scandinavian element is large: ai 46 (7), arn 41 &c., aren 394, 415, blast 541, bone 101, boðe 47, boðen 181, boden 525, brest 458 (OE. byrst would in this text be birst), brennen 249, brenning 229, brinneð 227, bro 598 (OWScand. brá), calleð 527, call(ing) 563, costes 284, derflike 313, feg 160, fro 31 &c., gapeð 390, gres 182, heil 59, ille 410, ill(ing) 317, ket 336, lage 15 &c., leiðe 357, oc 55, 159, or 76, 116, 119, rapelike 178, reiseð 13, reisen 553, renneð 178, scaðe 447, skemt(ing) 332, skies 50, swideð 54, takeð 71, til 12, ðeðen 364, ðog 21 &c., (un)skil 331, wille 35, wrengðe 69, wrong 62, probably hileð 318, vncost 148, wore 578, possibly fikeð 532, listneð 306 (comp. hlystan), liuenoðe 200, (o) twinne 195; influenced in form are atbrested 548, atbrosten 458, come 664, frame 323 (fremu), in meaning, onde 310. French are bec 42, capun 300, caue 186, cete 397, cul 604, dragunes 622 (‘draguns,’ P. de Thaün), gin 521, grace 104, haleð 184, leun 2, market 378, panter 596, poure 144, pride 247, prophetes 555, rime 572, robb(inge) 657, simple 655, spuse 587, tireð 336, turtres 572, uenim 116 (venin); pre-Conquest Latin is crede 98. The proper name Moyses 553 is the Vulgate form.

Dialect: The author of the Bestiary lived in East Anglia, sufficiently near its northern border to account for such rhymes as loð : sloð 328, 329, stedefast : gast 434, 435, vuemest (read -mast) : gast 639, 640. The large Scandinavian element also points to the northern part of East Anglia. How far he was responsible for the Northern or North Midland broken 242, offrigt 625, qual 598, sawen 599, senden 63, 441, soge 386, s as the regular and frequent representative of sć, as in sadue, sal, sarpe &c., the 2, 3 pr. s. in -es, bilimpes 275, forbredes, forgelues, forwurðes 138, higtes 135, 161, and the participles in -ande it is impossible to determine. But he certainly did not write gangande 530, secande 536, and transmission through a Northern or North Midland copy may accordingly be assumed. Our manuscript was written by a scribe of the Southern border of East Anglia. He has left his mark in a number of syncopated presents which spoil the metre and probably in the case of others where the full form is metrically admissible, in luuien 135, hatieð 304, rotieð 311, wulle 634, wullen 314, and probably in were 134 &c., since wore 578 r. w. more is the only form controlled by rhyme. He is also responsible for dede 171, stereð 309, æ + g as ei, dei 576, meiden 23 &c., for vuemest 639, daies 109, 635, out 521, ovt 560, nout 11, 593, 622, nowt 192, 214, occasional alterations without any systematic attempt at revision. We may perhaps venture the guess that the poem was written in Lincolnshire and copied in Essex.

Metre: Thetbaldus attempts a variety of metres, ‘temptans diversis si possem scribere metris;’ leonine hexameters for his Lion, Eagle, Siren, Onocentaur and Panther, leonine elegiacs for the Ant, Fox, Stag, Whale and Elephant, sapphics for the Serpent, catalectic dactylic tetrameter for the Spider, adonics for the Turtle. The English adapter emulates his versatility and moreover mixes different kinds of verse in the same article. In alliterative long line are ll. 1-24, 32-35, 106-151, 156-161, 164-166, 170-173, 175-179, 184-197, 199-204, 297-299, 304-315, 318, 356, 357, 360-370, 376-381, 441-448, 451, 458, 459. Of these the great majority are of the first kind described on p. 463, lines with alliteration only, as 2-8, 10, 11, 15, 18-21, 23, 106-111 &c. Of the second are 13, 16, 114, 134-136, 141, 150, 171, 173, 176, 185, 195, 312-315, 364, 370, 376, 379, 380, 459, of the third, 24, 112, of the fourth 12, 116, 118, 144, ?298, 305, 306, 362, 381, but groups of lines in this class, such as 26-31, 152-155 have attained to their full development as syllabic verse and are printed like the octosyllables and similar metres from which they are indistinguishable. Lines of the fifth class are discussed in the notes. They are numerous, indeed the parts written in alliterative verse are in much worse state than the rest of the text, probably because the scribe’s ignorance of the technique of the native metre gave him greater scope for alteration. The changes he has made are of the kind described on pp. 464, 465, prominent among them is the rearrangement of words, mostly in a prose order, which often results in the elimination of rhymes. These rhymes are mostly imperfect; inflectional as reiseð : makeð 13, drinkeð : neweð 118 &c., luken : egen 16, leuen : luuien 135, name : queðsipe 298, ouese : felde 362, or partial in correspondence of sound, as sinen : abuten 12, dure : were 134, herte : kirke 136, men : abuten 144, hulen : fules 305, wunder : hunger 306, mere : -mete 459. The most frequent alliterative combination is 2 + 1, as at 4, 15, 18, 19, 106-109, 113, 115, 117, 365 (hitt, hole, biholdeð) &c., it occurs in at least one third of the lines; next in number is 1 + 1, as in 5, 10, 16, 20, 21, 23, 34, 35, 110, 196 (forwurðe, waxe), 458 (atbrosten, brest) &c., 2 + 2 is seen in 111, 123, 160, 363, 367, 1 + 2 in 2, 11, 114, 128, 135, crossed alliteration in 3, 6, 148, 157, 161, 170, 203, 360, 445 (fis, fuliwis, finnes, waxen), 448, distinct alliteration in 147, 165.

The septenarius is the metre of ll. 205-216, 294, 295, 572-579, 585-594. For the structure of this verse, see p. 327; the following is a restoration and scansion of the passages in the Bestiary.

The writer handles this metre skilfully; the stresses coincide generally with the natural accent and the rhymes are good. The variations from the norm of the verse are those described on p. 328, but in proportion fewer.

For the octosyllable see p. 564. In this metre are ll. 26, 27, 37-46, 48, 49, 54-59, 62-64, 68-71, 230-236, 238, 239, 250, 257-260, 262-271, 276, 278, 279, 281, 282, 284, 285, 288, 289, 292, 293, 322, 323, 325-331, 334-337, 341, 343-354, 359, 371, 372, 383-388, 390-402, 405-416, 419-424, 426-439, 454, 455, 463, 465, 466, 475, 476, 480-491, 494-496, 499-501, 508-511, 516-526, 528-533, 536-541, 546-549, 551-570, 580-583, 596-625, 627-648, 650-667. Of these some are to be emended, others are peculiar in scansion, as, ðo úr|e drígt|en déd | wás 26, ánt | his ég|en ár|en dím 44, His béc | is gét | bifór|en wróng 62, Bíll|eð tíl | his béc | bifóren 68, háueð | ðe wréng | ðe ál | forlóren 69, Ne háu|eð ðát | uením | non mígt 234, so hért | doð hís|e hórn|es ál 258, óc | on swímm|eð bí|forén || ant áll|e ðe ód|re fól|egén 268, 269, álle | ðe óð|re míd|e cúmen 276, bér|en him óf | ðat wát|er grúnd 278, ant bríng|ẹð us in sínn|ẹ ant tér | us slóð 329, ét|en ant drínk|en wíð | unskílle 331, máni | alsó | ðe fóx|es náme 345, wúr|ði árn | to háu|ẹn to sáme 346, dóð | ge hém | non óð|er gód 372, Céthe | gránde | ís a | gret fís 383, ðerforẹ óð|re físs|es tó | him drágen 393, wúneð | ðis fís | wið ðé | se grúnd 401, ne maí | it wún|en ðán | ðer ínne 406, aneí | lond he wén|en ðát | it ís 414, Of stón | mid stél|e ín | ðe túnder 419, wo só | him fól|ẹgeð fínd|eð sónde 431, ne cúm|en hé | nummór|e úp 455, Féle | men háu|en ðe tók|eníng 463, ðat wán|ne hír|e hárd|e tíde 499, slépeð | bi ðe tré | ál in | ðe sádue 524, ðán|ne cúm|eð ðér | on gángen 530, mánie | ant mík|le cúm|en sáken 536, ðis élp | he reís|en só | on stálle 547, Móy|ses wúld|e hím | up reísen 553, mígt|e hé | it nó | wigt fórðen 554, áft|er hím | prophét|es álle 555, ðo rém|ẹden he áll|e lúd|ẹre stéuẹne 561, hem tó | cam críst | urẹ héu|en kíng 564, ðre dág|es ál | he slép|en wílle 607, ðánne | áfter | ðe ðrídd|e daí 608, wið swét|nessẹ áls | ic ít | gu seíe 613, wor só | he wálk|eð ón | ðe lónde 617, wor só | he wálk|eð, wor só | he wúneð 618, ful wél | his lúu|ẹ he táun|ẹde mán 631, ðannẹ hé | was déd | in blód | ant bón 636, v́p | he rós | ant rém|ẹdẹ iwís 637, ínto | his gód | cundnéss|ẹ afín 644, it óg|en áll|e to bén | us mínde 653, gé | ne háu|eð in hír|ẹ non gálle 654, ðe wírm | ge lét|eð ant líu|ẹð bi séd 658, In wát|ẹr ge is wís | of héu|ẹkes cóme 664, In hól|ẹ of stón | ge mák|ẹð hirẹ nést 666.

Verses of three measures are ll. 28-31, 47, 50-53, 60, 61, 65-67, 152-155, 162, 163, 167 (two lines), 168, 169, 180-183, 218-229, 237, 241-249 (241, 242 originally four lines, see note), 251-256, 272-275, 277, 280, 286, 287, 290, 291, 300-303, 316, 319, 320, 324, 332, 333, 338-340, 358, 373, 374, 389, 403, 404, 417, 418, 450, 456, 457, 461, 464, 467-474, 477, 478, 492, 493, 497, 498, 502, 503, 527, 534, 535, 542-545. Noteworthy are, bó|ðe bi nígt | ant bi daí 47, so rígt|e só | he cúnne 52, ánt | he bíll|eð ðer ón 67 (anapaest in last foot occurs several times in this metre), ðis líf | bitók | neð ðe stí 152, ðát | tu sált | ðurg gón 155, aí | ðe sín | fúle || bisétt|en hé | wíle 167, gáddr|eð ílk|ines séd 180, bóð|ẹ of wúd|ẹ ant of wéd 181, of córn | ánt | of grés 182, ðat man clép|ẹð físi | ologét 221, He ðrág|eð ðe nédd|rẹ of ðe stón 222, wiðínn|ẹ he haú|ẹð brenníng 229, bi swílc | átter | i méne 248, drínk|en hís | wissíng 255, it quénch|et ílc | sinịgíng 256, on óðr|es lénd|ebón 273, gef hím | ðat téð | bifóren 274, ?ant hélp|en hím | to hérten 277, hélp|en him át | his néde 290, god gíu|eð ðér|forẹ méde 291, ge fécch|eð óft|ẹ in ðe tún 301, frét|eð hí|re fílle 319, ánt for his | sínful|e wérk 340, bute frét|eð hír|e fílle 373, ðis fís | ðat is ðús | unríde 389, tíl | it cúm|ẹð ðe tíme 403, ðat stórm | stíreð | al ðe sé 404, síp|es ón | to fésten 417, ant áll|e úp | to gángen 418, súm ðing | tókneð | bi ðís 461, ant wík|ke ís | herẹ déde 468, ?on wérld|e wún|en hér 493, ðat he múg|en rís|en wíð 503. Verses of two measures are ll. 317, 449 (mánie | ant sílle), 452, 460.

Common Metre consists of alternate octosyllable and three-bar lines arranged in stanzas of four lines, rhyming a : b : a : b. In this are ll. 73-104, 504-507, 512-515. Scan, ðó|re sát|anás | forsákeð 81, to ihés|u críst | him sélf | bitákeð 83, His múð | is gét | wél | unkúð 97, bídd|en bón|e gérn | to góde 101, ánt | his múð | ðus rígten 102, to dón | wel hís|e wíken 515. The stanza, ll. 89-92, is desperate.

Syncope of the middle vowel takes place in filstnẹde 30, heuẹne 49, 51, 562, 565, 639, seuẹne 50 (but seuene 652), sinịging 256, iuẹle 344, chauẹles 397, folẹgeð 431, 620, deuẹles 436, slumẹren 452, wunẹden 493, stedẹfast 509, suggẹden 559, sorgẹden 559, remẹden 561, steuẹne 561, taunẹde 631, heuẹkes 664: e is also slurred or lost in ouẹr 48, 629, 630, clepẹð 221, hauẹð 229, ogẹn 284, arẹn 394, forbisnẹde 464, bergẹs 481, cumẹð 543, oðẹ 549, makẹn 556, watẹr 664, makẹð 666; in many other cases there is the alternative of a three-syllable foot, as for instance, of an anapaestic last foot in 502, 604. Hiatus occurs in stille 28, golsipe 245, giuernesse 246, pride 247, 257, alle 264, 418, 540, nede 267, raðe 333, same 339, wulde 354, were 387, eure 402, ðanne 485, 511, name 489, wanne 499, helpe 538, 546, migte 556, oliue 583.

Introduction: Before the middle of the second century A.D., there appeared at Alexandria a Greek book, in which marvellous accounts of the nature and properties of certain animals, plants, and stones were used as allegorical and mystical illustrations of the dogmas of the Christian faith. The natural history element was an amalgam of popular conceptions and travellers’ tales, sheltering under the authority of ὁ Φυσιολόγος, the Naturalist, by whom the compiler probably meant Aristotle, and from whom the book itself was in later times called Physiologus. The didactic portion was a product of Alexandrian Judaeo-Christian theology, inspired by similar moralisations in the Septuagint and influenced by the pervading atmosphere of Egyptian nature symbolism.

In its primitive form the book is probably best represented by the version printed in Lauchert, pp. 229-270. It had an amazing success, it passed everywhere with the Christian faith and soon found translators into Ethiopic, Armenian, Syriac (more than once), and Arabic. There is evidence of a prose version in Latin as early as the fifth century; from Latin it passed into most of the literatures of Europe. But the metrical version of Thetbaldus appears to have driven out the older Latin versions, one of which, however, is the main source of the Anglo-Norman poem written by Philippe de Thaün on English ground about 1130 A.D.

1-35. Compare generally CM 18641-60.

2. ⁊ = ant, with the subjunctives here, smake means if; some explain it by supposing ellipsis of ȝif.

3. smel, sense of smell, power of smelling; Mätzner compares ‘Smel of neose is þe ueorðe of þe vif wittes,’ AR 104/17; ‘Þonne is þe hundes smel for-do,’ ON 822. Smake, perceive by smell; a rare transitive use; see 211/497 for the intransitive, give out a smell.

4. ‘Qualicunque via descendit vallis ad ima,’ T.

5. The second half line is short; read he self filleð.

6. [dun]: supplied in Specimens with a reference to l. 22.

7. deu: Holthausen suggests fen, mud, restoring the alliteration; comp. 195/630. he, the hunter.

8. driueð dun, hastens down; comp. ‘se ferliche ha driuen dun to þe eorðe,’ HM 21/20, ‘driue adun swireforð,’ id. 23/32; with ‘ðeðen,’ 187/364. bergen: Holthausen conjectures dernen, which is apparently not used in ME. of living things: possibly dennen should be read as in l. 25; the writer is fond of such repetitions. There is nothing in T. corresponding to this line.

10-13. ‘Natus non vigilat dum sol se tercio girat | Sed dans rugitum pater ejus suscitat illum,’ T.

11. lið: read lieð, as in l. 15.

12. Holthausen transposes, Til ðe sunne haueð ðries · sinen him abuten. But the inflectional rhyme is sufficient.

13. Transpose, his faðer him reiseð. makeð: perhaps remeð; comp. 193/540.

15. lage: a variant on ‘kinde,’ l. 10, characteristic, habit; comp. ‘þenne hafest þu þes hundes laȝe,’ OEH i. 25/4; ‘Ðe unwise man and forwened child habbeþ boðe on laȝe,’ OEH ii. 41/23, and see 20/63.

16. ‘Qui quociens dormit nunquam sua lumina claudit,’ T. ‘Crederis esse leo vigilanti semper ocello,’ Ruodlieb iv. 85.

17. This interpretation springs from, ‘Catulus leonis Iuda: ad praedam fili mi ascendisti: requiescens accubuisti ut leo, et quasi leaena, quis suscitabit eum?’ Gen. xlix. 9; see Honorius Augustod. 935 c.

18. hil: comp. ‘Twen heuone hil and helle dik,’ GE 281.

20. wu—liked, how (anticipating ‘hu,’ l. 22), when it pleased him; similar is ‘hu,’ 192/504. ligten: see 141/42 and comp. 199/79.

21. Comp. ‘ah þurh þe mon ꝥ he wes | ischrudd ⁊ ihudd wið, | he bicherde þene feont, | ⁊ schrenchte þen alde deouel, | ⁊ teschrapet his heaued,’ SK 1181. derne, cunning.

22. The missing half line may have been something like, to ðis dale niðer, as in l. 4.

23. dennede him, hid himself as in a den, suggested by den in l. 8; comp. ‘caldeliche dennet in a beastes cribbe,’ OEH i. 277/29.

24. to manne frame, for men’s benefit; manne is pl. gen., but the original reading was probably manne to frame with the usual dative: comp. 15/110; ‘naht him to mede ac hus to freme ⁊ to fultume,’ OEH i. 217/17; ‘folce to frofre,’ Beowulf 14: see 3/37, 85/107, 86/126, 110/295, 186/323, 187/360.

27. doluen, buried; comp. ‘Brend and doluen was ðat folc soth,’ GE 3685. so for also would improve the rhythm; comp. 177/33.

29. it: formal subject; comp. ‘Til hit sprang dai liȝt,’ KH 124 note: similar is 114/90.

30. filstnede, helped; a derivative beside the more common filsten; comp. ‘He badd hiss maȝȝstre fillstnenn himm,’ Orm i. 181/5236, 213/6170.

32. A half line is missing, something like, liues louerd so he is, corresponding to ‘mortis vindex’ in T. Comp. 147/149. vs—holden, to hold us to life, maintain us alive, save us from death; add to before holden; comp. ‘Butt iff þatt Godd himm hullpe þær, | ⁊ helde himm þær to life,’ Orm ii. 63/12033: similarly ‘þa alde; þe to fehte heom scolde halden,’ L 9458, the elders who had to keep them fighting. But this transitive use is rare.

33. wakeð, keeps watch. ‘Tu nos custodis, tu nullo tempore dormis | Pervigil ut pastor ne demat de grege raptor,’ T. This is the explanation of natura iii. hirde: some such word as wakeman 113/56 would restore the alliteration.

35. heren to, obey. OE. hīeran with this meaning takes the dative, ‘Ne mæg nan mon twæm hlafordum hieran,’ Cura Past. 128/23, but it is rare in ME. nowor wille, nowhere, in no case, never, astray; comp. ‘ðo fleg agar fro sarray, | . . . | In ðe diserd, wil and weri,’ GE 28/973, 5; ‘In a foreste þay were gone wylle,’ Ysumbras 157.

37. kinde is without rhyme and Holthausen suggests that a line like l. 263 or l. 653 has fallen out. T. has ‘Esse ferunt aquilam super omne volatile primam | Quae se sic renovat quando senecta gravat’: something like, ðe moste ðat on lift we finde, would correspond, comp. 188/384.

39. ‘renovabitur ut aquilae iuventus tua,’ Ps. cii. 5.

40. cumeð ut of elde, divests himself of old age.

41. Siðen, after, practically means when; comp. ‘Siðen ghe brocte us to woa, | Adam gaf hire name eua,’ GE 237, not ‘since,’ Mätzner. It is an adverb at l. 70 and nine other places, meaning afterwards. With unwelde comp. ‘Vn-welde woren and in win, | Here owen limes hem wið-in,’ GE 347.

42. wrong, awry; OWScand. rangr; comp. ‘⁊ all þatt ohht iss wrang ⁊ crumb | Shall effnedd beon ⁊ rihhtedd,’ Orm i. 321/9207; see also 177/62, 178/69, 70: al to is then altogether, exceedingly. But Mätzner assumes a participle *to-wrungen, which is without parallel. T. has, corresponding to ll. 61, 62, ‘Est autem rostrum quo carpitur esca retortum,’ but nothing here; with ll. 41-43 comp. ‘Solet dici de Aquila dum senectute premitur, quod rostrum illius aduncetur et incurvetur, ita ut sumere cibum nequeat et macie languescat,’ H. de S. Victor, ii. 417.

46. ‘Fons ubi sit quaerit qui nunquam surgere desit,’ T., from ‘fons aquarum, cuius non deficient aquae,’ Isa. lviii. 11.

48. ⁊ rubricated as though beginning another line. teð, proceeds; comp. 184/266, 274; ‘To-warde egipte he gunne ten,’ GE 1953.

50. seuene: he flies through seven to the highest, eighth, heaven; comp. ‘Eiȝte firmamenz þare beoth: swuche ase we i-seoth. | þe Ouemeste is þe riȝtte heouene: in ȝwan þe steorrene beoth. | for godes riche is þare a-boue: þat last with-outen ende | . . . | þare bi-neoþe beoth seoue firmamenz,’ SE. Legendary, 311/413.

52. as directly in front as he is able.

53. houeð, remains poised, floats; comp. 188/395, 189/409, Minot iii. 83.

54. swideð—fligt, burns all his wings; comp. ‘In dai swiþe noht sunne (MS. sinne) þe sal,’ Surtees Psalter, MS. E. cxx. 6 (= ‘Per diem sol non uret te’). T. has, ‘Tunc sibi sol ambas incendit (a. l. accendit) fervidus alas. | Et minuit grandes alleviatque graves.’

56. ‘ex calore poris apertis et pennis relaxatis subito descendens in fontem ruit,’ Bartolomeus Anglicus, lib. xii.

57. mide, therewith; comp. 212/513 and see 1/19 note.

58. grund, bottom, see 188/401.

59. heil ⁊ sund: comp. 184/279, 188/402; ‘Tel him ꝥ þou ert sund and hale,’ CM 5112; ‘hol and isunde,’ OEM 42/186.

61. If his beak were not crooked; not ‘unzuverlässig,’ Mätzner, but as artificers still use true, noun and verb, in various expressions, as ‘out of true,’ ‘to true up,’ &c.

62. biforn, in front, the upper mandible has curved over the lower, as S. Augustine explains, iv. 1. 839: it is mostly used with verbs of motion, as at 76/10.

64. tilen, procure; comp. 179/103, 182/199; ‘In swinc ðu salt tilen ði mete,’ GE 363.

65. with any benefit to himself. Comp. ‘Mare hit hem deð to herme þenne to gode,’ OEH i. 27/12; ‘hi þonne ne mihtan nawþer ne him sylfum, ne þære heorde . . . nænige gode beon,’ BH 45/14. ‘Vix valet ex aliquo sumere pauca cibo,’ T.

67. billeð: comp. 186/316, 334, 338; ‘ad petram elidit, immo comminuit et conterit,’ Neckam, De Naturis Rerum, 72.

69. wrengðe, distortion: derivative of wrong; apparently here only: see Archiv cxxvii. 47. Add al before forloren.

70. rigte, straightened.

75. sinnes dern would in any other context mean sins done in secret, but T. has ‘Est homo peccatis que sunt ab origine matris | Qualis adest (a. l. idem est) aquila, sed renovatur ita,’ which requires the sense of original sin not manifest in word or deed. This is clearer in Philippe de Thaün, ‘Pur general pechié (i.e. the universal sin of the human race) | Est enfes baptizié, | E quant il est levez | Cum aigle est renuvez; | Quant il est baptiziez | Dunc est rejuveigniez: | Vertu e veement | En baptisteire prent,’ 78/2115-22. The infant is old in inherited sin, in baptism he renounces Satan and becomes a Christian, then he learns priest’s lore, pater noster and creed: ll. 93-102 are simply variations on the preceding. ‘Nubes transcendit solisque incendia sentit. | Mundum cum pompis despiciendo suis. | Fit novus in Christo ter mersus gurgite vivo. | . . . | Os terit obliquum per verba precancia Christum,’ T.

78. nimeð: see 213/539.

79 goes with l. 78, he must betake himself to the Church, before he can find repentance; his eyes were previously too dim to see his guilt.

81. Transpose, ðore satanas forsakeð, and for l. 83 read to ihesu crist him self bitakeð: comp. ‘Ich wole ȝou nou bitake ihesu crist,’ E. E. Poems 106/165.

84. mede, reward, gives a poor sense; beten his nede would suit the context; comp. 184/280, ‘For he wende bete his nede,’ Rel. Ant. ii. 278/10; ‘er he bete þy nede,’ Lib. Desconus, 1582.

86. lereð &c., learns what the priest teaches, i.e. the articles of the faith.

88. dreccheð, tarries: comp. ‘ne wold he ðor | Ouer on nigt drechen nunmor,’ GE 1420.

89-92. This stanza is imperfect, ll. 89, 91 do not rhyme. The former is on an erasure. There is nothing corresponding in the original: it is probably due to the scribe.

89. to godeward: not toward God; ward is a mere tag, as at 179/115, 180/146, 184/259, 194/588; comp. ‘frommard,’ 58/66 note, 70/165; ‘efterward,’ 77/63 note. For the construction comp. 89/28, 96/58, ‘ich hopie to mede,’ AR 148/16; ‘hopieð to here michele wisdome,’ VV 67/13, 131/18; SJ 29/16; ‘forðæm hie gemunon ðone tohopan þe hie to ðæm gestrionum habbað,’ Cura Past. 344/1.

90. lereð: Emerson restores the rhyme by reading leteð; but ‘leten of’ is apparently always accompanied by an adverb of degree; see 44/260 note.

91. ðat apparently refers to ‘gode’ l. 89: in one edition of the Latin original ‘solis incendia’ is glossed ‘iusticie calores.’

93. funt fat: probably here only in ME. for the usual fantston, as at 85/101; CM 29200: OE. fant-fæt.

95. The punctuation of Mätzner and Morris, buten a litel; wat is tat? involves taking ‘litel’ as a little thing. The meaning appears to be, but a small something (= a slight imperfection) is that his mouth is still crooked. Comp. ‘And þeonne sum lutel hwat he mei leggen on þe,’ AR 346/22; ‘Ah ȝette me an hwet,’ SK 767.

96. untrewe, with double meaning, crooked and unfaithful.

97, 98. unkuð wið, unacquainted with, not knowing (insciens); comp. 191/469 and ‘uncuð . . . of,’ 188/396, apparently the only three places where the word has this meaning. Elsewhere uncuð with the dative means unknown (ignotus); comp. ‘hit is us uncuð ⁊ ungeliefedlic,’ Orosius 214/21.

99. Whatever he does, under all circumstances; comp. 34/86 note.

100. He shall find out what is wanting to him.

101, 102. ‘Os terit obliquum per verba precancia Christum,’ T. After bone, a word of one syllable has dropped out, probably gern.

103, 104. ‘Panis is est Christus, fit sine morte cibus,’ T.

105. With this section should be compared OEH ii. 199, which deals with the same subject.

106. o werlde, in the world: comp. 180/140.

107. te name, a predicative phrase: him has fallen out before it. Comp. ‘fox is hire to name,’ 185/298 = fox is for name to her; ‘him . . . se gemyndega papa Petrus to naman scop,’ Bede 405/31 (‘cui papa memoratus Petri nomen imposuerat’). Mätzner quotes ‘þam is to naman nemned Drihten,’ Psal. lxvii. 4 (Dominus nomen est ei). A curious variation is seen in ‘þat lond þat is to water nemned,’ OEH ii. 177/3. The usual ‘bi name’ is at 176/24. For the noun toname, comp. ‘Ðes wimman hadde ec on toname magdalene,’ OEH ii. 143/12.

108. A padded line; the last half was probably, ⁊ elde forwurðen.

109. him: see 80/47 note. ten: the bestiaries say forty.

110. lene: read megre; ‘jejunans macie perhorret,’ T. iuele, with difficulty; an early instance of the meaning. ‘Vix movens sese veniensque tandem,’ T.

111. craft . . . kiðeð: comp. ‘Who so kouth wele his craft þare might it kith,’ Minot v. 69 note.

112. ðat . . . on, in which: see 1/3 note.

113. Narrow the hole is, but he forces himself to go through it: comp. ‘Long silence ⁊ wel iwust nedeð þe þouhtes up touward þer heouene,’ AR 72/17. Nimeð: see 213/539 note. ‘Querit angustum lapidis foramen | . . . | Inde pertransit spoliatque carnem | Pelle vetusta,’ T.: ‘cumeð to ane þurlede ston ⁊ criepeð nedlinge þureh nerewe hole ⁊ bileueð hire hude baften hire,’ OEH ii. 199/25. Transpose him nedeð.

115. ward is merely expletive; see 178/89 note.

116. or, previously, before drinking; comp. ‘siðen,’ 118. speweð: the explanation is in 181/159, 160: comp. ‘heo schal speowen al ut þet wunder,’ AR 346/6; ‘þet is þet beste þeonne speowen hit ut anon mid schrifte to þe preoste,’ id. 240/6; 119/91, 92, mostly with ut. Read here, Oc he speweð ut or. al ðe uenim ðor; for or : ðor comp. GE 4033 with 3845.

118. Transpose, inog siðen drinkeð, making a rhyming line.

120. of . . . naked, stripped of, without: nacod takes the genitive. Read, Ðanne ðe neddre is newe. ⁊ of his hid naked: comp. 181/162.

121. An abridged line; read, ⁊ in bodi ⁊ in brest. bare of his atter. Comp. ‘helden ham cleane ai fra fleschliche fulðen ibodi ⁊ ibreoste,’ HM 23/1. For of comp. ‘bare of euch blisse,’ SK 845; Minot vi. 25 note.

123. Transpose, him fro. sulde, would be bound to, obliged to.

124. Read, . cof ⁊ kene: comp. ‘Biforenn kafe ⁊ kene,’ Orm 19962. In AR 66/13 ‘þe coue,’ wrongly translated ‘the chough’ means, the keen one; similarly, ‘þe luðere coue deouel,’ id. 66/14.

125. rigteð him: ‘Surgit in ipsum,’ T.

126. to ded maken may be a construction by analogy of don, bringen &c., but it is more likely that to has been wrongly repeated and should be omitted. forðen, further, effect; comp. 184/280, 192/533, 193/554; ‘for to forðen is fendes wil,’ GE 341.

127. wat if: elliptical for, what results if? as at 181/170, what matters it if? Transpose, wurðe war, be on his guard: comp. 9/122, 48/330, 203/204.

128. figteð: read fliteð, contends, offers resistance; comp. ‘Ierusalem ⁊ babilonie . . . fliteð eure ⁊ winneð,’ OEH ii. 51/10. fareð &c., advances fighting against him; ‘sequiturque multum,’ T. For on, comp. ‘hie alle on þone Cyning wærun feohtende,’ AS. Chron. ed. Plummer, 48/4; ‘for to finde me a freke to feȝte on my fille,’ Anturs of Arther, 15/27.

129. After siðen insert he seð · ðat, after he sees that he must needs.

130. ‘Negligit corpus, facit inde scutum; | Verticis vero tenet usque curam, | Ne moriatur,’ T. Comp. ‘Ðare næddre ȝeapnesse is ðat hie lið al abuten itrand, ⁊ hire heaued on midden, for to berȝen ðat heaued,’ VV 101/19.

131. litel—of, little he cares about, he does not much mind what happens to: see 8/84 note. bute, if only.

133-142 are based on ‘Fonte qui sacro semel es novatus, | Denuo peccans, silicernus extas. | Ergo sis semper imitator anguis, | Cum veterascis,’ T.

134. Atte kirke dure, at the font, placed symbolically at the entrance to the church: comp. ‘heore godfaderes ⁊ heore godmoderes scullen onswerie for hem et þe chirche dure ⁊ beo in borȝes et þe fonstan,’ OEH i. 73/29.

135. Transpose, on him to leuen. For leuen . . . luuien see 143/73 note.

136. For bodes, hestes should probably be read; comp. 130/78; ‘þe heste of hali chirche,’ OEH i. 85/18.

137-140. Re-arrange, If ðu hauest is broken. al ðu forbredes. | forwurðes ⁊ forwelkes. eche lif to wolden. | Elded art fro blis. so ðis wirm o werld is. forgelues: only here; it may be connected with OE. geolwian, and so mean, to spoil by becoming yellow, to fade. But it is suspect; possibly the original word was forwelkes, dost wither. There is nothing in the original to correspond with l. 138; the adapter had perhaps in mind ‘decidat, induret et arescat,’ Ps. lxxxix. 6. Eche lif to wolden, so far as the attainment of eternal life is concerned. Elded, severed by age, is the writer’s interpretation of silicernus. Silicernium, a funeral feast, is used in Terence, Andria iv. 2. 48, as an abusive term for an old man, hence L.L. silicernus, senex; but the Catholicon, citing this place in T., says ‘Item silicernus ponitur quandoque pro firmo et duro ut silex.’

141. Add at the end, him bi, meaning, in his own case. For the rhyme comp. ‘And manige of ðo greten forði | ðat he adden ben hard hem bi,’ GE 3207, 3208; for the use of bi, see 13/18 note.

142. See 123/210.

143-151. Based on, ‘Sit cibus parcus, minuantur artus. | Unde non mandis miseros (a. l. pauperes) juvabis | Penitens defle dominoque semper | dic miserere,’ T.

143. Feste &c. is explained, confirm thyself in steadfastness; but for this ethical sense festnen is used everywhere else (see 147/142) and of seems to be without parallel, though ‘steðeluest . . . of’ occurs at 129/24. The expression is rather pointless and corresponds to nothing in the ways of the serpent, while ll. 109, 110 are the only ones which have no interpretation in the ‘significacio.’ Furthermore the last half of the line is defective. Now l. 144 clearly represents the second line of the original quoted above, which means, from what you do not eat you will help the poor, and it depends for its point on the sparing of food enjoined in the preceding line of the original. Accordingly we should expect something in l. 143 to correspond to it, which as printed above means, let your food be sparing and your limbs reduced by bloodletting (minutio, see 66/103-105 notes). If the poet had before him, or misread his copy so, muniantur artes, he might translate, Feste þe of fastenes. ⁊ filste þe of þewes, that is, fortify thyself by fastings and help thyself by virtues. For he would find ars explained by Papias as bene recteque vivendi virtus . . . ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρετῆς, id est a virtute. And the scribe by anticipating ste þe from the last half of the line might readily produce stedefastnesse.

145. wurði—loken, worthy to presume to look.

146. ward: see 178/89 note.

147. wið, in contact with, on: comp. 188/401, 201/148.

150. bote bid, pray for deliverance: for the usual combination see 179/201. With l. 151 comp. ‘bidden for heom deies ⁊ nihtes þet crist heom milcie of heore misdede,’ OEH i. 7/36.

152. sti is subject of bitokneð: ‘Signat hunc callem lapidis foramen. | Signat et christum petra, nam per ipsum | Fit novus quisque,’ T. Perhaps for tis, l. 154, we should read Christ.

156. Comp. 181/160. Let, permit it to escape, as in ‘þe king bigan to grete | ⁊ teres for to lete,’ KH 889. Transpose ðe fro.

157-160. ‘Cuius ad celsum veniendo templum, | Ut bibas sacrum beatumque verbum, | Evomas primum quod habes nocivum | Corde venenum,’ T.

158. A defective line; read drench · þi sinnes to cwenchen. Comp. 28/10; ‘swa bihoueð þe saule fode; mid godes wordes mid gode mode,’ OEH i. 63/153; ‘to cwennkenn oþre sinness,’ Orm 11652.

160. Omit brest. forðward: read forward, covenant of 180/133: the combination is formal; comp. ‘my forwarde with þe I festen on þis wyse,’ E. E. Allit. Poems, 47/327; ‘Pepigi fedus cum oculis meis . . . Ich habbe ivestned, seið Job, foreward mid min eien,’ AR 62/23; ‘ꝥ ich þis forward wulle; fastliche halden,’ L 23607. After this there are eight lines in the Latin which are not represented at all in the English poem, which is only slightly dependent on the original for the rest of the section.

161. firmest, first of all, at the very beginning.

163. forðward, henceforth; at 81/90 it means, straight ahead.

164. Nedeð, presses on, vexes: comp. 179/113; ‘I me sellf all ah itt wald | Þatt deofell maȝȝ me scrennkenn, | Þurrh þatt I do min lusst tærto, | To don summ hefiȝ sinne | Þatt he me maȝȝ wel eggenn to, | ⁊ nohht ne maȝȝ me nedenn,’ Orm 11815, a passage which may have been in the writer’s mind here. But Mätzner suggests neggeð, comparing 179/122. Omit the second nogt, and in l. 165 transpose ðe fro.

166. cliuer, expert in seizing: the only ME. example of the word clever: noted by Sir Thomas Browne as an East Anglian word. See NED s.v. clever; the connection with clifer, claw, suggested by this use is illustrated by, ‘Hweðer þe cat of helle claurede euer toward hire ⁊ cauhte mid his cleafres hire heorte heaued,’ AR 102/4. With on comp. ‘gredi uppen woreld richeise,’ OEH ii. 195/1.

169. nið ⁊ win: comp. 183/244: ‘nið and strif’ is the equivalent in GE 373: nið usually takes to, ‘he haueð to us muchel nið,’ OEH i. 55/11, but see 197/11.

170. Comp. ‘he haueð leue to fonden mon,’ OEH i. 67/232.

171. Transpose, us for to deren: it is a rhyming line.

172. let us subject the body to pain: bale was probably suggested by ‘bote,’ 180/150. The meaning is made clear by, ‘lyued in penance hys lyueȝ longe | With bodyly bale hym blysse to byye,’. E. E. Allit. Poems, 15/476. Omit ðe before bale.

173. that (i.e. the soul) is equal to the head, that is, the head figuratively signifies the soul. But the Latin finally identifies the head with Christ, ‘Hoc caput dico quod habes in ipso | Principe christo,’ which is from ‘omnis viri caput Christus est,’ 1 Cor. xi. 3. helde might be subj. past from healdan, if we were to keep, but that would give a poor sense; and it cannot be from heldan (hieldan) incline, for that would require to: silde should probably be read; comp. 180/130; ‘Semper illesum caput est habendum,’ T.; the meaning would be, let us protect it as it deserves.

176. Transpose, weder softe: sen hauen ofte. softe, mild; comp. ‘ðis weder is softe,’ GE 3061.

177. Read, heruestes hete; comp. ‘Heruest, with the heite ⁊ the high sun, | Was comyn into colde,’ Destruction of Troy, 407/12465. hardilike: heardlīce, energetically; the glide i takes the place of the usual e.

178. renneð rapelike: comp. 187/368.

181. wed, weed, used, no doubt, for the rhyme: for a more usual expression, see 21/112.

182. Comp. ‘He deden on gres and coren deres,’ GE 3088, 3049.

183. ire is for hire. hauen, wealth; comp. ‘man hoh . . . loc to chirche bringen ⁊ wurðin þermide godes bord; alse his haue beð,’ OEH ii. 217/6: n has been added as to ‘boðen’ 181/181 and elsewhere in this text and GE. Lit., that is to her for wealth; which constitutes her wealth.

185. winter agen, to meet, resist, winter: comp. ‘Þe blake cloð . . . is þiccure aȝein þe wind,’ AR 50/15; ‘Ðat arche was a feteles good | set and limed agen ðe flood,’ GE 561. ‘Ut valeat brume fieri secura future,’ T.

186. Holthausen restores alliteration by substituting colde for winter.

187. hule, hut, shelter. Mätzner takes the former ðat as demonstrative, and divides bi liuen, that is meat by which she can live, quoting ‘mete quorbi ðei migten liuen,’ GE 573. More probably the former ðat has displaced mide (comp. 191/503), then mete is the object of tileð, procures.

188. Transpose, ðar tileð.

189. it: the book Physiologus; so 192/506; see 177/38, 183/221.

190. ‘Haec frumenta legit, si comperit; ordea spernit,’ T. finde ge, if she find: cleche for finde would restore the alliteration. corn, grain or seed, so OE. hwǣtene corn, corn hwǣtes, ‘granum frumenti,’ S. John xii. 24.

191. Omit al, and for forleteð read sedeð, sheds. ðat—seide, of which I have already spoken.

192. ‘She biteth not the barley to bear it about,’ Specimens. Mätzner also takes bit as biteð, eats, but explains beren abuten, about the barn. But bit, OE. bīt, is contracted form of bideð, endures, which is to be restored here: she cannot endure the carrying of the barley about.

193. but shunneth it and hurries away, as though it were a shame to have anything to do with it. sakeð: comp. 192/536; ‘nes þer nan biscop; ꝥ forð on his wæi ne scoc | na munec ne nan abbed; ꝥ he an his wæi ne rad,’ L 13245; ‘and with his batayle forth he schoke,’ Laud Troy Book, 4886.

195. Omit ðe corn, for bit read biteð (so too at l. 211), and transpose, otwinne biteð. al—biteð, she bites it all asunder. otwinne, on twain: comp. OWScand. tvinnr, double. ‘Sed ne de pluviis aspersum germinet udis, | Aut ea ne pereat, esse quod hinc nequeat, | Granum quod legit prudens formica bipertit,’ T.

196. Add wurþ before forwurðe: comp. ‘Ich schal mid one bare worde | Do þat þi speche wrþ forwurþe,’ ON 548. ne waxe &c., nor germinate so as to be lost to her.

200. Defective: ðis little wile. ðe we on werlde wunen appears to form a line: Long and liuenoðe are probably the first and last words of a line; the latter must be dative. The Latin original has ‘Nosque laboremus, fratres, dum tempus habemus;’ something too is wanted to balance ‘mikel ge swinkeð,’ 181/175, like, Longe þat we labouren . for ure liuenoðe. This conjecture assumes an earlier use of labour than any recorded.

202. of, off, away, adv. representing off ðis werlde; comp. ‘ær ic . . . of gewite,’ ‘prius quam eam,’ Psal. xxxviii. 16. winter: ‘tempore judicii, quod simile est hiemi,’ T.

203. harde sures, sore troubles; comp. ‘to put þe of peril · i haue ney perisched oft, | ⁊ many a scharp schour · for þi sake þoled,’ W. of Palerne, 4513; ‘ffull sharpe was the shoure (printed shoute), shent were þere mony,’ Destruction of Troy, 10069: the adjective in this sense is usually sharp; ‘hard shoure,’ Destr. of Troy, 11048 is a fierce attack, but ‘sorful scurs,’ CM 24602. Similarly, ‘weorre ⁊ weane baðe | ⁊ untidi wederes,’ SK 2599.

204. The line may be completed by, er we henne wende; see 22/117. The rest of this section consists of rhymed septenaries.

205. For derue read glewe, wise, prudent.

206. Transpose, us ne, and omit harde. So that we do not deeply regret our improvidence at doomsday.

207. For ure read here, for ðere, with Holthausen who cites 178/88, þore. For liues, soules should perhaps be read, as at 179/103.

208. For nummore read more.

209. After barlic add sed or corn. In the earlier bestiaries barley stands for heretical writers: Eudes de Cheriton, p. 247, explains wheat as good works.

210. Omit to. hauen moten, must have, is feeble and does not rhyme. Holthausen suggests hauen geten, have to observe: moten geten, must get, or moten seken, which makes up for an indifferent rhyme by its contrast with sunen, seem better. ‘Ipse novam legem colligo, non veterem,’ T.

211. get as at l. 195 would be better metrically.

212. Transpose, god to don, and, us forbedeð.

213. ‘Hoc est quod binas lex habet una vias, | Quae terrena sonat, simul et celestia monstrat. | Nunc mentem pascit, et modo corpus alit,’ T. The corrections bet, offers, and erðliche are due to Mätzner. bodes, not ‘biddings,’ Specimens, but teachings, information. bekned, points to, indicates, proclaims. The meaning of the original depends on the special use of lex, according to Papias ‘a legendo dicta lexis græce, latine locutio, id est quælibet syllaba uel uox, quæ scribi potest,’ hence the written word, here the ‘facts’ of natural history, useful to know for our bodily sustenance, but also charged with spiritual instruction. The ant, as the Latin puts it, ‘in suis factis res monstrat spirituales.’ The English version has obscured the sense by adding, without authority, l. 212, where lex is taken in its natural meaning of law. euelike, heavenly (teachings).

214. o geuelike, on an equality, equally: OE. ge-efenlic adj. here used as noun: comp. 194/593.

215, 216. ‘Nos utinam repleat, famis ut formido recedat, Tempore judicii, quod simile est hiemi,’ T.

216. The first half is short; add, in erd after nu.

217. Next to the Ant in T. comes the Fox and then the Hart.

218-221. ‘Cervus habere duas naturas atque figuras | Dicitur a phisio, cum docet inde, logo,’ T. How the hart renews its youth is again told in the Deposition of Richard the Second, 15/8-20, and there is a curious use of the fable in Nova Legenda Anglie, i. 254/23-29.

221. fisiologet: the termination is probably borrowed from the familiar donet, a Latin grammar; OF. donet.

223. ðurg his nese, by drawing in his breath, ‘spiritu narium,’ or as T. puts it, ‘cum naribus extrahit.’ on on, continuously; at 207/339, forthwith.

224. stoc . . . ston: ‘de caveis terrae, de latebrisve petrae,’ T. The translator uses a familiar combination.

225. it: the adder.

226. sweleð, miswritten for swelgeð, swallows: the scribe was probably led by ‘brinneð’ in the next line to think of the word which for him represented swǣlan.

227, 228. ðerof . . . of: tautology is frequent in this piece: comp. 184/260. The impersonal use of brinneð appears to be without parallel: the meaning is, that poisonous matter burns him afterwards.

230. ‘Estuat ad liquidas pergere fontis aquas,’ T.; estuat is glossed festinat, hence lepeð; comp. Psal. xli. 1. wið—list, displaying great prudence, wisdom: comp. ‘To the fischers hous þai went wiþ list,’ Gregorlegende, ed. Schulz, 52/1015.

232-238. ‘Quas cum forte bibit, his plenus toxica vincit, | Se juvenemque facit, cornua quando jacit,’ T.

235. non wigt, no whit, not at all.

236. er, before he recovers.

238. gingid him, renews his youth; comp. 184/259: a rare word, perhaps only here.

241-249. ‘Nos quoque cum prisci serpentis fraude revicti, | Virus contrahimus, urimur et facibus, | Haec est luxuria quae fert odium vel et iram, | Aut etiam nimia est aeris auaricia,’ T.

241, 242 were no doubt originally couplets, perhaps, Alle we atter dragen | of ure eldere misdeden || ðe broken drigtinnes sonde | ðurg ðe neddres onde: comp. 40/192, 193. eldere seems to have been suggested by prisci.

244. nið ⁊ win: see 181/169.

245. giscing, covetousness: OE. gītsung; comp. ‘He bad him chesen steres-men . . . ðe niðing and giscing flen,’ GE 3429, 3432; ‘Mid yuernesse and prude . and yssyng wes þat on,’ OEM 38/35.

246. wissing: to OE. wȳscan: its meaning as a sin is shown by, ‘Ne wrec þu þe mid wussinge . ne mid warienge,’ OEH ii. 179/22, avenge not thyself by wishing evil or cursing.

247. ouerwene, presumption: found here only.

248. Insert bi before swilc.

252, 253. ‘Ad fontem vivum debemus currere christum,’ T.

255. wissing, instruction. ‘Qui cum nos udat, sumpta venena fugat,’ T. udat is explained, with quotation of this line, in the Catholicon as balneat.

257. forwerpen and gingen 259 depend on bihoueð 252. Holthausen restores the missing rhyme by reading, forwerpen pride hornes | so hert doð hise in þornes. It would be simpler to add al (comp. 178/73, 180/137, 182/191, 190/443), meaning completely, entirely, after hornes; it would balance eurilcdel, and the rhyme is possible; see 190/465, 466.

259. In this way renew our youth to God, that is, restore the baptismal relation to him; comp. 181/162 and 178/89.

260. take heed to ourselves afterward henceforth, ever after. Comp. ‘ðe sunenday | ðat is forð siðen worðed ay,’ GE 261.

263. That ought to be present in thought to us all: comp. 191/487, 196/653; ‘þine beoden þe beoð þe so imunde,’ SM 13/8. minde is OE. gemynde.

265. ‘Longius et pergunt pascua quando petunt,’ T.

266. ouer water ten: ‘Si fluvios tranant,’ T.; ‘quant passent braz de mier,’ Bozon, Contes moralisés, 56/3; ‘Cervi . . . maria trameant gregatim nantes porrecto ordine, et capita imponentes praecedentium clunibus, vicibusque ad terga redeuntes,’ Pliny, N. H. viii. 32, 114. See Fecunda Ratis, 105/522 note, as to the use of this story by the Fathers.

268. Read biforen.

272. skinbon, shinbone; OE. scin-bān, tibia, which if placed on the haunch of the preceding hart would make swimming difficult. He should have written chin: ‘Portant suspensum gradientes ordine mentum, Alter in alterius clunibus impositus,’ T.; ‘chescun de eux met sa test sus autri croupe,’ Bozon, 56/4.

274. Transpose, teð biforen: ‘Sed qui precedit fessus ad ima redit; Sic se vertentes cuncti mutuoque ferentes | Nunquam deficiunt, atque viam peragunt,’ T.

275. tirgen, to be fatigued: OE. tiergan, tyrgan, to vex. ‘Tirwyn, or make wery, lasso,’ Prompt. Parvul., col. 499. But the word is not original, it does not rhyme. Teren, representing tēorian, teorian, to tire, would be better; *toren with shifted accent, perhaps influenced by tor, difficult (see NED tor, tere) would restore the rhyme.

276. Transpose, mide cumen.

277. hertien is Mätzner’s correction, comparing 199/75, 76; but the inf. in -ien is very doubtful. The original word was probably beren.

278. grund: see 188/401: the poet has misunderstood ‘ad ima redit,’ the weary leader, who has no rest for his chin, falls in at the rear of the procession.

280. and supply their necessity; ‘nunquam deficiunt,’ they never fail one another. A line is wanting, such as, ⁊ cumen to here stede, answering to ‘atque viam peragunt.’

281. ‘Hunc retinent usum, si sint vel in agmine centum,’ T. hem bitwen, among themselves.

284. ‘Per tales mores alienos ferre labores | Cum pietate monent atque juvare docent,’ T. costes, habits, ways: comp. ‘knewen he nogt ðis dewes cost,’ GE 3327.

285. Connect ur non, no one of us.

288. his wine, to his friend.

289. ‘Alter alterius onera portate, et sic adimplebitis legem Christi,’ Gal. vi. 2.

291-294. ‘Sic lex est Christi nobis complenda magistri | Cuius, qui faciet, pascua repperiet,’ T.

293. bitwixen us . . . brice, useful, serviceable to one another: comp. 194/592.

294. lage: acc. after to fillen, which is subject of is.

295. ðar wið ne dillen, be not sluggish about that: comp. ‘Hymself to on sware he is not dylle,’ E. E. Allit. Poems, 21/679. The first half of the line is feeble: perhaps dred for ned would be better.

298. hire follows the gender of vulpes. For to name see 179/107. queðsipe: Holthausen suggests flerdscipe to restore the alliteration, with reference to 187/351; the compound does not occur elsewhere. Perhaps fikenunge, deceit; or, for the last half-line read for ure unframe, comp. ‘Quad esau, rigt is his name | hoten iacob, to min unframe,’ GE 1565. But the writer may have intended an inflectional rhyme.

299. harm-dedes, injurious action; a compound which apparently occurs here only.

301. feccheð, steals: comp. ‘Bothe my gees ⁊ my grys . his gadelynges feccheth,’ P. Plowman B. iv. 51. tun, the enclosed farmyard.

305. hulen is hardly possible; it is not found elsewhere till the end of the fourteenth century and the construction with the direct acc. hire is improbable. Mätzner suggested hunten, Holthausen, hurlen, drive: huten, revile seems preferable; comp. ‘⁊ ȝiff mann wollde tælenn þatt, | ⁊ hutenn hire ⁊ þutenn,’ Orm 2033, 4875. So chauntecler says to the fox, ‘Acoursed be thou of Godes mouthe,’ Rel. Ant. ii. 273/19. Further the repetition of hatien is feeble; harien, persecute, would give a good sense, while huntes (176/21, 192/512) for men would restore the alliteration. So the line would run, harien ⁊ huten . boðe huntes ⁊ fules.

307. furg, furrow. ‘In terram scissam se tendit atque supina | Et quasi mortua sit, flamina nulla trahit,’ T.

308 is made up of halves of two lines which may have run thus: fugeles to bilirten . mid hire fel wrenche | In eried lond er in erðchine . ge strekeð adun. bilirten, deceive, ensnare, a Midland and Northern word: OE. belyrtan. eried lond, ploughed land, ‘terram scissam,’ the ‘furg’ of l. 307. erðchine, a cleft in the ground: a compound found here only.

309. stund, portion (of time): rarely with defining genitive.

310. dareð: comp. 187/374, 195/624: here, to lie motionless, in the other places, to lie hid, to lurk; comp. ‘fare man . . . to þam scræfe þær þa wiðer-sacan inne dariað behydde,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 506/321, and see Minot i. 9 for further illustrations of the uses of this word.

311. swiðe redi, very prompt to seize the opportunity: comp. 187/368.

312. fallen bi, alight near; a use of the verb determined by the needs of alliteration: Mätzner adduces OE. befeallen, but that requires on; so in ME. ‘Gredi foueles fellen ðor-on,’ GE 947. ‘insidet ut comedat,’ T. Transpose, bi hire fallen · fode for to winnen.

313. Transpose, beð ded.

314. Mätzner alters wullen to billen, spoiling the secondary alliteration: the absolute use of willen, to desire to go, is common enough. fel: in Eudes de Cheriton, 303/7 and Jacques de Vitry, no. ccciv, the fox puts out his tongue and the birds make for it, a device which greatly improves the fox’s chance. Transpose, feleð wel.

315. letteð, stops, hinders: OE. lettan. Transpose, up lepeð . ⁊ hem sone letteð.

317. illing, evil treatment. ‘Dentibus et tristem reddit edendo vicem,’ T.

318. tetoggeð, pulls to pieces; see 68/145.

323. frame: see 176/24.

324. For the combination, see 18/16.

325. ‘Nunc zabulo similis, par aliquando viris,’ T.

327. ‘Nos et dissimulat quod mala non faciat,’ T. lat, pretends; comp. 203/222: influenced in form at any rate by OWScand. láta.

329. Omit a and he.

330. bukes, belly’s: see 4/19, where it means body.

331. wið unskil, without discretion: comp. ‘Ne rend, ne beat nogt wið vnskil,’ GE 3506; Orm 427.

332. And while we are amusing ourselves, he quickly plays us a fox’s trick. foxing, a nonce-word in this sense, but it is common in dialect for shamming.

334-341. ‘Cuius (read eius) edit carnem quisquis rem fingit inanem, | Hoc est peccatum quodlibet et malum | Quem quasi deglutit, cum secum ad tartara ducit,’ T.

335. idel spel: ‘verbum otiosum,’ S. Matt. xii. 36; ‘tel heom þer spelles,’ L 26538 appears to mean, tell them tales there.

336. Whoever feeds on sin, he tugs at the fox’s flesh.

338. geld, requites; comp. l. 316.

339. sending, disgrace, confusion; OE. scendan.

341. merk, dark, murky; OE. mirce: comp. 190/439, 193/570.

343, 344. ‘Daemon ab insidiis vulpeculae est similis,’ T. breides, stratagems, tricks; comp. 193/548. swik, deception; comp. 188/396: OE. swīc.

345, 346. ‘Sic cum fraude viri sunt vulpis nomine digni, | Quales hoc plures tempore sunt homines,’ T. For man read mani, omit ⁊, transpose wurði arn and insert to before same, and many likewise are worthy of the name of fox to their disgrace. Comp. ‘Euerilc ðhing haued he geue name, | Me to sorge, scaðe and same,’ GE 301.

347. oðer, to another.

348. Comp. ‘Danne ðogte eue on hire mod,’ GE 333; KH 281 note.

349. iwis: see 32/40 note. There is nothing in T. corresponding to ll. 347-349; the writer had probably in mind, ‘Ut quid cogitatis mala in cordibus vestris?’ S. Matt. ix. 4.

350. legeð &c., lies not, misleads not in this; so, ‘Iff iosephus ne legeð me,’ GE 1281.

351-354. ‘Herodesque fuit, qui christum querere jussit, | Credere se simulans, perdere dissimulans,’ T.; comp. S. Luke, xiii. 32. herodes: Orm has Herode in his English text. fox ⁊ flerd: nouns used as adjectives: for the former comp. 29/15; flerd, deceit, occurs in Orm, ‘falls ⁊ flærd,’ 12177: OE. fleard: see Björkman, 160.

354. fordon: ‘Futurum est enim ut Herodes quaerat puerum ad perdendum eum,’ S. Matt. ii. 15.

356. Seftes &c.: comp. 2/2. sene—werlde, it is seen in the case of the world; parenthetic; but Mätzner takes ðing as subject of is. With on comp. ‘þat was on Tristrem sene,’ Sir Tristrem 1205; ‘On þe hit is wel eþ sene,’ OEH ii. 255/5; ‘Ful soth it was apon vs sene,’ CM 24333.

357. leiðe, hateful: OWScand. leiðr = OE. lāð: lodlike, OE. lāðlic is synonymous. ðus: either, as has already been said, that the Creator made these loathly things, or, as follows, that He made them to this end, for the instruction of men generally. The latter is a common medieval idea; men, says Gilbert of Hoyland, contemplate God ‘in speculo creaturarum et scripturarum aenigmate,’ S. Bernardi Opera, ii. 170.

358. manikines: see 81/80 note.

359. manne: dat.; see 176/24 note.

360. Holthausen supplied web (see l. 363), and swiðe or wide. ‘Plurima fila net (a. l. nectit) assiduus,’ T.

361. Transpose, atte hus rof festeð. festeð, binds. fodredes, plans, means of securing food: a word found here only.

362. so—elde, so it is for her in age, is senseless in this context: read, hire is so on felde, it is for her as if on a field, that is, she moves on a ceiling as if she were on the ground. so, as if; comp. 194/583 with 195/625; ‘His brunie he gan lace | So he scholde in to place,’ KH 717.

363. werpeð, throws, with perhaps a reference to the specific meaning of warp, OE. wearp, stamen.

364. Transpose, al idigt haueð. With driueð comp. 176/8.

365. it, the web.

366. Transpose, fleges ðer faren . ⁊ ðerinne fallen.

367. wiðeren, struggle; properly, resist.

368. renneð &c.: comp. 181/178. redi: comp. 185/311.

369. nimeð . . . to, makes for; see 213/539. nimeð, seizes: the repetition is tolerable, because of the different meanings of the word.

370. bit: read biteð. bane, destroyer: OE. bana, mostly used of the agent.

372. This line appears to be derived from ‘Et placet inde sibi nimium | Quando nocere potest alium’ which comes in the application or ‘significacio.’ If so, it means that in this action she finds her greatest profit. But probably hem should be substituted for hire.

373. Read freteð.

374. dareð: see 185/310 and 195/624.

376. ‘Hos sequitur homo vermiculos | Decipiendo suos socios,’ T. For man read were.

377. on—stalle, in any place whatsoever: comp. ‘i stude ⁊ i stalle,’ SK 683. B-T quotes from a charter, ‘ꝥ hi . . . næfre ne beon on stede ne on stealle þær æfre undon worðe ꝥ ure foregengles geuðen,’ Thorpe, Diplom. Angl., 348/28. The words are synonymous, so, ‘Þer þe fir he has his stall,’ CM 396. See 192/537.

377. stille er lude, under any circumstances: see 25/226 note.

378. mot, place of meeting, especially in a court of law. For wise read mene: comp. ‘mannes mene,’ society of men, GE 501. See 26/266.

379. Read, sarp he him biteð; corresponding to ‘bitterlike’ 187/370; comp. ‘sarp on bite,’ GE 2989. ‘Quos comedit faciens miseros,’ T. bale selleð, does him an injury. ME. sellen, to give, is rarely used with immaterial object, but comp. ‘sylle heom forȝefenesse,’ Twelfth Cent. Homilies, 132/20. Similar is ‘nuste noht Bruttes þere; þat balu heom wes ȝiueðe,’ L 29817. Transpose, bale him.

380. Transpose, his blod drinkeð. dreueð, vexes, annoys.

381. For hem read him; the scribe corrected ll. 379, 380, but overlooked this. Transpose, ⁊ ðo him al freteð.

382. cetegrandie: genitive of ‘cete grandia,’ Gen. i. 21, treated as though it were one word and a noun singular. Cetegrandia is not in Papias or the Catholicon; it is quite possibly the invention of the present writer; the heading in T. is ‘De Balena’ or ‘De Ceto.’ The word in l. 383 appears to have been formed directly from it; the OF. Bestiaries have cetus only.

383-388. ‘Est super omne pecus quod vivit in aequore cetus, | Monstrum grande satis, cum superexstat aquis | Prospiciens illum, montem putat esse marinum, | Aut quod in oceano insula sit medio,’ T. Insert gret before fis.

385. ðat: pronoun anticipating the clause ðat—neilond, l. 387. get, too; comp. ‘Of thre ȝere in þe temple sett, | And þerto fourtene winter gett,’ CM 10531.

389. vnride, enormous, monstrous; OE. ungerȳde; the general idea of the word is excessive. Comp. 192/507, 522, 120/125.

390. hungreð: impersonal as at 60/99; comp. ‘crist him ȝeueð swilcne mete ꝥ him nefre eft ne hungreð,’ OEH i. 37/30; ‘þer in onliche stude him hungrede,’ AR 162/1. Omit he. gapeð &c.: ‘os aperit | Unde velud florum (a. l. hamum) se flatus reddit hodorum | Ad se pisciculos ut trahat exiguos,’ T.

391. it smit an onde, a breath rushes forth; comp. 126/321 note: it is formal nominative, the real subject is onde; comp. 188/403; ‘Til hit sprang dai liȝt,’ KH 124 note.

393. to him dragen, move towards him: comp. 189/416, 32/49; ‘And whatena hauld shall we draw to?’ Child, Ballads, iii. 434.

394. it, the sweet breath.

395. houen: see 177/53.

396. swike: see 82/111. uncuð . . . of: see 179/97.

397. ‘Piscis pisciculos claudit, deglutit et illos,’ T.

401. wið, on; comp. 180/147. se grund, bottom of the sea; comp. 177/58, 184/278, 189/423; ‘þai sail in þe see gronde . fissches to fede,’ Minot x. 4 note; ‘I’ll set my foot in a bottomless boat, | And swim to the sea-ground,’ Child, Ballads, i. 448.

402. heil ⁊ sund: see 177/59.

403. Insert perhaps harde or ille before time. ‘Si sit tempestas, cum vadit vel venit estas, | Et pelagus fundum turbidat omne suum,’ T.

404. For se, Holthausen suggests brine, salt sea, by way of improving the rhyme, but comp. time: bi me, KH 533, 534.

405. winnen, come into conflict, at the change of the seasons.

407. droui, turbid; comp. OE. drōf, drēfan: comp. ‘Þer faure citees wern set nov is a see called, | Þat ay is drouy ⁊ dim,’ E. E. Allit. Poems, 68/1016.

408. ðat stund, at that time; comp. 185/309.

409. ‘Continuo summas se tollit caetus ad undas,’ T. stireð, moves; comp. ‘ðis asse is eft of weige stired,’ GE 3961, but stirteð would be more appropriate; comp. ‘And pharaon stirte up anon,’ GE 2931; ‘Þe fisches sturten op with þis song,’ South English Legendary, 232/456. houeð stille: comp. ‘Louerd crist, þat swch a best: scholde houi so stille | And soffri men opon him gon: and don al heore wille,’ id. 230/375.

411. sipes: Mätzner suggested siperes, OE. scipere, but that does not apparently occur in ME. and it would be unmetrical, sipmen might be read, if any change were necessary. fordriuen, driven about, so ‘We beoþ séé-weri men; mid wedere al for-dreuen,’ L MS. O, 6205: but OE. fordrīfan means to drive away, banish, drive out of course.

412. There is nothing in the original corresponding to this line: comp. 91/88.

413. biloken: Mätzner explains, look around, comparing ‘Brid . . . biwent him ofte, ⁊ bilokeð him euer ȝeorneliche al abuten,’ AR 132/26, but the meaning of the verb is there qualified by ‘abuten.’ Here its natural sense is better, they look to themselves, they consider their plight.

414. Add ðat after wenen: comp. 185/311. ‘Est promontorium cernere non modicum | Huic religare citam pro tempestate carinam | Nautae festinant utque foras saliant,’ T.

416. mid here migt, striving their hardest: ‘bi his mihte,’ OEH ii. 189/11.

417, 418. These lines probably ran, Sipes on to festen | ⁊ alle up to gangen. festen on, moor.

419, 420. ‘Accendunt vigilem quem navis portitat ignem,’ T.; ‘vigilem,’ ever burning, Virgil, Æn. iv. 200. wel to brennen may mean, to light a good fire, but such absolute use of brennen is without support. For wel read welm, blazing fire: OE. wielm, wylm; comp. ‘he wolde hine ifusen; to ane bare walme,’ L 22123: the word is common enough in OE. but rare in ME., and so may have puzzled the copyist, who would find wel in the next line. The sense is, They all go up on land to light a blazing fire on this monster by a spark struck out of flint by steel into tinder.

421. warmen . . . heten . . . drinken depend on gangen: ‘ut cale se faciant aut comedenda coquant,’ T.

423. grunde: see 188/401. For the whale mistaken for an island, comp. the South English Legendary, 224/155-176.

426, 427. ‘Viribus est zabulus quasi cetus corpore magnus, | Ut monstrant magni quos facit ille magi,’ T. wið, of, as in ‘mekill of maine,’ Minot, i. 85.

427. hauen gives a fair sense with ‘wil ⁊ magt’ as object, but the original word was probably taunen (comp. 195/631), rendering ‘monstrant.’

428, 429 are due to a misunderstanding of the original, ‘Mentes cunctorum qui sunt ubique virorum | Esurit atque sitit, quosque potest perimit;’ the devil hungers and thirsts for the souls of men and he destroys all he can.

430. tolleð, allures: the earliest occurrence of the word.

431. Omit he. sonde, shame.

432. in leue lage, low (weak) in faith; a phrase apparently without parallel. ‘Sed modicos fidei trahit in dulcedine verbi, | Namque fide firmos non trahit ille viros,’ T.

435. in rigte leue: see 89/28. mid fles ⁊ gast, in body and soul.

437. on lengðe, in the long run, at length: more commonly used of measure, ‘hit is on lengþe; four and twenti mundes,’ L MS. O, 21993.

438. festeð: comp. 1/23; ‘In him i hafe min hope al fest,’ CM 5288: ‘spem sibi ponit,’ T.

439. helle dim: comp. 186/341.

440. This article is mostly original. Sirene, genitive of sirena; the title in T. is ‘De Sirenis’; classical Latin has only siren, -is, fem. In T. they are female and birds in the nether half; his account is very brief and general, and it is followed closely by that of the onocentaur, which is ‘biformis’ like the siren; the ‘significacio’ is common to both. An earlier description is found in Layamon, 1322-1347, which is based on Wace, Brut, 733-771. The author of the Bestiary was acquainted with one or both of these. Comp. also Bozon, Contes Moralisés, p. 47.

441. selcuðes, marvels: the word is mostly adjective. ‘Item mare est animancium et monstrorum multiplicis forme productivum; mare enim longe producit monstra et mira quam facit ipsa terra,’ Bartholomeus Anglicus, lib. xiii.

442. mereman, mermaid: a better form is meremin, pl. merminnen, L 1322: merman is a much later masculine formed from mermaid. The first half of the line is short: perhaps muchel should be added after is.

443. oc—bunden, but in her resemblance to a maiden she is altogether limited to this extent of breast and body. This use of bind has perhaps been helped by Layamon’s ‘wifmen hit þunchet fuliwis; bi-neoðe þon gurdle hit þuncheð fisc.’

444. ‘Poisson sunt del nombril aval,’ Wace 737. For the second half line read, ge is noman ilik.

445. to fuliwis: see 32/40 note. waxen: explained by Mätzner as furnished, in meaning of OE. beweaxan, which however is used only of extraneous growths, as ‘burgtunas brerum beweaxne,’ town-dwellings with briars o’ergrown, Cod. Exon. 443/16. Comp. ‘a win-tre | ðat adde waxen buges ðre,’ GE 59/2059.

446. wankel, unstable; OE. wancol: comp. ‘wanclen,’ weaklings, L 31834. The modern dialect word, wankle, is current in the North and Midlands, and often used of uncertain, unsettled weather, and so probably here of stormy, disturbed seas.

447. ðer—sinkeð is a half-line, sipes—werkeð a complete line: the former may have run, ðer ðe water sinkeð . dun on west halue, where the sea slopes away down to the west; for the second half-line comp. ‘an æst halue an west halue,’ L 29287. ‘Et modo naufragium, modo dant mortale periclum,’ T.

448. mirie: ‘Dolces vois ont, dolcement chantent,’ Wace, 738; ‘Þeos habbeð swa murie song,’ L 1326. Holthausen omits ge. mere, a shortened form of mereman. manie: ‘Sirenae sunt monstra maris resonancia multis | Vocibus et modulis cantus formancia multis,’ T.

449. sille, marvellous; OE. syllic.

450. it ben: see 1/10 note.

451. The scribe should have put the stop before forgeten. ‘Li fol home qui le cant oent, | . . . | Lor voie oblient et guerpissent,’ Wace, 743, 745.

452. ‘Quae faciunt sompnum nimia dulcedine vocum,’ T.

454. suk, suck, expressing the sound made by the water closing over the vessel.

456-459 appears to be based on the experience of Brutus; ‘Brutus iherde siggen; þurh his sæ-monnen | of þan ufele ginnen; þe cuðen þa mereminnen | . . . | Þa mereminnen heom to svommen; on alchare sidan. | swiða heo heom lætten; mid luðere heora craften. | Neðelas Brutus at-bræc; al buten burstan, | ⁊ ferde riht on his wei,’ L 1334-1337, 1342-1347.

456. wise . . . warre: see 18/16.

457. know how to return, that is, to escape: comp. ‘hwan ic aȝen cherre; al ic þe ȝelde,’ OEH i. 79/12, and for the noun, ‘Þer deþ so redi fynt dore opene, | Ne may helpe no ȝeyn char,’ Desputisoun, 76/167; ‘efter-charr,’ CM 21922.

458. Often they have burst away, made good their escape: comp. 193/548 where the verb has an object in the acc. of the thing escaped from, as occasionally in OE., and as probably here also. For the second half of the line in its present form yields no satisfactory sense. Mätzner, who completed he[re], translates, with their heart incorruptible, inflexible, equating ouel with OWScand. ófalr. Read, ofte arn atbrosten mid hele . here brest iuel, often have they safely escaped from their evil danger. Comp. ‘Þe king Goffar iseih his burst; ⁊ unæðe him seolf atbreac,’ L 1610; ‘þa ofte ure Bruttes; makeden hufele burstes,’ id. 19856, and with the form brest, ‘or thei take reste | Er schal thei suffre mochel breste,’ Laud Troy Book, 4226; ‘To-quils þai duelled þar to rest, | O water had þai ful mikel brest,’ CM 6308.

459. Mätzner deletes herd, to correspond with, ‘Quod (i.e. periculum) qui fugerunt, hii tales esse tulerunt,’ T.; but in view of L 1334-1337 quoted above, it would be better to leave out told; the wise escape because they have been forewarned. With either alteration, the line remains formless: better, he hauen herd tellen . of tis mere unimete, with distinct alliteration in each half-line (comp. 464/15). Holthausen supplies is after ðat: the scribe probably understood the connection as, which, monstrous in this wise, as being half human and half fish, has a moral application (‘significacio’, ‘bitacnunge,’ 79/15) in virtue of this monstrosity.

463, 464. Many men illustrate what is signified by this creature here adduced as a symbol. ‘Quam plures homines sic sunt in more biformes,’ T.; comp. 191/471.

465. Mätzner altered wulues to sepes; the source is, ‘Attendite a falsis prophetis, qui veniunt ad vos in vestimentis ovium, intrinsecus autem sunt lupi rapaces,’ S. Matt. vii. 15.

467, 468. ‘Utpote sunt multi qui de virtute locuti, | Turpibus indulgent,’ T. Perhaps of should be inserted before godcundhede.

469. vncuð wið: see 179/97. ‘Qui foris ut fantur, sic intus non operantur,’ T.

474. ðe legen, lie to thee, by presently breaking their oath: ‘unum dicentes, aliud mox tibi facientes,’ T.

475. sage, discourse: OE. sagu: comp. ‘heo wenden þat his sawen; soðe weren,’ L 749.

476. ðer imong, all the time they are promising.

477. agte and soule l. 478 are apparently accusatives in a sort of apposition to ‘ðe’ l. 476. OE. swician requires ymb or on with the name of the thing about which deceit is practised.

480. Elpes: the OE. forms are elpend and ylp; elp is probably a shortened form of the former. Inde riche, the realm of India.

481. berges ilike, like mountains; ‘bene firmares montibus esse pares,’ T.; ‘ylp is ormæte nyten mare þonne sum hus,’ Ælf. Lives, ii. 104/366.