Emil Hausknecht

Page 1, line 1. myghteste, evidently an error of the scribe for myghtes, cf. ll. 1635, 1312, 3068, 2546, 1200, 2059; and Syr Ferumbras, l. 2719.

“Nov help hem Þe he? kyng of hevene,

Þat art of mi?tes most.”

God in glorie occurs again in l. 3229; cf. the French expression Damedeu de glore; Fierabras 2332.

p. 1, l. 2. made and wroght in l. 5 are the 2nd person sing. preterite, which in all other instances in this poem ends in -est. But perhaps we might suppose a change of person here, and regard made and wroght as the third person. For examples of the change of person see Syr Ferumbras, ll. 2719, 4393, and Guy of Warwick, ed. Zupitza, l. 2324.

p. 1, l. 7. shulde to love; to before an infinitive, governed by an auxiliary verb, is pretty common in Middle English works. See Zupitza’s note to Guy, 1925.

p. 1, l. 9. ?yfe. This is the only instance of ? being written in the present poem at the beginning of a word. ?ife is written if in all other passages of the poem, cf. ll. 550, 651, 763, and 1061, etc. As to the pronunciation of ? in the middle of a word, it is doubtful, whether it had still preserved its ancient guttural sound, or not, as the same words are written sometimes with it and sometimes without it, and are often made to rhyme with words in which ? or gh would be etymologically incorrect; e. g. nye, which is spelt ny?e in l. 2284, rhymes with Gye, in l. 2657. We even find whi?te, in l. 2289, instead of white (l. 2008: smyte). At the end of a word ? has the sound of s.

p. 1, l. 13. idoone. The prefix i-, O.E. ge-, sometimes occurs in this poem, but more frequently it is not written; see Introduction, p. xxxviii.

p. 1, l. 14. cf. l. 2516.—ll. 1–14 may be said to contain the moral of the whole poem, which we know the romance writers to be very fond of placing at the beginning of their works. “La moralitÉ de tout un poÈme,” says LÉon Gautier, in his EpopÉes FranÇaises, I. 233, “est quelquefois exprimÉe dans ses premiers vers.” p096

p. 1, l. 16. moch = much (as in l. 754) is the usual spelling in this poem. We likewise find meche, l. 179, and mikille, l. 1016.

p. 1, l. 19, his refers to Rome.

p. 1, l. 22. Laban, the father of Ferumbras, is styled sowdan only in this poem, and once in the Destruction de Rome, l. 1436:

“Les noveles en vindrent al soldan diffaiÉ.”

The French, the ProvenÇal and the English version of Sir Ferumbras all agree to call him amyral or amirans.

p. 1, l. 24. The mention of King Louis and of the abbey of St. Denis (l. 27) seems to be an imitation of the Destruction, l. 7 et seq.:

“Le chanchon est perdue et le rime fausee,

Mais . . li rois Louis, dont l’alme est trespassee

—Ke li fache pardon la verge honoree—

Par lui et par Gautier est l’estoire aunee

Et le chanchon drescie, esprise et alumee

A saint Dynis de France premierement trovee.”

St. Denis also occurs in the beginning of the French Fierabras, l. 4:

“A Saint Denis en France fu li raules trouvÉs.”

Cf. besides note to l. 26. witnessith = attests, testifies; cf. Stratmann, p. 645. It occurs again in l. 1489.

p. 2, l. 25. Romaunce, the French or Romance language. We often find the authors of romances, both of translations and of imitations from the French, referring to the original; cf. Syr Eglamour of Artoys, sign. E i:

“His own mother there he wedde,

In Romaunce as we rede.”

Again, fol. ult.: “In Romaunce this cronycle is.”

[Quoted by Warton, History of English Poetry, II. 146, footnote.]

p. 2, l. 26. bokes of antiquyte. This is to be regarded as one of those frequent assertions of the authors of these poems, who in order to give more credit to their tales, thought it necessary to affirm their antiquity and celebrity in old times. Cf. Gautier, Epop. Fr., II. 87: “Il fut de bon ton d’annoncer, au commencement de chaque poÈme, qu’on avait trouvÉ la matiÈre de ce poÈme dans quelque vieux manuscrit latin, dans quelque vieille chronique d’abbaye, surtout dans les manuscrits et dans les chroniques de Saint-Denis. On se donnait par lÀ un beau vernis de vÉracitÉ historique. Plus les trouvÈrent ajoutaient aux chansons primitives d’affabulations ridicules, plus ils s’Écriaient: ‘Nous avons trouvÉ tout cela dans un vieux livre.’”

p. 2, l. 27. Seinte Denyse is the genitive depending on abbey.

p. 2, l. 28. there as = where, or where that. See Koch, Englische Grammatik, II. § 511.

p. 2, l. 29. Laban. So the father of Ferumbras is called in the Destruction de Rome, where only in six passages (ll. 891, 899, 1116, 1194, 1174, 981) we find the form Balan, which is the only one used in the French Fierabras, in the ProvenÇal version, and in the English p097 Syr Ferumbras.—of hie degre; this kind of expletive occurs again in l. 100: clerk of hie degre; cf. also l. 168: king of hie honour.

p. 2, l. 31. Cristiante = the company of Christians, the countries inhabited by Christians, cf. ll. 235, 374. It signifies “the religion taught by Christ” in l. 3182. Cristiante and Christendom are used promiscuously in Middle English writers.

p. 2, l. 33. Agremare: there. The rhyme becomes perfect by reading Agremore: thore, which we find in l. 1805; cf. also l. 1003 Agremore: more (i. e. negro), and ll. 672, 775, 2140, 2895.

p. 2, l. 34. Flagot. See Index of Names, s. v. Flagot, and cf. note to l. 1723.

p. 2, l. 37. This line is too long, nevertheless it seems to be correct as it stands, clearly imitated from several passages of the Destruction de Rome.

l. 420.	“Ensamble ou li issirent xv roi corone. Et xiiii amaceours . .”
l.1155.	“Bien i ad xxx rois et xiiii amaceours.”
l. 689.	“xxx roi sont ou li et xiiii amaceours.”
l. 163.	“Et xiiii amaceours.”

p. 2, l. 41. hit instead of it is found again in l. 2309; in all the other instances it is spelt as in modern English.

p. 2, l. 42. pryke, to spur a horse, to excite, to spur or to stimulate. It is O.E. prician, which occurs in Ælfric’s Grammar, ed. Zupitza, p. 174 (pungo = ic pricige). This and the following line are imitated from Chaucer; cf. C.T. Prologue, ll. 10, 11, and see Introduction, p. xlvi. Kynde = naturalis, ingenuus; kynde wit = common sense. Kynde is O.E. cynde (Modern English kind).

p. 2, l. 73. frith means “forest,” or more correctly “enclosed wood.” The original sense of forest is “unenclosed wood” (see Diez, Etymol. WÖrterbuch, I. 185). Stratmann, Dict. p. 228, s. v. friÐ, seems to be right in connecting frith with O.E. friÐ, freoÐo = pax, tutela, saeptum. Morris, Allit. Poems, Glossary, derives it from the Gaelic frith. “frith is still used in Provincial English, meaning unused pasture-land, brushwood” (Halliwell).

p. 2, l. 45. y?e (O.E. Êagum): flye (O.E. flÊogan). With regard to the power of ?, see the note to l. 9, and cf. the spelling eyen in ll. 826, 1302, 2012.

p. 2, l. 46. tre may be singular (O.E. trÊowe) as well as plural (O.E. trÊowum).

p. 2, l. 49. The following lines (49–53) correspond with ll. 94–100 of the Destruction, which run as follows:

“Li admirals d’Espaigne s’est ales desporter

As puis sur Aigremore, avec li. M. Escler;

La fist ses ours salvages a ses hommes berser.

La veissies meint viautre, maint brachet descoupler,

Payens et Ascopars as espees jouer,

Coure par le marine et chacier maint sengler,

Maint ostour veisies et maint falcon voler.”

p098

p. 2, l. 50. shope, literally “shaped:” he shope him, “he got himself ready, he planned, devised, intended.” The phrase is of frequent occurrence in Chaucer.

p. 2, l. 52. bawson, badger. For the use of badgers, see Skeat’s note to Specimens of English Literature, p. 383.

p. 2, l. 56. Alaunts, a kind of large dogs of great strength and courage, used for hunting the wolf, the bear, the boar, &c. Cf.

“Aboute his chare wente white alauntz

Twenty and mo, as grete as any stere,

To hunte at the lyoun or at the bere.”

Chaucer, ed. Morris, II. 66/1290.

According to Diez (Etymol. WÖrterb., I. 12, s. v. “alano”) alaunts means “Albanian dogs.” Lymmeris, “blood-hounds.” Halliwell quotes the following passage: “A dogge engendred betwene an hounde and a mastyve, called a lymmer or a mongrell.” Lymmer is the French limier, O.Fr. liemier, which etymologically means a dog that a courser leads by a lime, i. e. a thong or leash. Lime is the same word as French lien, a leash; Latin ligamen. Lymmer is preserved in Modern English limer, a “lime-hound.”

p. 2, l. 56. Rache and brache are both retained in the modern speech; rache seems to be particularly used in Scotland. “Brache is said to signify originally a bitch hound—the feminine of rache, a foot-scenting dog” (Morris, Gawayne, Gloss. p. 89). Rache is, according to Stratmann, O.Icel. rakki; brache is O.Fr. braque, M.H.Ger. braccho. Cf. also Halliwell’s Dict. s. v. “brach.” The French racaille is etymologically connected with rache; see Diez, Etym. WÖrterb., II. 407.

p. 2, l. 57. commaunde for commaunded (l. 228), formed on the same analogy as comforte (l. 2242) for comforted (ll. 312, 2117), ali?t for alighted; gerde for girded; graunte (l. 607) for graunted, etc.

p. 2, l. 59. fere, O.E. fae with circumflex, italicran (Mod. Eng. fear), is an active verb, meaning “to frighten, to terrify.” It is still found in this sense in Shakespeare.—launde: commaunde. The very same rhyme occurs again in l. 3189, where launde is spelt lande. The rhyme need not cause any difficulty, cf. Guy, p. xi. ?. Or must launde be taken here for lande = saltus? Cf. Morris, Gloss. to Allit. Poems, s. v. launde.

p. 3, l. 62. set, means “seat, sedes”; O.Icel. set, O.H.G. sez, M.H.G. sitz. This stanza as it stands seems to be incorrect, there being no rhyme to sete; possibly a line has been lost after l. 63.

p. 3, l. 67. The subject of the sentence is wanting. For more instances see Zupitza’s note to Guy, l. 10. It is to be observed that for the most part the subject wanting is of the same person as the object of the preceding sentence.—he was god and trew of divers langages = “he well knew, understood them perfectly.”

p. 3, l. 68. dromonde: poundis. Read dromounde (which occurs l. 125): pounde (see l. 2336). p099

p. 3, l. 69. We find fro and from in this poem. Both belong to the Midland dialect. Fro is confirmed by the rhyme fro: so (l. 2760). It is derived from the Scandinavian fra; Mod. Eng. has retained it in “froward,” and in the phrase “to and fro.” The same word enters as a prefix into composition in O.E. compounds, as fr-ettan, etc. Babyloyne, the author pronounced Babyloyne as well as Babylone (either rhyming, cf. ll. 30, 3260).

p. 3, l. 74. qweynte, “famous, excellent,” cf. Skeat, Etymol. Dict. p. 482, s. v. quaint. for the nones, “for the nonce, for the occasion.” Cf. Zupitza’s note to Guy, 612; it is often used as a kind of expletive.

p. 3, l. 75. to presente you. The Destruction de Rome has: “vous quidai presenter.”

p. 3, l. 76. French: “Uns vens nous fist À Rome parmi le far sigler.” Destr. l. 120.

p. 3, l. 77. Cf. Destr. ll. 115–16. See Introduction, p. xxiii.

p. 3, l. 78. About the rhyme Rome: one, see Introduction, p. xliii.

p. 3, l. 79. bygone, “afflicted, pressed hard;” literally it means, “overrun, covered.” Cf. Shakespeare, Julius Caesar:

“Even such a one,

So pale, so spiritless, and woe-begone.”

p. 3, l. 82. vilane: remedye. Read vilanye, as in l. 2577, where it rhymes with Gye, see Introduction, p. xliv, and Ellis, Pronunciation, I. 271.

p. 3, l. 83. colde, used here and in l. 91 in nearly the same sense as in the expressions collected by Zupitza, in his note to Guy, 1149.

p. 3, l. 84. tithynge. So with th in ll. 1787, 714, 783; in ll. 65, 91, 149, 324, etc., we read tidinge. There are several instances where d and th in the middle of a word seem to be promiscuously used in this poem; as hithire l. 1265, hider 1869 (cf. also dogdir 2580, and doghter 96, 124, etc.).

p. 3, l. 86. Mahounde, Appolyn and Termagant are the principal deities (cf. ll. 2105, 2177, 2761) of the Mahometans, who were considered as pagans = payens (ll. 535, 1040) or paynym (ll. 539, 866, etc.). Other idols of the Saracens are mentioned in ll. 2761–2 of the Sowdone. Compare also Gautier’s note to l. 8, of his Edition critique de la Chanson de Roland, and Skeat, Prioress’s Tale (Clarendon P.S.), 161/2000.

p. 3, l. 88. theyme instead of hem occurs only three times in the poem (ll. 88, 1237, 2787). There must be some corruption here, as there is no rhyme to theym. The last stanza ends at l. 87, and the next one begins at l. 89. As far as the sense is concerned we could easily do without this line; it ought perhaps to be regarded as spurious.

p. 3, l. 93. Ferumbras is spelt differently in the different versions of the romance. In the Sowdan we always find Ferumbras, in the Ashmole MS. Ferumbras and Fyrumbras. He is called Fierabras in the French p100 Ferabras in the ProvenÇal version; the Destruction has Fierabras, but more frequently Fierenbras. In Caxton’s Life of Charles the Great his name is Fyerabras, Skelton has Pherumbras, Lyndsay Pharambras, and in Barbour’s Bruce we read Ferambrace; see Introduction, pp. xxv and xxxii.

p. 4, l. 99. Oliborn. This name does not occur in any other version of this poem. The same is the case with regard to Espiard, l. 103. None of the French versions gives any name to the Soudan’s messenger. In the Ashmole MS. l. 3823, the messenger is called Malyngryas.

p. 4, l. 102. Assye = Asia. This name does not occur in the other versions of the poem; cf. note to l. 1000.

p. 4, l. 103. Cf. the Destruction, l. 202:

“Par tote la terre sont li baron mande”

ferre and nere, cf. ll. 117, 996, and the note to l. 528 of Syr Ferumbras.

p. 4, l. 104. frike, “quick, bold,” O.E. frec. See Stratmann, Dictionary, p. 225.

p. 4, l. 108. Þon. Compare Introduction, p. xxxvii.

p. 4, l. 109. The passage is not clear. Perhaps there is some corruption here and we ought to read: anon rowte, “assembled quickly, immediately”; rowte would then be the preterite formed on the analogy of lighte, graunte, commaunde, etc. See Introduction, p. xxxviii.

p. 4, l. 110. Destruction, l. 217:

“Par C fois M payen.”

p. 4, l. 112. dou?te: route. See Introduction, p. xliv, and note to l. 9.

p. 4, l. 113. Lucafer is the name of the Saracen King in all the versions of this romance but in the French one, where with the single exception of one passage (l. 2242 Lucafer), he is always called Lucifer, cf. Introd. p. xx.

p. 4, l. 114. lorde and governoure. This repetition of the same idea by two synonymous words, the one of English and the other of French origin, is very common in M.E. writers. Thus we read in this poem, l. 2164 lorde and sire, l. 225 serchid and sought, ll. 3199, 1936 joye and game, l. 742 wel and fine.

p. 4, l. 118. A carrik was a kind of large ship, called caraca in Italian, carraca in Spanish and Portuguese, carraque in French, kraecke in Dutch. The etymology is not clear. See Diez, Etymol. WÖrterb., I. 112. Halliwell has ‘carrack, a Spanish galleon. Sometimes English vessels of great value and size were so called.’

p. 4, l. 119. Destruction, l. 385:

“Par vii fois sont C mil, si l’estoire ne ment.”

p. 4, l. 124. his faire daughter Floripas. Floripas is described as follows in the Destruction, ll. 252–262:

“Aitant es vous la bele ou il n’out qu’enseignier

Vestue d’un diapre, onke ne vi tant chier, p101

Ses crins sur ses epaules plus lusoient d’or mier,

Sa char out bele et blanke plus que noifs en fevrier,

Les oes avoit plus noirs que falcon montenier,

Et le colour vermaile con rose de rosier,

La bouche bien seant et douce pour baisier,

Et les levres vermailes come flour de peskier;

Les mameles out dures com pomme de pomnier,

Plus sont blanches que noifs que chiet apres fevrier;

Nuls hom ne porroit ja sa grant bealte preisier.”

Compare also the French Fierabras, ll. 2007, et seq.

p. 4, l. 128. This line is clearly imitated from the Destruction, ll. 331–2:

“En sa main .i. baston que contremont bailie,

Et manace FranÇois pour faire les loye.”

Cf. Introduction, p. xxiii.

p. 5, l. 131. breddes, “birds”; l and r very often change their place in a word. Thus we find worlde and wrolde, crafti and carfti, etc.

p. 5, l. 132. sowdon and sowdan are used promiscuously in the rhymes.

p. 5, l. 146. Destruction, ll. 445–6:

“N’i remeigne chastels, dongeons ne fermete

Moustiers ne abbeie que ne soit embrase.”

p. 5, l. 150. Compare the Destruction, ll. 503–4:

“L’apostoile de Rome ad la novele oie

Ke payen sont venu els plains de Romanie.”

p. 5, l. 157. unknowne makes no sense. Perhaps we ought to read yknowne or not unknowne. In the Destruction, ll. 509–513—

“Seignours, ke le feromes, franke gent segnorie?

Li admirals d’Espaigne a no terre seisie;

Il en ont ja gastee une moult grant partie:

Au bref terme serra ceste terre exillie;

Qui bon consail saura vienge avant si nous die.”

p. 5, l. 160. unneth, O.E. unÊaÐe, “uneasily, scarcely.” Chaucer has unnethË, the final e being almost always sounded. See Introduction, p. xxxix.

p. 5, l. 163. gydoure evidently means “guide, conductor, commander.”

p. 5, l. 164. houne = hounde. On the elition of final d, see Skeat, Specimens of Early English, 320/261, and Preface to Havelok, p. xxxvii.

p. 5, l. 165. Ifre?. There is no person of this name in any other version. Perhaps this Ifres may be identical with Jeffroi, mentioned as a senator of Rome in the Destruction (ll. 1122, 1139, 1367).

p. 6, l. 170. About the phrase “douce France” compare LÉon Gautier’s note to l. 15 of his Edition critique de la Chanson de Roland.

p. 6, l. 171. Savaris. The author has found this name in the Destruction, l. 540.

p. 6, l. 173. Kinge: thinge. In my dissertation on the language and the sources of the Sowdan of Babylon, p. 4, bottom, I have shown p102 that i or y, which corresponds to O.E. y, the umlaut of u, rhymed with original i in this poem, which proves that the author wrote in the East Midland dialect. But among the examples collected there (p. 5), I ought not to have cited kinge, because this word is not peculiar to the East Midland speech, but occurs with the same form in all dialects. See Introduction, p. xxxv.

p. 6, ll. 175–6 are imitated from the Destruction, ll. 546–7. See Introduction, p. xxiii.

p. 6, l. 176. ner, the common form for nor (267, 1633) in this poem. “Polaynes are knee-pieces in a suit of armour. This term for genouilleres is found in the household book of Edward I.” (Morris, Glossary on Sir Gawayne, s. v. polaynes).

p. 6, l. 181. tyte, “soon, quick.” The editor of the Roxburghe Club edition of the Sowdan curiously confounds tyte with tightly = “adroitly,” occurring in Shakespeare, Merry Wives, I. 3. Tyte is derived from O.Icel. tÎÐr, “creber,” the neuter of which tÎtt, used adverbially means “crebro, celeriter.” See Stratmann, p. 561, s. v. tÎd.

p. 6, l. 189. Chek = “cotton, linen or woollen cloths, woven or printed in checkers.” (Latham, Dictionary, 1876.)

p. 6, l. 191. A line seems to be wanting here. There is no rhyme to displayed.

p. 6, l. 201. randon, “rapidity, force.” About the etymology see Diez, Etym. WÖrterbuch, I. 342, and Skeat, Etym. Dict.

p. 7, l. 202. than seems to be an error for thay.

p. 7, l. 214. Sarysyns. There are several spellings of the name of this people in the poem: Sarsyns, Sarsenys, Sarisyns, Sarasyns.

p. 7, l. 222. that day occurs again in l. 223. The author probably only wrote it once; the repetition is most likely due to the scribe.

p. 7, l. 224. The following lines are imitated from the Destruction, ll. 613–619; see Introduction, p. xxiii.

p. 7, l. 228. The French text (Destruction, l. 624) has:

“Maintenant soient tot occis et descoupe.

Ne voil que mi serjant en soient encombre.”

p. 8, l. 247. The original meaning of brayde is “start, blow,” but this makes no sense here, nor can it mean “a boast,” as the editor of the Roxburghe Club edition explains it. But Mid. Eng. brayde, as well as O.E. brÆgd or bregd, often signifies “deceit, craft, a cunning trick, a fraudulous contrivance, a stratagem or artifice.” See MÄtzner’s WÖrterb. and Halliwell’s Dict. This, I think, is also the meaning of brayde in l. 247. Floripas has been engaged to Lukafer who had promised the Soudan, her father, to bring the emperor Charlemagne and all his twelve peers to the foot of his throne, in return for the hand of his daughter. Floripas, not at all enamoured of the king of Baldas, but obeying the will of her father, said she would only agree to p103 accept him when he had fulfilled these conditions. But she does not believe that Laban thinks of ever fulfilling them, she is persuaded that those words, those promises made by Laban, are only a brayde, i. e. a stratagem or artifice devised by him in the hope of winning her hand before the performance of his promise. This signification of braide has been retained in the Mod. Eng. adjective braid, “crafty, deceitful.”

p. 8, l. 257. The Ethiopes, “Ethiopians,” are not mentioned in the other versions of this romance. On the rhyme Aufricanes: stones cf. Introduction, p. xxxv.

p. 9, l. 278. Destruction, l. 908:

“Sortibrans a mande Mabon l’engineor.”

p. 9, l. 283. depe: tyde. The rhyme becomes perfect if we read wide instead of depe.

p. 9, l. 286. French text gives, l. 934:

“Si emplirons les fossÉs.”

p. 9, l. 289. Cf. Destruction, l. 627. “Mahon te benoie,” and l. 925, “Mahon te doint honour.”

p. 9, l. 293. Men myght go even to the walle, compare the Destruction, l. 918:

and l. 958:

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

p. 9, l. 298. shour, “fight, attack.” See Zupitza’s note to Guy, l. 9206. sharpe shoures, as in the Destruction 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:

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

p. 9, l. 306. In the Destruction, l. 977:

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

p. 10, l. 311. For tyde: chidde see Introduction, p. xliii.

p. 10, l. 312.

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

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

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

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

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

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

See note to l. 67.

p. 10, l. 341. twelfe: selve; f and v very often stand for one another, see Introduction on p. xliii.

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

p. 11, l. 346. Estragot or Astragot. This name is not to be found in the other versions, it only occurs in the Sowdan and in the Destruction; cf. Destr. l. 1090–4:

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

p. 11, l. 363. consaile: slayne. See Introduction, p. xliii.

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

p. 11, l. 368. erille is not derived from the Erse, as the editor of the Roxburghe Club edition supposes. It is simply another spelling for erle, 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. lettres translates the French “li brief” (Destr. l. 1121), in haste = French “isnelement” (Destr. l. 1119).

p. 11, l. 377. we ordeyne makes no sense. Read were ordeyned, as in l. 2396. Cf. the Destruction, l. 1133:

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 of cast in l. 2471; but it occurs with two other meanings. In l. 394 cast signifies “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 for Estragote, cf. ll. 346, 352, and Destr. l. 1090. brake on three, cf. ll. 2234, 1388, 1269.

p. 13, l. 441. Sarsyns: Romaynes. See Introduction, p. xliv.

p. 14, l. 464. oost does not rhyme with beste. Both the sense and the rhyme will be improved if we read rest for oost.

p. 14, l. 473. As it stands, the line makes no sense. This is written indistinctly in the MS., so that we may read either this or thus; the sense requires the latter, which I think is the true reading. Or else we may keep this and write idone instead of it done.

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

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

p. 15, l. 495. The Ascopars or Ascopartes are mentioned in the Destruction as the subjects of the Soudan. The name of this people is not to be found in any other version. Astopars is merely a clerical error for Ascopars, which may be easily accounted for by remembering that in the MSS. the characters c and t are very often formed almost alike. The true spelling Ascopars is found in ll. 2196, 2648; cf. also the Destruction, 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:

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. Ho is evidently a mistake for we. rere-warde, “rear-guard;” the van is called fowarde, ll. 502, 732, the main body the medyl partye, l. 735.

p. 15, l. 504. than: gon. See Introduction, p. xxxv.

p. 15, l. 510. oon makes 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, the enjambement, 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 to bon (l. 508). The scribe noticing the absence of rhyme tried to restore it himself. Adding oon to l. 510, he made it rhyme with bon (l. 508). Having thus destroyed the rhyme of ll. 510 and 512 (Alisaundre: Cassaundre, as in l. 984), he added gaye to l. 512, which now rhymed to l. 514, where he still added to fraye. In order to get a rhyme to l. 518, he changed in l. 516 the original laye (: Romayne) into lan (“he ceased, stopped”), and wrote “to” the grounde instead of “on” (cf. l. 1186) or “at” (cf. ll. 533, 435) the grounde, connecting thus these words with l. 515, whereas originally they belonged to there he laye, or—as there also may have been added by the scribe—to he laye. If now we read with mayne instead of ful evene, in l. 521, we get a perfect rhyme to l. 519; l. 520 having lost its rhyming line, he made it rhyme, by adding than to 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:

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

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

p. 15, l. 516. lan, preterite of lin, “to cease;” more common in the compound blin, 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. On stronge (O.E. strang): istonge (O.E. gestungen), see Introduction, p. xxxv.

p. 16, l. 532. astraye, “out of the right way or proper place, running p107 about without guidance.” O.French estraier, which is derived from Latin ex strada, see Diez, Etym. WÖrterb. I. 402; II. 296.

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

p. 17, l. 555. It is evident that all ane must be a corruption. Perhaps the conjecture of the editor of the Roxb. Club edition, supposing all rafe to be the true reading, may be right. But he is certainly wrong to identify this rafe with the rafe in 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. raffle and rap.

p. 17, l. 570. certaine spoils the rhyme. The rhyme becomes perfect if we read without faile, as in l. 322.

p. 17, l. 573. aplight, “on plight, on my word.” See Zupitza’s note to Guy, 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:

p. 18, l. 613. hight = (1) “was called,” (2) “promised,” (3) “called” (partic. past). It is the preterite tense of haten, hoten, or hat (l. 3154). Cf. Zupitza’s note to Guy, l. 169.

p. 18, l. 614. than seems to be a corruption, and I think must be left out. Florip is the genitive of Florip, which occurs as a nominative in ll. 2075, 1527. There is another nominative Floripas which forms the genitive Floripas, ll. 1659, 2350.

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

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

p. 19, l. 647. French:

p. 19, l. 648. In the Destr. l. 1244–5:

p. 19, l. 650. met, a mistake for mot, which we find in ll. 1582, 2334, 3170. p108

p. 20, l. 663. Cf. the Destr. l. 1260:

p. 20, l. 665. the crosse, the crown, the nailes bente. The relics mentioned in the Destruction are the crown of thorns, the cross, the nails, and the “signe,” which, as I have shown in my Dissertation (pp. 45, 46), does not mean “inscription of the cross,” but is the Greek s??d??, and signifies “the shroud, or winding-sheet, of the Lord, suaire, sudatorium.” In the French Fierabras, as well as in Syr Ferumbras, no mention is made of the cross.

p. 20, l. 673. thare instead of there would improve the rhyme. See Introduction, 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:

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

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

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

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

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. fonde is spelt founde in 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 to Guy, l. 576). Thus we have sail, 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. See Introduction, p. xlii.

p. 24, l. 820. stroke: stoupe. See Introduction, 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.” See Stratmann, 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 of Aspremont may 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 of Aubri 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-joye is the name of Charlemagne’s sword in this poem (cf. ll. 3111, 850), whereas, according to all other romances, the emperor’s sword was called Joyeuse. Mounjoie or Montjoie was the name of the French standard; it was likewise used as the battle-cry of the French, cf. Fierabras, l. 1703, and Syr Ferumbras, ll. 2285, 2652, 4577, 4727. The sword Joyeuse had been forged by the celebrated Weland or Galand, as we read in the French Fierabras, l. 635:

Compare Gaston Paris, Histoire PoÉtique, p. 374.

p. 26, l. 875. Durnedale. This renowned sword was forged by the famous Galand or Weland. The French Fierabras (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 (see Histoire 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 the Sowdan, Durnedale broke; but this incident has been mentioned nowhere else. Cf. Syr Ferumbras, l. 997, and Fierabras, l. 1740.

p. 26, l. 876. romme, spelt also rome, rowme, roum, is Mod. E. room, O.E. rÛm, “spatium.”

p. 26, l. 880. dinge; read gan dinge. Dinge is the infinitive mood, but the sense requires a preterite tense. The preterite of dinge is dong, dongen, which occurs in l. 1263. But as dinge cannot be altered here, on account of the rhyme, the passage is easily corrected by adding gan = “he began to strike, he struck.”

p. 26, l. 884. Alloreynes of Loreynes and Aleroyse (l. 1699) are probably identical. Then Alloreynes would be an error of the scribe, who having already the following Loreynes in his mind wrote Alloreynes instead of Alleroyse.

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

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

p. 27, l. 913. I cannot tell what treyumple means, 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 form hase (l. 940) is somewhat suspicious, as it is the only instance of the 2nd person singular present dropping the t, which it has always in this poem. The arrangement, too, of the following stanzas differs from that generally observed in the Sowdan. If we consider our poem as composed in eight-line stanzas (but see Introduction, 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 that four different 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 in Chaucer, see Introduction, p. xlvi, and the Prioress’s Tale, ed. Skeat (Clarendon Press), p. xvii. Compare also Lindsay, The Historie of Squyer Meldrum, l. 390:

“Like Mars, the God Armipotent.”

p. 27, l. 939. rede Mars. “Bocaccio uses the same epithet in the opening of his Teseide: ‘O rubiconde Marte.’ Rede refers to the colour of the planet.” Morris, note to Knight’s Tale, l. 889.

p. 27, l. 940. Baye never means “sword,” as the editor of the Roxburghe Club ed. renders it, nor does this translation make any sense here at all; baye signifies “a wide, open room or space in a building.” See MÄtzner’s WÖrterbuch, p. 164. Morris, in the Glossary to the Alliterative Poems, has “bay = recess. The original meaning seems to be opening of any kind. Cf. bay, space in a building between two main beams.” Halliwell, s. v. bay, has: “A principal compartment or division in the architectural arrangement of a building.” It appears to be etymologically the same word as Ital. baja, French baie, “bay, gulf, harbour,” the French baie being equally used for “opening of any kind.” The Catalan form for baie is badia, which corresponds to the verb badar, meaning “to open.” See Diez, Etym. WÖrterb. I. 46. Bay is retained in the Mod. E. compound “bay-window.” Cf. also the French “la bÉe d’une fenestre,” cited by Carpentier-Ducange, s. v. beare. With regard to the signification of trende, the editor of the Roxb. Club ed. wrongly guessed again in explaining it as “drawn” or “trenchant, cutting.” Trende means “turned, bent, vaulted in the form of an arch.” See Halliwell, p. 887, and Stratmann, p. 572, s. v. trenden (= “volvere”). But I am at a loss how to explain why Mars is said to have put up his throne in an arched recess, or compartment, of a building.

p. 28, l. 957. some, a clerical error for sone.

p. 28, l. 965. prymsauns of grene vere = “the earliest days of green spring” (Glossary to the Roxb. Club ed.). This may be the sense; but what is the literal meaning of prymsauns? If we had prymtauns, or prymtaunce, we might be inclined to take it for a corruption of French printemps, as we find pastaunce or pastance corrupted from passe-temps. (See Skeat, Spec. of Eng. Literature, 460/149 and 427/1096.) Cf. also the Romaunt of the Rose, ll. 3373–74: “At prime temps, Love to manace, Ful ofte I have been in this caas.” Or is prymtauns perhaps a clerical error for entrauns or entraunce? This would then make us think of such passages as the following one:

p. 28, l. 966. spryngyn, the only instance of the 3rd person present plural ending in -yn (for the common -en). This perhaps is due to p113 the scribe thinking already of the following yn in begynne. But it must be stated that the whole passage is rather obscure. Neither the meaning of springyn and begynne nor the connection of l. 966 with the following lines is very clear. Floures occurring twice looks also somewhat suspicious. Moreover, these two stanzas do not well suit the context and might easily be done without; they are evidently borrowed from some other poem. Observe besides the alliteration in floures, frithe, freshly.

p. 28, l. 973. lithe, “to hear.” O.Icel. hlyÐa, “auscultare.” Stratmann, s. v. hlÎÞen, p. 315.

p. 29, l. 993. lese miswritten for lefe, which sense and rhyme require, and which occurs in ll. 832, 1526.

p. 29, l. 995. bassatours (?) = “vavassours, vavasors.”

p. 29, l. 999. Inde Major. The meaning of Major is not clear. Cf. besides Chanson de Roland, ed. Gautier, Glossarial Index, s. v. Major. Compare also Destr. l. 690: terre Majour.

p. 29, l. 1000. The great number of geographical names contained in these two lines is probably due to the favourite habit of mediÆval romance writers, who thought that they showed their geographical knowledge by introducing long strings of names. Thus we find in Web. Rom. II. l. 632 et seq., the names of sixteen towns mentioned in fourteen lines, all of which are said to have been visited by Richard the Lion-hearted. Again in the same poem, ll. 3679, et seq., we find the names of thirteen countries occurring in ten lines. Cf. also King Alis., Web. Rom. I. ll. 1440 and 1692. Often, too, geographical names seem to be inserted on account of the rhyme, as Chaunder in l. 123, and Europe in l. 1001.

p. 29, l. 1008. Camalyon, “meaning, probably, the camelopardalis. The blood of a cameleon would go a very little way towards satisfying a thirsty Saracen” (Ellis, Metr. R. 387). Perhaps also the poet did not know much of either of these two kinds of animals, and all he wished was to cite an animal with some outlandish name.

p. 30, l. 1025. southe: wrothe. The spelling sothe occurs in ll. 2014, 2024, 2246, 2719. There must be a lacuna of one or more lines here. The rhyme-word to dute (l. 1024) is wanting; the context also evidently shows that ll. 1025 and 1026, as they stand together, make no sense. It is worth while to add that the next five lines, contrary to the common usage of our poem, are all rhymed together.

p. 30, l. 1040. Observe Paens, i. e. “pagans,” used as a proper name here; cf. the Destr. l. 98, and Fierabras, l. 5673.

p. 31, l. 1051. For a description of Ferumbras, compare Fierabras, ll. 578 et seq., and ll. 611 et seq., and Syr Ferumbras, l. 550.

p. 31, l. 1060. trwes = trues, truce.

p. 31, l. 1067. sex. So in the French Fierabras, l. 84:

In the English Ferumbras, l. 102, we read:

p. 31, l. 1071. in fere = “together.” fere, literally “one who fares with one,” means “a travelling companion, a comrade, a mate; a company.” O.E. (ge-)fera.

p. 31, l. 1074. man = “bondman, subject, vassal.” So in ll. 1354 1466.

p. 31, l. 1077. childe, “young knight, young man.” See Skeat’s note to Sir Thopas (Clarendon Press), 162/2020.

p. 31, l. 1084. Cf. the French text:

Compare also Syr Ferumbras, ll. 144–163

p. 32, l. 1088. of = “on account of.”

p. 32, l. 1092. According to most of the old romances Roland was invulnerable. He never lost any blood by a wound but on the occasion when he was beaten by Charlemagne

See Histoire PoÉtique, p. 264.

The French text (ll. 166–170) runs as follows:

p. 32, l. 1094. abye, “to pay for, suffer for.” In Mod. Eng. abye is corrupted into abide. See Morris, Gloss. to Chaucer (Clarend. Press), s. v. aboughte.

p. 32, l. 1096. Double negatives like never none are pretty common in mediÆval writers. Cf. in the Sowdan, ll. 1876, 2181, 2199, 2279, 2305. p115

p. 32, l. 1103. at one, “of one mind, agreement.” Cf. King Horn, ed. Lumby, l. 925:

Hence Mod. Eng. atone, “to set at one, to reconcile.” See Zupitza’s note to Guy, l. 5308.

p. 32, l. 1106. to make voydaunce, the same as to voide, l. 1768 = “to quit, to depart from, to get rid of.”

p. 32, l. 1110. withoute more = “without delay, immediately.” more is O.E. mÂra, comparative to micel; it is not the Latin more. See Zupitza’s note to Guy, l. 719.

p. 33, l. 1126. renewed, “tied.” Fr. renouer, from noeud = Lat. nodius. It is to be distinguished from renewed = “renovated,” which occurs in l. 2200.

p. 32, l. 1128. hidur is spelt hider in ll. 810, 833, etc.

p. 32, l. 1135. Generyse. In the other versions Olyver calls himself Garin. See Introduction on p. xxxiii.

p. 32, l. 1141. lerne, “to teach.” See Zupitza’s note to Guy, l. 6352. scole, O.E. scÔl, Mod. Eng. school, means here “style, or manner of fighting.” It must not be confounded with schole, O.E. scolu, “troop, band,” Mod. Eng. shoal. Cf. also The Song of Roland, 129/786.

p. 33, l. 1145. myghty men of honde. So in l. 3029. The same phrase occurs in M.H.G. “ein helt ze sÎnen handen,” which is explained as meaning, “a hero [or one who becomes a hero] by the strength of his hands or arms.” See JÄnicke’s note to Biterolf, 5078, and Grimm’s Grammatik, IV. 727 note. The expression seems to be originally French; cf. MÉon, Fabliaux, III. 478: “chevaliers de sa main”; Renard, ed. Martin, l. 21409: “proedom de sa main.” Cf. also Roman des Eles, ed. Scheler, l. 433, where main is wrongly explained by the editor.

p. 33, l. 1151. plete, “plead.” The rhyme leads us to suppose that the author pronounced plede, which indeed is the more common form.

p. 33, l. 1154. and makes no sense here. thenkes must also be incorrect, the 3rd person present singular always terminating in -eth in this poem, and not in -es. Read as thenketh me; thenketh me occurs in l. 465.

p. 34, l. 1158. pight, “pitched, fixed.” The infinitive mood is picchen; cf. O.Dutch picken, O.Icel. pikka, “pungere, pangere.”

p. 34, l. 1159. In the French Fierabras, l. 606 et seq., Oliver also assists the Saracen to put on his gear. This point is not mentioned in the Ashmolean version, see Introduction, p. xxviii.

p. 34, l. 1163. worthed up, “became up, got up, mounted.” It is the past tense of the verb worthen, O.E. weorÐan, “to become.” Another past tense of this verb is worth, l. 1204.

p. 34, l. 1164. areest, or arest = “a rest, or support for the spear when p116 couched for the attack” (Morris). Originally = “stoppage, waiting, readiness.” Cf. MÄtzner’s WÖrterbuch, p. 107.

p. 34, l. 1167. as fire of thonder, cf. dinte of thondir in l. 1207.

p. 34, l. 1168. to-braste, “burst in pieces.” The prefix to-, answering to Germ. zer-, has the force of “in twain, asunder.”

p. 34, l. 1170. threste, O.E. Þrae with circumflex, italicstan, “premere, trudere.” The author probably pronounced thraste, which will improve the rhyme.

p. 34, ll. 1179–80. upon the hede (blank in MS) the hede. This is evidently a mistake of the scribe; sore, l. 1180, too, which does not rhyme with crowne, is probably miswritten for sone. The rhyme as well as the context shows that the true reading is:

p. 34, l. 1182. About the cercle, see Demay, Le Costume de guerre, p. 132. “Non seulement le cÔne du heaume (helme) est bordÉ par ce cercle, mais il est parfois renforcÉ dans toute sa hauteur par deux arÊtes placÉes l’une devant, l’autre derriÈre, ou par quatre bandes de mÉtal ornementÉes (de verroteries), venant aboutir et se croiser À son sommet.”—crowne means the “tonsure of the head,” then topically “the skull or head.”

p. 34, l. 1185. the botteles of bawme are not mentioned anywhere else in the Sowdan; the other versions tell us that the balm contained in those vessels was the same as that with which Christ was anointed. Cf. Syr Ferumbras, ll. 510–517; and see Introduction, p. vi and xxix.

p. 34, l. 1191. the river. According to the oldest version of the poem the whole combat took place on the shore of the Tiber, near Rome. See Introduction, pp. xi and xxxii. Cf. Fierabras, l. 1049:

and Philippe Mousket, I. 4705–6:

In the Sowdan as well as in the Ashmole MS. there is no mention of Oliver’s drinking of the balm before throwing it into the water, which both the ProvenÇal and the French versions tell us he did. Cf. Fierabras, ll. 1031–1048, and the ProvenÇal version, ll. 1335, et seq.

p. 35, l. 1210. fille, “fel.”

p. 35, ll. 1221. dere spoils the rhyme. Read “free.”

p. 36, l. 1250. Cousyn to King Charles, cf. l. 1117. In ll. 1499 and 1671 Oliver is said to be nephew to Charlemagne. He was the son of Renier de Gennes, who according to Sir Ferumbras, l. 652: “Y am Charlis emys sone”—was the uncle of Charlemagne. In the poem Girar de Viane we find Oliver among the enemies of the p117 Emperor and fighting with Roland in close combat; they are at length stopped by divine interposition. Then began a close friendship which lasted till their death at Roncesvaux. Oliver’s sister Aude was betrothed to Roland. See, besides, Syr Ferumbras, ll. 422, 1297, 1305, 1354.

p. 36, l. 1258. harde grace, “misfortune,” cf. l. 2790.

p. 36, l. 1259. Persagyn. This name does not occur in any other version again, except in the Destruction, where one Persagon appears in the list of the Saracen barons. But it is not stated there that he is uncle to Ferumbras; cf. besides Fierabras, ll. 2614, 2784.

p. 37, l. 1263. Observe the four consecutive feminine rhymes.

p. 37, l. 1277. The scene as related here widely differs from that described in the Ashmolean version. In the Sowdone, Oliver gets hold of the sword which is “trussed on Ferumbras’s stede.” In the Ashmolean poem it is not Oliver who is disarmed, but Ferumbras, and Oliver allows him to pick up his weapon again. This in itself furnishes us an argument for conjecturing that the author of the Sowdon did not follow, or even know of, the Ashmolean version. In the French poem, as well as in the ProvenÇal, it is likewise Oliver who is disarmed. If in those poems we find mentioned besides that Ferumbras offered his enemy to take up his sword again—an incident not related in the Sowdan—we do not consider this to disprove our supposition that the French version was the source of the Sowdan, as we may consider our author in this case simply to have adhered to his favourite practice of shortening his original as much as possible, so far as no essential point is concerned. Cf. the French Fierabras, ll. 1289–1346.

p. 37, l. 1286. saught is a misprint for raught.

p. 37, l. 1289. He thought he quyte. quyte may be explained as standing for quyted, or else he must be changed into to: He thought to quyte, the latter reading is perhaps preferable. We find in l. 3110 a passage agreeing almost exactly with this.

p. 38, l. 1298. Qwyntyn. The name of this Saint does not occur in any other version of our romance.

p. 38, l. 1308. There is no mention made of this prayer in the Ashmolean version, the Sowdan here (ll. 1308–1340) agrees again with the French Fierabras, ll. 1164–1244 (and with the ProvenÇal poem, l. 1493, et seq.), with the only difference, that the prayer which Charlemagne addressed to God, in order to bestow the victory upon the Christian hero, is much longer in F; and is stuffed with so many details of the Scripture, that in some way it may be regarded as a succinct account of the whole life of the Lord.

p. 38, l. 1320. skomfited = discomfited, l. 1464. It is formed by the same analogy as stroyeth = destroyeth. See note to l. 780. The substantive discumfiture, O.Fr. desconfiture, occurs in l. 336; the same p118 word, without prefix, is found in M.H.G., cf. Kudrun, ed. Martin, 646, 2:

The Italian noun is sconfitta, and the verb sconfiggere.

p. 38, l. 1327. God aboue does not rhyme with lord almighty. The rhyme is easily restored if we read of might (cf. l. 2059) for aboue, and if we change almighty into almighte, so that we have:

The adjective almi?t is of frequent occurrence in Mid. Eng. writers. So in Allit. Poems, I. 497: “in sothful gospel of god almy?t;” Syr Ferumbras, l. 3580, “God almy?te: si?te;” ibid. l. 3815, “god almy?t: wy?t.”

p. 39, l. 1349. cas is an erratum for ras.—“Ras, shave.” “Rees 1693, evening.” These explanations given by the editor of the Roxb. Club ed. are wrong. Ras and rees being both derived from O.E. rae with circumflex, italics, “impetus cursus,” are indiscriminately used in three meanings: (1) “onset, assault;” (2) “course, run, rush, haste, hurry;” (3) “space, time, occasion.” The last signification is well shewn by the following passages:

In the Sowdan ras or rees means (1) “time, instant, occasion,” ll. 1349, 1693; (2) “rush, hurry, haste,” ll. 645, 489. rase, l. 774 = “current in the sea,” the same word as the preceding ras and rees, meaning properly, “a narrow rush, or violent current of water.” See Morris, Chaucer’s Prologue (Clarendon Press), s. v. reyse. Cf. the French expressions, “raz de mer,” “raz de courent,” “raz de marÉe.”

p. 39, l. 1361. sene: be. Read se as in ll. 1124, 658, 1826.

p. 40, l. 1372. ryden, which does not rhyme with foghten, is evidently a clerical error. I suppose soghten to be the true reading. For examples of soght = “came, went, moved,” see Zupitza’s note to Guy, l. 7151, and Skeat’s Glossary to Specimens, s. v. socht.—There is still another corruption in this passage, as assembled does not rhyme with ordeyned.

p. 40, l. 1380. Note the transition from the indirect to the direct speech.

p. 40, l. 1381. As it stands, the line is too long and spoils the rhythm. The words “if ye cast me downe” can be dispensed with.

p. 40, l. 1383. thare: were (O.E. werian). The rhyme is easily restored by reading there instead of thare, cf. ll. 2604, 2404, 2245, etc. and see Introduction, p. xxxv. p119

p. 41, ll. 1419–22. Observe the weak rhymes alternating with the strong ones.

p. 41, l. 1420. brother means “brother-in-law.” Oliver’s sister Aude was Roland’s intended bride. Perhaps also brother may be taken here in sense of “brother in arms,” as in most romances we find Roland and Oliver mentioned as a couple of true friends united by the most tender ties of comradeship. Besides, Oliver was highly indebted to Roland, who had rescued him when he had been made a prisoner after his duel with Ferragus.

p. 41, l. 1423. cowthe miswritten for caughte, which we read in ll. 1411, 1603.

p. 41, l. 1424. Ascopartes is the correct form. See note on l. 495.

p. 51, l. 1427. foolde cannot be “earth” here, for which the editor of the Roxburghe Club ed. takes it. Foolde is the participle past of fealden, “to fold, plicare.” It means, “folded, bent down, fallen.” This seems also to be the sense of folde in the following passages:

La?amon, 23983–4:

Ibid. ll. 27054–6:

Ibid. ll. 20057–60:

Cf. Stratmann, p. 194.

p. 41, l. 1433. Roland and Olyver are taken prisoners. This incident is differently related in the other poems. There Roland is not taken at all, but sent afterwards among the messengers to the Soudan’s court. Together with Oliver four knights are taken, viz. Gwylmer, Berard, Geoffrey and Aubry, who all are carried away by the flying Saracens in spite of the efforts of Roland and Ogier.

p. 42, l. 1451. what = “who.” See Koch, Eng. Gr. II. § 339, and Skeat’s note to Piers the Plowman (Clarendon Press), 113/19. So in ll. 1133, 1623.

p. 42, l. 1456. astyte has nothing to do with the Latin astutus with which the editor of the Roxb. Club ed. apparently confounds it in explaining it as “cunningly devised.” Astyte means “at once, immediately, suddenly”; see Morris, Glossary to Allit. Poems. It is a compound of the simple word tyte, “soon, quickly,” which see above, l. 181.

p. 43, l. 1475. Turpyn. The name of the archbishop is not mentioned in the Ashmolean version. The French text, ll. 1836–40, runs as follows: p120

Cf. also the ProvenÇal poem, l. 1899, et seq.

p. 43, l. 1483. nought for thane = “nevertheless,” cf. Koch, Eng. Gr. II. p. 473.

p. 43, l. 1486. Rome is a corruption of Roye, as follows from the French Fierabras, l. 1851:

Cf. the Ashmole Ferumbras, l. 1087, and Groeber, Zeitschrift fÜr romanische Philologie, IV. p. 167.

p. 43, l. 1495. affrayned, which must not be confounded with affrayed, as the editor of the Roxburghe Club ed. does, means “asked, inquired.” It is the compound of freynen or fraynen, O.E. frignan, “to ask.” Goth. fraihnan. Germ. fragen.

p. 43, l. 1497. allayned, “concealed.” The simple verb layne (from Icel. leyna, cf. Zupitza’s note to Guy, l. 2994) is still retained in the Scottish dialect, with the sense of “to hide.” Cf. also Morris, Allit. Poems, Gloss. s. v. layned.

p. 43, l. 1498. In the other poems the prisoners do not tell their true names; see Introduction, pp. xxvii and xxix; and cf. Syr Ferumbras, l. 1167.

p. 43, l. 1499. Roland is nephew to Charlemagne on his mother’s side. See note to l. 1888, and cf. the Ashmole Ferumbras, l. 2066. For Oliver, see above, note to l. 1250.

p. 44, l. 1515. In the Sowdan Floripas herself advises Laban not to slay his captives, but to imprison them. In the other versions it is one of the barons who gives the same advice. See Introduction, p. xxviii.

p. 44, l. 1539. depe: myrke. The rhyme will be restored by reading dirke or derke instead of depe. derke occurs in l. 2541.

p. 45, l. 1604. maute. “In Old French mautÉ is malice.” Gloss. to Roxburghe Club ed. I do not know whether mautÉ exists in O.Fr., but even if it did, it would make no sense here. I feel sure maute is a corruption of mynte or mente (cf. l. 1784), the preterite of minten or menten = “to aim a blow, to strike,” from O.E. myntan, “to intend, to purpose.” See Zupitza’s note to Guy, l. 6579, and Morris, Allit. Poems, s. v. mynte. Cf. also Syr Ferumbras, l. 5587:

“Þan Charlis a strok till hym gan mynte;

Ac hym faylede of ys dynte,

for Þat swerd hym glente...”

p. 47, l. 1615. trew instead of free will restore the rhyme. The same rhyme trewe: newe occurs in ll. 67, 588.

p. 47, l. 1619. fele sithe, “many a time, often.” So in ll. 2740, 2815. Cf. ofte sithe, l. 916. p121

p. 47, l. 1624. ruly, O.E. hrÊowlÎc = “rueful, sorrowful, mournful, piteous.”

p. 47, l. 1645. harme skathe makes no sense. Read harme & skathe, which occurs in Gen. and Exod. l. 2314:

p. 48, l. 1665. In the French Fierabras (as well as in the Ashmolean version) it is Roland whom Charlemagne addresses first (see above, note to l. 1433); he tells him that he must go on a mission to demand the surrender of Oliver and his companions. Upon which Naymes and the other twelve peers remonstrate, but are all sent to Laban one after the other, just as in the Sowdan. In the ProvenÇal poem it is only Guy who protests. Cf. ll. 2263–2282 of the French Fierabras:

p. 48, l. 1668. Cf. Fierabras, ll. 2309–2321, and Syr Ferumbras, l. 1486–1493.

p. 49, l. 1683. lese, “lose.” So in l. 2655 and 1696, where it rhymes with chese, which occurs again in ll. 2748, 2934.

p. 49, l. 1687. French text gives (ll. 2297, et seq.):

p. 49, l. 1691. Bery must be miswritten for Terry, as we find Terris d’Ardane in the French Fierabras, l. 2290, and Terry of Ardane in Syr Ferumbras, l. 1469. According to l. 3187 of Sir Ferumbras, Thierry is the father of Berard (Bryer) of Mountdidier. Cf. the French text, ll. 2290–96 and Syr Ferumbras, ll. 1468–1473.

p. 49, l. 1693. rees, “time, occasion.” See note to l. 1349.

p. 49, l. 1695. Folk Baliant is not mentioned in any other poem of our romance. See Introduction, p. xxvii.

p. 49, l. 1698. chese, O.E. cÊosan, Mod. E. choose. It here means “to be free to choose”:—“You shall not be free to choose,” “you shall have no choice,” “you shall do what you are ordered.” See MÄtzner’s remark [in his WÖrterb., p. 562, s. v. cheosen] to Halliwell, Dict. p. 250. p122

p. 49, l. 1699. Aleroyse. See note to l. 884.

p. 49, l. 1711. Turpyn. There was a real bishop of this name, who, according to the Gallia Christiana, held the see of Reims from A.D. 753 to 794. As we find him described in the romances, Turpin was the very type of a knight-bishop. In the poem of Aspremont, he bears before the Christian army the wood of the true cross which in his hands beams with brightness like the sun. In the romance of the Enfances Ogier it was he, into whose custody Ogier was given, when he had been made a prisoner after his revolt, in company with the king of Lombardy, against Charlemagne (see above, note to l. 856), and who, notwithstanding the order of Charles to have Ogier starved to death, kept the Dane alive, who afterwards, when the Saracens invaded France, proved a great help to the Christian arms. As we read in the Chanson de Roland, ll. 2242ss, Turpin met his death at Roncesvaux, but according to the Chronicle of Turpin, he survived the disaster of Roncesvaux, and was saying mass for the dead, when he saw the angels carrying the soul of Roland up to heaven. But from Gaston Paris’s Essay De Pseudo-Turpino we know this chronicle to be an apocryphical book written by two monks of the eleventh and twelfth century.

p. 49, l. 1717. set not of youre barons so light = “do not count, consider them so little.” Cf. “to take one so lighte,” in Syr Ferumbras, ll. 114, 156.

p. 50, l. 1721. gyfe no coost has the same meaning as give no tale = “make no account, do not mind.” See Zupitza’s note to Guy, 8143. Cf. also Sowdan, l. 2793, and Syr Ferumbras, l. 5847, 101, 4975; and also ll. 173, 1578.

p. 50, l. 1723. Bryer of Mounte? or Berard de Montdidier was celebrated for his gallantries and attentions to the ladies:

i. e.—“In prowess I am equal to Rolland and to Oliver, in matters of love to Berart of M.” says the troubadour Peire Vidal in his poem Dragoman seiner; cf. also Fierabras, ll. 2125–7:

See, besides, Syr Ferumbras, ll. 422, 1297, 1305, 1354. This Bryer of Mountes must be the same as the one slain in a sally of the twelve peers, ll. 2604, 2622, because, according to l. 1723, it was he who was among the peers sent on a mission to the Soudan. There is one Bryer of Brytaine occurring in l. 886, whom one might be inclined to think identical with Bryer of Mountes, as in l. 886 he is cited together with the other peers. But since we find him again as the treasurer of Charlemagne (l. 3205), this is impossible, unless we suppose the mention of Bryer in l. 3205 to be owing to the p123 absent-mindedness of the author, who may be accused of a similar inadvertency with regard to Rychard of Normandy; cf. note to l. 2797, and Index of Names, s. v. Flagot.

p. 50, l. 1743. Bronland. The true reading is Brouland, as shewn by Fierabras, ll. 1549, 5174, &c.; Destruction, ll. 1240–159, 441, and Sowdan, ll. 1759, 2456. The Ashmole MS. has Bruyllant.

p. 51, l. 1751. thane = “thane that.” See Zupitza’s note to Guy, 992, p. 363.

p. 51, l. 1778. charke hardly makes sense here. It is perhaps a clerical error for charge, “to command, to order.” The sense would then be, “and to tell him the Soudan’s strict orders which by peril of death (= upon life and lithe) Laban recommended him to obey.”

p. 51, l. 1779. Þen instead of Þan would improve the rhyme.

p. 52, l. 1788. lorde of Spayne. Cf. the French expression, “amirans d’Espaigne,” which we find so often used in the Destruction.

p. 52, l. 1802. trappe is Mod. Eng. trape, which is used in the sense of “to traipse, to walk sluttishly.” Halliwell has “trapes = to wander about.”

p. 52, l. 1816. byleved. Rhyme and sense will be improved by reading byleven.

p. 53, l. 1854. tyme makes no sense here. Perhaps we ought to read I dyne; cf. ll. 1508, 1114, 1837, and Syr Ferumbras, l. 5621:

Fierabras, l. 1914:

See also Guy, l. 3695.

p. 54, l. 1888. Syr Gy, nevew unto the king Charles. Cf. Fierabras, ll. 3406–8:

Duke Milon d’Anglers was brother-in-law to Charlemagne, whose sister Berte was Milon’s wife and mother to Roland. Cf. Philippe Mousket, l. 2706–8:

If, therefore, in the passage quoted above from Fierabras, Guy is said to be the grandson of Milon, he must have been the grand-nephew of Charlemagne, and nephew to Rollant. As we learn from the French poem of Guy de Bourgoyne, Guy’s father was Samson of Burgundy. Cf. besides, Histoire PoÉtique, p. 407, and Syr Ferumbras, ll. 1922, 2091, 1410, etc.

p. 55, l. 1892. And yet knowe I him noght. Floripas has already once p124 seen Guy when he was defeating Lukafer before Rome; cf. Fierabras, ll. 2237–2245:

See also Syr Ferumbras, ll. 2073–2087. Our line does not necessarily imply a contradiction to the French text, as on the former occasion she probably saw the duel from a great distance, when the latter’s features were hidden by his helmet. That she really did not recognize him follows from the following passage of Fierabras, l. 2800, et seq.

Besides there are numerous instances to be met with in mediÆval poetry of persons enamoured of some one they had never seen:

says Guilhelm de Poitiers in speaking of his lady (Mahn, Werke der Troubadours, p. 3). Cf. also Rits. Rom. II. 19, and Web. Rom. II. 131.

p. 55, l. 1927. myghty seems to mean “excellent, delicious,” rather than “heavy.”

p. 57, l. 1974. amonge, “every now and then, from time to time, occasionally.” See Zupitza’s note to Guy, 2301. It is often used as a kind of expletive.

p. 57, l. 1995. foulis, “fools, foolish.” Cf. the French text:

p. 57, l. 1996. There is no mention made of this game in the ProvenÇal poem. It is described here even more explicitly than in the French Fierabras, ll. 2907–2932. Cf. also Syr Ferumbras, ll. 2230–2251.

p. 57, l. 1997. assorte = “assembly, company;” by one assorte = “in one company” (Halliwell). It seems to be connected with sort = “set, assemblage,” see Skeat, Specimens of E. E., 425/999

p. 58, l. 2000. i-fest: blast. Perhaps we ought to read i-fast.

p. 59, l. 2036. maden orders. I do not know the exact meaning of this expression. Perhaps it may be taken with the same sense as the Mod. H. Germ. phrase = “ordnung schaffen,” which literally means p125 “to set in order, to put matters straight,” but is often used in the sense of “to clear away,” or, “to remove or despatch.”

p. 59, l. 2045. that he wente awaye with lym = “that he had escaped with (his limbs, or having) his limbs safe and sound.” lyme, O.E. lim, Mod. Eng. limb.

p. 59, l. 2052. tho = O.E. ÞÂ, “those, them,” it is used as a definite article in l. 2063.

p. 59, l. 2057. amapide, miswritten for awapide (Herrtage), “astounded, bewildered.” Cf. Stratmann, p. 10.—MÄtzner, WÖrterbuch, p. 150, connects it with Goth. afhvapjan, “to suffocate.” We find m written for w several times in our poem; thus we read gamylokes for gawylokes in l. 2650, and romme for rowme in l. 876.

p. 60, l. 2085. Assyne. The rhyme shows that Assye is the true reading. Assye occurs in ll. 102, 123.

p. 60, l. 2093. wone, “heap, plenty.” O.Icel. wÂn. See Zupitza’s note to Guy, p. 444.

p. 61, l. 2119. Brenlande. It ought to be Breuland or Brouland; see above note to l. 1743.

p. 61, l. 2120. The first foot in the line consists of the single word what. Thus in ll. 2288, 2374, 2394, etc.

p. 62, l. 2145. Espyarde. This name only occurs in this poem. In Syr Ferumbras, l. 3824, the messenger sent to the bridge-keeper is called Malyngryas. There is no name mentioned in the French Fierabras, l. 4265.

p. 62, l. 2156. That no man by the brigge. There is no verb in the sentence. Perhaps we ought to read that no man passe by the brigge, or, that no man passe the brigge.

p. 63, l. 2191. Cf. the description of the giant in Fierabras, ll. 4740–4755, and Syr Ferumbras, ll. 4435–4441.

p. 63, l. 2199. nolde not. See note to l. 1096.

p. 64, l. 2225. The line is too long. Wilde can be dispensed with, and instead of horses we may read hors; cf. Skeat, Gloss. to Prioress’s Tale (Clarendon Press), s. v. hors.

p. 64, l. 2233. a magnelle, “a mangonel,” an ancient military engine used for battering down walls (Halliwell). Magnelle is the O.Fr. Mangonel, or Mangoneau, the Italian manganello (= “arbalist, cross-bow”). The latter is the diminutive form of mangano, “a sling;” Greek, a??a???. See Diez, Etym. WÖrterb., I. 261.

p. 64, l. 2238. Cornel or carnel, Fr. carnel, Mod.Fr. crÉneau, “battlement, pinnacle.” Literally it means, “a piece carved out,” i. e. of the wall on the top of a building; the French verb carneler or creneler signifying, “to carve out, to jag, to notch.” Carnel is derived from Latin crena (See Diez, Gramm., I. 14), which means “a notch, a cut, an incision” (Diez, Etym. WÖrterb., II. 266). Thus carnel came to denote a battlement or indented parapet; or more p126 exactly it was applied to those parts of the wall projecting upwards between the openings or embrasures. It was one of these projecting portions that was here knocked down. Cf. also Syr Ferumbras, l. 3314.

p. 65, l. 2245. The line is too long. Perhaps or he hit may be dispensed with.

p. 65, l. 2247. The episode of Marsedag being slain by Guy is not found in any other poem of this romance.

p. 65, l. 2271. Alkaron, “the Koran,” al is the Arabic article. There is a god named Alcaron occurring in l. 2762.

p. 66, l. 2282. dye: waye. See l. 441. forfamelid = “famished, starved to death.” I am not aware of any other instance of this word. Halliwell has “famele = to be famished.” The prefix for- has intensive or augmentative power; it is particularly used in past participles. See MÄtzner’s Grammatik, I². 542.

p. 66, l. 2290. faile is the infinitive mood = “to be wanting, to become deficient.” “Roland seeing the ladies white and pale (with hunger) and (seeing) the bread wanting on their table spoke some words of lamentation,” etc.

p. 66, l. 2303. forcere, “chest, coffer.” For the etymology see Diez, WÖrterb., II. 31, s. v. forziere.

p. 66, l. 2309. As it stands the line is too long. As you and that may be dispensed with, we ought perhaps to read, I pray ye wole us alle it shewe.

p. 66, l. 2310. saule, “fill, hunger satisfied to repletion.” The rhyme shows that the last syllable is accentuated. Therefore it cannot be derived from the French soÛl (Gloss. to Roxb. Club ed.), but from soÛlÉe.

p. 66, l. 2311. yede = “went.” Not from O.E. eode, but from ge-eode. See Zupitza’s note to Guy, l. 60, and Skeat, Piers the Plowman (Clarendon Press), 94/40.

p. 66, l. 2312. vertue: fewe; the rhyme is perfect, see the Abstract of Mr. Nicol’s paper in the Academy of June 23, 1877 (vol. xi. p. 564, col. 1).

p. 66, l. 2313. We must scan this line thus:

-en in diden is mute; see Introduction, p. xxxix.

p. 67, l. 2326. ginne = “engin, contrivance, trick.” See note to l. 780.

p. 67, l. 2337. lefte. The rhyme shows that the author pronounced lafte, which we find in l. 426.

p 68, l. 2351. Cf. Fierabras, ll. 3046–3097. In the ProvenÇal poem Maubyn or Malpi, as he is called in ProvenÇal, enters the room by means of a charm which makes the door open itself: p127

p. 68, l. 2365. The rhyme is restored if we read ledde instead of ladde. See l. 1651.

p. 69, l. 2390. By God and seynte Mary, myn avour. I think the words myn avoure are due to the scribe, not to the author, as they spoil the rhythm. So we get Mary: we. This rhyme, although not perfect, is of no rare occurrence in Mid. Eng. works, see Introduction, p. xliv. As to the spelling of avour I am not aware of any other instance of this form of the word. There is a form avyowre cited by Halliwell. Besides, avoury and avowery, which he quotes under different heads, are perhaps only different spellings of the same word.

p. 69, l. 2399. slepinge must be altered into slepande in order to restore the rhyme. The author employed -and and -ynge as terminations of the present participle. See Introduction, p. xxxviii.

p. 69, l. 2421. also belongs to l. 2422.

p. 70, l. 2433. so mete I spede, “as I may succeed.” See Zupitza’s note to Guy, l. 615.

p. 71, l. 2477. and now is perhaps miswritten for inow; cf. the French text, l. 3803:

p. 71, l. 2482. wast gives no sense. Perhaps we ought to read went.

p. 72, ll. 2491–2502. The arrangement of the stanzas seems, as regards the rhymes, to be incorrect.

p. 72, l. 2507. In the Ashmole Ferumbras this episode of the Soudan breaking the image of Mahound is omitted. In the French text he only threatens to make him cry, as soon as he gets hold of him, but he is rebuked by Sorbrance telling him that Mahomet being over-tired with guarding the treasure has only fallen asleep. Cf. Fierabras, ll. 3820–3829.

p. 72, l. 2512. ore, O.E. Âr, “mercy, favour.” Thyn ore = “grant us thy favour,” “have mercy upon us,” or, “with thy favour.”

p. 73, l. 2535. Richard of Normandy appearing here as in the French Fierabras, among the twelve peers besieged by the Soudan, without having been mentioned before in the number of the knights sent on a mission by Charles, furnishes us with an argument in support of our supposition that the French Fierabras was the source of our poem. See Introduction, p. xxx, and of Fierabras, ll. 3957–3994, and Syr Ferumbras, l. 4921.

p. 73, l. 2538. wynde: hende; wende which occurs in l. 2328 would improve the rhyme. p128

p. 73, l. 2549. paramour = “object of chivalrous affection and devotion.”

p. 73, l. 2557. wronge, preterite of wringe, “to press well out, force one’s way.”

p. 73, l. 2558. Does thile stand for while, as then, l. 2527, seems to be miswritten for when? Or is thile = the while?

p. 74, l. 2564. sloughe: drowe. Read slowe, as in ll. 2401, 2683, 304, 2208, etc.

p. 75, l. 2597. itolde, “in number,” see Zupitza’s note to Guy, 1770.

p. 75, l. 2614. quell = “kill,” which occurs in l. 3006.

p. 75, l. 2616. bistadde, “hard bestead, greatly imperilled.”

p. 75, l. 2617. japed, “mocked, tricked, laughed at.” Connected with Icel. gabba, “to mock.”

p. 76, l. 2639. tha. See Introduction, p. xxxvii.

p. 76, l. 2651. lurdeyn, Mod. Eng. lurdan, which is said to be the Fr. lourdin (diminutive of lourd). Regarding it as a corruption of “lord Dane” is a mere joke:

p. 76, l. 2654. sewes. See Skeat, Prioress’s Tale, p. 286.

p. 76, l. 2660. let armes makes no sense. Read as armes—As armes = Fr. aux armes, “to arms,” is of pretty frequent occurrence in Mid. Eng. poems; see MÄtzner’s WÖrterb., p. 112. Cf. also Syr Ferumbras, l. 2933:

Cf. ibidem, l. 4125. So we read in the Destruction, l. 1460.

Perhaps we ought to read as armes also in l. 491, where the reading and armes is somewhat suspicious, since armes, if we regard and armes to be the true reading, would be the only instance of the imperative plural ending in -es (instead of -eth) in the Sowdan.

p. 77, l. 2689. Thay thanked God that thay him hadde Gyfe thaye suche grace to spede. These lines are corrupt. I propose to read:

p. 77, l. 2694. alaye, written as one word in the MS., must be divided into two, a being the indefinite article, and laye meaning “unploughed ground, field, pasture, meadow.” Mod. Eng. ley, lea, lay. See Stratmann, s. v. le?e, p. 356.

p. 77, l. 2698. he, “they.” This is the only instance of he instead of the common thay. But he, which is further confirmed by the rhyme, must certainly be attributed to the author; thay occurs only once p129 (l. 3021) as a rhyme, but the rhyme is not a good one, and there also it would be preferable to read he.

p. 78, l. 2706. by my thrifte, the same as “so mote y thryve,” or, “so mote y spede” = “as (verily as) I may thrive,” “in truth.”

p. 78, l. 2707. see; cf. Zupitza’s note to Guy, 163.

p. 78, l. 2719. wole: skille. The rhyme shows that wole cannot be due to the author; we must read wille (or welle which occurs l. 2633).

p. 78, l. 2732. bikure or bykeringe, l. 2559 = “fight, battle, skirmish.” Er durste bikure abide. The subject is wanting, see note to l. 67. Or is there any corruption in this line? Perhaps we ought to read: “Lenger durste [thay] no bikure abyde.” Cf. ll. 3117, 2610, 2947.

p. 79, l. 2748. love. The rhyme requires leef or leeve. leef, O.E. leof, means “dear, beloved.” For examples of leef being used as a substantive, see Stratmann, p. 359.

p. 80, l. 2793. eye, “egg.” See Koch, Eng. Gr. II. § 582, and compare the French phrase “valoir un oeuf pelÉ.”

p. 80, l. 2797. and his meyne. This must be a mistake of the author himself. According to l. 2557, Richard had ventured alone on a mission to Charlemagne. There is no mention whatever made afterwards that he was joined by any one; the other poems likewise state that Richard was without any companion.

p. 80, l. 2805. lete: gate. The rhyme requires late.

p. 81, l. 2810. cliffe. Here the author of the Sowdan goes so far in shortening his original as to be wholly unintelligible. Indeed, any reader, not comparing these lines with corresponding passages in the French poem, will be left without any clue to what cliff is here intended to mean. From the French Fierabras we know that the water of the river was very deep and broad, and that the banks were exceedingly steep and almost inaccessible. Cf. Fierabras, ll. 4349:

“Et voit l’augue bruiant, le flot parfont et lÉ.”

l. 4358: “La rive en est moult haute, bien fait À redouter.” Cf. also the ProvenÇal poem, ll. 3733, et seq.:

Now it was by means of a twofold myracle that the Christian knight was enabled to cross the river:

(1) The waters suddenly increased and rose so as to reach the very top of the banks; cf. Fierabras, ll. 4365–69:

ProvenÇal, ll. 3741–45: p130

(2) A deer appears and shows Richard the way across the river to the top of the opposite bank.

Cf. also the ProvenÇal version, ll. 3751–54:

This bank which formerly was steep and inaccessible, but is now covered with water, is called cliff by our poet. In the Ashmolean poem the first miracle is not mentioned; cf. Syr Ferumbras, ll. 3943, et seq.

p. 81, l. 2811. he blessed him in Godis name. The phrase occurs also in Syr Ferumbras, l. 3961, but is not to be found in the French text. Mr. John Shelley (in his paper printed in the Annual Report and Transactions of the Plymouth Institution, IV. i. 71) took this phrase as a proof that the original of the Sowdan could not have been the French poem. But it must be stated that as in the Sowdan, l. 2807, so in the French version Richard is said to have addressed a prayer to God:

If now we consider that some lines back (l. 4093) the French poem expressively states that Richard seeing himself hard pressed by the Saracens, signed himself with the sign of the cross—

an incident which at that moment is omitted in the Sowdan—we think ourselves entitled to regard this proof as not very convincing.

p. 81, l. 2820. Ganelon, one of Charlemagne’s officers, who by his treachery was the cause of the defeat of Roncesvaux, the death of Roland, etc., for which he was torn to death by horses. For p131 several centuries his name was a synonymous word with traitor. Ganelo = Germ. Wenhilo.

p. 81, l. 2845. Fremounde cannot be the true reading, as it does not rhyme with kinge. Besides Fremounde does not occur again in the poem. Perhaps we ought to read Qwyntyne, as in l. 1298. In the corresponding passage of the French Fierabras (l. 4625) it is to St. Denis that Charles swears; cf. also Syr Ferumbras, l. 4289.

p. 82, l. 2850. And makes no sense. Read “God.”

p. 83, l. 2887. gryse: assaye. We get a perfect rhyme if we read gray instead of gryse. Halliwell, s. v. “gray,” has: “the skin or fur of a badger.”

p. 83, l. 2891. As it stands, the line does not rhyme with l. 2893. The rhyme will be restored if we read:

nere meaning ne’er, never, as in Guy, 10550 and 10716.

p. 84, l. 2939. The name of the giantess is Amiette or Amiote in the other poems.

p. 84, l. 2941. This line is too long; as Þikke may be omitted.

p. 84, l. 2942. bydene, “immediately, all at once.” On the etymology see Zupitza’s note to Guy, 2408.

p. 85, l. 2981. ayene means “back.” So in Genesis and Exodus, l. 1097:

Again, l. 3267:

p. 86, l. 3020. As it stands, this line does not scan well. Perhaps we may read month instead of monthes, and childre instead of children, and scan the line thus:

p. 87, l. 3021. thay: Normandy. The rhyme, though imperfect, cannot be objected to; but as the rhyme e: y (i) is frequently employed by our author (see Introduction, p. xliv), and was of rather common use about that period (see Ellis, Pronunciation, I. 271), we might incline to the supposition that he is the true reading. Cf. besides l. 2698.

p. 87, l. 3034. mene makes no sense. Perhaps we ought to read: mete, “food.”

p. 87, l. 3044. In the French poem, l. 5108, Hoel and Riol are appointed governors of Mantrible, whereas Richard goes on with Charles and commands one of the divisions of his army (l. 5577). Cf. Syr Ferumbras, l. 5643.

p. 88, l. 3062. coost, “country, region.” See MÄtzner’s WÖrterb., 487.

p. 88, l. 3084. In the Fierabras, l. 5374, it is Naymes who first recognizes the banner of France; cf. Syr Ferumbras, l. 5209. p132

p. 89, l. 3098. of the Ethiopes = “some of the Ethiopians.” This may be regarded as an example of the partitive use of of. Cf. Zupitza’s note to Guy, 1961.

p. 89, l. 3103. alto hewe must be more correctly written al to-hewe;—to-, as a mere prefix (signifying “in twain, asunder, apart” = Germ. zer) belongs essentially to the verb; the intensive adverb al (= “utterly, omnino,”) used before verbs beginning not only with to-, but also before other prefixes, still further strengthens, and belongs to, the whole expression. So al to-treden, l. 1382, to-braste, l. 1168.

p. 89, l. 3122. Belmore. Perhaps identical with Belmarine.

p. 90, l. 3130. wode-wroth, “madly angry.” Cf. Skeat, Specimens of Early Eng. Lit., 80/37.

p. 90, l. 3141. game, “sport, joke, affair.”

p. 90, l. 3154. hat, “be called.” See note, l. 613.

p. 91, l. 3164. bronde, “sword.” In the next line bronte means “blow, stroke.”

p. 91, l. 3189. lande: commaunde. See note, l. 59.

p. 91, l. 3191. The rhyme is spoiled. Perhaps than must be transposed so that we get the rhyme baptysed: imaryed.

p. 92, l. 3210. there to abide in store = “to be kept in store”; cf. Skelton, ed. Dyce, I. 162, 221.

p. 92, l. 3227. victory = “booty, spoils of victory, trophy.”

p. 92, l. 3232. the hyer honde to have = “to have conquered or vanquished.” The same phrase is found in M. H. G.; cf. Hartmann’s Iwein, ed. Lachmann, l. 1537–8:

p. 93, l. 3236. In the French Fierabras, l. 6082, et seq., and in the ProvenÇal poem, l. 5067, et seq., the relics are distributed as follows: Part of the crown and one nail to St. Denis, and “li signes,” the winding-sheet of the Lord, to CompiÈgne. There is no mention made of the cross in the French poem (see note to l. 665); cf. Introd. pp. l and liv.

p. 93, l. 3253. According to the Chanson de Roland, Ganelon has been drawn and quartered in a field near Aix-la-Chapelle.

p. 94, l. 3254. By lawe, cf. Syr Ferumbras, l. 307: “As for traytours ?af Þe lawe.” On this law compare LÉon Gautier’s note to l. 3736 of the Chanson de Roland.

p. 95, l. 3274. The French poem ends with the assertion of the poet (or the scribe) that whoever has well listened to this romance will find every part of it good and excellent, the opening, the middle, and the end: