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ahebban, and ofer ealle men tellan. Se ælmihtiga God cythæ his saule mildheortnisse, and do him his synna forgifenesse.

6

uplift, and over all men account. The Almighty God make known to his soul mercy, and grant him his sins' forgiveness.

6 Mildheart(ed)ness.

NOTES.

Se cyng Willelm. William, Duke of the Normans, was born in 1027. In 1066 he invaded England, defeated King Harold in a desperate battle at Senlac, near Hastings (Oct. 14), and was crowned king of the English at Westminster (Christmas-day). He died in 1087. On Eastron. 'Easter' is the festival commemorating the resurrection of Christ. Easter-day is the Sunday after Good Friday; and, according to the time of full moon, falls in the end of March or the beginning of April. In the East, the common name of the festival was the Paschal Feast, because it was kept at the same time as the Pascha, or Jewish Passover, and in some measure succeeded to that. In Scotland, it is known also as Pace (or Pasche) Sunday.

On Pentecosten.

'Pentecost' (from

Greek pentecoste, fiftieth), a festival of the Jews, celebrated on the fiftieth day after the Passover. The name was adopted by the Christians for their feast in commemoration of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles at that season. Whitsuntide is the common name in this country. The Germans use Pfingsten, a curious corruption of Pentecoste.

On Westmynstre: the famous Abbey of West-Minster, as rebuilt by Edward the Confessor in honour of St Peter. It has been again rebuilt since then.

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'agean. Later are found 'ongænes,' 'agenes;' then t, euphonic, was added to make a firmer ending-as, in 'amidst,' 'amongst,' 'alongst,' &c. Thus we come to 'against.' Cf. Germ. entgegen.

Biscopas. 'Biscop,' softened now to 'bishop,' was changed from Lat. episcopus, Greek episcopos (from epi, over, and scopein, to look), lit. an overseer, superintendent.

Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, was William's half-brother. The king had given him several hundred manors in England, and on returning to Normandy soon after the coronation, had left the government to him and William Fitz-Osbern. Feeling himself very powerful, he began to intrigue with the baronage. William kept Odo in prison all his own life. Mihte faran, &c. Compare Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chap. 65: 'Timour (or Tamerlane) might boast that, at his accession to the throne, Asia was the prey of anarchy and rapine; whilst under his prosperous monarchy, a child, fearless and unhurt, might carry a purse of gold from the east to the west.'

Nan man ne dorste... næfde

he

næfre, &c. Remark the emphatic accumulation of negatives. Mycel deor frith. The New Forest, in the south of Hampshire, at easy distance from the royal residence at Winchester.

Laga, pl. of 'lagu;' which in course of time modifies g and becomes law. 'Law' is allied to Lat. lex, but must not be derived from it.

This

ishes in German and French. We should now say: 'that he should be blinded,' using the passive verb.

That hine man sceolde blendian. construction with indef. 'man' (one) as subject, is now very much limited in English, though it flour

LAYAMON.-ABOUT 1205.

LAYAMON, in the opening lines of his poem, the Brut, speaks of himself as a priest, dwelling 'at Ernley (Lower Arley, or Arley Regis, in Worcestershire), at a noble church, upon Severn's bank, near Redstone, where he read books' (probably the services of the church). Beyond this we have no information.

The Brut, or Chronicle of Britain, takes name from Brutus, a supposed great-grandson of Æneas. It opens with the destruction of Troy; follows Æneas to Italy, where Brutus accidentally kills his father Silvius (son of Ascanius, son of Æneas) with an arrow intended for a deer, and is banished by his kinsmen; relates how Brutus by-and-by is made duke of the Trojans, and at last arrives in Albion, which now becomes Britain; and details the history of Britain, fabulous or true, down to the death of King Cadwalader in 689 A.D. The poem is compiled chiefly from the Anglo-Norman metrical chronicle, the Brut, the work of a French clerk, Wace (1155 A.D.); which again was translated from Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Britonum. Layamon has twice Wace's number of lines-more than 32,000.

There are two MSS.: the earlier belongs to the beginning of the 13th century; the other is say fifty years younger. We quote them side by side, and add a modern version below, inclosing in square brackets the parts special to the later MS. We follow Sir Frederic Madden.

KING ARTHUR'S LAST BATTLE.
(From the Brut.)

[Arthur, son of Uther and Ygærne, was a half-mythical king of the Britons (or Welsh), who made a determined stand in Somersetshire and the neighbouring counties against the West Saxons. When setting out upon a continental expedition, he left his kingdom in charge of Modred, his sister's son (his suster sune, Brut, 27,996), the 'wickedest of all men' (for-cuthest alle monnen, Brut, 27,901). Modred usurped the throne. On hearing of this treachery, the king returned and fought with Modred, driving him at last into Cornwall.

'There the pursuer could pursue no more,
And he that fled no further fly the king.'

The decisive battle was the one now described.

'Nor ever yet had Arthur fought a fight

Like this last, dim, weird battle of the west.']

Earlier Text.

Later Text.

A

And at Camelforde wes isom- And [at] Camelford were mid

ned:

sixti thusend.

and ma thusend ther to:

Modred wes heore ælder.

Arthur?

sixti thousend manne.

and mo thousendes zite!

in Modred his syde.

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mon i than fihte non ther ne

mihte :

ikeñe nenne kempe.

no wha dude wurse no wha

bet:

28,560

swa that withe wes imenged. for ælc slo adun riht

weore he swein weore he cniht. Ther wes Modred of-slage: and idon of lif-daze.

in than fihte.

Ther weoren of-slaze?

alle tha snelle. Arthures hered-men? heze

and tha Bruttes alle? of Arthures borde. and alle his fosterliges? of feole kineriches. And Arthur forwunded mid wal-spere brade. fiftene he hafde : feondliche wunden.

Tambre was on flode

mid onimete blode.

ne

mihte man in than fihte :

icnowe nanne kempe.

wo dude wors ne wo dude
bet?

so that weder was imenged.
for ech sloh adun riht

were he sweyn were he cniht.
Thar was Modred of-slaze
and idon of lifdaze.

and alle his cnihtes?
islage in than fihte.
Thar weren of-slage
alle the snelle.
Arthures hired-men?

28,571 hebze and lowe.

and the Bruttes alle ?

of Arthur his borde.

and alle hi. fosterlin
of . . . ne riche.

And... him seolf for-w...
mid one spere brode.

tene he hadde !

feond.. che wond

...

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And at Camelford was assembled [were with Arthur] sixty thousand [men], and more thousands thereto; Modred was their chief [yet, on Modred his side]. Then thitherward gan ride Arthur the mighty, with innumerable folk; fated though it (the folk) were [of knights well bold]. Upon the Tambre they encountered [smote] together; raised the standards; advanced together; drew the long swords, [and] laid [smote] on the helms; [that the] fires out spring [sprang]; spears resound (splinter) [the strokes (sweeps) were bitter]; shields gan shiver; shafts brake in pieces. There fought all together folk innumerable. Tambre was in flood with unmeasured blood. There might no [not] man in the fight know no (any) warrior, nor who did worse nor who [did] better; so the conflict [storm, weather] was mingled; for each slew downright, were he swain, were he knight. There was Modred slain and done (out) of life-day, [and all his knights slain] in the fight. There were slain all the brave (snell), Arthur's warriors, high [and low], and the Britons all of Arthur's [Arthur his] board, and all his foster-children (dependants) from many kingdoms [a kingdom]. And Arthur [himself] (was) wounded with [a] broad slaughter-spear; fifteen he had terrible wounds; one might in the least two gloves thrust. Then was there no more in the fight as leavings [left in the fight], of two hundred thousand men that there lay hewed in pieces, but Arthur the king one (alone), and two of his knights.

[Arthur, mortally hurt, is presently carried away in a little boat by two women, wondrously fair, to Avalun (Isle of Apples,' Glastonbury), where he is to be cured of his wounds. In the poet's time, the Britons yet believed that Arthur would return and rule them.]

NOTES.

28,536. Camelford, a town in the north of Cornwall.

28,538. Ma, mo, contracted forms of

B

'mara,' compar. of 'micel' (much). Later writers (Shak., &c.) often have it as 'moe' (adj. and adv.).

28,539. Modred his syde (later text, for 'Modredes syde.' Cf. 28,573: 'Arthures' (first text), 'Arthur his' (second text). The substitution of 'his' for the poss. inflection occurs chiefly in the second text, and more usually with proper nouns than with common nouns. It was in use down to Queen Anne's time, when the 's was firmly believed to be a contraction of his.

28,540. Gon (gan) ride, did ride. Gon, gan acts simply as an auxiliary to give the past tense. This usage continues for more than three centuries longer.

28,543. Uæie = fæie, fey: fated,

doomed, destined to die. A second meaning, also in Layamon, is 'slain,' 'dead.'

28,544. Tambre, now called the Camel (from the ancient British name, Camlan), in the north-west of Cornwall. It rises about two miles north of Camelford, and falls into the sea below Padstow.

28,546. Heueheuen, 3d pl. of 'hæf," past tense of 'hæhuen,' to heave, raise. From 'hæh' (high).Here-marken, army (here)-marks, ensigns.

28,549. Leidē = leiden, 3d pl. past indic.

of 'legge(n),' to lay, put. 28,552-3. Sceldes, scaftes. Cf. shields, shafts; where the c is softened. 'Schelden' (dat. pl.) also occurs in Layamon. In line 6, we have chireche, and this is what the old 'cirice' has come to under French influence. In Layamon, 'cild' is regularly modified to 'child.' Cf. also sc(e)al (shall), sc(e)olde, scholde, should; micel, muchel, mochel, much; below, "28,562, ælc (in first text) corresponds with ech (in second

text); and there are others in the present extract. On the whole, however, Layamon is not fond of the new softened form; and for sc of the first text we mostly find s alone in the second text.

28,558. Non, later form of 'nan,' which is made up of 'ne + an' (not + one). Observe the repetition of 'ne' before the verb, and another negative, 'nenne (nanne),' in next line, and yet another in the line following, 'no-no.'

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28,562-3. Compare Scott, Marmion, vi. 34:

'Groom fought like noble, squire like knight,

As fearlessly and well."

Also Gibbon, Decline and Fall, chap. 41: Each plebeian [under Belisarius, at Rome] conceived himself to be a hero.'

28,570. Hired (hered)-men, men of the host, or of the retinue (hired). 28,573. Borde, the Table Round. 28,574. Fosterlīges, -linges, chiefly the knights of the Round Table. 28,586. Buten, bote, but, except. Ane, one, hence 'alone.' 28,587. Two knights. Malory mentions by name Sir Lucan and Sir Bedwere (Bedivere).

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