1889. war you, mind yourselves, i. e. make way.
1890. as wel as I; said ironically. Chaucer is as corpulent as the host himself. See note to l. 1886 above.
1891. were, would be. tenbrace, to embrace. In the Romaunt of the Rose, true lovers are said to be always lean; but deceivers are often fat enough:—
'For men that shape hem other wey
Falsly hir ladies to bitray,
It is no wonder though they be fat'; l. 2689.
1893. elvish, elf-like, akin to the fairies; alluding to his absent looks
and reserved manner. See Elvish in the Glossary, and cf. 'this elvish nyce lore'; Can. Yeom. Tale, G. 842. Palsgrave has—'I waxe eluysshe, nat easye to be dealed with, Ie deuiens mal traictable.'
1900. Ye, yea. The difference in Old English between ye and yis (yes) is commonly well marked. Ye is the weaker form, and merely assents to what the last speaker says; but yis is an affirmative of great force, often followed by an oath, or else it answers a question containing a negative particle, as in the House of Fame, 864. Cf. B. 4006 below.
The Tale of Sir Thopas.