And syþen he kéuereȝ bi a crágge || 153.
6. The grouping of stressed and unstressed syllables determines the rhythm. In Old English the falling rhythm predominates, as in || Gáwayn þe nóble 81; and historically it is no doubt correct to trace the development of the ME. line from a predominantly falling rhythm. But in fact, owing to the frequent use of unstressed syllables before the first stress (even in the second half line where they are avoided in the OE. falling rhythm) the commonest type is:
|| and þe bróde ȝáteȝ 1,
(× × -́ × -́ ×)
which from a strictly Middle English standpoint may be analysed as a falling rhythm with introductory syllables (× × | -́ × -́ ×), or as a rising rhythm with a weak ending (× × -́ × -́ | ×). A careful reader, accustomed to the usage of English verse, will have no difficulty in following the movement, without entering into nice technicalities of historical analysis.
7. The Destruction of Troy is more regular than Gawayne in its versification, and better preserves the Old English tradition. Piers Plowman is looser and nearer to prose, so that the alliteration sometimes fails altogether, e.g. Extract a 95, 138. Such differences in technique may depend on date, on locality, or on the taste, training, or skill of the author.
Dialect: West Midland of Lancashire or Cheshire. (There is evidence of local knowledge in the account of Gawayne's ride in search of the Green Chapel, ll. 691 ff. of the complete text.)
Vocabulary. Sir Gawayne shows the characteristic vocabulary of alliterative verse.
It is rich in number and variety of words—Norse, French, and native. Besides common words like race 8, wylle 16, kyrk 128, aȝ- 267 (which displace native English forms rēs, wylde, chyrche, eie), Norse gives mug(g)ed 12, cayreȝ 52, scowtes 99, skayned 99, wro 154, broþe 165, fyked 206, snyrt 244, &c. French are baret 47, oritore 122, fylor 157, giserne 197, kauelacion 207, frounses 238, &c. Myst-hakel 13, orpedly 164 are native words; while the rare stryþe 237 and raþeled 226 are of doubtful origin.