118. Wheþer commonly introduces a direct question and should not be separately translated. Cp. VI 205 and note to XI a 51.
121. wysty is here, 'it is desolate here'. Note Wowayn = Wauwayn, an alternative form of Gawayn used for the alliteration. The alternation is parallel to that in guardian: warden; regard: reward XIV c 105; guarantee: warranty; (bi)gyled 359: (bi)wyled 357; werre 'war' beside French guerre; wait 'watch' (as at l. 95) beside French guetter; and is due to dialectal differences in Old French. The Anglo-Norman dialect usually preserved w in words borrowed from Germanic or Celtic, while others replaced it by gw, gu, which later became simple g in pronunciation.
125. in my fyue wytteȝ: construe with fele.
127. þat chekke hit bytyde, 'which destruction befall!' þat... hit = 'which'. chekke refers to the checkmate at chess.
135. Had we not Chaucer's Miller and The Reeves Tale, the vividness and intimacy of the casual allusions would show the place of the flour-mill in mediaeval life. Havelok drives out his foes
So dogges ut of milne-hous;
and the Nightingale suggests as fit food for the Owl
one frogge
Þat sit at mulne vnder cogge.