200. It must not be supposed that the chief incidents of Sir Gawayne were invented by the English poet. The three strokes, for example, two of them mere feints and the third harmless, can be shown to derive from the lost French source, which has Irish analogues. See pp. 71-4 of A Study of Gawain and the Green Knight (London 1916), by Professor Kittredge, a safe guide in the difficult borderland of folklore and romance.
207. 'Nor did I raise any quibble in the house of King Arthur.' On kyngeȝ hous Arthor see note to II 518.
222. ryueȝ: the likeness of n and u in MSS. of the time makes it impossible to say whether the verb is riue 'to cleave', which is supported by l. 278, or rine, OE. hrīnan, 'to touch'.
230. 'And look out for your neck at this stroke, <to see> if it may survive.'
233. I hope: here, and often in ME., hope means 'believe', 'expect'.
250. Gawayn appears to have carried his shield on his back. By a movement of his shoulders he lets it fall in front of him, so that he can use it in defence.
258. foo, 'fiercely', adv. parallel with ȝederly.
269. ry<n>kande, 'ringing'; Napier's suggestion for MS. rykande.
271-2. 'Nobody here has ill-treated you in an unmannerly way, nor shown you <discourtesy>': the object of kyd being understood from vnmanerly mysboden. habbeȝ for MS. habbe is Napier's reading.
278-9. 'And cleft you with no grievous wound, <which> I rightly <merely> proffered you, because of the compact we made fast', &c. It is better to assume a suppression of the relative, than to put a strong stop after rof and treat sore as sb. object of profered. This latter punctuation gives sore the chief stress in the line, and breaks the alliteration and rhythm, which is correct as long as sore is taken with rof, so that its stress is subordinated.