[246]. ‘Le castel et l’oevre agarda, | Mult fu bien fais, mult le loa,’ W 7103.
[249]. Layamon’s delight in descriptions of feasts and music is in strong contrast to Wace’s prosaic manner. The present passage may be compared with L 3634, 5107, 14946. Mätzner would read gomen-men, musicians, or gleomen, with change of cleopien into gleowien, but gomen means games, a regular accompaniment of the feast (see KH 478 note), and cleopien proclaim, as in ‘Lette þe king gan awal; ⁊ lude clepien ouer al,’ L 3644.
[250]. hetten, ordered; perhaps a mistake for letten, as L has generally hehten in this sense. With breden comp. ‘bordes heo brædden,’ L 18523, where O has ‘bordes hii leiden’: it means, to cover with cloth and viands.
[251]. dræm &c.: comp. 102/146; ‘blisse wes on folke,’ L 5108, ‘blisse wes on hirede,’ id. 14947.
[252]. þa—iloten, then had the better fallen to their lot; lucky men were they! OE. gehlēotan, to share by lot.
[253]-268. In L 14956-81 Ronwen again appears as cupbearer.
[254]. vnimete prude, boundless splendour: OE. prȳto, influenced in this meaning by OWScand. prýþi, ornament.
[255]. al ꝥ scrud, all the clothing; sing., the pl. is ‘alle þa scrud,’ L 10180: the number changes in heo weoren. ibon, prepared, adorned: comp. ‘wel wes he ibon,’ L 12805, in O alle wel idiht; ‘þas scipen ibone,’ id. 32037. It is an East Scand. pp. bōin, as buen is West Scand. búinn: ‘iboned,’ L 8086, with same meaning is pp. of the derivative *ibonen parallel with bounen, derivative of buen. See Björkman, 206.
[256]. ibrusted, made bristly, rough: comp. ‘alle þai mete-burdes; ibrusted (ibrustled O) mid golde,’ L 24667; ‘vestes auroque ostroque rigentes,’ Virg. Æn., xi. 72.
[261]. sæt, went down on: comp. ‘þa hie for þam cumble on cneowum sæton,’ Grein, ii. 484/180: see KH 781 note.