This extract gives ll. 3662-4009, in Holt, i. pp. 126-38.
[1]. Forrþrihht anan se, lit. Straightway forthwith as, i.e. as soon as. Orm has ‘forrþrihht se, anan se, sone swa, son se, forrþrihht summ, anan summ,’ all with this same meaning, and forrþrihht summ, immediately, ii. 42/11404. Orm’s expletives are a feature of his dreary style; in his dedication he says that he has set ‘maniȝ word | þe rime swa to fillenn,’ that is, to make up the number of syllables required for his metre; he makes extensive use of all, 112/3, 16 &c. Beside anan, Orm has the primitive onn an, continuously, without a break.
[2-18.] The original of this passage is, ‘Et pannis eum involvit et reclinavit eum in praesepio . . . parvulus natus est nobis, ut nos viri possimus esse perfecti. Qui totum mundum vario vestit ornatu, pannis vilibus involvitur, ut nos stolam primam recipere valeamus. Per quem omnia facta sunt, manus pedesque cunis adstringitur, ut nostrae manus ad opus bonum exertae, nostri sint pedes in viam pacis directi. Cui coelum sedes est, duri praesepis angustia continetur, ut nos per coelestis regni gaudia dilatet. Qui panis est Angelorum, in praesepio reclinatur, ut nos quasi sancta animalia carnis suae frumento reficiat,’ Bede, v. 234.
[2]. ⁊ = annd; see 115/114.
[3]. uss birrþ, we ought: a favourite expression of Orm.
[5]. heffness ærd, heaven’s region: a phrase suggested by middellærd.
[9]. shaffte, creatures: OE. gesceafta.
[10]. baþe belongs to fet ⁊ hande.
[12]-14. This section diverges in form from those before and after it, as also from the original. The subject of filleþþ is Þatt illke child. heffness rume riche, the wide kingdom of heaven: perhaps suggested by ‘ut amplitudinem nobis supernarum sedium tribueret’ of Bede’s Sermon, vii. 300.
[16]. all alls = all alse, alswa, quite as.