The personal pronouns are ich, me, we, ure 181, us, þu, tu after t, þe, ȝe, ow. The pronoun of the third person is s. n. he m. 6, ha f. 10 &c., hit neut. 13; g. hire f. 11; d. him m. 35, hire f. 42, a. hire f. 8 (with hus neut.), 11, 33 (with þeaw m.), 43, 87, hit neut. 10, 85; pl. n. ha 89 &c., heo 93, 274, 276; g. hare 18; d. ham 55; a. 13. Reflexives are me 190, him 54, hire 180, 205, ham 94, me seolf 189 (possibly definitive), me seoluen 117, us seolf 191, 193, us seoluen 5, him seolf 27, him seoluen 109, 309, hire seoluen 182; definitive are seolf 8, 228, him seolf 277, him ane 200; possessives are mi s. 80, 116, min 163, 196, mine pl. 164, 234, ure 4, þi s. 78, þin 319, his 5, hire 12, hare 51, 122. The definite article is þe, te after t; inflected forms are þet s. n. neut. 33, 214, þen s. d. m. 158, s. a. m. 212, þet s. a. neut. 248; the instrumental is þe 11, 142. Þet is used demonstratively 35, 103, 104, þet ilke 89, 105, 256; the article is also used pronominally, þeo þe, those who 48, 49, 56, 247, those which 178, one who 180, þeo, those 15. The compound demonstrative is s. n. þes m. 6, tis 106, þis neut. 8, 53, 124, tis 26, s. d. þis m. 318, þisse f. 136, þeos 146, þis 110, neut. 9, 102, 137, 198, 199, s. a. þes m. 118, þis neut. 284, 285, tis 152; pl. n. þeos 17, 202, d. 24, 101, 207, 285, þeose 97, a. þeos 140. The relatives are þe, þet; þet . . . hire 10, = whom, þet te 154, = what. Interrogatives are hwam 39, hwet 60 (4), hweðer 101, hwuch 6 (6), hwucche pl. n. 14; its correlative is swuch 93, 135, 255, swucche pl. n. 194: ilca is ilke 105 &c.; þyllic, þulliche pl. d. 162, þulli s. d. 326, 327. Indefinites are hwam se s. a. 276, hwet se s. n. 172, hwuch se s. a. 72; me 45, 68, 87, 165, 275, mon 25; an 252; sum 54, summes s. g. 162, 236, summe pl. n. 14; eiðer 102, 111; oðer 37, oðres s. g. 109, 112, oðre s. d. 252, pl. d. 52, 285, pl. a. 277; euch 108, euchan 49, 109, euchanes s. g. 252, eauereuchan 307; eni 113, ei 42, 135, 192; nawiht 172, 183, noht 149; moni 20, 29, 166, monie pl. n. 307, pl. a. 314, ma 167; feole 306; al s. n. 12, alles s. g. 90, 197, 264, al s. d. 74, 155, s. a. 105, 116, 117; alle pl. n. 13, 114, 214, alre pl. g. 181, alle pl. d. 30, 46, 281, pl. a. 33, 40, 297, mid alle 211.
Verbs in -an have infinitive -en, abeoren 125, bihalden 233, 236, and thirty-five other instances, or -e, bringe 113, 173, cume 7, here 22, munne 303, neome 328, those in ian, mostly of the second weak conjugation, have -ien, carien 162, 166, gleadien 270, herien 320, schunien 177, þolien 7 (6), wakien 7, readien 81 (ME. formation from read = rǣd), or -ie, spealie 303, þolie 235, or -in, amurdrin 32, blissin 270, eilin 290, euenin 83, folhin 12, 336, fondin 224, grapin 87, hearmin 290, lokin 232, 254, lutlin 327, openin 285, rikenin 86, sunegin 179, warnin 152, wursin 328, and ME. wontin, or -i, wursi 164: contract verbs are biseon 122, fleon 158, seon 305, underuon 312, unwreo 285. The dat. inf. is inflected in to cumene 265, to witene 50, 150, 226; other forms are forte binden 71, forte warnin 140, forte . . . halden 57, for . . . to drahen 72, forte breoke 28, to alesen 242, to seon ⁊ to cnawen 293 (virtual nom.), to warnin 63, to . . . makie 325. Presents are s. 1. cume 76, 220, cwakie 131, demi 185, iseo 150; 2. cumest 76, easkest 68, seist 279; 3. cleopeð 38, limpet 154, makid 39, and seventy-four others; contracted, about one-fourth of the total number, bisið 332, bit 246, flið 158, forȝet 25, 167, halt 180, 195, 205, hat 45, let 26, 212, sent 55, sit 48, 225, 237, wit 52, and nine others, passive hatte 62; pl. 1. habbeð 191, witeð 144, drede we 155; 3. aȝulteð 48, edwiteð 123; of the second weak conjugation, acwikieð 105, heatieð 111, herieð 317, makied 255, wunieð 272, 320, but ofearneð 135 and liuieð 287, werieð 143; meallið 90, seoð 257, 295, iseoð 89, 94: subjunctive s. 1. habbe 61, understonde 285; 3. bihalde 40, bineome 11, cume 23, 65, 144, comme 60, feole, forȝeme 54, forswolhe 152, fortruste 54, leade 65, leare 45, leote 40, reade 142, rihte 14, 141, schute 160, seche 60, slepe 25, tuhte 23, werie 141, chasti 11, loki 39, wardi 141, warni 42; pl. 1. demen 191, 193, halden 198, þonkin 200, neome we 147: imperative s. 2. etstont 158, let 209, sei 280, tele 79, 228, warne 155; pl. 2. hercnið 218, lokið 67, lustnið 61, neomeð 311, þencheð 115, understondeð 218. Past of Strong Verbs: I a. s. 1. iseh 118 (5), biseh 249, 3. ȝef 27, quoð 315; pl. 1. speken 44; subjunctive s. 1. isehe 118, 2. sehe 228: I b. s. 1. com 139: I c. subj. s. 3. bigunne 299: III. subj. s. 3. forbude 13: V. s. 1. biheolt 262, lette (weak form) 28. Participles present: I a. sittende 278: I b. cuminde 40: IV. lahhinde adj. 213: V. fallinde adj. 178; past: I a. isehen 77 (6), ispeken 335: I b. ibore 136, icumen 55: I c. bigunne 112, iborhen 276, formealte 104: II. iwriten 70, untohene adj. pl. 13, untohe adj. s. 23, fulitohe adj. s. 9: III. bigoten 259, bigotten 316, biloke 204: IV. islein 116: V. bihalden 57, ihaten 10, 37, 220, underuon 57, ofdred adj. 145. Past of Weak Verbs: s. 1. hefde 113, talde 114; 3. bohte 28, luuede 241, schilde 233, sende 223, wrahtte 74; pl. 3. deiden, liueden 266. Participles present: libbinde 270, sechinde 151; ME. formations are fikelinde adj. 147, smorðrinde adj. 88; past: bitaht 144, 149, ibet 74, igret 256, ilihtet 214, ischawed 258, iseid 328, iseið 280, unwerged 251, icleopet 36, icwiddet 257, offearet 54, 211, unwerget 318, and thirteen others in -t, besides irobbet 26, istirret 245; others used as adjectives are elheowet 58, fordemde pl. 133, forrotet 99, forwerede pl. 114, iblescede s. weak 221, pl. 250, isette pl. 252, istelet pl. 126, iteilede pl. 90, unwarnede noun pl. 157, offruhte pl. 222. Minor Groups: witen inf. 137, 305, wat pr. s. 176, nat 66, witen pr. pl. 295, 297, nuten 101, wiste pt. s. 6; ah pr. s. 165, ahen 1 pr. pl. 4, pr. pl. 300; con 1 pr. s. 81, 329, pr. s. 64, cunnen pr. pl. 187; þerf pr. s. 171, þurue we 1 pr. pl. 145, 225; schal pr. s. 21 &c., schulen pr. pl. 178, 224, 320, schulde we 1 pt. pl. 158; mei 1 pr. s. 81, pr. s. 10 &c., me 327, mahen 1 pr. pl. 22, 2 pr. pl. 137, 305, mahe pr. pl. 274, pr. s. subj. 290, 332, mahte 1 pt. s. 113, 162, 232, pt. s. 84, 118; most 2 pr. s. 285, 316; beon inf. 10 &c., am 1 pr. s. 62, is pr. s. 8, nis 18, bið 146, aren pr. pl. 107, 256, beoð 13, 56, 159, 202, beod 306, beo pr. s. subj. 26 (8), beon 1 pr. pl. subj. 142, 198, beo we 193, beon pr. pl. subj. 104, wes pt. s. 205, weren pt. pl. 94, 114, were pt. s. subj. 127, 136, 210, 253, nere 121, 136, were pt. pl. subj. 124, ibeo pp. 331; ich chulle 1 pr. s. 81, wule pr. s. 145, 193, 325, wulleð pr. pl. 289, wule pr. s. subj. 42, 210, 323, walde 1 pt. s. 119, pt. s. 6, 12, nalde 7; to donne dat. inf. 142, 185, to don 288, 324, to do 189 (virtual nom.), do 1 pr. s. 190, 197, deð pr. s. 182, doð pr. pl. 49, 267, do 2 s. imp. 154, idon pp. 300, ido 53, 117; gan inf. 21, 316, ȝeað pr. s. 151, ga we 1 pr. pl. 171, ouergað pr. pl. 270, ga 2 s. imp. 315, pr. s. subj. 10, 47.
Among adverbs may be noted á 105 (4), áá 53 (3), ever, distinguished by accent from a 227, ah! hweonene 60, 65, interrogative, earþon 74, previously, unmundlunge (unmyndlinga) 68, unexpectedly, in ME. apparently only here and once in AR; among prepositions, bituhhen 168, bituhhe 133, 169, extension of OE. bituh, BH 133/33, which comes also in SK 1515, ‘bituhe’ AR MS. A, 204/20, ‘bituhhen,’ id. 358/11, fore 27, 276, on behalf of, in both places separated from the word governed and put at the end of the sentence.
(2) Of R. This is substantially the same as that of MS. B: some forms from ll. 339-373 are here noted. Nouns: neut. bodi s. d. 369, limen pl. n. 364; fem. sawle s. n. 369, neod 349, sondes s. g. 346, murðes 342, lefdi s. d. 355, sonden pl. a. 357. Adjective comp. lessere 345 (lǣssa), an early instance of the double comparative; T has lesre. Pronoun: incker dual g.: indef. oðer s. d. 363, noðres s. g. 347.
(3) Of T. It differs from B mainly in the verbal inflection. Forms with i are few, euennin inf. 83, fondin 224, lutlin 327, openin 285, sunegin 179, wursi 164, mellið pr. pl. 90; in the pr. s. -es and -eð alternate, warnes 348, wilnes 286, bides 59 (hat B), fares 25, haues 144, makes 39, slepes 25, spekes 8, wites 52 (wit B), fleoð 158 (flið B), beoð 146, beð 24, in the pr. pl. -en and -eð, habben 191, beon 14 (6), freten 96, ȝelden 213, hatien 111, iwurðen 93, snicken 96, sweren 21, beoð 17 &c., speweð 91: arn 256, schuln 340, þurn 225 are syncopated. Beside ha, she, ho occurs 12, 40, 181; man 165 is indefinite. The suffix of the verbal noun is regularly -ing, cnawlechinge 292, gretinge 213, hechelinge 100. For aðet B, R 104, it has til ꝥ, for mid B, mit R 28, wið.
[Vocabulary:] Scandinavian are ai T 53 &c., aren 107, drupnin 222, etlunge 310, far (lac) 341, 363, fear (laic) T 341, (feir) lec R 272, feoloh(lukest) 270 (OWScand. félagi), flute 349, flutteð 100, ȝa T 216, ȝea T 77, hird 65, hundreð T 79, keiseres 261, lahe 193, 259, 271, lane 202, meoke 198, nowcin 163 (4), tidinges 140, til T 104, trust 184, vmben 207, wan 129, warpe 43, varpeð 341, wengen 143, 340, witer(liche) 78, witer(luker) 285, wontin 135 (OWScand. vanta), wontreaðes 129, wondraðes R 129, wandreðes T 129, þicke 86 (OWScand. þykkr), probably baðe T 23, iburst 151, lustnin 217, possibly froden T 95, ȝetteð 247 (Björkman 109), ȝeieð 134 (OWScand. geyja) influenced like ȝoulen by ȝellen (Björkman 69). French are archangles 249 (possibly Latin), apostle 157, castel 31, chasti 11, chere 213, icheret 209, cruneð 49, cunestable 38, 200, cunfessurs 266, enbreuet 73, false 147, falsi 163, fol 19, feh 149, 204, grace 160, iordret 252, irobbet 26, leattres 71, liun 151, meistre 44, meistreð 33, meoster 189, 252, mesure 174, meosure 45, patriarches 255 (possibly Latin), poure 259, preoouin 72, prophetes 255, semblant 19, seruið 247, 250, tresor 27 (3), treosor 369, tresures 339, tresorers T 339, trone 244, 260, turnes 182, ?turneð 206, aturnet 209. A Latin borrowing is martyrs 262.
[Dialect:] MS. B bears a close resemblance in all dialectal criteria to MS. A of the Ancrene Wisse; its Anglian peculiarities are somewhat more pronounced. MS. R differs from MS. B in its representation of ǣ1 and in the narrower range of its u-, å-umlauts; it is somewhat more Southern than MS. B. MS. T, in the same hand as the copy of the Ancrene Wisse, is of the mixed character described on [p. 373], but the Southern element is more extensive here.
[Style:] Sawles Warde has been divided by its latest editor into one thousand and seventy-two half-lines of ‘rhymeless Layamonic verse,’ with three hundred and sixty-two varieties of scansion, nearly two hundred of which are each represented by a single line. Much ME. verse, the Proverbs of Alfred, the Brut, the Bestiary for example, is, like Sawles Warde, written continuously, but its verse character is always definitely indicated by its punctuation, in Layamonic verse by a half- or full stop at the end of the half-line and a full stop at the end of the line. But, as Luick has shown, Sawles Warde has a prose punctuation of natural pauses in reading, of clause and sentence, a contention which may readily be tested by the texts in the present book, which reproduce the manuscripts in this detail. Thus the punctuation of Sawles Warde which has been adduced as an indication of its verse character is evidence to the contrary.
Some specimens of the verse with the editor’s scansion are: ‘téacheð us þùrh a bísnè,’ 117/4: ‘Þis hús þe ùre láuèrd | spékeð òf, is sèolf þe món,’ 117/8: ‘þe éarèste is Wárschìpe | icléopet, ànt te óðèr | is gástelìch Stréncðè,’ 118/36: ‘Wárschìpe, þet àa is wáker, | ìs offéared, lèste súm | fortrúste hìm ant fèole oslép,’ 118/53: ‘hwuch só he mèi préouìn | þùrh his bóc, þèt is ón | euch súnnè ibréuèt,’ 119/72. Now Bartels points out that in Layamon’s verse there is no enjambment and no beginning of a clause in the middle of a half-line. Furthermore, there is no rhythm in these lines which remotely resembles either the recitative of Layamon’s alliterative line or the syllabic measure of his rhymed lines. But the fatal objection is the absence of alliteration or rhyme, for without one of these or a combination of the two there is no verse at all in Middle English; they are of the essence of its form. For Orm is an eccentric and absolutely isolated; his verse would be recognizable by his contemporaries as such only in virtue of the rigid uniformity of its rhythm.
Sawles Warde is written in the same rhythmic prose, and by the same author, as AR and the other pieces mentioned on [p. 373], including the Wohunge of Ure Lauerd (OEH i. 269-87) and the Ureisun of God Almihti (id. 200-3). The evolution of this style is easily followed. The writer began his literary career with his memory well stocked with alliterative formulae and other phrases, derived in some small measure from the pre-Conquest literature, but mostly from a body of popular poetry which is represented by isolated pieces like the Worcester Fragments. His first writings, SJ and SM, are overloaded with them, and they have impressed their peculiar movement more or less on the stretches of prose which link them together. Accordingly many passages in SJ for example approach much more nearly to verse than anything in Sawles Warde. Take at random 143/68-72:—