[176]. schad is usually followed by of, as at 130/81, but Orm 6228, 9 has ‘bitwenen.’ Comp. ‘scadwisnesse,’ 92/121; ‘ȝescod,’ 14/74.
[178]. fallinde, perishing: B-T quotes ‘Ðis lif is lǽnlic and feallende,’ Thorpe, Anc. Laws, ii. 400/16.
[179]. þurh unweotenesse, if she sins, it will not be for lack of knowledge. Comp. ‘I þine soule, oðer two—sunne ⁊ ignorance; þet is, unwisdom ⁊ unwitenesse,’ AR 278/6.
[180]. After nis T adds ha. siker of, free from anxiety about; as ‘sikernesse’ in l. 188 is confidence. as þeo þe &c., as being one who thinks herself weak, like Lat. quippe quae: comp. 128/1.
[181]. ⁊: so T, but R has correctly to, in.
[182]. onont, as regards, so far as she herself is concerned: Lat. quoad. etstonden wið: see 121/158. turnes, cunning devices: comp. ‘aȝein þes deofles turnes ⁊ his fondunges,’ AR 78/27. deð—wise: comp. ‘þenne doþ we as þe wise,’ OEM 79/228.
[185]. deð: this superfluous use of do is common in AR. ‘ne seið hit nout ꝥ heo biheold wepmen; auh deð wummen,’ 54/19; ‘Auh þe treowe ancren þet we efneð to briddes; nout we þauh; auh deð God,’ 130/30, and often. Comp. 85/105: different is ‘do’ used to avoid the repetition of a verb as at 49/304, 86/141. to donne: see 118/45.
[187]. T omits halden.
[189]. T has the better reading, to do riht ⁊ riht for to demen, which is supported by 122/197: R to don riht ant riht fon ⁊ demen; ‘fon riht’ is a strange expression, which may mean to exact justice at the hands of others. ich deme &c.: Morris translates, ‘and I deem myself so that I, through myself, may do it (sin) not.’ The meaning is, My duty is to behave justly and to judge justly, and, in my own case, I judge that I do not perform that duty by my own unaided powers.
[190]: ‘Omne datum optimum et omne donum perfectum desursum est, descendens a Patre luminum,’ S. Jas. i. 17.