[Pronouns:] Noteworthy are hwe 69, ȝie 24, 26 (ȝe 116); ȝeu 24, 113, ȝiu 117, 160, ȝehw 119. The pronoun of the third person is, Sing. n. he, m. hi 50, 51, 59, 60, f.; hit, neut.; d. him, m.; a. hine 10 &c., him 14, m. hit, n. Plur. n. hi, i in combinations icome 17, ibeoð 70, mihti 55; d. heom 5, ham 18, 55, 147; a. m. hi 117. From *seo f. are his 81 s. a. f. (= is) and his 117, pl. a. m. (= is), es in letes 129, pl. a. n., for which forms see Anglia, Beiblatt vii. 331, xi. 302. The dat. s. pl. with self uninflected occurs as definitive adj. 61, 81, 149; s. and pl. with selfe as reflexive, 55, 91, 151, 152; us sielfe 48. Possessives are mine 64, mi 63, s. n. m., mine 25, 156, s. d. m., mire 24 (with rice neut.) 26, 154, mine in other cases; þina 37, s. d. f.; ure, hure, ur, hur 65, with ures 87, 106, s. g. m.; is, his, hire; ȝiure 52, ȝeur 153; hare 85, 172, hares 56, s. g. m. his 21, 29, pl. d. is used as noun, his men. The def. article is, Sing. n. m. se, once seo 66; f. si, with neut. tacne 145, but rode is fem., gate 117; neut. þat 143: g. m. þes, with wrldes 77, ses 87, by analogy from se; neut. þes: d. m. þa, þe, (to) ðe 22; f. þare 93, with neut. gate 129, þar 19, þer 139, (i)þer 123, with m. 141, with neut. 13, 117; neut. þam, þan 118, 158, þe 50, 145, (i)þe 161, ȝeðe 165, þa 110, probably for þan: a. m. þann 120; f. þa 54 &c., neut. þat 168. Pl. n. m. þa, þe, (⁊) to 147; d. m. þa, þo: a. m. þe 85. Used pronominally si 83, s. n. f.; þat 97, s. n. neut.; þa 26, pl. n. m.; þan 141, pl. d. m. The compound demonstrative is, Sing. n. m. þes; f. þes; neut. þis: d. m. þese 48; f. þisser, þesser, þeser; neut. þese 118, 163: a. f. þas 80; neut. þis. Pl. n. þes, þas: g. þeses: d. þesen: a. þes. Exceptional is þas 43, s. n. neut. (OE. occasional þæs). The relative is þe 26, 32, 97; wam 48, 96, s. d.; introducing dep. questions, wa 4, 66, hwa 67: interrogatives, hwat, hwet, wat 24, wic 142: indefinites are n. m. an 1; d. m. ane 68, neut. ane 164, ene 7, an 53; a. m. ænne 7, f. anæ 6, neut. a 57; n. m. f. ælc, elc; g. m. elces 118; a. m. elce 116; swice, pl. n. m.; nahte 33, s. d. n. Sum 17, s. n. has oblique cases in e 56, 82, but sum 92, pl.: fele 83, maniȝe 54, 109 are plurals: oðre (once oðere) is constant: eall is sing. n. all, al; d. f. alle 66, neut. 4, 24 (rice is regarded as fem.); a. f. alle 96, neut. all, al 47. The plural is alle; but all 15, al 141.
The infinitive of verbs ends mostly in e, fandie 130: noteworthy are besie 14, isi 55: ȝief 119 has lost e before him. wunian 159 is a survival; others in n are ȝearceon 6, ȝeclepien 6, clepeien 49, don 88, finden 173, forȝeten 59, abben 160. Dat. inf. with inflection, bienne 43, donne 152; without inflection abiden 11, bigeten 55, don 51, fulforðie 98, ȝelaðie 17, 78, isi 137, sawe 44, tolie 44. Pres. s. 1. forȝete 61, lefie 155, nell(ic) 60; 2. awiðhst 37, belocest 37, halst 36; 3. blisseð 52 and 8 others, but contracted forms predominate, abernð 143, belimpð 128, cumþ 114, 121, 129, ett 163, fett 42, fet 171, ȝemet 133, ȝestrenð 112 (gestrengeþ), isecgð 148, iseȝð 150 (siehð), lat 124 (lǣdeþ), sit 138 and 9 others. Exceptional are blissið 50, had 152 (hæfð), scred 42 (scrȳt), scyft 117, forðteh 42 (tyhð). Subjunctive pr. s. forȝiet[e] 60, habbe 74, letes 129 (lete + es), milsi 59, underfo 126. Pres. pl. 1. habbeþ 48, siggeð 114, wene (we) 49; 3. adredeð 147, aþestreð 144 &c.; but cwaciað 147, þenið 142 (Archiv lxxxix, 160-6). Subj. pr. pl. næmmie 112, scewie 22. Imp. pl. understandeð 31, 99, witeð 155, wite (ȝe) 125. Past of Strong Verbs: Sing. I a. cweð 21, et 28, ȝiaf 97; I b. com 19, nam 5; I c. dranc 28, ȝelamp 1; II. astah 162, wratẹ 81 (wrāt); III. abreað 83, ȝecas 81; IV. ȝesceop 33; V. ableow 42, bleowu 168, befel 3, wex 168. Pl. I a. cweðe 18, 1. pl.; I b. come 9; I c. sturfe 28; II. repen 169; III. ȝebugon 25. Subjunctives are I b. come 12, 20; V. ȝewold[e] 55. Pp. I b. icome 115; I c. abruden 27, abroden 134, 156; II. begripe 95; III. belocen 16; IV. ȝescepe 56, understande 116; V. beswapen 151, ȝesawen 165, ȝewasse, uniwasse 123. Past of Weak Verbs ends in -de, -ede, arerde 80, clensede 103 &c.: diht 41, gelest 2, send 78, sett 72 have dropped final e. Pl. -den; once arerdon 85: sede 117, 119, lefede 155, acolede 90, ȝearnede 27 have lost n. The pp. ends in -ed, -d, -t; once acende 101, beside accenned 94: unwemmede 94, weregede 131 are inflected. Minor groups: wat 54, pr. s.; ah 43, pr. s., oȝeð 64 (āgon), 1 pr. pl.; scel 135, sceol 147, pr. s., scule 26 &c., pr. pl., once sculen 161, sceolde 87, pt. s., sceolde 7, sceolden 12, 160, pt. pl.; mai 152, pr. s., but maȝi 34, maie 148, maȝie 59, pr. s. are subjunctive in form; muȝe (we) 49, 1 pr. pl., mihtí (mihte hi) 55, mihten 86, pt. pl.; am 162, ham 63, 1 pr. s., his 33 &c., is 36, pr. s., beoð 70, 108, 146, bieð 54, 65, pr. pl., beon 69, bienn 135, pr. pl. subj., was 19, wes 1 &c., pt. s., were 99 &c., wer 69, 75, pt. pl., were 5, 10 &c., pt. s. subj., 8, 15, 16 &c., pt. pl. subj., ibi 135 (*gebion), pp.; don 72, 73, pr. s. subj. but plural in form, ded[ė] 73, pt. s.; to gað 145, pr. pl., go 22, 1 pr. pl. subj.
Accents are used extensively, but on no consistent principle, so láge 79, lage 80; arerde 80, arérdon 85; áȝenes 34, aȝénes 24. They are mostly placed over long vowels, but they are used to indicate separate pronunciation of the vowels in méé 158, bethléem 167, besíé 14. Similarly they show that a vowel is not to be slurred in belocést 37, clénséde 103, macéde 91, ?Æér 21; that i is to have its full vowel value (not y) in ȝeclepíen 6, ȝelaðíe 17, halíe 85, 107, halíȝe 140, maníȝe 54, 109, witíe 57, 62, witíge 85; and that final e is to be pronounced in forté 137, mihté 38. Sometimes the accent has been exchanged with a contraction mark, as hlafordé 32, acénde 101. It is only a diacritic, answering to the printed dot, in íunglenges 107, ímaced 164, þenínge 46 &c., and over y written for i in scýft 117, cýme 87, týme 77. In diphthongs it marks the stressed element, séo 66, unterþéod 6, líef 59, níatt 45; in leóem 45 it shows shifted accent (as in loht 45), so feáwe 96, ?bleówu 168, ?leórde 109: sónne 46, féce 7 are hard to understand. In unwēmmed 139, the contraction mark has been kept, although m has been added; hīne 133 is curious.
[Dialect:] There is a considerable survival of older spellings from the West-Saxon original. The scribe’s language is South-Eastern strongly affected by Kentish, a mixed dialect such as might be current on the south-eastern border of Kent, or used by a southern man, not of Kentish extraction, but resident in the county, possibly at Rochester.
[Introduction:] This piece, like its predecessor in the MS., which is a transcription of Ælfric’s De Initio Creaturae, is, at least in part, an adaptation of an older, probably pre-Conquest homily, as is shown by the occurrence of archaic inflections and constructions (comp. to 8, hungre 28, hatrede 24, &c.; the extensive use of the subj. mood), and by its OE. vocabulary (þrimsettles 36, hagefaderen 140 &c.) almost free from any foreign element. Vollhardt suggested as its source the 46th chapter of the Liber de S. Anselmi Similitudinibus, a collection of parables and sayings of S. Anselm recorded by his biographer Eadmer, probably after the death of his master in 1109 A.D. This is printed in Anselmi Opera, ed. Gerberon, App. 161; Migne, P. L. clix., 625 and Vollhardt, 25. That the two versions are related cannot be doubted, but a consideration of dates compels the conclusion that they have a common source, or that the Latin is not S. Anselm’s.
The parable and its application is in the Latin brief and direct, in marked contrast to the vivacity, fullness of detail, and diffuseness (comp. 3. 19, 136) of the English. The latter has also expanded the application of the parable by much extraneous matter: i. The Creation Theme, 31-66; ii. The Five Ages of the World; iii. The Doomsday Theme, 136-156; iv. The Living Bread, 160-173, all of which is wanting in the Latin.
For filii 58 read filio, and for descendit 162, descendi.
There is no title in the MS.: Rex Suos Judicans is from Anselm’s title.
[2]. gelest, extended; probably the earliest example of the word in this sense. OE. gelǣstan, to accomplish, follow, last. With wide ⁊ side, spacious, extensive, comp. ‘Ðu leof cyningc leod-scipas ðine wide and side þu hætst,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 496/145; ‘⁊ ta wass Romess kinedom | Full wid ⁊ sid onn eorþe,’ Orm 9173.
[3]. ærfeðtelle, difficult to number; comp. ‘earueðhealde,’ 48/311; ‘Earfoðfynde,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 492/82; ‘arueðwinne,’ OEH ii. 49/14. OE. earfoðe, ēaðe, unēaðe are usually followed by the dat. of the infinitive, ‘earfoðe is ænegum men to witanne,’ Cura Past. 51/5, to which corresponds, ‘Hit is arfeð to understonden,’ OEH ii. 205/14; but they are also associated with a kind of verbal noun having a dat. termination in e, in imitation of the Latin supine in u, as earfoðlǣre, ēaþlǣre, unēaþlǣce, and the two words come to be treated as a compound adjective. For the acc. inf. comp. ‘Ac þe ben swo fele ꝥ hie ben arfeð tellen,’ OEH ii. 201/30.