browen, III, 9, 4: brewed, (brown corrected from earlier MS.)
browȝt, browt, browthe, brought.
brown ground, IV, 27, 12: brown with heather.
brown sword, I, 70, 22; 294, 24; III, 71, 305. Brún as an epithet of sword in Anglo-Saxon has been interpreted literally, as denoting that the weapon was wholly or in part of bronze; also as gleaming, which may at first seem forced. Gleaming is the meaning given to brown sword by Mätzner, who cites three cases from romances. We have bright brown sword, II, 139, 22; 241, 24; 266, 26, 27; and, blades both browne and bright, III, 93, 36. The late Mr. Edward Bangs, remarking upon these passages, suggests that the blades may have been artificially browned with acid and then polished, as gun-barrels still are, and he refers to P. Lacombe’s description of the magnificent sword of Charles V, Armes et Armures, p. 221: “la lame est d’acier bruni presque noir.” We have browne tempered blade, III, 35, 13, meaning, probably, a blade tempered to that color.
browt, browthe, brought.
browst, V, [306], 12: brewage.
bruchty, brucket, brockit, I, 301 f., A 5, 9; V, [213] a, No 33, 5: spotted or streaked with dirt; of a sheep, streaked or speckled in the face. See brockit.
brue, V, [209] a: broo, broth, soup.
brue, I, 334, 3: brow.
bruik, II, 422, 2; IV, 385, 27; V, [179], 12, 13: enjoy, possess. See brook.