(4) In adverbs the final -e denotes—
(a) an older vowel-ending; as, sone (A.S. sóna), 136, sone, 218, 251, yete (A.S. géta, as well as gét), 495, ofte (Swed. ofta, Dan. ofte), 227.
(b) an adverb as distinguished from its corresponding adjective, as, yerne, 153, loude, 96, longe, 241, more, 301, softe, 305, heye, 335, swiþe, 455, harde, 639. Hence, in l. 640, we should read neye.
(c) an older termination in -en or -an; as, þer-hinne, 322, 709, 712, henne, 843, inne, 855. Cf. A.S. heonan, innan.
(d) It is also sounded in the termination -like, as, sikerlike, 422. Hence, in baldelike, 53, both the ees are sounded; cf. feblelike, 418. When the final -e is slurred over before an h in Chaucer, h is found commonly to begin the pronoun he, or its cases, the possessive pronouns his, hire, or their cases, a part of the verb to have, or else the adverbs how or heer. The same rule seems to hold in Havelok. Observe, that e often forms a syllable in the middle of a word, as, bondeman, 32, engelondes, 63, pourelike, 322.
With regard to the final -en, it is most commonly slurred over before a vowel or the h in he or haue, not only when it is the termination of the infinitive mood, but in many other cases. One striking example may suffice:
He greten and gouleden and gouen hem ille, 164.
A still more striking peculiarity is that the same rule often holds for the ending -es. We find it, of course, forming a distinct syllable in plurals; as, limes, 86; and in adverbs, as, liues, 509. But observe such instances as maydnes, 2, prestes, 33, vtlawes, 41, siþes, 213, &c.
In the same way, when rapid final syllables such as -el, -er, -ere, &c., are slurred over, it will generally be found that a vowel or h follows them. Examples: litel, 6, woneth, 105, bedels, 266, bodi, 345, deuel, 446, hunger, 449. Compare oueral, 38, 54. There are many other peculiarities which it would take long to enumerate, such as, that sworn is pronounced sworen, 204; that the final -e is sometimes preserved before a vowel, as in dedë am, 167; that the word ne is very frequently not counted, as it were, in the scansion, as in 57, 113, 220, 419, the second ne in l. 547, and in several other places. But it must suffice to state merely, that when the above rules (with allowance of a few exceptions) are carefully observed, it will be found that the metre of Havelok is very regular, and valuable on account of its regularity.
It would therefore be easy to correct the text in many places by help of an exact analysis of the rhythm. But this, except in a very few places, has not been attempted, because the imperfect, but unique, MS. copy is more instructive as it stands. In l. 19, e.g. wit should be wite; in l. 47, red should be rede; in l. 74, his soule should be of his soule, &c. The importance of attending to the final -e may be exemplified by the lines—