Page 1, line [1]. myghteste, evidently an error of the scribe for myghtes, cf. ll. 1635, 1312, 3068, 2546, 1200, 2059; and Syr Ferumbras, l. 2719.
“Nov help hem þe heȝ kyng of hevene,
Þat art of miȝtes most.”
God in glorie occurs again in l. 3229; cf. the French expression Damedeu de glore; Fierabras 2332.
p. 1, l. [2]. made and wroght in l. 5 are the 2nd person sing. preterite, which in all other instances in this poem ends in -est. But perhaps we might suppose a change of person here, and regard made and wroght as the third person. For examples of the change of person see Syr Ferumbras, ll. 2719, 4393, and Guy of Warwick, ed. Zupitza, l. 2324.
p. 1, l. [7]. shulde to love; to before an infinitive, governed by an auxiliary verb, is pretty common in Middle English works. See Zupitza’s note to Guy, 1925.
p. 1, l. [9]. ȝyfe. This is the only instance of ȝ being written in the present poem at the beginning of a word. ȝife is written if in all other passages of the poem, cf. ll. 550, 651, 763, and 1061, etc. As to the pronunciation of ȝ in the middle of a word, it is doubtful, whether it had still preserved its ancient guttural sound, or not, as the same words are written sometimes with it and sometimes without it, and are often made to rhyme with words in which ȝ or gh would be etymologically incorrect; e. g. nye, which is spelt nyȝe in l. 2284, rhymes with Gye, in l. 2657. We even find whiȝte, in l. 2289, instead of white (l. 2008: smyte). At the end of a word ȝ has the sound of s.
p. 1, l. [13]. idoone. The prefix i-, O.E. ge-, sometimes occurs in this poem, but more frequently it is not written; see Introduction, p. xxxviii.
p. 1, l. [14]. cf. l. 2516.—ll. 1–14 may be said to contain the moral of the whole poem, which we know the romance writers to be very fond of placing at the beginning of their works. “La moralité de tout un poème,” says Léon Gautier, in his Epopées Françaises, I. 233, “est quelquefois exprimée dans ses premiers vers.” [‹p096›]
p. 1, l. [16]. moch = much (as in l. 754) is the usual spelling in this poem. We likewise find meche, l. 179, and mikille, l. 1016.