STANZAIC GUY OF WARWICK: FOOTNOTES
1 Lines 1-2: God give them the rewards of heaven / Who listen to my romance read aloud
2 Lines 70-72: Unless I have you as my husband / I will not take another man / For all the riches in the world
3 Lines 80-81: His happiness he could explain to no one / On account of that beautiful woman
4 Lines 82-84: He had never before been / Half so joyful since he was born / For anything that anyone had promised him
5 Lines 92-93: And yet you will not take [as a husband] one of them / Under any circumstance
6 Lines 148-50: I would rather have her alone / Than gain all worldly goods / With any other woman alive
7 Lines 248-49: [But] for love of Jesus, our Savior, / He had never done any good deeds
8 Have you heard anything at all about me that is not good
9 That I never did any virtuous acts after that moment
10 But everything I have done has been for your love
11 Lines 310-11: Of all the good deeds that I may accomplish, / I ask God to grant to you, my dear, half the benefit of them
12 Lines 415-17: And [she thought] that her father and each of her friends / Would say that her husband had done it / And had therefore fled away
13 With a greyish-white head [of hair]and plentiful beard
14 Lines 633-34: And stabbed our horses to death under us; / Nevertheless we fought on foot for a long time
15 Lines 730-32: Unless they were able to defend themselves / He would condemn them to great danger / And to their punishment
16 Lines 919-21: And despite them, I have never yet fled / Nor ever left a battle out of fear, / Not for any man (lit., for no man that ever broke bread)
17 Be on your guard against any cowardliness in him
18 Lines 1006-08: You serve an inferior lord, it seems to me, / [Either that] or he has exiled you / Because of some terrible crime
19 Lines 1045-47: All men in my prison that are counted Christian shall be released out of respect for you
20 Lines 1114-16: No weapon had ever been made / That could pierce that shield / Anymore than [it could pierce] a piece of flint
21 They would not be able to flee [the battlefield] under any circumstances
22 Lines 1168-70: No armor exists (lit., no armor made by a smith), either in Muslim lands or in France, which would be able to withstand it
23 Lines 1174-76: No man that had ever carried it / Had been defeated in battle or in war / Except through treachery
24 Lines 1256-57: And continued forward with his stroke, / It did not stop there
25 Lines 1261-62: What with pulling out the sword, / And fiercely disengaging it
26 Lines 1267-68: Never before has the blow of any knight forced me to kneel down
27 Lines 1285-89: Such a violent battle arose between them, / So those who watched it said, / That they had never seen such [a fight] / And that there never were of woman born / Two such knights as they were
28 Provided that you return [the favor] to me today
29 Lines 1474-76: Before I would acknowledge myself defeated / I would rather be hanged / And my body burnt to ashes (lit., both flesh and bone burnt)
30 Lines 1487-88: You could not be of such strength / And remain unheard of here
31 Lines 1510-12: Hence forward you can be certain / That no permission [to drink] will come to you from me, / Even [if I could thereby] win all of this world
32 Lines 1672-74: Then you would pay me far too highly / To give me your lands like this; / I will have none of them
33 As surely as God gives you salvation to hope for
34 That nephew (i.e., Berard) obliges me [to return] home today
35 Lines 1963-64: And I dreamed that Guy sat at my head / And wrapped me in the loose folds of his shirt
36 Lines 2008-10: But Tirri was terribly afraid / Of being recognized by his enemies / If he entered the city
37 Lines 2054-55: What do the men of those lands that you have come from say about me?
38 Lines 2084-85: These seven years you will not see / Neither your feet nor hands
39 Lines 2089-90: "Oh! sir," said Guy, "are you thus [such a one]? / I knew no better who it was["]
40 Lines 2157-59: She wanted to dress him in silk. / But this was not his desire; / The only thing he asked her for was good armor
41 Lines 2230-32: In the same way that one sees sparks come from flint, / Steam rose from their helmets / Since they struck so violently
42 Lines 2267-68: But at [the thought of] being recognized by his enemies / He became extremely fearful
43 Lines 2302-03: When the light of day failed them / They could not decide what they should do
44 Lines 2323-24: Duke Berard did not forget about him (Guy); / He devised a wicked plan
45 Why have I been cast into this terrible misfortune
46 Lines 2642-43: To the pilgrim he immediately wished / To sign over all his land
47 To the king (Athelston) he (Anlaf) has sent his message
48 Lines 2878-79: Silent sat earls and barons / As men who had shaved their heads (i.e., As monks)
49 Lines 3068-69: It was nothing but steel plates / From his foot to his neck
50 Lines 3155-56: If Guy was then intensely afraid / It was no surprise
51 Despite all your boasting (lit., in spite of your teeth)
52 [So] that nobody is able to hear our private discussion
53 To tell you to prepare for yourself a direct passage [to Heaven]
54 Lines 3452-53: Never transport me from here / But bury me here in the earth
STANZAIC GUY OF WARWICK: EXPLANATORY NOTES
1-24 As the Middle English redactor selected a tranche of material from midway through his source Gui de Warewic, a certain amount of editorial shaping was necessary at various narrative junctures. Here, at the opening of the romance, the conventional laudatory description of the protagonist has been extended to include a recapitulation that summarizes events from the earlier part of Guy's life. These first two stanzas are not included in Gui de Warewic but were added by the Middle English redactor in order to orient the narrative and to signal, in the traditional manner, the opening of a new romance. The final stanza was, likewise, added by the Middle English redactor to mark narrative closure. For a discussion of the redactor's omission of the "Reinbroun" material, see the note to lines 1843-44.
1-3 God graunt hem heven-blis to mede / That herken to mi romaunce rede / Al of a gentil knight. As is typical of romance, an oral storytelling context is imagined. This opening stanza contains a number of traditional elements: a prayer for the audience, a statement of subject, and praise for the hero. The narrator's call to an audience to "listen" to his romance being "read" aloud is suggestive of the affiliations of romance with both orality and literacy in terms of origins, composition, and transmission. The opinions of commentators vary as to the relative extent to which orality and literacy should each be regarded as influential. For a range of views on this issue see: Albert C. Baugh, "The Middle English Romance: Some Questions of Creation, Presentation, and Preservation" (Speculum 42 [1967], 1-31); M. Chesnutt, "Minstrel Reciters and the Enigma of the Middle English Romance" (Culture and History 2 [1987], 48-67); Ruth Crosby, "Oral Delivery in the Middle Ages" (Speculum 11 [1936], 88-110); Andrew Taylor, "Fragmentation, Corruption, and Minstrel Narration: The Question of the Middle English Romances" (Yearbook of English Studies 22 [1992], 38-62).
12-13 Of Warwike wise and wight. / Wight he was for sothe to say. The repetition of "wight" links the end of one stanza and the start of the next. This use of repetition has an obvious structural function and can be compared with certain forms of "catenation" in Anglo-Norman chansons de geste, where they are accounted for as memorial aids for the oral reciter. Similar structural repetitions appear elsewhere in the stanzaic Guy of Warwick. For example, Guy's parting speech to Felice begins with his address to her as "Leve leman" and this is echoed as "Leman" four more times during the speech, each at the start or mid-point of a stanza (lines 337, 349, 361, 373, 379). For further discussion of the use of this and similar kinds of repetitions in romance, see Smithers (1988), pp. 192-94.
20 Athelston. The Saxon King Athelstan ruled 924-39 and is best known for his defeat of the Scots and Danes at the Battle of Brunanburh in 937. This battle, recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and sung as a great victory won by Athelstan over the Viking invader Anlaf, is traditionally said to have inspired the story of Guy and Colbrond that appears in the Stanzaic Guy of Warwick lines 2965-3324; see Legge (1963), p. 162. The location of the battle near Winchester is not that of the historical event and the romance does not attempt an accurate historical presentation. Nevertheless, the historicity of the Stanzaic Guy of Warwick is important to its meaning, and Field (p. 168) and Klausner (p. 117) each argue that the historical setting is essential to its success. There are a number of indications that the historicity of Guy of Warwick informed its contemporary reception and from the early fourteenth century Guy is mentioned in chronicle accounts of Athelstan's reign. The Short Metrical Chronicle, for example, concludes its account of Athelstan's reign with a description of how:
In Aŝelstonis time, ich understond,
Was Gii of Warwike in Inglond
& for Aŝelston he dede a bateyle
Wiŝ a geaunt gret, saunfaile.
Ŝe geaunt hi3t Colbro[n]d,
Gy him slou3 wiŝ his hond.
At Winchester ŝe bataile was don
& seŝŝe dede Gii never non. (lines 1663-70)
Guy's battle with Colbrond is also included in the account of Athelstan's reign in Peter Langtoft's Chronique d'Angleterre, c. 1306, translated into English by Robert Mannyng c. 1338. Langtoft directly associates Guy's legendary battle with the Battle of Brunanburh in order to forge a parallel with Edward I's battles with the Scots, one which would suggest, by historical and legendary association, the chivalrous status of Edward's own military accomplishments. For further dis-cussion of these chronicle accounts, see Richmond, pp. 65-76.
22-24 For his love ich understond / He slough a dragoun in Northhumberlond / Ful fer in the north cuntré. The dragon-slaying episode from Guy's youth is recounted in other versions of the romance and is the concluding episode of the couplet Guy of Warwick (lines 7141-7306). The episode is also referred to in Bevis of Hampton, where the narrator includes Guy in a list of great heroes of romance: "And Gy a Warwik, ich understonde, / Slough a dragoun in North Homberlonde" (lines 2607-08). The reference suggests this was a particularly well-known episode, though the similarity of phrasing with the stanzaic Guy may imply that one of these references was based upon the other.
71 Other lord nil Y non take. Double negatives are common in Middle English and invariably function to add emphasis; they do not cancel each other out.
75 That semly was of sight. The expression "of sight" has the sense "to be seen," "as can be seen," or "in appearance," and occurs six times elsewhere in the text, always in the tail-rhyme position (lines 675, 909, 1128, 1776, 2292, 2832). It is formulaic and appears in other romances with this sense, for example, The King of Tars: "Ŝat grimli was of si3t" (line 168); Reinbroun: "Ŝo child so faire of si3t" and "Grisliche he was of si3te" (stanza 8, line 2, and stanza 34, line 12); Amis and Amiloun: "Tho gomes, that were egre of sight" (line 1309).
97-102 Felice answerd ogain . . . / Bi Him that schop mankende. The awkwardness here, which is a kind of periphrasis, reflects the Middle English redactor's attempt to compress what were in the couplet source two distinct statements from Felice:
"Sire," fait ele, "jo en penserai,
De ci al tirerz jur le vus dirrai."
Cum il vint al tierz jur,
Li quons apele par grant amur
Felice sa fille qui tant ert sage:
"Fille, di mei tun corage."
"Sire," fait ele, "ben vus mustrai
Cum en mun corage proposé l'ai;
Ne vus en peist si jol vus di,
Bel dulz sire, ço vus en pri." (Gui de Warewic, lines 7461-70)
Mills (1991), p. 227, comments that, as a result of the omission of lines 7464-66, "the heroine now seems to be clearing her throat at somewhat excessive length, giving a (nervous?) hiccough in the middle of doing so, and starting again from the beginning. None of which is really like her at all."
123 Sir Gii the conquerour. The title "conqueror" denotes a victorious ruler and in contemporary texts tends to be applied to historical figures. "King Richard" and "Charls" are both referred to as "ŝe conquerour" in the romances Richard Coer de Lyon (line 1015) and Roland and Vernague (line 57; in The Taill of Rauf Coilyear, with the Fragments of Roland and Vernagu and Otuel, ed. Sidney J. H. Herrtage, EETS e.s. 39 [London: N. Trübner and Co., 1882; rpt. H. Milford, 1931]); Robert Mannying refers in his chronicle to "William conqueroure" (chapter 2, lines 2122, 4455, 4564); and the Cursor Mundi refers to "Alisaunder ŝe conquerour" (line 3, ed. Richard Morris, 7 vols., EETS o.s. 57, 59, 62, 66, 68, 99, 101 [London: K. Paul, Trench, Trübner, and Co., 1874; rpt. London: Oxford University Press, 1961]).
128-29 Tel me the sothe par charité / Y pray thee, par amoure. This case of periphrasis, which results in the earl's excessive politeness, occurred during translation and can be compared to lines 97-102 above.
169-216 Significant interest has been generated in the relationship between these four stanzas and similar descriptions of feasting in Amis and Amiloun, another East Midland tail-rhyme romance from the Auchinleck MS. The comparable passages occur in Amis and Amiloun at lines 97-132, 409-44, and 1505-24. Particularly close similarities can be observed by comparing lines 181-83, 190-91, 195, and 211-13 from the stanzaic Guy of Warwick with the following passage from Amis and Amiloun:
Fourtennight, as me was told,
With meet and drynke, meryst on mold
To glad the bernes blithe;
Ther was mirthe and melodye
And al maner of menstracie
Her craftes for to kithe;
Opon the fiftenday ful yare
Thai token her leve forto fare
And thonked him mani a sithe. (lines 100-08)
Loomis (pp. 613-27) and Fewster (pp. 60-66) each suppose that Amis and Amiloun was derived from the stanzaic Guy. However, the subsequent consideration by Mills (1991), who gives Amis priority, seems the most convincing. Mills argues that here, as at other points, the Middle English redactor of the stanzaic Guy had loosely followed Gui de Warewic but used his knowledge of Amis and Amiloun in order to amplify and re-structure his material into stanza form.
190-210 Ther was mirthe and melody. References to professional entertainers are common in metrical romance and appear in such diverse specimens of the genre as Emaré (line 13), Sir Orfeo (line 449), Sir Gowther (line 531), Sir Cleges (line 99), William of Palerne (line 5355), The Seege or Batayle of Troye (line 804), and Kyng Alisaunder (line 5981). The description here in the Stanzaic Guy of Warwick is comprised of several conventional elements; the statement that there was "every kind of entertainment" is typical, as is the listing of instruments and reference to singers or tale tellers. What is unusual is the length and detail of this description. Not only are several elements combined but these are repeated and extended, so an unusually long list of seven instruments is given (there are players on horns, drums, fiddle, crowd, harp, organs, bagpipes) and the narrator asserts that there is al maner menstracie (line 191) and then, again, that there is al maner of gle (line 202). See also the note to line 197, below.
194 croude. The croude was a straight-sided, six-stringed instrument of Welsh origin that was plucked or played with a bow. For a full description see Otto Emanuel Andersson, The Bowed-Harp: A Study in the History of Early Musical Instruments, trans. Mary Stenbäck, ed. and trans. Kathleen Schlesinger (London: W. Reeves, 1930), pp. 195ff.
197 Minstrels of mouthe and mani dysour. References to singers or tale tellers appear in several other romances: Kyng Alisaunder (line 6981), Firumbras (line 417; in Firumbras and Otuel and Roland, ed. Mary Isabelle O'Sullivan, EETS o.s. 198 [London: Oxford University Press, 1935]), and The Seege or Batayle of Troye (line 806) each refer to "dysoures" who "talen" or "synge and . . . carpe." However, it is difficult to be certain about exactly the kind of entertainment that is here being referred to. The minstrels of mouthe may be storytellers or singers. The term dysour may specify a storyteller but also seems to have been used as a more generalized term to refer to a range of different types of entertainers or jesters. See also the note to lines 190-210, above.
201 to mithe. The form is recorded nowhere else by the MED.
208-10 Thai goven glewemen for her gle / Robes riche, gold and fe, / Her giftes were nought gnede.The depiction of the patronage of entertainers is a topos found in a number of romances. The protagonists of Sir Isumbras (lines 19-21) and Sir Cleges (lines 37-48) are each lauded for their generosity towards minstrels, and Sir Orfeo pivots upon the fairy king's promise to repay the musician Orfeo "largelich" for his harping (line 451). There is a certain degree of correspondence here with the contemporary treatment of entertainers. The accounts of Thomas Lancaster show that in 1319 high-quality cloths were purchased for household musicians at the large sum of £13. Records of this type imply that skilled entertainers were often regarded as servants of status and rewarded accordingly. Such gift-giving also reflects the position of minstrels and musicians. Many were often only loosely connected to a parent household. As they therefore did not draw the same daily benefits as other servants, they would be recompensed on a more ad hoc basis. For further consideration of the position of minstrels and entertainers within the great household, see Woolgar, pp. 27-29.
216 In gest also we rede. In the stanzaic Guy, interjections from the narrator are of three main kinds: those which begin "In gest . . ." (". . . also we read" [line 216], ". . . as Y you say" [line 420], ". . . as Y you telle" [line 3054, etc.]); those which alliterate on "telle," "tale," "tong" ("no tong may telle in tale" [line 199], "With tong as Y thee telle" [line 741, etc.]); and those with "listen" ("listen and lithe" [line 3396], "listen and lere" [line 518], "listen now to me" [line 2192, etc.]). In addition, there are a number of very short phrases which represent interjections from the narrator and typically offer enforcement or claim the authority or truth of a statement, such as, "for sothe to say" (line 13), "ich understond" (line 22), "ich wene" (line 1611), "sikerly" (line 2779), and "verrament" (line 953).
234 On hunting thai gun ride. On is used before the verb to indicate an ongoing, continuous action; so, they continued to hunt regularly.
237 In herd is nought to hide. This expression also occurs in the tail-rhyme position in line 57 of Sir Launfal where Sands describes it as "One of many metrical expletives in Launfal, this one best rendered as 'No reason to hide anything'" (Middle English Verse Romances [Exeter: Exeter University Press, 1966], p. 205). It occurs eight times in the Auchinleck MS and always in the tail-rhyme position of texts written in twelve-line tail-rhyme stanzas: Sir Owain (line 420, in Three Purgatory Poems, ed. Edward E. Foster [Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Pub-lications, 2004] ), Amis and Amiloun (line 501), and Horn Childe and Maiden Rimnild (lines 39, 57, 189, 396, 669, and 729).
250 with wrong. The specific sense "sinfully" is implied; that is, "contrary to moral or religious teachings, wickedly; in a sinful or an immoral manner" (MED).
251 it was his song. A conventional expression with the sense that "all his speech" or "everything he said" was of this nature.
257-58 For Him that bar the croun of thorn / Gode dede dede Y nare. In Middle English romance, oaths and expressions that call upon God tend to be highly formulaic and, as here, a preference is shown for periphrastic forms. This example conforms to a pattern used repeatedly in the stanzaic Guy: periphrastic pious exclamations are typically of one line, begin with a version of "For Him that" (see also "Bi Him that," "To Him that," "Now God that" at lines 63, 333, and 1978) and end with a phrase which refers to the Creation (". . . schope mankinne," ". . . schope mankende," ". . . schope al mankinde" at lines 63, 333, and 1978) or the Passion (". . . this warld wan," ". . . suffred ded," ". . . schadde for ous His blod," ". . . dyed on Rode," "schadde His blod" at lines 134, 924, 2027, 2947, and 2948). Dalrymple (2000), pp. 123-26, counts twenty-seven pious formulae in the stan-zaic Guy and observes that images of the Passion are specifically invoked "when Guy speaks of his desire to appease God." He argues that they function to stress Guy's pious motives and would potentially have affective power upon readers/auditors who knew of their poignant use in other texts and were familiar with visual images of the Crucifixion. See the note to lines 1216-17 for a discussion of pious expressions which invoke the omnipotent Deity rather than the Passion.
331 Chirches and abbays thou might make. The endowment of religious foundations was common practice in the Middle Ages. In at least three other romances, unlike Guy, the protagonist does go ahead and build an abbey in order to win spiritual reward of some kind. The Northern Octavian recounts the story of a couple who cannot conceive a child so build an abbey to request intercession from Virgin; Sir Gawain and the Carle of Carlisle (in Sir Gawain: Eleven Romances and Tales, ed. Thomas Hahn [Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, 1995]) tells how a man builds an abbey so that masses may be said for the men he has slain; in Sir Gowther, an abbey and convent are founded in penitence.
383 And bothe thai fel aswon tho. In the romance mode, the expression of emotion is signalled through a highly conventionalized pattern of gestures. Fainting (and sometimes the simultaneous fainting of two or more characters) may occur at moments of intense sorrow, as here. It may also follow a shock (as occurs when Guy reveals his identity to Tirri, lines 2699-2703) or indicate a general sense of being overwhelmed with emotion (such as when Felice breaks the news of Guy's departure, line 431). Other gestures representative of sorrow include sighing (line 2787), going pale (line 2724), weeping (especially at parting, see lines 1679, 2774, 3313), and crying "alas" or "wayleway" (lines 1708, 3519). Distress is also indicated by wringing hands (line 3522), tearing hair or clothes (line 544). See the note to line 808 for a discussion of the significance of kisses exchanged between men.
388-93 "Leman," sche seyd, "have here this ring . . . / And God Y thee betiche." The ring given by Felice to Guy is a symbol of their relationship. It ultimately becomes a token of recognition when it is later returned by Guy to Felice (lines 3430-32 and 3467-74), at which point we also learn that it is a "gold" ring (line 3432) engraved with distinguishing "letters" (line 3471). Rings given on parting or as tokens of recognition are commonplace in romance tradition and appear, for example, in King Horn (lines 567-70, where the ring is also engraved), Sir Perceval of Galles (lines 471-74; in Sir Perceval of Galles and Ywain and Gawain, ed. Mary Flowers Braswell [Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, 1999]), and Sir Eglamour (line 709).
397-408 This stanza offers a significantly abbreviated version of the Anglo-Norman source. Gui de Warewic (lines 7727-52) includes a description of how Guy leaves in secret for the Holy Land and his motivations (lines 7732-36: "En Jerusalem puis aler voldra. / Desore d'errer ne finera, / En Jerusalem si vendra / E en meinte estrange terre / U les sainz Deu purra requere" ["He desired then to go to Jerusalem. Henceforth, he will not cease from wandering until, by way of many strange lands, he reaches Jerusalem where he will be able to visit God's holy relics"]) as well as the actual words of Felice's lament. Observing this, Mills (1991), p. 224, comments that "Given the translator's weakness for producing whole stanzas that described wanderings over the face of England, Europe, or the Near East [see the notes to lines 469-80 and 829-40], it is at first surprising that he should not here have produced another wholly given up to Guy's pilgrimage." Mills' explanation is that the Middle English redactor was influenced by his knowledge of Amis and Amiloun, another twelve-line tail-rhyme romance, and had re-worked the couplet source into stanza form using Amis lines 253-64 as a model or "mould."
468 With his brother Tirry. Guy and Tirri are brothers in the sense of "sworn brothers," bound to each other by an oath of loyalty and brotherhood. They are close friends and comrades in arms although not blood relations. Their relationship is developed through the series of adventures they share together during Guy's youth. A specific episode in the couplet Guy of Warwick recounts the moment they make their bond of brotherhood:
Gii seyd to Tirry, wiŝouten lesing:
"Ich wil ŝat we be treuŝe-pli3t
& sworn breŝer anon ri3t,
Tirri," seyd sir Gyoun,
"Understond now to mi resoun
Ŝat noiŝer oŝer after ŝis
No faile oŝer while he lives is."
Wiŝ ŝat answerd ŝerl Tirri,
& seyd, "wel bleŝelich, sir Gii.
Now ŝou lovest so miche me,
Ŝat tow mi sworn broŝer wil be,
No wille ich never feyle ŝe
For nou3t ŝat mai bifalle me.
Gret worŝschip ŝou hast don me:
God leve me 3ete ŝan day yse
Ŝat ich it ŝe mow wele 3eld.
For gode baroun ŝou art yheld;
Fram deŝ ŝou hast ywarist me;
Wel gret wrong it schuld be
Bot ich ŝe loved as mi lord fre.
Wel gret worŝschip ich ou3t bere ŝe."
Treuŝe bitven hem is pli3t,
& after kist anonri3t. (lines 4906-28)
For a discussion of the importance of the theme of sworn brotherhood in Amis and Amiloun and Athelston see the introductions to those texts in Foster and Herzman et al. A wide-ranging study of the topic is provided by John Boswell, Same Sex Unions in Pre-Modern Europe (New York: Villard Books, 1994).
469-80 Menssangers anon thai sende . . . / Bi north no bi southe. What is, in the Anglo-Norman source, a very short list of geographical names has here been expanded to a much longer catalogue. Gui de Warewic has: "Puis unt lur messages pris, / Par tote la terre l'unt il quis. / Mais quant pas trové ne l'unt, / Arere repairé se sunt" (lines 7815-18). Mills (1991), p. 220, cites this as an example of the Middle English redactor's tendency to amplify material from his source in order to make distinct sections fit the twelve lines of the stanza form. However, the expansion of another list of geographical names at lines 829-40 implies a particular interest in depictions of wandering (which is discussed in more detail above, in the Introduction, pp. 9-10). Smithers (p. 22) describes a comparable example of amplification in his edition of Kyng Alisaunder.
484 Palmers wede. Medieval pilgrims were identifiable by their characteristic sclavin ("cloak"), scrip ("bag" or "satchel"), and burdoun ("staff"). For a discussion of the importance of recognizability and the potential advantages it offered pilgrims, see A. M. Koldeweij, "Lifting the Veil on Pilgrim Badges" in Stopford, pp. 161-88.
496 He yede over alle bi doun and dale. Compare to Chaucer's Tale of Sir Thopas, line 796: "By dale and eek by downe"; and Sir Tryamour, line 270: "Be dale and eke be downe."
517-19 Now herken and ye may here / In gest yif ye wil listen and lere / Hou Gii as pilgrim yede. This is an example of transitio, a rhetorical device whereby the narrator makes an explicit shift from the experiences of one character to another. It is a common procedure in Middle English verse narratives, Old French romance, and chansons de geste. For a detailed discussion of the use of such rhetorical devises in romance, see Smithers (1988), pp. 209-10.
541 Up until this point, the redactor has used the four-rhyme version of the twelve-line tail-rhyme stanza: aabaabccbddb. This version is unusual within the corpus of tail-rhyme romances and is only used consistently in The King of Tars and Amis and Amiloun. Mills (1991), p. 216, highlights the possibilities of this stanza form: "Its densely asymmetrical rhyme-structure encourages some distinctive narrative procedures and produces some particular dramatic effects; its first half tends to be relatively self-contained, involuted, static; its second, both more varied in content and more dynamic in impetus." As a result of the greater number of rhymes, this scheme is more demanding than the more common five-rhyme pattern (aabccbddbeeb) and, after alternating between the two from lines 541-624, the redactor settles on the five-rhyme pattern with only a few exceptions.
592 Sarrayins. The term "Saracen" has both generalized and more specific usages in Middle English. Here it refers to an Arab or Muslim, though elsewhere in romance, such as in King Horn, it may be used in a generalized way to refer to any non-Christian or opponent of Christianity.
619-24 In a brom feld ther wer hidde . . . / And drof ous alle to schond. An incident involving hiding in a field full of broom also occurs in Kyng Alisaunder: "He was hyd in lynde and brome" (line 2488).
638 That we might to raunsoun come. This refers to the practice of ransoming noblemen from the field. A well-known example is of Geoffrey Chaucer who, when captured by the French during the Hundred Years War, was ransomed for £16. The regulation of this chivalric practice relied upon the importance of bonds between those of the same social rank (which existed even between opponents) and the potential for financial and personal advancement to be gained among the captors. See the discussion in Derek Pearsall, The Life of Geoffrey Chaucer: A Critical Biography (Oxford: Blackwell, 1992), pp. 40-46.
668 Yif he wald ate ches playn. Chess was a game associated with high culture and, as a war game, with chivalry. It was probably invented in India in the sixth century and over time spread to Western Europe, given impetus by the contact of the crusades with Islamic countries.
723 parlement. A council of nobles convened to advise and make a decision as a court of law.
734-35 Have he Cristes curs and mine / With boke and eke with belle. During the ceremony of excommunication in the Catholic Church a bell is rung, a book closed, and a candle extinguished to signify symbolically that, from that moment, the person is excluded from taking the sacraments and joining in divine worship.
752 playn place. A piece of flat, open ground designated for martial games (tournaments, jousts) and fighting.
777 bond. A serf or customary tenant (as distinct from a free-holder): "a villager (villain) or farmer (husbandman) holding land under a lord in return for customary services, esp[ecially] ploughing" (MED).
791 burjays. "A freeman of a town, a citizen with full rights and privileges" (MED).
808 He kist me so glad he was. Kissing and embracing between men is common in romance and has various significances. According to the encoded pattern of gestures, a kiss may be used to represent a strong feeling of happiness or given as a formal sign of reconciliation and restored friendship (line 2605). Both of these senses, joy and reconciliation, are implied by the kiss Triamour gives to Jonas. In cases of reconciliation where forgiveness or acquittal are specifically implied, then an embrace (initiated by the one who is forgiving or acquitting) rather than or as well as a kiss is given (as at lines 1609-14 and 2721). Kisses are also given at the parting of someone dear, as at line 1678 where Jonas and all his fifteen sons line up to kiss Guy good-bye. Gratitude and thanks are expressed by the kissing of feet (lines 929-30). See the note to line 383 for discussion of the significance of other kinds of gestures in romance.
829-40 Y sought hem into the lond of Coyne . . . / And thurthout al Breteyne. Here, as at lines 469-80, what appears in the Anglo-Norman source as a brief list of names has been amplified by the Middle English redactor to become a much more extensive geographical itinerary. Gui de Warewic (lines 8135-38) has: "Dreit m'en alai en Alemaigne, / En Loheregne e en Espaigne, / E en Puille e en Ses-soigne, / E en France e en Burgoigne" ["I went directly to Germany, to Lorraine and to Spain, and into Apulia and to Saxony, and to France and to Burgundy"].
983-85 He slough mi brother Helmadan, / Thurth him icham forlore. / Min em he slough, the riche Soudan. According to the couplet Guy of Warwick (lines 2947-52), it is not Guy but one of his comrades, Tebaud, who slew Helmadan. This episode and the slaying of the Sultan occur during Guy's exploits around Constantinople fighting for the Emperor Hernis. A similar reference to an episode in Guy's youth is subsequently made by Amorant (lines 1327-41).
1004-06 Whi artow thus ivel ydight / And in thus pouer wede?/ A feble lord thou servest, so thenketh me. Triamour refers to the practice whereby knights and retainers were clothed and fed by their lord. The episode can be compared to one in Sir Launfal (lines 154-56) in which the appearance of Hugh and John, who return to Arthur's court very tattered and in the same clothes they left a year before, instantly prompts questions and speculation about their retaining lord during their time away.
1010-20 A wel gode Lord than serve Y . . . / And live with joie and game. Guy maintains his anonymity without lying about his situation by using the knight and his retaining lord as a metaphor for himself and his relationship with God. The metaphor is informed by the wider theme in the text of the "pilgrimage of life" and, as on other occasions, the disguise motif offers significant opportunity for dramatic irony.
1048 Inde that cité. See Index of Place Names.
1074 stithe on stede. "Powerful on horse." Compare Sir Tristram (in Sir Tristram and Sir Lancelot of the Laik, ed. Alan Lupack [Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, 1994]), "With knightes stithe on stedes" (line 66) and Sir Amadace, "so stithe on stede" (line 577).
1076 Espire. Compare Gui de Warewic, line 8384, "Perse" (i.e., Persia).
1081-1119 This description provides a heroic genealogy for each item of armor given to Guy by Triamour. King Clarel (line 1085), who owned the hauberk, is the Saracen king and opponent of Charlemagne who features prominently in the Auchinleck MS romance Otuel. Clarel is imprisoned by Charlemagne's knights, then, when freed, takes Ogier prisoner before being slain by Otuel in hand-to-hand combat. Alisaunder (line 1102), who is said to have worn the helmet when he fought against Poreus (line 1103), is Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia, conqueror of the Persian empire (356-23 BC), and renowned hero of romance. The romance Kyng Alisaunder describes Alexander's pursuit of King Porus into India and how he forces him to become his subject and guide around the sub-continent; when Porus renounces his allegiance, Alexander slays him in single combat and assumes dominance over India. King Darri (line 1118), who owned the shield, is Darius, another of Alexander's opponents whose pursuit by Alexander around the East also features prominently in the romance. Ector (line 1106), the owner of the sword, is Hector, the Trojan war hero and son of Priam. Hector and Alexander were two of the Nine Worthies; Weiss, pp. 101-02, suggests that the equivalent description in Gui de Warewic was designed to portray Guy as a successor to the Nine Worthies and, thereby, to compare him implicitly with Arthur. This portrayal, however, has been somewhat weakened in the stanzaic Guy as only two of the Nine Worthies are represented. A third, Charlemagne, is included in Gui de Warewic (rei Charles, line 8390) but is replaced in the stanzaic Guy with King Clarel. The replacement may suggest an interest in representing warriors from the East or it may represent a particular knowledge of Otuel on the part of the redactor or scribe. For other examples of this type of heroic genealogy in romance, see Floris and Blancheflour (lines 177-84), in which the precious cup used to buy and then win back Blancheflour is linked to Aeneas and Caesar, and Generydes, in which the hero fights with a sword that once belonged to a prince "callid Julyan . . . sumtyme of Rome the Emperour" (lines 3400-01; ed. W. Aldis Wright, 2 vols., EETS o.s. 55, 70 [London: N. Trübner and Co., 1873-78]).
1112 A targe listed with gold. A light shield (usually small and round in shape); here described as either edged or banded with strips of gold.
1134 Also brouke Y mi swere. An oath: "As I may break my neck!" or, possibly, "Thus I keep my oath." See Whiting, N42 for an analogous example used as an emphatic: "As soon break his neck as his fast in that house."
1150 With a river it ern al about. Literally, the river "ran all around" the edge of the plain.
1171-82 The description of Amorant's sword answers the preceding description of Guy's weapons and armor (lines 1081-1119). The sword is said to have once been owned by the Greek hero Hercules but the identity of Agnes (line 1178) is uncertain. Gui de Warewic at this point states that "Une deuesse la li dona" (line 8467), that is, "a goddess" gave the sword to him. The auditory similarity suggests "Agnes" may have resulted from the Middle English scribe or redactor misunderstanding or mishearing "deuesse."
The sword is said to have been imbued with special strength after having been bathed in the flom of Helle (line 1177), so that whoever wields it will be unbeatable. This reference associates Amorant with Achilles whose (near) in-fallibility was likewise achieved after he was dunked in the Styx. The Seege or Batayle of Troy records how Achilles' mother "bathid his body in ŝe flom of helle" (line 1345) and, with the exception of his feet which remained tender, his body turned "blak as Mahoun / Fro ŝe foot to ŝe croun / And his skyn was as hard as flynt" (line 1350-52). The process by which Achilles' skin achieved its flint-like hardness is subsequently reiterated in The Seege as a preface to the scene in which Achilles kills Hector in hand-to-hand combat (lines 1461-66). The as-sociation of Guy with Hector (he carries Hector's sword, line 1105) and Amorant with Achilles (his sword having the strength of Achilles) gives the battle another dimension. Portrayed as the descendants of these heroic ancestors, their meeting is dramatized in terms of the famous battle between Hector and Achilles, Trojan and Greek.
1201 sadelbowe. "The arched front part of a saddle, pommel" (MED).
1216-17 "Lord," seyd Gii, "God Almight / That made the therkenes to the night." This form of the rhetorical device "apostrophe" is very common in Anglo-Norman and Old French epics and their Middle English counterparts. Smithers (1988), p. 197, defines its use in these texts as involving "a reference to God or to Christ that specifies one or more of his attributes, or (more commonly) alludes to events in biblical history or in the life of Christ." It may be used in prayer, as a blessing, curse, oath, or greeting, in farewell, as a request, statement, or asseveration, in an interjection from the narrator, a confirmation of faith, or as hyperbole. The example here at lines 1216-17 conforms to a pattern which is repeatedly used in the stanzaic Guy, in which the first line has a call to God by name and the second refers to a biblical event. Comparable examples appear at lines 2353-54: "God Almight / That winde and water and al thing dight"; and lines 2032-33: "'Lord,' seyd Gii, 'that with hond / Made wode, water, and lond.'" Dalrymple (2000), p. 128, observes that Guy consistently makes entreaties using this kind of pious expression (in which the omnipotent deity rather than the Passion is invoked) when he "seeks the protection and guardianship of God." For a discussion of pious expressions which invoke the Passion see the note to lines 257-58.
1230 with his grimli gore. gore < OE gar ("sword," "spear"). The line is formulaic; compare to Amis and Amiloun, "with his grimli gore"(line 1353); and Horn Child and Maiden Rimnald, "wiŝ his grimli gare" (line 213); Sir Isumbras, "With grymly growndyne gare" (line 453).
1239 stern and stive. An alliterative formula for fierce, unbending severity. E.g., William of Palerne, "a stif man and a stern" (line 3378).
1255 cercle of gold. The metal band encircling the helmet.
1271 hod. A mail covering for the head and neck.
1275 nasel. The nose guard of a helmet.
1291-92 nativité / Of Seyn Jon the martir fre. Although the reference could be to John the Martyr, who, along with Paul the Martyr, was slain in the fourth century at Antioch, and is mentioned in Eucharistic prayers, the citation of the saint's nativity makes John the Baptist the more likely candidate. June 24 is the feast day celebrating his nativity, in which case the battle between Amourant and Guy would occur on June 23. The feast day of John the Martyr is June 26. Jacobus de Voragine gives some attention to John and Paul as among those who fell victim to Julian the Apostate, but the only detail given to link the two together is that they die as one for Christ. They do not appear in the South English Legendary. Although John the Baptist is not commonly referred to with the eponym "martyr," the fourteenth-century Scottish Legend of the Saints gives him three crowns, one for virginity, one for preaching, and one for martyrdom (Legends of the Saints in the Scottish Dialect of the Fourteenth Century, ed. W. M. Metcalfe, 3 vols., Scottish Text Society first ser. 13, 18, 23, 25, 35, 37 [Edinburgh: W. Blackwood and Sons, 1896; rpt. London: Johnson Reprint, 1968], 2.236, lines 461-72). He was an enormously popular saint with feast days both for his nativity (June 24) and his death by beheading (August 29). The South English Legendary combines events of both the nativity and martyrdom feasts, first celebrating his nativity ("the beste bern . . . that of womman was euere ibore withoute [except for] Iesu Crist" 1.244, line 2), but then concentrating on his martyrdom, with great emphasis on the ensuing miracles pertaining to his head and the finger that pointed out Christ that refused to burn when his headless body was cremated. That "in a castel of Arabie his heued was of ysmite" (1.243, line 45) perhaps lends a particular aptness to the beheading of Amorant in Arabie on the day before John the Baptist's nativity.
1296 Of love was ther no speche. This kind of ironic understatement, which uses litotes, is typical of the medieval epic style, especially in descriptions of battle. For further discussion of the influence of epic upon romance see Smithers (1988), p. 34, and David Burnley, "Comforting the Troops: An Epic Moment in Popular Romance," in Mills, Fellows, and Meale, pp.175-86.
1310 so mot Y the. "So may I thrive," "as I may prosper" (a common oath).
1322 Now wald mi lord Ternagaunt. According to the standard treatment of Islam in medieval romance and hagiography, "Ternavaunt" or "Sir Ternagaunt" (the most common form elsewhere is "Termagant") is regarded as one of the pagan gods worshipped by "Saracens." Saracens in romance also often swear by "Termagant" or by "Apolin," that is, "Apollo," as Colbrond does at line 3187. In The Song of Roland, the Saracens fight in the name of a trinity: Termagant, Apollo, and Muhammed.
1327-41 For he hath destrud al our lawe . . . destrud our lay. Amorant refers to an episode from Guy's youth in which he defended Constantinople from Saracen invasion (recounted in the couplet Guy of Warwick, lines 2869-4096). A similar reference is made by King Triamour at line 983. Guy's tendency to encounter figures from his former life develops the linked themes of penitence and identity. For another view of this aspect of the romance see Paul Price, "Confessions of a Godless Killer: Guy of Warwick and Comprehensive Entertainment" in Medieval Insular Romance: Translation and Innovation, ed. Judith Weiss, Jennifer Fellows, and Morgan Dickson (Cambridge, UK: D. S. Brewer, 2000), pp. 93-110.
1433 drawe min hond. Have strength or power to "turn my hand."
1567-69 Bot at a strok as Amoraunt cast / Sir Gii mett with him in hast / And taught him a sori play. The use of cast and play suggests punning upon the "casting" and "playing"' of dice, a game of chance.
1716 Me thenke thi paynes strong. Perhaps originally "Me thenke thi payn es strong" (i.e., I think your pain is severe); compare to line 273.
1726-27 For oft it falleth uncouthe man / That gode conseyle give can. Whiting, M303, records this to be a common type of proverb in Middle English: "Uncouth (unknown) man oft can give good counseyl."
1762-63 Now is his neve th'emperour steward, / His soster sone that hat Berard. There are many examples in epic and romance of the privileged relationship between uncle and nephew. The significance of this relationship, especially between a man and his "sister's son," resides in the close and incontestable blood ties between these two men and the importance of their relationship for the stability of the dynasty. The relationship is not necessarily felicitous, but rather one of "schame" (line 1764), as was the fate of Mark and Tristram.
1810 layd mi wedde. Made a pledge "as a token and guarantee of intent to do battle" (MED).
1818 borwe. A legal term, "To become surety for [somebody] . . . guarantee the good behavior of, go bail for, to obtain the release of [somebody] . . . from prison or punishment" (MED).
1843-44 No Sir Herhaud fond Y nought tare; / To seche Gyes sone he is fare. Here reference is made to the existence of Reinbroun, the son who was conceived during the first days of Guy's marriage to Felice. Herhaud has gone in search of Reinbroun who, a subsequent reference reveals, has been stolen by travelling merchants: "To seche Gyes sone he is fare / That marchaunce hadde stollen thare" (lines 2836-37). The story of Reinbroun's capture and Herhaud's efforts to regain him constitutes a narrative off-shoot, of significant length and interest in its own right, that is explored in Gui de Warewic and in other Middle English redactions. In Gui de Warewic, the Reinbroun material is divided into two parts: the first, much shorter section appears midway through Guy's narrative (Gui de Warewic lines 8975-9392, intersecting the narrative during Guy's visit to Constantinople, which would be immediately after line 1692 in the stanzaic Guy); then, after Guy's death, the Reinbroun story is resumed and concluded (Gui de Warewic, lines 11657-12926, which would be after line 3576 in the Stanzaic Guy of Warwick). Although the redactor of the stanzaic Guy took care to omit this material, it was fashioned into a stanzaic romance in its own right by another East Midland redactor. The appearance of both romances together in the Auchinleck MS suggests they may have been companion pieces and that production of the stanzaic Guy motivated the composition of Reinbroun.
1936-44 Than seighe he an ermine com of his mouthe . . . / Anon Tirri gan wake. This instance of an ermine creeping out of and back into a sleeping person's mouth is unique in romance. Marvelous and symbolic animals are, in general, a feature of romance, though dragons, horses, lions, dogs, and birds are the most common. See Bordman (1963).
1963-64 And me thought Gii sat at min heved / And in his lappe me biweved. In this context lappe has the meaning: "the lower part of a shirt, skirt, or habergeon; the front or back skirts of a divided garment" (MED).
1995 Of charbukel the pomel. The "pomel" refers to the knob at the end of the hilt of the sword. The name "carbuncle stone" was applied to precious stones of a red or fiery color, such as rubies, but also to a mythical gem said to emit light in the dark; see the note to lines 2986-88.
2084-85 This seven winter no schaltow se / Noither fet no hond. That is, his hands and feet would be severely bound. On seven as a sign of totality, see the note to line 3513, below.
2123 wedde. See note to line 1810.
2133 Whereso thou may be sought. A common verse phrase with diminished semantic force.
2168 Prout and stern as a lipard. That is, cunning and clever. The comparison is not necessarily derogatory and also appears in the romance Richard Coer de Lyon: "Than answered Kynge Rycharde, In dede lyon, in thought lybarde" (line 2194).
2224 gerthes. Saddle girths (the strap to secure each saddle).
2347-48 The pilgrim waked and loked an heyghe, / The sterres on the heven he seighe. Guy looks to the night stars for the second time in the romance. The decision to mark this the structural mid-point of the narrative (the interval during the second of three battles) with an echo of Guy's first contemplation of the stars seems entirely deliberate. Once again Guy's fate hangs in the balance, though this time his destiny is beyond his own control. This shift, from Guy being in control of his own destiny to being "in God's hands," is a movement that is signalled at a number of other points in the narrative and is significant for the text's wider pious themes. The stars in this context, as Hopkins (p. 102) has pointed out, function as a "positive reminder of the greatness and glory of God" in contrast to the limited abilities of the individual human.
2352 Bot winde and wateres wawe. A metonymical expression to refer to the sea.
2353-70 The stanzaic Guy diverges from other versions in its presentation of Guy's prayer and subsequent rescue by the fisherman. Particularly significant is the addition of the emphatic statement (not found in the Anglo-Norman Gui de Warewic or the Caius MS 107 Guy of Warwick) that Christ himself saved Guy by sending the fisherman. In the Caius MS text, which offers a much closer rendering of the Anglo Norman, Guy's prayer focuses upon Berard's treachery and includes Guy cursing Berard:
"God," he seyd, "all weldande,
That stablyssheth both watre and londe,
Lord, now thow thynke on mee;
For I am betrayed now, I see.
Lord, who hath do me thys ded?
And I fyght for no mede,
Ne for sylver ne for golde,
But for my brother, my trowth to hold,
And for to delyver hym owte of peryle,
That longe hath bene in excile.
Also power as he may bee.
When I hym saw I had pyte:
Sometyme he was a noble kny3t.
I wold dye for Sir Terry is ryght.
For he ys now so wrechyd a wyght,
Ageyne Berrarde I toke the fyght.
Yf I had the traytour slayne,
Terry shuld have hys land ageyne.
Lord, yf hyt my3t so be
That he had helpe thorou3 me,
And I wonne all hys land,
And all the honoure to hys hand,
Thow3 I levyd but till that daye,
Hit were my joy, for soth I seye.
But I am ded, well I wote:
For me shall he never have state
Thorought treason of the Duke Barrard.
Have he never of hevyn parte!
He ys a thefe full of treason;
God geve hym hys malyson!"
Tho ther com a good fysshere
Fyshyng be Sir Gye nere.
The bed he saw far by fletand:
He turned hys bot and went nere hand. (lines 9776-9809)
2365 striif. This is the only instance of this sense of striif recorded by the MED (see "strife" n.2[d]).
2419 Seyn Martin. The emperor swears by St. Martin twice (also at line 2601). This is most likely to be Martin of Tours (c. 316-97). His legend was popular in the Middle Ages and is especially appropriate for the story of a pilgrim knight. Martin was a soldier who, after he dreamed of Christ as a beggar, became a beggar himself and then a monk. See Farmer, pp. 265-66.
2423 dempt. A legal term meaning "to declare guilty; to convict, condemn to death." See MED, dampnen n.2(a).
2431 Therof give Y nought a chirston. Whiting, C187, records this to be a common type of proverb in Middle English: "Not give a cherry-stone."
2500-04 For bothe helmes he carf atuo . . . / Into the erthe wele half a fot. Guy literally splits Berard in half from the top of his head down to the ground. The description is indebted to the similarly massive blows which feature in epic, such as the stroke dealt by Roland on Chernuble in The Song of Roland: "he breaks the helmet on which rubies gleam; he slices downward through the coif and hair and cuts between the eyes, down through his face, the shiny hauberk made of fine-linked mail, entirely through the torso to the groin, and through the saddle trimmed with beaten gold. The body of the horse slows down the sword, which, seeking out no joint, divides the spine: both fall down dead upon the field's thick grass" (lines 1326-34).
2592 Thou do me londes lawe. "To establish (sth.) by law, authorize, ordain." See MED, lauen.
2601 Bi God and Seyn Martine. See the note to line 2419.
2650-52 Tho was sche founden in an ile / In a nunri that while / For doute of Berardes bond. This episode can be compared to King Horn (lines 75-84): Horn's mother, in response to the pagan invasion and murder of her husband, goes to live alone "Under a roche of stone" (line 77) where she prays for her son and serves God in defiance of the pagan religion.
2683-2700 These episodes from Guy's earlier life are recounted in the couplet Guy of Warwick, though not quite in the order reported here. According to the alternative sequence, Guy helps Tirri in the following ways: (1) he finds Tirri lying grief stricken in a forest after having been assailed by outlaws (lines 4503-4690); (2) he rescues Tirri's beloved Oisel from the same outlaws (lines 4691-4734); (3) when Tirri is then carried off, he slays his captors (lines 4735-86); (4) he heals Tirri's wounds (lines 4819-4904); (5) he assists Tirri's father in battle (lines 4931-6094); (6) he delivers Tirri from Otoun's prison (lines 6095-6384); and (7) he slays Otoun and rescues Oisel just before they are married, then reunites Tirri and Oisel (lines 6385-6542).
2716-17 He seyghe . . . yhosed ful wel. Compare these lines to lines 1855-56.
2728-33 Bot ich have a sone, ywis . . . in al thing. Guy's response to Tirri's offer of a rich reward is to ask that the benefit of it be passed over to his son, Reinbroun. He later gives the same response to King Athelstan (lines 3304-06) when offered a reward for his services: "Ac yif Herhaud to this lond com / And bring with him Reynbroun mi sone / Help him Y thee biseche." Although Guy refuses these benefits for himself, Hopkins, p. 78, regards their deferral to his son as a sign that Guy "has not by any means abandoned worldly values in his striving for God" in the way that the model for his life, St. Alexis, does. Similarly, Dannenbaum, p. 359, highlights how Guy integrates a series of more worldly interests into his supposedly pious existence "in a way that, for Alexis, is out of the question."
2779-84 And when the countas sikerly . . . laten him nought thennes gon. Tirri's final humiliation is to be severely scolded by his wife. The way that Tirri is repeatedly rescued by Guy (see the note to lines 2683-2700) over the course of the legend has led Fewster, pp. 97-98, to propose that they represent two views of knighthood in symmetry. Tirri, she argues, "offers a set of alternatives to Guy's success," a "parallel but failing version of Guy himself," and "a backdrop of conflict and decline" against which Guy's idealized successes are played out.
2794 At Winchester. Winchester was a town of some importance between the tenth and twelfth centuries. Second in size after London, it shared the developing functions of a national capital. The association fostered with Guy of Warwick was apparently motivated by the popularity of the legend and an awareness of the prestige to be gained from a local connection. The account by Gerard of Cornwall (fl. 1350?) seems to have been particularly important in this respect. It presents a highly localized and selective version of the legend that focuses entirely on Guy's battle with Colbrond. Gerard names "Hyde Mede" near Winchester as the location for the battle and mentions that Colbrond's axe can still be seen in Winchester Cathedral (this axe is reported to have been held in the treasury of St. Swithun's Priory until the Dissolution). The rubric identifying Gerard states that his book was kept on a writing table close to the high altar of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Winchester. The account goes on to describe the hospice in Winchester, where Guy is alleged to have spent the night and which, it says, is located "250 paces in a northerly direction, where a new monastic building has now been built." Another association was suggested by Thomas Warton in the eighteenth century. He claimed to have seen a wall painting in the north transept of Winchester Cathedral when he was a boy which illustrated the fight between Guy and Colbrond. For a full discussion of these artifacts, see Richmond, pp. 70, 97-106.
2805 Colbrond. The Sussex Lay Subsidy Rolls (1296-1332) and the Rolls of Knight's Fees in Kent (1254) both record the surname "Colebrond," which is glossed as "firebrand" by the MED (col, n.2, 4[c]). The choice of this name, however, which can also be glossed "black sword," clearly has significance in terms of race and religious imagery; compare lines 2816, 3060, 3066, and 3079.
2836-37 See the note to lines 1843-44.
2923 about prime. Prime is the first canonical hour. That is, it is the monastic office or prayer service to be sung or recited at the first hour of the day, 6 a.m. (though the term can refer to the period between 6 and 9 a.m. when the next office begins). The sense here is "first thing in the morning."
2974 To the king of Danmark he sent than. In the manuscript each stanza is headed by a blue and red paraph sign with the exception of this stanza which has two paraphs. The second appears at this the tenth line and it may be intended to provide a visual marker to signal the beginning of Guy's final, climactic battle. See the facsimile editions by Pearsall and Cunningham and Burnley and Wiggins.
2984 cercle. See the note to line 1255, above.
2986-88 In the frunt stode a charbukel ston / As bright as ani sonne it schon / That glemes under schawe. Medieval lapidaries record the various virtues and special powers that precious stones were commonly believed to possess. This included the belief that certain stones shone with their own light, which would emanate even in dark places. References to such stones are not unusual in romance; for example, the magnificent cup in Floris and Blancheflour is surmounted by a carbuncle stone said to provide sufficient light for a butler to pour wine even in the darkest cellar (lines 171-75). For examples of Middle English lapidaries see: A Middle English Lapidary, ed. Arne Zettersten (Lund: Gleerups, 1968), and English Mediaeval Lapidaries, ed. Joan Evans and Mary S. Serjeantson, EETS o.s. 190 (London: Oxford University Press 1933; rpt. 1960).
2997 targe listed. See the note to line 1112.
2998-99 Portreyd with thre kinges corn / That present God when He was born. The offering of the Three Kings is an especially appropriate image for Guy to carry at this point in the text. As Dyas, p. 131, has observed, the journey of the Three Kings from the East to see the infant Christ "made them ideal role models for pilgrims." An image of kings, figures of the highest social rank, is also appropriate for Guy as the "king's champion." A similarly high-status appropriation of the image appears in the Chester Cycle of mystery plays where it was the wealthy and high-ranking guild of Mercers who presented the scene depicting the Three Kings' offerings. The Pre-Reformation Chester Banns makes special mention of the bright, shining, many-coloured fabrics used for the scene ("velvit, satten and damaske fyne / Taffyta sersnett of poppyngee grene," lines 69-71) and this great display of wealth indicates the Mercers' concern to associate themselves with an image that combined piety and prestige; see The Banns of the Chester Plays, ed. F. M. Salter (London: Oxford University Press, 1940).
3013-17 rered Lazeroun . . . / And halp Daniel fram the lyoun. The miracle in which Christ raised Lazarus from the dead appears in the New Testament (John 11), whereas Susanna and Daniel are both Old Testament figures: Susanna was rescued from the Jewish elders (Vulgate, Daniel 13) and Daniel was miraculously saved from the lions' den (Daniel 6:16-22). They are all examples of the kind of miraculous deliverance that Guy himself requires as he is about to enter a desperate situation. References to any of these biblical figures is rare in Middle English romance, though Dalrymple, pp. 133-35, records that prayers to Lazarus and Daniel appear in The Song of Roland and the French Romance of Horn. A parallel also occurs in Bevis of Hampton at the moment when Bevis, finding himself in a similarly desperate situation to Guy, offers a prayer which refers to Lazarus: "Lord, that rerede the Lazaroun, / Dilivre me fro this fend dragoun!" (lines 2839-40).
3027-29 After the relikes thai sende, / The corporas and the Messe gere. / On the halidom thai gun swere. The "Messe gere" refers to the Eucharistic vestments and articles used for the swearing of oaths. These included the missal (the book containing the order of service for the Mass), the chalice (to hold the communion wine), the paten (to hold the host or bread wafer), and the corporal cloth or altar cloth on which all the Eucharistic elements were placed during consecration and with which they were subsequently covered. All of the "Messe gere" is sacred as it is essential to the re-enactment of Christ's death during the Mass, the principal Christian liturgical rite. The "halidom" can refer to either the sacred relics themselves or to a box containing sacred relics.
3061 mailes. The small metal rings or plates linked together in a mesh to make chain armor.
3064 splentes of stiel. Rod-like plates of steel.
3074 bacinet. "A hemispherical helmet, without a visor, worn under the fighting helmet" (MED).
3088 gisarmes. "A long-shafted battle ax or halberd with a knife-like point rising from the blade" (MED).
3094 wicked hert. Here "heart" refers to character or disposition. Compare, for example, to Troilus and Criseyde 3.736, where Pandarus calls Troilus a "wrecched mouses hert."
3115 arsoun. The pommel (the front of the saddle).
3137 charbukel ston. See the note to lines 2986-88.
3194-96 Al sone he gan him turn tho . . . / Ther his axes stode bi hemselve. This episode parallels Guy's request to Amorant for a drink of water (lines 1429-52 and 1513-24). In both cases, Guy appeals to his opponent's honor and sense of fair play, then, when he is denied, makes a dash for the item requested.
3236 Te Deum laudamus thai gun sing. The Te Deum is a hymn of praise (Te Deum laudamus being the opening words of this Latin hymn) sung during the night offices, especially matins, and on special occasions of thanksgiving. The "terminal" position of this hymn in the romance prompts Richmond to suggest that its choice "appropriately suggests that Guy's story is near conclusion" (Velma Bourgeois Richmond, The Popularity of Middle English Romance [Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green University Popular Press, 1975], p. 186.)
3304-3306 See the note to lines 2728-33.
3340-48 For thritten pouer men and yete mo / For hir lordes love sche loved so, / Ich day sche gan fede. Woolgar, p. 154, records that "Alms from the table were a major element in charity associated with the great household." Felice is motivated to give alms regularly by the departure of her husband and, in this respect, can be compared to Josian, the heroine of Bevis of Hampton, who daily feeds and clothes poor pilgrims at the castle gates "For a knightes love, Bevoun" (line 2085). A contemporary parallel is offered by Joan de Valence, countess of Pembroke. Household accounts from September 1295 to September 1297 indicate that Joan regularly fed the poor and that after the death of her husband in May 1296 (when she took full responsibility for the household costs) the number of poor being fed increased from 8 to 21. See Woolgar, pp. 12-14, citing Public Record Office E101/505/25-7.
3361-72 The levedi biheld him inliche . . . / Unto his lives ende. The "wanderer returned" is an ancient theme, best known from Odysseus' return home to Penelope in Homer's Odyssey. Comparable episodes in medieval romance include King Horn lines 1089-1172 and Bevis of Hampton lines 2049-2235. Like Guy, Horn and Bevis each disguise themselves as a pilgrim and unrecognized receive alms from their beloved. However, whereas the disguise enables both Horn and Bevis to undertake a reconnaissance of a hostile locale, Guy enters his own home and faces no threat. Furthermore, whereas the identity of Horn and Bevis is dramatically revealed to the heroine, in the stanzaic Guy the episode pivots upon Guy's decision not to reveal his identity to Felice.
3367-69 Of hire bere and of hir wine . . . / Oft sche gan him sende. Robert Grosseteste's "Rules," a text from the first half of the thirteenth century which gives advice on dining, states that it was part of the role of the head of the household to ensure that food was distributed fairly and strangers were well provided for. In addition, the head of the household should ask for their dish to be piled high and passed around to offer extra portions to everyone. For further discussion of dining in the great household, see Woolgar, pp. 157-58.
3513 A thousand angels and seven. That there are a thousand "and seven" angels ref-lects the predilection in romance for conventional numbers of totality. For example, Guy is threatened with punishment for "seven winter" (line 2084); in Bevis of Hamtoun, Bevis lies in prison for "seven yare" (line 2001); and in Havelok the miraculous light shining from Havelok's mouth makes it seem as if "ther brenden serges sevene / And an hundred serges ok" (lines 2125-26). Other conventional numbers have religious or symbolic resonances. Thus Guy fights three battles and Felice feeds "thritten" poor men each day (lines 3340 and 3354).
3524-27 A swete brathe com fram his bodi / That last that day so long / That in this world spices alle / No might cast a swetter smalle. The smell of spices was regarded as a miraculous sign indicating a holy presence. Christ and the Virgin are regularly described in epithets as sweet spices (see 2 Corinthians 2:14-16): in Ecce ancilla (in Religious Lyrics of the Fifteenth Century, ed. Carleton Brown [London: Ox-ford University Press, 1939], pp. 105-06) the Virgin is hailed and told she shall "conceyve a swete spyce" (line 5) and, in Heil be ŝou marie ŝe (in Hymns to the Virgin and Christ, ed. Frederick J. Furnivall, EETS o.s. 24 [London: N. Trübner and Co., 1868; rpt. New York: Greenwod Press, 1969], pp. 4-5), she is addressed as "spice swettist of savour" (line 29). Marvels, magic, and wonders feature regularly in medieval romance but the application of a posthumous miracle of this kind to a romance protagonist is remarkable and shows the extent of hagio-graphical influence upon the text. In only one other romance, Sir Gowther, do posthumous miracles of this kind occur to the protagonist. After death, Sir Gowther is described as a true saint (a "varré corsent parfett," line 727) for whose faithfulness God performs miracles: he "garus tho blynd to see / And tho dompe to speyke," he "makus tho crokyd ryght. / And gyffus to tho mad hor wytte / Any mony odur meracullus" (lines 739-43).
STANZAIC GUY OF WARWICK: TEXTUAL NOTES
100 fayn. MS: faym.
107 lord. MS: lod.
180 gret. MS: gre.
601 sone. MS: som, with the o altered from n.
664 cleped. MS: clepd.
675 were. MS: second e added above the line.
800 ther no man. MS: ŝer man.
853 trewthe yplight. MS: trewŝe y, with pli3t inserted above the line.
855 he. MS: ich.
863 swich sorwe, ywis. MS: swiche ywis sorwe, with sorwe added to the margin by a later hand.
900 preved. MS: proued.
1018 mi. MS: m altered from y.
1029 A line has been erased after this line in the MS.
1031 help. MS: hep.
1034 to. MS: preceded by an erased ŝe.
1044 warld. MS: wald.
1069-71 These lines are included in the previous stanza in the MS.
1080 Bateyle for. MS: Batelye of him for, with of him canceled.
1091 thai thought. MS: ŝai it ŝou3t.
1204 wem. MS: when.
1227 sore. MS: o altered from a.
1272 the. MS: ŝe ŝe.
1336 and. MS: 7 inserted above the line.
1362 lond. MS: lond lond, with cancellation marks under the second.
1373 ful glad sikerli. MS: ful glad ful sikerli, with second ful crossed out.
1410 fleye. Altered from fleyee in the MS.
1440 For Godes love. MS: for love. Emended for sense and meter.
1441 seyd. MS: preceded by an erased ŝ.
1447 Gii. Marked for insertion at the end of the line in MS.
1547 thou. MS: ŝo.
1582 was faynting. MS: was gin faynting.
1603 was. Inserted below the line in the MS.
1627 thou. Inserted above the line in the MS with correct position marked.
1741 wrong. Inserted above gret in the MS.
1782 is. Altered from it in the MS.
1784 pouer of. MS: pouer for of, with for canceled.
1791 out. MS preceded by canceled his lond.
1797 sent. MS: preceded by canceled u or n.
1798 Y. Altered from Ŝ in the MS and followed by a canceled ai.
1802 with wicked pourt. MS: ŝe wicked pourt. MED supports the preposition yn for this construction (see port n.4 [1a]), but with makes more sense in this particular context.
1808 Otoun. MS: of toun.
1822 Berard. MS: Bernard, with cancellation mark under the n.
1836 Otoun. MS: of toun.
1849 The rubricated paraph that originally appeared at the head of this stanza has been erased and replaced with a rubricated initial S. This initial was painted by a different limner than the others in the text and is cruder in style.
1877 hende. MS: altered from hente.
1888 treuthe. MS: treŝe, with u inserted above and its correct position marked.
1893 ded. MS: altered from dede.
1952 thin eighe. MS: ŝi nei3e.
1953 y. MS: ŝou.
1965 dest. MS: dost.
1970 sweven. MS: seuen.
1979 tresour. MS: resour.
1987 Gii. MS: inserted above the line with correct position marked.
1996 it. MS: superscript.
2002-04 Missing in MS.
2042 Gii. MS: inserted above the line with correct position marked.
2047 seyd. MS: inserted above the line with correct position marked.
2113 Berrard. MS: Berrad. See also line 2149.
2119 Gii. MS: inserted above the line with correct position marked.
2149 Berrard. MS: Berrad. So, too, line 2113.
2197 stount. MS: ston.
2240 Beter. MS: Berter.
2245 Strong. MS: Srong.
2263 herd telle that the pilgrim. MS: herd telle pilgrim.
2280 Missing in MS.
2326-27 An inkblot obscures the beginning of these two lines in the MS.
2390 with. MS: ŝ inserted above the line.
2402 at. MS: atte, with cancellation marks under te.
2414 swore. MS: s inserted above the line.
2423 dempt. MS: demp.
2485 There is no paraph sign to indicate the opening of this stanza in the MS.
2488 him. MS: omitted but included in the catchword (at the foot of fol.160vb): he hit him on ŝe helm.
2506-08 An inkblot obscures the initial letters of these three lines in the MS.
2549 wraied. MS: wraid.
2592 Thou. MS: Ŝo.
2607 there. MS: ŝre.
2615 thin em. MS: ŝi nem.
2803 hem. MS: him.
2814 toun. MS: altered from doun.
2822 Inglond. MS: Inglong.
2833 is Herhaud. MS: iherhaud.
2867 and. MS: 7 7.
2878 Stil. MS: Til.
2951 ŝe. Inserted above the line in the MS.
2968 God. MS: followed by a second, erased god.
2984 cercle. MS: cecle.
2991 bihold. MS: bhold.
3031 ywis. MS: inserted above furst to maintain column width.
3068 splentes. MS: spentes.
3088 Axes. MS: Axs.
3095 aferd. MS: d altered from t.
3199 Colbrond. MS: Colbron.
3208 dint. MS: preceded by erased de.
3213 wounde. MS: o altered from a.
3222 gan. MS: omitted.
3280 mi. MS: ŝi mi.
3299 Half. MS: In half.
3301 Gii. MS: added above (possibly in a later hand).
3364 dring. MS: ding.
3373 Gii. MS: omitted.
3503 sche. MS: ssche, with the initial s marked for deletion.
3529 levedy. MS: leudy.
3559 say. MS: day.
3587 that. MS: ŝai.