THE BIRTH OF MERLIN: FOOTNOTES
2 plesier, pleasure.
3 sien, saw (had seen).
4 What . . . this, Who . . . that.
5 ne nought, nor anything; nought, not.
6 ne trowed not, did not believe.
10 wende, thought; be, been.
12 yeden, went.
13 semblant, appearance.
15 tharldome, servitude; disese, suffering.
17 tham, those (them); bereve, deprive.
19 yef, if.
21 mynystres, ministers; thowh, even though.
22 never so many, i.e., very many; werkes, i.e., sins.
25 yede, went; assaied, tested.
30 beraffte, taken away.
31 hem1, them; gete, place; hem2, themselves; hem3, themselves.
32 tho, those.
33 that were they, were those.
36 Hym, Himself; rather, quicker.
38 [maystrie], mastery (power).
40 on, one.
41 trowe, believe.
42 soche oon, such a one.
43 be that, by that means.
45 gete, beget.
50 wende, thought.
51 engine, plan.
55 sye, saw; yede, went.
56 creaunce, beliefs.
57 doell, grief (dole).
60 comyn woman, prostitute.
64 feire, fear.
65 Yef, If.
73 repairethe, resorts.
74 comberauncis, troubles; thee, yourself.
76 arysist, arise.
78 bye, redeem.
82 engynes, devices.
86 myscheved, harmed.
91 cowde, could.
92 lese that, lose what; lerned, taught; lesse than, unless.
95 grete hepe, large group.
100-101 bar hir on honde, claimed falsely.
101 paramours, as a lover.
103 tother, other.
105 aschaped, escaped.
113 foryete that, forgotten what.
118 concayved, conceived.
119 here, herself.
119-20 is me befalle, has befallen me.
125 over all, everywhere.
130 espleyted, completed.
135 fill, fell; seche, seek.
140 all . . . ende, from beginning to end.
142 hir3, herself.
144 ne, nor; no, any.
149 that, what.
150 absoyle, absolve.
151 enjoyne thee, assign you; lyest veryly, truly lie.
160 leve, believe.
161 yef, if.
162 noon, anything.
166 very, true.
167 that fill, what befell.
169 with that, so that.
171 enjoyned, ordered.
172 assoiled, absolved.
177 betaught, committed.
182 abode, abided.
184 be, by.
186 than, therefore (then).
188 my witynge, with my knowledge.
190 but that, because.
191 moste, must.
193 abaisshed, disconcerted.
195 clatered, chattered
196 bewté, beauty; seth, since.
199 quyk, living.
203 strongeleche, greatly; oure, hour.
204 syker, certain.
205 gabbynge, falsehood.
207 well, will.
210 wite, know.
217 clepid, called; hem, them.
221 shell, shall.
226 in gode warde, under guard.
229 chelde, child.
231 rede, advice.
234 mysteré, matters; hale upe, haul up.
238 have wetynge, know.
240 engyne, cunning.
241 kynde, nature.
242 folily, foolishly; be, by; modir, mother.
243 fhir put, placed herself.
244 lese that, lose what.
249 parte, side.
253 more roughe, hairier.
254 sough, saw; sayned her, crossed herself.
256 don, down.
258 will, wish.
263 durste, dared to.
268 hens, hence.
278 aferid that as, was so startled that.
280 wenden, thought.
281 shrike, shriek.
283 heire, hear.
285 cherishid, embraced.
286 cowde, could; mo, more.
287 Manace, Threaten.
288 fayn wolde she, much she desired.
291 lyen, lie.
294 demaundes, questions.
299 Tho, Then; clepeden, called.
300 insomoche, with the result.
302 bailé, bailiff.
307 lowgh, laughed.
309 weke, week.
318 connynge, knowledgable.
320 martire, torment.
322 aresoned, addressed.
327 smok, smock.
332 wherthourgh, by which means.
334 drough, drew.
342 avouterye besyde, adultery against.
344 Freinde, Ask.
346 wetynge, knowing.
347 sedd, saw; sygh, saw.
355 quyte, free.
357 knoheth, knows.
358 censt ought, can anything.
359 be, about.
360 thove, allow.
361 inngendure, engendering.
362 wrath, angry.
363 reserwed, saved.
366 pletere, pleading.
371 Yef, If; mystrowe, disbelieve.
375 quyt, reprieved.
378 person, parson.
387 lowgh, laughed.
393 assaide, tested.
395 that, what.
399 shrewed, sinful.
401 yove, given.
404 here engynes, their deceits; holde of hem, retain of them; conne, know.
405 shole, shall.
406 digne, worthy.
408 i-be, been; leve, believe.
410 tho, those.
411 hem, themselves.
415 ne mowe thee hynder, can not hinder you.
416 volenté, desires.
420 mystered, needed.
423 fynyshment, ending.
426 here, their.
434 entended aboute, attended to.
436 to seche, to be sought.
439 partyes, districts.
442 Bretons, Britons (i.e., the British, not the Bretons).
THE BIRTH OF MERLIN: NOTES
The Birth of Merlin
[Fols. 1r-8r (line 10)]
Geoffrey of Monmouth is the first medieval writer to provide an account of Merlin's conception and birth. In The History of the Kings of Britain Geoffrey offers a relatively brief recounting of the impregnation of Merlin's virtuous human mother by an invisible incubus demon (Thorpe, pp. 167-68). Wace, in his Roman de Brut, adds little to Geoffrey's narrative. "The Birth of Merlin," however, follows the French Vulgate version by developing this basic story much further and providing a specific rationale for the begetting of Merlin that is absent from Geoffrey's work. The motif of a great consultation among the fiends occurs in several places in medieval and Renaissance literature, the most famous of which is in Book II of John Milton's Paradise Lost; in ME literature there is the poem "The Devils' Parliament," which depicts the devils' consternation over the Virgin Birth. Here the fiends have been thrown into confusion by Christ's recent Harrowing of Hell, during which he releases the Old Testament patriarchs from Satan's bondage. Plotting revenge, the devils decide to father a fiendish child -- a kind of antichrist -- by producing a "virgin birth" of their own. The result of their plan is the boy Merlin. But the devils' revenge goes awry, due to the basic goodness of Merlin's mother and the timely advice of a holy hermit named Blase.
2 Adam and Eve and other. A reference to the Harrowing of Hell, in which Christ, following the Crucificion, descended into Hell and released the Old Testament patriarchs from Satan's hellish prison. Although this event is not described in the New Testament, it was well-known in the Middle Ages, principally from the account in the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus (See M. R. James, The Apocryphal New Testament: A Collection of Apocryphal Christian Literature in an English Translation [Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993]). Plays on the liberation of the patriarchs are prominent in the English mystery cycles, and references to the Harrowing of Hell are common in English medieval literature -- compare the lyric "Adam lay i-bounden" -- and it is described in some detail in works such as in Piers Plowman (B.18 and C.20) and Death and
Liffe (lines 388-430).
4-17 The he here clearly refers to God, but I have left it without capital because the devil, in his confusion, has no idea of who the intruder might be.the prophetes. The speaker is referring to the Old Testament prophets whose messianic prophecies foretold the birth of Christ, e.g., Isaiah 11:10 and Jeremiah 23:5-6.
10 the synners of Adam and Eve. The descendants of Adam and Eve, who have been born in sin.
11-12 the synners of Adam and Eve. The descendants of Adam and Eve, who have been born in sin.waisshen in a water. The speaker is referring to baptism, one of the most important of the seven sacraments for medieval Christians.we yede and assaied Hym. A reference to the tempting of Christ in the wilderness, depicted in Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13.
18 waisshen in a water. The speaker is referring to the Old Testament prophets whose messianic prophecies foretold the birth of Christ, e.g., Isaiah 11:10 and Jeremiah 23:5-6.
25 we yede and assaied Hym. A reference to the tempting of Christ in the wilderness, depicted in Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13.
Summary For the text of the summary, see EETS 10, pp. 3-7.
60 a comyn woman. A prostitute. The plight of the two sisters may seem somewhat curious, since the one guilty of fornication is executed while the one who turns to prostitution is spared. But this accords with medieval law, which often condoned open prostitution but condemned women caught out in covert acts of immorality, which might endanger purity of lineage and inheritance.
73 grete ire or wrath. As the holy man points out, people who succumb to the sin of wrath offer the devil an easy avenue into their hearts. In Chaucer's The Parson's Tale, for example, wrath is said to chase the Holy Spirit out of a person's soul and to put in its place the likeness of the devil (CT X.543-45).Indeed, as the passage in The Parson's Tale indicates, "Ire is a ful greet pleasaunce to the devel." The second part of the holy man's advice -- that she always sleep in the presence of a light -- proves to be just as crucial as his advice to avoid anger, for the devil loves darkness.
112-113 grete sorowe and grete ire at hir herte. This phrase suggests that she is about to fall into the sin of despair, which the fiend believes will place her owte of Goddes grace (line 114).
234 knewe of soche mysteré. These knowledgeable women, presumably, are especially skilled as midwives.
261 cristened Merlyn. The suggestion that Merlin was given the name of his grandfather, his mother's father, is also found in some of the OF MSS and in Lovelich's Merlin; but it is not commonplace in later Arthurian tradition.
Summary Based on EETS 10, pp. 18-21.
367 Than [Merlin] toke the juge apart. This little episode offers the first demonstration of Merlin's remarkable knowledge and prophetic powers.
421 Joseph Abaramathie. Joseph of Arimathea, from Matthew 27:57, one of
Jesus's dedicated followers, and a figure who became especially important in medieval works focusing on the Grail Legend. As will be seen below, Joseph was the first "Grail Keeper" in along line of men entrusted with this most holy object.
422 Pieron, and of othir felowes. This refers to the earliest group of men who
were closely associated with the Grail in the segment of the story known as The History of the Grail. Pieron is probably Petrus (not St. Peter, Jesus's Disciple), and the othir felowes might include men such as Alain le Gros and Bron.
443 Maister Martyn. The alleged translator of a book from Latin into the vernacular, describing the early kings of the Britons. He is referred to in only a few of the OF MSS; in Lovelich's Merlin (lines 1667-74) he is called "Martyn de Bewre," and he is said to have translated "the Story of the Brwttes book" (i.e., Brutus's book) "From latyn into Romaunce" (i.e., French). Both the book and its translator are obscure.