ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE: FOOTNOTES

1 Thocht, "Though," means "even if" or "that," so the sense of the line is: No wonder it was that he was fair and wise

2 To "yes" or "no" which are indifferent. The sense is "things which do not respond to human commands (are beyond human control)"

ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE: NOTES

19 ancient and is from Chepman and Myllar. Bannatyne: anseane.

20 Fox follows Chepman and Myllar and Asloan to insert the after to. But the addition does not improve the sense or meter and is unnecessary.

22 In Bannatyne of and or are reversed. This emendation is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan.

23 the. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: his.

25 tarage is from Chepman and Myllar. Bannatyne: knawlege. Asloan: carage.

28 Henryson uses the humility trope here as in The Testament and The Morall Fabillis. The device was well known to all students of rhetoric in the later Middle Ages.

29 Eleconé is Wood's emendation. Bannatyne: Electone. Chepman and Myllar: Elicone. Asloan: Elicounee. Helicon is the dwelling place of the Muses. See note to line 30.

30 Arrabea. Fox suggests that the reference to Arabia might be a mistake for "Aonia, a term sometimes used either for all of Boeotia or for the part of Boeotia containing Mount Helicon, but this is a desperate solution" (1981, p. 393).

32 Memoria. Usually the mother of the Muses is identified by her other name, Mnemosyne.

33 goddes. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: god. Fox emends to god, but the emendation is not necessary.

34 quhilk is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan. Bannatyne: and.

36 Euterpé. Explained in Graeciamus as bona delectatio (Fox, 1981, p. 393).

38 clippit. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: namyt. Melpomyné takes her name from a Greek verb "to sing," hence her hony sueit modulation (line 39).

40 Thersycoré. Fox emends to Tersicor. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: Tersitor. Her name means "dance-enjoying," which Henryson glosses as gud instructioun.

Fox inserts quhilk before is as included in Chepman and Myllar and Asloan. It is omitted in Bannatyne and so here; certainly it does not improve the meter or the sense.

43 Caliopé. Muse of lyric poetry and mother of Sirens and of Orpheus. Her name is glossed to mean "beautiful voiced."

47 Clio. Cleo, connected etymologically with the Greek word for "fame." In Graeciamus the gloss is meditation rerum (Fox, 1981, p. 394), hence In Latyne callit meditatioun (line 48).

50 sister is. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: lady was.

Herato. Erato, the lovely, is derived from eros, thus drawing lyk to lyk (line 51).

52 was. Asloan: was callit.

Polimio. Polyhymnia is the singer of hymns.

54 Talia, from a Greek word for "luxuriant" or "blooming," thus the affiliation with wit and agility (line 55).

55 To is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan. Bannatyne: In.

57 Urania, the heavenly one, thus Henryson's label.

64 wes. Asloan: is.

65 Asloan reads and between gud and full. Fox emends to: Gentill and full of liberalite, which certainly improves the meter.

66 progenetryse. The word may very well be Henryson's own creation.

71 Asloan: Quhen he was auld, sone to manhed he drewe.

73 Wood emended the Bannatyne Is to His.

74 Wood emended the Bannatyne te to the.

78-86 No source is known for this account of the wooing of Orpheus by Eurydice.

84 thay can accord. Asloan: war at accord.

88 Fox follows Asloan to read: With myrth, blythnes, gret plesans, and gret play.

94 untill. Fox follows Asloan and emends to in.

95 the air. Asloan: the dewe.

97 Arresteuss. Asloan reads Arystyus.

102 till hir can he drawe is from Asloan. Bannatyne reads to his cave hir draw.

105 trampit. This reading is from Asloan. Bannatyne reads strampit here and in line 124.

107 Wood emends Bannatyne by adding all, as in Asloan and here.

108 Wood emends Bannatyne I to In, as do I.

110 Bannatyne hir has been written in the margin in a later hand, to replace him.

112 Ontill. Asloan: And till, which Fox follows.

130 Fox adds the after to.

133 he is omitted from Bannatyne and added from Asloan.

134 Wood adds a title before line 134: [The Complaint of Orpheus]. Bannatyne has a larger space between stanzas and a large O at the beginning of the stanza, but no title. The ten-line stanza (lines 134-43) is, Fox suggests, "a variant of the nine-line Anelida stanza which Henryson uses for Cressid's complaint" (1981, p. 397).

140 mony. Asloan: thi.

141 for is Wood's emendation of the Bannatyne foll.

148 Fox uses thai comfort from Asloan instead of that wailyeit. He suggests adding him, which I have done.

158 and. Asloan: of, which Fox follows.

159 hate of hair probably means no hat at all.

161 bess. Glossed here as "noisy beasts." The term has also been suggested to mean "bees."

167 peinfull is Wood's emendation. Bannatyne: pelfull. Asloan: panefull.

170 face. Asloan: fate.

177 I is inserted from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan. It is omitted in Bannatyne.

178 forsuth seik hir. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: for seke hir suth.

180 gyde is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan. Bannatyne: grant.

183 wepit is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan. Bannatyne: weipand.

187 welyeid. Chepman and Myllar: availit. Asloan: avalit.

188 Wedlingis Streit. Watling Street, an ancient Roman road in Britain used metaphorically for the Milky Way. See Chaucer, House of Fame, lines 936-40; Fox also suggests review of the OED citation for a complete history of the term.

202 He. Bannatyne: And. Fox's emendation based on Chepman and Myllar and Asloan.

210 suth is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan. Bannatyne: sur.

214 gat he knawlege. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: knaulage gat he.

215 he passit. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: than passit he.

225 Although all three versions read pluto, the reference is clearly to Plato.

226-42 Henryson's use of musical terms has been explained by Smith (pp. 54-55). Henryson's note on his authorial persona (line 242) has drawn widespread critical interest.

227 duplare, triplare, and epetritus. The final term is particularly difficult. In the Bannatyne Manuscript, the term is emetricus, as it is in other witnesses. Wood suggests that the original form was epitritus, meaning a ratio of four to three. For more detail on this and other musical terms, see Wood, pp. 260-62 and Fox (1981), pp. 400-03.

228 Enolius and Epoddeus (line 229) are terms borrowed from Macrobius to delineate proportions and ratios in the Pythogorean theory of music. See Fox's extended notes on lines 223-39 (1981, pp. 400-03).

234 duplate. Wood emends to dowplait. Asloan: duplate, as in Bannatyne. Chepman and Myllar: duplycate.

245 our is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan. Bannatyne: with.

248 fer and ferrer than. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: ferther.

261 Than come he till is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan. Bannatyne: He passit furth ontill.
wonder is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan. It is omitted in Bannatyne.

262 brig is from Asloan. Chepman and Myllar: brih. Bannatyne: birl brig with birl canceled.

264 Electo, Mygra, and Thesaphone. The Erinyes or Furies who live in Erebus, the darkest pit of hell. They have snakes intertwined in their hair and torment their enemies relentlessly. Dante placed them on the wall guarding Hellgate. Here they watch over Ixion.

266 Ixione, the more regular form of the name, is from Chepman and Myllar. Bannatyne: Exione. Asloan: Ixioun. The same emendation has been made in lines 272, 489, and 514. In mythology Ixion was a Thessalian king who ruled the Lapiths. He tried to rape Hera. Zeus tricked him by permitting him to copulate with a cloud resembling the goddess, from which act Centaurus was born. To punish him Zeus made him immortal, then bound him to a burning wheel which rotates perpetually in Tartarus. See lines 489-506 for Henryson's gloss.

275 Syne come he till a wonder grisely flude is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan. Bannatyne: Nocht far frome thyne he come unto a flude.

276 that. Bannatyne: and. Emendation from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan.

277 Tantelus. Traditionally the son of Zeus and the daughter of Cronos who enjoyed great wealth until, in his pride, he tried to trick the gods into cannibalism (the eating of his own son Pelops), for which he was cast into Tartarus to suffer perpetual hunger and thirst. See lines 519-59 for Henryson's gloss.

281 to slake is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan. It is omitted in Bannatyne.

nor. Wood's emendation. Bannatyne: no.

282 ane apill is from Chepman and Myllar. Bannatyne: ane naple.

283 twynid. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: tolter.

threde is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan. It is omitted in Bannatyne.

286 Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: Than Orpheus had reuth of his grete nede.

292 fell. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: scharp.

293 blenkit. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: blent.

294 wofull. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: wonder wofull.

295 Titius. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: Theseus. See also line 302. In mythology Tityus was a giant born of Zeus and Elara. Zeus hid him in the earth to avoid Hera's wrath. When Leto gave birth to Artemis and Apollo, Hera unleashed him to destroy Leto. But Zeus struck him with a thunderbolt that pinned him in the Underworld, where snakes and vultures perpetually devour his liver, according to the phases of the moon.

308 Rodomantus and Proserpina. The two are not normally linked. Rhodamanthus was king of Crete and judge in the Underworld. Proserpina was raped by Pluto and confined to the Underworld during winter. See lines 345ff. where Henryson links her with Pluto.

310 and is from Chepman and Myllar and is omitted in Bannatyne.

318 brass full birnand. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: full hate birnand.

319 rycht is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan. Bannatyne: full.

323 Antiochus. In Apollonius Prince of Tyre, Antiochus seduces his daughter and withholds her from courtship with riddles. The story is retold in Gower's Confessio Amantis Bk. 8.

324 Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: Thare fand he Julius Cesar for his crueltee. Bannatyne: crewaltie. Fox has emended to crueltee.

328 undir. Asloan: efter.

329 Cresus. Marcus Licinius Crassus, a triumvir so avaricious that, as punishment, the Parthians beheaded him and poured molten gold into his mouth. Not to be confused with Cresus, King of Lydia, who ignored his dreams and daughter's prophesy and was hung in a gibbet to die. Chaucer tells that story in the Monk's Tale VII.2727-66.

333 Sawll. The story of Saul is found in I Samuel.

334 Of is based on Chepman and Myllar. Bannatyne: was.

335 Acob and quene Jesabell. The accounts of the ambitious Ahab and his queen occur in I Kings 18-26. Nabot, line 336, was slain by Jezebel because Ahab coveted his vineyard.

337 mercy. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: pitee.

341 and wrang intrusion. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: for wrang ministration.

346 thiderward is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan. Bannatyne: hiddirwart.

360 Scho hes. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: Thare is.

362 Herod. Herod the great, Luke 23:11.

365 rewert. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: refete.

fax is omitted in Bannatyne and emended here from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan.

369 ypodorica is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan. Bannatyne: ipotdorica. Hypodorian and Hyperlerian (line 370) refer to musical modes.

383 forewir till hell is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan. Bannatyne: to hell for evir.

389 apon his wyf and is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan. Bannatyne reads in hart apone his.

396 that. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: quhilk.

403 til is Fox's emendation. Bannatyne: to.

409 handis. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: hand is.

410 mone turne the e. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: turnis the ee.

415 Lo is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan. Bannatyne: Now.

417 buke of consolatioun. Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy, where the story of Orpheus is retold (Bk. III. m. 12).

421 Trivat. Chepman and Myllar: trowit. Asloan: trewit. Nicholas Trivet (1258?-1328) taught at Oxford and wrote voluminously on theology, history, and philosophy. His commentary on Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy is one of Henryson's sources for Orpheus. Fox prints the Latin text of the portion of the commentary that Henryson might have used (1981, pp. 384-92).

429 and. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: in.

435 hird is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan; it is omitted in Bannatyne.

435-36 This interpretation, which has caused so many problems with modern readers of Orpheus, is borrowed directly from Trivet. The association is an old one that goes back at least to Fulgentius. Given the romance elements in Henryson's tale, however, the moralitas seems to many critics to be flawed. This kind of strict adherence to a source at the expense of artistry may be the mark of an immature poet.

447 passis up the hevyn belyve is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan. Bannatyne: to the hevin he passit up belyfe.

449 wit. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: will.

456 thir warldly breiris. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: this warldis breris.

461 pas is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan; it is omitted in Bannatyne.

469 Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: Bot quhen that resoun and intelligence.

475 monstris is from Chepman and Myllar. Bannatyne: monstour. Asloan: monstouris.

478 evill is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan. Bannatyne: ill.

480 outwert is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan and fits the description of Mygera. Bannatyne: inwart.

483 Of is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan. Bannatyne: In.

484 quhilk is Fox's emendation which is omitted in all three witnesses. It certainly reflects the sense of the line, but Middle Scots often uses ellipsis or omission in verse.

485 castin is from Chepman and Myllar. Bannatyne: cassin.

491 on is from Asloan. Bannatyne: of.

497 foull. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: full.

498 doun is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan. Bannatyne: one.

503 craving. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: crabbing. Wood emends to craving.

507-08 Chapman and Myllar and Asloan: Bot quhen that reson and intelligence, / Playis apon the harp of conscience.

509-14 These lines are omitted in the Chepman and Myllar print and the Asloan manuscript. Along with two subsequent passages, this passage has been the subject of speculation by Smith and Wood. The lines may have been written by Bannatyne himself. However, Fox makes a significant point that these lines are unlike others of Bannatyne's authorship.

517 affectioun. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: complexion.

524 hym is from Chepman and Myllar and is omitted in Bannatyne.

525-26 These two lines are transposed in the manuscript (as well as Chepman and Myllar), but Wood changed the order and Fox has accepted the emendation. In till is from Chepman and Myllar. Bannatyne: Syne.

528 Acherone. The river in Hades which souls must cross to reach the dominion of the dead. Neither Fulgentius nor Trivet mentions the river in which Tantalus stands. Fox suggests that perhaps the detail is Henryson's invention (1981, p. 420).

534 tak. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: call.

541 on bak and burd. Fox notes that the phrase on bak and bed and burde means "in clothing, in lodging, and in food," citing DOST (1981, p. 421).

542 spar till othir men of gold a hurde is from Chepman and Myllar. Bannatyne: spair till wyn men of gold a hurd.

545 that is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan; it is omitted in Bannatyne.

546 Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: Playis upoun the herp of eloquence.

547-50 These four lines are omitted in the Chepman and Myllar print and Asloan manuscript.

555 This line is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan. Bannatyne: off ythand thochtis and he besines.

556 and is from Chepman and Myllar and is omitted in Bannatyne and Asloan.

557 drink ineuch and hym are from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan. Bannatyne: eit and drink and he.

559 This Titius. Chepman and Myllar: Thir Theseus. Asloan: This Theseus.

560 wyth is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan; it is omitted in Bannatyne.

561 sett his entencion is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan. Bannatyne: he set al his intentioun.

563 spamen is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan. Bannatyne: spyne.

564 tell. Asloan: fele.

567 this. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: his.

569 of. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: in.

571-615 These lines are omitted in the Chepman and Myllar print and the Asloan manuscript.

575 causis is Fox's emendation of Bannatyne's causs. He makes the same emendation in line 592.

587 The line which should rhyme with this line has been lost.

592 This is a problematic line. The use of to to mean "as long as" is extremely unusual. Fox traces a possible derivation from quhill. causis is Fox's emendation to Bannatyne.

600 this myrk has been added in the margin of Bannatyne.

605 The gloss "sty" is speculative to capture the same sense as found in To know itself, a styme (?) it may nocht se. Styme is unknown, but the sense is "it cannot see (or learn) to know itself."

606 stammeris is Wood's emendation. Bannatyne: scammeris.

607 hell is Fox's emendation. Banntyne: hale.

616 Than. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: Bot.

619 detestand is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan. Bannatyne: destand.

620 Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: Bot ilk man suld bewar, & wisely see.

623 Of fleschly. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: In wardly.

624 syn is from Chepman and Myllar and Asloan. Bannatyne: sone.

626 vane prosperité. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: sensualitee.

630 undirput His. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: help us wyth.

631 forss. Chepman and Myllar and Asloan: grace.