BOOK 1: FOOTNOTES

1 If they (Latins) are present, they (the birds) immediately fly off

2 Which was not likely to be extinguished because of its heat

BOOK 1: NOTES

3 Pelleus. Lydgate conflates Pelias, the devious uncle of Jason, with Peleus, King of Phthia, who married the sea nymph Thetis, upon whom he fathered Achilles. Griffin (p. 289) notes that Guido and Benoît conflate Dares's Pelias with Dares's Peleus, who participated in the destruction of Lamedon's Troy.

8 the. Accepting Bergen's addition.

9 Myrmidones. Bergen reads Myrundones; see 1.67 and 3.579.

10 Ovyde. Publius Ovidius Naso (43 B.C.-A.D. 17). Author of more works popular with medieval literati than any other classical writer. His Amores, Heroides, Ars Amatoria, Remedia Amoris, Metamorphoses, and Fasti were frequently drawn upon and alluded to by English writers.

31 roomyng. Bergen reads rooming.

38 Where. Bergen reads Wher.

49 Confortles. Bergen reads Comfortles.

56 for to schyne. MS: so for to schyne.

68-69 lyfe . . . Of Seynt Mathewe. The tradition that Matthew preached in the land of the Myrmidons originates in the apocryphal Acts of Andrew and Matthias (second-third century A.D.). According to the story, Matthew is assigned to preach in the city of Myrmidonia, whose inhabitants are cannibals. He is imprisoned, but a miracle brings the other apostles to rescue him. The story was popularized by Gregory of Tours's Liber de miraculis Beati Andreae Apostoli (c. 593). Several Old English translations exist. In his De situ terrae sanctae, Theodosius (sixth century) writes that Sinope, which was then called "Myrmidona," is the place where Andrew freed Matthew from prison.

74 suppose. MS: schal suppose.

92 Whiche. MS: Wiche.

96 Line misplaced in MS.

98 be. Bergen normalizes to by.

104 wrought. MS: wrout.

105-06 lere/here. MS reverses the rhyme.

126 resygnacioun. MS: resygnacoun. Bergen reads resygnacion.

131 Medee. Medea, daughter of Aeëtes, king of Colchis (Oetes in Benoît, Guido, and Gower; Cethes in Lydgate). Lydgate removes her healing of Eson from the story that he subsequently tells in order to introduce Jason. In Gower, after Medea has saved Jason she retores old Eson to youth at the expense of her own beauty, whereafter the scoundrel Jason abandons her for Creusa.

133 pociouns. MS: porciouns.

134 wyrchyng. Bergen emends to wyrchynges.

135 quentyse. Bergen emends to queintyse.

136 hir enchauntementys. Bergen emends to enchauntementys.

137 as is. MS: as it is.

139 she it. MS: it is.

144 Sentence must be read with Eson or "he" understood as the grammatical subject of was.

160-61 Lydgate employs the humility topos that Chaucer exploits throughout his work.

161 discreye. Bergen emends to discryve.

164 his. MS: the.

197 for. MS: for for.

214 sought. Bergen emends to thoughte.

224 can. Bergen emends to ther can.

225 secré. MS: secrete.

229 unto. Accepting Bergen's addition.

234 he wer. Bergen emends to he ne wer.

237 as. Bergen emends to so as.

724 hir. Bergen reads her.

729 Symeonte. Dares, Benoît, and Guido make the river Simois, a tributary of Scamander (chief river of the Trojan plain), into the harbor of Troy.

731 Lydgate continues in this passage with a series of subordinate clauses, but the main clause logically begins here; if the conjunction And is silently dropped, the rest of the passage follows clearly.

737 or. Bergen emends to nor.

741 on. Bergen emends to upon.

763 deth. Bergen emends to myschief.

768 wer. Bergen reads were.

769 many man and many worthi. Bergen emends to many a man and many a worthi.

791 Is. Accepting Bergen's addition.

793 it is. Bergen emends to it was.

801-04 Lydgate's explanation of the causes (and later the consequences) of Troy's fall draws on Boethius's idea of Fortune. Benson contends that Lydgate has three distinct but often confused views of Fortune - a sense of determinism and pessimism derived from Guido, a rejection of transitory, secular things derived from Boethius, and a belief that Fortune is a means for divine punishment for evildoers and material rewards for the good (1980, pp. 120-24); see Lois Ebin (1985), pp. 43-44. Lydgate refers directly to Boethius's view of Fortune at 4.3008-12.

802 passyng. Bergen emends to passyngly.

811-75 Lydgate uses the medieval commonplace of translatio imperii, the idea that Troy is the authorizing origin of later cities and nations.

855 Lydgate, following Guido (Book 2), has Aeneas founding Naples in Sicily.

860 cast. Bergen emends to caste.

868 went. Bergen emends to wente.

870 ther. Accepting Bergen's addition.

871 him. MS: hem.

875 Ysidre. Isidore of Seville (c. 560-636). His Etymologiae was an enormously popular encyclopedia (preserved in over a thousand manuscripts) on diverse topics, particularly those pertaining to natural phenomena, word origins, and classical lore. It is regularly cited as the authority behind ideas in medieval lapidaries, bestiaries, and discussions of all things natural.

891 wher that he is grave. Bergen emends to wher as he is grave.

922 thei. Bergen emends to he, but ches can take a plural subject and the sense of the passage is that Jason and Hercules are acting together (see earlier 1.723-40).

932 for. Accepting Bergen's addition.

944 Swyche. Bergen reads Swiche.

946 wer seie. Bergen reads were seie.

950-53 See the representation of rumor as sound in The House of Fame, lines 711-24, and as gossip in The House of Fame, lines 1914-76 and 2060-2111, where rounen is used as a verb for private conversation made public.

958 Without. Bergen emends to Withoute.

982 this. Bergen emends to his.

984 for yow to schewe. Bergen emends to with yow for to schewe.

1001 perturbaunce. Bergen reads parturbaunce.

1064 payed. Bergen emends to apayed.

1067 sort. Lydgate's usage of the term, derived from Latin sors, sortis, moves among the meanings of chance, fate, and fortune; see 2.1802, 3.2725, 3.5315, 4.5291, 5.1836, 5.1887, 5.2183, 5.3040, 5.3247.

1069 honestly. MS: honestlyche.

1076-77 The meaning of the sentence is "Everyone of us shall help to carry out what Lamedon has foolishly chosen to begin."

1079 This to seyne. Bergen emends to This is to seyne.

1080 on hymsilfe schal. Bergen emends to schal on hym silfe.

1088 this. Bergen emends to his.

1093 unto hym was. Bergen emends to was unto hym.

1109 gret. Bergen emends to grete.

1110 the Kyng. Bergen emends to thi king; see 1.1156, 1172 for similar readings.

1112 And the. Bergen emends to And.

1113 unto. MS: to.

1156 the. Bergen emends to thi.

1166 to. Bergen emends to unto.

1170 that. Accepting Bergen's addition.

1172 the. Bergen emends to thi.

1178 be ye. MS: ye be.

1183 swyche. Bergen reads swiche.

1187 Is. MS: Iis. for to. Bergen emends to to.

1823 ff. The story of Jason and Medea was popular with the generation of English writers prior to Lydgate, who served as his mentors. See Chaucer's The Legend of Good Women, lines 1580-1679, based on Ovid's Heroides 6 and 12, Ovid's Metamorphoses 7, and Guido, who is Lydgate's source; and, especially, see Gower's retelling of the story in Confessio Amantis 5.3247-4222, which is based on Benoît, lines 703-3926, rather than Guido. Gower's version is more sympathetic to Medea and her plight than Lydgate's is. Gower's Medea is shy, reflective, and modest; she demonstrates constancy in women rather than inconstancy, as in Lydgate.

1826 yeres. Bergen reads yeris.

1834 Considered. Must be taken as parallel with Comaunded (1.1829).

1844 man. Bergen emends to wise man.

1845 ever. MS: every.

1847 yeve. MS: yif.

1850 and. MS: and so.

1870 That. Must be taken syntactically as "so that."

1876-80 These lines ironically evoke Chaucer's description of Jason in The Legend of Good Women, lines 1580-88.

1878 performe. Bergen reads parforme.

1882 wolde God. Syntax requires the subjunctive to take the noun clause beginning "That" (1887) as the complement; see 1.2038-40.

1883 him. MS: hem.

1887 ensample. MS: ensaple.

wommen. MS: wommei.

1901 mewe. See Chaucer's description of Troilus after he falls in love with Criseyde: "he wolde werken pryvely, / First to hiden his desir in muwe" (Troilus and Criseyde 1.380-81); see 2.3600.

1915-18 Bergen indicates a full stop after "sool" (line 1917), but the complete sense of the sentence requires the main clause provided in line 1918.

1925 his. Accepting Bergen's addition. doth. Bergen reads dothe.

1935 worth. MS: worthi.

1964-84 The description of Medea's contemplating the figure that Jason creates in her mind recalls Criseyde's musing on Troilus in Troilus and Criseyde 2.656-67. In both poets, the object of the lover's desire is presented not as he is but as he is seen.

1968 began. Bergen emends to gan.

1974 enprenteth. MS: enprenteh.

1977 sonnelyche. Bergen emends to sonnysshe.

1982 sufficiaunce. Bergen emends to suffisaunce. See The Book of the Duchess, line 1037: "My suffisaunce, my lust, my lyf."

1994 yolde body, herte, and al. The phrase has a distinctly Chaucerian ring to it. See The Book of the Duchess, lines 116 and 768, where Alcyone and then the Black Knight yield themselves to love "With good wille, body, hert, and al."

2018 no. MS: to.

2019 No. MS: Nor.

2029 schewen. MS: schewem.

2033 scheweth. MS: schewey.

2042 schyning. MS: schying.

2049 hevene. See Troilus and Criseyde 3.1251: "Thus in this hevene he gan hym to delite" and Criseyde's earlier response to Troilus's entrance: "It was an heven upon hym for to see" (2.637).

2057 not me. Bergen emends to me not.

2074 thei thinke. MS: the think.

2078 the. Accepting Bergen's addition.

2079 though. MS: thorugh.

2081 pretende. MS: pretente.

2083 And. Taking flaterie as grammatically parallel with florissyng.

2084 dowbilnes. MS: dowmbilnes.

2085 is. MS: it.

2090 blewe is lightly died into grene. Blue is fidelity; green is inconstancy. See Chaucer's "Against Women Unconstant" with its refrain "In stede of blew, thus may ye were al grene," where the poet objects to women's "newfangelnesse" (line 1) and "unstedfastnesse" (line 3), objections which resonate in Lydgate's critique in lines 2091-92.

2105 and parfyte. MS: and so parfyte.

2112 hem. MS: here.

2117 my. MS: the.

2141 halle. MS: the halle.

2813 the cok, comoun astrologer. A direct echo of the scene of the aubaude in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde 3.1415 after the lovers' consummation.

2818 weren. MS: ben.

2820 wayten. Bergen emends to to awayte.

2830-32 The image is a set of three hounds on a leash turned into a pair by the old woman's leaving the lovers alone.

2834 hath. Accepting Bergen's addition.

2844 rich. MS: rial. See Benoît, lines 1622-23. In Book 4 of Boccaccio's Filocolo, Florio and Biancifiore are married before a statue standing for all the gods; some scholars believe that this served in turn as a source for the pledges exchanged in Troilus and Criseyde 3.1254-60.

2851 take. MS: to take.

2852 lothe. MS: for lothe.

2864 his. MS: his his (canceled to his).

2868-80 See Jason's perfidy and duplicity in both the Hypsipyle and Medea episodes in The Legend of Good Women, lines 1368-1679, where Hercules is fully involved in the conscious plot to deceive Hypsipyle.

2878 nothing. Bergen glosses MS no thing as "not," but the sense of the passage is that nothing contrived and false was revealed under Jason's false appearance.

2895 schuldest. MS: schulde.

2905 comprehende. Takes bounté as its complement.

2919 See The Legend of Good Women, lines 2559-61: "Be war, ye wemen, of youre subtyl fo, / Syn yit this day men may ensaumple se; / And trusteth, as in love, no man but me."

2923 oute. Bergen reads out.

2924 hir. Bergen reads her.

2936 maner. MS: the maner.

2949-50 Echoes portrait of Jason at start of Chaucer's story of Medea: "For to desyren thourgh his apetit / To don with gentil women his delyt, / This is his lust and his felicite" (The Legend of Good Women, lines 1586-88).

2951 contrerie. Bergen reads contrarie.

2953 See Hypsipyle's "usaunce / To fortheren every wight, and don plesaunce / Of verrey bounte and of curteysye" (The Legend of Good Women, lines 1476-78).

2957 routhe. MS: roughte.

2963 ful. Bergen emends to fulle.

2967-86 Jason's speech here uses the conventions of the aubade but turns them not to the poignancy of the lovers' parting so much as to the mechanics of his gaining the Fleece.

2968 pryme. Prime marks the first division of the day, from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. It likewise designates a canonical hour of prayer. Here the sense seems to be "daybreak."

3020-21 The text reads: a riche ring . . . al venym distroye. Bergen's note (4:101) suggests that the stone is agate. That makes sense in that agate, according to the Peterborough Lapidary, which also cites "Isidore" as its source, indicates that agate can sometimes be green and that it "ben good azens venymm & azens bizting of serpentes & he kepeth a man fro euell thinges" (English Medieval Lapidaries, ed. Joan Evans and Mary S. Serjeantson, EETS o.s. 190 [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1933; rpt. 1960], pp. 64-65). The Sloane Lapidary, in the same volume, notes the agate's virtue "against stinging edders," but does not identify any kind of agate as being green. See note to 1:3344, below.

3217 Lydgate breaks the syntax of this sentence by inserting He as the subject of schope.

3218 forget. Bergen emends to forged; but see 2.2508, 4.6938 as well as 1.4255 (avenget) and 3.4179 (flickerit).

3222 what. MS: wat.

3229 syghe. MS: to syghe.

3230 rekeles. MS: rekles.

3231 sche bad. MS: sche him bad.

3243 schuld. MS: schul.

3246 the. MS: thi.

3248 fulli. MS: ffulli.

3253 certeyn. Bergen emends to certis.

3255-56 Bergen transposes these lines, following other MSS.

3264 the. Accepting Bergen's addition.

3289 kepe. MS: ke (corrected to kepe).

3305 wastid. MS: waftid. Bergen's emendation.

3317 Sense requires "they were" as grammatical subject.

3320 inhast. Bergen emends to enhaste.

3333 flaume. Bergen reads flawme.

3334 masid. MS: amasid.

3338 ther. MS: the.

3340 techith. MS: teched.

Ysydorus. There is no reference to Isidore or bufo (Latin "toad") in Benoît, lines 1677-1702 and 1929-32; see Guido, Book 3.
3341 And. MS: And in.

3344 surmounteth every grene. It is conceivable that Medea's wonderful, protective stone is emerald, rather than the agate mentioned earlier (not in this selection). According to the Peterborough Lapidary, emerald "ouerpasseth al the grennesse of grenhede" (English Medieval Lapidaries, ed. Joan Evans and Mary S. Serjeantson, EETS o.s. 190 [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1933; rpt. 1960], p. 85). Lydgate, on the authority of "Isidyre," cites India as the provenance of Medea's stone (line 1342); the Sloane Lapidary designates Syria for emerald (English Medieval Lapidaries, p. 121). All sources indicate that this greenest of green stones is protection against lechery, which could be a factor in Medea's giving the ring to Jason. MED gives "desire, sexual passion" as a meaning n(2) for grene. Lydgate, perhaps, is punning in lines 3343-44, suggesting 1) that the stone must be kept pure and clean and that it surpasses all others in its greenness; and 2) that it must be kept chastely and cleanly, and with its color can overcome illicit passion ("grene"). The newlywed Jason draws upon its power and Medea's pure affection to overcome the dragon. The stone defends him from the "venym," but in doing so is turned into "pecis smale" (line 3356) so that it cannot protect Jason from the poison of Cupid's dart which, in the end, overwhelms him with desire for Creusa and which, in turn, proves a "dedly sorwe" for Medea (line 3712).

3346 anoye. MS: noye.

3360 of malis. Modifies tame rather than men.

3364 the ston. Bergen emends to this ston.

3369 riche. Bergen reads rich and emends to riche.

3383 resistence. MS: of resistence.

3384 withstonde. MS: witstonde.

3389 many stroke. Bergen emends to many a stroke.

3413 upon. MS: on.

3418 as faste as. Bergen emends to in al the hast.

4034 to. MS: for to.

4044 of. Bergen emends to on; see 3.3216 and 3.3857.

4046 ward. A military unit of fighting men, here rendered as "division."

4058 ye gete of me no more. See Chaucer's The Squire's Tale: "ye gete namoore of me" (V.343).

4061 he riseth. MS: it ariseth.

4065 noble. Accepting Bergen's addition.

4084 sturdy as a wal. See 3.4938 and 4.3946. The reference to Nestor ironically echoes against Chaucer's description of Hector as "the townes wal and Grekes yerde" (Troilus and Criseyde 2.154) and Criseyde's subsequent feeling that Troilus "was to hire a wal / Of stiel, and sheld from every displesaunce" (Troilus and Criseyde 3.479-80).

4094 many wounde. Bergen emends to many a wounde.

4095 Ther. Bergen emends to Wher.

4105 discomfetid. Bergen emends to discomfeted.

4115 That. MS: Than.

4118 in. Accepting Bergen's addition.

4121 manly. MS: manfully.

4122 non. MS: on.

4143 he felt in hert. Bergen emends to in hert he felte.

4155 enbollid. Bergen reads embollid.

4162 whet. Accepting Bergen's addition.

4170 Cedar. The young knight who rescues Lamedon by attacking Nestor appears in both Guido (Book 4) and Benoît (2507 ff.), who agree on the major details of the episode.

4176 He. Added for grammatical sense.

4184 smyte. MS: to smyte.

4185 dispitous. Bergen reads despitous.

4220 the. MS: of his.

4226 have. Accepting Bergen's addition.

4234 that. Accepting Bergen's addition.

4253 a. Bergen emends to in.

4254 in al hast. Bergen emends to in al the hast.

4255 avenget. Bergen emends to avenged.

4259 have with hem. Bergen emends to with hem have.

4262 finaly that day. MS: that day finaly.

4268 he. MS: thei. In the MS reading, the Greeks make woe - that is, cause grief - but the context indicates that it is Lamedon who expresses his grief and mourning.

4269 pitus hert. Lydgate refers obliquely to Chaucer's phrase "pitee renneth soone in gentil herte" (Canterbury Tales I.1761, IV.1986, V.479). See below 4.2148.

4285 assaille. Bergen reads assaile.

4286 his. Bergen indicates an emendation but his is the MS reading.

4289 cam in. MS: in cam.

4292 severed. Bergen reads svered, emended to severed.

4301 til. Bergen emends to to.

4303 hast. Bergen reads haste.

4304 alyghte. MS: he lyghte.

4315 wer. MS: that wer.

4317 no. MS: nat. can no rede is parallel with wer forskatered, and both are governed grammatically by That (who).

4326 to. MS: into.

4335 the. Bergen emends to her.

4340 Her. Bergen emends to Hir.

4366 a. Accepting Bergen's addition.

4367 birthe. Accepting Bergen's addition.

4371 had. Bergen emends to hadde.

4374 vengaunce. MS: vengauce.

4376 thorugh. MS: thoghugh.

4377 liche. Bergen emends to light.

4380 to. Accepting Bergen's addition.

4381 the. Bergen emends to this.

4386 Bergen's punctuation suggests that the syntax breaks at this point, but it is clear that the parenthetical interjection in lines 4385-86 divides the subordinate clause from the main clause, much as in the opening of Chaucer's General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales.

4388 plesyng. Bergen emends to pleysyng.

4398 fro. Accepting Bergen's addition.

4412 sufficiaunce. Bergen reads sufficaunce.

4420-36 Lines addressed to Henry as Lydgate's patron.

4427 now with quakyng hond. MS: with quakyng hond now.