In denemark nis wimman [non]
So fayr so sche, bi _seint_ Johan,
where _seint_ is a dissyllable; see p. 264 of my Early English
Pronunciation. _Hey, fri_, 1071, is an error; read _hy_, and see
p. 285 of my book. The other instances of _ei_, _ai_ are all
regular, the confusion of _ei_, _ai_ being perfect in the
thirteenth century. _Shame_, l. 88, is dative, and would prove
nothing, but _shame_ in Orrmin is conclusive. Hence in _sham'_,
56, we have an _e_ omitted; compare p. 323 of my book, and the
German _Ruh'_." --Ellis. In other places, the spelling _heye_
occurs, rather than _hy_: see ll. 719, 987, 1071, 1083, 1289,
1685, 2431, 2471, 2544, 2724, 2750, 2945, &c.]
[Footnote 44: "The instances of _o_ are all regular, except
_croud, god_, 2338, which is a false rhyme altogether; _ou_ =
modern _oo_." --Ellis.]
§ 29. ON THE FINAL -E, &c.
There can be little doubt that the final _-e_ is, in general, fully
pronounced in this poem wherever it is written, with but a very few
exceptions; but at the same time it is liable to be elided when followed
by a vowel or (sometimes) by the letter _h_, as is usual in old English
poetry. In the following remarks, I shall use an apostrophe to signify
that _e_ is _written, but not pronounced_; thus "wil'" signifies that
"wile" is the MS. form, but "wil" the apparent pronunciation. I shall
use an italic _e_ to signify that the _e_ is elided because followed by
a vowel or _h_, as "cupp_e_" (l. 14); and in the same way, "rid_en_,"
"lit_el_," &c, signify that the syllables _-en_, _-el_ are slurred over
in a like manner. It will be seen that such syllables are, in general,
slurred over when they occur before a vowel or _h_; under the same
circumstances, that is, as the final _-e_. When I simply write the word
in the form "gode" as in the MS., I mean that the _-e_ is _fully
pronounced_; so that "gode" stands for "godë."
The following, then, are instances. I follow the order in Mr Morris's
Introduction to Chaucer's Prologue, &c. (Clarendon Press Series).
(_A_) In nouns and adjectives (of A.S. origin) the final _-e_ represents
one of the final vowels _a_, _u_, _e_, and hence is fully sounded even
in the nominative case in such instances. Examples; gome (A.S. _goma_),
7, blome (A.S. _bloma_), 63, trewe (A.S. _treowe_), 179, knaue (A.S.
_cnafa_), 308, 450, sone (A.S. _sunu_), 394.
(_B_) In words of French origin it is sounded as in French verse. Such
words are scarce in Havelok. Examples: hayse, 59, beste, 279, mirácle,
500, rose, 2919, curtesye (_miswritten_ curteyse), 2876, cf. 194,
drurye, 195, male, 48, large, 97, noble, 1263.
(_C_) It is a remnant of various grammatical inflexions:--
(1) it is a sign of the _dative_ case in nouns; as, nede, 9, stede,
10, trome, 8, wronge, 72, stede, 142, dede (not elided, because of the
cæsura), 167, arke, 222, erþe, 248, lite þrawe, 276. It also sometimes
marks the accusative, or the genitive of feminine nouns: _accusatives_,
cupp_e_, 14, wede, 94, brede, 98, shrede, 99, mede, 102, quiste, 219,
sorwe, 238 (cf. sorw' in l. 240), son_e_, 308, knaue, 308, sone, 350,
wille, 441: _genitives_, messe, 186, 188, helle, 405.
(2) In adjectives it marks--
(_a_) the _definite form_ of the adjective; as, þe meste, 233, þe riche
(not elided[45]), 239, te beste, 87, þe hexte [man], 1080, þat wicke,
1158, þat foule, 1158, þe firste, 1333, þe rede, 1397. This rule is most
often violated in the case of _dissyllabic_ superlatives; as, þe
wictest', 8, þe fairest, þe strangest, 1081, 1110; cf. 199, 200.
(_b_) the _plural_ number. Examples abound, as, gode, 1, alle, 2, are,
27, yung = yung_e_, 30, holde, 30, gode, 34, 55, harde, 143, gren_e_,
470, bleike, 470, halte, 543, doumbe, 543, &c.
The same use is often extended to possessive pronouns; we find the
plurals mine, 385, 514 (but min', 392), þine, 620, hise, 34, 67, hure,
1231; and even the singulars hire, 84, 85, hure, 338, yure, 171. But the
personal pronoun feminine is often hir', 172, 209; yet see l. 316.
(_c_) the _vocative_ case, as, dere, 839, 2170; leue, 909.
(3) In verbs it marks--
(_a_) the infinitive mood; as, telle, 3, duelle, 4, falle, 39, bey_e_,
53, swere, 254, be-bedde, 421, ber_e_, 549, &c. On this point there
cannot be a moment's doubt, for the form _-en_ is found quite as often,
and they rime together, as in 254, 255, cf. 29, 30. But it is well worth
remarking that _-en_ is slurred over exactly where _-e_ would be, with
much regularity. Examples are: rid_en_, 10, biginn_en_, 21, mak_en_, 29,
heng_en_, 43, lurk_en_, 68, crep_en_, 68, rid_en_, 88, hau_en_, 270.
Other examples are very numerous. But we sometimes find _-en_ not
slurred over, as, drinken, 15; and the same is true even of _-e_, but
such cases are exceptional and rare.
(_b_) the gerund; as, to preyse, 60.
(_c_) the past participle of a strong verb; as, drawe, 1802, slawe,
1803. But these are rare, as they are commonly written drawen, slawen,
2224.
(_d_) the past tense of weak verbs, where the _-e_ follows _-ed_, _-t_,
or _-d_. Examples are very numerous; as, louede = lov'de, 30, 35 (not
elided), 37, hauede = hav'de, 343; cf. haued = havd', 336; þurte, 10,
durst_e_, 65, reft_e_, 94; dede, 29, sende, 136, seyde, 228, herde, 286.
Observe hated = hated_e_, 40. The plurals of these tenses are rarely in
_-e_, generally in _-en_, as, haueden, 241, ded_en_, 242, sprauleden =
spraul'den, 475.
(_e_) the subjunctive or optative mood, or the 3rd person of the
imperative mood, which is really the 3rd person of the subjunctive. This
rule seems to be carefully observed. Examples are yeue, 22, thaue, 296,
yerne, 299, leue, 406, were, 513, wit_e_, 517, &c. So for the _first_
person, as, lat_e_, 509, lepe (not elided), 2009, spek_e_, 2079; and for
the _second_ person, as, understonde, 1159, fare, 2705, cone, 622, 623.
(_f_) other parts of a _few_ verbs; thus, the 1st person singular
present, as, liue, 301, ete, 793, rede, 1660, wille, 388, where _wille_
is equivalent to _wish_.
(_g_) present participles: thus, plattínde, 2282, is a half-rime to
gangánde. In other places, the author is careful to place them before a
vowel, as gretind_e_, 1390, lauhwind_e_, 946, starind_e_, 508,
driuend_e_, 2702, fastind_e_, 865.
(4) In adverbs the final _-e_ denotes--
(_a_) an older vowel-ending; as, son_e_ (A.S. _sóna_), 136, sone, 218,
251, yete (A.S. _géta_, as well as _gét_), 495, ofte (Swed. _ofta_, Dan.
_ofte_), 227.
(_b_) an adverb as distinguished from its corresponding adjective, as,
yerne, 153, loude, 96, longe, 241, more, 301, softe, 305, heye, 335,
swiþe, 455, harde, 639. Hence, in l. 640, we should read _neye_.
(_c_) an older termination in _-en_ or _-an_; as, þer-hinne, 322, 709,
712, henne, 843, inne, 855. Cf. A.S. _heonan_, _innan_.
(_d_) It is also sounded in the termination _-like_, as, sikerlike, 422.
Hence, in baldelike, 53, _both_ the _ees_ are sounded; cf. feblelike,
418. When the final _-e_ is slurred over before an _h_ in _Chaucer_, _h_
is found commonly to begin the pronoun _he_, or its cases, the
possessive pronouns _his_, _hire_, or their cases, a part of the verb to
_have_, or else the adverbs _how_ or _heer_. The same rule seems to hold
in _Havelok_. Observe, that _e_ often forms a syllable in the _middle_
of a word, as, bondeman, 32, engelondes, 63, pourelik_e_, 322.
With regard to the final _-en_, it is most commonly slurred over before
a vowel or the _h_ in _he_ or _haue_, not only when it is the
termination of the infinitive mood, but in _many other cases_. One
striking example may suffice:
He gret_en_ and gouled_en_ and gou_en_ hem ille, 164.
A still more striking peculiarity is that _the same rule often holds_
for the ending _-es_. We find it, of course, forming a distinct syllable
in plurals; as, limes, 86; and in adverbs, as, liues, 509. But observe
such instances as maydn_es_, 2, prest_es_, 33, vtlaw_es_, 41, siþ_es_,
213, &c.
In the same way, when rapid final syllables such as _-el_, _-er_,
_-ere_, &c., are slurred over, it will _generally_ be found _that a
vowel or_ h _follows them_. Examples: lit_el_, 6, won_eth_, 105,
bed_els_, 266, bod_i_, 345, deu_el_, 446, hung_er_, 449. Compare
ou_er_al, 38, 54. There are many other peculiarities which it would take
long to enumerate, such as, that _sworn_ is pronounced _sworen_, 204;
that the final _-e_ is sometimes preserved before a vowel, as in _dedë
am_, 167; that the word _ne_ is very frequently not counted, as it were,
in the scansion, as in 57, 113, 220, 419, the second _ne_ in l. 547, and
in several other places. But it must suffice to state merely, that when
the above rules (with allowance of a few exceptions) are carefully
observed, it will be found that the metre of Havelok is _very regular_,
and _valuable on account of its regularity_.
It would therefore be easy to correct the text in many places by help of
an exact analysis of the rhythm. But this, except in a very few places,
has not been attempted, because the imperfect, but unique, MS. copy is
more instructive as it stands. In l. 19, e.g. _wit_ should be _wite_; in
l. 47, _red_ should be _rede_; in l. 74, _his soule_ should be _of his
soule_, &c. The importance of attending to the final _-e_ may be
exemplified by the lines--
Allë greten swiþë sore, 236;
But sonë dedë hirë fetë, 317;
þinë cherlës, þinë hinë, 620;
Grimës sonës allë þre, 1399;
Hisë sistres herë lif, 2395.
Mr Ellis writes-- "These final examples suggested to me to compose the
following German epitaph, which contains just as many final _e_'s, and
which I think no German would find to have anything peculiar in the
versification: