360. Comp. ‘giueð hem to medes eche lif · ⁊ blisse · ⁊ heuene mid him
seluen,’ OEH ii. 67/25; 74/233.
361. #fah ne græi#: fou ne grei E; fou ne grey J; foȝ ne grei M; D omits
ll. 361-2. For the association of the words comp. ‘Ne hedde he none robe
· of fowe · ne of gray,’ OEM 39/66; ‘gold · ne seoluer · vouh · ne
gray,’ id. 94/28; ‘Monye of þisse riche. | þat werede fouh and grey,’
id. 165/27, 8. In French they are vair (L. _varius_) and gris, as in
‘jamais ne vestirai vair ne gris ne hermine | n’afulerai mantiel ourle
de sabeline, | ne coucerai en lit covert de marterine,’ Le Chevalier au
Cygne, in Bartsch & Horning, 349/14-16. OE. #fāȝ, fāh#, variegated,
coloured, is also in ME. an adj., as at 81/82; ‘fah clað,’ L 24653. As a
noun it means a variegated or shaded fur, as distinct from one of
uniform colour, like #græi#, which is badger. #kuning#, rabbit fur, but
#cuniculus# is glossed marderis, i.e. marten, in Fecunda Ratis 450,
where it is associated with migale, ermine, which would go better with
the general idea of sumptuosity. But marten is in the next line. konyng
J; cunig EM.
362. #aquierne#, squirrel: OE. #ācwern#, in oldest form #ācweorna#,
Sweet, Oldest E. Texts, 590: ocquerne E; Okerne M; Ne oter ne acquerne
J. #martres cheole#, marten’s throat, explained by Mätzner as
throat-piece, collar or boa of marten; but the expression, found here
only, is a bad attempt at translating F. gole martrine, fur dyed red, as
in ‘ses mantels fu riches et chiers | et fu toz faiz a eschaquiers; |
l’uns tavels ert de blanc hermine | et l’altre ert de gole martrine,’
Eneas, 4029-32; a chess-board pattern in white and red. The pelisson of
the period was a tunic of fur enclosed between cloths which permitted
the red-dyed fur to be seen only at the front edges of the garment.
These borders were called goules; comp. ‘Lermes li moillent le menton |
E les goles del peliçon,’ Roman de Troie, ed. Constans, 15543-4; ‘Goules
de martre, ne vos vuel plus porter,’ Raoul de Cambrai, 6227: the
resemblance to the French word for throat has led to the translation
here, as to the erroneous explanation of goules, gole, by ‘collet’ in
Florence de Rome, 1959; Roman de Thebes, 6375-6. M has simply martrin,
OF. martrine, marten’s fur. #metheschele# in T is for merðes chele, the
first element being OE. #mearð#, marten; it is equivalent to the reading
of E e. #beuer#, &c.: Beuveyr ne sablyne J.
363. #sciet#: sced E; scete D descend from OE. #scīete, scēte#, cloth,
but scat T; schat M from OE. #sceatt#, property, money; as in ‘srud and
sat,’ GE 795, 881, ‘srud or sat,’ id. 3169. J has, Ne þer ne wurþ ful
iwis · worldes wele none. #scrud#, dress; not ‘shroud.’