76. #for#, before: I call to witness Apollo; comp. 145/101: somewhat
different is ‘for mi lif,’ 145/106, upon my life, staking my life on the
fulfilment of my promise.
78. #haldest her on#, perseverest in this determination; comp. ‘hald
hardiliche | on ꝥ tu hauest bigunnen,’ SK 677; ‘ȝif me hit halt eure
forþ in on,’ ON 356.
79. #toluken# &c.: comp. ‘⁊ leoten toluken þi flesch | þe fuheles of þe
lufte,’ SK 2092; ‘þer ase wilde deor limmel to luken ham,’ SJ 79/5;
34/83.
81. #aȝein þe#, in reply to thee, answering thy oath by Apollo and
Diana: the stop after #aȝein# is to be disregarded. #ich swerie# &c., I
call Christ to witness: the _acc._ after swerien is perhaps without a
parallel, but it gives a sense somewhat different from that which would
be gained by the insertion of bi or to.
83. #i leitinde leie#, in flashing flame: comp. ‘for al þe cwarterne, of
his cume | leitede o leie,’ SK 671; ‘⁊ i þe reade leie, | ⁊ i þe
leitinde fur,’ id. 1360; ‘⁊ leitinde al on leie,’ id. 1651. The full
stop after #leie# and the following capital obscure the structure of the
sentence--though I be burnt alive, I will not &c.
84. #þe#, _dat._: comp. ‘buhð him ase he bit,’ AR 288/24; ‘all we sal
him bu,’ CM 16712; ‘þe lauerdes leofmon ꝥ (= to whom) alle kinges
buheð,’ HM 5/24. #her onont#, as regards this matter. #Þreate# &c.: see
34/86. #buhe ne beien#: comp. 132/3; SJ 27/10, 43/9; ‘buhsume ⁊
beisume,’ SK 1787.
86. #leoftede# is translated in Specimens, ‘flattered,’ and derived from
OE. #lyfettan#, which is hardly possible: leotede luueliche, made
affectionate gestures, behaved affectionately, would give a known
combination: comp. ‘wið luueliche lates,’ SM 14/4; ‘ȝif þu makest ei
semblaunt, oðer eni luue lates touward unðeauwes,’ AR 90/17; ‘mid
leofliche læten,’ L 19396; 110/273, but the weak forms of læten are not
elsewhere found before the fifteenth century.
88. #wið þerean ꝥ# is explained in Specimens as for wið ꝥ þerean, the
last word being taken with wenden as, in respect of that matter; but
that seems very improbable, though the order of words is often strange
enough in this piece. Stratmann suggested that #þerean# is a mistake for
þen, which does not account for the corrupt form. Possibly the scribe
had before him, wið þē (= þen) ane ꝥ, on the sole condition that: see
72/192 note. #wið ꝥ# in R 70 means, on condition that.