457. know how to return, that is, to escape: comp. ‘hwan ic aȝen
cherre[;] al ic þe ȝelde,’ OEH i. 79/12, and for the noun, ‘Þer deþ so
redi fynt dore opene, | Ne may helpe no ȝeyn char,’ Desputisoun, 76/167;
‘efter-charr,’ CM 21922.
458. Often they have burst away, made good their escape: comp. 193/548
where the verb has an object in the _acc._ of the thing escaped from, as
occasionally in OE., and as probably here also. For the second half of
the line in its present form yields no satisfactory sense. Mätzner, who
completed he[re], translates, with their heart incorruptible,
inflexible, equating #ouel# with OWScand. ófalr. Read, ofte arn
atbrosten mid hele . here brest iuel, often have they safely escaped
from their evil danger. Comp. ‘Þe king Goffar iseih his burst[;] ⁊ unæðe
him seolf atbreac,’ L 1610; ‘þa ofte ure Bruttes[;] makeden hufele
burstes,’ id. 19856, and with the form brest, ‘or thei take reste | Er
schal thei suffre mochel breste,’ Laud Troy Book, 4226; ‘To-quils þai
duelled þar to rest, | O water had þai ful mikel brest,’ CM 6308.
459. Mätzner deletes #herd#, to correspond with, ‘Quod (_i.e._
periculum) qui fugerunt, hii tales esse tulerunt,’ T.; but in view of L
1334-1337 quoted above, it would be better to leave out #told#; the wise
escape because they have been forewarned. With either alteration, the
line remains formless: better, he hauen herd tellen . of tis mere
unimete, with distinct alliteration in each half-line (comp. 464/15).
Holthausen supplies is after #ðat#: the scribe probably understood the
connection as, which, monstrous in this wise, as being half human and
half fish, has a moral application (‘significacio’, ‘bitacnunge,’ 79/15)
in virtue of this monstrosity.
463, 464. Many men illustrate what is signified by this creature here
adduced as a symbol. ‘Quam plures homines sic sunt in more biformes,’
T.; comp. 191/471.
465. Mätzner altered #wulues# to sepes; the source is, ‘Attendite a
falsis prophetis, qui veniunt ad vos in vestimentis ovium, intrinsecus
autem sunt lupi rapaces,’ S. Matt. vii. 15.
467, 468. ‘Utpote sunt multi qui de virtute locuti, | Turpibus
indulgent,’ T. Perhaps of should be inserted before godcundhede.
469. #vncuð wið#: see 179/97. ‘Qui foris ut fantur, sic intus non
operantur,’ T.
474. #ðe legen#, lie to thee, by presently breaking their oath: ‘unum
dicentes, aliud mox tibi facientes,’ T.
475. #sage#, discourse: OE. #sagu#: comp. ‘heo wenden þat his sawen[;]
soðe weren,’ L 749.