115 f. _he couþe hit noȝt deme with spelle_, 'he could not say <which
it was>'. For _deme_ 'to speak', &c., cp. VI 1, XV _b_ 29-30.
118. _Wheþer_ commonly introduces a direct question and should not be
separately translated. Cp. VI 205 and note to XI _a_ 51.
121. _wysty is here_, 'it is desolate here'. Note _Wowayn_ = _Wauwayn_,
an alternative form of _Gawayn_ used for the alliteration. The
alternation is parallel to that in _guardian_: _warden_; _regard_:
_reward_ XIV _c_ 105; _guarantee_: _warranty_; _(bi)gyled_ 359:
_(bi)wyled_ 357; _werre_ 'war' beside French _guerre_; _wait_ 'watch'
(as at l. 95) beside French _guetter_; and is due to dialectal
differences in Old French. The Anglo-Norman dialect usually preserved
_w_ in words borrowed from Germanic or Celtic, while others replaced it
by _gw_, _gu_, which later became simple _g_ in pronunciation.