752. The last word in this line should rather be _nas_ (= was not), as has
kindly been pointed out to me; though the seven MSS. and the old editions
all have _was_. By this alteration we should secure a true rime.
754. _elf_; French text--'ele fu malueise espirit en fourme de femme,' she
was an evil spirit in form of woman. _Elf_ is the A.S. _ælf_, Icel. _álfr_,
G. _alp_ and _elfe_; Shakespeare writes _ouphes_ for _elves_. 'The Edda
distinguishes between Ljósálfar, the elves of light, and Dökkálfar, elves
of darkness; the latter are not elsewhere mentioned either in modern fairy
tales or in old writers.... In the Alvismál, elves and dwarfs are clearly
distinguished as different. The abode of the elves in the Edda is
Álfheimar, fairy land, and their king the god Frey, the god of light. In
the fairy tales the Elves haunt the hills; hence their name Huldufólk,
hidden people; respecting their origin, life, and customs, see Íslenzkar
þjóðsögur, i. 1. In old writers the Elves are rarely mentioned; but that
the same tales were told as at present is clear'; note on the word _álfr_,
in Cleasby and Vigfusson's Icelandic Dictionary. See also Keightley's Fairy
Mythology, and Brand's Popular Antiquities. The word is here used in a bad
sense, and is nearly equivalent to witch. In the Prompt. Parv. we
find--'Elfe, spryte, _Lamia_'; and Mr. Way notes that these elves were
often supposed to bewitch children, and to use them cruelly. [160]
767. Pronounce _ágreáble_ nearly as in French, and with an accent on the
first and third syllables.
769. _take_, handed over, delivered. _Take_ often means to give or hand
over in Middle English: very seldom to convey or bring.
771. In the margin of MSS. E. Hn. Cp. and Pt. is written--'Quid turpius
ebrioso, cui fetor in ore, tremor in corpore, qui promit stulta, prodit
occulta, cuius mens alienatur, facies transformatur? Nullum enim latet
secretum ubi regnat ebrietas.' This is obviously the original of the
stanza, ll. 771-777; cf. note to B. 99 above. There is nothing answering to
it in Trivet, but it is to be found in Pope Innocent's treatise De
Contemptu Mundi, lib. ii. c. 19--_De ebrietate_. Migne's edition has
'promittit multa' for 'promit stulta.' The last clause is quoted from Prov.
xxxi. 4 in the Vulgate version; our English versions omit it. See B. 2384.