386. _four._ The Harl. MS. wrongly has _ten_. There is no doubt about it,
because on March 15, the day before, the sun was in the _third_ degree of
the sign; on the 16th, he was in the _fourth_ degree.
387. It means--'and, moreover, the sun had risen but four degrees above the
horizon'; i. e. it was not yet a quarter past six.
396. _her hertes_, their hearts. _lighte_, to feel light, to feel happy; an
unusual use of the verb; but see F. 914. In l. 398, the sudden change to
the singular _she_ is harsh.
401. Again hastily written. Chaucer says--'The point for which every tale
is told--if it be delayed till the pleasure of them that have [383]
hearkened after (or listened attentively to) the former part of it grows
cold--then the pleasantness of it passes off, on account of the prolixity
in telling it; and the more so, the longer it is spun out.' _Knotte_ is
cognate with the Lat. _nodus_ (written for _gnodus_), as used by Horace,
Ars Poet. l. 191.
409. _fordrye_, exceedingly dry. The tree was white too, owing to loss of
its bark. This reminds me of the famous _Arbre Sec_, or Dry Tree; see Marco
Polo, ed. Yule, i. 119; Maundeville, ed. Halliwell, p. 68; Mätzner,
Sprachproben, ii. 185.
428. _faucon peregryn._ 'This species of falcon is thus described in the
Tresor de Brunet Latin, P. i. ch. _Des Faucons_; MS. Reg. 19 C. x. "La
seconde lignie est _faucons_, qui hom apele _pelerins_, par ce que nus ne
trove son ni; ains est pris autresi come en _pelerinage_, et est mult
legiers a norrir, et mult cortois et vaillans, et de bone maniere" [i. e.
the second kind is the falcon which is called the pilgrim (or peregrine),
because no one ever finds its nest; but it is otherwise taken, as it were
on _pilgrimage_, and is very easily fed, and very tame and bold, and
well-mannered]. Chaucer adds that this falcon was of _fremde lond_, i. e.
from a foreign country.'--Tyrwhitt.
435. _ledene_, language; from A. S. _læden_, _leden_, sometimes used in the
sense of language, though it is, after all, a mere corruption of _Latin_,
which is the sense which it most often bears. Thus, the inscription on the
cross of Christ is said to have been written 'Ebreisceon stafon, and
Grecisceon, and _Leden_ stafon,' in Hebrew letters and in Greek and Latin
letters; John, xix. 20. So also 'on _Ledenisc_ gereorde,' in the Latin
language; Beda, bk. iv. c. 1. Hence the word was used more generally in the
sense of language; as, 'Mara is, on ure _lyden_, biternes,' i. e. Marah is,
in our speech, bitterness; Exod. xv. 23. This extension of the meaning, and
the form of the word, were both influenced, probably, by confusion with the
sb. _l[=e]od_, people. The student should learn to distinguish this word
from the A. S. _l[=e]oð_, G. _lied_, a song. Tyrwhitt notes that Dante uses
_latino_ in the sense of language; 'E cantine gli augelli Ciascuno in suo
_latino_'; Canzone 1.