Part 6 (2/2)

[Sidenote: He befriended the fatherless.]

To e faderles was he rath, Wo so dede hem wrong or lath, 76 Were it clerc, or were it knicth, He dede hem sone to haue{n} ricth; And wo [so] dide{n}[5*] widuen wrong, Were he neure knicth so strong, 80 at he ne made hi{m} sone kesten, And in fet{er}es ful faste festen; [Sidenote: Them who wrought shame he punished.]

And wo so dide maydne shame Of hire bodi, or brouth i{n} blame, 84 Bute it were bi hire wille, He[6] made hi{m} sone of limes spille.

He was te[7] beste knith at nede, at heuere micthe ride{n} on stede, 88 Or wepne wagge, or folc vt lede; Of knith ne hauede he neu{er}e drede, at he ne spro{n}g forth so sparke of glede, [Sidenote: [Fol. 204b, col. 1.]]

And lete him [knawe] of hise hand-dede, 92 Hw he coue with wepne spede; [Sidenote: He made his foes cry for mercy.]

And oer he refte hi{m} hors or wede, Or made him sone ha{n}des sprede, And ”louerd, me{r}ci!” loude grede. 96 He was large, and no wicth gnede; Hauede he non so G.o.d brede, Ne on his bord no{n} so G.o.d shrede, [Sidenote: He fed the poor.]

at he ne wolde orwit fede, 100 Poure at on fote yede; Forto haue{n} of him e mede at for vs wolde on rode blede, Crist, that al kan wisse and rede, 104 at euere woneth i{n} ani ede.

[Footnote 3: MS. ”Rirth wise.”]

[Footnote 4: Supplied from conjecture. Cf. v. 653, 787. A few more instances will be found where a similar liberty has been taken, for the purpose of completing the sense.]

[Footnote 4*: Changed by editor from ”red”: see Emendations.]

[Footnote 5: MS. athayse.]

[Footnotes 5* (all from Emendations): l. 66: ”For the MS. reading _here_ Mr Garnett proposed to read _othere_, which is clearly right.”

l. 74: ”For _his soule_ (as in the MS.) we should probably read _of his soule_.”

l. 79: ”For _wo diden_ (as in the MS.) we should read _wo so dide_.”]

[Footnote 6: MS. Ke.]

[Footnote 7: MS. Ke waste.]

[Headnote: ATHELWOLD IS ABOUT TO DIE.]

[Sidenote: His name was Athelwold.]

-- e ki{n}g was hoten aelwold, Of word, of wepne he was bold; In engeland was neure knicth, 108 at bet{er}e hel e lond to ricth.

[Sidenote: He had but a young daughter to succeed him.]

Of his bodi ne hauede he eyr Bute a mayden swie fayr, at was so yung at sho ne coue 112 Gon on fote, ne speke wit moue.

an him tok an iuel strong, at he we[l] wiste, and under-fong, [Sidenote: He feels he is dying, and says, ”I am in trouble about her.]

at his deth was come{n} him on: 116 And seyde, ”c{ri}st, wat shal y don!

Louerd, wat shal me to rede!

I woth ful wel ich haue mi mede.

W shal nou mi douhter fare? 120 Of hire haue ich michel kare; Sho is mikel in mi outh, Of me self is me rith nowt.

No selcouth is, ou me be wo; 124 Sho ne ka{n} speke, ne sho kan go.

[Sidenote: Were she but of age, I would not care for myself.”]

Yif scho coue on horse ride, And a thousa{n}de me{n} bi hire syde; And sho were com{en} intil helde, 128 And engelond sho coue welde; And don hem of ar hire were q{ue}me, An hire bodi coue yeme; No wolde me neu{er}e iuele like 132 Me ou ich were i{n} heuene-riche!”

[Headnote: HE SUMMONS HIS LORDS TO WINCHESTER.]

+Qua{n}ne he hauede is plei{n}te maked, er-after stro{n}glike [he] quaked.

He sende writes sone on-on 136 [Sidenote: [Fol. 204b, col. 2.]]

After his erles eu{er}e-ich on; [Sidenote: He summons his lords, from Roxburgh to Dover.]

And after hise baru{n}s, riche and poure, Fro rokesburw al i{n}to douere, That he shulde{n} comen swie 140 Til him, that was ful vnblie; To at stede e[r] he lay, In harde bondes, nicth and day.

He was so faste wit yuel fest, 144 at he ne mouthe haue{n} no rest; [Sidenote: He can no longer eat.]

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