Part 9 (1/2)
[Headnote: G.o.dARD KILLS SWANBORGUGH AND HELFLED.]
[Sidenote: G.o.dard cares not.]
+G.o.dard herde here wa, Ther-offe yaf he nouth a stra, But tok e maydnes bothe same{n}, Al-so it were up-on hiis game{n}; 468 Al-so he wolde with he{m} leyke, at were{n} for hunger g{re}ne and bleike.
[Sidenote: He cuts the throats of the two girls.]
Of boen he karf on two here rotes, And sien [karf] he{m} alto grotes. 472 er was sorwe, we so it sawe!
Hwan e children bi [e][22] wawe Leyen and spraulede{n} in e blod: [Sidenote: Havelok sees it, and is afraid.]
Hauelok it saw, and e[r] bi stod. 476 Ful sori was at seli knaue, Mikel dred he mouthe haue, For at hise herte he saw a knif, For to reuen him hise lyf. 480 But e knaue,[23] at litel was, [Sidenote: He begs G.o.dard to spare him, offering never to oppose him, and to flee from Denmark.]
He knelede bifor at iudas, And seyde, ”louerd, m{er}ci nov!
Ma{n}rede, louerd, biddi you! 484 Al denemark i wile you yeue, To at forward u late me liue; Here hi wile on boke swere, at neure more ne shal i bere 488
[Headnote: G.o.dARD SPARES HAVELOK FOR A TIME.]
Ayen e, louerd, shel ne spere, Ne oer wepne[24] that may you dere.
Louerd, haue m{er}ci of me!
To-day i wile fro denemark fle, 492 Ne neu{er}e more comen ageyn: Swere{n} y wole, at bircabein Neu{er}e yete me ne gat:”-- Hwan e deuel he[r]de[25] that, 496 [Sidenote: [Fol. 206b, col. 2.]]
Sum-del bigan him forto rewe; With-drow e knif, at was lewe [Sidenote: G.o.dard has pity on him.]
Of e seli children blod; er was miracle fair and G.o.d! 500 at he e knaue nouth ne slou, But fo[r] rewnesse him _w_it-drow.[26]
Of auelok rewede him ful sore, And oucte, he wolde at he ded wore, 504 But on at he nouth wit his hend Ne drepe him nouth,[27] at fule fend!
oucte he, als he him bi stod, Starinde als he were wod: 508 [Sidenote: But he reflects that, were Havelok dead, his children would be the heirs.]
”Yif y late him liues go, He micte me wirchen michel wo.
Grith ne get y neu{er}e mo, He may [me] waite{n} for to slo; 512 And yf he were brouct of liue, And mine childre{n} wolde{n} thriue, Lou{er}di{n}ges after me Of al denemark micten he be. 516 G.o.d it wite, he shal ben ded, Wile i take{n} non oer red;
[Headnote: G.o.dARD TELLS GRIM TO DROWN HAVELOK.]
[Sidenote: He determines to drown him.]
I shal do caste{n} hi{m} in e se,[28]
er i wile at he drench[ed] be; 520 Aboute{n} his hals an anker G.o.d, at he ne flete in the flod.”
[Sidenote: He sends for a fisherman, and says to him, ”Grim, I will make you free.]
er anon he dede sende After a fishere at he wende, 524 at wolde al his wille do, And sone anon he seyde him to: ”Grim, ou wost u art mi ral, Wilte don mi wille al, 528 at i wile bidde{n} e, To-morwen [i] shal make{n} e fre, And aucte e yeuen, and riche make, With-a{n} u wilt is child[e] take, 532 And lede{n} him with e to-nicht, [Sidenote: Throw this child into the sea”.]
an ou sest se[29] Mone lith, In-to e se, and don him er-i{n}ne, Al wile [i] take{n} on me e sinne.” 536 [Sidenote: Grim binds the child.]
Grim tok e child, and bo{n}d hi{m} faste, Hwil e bondes micte laste; at weren of ful stro{n}g line:-- o was hauelok i{n} ful stro{n}g pine. 540 Wiste he neu{er}e her wat was wo: [Sidenote: [Fol. 207, col. 1.]]
[Sidenote: Christ wreak thee of G.o.dard, Havelok!]
Ih{es}u c{ri}st, at makede to go e halte, and e doumbe speke{n}, Hauelok, e of G.o.dard wreken! 544
[Footnote 22: MS. bi; of. l. 2470.]
[Footnote 23: MS. kaue.]
[Footnote 24: MS. ”wepne bere,” where ”bere” is redundant.]
[Footnote 25: MS. hede.]
[Footnote 26: Printed thus in the former edition:-- ”But to rewnesse him thit drow.” But the MS. has _fo_, not _to_, where _fo_ is corruptly written for _for_, as in l. 1318; and the initial letter of the last syllable but one may be read as a Saxon _w_ (?), not a thorn-letter (). It merely repeats the idea in ll. 497, 498.]
[Footnote 27: Qu. mouth.]
[Footnote 28: MS. she.]
[Footnote 29: _So in_ MS. _Qu._ e.]