ABBREVIATIONS: AW: Ancrene Wisse, ed. Hasenfratz; B: Bodleian Library MS Bodley 34 [base text]; BS: Bennett and Smithers edition (1968); BT: Bosworth and Toller, Anglo-Saxon Dictionary; CT: Canterbury Tales; HM: Hali Meithhad; MED: Middle English Dictionary; MWB: Millett and Wogan-Browne edition (1990); OED: Oxford English Dictionary; R: British Library MS Royal 17 A XXVII; SJ: The Liflade ant te Passiun of Seinte Juliene; SM: The Liflade and te Passiun of Seinte Margarete; SW: Sawles Warde; T: British Library MS Cotton Titus D XVIII; W: Wilson edition (1938).

Header Sawles Warde. SW is a translation of a sermon,“De Custodia Interioris Hominis,” attributed to St. Anselm by R. W. Southern and F. S. Schmitt (Memorials of St. Anselm). Generations of critics falsely identified the source as Hugh of St. Victor’s De Anima 4.13–15, though Becker points out that this false identification was used “before De Custodia was edited critically” (“Source Text,” pp. 44–45). Robertson notes that scholars have insufficiently acknowledged “De Custodia” (Early English Devotional Prose, p. 208).

1.1 Si sciret paterfamilias . . . perfodi domum suam. Compare Matthew 24:43 and Luke 12:39. Perkins identifies this verse as the “pericope” from which the rest of the text develops: “The figural nature of the verse is already apparent in the Gospel, and . . . initiates a process of narrative and figurative development” (“Reading the Bible,” p. 211). Perkins discusses the rich interplay of metaphor and biblical allusion, where reference to the “theof” (sin, the Devil) entering the “hus” (body) to steal the “tresure” (soul) consistently relies and builds upon images from Gospel verses, particularly Luke (12:36, 34, and 39) and Matthew (6:20). Perkins’ exhaustive identification of scriptural verses tied to the text of SW has been extremely helpful in compiling these notes, and many of our references have been borrowed from his discussion.

3.2 te fulitohe wif mei beon wil ihaten. Hassel sees the introduction of Will as wife as “disrupt[ing] neat dualism, preventing a simple dichotomy of gender . . . although she is contrasted most obviously with Reason, Will is also envisioned as an alternative or opposite to the other women in the narrative, the four virginal Virtues. The role or image of women in Sawles Warde is not consistent and stable. Rather, the meaning of women in the text depends on position, their relationship to masculine authority” (Choosing Not to Marry, p. 87). For an earlier discussion of gender in SW see Robertson, Early English Devotional Prose, pp. 126–43; for a more recent discussion see Masha Raskolnikov, Body against Soul.

Wit is the translator’s word for the Latin animus, which refers specifically to the intellectual powers of the soul rather than the spirit of the soul (anima). Wit regularly appears in Middle English allegorical texts, often representing the intellectual powers of reasoning and standing in for the Latin term ratio. However, compare the use of the term in Langland and Chaucer, where wit describes natural human intelligence as opposed to knowledge based on education or auctoritas. In Piers Plowman, Will often must rely on his “kynde wit” (natural wit) instead of the corrupt words of clerics. See for example Conscience’s declaration in regards to the practices of clerical orders: “‘by Criste, kynde wit me telleth / It is wikked to wage yow” (B.XX.268–69). Chaucer’s Friar Thomas, in contrast, relies solely on his natural intelligence when he should be using this natural intelligence together with the Scriptures in his preaching: “I have to day been at youre chirche at messe, / And seyd a sermon after my symple wit — / Nat al after the text of hooly writ” (CT III[D] 1788–90).

3.7 fol semblant. This line is the first occurrence of “semblant” in Middle English, borrowed from the French word for “face.” Skaffari notes that this example shows “great adherence to the orthography of the source language” (“Lexical Borrowings, p. 89, italics in original) which could demonstrate a very recent borrowing from the French. This phrase is one of two entirely “French-derived elements” in the text (Skaffari, “Lexical Borrowings,” p. 92), and the first instance of a phrase which was to become common in later Middle English. However, the MED distinguishes falssemblaunt (fals (adj.), sense 1b) as in Gower’s quasi-allegorical use in the Confessio Amantis (“treacherous, untrustworthy”), and fol semblaunt (fol (adj.), sense 2) which cites this line of SW to mean “evil appearance or demeanor.” The difference lies in the prefix fals rooted in Latin falsum and fol rooted in Old French fol (“foolish, mad, crazy” [Hindley et al., p. 323] which carries over to Middle English to mean not just “foolish, stupid” [MED fol (adj.), sense 1a] but “sinful, wicked” [sense 1b] as well). Hence we should be cautious about making any connection here between fol semblant and the later falssemblaunt.

3.8 efter hire. I.e., according to her will.

3.9 ham. Refers to the “hinen” the five senses, while “wit” remains in the singular since it refers to the singular sense.

3.11–13 Ah ne bihoveth . . . amurthrin hire thrinne. The author’s description of the thief and murderer here allegorically describes the process of sin and temptation; the numerous thieves represent the vices (classified under the Seven Deadly Sins) and the guards their opposing virtues. In keeping with the pervasive emphasis on vigilance in SW, the idea is that should the guards fail to maintain watch, the vices may approach the house, break in, and steal the most sacred treasure: the human soul. This metaphor for sin and temptation builds on Matthew 24:43 and Luke 12:39. See Hassel’s discussion of this metaphor as it compares to AW (Choosing Not to Marry, pp. 91–95).

3.13 Godes deore castel. For a history of the metaphor of self as castle, see Christina Whitehead, Castles of the Mind, as well as Christopher Cannon’s discussion of the role defensive structures play in the imagination of the authors of the Katherine Group in his Grounds of English Literature.

3.15 keis. A word of Welsh origins, from cais (plural caisiaid), referring to a historical class of sergeants, policemen of a kind who helped enforce the law and carry out executions (Breeze, “Welsh Cais,” p. 298). Breeze argues that the term carried extremely “penetrating implications for the forms of evil” due to the historical role of the caisiaid in Wales and the marches, hence the use of the term for the devil’s henchmen (p. 303). See Breeze for a thorough discussion of the origins and contexts of the term and its implications in English and Welsh. The presence of Welsh terms in the Katherine Group indicates to some extent the geographical origin of the language: see Dobson, Origins of Ancrene Wisse, pp. 115–16; as well as Russell-Smith, “Keis in Sawles Warde.” Other Welsh terms in the Katherine Group include cader (HM 29.2), cokkunge (HM 41.3), genow (SM 31.9). See also Cannon, Grounds of English Literature, pp. 139–71, for a discussion of the significance of the Welsh marches to the imagination of the Katherine Group.

ure Lauerd haveth . . . of his dehtren. Originally described as the Four Virtues in “De Custodia,” SW’s four daughters are an early English incarnation of the Four Daughters of God: Vigilance, Strength, Moderation, and Righteousness (Robertson, Early English Devotional Prose, p. 130). A more traditional version of the Four Daughters, such as that in Piers Plowman, consists of Truth, Mercy, Justice, and Peace. The daughters play a different role in SW, as they are frequently depicted in other English literatures as debating the righteousness of the possible salvation of humanity through Christ’s sacrifice (compare the Castle of Perseverance [lines 3129–3649], Piers Plowman B.XVIII, and the Salutation in the Mary Play of the N-Town cycle). For an early and yet-to-be superseded discussion of the history of the Four Daughters of God see Traver, “The Four Daughters of God: A Mirror,” as well as her monograph The Four Daughters of God.

3.16 The earste is . . . Rihtwisnesse the feorthe. To the Latin source’s list of the cardinal virtues Prudentia, Fortitudo and Iustitia, the author adds Temperentia, in Middle English, meath.

Warschipe. Literally, “ware-ship,” i.e., the quality of being watchful and aware. See MED warshipe (n.), sense a. Savage and Watson translate as “Caution.” It should be noted that Warschipe in SW does not solely concern awareness of one’s physical space, but a moral watchfulness as well, hence the alternative translation, “prudence” (see MED warshipe (n.), sense b).

4.1 Wit, the husbonde, Godes cunestable. Though the texts in the Katherine Group have been read frequently as intentionally nativist works, as part of the first movement to compose in the vernacular again after the Norman conquest, the language itself demonstrates the international nature of early Middle English. Skaffari points out that this phrase uses words of French (conestable), Germanic (God), and Scandinavian (hus-bonda) origins (“Lexical Borrowings,” p. 82). The line also records the first instance of cunestable in Middle English and means “the chief officer of the household, court, administration, or military forces of a ruler” (OED constable (n.), sense 1). See also W, p. 47n42. See also BS who note that constable used as “‘governor of a (royal) fortress’ is perhaps more appropriate than ‘chief officer of a household’ (OED s.v. 1) and perhaps more likely to be in the mind of a [West Midlands] writer at a time when royal castles were being built to hold the Welsh border” (p. 421n43).

4.3 Meath . . . tuht forte halden. Price (“Moderation in Sawles Warde”) illustrates the implications of the different manuscript readings of these lines. Our text follows B and T, whereas R reads, instead of “the middel of twa uveles,” “þe middel of twa þing” (W, p. 6). Price considers this difference “a good example of the lectio difficilior principle” and chooses the B/T text over R since it illustrates more closely the Ciceronian and Aristotelian concepts of moderation, such as those discussed in Aquinas’ De medio virtutum. However, Price does not consider this single instance to be enough evidence to consider SW as a part of the “early thirteenth century’s assimilation of Aristotelian material,” although it does reflect the “author’s command of contemporary intellectual interests” while placing them in the context of “psycho-moral thinking” (pp. 116–17).

mete, thet me “meosure” hat. Of note is that the writer here defines “meosure” according to another synonym; thus Dor suggests that meosure may be a recent loan word from French (“Post-dating Romance”). The MED lists the earliest occurrences of “mesure” in SW (this line) and the roughly contemporary Trinity College, Cambridge Homilies.

5.3 lonc. Related to “lank” according to MED lank (adj.), sense a, which cites this line to mean “skinny, lean.” T reads “long” which refers to height or stature (MED long (adj.1), sense 1b). “Lank” or “lanky” implies, in modern idiom at least, height in addition to skinniness, hence our translation.

leor. Derived from Old English hleor, this native term for “face” is used twice in the text, here and at 26.1 (BT, hleor (n.)). Skaffari notes that both instances are used in alliterative passages (“Lexical Borrowings,” p. 86), and the author’s choice of this term (over the two other words — nebbe and wlite — used throughout the text for “face”) indicates an attempt to link native vocabulary with native poetic devices.

elheowet. Literally, “ill-hued.”

6.3 thet best con bisetten hire wordes. I.e., express herself.

7.1–2 Ich nat nawt . . . . me least weneth. These lines conflate several biblical verses, and also echo the earlier pericope for the entire text (see the explanatory note 1.1). Compare in particular Matthew 24:36 (where Christ predicts the end of days: “But of that day and hour no one knoweth: no, not the angels of heaven, but the Father alone”); Matthew 25:13 (on the parable of the foolish and wise virgins: “Watch ye therefore, because you know not the day nor the hour”); and 1 Thessalonians 5:2 (“For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night”) and 5:6 (“Therefore, let us not sleep, as others do: but let us watch, and be sober”). Two separate topics of interest to the author of SW seem to be raised between these lines and 1.1–2.2: first, the author further emphasizes the need for constant vigilance against sin, given Death’s penchant for arriving suddenly and unexpectedly. Secondly, through biblical allusion, the author may be referring to the double use of the thief metaphor: while it often stands in (as in 1.1) for sinfulness, and sometimes even for the Devil himself, the reversal of the metaphor to indicate Christ’s coming in 1 Thessalonians indicates the power of choice, as indicated by the two thieves on either side of Christ during the Crucifixion.

7.3 euchan bereth a gret boc al of sunnen. See Apocalypse 20:12–15.

with soth schrift ant with deadbote. Compare HM 8.23.

8.1–13.1 Ant Warschipe hire . . . Ich chulle reodien. Eggebroten, who asserts that SW is a translation of Hugh of St. Victor’s De anima, sees this playful dramatic dialogue as evidence that our text was intended for “gently bred young women . . . of landed families, familiar with courteous life centered on the great hall of a manor or castlel [sic].” Thus, the arrival of a visitor from the outside world who came bearing exciting news would be familiar to the female audience of the tale (“Sawles Warde: A Retelling of De Anima,” p. 32). However, compare Perkins’ overview of SW’s changes from the source; he notes that the drastic reduction of active dialogue like this from “De Custodia” suits SW better to its central task of sermonizing (“Reading the Bible,” p. 211).

9.1–14.20 Ich cume . . . ow theos tidinges. According to W, the details of the descriptions of Hell are additions by the Middle English adapter, as it is far more detailed than its Latin source. There are two major sources for medieval descriptions of Hell: The Vision of St. Paul (an early Christian apocryphal account of St. Paul’s visions of heaven and hell) and the sixth-century Sunday Letter (see W, p. 53n90). Robertson argues that such detailed description is characteristic of texts written for women and the uneducated (Early English Devotional Prose, pp. 126–94).

14.4 ham to grisle ant to grure. MWB glosses as “to their horror.”

14.6 Ther is remunge . . . the snawi weattres. Compare Matthew 24:51, 25:30, and 22:13.

hechelunge. W notes this as the only occurrence of the word in Middle English (p. 57n109). MED defines hechelynges as the combing or heckling of flax. Following tothes, it is defined as “gnashing or chattering of teeth.” Alone, a hechele is “an instrument for carding flax” (MED hechel(e (n.)) which would not seem to relate clearly to the chattering of teeth! We have based our translation on the typical English translation of Matthew 24:51, upon which the text is based: stridor dentium — “gnashing of teeth.”

14.10 unhope. W notes the rarity of the term unhope. Compare AW: “hit walde to swithe hurten ower heorte ant makien ow swa offearet, thet ye mahten sone — thet Godd forbeode ow! — fallen i desesperance — thet is, in an unhope ant an unbileave for-te beon i-borhen” [it would too severely wound your heart and make you so afraid that you could soon — may God forbid that for you — fall into despair — that is, into a hopelessness and a disbelief that you will be saved] (ed. Hasenfratz, p. 64, lines 72–74). According to MED, unhope (n.) is only otherwise used in the fifteenth-century Complaint Against Hope. The more common term is wanhope (n.), though MED does not record any uses of it before 1325.

14.13 fret of. Compare a similar use of the same verb just a few lines earlier at 14.4: “tadden ant froggen the freoteth ham ut te ehnen ant te nease-gristles.” MED suggests that the verb freten, when followed by of, would mean “to partake of, to eat of” (freten (v.1), senses 1a(b)). We have translated somewhat more liberally as “gnaws at” in order to evoke the earlier image of toads and frogs gnawing. The echo is possibly intentional on the part of the author since the sinners are not only gnawed on by the worms of Hell but become worms of Hell through their continual and corrosive hatred of each other.

14.17 pilche-clut. MED cites this line (pilche (n.), sense g) as meaning “a ragged pilch.” MWB translates as “a scrap of hide” (p. 93), and W as “rags, old cloth” (p. 111). The OED cites two instances of the phrase, one in this line of SW, and the other in Richard Coer de Lyon, line 6806 (A version).

14.18 O Helle, Deathes hus . . . ham neaver wontin. Fearlac’s rhetorically terrifying apostrophe to Hell features concrete details of suffering. Millett connects these lines to the Old English Homilies of Wulfstan, which our text closely parallels: “Ðær is ece bryne grimme gemencged, [and] þær is ece gryre; þær is granung [and] wanung [and] aa singal heof,” demonstrating clearly the passage’s “distinctively ‘native’ techniques of rhythm and alliteration” (“Continuity of English Prose,” p. 103) [There is eternal burning savagely stirred up, and there is eternal terror; there is groaning and howling and forever everlasting grief]. See also Robertson’s discussion of the concretion of the anonymous homilies in connection with the style of these texts (Early English Devotional Prose, pp. 144–80).

‘Wa beo the!’ ant ‘Wa beo the!’ B has identical “and ‘Wa beo the!’,” as does T. This looks like an inadvertent repetition, perhaps done in a base text for all three copies that are no longer extant. However, in none of the manuscripts is the repetition marked for deletion. Also, T initially writes the second “the” as “theo” with the o marked for deletion (as noted by W, p. 17), which suggests care in the composition of the text. Perhaps, as noted above, the mistake was in the exemplar, or perhaps it is not a mistake at all. Fearlac says earlier that the damned souls in Hell spend far more time cursing each other than they do themselves, so perhaps the repetition of “woe be to you!” attests to this tendency. MWB deals with the repetition by adding emphasis on the second “the” though there is no evidence for this in B.

14.19 wel were him yef thet he neaver ibore nere. Compare Matthew 26:24.

15.5 Ich habbe thervore . . . he hit forswolhe. Compare 1 Peter 5:8.

16.2 The apostle seith . . . he flith ananriht. Compare James 4:7.

16.4–5 Ye, nis Godd . . . His deore grace. Compare Ephesians 6:16.

17.2 foryemeth ham. MWB glosses this as a passive instance of foryemen meaning “are negligent” (p. 181); however, we have chosen to translate the phrase as a reflexive, to “neglect themselves” because of the implication that forgetting God is also a process of forgetting or neglecting the self.

18.2 onont hireseolven. See W, p. 49n57, regarding the occurrence of “onont” in the Bodley 34 group. It also occurs at 4.5 of this text. W says it could be related to Old English on-emn (which the MED records as a preposition meaning “besides, etc.”). See MED anentes (prep.), sense 5a: “with respect to, as regards, concerning” and MED anent(es (adv.): “approximately, about.”

18.7 ne beo we neaver swucche. MWB translates as “even if we are not” (p. 97); we have chosen a more literal translation.

22.1 his. Refers back to the “tidinges” earlier in the same sentence.

26.1 leor. See the explanatory note to 5.3 above (leor).

28.1 engles ant to the archangles. The nine orders of angels are: Angels, Archangels, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Dominations, Throne, Cherubim, and Seraphim. While the orders of angels are mentioned frequently throughout the Bible, they are organized hierarchically in De Coelesti Hierarchia of Dionysius the Pseudo-Aeropagite, and known later in the Middle Ages through the writings of Gregory the Great (see MWB, p. 157n100/23).

29.1–2 Efter ham Ich iseh . . . . i gasteliche sihthe. Compare Hebrews 11:13. “Gastelich sihthe” means spiritual visions.

29.3 alles cunnes ledenes. According to W, ledenes in Old English meant Latin, but by this date meant any foreign language (p. 71n281). See also BT, Læden (n.), which indicates that even by the tenth century Læden could mean Latin (sense 1) or “any tongue, speech, language” (sense 2). A number of the Bodley 34 texts share a self-consciousness about language; for example, see SM 74.1 and the corresponding explanatory note. Both MWB and Savage and Watson translate this line more generally as “nation.”

30.1–32.4 Ich biheolt te . . . . halhen sittende ihereth. SW omits what Perkins calls the “coenobitic heroes” of its Latin source, De Custodia: the “‘apostolici et doctores’ and ‘monachos’” (quoted in Becker, "Literary Treatment," p. 225). Meanwhile, passages of relevance to female religious readers are expanded, further evidence that SW, if not intended as reading specifically designed for anchoresses, was almost certainly intended first for the female reader (Perkins, “Reading the Bible,” p. 215). See also Eggebroten, “Sawles Warde: A Retelling of De Anima,” and Robertson, Early English Devotional Prose, pp. 126–43.

34.1 The imeane blisse is seovenfald. On the seven joys of the soul, see MWB p. 157n102/21–23.

37.3 Ant beoth . . . nebbe to nebbe. Compare 1 Corinthians 13:12.

37.4 His domes . . . sea dingle. Compare Psalm 35:6: “Thy justice is as the mountains of God, thy judgments are a great deep.” Sea dingle presents difficulties in translation, as dingle is of unknown etymology and this is the only recorded instance of the term in Middle English besides in place names. See MED dingle (n.), “a deep dell or hollow.” According to the OED, a dingle is, in the modern dialect of Yorkshire, “the name of a deep narrow cleft between hills,” i.e., a valley (dingle (n.)). We have chosen to translate sea dingle as “sea trench” since “trench” is the term applied to an underwater valley. While the translation is no doubt modern in terminology, the sense remains that the judgments of God reach as physically low as is geographically possible, which, to the medieval writer and audience, would represent the deepest parts of the sea-floor that are therefore closest to Hell. For a detailed explanation as to the possible etymology of “dingle,” see W, pp. 74–75n320. Of note is W. H. Auden’s use of this line in his poem “Doom is Dark and Deeper than any Sea-Dingle”; see Bloomfield’s article of the same name for the implications of this usage.

39.7 Intra in gaudium. Compare Matthew 25:21.

39.10 Beati qui habitant. Compare Psalm 83:5.

40.1 ase thin ehe-lid tuneth ant openeth. Literally, “as your eyelid closes and opens.” We translate more idiomatically as “in the blink of an eye.” See OED eye-blink, sense C4.

43.1–2 Hwen hit swa is . . . haveth us iyarcket. Compare Romans 8:35–39.

43.2 under His wengen. Refuge under God’s wings is a frequent image in the Psalms. See, for example, Vulgate Psalms 16:8, 35:8, 60:5, etc. See also HM explanatory note 41.6.

44.1 Warpeth ut . . . ure fa. Compare 1 John 4:18. The allegory literalizes John’s assertion that “Fear is not in charity: but perfect charity casteth out fear,” and serves as the climax to, as Perkins states, “a dramatic enactment of . . . scriptural verse . . . from Fearlac’s warnings to Liues Luue’s vision of heaven” (“Reading the Bible,” p. 214).

48.1 Nu is Wil thet husewif al stille. Hassel understands Will’s silence as only a temporary victory in “the ongoing work of vigilance” (Choosing Not to Marry, p. 96). She compares the ending moment of SW to the “tempting but false” moment in SJ 34.1–7 where the demon disguised as an angel tries to persuade Juliana that God does not want to see her suffer any more, and will allow her to marry Eleusius, a moment that seems to promise a happy resolution but in reality only poses mortal danger to those who let down their guard.

50.1 Par seinte charité. This phrase is the second of two entirely French-derived phrases used in SW, in addition to “fol semblant.” See also the explanatory note 3.7. See Skaffari, “Lexical Borrowings,” p. 92, for more discussion of the implications of “code-switching,” i.e., abruptly changing linguistic registers within the text. Skaffari also considers that the entire final note of R, included here, “may not be more than an afterthought” (“Lexical Borrowings,” p. 92).

Johan thet theos boc wrat. This prayer and the brief poem that follows it only appears in R. The John mentioned here is presumably the scribe; his appeal is a conventional envoi that often appears at the end of medieval texts wherein the author or scribe takes his leave and requests readers to pray for his soul.

ABBREVIATIONS: AW: Ancrene Wisse, ed. Hasenfratz; BS: Bennett and Smithers edition (1968); BT: Bosworth and Toller, Anglo-Saxon Dictionary; MED: Middle English Dictionary; MS: Bodleian Library MS Bodley 34 [base text]; MWB: Millett and Wogan-Browne edition (1990); R: British Library MS Royal 17 A XXVII; T: British Library MS Cotton Titus D XVIII; W: Wilson edition (1938).

We consulted Wilson’s 1938 diplomatic edition of all three manuscripts of Sawles Warde over the course of producing our text here. We also consulted Bennett and Smithers and Millett and Wogan-Browne, the two most recent editions of the text. While we turned to the Hall and Morris editions on occasion, we have not collated those readings with the readings below.

1.1 Si. MS: capital S, two lines high.

2.2 his. MS: his h.

3.1 Lauerd. So BS, MWB, R, T. MS: lauerð.

3.7 hwer. So MS, corrected from hwet.

other. So MWB, R, T. MS: oder, which BS retains.

3.9 iwiten. So MS; the word has been inserted in a different hand and is corrected from what looks like iwelen. BS and MWB emend to felen following R’s reading; in BS’s case, following W’s mis-reading of the inserted word as iþþlen. T: fele.

Wit. So BS, MWB, R, T. MS: hit.

3.10 fare. So BS, MWB, R. T: fares. MS omits.

3.11 tresor. So BS, MWB, R, T. MS: tre. Apparently the MS scribe finished the line with half of the word then forgot to complete the word at the beginning of the next line.

4.1 Wit. MS: capital Wynn, three lines high.

4.3 suster. So MS, corrected from þuster.

hird. So BS, MWB, T. MS: hirð. R: hinen.

4.5 this. So MWB, R, T. MS: his, which BS retains. It should be noted that MS’s reading does make sense: “For fear of her his (i.e., Wit’s) household . . .” However, we have emended to the R and T reading for greater clarity.

hird. So BS, MWB, R, T. MS: hirth.

his₁. So MWB, R, T. MS omits, which BS retains.

honden. So BS, MWB, R, T. MS: hondon.

5.1 As. MS: capital A, five lines high, largely due to the flourish on the first ascender.

5.3 ant leane. MS: ant feier leane.

5.4 ham. So MWB, R, T. MS omits, which BS retains.

6.3 ha₁. So BS, MWB, T. MS, R: he. The T scribe is evidently the first to catch this mistake, as the word is corrected from he.

7.3 enbrevet. MS: enbrevedt.

At the bottom of fol. 73v, a later hand has written Thomas Hauard esquier. See Ker, Facsimile of MS Bodley 34, pp. xiii–xv, for details regarding these additions.

13.1 tellen. MS: the word is inserted above the line.

reodien. MS: a decorative mark follows this word to the end of the line.

14.1 Helle. MS: capital H, three lines high.

wid. So BS, MWB, T. MS and R omit. The Bodley scribe may have omitted the word because of its similarity to the next word, wiðute.

14.3 In the left margin of fol. 74v, MS has Thomas clynton clericus, along with some scribbles. See Ker, Facsimile of MS Bodley 34, pp. xiii–xv, for details regarding these additions.

greot. So MS, BS. MWB, R, T: grot. W suggests MS’s greot is a mistake based on the Old English term greot meaning “grit” (BT greót (n.)) but goes on to suggest a more probable explanation: “the mechanical transcription of original o as eo by the B. scribe” (p. 55n101); however, see Millett, Dance, and Dobson who, commenting on AW 4.1178, suggest that “it is possible that there was some overlap between the senses of grot ‘fragment’ and greot ‘(particle of) sand, gravel’” (AW, vol. 2, p. 181n4.1178). Hence, we have retained MS’s reading.

14.6 hechelunge. So MS. T: hechelinge. See also the corresponding explanatory note.

14.18 rueth. So MS, BS, MWB. R: ruueð. T runeð. The T reading is most likely a mistake. W (p. 61n143) follows Hall in attributing the MS and R readings to a non-extant verb, *ruuen, meaning “to stiffen, to stand up in disorder.” MED, which cites only this line under ruen (v.), suggests the Middle Dutch ruderuwen, “to stand up.”

the₃. So MS. T: theo, with the o marked for deletion. See the corresponding explanatory note.

15.1 Nu. MS: a space was left for a two-line capital which was never inserted. The indicator letter is faintly visible in the left margin, though part of it has been cropped.

donne. So MS, corrected from donte.

15.2 ha. So MWB, R, T. MS: he, which BS retains.

15.3 ofdred. So MS, corrected from a dred.

17.4 we₁. MS: wei.

17.5 middel. So MWB, R, T. MS: midel, which BS retains. We have emended for sense.

18.1 Rihtwissnesse. MS: space has been left for a capital R, two lines high. A faint R is visible but is severely faded, which is the case for all of the capitals that follow.

18.2 strengthe. So BS, MWB, T. MS: strengde, which W reads as strengðe. R: strencðe.

to ure alre ehnen — ant. So BS, following R. MS: ant ure alre ehnen.

19.1 Wit. MS: there is an otiose downstroke between W and i.

20.1 The. MS: space has been left for a capital T, two lines high.

treowliche. So BS, MWB, R. MS: treowliliche. T: treweliche.

21.1 swithe. So BS, MWB, R, T. MS: swide.

24.1 Hercnith. MS: space has been left for a capital H, two lines high.

24.2 Ich. So BS, MWB, R, T. MS: ch.

25.1 A. MS: space has been left for a capital A, two lines high.

26.1 Murhthes. So BS, MWB, R, T. MS: murhdes.

habbe isehen. MS: habbe him ofte isehen.

mine. So MS, corrected from meine.

26.2 ofte. MS: the scribe wrote ofsee, corrected to oftee, then deleted the word. His second attempt was only slightly more successful: having written ofee, he corrected to ofte.

27.1 wordes. So BS, MWB, based on T’s weoredes. BS also cites De Anima’s “super omnes ordines” as a guide for supplying the missing word (Hugh of St Victor, p. 185ff). MS, R omit.

with. So BS, MWB, R, T. MS: wid.

weoleful. MS: wle weoleful.

therayeinis. So BS, MWB, R. MS: þe aʒeines. T: ther toʒeines.

27.2 blitheliche. So BS, MWB, R, T. MS: blideliche.

28.1 Thet. MS: space has been left for a capital T, two lines high.

unwerget. MS: corrected from unwerged.

28.2 ha. So BS, MWB, R, T. MS: ha ha. The first ha occurs at the end of the line, and the second at the beginning of the next line.

29.1 Efter. MS: space has been left for a capital E, two lines high.

makieth. So BS, MWB, R. MS: makied. T: makeð.

30.1 Ich. MS: space has been left for a capital I, two lines high.

31.1 Efter. MS: space has been left for a capital E, two lines high.

cunfessurs. MS: corrected from cunfessores.

haliliche. So BS, MWB, R, T. MS: haliche.

32.1 Ich. MS: space has been left for a capital I, two lines high.

ferreden. MS: fereden; r₂ is inserted above the line.

32.2 feierleac. MS: feierlac; e₃ is inserted above the line.

32.4 smeal. MS: smel; a is inserted above the line.

33.1 Swithe. MS: space has been left for a capital S, two lines high.

34.1 The. MS: space has been left for a capital T, two lines high.

37.1 Ha. MS: space has been left for a capital H, two lines high.

seovevald. MS: the final letter is d or t, though it is difficult to tell which is the corrected form; we have followed d based on R’s reading of seoueuald and T’s reading of seuefald.

37.2 cnawlechunge. MS: preceded by several partially erased letters, possibly cwa with superscript n.

37.3 seoth. So BS, MWB, R, T. MS: sod.

38.1 Ha. MS: space has been left for a capital H, two lines high.

39.1 ff. Beginning on fol. 80r (MS’s final folio), the manuscript becomes increasingly difficult to read due to staining, water damage, and tearing in the manuscript. Ker advises that this damage is due to the fact that MS lacked a cover for quite some time (Facsimile of MS Bodley 34, p. xii). When text is lacking, we have turned to R and T.

39.1 Se. MS: space has been left for a capital S, two lines high.

na speche. So BS, MWB, R, T. MS is unreadable.

39.2 euchan haveth. So BS, MWB, R, T. MS: ?uch?? ?aveð.

othres. So BS, MWB, T. MS: odres. R: oðeres.

39.3 haveth. So BS, MWB, T. MS: h?veð. R: haþ.

39.4 othre. So BS, MWB. MS: odre. R: oðer. T: þoðre.

39.6 undervon. So BS, MWB. MS: ????rvon. R, T: underfon. A long tear in the page (fol. 80r) obscures this word and affects 41.2, 42.1, and 42.2 (see notes below).

se unimete. So BS, MWB, T. MS: s?????ete. R: so unimete.

hu is hit thet. So MWB. MS, R, T: þet, which BS retains.

nimeth. So BS, MWB, R, T. MS: nime?.

hire₃. So BS, MWB, R, T. MS: hi??.

39.12 worlde into worlde. So BS, MWB, R, T. MS: missing. The bottom corner of the folio is torn off, obliterating this phrase as well as parts of 40.1, and finally ending the text at sunne-gleam the sch (40.1).

40.1 Ha. MS: space has been left for a capital H, two lines high.

lihte . . . sunne. So MWB, R. MS: lih. T: lihte ant ase swifte ase sunne, which BS retains.

scheot . . . thin. So MWB, R. MS: sch. T: scheot fram est into west as tin, which BS retains.

41.1 Sikere. MS: space has been left for a capital S, two lines high.

mei. So BS, MWB. MS: me. R omits. T: mai.

41.2 seh₁. So BS, MWB, T. MS, R: neh. Repetition from a previous word.

seh₂. So BS, T. R: iseh, which MWB retains. The word is missing from MS because of the tear in the page, although the very top of the h is visible (see textual note 39.6 above). We have emended following T since it seems more likely that there is only room for three letters in the lacuna.

42.1 “Witerliche,” quoth. So BS, MWB, R, T. MS: iterl. A space has been left for the capital wynn and never filled in; the rest of the phrase is lost due to the tear (see textual note 39.6 above).

42.2 tu havest. So BS, MWB, R, T. MS: t? ?avest. See textual note 39.6 above.

43.1–2 halden . . . Ich. So BS, MWB, T. MS: hald, with the rest of the phrase lost due to the torn section of page (see textual note 39.12 above). R: halden us þeonne ih.

43.2 thet₁ . . . wa. So MWB, R. MS: see textual note 39.12 above. T: þat ne schal ne lif ne deað ne wa, which BS retains, omitting ne₂.

nowther. MS ends here. From this point forward we have followed R (which BS and MWB also follow).

tresurers. So MWB, R: tresures. BS: etresurers. T: tresorers.

47.1 quoth Meath. So BS, M, T. R omits.

49.1 his₁. So BS, MWB, T. R omits.

that his. So T. BS, R omit. MWB emends to thet his.

drahe. So MWB, T. R: teach, which reading BS retains.

the₂. BS omits. R: þerfore þe. W (p. 80n394) cites Hall in supposing that therfore is a mistaken anticipation of þe fowre.

49.2 ant te . . . ant te. R: ant e . . . ant e. We have emended to the more typical forms for sense.

50.1–59.1 Par seinte charité . . . sawle yelden. AMEN. These lines only appear in R; wrat in 50.1 refers to the scribe’s act of copying.