The wel ne deth 2 the hwile he mei, ne Who doth not well, the while he may, he shall sceal he hwenne he wolde. not when he would; Manies mannes sare iswinch habbeth oft Many a man's sore labor oft cometh to no unholde. good. Ne scolde nan man don a furst, ne sclawen 6 In doing good let none postpone or ever wel to done; make delay; For mani man bihateth? wel, the hit for For many a man doth promise well who yet yiteth sone. forgets straightway. The man the 1 siker 8 wule beon to habbe The man who would be safe and sure of having Godes blisse, God's own bliss Do wel him sulf the hwile he mei, then haveth If he do well the while he may, he verily shall he mid iwisse. 40 not miss. 40 ORRM (f. 1 200) FROM THE ORRMULUM 10 ΙΩ Nu, 10 broßerr Wallterr, broßerr min Affterr þe flæshess kinde; 11 & broßerr min i 12 Crissteắndom þurrh fulluhht 13 & þurrh trowwpe; 14 & brokerr min i 12 Godess hus, tēt 015 be pride 16 wise, 17 þurrh þatt witt 18 hafenn 19 tăkenn ba 20 An 21 rezhellboc 22 to follzhenn,23 Unnderr kanunnkess 24 had 25 & lif, Swa summ 26 Sannt Awwstin sette; 27 Icc hafe 28 don swa summ 26 þu badd,29 & forbedd 30 te 31 bin wille, Icc hafe 28 wennd 32 inntil 33 Ennglissh Goddspelless hallzhe lare,34 Affterr þatt little witt 35 tatt 36 me Min Drihhtin hafebb lenedd 37 Till 39 mikell frame 40 turrnenn, 20 & follzhenn 23 itt, & fillenn 43 itt Wibb bohht, wibb word, wibb dede. & forrbi 45 zerrndesst 46 tu þatt icc piss werrc 47 be shollde wirrkenn; & icc itt hafe forbedd 30 te 31 Acc 48 all þurrh Cristess hellpe; & unnc birrb 49 babe 50 þannkenn Crist þatt itt iss brohht till 39 ende. Icc hafe sammnedd 51 o 52 biss boc þa Goddspelless neh 53 alle 30 1 who a doth 3 may many a man's sore labor hath often misfortune 5 no man should postpone 6 delay" promises & sure then he hath it certainly now 11 nature 12 in 13 through baptism 14 faith 15 third 17 way, degree 18 we two 19 have 20 both 21 one 22 rule-book 23 follow 24 canon's 25 order 26 just as 27 commanded 2 I have 29 badest 30 ac Now, brother Walter, brother mine After the fleshly nature; Through baptism and through fealty; And brother mine in God's own house In still another manner, One book of rules to follow, Just as St. Austin ordered; Thy will for thee fulfilling; The gospel's holy teaching, According to the little wit With which my Lord endowed me. Thou thoughtest that it might full well Be turned to mickle profit It zealously would study, With thought, with word, with action. And therefore thou didst yearn that I This book for thee should render; And I for thee have finished it, As Christ the Lord did help me; And now behooves us both thank Christ That it is brought to ending. I have collected in this book Now nearly all the gospels 20 30 10 43 on 16 7 40 40 þatt sinndenn 1 o the messeboc 2 Inn all be žer 3 att messe. & azz 4 affterr be Goddspell stannt 6 þatt tatt 6 te Goddspell menebb, patt mann birrb spellenn 8 to be follc Off þezžre sawle nede; & Zēt tær tekenn mare inoh 10 þu shallt tæronne 11 findenn Off þatt tatt 6 Cristess hallzhe þed 12 Birrþ 13 trowwenn 14 wel & follzhenn.15 Icc hafe sett her o 16 biss boc Amang Goddspelless wordess, Þe rime 18 swa 19 to fillenn; Ezzwhær þær 20 itt iss ekedd,21 To sen & tunnderrstanndenn 23 All þess te bettre hu þežim birrþ 24 ! Þe Goddspell unnderrstanndenn; & forrbi 25 trowwe icc þatt te 26 birrþ Wel bolenn 27 mine wordess, Eziwhær þær 20 bu shallt findenn hemm 28 Amang Godspelless wordess. That all the year at mass are found Within the holy massbook. And aye after the gospel stands That which the gospel meaneth, Which must be told unto the folk, Because the soul doth need it; And still within it thou shalt find Enough and more there written Must well believe and follow. Among the words of gospel, To fill the measure merely; Wherever it is added, To see and understand too To understand the gospel ; Endure my words with patience, Among the words of gospel. 50 50 8 28550 10 Mid unimete folke, Uppe there Tambre 28550 Speren brastlien ;' Sceldes gonnen scanen,' Scaftes to-breken.11 Ther faht 12 al to-somne Folc unimete. Tambre wes on flode 14 Mid unimete 15 blode. Mon i than fihte Non 16 ther ne mihte I-kenne nenne kempe,17 No 18 wha dude 19 wurse, no wha bet,20 Swa. that withe 21 wes imenged ; 22 28562 For ælc 23 sloh 21 adun riht, Weore he swein,25 weore he cniht.26 Ther wes Modred of-slawe 27 And idon of lif-dawe 28 13 With army unnumbered, By the river Tamar 28562 29* * * * 28570 28570 in than fihte. Tha 41 nas ther na mare in that conflict. There fell in that battle All of the brave ones, Arthur's own henchmen, The high and the lowly, And all the Britons Of Arthur's board too, And all his fosterlings Of foreign nations many, And Arthur sorely wounded With broad blade of war-spear. Fifteen times was he Fiendishly wounded; Even into the smallest Two gloves might one have thrust. Then were there in that battle Left among the living Of two hundred thousand soldiers Who lay there slaughtered But Arthur the king only And two of his warriors. 39 28580 28580 43 1 fey though they were 2 they came 3 together 24 struck 25 yeoman 26 knight 27 slain 28 and put from * raised battle-standards brushed locked long life-days 29 A line or more is missing here. 30 the swords 7 laid on, struck upon made fire leap out brave 31 retainers 32 high and low 33 the Britons 9 rattled spears 10 shields did shiver 11 shafts broke 34 table 35 wards 36 many kingdoms 37 with broad to pieces 12 fought 13 together 14 a-flood 15 measure slaughter-spear 38 dreadful wounds 39 in the least less 16 no man in the fight 17 recognize no warrior 40 thrust 41 then 42 in the fight remaining 43 men 18 nor 19 did 20 better 21 conflict 22 confused 23 each 44 who 45 lay 46 hewed to pieces 47 but 48 alone 49 two Arthur wes for-wunded Ther to him com a cnave 2 28590 28620 Mid muchelere wunne." 29 Æfne than worden 30 28630 And forth gunnen lithen.37 Tha 38 wes hit iwurthen 39 That Merlin seide whilen, 40 That weore unimete care I wondrously much ? young man who kin 5 was named to the 7 the ground 8 these words thou wert 10 I commit to thee here 11 kingdom 12 defend 13 ever during thy life 14 keep for them 15 customs, laws 16 that have stood in my days 17 I will go 18 fairest 19 of all 20 the 21 elf very beautiful 22 she 23 well 24 whole 21 35 28590 28600 28610 Arthur was wounded To him came a child then E'en as he was speaking Then was fulfilled there 28620 28630 25 with healing draughts 26 afterwards 27 kingdom 28 dwell 29 with great joy 30 even with these words 31 from the sea moving 32 that was a short boat gliding 33 impelled by the waves 34 wondrously attired 35 they took Arthur at once 36 and in haste bore him 37 did glide 38 then 39 fulfilled 40 whilom, formerly 4 that there should be measureless sorrow 26 ne 39 Ye, mine leove 20 süstren, 21 ne schulen 22 habben 23 no best 24 bute kat one.25 Ancre 26 thet haveth eihte 27 thüncheth 28 bet 29 husewif,30 ase Marthe was, then ancre; none-weis 31 ne mei heo 32 beon 33 Marie mid grithfulnesse 34 of heorte. Vor theonne 35 mot 36 heo thenchen 37 of the kues 38 foddre and of heordemonne huire,40 oluhnen 41 thene 12 heiward,43 warien 44 hwon 45 me 46 punt 47 hire, and yelden,48 thauh, the hermes. Wat 51 Crist, this is lodlich 52 thing hwon 46 maketh mone 53 in tune 54 of ancre 55 eihte.27 Thauh,49 yif eni mot 36 nede habben 57 ku, loke 58 thet heo 32 none monne ne eilie 59 ne ne hermie ; 60 ne thet hire thouht ne beo 61 nout ther-on ivestned. 62 Ancre ne ouh 6 nout to habben 57 no thing thet drawe 64 utward hire heorte. None cheffare 65 ne drive ye. Ancre thet is cheapild,66 heo cheapeth 67 hire soule the chepmon 68 of helle. Ne wite 69 ye nout in oure 70 huse 71 of other Ye, my dear sisters, shall have no beast but a cat only. A nun that has property seems rather a housewife, as Martha was, than a nun; and in no wise may she be Mary, with peacefulness of heart. For then must she think about the cow's fodder and the herdsmen's wages, flatter the constable, curse when the cow is put in the pound, and pay the damages nevertheless. God knows, it is a hateful thing when complaint is made in the village of a nun's property. However, if anyone must needs have a cow, let her see to it that it disturbs or harms no man; and that her heart be not fastened upon it. A nun ought to have nothing that will draw her heart outward to the world. 45 me 56 Drive ye no bargains. A nun that is a bargainer sells her soul to the merchant of hell. Keep ye not in your house any of other 35 then 36 must 37 think 38 cow's 39 herdsmen's 40 hire 41 flatter 42 the 43 heyward, bailiff 44 curse 45 when 46 47 impounds 48 pay 49 nevertheless 50 damages 51 knows 52 hateful 53 complaint 54 town, farm bá a nun's 56 if 57 have 58 look 59 disturb 60 harm 61 be 62 fastened ought may draw 65 bargain 66 bargainer tradesman 69 keep, take care of 70 your 71 house 1 death 2 believe yet 3 is alive 4 dwells 5 of all 6 shall come ? is never 8 of never no (i.e. of no) lady chosen 'who can the truth say more 12 once 13 wizard 14 named 15 announced 16 sayings 17 true 18 come for a help to the English 19 The Nuns' Rule 20 dear 21 sisters 22 shall 23 have 24 beast 25 only 26 a nun property 29 rather 30 housewife 31 no-ways 32 she 33 be 34 peacefulness one 63 64 27 28 seems 67 sells 68 |