For My Lady's Heart (51 page)

Firstly,
Suzanne Parnell,
for “Fun with Middle English.” Readers should know that there exists in the
world a manuscript of this book in which
all
of the Middle English
dialogue has been rendered accurate in both spelling and grammar, a labor of
love for the language by Suzanne, which allowed me to water it down for
modern consumption—and Suzanne, I wept for every “arn” and “ert” and
“hopande” that wenten, forsooth, by cause our moder tonge mei maken swich
luflych layes, and gets inside your head and sings. All errors introduced by
editing are mine alone.

Secondly
, “Tercel” on GEnie
Pet-Net, and Don Roeber of Texas, for introducing me to falconry. Through
the strange magic of computer networking, Tercel
(not
to be
mistaken for a car) passed his love of hunting birds and this ancient sport—
and more of his patience and sweetness of character than he knows—to me when
I didn’t know a falcon from a hawk. Don generously answered my questions and
loaned me books and gave me the opportunity to watch a real falcon on the
hunt— and if it wasn’t the most perfect weather in the world, we got the mud
part right, anyway. Next season—less fog, more ducks! All exaggerations and
technical mistakes I may have made in creating my “superfalcon” once again
are mine alone.

Thirdly
, Mary Wilburn of
the Zula Bryant Wylie Library, for ever-patient ordering of inter-library
loans, and taking time out of her London trip to provide me help beyond the
call of duty.

Fourthly
, Commander Bill
Ashmole and his wife, Joan, of Devon, who generously spent part of their
holiday visiting English abbeys and priories under my orders—for showing
Mother and Daddy the best of good times as usual. They always come home
smiling.

Lastly
, but never leastly,
Mother and Daddy themselves. Braving the roundabouts and shipyards, and
nearly sucked into the Liverpool tunnel, my father managed to locate
Birkenhead Priory tucked among the drydock cranes, when even the fellows at
the petrol station down the street didn’t know where it was. Another of the
world’s small ironies: the little priory that lay deep in the wilderness of
the Wirral some five hundred years ago—still used for worship, recently
renovated as a pleasant, tree-shaded civic center for the city of
Birkenhead—still difficult for the average pilgrim to reach. It takes a man
of true determination like my father, and very glad to see him the priest
was, for it seems they don’t get as many visitors as they deserve down there
in the midst of the Birkenhead shipyards where no one can find them.

In addition, the Hundred Years War gamers on GEnie, who not only provide
some pretty slick role-playing in the fourteenth century, but helped me
obtain my own copy of Froissart; the Oxford University Press, for publishing
the
Oxford English Dictionary
on CD-ROM; and Travis, the only guy
in the universe, as far as I know, who can successfully install an internal
NEC-84 CD-ROM drive.

And finally, most of all, an unknown poet or poetess, for
Sir Gawain
and the Green Knight.

To each of you, my heartfelt thanks.

I’ve provided this glossary in the new edition of
For My Lady’s Heart
as a small glimpse into the fascinating history of our language. Some of the
words listed have other definitions, but here they are limited to the
meanings I used in this book. I’ve given alternate spellings, for those who
wish to investigate further in dictionaries, and a couple of grammar hints
for those of you who like to go around talking to your friends like this.
You know who you are!

Abbreviations: ME (Middle English); OE (Old English); OF (Old French);
L (Latin)

aghlich
(also awly; OE, ME)—Terrifying, dreadful

alaunt
(OF)—A wolf-hound

ambs-ace
(L, OF “both aces, double ace,” the lowest possible
throw at dice)—Worthlessness, nought, next to nothing.

a’plight
(OE, “pledge”)—In faith, truly, certainly, surely,
in truth

austringer
(OF)—A keeper of goshawks

aventail
(OF, “air-hole”)—The movable mouthpiece of a helmet

avoi
(also avoy; OF, unknown origin)—General exclamation of
surprise or fear

besant
(also bezant; OF “Byzantium,” where it was first
minted)—A type of gold or silver coin; a gold button

caitiff (also
caytif; OF)—A base, mean, despicable wretch

camelot
(also camlot, cameline; OF)—A light, plush fabric
supposedly made from camel’s hair; a garment made of this fabric

cheap
(OE)—A purchase, a bargain

ciclatoun
(OF, possibly from Arabic)—A precious material;
cloth of gold or other rich material

comelych
(ME)—Comely, lovely

comlokkest
(ME)—Comeliest, most handsome

coquin
(also cokin; OF)—Rogue, rascal

cotehardi
(also cote-hardie, OF)—A close-fitting outer
garment with sleeves, worn by both sexes

cuirass
(OF)—Breast-plate and back-plate armor

cuir bouilli
(OF, literally “boiled leather”)—Leather armor

cuisses
(OF, “thigh”)—Armor pieces for the upper leg

depardeu
(also depardieu; OF)—In God’s name; by God

descry/descrive
(OF)—To discover; to describe or reveal

destrier
(L
dexira
“right hand” because the horse
was led by the squire with his right hand)—A warhorse or charger

disturn
(OF)—Turn away

drury
(OF)—A love-token, a keepsake

enow
(ME)—Enough

escheat
(OF)—To confiscate from; or more specifically the
reversion of a fief to the lord, commonly when the tenant died without
leaving a successor

fermysoun
(also fermisoun; OF)—The close season, when it was
illegal or uncustomary to hunt the hart (a male red deer)

fette
(OE, “fetch”)—Lay hold of

font
(ME)—In front, forward of

foryield
(OE)—Reward, repay

fourchee
(OF)—A skewer for the special tidbits reserved for
the lord from “unmaking” or butchering of the hart at the end of a hunt

frith
(OE)—wooded or waste land, underbrush

frumenty
(ME)—A dish made of hulled wheat boiled in milk,
with spices and sweeteners added

fustian
(OF, possibly from

Fostat,
a cloth-making section of Cairo)—Coarse cloth made of
cotton and flax

gambeson
(OF)—undecorated body garment of quilted material or
leather, worn under armor to prevent chafing

greaves
(OF, “shin”)—Armor for the leg below the knee

haf/hatz
(OE, ME)—have

harlot
(OF)—A rogue, rascal, villain, low fellow, knave; also
applied to the pointed boots worn in the fourteenth century

hastilude
(L “spear-play”)—A tilt or tournament

havercake
(ME northern dialect)—Oatcake

houpelande
(also houpland; OF, unknown origin)—A tunic with a
long skirt, sometimes with train attached, worn by both sexes

iwysse
(OE,
gewis
“certain”)—Certainly, assuredly,
indeed

lay
(OF)—A short lyric or narrative poem

leman
(also lemman, lemmon; ME)—A lover or mistress

lickerous
(OF)—Delicious; lustful, wanton

liripipe
(L)—A long tippet hanging from the peak of a hood or
from the elbows

lovelokkest
(OE, ME)—Loveliest

luflych
(OE, ME)—Lovely; gracious; a fervent expression of
admiring or delighted feeling

lymer
(OF, “leash”)—A leash-hound; a dog bred for tracking
the quarry by scent without disturbing it, similar to a modern bloodhound

menskeful
(ME,
menske
“courtesy, honors”)—Elegant,
ornamented

misericorde
(OF, “compassion, pity, mercy”)—A dagger

mote
(OF)—A note-call on a hunting hom

mote/moten/moste
(OE)—Expressing permission, possibility, or
obligation; might, may, or must

ne
(OE, ME)—A simple negative; no, not. Sometimes formed in
contraction with a verb, as in “n’ill I” for “ne will I” (I will not). Our
modern term “willy-nilly” comes from “ Will ye or nill ye!”

passager
(OF)—A wild falcon trapped during migration and
trained; sometimes used only for a season and then released

pillion
(from Celtic
pill
“cushion”)—A kind of
saddle, esp. a woman’s light saddle. Also, a pad or cushion attached to
the back of an ordinary saddle, on which a second person (usually a woman)
may ride

plessis
(OF)—Felled trees, young trees, brambles, and thorn
bushes woven and grown together as an impenetrable barrier and defense;
plessis were common all over Europe in the Middle Ages, some so ancient
they dated back at least to the Germanic tribes of Roman times.

poleyn
(OF)—Plate armor for the knee

poulaine
(OF, “souliers a la Poulaine,” shoes in Polish
fashion)—The long pointed toe of a shoe, as worn in the fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries

rache
(OE)—A hunting dog that pursues the quarry in a pack by
scent, like modern foxhounds

ramp
(OF)—A bold, vulgar, ill-behaved woman or girl

rechase
(OF)—The horn call to denote the hounds are running,
or to release them to run

rouncy
(OF)—A riding horse

runisch
(also runish, renish; ME, unknown origin)—Fierce,
violent, rough

sabaton
(from L “shoe”)—Armor for the foot

shend
(OE)—Overcome with fatigue; bewildered, stupefied

sparviter
(OF)—A keeper of sparrowhawks

Tam Lin
—A traditional name for the King of the Fairies

trow
(OE)—Trust

unhende
(also unhend; OE)—Ungentle, rude, rough

varvel
(OF, “bolt, hinge”)—A falconry term for the metal ring
attached to a bird’s jess, on which the leash is tied; usually engraved
with the owner’s name

vauntguard
(also avantguard; OF)—the foremost part of a troop
or army, the vanguard

vewterer
(also fewterer; OF from the Gaulish word “run”)—A
keeper of greyhounds

voire
(OF)—In truth, indeed

waster bread
(also wastel; OF “cake”)—Bread made of the
finest flour; a cake or loaf of this bread

wit/wis/wist/wen/wot
(OE, ME)—Know, understand

witterly
(OE, ME)—Clearly, plainly, evidently; for certain;
without doubt

woodwose
(OE)—a wild man of the woods

wrathe/wrothe
(also wrath; ME)—annoy, vex, anger

Negatives
—The modern idea that multiple negatives in a
sentence are bad grammar and that “two negatives equal a positive,” has no
historical basis. In Middle English, the more you wanted to negate
something, the more negatives you stuffed into the sentence. “No I ain’t
done nothing,” would be perfectly proper Middle English.

Word order
—Negative statements, commands, and questions often invert
the typical subject-verb-object word order. “Ne care I nought,” for “I
don’t care.” “Swear thee now.” “Why sayest thou so?”

Conjugation of verbs
—As a very general rule, the first and
third person singular are similar to our modern forms.
I hear. He
hears.
Middle English differentiated between “thou” and “you,” for
the second person pronoun. Between equals, or to inferiors, “thou” was
used. This informal second person singular adds an
-est
ending
for many verbs.
Thou hearest.
When addressing a superior, “ye” or
its plural “you” was used. This polite address, plus the infinitive and
all other plurals typically use a
-en
ending.
You hearen. To
hearen. They hearen.