PARLEMENT OF THE THRE AGES: FOOTNOTES

1 And hastens (forks) swiftly to her den and makes herself ready to rest

2 I saw a hart with a head of antlers, a large rack, indeed

3 The second branches (ryalls) extended splendidly from the beam

4 And he finished off with a set of six troches (clusters of points) on the one side and five on the other

5 But there followed him a soar (four-year-old buck) that served him very attentively

6 And at the trunk of a birch tree made my hunting dog lie down

7 Set the stock of my crossbow firmly in position and took aim at the hart

8 And looked cautiously about and sniffed the air eagerly

9 And the soar paused and advanced cautiously and stared all about

10 And he stumbled and bellowed and dashed through the thicket

11 As if everything that lived in the wood had been thrown into confusion

12 And loosed my leash and let him (the hound) cast about for the scent

13 Where he (the stag) had crept into a crag and pressed himself down to the earth

14 Of fertilizing with manure and marl, and repairing of houses

15 And now their debate I shall make known -- understand it if you like

16 And made laments about lovers and piteously sighed

17 Until I resolutely in chain mail have jousted with honor

18 And if you've caught your horse you care not for the cart-load (i.e., Youth uses his horse for pleasure, not as a draught animal)

19 And keep your wits, man, for you're well nigh destroying yourself

20 To the wetlands with their beating rods to flush out the birds

21 Lanners (female) and lannerets (male hawks) swoop down upon ducks (OE ende)

22 And whoops (calls) them (the hawks) [by swinging the lure] to the quarry (the heron) that has been crushed to death

23 He quarries the hawks (feeds them on the quarry) and gluts them, and whips the rods loudly to direct them (to it)

24 Draws up the leather braces (cowers), in order to hold the hood tight over the falcon's head

25 Muddied from pursuing ducks that had been driven down into the water

26 Then I fertilized with muck and marl and refurbished my estates

27 Made me crooked, bent me low, deformed my hands

28 Never shrink from this reflection [or] foreshadowing [of death] in my mirror

29 To make amends for what Emenidus had done amiss

30 When they were scattered and dispersed and divided asunder

31 And Widukund (a Saxon chief) their accursed king would not submit

32 But when death comes doughtiness (prowess, valor) dares not abide

33 To prepare and produce gold for the great Alexander when it pleased him

PARLEMENT OF THE THRE AGES: NOTES

T=Thornton MS (copy text for this edition); W=the fragmentary Ware MS; G=Gollancz; O=Offord's Early English Text Society edition; T-P=Turville-Petre's 1989 edition.


1ff. As in Wynnere, the opening description of a May morning in the woods creates a sense of transience. See Peck and Waldron.

4-5 The season for hunting deer in medieval England almost certainly began in May, as it did in France (O). Hunting was often a metaphor for the pursuit of love; it also was a conventional prologue to dream visions. A much less common tradition associates the hunters mentioned in Jeremiah 16:16 with prelates who hunt men to make them holy. Of special note here is the fact that the narrator is clearly a poacher (see Peck [1972], Scattergood [1983], and Waldron [1972]). Simply having a bow and arrows or a dog in the forest made a person liable to prosecution; the normal punishment for poaching was a fine or imprisonment.

9-10 The flowers mentioned here, though conventionally associated with Spring, may imply more. Boccaccio, Lydgate, and Skelton all associate the primrose with shortness of life. The periwinkle was identified with death; the piliole, or woodland mint, was commended for its medicinal qualities in medieval herbals; and the daisy was a symbol of faithful love of Christ in scriptural exegesis. For Lampe (1973), the flowers balance fleshly excess with its renunciation, thus preparing for the debate.

13-14 Both the cuckoo and the wood-pigeon (cowschote) were traditionally associated with Spring; the cuckoo, however, was thought to be unnatural in its rejection of all love, while the cushat, being a dove, was thought to be too lusty. Lampe (1973) connects the cuckoo with Medill Elde, the wood-pidgeon with Youthe. On the contending thrushes, see Wynnere, line 37.

17ff. Like the flowers and birds, animals mentioned may carry metaphorical overtones. The fox was a symbol of fraudulence; the polecat (filmarte) emblemized viciousness; the hare, lust. In some traditions, the stag and its soar were exemplars of virtuous conduct; in others, the stag stood for longevity of life.

17 gouen. A difficult word. I follow O in deriving it from a form of gaw, "to gape or stare at." It could also be a form of "give," in the sense of "devote oneself to." T-P emends to gon. G glosses "betook themselves."

19-20 Compare Wynnere, line 14.

21ff. Descriptions of deer hunts are common in the alliterative poems: making the hunter a poacher is not (see Peck, Scattergood [1983], and Whitney). This description has been often praised for its technical precision and for its use of many realistic details. In the following notes, I rely mainly on O's explanation of technical terms, which generally are derived from medieval hunting treatises.

26 unburneschede. Deer burnish their antlers against trees to rub off the light skin that coats them. Burnished antlers have reached their final stage of growth for the season.
beme. The main horn, from which the antlers spring.

27 feetur. A growing antler or tine; as thi fote suggests their massiveness.
forfrayed. "Fraying" is the raggedy effect of the shedding skin during the burnishing process. Forfrayed means polished clean.

28-30 The tine nearest the head is the "antler," the next above it is the "royal," the third is the "surroyal." At the end of each tine are the troches (line 67), the points by which the head (size and age) of the hart is reckoned.

31 assommet. A hart was "summed" when its horns were fully formed for that season.

34 sowre. A soar was a four-year-old male deer. Older stags often train younger male deer to act as their "squires," watching for danger and providing a decoy during the chase. See George Turbervile's Book of Hunting, p. 238: "A Bucke is called the first yeare a Fawne, the second a Pricket, the third a Sorell, the fourth a Sore, the fifth a Bucke of the first head, and the sixth a Bucke" (as cited by O, pp. 37-38).

39 berselett. A dog used specifically for hunting with a bow.

44 tylere. The main beam of the cross-bow; it had a groove to guide the arrow, and a mechanism for holding and releasing the cord (O).

53 hallede to the hokes. "Drew back the catches (hooks)," thus releasing the bowstring. See The Master of Game, ed. William A. and F. Baillie-Grohman (1909; rpt. New York: AMS, 1974), the appendix on "Arms of the Chase," for types of crossbows used in hunting during the fourteenth century.

66-99 For other accounts of the brittling of a deer, see Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, lines 1323-64, and Sir Tristrem, lines 452-515.

68 keuduart. MED derives this from French culvert, "treacherous"; compare kiluarde at line 516. O suggests "rascal," both in its normal sense and in the technical sense of a young deer, usually not yet fit to hunt or eat.
tonge. The tongue was a great delicacy reserved for the leader of the chase.

69 owte. Omitted in T. Supplied by G, O, and T-P.

70 I slitte hym at the assaye. T: sisilte; G: scliste. I follow O's emendation. The assaye refers to a part of the breast where the deer's flesh is tested.

74 To "make the arber" was to remove the first stomach, empty it, fill it with blood and fat from the paunch, and then sew it up.

80 corbyns bone. A small piece of gristle thrown to crows or ravens for good luck. O (p. 41) cites The Boke of St. Albans on this practice:

Than take owt the shulderis and slytteth a noon
The baly to the syde from the corbyn bone
That is corbyns fee: at the deeth he will be.

84 pawnche. T: pawche.

94 fostere of the fee. A forester who held his office by legal inheritance.

104ff. The "thre thro men" the dreamer sees are the Three Ages. The division of life into stages ultimately goes back to Aristotle (Rhetoric, 2.12-14 and Generation of the Animals, 10.18), for whom middle age was the pivotal phase of development, youth leading to it, old age declining from it. The number of ages, however, varied from as many as ten to as few as two. For most writers there were either seven or four ages; in the Middle Ages, four was far more popular than three.
   No matter the division, each age was always characterized by typical qualities. Youth was a time of extravagance and general irresponsibility, when one loved hunting and was inclined to lust (according to Horace and Cicero, both authorities in the Middle Ages); Middle Age's conservatism, ambitions, and avarice are well documented in medieval sermons and popular lyrics of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, as are Old Age's loquacity, quarrelsomeness, anger, and envy. Other, less common traditions, one should note, stressed the wisdom of Old Age, and the reverence it should be shown.
   In scriptural commentary, the division of life into three ages generally served to stress how brief life is on earth; consequently, these writers emphasized the need to prepare to face God. Some authors connected the three ages with the three watches which Luke (12:37-40) says the faithful keep for Christ's coming, others with the ages mentioned in the Parable of the Sowers (Matt. 13:8; see below note to lines 133ff.). For a general introduction, see Burrow (1988) and Coffman (1934), Lampe (1973), Rowland (1975), Turville-Petre (1977). Further information about Youthe, Medill Elde, and Elde will be given at the appropriate points in the notes.

105 moted. T: moten.

106 ane hande-while. T-P follows G and emends to a litell while.

109ff. The depiction of Youthe here and in his speeches has been praised for its vitality; a number of readers have noted that although youth's excesses are uniformly condemned in moralistic tradition, Youthe seems entirely approved of in the poem.

120ff. Alliterative poets often ornamented their descriptions of clothing with lists of gems; for the suggestion that Youthe's costume reflects the actual fashions of the later fourteenth century, see Lewis (1968).

130 Medieval saddles were generally made of wood and often richly painted (O).

132 cropoure. G emends to trapoure to maintain alliteration; T-P agrees. O calls the emendation unnecessary.

133ff. The ages of Youthe, Medill Elde, and Elde have received much comment; medieval tradition usually put thirty closer to middle age than to youth. Many sources designate old age as between forty and sixty. Rowland (1975) argues that the ages of the debaters, thirty, sixty, and one hundred respectively, reflects scriptural commentary on the Parable of the Sowers (Matt. 13:8), in which these ages are typically assigned to the stages of life and concomitant degrees of spiritual perfection. For Peck they mark the extremity of each age to keep us "mindful of the inevitability of each one's passing to the next degree" (1972, p. 338).

135 semelyeste. T: semely.

136ff. Medill Elde has not generally been well thought of by modern readers. For Moran (1978), however, he represents the economic activities of the aristocracy in the aftermath of the Black Death: as they did, Medill Elde farms out desmense lands, is concerned about the collecting of rents, and is very involved in the many particulars of managing his estate. To Moran, Medill Elde's greedy preoccupation, more than what he actually does, is the object of the poem's satire.

137 Medill Elde wears workaday clothes.

147-48 stiewardes. T: stiewarde. A steward ran his lord's estate. A storrour is a store-keeper, such as Chaucer's Reeve (see The Canterbury Tales I.597-99). A countour is the lord's auditor who presided over the manorial court. He was sometimes assisted by clerkes.

158 In Piers Plowman B.5.190, Avarice is similarly described.

166 I. Omitted in T.

173 seyde. T: seyden.

180 with onere. T omits with. O's emendation. G emends to hafe ones.

184 es. Omitted in T. G follows T.

190-93 See Wynnere, lines 288-93.

209-45 Like the brittling of the deer, this account of hawking is fully described and technically precise; knowledge of both were perquisites of nobility. Again I follow O's explanation of technical terms.

212 Hawks were hooded when they were not in flight.

214 Bells of different tones were attached to the back of each leg of the falcon to enable them to be heard even when they could not be seen.

218 Sowssches. A term from falconry, meaning "to drive into the air."
serven: to drive the quarry out of the covert for the hawk.

223 With hoo and howghe. Traditional cries to rouse game from cover.

224 brynges hym to sege. Since the heron, being a larger bird, may sustain several strikes from the falcon before it is downed, it is as if it were under siege. But T-P's gloss on the phrase, namely to "drive him to the ground," offers the better sense. As he notes, "The `siege' is `the station of a heron on the watch for prey' (OED, 2c). The action of these lines is described by George Turbervile, The Booke of Faulconrie or Hauking (1574, p. 164): `As soone as the Hearon leaueth the siege, off with hir [the falcon's] hood, and let hir flee: and if shee climb to the Hearon, and beate hir so that she bring hir downe, runne in apase to reskewe hir [the falcon], thrusting the Hearons bil into the grownd and breaking hir winges and legges" (p. 79). The danger is that the heron, on the ground, might harm the hawk with its pointed beak.

226 The transcription of the poem in the Ware MS begins here.

228 For the bitt. W: For wiz the butte. T-P: For with the bitt.

231 The heron's wings were twisted to prevent them from injuring the hawk.

232 maryo. The marrow was traditionally the hawk's reward. Here the falconer serves his bird from his glove. It is not likely the poet would have used another word, even though this gives his line an aa/xx alliterative pattern. G emends maryo to pyth.

233 quopes. T: quotes; W: whopis. The whoop was a signal for the falcon to come into her quarry.

234 quyrres. W: wharris. To quarry means to let the hawk feed on the quarry.

quotes. O glosses as "poss. gluts," citing OED sv quate, quet. T-P cites MED, which lists the verb under both houten, "shout to," and quaten, "make calm." The latter sense is preferable.

235 Cheres thaym. T: cheresche hym. Although MED records an instance from 1415 of cherish meaning "to coax an animal" (5b), the faultiness of the grammar supports emending to cheres thaym. W: He cheris zem.

ecchekkes. The "check" is any unfit bird, such as a dove or crow, which the hawk attacks instead of its intended prey.

238 vertwells. These "varvels," on which the owner's name was often engraved, were little silver rings attached to the "jess," a short strap of leather attached to each of the falcon's legs.

239 luyre. The bait for recalling hawks.

245 Bedagged. Garments were often "dagged" in the fourteenth century, which meant their edges were slashed into long pointed pendants (O).

252 thay. T: thaire.

254 coundythes. The "condut" was a part-song, usually with three voices. Like the carol, it was frequently accompanied by dancing.

260 thou haste long sparede. W: zou sparid; T-P and G follow W.

261 rothelede. W: ratlid. O notes that the word in T possibly could mean "counsel, advise."

263 It is possible the word "full" preceding "yore" has been dropped from T. W reads ful yore; G, O, and T-P follow W.

280 ploughe-londes. Approximately 120 acres (O).

296 Hafe passed the pase. On death as a pass from which there is no turning back see Dante, Inferno, Canto 1, lines 26-27: "lo passo / che non lascib già mai persona viva."

300 firste. T-P emends to arste.

300ff. The purpose and appropriateness of Elde's disquisition on the Nine Worthy has been much discussed (e.g., Peck (1972), Turville-Petre (1977, 1979), Kiser (1987)). The Worthy first appear in Jacques de Longuyon's Les Voeux du Paon (c. 1312), though it is likely that there were earlier accounts of them which have not survived. In the Voeux, which was popular in England - there even remain a few lines from an alliterative translation of it, apart from the use Barbour made of it in his Bruce (1376) - the poet abruptly interrupts his description of a battle between Alexander and Clarus (see below, note to 339ff.) to say that not even the Nine could compare with Porrus, Clarus' son. The chivalric prowess and glory of Hector, Alexander, and Julius Caesar, Judah Maccabee, Joshua, and David, Arthur, Charlemagne, and Godfrey de Bouillon are then described. This grouping of three pagan, Jewish, and Christian heroes became well known throughout Europe. In Middle English alliterative verse, the Worthy are mentioned in The Siege of Jerusalem, Golagros and Gawain, and, most notably, in Morte Arthure (lines 3250-3455). In some versions, the royal character of the Nine is emphasized. Moran (1978) suggests that aristocratic interest in idealized images of past royalty (common in literature from the North and West Midlands during the second half of the fourteenth century), might explain the Worthy's appearance in Parlement. Turville-Petre (1979), however, shows that the Worthy were commonly used to exemplify the vanity of all things and the inevitability of death (see Morte Arthure, lines 3452-55).

300 For this account of Hector, besides the Voeux (lines 7484-94), the poet probably drew on Guido delle Colonne's Historia Destructionis Troiae; there is an alliterative Middle English poem, The Destruction of Troy, in which Hector's death is described as well (lines 8643ff.).

308 nynetene and nyne. T: xix and ix; most editors follow W's nynety & ix. and emend to nynety. In the Voeux, Hector is said to kill nineteen kings and many other people (lines 7484-94).

314-15 The source for Achilles' death is probably Dictys Cretensis' Ephemeridos belli Troiani (3.29); see note to line 331.

319 doun. T-P emends to plat.

322 serely. W: surely; T-P: sorely; G: sarrely.

325 Pantasilia the quene. G supplies [prowde]; followed by T-P.

331 Dittes and Dares. Dictys Cretensis and Dares Phrygius both wrote accounts of the Trojan War, which they said were eye-witness reports but which are in fact entirely fictional. They became the chief authorities on the Trojan War in the Middle Ages; Homer was known only second-hand at best.

demeden. T and T-P: demedon; W: demyn. G's emendation, followed by O.

332 For Alexander's exploits in defeating the Indian king Porrus and then in capturing Babylon, the poet drew on Longuyon's Voeux, which mentions the poisoning of Alexander in Babylon, but departs considerably from the descriptions one finds in the French poem. The poet has incorporated other material from sources unknown to us. Alexander was the subject of two Middle English alliterative poems, Kyng Alisaunder and The Wars of Alexander, as well as a prose life that translates the same source as the poet of The Wars used.

334 Ercules boundes. Hercules was thought to have erected two pillars at the straits of Gibraltar, the extreme western verge of the world, where he journeyed to obtain the cattle of Geryon. Alexander's voyage to the Pillars and to the Earthly Paradise (see next note) was well known. See M. M. Lascelles, "Alexander and the Earthly Paradise in Mediaeval English Writings," Medium Aevum 5 (1936), 31-47, 79-104, 173-88.

335-36 Enoch and Elias were often pictured as rapt before they died to the Earthly Paradise, where they would remain until the coming of the Antichrist, whom they were supposed to challenge. Dante also mentions Elijah (Elias) in close conjunction with the Hercules' pillars in Inferno 26.

338 Jazon the Grewe. T: Iazon the Iewe; W: Iosue the Iewe. W was attempting to make sense of an undoubted confusion that was also in T's exemplar; for flese of golde, W reads slevis of golde. I accept G's emendation to Grewe, "Greek."

339-59 The poet is referring to Alexander's battle against Gadifer of Larris, a leader of the people of Gadres (perhaps Gaza). During his defense of the city, Gadifer was unhorsed and killed by Emenidus. Alexander then joined the battle with his host, which included Emenidus, Sir Filot, and the other knights named in lines 349-52. They were met by Cassamus, Gadifer's brother, who, though an old man, greatly desired to avenge Gadifer's death. Alexander instead took council with Cassamus and persuaded him to make peace with Emenidus. Cassamus told Alexander that Gadifer had two sons, young Gadifer and Betis, whom Clarus, wicked king of Ind, wanted to dispossess; Clarus also wanted to marry Gadifer's daughter Fesonas, much against her will, and had laid siege to Epheson, where all Gadifer's children were. Alexander promised to battle Carrus to make good Emenidus' slaying of Gadifer. There is a Middle English romance of Cassamus.

340 Gadyfere . . . Gaderayns. T and T-P: Godfraye . . . Goderayns.

356 hade Fozome. W and T-P: hade his fomen.

360-93 During the seige of Epheson, Clarus' son Porrus was captured but treated with courtesy. One day, while walking in a courtyard, Porrus saw a peacock, which he slew and had prepared for a feast. During the feast, Cassamus proposed that each man make a vow to the peacock; Porrus' vow was to take Emenidus' horse in battle. Baudrain vowed to take Alexander's sword from his own hand, amid all his men. This he does, but is killed by Floridas, one of Alexander's knights. Cassamus vows that if he met Clarus dismounted in battle, he would set him on his horse again, for Porrus' sake, but then slay him. This Cassamus did, which led to his own death at Porrus' hands. The Indians were heartened by this, but ultimately fled before Alexander. Porrus was captured again and chastized by Alexander for his vow; nevertheless, because of his courage in battle, Porrus was treated as a hero. He was allowed to marry Fesonas, who had vowed to marry no one except the man Alexander should choose. Baudrain married Edias, and Betis, Fesonas' brother, married Idores at the same time.

360 Facron is the river that flowed through Fozayne (Epheson), line 356.

369 abaschede. W: basshed; T-P: baschede.

371 kynges. T-P emends to beryns.

389 bolde Bawderayne of Baderose, i.e., the bold ruler of Bauderis from Bauderis.

394-404 Alexander's adventures in Babylon are very briefly touched on. His romance with Queen Candace is described in Kyng Alisaunder (lines 6648ff.; 7616ff.) and The Wars of Alexander (lines 5057ff.).

396 Candace. T and T-P: Candore. W: Cadace.

397 assayllede. W: saylid; T-P: sayllede.

407 Bruyte. According to medieval legend, Aeneas' grandson Brutus founded Britain. His name eventually came to stand for any chronicle of British history. Here he seems to be considered an author of one of these chronicles. The poet, as O notes, seems to stress Caesar's connections with Britain to a greater extent than the passages in the Voeux do.

408-11 That Caesar built the Tower of London is a long-standing tradition, as is the idea that he built Dover Castle.

414-15 Romayne. A province of Rome (?Gaul). (O). Here the poet seems to be following Longuyon, where, as T-P notes (p. 88), "Caesar `sousmist as Ronmains le roy Cassibilant', Voeux 7507." The poet seems unaware that Cassivelaunus was, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth, a British king.

416 gete hym. G and O emend to gete it. T-P supports T, glossing gete hym as "conquered them." W reads zem.

426ff. The poet seems to conflate, if not confuse, the crossing of the Jordan (Joshua 3-4) and the passage through the Red Sea (Ex. 14-16). The stories were linked, even in the Bible. Three French texts of the fifteenth century also make Joshua cross the Red Sea (Turville-Petre, 1979).

442 Drightynes. T and T-P: Drightyn. G's emendation, followed by O.

443ff. The story of Goliath is in 1 Sam. 17; that of David, Uriah, and Bathsheba in 2 Sam. 11. A similar account of David and Goliath appears in Morte Arthure (lines 3416-19); David's conduct with Uriah and Bathsheba is much more starkly presented here than in the Voeux.

454ff. The story of Judah Maccabee is in 1 and 2 Maccabees in the Apocrypha.

457 kynge. W and T-P: knyght.

460 W: That ful low han be laid of ful long tyme; G and T-P follow W.

464ff. The account of Arthur in the Voeux is very short; it only mentions his battle with the giant Roystone (Ruston), described at lines 481ff., and the encounter on St. Michael's Mount. The poet has added allusions to the Siege Perilous, the names of Arthur's knights, and the battle with Mordred.

470ff. Sege Perilous. The Siege Perilous, the seat Merlin made for Arthur. At the start of the Quest for the Holy Grail, letters appear mysteriously inscribed in it that announce that it is reserved for Sir Galahad. In the Morte Arthure (lines 3250-3455), Arthur dreams he sees a lady turning a wheel on which there is a silver chair. Six kings have fallen from that chair; two others are climbing toward it. The lady lifts Arthur himself to the seat, gives him gifts, but then turns the wheel, which breaks Arthur's back. The Nine Worthy thus are subject to fortune and the loss of all goods; soon after, Arthur learns of Mordred's betrayal.

476ff. All the knights named were well known in Arthurian legend.

481 Roystone. T: Boystone; W: Rusten. In the Voeux the name is Ruiston. Analogues of this story are in the alliterative Morte Arthure and the prose Merlin.

482 blyot. A bleaunt is a long embroidered garment. As O observes, the account here is noteworthy in that the giant wants the beards to make a mantle for his bride.

486 oure kyng. G supplies athell between these words; T-P follows.

497ff. Assuming Wawayne is not a scribal alteration for the sake of alliteration - Turville-Petre (1979) thinks, on the evidence of W's Ewan, that Ywain is meant - only here does Arthur bid Gawain throw his sword into the lake; in other versions, it is Lancelot Gyrflet (Mort Artu) or Sir Bedivere (Morte Arthure and Malory).

502 Wawayne swith. O, following W, emends to Wawayne [start] swith.

513ff. The account of Godfrey of Bouillon agrees closely with that in the Voeux; only the last line, mentioning Godfrey's death, is new.

520ff. The account of Charlemagne in the Voeux is only nine lines: it says Charles conquered Spain, defeated the Saxons, and reestablished Christianity in Jerusalem. In the Parlement, Elde lists the twelve peers, and speaks at greater length of the campaign against the Saxons; he gives a sketchy account of the story of Ferumbras (compare the Middle English translation, Sir Ferumbras), and refers to Ganelon's treason and Roland's battle at Roncesvalles, the battle at Saragossa, the siege of Narbonne, and Charlemagne's death at Saint-Denis. All of these events are chronicled in the various French and English romances that deal with Charlemagne's career. The most famous of these is the Chanson de Roland.

521 doussypers. Originally the twelve peers ("douze pers," "twelve equals") bound to Charlemagne, the term came to designate any illustrious person. The persons mentioned here are Roland, Reiner of Gennes (?Genoa), Oliver (Reiner's son), Aubrey of Burgogne, Ogier the Dane, Naimes of Bavaria, Archbishop Turpin, Tierri the Angevin, Samson, Berard de Mondisdier, Guy of Burgundy, and the four sons of Aymon. "There seems to have been no constant tradition as to the names of the peers, and the list differs almost from text to text" (O, p. 63).

523 T-P follows W for sake of meter: Olyuer and Aubrye and Ogere the Deannyes.

529 knyghtes, as in G, O, T-P, and W. T: kynges.

533 Salamadyne. As with Nioles and Maundevyle in lines 539-40, these names have not survived in any other source, although T-P notes that after Charlemagne went to Paderborn, he met the Governor of Barcelona, Suleiman Ibn Al-Araby, with whom he made an alliance.

534 T omits cité.

541-47 The story of Sir Ferumbras was the most popular of the Charlemagne romances. T-P gives the following summary: "The giant Saracen, Ferumbras, defeated by Oliver, agrees to be christened. Oliver and other knights are captured and taken over the river Flagot to Mautrible [in Spain], then moved the next day to Aigremont [a Saracen stronghold], where they are imprisoned by Balan, father of Ferumbras. Balan's daughter, Floripas, takes pity on them and rescues them, and hands over the Holy Relics that Ferumbras had taken from Jerusalem. Charlemagne arrives at Aigremont and captures Balan, who refuses to be baptized and so is killed by Ogier. Floripas is baptized, and Charlemagne returns to St Denis with the Holy Relics" (p. 93). A lively version of this narrative appears in Middle English as "The Sultan of Babylon," Three Charlemagne Romances, ed. Alan Lupack (Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Publications, 1990), pp. 1-103.

546 Balame. T-P follows W with Marchel. So too in line 548. In lines 558 and 569 he changes Marchill to Balame. His note explains: "The poet has reversed the names of Balan of the Ferumbras story and Marsile from the Chanson de Roland. The scribe, Robert Thornton, who had already transcribed two Charlemagne romances, realized the poet's error and corrected the mistake, but the alliterative patterns and the readings of ms. W reveal what the poet wrote. See Turville-Petre (1974:43n)" (p. 94).

552 cristened, as in T and O. W: halowd; G and T-P: fologhed.

555 naylede, as in T and O. T-P: pynnede; G: put. W inverts word order to read: was on ze rode naylid.

558-70 These events are chronicled in the Chanson de Roland. Merchill is Marsile, Saracen king of Spain.

570 T omits hym.

571-77 The siege of Narbonne is described in a cycle of eight "chansons de geste."

577 To have and. T: To kepe it and. T-P emends: To have it and.

586 In popular medieval tradition, Aristotle and Virgil were both considered masters of all worldly knowing; many legends of their fabulous powers (including their command of alchemy) grew up around them.

588 T-P follows the metrically preferable syntax of W to read: The grete Alexander to graythe golde when hym lyste.

593 blaunchere. T: plaunchere. Literally, a whitener of metals. Compounds of arsenic were used to whiten metals so that they could be transmuted.

594 In the legend referred to, Virgil himself consulted the oracular head he had made when he was about to go on a journey. It said all would be well if Virgil took care of his head. He thought this meant the talking head he had made; on his journey, however, he rode with his head uncovered and died of sunstroke.

verrayle. T: vernayle, or vervayle. W: veryall. I have adopted G's emendation.

600 As O notes, these books probably are the apocryphal Book of Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus, which were attributed to Solomon in the Middle Ages, rather than Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.

608 graythed. T: graythen. Galyan appears to be Merlyn's girlfriend, perhaps the Lady of the Lake (?) or an equivalent to Malory's Nyneve.

kepe. W reads gete, which O and T-P follow.

610 yitt. Omitted in W; so too in T-P.

614ff. All the lovers mentioned were famous in the Middle Ages. Although no Middle English romance corresponds to the French Amadas et Ydoine, the two lovers are frequently referred to. There are Middle English romances of Ipomadon, Generides, Eglamour, and Tristram and Iseult.

617 bothe. T: boghte. G's emendation. In favor of boghte one might note that although Death does not ordinarily "buy" people, the words are associated; in Lydgate's Chronicles of Troy (1430) a character says he will buy honor with his death. Boghte can also play on the theological meaning of "redemption."

618 Ipomadon of Apulia marries "La fière" of Calabria; she was called "the haughty one" because she vowed she would only marry the bravest knight in the world.

627 Candace, as in G and O. W: Candore, and so in T-P.

628 passed, as in O and T-P. T: pasten. W and G: passid.

629 thay bothen. W and T-P: thay all.

640 T, W, and T-P omit the first es.

642 "For there is no redemption in Hell" became part of the Office of the Dead.

656 The horn that awakens the dreamer certainly is a hunting horn; in the Middle Ages, Death also was thought to have a summoning trumpet (see Rosemary Woolf, The English Religious Lyric [Oxford: Clarendon, 1968], pp. 323, 354); trumpet blasts also were expected to announce the Day of Judgment. See Peck and Turville-Petre, 1977.

PARLEMENT OF THE THRE AGES: TEXTUAL NOTES

1 monethe] monethes

31 of fyve] of v fyve

48 myntid] mytid

69 owte] om.

70 slitte] sisilte

84 pawnche] pawche

105 moted] moten

135 semelyeste] semely

147 stiewardes] stiewarde

166 I] om.

173 seyde] seyden

180 with] om.

184 es] om.

233 quopes] quotes

235 Cheres thaym] cheresche hym

252 How thay] how thaire

331 demeden] and demedon

338 Grewe] Iewe

340 Gadyfere] godfraye Gaderayns] goderayns

396 Candace] Candore

416 gete it] gete hym

442 Drightynes] drightyn

446 stong] stongen

481 Roystone] Boystone

502 start] om.

511 la Faye] lafaye

529 knyghte] kynges

534 cite] om.

570 hym] om.

577 have] kepe it

580 nyne] ix nyne

593 blaunchere] plaunchere

594 verrayle] vernayle or vervayle

608 graythed] Graythen

617 now] and now bothe] boughte

618 his] hir

627 Candace] Candore

628 passed] pasten

640 es] om.