OERP Book: Chapter Fourteen

 

By Gary G. Stanfield.   Last modified on 27 July 2003. Previously published in: Stanfield, Gary G. 1998a. “Excerpts from the OERP Book, Chapters 13 and 14.” The Rune 8 (Spring): 35-44.

 

Suggested listing of this edition in reference list format:  Stanfield, Gary G.  2003. “OERP Book: Chapter Fourteen”. In Gary Stanfield's Web Pages [Online]. Available http://pages.prodigy.net/gary_s/toc.htm. [Visited: DateYouWereHere].

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peorđ byţ symble     plega and hlehter

wlancum [winum]*     đar wigan sittaţ

on beorsele     bliţe ćtsomne

 

*There is an expression missing in Hickes’ published version.

 

Translations

(A) Transliteration

{ an indoor game of chance or of words and/or the main equipment in such a game.}     {is, becomes}   {ever, always, constantly, continually, continuously}

 

{play, festivity, game, sport; gear for games; applause}   and    {laughter, jubilation, derision}

 

 (Among, on the part of, for)     {stately, splendid, lofty, magnificent, rich; bold, brave; boastful, arrogant, proud}   [inferred word: {friends/protectors/lords/retainers}]

 

{where, then; when; if, so far as, whilst, provided that}   {fighters, men}     {sit; rest; remain, continue, be situated}

 

{on, upon, on to; up to, among; in, into, within}    {(dat. -- this word requires no inflexional ending) beer-hall, banqueting hall}    {blithe; joyous, cheerful, pleasant; friendly, kind, gracious, well-disposed, agreeable, willing; quiet, peaceful, gentle} {united, together}

 

(B)

Peorđ is always · festivity and jubilation

For rich friends · where warriors hang out

Inside (a) tavern · joyously together

 

(C)

Peorth is always • festivity and jubilation

Among splendid friends • where warriors sit

In (a) tavern • joyous(ly) united

 

(D)

Peorth is always • sport and laughter

For lofty lords • where warriors hang out

Within (a) banquet hall/tavern • carefree together

 

(E)

Peorth is always • sport and laughter

For rich friends • where warriors hang out

Within (a) tavern • carefree together

 

(F)

Peorth is always • sport and laughter

Among bold friends • where warriors are situated

Inside (a) tavern • joyous(ly) together

 

(G)

Peorth is always • play and laughter

Among magnificent lords • where warriors hang out

Within (a) tavern • carefree together

 

(H)

Peorth is always • play and laughter

Among proud friends • where warriors hang out

In (a) tavern • joyous(ly) united

 

(I)

Peorth is always • play and laughter

Among magnificent friends • where warriors rest

In (a) tavern • casual(ly) together

 

(J)

Peorth is always • play and laughter

Among proud friends • when men are

Inside (a) tavern • joyous(ly) together

 

(K)

Peorth is always • play and laughter

Among proud retainers • when fighters sit

Within (a) tavern • carefree together

 

(L)

Peorth is constantly • play and laughter

For boastful friends • when men are

Within (a) tavern • carefree together

 

(M)

Peorth is always • sport and derision

On the part of proud friends • while men sit

In (a) tavern • blithe together

 

(N)

Peorth is always • sport and derision

On the part of arrogant lords • while warriors rest

In (a) tavern • blithe together

 

(O)

Peorth is perpetually • both play-time and laughter

Among friends who are proud · while fighters

In beer hall • sit blithely united

 

Issues Regarding Edition and Translation

There are two issues regarding “Peorđ” that call for special discussion. (1) The title word appears only in lists of the futhorc and in the Old English Rune Poem. To translate “peorđ”, it is necessary to decide what to do about (2) the missing clause in the second verse. The copy we have to work from shows only two syllables in that half-line. It is extremely unlikely that the whole verse consisted of two syllables.

 

There has been a lot of speculation and progress on the title word and the missing clause since Hickes published the OERP in 1705. (See Bosworth and Toller, 1898; Dickins, 1915; Dobbie, 1942; Hall, 1960; Hallsall, 1981; Larrington, 1993; Osborn and Longland, 1982; Page 1973; Shippey, 1973). We are ready for solutions.

 

The Title Word

We are looking for a meaning that fits a noun and goes with the stanza. However, the meaning cannot go too well with the stanza — none of the other OERP stanzas defines its title word.

 

A peorđ is most likely (1) an indoor recreational activity in which all members of a troop could participate as equals or (2) a piece of equip­ment used in such a game.

 

For now, not to translate the word is best (S. Wódening, 1995a). The game or game piece probably does not have a corresponding word in Modern English. Therefore, translating peorđ would be at least as misleading as trying to translate “polka”. My reasoning is spelled out in more detail in the addendum to this chapter.

 

 

The Missing Clause

Surveying the speculation on the missing syllables, one might infer that there are no solid clues for a systematic analysis and that there are too many possibilities to list. Certainly, that was Dobbie’s conclusion in 1942. But this is not true a few decades later. We can apply some detective work to greatly narrow the alternatives.

 

Metrical and grammatical rules and common sense regarding the substantive meanings of the stanza give us certain criteria. To make a long story short, the missing clause most likely is based on a noun which has a w at the start of its most stressed syllable. Inferring that the clause was omitted inadvertently, it was probably short. Since the noun must be dative, the shortest is two syllables — a stem and a dative ending in one word. The noun must fit into a phrase that modifies plega and hlehter (play and laughter, basically). The emended half-line must be congruent with the upbeat tone of the stanza, yet contribute to implying a contrast. The missing noun is not an adjective used as a noun; it is a straight noun. The noun has to make sense when modified by wlancum.

 

A methodological addendum to this chapter explains in more detail how I arrived at winum as the most appropriate emendation.

 

Discussion

The main themes of “Peorđ” are fun and social cohesion. At the most primitive level of meaning, “Fun Game” describes the game of peorth or the game using the peorth piece. At the second level of meaning, six implicit stanzas discuss the importance and uses of partying and playing, and how we can optimize our enjoyment and social exploitation of games and socializing. At the highest level of meaning, “Lighten Up” coaches the esoteric religious or magical person to sometimes let down that long hair and get out of that ivory tower.

 

Fun Game

This implicit stanza is best supported by Translations B, E, F, G, J, L, and O. It is possible that the game was not competitive. If the game were competitive, it could not allow intense concentration, so it would have to emphasize random chance. This would not necessarily be gambling, for  could be a game like Yahtzee. Halsall’s (1981) guess of “table-game” is pretty sensible, but there is a possibility that benches & tables were cleared out of the way and the whole floor was used. It is also possible that if the game were competitive, the goal would have been to make everyone laugh.

 

Gambling is a possibility for this game. Translation B and E emphasize “rich friends”, those who could most afford to waste resources in gambling. Also, Translation F mentions “bold friends”, those most willing to take risks. Gambling was an important part of Germanic culture, at least for men, several hundred years prior to the composition of this poem, and gambling might still have been important in ancient England. However, Tacitus tells us that “They play at dice...when...sober, making a serious business of it. And they are...reckless in their desire to win....” Sometimes, the gamblers offer themselves a slaves (See Mattingly and Handford, 1970; Hutton and Warmington, 1970). That is not the atmosphere that we see in “Fun Game”, where a healthy atmosphere is paramount, especially in Translations E and G.

 

In this implicit stanza the game is not an obsession. Translation G emphasizes how lighthearted the game is, and J implies that the main source of enjoyment is the mutual attraction between men who esteem themselves as well as their companions.

 

Translation O emphasizes how much fun the game is. It is wonderful, hilarious fun throughout its duration. That such a wonderful game should no longer be with us implies that its enjoyment depended on some mindset that is difficult to produce nowadays because of changes in occupations or religion. The game might have depended on a preindustrial culture, and have still been widely played during the time when this poem was composed. The game might also have become obsolescent as pagan religion ceased to be dominant.

 

Translation L implies a noncompetitive game of telling tall tales. Perhaps each story-teller would spoof himself or roast others good-naturedly. Perhaps the tales would be told in prose, in poetry, or in song. Perhaps participants would deliberately produce bad art for comic effect.

 

All the possibilities have certain things in common. The game certainly was social, played indoors, very relaxed, hilarious, and incredible fun.

 

Using Common Ground

This implicit stanza is supported best by Transla­tions D and K, and J. “Using Common Ground” alludes to the fact that people can more easily relax socially if certain conditions are met. Namely, if they are relieved of the necessity to maintain status or work at understanding the point of view of persons in different circumstances than their own. Transla­tions D and K describe pleasantry between persons who are of like rank as well as being of like occupation. Translation J indicates association among persons of like gender.

 

Finding Common Ground

Translations F and H support the implicit stanza “Finding Common Ground”. Here, unlike statuses are allowed among friends, but the game of peorth (or the game based on use of a peorth piece) brings them together. In Translations F and H, the players simply enjoy being together under prevailing circumstances. In Translations C and H the players are “united”, which implies some broader purpose such as a religious or secular celebration or reducing political tensions in a community. The primitive human needs for play and social nexus are important bases for finding common ground.

 

Partying

The game takes place at a party. The translations all support this view. “Partying” does not say that the partiers are doing drugs, but alcohol use is quite likely given the location. Alcoholic drinks in Europe in the early middle ages were often not alcoholic enough to be very effective as drugs. The stanza also does not say that the partiers were gambling, although that possibility is open. There is no mention of sexual activities. Eating might have hindered playing the game in question, as it distracts players of many modern games. Otherwise, what the partiers are doing is typical at any good party: joking, playing, doing some casual games, and just enjoying each other’s company.

 

“Partying” also tells us something about the circumstances under which these good times occurred. One element is the right people. The right people for the game, people who are attractive to themselves and each other, people who have things in common. Another element is an appropriate location. Not just anywhere is peorth played so happily, but in a tavern or banquet hall. The game is also an important element, contributing significantly to an appropriate atmosphere.

 

Military Partying

This implicit stanza is best supported by Transla­tions C, D, F, H, I, and K. “Military Partying” describes the kind of mutual association that is necessary to maintain morale in combat organiza­tions. Because the fighters rely on each other in matters of the utmost importance, they need social cohesion. They need to be attracted to each other and to know of each other’s reliability. In addition, it is important to get their minds off of hardship and danger.

 

Uncertainty is a major element in war, therefore “Military Partying” alludes to nonrecreational gambling. The game of peorth would help to take one’s mind off this uncertainty. An irony alluded to here is that people might grimly face a terror of a gamble in one circumstance, yet joyfully — even addictively — play with gambling in another circumstance.

 

Another irony related to this is that some few people become addicted to the gamble of life and death. For them, the banquet hall is easily found boring and adaptation to peaceful occupations will never be easy. When they were young and pliable, they some­how became adjusted to a very unusual circum­stance. Gambling excessive stakes in recreational games can bring joy to a person addicted to adrena­line. This kind of gambling is allowed by Transla­tion F, but not required. This unwholesome gambling is contrary to translations depicting the partiers as carefree.

 

Play

All the translations tell us of a certain predictability in human behavior. Given the right circumstances, people will have a lively good time. Like dogs, otters, and many other lower animals, people seem to need to play. “Play” alludes to a human need to have active fun. This implicit verse is saying that people are not just creatures of (divine) free will. People also have much of the lower animal in them, and this animal side of humanity is not always bestial in an unpleasant sense. “Play” is advising us that we have to accept the part of us that needs to play. We can often just accept the lower animal or the immature person in ourselves and enjoy it.

 

The importance of play in culture is dealt with philosophically in Homo Ludens (Huizinga, 1955). Although Huizinga seems to make too much of the pervasiveness of play in culture, especially in religion, his discussion does help elucidate this implict stanza.

 

Bad Manners

Translations M and N support “Bad Manners”. Here, I used “blithe” in these translations because it conveys a negative sense, denoting carefree-ness to the point of carelessness or inconsiderateness. In “Bad Manners”, players tease or verbally abuse colleagues who lose or play ineptly. They are unaware of consequences, blinded by their over-estimates of themselves or their failures to perceive others deeply.

 

In this regard, the OERP  and an Old Norse poem complement each other. This subject matter is dealt with in Havamal, Verses 5, 12, 27, 30, 31,128, 132, and 133 (Larrington, 1996). Havamal cautions that one must be prepared to make good account of oneself in company to avoid ridicule. It also cautions against abusing others — or even hanging around people who abusingly mock companions.

 

Lighten Up

This implicit stanza is supported by all the implicit stanzas at lower levels of meaning. “Lighten Up” reminds us that people need to play and to party with others. We are reminded that even in the most upsetting and distressing of circumstances, people can find common ground and relax psychologically. Mental concentration can be especially demanding of one’s energy. The poem has been advising us to spend effort on deep thinking and on emotional self control. Now we are also advised that responsible recreation and socializing are necessary and beneficial.

 

“Lighten Up” occurs in the fourteenth stanza of the poem, about half-way through. By now the listeners to a recitation, readers of the poem, or the reciter in a private ritual will have gone through an increasingly densely packed series of stanzas. The level of mental concentration will have been unusual, for most art does not have this many levels of meaning to go through. In short, it is about time for a break.

 

Themes

Simple Themes

·        Fun

·        Sociability

·        Wealth

·        War

·        Relaxation

·        Partying

·        Social recreation

·        Fellowship

·        Dual nature of humans — can do fighting or fellowship

·        Uncertainty

·        Nonrecreational gambling

·        Play

·        Playing games

·        Laughter

·        Merriment

·        Pride

·        Social rank

·        Proper circumstances

·        Appropriate location

·        Tavern

·        Courage

·        Lack of free will

·        Putting cares aside

·        Common ground

·        Building cohesion

·        Self-esteem

·        Social attraction

·        Abusive manners

 

Contrasts

·        Blitheness in the negative sense versus responsibility

·        Certainty versus uncertainty

·        Grimness versus fun

·        Unlike versus like social roles

 

Uncertain, But Possible

·        Recreational gambling

·        Drug use

 

Advice for Living

People have a need to have fun; it is in their nature and not to be denied. Not all the good things in life are divine, and not all the lower aspects of humanity are bad. Uncertainty can be fun, but in any case it is inevitable and ubiquitous, so do not regard it with depression or terror.

 

The play of opposites here is recreational. The contrast of play with grim cares produces joy and strengthened fellowship. Relaxation and joy can be enhanced by finding others with whom you share common ground. On the other hand, casual games can help build a sense of common ground among diverse persons. The most satisfying social relations are based in part on high and realistic self-esteem.

 

 

Addendum to Chapter Fourteen

This appendix refers to two issues: translation of the title word and emendation of half-line 2a.

 

 

Postscript on the Translation of Peorđ

CRITERIA.

I applied the following rules.

 

1) A range of meanings is a plausible outcome. Several of the OERP’s stanza titles are ambiguous in the OERP context. This ambiguity is part of the poem, giving it a richness not common elsewhere and allowing a very dense packing of meanings.

 

2) In the end, I do not have to translate peorđ. It may refer to something that might not have a MnE equivalent. It might refer to something that does not exist in any MnE culture. Thus, translating might be misleading — like trying to translate “polka”.

 

3) Etymological evidence is OK, but must not be relied upon by itself. Reviews of previous speculations shows how foolish you can look from excessive reliance on etymology.

 

4) Any meaning has to agree with the stanza.

 

A) At the lowest level of meaning, how do the titles of other stanzas agree with the substance of their stanzas? The other stanzas do not define the title word.

 

1. OERP stanzas list attributes, but not enough to define. “Tiw” contains the words a and nćfer, which mean always and never. This is analogous to the symble in “Peorđ”, which also means always. These absolute terms do not appear in any other stanza. However, you cannot tell which star or constellation Tiw is from its stanza. “Tiw” comes close to defining the North Pole Star, but it says its star or constellation moves. (See discussion of “Tiw” in O-&-L, 1982:  72-75).

 

2. OERP stanzas always indicate some culturally or psychologically salient features.

 

3. The chief stave in the first line of each stanza tends to represent a more central notion than any other in the stanza. In this stanza, that word is plega.

 

B) The meaning of peorđ must allow philosophical interpretations at least on a normal wisdom-poetry level at the higher levels of meaning. Larrington (1993) describes normal wisdom-poetry content well enough for my purpose here. This should not be much of a restriction. However, I expect and would prefer to find much more freight than is normally carried by a wisdom-poetry stanza.

 

5) A title words of an OERP stanza can denote almost anything. It can refer to a specimen (zB, Tiw is a specific constellation, Ing a specific deity), a characteristic (zB, generosity), an activity (zB, riding), a species or category (“Ur”, “Thorn”). It can be natural (“Ice”) or artificial (“Wealth/Money”). It can be a class of activities (“Riding”) or a class of objects (“Man”). It may not refer directly to children, sexual intercourse, commerce, Christianity, or poetry. In the OERP, nothing is woven nor made, no animals are driven, and there is no worship. It is not useful right now to list all the things that are “in” or “out” for this poem.

 

WHAT IS PEORĐ NOT? Of course, the list could be endless. But it is useful here to indicate possibilities which are prominent because of having been suggested by good scholars or because they are intuitively or logically appealing at first look.

 

Were it not for the beorsele, this could be an athletic contest.  This rules out  horse races, proto-hockey, and the like.

 

It is not a tune or song, unless it is a specific type of tune or song. Such are not always happy & funny. The Osborn-and-Longland “lively tune” is just not good enough. Likewise, this is not a tree, penis, throat, harp string, or horse. They do not fit the stanza, either.

 

The title word probably does not refer to a specific game, just as “Riding” does not refer to bareback riding, war riding, race riding, travel riding, messenger riding, or any other sort of riding.

 

It is not likely a strong mixed drink, for people who take strong mixed drinks do not always have good moods therefrom.

 

The party is not a symbel. There are two definitions of “symbel”. A symbel is a banquet or feast day, according to dictionaries. According to modern pagans, a symble is only a religious observance during which no food is taken.. In a modern religious symbel, a drinking horn is passed around and each participant makes a toast or boast upon receiving the horn (Gundarsson, 1993a: 258-261; 1993c: 472-479; Hall, 1960; Mitchell and Robinson, 1993: 353). The suggestion that this stanza refers to a symble is made, if not really supported, by Osborn and Longland (1982: 281). Osborn and Longland inferred that the author(s) of the poem could have intended to refer to a sacred party, or symbel, in addition to the concept of  “always”. If peorđ were banqueting, surely the stanza would mention eating or food. If a peorđ were a religious symbel or equipment used during a symbel, then “Peorđ” would mention drinking, toasting, or a drinking horn.

 

If a peorđ were a holiday, it would seem the sort that would have survived as a secular or adapted Christian occasion, because it was just too much fun to leave out of the OERP, too much fun to discard. It would have survived just as Easter has survived, just as Midsummer survived in Ireland, just as May Day survived in many places. No, it would not appear to be a holiday.

 

WHAT WOULD FIT THE STANZA? Looks as if “joking” and “partying” fit. Certainly, this is an activity, some kind of a social (not necessarily sacred) ritual.

 

Halsall’s “table-game” is OK except for the hyphen and except that in Modern America we would more likely say “board game” for that sort of thing. Also, the stanza does not rule out moving the benches and tables aside to use the entire floor area for play.

 

Joking looks good. But the catch is that the first line defines joking. If we take “Tiw” as a model, we should expect that the definition of peorđ extends beyond the first whole line.

 

Partying looks like a good alternative. The stanza clearly describes a party. Again, the catch is that the stanza a little too clearly defines a party. It could be a symbel or some other kind of pagan ceremony conducted in a happy & playful atmosphere, as if joy & play were sacred. They should be! But the catch is that this stanza would appear to define that kind of party.

 

It could also be a recreational event such as a gambling get-together. It could be a board-game tournament, where the game is not taken very seriously by participants. (This rules out tafl & chess, which require concentration). Since backgammon is highly stochastic and strategy cannot be detailed, something like a backgammon tournament is a possibility. Since the central activity is not defined in the stanza, this is a relatively strong possibility.

 

It is also possible that a game peorđ could have played without the element of chance and without equipment. It could have simply been a word game organized around puns and the rich stock of synonyms that Old English offered. It could also have been a game involving the telling of boastful tall tales intended to be humorous. However, a tall-tale game would be too fully described by the stanza.

 

It could very well be a board-game or table-game piece. The stanza describes an activity, but an activity associated very strongly with certain equipment is directly implied by that equipment. Thus, dice cup, lotbox, dice, and dice are possible, for they are recreational equipment. That is, a stochastic game can help to prevent a serious atmosphere from developing. Any piece of recreational equipment would most likely be one that emphasized the element of chance. Other stanzas also refer to equipment. Dice cup/lotbox would be analogous to bow/yr, which is also a piece of equipment; and dice cup would also be loosely analogous to torch, which is a supply or equipment item. Also, a dice cup or die could easily be used in a beorsele. Of course, the ancient Anglo-Saxons did not have dice as we know them, so a peorđ could have been a knuckle bone or a set of sticks thrown in the air.

 

The title word could also refer to a board or table game and its main playing piece, just as the game baseball and its main playing piece, the ball, have the same name.

 

CONCLUSION. It appears that there are two possibilities: (1) an indoor game of chance or spoken words, and (2) the main playing piece in an indoor game of chance. The game-of-chance possibilities are not mutually exclusive. It also seems quite likely that the game or game piece have not survived into modern times. This is because Modern English does have not a name deriving from peorđ that denotes a game nor game piece. In turn, this means that we may eventually define peorđ but not translate it.

 

 

Postscript on the Missing Clause

This section presents (1) the criteria used to identify and filter out possibilities for the missing clause in “Peorđ”, and (2) the conclusions reached using those criteria. The main advantage I had in doing this work is the 293 years of scholarship preceding, which I have not had to do. The main disadvantage I had is that many previous scholars did not set forth the support for their conclusions, so I had to duplicate their tedious and time-consuming efforts.

 

1) CRITERIA.

There are three levels of criteria to use in the missing clause problem: (a) prosody, (b) grammar, and (c) substance. After describing the criteria, I (d) summarize them.

 

My work was not as tidy as the discussion on criteria makes it seem. Thus, for example, I made extensive notes on adjectives before I realized that a modifier form was not a possibility as the focal word in the missing clause. I am publishing this so that subsequent scholars will not have to “reinvent the wheel”.

 

   a) Prosody

We know that syllables are missing because “wlancum” alone violates metrical rules of ancient Teutonic poetry which are followed throughout the OERP. Therefore, it is logical to require that the missing clause would fit into those rules. Each line consists of two half-lines tied by alliteration. In the second line, “wlancum” and “wigan” alliterate. Since normally there are two alliterating syllables in the first verse of a line, it is most likely that the missing clause contains a w-word — one with a stressed syllable starting with w. This in turn implies that the missing clause contain a noun, modifier, or finite verb. This noun, modifier, or finite verb would be the substantive focus of the foot, and possibly its only word.

 

The interpolated phrase should contain 2 syllables. (A) There are two metrical clues: typical length of a foot in this type of poetry and typical length of a stanza in this poem. A foot would usually contain 2-5 syllables and constitute at least a stressed syllable and at least one unstressed syllable. Without an emendation, “Peorđ” is 25 syllables, 2-7 short of the common length of stanzas in this poem.  Metrically, a one-syllable foot is possible. However, (B) for grammatical reasons presented below, we have to find a two-syllable emendation at the minimum. (C) There is also a non-metrical clue. The shorter the missing clause, the more easily would an inadvertent omission occur, so this most likely a 2-syllable foot.

 

Why would we suspect that words were used to fill in the missing foot? Nowhere else in this poem is there a gap of that size to be filled in with music or some other nonverbal material.

 

The missing foot can go either at the beginning or the end of the verse. I cannot accept the consensus that the missing chunk comes after wlancum — this will have to become manifest on its own or be required grammatically. On the other hand, whoever wrote the Old English Rune Poem did not like to put nouns before their modifiers for poetic effect. So any noun modified by wlancum would be in the second foot of this half-line.

 

   b) Grammar

In conjunction with “wlancum”, the missing foot must make a coherent grammatical expression. The missing clause cannot start a new sentence. Basically each stanza is one sentence, convoluted but coherent and grammatically unified at the lowest level of meaning. Moreover, we know for grammatical reasons that the focal half-line most likely modifies the preceding noun clause, plega and hlehter. Below, I show that we can rule out all adjectives and verbs.

 

We can rule out all adjectives except those used as nouns (as in “the bold and the beautiful”). The main word in the missing foot must go with “wlancum”. Since wlancum as a modifier does not apply directly to plega and hlehter, we know that the missing foot cannot modify plega and hlehter in  parallel with wlancum. This rules out all adjectives except those used as nouns (as in “the bold and the beautiful”).

 

Adjectives used a nouns are ruled out by another consideration. Regarding conjunctive expressions in half-lines, an interesting pattern appears. In this poem, adjectives used as nouns appear on just one half-line outside this: the last verse in “Ger”. The adjectives used as nouns there indicate a contrast, between rich and poor. In each case where two nouns are used in conjunction, they are in harmony (as in “play and laughter”). Therefore , if there is an adjective used as a noun in the missing foot, there is likely also a missing conjunction to add, and the adjectival noun would provide a contrast with wlancum. I surveyed all the w-stress adjectives, and none would have provided a contrast with wlancum and still made sense with plega and hlehter.

 

We can rule out all verbs, except for participles used as modifiers (“splendidly done”). There is nothing that “play and laughter” do that go with any meaning of wlancum.

 

So we know that we are looking for a noun or for an adjective used as a noun. The half-line modifies plega and hlehter. It could to this by showing under what conditions, how, when, or where peorđ produces plega and hlehter.

 

As mentioned above, we need two syllables- a stem and an inflexional ending. Since wlancum has a dative ending, we know that a noun in the missing foot would have to be dative. If the noun were grammatically feminine, it would have to be dative plural.

 

We can also safely infer that there is an explicit or implied preposition or prepositional phrase in the focal half-line. This is because the half-line will say “with”, “in”, “by means of”, or some such message. The dative case can imply a preposition, but it can also be used explicitly if the missing clause goes at the beginning of the verse.

 

We know that the focal half-line does not contain a periphrastic synonym for peorđ, because a kenning or heiti would have to be in nominative case.

 

   c) Substance

Lastly, there are substantive requirements. The missing foot must make fit into the sentence at its lowest level of meaning. The general tone of this stanza is happy and carefree.

 

Another clue is that the expressions used in this poem tolerate a large range of the ambiguity of their constituent words. That means that the missing noun must make sense with most of the meanings of wlancum, and the more the better. This rule would mean that a phrase like “wlancum wildćgum” (splendid/proud) days of joy would be good, but inferior to a phrase with a human denoted by the noun (wine or werum are the only such nouns).

 

   d) Summary of Criteria

Thus, the missing foot must contain a noun with a stressed w-syllable. It must be 2-5 syllables, and is most likely just 2 syllables. It must make a half-line expression that qualifies play and laughter or symble. The foot as a whole must be congruent with the upbeat tone of the stanza. The focal noun must be dative, and if feminine also plural. The noun must make sense with most of the meanings of wlancum. The missing clause might or might not include a preposition or conjunction. The missing noun is not an adjective used as a noun; it is a straight noun.

 

Logically, the next step would be to look through a vocabulary for some plausible expressions. I (tediously) went through the Hall dictionary to look for likely words. I searched the w’s, and each of the prefix words: a-, ćg-, ćr-, an-, ađ-, be-, for-, on-, or-, ođ-, tó-, un-, ymb-, and wan-. It is suprising how few good prospects there are.

 

2) CONCLUSIONS RE MISSING EXPRESSION

These are the plausible candidates for an emended verse:

 

Wlancum werum — “among rich/splendid/proud/etc. men” (Grienberger’s emendation)

 

Wlancum winum — “among rich/proud/splendid/proud/boastful friends”

 

Wlancum wordum — “with rich/splendid/proud words”

 

Laughter can go with proud words only if you’re joking. Therefore, if the best emendation is word, this would tell us that a peorđ is a joking game. The catch is that, as I mentioned above, joking is too close to being defined in the first line.

 

Of the two better choices — wer and wine — one is better yet than the other. All the meanings of wine make sense in context, but not all the meanings of wer apply. Wine denotes: friend; protector, lord; retainer. Most commonly, it seems to mean friend. Wine is strictly poetic diction. Wer denotes male being; man; husband; hero; wergild; dam; fish trap, weir; fish-catch, quantity of fish caught; troop, band. (There could be just one band — dative singular masculine looks and sounds just like dative plural masculine for wer). Four of wer’s eleven specific definitions could be applied, or four out of eight meaning groups if you group specific definitions.

 

So the best that we can do is “wlancum winum”. Unfortunately, this emendation does not provide much of a clue to the meaning of peorđ.