elements in an alliterative formula or group of synonyms: e.g. 648, folhið oþer fulieð (T. folhen only); OE. folgian, fyligan. The gloss "befoul" is wrong. Compare also: 701, godd hit peaueð (T. þoleð) him to muchli þi mede with Juliana, p. 19, ne mahe ȝe nawt do me bute he [godd] wule þeauien & þolien (Royal MS. þeauien only ow to donne to muchli mi mede.
(i) heme and hine. This is an alliterative fomula that has a certain interest because of its occurrence in The Owl and the Nightingale.
In B 685-7 we have ich chulle halde me hal þurh þe grace of godd as cunde me makede, þet peraise selhðe underuo me al swuch as weren, ear ha agulten, his earest hinen (T. his earste heamen). The original probably had heamen & hinen (compare previous note). The general sens "inhabitants" is clear; but the passage must be compared with B 147, "God that makes out of earthly and woman, heavenly angel; of heame (T. heane), hine; of foe, friend; help, of that which injures thee." It is difficult, purely from etymological considerations, to decide what is the difference between heame and hine. The present context certainly appears to heame being of lower grade, as does the T. emendation heane, "base ones," if it is not merely the accidental loss of one stroke. In this case the word is probably better connected with OE. -hǣme, inhabitants of a -hām (in place-names) than with ge-hǣme (once in the form of geheme), "familiar." The sense will then perhaps be "villagers, rustics" as opposed to "members of the family" (? or "inmates of the monastery"; so OE. hīga, hīwa). This is not in accordance with the senses usual in M.E. for hine (servant, farm hand). O. & N. 1115 (children, gromes), heme and hine has also usually been taken to mean "master and servant." If any weight is attached to the occurences in the Hali Meiðhad, this will have to be revised. In the glossary heame B 147 is treated as a mere error for heane; this seems unlikely.[1]
- ↑ Cf. also Jul. p. 33 (MS. B) al mi nest falde cun þet schulde beo me best freond beoð me meast feondex; & mine inhinen, alre meast heamen. Royal MS. ant mine hinen me beoð mest heanen. Cockayne emended to hearmen; but this is probably another case of this conventional pair.
