754. _elf_; French text--'ele fu malueise espirit en fourme de femme,' she was an evil spirit in form of woman. _Elf_ is the A.S. _ælf_, Icel. _álfr_, G. _alp_ and _elfe_; Shakespeare writes _ouphes_ for _elves_. 'The Edda distinguishes between Ljósálfar, the elves of light, and Dökkálfar, elves of darkness; the latter are not elsewhere mentioned either in modern fairy tales or in old writers.... In the Alvismál, elves and dwarfs are clearly distinguished as different. The abode of the elves in the Edda is Álfheimar, fairy land, and their king the god Frey, the god of light. In the fairy tales the Elves haunt the hills; hence their name Huldufólk, hidden people; respecting their origin, life, and customs, see Íslenzkar þjóðsögur, i. 1. In old writers the Elves are rarely mentioned; but that the same tales were told as at present is clear'; note on the word _álfr_, in Cleasby and Vigfusson's Icelandic Dictionary. See also Keightley's Fairy Mythology, and Brand's Popular Antiquities. The word is here used in a bad sense, and is nearly equivalent to witch. In the Prompt. Parv. we find--'Elfe, spryte, _Lamia_'; and Mr. Way notes that these elves were often supposed to bewitch children, and to use them cruelly. [160] 767. Pronounce _ágreáble_ nearly as in French, and with an accent on the first and third syllables. 769. _take_, handed over, delivered. _Take_ often means to give or hand over in Middle English: very seldom to convey or bring. 771. In the margin of MSS. E. Hn. Cp. and Pt. is written--'Quid turpius ebrioso, cui fetor in ore, tremor in corpore, qui promit stulta, prodit occulta, cuius mens alienatur, facies transformatur? Nullum enim latet secretum ubi regnat ebrietas.' This is obviously the original of the stanza, ll. 771-777; cf. note to B. 99 above. There is nothing answering to it in Trivet, but it is to be found in Pope Innocent's treatise De Contemptu Mundi, lib. ii. c. 19--_De ebrietate_. Migne's edition has 'promittit multa' for 'promit stulta.' The last clause is quoted from Prov. xxxi. 4 in the Vulgate version; our English versions omit it. See B. 2384. 778. 'O Donegild, I have no language fit to tell,' &c. 782. _mannish_, man-like, i. e. harsh and cruel, not mild and gentle like a woman. But Chaucer is not satisfied with the epithet, and says he ought rather to call her 'fiend-like.' Perhaps it is worth while to say that in Gower's Conf. Amant., lib. vi., where Pauli (iii. 52) has 'Most liche to _mannes_ creature,' the older edition by Chalmers has the form _mannish_. Lines 778-84 are not in the original. 789. 'He stowed away plenty (of wine) under his girdle,' i. e. drank his fill. 794. Pronounce _constábl'_ much as if it were French, with an accent on a. In l. 808 the accent is on _o_. Lastly, in l. 858, all three syllables are fully sounded.