167, 168. Comp. ‘Ia ne porrat nuls dire ke il seit enganez | En tant com li oil clot serrat li plaiz finez,’ Guischart 444, 5. 168. #mene#, with #him# reflexive, complain; comp. ‘þat he ne mahte nanes weis | meanen him of wohe,’ SK 1235, 6. D has bimene; comp. ‘Men hem bimenin of litel trewthe,’ Rel. Ant. ii. 121/11. At 196/663, 205/280 it has the more usual sense, with reflexive, of bemoan. #strengþe . . . wronge#: comp. 19/48-51, 32/48-50, 44/256: the perversion of justice by bribed or overawed judges is a common theme in the literature of the time; see Wright, Political Songs, pp. 224-30. #strengþe#, violence, has usually a determining adjective in this sense, as ‘nawt wið luðer strencðe,’ SK 1234; ‘liste ne luðer strengðe,’ id. 1516, but see 60/18. 170. #uuele holden#, handled, treated, hardly; comp. ‘and heom heold swa harde[;] ⁊ mid hærme heo{m} igrette,’ L 29937, 8. #redde#: a mistake for rerde, as in E; the others have arerde, set up, instituted; comp. 15/80, 85. 171. #ec#: Ac E; End e; ech D; Euerich M. 171, 172 are not in J. 176, 178. #forð mid#: see 1/19. 177. #habbeð doules were#: nabbeð god idon E e: comp. 44/254. 178. #grunde#: comp. 46/295; ‘alesde us of helle grunde,’ OEH i. 19/8; ‘al forloren into helle grunde,’ id. 21/35; see also 119/82. For #faren forð mid#, E e have, falle swiþe raþe. 179. #are#: ore E J D. The text means, ever without mercy and without end, but Lewin confusing ore with orde as in ‘Wiþþutenn ord ⁊ ende,’ Orm 234/6775, translates ‘ohne Anfang und Ende.’ e reads á ⁊ buten ende. 180. #gate#: dure E e J D; M omits. #for lesen#: for lese e; the others have to. The infinitive of purpose with _for_ is uncommon, comp. 173/409. 181. #sullic#, wonder. #wa . . . uneade#, OE. #unēaðe#, are historically adverbs, lit. though to them it be wofully and grievously; bet, wwrs, &c., are used in the same construction; see 46/289: comp. with #uneade#, ‘þer fore hire wes uneðe,’ L 4503; ‘an heorte him wes unneðe,’ id. 26730. J has, he mawe wunye eþe, they may easily remain there. 182. #for lesen#: variants as in l. 180, but E for lesen. Comp. ‘Ki deu ne uolt conustre tut serrat cureicus | Il ne morrat ia meis ne por mei ne por uus,’ Guischart 223, 4. 183. #helle brec#, harrowed hell. ‘The Gospel [of Nicodemus] probably reached the climax of its popularity in England during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries,’ The ME. Harrowing of Hell, ed. Hulme, p. lxviii. 184: Comp. ‘Tant cher nus achatað de sun sanc precius,’ Guischart 220; OEM 49/434, 187/20. #hom#: hi D; the others, us. 185. #mei . . . mei#: comp. 30/29, where L has the usual pair, representing OE. #mǣge#, kinswoman, #mǣg#, kinsman: mouwe . . . mey E; maȝhe . . . mei e; moȝe . . . meie D; moȝe . . . mei M: but J Nolde hit nomon do for me. 188. #bendes#: comp. 81/67. 192 T. #þar þat#, of those who: comp. 1 Cor. vi. 2.