p. 15, l. 510. «oon» makes no sense. I suspect the reading of this and the following stanza is quite corrupt. If ll. 510 and 511 should belong to different stanzas, the «enjambement», or continuation of the [p106] sense from one stanza to another, would be unusually strong. I am therefore inclined to think that originally a stanza began at l. 510, and that there is a line wanting after l. 509, which contained the rhyme to «bon» (l. 508). The scribe noticing the absence of rhyme tried to restore it himself. Adding «oon» to l. 510, he made it rhyme with «bon» (l. 508). Having thus destroyed the rhyme of ll. 510 and 512 («Alisaundre» : «Cassaundre», as in l. 984), he added «gaye» to l. 512, which now rhymed to l. 514, where he still added «to fraye». In order to get a rhyme to l. 518, he changed in l. 516 the original «laye» (: «Romayne») into «lan» (“he ceased, stopped”), and wrote “«to»” «the grounde» instead of “«on»” (cf. l. 1186) or “«at»” (cf. ll. 533, 435) «the grounde», connecting thus these words with l. 515, whereas originally they belonged to «there he laye», or—as «there» also may have been added by the scribe—to «he laye». If now we read «with mayne» instead of «ful evene», in l. 521, we get a perfect rhyme to l. 519; l. 520 having lost its rhyming line, he made it rhyme, by adding «than» to l. 522, which originally rhymed to l. 524. Now to get a rhyme to l. 524 he composed and inserted himself l. 526. Therefore I think the original reading of these two stanzas ran as follows: Sir Ferumbras of Alisaundre 510 That bolde man was in dede, Uppon a steede Cassaundre He roode in riche weede. Sir Bryer of Poyle a Romayne 514 He bare through with a spere; Dede on the ground [there] he laye, Might he no more hem dere. That saw Huberte, a worthy man, 518 Howe Briere was islayne, Ferumbras to quite than To him he rode with mayne. With a spere uppone his shelde 522 Stiffly gan he strike; The shelde he brake imiddis the feelde, His hawberke wolde not breke. Ferumbras was agreved tho, &c. 526 On the rhyme «Romayne» : «laye» (l. 514) cf. ll. 536, 890. p. 15, l. 514. «Bryer of Poyle» does not occur in any of the other versions. p. 15, l. 516. «lan», preterite of «lin», “to cease;” more common in the compound «blin», contracted from * «be-lin». p. 15, l. 517. «might he no more hem dere.» On the order of words, cf. ll. 2954, 649, 2435. p. 16, l. 520. «qwite», “to requite, reward, retaliate, pay off.” See below note to l. 780. p. 16, l. 531. On «stronge» (O.E. strang) : «istonge» (O.E. gestungen), see «Introduction», p. xxxv. p. 16, l. 532. «astraye», “out of the right way or proper place, running [p107] about without guidance.” O.French «estraier», which is derived from Latin «ex strada», see Diez, «Etym. Wörterb.» I. 402; II. 296.