---
title: The three sisters took their wide-channelled, hard-tempered swords i… — Irish Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics
description: The three sisters took their wide-channelled, hard-tempered swords in their hands, and prepared to slay the Fianna, but before doing so they gave one more look from the door of the cave to see if there might be a straggler of the Fianna who was escaping death by straggling, and they saw one coming t
---

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# Irish Fairy Tales, Chapter V, sentence 7

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The three sisters took their wide-channelled, hard-tempered swords in their hands, and prepared to slay the Fianna, but before doing so they gave one more look from the door of the cave to see if there might be a straggler of the Fianna who was escaping death by straggling, and they saw one coming towards them with Bran and Sceo’lan leaping beside him, while all the other dogs began to burst their throats with barks and split their noses with snorts and wag their tails off at sight of the tall, valiant, white-toothed champion, Goll mor mac Morna.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** three sisters, sisters, straggler, one, Bran, other dogs · **What happens:** take, channell, temper, slay, do, give · **To what, where:** tempered swords, hands, Fianna, one more look, door, death

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «Irish Fairy Tales» by James Stephens, Chapter V. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (three sisters, sisters, straggler, one), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

<!-- .note-en -->
**Parsed by Mova, not checked by a teacher.** This tree is Mova's own parse (the `en` model, on the CPU, when the site is built); it may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg2892:60:7
# text = The three sisters took their wide-channelled, hard-tempered swords in their hands, and prepared to slay the Fianna, but before doing so they gave one more look from the door of the cave to see if there might be a straggler of the Fianna who was escaping death by straggling, and they saw one coming towards them with Bran and Sceo’lan leaping beside him, while all the other dogs began to burst their throats with barks and split their noses with snorts and wag their tails off at sight of the tall, valiant, white-toothed champion, Goll mor mac Morna.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	sisters	sister	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	took	take	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
6	wide	wide	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	channelled	channell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	tempered	temper	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	13	amod	_	_
13	swords	sword	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	16	nmod:poss	_	_
16	hands	hand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
18	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
19	prepared	prepared	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	parataxis	_	_
20	to	to	PART	TO	_	21	mark	_	_
21	slay	slay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	19	xcomp	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	Fianna	Fianna	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	21	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	30	punct	_	_
25	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	30	cc	_	_
26	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	27	mark	_	_
27	doing	do	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	30	advcl	_	_
28	so	so	ADV	RB	_	27	advmod	_	_
29	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	30	nsubj	_	_
30	gave	give	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
31	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	33	nummod	_	_
32	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	33	amod	_	_
33	look	look	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	obj	_	_
34	from	from	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
35	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	36	det	_	_
36	door	door	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	obl	_	_
37	of	of	ADP	IN	_	39	case	_	_
38	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	39	det	_	_
39	cave	cave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	36	nmod	_	_
40	to	to	PART	TO	_	41	mark	_	_
41	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	30	advcl	_	_
42	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	45	mark	_	_
43	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	45	expl	_	_
44	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	45	aux	_	_
45	be	be	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	41	ccomp	_	_
46	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	47	det	_	_
47	straggler	straggler	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	45	nsubj	_	_
48	of	of	ADP	IN	_	50	case	_	_
49	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	50	det	_	_
50	Fianna	Fianna	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	47	nmod	_	_
51	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	53	nsubj	_	_
52	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	53	aux	_	_
53	escaping	escape	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	47	appos	_	_
54	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	53	obj	_	_
55	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	56	mark	_	_
56	straggling	straggle	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	53	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
57	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	60	punct	_	_
58	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	60	cc	_	_
59	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	60	nsubj	_	_
60	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
61	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	60	obj	_	_
62	coming	come	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	60	xcomp	_	_
63	towards	towards	ADP	IN	_	64	case	_	_
64	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	62	obl	_	_
65	with	with	ADP	IN	_	66	case	_	_
66	Bran	Bran	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	62	obl	_	_
67	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	68	cc	_	_
68	Sceo’lan	Sceo'lan	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	66	conj	_	_
69	leaping	leap	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	66	acl	_	_
70	beside	beside	ADP	IN	_	71	case	_	_
71	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	69	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
72	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	78	punct	_	_
73	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	78	mark	_	_
74	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	77	det:predet	_	_
75	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	77	det	_	_
76	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	77	amod	_	_
77	dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	78	nsubj	_	_
78	began	begin	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	60	parataxis	_	_
79	to	to	PART	TO	_	80	mark	_	_
80	burst	burst	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	78	xcomp	_	_
81	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	82	nmod:poss	_	_
82	throats	throat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	80	obj	_	_
83	with	with	ADP	IN	_	84	case	_	_
84	barks	bark	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	80	obl	_	_
85	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	86	cc	_	_
86	split	split	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	78	conj	_	_
87	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	88	nmod:poss	_	_
88	noses	nose	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	86	obj	_	_
89	with	with	ADP	IN	_	90	case	_	_
90	snorts	snort	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	86	obl	_	_
91	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	92	cc	_	_
92	wag	wag	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	86	conj	_	_
93	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	94	nmod:poss	_	_
94	tails	tail	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	92	obj	_	_
95	off	off	ADP	RP	_	92	compound:prt	_	_
96	at	at	ADP	IN	_	97	case	_	_
97	sight	sight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	92	obl	_	_
98	of	of	ADP	IN	_	107	case	_	_
99	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	107	det	_	_
100	tall	tall	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	107	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
101	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	102	punct	_	_
102	valiant	valiant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	100	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
103	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	100	punct	_	_
104	white	white	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	106	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
105	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	104	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
106	toothed	tooth	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	107	amod	_	_
107	champion	champion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	97	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
108	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	111	punct	_	_
109	Goll	Goll	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	111	compound	_	_
110	mor	mor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	111	compound	_	_
111	mac	mac	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	107	conj	_	_
112	Morna	Morna	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	111	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
113	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **take** | past | the three sisters | sisters's tempered swords |  | sisters's hands |  |  | vn fit-54.3 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent sword=Value in hand=Location |
| 2 | **channell** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **temper** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **slay** | to-infinitive | the three sisters *not said here* | the Fianna |  |  |  |  | vn murder-42.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fianna=Patient |
| 5 | **do** | gerund | sisters *= sister* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 6 | **give** | past | sisters *= sister* | one more look |  | the door of the cave |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent look=Theme |
| 7 | **see** | to-infinitive | sisters *= sister* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 8 | **be** *a condition, not said to happen* | might | a straggler of the Fianna |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 9 | **escape** | past · progressive | a straggler of the Fianna | death |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme death=Initial\_Location |
| 10 | **straggle** | gerund | a straggler of the Fianna *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn meander-47.7 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme |
| 11 | **see** | past | sisters *= sister* | one |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 12 | **come** | gerund | one *not said here* |  |  |  |  | towards sisters *= sister*; with Bran and Sceo’lan | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme towards they=Initial\_Location |
| 13 | **leap** | gerund | Bran and Sceo’lan *not said here* |  |  |  |  | beside cave | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme beside he=Trajectory |
| 14 | **begin** | past | all other dogs |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 15 | **burst** | to-infinitive | all other dogs *not said here* | dogs's throats |  |  |  | with barks | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent throat=Patient with bark=Instrument |
| 16 | **split** | past | all other dogs *not said here* | dogs's noses |  |  |  | with snorts | vn break-45.1 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent nose=Patient with snort=Instrument |
| 17 | **wag off** | infinitive | all other dogs *not said here* | dogs's tails |  | sight of the tall toothed champion and Goll mor mac |  |  | vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tail=Patient |
| 18 | **tooth** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 19 | **sight** |  |  | the tall toothed champion and Goll mor mac |  |  |  |  | nom sight «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

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**Text:** «Irish Fairy Tales» by James Stephens, Project Gutenberg book 2892 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order.

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