---
title: So saying he grasped his sword, and cut at the Troll in such a way t… — The Red Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: So saying he grasped his sword, and cut at the Troll in such a way that all his fifteen heads danced away over the sands. Who acts: Fie, way. A sentence of «The Red Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Mother Holle, part 2, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# The Red Fairy Book, Mother Holle, part 2, sentence 74

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
So saying he grasped his sword, and cut at the Troll in such a way that all his fifteen heads danced away over the sands.

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**Who acts:** Fie, way · **What happens:** say, grasp, cut, dance away · **To what, where:** sword, sands · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «The Red Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Mother Holle, part 2. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Fie, way), 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:pg540:45:74
# text = So saying he grasped his sword, and cut at the Troll in such a way that all his fifteen heads danced away over the sands.
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	grasped	grasp	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	sword	sword	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	cut	cut	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	advcl	_	_
10	at	at	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	Troll	troll	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
13	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	such	such	DET	PDT	PronType=Ind	16	det:predet	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
17	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	22	nsubj	_	_
18	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	21	det:predet	_	_
19	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	21	nmod:poss	_	_
20	fifteen	fifteen	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	21	nummod	_	_
21	heads	head	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	22	nsubj	_	_
22	danced	dance	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	16	acl:relcl	_	_
23	away	away	ADV	RB	_	22	advmod	_	_
24	over	over	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	sands	sand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	22	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **grasp** | past | Fie | Fie's sword |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer sword=Stimulus |
| 3 | **cut** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | in such way; at the Troll | vn cut-21.1-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent at troll=Patient |
| 4 | **dance away** | participle | such way |  |  | the sands |  | away *property* | vn modes\_of\_being\_with\_motion-47.3 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme over sand=Location |

<!-- .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:** «The Red Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 540 (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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