---
title: If any one in this hall holds himself so hardy,[2] so bold both of b… — Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A Middle-Englis… · tree and pragmatics
description: If any one in this hall holds himself so hardy,[2] so bold both of blood and brain, as to dare strike me one stroke for another, I will give him as a gift this axe, which is heavy enough, in sooth, to handle as he may list, and I will abide the first blow, unarmed as I sit. Who acts: one, I, axe, Kn
---

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# Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A Middle-English Arthurian Romance Retold in Modern Prose, Opening, part 2, sentence 42

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If any one in this hall holds himself so hardy,\[2\] so bold both of blood and brain, as to dare strike me one stroke for another, I will give him as a gift this axe, which is heavy enough, in sooth, to handle as he may list, and I will abide the first blow, unarmed as I sit.

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**Who acts:** one, I, axe, Knight · **What happens:** hold, dare, strike, give, be, handle · **To what, where:** Knight, me, axe, first blow

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This is a sentence of «Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A Middle-English Arthurian Romance Retold in Modern Prose» by Jessie L. Weston, Opening, 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 (one, I, axe, Knight), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg66084:2:42
# text = If any one in this hall holds himself so hardy,[2] so bold both of blood and brain, as to dare strike me one stroke for another, I will give him as a gift this axe, which is heavy enough, in sooth, to handle as he may list, and I will abide the first blow, unarmed as I sit.
1	If	if	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
2	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	3	det	_	_
3	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	6	det	_	_
6	hall	hall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	holds	hold	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	25	advcl	_	_
8	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	7	obj	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	hardy	hardy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	[	[	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	2	2	NUM	LS	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	16	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	]	]	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	13	punct	_	_
15	so	so	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
16	bold	bold	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	conj	_	_
17	both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	19	det	_	_
18	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	blood	blood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obj	_	_
20	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
21	brain	brain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
23	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	25	mark	_	_
24	to	to	PART	TO	_	25	mark	_	_
25	dare	dare	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
26	strike	strike	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	25	xcomp	_	_
27	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	26	obj	_	_
28	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	29	nummod	_	_
29	stroke	stroke	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	obj	_	_
30	for	for	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
31	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	26	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	35	punct	_	_
33	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	35	nsubj	_	_
34	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	35	aux	_	_
35	give	give	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	25	conj	_	_
36	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	35	iobj	_	_
37	as	as	ADP	IN	_	39	case	_	_
38	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	39	det	_	_
39	gift	gift	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	35	obl	_	_
40	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	41	det	_	_
41	axe	axe	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	35	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
42	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	45	punct	_	_
43	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	45	nsubj	_	_
44	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	45	cop	_	_
45	heavy	heavy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	41	acl	_	_
46	enough	enough	ADV	RB	_	45	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
47	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	49	punct	_	_
48	in	in	ADP	IN	_	49	case	_	_
49	sooth	sooth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	35	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
50	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	52	punct	_	_
51	to	to	PART	TO	_	52	mark	_	_
52	handle	handle	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	35	parataxis	_	_
53	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	56	mark	_	_
54	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	56	nsubj	_	_
55	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	56	aux	_	_
56	list	list	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	52	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
57	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	61	punct	_	_
58	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	61	cc	_	_
59	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	61	nsubj	_	_
60	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	61	aux	_	_
61	abide	abide	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	25	parataxis	_	_
62	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	64	det	_	_
63	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	64	amod	_	_
64	blow	blow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	61	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
65	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	66	punct	_	_
66	unarmed	unarmed	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	64	amod	_	_
67	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	69	mark	_	_
68	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	69	nsubj	_	_
69	sit	sit	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	61	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
70	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	25	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hold** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | any one in this hall | Knight |  |  |  | hardy *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent himself=Theme |
| 2 | **dare** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn urge-58.1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **strike** | infinitive |  | me |  |  |  | for another; one stroke *obj* | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP ADJP»: agent=Agent i=Patient stroke=Result |
| 4 | **give** | future | I | this axe | Knight |  |  | as a gift; sooth *obj* | tree rules |
| 5 | **is** | present | this axe |  |  |  |  | enough, heavy *property* | tree rules |
| 6 | **handle** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn hold-15.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 7 | **list** | may | Knight |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 8 | **abide** | future | I | the first blow |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 9 | **sit** | present | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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:** «Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A Middle-English Arthurian Romance Retold in Modern Prose» by Jessie L. Weston, Project Gutenberg book 66084 (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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