---
title: The huntsmen stood aloof, fearing to draw nigh him; so many of them… — Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A Middle-Englis… · tree and pragmatics
description: The huntsmen stood aloof, fearing to draw nigh him; so many of them had been already wounded that they were loth to be torn with his tusks, so fierce he was and mad with rage. Who acts: huntsmen, many, lord. A sentence of «Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A Middle-English Arthurian Romance Retold in
---

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# Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A Middle-English Arthurian Romance Retold in Modern Prose, Opening, part 6, sentence 27

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The huntsmen stood aloof, fearing to draw nigh him; so many of them had been already wounded that they were loth to be torn with his tusks, so fierce he was and mad with rage.

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**Who acts:** huntsmen, many, lord · **What happens:** stand, fear, draw, be, tear · **To what, where:** lord

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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 6. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (huntsmen, many, lord), 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:pg66084:6:27
# text = The huntsmen stood aloof, fearing to draw nigh him; so many of them had been already wounded that they were loth to be torn with his tusks, so fierce he was and mad with rage.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	huntsmen	huntsman	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	stood	stand	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	aloof	aloof	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
6	fearing	fear	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	advcl	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	draw	draw	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
9	nigh	nigh	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
10	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
12	so	so	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	nsubj	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nmod	_	_
16	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	19	aux	_	_
17	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	19	cop	_	_
18	already	already	ADV	RB	_	19	advmod	_	_
19	wounded	wound	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
20	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	23	mark	_	_
21	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	23	nsubj	_	_
22	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	23	cop	_	_
23	loth	loth	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	xcomp	_	_
24	to	to	PART	TO	_	26	mark	_	_
25	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	26	aux:pass	_	_
26	torn	tear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	23	advcl	_	_
27	with	with	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	29	nmod:poss	_	_
29	tusks	tusk	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	26	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	32	punct	_	_
31	so	so	ADV	RB	_	32	advmod	_	_
32	fierce	fierce	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	parataxis	_	_
33	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	36	nsubj	_	_
34	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	36	cop	_	_
35	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	36	cc	_	_
36	mad	mad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	32	acl:relcl	_	_
37	with	with	ADP	IN	_	38	case	_	_
38	rage	rage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	36	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stand** | past | the huntsmen |  |  |  |  | aloof *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **fear** | gerund | the huntsmen *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 3 | **draw** | to-infinitive | the huntsmen *not said here* | lord |  |  |  | nigh *property* | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme |
| 4 | **is** | past · perfect | many of huntsmen |  |  |  |  | wound *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **is** | past | huntsmen *= huntsman* |  |  |  |  | loth *property* | tree rules |
| 6 | **tear** | to-infinitive · passive | huntsmen *= huntsman* *not said here* |  |  |  |  | with lord's tusks | vn break-45.1 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: with tusk=Instrument |
| 7 | **is** | past | lord |  |  |  |  | with rage; mad *property* | tree rules |

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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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