---
title: The sharp edge of the weapon fell squarely upon the scythe-like, gra… — The Sampo: A Wonder Tale of the Old North · tree and pragmatics
description: The sharp edge of the weapon fell squarely upon the scythe-like, grasping claws; it sheared them off close by the ankle joints; it shattered them every one, save only the smallest, the crookedest, the indescribable little finger of Dame Louhi. Who acts: sharp edge, edge. A sentence of «The Sampo: A 
---

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# The Sampo: A Wonder Tale of the Old North, The Fate of the Sampo, sentence 54

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The sharp edge of the weapon fell squarely upon the scythe-like, grasping claws; it sheared them off close by the ankle joints; it shattered them every one, save only the smallest, the crookedest, the indescribable little finger of Dame Louhi.

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**Who acts:** sharp edge, edge · **What happens:** fall, grasp, shear, shatter, save · **To what, where:** claws, smallest

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This is a sentence of «The Sampo: A Wonder Tale of the Old North» by James Baldwin, The Fate of the Sampo. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (sharp edge, edge), 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:pg66819:38:54
# text = The sharp edge of the weapon fell squarely upon the scythe-like, grasping claws; it sheared them off close by the ankle joints; it shattered them every one, save only the smallest, the crookedest, the indescribable little finger of Dame Louhi.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	sharp	sharp	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	edge	edge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	weapon	weapon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	fell	fall	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	squarely	squarely	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
9	upon	upon	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
11	scythe	scythe	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	like	like	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
15	grasping	grasp	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	7	advcl	_	_
16	claws	claw	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	19	punct	_	_
18	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	_
19	sheared	shear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
20	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	obj	_	_
21	off	off	ADV	RB	_	22	advmod	_	_
22	close	close	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	19	advmod	_	_
23	by	by	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
25	ankle	ankle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	compound	_	_
26	joints	joint	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	19	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	29	punct	_	_
28	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	29	nsubj	_	_
29	shattered	shatter	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
30	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	29	obj	_	_
31	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	32	det	_	_
32	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	34	punct	_	_
34	save	save	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	29	advcl	_	_
35	only	only	ADV	RB	_	37	advmod	_	_
36	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	37	det	_	_
37	smallest	small	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	34	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	40	punct	_	_
39	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	40	det	_	_
40	crookedest	crooked	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	37	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
41	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	45	punct	_	_
42	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	45	det	_	_
43	indescribable	indescribable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	45	amod	_	_
44	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	45	amod	_	_
45	finger	finger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	40	obl	_	_
46	of	of	ADP	IN	_	47	case	_	_
47	Dame	Dame	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	45	nmod	_	_
48	Louhi	Louhi	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	47	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
49	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fall** | past | the sharp edge of the weapon |  |  |  |  | squarely *property* | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **grasp** | gerund | the sharp edge of the weapon *not said here* | claws |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer claw=Stimulus |
| 3 | **shear** | past | edge | claws *= claw* |  |  |  | by the ankle joints; close *property* | vn wipe\_instr-10.4.2-1 «NP V NP.initial\_location»: agent=Agent they=Initial\_Location |
| 4 | **shatter** | past | edge | claws *= claw* |  |  |  | every one *obj* | vn break-45.1 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Agent they=Patient one=Result |
| 5 | **save** | infinitive | edge *not said here* | the smallest |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent small=Theme |

<!-- .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 Sampo: A Wonder Tale of the Old North» by James Baldwin, Project Gutenberg book 66819 (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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