---
title: The end was nigh: Cuchullain’s shield splintered upon his arm Served… — The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of I… · tree and pragmatics
description: The end was nigh: Cuchullain’s shield splintered upon his arm Served him no more; and through his fenceless side Ferdīa drave the sword. Who acts: end, shield, arm, Ferdīa. A sentence of «The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of Ireland's heroic age» by Aubrey De Vere, Opening, part 13, with i
---

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# The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of Ireland's heroic age, Opening, part 13, sentence 184

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The end was nigh: Cuchullain’s shield splintered upon his arm Served him no more; and through his fenceless side Ferdīa drave the sword.

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**Who acts:** end, shield, arm, Ferdīa · **What happens:** be, splinter, serve, drave · **To what, where:** end, sword, fenceless side

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This is a sentence of «The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of Ireland's heroic age» by Aubrey De Vere, Opening, part 13. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (end, shield, arm, Ferdīa), 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:pg78491:13:186
# text = The end was nigh: Cuchullain’s shield splintered upon his arm Served him no more; and through his fenceless side Ferdīa drave the sword.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	end	end	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	nigh	nigh	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	_
6	Cuchullain	Cuchullain	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	’s	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	shield	shield	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	splintered	splinter	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
10	upon	upon	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
11	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	arm	arm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
13	Served	serve	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	advcl	_	_
14	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obj	_	_
15	no	no	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
16	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	24	punct	_	_
18	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	24	cc	_	_
19	through	through	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
20	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	22	nmod:poss	_	_
21	fenceless	fenceless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	22	amod	_	_
22	side	side	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obl	_	_
23	Ferdīa	Ferdīa	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	24	nsubj	_	_
24	drave	drave	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	conj	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	sword	sword	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the end |  |  |  |  | nigh *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **splinter** | past | Cuchullain's shield |  |  |  |  |  | vn break-45.1 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **serve** | past | end's arm | end |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **drave** | infinitive | Ferdīa | the sword |  | end's fenceless side |  |  | 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:** «The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of Ireland's heroic age» by Aubrey De Vere, Project Gutenberg book 78491 (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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