--- title: The king hath sworn an oath that if need be he will besiege the cast… — Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English… · tree and pragmatics description: The king hath sworn an oath that if need be he will besiege the castle seven years, and all they who withstand him, and whom he shall find within at his coming thither, shall lose their lives; this hath he made known to them. Who acts: King, knights, this. A sentence of «Morien: A Metrical Romance R --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8447/11/54/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered in…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8447/) / [Opening, part 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8447/11/) / 54 # Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch, Opening, part 11, sentence 54 The king hath sworn an oath that if need be he will besiege the castle seven years, and all they who withstand him, and whom he shall find within at his coming thither, shall lose their lives; this hath he made known to them. **Who acts:** King, knights, this · **What happens:** swear, need, be, withstand, find, come · **To what, where:** king, lives, knights · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch» by Jessie L. Weston, Opening, part 11. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (King, knights, this), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg8447:11:54 # text = The king hath sworn an oath that if need be he will besiege the castle seven years, and all they who withstand him, and whom he shall find within at his coming thither, shall lose their lives; this hath he made known to them. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 king king NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 nsubj _ _ 3 hath have AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 4 aux:pass _ _ 4 sworn swear VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 0 root _ _ 5 an a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 6 det _ _ 6 oath oath NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 obj _ _ 7 that that SCONJ IN _ 13 mark _ _ 8 if if SCONJ IN _ 9 mark _ _ 9 need need VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 13 advcl _ _ 10 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 13 cop _ _ 11 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 13 nsubj _ _ 12 will will AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 13 aux _ _ 13 besiege besiege VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 4 advcl _ _ 14 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 15 det _ _ 15 castle castle NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 obj _ _ 16 seven seven NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 17 nummod _ _ 17 years year NOUN NNS Number=Plur 13 obl:unmarked _ SpaceAfter=No 18 , , PUNCT , _ 23 punct _ _ 19 and and CCONJ CC _ 23 cc _ _ 20 all all DET DT PronType=Tot 21 reparandum _ _ 21 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 23 nsubj _ _ 22 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 23 nsubj _ _ 23 withstand withstand VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 4 parataxis _ _ 24 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 23 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 25 , , PUNCT , _ 30 punct _ _ 26 and and CCONJ CC _ 30 cc _ _ 27 whom whom PRON WP PronType=Rel 30 obj _ _ 28 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 30 nsubj _ _ 29 shall shall AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 30 aux _ _ 30 find find VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 23 conj _ _ 31 within within ADP IN _ 34 mark _ _ 32 at at SCONJ IN _ 34 mark _ _ 33 his his PRON PRP$ Gender=Masc|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 34 nsubj _ _ 34 coming come VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 30 ccomp _ _ 35 thither thither ADV RB _ 34 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 36 , , PUNCT , _ 38 punct _ _ 37 shall shall AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 38 aux _ _ 38 lose lose VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 30 conj _ _ 39 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 40 nmod:poss _ _ 40 lives life NOUN NNS Number=Plur 38 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 41 ; ; PUNCT : _ 43 punct _ _ 42 this this PRON DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 43 nsubj _ _ 43 hath have VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 4 parataxis _ _ 44 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 45 nsubj _ _ 45 made make VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 43 ccomp _ _ 46 known know VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 45 xcomp _ _ 47 to to ADP IN _ 48 case _ _ 48 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 46 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 49 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **swear** | present · passive | | the king | | | | a oath *obj* | vn conjecture-29.5 «NP V NP to be NP»: subject=Theme oath=Eventuality | | 2 | **need** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | King *not said here* | | | | | | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot | | 3 | **is** | future · infinitive | King | | | | year | the castle *obj*; besiege *property* | tree rules | | 4 | **withstand** | present | knights *= knight* | King | | | | who *nsubj* | tree rules | | 5 | **find** | shall | King | | | | | whom *obj* | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Agent whom=Attribute clause=Theme | | 6 | **come** | gerund | King | | | | | thither *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 7 | **lose** | shall | King *not said here* | knights's lives | | | | | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent life=Eventuality | | 8 | **have** | present | this | | | | | | tree rules | | 9 | **make** | past | King | | | | | | tree rules | | 10 | **know** | participle | King *not said here* | | knights *= knight* | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | 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. **Text:** «Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch» by Jessie L. Weston, Project Gutenberg book 8447 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order. - ← previous: [sentence 53](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8447/11/53/) - next →: [sentence 55](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8447/11/55/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8447/11/)