---
title: Sir Gawain was learned in clerkly lore, he read the letters wherein… — Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English… · tree and pragmatics
description: Sir Gawain was learned in clerkly lore, he read the letters wherein was writ that here was the border of Arthur's land, and let any man who came to the cross, and who bare the name of knight, bethink him well, since he might not ride far without strife and conflict, and the finding of such adventure
---

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# Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch, Opening, part 4, sentence 2

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Sir Gawain was learned in clerkly lore, he read the letters wherein was writ that here was the border of Arthur's land, and let any man who came to the cross, and who bare the name of knight, bethink him well, since he might not ride far without strife and conflict, and the finding of such adventures as might lightly turn to his harm, or even to his death--the land was of such customs.

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**Who acts:** Sir, that, man, finding, land · **What happens:** learn, read, be, let, come, bare · **To what, where:** Sir, clerkly lore, letters, writ, border, man

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This is a sentence of «Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch» by Jessie L. Weston, Opening, part 4. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Sir, that, man, finding), 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:pg8447:4:2
# text = Sir Gawain was learned in clerkly lore, he read the letters wherein was writ that here was the border of Arthur's land, and let any man who came to the cross, and who bare the name of knight, bethink him well, since he might not ride far without strife and conflict, and the finding of such adventures as might lightly turn to his harm, or even to his death--the land was of such customs.
1	Sir	Sir	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	Gawain	Gawain	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	flat	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	learned	learn	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	clerkly	clerkly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	lore	lore	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	read	read	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	letters	letter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	_
13	wherein	wherein	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	15	advmod	_	_
14	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
15	writ	writ	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
16	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	20	nsubj	_	_
17	here	here	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	20	advmod	_	_
18	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	20	cop	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	border	border	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nmod	_	_
21	of	of	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
22	Arthur	Arthur	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	24	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	's	's	PART	POS	_	22	case	_	_
24	land	land	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
26	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	27	cc	_	_
27	let	let	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
28	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	29	det	_	_
29	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	obj	_	_
30	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	31	nsubj	_	_
31	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	29	acl:relcl	_	_
32	to	to	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
33	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	34	det	_	_
34	cross	cross	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	38	punct	_	_
36	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	38	cc	_	_
37	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	38	nsubj	_	_
38	bare	bare	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
39	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	40	det	_	_
40	name	name	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	obj	_	_
41	of	of	ADP	IN	_	42	case	_	_
42	knight	knight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	40	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
43	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	44	punct	_	_
44	bethink	bethink	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	38	conj	_	_
45	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	44	obj	_	_
46	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	44	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
47	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	52	punct	_	_
48	since	since	SCONJ	IN	_	52	mark	_	_
49	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	52	nsubj	_	_
50	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	52	aux	_	_
51	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	52	advmod	_	_
52	ride	ride	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	44	conj	_	_
53	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	52	advmod	_	_
54	without	without	ADP	IN	_	55	case	_	_
55	strife	strife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	52	obl	_	_
56	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	57	cc	_	_
57	conflict	conflict	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	55	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
58	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	68	punct	_	_
59	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	68	cc	_	_
60	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	61	det	_	_
61	finding	finding	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	68	nsubj	_	_
62	of	of	ADP	IN	_	64	case	_	_
63	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	64	amod	_	_
64	adventures	adventure	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	61	nmod	_	_
65	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	68	mark	_	_
66	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	68	aux	_	_
67	lightly	lightly	ADV	RB	_	68	advmod	_	_
68	turn	turn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
69	to	to	ADP	IN	_	71	case	_	_
70	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	71	nmod:poss	_	_
71	harm	harm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	68	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
72	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	77	punct	_	_
73	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	77	cc	_	_
74	even	even	ADV	RB	_	77	advmod	_	_
75	to	to	ADP	IN	_	77	case	_	_
76	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	77	nmod:poss	_	_
77	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
78	--	--	PUNCT	,	_	84	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
79	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	80	det	_	_
80	land	land	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	84	nsubj	_	_
81	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	84	cop	_	_
82	of	of	ADP	IN	_	84	case	_	_
83	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	84	amod	_	_
84	customs	custom	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	77	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
85	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **learn** | past · passive |  | Sir |  | clerkly lore |  | to finding's death and such customs | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Topic |
| 2 | **read** | past | Sir | the letters |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent letter=Topic |
| 3 | **is a** | past |  | writ |  |  |  | wherein *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **is a** | past | that | the border |  | here |  | of Arthur's land | tree rules |
| 5 | **let** | infinitive |  | any man |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent man=Theme |
| 6 | **come** | past | any man |  |  | the cross |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to cross=Initial\_Location |
| 7 | **bare** | present |  | the name of knight |  |  |  | who *nsubj* | vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent name=Patient |
| 8 | **bethink** | infinitive |  | man |  |  |  | well *property* | tree rules |
| 9 | **not** **ride** | might | Sir |  |  |  |  | without strife and conflict; far *property* | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2 «NP.agent V»: agent=Agent |
| 10 | **turn** | might | the finding of such adventures |  |  | finding's harm |  | lightly *property* | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V PP.trajectory»: agent=Theme to harm=Trajectory |
| 11 | **is** | past | the land |  |  |  |  | of such customs | tree rules |
| 12 | **name** |  |  | knight |  |  |  |  | nom name «communication transitive»: of=patient |
| 13 | **find** |  |  | such adventures |  |  |  |  | nom finding «act transitive»: of=patient |
| 14 | **harm** |  | finding |  |  |  |  |  | nom harm «state transitive»: poss=agent |
| 15 | **die** |  | finding |  |  |  |  |  | nom death «event intransitive»: poss=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:** «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.

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