--- title: Against him may no weapon serve, there was never spear so sharp nor… — Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English… · tree and pragmatics description: Against him may no weapon serve, there was never spear so sharp nor sword so well tempered, as I know of a truth, that may harm that devil, but it will break or bend as hath full oft been proven in time past. Who acts: weapon serve, I, truth, spear. A sentence of «Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8447/4/29/) [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 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8447/4/) / 29 # Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch, Opening, part 4, sentence 29 Against him may no weapon serve, there was never spear so sharp nor sword so well tempered, as I know of a truth, that may harm that devil, but it will break or bend as hath full oft been proven in time past. **Who acts:** weapon serve, I, truth, spear · **What happens:** not be, sword, temper, know, harm, break · **To what, where:** spear, devil, oft, time past 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 (weapon serve, I, truth, spear), 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:pg8447:4:29 # text = Against him may no weapon serve, there was never spear so sharp nor sword so well tempered, as I know of a truth, that may harm that devil, but it will break or bend as hath full oft been proven in time past. 1 Against against ADP IN _ 2 case _ _ 2 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 11 obl _ _ 3 may may AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 11 aux _ _ 4 no no DET DT PronType=Neg 6 det _ _ 5 weapon weapon NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 compound _ _ 6 serve serve NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 7 , , PUNCT , _ 9 punct _ _ 8 there there PRON EX PronType=Dem 9 expl _ _ 9 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 11 cop _ _ 10 never never ADV RB PronType=Neg 11 advmod _ _ 11 spear spear NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 nsubj _ _ 12 so so ADV RB _ 13 advmod _ _ 13 sharp sharp ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 0 root _ _ 14 nor nor CCONJ CC Polarity=Neg 15 cc _ _ 15 sword sword VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 13 conj _ _ 16 so so ADV RB _ 18 advmod _ _ 17 well well ADV RB Degree=Pos 18 advmod _ _ 18 tempered temper VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 15 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 19 , , PUNCT , _ 22 punct _ _ 20 as as SCONJ IN _ 22 mark _ _ 21 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 22 nsubj _ _ 22 know know VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 18 conj _ _ 23 of of ADP IN _ 25 case _ _ 24 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 25 det _ _ 25 truth truth NOUN NN Number=Sing 22 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 26 , , PUNCT , _ 29 punct _ _ 27 that that PRON WDT PronType=Rel 29 nsubj _ _ 28 may may AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 29 aux _ _ 29 harm harm VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 25 acl:relcl _ _ 30 that that DET DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 31 det _ _ 31 devil devil NOUN NN Number=Sing 29 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 32 , , PUNCT , _ 36 punct _ _ 33 but but CCONJ CC _ 36 cc _ _ 34 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 36 nsubj _ _ 35 will will AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 36 aux _ _ 36 break break VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 13 parataxis _ _ 37 or or CCONJ CC _ 38 cc _ _ 38 bend bend VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 36 conj _ _ 39 as as SCONJ IN _ 40 mark _ _ 40 hath have VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 38 ccomp _ _ 41 full full ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 40 xcomp _ _ 42 oft oft ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 44 nsubj:pass _ _ 43 been be AUX VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 44 aux:pass _ _ 44 proven prove VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 41 conj _ _ 45 in in ADP IN _ 47 case _ _ 46 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 47 compound _ _ 47 past past NOUN NN Number=Sing 44 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 48 . . PUNCT . _ 13 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **not** **is a** | may | no weapon serve | spear | | | | against man | tree rules | | 2 | **sword** | present | | | | | | | tree rules | | 3 | **temper** | participle | | | | | | well *property* | tree rules | | 4 | **know** | present | I | | | | | of a truth | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer of truth=Stimulus | | 5 | **harm** | may | a truth | that devil | | | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus devil=Experiencer | | 6 | **break** | future | spear | | | | | | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient | | 7 | **bend** | infinitive | spear *not said here* | | | | | | tree rules | | 8 | **have** | present | spear *not said here* | | | | | full *property* | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | | 9 | **prove** | participle · passive | | oft | | time past | | | vn deduce-97.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme | 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 28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8447/4/28/) - next →: [sentence 30](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8447/4/30/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8447/4/)