---
title: That which most sorely vexed Sir Gawain was that his sword scarce se… — Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English… · tree and pragmatics
description: That which most sorely vexed Sir Gawain was that his sword scarce seemed worth a groat, the knight's armour was so good that Sir Gawain's weapon was stayed upon it. Who acts: Sir, armour. A sentence of «Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch» by Jessie L. West
---

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# Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch, Opening, part 5, sentence 42

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That which most sorely vexed Sir Gawain was that his sword scarce seemed worth a groat, the knight's armour was so good that Sir Gawain's weapon was stayed upon it.

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**Who acts:** Sir, armour · **What happens:** vex, be, stay · **To what, where:** That, groat, weapon

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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 5. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Sir, armour), 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:pg8447:5:42
# text = That which most sorely vexed Sir Gawain was that his sword scarce seemed worth a groat, the knight's armour was so good that Sir Gawain's weapon was stayed upon it.
1	That	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	4	advmod	_	_
4	sorely	sorely	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	vexed	vex	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	Sir	Sir	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
7	Gawain	Gawain	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	flat	_	_
8	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
9	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
10	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
11	sword	sword	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	scarce	scarce	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
13	seemed	seem	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	ccomp	_	_
14	worth	worth	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	16	det:predet	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	groat	groat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	knight	knight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	's	's	PART	POS	_	19	case	_	_
21	armour	armour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	nsubj	_	_
22	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	cop	_	_
23	so	so	ADV	RB	_	24	advmod	_	_
24	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	parataxis	_	_
25	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	31	mark	_	_
26	Sir	Sir	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	27	nmod:desc	_	_
27	Gawain	Gawain	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	29	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	's	's	PART	POS	_	27	case	_	_
29	weapon	weapon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	nsubj	_	_
30	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	31	aux:pass	_	_
31	stayed	stay	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	24	advcl	_	_
32	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
33	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	31	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
34	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **vex** | participle · passive |  | That |  |  |  | which *nsubj:pass*; sorely *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | past | Sir | worth groat |  |  |  | Sir's sword scarce *nsubj*; seem *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **is** | past | the knight's armour |  |  |  |  | good *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **stay** | past · passive |  | Gawain  Sir's weapon |  |  |  | upon armour | vn lodge-46 «NP V ADV»: subject=Location |

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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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