---
title: He stole from Sir Gawain his good sword, that which he placed in its… — Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English… · tree and pragmatics
description: He stole from Sir Gawain his good sword, that which he placed in its sheath was not worth twopence; he cut the straps of the harness well nigh in twain in the midst, and made a great score in the stirrup leathers so cunningly that no man might see or know aught thereof beneath the covering of the ha
---

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# Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch, Opening, part 6, sentence 61

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He stole from Sir Gawain his good sword, that which he placed in its sheath was not worth twopence; he cut the straps of the harness well nigh in twain in the midst, and made a great score in the stirrup leathers so cunningly that no man might see or know aught thereof beneath the covering of the harness.

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**Who acts:** seneschal, sheath, man · **What happens:** steal, place, not be, cut, make, be · **To what, where:** good sword, worth twopence, straps, twain, great score, stirrup

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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 6. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (seneschal, sheath, man), 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:pg8447:6:61
# text = He stole from Sir Gawain his good sword, that which he placed in its sheath was not worth twopence; he cut the straps of the harness well nigh in twain in the midst, and made a great score in the stirrup leathers so cunningly that no man might see or know aught thereof beneath the covering of the harness.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	stole	steal	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	Sir	Sir	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
5	Gawain	Gawain	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	flat	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
7	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	sword	sword	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
10	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
11	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	13	nsubj	_	_
12	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	placed	place	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
14	in	in	SCONJ	IN	_	19	mark	_	_
15	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	16	nmod:poss	_	_
16	sheath	sheath	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	nsubj	_	_
17	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	19	cop	_	_
18	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	19	advmod	_	_
19	worth	worth	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	amod	_	_
20	twopence	twopence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	23	punct	_	_
22	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	23	nsubj	_	_
23	cut	cut	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	47	advcl	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	straps	strap	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	23	obj	_	_
26	of	of	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
27	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
28	harness	harness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	nmod	_	_
29	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	30	advmod	_	_
30	nigh	nigh	ADV	RB	_	32	advmod	_	_
31	in	in	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
32	twain	twain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obl	_	_
33	in	in	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
34	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
35	midst	midst	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	38	punct	_	_
37	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	38	cc	_	_
38	made	make	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	23	conj	_	_
39	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	41	det	_	_
40	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	41	amod	_	_
41	score	score	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	obj	_	_
42	in	in	ADP	IN	_	44	case	_	_
43	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	44	det	_	_
44	stirrup	stirrup	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	obl	_	_
45	leathers	leather	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	47	cop	_	_
46	so	so	ADV	RB	_	47	advmod	_	_
47	cunningly	cunningly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	parataxis	_	_
48	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	52	mark	_	_
49	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	50	det	_	_
50	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	52	nsubj	_	_
51	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	52	aux	_	_
52	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	47	advcl	_	_
53	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	54	cc	_	_
54	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	52	conj	_	_
55	aught	aught	PRON	NN	PronType=Ind	54	obj	_	_
56	thereof	thereof	ADV	RB	_	54	advmod	_	_
57	beneath	beneath	ADP	IN	_	59	case	_	_
58	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	59	det	_	_
59	covering	covering	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	54	obl	_	_
60	of	of	ADP	IN	_	62	case	_	_
61	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	62	det	_	_
62	harness	harness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	59	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
63	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **steal** | past | seneschal | seneschal's good sword |  |  |  | from Sir | vn steal-10.5-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent sword=Theme from sir=Source |
| 2 | **place** | past |  | worth twopence |  |  |  | which *nsubj*; seneschal *nsubj* | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V PP.destination NP»: agent=Agent twopence=Theme |
| 3 | **not** **is** | past | sword's sheath |  |  |  |  | worth *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **cut** | past | seneschal | the straps of the harness |  | twain in the midst |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent strap=Product |
| 5 | **make** | past | seneschal *not said here* | a great score |  | the stirrup |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset score=Product |
| 6 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | cunningly *property* | tree rules |
| 7 | **see** | might | no man |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 8 | **know** | infinitive | no man *not said here* | aught |  |  |  | beneath the covering of the harness; thereof *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer aught=Stimulus |

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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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