--- title: Thereto had he cunningly handled the harness, girths and stirrup-lea… — Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English… · tree and pragmatics description: Thereto had he cunningly handled the harness, girths and stirrup-leather, whereof Sir Gawain knew naught, and the lord of the castle had sent afore the strongest and most valiant of his folk, to waylay Sir Gawain, and to take his life, A man's heart might well fail him for doubt, and great fear, did --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8447/6/83/) [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 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8447/6/) / 83 # Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch, Opening, part 6, sentence 83 Thereto had he cunningly handled the harness, girths and stirrup-leather, whereof Sir Gawain knew naught, and the lord of the castle had sent afore the strongest and most valiant of his folk, to waylay Sir Gawain, and to take his life, A man's heart might well fail him for doubt, and great fear, did he come in such a pass, and know no wile whereby he might escape. **Who acts:** seneschal, Sir, heart, great fear · **What happens:** have, handle, know, send, waylay, take · **To what, where:** harness, naught, lord, Gawain, life, pass 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, Sir, heart, great fear), 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:pg8447:6:83 # text = Thereto had he cunningly handled the harness, girths and stirrup-leather, whereof Sir Gawain knew naught, and the lord of the castle had sent afore the strongest and most valiant of his folk, to waylay Sir Gawain, and to take his life, A man's heart might well fail him for doubt, and great fear, did he come in such a pass, and know no wile whereby he might escape. 1 Thereto thereto ADV RB _ 2 advmod _ _ 2 had have VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 3 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 5 nsubj _ _ 4 cunningly cunningly ADV RB _ 5 advmod _ _ 5 handled handle VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 ccomp _ _ 6 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 7 det _ _ 7 harness harness NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 8 , , PUNCT , _ 9 punct _ _ 9 girths girth NOUN NNS Number=Plur 7 appos _ _ 10 and and CCONJ CC _ 13 cc _ _ 11 stirrup stirrup NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 12 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 11 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 13 leather leather NOUN NN Number=Sing 9 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 14 , , PUNCT , _ 18 punct _ _ 15 whereof whereof ADV WRB PronType=Int 18 advmod _ _ 16 Sir Sir PROPN NNP Number=Sing 18 nsubj _ _ 17 Gawain Gawain PROPN NNP Number=Sing 16 flat _ _ 18 knew know VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 7 conj _ _ 19 naught naught PRON NN PronType=Neg 18 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 20 , , PUNCT , _ 28 punct _ _ 21 and and CCONJ CC _ 28 cc _ _ 22 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 23 det _ _ 23 lord lord NOUN NN Number=Sing 28 nsubj:pass _ _ 24 of of ADP IN _ 26 case _ _ 25 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 26 det _ _ 26 castle castle NOUN NN Number=Sing 23 nmod _ _ 27 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 28 aux _ _ 28 sent send VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 2 conj _ _ 29 afore afore SCONJ IN _ 34 mark _ _ 30 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 34 det _ _ 31 strongest strong ADJ JJS Degree=Sup 34 amod _ _ 32 and and CCONJ CC _ 34 cc _ _ 33 most most ADV RBS Degree=Sup 34 advmod _ _ 34 valiant valiant NOUN NN Number=Sing 28 advcl _ _ 35 of of ADP IN _ 37 case _ _ 36 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 37 nmod:poss _ _ 37 folk folk NOUN NN Number=Sing 34 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 38 , , PUNCT , _ 40 punct _ _ 39 to to PART TO _ 40 mark _ _ 40 waylay waylay VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 2 conj _ _ 41 Sir Sir PROPN NNP Number=Sing 42 nmod:desc _ _ 42 Gawain Gawain PROPN NNP Number=Sing 40 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 43 , , PUNCT , _ 46 punct _ _ 44 and and CCONJ CC _ 46 cc _ _ 45 to to PART TO _ 46 mark _ _ 46 take take VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 2 parataxis _ _ 47 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 48 nmod:poss _ _ 48 life life NOUN NN Number=Sing 46 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 49 , , PUNCT , _ 56 punct _ _ 50 A a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 51 det _ _ 51 man man NOUN NN Number=Sing 53 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 52 's 's PART POS _ 51 case _ _ 53 heart heart NOUN NN Number=Sing 56 nsubj _ _ 54 might might AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 56 aux _ _ 55 well well ADV RB Degree=Pos 56 advmod _ _ 56 fail fail VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 46 conj _ _ 57 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 56 obj _ _ 58 for for ADP IN _ 59 case _ _ 59 doubt doubt NOUN NN Number=Sing 56 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 60 , , PUNCT , _ 67 punct _ _ 61 and and CCONJ CC _ 67 cc _ _ 62 great great ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 63 amod _ _ 63 fear fear NOUN NN Number=Sing 67 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 64 , , PUNCT , _ 63 punct _ _ 65 did do AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 67 aux _ _ 66 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 67 nsubj _ _ 67 come come VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 46 conj _ _ 68 in in ADP IN _ 71 case _ _ 69 such such DET PDT PronType=Ind 71 det:predet _ _ 70 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 71 det _ _ 71 pass pass NOUN NN Number=Sing 67 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 72 , , PUNCT , _ 74 punct _ _ 73 and and CCONJ CC _ 74 cc _ _ 74 know know VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 2 parataxis _ _ 75 no no DET DT PronType=Neg 76 det _ _ 76 wile while NOUN NN Number=Sing 74 obj _ _ 77 whereby whereby ADV WRB PronType=Int 80 advmod _ _ 78 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 80 nsubj _ _ 79 might might AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 80 aux _ _ 80 escape escape VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 74 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 81 . . PUNCT . _ 2 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **have** | past | | | | | | thereto *property* | tree rules | | 2 | **handle** | past | seneschal | the harness | | | | cunningly *property* | vn hold-15.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent harness=Theme | | 3 | **know** | past | Sir | naught | | | | whereof *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer naught=Stimulus | | 4 | **send** | past · perfect · passive | | the lord of the castle | | | | the strongest valiant of seneschal's folk *advcl* | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme | | 5 | **waylay** | to-infinitive | | Gawain Sir | | | | | tree rules | | 6 | **take** | to-infinitive | | seneschal's life | | | | | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent life=Theme | | 7 | **fail** | might | a man's heart | Gawain | | | | for doubt; well *property* | vn succeed-74-3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Eventuality | | 8 | **come** | past · do-support | great fear | | | such pass | | seneschal *nsubj* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in pass=Location | | 9 | **know** | present | | | | | while | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | | 10 | **escape** | might | seneschal | | | | | whereby *property* | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=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 82](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8447/6/82/) - next →: [sentence 84](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8447/6/84/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8447/6/)