--- title: His blows were so mighty; did a spear fly towards him, to harm him,… — Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English… · tree and pragmatics description: His blows were so mighty; did a spear fly towards him, to harm him, it troubled him no whit, but he smote it in twain as it were a reed; naught might endure before him. Who acts: blows, spear, Sir, naught. A sentence of «Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch» --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8447/7/57/) [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 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8447/7/) / 57 # Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch, Opening, part 7, sentence 57 His blows were so mighty; did a spear fly towards him, to harm him, it troubled him no whit, but he smote it in twain as it were a reed; naught might endure before him. **Who acts:** blows, spear, Sir, naught · **What happens:** be, fly, harm, trouble, smite, endure · **To what, where:** Sir, whit, twain This is a sentence of «Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch» by Jessie L. Weston, Opening, part 7. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (blows, spear, Sir, naught), 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:pg8447:7:57 # text = His blows were so mighty; did a spear fly towards him, to harm him, it troubled him no whit, but he smote it in twain as it were a reed; naught might endure before him. 1 His his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 2 nmod:poss _ _ 2 blows blow NOUN NNS Number=Plur 5 nsubj _ _ 3 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 cop _ _ 4 so so ADV RB _ 5 advmod _ _ 5 mighty mighty ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 6 ; ; PUNCT : _ 10 punct _ _ 7 did do AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 10 aux _ _ 8 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 9 det _ _ 9 spear spear NOUN NN Number=Sing 10 nsubj _ _ 10 fly fly VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 5 parataxis _ _ 11 towards towards ADP IN _ 12 case _ _ 12 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 10 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 13 , , PUNCT , _ 15 punct _ _ 14 to to PART TO _ 15 mark _ _ 15 harm harm VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 10 advcl _ _ 16 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 15 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 17 , , PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ _ 18 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 19 nsubj _ _ 19 troubled trouble VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 conj _ _ 20 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 19 obj _ _ 21 no no DET DT PronType=Neg 22 det _ _ 22 whit whit NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 23 , , PUNCT , _ 26 punct _ _ 24 but but CCONJ CC _ 26 cc _ _ 25 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 26 nsubj _ _ 26 smote smite VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 parataxis _ _ 27 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 26 obj _ _ 28 in in ADP IN _ 29 case _ _ 29 twain twain ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 26 obl _ _ 30 as as ADP IN _ 34 case _ _ 31 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 34 nsubj _ _ 32 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 34 cop _ _ 33 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 34 det _ _ 34 reed reed NOUN NN Number=Sing 26 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 35 ; ; PUNCT , _ 38 punct _ _ 36 naught naught PRON NN PronType=Neg 38 nsubj _ _ 37 might might AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 38 aux _ _ 38 endure endure VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 26 conj _ _ 39 before before ADP IN _ 40 case _ _ 40 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 38 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 41 . . PUNCT . _ 5 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is** | past | Sir's blows | | | | | mighty *property* | tree rules | | 2 | **fly** | past · do-support | a spear | | | | | towards Sir | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme towards he=Destination | | 3 | **harm** | to-infinitive | a spear *not said here* | Sir | | | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus he=Experiencer | | 4 | **trouble** | past | spear | Sir | | | | no whit *obj* | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Stimulus he=Experiencer whit=Result | | 5 | **smite** | past | Sir | whit | | twain | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus it=Experiencer | | 6 | **is** | past | spear | | | | | as a reed | tree rules | | 7 | **endure** | might | naught | | | | before Sir | | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme before he=Location | | 8 | **blow** | | Sir | | | | | | nom blow «act intransitive»: poss=agent | 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 56](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8447/7/56/) - next →: [sentence 58](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8447/7/58/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8447/7/)