---
title: Then spake the knight Morien and said by his troth he had even follo… — Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English… · tree and pragmatics
description: Then spake the knight Morien and said by his troth he had even followed the hoof prints of horses that were but newly made till he came to where one must needs cross over the water; "and then did I lose all sign of their further track; but howsoever I might pray, or call upon those who lay there in 
---

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# Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch, Opening, part 8, sentence 2

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Then spake the knight Morien and said by his troth he had even followed the hoof prints of horses that were but newly made till he came to where one must needs cross over the water; "and then did I lose all sign of their further track; but howsoever I might pray, or call upon those who lay there in their ships, when they saw me they were terrified as hares, and would tell me nought, the fools, of that I asked them!

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**Who acts:** you, troth, Morien, I, Knight · **What happens:** speak, say, follow, make, come, need · **To what, where:** knight, Morien, cross, water, sign, ships · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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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 8. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (you, troth, Morien, I), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

<!-- .note-en -->
**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg8447:8:2
# text = Then spake the knight Morien and said by his troth he had even followed the hoof prints of horses that were but newly made till he came to where one must needs cross over the water; "and then did I lose all sign of their further track; but howsoever I might pray, or call upon those who lay there in their ships, when they saw me they were terrified as hares, and would tell me nought, the fools, of that I asked them!
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	2	advmod	_	_
2	spake	speak	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	knight	knight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	Morien	Morien	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	appos	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
8	by	by	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	troth	troth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
11	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj:pass	_	_
12	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
13	even	even	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
14	followed	follow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	ccomp	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
16	hoof	hoof	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	compound	_	_
17	prints	print	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obj	_	_
18	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	horses	horse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	17	nmod	_	_
20	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	21	nsubj	_	_
21	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	19	acl:relcl	_	_
22	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	24	cc	_	_
23	newly	newly	ADV	RB	_	24	advmod	_	_
24	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	14	conj	_	_
25	till	till	SCONJ	IN	_	27	mark	_	_
26	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	27	nsubj	_	_
27	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	advcl	_	_
28	to	to	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
29	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	27	advmod	_	_
30	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	29	nsubj	_	_
31	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	32	aux	_	_
32	needs	need	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	30	acl:relcl	_	_
33	cross	cross	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	obj	_	_
34	over	over	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
35	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	36	det	_	_
36	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	33	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
38	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	43	cc	_	_
40	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	43	advmod	_	_
41	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	43	aux	_	_
42	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	43	nsubj	_	_
43	lose	lose	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	conj	_	_
44	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	45	det	_	_
45	sign	sign	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	43	obj	_	_
46	of	of	ADP	IN	_	49	case	_	_
47	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	49	nmod:poss	_	_
48	further	further	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	49	amod	_	_
49	track	track	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	45	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
50	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	55	punct	_	_
51	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	55	cc	_	_
52	howsoever	howsoever	ADV	RB	_	55	advmod	_	_
53	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	55	nsubj	_	_
54	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	55	aux	_	_
55	pray	pray	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
56	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	58	punct	_	_
57	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	58	cc	_	_
58	call	call	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	55	conj	_	_
59	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	60	case	_	_
60	those	that	PRON	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	58	obl	_	_
61	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	62	nsubj	_	_
62	lay	lie	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	60	acl:relcl	_	_
63	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	62	advmod	_	_
64	in	in	ADP	IN	_	66	case	_	_
65	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	66	nmod:poss	_	_
66	ships	ship	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	62	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
67	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	70	punct	_	_
68	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	70	advmod	_	_
69	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	70	nsubj	_	_
70	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	58	advcl	_	_
71	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	70	obj	_	_
72	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	74	nsubj	_	_
73	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	74	cop	_	_
74	terrified	terrified	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	70	ccomp	_	_
75	as	as	ADP	IN	_	76	case	_	_
76	hares	hare	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	74	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
77	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	80	punct	_	_
78	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	80	cc	_	_
79	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	80	aux	_	_
80	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	55	conj	_	_
81	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	80	iobj	_	_
82	nought	nought	PRON	NN	PronType=Neg	80	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
83	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	85	punct	_	_
84	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	85	det	_	_
85	fools	fool	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	82	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
86	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	90	punct	_	_
87	of	of	ADP	IN	_	88	case	_	_
88	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	90	obl	_	_
89	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	90	nsubj	_	_
90	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	80	advcl	_	_
91	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	90	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
92	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **speak** *speech: other* | imperative | you *not said here* | the knight |  |  | then |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **follow** | past · perfect · passive | Morien's troth | Morien |  |  |  | the hoof prints of horses *obj* | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP.attribute»: agent=Agent subject=Theme print=Attribute |
| 4 | **make** | participle | Morien's troth *not said here* |  |  |  |  | newly *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |
| 5 | **come** | past | Morien |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 6 | **need** | must |  | cross |  | the water |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot cross=Theme |
| 7 | **lose** *in a quote* | past · do-support | I | all sign of Knight's further track |  |  | then |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sign=Eventuality |
| 8 | **pray** *in a quote* | might | I |  |  |  |  | howsoever *property* | vn long-32.2 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |
| 9 | **call** *in a quote* | infinitive | I *not said here* |  |  |  |  | upon those | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 10 | **lie** *in a quote* | past |  |  |  | Knight's ships; there |  | who *nsubj* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent in ship=Location |
| 11 | **see** *in a quote* | past | Knight | me |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer i=Stimulus |
| 12 | **is** *in a quote* | past | Knight |  |  |  |  | as hares; terrified *property* | tree rules |
| 13 | **tell** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | would | I *not said here* | nought  the fools | me |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent i=Recipient nought=Topic |
| 14 | **ask** *speech: ask* *in a quote* | past | I |  | Knight |  |  | of that | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent they=Recipient |
| 15 | **print** |  |  | horses |  |  |  |  | nom print «communication transitive»: of=patient |
| 16 | **sign** *in a quote* |  |  | Knight's further track |  |  |  |  | nom sign «communication transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .note -->
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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