The Inflexions of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

What is an inflexion? Without going into technicalities, an inflexion (also called a grammatical ending) is the part of the word that carries grammatical information. Some examples. If you start with the word boy and add the plural inflexion -s, you get the plural form boys. If you start with the word talk and add the past tense inflexion -ed, you get the past tense form talked. It's that simple.

The hard part is that Middle English has many more inflexions than Modern English--and more grammatical categories to go with them. Luckily, most of the added grammatical categories are plural forms which we don't have any longer. However, there is also a good deal of variation in the inflexions used by the Gawain-poet. The reasons for this are given in the section on Background.

Memorise the forms that differ from your expectations as a Modern English reader. You won't believe how much time it will save you!

Nouns

The possessive (modern 's) is spelt -es, or -ez. Occasionally, there is no possessive inflexion, as in heuen-quene 'heaven's queen'.

The plural is generally -s, -es, or -ez (very rarely -us). Occasionally, there are plurals of the ox-oxen type; the most common is y3en 'eyes'. There are also a few words where the inflexions is just -e, especially after numbers. Words of the man-men type are the same in Middle English, but note that both fete 'feet' occurs once as fotez.

Pronouns

The possessives my 'my', þy 'thy, your' are myn, þyn before words beginning with vowels.

The following pronouns are extremely difficult for Modern English speakers. LEARN THEM WELL.

• The word for 'she' is regularly ho, though it occurs as scho five times.
• The word for 'they' is þey. The word for 'them' is hem or hom. The word for 'their' is normally her or hor. There are occasionally appearances of þayr.

The Gawain-poet often uses forms like himself, herself, to mean 'him', 'her'.

The pronouns þou 'thou', þe 'thee', and þy(n) 'thy, thine' can be translated 'you', 'you', and 'your' respectively. The plural equivalents 3e, yow, yowre (and various other spellings) may be translated the same way. However, please note the following discussion taken from pages 144-145 of the Tolkien/Gordon edition:

In the second person the pl. 3e, yow, etc., is generally used in addressing one person regarded as socially superior, as by Gawain to Arthur (343 ff.), by the castle porter to Gawain (814), byt the guide also in the first part of the dialogue (2091-125 except 2110), but not the latter part (2140ff.); also as a matter of courtesy between equals, as by Gawain to the lady and to Bertilak (not to the guide), and by Bertilak as host, in contrast to þou, þe of the Green Knight;s rougher manner, both to the King and to Gawain, and their hostile return of the same forms. In the scene at the Green Chapel the Green Knight begins with þou, but changes to 3e with his change of attitude at 2366, though he reverts to þou for a sentence at 2391-6. Gawain follows with 3e at 2385, though not 2379. Though the general lines are clear, there is some inconsistency. Bertilak uses þou at 1674-9, and in 2444-70 he changes from þou to 3e and back again in a friendly speech which might have been expected to call for the plural throughout. There is a similar mixture at 1068-71. In view of these variations too much cannot be made of the lady's occasional þou to Gawain (1272, 1746, 1799), or Gawain's response at 1802. (Chaucer's usage in Troilus and Criseyde in any case shows that, at a comparable lever of society, the plural was normal even between lovers.)

Verbs

The verb system differs most markedly from that of Modern English, so study this section closely.

The basic form of the verb, called the infinitive, originally ended in -en in Middle English. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, some of these forms have survived (seruen 'serve', sauen 'save'), but the ending had already subtantially disappeared. Most infinitives in the poem have a final -e, but often even this is left off.

Present Tense

• With the pronoun I, the verb ends in -e or nothing.
• With a singular noun or the pronouns þou, he, and ho, the verb ends in -(e)s, -(e)z, or -tz.
• The expressions me þink, me þinkkez mean 'it seems to me'. Likewise hym þynk 'means it seems to him'.
• With a plural noun or the pronouns we, 3e, and þay, the verb ends in -(e)n. More rarely it ends in -e or -es, -ez.

Past Tense

• Verbs of the drive-drove type form their past tenses with no ending, or occasionally -e, in the singular. In the plural, they normally have the ending -en, but occasionally -e.
• Verbs of the talk-talked type form their past tenses with -de, -te with a singular noun or pronoun. However, with the pronoun þou the form is -des, -dez, -tes, -tez. In the plural, the ending is often -den, -ten, but more often -ed.

Imperatives (Commands)

• The singular has no ending or ends in -e. The plural ends in -(e)s, -ez, or -e.

Present Participle

• The present participle is the form of the verb in 'I am working'. In the Gawain-poet's dialect, the ending is normally -ande, but there are two examples of -yng.

Past Participle

• The past participle is the form of the verb in 'I have driven' or 'I have worked'. For drive-drove verbs, the ending is -(e)n (examples: driuen 'driven', cummen 'come'). For work-worked verbs, the ending is -(e)d(e) or -t (examples: sesed 'ceased', layde 'laid', lost 'lost').

Modals

• It is not necessary to know all about modal verbs here. The main point worth observing is that the word may 'may, can' is both singular and plural; however, a separate plural form mowe also occurs.

This is by no means an exhaustive analysis of the inflexional system of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, but learning features described above well will help you get through the text faster. When you think you are comfortable with all this, proceed to the next section.

• Background
• Spelling
• Word Order
• Vocabulary
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Last Update: 23 January, 2003