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THE USE OF OLD ENGLISH 'SWA' AS A PSEUDO
PRONOUN
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Use of Old English 'Swa' as a Pseudo-Pronoun 7
degree.
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8 Ericson
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Use of Old English 'Swa' as a Pseudo-Pronoun 9
Hild. 34:
want her do ar arme wuntane bouga
cheisuringu gitan so imo se der chuning gap.
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10 Ericson
But here, too, wie might be used: 'even as thou hast prayed of
me.'
Middle High German has at times so, also, (alse als) and
sam (alsam) to make up for its lack of a regular relative pro
noun.
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Use of Old English 'Swa* as a Pseudo-Pronoun 11
1. SB. 102:
Kock may mean cases like Richard III (11:4): "Such news as grieves me to
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12 Ericson
2. Dan. 62:
gestrudan gestreona under stanhlitfum,
swilc eall swa J?a eorlas agan sceoldon
?Thorpe)
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Use of Old English 'Swa' as a Pseudo-Pronoun 13
possessed.?Thorpe)
This case has as strong a claim as any of the list. Earl, Garnett,
Gering, Grion, Hall, Heyne, Kemble, Kirtlan, Leonard, Sedge
field, Simrock, and Thorkelin all read 'which.' Tliat transla
tion, it is to be admitted, makes smooth reading. But Thorpe,
Ettmueller, and Moncrieff all consider it a modal. The last
named takes the verb absolutely: 'as his father had possessed
them.' Sedgefield is right (Beowulf: Note, P. 179) in holding
that the line is to be comparec? with Beow. 93: 'swa waeter
bebugeS', but instead of swa equating which (as Sedgefield has
it), it should be rendered (See Kock: Anglia 42: 102-3) 'as
far as.' The line should be read, accordingly, 'every public right,
to the extent to which [asfar as] his father had possessed them.'
9. El. 645:
J?aetge swa monigf eald on gemynd witon,
aira tacna gehwylc, swa Troiana
}mrh gef eoht f remedon
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14 Ericson
Here it is evident that fordon equates quia; and swe, ita. The
Junius and Canterbury Psalters likewise render ita as swe. It
seems best, therefore, under pressure of these analogies, to place
a period after foldbuend, and render the passage as follows:
1. LAlf. 1:16,3:
Forgylde tSaet angylde and ffaet wite
swa to t5am angylde belimpan wille
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Use of Old English 'Swa' as a Pseudo-Pronoun 15
Here, too, swa is 'according as* with an absolute verb: 'and the
like of that, according as leeches know it/
3. Guth. (prol.) 4, 5:
Ne wite he (J?onne) us, swe, (we) neode
and haese gehyrsumodon.7
Here one may use Bos worth the translator against Bos worth
the lexicographer, for in his own The Works of King Alfred,
Bos worth translates the passage:
All the globe of this mid-earth, as it is
surrounded by the ocean.?Bosworth.
5. Th. 578, 9:
This is Kock's designationof Chr. 578,13 (see pp. 8-9). It is the
most strongly pronominal example of all. A possible relation of
it to the modal has been suggested (upper citation).
7As emended by Paul Gosner: Das angels?chsische Prosa-Leben des heilige
Gut Mac: Ang. Forsch. Heft. 27.
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16 Ericson
2. Beow. 93:
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Use of Old English 'Swa9 as a Pseudo-Pronoun 17
implied construction: 'at the same age as (the age at which), etc.* The Middle
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18 Ericson
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Use of Old English 'Swa' as a Pseudo-Pronoun 19
2. Deut. 34, 8:
Israhela beam... dydon swa swa Drihten
bebead Moyse
Moysi)
3. Num. 16,18:
Hig dydon swa (Hoc fecerunt)
The most one can say safely is, that certain cases of swa are
used with more or less pronominal force; outside of these, and
they are not numerous, the swa pronoun in Old English is not
to be found.
Abbreviations
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20 Ericson
Guthlac ? Guth
Heliand =Hel
Hildebrandslied ?Hild
Judges (^lfric) ? Jg
Laws of Alfred (as cited in Bosworth) =LAlf
Laws of the Anglo-Saxons (Liebermann text) ?LAS
Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft (Cockayne) =LWS
Orosius (EETS edition) Or
The Pursuits of Men = PM
The Paris Psalter = PPs
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