# Slipping in Some Medieval Welsh Texts : A Preliminary Survey

Erich Poppe

Philipps-Universität Marburg

## RÉSUMÉ

Nous avons isolé et examiné des occurrences de *slipping* dans un corpus de textes médiévaux gallois de différents genres – narratif, religieux et savant – aussi bien dans le texte original qu’en traduction. Le *slipping* se révèle être un phénomène rare, que l’on trouve dans chaque genre examiné sans toutefois qu’il apparaisse dans chaque instance. Il s’agit d’une catégorie prototypique contenant un certain nombre de caractéristiques clés, qui, cependant, ne doivent pas être toutes présentes pour qu’il y ait passage du discours indirect au discours direct. La plupart des cas de *slipping* dans ce corpus peuvent être analysés en termes fonctionnels comme étant des cas de « *slipping* par effet de style » (*artful slipping*), c’est-à-dire qu’ils servent à mettre en évidence l’importance d’un énoncé ; quant aux autres cas, qualifiés de « *slipping* par inadvertance » (*inadvertent slipping*), ils sont généralement involontaires et proviennent d’une confusion du rédacteur ou du scribe. Toutefois, il existe un certain nombre de *slippings* qui ne sont ni tout à fait volontaires ni tout à fait involontaires, apparaissant dans des contextes qui semblent susciter des citations indirectes, par exemple des cas présentant un verbe introductif (*verbum dicendi*), et à partir desquels un rédacteur peut glisser vers une citation directe.

The corpus of medieval Welsh texts consists of both prose and poetry; the prose may be assigned, by modern standards, to the genres of secular and religious narrative, as well as of historiographical, legal, and learned prose. The earliest extant Welsh manuscripts date to the mid-thirteenth century.

The existence in medieval Welsh narrative of the phenomenon here termed « slipping » has already been noted before. Morgan Watkin (YBH, pp. clxxii-clxxiii) drew attention to one instance in *Ystorya Bown de Hamtwn*, the Welsh version of the Anglo-Norman *Geste de Boeve de Haumtone*, of what he called mixing of direct and indirect quotation – there are others (see below). However, his particular example ((19) below) presents textual and other problems, and its discussion will therefore be postponed until the general properties of slipping in medieval Welsh texts have been more clearly defined. Brynley F. Roberts (1983, p. 172) mentioned the narrator’s « ability to switch effortlessly from *oratio recta* to *obliqua* and back again » in the tale conventionally called *Owein*, because of its complex relation to Chrétien’s *Yvain*.
(or otherwise *Chwedyl Iarlles y Ffynnawn* « The Story of the Lady of the Fountain »),
and gave the following two examples :

(1) Ac y dywawt Owein gwbyl o'e gerdet idaw – « ac yn ymgeissaw a'r
marchawc yssyd yn gwarchadw y ffynnawnn y mynnwn vy mot ». (Ow.
250-253)

And Owein told him the whole of his quest – « and contending with
the knight who is guarding the fountain I would wish to be ».

(2) A datkanu eu kyfranc a orugant idaw mal y datkanassei y uorwyn y nos gynt – « ac Owein a pallwys idi, ac am hynny y llosgwn ninneu hi ». (Ow. 760-763)

And they told him their story as the girl had told it the night before –
« and Owein failed her, and therefore we will burn her ».

He placed the origin of this narrative technique in the oral tradition of Welsh storytelling and also commented briefly on its stylistic and narrative function :

Nor is this [i.e., the narrator's ability to switch from *oratio obliqua* to *recta*] a mere formal or acquired skill, for his ear unerringly tells him at what point the change needs to be made, precisely on the significant words which bear most emotional stress. (Roberts 1983, p. 172)

In his view then, these instances would be examples of « artful slipping », to adopt a
term from Richman (1986, p. 283), that is « a technique for controlling and adjusting
emphasis and meaning ». Roberts' observations were followed up by Sioned Davies
(1995) in her study of the stylistic properties of the body of medieval Welsh native
narrative, the so-called Mabinogion-corpus, with reference to Deborah Tannen's
definition, « an indirect quotation fades into a direct one » (Davies 1995, p. 240).
Davies (ibid.) also noted one further formal characteristic of this device, namely the
absence of a tag or speech marker to identify the speaker, although there are some
significant exceptions in my corpus (see below), and she also gives useful statistical
information about its frequency in the texts of the Mabinogion-corpus<fnref n="1" />. Slipping in
this body of texts is very infrequent, given the high incidence of direct quotations
here – unfortunately Davies does not provide any statistics about the incidence of
indirect quotation<fnref n="2" />. The incidence of direct quotation can at least be indirectly, and
somewhat approximately, derived from her statistics of the use of different tags in
individual texts, because more than one tag may be used to mark one instance of

<footnote n="1">¹ It must be noted that her statistical findings do not necessarily agree with mine, see below.</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² A survey of the distribution of indirect discourse in Middle Welsh prose and of its formal properties is needed; for a useful description of the syntax of the noun clause in Modern Welsh see Thorne (1993, pp. 373-82).</footnote>
direct quotation, but the following numbers of instances will at least give a general impression of the numerical relation between slipping and direct quotation<fnref n="3" />:

<table><thead><tr><th></th><th>slipping</th><th>direct quotation</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Pedair Cainc</td><td>2 (in Branwen and Manawydan)</td><td>547</td></tr><tr><td>Culhwch (Red Book text)</td><td>0</td><td>182</td></tr><tr><td>Breuddwyt Maxen</td><td>0</td><td>27</td></tr><tr><td>Breuddwyt Rhonabwy</td><td>3</td><td>65</td></tr><tr><td>Owein</td><td>4</td><td>97</td></tr><tr><td>Gereint</td><td>0</td><td>373</td></tr><tr><td>Peredur</td><td>4</td><td>321</td></tr></tbody></table>

In my survey I will attempt to describe what constitutes «slipping» in somewhat greater detail in selected Middle Welsh texts and to review formal and functional properties of this device. My corpus consists of examples from the following texts<fnref n="4" />:

* *Pedair Keinc y Mabinogi (PKM)*, *Breuddwyt Rhonabwy (BR)*, *Owein (Ow.)*, *Gereint (Ger.)*, and *Peredur (Per.)*, from the Mabinogion-corpus;

* *Cyfranc Lludd (CLl)*, which partakes in the narrative convention of historiography, but became in one version integrated into the Mabinogion-corpus;

* *Ystorya Bown de Hamtwn (YBH)*, based on the Anglo-Norman *Geste de Boeve de Haumtone, chwedlau Siarlymaen (YdCM)*, four texts about Charlemagne derived from the Latin *Turpini Historia* and the Old French *Chanson de Roland, Pèlerinage de Charlemagne* and *Otinel*, and *Kedymdeithyas Amlyn ac Amic (KAA)*, based on the Latin *Vita Amici et Amelii*, from the genre of translated narrative prose;

* *Brut y Brenhinedd (BB)* and *Historia Gruffudd vab Kenan*, from the genre of translated historiographical prose;

* *Buched Dewi*, the Welsh Life of St David, and *Efengyl Nicodemus (EN)*, the Welsh version of the *Gospel of Nicodemus*, from the genre of translated religious prose;

* extracts from legal prose.

In all these genres examples of slipping are attested, but not necessarily in every text: *Historia Gruffudd vab Kenan* and *Buched Dewi* do not yield any examples, and neither do, according to Davies (1995, pp. 219-220, 223), *Culhwch ac Olwen* and *Breuddwyd Maxen* from the Mabinogion-corpus.

According to Richman (1986, p. 279) «[slipping] occurs when indirect discourse abruptly shifts to direct discourse within a single speech». This defines the

<footnote n="3">³ The following information is derived from Davies (1995, pp. 200-25). For *Cyfranc Lludd* see below, example (33).</footnote>

<footnote n="4">⁴ I wish to thank Regine Reck M.A. for supplying me with a number of relevant examples and Dagmar Bronner M.A. for help with Latin quotations.</footnote>
typical or preferred direction of the shift as well as the relevant linguistic unit in which it happens, the quotation of a single speaker's speech. In order to identify unambiguously such a shift from indirect to direct discourse, various formal properties are indicative, which would seem to include a switch of personal reference and a break in the construction resulting in relative syntactic independence of the direct quotation – the latter may be indicated by a switch of mood and/or tense categories, the lack of a subordinating conjunction, or main clause word-order. However, Roberts' two examples quoted above already show one significant deviation from this tentative first definition of core properties of slipping: They contain no real indirect quotation, but the verbs of speaking (*dywawt* « [Owein] told », *datkanu* [...] *a orugant* « [they] told ») are followed by a direct object (*gwbyl o'e gerdet* « the whole of his quest ») or its semantic equivalent (*eu kyfranc* « their story ») which denotes the abstract content of the discourse, rather than reproducing it<fnref n="5" />. I therefore prefer to take the following example, also from *Owein*, as my starting point for a description and classification of slipping in the Mabinogion-corpus :

(3) *A pheri dyfynnu y holl gyuoeth y un lle drannoeth a oruc y iarlles, a menegi udunt uot y hiarllaeth yn wedu, ac na ellit y chynnal onyt o uarch ac arueu a milwryaeth – <ac ys ef y rodaf inneu ar awch dewis chwi, ae un ohonawch chwi a'm kymero i, ae vyg kannyadu ynneu y gymrut gwr a'e kanhalyo o le arall>* ». (Ow. 442-446)

And the countess had her whole realm mustered in one place the next morning and told them that her earldom was without protection and that it could not be defended except by horse and arms and strength – « and thus I give it in your choice, either one of you takes me or you allow me to take a man from another place who may defend it ».

The bipartite indirect quotation is dependent on a verb of saying (*menegi*) and introduced by markers of syntactic subordination, the lenited verbal noun of « to be », *uot*, and the subordinating negation *na* respectively. Pronominal reference to the speaker is realized as third person singular in the possessive pronoun *y* « her ». The switch to direct quotation is marked by changed pronominal references, first to the speaker with the finite verb *rodaf* « I give » in the first person singular, then to the addressees with a possessive pronoun *awch* « your » in the second person plural, and concomitantly by a syntactic break, the beginning of a new clause, which is effected by the absence of a subordinator and overt main clause word order in the direct quotation with initial adverbial (*y*)*sef* « thus, now »<fnref n="6" />. Furthermore, there is no tag to identify the speaker, as Davies noted, nor an initial address or interjection to mark the beginning of direct quotation, another frequent tagging device. Semantic cohesion

<footnote n="5">⁵ Compare similarly *Ger.* 917-9, 428-9. However, under a somewhat wider concept of the reproduction of speech than applied here these examples may become relevant.</footnote>

<footnote n="6">⁶ Compare Evans (1964, p. 52).</footnote>
between the indirect and the direct quotation is provided by the main clause connective *a(c)* « and ». Modern editors conventionally seem to consider this connective to be part of the direct quotation and position quotation marks accordingly, but it would be equally possible to take it as the end of the indirect quotation. It should also be noted that direct quotation in medieval Welsh narrative is otherwise only rarely introduced by a connective *a(c)* « and », with the exception of strongly reactive, non-initial utterances in conversations between two, or more, speakers – for example :

(4) « *Ef a geif hynny yn llawen* », heb y gwr o'r got. « *A minheu a'e kymmeraf yn llawen* », heb y Pwyll. (PKM 17.24-26)

« He will get this gladly », said the man from the bag. « And I will accept it gladly », said Pwyll.

For the further analysis of the material I will therefore consider the presence of the following features as an indication of slipping : a semantically general verb of saying is followed by both an indirect quotation and a direct quotation, and the switch from the one to the other is marked by a formal break at clause level, typically effected by changing the syntactic status from subordinate to main clause, with concomitant changes of the verbal forms, as well as changing the pronominal reference ; this syntactic break is bridged by semantic cohesion between the indirect and the direct quotations which is indicated by the presence of a connective and the lack of a specific tagging device such as the identification of the speaker or an interjection or address. The narrative function of slipping may be tentatively described as highlighting a contextually central new information or, following Roberts (1983, p. 172), « the significant words which bear most emotional stress ». An instructive instance in which the semantic cohesion necessary for slipping between the indirect quotation and the following direct quotation is absent, is (5). Here the indirect quotation reproduces information supplied by an unspecified collective, whereas the direct quotation reproduces the specific utterance of one member of this collective and is not linked by a connective to the indirect quotation, but marked as a separate entity by an interjection, an address, and an identificatory tag instead :

(5) *E chwedyl a doeth at Uatholwch. Sefual y doeth, dywedut anfuruaw y ueirych ac eu llygru, hyt nat oed un mwynyant a ellit o honunt.* « Ie, Arglwyd », heb un, « dy waradwydaw yr a wnaethpwyt, a hynny a uynhir y wneuthur a thi ». (PKM 32.7-11)

The story came to Matholwch. Thus it came, he was told of the maiming of his horses and of their disfigurement until there was no profit that could be obtained from them. « Well, lord », one said, « an
insult has been inflicted on you and this was intended to be done to you».

Six further examples from my Mabinogion-corpus conform to the general pattern of slipping as defined here<fnref n="7" />. No obvious norm can be observed with regard to the relative length of the indirect and direct quotations respectively; in *BR* 8.20-27 the direct quotation is much shorter than the indirect one, in *Ow*. 788-792 the opposite is the case.

I do not consider as examples of slipping instances in which a phrase naming a specific speech act such as *erchi trugaret* « to ask quarter » or *cyfarch well* « to greet » is followed by a direct quotation which reproduces either this speech act or considerations arising from it<fnref n="8" />, and I also exclude instances in which the contents of the direct quotation is characterised by a preceding qualifying expression, such as *geireu dic anhygar* « wrathful ugly words » (*Per*. 57.8-9), which is the nominal object of a verb of saying.

In example (6) a connective between the indirect and the direct quotation is lacking, and there is no switch in pronominal reference which would mark the direct quotation uncontroversially as such; the context and the importance of the information imparted, however, make its interpretation as an instance of slipping into direct quotation highly likely, rather than as the narrator's description.

(6) *Ynteu a dywawt nas atwaenat – « gwr oed a chwnsallt coch ar uchaf y arueu, a tharyan velen ar y yscwyd ».* (*Per*. 65.5-8)

He said that he did not know him – « he was a man with a red surcoat over his armour and a yellow shield on his shoulder ».

Example (7) appears to fulfill the general conditions for slipping. Here the indirect quotation is introduced by the subordinating conjunction *ual* « as » and is furthermore preceded by a short direct quotation announcing the speaker's intention to supply

<footnote n="7">⁷ These are *PKM* 41.5-14, *BR* 8.20-27, 14.13-18, *Ow*. 788-792, *Per*. 51.25-28, 63.17-21.</footnote>

<footnote n="8">⁸ Compare *A bwrw y gledyf o'e law a oruc, ac erchi trugaret y Ereint* — « *a rowyr, * » *heb ef, « y gadawd uyg camryuic a'm balchder ym erchi nawd, ac ony chafyspeit y ymwneuthur a Dyw am uym pechawt ac ymdidan ac offeireit, ny hanwyf well o nawd. * »* (*Ger*. 326-331) He threw his sword from him and asked quarter of Gereint — « and too late », he said, « have my false presumptions and my pride permitted me to ask quarter, and if I do not get a respite to make my peace with God for my sins and to talk with a priest, I will not profit from quarter. » Similarly *PKM* 24.27-28, 81.14-15, *Per*. 35.8-11, 69.24-28, *Ger*. 472-474. For a related example with a verb of thanking followed by a direct object denoting the speaker's reasons for gratitude and a subsequent switch to direct quotation compare, from a text outside the Mabinogion-corpus, *CR* LXI.1-3.</footnote>
some requested information<fnref n="9" />. Slipping from indirect to direct quotation would seem to highlight the central part of this information.

(7) « Llyma oll », heb ynteu, a menegi ual yr lygryssit ac y diuwynyssit y grofdeu idaw, ac ual y doethant y llygot idaw y'r grofd diwethaf yn y wyd – « ac un ohonunt oed amdrom, ac a deleis, ac yssyd yn y uanec, ac a grogaf inheu auory. [...] ». (PKM 60.24-61.1)

« Here is all », he said, and told how his crofts had been laid waste and destroyed for him and how the mice had come to him to the last croft in his presence – « and one of them was very heavy, which I caught and which is in the glove and which I will hang tomorrow. [...]<fnref n="10" /> »

Example (8) is only relevant if the direct quotation can be assigned to the rider, not to Idawc; unfortunately, the context does not provide any certain clues. Here a semantically more specific verb of saying is used, namely *gofyn* « to ask [something of somebody] », and such verbs of asking appear to have a preference for a following indirect, rather than a direct, question<fnref n="11" />. The direct quotation is not linked to the preceding context by a connective, nor is it marked by a specific tagging device.

(8) *Ac yna nachaf y marchawc yn eu gordiwes, ac yn gofyn y Idawc a gaffei ran o'r dynyon bychein hynny gantaw* – « y ran a weda ymi y rodi mi a'e rodaf; bot yn gedymdeith udunt ual y bum ynneu ». *A hynny a oruc y marchawc a mynet ymeith*. (BR 5.27-6.2)

And then, lo, the rider overtook them and asked Idawc if he could obtain a share of the little fellows from him – « the share it is proper for me to give, I will give, to be a comrade to them as I myself have been ». And this the rider did and went away.

There are two similar examples from *Gereint*<fnref n="12" />, both with the verb *erchi* « to ask [somebody to do something] », both with a connective, but also with a tag within the direct quotation to identify the speaker :

<footnote n="9">⁹ There is a slightly different pattern in which a direct quotation announcing some information is followed by the auctorial statement that it is given, without quoting it, compare PKM 56.25-26 : « Llyma, » heb ynteu, « uyg kyfranc » — a'e datkanu oll. « Here, » he said, « my story » — and he told it all. Similarly PKM 7.25-27, 8.11-13, 23.7-8, Ger. 250-253, 416-419, and Per. 11.10-13.</footnote>

<footnote n="10">¹⁰ For the use of *ac a* as a relative particle compare Evans (1964, p. 63, note 3).</footnote>

<footnote n="11">¹¹ Compare the relative infrequency of the use of such verbs to introduce direct quotation in the statistics provided by Davies (1995, pp. 199-227).</footnote>

<footnote n="12">¹² Davies (1995, p. 211) gives no examples of slipping for *Gereint*.</footnote>
(9) Ac erchi a oruc ynteu y Enyt yscynnu ar y march a cherdet o'r blaen a chymryd ragor mawr – « ac yr a welych ac yr a glywych », heb ef, « arnaf i, nac ymhoyl di dracheuyn. Ac ony dywedaf i vrthyt ti, na dywet ti un geir heuyt ». (Ger. 744-747)

And he asked Enyt to mount her horse and to go ahead and to keep a great distance – « and in spite of what you see and what you hear », he said, « concerning me, do not turn back. And unless I talk to you, do not say one word either ».

The direct quotation reproduces the central part of the speaker's order, and the presence of the tag is the only untypical feature here. Example (10) is more unusual in that slipping occurs within a direct quotation in which its speaker first reproduces, in a very brief indirect quotation dependent again on *erchi*, what another speaker will say, and then slips into direct quotation of this speaker's expected words; these give the central information, this speaker's reasoning. The connective used is causal *canys* « since », which also occurs occasionally (see below, example (16)). The indirect quotation consists of an infinite verbal-noun substitute for a verbal clause, which is one format for positive indirect quotation in Middle Welsh, with just one adjunct denoting the patient of the verbal action, *kymryt y llamysten* « to take the sparrowhawk » :

(10) « [...] canys yna y dyt Marchawc y Llamysten gostec, nyt amgen, erchi y'r wreic uwyhaf a gar kymryt y llamysten – « canys goreu y gveda i ti, a thi a'y keueist », med ef, « yr llyned ac yr dwy. Ac or byd a'y gwarauunho it hediw o gedernit, mi a'y hamdiffynnaf it ». Ac am hynny », heb y gwr gwynllwyt, « y may reit y titheu uot yno pan uo dyt [...] ». (Ger. 267-272)

« [...] since the Knight of the Sparrowhawk will then make an announcement, namely, he will ask the lady he loves most to take the sparrowhawk – « since it suits you best, and you had it », he will say, « since a year ago and since two. And if there is somebody who grudges it you today by force, I will defend it for you ». And therefore », said the grey-haired man, « it is necessary for you to be there when it will be day [...] ».

Although slipping here occurs within a direct quotation, this instance agrees with all the formal and functional characteristics established above, with the exception of the presence of a tag, but within the Mabinogion-corpus only *Gereint* shows this unusual preference for a tag in the context of slipping.

Another semantically specific verb of saying, namely *gorchymyn* « to order », is used in (11) ; the indirect quotation is again fairly short, as it is in (10) and in (15) below. The direct quotation is marked by an identificatory tag. Semantic cohesion is
established by the coordinating conjunction *a(c)* « and ». The direct quotation reproduces the speaker's central statement.

(11) *Ac yskynnu ar y uarch e hun a oruc a gorchymyn y'r uorwyn gyrru y meirch – « ac nyt gwell im », heb ef, « dywedut vrthyt ti no thewi, cany bydy vrth uyg kyghor ». (Ger. 823-826)*

And he mounted his own horse and ordered the maiden to drive the horses – « and it is no better for me », he said, « to talk to you than to be silent, because you will not submit to my decision ».

As already mentioned above, semantically more specific verbs of saying, such as *erchi* and *gorchymyn* may have a tendency to prefer an immediately following dependent clause, that is, indirect quotation, rather than introduce a direct reproduction of the speech act itself; it is therefore possible that the use of such verbs creates a context conducive to slipping, in that they formally invite an indirect quotation, but also allow subsequent slipping into direct quotation for narrative effect. This may have methodological repercussion for the descriptive categories used, particularly for the polarity of the notions of « artful » and « inadvertent ».

My final example from *Gereint* (12) shows some rather curious and complex vacillation between indirect and direct quotation, and also the insertion of a narrator's explanation<fnref n="13" />:

(12) *Sef a oruc Gwalchmei, gyrru hwnnw y uenegi y Arthur uot Gereint yno yn uriwwedic, ac na deuei y ymwelet ac ef, ac yd oed druan edrych ar yr ansawd yssyd arnaw (a hynny heb vybot y Ereint ac yn hustinc y rythaw a'r maccwyf). « Ac arch y Arthur », heb ef, « nessau y bebyll ar y ford, cany daw ef y ymwelet o'e uod ac ef, ac nat hawd y diryaw ynteu yn yr agwed y mae ». (Ger. 1179-1185)*

This Gwalchmei did, he sent him to tell Arthur that Gereint was there wounded and that he would not come to see him and that it were sad to see the condition in which he is (and this without Gereint's knowing and by whispering between him and the squire). « And ask Arthur », he said, « to move his tent to the road, because he will not come to see him of his own will, and that it is not easy to force him in the condition he is ».

As Thomson (Ger., pp. 128-9) notes, *uot* (equating to « that he was ») and *na deuei* « that he would not come » signal indirect quotation dependent on *y uenegi* « (in order) to tell », as does the subordinating negation *nat* « that not » (all set in bold), whereas the imperative *arch* « ask » and the present tense forms *yssyd, daw, y*

<footnote n="13">¹³ Because of the complexities of the passage and the problem to define the position of slipping, I reproduce Thomson's punctuation.</footnote>
mae (all underlined) signal direct quotation. Thomson suggests that *yd oed* (bold and underlined) is also part of the indirect quotation, probably because of its tense, imperfect indicative, but one might have expected *uot* instead to introduce indirect quotation here. Were it not for the subordinating negation *nat*<fnref n="14" />, slipping could begin somewhere before *yssyd*, perhaps between *yssyd* and *yd oed*, even though there is no clause boundary here at which slipping typically occurs, or alternatively *yd oed* could mark the beginning of direct quotation, with reversion to main clause word order and some modal sense of *oed*. The grammatical mixture in this passage remains odd<fnref n="15" />, and it is interesting to note that the medieval manuscripts of *Gereint* show no variation in this matter.

Example (13) combines a number of deviant features, but at least the position of slipping is clear : the introductory verb of saying *menegi* « to say » is followed first by a direct object denoting the abstract content of the discourse (as in examples (1) and (2) above) and then by an indirect quotation which is introduced by the subordinating conjunction *megys* « how » (compare example (7) above) ; the direct quotation is specifically marked by an address, *Arglwydes* « lady », and an identificatory tag, *heb y Teirnon* « Teirnon said » – but semantic cohesion between it and the indirect quotation is established by the connective *ac* « and ». The direct quotation reproduces contextually important information and is quite long in comparison with the preceding indirect one.

(13) Sef ymdidan a uu gan Teirnon, menegi y holl gyfranc am y gassec ac am y mab, a megys y buassei y mab ar y hardelw wy, Teirnon a'e wreic, ac y megyssynt – « ac wely dy yna dy uab, Arglwydes », heb y Teirnon. « A phwy bynnac a dywot geu arnat, cam a wnaeth. [...] » (PKM 25.26-26.4)

This was Teirnon's discourse, he told the full story about the mare and the boy, and how the boy had been in their charge, Teirnon's and his wife's, and how they had brought him up – « and see here your son, lady », Teirnon said, « whoever told lies about you, did wrong [...] ».

On the basis of this admittedly small number of examples from the Mabinogion-corpus of medieval Welsh prose it was possible to deduce a preliminary set of formal features which characterise the majority of instances of slipping in it – a sequence of indirect and direct quotation, in this order, marked by a formal break, but linked by semantic, and also formal, cohesion between them, which makes the use of special tagging devices for the direct quotation unnecessary. There is also a small number of deviant examples which diverge from this pattern with regard to one or more

<footnote n="14">14 One would expect *nyt*. Watkin (YBH, pp. clxxiii, 147) notes one example from *Ystorya Bown* where one manuscript has *nat* and the other *nyt* and where he would expect main clause negation *nyt*, but here scribal confusion is the likely explanation.</footnote>

<footnote n="15">15 Compare example (18.2) below.</footnote>
features, but which can still be considered to be more marginal instances of slipping. From a functional perspective all my examples here seem to carry a specific narrative load in that the direct quotation reproduces verbatim the most important part of a speaker's utterance. It must also be stressed that in view of the importance and frequency of direct quotation and dialogue in this corpus of texts, slipping remains a relatively unusual stylistic feature.

The occurrence, or non-occurrence, in translations of particular narrative devices could be highly instructive since, in theory at least, a comparison between a translation and its source should reveal its redactor's innovations as well as retentions and thus allow insights into the availability of such devices in his literary tradition. However, only too rarely can his immediate source be uncontroversially defined, although an extant text may be arguably quite close to it. Furthermore, in the specific case of slipping it would be imperative to identify any specific instance as functionally meaningful and (predominantly) « artful », rather than as « inadvertent ». With all these reservations in mind, I will focus in my discussion of *Ystorya Bown de Hamtwn* first on a comparison between some instances of slipping in the Welsh text with the corresponding passages in the extant texts of the Anglo-Norman *Geste de Boeve de Haumtone* – which, however, were most likely not the immediate source(s) for the Welsh text, although they are probably quite close to it.

My first example (14) shows the typical pattern, with a general verb of saying as introduction, a formal break between indirect and direct quotation with concomitant semantic cohesion, and a narrative emphasis on the information contained in the direct quotation which serves as a kind of punch-line. It corresponds to direct quotation in the extant text of the *Geste*<fnref n="16" />, and could therefore be taken, with all due methodological caution, as an instance of the Welsh redactor’s artful slipping.

(14) *Ar hynt y duhunawd ef y gedymdeithon ac erchi udun wisgaw eu harfeu ar ffrwst a menegi udun ry daruot y'r palmer y rodyssynt idaw y swper y nos gynt mynet a Iosian yn llathrut – « a bei gwypei Iuor hynny, ys drwc a wyr eu dihenyd vydem ni ».* (YBH 1760-1768)

At once he woke up his companions and ordered them to arm themselves in haste and told them that it happened that the pilgrim to whom they had given his supper the night before, had gone away secretly with Iosian – « and if Iuor knew this, we would be men with a bad death ».

Example (15) is slightly more problematic : the bishop’s speech is reproduced as direct quotation in the extant text of the *Geste*<fnref n="17" />, and if the Welsh redactor had a direct quotation in his source as well, he then started to convert it into indirect

<footnote n="16">16 Compare *BdH* 1601-1604.</footnote>

<footnote n="17">17 Compare *BdH* 1935-1950.</footnote>
quotation and then slipped into direct quotation in the course of this admittedly very long passage. This occurs after a connector *a* « and » by a change of word order, but since the bishop's narration is still about a third party, no switch of pronominal reference is required until the end of the passage when the bishop directly addresses Bown. It could perhaps be argued that the length of the passage invited the redactor to slip into direct quotation, at an appropriate point of narrative importance, and if this is indeed the case, then this would be an instructive instance of artful slipping motivated by a specific context, that is neither completely « artful » nor completely « inadvertent ».

(15) Ac yna ymdidan a wnaeth yr esgob a'e nei a dywedut y vot ef yn
varchawc dewr pan enillei ef y ryw was hwnnw, a menegi idaw ry
dyuot y varwgywedyl ef a'e dienydu yn waradwydus o'r sarassinieit at
Sebaot, y datmayth a'e athro, y gan vab Sabot a ry fuassei ymplith
sarassinieit yn y geissaw ynteu – « ac o achos hynny y dechreuis
Sebaot ryuelu ar yr amherawdyr, ac eissoes ny allawd ymerbynneit ar
amherawdyr, ac wrth hynny y gorfu arnaw adaw y wlat a'e gyfoeth a
mynet y castell cadarn a wnathoed y mywn ynys yn y mor, ac ny cheit
y castell hwnnw yn dragywydawl hyt tra barhaei fwyt yndaw, can ny
ellit ymlad ac ef o vn fford. Ac o'r castell hwnnw y dygei Sebaot a'e
allu kyrcheu y gyfoeth yr amherawdyr gweith hyt dyd, gweitheu hyt
nos, ac y welly yd oedynt yn diffeithaw kyfoeth yr amherawdyr yn
fenedic-wychyr; ac o gwney vyggyghor, ti a ey attaw o'e gymorth, a
minheu a rodaf yt yn nerth pump cant marchawc yn gyweir». (YBH
2172-2202)

And then the bishop talked with his nephew and told him that he was a
brave knight since he won this servant, and told him that the news of
his death and his scandalous execution at the hands of the Saracens
had come to Sabaot, his foster-father and his teacher, from Sabaot's
son who had been in the lands of the Saracens to look for him – « and
for this reason Sabaot began to make war on the emperor, but he could
not stand up to the emperor, and for this reason he was forced to leave
his country and his realm and to go to a strong castle that he had built
on an island in the sea, and this castle could never be conquered as
long as there was food in it, since one could not fight with him on the
same road. And from this castle Sabaot and his troops would make
inroads into the emperor's realm, sometimes at day-time, sometimes
at night, and thus they kept harassing the emperor's realm boldly and
fearlessly; and if you follow my counsel, you go to him to help him,
and I will give you as reinforcements five-hundred well-supplied
knights».
There are some further examples in *Ystorya Bown* which seem to point in the same direction: that « artful » and « inadvertent » may not be discrete contrasts but rather opposite poles on a scale, as some instances of slipping in the Welsh texts follow indirect quotations dependent on the speech act verbs *gouyn* « to ask [something of somebody] » or *erchi* « to ask [somebody to do something] », whereas the extant Anglo-Norman version has direct quotations. A typical example is (16)<fnref n="18" />; here, as in the similar instances *YBH* 288-295 and 4044-4050, the connective is the causal conjunction *canys* « since », whereas in *YBH* 1378-1382 a connective is lacking<fnref n="19" />.

(16) A'r meibon a redassant at eu tatdeu y dynnu y harueu ac a archassant y tat gwiscoed ac arueu, ac erchi idaw eu hurdaw yn varchogyon – « canys mawr ym a chryfyon ». (YBH 3731-3736)

And the boys ran to their fathers to take off their arms and asked their father for garments and arms and asked him to dub them knights – « since we are big and strong ».

As mentioned above in the context of (8), verbs such as *gouyn* and *erchi* seem to prefer a following indirect quotation, although there are counter-examples both in the Mabinogion-corpus and in *Ystorya Bown*<fnref n="20" />. A redactor may therefore be tempted by his use of such verbs to begin an indirect quotation, but to slip artfully into direct discourse soon afterwards at the moment of highest narrative emphasis.

There are two potentially significant examples of differences between the two medieval manuscripts of *Ystorya Bown*, the White Book of Rhydderch (W) and the Red Book of Hergest (R) respectively, with regard to the employment of indirect or direct quotation and to the position of slipping. It should be noted that in general the texts of *Ystorya Bown* in these two manuscripts tend to agree quite closely. In (17.1) the Red Book text has a typical and straightforward example of slipping from an indirect quotation, with a verb in a third person singular (imperfect) (*parei*) referring to the speaker, to a direct quotation, with the verb in the first person singular (present) referring to the same speaker (*paraf*). The beginning of the direct quotation is furthermore marked by the connective *a* « and », and the importance of its information is signalled by the interjection *llyma*. In the White Book (17.2), however, indirect quotation continues slightly further with the verb *digawn* « he is able » in the third person singular present indicative, semantically corresponding to first person singular present *paraf* « I will bring about » in the Red Book, and the use of the present tense is grammatically and contextually odd. The extant Anglo-Norman *Geste* has direct quotation, see *BdH* 1541-1545.

<footnote n="18">¹⁸ The extant Anglo-Norman text has direct quotation here, compare *BdH* 3267-3269.</footnote>

<footnote n="19">¹⁹ For these three examples, compare *BdH* 291-301, 3562-3565, 1301-1304.</footnote>

<footnote n="20">²⁰ Compare, for example, *PKM* 17.6-8, 42.21-23 and *YBH* 3424-3426.</footnote>
(17.1) Sef a wnaeth Bonffei yna, dyuot attei a'e didanu a dywedut wrthi y parei ef idi gael dianc y nos honno – « a llyma y ffuryf y paraf : Mi a atwen lyssewyn ac a'e kaffaff yn y weirglawd obry ». (R)

Bonfei did this then, he came to her and comforted her and said to her that he would make it possible for her to escape that night – « and this the form in which I will bring it about : I know a herb and will get it in the meadow down below ».

(17.2) Sef a wnaeth Bonfei yna, dyuot attei a'e ddidanu a dywedut wrthi y pari<fnref n="21" /> ef idi diagk y nos honno, a llyma y ffuruf y digawn – « mi a atwen lysewyn ac a'e caffaf yn y weirglod obry ». (W = YBH 1688-1693)

Bonfei did this then, he came to her and comforted her and said to her that he would make it possible for her to escape that night, and this the form in which he can do it – « I know a herb and will get it in the meadow down below ».

In the second example only the Red Book (18.1) switches to direct quotation in a context which makes this instance different from slipping proper. This direct quotation reproduces Bown's words<fnref n="22" /> which a messenger is told to relate, and is dependent on the verbal noun *dywet* « to say », which is itself part of a long indirect order syntactically dependent on the verbal noun *erchi* « to ask [somebody to do something] ». A coordinating connective therefore cannot be used ; note the tag *heb ef* « he said ». The White Book employs indirect quotation throughout and, accordingly, third person singular forms referring to Bown as the speaker (18.2)<fnref n="23" />, but switches to grammatically and contextually odd present tense forms in the part which is direct quotation in the Red Book – again the complete passage is rendered as direct quotation in the extant Anglo-Norman *Geste* (18.3).

(18.1) *A dydgweith y bore y gelwis Bown ar un o'r marchogyon, a Charuus oed y enw, ac un o'r gwyr glewaf a dewraf oed ef, ac erchi idaw mynet hyt yn Hamtwn at yr amherawdyr, a dywedut idaw y mae Bown oed enw y marchawc a ry uuassei yn ymdidan ac ef y nos arall ac a'e twyllwys ac yn ynghwanec dywet idaw : « y paraf y grogi neu y dihenydyaw [o] dihenyd ny bo gwell idaw no hwnnw, kanys oetran gwr yssyd arnafi », heb ef, « a mi a allaf gwisgaw arueu a*

<footnote n="21">²¹ Probably a mistake for 3rd sg. imperfect *parei*, which is the form in R.</footnote>

<footnote n="22">²² The references to Bown as the speaker with forms in the first person singular are set in bold in (18.1.).</footnote>

<footnote n="23">²³ The references to Bown as the speaker with forms in the third person singular are set in bold in (18.2), the present tense forms are underlined.</footnote>
marchogaeth, ac amylder o marchogyon glew-dewr anhegar-gryf
yssyd gyt a mi ». (R)

And one morning Bown called on one of the knights, and Carfus was
his name, and he was one of the bravest and most valiant men, and
asked him to go to Hamtwn to the emperor and to tell him that Bown
was the name of the knight who had been talking with him the other
night and who deceived him, and to tell him furthermore : « I will
cause him to be hanged or executed with an execution that may not be
better for him than that, because I have the age of a man », he said,
« and I am able to carry arms and to ride, and a large number of brave,
valiant, ugly, and strong knights are together with me ».

(18.2) A dydgweith y bore y gelwis Bown ar vn o'r marchogyon, a Charfus oed y enw, ac vn o'r gwyr glewaf a dewraf oed ef, ac erchi idaw mynet hyt yn Hamtwn at yr amherawdyr, a dywedut idaw y mae Bown oed enw y marchawc a ry fuassei yn ymddidan ac ef y nos arall ac ea<fnref n="24" /> twyllwys, ac yn yghwanec dywet idaw y **peiranna** y grogi neu y dienydyaw [o]<fnref n="25" /> dihenyd ny bo gwell idaw no hwnnw, canys oetran gwr **yssyd arnaw** ac y **digawn** wisgaw arueu a marchogaeth, ac amylder o varchogyon gleu-dewr anhygar-gryf **yssyd** gyt ac ef. (W = YBH 2535-2552)

And one morning Bown called on one of the knights, and Carfus was
his name, and he was one of the bravest and most valiant men, and
asked him to go to Hamtwn to the emperor and to tell him that Bown
was the name of the knight who had been talking with him the other
night and who deceived him, and to tell him furthermore that he will
cause him to be hanged or executed with an execution that may not be
better for him than that, because he is the age of a man and he is able
to carry arms and to ride, and a large number of brave, valiant, ugly,
and strong knights are together with him.

(18.3) Un jur par matin se leva Boves sus, / un mesager apele, e il est venus :
/ ceo ne fu pas garson, mes chevaler membru ; / ceo dist la geste, il
out a non Karfu. « Frere », dist Boves, « si deu t'enveit salu ! va a
Hampton, ja n'ert arestu. / A l'amperur di, kant tu l'averas veu, / ke le
chevaler ke l'altr'er la fu / ad a non Boves si li ad desu ; / dy li, ke jeo
li mande ke il serra pendu, / kar jeo su aforcé de haubers e d'escuz / e
de bons chevalers, ke sont fors e menbrus, / e si ai un geant, ke ad

<footnote n="24">²⁴ Probably a mistake for *a'e*, which is the form in the Red Book.</footnote>

<footnote n="25">²⁵ For the emendation see Watkin (YBH, p. 126).</footnote>
mun grant vertu ; / mes dites hardyment, si vus eyde Jhesu ! » (BdH 2193-206)

One morning Boves got up and called a messenger, and he came; he was not a boy, but a strong knight. The story says his name was Karfu. « Brother », said Boves, « may God send you health, go to Hampton, do not delay. Tell the emperor, when you have seen him, that the knight who was there a short time ago, is called Boves, if he has been deceived about this; tell him that I let him know that he will hang, because I am strengthened with a coat of mail and a shield, and with good knights who are strong and powerful, and I have a giant who has much strength; but say this presumptuously, Jesus may help you! »

I am currently uncertain about possible implications of these two examples for the relationship of the Welsh texts of *Ystorya Bown* ; could they be an indication that the scribe of the White Book clumsily transformed into indirect quotation a passage in his source with indirect quotation slipping into direct quotation, as it is preserved in the Red Book, or did Hywel Vychan, the scribe of the Red Book, intelligently improve on the text either of the White Book or of the common source which both he and the White Book used ?

Watkin's example of a mixing of direct and indirect discourse in *Ystorya Bown* mentioned above is (19), and here again the Red Book appears to preserve a somewhat better reading than the White Book :

(19) *A phan daruu udunt y dala, Brice o Vristeu, Glois o Gaerloyw a Clarice o Leicetre oed truan ganthunt ac a vynnynt y dianc, ac y dywedassant wrth y brenhin y mae gogan mawr a gwatwar [R oed] idaw am y gwr a welsant – « yn gwasanaethu gyr dy vron ac o’t h fuol dyuot a mynet, ac wrth hynny nyt iawn it peri y lad. A pha ny bei daet y march a’ e glotuorusset, ni a vynem y diuetha ». (YBH 3011-3022)*

And when they had taken him, Brice of Bristeu, Glois of Caerloyw, and Clarice of Leicetre were sad and wanted to let him escape, and they said to the king that it is a great disgrace and mockery [R which it was] for him about the man they had seen – « serving before you and coming and going with your cup, and therefore it is not right for you to have him killed. And if the horse were not as good as its renown, we would wish its destruction ».

According to Watkin (YBH, p. clxxii), the use of the (third person singular) present y mae of *bot* « to be » and of the possessive pronouns second person singular dy and ‘th are characteristics of direct quotation, whereas the preposition *idaw* « for him » with a suffixed pronoun third person singular and the third person plural subject of the verb *welsant* « they saw/had seen » with reference to the speakers point towards
indirect quotation. However, *y mae* may simply have a special grammaticalised function here, namely to introduce an emphasised constituent in an object clause. At least this is the interpretation implied by the reading of the Red Book with additional *oed* « (which) it was »<fnref n="26" />, and the White Book's scribe may have overlooked an *oed* in his source. Watkin is undecided whether the mixing of direct and indirect quotation already was a feature of the Anglo-Norman source the Welsh redactor used<fnref n="27" />, or whether it arose, perhaps by mistake, within the Welsh transmission on the basis of a direct quotation in the original Welsh translation<fnref n="28" />. But even in the version of the Red Book, there remains a problem with the position where slipping sets in, namely within a subordinate relative clause rather than at a clause boundary, as has been the case in all examples discussed so far. There is, however, one other example in *Ystorya Bown* in which an indirect quotation appears to slip immediately after the dependent verbal noun *mynet* « to go » into direct quotation, indicated by the present tense of the verb *elwir* « is called » in a relative clause – alternatively direct quotation could begin with this relative clause, but the first option seems to be semantically better, in that the complete directions are reproduced as direct quotation<fnref n="29" />:

(20) Yna y menegis yfford ac yd erchis idaw mynet – « trwy y dinas a elwir Nuble, ac odyno y Gartage ac odyno ti a wely Mwmwrawnt. (YBH 1475-1479)

Then he told him the way and told him to go – « through the city which is called Nuble, and from there to Cartage and from there you will see Mwmbrawnt ».

Some potentially interesting, but still only tentative observations emerge from this discussion of slipping in *Ystorya Bown*: most instances of slipping in the Welsh text follow the typical pattern identified in the Mabinogion-corpus. They have no counterpart in the extant text of the Anglo-Norman *Geste*, and the majority appear to have been brought in « artfully » by the redactor to enhance the vividness of his narrative – it must remain uncertain whether he was motivated by models in his own oral or/and literary narrative tradition, or by foreign models, or by a mixture of all. A number of examples additionally indicate that a dichotomy « artful » versus

<footnote n="26">²⁶ See examples (18.1) and (18.2) above for the same construction and Evans (1964, p. 144) who says that *y mae* « is used even when the verb of the clause denotes past time ».</footnote>

<footnote n="27">²⁷ The extant Anglo-Norman version has direct quotation here, with a slightly different meaning: *Diunt al roi : « Vus nos volez escharnier, / nos li veyun devant vus server [...] . »* (BdH 2587-2588) They said to the king : « You want to disgrace us, we saw him serving before you [...] ».</footnote>

<footnote n="28">²⁸ Watkin (YBH, pp. clxxii, 142) suggests that in this case the original version may have been something like *y mae gogan mawr a gwatwar in(i) am y gwr a welsam yn gwasanaethu gyr dy vron [...]* « it is a great disgrace and mockery for us about the man we saw serving before you [...] ».</footnote>

<footnote n="29">²⁹ In the extant text of the Anglo-Norman *Geste* the advice, in a more extensive form, is given in direct quotation, and the city *Nuble* is not mentioned; compare BdH 1370-1378.</footnote>
« inadvertent » as discrete descriptive contrasts is too simplistic, because slipping may be invited by certain contexts and still function meaningfully within them – probable factors are the length of a quotation or its introduction by a semantically specific verb of saying (see also above, examples (8) to (11)). Richman (1986, p. 290), in his discussion of slipping in Old English, notes another and more general difficulty, namely the problem of interpretation : « Several instances of slipping in Old English seem to me problematic – that is, probably inadvertent but arguably artful ». Finally, differences between the two medieval manuscripts of Ystorya Bown with regard to the position of slipping point towards the possibility of scribal fluidity in the use of slipping in the manuscript transmission of a text.

I will now look at further evidence for slipping from translation literature, first at Kedymdeithyas Amlyn ac Amic « The Friendship of Amlyn and Amic », based on a version of the Latin *Vita Amici et Amelii*, and then at a cycle of four texts about Charlemagne, which are derived from the Latin *Turpini Historia* and the Old French *Chanson de Roland, Pèlerinage de Charlemagne* and *Otinel* respectively.

Two examples of slipping in *Kedymdeithyas Amlyn* conform to the regular pattern, *KAA 29-32* and 502-504 ; the Latin *Vita* closest to the Welsh text has no obvious parallel for the first example and indirect quotation for the second. The third example (21) lacks a connective between the indirect and the direct quotation depending on *erchi*, and there is furthermore an address inserted in the direct quotation. I still consider this to be a formally less typical instance of slipping in which this narrative device is employed for narrative emphasis on the central message. The Latin text used for comparison has a very short direct quotation here.

(21) *Ac erchi a wnaeth udunt, yr karyat y Gwr a diodefassei angheu dros bopyl Adaf, gwneuthur vn o deu peth : ae ymlad yn wychyr drwy vot yn barawt y odef angheu yr keissyaw budugolyaeth, ae na delynt yn nes no hynny y'r vrwydyr, ony bei gymeint eu karyat ar Duw ac eu bot yn barawt y odef angheu drostaw, or bei reit udunt – « medylyaw, arglwydi vrodyr, a dylyych, pwy bynnac a odefo angheu yn y vrwydyr honn, y byd yn llewenyd terynas nef kynn oeri y waet ». (KAA 732-739)*

And he asked them, for the love of the Man who suffered death for Adam's seed, to do one of two things, either to fight boldly by being prepared to suffer death by attempting victory, or not to go nearer to the battle than this, unless their love for God was so strong that they were prepared to suffer death for him, if it were necessary – « you should consider, brothers and lords, whoever will suffer death in this battle will be in the joy of heaven before his blood is cold »<fnref n="30" />.

<footnote n="30">³⁰ Compare *VAA CIX.11-13 : Sed Karolus, divino igne succensus, post tercium diem vocavit maiores et fortiores de exercitu dicens : Aut in bello cadite aut victoriam uobis adquirite!*</footnote>
Passage (22) is formally even more marginal because of the short narrative clause *gymeint a cheissyaw y dwyllaw* « and sought his hands» inserted between the indirect quotation and the direct quotation<fnref n="31" />, and the marking of the direct quotation by an address and an identificatory tag. I am therefore inclined *not* to consider (22) as an example of slipping.

(22) *A ryuedu yn uawr a oruc y palmer, a govyn idaw paham y gwattwarei ef was Duw yn gymeint a cheissyaw y dwyllaw. « Yn herwydd itt », heb ef, « arglwyd, govyn y mi y bore hediw yr hynn yd wyt yn y ovyn yr awr honn. [...] » (KAA 202-206)*

And the pilgrim wondered greatly and asked him why he mocked the servant of God so much, and sought his hands. « Concerning you », he said, « lord, you asked me this morning what you are asking me now. [...] ».

I have identified three instances of slipping in the text of the *chwedlau Siarlymaen*, one in *Pererindod Siarlymaen*, the Welsh version of the *Pèlerinage de Charlemagne*, and two in *Cân Rolant*, the Welsh version of the *Chanson de Roland*. The example from the *Pererindod, YdCM* 196.31-197.7, conforms to the basic pattern, the connective between indirect and direct quotation is adversative *neu* « or ». The text of the *Pererindod* in the Red Book agrees in wording and the employment of slipping with the one in the White Book of Rhydderch (compare *CCh* 14). There appears to be quite notable textual fluidity in the manuscript transmission of *Cân Rolant*, and the text in Peniarth 10 is thought to represent, « with the exception of an occasional error, as faithful and consistent a rendering of the archetypal Welsh translation of the *Chanson de Roland* as is available to us » (*CR*, p. 63). This version in Peniarth 10 uses direct quotation in both instances, (23.2) and (24.2), in which I have noted slipping in what looks like a revised text of *Cân Rolant* in the White Book ((23.1) and (24.1)); the Red Book has a lacuna here. The White Book employs identificatory tags; in (23.2) the direct quotation reproduces a question introduced by the interrogative *pwy* « who », and therefore no connective is used. Since the Old French *Chanson de Roland* (compare *Chanson* 746-748, 766-770) uses direct quotation and the Welsh version in Peniarth 10 is deemed to be closest to its Old French source, it is tempting to think that the instances of slipping in the text of the White Book were introduced in the course of the Welsh translation's transmission and revision<fnref n="32" />.

<footnote n="31">³¹ This corresponds to direct quotation in Kölbing’s Latin text, without intervening narrative : « *Quis tu, o miles, qui me deludis peregrinum ? Tu quidem videris esse Amelius, Alvernensis comitis filius, ut dixisti, qui hodie a me quesisti, sie Amicum, Bericanum militem, vidissem. [...]* » (VAA C.13-15).</footnote>

<footnote n="32">³² It is striking that the two instances of slipping I found in *Cân Rolant* occur more or less side by side and in a passage for which the Red Book, on which Stephens’s edition is otherwise based, has a lacuna. Since no reliable edition of the White Book version of *Cân Rolant* is available, I have been unable to check if the White Book version has further instances of slipping.</footnote>
(23.1) Sef a oruc [Charlymaen] edrych yn llitdyawc ... arnaw, a dywedut y vot yn ynvyt dibwyll, a bot yn amlwc bot drycyspryt yn arglwyd arnaw – «pwy», heb ef, «a vyd amdiffynnwr ar y blaeneit os Rolond a dric yn geitwat ar yr rei ol?» (W = YdCM 134.12-18)

Charlemagne looked at him angrily and said that he was foolish and senseless and that it was evident that an evil spirit was his lord – « who », he said, « will be protector of the van if Roland will stay as protector of the rearguard? »

(23.2) « O deuot dyn ynuyt y dywedy di », eb ef, « ac amlwc yw ar dy ymadrawd bot kythreulyaeth ynot. Pwy a vyd keitwat », eb ynteu, « ar y blaenieit ot adawn i Rolant yn geitwat ar yr ol? » (Peniarth 10 = CR L.5-8)

« You speak like a mad man », he said, « and it is evident from your speech that there is devilry in you. Who will be protector », he said, « of the van if I leave Rolant as protector of the rearguard? »

(24.1) Ac yna yd aeth Rolond y ymdidan a Charlymaen, ac y adolwyn idaw dan anhyed ystynnu idaw y breint rydaroed y Wenwlyd y varnu idaw, trwy y bwa a oed yn y law, o gwelit idaw y vot yn wiw y'r gwassannaeth hwnnw – « a minheu a adawaf yti », heb ef, « yn gadarn, na dygwyd y bwa o'm llaw i yn y gymryt yr llyfyrder, mal y dygwydwys y llythyr o law Wenlwyd ». (W = YdCM 135.10-17)

And then Roland came to talk with Charlemagne and to ask him with coaxing to invest him with the privilege that Gwenlwyd had happened to adjudge to him, with the bow that was in his hand, if it seemed to him that he was fit for this service – « and I promise you firmly », he said, « that the bow will not fall from my hand from taking it timidly, as the letter fell from Gwenlwyd's hand ».

(24.2) Ac yna y dyuot Rolant wrth Chiarlymaen: « Y brenin da, kywaethoc, bonhedic », eb ef, « anrydeda vi o'r deilygdawt a varnawd Gwenlwyd ym, o gwelir yt vy mot yn deilwg ohonaw. Ac estyn ym », eb ef, « a'r bwa yssyd y'th law ; a mineu a adawaf yti yn gadarn na digwyd y bwa o'm llaw ual y digwydawd y llythyr o law Wenlwyd o gymraw ». (Peniarth 10 = CR LII.1-5)

And then Rolant said to Chiarlymaen: « Good, mighty, noble king », he said, « present me with the honour that Gwenlyed adjudged to me, if it seems to you that I am worthy of it. And invest me », he said, « with the bow which is in your hand ; and I promise you firmly that
the bow will not fall from my hand as the letter fell from Gwenlwyd's
hand out of fear».

I will now turn to examples of slipping in a different textual genre, although still
in a translation of a foreign-language source, namely in the apocryphal *Efengyl
Nicodemus*, the Welsh version of *Evangelium Nicodemi*, in its oldest manuscript text
from the White Book of Rhydderch (mid-fourteenth century). This version parallels
closely the Latin text of *Evangelium Nicodemi* in Einsiedeln, Stiftsbibliothek MS
326, and therefore provides another opportunity to compare, at least tentatively,
source and translation. As it turns out, the Latin text has direct quotation in all
instances, and the Welsh version transforms their respective first parts into indirect
quotation and then slips into direct quotation, on the words which Roberts probably
would consider to bear «most emotional stress» (see above, Roberts 1983, p. 2).
There are five examples which conform to the typical pattern of slipping<fnref n="33" />. In one of
these, the direct quotation is introduced by the exclamative *llyman* «behold»,
corresponding to Latin *ecce*; in another, the direct quotation is marked by an address,
also occurring in the Latin text, and an identificatory tag.

Passage (25.1) presents two problems, the delimitation of the exact place of slipping and the use of a non-finite verbal form in the direct quotation (but compare examples (30) and (31) below):

(25.1) *Ac odyna galv attav y gynnulleitua a dyvedut vrthunt bot eu deuavt yn
dyd gwylua – « gellvg yvch vn o'r carcharoryonn. Y mae gennyf »,
heb ef, « ygkarchar llourud kelein, Barrabas y eno, ac ny welafi ry
haedu dim o Iessu. A pha vn onadunt wy a vynnyvch chui y ellvg ? »*
*(EN 261.17-20)*

And then he called to him the assembly and said to them that it was
their custom on a feast-day – « to release for you one of the prisoners.
I have », he said, « in prison a murderer, Barabas his name, and I do
not see that Jesus has merited anything. And which of them do you
want to have released ? »

(25.2) *Iterum Pilatus conuocans omnem multitudinem Iudaeorum dixit eis:
« Scitis quia consuetudo est per diem azimorum ut dimittam uobis
uinctum. Habeo autem insignem uinctum in carcere homicidam qui
dicitur Barabbas. In Iesu nullam culpam inuenio mortis. Quem uultis
dimittam uobis ? »* (Evang.N IX.1.5-10)

The first indication of slipping into direct quotation in the Welsh version is the use of
the preposition y « to, for » with a suffixed personal pronoun second person plural

<footnote n="33">³³ These are EN 259.5-8 = Evang.N II.4.7-10, EN 261.4-5 = Evang.N VI.2.5-7, EN 264.1-3 = Evang.N XIII.3.4-8, EN 257.20-22 = Evang.N I.2.4-8, EN 262.41-263.3 = Evang.N XII.1.12-18.</footnote>
with reference to the addressees, *yvch* « for you », corresponding to Latin *uobis*. This *yvch* might therefore conceivably be a translator's slip motivated by *uobis*. The word immediately preceding *yvch* is a non-finite verbal form, the verbal noun *gellvg* « release » ; and although verbal nouns are often used for finite forms in main clauses in narrative contexts, their use in direct quotation would appear to be unusual. Slipping typically occurs at sentence- or clause-boundaries, and there is no such boundary within the Welsh copular clause *bot eu deuavt yn dyd gwylua gellvg yvch vn o'r carcharoryonn* « [that] it was their custom on a feast-day to release for you one of the prisoners ». However, a clause-boundary occurs in the Latin text after *per diem azimorum*, corresponding to Welsh *yn dyd gwylua*. The second part of the direct quotation, which contains an identificatory tag, clearly carries the communicative and emotional stress.

In (26.1) the Welsh version slips into direct quotation after quoting directly Jesus's words within the indirect quotation; the Latin version (26.2) uses direct quotation dependent on *dixerunt quia* throughout. According to Richman (1986, p. 280), this alternative use of *dicere quia* to introduce direct quotation caused problems for Latin scribes and Anglo-Saxon translators and sometimes led the latter to turn direct quotation introduced by *quia* into indirect quotation. Richman (1986) quotes the same passage (26.3) from the Old English *Gospel of Nicodemus* as an example of the translator's « trouble with the *dicere quia* construction » and notes that he « begins with indirect discourse but soon slips to direct » – slipping sets in earlier than in the Welsh text, already before the quotation of Jesus's word, although Richman also points out that the shift in the references of the personal pronouns, from third person before the inserted quotation to first person after it, is the clearest indication of slipping<fnref n="34" />. The Welsh redactor's decision to begin with indirect quotation may have been motivated by similar problems with the *dicere quia* construction (see also below), and it is likely that slipping into direct quotation after the inserted quotation of Jesus's words is motivated by the Latin model and the influence of *uidimus*, corresponding to *guelsam*, rather than by rhetorical or pragmatic intentions.

(26.1) *E tri hynny a doethant o Alilea y Gaerusalem ac a dyvedassant y tywyssogyon yr offeireit ac y'r a oed yg kynulleittua y sinagoga o Ideon ry welet Iessu onadunt yr hvnn a grogessynt hvy ygyt ac vn ar dec o'e disgyblonn yn ymdidan ac wynt yn eu kymerued ymynyd Oliuet ac yn dyvedut vrthunt, « Euch ar hyt y byt oll a phregethuch y baup, a betydyvch paub o'r kenedloed yn enw y tat, a'r mab, a'r yspryt glann, amen ; a phwy bynnac a gretto ac a betydyer, hvnnv a vyd iach », – « a guedy dywedut hynny vrth y disbyblonn y guelsam ef ynn ysgynnv y nef». (EN 264.6-12)

<footnote n="34">³⁴ For detailed discussion, see Richman (1986, p. 281).</footnote>
These three came from Galilee to Jerusalem and told the high priests and those of the Jews who were in the assembly of the synagogue, that they had seen Jesus, whom they had crucified, together with eleven of his disciples, talking to them in their midst on the Mount of Olives and saying to them, « Go into the world and preach to all, and baptize all the peoples in the name of the father and the son and the holy ghost, amen ; and whoever will believe and will be baptised, he will be saved », – « and having said that to his disciples we saw him ascending to heaven ».

(26.2) [...] isti tres uenerunt de Galilea in Hierusalem et dixerunt principibus sacerdotum et omnibus in sinagogis quia « Iesum quem crucifixistis uidimus cum XI discipulis eius loquentem et sedentem in medio eorum in monte Oliueti et dicentem eis : « Euntes per omnem mundum praedicate omnibus gentibus, baptizantes eos in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. Et qui crediderit et baptizatus fuerit, hic saluus erit ». Et cum haec locutus fuisset discipulis suis, uidimus eum ascendentem in caelum ». (Evang.N XIV.1.2-12)

(26.3) hig sædon to þam ealdrum. þ to þam mæssepreostum. þ to ealre þære gesommunge. þær hig to þæra iudea synoðe comon. þ[æt] hig þone onhangena hælaend gesawon. þ wyð hys endlufon leorning cnyhtas spæc [...].

They said to the elders and the high priests and to all the assembly where they had come to that synod of Jews that they had seen the hanged saviour « and he spoke with his eleven disciples [...] ». (Richman 1986, p. 281)

The Welsh translator seems to have had some problems with *dicere quia* ; in another passage (27.1) he translated *dixit quia* as *heb ef* « he said » as an introduction of direct quotation, and although *heb* as a preposed tag is rather rare, it does occur (compare (27.3)). The tag interrupts the typical sequence of indirect-to-direct quotation, and I am currently uncertain about the place of this unusual example within a typology of slipping in Welsh (compare (22) above).

(27.1) *Ac val yd oedynt yn anrydeuedu, nachaf vn o'r marchogyonn ry gattuassei ved yr argluyd yn dyuot ymyvn y egluys y'r Ideon ac yn dyvedut pa ryv turyf a doeth yn y daear – heb ef: « pan yttoedem ninheu yn cadv y bed [...] » (EN 263.19-21)*

And as they were wondering, behold, one of the knights who had guarded the tomb of the lord came into the church of the Jews and said
what kind of commotion had come onto the ground – he said : « When we were guarding the tomb [...] ».

(27.2) *Haec omnibus ammirantibus ecce quidam de militibus, qui sepulcrum custodiebant, intrans in sinagogam dixit quia « nobis custodientibus monumentum Iesu [...]». (Evang.N XIII.1.1-4)

(27.3) *Heb hithau : « Nyt affreit ym ymoglyt ». (YBH 3209-3210)*
She said : « It is not needless for me to beware ».

In the final example *dicere quia* again introduces direct quotation in the Latin version; in the Welsh version the subordination *panyv* which is used to introduce the clefted element in an object clause<fnref n="35" />, signals that indirect quotation is intended. It could either begin before the relative clause defining the clefted element *Iessu Grist vab Duv* (28.1.1.) or after it, that is, before the relative clause of the cleft construction (28.1.2). The first option somehow seems more natural.

(28.1.1) « [...] *Ac os yr angel yssyd yn guarchadv paradys a'th eteil, dangos idav aruyd y groc a dyvet vrthav panyv Iessu Grist vab Duv* – « yr hvnn a dodet yr aur honn ar y groc a'm anuones i yman ». [...] ». (EN 272.1-3)

« And if the angel who is guarding paradise, rejects you, show him the sign of the cross and tell him that it is Jesus Christ, son of God – « who is crucified at this hour, who sent me there. » »

(28.1.2) « [...] *Ac os yr angel yssyd yn guarchadv paradys a'th eteil, dangos idav aruyd y groc a dyvet vrthav panyv Iessu Grist vab Duv yr hvnn a dodet yr aur honn ar y groc* – « a'm anuones i yman. » [...] ».

« And if the angel who is guarding paradise, rejects you, show him the sign of the cross and tell him that it is Jesus Christ, son of God, who is crucified at this hour – « who sent me there ». »

(28.2) « [...] *et si non dimiserit te ingredi angelus custos paradysi, ostende illi signum crucis et dices ad eum quia « Iesus Christus, Filius Dei, qui nunc crucifixus est, transmisit me ». *». (Evang.N XXVI.16-19)

Examples (26.1) and (28.1) are quite similar to the instances of slipping after the *dicere quia* construction discussed by Richman (1986, p. 281), in that the Welsh

<footnote n="35">³⁵ Compare Evans (1964, p. 80).</footnote>
translators were influenced by *quia* to begin an indirect quotation, but then motivated
by a trigger in the Latin text, *uidimus* and *me* respectively, to slip into direct
quotation, and they would therefore appear to be more inadvertent than artful<fnref n="36" />.
However, the majority of the examples of slipping in the Welsh *Efengyl Nicodemus*
probably result from the translator's/redactor's conscious or semi-conscious input and
are therefore more artful than inadvertent, and this seems to apply to the majority of
the other examples of slipping in translated texts considered so far.

I will now turn to still another textual genre of translation, historiographical
texts, and specifically to one of the Welsh versions of Geoffrey of Monmouth's
*Historia Regum Britanniae*, the so-called Cotton Cleopatra version of *Brut y
Brenhinedd*. It is available in a reliable modern edition, but its special interest is that
in contrast to the Dingestow version, which is also available in a modern edition and
which has been described as a fluent and free translation of the Latin source (*BB-LI*,
p. xxix), it shows a still freer handling, more in line with native narrative con-
ventions:

The Cotton Cleopatra version is yet another translation but it is briefer than the *Historia*. It
follows the Latin in the order of events and in language but the translator summarizes long
speeches and cuts out many unnecessary descriptive passages. This version, however,
contains much additional material and shows more attempt at harmonization with other
sources than any other group of texts. (*BB-LI*, p. xxx)

The narrative part here [in the first section of the Cotton Cleopatra version] is mostly in
simple straightforward Welsh with a good many stereotyped expressions into which the
translator falls whenever conditions permit. The latter part of the narrative seems to be written
in a somewhat more ornate style; the stereotyped expressions are still used but the translator
is consciously striving for rhetorical effect. One mark of this is the more frequent use of those
long strings of descriptive adjectives and adverbs [...]. (*BB-CC*, p. xv)

Example (29)<fnref n="37" /> conforms to the basic pattern, with the extra features of an address in
the direct quotation. A second manuscript of the same version of *Brut y Brenhinedd*,
the Book of Basingwerk, has present tense *y mae* for imperfect *yd oed*, and thus
begins the direct quotation one clause earlier than Cotton Cleopatra, an instance of
variation within a text's transmission (see also example (32) below).

(29) Sef y kynghoras Merdyn yna, mynet hyt yn Iwerdon lle gelwyd cor ykewri ar mynyd kilara, canys yno ydoed [y mae Bk of Basingwerk] mein anryued eu hansawd – « ac nyd oes, arglwyd, yn yr oes honn neb awoyppo dim iwrth y mein hynny. ac ny cheffir wynt o gedernyt nac o

<footnote n="36">³⁶ The implications of this observation for the actual processes of translation and scribal transmission require further scrutiny.</footnote>

<footnote n="37">³⁷ Similary *BB-CC* 216.5-11 (here the Dingestow version of *Brut y Brenhinedd* also employs slipping, compare *BB-D* XII.17) and 185.9-12.</footnote>
gryfder, onyd ogeluydit. Aphebythei y mein hynny ymha val y maen yno, wynt asseuynt yn dragywydawl ». (BB-CC 144.13-17)

This Merlin advised then, to go to Ireland to the place which was called Cor y Kewri [The Giants' Circle] on Mynyd Kilara [Mount Kilara], since there were stones of marvellous appearance – « and there is not anyone, lord, in this age who would know anything about these stones, and they cannot be got by might or by strength, but by art. And if these stones were here as they are there, they would stand forever ».

In passage (30) slipping from indirect to direct quotation is clearly signalled by a change from third plural reference (in bold) to first plural (underlined). The syntax of the indirect quotation is rather complex and the use of the phrase *sef achos oed* is more reminiscent of main clauses than of subordinate ones. Furthermore, non-finite verbal forms are used in the direct quotation (*bod*) were one would probably expect more naturally finite ones (but compare (25.1) above).

(30) Ac yna y dywat gwr doeth onadunt na **ellynt** gyt oeisi yn hedychaul yn er vn kyuoeth yndragywydaul, sef achos oed, pan deley cof **vdunt** y lladuaeu awnaethessit **vdunt** ar galanasseu, y **dodeynt** en ev bryd yny **geffeynt** ymdiala, gwedy delei llawer o amseroed ac amylhau yr bobyl athyuu ryuel ryngthunt, ny bydei ryued heuyt goruot o deu parth yr ynys ar ytraean – « a bod yn waeth **an** kyfle yna no gyd gynt, a bod yn well yn yr awrhon canys **goruuam** arnadunt kymryt y gan pandrassus vrenhin groec ignogen y verch yn wreic y brutus **an** tywyssawc **ny** a digawn o eur ac ariant, a gwin a gwenith, a meirch ac aruew a llongheu **yn**<fnref n="38" /> dwyn y ynys arall lle mynno duw **yn** bresswyliaw yn hedwch yndragywydawl ». (BB-CC 15.2-11)

And then one of their wise men said that they could not live together peacefully in one realm forever, this was the reason that, when they remembered the slaughter which had been inflicted on them, and the massacre, they would keep them in their mind until they obtained revenge, after much time had gone and the people had multiplied and war had arisen between them, it would not be strange either that two parts of the island would conquer the third – « and our opportunity was [lit. being] worse then than before, and it is [lit. being] better now, because we have conquered them, to take from Pandrassus, the king of Greece, Ignogen, his daughter, as wife for Brutus, our prince and plenty of gold and silver, and wine and wheat, and horses and ships to bring us to another island where God wants us to live peacefully forever ».

<footnote n="38">³⁸ = y'n « to our ».</footnote>
A similar use of non-finite verbal forms in a direct quotation occurs in (31) (*treissiaw, alltudaw, anreithiaw, dehol*), and there is some uncertainty about the place of slipping which may set in either before or after the clause *canys o arallwlat y dathoed yr ystrawn genedloed hynny yn ormes ar ynys brydein*.

(31) *Ac yna yr anvones dvnawt drachevyn ar austin y venegi nat oed teilwng ganthunt bregethu yr genedyl creulon hynny [— « ]canys o arallwlat y dathoed yr ystrawn genedloed hynny yn ormes ar ynys brydein, [— « ]a thrwy ev twill ac ev brat y lladassant yn rieni ni ac yn kenedyl, ac yn treissiaw on<fnref n="39" /> gwir dylyet, ac yn alltudaw ac yn anreithiaw ac yn dehol, rei or ynys, ereill y ymylev yr ynys. Ac am hynny ny pherthyn arnam ni na phregethu ydunt nac vfydhau y neb, onyt y archesgob caer llion, canys hwnnw yssyd primas dros ynys brydein*. (BB-CC 200.5-11)

And then Dunod sent again to Austin to tell him that it was not appropriate for them to preach to that cruel race [— « ]since it is from another country that these foreign races came as a plague to the Isle of Britain, [ — « ]and through their treachery and their treason they killed our ancestors and our race, and forcing us from our rightful inheritance, and exiling us and harrying us and banishing us, some from the island, others to the fringes of the island. And therefore it does not appertain to us to preach to them or to submit to anybody, except to the Archbishop of Caerleon, since it is he who is primate over the Isle of Britain ».

(32) is an example of differences with regard to slipping within the manuscript transmission (see also (29) above); the text in Cotton Cleopatra has indirect quotation (32.1), the corresponding text in the Book of Basingwerk shows slipping (32.2), but with a brief and probably inadvertent return to the personal reference of indirect quotation in *i urawt idaw ef* « his brother to him » (in bold), as in the Cotton Cleopatra text, where one would expect in direct quotation *dy urawt itti* « your brother to you ». Two non-finite verbal forms are used in the direct quotation, *eruyn* and *coffau*, where the sense would require a first singular and an imperative respectively.

(32.1) [*...] ac yn erchi idaw yr gwr ay kreawd ef yn dyn yny chorf hi o beth heb dim, ac yr y bronneu ry dynassei, ac yr y poen ar dolur agauas hitheu ir daw kyn ydyuot yr byd hwnn, arafhau y yrlloned, ac na pharei ef llad y sawl gwaet bonhedic a ry gynvllessit y gyd o bob gwlat yno, achoffau na wnathoed y vrawd ydaw ef dim or cam. [...]*

(BB-CC 50.4-8)

<footnote n="39">³⁹ = o’n « from our ».</footnote>
[...] and asked him, for the sake of the Being who created him as a man in her body from something without anything and for the sake of the breasts which he had suckled, and for the sake of the pain and the anguish she had suffered for him before he came to this world, that he should moderate his anger and that he should not cause the shedding of so much noble blood that has been assembled here from every country, and that he should remember that his brother had not done him any wrong [...].

(32.2) [...] ac yn erchi idaw yr gwr ay kreawd ef yn dyn yny chorf hi o beth heb dim, ac yr y bronneu ry dynassei – [Bk of Basingwerk] « ac ir y boen ar dolur a diodeuais i erot ti kyn dy dyuot ir byt hwnnw, ac eruyn ytty arafheu dy yrlloned. Ac na phar di lad y sawl waet bonhedic a ry gynullwyt o bob gwlat hyt yno, a choffau na wnaethoed i urawt idaw ef dim or cam, namyn ti a wnaethoed y cam ith uraut ac yt dy hun pan elut i geisiaw porth brenin llychlyn i oresgin ynys brydein iar dy urawt, yr honn a oed mwy dyledus ith urawt noc oed iti ac arwyd na wnaeth dy uraut yt dim cam, namyn yn ymdiffin i gyfiownder ac ef ehun dy yrru di o vrdas uechan i un uawr ». (BB-CC 50)

[...] and asked him, for the sake of the Being who created him as a man in her body from something without anything and for the sake of the breasts which he had suckled – « and by the pain and ache that I suffered before you came into this word, and asking you to moderate your anger. And do not cause the shedding of so much noble blood that has been assembled here from every country, and remember that his brother had not done him any wrong, but you did the wrong to your brother and to yourself when you went to seek the support of the king of Brittany to conquer the Isle of Britain from your brother, the one which more properly belonged to your brother than to you, and note [?] that your brother did not do you any wrong, but by defending his equity and himself he drove you from a small honour to a great one ».

The following passage (33) is probably not an example of slipping :

(33) Ac yna y dywaut llyuelis y rodei ef idaw y ryw bryuet, ac erchi idaw ev briwau mevn dwfyr gwedy y delei adref, a dyuynnu paub y gyt or a oed yny deyrnas, abwrw y dwuyr hwnnw yn gyffredyn ar y bobyl. Ac ef a gadarnhaei y bydei varw y coranyeit ac nad argywedei ar y bryttannyeit. « Eil ormes a dyweist yw dreic oc awch kenedil chwi a dreic arall o ystrawn genedyl yssyt yn ymlad [...] ». (BB-CC 67.1-6)
And then Llyuelis said that he would give him a kind of insect and asked him to crush them in water after he had come home and to summon together what was in his realm and to throw this water indiscriminately over the people. And he affirmed that the Coranyeit would be dead and that it would not harm the Britons. « The second oppression that you mention is a dragon from your nation and another dragon of a foreign nation who are fighting [...] ».

The required semantic cohesion between the indirect quotation and the direct one is missing and no connective is employed. The direct quotation begins a new narrative unit and therefore does not represent the climax in a unit of thought presented as a sequence of indirect-to-direct quotation, as would be the case in artful slipping<fnref n="40" />.

Passage (34) is a rare example of ambiguity: John Jay Parry, in his translation of the Cotton Cleopatra text, translates as slipping, « And he told them that since [...]. « And for that reason [...] ». » Syntactic subordination of a noun clause is formally neither obvious nor necessary, and I think that it is at least possible to interpret both sentences as direct quotation, as in my suggested translation. It should be pointed out, however, that slipping would yield good sense functionally, since the last sentence represents the most important part of the speaker's utterance.

(34) *A menegi ydunt*: « Yr pan doeth Maxen wledic a chynan meiriadauc gyntaf y lydaw a dyledogeon ynys brydein gyt ac wynt ny bu yr hynny hythediw yno a allei gynydu breint na y gynal, ac am hynny drwc yw gennyfi auch bot mor wan ac na ellwch ymdiala ac wynt ». (BB-CC 206.16-207.3)

And he said to them: « Since Maxen Wleddig and Conan Meiriadog came first to Brittany and the nobles of the Isle of Britain with them, there was nobody from that day to this who was able to increase privilege or to maintain it, and therefore I consider it bad that you are so weak that you cannot wreak vengeance on them ».

My final set of examples is taken from the medieval Welsh laws. Here slipping would appear to have a slightly different primary motivation from slipping in narrative contexts considered so far: the direct quotation reproduces the exact wording which is, or can be, expected to be used at a specific point in a legal procedure, as in (35). This text then continues to reproduce the ensuing dialogue between claimant and judge. Since it is not the complete legal statement, but only a part of it, which is given in direct quotation, there is still a clear functional parallel between narrative and legal slipping – in both the most important part of the utterance appears as direct quotation.

<footnote n="40">⁴⁰ The same structure is also found in the only slightly revised version of *Cyfranc Lludd a Lleuelys* transmitted as an independent tale as part of the Mabinogi-corpus, compare *CLI* 89-92.</footnote>
(35) O deruyd y yngnat barnu cam vrawt yn y dadleu, a dyuot y dyn y barnwyt arnaw y gamvrawt yn y herbyn, a gofyn y'r yngnat a gadarnhaei y vrawt – « ac os kadarnhey mi a rodaf vyng gwystyl y'th erbyn ». (Col. 145.35-38)

If it happens that a judge gives a false judgement in the court and the man against whom the false judgement was given, comes against him and asks the judge whether he affirms his judgement – « and if you affirm it I will give my pledge against you ».

Example (36) illustrates nicely that the presentation of such legal statements as direct quotation is, however, not mandatory in medieval Welsh law texts. The idea that the claimant has a sufficient number of witnesses for his claim is first expressed with slipping into direct quotation and then in indirect quotation.

(36) a dywedet ef y ryuot ef neu e tat kyn noc ef eysted ar e tyr hun ar dayar truy estyn argluyd ac ar ac eredyc ydau athy ac anlloed bluydyn a bluydyned æ re erru en agkyureythyaul y arnau ac – « o syt a amheuho henne _mae eme dygaun_ æ guyr [er revot ef en kehyt a henne] », ac o syt a amheuho er ry erru en agkyureythyaul _bot ydau dygaun_ æ guypo. (AL vii.i. 27)

[...] and let him say that he, or his father before him, has been sitting on that land and earth by investiture of a Lord, and has had tillage and ploughing and house and home for a year and years, and that he was unlawfully ejected from there – « and if there is any who doubts that, I have enough who know it, that he was there as long as that », and if there is any who doubts that he was unlawfully ejected, [let him say] that he has enough who know it.

I have identified four more examples of slipping from legal texts which conform to this pattern<fnref n="41" />. I can offer from the medieval Icelandic law-codes one example of what appears to be a formal and functional parallel to the instances of slipping in the Welsh legal texts, (37.1). This is, admittedly, a chance find; all I can additionally offer at the moment are other chance finds of legal formulae necessary to initiate legal procedures in direct quotation, as in (37.2)<fnref n="42" />.

(37.1) Þeir menn .v. scolo sva at orþi queða at domi. oc vina eiða aðr. at þesi maðr var vegin i þvi konungs velddi. oc nefna hinn vegna. en þesi maðr var þar þa er nu er her sóttr .N.° oc leggium ver þat undir þegn

<footnote n="41">⁴¹ Ior. § 79.30-32, AL vii.i.22, vii.i.23, xiv.xlvi.8.</footnote>

<footnote n="42">⁴² Compare similarly *Grágás* 282, 306, 317-318 = *LEI* 207, 211, 214.</footnote>
scap várn. oc berum ver þann fanga quið her i dom fram. (Grágás 387)

« These five men are to speak in these terms at the court and swear oaths beforehand and say that this man was killed in that kingdom – and name the man killed – «and that this man N.N. who is now prosecuted here was there at that time – and we give our word of honor on that and we pronounce this scratch verdict here before the court ». » (LEI 233)

(37.2) Sa maðR er secð vill gera scal nefa ser vatta. oc mæla sva. Nefni ec iþat vette. At ec nefni þesa menn xii. með mer isáttar dom. eða secðar dom oc gera secð .N.° slica sem ec vil gert hafa. oc ver verðum a sáttir. (Grágás 281)

« The man who means to impose outlawry is to name witnesses and speak thus : « I name them to witness that I nominate these twelve men including myself to join a settlement court or an outlawry court and to impose such outlawry on N.N. as I wish imposed and we agree upon ». » (LEI 207)

On the basis of my analysis of instances of slipping in Middle Welsh prose of different genres, comprising native and translated secular and religious narrative as well as historiographical and legal texts, I venture the following generalizations : slipping occurs in all these genres, albeit not in all texts that I have looked at, but has an over-all low frequency. It appears to be an optional stylistic device based within the medieval Welsh tradition<fnref n="43" />, since slipping may be introduced into Welsh versions of foreign-language sources, in which slipping does not occur in corresponding passages (as far as we can judge on the basis of the extant texts), or during the course of a text's manuscript transmission. Instances of slipping are characterized by a set of features which require the presence of a thought-unit of indirect and direct quotation in immediate sequence, which is marked by a formal syntactic break, but linked by semantic, and often also formal, cohesion between them, typically without special tagging devices in the direct quotation ; the direct quotation reproduces verbatim the most important part of a speaker's utterance. For legal prose this functional description may need to be slightly modified : the direct quotation reproduces verbatim the most important part of a legal statement to be uttered at a specific point of a legal procedure. In only few of the examples discussed above does the direct quotation have the character of a relatively short punch-line. The typology of the relative length of indirect and direct quotations respectively in slipping deserves further attention. My findings led me to suggest a graded concept of slipping, in view of examples which I would still regard as representing slipping, but which fit the above criteria less well than others, due to, for example, the absence of a connective

<footnote n="43">43 I do not want to commit myself at this stage as to its oral, literary, or mixed origin.</footnote>
to introduce the direct quotation or the presence in it of tagging devices. Richman's dichotomy of « artful » versus « inadvertent » slipping proved helpful, but may be too rigid. The majority of my examples appear artful, and only a few are arguably inadvertent or result from scribal/editorial confusion within the process of transmission. However, some contexts would seem to invite slipping, which is therefore neither fully « inadvertent » nor fully « artful » if it still satisfies the basic requirements for slipping outlined above. These are contexts which motivate a redactor/scribe to begin an indirect quotation out of which he may then slip into direct quotation, such as semantically more specific verbs of asking – which seem to prefer the construction with a noun clause in Middle Welsh, rather than with direct quotation – or the Latin *dicere quia* to introduce direct quotation – which often supplies in the subsequent context a conflicting trigger to make the Welsh redactor slip into direct quotation from the indirect one which was suggested to him by *quia*.

© Erich Poppe 2005

## RÉFÉRENCES BIBLIOGRAPHIQUES

### Abpréviations et sources

AL *Ancient Laws and Institutes of Wales*, éd. par A. Owen, (1841). London : G. E. Eyre & A. Spottiswoode.

BB-CC *Brut y Brenhinedd. Cotton Cleopatra Version*, éd. et trad. par J. J. Parry, (1937). Cambridge Mass. : The Mediaeval Academy of America.

BB-Ll *Brut y Brenhinedd. Llanstephan MS. 1 Version. Selections*, éd. par B. F. Roberts, (1971). Dublin : Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.

BB-D *Brut Dingestow*, éd. par H. Lewis, (1942). Caerdydd : Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru.

BdH *Der anglonormannische Boeve de Haumtone*, éd. par A. Stimming, (1899). Halle : Niemeyer.

BR *Breudwyt Ronabwy*, éd. par M. Richards, (1948). Caerdydd : Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru.

Chanson *Chanson de Roland*, éd. et trad. par H. W. Klein, (1963). München : Eidos.

CCh « Campeu Charlymaen », in *Selections from the Hengwrt MSS. Preserved in the Peniarth Library* (Vol. II), éd. et trad. par R. Williams. Trad. continuée par H. Jones, (1892). London : Bernard Quaritch, pp. 1-118.

CLl *Cyfranc Lludd a Llefelys*, éd. par B. F. Roberts, (1975). Dublin : Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.

Col. *Cyfreithiau Hywel Dda yn ôl Llawsgrif Coleg yr Iesu LVII Rhydychen*, éd. par M. Richards, (1990). Caerdydd : Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru.

CR *Cân Rolant : The Medieval Welsh Version of the Song of Roland*, éd. par A. C. Rejhon, (1984). Berkeley, Los Angeles, London : University of California Press (University of California Publications in Modern Philology, 113).

EN « Efengyl Nicodemus », éd. par J. E. Caerwyn Williams, (1952). *Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies* XIV, part IV, pp. 257-273.

Evang.N *The Gospel of Nicodemus. Gesta Salvatoris*, éd. par H. C. Kim, (1973). Toronto : Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies.
Ger. Ystorya Gereint uab Erbin, éd. par R. L. Thomson, (1997). Dublin : Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.

Grágás Grágás efter det Arnamagnæanske Haandskrift Nr. 334 fol., Staðarhólsbók, udgivet af Kommissionen for det Arnamagnæanske Legat, Kjøbenhavn : Gyldendalske Boghandel (1879). (Republié Odense : Odense Universitetsforlag, 1974).

Ior. Llyfr Iorwerth. *A Critical Text of the Venedotian Code of Medieval Welsh Law*, éd. par A. R. Wiliam, (1960). Cardiff : University of Wales Press.

KAA Kedymdeiithyas Amlyn ac Amic, éd. par P. Williams, (1982). Caerdydd : Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru.

LEI Laws of Early Iceland. *Grágás I*, trad. par A. Dennis, P. Foote & R. Perkins, (1980). Winnipeg : University of Manitoba Press.

LHDd The Law of Hywel Dda. *Law Texts from Medieval Wales*, trad. par D. Jenkins, (1986). Llandysul : Gomer Press.

Ow. Owein or Chwedyl Iarlles y Ffynnawn, éd. par R. L. Thomson, (1975). Dublin : Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.

Per. Historia Peredur vab Erawc, éd. par G. W. Goetinck, (1976). Caerdydd : Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru.

PKM Pedeir Keinc y Mabinogi, éd. par I. Williams, (1930). Caerdydd : Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru.

VAA « Vita Amici et Amelii carissimorum », in *Amis and Amiloun zugleich mit der altfranzösischen Quelle*, éd. par E. Kölbing, (1884). Heilbronn : Gebr. Henninger, pp. xcvii-cx.

YBH Ystorya Bown de Hamtwn, éd. par M. Watkin, (1958). Caerdydd : Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru.

YdCM Ystorya de Carolo Magno o Lyfr Coch Hergest, éd. par S. J. Williams, (1968). Caerdydd : Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru.

## Littérature secondaire

DAVIES, S. (1995). *Crefft y Cyfarwydd*, Caerdydd : Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru.

EVANS, D. S. (1964). *A Grammar of Middle Welsh*, Dublin : Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.

RICHMAN, G. (1986). « Artful Slipping in Old English », *Neophilologus* 70, pp. 279-291.

ROBERTS, B. F. (1983). « The Welsh Romance of the *Lady of the Fountain (Owein)* », in P. B. Grout et al. (éds.), *The Legend of Arthur in the Middle Ages*, Cambridge : D. S. Brewer, pp. 170-182.

THORNE, D. A. (1993). *A Comprehensive Welsh Grammar*, Oxford, Cambridge : Blackwell Publishers.