Art. 16, Vorte maken iren as hart as stel

52vb]
2
3
4
5

N
N

¶ Tac argul — a thing that deyares deyet with — ant grint hit smal. Ant seththe tac
a wollene clout, ant couche thi poudre theron, as brod as hit wol. Cluppe the egge
of thi lome, other of whet thu wolt, ant seththe ley the egge i the middel of the
poudre. Ant seththe wint thi clout faste abouten thi lome, ant pute hit into the fure,
that hit beo gled red. Ant thenne anon cast hit into water.

¶ Take the tartar argul — a thing that dyers dye with — and grind it finely. And then
take a woolen cloth, and apply your powder thereon, as broadly as it will. Grasp the
cutting edge of your implement, or whatever you wish, and then lay the edge in the
middle of the powder. And then wind your cloth tightly around your implement, and
put it in the fire, until it is burning red. And then immediately cast it into water.

ART. 16, VORTE MAKEN IREN AS HART AS STEL: EXPLANATORY NOTES

ABBREVIATIONS: AND: Anglo-Norman Dictionary; ANL: Anglo-Norman Literature: A Guide to Texts and Manuscripts (R. Dean and Boulton); BL: British Library (London); Bodl.: Bodleian Library (Oxford); CCC: Corpus Christi College (Cambridge); CUL: Cambridge University Library (Cambridge); IMEV: The Index of Middle English Verse (Brown and Robbins); IMEV Suppl.: Supplement to the Index of Middle English Verse (Robbins and Cutler); MED: Middle English Dictionary; MWME: A Manual of the Writings in Middle English, 1050–1500 (Severs et al.); NIMEV: A New Index of Middle English Verse (Boffey and Edwards); NLS: National Library of Scotland (Edinburgh).

1 argul. See MED, argoille (n.), “a tartar.” Wright notes that “It appears, by the explanation the writer gives, that this was a word of only very restricted use” (1844, p. 65).

2–3 Cluppe the egge of thi lome. See MED, clippen (v.(1)), sense 2(b); egge (n.(2)); and lome (n.), sense (a), “an implement, tool.”