Notes for lines 0-1017 ed. Bernice W. Kliman
| 842 Ham. Vppon my sword. {D4v} | 1.5.147 |
|---|
1662 Mallet via Percy
Mallet
842 Mallet (1770, 1:216-18): <p. 216>“The Scythians commonly substituted a sword as the most proper symbol to represent the supreme god. It was by planting a spear in the middle of a field, that they usually marked out the place set apart for </p. 216><p. 217> prayers and sacrifices: and when they had relaxed from their primitive strictness, so far as to build temples and set up idols in them, they yet preserved some traces of the ancient custom, by putting a sword in the hands of
Odin’s statues. The respect they had for their arms made them also swear by instruments so valuable and so useful, as being the most sacred things they knew. Accordingly, in an ancient Icelandic poem, a Scandinavian, to assure himself of a person’s good faith, requires him to swear, ‘by the shoulder of a horse, and the edge of a
Sword.’ This oath was usual more especially on the eve of some great engagement: the soldiers engaged </p. 217><p. 218> themselves by an oath of this kind, not to flee though their enemies should be never so superior in number.” </p. 218>
1729-30 mtheo2
mtheo2
842 Vppon my sword] Theobald (17 Jan. 1730, letter 32; Nichols, Illus, 2:422) refers to Beaumont & Fletcher, briefly, in a letter to Warburton. Here is his entire Ham note: “Hamlet, p. 232: ‘Never to speak of This [that] you have seen, Swear by my Sword—’ [Knight of the Burning Pestle], p. 2310: Ralph. —but yet Thou shalt swear Upon my burning Pestle to perform Thy promise utter’d. Bar. —I swear and kiss.’ ”
1733 theo1
theo1: mtheo2
842 Theobald (ed. 1733): “This adjuration and the Solemnity of kissing Hamlet’s Sword, seems to be sneer’d at by Beaumont and Fletcher, in their Knight of the Burning Pestle; where Ralph, the Grocer’s Prentice, dismisses the Barber in Quiet, on certain Terms agreed betwixt them. ‘Ralph. I give Thee mercy, but yet Thou shalt swear Upon my burning pestle to perform Thy Promise uttered. Barb. I swear and kiss.’”
Ed. note: This analogue apparently refers to theatrical pratice in Ham.
1746 Upton
Upton
842 Upton (1746, p. 61 n. 3): “He swears them on his sword, every soldier-like, and agreeable to the ancient custom of his country. Nor is this less scholar-like in our poet. Jordanes in his Gothic history mentions this custom, ‘Sacer [gladius] apud Scytharium reges semper habitus.’ Ammianus Marcellinus relates the same ceremony among the Hunns. L.31.c.2. Hence our learned Spencer, [5.8.14]. ‘And swearing faith to either on his blade.’ The spear was held equally sacred. ‘Ab origine rerum pro diis immortalibus veteres bastas coluere.’ Justin [43.2]. The spears, they called scepters, so Pausanias informs us: and this explains to us that passage in Homer, where Achilles swears by his scepter, which he hurls to the ground. i.e. his spear. [2a.234, 245].”
1747 warb
warb ≈ Upton without attribution + Bartholineref.
842 Warburton (ed. 1747): “Here the poet has preserved the manners of the ancient Danes, with whom it was Religion to swear upon their swords. See Bartholine, De causis contemp. mort. apud Dan.”
JOHN repeats WARB, and adds his refutation and Ste in v1773 adds his refutation, too, derived from Farmer and from his own reading.1765 john1
john1 = warb; : Upton; : Garrick
842 Johnson (ed. 1765): “I was once inclinable to this [Warburton’s] opinion, which is likewise well defended by Mr. Upton, but Mr. Garrick produced me a passage, I think in Brantôme, from which it appeared, that it was common to swear upon the sword, that is, upon the cross which the old swords always had upon the hilt.”
Ed. note: James Gray (“‘Swear by my Sword’: A Note in Johnson’s Shakespeare.” SQ 27 (1976): 205-8) asserts that nowhere in Brantôme (1539-1614) can he find anyone swearing by a sword. In that work, men do talk to their swords, and that may be what Johnson was recollecting. But it’s equally plausible that Johnson mistook the passage that Garrick showed him and indeed he says “I think,” which suggests his hesitation about the memory. Gray points out that this is the only spot in all his Sh. that Johnson refers to “Garrick by name” (206). Also, for all the other instances of Shn characters swearing by swords or anything else, Johnson has no note (207-8).
1765 john1
john1: Gray ≈ Upton +
842 Gray (apud ed. 1765, app. Kk7v), re Ant. “Now by my sword,” . . . Spencer observes (in his View of the State of Ireland, Works, 12mo. 1564) from Lucian’s Dialogue, intitled Toxaris, ‘That the common oath of the Scythians was by the sword, and by the wind; and that the Irish used commonly to swear by their swords: and that they do at this day, when they go out to battle, say certain prayers, and charms to their swords, making a cross therewith on the earth, and thrusting the points of their blades into the ground, thinking thereby to have better success in the fight.’
“To this custom Spencer alludes in other places.
So suff’ring him to rise, he made him swear,
By his own sword, and the cross thereon,
To take Brianna for his loving Fere.
Fairy Queen, book 6, canto 1-53. Dr. Gray.”
Johnson adds: “This note, which is referred to this place by the authour, may deserve more consideration to the reader of Hamlet, where the friends of Hamlet are required to swear on his sword.”
1768 cap
cap
842 Capell (ed. 1768): “Upon my † sword.”
Ed. note: See Prolusions v-vi where Capell explains his symbols: Cross † with one bar means “a thing shown or pointed to”
1771 han3
han3 ≈ Gray without attribution +
842 Hawkins (ed. 1771): “[It was religion among the Danes to swear upon their swords; perhaps, upon the cross at the hilt of the sword, and this was common.— It is said, that the common oath of the Scythians was, by the sword and by the fire; and that the Irish swore by their swords. Spenser’s View of Ireland. Fol. P.41.].”
1773 v1773
v1773 = john1 +
842 Steevens (ed. 1773), “Shakespeare, it is more than probable, knew nothing of the ancient Danes, or their manners. Every extract from Mr. Farmer’s pamphlet must prove as instructive to the reader as the following. ‘In the Passus Primus of Pierce Plowman, “David in his daies dubbed knightes, And did them swere on her sword to serve truth ever.”
“‘And in Hieronymo, the common butt of our author, and the wits of the time, says Lorenzo to Pedringano:—“Swear on this cross, that what thou say’st is true, But if I prove thee perjur’d and unjust, This very sword, whereon thou took’st thine oath, Shall be a worker of thy tragedy.” ’
“To the authorities produced by Mr. Farmer, the following may be added from Holinshed, p. 664: ‘Warwick kissed the cross of K. Edward’s sword, as it were a vow to his promise.’ Again, p. 1038. it is said, ‘that Warwick drew out his sword, which other of the honourable and worshipful that were then present likewise did, whom he commanded, that each one should kiss other’s sword, according to an ancient custom, amongst men of war in time of great danger; and herewith they made a solemn vow,’ &c. So in Green’s Tu quoque. ‘By the cross of these hiltes.’
“So in Decker’s comedy of Old Fortunatus, 1600. ‘He has sworn to me on the cross of his pure Toledo.’
“So in the Second Part of The Downfall of Rob. E. of Huntington, 1601, ‘—by the cross of my good blade, An excellent mother to bring up a maid.’ Steevens.”
So Ste does not use the Hawkins examples from HAN3.1778 v1778
v1778 = v1773 +
842 Steevens (ed. 1778): “Again, in Decker’s Satiromastix: ‘By the cross of this sword and dagger, captain, you shall take it’. In the soliloquy of Roland addressed to his sword, the cross on it is not forgotten: ‘—capulo eburneo candidissime, cruce aurea spendidissime, &c.’ Turpini Hist. de Gestis Caroli Mag. cap. 22.”
1784 Davies
Davies: standard
842 Davies (1784, 3:22): “There are so many valuable notes, on this passage, in the last edition of Johnson and Steevens, 1778, that I shall only observe, it was a practice of chivalry for knights to swear on the sword.”
1785 v1785
v1785 = v1778 (subst.) +
842 Steevens (ed. 1785): “Again, in an ancient MS. of which some account is given in a note on [Wiv. 1.1.? (00)], the oath taken by a master of defence when his degree was conferred on him, is preserved and runs as follows: ‘First you shall sweare (so help you God and halidome, and by [here there is in ink, I believe, a curious mark, perhaps a semi-colon] all the christendome which God gave you at the fount-stone, and by the crosse of this sword which doth represent unto you the crosse which our Saviour Jesus Christe sufered his most payneful deathe upon, that you shall upholde, maynteyne, and kepe to your power all sech articles as shal be geare declared unto you, and receve in the presence of me your maister, and these the rest of the maisters my bretheren heare with me at this tyme.”
Ed.note: v1785 = v1778 but somewhat differently ordered = WARB, JOHN, most of the material: Dr. Farmer’s references, + the Holinshed references, then Decker’s two plays juxtaposed (i.e., straightened out from the sloppy order of v1778, then Roland, then the new Wiv. cross-ref, with the oath evidently noted there. I’ll have to look at that vol. to make sure. I quote the addition here from TLN 842:
1787 ann
ann = v1785 minus (warb, john, some of Steevens)
842
I don’t consider it important to be more specific.
1790 mal
mal = v1778; mal ≈ han3 with attribution to mal
842 Malone (ed. 1790): “Spenser observes that the Irish in his time used commonly to swear by their sword. See his View of the State of Ireland, written in 1596. This custom, indeed, is of the highest antiquity; having prevailed, as we learn from Lucian, among the Scythians. Malone.”
1791- rann
rann = Davies without attribution
842 Rann (ed. 1791-): “By the cross on the hilt: thus knight swore in the days of chivalry.”
1793 v1793
v1793 = v1785, mal (note from Hawkins with attribution to Malone)
842
1803 v1803
v1803 = v1793
842
1805 Gifford
Gifford
853 Hic, & vbique] Gifford (ed. Massinger, 1805, 1:104 n. 9), in a note for The Virgin-Martyr 5.1 “He is at barley-break, and the last couple Are now in hell,” says, “i.e. in the middle; alluding to the situation of Harpax. This wretched copy of a wretched original, the hic et ubique of the Ghost in Hamlet, is much too puerile for the occasion and the character: —decipit exemplar vitiis imitabile. ”
1807 Douce
Douce
842 Douce (1807, 2:229): “In consequence of the practice of occasionally swearing by a sword, or rather by the cross or upper end of it, the name of Jesus was sometimes inscribed on the handle or some other part. Such an instance occurs on the monument of a crusader in the vestry of the church at Wincelsea. See likewise the tomb of John duke of Somerset engraved in Sandford’s Genealogical history, p. 314, and Gough’s Sepulchral monuments, Pref. ccxiii, [1:171, 2:362].
1813 v1813
v1813 = v1803
842
1819 cald1
cald1 = v1813 (john, Farmer, Holinshed, Steevens, mal [i.e. ≈ han3], warb)
842
1821 v1821
v1821 = v1813
842
1822 Nares
Nares
842 sword] Nares (1822, apud Dyce Glossary, ed. 1867): “The singular mixture of religious and military fanaticism which arose from the crusades gave rise to the extraordinary custom of taking a solemn oath upon a sword. In a plain, unenriched sword, the separation between the blade and the hit was usually a straight transverse bar, which, suggesting the idea of a cross, added to the devotion which every true knight felt for his favourite weapon, and evidently led to this practice; of which the instances are too numerous to be collected. The sword or the blade were often mentioned in this ceremony, without reference to the cross.”
1826 sing1
sing1: warb with attribution and v1773, Douce without attribution +
842 Singer (ed. 1826): “ . . . . “The allusions to this custom are very numerous in our old writers . . . . Simon Maioli, in his very curious book Dierum Canicularium, mentions that the ancient Germans swore by the sword and death. Leonato, in [WT 2.3.168 (1099)], says: —‘—Swear by this sword, Thou wilt perform my bidding.’ ”
1832 cald2
cald2 = cald1
842
1839 knt1
knt1 : warb, Upton, Farmer; Douce without attribution +
842 Knight (ed. [1839]): “Warburton has observed that here ‘the poet has preserved the manners of the ancient Danes, with whom it was religion to swear upon their swords;’ and for the support of his opinion he refers to Bartholinus, De causis contempt. mort. apud Dan. Upton says that Jordanes, in his Gothic History, mentions this custom; and that Ammianus Marcellinus relates the same ceremony among the Huns. Farmer is, of course, indignant that Shakspere should be supposed to know anything beyond what he found in the common literature of his day; and he cites the following from the play of Hieronymo: ‘Swear on this cross, that what thou say’st is true—But if I prove thee perjur’d and unjust, This very sword, whereon thou took’st thine oath, Shall be the worker of thy tragedy!’ The commentators all follow Farmer in the explanation, that to swear by the sword, was to swear by the cross formed by the hilt of the sword; but they suppress a line which Upton had quoted from Spenser, ‘And swearing faith to either on his blade.’ We have little doubt that Shakspere was aware of the peculiar custom of the Gothic nations, and did not make Hamlet propose the oath merely as a practice of chivalry.”
1845 Hunter
Hunter: standard + ref. to Knights of Bath
842 Hunter (1845, 2: 226): “The oath administered to the Knights of the Bath in the time of Shakespeare ended thus:—‘In witness of all these, you shall kiss your sword, and offer it on this altar.’ See the whole oath in one of Dodsworth’s manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, vol. cxxii. f.8.”
1854 del2
del2 n. 42 on 851
842 Delius (ed. 1854): “Auf sein Schwert lässt er sie um der grösseren Heiligkeit des Eides willen schwören, weil dessen Griff ein Kreuz bildet.” [He has them swear on his sword for the sake of the greater holiness of the oath because the sword’s hilt forms a cross.]
1856 hud1
hud1 ≈ Douce
842 Hudson (ed. 1856): “The custom of swearing by the sword or rather by the cross at the upper end of it, is very ancient. The name of Jesus was not infrequently inscribed on the handle. The allusions to this custom are very numerous in our old writers.”
hud1 has his note at 858
1856 sing2
sing2 = sing1
842
1858 col3
col3: several predecessors without attribution + in magenta underlined
842 Collier (ed. 1858): “It is useless to accumulate instances of the ordinary practice of swearing on the cross of the hilt of the sword. Warburton quoted Bartholinus to show that with the Danes it was a religious ceremony, but Shakespeare attended only to the manners of his own country. In the opening of R. Greene’s ‘Pinner of Wakefield,’ 1599, the Earl of Kendall swears upon his sword to relieve the poor; and Dekker in his play of ‘Fortunatus,’ 1600, makes one of the characters say, ‘He has sworn to me on the cross of his pure Toledo.’ It would be easy to adduce many other passages, but they would establish no more than has already been proved.”
1861 wh1
wh1: standard
842 White (ed. 1861): “The sword was sworn upon because of the cross made by the hilt and the handle.”
1865 hal
hal = warb, john, Steevens, Malone, Douce + Fairholt
842 Halliwell (ed. 1865): “Mr. Fairholt furnishes three good examples, with the following note,— ‘The figure formed by the guard of the sword, at the junction of hilt and blade, bore sufficient resemblance to a cross to be used for it in case of emergency; but it was also usual to engrave crosses upon them, as in the first figure where one appears on the knob of the handle; in the second, small crosses are upon the blade. Both these swords are of late thirteenth or early fourteenth century work, the first found in the Thames; the second in Lord Londesborough’s armoury. Scabbards were also decorated with crosses, or the sacred monogram I-H-S, as in the third figure, copied from Stothard’s monumental effigies, where it appears upon a knight of the fifteenth century’.”
1867 dyce2
dyce = ‡Nares, Douce through Wincelsea, Mallet + intro to Mallet quotation
842 Dyce (ed. 1867, Glossary, sword—To swear by a): “Hence Falstaff says jestingly that Glendower the devil his true liegeman upon the cross of a Welsh hook, iv, 241 [1H4 2.4.337 (1294)]. ( The custom of swearing by a sword prevailed even among the barbarous worshippers of Odin.”
1868 Rushton
Rushton: standard with //s and analogues: WT 3.2.124 (1304), WT 2.3.168 (1099), F.Q. vi. 7. ?, F.Q. iii. 10. ?, F. Q. ii.8.?, 1H4 3.3.34 (2036), Spenser A View of the State of Ireland. F. Q. vi.1.? 2H6 5.3.15 (3337).
842 Rushton (1868, pp. 5-8)
1868 c&mc
c&mc: standard
842 Clarke &
Clarke (ed. 1868): “It was the custom to swear by the cross on the hilt of the sword; and therefore came the idiomatic expression ‘to swear upon the sword.’”
1870 rug1
rug1: standard + in magenta underlined
842 Moberly (ed. 1870): “Upon the cross at my sword’s handle. Opera goers will remember the discomfiture of Mephistopheles when the sword handles are turned toward him.”
1872 cln1
cln1: standard without attribution, // WT sing without attribution + // 1H4
842 Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “Compare [1H4 2.4.337 (1294)]: ‘Swore the devil his true liegemen ipon the cross of a Welsh book.’”
1872 hud2
hud2 ≈ hud1 + in magenta underlined (minus ref. to frequency of image)
842 Hudson (ed. 1872): “The custom of swearing by the sword, or rather by the cross at the hilt of it, is very ancient. The Saviour’s name was sometimes inscribed on the handle. So that swearing by one’s sword was the most solemn oath a Christian soldier could take.”
note with another at 843
1873 rug2
rug2: Byron
842 Moberly (ed. 1873): “The handle of a sword was used as an extempore cross for a dying warrior: as in Byron, Deformed Transformed, ii. I, Caesar says to the dying Bourbon: ‘Would not your highness choose to kiss the cross? We have no priest here, but the hilt of sword May serve instead: it did the same for Bayard.’”
1877 v1877
v1877: quotes Upton, john on Garrick, knt1; refers to Farmer, Steevens, cald
842
1883 wh2
wh2 : standard
842
1885 macd
macd: standard on cross hilt
842 MacDonald (ed. 1885): “He would have them swear on the cross-hilt of his sword.”
1929 trav
trav: Spanish Tragedy
842 Travers (ed. 1929): “Hilt and blade forming a cross, and the practice being, apparently, an adaptation of the heathen custom of swearing by the edge—which, with Christian as with heathen, would do justice on a perjuror, as one of the characters in the
Spanish Tragedy reminds another, after he has thus sworn
[2.1.91-9].
1936 cam3b
cam3b ≈ trav without attribution
842 Wilson (ed. 1936, rpt. 1954, add. notes): “Cf. Span. Trag. II. i. 87-93: ‘Lorenzo Sweare on this crosse that what thou saiest is true And that thou wilt conceale what thou hast tolde—’ whereupon Pedringano takes an oath upon his sword.”
1939 kit2
kit2: standard + several analogues
842 Kittredge (ed. 1939): "The hilt of his sword forms a cross upon which each is to lay his right hand when he swears, Cf. Malory . . . ; Munday . . . . The sword-oath in various forms goes back to ancient Germanic paganism. It is recorded of the Quadi, for instance, that ’drawing their swords . . . they swore perpetual fealty.’ . . . "
1957 pel1
pel1: standard
842 sword] Farnham (ed. 1957): “i.e. upon the cross formed by the sword hilt.”
1970 pel2
pel2 = pel1
842 sword] Farnham (ed. 1970): “i.e. upon the cross formed by the sword hilt”
1980 pen2
pen2
842 Spencer (ed. 1980): “The handle of a sword forms a cross upon which an oath can be administered. Hamlet is not content with oaths in faith.”
1982 ard2
ard2: standard; //
842 Vppon my sword] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “The cross of the sword was often used for this purpose. Cf. H5 2.1.98, ’Sword is an oath.’ ”
1985 cam4
cam4: standard
842 Edwards (ed. 1985): "The hilt forms a cross."
1987 oxf4
oxf4: standard gloss + R2 //
842 Vppon my sword] Hibbard (ed. 1987): "Oaths were often sworn on a sword because the hilt is in the form of a cross. Compare [R2 1.3.179-82 (472-5)], where the King bids Mowbray and Bolingbroke: ‘Lay on our royal sword your banished hands; Swear by the duty that you own to God . . . To keep the oath that we administer.’ "
1988 bev2
bev2: standard
842 sword] Bevington (ed. 1988): “i.e., the hilt in the form of a cross.”
1992 fol2
fol2: standard
842 Vppon my sword] Mowat & Werstine (ed. 1992): “an appropriate object on which to swear an oath, in that the hilts form a cross”
2006 ard3q2
ard3q2: //
842 Vppon my sword] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “The hilt of a sword could be used to stand in for a crucifix, as at R2 1.3.179.”
842 844 851 857 858
