bright adj.

  bright 
 TR4.659 Thĕ swíftĕ Fámĕ, whích thăt fálsĕ thýngĕs
 TR4.660 Égăl rĕpórtĕth lík thĕ thýngĕs tréwĕ,
 TR4.661 Wăs thŏrúghŏut Tróie y̆fléd wĭth préstĕ wýngĕs
 TR4.662 Frŏ mán tŏ mán, ănd máde thĭs tále ăl néwĕ,
 TR4.663 Hŏw Cálkăs dóughtĕr, wíth hĭre bríghtĕ héwĕ,
 TR4.664 Ăt párlĕmént, wĭthóutĕn wórdĕs mórĕ,
 TR4.665 Y̆gráuntĕd wás ĭn cháunge ŏf Ántĕnórĕ.

Line Information

  • Differences among the manuscripts and editions:
  • English translation (Windeatt: 1998): Swift Rumour, which reports false things equally with the true, had flown on swift wings throughout Troy from one person to another, always retelling this story, how Calchas’ daughter with her radiant looks had, without any more to be said, been granted at parliament in exchange for Antenor.
  • Japanese translation (Sasamoto: 2012): 真実でない事柄を真実のそれとまったく同等に伝える韋駄天の＜噂＞は、迅速に進む翼を羽ばたかせて人から人へトロイア中に飛び回り、この話を真新しい情報に仕立て上げ、色艶容貌麗しいカルカスの娘がいかにして議会で、異議なく、アンテノールと交換されることが決まったか伝えた。
  • Chinese translation (Fang: 1956): 消息哪管真假，一个传给一个，插翅似的飞边了特罗亚城，说卡尔卡斯的明媚的女儿，已由议会决定送走，换恩吞诺回来。

Word Information

  • Etymology: OA
  • Addresser: Narrator
  • Addressee: N/A
  • Adjectives with which juxtaposed: N/A
  • Counterpart in its source (Fil): see 4.78
  • Noun(s) (NPs) modified: complexion (Criseyde’s hue)
  • Attributive/ Predicative: attributive

Information in Previous Studies

  • OED: Not quoted
  • MED: Not quoted
  • Commented in other previous works:
  • Windeatt (2003: 225): brighte hewe: radiant looks
  • Fisher (1989): N/A
  • Benson (1987): N/A
  • Davis et al. (1979): Not quoted
  • Donaldson (1975): N/A
  • Baugh (1963): N/A

Possible Definitions

radiant, beautiful, fair

Comments from the Editor

This stanza resonates with 1.85–91, which also describes how rumour spreads through Troy. In Book I, the rumour concerns Calchas who has fled to Greece, and in the stanza above, it concerns Calkas’s daughter who is to be exchanged for Antenor. The stanza above closely follows Fil. 4.78, but Chaucer used ‘Calchas doughter’ rather than ‘Criseida’ (4.78, 7), making the two stanzas echo each other and reminding readers that Criseyde is only a victim of her father.