- s56 ##
56 (K-D 93)
The answer is Inkhorn, its history from its beginning as an antler to its use in writing. The lines are ambitiously elaborate and leave the impression that the writer’s reach exceeded his grasp. A paraphrase will make the text clearer: “The stag on which I grew ranged the woodland, shed its antlers, and new ones grew in their place. The stag was killed and I was cut from its head and hollowed out to make an inkhorn. But I do not complain or seek vengeance, though I was sorely hurt by the iron instrument—what had, or might have, cut into battle shields” (or, as Wyatt interprets, “was pierced by the nails which fastened it to the stand”). The foe is the scribe with his quill pen (the feather of a raven, the wolf’s companion in battle) writing on the stiff vellum.
