59e. Þa andwyrde helias anrædlice and cwæð, Gif ic godes man eom, forbærne
eow godes fyr. Hwæt þa mid ðam worde wand fyr of heofonum and for-
bærnde þa fi ftig manna mid ealre heora fare. (ÆLS [Book of kings] 247– 50)
‘Then Elijah answered boldly and said, “If I am a man of God, let God’s
fi re consume you.” What then with these words fi re came down from the
heavens and burned the fi fty men and all their company’
Note that these examples can be paraphrased ‘The result of X was that Y’ (e.g.,
in [12c], ‘The result of the dream was that the bishop got up from his bed ...’).
Hwæt þa seems to differ from causal conjunctions such as swa since it denotes
causal connections on a more global level. In a few instances, hwæt þa precedes
a clause which denotes a particular instance of the general situation described
in the previous context:
(13) a. and eac fela wiðcwædon þæs cyninges hæsum, and woldon heora lif for-
lætan ærþan ðe heora geleafan ... Hwæt þa wearð gelæht sum geleafful
bocere, harwencge and eald, se hatte Eleazarus, and hi bestungon him on
muþ, mid mycelre ðreatunge, þone fulan mete þe moyses forbead ... (ÆLS
[Maccabees] B1.3.25 28– 35)
‘and also many spoke against the king’s commands and would give up their
lives rather than their beliefs ... What then, there was taken a certain faithful
scribe, hoary and old, who was called Eleazar, and they stuck in his mouth,
with many threatenings, the foul meat which Moses forbade ...’
b. He gegaderode þa swiðe gode wyrhtan gehwanon, and arærde þæt mynster
eall be Maures ræde wið þa mycclan ea þe menn hatað Liger. Hwæt ða
on sumum dæge sæton him ætgædere Florus and Maurus to middan þam
wyrhtum, and maurus rædde and rehte hit Flore. þa feol sum preost færlice
of þam weorce ... (ÆLS [Maur] 158– 63)
‘Then he gathered very good workmen from all quarters, and built the mon-
astery entirely by Maurus’s direction, near the great river that men call the
Liger. What then, on a certain day Florus and Maurus were sitting together
in the midst of the workmen, and Maurus was reading and relating it to
Florus. Then suddenly a certain priest fell from the work ...’
In the majority of cases, however, hwæt þa denotes an event occurring sequen-
tially in the plot:
(14) a. Ða sende eugenia þa twægen halgan, Protum and Iacinctum to ðam hæðenen
mædene. Hwæt þa Basilla mid blysse hi underfæng, and ... (ÆLS [Eugenia]
331– 33)
‘Then Eugenia sent the two saints, Protus and Jacinctus, to the heathen maid.
What then Basilla received them with joy and ...’
b. Eode þa bliðelice to ðam blindum cwearterne, swylce heo wære gelaðod to
lustfullum beorscype, and betæhte hire gewin þam welwyllendan drihtne.
Hwæt ða on mergen se manfulla dema het Agathen gelædan to his laðan
andwerdnysse. (ÆLS [Agatha] 97– 101)
2.4 Exclamatory Hwæt in Prose