Somme putten hem to the plough / pleiden ful selde,
In settynge and sowynge / swonken ful harde,
And wonnen that thise wastours / with glotonye destruyeth.
The usual interpretation of the last phrase, I think, is wrong. "wonnen" disrupts this sentence; generally interpreted as 'to be, dwell, at a place', which doesn't work.
"wannen", to become livid, or "winnen", cause to suffer, do.
Okay, I just realized how weirdly esoteric and utterly random that rant is. So, context: #MiddleEnglish #Medieval #Poetry #MedievalPoetry
And all three, wannen, winen, and wonnen, have orthographic examples as won(n)en.
If wannen is used, the phrase reads: "and grow livid that these wasters, with gluttony, destroy [their product].
If winen, the phrase reads "and suffer that these wasters, with gluttony, destroy [their product]."
nerdy armchair pedantry.
Further clarification:
Title of work: Piers Ploughman
Author: William Langland
Manuscript B, Prologue
Amgine