Terce

Terce is a canonical hour that gives the narrative a point of reference within the day’s religious and practical rhythms. Its clearest appearance comes during the company’s Sunday journey to a palace: the time phrase places their arrival before half Terce, while an accompanying note supplies a modern clock-time gloss of 7:30 a.m., explicitly distinguishing it from 8:30.

Meaning and Clock-Time Gloss

Terce functions here as a named hour in the canonical day, not as a precise clock reading by itself. The explanatory note makes the distinction concrete: half before Terce is read as 7:30 in the morning. That gloss is especially useful because a reader might otherwise take the phrase to mean half past eight. The text thus preserves the customary hour-name while guiding its interpretation in modern time.

Terce in the Sunday Journey

Under Neifile’s governance, the company rises on Sunday and sets out westward at dawn. They follow a little-used path through green herbs and flowers, accompanied by the song of nightingales and other birds, and reach a well-appointed palace before half Terce. The narrator adds that they have travelled fewer than two thousand paces, making the early arrival part of the scene’s measured itinerary rather than a vague indication that the morning is young.

Place in the Day’s Sequence

The time reference establishes how much of the day remains for the company’s visit. At the palace they explore its rooms, court, gallery, and walled garden; they eat by the fountain, sing and dance, and then divide their time among sleep, reading, and games. After the hour of None has passed, the company gathers again for storytelling. Terce therefore helps anchor a broader progression from dawn travel through leisure and rest to the afternoon’s stories, giving the day a legible rhythm without interrupting the narrative with a full account of the hours.