In fact, not just any ballad, but specifically "Robyn and Gandeleyn" (Child 115). I've recently created a thread in /r/linguistics, but was redirected here. Whereas initially my question was chiefly about pronounciation of personal names (Robyn, Gandeleyn and Wrennok of Donne), the conversation led me to doubt the meter of the ballad as well. Having come to no definite conclusions in /r/linguistics, here's my second attempt at getting answers. Following is my original post. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
The text in question is "Robyn and Gandeleyn" (Child's ballad №115) found in one manuscript only, which was dated from ca. 1400 to ca. 1450 by different scholars. The first half of the XV century being a transitional period in the history of English language, I'm at a loss regarding proper pronounciation of the ballad. It is clear that some changes (like the terminal 'e' going silent) have already taken place by the time the manuscript was written, but other than that I have no idea. Specifically, I've been wondering about the personal names of two protagonists - Gandeleyn and Wrennok of Donne.
Firstly, how is the last syllable of Gandeleyn supposed to be pronounced? Is it <lein>, <lain>, or <lin>? In the ballad it is rhymed with both "ageyn" (meaning "back") and "wyn" ("wine" with an "y" in a closed syllable, which is supposed to sound as "i"). Moreover, the name itself is presumed by some to be a corruption of Gamelyn, which dates back to the Chaucerian times and most certainly sounded like <ga-me-lin>.
Secondly, is "W" in Wrennok silent or not? One other instance of the name appearing is in an Old French poem "Fouke le Fitz Waryn" where it is given to a Welsh adversary of the main hero. In Welsh the letter "w" confers a vowel sound, but judging by the "Robyn and Gandeleyn" jambic meter (albeit with certain amount of liberties taken), it does not form a syllable of it's own. Then again, Wrennok could be connected to "wren" as in a bird's name. Basically, the question is: what was the situation with the letter "w" in the aforementioned period? Also the apparent place name of Donne has not yet been linked with any real toponym on the British Isles, so is it <Don> or <Dun> (like in "done")? The ballad pairs it with "sunne" ("sun"), but for some reason I'm still unsure.
Finally, I believe both Gandeleyn and Wrennok are stessed on the last syllable, what with them appearing at the end of jambic lines. However, the same case seems to be with Robyn (especially if the ballad's refrain is a jambic tetrameter: RobYnn lyth In grene wOde bowndYn), and yet now we stress Robyn towards the first syllable. Is it applicable to the other two names as well?
Please note that I'm by no means a specialist and everything written above is pure conjecture. I would be most grateful if somebody more knowledgeable could clear things up.
My knowledge is on either side of the fifteenth century, I'm afraid, but I'm hoping I can help point you in the right direction. From my knowledge of the pronunciation of Chaucerian Middle English -- so the southern English dialect of the late 14th century -- I would say with a big asterisk that your names are pronounced GAN-de-LEIN and REN-ok. I base this on [1], which has a great introduction to Middle English pronunciation. [2] is focused on Middle English lyrics, but is a great source for understanding textual/critical issues for literature of the period (with some brilliant poetry in it to boot).
The asterisk comes from the fact that pronunciation, especially in the context of literary language, would shift subtly to suit meter and rhyme scheme. So, for example, the 'W' in 'Wrennok' may have been pronounced if the line needed another syllable; usually this would happen with final syllables, as with the final 'e' in 'Aprille' or 'soote' in the first line of the Prologue of the Canterbury Tales, "Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote", but the principle holds true.
The asterisk gets even more qualified based on a few additional factors, being the provenance of the manuscript and the way Child transcribed it. Provenance first: as in modern Britain, and likely more pronouncedly so, there was regional dialect variation in Middle English. So even though they were roughly contemporaneous, the works of Chaucer and the "Pearl-poet" (which is a back formation for the composer(s) of poems including Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and St. Erkenwald among others) there is considerable difference in word choice, orthography, and other linguistic aspects because the "Pearl-poet" was from the north [3]. For example, the "Pearl-poet" still uses the letters 'yogh' (Ȝ) and 'thorn' (Þ), where in the southern dialect Chaucer uses those usages have fallen by the wayside. This bears on your ballad in that, depending on where the source manuscript originated from, pronunciation could again be affected.
I bring up the way Child transcribed the ballad (my copy of Child is at home and I am not so I can't look) because 19th and early 20th century editors of early English texts aspired to "correct" texts to get them as close to the "original" as possible [4]. This is a major issue in modern bibliographical/textual scholarship, so if you're interested I can natter on and on about it! It's speculation to get at a general principle, but it's important to bear in mind the tacit changes editors make because they affect how we interpret literary language, including its pronunciation. Hope that helps!
Sources:
[1] Abrams, Greenblatt et al. eds, Norton Anthology of British Literature Volume A (Middle Ages), 8th ed. (2005)
[2] Hoffman and Luria eds, Middle English Lyrics (1974)
[3] Andrew, Waldron et al., eds, The Complete Works of the Pearl-Poet (1993)
[4] Greetham, Textual Scholarship: An Introduction (1994)
Edited to comply more closely with how humans use the English language