Beowulf
by
James A. Harrison and Robert Sharp, eds.

Part 3 out of 11




Fitela, the son and nephew of the Wälsing, Sigemund, and his companion in
arms, 876-890. (Sigemund had begotten Fitela by his sister, Signý. Cf. more
at length Leo on Beówulf, p. 38 ff., where an extract from the legend of
the Walsungs is given.)

Folc-walda (gen. Folc-waldan, 1090), Finn's father, 1090.

Francan (gen. Francna, 1211; dat. Froncum, 2913). King Hygelâc fell on an
expedition against the allied Franks, Frisians, and Hûgas, 1211, 2917.

Fresan, Frisan, Frysan (gen. Fresena, 1094, Frysna, 1105, Fresna, 2916:
dat. Frysum, 1208, 2913). To be distinguished, are: 1) North Frisians,
whose king is Finn, 1069 ff.; 2) West Frisians, in alliance with the Franks
and Hûgas, in the war against whom Hygelâc falls, 1208, 2916. The country
of the former is called Frysland, 1127; that of the latter, Fresna land,
2916.

Fr..es wäl (in Fr..es wäle, 1071), mutilated proper name.

Freáwaru, daughter of the Danish king, Hrôðgâr; given in marriage to
Ingeld, the son of the Heaðobeard king, Frôda, in order to end a war
between the Danes and the Heaðobeardnas, 2023 ff., 2065.

Frôda (gen. Frôdan), father of Ingeld, the husband of Freáware, 2026.

Gârmund (gen. Gârmundes, 1963) father of Offa. His grandson is Eómær,
1961-63.

Geátas (gen. Geáta, 205, etc.; dat. Geátum, 195, etc.), a tribe in Southern
Scandinavia, to which the hero of this poem belongs; also called
Wedergeátas, 1493, 2552; or, Wederas, 225, 423, etc.; Gûðgeátas, 1539;
Sægeátas, 1851, 1987. Their kings named in this poem are: Hrêðel; Hæðcyn,
second son of Hrêðel; Hygelâc, the brother of Hæðcyn; Heardrêd, son of
Hygelâc; then Beówulf.

Gifðas (dat. Gifðum, 2495), Gepidæ, mentioned in connection with Danes and
Swedes, 2495.

Grendel, a fen-spirit (102-3) of Cain's race, 107, 111, 1262, 1267. He
breaks every night into Hrôðgâr's hall and carries off thirty warriors, 115
ff., 1583ff. He continues this for twelve years, till Beówulf fights with
him (147, 711 ff.), and gives him a mortal wound, in that he tears out one
of his arms (817), which is hung up as a trophy in the roof of Heorot, 837.
Grendel's mother wishes to avenge her son, and the following night breaks
into the hall and carries off Äschere, 1295. Beówulf seeks for and finds
her home in the fen-lake (1493 ff.), fights with her (1498 ff.), and kills
her (1567); and cuts off the head of Grendel, who lay there dead (1589),
and brings it to Hrôðgâr, 1648.

Gûð-lâf and Oslâf, Danish warriors under Hnäf, whose death they avenge on
Finn, 1149.

Hâlga, with the surname, _til_, the younger brother of the Danish king,
Hrôðgâr, 61. His son is Hrôðulf, 1018, 1165, 1182.

Hâma wrests the _Brosinga mene_ from Eormenrîc, 1199.

Häreð (gen. Häreðes, 1982), father of Hygd, the wife of Hygelâc, 1930,
1982.

Hæðcyn (dat. Hæðcynne, 2483), second son of Hrêðel, king of the Geátas,
2435. Kills his oldest brother, Herebeald, accidentally, with an arrow,
2438 ff. After Hrêðel's death, he obtains the kingdom, 2475, 2483. He falls
at Ravenswood, in the battle against the Swedish king, Ongenþeów, 2925. His
successor is his younger brother, Hygelâc, 2944 ff., 2992.

Helmingas (gen. Helminga, 621). From them comes Wealhþeów, Hrôðgâr's wife,
621.

Heming (gen. Heminges, 1945, 1962). Offa is called Heminges mæg, 1945;
Eómær, 1962. According to Bachlechner (Pfeiffer's Germania, I., p. 458),
Heming is the son of the sister of Gârmund, Offa's father.

Hengest (gen. Hengestes, 1092; dat. Hengeste, 1084): about him and his
relations to Hnäf and Finn, see Finn.

Here-beald (dat. Herebealde, 2464), the oldest son of Hrêðel, king of the
Geátas (2435), accidentally killed with an arrow by his younger brother,
Hæðcyn, 2440.

Here-môd (gen. Heremôdes, 902), king of the Danes, not belonging to the
Scylding dynasty, but, according to Grein, immediately preceding it; is, on
account of his unprecedented cruelty, driven out, 902 ff., 1710.

Here-rîc (gen. Hererîces, 2207) Heardrêd is called Hererîces nefa, 2207.
Nothing further is known of him.

Het-ware or Franks, in alliance with the Frisians and the Hûgas, conquer
Hygelâc, king of the Geátas, 2355, 2364 ff., 2917.

Healf-dene (gen. Healfdenes, 189, etc.), son of Beówulf, the Scylding (57);
rules the Danes long and gloriously (57 f.); has three sons, Heorogâr,
Hrôðgâr, and Hâlga (61), and a daughter, Elan, who, according to the
renewed text of the passage, wäs married to the Scylfing, Ongenþeów, 62,
63.

Heard-rêd (dat. Heardrêde, 2203, 2376), son of Hygelâc, king of the Geátas,
and Hygd. After his father's death, while still under age, he obtains the
throne (2371, 2376, 2379); wherefore Beówulf, as nephew of Heardrêd's
father, acts as guardian to the youth till he becomes older, 2378. He is
slain by Ôhthere's sons, 2386. This murder Beówulf avenges on Eádgils,
2396-97.

Heaðo-beardnas (gen. -beardna, 2033, 2038, 2068), the tribe of the
Lombards. Their king, Frôda, has fallen in a war with the Danes, 2029,
2051. In order to end the feud, King Hrôðgâr has given his daughter,
Freáwaru, as wife to the young Ingeld, the son of Frôda, a marriage that
does not result happily; for Ingeld, though he long defers it on account of
his love for his wife, nevertheless takes revenge for his father, 2021-2070
(Wîdsîð, 45-49).

Heaðo-lâf (dat. Heaðo-lâfe, 460), a Wylfingish warrior. Ecgþeów, Beówulf's
father, kills him, 460.

Heaðo-ræmas reached by B. in the swimming-race with Beówulf, 519.

Heoro-gâr (nom. 61; Heregâr, 467; Hiorogâr, 2159), son of Healfdene, and
older brother of Hrôðgâr, 61. His death is mentioned, 467. He has a son,
Heoroweard, 2162. His coat of mail Beówulf has received from Hrôðgâr
(2156), and presents it to Hygelâc, 2158.

Heoro-weard (dat. Heorowearde, 2162), Heorogâr's son, 2161-62.

Heort, 78. Heorot, 166 (gen. Heorotes, 403; dat. Heorote, 475, Heorute,
767, Hiorte, 2100). Hrôðgâr's throne-room and banqueting hall and
assembly-room for his liegemen, built by him with unusual splendor, 69, 78.
In it occurs Beówulf's fight with Grendel, 720 ff. The hall receives its
name from the stag's antlers, of which the one-half crowns the eastern
gable, the other half the western.

Hildeburh, daughter of Hôc, relative of the Danish leader, Hnäf, consort of
the Frisian king, Finn. After the fall of the latter, she becomes a captive
of the Danes, 1072, 1077, 1159. See also under Finn.

Hnäf (gen. Hnäfes, 1115), a Hôcing (Wîdsîð, 29), the Danish King
Healfdene's general, 1070 ff. For his fight with Finn, his death and
burial, see under Finn.

Hond-sció, warrior of the Geátas: dat. 2077.

Hôc (gen. Hôces, 1077), father of Hildeburh, 1077; probably also of Hnäf
(Wîdsîð, 29).

Hrêðel (gen. Hrêðles, 1486), son of Swerting, 1204. King of the Geátas,
374. He has, besides, a daughter, who is married to Ecgþeów, and has borne
him Beówulf, (374), three sons, Herebeald, Hæðcyn, and Hygelâc, 2435. The
eldest of these is accidentally killed by the second, 2440. On account of
this inexpiable deed, Hrêðel becomes melancholy (2443), and dies, 2475.

Hrêðla (gen. Hrêðlan, MS. Hrædlan, 454), the same as Hrêðel (cf. Müllenhoff
in Haupts Zeitschrift, 12, 260), the former owner of Beówulf's coat of
mail, 454.

Hrêð-men (gen. Hrêð-manna, 445), the Danes are so called, 445.

Hrêð-rîc, son of Hrôðgâr, 1190, 1837.

Hrefna-wudu, 2926, or Hrefnes-holt, 2936, the thicket near which the
Swedish king, Ongenþeów, slew Hæðcyn, king of the Geátas, in battle.

Hreosna-beorh, promontory in the land of the Geátas, near which Ongenþeów's
sons, Ôhthere and Onela, had made repeated robbing incursions into the
country after Hrêðel's death. These were the immediate cause of the war in
which Hrêðel's son, King Hæðcyn, fell, 2478 ff.

Hrôð-gâr (gen. Hrôðgâres, 235, etc.; dat. Hrôðgâre, 64, etc.), of the
dynasty of the Scyldings; the second of the three sons of King Healfdene,
61. After the death of his elder brother, Heorogâr, he assumes the
government of the Danes, 465, 467 (yet it is not certain whether Heorogâr
was king of the Danes before Hrôðgâr, or whether his death occurred while
his father, Healfdene, was still alive). His consort is Wealhþeów (613), of
the stock of the Helmings (621), who has borne him two sons, Hrêðrîc and
Hrôðmund (1190), and a daughter, Freáware (2023), who has been given in
marriage to the king of the Heaðobeardnas, Ingeld. His throne-room (78
ff.), which has been built at great cost (74 ff.), is visited every night
by Grendel (102, 115), who, along with his mother, is slain by Beówulf (711
ff., 1493 ff). Hrôðgâr's rich gifts to Beówulf, in consequence, 1021, 1818;
he is praised as being generous, 71 ff., 80, 1028 ff., 1868 ff.; as being
brave, 1041 ff., 1771 ff.; and wise, 1699, 1725.--Other information about
Hrôðgâr's reign for the most part only suggested: his expiation of the
murder which Ecgþeów, Beówulf's father, committed upon Heaðolâf, 460, 470;
his war with the Heaðobeardnas; his adjustment of it by giving his
daughter, Freáware, in marriage to their king, Ingeld; evil results of this
marriage, 2021-2070.--Treachery of his brother's son, Hrôðulf, intimated,
1165-1166.

Hrôð-mund, Hrôðgâr's son, 1190.

Hrôð-ulf, probably a son of Hâlga, the younger brother of King Hrôðgâr,
1018, 1182. Wealhþeów expresses the hope (1182) that, in case of the early
death of Hrôðgâr, Hrôð-ulf would prove a good guardian to Hrôðgâr's young
son, who would succeed to the government; a hope which seems not to have
been accomplished, since it appears from 1165, 1166 that Hrôð-ulf has
abused his trust towards Hrôðgâr.

Hrones-näs (dat. -nässe, 2806, 3137), a promontory on the coast of the
country of the Geátas, visible from afar. Here is Beówulf's grave-mound,
2806, 3137.

Hrunting (dat. Hruntinge, 1660), Hûnferð's sword, is so called, 1458, 1660.

Hûgas (gen. Hûga, 2503), Hygelâc wars against them allied with the Franks
and Frisians, and falls, 2195 ff. One of their heroes is called Däghrefn,
whom Beówulf slays, 2503.

[H]ûn-ferð, the son of Ecglâf, þyle of King Hrôðgâr. As such, he has his
place near the throne of the king, 499, 500, 1167. He lends his sword,
Hrunting, to Beówulf for his battle with Grendel's mother, 1456 f.
According to 588, 1168, he slew his brothers. Since his name is always
alliterated with vowels, it is probable that the original form was, as
Rieger (Zachers Ztschr., 3, 414) conjectures, Unferð.

Hûn-lâfing, name of a costly sword, which Finn presents to Hengest, 1144.
See Note.

Hygd (dat. Hygde, 2173), daughter of Häreð, 1930; consort of Hygelâc, king
of the Geátas, 1927; her son, Heardrêd, 2203, etc.--Her noble, womanly
character is emphasized, 1927 ff.

Hyge-lâc (gen. Hige-lâces, 194, etc., Hygelâces, 2387; dat. Higelâce, 452,
Hygelâce, 2170), king of the Geátas, 1203, etc. His grandfather is
Swerting, 1204; his father, Hrêðel, 1486, 1848; his older brothers,
Herebeald and Hæðcyn, 2435; his sister's son, Beówulf, 374, 375. After his
brother, Hæðcyn, is killed by Ongenþeów, he undertakes the government (2992
in connection with the preceding from 2937 on). To Eofor he gives, as
reward for slaying Ongenþeów, his only daughter in marriage, 2998. But much
later, at the time of the return of Beówulf from his expedition to Hrôðgâr,
we see him married to the very young Hygd, the daughter of Häreð, 1930. The
latter seems, then, to have been his second wife. Their son is Heardrêd,
2203, 2376, 2387.--Hygelâc falls during an expedition against the Franks,
Frisians, and Hûgas, 1206, 1211, 2356-59, 2916-17.

Ingeld (dat. Ingelde, 2065), son of Frôda, the Heaðobeard chief, who fell
in a battle with the Danes, 2051 ff. in order to end the war, Ingeld is
married to Freáwaru, daughter of the Danish king, Hrôðgâr, 2025-30. Yet his
love for his young wife can make him forget only for a short while his
desire to avenge his father. He finally carries it out, excited thereto by
the repeated admonitions of an old warrior, 2042-70 (Wîdsîð, 45-59).

Ing-wine (gen. Ingwina, 1045, 1320), friends of Ing, the first king of the
East Danes. The Danes are so called, 1045, 1320.

Mere-wioingas (gen. Mere-wioinga, 2922), as name of the Franks, 2922.

Nägling, the name of Beówulf's sword, 2681.

Offa (gen. Offan, 1950), king of the Angles (Wîdsîð, 35), the son of
Gârmund, 1963; married (1950) to Þryðo (1932), a beautiful but cruel woman,
of unfeminine spirit (1932 ff.), by whom he has a son, Eómær, 1961.

Ôht-here (gen. Ôhtheres, 2929, 2933; Ôhteres, 2381, 2393, 2395, 2613), son
of Ongenþeów, king of the Swedes, 2929. His sons are Eánmund (2612) and
Eádgils, 2393.

Onela (gen. Onelan, 2933), Ôhthere's brother, 2617, 2933.

Ongen-þeów (nom. -þeów, 2487, -þió, 2952; gen. -þeówes, 2476, -þiówes,
2388; dat. -þió, 2987), of the dynasty of the Scylfings; king of the
Swedes, 2384. His wife is, perhaps, Elan, daughter of the Danish king,
Healfdene (62), and mother of two sons, Onela and Ôhthere, 2933. She is
taken prisoner by Hæðcyn, king of the Geátas, on an expedition into Sweden,
which he undertakes on account of her sons' plundering raids into his
country, 2480 ff. She is set free by Ongenþeów (2931), who kills Hæðcyn,
2925, and encloses the Geátas, now deprived of their leader, in the
Ravenswood (2937 ff.), till they are freed by Hygelâc, 2944. A battle then
follows, which is unfavorable to Ongenþeów's army. Ongenþeów himself,
attacked by the brothers, Wulf and Eofor, is slain by the latter, 2487 ff.,
2962 ff.

Ôs-lâf, a warrior of Hnäf's, who avenges on Finn his leader's death, 1149
f.

Scede-land, 19. Sceden-îg (dat. Sceden-îgge, 1687), O.N., Scân-ey, the most
southern portion of the Scandinavian peninsula, belonging to the Danish
kingdom, and, in the above-mentioned passages of our poem, a designation of
the whole Danish kingdom.

Scêf or Sceáf. See Note.

Scyld (gen. Scyldes, 19), a Scêfing. 4. His son is Beówulf, 18, 53: his
grandson, Healfdene, 57; his great-grandson, Hrôðgâr, who had two brothers
and a sister, 59 ff.--Scyld dies, 26; his body, upon a decorated ship, is
given over to the sea (32 ff.), just as he, when a child, drifted alone,
upon a ship, to the land of the Danes, 43 ff. After him his descendants
bear his name.

Scyldingas (Scyldungas, 2053; gen. Scyldinga, 53, etc., Scyldunga, 2102,
2160; dat. Scyldingum, 274, etc.), a name which is extended also to the
Danes, who are ruled by the Scyldings, 53, etc. They are also called
Âr-Scyldingas, 464; Sige-Scyldingas, 598, 2005; Þeód-Scyldingas, 1020;
Here-Scyldingas, 1109.

Scylfingas, a Swedish royal family, whose relationship seems to extend to
the Geátas, since Wîglâf, the son of Wihstân, who in another place, as a
kinsman of Beówulf, is called a Wægmunding (2815), is also called leód
Scylfinga, 2604. The family connections are perhaps as follows:--

Scylf.
|
------------------------
Wægmund. .......
| |
------------------ ----------
Ecgþeów. Weohstân. Ongenþeów.
| | |
-------- -------- ---------------
Beówulf. Wîglâf. Onela. Ôhthere.
|
-----------------
Eáumund. Eádgils.

The Scylfings are also called Heaðo-Scilfingas, 63, Gûð-Scylfingas, 2928.

Sige-mund (dat. -munde, 876, 885), the son of Wäls, 878, 898. His (son and)
nephew is Fitela, 880, 882. His fight with the drake, 887 ff.

Swerting (gen. Swertinges, 1204), Hygelâc's grandfather, and Hrêðel's
father, 1204.

Sweon (gen. Sweona, 2473, 2947, 3002), also Sweó-þeód, 2923. The dynasty of
the Scylfings rules over them, 2382, 2925. Their realm is called Swiórice,
2384, 2496.

Þryðo, consort of the Angle king, Offa, 1932, 1950. Mother of Eómær, 1961,
notorious on account of her cruel, unfeminine character, 1932 ff. She is
mentioned as the opposite to the mild, dignified Hygd, the queen of the
Geátas.

Wäls (gen. Wälses, 898), father of Sigemund, 878, 898.

Wæg-mundingas (gen. Wægmundinga, 2608, 2815). The Wægmundings are on one
side, Wihstân and his son Wîglâf; on the other side, Ecgþeów and his son
Beówulf (2608, 2815). See under Scylfingas.

Wederas (gen. Wedera, 225, 423, 498, etc.), or Weder-geátas. See Geátas.

Wêland (gen. Wêlandes, 455), the maker of Beówulf's coat of mail, 455.

Wendlas (gen. Wendla, 348): their chief is Wulfgâr. See Wulfgâr. The
Wendlas are, according to Grundtvig and Bugge, the inhabitants of Vendill,
the most northern part of Jutland, between Limfjord and the sea.

Wealh-þeów (613, Wealh-þeó, 665, 1163), the consort of King Hrôðgâr, of the
stock of the Helmings, 621. Her sons are Hrêðrîc and Hrôðmund, 1190; her
daughter, Freáwaru, 2023.

Weoh-stân (gen. Weox-stânes, 2603, Weoh-stânes, 2863, Wih-stânes, 2753,
2908, etc.), a Wægmunding (2608), father of Wîglâf, 2603. In what
relationship to him Älfhere, mentioned 2605, stands, is not
clear.--Weohstân is the slayer of Eánmund (2612), in that, as it seems, he
takes revenge for his murdered king, Heardrêd. See Eánmund.

Wîg-lâf, Weohstân's son, 2603, etc., a Wægmunding, 2815, and so also a
Scylfing, 2604; a kinsman of Älfhere, 2605. For his relationship to
Beówulf, see the genealogical table under Scylfingas.--He supports Beówulf
in his fight with the drake, 2605 ff., 2662 ff. The hero gives him, before
his death, his ring, his helm, and his coat of mail, 2810 ff.

Won-rêd (gen. Wonrêdes, 2972), father of Wulf and Eofor, 2966, 2979.

Wulf (dat. Wulfe, 2994), one of the Geátas, Wonrêd's son. He fights in the
battle between the armies of Hygelâc and Ongenþeów with Ongenþeów himself,
and gives him a wound (2966), whereupon Ongenþeów, by a stroke of his
sword, disables him, 2975. Eofor avenges his brother's fall by dealing
Ongenþeów a mortal blow, 2978 ff.

Wulf-gâr, chief of the Wendlas, 348, lives at Hrôðgâr's court, and is his
"âr and ombiht," 335.

Wylfingas (dat. Wylfingum, 461). Ecgþeów has slain Heoðolâf, a warrior of
this tribe, 460.

Yrmen-lâf, younger brother of Äschere, 1325.


ADDITIONAL.

Eotenas (gen. pl. Eotena, 1073, 1089, 1142; dat. Eotenum, 1146), the
subjects of Finn, the North Frisians: distinguished from eoton, _giant_.
Vid eoton. Cf. Bugge, Beit., xii. 37; Earle, Beowulf in Prose, pp. 146,
198.

Hrêðling, son of Hrêðel, Hygelâc: nom. sg. 1924; nom. pl., the subjects of
Hygelâc, the Geats, 2961.

Scêfing, the son (?) of Scêf, or Sceáf, reputed father of Scyld, 4. See
Note.



ABBREVIATIONS.

B.: Bugge.
Br.: S.A. Brooke, Hist. of Early Eng. Lit.
C.: Cosijn.
E.: Earle, Deeds of Beowulf in Prose.
G.: Garnett, Translation of Beowulf
Gr.: Grein.
H.: Heyne.
Ha.: Hall, Translation of Beowulf.
H.-So.: Heyne-Socin, 5th ed.
Ho.: Holder.
K.: Kemble.
Kl.: Kluge.
Müllenh.: Müllenhoff.
R.: Rieger.
S.: Sievers.
Sw.: Sweet, Anglo-Saxon Reader, 6th ed.
Ten Br.: Ten Brink.
Th.: Thorpe.
Z.: Zupitza.

PERIODICALS.

Ang.: Anglia.
Beit.: Paul und Branne's Beiträge.
Eng. Stud.: Englische Studien.
Germ.: Germania.
Haupts Zeitschr.: Haupts Zeitschrift, etc.
Mod. Lang. Notes: Modern Language Notes.
Tidskr.: Tidskrift for Philologi.
Zachers Zeitschr.: Zachers Zeitschrift, etc.


NOTES.

l. 1. hwät: for this interjectional formula opening a poem, cf. _Andreas,
Daniel, Juliana, Exodus, Fata Apost., Dream of the Rood_, and the
"Listenith lordinges!" of mediaeval lays.--E. Cf. Chaucer, Prologue, ed.
Morris, l. 853:

"Sin I shal beginne the game,
_What_, welcome be the cut, a Goddes name!"

we ... gefrunon is a variant on the usual epic formulæ ic gefrägn (l. 74)
and mîne gefræge (l. 777). _Exodus, Daniel, Phoenix_, etc., open with the
same formula.

l. 1. "Gâr was the javelin, armed with two of which the warrior went into
battle, and which he threw over the 'shield-wall.' It was barbed."--Br.
124. Cf. _Maldon_, l. 296; _Judith_, l. 224; _Gnom. Verses_, l. 22; etc.

l. 4. "Scild of the Sheaf, not 'Scyld the son of Scaf'; for it is too
inconsistent, even in myth, to give a patronymic to a foundling. According
to the original form of the story, Sceáf was the foundling; he had come
ashore with a sheaf of corn, and from that was named. This form of the
story is preserved in Ethelwerd and in William of Malmesbury. But here the
foundling is Scyld, and we must suppose he was picked up with the sheaf,
and hence his cognomen."--E., p. 105. Cf. the accounts of Romulus and
Remus, of Moses, of Cyrus, etc.

l. 6. egsian is also used in an active sense (not in the Gloss.), = _to
terrify_.

l. 15. S. suggests þâ (_which_) for þät, as object of dreógan; and for
aldor-leáse, Gr. suggested aldor-ceare.--_Beit._ ix. 136.

S. translates: "For God had seen the dire need which the rulerless ones
before endured."

l. 18. "Beowulf (that is, Beaw of the Anglo-Saxon genealogists, not our
Beowulf, who was a Geat, not a Dane), 'the son of Scyld in Scedeland.' This
is our ancestral myth,--the story of the first culture-hero of the North;
'the patriarch,' as Rydberg calls him, 'of the royal families of Sweden,
Denmark, Angeln, Saxland, and England.'"--Br., p. 78. Cf. _A.-S. Chron._
an. 855.

H.-So. omits parenthetic marks, and reads (after S., _Beit._ ix. 135)
eaferan; cf. _Fata Apost._: lof wîde sprang þeódnes þegna.

"The name _Beowulf_ means literally 'Bee-wolf,' wolf or ravager of
the bees, = bear. Cf. _beorn_, 'hero,' originally 'bear,' and
_beohata_, 'warrior,' in Cædmon, literally 'bee-hater' or
'persecutor,' and hence identical in meaning with _beowulf_."--Sw.

Cf. "Arcite and Palamon,
That foughten _breme_, as it were bores two."
--Chaucer, _Knightes Tale_, l. 841, ed. Morris.

Cf. M. Müller, _Science of Lang._, Sec. Series, pp. 217, 218; and Hunt's
_Daniel_, 104.

l. 19. Cf. l. 1866, where Scedenig is used, = _Scania_, in Sweden(?).

l. 21. wine is pl.; cf. its apposition wil-gesîðas below. H.-So. compares
_Héliand_, 1017, for language almost identical with ll. 20, 21.

l. 22. on ylde: cf.
"_In elde_ is bothe wisdom and usage."
--Chaucer, _Knightes Tale_, l. 1590, ed. Morris.

l. 26. Reflexive objects often pleonastically accompany verbs of motion;
cf. ll. 234, 301, 1964, etc.

l. 28. faroð = _shore, strand, edge._ Add these to the meanings in the
Gloss.

l. 31. The object of âhte is probably geweald, to be supplied from wordum
weóld of l. 30.--H.-So.

R., Kl., and B. all hold conflicting views of this passage: _Beit._ xii.
80, ix. 188; _Zachers Zeitschr._ iii. 382, etc. Kl. suggests lændagas for
lange.

l. 32. "hringed-stefna is sometimes translated 'with curved prow,' but it
means, I think, that in the prow were fastened rings through which the
cables were passed that tied it to the shore."--Br., p. 26. Cf. ll. 1132,
1898. Hring-horni was the mythic ship of the Edda. See Toller-Bosworth for
three different views; and cf. wunden-stefna (l. 220), hring-naca (l.
1863).

ll. 34-52. Cf. the burial of Haki on a funeral-pyre ship, _Inglinga Saga;_
the burial of Balder, Sinfiötli, Arthur, etc.

l. 35. "And this [their joy in the sea] is all the plainer from the number
of names given to the ship-names which speak their pride and affection. It
is the Ætheling's vessel, the Floater, the Wave-swimmer, the Ring-sterned,
the Keel, the Well-bound wood, the Sea-wood, the Sea-ganger, the Sea-broad
ship, the Wide-bosomed, the Prow-curved, the Wood of the curved neck, the
Foam-throated floater that flew like a bird."--Br., p. 168.

l. 49. "We know from Scandinavian graves ... that the illustrious dead were
buried ... in ships, with their bows to sea-ward; that they were however
not sent to sea, but were either burnt in that position, or mounded over
with earth."--E. See Du Chaillu, _The Viking Age_, xix.

l. 51. (1) sele-rædende (K., S., C.); (2) sêle-rædenne (H.); (3)
sele-rædende (H.-So.). Cf. l. 1347; and see Ha.

l. 51. E. compares with this canto Tennyson's "Passing of Arthur" and the
legendary burial-journey of St. James of Campostella, an. 800.

l. 53. The poem proper begins with this, "There was once upon a time," the
first 52 lines being a prelude. Eleven of the "fitts," or cantos, begin
with the monosyllable þâ, four with the verb gewîtan, nine with the formula
Hrôðgâr (Beówulf, Unferð) maðelode, twenty-four with monosyllables in
general (him, swâ, sê, hwät, þâ, hêht, wäs, mäg, cwôm, stræt).

l. 58. gamel. "The ... characteristics of the poetry are the use of archaic
forms and words, such as mec for mé, the possessive sín, gamol, dógor, swát
for eald, dæg, blód, etc., after they had become obsolete in the prose
language, and the use of special compounds and phrases, such as hildenædre
(_war-adder_) for 'arrow,' gold-gifa (_gold-giver_) for 'king,' ...
goldwine gumena (_goldfriend of men, distributor of gold to men_) for
'king,'" etc.--Sw. Other poetic words are ides, ielde (_men_), etc.

l. 60. H.-So. reads ræswa (referring to Heorogâr alone), and places a point
(with the Ms.) after Heorogâr instead of after ræswa. Cf. l. 469; see B.,
_Zachers Zeitschr._ iv. 193.

l. 62. Elan here (OHG. _Elana, Ellena, Elena, Elina, Alyan_) is thought by
B. (_Tidskr_. viii. 43) to be a remnant of the masc. name Onela, and he
reads: [On-]elan ewên, Heaðoscilfingas(=es) healsgebedda.

l. 68. For hê, omitted here, cf. l. 300. Pronouns are occasionally thus
omitted insubord. clauses.--Sw.

l. 70. þone, here = þonne, _than_, and micel = mâre? The passage, by a
slight change, might be made to read, medo-ärn micle mâ gewyrcean,--þone =
_by much larger than_,--in which þone (þonne) would come in naturally.

l. 73. folc-scare. Add _folk-share_ to the meanings in the Gloss.; and cf.
gûð-scearu.

l. 74. ic wide gefrägn: an epic formula very frequent in poetry, = _men
said._ Cf. _Judith_, ll. 7, 246; _Phoenix_, l. 1; and the parallel (noun)
formula, mîne gefræge, ll. 777, 838, 1956, etc.

ll. 78-83. "The hall was a rectangular, high-roofed, wooden building, its
long sides facing north and south. The two gables, at either end, had
stag-horns on their points, curving forwards, and these, as well as the
ridge of the roof, were probably covered with shining metal, and glittered
bravely in the sun."--Br., p. 32.

l. 84. _Son-in-law and father-in-law;_ B., a so-called _dvanda_ compound.
Cf. l. 1164, where a similar compound means _uncle and nephew;_ and
Wîdsîð's suhtorfædran, used of the same persons.

l. 88. "The word dreám conveys the buzz and hum of social happiness, and
more particularly the sound of music and singing."--E. Cf. l. 3021; and
_Judith_, l. 350; _Wanderer_, l. 79, etc.

ll. 90-99. There is a suspicious similarity between this passage and the
lines attributed by Bede to Cædmon:

Nû wê sculan herian heofonrices Weard, etc.
--Sw., p. 47.

ll. 90-98 are probably the interpolation of a Christian scribe.

ll. 92-97. "The first of these Christian elements [in _Beówulf_] is the
sense of a fairer, softer world than that in which the Northern warriors
lived.... Another Christian passage (ll. 107, 1262) derives all the demons,
eotens, elves, and dreadful sea-beasts from the race of Cain. The folly of
sacrificing to the heathen gods is spoken of (l. 175).... The other point
is the belief in immortality (ll. 1202, 1761)."--Br. 71.

l. 100. Cf. l. 2211, where the third dragon of the poem is introduced in
the same words. Beowulf is the forerunner of that other national
dragon-slayer, St. George.

l. 100. onginnan in _Beówulf_ is treated like verbs of motion and modal
auxiliaries, and takes the object inf. without tô; cf. ll. 872, 1606, 1984,
244. Cf. _gan_ (= _did_) in Mid. Eng.: _gan_ espye (Chaucer, _Knightes
Tale_, l. 254, ed. Morris).

l. 101. B. and H.-So. read, feónd on healle; cf. l. 142.--_Beit._ xii.

ll. 101-151. "Grimm connects [Grendel] with the Anglo-Saxon grindel (_a
bolt_ or _bar_).... It carries with it the notion of the bolts and bars of
hell, and hence _a fiend._ ... Ettmüller was the first ... to connect the
name with grindan, _to grind, to crush to pieces, to utterly destroy._
Grendel is then _the tearer, the destroyer_."--Br., p. 83.

l. 102. gäst = _stranger_ (Ha.); cf. ll. 1139, 1442, 2313, etc.

l. 103. See Ha., p. 4.

l. 106. "The perfect and pluperfect are often expressed, as in Modern
English, by hæfð and hæfde with the past participle."--Sw. Cf. ll. 433,
408, 940, 205 (p. p. inflected in the last two cases), etc.

l. 106. S. destroys period here, reads in Caines, etc., and puts þone ...
drihten in parenthesis.

l. 108. þäs þe = _because_, especially after verbs of thanking (cf. ll.
228, 627, 1780, 2798); _according as_ (l. 1351).

l. 108. The def. article is omitted with Drihten (_Lord_) and Deofol
(_devil_; cf. l. 2089), as it is, generally, sparingly employed in poetry;
cf. tô sæ (l. 318), ofer sæ (l. 2381), on lande (l. 2311), tô räste (l.
1238), on wicge (l. 286), etc., etc.

l. 119. weras (S., H.-So.); wera (K., Th.).--_Beit._ ix. 137.

l. 120. unfælo = _uncanny_ (R.).

l. 131. E. translates, _majestic rage;_ adopting Gr.'s view that swyð is =
Icel. sviði, _a burn_ or _burning_. Cf. l. 737.

l. 142. B. supposes heal-þegnes to be corrupted from helþegnes; cf. l.
101.--_Beit._ xii. 80. See Gûðlâc, l. 1042.

l. 144. See Ha., p. 6, for S.'s rearrangement.

l. 146. S. destroys period after sêlest, puts wäs ... micel in parenthesis,
and inserts a colon after tîd.

l. 149. B. reads sârcwidum for syððan.

l. 154. B. takes sibbe for accus. obj. of wolde, and places a comma after
Deniga.--_Beit._ xii. 82.

l. 159. R. suggests ac se for atol.

l. 168. H.-So. plausibly conjectures this parenthesis to be a late
insertion, as, at ll. 180-181, the Danes also are said to be heathen.
Another commentator considers the throne under a "spell of enchantment,"
and therefore it could not be touched.

l. 169. ne ... wisse: _nor had he desire to do so_ (W.). See Ha., p. 7, for
other suggestions.

l. 169. myne wisse occurs in _Wanderer_, l. 27.

l. 174. The gerundial inf. with tô expresses purpose, defines a noun or
adjective, or, with the verb be, expresses duty or necessity passively; cf.
ll. 257, 473, 1004, 1420, 1806, etc. Cf. tô + inf. at ll. 316, 2557.

ll. 175-188. E. regards this passage as dating the time and place of the
poem relatively to the times of heathenism. Cf. the opening lines, _In days
of yore_, etc., as if the story, even then, were very old.

l. 177. gâst-bona is regarded by Ettmüller and G. Stephens (_Thunor_, p.
54) as an epithet of Thor (= _giant-killer_), a kenning for Thunor or Thor,
meaning both _man_ and _monster_.--E.

l. 189. Cf. l. 1993, where similar language is used. H.-So. takes both
môd-ceare and mæl-ceare as accus., others as instr.

ll. 190, 1994. seáð: for this use of seóðan cf. Bede, _Eccles. Hist._, ed.
Miller, p. 128, where p. p. soden is thus used.

l. 194. fram hâm = _in his home_ (S., H.-So.); but fram hâm may be for fram
him (_from them_, i.e. _his people_, or _from Hrothgar's_). Cf. Ha., p. 8.

l. 197. Cf. ll. 791, 807, for this fixed phrase.

l. 200. See _Andreas, Elene_, and _Juliana_ for swan-râd (_= sea_). "The
swan is said to breed wild now no further away than the North of Sweden."
--E. Cf. ganotes bäð, l. 1862.

l. 203. Concessive clauses with þeáh, þeáh þe, þeáh ... eal, vary with
subj. and ind., according as fact or contingency is dominant in the mind;
cf. ll. 526, 1168, 2032, etc. (subj.), 1103, 1614 (ind.). Cf. gif, nefne.

l. 204. hæl, an OE. word found in Wülker's Glossaries in various forms, =
_augury, omen, divination_, etc. Cf. hælsere, _augur_; hæl, _omen;_
hælsung, _augurium_, hælsian, etc. Cf. Tac., _Germania_, 10.

l. 207. C. adds "= _impetrare_" to the other meanings of findan given in
the Gloss.

l. 217. Cf. l. 1910; and _Andreas_, l. 993.--E. E. compares Byron's

"And fast and falcon-like the vessel flew,"
--_Corsair_, i.17.

and Scott's

"Merrily, merrily bounds the bark."
--_Lord of the Isles_, iv. 7.

l. 218. Cf.
"The fomy stedes on the golden brydel
Gnawinge."
--Chaucer, _Knightes Tale_, l. 1648, ed. Morris.

l. 219. Does ân-tîd mean _hour_ (Th.), or _corresponding hour_ = ând-tîd
(H.-So.), or _in due time_ (E.), or _after a time_, when ôþres, etc., would
be adv. gen.? See C., _Beit._ viii. 568.

l. 224. eoletes may = (1) _voyage_; (2) _toil, labor_; (3) _hurried
journey;_ but _sea_ or _fjord_ appears preferable.

ll. 229-257. "The scenery ... is laid on the coast of the North Sea and the
Kattegat, the first act of the poem among the Danes in Seeland, the second
among the Geats in South Sweden."--Br., p. 15.

l. 239. "A shoal of simple terms express in _Beówulf_ the earliest
sea-thoughts of the English.... The simplest term is Sæ.... To this they
added Wæter, Flod, Stream, Lagu, Mere, Holm, Grund, Heathu, Sund, Brim,
Garsecg, Eagor, Geofon, Fifel, Hron-rad, Swan-rad, Segl-rad,
Ganotes-bæð."--Br., p. 163-166.

l. 239. "The infinitive is often used in poetry after a verb of motion
where we should use the present participle."--Sw. Cf. ll. 711, 721, 1163
1803, 268, etc. Cf. German _spazieren fahren reiten_, etc., and similar
constructions in French, etc.

l. 240, W. reads hringed-stefnan for helmas bæron. B. inserts (?) after
holmas and begins a new line at the middle of the verse. S. omits B.'s "on
the wall."

l. 245. Double and triple negatives strengthen each other and do not
produce an affirmative in A.-S. or M. E. The neg. is often prefixed to
several emphatic words in the sentence, and readily contracts with vowels,
and h or w; cf. ll. 863, 182, 2125, 1509, 575, 583, 3016, etc.

l. 249. seld-guma = _man-at-arms in another's house_ (Wood); = _low-ranking
fellow_ (Ha.); stubenhocker, _stay-at-home_ (Gr.), Scott's "carpet knight,"
_Marmion_, i. 5.

l. 250. näfne (nefne, nemne) usually takes the subj., = _unless_; cf. ll.
1057, 3055, 1553. For ind., = _except_, see l. 1354. Cf. bûtan, gif, þeáh.

l. 250. For a remarkable account of armor and weapons in _Beówulf_, see S.
A. Brooke, _Hist. of Early Eng. Lit_. For general "Old Teutonic Life in
Beówulf," see J. A. Harrison, _Overland Monthly_.

l. 252. ær as a conj. generally has subj., as here; cf. ll. 264, 677, 2819,
732. For ind., cf. l. 2020.

l. 253. leás = _loose_, _roving_. Ettmüller corrected to leáse.

l. 256. This proverb (ôfest, etc.) occurs in _Exod_. (Hunt), l. 293.

l. 258. An "elder" may be a very young man; hence yldesta, = _eminent_, may
be used of Beowulf. Cf. _Laws of Ælfred_, C. 17: Nâ þät ælc eald sý, ac þät
he eald sý on wîsdôme.

l. 273. Verbs of hearing and seeing are often followed by acc. with inf.;
cf. ll. 229, 1024, 729, 1517, etc. Cf. German construction with _sehen,
horen_, etc., French construction with _voir, entendre_, etc., and the
classical constructions.

l. 275. dæd-hata = _instigator_. Kl. reads dæd-hwata.

l. 280. ed-wendan, n. (B.; cf. 1775), = edwenden, limited by bisigu. So ten
Br. = _Tidskr_. viii. 291.

l. 287. "Each is denoted ... also by the strengthened forms 'æghwæðer
('ægðer), éghwæðer, etc. This prefixed 'æ, óe corresponds to the Goth,
_aiw_, OHG. _eo_, _io_, and is umlauted from á, ó by the i of the gi which
originally followed."--Cook's Sievers' Gram., p. 190.

l. 292. "All through the middle ages suits of armour are called
'weeds.'"--E.

l. 303. "An English warrior went into battle with a boar-crested helmet,
and a round linden shield, with a byrnie of ringmail ... with two javelins
or a single ashen spear some eight or ten feet long, with a long two-edged
sword naked or held in an ornamental scabbard.... In his belt was a short,
heavy, one-edged sword, or rather a long knife, called the seax ... used
for close quarters."--Br., p. 121.

l. 303. For other references to the boar-crest, cf. ll. 1112, 1287, 1454;
Grimm, _Myth._ 195; Tacitus, _Germania_, 45. "It was the symbol of their
[the Baltic Æstii's] goddess, and they had great faith in it as a
preservative from hard knocks."--E. See the print in the illus. ed. of
Green's _Short History_, Harper & Bros.

l. 303. "See Kemble, _Saxons in England_, chapter on heathendom, and
Grimm's _Teutonic Mythology_, chapter on Freyr, for the connection these
and other writers establish between the Boar-sign and the golden boar which
Freyr rode, and his worship."--Br., p. 128. Cf. _Elene_, l. 50.

l. 304. Gering proposes hleór-bergan = _cheek-protectors_; cf. _Beit._ xii.
26. "A bronze disk found at Öland in Sweden represents two warriors in
helmets with boars as their crests, and cheek-guards under; these are the
hleór-bergan."--E. Cf. hauberk, with its diminutive habergeon, < A.-S.
heals, _neck_ + beorgan, _to cover_ or _protect_; and harbor, < A.-S. here,
_army_ + beorgan, id.--_Zachers Zeitschr._ xii. 123. Cf. cinberge, Hunt's
_Exod._ l. 175.

l. 305. For ferh wearde and gûðmôde grummon, B. and ten Br. read
ferh-wearde (l. 305) and gûðmôdgum men (l. 306), = _the boar-images ...
guarded the lives of the warlike men_.

l. 311. leóma: cf. Chaucer, _Nonne Preestes Tale_, l. 110, ed. Morris:

"To dremen in here dremes
Of armes, and of fyr with rede _lemes_."

l. 318. On the double gender of sæ, cf. Cook's Sievers' Gram., p. 147; and
note the omitted article at ll. 2381, 318, 544, with the peculiar tmesis of
_between_ at ll. 859, 1298, 1686, 1957. So _Cædmon_, l. 163 (Thorpe),
_Exod._ l. 562 (Hunt), etc.

l. 320. Cf. l. 924; and _Andreas_, l. 987, where almost the same words
occur. "Here we have manifestly before our eye one of those ancient
causeways, which are among the oldest visible institutions of
civilization." --E.

l. 322. S. inserts comma after scîr, and makes hring-îren (= _ring-mail_)
parallel with gûð-byrne.

l. 325. Cf. l. 397. "The deposit of weapons outside before entering a house
was the rule at all periods.... In provincial Swedish almost everywhere a
church porch is called våkenhus,... i.e. _weapon-house_, because the
worshippers deposited their arms there before they entered the house."--E.,
after G. Stephens.

l. 333. Cf. Dryden's "mingled metal _damask'd_ o'er with gold."--E.

l. 336. "æl-, el-, kindred with Goth. _aljis_, other, e.g. in ælþéodig,
elþéodig, foreign."--Cook's Sievers' Gram., p. 47.

l. 336. Cf. l. 673 for the functions of an ombiht-þegn.

l. 343. Cf. l. 1714 for the same beód-geneátas,--"the predecessor title to
that of the Knights of the Table Round."--E. Cf. _Andreas_ (K.), l. 2177.

l. 344. The future is sometimes expressed by willan + inf., generally with
some idea of volition involved; cf. ll. 351, 427, etc. Cf. the use of
willan as principal vb. (with omitted inf.) at ll. 318, 1372, 543, 1056;
and sculan, ll. 1784, 2817.

l. 353. sîð here, and at l. 501, probably means _arrival_. E. translates
the former by _visit_, the latter by _adventure_.

l. 357. unhâr = _hairless, bald_ (Gr., etc.).

l. 358. eode is only one of four or five preterits of gân (gongan, gangan,
gengan), viz. geóng (gióng: ll. 926, 2410, etc.), gang (l. 1296, etc.),
gengde (ll. 1402, 1413). Sievers, p. 217, apparently remarks that eode is
"probably used only in prose." (?!). Cf. geng, _Gen._ ll. 626, 834; _Exod._
(Hunt) l. 102.

l. 367. The MS. and H.-So. read with Gr. and B. glädman Hrôðgâr, abandoning
Thorkelin's glädnian. There is a glass. hilaris glädman.--_Beit._ xii. 84;
same as gläd.

l. 369. dugan is a "preterit-present" verb, with new wk. preterit, like
sculan, durran, magan, etc. For various inflections, see ll. 573, 590,
1822, 526. Cf. _do_ in "that will _do_"; _doughty_, etc.

l. 372. Cf. l. 535 for a similar use; and l. 1220. Bede, _Eccles. Hist._,
ed. Miller, uses the same expression several times. "Here, and in all other
places where cniht occurs in this poem, it seems to carry that technical
sense which it bore in the military hierarchy [of a noble youth placed out
and learning the elements of the art of war in the service of a qualified
warrior, to whom he is, in a military sense, a servant], before it bloomed
out in the full sense of _knight_."--E.

l. 373. E. remarks of the hyphened eald-fäder, "hyphens are risky toys to
play with in fixing texts of pre-hyphenial antiquity"; eald-fäder could
only = _grandfather_. eald here can only mean _honored_, and the hyphen is
unnecessary. Cf. "old fellow," "my old man," etc.; and Ger. _alt-vater_.

l. 378. Th. and B. propose Geátum, as presents from the Danish to the
Geatish king.--_Beit._ xii.

l. 380. häbbe. The subj. is used in indirect narration and question, wish
and command, purpose, result, and hypothetical comparison with swelce = _as
if_.

ll. 386, 387. Ten Br. emends to read: "Hurry, bid the kinsman-throng go
into the hall together."

l. 387. sibbe-gedriht, for Beowulf's friends, occurs also at l. 730. It is
subject-acc. to seón. Cf. ll. 347, 365, and Hunt's _Exod_. l. 214.

l. 404. "Here, as in the later Icelandic halls, Beowulf saw Hrothgar
enthroned on a high seat at the east end of the hall. The seat is sacred.
It has a supernatural quality. Grendel, the fiend, cannot approach
it."--Br., p. 34. Cf. l. 168.

l. 405. "At Benty Grange, in Derbyshire, an Anglo-Saxon barrow, opened in
1848, contained a coat of mail. 'The iron chain work consists of a large
number of links of two kinds attached to each other by small rings half an
inch in diameter; one kind flat and lozenge-shaped ... the others all of
one kind, but of different lengths.'"--Br., p. 126.

l. 407. Wes ... hâl: this ancient Teutonic greeting afterwards grew into
wassail. Cf. Skeat's _Luke_, i. 28; _Andreas_ (K.), 1827; Layamon, l.
14309, etc.

l. 414. "The distinction between wesan and weorðan [in passive relations]
is not very clearly defined, but wesan appears to indicate a state, weorðan
generally an action."--Sw. Cf. Mod. German _werden_ and _sein_ in similar
relations.

l. 414. Gr. translates hâdor by _receptaculum_; cf. Gering, _Zachers
Zeitschr._ xii. 124. Toller-Bosw. ignores Gr.'s suggestion.

ll. 420, 421. B. reads: þær ic (_on_) fîfelgeban (= _ocean_) ýðde eotena
cyn. Ten Br. reads: þær ic fîfelgeban ýðde, eotena hâm. Ha. suggests
fîfelgeband = _monster-band_, without further changes.

l. 420. R. reads þæra = _of them_, for þær.--_Zachers Zeitschr._ iii. 399;
_Beit._ xii. 367.

l. 420. "niht has a gen., nihtes, used for the most part only adverbially,
and almost certainly to be regarded as masculine."--Cook's Sievers' Gram.,
p. 158.

l. 425. Cf. also ll. 435, 635, 2345, for other examples of Beowulf's
determination to fight single-handed.

l. 441. þe hine = _whom_, as at l. 1292, etc. The indeclinable þe is often
thus combined with personal pronouns, = relative, and is sometimes
separated from them by a considerable interval.--Sw.

l. 443. The MS. has Geotena. B. and Fahlbeck, says H.-So., do not consider
the Geátas, but the Jutes, as the inhabitants of Swedish West-Gothland.
Alfred translates Juti by Geátas, but _Jutland_ by _Gotland_. In the laws
they are called Guti.--_Beit._ xii. 1, etc.

l. 444. B., Gr., and Ha. make unforhte an adv. = _fearlessly_, modifying
etan. Kl. reads anforhte = _timid_.

l. 446. Cf. l. 2910. Th. translates: _thou wilt not need my head to hide_
(i.e. _bury_). Simrock supposes a dead-watch or lyke-wake to be meant.
Wood, _thou wilt not have to bury so much as my head!_ H.-So. supposes
heáfod-weard, _a guard of honor_, such as sovereigns or presumptive rulers
had, to be meant by hafalan hýdan; hence, _you need not give me any guard_,
etc. Cf. Schmid, _Gesetze der A._, 370-372.

l. 447. S. places a colon after nimeð.

l. 451. H.-So., Ha., and B. (_Beit._ xii. 87) agree essentially in
translating feorme, _food_. R. translates _consumption of my corpse.
Maintenance, support_, seems preferable to either.

l. 452. Rönning (after Grimm) personifies Hild.--_Beovulfs Kvadet_, l. 59.
Hildr is the name of one of the Scandinavian Walkyries, or battle-maidens,
who transport the spirits of the slain to Walhalla. Cf. Kent's _Elene_, l.
18, etc.

l. 455. "The war-smiths, especially as forgers of the sword, were garmented
with legend, and made into divine personages. Of these Weland is the type,
husband of a swan maiden, and afterwards almost a god."-- Br., p. 120. Cf.
A. J. C. Hare's account of "Wayland Smith's sword with which Henry II. was
knighted," and which hung in Westminster Abbey to a late date.--_Walks in
London_, ii. 228.

l. 455. This is the ælces mannes wyrd of Boethius (Sw., p. 44) and the wyrd
bið swîðost of Gnomic Verses, 5. There are about a dozen references to it
in _Beówulf_.

l. 455. E. compares the fatalism of this concluding hemistich with the
Christian tone of l. 685 _seq._

ll. 457, 458. B. reads wære-ryhtum ( = _from the obligations of
clientage_).

l. 480. Cf. l. 1231, where the same sense, "flown with wine," occurs.

l. 488. "The duguð, the mature and ripe warriors, the aristocracy of the
nation, are the support of the throne."--E. The M. E. form of the word,
_douth_, occurs often. Associated with geogoð, ll. 160 and 622.

l. 489. Kl. omits comma after meoto and reads (with B.) sige-hrêð-secgum, =
_disclose thy thought to the victor-heroes_. Others, as Körner, convert
meoto into an imperative and divide on sæl = _think upon happiness_. But
cf. onband beadu-rûne, l. 501. B. supposes onsæl meoto =_speak courteous
words_. _Tidskr_. viii. 292; _Haupts Zeitschr._ xi. 411; _Eng. Stud_. ii.
251.

l. 489. Cf. the invitation at l. 1783.

l. 494. Cf. Grimm's _Andreas_, l. 1097, for deal, =_proud, elated,
exulting; Phoenix_ (Bright), l. 266.

l. 499. MS. has Hunferð, but the alliteration requires Ûnferð, as at ll.
499, 1166, 1489; and cf. ll. 1542, 2095, 2930. See _List of Names_.

l. 501. sîð = _arrival_ (?); cf. l. 353.

l. 504. þon mâ = _the more_ (?), may be added to the references under þon.

l. 506. E. compares the taunt of Eliab to David, I Sam. xvii. 28.

l. 509. dol-gilp = _idle boasting_. The second definition in the Gloss. is
wrong.

l. 513. "Eagor-stream might possibly be translated the stream of Eagor, the
awful terror-striking stormy sea in which the terrible [Scandinavian] giant
dwelt, and through which he acted."--Br., p. 164. He remarks, "The English
term _eagre_ still survives in provincial dialect for the tide-wave or bore
on rivers. Dryden uses it in his _Threnod. Angust._ 'But like an _eagre_
rode in triumph o'er the tide.' Yet we must be cautious," etc. Cf. Fox's
_Boethius_, ll. 20, 236; Thorpe's _Cædmon_, 69, etc.

l. 524. Krüger and B. read Bânstânes.--_Beit._ ix. 573.

l. 525. R. reads wyrsan (= wyrses: cf. Mod. Gr. _guten Muthes_) geþinges;
but H.-So. shows that the MS. wyrsan ... þingea = wyrsena þinga, _can
stand_; cf. gen. pl. banan, _Christ_, l. 66, etc.

l. 534. Insert, under eard-lufa (in Gloss.), earfoð, st. n., _trouble,
difficulty, struggle_; acc. pl. earfeðo, 534.

l. 545 _seq._ "Five nights Beowulf and Breca kept together, not swimming,
but sailing in open boats (to swim the seas is to sail the seas), then
storm drove them asunder ... Breca is afterwards chief of the Brondings, a
tribe mentioned in _Wîdsíth_. The story seems legendary, not
mythical."--Br., pp. 60, 61.

ll. 574-578. B. suggests swâ þær for hwäðere, = _so there it befell me_.
But the word at l. 574 seems = _however_, and at l. 578 = _yet_; cf. l.
891; see S.; _Beit._ ix. 138; _Tidskr_. viii. 48; _Zacher_, iii. 387, etc.

l. 586. Gr. and Grundt. read fâgum sweordum (no ic þäs fela gylpe!),
supplying fela and blending the broken half-lines into one. Ho. and Kl.
supply geflites.

l. 599. E. translates nýd-bâde by _blackmail_; adding "nêd bâd, _toll_; nêd
bâdere, _tolltaker_."--Land Charters, Gloss, v.

l. 601. MS. has ond = _and_ in three places only (601, 1149, 2041);
elsewhere it uses the symbol 7 = _and_.

l. 612. _seq._ Cf. the drinking ceremony at l. 1025. "The royal lady offers
the cup to Beowulf, not in his turn where he sate among the rest, but after
it has gone the round; her approach to Beowulf is an act apart."--E.

l. 620. "The [loving] cup which went the round of the company and was
tasted by all," like the Oriel and other college anniversary cups.--E.

l. 622. Cf. ll. 160, 1191, for the respective places of young and old.

l. 623. Cf. the circlet of gold worn by Wealhþeów at l. 1164.

l. 631. gyddode. Cf. Chaucer, _Prol._ l. 237 (ed. Morris):

"Of _yeddynges_ he bar utterly the prys."

Cf. _giddy_.

l. 648. Kl. suggests a period after geþinged, especially as B. (_Tidskr_.
viii. 57) has shown that oþþe is sometimes = ond. Th. supplies ne.

l. 650. oþþe here and at ll. 2476, 3007, probably = _and_.

l. 651. Cf. 704, where sceadu-genga (the _night-ganger_ of _Leechdoms_, ii.
344) is applied to the demon.--E.

l. 659. Cf. l. 2431 for same formula, "to have and to hold" of the Marriage
Service.--E.

l. 681. B. considers þeáh ... eal a precursor of Mod. Eng. _although_.

l. 682. gôdra = _advantages in battle_ (Gr.), _battle-skill_ (Ha.), _skill
in war_ (H.-So.). Might not nât be changed to nah = ne + âh (cf. l. 2253),
thus justifying the translation _ability_ (?) --_he has not the ability
to_, etc.

l. 695. Kl. reads hiera.--_Beit._ ix. 189. B. omits hîe as occurring in the
previous hemistich.--_Beit._ xii. 89.

l. 698. "Here Destiny is a web of cloth."--E., who compares the Greek
Clotho, "spinster of fate." Women are also called "weavers of peace," as l.
1943. Cf. Kent's _Elene_, l. 88; _Wîdsîð_, l. 6, etc.

l. 711. B. translates þâ by _when_ and connects with the preceding
sentences, thus rejecting the ordinary canto-division at l. 711. He objects
to the use of com as principal vb. at ll. 703, 711, and 721. (_Beit_, xii.)

l. 711. "Perhaps the Gnomic verse which tells of Thyrs, the giant, is
written with Grendel in the writer's mind,--þyrs sceal on fenne gewunian
âna inuan lande, _the giant shall dwell in the fen, alone in the land_
(Sweet's Read., p. 187)."--Br. p. 36.

l. 717. Dietrich, in _Haupt._ xi. 419, quotes from Ælfric, _Hom._ ii. 498:
hê beworhte þâ bigelsas mid gyldenum læfrum, _he covered the arches with
gold-leaf_,--a Roman custom derived from Carthage. Cf. Mod. Eng. _oriel_ =
_aureolum_, a gilded room.--E. (quoting Skeat). Cf. ll. 2257, 1097, 2247,
2103, 2702, 2283, 333, 1751, for various uses of gold-sheets.

l. 720. B. and ten Br. suggest _hell-thane_ (Grendel) for heal-þegnas, and
make häle refer to Beowulf. Cf. l. 142.

l. 723. Z. reads [ge]hrân.

l. 727. For this use of standan, cf. ll. 2314, 2770; and Vergil, _Ecl._ ii. 26:

"Cum placidum ventis _staret_ mare."

l. 757. gedräg. _Tumult_ is one of the meanings of this word. Here, appar.
= _occupation, lair_.

l. 759. R. reads môdega for gôda, "because the attribute cannot be
separated from the word modified unless the two alliterate."

l. 762. Cf. _Andreas_, l. 1537, for a similar use of ût = _off_.--E.

l. 769. The foreign words in _Beówulf_ (as ceaster-here) are not numerous;
others are (aside from proper names like _Cain, Abel_, etc.) deófol
(diabolus), candel (l. 1573), ancor (l. 303), scrîfan (for- ge-), segn (l.
47), gigant (l. 113), mîl- (l. 1363), stræt (l. 320), ombeht (l. 287), gim
(l. 2073), etc.

l. 770. MS. reads cerwen, a word conceived by B. and others to be part of a
fem. compd.: -scerwen like -wenden in ed-wenden, -ræden, etc. (cf.
meodu-scerpen in _Andreas_, l. 1528); emended to -scerwen, _a great scare
under the figure of a mishap at a drinking-bout_; one might compare
bescerwan, _to deprive_, from bescyrian (Grein, i. 93), hence ealu-seerwen
would = _a sudden taking away, deprivation, of the beer_.--H.-So., p. 93.
See B., _Tidskr_. viii. 292.

l. 771. Ten Br. reads rêðe, rênhearde, = _raging, exceeding bold_.

l. 792. Instrumental adverbial phrases like ænige þinga, nænige þinga (_not
at all_), hûru þinga (_especially_) are not infrequent. See Cook's Sievers'
Gram., p. 178; March, _A.-S. Gram._, p. 182.

l. 811. myrðe. E. translates _in wanton mood_. Toller-Bosw. does not
recognize _sorrow_ as one of the meanings of this word.

ll. 850, 851. S. reads deóp for deóg and erases semicolon after weól, =
_the death-stained deep welled with sword-gore_; cf. l. 1424. B. reads
deáð-fæges deóp, etc., = _the deep welled with the doomed one's
gore_.--_Beit._ xii. 89.

l. 857. The meaning of blaneum is partly explained by fealwe mearas below,
l. 866. Cf. Layamon's "and leop on his _blancke" = steed_, l. 23900; Kent's
_Elene_, l. 1185.

l. 859. Körner, _Eng. Stud_. i. 482, regards the oft-recurring be sæm
tweónum as a mere formula = _on earth_; cf. ll. 1298, 1686. tweóne is part
of the separable prep. _between_; see be-. Cf. Baskerville's _Andreas_, l.
558.

l. 865. Cf. _Voyage of Ôhthere and Wulfstân_ for an account of funeral
horse-racing, Sweet's Read., p. 22.

l. 868. See Ha., p. 31, for a variant translation.

l. 871 _seq._ R. considers this a technical description of improvised
alliterative verse, suggested by and wrought out on the spur of the moment.

l. 872. R. and B. propose secg[an], = _rehearse_, for secg, which suits the
verbs in the next two lines.

ll. 878-98. "It pleases me to think that it is in English literature we
possess the first sketch of that mighty saga [the Volsunga Saga = Wälsinges
gewin] which has for so many centuries engaged all the arts, and at last in
the hands of Wagner the art of music."--Br., p. 63. Cf. _Nibelung. Lied_,
l. 739.

l. 894. Intransitive verbs, as gân, weorðan, sometimes take habban, "to
indicate independent action."--Sw. Cf. hafað ... geworden, l. 2027.

l. 895. "brûcan (_enjoy_) always has the genitive."--Sw.; cf. l. 895; acc.,
gen., instr., dat., according to March, _A.-S. Gram._, p. 151.

l. 898. Scherer proposes hâte, = _from heat_, instr. of hât, _heat_; cf. l.
2606.

l. 901. hê þäs âron þâh = _he throve in honor_ (B.). Ten Br. inserts comma
after þâh, making siððan introduce a depend. clause.--_Beit._ viii. 568.
Cf. weorð-myndum þâh, l. 8; ll. 1155, 1243.--H.-So.

l. 902. Heremôdes is considered by Heinzel to be a mere epithet = _the
valiant_; which would refer the whole passage to Sigmund (Sigfrid), the
eotenas, l. 903, being the Nibelungen. This, says H.-So., gets rid of the
contradiction between the good "Heremôd" here and the bad one, l. 1710
_seq._--B. however holds fast to Heremôd.--_Beit._ xii. 41. on feónda
geweald, l. 904,--_into the hands of devils_, says B.; cf. ll. 809, 1721,
2267; _Christ_, l. 1416; _Andreas_, l. 1621; for hine fyren onwôd, cf.
_Gen._ l. 2579; Hunt's _Dan._ 17: hîe wlenco anwôd.

l. 902 _seq._ "Heremôd's shame is contrasted with the glory of Sigemund,
and with the prudence, patience, generosity, and gentleness of Beowulf as a
chieftain."--Br., p. 66.

l. 906. MS. has lemede. Toller-Bosw. corrects to lemedon.

l. 917. Cf. Hunt's _Exod._, l. 170, for similar language.

l. 925. hôs, G. hansa, _company_, "the word from which the mercantile
association of the 'Hanseatic' towns took their designation."--E.

l. 927. on staþole = _on the floor_ (B., Rask, ten Br.).--_Beit._ xii. 90.

l. 927. May not steápne here = _bright_, from its being immediately
followed by golde fâhne? Cf. Chaucer's "his eyen _stepe_," _Prol._ l. 201
(ed. Morris); Cockayne's _Ste. Marherete_, pp. 9, 108; _St. Kath._, l.
1647.

l. 931. grynna may be for gyrnna (= _sorrows_), gen. plu. of gyrn, as
suggested by one commentator.

l. 937. B. (_Beit._ xii. 90) makes gehwylcne object of wîd-scofen (häfde).
Gr. makes weá nom. absolute.

l. 940. scuccum: cf. G. scheuche, scheusal; Prov. Eng. _old-shock_; perhaps
the pop. interjection _O shucks!_ (!)

l. 959. H. explains we as a "plur. of majesty," which Beówulf throws off at
l. 964.

l. 963. feónd þone frätgan (B. _Beit._ xii. 90).

l. 976. synnum. "Most abstract words in the poetry have a very wide range
of meanings, diverging widely from the prose usage, synn, for instance,
means simply _injury, mischief, hatred_, and the prose meaning _sin_ is
only a secondary one; hata in poetry is not only _hater_, but _persecutor,
enemy_, just as nîð is both _hatred_ and _violence, strength_; heard is
_sharp_ as well as _hard_."--Sw.

l. 986. S. places wäs at end of l. 985 and reads stîðra nägla, omitting
gehwylc and the commas after that and after sceáwedon. _Beit._ ix. 138;
stêdra (H.-So.); hand-sporu (H.-So.) at l. 987.

l. 986. Miller (_Anglia_, xii. 3) corrects to æghwylene, in apposition to
fingras.

l. 987. hand-sporu. See _Anglia_, vii. 176, for a discussion of the
intrusion of u into the nom. of n-stems.

l. 988. Cf. ll. 2121, 2414, for similar use of unheóru = ungeheuer.

l. 992. B. suggests heátimbred for hâten, and gefrätwon for -od; Kl.,
hroden (_Beit._ ix. 189).

l. 995, 996. Gold-embroidered tapestries seem to be meant by web =
_aurifrisium_.

l. 997. After þâra þe = _of those that_, the depend, vb. often takes sg.
for pl.; cf. ll. 844, 1462, 2384, 2736.--Sw.; Dietrich.

l. 998. "Metathesis of l takes place in seld for setl, bold for botl,"
etc.--Cook's Sievers' Gram., p. 96. Cf. Eng. proper names, _Bootle,
Battle_field, etc.--Skeat, _Principles_, i. 250.

l. 1000. heorras: cf. Chaucer, _Prol._ (ed. Morris) l. 550:

"Ther was no dore that he nolde heve of _harre_."

ll. 1005-1007. See _Zachers Zeitschr._ iii. 391, and _Beit._ xii. 368, for
R.'s and B.'s views of this difficult passage.

l. 1009. Cf. l. 1612 for sæl and mæl, surviving still in E. Anglia in "mind
your _seals and meals_," = _times and occasions_, i.e. have your wits about
you.--E.

ll. 1012, 1013. Cf. ll. 753, 754 for two similar comparatives used in
conjunction.

l. 1014. Cf. l. 327 for similar language.

ll. 1015, 1016. H.-So. puts these two lines in parentheses (fylle ...
þâra). Cf. B., _Beit._ xii. 91.

l. 1024. One of the many famous swords spoken of in the poem. See Hrunting,
ll. 1458, 1660; Hûnlâfing, l. 1144, etc. Cf. Excalibur, Roland's sword, the
Nibelung Balmung, etc.

l. 1034. scûr-heard. For an ingenious explanation of this disputed word see
Professor Pearce's article in _Mod. Lang. Notes_, Nov. 1, 1892, and ensuing
discussion.

l. 1039. eoderas is of doubtful meaning. H. and Toller-Bosw. regard the
word here = _enclosure, palings of the court_. Cf. _Cædmon_, ll. 2439,
2481. The passage throws interesting light on horses and their trappings

l. 1043. Grundt. emends wîg to wicg, = _charger_; and E. quotes Tacitus,
_Germania_, 7.

l. 1044. "Power over each and both"; cf. "all and some," "one and all."

For Ingwin, see _List of Names_.

l. 1065. Gr. contends that fore here = de, _concerning, about_ (Ebert's
_Jahrb._, 1862, p. 269).

l. 1069. H.-So. supplies fram after eaferum, to govern it, = _concerning_
(?). Cf. _Fight at Finnsburg_, Appendix.

l. 1070. For the numerous names of the Danes, "bright-" "spear-" "east-"
"west-" "ring-" Danes, see these words.

l. 1073. Eotenas = _Finn's people, the Frisians_; cf. ll. 1089, 1142, 1146,
etc., and _Beit._ xii. 37. Why they are so called is not known.

l. 1084. R. proposes wiht Hengeste wið gefeohtan (_Zachers Zeitschr._ iii.
394). Kl., wið H. wiht gefeohtan.

ll. 1085 and 1099. weá-lâf occurs in Wulfstan, _Hom._ 133, ed. Napier.--E.
Cf. daroða lâf, _Brunanb._, l. 54; âdes lâfe, _Phoenix_, 272 (Bright), etc.

l. 1098. elne unflitme = _so dass der eid (der inhalt des eides) nicht
streitig war_.--B., _Beit._ iii. 30. But cf. 1130, where Hengist and Finn
are again brought into juxtaposition and the expression ealles (?) unhlitme
occurs.

l. 1106. The pres. part. + be, as myndgiend wære here, is comparatively
rare in original A.-S. literature, but occurs abundantly in translations
from the Latin. The periphrasis is generally meaningless. Cf. l. 3029.

l. 1108. Körner suggests ecge, = _sword_, in reference to a supposed old
German custom of placing ornaments, etc., on the point of a sword or spear
(_Eng. Stud._ i. 495). Singer, ince-gold = _bright gold_; B., andiége =
Goth, _andaugjo, evidently_. Cf. incge lâfe, l. 2578. Possibly: and inge (=
_young men_) gold âhôfon of horde. For inge, cf. Hunt's _Exod._ l. 190.

ll. 1115-1120. R. proposes (hêt þâ ...) bânfatu bärnan ond on bæl dôn,
earme on eaxe = _to place the arms in the ashes_, reading gûðrêc =
_battle-reek_, for -rinc (_Zachers Zeitschr._ iii. 395). B., Sarrazin
(_Beit._ xi. 530), Lichtenfeld (_Haupts Zeitschr._ xvi. 330), C., etc.,
propose various emendations. See H.-So., p. 97, and _Beit._ viii. 568. For
gùðrinc âstâh, cf. Old Norse, _stiga á bál_, "ascend the bale-fire."

l. 1116. sweoloðe. "On Dartmoor the burning of the furze up the hillsides
to let new grass grow, is called _zwayling_."--E. Cf. _sultry_, G.
_schwül_, etc.

l. 1119. Cf. wudu-rêc âstâh, l. 3145; and _Exod_. (Hunt), l. 450: wælmist
âstâh.

l. 1122. ätspranc = _burst forth, arose_ (omitted from the Gloss.), < ät +
springan.

l. 1130. R. and Gr. read elne unflitme, = _loyally and without contest_, as
at l. 1098. Cf. Ha., p. 39; H.-So., p. 97.

l. 1137. scacen = _gone_; cf. ll. 1125, 2307, 2728.

l. 1142. "The sons of the Eotenas" (B., _Beit._ xii. 31, who conjectures a
gap after 1142).

l. 1144. B. separates thus: Hûn Lâfing, = _Hûn placed the sword Lâfing_,
etc.--_Beit._ xii. 32; cf. R., _Zachers Zeitschr._ iii. 396. Heinzel and
Homburg make other conjectures (Herrig's _Archiv_, 72, 374, etc.).

l. 1143. B., H.-So., and Möller read: worod rædenne, þonne him Hûn Lâfing,
= _military brotherhood, when Hûn laid upon his breast_ (the sword)
_Lâfing_. There is a sword _Laufi, Lövi_ in the Norse sagas; but swords,
armor, etc., are often called the _leaving_ (lâf) of files, hammers, etc.,
especially a precious heirloom; cf. ll. 454, 1033, 2830, 2037, 2629, 796,
etc., etc.

l. 1152. roden = _reddened_ (B., _Tidskr_. viii. 295).

l. 1160. For ll. 1069-1160, containing the Finn episode, cf. Möller,
_Alteng. Volksepos_, 69, 86, 94; Heinzel, _Anz. f. dtsch. Altert._, 10,
226; B., _Beit._ xii. 29-37. Cf. _Wîdsîð_, l. 33, etc.

ll. 1160, 1161. leóð (lied = _song, lay_) and gyd here appear synonyms.

ll. 1162-1165. "Behind the wars and tribal wanderings, behind the
contentions of the great, we watch in this poem the steady, continuous life
of home, the passions and thoughts of men, the way they talked and moved
and sang and drank and lived and loved among one another and for one
another."--Br., p. 18.

l. 1163. Cf. _wonderwork_. So _wonder-death, wonder-bidding,
wonder-treasure, -smith, -sight_, etc. at ll. 1748, 3038, 2174, 1682, 996,
etc. Cf. the German use of the same intensive, = _wondrous_, in
_wunder-schön_, etc.

l. 1165. þâ gyt points to some future event when "each" was not "true to
other," undeveloped in this poem, suhtor-gefäderan = Hrôðgâr and Hrôðulf,
l. 1018. Cf. âðum-swerian, l. 84.

l. 1167 almost repeats l. 500, ät fôtum, etc., where Ûnferð is first
introduced.

l. 1191. E. sees in this passage separate seats for youth and middle-aged
men, as in English college halls, chapels, convocations, and churches
still.

l. 1192. ymbutan, _round about_, is sometimes thus separated: ymb hie ûtan;
cf. _Voyage of Ôhthere_, etc. (Sw.), p. 18, l. 34, etc.; _Beówulf_, ll.
859, 1686, etc.

l. 1194. bewägned, a [Greek: hapax legomenon], tr. _offered_ by Th.
Probably a p. p. wägen, made into a vb. by -ian, like _own, drown_, etc.
Cf. hafenian ( < hafen, < hebban), etc.

l. 1196. E. takes the expression to mean "mantle and its rings or
broaches." "Rail" long survived in Mid. Eng. (_Piers Plow_., etc.).

l. 1196. This necklace was afterwards given by Beowulf to Hygd, ll. 2173,
2174.

ll. 1199-1215. From the obscure hints in the passage, a part of the poem
may be approximately dated,--if Hygelâc is the _Chochi-laicus_ of Gregory
of Tours, _Hist. Francorum_, iii. 3,--about A.D. 512-20.

l. 1200. The Breosinga men (Icel. _Brisinga men_) is the necklace of the
goddess Freya; cf. _Elder Edda, Hamarshemt_. Hâma stole the necklace from
the Gothic King Eormenrîc; cf. _Traveller's Song_, ll. 8, 18, 88, 111. The
comparison of the two necklaces leads the poet to anticipate Hygelâc's
history,--a suggestion of the poem's mosaic construction.

l. 1200. For Brôsinga mene, cf. B., _Beit._ xii. 72. C. suggests fleáh, =
_fled_, for fealh, placing semicolon after byrig, and making hê subject of
fleáh and geceás.

l. 1202. B. conjectures geceás êcne ræd to mean _he became a pious man and
at death went to heaven_. Heime (Hâma) in the _Thidrekssaga_ goes into a
cloister = to choose the better part (?). Cf. H.-So., p. 98. But cf.
Hrôðgâr's language to Beowulf, ll. 1760, 1761.

l. 1211. S. proposes feoh, = _property_, for feorh, which would be a
parallel for breóst-gewædu ... beáh below.

l. 1213. E. remarks that in the _Laws of Cnut_, i. 26, the devil is called
se wôdfreca werewulf, _the ravening werwolf_.

l. 1215. C. proposes heals-bêge onfêng. _Beit._ viii. 570. For hreâ- Kl.
suggests hræ-.

l. 1227. The son referred to is, according to Ettmüller, the one that
reigns after Hrôðgâr.

l. 1229. Kl. suggests sî, = _be_, for _is_.

l. 1232. S. gives _wine-elated_ as the meaning of druncne.--_Beit._ ix.
139; Kl. _ibid_. 189, 194. But cf. _Judith_, ll. 67, 107.

l. 1235. Cf. l. 119 for similarity of language.

l. 1235. Kl. proposes gea-sceaft; but cf. l. 1267.

l. 1246. Ring armor was common in the Middle Ages. E. points out the
numerous forms of byrne in cognate languages,--Gothic, Icelandic, OHG.,
Slavonic, O. Irish, Romance, etc. Du Chaillu, _The Viking Age_, i. 126. Cf.
Murray's _Dict._ s. v.

l. 1248. ânwîg-gearwe = _ready for single combat_ (C.); but cf. Ha. p. 43;
_Beit._ ix. 210, 282.

l. 1252. Some consider this _fitt_ the beginning of Part (or Lay) II. of
the original epic, if not a separate work in itself.

l. 1254. K., W., and Ho. read farode = _wasted;_ Kolbing reads furode; but
cf. wêsten warode, l. 1266. MS. has warode.

ll. 1255-1258. This passage is a good illustration of the constant
parallelism of word and phrase characteristic of A.-S. poetry, and is
quoted by Sw. The changes are rung on ende and swylt, on gesýne and wîdcûð,
etc.

l. 1259. "That this story of Grendel's mother was originally a separate lay
from the first seems to be suggested by the fact that the monsters are
described over again, and many new details added, such as would be inserted
by a new singer who wished to enhance and adorn the original tale."--Br.,
p. 41.

l. 1259. Cf. l. 107, which also points to the ancestry of murderers and
monsters and their descent from "Cain."

l. 1261. The MS. has se þe, m.; changed by some to seo þe. At ll. 1393,
1395, 1498, Grendel's mother is referred to as m.; at ll. 1293, 1505,
1541-1546, etc., as f., the uncertain pronoun designating a creature female
in certain aspects, but masculine in demonic strength and
savageness.--H.-So.; Sw. p. 202. Cf. the masc. epithets at ll. 1380, 2137,
etc.

l. 1270. âglæca = _Grendel_, though possibly referring to Beowulf, as at l.
1513.--Sw.

l. 1273. "It is not certain whether anwalda stands for onwealda, or whether
it should be read ânwealda, = _only ruler_.--Sw.

l. 1279. The MS. has sunu þeod wrecan, which R. changes to sunu
þeód-wrecan, þeód- = _monstrous_; but why not regard þeód as opposition to
sunu, = _her son, the prince?_ See Sweet's Reader, and Körner's discussion,
_Eng. Stud._ i. 500.

l. 1281. Ten Br. suggests (for sôna) sâra = _return of sorrows._

l. 1286. "geþuren (twice so written in MSS.) stands for geþrúen, _forged_,
and is an isolated p. p."--Cook's Sievers' Gram., 209. But see Toller-Bosw.
for examples; Sw., Gloss.; March, p. 100, etc.

ll. 1292. þe hine = _whom;_ cf. ll. 441, 1437, 1292; _Hêliand_, l. 1308.

l. 1298. be sæm tweonum; cf. l. 1192; Hunt's _Exod_. l. 442; and Mod. Eng.
"to _us_-ward, etc.--Earle's _Philol._, p. 449. Cf. note, l. 1192.

l. 1301. C. proposes ôðer him ärn = _another apartment was assigned him_.

l. 1303. B. conjectures under hrôf genam; but Ha., p. 45, shows this to be
unnecessary, under also meaning _in_, as _in_ (or _under_) these
circumstances.

l. 1319. E. and Sw. suggest nægde or nêgde, _accosted_, < nêgan = Mid. Ger.
_nêhwian_, pr. p. _nêhwiandans, approach_. For hnægan, _press down,
vanquish_, see ll. 1275, 1440, etc.

l. 1321. C. suggests neád-lâðum for neód-laðu, _after crushing hostility_;
but cf. freónd-laðu, l. 1193.

l. 1334. K. and ten Br. conjecture gefägnod = _rejoicing in her fill_, a
parallel to æse wlanc, l. 1333.

l. 1340. B. translates: "and she has executed a deed of blood-vengeance of
far-reaching consequence."--_Beit._ xii. 93.

l. 1345. B. reads geó for eów (_Zachers Zeitschr._ iv. 205).

ll. 1346-1377. "This is a fine piece of folk-lore in the oldest extant
form.... The authorities for the story are the rustics (ll. 1346, 1356)."
--E.

l. 1347. Cf. sele-rædende at l. 51.

l. 1351. "The ge [of gewitan] may be merely a scribal error,--a repetition
(dittography) of the preceding ge of gewislîcost."--Sw.

l. 1352. ides, like firas, _men_, etc., is a poetic word supposed by Grimm
to have been applied, like Gr. [Greek: númphæ], to superhuman or
semi-divine women.

ll. 1360-1495 _seq._ E. compares this Dantesque tarn and scenery with the
poetical accounts of _Æneid_, vii. 563; _Lucretius_, vi. 739, etc.

l. 1360. firgenstreám occurs also in the _Phoenix_ (Bright, p. 168) l. 100;
_Andreas_, ll. 779, 3144 (K.); _Gnomic Verses_, l. 47, etc.

l. 1363. The genitive is often thus used to denote measure = by or in
miles; cf. l. 3043; and contrast with partitive gen. at l. 207.

l. 1364. The MS. reads hrinde = hrînende (?), which Gr. adopts; K. and Th.
read hrinde-bearwas; hringde, _encircling_ (Sarrazin, _Beit._ xi. 163);
hrîmge = _frosty_ (Sw.); _with frost-whiting covered_ (Ha.). See Morris,
_Blickling Hom_., Preface, vi., vii.

l. 1364. Cf. Ruin, hrîmige edoras behrofene, _rimy, roofless halls_.

l. 1366. nîðwundor may = nið- (as in nið-sele, _q. v._) wundor, _wonder of
the deep_.

l. 1368. The personal pronoun is sometimes omitted in subordinate and even
independent clauses; cf. wite here; and Hunt's _Exod_., l. 319.

l. 1370. hornum. Such "datives of manner or respect" are not infrequent
with adj.

l. 1371. "seleð is not dependent on ær, for in that case it would be in the
subjunctive, but ær is simply an adverb, correlative with the conjunction
ær in the next line: 'he will (sooner) give up his life, before he will,'
etc."--Sw.

l. 1372. Cf. ll. 318 and 543 for willan with similar omitted inf.

l. 1373. heafola is found only in poetry.--Sw. It occurs thirteen or
fourteen times in this poem. Cf. the poetic gamol, swât (l. 2694), etc.,
for eald, blôd.

l. 1391. uton: hortatory subj. of wîtan, _go_, = _let us go;_ cf. French
_allons_, Lat. _eamus_, Ital. _andiamo_, etc. + inf. Cf. ll. 2649, 3102.

l. 1400. H. is dat. of person indirectly affected, = advantage.

l. 1402. geatolîc probably = _in his equipments_, as B. suggests (_Beit._
xii. 83), comparing searolîc.

ll. 1402, 1413 reproduce the wk. form of the pret. of gân (Goth,
_gaggida_). Cf. _Andreas_, l. 1096, etc.

l. 1405. S. (_Beit._ ix. 140) supplies [þær heó] gegnum fôr; B. (_ibid._
xii. 14) suggests hwær heó.

l. 1411. B., Gr., and E. take ân-paðas = paths wide enough for only one,
like Norwegian _einstig_; cf. stîge nearwe, just above. _Trail_ is the
meaning. Cf. enge ânpaðas, uncûð gelâd, _Exod._ (Hunt), l. 58.

l. 1421. Cf. oncýð, l. 831. The whole passage (ll. 1411-1442) is replete
with suggestions of walrus-hunting, seal-fishing, harpooning of sea-animals
(l. 1438), etc.

l. 1425. E. quotes from the 8th cent. Corpus Gloss., "_Falanx_ foeða."

l. 1428. For other mention of nicors, cf. ll. 422, 575, 846. E. remarks,
"it survives in the phrase 'Old Nick' ... a word of high authority ...
Icel. _nykr_, water-goblin, Dan. _nök, nisse_, Swed. _näcken_, G. _nix,
nixe_, etc." See Skeat, _Nick._

l. 1440. Sw. reads gehnæged, _prostrated_, and regards nîða as gen. pl.
"used instrumentally," = _by force._

l. 1441. -bora = _bearer, stirrer;_ occurs in other compds., as mund-,
ræd-, wæg-bora.

l. 1447. him = _for him_, a remoter dative of reference.--Sw.

l. 1455. Gr. reads brondne, = _flaming_.

l. 1457. león is the inf. of lâh; cf. onlâh (< onleón) at l. 1468. lîhan
was formerly given as the inf.; cf. læne = læhne.

l. 1458. Cf. the similar dat. of possession as used in Latin.

l. 1458. H.-So. compares the Icelandic saga account of Grettir's battle
with the giant in the cave. häft-mêce may be = Icel. _heptisax_ (_Anglia_,
iii. 83), "hip-knife."

l. 1459. "The sense seems to be 'pre-eminent among the old treasures.' ...
But possibly foran is here a prep. with the gen.: 'one before the old
treasures.'".--Sw. For other examples of foran, cf. ll. 985, 2365.

l. 1460. âter-teárum = _poison-drops_ (C., _Beit._ viii. 571; S., _ibid_.
xi. 359).

l. 1467. þät, comp. relative, = _that which_; "we testify _that_ we do
know."

l. 1480. forð-gewitenum is in appos. to me, = _mihi defuncto_.--M.
Callaway, _Am. Journ. of Philol._, October, 1889.

l. 1482. nime. Conditional clauses of doubt or future contingency take gif
or bûton with subj.; cf. ll. 452, 594; of fact or certainty, the ind.; cf.
ll. 442, 447, 527, 662, etc. For bûton, cf. ll. 967, 1561.

l. 1487. "findan sometimes has a preterit funde in W. S. after the manner
of the weak preterits."--Cook's Sievers' Cram., p, 210.

l. 1490. Kl. reads wäl-sweord, = _battle-sword_.

l. 1507. "This cave under the sea seems to be another of those natural
phenomena of which the writer had personal knowledge (ll. 2135, 2277), and
which was introduced by him into the mythical tale to give it a local
color. There are many places of this kind. Their entrance is under the
lowest level of the tide."--Br., p. 45.

l. 1514. B. (_Beit._ xii. 362) explains niðsele, hrôfsele as _roof-covered
hall in the deep_; cf. Grettir Saga (_Anglia_, iii. 83).

l. 1538. Sw., R., and ten Br. suggest feaxe for eaxle, = _seized by the
hair_.

l. 1543. and-leán (R.); cf. l. 2095. The MS. has hand-leán.

l. 1546. Sw. and S. read seax.--_Beit._ ix. 140.

l. 1557. H.-So. omits comma and places semicolon after ýðelîce; Sw. and S.
place comma after gescêd.

l. 1584. ôðer swylc = _another fifteen_ (Sw.); = _fully as many_ (Ha.).

ll. 1592-1613 _seq._ Cf. _Anglia_, iii; 84 (Grettir Saga).

l. 1595. blondenfeax = _grizzly-haired_ (Bright, Reader, p. 258); cf.
_Brunanb._, l. 45 (Bright).

l. 1599. gewearð, impers. vb., = _agree, decide = many agreed upon this,
that_, etc. (Ha., p. 55; cf. ll. 2025-2027, 1997; B., _Beit._ xii. 97).

l. 1605. C. supposes wiston = wîscton = _wished_.--_Beit._ viii. 571.

l. 1607. broden mæl is now regarded as a comp. noun, = _inlaid or
damascened sword_.--W., Ho.

l. 1611. wäl-râpas = _water-ropes = bands of frost_ (l. 1610) (?). Possibly
the Prov. Eng. weele, _whirlpool_. Cf. wæl, _gurges_, Wright, Voc., _Gnom.
Verses_, l. 39.--E.

l. 1611. wægrâpas (Sw.) = _wave-bands_ (Ha.).

l. 1622. B. suggests eatna = eotena, eardas, _haunts of the giants_
(Northumbr. ea for eo).

l. 1635. cyning-holde (B., _Beit._ xii. 369); cf. l. 290.

l. 1650. H., Gr., and Ettmüller understand idese to refer to the queen.

l. 1651. Cf. _Anglia_, iii. 74, _Beit._ xi. 167, for coincidences with the
Grettir Saga (13th cent.).

l. 1657. Restore MS. reading wigge in place of wîge.

l. 1664. B. proposes eotenise ... èste for eácen ... oftost, omitting
brackets (_Zackers Zeitschr._ iv. 206). G. translates _mighty ... often_.

l. 1675. ondrædan. "In late texts the final n of the preposition on is
frequently lost when it occurs in a compound word or stereotyped phrase,
and the prefix then appears as a: abútan, amang, aweg, aright,
adr'ædan."--Cook's Sievers' Gram., p. 98.

ll. 1680-1682. Giants and their work are also referred to at ll. 113, 455,
1563, 1691, etc.

l. 1680. Cf. ceastra ... orðanc enta geweorc, _Gnomic Verses_, l. 2;
Sweet's Reader, p. 186.

ll. 1687-1697. "In this description of the writing on the sword, we see the
process of transition from heathen magic to the notions of Christian times
.... The history of the flood and of the giants ... were substitutes for
names of heathen gods, and magic spells for victory."--E. Cf. Mohammedan
usage.

ll. 1703, 1704. þät þê eorl nære geboren betera (B., _Tidskr._ 8, 52).

l. 1715. âna hwearf = _he died solitary and alone_ (B., _Beit._ xii. 38); =
_lonely_ (Ha.); = _alone_ (G.).

l. 1723. leód-bealo longsum = _eternal hell-torment_ (B., _Beit._ xii. 38,
who compares _Ps. Cott._ 57, lîf longsum).

l. 1729. E. translates on lufan, _towards possession_; Ha., _to
possessions_.

l. 1730. môdgeþonc, like lig, sæ, segn, niht, etc., is of double gender
(m., n. in the case of môdgeþ.).

l. 1741. The doctrine of nemesis following close on [Greek: hubris], or
overweening pride, is here very clearly enunciated. The only protector
against the things that "assault and hurt" the soul is the "Bishop and
Shepherd of our souls" (l. 1743).

l. 1745 appears dimly to fore-shadow the office of the evil archer Loki,
who in the Scandinavian mythology shoots Balder with a mistletoe twig. The
language closely resembles that of Psalm 64.

l. 1748. Kl. regards wom = wô(u)m; cf. wôh-bogen, l. 2828. See Gloss., p.
295, under wam. Contrast the construction of bebeorgan a few lines below
(l. 1759), where the dat. and acc. are associated.

l. 1748. See Cook's Sievers' Gram., p. 167, for declension of wôh, _wrong_
= gen. wôs or wôges, dat. wô(u)m, etc.; pl. gen. wôra, dat. wô(u)m, etc.;
and cf. declension of heáh, hreóh, rûh, etc.

l. 1748. wergan gâstes; cf. _Blickl. Hom._ vii.; _Andreas_, l. 1171. "_Auld
Wearie_ is used in Scotland, or was used a few years ago, ... to mean the
devil."--E. Bede's _Eccles. Hist._ contains (naturally) many examples of
the expression = devil.

l. 1750. on gyld = _in reward_ (B. _Beit._ xii. 95); Ha. translates
_boastfully_; G., _for boasting_; Gr., _to incite to boastfulness_. Cf.
_Christ_, l. 818.

l. 1767. E. thinks this an allusion to the widespread superstition of the
evil eye (_mal occhio, mauvais æil_). Cf. Vergil, _Ecl._ iii. 103. He
remarks that Pius IX., Gambetta, and President Carnot were charged by their
enemies with possessing this weapon.

l. 1784. wigge geweorðad (MS. wigge weorðad) is C.'s conjecture; cf.
_Elene_, l. 150. So G., _honored in war_.

l. 1785. The future generally implied in the present of beón is plainly
seen in this line; cf. ll. 1826, 661, 1830, 1763, etc.

l. 1794. Some impers. vbs. take acc. (as here, Geat) of the person
affected; others (as þyncan) take the dat. of the person, as at ll. 688,
1749, etc. Cf. verbs of dreaming, being ashamed, desiring, etc.--March,
A.-S. Gram., p. 145.

l. 1802. E. remarks that the blaca hrefn here is a bird of good omen, as
opposed to se wonna hrefn of l. 3025. The raven, wolf, and eagle are the
regular epic accompaniments of battle and carnage. Cf. ll. 3025-3028;
_Maldon_, 106; _Judith_, 205-210, etc.

l. 1803. S. emends to read: "then came the light, going bright after
darkness: the warriors," etc. Cf. Ho., p. 41, l. 23. G. puts period before
"the warriors." For onettan, cf. Sw.'s Gloss, and Bright's Read., Gloss.

ll. 1808-1810. Müllenh. and Grundt. refer se hearda to Beowulf, correct
sunu (MS.) to suna Ecglâfes (i.e. Unferth); [_he_] (Beo.) _thanked him_
(Un.) _for the loan_. Cf. ll. 344, 581, 1915.

ll. 1823-1840. "Beowulf departing pledges his services to Hroðgar, to be
what afterwards in the mature language of chivalry was called his 'true
knight'"--E.

l. 1832. Kl. corrects to dryhtne, in appos. with Higelâce.

l. 1835 gâr-holt more properly means _spear-shaft_; cf. äsc-holt.

l. 1855. sêl = _better_ (Grundt.; B., _Beit._ xii. 96), instead of MS. wel.

ll. 1855-1866. "An ideal picture of international amity according to the
experience and doctrine of the eighth century."--E.

l. 1858. S. and Kl. correct to gemæne, agreeing with sib.--_Beit._ ix. 140,
190.

l. 1862. "The gannet is a great diver, plunging down into the sea from a
considerable height, such as forty feet."--E.

l. 1863. Kl. suggests heafu, = _seas_.

l. 1865. B. proposes geþôhte, = _with firm thought_, for geworhte; cf. l.
611.

l. 1876. geseón = _see again_ (Kl., _Beit._ ix. 190). S. and B. insert nâ
to modify geseón and explain Hrôðgâr's tears. Ha. and G. follow Heyne's
text. Cf. l. 567.

l. 1881. Is beorn here = bearn (be-arn?) of l. 67? or more likely = born,
barn, = _burned?_--S., Th.

l. 1887. orleahtre is a _[Greek: hapax legomenon]_. E. compares Tennyson's
"blameless" king. Cf. also ll. 2015, 2145; and the gôd cyning of l. 11.

l. 1896. scaðan = _warriors_ (cf. l. 1804) has been proposed by C.; but cf.
l. 253.

l. 1897. The boat had been left, at ll. 294-302, in the keeping of
Hrôðgâr's men; at l. 1901 the bât-weard is specially honored by Beowulf
with a sword and becomes a "sworded squire."--E. This circumstance appears
to weld the poem together. Cf. also the speed of the journey home with ymb
ân-tîd ôþres dôgores of l. 219, and the similarity of language in both
passages (fâmig-heals, clifu, nässas, sælde, brim, etc.).--The nautical
terms in Beowulf would form an interesting study.

l. 1904. R. proposes, gewât him on naca, = _the vessel set out_, on
alliterating as at l. 2524 (_Zachers Zeitschr._ iii. 402). B. reads on
nacan, but inserts irrelevant matter (_Beit._ xii. 97).

l. 1913. Cf. the same use of ceól, = _ship_, in the _A.-S. Chron._, ed.
Earle-Plummer; _Gnomic Verses_, etc.

l. 1914. S. inserts þät hê before on lande.

l. 1916. B. makes leófra manna depend on wlâtode, = _looked for the dear
men ready at the coast_ (_Beit._ xii. 97).

l. 1924. Gr., W., and Ho. propose wunade, = _remained;_ but cf. l. 1929. S.
conceives ll. 1924, 1925 as "direct speech" (_Beit._ ix. 141).

l. 1927 _seq._ "The women of Beowulf are of the fine northern type; trusted
and loved by their husbands and by the nobles and people; generous, gentle,
and holding their place with dignity."--Br., p. 67. Thrytho is the
exception, l. 1932 _seq._

l. 1933. C. suggests frêcnu, = _dangerous, bold_, for Thrytho could not be
called "excellent." G. writes "Modthrytho" as her name. The womanly Hygd
seems purposely here contrasted with the terrible Thrytho, just as, at l.
902 _seq._, Sigemund and Heremôd are contrasted. For Thrytho, etc., cf.
Gr., _Jahrb. für rom. u. eng. Lit._ iv. 279; Müllenhoff, _Haupts Zeitschr._
xiv. 216; Matthew Paris; Suchier, _Beit._ iv. 500-521; R. _Zachers
Zeitschr._ iii. 402; B., _ibid._ iv. 206; Körner, _Eng. Stud._ i. 489-492;
H.-So., p. 106.

l. 1932-1963. K. first pointed out the connection between the historical
Offa, King of Mercia, and his wife Cwendrida, and the Offa and Þryðo (Gr.'s
_Drida_ of the _Vita Offæ Secundi_) of the present passage. The tale is
told of her, not of Hygd.

l. 1936. Suchier proposes andæges, = _eye to eye_; Leo proposes ândæges, =
_the whole day_; G., _by day_. No change is necessary if an be taken to
govqern hire, = _on her_, and däges be explained (like nihtes, etc.) as a
genitive of time, = _by day_.

l. 1943. R. and Suchier propose onsêce, = _seek, require_; but cf. 2955.

l. 1966. Cf. the _heofoncandel_ of _Exod_. l. 115 (Hunt). Shak.'s 'night's
candles.'

l. 1969. Cf. l. 2487 _seq._ for the actual slayer of Ongenþeów, i.e. Eofor,
to whom Hygelâc gave his only daughter as a reward, l. 2998.

l. 1981. meodu-scencum = _with mead-pourers_ or _mead-cups_ (G., Ha.);
_draught or cup of mead_ (Toller-Bosw.).

l. 1982. K., Th., W., H. supply [heal-]reced; Holler [heá-].

l. 1984. B. defends the MS., reading hæ nû (for hæðnû), which he regards as
= Heinir, the inhabitants of the Jutish "heaths" (hæð). Cf. H.-So., p. 107;
_Beit._ xii. 9.

l. 1985. sînne. "In poetry there is a reflexive possessive of the third
person, sîn (declined like mîn). It is used not only as a true reflexive,
but also as a non-reflexive (= Lat. _ejus_)"--Sw.; Cook's Sievers' Gram.,
p. 185. Cf. ll. 1508, 1961, 2284, 2790.

l. 1994. Cf. l. 190 for a similar use of seáð; cf. to "glow" with emotion,
"boil" with indignation, "burn" with anger, etc. weallan is often so used;
cf. ll. 2332, 2066, etc.

l. 2010. B. proposes fâcne, = _in treachery_, for fenne. Cf. _Juliana_, l.
350; _Beit._ xii. 97.

l. 2022. Food of specific sorts is rarely, if at all, mentioned in the
poem. Drink, on the other hand, occurs in its primitive varieties,--_ale_
(as here: ealu-wæg), _mead, beer, wine, lîð_ (cider? Goth. _leiþus_, Prov.
Ger. _leit-_ in _leit-haus_, ale-house), etc.

l. 2025. Kl. proposes is for wäs.

l. 2027. Cf. l. 1599 for a similar use of weorðan, = _agree, be pleased
with_ (Ha.); _appear_ (Sw., Reader, 6th ed.).

ll. 2030, 2031. Ten Br. proposes: oft seldan ( = _gave_) wære äfter
leód-hryre: lytle hwîle bongâr bûgeð, þeáh seó brýd duge = _oft has a
treaty been given after the fall of a prince: but little while the
murder-spear resteth, however excellent the bride be._ Cf. Kl., _Beit._ ix.
190; B., _Beit._ xii. 369; R., _Zachers Zeitschr._ in. 404; Ha., p. 69; G.,
p. 62.

l. 2036. Cf. Kl, _Beit._ ix. 191; R., _Zachers Zeitschr._ iii. 404.

l. 2042. For beáh B. reads bâ, = _both_, i.e. Freaware and the Dane.

l. 2063. Thorkelin and Conybeare propose wîgende, = _fighting_, for
lifigende.

l. 2068. W.'s edition begins section xxx. (not marked in the MS.) with this
line. Section xxxix. (xxxviii. in copies A and B, xxxix. in Thorkelin) is
not so designated in the MS., though þâ (at l. 2822) is written with
capitals and xl. begins at l. 2893.

l. 2095. Cf. l. 1542, and note.

l. 2115 _seq._ B. restores thus:

Þær on innan gióng
niðða nâthwylc, neóde tô gefêng
hæðnum horde; hond ätgenam
seleful since fâh; nê hê þät syððan âgeaf,
þeáh þe hê slæpende besyrede hyrde
þeófes cräfte: þät se þióden onfand,
bý-folc beorna, þät hê gebolgen wäs.

--_Beit._ xii. 99; _Zachers Zeitschr._ iv. 210.

l. 2128. ätbär here = _bear away_, not given in the Gloss.

l. 2129. B. proposes færunga, = _suddenly_, for Gr.'s reading in the
text.--_Beit._ xii. 98.

l. 2132. MS. has þine life, which Leo translates _by thy leave_ (= ON.
_leyfi_); B., _by thy life_.--_Beit._ xii. 369.

l. 2150. B. renders gen, etc., by "now I serve thee alone again as my
gracious king" (_Beit._ xii. 99).

l. 2151. The forms hafu [hafo], hafast, hafað, are poetic archaisms.--Sw.

l. 2153. Kl. proposes ealdor, = _prince_, for eafor. W. proposes the compd.
eafor-heáfodsegn, = _helm_; cf. l. 1245.

l. 2157. The wk. form of the adj. is frequent in the vocative, especially
when postponed: "Beowulf leófa," l. 1759. So, often, in poetry in nom.:
wudu selesta, etc.

l. 2158. ærest is possibly the verbal subs. from ârîsan, _to arise, =
arising, origin_. R. suggested ærist, _arising, origin_. Cf. Bede, _Eccles.
Hist._, ed. Miller, where the word is spelt as above, but = (as usual)
_resurrection_. See Sweet, Reader, p. 211; E.-Plummer's _Chronicle_, p.
302, etc. The MS. has est. See Ha., p. 73; S., _Beit._ x. 222; and cf. l.
2166.

l. 2188. Gr., W., H. supply [wên]don, = _weened_, instead of Th.'s [oft
säg]don.

l. 2188. The "slack" Beowulf, like the sluggish Brutus, ultimately reveals
his true character, and is presented with a historic sword of honor. It is
"laid on his breast" (l. 2195) as Hun laid Lâfing on Hengest's breast, l.
1145.

l. 2188. "The boy was at first slothful, and the Geats thought him an
unwarlike prince, and long despised him. Then, like many a lazy third son
in the folk tales, a change came, he suddenly showed wonderful daring and
was passionate for adventure."--Br., p. 22.

l. 2196. "Seven of thousands, manor and lordship" (Ha.). Kl., _Beit._ ix.
191, thinks with Ettm. that þûsendo means a hide of land (see Schmid, _Ges.
der Angl_, 610), Bede's familia = 1/2 sq. meter; seofan being used (like
hund, l. 2995) only for the alliteration.

l. 2196. "A vast Honour of 7000 hides, a mansion, and a judgment-seat"


 


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