Fitela, the son and nephew of the Wâ°lsing, Sigemund, and his companion in arms, 876-890. (Sigemund had begotten Fitela by his sister, SignË. Cf. more at length Leo on BeÃwulf, 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 HËgas, 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 HËgas, 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 wâ°l (in Fr..es wâ°le, 1071), mutilated proper name.
Fre·waru, daughter of the Danish king, HrÃgâr; given in marriage to Ingeld, the son of the Heaobeard king, FrÃda, in order to end a war between the Danes and the Heaobeardnas, 2023 ff., 2065.
FrÃda (gen. FrÃdan), father of Ingeld, the husband of Fre·ware, 2026.
Gârmund (gen. Gârmundes, 1963) father of Offa. His grandson is EÃmÃr, 1961-63.
Ge·tas (gen. Ge·ta, 205, etc.; dat. Ge·tum, 195, etc.), a tribe in Southern Scandinavia, to which the hero of this poem belongs; also called Wederge·tas, 1493, 2552; or, Wederas, 225, 423, etc.; GËge·tas, 1539; SÃge·tas, 1851, 1987. Their kings named in this poem are: HrÃel; HÃcyn, second son of HrÃel; Hygelâc, the brother of HÃcyn; HeardrÃd, son of Hygelâc; then BeÃwulf.
Gifas (dat. Gifum, 2495), GepidÃ, 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 HrÃgâr’s hall and carries off thirty warriors, 115 ff., 1583ff. He continues this for twelve years, till BeÃwulf 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 Æschere, 1295. BeÃwulf 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 HrÃgâr, 1648.
GË-lâf and Oslâf, Danish warriors under Hnâ°f, whose death they avenge on Finn, 1149.
Hâlga, with the surname, _til_, the younger brother of the Danish king, HrÃgâr, 61. His son is HrÃulf, 1018, 1165, 1182.
Hâma wrests the _Brosinga mene_ from EormenrÃc, 1199.
Hâ°re (gen. Hâ°rees, 1982), father of Hygd, the wife of Hygelâc, 1930, 1982.
HÃcyn (dat. HÃcynne, 2483), second son of HrÃel, king of the Ge·tas, 2435. Kills his oldest brother, Herebeald, accidentally, with an arrow, 2438 ff. After HrÃel’s death, he obtains the kingdom, 2475, 2483. He falls at Ravenswood, in the battle against the Swedish king, OngenËeÃw, 2925. His successor is his younger brother, Hygelâc, 2944 ff., 2992.
Helmingas (gen. Helminga, 621). From them comes WealhËeÃw, HrÃgâr’s wife, 621.
Heming (gen. Heminges, 1945, 1962). Offa is called Heminges mÃg, 1945; EÃmÃr, 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 Hnâ°f and Finn, see Finn.
Here-beald (dat. Herebealde, 2464), the oldest son of HrÃel, king of the Ge·tas (2435), accidentally killed with an arrow by his younger brother, HÃcyn, 2440.
Here-mÃd (gen. HeremÃdes, 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-rÃc (gen. HererÃces, 2207) HeardrÃd is called HererÃces nefa, 2207. Nothing further is known of him.
Het-ware or Franks, in alliance with the Frisians and the HËgas, conquer Hygelâc, king of the Ge·tas, 2355, 2364 ff., 2917.
Healf-dene (gen. Healfdenes, 189, etc.), son of BeÃwulf, the Scylding (57); rules the Danes long and gloriously (57 f.); has three sons, Heorogâr, HrÃgâr, and Hâlga (61), and a daughter, Elan, who, according to the renewed text of the passage, wâ°s married to the Scylfing, OngenËeÃw, 62, 63.
Heard-rÃd (dat. HeardrÃde, 2203, 2376), son of Hygelâc, king of the Ge·tas, and Hygd. After his father’s death, while still under age, he obtains the throne (2371, 2376, 2379); wherefore BeÃwulf, as nephew of HeardrÃd’s father, acts as guardian to the youth till he becomes older, 2378. He is slain by âhthere’s sons, 2386. This murder BeÃwulf avenges on E·dgils, 2396-97.
Heao-beardnas (gen. -beardna, 2033, 2038, 2068), the tribe of the Lombards. Their king, FrÃda, has fallen in a war with the Danes, 2029, 2051. In order to end the feud, King HrÃgâr has given his daughter, Fre·waru, as wife to the young Ingeld, the son of FrÃda, 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 (WÃdsÃ, 45-49).
Heao-lâf (dat. Heao-lâfe, 460), a Wylfingish warrior. EcgËeÃw, BeÃwulf’s father, kills him, 460.
Heao-rÃmas reached by B. in the swimming-race with BeÃwulf, 519.
Heoro-gâr (nom. 61; Heregâr, 467; Hiorogâr, 2159), son of Healfdene, and older brother of HrÃgâr, 61. His death is mentioned, 467. He has a son, Heoroweard, 2162. His coat of mail BeÃwulf has received from HrÃgâr (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). HrÃgâr’s throne-room and banqueting hall and assembly-room for his liegemen, built by him with unusual splendor, 69, 78. In it occurs BeÃwulf’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 HÃc, relative of the Danish leader, Hnâ°f, 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.
Hnâ°f (gen. Hnâ°fes, 1115), a HÃcing (WÃdsÃ, 29), the Danish King Healfdene’s general, 1070 ff. For his fight with Finn, his death and burial, see under Finn.
Hond-sciÃ, warrior of the Ge·tas: dat. 2077.
HÃc (gen. HÃces, 1077), father of Hildeburh, 1077; probably also of Hnâ°f (WÃdsÃ, 29).
HrÃel (gen. HrÃles, 1486), son of Swerting, 1204. King of the Ge·tas, 374. He has, besides, a daughter, who is married to EcgËeÃw, and has borne him BeÃwulf, (374), three sons, Herebeald, HÃcyn, and Hygelâc, 2435. The eldest of these is accidentally killed by the second, 2440. On account of this inexpiable deed, HrÃel becomes melancholy (2443), and dies, 2475.
HrÃla (gen. HrÃlan, MS. HrÃdlan, 454), the same as HrÃel (cf. M¸llenhoff in Haupts Zeitschrift, 12, 260), the former owner of BeÃwulf’s coat of mail, 454.
HrÃ-men (gen. HrÃ-manna, 445), the Danes are so called, 445.
HrÃ-rÃc, son of HrÃgâr, 1190, 1837.
Hrefna-wudu, 2926, or Hrefnes-holt, 2936, the thicket near which the Swedish king, OngenËeÃw, slew HÃcyn, king of the Ge·tas, in battle.
Hreosna-beorh, promontory in the land of the Ge·tas, near which OngenËeÃw’s sons, âhthere and Onela, had made repeated robbing incursions into the country after HrÃel’s death. These were the immediate cause of the war in which HrÃel’s son, King HÃcyn, fell, 2478 ff.
HrÃ-gâr (gen. HrÃgâres, 235, etc.; dat. HrÃgâre, 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 HrÃgâr, or whether his death occurred while his father, Healfdene, was still alive). His consort is WealhËeÃw (613), of the stock of the Helmings (621), who has borne him two sons, HrÃrÃc and HrÃmund (1190), and a daughter, Fre·ware (2023), who has been given in marriage to the king of the Heaobeardnas, 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 BeÃwulf (711 ff., 1493 ff). HrÃgâr’s rich gifts to BeÃwulf, 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 HrÃgâr’s reign for the most part only suggested: his expiation of the murder which EcgËeÃw, BeÃwulf’s father, committed upon Heaolâf, 460, 470; his war with the Heaobeardnas; his adjustment of it by giving his daughter, Fre·ware, in marriage to their king, Ingeld; evil results of this marriage, 2021-2070.–Treachery of his brother’s son, HrÃulf, intimated, 1165-1166.
HrÃ-mund, HrÃgâr’s son, 1190.
HrÃ-ulf, probably a son of Hâlga, the younger brother of King HrÃgâr, 1018, 1182. WealhËeÃw expresses the hope (1182) that, in case of the early death of HrÃgâr, HrÃ-ulf would prove a good guardian to HrÃgâr’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 HrÃ-ulf has abused his trust towards HrÃgâr.
Hrones-nâ°s (dat. -nâ°sse, 2806, 3137), a promontory on the coast of the country of the Ge·tas, visible from afar. Here is BeÃwulf’s grave-mound, 2806, 3137.
Hrunting (dat. Hruntinge, 1660), HËnfer’s sword, is so called, 1458, 1660.
HËgas (gen. HËga, 2503), Hygelâc wars against them allied with the Franks and Frisians, and falls, 2195 ff. One of their heroes is called Dâ°ghrefn, whom BeÃwulf slays, 2503.
[H]Ën-fer, the son of Ecglâf, Ëyle of King HrÃgâr. As such, he has his place near the throne of the king, 499, 500, 1167. He lends his sword, Hrunting, to BeÃwulf 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, Unfer.
HËn-lâfing, name of a costly sword, which Finn presents to Hengest, 1144. See Note.
Hygd (dat. Hygde, 2173), daughter of Hâ°re, 1930; consort of Hygelâc, king of the Ge·tas, 1927; her son, HeardrÃd, 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 Ge·tas, 1203, etc. His grandfather is Swerting, 1204; his father, HrÃel, 1486, 1848; his older brothers, Herebeald and HÃcyn, 2435; his sister’s son, BeÃwulf, 374, 375. After his brother, HÃcyn, is killed by OngenËeÃw, he undertakes the government (2992 in connection with the preceding from 2937 on). To Eofor he gives, as reward for slaying OngenËeÃw, his only daughter in marriage, 2998. But much later, at the time of the return of BeÃwulf from his expedition to HrÃgâr, we see him married to the very young Hygd, the daughter of Hâ°re, 1930. The latter seems, then, to have been his second wife. Their son is HeardrÃd, 2203, 2376, 2387.–Hygelâc falls during an expedition against the Franks, Frisians, and HËgas, 1206, 1211, 2356-59, 2916-17.
Ingeld (dat. Ingelde, 2065), son of FrÃda, the Heaobeard chief, who fell in a battle with the Danes, 2051 ff. in order to end the war, Ingeld is married to Fre·waru, daughter of the Danish king, HrÃgâr, 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 (WÃdsÃ, 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.
Nâ°gling, the name of BeÃwulf’s sword, 2681.
Offa (gen. Offan, 1950), king of the Angles (WÃdsÃ, 35), the son of Gârmund, 1963; married (1950) to ï¬ryo (1932), a beautiful but cruel woman, of unfeminine spirit (1932 ff.), by whom he has a son, EÃmÃr, 1961.
âht-here (gen. âhtheres, 2929, 2933; âhteres, 2381, 2393, 2395, 2613), son of OngenËeÃw, king of the Swedes, 2929. His sons are E·nmund (2612) and E·dgils, 2393.
Onela (gen. Onelan, 2933), âhthere’s brother, 2617, 2933.
Ongen-ËeÃw (nom. -ËeÃw, 2487, -ËiÃ, 2952; gen. -ËeÃwes, 2476, -ËiÃwes, 2388; dat. -ËiÃ, 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 âhthere, 2933. She is taken prisoner by HÃcyn, king of the Ge·tas, 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 OngenËeÃw (2931), who kills HÃcyn, 2925, and encloses the Ge·tas, 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 OngenËeÃw’s army. OngenËeÃw himself, attacked by the brothers, Wulf and Eofor, is slain by the latter, 2487 ff., 2962 ff.
âs-lâf, a warrior of Hnâ°f’s, who avenges on Finn his leader’s death, 1149 f.
Scede-land, 19. Sceden-Ãg (dat. Sceden-Ãgge, 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.
ScÃf or Sce·f. See Note.
Scyld (gen. Scyldes, 19), a ScÃfing. 4. His son is BeÃwulf, 18, 53: his grandson, Healfdene, 57; his great-grandson, HrÃgâr, 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 ¬r-Scyldingas, 464; Sige-Scyldingas, 598, 2005; ï¬eÃd-Scyldingas, 1020; Here-Scyldingas, 1109.
Scylfingas, a Swedish royal family, whose relationship seems to extend to the Ge·tas, since WÃglâf, the son of Wihstân, who in another place, as a kinsman of BeÃwulf, is called a WÃgmunding (2815), is also called leÃd Scylfinga, 2604. The family connections are perhaps as follows:–
Scylf.
|
————————
WÃgmund. …….
| |
—————— ———-
EcgËeÃw. Weohstân. OngenËeÃw. | | |
——– ——– —————
BeÃwulf. WÃglâf. Onela. âhthere. |
—————–
E·umund. E·dgils.
The Scylfings are also called Heao-Scilfingas, 63, GË-Scylfingas, 2928.
Sige-mund (dat. -munde, 876, 885), the son of Wâ°ls, 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 HrÃel’s father, 1204.
Sweon (gen. Sweona, 2473, 2947, 3002), also SweÃ-ËeÃd, 2923. The dynasty of the Scylfings rules over them, 2382, 2925. Their realm is called SwiÃrice, 2384, 2496.
ï¬ryo, consort of the Angle king, Offa, 1932, 1950. Mother of EÃmÃr, 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 Ge·tas.
Wâ°ls (gen. Wâ°lses, 898), father of Sigemund, 878, 898.
WÃg-mundingas (gen. WÃgmundinga, 2608, 2815). The WÃgmundings are on one side, Wihstân and his son WÃglâf; on the other side, EcgËeÃw and his son BeÃwulf (2608, 2815). See under Scylfingas.
Wederas (gen. Wedera, 225, 423, 498, etc.), or Weder-ge·tas. See Ge·tas.
WÃland (gen. WÃlandes, 455), the maker of BeÃwulf’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-ËeÃw (613, Wealh-ËeÃ, 665, 1163), the consort of King HrÃgâr, of the stock of the Helmings, 621. Her sons are HrÃrÃc and HrÃmund, 1190; her daughter, Fre·waru, 2023.
Weoh-stân (gen. Weox-stânes, 2603, Weoh-stânes, 2863, Wih-stânes, 2753, 2908, etc.), a WÃgmunding (2608), father of WÃglâf, 2603. In what relationship to him Ælfhere, mentioned 2605, stands, is not clear.–Weohstân is the slayer of E·nmund (2612), in that, as it seems, he takes revenge for his murdered king, HeardrÃd. See E·nmund.
WÃg-lâf, Weohstân’s son, 2603, etc., a WÃgmunding, 2815, and so also a Scylfing, 2604; a kinsman of Ælfhere, 2605. For his relationship to BeÃwulf, see the genealogical table under Scylfingas.–He supports BeÃwulf 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-rÃd (gen. WonrÃdes, 2972), father of Wulf and Eofor, 2966, 2979.
Wulf (dat. Wulfe, 2994), one of the Ge·tas, WonrÃd’s son. He fights in the battle between the armies of Hygelâc and OngenËeÃw with OngenËeÃw himself, and gives him a wound (2966), whereupon OngenËeÃw, by a stroke of his sword, disables him, 2975. Eofor avenges his brother’s fall by dealing OngenËeÃw a mortal blow, 2978 ff.
Wulf-gâr, chief of the Wendlas, 348, lives at HrÃgâr’s court, and is his “âr and ombiht,” 335.
Wylfingas (dat. Wylfingum, 461). EcgËeÃw has slain Heoolâf, a warrior of this tribe, 460.
Yrmen-lâf, younger brother of Æschere, 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.
HrÃling, son of HrÃel, Hygelâc: nom. sg. 1924; nom. pl., the subjects of Hygelâc, the Geats, 2961.
ScÃfing, the son (?) of ScÃf, or Sce·f, 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.
M¸llenh.: M¸llenhoff.
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 Beitrâ°ge. 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. hwâ°t: 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 formulà ic gefrâ°gn (l. 74) and mÃne gefrÃge (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, Sce·f 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 Ëâ (_which_) for Ëâ°t, as object of dreÃgan; and for aldor-le·se, 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 wÃde sprang ËeÃdnes Ëegna.
“The name _Beowulf_ means literally ‘Bee-wolf,’ wolf or ravager of the bees, = bear. Cf. _beorn_, ‘hero,’ originally ‘bear,’ and _beohata_, ‘warrior,’ in CÃdmon, 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. M¸ller, _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-gesÃas below. H.-So. compares _HÃliand_, 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. faro = _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 weÃld 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 lÃndagas 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, SinfiËtli, 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 âtheling’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-rÃdende (K., S., C.); (2) sÃle-rÃdenne (H.); (3) sele-rÃdende (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 Ëâ, four with the verb gewÃtan, nine with the formula HrÃgâr (BeÃwulf, Unfer) maelode, twenty-four with monosyllables in general (him, swâ, sÃ, hwâ°t, Ëâ, hÃht, wâ°s, mâ°g, cwÃm, strÃt).
l. 58. gamel. “The … characteristics of the poetry are the use of archaic forms and words, such as mec for mÃ, the possessive sÃn, gamol, dÃgor, sw·t for eald, dÃg, blÃd, etc., after they had become obsolete in the prose language, and the use of special compounds and phrases, such as hildenÃdre (_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 rÃswa (referring to Heorogâr alone), and places a point (with the Ms.) after Heorogâr instead of after rÃswa. 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 ewÃn, Heaoscilfingas(=es) healsgebedda.
l. 68. For hÃ, omitted here, cf. l. 300. Pronouns are occasionally thus omitted insubord. clauses.–Sw.
l. 70. Ëone, here = Ëonne, _than_, and micel = mâre? The passage, by a slight change, might be made to read, medo-â°rn micle mâ gewyrcean,–Ëone = _by much larger than_,–in which Ëone (Ëonne) would come in naturally.
l. 73. folc-scare. Add _folk-share_ to the meanings in the Gloss.; and cf. gË-scearu.
l. 74. ic wide gefrâ°gn: an epic formula very frequent in poetry, = _men said._ Cf. _Judith_, ll. 7, 246; _Phoenix_, l. 1; and the parallel (noun) formula, mÃne gefrÃge, 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 WÃdsÃ’s suhtorfÃdran, used of the same persons.
l. 88. “The word dre·m 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 CÃdmon:
NË wà 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 _BeÃwulf_] 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 _BeÃwulf_ is treated like verbs of motion and modal auxiliaries, and takes the object inf. without tÃ; 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, feÃnd 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._ … Ettm¸ller 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. gâ°st = _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 hÃf and hÃfde 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 Ëone … drihten in parenthesis.
l. 108. Ëâ°s Ëe = _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. tà sà (l. 318), ofer sà (l. 2381), on lande (l. 2311), tà râ°ste (l. 1238), on wicge (l. 286), etc., etc.
l. 119. weras (S., H.-So.); wera (K., Th.).–_Beit._ ix. 137.
l. 120. unfÃlo = _uncanny_ (R.).
l. 131. E. translates, _majestic rage;_ adopting Gr.’s view that swy is = Icel. svii, _a burn_ or _burning_. Cf. l. 737.
l. 142. B. supposes heal-Ëegnes to be corrupted from helËegnes; cf. l. 101.–_Beit._ xii. 80. See GËlâc, l. 1042.
l. 144. See Ha., p. 6, for S.’s rearrangement.
l. 146. S. destroys period after sÃlest, puts wâ°s … micel in parenthesis, and inserts a colon after tÃd.
l. 149. B. reads sârcwidum for syan.
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 tà 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. tà + 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 Ettm¸ller 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 mÃd-ceare and mÃl-ceare as accus., others as instr.
ll. 190, 1994. se·: for this use of seÃan 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 bâ°ï£¿, l. 1862.
l. 203. Concessive clauses with Ëe·h, Ëe·h Ëe, Ëe·h … 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. hÃl, an OE. word found in W¸lker’s Glossaries in various forms, = _augury, omen, divination_, etc. Cf. hÃlsere, _augur_; hÃl, _omen;_ hÃlsung, _augurium_, hÃlsian, 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-tÃd mean _hour_ (Th.), or _corresponding hour_ = ând-tÃd (H.-So.), or _in due time_ (E.), or _after a time_, when ÃËres, 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 _BeÃwulf_ the earliest sea-thoughts of the English…. The simplest term is SÃ…. To this they added WÃter, Flod, Stream, Lagu, Mere, Holm, Grund, Heathu, Sund, Brim, Garsecg, Eagor, Geofon, Fifel, Hron-rad, Swan-rad, Segl-rad, Ganotes-bÃ.”–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 bÃron. 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. nâ°fne (nefne, nemne) usually takes the subj., = _unless_; cf. ll. 1057, 3055, 1553. For ind., = _except_, see l. 1354. Cf. bËtan, gif, Ëe·h.
l. 250. For a remarkable account of armor and weapons in _BeÃwulf_, see S. A. Brooke, _Hist. of Early Eng. Lit_. For general “Old Teutonic Life in BeÃwulf,” see J. A. Harrison, _Overland Monthly_.
l. 252. Ãr as a conj. generally has subj., as here; cf. ll. 264, 677, 2819, 732. For ind., cf. l. 2020.
l. 253. le·s = _loose_, _roving_. Ettm¸ller corrected to le·se.
l. 256. This proverb (Ãfest, 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 âlfred_, C. 17: Nâ Ëâ°t Ãlc eald sË, ac Ëâ°t he eald sË on wÃsdÃme.
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. dÃd-hata = _instigator_. Kl. reads dÃd-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 ‘ÃghwÃer (‘Ãger), ÃghwÃer, etc. This prefixed ‘Ã, Ãe corresponds to the Goth, _aiw_, OHG. _eo_, _io_, and is umlauted from ·, à 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 âstii’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 hleÃr-bergan = _cheek-protectors_; cf. _Beit._ xii. 26. “A bronze disk found at ÷land in Sweden represents two warriors in helmets with boars as their crests, and cheek-guards under; these are the hleÃr-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 gËmÃde grummon, B. and ten Br. read ferh-wearde (l. 305) and gËmÃdgum men (l. 306), = _the boar-images … guarded the lives of the warlike men_.
l. 311. leÃma: 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 sÃ, 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 _CÃdmon_, 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 scÃr, and makes hring-Ãren (= _ring-mail_) parallel with gË-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 vÃkenhus,… 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. “Ãl-, el-, kindred with Goth. _aljis_, other, e.g. in ÃlËÃodig, elËÃodig, foreign.”–Cook’s Sievers’ Gram., p. 47.
l. 336. Cf. l. 673 for the functions of an ombiht-Ëegn.
l. 343. Cf. l. 1714 for the same beÃd-gene·tas,–“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. sÃ 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. geÃng (giÃng: 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. glâ°dman HrÃgâr, abandoning Thorkelin’s glâ°dnian. There is a glass. hilaris glâ°dman.–_Beit._ xii. 84; same as glâ°d.
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-fâ°der, “hyphens are risky toys to play with in fixing texts of pre-hyphenial antiquity”; eald-fâ°der 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 Ge·tum, as presents from the Danish to the Geatish king.–_Beit._ xii.
l. 380. hâ°bbe. 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 seÃn. 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 weoran [in passive relations] is not very clearly defined, but wesan appears to indicate a state, weoran 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: ËÃr ic (_on_) fÃfelgeban (= _ocean_) Ëde eotena cyn. Ten Br. reads: ËÃr ic fÃfelgeban Ëde, eotena hâm. Ha. suggests fÃfelgeband = _monster-band_, without further changes.
l. 420. R. reads ËÃra = _of them_, for ËÃr.–_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. Ëe hine = _whom_, as at l. 1292, etc. The indeclinable Ëe 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 Ge·tas, but the Jutes, as the inhabitants of Swedish West-Gothland. Alfred translates Juti by Ge·tas, 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 he·fod-weard, _a guard of honor_, such as sovereigns or presumptive rulers had, to be meant by hafalan hËdan; hence, _you need not give me any guard_, etc. Cf. Schmid, _Gesetze der A._, 370-372.
l. 447. S. places a colon after nime.
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. RËnning (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 Ãlces mannes wyrd of Boethius (Sw., p. 44) and the wyrd bi swÃost of Gnomic Verses, 5. There are about a dozen references to it in _BeÃwulf_.
l. 455. E. compares the fatalism of this concluding hemistich with the Christian tone of l. 685 _seq._
ll. 457, 458. B. reads wÃre-ryhtum ( = _from the obligations of clientage_).
l. 480. Cf. l. 1231, where the same sense, “flown with wine,” occurs.
l. 488. “The dugu, 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 geogo, ll. 160 and 622.
l. 489. Kl. omits comma after meoto and reads (with B.) sige-hrÃ-secgum, = _disclose thy thought to the victor-heroes_. Others, as KËrner, convert meoto into an imperative and divide on sÃl = _think upon happiness_. But cf. onband beadu-rËne, l. 501. B. supposes onsÃl 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 Hunfer, but the alliteration requires â¬nfer, as at ll. 499, 1166, 1489; and cf. ll. 1542, 2095, 2930. See _List of Names_.
l. 501. sÃ = _arrival_ (?); cf. l. 353.
l. 504. Ëon mâ = _the more_ (?), may be added to the references under Ëon.
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 _CÃdmon_, 69, etc.
l. 524. Kr¸ger and B. read Bânstânes.–_Beit._ ix. 573.
l. 525. R. reads wyrsan (= wyrses: cf. Mod. Gr. _guten Muthes_) geËinges; but H.-So. shows that the MS. wyrsan … Ëingea = wyrsena Ëinga, _can stand_; cf. gen. pl. banan, _Christ_, l. 66, etc.
l. 534. Insert, under eard-lufa (in Gloss.), earfo, st. n., _trouble, difficulty, struggle_; acc. pl. earfeo, 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 _WÃdsÃth_. The story seems legendary, not mythical.”–Br., pp. 60, 61.
ll. 574-578. B. suggests swâ ËÃr for hwâ°ï£¿ere, = _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 Ëâ°s fela gylpe!), supplying fela and blending the broken half-lines into one. Ho. and Kl. supply geflites.
l. 599. E. translates nËd-bâde by _blackmail_; adding “nÃd bâd, _toll_; nÃd 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 WealhËeÃw 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 geËinged, especially as B. (_Tidskr_. viii. 57) has shown that oËËe is sometimes = ond. Th. supplies ne.
l. 650. oËËe 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 Ëe·h … eal a precursor of Mod. Eng. _although_.
l. 682. gÃdra = _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 hÃe 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; _WÃdsÃ_, l. 6, etc.
l. 711. B. translates Ëâ 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,–Ëyrs 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 âlfric, _Hom._ ii. 498: hà beworhte Ëâ bigelsas mid gyldenum lÃfrum, _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-Ëegnas, and make hâ°le 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. gedrâ°g. _Tumult_ is one of the meanings of this word. Here, appar. = _occupation, lair_.
l. 759. R. reads mÃdega for gÃda, “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 Ët = _off_.–E.
l. 769. The foreign words in _BeÃwulf_ (as ceaster-here) are not numerous; others are (aside from proper names like _Cain, Abel_, etc.) deÃfol (diabolus), candel (l. 1573), ancor (l. 303), scrÃfan (for- ge-), segn (l. 47), gigant (l. 113), mÃl- (l. 1363), strÃt (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, -rÃden, 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 rÃe, rÃnhearde, = _raging, exceeding bold_.
l. 792. Instrumental adverbial phrases like Ãnige Ëinga, nÃnige Ëinga (_not at all_), hËru Ëinga (_especially_) are not infrequent. See Cook’s Sievers’ Gram., p. 178; March, _A.-S. Gram._, p. 182.
l. 811. myre. E. translates _in wanton mood_. Toller-Bosw. does not recognize _sorrow_ as one of the meanings of this word.
ll. 850, 851. S. reads deÃp for deÃg and erases semicolon after weÃl, = _the death-stained deep welled with sword-gore_; cf. l. 1424. B. reads de·-fÃges deÃp, 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. KËrner, _Eng. Stud_. i. 482, regards the oft-recurring be sÃm tweÃnum as a mere formula = _on earth_; cf. ll. 1298, 1686. tweÃne is part of the separable prep. _between_; see be-. Cf. Baskerville’s _Andreas_, l. 558.
l. 865. Cf. _Voyage of âhthere 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 = Wâ°lsinges 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, weoran, sometimes take habban, “to indicate independent action.”–Sw. Cf. hafa … geworden, l. 2027.
l. 895. “brËcan (_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. hà Ëâ°s âron Ëâh = _he throve in honor_ (B.). Ten Br. inserts comma after Ëâh, making sian introduce a depend. clause.–_Beit._ viii. 568. Cf. weor-myndum Ëâh, l. 8; ll. 1155, 1243.–H.-So.
l. 902. HeremÃdes 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 “HeremÃd” here and the bad one, l. 1710 _seq._–B. however holds fast to HeremÃd.–_Beit._ xii. 41. on feÃnda geweald, l. 904,–_into the hands of devils_, says B.; cf. ll. 809, 1721, 2267; _Christ_, l. 1416; _Andreas_, l. 1621; for hine fyren onwÃd, cf. _Gen._ l. 2579; Hunt’s _Dan._ 17: hÃe wlenco anwÃd.
l. 902 _seq._ “HeremÃd’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. hÃs, G. hansa, _company_, “the word from which the mercantile association of the ‘Hanseatic’ towns took their designation.”–E.
l. 927. on staËole = _on the floor_ (B., Rask, ten Br.).–_Beit._ xii. 90.
l. 927. May not ste·pne 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 wÃd-scofen (hâ°fde). Gr. makes we· 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 BeÃwulf throws off at l. 964.
l. 963. feÃnd Ëone frâ°tgan (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 nÃ is both _hatred_ and _violence, strength_; heard is _sharp_ as well as _hard_.”–Sw.
l. 986. S. places wâ°s at end of l. 985 and reads stÃra nâ°gla, omitting gehwylc and the commas after that and after sce·wedon. _Beit._ ix. 138; stÃdra (H.-So.); hand-sporu (H.-So.) at l. 987.
l. 986. Miller (_Anglia_, xii. 3) corrects to Ãghwylene, 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 unheÃru = ungeheuer.
l. 992. B. suggests he·timbred for hâten, and gefrâ°twon for -od; Kl., hroden (_Beit._ ix. 189).
l. 995, 996. Gold-embroidered tapestries seem to be meant by web = _aurifrisium_.
l. 997. After Ëâra Ëe = _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 sÃl and mÃl, 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 … Ëâra). Cf. B., _Beit._ xii. 91.
l. 1024. One of the many famous swords spoken of in the poem. See Hrunting, ll. 1458, 1660; HËnlâfing, l. 1144, etc. Cf. Excalibur, Roland’s sword, the Nibelung Balmung, etc.
l. 1034. scËr-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. _CÃdmon_, ll. 2439, 2481. The passage throws interesting light on horses and their trappings
l. 1043. Grundt. emends wÃg 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 wi gefeohtan (_Zachers Zeitschr._ iii. 394). Kl., wi H. wiht gefeohtan.
ll. 1085 and 1099. we·-lâf occurs in Wulfstan, _Hom._ 133, ed. Napier.–E. Cf. daroa 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 wÃre 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. KËrner 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., andiÃge = Goth, _andaugjo, evidently_. Cf. incge lâfe, l. 2578. Possibly: and inge (= _young men_) gold âhÃfon of horde. For inge, cf. Hunt’s _Exod._ l. 190.
ll. 1115-1120. R. proposes (hÃt Ëâ …) bânfatu bâ°rnan ond on bÃl dÃn, earme on eaxe = _to place the arms in the ashes_, reading gËrÃc = _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 gËrinc âstâh, cf. Old Norse, _stiga · b·l_, “ascend the bale-fire.”
l. 1116. sweoloe. “On Dartmoor the burning of the furze up the hillsides to let new grass grow, is called _zwayling_.”–E. Cf. _sultry_, G. _schw¸l_, etc.
l. 1119. Cf. wudu-rÃc âstâh, l. 3145; and _Exod_. (Hunt), l. 450: wÃlmist âstâh.
l. 1122. â°tspranc = _burst forth, arose_ (omitted from the Gloss.), < â°t +
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: HËn Lâfing, = _HËn 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 MËller read: worod rÃdenne, Ëonne him HËn Lâfing, = _military brotherhood, when HËn laid upon his breast_ (the sword) _Lâfing_. There is a sword _Laufi, LËvi_ 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. MËller, _Alteng. Volksepos_, 69, 86, 94; Heinzel, _Anz. f. dtsch. Altert._, 10, 226; B., _Beit._ xii. 29-37. Cf. _WÃdsÃ_, l. 33, etc.
ll. 1160, 1161. leÃ (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-schËn_, etc.
l. 1165. Ëâ gyt points to some future event when “each” was not “true to other,” undeveloped in this poem, suhtor-gefâ°deran = HrÃgâr and HrÃulf, l. 1018. Cf. âum-swerian, l. 84.
l. 1167 almost repeats l. 500, â°t fÃtum, etc., where â¬nfer 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 Ëtan; cf. _Voyage of âhthere_, etc. (Sw.), p. 18, l. 34, etc.; _BeÃwulf_, ll. 859, 1686, etc.
l. 1194. bewâ°gned, a [Greek: hapax legomenon], tr. _offered_ by Th. Probably a p. p. wâ°gen, 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 EormenrÃc; 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 BrÃsinga mene, cf. B., _Beit._ xii. 72. C. suggests fle·h, = _fled_, for fealh, placing semicolon after byrig, and making hà subject of fle·h and gece·s.
l. 1202. B. conjectures gece·s Ãcne rÃd 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. HrÃgâr’s language to Beowulf, ll. 1760, 1761.
l. 1211. S. proposes feoh, = _property_, for feorh, which would be a parallel for breÃst-gewÃdu … be·h below.
l. 1213. E. remarks that in the _Laws of Cnut_, i. 26, the devil is called se wÃdfreca werewulf, _the ravening werwolf_.
l. 1215. C. proposes heals-bÃge onfÃng. _Beit._ viii. 570. For hreâ- Kl. suggests hrÃ-.
l. 1227. The son referred to is, according to Ettm¸ller, the one that reigns after HrÃgâr.
l. 1229. Kl. suggests sÃ, = _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. ânwÃg-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. wÃsten 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 gesËne and wÃdcË, 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 Ëe, m.; changed by some to seo Ëe. 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. âglÃca = _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 Ëeod wrecan, which R. changes to sunu ËeÃd-wrecan, ËeÃd- = _monstrous_; but why not regard ËeÃd as opposition to sunu, = _her son, the prince?_ See Sweet’s Reader, and KËrner’s discussion, _Eng. Stud._ i. 500.
l. 1281. Ten Br. suggests (for sÃna) sâra = _return of sorrows._
l. 1286. “geËuren (twice so written in MSS.) stands for geËrËen, _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. Ëe hine = _whom;_ cf. ll. 441, 1437, 1292; _HÃliand_, l. 1308.
l. 1298. be sÃm 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 Ãer him â°rn = _another apartment was assigned him_.
l. 1303. B. conjectures under hrÃf 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 nÃgde or nÃgde, _accosted_, < nÃgan = Mid. Ger.
_nÃhwian_, pr. p. _nÃhwiandans, approach_. For hnÃgan, _press down, vanquish_, see ll. 1275, 1440, etc.
l. 1321. C. suggests ne·d-lâum for neÃd-lau, _after crushing hostility_; but cf. freÃnd-lau, l. 1193.
l. 1334. K. and ten Br. conjecture gefâ°gnod = _rejoicing in her fill_, a parallel to Ãse 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 geà for eÃw (_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-rÃdende at l. 51.
l. 1351. “The ge [of gewitan] may be merely a scribal error,–a repetition (dittography) of the preceding ge of gewislÃcost.”–Sw.
l. 1352. ides, like firas, _men_, etc., is a poetic word supposed by Grimm to have been applied, like Gr. [Greek: nËmphÃ], to superhuman or semi-divine women.
ll. 1360-1495 _seq._ E. compares this Dantesque tarn and scenery with the poetical accounts of _âneid_, vii. 563; _Lucretius_, vi. 739, etc.
l. 1360. firgenstre·m 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 = hrÃnende (?), which Gr. adopts; K. and Th. read hrinde-bearwas; hringde, _encircling_ (Sarrazin, _Beit._ xi. 163); hrÃmge = _frosty_ (Sw.); _with frost-whiting covered_ (Ha.). See Morris, _Blickling Hom_., Preface, vi., vii.
l. 1364. Cf. Ruin, hrÃmige edoras behrofene, _rimy, roofless halls_.
l. 1366. nÃwundor may = ni- (as in ni-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. “sele is not dependent on Ãr, for in that case it would be in the subjunctive, but Ãr is simply an adverb, correlative with the conjunction Ãr 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, blÃd.
l. 1391. uton: hortatory subj. of wÃtan, _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. geatolÃc probably = _in his equipments_, as B. suggests (_Beit._ xii. 83), comparing searolÃc.
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 [ËÃr heÃ] gegnum fÃr; B. (_ibid._ xii. 14) suggests hwÃr heÃ.
l. 1411. B., Gr., and E. take ân-paas = paths wide enough for only one, like Norwegian _einstig_; cf. stÃge nearwe, just above. _Trail_ is the meaning. Cf. enge ânpaas, uncË gelâd, _Exod._ (Hunt), l. 58.
l. 1421. Cf. oncË, 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_ foea.”
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. _nËk, nisse_, Swed. _nâ°cken_, G. _nix, nixe_, etc.” See Skeat, _Nick._
l. 1440. Sw. reads gehnÃged, _prostrated_, and regards nÃa as gen. pl. “used instrumentally,” = _by force._
l. 1441. -bora = _bearer, stirrer;_ occurs in other compds., as mund-, rÃd-, wÃg-bora.
l. 1447. him = _for him_, a remoter dative of reference.–Sw.
l. 1455. Gr. reads brondne, = _flaming_.
l. 1457. leÃn is the inf. of lâh; cf. onlâh (< onleÃn) at l. 1468. lÃhan
was formerly given as the inf.; cf. lÃne = lÃhne.
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. hâ°ft-mÃce 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-te·rum = _poison-drops_ (C., _Beit._ viii. 571; S., _ibid_. xi. 359).
l. 1467. Ëâ°t, comp. relative, = _that which_; “we testify _that_ we do know.”
l. 1480. for-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 bËton with subj.; cf. ll. 452, 594; of fact or certainty, the ind.; cf. ll. 442, 447, 527, 662, etc. For bËton, 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 wâ°l-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 nisele, hrÃfsele 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-le·n (R.); cf. l. 2095. The MS. has hand-le·n.
l. 1546. Sw. and S. read seax.–_Beit._ ix. 140.
l. 1557. H.-So. omits comma and places semicolon after ËelÃce; Sw. and S. place comma after gescÃd.
l. 1584. Ãer 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. gewear, 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 = wÃscton = _wished_.–_Beit._ viii. 571.
l. 1607. broden mÃl is now regarded as a comp. noun, = _inlaid or damascened sword_.–W., Ho.
l. 1611. wâ°l-râpas = _water-ropes = bands of frost_ (l. 1610) (?). Possibly the Prov. Eng. weele, _whirlpool_. Cf. wÃl, _gurges_, Wright, Voc., _Gnom. Verses_, l. 39.–E.
l. 1611. wÃgrâpas (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 Ettm¸ller 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 wÃge.
l. 1664. B. proposes eotenise … Ãste for e·cen … oftost, omitting brackets (_Zackers Zeitschr._ iv. 206). G. translates _mighty … often_.
l. 1675. ondrÃdan. “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: abËtan, amang, aweg, aright, adr’Ãdan.”–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 … oranc 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. Ëâ°t ËÃ eorl nÃre 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. leÃd-bealo longsum = _eternal hell-torment_ (B., _Beit._ xii. 38, who compares _Ps. Cott._ 57, lÃf longsum).
l. 1729. E. translates on lufan, _towards possession_; Ha., _to possessions_.
l. 1730. mÃdgeËonc, like lig, sÃ, segn, niht, etc., is of double gender (m., n. in the case of mÃdgeË.).
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 = wÃ(u)m; cf. wÃh-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 wÃh, _wrong_ = gen. wÃs or wÃges, dat. wÃ(u)m, etc.; pl. gen. wÃra, dat. wÃ(u)m, etc.; and cf. declension of he·h, hreÃh, rËh, 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 Ãil_). 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 geweorad (MS. wigge weorad) is C.’s conjecture; cf. _Elene_, l. 150. So G., _honored in war_.
l. 1785. The future generally implied in the present of beÃn 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 Ëyncan) 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. M¸llenh. 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 Hrogar, 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. â°sc-holt.
l. 1855. sÃl = _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 gemÃne, 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 geËÃhte, = _with firm thought_, for geworhte; cf. l. 611.
l. 1876. geseÃn = _see again_ (Kl., _Beit._ ix. 190). S. and B. insert nâ to modify geseÃn and explain HrÃgâr’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 gÃd cyning of l. 11.
l. 1896. scaan = _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 HrÃgâr’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-tÃd ÃËres dÃgores of l. 219, and the similarity of language in both passages (fâmig-heals, clifu, nâ°ssas, sÃlde, 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 ceÃl, = _ship_, in the _A.-S. Chron._, ed. Earle-Plummer; _Gnomic Verses_, etc.
l. 1914. S. inserts Ëâ°t hà before on lande.
l. 1916. B. makes leÃfra 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 frÃcnu, = _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 HeremÃd are contrasted. For Thrytho, etc., cf. Gr., _Jahrb. f¸r rom. u. eng. Lit._ iv. 279; M¸llenhoff, _Haupts Zeitschr._ xiv. 216; Matthew Paris; Suchier, _Beit._ iv. 500-521; R. _Zachers Zeitschr._ iii. 402; B., _ibid._ iv. 206; KËrner, _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 ï¬ryo (Gr.’s _Drida_ of the _Vita Offà Secundi_) of the present passage. The tale is told of her, not of Hygd.
l. 1936. Suchier proposes andÃges, = _eye to eye_; Leo proposes ândÃges, = _the whole day_; G., _by day_. No change is necessary if an be taken to govqern hire, = _on her_, and dâ°ges be explained (like nihtes, etc.) as a genitive of time, = _by day_.
l. 1943. R. and Suchier propose onsÃce, = _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 OngenËeÃw, 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 [he·-].
l. 1984. B. defends the MS., reading hà nË (for hÃnË), which he regards as = Heinir, the inhabitants of the Jutish “heaths” (hÃ). Cf. H.-So., p. 107; _Beit._ xii. 9.
l. 1985. sÃnne. “In poetry there is a reflexive possessive of the third person, sÃn (declined like mÃn). 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 se·; 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-wÃg), _mead, beer, wine, lÃ_ (cider? Goth. _leiËus_, Prov. Ger. _leit-_ in _leit-haus_, ale-house), etc.
l. 2025. Kl. proposes is for wâ°s.
l. 2027. Cf. l. 1599 for a similar use of weoran, = _agree, be pleased with_ (Ha.); _appear_ (Sw., Reader, 6th ed.).
ll. 2030, 2031. Ten Br. proposes: oft seldan ( = _gave_) wÃre â°fter leÃd-hryre: lytle hwÃle bongâr bËge, Ëe·h seà brËd 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 be·h B. reads bâ, = _both_, i.e. Freaware and the Dane.
l. 2063. Thorkelin and Conybeare propose wÃgende, = _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 Ëâ (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:
ï¬Ãr on innan giÃng
nia nâthwylc, neÃde tà gefÃng hÃnum horde; hond â°tgenam
seleful since fâh; nà hà Ëâ°t syan âgeaf, Ëe·h Ëe hà slÃpende besyrede hyrde ËeÃfes crâ°fte: Ëâ°t se ËiÃden onfand, bË-folc beorna, Ëâ°t hà gebolgen wâ°s.
–_Beit._ xii. 99; _Zachers Zeitschr._ iv. 210.
l. 2128. â°tbâ°r here = _bear away_, not given in the Gloss.
l. 2129. B. proposes fÃrunga, = _suddenly_, for Gr.’s reading in the text.–_Beit._ xii. 98.
l. 2132. MS. has Ëine 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, hafa, are poetic archaisms.–Sw.
l. 2153. Kl. proposes ealdor, = _prince_, for eafor. W. proposes the compd. eafor-he·fodsegn, = _helm_; cf. l. 1245.
l. 2157. The wk. form of the adj. is frequent in the vocative, especially when postponed: “Beowulf leÃfa,” l. 1759. So, often, in poetry in nom.: wudu selesta, etc.
l. 2158. Ãrest is possibly the verbal subs. from ârÃsan, _to arise, = arising, origin_. R. suggested Ãrist, _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 [wÃn]don, = _weened_, instead of Th.’s [oft sâ°g]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 ËËsendo 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”