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-scerwen
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"
[throne].--E.
l. 2210. MS. has the more correct wintra.
l. 2211. Cf. similar language about the dragon at l. 100. Beowulf's
"jubilee" is fitly solemnized by his third and last dragon-fight.
l. 2213. B. proposes sê þe on hearge hæðen hord beweotode; cf. Ha., p. 75.
l. 2215. "The dragon lies round the treasures in a cave, as Fafnir, like a
Python, lay coiled over his hoard. So constant was this habit among the
dragons that gold is called Worms' bed, Fafnir's couch, Worms' bed-fire.
Even in India, the cobras ... are guardians of treasure."--Br., p. 50.
l. 2216. neóde. E. translates _deftly_; Ha., _with ardor_. H.-So. reads
neóde, = _with desire, greedily_, instr. of neód.
l. 2223. E. begins his "Part Third" at this point as he begins "Part
Second" at l. 1252, each dragon-fight forming part of a trilogy.
ll. 2224, 2225. B. proposes: nealles mid gewealdum wyrmes weard gäst sylfes
willum.--_Zachers Zeitschr._ iv. 211; _Beit._ xii. 100.
l. 2225. For þeów read þegn.--K. and Z.
l. 2225. þeów, st. m., _slave, serf_ (not in H.-So.).
l. 2227. For ofer-þearfe read ærnes þearfa.--Z.
ll. 2229-2231. B. proposes:
secg synbysig sôna onwlâtode,
þeáh þâm gyste gryrebrôga stôd,
hwäðre earmsceapen innganges þearfa
. . . . . . . . . .
feásceapen, þâ hyne se fær begeat.
--_Beit._ xii. 101. Cf. Ha., p. 69.
l. 2232. W. suggests seah or seîr for geseah, and Gr. suggests searolîc.
l. 2233. Z. surmises eorð-hûse (for -scräfe).
l. 2241. B. proposes læn-gestreóna, = _transitory_, etc.; Th., R. propose
leng (= _longer_) gestreóna; S. accepts the text but translates "the
long accumulating treasure."
l. 2246. B. proposed (1) hard-fyndne, = _hard to find_; (2) hord-wynne
dæl,--_a deal of treasure-joy_ (cf. l. 2271).--_Zachers Zeitschr._
iv. 211; _Beit._ xii. 102.
l. 2247. fecword = _banning words_ (?) MS. has fec.
l. 2254. Others read feor-[mie], = _furbish_, for fetige: _I own not one
who may_, etc.
l. 2261. The Danes themselves were sometimes called the "Ring-Danes,"
= clad in ringed (or a ring of) armor, or possessing rings. Cf.
ll. 116, 1280.
l. 2264. Note the early reference to hawking. Minstrelsy (hearpan
wyn), saga-telling, racing, swimming, harpooning of sea-animals, feasting,
and the bestowal of jewels, swords, and rings, are the other amusements
most frequent in _Beówulf_.
l. 2264. Cf. _Maldon_, ll. 8, 9, for a reference to hawking.
l. 2276. Z. suggests swýðe ondrædað; Ho. puts gesêcean for Gr.'s
gewunian.
l. 2277. Z. and K. read: hord on hrûsan. "Three hundred winters,"
at l. 2279, is probably conventional for "a long time," like hund
missera, l. 1499; hund þûsenda, l. 2995; þritig (of Beowulf's strength), l.
379; þritig (of the men slain by Grendel), l. 123; seofan þûsendo, l. 2196,
etc.
l. 2285. B. objects to hord as repeated in ll. 2284, 2285; but cf. Ha., p.
77. C. prefers sum to hord. onboren = _inminutus_; cf. B., _Beit._ xii.
102.
l. 2285. onberan is found also at line 991, = _carry off_, with on- = E.
_un--(un-bind, -loose, -tie_, etc.), G. _ent-_. The negro still pronounces
_on-do_, etc.
l. 2299. Cf. H.-So., p. 112, for a defense of the text as it stands. B.
proposes "nor was there any man in that desert who rejoiced in conflict,"
etc. So ten Br.
l. 2326. B. and ten Br,. propose hâm, = _home_, for him.--_Beit._ xii. 103.
l. 2335. E. translates eálond utan by _the sea-board front, the
water-washed land on the (its) outside_. See B., _Beit._ xii. 1, 5.
l. 2346. Cf. l. 425, where Beowulf resolves to fight the dragon
single-handed. E. compares _Guy of Warwick_, ll. 49, 376.
l. 2355. Ten Br. proposes laðan cynne as apposition to mægum.
l. 2360. Cf. Beowulf's other swimming-feat with Breca, ll. 506 _seq._
l. 2362. Gr. inserts âna, = _lone-going_, before xxx.: approved by B.; and
Krüger, _Beit._ ix. 575. Cf. l. 379.
l. 2362. "Beowulf has the strength of thirty men in the original tale.
Here, then, the new inventor makes him carry off thirty coats of
mail."--Br., p. 48.
l. 2364. Hetware = Chattuarii, a nation allied against Hygelâc in his
Frisian expedition; cf. ll. 1208 _seq._, 2917, etc.
l. 2368. B. proposes _quiet sea_ as trans, of sióleða bigong, and compares
Goth. _anasilan_, to be still; Swed. dial, _sil_, still water between
waterfalls.--_Zachers Zeitschr._ iv. 214.
l. 2380. hyne--Heardrêd; so him, l. 2358.
l. 2384. E. calls attention to Swió-rîce as identical with the modern
_Sverige_ = Sweden; cf. l. 2496.
l. 2386. Gr. reads on feorme, = _at the banquet_; cf. Möller, _Alteng.
Volksepos_, 111, who reads (f)or feorme. The MS. has or.
l. 2391. Cf. l. 11.
l. 2394. B., Gr., and Mûllenh. understand ll. 2393-2397 to mean that
Eádgils, Ôhthere's son, driven from Sweden, returns later, supported by
Beowulf, takes the life of his uncle Onela, and probably becomes himself
O.'s successor and king of Sweden. For another view see H.-So., p. 115. MS.
has freond (l. 2394), which Leo, etc., change to feónd. G. translates
_friend_.--_Beit._ xii. 13; _Anzeiger f. d. Altert_. iii. 177.
l. 2395. Eádgils is Ôhthere's son; cf. l. 2381; Onela is Ôhthere's brother;
cf. ll. 2933, 2617.
l. 2402. "Twelfsome"; cf. "fifteensome" at l. 207, etc. As _Beówulf_ is
essentially _the_ Epic of Philanthropy, of the true love of man, as
distinguished from the ordinary love-epic, the number twelve in this
passage may be reminiscent of another Friend of Man and another Twelve. In
each case all but one desert the hero.
l. 2437. R. proposes stýred, = _ordered, decreed_, for strêd.--_Zachers
Zeitschr._ iii. 409.
l. 2439. B. corrects to freó-wine = _noble friend_, asking, "How can
Herebeald be called Hæðcyn's freá-wine [MS.], _lord?_"
l. 2442. feohleás gefeoht, "a homicide which cannot be atoned for by
money--in this case an unintentional fratricide."--Sw.
l. 2445. See Ha., pp. 82, 83, for a discussion of ll. 2445-2463. Cf. G., p.
75.
l. 2447. MS. reads wrece, justified by B. (_Tidskr_. viii. 56). W.
conceives wrece as optative or hortative, and places a colon before þonne.
l. 2449. For helpan read helpe.--K., Th., S. (_Zeitschr. f. D. Phil._ xxi.
3, 357).
ll. 2454-2455. (1) Müllenh. (_Haupts Zeitschr._ xiv. 232) proposes:
þonne se ân hafað
þurh dæda nýd deáðes gefandod.
(2) B. proposes:
þurh dæda nîð deáðes gefondad.
--_Zachers Zeitschr._ iv. 215.
l. 2458. Cf. sceótend, pl., ll. 704, 1155, like rîdend. Cf. _Judith_, l.
305, etc.
l. 2474. Th. considers the "wide water" here as the Mälar lake, the
boundary between Swedes and Goths.
l. 2477. On oþþe = _and_, cf. B., _Tidskr_. viii. 57. See Ha., p. 83.
l. 2489. B. proposes hreá-blâc for Gr.'s heoro-.--_Tikskr_. viii. 297.
l. 2494. S. suggests êðel-wynne.
l. 2502. E. translates for dugeðum, _of my prowess_; so Ettmüller.
ll. 2520-2522. Gr. and S. translate, "if I knew how else I might combat the
monster's boastfulness."--Ha., p. 85.
l. 2524. and-hâttres is H.'s invention. Gr. reads oreðes and âttres, _blast
and venom_. Cf. oruð, l. 2558, and l. 2840 (where âttor- also occurs).
l. 2526. E. quotes fleón fôtes trym from _Maldon_, l. 247.
l. 2546. Gr., H.-So., and Ho. read standan stân-bogan (for stôd on
stân-bogan) depending on geseah.
l. 2550. Grundt. and B. propose deór, _brave one_, i.e. Beowulf, for deóp.
L. 2565. MS. has ungleaw (K., Th.), unglaw (Grundt.). B. proposes unslâw, =
_sharp_.--_Beit._ xii. 104. So H.-So., Ha., p. 86.
ll. 2570, 2571. (1) May not gescîfe (MS. to gscipe) = German _schief_,
"crooked," "bent," "aslant," and hence be a parallel to gebogen, _bent,
coiled?_ cf. l. 2568, þâ se wyrm gebeáh snûde tôsomne, and l. 2828. Coiled
serpents spring more powerfully for the coiling. (2) Or perhaps destroy
comma after tô and read gescäpe, = _his fate_; cf. l. 26: him þâ Scyld
gewât tô gescäp-hwîle. G. appar. adopts this reading, p. 78.
l. 2589. grund-wong = _the field_, not _the earth_ (so B.); H.-So., _cave_,
as at l. 2771. So Ha., p. 87.
l. 2595. S. proposes colon after stefne.--_Beit._ ix. 141.
l. 2604. Müllenh. explains leód Scylfinga in _Anzeiger f. d. Altert._ iii.
176-178.
l. 2607. âre = _possessions, holding_ (Kl., _Beit._ ix. 192; Ha., p. 88).
l. 2609. folcrihta. Add "folk-right" to the meanings in the Gloss.; and cf.
êðel-, land-riht, word-riht.
l. 2614. H.-So. reads with Gr. wræccan wineleásum Weohstân bana, = _whom, a
friendless exile, W. had slain_.
ll. 2635-61. E. quotes Tacitus, _Germania_, xiv.: "turpe comitatui virtutem
principis non adaequare." Beowulf had been deserted by his _comitatus_.
l. 2643. B. proposes ûser.--_Zachers Zeitschr._ iv. 216.
l. 2649. wutun; l. 3102, uton = pres. subj. pl. 1st person of wîtan, _to
go_, used like Mod. Eng. _let us_ + inf., Lat. _eamus_, Ital. _andiamo_,
Fr. _allons_; M. E. (_Layamon_) _uten_. Cf. Psa. ii. 3, etc. March, _A.-S.
Gram._, pp. 104, 196.
l. 2650. B. suggests hât for hyt,.--_Beit._ xii. 105.
l. 2656. fâne = fâh-ne; cf. fâra = fâh-ra, l. 578; so heánne (MS.) =
heáh-ne, etc., l. 984. See Cook's Sievers' Gram.
ll. 2660, 2661. Why not read beadu-scrûd, as at l. 453, = _battle-shirt?_
B. and R. suppose two half-verses omitted between byrdu-scrûd and bâm
gemæne. B. reads býwdu, = _handsome_, etc. Gr. suggests unc nû, = _to us
two now_, for ûrum; and K. and Grundt. read beón gemæne for bâm, etc. This
makes sense. Cf. Ha., p. 89.
l. 2666. Cf. the dat. absolute without preposition.
l. 2681. Nägling; cf. Hrunting, Lâfing, and other famous wundor-smiða
geweorc of the poem.
l. 2687. B. changes þonne into þone (rel. pro.) = _which_.--_Beit._ xii.
105.
l. 2688. B. supports the MS. reading, wundum.
l. 2688. Cf. l. 2278 for similar language.
l. 2698. B. (_Beit._ xii. 105) renders: "he did not heed the head of the
dragon (which Beowulf with his sword had struck without effect), but he
struck the dragon somewhat further down." Cf. Saxo, vi. p. 272.
l. 2698. Cf. the language used at ll. 446 and 1373, where hafelan also
occurs; and hýdan.
l. 2700. hwêne; cf. Lowl. Sc. _wheen_, a number; Chaucer's _woon_, number.
l. 2702. S. proposes þâ (for þät) þät fýr, etc., = _when the fire began_,
etc.
l. 2704. "The (hup)-seax has often been found in Saxon graves on the hip of
the skeleton."--E.
l. 2707. Kl. proposes: feorh ealne wräc, = _drove out all the life_; cf.
_Gen._ l. 1385.--_Beit._ ix. 192. S. suggests gefylde,--_he felled the
foe_, etc.--_Ibid_. Parentheses seem unnecessary.
l. 2727. däg-hwîl = _time allotted, lifetime_.
l. 2745, 2745. Ho. removes geong from the beginning of l. 2745 and places
it at the end of l. 2744.
l. 2750. R. proposes sigle searogimmas, as at l. 1158.
l. 2767. (1) B. proposes doubtfully oferhîgean or oferhîgan, = Goth,
_ufarhauhjan_, p. p. _ufarhauhids_ (Gr. [Greek: tuphwtheis]) = _exceed in
value_.--_Tidskr_. viii. 60. (2) Kl. proposes oferhýdian, = _to make
arrogant, infatuate_; cf. oferhýd.--_Beit._ ix. 192.
l. 2770. gelocen leoðocräftum = (1) _spell-bound_ (Th., Arnold, E.); (2)
_wrought with hand-craft_ (G.); (3) _meshed, linked together_ (H., Ho.);
cf. _Elene_, ll. 1251, 522.
l. 2778. B. considers bill ... ealdhlâfordes as Beowulf's short sword, with
which he killed the dragon, l. 2704 (_Tidskr_. viii. 299). R. proposes
ealdhlâforde. Müllenh. understands ealdhlâford to mean the former possessor
of the hoard. W. agrees to this, but conceives ærgescôd as a compd. = ære
calceatus, _sheathed in brass_. Ha. translates ærgescôd as vb. and adv.
l. 2791. Cf. l. 224, eoletes ät ende; landes ät ende, _Exod_. (Hunt).
l. 2792. MS. reads wäteres weorpan, which R. would change to wätere
sweorfan.
l. 2806. "Men saw from its height the whales tumbling in the waves, and
called it Whale's Ness (Hrones-næs)."--Br. p. 28. Cf. l. 3137.
l. 2815. Wîglâf was the next of kin, the last of the race, and hence the
recipient of Beowulf's kingly insignia. There is a possible play on the
word lâf (Wîg-_lâf_, ende-_lâf_).
l. 2818. gingeste word; cf. _novissima verba_, and Ger. _jüngst_, lately.
l. 2837. E. translates on lande, _in the world_, comparing _on lîfe, on
worulde_.
l. 2840. geræsde = pret. of geræsan (omitted from the Gloss.), same as
ræsan; cf. l. 2691.
l. 2859. B. proposes deáð ârædan, = _determine death_.--_Beit._ xii. 106.
l. 2861. Change geongum to geongan as a scribal error (?), but cf.
Lichtenheld, _Haupts Zeitschr._ xvi. 353-355.
l. 2871. S. and W. propose ôwêr.--_Beit._ ix. 142.
l. 2873. S. punctuates: wrâðe forwurpe, þâ, etc.
l. 2874. H.-So. begins a new sentence with nealles, ending the preceding
one with beget.
l. 2879. ätgifan = _to render, to afford_; omitted in Gloss.
ll. 2885-2892. "This passage ... equals the passage in Tacitus which
describes the tie of chief to companion and companion to chief among the
Germans, and which recounts the shame that fell on those who survived their
lord."--Br., p. 56.
l. 2886. cyn thus has the meaning of _gens_ or clan, just as in many
Oriental towns all are of one blood. E. compares Tacitus, _Germania_, 7;
and cf. "kith and kin."
l. 2892. Death is preferable to dishonor. Cf. Kemble, _Saxons_, i. 235.
l. 2901. The _[Greek: angelos]_ begins his _[Greek: angelia]_ here.
l. 2910. S. proposes higemêðe, _sad of soul;_ cf. ll. 2853 and 2864
(_Beit._ ix. 142). B. considers higemêðum a dat. or instr. pl. of an
abstract in -u (_Beit._ xii. 106). H. makes it a dat. pl. = _for the dead_.
For heafod-wearde, etc., cf. note on l. 446.
l. 2920-2921. B. explains "he could not this time, as usual, give jewels to
his followers."--_Beit._ xii. 106.
l. 2922. The Merovingian or Frankish race.
l. 2940 _seq._ B. conjectures:
cwäð hîe on mergenne mêces ecgum
gêtan wolde, sumon galgtreowu
âheáwan on holte ond hîe âhôan on þâ
fuglum tô gamene.
--_Beit._ xii. 107, 372. Cf. S., _Beit._ ix. 143. gêtan = _cause blood to
be shed._
l. 2950. B. proposes gomela for gôda; "a surprising epithet for a Geat to
apply to the 'terrible' Ongentheow."--Ha. p. 99. But "good" does not
necessarily mean "morally excellent," as a "good" hater, a "good" fighter.
l. 2959. See H.-So. for an explanatory quotation from Paulus Diaconus, etc.
B., K., and Th. read segn Higelâces, = H.'s banner uplifted began to pursue
the Swede-men.--_Beit._ xii. 108. S. suggests sæce, = _pursuit_.
l. 2977. gewyrpton: this vb. is also used reflexively in _Exod_. (Hunt), l.
130: wyrpton hie wêrige.
l. 2989. bär is Grundt.'s reading, after the MS. "The surviving victor is
the heir of the slaughtered foe."--H.-So. Cf. _Hildebrands Lied_, ll. 61,
62.
l. 2995. "A hundred of thousands in land and rings" (Ha., p. 100). Cf. ll.
2196, 3051. Cf. B., _Beit._ xii. 20, who quotes Saxo's _bis senas gentes_
and remarks: "Hrolf Kraki, who rewards his follower, for the slaying of the
foreign king, with jewels, rich lands, and his only daughter's hand,
answers to the Jutish king Hygelâc, who rewards his liegeman, for the
slaying of Ongentheów, with jewels, enormous estates, and _his_ only
daughter's hand."
l. 3006. H.-So. suggests Scilfingas for Scyldingas, because, at l. 2397,
Beowulf kills the Scylfing Eádgils and probably acquires his lands. Thus
ll. 3002, 3005, 3006, would indicate that, after Beowulf's death, the
Swedes desired to shake off his hated yoke. Müllenh., however, regards l.
3006 as a thoughtless repetition of l. 2053.--_Haupts Zeitschr._ xiv. 239.
l. 3008. Cf. the same proverb at l. 256; and _Exod._ (Hunt.) l. 293.
l. 3022. E. quotes:
"Thai token an harp _gle and game_
And maked a lai and yaf it name."
--_Weber_, l. 358.
and from Percy, "The word _glee_, which peculiarly denoted their art (the
minstrels'), continues still in our own language ... it is to this day used
in a musical sense, and applied to a peculiar piece of composition."
l. 3025. "This is a finer use than usual of the common poetic attendants of
a battle, the wolf, the eagle, and the raven. The three are here like three
Valkyrie, talking of all that they have done."--Br., p. 57.
l. 3033. Cf. Hunt's _Dan._ l. 731, for similar language.
l. 3039. B. supplies a supposed gap here:
[banan eác fundon bennum seócne
(nê) ær hî þæm gesêgan syllîcran wiht]
wyrm on wonge...
--_Beit._ xii. 372.
Cf. Ha., p. 102. W. and Ho. insert [þær] before gesêgan.
l. 3042. Cf. l. 2561, where gryre-giest occurs as an epithet of the dragon.
B. proposes gry[re-fâh].
l. 3044. lyft-wynne, _in the pride of the air_, E.; _to rejoice in the
air_, Ha.
l. 3057. (1) He (God) is men's hope; (2) he is the heroes' hope; (3) gehyld
= the secret place of enchanters; cf. hêlsmanna gehyld, Gr.'s reading,
after A.-S. hælsere, haruspex, augur.
l. 3060. B. suggests gehýðde, = _plundered_ (i.e. by the thief), for
gehýdde.
ll. 3063-3066. (1) B. suggests wundur [deáðe] hwâr þonne eorl ellenrof ende
gefêre = _let a brave man then somewhere meet his end by wondrous venture_,
etc.--_Zachers Zeitschr._ iv. 241; cf. l. 3038. (2) S. supposes an indirect
question introduced by hwâr and dependent upon wundur, = _a mystery is it
when it happens that the hero is to die, if he is no longer to linger among
his people_.--_Beit._ ix. 143. (3) Müllenh. suggests: _is it to be wondered
at that a man should die when he can no longer live?_--_Zachers Zeitschr._
xiv. 241. (4) Possibly thus:
Wundrað hwät þonne,
eorl ellen-rôf, ende gefêre
lîf-gesceafta, þonne leng ne mäg (etc.),
in which hwät would = þurh hwät at l. 3069, and eorl would be subject of
the conjectural vb. wundrað: "the valiant earl wondereth then through what
he shall attain his life's end, when he no longer may live.... So Beówulf
knew not (wondered how) through what _his_ end should come," etc. W. and
Ho. join þonne to the next line. Or, for hwâr read wære: Wundur wære þonne
(= gif), etc., = "would it be any wonder if a brave man," etc., which is
virtually Müllenhoff's.
l. 3053. galdre bewunden, _spell-bound_, throws light on l. 2770, gelocen
leoðo-cräftum. The "accursed" gold of legend is often dragon-guarded and
placed under a spell. Even human ashes (as Shakespeare's) are thus banned.
ll. 3047-3058 recall the so-called "Treasury of Atreus."
l. 3073. herh, hearh, _temple_, is conjectured by E. to survive in _Harrow.
Temple, barrow_, etc., have thus been raised to proper names. Cf. Biówulfes
biorh of l. 2808.
l. 3074. H.-So. has strude, = _ravage_, and compares l. 3127. MS. has
strade. S. suggests stride, = _tread_.
l. 3074. H.-So. omits strâdan, = _tread, stride over_, from the Gloss.,
referring ll. 3174 and 3074 to strûdan, q. v.
l. 3075. S. proposes: näs hê goldhwätes gearwor häfde, etc., = _Beowulf had
not before seen the greedy possessor's favor_.--_Beit._ ix. 143. B. reads,
goldhwäte gearwor häfde, etc., making goldhwäte modify êst, = _golden
favor_; but see _Beit._ xii. 373, for B.'s later view.
l. 3086-3087. B. translates, "that which (i.e. the treasure) drew the king
thither was granted indeed, but it overwhelmed us."--_Beit._ xii. 109.
l. 3097. B. and S. propose äfter wine deádum, = _in memory of the dead
friend_.--_Beit._ ix. 144.
l. 3106. The brâd gold here possibly includes the iú-monna gold of l. 3053
and the wunden gold of l. 3135. E. translates brâd by _bullion_.
l. 3114. B. supposes folc-âgende to be dat. sg. to gôdum, referring to
Beowulf.
l. 3116. C. considers weaxan, = Lat. _vescor_, to devour, as a parallel to
fretan, and discards parentheses.--_Beit._ viii. 573.
l. 3120. fûs = _furnished with_; a meaning which must be added to those in
the Gloss.
ll. 3124-3125. S. proposes:
eóde eahta sum under inwit-hrôf
hilderinca: sum on handa bär, etc.
--_Beit._ ix. 144.
l. 3136. H.-So. corrects (after B.) to äðeling_c_, the MS. having _e_.
l. 3145. "It was their [the Icelanders'] belief that the higher the smoke
rose in the air the more glorious would the burnt man be in heaven."--
_Ynglinga Saga_, 10 (quoted by E.). Cf. the funeral pyre of Herakles.
l. 3146-3147. B. conjectures:
... swôgende lêc
wôpe bewunden windblonda lêg
(lêc from lâcan, see Gloss.).--_Beit._ xii. 110. Why not windblonda lâc?
l. 3147. Müllenhoff rejected wind-blond geläg because a great fire raises
rather than "lays" the wind; hence B., as above, = "swoughing sported the
flame wound with the howling of wind-currents."
l. 3151 _seq._ B. restores conjecturally:
swylce giômor-gyd sio geó-meowle
[äfter Beówulfe] bunden-heorde
[song] sorg-cearig, sæde geneahhe,
þät hió hyre [hearm-]dagas hearde on [dr]êde,
wälfylla worn, [w]îgendes egesan,
hý[n]ðo ond häftnýd, heóf on rîce wealg.
--_Beit._ xii. 100.
Here geó-meowle = _old woman_ or _widow;_ bunden-heorde = _with bound
locks;_ heóf = _lamentation;_ cf. l. 3143. on rîce wealg is less preferable
than the MS. reading, heofon rêce swealg = _heaven swallowed the smoke_.--
H.-So. B. thinks Beowulf's widow (geómeowle) was probably Hygd; cf. ll.
2370, 3017-3021.
l. 3162. H.-So. reads (with MS.) bronda be lâfe, for betost, and omits
colon after bêcn. So B., _Zachers Zeitschr._ iv. 224.
l. 3171. E. quotes Gibbon's accounts of the burial of Attila when the
"chosen squadrons of the Hun, wheeling round in measured evolutions,
chanted a funeral song to the memory of a hero."
ll. 3173-3174. B. proposes:
woldon gên cwîðan [ond] kyning
wordgyd wrecan ond ymb wel sprecan.
--_Beit._ xii. 112.
l. 3183. Z., K., Th. read manna for mannum.
l. 3184. "It is the English ideal of a hero as it was conceived by an
Englishman some twelve hundred years ago."--Br., p. 18.