Wó | ren ðáne | don ſóne | a-nón || l. 3591;
and, in another place, written and pronounced as a monosyllable—
In geu | eléngðh | e wórn | it mád || l. 147.
Thus, the _n_ must have been _very slightly_ touched, as is shewn also by
the riming of _e_ and _en_. Examples, ll. 11, 12; 363, 364, etc.
As to the final _-e_, it may be observed that it is most frequently
pronounced just when it is most essential, viz., when it marks a
grammatical inflexion, or an adverbial form, as, _e.g._:—
Til ihé | sus béð | on Ró | dè dón || l. 386;
and,
Wél | he ſeí | den and ſwí | ðè wél || l. 1645.
In the second place, it is very liable to be slurred over before a vowel
following, as in l. 148—
In Ré | ke-fíl | le on ſún | der ſhád ||
~~~~~
and, thirdly, it is frequently added to words without cause, and is
therefore mute, as in l. 60—
ðat éu | ere ſpróng | in wérld | wíd ||
It seems to be sometimes mute after _-ed_, when _-ede_ forms part of a
verb. See ll. 1396, 1433, etc.
Attention to the metre may detect errors in the text. Thus, in l. 75, the
word _dais_ is missing:—
forð glód | ðat fír | me [dá | is] lígt ||
See l. 113, which proves the point.
In l. 1846 the definite form of the adjective is required, and _strong_
should be _stronge_—
ðe stróng | e gód | of ýs | raél ||
It has been noted that the first foot of a line sometimes consists of _one_
syllable only, and that one _accented_. By a bolder license, this is
sometimes the case not only with the _first_ foot, but with _other_ feet,
e.g. with the _third_ foot. Line 2572:—