NOTES.
Reading edition
"Sin I shal beginne the game,
What, welcome be the cut, a Goddes name!"
wē ... gefrūnon is a variant on the usual epic formulǣ ic gefrægn (l. 74) and mīne gefrǣge (l. 777). Exodus, Daniel, Phoenix, etc., open with the same formula.
l. 1. "Gār 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.
S. translates: "For God had seen the dire need which the rulerless ones before endured."
H.-So. omits parenthetic marks, and reads (after S., Beit. ix. 135) eaferan; cf. Fata Apost.: lof wīde sprang þēodnes þegna.
"The name Bēowulf means literally 'Bee-wolf,' wolf or ravager of the bees, = bear. Cf. beorn, 'hero,' originally 'bear,' and bēohata, 'warrior,' in Cǣdmon, literally 'bee-hater' or 'persecutor,' and hence identical in meaning with bēowulf."—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.
"In elde is bothe wisdom and usage."
—Chaucer, Knightes Tale, l. 1590, ed. Morris.
R., Kl., and B. all hold conflicting views of this passage: Beit. xii. 80, ix. 188; Zachers Zeitschr. iii. 382, etc. Kl. suggests lǣndagas for lange.
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. 74. ic wide gefrægn: an epic formula very frequent in poetry, = men said. Cf. Judith, ll. 7, 246; Phoenix, l. 1; and the parallel (noun) formula, mīne gefrǣge, ll. 777, 838, 1956, etc.
Nū wē sculan herian heofonrices Weard, etc.
—Sw., p. 47.
ll. 90-98 are probably the interpolation of a Christian scribe.
l. 100. onginnan in Bēowulf is treated like verbs of motion and modal auxiliaries, and takes the object inf. without tō; cf. ll. 872, 1606, 1984, 244. Cf. gan (= did) in Mid. Eng.: gan espye (Chaucer, Knightes Tale, l. 254, ed. Morris).
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. 106. S. destroys period here, reads in Caines, etc., and puts þone ... drihten in parenthesis.
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. tō sǣ (l. 318), ofer sǣ (l. 2381), on lande (l. 2311), tō ræste (l. 1238), on wicge (l. 286), etc., etc.
l. 169. myne wisse occurs in Wanderer, l. 27.
"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.
"The fomy stedes on the golden brydel
Gnawinge."
—Chaucer, Knightes Tale, l. 1648, ed. Morris.
l 218. MS. and Ho. read fāmi-heals.
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. 250. For a remarkable account of armor and weapons in Bēowulf, see S. A. Brooke, Hist. of Early Eng. Lit. For general "Old Teutonic Life in Bēowulf," see J. A. Harrison, Overland Monthly.
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 AEstii'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.
"To dremen in here dremes
Of armes, and of fyr with rede lemes."
l. 336. Cf. l. 673 for the functions of an ombiht-þegn.
l. 414. Gr. translates hādor by receptaculum; cf. Gering, Zachers Zeitschr. xii. 124. Toller-Bosw. ignores Gr.'s suggestion.
l. 420. R. reads þǣra = of them, for þǣr.—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. 455. This is the ǣlces mannes wyrd of Boethius (Sw., p. 44) and the wyrd bið swīðost of Gnomic Verses, 5. There are about a dozen references to it in Bēowulf.
l. 455. E. compares the fatalism of this concluding hemistich with the Christian tone of l. 685 seq.
l. 489. Cf. the invitation at l. 1783.
"Of yeddynges he bar utterly the prys."
Cf. giddy.
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 āna inuan lande, the giant shall dwell in the fen, alone in the land (Sweet's Read., p. 187)."—Br. p. 36.
"Cum placidum ventis staret mare."
l. 902 seq. "Heremōd'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. 927. May not stēapne here = bright, from its being immediately followed by golde fāhne? Cf. Chaucer's "his eyen stepe," Prol. l. 201 (ed. Morris); Cockayne's Ste. Marherete, pp. 9, 108; St. Kath., l. 1647.
l. 986. Miller (Anglia, xii. 3) corrects to ǣghwylene, in apposition to fingras.
"Ther was no dore that he nolde heve of harre."
For Ingwin, see List of Names.
ll. 1160, 1161. lēoð (lied = song, lay) and gyd here appear synonyms.
l. 1196. This necklace was afterwards given by Beowulf to Hygd, ll. 2173, 2174.
l. 1200. For Brōsinga mene, cf. B., Beit. xii. 72. C. suggests flēah, = fled, for fealh, placing semicolon after byrig, and making hē subject of flēah and gecēas.
l. 1235. Kl. proposes gea-sceaft; but cf. l. 1267.
l. 1259. Cf. l. 107, which also points to the ancestry of murderers and monsters and their descent from "Cain."
l. 1360. firgenstrēam occurs also in the Phoenix (Bright, p. 168) l. 100; Andreas, ll. 779, 3144 (K.); Gnomic Verses, l. 47, etc.
l. 1364. Cf. Ruin, hrīmige edoras behrofene, rimy, roofless halls.
l. 1368. The personal pronoun is sometimes omitted in subordinate and even independent clauses; cf. wite here; and Hunt's Exod., l. 319.
ll. 1402, 1413 reproduce the wk. form of the pret. of gān (Goth, gaggida). Cf. Andreas, l. 1096, etc.
l. 1458. H.-So. compares the Icelandic saga account of Grettir's battle with the giant in the cave. hæft-mēce may be = Icel. heptisax (Anglia, iii. 83), "hip-knife."
l. 1611. wǣgrāpas (Sw.) = wave-bands (Ha.).
l. 1680. Cf. ceastra ... orðanc enta geweorc, Gnomic Verses, l. 2; Sweet's Reader, p. 186.
l. 1748. See Cook's Sievers' Gram., p. 167, for declension of wōh, wrong = gen. wōs or wōges, dat. wō(u)m, etc.; pl. gen. wōra, dat. wō(u)m, etc.; and cf. declension of hēah, hrēoh, rūh, etc.
l. 1748. wergan gāstes; 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.
ll. 1855-1866. "An ideal picture of international amity according to the experience and doctrine of the eighth century."—E.
Þǣr on innan gīong
niðða nāthwylc, nēode tō gefēng
hǣðnum horde; hond ætgenam
seleful since fāh; nē hē þæt syððan āgeaf,
þēah þe hē slǣpende besyrede hyrde
þēofes cræfte: þæt se þīoden onfand,
bȳ-folc beorna, þæt hē gebolgen wæs.
—Beit. xii. 99; Zachers Zeitschr. iv. 210.
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 Lāfing 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. "A vast Honour of 7000 hides, a mansion, and a judgment-seat" [throne].—E.
secg synbysig sōna onwlātode,
þēah þām gyste gryrebrōga stōd,
hwæðre earmsceapen innganges þearfa
. . . . . . . . . .
fēasceapen, þā hyne se fǣr begeat.
—Beit. xii. 101. Cf. Ha., p. 69.
The editors are much indebted to E. Koeppel (in Eng. Stud. xiii. 3) for numerous corrections in text and glossary.
l. 2264. Cf. Maldon, ll. 8, 9, for a reference to hawking.
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. 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.
þonne se ān hafað
þurh dǣda nȳd dēaðes gefandod.
(2) B. proposes:
þurh dǣda nīð dēaðes gefondad.
—Zachers Zeitschr. iv. 215.
ll. 2520-2522. Gr. and S. translate, "if I knew how else I might combat the monster's boastfulness."—Ha., p. 85.
l. 2643. B. proposes ūser.—Zachers Zeitschr. iv. 216.
l. 2688. Cf. l. 2278 for similar language.
l. 2698. Cf. the language used at ll. 446 and 1373, where hafelan also occurs; and hȳdan.
cwæð hīe on mergenne mēces ecgum
gētan wolde, sumon galgtreowu
āhēawan on holte ond hīe āhōan on þā
fuglum tō gamene.
—Beit. xii. 107, 372.
Cf. S., Beit. ix. 143. gētan = cause blood to be shed.
"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."
[banan ēac fundon bennum sēocne
(nē) ǣr hī þǣm gesēgan syllīcran wiht]
wyrm on wonge...
—Beit. xii. 372.
Cf. Ha., p. 102. W. and Ho. insert [þǣr] before gesēgan.
Wundrað hwæt þonne,
eorl ellen-rōf, ende gefēre
līf-gesceafta, þonne leng ne mæg (etc.),
in which hwæt would = þurh hwæt 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 Bēowulf knew not (wondered how) through what his end should come," etc. W. and Ho. join þonne to the next line. Or, for hwār read wǣre: Wundur wǣre þonne (= gif), etc., = "would it be any wonder if a brave man," etc., which is virtually Müllenhoff's.
l. 3074. H.-So. omits strādan, = tread, stride over, from the Gloss., referring ll. 3174 and 3074 to strūdan, q. v.
ēode eahta sum under inwit-hrōf
hilderinca: sum on handa bær, etc.
—Beit. ix. 144.
... swōgende lēc
wōpe bewunden windblonda lēg
(lēc from lācan, see Gloss.).—Beit. xii. 110. Why not windblonda lāc?
swylce giōmor-gyd sio geō-meowle
[æfter Bēowulfe] bunden-heorde
[song] sorg-cearig, sǣde geneahhe,
þæt hīo hyre [hearm-]dagas hearde on [dr]ēde,
wælfylla worn, [w]īgendes egesan,
hȳ[n]ðo ond hæftnȳd, hēof on rīce wealg.
—Beit. xii. 100.
Here geō-meowle = old woman or widow; bunden-heorde = with bound locks; hēof = lamentation; cf. l. 3143. on rīce wealg is less preferable than the MS. reading, heofon rēce swealg = heaven swallowed the smoke.—H.-So. B. thinks Beowulf's widow (geōmeowle) was probably Hygd; cf. ll. 2370, 3017-3021.
woldon gēn cwīðan [ond] kyning
wordgyd wrecan ond ymb wēl sprecan.
—Beit. xii. 112.
NOTES TO THE FIGHT AT FINNSBURG.
The original MS. of this fragment has vanished, but a copy had been made and printed by Hickes in his Thesaurus Linguarum Septentrionalium, i. 192. The original was written on a single sheet attached to a codex of homilies in the Lambeth Library. Möller, Alteng. Epos, p. 65, places the fragment in the Finn episode, between ll. 1146 and 1147. Bugge (Beit. xii. 20) makes it illustrate the conflict in which Hnæf fell, i.e. as described in Bēowulf as antecedent to the events there given. Heinzel (Anzeiger f. d. Altert.), however, calls attention to the fact that Hengest in the fragment is called cyning, whereas in Bēowulf, l. 1086, he is called þegn. See H.-So., p. 125.
"The Fight at Finnsburg and the lays from which our Bēowulf was composed were, as it seems to me, sung among the English who dwelt in the north of Denmark and the south of Sweden, and whose tribal name was the Jutes or Goths."—Br., p. 101.
l. 1. R. supposes [hor]nas, and conjectures such an introductory conversation as follows: "Is it dawning in the east, or is a fiery dragon flying about, or are the turrets of some castle burning?" questions which the king negatives in the same order. Then comes the positive declaration, "rather they are warriors marching whose armor gleams in the moonlight." —Alt- und Angels. Lesebuch, 1861. Heinzel and B. conjecture, [beorhtor hor]nas byrnað nǣfre. So. G.—Beit. xii. 22; Anzeiger f. d. Altert. x. 229.
l. 5. B. conjectures fugelas to mean arrows, and supplies:
ac hēr forð berað [fyrdsearu rincas,
flacre flānbogan], fugelas singað.
He compares Saxo, p. 95, cristatis galeis hastisque sonantibus instant, as explanatory of l. 6.—Beit. xii. 22. But see Brooke, Early Eng. Literature, who supposes fugelas = raven and eagle, while grǣg-hama is = wulf (the "grey-coated one"), the ordinary accompaniers of battle.
l. 11. hicgeað, etc.: cf. Maldon, l. 5; Exod. l. 218.
l. 15. Cf. B. (Beit. xii. 25), etc., and Saxo, p. 101, for l. 13.
ll. 18-21. H.-So. remarks: "If, according to Möller and Bugge, Gārulf is one of the attackers, one of Finn's men, this does not harmonize with his character as Gūðlāf's son (l. 33), who (l. 16, and Bēowulf, l. 1149) is a Dane, therefore one of Finn's antagonists." B. (Beit. xii. 25) conjectures:
þā gȳt Gūðdene Gārulf styrode,
þæt hē swā frēolīc feorh forman sīðe
tō þǣre healle durum hyrsta ne bǣre,
nū hīe nīða heard ānyman wolde;
in which Gūðdene is the same as Sigeferð, l. 24; hē (l. 22) refers to Gārulf; and hīe (l. 21) to hyrsta.
l. 27. swæðer = either (bad or good, life or death).—H.-So.
l. 29. cēlod: meaning doubtful; cf. Maldon, l. 283. G. renders "curved board"; Sw. suggests "round"? "hollow"?
l. 30. B. suggests bār-helm, = boar-helm. Cf. Saxo, p. 96.—Beit. xii. 26.
l. 34. B. conjectures: (1) hwearf flacra hrǣw hræfen, wandrode; (2) hwearf flacra hrǣw hræfen fram ōðrum = flew from one corpse to another.—Beit. xii. 27.
l. 43. B. supposes wund hæleð to be a Dane, folces hyrde to be Hnæf, in opposition to Holtzmann (Germania, viii. 494), who supposes the wounded man to be a Frisian, and folces hyrde to be their king, Finn.—Beit. xii. 28.
l. 45. B. adopts Th.'s reading heresceorp unhrōr = equipments useless.—Beit. xii. 28.
l. 47. "Though wounded, they had retained their strength and activity in battle."—B., Beit. xii. 28.