Note † — II. THE FIGHT AT FINNSBURH:
Reading edition
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 þā, four with the verb gewītan, nine with the formula Hrōðgār (Bēowulf, Unferð) maðelode, twenty-four with monosyllables in general (him, swā, sē, hwæt, þā, heht, wæs, mæg, cwōm, strǣt).