NOTES.
Reading edition
"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.
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 wîde sprang þeódnes þegna.
"The name Bēowulf means literally 'Bee-wolf,' wolf or ravager of the bees, = bear. Cf. beorn, 'hero,' originally 'bear,' and bēohata, 'warrior,' in Cædmon, 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 lændagas 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 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.
Nû wê sculan herian heofonrices Weard, etc.
—Sw., p. 47.
ll. 90-98 are probably the interpolation of a Christian scribe.
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).
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. tô sæ (l. 318), ofer sæ (l. 2381), on lande (l. 2311), tô räste (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. 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 Beówulf, see S. A. Brooke, Hist. of Early Eng. Lit. For general "Old Teutonic Life in Beówulf," 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 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.
"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 hâdor by receptaculum; cf. Gering, Zachers Zeitschr. xii. 124. Toller-Bosw. ignores Gr.'s suggestion.
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. 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.
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 âna 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. "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. 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. 986. Miller (Anglia, xii. 3) corrects to æghwylene, in apposition to fingras.
"Ther was no dore that he nolde heve of harre."
For Ingwin, see List of Names.
ll. 1160, 1161. leóð (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 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. 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. firgenstreám occurs also in the Phoenix (Bright, p. 168) l. 100; Andreas, ll. 779, 3144 (K.); Gnomic Verses, l. 47, etc.
l. 1364. Cf. Ruin, hrîmige 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 gân (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. häft-mêce may be = Icel. heptisax (Anglia, iii. 83), "hip-knife."
l. 1611. wægrâpas (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 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.
ll. 1855-1866. "An ideal picture of international amity according to the experience and doctrine of the eighth century."—E.
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. 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. "A vast Honour of 7000 hides, a mansion, and a judgment-seat" [throne].—E.
l. 2225. þeów, st. m., slave, serf (not in H.-So.).
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. 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 ân hafað
þurh dæda nýd deáðes gefandod.
(2) B. proposes:
þurh dæda nîð deáðes 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 ûser.—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 hýdan.
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.
"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 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.
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. 3074. H.-So. omits strâdan, = tread, stride over, from the Gloss., referring ll. 3174 and 3074 to strûdan, q. v.
eóde eahta sum under inwit-hrôf
hilderinca: sum on handa bär, etc.
—Beit. ix. 144.
... swôgende lêc
wôpe bewunden windblonda lêg
(lêc from lâcan, see Gloss.).—Beit. xii. 110. Why not windblonda lâc?
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.
woldon gên cwîðan [ond] kyning
wordgyd wrecan ond ymb wel 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 Hnäf fell, i.e. as described in Beówulf 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 Beówulf, l. 1086, he is called þegn. See H.-So., p. 125.
"The Fight at Finnsburg and the lays from which our Beówulf 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 næfre. So. G.—Beit. xii. 22; Anzeiger f. d. Altert. x. 229.
l. 5. B. conjectures fugelas to mean arrows, and supplies:
ac hêr forð berað [fyrdsearu rincas,
flacre flânbogan], 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 græg-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, Gârulf is one of the attackers, one of Finn's men, this does not harmonize with his character as Gûðlâf's son (l. 33), who (l. 16, and Beówulf, l. 1149) is a Dane, therefore one of Finn's antagonists." B. (Beit. xii. 25) conjectures:
þâ gyt Gûðdene Gârulf styrode,
þät hê swâ freólîc feorh forman sîðe
tô þære healle durum hyrsta ne bære,
nû hîe nîða heard ânyman wolde;
in which Gûðdene is the same as Sigeferð, l. 24; hê (l. 22) refers to Gârulf; and hîe (l. 21) to hyrsta.
l. 27. swäðer = either (bad or good, life or death).—H.-So.
l. 29. cêlod: meaning doubtful; cf. Maldon, l. 283. G. renders "curved board"; Sw. suggests "round"? "hollow"?
l. 30. B. suggests bâr-helm, = boar-helm. Cf. Saxo, p. 96.—Beit. xii. 26.
l. 34. B. conjectures: (1) hwearf flacra hræw hräfen, wandrode; (2) hwearf flacra hræw hräfen fram ôðrum = flew from one corpse to another.—Beit. xii. 27.
l. 43. B. supposes wund häleð to be a Dane, folces hyrde to be Hnäf, 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 unhrôr = equipments useless.—Beit. xii. 28.
l. 47. "Though wounded, they had retained their strength and activity in battle."—B., Beit. xii. 28.
ADDENDA.
ll. 105 and 218. MS. and Ho. read won-sæli and fâmi-heals.
ll. 143, 183, 186, etc. Read þæm for þäm.
l. 299. MS. reads gôd-fremmendra. So H.-So.
l. 530. Hwät should here probably be printed as an interj., hwät! Cf. ll. 1, 943, 2249.
The editors are much indebted to E. Koeppel (in Eng. Stud. xiii. 3) for numerous corrections in text and glossary.