gāst-bona is
regarded
by Ettmüller and G.
Beowulf
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 _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).
l. 101. B. and H. -So. read, fēond 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. gæst = _stranger_ (Ha. ); cf. ll. 1139, 1442, 2313, etc.
l. 103. See Ha. , p. 4.
l. 105 MS. and Ho. read won-sǣli.
l. 106. "The perfect and pluperfect are often expressed, as in Modern
English, by hǣfð and hǣfde 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. þæs 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. tō sǣ (l. 318), ofer sǣ (l. 2381), on lande (l. 2311), tō ræste (l.
1238), on wicge (l. 286), etc. , etc.
l. 119. weras (S. , H. -So. ); wera (K. , Th. ). --_Beit. _ ix. 137.
l. 120. unfǣlo = _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 Gūðlāc, l. 1042.
l. 144. See Ha. , p. 6, for S. 's rearrangement.
l. 146. S. destroys period after sēlest, puts wæs . . . micel in parenthesis,
and inserts a colon after tīd.
l. 149. B. reads sārcwidum 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. nē . . . 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 tō 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. tō + 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.
gāst-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
mōd-ceare and mǣl-ceare as accus. , others as instr.
ll. 190, 1994. sēað: for this use of sēoðan cf. Bede, _Eccles. Hist. _, ed.
Miller, p. 128, where p. p. soden is thus used.
l. 194. fram hām = _in his home_ (S. , H. -So. ); but fram hām 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-rād (_= sea_). "The
swan is said to breed wild now no further away than the North of Sweden. "
--E. Cf. ganotes bæð, l. 1862.
l. 203. Concessive clauses with þēah, þēah þe, þēah . . . 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. hǣl, an OE. word found in Wülker's Glossaries in various forms, =
_augury, omen, divination_, etc. Cf. hǣlsere, _augur_; hǣl, _omen;_
hǣlsung, _augurium_, hǣlsian, 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 218. MS. and Ho. read fāmi-heals.
l. 219. Does ān-tīd mean _hour_ (Th. ), or _corresponding hour_ = ānd-tīd
(H. -So. ), or _in due time_ (E. ), or _after a time_, when ōþres, 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 _Bēowulf_ the earliest
sea-thoughts of the English. . . . The simplest term is Sǣ. . . . To this they
added Wǣter, Flod, Stream, Lagu, Mere, Holm, Grund, Heathu, Sund, Brim,
Garsecg, Eagor, Geofon, Fifel, Hron-rad, Swan-rad, Segl-rad,
Ganotes-bǣð. "--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 bǣron. 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. næfne (nefne, nemne) usually takes the subj. , = _unless_; cf. ll.
1057, 3055, 1553. For ind. , = _except_, see l. 1354. Cf. būtan, gif, þēah.
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. 252. ǣr as a conj. generally has subj. , as here; cf.
the same words. Beowulf is the forerunner of that other national
dragon-slayer, St. George.
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).
l. 101. B. and H. -So. read, fēond 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. gæst = _stranger_ (Ha. ); cf. ll. 1139, 1442, 2313, etc.
l. 103. See Ha. , p. 4.
l. 105 MS. and Ho. read won-sǣli.
l. 106. "The perfect and pluperfect are often expressed, as in Modern
English, by hǣfð and hǣfde 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. þæs 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. tō sǣ (l. 318), ofer sǣ (l. 2381), on lande (l. 2311), tō ræste (l.
1238), on wicge (l. 286), etc. , etc.
l. 119. weras (S. , H. -So. ); wera (K. , Th. ). --_Beit. _ ix. 137.
l. 120. unfǣlo = _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 Gūðlāc, l. 1042.
l. 144. See Ha. , p. 6, for S. 's rearrangement.
l. 146. S. destroys period after sēlest, puts wæs . . . micel in parenthesis,
and inserts a colon after tīd.
l. 149. B. reads sārcwidum 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. nē . . . 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 tō 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. tō + 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.
gāst-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
mōd-ceare and mǣl-ceare as accus. , others as instr.
ll. 190, 1994. sēað: for this use of sēoðan cf. Bede, _Eccles. Hist. _, ed.
Miller, p. 128, where p. p. soden is thus used.
l. 194. fram hām = _in his home_ (S. , H. -So. ); but fram hām 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-rād (_= sea_). "The
swan is said to breed wild now no further away than the North of Sweden. "
--E. Cf. ganotes bæð, l. 1862.
l. 203. Concessive clauses with þēah, þēah þe, þēah . . . 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. hǣl, an OE. word found in Wülker's Glossaries in various forms, =
_augury, omen, divination_, etc. Cf. hǣlsere, _augur_; hǣl, _omen;_
hǣlsung, _augurium_, hǣlsian, 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 218. MS. and Ho. read fāmi-heals.
l. 219. Does ān-tīd mean _hour_ (Th. ), or _corresponding hour_ = ānd-tīd
(H. -So. ), or _in due time_ (E. ), or _after a time_, when ōþres, 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 _Bēowulf_ the earliest
sea-thoughts of the English. . . . The simplest term is Sǣ. . . . To this they
added Wǣter, Flod, Stream, Lagu, Mere, Holm, Grund, Heathu, Sund, Brim,
Garsecg, Eagor, Geofon, Fifel, Hron-rad, Swan-rad, Segl-rad,
Ganotes-bǣð. "--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 bǣron. 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. næfne (nefne, nemne) usually takes the subj. , = _unless_; cf. ll.
1057, 3055, 1553. For ind. , = _except_, see l. 1354. Cf. būtan, gif, þēah.
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. 252. ǣr as a conj. generally has subj. , as here; cf.
