There is a
possible
play on the
word lāf (Wīg-_lāf_, ende-_lāf_).
word lāf (Wīg-_lāf_, ende-_lāf_).
Beowulf
E.
(_Layamon_) _uten_.
Cf.
Psa.
ii.
3, etc.
March, _A.
-S.
Gram. _, pp. 104, 196.
l. 2650. B. suggests hāt for hyt,. --_Beit. _ xii. 105.
l. 2656. fāne = fāh-ne; cf. fāra = fāh-ra, l. 578; so hēanne (MS. ) =
hēah-ne, etc. , l. 984. See Cook's Sievers' Gram.
ll. 2660, 2661. Why not read beadu-scrūd, as at l. 453, = _battle-shirt? _
B. and R. suppose two half-verses omitted between byrdu-scrūd and bām
gemǣne. B. reads bȳwdu, = _handsome_, etc. Gr. suggests unc nū, = _to us
two now_, for ūrum; and K. and Grundt. read bēon gemǣne for bām, etc. This
makes sense. Cf. Ha. , p. 89.
l. 2666. Cf. the dat. absolute without preposition.
l. 2681. Nægling; cf. Hrunting, Lāfing, and other famous wundor-smiða
geweorc of the poem.
l. 2687. B. changes þonne into þone (rel. pro. ) = _which_. --_Beit. _ xii.
105.
l. 2688. B. supports the MS. reading, wundum.
l. 2688. Cf. l. 2278 for similar language.
l. 2698. B. (_Beit. _ xii. 105) renders: "he did not heed the head of the
dragon (which Beowulf with his sword had struck without effect), but he
struck the dragon somewhat further down. " Cf. Saxo, vi. p. 272.
l. 2698. Cf. the language used at ll. 446 and 1373, where hafelan also
occurs; and hȳdan.
l. 2700. hwēne; cf. Lowl. Sc. _wheen_, a number; Chaucer's _woon_, number.
l. 2702. S. proposes þā (for þæt) þæt fȳr, etc. , = _when the fire began_,
etc.
l. 2704. "The (hup)-seax has often been found in Saxon graves on the hip of
the skeleton. "--E.
l. 2707. Kl. proposes: feorh ealne wræc, = _drove out all the life_; cf.
_Gen. _ l. 1385. --_Beit. _ ix. 192. S. suggests gefylde,--_he felled the
foe_, etc. --_Ibid. _ Parentheses seem unnecessary.
l. 2727. dæg-hwīl = _time allotted, lifetime_.
l. 2745, 2745. Ho. removes geong from the beginning of l. 2745 and places
it at the end of l. 2744.
l. 2750. R. proposes sigle searogimmas, as at l. 1158.
l. 2767. (1) B. proposes doubtfully oferhīgean or oferhīgan, = Goth,
_ufarhauhjan_, p. p. _ufarhauhids_ (Gr. τυφωθείς) = _exceed in
value_. --_Tidskr. _ viii. 60. (2) Kl. proposes oferhȳdian, = _to make
arrogant, infatuate_; cf. oferhȳd. --_Beit. _ ix. 192.
l. 2770. gelocen leoðocræftum = (1) _spell-bound_ (Th. , Arnold, E. ); (2)
_wrought with hand-craft_ (G. ); (3) _meshed, linked together_ (H. , Ho. );
cf. _Elene_, ll. 1251, 522.
l. 2778. B. considers bill . . . ealdhlāfordes as Beowulf's short sword, with
which he killed the dragon, l. 2704 (_Tidskr. _ viii. 299). R. proposes
ealdhlāforde. Müllenh. understands ealdhlāford to mean the former possessor
of the hoard. W. agrees to this, but conceives ǣrgescōd as a compd. = ǣre
calceatus, _sheathed in brass_. Ha. translates ǣrgescōd as vb. and adv.
l. 2791. Cf. l. 224, eoletes æt ende; landes æt ende, _Exod. _ (Hunt).
l. 2792. MS. reads wæteres weorpan, which R. would change to wætere
sweorfan.
l. 2806. "Men saw from its height the whales tumbling in the waves, and
called it Whale's Ness (Hrones-nǣs). "--Br. p. 28. Cf. l. 3137.
l. 2815. Wīglāf was the next of kin, the last of the race, and hence the
recipient of Beowulf's kingly insignia.
There is a possible play on the
word lāf (Wīg-_lāf_, ende-_lāf_).
l. 2818. gingeste word; cf. _novissima verba_, and Ger. _jüngst_, lately.
l. 2837. E. translates on lande, _in the world_, comparing _on līfe, on
worulde_.
l. 2840. gerǣsde = pret. of gerǣsan (omitted from the Gloss. ), same as
rǣsan; cf. l. 2691.
l. 2859. B. proposes dēað ārǣdan, = _determine death_. --_Beit. _ xii. 106.
l. 2861. Change geongum to geongan as a scribal error (? ), but cf.
Lichtenheld, _Haupts Zeitschr. _ xvi. 353-355.
l. 2871. S. and W. propose ōwēr. --_Beit. _ ix. 142.
l. 2873. S. punctuates: wrāðe forwurpe, þā, etc.
l. 2874. H. -So. begins a new sentence with nealles, ending the preceding
one with beget.
l. 2879. ætgifan = _to render, to afford_; omitted in Gloss.
ll. 2885-2892. "This passage . . . equals the passage in Tacitus which
describes the tie of chief to companion and companion to chief among the
Germans, and which recounts the shame that fell on those who survived their
lord. "--Br. , p. 56.
l. 2886. cyn thus has the meaning of _gens_ or clan, just as in many
Oriental towns all are of one blood. E. compares Tacitus, _Germania_, 7;
and cf. "kith and kin. "
l. 2892. Death is preferable to dishonor. Cf. Kemble, _Saxons_, i. 235.
l. 2901. The ἄγγελος begins his ἀγγελία here.
l. 2910. S. proposes higemēðe, _sad of soul;_ cf. ll. 2853 and 2864
(_Beit. _ ix. 142). B. considers higemēðum a dat. or instr. pl. of an
abstract in -u (_Beit. _ xii. 106). H. makes it a dat. pl. = _for the dead_.
For heafod-wearde, etc. , cf. note on l. 446.
l. 2920-2921. B. explains "he could not this time, as usual, give jewels to
his followers. "--_Beit. _ xii. 106.
l. 2922. The Merovingian or Frankish race.
l. 2940 _seq. _ B. conjectures:
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. _
l. 2950. B. proposes gomela for gōda; "a surprising epithet for a Geat to
apply to the 'terrible' Ongentheow. "--Ha. p. 99. But "good" does not
necessarily mean "morally excellent," as a "good" hater, a "good" fighter.
l. 2959. See H. -So. for an explanatory quotation from Paulus Diaconus, etc.
B. , K. , and Th. read segn Higelāces, = H. 's banner uplifted began to pursue
the Swede-men. --_Beit. _ xii. 108. S. suggests sǣce, = _pursuit_.
l. 2977. gewyrpton: this vb. is also used reflexively in _Exod. _ (Hunt), l.
130: wyrpton hīe wērige.
l. 2989. bær is Grundt. 's reading, after the MS. "The surviving victor is
the heir of the slaughtered foe. "--H. -So. Cf. _Hildebrands Lied_, ll. 61,
62.
l. 2995. "A hundred of thousands in land and rings" (Ha. , p. 100). Cf. ll.
2196, 3051. Cf. B. , _Beit. _ xii. 20, who quotes Saxo's _bis senas gentes_
and remarks: "Hrolf Kraki, who rewards his follower, for the slaying of the
foreign king, with jewels, rich lands, and his only daughter's hand,
answers to the Jutish king Hygelāc, who rewards his liegeman, for the
slaying of Ongenthēow, with jewels, enormous estates, and _his_ only
daughter's hand. "
l. 3006. H. -So. suggests Scilfingas for Scyldingas, because, at l. 2397,
Beowulf kills the Scylfing Ēadgils and probably acquires his lands. Thus
ll. 3002, 3005, 3006, would indicate that, after Beowulf's death, the
Swedes desired to shake off his hated yoke. Müllenh. , however, regards l.
3006 as a thoughtless repetition of l. 2053. --_Haupts Zeitschr. _ xiv. 239.
l. 3008. Cf. the same proverb at l. 256; and _Exod. _ (Hunt. ) l. 293.
l. 3022. E. quotes:
"Thai token an harp _gle and game_
And maked a lai and yaf it name. "
--_Weber_, l.
Gram. _, pp. 104, 196.
l. 2650. B. suggests hāt for hyt,. --_Beit. _ xii. 105.
l. 2656. fāne = fāh-ne; cf. fāra = fāh-ra, l. 578; so hēanne (MS. ) =
hēah-ne, etc. , l. 984. See Cook's Sievers' Gram.
ll. 2660, 2661. Why not read beadu-scrūd, as at l. 453, = _battle-shirt? _
B. and R. suppose two half-verses omitted between byrdu-scrūd and bām
gemǣne. B. reads bȳwdu, = _handsome_, etc. Gr. suggests unc nū, = _to us
two now_, for ūrum; and K. and Grundt. read bēon gemǣne for bām, etc. This
makes sense. Cf. Ha. , p. 89.
l. 2666. Cf. the dat. absolute without preposition.
l. 2681. Nægling; cf. Hrunting, Lāfing, and other famous wundor-smiða
geweorc of the poem.
l. 2687. B. changes þonne into þone (rel. pro. ) = _which_. --_Beit. _ xii.
105.
l. 2688. B. supports the MS. reading, wundum.
l. 2688. Cf. l. 2278 for similar language.
l. 2698. B. (_Beit. _ xii. 105) renders: "he did not heed the head of the
dragon (which Beowulf with his sword had struck without effect), but he
struck the dragon somewhat further down. " Cf. Saxo, vi. p. 272.
l. 2698. Cf. the language used at ll. 446 and 1373, where hafelan also
occurs; and hȳdan.
l. 2700. hwēne; cf. Lowl. Sc. _wheen_, a number; Chaucer's _woon_, number.
l. 2702. S. proposes þā (for þæt) þæt fȳr, etc. , = _when the fire began_,
etc.
l. 2704. "The (hup)-seax has often been found in Saxon graves on the hip of
the skeleton. "--E.
l. 2707. Kl. proposes: feorh ealne wræc, = _drove out all the life_; cf.
_Gen. _ l. 1385. --_Beit. _ ix. 192. S. suggests gefylde,--_he felled the
foe_, etc. --_Ibid. _ Parentheses seem unnecessary.
l. 2727. dæg-hwīl = _time allotted, lifetime_.
l. 2745, 2745. Ho. removes geong from the beginning of l. 2745 and places
it at the end of l. 2744.
l. 2750. R. proposes sigle searogimmas, as at l. 1158.
l. 2767. (1) B. proposes doubtfully oferhīgean or oferhīgan, = Goth,
_ufarhauhjan_, p. p. _ufarhauhids_ (Gr. τυφωθείς) = _exceed in
value_. --_Tidskr. _ viii. 60. (2) Kl. proposes oferhȳdian, = _to make
arrogant, infatuate_; cf. oferhȳd. --_Beit. _ ix. 192.
l. 2770. gelocen leoðocræftum = (1) _spell-bound_ (Th. , Arnold, E. ); (2)
_wrought with hand-craft_ (G. ); (3) _meshed, linked together_ (H. , Ho. );
cf. _Elene_, ll. 1251, 522.
l. 2778. B. considers bill . . . ealdhlāfordes as Beowulf's short sword, with
which he killed the dragon, l. 2704 (_Tidskr. _ viii. 299). R. proposes
ealdhlāforde. Müllenh. understands ealdhlāford to mean the former possessor
of the hoard. W. agrees to this, but conceives ǣrgescōd as a compd. = ǣre
calceatus, _sheathed in brass_. Ha. translates ǣrgescōd as vb. and adv.
l. 2791. Cf. l. 224, eoletes æt ende; landes æt ende, _Exod. _ (Hunt).
l. 2792. MS. reads wæteres weorpan, which R. would change to wætere
sweorfan.
l. 2806. "Men saw from its height the whales tumbling in the waves, and
called it Whale's Ness (Hrones-nǣs). "--Br. p. 28. Cf. l. 3137.
l. 2815. Wīglāf was the next of kin, the last of the race, and hence the
recipient of Beowulf's kingly insignia.
There is a possible play on the
word lāf (Wīg-_lāf_, ende-_lāf_).
l. 2818. gingeste word; cf. _novissima verba_, and Ger. _jüngst_, lately.
l. 2837. E. translates on lande, _in the world_, comparing _on līfe, on
worulde_.
l. 2840. gerǣsde = pret. of gerǣsan (omitted from the Gloss. ), same as
rǣsan; cf. l. 2691.
l. 2859. B. proposes dēað ārǣdan, = _determine death_. --_Beit. _ xii. 106.
l. 2861. Change geongum to geongan as a scribal error (? ), but cf.
Lichtenheld, _Haupts Zeitschr. _ xvi. 353-355.
l. 2871. S. and W. propose ōwēr. --_Beit. _ ix. 142.
l. 2873. S. punctuates: wrāðe forwurpe, þā, etc.
l. 2874. H. -So. begins a new sentence with nealles, ending the preceding
one with beget.
l. 2879. ætgifan = _to render, to afford_; omitted in Gloss.
ll. 2885-2892. "This passage . . . equals the passage in Tacitus which
describes the tie of chief to companion and companion to chief among the
Germans, and which recounts the shame that fell on those who survived their
lord. "--Br. , p. 56.
l. 2886. cyn thus has the meaning of _gens_ or clan, just as in many
Oriental towns all are of one blood. E. compares Tacitus, _Germania_, 7;
and cf. "kith and kin. "
l. 2892. Death is preferable to dishonor. Cf. Kemble, _Saxons_, i. 235.
l. 2901. The ἄγγελος begins his ἀγγελία here.
l. 2910. S. proposes higemēðe, _sad of soul;_ cf. ll. 2853 and 2864
(_Beit. _ ix. 142). B. considers higemēðum a dat. or instr. pl. of an
abstract in -u (_Beit. _ xii. 106). H. makes it a dat. pl. = _for the dead_.
For heafod-wearde, etc. , cf. note on l. 446.
l. 2920-2921. B. explains "he could not this time, as usual, give jewels to
his followers. "--_Beit. _ xii. 106.
l. 2922. The Merovingian or Frankish race.
l. 2940 _seq. _ B. conjectures:
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. _
l. 2950. B. proposes gomela for gōda; "a surprising epithet for a Geat to
apply to the 'terrible' Ongentheow. "--Ha. p. 99. But "good" does not
necessarily mean "morally excellent," as a "good" hater, a "good" fighter.
l. 2959. See H. -So. for an explanatory quotation from Paulus Diaconus, etc.
B. , K. , and Th. read segn Higelāces, = H. 's banner uplifted began to pursue
the Swede-men. --_Beit. _ xii. 108. S. suggests sǣce, = _pursuit_.
l. 2977. gewyrpton: this vb. is also used reflexively in _Exod. _ (Hunt), l.
130: wyrpton hīe wērige.
l. 2989. bær is Grundt. 's reading, after the MS. "The surviving victor is
the heir of the slaughtered foe. "--H. -So. Cf. _Hildebrands Lied_, ll. 61,
62.
l. 2995. "A hundred of thousands in land and rings" (Ha. , p. 100). Cf. ll.
2196, 3051. Cf. B. , _Beit. _ xii. 20, who quotes Saxo's _bis senas gentes_
and remarks: "Hrolf Kraki, who rewards his follower, for the slaying of the
foreign king, with jewels, rich lands, and his only daughter's hand,
answers to the Jutish king Hygelāc, who rewards his liegeman, for the
slaying of Ongenthēow, with jewels, enormous estates, and _his_ only
daughter's hand. "
l. 3006. H. -So. suggests Scilfingas for Scyldingas, because, at l. 2397,
Beowulf kills the Scylfing Ēadgils and probably acquires his lands. Thus
ll. 3002, 3005, 3006, would indicate that, after Beowulf's death, the
Swedes desired to shake off his hated yoke. Müllenh. , however, regards l.
3006 as a thoughtless repetition of l. 2053. --_Haupts Zeitschr. _ xiv. 239.
l. 3008. Cf. the same proverb at l. 256; and _Exod. _ (Hunt. ) l. 293.
l. 3022. E. quotes:
"Thai token an harp _gle and game_
And maked a lai and yaf it name. "
--_Weber_, l.
