1866, where
Scedenig
is used, = _Scania_, in Sweden(?
Beowulf
Wæls (gen. Wælses, 898), father of Sigemund, 878, 898.
Wǣg-mundingas (gen. Wǣgmundinga, 2608, 2815). The Wǣgmundings are on one
side, Wīhstān and his son Wīglāf; on the other side, Ecgþēow and his son
Bēowulf (2608, 2815). See under Scylfingas.
Wederas (gen. Wedera, 225, 423, 498, etc. ), or Weder-gēatas. See Gēatas.
Wēland (gen. Wēlandes, 455), the maker of Bēowulf's coat of mail, 455.
Wendlas (gen. Wendla, 348): their chief is Wulfgār. See Wulfgār. The
Wendlas are, according to Grundtvig and Bugge, the inhabitants of Vendill,
the most northern part of Jutland, between Limfjord and the sea.
Wealh-þēow (613, Wealh-þēo, 665, 1163), the consort of King Hrōðgār, of the
stock of the Helmings, 621. Her sons are Hrēðrīc and Hrōðmund, 1190; her
daughter, Frēawaru, 2023.
Wēoh-stān (gen. Wēox-stānes, 2603, Wēoh-stānes, 2863, Wih-stānes, 2753,
2908, etc. ), a Wǣgmunding (2608), father of Wīglāf, 2603. In what
relationship to him Ælfhere, mentioned 2605, stands, is not
clear. --Wēohstān is the slayer of Ēanmund (2612), in that, as it seems, he
takes revenge for his murdered king, Heardrēd. See Ēanmund.
Wīg-lāf, Wēohstān's son, 2603, etc. , a Wǣgmunding, 2815, and so also a
Scylfing, 2604; a kinsman of Ælfhere, 2605. For his relationship to
Bēowulf, see the genealogical table under Scylfingas. --He supports Bēowulf
in his fight with the drake, 2605 ff. , 2662 ff. The hero gives him, before
his death, his ring, his helm, and his coat of mail, 2810 ff.
Won-rēd (gen. Wonrēdes, 2972), father of Wulf and Eofor, 2966, 2979.
Wulf (dat. Wulfe, 2994), one of the Gēatas, Wonrēd's son. He fights in the
battle between the armies of Hygelāc and Ongenþēow with Ongenþēow himself,
and gives him a wound (2966), whereupon Ongenþēow, by a stroke of his
sword, disables him, 2975. Eofor avenges his brother's fall by dealing
Ongenþēow a mortal blow, 2978 ff.
Wulf-gār, chief of the Wendlas, 348, lives at Hrōðgār's court, and is his
"ār and ombiht," 335.
Wylfingas (dat. Wylfingum, 461). Ecgþēow has slain Heoðolāf, a warrior of
this tribe, 460.
Yrmen-lāf, younger brother of Æschere, 1325.
ABBREVIATIONS.
B. : Bugge.
Br. : S. A. Brooke, Hist. of Early Eng. Lit.
C. : Cosijn.
E. : Earle, Deeds of Beowulf in Prose.
G. : Garnett, Translation of Beowulf
Gr. : Grein.
H. : Heyne.
Ha. : Hall, Translation of Beowulf.
H. -So. : Heyne-Socin, 5th ed.
Ho. : Holder.
K. : Kemble.
Kl. : Kluge.
Müllenh. : Müllenhoff.
R. : Rieger.
S. : Sievers.
Sw. : Sweet, Anglo-Saxon Reader, 6th ed.
Ten Br. : Ten Brink.
Th. : Thorpe.
Z. : Zupitza.
PERIODICALS.
Ang. : Anglia.
Beit. : Paul und Branne's Beiträge.
Eng. Stud. : Englische Studien.
Germ. : Germania.
Haupts Zeitschr. : Haupts Zeitschrift, etc.
Mod. Lang. Notes: Modern Language Notes.
Tidskr. : Tidskrift for Philologi.
Zachers Zeitschr. : Zachers Zeitschrift, etc.
NOTES.
l. 1. hwæt: for this interjectional formula opening a poem, cf. _Andreas,
Daniel, Juliana, Exodus, Fata Apost. , Dream of the Rood_, and the
"Listenith lordinges! " of mediaeval lays. --E. Cf. Chaucer, Prologue, ed.
Morris, l. 853:
"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.
l. 4. "Scild of the Sheaf, not 'Scyld the son of Scaf'; for it is too
inconsistent, even in myth, to give a patronymic to a foundling. According
to the original form of the story, Scēaf was the foundling; he had come
ashore with a sheaf of corn, and from that was named. This form of the
story is preserved in Ethelwerd and in William of Malmesbury. But here the
foundling is Scyld, and we must suppose he was picked up with the sheaf,
and hence his cognomen. "--E. , p. 105. Cf. the accounts of Romulus and
Remus, of Moses, of Cyrus, etc.
l. 6. egsian is also used in an active sense (not in the Gloss. ), = _to
terrify_.
l. 15. S. suggests þā (_which_) for þæt, as object of drēogan; and for
aldor-lēase, Gr. suggested aldor-ceare. --_Beit_. ix. 136.
S. translates: "For God had seen the dire need which the rulerless ones
before endured. "
l. 18. "Beowulf (that is, Beaw of the Anglo-Saxon genealogists, not our
Beowulf, who was a Geat, not a Dane), 'the son of Scyld in Scedeland. ' This
is our ancestral myth,--the story of the first culture-hero of the North;
'the patriarch,' as Rydberg calls him, 'of the royal families of Sweden,
Denmark, Angeln, Saxland, and England. '"--Br. , p. 78. Cf. _A. -S. Chron. _
an. 855.
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.
l. 19. Cf. l.
1866, where Scedenig is used, = _Scania_, in Sweden(? ).
l. 21. wine is pl. ; cf. its apposition wil-gesīðas below. H. -So. compares
_Héliand_, 1017, for language almost identical with ll. 20, 21.
l. 22. on ylde: cf.
"_In elde_ is bothe wisdom and usage. " --Chaucer, _Knightes Tale_, l. 1590,
ed. Morris.
l. 26. Reflexive objects often pleonastically accompany verbs of motion;
cf. ll. 234, 301, 1964, etc.
l. 31. The object of āhte is probably geweald, to be supplied from wordum
wēold of l. 30. --H. -So.
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. 32. "hringed-stefna is sometimes translated 'with curved prow,' but it
means, I think, that in the prow were fastened rings through which the
cables were passed that tied it to the shore. "--Br. , p. 26. Cf. ll. 1132,
1898. Hring-horni was the mythic ship of the Edda. See Toller-Bosworth for
three different views; and cf. wunden-stefna (l. 220), hring-naca (l.
1863).
ll. 34-52. Cf. the burial of Haki on a funeral-pyre ship, _Inglinga Saga;_
the burial of Balder, Sinfiötli, Arthur, etc.
l. 35. "And this [their joy in the sea] is all the plainer from the number
of names given to the ship-names which speak their pride and affection. It
is the AEtheling's vessel, the Floater, the Wave-swimmer, the Ring-sterned,
the Keel, the Well-bound wood, the Sea-wood, the Sea-ganger, the Sea-broad
ship, the Wide-bosomed, the Prow-curved, the Wood of the curved neck, the
Foam-throated floater that flew like a bird. "--Br. , p. 168.
l. 49. "We know from Scandinavian graves . . . that the illustrious dead were
buried . . . in ships, with their bows to sea-ward; that they were however
not sent to sea, but were either burnt in that position, or mounded over
with earth. "--E. See Du Chaillu, _The Viking Age_, xix.
l. 51. (1) sele-rǣdende (K. , S. , C. ); (2) sēle-rǣdenne (H. ); (3)
sele-rǣdende (H. -So. ). Cf. l. 1347; and see Ha.
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. 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).
l. 58. gamel. "The . . . characteristics of the poetry are the use of archaic
forms and words, such as mec for mé, the possessive sín, gamol, dógor, swát
for eald, dǣg, blód, etc. , after they had become obsolete in the prose
language, and the use of special compounds and phrases, such as hildenǣdre
(_war-adder_) for 'arrow,' gold-gifa (_gold-giver_) for 'king,' . . .
goldwine gumena (_goldfriend of men, distributor of gold to men_) for
'king,'" etc. --Sw. Other poetic words are ides, ielde (_men_), etc.
l. 60. H. -So. reads rǣswa (referring to Heorogār alone), and places a point
(with the Ms. ) after Heorogār instead of after rǣswa. Cf. l. 469; see B. ,
_Zachers Zeitschr. _ iv. 193.
l. 62. Elan here (OHG. _Elana, Ellena, Elena, Elina, Alyan_) is thought by
B. (_Tidskr. _ viii. 43) to be a remnant of the masc. name Onela, and he
reads: [On-]elan ewēn, Heaðoscilfingas(=es) healsgebedda.
l. 68. For hē, omitted here, cf. l. 300. Pronouns are occasionally thus
omitted in subord. clauses. --Sw.
l. 70. þone, here = þonne, _than_, and micel = māre? The passage, by a
slight change, might be made to read, medo-ærn micle mā gewyrcean,--þone =
_by much larger than_,--in which þone (þonne) would come in naturally.
l. 73. folc-scare. Add _folk-share_ to the meanings in the Gloss. ; and cf.
gūð-scearu.
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.
ll. 78-83. "The hall was a rectangular, high-roofed, wooden building, its
long sides facing north and south. The two gables, at either end, had
stag-horns on their points, curving forwards, and these, as well as the
ridge of the roof, were probably covered with shining metal, and glittered
bravely in the sun. "--Br. , p. 32.
l. 84. _Son-in-law and father-in-law;_ B. , a so-called _dvanda_ compound.
Cf. l. 1164, where a similar compound means _uncle and nephew;_ and
Wīdsīð's suhtorfǣdran, used of the same persons.
l. 88. "The word drēam conveys the buzz and hum of social happiness, and
more particularly the sound of music and singing. "--E. Cf. l. 3021; and
_Judith_, l. 350; _Wanderer_, l. 79, etc.
ll. 90-99. There is a suspicious similarity between this passage and the
lines attributed by Bede to Cǣdmon:
Nū wē sculan herian heofonrices Weard, etc. --Sw. , p. 47.
ll. 90-98 are probably the interpolation of a Christian scribe.
ll. 92-97. "The first of these Christian elements [in _Bēowulf_] is the
sense of a fairer, softer world than that in which the Northern warriors
lived. . . . Another Christian passage (ll. 107, 1262) derives all the demons,
eotens, elves, and dreadful sea-beasts from the race of Cain. The folly of
sacrificing to the heathen gods is spoken of (l. 175). . . .
