In later times this rule was not so strictly observed. The metrical Psalms alliterate _sc_ with _s_ and _sw_ with _s_, as _hi hine him =s=ámnuncga =sc=éarpum strḗlum_. Ps. lxiii. 4. _on þī́ne þā =s=wī́ðran, ond þe ne =sc=éaðeð ǣ́nig_. Ps. xc. 7. but _sp_ and _st_ do not alliterate with each other or with _s_. In Ælfric all these combinations of consonants alliterate indifferently with each other or with _s_ + another consonant or with simple _s_, as in _wið þā́m þe hēo be=s=wī́ce =S=ámson þone =s=trángan_. Ælfr. Judges 308. Sometimes in Ælfric the alliterating letter does not stand at the beginning of the word, _and hē hæfde héora ge=w=éald ealles t=w=éntig gḗara_. ibid. 85. and the alliteration may even fall on an unaccented particle as in _=f=rám his gelēafan and his ǣ =f=orsāwon._ ibid. 51. For a full account of Ælfric's alliteration the reader may be referred to an interesting essay by Dr. Arthur Brandeis, _Die Alliteration in Aelfric's metrischen Homilien_, 1897 (Programm der Staatsrealschule im VII. Bezirk in Wien). § =34. Position of the alliterative words.= Out of the four accented syllables of the line two at least, and commonly three, must begin with an alliterative sound, and this alliteration still further increases the stress which these syllables have in virtue of their syntactical and rhythmical accent. The position of these alliterative sounds in the line may vary in the same way as their number. The general laws which govern the position of the alliteration are the following:--(i) One alliterating sound _must_, and two _may_ occur in the first hemistich; (ii) In the second hemistich the alliterating sound (called the head-stave[82]) must fall on the first of the two accented syllables of that hemistich, and the second accented syllable in the second hemistich does not take part in the alliteration at all; (iii) When there are three alliterating sounds in the whole line two of them must be in the first hemistich and only one in the second. Examples of lines with three alliterating sounds: _=s=éolfa he ge=s=étte =s=únnan ond mṓnan._ Sat. 4. _=ú=fan ond =ū̀=tan him wæs =ǣ́=ghwǣr wā́._ Sat. 342. Lines with only two alliterative sounds, the first of which may coincide with either of the accented syllables of the first hemistich (the second of course coinciding with the first accented syllable of the second hemistich) are very common: _=h=ḗafod éalra =h=ḗahgescéafta._ Gen. 4. _hī hýne þā æt=b=ǣ́ron to =b=rímes fároðe._ Beow. 28. If the first hemistich contains only one alliterative sound this alliteration generally falls on the more emphatic of the two accented syllables of the hemistich which is usually the first, as