I. Beówulf: an Anglo-Saxon poem. II. The fight at Finnsburh: a fragment.
General
I. Beówulf: an Anglo-Saxon poem. II. The fight at Finnsburh: a fragment.
Dragons -- Poetry; Epic poetry, English (Old); Monsters -- Poetry
l. 1069. H.-So. supplies fram after eaferum, to govern it, = _concerning_
(?). Cf. _Fight at Finnsburg_, Appendix.
l. 1070. For the numerous names of the Danes, "bright-" "spear-" "east-"
"west-" "ring-" Danes, see these words.
l. 1073. Eotenas = _Finn's people, the Frisians_; cf. ll. 1089, 1142, 1146,
etc., and _Beit._ xii. 37. Why they are so called is not known.
l. 1084. R. proposes wiht Hengeste wið gefeohtan (_Zachers Zeitschr._ iii.
394). Kl., wið H. wiht gefeohtan.
ll. 1085 and 1099. weá-lâf occurs in Wulfstan, _Hom._ 133, ed. Napier.--E.
Cf. daroða lâf, _Brunanb._, l. 54; âdes lâfe, _Phoenix_, 272 (Bright), etc.
l. 1098. elne unflitme = _so dass der eid (der inhalt des eides) nicht
streitig war_.--B., _Beit._ iii. 30. But cf. 1130, where Hengist and Finn
are again brought into juxtaposition and the expression ealles (?) unhlitme
occurs.
l. 1106. The pres. part. + be, as myndgiend wære here, is comparatively
rare in original A.-S. literature, but occurs abundantly in translations
from the Latin. The periphrasis is generally meaningless. Cf. l. 3029.
l. 1108. Körner suggests ecge, = _sword_, in reference to a supposed old
German custom of placing ornaments, etc., on the point of a sword or spear
(_Eng. Stud._ i. 495). Singer, ince-gold = _bright gold_; B., andiége =
Goth, _andaugjo, evidently_. Cf. incge lâfe, l. 2578. Possibly: and inge (=
_young men_) gold âhôfon of horde. For inge, cf. Hunt's _Exod._ l. 190.
ll. 1115-1120. R. proposes (hêt þâ ...) bânfatu bärnan ond on bæl dôn,
earme on eaxe = _to place the arms in the ashes_, reading gûðrêc =
_battle-reek_, for -rinc (_Zachers Zeitschr._ iii. 395). B., Sarrazin
(_Beit._ xi. 530), Lichtenfeld (_Haupts Zeitschr._ xvi. 330), C., etc.,
propose various emendations. See H.-So., p. 97, and _Beit._ viii. 568. For
gùðrinc âstâh, cf. Old Norse, _stiga á bál_, "ascend the bale-fire."
l. 1116. sweoloðe. "On Dartmoor the burning of the furze up the hillsides
to let new grass grow, is called _zwayling_."--E. Cf. _sultry_, G.
_schwül_, etc.
l. 1119. Cf. wudu-rêc âstâh, l. 3145; and _Exod_. (Hunt), l. 450: wælmist
âstâh.
l. 1122. ätspranc = _burst forth, arose_ (omitted from the Gloss.), < ät +
springan.
l. 1130. R. and Gr. read elne unflitme, = _loyally and without contest_, as
at l. 1098. Cf. Ha., p. 39; H.-So., p. 97.
l. 1137. scacen = _gone_; cf. ll. 1125, 2307, 2728.
l. 1142. "The sons of the Eotenas" (B., _Beit._ xii. 31, who conjectures a
gap after 1142).
l. 1144. B. separates thus: Hûn Lâfing, = _Hûn placed the sword Lâfing_,
etc.--_Beit._ xii. 32; cf. R., _Zachers Zeitschr._ iii. 396. Heinzel and
Homburg make other conjectures (Herrig's _Archiv_, 72, 374, etc.).
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