æðele, adj., _noble_: nom. sg., of Bēowulf, 198, 1313; of Bēowulf's father, 263, where it can be understood as well in a moral as in a genealogical sense; the latter prevails decidedly in the gen. sg. æðelan cynnes, 2235. æðeling, st. m., _nobleman, man of noble descent_, especially the appellation of a man of royal birth; so of the kings of the Danes, 3; of Scyld, 33; of Hrōðgār, 130; of Sigemund, 889; of Bēowulf, 1226, 1245, 1597, 1816, 2189, 2343, 2375, 2425, 2716, 3136; perhaps also of Dæghrefn, 2507;--then, in a broader sense, also denoting other noble-born men: Æschere, 1295; Hrōðgār's courtiers, 118, 983; Heremōd's courtiers, 907; Hengest's warriors, 1113; Bēowulf's retinue, 1805, 1921, 3172; noble-born in general, 2889. --Comp. sib-æðeling. æðelu, st. n., only in the pl., _noble descent, nobility_, in the sense of noble lineage: acc. pl. æðelu, 392; dat. pl. cyning æðelum gōd, _the king, of noble birth_, 1871; æðelum dīore, _worthy on account of noble lineage_, 1950; æðelum (hǣleþum, MS.), 332.--Comp. fæder-æðelu. æfnan, w. v. w. acc., _to perform, to carry out, to accomplish_: inf. ellen-weorc æfnan, _to do a heroic deed_, 1465; pret. unriht æfnde, _perpetrated wrong_, 1255. ge-æfnan, 1) _to carry out, to do, to accomplish_: pret. pl. þæt geæfndon swā, _so carried that out_, 538; pret. part. āð wæs geæfned, _the oath was sworn_, 1108.--2) _get ready, prepare_: pret. part. geæfned, 3107. See efnan. æfter (comparative of af, Ags. of, which see; hence it expresses the idea of _forth, away, from, back_), a) adv., _thereupon, afterwards_, 12, 341, 1390, 2155.--ic him æfter sceal, _I shall go after them_, 2817; in word æfter cwæð, 315, the sense seems to be, _spoke back, having turned_; b) prep. w. dat., 1) (temporal) _after_, 119, 128, 187, 825, 1939, etc.; æfter beorne, _after the_ (death of) _the hero_, 2261, so 2262; æfter māððum-welan, _after_ (obtaining) _the treasure_, 2751.--2) (causal) as proceeding from something, denoting result and purpose, hence, _in consequence of, conformably to_: æfter rihte, _in accordance with right_, 1050, 2111; æfter faroðe, _with the current_, 580; so 1321, 1721, 1944, 2180, etc., æfter heaðo-swāte, _in consequence of the blood of battle_, 1607; æfter wælnīðe, _in consequence of mortal enmity_, 85; _in accordance with, on account of, after, about_: æfter æðelum (hǣleþum, MS.)frægn, _asked about the descent_, 332; ne frīn þū æfter sǣlum, _ask not after my welfare_, 1323; æfter sincgyfan grēoteð, _weeps for the giver of treasure_, 1343; him æfter dēorum men dyrne langað, _longs in secret for the dear man_, 1880; ān æfter ānum, _one for the other_, 2462, etc.--3) (local), _along_: æfter gumcynnum, _throughout the races of men, among men_, 945; sōhte bed æfter būrum, _sought a bed among the rooms of the castle_ (the castle was fortified, the hall was not), 140; æfter recede wlāt, _looked along the hall_, 1573; stone æfter stāne, _smelt along the rocks_, 2289;