l. 902. Heremōdes is considered by Heinzel to be a mere epithet = _the valiant_; which would refer the whole passage to Sigmund (Sigfrid), the eotenas, l. 903, being the Nibelungen. This, says H.-So., gets rid of the contradiction between the good "Heremōd" here and the bad one, l. 1710 _seq._--B. however holds fast to Heremōd.--_Beit._ xii. 41. on fēonda geweald, l. 904,--_into the hands of devils_, says B.; cf. ll. 809, 1721, 2267; _Christ_, l. 1416; _Andreas_, l. 1621; for hine fyren onwōd, cf. _Gen._ l. 2579; Hunt's _Dan._ 17: hīe wlenco anwōd. l. 902 _seq._ "Heremōd's shame is contrasted with the glory of Sigemund, and with the prudence, patience, generosity, and gentleness of Beowulf as a chieftain."--Br., p. 66. l. 906. MS. has lemede. Toller-Bosw. corrects to lemedon. l. 917. Cf. Hunt's _Exod._, l. 170, for similar language. l. 925. hōs, G. hansa, _company_, "the word from which the mercantile association of the 'Hanseatic' towns took their designation."--E. l. 927. on staþole = _on the floor_ (B., Rask, ten Br.).--_Beit._ xii. 90. l. 927. May not stēapne here = _bright_, from its being immediately followed by golde fāhne? Cf. Chaucer's "his eyen _stepe_," _Prol._ l. 201 (ed. Morris); Cockayne's _Ste. Marherete_, pp. 9, 108; _St. Kath._, l. 1647. l. 931. grynna may be for gyrnna (= _sorrows_), gen. plu. of gyrn, as suggested by one commentator. l. 937. B. (_Beit._ xii. 90) makes gehwylcne object of wīd-scofen (hæfde). Gr. makes wēa nom. absolute. l. 940. scuccum: cf. G. scheuche, scheusal; Prov. Eng. _old-shock_; perhaps the pop. interjection _O shucks!_ (!) l. 959. H. explains wē as a "plur. of majesty," which Bēowulf throws off at l. 964. l. 963. fēond þone frætgan (B. _Beit._ xii. 90). l. 976. synnum. "Most abstract words in the poetry have a very wide range of meanings, diverging widely from the prose usage, synn, for instance, means simply _injury, mischief, hatred_, and the prose meaning _sin_ is only a secondary one; hata in poetry is not only _hater_, but _persecutor, enemy_, just as nīð is both _hatred_ and _violence, strength_; heard is _sharp_ as well as _hard_."--Sw. l. 986. S. places wæs at end of l. 985 and reads stīðra nægla, omitting gehwylc and the commas after that and after scēawedon. _Beit._ ix. 138; stēdra (H.-So.); hand-sporu (H.-So.) at l. 987. l. 986. Miller (_Anglia_, xii. 3) corrects to ǣghwylene, in apposition to fingras. l. 987. hand-sporu. See _Anglia_, vii. 176, for a discussion of the intrusion of u into the nom. of n-stems. l. 988. Cf. ll. 2121, 2414, for similar use of unhēoru = ungeheuer. l. 992. B. suggests hēatimbred for hāten, and gefrætwon for -od; Kl., hroden (_Beit._ ix. 189). l. 995, 996. Gold-embroidered tapestries seem to be meant by web = _aurifrisium_. l. 997. After þāra þe = _of those that_, the depend, vb. often takes sg. for pl.; cf. ll. 844, 1462, 2384, 2736.--Sw.; Dietrich.