“Swa se þeod kyning “So in fair customs lived þeawum lyfde; the imperial king; nealles ic þam leanum nor of fitting guerdon I forloren hæfde, was aught forlorn, mægnes mêde— of meed for service— ac he me mâdmas geaf, yea, mighty things he gave, sunu Healfdenes, did Halfdan’s son, on minne sylfes dôm; myself withal to please; þâ ic þê, beorn-cyning, which I to thee, brave prince, bringan wylle, by choice do bring, êstum geŷwan. in willing homage. Gên is eall æt þê All my wealth proceeds lissa gelong: of thy good lordship: ic lŷt hafo nor is my lot to have heafod-mâga, kinsman of chief account, nefne Hygelâc þec!” king Hygelac, but thee!” Hêt þa in beran Then bade he in to bear eafor heafod-segn, the wild-boar crest, heaðo-steapne helm, the helm in fight so high, hâre byrnan, the hoary mail-coat gray, gûð-sweord geatolic— the sword seigneurial— gyd æfter wræc: and he said withal: “Mê þis hilde-sceorp “To me this battle-harness Hrôðgâr sealde, Hrothgar gave, snotra fengel...” the sapient monarch” &c. In the evidence above given we see indications that this traditional choice of the wild boar for a crest was of high antiquity, and had its origin in a religious sentiment, and our fourth passage (1449 ff.) certainly conveys the idea that the armourer who wrought at the furniture of the helmet did so with a mind still under the spell of the old persuasion that a mystic sanction clung to the figure of the wild boar, and qualified it for its time-honoured post as guardian of the warrior’s head. In the Alfred Jewel the Boar’s Head appears to discharge a double function: one subservient, as affording a base or pedestal to the frame of the sacred effigy; the other servile, as a socket for the shaft whereby the elaborate and composite design is to be fixed in its destined place. [15] ‘Matrem deûm venerantur. Insigne superstitionis formas aprorum gestant: id pro armis omnique tutelâ securum deæ cultorem etiam inter hostes præstat.’ _Germania_, 45. CHAPTER VII THE FIGURE IN ENAMEL AND THE ENGRAVED PLATE AT THE BACK OF IT