As the field under consideration has been the object of investigation by a number of scholars, much that otherwise would need to be explained to prepare the way for what is to be presented lies ready at hand, and this is used as a foundation on which to build further. In order to give the reader who is interested in the subject, but has not made a special study of it, an idea of the problems involved, and the solutions that have been offered, the discussion is preceded by a brief summary of the principal conclusions reached by various scholars. BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ABBREVIATIONS _Aarb._--_Aarböger for nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie, 1894._ _Ark._--_Arkiv för Nordisk Filologi._ _Ang._--_Anglia._ _Ant. Tid._--_Antiquarisk Tidsskrift._ _Beow._--_Beowulf._ The line numbering used is that of A.J. Wyatt's edition. _Beow._, Child--_Beowulf and the Finnesburh Fragment_, translated by C.G. Child, 1904. _Beow. Stud._--_Beowulf-Studien_, by Gregor Sarrazin, 1888. _Beow. Unt._--_Beowulf, Untersuchungen_, by Bernhard ten Brink, 1888. _Beow. Unt. Ang._--_Beowulf, Untersuchungen über das angelsächsische Epos und die älteste Geschichte der germanischen Seevölker_, by Karl Müllenhoff, 1889. _Camb. Hist. Lit._--_The Cambridge History of English Literature._ _Chron._--_Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland_, by Raphael Holinshed, edition of 1808. _Helt._--_Danmarks Heltedigtning_, by Axel Otrik, vol. I, 1903; vol. II, 1910. _Dan. Nor. Rig._--_Danske og norske Riger paa de britiske Öer i Danevældens Tidsalder_, by Johannes C.H. Steenstrup, 1882. _Eng. Nov._--_The Development of the English Novel_, by Wilbur L. Cross, 1914. _Dictionary of National Biography_. _Eng. Stud._--_Englische Studien_. _Ext. Ch. Rol._--_Extraits de la Chanson de Roland_, by Gaston Paris, 1912. _Gest. Dan._--_Gesta Danorum_, by Saxo Grammaticus, edited by A. Holder, 1886. _Elton's Saxo_--_The First Nine Books of the Danish History of Saxo Grammaticus,_ translated by Oliver Elton, 1894. _Gesch. Alteng. Lit._--_Geschichte der altenglischen Litteratur_, by Alois Brandl (Paul's _Grundriss der germanischen Philologie_, 1908). _Heimsk._--_Heimskringla, eller Norges Kongesagaer_, by Snorre Sturlasson, edited by C.R. Unger, 1868. _Hist. Reg. Wald._--_Historia Regis Waldei_, by Johannes Bramis, edited by R. Imelmann, 1912. _Hist. Mer._--_Historia Meriadoci_, edited by J.D. Bruce, 1913. _Hrs. Bjark._--_Hrólfs Saga Kraka og Bjarkarímur_, edited by Finnur Jónsson. 1904. _Icel. Leg._--_Icelandic Legends_, collected by Jón Arnason, translated by George E. Powell and Eiríkur Magnússon, 1864. _Mort. d'Arth._--_Morte d'Arthur_, by Sir Thomas Malory, Globe edition, 1871. _Norroen Fornkvæði_, edited by Sophus Bugge, 1867. _Nor. Tales_--_Norse Fairy Tales_, selected and adapted from the translations of Sir George Webbe Dasent, 1910. _Folk. Huld. Even._--_Norske Folke-og Huldre-Eventyr i Udvalg_, by P. Chr. Asbjörnsen, revised edition by Moltke Moe, 1910.