H.-So. omits parenthetic marks, and reads (after S., _Beit._ ix. 135) eaferan; cf. _Fata Apost._: lof wīde sprang þēodnes þegna.
"The name _Bēowulf_ means literally 'Bee-wolf,' wolf or ravager of the bees, = bear. Cf. _beorn_, 'hero,' originally 'bear,' and _bēohata_, 'warrior,' in Cǣdmon, literally 'bee-hater' or 'persecutor,' and hence identical in meaning with _bēowulf_."--Sw.
Cf.
"Arcite and Palamon, That foughten _breme_, as it were bores two." --Chaucer, _Knightes Tale_, l. 841, ed. Morris.
Cf. M. Müller, _Science of Lang._, Sec. Series, pp. 217, 218; and Hunt's _Daniel_, 104.
l. 19. Cf. l. 1866, where Scedenig is used, = _Scania_, in Sweden(?).
l. 21. wine is pl.; cf. its apposition wil-gesīðas below. H.-So. compares _Héliand_, 1017, for language almost identical with ll. 20, 21.
l. 22. on ylde: cf.
"_In elde_ is bothe wisdom and usage." --Chaucer, _Knightes Tale_, l. 1590, ed. Morris.
l. 26. Reflexive objects often pleonastically accompany verbs of motion; cf. ll. 234, 301, 1964, etc.
l. 31. The object of āhte is probably geweald, to be supplied from wordum wēold of l. 30.--H.-So.
R., Kl., and B. all hold conflicting views of this passage: _Beit._ xii. 80, ix. 188; _Zachers Zeitschr._ iii. 382, etc. Kl. suggests lǣndagas for lange.
l. 32. "hringed-stefna is sometimes translated 'with curved prow,' but it means, I think, that in the prow were fastened rings through which the cables were passed that tied it to the shore."--Br., p. 26. Cf. ll. 1132, 1898. Hring-horni was the mythic ship of the Edda. See Toller-Bosworth for three different views; and cf. wunden-stefna (l. 220), hring-naca (l. 1863).
ll. 34-52. Cf. the burial of Haki on a funeral-pyre ship, _Inglinga Saga;_ the burial of Balder, Sinfiötli, Arthur, etc.
l. 35. "And this [their joy in the sea] is all the plainer from the number of names given to the ship-names which speak their pride and affection. It is the AEtheling's vessel, the Floater, the Wave-swimmer, the Ring-sterned, the Keel, the Well-bound wood, the Sea-wood, the Sea-ganger, the Sea-broad ship, the Wide-bosomed, the Prow-curved, the Wood of the curved neck, the Foam-throated floater that flew like a bird."--Br., p. 168.
l. 49. "We know from Scandinavian graves ... that the illustrious dead were buried ... in ships, with their bows to sea-ward; that they were however not sent to sea, but were either burnt in that position, or mounded over with earth."--E. See Du Chaillu, _The Viking Age_, xix.
l. 51. (1) sele-rǣdende (K., S., C.); (2) sēle-rǣdenne (H.); (3) sele-rǣdende (H.-So.). Cf. l. 1347; and see Ha.
l. 51. E. compares with this canto Tennyson's "Passing of Arthur" and the legendary burial-journey of St. James of Campostella, an. 800.
l. 53. The poem proper begins with this, "There was once upon a time," the first 52 lines being a prelude. Eleven of the "fitts," or cantos, begin with the monosyllable þā, four with the verb gewītan, nine with the formula Hrōðgār (Bēowulf, Unferð) maðelode, twenty-four with monosyllables in general (him, swā, sē, hwæt, þā, heht, wæs, mæg, cwōm, strǣt).
l. 58. gamel. "The ... characteristics of the poetry are the use of archaic forms and words, such as mec for mé, the possessive sín, gamol, dógor, swát for eald, dǣg, blód, etc., after they had become obsolete in the prose language, and the use of special compounds and phrases, such as hildenǣdre (_war-adder_) for 'arrow,' gold-gifa (_gold-giver_) for 'king,' ... goldwine gumena (_goldfriend of men, distributor of gold to men_) for 'king,'" etc.--Sw. Other poetic words are ides, ielde (_men_), etc.
l. 60. H.-So. reads rǣswa (referring to Heorogār alone), and places a point (with the Ms.) after Heorogār instead of after rǣswa. Cf. l. 469; see B., _Zachers Zeitschr._ iv. 193.
l. 62. Elan here (OHG. _Elana, Ellena, Elena, Elina, Alyan_) is thought by B. (_Tidskr._ viii. 43) to be a remnant of the masc. name Onela, and he reads: [On-]elan ewēn, Heaðoscilfingas(=es) healsgebedda.
l. 68. For hē, omitted here, cf. l. 300. Pronouns are occasionally thus omitted in subord. clauses.--Sw.
l. 70. þone, here = þonne, _than_, and micel = māre? The passage, by a slight change, might be made to read, medo-ærn micle mā gewyrcean,--þone = _by much larger than_,--in which þone (þonne) would come in naturally.
l. 73. folc-scare. Add _folk-share_ to the meanings in the Gloss.; and cf. gūð-scearu.
l. 74. ic wide gefrægn: an epic formula very frequent in poetry, = _men said._ Cf. _Judith_, ll. 7, 246; _Phoenix_, l. 1; and the parallel (noun) formula, mīne gefrǣge, ll. 777, 838, 1956, etc.
ll. 78-83. "The hall was a rectangular, high-roofed, wooden building, its long sides facing north and south. The two gables, at either end, had stag-horns on their points, curving forwards, and these, as well as the ridge of the roof, were probably covered with shining metal, and glittered bravely in the sun."--Br., p. 32.
l. 84. _Son-in-law and father-in-law;_ B., a so-called _dvanda_ compound. Cf. l. 1164, where a similar compound means _uncle and nephew;_ and Wīdsīð's suhtorfǣdran, used of the same persons.
l. 88. "The word drēam conveys the buzz and hum of social happiness, and more particularly the sound of music and singing."--E. Cf. l. 3021; and _Judith_, l. 350; _Wanderer_, l. 79, etc.
ll. 90-99. There is a suspicious similarity between this passage and the lines attributed by Bede to Cǣdmon:
Nū wē sculan herian heofonrices Weard, etc. --Sw., p. 47.
ll. 90-98 are probably the interpolation of a Christian scribe.
ll. 92-97. "The first of these Christian elements [in _Bēowulf_] is the sense of a fairer, softer world than that in which the Northern warriors lived.... Another Christian passage (ll. 107, 1262) derives all the demons, eotens, elves, and dreadful sea-beasts from the race of Cain. The folly of sacrificing to the heathen gods is spoken of (l. 175).... The other point is the belief in immortality (ll. 1202, 1761)."--Br. 71.
l. 100. Cf. l. 2211, where the third dragon of the poem is introduced in the same words. Beowulf is the forerunner of that other national dragon-slayer, St. George.
l. 100. onginnan in _Bēowulf_ is treated like verbs of motion and modal auxiliaries, and takes the object inf. without tō; cf. ll. 872, 1606, 1984, 244. Cf. _gan_ (= _did_) in Mid. Eng.: _gan_ espye (Chaucer, _Knightes Tale_, l. 254, ed. Morris).
l. 101. B. and H.-So. read, fēond on healle; cf. l. 142.--_Beit._ xii.
ll. 101-151. "Grimm connects [Grendel] with the Anglo-Saxon grindel (_a bolt_ or _bar_).... It carries with it the notion of the bolts and bars of hell, and hence _a fiend._ ... Ettmüller was the first ... to connect the name with grindan, _to grind, to crush to pieces, to utterly destroy._ Grendel is then _the tearer, the destroyer_."--Br., p. 83.
l. 102. gæst = _stranger_ (Ha.); cf. ll. 1139, 1442, 2313, etc.
l. 103. See Ha., p. 4.
l. 105 MS. and Ho. read won-sǣli.
l. 106. "The perfect and pluperfect are often expressed, as in Modern English, by hǣfð and hǣfde with the past participle."--Sw. Cf. ll. 433, 408, 940, 205 (p. p. inflected in the last two cases), etc.
l. 106. S. destroys period here, reads in Caines, etc., and puts þone ... drihten in parenthesis.
l. 108. þæs þe = _because_, especially after verbs of thanking (cf. ll. 228, 627, 1780, 2798); _according as_ (l. 1351).
l. 108. The def. article is omitted with Drihten (_Lord_) and Deofol (_devil_; cf. l. 2089), as it is, generally, sparingly employed in poetry; cf. tō sǣ (l. 318), ofer sǣ (l. 2381), on lande (l. 2311), tō ræste (l. 1238), on wicge (l. 286), etc., etc.
l. 119. weras (S., H.-So.); wera (K., Th.).--_Beit._ ix. 137.
l. 120. unfǣlo = _uncanny_ (R.).
l. 131. E. translates, _majestic rage;_ adopting Gr.'s view that swyð is = Icel. sviði, _a burn_ or _burning_. Cf. l. 737.
l. 142. B. supposes heal-þegnes to be corrupted from helþegnes; cf. l. 101.--_Beit._ xii. 80. See Gūðlāc, l. 1042.
l. 144. See Ha., p. 6, for S.'s rearrangement.
l. 146. S. destroys period after sēlest, puts wæs ... micel in parenthesis, and inserts a colon after tīd.
l. 149. B. reads sārcwidum for syððan.
l. 154. B. takes sibbe for accus. obj. of wolde, and places a comma after Deniga.--_Beit._ xii. 82.
l. 159. R. suggests ac se for atol.
l. 168. H.-So. plausibly conjectures this parenthesis to be a late insertion, as, at ll. 180-181, the Danes also are said to be heathen. Another commentator considers the throne under a "spell of enchantment," and therefore it could not be touched.
l. 169. nē ... wisse: _nor had he desire to do so_ (W.). See Ha., p. 7, for other suggestions.
l. 169. myne wisse occurs in _Wanderer_, l. 27.
l. 174. The gerundial inf. with tō expresses purpose, defines a noun or adjective, or, with the verb be, expresses duty or necessity passively; cf. ll. 257, 473, 1004, 1420, 1806, etc. Cf. tō + inf. at ll. 316, 2557.
ll. 175-188. E. regards this passage as dating the time and place of the poem relatively to the times of heathenism. Cf. the opening lines, _In days of yore_, etc., as if the story, even then, were very old.
l. 177. gāst-bona is regarded by Ettmüller and G. Stephens (_Thunor_, p. 54) as an epithet of Thor (= _giant-killer_), a kenning for Thunor or Thor, meaning both _man_ and _monster_.--E.