l. 1748. See Cook's Sievers' Gram., p. 167, for declension of wōh, _wrong_ = gen. wōs or wōges, dat. wō(u)m, etc.; pl. gen. wōra, dat. wō(u)m, etc.; and cf. declension of hēah, hrēoh, rūh, etc.
l. 1748. wergan gāstes; cf. _Blickl. Hom._ vii.; _Andreas_, l. 1171. "_Auld Wearie_ is used in Scotland, or was used a few years ago, ... to mean the devil."--E. Bede's _Eccles. Hist._ contains (naturally) many examples of the expression = devil.
l. 1750. on gyld = _in reward_ (B. _Beit._ xii. 95); Ha. translates _boastfully_; G., _for boasting_; Gr., _to incite to boastfulness_. Cf. _Christ_, l. 818.
l. 1767. E. thinks this an allusion to the widespread superstition of the evil eye (_mal occhio, mauvais ǣil_). Cf. Vergil, _Ecl._ iii. 103. He remarks that Pius IX., Gambetta, and President Carnot were charged by their enemies with possessing this weapon.
l. 1784. wigge geweorðad (MS. wigge weorðad) is C.'s conjecture; cf. _Elene_, l. 150. So G., _honored in war_.
l. 1785. The future generally implied in the present of bēon is plainly seen in this line; cf. ll. 1826, 661, 1830, 1763, etc.
l. 1794. Some impers. vbs. take acc. (as here, Geat) of the person affected; others (as þyncan) take the dat. of the person, as at ll. 688, 1749, etc. Cf. verbs of dreaming, being ashamed, desiring, etc.--March, A.-S. Gram., p. 145.
l. 1802. E. remarks that the blaca hrefn here is a bird of good omen, as opposed to se wonna hrefn of l. 3025. The raven, wolf, and eagle are the regular epic accompaniments of battle and carnage. Cf. ll. 3025-3028; _Maldon_, 106; _Judith_, 205-210, etc.
l. 1803. S. emends to read: "then came the light, going bright after darkness: the warriors," etc. Cf. Ho., p. 41, l. 23. G. puts period before "the warriors." For ōnettan, cf. Sw.'s Gloss, and Bright's Read., Gloss.
ll. 1808-1810. Müllenh. and Grundt. refer se hearda to Beowulf, correct sunu (MS.) to suna Ecglāfes (i.e. Unferth); [_he_] (Beo.) _thanked him_ (Un.) _for the loan_. Cf. ll. 344, 581, 1915.
ll. 1823-1840. "Beowulf departing pledges his services to Hroðgar, to be what afterwards in the mature language of chivalry was called his 'true knight'"--E.
l. 1832. Kl. corrects to dryhtne, in appos. with Higelāce.
l. 1835 gār-holt more properly means _spear-shaft_; cf. æsc-holt.
l. 1855. sēl = _better_ (Grundt.; B., _Beit._ xii. 96), instead of MS. wēl.
ll. 1855-1866. "An ideal picture of international amity according to the experience and doctrine of the eighth century."--E.
l. 1858. S. and Kl. correct to gemǣne, agreeing with sib.--_Beit._ ix. 140, 190.
l. 1862. "The gannet is a great diver, plunging down into the sea from a considerable height, such as forty feet."--E.
l. 1863. Kl. suggests heafu, = _seas_.
l. 1865. B. proposes geþōhte, = _with firm thought_, for geworhte; cf. l. 611.
l. 1876. gesēon = _see again_ (Kl., _Beit._ ix. 190). S. and B. insert nā to modify gesēon and explain Hrōðgār's tears. Ha. and G. follow Heyne's text. Cf. l. 567.
l. 1881. Is beorn here = bearn (be-arn?) of l. 67? or more likely = born, barn, = _burned?_--S., Th.
l. 1887. orleahtre is a ἃπαξ λεγόμενον. E. compares Tennyson's "blameless" king. Cf. also ll. 2015, 2145; and the gōd cyning of l. 11.
l. 1896. scaðan = _warriors_ (cf. l. 1804) has been proposed by C.; but cf. l. 253.
l. 1897. The boat had been left, at ll. 294-302, in the keeping of Hrōðgār's men; at l. 1901 the bāt-weard is specially honored by Beowulf with a sword and becomes a "sworded squire."--E. This circumstance appears to weld the poem together. Cf. also the speed of the journey home with ymb ān-tīd ōþres dōgores of l. 219, and the similarity of language in both passages (fāmig-heals, clifu, næssas, sǣlde, brim, etc.).--The nautical terms in Beowulf would form an interesting study.
l. 1904. R. proposes, gewāt him on naca, = _the vessel set out_, on alliterating as at l. 2524 (_Zachers Zeitschr._ iii. 402). B. reads on nacan, but inserts irrelevant matter (_Beit._ xii. 97).
l. 1913. Cf. the same use of cēol, = _ship_, in the _A.-S. Chron._, ed. Earle-Plummer; _Gnomic Verses_, etc.
l. 1914. S. inserts þæt hē before on lande.
l. 1916. B. makes lēofra manna depend on wlātode, = _looked for the dear men ready at the coast_ (_Beit._ xii. 97).
l. 1924. Gr., W., and Ho. propose wunade, = _remained;_ but cf. l. 1929. S. conceives ll. 1924, 1925 as "direct speech" (_Beit._ ix. 141).
l. 1927 _seq._ "The women of Beowulf are of the fine northern type; trusted and loved by their husbands and by the nobles and people; generous, gentle, and holding their place with dignity."--Br., p. 67. Thrytho is the exception, l. 1932 _seq._
l. 1933. C. suggests frēcnu, = _dangerous, bold_, for Thrytho could not be called "excellent." G. writes "Modthrytho" as her name. The womanly Hygd seems purposely here contrasted with the terrible Thrytho, just as, at l. 902 _seq._, Sigemund and Heremōd are contrasted. For Thrytho, etc., cf. Gr., _Jahrb. für rom. u. eng. Lit._ iv. 279; Müllenhoff, _Haupts Zeitschr._ xiv. 216; Matthew Paris; Suchier, _Beit._ iv. 500-521; R. _Zachers Zeitschr._ iii. 402; B., _ibid._ iv. 206; Körner, _Eng. Stud._ i. 489-492; H.-So., p. 106.
l. 1932-1963. K. first pointed out the connection between the historical Offa, King of Mercia, and his wife Cwendrida, and the Offa and Þrȳðo (Gr.'s _Drida_ of the _Vita Offǣ Secundi_) of the present passage. The tale is told of her, not of Hygd.
l. 1936. Suchier proposes andǣges, = _eye to eye_; Leo proposes āndǣges, = _the whole day_; G., _by day_. No change is necessary if an be taken to govqern hire, = _on her_, and dæges be explained (like nihtes, etc.) as a genitive of time, = _by day_.
l. 1943. R. and Suchier propose onsēce, = _seek, require_; but cf. 2955.
l. 1966. Cf. the _heofoncandel_ of _Exod._ l. 115 (Hunt). Shak.'s 'night's candles.'
l. 1969. Cf. l. 2487 _seq._ for the actual slayer of Ongenþēow, i.e. Eofor, to whom Hygelāc gave his only daughter as a reward, l. 2998.
l. 1981. meodu-scencum = _with mead-pourers_ or _mead-cups_ (G., Ha.); _draught or cup of mead_ (Toller-Bosw.).
l. 1982. K., Th., W., H. supply [heal-]reced; Holler [hēa-].
l. 1984. B. defends the MS., reading hǣ nū (for hǣðnū), which he regards as = Heinir, the inhabitants of the Jutish "heaths" (hǣð). Cf. H.-So., p. 107; _Beit._ xii. 9.
l. 1985. sīnne. "In poetry there is a reflexive possessive of the third person, sīn (declined like mīn). It is used not only as a true reflexive, but also as a non-reflexive (= Lat. _ejus_)"--Sw.; Cook's Sievers' Gram., p. 185. Cf. ll. 1508, 1961, 2284, 2790.
l. 1994. Cf. l. 190 for a similar use of sēað; cf. to "glow" with emotion, "boil" with indignation, "burn" with anger, etc. weallan is often so used; cf. ll. 2332, 2066, etc.
l. 2010. B. proposes fācne, = _in treachery_, for fenne. Cf. _Juliana_, l. 350; _Beit._ xii. 97.
l. 2022. Food of specific sorts is rarely, if at all, mentioned in the poem. Drink, on the other hand, occurs in its primitive varieties,--_ale_ (as here: ealu-wǣg), _mead, beer, wine, līð_ (cider? Goth. _leiþus_, Prov. Ger. _leit-_ in _leit-haus_, ale-house), etc.
l. 2025. Kl. proposes is for wæs.
l. 2027. Cf. l. 1599 for a similar use of weorðan, = _agree, be pleased with_ (Ha.); _appear_ (Sw., Reader, 6th ed.).
ll. 2030, 2031. Ten Br. proposes: oft seldan ( = _gave_) wǣre æfter lēod-hryre: lȳtle hwīle bongār būgeð, þēah sēo brȳd duge = _oft has a treaty been given after the fall of a prince: but little while the murder-spear resteth, however excellent the bride be._ Cf. Kl., _Beit._ ix. 190; B., _Beit._ xii. 369; R., _Zachers Zeitschr._ in. 404; Ha., p. 69; G., p. 62.
l. 2036. Cf. Kl, _Beit._ ix. 191; R., _Zachers Zeitschr._ iii. 404.
l. 2042. For bēah B. reads bā, = _both_, i.e. Freaware and the Dane.
l. 2063. Thorkelin and Conybeare propose wīgende, = _fighting_, for lifigende.
l. 2068. W.'s edition begins section xxx. (not marked in the MS.) with this line. Section xxxix. (xxxviii. in copies A and B, xxxix. in Thorkelin) is not so designated in the MS., though þā (at l. 2822) is written with capitals and xl. begins at l. 2893.
l. 2095. Cf. l. 1542, and note.
l. 2115 _seq._ B. restores thus:
Þǣr on innan gīong niðða nāthwylc, nēode tō gefēng hǣðnum horde; hond ætgenam seleful since fāh; nē hē þæt syððan āgeaf, þēah þe hē slǣpende besyrede hyrde þēofes cræfte: þæt se þīoden onfand, bȳ-folc beorna, þæt hē gebolgen wæs. --_Beit._ xii. 99; _Zachers Zeitschr._ iv. 210.
l. 2129. B. proposes fǣrunga, = _suddenly_, for Gr.'s reading in the text.--_Beit._ xii. 98.
l. 2132. MS. has þine life, which Leo translates _by thy leave_ (= ON. _leyfi_); B., _by thy life_.--_Beit._ xii. 369.
l. 2150. B. renders gēn, etc., by "now I serve thee alone again as my gracious king" (_Beit._ xii. 99).
l. 2151. The forms hafu [hafo], hafast, hafað, are poetic archaisms.--Sw.
l. 2153. Kl. proposes ealdor, = _prince_, for eafor. W. proposes the compd. eafor-hēafodsegn, = _helm_; cf. l. 1245.
l. 2157. The wk. form of the adj. is frequent in the vocative, especially when postponed: "Beowulf lēofa," l. 1759. So, often, in poetry in nom.: wudu selesta, etc.