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Book .0 (9 ^ 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 OF 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN JOSIAS CONYBEARE, M.A., &c. 
 
 LATK PREBENDARY OF YORK AND VICAR OF BATH EASTON ; FORMERLY STUDENT OF 
 
 CHKIST-CHURCH, AND SUCCESSIVELY PROFESSOR OF ANGLO-SAXON 
 
 AND OF POETRY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. 
 
 EDITED, 
 
 TOGETHER WITH ADDITIONAL NOTES, INTRODUCTORY NOTICES, &c., 
 
 BY HIS BROTHER 
 
 WILLIAM DANIEL CONYBEARE, M.A., &c. 
 
 RECTOR OF SULLY. -^-^^ f- 
 
 Of Gothic structure was the Northern side, 
 O'erwrought with ornaments of barbarous pride : 
 There huge Colosses rose, with trophies crown'd, 
 And Runic characters were grav'd around. 
 There on huge iron columns, smear'd with blood, 
 The horrid forms of Scythian heroes stood; 
 Minstrels and Scalds (their once loud harps unstrung). 
 And youtlis that died, to be by Poets sung. 
 
 Temjile of Fame. 
 
 LONDON: 
 PRINTED FOR HARDING AND LEPARD, 
 
 PALL MALL, EAST. 
 1826. 
 

 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED BY RICHARD TAYLOR, 
 SHOE-LANE. 
 
 AL E RE aPIi AMMiVAl . 
 
PREFATORY NOTICE. 
 
 It appears desirable to the Editor of the following work 
 to explain in a few words the circumstances which have 
 led to its publication in the present form. The attention 
 of the late Author had long been directed to the illustra- 
 tion of the early history of English Poetry ; and his ap- 
 pointment to the professorship of Anglo-Saxon in the Uni- 
 versity of Oxford in the year 1809, naturally rendered the 
 metrical remains extant in that ancient- language objects 
 of his more particular investigation. The origin of the 
 present volume is to be found in the Terminal Lectures 
 which, in virtue of that office, he was called upon to 
 deliver : in whatever degree therefore it may be con- 
 sidered as forming a valuable accession to this branch of 
 letters, it will afford an additional proof of the tendency 
 of our Academical Institutions to cherish an enlarged 
 spirit of literary inquiry on subjects far remote from those 
 peculiar studies, which their opponents have erroneously 
 and injuriously represented as forming the sole objects 
 of a system stigmatized, — with little practical knowledge 
 of its true nature or results, — as narrow, illiberal, and ex- 
 clusive. 
 
 In preparing his materials for these lectures, the Au- 
 
 a2 
 
(iv) PREFATORY NOTICE. 
 
 thor was not contented merely to avail himself of the 
 documents already rendered accessible through the me- 
 dium of the press by his predecessors in the same path 
 of investigation ; but devoted much time to an examina- 
 tion of the Manuscript stores of the Bodleian and Cotto- 
 nian libraries, and more than once visited Exeter for 
 the express purpose of consulting the valuable collec- 
 tion of Saxon poetry bequeathed to the library of that 
 cathedral by Bishop Leofric. Some detached portions of 
 the original matter thus collected, were from time to time 
 communicated to the public through the channel of the 
 Aixhceologidy British Bibliographer, &c. 
 
 The pursuits thus fostered by the tenour and opportu- 
 nities of Academical life were in 1812 exchanged for 
 clerical duties in a country village. These duties, and 
 the theological studies connected with them, now en- 
 grossed, as they justly claimed, his chief attention ; and 
 engagements merely literary or scientific were henceforth 
 less pursued, than indulged in as affording that change 
 of occupation which to active minds is rest, especially 
 where early habits and languid physical powers indispose 
 for more healthful relaxation. Under these circumstances, 
 to which was added a less easy access to our public li- 
 braries than had hitherto been enjoyed, the further prose- 
 cution of these favourite researches was long suspended : 
 nor was it again resumed, otherwise than in the hope of 
 rendering subservient to a purpose of parochial useful- 
 ness* the profits which might be expected to accrue from 
 
 * The object in question was the erection of a village school. Pro- 
 posals for publishing by subscription, in aid of that object, *' Illustrations 
 
PREFATORY NOTICE. (v) 
 
 the publication of a work, obviously calculated to supply 
 a desideratum of no inconsiderable importance in the 
 history of the poetical antiquities of our language. In 
 this view, the task of enlarging and methodizing his 
 materials was recommenced with much ardour : but many 
 delays intervened, and the object alluded to had been 
 accomplished from the Author's private resources, before 
 
 of the early History of English and French Poetry," were circulated in 
 the autumn of 1817, and an advertisement explaining in detail the con- 
 tents of the proposed work inserted in the Gentleman's Magazine for 
 August in that year. It was originally intended to have included not 
 only the Saxon specimens now printed, but other unpublished mate- 
 rials connected with the earliest period of English poetry, and that of 
 the Norman-French school. 
 
 If any one should consider the mention of the circumstances above 
 noticed as devoid of public interest, and therefore standing in need of 
 apology, that apology must be found in the feelings of the Editor, which 
 induce him to dwell with peculiar satisfaction on such recollections of 
 the spirit in which the late Author regarded the obligations of his pro- 
 fession, and endeavoured to render even these relaxations of his leisure 
 hours subordinate to the higher purposes which they enforce. Under 
 the same influence the Editor cannot refrain from subjoining a private 
 memorandum relating to the present work, which is very characteristic 
 of this habitual bias of the writer's mind : — it refers to the completion of 
 the Analysis, &c. of the poem of Beowulf for the press. *' Tandem 
 (Deo tempus, copiam ac salutem sufficiente) labor in hunc lihrum impen- 
 dendus (opcre scilicet integro diligenter perlecto, compendio ejus Anglice 
 exarato, particulisque quamplurimis metrice, ad verhum qua fieri potuit, 
 redditis) ahsolutus est, exeunte mense Octohris A. S. H. 1820. 
 
 '2io'i xap*^ OS trav-wv fiedeeis, /cat Trayra deupels' 
 'AXXa Su ^ois jjL a-KO rove offiijJTep' kir epya Tpeiretrdai,*' 
 
 It cannot surely be destitute of usefulness to exhibit the consistent 
 homage of a powerful mind to religious truth in the imsuspected mo- 
 ments of its privacy. 
 
(vi) PREFATORY NOTICE. 
 
 the first sheets were forwarded to the press. The design 
 therefore of a publication by subscription was aban- 
 doned : but the work so undertaken was allowed to pro- 
 ceed, though very gradually, and only as the occasional 
 amusement of leisure hours. Other causes of procrasti- 
 nation, not resting with the Author himself, arose from 
 the peculiar impediments attending on the typographical 
 details of a publication like the present ; and from the 
 united operation of these, he had at the time of his sud- 
 den decease only corrected the proofs as far as page 80, 
 and left in a state of complete preparation for the press 
 the transcript of that portion of the work which extends 
 to page 163. The task of publication thus devolved on 
 the present Editor, who had for this purpose to arrange 
 the detached communications to the ArchcEologia and 
 the MS. materials already alluded to ; incorporating 
 them in their proper relative situations, according to his 
 conception of the original design, and supplying such 
 connecting and illustrative matter as appeared requi- 
 site to the end in view. The manner in which he has 
 endeavoured to execute this office will be found more 
 fully explained in the Advertisements to the Introductory 
 Essay and the Appendix. Of the merits of a work pro- 
 ceeding from a relative to whom he was bound by so 
 many ties, it is not for him to speak : and the difficulty 
 of doing so must be increased when the " sacra et major 
 imago'' of the departed is seen invested with a peculiar 
 character of sacredness, and magnified in all its propor- 
 tions, through the mists of the valley of the shadow of 
 death. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 N.B. The articles in italics have been added by the Editor, 
 
 I. Introductory Essay on the Metre of Anglo-Saxon Poetry. 
 
 Advertisement to Essay yage iii 
 
 First Communication to Antiquarian Sopiety [reprinted from 
 
 Archaologia^ vol. xvii ] v 
 
 Riming Poem, referred to in that Communication xvi 
 
 Second Communication to Antiquarian Society, [reprinted from 
 
 Archaologia, vol. xvii.] xxvii 
 
 Recapitulation of Metrical Laws xxxvi 
 
 Comparative View of Icelandic and Ancient Teutonic Metres. . . xxxix 
 
 On the Alliterative Metres of the Celtic Nations Ivii 
 
 On the Derivation of the later English Alliterative Metres .... Ixv 
 
 II. Arranged Catalogue of all the extant remains of Anglo-Saxon 
 Poetry, with some specimens not noticed in the body of the work, par- 
 ticularly the Poem on the Death of Byrhtnoth. Ixxv 
 
 III. Illustrations of Anglo-Saxon Poetry, as completed for the press 
 during the Author's life. 
 
 1. Hymns of Caedmon and of Bede page 3 
 
 2. Song of the Traveller 9 
 
 3. Beowulf. (Analysis and Metrical Versions of) 30 
 
 Original Text 82 
 
 Various readings 137 
 
 Notes 167 
 
(viii) CONTENTS. 
 
 IV. Appendix; consisting of materials (not arranged during the Au- 
 tlior's life) byt intended for tlie work, and in part previously published 
 in vol. xvii. of the Archceolog'm, &c. 
 
 Advertisement page 171 
 
 I. BattleofFinsborough. 
 
 Introductory Notice 173 
 
 Poem [as published in the British Bibliographer, vol. iv J 175 
 
 II. Specimens from the Junian Caedmon. 
 
 Introductory Notice , 183 
 
 1. Speech of Satan [reprinted from the notes to Octa- 
 vian^] 190 
 
 2. Deluge [from Archceologia, vol. xvii.] 193 
 
 3. Overthrow of the Egyptians in the Red Sea [from 
 notes to Octaviari] 195 
 
 III. Specimens from the Exeter Manuscript. 
 
 Introductory Notice 198 
 
 1. On the Day of Judgement [from MS, Lectures] . . 2J4! 
 
 2. Hymn of Thanksgiving [Archaologia^ vol. xvii.] ... 217 
 
 3. Phoenix [Archaologia, vol. xvii.] 224 
 
 4. Gnomic Poem [from MS. Lectures] 228 
 
 5. Soul's Complaint [Archaologiuj vol. xvii.] 232 
 
 6. Scaldic Poem [from the Author's MS.] 235 
 
 7. Exile's Complaint 244 
 
 8. The Ruined Wall-stone [from the Author's MS.] . 249 
 
 IV. Mfredian Version of Boethius [from MS. Lectures]. 
 
 Introductory Notice , 256 
 
 1st Metre. 1st book 260 
 
 4thMetre. 2nd book 262 
 
 9th Metre. 3rd book 265 
 
 V. Norman-Saxon Poem on Death [Archaologia, vol. xvii.] . . 270 
 
 Corrigenda Sf Addenda (including historical notes on the Travel- 
 ler and on Beozoulf) , 275 
 
 ^ " An Analysis of the Norman Metrical Romance of Octavian," of which a 
 limited impression for private distribution was printed by the late Author. 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 THE METRE 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 i^ M-' 
 
 .f^rv^ (■' 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 ON 
 
 THE METRE OF ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 It was the intention of the late Author of these Illustra- 
 tions to have prefixed to them an Introductory Essay on 
 the Metre of the Anglo-Saxon Poetry, in which it was 
 designed to have remodelled the substance of some 
 earlier communications on the same subject to the So- 
 ciety of Antiquaries, and to have extended them by a 
 comparative survey of the kindred systems of the most 
 ancient Icelandic and Teutonic metres. No progress, 
 however, appears to have been made in the execution of 
 this plan at the time when his hand was so suddenly 
 arrested by death, beyond a rough draft of the general 
 heads under which it was to have been arranged. The 
 present Editor may perhaps in some degree, although in 
 a manner far inferior, be enabled to supply this deficiency; 
 since the ' idy of these relics of our Saxon ancestors was 
 among lUoftje joint pursuits in which it was once his 
 
 a 2 
 
iv ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 happiness to indulge with that nearest and most valued 
 relative, in earlier or maturer life the guide or associate 
 of all his literary inquiries : he believes himself there- 
 fore competent to state, with fidelity at least, the views 
 which it had been intended to illustrate with regard to 
 the several subjects under discussion. In endeavouring 
 to discharge this office, he will first reproduce, in its ori- 
 ginal form, the Essay in the A?xhceologia above referred 
 to ; a document which must always retain a paramount 
 interest, as having first removed, in a clear and satisfac- 
 tory manner, the obscurity which previously invested this 
 subject. He will then proceed to the other collateral and 
 supplemental topics connected with the inquiry. 
 
 The following arrangement of these materials will be 
 adopted : — 
 
 1. Essays, by the late Author, published in the Archctologia : 
 
 1. First Communication to the Antiquarian Society. 
 
 2. Riming Poem, referred to in that Communication. 
 
 3. Second Communication to the Antiquarian Society. 
 
 II. Addenda, by the Editor ; 
 
 1. Recapitulation of the General Laws of Saxon Metre. 
 
 2. Comparative View of the Icelandic and ancient Teu- 
 
 tonic Metres. 
 
 3. Investigation of the Alliterative Metres of the Celtic 
 
 Nations. 
 
 4. Observations on the Derivation of the later Alliterative 
 
 Metres of the English Poets of the Middle Ages 
 from that of the Saxons. 
 
FIRST COMMUNICATION 
 
 ON 
 
 THE METRE OF ANGLO-SAXON POETRY, 
 
 \_Froni Vol. xvii. of the Arch^ologia.] 
 Read before the Ant. See. Feb. 25, 1813. 
 
 The contradictory opinions which our ablest philological anti- 
 quaries have advanced with respect to the leading characteristics 
 by which the poetry of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors was distinguished 
 from their prose, will, I trust, plead my excuse for trespassing upon 
 the time of the reader *, by offering to his attention a few cursory 
 observations on that subject. They are suggested principally by 
 the perusal of two very interesting documents contained in the 
 Exeter Manuscript, many extracts from which will be found in 
 the ensuing pages. 
 
 Hickes, indisputably one of the most learned of those who can 
 be said to have examined with a critical eye our Saxon literature, 
 appears perhaps no where to so little advantage as in the pages 
 which he has dedicated to this topic. Influenced by the desire of 
 reducing every thing to some classical standard, a prejudice not 
 uncommon in the age in which he wrote, he endeavours, with 
 greater zeal than success, to show that the writers whom he was 
 
 ^ The Editor has substituted in this and other places the phrases ap- 
 propriated to a published essay for those which in the original alluded 
 to the Society to which the communication was made, and given refer- 
 ences to the pages of this volume instead of those to the Archceologia* 
 
VI INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 recommending to the world observed the legitimate rules of Latin 
 prosody, and measured their feet by syllabic quantity. In making 
 so large demands upon the credulity of his readers, he was, though 
 unconsciously, laying the foundation of future scepticism. A later 
 author, Mr. Tyrwhitt, justly celebrated for the success of his 
 critical researches on many subjects connected both with early 
 English and with classical literature, but whose acquaintance with 
 the Anglo-Saxon poetry appears to have been derived principally, 
 if not entirely, from the Thesaurus of the illustrious scholar above 
 alluded to, — was the first person who ventured openly to dissent 
 from his authority. Startled by the extravagance of Dr. Hickes's 
 opinions on this subject, and unconvinced by the arguments ad- 
 duced in their support/ he advances into the opposite extreme, 
 declares that he can discover in the productions of our Saxon 
 bards no traces whatever either of a regular metrical system, or 
 even of that alliteration which had hitherto been regarded as their 
 invariable characteristic, and finally professes himself unable to 
 perceive ''any difference between the poetry and the prose of that 
 people, further than the employment of a more inflated diction and 
 inverted construction of sentence, in that to which the former title 
 was usually affixed ^" 
 
 It cannot, I trust, be considered as disrespectful to the memory 
 of that accomplished and candid philologist, to suggest that a more 
 careful and patient examination of the question would probably 
 have induced him to withdraw these unqualified and (I camiot 
 but think) inconsiderate assertions. But, in fact, the plan of that 
 work in which he was engaged, relating to the language and versi- 
 fication of a much later period, demanded from him nothing more 
 than a slight and incidental mention of Anglo-Saxon poetry. Had 
 it been otherwise, the humbler efforts of future labourers in that _ 
 department would probably have been in great measure antici- 
 pated, if not rendered wholly unnecessary, by the application of that 
 
 ' See the preface to Tyrwhitt's Ghaucer. 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. Vll 
 
 critical acuteness and sound judgement which so eminently distin- 
 guished the restorer of Chaucer, and the discoverer of Babrias. 
 
 But I hasten to the detail of those circumstances which I cannot 
 but think of sufl&cient force altogether to invalidate the opinion of 
 Mr. Tyrwhitt, arid which, unless 1 am much deceived, are calcu- 
 lated also to remove much of the obscurity in which the previous 
 misapprehensions of Dr. Hickes appear to have enveloped one 
 portion at least of the subject. 
 
 As the question of alliteration (which indeed requires but a 
 short notice) will be more conveniently treated of after we shall 
 have ascertained the existence and nature of that metre of which 
 it forms the chief ornament, I shall commence with those topics 
 which are in themselves of the greatest extent and interest, and 
 shall endeavour to show both that the Anglo-Saxon poetry does 
 really differ from their prose by the usage of metrical divisions, 
 and that the general rhythm and cadence of their verse is not alto- 
 gether undiscoverable. 
 
 The former, indeed, of these propositions should seem to require 
 no further evidence than the simple comparison of the different 
 methods of punctuation observable in the prosaic and poetical 
 manuscripts of the Saxons. In the prose we find the single point 
 or dot (equivalent both to our comma and semicolon) but sparingly 
 used. In the poetry, on the contrary, which, being written in con- 
 tinuous lines, it would otherwise be difficult to distinguish from 
 prose, the same mark occurs repeatedly at short intervals, and in 
 places where it evidently cannot be required in its usual function 
 of dividing the sentence into its subordinate clauses ^ The mem- 
 bers thus included will be found (as far as we are capable of judging 
 with respect to the pronunciation of that which we possess as a 
 written language only) to have in general a strong similarity of 
 
 * Of this the edition of Csedmon, published by the learned Junius, 
 will afford an accurate specimen ; as also will the Judith printed at the 
 end of Thwaites's Heptateuch, a book of somewhat more common oc- 
 currence. 
 
vm INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 cadence as well as of length. Should this be deemed inconclusive, 
 the question will, I think, be placed beyond the reach of contro-' 
 versy by the specimens about to be adduced. In both these we 
 shall find the poetry broken into similar members, not only by the 
 usual mode of rhythmical punctuation, but in the one instance by 
 the alternate insertion of lines written in the Latin language, and 
 in the other by the employment of final rime. The former of these 
 (although hitherto overlooked by those who have written upon this 
 subject) is quoted by Humphrey Wanley in his Catalogue of Anglo- 
 Saxon Manuscripts, p. 281. It forms the termination of a highly 
 paraphrastic translation of the Phoenix of Lactantius, a short ex- 
 tract from the commencement of which is inserted in the Appendix 
 to this work, p. 224. It is written in lines alternately Anglo-Saxon 
 and Latin, and runs thus : 
 
 Hafa"S us aLyfed * Nos in vitam eduxit 
 
 Iiucis auctor 
 
 ^aet we Motun her uti possemus hie 
 
 Merueri 
 
 God djEdum beGIetan virtutihus acquirere 
 
 Gaudia in coelo, 
 
 ^^aet we Motun uti possemus 
 
 Maxima rejna 
 
 Secan, and jeSittan acquirere, et sedere 
 
 Sedibus altis, 
 
 Lifgan in Lisse vivere in mansione 
 
 liUcis et pacis, 
 
 Ajan Sardinia possidere habitacula 
 
 Alma Isetitise 
 
 Brucan Bl^d-daja potirifructu diurno 
 
 ' The letters on which the alliteration characteristic of Saxon metre dcr 
 pends, are here and in other places of this Introduction distinguished by an- 
 tique capitals ; and to render this distinction more prominent, no capitals 
 are used in the beginning of the lines, except after a full stop, or in proper 
 names. — Ed. 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXOJSr METRE. ix 
 
 Blandam & mittem, blando et miti 
 
 jeSeon Sigora frean adspicere glorias Dominum 
 
 Sine fine, 
 
 and him Lof sinjan et ei gratias canere 
 
 Laude perenni 
 
 EAdje mid Enjlum, f dices cum angelis. 
 
 Alleluia. 
 
 It will be immediately perceived, that such of these Latin verses 
 as are at all consonant to the rules of prosody, belong either to the 
 trochaic or dactylic species, and consist each of two feet. Those 
 which are not reducible to this standard seem yet to be written in 
 imitation of it, with the substitution (as was common in the Latin 
 poetry of the middle ages) of emphasis for quantity. Thus " Sine^ 
 fine," " Blandam et^ mittem," and " Alma lae^titiag," may be con- 
 sidered respectively as equivalent to a trochaic, an adoniac, and a 
 dactylic line ^ It is to a metre of this kind, in which emphasis (as 
 
 ^ I have throvi^n into the following note a few more specimens from 
 Wanley's Catalogue, illustrative of the positions suggested in the text. 
 The first and second will afford also an entertaining example of the 
 fondness shown by our Saxon ancestors for introducing into their com- 
 positions the few Greek phrases with which they were acquainted. 
 
 Dus me jeSette Encratea 
 
 Sanctus & Justus Ac he EAlne sceal 
 
 Beorn Boca jleaw Boe^ia 
 
 Bonus auctor Biddan jeorne 
 
 ****** ' ^urh his Modes jeMind 
 
 ****** Micro in cosmo 
 
 ne sceal Ladijan ****** 
 Labor quem tenet 
 
 (Wanl. Cat. p. 110. ex MS. CoU. Corp. Ch. Cant. K. 12.) 
 
 Daenne jeMiltsad ^e abutan ende 
 
 Mundum qui rejit * * * * 
 
 THeoda THrym cyningc saule wine 
 
 THronum sedentem * * * * 
 
 jeunne 
 
X INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 in all the modern languages of Gothic origin) holds the place of 
 quantity, that I would refer the verses of the Anglo-Saxons. They 
 
 geUnne '^e on life * Po on Fultum 
 
 AUctor pacis Factor cosmi ^ 
 
 Sibbe jeSael^a * * * * 
 
 Salus mundi Dasr Eadije 
 
 Metod se Maera Animae sanctae 
 
 Majna virtute Rice Restat 
 
 and se So^faesta Rejna caelorum. 
 
 Summi filius 
 
 (Wanl. Cat. p. 147. ex MS. Coll. Corp. Ch. Cant. S. 18.) 
 
 The last is entirely in Latin, and appears to be an attempt at rime, 
 although the alliteration is, for the most part, preserved. Wanley him- 
 self notices its similarity to the Anglo-Saxon metre. 
 
 Olim hcec transtuU Juva me TSLiserum 
 
 Sicuti valui, T/Leritis HHodicum. 
 
 Sed modo "Precibus Caream quo Vicevis 
 
 Constrictus "Plenius, Mihimet Nocuis, 
 
 O Tflartine Sancte Castusque "Vivam 
 
 TOieritis pr declare Nadus jam Veniam. 
 
 Wanley, p. 189. 
 
 Of the substitution of accent or emphasis for quantity, the following 
 wretched lines afford an example, perhaps the more striking, as they 
 are written in imitation of a metre to which we are more accustomed. 
 
 Denlque composuit pueris hoc stilum rite diversum 
 Qui Bata Mlfricus Monachus brevissimus, 
 
 Qualiter Scholastici valeant resumere fandi 
 Aliquod initium Latinitatis sibi. 
 
 • It is evident that two alternate Latin lines have here through the negli- 
 gence of the scribe been omitted ; tlie sense, alliteration, and analogy of the 
 structure prevailing through the whole composition equally requiring them. 
 —Ed. 
 
 * Here forty lines of similar structure alternately Saxon and Latin have 
 been omitted. The text is often in both languages corrupt. The four lines 
 subjoined form the conclusion, — Ed. 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. XI 
 
 will be found to consist, for the most part, of feet of two or three 
 syllables each, having the emphasis on the first, and analogous 
 therefore to the trochee or dactyl, sometimes perhaps to the spon- 
 dee, of classic metre. 
 
 In the above specimen, the hne " Daet we motun " evidently 
 consists of two trochees, or a spondee and trochee. " Eadje mid 
 Enjlum," of a dactyl and trochee. " Secan, and jesittan/' of three 
 trochees. 
 
 This appears to have been the fundamental principle of the 
 Saxon metrical system. Variety was produced, and the labour of 
 versification lessened by the admitting lines of different lengths from 
 two to four feet, and frequently by the addition of a syllable extra- 
 ordinary, either at the commencement or termination of the verse ; 
 a circumstance which we find repeatedly occurring in our own 
 poetry, without any such violation of cadence as to alter the cha- 
 racter of the metre. The former license is in Saxon the less com- 
 mon of the two. 
 
 I think, liowever, it may be traced in the following instances. 
 
 Du eart^ Haele^a^ Helm, 
 And I Heofen^ deman, 
 
 Enjla Ordfruman, 
 And] EOr'San tuddor \ 
 
 Laeton^ aefter^ beorjan 
 In I blacum^ reafum. 
 
 And saec, fremedon, 
 And^ "Sast ne je^lyfdon ^. 
 
 Bi^folden on^ fer^e 
 
 Summaej^ finjrumy wasl. 
 
 Caedmon, p. 105. * Idem. 
 
xil INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 The latter, if it is indeed to be regarded as a license of the same 
 kind, and not rather to be referred to another principle, which I 
 shall consider immediately, is much more common. Several in- 
 stances of it occur in the few lines already quoted. In the follow- 
 ing and some similar lines, there appears to be an additional syl- 
 lable both at the commencement and termination. 
 
 Wece^ and^ "WreceS 
 swa| "WildU; deor. 
 
 Occasionally lines of three or even two syllables occur ; as, 
 La^es, sprsec. Almijhtne. 
 
 " ~ Fah wyrm. 
 
 To frofre. Hwast ^u. eart. 
 
 Nu ic ^us. Mihtum swid. 
 
 In the former of these cases (and perhaps also wherever a syl- 
 lable extraordinary is to be found at the termination of a line) the 
 emphasis might be so strongly marked as to render it equivalent to 
 two. The latter instance (Fah wyrm) would not offend against the 
 general rhythm. 
 
 The following passages from Casdmon will give examples both 
 of the longer and shorter kinds of metre *. 
 
 ^ It has been doubted (see Mr. Bos worth's Saxon Grammar, p. 247) 
 vi^hether the following extract might not be reduced to lines of the shorter 
 structure by hemistichial division; but two reasons seem conclusive 
 against such an attempt ; — 1st, the couplets formed by such an arrange- 
 ment from the 3rd, 7th, 9th and 11th lines as here printed, would be 
 destitute of alliteration : — and 2dly, the same alliteral letter obviously 
 extends to the couplet as formed of the longer lines. Td make this 
 clearer, braces have been placed against the alliteral couplets, as the 
 extract begins with the last and ends with the first line of a couplet. — 
 Ed. 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. Xlll 
 
 ^nne^ haefde he swa^ s^vi'Sne je^worhtne^ 
 swa^ Mihtijne^ on hisy Mod je'Sohte 1 
 he lety hine swa^ Miclesy weald an^ J 
 Hehstne to^ him on^ Heofna^ rice, -| 
 
 Haefde he, Hine swa, hwitne je^worhtney j 
 swa, WynUcy "Waes his, Wsestm on, heofonuniy 1 
 ■^ast himy com fromy Weroday DrihtnCy J 
 
 jCyLic wseSy he ^amy Leohtumy steorrumyl 
 Lofy sceolde hey DrihtneSy wyrcean J 
 
 Dyrany sceolde he his, Dreamas ony heofonumy'i 
 andy sceolde hisy DrihtnCy 'Sancian, J 
 
 •SaeSy Laenesy ^e he himy on "Samy Leohte jCyScerede. 
 
 Cagdm. p. 6. 1. 14. 
 
 Unum creaverat adeo potentem, 
 
 adeo prcEcellentem intellectu, 
 
 dederat ei tarn ingentem potestatem, 
 
 proximam sibi in calorum regno, 
 
 ilium adeo lucidum creaverat, 
 
 adeo latusfuitfructus ejus (vita) in ccbHs, 
 
 qui ad eum venit a supremo Domino, 
 
 similis erat lucidis stellis, 
 
 gloried debuerat Domini inservire, 
 
 cara habere debuerat gaudia sua in calis, 
 
 et debuerat Domino suo gr alias agere, 
 
 pro munere quod ille ei in luce decreverat. 
 
 Us isy Riht micely Nobis est c^quissimum 
 
 "Saet wcy Roderay weardy ut c&li custodem 
 
 Wereday "WuldoFy cininjy exercituum, gloricB-regem, 
 
 Wordumy herigeny verbis exaltemus, 
 
 Modumy lufieny animis diUgamus : 
 
 he isy Msegna sped, ille est potentissimus, 
 
 Heafod ealra princeps omnium 
 
 Heah jesceafta. excellentium creaturarum. 
 
XW INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 I now pass to the second document above alluded to, as calcu- 
 lated to throw some light upon this subject, from the circumstance 
 of its author having superadded the ornament of rime to that of 
 alliteration. This has hitherto escaped the observation of our 
 Saxon scholars. Wanley, indeed, (to whom we are indebted for 
 the only detailed notice of the Exeter Manuscript,) appears to have 
 examined the section in which it is contained with much less than 
 his usual dihgence and accuracy. , 
 
 It will perhaps enable us to appretiate more justly the evidence 
 deducible from the metrical construction of this poem, if we recall 
 what has been said above as to the method of punctuation by which 
 the Anglo-Saxons were accustomed to distinguish their poetry from 
 their prose. The dots or points which they used for this purpose 
 may doubtless, through the negligence of transcribers, have been 
 either omitted, or erroneously inserted. In other instances they 
 may have perished from the injuries of time, weather, and ill usage. 
 Thus the received division of the verse may in many cases become 
 questionable, and any theory grounded upon it be represented as 
 destitute of proof. Against conclusions drawn from the poem in 
 question, it is evident that no such objection can reasonably be 
 advanced. 
 
 After a diligent examination, it appears to me that the different 
 species of verse used in this composition may be thus classed : — 
 
 1. Those which may at first sight be recognised as trochaic or 
 dactylic : these are by far the most numerous ; as, 
 
 Glenjed^ hiwura Lisse mid^ longum 
 
 Blissa^ bleoum Leoma je^tonjum 
 
 Blostma^ hiwum ■ ' 
 
 Horsce mec^ heredon 
 
 Swi^e ncy minsade Hilde je^neredon. 
 
 2. Of the trochaic species, with the hypercatalectic syllable ; as, 
 Ahte iCy ealdor^ stol 
 Galdor^ wordum^ gol. 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. XV 
 
 Wass oily lajUy streame^ lad 
 Daer rae^ leo'Suy ne bi^ jlad. 
 
 3. Lines of three syllables (similar to those mentioned above) ; 
 
 as. 
 
 Tir^ weljade I Grasft^ hafa^ 
 
 Blaed^ blissade | 
 
 TreoWy '^raj 
 Is tOy traj. 
 
 In this poem, and in all the other metrical compositions of the 
 Saxons with which I am acquainted, there are certainly many 
 lines which it is beyond my power to reduce to a strict agreement 
 with this metrical system ; but these difficulties are not, I think, 
 of sufficient frequency or cogency to invalidate those conclusions 
 concerning the metre of Anglo-Saxon poetry, which may be drawn 
 from the general tenour of its construction. It is probable, too, 
 that an uncultivated age was not very fastidious as to the precise 
 observation of the rhythmical canons. If the violations of metre 
 were not such as grossly to offend in singing or repetition, they 
 would scarcely demand any higher degree of correctness*. 
 
 * The Author has expressed his opinion more fully as to the degree 
 of licence allowable in Anglo-Saxon poetry in the following remarks on 
 the metrical rules laid down in Rask's Saxon Grammar (as translated 
 in Mr. Bosworth's Grammar), which essentially agree with the canons 
 four years previously deduced by himself in the above essay, but sup- 
 pose a more strict and undeviating regularity of observance. They are 
 extracted from a letter to Mr. Bosworth. — " Does not Mr. Rask speak 
 on the whole too much as though he was considering an artificially 
 constructed system of metre ? I suspect that the matter lies completely 
 on the surface, and that the good barbarians were content if their verse 
 had rhythm enough to be sung, and alliteration enough to strike the 
 ear at once. The system, if system it may be called, is neither more 
 nor less than that of our old ballads, in which the ear is satisfied not hy 
 the number of syllables^ but by the recurrence of the accent, or ictus, if 
 one may call it so. Southey and Coleridge have made good use of 
 this i^sTpov ai^srpov, and the latter, in one of his prefaces, has, if my 
 memory serves me, philosophized upon its structure." 
 
XVI INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 RIMING POEM. 
 
 {From the Exeter MS. p. 94.) 
 
 The very extraordinary composition last referred to is here 
 presented to the reader in its entire form, in pursuance of the ex- 
 pressed intention of the late Author. As, however, no progress to- 
 wards the execution of that intention had been made by him, the 
 task of translation has devolved on the Editor; and it is in this 
 instance a task of no slight difficulty : for the poet, bound by the 
 double fetters of aUiteration and rime, has found himself obliged 
 to sacrifice sense to sound, to a more than ordinary extent. The 
 style is throughout figurative, harsh, and elliptical in the highest 
 degree : words occurring in no other Saxon writer, and to be in- 
 terpreted therefore only through the medium of an uncertain 
 analogy, are frequent ; and more common terms are disguised by 
 an unaccustomed variety of speUing. Under these circumstances, 
 it must be still more a subject of regret that the fight which the 
 critical acumen of the late accompfished Author might have thrown 
 on this very obscure production has been denied. 
 
 To the brief observations on its metrical structure already given, 
 the Editor has only to add the following remarks : — 
 
 1 . The rime is frequently double : and the poet, not contented 
 with this exhibition of his powers in the accumulation of similaif 
 sounds, has in one passage (of nine fines) introduced an additional 
 rime into the body of every fine, thus : — 
 
 Bald Aid ^wite^ 
 
 Wrcec f{BC wri'Se^ ' 
 
 Wrath ath smiteS 
 
 so that every letter almost is fettered by the absurd intricacy of the 
 metre. 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. xvil 
 
 The identical rimes are not confined to the couplet, but extend 
 sometimes to eight or ten hnes. 
 
 2. The whole style of composition is analogous to the later sy- 
 stems of Scaldic metre introduced about the middle of the ninth 
 century in the place of the more simple versification of the Edda 
 and Foluspa (which is altogether identical with the usual Saxon 
 metre). It is probable that the knowledge of these more comph- 
 cated systems was introduced among the Saxon poets in the age 
 of Canute ; but they do not appear to have found a favourable re- 
 ception : the only instance which is extant of a regular imitation 
 of them being that now presented to the reader. The following 
 specimen from the Hattalj/kli (Key of MetFi) of SnoiTO Sturleson 
 will sufficiently evince the identity : it is, 1 believe, of the species 
 called Ruhnenda. 
 
 Lof er flytt forom 
 Fyrir junnorom 
 Ne spurd sporom 
 Spioll jram snorom, &c. 
 (Extracts from the Hattalykli published by Mr. Johnstone, p. 48.) 
 
 From the difficulties above alluded to, the annexed translation 
 is necessarily of so loose and conjectural a character that the 
 Editor feels some apology requisite for presenting it to the public; 
 but from the great interest of the poem as a metrical relic of so 
 .unique a character, he was unwilling to suppress the original : and 
 he conceived that an interpretation which might at least present 
 some clue to the general meaning would be acceptable. The sub- 
 ject appears to be an illustration of the transitory nature of human 
 enjoyments : this is exhibited by describing the same individual as 
 first flourishing in the very acme of pleasure, fame, affluence, and 
 power; and then as a spirit tormented by the fires of purgatory, 
 and a corpse consumed by worms. The conclusion points out the 
 hope of translation, after these purifying pains have accomplished 
 their appointed end, to the joys of heaven. 
 
 b 
 
xvni 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 Me lifes onlah 
 Se "Sis leoht onwrah, 
 And "Saet torhte jeteoh 
 Tillice onwrah. 
 
 Glaed wass ic jliwum, 
 Glenjed hiwum, 
 Blissa bleoum 
 Blostma hiwum. 
 
 Secjas mec sejon 
 Symbel ne alejon 
 Feorh-jiefe jefejon, 
 
 Frsetwed w^ejum 
 
 Wic ofer wonjum, 
 Wennan jonjum 
 
 Lisse mid Ionium 
 Leoma jetonjum^; 
 
 Da waes wasstmum aweaht 
 World onspreht, 
 Under roderum aweaht 
 Rasd masjne ofer ^eaht. 
 
 Giestas jenjdon, 
 Ger-scype^ menjdon. 
 
 He raised me to life 
 Who displayed this hght. 
 And this bright possession 
 Bountifully disclosed. 
 
 Glad was I in glee. 
 Adorned with [fair] colours, 
 With the hues of bhss 
 And the tints of blossoms. 
 
 Men would say concerning me ' 
 That perpetually I should not desist 
 To rejoice in the gifts [blessings] 
 
 [of life. 
 Adorned in its paths 
 
 [Was my] habitation on the earth, 
 [So that I might] expect in my 
 
 journeyings 
 Favour with long 
 Dispensations of light [felicity] ; 
 
 Then was I abounding in fruits 
 And flourishing in the world. 
 Springing up beneath the heavens 
 And excelling in the force of 
 — — [counsel. 
 
 Guests came. 
 They intermixed in commerce. 
 
 ^ ' Getinc^e,' conditio, status. Lye. 
 
 ® * Ger-scype ' is perhaps from the same root with our ' gear/ and the 
 Saxon ' jaersuma,' treasure ; and will then bear the sense I have as- 
 signed it — the procuring of gear, i. e. commerce. 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. 
 
 XIX 
 
 Lisse lenjdon, 
 Luftum jlenxdon. 
 
 Scrifen* scrad jlad 
 Durh-jescad inbrad 
 Waes on laju streame lad 
 Dasr me leo-Su ^ ne bi jlad. 
 Haslde ic haeanne had, 
 Ne woes me in healle jad 
 Daet "Saer rof weord rad ; 
 
 Oft 'Saer rinc jebad 
 
 Daet he in sele saeje, 
 
 \^ Sine jewaeje. 
 
 Deynum je^yhte ^ . 
 Denden waes ic masjen. 
 
 Horsce mec heredon, 
 Hilde jeneredon, 
 Fasjre feredon, 
 Feondon biweredon. 
 
 Swa mec hyht-jiefu heold 
 Hyje Dryht befeold ; 
 
 They prolonged my pleasures. 
 And adorned me with luxuries. 
 
 Vestments ofjoy carefully wrought 
 Shed around in breadth 
 Were led over the ocean-flood 
 Where my vessel miscarried not. 
 I held a high state, 
 Nor was there in my hall any peer 
 Who would utter a haughty 
 
 word there ; 
 But men often supplicated there 
 
 [For the treasures] which they 
 
 beheld in my court. 
 The weighed silver. 
 
 Thence was I powerful, 
 
 Brave warriors obeyed me, 
 They delivered me in battle. 
 They fairly supported me, [mies. 
 And protected me from mine ene- 
 
 So faithfully the gifts of hope 
 Did the Lord pour into my mind 5 
 
 ' 'Scrifen,' curare. Lye. I doubt, however, my translation of this and 
 the following line, but am uqable to substitute one more satisfactory. 
 
 ^ 'Leo^an,' navigare. Lye. I suppose 'leo^u' to be a substantive 
 from the same root. 
 
 3 Some word which might rime widi ' maejen ' in the next line has 
 here been lost from the text. 
 
 b2 
 
XX 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 Sta'Sol aehtum steald, 
 
 Stepe-jonjum weold. 
 Swylce eor^e ol 
 Ahte ic ealdor stol ; 
 Galdor wordum 50I, 
 Gomel sibbe neof * oil. 
 
 Ac waes jefest jear, 
 Gellende sner, 
 Wuniende waer, 
 Wil-bec^ be scaer. 
 
 Scealcas waeron scearpe, 
 Scyl wses hearpe. 
 
 Hlude hlynede, 
 Hleo^or dynede, 
 Swejl-rad swinsade 
 Swi^e, ne minsade. 
 
 Burj sele beofode, 
 Beorht hlifade ; 
 Ellen eacnade, 
 Ead eacnade ; 
 
 He established a firm foundation 
 for my possessions, [goings. 
 And directed my steps in their 
 So in the earth 
 I possessed a royal seat ; 
 I sang magic strains, [disgrace. 
 And grown old in peace I had no 
 
 But I was formerly firm. 
 
 Affluent 
 
 Abiding safely, 
 
 With an abundant stream[of good] 
 
 by my portion. 
 My servants were sagacious. 
 There was skill in their harping. 
 
 It resounded loud. 
 The strain re-echoed. 
 Melody was heard 
 Powerfully, nor did it cease. 
 
 The hall vibrated (at the sound). 
 Splendour shone ; 
 My spirit expanded. 
 My happiness increased ; 
 
 * I have considered *neof' as irregularly formed firom the verb 
 'n' abhan,' not to have; whence * ^u n'sefest.' But I am far from 
 satisfied with this conjecture. 
 
 ® ' Wil-bec' appears of the same family of compounds with 'will- 
 burne' and 'will-flood,' sigmiymg a welling stream. * Be scaer' may 
 mean hy my share or portion ; and the image conveyed by this line will 
 then be, " The stream of abundance was in my portion :" but in this 
 and many other instances I can only offer my attempts to interpret the 
 obscure metaphors of the original poem as possible conjectures. 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. 
 
 XXI 
 
 Freaum frodade, 
 Fromura jodade, 
 Mod magjnade, 
 Mine faejnade. 
 Treow teljade, 
 Tir weljade, 
 * * * * 
 Bla9d blissade, 
 Gold jearwade, 
 Gim hwearfade, 
 Sine searvvade ^, 
 Sib nearwade ; 
 
 From ic waes in frsetwum, 
 Freolic in in-jeatwum. 
 
 Woss min dream dryhtlic, 
 Drohtad hyhtlic ; 
 
 Foldan ic freo^ode, 
 Folcum ic leo'Sode ; 
 Lif waes min lonje 
 Leodum injemonje, 
 Tirum jetonje 
 Teala jehonje. 
 
 Islu min hreSer is hreoh, 
 Heoh^-si^um sceoh, 
 
 I was prudent among princes, 
 And successful among the brave, 
 Powerful in mind, 
 And rejoicing in spirit. 
 My tree flourished, 
 My sway increased, 
 
 ****** 
 Fruit blessed me, 
 Gold was at hand, 
 Gems poured around me. 
 Silver was artificially wrought. 
 My kindred were closely united ; 
 
 1 was brave in adornment, 
 And graceful in carriage, 
 
 My glory was lordly. 
 My dominion illustrious; 
 
 I was benevolent to the land, 
 
 1 sang lays to the people ; 
 
 My life was long 
 
 Among my nation. 
 
 My condition in my dominions 
 
 Was happily supported. 
 
 But now my breast is rough, 
 Shaken by the season of woe. 
 
 ^ The defective alliteration shows that a line is here lost. 
 
 ^ ' Searwian ' usually occurs in an unfavourable sense, meaning to 
 employ artifice: yet, as we find the related terms 'searw' used for a 
 machine, and * searolice ' for mechanically, it may, I think, bear the 
 signification here assigned. 
 
 ^ ' Heoh' is perhaps used in the place of 'heof,' woe. * Sceoh,* 
 for ' sceoc,' shook ; from * sceacan.' 
 
XXll 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 Nyd bysjum neah ; 
 Gewited nihtes indeah 
 
 Se aer in daege was dyre ; 
 Scri-^ed nu deop feor. 
 
 Brond hord jeblowen 
 Breostum inforjrowen ; 
 Flyhtum to-flowen 
 Flah is jeblowen 
 
 Miclum in jemynde 
 Modes jecynde ; 
 GretcS onjrynde 
 Grorn ofen pynde. 
 
 Bealo-fus byrne'S, 
 Bittre wyrne^ ; 
 
 Wid si^ onjinne^, 
 Sar ne sinned ; 
 Sorjum cinni^ 
 Blaed his blinni^, 
 Blisse linna^, 
 Listum linnet ; 
 Lustum ne cinne^. 
 
 Dreamas swa her jedresa^, 
 Dryht scyre jehreosa^ ; 
 Lif her men forleosa'S 
 Leahtras oft jeceosa'S ; 
 
 Nigh to stern necessity ; 
 
 And he is tormented at the ap- 
 proach of night 
 
 Who before in the day was 
 highly esteemed ; 
 
 Deep fire now is wrapt around. 
 
 And the hoard of brands inflamed 
 Increasing around his breast ; ' 
 Flowing in flights 
 The dart is blown forth 
 
 Against the haughty of soul 
 In the disposition of his mind ; 
 He lamenteth in the abyss 
 Pained in the furnace of woe. 
 
 The prompt destruction burneth, 
 Bitterly it correcteth him ; 
 
 A wide journey beginneth, 
 
 Affliction ceaseth not ; 
 
 He exclaimeth in sorrows 
 
 His joy hath ceased. 
 
 His bhss hath dechned, 
 
 He is fallen from his dehghts ; 
 
 He exclaimeth not in happiness. 
 
 Thus glories here are prostrated. 
 And the lordly lot brought low ; 
 [So] men here lose their hfe 
 And often choose crimes ; 
 
 ^ I apprehend the harsh metaphors of these lines to allude to the 
 corrective fires and tortures of purgatory. 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. 
 
 XXlll 
 
 Treow 'Sraj 
 
 Is to-traj, 
 
 Seo untrume ^enaj. 
 
 Steapum eatole mis^ah 
 
 Ond eal stund jenaj. 
 
 Swa nu world wended ; 
 Wyrde sende^, 
 And hetes hente^ ; 
 Haele^e scynde^, 
 
 Wer cynje wile's, 
 Wael jar sliteS, 
 Flah mah flitcS, 
 Flan man hwiteS, 
 Biirj sorj biteS ; 
 Bald aid "Swite^, 
 Wrasc-faec wriSa^, 
 
 WraS a^ smite^ ; 
 Sin-jrynd sida^S*, 
 Saecre [sgearo] fearo jUde^, 
 
 Grom torn jrasfeS, 
 Gragft hafa^S, 
 
 Searo hwit sola's ^ 
 Sumur het colaS, 
 Fold fela fealleS, 
 Feond-scire wealleth, 
 
 A faithful course 
 
 Is withdrawn, [aboundeth. 
 
 And that which hath no firmness 
 
 Thus now the world wendeth ; 
 Fate sendeth [men to their doom], 
 And feuds pursue tjiem ; 
 Chieftains oppress, 
 
 War-kings go forth. 
 The dart of slaughter pierceth, 
 The violent arrow flieth, 
 The spear smiteth them. 
 Sorrow devoureth the city ; 
 The bold man in age decays. 
 The season of vengeance tor- 
 
 menteth him. 
 And enmity easily assaileth him ; 
 The abyss of sin increaseth, 
 Sudden treachery glideth in. 
 
 Grim rage grieveth. 
 Woe possesseth, 
 
 Every possession is deceitful, 
 Summer's heat groweth cool. 
 Many things fall to the ground, 
 The portion of strife aboundeth. 
 
 * The construction seems forced, but no other suggests itself. 
 
 * ' Sola^' is perhaps the same with * sael^,' possessions. 
 
XXIV 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 Eor^ msejen ealda^, 
 Ellen cola^. 
 
 Earthly power groweth old, 
 Courage groweth cold. 
 
 Me 'Scet wyrd jewaef, 
 And jehwyrt forjeaf 
 Thaet ic jrofe jr^f. 
 And 'Saet jrimme jrgef 
 
 This Fate wove for me, 
 And as decreed assigned it [grief. 
 That I should grieve with this 
 And the grim grave 
 
 Flean flassce ne mcej ; 
 Don flah hred dagj. 
 
 Flesh may not flee ; 
 
 Soon as the rapid day hath flown. 
 
 Nid jrapum nime^ 
 Don seo neah becyme'S ; 
 
 Necessity seizeth in her grasp 
 When she cometh nigh ; 
 
 Seo me e^les onfonn. 
 
 She that hath taken me from my 
 country, 
 And mec her heardes on conn. And here exerciseth me in hard- 
 ■ ship. 
 
 Then the corpse lieth, 
 Worms fret the limbs, 
 
 Donne hchoma hje'S, 
 Lima wyrm frite^, 
 Ac him wen ne ^ jewije'S, 
 And "^a wist jehyje-S 
 
 And the worm departeth not. 
 And there chooseth its repast 
 
 O^^aet beo'S "Sa ban an ; 
 
 ****** 
 And aet nyhstan nan 
 
 Nefne se nede tan^ 
 
 Until there be bone only left; 
 ****** 
 And at the last there is no one 
 
 [exempt] 
 But that his fate compels [him to 
 
 become] 
 
 » * Wen.' * Wen-wyrm/ vermis genus. Lye. 
 
 * A line is here lost. 
 
 ' *Tan' is sometimes used for lot (vide Lye). The line seems 
 equivalent with " O^e sio wyrd us nede," sive fatum nos compelliL 
 Boeth. 40, 7. 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. 
 
 XXV 
 
 Balawan herje hlotene. A prey to that destructive host 
 
 [the worms]. [liappiness 
 
 Ne bith se hlisa adroren ^ Nor shall he be conversant with 
 
 ^r '^aet eadij je^ence"^ 
 He hine ^e ofcor swence'S, 
 
 Ere the blessed one [God] thinketh 
 That he hath sufficiently often 
 
 afflicted him [for the purpose 
 
 of purgatorial correction], 
 Byrje'^ him ^a bitran synne, And burieth for him his bitter sin, 
 Hoja'S to •^osre betran wynne. And exalteth to a better joy. 
 
 Gemon morSa lisse, 
 Her sinden miltsa blisse, 
 
 Remember [therefore] immor- 
 tality, 
 Where are merciful blessings. 
 
 Hyhtlice in heofona rice. 
 Uton nu haljum jelice 
 
 Full of hope in heaven's kingdom . * 
 Ah, may we be like the saints 
 
 Scyldum byscyrede, 
 Scyndum jenerede, 
 Wommum biwerede, 
 
 Dasr mon cyn mot 
 For meotude rot, 
 
 Washed from our sins, 
 Liberated from condemnation, 
 Protected from terror, 
 
 ****** 
 Where mankind shall 
 Before their Creator rejoicing. 
 
 So'Sne God jeseon. 
 And aa in sibbe jefean. 
 
 Behold the true God, 
 And evermore enjoy peace. 
 
 The Exeter MS. contains also some other instances of rime, not 
 indeed used through an entire poem (as in the preceding compo- 
 sition), but occasionally introduced. One of these instances occurs 
 
 ' I read this, " Ne bi^ se lissa adrohten," which restores the rime. 
 * A line is here lost. 
 
XXVI 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 in that part of the poem on the Phoenix printed in itaUcs in the 
 present work, p. 226. Another (here subjoined) is found in the 
 Hymn of which a short analysis is given, p. 215. 
 
 Da3t nu manna jehwylc 
 Cwic 'Senden her wana^ 
 jeCeosan mot 
 swa Helle Hier'^u 
 swa Heofones maer^u ; 
 swa Leohte Leoht 
 swa "Sam La^an niht ; 
 swa THrymmes THraece, 
 swa THrystra wrsece ; 
 
 swa mid Drihten Dream, 
 swa mid Deoflum hraem ; 
 swa Wite mid Wra'Sum, 
 swa "Wuldor mid arum; 
 swa Life swa dea'^ ; 
 swa him Leofe bi'S. 
 
 That now whosoever among men 
 
 here abideth in life 
 
 might choose 
 
 either hell fire 
 
 or heaven's joy ; 
 
 either the bright light 
 
 or loathsome night ; 
 
 either the majesty of glory, 
 
 or the punishment of audacious 
 
 crimes ; 
 either glory with the Lord, 
 or groaning with devils ; 
 either punishment with wrath, 
 or glory with honour ; 
 either life or death ; 
 as his will shall be. 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. xxvu 
 
 SECOND COMMUNICATION 
 
 ON 
 
 THE METRE OF ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 [^From Vol. xvii. of the Arch.^olggia.] 
 Read before the Ant. Soc, Dec. 9, 1813. 
 
 In the last communication, I endeavoured to prove that the 
 poetical compositions of the Anglo-Saxons were distinguished 
 from their prose by the continual use of a certain definite rhythm ; 
 and to investigate, as far as I was able, the metrical structure of 
 those venerable and interesting remains. 1 now proceed to add 
 such further remarks on their pecuhar characteristics as have been 
 suggested to me by an attentive though partial examination of the 
 principal works of this description, preserved either in print or in 
 manuscript. 
 
 With respect to the alUteration systematically adopted by all 
 the writers of Anglo-Saxon poetry, Uttle perhaps can be added to 
 the observations of the laborious Hickes. It may however be 
 briefly noticed, that our ancestors do not appear to have been 
 anxious to construct their alliterative systems with the intricacy or 
 variety said to be discoverable in those of the northern Scalds * ; 
 that they were more partial to the recurrence of consonants than 
 vowels ; and that they were usually studious of throwing the alli- 
 
 ^ This intricacy, however, is to be found only in Scaldic poetry of 
 more recent date than the close of the 9th century. The foniyrdalag, 
 or ancient metre, is entirely parallel to the Saxon versification in this 
 and every other respect, -t-Ed. 
 
xxviil INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 teration on the emphatic syllables. I do not recollect any instance 
 of an attempt to carry on the same alliteration through a consider- 
 able number of lines together. It seldom, I believe, extends be- 
 yond the distich ; and its constant recurrence within this definite 
 space would alone, I am convinced, have been sufficient to induce 
 Mr. Tyrwhitt, had he given more of his time and attention to the 
 subject, to regard it as an index of a systematic and uniform di- 
 vision of the sentence, to which nothing analogous could be dis- 
 covered in the prose compositions either of the Anglo-Saxons or 
 any other people. In those cases (and they are of extremely rare 
 occurrence) where no alliteration can be traced, we may fairly 
 conjecture that its absence is owing either to the carelessness of 
 the writer, or, which is yet more probable, to the license frequently 
 assumed by the transcribers of the middle ages, of substituting for 
 the original text such expressions as appeared to themselves more 
 poetical or more inteUigible. 
 
 But enough has, I trust, been offered upon this subject to clear 
 up, in some measure at least, the obscurity in which the haste and 
 inaccuracy of one whom, upon any other point of criticism, it 
 would be difficult to convict of either, had involved it. 
 
 The general history of Anglo-Saxon poetry, and the character- 
 istic features of its diction and composition, have been so ably 
 illustrated by the pen of Mr. Turner, as to leave but little to the 
 industry of his successors in that field of literature. 
 
 That gendeman has particularly noticed the constant accumula- 
 tion of equivalent, or nearly equivalent, words and phrases, which, 
 as it generally constitutes the chief and earliest ornament of the 
 poetry of rude and ilUterate nations, appears in that of our Saxon 
 ancestors to have supplied almost entirely the place of those higher 
 graces and resources of composition, which are the natural results 
 of a more advanced state of civil society, and a more extended 
 range of information. There is, however, one peculiarity of con- 
 struction occurring in the poetical remains of the Anglo-Saxons, 
 which, as far as my knowledge extends, has not been mentioned 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. xxix 
 
 by any preceding writer ; and which, nevertheless, is so generally 
 prevalent in them, as to preclude, I think, all supposition of its 
 being other than the effect of design. I mean an artificial arrange- 
 ment of the several phrases or clauses of which the sentence is con- 
 stituted, in a manner somewhat resembling that observed by Bishop 
 Lowth in the sacred poetry of the Hebrews, and termed by that 
 illustrious scholar Parallelism. 
 
 Of this the following examples will give, perhaps, a better notion 
 than any explanation. 
 
 Terra tremuit, 
 
 Etiam codi stillarunty 
 
 Propter Deum 
 
 Ipse Sinai, 
 
 Propter Deum, • / 
 
 Deum Israelis. 
 
 Eduxit populum suum cum gaudio, 
 Cumjubilo electos suos. 
 
 Quum exiret Israel ex JEgypto, 
 Familia Jacobi, a populo barbaro. 
 
 Qui convertit rupem in stagnum aquarum, 
 Saxum siliceum in font em aquarum *. 
 
 Many more examples may be found by referring to the PralL 
 liebb. of Lowth ; but in most, if not in all of them, there is a pa- 
 rallelism of the verb, as well as of the other parts of the sentence, 
 and the clauses are frequently connected by a conjunction ; cir- 
 cumstances seldom observable in the parallelism (if I may be so 
 allowed to term it) of the Anglo-Saxon writers. In the following 
 
 * Ps. Ixviii. 9 ; cv. 13 ; cxiv. 1, 3. I quote from the literal trans- 
 lation of Berlin. Upsal, 1805. 
 
XXX 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 specimens I have marked the corresponding lines with the same 
 letters. 
 
 ^) Da wass wuldres weard 
 Wolcnum bifenjun 
 
 ^) Heah enjla Cyninj 
 Ofer hrofas upp 
 
 *J Hahgra helm. 
 
 ^) Wile hi to eow 
 ^) Ealles waldend 
 ^) Cyninj on ceastre 
 ^) Cor^rene lytle 
 ^) Fyrn-weorca fruma 
 
 ^) Folc jelasdan 
 ^) In drasma draem. 
 
 Ibi erat glorm Dominus 
 Calls tremejttibus, (disruptis,) 
 Alius angeloTum Rex 
 Super fastigia elevatus 
 Sanctorum tutela. 
 
 Vult ille tanquam oves 
 Omnium Dominus 
 Rex in civitate (sua) 
 Coronam par v am 
 Antiquorum operum origo (crea- 
 
 tionis Auctor) 
 Gentenir ducere 
 In gaudiorum gaudium. 
 
 The foregoing are extracted from the Exeter MS. The poems 
 attributed to Caedmon afford innumerable instances of the same 
 figure. 
 
 One paragraph in his description of the Deluge may be rendered 
 line for line, and almost word for word, thus : 
 
 '^) Bethought him then, our God 
 
 ^) Of him that ploughed the wave, 
 
 ^) The gracious Lord of Hosts 
 
 ^) Of Lamech's pious son, 
 
 ^) And of each living soul 
 
 ^ ) He saved amid the floods, 
 
 ^) All glorious fount of life, 
 
 ^) High o'er the deep abyss. 
 
 A somewhat similar species of apposition may occasionally, 
 though I believe very rarely, be observed in the lyric poetry of the 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. xxxi 
 
 Greeks. There is a slight trace of it in a magnificent passage of 
 the tenth Olympic of Pindar : 
 
 "I^e nATPI'AA nOAYKTE'ANON 
 
 'Ytto ffrepe^ Trvpl, TrXayals re aidapov 
 
 Badiiv els oxerbv aras 'l^oiaav 'EA'N IIG'AIN. 
 
 In our own language, the Paradise Regained offers one passage 
 of a like construction : 
 
 Where God is praised aright, and godlike men. 
 The hohest of holies and his saints. 
 
 In the very few instances in which this figure is to be found in 
 classical or in English poetry, it may perhaps be fairly regarded 
 (so far as the term is applicable to any thing connected with 
 studied composition) as accidental. In the Saxon, on the other 
 hand, it is too uniformly adopted, and carried to far too great an 
 extent to be attributed to mere chance. Whether it constituted a 
 part of their original poetical mechanism, or whether it was 
 adopted, with some little modification, fiom the style of those sa- 
 cred poems in which it forms so prominent a feature, is a question 
 to which it would perhaps be difficult to give even a plausible 
 answer. As far as my own observation has gone, it appears to 
 be most frequently used in those poems the subjects of which are 
 drawn from scripture. It might also perhaps be questioned by 
 some whether the rhythmical system itself, Avhich it has been the 
 object of these communications to illustrate, was originally the 
 property of our northern ancestors, or whether it w^as constructed 
 by them (after their conversion to Christianity, and consequent 
 acquaintance with the general literature of the age) in imitation of 
 the shorter trochaic and dactylic metres of the later classical and 
 ecclesiastical poets ; the authors most likely to have furnished the 
 writers upon moral and religious topics with their favourite models. 
 The resemblance between these and the Anglo-Saxon poems in 
 
xxxii INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 point of rhythm is certainly very considerable ; but there is yet 
 little reason to suppose it the effect of imitation. The same metri- 
 cal system is certainly to be traced through the whole of that sin- 
 gular poem, the Voluspa, which, if we can rely upon the authority 
 of the northern editors of their own national poetry, is the earliest 
 composition extant in the Icelandic, and was written before the 
 conversion of that people to Christianity, and consequently while 
 they were yet ignorant of the models above alluded to '. 
 
 These poems, too, being probably in most cases composed for 
 the instruction and use of unlettered persons, their authors would 
 hardly have gone out of their way to choose a metre to which the 
 individuals whom they chiefly expected to reap the benefit of their 
 pious labours were unaccustomed. 
 
 However this may be with respect to the metre, the systematic 
 use of aUiteration is a practice entirely of northern or (as it also 
 was used by the Welch) of Celtic origin ^. The instances of its 
 occurrence, collected by Hickes firom writers of classical antiquity, 
 show by their scantiness that it never could have formed any part 
 of the systematic prosody either of the Greeks or Latins. Whether 
 it is to be found in that of any other country, I am ignorant ^. If 
 the Normans brought it with them into France, they lost it (to- 
 gether with their original language) at a very early period. In 
 this country, though generally superseded by the use of rime, it 
 continued occasionally to show itself, even sometimes in company 
 with that intruder, at least till the period of the revival of Ictteirs. 
 
 ' The analogy, or rather the identity, of the Anglo-Saxon metre, 
 and the fornyrdalag, or most ancient system of the Icelandic Scalds, 
 forms the subject of a subsequent article in this Introduction. — Ed. 
 
 * An analysis of the Celtic metrical systems will be found in a subse- 
 quent part of this Introduction. — Ed. 
 
 ^ It is affirmed in the Hodegus Finnicus, a. Grammar of that language 
 by Martinius, that the Finlanders have an alliterative metre. They 
 may possibly have adopted it from their Gothic neighbours. 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE, 
 
 XXXlll 
 
 I have subjoined as a specimen, which may somewhat further 
 contribute to illustrate this subject, the description of the Deluge 
 from Ciedmon, in which I have adopted the following marks : 
 
 The antique letters mark the alliterative consonants or vowels, 
 as Fus. 
 
 I marks the supposed division of feet, as Si'S^aUy. 
 
 marks a syllable supposed in recitation to have been rendered 
 (by the emphasis) equivalent to two, as Tir. 
 
 -f marks a line, the rhythm of which appears doubtful, as 
 + Wraecon arleasra feorh. 
 
 Drihten^ sende 
 Rejn from^ Roderum, 
 and eac^ Rume let 
 Wille^ burnan 
 on Woruld, ^rinjan 
 of^ iEdra je^hwaere. 
 Ejor^ streamas 
 Swearte^ Swojan. 
 Saes upyStijon 
 ofer^ STea^ weallas. 
 STranj waes and^ re^e 
 se '^e, Waetrum^ Weold ; 
 Wreah and^ "Seahte 
 MaUyfaeh'Su^ beam. 
 Middan^ jeardes 
 Wonnan^ "Waeje 
 "Wera^ ae^el-land 
 Hofy Herjode. 
 Hyje^ teonan^ wraec 
 Metod ony Monnum. 
 MerCy swi^Cy jrap 
 on^ FsejCy Pole. 
 
 Deus misit 
 pluviam a calo, 
 et etiam lat^ dedit 
 fontes scaturientes 
 in or hem irruere 
 e vend omni. 
 Oceanijiuctus 
 nigri resonabant. 
 Maria ascendebant 
 super riparum mania. 
 Fortis erat et acer 
 qui aquis imperavit; 
 tegebat et obruebat 
 iniquitatisjilios. 
 Mediam terrarn 
 luridus fluctus 
 hominum patriam 
 elevatam vastavit, 
 Animi iniquitatem ulciscehatur 
 Creator in homines. 
 Mare furens corripuit 
 languentem populum. 
 
xxxiv 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 Feovvertijy daja, 
 Nihta^ o^er swilc, 
 Ni^^ waesy rcSe, 
 "WasU-jrim, Werum. 
 Wuldor^ cyninjesy y^a 
 + wrascon^ arleasra^ feorh * 
 of FliaesCy homan. 
 FLod ealle wreah 
 Hreoh under^ Heofonum 
 Hea^ beorjas 
 jeondy Sidne jrund, 
 and OHy Sund ahof 
 Earce frorriy Eor^an 
 and ^a^ iE^elOy mid. 
 Day Sejnade 
 Selfsy Drihten^ 
 SCyppendy usser^ 
 "Sa he -Ssety SCip beleac. 
 Si^^an^ Wide rad 
 Wolcnuniy under 
 ofer^ Holmes Hrincj 
 Hoty seleste. 
 For midy Fearme. 
 Fcere ne^ moston 
 Wgejy li^endum 
 Waetresy brojan. 
 Heeste^ Hrinon 
 ac hicy Halijy God 
 
 Quadraginta dies, 
 nodes dmul totidem, 
 irafuit gravis, 
 strageferox in vivos, 
 Gloria regis unda 
 ulsciscebatur impiorum mentem 
 came vestitorum [i. e. hominum.^ 
 Fluctus omnes tegebat 
 asper sub calo 
 altos monies 
 per latam terram, 
 et super undam levabat 
 arcam a terra 
 et habitatores simul. 
 Hoc illijusserat 
 ipse Dominus 
 Creator noster 
 
 lit earn naveni circumcluderet. 
 Tunc lath prqfecta est 
 sub calo 
 
 super oceani circuitum 
 domus be at a, 
 Ibat cum habit at oribus, 
 Timere non debebant 
 undam natigantes 
 aqua violentiam. 
 JEstum tetigerunt, 
 sed eos sanctus Deus 
 
 We should probably read 
 
 IT^a, wrsecon 
 Ai'leasra feorh 
 
 which perfectly restores the metre, 
 been misplaced in the MS. — Ed. 
 
 The metrical points seem to have 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. 
 
 XXXV 
 
 Perede and^ nerede. 
 Fiftenay stod 
 Deop ofer^ Dunum 
 sce^ Drence flod^ 
 Monnesy elna. 
 Dset isy Maero wyrd^. 
 Dam aety Niehstan 
 wo3Sy Nan to je^dale 
 + nym'^e heo waes - 
 + abafen on 
 + ^a hean lyft.* 
 Da se^ Ejor-here 
 Eor'Sany tuddor 
 EAll a^cwealde: 
 buton "Saety EArcebord 
 heoldy heofona^ frea. 
 
 p.31. 
 
 ducehat et servabat. 
 
 Qumdecim stabat 
 
 alta super monies 
 
 maris unda 
 
 hominum cubitus. 
 
 Ille est casus memorabilis, 
 
 Illos prope 
 
 erat nemo, in soUtudine 
 
 prater Eum qui erat 
 
 elatus in 
 
 alto calo (sc. Deum). 
 
 Tunc aquarum agmen 
 
 terra progeniem 
 
 omnem ohruit : 
 
 sed earn arcam 
 
 sustinuit call Dominus, 
 
 * In the printed copy these three lines are thus divided by the usual 
 punctuation. I have not at present the opportunity of consulting the 
 MS. but should conjecture that the following was their original ar- 
 
 Nym^e Heo^ waes a^Hafen 
 on ^a^ Hean lyft. 
 
 c 2 
 
XXXVi INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 ADDENDA, 
 
 BY THE EDITOR. 
 
 RECAPITULATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 GENERAL LAWS OF ANGLO-SAXON METRE. 
 
 1 HE detailed analysis into which the Author of the preceding 
 pages has there entered appears to estabhsh on the firmest evidence 
 the following canons as the genuine metrical laws of the Anglo- 
 Saxon poets : 
 
 L The rhythm is invariably trochaic or dactyhc; emphasis, 
 however, holding the place of quantity. 
 
 IL Each hne usually consists of two feet*, admitting (by a 
 
 * Some discussion has taken place on the continent whether these 
 short metrical systems should he regarded as entire lines, or hemistichs 
 only ; the remaining half of the alliterative couplet being included, in 
 order to complete the full line : i. e. whether we ought to arrange the 
 following lines thus : 
 
 Fsege Peollon 
 Peld dynode 
 Secja Swate 
 Si^^an Sunne up 
 on Morten tid 
 Maere tuncjol 
 
 Glad 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. xxxvil 
 
 license familiar to many languages) the occasional introduc- 
 tion of a redundant syllable at the beginning or end of the 
 line. Instances of the deficiency of a syllable (the line in that 
 case containing only three syllables) are also sometimes, though 
 very rarely, found. 
 
 III. Lines of three feet, and in some very rare instances even 
 of four feet, are occasionally intermixed with those of the 
 regular and shorter metre. 
 
 IV. The lines are associated together in couplets by the allitera- 
 tion : when most perfect, this system contains three recur- 
 rences of the same initial letter — two in the former, the third 
 in the latter, line of the couplet. Two such recurrences (one 
 in each line) are, however, held sufficient. If the alliteral 
 
 or thus 
 
 Glad ofer Grundas 
 Godes candel beorht 
 » Bees Drihtnes 
 
 O^^aet sio AE^ele jesceaft 
 Sah to Setle. 
 
 Faeje feoUon . feld dynode 
 
 Secja swate . si^an sunne up 
 
 On morjen tid . maere tuncjol 
 
 Glad ofer jrundas . Godes candel beorht 
 
 Eces Drihtnes . o^^aet seo aB^ele jesceaft 
 
 sah to setle. 
 
 To me the whole question appears to belong to the typographer 
 rather than the critic : whichever mode be adopted, the internal struc- 
 ture of the verse is altogether unaffected; and our decision may be 
 safely regulated by the convenience of the press. So far as use and 
 authority are concerned, however, these are clearly in favour of the 
 division into shorter lines : but it must be allowed that the second 
 method would have the advantage of rendering the alliteration more 
 prominent, and illustrating the identity of the Saxon metre and that of 
 Piers Plowman, which is always thus printed. 
 
xxxviii INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 initials are consonants, absolute identity is required ; but if 
 vowels, every other vowel is regarded as equivalent ^ The 
 alUteration must always fall on the accented syllables ; and 
 the most perfect disposition appears to be when the last re- 
 currence of the similar initial commences the first foot of the 
 second Hne ^. 
 
 V. The pauses are always at the end of lines ; but frequently 
 carried beyond the couplet, falling on the close of the first line 
 of the succeeding couplet : thus the monotony which would 
 prevail if the pause generally coincided with the close of the 
 aUiteral system is avoided. 
 
 VI. Terminal rimes are occasionally introduced in some com- 
 positions apparently of a later date, and referable to the Dano- 
 Saxon period : these are frequently double. 
 
 * The intermixture of the less perfect alliteration of vowels, the 
 frequent use of two instead of three aUiteral sounds, and the shifting 
 the place of the last, are absolutely necessary to relieve the monotonous 
 effect of this system. 
 
 2 In the kindred metre of the Scandinavian Scalds, the aUiteral word 
 of the second line is called Hofutstafur, or Cardinal, -being that which 
 governs the others ; and these are termed StudlaVy or Auxiliaries. 
 
ON ANGtO-SAXON METRE. xxxix 
 
 COMPARATIVE VIEW 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ICELANDIC AND ANCIENT TEUTONIC METRES. 
 
 The history of Anglo-Saxon poetry may derive still further il- 
 lustration from a critical inquiry into the metrical systems of the 
 kindred Gothic tribes ; for we shall find that the peculiar mode of 
 versification which has been already analysed was by no means 
 confined to one single dialect of the widely extended parent lan- 
 guage spoken by the swarms of the northern hive; but, if not 
 originally coextensive with that mighty tongue in all its ramifi- 
 cations, at least aflforded the earliest vehicle of poetry in the Scan- 
 dinavian and Teutonic as well as in the Anglo-Saxon branch. 
 This circumstance claims our attention under a double point of 
 view, as at once establishing the high antiquity of the system itself, 
 and removing the possibility of doubt with regard to its precise 
 nature. 
 
 In the first place, the common possession of this system by these 
 kindred continental nations at once carries its date backwards at 
 least to the middle of the fifth century, the period when our Saxon 
 and Anglic ancestors emigrated from their seats on the Elbe, since 
 it must have originated while the intercourse of neighbourhood 
 favoured its diffusion, and while these several tribes were as yet- 
 held together as the famihes of a common race. No historical cir- 
 cumstances of a later age than the date assigned can with any show 
 of probability be alleged as affording a solution of the fact stated : 
 for altliough much subsequent intercourse did indeed take place be- 
 tween the Saxons and their Danish invaders, yet most assuredly we 
 cannot suppose it to have been of a nature at all likely to exert any 
 literary influence previously to the establishment of the dynasty of 
 
xl INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 Canute ; but we find the Saxons in full possession of this metrical 
 system not only antecedently to that period, but even in the age of 
 Bede(735) and of Ccedmon (the latter half of the seventh century), 
 long before the first keels of the Scandinavian Vikingr^ had swept 
 our coasts with the storm of their predatory warfare. 
 
 The identity of the metrical system employed by the " Scald" of , 
 Scandinavia and the Anglo-Saxon " Scop," besides affording this 
 attestation to its antiquity, enables us to ascertain the genuine 
 laws of that system with the utmost exactitude ; since it continued 
 in common and vernacular use among the poets of the north in the 
 age of Snorro % the great compiler of the canons of their prosody 
 as well as their mythological traditions, in whose Hattalyklij or 
 Key of Metres (drawn up about 1230), the rules by which it was 
 regulated are recorded with the same minute precision with which 
 we should find the measures of Pindar or Horace illustrated by the 
 grammarians of Greece or Rome. 
 
 From these sources, as well as from the examination of the very 
 
 ^ The earliest appearance of Danish pirates on the English coast did 
 iibt take place till 780 ; nor were there any instances of their corning 
 in considerable force before 832, or of their even remaining to take up 
 winter quarters in the island till 854. It is absolutely impossible to 
 suppose any freedom of intercourse between them and the natives till 
 Alfred allow^ed the remnant of their invading hordes to colonize East 
 Anglia in 878 : nor is it likely they could have materially influenced 
 our language or literature till the epoch of their ascendancy in the be- 
 ginning of the eleventh century. 
 
 ^ It cannot indeed be properly said to have become extinct in Ice- 
 land even at the present day, although generally superseded by stanzas 
 of more modern form, since a poet yet living has translated the Para- 
 dise Lost into this ancient measure : nor is it the least interesting feature 
 in its history that it should have survived so many revolutions, and that 
 the rude adventures of the gods of Asgard should have been sung by 
 the ancient Scalds of Scandinavia to the same measure which has thus 
 been made the medimn of conveying to their descendants the lofty 
 strain and awful truths of the Miltonic poem. 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. xH 
 
 copious remains of Scald ic poetry yet extant, we learn that, besides 
 those complicated metrical systems which the perverse ingenuity 
 of the Scalds of the eleventh century delighted to multiply and 
 diversify to an extent almost endless (with equal injury, if modern 
 ears and judgement may pronounce, to the harmony of their verse 
 and freedom of their composition), their prosody always contained 
 a metre of much more simple and natural construction, whose 
 superior antiquity was attested by the name fornyrdalag, *' the 
 ancient lay," its specific distinction. 
 
 The fornyrdalag consists of short verses (generally dipodial, 
 trochaics, or adoniacs^), in measure, cadence, and alliteration, com- 
 pletely parallel to those of the Anglo-Saxon poetical remains ; so , 
 that the rules known to have prevailed in the one may without fear 
 of mistake be applied to the illustration of the other. 
 
 In this measure the whole of the Edda, and the poetry quoted by 
 Snorro Sturleson in the Ynglinga Saga or History of the Ynglingi, 
 the earliest dynasty of Norwegian kings, is composed. The first 
 traces of the more intricate combinations of assonances do not 
 appear till the reign of Harold Harfager (^885), in which we find 
 them first used by a Scald named Thorbiorn Hornkloffe. 
 
 A single example will be sufficient to evince this identity of 
 metrical system : it is indeed so strikingly obvious that it cannot 
 fail to manifest itself at once to every eye and ear accustomed to 
 or qualified for such investigations. The poem I have selected for 
 the purposes of this comparison is the Gudrunar Qiiiday one of the 
 most interesting contained in the Eddaic eollection. It may be 
 necessary, in order to explain its subject, to premise that it relates 
 to the sorrow of Gudrun for the death of her husband Sigurd, 
 treacherously murdered by her brother Gunnar. This story bore 
 to the cyclus of early northern poetry the same relations which the 
 
 ' On a careful examination of the Edda I find that about two-thirds 
 of the poems contained in it consist exclusively of these shorter lines 
 of two feet ; in the remainder, lines of three feet are occasionally inter- 
 mixed, and in some few instances predominate. 
 
xlii INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 crimes and suffering of the houses of Laius and Atreus did to that 
 of the Greeks, and has been rendered familiar to the Enghsh reader 
 interested in this department of hterature by the elegant abstracts 
 given in Weber's Teutonic and Scandinavian Romances. 
 
 The tone of feeling exhibited in the following extract may re- 
 mind the classical reader of a phrase of expressive brevity, fj^el^co r) 
 KixToc Saxgya, in which Thucydides describes the sufferings of his 
 countrymen before Syracuse : the language of nature and passion 
 is the same in the philosophic historian of Athens and the untaught 
 Scald of Scandinavia. 
 
 In order to illustrate the close affinity of the Icelandic and Anglo- 
 Saxon, I have inserted a literal translation in the latter language ; 
 or, I may rather say, an edition of the same poem in that dialect ; 
 for the difference, for the most part, consists only in the variation 
 of speUing. The version thus formed retains the alliteration, and so 
 far as a modern ear can judge, the rhythm of a genuine Saxon poem. 
 
 Original Icelandic, Saxon version. 
 
 Ar var "Sat Gudrun ^R 'Sam ^e Gudrun 
 
 Gordiz at deyia Gearwode dydan 
 
 er hon Sorj-fuU Sat "Sa heo Sorjfulle Saet 
 
 yfir Sijur-Si ; ofer Sijurde ; 
 
 jer'Sit Hon Hiufra, ne jearcode Heo Heofinj, 
 
 ne Hondom sla, ne Hondum sloh, 
 
 ne Queina um ne ymb Cwanode 
 
 sem Konor a^rar. swa same Cwenas o'Sre. 
 
 English version. 
 It was ere that Gudrun 
 Prepared to die 
 When she sorrowful sat 
 Over Sigurd's [corpse;] 
 She made not showers [of tears]. 
 Nor smote she with her hands, 
 Nor moaned she for him 
 The same as other women. 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. 
 
 xliii 
 
 Original Icelandic, 
 Genjo larlar, 
 Al-snotrir fram, 
 "Seir er Hardz Hujar 
 Hana lautto ; 
 "Seyp Gudrun 
 Grata matti, 
 sva var hun Mo^uj, 
 Mundi hon sprinja. 
 
 Saxon version. 
 EOdon ^a EOrlas, 
 EAl-snottera fruma, 
 •Sa -Se of Heard-Hyje 
 Hi lasttan woldon ; 
 swa "Seah Gudrun 
 Graetan ne mihte, 
 swa waes heo Modije, 
 swa Mihte heo to sprinjan, 
 
 English version. 
 There came earls, 
 The chief of the wisest. 
 Who from her hard state of mind 
 Would have dissuaded [let] her; 
 Nor yet Gudrun 
 Might weep, 
 So anguished was she. 
 
 She was nigh to burst. 
 
 Original Icelandic. 
 Sato Itrar 
 larla bru'^ir, 
 Gulli bunar, 
 fur Gudruno ; 
 hver Sajdi -Seirra 
 Sinn of-treja, 
 "Sann er Bitrastan 
 of Bedit hafdi. 
 
 Saxon version, f 
 Saston Idesa ^ 
 Eorla brydas, 
 Golde bundene, 
 fore Gudrune ; 
 aejhwa Sagcjde ^asrra 
 Sine of-treje, 
 -Saene "Se Bittrestan 
 Bidod haefdon. 
 
 English version. 
 There sat illustrious 
 Brides [widows] of earls, 
 
 * The Saxon having no term of the same etymology and force with 
 the Icelandic 'itrar,' I have been obhg^ed to substitute {metri causa) 
 * idesa,' women. 
 
xliv 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 Boon [adorned] with gold, 
 
 Before Gudrun; 
 
 Each of them said [recounted] 
 
 Her own affliction. 
 
 The bitterest that 
 
 She had abode. 
 
 One relates the loss of several successive husbands, and of all 
 her children and brethren ; another had experienced, in addition 
 to similar privations, the miseries of slavery. 
 
 Original Icelandic. 
 Deyji Gudrun 
 Grata matti, ^ 
 
 sva var hon Mo^uj 
 at Mauj dau'San, 
 ok Har^-Hujg-S 
 um Hraer fylkis. 
 
 Saxon version. 
 Swa 'Seah Gudrun 
 Graetan ne mihte, 
 swa waes heo Modije 
 set Maja dea^e, 
 eac Heard Hycgiende 
 ymb Hrasw folc-frean. 
 
 English version. 
 Nor yet Gudrun 
 Might weep, 
 So anguished was she 
 For her husband's death. 
 And so hard of mind 
 Over the corpse of her lord. 
 
 Original Icelandic. 
 
 Da qua^ ^at Gulhond, 
 
 Giuka dottir, 
 *' Pa kantu, Fostra, 
 
 ^ott "Su Fro^ ser, 
 
 Unjo vifi 
 • AnnspioU bera." 
 
 Vara^i Hon at Hylia 
 
 um Hragr fylkis. 
 
 Saxon version. 
 Da cw£e^ ^aet Gulrond, 
 Giukan dohtor, 
 ■* Fea canst ^u, Foster, 
 •^eah 'Su Frode sy, 
 lunjre wife 
 Anspell beran." 
 Weardode Heo of Helan 
 Hraew folc-frean. 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. xlv 
 
 English version. 
 Then quoth Gulrand, 
 Giuka's daughter, 
 '* Few [things] kenn'st thou, my fostress, 
 Though thou art prudent. 
 To a young wife [widow] 
 Counsel to bear." 
 
 [Then] was she ware no longer to conceal 
 The corpse of the chief. 
 
 Original Icelandic. Saxon version. 
 
 Svipti hon blaeio Swipte heo "Sa Sceatas * 
 
 af Sijur-Si, of Sijurde, 
 
 ok Vatt Vengi "Wand eac Waenjas 
 
 fur Vifs kniam : fore "Wifes cneowum : 
 
 " liittu a Iiiufan, " Wlita ^u on Leofan, 
 
 Le^u munn vi'S jrou, Lecja ^u mu^ to mu^e ^ 
 
 sem -Su Halsa^ir swa "Su ymb Halsije jyt 
 
 Heilan stiUi." Halan stille." 
 
 English version. 
 She swept the pall 
 Off Sigurd, 
 And turned his cheeks 
 Before his wife's knees : 
 " Look thou on thy love. 
 Lay thou thy mouth to his lips, 
 As though thou didst embrace him 
 Still alive." 
 
 * From the deficiency of a Saxon form of the Icelandic ' blaeio.' this 
 word is here substituted. 
 
 ® The Saxon has no form of the Icelandic 'jron.' 
 
xlvi 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 Original Icelandic, 
 Aleit Gudrun 
 Eino sinni ; 
 
 sa hon Daujlinjs skaur 
 Dreyra runna, 
 Pranar sionir 
 Fylkis li^nar, 
 Huj-borj jbfurs 
 Hiorvi skorna. 
 
 English version. 
 Gudrun looked on 
 One moment; 
 She saw her warrior's hair 
 Running with gore, 
 The [once] shining eyes 
 Of her lord extinct, 
 
 The breast [the fortress of the soul] of the chief 
 Pierced with the sword. 
 
 Saxon version, 
 Onwlat Gudrun 
 -ffine si^e ; 
 
 jeseah heo Deorlinjes ^ hasr 
 Dreore yrnende, 
 Preomne ansyn 
 Folc-frean jehlidenne, 
 Hije-beorj ^ Heretojan 
 ecjum to Heawenne. 
 
 Original Icelandic. 
 Da Hne Gudrun, 
 Haull vi^ bolstri, 
 Haddr losna^Si, 
 Hlyr ro^na^i, 
 en Rejns dropi 
 Rann ni^r um kne. 
 
 Saxon 'Version. 
 Da Hnah Gudrun, 
 Holen wi^ bolstras, 
 Heafod-beah lysnade, 
 Hleor read ode. 
 And rsejnas dropan 
 ni^er Arn ymb cneowa. 
 
 ^ Substituted for * daugling/ there being no Saxon derivative of the 
 latter. 
 
 ^ The original is here obscure, as it contains several dira,^ Xsyoi^Bva,. 
 I have employed in the Saxon translation terms at least of similar ap- 
 pearance, which will express " the bold glance of the chief closed [in 
 death]." 
 
 ^ The compound * Hije-beorj ' is quoted consonant to the rules of 
 Saxon analogy. The remaining words of this distich are equivalent in 
 sense, though not in etymology, to the Icelandic. 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. xlvii 
 
 English version. 
 Then Gudrun bowed down, 
 Concealing herself amongst the cushions. 
 Her head-gear loosened, 
 Her cheek reddened. 
 And the rain-drops [tears] 
 Ran beneath to her knee. 
 
 Since poetry can alone reflect with any degree of truth the 
 images of poetry, the Editor has ventured to subjoin a metrical 
 imitation, though conscious of having exhibited a very feeble copy 
 of a very spirited original. 
 
 By her Sigurd's blood-stained bier ^ 
 
 As, with equal death opprest, 
 Gudrun sat; she shed no tear. 
 
 Her hand she smote not on her breast : 
 Word, nor sign, nor act, might show 
 The wonted course of woman's woe. 
 
 Sages came, the wisest they. 
 
 But vain the aids from art they borrow : 
 
 Can rhetoric soothe, or reason sw^ay, 
 That stern mood of deepest sorrow, 
 
 When the heart to bursting swells, 
 
 Yet no tear its anguish tells ? 
 
 Round her pressed a widowed train, 
 
 Sisters they in grief united, 
 Calling back long scenes of pain, ' 
 
 Each her own sad tale recited : 
 Vainly thus to wake they try 
 The soothing power of sympathy. 
 
dviii INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 Vainly : for her anguish'd mind, 
 Stunn'd beneath that sudden blow, 
 
 Hardens, to itself confined, 
 Nor opens to another's woe. 
 
 Hard and cold was Gudrun's soul. 
 
 Nor sigh would rise, nor tear would roll. 
 
 Last did youthful Gulrand speak — 
 ''Matrons, though in wisdom old. 
 
 Here, I ween, your skill is weak; 
 Age's counsels, all too cold, 
 
 Cannot reach the widow'd heart. 
 
 When youths' strong loves are rent apart.' 
 
 With hurrying hand from Sigurd's bier 
 Swept she then the pall away : 
 
 " On him thy love look, Gudrun dear. 
 To his cold lip thy warm lip lay. 
 
 And round him, as they still could hold 
 
 Thy living lord, thine arms enfold." 
 
 Gudrun turn'd — one hurried glance 
 On that much loved form she threw — 
 
 A moment view'd^ where murder's lance 
 Had pierced the breast to her so true ; 
 
 Saw stiff with blood those locks of gold. 
 
 And quench'd that eye so bright, so bold. 
 
 She saw, and sank, and low reclined. 
 Hid in the couch her throbbing head. 
 
 Her loose veil floated unconfined. 
 
 Her burning cheek was crimson'd red : 
 
 Then, her bursting heart's relief. 
 
 Copious fell the shower of grief. 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. xlix 
 
 With reference to the more complicated and later species of 
 Scandinavian metres (introduced at the close of the ninth centur}^), 
 it is not necessary to enter here into any length of detail, as they 
 have no direct connexion with the Saxon systems. Their essen- 
 tial character consists in their containing, besides the aliiteral letters, 
 two assonant syllables in each hne, diifering from terminal rime in 
 the circumstance that the assonance was often placed on the 
 penultima instead of being restricted to the last syllable; the 
 corresponding sound occurring in the first hemistich, whence this 
 system has been denominated hemistichial rime. One example 
 of this arrangement may serve instar omnium. In that annexed, 
 'idn' and 'rodna' in the first hne are assonant; 'verpr' and 
 ' snerpir ' in the second ; ' ^ajn ' and * eijnaz ' in the third ; 
 'hitnar' and *witnir' in the fourth. Two species of this asso- 
 nance were reckoned : — the more perfect, when both consonants 
 and vow^els corresponded ; this was always employed in the second 
 line of each couplet, and was named adalhendingy noble and full 
 rime: — and the less perfect, when the consonants only correspond- 
 ed, employed in the first line, called skothending or snidhendingy 
 imperfect or half rime. Of these intricate systems, more than 300 
 species (differing principally in the collocation of the assonant syl- 
 lables) have been reckoned ; but the following is the most usual 
 form : it is called Drotqucedi, proper — with hemistichial rime. 
 
 Vex idn, Vellir rodna, 
 "Verpr lind, "Sri mo snerpir, 
 Fasz gagn, Fylkir eignaz, 
 Fair hitnar, sedz witnir, 
 SKekr rond, SKildir hendaz, 
 SKelfr askr jridom raskar, 
 'BKandr gellr, BRynior simdrazy 
 BRaka spidr, litaz orfar. 
 (Extracts from Snorro's Hattali/kli, published by Johnstone, p. 34.) 
 
 d 
 
I INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 The strife begins, fields redden, 
 Javelins are hurled, the din increases, 
 Ground is gained, the monarch conquers, 
 The blade grows warm, wolves are sated, 
 Bosses ring, shields are bent, 
 The hero foe to peace pants with ardour, 
 The sword clashes, mails are cleft, 
 Spears thunder, shafts are stained. 
 
 Regular final rime was also occasionally employed. Of this an 
 example has been already inserted in this work (p. xvii.), for the 
 purpose of comparison with a Dano-Saxon riming poem of a simi- 
 lar structure. 
 
 EARLY USE OF THE ALLITERATIVE METRE IN OTHER 
 TEUTONIC DIALECTS. 
 
 As we have already seen that the tribes seated on the mouth of 
 the Elbe and those of Scandinavia were in the common possession 
 of the same metrical system (the Fornyrdalag of Scaldic prosody) 
 at least as early as the fifth century, we might infer with a high 
 degree of probability that the species of verse thus proved to have 
 been so extensively difiused prevailed likewise in the other cognate 
 dialects : nor although riming stanzas obtained in these an early *, 
 decided, and exclusive preference, are we left altogether without 
 monuments establishing this inference by direct proof, so far at 
 least as regards the dialects of central Germany. The most inter- 
 esting of these are- — 1. The Weissenbrun Hjmn ; 2. The Frag- 
 ment of the Romance of Hildebrand; 3. The Metrical Harmony 
 of the Four Gospels. 
 
 ^ The paraphrase of the gospel, written in the Eastern Francic dialect by 
 Otfrid in 850, is entirely composed in rime, without any trace of alliteration. 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. li 
 
 1. THE WEISSENBRUN HYMN 
 Is so called from its discovery in a MS. belonging to the convent 
 of that place in Franconia, supposed to be of the eighth century. 
 It has been published by the Grimms, 1812, and by Gley, Langue 
 et Literature des Anciens Francs, 8vo. 1814, p. 155. From its 
 brevity it may be here extracted entire. I have, as in the preceding 
 specimen of the Icelandic fornyrdalag, annexed an Anglo-Saxon 
 version, in order to illustrate still further the close affinity of that 
 language with the kindred dialects of the continent : even the alli- 
 teration and metrical structure is preserved in this version, and the 
 difference between it and the original amounts to little more than 
 a slight variation in the spelling. 
 
 The dialect appears to be of intermediate character between 
 those used in the higher and lower parts of Germany. 
 
 Original Teutonic, /Jnglo-Saxon version, 
 
 DATchiPrejin ih mitPirahim, DiET jePraejen ic nrid Pirum, 
 Piriwizzo meista, Porwisra maestum, 
 
 dat Ero ni was "Saet Erra ne wass 
 
 noh Ufhimil, nan Upheofon, 
 
 noh Paum noh Pereg, nan * Beam nan Beorj, 
 
 . . . . ni was, * . . . ne waes, 
 
 ni [STerro] noh heinij, ne STeorra naenije, 
 
 noh Sunna ni Scein, nan Sunna ne Scan, 
 
 English version. 
 
 This I have heard from men. 
 
 The chief of the elder sages, 
 
 That originally there existed 
 
 No heaven above. 
 
 No tree nor mountain, 
 
 Nor was there .... 
 
 Nor any star, 
 
 No sun shone forth, 
 
 * The metrical arrangement seems to prove that some words have been 
 omitted by the scribe in this distich. 
 
 d 2 
 
lii INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 Original Teutonic, Anglo-Saxon version. 
 
 noh Mano ni liuhta, nan Mona ne leohtode, 
 
 noh der Mareo seo : ne se Maere seo : 
 
 do dar niWiht ni Was "Sonne "Saer noWiht ne Waes 
 
 enteo ni Wenteo, * ende ne "Wende, 
 
 enti do was der Eino and ^onne wags se Ana 
 
 Almahtico Cot, ^Imihtij God, 
 
 Manno Miltisto, Mannan Mildost, 
 t enti [dar warun auh] Manahe f and [^ ^aer waeron eac] manije 
 
 mit inan mid him 
 
 Cootlihhe Geista. Godcundlice Castas. 
 
 [Enti] Cot heilac s [Eala] Cod hali^ 
 
 Cot Almahtico, du himil God ^Imihtija, "Sii heofon 
 
 English version. 
 Nor did the moon give her hght, 
 V Neither the vast sea [existed] : 
 
 Then was there nought 
 From end to end [of the universe] ; 
 But then existed the one 
 Almighty God, 
 Most merciful to man, 
 And with him were also many 
 God-like spirits. 
 Holy God 
 Almighty, the heaven 
 
 * * Ende ne wende.' I am not aware that any authorities occur for the 
 use of this phrase in the A.S. dialect; but as both the constituent M'ords are 
 Saxon, and the phrase itself analogous to many Saxon idioms, it may properly 
 be retained. 
 
 '^ The metre seems to require that the words included between brackets 
 should be omitted, and they are unnecessary to the sense : the poetical dic- 
 tion is certainly better without them. 
 
 ' If it be allowable to consider the conjunction in this line as an error of 
 the transcriber for an interjection, the sense will be rendered more consistent 
 by annexing this line to the following address. 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. liii 
 
 Original Teutonic. Anglo-Saxon version. 
 
 enti Erda chiworahtos, and Eor^an jewrohtest, 
 
 enti du Mannun and -Su Mannum 
 
 so Manac coot forchipi ; swa Manije gode forscipest ; 
 
 forGip mir in dino Canada forGif me in -Sinne * Gemiltsunj 
 
 rehta Galaupa rihte Geleafan 
 
 enti cotan Willeon, and jode "Willan, 
 
 "Wistom enti spahida. Wisdom and spede «, 
 
 [enti] craft tiuflun za Widar- ^ deofol-craeft to Witherstan- 
 
 stantanne, danne, 
 
 enti arc za piWisanne, and arj to * Wi^erianne, 
 
 enti dinan "Willeon and "Sine Willan 
 
 za chiWurchanne, To jeWyrceanne. 
 
 English version. 
 And the earth thou hast wrought, 
 And for men 
 
 Thou providest so many blessings ; 
 Do thou bestow on me in thy grace 
 A right faith 
 And a good will, 
 Wisdom and good speed. 
 To withstand the craft of the devil, 
 And to eschew evil. 
 And thy will 
 To work. 
 
 ^ The Saxon does not appear to have any trace of the Teutonic ' jenaden,* 
 grace, but expresses 'x^pis^ generally by ' jifa.' I have here substituted 
 
 * jemiltsunj/ mercy. 
 
 2 I have been induced to consider the Saxon ' spede ' as representing the 
 Teutonic 'spahida;' but a friend suggests that the latter term may mean 
 
 * Foresight/ So Volu-Spa — Spae-wife, Scotch. Gley renders it Prudence. 
 
 ^ The rhythm and sense would better be improved by the omission of the 
 conjunction. 
 
 "* I cannot find any Saxon form of ' piwisaune :' * wi^erian/ however, 
 agrees in sense; and if * pi-wisanne' be a compound, may also agree in ety- 
 mology with * wisenne.' 
 
liv INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 2. FRAGMENT OF THE ROMANCE OF HILDEBRAND. 
 
 This fragment is extant in a MS. preserved in the abbey of 
 JFulda. Its age is also supposed to be referable to the eighth, or 
 early part of the ninth, century. 
 
 It has been repeatedly published, — by Eccard in his Commenta- 
 rius de Rebus Francia Orientalis, torn. I. p. 864 ; by Weber, in his 
 work on Teutonic Poetry and Romance ; by the Grimms in 18 12 ; 
 and lastly by Gley in 1814, p. 147. The Grimms were the first 
 to detect its metrical structure and alliteration, the former editors 
 having hastily considered it as prose, although the general style of 
 the diction ought to have shown at once their error. They have 
 likewise bestowed more pains on the critical restoration of the 
 text, and added a mass of valuable notes in elucidation of the 
 language, metre, and the romantic story to which it alludes. 
 
 Hildebrand was one of the heroes of that cyclus of Teutonic 
 romance of which Theoderic of Berne formed the central and pro- 
 minent character : he was the chosen friend of that monarch, and 
 had accompanied him in his thirty years' exile : sharing also in the 
 prosperous revolution of his affairs, he returns to his own territory 
 and castle, where he encounters suddenly his own son Hathubrand. 
 The parties being unknown to each other, a fierce conflict takes 
 place between them ; and this forms the subject of the fragment 
 in question. 
 
 As the whole of that fragment is inserted in the work of Messrs. 
 Weber and Jamieson above referred to, and is therefore readily 
 accessible, it will only be necessary in this place to cite a few lines 
 in order to exhibit the identity of its metrical structure with that 
 of the Scaldic and S'axon forni/rdalag. 
 
 The dialect in which it is written is supposed by some philolo- 
 gers to have been that prevalent in the lower parts of Germany ; 
 but the Grimms consider it as a mixed dialect, such as would have 
 been produced by a Saxon transcriber of a Francic composition, 
 and in which the features of the higher German predominate. 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXO^g METRE. Iv 
 
 Do lasttun se ^rist THEN let they first 
 
 Asckim scritan their ashen spears rush forth 
 
 Scarpen Scurim with sharp showers 
 
 dat in dem Sciltim stont ; that fell upon their shields; 
 
 do Stoptun toSamane, then stept they together, 
 
 Staimbort chludiin, the stone axes rung, 
 
 Hewun Harmhco they hewed away harmfully 
 
 Huitte scilti their white shields 
 
 unti im iro Lintun * ' until their linden bucklers 
 
 Luttilo wurtun. became small. 
 
 3. THE HARMONY OF THE FOUR GOSPELS. 
 
 This is extant in two MSS.; one supposed to have belonged to 
 Canute, preserved in the British Museum (Cotton. MSS. Calig. 
 a. 7.), and a second discovered at Bamberg by Mr. Gley in 1794. It 
 was originally supposed to be written in the Francic dialect, and as 
 such Hickes has given many extracts from it in his Francic Gram- 
 mar (^Thes. Lingg, Septt, 1. 1. p. 101.)^ More recent critics have, 
 however, pronounced it to be a low German dialect. The follow- 
 ing specimen will sufficiently exhibit the metrical and alUterative 
 structure of this composition. 
 
 Nu muot Sniumo, Now may readily, 
 
 Sundeono los, loosed from their sins, 
 
 manaj Gest faran, many spirits depart, 
 
 an Godes willeon through God's will 
 
 Tionon aTomid, delivered from punishment. 
 
 * I have followed the authority of Mr. Price in considering the denomina- 
 tive * linden ' to denote the shields rather than banner-staffs formed of that 
 material. 
 
 * Some extracts have also been published by Nyerup in his SymholcD, by 
 the Grimms, and by Radlof in his Specimens of the parables of tbe Sower and 
 Prodigal Son in the various Teutonic dialects. 
 
Ivi 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 ^e mid trewon vvili 
 Wid is "Willi "Wirkean, 
 endi an "Waldand Crist 
 Pasto jilobean ; 
 f)at scalt te Frume werSan 
 Guraono so huilicon 
 so '^at Gerno duot. 
 
 [of such as] with true will 
 work with their friends, 
 and on the Lord Christ 
 firmly believe; 
 for this shall be profitable 
 to every one of men 
 whoso doeth it diligently. 
 
 (Hickes, Gram. Franco-theotisc. p. 105. in Thes.Lingg.Septt. 1. 1.) 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. Ivii 
 
 INVESTIGATIO N 
 
 OF 
 
 THE CELTIC ALLITERATIVE METRES. 
 
 The metrical system which has been hitherto considered, has 
 thus been proved to have existed as an early and common pos- 
 session among many, perhaps among most, of the tribes of the 
 great Gothic family of nations : and we may advance perhaps an- 
 other step, and pronounce it to have been peculiar to that family. 
 Alliteration, indeed, may be traced in the poetry of other lan- 
 guages ; but we shall look in vain for a system of versification, of 
 which this ornament constituted the predominant and almost ex- 
 clusive characteristic. 
 
 If we look at those members of the great Indo-European order 
 of languages which appear to have received the most early culti- 
 vation and polish, the Sanscrit and the Greek, — we shall indeed 
 find this ornament sometimes occurring ; but merely as inciden- 
 tally and very sparingly introduced for the sake of occasional 
 eflect. The measures of the Sanscrit, though not identical with 
 those of the Greek, are yet analogous to them *, and entirely de- 
 pend on the rhythmical cadence produced by tfie succession of 
 feet of regulated quantity; and the sonorous length of its heroic 
 verse presents the most striking opposition to the brevity of the 
 Saxon and Scandinavian lines. 
 
 The Latin poetry, from the days of Ennius, exhibited merely 
 the reflection of that of Greece : if we look at the few extant frag- 
 
 ^ See an essay on Sanscrit metres by Mr, Colebroke in the 9th volume of 
 the Asiatic Transactions. 
 
Iviii INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 ments of earlier antiquity and more native growth, we indeed find 
 shorter metres and an approximation to the Saxon cadence; but 
 aUiteration is entirely wanting. 
 
 Among the Celtic nations, however, this feature is certainly to 
 be found intimately interwoven with the fabric of their poetry ; 
 but still not as constituting its peculiar predominant and indispen- 
 sable characteristic, an office which devolves on rime. While this 
 latter is constantly and strictly preserved, aUiteration is employed 
 with much irregularity, and in many instances can scarcely be de- 
 tected ; the Scandinavian and Celtic metrical systems differ, there- 
 fore, by inverting the relations of each other in these points : both 
 indeed occasionally unite the ornaments of rime and alliteration ; 
 but that which is predominant and essential in the former, is sub- 
 sidiary and occasional in the latter, and vice versa. Yet to point 
 out the analogy which certainly does exist to a certain degree be- 
 tween these ancient and original systems of metre, and to mark at 
 the same time its precise extent and limits, is a desideratum which 
 he who proposes to give an outline, however meagre, of the history 
 of alliterative poetry seems bound to attempt supplying. 
 
 The Celtic languages still extant (or at least those languages 
 which are usually denominated Celtic by philologists) are reducible 
 to two branches (confined to the British isles and opposite coasts 
 of France) : 1 . The Hiberno-Scotish, including the Irish, the Gaehc 
 of the Scotch Highlands, and the Manks dialects ; 2. The Cambro- 
 British, including the Welsh, Cornish, and-Armorican. The dif- 
 ference existing between these t\\'o principal branches is at least 
 as striking as that which distinguishes the Greek from the Latin 
 languages ; the particular dialects of either agree as closely as the 
 various dialects of Greek : both are clearly and nearly related to 
 each other, and may be traced, though more remotely yet with equal 
 certainty, to the great Indo-European race of tongues. 
 
 Our present concern, however, is not with the philological affi- 
 nities, but with the metrical systems, of these languages. That of 
 the Hiberno-Scotish shall be first examined. 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. Ux 
 
 1. HIBERNO-SCOTISH POETRY. 
 
 The early cultivation of poetry in this dialect is incontrovertibly 
 ascertained by the testimony of Adamnan, an author of the seventh 
 century, vi^ho mentions, in his Life of St. CoUimba, Cronan, a poet 
 of the preceding century, qui ex more suae artis cantica moduiabiter 
 decantahat ; words which imply the previous familiar and esta- 
 bhshed use of this art. 
 
 Nor are specimens of a very early date wanting, although we 
 should reject with Dr. O'Connor, and indeed with every writer 
 who appears to have brought a competent share of impartial criti- 
 cism to the inquiry, the claims of the Pseudo Ossianic poems, as 
 being alike destitute of adequate external evidence, and decidedly 
 condemned by every species of internal evidence ; whether we re- 
 gard their dissimilarity in style, structure, and language, from the 
 genuine remains of the most ancient Irish bards, or the anachro- 
 nisms which, in spite of the extreme and cautious reserve of their 
 forger, mark the few historical allusions which he has ventured to 
 introduce. 
 
 The system of versification exhibited in the genuine relics of 
 Irish poetry consists of four-lined stanzas, each line containing 
 seven or eight syllables,riming together, either by the sequent lines 
 (i. c. the first hne with the second, and the third line with the 
 fourth), or by alternate lines (e. e. the second with the fourth). 
 The Irish rime, however, (which is called in their grammatical 
 treatises Comharda) does not require, like our own, an exact iden- 
 tity of consonants as well as vowels, but depends principally on 
 the latter ; it being sufficient if the consonants be of the same class : 
 thus the words roc, sop ^ and lot, are considered as riming. 
 
 We find the alternate rime alone without any marked allitera- 
 tion in the most ancient specimen cited by Dr. O'Connor, (see the 
 valuable introductory volume to his promised edition of the Rerum 
 Hibernicarum Script ores, p. 90.) — a Hymn on the life of St. Pa- 
 tric, attributed to Fiec, and ascribed on the grounds of the great 
 
Ix INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 antiquity of its language and the age of the manuscript which con- 
 tains it, to the sixth century. The following is the first stanza : 
 
 Genair Patraic i Nemthur Natus est Patricius ^emturri 
 
 Asseadh adfet hi scelaibh, Ut refertur in narrationibus, 
 
 Macan se mbliadhan decc Juvenisfuit sex annorum et decern 
 
 An tan do breth fo dheraibh. Quando ductus sub vinculis. 
 
 Alliteration is conspicuously found in the productions of the 
 ninth and following centuries; and throughout the middle ages 
 constituted an essential feature of Irish poetry. It is termed by 
 their grammarians Uaim. 
 
 The following specimen is from an historical poem written about 
 the year 1057 : 
 
 Ro ionnarb a Bhrathair Bras Expulsit suumfratrem Bras 
 Britus tar muirNiochtNamhnas, Britus ultra mare Ictium dictum^ 
 Ro ghabh Briotus Albain Ain Possedit Britus Albaniam illus- 
 
 trem 
 Go roinn Piaghnach Fothudain. Usque ad fines Venatoris Fothu- 
 
 dani. 
 
 Here it will be observed that each line contains two alliteral words ; 
 and such is the general disposition. 
 
 2. CAMBRO-BRITISH POETRY. 
 
 The earliest poems extant in this language are in the Welch 
 dialect, which appears to have prevailed also among the Cumbrian 
 and Strath Cluyd Britons. 
 
 They are ascribed to Aneurin, Taliesin, Llywarch Hen, and 
 Merlin, a constellation of bards said to have flourished in the sixth 
 century ^. 
 
 ^ The body of Welsh poetry, from the 6th to the close of the 14th cen- 
 tury, has been printed in the first volume of the Myvyrian Archaiology of 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. Ixi 
 
 Many of these are preserved in MSS. appearing to be of the 
 twelfth century ; and they are familiarly quoted by a series of 
 authors from the tenth century downwards : so that their claim to 
 an antiquity at least exceeding that period seems incontrovertibly 
 established (see Turner's Vindication of the Welsh Bards) : yet 
 they must have been very early interpolated ; for in the oldest 
 Welsh MS. extant (the Black Book of Caermarthen, written in 
 the twelfth century) we find a poem entitled Hoianau neu Bor- 
 chellenau, ascribed to Merlin in the sixth century, in which Nor- 
 mandy is mentioned — a palpable anachronism. 
 
 From the sixth to the twelfth century, but few poetical names 
 are preserved ; but in the latter, a large assemblage, among which 
 those of Gwalchmai and Cyndellu are the most distinguished, 
 occur ; and from this period, the dates of the Welsh poetical com- 
 positions are ascertained with as much precision as those of any 
 other language. 
 
 The metrical systems of the bards of the sixth and of the twelfth 
 centuries seem essentially/ the same ; yet the latter present a di- 
 stinctive character sufficiently obvious and striking in their greater 
 degree of complication. The metrical ornaments which I am about 
 to enumerate, though common to both, are yet used with a much 
 more sparing hand by the former. 
 
 These metrical ornaments are four : 
 
 1. The Terminal Rime. 
 
 2. The Internal Rime. 
 
 3. The Alliteration. 
 
 4. The Cyrch, or supplemental foot. 
 
 Wales (London, 1801.). The public spirit of the individuals whose labour 
 and expense has thus preserved the most interesting relics of their primaeval 
 language deserves high praise ; but the poetical antiquary will often, while 
 consulting this volume, have occasion to regret the entire absence of the 
 spirit of sound criticism. 
 
Ixii 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 1. The Terminal Rime, — This is essential to Welsh poetry, and 
 never absent, though in the earher specimens {e.g. several of the 
 compositions of Taliesin) few or no traces of the other ornaments 
 appear. The rime often continues the same through a succession 
 of eight or ten lines, sometimes through an entire poem ; but in the 
 lines affected by the Cyrch, or supplemental foot (presently to be 
 described), the rime falls on the foot preceding the Cyrch. 
 
 2. The Internal Rime. — Besides the terminal rime, the same 
 line often contains two or three other riming syllables within its 
 compass ; thus in the Gododin of Aneurin (ascribed to the sixth 
 century) : 
 
 Gwyr a aeth Gdiimeth Tedsaefh Teddwn 
 
 PFurf FPrwythlaay/2 oedd Cam nas Cymhwyllte?/?. 
 
 3. Alliteration. — This feature, though occasionally dispensed 
 with altogether, or but sparingly introduced in some of the earlier 
 compositions, was yet in others carried to the greatest excess : thus 
 in the foregoing distich we have two G's, two F's, two rF*s, and 
 CAM and CYM. 
 
 In some of the later systems, by a further refinement, the series 
 of consonants in the first and last half of the line must correspond 
 letter for letter : e.g. 
 
 bwrw Arthur bhub aruthur bhu 
 
 b r 
 
 I 
 
 th bh| 
 
 •+ — +- 
 •+ — +- 
 
 L_ 
 
 b r th bh 
 
 This, however, seems uncommon, and is never practised by the 
 earlier bards. 
 
 4. The Cyrch. — The system thus named is applied in the fol- 
 lowing manner. The general terminal rime, instead of falling on 
 the last syllable of the line, is thrown back on the penultimate, 
 antepenultimate, or some preceding syllable ; and the supplemen- 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. Ixiii 
 
 tal foot or syllable thus superadded after the terminal rime con- 
 stitutes the Cyrch. This Cyrch generally requires a corresponding 
 sound, either by rime or alliteration, in the course of the next line, 
 generally in its middle : thus a new fetter is introduced. 
 
 The Song of the Cuckoo, attributed to Llywarch Hen in the 
 sixth century, and preserved in the Black Book, a MS. of the 
 twelfth, exhibits specimens of this system in every stanza. One 
 of these will suffice : the cyrch and its rime in the next line are 
 printed in italics. 
 
 ' Gorciste ar vryn aerwyn — vy mryd 
 A hetyd ni'm cychwyn 
 Byr vy n'haith difaith vy nhyddyn. 
 
 In general, however, the cyrch is but sparingly used in the poems 
 attributed to that age ; and, when introduced, has frequently no 
 corresponding sound in the next line. 
 
 In the fourteenth century these incumbrances of poetry were 
 augmented to their extreme degree : thus in the Elegy to Myfanwy 
 Vechan (written soon after 1300) there occurs a series of forty-six 
 lines, all having ' ad' for their terminal rime. Of these, each un- 
 even line is cyrchic, so that an additional rime is introduced ; and 
 this is twice repeated in the next line. Besides these, we have the 
 internal rime of the first or uneven line of each distich ; so that 
 each distich contains three sets of rimes — the terminal, the cyrchic, 
 and the internal : and one of these sets (the cyrchic) js a triplet : 
 e.g. 
 
 Mireinwawr drefawr dra fo brad im dwvn 
 
 I I ^ 
 
 Gwrando fy nghzcy?i irwyn freuddywydiad. 
 
 Here we find 1. brad and freuddywydiad — terminal rimes, 
 
 2. dwyn, nghwyn, frwyn — cyrchic rimes, 
 
 3. mireinwawr, drefawr — internal rimes, 
 
 that is to say, seven rimes in a distich of only twelve words ; more 
 than half the words being doomed to this incessant chime : besides 
 
Ixiv INTRODUCTORY ESSAY • 
 
 all which we have two sets of alliteration, extending always to two 
 and sometimes to three corresponding initials in each line : 1. dre- 
 fawr dra; 2. frwyn freuddywydiad. To have written poetry under 
 these barbarous restraints mustclearly have been impossible; and 
 it gives us no mean idea of the flexibility of the language that it 
 could have been forced to submit to them, and yet have retained 
 any semblance of meaning. 
 
 The Rimes couees and entrelacees of the Provengaux were a 
 light and easy bondage compared to this Egyptian drudgery : nor 
 are the distortions of Indian jugglers more wonderfully unnatural 
 and unpleasing. The reader, however, may be amused with the 
 following eulogium on these systems, pronounced by the Editors of 
 the Myvyrian ArchcEology : — " Our versification attained such a 
 degree oi 'per' fection by regular and progressive improvements, that 
 no language, ancient or modern, ever yet attained to : our system 
 includes not only all the varieties of verse that has [have] yet been 
 produced in all known languages, but also a number equally great 
 of such constructed verse as we have neither seen nor heard of in 
 any country or in any tongue ; and yet these latter ones are by far 
 the most beautiful and musical that we have." 
 
 Welsh poetry has Hues of various length, from four to ten syl- 
 lables, and stanzas of many diflferent forms *. 
 
 It has already been observed by the late Author that the Fins 
 are said by one of their grammarians to possess an alliterative 
 metre ; but it seems probable that this has been borrowed from 
 
 their Gothic neighbours. 
 
 ^ The best account of the laws of Welsh metre is to be found in Rhees's 
 LingU(E Cymr<Ec<s Inst itut tones, London, 1592. The Irish Grammar in Llwyd's 
 Archaologia Britannica may be consulted for those of that language. 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. Ixv 
 
 ON THE DERIVATION 
 
 OF 
 
 THE LATER ENGLISH ALLITERATIVE METRES 
 FROM THE SAXON. 
 
 Having in the preceding observations attempted to trace the 
 metrical system of the Saxon poets to that early period in which it 
 was the common vehicle of song among the various tribes of the 
 great Teutonic race, it remains to pursue its later fortunes ; and 
 thus we shall perceive that the same system which our ancestors 
 brought with them in their war-ships from the banks of the Elbe, 
 in the fifth century, continued, in partial practice at least, among 
 their descendants as late as the sixteenth ; extending over a period 
 of more than a thousand years, and not entirely extinguished till 
 the full revival of classical Uterature had taught the ear, accustomed 
 to purer models, to condemn such recurrences of the same letter as 
 barbarous. 
 
 The excellent dissertation of Bishop Percy (prefixed to the 3rd 
 book of vol. ii. of his Relics of English Poetry) has indeed in a 
 great degree exhausted this subject, and must be familiar to every 
 reader interested in such inquiries : but in tracing the history of 
 this metrical system during what may be called the period of trans- 
 ition of our language from the middle of the twelfth century, when 
 it ceased to be pure Saxon, to the latter half of the fourteenth, 
 when the English of Chaucer and Wicclif was estabhshed, some 
 interesting Unks may be added to the chain which he has ex- 
 hibited. 
 
 It will be necessary to premise, that throughout the whole 
 period from the eleventh to the sixteenth century the alliterative 
 
Ixvi INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 metre was practised both in its genuine and ancient form, unat- 
 tended by rime, and also blended with riming stanzas of various 
 descriptions. We have already seen this tendency to association 
 with rime manifesting itself before the Norman conquest in several of 
 the compositions contained in the Exeter MS. (see above, p. xviii.) 
 In these it may have been derived from the influence of the Danish 
 Scalds ; and the new forms of metre subsequently borrowed from 
 the Norman minstrels blended with the same facility with this an- 
 cient ornament. 
 
 I first propose to give a series of specimens, chronologically ar- 
 ranged, of the unrimed aUiterative metre, the genuine descendant 
 of Anglo-Saxon verse; and afterwards to exhibit a few instances of 
 the combination of alliteration with riming stanzas. 
 
 The last specimen in the Appendix to this volume affords an 
 example of this metre at the latest period in which our language 
 could be considered as genuine Saxon, and should be referred 
 probably to the earlier part of the reign of Henry II. Towards 
 the close of that reign the history of our vernacular poetry presents 
 us with the English translation, by the monk Layamon,of the Brut, 
 a metrical history of Britain chiefly compiled from the tales of 
 Geoffrey of Monmouth, and originally composed in Norman- 
 French by Wace. Layamon's translation was probably written 
 about 1180: the language is still Saxon, both as to its verbal 
 substance and grammatical forms ; still retaining the inflected cases 
 of its nouns, and rejecting the use of prepositions to denote these 
 relations : but its orthography is so much corrupted as already to 
 give it the character of a distinct dialect ^ The author frequently 
 employs rime, but still more generally retains alliteration, although 
 
 * The principal grammatical distinctions between the Saxon and Norman 
 English consist in the loss of case and gender by the nouns, and the conse- 
 quent employment of prepositions to denote the relations of nouns in con- 
 struction : the verb also having lost the infinitive termination, the prepo- 
 sition to is used as the sign of that mood. All these changes were effected 
 before the period of Robert of Brunne, whose Chronicle was probably com- 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. Ixvii 
 
 certainly in a less studied and regular manner than was agreeable to 
 Saxon practice. It is, however, sufficiently obvious and complete 
 
 pleted in 1280 : but in Layamon, a century earlier, we find the nouns de- 
 clined as in Saxon : e, g. 
 
 Nominative. The king. Sax. Se cynj. 
 
 Genitive. Thas kinges. Das cynjes. 
 
 Dative. Than kinge. Dam cynj. 
 
 Accusative. Than kinge. Done cynj. 
 
 ' Queen ' is in like manner declined : e. g. 
 
 Nominative. Tha queue. Sax. Deo cwen. 
 
 Gen. Sf Dat. There quene. D^re cwene. 
 
 Accusative. Tha quene. Da cwen. 
 
 Thus also we have * There hehge cnihtene sunnen,' The sons of the high 
 knights ; Sax. Dsera heaj-cnihta {or heaj-cnihtena) suna. I cannot, how- 
 ever, find any trace of the Saxon dative plural in ' um.' These examples are 
 all taken from the short extract printed by Mr. Ellis in his Specimens of 
 Early English Poets. It is somewhat amusing to observe the numerous and 
 gross mistakes into which that accomplished and usually accurate scholar 
 has been led, in his attempt to interpret these few lines, by his imperfect 
 acquaintance with Saxon, In one place, where the poet relates that the 
 men (wepmen. Sax . waepmen) sat by themselves at meat, and the women 
 (wifmen) also by themselves ; he has made absolute nonsense, by supposing 
 * wepmen ' to be synonymous with * wifmen/ and translating both zvomen. 
 
 With reference to the subject of this note, we may add, that the style of 
 the Saxon Chronicle continues tolerably pure till about 1090 ; that after that 
 year we seldom find the ancient dative plural in * um ' used ; ' an ' * en ^ or ' on ' 
 being generally substituted. In other respects, however, the variation (though 
 gradually increasing) is not very striking till the death of Henry I. anno 1135. 
 But the subsequent reign of Stephen is written in a dialect very nearly as 
 corrupt as that of Layamon. 
 
 About the same period with Layamon, a volume of metrical Homilies bear- 
 ing the title ' Ormulum' was probably composed. It is interesting, as ex- 
 hibiting a species of blank verse destitute alike of rime and alliteration. The 
 rhythm appears to be that of the common ballad metre. 
 
 In summer time when leaves grow green, 
 And blossoms deck the tree, O, 
 
 King Edward would a-hunting ride 
 Some pastime for to see, O. 
 
 The spelling presents the language in its most disguised and corrupted form : 
 
 e 2 
 
Ixviii 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 in the following specimen, which relates to the happy state of 
 Britain in the days of Arthur. 
 
 (Layamon. 
 Da hafde iEnjlene Ard 
 ^at Alrebezte hereward ; 
 and ^is Leodisce vole aec 
 Leofvest 'San kinje. 
 Da Wifmen hehje iboren 
 'Sa Wuneden a 'Sissen londe 
 hafden iQUe^en alle 
 on heore QUides so^e 
 •Sat nan Laverd taken nolde 
 inne 'Sissere Leode 
 Naever Naenne chnit 
 
 About 1180.^ 
 
 Then had the English earth 
 
 that most excellent ruler ; 
 
 and the people of this nation also 
 
 were most beloved by the king. 
 
 Then the women highly born 
 
 who dwelt in this land 
 
 had all declared 
 on their words' truth 
 that none would take for her lord 
 in this people 
 any knight whomsoever 
 (Neore he Noht swa well idiht) (ne were he nought so well dight) 
 bute he iCostned weoren except he were tried 
 
 •^rie inne Compe, thrice in the camp, 
 
 and his oht Scipen icudde, and knew how to acquire esteem^, 
 
 and ifonded hine Seolve ; and had proved himself; 
 
 Every barbarous and unsightly combination of double letters seems to have 
 been studiously affected. 
 
 On the third day it befell 
 Uppo ^e ^ridde daj^ bilammp 
 That in the land of GalUlee 
 Datt i ^e land off Galile 
 And it was prepared in a town 
 
 as some of the gospels declare^ 
 swa summ ^e goddspell ki^e^, 
 there was a bridal prepared; 
 
 wass an bridale jarrkedd ; 
 
 that was Cana named : 
 
 And itt wass garrkedd in an tun ^att wass Cana jehatenn : 
 
 And Chrisfs mother Mary was at that hridaVs seat, 
 
 And Cristess moderr Mar^e wass att tatt bridaless saete, 
 
 And Christ was invited to that house with his disciples, 
 
 And Crist was clopped till ^att huss wi^ his lerning cnihhtess, 
 
 And their wine was drank so that there was not then any more. 
 
 And tejjre win wass drunken swa ^at taer nass ^a na mare. 
 
 Wanley, p. 62, 
 "» ' Eht ' or ' ddht; Sax. 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. Ixix 
 
 Baldeliche he mitte "Senne ja boldly might he then go 
 
 nen him Brude : take to himself a bride : 
 
 for ^er like tuhtle from this same requirement 
 
 cnihtes weoren Ohte. knights were esteemed, [ducted, 
 
 Da Wifmen Wei idone, Then were the women well con- 
 
 and "Sa better bi'Witene : and then were the better (people) 
 
 wise : 
 
 "Sa weoren i Brutene then were in Britain 
 
 Blissen inoje. blisses enough. 
 
 Towards the close of this century (the twelfth) Giraldus Cam- 
 brensis remarks, in his description of Wales, that the English as 
 well as the Welsh employed alliteration in every polished compo- 
 sition {in omni sermone exquisito). His Enghsh example is 
 
 God is toGether 
 
 Gammen and wisdom. 
 
 Thirteenth century. — To this century we may with certainty 
 refer several compositions in which alliteration is blended with 
 rime, — of which specimens will hereafter be given. In the genuine 
 Saxon metre without rime we find a Romance on the subject of 
 Sir Tristram, of which Mr. Price (who considers it as having 
 better pretensions to be regarded as the composition of Thomas of 
 Erceldoune than the poem attributed to him by Sir W^ alter Scott) 
 has inserted a specimen in his edition of Warton'sffis^orj/o/'JS;?- 
 glish Poetry, vol. i. p. 187. Its language clearly refers it to this 
 period. 
 
 For^Si an Aunter in Erde, 
 
 I Attle to shawe 
 
 'Sat a Selli in Sight 
 
 Sum me men hit holden ; 
 
 and an Outrage Awenture, 
 
 of Arthures wonderes, 
 
 if ye wyl Lysten this Laye 
 
 bot on Litel quile. 
 
Ixx INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 I apprehend that the aUiterative romance of Alexander, of which 
 a portion is appended to the magnificent MS. of the Roman 
 d' Alexandre preserved in the Bodleian, and another copy appears 
 to be extant in the Ashmole (see Warton's History of English 
 Poetry, sect. 10.), belongs to the latter part of this century ; and 
 far from being an imitation of the style adopted in the Vision of 
 Piers Plowman, was rather one of its earlier exemplars. 
 
 Fourteenth century. — The celebrated composition last mentioned 
 appears to have been written about the middle of this century 
 [1362]. It is sufficiently famihar to antiquarian readers, but I 
 shall transcribe a few lines, dividing them at the csesural pause, in 
 order to facihtate their metrical comparison with their Saxon pro- 
 totypes. 
 
 Ich Wente for'S Wyde 
 
 where Walkynje myn one 
 
 in a Wylde Wyldernesse 
 
 by a "Wode syde 
 
 Blisse of -Se Briddes 
 
 aByde me made, 
 
 and under a Lynde in a Launde 
 
 Lenede ich a stounde 
 
 to lai'Sen here Laies 
 
 and here Loveliche notes ; 
 
 MurSe of liere Murye Mou'Ses 
 
 Made me to slepe 
 
 and Merveilousliche me Mette 
 
 a Myddes al ^at blisse. 
 
 It is obvious that the general principle of the metrical construc- 
 tion in these lines is identical with that of the ScMic fornyrdalag 
 and its Saxon sister ; but I think a slight change of rhythm is per- 
 ceptible. In the Saxon, a trochaic character is predominant. In 
 the vision of Piers Plowman there is a prevaihng tendency to an 
 anapaestic cadence ; but this has probably arisen not from any in- 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. Ixxi 
 
 tention on the part of the poet, but from the natural tendencies o^- 
 the dialect in which he wrote. Any one may easily convince him- 
 self of this by attempting to write a few lines in modern English 
 on the model of the Saxon metre : he will find himself constantly 
 faUing into the same deviations which characterize the above spe- 
 cimen ; he will scarcely be able to confine himself to the few sylla- 
 bles of his original, but will lengthen his lines by placing un- 
 accented monosyllables at the beginning; and an anapaestic cha- 
 racter will, in spite of his efforts, intrude itself. The causes of 
 this are to be found in the difference of a dialect which possesses 
 inflected cases, and one in which the nouns are indeclinable. In 
 Saxon every monosyllabic root gave rise, by its inflections, to a 
 trochaic foot ; but the number of trochaic words in English is 
 comparatively very small, while the great stock of the language is 
 iambic or anapaestic : and, as a second consequence proceeding 
 from the same cause, the necessity of expressing the relations of 
 case by prepositions presses these unemphatic monosyllables into 
 the fine, and generally in such positions as (when combined with 
 the use of the article, which the English poet cannot, in the same 
 degree as his Saxon predecessor, dispense with) to increase this 
 anapaestic tendency, and to prevent the due compression of the verse. 
 It is true, indeed, that the licenses above alluded to are frequently 
 found even in the purest Saxon remains ; but then in these the 
 quantity of perfect trochaic or adoniac verses is always sufiiciently 
 prominent to impart a general and marked character to the whole. 
 Since the metrical structure and rhythm of all the subsequent 
 compositions in this species of verse till the period of its entire dis- 
 use are altogether similar to those of the above extract, and speci- 
 mens of them may be at once referred to in the well known essay 
 of Bishop Percy, I shall here subjoin merely a chronological list 
 of them. 
 
 Piers Plowman's Crede ------ After 1384. 
 
 Christ crowned King, &c. Cited by Percy about 1 420. 
 
 Fight of Flodden Field 1513. 
 
Ixxil INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 Dunbar's Twa Marriit Wemen - - - About 1530. 
 Scotch Prophecies put together after the accession of James I. 
 of England. 1603.^ 
 
 Of these, I shall only insert a few lines from the conclusion of 
 Dunbar's ''Twa Marriit Wemen," as a specimen of this metre in 
 its latest form ^. 
 
 While that the Day did up-Dawn 
 
 and Dew Danked flouris, 
 the Morrow Mild was and Meek, 
 
 the Mavis did sing, 
 and all reMoved the Mist, 
 
 and the Mead smelled : 
 silver SHouris down SHook 
 
 as the SHeen cristal, 
 and birdis SHouted in the SHaw 
 
 with their SHrill notis ; 
 the Golden GLittering GLeam 
 
 so GLadden'd their heartis, 
 they made a GLorious GLee 
 
 among the Green boughis : 
 
 * Most of these were probably composed in the Northern counties, since 
 from the following lines of Chaucer it seems to have fallen into desuetude in 
 the Southern districts : — 
 
 " But trusteth wel I am a Sotherne man, 
 I cannot geste rem ram ruf by my letter." 
 
 The author of Piers Plowman himself lived on the borders of Shropshire 
 and Worcestershire, and his dialect is strongly tinctured with Northern 
 peculiarities. 
 
 * This specimen is divested from the strange accumulation of letters which 
 disguised the Scotch orthography at that period, in order to render the ele- 
 gance of the description more generally perceptible. It will be observed that 
 the alliteration extends through four of the hemistichial divisions, as here 
 printed. 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. Ixxiii 
 
 the Soft South of the Swyre* 
 
 and Sound of the Streamis, 
 the Sweet Savour of the Sward 
 
 and Singing of fowlis, 
 might Comfort any Creature 
 
 of the Kin of Adam, 
 and Kindle again his Courage 
 
 though it were Cold slokned. 
 
 The conjoint usage of alliteration and rime may be very briefly 
 discussed. In the first stage of the English language during the 
 thirteenth century it appears to have been extremely prevalent, 
 and is found in many of the compositions cited by Warton as be- 
 longing to that epoch ; and more especially in those of a decidedly 
 lyrical character. Thus : 
 
 ICH was in one Sunnie dale 
 in one Suwe dizele hale, 
 i-Herde ich Hold grete tale 
 an Hule and one nijtigale, &c. 
 
 (iVeayEcf.) v. i. p.28. 
 
 Earliest English Love-so?ig, 
 ICH-ot a Burde in Boure Bryht 
 that fully Semly is on Syht, 
 Menskful Maiden of Myht 
 Feir ant Pre to Fonde, &c. p. 28. 
 
 Another. 
 ICHOT a Burde in a Bour ase Beryl so Bryht, 
 ase Saphyr in Selver Semly on Syht, &c. p. 34. 
 
 * The south wind blowing softly from the hills? 
 
Ixxiv INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 Lenten ys come with Love to toune, 
 with Blosmen ant with Briddes roune, 
 
 that al this BUsse Bryngeth ; 
 Dayes ezes in this Dales 
 Notes suete of Nyhtegales 
 
 Uch foul Song Singeth. p. 31. 
 
 Many other examples in a great variety of different stanzas may 
 be found on turning to the part of Warton's History of English 
 Poetry above cited. The poetry of Scotland affords similar spe- 
 cimens as late as the sixteenth century. 
 
 The above instances depart entirely from the rhythm of the ori- 
 ginal Saxon, being accommodated to stanzas of Norman construc- 
 tion : but rime was occasionally added to the genuine descendant 
 of that stock, which, from the celebrity of that satire, is usually 
 designated as the metre of Piers Plowman. The Scotch romance 
 of Sir Gawain affords an example of this in the fourteenth cen- 
 tury. 
 
 In the tyme of Arthur - an Aunter betydde 
 by the Tumwathelan - as the boke Telles 
 w^han he to Carlele was Comen - and Conqueror kydd 
 with Dukes and Dussiperes - that with the Dere Dwelles 
 to Hunt at the Herdes - that longe had ben Hydde 
 on a Day thei hem Deight - to the Depe Delles 
 to Fall of the Pemailes - in Forest and Frydde 
 Fayre by the Firmysthamis - in Frithes and Felles 
 thus to Wode arn thei "Went - the Wlonkest in "Wedes 
 
 both the Kyng and the Kwene 
 
 and all the Douchti by Dene 
 
 sir Gawayn Gayest on Grene 
 
 dame Gaynour he ledes. 
 
ON ANGLO-SAXON METRE. Ixxv 
 
 The satire on the reformation under Edward VI. exhibits a 
 similar metrical arrangement in the middle of the sixteenth cen- 
 tury. 
 
 In December, when the Dayes - Draw to be short, 
 
 after November, when the Nights - wax Noysome and long, 
 
 as I Past by a Place - Privily at a Port 
 
 I Saw one Sit by himself - making a Song. 
 
 Fercy^s Reliques, ii. 134. 
 
Ixxvi CATALOGUE OF EXTANT RELICS 
 
 ARRANGED CATALOGUE 
 
 OF 
 
 ALL THE EXTANT RELICS 
 
 OF 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 *^* The Editor has annexed the following Catalpgue, in the 
 belief that it must contribute to the interest and utility of the pre- 
 sent work, as an introductory manual to the study of Anglo-Saxon 
 poetry, to place before its readers a synoptical view of all the ma- 
 terials which time has spared in this department of literature. For 
 this purpose a classification according to the subjects of the se- 
 veral poems appeared to afford the most convenient arrangement. 
 From a survey of this list it will be seen that specimens of every 
 style have been introduced in these Illustrations, and that no im- 
 portant work has been left without due notice. 
 
 Full and complete critical editions of the whole of these remains, 
 with translations, are yet indeed desiderata in our literature ; and 
 it is perhaps scarcely creditable to our national feeling that these 
 monuments of the parent speech of Englishmen should so long 
 have been neglected ; while in most continental states similar re- 
 mains, in no degree of superior interest/ have been presented to 
 the pubhc with every requisite illustration. But a better spirit 
 appears to be now arising. While these pages have been passing 
 through the press, an edition of Beowulf has been promised, by a 
 writer who in his republication of Warton's History of English 
 Poetry has proved that the philological antiquary will find nothing 
 
OF ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. Ixxvii 
 
 wanting in any work which he may undertake. An edition, with 
 a translation, of Alfred's Boethius has been still more recently 
 announced ; and the Editor of these pages hopes shortly to bring 
 the Csedmonian paraphrase in a similar manner before the pubUc. 
 The whole of the Exeter Manuscript, together with the remaining 
 minor poetry of the Saxons, might easily be comprised in another 
 single volume ; and if this WQre accomplished, their entire corpus 
 poeticum would be rendered generally accessible. The wishes of 
 a Southey for such a consummation have been recently and warmly 
 expressed ; and such wishes are always likely to promote their own 
 reahzation. If the present work may (by rendering the subject 
 more famihar to the reading public) contribute in any degree to 
 the same end, its purpose will be sufficiently answered. 
 
 I. Narrative Poetry, derived from Historical or Traditional 
 
 Sources. 
 
 The History of Beowulf. MS. Cotton. Vitellius A. 15. Printed with 
 Latin translation and notes by Thorkelin. Copenhagen, 181 J. 
 Analysed in the present volume, p. 30. 
 
 Fragment on the Battle of Finsborough. MS. Lambeth. Printed by 
 Hickes in Thes. Lingg. Septt., widiout translation. With transla- 
 tion in the present volume, p. 173. The original MS. appears to be 
 now mislaid. 
 
 Fragment on the Death of Beorhtnoth. MS. Cotton. Otho A. 12. 
 Printed by Hearne in the Appendix to his edition of Johannis con- 
 fratris Glastoniensis Chronico7i, without translation. A translation 
 is subjoined to the present Catalogue. The original MS. perished 
 
 . in the fire which consumed a part of this collection. 
 
 %* The allusions contained in one of the poems of the Exeter 
 MS. (see p. 2S5 of this Volume) to the stories of Weland and of 
 
Ixxviii CATALOGUE OF EXTANT RELICS 
 
 Theoderic of Berne, render it probable that these heroes of the 
 Edda and of the cyclus of Teutonic romance, were also celebrated 
 in Saxon poetry. 
 
 The slaughter of the dragon by Sigurdr, or Sigmund, another 
 cardinal event in that cyclus, is also alluded to in Beowulf in a 
 manner which shows it to have been familiar. 
 
 Chaucer enumerates the adventures of Wade and his boat, a 
 fiction also of the same school (see Wilkina Saga), among the 
 romances of price : so that we have probably lost a Saxon poem 
 on this subject. 
 
 The romance of Horn Childe, published by Ritson in his col- 
 lection, is evidently derived from a Saxon original (see p. 237 of 
 the present work). And the same remark may be extended to 
 the romance of Haveloke (long supposed to be lost, but recently 
 discovered by Mr. Madden among the MS. stores of the Bodleian), 
 and to that of Attla king of East Angha. 
 
 II. Narrative Poetry derived from Scriptural Sources. 
 
 The History of Judith, a fragment. MS. Cotton. Vitellius A. 15. 
 Printed at the close of Thwaites's edition of the Saxon Heptateuch. 
 Oxon 1699, without a translation. Turner (History of the Anglo- 
 Saxons) has translated several specimens, amounting to about one 
 half the composition. He justly observes, that as the outline only 
 of the story is borrowed, it deserves to rank as an original narrative 
 poem. 
 
 Paraphrase of Genesis, the Exodus, the History of Daniel, &c. ascribed 
 to Caedmon. MS. Bibl. Bodl. Junius 11. Printed by Junius, Am- 
 sterdam, 1655, without translation. For an account and specimens 
 of this work, see p. 183 of the present volume *. 
 
 * The Editor of this volume is now engaged in preparing a new edition 
 with a translation and notes. 
 
OF ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. Ixxix 
 
 III. Narrative Poetry founded on the Lives of Saints. 
 
 Life and Passion of St. Juliana. Exeter MS. Book VII. Never pub- 
 lished. 
 
 Visions of the Hermit Guthlac. Exeter MS. Books IV. and V. 
 Never published. 
 
 IV. Hymns and other minor Sacred Poems. 
 
 A great part of the Exeter MS, consists of poetry of this description, 
 ^ which may more properly be classed as poetical reflections on va- 
 rious sacred subjects than as hymns, in the strict sense of that word. 
 These compositions have never been published ; but some speci- 
 mens are inserted in the present volume. See account of the Exeter 
 MS. p. 198, &c. 
 
 The Cotton. MS. Julius A. 2. contains some metrical prayers printed 
 by Junius at the close of his edition of the Caedmonian paraphrase. 
 Others are found, Corpus Christi Cant. S. 18. printed in Wanley's 
 Catalogue *, p. 147. 
 
 Metrical paraphrases of the Lord's Prayer, &c. occur in the following 
 MSS. — Bibl. Bodl. Junius 121. printed in Wanley's Catalogue, p. 48 
 (together with the Creed) ; and Corpus Christi Cant. S. IS. printed 
 in Wanley's Catalogue, p. 147 (together with doxology) ; also in 
 Book X, of the Exeter MS. not printed. Another metrical version 
 of the doxology has been printed by Hickes {Sax. Gravim. Thes. 
 Lingg. Septt. t. i. p. 179) from the MS. cited at the head of this 
 article (Junius 121), which formerly belonged to the church of Wor- 
 cester. 
 
 A Poem on the Fasts of the Church, in which they are historically de- 
 duced from Jewish institution. Cotton. MSS. Otho B. 2. Not 
 printed. 
 
 ^ One of these affords the mixture of Latin and Saxon verses quoted in 
 the Introductory Essay on Saxon Metre, p. ix. ' 
 
Ixxx CATALOGUE OF EXTANT RELICS 
 
 A Poem on the Day of Judgement, translated from Bede '. MSS. of 
 Corpus Christi Cant. S. 18 (before referred to for prayers). 
 
 V. Odes and Epitaphs. 
 
 %* The Saxon Chronicle contains the only specimens which 
 can be referred to these classes : these are all printed from several 
 MSS. in the late edition of that inestimable document by Ingram 
 — London, 1823, and are as follow. 
 
 Ode on the Battle of Brunanburh. A.D. 938. p. 141.« 
 
 * The first lines of this translation merit insertion, as affording a very fa- 
 vourable specimen of the descriptive powers of Saxon poetry. 
 
 Hw^T in ana saet Thus in a solitary seat 
 
 Innan bearwe Within a bower 
 
 Mid helme be^eht Overspread with elms 
 
 Holte to middes, In the midst of a wood, 
 
 Daer ^a waeter burnan Where the water brooks 
 
 Swejdon and urnon Murmured and ran 
 
 On middan jehseje, Through the midst of the enclosure, 
 
 Eal swa ic secje ; [It befel me] even as I relate ; 
 
 Eac ^er wyn wyrta There also the flowers of delight 
 
 Weoxon and bleowon, Grew and blossomed, 
 
 Innon ^am gemonje Scattered around 
 
 On aenlicum won^e ; Through that beauteous plain ; 
 
 And ^a wudu beamas But then the branches of the w ood 
 
 Wa^edon and swejdon Waved and rustled 
 
 Durh winda jryne ; Through the windy blast ; 
 
 Wolcn wses jehrered. The sky was disturbed, 
 
 And min earme mod And my saddened soul 
 
 Eal waes gedrefed. Was all agitated. 
 
 These lines contain an expansion of the following distich of Bede : 
 
 Inter Jiorigeras fcecundi cespitis herbas, 
 Flamine ventorum resonant ibus undique ramis. 
 
 ® This very interesting composition has been repeatedly translated : — by 
 Henry of Huntingdon and Gibson, into Latin ; by Warton, from Gibson's 
 Latin into English; and from the original Saxon into that language by Turner 
 
OF ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. Ixxxi 
 
 Ode on the Victo^es of Edmund ^theling. A.D. 942. p. 146.» 
 Ode on the Coronation of King Edgar. A.D. 973. p. 158. 
 Elegy on the Death of King Edgar. A.D. 975. p. 160. 
 Elegy on the Death of King Edward. A.D. 1065. p. 255. 
 
 VI. Elegiac Poetry. 
 The Exile's Complaint in the Exeter MS., printed in this volume, 
 p. 224, atfords the only specimen approaching to the character of the 
 Elegiac ballad. 
 
 Many of the Metres of Boethius translated by Alfred (MSS. Cott. 
 Otho A. 6. printed by Rawlinson, 1698) are of the Elegiac class. 
 See a specimen in this volume, p. 260. 
 
 VII. Moral and Didactic Poetry. 
 
 The Boethian Metres translated by Alfred (see last article) afford ex- 
 amples of these styles. Specimens are given in p. 263, &c. of the 
 present volume. 
 
 (History of the Anglo-Saxons); Ingram (Saxon Chronicle) ; and Bosworth 
 (Saxon Grammar). But the most recent and by far the most accurate version 
 is that of Mr. Price, inserted in his late edition of Warton's History of English 
 Foetry: this is illustrated by a very valuable critical apparatus of philological 
 notes. Henshall also furnished what he calls a translation to Mr. Ellis's 
 Specimens of Early English Poets ; but this, being constructed according to 
 the very M'himsical views of etymology entertained by that antiquary, ex- 
 hibits much such a reflection of the original as the distorting mirrors em- 
 ployed in optical experiments present of natural objects : almost every word is 
 grossly mistranslated. The metrical version, however, which is inserted in the 
 same collection, of this poem into old English of the fourteenth century, is 
 generally accurate, and may be cited as a striking example of successful imi- 
 tation, not of the language only, but of the style and inequalities of compo- 
 sition which marked our poetry in the age of Chaucer. 
 
 ^ The character of king Edwy (p. 151 ), though printed metrically in 
 Mr. Ingram's edition, appears to the present writer entirely destitute of 
 every feature of Anglo-Saxon poetry. The same observation applies to the re- 
 
 f 
 
Ixsxii CATALOGUE OF EXTANT RELICS 
 
 The Gnomic Poems in Book IX. of the Exeter MS. (see the account 
 of that MS. p. 204, &c. of this volume) may be classed here. Also 
 the following. 
 
 The Address of the Departed Soul to the Body. Exeter MS. Book X. 
 See p. 232 of this volume. 
 
 The Poem on Death. Bibl. Bodl. NE. F. 4. 12. Extracted in this 
 volume, p. 270. 
 
 The Allegorical Poem on the Phoenix, forming Book VI. of the Exeter 
 MS. (see p. 224 of this volume) : and the similar Allegories on the 
 Panther and Whale at the close of Book IX. of that MS. (analysed 
 p. 207, 208.) 
 
 The Proverbs of Alfred. MSS. Cott. Galba A. XIX. This, how-* 
 ever, is a corrupt and modernized version of Richard the First's time. 
 Printed in Spelman's Life of Alfred. 
 
 VIII. Miscellaneous. 
 
 Song of the Traveller. Exeter MS. Book IX. Printed in the present 
 volume, p. 9, &c. 
 
 Dialogue of Solomon and Saturnus K MSS. of Corpus Christi CoUege, 
 
 flections on the capture of archbishop Mphage by the Danes (p. 188), and to 
 the paragraph relating to the imprisonment of Alfred iEtheling by Godwin 
 (p. 208). The appearances of rime which occur in this last composition seem 
 accidental; and, as will be seen on reference to the passage in question, are 
 often produced by an arbitrary division in the middle of words adopted by 
 the editor : e. g. 
 
 Nu is to gelyfanne 
 
 To ^an leofan 
 
 Gode. ^set hi blissi- 
 
 -on bli^e mid Criste. 
 
 1 The Editor has not himself enjoyed an opportunity of consulting the Cam- 
 bridge MSS.; but they appear to belong to the class of traditional stories con- 
 cerning the interchange of questions and solutions on points of abstruse science, 
 
OF ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. Ixxxiii 
 
 Cambridge, S, 16. mixed with Runic characters. A shorter piece 
 on the same subject occurs in the same collection of MSS. ^, 2 ; 
 and a prose version is among the Cotton MSS. Vitellius A. 15. 
 
 supposed to have taken place between the Wisest of Kings and those who en- 
 deavoured to examine or profit by the depth of his knowledge. These stories, 
 derived probably from the authentic statement of the visit of the queen of 
 Sheba, were current in the East before the Christian aera. Josephus men- 
 tions an intercourse of this kind as having subsisted between Solomon and 
 Hiram king of Tyre, who was assisted by a youth named Abdamon, or, ac- 
 cording to others, by Abdimus the son of Abdaemon. Menander, a transla- 
 tor of Tyrian antiquities from Phoenician into Greek, and Dion are cited by 
 Josephus as his authorities for these tales. They appear to have become 
 subsequently very widely diffused under many different forms : one of these, 
 — in which Solomon is represented as holding discourse with Marculfus or 
 Morolf, a defor. led and ^5Lsop-like dwarf, and his wife, — became extensively 
 popular in Europe during the middle ages. It is alluded to by WiUiam of 
 Tyre in the twelfth century, and many versions of it are extant both in the 
 Latin and German languages. The Saxon compositions cited in the text 
 preserve probably a somewhat earlier modification of a fiction similar in sub- 
 stance: in these the interrogator is named Saturnus. Wanley {Catalogue, 
 p. 114) thus quotes the commencement of the copy extant in S. 2. of the 
 Corpus Christi MSS., which appears to be an extract only : 
 
 Saturnus cwse^, Saturnus quoth, 
 
 Hwaet ic ijlanda Thus have I 
 
 EaUra haebbe Of all the islands 
 
 Boca on byrjed ; Tasted f studied ^ th e books ; 
 
 Durh jebrej^ stafas, Through the affor letters, 
 
 Lar craeftas onlocen To examine the learned skill 
 
 Libia and Greca, Of the Libyans and Greeks, 
 
 Swylce eac istoriam And likewise the history 
 
 Indea rices ; Of the Indian kingdom ; "* 
 
 Me ^a treahteras The interpreters 
 
 Tala wisedon Have instructed me in these tales 
 
 ■ On ^am micelan bee. In the great book. 
 
 to* 
 
 The Editor has received, through the kindness of Mr. Shelford of Corpus 
 Christi College (Cambridge), a transcript from a portion of the MS. of the 
 
 f2 
 
Ixxxiv CATALOGUE OF EXTANT RELICS 
 
 ^Enigmatical Poems. Exeter MS. Book X. See p. 219 of this volume. 
 
 Poetical explanation of the characters of the Runic alphabet, printed by 
 Hickes {Thes» Lhigg. Septt. t. i. p. 135) without translation: also 
 recently on the continent with a German translation, which is very 
 incorrect, in Grimm's treatise on Runic letters. Cotton MSS. Otho 
 B. X. — Each Riinic letter has a significant name : thus H stands 
 for hail, S for sail, &c. The various objects which thus give deno- 
 mination to the characters are each in the poem described in a sepa- 
 
 dialogue of Solomon and Saturnus contained in the red book of Derby. He 
 is thus enabled to lay before the reader the following specimen from that 
 MS. ^ 
 
 Salomon cwse^, Solomon quoth, 
 
 Lytle hwile A little while 
 
 Leaf beo^ ^rene ; Shall the leaf be green ; 
 
 Don hit eft fealewia^, Then eftsoons it groweth yellow, 
 
 Fealle^ on eor^an, It falleth on the earth, 
 
 And forweornia^, Decayeth, 
 
 Weor^a^ to duste : And turneth to dust : 
 
 Swa ^on jefeallath Even thus fall 
 
 Dae^e fyrene, The wicked in death, 
 
 ^r lanje laeste^ ; Ere they long endure ; [crimes 
 
 Lisia^ him in mane They heap up to themselves by 
 
 Hyda^ heah gestreon, And conceal mighty treasures, 
 
 Healda^ georne They greedily preserve them 
 
 On faestenne, In their secure recesses, 
 
 Feondum towillan ; According to the will of the fiends ; 
 
 And wena^, wanhojan. And yet ween, destitute of reflection, 
 
 Daet hie wille Wuldor-Cining That the King of Glory 
 
 ^Imihtij God The Almighty God 
 
 Ece ^ehiran. The Eternal will listen to them. 
 
 The prose version (Cotton MSS. A. Vitellius XV.) begins thus : "Then 
 quoth Saturnus to Solomon, ' Declare to me where God sat when he wrought 
 the heavens and the earth.' ' I answer thee — He sat over the wings of the 
 winds.'" A series of questions concerning the six days of creation follow^ 
 We here learn many curious particulars concerning the formation of Adam. 
 His name, it appears, was derived from the four angels, Archox, Dux, Aro- 
 
OF ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. Ixxxv 
 
 rate stanza ; some of which are very obscure. It is evident that the 
 Runes intermixed in several Saxon MSS. (e.g. the Exeter MS., 
 Beowulf, &c.) are used not as alphabetical letters, but as monographs 
 denoting entire words. 
 
 Poem on the Site of Durham, and Relics preserved there. MSS. Cot- 
 ton. VitelHus D. 20. Printed by Hickes, Thes. L'lngg. Septl. t. i. 
 p. 178. 
 
 Metrical Prefaces, &c. to various works : viz. to Alfred's Boethius 
 (Cott. Otho A. 6. printed in this volume, p. 257) ; to Alfred's Ver- 
 sion of Gregory De Cura Pastorali (Bibl. Bodl. Hatton %^. printed 
 
 cholem, and Minsymbrie. His essence was compounded of eight ingredients, 
 one pound of each being taken : viz. earth for his flesh, fire for the heat of 
 his blood, wind for his breath, cloud for the fickleness of his disposition, 
 grace for his reason, blossoms for the various colours of his eyes, dew for his 
 sweat, and salt for his tears. We are also told of what age he was at his 
 creation ; how many inches tall ; how many years he spent in Paradise before 
 his fall ; and for how many after his death he was sentenced to remain in 
 infernal punishments. A variety of questions with regard to the chronology 
 of the lives of the patriarchs, &c. are then disposed of: in the course of 
 which we are told that the names of the wives of Noah, Cham, and Japhet, 
 Were Dalila, Itareata, and Catafluvia; or, according to others, 011a, Olliua, 
 and Ollibania. The tears shed by Moses when he threw the broken tables of 
 the law into the sea are assigned as the reason why it has remained salt ever 
 since. It is mentioned, en passant, that the sun rises at a city named laiaca, 
 and sets at another called Garita. Much of this matter savours strongly of 
 rabbinical origin ; yet some allusions to the Virgin and the Apostles indicate 
 a Christian author. 
 
 It would be important to compare this MS. with that of Corpus Christ! 
 S. 16 ; for since Runic characters are intermingled as monographs in the 
 latter, the collation would probably enable us to ascertain the exact value and 
 force of those characters when so employed, and assist in deciphering the 
 passages in the Exeter MS. in which they are in like manner introduced. 
 
 With reference to the subject of this note, we may further observe that 
 ■the answers of Sidrac the philosopher to the questions of king Boccus on va- 
 rious theological, metaphysical, and physical topics, — a favourite composition 
 in tlie middle ages, — exhibit a close parallel, both in matter and structure, to 
 these dialogues of Solomon, though the interlocutors are different. 
 
Ixxxvi ON ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 in Wanley's Cat. p. 70) ; to a treatise ascribed to St. Basil (Bibl. Bodl. 
 Hatton. 100. printed in Wanley's Cat. p. 72) ; to Aldhelm De Laude 
 Virginum (MSS. Corpus Christi Cant. K. 12. Wanley's Cat. p. 110); 
 Address of transcriber of Bede's History to reader (Corpus Christi 
 Cant. S 2. Wanley's Cat. p. 114) ; Prayer for transcriber of Decretals 
 (MSS. Cott. Claud. A. 3. Wanl. Cat. p. 226). 
 
 Saxon Calendar. MSS. Cotton. Tib. B. I. Printed by Hickes, Thes. 
 Lingg, SeptU t. i. p. 203. 
 
 %* With regard to the chronological arrangement of these re- 
 mains, little can be offered. 
 
 The Hymn of Caedmon, preserved in Alfred's translation of Bede's 
 History, must be dated about 670. The question as to the antiquity 
 of the Biblical Paraphrase, ascribed to the same author by Junius, is 
 discussed at p. 183. 
 
 The Dying Hymn of Bede is to be referred to the year 735. 
 
 The^lfredian version of Boethius must have been written before 901. 
 
 The poetry in the Saxon Chronicle assignable to the various dates an- 
 nexed to the respective compositions in this Catalogue, between 934 
 and 1065. 
 
 The Poem on the Death of Byrhtnoth seems to have been written soon 
 after the event which took place — 991. 
 
 The other compositions afford no probable criterion fo*^ deter- 
 mining their age ; and the language and style of the earliest spe- 
 cimen of Saxon poetry, the Hymn of Caedmon, resembles so closely 
 those of the latest specimens that no evidence which deserves re- 
 liance can be deduced from that source. 
 
THE DEATH OF BYRHTNOTH^ 
 
 A FRAGMENT. 
 
 The Editor is induced to append a translation of this fragment as a note 
 to the preceding Catalogue, because he conceives its merit to be such as to 
 render any collection of Saxon poetry imperfect in which it should not be 
 included, and because these Illustrations contain no other adequate example 
 of the attempts of our Saxon writers to paint the pomp and circumstance of 
 war; for the fragment on the Fight of Finsburgh is too brief and mutilated 
 to afford a fair specimen for that purpose. 
 
 He has not inserted the original Saxon, in the understanding that it is the 
 intention of Mr. Price (to whose kindness he is indebted for the transcript 
 whence the following version is made) to publish it critically in the work 
 on Saxon Poetry which he has announced in his very valuable Edition of 
 Warton's History of English Poetry. The learning and acuteness of that 
 able philologist and antiquary will doubtless clear away the difficulties which 
 have in a few instances reduced the present translator to the necessity of 
 circuitous and conjectural interpretation. 
 
 The poem itself is remarkably free from the tautology and repetitions which 
 too often impart a feeble and puerile character to the compositions of our 
 Saxon writers; and the language, while remote from the inflation and tur- 
 gidity to which a false taste sometimes seduced them, frequently presents 
 poetical phrases and figures of considerable happiness and effect : such as 
 when speaking of the clash of arms it is said, " the hauberk sang a song of 
 terrors." This relic, which is unfortunately a fragment only, mutilated both 
 at the beginning and conclusion, forms a portion of an historical poem cele- 
 
 * The name (like most Saxon appellatives) is variously spelt. In the poem it stands 
 as Byrhtnoth, which I have usually followed. The Ely Chronicle reads Brithnoth, 
 as does the Saxon Chronicle. And Beorhtnoth is found in other authorities. 
 
Ixxxviii DEATH OF BYRHTNOTH. 
 
 brating the warlike exploits and death of Byrhtnoth, alderman ©f Northum- 
 bria, in an engagement against the Danish invaders, A.D. 991. It consti- 
 tutes a battle-piece of spirited execution, mixed with short speeches from the 
 principal warriors, conceived with much force, variety, and character : the 
 death of the hero is also very graphically described. The whole approximates 
 much more nearly than could have been expected, in the general features of 
 its composition, to the war scenes of Homer. If names like Byrhtnothand 
 Godric could be substituted for Patroclus and Menelaus, it might be almost 
 literally translated into a cento of lines from the great father and fountain of 
 poetry ; and, as it is, it reads very like a version from one of the military 
 narratives of the Iliad, excepting its want of the characteristic similes ^ The 
 hero Byrhtnoth is mentioned at length in the chronicles of the church of Ely, 
 to which he had been a very considerable benefactor, a topic of eulogy much 
 insisted upon in these monastic records, and which may possibly also account 
 for his name having thus escaped the list said to be buried in tlie night of 
 oblivion — carent quia Vate Sacro ; hence, perhaps, we may suspect that a 
 cowl covered the head of our unkno-svn poet, and that his lines were written 
 in one of those scriptoria of which our antiquaries still admire the delightful 
 and inspiring situation among the recesses and long-drawn vaults of the 
 cloister's studious pale in our conventual ruins. 
 
 I subjoin the narrative of the Chronicler as a useful illustration, although 
 it does not entirely agree in its circumstances with those of the poem. 
 
 " This Brithnoth was the noblest and bravest chief of the Northumbrians. 
 He was eloquent in speech, of robust strength, and of commanding stature; 
 ever alert in military exploits against the enemies of the realm, and even above 
 measure animated by a courageous disdain of danger and of death; and ah(yoe 
 all he honoured the holy church and its minist€7's, and applied to their use the whole 
 of his patrimony : but he devoted his life, through its entire course, to the de- 
 fence of the liberties of his country; being wholly engrossed with the desire 
 rather to die than suffer a single injury offered to his native land to pass un- 
 revenged : for in that age frequent irruptions of the Danish pirates, disem- 
 barking on different points of the coast, heavily afflicted England ; and all the 
 chieftains of the neighbouring provinces, relying on the known loyalty and 
 fidelity of Brithnoth, had pledged themselves to serve beneath his victorious 
 banner ; conceiving that, under such a general, the public defence against the 
 enemy would be more securely established. When, therefore, at a certain time 
 
 ^ It may be, more particularly compared with the battle in which Patroclus fell.- 
 Iliad n. and P. 
 
DEATH OF BYRHTNOTH. IxxxiX 
 
 they had effected a secret landing at Meld on ', he advanced to the spot with 
 an armed force at the first inteUigence, and put nearly all to the sword upon 
 a bridge across the river ; but a few having with difficulty escaped to their 
 ships, carried back the news to their own country. And when Brithnoth 
 after his victory had speedily returned to Northumberland, the Danes, in- 
 censed to the last degree at the tidings, refitted their fleet, and sent a second 
 expedition, under Anna and Guthmund the son of Stettan, to Meldon, to re- 
 venge the slaughter of their first army. Having gained the port, when they had 
 learnt that Brithnoth had been the author of their former defeat, they sent to 
 inform him that they had landed in order to avenge it, and that they should 
 rank him among cowards if he declined an engagement. Incited to indignation 
 at the message, Brithnoth again collected his former comrades, and, led on 
 by the hope of victory and an over confidence, marched with but few followers 
 to the war; hurrying forwards, lest his delay should enable the invaders to 
 occupy a single foot's breadth of the country. Thus, having first commended 
 himself to the prayers of the holy brethren, he hastened to the presence of 
 the enemy ; and immediately on his arrival, undeterred by the small numbers 
 of his own troops, and undaunted by their great superiority, he commenced 
 his attack. At length on the last day of the series of combats which ensued, 
 he anticipated, from the scanty relics of his forces, his own approaching 
 death ; yet he maintained the fight with undiminished resolution, and, after 
 an immense slaughter of the enemy, had nearly put them to a complete rout ; 
 but at last, animated by the paucity of his followers, they rallied, and, form- 
 ing a solid wedge, rushed with their whole mass against him, and, after great 
 efforts, cut off his head in the fight; which, on their retreat thence, they 
 carried back with them into their own country. But the abbot of Ely, on 
 learning the issue of the battle, proceeded to the field, and having discovered 
 his body, had it borne to his church, and there honourably interred, replacing 
 the head by a round mass of wax. Long after in these our days, the corpse 
 was recognised by this indication, and placed among the other benefactors of 
 the monastery with due honours. This pious and brave warrior flourished 
 in the reigns of Edgar, Edward the Martyr, and Ethelred, and died in the 
 thirteenth year of the last monarch, 991 from the incarnation of our Lord." 
 
 The original poem contains 690 lines. I have omitted in my translation 
 the first 30 of these, which, from the mutilation of the beginning of the frag- 
 
 ' 'Maeldune,' Chron. Sax. Maldon in Essex is considered as having been the 
 scene of action. 
 
xc DEATH OF BYRHTNOTH. 
 
 ment, are rendered in some places obscure, as containing allusions to circum- 
 stances which do not appear in the remaining part of the narrative. 
 
 Translation of the Fragment. 
 
 Then Byrhtnoth began to train his bands : he instructed the warriors in 
 their array and discipline, how they should stand, how guide their steeds : he 
 bade that they should hold their shields right forward with firm grasp, and 
 should not fear ought. Soon as he had arrayed his eager troops, he alighted 
 amid his favourite band, the retainers of his household, whom he knew the 
 most faithful of all. 
 
 Meanwhile, the herald of the Vikings stood in his station : stoutly, he 
 called forth ; and, advancing opposite, spake in these words to proclaim the 
 threatenings of the pirate host, their embassy to the earl : — " The seamen 
 bold send me to thee; they bid me say that thou must deliver to them forth- 
 with thy treasures for thy safety ' : better is it for you that ye should buy off 
 this warfare with tribute than that we should wage so hard a conflict. It 
 boots not that we should slay each other : if ye will assent to this, we will 
 ratify a peace with gold. If thou who art the chieftain assentest to th 
 counsel, so mayst thou preserve thy people by giving to the men of the se 
 even at their own arbitration, treasures for their friendship, and obtain peace 
 from us : then will we with our booty repair again to our ships, and hold 
 truce with you." 
 
 Byrhtnoth spake. He upraised his buckler, he shook his slender javelin ; 
 stern and resolute he uttered his words, and gave him answer : — " Hear, 
 thou mariner, what this people sayeth : they will for tribute bestow on you 
 their weapons — the edge of their spears, their ancient swords, and arms of 
 war, which shall not avail you in the fight. Herald of the men of ocean ! 
 deliver to thy people a message in return — adeclaratjon of high indignation. 
 Say that here stand undaunted an earl with his retainers, who will defend 
 this land, the domain of my sovereign Ethelred, his people, and his territory ; 
 and the heathen shall perish in the conflict. I deem it too dastardly that ye 
 should retire with your booty to your ships without joining in battle, since ye 
 have advanced thus far into our land, nor shall ye so softly win our treasures ; 
 
 ^ The Saxon Chronicle mforras us that in tliis year (991) the practice of buying 
 off these piratical enemies by tribute was first adopted. 
 
DEATH OF BYRHTNOTH. XCi 
 
 but point and edge shall first determine between us in the grim game of war 
 ere we give you tribute." 
 
 He bade them seize their shields, and the warriors to march till all stood 
 by the side of the aestuary; but the hosts could not engage with each other 
 for the water, since the flood had come flowing in after the ebb, and the 
 streaming tide separated them ; they thought the interval too long before 
 they might mingle their weapons together : the army of the East-Saxons and 
 the host of the ashen ship begirt with their throngs the river, nor could any 
 of them wound his enemy unless through the arrov/'s flight he achieved his 
 fall : the flood retired ; then stood there ready many Vikings of the fleet, 
 eager for the fight. Then the chief, the defence of his soldiers, commanded 
 a warrior hardy in battle and prompt in spirit, to establish a bridge': his 
 name was Wulfstan; he was the son of Ceola; he with his fi-anca^ shot the 
 foremost man that with the most courage stept upon the bridge. With 
 Wulfstan stood two dauntless champions, iElfere and Maccus, both high- 
 souled warriors ; they would not turn in flight from the ford, but resolutely 
 defended it against the foe so long as they might wield their weapons. At 
 length they perceived and beheld with joy that "the beams of the bridge 
 were firmly placed ^" 
 
 Then began the invading host to move : they gave orders to advance, to 
 cross the ford, and lead their troops onwards. The earl meanwhile, in the 
 haughtiness of his soul, yielded free permission to many of the hostile bands 
 to gain the land unmolested. And thus did the son of Byrhthelm shout 
 across the cold river : — " Warriors, listen ! Free space is allowed you : come 
 then speedily over to us : advance as men to the battle : God alone can know 
 which of us is destined to remain masters of the field of slaughter." 
 
 Then the wolves of slaughter advanced across the waters ; unimpeded the 
 host of the Vikings passed over the river and its clear stream ; the seamen 
 carried their shields to the land, and bore their linden bucklers : there against 
 these fierce ones Byrhtnoth with his warriors stood prepared : he bade his 
 
 ^ " To establish a bridge," brieve healdan; literally, to defend the bridge: but, if 
 I understand the narrative correctly, Wulfstan appears to have been commissioned 
 to cover the construction of a bridge for the passage of the Danish army across the 
 aestuary, as soon as the ebb of the tide rendered such a work practicable. The asstiiary 
 of the river Blackwater at Maldon in Essex appears to have been the scene of action. 
 
 ^ Franca is evidently the name of a sort of javelin. It occurs also in the Caed- 
 monian paraphrase. 
 
 * I have thus translated * ^at hi ^sev bricje-weaiidas bitene fundon ;' but I suspect 
 an error in the transcript. 
 
XC DEATH OF BYRHTNOTH. 
 
 ment, are rendered in some places obscure, as containing allusions to circum- 
 stances which do not appear in the remaining part of the narrative. 
 
 Translation of the Fragment. 
 
 **************** 
 Then Byrhtnoth began to train his bands: he instructed the warriors in 
 their array and discipline, how they should stand, how guide their steeds : he 
 bade that they should hold their shields right forward with firm grasp, and 
 should not fear ought. Soon as he had arrayed his eager troops, he alighted 
 amid his favourite band, the retainers of his household, whom he knew the 
 most faithful of all. 
 
 Meanwhile, the herald of the Vikings stood in his station : stoutly, he 
 called forth ; and, advancing opposite, spake in these words to proclaim the 
 threatenings of the pirate host, their embassy to the earl : — " The seamen 
 bold send me to thee; they bid me say that thou must deliver to them forth- 
 with thy treasures for thy safety ' : better is it for you that ye should buy off 
 this warfare with tribute than that we should wage so hard a conflict. It 
 boots not that we should slay each other : if ye will assent to this, we will 
 ratify a peace with gold. If thou who art the chieftain assentest to thisj^ 
 counsel, so raayst thou preserve thy people by giving to the men of the se^f 
 even at their own arbitration, treasures for their friendship, and obtain peacie J* 
 from us : then will we with our booty repair again to our ships, and hold 
 truce with you." 
 
 BjThtnoth spake. He upraised his buckler, he shook his slender javelin ; 
 stern and resolute he uttered his words, and gave him answer : — " Hear, 
 thou mariner, what this people sayeth : they will for tribute bestow on you 
 their weapons — the edge of their spears, their ancient swords, and arms of 
 war, which shall not avail you in the fight. Herald of the men of ocean ! 
 deliver to thy people a message in return — a declaration of high indignation. 
 Say that here stand undaunted an earl with his retainers, M^ho will defend 
 this land, the domain of my sovereign Ethelred, his people, and his territory ; 
 and the heathen shall perish in the conflict. I deem it too dastardly that ye 
 should retire ^nth your booty to your ships without joining in battle, since ye 
 have advanced thus far into our land, nor shall ye so softly win our treasures ; 
 
 ^ The Saxon Chronicle informs us that in this year (991) the practice of buying 
 oflf these piratical enemies by tribute was first adopted. 
 
DEATH OF BYRHTNOTH. XCi 
 
 but point and edge shall first determine between us in the grim game of war 
 ere we give you tribute." 
 
 He bade them seize their shields, and the warriors to march till all stood 
 by the side of the aestuary; but the hosts could not engage with each other 
 for the water, since the flood had come flowing in after the ebb, and the 
 streaming tide separated them ; they thought the interval too long before 
 they might mingle their weapons together : the army of the East-Saxons and 
 the host of the ashen ship begirt with their throngs the river, nor could any 
 of them wound his enemy unless through the arrow's flight he achieved his 
 fall : the flood retired ; then stood there ready many \'ikings of the fleet, 
 eager for the fight. Then the chief, the defence of his soldiers, commanded 
 a warrior hardy in battle and prompt in spirit, to estabhsh a bridge ' : his 
 name was Wulfstan; he was the son of Ceola; he wdth his fi:-anca2 shot the 
 foremost man that with the most courage stept upon the bridge. With 
 Wulfstan stood two dauntless champions, ^Ifere and Maccus, both high- 
 souled warriors ; they would not turn in flight from the ford, but resolutely 
 defended it against the foe so long as they might wield their weapons. At 
 length they perceived and beheld with joy that " the beams of the bridge 
 were firmly placed ^," 
 
 Then began the invading host to move : they gave orders to advance, to 
 cross the ford, and lead their troops onwards. The earl meanwhile, in the 
 haughtiness of his soul, yielded free permission to many of the hostile bands 
 to gain the land unmolested. And thus did the son of Byrhthelm shout 
 across the cold river : — " Warriors, listen ! Free space is allowed you : come 
 then speedily over to us : advance as men to the battle : God alone can know 
 which of us is destined to remain masters of the field of slaughter." 
 
 Then the wolves of slaughter advanced across the waters ; unimpeded the 
 host of the Vikings passed over the river and its clear stream ; the seamen 
 carried their shields to the land, and bore their hnden bucklers : there against 
 these fierce ones Byrhtnoth with his warriors stood prepared : he bade his 
 
 ' " To establish a bridge," brieve healdan ; literally, to defend the bridge : but, if 
 I understand the narrative correctly, Wulfstan appears to have been commissioned 
 to cover the construction of a bridge for the passage of the Danish army across the 
 aestuary, as soon as the ebb of the tide rendered such a work practicable. The aestuary 
 of the river Blackwater at Maldon in Essex appears to have been the scene of action. 
 
 ^ Franca is evidently the name of a sort of javelin. It occurs also in the Caed- 
 monian paraphrase. 
 
 ^ I have thus translated * bat hi ^aer bricje-weaudas bitene fundon ;' but I suspect 
 an error in the transcript. 
 
xcii DEATH OF BYRHTNOTH. 
 
 band raise with the shields the fence of war, and maintain themselves firmly 
 against their enemies. 
 
 The conflict then drew nigh — the glory of the chieftains ^ The hour was 
 come when the fated warriors should fall. Shout^ arose — the ravens con- 
 gregated — and the eagle greedy of its food — a cry was on the earth. They 
 darted from their hands many a stout spear — the sharpened arrows flew — 
 the bows were busy — the buckler received the weapon's point — bitter was the 
 fight — warriors fell on either side — the youths lay slain. 
 
 Wulfmser was wounded — he sought rest from the battle : the kinsman of 
 Byrhtnoth, his sister's son, was severely mangled with the battle-axe ; but 
 for this, fit recompense was returned to the Vikings, I heard that Edward 
 slew Anna with his stout sword ; he stinted not his blow till the fated war- 
 rior fell at his feet : for this his chief conferred thanks on his chamberlain, 
 whom he retained in his lodge ^. So clamoured, stern of mind, the youths in 
 the conflict; anxious were they who might first take life from the death- 
 doomed foes, and prove his w^eapons in the fight. The carnage fell on the 
 earth, yet stood they steadfast. Byrhtnoth arrayed them : he bade that each 
 youth who would victoriously fight against the Danes should bend his soul 
 to the war. 
 
 Then the [Danish] chieftain raised up his weapon, his buckler for his de- 
 fence, and stept forth against that lord. The earl with equal eagerness ad- 
 vanced against the carl ; either meditated evil against the other. The sea 
 chief then sped a southern ^ dart, so that the lord of the army was wounded : 
 he manceuvred with his shield that the shaft burst, and the spear sprang 
 back and recoiled : the chief was incensed, and pierced with his dart the 
 exulting Viking who had given him that wound. Skilful was the hero : he 
 caused his franca to traverse the neck of the youth : he directed his hand 
 so that with sudden destruction he might reach his life : then speedily he 
 shot ofl; another so that his mail was pierced, and he was wounded in the 
 breast through its ringed chains; and the javelin's point stood in his heart. 
 Then was tlie earl blithe : the stern warrior laughed, and uttered thanks to 
 his Creator for the work of that day which the Lord had given him. 
 
 But then some one of the enemies let fly a dart from his hand, which 
 
 ^ The original is 'tJa wses fohte neh . tir set ^etohte.' The concluding phrase 
 occurs also in Judith, p. 24. 1. 19 : ' Ge dom a^on . tir aet tohtan.' I have adopted 
 Lye's explanation of 'tohta,' but I am not satisfied with it. 
 
 * ' ?Sam bur^ene b'a he byre haefde. ' 
 
 ^ • Suc^erne jar.' I cannot comprehend the reason of this epithet. 
 
DEATH OF BYRHTNOTH. xcui 
 
 transfixed the noble thane of Ethelred : there stood by his side a youth not 
 fully grown, a boy in the field, the son of Wulfstan, Wulfmaer the young ; 
 he eagerly plucked from the chief the bloody weapon, and sent it to speed 
 again on its destructive journey : the dart passed on till it laid on the earth 
 him who had too surely reached his lord. 
 
 Then a treacherous soldier approached the earl to plunder from the chief- 
 tain his gems, his vestments, and his rings, and his ornamented sword ; but 
 Byrhtnoth drew from its sheath his battle-axe, broad and brown of edge, and 
 smote him on his corslet: very eagerly the pirate left him, when he felt the 
 force of the chieftain's arm. But at that moment his large hilted sword 
 drooped to the earth — he could no longer hold his hard glaive, nor wield his 
 weapon ; yet the hoary warrior still endeavoured to utter his commands ; he 
 bade the warlike youths, his brave companions, march forwards. Then might 
 he no longer stand firmly on his feet. 
 
 He looked to heaven. — "I thank thee, Lord of the nations, for all the pro- 
 sperity which I have experienced on earth : now have T, O mild Creator, the 
 utmost need that thou shouldest grant grace to my spirit, that my soul may 
 proceed to thee, into thy keeping, O Lord of angels, that it may take its de- 
 parture in peace. I am a suppliant to thee that the destruction of hell may 
 not overwhelm it." 
 
 Then the heathen bands mangled his corse, and with him both the youths 
 that stood by his side, ^Ifnoth and Wulfmaer; for both fell, and sold their lives 
 on the fallen body of their lord. Then fled from the fight those that durst 
 no longer abide. Godric, son of Odda, was foremost to desert the battle and 
 that good lord who had often bestowed on him many a field ; for he had 
 ever shared the possessions which his chieftain owned * * *i. Yet though 
 it were thus, ignominious he fled, and his brother with him, both Godric 
 and Godwy withdrew; they maintained not the fight, they hurried from the 
 conflict, they sought the woods, they fled to the fortress, they sheltered their 
 lives * * * * 2. It had indeed been some credit to them to have then remem- 
 bered all the benefits which he in bounty had conferred upon them ; but, as 
 Offa reminded them on a former day when he had met them in the hall of 
 council, " many there spoke boldly, who durst not abide in peril." 
 
 ^ ' He ^eleop tJone eoh . ^e ahte his hlaford . on c^am ^eraedum.' I have omitted 
 the last line, and doubt ray construction of the two former. 
 
 ^ * Hyra feore burton . and manna ma^on . hit senij mael5 were . ^if hi ^a jear« 
 nunja . ealle ^emundon . t5e he him to dujo^e . ^edon hafde.* I have omitted in 
 the translation the line in italics, and place it here with the context that the whole 
 passage may be subjected to the revision of any reader acquainted with the language. 
 
xciv DEATH OF BYllHTNOTH. 
 
 Thus did the chieftain of the host, the earl of the royal Ethelred, fall, and 
 all his domestic retainers beheld their lord lying a corpse; yet without delay 
 those brave vassals and dauntless warriors stept eagerly forwards ; all but 
 those twain desired either to avenge their beloved leader or to lose their lives. 
 
 To this Alfwine, a warrior young in years, encouraged them : speaking 
 these words, the son of Alfric gave utterance to his bold spirit : — " Let us 
 now remember the seasons when we heretofore conversed over our mead-cups, 
 and our warriors, assembled in the hall, raised their boast around the benches. 
 Now in the fierce conflict it may well be seen who is truly brave : there will 
 I before you all give proof of my noble blood, that I am sprung from a high 
 Mercian race. — Ealhelm was the progenitor of my ancestry named; a skilful 
 chief was he, and prosperous in the world ; nor shall the thanes of this 
 people reproach me that 1 sought a shelter from the conflict, now that my 
 chieftain lieth mangled in the fight — to me the heaviest of afflictions — for 
 he was both my kinsman and my lord." Then stept he forth : he meditated 
 vengeance, and strove to reach with his spear some one of the sea-faring 
 host, and lay him prostrate on the field with his weapon, when he had thus 
 cheered his friends and comrades. 
 
 Then spake Offa, and shook his ashen shaft : — " How seasonably, O Alf- 
 wine, hast thou exhorted all our warriors now our chieftain lieth low'^-our 
 earl on the earth : needful is it for all that each of us should animate every 
 fellow warrior to maintain the conflict so long as he may keep and hold his 
 weapons, his hard battle-axe, his dart, and his good sword. Godric the coward 
 son of Odda hath betrayed all of us ; for many a man mistakes his flight 
 (since he rode on so spirited a courser in the fight) as though it had been 
 our lord : and therefore is our host dispersed here over the field, and the line 
 of their shields broken : pernicious is his example, so many hath it turned 
 to flight." 
 
 Leofsuna spake, and raised up his linden buckler of defence : he answered 
 that warrior — " I give thee my pledge that I will not fly one footstep hence ; 
 but forwards will T advance, to avenge in the fight my beloved chief. It 
 shall not need that the steadfast warriors should reproach me in their dis- 
 course for my unsteadiness; that now my lord hath fallen I should flee 
 homewards chieftainless from the fight ; but the weapons, the edge, and the 
 iron, shall receive me." He rushed forth full of rage ; firmly he fought ; he 
 disdained flight. 
 
 Dunnere spake: no sluggish carl was he; he brandished his dart, he 
 shouted loudly over all the host, he bade that every warrior should avenge 
 Byrhtnoth ; " Th^t man," said he, "may not quail nor be solicitous for his 
 life that thinketh to avenge his lord among the people." 
 
DEATH OF BYRHTNOTH. XCV 
 
 Then rushed they forth : they recked not for their Uves : stoutly began the 
 vassal train to fight; wrathfully bearing their weapons^ they supplicated God 
 that they might avenge their beloved chief, and wreak their fury on their 
 foemen. An hostage ^ (escaped from the enemy) fiercely essayed to aid therii. 
 He was of an hardy race among the Northumbrians, the son of Ecglafe, 
 iEscferth was his name. He quailed not in the game of war ; he poured 
 forth his arrows abundantly : sometimes he shot on the buckler, sometimes 
 he pierced the warrior ; he ever hovered around them, and sore wounds did 
 he deal so long as he could wield his weapons. 
 
 Then yet stood in the array Edward the tall chief, prompt and strenuous : 
 he vowed in haughty words " that he would not yield a foot's breadth of 
 earth, nor turn his back in flight, since his superior lay dead." He broke 
 through the wall of shields, and fought against the foe until he had worthily 
 avenged his lord, liberal in largess, on the men of the sea before he himself 
 fell among the slaughtered. The same did ^theric his noble comrade, eager 
 and impetuous, the brother of Sebyrht : stoutly he fought, and very many 
 others : they clove the bucklers ; keen were they : they burst the covering of 
 the shields ; and the hauberk sang a strain of terror *. 
 
 Then did Oifa smite the mariner host in the fight till they fell on the 
 earth; yet that kinsman of Godda found there his grave : Offa himself was 
 suddenly cut down in the conflict. Nevertheless he had redeemed his pledge 
 to his chieftain, which he before had promised to his dispenser of gems, 
 that they should both ride together to the burgh, unharmed to their homes, 
 or that both should together fall among the host in the place of slaughter 
 expiring with wounds. — He lay, like a faithful attendant, nigh his lord. 
 
 Then was there crashing of bucklers. The mariners marched on, harassed 
 in the fight. The dart oft pierced through the tenement of life in those pre- 
 destined to slaughter, for which end it had sped. 
 
 Wistan Thurstan's son fought against these bands : he was included in the 
 destruction of these three ; for Wigeline's son laid him among the slaugh- 
 tered. There was a stern meeting : the warriors stood firm in the fight — 
 fighting they sunk, oppressed with wounds : the carnage fell on the earth. 
 Oswald and Eadwold, two brothers, arrayed meanwhile their kindred war- 
 riors : they exhorted them in their harangues that they should in that hour 
 of need endure with no faint spirit the encounter of weapons. 
 
 * ' Him 36 ^ysel onjan . ^romlice fylstan.' Hostage is the only sense in which 
 the word * ^^sel ' occurs ; yet it is difficult to reconcile this sense to the context. I 
 have endeavoured to do so by incorporating in my version the conjecture that he 
 might have escaped during the battle from the hands of the Danes. 
 
 * ' And seo byrne sang . ^ryre leo^a sum.' 
 
xcvi DEATH OF BYRHTNOTH. 
 
 Byrhtwold spoke : he was an aged vassal : he raised his shield, he bran- 
 dished his ashen spear ; he full boldl}' exhorted the warriors : — " Our spirit 
 shall be the hardier; our heart shall be the keener; our soul shall be the 
 greater, the more our forces diminish; Here lieth cur chief, all mangled — 
 the brave one in the dust : ever may he lament his shame that thinketh to 
 fly from this play of weapons. Old am I in life, yet will I not stir hence ; 
 but I think to lie by the side of my lord — by that much loved man." 
 
 And in like manner Godric the son of Ethelgar cheered them all on to the 
 conflict. Oft he poured forth his darts, and sped the death-spear against the 
 pirates : so did he rush foremost on that people; he hewed and slaughtered 
 them till they fell in the fight. This was not the same Godric who had 
 before fled from the war. 
 
 ***************** 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 OF 
 
 ^ttjslo^ajcon ^ottv^. 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 OF 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 HYMN OF CiEDMON, 
 
 PRESERVED IN ALFRED'S TRANSLATION OF EKDE'S 
 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, 
 
 Whether the adventurous companions of Hengist and tlorsa 
 brought with them into our island any tincture of letters we cannot 
 at present ascertain. If they liad any, it probably consisted in part 
 of those traditional songs w^iich are almost uniformly found to con- 
 stitute the earliest species of poetry, of learning, and of history 
 among nations emerging from a state of barbarism. The earliest 
 mention, however, of Saxon poetry which antiquaries have been 
 able to discover occurs in the fourth book of Bede's Ecclesiastical 
 History. The twenty-fourth chapter of that book is occupied by 
 an account of the poetical talents and exemplary piety of Ccedmon, 
 a monk of the Abbey of Streoneshalh in Nortliumbria, whose ge- 
 nius, supernaturally, as it was beheved, restricted to the treatment 
 of scriptural and devotional subjects, appeared, when so employed, 
 little short of actual inspiration in the eyes, not only of his more 
 unlearned cotemporaries, but in those of the venerable historian 
 himself j — the rather, perhaps, as he seems to have been nearly if not 
 
 B2 
 
4 ANGtO-SAXON poExar. 
 
 altogether destitute of the advantages of human learning. Bede'a 
 account of this extraordinary man, although tinged with the credu- 
 lity of his age, is interesting, both as it presents a curious trait of 
 ancient manners, and contains a translation of the earliest compo- 
 sition attributed to him. To Alfred we are further indebted for 
 the preservation of the original. Casdmon (says Bede) was to an 
 advanced period of life ^ so totally ignorant of verse, that being ac- 
 cidentally present at a feast where the guests sang in their turn 
 IcEtitia causa, so soon as he saw the harp ® approach himself he 
 quitted the table abruptly and retired to his own home. In the 
 course of the ensuing night he dreamt that a stranger accosted and 
 requested him to sing : he pleaded his inabiUty, adding that on ac- 
 count of that inability he had retired from his friend's table. " You 
 have the povver," shortly rephed the stranger. " What, then," asked 
 the cowherd, (for Caedmon's occupation was no other,) " would you 
 have me sing ?" '^ The Creation," returned the stranger : and Caed- 
 mon found himself immediately enabled to compose and sing a short 
 poem on that subject, which, on waking, he fully retained in his 
 memory. A circumstance so remarkable could not long be con- 
 cealed from the superiors of the monastery, in whose service he 
 seems to have been employed ; and after some further trial of his 
 powers he was persuaded to adopt their habit and dedicate himself 
 entirely to the composition of religious poetry. Being instructed 
 at length by his brethren in the history of the scriptures and the 
 doctrines of Christianity, (which his v^^ant of learning, we may sup- 
 pose, prevented him from studying in the only languages in which 
 they were then to be found) he versified the whole of their more 
 important contents, with a success which defied, according to Bede, 
 
 ' Ad te7npora provectiorls atatis. 
 
 ^ These songs must have been in the vernacular tongue; and as the singing 
 and accompanying them on the harp is noticed as so general an accomplish- 
 ment, the art and uses of poetry must long before this period have become 
 familiar to our ancestors. 
 
HYMN OF CiEDMON. 
 
 all future competition. " Et quidem et alii post ilium in gente An* 
 glorumreligiosa poematafacere tentabajit, sed nullusei (Equiparari 
 potuit. Namque ipse non hominibus, negue per homiriem institu- 
 tus, canejidi artem didicit, sed divinitus adjutus gratis canendi do^ 
 num accepit.'' 
 
 The Hymn above alluded to, or at least so much of it as the poet 
 composed in his sleep, is subjoined. It will scarcely be thought 
 to merit the praises bestowed on it by the historian. 
 
 Nu we sceolon herijean 
 Heofon-rices weard, 
 Metodes mihte, 
 And his mod-je^anc, 
 Weorc wuldor Faeder. 
 Swa he wundra jehwass, 
 Ece Drihten, 
 Ord onsteald. 
 He aerest scop 
 Eoi-^an bearnum 
 Heofon to rofe, 
 Halij Scippend. 
 Da middanjeard 
 Moncynnes weard ^ 
 Ece Drihten, 
 ^fter teode 
 Firum foldan 
 Frea selmihtij. 
 
 10 
 
 15 
 
 18 
 
 Nunc dehemus celebrare 
 
 Regni calestis ciistodem, 
 
 Creatoris potentiam, 
 
 Et ejus consilium f 
 
 Opus gloriosi Patris^. 
 
 Ita ille mirabilium singulonan, 
 
 jEternus Dominus, 
 
 Principium stabilivit. 
 
 Ille primus creavit 
 
 Terrafiliis 
 
 Calum in fornicem, 
 
 Sanctus Creator. 
 
 Turn mediam ierram 
 
 Humani generis habitaculum 
 
 Mternus Dominus 
 
 Postea fabricavit 
 
 Viris terram 
 
 Rector omnipotens. 
 
 ' Or it maj' be rendered g/oz-iosi operis pater. This line affords us an early in- 
 stance of that absence of inflection and of connecting particles which renders 
 the Saxon poetry highly obscure and difficult of construction. 
 
 * It will be perceived that this and the fifth line are differently rendered in 
 the Latin and English translations. The reader will have frequent oppor- 
 tunities of observing that the elliptical construction of Saxon poetry renders 
 it thus ambiguous,. 
 
ANGLO-SAXON POETRY, 
 
 Now should we all^ heaven's guardian King exalt, 
 
 The power and counsels of our Maker's will, 
 
 Father of glorious works, eternal Lord, 
 
 He from of old stablish'd the origin 
 
 Of every varied wonder. First he shaped, 
 
 For us the sons of earth, heaven's canopy, 
 
 Holy Creator. Next this middle realm, 
 
 This earth, the bounteous guardian of mankind, 
 
 The everlasting Lord, for mortals framed. 
 
 Ruler omnipotent^» 
 
 Li this fragment we may readily trace (as it has already been ob- 
 served by Mr. Turner) that simple mechanism which by the accu- 
 mulation of parallel expressions has expanded to the length of eigh- 
 teen lines the mere proposition " Let us praise God the maker of 
 
 ^ The words printed in Italics are such as do not occur in the original. 
 ^ Wanley has given, {Cat. MSS. Septent. p. 287.) from a manuscript which 
 he believed to be of the 8th century, a copy of this hymn differing materially 
 from the common text both in its orthography and in the grammatical form 
 of some words. — It runs thus t 
 
 Nu scylun her jan Elda barnum / 
 
 Hefaen ricaes vard, Ileben til hrofe, 
 
 Metudass maBcti, Halej Scepen. 
 
 End his mod ^idanc. Tha middun jeard 
 
 Verc vuldur Fadur. Moncynna'S vard, 
 
 Sue he vundra gihuaes, Eci Dryctin, 
 
 Eci Drictin, ^fter tiada?, 
 
 Ora stelidae. Firum foldu, 
 
 He serist scopa Frea allmectij. 
 
 Wanley himself however has some doubt whether the hand-writing of this 
 addition (for such it is) be coeval with that of the entire MS. There appears to 
 me strong ground for thinking it the work of the 11th or 12th century, and of 
 an inexperienced scribe. ^ Scop ' and 'Scyppend ' (1. 9 and 12) seem much more 
 analogous than ' Scopa ' and * Scepen,' and the same remarkable substitution 
 of<s fore is found in MS. Bodley 343, supposed by Wanley to be written in 
 the reign of Henry II. 'Ora' for 'ord' must be a mistake either of the 
 transcriber or printer. 
 
HYMN OF C^DMON. 7 
 
 heaven and earth." The fragment itself has been repeatedly pub- 
 lished, and upon this account among others it would hardly have 
 been entitled to so much of our time, had it not been the earliest 
 specimen of our poetry extant, and the only w^ell authenticated re- 
 main of one who has had the fortune to be regarded as the Saxon 
 Homer, 
 
 After all, it has been questioned, whether the poem, as we now 
 possess it, is not to be regarded rather as a retranslation by Alfi'ed 
 fi'om the Latin of Bede, than as the original effusion of Casdmon*. 
 Although there appears no very plausible reason in favour of this 
 supposition, its direct refutation would be no easy task, and most 
 readers would, in all probability, wish to be spared the discussion. 
 There is extant however, one short fragment of Saxon Poetry the 
 age and authenticity of which are beyond dispute, and which may 
 fairly be regarded as belonging to the same sera of our language and 
 versification. It has not (so far as I am aware) been as yet noticed 
 by any of our poetical antiquaiies, although it boasts no less an au- 
 thor than the venerable Bede, and cannot therefore on a fair com- 
 putation have been v/ritten more than sixty years after the works 
 of C^edmon himself. This fragment, more interesting, it must be 
 confessed, from its antiquity than from any pretensions to poetical 
 meiit, is to be found in the simple and affecting naiTative of the 
 historian's last moments, addressed to Cuthwine by his friend and 
 
 ^ See Lingard's Antiquities of the Saxon Church. But popular as the poems 
 of Caedmon appear to have been, it is scarcely probable that this, which, from 
 the circumstances said to have attended its production, must have been 
 esteemed among the most valuable, should have been totally lost iRthe age of 
 Alfred : — if it were then extant, the royal translator would no doubt have 
 preferred inserting the original to paraphrasing the Latin of Bede, It may be 
 urged also that the Saxon and Latin resemble each other so closely, as to 
 countenance the belief that the latter is a literal translation of the former.— 
 Had Alfred copied from Bede, we may reasonably suppose that his version 
 would have been more paraphrastic. Such at least is uniformly the case in liis 
 translation of the Boethian metres. 
 
8 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 disciple Cuthbert. — " As he felt his end approaching, he repeated," 
 says this writer, " many passages of holy scripture ; and, as he was 
 learned in our poetry, spoke also some things in the English language, 
 for then composing the following speech in Enghsh he said with 
 great compunction * " — 
 
 For "Sam neodfere Ante necessarium exitum 
 
 Nsenij wyrSeS 'Nemo extat 
 
 Donees snottra Consilii prudentior 
 
 ©onne him "Searfe sy, Quam sihi opus sit, 
 
 To jehijjene, 5 Ad cogitandum, 
 
 IEt his heonan-janje. Ante decessum suum, 
 
 Hweet his jasta, Qualiter anima sua, 
 
 Godes other yrdes, Pro bono out malo, 
 
 iEfter dea^e heonan Post mortis exitum 
 
 Demed wurSe. 10 Judicajida sit^» 
 
 Whether or no these hues were composed by him (as Cuthbert 
 should seem, to affirm) upon his death-bed, there can be no doubt 
 that they are the production of Bede himself. They resemble closely 
 both in their metrical and grammatical structure the specimens at- 
 tributed to authors of a later date, and it may therefore be safely 
 affirmed that our vernacular poetry had assumed as early as the year 
 735 the form and character which it preserved with little or no al- 
 teration, until the establishment of the Norman dynasty produced a 
 correspondent change in our language and versification. 
 
 ^ " Multa de scrlpturis sacris, et in nostra quoque lingua, hoc est Anglicand, ut 
 erat doctus in nostris carminihus, nonnuUa dixit ; na7n et tunc Jioc dictum Anglico 
 sermone componens multum compunctus aiehat." See the whole letter in Bede's 
 Eccl. Hist. ed. Smith, p. 792. 
 
 2 I have adopted, as much as possible, the translation of Cuthbert. The 
 general meaning of the Hues (of which it would be absurd to attempt any poe- 
 tical version) appears to be that " No man living reflects, before his death, 
 with greater anxiety than is necessary upon his future judgement." 
 
THE SONG OF THE TRAVELLER. 
 
 In a review of Anglo-Saxon poetry the Hymns of Casdmon and 
 Bede appeared to demand the first place, as being, with the single 
 exception perhaps of Alfred's version of Boethius *, the only com^ 
 positions of which the age is clearly ascertained. The poem which 
 follows, now published for the first time, owes its origin in all pro- 
 bability to a period yet more remote, and to an author of a very 
 different cast, a Scald or Minstrel by profession. As it preserves the 
 only contemporary picture on record (at least in Saxon poetry^) of 
 such a character, and contains a singular enumeration of many 
 tribes and sovereigns whose very existence, in some cases, has now 
 no other memorial, it appeared desirable to submit the whole to 
 the antiquarian student. To the lover of poetry it has perhaps but 
 little that will recommend it. For the greater part it exhibits 
 scarcely more than a dry catalogue of names, enlivened by a few al- 
 lusions to traditionary history, which, from the absence of all col- 
 lateral documents, are highly obscure; and the more inteUigible re- 
 lation of his own success in commanding the applause and muni- 
 ficence of kings and nobles. 
 
 This remarkable composition is preserved in a manuscript vo- 
 lume of Saxon poetry given by Bishop Leofric to the cathedral 
 church of Exeter about the time of the Norman conquest. This 
 valuable relique (to which the present collection is largely indebted, 
 
 * The poetry also which occurs in the Saxon Chronicle was probably written 
 by persons contemporary with the events celebrated. 
 
 * The adventures of the unfortunate Gunnlaug at the court of Ethelred and 
 other monarchs, are not unlike those of our bard. See Gunnlaug s Saga, p. 97. 
 and Turner's Anglo-Saxomy v. i. p. 418. 
 
10 ANGLO-SAXON POETllY. 
 
 and which will liereafter be designated as the Exeter Manuscript) 
 consists of various poems chiefly on religious or moral subjects. 
 The Song of the Traveller (as I have ventured to name it), which 
 forms one of the few exceptions to this rule, occurs towards the 
 end of the MS. and seems to have no connection with the articles 
 preceding or following it. The hand-wTiting of the MS. appears 
 but little if at all anterior to the age of Leofric. The reasons which 
 induce the Editor to assign to the poem a date considerably earlier 
 will be more easily appreciated when the reader shall have been 
 made possessed of its contents. In the English version or rather 
 paraphrase which follows, the Editor, while he has endeavoured to 
 deviate as little as possible from the sense of the original, has ven- 
 tured to dispense with that closeness of imitation which it has, in 
 most othei: cases, been his wish to observe, but which in this in- 
 stance, if at all practicable, would scarcely have compensated for 
 the extreme jejuneness and barbarity of the Poet's historical and 
 geographical nomenclature ^ 
 
 WiD si^ ma^olade, Longum iter narravit,,. 
 
 Word-hord onleac Verhorum copiam reseravit 
 
 Se "^e maeste Ille qui plurima 
 
 Msei^a ofer eor'San Mirahilia de term 
 
 Folca jeond-ferde 5 Pojmlis, iterfaciens 
 
 Of "^e flette je^ah. (Prociil) a domo, intellexerat. 
 
 Mynelicne ma^^um^ Amicis verbis 
 
 Hine from Myr^injum Ilium a Myrgingis 
 
 ^ It may here be stated that this singular poem occurs at the commence- 
 ment of the 9th book or section of the Exeter MS. which has been described 
 by Wanley {Cat. MSS. Sax. p. 281) as consisting chiefly of aenigmas. His 
 usual industry and accuracy seem here to have forsaken him; for the section 
 in question contains little or nothing to which that name can, by any Ucence 
 whatever, be applied. 
 
 ^ This line may perhaps belong to the preceding clause in connection with 
 ' Word-hord onleac/ 
 
THE SONG OF THE TRAVELLER. 
 
 11 
 
 ^"iSele onwocon*, 
 He mid Ealhhilde, 
 Faelre freo^u, 
 VVebban foiTnan 
 Si'Sehre'S cyninjes 
 Ham jesohte, 
 Eastan of Onjle, 
 Eonnanrices 
 WraSes wasrlojan ^. 
 Onjon ^SL worn sprecan. 
 
 " Fela ic monna jefrsejn 
 
 Msej'Sum wealdan. 
 
 Sceai "Seoda ;5ehwylc 
 
 ©eawum lifjan, 
 
 Eorl aefter o'Srum 
 
 E-Sle raedan, 
 
 Se -Se his ^eoden-stol 
 
 Ge-Seon wile. 
 
 Dara wses -wala 
 
 Hwile selast, 
 
 And Alexandieas 
 
 Ealra ricost 
 
 Monna cynnes, 
 
 And he msest jeSah 
 
 10 
 
 15 
 
 20 
 
 30 
 
 Nobiles excitarunt ? 
 Ille cum Ealhilda 
 Fido amore 
 Uxore prima ? 
 Sithredi principis ? 
 Domum qiicesivit 
 Ex orient e ah Anglis 
 Hermamici 
 
 {Propter) iram infidam ? 
 Incepit tunc popiilum adioqui. 
 
 " Multos ego hommes nori 
 
 Potenter dominari. 
 Debet populus quisque 
 (Secundum) mores (suos)vivere, 
 Dux pro aliis 
 Nobilis cui^am capere, 
 0.5 Qui ejus solium 
 Vigere capiat. 
 Illorum fa it dixit its 
 Olimjiorent issimus, 
 Alexander J et 
 Omnium ditissimus 
 Humani generis, 
 Et ille plurimum viguit 
 
 ' I am doubtful as to the sense of this clause. It may however imply that 
 the nobles of his own country had encouraged him to travel, as appears to 
 have been the case with Gimnlaug. See Gunn. Sag. p. 96. and the note 66. 
 
 * It is to be regretted that the construction of those passages which I have 
 marked with ?, and which relate evidently to the personal history of the bard, 
 is more highly obscure than that of any others in the poem. The sense here 
 attributed to *Webban forman Si^ehre^ cyninjes' is purely conjectin-al. 
 The apparent purport of the last paragraph does not agree with what is after- 
 wards said in praise of Ilermanric. 
 
le 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POKTllY. 
 
 Dara ^e ic ofer foldan 
 Gefrsepi haebbe. 
 ^tla weold Hunum. 35 
 
 Eormanric Gotum. 
 Becca Baningum. 
 Bui'jendum Gifica^. 
 Casere weold Creacum. 
 And Celic Finnum. 40 
 
 Hagena Holm-ricum. 
 And Henden Glommum ^. 
 Witta weold Swsefum. 
 Wada Helsinjum*. 
 Meaca Myrjinjum. 45 
 
 Mearchealf Hundinjum ^. 
 Beodric weold Froncum. 
 Byle Rondinjum ? 
 Breoca Brondinjum "^. 
 Billing Wemum. 50 
 
 Oswine weold Eowura^. 
 And ^ Ytum Gefwulf. 
 
 (Ex) lis qiios ego per t err am 
 Celebratos audivi. 
 Attila imperavit Hunnis* 
 Hermanricus Gothis, 
 Becca Baningis ^ ? 
 Burgu n dis G ifica . 
 Casar imperavit Gr&cis, 
 Et Celic Finnis, 
 Hagena Elolmiensihus. 
 Et Henden Glommis, 
 Witta imperavit Suevis* 
 Wada Helsingis. 
 Meaca Myrgingis ? 
 Marculplius Hundingis ? 
 Theodoricus imperavit Francis 
 Thyle Rondingis ^ ? 
 Breoca Brondingis ? 
 Billing Varinis. 
 Oswine imperavit Eouis. 
 Et Ytis ? Gefwulf, 
 
 * I have added notes of interrogation to the names of tribes of which 1 am 
 unable to find any other mention. 
 
 * The name of Gifica stands at the head of the succession of Burgundian 
 kings. Nothing appears to be known of his age or actions. 
 
 ^ The Glommi were a Sorabic tribe, v. Weissii Antiquitates Misnko-Saxonicas. 
 p. 136 : e Cronico Ditmari. 
 
 '^ " Halsingaland civitas maxima Scritqfinnorum.'^ — ^Adam Bremens. The 
 Helsingians are enumerated among the people conquered by Regner Lodbrog ; 
 see his well known Death-song. 
 
 * See the story of Helgo Hundingicida in Saxo Grammaticus : but these 
 Hundingi appear to have been rather a family than a people. 
 
 ^ Qu(£re if Rudigni. 
 
 ^ Inhabitants of Brandenberg or Brondey. Vide Thorkelin in indice ad 
 Beowulf sub voce. ® Eoland. 
 
 ® There is a Liothida {q^d. populus Ide) mentioned by Jornandes, c. 3, 
 p. 612. 
 
THE SONG OF THE TRAVELLEH. 
 
 13 
 
 Finfolc Walding 
 
 Fresna cynne. 
 
 Si^ehere len^est 55 
 
 Sa3 Denum weolde. 
 
 Hnaef Hocinjum^ 
 
 Helm Wulfinjum^. 
 
 Wald Woinjum*. 
 
 Wod Dyrinjum 60 
 
 Saefer'S Sycjum^. 
 
 Sweom Onjend^eow. 
 
 Sceafthere Ymbrum. 
 
 Sceafa Lonjbeardum. 
 
 Hunhaet Werum. 65 
 
 And Holen Wrosnum^. 
 
 Hinjweald wsss hateii 
 
 Here-farena cyninj. 
 
 OfFa weold Onjle. 
 
 Alewih Denum. 70 
 
 Se waes 'Sara monna 
 
 Modjast ealra. 
 
 Nohwae^re he ofer OfFan 
 
 Eorlscype fremede, 
 
 Ac OfFa jesloj, 75 
 
 iErest monna. 
 
 Finnis Waldirig * 
 Frisomim ^eneri. 
 Sigehere diutissime 
 Danis maritimis imperavit. 
 IIn<j£f Hocingis ? 
 Helm Wulfingis, 
 Wald Woin^is ? 
 Wod Thyringis. 
 Sdrferth Sj/cgis. 
 Sueis Ongendtheoze. 
 Sceafthere Ymbris. 
 Sceafa Longobardis» 
 Hunhaet Weris ? 
 Et Holen Wrosnis ? 
 Hhigweald erat appellatus 
 Bellatorum rex. 
 Offa imperavit Anglis. 
 Alewih Danis. 
 Illefuit hominum 
 Fortissimus omnium. 
 Nullibi ilk super Offam 
 Principatum obtinuit, 
 Sed Offa constituit, 
 Primus hominum, 
 
 * The construction of this sentence is not clear. The name of Fin occurs a? 
 that of a king of the Fresna-cynne in BeoA\ailf. But if we here make Fin the 
 proper name, there will remain a greater difficult)^ in rendering the other 
 words. 
 
 ^ Of the names already known, the nearest in sound are Osi and Chauci. 
 ^ Or Ylfingi, a Norwegian tribe, v. Thorkelin ad Beowulf, p. 268. 
 ^ Quare if theBoii. Among the names of Scandinavian tribes given by Jor- 
 nandes (cap. 3), there occurs one not very dissimilar — ^Vagoth. 
 
 * Sictona. v. Grotium, 104, (pra^f ) 
 
 '^ Can these Wrosni be the Bonissi ,? 
 
14 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Cniht wesende 
 Cynerica nicest. 
 Nsenij efen-eald 
 Him eorlscype 
 Maran onarette 
 Ane svveorde. 
 IV'lerce jemeerde 
 VVi^ Myrjinjum, 
 Bi fifel dore, 
 Heoldon for^ si^^aii 
 Eiijle and Swffife, 
 Swa hit OfFa jesloj. 
 Hro^wulf and Hrobjar 
 Heoldon lenjest 
 Sibbe eet somne 
 Suhtor fsedran 
 Si^^an hi forwrascon 
 Wicinja cynn 
 And injeldes 
 Ord forbijdan 
 Forheowan set Heorote 
 Hea'So ^beardna ^rym. 
 
 Swa ic jeond ferde fela 
 Fremdra londa 
 Geond jinnejrund. 
 Godes and yfles 
 ©aer ic cunnode 
 
 Juvenis cum esset 
 
 Regnum max'wunn. 
 
 Nemo (Rqiifcviis 
 80 Illo principatum 
 
 Majorem erexit 
 
 Froprio ense. 
 
 Limitem designatiim 
 
 Contra Myrgingos. 
 85 Ad quinque urhium transitum, 
 
 Hahuerunt ex eo tempore 
 
 Angli et Siievi, 
 
 Uti eiim Offa constituit. 
 
 Hrothzculfits et Hrothgarus 
 90 Hahuerunt diutissime 
 
 Pacem inter se (simul) 
 
 Consanguinei a patre 
 
 Ex quo ultionem sumserc 
 
 {A) Wicingorum genere 
 95 Et pervicacia 
 
 Initium contuderunt 
 
 Ohtruncarunt ad Heorote 
 
 Excelsorum hominum potest a- 
 tem. 
 
 Ita ego peragravi multas 
 100 Ext eras regiones 
 
 Per amplam t err am. 
 
 Bonum ac malum 
 
 In lis cognovi 
 
 * I am not certain whetherl am justified in translating 'beardna' as though 
 it were written * beorna.' This passage shows the bard to have been acquainted 
 with Scaldic traditions. Hrothwulf is mentioned in the poem of Beowulf as 
 standing in the same relationship to Hrothgar. Heorot is celebrated in the 
 same poem as the palace or metropolis of Hrotbgar. 
 
THE SONG OF THE TRAVELLER. 
 
 15 
 
 Cnosle bidseled. 
 Freomasjum fe©r 
 
 105 
 
 Foljade wide *. 
 
 For^on ic maej sinjan and secjan, 
 
 Spell maenan 
 
 Fore menjo in meodu healle, 
 
 Hu me cyne jode 110 
 
 Cystum dohton. 
 
 Ic W8es mid Hunum, 
 
 And mid HredgoSum^, 
 
 JMid Sweom and mid Geatum, 
 
 And mid Su'^-Denum. 115 
 
 Mid Wenlum ic wses and mid 
 
 Waemum, 
 And mid Wicingum. 
 Mid GefSum ic wses and mid 
 
 Winedum, 
 And mid Gefflejum^. 
 Mid Enjlum ic waes and mid 
 
 Swaefum, 120 
 
 And mid iEnenum*. 
 Mid Seaxum ic wass and Sycjum, 
 And mid sweord werum. 
 Mid Hronum ^ ic waes and mid 
 
 Deanum, 
 And mid hea^o Reomum 125 
 M id Duringum ic wses. 
 And mid Drowendum, 
 
 Generi ihumano) datum, 
 
 A cognatis procul 
 
 Secutus sum late ? 
 
 Idcirco possum carter e et loqui, 
 
 Narrationem proferre [aula, 
 
 Coram hominibus in hydromelis 
 
 Quomodo me reges borii 
 
 Donis diiaverint, 
 
 Fui cum Hunnisy 
 
 Et cum IlredgothiSf 
 
 Cum Sueis et cum Geatis, 
 
 Et cum Danis Meridionalihus. 
 
 Cum Vinulis eram et cum Va- 
 
 rinisj 
 Et cum Wicingis. 
 Cum Gepidis fui et cum Fe- 
 ATedis, 
 
 Et cum Geflegis. 
 Cum Anglisfui et Sueris, 
 
 Et cum Ardenis. 
 
 Cum Saxisfui et Si/cgis ? 
 
 Et cum^gladiariis. 
 
 Cum Hronis fui et Danis, 
 
 Et cum summis Romanis, 
 Cum Thyriugis fui 
 Et cum Jaculalorihus ? 
 
 ' If my construction is right, there is a singular ellipse of the accusative 
 after * foljade/ Can ' foljian' mean simply to go or travel ? 
 
 2 Reidgoti inhabited the present Jutland. See Edda Snorronis, sub initio, 
 ^ Inhabitants of Gafleberg ? ^ Inhabitants of /Enen ? 
 
 * * Hrones nges ' is mentioned in Beowulf. 
 
16 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 And mid Burgendum. 
 
 Baer ic beah jeSeah, 
 
 Me "Sffire Gu^here forjeaf 130 
 
 Glsedlicne ma^'Sum, 
 
 Sondes to leane. 
 
 Nass ^aet saene cyninj. 
 
 Mid Froncum ic "Wces and mid 
 
 Frysum, 
 And mid Frumtinjum. 135 
 
 Mid Rujum ic wses and mid 
 
 Glommum, 
 And mid Rumwalum *. 
 S^\'ylce ic waes on Eatule 
 Mid iElfwine, 
 
 Se haefde moncynnes 140 
 
 Mine ^efr^je 
 Leohtest hond 
 Lofes to ^vyrcenne, 
 Heortan unhneaweste 
 Hrinja jedales, 145 
 
 Beorhtra beaja, 
 Beam Bad wines. 
 Mid Sercyn^m ic wass 
 And mid Serinpim. 
 Mid Creacum ic wses and mid 
 
 Finnum, 150 
 
 And mid Casere, 
 Se the winburja 
 Geweald ahte 
 Wiolane and ^vilna 
 And wala rices. 155 
 
 Et cum Burgundis, 
 Ibi ego armillisjiorui 
 Quas mihi Gudhere dedit 
 LcBto animo 
 Carminis in preemium. 
 Non est ille segnis rex. 
 Cum Francis fui ac Frisiis, 
 
 Et cum Frumtingis ? 
 
 Cum Rugiisfui ac Glommis, 
 
 Et cum Rumzoalis (Romanis). 
 
 Simulfui in Italia 
 
 Cum Mlfwino, 
 
 Ille hahuit hominum 
 
 Meojudicio 
 
 Facillimam manum 
 
 Benevole?itiam exhibercj 
 
 Cor largissimum 
 
 Annulorum distrihutione, 
 
 Fulgentium armillarum, 
 
 Filius Eadwini. 
 
 Cum Sercyngis } fui 
 
 Et cum Seringis ? 
 
 Cum Grcecis fui et cum Fin- 
 
 nis, 
 Et cum Casare, 
 Qui urhis sphndidcR 
 Imperium habet 
 Gazas et potentiam 
 Et divitias regni. 
 
 ^ On the application of this name to the Romans see Cluverii Germ. Aniig. 
 lib. 1. p. 79. 
 
THE SONG OF TH 
 
 I^'Iid Scottuni ic wass and mid 
 
 Peohtum, 
 And mid Scridefinnum.* 
 Mid Lid-wicinjum ^ ic wses and 
 
 mid Leomum^, 
 And mid Lonjb.eardura. 
 Mid hse^num and mid hgele^um, 
 And midHmidinjum. I6I 
 
 Mid Israhelum ic wss 
 And mid ExsyrinjLmi. 
 Mid Ebreum and mid Indeum, 
 And mid Ejyptum. l6.5 
 
 Mid Moidum ic waes and mid 
 
 Persum, 
 And mid Myrjinjum and ^lof- 
 
 dinjum % 
 And onjend Myrjinjum 
 And mid Amo^mjam ^ ? 
 Mid East-Dyrinjum ic wees 170 
 And mid Eolum, 
 And mid I stum 
 And Iduminjum- 
 And ic woes wi^ Eormanric '' 
 Ealle -^raje. 175 
 
 E TRAVELLER. 1? 
 
 Cum Scotisfiii ac Pictis, 
 
 Et cum Scriiqfi/mis. 
 Cum Lidmcingh fui ac Leo- 
 mis, 
 Ef cum Longobardis. \_ni8^ ? 
 Cum Paganis fui ac Cluistia- 
 Et cum Huudiugis t 
 Cum Israelitis fui 
 . Et cum Assyriis ; 
 Cum Ilehrccis ac Indis, 
 Et cum JEgyptiis. 
 Cum Medisfii ac Persis, 
 
 'Et cum Myrgingis et Mofdin- 
 
 gi.'i ? 
 Et iterum MyrgtJigis 
 Et cum Amotliif/gis r 
 Cum Thyriiigis orientalibusfui 
 Et cum Eolisy 
 Et cum jEdiis 
 Et Idumais. 
 
 Et ego fui cum Hermanric-o 
 Omni (hugo r) tempore. 
 
 ' See Jornandes, p. 740. 
 
 * The inhabitants of Armorica. See Chron. Saxon, p. 88. The name may 
 possibly be derived from ' Hd/ ship, and * wicin^,' war-king (vikingr, Isl,). 
 
 ^ Can these be the Lemovii of Tac^itiis .? 
 
 ^ ' Heeled ' is used for a man or hero. As it is here opposed to Heathens, I 
 iiave ventured to translate it Christians, 
 
 * Keysler mentions an altar discovered atNiewmayen dedicated " Matribu$ 
 . Mopate7isibus/' who appear (like the Mcitres Gallaica, Trevine, Sueba ancji 
 
 ethers) to have been local tutelary deities. See Keysler, Ant. Sept. 439.- 
 ■*. Othingi (if the text be correct) are mentioned by Jornandcs, c. 3.. 
 ' This p9!?sag€ has scar<:e1y the air of a forgery. ^ 
 
 C 
 
18 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Deer me Gotena cynin;^ 
 
 Gode dohte, 
 
 Se me beaj forjeaf, 
 
 Biii-jwarena fruma, 
 
 On 'Sam siex hund wa3s 180 
 
 Sma3tes ^oides jescyrcd 
 
 Sceatta-scillinj rime. 
 
 Done ic Eadjilse 
 
 On osht selde 
 
 Minum hleodryhtne 185 
 
 Da ic to 'Sam bicwom 
 
 Leofum to leane. 
 
 Dses "Se he me lond forjeaf 
 
 Mines fa^der e^el 
 
 Frea Myrjinja. J 90 
 
 And me 'Sa Ealhilde 
 
 OSerne forgeaf 
 
 Dryht-cwen daju^e 
 
 Dohtor Eadwines. 
 
 [lyre lof lenjde 1 95 
 
 Geond lond fela. 
 
 Don ic be sonje 
 
 Sec^an sceolde 
 
 Hwaer is under swejle selast 
 
 Disse jold-hrodene cwen 200 
 
 Giefe bryttian. 
 
 Don wit scilling sciran 
 
 Reorde for uncrum 
 
 Sije dryhtne 
 
 Sonj ahofan 205 
 
 Hkide bi hearpan \ 
 
 lllic vtihi GoUhontm rex 
 
 Benejccitj 
 
 Qui mihi armillam deditj 
 
 Civiam jiruuepSj 
 
 In cam sexceiiii erant 
 
 Aioi obrtjzati impensi 
 
 Sccatta-scUUngi numero. 
 
 Heine ego Eadgilso 
 
 In possessionem dedi 
 
 Mco patrono, 
 
 L'hi ego ad eum adveneram, 
 
 Amoris in gratiam, 
 
 Quoniam ille mihi terram dedit 
 
 MecE patriae 
 
 Dominus Myrgingorum, 
 
 Hit me tunc Ealhilda 
 
 Alia (terra) donavit 
 
 Regina benefica 
 
 FiJia Eadzcini. 
 
 Ejus umor duravit 
 
 Per multas terras. 
 
 Igitur ego in carmine . 
 
 Dicere debeo 
 
 Qualis est sub calo optima 
 
 Ilia anro ornata regina 
 
 In muneribus impertiendis. 
 
 JJbi ob pretium splendidum 
 
 Lingua ante nostram 
 
 Illustrem principem 
 
 Cantilenam clevarmit 
 
 Clare ad citliaram, 
 
 ^ OT^hihea.Yp2iU,cithardludeba7d.' This competition of l)ar(]s ' wit scilling 
 -ciran/ appears to have been common among the Gotliic as among the Gre- 
 
THE SOISTG OF THE TRAVELLER. 
 
 19 
 
 Hleo^or swinsade. 
 
 Don monije men 
 
 Modum wlonce 
 
 Wordum sprecan, 2 1 
 
 Da "Se wel cu^an, 
 
 Dset hi naefre song 
 
 Sellan ne hyrdon. 
 
 Donan ic ealne ^eond h^vearf 
 
 iE^el Gotena. 215 
 
 Sohte ic a si^ 
 
 Da selestan 
 
 Dset WJKS in weorud 
 
 Eormanrices. 
 
 He^can sohte ic and Beaderan 
 
 And Herehngas, 
 
 Emercan? sohte ic and Fridlan, 
 
 And East Gotan, 
 
 Frodne and godne 
 
 Fagder unwenes * 225 
 
 Seccan sohte ic and Beccan, 
 
 ^ Seafolan and Deodric, 
 
 Hea^oric and Sifccan, 
 
 Hh^c and Incjen^Seow, 
 
 Cantus sonuit. 
 Tunc multi homines, 
 
 Ma^nanimi 
 
 Verbis edixerunty 
 Qui bene periti erant, 
 Quod illi jiunquam carmen 
 Pulchrius audiverant. 
 hide ego omnem peragravi 
 Patriam GotJiorum. 
 Qu(£sivi postea 
 Fortunatissimum 
 Qui erat in pugna 
 Hermanricum. 
 Hethcan petii ac Beadecan 
 Et Her el in gas {Hernias ?), 
 Emercan quccsiri et Friedlam 
 Et Golhiain Orientalem, 
 Sene ac bono 
 Patre inscio ? 
 Seccan qiursivi et Bcccan 
 Seafolan et TJieodoricum, 
 Uealhoricnm el Sifecan 
 HlithUm et Inc<^entheoicnm, 
 
 cian tribes. Hesiod describes himself as victor in a contest of this kind at 
 Chalcis (Ep7a,6oo,). And a remarkable one which took place between Gunii- 
 laug and Rafn will be fomid in Gunn. Saga, p. 11-2. 
 
 ' The construction is here also obscure; ^unwen' usually means uiiknowQ 
 or unexpected. 
 
 2 I am indebted to Messrs. Taylor for pointing out the identity of this name 
 with that of Seefu^l preserved in the genealogy of iEUa (see Chron. Sax. p. 20.) 
 ' Elsa, 1. 230 and Wither jield, 1. 245, are not very unlike Esla grandfather af 
 Cerdic, and Wihtjils, father of Hengist and Horsa. — See Chron. Sax. pp. 13 
 and 15. — These persons (if they ever had a real existence) may very well have 
 iicen contemporaries and flo\u-ished about the year 440. 
 
 C 2 
 
20 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Eadwine sohte ic and Elsan, 230 
 
 Egei-mmid and Hungar, 
 
 And "cSa wloncan jedryht 
 
 Wi^ Myi-jinja» 
 
 Wulfhere sohte ic 
 
 And Wyrmhere ful oft. 235 
 
 Daer wij ne alcej, 
 
 Donne hreada here 
 
 Heardum s.weordum 
 
 Ymb wistla wudu 
 
 Werjan sceoldon 240 
 
 Ealdre e-Sel-stol ^ 
 
 ^tlanleodum. 
 
 "Rss^here sohte ic and Rondhere 
 
 Rumstan and Gislhere, 
 
 Witherjield and Freo^eric Q.i5 
 
 Wudjan and Ham an 
 
 Ne wasron "S^et jesi'^a 
 
 Da saemestan ^ 
 
 Deahte ich y a nihst * 
 
 Nemnan sceolde. £50 
 
 Ful oft of "^am 
 
 Heape hwynende 
 
 Fleaj Tieliende 
 
 Gar on jrome 'Seode 
 
 Eadwinum quasivi et EhaVf 
 Egelmundiim et Hu/igarum^ 
 Et impai^dum dominum 
 Mfjrghigorum *. 
 JVuIfherum qimsivi 
 Et JVi/rnihenim sccpissime. 
 Ibi (vel lUorum) helium non 
 Tiincferox exercitus [desiity 
 Duris ensibus 
 Circa sonantem clypeum 
 Defendere gestiebant 
 Aniiquam regni sedem 
 Contra Attilce pojmlum. 
 Rcutkhere quaisrci et Rondhere, 
 Ramstan et Gislhere, 
 Withergield -et Fredericum 
 Wudmm et Hamam 
 l^on erant illi comites 
 Deterrhni 
 
 Nominare debeam. 
 Sape ab illis 
 Exercitus pugnans 
 Fugit vociferans, 
 Telum inferocem populum 
 
 * or Contra Myrgingos. 
 
 ® Whether the ' Ealdre e^el-stol ' be Rome, or the empire of Wulfhere 
 and Wyrmhere themselves, must be left to conjecture. 
 
 ^ Scemre deto^ior (see Lye). 
 
 ** The whole of this clause is obscure, and of the present line as it stands I 
 can make no sense. If we suppose 'deahte' to be an error of the pen for 
 ^ ^aette,' it might be rendered Quos ego ulth/tos (or tandem). If ' deahte ' be 
 the genuine reading, it must either mean thought (subst.), or be the past 
 tense of ' ^ecan' to cover, but in neither case can I make sense of it. 
 
THE SONG OF THE TRAVELLER. 
 
 21 
 
 Wrasccan ^a weoldan 255 
 
 ^Vundnan jolde * 
 
 Werum and wifam 
 
 Wudja and Hama, 
 
 Swa ic ^ast symle onfond, 
 
 On "Sser ferinje, 260 
 
 DjBt se bi^ leofast 
 
 Lond buendam, 
 
 Se -Se hym God syle^ 
 
 Gumena rice 
 
 To jehealdenne, 265 
 
 Denden he her leofa-^. 
 
 Swa scri^ende 
 
 Gesceapum hweorfa^ 
 
 Gleomen jumena 
 
 Geond grunda fela, 270 
 
 Dearfe secja^, 
 
 Done word spreca^, 
 
 Su« o^^e Nor^. 
 
 Sumne jemeta'S 
 
 GyS^a jleawne . 275 
 
 Geofum unhneawne, 
 
 Se ^e fore duju^ 
 
 Wile dom arasran, 
 
 Eorlscipe cefnan, 
 
 O^^Se -Saet eal seeace^ 280 
 
 JiCoht et lifsomod : 
 
 Eiercere cum voluennf. 
 
 rulneratos rependeoaut 
 
 Viros et fceminas 
 
 Wiidga et Hama. 
 
 Ita ego id scepe inveni 
 
 In it 'mere J 
 
 Quod ille est carissimns 
 
 Terra incolis 
 
 Qui Deus addidlt 
 
 lioiniiium imperium 
 
 Gerendum, 
 
 Quumille eos habeat caros. 
 
 Ita commeaiite§ 
 
 Cum cantihnisferuritur 
 
 Bardi hominum 
 
 Per terras mult as, 
 
 Necessitafon dicunt, 
 
 Gratias agunt, 
 
 E Meridie simui ac Bored, 
 
 Simul (cos) remuneratur 
 
 Ob cantilenas pulcras 
 
 Muneribus im?nensis, 
 
 Ille qui ante nohiles 
 
 f^ult judicium (suum) extollere. 
 
 Dignitatem sustinere, 
 
 Tel qui omnia distribuit 
 
 Facilis et hctus animi 
 
 * The construction here also is difficult. ' Wundnan golde ' is I suspect 
 translated erroneously in the text : it is one of the usual paraphrases for brace^; 
 lets or collars, aurum tortum. The whole paragraph might perhaps be ren- 
 dered Scepc ah iUis,excrcitu piignantey volahut stridulum teliim in fcrocem popuJiim 
 extorquerc cumvolucrhit tortum aurum viris etfocminis: or, could S\Taeccap' bear 
 such a sense, repcndere turn gestiebant would be preferable, 
 
oo 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Lof se jewyrce'^ 
 Hafa'(5 under heofonum 
 Heah festne dum *• " 
 
 Amor em ille operalnr 
 Ilahct sub coclo 
 284 Stahilem famam (existimatio^ 
 nem)i'' 
 
 IN phrase diat spoke a poet's soul, 
 His treasured lore he 'gan unfold ; 
 
 He that had wander'd far and wide. 
 The Bard his toils and travels told* 
 
 From Mergia sprung of noble race, 
 He left the hall that gave him birth ; 
 
 And many a wondrous sight had seen, 
 Long roaming o'er the peopled earths 
 
 For he with love and service true. 
 In fair Alhilda's princely train, 
 
 From Anglia's eastern limits sought 
 A Gothic monarcii's rich domain* 
 
 He that of Hermanric had known 
 The liberal hand, the warrior pride, 
 
 Tuned to the listening crowd his song, 
 And told his travels far and wide. 
 
 Full many a monarch have I known 
 In peace and wealth his sceptre bear ; 
 
 Each land its native law shall own. 
 
 And he that seeks a lasting throne 
 
 Must make the people's w^eal his care. 
 
 First in riches and renown, 
 
THE SONG OF THE TRAVELLER. 
 
 Of all that bore an earthly crown, 
 The Macedonian monarch shone. 
 Theudric the warlike Frank obey'd, 
 Sceafa the Lombard sceptre sway'd ; 
 The savage Hun to ^tla* bow'd, 
 To Cehc the rude Finnish crowd. 
 Longest o'er the northern main 
 Sigehere led the pirate Dane ; 
 Where Denmark's midland realms extend, 
 She saw her sons to Elwy bend. 
 That homage OfFa scorn'd to pay. 
 While Anglia own'd his royal sway ; 
 He, in manhood's earhest pride, 
 Spread his rightful empire wide. 
 Brave was Elwy, — but the days 
 That witness'd Offa's warrior praise 
 Knew not ' prince or potentate 
 That rear'd so high his prosperous state. 
 Suevia's sons, and Myrgia's lord, 
 Bow'jd to Offa's conquering sword, 
 Saw his high will their bounds ordain, 
 Where five fair cities stud the plain, 
 Nor trespass since on Anglia's ricli domain. 
 
 Link'd by the bands of kindred blood, 
 Hrothgar and Hrothwulf's friendship stood. 
 
 Nor time could quell its generous glow. 
 Since first they crush'd the sea-king's pride. 
 When Hertha saw them, side by side. 
 Stem fierce rebellion's rising tide. 
 
 And lay the sons of slaughter low. 
 Through many a realm 'twas mine to scan 
 The weal and woe that's dealt to man. 
 
 ' Attila. 
 
24 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Weary and long has been my way, 
 But I full well, where mead flows free, 
 May boast amid my minstrelsy, 
 And tell how kings with ample fee 
 
 Have paid and cheer'd the wanderer's lay^ 
 I've sought the Hun's ferocious band, 
 And the high Roman's peerless land ; 
 Have seen the pirate sea-king's force. 
 Sped o'er Franconia's realms my course, 
 And journey'd where Elbe hastes to lave 
 Thuringia with his earUest wave ; 
 Have sought the Saxon and the Dane, 
 The Rugian's isle, the Swede's domain ; 
 Each land our northern seas embrace 
 Has been the wanderer's resting-place. 
 With gift that well the song repaid 
 Burgundia's realm my steps delay'd ; 
 When princely Guthere's ready praise 
 Waited on my varied lays ; 
 And soon the Bard's reward was told 
 In bracelets of the ruddy gold. 
 
 Ear o'er ItaUa's fair and fertile soil 
 
 My course w^as sped with Elfwine's faithful band 5 
 
 And Edwin's son well recompensed the toil. 
 For large his soul, and liberal was his hand. 
 A guest I've shared the minstrel's lot. 
 With Jute and Angle, Pict and Scot, 
 The state of Grascia's sons have known. 
 Where Caesar holds his lofty throne ; 
 The' imperial city's towering mien. 
 Her wealth, her power, her pomp have seen. 
 
 Well may Itell the garb, the port, the face 
 
 Of many a Western, many an Eastern race ; 
 
THE SONG OF THE TRAVELLER. 25 
 
 From him that o'er the' Egyptian desert roves, 
 Or shelter'd rests on Idumaean groves, 
 To him who bows beneath the Persian's sway, 
 Or dwells where Ganges courts the rising day. 
 
 Long was the time, and joj'ons all, 
 
 Spent in Hermanric's high hall ; 
 
 And well, full well, w^here'er he strays. 
 
 The Bard his grateful voice may raise. 
 
 In Hermanric's exhaustless praise. 
 
 Well may he sing fiom land to land 
 
 The Gothic monarch's bounteous hand : 
 
 No common gift was his ; to frame 
 
 The bracelet that he bad me claim, 
 
 Six hundred scillings full w^ere told^ 
 
 SciUings of the virgin gold. 
 
 The Bard his home regain'd, and soon 
 
 Edgils bore that precious boon : 
 
 And Edgils, Mergia's noble thane. 
 
 Repaid the gift with rich domain. 
 
 Noble was Edgils' gift, yet more 
 
 Alhilda added to the store ; 
 
 Edwin's daughter, bounteous queen. 
 
 Unchanged through many a varying scene. 
 
 The Bard has blest her fostering love. 
 
 And still, where'er condemn'd to rove, 
 
 Well may he sing that matchless dame. 
 
 Of all that bear a royal name. 
 
 First to dispense, with bounty free, 
 
 To grateful vassals land and fee. 
 
 'Twas when great Edgils bad the minstrel throng 
 For high reward assay the rival song, — 
 Sweet arose the vocal strain, 
 
 And sweet the harp's responsive tone ; 
 
26 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 But soon confess'd each listening thane, 
 
 The lay that pleased was mine alone. 
 I traversed then the Goth's domain, 
 
 And dwelt in Hermanric's high bower; 
 Of all that hold an earthly reign, 
 
 Best in arms, and first in power. 
 The time would fail me, should I sing 
 Of every thane and every king 
 That in my wanderings far and long 
 Has loved my harp and paid my song ; 
 Ere Myrgia saw the Bard again 
 Keturn to swell he» Edwin's train. 
 
 Eall oft the battle-field I sought, 
 Where Wnlfhere, leagued with Wyrmhere, fought 
 'Gainst ^tla's lawless sons contending, 
 Their ancient seat of powder defending ; 
 Where loud and long the temper'd sword 
 Hung on the rounded target board ^ 
 Befits it too my song should name 
 Wudga and Hama's warrior fame : 
 Strong in their brotherhood they bore 
 
 Dismay and death around, 
 Where routed foes in wild uproar 
 
 Or fled, or strew 'd the reeking ground ; 
 And WTeathed gold, and kingly spoil, 
 Repaid full well their gallant toil. 
 So sped the Bard, by kings and heroes sought. 
 And wide as o'er the nations still he roved. 
 One constant truth his long experience taught, 
 " Who loves his people is alone beloved." 
 
 ^ ^wudu' in the original ; — ^rond' is a common expression in A. S. poetry 
 for a shield or target. 
 
THE SONG OF THE TRAVELLER. £7 
 
 Thus north and south where'er they roam, 
 The sons of song still find a home, 
 Speak unreproved their wants, and raise 
 Their grateful lay of thanks and praise. 
 For still the chief, who seeks to grace 
 Ey fairest fame his pride of place. 
 Withholds not from the sacred Bard 
 His well-earn'd praise and high reward. 
 But free of hand, and large of soul. 
 Where'er extends his wide controul, 
 tJnnumber'd gifts his princely love proclaim, 
 tJnnumber'd voices raise to Heaven his princely name'. 
 
 * The tone of this flattering picture of the honours paid by the Gothic tribc3 
 to the Muses and their votaries, will remind the classical reader of that in 
 M^hich the early bards of Greece were accustomed to speak of themselves, 
 their pretensions, and their rewards. (Conf. Homer. Odi/ss. de Phemio et Dc^ 
 modoco, 1. 1, and 8. Hesiud. Epydc, 1. 656. and Find. Olymp. J. 1. 24.) Other 
 times and other manners at length sorely reduced the estimation and pride of 
 the minstrel. (See Percys HeliqucSjVol. 1. pref. p. xlix. andlii.) Of the state of 
 degradation which in later days was the lot of those who followed this impro- 
 fitable trade, the following rimes (preserved in one of the Ashmolean MSS.) 
 afford a melancholy specimen. They are the production of Richard Sheale, 
 the author of the older ballad of Chevy Chace (see Percy s Pel. vol. 1. p. 2. and 
 British Bibliographer, vol. 3. p. 3). 
 
 Now for the good chear that Y have had heare, 
 
 I gyve you hartte thanks, with bowyng ofl" my shankes. 
 
 Desyryng you be pctycyon to graunte me suche commission, 
 
 Becaus my name ys Sheale, that both by meate &: meale 
 
 To you I maye resorte, sum tyme to mye cumforte. 
 
 For I perseive here at all tymis is good chere. 
 
 Both ale wyne &: beere, as hit dothe nowe apere. 
 
 I perseve wythoute fable ye kepe a good table. 
 
 Some tyme I w'^ll be your geste, or els I w^ere a beaste, 
 
 Knowynge off your mynde, yff I wolde not be so kynde, 
 
 Sumtyme to tast you.re cuppe, & wyth you dyne & suppe. 
 
28 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 The reader being now in possession of the entire poem, will be 
 enabled to decide for himself the question of its age and authenti- 
 city. If the Avhole be not fictitious, (a supposition hardly to be re- 
 conciled with its minuteness of personal detail and want of poetical 
 interest,) the Editor is inclined to refer its original composition to 
 the middle of the 5th century, and, of course, to a Continental writer. 
 The bard declares himself to have been present at the contest of the 
 Huns with some of the Gothic tribes, (distinguishing the Huns as 
 the people of Attila,) to have visited Hermanric king of the Goths, 
 and Guthere king of Burgundy. Now Attila died in 453, Her- 
 manric son of Samson reigned over the Visigoths in Italy about 
 460, and the contemporary monarch of the Burgundians appears to 
 have been Gunderic, a name easily confounded with, or corrupted 
 into, that of Guthere. It may be added that neither Charlemagne 
 nor any of his more noted predecessors appear in his list of kings. 
 It might also perhaps be argued, from the number of obscure or 
 forgotten tribes particularized by name, that the poem was com- 
 
 I can be contente, yf hit be oute of Lente, 
 
 A peace of byffe to take, mye honger to aslake. 
 
 Bothe mutton & veile ys goode for Rycharde Sheale. 
 
 Thogge I look so grave, I were a veri knave 
 
 Yf I wolde thynke skorne, ethar even or morne, 
 
 Beyng in hongar, of fresshe samon or konger. 
 
 I desyre youe alwaye, marke what I do saye, 
 
 Althogge I be a ranger, to tayk me as no stranger. 
 
 I am a yonge begynner, & when I tayk a dynner, 
 
 I can fynde yn my hart wyth my frende to tayk a part 
 
 Of such as God shal sende, & thus I mayk an ende ; 
 
 Now farewel, good myn oste, I thanke youe for yowre coste, 
 
 Untyll another tyme, & thus do I ende my ryme. 
 
 R. Sheale. 
 
 The lover of early poetry may compare these with the exquisite farewell of 
 the minstrel commencing " Now Bnes ani buirdes bolde and 6/j/^Ae," published 
 hy Ritson from the Vernon MSS. {Ancient Songs, p. 44.)- 
 
THE SONG OF THE TRAVELLER. 29 
 
 posed before the various subdivisions of the Gothic race had co- 
 alesced into larger empires. 
 
 Whether or no this date be correctly assigned, there appears little 
 doubt but that the writer must have been a native of the Continent. 
 He speaks of his own countrymen the Myrjinjes, the Angles, and 
 the Suevi, as having been for some time contermini, which could 
 not have been the case in England, of w^hich country one might at 
 first sight, from the similarity of the words Myrjinjes and Myrcas 
 (J^Iercians), have suspected him to be a native. Who these ]Myr- 
 jinjes, however, were, is more than can perhaps, in the present 
 state of our knowledge as to the history and geography of those dark 
 and turbulent ages, be readily decided. Can they be the jNIarsigni 
 of Tacitus ? The same obscurity rests on the Baninjes, Rondinjes, 
 Hocinjes, Frumtinjes, and many other tribes mentioned in the 
 course of the poem : but this difficulty is common even to the pro- 
 fessedly historical documents of the same period. No antiquary has 
 yet been found capable of throwing light on the names of the "ge/e- 
 tes bellicosissimce/' said by Jornandes * to have been subdued by 
 the great Hermanric. 
 
 That the poem, however, as here given, is the unaltered produc- 
 tion of a bard of the 5th century, it is by no means intended to 
 affirm. Although every thing conspires to fix its original composi- 
 tion to that period, it is doubtless, in its present state, more safe to 
 regard it as a translation or rifaccimento of an earlier work. 
 
 1 Cap. 23. 
 
ANGLO-SAXON POEM 
 
 CONCERNING 
 
 THE EXPLOITS OF BEOWULF THE DANE. 
 
 1 HIS singular production, independently of its value as ranking 
 among the most perfect specimens of the language and versification 
 of our ancestors, offers an interest exclusively its own. It is un- 
 questionably the earliest composition of the heroic kind extant in 
 any language of modern, or rather of barbarous, Europe. The only 
 copy known to exist is preserved in a manuscript apparently of the 
 tenth century, one of the number fortunately rescued from the fire 
 which consumed so great a part of the Cottonian library, and now 
 deposited with the other remains of that magnificent collection in 
 the British Museum^ With the exception of some trifling injuries, 
 sustained probably at the time of that event, it is perfect and legible 
 throughout. 
 
 It was first noticed by H. Wanley^, as far back as the year 1705. 
 He states w4th truth that its subject is the exploits of Beowulf, 
 although he is mistaken in adding that they were performed in battle 
 against the petty monarchs {regulos) of Sweden. From the time 
 of Wanley I am not aware that it w^as examined by any of our 
 Saxon antiquaries until Mr. S. Turner made some pretty copious 
 extractsfrom the opening cantos, a hteral translation from which he 
 has inserted in the Essays attached to his learned and valuable history 
 of the Anglo-Saxons^. As it will readily be perceived by every one 
 
 ' Bib. Cot. VltelUm A. 
 
 ® In the Catalogue of Saxon MSS. which forms the 3d vol. of Hickes's T/?e- 
 aauras Lit. Septcnt. p. '2 VS. ^ Vol. 2. p. '291 of ibc quarto editiQQ. 
 
BEOWULF. 31 
 
 acquainted with that able work, that Mr. Turner's view of the poem 
 does not aUogether coincide with that contained in the present abs- 
 tract*, the writer is anxious to account for his difference from a 
 friend whose opinion on subjects of this nature is not lightly to be 
 questioned, and to the general accuracy and extent of whose re- 
 searches he feels himself, in common with every lover of our national 
 antiquities, most deeply indebted. No imputation can, in fact, at- 
 tach to the acuteness or industry of Mr. Turner. He was deceived 
 by an accident, the transposition of a single leaf in the MS., which 
 for some years laid the present Editor (who had made for his own 
 use a faithful transcript of the part analysed by Mr. Turner) under 
 a nearly similar mistake as to the subject of the poem^: a mistake 
 at length rectified by the labours of an eminent foreign scholar, to 
 whom we owe the first and only edition of the entire work. This ap- 
 peared from the press of Copenhagen in the year 1815, and contains, 
 together with the original, a Latin translation nearly literal ; a preface, 
 and two copious indices, (constructed on such a plan as partly to 
 supply the absence of notes,) from the pen of G. J. Thorkelin, a 
 name already celebrated in the annals of Northern hterature. It had 
 long (he states) been the wish of Arnas Magnusen, Suhm, and 
 other learned and patriotic Danes, to obtain the publication, or the 
 transcription at least, of a document so evidently connected with 
 the early history of their country, and possessing such unquestion- 
 
 ' Mr. Turner represents Beowulf as the enemy of Hrothgar. It will be seen 
 that the object of his expedition was to assist that monarch against the attacks 
 of a powerful and mysterious aggressor. 
 
 * The leaf in question now stands as part of the iirst, whereas it in reality 
 belongs to the 11th canto. Had Mr. T's object rendered it necessary^ for him 
 to carry his examiriation as far as this point, he would doubtless at once have 
 perceived the deficiency in the former, and the redimdancy in the latter. But 
 as it was fully sufficient for his purpose to extract a part only of the commence- 
 ment, he was naturally misled not merely as to the argument of the poem, 
 hut also as to the construction of many passages, which, without a general 
 notion of its drift, are nearly upinteHigible. 
 
3'2 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 able claims to a high antiquity. Circumstances howe\er, which 
 are not clearly explained, prevented the accomplishment of their 
 wishes until the year 1786, when Thorkelin, then on an antiquarian 
 visit to this country, made a faithful copy of the whole. This, with 
 a translation and commentary which had cost him much labour and 
 expense, was ready for publication in the year 1807, when the 
 whole was unhappily destroyed, together with great part of his lite- 
 rary and personal property, during the siege of Copenhagen by the 
 British forces- 
 
 The encouragement however of some powerful friends, induced 
 the literary veteran to recommence the task of preparing the work 
 for the press, a task performed under many disadvantages in the 
 edition above mentioned. The Saxon scholar must not therefore 
 be surprised or displeased if he discover numberless inaccuracies 
 both in the text and version of Thorkehn, nor the more general 
 reader feel disappointed if he finds himself able to collect from the 
 latter no more than a vague and superficial outline of the story. 
 Imperfect as the pubhcation certainly is, it is still a very valuable 
 accession to our limited stock of information in this branch of our 
 national antiquities. 
 
 Such is the literary history of this ancient poem. Before we pro- 
 ceed to examine into its age, origin, or contents, it appears neces- 
 sary to state, that for the purpose of making the present abstract, 
 the text has been throughout carefully collated with the original ma* 
 nuscript, and the translation of Thorkehn revised with all the dili- 
 gence of which the Editor is capable. 
 
 The manuscript is, as was before stated, apparently of the 10th 
 century ; to the earher part of which the late Mr. Astle was inclined 
 to attribute it. Whether the poem itself be, in its present dress, 
 of a higher antiquity than this, we have no evidence external or in- 
 ternal which might enable us to pronounce. In the opinion of 
 Thorkelin, it was originally written in the language of Denmark by 
 an author cotemporary and personally acquainted with his heroes, . 
 the chief of whom, Beowulf^ he supposes to be the same witii Boe 
 
BEOWULF. S3 
 
 or Bous son of Odin, said by Saxo Grammaticus to have fallen in 
 battle with Hother about the year 340^ 
 
 Thorkelin further conceives that the present translation may pos- 
 sibly have been executed by or at the command of the illustrious 
 Alfred. It is with some diffidence, and not till after an attentive 
 examination, that the present editor ventures to doubt, with a single 
 exception, the whole of these conjectures. The only point in w^hich 
 Thorkelin's hypothesis appears to him to be borne out by the lan- 
 guage and aspect of the poem, is the probability tliat it may be a 
 translation or rifaccimento of some earlier work. The Witer speaks 
 of his story as one of ancient days, and more than once appeals for 
 his authority either to popular tradition or to some previously exist- 
 ing document. Whatever was his age, it is evident that he was a 
 Christian, a circumstance which has perhaps rendered his work less 
 frequent in allusions to the customs and superstitions of his pagan 
 ancestors, and consequently somewhat less interesting to the poetical 
 antiquary than if it had been the production of a mind acquainted 
 
 ^ Saxo Grammaticus, 11. D. lib. 3. p. 46. There appears, however, to be no 
 similarity in the fortunes or family of the two chieftains. The resemblance 
 which the name of Boe possesses to the first syllable of that of Beowulf is 
 but precarious ground for assuming that it designates the same person. It is 
 extraordinary that Thorkelin has deprived our hero in another place of the 
 first syllable also of his name. In the course of the poem one Ilrothwulf is 
 incidentally mentioned, whom he pronounces, upon no discoverable grounds, 
 to l)e the same with Beowulf. The notion that the writer was cotemporary 
 with his hero seems to be grounded on a misconstruction of some passages of 
 the work, and is in effect contradicted ])y the general tenor of its language, 
 and the highly man^ellous tinge which is given to various parts of the story : 
 such colouring, though in a traditionary tale we might naturally expect to find 
 it, would scarcely he ventured on by a cx)temporary. The supposition concern- 
 ing Alfred is purely gratuitous. Upon the whole, — yet without the remotest 
 wish of detracting from the obligation which the learned septuagenarian has 
 conferred on the literature both of our own and of his native country,- — one 
 cannot but regret that the task of publishing and illustrating this valuable 
 remnant of antiquity had not fallen into the hands of one more intimately 
 versed in the genius and construction of our. Saxon Poetry. 
 
 D 
 
34 " ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 only Avith that wild and picturesque mythology which forms so pe- 
 cuUar and attractive a feature of the earlier productions of the Scan- 
 dinavian muse. 
 
 It remains only to add, that the poem of Beowulf has been placed 
 thus early in the present volume, under the impression that it was 
 (as Thorkehn conjectures) translated or modernized, in the Dano- 
 Saxon period of our history, from an original of much higher anti- 
 quity. The internal evidence of its language, and the structure of 
 its sentences, in which it much resembles the poems attributed to 
 Csedmon, would appear to justify our attributing it, in its pre- 
 sent form, to the same eera which produced those singular compo- 
 sitions ^. 
 
 That its phraseology and allusions are frequently less intelligible 
 may be readily accounted for by the greater obscurity of the sub- 
 ject^, an obscurity which the editor is anxious to plead in extenu- 
 ation of the errors which will doubtless be found in his own at- 
 tempts to render this interesting rehque of antiquity more generally 
 accessible ^. 
 
 ^ About A.D. 700, if we agree with Junius; if with Hickes, about 900. (See 
 the article on Ceedmon below.) 
 
 * It may be added that the original MS. does not appear to have been exe- 
 cuted with the usual accuracy and neatness of the Saxon transcribers. 
 
 3 In order to preserve the narrative uninterrupted, those portions of the 
 original which have been selected as best fitted for the purpose of illustration, 
 will be found at the end of the abstract; they are chiefly such as, in the abs- 
 tract itself, are rendered into blank verse. In compliance with the wish of 
 some antiquarian friends, the collation of Thorkehn's edition with the ori- 
 ginal MS. is subjoined. 
 
BEOWULF. 
 
 List ! we have learnt a tale of other years, 
 Of kings and warrior Danes, a wondrous tale, 
 How ffithehngs bore them in the brunt of war. 
 
 Thus the poet announces what has now so entirjfly indeed be- 
 come " a tale of other years," that little or no light can be drawn 
 even from the copious stores of Scaldic literature for the illustration 
 of either the personages or events which it commemorates. 
 
 The introduction is occupied by the praises of Scefing, a chief- 
 tain of the Scylding family, (who appears to have been the founder 
 of a kingdom in the western part of Denmark,) and of his son and 
 successor Beowulf. The embarkation of the former on a piratical 
 expedition is then detailed at some length. In this expedition (if I 
 rightly understand the text) himself and his companions were taken 
 or lost at sea. 
 
 CANTO I. 
 
 Beowulf now ascended the throne of his father, and was after a 
 long and prosperous reign succeeded by his sc«i Healfdene, who 
 became the father of three sons and a daughter (Elan), given in mar- 
 riage to a chieftain of the Scylfings. Of his three sons, Heorogar, 
 Hrothgar, and Halgatil, the eldest appears to have died before him- 
 self, the second (Hrothgar) succeeded to the throne, and is repre- 
 sented as being at the period of the present stor}^ much advanced 
 in years. Soon after his accession to the royal dignity he had em- 
 ployed himself, we are told, in the erection of a splendid palace or 
 
 D2 
 
36 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 hall (named Heorot or Heort) for the reception and entertainment 
 of his friends and companions in war, 
 
 A hall of mead, such as for space and state 
 The elder time ne'er boasted ; there with free 
 And princely hand he might dispense to all 
 (Save the rude crowd and men of evil minds) 
 The good he held from Heaven. That gallant work, 
 Full well I wot, through many a land was known 
 Of festal halls the brightest and the best. 
 Hertha its name, — for so the monarch will'd 
 Whose word was power ; beneath that echoing roof 
 His bidden guests he honour'd, dealing oft 
 Bracelet and ring of the pure silver wrought, 
 Fit gift for high and princely festival. 
 
 But this exhibition of royal munificence was destined to become 
 tlie cause of liiuch bloodshed and misery. 
 
 For one stranger foe. 
 Gloomy and forceful, long with deep despite 
 Heard from his dark abode day after day 
 Their joyous revelry : for oft uprose, 
 Loud ringing through those bowers, the harp's glad voice ; 
 And oft the bard, whose memory's treasured store 
 Was of the days and generations past, 
 Waked the sweet song ; " Of Him who first outspread 
 And compass'd with the waves earth's lovely face ; ' 
 
 The' Almighty one : how, glorious in his might, 
 The hghts of Heaven far-beaming, sun, and moon, 
 He set on high for man — for man adorn'd 
 Earth's various climes with forest, fruit, and flower. 
 Quickening to life each form of things that be." 
 Thus fared the chieftains in their day of bliss 
 Riglit gallantly, till that foul and hateful fiend 
 
BEOWULF. 37 
 
 Wreak'd on them his sad vengeance ; that fierce spirit 
 Roaming the marches in his lonely might — 
 The Grendel — he that by the Fifel tribe 
 Fastness and fen-land held and dark morass, 
 Unholy wanderer. 
 
 This evil and mysterious enemy, who is elsewhere described as a 
 magician (helruna), as possessed of more than human strength and 
 stature, and as invulnerable to all weapons of earthly mould, "was," 
 the poet continues, " of the progeny of Cain, who were exiled in 
 consequence of the sin of their ancestor; a wicked and gigantic race, 
 of whom came the Jutes, Ylfes, and Orcneas." Grendel himself 
 was, it seems, a Jute, one of those earlier inhabitants of the Cim- 
 bric Chersonese, whom the hatred and perhaps in some cases the 
 fear of the later Gothic settlers had invested with many terrific and 
 supernatural attributes. 
 
 CANTO II. 
 
 This is chiefly occupied with a detail of the nightly ravages com- 
 mitted by the Grendel on the court of Hrothgar. At his first visit 
 to Heort he is stated to have destroyed thirty of its slumbering and 
 unsuspicious inhabitants. From this time he continued to wage an 
 implacable warfare against the objects of his revenge and envy. No 
 champion could be found of sufficient strength to contend against 
 him ; nor was there any hope, adds the poet, of removing his en- 
 mity by fee or ransom. Even that which appears to have been the 
 last resource of the monarch and his despairing courtiers — an appeal 
 to their false deities — was unavailing. The canto terminates with 
 some reflections on their superstition, which (with the reference 
 •made to Cain in the one preceding) sufficiently prove the translator, 
 if not the original author, to have been a Christian, 
 
38 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 CANTO III. 
 
 So on the breast of Halfdane's prudent son 
 Continual sorrow prey'd ; nor wist he still 
 What might avail to quell his fiendish foe : 
 For all too strong was that oppressor's hand, 
 Loathsome and dark, that long with hateful force 
 Wreak'd on the Dane his nightly work of blood. 
 
 Such tidings of the Grendel and his deeds 
 The Goths' high chief, the thane of Higelac, learnt ; 
 He that was strongest of the sons of men. 
 And soon that noble soldier bad array 
 A goodly ship of strength. The hero spoke 
 His brave intent, far o'er the sea-bird's path 
 To seek the monarch at his hour of need. 
 
 Full swift address'd them to that enterprise 
 His loved associates. Of the Gothic race 
 Thrice five bold champions chose the dauntless chief. 
 Keenest in fight beyond their fellows known. 
 
 They sought the bark ; a wary pilot first. 
 Well in his seacraft skill'd, each landmark taught. 
 
 And now the chief delay'd not, for their vessel 
 Was on the waters ; by the sea-girt cliffs 
 She floated, while the ready warriors plied 
 Near the tide-beaten sands the well poised oar.^ — 
 Deep in her hold all the bright gear of war. 
 Armour and arms, were stow'd, as fitted best 
 The willing purpose of their way. — And now 
 By favouring winds propell'd, e'en as a bird 
 She cut the waves that foam'd around her prow. 
 Thus ere the second day had closed upon them — 
 So swift they swept the deep — the eager host 
 
BEOWULF. 39 
 
 Saw the bright cliffs and lengthen'd headlands rise, 
 And knew in that steep shore their destined port. 
 
 Soon on the beach the men of Northern sires 
 Descending, bless'd the power that sped their way, 
 And moor'd their bark, and donn'd their ghttering mail. 
 
 Nor was it long, ere he who held in charge 
 To guard each inlet of the rocky coast, 
 The Scylding's warden, from his tower descried 
 The prompt and well train'd band in fair array 
 Bearing their bright shields onwards. Then arose 
 Care in his heart, and question, who might be 
 That stranger host ; and straight he flew to horse 
 And sought the shore, and high uplifted shook 
 His herald staff, and thus in solemn guise 
 Bespoke them : " Whence and what ye are, declare, 
 Who thus in arms o'er ocean's watery path 
 Have urged to Denmark's coasts your rapid keel. 
 *Tis mine, the warden of the seas, to hold 
 With loyal care these outposts for the Dane, 
 Lest pirate force assail them. # # * 
 
 And sure, methinks, mine eyes ne'er yet beheld 
 A chief of nobler port than him that leads you ; 
 No stranger (if his bright and beauteous aspect 
 Belies him not) to the proud garb of war. 
 Nor in its toils unhonour'd. Speak ye then. 
 Ere yet your further march explore our realm, 
 Or friend or foe, your names and kindred speak. 
 Hear, ye far-faring tenants of the wave, 
 My full and clear demand — soonest were best 
 To give me answer — whence and what ye are." 
 
40 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 . CANTO IV. 
 
 Him answering straight, the chieftain freely oped 
 The treasury of his speech : " Our race and blood 
 Is of tlie Goth, and Higelac our lord : 
 My sire was known of no ignoble line, 
 (Well may he live in wise men's memories,) 
 Ecgtheow his name ; full niany a winter's tide 
 Pass'd o'er him, ere he left this nether earth. 
 In peace and truth we come to seek thy prince, 
 Halfdane's illustrious son, with proffer'd aid 
 To shield his people. Thou hast judged us falsely ; 
 For matters of high import have we sought 
 (Nor would conceal our quest) the royal Dane. 
 Thyself mayst judge, since haply thou hast known 
 For true or false, the traveller's sad report : 
 Men tell us that some foul and fiendish foe 
 At nightfall wages in the Scylding's bower . 
 Uncouth and horrible war. In this his need 
 With no unfriendly purpose have we come. 
 If aught perchance we may devise of skill 
 Or force to aid thy lov^ed and honour'd lord. 
 Should he return whose baleful outrage calls 
 For swift and sure revenge. So may the care 
 That ceaseless racks thy master's breast be still'd, 
 And (that oppressor's malice timely crush'd) 
 The festal mansion of thy nobles stand 
 Once more secure in peaceful majesty." 
 He spoke. The warden then (as best beseem 'd 
 One conscious of high charge, in work and word 
 Fearless and prudent) the stout thane repUed : 
 " Since now I know ye for the Scylding's friends. 
 Go forth, arm'd and caparison'd as ye hst — 
 
BEOWULF. ^ 41 
 
 Go forth : but first (such caution ye may guess 
 The chance of pirate warfare soothly prompts) 
 Emptied of all her stores your new pitch'd bark 
 Draw upwards to the sands ; there she may rest, 
 Till o'er the ocean streams she speed again, 
 Her arch'd neck proudly bearing to your home/' 
 
 Having received this permission, and secured their vessel, they 
 commenced their march towards Heort, whither the news of their 
 arrival had preceded them, and appears at first to have excited some 
 suspicions in the mind of Hrothgar. 
 
 CANTO V. 
 
 The bidden way those bold companions trod 
 
 Was of the well hewn stone. On each man's breast 
 
 The strong forged vest of war resplendent blazed; 
 
 Loud rang the linked mail, as in their pride 
 
 They bore them onwards to fair Hertha's bower. 
 
 There by its lofty wall their ample shields. 
 
 Stout in the storm of bucklers, they reposed, 
 
 And bow'd them to their seats. Together piled 
 
 Stood the bold seaman's weapons, haft of ash 
 
 And head of glittering steel. And soon upspoke 
 
 A sturdy chief, and sought the warriors' quest : 
 
 " Speak whence ye come, and wherefore, thus in arms. 
 
 With shield, and sark of mail, and frowning helm : 
 
 The' attendant guard of Hrothgar bids you speak, 
 
 Since ne'er beheld we yet of stranger tribe 
 
 So proud array and warlike. Well I ken 
 
 With high intent and friendly ye have sought 
 
 The hall of Hrothgar, nought of secret feud 
 
 Or open insult purposing." Him anon 
 
 The' undaunted chieftain answer'd ; from beneatli 
 
 \ 
 
42 ANGLO-SAXON POKTUY. 
 
 His crested helm the leader of that host 
 
 Spoke gallantly : " The trusty thanes are we 
 
 Of Higelac, and Beowulf is my name : 
 
 Mine errand will I show to your high lord, 
 
 Halfdane's illustrious son, if he permit 
 
 Our loyal greeting/' Thus he shortly spake ; 
 
 And Wulfgar (he of the Vendelic race 
 
 Chiefest for wisdom as for valour known) 
 
 Quick answer gave : " To Denmark's generous lord, 
 
 The princely Scylding, will I straight unfold 
 
 The purpose of your journey, and anon 
 
 Such answer as his goodness deigns, return." 
 
 He spoke, and nought delaying sped his steps 
 
 Where Hrothgar sat amid his banded earls. 
 
 Reverend and bald with years. Full nigh his side 
 
 The hero stood ; and soon the monarch knew 
 
 That faithful thane, and his swift message heard. 
 
 The messenger's oration briefly armounces the arrival of the 
 strangers and the name of their leader, urging their dignified and 
 warlike appearance as an inducement to the aged monarch to gra- 
 tify them by his favourable reception. 
 
 CANTO VI. 
 
 <- 1 knew Beowulf well (answered Hrothgar) while he was yet a 
 child, — the son of that Ecgtheow to whom the king of the Goths 
 gave his own daughter in marriage. Travellers have since related 
 to me that he has the strength of thirty men. Doubtless Heaven 
 has sent him to our assistance, and I am resolved to proffer him a 
 noble recompense if he will undertake to deliver us from the attacks 
 of the Grendel. Hasten, therefore, to invite into our palace him and 
 his companions, and bid them welcome to the people of Denmark." 
 
 Wulfgar having deUvered this answer, Beowulf and a part of his 
 
BEOWULF. \ 43 
 
 companions are immediately admitted to the presence of Hrothgar, 
 whom Beo\vulf is represented as addressing (in a manner not un- 
 characteristic of the age, or unlike that of the Homeric heroes) with 
 the commendation of his own prow^ess, and the expressions of his 
 readiness to undertake the proposed contest. 
 
 " Thou Hrothgar, hail ! 
 I am the thane and kin of Higelac ; 
 One that have master'd in my day of youth 
 Full many a deed of gallant enterprise. 
 And now in mine own country have I heard 
 Bruited by loud report the Grendel's wrong : 
 For strangers told, that, soon as evening's light 
 Beneath Heaven's vault sought its deep hiding-place, 
 Thy princely bower all emptied of its guests 
 Stood useless. Then this valiant band and wise, 
 Counseird that I should seek thee at thy need ; 
 For they best knew my prowess, they had seen me, 
 What time I came deep dyed in hostile gore 
 From dread and perilous war ; then in one night 
 With hardy grasp I quell'd five savage Jutes, 
 And plunged them howling in the ocean wave. 
 And now with Grendel, with that guilty one. 
 Fiend though he be, alone will I assay 
 The mortal strife. 
 
 " I have heard 
 That that foul miscreant's dark and stubborn flesh 
 Recks not the force of arms : — such I forswear, 
 Nor sword nor burnish'd shield of ample round 
 Ask for the war ; all weaponless, hand to hand 
 (So may great Higelac's smile repay my toil) 
 Beowulf will grapple with this nightly foe. 
 There, as Heaven's righteous judgement shall award. 
 One of us falls. 
 
44 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 " Should that fate be mine, 
 Give to its earthy grave my blood-stain'd corse, 
 Raise liigh the mound, where many a passer by 
 (Within the trench that circhng marks the plain) 
 May swell with pious hand the stony mass 
 Unsorrowing — little need with long parade 
 Of tears to grace the banquet of the dead. 
 But this, the gorgeous mail that guards my breast, 
 By Weland's art high temper'd, duly send 
 To royal Higelac. Now, betide what may." 
 
 CANTO VII. ^ 
 
 Hrothgar in answer, after expressing his gratification at so tiraely 
 a prospect of assistance, and his recollection of Beowulf's father, 
 recapitulates the injuries he has suffered from the unconquerable 
 
 violence of the Grendel. 
 
 " Full oft my gallant thanes, 
 JFired by the generous mead, have rashly dared 
 With trenchant blade await the Grendel's force. 
 Then was this kingly hall ere dawn of day 
 Stain'd with man's life-blood, fi*esh on every bench 
 The gore steam'd horribly. So lost our state 
 Many a true hegeman ; a sad death overtook thern. 
 But ye, brave w^arriors, haste ye to the feast. 
 And in the hall of w^assel as ye list 
 Be seated." 
 
 The heroes accordingly repair to the hall, and join in the festivity 
 and copious libations of the Danish nobles. 
 
 CANTO VIII and IX. 
 
 Hunferth the son of Eglaf, who is elsew^here described as the 
 orator of Hrothgar, jealous of the provvess of Beowulf, and warmed 
 
BfeOWULF. 43 
 
 by liquor, attacks him in a strain of sarcastic raillery on his piratical 
 exploits, and prophesies that he will find in the Grendel a less trac- 
 table enemy than any he has yet encountered. Beo^vulf answers in 
 a mild and dignified manner, recounts (perhaps as a kind of set-off 
 against the charge of piracy) his exploits in the destruction of cer- 
 tain ferocious sea monsters, and concludes by insinuating that had 
 the courage and strength of Hunferth been equal to his vanity, the 
 Scylding had long ago been freed from the assaults of Grendel. 
 Their comersation is now terminated by the entrance of Hrothgar 
 and his queen Wealtheowa. The latter bears round with her own 
 hand the mead-cup ; and in offering it to Beowulf expresses her gra- 
 titude to Heaven and her confidence in his valour. The hero shortly 
 answers, that from the time he embarked on the expedition he had 
 fully made up his mind to deliver them from their unnatural enemy 
 or to fall in the contest. Their festivities continued until the mo- 
 narch (having previously saluted Beowulf, and committed to him 
 in form the charge and defence of his palace for the night) retired 
 to his chamber. 
 
 CANTO X. 
 
 Beowulf, after the departure of Hrothgar, delivers the whole of 
 his armour and weapons to his attendant ; expresses in a short speech 
 his conviction that against the Grendel they would be useless, and 
 his acquiescence in whatsoever the will of Heaven should destine 
 as the result of their contest, and retires to the couch prepared for 
 him. 
 
 And round their chief that seaman band 
 Sought each his bed ; but none was there whose soul 
 Thought to revisit thence his country's soil, 
 Kindred or friends, or tow^n that gave them birth ; 
 For well they knew that in that festal hall 
 Full many a gallant Dane the murderer's grasp 
 Had done to death. 
 
46 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 But Heaven had decreed at length to release the subjects of the 
 good Hrothgar from their insatiable oppressor. The night drew 
 on, and every soul in the palace slept — save one. 
 
 CANTO XL 
 
 When on the moor beneath the hill of mists 
 
 The Grendel came — a heaven-abandon'd wretch 5 — 
 
 The foul assassin thought in that high hall 
 
 To gorge some human prey. Onwards he pass'd 
 
 In darkness, till right near he might behold 
 
 That princely bower, the nobles' golden seat 
 
 Rich deck'd with many a mead-cup. Was not that 
 
 His first foul errand to the Scylding's courts ; 
 
 But never yet had he encounter'd there 
 
 W^ith mightier man or bolder. Soon he reach'd, 
 
 A joyless guest, that hall ; soon, unopposed, 
 
 With giant arm fierce in his wrath dash'd down 
 
 Her iron-banded gates ; and now he trod 
 
 Her chequer'd floor, angry of soul he moved, 
 
 A fiendish foe ; and flamelike, as he strode, 
 
 Shot from his eyes a sad and hideous light. 
 
 There might he see the heroes at their rest — 
 
 A band of brothers. Then his heart was glad. 
 
 For sooth he thought, or ere the morrow dawn'd. 
 
 From each man's corpse to drain the blood of life. 
 
 Unhallow'd miscreant ! 
 
 Firm of soul meanwhile 
 The thane of Higelac watch'd, full fain to prove 
 How that foul fiend would fare beneath his grasp. 
 Nor long delay the murderer brook'd ; for still 
 In other days light effort had it cost 
 To slay the uncautious warrior in his sleep. 
 To crush the yielding bones, and from each vein 
 
BEOWULF. 47 
 
 Draw the ^varm current. So he soon had reft 
 Body and limb (his foul repast) of life. 
 
 Now strode he onward, and with slaughterous hand 
 -^Pounced on the wary chief. He swift uprose 
 (Nor reckless of his aim nor weak of grasp) 
 And dash'd to that fair floor the' astounded foe. 
 Soon found that base one, that in the' elder time 
 (Since first he roam'd the waste) he ne'er might cope 
 With sterner soul or hand of hardier grasp. 
 Care w^as upon his heart and sudden dread ; 
 Fain would he seek his own unhallow'd den, 
 And shroud himself in darkness, for he met 
 Such w^elcome as of old he wist not there. 
 Nor less bethought him of his evening pledge 
 The gallant thane of Higelac : firm he stood. 
 And seized the monster. Yet he might not triumph, 
 His hold was loosen'd, and the Jute was free. 
 Swift rush'd the hero forwards, all his care 
 Lest the dark murderer scape, and wing his flight 
 To fen and fastness. Soon again he felt 
 Beneath that grasp of power, that he had bent 
 In evil time his steps to Hrothgar's home. 
 Loud w^as the din, and fierce the champion's rage, 
 And keen the strugrole. Ye had marvell'd then 
 How that fair hall might stand the furious shock 
 Unlevel'd w^ith the plain ; — nor had it steed, 
 But that the well wTought iron's massy force 
 Banded it round, and held it all compact. 
 Then from its base uptorn full many a couch 
 Splendid with gold, the mead-carouser's seat. 
 Fell, where they bore them in their angry mood. 
 Little the Scylding dreamt, when for his state 
 He bad upraise that goodly edifice. 
 That art or force of mortal, sa\e perchance 
 
48 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 The sudden burst of all-destroying flame, 
 Might work such havoc there. Now louder rung 
 The sounds of war, aghast and anxious stood 
 On tower and castled wall the listening Dane ; 
 They heard that heaven-detested miscreant howl 
 Sore wailing. No triumphant strain he raised 
 AVhom he the strongest of the sons of men 
 Still with unloosen'd grasp victorious held. 
 
 CANTO XII. 
 
 The hero, resolutely bent on destroying his fiendish antagonist, 
 " whose life (adds the poet with a remarkable simplicity of phrase) 
 he thought of no use to any one," continued to press his advantage, 
 and, although unarmed, (for he had not forgotten that the GrendeFs 
 flesh Avas invulnerable by earthly weapons) proved ere long -that his 
 bodily strength alone was sufficient for his purpose. 
 
 Soon the dark wanderer's ample shoulder bore 
 A gaping wound, each starting sinew crack'd. 
 And from its socket loosed the strong-knit joint.— 
 The victory was with Beowulf, and the foe 
 Howhng and sick at heart fled as he might. 
 To seek beneath the mountain shroud of mist . 
 His joyless home ; for well he knew the day 
 Of death was on him, and his doom was seal'd. 
 
 Thus were the injuries of Hrothgar avenged, and the arm and 
 hand of the aggressor remained with the conqueror as evidence of 
 his triumph. i 
 
 CANTO XIII. 
 
 No sooner had the morning dawned, than the multitude impa- 
 tiently crowded to assure themselves of the Grendel's defeat. He 
 had himself in the mean time regained liis obscure and inajccessible 
 
BEOWULF. 49 
 
 hiding-place, where the loss of blood soon terminated his guilty ex- 
 istence, and his heathen soul (adds the poet, forgetting apparently 
 for the moment that all his heroes vv^ere equally heathen) was con- 
 veyed to the infernal regions. The nobles now commenced their 
 rejoicings for this unexpected event^ some by horseracing, some by 
 recounting the feats of the conqueror, and others by listening to 
 the song of the bard ; who is introduced as briefly recapitulating 
 the achievements of some hero whose name is not mentioned. 
 These appear to have consisted in the destruction of a dragon, and 
 the attainment of a treasure of which the superstition of the age 
 regarded those animals as the constant guardians. The subject of 
 his song is little more than barely indicated, and the passage is very 
 obscure. It was now full day, and the king, accompanied by his 
 queen, and the whole of his cortege, entered the hall which had be- 
 come the scene of Beowulf's triumph. 
 
 CANTO XIV. 
 
 * Hrothgar having ascended his throne, and assured himself by a 
 personal inspection of the Grendel's arm that his people was de- 
 livered from all chance of future molestation, expresses his gratitude 
 to Heaven, and declares his intention of adopting the successful 
 warrior as his own son. Beowulf answers in a strain of much self- 
 complacency, enlarging on the difficulty he had encountered, and 
 the certainty of the Grendel's having received such injury as it was 
 impossible for him to survive. " When (continues the poet) the son 
 of Eglaf had ceased from the praises of his ozcn heroic enterprise, 
 the chieftains hung up in the hall the hand of the Grendel ; on each 
 finger was a nail hke steel, the hand-spur of the heathen." Loud 
 and reiterated expressions of praise and astonishment accompanied, 
 as might be expected, this gratifymg exhibition. 
 
50 ANGLO-SAXON POLTHr. 
 
 CANTO XV. 
 
 The monarch orders Heort (every part of which, with the excep- 
 tion of the roof, bore testimony to the violence of the late contest) 
 to be prepared for the festival. Hangings wondrously embroidered 
 with gold soon covered the walls, and the guests male and female, 
 now free from all apprehension of future assault, assembled in un- 
 usual numbers. The king himself with his kinsman Hrothwulf pre- 
 sided at the banquet, nor had a larger or a worthier assemblage ever 
 graced his presence. After the mead-cup had freely circulated, 
 Hrothgar presents to Beowulf the spear, the golden-hilted sword, 
 the helmet, and the breast-plate of his father Halfdane. " Little 
 need had the champion to disdain such recompense, for never were 
 four worthier gifts dispensed from the secret treasuries of the king." 
 To these, however, were soon added eight well-fed mares, each 
 equipped with a splendid war saddle, such as the king himself used 
 *^ in the plai/ of swords" 
 
 CANTOS XVI and XVII. 
 
 Hrothgar proceeds to recompense not only the companions of 
 Beowulf's expedition, but those also of his own subjects ivho had 
 suffered from the incursions of the Grendel. Their festivities are 
 again enlivened by the song of the bard. Its subject, though de- 
 tailed somewhat more at length than that which occurs in the 13th 
 canto, is 3^et obscure. It appears chiefly, however, to relate to a 
 successful expedition of Halfdane against the Frisians, a Finnish 
 tribe, in ^vhich their metropolis was taken and their queen Hilder- 
 burgh made prisoner. 
 
 The tale ^^'as told, the gleeman's song was hush'd : 
 Then rose from many a couch tlie sound of joy ; 
 From cups of wondixius mould the' attendant band 
 
BEOWULF. ^ 51 
 
 Dealt the bright wine. — Then came Wasltheowa forth. 
 
 In golden pomp of bracelet and of crown. 
 
 Stately she n^oved to where the kinsmen sat 
 
 Of brother's blood, and brethren still in love ; 
 
 Hrothgar with Hrothulf join'd, and at their feet 
 
 Hunferth the lordly Scykling's orator. 
 
 Men knew him for a braoorart of his tono-ue, 
 
 Haughty and high of speech, but never yet 
 
 Felt in the play of arms his ready aid. 
 
 Then spoke the queen : " Receive, my noble liege, 
 
 This brimming cup, and, as thy state demands, 
 
 Pledge the brave Goths with mild and gladsome words. 
 
 Not thoughtless of such gifts as use to wait 
 
 In this bright bower on friend and stranger guest. 
 
 Now is the champion near, who, if aright 
 
 I learn thy rumour'd purpose, soon shall bear 
 
 The name and honours of great Hrothgar's son." 
 
 The remainder of the speech is somewhat obscure. It appears 
 (if I understand its purport rightly) to be strangely deficient both 
 in morality and courtesy. 
 
 " Hertha is ransom'd, our bright bower of gold ; 
 QuafFthen w^hile yet thou mayst the plenteous cup, 
 ^ And leave the toil of empire to thy fi"iends, 
 
 For thou must hence ere long to Heaven's high king. 
 Well know I our good Hrothwulf : — if 'tis thine 
 To quit, while he survive, this nether w^orld. 
 His power will guard our offspring's rising state." 
 She spoke, and sought the mead-bench ; there her sons 
 Hrethric and Hrothmund, with a gallant train 
 Of noble youths, in gay assembly sate ; 
 And near that royal pair, the victor Dane. 
 
 E 2 
 
52 ANGLO-SAXON POETUr. 
 
 CANTO XVIII. 
 
 Fresh gifts were now prepared for Beowulf; two rich armlets of 
 gold, and the most splendid collar ever manufactured from the 
 same precious metal. This ornament had formerly been the pro- 
 perty of Higelac, the nephew of Swerting a noble Goth, and on 
 his death (which happened in battle against the Frisii) had become 
 the property of Hrothgar. These the queen presents with her own 
 hands. 
 
 ^' We3it these (she cried), since thou hast in the fight 
 So borne thyself, that wide as ocean rolls 
 Round our wind-beaten cliffs his brimming waves. 
 All gallant souls shall speak thy eulogy." 
 
 She further bespeaks his protection and kindness for her children^ 
 and commends the union and fidelity by which the nobles of her 
 own court were at all times distinguished. The feast continued 
 until late in the evening, when a part of the company retired to their 
 chambers, and others, as was their custom, prepared to sleep in 
 the hall itself, which was fitted up for the purpose " with bed and 
 bolster/^ each man having his shield at his head, and his helmet^ 
 breast-plate and spear placed on a rack or shelf above him. 
 
 CANTO XIX. 
 
 The inmates of Heorote had anticipated no further intrusion on 
 their slumbers ; they were however mistaken, and one of them was 
 destined to pay with his life the forfeit of his ill-timed security. 
 Although their ancient enemy was no longer capable of annoying 
 them, there was yet left one more of the savage and murderous 
 wanderers of the desert j — the mother of Grendel. This fiendish 
 and evil-minded ZLomarij intent upon avenging the defeat and death 
 of her son, quitted her retreat at nightfall and soon forced her way 
 
BEOWULF. 53 
 
 into the midst of the hall. The mischief she did was of small ex- 
 tent, ^ for her power," adds the poet, " was, in comparison to that 
 of her son's, as the force of women when they engage in battle 
 is to that of men." The warriors too, aroused from their sleep, 
 equipped themselves with such weapons as were nearest at hand ; 
 and their aggressor no sooner found them on the alert, than she 
 hastened to consult her safety in flight. She seized however on one, 
 the favourite of Hrothgar, and retreated with her prey unhurt, for 
 Beowulf was not there. 
 
 The news of this outrage soon reached the ears of Hrothgar; nor 
 was Beowulf long unacquainted with it, or slow in assembling his 
 companions, and repairing at their head to the presence-chamber. 
 
 CANTO XX. 
 
 Beowulf making the customary salutations and inquiries after 
 the health of the monarch, 
 
 " Speak not of health or joy (the Scylding cried), 
 Fresh sorrow is upon us ; — he is dead 
 Whose arm and counsels long upheld our state, 
 iEschere, the brother of our Yrmenlafe." 
 
 After a short eulogy on the fidelity and liberality of the deceased, 
 he proceeds to inform Beow^ulf that his subjects constantly reported 
 themselves to have seen Grendel roaming the moors in company 
 with another being of his own savage and mysterious nature, bear- 
 ing the form and features of a woman ; that tradition was silent as 
 to their parentage, but that their habitation was to be found at the 
 distance of no more than a single mile from Heorote. 
 
 There that foul spirit, howhng as the wolves. 
 Holds, by the perilous passage of the fen. 
 Rude crag, and trackless steep, his dark abode. 
 There from the headlong cliff rolls arrowy down 
 
54 ANGLO-SAXON POLTRV. 
 
 The fiery stream, wliose wild and wondrous waves 
 The frequent and fast-rooted wood o'erhangs, 
 Shrouding them e'en as with the warrior's helm. 
 There nightly mayst thou see a sight of dread. 
 The flood of living flame. 
 
 The remainder of the description is less intelligible, but seems to 
 imply that this unholy ground w^as further guarded by stonii and 
 hurricane, and that they who dared to approach it f^eldvnn failed to 
 pay dear for their temerity, unless they avoided the hounds of Gren- 
 del by a timely flight. This speech (the monarch adds) is directed 
 to thee alone. 
 
 " Thou know'st 
 That path of dread, and canst unerring track 
 The felon to his hold. Go, if thou dare ; 
 And shouldst thou turn victorious from that quest. 
 Rich fee of high- wrought gold, choicest that decks 
 Our ancient treasury, yet again await,s thee.'* 
 
 CANTO XXI. 
 
 '^ Grieve not, my liege,*' Ecgtheow's brave son replied, 
 
 *' Best counsel his, who seeks by swift revenge 
 
 To grace the memory of the fiiend he mourns. 
 
 Or soon or late one doom involves us all. 
 
 Work then who may ere that his destined day 
 
 Such deeds as Heaven's high judgement shall approve. 
 
 Rise, noble Hrothgar, let us instant track 
 
 The fiend's unholy footstep. Here I swear 
 
 She finds not refuge, nor in earth's deep caves, 
 
 Nor in the forest's covert, nor the' abyss 
 
 Of foaming ocean, fly she where she list. 
 
 So by the sorrows thou hast proved this day, 
 
 I pledge me to thy service." 
 
BEOWULF. 55 
 
 At these welcome words the monarch leaped from his throne, 
 and, returning thanks to the powers which had provided him with 
 such a champion, commanded his steed to be immediately harnessed, 
 and with a chosen band prepared to escort Beowulf to the Gren- 
 deFs territory. 
 
 And now the heroes trod 
 The mountain pass, a steep and uncouth way 
 By chfFand cavern'd rock that housed within 
 The monsters of the flood : before them sped 
 Four chosen guides and track'd the' uncertain road. 
 Now paused they sudden where the pine-grove clad 
 The hoar rock's brow, a dark and joyless shade. 
 Troublous and blood-stainM roll'd the stream below. 
 Sorrow and dread were on the Scylding's host. 
 In each man's breast deep working ; for they saw 
 On that rude chff young jEschere's mangled head. 
 Now blew the signal horn, and the stout thanes 
 Address'd themselves to battle ; for that strand 
 Was held by many a fell and uncouth foe, 
 Monster, and worm, and dragon of the deep. 
 
 After a sharp contest, in which many of these extraordinar}^ par- 
 tisans of the Grendel were destroyed and dragged to shore, Beo- 
 wulf prepared to plunge into the flood in quest of the female ma- 
 rauder. 
 
 Now ann'd in proof, and resolute to dare 
 The terrors of that sea-flood, stood the Dane. 
 Bright was the helm, and of no vulgar price. 
 That deck'd his head ; for there the workman's art 
 In days of old had wrought a wondrous charm. 
 The savage boar's rude semblance : so nor brand 
 Nor battle blade might harm the warrior's life.. 
 
56 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Scarcely less valuable was his good sword " Hrunting." 
 
 Treasured from of old, 
 The armory's pride ; high tcmper'd was the blade. 
 In herbs of strange and magic virtue steep'd ; 
 Ne'er in the brunt of battle had it fail'd 
 His hand who durst essay the champion's path 
 Of dread and danger ; nor was this, I wene, 
 Its first proud work of conquest and of fame. 
 
 In thus equipping himself, Beowulf was assisted by Hunferth 
 (the orator celebrated in canto 8.), who we are told had now for* 
 gotten his drunken insolence, and readily lent his hand to gird an- 
 other with the sword which he had little taste for wielding him- 
 self. 
 
 CANTO XXII. 
 
 Then spoke the venturous Goth. " Forget not now, 
 Illustrious son of Healfdene, royal Dane, 
 Prudent of soul, of gift and largess free, 
 Forget not, now that Beowulf stands prepared 
 For this high enterprise, thine evening pledge 
 That, should my hfe be forfeit to thy need. 
 My memory finds in thee a father's care. 
 And this my faithful band a patron's aid. 
 Then what of gift thy bounty hath bestow'd 
 To royal Higelac send : so may the Goth, 
 When that rich treasure meets his wondering eye. 
 Learn that his champion found no niggard boon 
 At Hrothgar's princely hand : that prize be his. 
 But this my sword, whose keenly-temper'd edge 
 Of wondrous mold and ancient, long hath served me, 
 Let Hunferth bear, fit guerdon of his fame. 
 For me, if death forbid not, Hrunting speeds 
 This work of just revenge." The hero spoke, 
 
BEOWULF. 57 
 
 Nor waited answer, but impetuous bracked i/^ 
 
 The whelming surge. 
 
 The female who had for ages held undisputed possession of these 
 domains, soon perceived that some " creature of earth" had invaded 
 them. She seized and dragged him, encumbered as he was by his 
 armour, " to the bottomj' sa3^s the original, '^ of thejiood" In his 
 way he was attacked by many of her attendant monsters, but to his 
 astonishment escaped without injury, both from these, and from 
 the destructive element which surrounded him. He was now in 
 the regions 
 
 where the fire-flood shed 
 Its deep and livid hght. 
 
 Here he attempted to make a stand, but found that even his good 
 sword Hrunting, which had never yet deceived him in battle, 
 availed no more against the mother than it would have done against 
 the son. He threw the weapon from him in anger, and, relying on 
 the strength of his arm alone, grappled with his unnatural adversary. 
 The contest Avas long and doubtful ; but at length the Grendel, ex- 
 tricating herself from his grasp, aimed at his heart so powerful a 
 blow of her falchion, as must inevitably have terminated his exist- 
 ence, had it not been resisted by the temper of his breast-plate, and 
 the protecting arm of that power which had hitherto befriended his 
 efforts in the cause of justice. 
 
 "CANTO XXIII. 
 
 Then spied he mid the treasures of that realm 
 A wondrous brand and vast ; keen was the blade. 
 For Jutes had forged it in the days of old. 
 / He saw and mark'd its power ; — no feebler hand 
 In the stern play of battle had sufficed 
 , To wield its giant fabric, — but the Goth 
 Full lightly seized the hilt. ^ 
 
58 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 His opponent quickly discovered that the chances were no longer 
 in her favour : despairing of success and even of hfe, she made one 
 more ferocious effort ; but Beowulf was now in possession of no 
 ordinary weapon, and he used it with no ordinary power. At a 
 single stroke he cut through the ^^ ringed bones" of her neck, and 
 
 Through the frail mande of the quivering flesh 
 Drove with continuous wound. She to the dust 
 Fell headlong, — and, its work of slaughter done, 
 The gallant sword dropp'd fest a gory dew. 
 Instant, as though heaven's glorious torch had shone, 
 Light was upon the gloom, — all radiant light 
 From that dark mansion's inmost cave burst forth. 
 With hardier grasp the thane of Higelac press'd 
 His weapon's hilt, and furious in his might 
 Paced the wide confines of the Grendel's hold. 
 
 His object w^as the destruction of the miscreant himself. He found 
 him, however (as might have been anticipated), already lifeless. 
 Desirous of presenting Hrothgar with some memorial of his \ ictory, 
 he proceeded to sever the monster's head from his body, which was 
 readily accomplished by a second blow of the Jutish weapon. The 
 eifusion of blood caused by this double slaughter soon copiously 
 tinged the waters of the torrent; and the apprehensions which' 
 Hrothgar and his suite had all along entertained for his safety, led 
 them immediately to the painful conclusion that their champion 
 had fallen. Hrothgar, sick at heart, returned to his palace for the 
 purpose of presiding, as w^as his custom, at the banquet of his 
 nobles ; but the faithful companions of Beowulf yet ungered on the 
 strand — 
 
 Long had they gazed 
 Upon that whelming wave, and now they saw 
 (Yet scarce their hearts gave credence to the sight) 
 Their chief himself restored : fresh wonders straight 
 
BEOWULF. - 59 
 
 Held them intent, for that stout sword of proof, 
 
 Its warrior task fulfill'd, dropp'd to the ground 
 
 (So work'd the venom of the felon s blood) 
 
 A molten mass, — ev'n as the icicle, 
 
 When He, whose will the varying seasons own, 
 
 Looseth the frosty fetters that enchain 
 
 The watry waste, maker and sire of all. 
 
 Beowulf thus lost no inconsiderable part of his trophy ; for, with 
 the exception of this wonder-working weapon and the head of 
 Grendel, he had brought off, we ai'e told, nothing from the cavern. 
 The waves of the torrent, which had opposed such a formidable bar- 
 rier to his entrance, nov^ subsided to so perfect a calm as readily to 
 admit of his swimming, encumbered as he was, to the bank on 
 which his friends had taken their station. Their expressions of 
 congratulation and thankfulness to Heaven were unbounded. They 
 soon relieved him both from his accoutrements (which had suffered 
 much in the* contest, and were thoroughly drenched by the water), 
 and from that more ponderous memorial of his victory, the Grendel's 
 head,— which, when slung from the shaft of a spear, was with dif- 
 ficulty supported by four of the strongest men. In this state they 
 proceeded homewards, and, after greeting the delighted monarch, 
 displayed their hideous trophy in the banqueting-hall to the great 
 admiration, as the bard informs us, of the assembled chieftains and 
 their ladies. ^ 
 
 CANTOS XXIV and XXV. 
 
 Then Beowulf spoke : " In sign of honour due, 
 Great son of Halfdene, lo, we bring thee here 
 Aseaman's offering, no unjoyous sight 
 To thee and to the Scyldings' ancient folk. 
 This stern and forceful miscreant did I quell. 
 And now beneath the waters have I waged 
 Unequal war; — but victory crowns the right." 
 
60 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 He proceeds to acknowledge that, unless Heaven had befriended 
 him by throwing in his way the Jutish sword, the preternatural 
 strength of his adversary had left him but httle hope of success. He 
 briefly recapitulates the more remarkable events of the contest, and 
 " Thus," he concludes, 
 
 " have I redeem'd my pledge 
 That thou, with all the hegenien of thy state. 
 Thanes, nobles, gallant youth, and honour'd age, 
 Shouldst rest secure in Hertha's joyous bower." 
 
 The golden hilt belonging to the weapon, which had been so 
 strangely fused by the GrendeFs blood, was now^ delivered to Hroth- 
 gar, and found upon examination to contain the name of the person 
 for whose use it w^as first destined, and other documents (unless I 
 have erred in my construction of the original, which is here some- 
 what obscure) purporting to be scarcely more recent than the period 
 w4ien " the race of giants " was destroyed by the Flood." Hrothgar 
 now addresses Beowulf in a speech of considerable length, passing 
 from the congratulations and thanks due to his achievement, to a 
 strain of moral reflection on the uncertainty of human power and 
 prosperity, w^hich, though somewhat prolonged, is yet strikingly in 
 character with the age and situation of one who having in his 
 younger days seen all his enterprise^ crowned with success, and 
 anticipated a reign of glory and independence, now finds himself at 
 the end of his career indebted to a stranger for the protection of his 
 rnetropoUs and person. He concludes by applying his reflections 
 to the present and future fortunes of himself and his champion. 
 
 " Chieftain ! give place not to presumptuous thought. 
 Now is thy prowess in its flower of prime; 
 But the day comes, when pain, or slow disease, 
 Or the fire's ravening force, or whelming flood. 
 Or battle blade, or arrow's deadly flight. 
 
BEOWULF. Oi 
 
 Or hateful age, or the more sudden stroke 
 That dims and quells at once our mortal sight, 
 Shall rack thy heart, and bow thee to thy doom ; 
 Conquering the conqueror. So full many a year 
 Under high heaven did Hrothgar hold this realm, 
 And spread from land to land his warrior sway. 
 Right httle dreamt Tin that hour of pride 
 That aught might rise beneath yon firmament, 
 Of power to work me sorrow or annoy. 
 Then came that fell destroyer, strong to wreak 
 His ancient feud, and ceaseless care was mine." 
 
 He now dismisses the warrior to his couch, who, fatigued with 
 the labours of the day, and possibly also with the Nestorian elo- 
 quence of the monarch, gladly, we are told, complies with the pro- 
 posal. After retiring therefore amidst the congratulations of the 
 nobles assembled in Herote, he slept soundly with his companions 
 until " the raven^' announced the dawn of the ensuing day. Impa- 
 tient to return homewards, they rose at his earliest song ; and every 
 thing being arranged for their journey, Beowulf, having first pre- 
 sented the orator Hunferth with his good sword Hrunting, proceeds 
 to take his leave of Hrothgar. 
 
 CANTO XXVI. 
 
 Beowulf, in bidding farewell to Hrothgar, declares himself amply 
 satisfied wdth his treatment and remuneration ; proffers, in the event 
 of any similar emergency, the assistance of himself and a thousand 
 tried and trusty foUow^ers, and answers for his sovereign's readiness 
 to forward at all times "by word and work" the wishes of his host. 
 " Never yet (returns Hrothgar) did I meet with such wisdom joined 
 to such youth and strength. Assuredly, should disease or war de- 
 
62 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 prive them of their present monarch, and no heirs be left of his 
 famik, the Gothic people would act most wisely in placing Beowulf 
 on their throne." He concludes with a grateful encomium on the 
 friendhness and good faith of Higelac and his subjects. Yet further 
 gifts, the number of which (twelve) is stated, though their nature 
 is left undescribed, are bestowed on the Goths. The good king 
 then embraced "the best of champions," and tears gushed from his 
 eyes ; for, old as he was, he despaired of ever again seeing him, and 
 " the feelings of his breast were such as could not be stifled." 
 Beowulf, with his companions, now departed, rich in treasure, for 
 the spot where his vessel lay at anchor; and as they journeyed, every 
 tongue was occupied with the praise of Hrothgar's munificence. 
 
 CANTO XXVII. 
 
 Now to the sea-flood came that high-born host, 
 A gallant train, and every limb encased 
 In sark of netted mail. Them soon espied, 
 True to his charge, the warder of the coast. 
 Nor deem'd he fitting from his hold of strength 
 By sign alone to hail the parting guests ; 
 Onwards he rode, and bad them freely seek. 
 With kindhest greeting sped, the Gothic shore. 
 Then soon their ship her gold-enwreathed prow 
 Gave proudly to the waters, laden deep 
 With warlike gear, steeds, arms, and treasured gold, 
 The choicest meed of Hrothgar's ample store. 
 But first, in payment of the warder's care. 
 The generous chieftain gave a noble brand 
 Radiant with gold, such as in after time 
 Might grace him joyous in the feast of mead ; 
 Then sought his bark, and o'er the watery deep 
 
BEOV/ULF. r>:3 
 
 Drove gallanti}^ and lost the Danic strand. 
 Well was their mast caparison'd, I wis, 
 With its sea-harness, sail, and corded line. 
 The heroes sat within, and favouring gales 
 Bore on her way the traveller of the sea. 
 Fair sped the courser of the waves, — the spray 
 Foam'd sparkUng round her arch'd and golden neck. 
 So pass'd she the deep flood, till full in sight 
 Their native cliffs and well-known headlands rose ; 
 Then sated with the breeze stood close for shore. 
 Espied them soon the warder of that port. 
 He that had waited long in anxious hope 
 Their glad return. He hail'd, and quick to land 
 Drew and secured by the' anchor's vsreW curved grasp 
 That bark of noble freightage, — lest or wind 
 Or briny wave her goodly timbers mar. 
 And now they bad unlade her golden store, 
 Armour, and cup, and chain : nor far the way 
 Ere they might reach the bower of Higelac, 
 Hrethel's illustrious son. Bright was the hall 
 Where mid his banded thanes the monarch sate, 
 Youthful in days, in treasured wisdom old. 
 
 The remainder of this Canto is occupied by a digression, intro- 
 duced with sufficient abruptness, in which the poet relates, or rather 
 alludes to, the wickedness and cruelty of the daughter of Hasreth, 
 who, if I understand the passage rightly, appears to have been Hige- 
 lac's queen. The whole is extremely obscure. 
 
 CANTOS XXVHIand XXIX. 
 
 " The torch of the world was shining from the south," says the 
 bard, when Beowulf with his train reached the palace of Higelac. 
 
64 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Here a repast was speedily prepared, of which these heroes alone> 
 and the immediate cortege of the monarch, were allowed to partake* 
 It was scarcely dispatched when Higelac, who could no longer re- 
 press his curiosity, questioned his champion as to the event of the 
 expedition ; premising that he had himself entertained the most 
 gainful apprehensions of its failure, and had always exhorted Beo- 
 wulf to let the Danes fight their own battles. Beowulf replies in 
 a set speech, first briefly stating that he had destroyed both the 
 Grendel and his mother ; then> after dilating on the excellence of 
 Hrothgar's government and the happiness of his court, proceeds to 
 relate in detail the whole of his adventure. This is not done (as 
 the critics have objected to the poems of the Homeric age) by simple 
 repetition of the former narrative, but the whole is compressed, and 
 the diction varied with sufficient artifice. As, however, the matter 
 (with the exception of those parts which relate to the personal 
 history of Hrothgar and his family, and which are very obscure) is 
 already known to the reader, 1 have extracted only a single specimen, 
 ■which affords a pleasing and characteristic picture of the accom*^ 
 plishments and bearing of the good Hrothgar. 
 
 The morrow rose, and all 
 Were gathered to the banquet. — Mirth was there 
 And loud rejoicing ; — nor did Hrothgar scorn 
 To mingle with our speech, now questioning, 
 With wise intent and word, his stranger guests 
 Of men and things afar ; — then would he wake 
 The harp's sweet melod}^, and sing meanwhile 
 Some lay of truth and sorrow, or recount 
 In well imagined phrase the lofty tale. 
 Then spoke that hoary warrior of his youth> 
 And his youth's race of valour and of arms. 
 What heart but warm'd as the time-honour'd man 
 Bespoke our hstening train r So joyous pass'd 
 The livelong day. 
 
BEOWULF. 65 
 
 The narrative of Beowulf extends nearly to the middle of the 
 29th Canto. We are then informed that the hero made over the 
 more valuable of Hrothgar's presents to his own sovereign, who in 
 return confers on him a splendid ornament or order of knighthood, 
 and a fief or principality containing seven thousand vassals. In 
 process of time, yet further gifts and honours were heaped upon 
 him ; and after the death of Higelac and his son Hearede, who 
 appear both to ha\ e fallen in battle, he was called to fill the throne 
 of the Scylfings. 
 
 The narrative, which it has thus been attempted to analyse, of 
 Beowulf's successful expedition against the Grendel, occupies 
 nearly two-thirds of the manuscript ; and, had the poet terminated 
 his labours at this point, his composition would have added to the 
 other quahfications which entitle it in some degree to the name of 
 Epic, that of unity of plan ; a praise seldom perhaps to be con- 
 ceded to the earlier and more barbarous efforts of the heroic muse. 
 He proceeds however, without interruption or apology, to the de- 
 tails of an adventure in which the same hero, fifty years after his 
 elevation to the throne, was destined to engage, as might naturally 
 be anticipated, with far other success. Until this period he had 
 reigned prosperous and victorious, but at last 
 
 the ranger of the darksome night. 
 The Fire-drake came. 
 
 This unwelcome intruder (as far as we can gather fi*om the frag- 
 ments of the poem, much of which is here unfortunately oblite- 
 rated,) had his den in a mount or barrow of stone, situated on a 
 rocky eminence imexplored by the foot of man. Here (in strict con- 
 formity to the general tenor of Scaldic fiction) he is said to have 
 watched over the accumulated treasures of former ages. In the 
 exercise of this trust he had conducted himself peaceably for more 
 
 F 
 
66 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 than " three hundred winters," until in evil hour he was provoked 
 to exchange it for the less harmless occupation of ravaging the ter- 
 ritory, and devouring the subjects of the good Beowulf. 
 
 CANTO XXXII. 
 
 The Manuscript is at the commencement of this Canto much 
 damaged, and what remains is consequently obscure. As we pro- 
 ceed, we find the aged monarch bewailing the condition to which 
 the devastations of the monster have reduced his capital and its in- 
 habitants. " They can no longer/' he complains, " array themselves 
 for battle, or enjoy the sounds of music, or exercise their good hawks 
 and merles beyond the limits of the palace." The poet now returns 
 to the immediate cause of the dragon's anger. He had (as it ap- 
 pears above) contented himself for many years with quietly watch- 
 ing over his " hoard of heathen gold," until some unhappy traveller 
 having discovered his retreat, reported its valuable contents to the 
 monarch. It was in consequence, during the slumbers of its inha- 
 bitant, pillaged of a part of its treasures, and its interior, " the work 
 of men in times long past," disclosed to the wondering eyes of the 
 populace. When " the worm awoke," perceiving that his desolate 
 abode had been visited by hostile footsteps, he first repeatedly tra- 
 versed its outward boundary in quest of the aggressor. Disap- 
 pointed in his search, he returned for the purpose of ascertaining the 
 extent of the depredations committed on his treasury ; and at night- 
 fall proceeded, " breathing fire and destruction," to take an exem- 
 plary revenge on his troublesome neighbours. " Thus," adds the 
 poet, " the beginning of the fray was fatal to the people, as its ter- 
 mination was afterwards to their prince." 
 
 CANTO XXXIII and XXXIV. 
 
 The dragon having once commenced his ravages, no 'Hiving 
 creature" which fell in his way had power to escape or oppose 
 
BEOWULF. 67 
 
 him. After spoiling and depopulating the country, he pursued his 
 way to the metropolis itself, where the palace of Beowulf expe- 
 rienced the utmost severity of his vengeance. With no common 
 feelings of sorrow and indignation the Goth learned that the most 
 splendid of his mansions was " melted in the whelming flame." 
 His resolution was soon taken, and he commanded his armour to 
 be prepared, especially (says the bard) a breast-plate entirely of 
 iron ; for he was well aware that a shield composed of wood could 
 avail but little for his protection against the fiery breath of his new 
 antagonist. Thus prepared, he looked forward to the event of the 
 enterprize with but little apprehension : for many and severe w^ere 
 the contests in which he had been victorious since his expedition 
 against the Grendel. Here the poet takes the opportunity of di- 
 gressing to a recapitulation of the various fortunes and achieve- 
 ments of his hero. This, like other digressions already noticed, be- 
 ing rather a series of allusions than a distinct and connected nar- 
 rative of facts, is in most parts highly obscure. 
 
 So had Ecgtheow's son 
 In many a fray the foes presumption quell'd, 
 Stern in the work of valour, till the day 
 When that foul worm provok'd him to the war. 
 Now chose the indignant Goth twelve trusty thanes. 
 And bad them track the monster to his lair. 
 S\vift at his bidding sped they to the bark, 
 Ample her bulk, and fitted well to hold 
 Treasure or arms in store. Full thirty chiefs 
 
 Were of that train 
 
 The sea-wave bore them till they might descry 
 A lonely earth-mound ; hoar and drear it rose 
 Beneath a mountain's shelter, and within 
 Were wond'rous sights and strange. Relentless first 
 And greedy of the fight, its guardian sat 
 Brooding o'er countless heaps of the heathen gold. 
 F 2 
 
68 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Not cheaply to be won were entrance there. 
 High on the headland sat the royal Goth 
 Generous and still undaunted, whilst he bad 
 The loved companions of his home farewell. 
 Sorrow was on their souls, for he was near, 
 Vengeful, and thirsting for the blood of man. 
 That with no friendly greeting should salute 
 Their aged lord, disparting life from limb. 
 
 Then spoke the son of Ecgtheow. " Many and dread 
 The battle-fray, and well remember'd all, 
 Beowulf encounter'd in his day of youth. 
 Scarce had I told seven winters, when my liege, 
 Auspicious, caird me from a parent's care. 
 So Hrethel had and held me for his own, 
 And gave me food and fee. He kept his pledge ; 
 Nor was there aught in which he deem'd me less 
 Than his own royal oflTspring, Heribald, 
 And Hasthcyn, and my loved lord Higelac." 
 
 The narrative old monarch proceeds to state that, of these three 
 sons of Hrethel, the eldest, Heribald, was accidentally killed in a 
 fray by the hand of his own brother Hasthcyn. He adds some 
 moral reflections on the crime of murder, and the unhappy state 
 of the parent whose child, by incurring such guilt, has subjected 
 himself to the extreme severity of the law. These reflections extend 
 to the beginning of 
 
 CANTO XXXV. 
 
 In which Beowulf resumes his narration. Hrethel, he informs 
 his audience, wanted either the power or the will to avenge the 
 murder of Heribald upon one equally near to him in blood and 
 love. The grief excited by these misfortunes soon terminated his 
 life. After his death a war arose between his subjects on the one 
 
BEOWULF. §9 
 
 side, and the Sueones and Frisii (if I understand the poet aright) 
 on the other ; in the course of which Ongentheow, king of the 
 Sueones, and his son O there, made repeated predatory inroads into 
 the territory of the Scylfings. In this war Haethcyn fell, and Beo- 
 wulf first signalized himself as the champion of his country. He 
 now concludes with repeating at some length his resolution to de- 
 liver his people from the incursions of the dragon or to die in the 
 attempt, and forbidding his nobles to join in the combat. 
 
 All dauntless then, and stem beneath his shield, . 
 
 The hero rose, and toward the rocky cliff 
 
 Bore gallantly in helm and mail of proof. 
 
 In one man's strength (not such the coward's art) 
 
 Confiding. Now that fabric might he spy, 
 
 He that so oft had in the crash of arms 
 
 Done goodly service. 
 
 Firm rose the stone-wrought vault, a living stream 
 
 Burst from the barrow, red with ceaseless flame 
 
 That torrent glow'd ; nor liv'd there soul of man 
 
 Might tempt the dread abyss, nor feel its rage. 
 
 So watch'd the Fire-drake o'er his hoard — and now 
 
 Deep from his labouring breast the indignant Goth 
 
 Gave utterance to the war-cry. Loud and clear 
 
 Beneath the hoar stone rung the deafening sound, 
 
 And strife uprose : — the watcher of the gold 
 
 Had mark'd the voice of man. First from his lair 
 
 Shaking firm earth, and vomiting as he strode 
 
 A foul and fiery blast, the monster came. 
 
 Yet stood beneath the barrow's lofty side 
 
 The Goths' unshaken champion, and opposed 
 
 To that infuriate foe his full orb'd shield. 
 
 Then the good war-king bared his trenchant blade. 
 
 Tried was its edge of old, the stranger's dread 
 
 And keen to work the foul aggressor's woe. 
 
70. ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 After some struggles, 
 
 The kingly Goth 
 Rear'd high his hand, and smote the grisly foe. 
 But the dark steel upon the unyielding mail 
 Fell impotent, nor serv'd its masters need 
 Now at his utmost peril. Nor less that stroke 
 To madd'ning mood the barrow's warder rous'd. 
 Out burst the flame of strife, the blaze of war 
 Beam'd horribly ; still no triumph won the Goth, 
 Still fail'd his keen brand in the unequal fray, 
 (So wonted not that tried and trusty steel.) 
 Now fain would Ecgtheo w's gallant son retreat. 
 And change that battle-plain for tower and town. 
 
 Again they met — again with freshened strength 
 Forth from his breast the unconquer'd monster pour'd 
 That pestilent breath. Encompass'd by its flame, 
 Sad jeopardy and new the chieftain held. 
 
 His attendants foreseeing and dreading the unpropitious issue of 
 such a contest, had partly betaken themselves to flight, and partly 
 remained irresolute and inactive spectators of their monarch's dan- 
 ger. 
 
 CANTO XXXVI. 
 
 In this conjuncture we are introduced to an entirely new cha- 
 racter, Wiglaf, the son of Weostan or Wihtstan, of the race of the 
 Scylfings and of Elfhere. 
 
 He saw his lord. 
 Beneath the battle-helm, sore prest and faint. 
 Then thought he on the honours that he held 
 By Beowulf's kingly gift, he and his sire, , ' 
 
BEOWULF. 71 
 
 The rich domain, and feud, and ample right. 
 Long unconcern'd he stood not, but did on 
 His ghttering shield, and girt his ancient sword, 
 That blade the son of Othere bare of old. 
 
 Never yet 
 For his liege lord that gallant youth had dared 
 The fray of arms, but his soul melted not. 
 Nor fail'd his might in battle. 
 
 Before, however, he proceeds to the attack, he addresses to his 
 fearful companions (somewhat, it should seem, inopportunely) 
 " many a word and true." 
 
 " Well I remember (cried the indignant youth) 
 When in his bower we quaiF'd the generous mead 
 And shared his bounty, chain, and ring of gold, 
 What word we pledg'd to him pur bounteous lord : 
 Vow'd we not that, if danger should betide, 
 Our arms should work our quittance ?" 
 
 After saying much to the same purpose, and declaring his own rea- 
 diness to sacrifice his hfe for his sovereign, 
 
 He donn'd 
 The warrior helm, and thro' the deadly steam 
 Press'd to his master's aid and shortly spoke. 
 " Now, much loved lord, think of thine early youth, 
 How thou didst pledge thyself, while life was thine, 
 To work the doom of justice. Now great Beowulf, 
 Now fearless chief, thy faithful thane is nigh." 
 
 The accession of so formidable an opponent, naturally provoked 
 a yet fiercer attack on the part of the dragon. The contest which 
 followed is but obscurely and confusedly described, the poet evi- 
 dently wanting the power, or perhaps rather the means, of convey- 
 
72 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 ing a clear and intelligible picture of a struggle in which three se- 
 veral combatants were engaged at once. We learn, however, that 
 after both this and the succeeding onset, the event was still doubt- 
 ful. 
 
 CANTO xxxvn. 
 
 Having gained both confidence and breathing time from the ex- 
 ertions of his youthful ally. 
 
 Once more the Goth, 
 Recaird to sense and power, drew quickly forth 
 The shrewd and biting blade, untried as yet. 
 That o'er his corslet hung — the Sea-Danes' seax. 
 
 The glorious Goth struck lustily : — he hath smote 
 Full on the breast, and pierc'd his loathsome foe, 
 And work'd the vengeance of his kingly heart. 
 
 Thus the heroes were left victorious; but to the elder this triumph 
 was destined speedily to prove fatal. The wound inflicted by the 
 dragon began, from the moment it was received, to burn and swell ; 
 and it was now evident that the poison had reached the vitals of 
 Beowulf. His faithful champion, seating him on a wall from whence 
 he could admire the size and solidity of the dragon's earthy man- 
 sion, administers copious draughts of water, and inquires as to his 
 health and feelings. Beowulf answers under the conviction that his 
 earthly labours have reached their termination. After expressing 
 a wish to bequeath to Wiglaf, as to his son, the royal armour in 
 which he was clad, he proceeds : 
 
 " I have held 
 Full fifty years this people for mine own, 
 Nor lives there king or chieftain who has dared 
 In warlike guise to trespass on our bounds, 
 
BEOWULF. ^ 73 
 
 Or bid us to the battle. I have run 
 My destin'd course, and well and uprightly 
 Maintain'd mine own ; with no man have I sought 
 Unjust or fraudful strife ; to no man sw^om 
 Unrighteous oath. Wounded and sick at heart 
 , Still have 1 joy in this, whene'er his power 
 Part life and limb, the great Creator's doom 
 Of guile or bloodshed holds me still assoiled." 
 
 He now commissions Wiglaf to lose no time in exploring the 
 den of their fallen antagonist, and making a full report of its con- 
 tents. 
 
 CANTO XXXVIII. 
 
 Then heard I that the son of Wihstan bore 
 (So bad the fainting king, his wounded lord) 
 Armour and arms beneath that vaulted cave. 
 Within its deep recess the gallant thane 
 Victorious now, saw freely as he pass'd, 
 Heap'd by each wall, fair ring and treasured store. 
 And gold that strew'd in ghst'ning heaps the ground. 
 And cups and bowls, of the olden time and men 
 Sole monuments. There, reft of its crested pride. 
 Lay many an helm, all canker'd now with age ; 
 And many an armlet work'd with artist skill. 
 Soon might he ken, high o'er that ancient hoard. 
 Strange forms all rich with gold ; no common craft 
 Of handy- work had traced each wond'rous shape. 
 Or charm'd it to its station. There they stood 
 Fast lock'd, and beaming all with ceaseless light. 
 So might he well descry throughout that realm, 
 The spoil and triumph of his lord's revenge. 
 
 Having laden himself with as much of these treasures as he could 
 
74 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 carry, he returns and finds his master dying. The application of 
 water somewhat revives him, and the words once more " broke 
 from the treasury of his breast." 
 
 " Old am I now, but in my youth have won 
 
 And shar'd the treasured gold. Now, thanks be thine 
 
 Eternal Father, glorious Lord of all ! 
 
 Thanks from thy creature's lips, for that his eye 
 
 Hath seen these hoarded spoils ; for that his hand. 
 
 Ere yet thy doom o'ertake him, hath atchieved 
 
 To his lov'd people's weal this rich bequest. 
 
 And now, 
 Short while T tarry here — when I am gone. 
 Bid them upon yon headland's summit rear 
 A lofty mound, by Rona's sea-girt cliff; 
 So shall my people hold to after times 
 Their chieftain's memory, and the mariners 
 That drive afar to sea, oft as they pass. 
 Shall point to Beowulf's tomb." He spoke, and drew 
 From his reverend neck, and to that generous youth 
 Bequeath'd, the golden collar of his state. 
 And gorgeous helm, and ring, and corslet bright 
 Added — not reckless whom he named his heir. 
 And bad him bear them well and prosp'rously ; 
 <* For thou alone art left of all our kin. 
 The voice of Heav'n to their eternal doom, 
 Save thee, hath summon'd all the Scylding's race ; 
 And, lo ! I join my fathers." 
 
 Such were the dying reflections and commands of the aged Beo- 
 wulf. 
 
BEOWULF. 75 
 
 CANTO XXXIX. 
 
 Wiglaf was now left to sorrow over the remains of one whom 
 he loved and reverenced beyond all earthly friends. His first care, 
 however, was to preclude all possibility of the dragon's revival, by 
 separating the head from his body. The poet, after dilating some- 
 what tediously on the loss of Beowulf, and the benefits accruing to 
 the Danish community from the destruction of their venomous op- 
 pressor, turns to the unworthy followers who had (as has been 
 stated) fled from the first prospect of their monarch's defeat and 
 danger. These had betaken themselves to the covert of a neigh- 
 bouring forest, whence they now at length ventured to issue, ten in 
 a body. With shame in their countenances they approached the 
 spot where their more honourable companion sat weeping over the 
 body of him, for the preservation of whose fife he had in vain ex- 
 posed his own. Wiglaf receives them with a sorrowful and angry 
 countenance, and at length gives vent to his feehngs in a string of 
 bitter and well merited reproaches, intermingled with expressions 
 of regret for the tardiness and failure of his own efforts in his master's 
 behalf, and (if I understand the passage rightly) with some threats 
 of disgrace or punishment from the assembly of the people. (Lond- 
 rihtes-mot.) 
 
 CANTO XL. 
 
 Then Wiglaf bade them o'er the high cHff' bear 
 That wond'rous tale and sad, to where in arms 
 Assembled earl and chief that livelong day. 
 Not without care and deep suspense, had sate 
 Expectant still of their lov'd lord's return. 
 But now the warder of the headland tower 
 No longer might keep silence : — clear he spoke. 
 That all might learn : — " The monarch of the Goth, 
 
76 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 The pride and liege lord of our eastern folk, 
 Lies low on earth, and sleeps the sleep of death. 
 ^ Slain by the Fire- drake's vengeance; — at his side 
 Sleeps too that foul destroyer, mute and quell'd 
 By Beowulf's native seax ; for on that hard 
 And scale-clad frame, the sword-blade fell in vain. 
 O'er his dead lord the champion Wiglaf sits, 
 AVihstan's illustrious heir." 
 
 From this introduction, the warden or herald is made to digress 
 into a narrative of nearly 200 hnes, relating chiefly to the previous 
 fortunes of the Scylding race and its sovereigns. This, like most 
 other episodes of the same nature (more than one of which has been 
 already noticed), is extremely obscure, and extends to the middle of 
 
 CANTO XLI. 
 
 Here the warden having finished his long and apparently ill-timed 
 digression by expressing a dread lest the Sueones should seize this 
 opportunity of wreaking an ancient feud on the east Danes, returns 
 to the immediate object of his communication. 
 
 *' Best were it now that, with what speed we may, 
 
 We seek, and bear our slaughter'd monarch home. 
 
 Long since by proud gifts of the wreathed gold 
 
 He pledged us to his service ; now he leaves 
 
 To his lov'd people's need, uncounted hoards. 
 
 The vanquish'd monster's spoil. 
 
 Soon shall the bickering flame play round his limbs, 
 
 Nor earl, at that sad time, in warlike gear, 
 
 N or high-bom maid in golden sheen may stand, 
 
 The -wreathing chain gracing her lovely neck. 
 
 All, e'en the stranger guest, shall walk in grief. 
 
BEOWULF. 77 
 
 For he that led your power and ruled your state 
 No more to laughter lives or mortal joy. 
 
 No harp shall wake to mirth our warrior train, 
 But the wan raven hasting to his meal 
 Scream oft and loud ; and the shrill eaglet tell, 
 How with his fellow wolf, full gorg'd of blood. 
 He sped him at the death-feast," 
 
 This oration (for the truth of which the bard pledges himself) 
 being finished, the train of nobles repair to the fatal spot, where 
 they discover (under Arnanaes) the remains of their brave sovereign 
 and of the now harmless Fire-drake. The latter were found to ex- 
 tend 
 
 Long as he lay 
 Full fifty measured feet. 
 
 They next admired the " vessels, cups, dishes," and ancient wea- 
 pons which had furnished the treasury of this wondrous animal. 
 These (adds the poet) had thus remained in the bosom of the earth 
 for a thousand winters, secured by the force of strong enchant- 
 ments from all human depredation, until the power whose hands 
 alone dispense victory and riches, saw fit to open for man the long 
 concealed possessions of the dead. 
 
 CANTO XLII. 
 
 In examining more closely the domain of their ancient enemy, 
 the nobles discovered the remains of those who had in former times 
 ventured to trace the same unhappy road as their monarch, and had 
 fallen an easy sacrifice to the enraged monster. They named a pool 
 or lake near the spot where Beowulf had fallen, the King's Mere. 
 Wiglaf now addresses himself to the assembly. He begins by re- 
 gretting that the faithful thanes of Beowulf had not, in the first in- 
 
78 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 stance, attempted to dissuade him from so hazardous an enterprize. 
 He then expatiates on the riches of the dragon's treasury, and assures 
 them that their monarch had hved to behold and to rejoice in the 
 quantity and magnificence of the spoils. He finishes by advising 
 that after having surveyed and taken measures for securing so pre- 
 cious an acquisition, they should prepare for the obsequies of Beo- 
 wulf a barrow, of extent and height proportionable to his rank and 
 merits. Having dispatched some of the party to obtain yrom afar 
 the wood necessary for the funeral pile, he commissions eight thanes, 
 accompanied by soldiers bearing torches, to enter the den and bring 
 out, together with the valuables yet unremoved, the human reliques 
 mentioned in the beginning of the Canto. 
 
 CANTO XLHI, and last. 
 
 Much of which is unfortunately obUterated, commences thus : — 
 
 Then work'd the Gothic folk that earth-rais'd tomb 
 
 Unwearied. High they hung the kingly helm 
 
 And corslet bright, and blade of warrior steel : 
 
 So had himself besought them : — in the midst 
 
 The sorrowing chieftains placed their long-lov'd lord. 
 
 Then on the barrow's steep they bad aspire 
 
 The funeral flame. High roU'd the wreathed smoke, 
 
 The winds of heav'n were hush'd till the keen fire 
 
 Had burst the bony tenement of the breast. 
 
 Then sad at heart they mourn'd their master's fate. 
 
 In joyless strains, e'en as a woman mourns. 
 
 W W W W W WW W TT W 
 
 , Then rear'd his people near the ocean flood 
 An ample tower, conspicuous from afar 
 To the sea-ranger. High it stood, and broad ; 
 Nor ceas'd for ten days space (so bad their chief) 
 The beacon's fire ; ten days the well fed flame 
 Rose by that wall. 
 
BEOWULF. 79 
 
 They then cast into the tomb a part of the golden ornaments 
 which they had removed from the treasury of the dragon, " which 
 remain still in the earth (adds thepoet^ if I understand him rightly) 
 as useless as they were in the custody of their former guardian." 
 This done, they naturally occupied themselves for some time in re- 
 counting the many valiant and generous actions which had signa- 
 lized the long and useful life of their monarch. 
 
 So mourned the Dane, so they who wont to share 
 Counsel and converse with their aged lord. 
 And fondly told, how of all earthly kings 
 Mildest in bearing, boldest in the fray. 
 He sought and won the meed of deathless fame. 
 
 I have thus attempted (and it has indeed been a task of much 
 greater difficulty than might at first be imagined) to present a faith- 
 ful analysis of this singular and interesting poem. It is not, perhaps, 
 too much to add, that as a specimen of language and composition, 
 as a picture of manners and opinions, and in some measure even as 
 an historical document, it possesses claims upon the notice of the 
 scholar and the antiquary far beyond those which can be ad- 
 vanced by any other relique, hitherto discovered, of the same age 
 and description. Such remarks as appeared calculated to explain 
 or illustrate particular passages being subjoined in the form of notes, 
 I have but a few observations to offer on the character of the 
 whole. 
 
 It can hardly hav^e escaped notice that the Scandinavian bard, 
 in the general style and complexion of his poetry, approaches much 
 more nearly to the father of the Grecian epic, than to the ro- 
 mancers of the middle ages. If I mistake not, this similarity will 
 readily be traced in the simplicity of his plan, in the air of proba- 
 bility given to all its details, even where the subject may be termed 
 
80 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 supernatural ; in the length and tone of the speeches introduced, 
 and in their frequent digression to matters of contemporary or pre- 
 vious history. 
 
 It may be observed too that the Song of Beowulf, especially in 
 its latter Cantos, affords an additional argument, if any such were 
 wanting after the labours of Percy and Ellis, against the theory 
 which would attribute to the fictions of romance a Saracenic origin. 
 The dragon furnished with wings and breathing flame, the swprd 
 which melts at the touch of the Jutish blood, the unearthly hght 
 which pervades the cave of the Grendel, and beams from the magic 
 statues presiding over that of the Fire-drake, had they occurred in 
 a poem of later date, would in all probability have been considered 
 by the eminent author of that theory as undoubted importations of 
 the crusaders. But the opinions of Warton, even when erroneous, 
 were not taken up without apparent grounds. The fictions in ques- 
 tion do assuredly bear, if it may be so termed, an oriental rather 
 than a northern aspect ; and the solution of this phenomenon will 
 be most successfully sought for in the hypothesis more recently sug- 
 gested by those continental scholars, who, regarding the Gothic 
 and the Sanscrit as cognate dialects, and identifying the character 
 and worship of Odin with that of Buddha, claim for the whole of 
 the Scandinavian mythology, an Asiatic origin of far more remote 
 and mysterious antiquity. 
 
 It may perhaps be thought scarcely worth while to offer any 
 opinion on the poetical merits of our author. In some it may even 
 excite a smile to hear a production so little resembling the purer 
 models of classical antiquity dignified by the name of poetry, or 
 considered as an object of criticism. We are all, I am fully con- 
 scious, liable not unfrequently to be misled by a natural preposses- 
 sion in favour of that upon which we have employed any consider- 
 able portion of our time and labour. From this prepossession I do 
 not pretend to be exempt ; but I still apprehend that he who makes 
 due allowance for the barbarisms and obscurity of the language (an 
 obscurity much increased by our still imperfect knowledge of its 
 
/ BEOWULF. 81 
 
 poetical construction and vocabulary) and for the shackles of a me- 
 trical system at once of extreme difficulty, and, to our ears at least, 
 totally destitute of harmony and expression, will find that Beowulf 
 presents many of those which have in all ages been admitted as the 
 genuine elements of poetic composition. 
 
 The plan (as it has been already stated) is sufficiently simple. 
 The characters, as far as they are developed, are well sustained, 
 and their speeches usually natural and well appropriated. The 
 narrative is by no means so encumbered with repetitions as that of 
 the reputed Csedmon ; nor is the style so ambitious and inflated. 
 Over the almost unintelligible rhapsodies of the Edda (for these 
 are the fairest points of comparison) it possesses a decided supe- 
 riority ; nor are there many among the metrical romances of the 
 more polished Normans, with which it may not f^rly abide a com- 
 petition. 
 
 If we except perhaps the frequency and length of the digressions, 
 the only considerable offence against the received canons of the 
 heroic muse is to be found in the extraordinary interv^al of time 
 which elapses between the first and last exploits of the hero. 
 
 After all, it is as an antiquarian document that Beowulf has 
 the most indisputable claim upon our attention ; a claim so pow- 
 erful, that I cannot close this imperfect abstract without expressing 
 a ^vish that some one competent to the task may be induced to re- 
 publish the whole in such a mamier as to render it fully accessible 
 to the general reader. 
 
ORIGINAL TEXT 
 
 OF THE PASSAGES QUOTED IN THE FOREGOING ABSTRACT 
 
 OF BEOWULF, 
 
 WITH A LITERAL ':^RANSLATION INTO LATIN. 
 
 Page 35, line 1 
 
 Ilwaet we ' Gar-Dena 
 In jear-dajum 
 Deed cyninja^ 
 Drym jefrunon, 
 Hu ^a iE-Selinjas 
 Ellen fremodon. 
 
 ^liquid nos de Bellicorum Dano- 
 In diebus antiquis [rum 
 
 Popularinm regum 
 Gloria accepimus, 
 Quomodo tunc principes 
 Virtule valuerint. 
 
 Dast lieal-reced 
 Hatan wolde, 
 Medo aern micel, 
 Men jewyrcean, 
 Done yldo beam 
 ^fre jefrunon ; 
 And "Sser on innan 
 
 Canto I. [p. SQ, 1. 3.] 
 
 Iste domum aulicam 
 
 Jubere voluit, 
 
 Hydromelis aulam magnam, 
 
 Homines adijicare, 
 
 Quam prior es 
 
 Semper celebrarunt ; 
 
 Et ibi intus 
 
 * Hwaet we. There is a little abruptness, if not obscurity, in this sentence ; 
 the same use of ^ Hwaet' will be found in Canto 24, 1. 3. It somewhat resem- 
 bles the H 017) of Hesiod. (ActtT/^ Upan.) 
 
 * Deod cyninja. These are the *Dod kongr' of the northern historians. 
 The small independent monarchs who or'ginally posses-5ed the peninsula of 
 Jutland. (See Stephanius, 103.) 
 
BEOWULF. 
 
 83 
 
 Eall jedaslan 
 
 Omnia distribuere 
 
 Geonjum and ealdum, 
 
 Juniorihus ac seniorihus, 
 
 Swylce him God sealde, 
 
 Tanquam ipsi Deus concesserat, 
 
 Buton folc-scare 
 
 Prater popuH turham 
 
 And feorum jumena. 
 
 Etpravos (v, peregrinos) homines 
 
 Tha ic wide jefraejn 
 
 Hoc late intellexi 
 
 Weorc jebannan 
 
 Opus celehrari 
 
 Manijre masj^e 
 
 In multis regionibus 
 
 Geond ^isne middan-jeard. 
 
 Per hum medium-orbenu 
 
 Folcstede frsetwan 
 
 Domicilium adornare 
 
 Him on fyrste jelomp 
 
 Ei primum obtigit 
 
 ^dre mid yldum 
 
 Facile inter homines 
 
 Thast hit wear^ ealjearo 
 
 Ita ut esset omnino perfecta 
 
 Heal-aerna maest. 
 
 Aularum maxima. 
 
 Scop him Heort ' naman 
 
 Fituit ei " Hertha^' fwmen 
 
 Se the his wordes jeweald 
 
 Quijubendi potestatem 
 
 Wide hagfde. 
 
 Late habiiit. 
 
 He beotne^ aleh, 
 
 (Ibi) invitatos coUocavit, 
 
 Beajas daelde, 
 
 Annulos distribuit, 
 
 Sine aet symle. 
 
 Aurum in symposio. 
 
 Sele hUfade. 
 
 Aula resonabat. 
 
 [p. 
 
 36, 1. 17.] 
 
 Da se ellen jaest 
 
 Idpoteiis spiritus 
 
 Earfo'SHce 
 
 Mgrh 
 
 Draje je'Solode, 
 
 Diu sustinuerat, 
 
 Se ^e in "Systrum bad, 
 
 Is qui in tenebris degebat. 
 
 * Heort. Thorkelin's translation of this name seems to be the most plau- 
 sible. It is also spelt ^ Heorot ' and ^ Heonite/ and might be translated Cor^ 
 quasi " delicia" It will be seen that while in the metrical translations ' Her- 
 tha' is used, the original 'Heort' is retained in the prose abstract. 
 
 ^ I have considered * beotne ' (with Thorkelin) as irregularly formed from 
 * biddan/ If * aleh ' be formed, as I apprehend, from * alicgan,' coUocavit will 
 be a closer translation than Thorkelin's excepii. 
 
 G2 
 
84 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Daet he dojora jehwam 
 Dream jehyrde 
 Hludne in healle. 
 Daer w£es hearpan swej, 
 Swutol sang scopes. 
 Saejde se "Se cu"Se 
 Frumsceaft fiia 
 Feorran reccan. 
 Cwae^ -Sset se Almihtija 
 EorSan ' we . . . 
 \^^lite beorhtne wanj 
 Svva waeter bebuje^. 
 Gesette sije-hre-Sij 
 Sunnan and monan, 
 Leoman to leohte 
 Landbuendum; 
 And jefraetwade 
 Foldan sceatas 
 Leomum and leafum ; 
 Lif eac jesceop 
 Cynna jehwylcum 
 Dara ^e cwice h^vyrfa^. 
 Swa 'Sa driht-guman 
 Dream um lyfdon 
 Ea'Sijlice, 
 O^ "Saet an onjan 
 Fyrene fremman 
 Feond on helle ; 
 Wags se p'imma jaest 
 Grendel ^ haten, 
 Maere mearc-stapa, 
 
 Quod die qudvis 
 
 Gaudium audi ret 
 
 Sonorum in aula. 
 
 Ibi erat cithartB vox, 
 
 Suavis cantus Poeta. 
 
 Dixit is qui novit 
 
 Originem hominum 
 
 E longinquo narrare. 
 
 Cecinit ut Omnipotens 
 
 Terram {creaverit ? ). 
 Ltucidh splendentem campum 
 
 Quacnnque aqua circumjiuit. 
 Posuit gloria valens 
 
 Solem ac lunam, 
 
 Radiis lucem dare 
 
 Terricolis ; 
 
 Et exornavit 
 
 Terrce regiories 
 
 Arboribus acfoliis ; 
 
 Vitam porro indidit 
 
 Generi cuilibet [tur. 
 
 Eorum qui vivi (in terra) versan- 
 
 Ita nobiles 
 
 In gaudiis degebant 
 
 Beate, 
 
 Donee unus incepit 
 
 Scelera patrare 
 
 Inimicus ex infer is ; 
 
 Erat teter spiritus 
 
 Grendel nominatus, 
 
 Magnus limitum accola 
 
 * * we.' Probably * weorhte ' or Svorhte.' 
 
 * Grendel is a name applied by Caedmon to Satan. 
 
BEOWULF. 
 
 85 
 
 Se ^e moras heold 
 Fen and fasten 
 Fifel cynnes ^ 
 
 Swa ^a mael ceare 
 Maga Healfdenes 
 Singala sea^. 
 Ne mihte snotor haeleth 
 Wean onwendan. 
 Waes that jewin to swy^ 
 La's and longs um, 
 The on "Sa leode becora, 
 Nyd-wracu ni^grim, 
 Niht-bealwa maest. 
 Thaet fram ham jefraejn 
 Hijelaces "Sejn 
 God mid Geatum 
 Grendles daeda. 
 Se wass moncynnes 
 Maegenes strenjest 
 On ^asm daeje 
 Thysses lifes, 
 ^thele and eacen. 
 Het him y^ Udan 
 Godne jejyrwan. 
 Cweth he ju-S-cyninj 
 
 Qui deserta tenuit 
 Paludes et recessus 
 Populi quinque urbes habitantis. 
 
 III. [p. 38.] 
 
 Sic tunc cura anxia 
 
 Filium Halfdeni 
 
 Continuo coquebat. 
 
 Nihil valuit prudens heros 
 
 Calamitatem avertere. 
 
 Erat bellum istud nimis durum 
 
 Exitiale ac longum, 
 
 Quod populo supervenit, 
 
 Violentia terribilis, 
 
 Nocturriorum malorum maximum. 
 
 Hoc domi rescivit 
 
 Higelaci satrapa 
 
 Fortis inter Gothos 
 
 Grendelis acta. 
 
 Is erat ex humano geriere 
 
 Robore pnestantismnus 
 
 Illo tempore 
 
 Hujus vita, 
 
 Nobilis et (honore) auctus. 
 
 Jussit sibi Jlucius iiavigatorem 
 
 Prccstantem instrui. [ (navem) 
 
 Dixit se belli arbitrum 
 
 ' Fifel cynnes. The five petty kingdoms of Denmark seem to be designated 
 by this name. It might have been remarked above in the Song of the Tra- 
 veller, p. 14. 1. 85, that * Fifel dore ' probably meant the Danish frontier. 
 * Fifel stream,' (Boetius, p. 188. col. 2. 1. 33.) which Lye leaves uninterpreted, 
 may mean the Danish sea. Alfred (if I understand the passage rightly) says 
 that no fleet which ever navigated that " streafn,'" was equal in number to the 
 Grecian armament against Troy. 
 
86 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Ofer swan rade 
 
 Secean wolde 
 
 Maerne 'Seoden 
 
 Tha him waes manna ^earf. 
 
 Thone si^fast him 
 
 Snotere ceorlas 
 
 Lyt hwon lojon 
 
 Deah ^e him leof waere. 
 
 Hwetton hije forne, 
 
 Hael sceawedon. 
 
 Haefde se joda 
 
 Geata leoda 
 
 Cempan jecorene, 
 
 Dara '^e he cenoste 
 
 Findan mihte, 
 
 Fiftena sum. ' 
 
 Sund-wudu sohte. 
 
 Secj wisade 
 
 Laju-craeftij mon 
 
 Land jemyrcu. 
 
 Fyrst for^ jewat, 
 
 Flota wass on ydum, 
 
 Bat under beorje. 
 
 Beornas jearwe 
 
 On stefn * stijon ; 
 
 Streamas wundon 
 
 Sund wr6 sande. 
 
 Secjas bseron 
 
 On beaim nacan 
 
 Beorhte fraetwe, 
 
 Gu^-searo jeatolic 
 
 Trans cygni viam (mare) 
 Quarere velle 
 
 Illustrem regem, (Hrodgarum,) 
 Ubi ei esset hominum opus. 
 Istud navigium ei 
 Prudentes asseclce 
 Cito instruxermit, 
 Qumn Us cams esset, 
 Hixacuehant animos, 
 Omen captabant, 
 Habuit {secum) bonus ilk 
 E Gothicd stirpe 
 Heroas selectos, 
 Ex Us quos acerrimos 
 Invenire possety 
 
 Quindecim aliquos. \bant, 
 
 Maritimum lignum {n?L\em) pete- 
 Rector monstrabat 
 Pelagi gnarus vir 
 TerrcB limites {v* signa). 
 Princeps egressus est, 
 Cymba erat in undis, 
 Navigium sub rupibus. 
 Comites prompti 
 Inproram ascendebant ; 
 Aquam sulcabant 
 Marejuxta littus. 
 Duces ferebant 
 In sinum (navis) vacuum 
 Lucida gestamina, 
 Arma bellica 
 
 ' or ad mandatum — but shortly after * wunden stefna' is evidently used for 
 
 the curved prow. 
 
BEOWULF. 
 
 87 
 
 Guman utscufon 
 Weras on wilsi^. 
 Wudu bundenne 
 Gewat ^a ofer waejholm 
 Winde jefysed, 
 Flota famij heals 
 Fugle jelicost ; 
 O^ ^aet ymb an tid 
 O^res dogores 
 Wunden stefiia 
 Gewaden haefde 
 Dast ^a li^ende 
 Land jesawon, 
 Brim-cljfu blican, 
 Beorjas steape, 
 Side sae-nasssas. 
 Da waes sund liden 
 * Eoletes set ende. 
 Danon up hra'Se 
 Wedera leode 
 On wanj stijon, 
 Sas-wudu saeldon, 
 Syrcan hrysedon, 
 Gu'S-jewaedu. 
 Gode 'Sancedon 
 Daes ^e him y^-lade 
 Ea^e wurdon. 
 Tha of wealle jeseah 
 Weard Scyldinga, 
 
 Homines deducebant 
 
 Viri in iter sponte susceptiim» 
 
 Lignum tortum 
 
 Discessit tunc super mare 
 
 Fento propulsa, 
 
 Navis prord spumante 
 
 Am simillima ; 
 
 Donee intra spatiwn 
 
 Diei secundcz 
 
 Torta prora 
 
 (Ita) navigarat 
 
 Ut eunles 
 
 Terram viderent, 
 
 Maritimos clivos coruscare, 
 
 Montes arduos, 
 
 Magna promontoria. 
 
 Tunc erat mare superatum 
 
 adjinem» 
 
 Tunc alacriter 
 
 Molica gens 
 
 In terram ascendebat, 
 
 Navem adligabant, 
 
 Loricas qitatiebant, 
 
 Vestes bellicas. 
 
 Deo gratias agebant 
 
 Quod hcEc eis tia 
 
 Prospera obtigisset. 
 
 Tunc (eos) a muro adspexit 
 
 Custos Scyldingiy 
 
 ^ Eoletes. This word does not occur in Lye. *Ea' is water, and 'ealete ' 
 may possibly have meant (as Thorkelin renders it) itinerisy or rather naviga- 
 tionis. 
 
88 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Se the holm-clifu 
 Healdan scolde, 
 Beran ofer bolcan 
 Beorhte randas 
 Fyrd-searo fuslicu. 
 Hine fyrwyt brosc 
 Mod jehyjdum 
 Hwaet tha men waeron. 
 Gewat him Sa to waro'^e 
 Wicje rid an 
 Dejn Hrodjares, 
 Drymmum cwehte 
 Maejen-wudu mundum ; 
 Me^el wordum frasjn : 
 " Hwaet syndon je 
 Searo haebbendra, 
 Bymum vverde, 
 De -^us brotne ceol 
 Ofer laju straste 
 Laedan c worn on 
 Hi^er ofer hohnas ? 
 Ic thees ende-sasta 
 ^jwearde heold 
 Daet on land Dena 
 La'^ra naenij 
 Mid scip herje 
 
 Sce^^an ne meahte. 
 # # # * 
 
 Nsefre ic maran jeseah 
 Eorla ofer eor^an 
 Donne is eower sum, 
 Secjon searwum. 
 Nis ^ast seld juma, 
 Waepnum jeweor^ad, 
 
 Is qui clivos lit tor ales 
 
 Teneret, 
 
 Gestare super terram 
 
 Lucidos clypeos 
 
 Exercitum instructum alacrem. 
 
 Ilium cura distrahebat 
 
 Animo sollicito 
 
 Quinani homines esse?it. 
 
 Accinocit se ad exercitum 
 
 Per viam equitare 
 
 Minister Hrodgari, 
 
 Ante turmam concussit 
 
 Poientice lignum manibus ; 
 
 Facundis verbis locutus est : 
 
 " Quinam estis 
 
 Arma gerentes, 
 
 Lor ids induti, 
 
 Qui ita appulsam navim 
 
 Super undarum ccquor 
 
 Adduxistis 
 
 Hue super jiuctus % 
 
 Ego hosce limites 
 
 JAttoris custos teneo 
 
 Ut in terram Dani 
 
 Hostile nihil 
 
 Navali impetu 
 
 Irrumperepossit. 
 
 Ti* w ^ tP 
 
 Nunquam ego major em vidi 
 
 Ducem super terram 
 
 Quam est vester, quicunque sit, 
 
 Militari specie. 
 
 Non raro est ille vir 
 
 Armis circumdatusy 
 
BEOWULF. 
 
 89 
 
 Naefre him his wlite leoje 
 ^nlic ansyn. 
 Nu ic eower sceal 
 Frumcyn witan, 
 JEr je fyr heonan 
 Leas scea-weras 
 On land Dena 
 Furfur feran. 
 Nu je feor-buend 
 Mere lidende 
 Mine jehyra'S 
 Anfealdne je^oht. 
 Ofost is selest 
 To jecy^anne 
 Hwanan eowre 
 Cyme syndon." 
 
 Him se yldesta 
 Answarode, 
 Werodes wisa 
 Word hord onleac. 
 '* We synt jumcynnes 
 Geata leode, 
 And Higelaces 
 Heor^ jeneatas. 
 Waes myn feder 
 Folcum jecy^ed, 
 jEthele ordfruma, 
 Ej^eow haten. 
 Gebad wintra worn 
 ^r he on wej hwurfe 
 Gamol of jeardum. 
 
 ' Nunquam ejus pulcra potest fal- 
 
 Eximia fades* \lere 
 
 Nunc ego vestram cupio 
 Originem noscere, 
 Antequam procul hinc 
 Sinam speculatores 
 In terram Danicam 
 Ulterius progredi. 
 Nunc vos peregrini 
 Maris viator es 
 Meam audite 
 Simplicem sententiam. 
 Celerrimum est potissimum 
 Notumfacere 
 Undenam vos 
 (Hue) venistis'' 
 
 IV. [p. 40.] 
 
 Illi senior 
 
 Respondebaty 
 
 Exercitus dux 
 
 Orationis thesaurum reserabat. 
 
 ** Nos sumus ortu 
 
 Gothica gens, 
 
 Et Higelaci 
 
 Familiares ministri. 
 
 Erat pater mens 
 
 Viris cognitus, 
 
 Nobilis gentis auctor, 
 
 Egtheow nominatus. 
 
 Vixit hiemes multos 
 
 Antequam discederet 
 
 Senex e terra. 
 
 Literally " his good looks cannot belie him.' 
 
90 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 liine jearwe jeman 
 Witena wel hwylc 
 Wide jeoiid eorSan. 
 We "Surh holdne hije 
 Hlaford ^inne 
 Sunu Healfdenes 
 Secean cwomon, 
 Leod jebyrjean. 
 Wes "Su us lare na jod. 
 Habba^ we to th«m maeran 
 Micel aerende 
 Denija frean. 
 
 Eum facile recordabitur 
 
 Sapientum quivis 
 
 Lat^ per terram. 
 
 Nosjido animo 
 
 Dominum tuum 
 
 Filium Healfdeni 
 
 Quasitum Denimus, 
 
 Populum dejensuru 
 
 Fuisti nobis conjecturd vix cequus. 
 
 Habemus nos cum principe (tuo) 
 
 Magnum negotium 
 
 (Cum) Danorum rege. 
 
 Ne sceal ^ser dyrne sum wesan, Non ibi occultum aliquid erit, 
 
 Dses ic wene ^u wast 
 Gif hit is swa we so^lice 
 Secjan hyrdon, 
 Dast mid Scyldingum 
 Scea^o ic nat hwylc 
 Deogol daed-hata 
 4)eorcum nihtum 
 Eawe^ •^urh ejsan 
 Uncu^ne ni^S 
 Hyri^u and hrafyl. 
 Ic ^aes Hro^gar maej 
 Durh rumne sefan 
 Rssd jelseran 
 Hu he frod * . . . jod 
 Feond ofer-swydeth, 
 Gyf him edwendan 
 ^fre scolde. 
 Beakiwa bisiju 
 Bot eft cuman. 
 
 Quoniam suspicor te scire 
 
 Si ita sit tanquam nos sanl 
 
 Narrari audivimus, 
 
 Quod contra Scyldingos 
 
 Inimicus nescio quis 
 
 Occulta odia 
 
 Tenebrosis noctibus 
 
 Exercet per terrorem 
 
 Insoliiam liolentiam 
 
 Vim ac rapinam. 
 
 Ego htc Hrodgaro possum 
 
 Per animi cogitationes 
 
 Consilium docere 
 
 Quomodo is sapiens . . prudens 
 
 Inimicum superet, 
 
 Si revertatur 
 
 Unquam» 
 
 Injuriam necesse est 
 
 Ultio consequatur» 
 
 probably 'and' is erased. 
 
BEOWULF, 
 
 91 
 
 And 'Sa cear wylmas 
 Colran wur^a^. 
 O^^e * asy^^an 
 Earfo'S ^raje 
 Drea nyS 'Sola'S, 
 Denden ^agr wuna^ 
 On heah stede 
 Husa selest." 
 Weard ma^elode 
 Daer on wicje sset 
 Ombeht unforht. 
 ^ -^5 hwag^res sceal 
 Scearp scyldwija 
 Gescad witan 
 Worda and worca 
 Se ^e wel -Sence^. 
 " Ic -Sagt jehyre 
 Daet ^is is hold weorod 
 Frean Scyldinga. 
 Gewita^ forS beran 
 Waepen and jewaedu. 
 Ic eow wisije, 
 Swilc ic maju-^epias 
 Mine hate, 
 Wi^ feonda jehwone 
 Flotan eoweme 
 Niw tyrwydne 
 
 Et tunc cxira, cestus 
 
 Leniorfiet. 
 
 Ex quo 
 
 Dura sorte 
 
 Poenam nequitia sohit, 
 
 Dum nianeat 
 
 In alto situ 
 
 A ularum felicissima ." 
 
 Custos locutus est 
 
 Qui in via sedebat 
 
 Minister impavidus. 
 
 Quaquaversus debet 
 
 Jeer bellator 
 
 Prudenter explorare ^ 
 
 Verba et actiones 
 
 Qui bene (rem) perpendit. 
 
 " Ego id audio 
 
 Quod hie est arnica cohors 
 
 Regi Scyldingo, 
 
 Progressi efferte 
 
 Arma et apparatuni (beUicum). 
 
 Ego vos moneOf 
 
 Tanquam concives 
 
 MeosjubeOf 
 
 Contra inimicuin quemvis 
 
 Navem vestram 
 
 Nuper pice obductam 
 
 ^ Here and elsewhere the usage of adverbs and particles is not very intelli- 
 gible, perhaps not always accurate. In these cases I have endeavoured to 
 give as nearly as I could what I apprehend to be the general sense of the 
 original. 
 
 - I know not whether this and the next four lines are to be regarded as the 
 sententious observation of the author, or as the commencement of the ward- 
 er's speech 
 
92 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Nacan on sande 
 Arum healdan, 
 O^^^teftbyre^ 
 Ofer laju streamas 
 Leofne mannan, 
 Wudu wunden-hals 
 To weder mearce. 
 
 Facuam ad littus 
 
 Remis appellere, {v, in tuto collo- 
 
 Donee rursusferat [care) 
 
 Super pelagi undas 
 
 Caros homines, 
 
 Lignum torti colli 
 
 Ad limites Molicos, 
 
 Strast waes stan-fah, 
 Stij wisode 
 Gunium set jasdere. 
 Gu^ byrne scan, 
 Heard, hand locen ; 
 Hrinj iren scir 
 Sonj in searwum. 
 Da he to sele fiirSum 
 In hyra jryre jeatwum 
 Ganjan cwomon. 
 Setton saemethe 
 Side scyldas, 
 Rondas rejn-hearde, 
 Wi^ "Saes recedes weal : 
 Bujon "Sa to bence, 
 Byman hrinjdon 
 Gu^-searo gumena, 
 Garas stodon 
 Saemanna searo 
 Samod aet gae^ere, 
 -Slsc-holt ufan jras^ 
 Waes se iren ^reat 
 Waepnum jewurSad *. 
 
 [p. 41, 1.11.] 
 
 Semita eral lapidihus const r a la, 
 
 Via indicata 
 
 Viris simul (euntibus). 
 
 Belli loricafulsit 
 
 Dura, manu coiificta ; 
 
 Annulusferri splendidus 
 
 Sonuit in armis, 
 
 Dum ad aulam propius 
 
 In hellicis ornamentis 
 
 Eundo accedehant. 
 
 Posuere una 
 
 Latos clypeos, 
 
 Scuta pluvia (telorum) dura. 
 
 Ad aula pari etem : 
 
 Incurvabatit se ad sedilia, 
 
 Loricas concusserunt 
 
 Bellica hominum ornamenta, 
 
 Tela stabant 
 
 hautarum gestamina 
 
 Una collecta, 
 
 Fraxinum super glaucam 
 
 (Imposita) erat chalybis noxa 
 
 hi telis conspicua. 
 
 WiEs, &c. or erat chalyhea acies in telis fahricata. 
 
BEOWULF. 
 
 93 
 
 Da "Sasr wlonc haele^ 
 Oret mecjas 
 iEfter hasle^um fraejn 
 '* Hwanon ferigea^ 
 Gefaette * scyldas, 
 Grseje syrcan 
 And ^rim helmas, 
 Heresceafta heap I 
 Ic eom Hro^gares 
 At and ombiht ; 
 Ne seah ic el'Seodije 
 Dus manije men 
 Modijlicran. 
 
 Wen ic ^aet je for wlenco, 
 Nalles for wraec-si^um, 
 Ac for hije "Srymmum 
 Hrothgar sohton." 
 Him -^a ellen-rof 
 Andswarode wlanc 
 Wedera leod ; 
 Word asfter sprasc 
 Heard under helme. 
 " We synt Hijelaces 
 Beod jeneatas. 
 Beowulf is min nama. 
 Wille ic asecjan 
 Sunu Healfdenes 
 Maerum -Seodne 
 Min serende 
 
 Ibi tunc vir intrepidus 
 Heroas socios 
 
 De viris (seipsis ?) interrogavit 
 " Undenam apportastis 
 
 clypeoSy 
 
 Glaucas loricas 
 
 Ac torvas galeas, 
 
 Telorum multitudinem ? 
 
 Ego sum Hrothgari 
 
 Nuncius ac minister ; 
 
 Niinquam vidi exteros 
 
 Tot virof 
 
 Magis superbientes, 
 
 Novi vos neque ob insolentiam, 
 
 Neque ob vindictam, 
 
 Sed ob gravia negotia 
 
 Hrothgarum qucerere,^^ 
 
 Eum tunc Heros 
 
 Excepit intrepidus 
 
 JEolicac gentis ; 
 
 Verbum retulit 
 
 Fortis sub galea. 
 
 " Nos sumus His^elaco 
 
 Fide adstricti. 
 
 Beozmlf est mihi nomen. 
 
 Polo exponere 
 
 Filio Healfdeni 
 
 Illustri domino 
 
 Meum negotium 
 
 * Gefsette. The sense of this word is obscure. ' Fetian ' signifies adducere, 
 accire ; and * fast,' a vessel. It may mean congregatos clypeos, or clypeos quasi 
 ad vasis instar coipus ohtegentes ; but I confess that neither of these senses ap- 
 pears satisfactory. 
 
94 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Aldre ^inufn 
 Gif he us geunnan wile 
 Daet we hine swa jodne 
 Gretan mohton." 
 Wulfjar ma^elode 
 Daet wass Wendla leod. 
 Waes his mod-sefa 
 Manejum jecySed 
 Wij and wisdom. 
 '* Ic 'Sees wine Denija 
 Frean Scyldinja 
 Frinan wille 
 Beaja bryttan, 
 Swa ^\i bena eart 
 Deoden mseme 
 Ymb ^inne si^S. 
 And ^e ^a andsware 
 jEdre jecySan 
 De me se joda 
 Ajifan "Sence^." 
 Hwearf ^a, hrffidUce 
 Daer Hro^jar soet 
 Eald and unhar, 
 Mid his eorla jedriht. 
 Eode ellen-rof 
 De he for eaxlum jestod 
 Denija frean. 
 Cu^e he duju^e ^eaw. 
 
 VI. 
 
 " Wa3s ^u, Hro^jar, hal : 
 Ic eom Hijelaces 
 Masj and majo-^ejn. 
 Habbe ic maer^a fela 
 
 Regi vestro 
 Si permittere velit 
 Ut nos eum benevole 
 Salutemus" 
 Wulfgar locutus est 
 Qui erat e gente Vendelica, 
 Erat prudentia ejus 
 Multis cognita 
 Virtus ac sapient ia. 
 " Ego igitur amicum Danorum 
 Regem Scyldingam 
 Certiorem faciam 
 Annulorum largitorentf 
 Qucenam sit petitio tua 
 Regi illustri 
 De itinere tuo. 
 Ac tibi responsum 
 Cito referam 
 Quod mihi benevolus ilk 
 Redder e digneturJ' 
 Recepit se extemplo 
 ■ Eo quo sedebat Hrodgarus 
 Senex et capillis destitutus, 
 Cum ducum comitatu, 
 Ibat heros 
 
 Donee ad latus staret 
 Danici regis. 
 Novit illejidelem minis trum. 
 
 [p. 43, 1. 6.] 
 
 Salvus est Of Ilrodgare : 
 Ego sum Higelaci 
 Cognatus ac satrapa. 
 Ego splendida multa 
 
BEOWULF. 
 
 95 
 
 Onjunnen on jeojo^e. 
 
 Me weard Grendles "Sinj 
 
 On minre e^el-tyrf 
 
 Undyrne curS. 
 
 Secja'S saeli^end 
 
 Daet 'Saes sele stande, 
 
 Reced selesta, 
 
 Rinca jehwylcum 
 
 Idel and unnyt, 
 
 S3rS^an aefen leoht 
 
 Under heofones liador 
 
 Beholen weorSed. 
 
 Da me "Saet jelaerdon 
 
 Leode mine 
 
 Da selestan 
 
 Snotere ceorlas, 
 
 Deoden Hro^jar, 
 
 Daet ic ^e sohte : 
 
 ForSan hie masjenes craeft 
 
 Mine cu^on ; 
 
 Selfe ofersawon 
 
 Da ic of searwum cwom 
 
 Fah from feondum ; 
 
 Daer ic fife jeband 
 
 Y'Sde Eotene cyn 
 
 And on y^um sloj : 
 
 * * * * 
 
 And nu wi^ Grendel sceal 
 
 Wi^^am ajlaecan 
 Ana jehejan 
 Dinj widi Dyrse. 
 
 # # * # 
 Haebbe ic eac jeahsod 
 
 Dast se agjlaeca 
 
 For his won hydum 
 
 Waepna ne raecce^. 
 
 j^ggressus sum mjuventute. 
 
 Mihi erat Grendelis injuria 
 
 In med patria 
 
 Palam cognita. 
 
 Aitmt navigatores 
 
 Quod hc£c aula stet, 
 
 Habit atio pulcerrima, 
 
 Firis quibusms 
 
 Vacua et inutilis, 
 
 Ex quo vespertina lux 
 
 Sub cali convexo 
 
 Abscondita sit. 
 
 Turn me admonuerunt 
 
 Popular es mei 
 
 Inclytissimi 
 
 Sagaces viri, 
 
 Rex Hrodgaref 
 
 Uti te quaver em : 
 
 Quoniam illi roboris pollentiam 
 
 Meam noverant ; 
 
 Ipsi viderant 
 
 Quum e certamine redirem, 
 
 Discolor ab inimicis ; 
 
 Ubi ego quinque constrinxi 
 
 FaciU Jutis editos 
 
 Et in undis occidi : 
 
 * % * * 
 Et nunc cum Grendele 
 Cum illo scelesto^ 
 Solus inibo 
 Cert amen cum Thy r so. 
 
 # # * # 
 Audivi etiam 
 
 Quod infandus ille^ 
 Pro cute squalida 
 Tela nihilifacit. 
 
grv 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Ic ^aet 'Sonne forhicje, 
 (Swa me Hijelac sie 
 Min mondiihten 
 Modes bli'Se) 
 Daet ic sweord bere 
 O^^e sidne scyld 
 Geolo-rand to* -^u^e. 
 And ic mid jrape sceal . 
 Fon wi'S feonde, 
 And ymb feorh sacan 
 La^ wi^ la^um ; 
 Daer * jelyfan sceal 
 Dryhtnes dome 
 Se ^e hine dea^S- qime^. , 
 
 Tp tF •tF 9'* 
 
 Gif mec dea'S nime'S, 
 
 Byre^S blodij Avael, 
 
 Byrjean "SenceS, 
 
 Ece^ anjenja 
 
 Unmumlice. 
 
 Mearca^ mor hopu. 
 
 No "Su ymb mines ne "Searft 
 
 Lices foerme 
 
 Lenj sorjian. 
 
 Onsend Higelace 
 
 (Gif mec hild nime) 
 
 Beadu-scruda betst 
 
 Dset mine breost wercS, 
 
 Hraejla selest, 
 
 Baet is hraedlan laf 
 
 Welandes jeweorc. 
 
 Gaeth awyrd swa hio seel. 
 
 Eo igitur illud respuo, 
 
 (Ita mihi Higelacusjit 
 
 Dominus mens 
 
 Animi propitius) 
 
 Ut ensem geram 
 
 Aut latum dypeum [pitgnam, 
 
 Flavum {splendidum) or hem in 
 
 At que ego manuscorreptione{so\k) 
 
 Agam contra hostem, 
 
 Ac pro ritd decertabo 
 
 Savus cum scevo ; 
 
 Ibi decernet 
 
 Dei judicium 
 
 Utrum mors abstulerit. 
 
 * # * # ' 
 
 Si me mors auferaty 
 
 Sepelito cruentatum corpus, 
 
 Tumulare memento, 
 
 Augeat viator {sc. tumulum meum) 
 
 Sine lacri/mis. 
 
 Imignite campum circulo, 
 
 Non tu in mei necesseest 
 
 Cadaveris ncEniis (v. epulis fmie- 
 
 Diu lugere. [bribus meis) 
 
 Mitte liigelaco 
 
 {Si me bellum auferat) 
 
 Apparatum Martium optimum 
 
 Quod pectus meum gerit, 
 
 G est amen prastantissimum, 
 
 Id est e spoliis conservatum 
 
 Welandi opus. 
 
 Accidat quid (fatum) velit. 
 
 * ^elyfan is literally permittere. I doubt my construction of the whole 
 clause. 
 
BEOWULF. 
 
 97 
 
 VII. 
 
 Ful oft jebeotedon 
 Beore druncne 
 Ofer ealo waeje 
 Oret mascjas, 
 Daet hie in beor-sele 
 Bidan woldon 
 Grendles gu^e 
 Mid gryrum ecja. 
 Don waes "Seos medo-heal 
 On morgen tid 
 Driht-sele dreor fah, 
 Don daej lixte, 
 Eal benc-'Seln 
 Blode bestymed, 
 Heall heora dreore. 
 Ahte ic holdra ^y laes 
 Deorre duju'^e 
 De ^a dea^ fornam. 
 Site nu to symle, 
 And on sele-meoto 
 Sije-hre^ secja, 
 Swa "Sin sefa hwette. 
 
 [p. 44, 1.16.] 
 
 Sape minati sunt 
 
 Cerevisio ebrii 
 
 In symposio 
 
 Heroes socii, 
 
 Uti in Suldf estiva 
 
 Exspectare tellent 
 
 Grendelis impetum 
 
 ScEvd acie (armati). 
 
 Turn erat hccc hydromelis aula 
 
 Tempore matutino 
 
 Regia sedes cruore tincta, 
 
 Quum dies illucerety 
 
 Omnia scamna 
 
 Sanguine perfusa, 
 
 \et'\ Aula illorum cade. 
 
 Possedifortium eo minus 
 
 Caras virtutes 
 
 Quos Mors abstuUt. 
 
 Assideas nunc mensee, 
 
 Et in aula epularum 
 
 Heros fortitudine illustris, 
 
 Front animus inducat 
 
 (i;. Quo animum acuas). 
 
 X. [p. 45, I. 26.] 
 
 And hyne ymb monij 
 Snellic sae-rinc 
 Sele reste jebeah. 
 Naenij heora -Sohte 
 Daet he ^anon scolde 
 Eft eai"^ lufan 
 
 Ac circa eumfrequens 
 Alacer nauta 
 Quiet is sedem occupavit. 
 Nemo eorum exspectavit 
 Quod indefuturus esset 
 Jterum terram dilectam 
 
 H 
 
98 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY 
 
 iEfre jesaecean, 
 Folce o^'Se freoburh 
 Dser he afaeded wfes. 
 Ac hie haefdon jefrunen 
 Daet hie aer to fela micles 
 In "Saem winsele 
 Wael-dea^ fornam 
 Denijea leode. 
 
 Vnquam quc^rere, 
 Gentem aut urbem 
 In qua educatus esset. 
 Atqui resciverant 
 Quod olim nimis multos 
 In ed symporii aula 
 Violenta mors abstuleret 
 Danica gentis. 
 
 XL [p. 46, 1, 5.] 
 
 Da com on more 
 Under mist hleo'Sum 
 Grendel jonjan, 
 Godes yrre basr, 
 Mynte se man-sca^a 
 Manna cynnes 
 Sumne besyrwan 
 In sele "Sam hean. 
 Wod under wolcnum 
 To 'Sees "Se he win-reced 
 Gold-sele jumena 
 Gearwost wisse 
 Faettum fahne ; 
 Ne wass "Sast forma sv^ 
 Daet he Hro'Sjares 
 Ham jesohte. 
 Naefre he on aldor dajum 
 -Sir ne si-S^ah 
 Heardran haele 
 Heal-'Sejnes fand. 
 Com '^a to recede 
 Rinc simian 
 Dreamum bedasled, 
 
 Turn venit in campum 
 Sub nebularum montibus 
 Grendel gradiens, 
 Dei iramferebaf, 
 Credebat hominum inimicus 
 Generis humani 
 Aliquem se illaqueare 
 In aula ea excelsa. 
 Ibat sub nubibus 
 Donee cedes gaudii 
 Auratam aulam hominum 
 In promptu aspiceret 
 Crateribus splendidum ; 
 Non erat id primum tempus 
 Quod ilk Hrodgari 
 Domiim quasiverat. 
 'Nunquam ilk antiquitus 
 Neque prius neque postea 
 Fortiores duces 
 Aula thanos invenit. 
 Venit tunc ad palatium 
 Homo gradiens 
 Gaudio orbatus, 
 
BEOWULF. 
 
 99 
 
 Diiru sona on arn 
 Fyr-bendum faest 
 Sj^^an he hire folraum^ . 
 Onbread 'Sa bealo-hydij. 
 Da he boljen waes, 
 Recedes mu^an. 
 Ra^e aefter ^on 
 On fajne flor 
 Feond treddode, 
 Eode yrre mod, 
 Him of eagum stod 
 Lijje jeUcost 
 Leoht unfaejer. 
 Geseah he in recede 
 Rinca manije 
 Swefan sibbe-jedriht, 
 Samod aet gaedere 
 Majo-rinca heap. 
 Da his mod ahloj, 
 Mynte 'Saet he gedaelde 
 J^Y "Son daej cwome 
 Atol ajlaeca 
 Anra jehwilces 
 Lif wi'S hce ; 
 Da him alumpen waes 
 Wist-fylle wenne, 
 Wes wyrd 'Sajen 
 Daet he ma moste 
 Manna cynnes 
 Dicjean ofer 'Sa niht. 
 
 In ostium citd mcurrit 
 RepaguUs munitum 
 man Exinde ille manibus . . . 
 Disrupit tunc malevolus, 
 Qiium iratus esset 
 Domusjanuam. 
 Facilh exinde 
 
 Super Incidum pavimentum 
 Hostis incessit, 
 Ihat incensus animo, 
 Illi ex oculis stetit 
 Flammce simillimnm 
 Lumen foedum. 
 Fidit in palatio 
 Homines multos 
 Dormire agmen socium, 
 Simul una 
 
 Cognatorum multitud'mem . 
 Tum animus ejus gaudebat, 
 Sperabat dissociare 
 Antequam dies adesset 
 Foedus latro 
 Uniuscuj usque 
 Fitam a corpore ; 
 Tunc illi accidit 
 Epularum spes, 
 
 Fortunam {suam) eoprovectam esse 
 Quod plures posset 
 Humani generis 
 Forare ea node. 
 
 * Possibly we should read 'on innan' introrsum. 
 H 2 
 
100 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY, 
 
 Dryd-s\v37'S beheold 
 Mjej Hijelaces 
 Hu se man sca^a 
 Under faer-gripum 
 Gefaran wolde. 
 Ne "Sa se ajlaeca 
 Yldan ^ohte, 
 Ac he jefenj 
 Hra'Se form an si^Se 
 Slaependne rinc. 
 Slat unwearnum, 
 Bat banlocan, 
 Blod edrum dranc 
 Syn-snasdum swealh 
 Sona haefde 
 Unlyfijendes 
 Eal jefeormod 
 Fet and folma. 
 Forth near ast-stop, 
 Nam "Sa mid handa 
 He je'^ihtipie 
 Rinc on raeste : 
 Raghte onjean, 
 Feond mid folme 
 He onfenj hrathe 
 Inwit 'Sancum 
 And wi^S earn jesaet. 
 Sona Saet onfunde 
 Fyrena * hyrde 
 ©aet he ne mette 
 Middan jeardes 
 
 Animosus expectahat 
 
 Cognatus Higelaci 
 
 Quomodo inimicus hominum 
 
 Sub complexu suhito 
 
 Se haberet. 
 
 Nihil jam illefadus 
 
 Morandum duxit, 
 
 Verilm ceperat 
 
 FaciU oUm 
 
 Dormientes viros, 
 
 Occiderat ex improviso, 
 
 Momorderat ossium claustra, 
 
 Sangiiinem venis exsuxerat 
 Frustim deglutiverat 
 
 Mox 
 
 E vita destitutoe {corpore) 
 
 Omtiino epulatus erat 
 
 Pedes manusque* 
 
 Propius accessit, 
 
 Jrripuit tunc manibus 
 
 l\on inopinantem 
 
 Virum in cubic ulo : 
 
 Porrexit se exadverso,{BeowulJus) 
 
 Hostem manu 
 
 Arripuit celeriter 
 
 Fraude prcecogitatd 
 
 Et in pavimentum dejecit. 
 
 Mox id invenit 
 
 Scelerum custos 
 
 Quod non expertus fuerat 
 
 Media terra 
 
 This appears a harsh figure, but I translate it^iterally. 
 
BEOWULF, 
 
 101 
 
 EorSan sceatta 
 On elrari men 
 Mund-jripe maran. 
 He on mode wear5 
 Forht on ferh^e 
 No ^y £er fram meahte. 
 H}'5e wees him 
 Hin fus wolde 
 On heolster fleon, 
 Secan deofla jedraej. 
 Ne waes his drohto^ thaer 
 Swylce he on ealder dajum 
 ^r gemette. 
 Gemunde tha se goda 
 Maej Hijelaces 
 ^fen spraece. 
 Uplanj astod, 
 And him faeste wi^-fenj. 
 Finjras burston. 
 Eoten wass utweard. 
 Eorl fur'Sur stop, 
 Mynte se maera 
 Hwasr he meahte 
 Swa widre jewindan 
 And on wej thanon 
 Fleon on fen hopu. 
 Wiste his finjra jeweald 
 * On jrames jrapum 
 Thast he waes jeocor, 
 Si^ 'Saet se hearm-scatha 
 Tha to Heorute ateah. 
 Dryht-sele dynede : 
 Denum eallum-^wearth 
 
 In orbis regionibus 
 Falidiores homines 
 Manus complexu acriores. 
 Ille in animo erat 
 Territus hi pectore 
 Neqiiaqnam effugere potuit . 
 Curafuit illi 
 Praceps rellet 
 In tenebrasjugere, 
 Queer ere d&monum sedem, 
 Nonfuit ejus eonversatio ibi 
 Qualem antiquitits 
 Unquam ijivenerat. 
 Meminit tuncfortis ille 
 Socius Higelaci 
 Vespertini sermofiis. 
 Erectus steiity 
 Et eum valid^ arripuit, 
 Digiti defecerunt. 
 Jutus evasit. 
 Dux instabaty 
 Observabat heros 
 Quo possit (Grendel) 
 Locorum se recipere 
 Et e via exinde 
 Fugere inpaludis latebras. 
 Ostendebat ejus digitorum vis 
 In bellico complexu 
 Quod ille erat violentior. 
 Ex quo exitialis iste 
 Tunc ad Heorot accesserat. 
 Regia aula strepuit : 
 Danis onmibus erat 
 
102 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY 
 
 Ceaster buenduiii 
 
 Cenra jehwylcum 
 
 Eorlum ealu * scerwen. 
 
 Yrre waeron begen 
 
 Ke^e ren-wear^as. 
 
 Reced hlynsode, 
 
 Daet waes wundor micel 
 
 Daet se winsele 
 
 AVi^-hjefde hea^o deorum, 
 
 Bast he on hrusan ne feol 
 
 Faejer fold-bold. 
 
 Ac ^e "Sass faeste waes 
 
 Innan and utan 
 
 Iren bendum 
 
 Searo ■Sonciim besmi^od. 
 
 Daer fram sylle abeaj 
 
 Medu-benc monij 
 
 (Mine jefraeje) 
 
 Golde jerejnad 
 
 Baer tha jraman wunnon. 
 
 Daes ne wendon aer 
 
 Witan Scyldinja 
 
 Bast hit amid jemete 
 
 Manna aenij 
 
 Hetlic and ban-faj 
 
 Tobrecan meahte, 
 
 Listrura tolucan, 
 
 Nym'Se lijes fae^m 
 
 Civita tern incolent ibus 
 Hominibus singulis 
 Ducibus cerevisium ablatum. 
 Irati erant amho 
 Feroces agilesque. 
 Aula personuit, 
 Erat illud mirum maxirne 
 Quod palatium 
 Restiterit magnis feris, 
 Adeo ut non in terram mere 
 Fulcra regionis aula. 
 Quin ea objirmata erat 
 Intra et extra 
 Ferreis repagulis 
 Solerti ingenio fabricata. 
 Ibi efulcimento inclinavit 
 Hydromelis sedes multa 
 {Quod audivi) 
 Auro oblita 
 
 Qua turn inimicitia coierunt. 
 Id non exspectabant antea 
 Optimates Scyldingorum 
 Quod earn in congressu 
 Ilominum quispiam 
 Inimicus et lethiferus 
 Disimmpere posset, 
 Macliinationibus divellere, 
 Nisijlammce vis 
 
 ^ My translation here is probably incorrect. The only sense it will bear 
 is, that the beer-vessels in the hall were destroyed or overturned, and their 
 contents spilled in the contest— a circumstance which would hardly be men- 
 tioned by a poet however rude. 
 
BEOWULF, 
 
 103 
 
 Swalje on swa'Sule. 
 ' Swej upastaj. 
 Nivve jeneahhe. 
 
 Nord-Denum stod 
 Atelic ejesa 
 Anra jehwilcum 
 Dara the of wealle 
 Wop jehyrdon, 
 Gryre leo^jalan 
 Godes andsacan 
 Sijeleasne saiij, 
 Sar wunijean 
 Helle haefton ; 
 Heold hine to faeste 
 Se ^e manna waes 
 M^jene strenjest 
 On ^asm daege 
 Disses lyfes. 
 
 Devoraret subito. 
 
 Sonus ascendit. 
 
 De novo corripuit. {sc, Beozmlfus 
 
 Grendelem) 
 Danis Borealibus erat 
 Tetra formido 
 Universis 
 
 Eoriim qui e muro 
 Ejulatum audivermd, 
 Horridum cantum 
 Dei inimico (editum) 
 Triumphi expers melos, 
 Graviter ejulare 
 Stygium captivum; 
 Tenuit eumjiimis arcth 
 Qui hominum erat 
 Robore prastantissimus 
 In Hits diebus 
 Hujus vita. 
 
 XII. [p. 48, 1. 16.] 
 
 La^lic sar ^ebad 
 Atol aejlaeca, 
 Him on eaxle wearb 
 Syndohl sweotol, 
 Seonovve onsprunjon, 
 Byrston ban-locan. 
 Beowulfe wear^ 
 Gu'Shre'S gyf&Se. 
 Scolde Grendel ^onan 
 
 Tetrum vulnus experiebatur 
 
 Fadus hostis, 
 
 Ei in huniero erat 
 
 Cicatrix manifesta, 
 
 Nervi dissiliebant, 
 
 Disrupted simt ossium commissure 
 
 Beowulf erat 
 
 Victoria concessa. 
 
 Gestiebat Grendel indc 
 
 ^ * or, Vox iterum correpti {sc. Grendelis\ or, Iterum ubunde. The passage 
 is obscure. 
 
104 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Feorh seoc fieon 
 Under fen hleo^a 
 Secean winleas wic. 
 Wiste "Se geomor 
 Daet his aldres waes 
 Ende jejonjen, 
 Dogera daej-rim. 
 
 Animi ccger mifugere 
 
 Sub paludes montium 
 
 Qucerere illatabilem domum. 
 
 Novit certiils 
 
 Quod sibi vita: 
 
 Finis ingrueretf 
 
 Dierum numerus (expletus). 
 
 XVII. [p. 50, subjine.'] 
 
 Leo's waes asungen 
 Gleomannes jy^. 
 Gamen eft astah, 
 Beorhtasde benc-swej, 
 Byrelas sseldon 
 Win of wunder fatum. 
 Da cwom Weal^eo forS, 
 Gan under jyldnum beaje, 
 Dar ^a jodan 
 Tvvejen saeton 
 Suhter jefeederan. 
 Da jyt wass hiera 
 Sib ast jaedere, 
 JEjhwylc o^rum try we. 
 Swylc "Saer Hunferd 
 Dyle set fotum saet 
 Frean Scyldinja. 
 Gehwylc hiora 
 His ferhSe treowde, 
 Daet he haefde mod micel 
 Deah ^e he his majum 
 Naere arfaest 
 ^t ecja jelacum. 
 Spraec "Sa 
 Ides Scyldinja. 
 
 Carmen decant at umfuerat 
 
 Fatis poema. 
 
 LcEtitia mox iucrebuit, 
 
 Emicuit sedilium vox, 
 
 Pocillatores obtulere 
 
 Finum e speciosis crateribus. 
 
 Turn egressa est Wealtheoa, 
 
 Incedebat sub aureis ornamentis, 
 
 Qua boni 
 
 Duo sedebant 
 
 Fratrueles. 
 
 Adhuc erat eis 
 
 Concordia inter se, 
 
 Invicemjidelibus, 
 
 Simul ibi Hunferd 
 
 Orator ad pedes sedebat 
 
 Regis Scyldingi. 
 
 Unusquisque eorum 
 
 Animum ejus novit, 
 
 Quod habuerit spiritum elatum 
 
 Etsi sociis 
 
 Nunquam pn^sidio firmo est 
 
 In acierum ludo. 
 
 Turn locuta est 
 
 Uxor Scyldingi. 
 
BEOWULF. 
 
 105 
 
 / 
 
 *' Onfoh Sissum fulle, 
 Freo drihten min, 
 Sinces brytta, 
 Du on saelum waes 
 Gold-wine jumena. 
 And to Geatum spraec 
 Mildum wordum. 
 Swa sceal man don. 
 Beo wi'S Geatas glsed 
 Geofena jemyndij 
 Nean and feorran. 
 Da nu hafast, 
 M e man saejde, 
 Daet ^u for suna wolde 
 Hereric hebban. 
 Heorot is jefselsod 
 Beah-sele beorhta. 
 Bruc ^enden "Su mote 
 Manijra meda, 
 And ^inum majum laef 
 Folc and rice ; 
 Donne "Su for^ scyle 
 Meto^ sceaft seon. 
 Ic minne can 
 Glaedne Hro^ulf, 
 Daet he ^a jeojo^e wile 
 Arum healdan, 
 Gyf "Su jer ^onne he, 
 Wine Scyldinja ! 
 Worold oflaetest." 
 Hwearf ^a bi bence 
 Daer hyre byre wasron, 
 Hre^ric and Hro^mund, 
 And hsele^a beam 
 
 " Accipe hoc poculum, 
 
 Care Domine mi, 
 
 Auri largitor, 
 
 Tu in aula sis 
 
 Liber alls hominihus, 
 
 Et Gothos adloquere 
 
 Propitio sermone. 
 
 Ita debet homofacere. 
 
 Sis erga Gothos largus 
 
 Donor um memor 
 
 Procul ac prope. 
 
 Nunc habes, 
 
 (Prout) 7nihi referunt, 
 
 Quern tu infilii (loco) velis 
 
 Fictorem habere, 
 
 Hertha est liberatay 
 
 Armillarum sedes pulcra. 
 
 Fruere dum potueris 
 
 Multis opibus, 
 
 Et tins cognatis relinquas 
 
 Populum ac regwMm(curandum); 
 
 Quum tu hinc abeas 
 
 Creator em visurus. 
 
 Ego meum novi 
 
 Bonum Hrothuifum, 
 
 Quod ille juventutem velit 
 
 Prasidio tueri, 
 
 Si tu prius quam ille, 
 
 Care Scyldinga ! 
 
 Terram derelinquas" 
 
 Ibattuncjuxta scamna 
 
 Qudjilii ejus erant, 
 
 Hrethric et Hrothmund, 
 
 Et nobilium nati 
 
106 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Giogo^ 2et jasdere. 
 
 Dger se joda saet 
 
 Beowulf Geata 
 
 Be 'Sasm jebro^rum tvvaem, 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 " Ic ^e ^ses lean jeman. 
 Hafast ^u jefered, 
 Daet "Se feor and neah 
 Ealne wide ferh^ 
 Werasehtijad. 
 Efne swa side 
 Swa sae bebuje^ 
 Winde^eard weallas." 
 
 Juvenes una. 
 Ibi bonus sedebat 
 Beowulf Gothus 
 Juxta fratres duos. 
 
 [p. 52, 1. 9.] 
 
 " Tibi hanc mercedem offero. 
 Tu id consecutus es, 
 Ut te longe lattque 
 Omnes elatioris animi 
 Viri pradicent. 
 Fel ubicunque 
 Oceanus circundat 
 Vento obvia pracipitia" 
 
 XX. [p. 53,1. 14.] 
 
 Hro^jar ma^elode 
 
 Helm Scyldinja, 
 
 " Ne frin ^\x aefter saBluni, 
 
 Sorh is jeniwod 
 
 Denijea leodum. 
 
 Daed is iEschere 
 
 Yrmenlafes 
 
 Yldre bro"Sor, 
 
 Min runwita 
 
 And min rasdbora 
 
 Eaxl jestealla." 
 
 Hrothgar locutus est 
 
 Rex Sci/Idinga, 
 
 *' Ne roges de salute , 
 
 Luctus renovatus est 
 
 Danorum genti. 
 
 Mortuus est Mscherus 
 
 Yrmenlaji 
 
 Frater natu major, 
 
 Consiliarius mens 
 
 Ac minister 
 
 Lateris comes." 
 
 [p. 53, 1.27.] 
 
 Hie dyjel lond 
 Warijea^ vvulf hleo'Su 
 Windije naessas 
 
 Ble tenebrosam sedem 
 Custodit lupinos monies 
 Ventosa promontoria 
 
BEOWULF. 
 
 107 
 
 * Frecne ten-jelad 
 Daer fyi'^en stream 
 Under nasssa jeni^u 
 Ni'Ser jewite^ 
 Flod under fold an ; 
 Nis fet feor heonan 
 Mil jemearces, 
 Daet se mere stande^ ; 
 Ofer 'Saem honpa^ 
 Hrinde bearwas, 
 Wudu wyrtum faest 
 Waster ofer helma^S. 
 Daer masj nihta jewhaem 
 Ni^-wundor seon 
 Fyr on flode. 
 
 Horridas pahides 
 
 Ubi igneumjiumen 
 
 Suhter promontorii clivos 
 
 Infra ruit 
 
 Fluvius sub terra ; 
 
 Non est ilk (locus) procul abhinc 
 
 Mille passuum, 
 
 Ubi palus sit a est ; 
 
 Super earn pendent 
 
 Antiqua (corticosa) nemoroj 
 
 Sylva radicibus jirma 
 
 Aquam obtegit. 
 
 Ibi potest nocte qudvis 
 
 Portentosum miraculum videri 
 
 Ignis super Jluvium. 
 
 [p. 54, 1. 10.] 
 
 " Nu is se raed jelanj 
 Eft aet "Se anum. 
 Ear^-ptne const 
 Frecne stowe 
 ©aer ^u find an miht 
 Fela sinnigne secj. 
 Sec jif "Su dyrre ; 
 Ic "Se ^a faeh-Se 
 Feo leanije 
 Eald jestreonum 
 Swa ic aer dyde 
 Wundun jolde 
 Gyf ^u of wej cymest. 
 
 " Nunc est sermo attinens 
 Prqfecto ad te solum. 
 Terrcz latebram nosti 
 Horridam mansionem 
 Qua tu invenire potes 
 Mult OS nefandos homines^ 
 (/) pete si audeas ; 
 Ego tibi pro hdc pugnd 
 Mercedem rependam 
 Antiquis gazis 
 Uti priusfeci 
 Torto auro {sc- armillis) 
 Mode tu ex itinere isto redeas" 
 
 * or, Scevus imperet, if * fenjelad ' be written for ' fenjela^/ (from ' fengel ' 
 rex.) 
 
108 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 XXI. [p.54, 1. 18.] 
 
 Beowulf ma-Selode 
 Beam ^jtheowes. 
 " Ne sorja, snotor juma ! 
 Selie bi^ aejhwgem 
 Daet he his freond wrece 
 Donne he fela murne. 
 Ure sejhwhylc sceal 
 Ende jebidan 
 Worolde lifes, 
 Wyrce se ^e mote 
 Domes 3er dea^e 
 Dast b'rS driht jumena 
 Unlifjendum 
 iEfter selest. 
 Aris, rices weard, 
 Utonhra^e feran, 
 Grendles majan 
 Ganj sceawijan, 
 Ic hit 'Se jehate 
 No he on helm losaS 
 Ne on foldan faeSm 
 Ne on fyrgen holt 
 Ne on jyfenes jrund. 
 Gan Sser he wille. 
 Dis dojor Su 
 Ge'Syld hafa 
 Weana jehwylces, 
 Swa ic Se wene to." 
 
 Ofereode Sa 
 iESelin^a beam 
 
 Beowulf locutus est 
 
 Nat us Mcgtheowo. 
 
 " Ne doleasj vir prudens ! 
 
 Melius evenit unicuique 
 
 Uti ille amicum ulsciscatur 
 
 Quern multum lugeat. 
 
 Nostrum quisque debet 
 
 Finem expectare 
 
 Terrestris vitcK, 
 
 Operetur qui potest 
 
 Judicium ante mortem 
 
 Quod sit ab hominum Rege {sc. 
 
 Mortuis [Deo) 
 
 Postea optimum. 
 
 Surge, regni custos, 
 
 Foras confestim ito, 
 
 Gr ende lis cognati 
 
 Vestigia indicato, 
 
 Ego id tibi spondeo 
 
 Non ille in prcBsidium aufugiet 
 
 Neque in terra sinum 
 
 Neque in igneum nemus 
 
 Neque in paludis abyssum. 
 
 Fugiat quo velit. 
 
 Hodie tu 
 
 Sustinuisti 
 
 Mala qucdvis, 
 
 It a tibi spondeo" 
 
 [p. 55, 1.6.] 
 
 Super abat tunc 
 Nobilium soboles 
 
BEOWULF. 
 
 109* 
 
 Steap stan-hli'So, 
 * Stije nearwe, 
 Enjean wa^as 
 
 Neowle naessas, 
 Nicor-husa fela. 
 He feara sum 
 Beforan jenjde 
 Wisra manna 
 Wonj sceawian ; 
 O'S "Sast he faringa 
 Fyrjen beamas 
 Ofer harne stan 
 Hleonian funde, 
 Wynleasne wudu. 
 Waster understod 
 Dreori^ and jedrefed. 
 Denum eallum wass 
 Winum Scyldinja 
 V/eorce on mode 
 To je^olianne, 
 De^ne monejum, 
 Oncy^ eorla jehwaem, 
 Sy^^an ^sceres 
 On ^am holmclife 
 Hafelan metton. 
 Flod blode' weol 
 Folc to saejon 
 Hatan heolfre. 
 
 Arduos saxorum clivos, 
 Semitd arctd, 
 Angusto itinere 
 Ignotam viam, 
 Pracipilia promontoria, 
 Monstrorum domos mult as» 
 Ille quatuor aliquos 
 Prce se misit 
 Prudentes vivos 
 Uti viam indie areni; 
 Donee ille subito 
 Syhestria rohora 
 Super canam rupem 
 Impendere invetiit, 
 Injucundum nemus» 
 Aqua suhtusjacehat 
 Lugubris et turbidus. 
 Danis omnibus wees 
 Amicis Scyldingi 
 Labor in animo 
 Sustinendus, 
 Thanis multis, 
 Insolitus satrapa cuique, 
 Postquam Mscheri 
 In littoris anfractu 
 Caput invenerunt. 
 Fluctus sanguine cestuabat 
 Populo adspiciente 
 Calido tabo. 
 
 ' The apposition so characteristic of Saxon poetry would perhaps be better 
 preserved by continuing the accusative. 
 
 Semitam arctam, 
 Angiistum iter. 
 
110 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Horn stLindum song, 
 Fuslic fuhton leod, 
 Fe"Sa eal jesaet. 
 Gesawon ^a aefter wastere 
 Wyrm cynnes fela, 
 Sellice sae-dracan 
 Sund cunnian ; 
 Swylce on naes hleo^um 
 Nicras licjean. 
 
 Cornua interim so7iuerunt, 
 Prompt^ pugnabat populus, 
 Aciem universam instruxerunt. 
 Videhant tumjuxta vndas 
 Serpentes multoSf 
 Mirabiles maris dracones 
 Littus custodire ; 
 Pariter in promontorii clivis 
 Monstrajacere. 
 
 [p. 55, 1. 25.] 
 
 Ac se hwita helm 
 Hafelan werede 
 Se the mere jrundas 
 Menjan scolde, 
 Secan sund jebland, 
 Since jeweor^ad 
 Befongen frea-wrasnum, 
 Swa hyne fyrndajum 
 Worhte waepna smi^, 
 Wundrum teode, 
 Besette swynlicum 
 Thset hyne sy^^an 
 Ne brond ne beado mecas 
 Bitan ne meahton. 
 Naes 'Saet "Sonne maetost 
 Maejen fultuma 
 Daet him on ^earfe lah 
 Dyle Hro^gares ; 
 Waes ^8em haeft-mece 
 Hrunting nama, 
 Dast waes anforan 
 Eald jestreona. 
 
 Et ilk candidam galeam 
 
 Capite gerebat 
 
 Qui paludis abysso 
 
 Appellerety 
 
 Tentaret aquor, 
 
 Argent splendida 
 
 Circumcinctus loric&y 
 
 Quam illi antiquities 
 
 Fabricaverat armorumfaber, 
 
 Mirefeceratf 
 
 Ornaverat aprorumformis 
 
 Uti earn olim 
 
 Neque ensis neque ccsdis telum 
 
 Mordere posset» 
 
 Non erat id turn minimum 
 
 Firtutis auxilium 
 
 Quod ei in opus (hocce) imposuit 
 
 Orator Hrodgari; 
 
 Fuit ensi manubriato 
 
 Hrunting nomen, 
 
 Qui fuit primus 
 
 Veteris gaza. 
 
BEOWULF. 
 
 \ 
 111 
 
 Ecj waes iren 
 
 Ater tanum fah, 
 
 Ahyrded hea*So swate. 
 
 Nasfre hit aet hilde ne swac 
 
 Manna aenijum 
 
 Dara ^e hit mid mundum be- 
 
 wand 
 Se "Se gryre si^as 
 Gegan dorste, 
 Folc stede fara. 
 Naes ^ast forma SI'S 
 Daet hit ellen weorc 
 Mfndin scolde. 
 
 Acies eratferrea 
 
 Veneno vegetabili tincta, 
 
 Indurata potenti liquore. 
 
 Nu?iquam ea in bello fefellit 
 
 Virum ullum 
 
 Eoru7n qui earn manibus gesse- 
 
 rint 
 Qui terribiles vias (beUi) 
 Ire ausus est, 
 Castrense iter. 
 
 Non erat illud primum tempus 
 Quo illud heroicum opus 
 Patrare deberet. 
 
 XXll. [p. 56,1. 14.] 
 
 Beowulf ma^elode 
 Beam ^jtheowes : 
 " Ge^enc nu se maera 
 Maja Healfdenes 
 Snottra fenjel, 
 Nu ic eom siSes fus, 
 Gold-wine jumena, 
 Hwaet wit jeospraecon ; 
 Gif ic aet'Searfe 
 ©inre scolde 
 Aldre linnan, 
 Daet ^u me awasre 
 ForS jewitenum 
 On faeder staele, 
 Waes "Su mundbora 
 Minum majo "Sejnura 
 Hond jesellum, 
 
 Beowulf loquebatur 
 
 Filius jEgtheowi : 
 
 *' Reminiscere nunc illustris 
 
 Nate Healfdano 
 
 Prudens reXy 
 
 Quumjam sim itineri accinctuSf 
 
 Liberalis amice hominum, 
 
 Quod verbis egimus ; 
 
 (Scilicet) modo ad necessitatem 
 
 Tuam 
 
 Fita destitutusfueroy 
 
 Quod tu mihi esses 
 
 Mortuo 
 
 In patris loco, 
 
 Sis tu protector 
 
 Meorum commilitonum 
 
 Manu sociatorum, 
 
1 12 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POKTRY, 
 
 Gif mec hild nime. 
 
 Swylce "Su "Sa madmas 
 
 De "Su me seldest, 
 
 Hro'Sgare leofa ! 
 
 Higelace onsend. 
 
 Maej ^onne on 'Saern jold onjitan 
 
 Geata dryhten 
 
 Geseon sunu hrsedles 
 
 Donne he on -Sast sine stara'S 
 
 Daet ic jumcystum 
 
 Godne funde 
 
 Beaja bryttan. 
 
 ^ Breac 'Son moste 
 
 And ^u HunferS last 
 
 Ealde lafe, 
 
 Wraetlic waej-sweord, 
 
 Wid-cu'Sne man 
 
 Heard-ecj habban. 
 
 Ic me mid Hruntinge 
 
 Dom jewyrce, 
 
 OS'Se mec dea^ nimeS." 
 
 iEfter 'Sagm wordura 
 
 Weder- Geata leod 
 
 Efsle mid elne 
 
 Nalas andsware 
 
 Bidan wolde. 
 
 Brim wylm onfenj 
 
 Hilde rince. 
 
 Si me helium ahstulerit» 
 
 Forro tu gazas 
 
 Quas mihi dedisti, 
 
 Hrodgare amice I 
 
 Higelaco mittas. 
 
 Potest ex eo auro intelligere 
 
 Gothorum rex 
 
 Videre illico 
 
 Quum istud argentum i?tspexerit 
 
 Quod ego thesauris 
 
 Liberalem invenerim 
 
 jinnulorum largitorem. 
 
 Et tu Hunferdo concedas 
 Antiquum xejjuuyjXiov^ 
 Bene fabricatum ensem, 
 P radar homini 
 Acie durum habendum. 
 Ego mihi cum Hruntinge 
 Judicium exsequar, 
 Aut me mors auferet" 
 Post hac verba 
 Molo-Gothus dux 
 Alacer virtute 
 'Nullum responsum 
 Exspectare voluit. 
 Fluctus spumans excepit 
 Mavortium virum» 
 
 * The construction of this line is very obscure. It might perhaps be ren- 
 dered Fruere dum possis, if the context would admit of such an interpre- 
 tation. 
 
BEOWULF. 
 
 113 
 
 Fyr leoht jeseah 
 ^ Blacne leoman 
 Beorhte scinan. 
 
 Geseah 'Sa on searwum 
 Sije-ead bil, 
 Eald sweord Eotenisc 
 Ecjum ^yhtij, 
 Wijena sweord. 
 Mynd 'Sast waspna-cyst ; 
 Buton hit waes maere 
 Don aenij mon o'Ser 
 To beadu lace 
 iEt-baeran meahte, 
 God and jeatolic 
 Gijanta jeweorc ; 
 He jefenj ^a fetel hilt. 
 
 Ban-hrinjas braec ; 
 Bil eal ^urh wod 
 Faejne flaesc horn an. 
 Heo on flet jecronj. 
 Sweord waes swatij, 
 Secj weorce jefeh. 
 Lixte se leoma, 
 Leoht innestod, 
 Efoe swa of hefne 
 Hadre seined 
 
 [p. 57,1. 11.] 
 
 Ignis Ivmen vidit 
 Furpureis radiis 
 Clarum coruscare. 
 
 XXIII. [1.24.] 
 
 Conspexit tunc inter arma 
 Gladium facile victorem, 
 Veterem ensem Juticum 
 Acie validum, 
 Bellatorum ensem. 
 Observabat telum istud ; 
 Verurn majus erat 
 Qudm quod alius quispiam 
 Ad pugncB ludum 
 Efferre posset y 
 Bonum ac eximium 
 Giganteum opus ; 
 Arripuit tunc capulum. 
 
 [p. 58, I. 5.] 
 
 Ossium annulos f regit ; 
 
 Telum per omnem penetravit 
 
 Moribundam carnem. 
 
 Ilia in pavimentum corruit. 
 
 Ensis erat cruentus, 
 
 Militare opus perfect um. 
 
 Effulgebat lumen, 
 
 Lux intus stetit, 
 
 Non aliter qudm cum a calo 
 
 Lucidus splendet 
 
 ^ * Blaca fyr,' Caedm. 80. 15. ' Blac-ern' lychnus — '■ blecan' pallere — Bleak 
 (the fish); all, apparently, denominated in that spirit of contrast, not unusual 
 in language, which applies the same term to opposites. 
 
 I 
 
114 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Rodores candel. 
 He aefter recede wlat, 
 Hwearf 'Sa be wealle 
 Waspen hafenade 
 Heard be hiltum 
 Hijelaces "Sepi 
 Yrre and anraednes. 
 
 [p- 
 
 . . . . On mere staredon; 
 
 Wiston and ne wendon 
 
 Dset hie heora wine drihten 
 
 Selfne jesawon. 
 
 Da "Saet sweord onjan 
 
 iEfter hea^o swate 
 
 Hilde jicelum 
 
 Wij-bil wanian. 
 
 Dget waes wundra sum, 
 
 Dset hit eal jemealt 
 
 Ise jehcost 
 
 Donne forstes bend 
 
 Fasder onlsete^, 
 
 Onwinde^ wael-rapas 
 
 Se jeweald hafa'S 
 
 Sasla and moela, 
 
 Dsdt is so~S metod. 
 
 JEtheris lampas. 
 Ille per ades gradiebatur, 
 Incessit juxta miiros 
 Ensem tenens 
 Fortiter a capulo 
 -Higelaci minister 
 Ira ac const antid (sc. Iratus et 
 constans animi). 
 
 58, 1. 29.] 
 
 In mare intuebantur; 
 Agnoverunt, ac non exspectave- 
 
 Quod amicum ducem 
 Ipsum videbant» 
 Turn ensis ille incepit 
 Post ingentem ccedem 
 Belli stillicidio 
 Telum deficere. 
 Id erat mirum aliqiwd, 
 Quod omnis liquef actus est 
 Glaciei simillimus 
 Quum pruincd vinculum 
 Pater resolvit, 
 Explicat aquarum Junes 
 Qui arbitrium habet 
 Locorum et temporum, 
 Is est verus Creator. 
 
 [rant, 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 Beowulf maMode 
 Beam -Sljtheowes 
 ** Hvvaet we "Se 'Saes sae-lac, 
 
 Sunu Healfdanes, 
 
 [p. 59, 1. 25.] 
 
 Beowulf locutus est 
 
 Filius Mctheowi' 
 
 " Aliquid nos tibi hoc marinum 
 
 {sc. nautarum) munus, 
 Fili Healfdeni, 
 
BEOWULF. 
 
 Uo 
 
 Leod Scyldinja, 
 Lustum brohton 
 Tires to tacne, 
 De 'Su her to-locast. 
 Ic 'Saet unsofte 
 Ealdre jedijde ; 
 Wijje under wastere 
 Weorc jene^de 
 Earfo^lice. 
 iEt rihte waes 
 Gu^ 'jetvvaefed." 
 
 Rex Scyldinga, 
 Lubenter offerimus 
 Victorice in sigminij 
 Quod hic aspicis. 
 Ecro hunc inamanum 
 Mortalem superavi ; 
 Mavortium sub undd 
 Opus peregi 
 Diffi cutter. 
 Pro just itid 
 Pugna exitum habuitJ 
 
 [p. 60, 1. 6.] 
 
 Ic hit ^e ^onne jehate 
 Daet "Su on Heorote most 
 Sorh-leas swefan 
 Mid ^inra secja jedryht 
 And ^ejna jehwylc 
 Diura leoda. 
 
 XXV 
 
 " Oferhyda ne jym, 
 
 Maere cempa ! 
 
 Nu is "Sines maejnes blaed 
 
 Ane hwile. 
 
 Eft sona bi-S 
 
 Daet Sec adl oSSe ecj 
 
 Eafo^es ^ jetwaefcS, 
 
 O^Se fyres fenj, 
 
 OS'Se flodes wylm, 
 
 OSSe jripe meces, 
 
 Ego id tibi tunc vovi 
 Quod tu in Herthd 
 Doloris expers dormires 
 Cum tuo nobilium comiiatu 
 Et thanis singulis 
 Tui populi, 
 
 [p. 60, 1. 27.] 
 
 Arrogantiam tie J ovens, 
 
 Illustris heros! 
 
 Nunc est roboris tuijlos 
 
 Certo tempore. 
 
 Mox postea erit 
 
 Ut te aut morbus aut ensis 
 
 Vita (corde) privabit, 
 
 Aut ignis violentia, 
 
 Aut torrentis unda, 
 
 Aut ictus gladiiy 
 
 ' I have given to 'jetwaefed' the only sense which appears to be autho- 
 rized by the context. Lye gives none but dejicere. 
 
 * I have again been obhged to give a conjectural translation of * getwaefe^.' 
 
 I 2 
 
116 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 O^^e jares fliht, 
 O^^e atol yldo, 
 O^^e eajena bearhtm 
 ForsitcS and forsworce'S 
 Semninja bi'S : 
 Dast "Sec dryht-juma 
 Pea's oferswyde^. 
 Swa ic bring Dena 
 Hund missera 
 Weold under wolcnum, 
 And hij wijje beleac 
 Manijum msejSa 
 Geond "Sysne mi'S'San-jard 
 -S^scum and ecjum. 
 Daet ic me asnijne 
 Under swejles begonjje 
 Sacan ne tealde ; 
 Hwagt me ^ass on e'Sle 
 Edwendan cwom ; 
 Gym aefter jomene 
 Seo^^an Grendel wearS 
 Eaid jewinna, 
 Injenja min. 
 Ic ^asre socne 
 Sinjales wasj 
 Mod ceare micle.'* 
 
 Aut sagitta volafusy 
 
 Aut tetra senectus, 
 
 Aut oculorum acies 
 
 Obstructa et obscurata 
 
 Subito erit : 
 
 (Ita) ut te principem (licet) 
 
 Mo7's exsuperet. 
 
 Ita ego gentem Danorum 
 
 Multos annos 
 
 Rexi sub calof 
 
 Et potens bello obsedi 
 
 Mult as gentes 
 
 Per hanc terram 
 
 Clypeis et ensibus. 
 
 Ita ut mihi quempiam 
 
 Sub ca^U Jirmamento 
 
 Nocere vix crederem ; 
 
 Quale mihi hie in patrid 
 
 Supervenit ; 
 
 Inhians viris 
 
 Ex quo Grendel ingruebat 
 
 Antiquus hostis, 
 
 Incur sor meus. 
 
 Ego propter hoc malum 
 
 Continuo tuli 
 
 Animi curam in'gentem" 
 
 Geast inne swaef, 
 O^ ^set hrefn blaca 
 Heofones wynne 
 Bli^-heort bodode 
 Com an beorht. 
 
 [p. 61, 1.16.] 
 
 Hospes intus dormiitf 
 Donee corvus niger 
 Cceli delicias 
 LcBtus annuntiaret 
 Adesse lucem. 
 
BEOWULF. 
 
 117 
 
 XXVIL [p. 62, 1. 14.] 
 
 Cwom "Sa to flode 
 Fela modijra 
 Hasj-stealdra bring, 
 Net baeron locene 
 Leo^o syrcan. ' 
 Land-Aveard onfand 
 Eft-si's eorla 
 Swa be ser dyde. 
 No be mid bearme 
 Of bilges nosan 
 Gaesne grette, 
 Ac bira tojeanes rad, 
 Cwse^ thast wilcuman 
 Wedera leodum 
 Sea wan scir bame. 
 To scipe foron. 
 Da waes onsande 
 SsB jeap naca 
 Hladen bere-waedum, 
 Hrinjed stefna 
 Mearum and ma^mum, 
 Maest bUfade 
 Ofer Hro^jares 
 Hord jestreonum. 
 He ^aem bat-wearde 
 B Linden jolde 
 Swurd jesealde, 
 Daet be sy^-San wass 
 On meodo bence 
 Ma'Sma ^y weor^re 
 Yrfe lafe. 
 Gewat bim on nacan. 
 
 Venit tunc ad mare 
 
 Multorum fortium 
 
 Nobilium turma, 
 
 Rete (loricam) gerebant concate- 
 
 Membris indusium. [riatum 
 
 Littoris custos aspexit 
 
 Reditum ducis 
 
 Uti prius aspexerat (adventum). 
 
 Non ille injurios^ 
 
 E clivi promontorio 
 
 Hospites salutavit, 
 
 Sed equitavit obviam, 
 
 Alloquebatur gratulabundus 
 
 Molicos viros 
 
 (Quod) reviser ent terram patriam 
 
 Navem petebant. 
 
 Tumfuit immissa 
 
 Mari curva ratis 
 
 Omista miliiari apparatu, 
 
 Torta prora 
 
 Equis ac divitiis (gravida). 
 
 Mains elevatus est 
 
 Super Hrodgari 
 
 Cumulatos thesauros. 
 
 Ille (Beowulfus) navium custodi 
 
 Capulo deaurato 
 
 Ensem tradidit, 
 
 Qui posted esset 
 
 In hydromelis cubili 
 
 Ornamentorum pretiosissimus 
 
 Hccredibus reUnquendus. 
 
 Ascendebat navem, 
 
118 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Drefan deop waster, 
 Dena land otjeaf. 
 Da waes be maeste 
 Mere hraejla sum 
 Sejl sale faest. 
 Sund-wudu wunede, 
 No 'Saer wej-flotan 
 Wind ofer ySum 
 Si^Ses jetweefde. 
 Saejenja forfleat 
 Famij heals 
 For^ ofer y^e, 
 Bunden stefna 
 Ofer brim streamas ; 
 Daet hi Geata clifu 
 Onptan meahton, 
 Cu'Se ngessas. 
 Ceoi upje^ranj 
 Lyft jeswenced, 
 On lande stod. 
 Hrae^e waes aet holme 
 Hy^-weard jeara, 
 Se "Se aer lange tid 
 Leofra manna 
 Fus aet-faro'Se 
 Feor wlatode. 
 Saelde to sande 
 Sid-fagdme scip 
 Oncear bendam fsest, 
 Dylaes hym y^a "Srym 
 Wudu wynsuman 
 Forwrecan meahte. 
 Het ^a utberan 
 iE'6elin5a jestreon 
 
 Sidcabant altum ccquor, 
 
 Danorum terram reliquerunt. 
 
 Ibi erat ad malum 
 
 Marina supellex 
 
 Velum funibiis constrictum. 
 
 Maris lignum (cymba) natabat 
 
 Neque tunc maris sulcatorem 
 
 Ventus super undas 
 
 Itinere destituit. 
 
 Maris viator gradiebatur 
 
 Spumante collo 
 
 PerjluctuSy 
 
 Tortd prord 
 
 Per oceani c^qtwra ; 
 
 Ita ut Gothicas rupes 
 
 Attingere possent, 
 
 Not a promontoria. 
 
 Carina contendebat 
 
 Ventofatigata, 
 
 In terra stetit. 
 
 Cito adfuit ad mare « 
 
 Portus custos alacer, 
 
 Is qui Ion go priils tempore 
 
 Amicorum hominum 
 
 Avidus adventum 
 
 E longinquo exspectaverat. 
 
 Appropinquavit littori 
 
 Graviter onerata navis 
 
 Anchors morsibus retenta, 
 
 Ne eam undarum concursus 
 
 (Lignum dilectum) 
 
 Disrumpere possit. 
 
 Jitssit tunc efferri (Beowulfus) 
 
 Nob lies gazas 
 
BEOAVULF. 
 
 J 19 
 
 Fraetwe and fast jold. 
 Nses him feor 'Sanon 
 To jesecanne 
 Sinces bryttan 
 Hijelac Hre'Sling, 
 Dser get ham wuna^ 
 Selfa mid jesi^um 
 Sae-wealle neah. 
 Bold waes betlic 
 Brejo rof cyninj 
 Heah healle. 
 By^^ swi^e jeonj 
 Wis wel ^ungen 
 Deah ^e wintra lyt. 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 Gomela Scyldinj 
 Fela fricjende 
 Feorran rehtUce. ^ 
 Hwilum hilde deor 
 Hearpan wynne 
 Gomel wudu jrette, 
 
 Hwilum jyd awraec 
 So^ and sarlic, 
 Hwilum syllic spell 
 Rehte aefter rihte 
 Rumheort cyninj ; 
 Hwilum eft onjan 
 Eldo jebunden 
 Gomel gu^-wija 
 Geoju^e cwidan 
 Hilde strenjo. 
 Hrefe inne weoll 
 
 Ornament a ac vasa aurea. 
 Neque procul inde erat 
 Quo quarerent 
 Argenti largitorem 
 Higelacum Hrethlingam, 
 Qua domi versabatur 
 Ipse inter socios 
 Maris littusjuxta. 
 Aula erat splendida 
 Magnanimi regis 
 Altum palatium. 
 Meditabatur multumjuvenis , 
 Sapientid bene instructus 
 Etsi annis minor. 
 
 [p. 64., I. 20.] 
 
 GrandcEVus Scyldinga 
 
 Multa interrogans (interfuit) 
 
 T)e longinquis solerter» 
 
 Nunc heros carus 
 
 Cithara oblectationem 
 
 Senex lignum tangebatj ( sc. ci- 
 
 thara ludebat) 
 Nu?ic carmen molitus est 
 Verum ac luctuosum, 
 Nunc mirabilem fabulani 
 Rite recitavit 
 Magnanimus rex ; 
 Nunc iterum incepit 
 Senectute devinctus 
 Longcevus bellator 
 Juventutis (suae) narrare 
 Bellicam virtutem. 
 Pectus intus fervebat 
 
120 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Donne he wintrum frod 
 Worn jeminde. 
 Swa we 'Sagrinne 
 Andlanjne daej 
 Mode naman. 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 Swa he ni^a jehwane 
 Genesen hsefde 
 Sh^ra jeslyhta 
 Sunu ^cjthiowes 
 Ellen weorca, 
 O^ ^one anne daej 
 De he wi'S 'Sam wyrme 
 Gewejan scolde. 
 Gewat 'Sa xilta sum 
 Torne jeboljen 
 Dryhten Geata 
 Dracan sceawian 
 Haefde tha jefrunen 
 Hwanan sio faeh^S aras, 
 Bealo ni^ biorna. 
 Him to bearme cwom 
 Ma^Sum-fast mgerfe 
 Durh 'Saes maeldan bond. 
 Se wges on ^am Create 
 Threotteo. ... 
 
 * # # # 
 Sceolde hean ^onon 
 Wonj wisian, 
 He ofer willan ^ionj, 
 To 'Sass "Se he eor^S sele 
 Anne wisse,' 
 Hla&w mider hrusan, 
 
 Quum ilk annis provectus 
 Multa memorabat, 
 Ita nos intus 
 Per longam diem 
 Animo ohlectahamur, 
 
 [p. 07, 1.18.] 
 
 Ita inimiciti(R cujusvis 
 
 Superaverat 
 
 Duros coiiflictus 
 
 Filius Mcgthiowi 
 
 Virtutis opera, 
 
 Usque ad ilium diem 
 
 Quo contra serpentem 
 
 Decertaturus esset* 
 
 Selegit tunc duodecim aliquos 
 
 Ira accensus 
 
 Rex Gothormn 
 
 Serpentem uii monstrarent. 
 
 Intellexerat nempe 
 
 Unde injuria hacce esset exorta, 
 
 Exitiosa lis hominibus, 
 
 Illi in navem advenere 
 
 Thesaurorum vas maximum 
 
 Ad signum manu datum. 
 
 Erat in ed turmd 
 
 Manus triginta virorum. 
 
 * * * # 
 Accingebat se exinde ad ahum 
 Mquor invisendum, 
 Undas pertransibat. 
 Usque dum terrestrem domum 
 Solitariam conspiceret, 
 Tumulum sub monte, 
 
BEOWULF. 
 
 121 
 
 Holm wylme neh 
 Y^ jewinne. 
 Se waes innan full 
 Wrsetta and * wira. 
 Weord unhiore 
 Gearo ju^-freca 
 Gold magmas heold 
 Eald under eor^an. 
 Nis "Saet y^e ceap 
 To jejanjenne 
 Gumena aenijum. 
 Gesaet 'Sa on ngesse 
 Ni^S-heard cyninj, 
 Denden hgelo abead 
 Heor^ jeneotum 
 Goldwine Geatum. 
 Him wses jeomor sefa : 
 Wsefre and wselfus 
 Wyr^ unjemete neah 
 Se 'Se 'Sone jomelan 
 Gretan sceolde, 
 Secean sawle hord, 
 Sundur jedaslan 
 Lif wi^ lice. 
 
 * * . * * 
 Beowulf maMode 
 Beam ^cjtheowes : 
 " Fela ic on jiojoSe 
 Gu^-raesa jenaes 
 Orlej hwila, 
 Ic ^aet eal jemon. 
 
 Maris Jluctus propter 
 
 Mstuantes. 
 
 lllafuit intiis plena 
 
 Mirabilium operum et * nequitia- 
 
 Custos savus [rum. 
 
 Promptus bellator 
 
 Auri thesauros tenebat 
 
 Veteres sub terra. 
 
 Non erat id facile inceptum 
 
 Exsequendum 
 
 Homini cuivis. 
 
 Sedebat tunc in promontorio 
 
 Bello strenuus rex, 
 
 Dum valediceret 
 
 Foci sociis 
 
 Rex munijicus Gothorum. / 
 
 Ei erat mcEstus animus: 
 
 Acer ac cadis avidus 
 
 Erat hostis prope 
 
 Qui senem 
 
 Aggrederetur, 
 
 Invaderet animi sedem, 
 
 Et divideret 
 
 Vitam a corporc. 
 
 * # # # 
 Beowulf loquebatur 
 Filius JEcgtheowi : 
 " Multos ego injuventute 
 Belli impetus sustimd 
 Fatales horas, 
 Ego id omne memini. 
 
 ^ ' Wira/ Thorkelin translates this simply rerum. My own rendering is 
 like his, conjectural : — * wirgian/ or ^wirian/ signifies makdicere. 
 
122 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Ic waes syfan wiiitra 
 
 Da mec sinca baldor 
 
 Frea-wine folca 
 
 ^t minum faeder jenam. 
 
 Heold mec and haefde 
 
 HreM cyninj ; 
 
 Geaf me sine and symbel. 
 
 Sibbe jemunde ; 
 
 Nses ic him to life 
 
 La^ra owihte 
 
 Beorn in burjum 
 
 Donne his bearna hwylc 
 
 Herebald and Hse^cyn 
 
 O^^e Hijelac min." 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 Ares tha bi ronde 
 
 Rof oretta, 
 
 Heard under helme 
 
 Hioro sercean baer 
 
 Under stan cleofu, 
 
 Strenjo jetruwode 
 
 Anes mannes, 
 
 (Ne bi^ swylce earjes si^). 
 
 Greseah "Sa be wealle 
 
 Se ^e worna fela 
 
 Gumcystum jod 
 
 Gu^a jedijde 
 
 Hilde hlemraa 
 
 Donne hnitan fe^an. 
 
 Stodan stanbojan, 
 
 Stream ut ^onan 
 
 Brecan of beorje, 
 
 Waes ^sere burnan waelm 
 
 Eram septennis 
 
 Qtium me rex munificus 
 
 Dilectus populo 
 
 A patre meo excepit, 
 
 Hahuit me ac tenuit 
 
 Hrethel rex ; 
 
 Dedit mihi aurum et epulas. 
 
 Adoptiojiem meminit ; 
 
 iSleque eram ei per vitam 
 
 Inferior in re ulld habitus 
 
 Puer in palatio 
 
 Qudm liberorum suorum quisquam 
 
 Herebald et HathcT/n 
 
 Vel Higelacus mens J* 
 
 [p. 69, 1. 9.] 
 
 Surgebat tunc sub clypeo 
 
 Illustris heros, 
 
 Strenuus sub galea 
 
 Loricamferebat 
 
 Sub rupis clivum, 
 
 Virtuti confisus 
 
 Unius hominis (sui nempe), 
 
 {Non est talis ignavi mos), 
 
 Videbat tunc ad murum 
 
 Ilk qui magno numero 
 
 Armis bonus 
 
 Certamina tentaverat 
 
 Belli fragore 
 
 Quum concurrerent phalanges. 
 
 Stabant lapideifornices, 
 
 Flumen insuper 
 
 Exundabat e rape, 
 
 Erat is igneus latex 
 
BEOWULF. 
 
 12^ 
 
 Hea-So fyrum hat, 
 Ne meahte horde neah 
 Unbyrnende 
 JEm^e hwile 
 Deop jedijan 
 For dracan leje. 
 Let -Sa of breostum 
 Da he jeboljen wses 
 Weder Geata leod 
 Word utfaran. 
 Stearc-heort styrmde, 
 Stefn in becom 
 Hea^o torht hlynnan 
 Under harne stan. 
 Hete wees onhrered. 
 Hord-weard oncniow 
 Mannes reorde, 
 Naes thaet mara fyrst 
 Freode to friclan. 
 Frod aerest cwom 
 Oru^ ajlaecean 
 Ut of stane. 
 Hal hilde swat 
 Hruse dynede. 
 Beorn under beorge 
 Bord-rand onswaf 
 Wi^ -Sam jryre jasste 
 Geata dryhten. 
 
 ^ ^ ^ * 
 Sweord aer jebraed 
 God ^u^cyninj 
 Gomele lafe. 
 Ecjum unjlaw 
 yE^wae^rum wass 
 
 Ingentihus flammis calefactus, 
 
 Neque poterat aUquis thesaurum 
 
 Flamma intactus [prope 
 
 JJllo tempore 
 
 Ahyssum penetrare 
 
 Propter draconis incuhationem. 
 
 Sinebat tunc e pectore 
 
 Quum iratus esset 
 
 JEolo'Gothorum rex 
 
 Vocem erumpere. 
 
 Fortis animi sceviebat, 
 
 Vox intro missa est 
 
 Summd claritate resonans 
 
 Sub cano lapide. 
 
 Inimicitia erat excitata. 
 
 Thesauri custos agriovit 
 
 Mart a lis vocem. 
 
 Neque fait diu priusquam 
 
 Avide appeteret. 
 
 Senex primtim venit 
 
 Halitu infractus 
 
 E lapide. 
 
 Terra tremuit. 
 Heros sub monte 
 Clypeum obvertebat 
 Contra torvum hostem 
 Gothorum rex. 
 
 # # # * 
 Gladium prim cito extulit 
 Bonus dux 
 Antiquitus relictum. 
 Acie immitis 
 Quibusvisfuit 
 
124 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Bealo hycjendra, 
 Broja fi'am o^rum. 
 Sti^mod jestod- 
 Wi"S steapne rond 
 Winia baldor. 
 
 Hond upabraed 
 Geata dryhten, 
 Gryre fahne floh 
 (Inc jelafe) 
 Daet sio ecj jewac 
 Brun on bane ; 
 Bat unswi^or, 
 Donne his '^iod-cyninj 
 Dearfe haefde 
 Bysijum jebeded. 
 ^a waes beoi-jes weard 
 ^fter hea'^u swenje 
 On hreoum mode. 
 Wearp wasl fyre, 
 Wide sprunjon 
 Hilde leoman hre^. 
 Sijora ne jealp 
 Gold wine Geata. 
 Gu^-bil jeswac 
 Nacod ast ni'Se, 
 Swa hit ne sceolde 
 Iren sergod. 
 Ne waes "Saet e^e si^ 
 Daet se masra 
 Maja Ecj^Seowes 
 Grundvvonj ^one 
 
 Injuriam molientibus, 
 Terror contra alios. 
 Firmus animi stetit 
 Sub alto clypeo 
 Princeps bellicosus. 
 
 [p. 70, 1. 2.] 
 
 Manum extendebat 
 Gothorum princeps, 
 Horridum inimicum percussit, 
 Meo auditu, 
 
 Ita ut acies obtunderetur 
 Nigra contra ossa ; 
 Telum impotens, 
 Ubi domimis ejus 
 Opus haberet 
 Necessitate compulsus. 
 Tunc fait montis custos 
 Post ingentem impetum 
 Feroci animo. 
 Extulit sefatalis ignis, 
 Late erupit 
 Belli jubar scevum. 
 Victoriam nonjactabat 
 Rex munificus Gothorum. 
 Telum bellicum defecit 
 Nudum inpugnd, 
 Tanquam minime debuerat 
 Ferrum olim strenuum. 
 Neque erat longum ante- 
 quam illustris 
 Filius Ecgtheowi 
 Regionem illam 
 
BEOWULF. 
 
 125 
 
 0%yfan wolde, 
 Sceolde willan 
 Wic eardian 
 EUes hwerjen. 
 
 # * * # 
 Naes ^a lonj to -Son 
 Dast "Sa ajlascean 
 Hy agft jemetton. 
 Hyrte hyne hord-weard, 
 HrcSer ag'Sme weoll 
 Niwan stefne. 
 Nearo 'Srowode 
 Fyre befonjen 
 Se 'Se aer folce weold. 
 
 Mutare veltet, 
 Vellet avide 
 Intra urbem versari 
 Alio se recipere. 
 
 * * * # 
 Neque erat diu priusquam 
 Infausto omine 
 Iterum concurretur. 
 Refecerat se thesauri custoSf 
 Pectus (sstuahat 
 Renovato ululatu, 
 Angiistias passus est 
 Igne correptus 
 Qui olim populo imperabat. 
 
 XXXVI. [p. 70, 1. 26.] 
 
 Geseah his mondryhten 
 Under herejriman 
 Hat ^rowian. 
 Gemunde "Sa '^a are 
 De he him aer forjeaf, 
 Wicstede weUjne, 
 Wsej mundinja, 
 Folc-rihta jehwylc, 
 Swa his faeder ahte. 
 Ne iiiihte 'Sa forhabban, 
 Hond-rond ^efenj, 
 Geolwe linde, 
 Gomel swyrd jeteah 
 Dset waes mid eldum 
 Ean mundeslaf 
 Suna Oh'Seres. 
 
 Videhat [Wiglaf ] dominum suum 
 
 Sub casside 
 
 lujuriam pati. 
 
 Recordabatur tunc honoris 
 
 Quern ei olim largitusfuerat, 
 
 Domicilia pulcra, 
 
 Viarum arbitrium, 
 
 Jus populare unumquodque, 
 
 Tanquam pater ejus possiderat. 
 
 Non potuit tunc se reprimere, 
 
 Clypeum arripuity 
 
 Flavam tiliam, 
 
 Antiquum ensem accingebatur 
 
 Qui erat a senioribus 
 
 Unicum presidium 
 
 Filio Ohtheri, 
 
126 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Da waes forma si^ 
 Geonjan cempan 
 Daet he ju^e-rass 
 Mid his freo-dryhtne 
 Fremman sceolde. 
 Ne jemealt him 
 Se mod sefa, 
 Ne his masjenes laf 
 Gevvac aet wije. 
 
 Id erat primum tempus 
 Juveiii heroi 
 Quo belli impetum 
 Cum domino suo 
 Tentaret, 
 Non defecit ei 
 Animosum pectus, 
 Neque vires 
 Defuerunt in pugnd. 
 
 [p. 71,1. 12.] 
 
 " Ic ^8et mael jeman 
 
 Daer we medu ^ejon, 
 
 Donne we jeheton 
 
 Ussum hlaforde 
 
 In biorsele, 
 
 De us '^as beajas jeaf, 
 
 Daet we him "Sa ju'Sjetawa 
 
 Gyldan woldan, 
 
 G if him "SysUcu 
 
 Dearf jelumpe, 
 
 Helmas and heard sweord, 
 
 De he usic on her^e jeceas, 
 
 To "Syssum si^faete 
 
 Sylfes willum." 
 
 " Ego illud tempus memini 
 Quo nos hydromele fruehamur^ 
 Tum poUicehamur 
 Domino nostro 
 In cerevisii aula, 
 Quoniam nobis armillas dederat, 
 Quod hoc ei bellico apparatu 
 Rependeremus, 
 Siquando eum hujusmodi 
 Necessitas opprimeret, 
 Galeis et duro ense, 
 Quoniam nos in bellum elegit. 
 In hanc expeditionem 
 Proprio arbitrio" 
 
 [p. 71,1. 20.] 
 
 Wo^ ^a "Surh ^onne wa9l-raec, Perrupit tunc caddis nubem, 
 
 Wij heafolan baer Bellicam galeam tulit 
 
 Frean on fultum. Principi in auxilium. 
 
 Fea worda cwae^. Paucis locutus est. 
 
 " Leofa Beowulf, *' Dilecte Beowulf e, 
 
 Laest eall tela, Recordare omnia rite, 
 
BEOWULF. 
 
 m 
 
 Swa "Su on jeoju^ feore 
 Geara jecwaede 
 Dast -Su ne alaete 
 Be 'Se lifijendum 
 Dom jedreosan. 
 Scealt nu daedura rof 
 JE-^elinj anhydij 
 Ealle masjene 
 Feorh ealjian, 
 Ic "Se full-aestu. 
 
 Ut injuventute 
 
 Olim spondebas 
 
 Te nunquam tardaturum 
 
 Per vit^E curriculum 
 
 Ultionem exsequi. 
 
 Debes nunc gestis praclare 
 
 Princeps imperterrite 
 
 Totis viribus 
 
 Animam defendere, 
 
 Ego tibi devotus (adsum ?), 
 
 XXXVII. [p. 72,1.8.] 
 
 Da jen sylf cyninj 
 Geweold his jewitte. 
 Wael-seaxe jebread 
 Biter and beadu-scearp, 
 Dast he on byrnan wsej. 
 Forwrat Wedra helm 
 Wyrm on middan, 
 Feond jefyldan 
 Ferh ellen wrasc. 
 
 Ic ^as leode heold 
 Fiftij wintra. 
 Noss se folc-cyninj 
 Ymbe sittendra 
 ^nij ^ara 
 De mec ju'S-winum 
 Cretan dorste, 
 Ejesan 'Seon. 
 Ic on earSe bad 
 MsbI jesceafta. 
 
 Tunc iterum ipse rex 
 Potens animif actus est. 
 Bellicam seaxem extulit 
 Acrem et in pugnd acutam, 
 Quam propter loricam gessit. 
 Urgebat Molicorum princeps 
 Serpentem in medio, 
 Inimicum ut conficeret 
 Animi virtutem exercebat. 
 
 [p. 72, 1. 26.] 
 
 JEgo hunc populum tenui 
 
 Quinquaginta hiemes. 
 
 Non erat populi rex 
 
 E vicinis 
 
 Quisquam 
 
 Qui me bellico impetu 
 
 Salutare ausus sit, 
 
 Metu afficere. 
 
 Ego in terra vixi 
 
 Tempore prcsstituto. 
 
128 
 
 ANGLO-SxVXON POETRY. 
 
 Heold mill tela. 
 
 Ne sohte searo ni^as, 
 
 Ne me swor fela 
 
 A'Sa on Linriht. 
 
 Ic ^3ds ealles maej 
 
 Feorh-bennum seoc 
 
 Gefean habban. 
 
 For^m me witan ne ^earf 
 
 Waldend fira 
 
 Mor'Sor bealo maja, 
 
 Donne min sceace'S 
 
 Lif of lice. 
 
 I'emii meiim rile. 
 
 Nee qu(£sivi lites injustas, 
 
 Necjuravi sape 
 
 J ur amenta falsa. 
 
 Ego propter hcsc omnia possum 
 
 Lethali vulnere eeger 
 
 Gaudium habere. 
 
 Ideo mihi objicere nequit 
 
 Creator hominum 
 
 Homicidii noxam, 
 
 Quum mea separaiur 
 
 Vita a corpore. 
 
 XXXVIII. [p. 73, 1. VZ.-] 
 
 ©a ic snude jefrosjn 
 Sunu Wihstanes, 
 ^fter word-cwy^um, 
 Wundum dryhtne 
 Hyran hea^So siocum, 
 Hrinjnet beran 
 Brojdne ^ beado sa^rcean 
 Under beorjes hrof. 
 Geseah 'Sa sije hre-Sij, 
 Da he bi sesse jeonj, 
 Majo'Sejn modi 5 
 Ma-S^um sijla 
 -Fealo jold jlitnian 
 Grunde jetenje, 
 Wundur on wealle, 
 And 'Saer wyrmes den 
 
 Turn corifestim rescivi 
 Filium Wihstaniy 
 Juxta mandatum, 
 Vulnerato domino 
 Obtempordsse graviter {Egroto, 
 Annulatam loricam gestdsse 
 Formidabilem belli vestem 
 Intra arcis tectum. 
 Vidit tunc victories compos^ 
 Ubi ad stationem devenit, 
 Commilito animosiis 
 Pretiosa signa 
 Multa auro micare 
 Humijacentia, 
 Mirabilia ad murum, 
 Et serpentis cubile 
 
 ^ * Brojdne.' I have construed this word as if derived from ^ broja/ tensor. 
 It may possibly have some other signification, of which I am not aware. 
 
BEOWULF. 
 
 129 
 
 Ealdes uht-flojan ; 
 Orcas stondan, 
 Fym-manna fatu, 
 Feormend lease. 
 Hyrstum behrorene 
 Deer waes helm monij 
 Eald and omij, 
 Earm-beaja fela 
 Searwum jesealed. 
 Sine ea^e maej 
 Gold on jrunde 
 Gumcynnes jehwone 
 Oferhyjian, 
 Hyde se "Se wylle. 
 Svvylce he sionnan jeseah 
 Sejn eall jylden 
 Heah ofer horde 
 Hond-wundra maest 
 Gelocen leo^o craeftum, 
 Of "Sam leoman stod 
 Dast he ^one jrund-wonj 
 Onjeatan mihte, 
 Wraece jiond-wlitan. 
 
 Feteris aligeri; 
 
 Vidit crateras stare, 
 
 Priscorum hominum vasa, 
 
 Antiquas reliquias, 
 
 Ornamentis privata 
 
 Ibi erat galea multa 
 
 Fetus et rubiginosa, 
 
 ArmillcR frequentes 
 
 Arte elaborated. 
 
 Thesaurus hie facile posset 
 
 Divitias in terra 
 
 Generis cujuscunque 
 
 Super are, 
 
 Abscondat qui velit, 
 
 Praterea mox vidit 
 
 Signa passim inaurata 
 
 Alte super thesaurum 
 
 Manu exsculptamiracula maxima 
 
 Affixa magicis artibus, 
 
 Ab eis lumen jactabatur 
 
 Ita ut omnem regionem 
 
 Oculis usurpare liceret, 
 
 Ultionem suam contemplari. 
 
 [p. 74, 1. 4.] 
 
 " Gomel, on jiojo-Se 
 
 Gold sceawode ; 
 Ic -Sara frastwa 
 Frean ealles "Sane 
 Wuldur Cyninje 
 Wordum secje 
 Ecum Dryhtne, 
 
 ** Senex hodie, olim juvenis cum 
 
 essem 
 Aurum distribui ; 
 Ego propter hosce thesauros 
 Moderatori omnium gratias 
 Gloried Regi 
 Ferbis reddo 
 Mterno Domino, 
 K 
 
130 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 De ic her onstarie, 
 
 Does -Se ic nioste 
 
 Minum leodum 
 
 iEr swylt daeje 
 
 Swylc jestrynan. 
 
 Nu ic on ma'Sma hord 
 
 Minne bebohte 
 
 Frode feorh leje. 
 
 Fremma^ jena 
 
 Leoda "Searfe. 
 
 Ne msej ic her len^ wesan, 
 
 Hata^ hea^o maere 
 
 Hlcew jewyrcean 
 
 Beorhtne sefter baele 
 
 ^t brimes nosan, 
 
 Se seel to jemyndum 
 
 Minum leodum 
 
 Heah hlifian 
 
 On Hrones nassse. 
 
 Dget hit sasli^end 
 
 SyS^an hatan 
 
 Biowulfes biorh. 
 
 Da ^e Brentinjas * 
 
 Ofer floda ^jenipu 
 
 Feorran drifa'S." 
 
 Dyde him of healse 
 
 Hrinj jyldenne 
 
 Dioden 'Srys^ydij, 
 
 Dejne jesealde 
 
 Geonjum jarwijan, 
 
 Quos (thesauros sc.) hie aspicio, 
 
 Quod potui 
 
 Populo meo 
 
 Ante mortis diem 
 
 Talia adipisci. 
 
 Nunc ego in gazophylacium 
 
 Spolia mea 
 
 Prudens animi reponam. 
 
 Explehunt postea 
 
 Populi necessitatem. 
 
 Non ego hic diu morahor. 
 
 Juhete lit ingentem 
 
 Tumulum (Bdificent 
 
 Lucidum post rogum 
 
 Ad maris promontorium, 
 
 Is in monumentum 
 
 Populo meo 
 
 Alte se extollet 
 
 In HronesncBsid. 
 
 Ita ut eum navigatores 
 
 Exinde nominahant 
 
 Beowulfi tumulum, 
 
 Ubi Brentingi 
 
 Super Jluctuum caliginem 
 
 Longe impellunt" 
 
 Detraxit collo 
 
 Annulum aureum 
 
 Monarcha prudens, 
 
 Thano suo tradidit 
 
 Juveni bellatori, 
 
 ^ Inhabitants of Brandey ? ' Brondin^a-land' is mentioned in the course 
 of the poem, and ^ Brondinjes ' in the Song of the Traveller. See p. 12. 
 
BEOWULF. 
 
 lai 
 
 Gold fahne helm 
 Beah and byrnan, 
 Het hine brucan well, 
 " Du eart endelaf 
 Usses cynnes 
 Wsej mundinja ; 
 Ealle wyrd forspeof 
 Mine majas 
 To metod-sceafte 
 Eorlas on elne ; 
 Ic him cefter sceal." 
 
 Heht •^a ^aet hea'So weorc 
 
 To hajan biodan 
 
 Up ofer ecjclif. 
 
 Daer ^ast eorl weorod 
 
 Morjen lonjne dsej 
 
 Mod jiomor saet 
 
 Bord haebbende. 
 
 ^ Beja on wenum 
 
 Ende dojores 
 
 And eftcymes 
 
 Leofes monnes. 
 
 Lyt swijode 
 
 Niwra spella 
 
 Auro insignem galeam 
 Armillam ac loricam, 
 Jussit f elicit ei' uti, 
 " Tu es ultimus 
 Nostri generis 
 Fliictus poteritium ; 
 Omnes fatiim praripiut 
 Meos cognatos 
 Ad Creatorem 
 Duces virtute insignes ; 
 Figo post eos cogor^ 
 
 XL. [p. 75, I. 23.] 
 
 Jussit tunc grave illud negotium 
 In * domum deferri 
 Trans promontorii clivos, 
 Ihi nobilis ilk comitatus 
 Toto die antemeridiano 
 Mxstus animi sedebat 
 Clypeis instructus. 
 . . . in exspectatione 
 Finis diei 
 Et reditus 
 Amati viri. 
 Parum silebat 
 Nova nuntia 
 
 ' or urbenij literally, locum septum. 
 
 ° * Beja.' I cannot satisfy myself as to the meaning of this word. Thorke- 
 lin connects it with the former line (which violates the metre and allitera- 
 tion), and construes it hrachio. Its usual meaning is a bow, a ring, or cir- 
 clet, (any thing bent). Can it be used metaphorically (as corona in Latin) for 
 an assembly or crowd ? Lye gives * Begae,' from a Cambridge MS. of St. Mat- 
 thew,, invenit. This would also make sense of the passage. 
 
 K2 
 
132 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Se "Se naes jera^, 
 Ac he so'Slice 
 Saejde ofer ealle : 
 " Nu is wiljeofa 
 Wedra leoda 
 Dryhten Geata 
 Dea-S-bedde fsest, 
 Wuna"S weel-reste 
 Wyrmes dsedum. 
 Hym on efn lije^ 
 Ealdor jewinna 
 Siex bennum seoc ; 
 Sweorde ne meahte 
 On 'Sam ajlsecean 
 Mni-^e "Sinja 
 Wunde jewyrcean. 
 Wijlaf sites 
 Ofer Beowulfe, 
 Byre Wijhstanes, 
 Eorl ofer oSrum 
 Unlifijendam." 
 
 Is qui promontorium tenebat, 
 At aperte 
 
 Dixit coram omnibus : 
 " Nunc est mimificus 
 Molic(K gentis 
 Rex Gothorum 
 Lecto mortis qffixus, 
 Jacet cade sopitus 
 Serpentis facinore, 
 Simul cum eo jacet 
 Antiquus hostis (Draco) 
 Seaxi vulnere confectus ; 
 Ensis non potuit 
 In cum infandum 
 Ullo modo 
 Vulnus infligere. 
 Wiglafus sedet 
 Super Beowulfum, 
 Filius Wihstani, 
 Dux super alium 
 Vita privatum y 
 
 XLI. [p. 76, 1. 19.] 
 
 " Me is ofost betost 
 
 Daet we Deod-cyninj 
 Daer sceawian 
 And Sone jebrinjan 
 De us beajas jeaf 
 On a'S fsere. 
 
 # # # # 
 Ac Saer is maSma hord, 
 
 " Miki tidetur celerrimum op- 
 timum 
 
 Ut nos populi regem 
 
 Ibi intueamur 
 
 Et tunc deducamus 
 
 Qui nobis armillas dedit 
 
 In obsequium juramento confir- 
 matum. 
 
 * # * * 
 
 Et ibi est thesaurusy 
 
BEOWULF. 
 
 133 
 
 Gold unrinie 
 Grimme ' jecea . . . d 
 And nu aet si'Sestan 
 Sylfes feore 
 Beajas ^ . . . te. 
 Da sceal brond fretan 
 ^led 'Seccean. 
 Nalles Eorl wejan 
 Mu^^um to jemyndum, 
 Ne masj'S scyne 
 Habban on healse 
 Hrin^ weor-Sunje ; 
 Ac sceal jeomor mod 
 Golde bereafod ; 
 ^ Oft nalles aene 
 Elland tredan. 
 Nu se herewisa 
 Hleahtor alejde 
 Gamen and jleodream. 
 ^* ForSon sceall jarwesan 
 Monij morjen 
 Ceald mundum bewunden 
 Haefen on handa. 
 Nalles hearpan swej 
 
 Aurum innumerabile 
 Tetri «... (Draconis) 
 Et nunc suhjine 
 
 Vitcd SU(B 
 
 Armillas 
 
 Nunc eumjlamma devorabit 
 
 Ignis invohet, 
 
 Neque Dux arma 
 
 Luctus in memoriam, 
 
 Neque virgoformosa 
 
 Gestabit in collo 
 
 Monile pretiosum ; 
 
 Sed erit masta animi 
 
 Aurum exuta ; 
 
 Neque minus (ritu lugentis) 
 
 Hospes incedet. 
 
 Nu7ic bellator princeps 
 
 Lddtitiam deposuit 
 
 Hilaritatem et gaudium. 
 
 Ergo telum erit 
 
 Multo mane 
 
 Frigidis manibus constrictum 
 
 Elevatum in dextra. 
 
 Neque citharcs vox 
 
 ' Perhaps * gecearfod/ obtruncati, 
 
 * Perhaps ' jifte/ dedit. 
 
 3 I am by no means clear that I have given correctly even the general 
 sense of this distich. Thorkelin's Sccpe sola exul vagabitur has, however, no 
 intelligible reference to the context. 
 
 * These four lines are somewhat obscure, and I am by no means certain 
 that I have rendered them correctly. Can they refer to the human or gladia- 
 torial sacrifices which are thought by some to have accompanied the funeral 
 rites of the pagan Northmen ? See Cluverii Germ. Ant. lib. 1. c. 53. Edda Sam. 
 vol. 2. pag, 241 & 283. 
 
134 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Wijend weccean. 
 Ac se wonna hrefn 
 Fus ofer faejum 
 Fela reordian. 
 Earne secjan 
 Hu him aet aete speow 
 Denden he wi^S wulf 
 Wsel reafode. 
 
 'T ^ % ^ 
 Se waes fiftijes 
 Fot jemearces 
 Lonj on lejere. 
 
 Militem excitabit. 
 
 Sed ater corvus 
 
 Alacer super moribundos 
 
 Frequens obstrepet, 
 
 Aquila dicet 
 
 Ut in convivio sibi ces^ierit 
 
 Ubi cum lupo 
 
 C(Bdem depavit" 
 
 ^ w tP w 
 
 Is ( Draco) erat quinquagitita 
 Pedum mensurd 
 Longus in cubili. 
 
 XLIII. [p. 78,1. 15.] 
 
 Him ^a jejiredan 
 Geata leode 
 Ad on eorSan 
 Unwaclicne, 
 Helm behonjen, 
 Hilde bordum, 
 Beorhtum byrnum, 
 Swa he ben a w£es. 
 Alejdon "Sa to middes 
 Maerne 'Seoden, 
 Haslet hiofende 
 Hlaford leofne. 
 Onjunnon "Sa on beorje 
 Bael-fyra maest 
 Wijend weccan. 
 Wud wrec astah 
 Sweart * of swic "Sole, 
 
 Illi (Beowulfo) tunc erexerunt 
 Gothica gens 
 Tumulum in terra 
 Strenu^, 
 
 Galeam suspendebant , 
 Bellicum cl^peum, 
 Splendidam loricam, 
 Utijusserat, 
 
 Collocabant tunc in medio 
 Magnum principem, 
 Milites lugentes 
 Dominum dilectum. 
 Inceperunt tunc in tumulo 
 Ignem rogi maximum 
 Milites excitare. 
 Lignifumus ascendit 
 Ater 
 
 of swic ^ole.' Of these words I can make nothing intelligible ; nor can I con- 
 
BEOWULF. 
 
 135 
 
 Wind blond jeljej 
 O^ "Saet he '^a banhus 
 Gebrocen h^efde 
 Hat on hre^re. 
 Hip-im unrote 
 Mod-ceare maendon 
 Mondfyhtnes cwaslm. 
 Swylce jiomorjyd 
 .... at meowle 
 
 # # # # 
 Heofon rece sealj 
 Geweorhdon ^a 
 Wedra leode. 
 . . . seo on lide 
 Se wass hea and brad, 
 E^liden-Sum 
 Wide to syne. 
 And been bredon 
 On tyn dajum, 
 Beadu rofis 
 Been bronda 
 Be wealle beworhton. 
 
 * # * # 
 Ventus quiescebat 
 Donee osseam domum 
 Disruperat 
 Calor in pectore. 
 Mente tristes 
 Animo solliciti lugehant 
 Regis necem. 
 Tanquam iKzniis 
 
 mulier. 
 
 # # # # 
 Altum czdificium 
 Exstruebant statim 
 Molica gens. 
 , . . illud ad mare 
 Erat altum ac latum, 
 Navigantibus 
 Lath videndum. 
 Et ignem ampUabant 
 Per decern dies, 
 Jussu principis 
 Ignem pyrcc 
 Ad murum erigebant. 
 
 Swa bejnornodon 
 Geata leode 
 
 Ita lugebant 
 Gothica gens 
 
 strue to my own satisfaction the two lines which follow them in the original^ — 
 they are therefore omitted. A trifling alteration would give ' Sweart of swio- 
 tole/ Niger e claro (igne sc), which would be sufficiently in the character of 
 Saxon phraseology. But we are as yet too scantily acquainted with the lan- 
 gua2;e, especially with its poetical forms, to venture unhesitatingly upon 
 conjecUiral emendation. Were it allowable, I should be disposed to read in 
 the next line ^ brond ' for ' blond/ and to render it Ventus pvne inciibuit. 
 
136 
 
 Hlafordes . . . re . . 
 HeorS-jeneatas 
 Cwae^on ^aet he waere 
 "Worold cyninjnes 
 M annum mildust, 
 And mond raerust, 
 Leodum li^ost, 
 And leof jeornost. 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY, 
 
 Principis (interitum ?) . 
 Familiares 
 Dicehant, quod erat 
 E mundi regibus 
 Hominibus mitissimus, 
 Et manu fortissimus, 
 Populofacillimus, 
 Et amoris cupidissimus. 
 
COLLATION 
 
 OF THE COPENHAGEN EDITION OF BEOWULF 
 
 WITH 
 
 ' THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT 
 
 PIIESERVED IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM.* 
 
 Page. 
 
 line. 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 1 for HwaBt wegar 
 
 read 
 
 t Hwset we Gar-Dena. 
 
 
 15 
 
 weolcnum 
 
 
 wolcnum. 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 Goban 
 
 
 t Gomban. 
 
 
 6 
 
 Donne 
 
 
 Done. 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 . . ase. 
 
 
 U 
 
 Longe 
 
 
 Lange. 
 
 
 12 
 
 waes 
 
 
 t 'Sags. 
 
 
 17 
 
 eafare 
 
 
 eafera. 
 
 
 19 
 
 ma^ma 
 
 
 .... nna. 
 
 
 21 
 
 fegiftum 
 
 
 feoh-giftum. 
 
 
 22 
 
 ^ina 
 
 
 t . . . rme. 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 gestajp 
 
 
 t gescasp. 
 
 * In this Collation, some few readings, in which Thorkelin has corrected 
 the oversights of the original scribe, are omitted. Some variations, so trifling 
 as not in any way to affect the sense (as Halfdene for Healfdene, Med for 
 Mid, &c.), are unnoticed. Such readings as appear more materially to affect 
 the sense, are distinguished by the mark f . Any attempt to restore the metre, 
 and to correct the version throughout, would have exceeded the bounds, and 
 involved much discussion foreign to the purpose of the present work. This 
 must be left to the labours of the Saxon scholar. It is evident, however, that 
 without a more correct text than that of Thorkelin, those labours must be 
 hopeless. The wish of supplying that deficiency, may perhaps apologize for 
 the occupying, by this Collation, so large a space of a work strictly dedicated 
 to other purposes. 
 
138 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Page. 
 5 
 
 10 
 
 line. 
 
 8 for waro^e 
 10 
 
 9 
 12 
 13 
 18 
 19 
 
 read 
 
 21 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 11 
 
 15 
 
 16 
 
 19 
 
 20 
 
 23 
 
 £4 
 
 25 
 
 26 
 
 t 
 
 9 
 
 12 
 
 26 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 10 
 11 
 26 
 27 
 1 
 2 
 19 
 20 
 
 } 
 
 bad 
 
 Na laes 
 
 Donne 
 
 Da 
 
 ge^enne 
 
 Hea — heofod 
 
 Geofon — garsaej 
 
 Fsedor 
 
 aft. 
 
 faro^e. 
 
 baed. 
 
 Nalas. 
 
 Don. 
 
 De. 
 
 . . enne d. 
 
 Heah — heafod. 
 Geafon — garsecj. 
 Faeder. 
 eft. 
 
 Gamul — ju^ reouw t Ganio — Gu-^reow. 
 
 wocon 
 
 Weorada 
 
 "Sst Elan 
 
 Scyfinjas 
 
 Here sped jywen 
 
 wor^mynd 
 
 O^^e 
 
 jefrimon 
 
 Geonjom 
 
 "Sis 
 
 Sint 
 
 laenge 
 
 — waglne 
 
 De 
 
 worh 
 
 wong 
 
 jebujeS 
 
 hras^ij 
 
 Graendel 
 
 Maere stapa 
 
 wocun. 
 Weoroda. 
 f elan. 
 Scylfinjas. 
 t Here-sped jyfen. 
 weorSmynd. 
 
 j? him his wine-magas. 
 
 OSS f . . . jeweox. 
 
 jefrunon. 
 
 Geonjum. 
 
 his. 
 + Sine. 
 
 lenje. 
 10 — wael-niSe. 
 
 we . . 
 wang. 
 bebujeS. 
 hreSij. 
 Grendel. 
 t Maere mearc-stapa. 
 

 
 BEOW^ULF. IS£ 
 
 Page. 
 
 . line. 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 25 
 
 for weardode read f weardode hwile. 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 r — jewrgecte 
 LDrihten 
 
 . . . jewrsec 
 
 
 2 
 
 t Ece Drihten. 
 
 
 9 
 
 uncydras 
 
 t Untydras. 
 
 
 11 
 
 Eotnas 
 
 Eotenas. 
 
 
 13 
 
 gigantas 
 
 gi . . . . ^. 
 
 
 17 
 
 Geweat 
 
 Gewat. 
 
 
 24 
 
 gedricht 
 
 gedriht. 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 neosian 
 
 neosan. 
 
 
 13 
 
 on uhtan 
 
 •f- onuhtan (co7ispicua). 
 
 
 15 
 
 rGrasndles gud 
 ICrseft 
 
 15 t Grendles gud-crasft {insidicc) 
 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 25 
 
 waes 
 
 "Saes. 
 
 13 
 
 1 
 
 langsura 
 
 longsum. 
 
 
 3 
 
 Fyrst acymb 
 
 /2 first 
 
 L3 Ac ymb. 
 
 
 11 
 
 ea^fyn'Se 
 
 ea^fynde. 
 
 14 
 
 4 
 
 Si^ra 
 
 Sidra, 
 
 
 5 
 
 weard 
 
 wear^. 
 
 
 19-^ 
 
 1 
 
 20 t Ne ^aer nasnig witena 
 
 
 to ' 
 
 i 
 
 Wenan ^orfte 
 
 
 23 J 
 
 r 
 
 Beorhtre bote 
 To banum fohnum 
 -32giaeca. 
 
 15 
 
 11 
 
 sele 
 
 seki. 
 
 
 13 
 
 \Stol — 
 
 13 t gif-stol (gratice sedem). 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 16 
 
 5 
 
 "SeoS 
 
 «eod. 
 
 
 7 
 
 Hedenra 
 
 Hae^enra. 
 
 
 14 
 
 Godne hie hum 
 
 G . . . . ie huru . . , e. 
 
 
 16 
 
 Hercan 
 
 Herian. 
 
 
 18 
 
 Da bid "Sam 
 
 -fW^b'i^^^m {Fa illis). 
 
140 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POKTRY. 
 
 Page. 
 
 line. 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 26/0 
 
 r seccian 
 
 read secean. 
 
 17 
 
 3 
 
 sead 
 
 sea's {coquebat). 
 
 
 7 
 
 langsum 
 
 longsum. 
 
 
 13 
 
 mi's 
 
 mid. 
 
 
 14 
 
 das'Sa 
 
 dgeda. 
 
 
 16 
 
 strsengest 
 
 strengest. 
 
 18 
 
 6 
 
 Deah 
 
 ...h. 
 
 
 7 
 
 forne 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 mighte 
 
 mihte. 
 
 
 16 
 
 wisa^e 
 
 wisade. 
 
 
 27 
 
 barm 
 
 bearra. 
 
 19 
 
 7 
 
 Fann heals 
 
 t Famig-heals. 
 
 
 8 
 
 umb 
 
 ymb. 
 
 
 9 
 
 O^eres 
 
 O^res. 
 
 
 14 
 
 Brun clif 
 
 Brim (?)-clifu 
 
 
 22 
 
 seldon 
 
 saeldon. 
 
 20 
 
 12 
 
 Wie jeridan 
 
 t Wicje ridan. 
 
 
 19 
 
 wercSe 
 
 werde. 
 
 
 25 
 
 And wearde 
 
 t ^gwearde. CN.T.) 
 
 0,1 
 
 4 
 
 Lid hebbende 
 
 i" Lind haebbende. 
 
 
 21 
 
 Las 
 
 Leas. 
 
 22 
 
 4 
 
 scyld esta 
 
 t Se yldesta. 
 
 23 
 
 4 
 
 eeren^e 
 
 aerende. 
 
 24 
 
 12 
 
 scyl^wiga 
 
 scyldwiga. 
 
 25 
 
 9 
 
 Halge diged 
 
 Hal gediged. 
 
 
 12 
 
 Seo modo 
 
 + Seomode (rnanebat). 
 
 
 13 
 
 Si'Sfaedmed 
 
 Sidfae^med. 
 
 
 15 
 
 scionum 
 
 t Scionon. 
 
 
 19 
 
 Ferch 
 
 Ferh. 
 
 > I have added the letters (N.T.) to such errata as are noticed in 
 Dr. Thorkelin's list. That list is, however, for the most part, more incor- 
 rect than even his text. 
 

 
 
 BEOWULF. 
 
 141 
 
 »age. 
 
 line. 
 
 
 
 
 25 
 
 26 for vags 
 
 read t waes. 
 
 
 26 
 
 9 
 
 G egnom 
 
 Gegnum. 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 alwolda 
 
 alwalda. 
 
 
 27 
 
 4 
 
 geatawum 
 
 geatwum. 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 magas 
 
 mecgas. 
 
 
 
 22 
 
 fere ge ad 
 
 ferigea'S. 
 
 
 28 
 
 5 
 6 
 
 Ven 
 
 r na 
 
 LLaes w 
 
 Wen. 
 
 , 
 
 
 7 
 
 Tec 7 Nalles — . — wraec. 
 
 * 
 
 
 25 
 
 swo 
 
 swa. 
 
 
 29 
 
 24 
 
 f — dliht 
 
 iNu 
 
 24 t drihtne. 
 
 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 31 
 
 25 
 
 Ham 
 
 tHat. 
 
 
 32 
 
 3 
 
 Wordin ne 
 
 t Wordinne. * 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 meowrum 
 
 t in eowrum. 
 
 
 
 21 
 
 wica 
 
 t rica. 
 
 / 
 
 34 
 
 13 
 
 ydum 
 
 ySum. 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 mihtes 
 
 t nihtes. 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 •Srec 
 
 t wraec. 
 
 1 
 
 35 
 
 3 
 
 Feorme 
 
 t Freo-wine. 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 geraecce'S 
 
 t ne raecce^. 
 
 
 
 22 
 
 feaonde 
 
 feonde. 
 
 
 37 
 
 7 
 
 Geslog 
 
 Gesloh. 
 
 
 
 19 
 
 fussum 
 
 t fur^um. 
 
 
 38 
 
 7 
 
 Eal'Se 
 
 t Ealde. 
 
 , 
 
 
 20 
 
 maec 
 
 m^j. 
 
 
 
 21 
 
 • saecadan 
 
 t sceadan. 
 
 
 39 
 
 4 
 
 ti« 
 
 tid. 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 dag 
 
 daeg. 
 
 
 * I have preserved this reading of die MS., though probably corrupt. The 
 distich which contains it has, in its present state, no alliteration. It is pos* 
 sible that two lines may have been omitted by the scribe. 
 
14^2 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRV. 
 
 Page, 
 
 . line. 
 
 
 
 
 39 
 
 13 for unto 
 
 read 
 
 nu to. 
 
 
 15 
 
 SffigU 
 
 
 secgu. 
 
 
 22 
 
 eadon 
 
 
 eodon. 
 
 
 23 
 
 dealle 
 
 
 t dealde. 
 
 
 24 
 
 behold 
 
 
 beheold. 
 
 
 26 
 
 eolowcege 
 
 
 ealowaege. 
 
 40 
 
 o 
 
 heeled ee 
 
 
 haeleda. 
 
 
 5 
 
 maleode 
 
 
 tmaMode. (N.T.) 
 
 
 21 
 
 breccan 
 
 
 brecan. 
 
 41 
 
 3 
 
 mic 
 
 
 inc. 
 
 
 16 
 
 night 
 
 
 niht. 
 
 
 24 
 
 ^ Swagsne 
 
 
 t Swaesne «^ {the Riwic ab- 
 breviation f 07- e^e\.) 
 
 42 
 
 6 
 
 Wyrs ange 
 
 ^ingia 
 
 t Wyrsan gethingia. 
 
 
 19 
 
 Saecdest 
 
 
 Saegdest. 
 
 43 
 
 8 
 
 wit 
 
 
 wi^. 
 
 
 9 
 
 Weorian 
 
 
 Werian. 
 
 44 
 
 6 
 
 teach 
 
 
 teah. 
 
 45 
 
 23 
 
 Niceras ni i 
 
 ge ne 
 
 t Nicras nigene, {Motistra no- 
 vera.) 
 
 48 
 
 10 
 
 Gehynde 
 
 
 •\ Gehyrde. 
 
 
 14 
 
 Heleahtan 
 
 
 t Hleahtor. 
 
 
 15 
 
 Swysode 
 
 
 Swynsode. 
 
 49 
 
 11 
 
 hoe 
 
 
 hio. 
 
 
 25 
 
 weal hreon 
 
 
 t Wealh-Seow. 
 
 50 
 
 10 
 
 Feord 
 
 
 t Feond. 
 
 53 
 
 11 
 
 anhefe 
 
 
 t anhere. 
 
 
 14 
 
 nelle 
 
 
 t hine. 
 
 
 22 
 
 he 'Se 
 
 
 ^e he. 
 
 54 
 
 4 
 
 Da 
 
 
 Swa. 
 
 ^ There is evidently a word wanting here to fill up the metre, for which in 
 the MS. there is a space of about three letters vacant, and the cypher. 
 

 
 
 BEOWULF. 
 
 Page. 
 
 line. 
 
 
 
 
 54 
 
 10 /or rine 
 
 read 
 
 t rinc. 
 
 
 24 
 
 weofu 
 
 
 gewofu. 
 
 55 
 
 6 
 
 r— ride 
 LFerh^. 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 56 
 
 6 
 
 -Saes he 
 
 
 •Saes -Se he 
 
 
 23 
 
 folmum — and lacuna f folmum . . . man. 
 
 
 
 of two verses. 
 
 
 
 24 
 
 Brsed ^a bealo 
 
 Onbragd bealo. 
 
 
 25 
 
 He 
 
 
 Da he. 
 
 59 
 
 24 
 
 Didre 
 
 
 widre. 
 
 60 
 
 10 
 
 wen 
 
 
 ren. 
 
 
 28 
 
 a mi^S 
 
 
 amid. 
 
 61 
 
 8 
 
 geneahte 
 
 
 geneahhe. 
 
 
 12 
 
 fealle 
 
 
 wealle. 
 
 
 18 
 
 heond 
 
 
 19 heold. 
 
 
 19 
 
 faeste 
 
 
 to fagste. 
 
 62 
 
 7 
 
 wolda 
 
 
 wolde. 
 
 
 16 
 
 gehwones 
 
 
 gehwone. 
 
 
 22 
 
 billanan 
 
 
 t billa nan. 
 
 63 
 
 12 
 
 selic homa 
 
 
 t se lichoma. 
 
 
 22 
 
 dohd 
 
 
 dohl.(N.T.) 
 
 
 23 
 
 Seo now 
 
 
 Seonowe. 
 
 65 
 
 14 
 
 Lasses 
 
 
 Lathes. 
 
 
 26 
 
 bolde 
 
 
 blode. 
 
 66 
 
 2 
 
 gespring 
 
 
 geswing. 
 
 67 
 
 14 
 
 cySe 
 
 
 cu^e. 
 
 
 22 
 
 So "Se 
 
 
 So^e. 
 
 68 
 
 11 
 
 wite la 
 
 
 t fitela. 
 
 69 
 
 4 
 
 wite la 
 
 
 fitela. 
 
 
 15 
 
 ■Sonne 
 
 
 t dome. 
 
 70 
 
 4 
 
 foriaten 
 
 
 foriacen. 
 
 
 23 
 
 Scyldinga 
 
 
 .^ (eM). Scyldinga, 
 
 71 
 
 17 
 
 Med ostic g 
 
 ema9t 
 
 t Medo-stig gemaet. 
 
 143 
 
144 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Page. 
 
 line. 
 
 
 V 
 
 71 
 
 18 fo7' Maeg "Sah ose read Maeg^a hose. 
 
 73 
 
 7 
 
 gebyrod 
 
 gebyrdo. 
 
 
 23 
 
 Dae^um 
 
 daedum. 
 
 74 
 
 6 
 
 Eaflod 
 
 Eafod. 
 
 
 13 
 
 calmum 
 
 clammum. 
 
 75 
 
 3 
 
 — swa 
 
 swa^eah. 
 
 
 20 
 
 sprecce 
 
 spraece. 
 
 76 
 
 6 
 
 Him 
 
 j?him. 
 
 
 12 
 
 hatem 
 
 haten. (N.T.) 
 
 77 
 
 3 
 
 Insert after 3. 
 
 t 4 Ealles unsund. 
 
 78 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 facen 
 
 .... 
 
 
 26 
 
 Feohlsifte 
 
 Feohgifte. (N. T ) 
 
 79 
 
 10 
 
 Wisum 
 
 Wirum. 
 
 
 14 
 
 scew^an 
 
 sce^. an. 
 
 81 
 
 6 
 
 nerne 
 
 nefne. 
 
 82 
 
 20 
 
 Holers 
 
 Hoces. 
 
 84 
 
 7 
 
 unwlitme 
 
 unflitme. 
 
 85 
 
 19 
 
 and 
 
 on. 
 
 
 26 
 
 Hlaw aelan 
 
 Hafelan. 
 
 86 
 
 9 
 
 Nesian freondom 
 
 Neosian freondum, 
 
 
 15 
 
 winnel 
 
 finnel. 
 
 89 
 
 9 
 
 e^rura 
 
 o^rum. 
 
 
 15 
 
 trowode 
 
 treowde. 
 
 90 
 
 5 
 
 ne 
 
 nu. 
 
 92 
 
 6 
 
 Wealh 
 
 Fealh. 
 
 93 
 
 26 
 
 Wind weard 
 
 Wind-geard. 
 
 94 
 
 9 
 
 hold 
 
 hoi. 
 
 
 28 
 
 he 
 
 hie. 
 
 95 
 
 22 
 
 manne dryht 
 
 mandryhtne. 
 
 96 
 
 16 
 
 wis 
 
 wif. 
 
 
 21 
 
 gewear^ 
 
 wear's. 
 
 97 
 
 7 
 
 WiBccendre 
 
 Wasccendne. 
 

 
 BEOWULF. 1 
 
 Page. 
 
 , line. 
 
 , 
 
 
 97 
 
 16 for A «e 
 
 read Are. 
 
 
 23 
 
 Detha 
 
 Dea«. 
 
 98 
 
 15 
 
 ge^ywen 
 
 ge^uren. 
 
 99 
 
 24 
 
 — inwit unne 
 
 in wicun. 
 
 
 25 
 
 Waes 
 
 Ne wass. 
 
 
 26 
 
 he 
 
 hie. 
 
 100 
 
 4 
 
 ^egum 
 
 ^egn. 
 
 
 5 
 
 Lifigendne 
 
 t Unlifigendne. 
 
 
 15 
 
 snoter abad 
 
 snoter a bad. 
 
 
 16 
 
 alwealda 
 
 alfwealda (MS. perperdm). 
 
 
 22 
 
 seale 
 
 stale. 
 
 101 
 
 15 
 
 Haw elan ferodon f Hafelan weredon. 
 
 
 24 
 
 agsc 
 
 t sese. 
 
 102 
 
 18 
 
 sint 
 
 t sine. 
 
 103 
 
 10 
 
 earni 
 
 t earm. 
 
 
 11 
 
 weris 
 
 weres. 
 
 
 16 
 
 nemdod 
 
 nemnod. 
 
 
 21 
 
 Dyrna 
 
 Dyrnra. 
 
 104 
 
 20 
 
 Geflyme 
 
 Geflymed. 
 
 
 21 
 
 Feor 
 
 Feorh. 
 
 105 
 
 2 
 
 lyst 
 
 t lyft. 
 
 
 3 
 
 resta^S 
 
 t reota"S. 
 
 
 6 
 
 Ear^ git ne con 
 
 t Ear'Sgitne const. 
 
 
 15 
 
 Wundini goldi 
 
 Wundun golde. 
 
 106 
 
 3 
 
 gumean 
 
 gumena. 
 
 107 
 
 11 
 
 Sawel 
 
 Sawol. 
 
 
 21 
 
 Niton husa 
 
 t Nicor-husa {monstrorum ha^ 
 bitacula)» 
 
 
 22 
 
 — fea ras um 
 
 t feara sum {quatuor aliquos). 
 
 108 
 
 8 
 
 getholinne 
 
 getholianne. 
 
 
 10 
 
 Onty^ 
 
 t Oncy^ {ignotus). 
 
 
 13 
 
 Heawelan 
 
 t Hafelan. 
 
 
 24 
 
 Cun man 
 
 Cunnian (?) 
 L 
 
 145 
 
146 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Page. 
 
 line. 
 
 
 
 108 
 
 26 /o; 
 
 r Incras read 
 
 f Niceras. 
 
 109 
 
 13 
 
 stael 
 
 strael. 
 
 
 18 
 
 ofer 
 
 eofer. 
 
 110 
 
 1 
 
 Mearu 
 
 Mearn. 
 
 
 17 
 
 wra'Sum 
 
 t wrasnum. 
 
 111 
 
 23 
 
 Selfan. 
 
 Selran. 
 
 
 24 
 
 nedor ste 
 
 t ne dorste, (non audebat). 
 
 
 27 
 
 Driht scyre 
 
 t Driht-scype, ( Virtutem). 
 
 112 
 
 12 
 
 No 
 
 Nu. 
 
 
 14 
 
 gespraecon 
 
 geosprsecon. 
 
 
 19 
 
 stole 
 
 stsele. 
 
 114 
 
 12 
 
 serm gestod 
 
 asr ingescod. 
 
 
 13 
 
 Hal anlice 
 
 Halan . . . lice. 
 
 
 27 
 
 specte 
 
 swecte. 
 
 115 
 
 16 
 
 wyr cenne 
 
 wyrgenne. (N.T.) 
 
 
 23 
 
 Grsedic 
 
 Graedig. 
 
 116 
 
 4 
 
 gesceew 
 
 gescaer. 
 
 
 5 
 
 Fjeger 
 
 Faeges. 
 
 
 26 
 
 mearu 
 
 mearn. 
 
 118 
 
 22 
 
 frea 
 
 freea (?) 
 
 120 
 
 6 
 
 Fyf cyne 
 
 Fyftyne. 
 
 
 17 
 
 gestod 
 
 gescod. 
 
 121 
 
 13 
 
 adreoten 
 
 abreoten. 
 
 122 
 
 3 
 
 licost 
 
 gelicost. 
 
 
 4 
 
 fortes 
 
 forstes. 
 
 
 6 
 
 waras 
 
 t rapas. 
 
 
 15' 
 
 Hawelan 
 
 Hafelan. 
 
 123 
 
 2 
 
 Acne 
 
 Eacne. 
 
 
 16 
 
 — hyne 
 
 — hi hyne. 
 
 
 18 
 
 on hrofan 
 
 of hroran. 
 
 
 21 
 
 drusode 
 
 drusade. 
 
 125 
 
 1 
 
 wrae^e 
 
 t wrse^hc. 
 
 126 
 
 2 
 
 Wingea 
 
 Winigea. 
 

 
 
 BEOWULF. 14: 
 
 Page. 
 
 line. 
 
 
 ' 
 
 126 
 
 20 for ^inna ssega 
 
 vead^ ^inra secga. 
 
 127 
 
 11 
 
 heor 
 
 heort. 
 
 
 13 
 
 Morses 
 
 Mor-Sres. 
 
 
 19 
 
 stede nigge 
 
 f ste . . deniga. 
 
 128 
 
 15 
 
 Wreoweri 
 
 Wreo^en. 
 
 
 22 
 
 eald 
 
 eald. .>^ (ethel) » 
 
 129 
 
 1 
 
 gewyldum 
 
 gewyldum. 
 
 
 28 
 
 Eawedum 
 
 Eafedum 
 
 130 
 
 25 
 
 niodge ^on. 
 
 mod-ge^onc 
 
 133 
 
 4 
 
 selfe 
 
 selre. 
 
 
 12 
 
 Eaflo-^es 
 
 Eafo^es. 
 
 
 22 
 
 Bea^ 
 
 Dea«. 
 
 
 26 
 
 hie 
 
 hig. 
 
 134 
 
 20 
 
 gestarede 
 
 t starige. 
 
 135 
 
 8 
 
 Mo-San 
 
 Niowan. 
 
 
 14 
 
 metes 
 
 gemetes. 
 
 
 22 
 
 beweocene 
 
 beweotene. 
 
 137 
 
 12 
 
 secjan 
 
 sec an. 
 
 139 
 
 5 
 
 guma 
 
 guman. 
 
 142 
 
 1 
 
 Aged 
 
 Agen (?) 
 
 
 10 
 
 stod 
 
 scod. 
 
 143 
 
 25 
 
 Gecwsefde 
 
 Getwaefde. 
 
 
 26 
 
 fanug 
 
 famig. 
 
 147 
 
 13 
 
 orra 
 
 t offa. 
 
 148 
 
 4 
 
 Sige 
 
 Sigel. 
 
 
 9 
 
 ongen -Seoes 
 
 Ongen'Seoes, {Ongentheowi). 
 
 149 
 
 1 
 
 I^^an 
 
 . . ^^an, (q. if Sy'SSan). 
 
 
 6 
 
 hide 
 
 side. 
 
 
 10 
 
 Hie 
 
 Hse. 
 
 ' The Editor is indebted to Mr. Price for pointing out the value of this 
 Rune here and elsewhere occurring. 
 
 L 2 
 
148 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Page. 
 
 line. 
 
 
 
 150 
 
 19 > 
 
 ■ r Fyra hvvylce 
 
 read Fyra hwylce . . 
 
 
 20 
 
 lacuna nulla. 
 
 153 
 
 19 
 
 grim ... fa 
 
 grim sefa (?) 
 
 154 
 
 4 
 
 Dyre 
 
 Dyre iren. 
 
 
 5afti 
 
 .rDene insert /"Slogon weoldon 
 
 
 
 LWeelstowe sy^^an. 
 
 
 \1 for 
 
 ■Msele 
 
 Meela. 
 
 
 19 
 
 — ^ffit 
 
 — 'Scetsael. 
 
 
 26 afU 
 
 er vvigende 
 
 lacuna nulla. 
 
 
 9.^ for 
 
 oro cene 
 
 brocene (?) 
 
 155 
 
 18 
 
 hwam 
 
 hwan. 
 
 
 26 
 
 Wffil 
 
 t Ssel. 
 
 
 29 
 
 Feor 
 
 Feorh. 
 
 157 
 
 11 
 
 leosade 
 
 losade. 
 
 158 
 
 3 
 
 rechtlice 
 
 rehtlice. 
 
 
 22 
 
 Mode 
 
 Niode (?) 
 
 159 
 
 28 
 
 hreo 
 
 hreoh. 
 
 
 29 
 
 ge^ing 
 
 t gearing. 
 
 160 
 
 18 
 
 f^de 
 
 fasge. (N.T.) 
 
 161 
 
 4 
 
 On sylfes 
 
 On . . ne sylfes (myne ?) 
 
 
 10 
 
 Ic 
 
 Die (.?) 
 
 
 20 
 
 scealde 
 
 sealde. (N.T.) 
 
 
 24 
 
 ffirest 
 
 asrend (?) 
 
 163 
 
 6 
 
 . . . sy^^an 
 
 t Hyre syS'San. 
 
 
 7 
 
 ^ego 
 
 ^ege. 
 
 
 8 
 
 Gebreost 
 
 Breost. 
 
 
 22 
 
 Wean 
 
 t Hean. 
 
 164 
 
 13 
 
 sincma-Sm 'Sum 
 
 *f sincma^^um. 
 
 165 
 
 1 
 
 hlasnnum 
 
 t hlammum. 
 
 
 20 
 
 0^ ^aet ongan 
 
 O^^e . . on ongan 
 
 
 24/ 
 
 on hea 
 
 > on hea . 1 . | . (hea clifii ?) 
 
 
 25 
 
 Hord 
 
 Hord.— 
 
BEOWULF. 149 
 
 Page. line. '' 
 
 166 1 for Thagr on innan giong read Thaer on innan giong 
 
 2 2 NrSa nat . . . hee^nuni. 
 
 3 Ni^a nat 3 Horde bond . . . sine fa. 
 
 4 ... hgethnum horde 
 
 5 Hond 
 
 6 Since fah 
 
 10 ^ . . . ^ 
 
 12 sie sie . ^ . . . 
 
 16 weoldum geweoldum. 
 
 ^^ • • ^^§^ \ fere geceod (?) 
 
 19 Sceod J 
 
 24 «ea . . . 
 
 26 Weall Wea . . secg syn . . sig. 
 
 167 2 Daet ^am Daet . . . "Sam. 
 4 sceapen sceapian (?) 
 
 t) Dele. 
 
 7 t Sine set (symle ?) 
 
 ° > geardaguin. 
 
 12 Gum / ^ ^ 
 
 24 'Sser ^ass. 
 
 168 14 hi hit. 
 
 22 Draemna hiwa Dream . . ah hwa. 
 
 r .^fter beor . in 
 
 169 11 ^fter wigfruman -? Ne maeg by rnan bring • 
 
 \ V. ^fter wigfruman. 
 
 13 heals sines t bealf . . . naes. 
 
 14 Hear wan t Hearpan. 
 
 170 2 stea^a sece^ Sceapa 
 
 Opene standum 
 Fe^e byrnende 
 Beorgas sece^. 
 1 2 wihte wihte d . . . 
 
150 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Page. line. 
 170 13 
 
 22 
 
 171 7 
 8 
 
 22 
 
 172 26 
 
 174 2 
 3 
 
 175 6 
 
 176 19 
 20 
 21 
 24 
 
 178 3 
 
 179 24 
 25 
 
 181 
 
 182 
 
 183 
 
 184 
 
 185 
 
 } 
 
 :} 
 
 4 
 5 
 6 
 
 -7 
 5 
 6 
 
 4 
 20 
 21 
 2 
 6 
 6 
 7 
 
 } 
 
 Hie lacuna incidit 
 c\u2e XFversibus * 
 respondet absenti- 
 bus. 
 
 faeged 
 
 geniwat 
 
 Stond 
 
 on 
 
 — gifau 
 
 — him 
 selst 
 
 'Send 
 
 . . . Geatwa 
 holme 
 
 .} 
 
 t * Tribus litteris; quod supra 
 notavimus. 
 
 t wasge. 
 
 geniwad. 
 
 Stone, 
 t .... on swefod. 
 
 gifan. (N.T.) 
 + ham. 
 
 selost. 
 
 . . . ^end. 
 
 Geatwa. 
 
 20 » holme . . ig 
 
 Fe^e 
 
 forht alden 
 cwomma'S 
 
 Lacuna nulla* 
 
 . . . fe^e (?) 
 forh ealden. 
 
 cwom 
 
 Dum — 
 Sundr 
 
 like 
 
 No . . Don 
 se^eliges 
 
 bestred 
 
 hea^ cyn 
 
 Fymble 
 
 hodmannis 
 
 Daer 
 
 Ma~S^um — 
 
 Sundur. 
 
 lice. 
 
 No'Son. 
 
 asMinges. 
 
 be . . stied. 
 
 t Hea^cyn, (nom, pro- 
 
 prium). 
 
 Symble. 
 t hodman 
 
 Nis ^sdY (non est). 
 
 wigstede wicstede. 
 
 Weal hnde 
 
 hreosna 
 
 Atolne 
 
 + Weallende. 
 
 Hreofna, (Rafnis .?) 
 
 Eato ... * 
 
BEOWULF. 
 
 151 
 
 Page. line. 
 
 186 8 for 
 12 
 
 15 
 21 
 
 187 24 
 
 188 12 
 
 189 9 
 
 190 1 
 9 
 
 23 
 
 191 21 
 
 192 
 
 193 
 
 194 
 195 
 196 
 
 198 
 199 
 
 201 
 
 203 
 
 7 
 9 
 6 
 9 
 3 
 4 
 2 
 12 
 22 
 9 
 
 1} 
 
 20 
 
 200 18 
 
 24 
 
 3 
 8 
 10 
 2 
 5 
 6 
 
 E'Sel ear's 
 to 
 
 read Eard eM. 
 
 in. 
 
 gecysan 
 
 gecyran. 
 
 WIS 
 
 Utgereced 
 
 — hatres 
 
 — scyre 
 Stod on 
 f)eod 
 
 ' fricean 
 
 — gescire styndan 
 gewat 
 
 'Sis. 
 
 Utgesece'S. 
 
 — hattres. 
 
 — scype. 
 Stodan. 
 Deop 
 
 friclan. 
 
 Bac 
 
 He 
 
 len 
 
 waga 
 
 — onlean 
 Gewat 
 
 geton 
 
 The 
 Urum sceal 
 
 bord 
 
 Wi^ byrne rond 
 
 — heawolan stoS 
 Breran 
 
 eorles 
 
 and cendum 
 
 Hea wolan 
 Modor 
 
 Daet 
 
 bleace 
 
 — gescipe scyndan. 
 
 ■ gewac. 
 Bat. 
 ■ laen. 
 
 Hwy— (0 
 
 t wiga. 
 
 t — • — onela. 
 t Gewac. ^ 
 
 t geheton. 
 
 The he. 
 t Sceal urum f. 
 
 t 8 Bord . . . rond byrne, 
 
 — ' heafolan stod. 
 t Biteran. 
 
 ' eorl. 
 
 andcendu. 
 
 t Heafolan. 
 
 Nio^or (?) 
 
 ■ bleate 
 
 Gund drogen f Gedrogen 
 
 waes 
 
 Sa waes. 
 1 
 
152 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Page, line, 
 204 17 /or 
 
 18 
 
 23 
 
 206 20 
 
 207 4 
 5 
 8 
 
 208 7 
 12 
 26 
 
 209 12 
 14 
 18 
 
 210 15 
 16 
 21 
 26 
 
 211 12 
 13 
 14 
 
 24 
 
 212 20 
 
 213 2 
 
 214 14 
 24 
 
 215 10 
 
 216 18 
 26 
 
 217 7 
 
 218 10 
 
 be areafod readf 
 onof ostic t '— - 
 
 fest 
 
 — holdon 
 
 bereafod. 
 
 forhogde 
 
 weallande 
 
 onof ostic 
 
 swylc 
 
 gene 
 
 bremcingas 
 
 fyrd 
 
 ■ ^ sceapte 
 
 Ginfaeste 
 
 — ■ — sceawede 
 
 Homena 
 
 lyfde 
 
 feoll 
 
 on ofoste. 
 
 seft (?) 
 
 ► hlodon. 
 
 for horde. 
 
 — weallende. 
 
 — on ofoste. 
 
 — swylt. 
 
 — gena. 
 
 — Brentingas. 
 
 — wyrd. 
 sceafte. 
 
 Wseccende wear^S 
 Dryht ma^ma daelde» 
 
 A^e 
 
 — ^a return 
 
 — gebete 
 
 — eow 
 Londdrihtes 
 
 — edwic 
 Wi^er 
 
 gehnasgdum 
 
 — — sy^^an 
 — — hre'Slic 
 ' — S^^^c 
 
 t Gingaeste. 
 
 t scearede. 
 
 Homera. 
 t lyfte. 
 
 »— — gefeoll. 
 
 1 1 f waeccende 
 
 12 Weard onfunde 
 
 13 Buon on beorge 
 
 1 4 Biowulfes wear^S 
 
 15 Dryht ma'Sma dael 
 
 16 Dea^e. 
 t — dare^um. 
 f — begete. 
 t — eored. 
 t Londrihtes. (N.T.) 
 t — edwit. 
 t Niwra. 
 t gehnasgdon. 
 
 asy^^an. 
 
 t Hre^ling {Hretlisjilius). 
 — galg. 
 
BEOWULF. 
 
 15: 
 
 Page. line. 
 
 218 12/orFreofor 
 220 8 gwa 
 
 27 Hares hyrste 
 
 222 
 
 223 
 
 224 
 
 230 
 
 231 
 
 232 
 
 read 
 
 221 24 
 26 
 27 
 
 1 
 11 
 16 
 24 
 28 
 
 7 
 
 10 
 20 
 21 
 
 7 
 19 
 
 225 1 
 20 
 227 24 
 229 12 
 15 
 16 
 18 
 19 
 3 
 10 
 16 
 4 
 20 
 25 
 
 H aires 
 
 Leana leodum 
 
 locendra 
 
 geflugon 
 
 hawo 
 
 Folced 
 
 ofost 
 gecea 
 
 Ealland 
 
 reowdian 
 
 — heri^ 
 Weord 
 
 la^ 
 
 Diore 
 mit 
 
 Minum 
 
 and 
 
 felan 
 
 geonge 
 
 tome 
 
 Laefe 
 
 — — gegredan 
 
 — — — brondum 
 
 Frofor. 
 t Swat. (N.T.) 
 
 t Versus aliunde Hiatus (v.pag. 
 221, /. 24) deest in MS"". 
 
 Hares. 
 f Lacuna prorsus nulla. 
 
 He.. 
 t Leana .... leodum. 
 
 — locenra. 
 f geslogon. 
 
 hafo. 
 
 Frean. 
 t Folcred. 
 
 ofost betost. 
 
 gecea . . . d (gecearfod ?). 
 
 f Lacuna nulla. 
 
 EUand. 
 
 t reordian. 
 
 t — he wi^. 
 
 Weorod. (N.T.) 
 
 la^ne . . 
 
 t Diope. 
 
 mid 
 
 ge- 
 
 ut 
 
 t Cyning minum. 
 f Lacuna nulla. 
 
 Is and. 
 
 t welan. 
 
 t genoge. 
 
 — • corthre (?) 
 
 Laene. 
 
 gegiredan. (N.T.) 
 
 t bordum. 
 
201 
 21 J 
 
 154 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Page. line. 
 
 233 7 for Baet read f Bael. 
 
 1 1 Swongende Swogende. 
 13 — brond — blond. 
 — giomorgyd 20 giomorgyd 
 under f • • • • at meowle .... under 
 
 23 Secg Serg. 
 
 24 neah '\ 
 
 25 Dast hio hyre I 24t Neahlaes "Saet hio hyre 
 
 26 [25 gas. 
 
 27 gas j 
 
 28 — — wa . . . " ' wael. 
 
 234 1 . . . Ylla Ylla. 
 
 2 — '• hafda h . . a . d. 
 
 6 
 
 }6t 
 
 seo onlide. 
 
 7 
 
 17 t Lacuna iterum nulla. 
 
 18 Snotre F . . . Snotre. 
 £35 3 lifa^ lifa^ . . 
 
 4 t Lacuna nulla. 
 
 5 hi hi . . . 
 
 6 t Lacuna nulla. 
 
 7 hlef hlffif. 
 
 9 ^theling iEtheling 
 
 10 t Lacuna nulla. 
 
 12 t Lacuna nulla. 
 
 13 ... Lacuna tribus tantum li- 
 
 teris respondens. 
 
 19 Lacuna nulla. 
 
 ^1 g^^ "V2I « gen . . bi^. 
 
 22 . . . . bi^ J ^ 
 
 236 2 ■ lac haman f hchaman. 
 
 6 ., ... re. 
 
 9 -_ cyning ' cyningnes. 
 
BEOWULF. 155 
 
 Page. line. 
 
 236 10 for Monne read Mannum. 
 13 leof lof. 1 
 
 * The Saxon scholar, especially if he refer to the original MS., will, I fear, 
 discover that the present Collation needs in many places both additions and 
 corrections. It will however, I trust, afford a text sufficiently faithful for every 
 essential purpose. Much must still be left to his own conjectural skill, parti- 
 cularly in the interpretation of those expressions which, though printed and 
 indeed frequently written as separate words, are in fact compounds (as ' sige- 
 hre'Sig,' p; 10 ; ' on-uhtan,' < gud-craeft,' p. 12. &;c.). This circumstance has 
 frequently escaped the notice of Thorkelin. It will be necessary also in many 
 cases, even before an attempt is made to translate a passage, that it should 
 be restored to its real metrical arrangement. This will require a proper at- 
 tention to the alliteration, and an ear practised in the rhythm of Saxon verse. 
 It is needless to point out the numberless instances in which Thorkelin has 
 failed from inattention to the peculiarities of collocation, especially the Pa- 
 rallelism, as I have ventured to term it, by which the poetical diction of our 
 ancestors was distinguished. 
 
NOTES TO BEOWULF. 
 
 Page 35. Warrior Danes, The country of our hero affords ad- 
 ditional grounds for ascribing the poem, in its present dress, to the 
 Dano-Saxon period of our history ; perhaps to one of the bards 
 who are known to have graced the court, and shared the patronage 
 of the munificent Canute. In earUer times, the exploits of a Danish 
 chieftain would scarcely have been a popular subject. That the 
 fiction however was, in its original form, of an antiquity conside- 
 rably more remote, I am still disposed to believe ; for the following 
 among other reasons : 1 . The poet displays a very intimate know- 
 ledge of the history of Jutland during its division into five princi- 
 palities (Fif-el), that is, before the eighth century. 2. He refers 
 to a northern superstition (see p. 55, and note) as old as the age of 
 Tacitus. 3. If any weight be allowed to the arguments advanced 
 in favour of the antiquity of " The Song of the Traveller," Hroth- 
 gar and Hrothwulf must have flourished before the middle of the 
 fifth century ; and without the intervention of poetical tradition 
 (evidently the earliest species of northern history), it can hardly be 
 supposed that their memory should have reached the era of Canute. 
 It might be objected, that upon the hypothesis of Beowulf's having 
 actually existed about the year 450, a very considerable length of 
 time must have been required before his adventures would assume 
 the fabulous character which they wear in the poem. That a pe- 
 riod, however, far short of five or six centuries would be amply 
 sufl&cient for this purpose, is proved by the analogy of numberless 
 similar fictions ; those, for instance, concerning Regner Lodbrog, 
 and our own Richard the First. 4. The language of the poem, in 
 its present dress, is nearly identical with that of the Exeter Manu- 
 script (expressly stated in Bishop Leofric's deed of gift to be En- 
 
BEOWULF. 157 
 
 glish). Yet its materials are evidently Danish. Can it be shown 
 that the Danes and Anglo-Saxons of the tenth and eleventh century 
 employed precisely the same dialect ? (yet see the Essay on the 
 Danish Tongue annexed to Gunnlaug^s Saga). On these grounds 
 I am inclined to attribute the ongiwa/ Beowulf to the eighth, if not 
 the seventh century. After all, many may be rather disposed to 
 regard the whole story as the mere creature of the Scald's imagi- 
 nation, and to doubt whether there be any tenable grounds for 
 ascribing to it an antiquity higher than that of the only manuscript 
 in which it is extant. It may here be mentioned, that after careful 
 examination, I would refer that manuscript to the eleventh rather 
 than, with Astle and Thorkehn, to the tenth century. 
 
 P. 35. Scaldic literature. It has been often remarked, that the 
 traditional documents relating to the early history of Denmark are 
 far less numerous than those which illustrate the neighbouring pro- 
 vinces of Sweden and Norway. The Tale of Beowulf evidently 
 belongs to a class perfectly distinct from the mythical or mythico- 
 historical cyclus of the Eddie muse. (See Preface to the 12nd vol. 
 of Saeraund's Edda.) 
 
 Scejing. I have here ventured to deviate, perhaps rashly, from 
 the version of Thorkelin. The original has ' Oft Scyld Scefinj,' 
 which he renders Scepe Scyldus Scejides. A Scyld, however, or 
 Skiold (see Saxo Grammaticus, p. 5), is so constantly placed at 
 the head of the Danish genealogies, that 1 have considered the word 
 * Scyld ' in this passage as equivalent to ' Scylding,' and * Scefing,* 
 as his descendant. 
 
 Beowulf. It should be noticed that this elder Beowulf appears 
 to have no connection with the hero of the poem. 
 
 Scylfings. Skelfr (says the prose Edda) was the name of a war 
 king (Herkonungr). His posterity are called Scylfings, and live on 
 the shores of the Baltic. (Thorkelin, in Ind., who supposes them 
 to be the Sueones of Tacitus.) 
 
 P. 36. Heorot. See a description and plate of one of these an- 
 
158 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 cient mead-halls in Gunnlaugs Saga, p. l64. Thorkelin conjec- 
 tures it to have occupied the site of the present Hioring in the 
 district of Aarlborg. 
 
 Of him who first outspread. Thorkelin has noticed the simila- 
 rity which the song of lopas in Virgil {Mn. i. 740,) offers to that 
 of the Danish bard, as a proof that the original author of Beowulf 
 might have been a Pagan. The writer, however, or translator of 
 the poem in its present form, was evidently a Christian, and pro- 
 bably omitted or modified many traces of heathen superstition. 
 The coincidence, however, is very remarkable ; unless we suppose 
 the translator to have been acquainted with Roman literature, 
 which is not very probable. 
 
 P. 37. The Grendel. The explanation given of this name by 
 Thorkelin seems forced. He apprehends that the Saxon translator 
 mistook the original Loki (the evil spirit of the Edda, from Loki, 
 ignis) for Loka, crates, and rendered it therefore by Grendel (crates, 
 repagulum, A.S., v. Lye, in voce Grendl). If etymology were a safe 
 ground, I should be rather disposed to regard the word as signifying 
 originally "the Captive or Prisoner," whence it might readily come 
 to be used as a synonyme for the evil spirit, and transferred, as the 
 term fiend and others, to all beings supposed to partake of his nature. 
 
 Helruna. From 'helan,' celare (whence Hell,) and 'runa,' Ut- 
 tera, seems to afford the most plausible etymology of the cele- 
 brated Alrunae. See Keysler 371, &c. and others. These powerful 
 Runes are enumerated in the Brynhildar Quida (Edda, vol. 2.^ 
 p. 195-6-7). 
 
 lutes Ylfes and Orcneas. Eotenes, the Jotna of the Volu-spa, 
 and the Ettins of our early romancers and ballad-writers (see Scott's 
 Sir Tristrem 344, and Janiieson's Sc. D. in voce ' Eyttin'). I have 
 translated Jutes and Geates, Goths, on the authority of Thorkelin. 
 The Ylfes, our own Elves, are the Alfr of Eddie mythology — the 
 remains also, in the opinion of the northern antiquaries (see Alfr in 
 the Glossary to Edda, vol. 2), of some other aboriginal tribe. The 
 Orcneas I do not recollect to have met with elsewhere under this 
 
BEOWULF. 159 
 
 disreputable character. Can they be the early inhabitants of the 
 Orkney Islands ? Grendel evidently belongs to the same class of 
 semi-mythological personages as the Polyphemus, and the Cacus 
 and the UirvoKafnrrriQ (see Plutarch, in F. Thes.) of classical 
 antiquity. In later ages, a Highlander, an American Indian, or 
 even a runavs^ay Negro, have assumed, in the eyes of their more 
 civilized neighbours, the same aspect of terror and mystery. 
 
 P. 39. Whence and what. Compare Hom. Odyss. F. 7]. 
 
 'Q ^eii^oe, TtVec ere ; iroOev 7rXei0 vypa KeXevOa ; 
 '^H ri Kara irprj^iv, rj juai//i§iwc aXaXricrOe 
 Ola re Xrji'^ripeQ vireip aXa ; roi y aXoiovrai 
 "^vyac TrapOe/jLCVoi, KaKov aXXo^airolai (pepovreq. 
 
 Soonest were best. Compare Odyss. G. 548. " 
 
 Tw vvv fxri^e <tv KevOe vorj/uiaffi Kep^aXeoicriv, 
 '0,TTL Ke (J el.p<i)f.iai' (paaQai de ere KaXXiov e'^iv. 
 
 EItt ovop,' OjTTi ffe KeWi KaXeov p.'nrrip re irarrip re, 
 ''AXXot ff 01 Kara a-s-v Kai oi Trepivaieraovai, 
 
 EiTre §e fxoi ycuav re rer]v ^rjp-ov re iroXiu re' 
 
 P. 41. Of the well hewn stone. Thus Homer characterizes 
 Athens as evpvayvia, and describes the Ayopr] of the Phasacians 
 as being 
 
 PvTOicri Xae(T(n Karwpvyeedd' apapvla. Od. Z. 26?. 
 
 P. 42. Vendelic race. This tribe occupied, in the reign of Charle- 
 magne, the northern extremity of Jutland (see D'Anville's Map). 
 
 P. 43. Homeric heroes. Compare Odyss. I. 19. 
 Ei/t O^VGevc, Aaeprid^tiQ, oq iraai ^oXoiaiv 
 AvOptjiroKTi peX(t), Kai fiev fcXeoc ovpavov 'iKei. 
 
 P. 44. Unsorrowing. It is said by Pomp. Mela, that the Getae 
 rejoiced rather than mourned at the death of their friends (see 
 
IGO ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Keysler, 132). 1 have met with the expression of a similar feehng 
 in some other Northern remains, but have lost the reference. It 
 vi^ould be indeed a natural result of the belief that all who fell in 
 battle were immediately received into Valhalla. 
 
 44. By W eland's art. Compare Odyss, H. 93. Of the tradi- 
 tions concerning Weland more will be said in a succeeding ar- 
 ticle. 
 
 P. 44. Hunferth. This mode of trying the courage and talent 
 of a stranger seems to have been not uncommon in the ruder ages. 
 The behaviour of the son of Alcinous to Ulysses (Odyss, 6. 159,) 
 is much in the same character. Thorkelin (Ind. v. * Contentiones ') 
 refers to Gunnlaug^s Saga, p. 71, and the note attached. Though 
 Hunferth's own courage is stated to be problematical, he does not 
 appear to have been regarded in the same contemptible light with 
 the Homeric Thersites. Beowulf himself, as we shall see here- 
 after, presents him with a sword. Thus Sinfroth (see Handings- 
 bana. Edda, vol. 2. p. 73,) is praised for a like talent. 
 
 £r svara kunni Is responsa callebat 
 
 Or vi^ au^linga Et cum nohilihus 
 
 Or^om scipta. Ferhorum altercationem. 
 
 Hisjlyting with Gudmund is a curious and much coarser speci- 
 men in its kind than that of Hunferth. 
 
 [Additional Note by the Editor. 
 
 P. 49. The subject of his Song is little more than barely indi- 
 cated. A Danish critic, Mr. Grundtvig, has with much sagacity 
 pointed out, in the song thus briefly recited, an allusion to the 
 achievements of one of the principal heroes of the cycle of romance 
 common to the Edda and Folsunga SagaoH\\Q North, and the iVif- 
 belungen of early German poetry. The stofy here recorded really 
 relates to Sigmund Wselsing — the father of the Eddaic Sigurdr 
 Volsungr — to ^vhom, according to that version of the story, the 
 
BEOWULF. 161 
 
 slaughter of the dragon ascribed by the Saxon poet to the parent 
 is transferred. The corrupt text of ThorkeUn, who reads (p. 68) 
 
 £)aet he framsige 
 Munde secgan, 
 
 instead of 
 t 
 ' Daet he fram Sigemunde 
 
 Secgan hyrde — 
 
 at first concealed this allusion, and rendered the whole passage un- 
 intelligible. I refer to the equally amusing and learned Preface to- 
 the new edition of Warton*s History of English Poetry f p. 94, for 
 some further and interesting observations on this passage. 
 
 P. 50. Frisians) a Finnish tribe. Thus in The Song of the 
 Traveller we have ' Finfolc Fresna cynne.' (p. 13. 1, 2.) It should 
 however be stated, that the obscurity which pervades the whole of 
 this episode is considerable ; and that Thorkehn (perhaps with jus- 
 tice) considers the term ' Fin ' as the proper, and not the generic 
 name of the Frisian leader. 
 
 [Addendum by the Editor. Thorkelin is undoubtedly right in 
 considering Fin as a proper name. The passage cited from The 
 Song of the Traveller ought to be read ' Fin Folcwalding, Fresna 
 cynne.' 'Fin, the son of Folcwald (who also is mentioned in 
 Beowulf as ' Folcwalda '), ruled over the Frisian race.* The in- 
 genious scholar who has conducted the new edition of Warton^s 
 History of English Poetry has satisfactorily proved the subject of 
 this episode to be identical with that of the fragment on the battle 
 of Finsburh (published in the Appendix to the present work). 
 He remarks that in Beowulf the actors are Fin, Hnsef, Hengest, 
 Guthlaf and Oslaf. Tn the fragment the same names occur, with 
 the substitution of Ordlaf for Oslaf; the scene in either piece is 
 Finnesham or Finnesburh, the residence of the before-mentioned 
 Fin — who, as we have seen, is also mentioned in The Song of the 
 
 M 
 
l62 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Traveller. He considers it probable that in these lines we have an 
 allusion to the founder of the kingdom of Kent, and not to a purely 
 fabulous personage of the same name ; and he inquires whether 
 Fin may have been a CeU, and whether the Gaelic antiquaries 
 can connect him with any Erse sovereign bearing this name. But 
 I must confess myself far from satisfied of an identity which seems 
 to have nothing beyond a mere appellative, so likely from its deri- 
 vation to have been common, to support it; nor can I concur in 
 the challenge thrown out to Gaelic antiquaries, who assuredly can 
 connect together many more persons and things than were ever so 
 united in sober history.] 
 
 P. 51. Hrothgar with Hrothulf, See The Song of the Travel- 
 ler, p. 14. 1. 89. 
 
 P. 52. The most splendid collar. This is described as ' Bro- 
 singa mene ' (q. d. a blazing or bright collar), the Eddie name for 
 the necklace of Freya. If 1 understand the passage, the ornament 
 in question is said to have belonged formerly to Hermanric — to have 
 been given afterwards by Beowulf to Higelac, and worn by him for 
 the last time when he felj in battle with the Frisians. It is described 
 as set with precious stones (Eorclan-stanas). 
 
 P. 52. Evil-minded woman. The original expression is stronger 
 and more remarkable, ^ gallozcs-minded ' (jalja-mod). 
 
 P. 55, Monsters of the Flood. Orig, ' Niceras' — the Neckar and 
 Nicker of later fabulists. (See Keysler, 26 1, and Jamieson's Diet. 
 art. Nicneven.) Thorkelin res^ards them as sea-horses or nao^s. 
 
 55, The savage boar's rude semblance. Thus at p. 85, ed. Thork. 
 in describing the army of the Scylding, the poet tells us 
 
 Wass ge^ ^esyne Eratfacilis visa 
 
 Swat-fah syrce. Sanguine madens lorica, 
 
 Swin eal jylden Aper auro obductus 
 
 Eofer iren heard. Super ferrum (galeam) durum. 
 
 Ihis appears to have been among the earliest superstitions of the 
 Gothic tribes. *^ Matrem Deilm venerantur; insigne superstitio- 
 
BEOWULF. 163 
 
 nisformas Aprorum gestant ; Id pro armis omnique tuteld securum 
 Dea cultorem etiam infer hostes pr^dstat" Tacit. M. G. de Mstiis. 
 (See Keysler, 158-9, and the Glossary to Edda, vol. 1, under Hildi- 
 svini.) In the Saga of Hrolfe Kraka, the traitor Adils has an en- 
 chanted boar for his defence, and an amulet in the form of a ring 
 named Soya-Gris (Sweden's Boar). 
 
 [Here the copy transcribed by the late Author for the press ter- 
 minated : but there were also extant some scattered references indi- 
 cating the subjects which he had further intended to illustrate. 
 These have been thrown together by the Editor into the following 
 additional notes.'] 
 
 P. 56. His good sword Hrunting. We may compare with this 
 description that preserved by Snorro of the sword presented to the 
 young Haco by king Athelstan {Harald Harfagers Saga, c. 43). 
 It had a handle of gold, and an edge so keenly tempered that it 
 could cleave a millstone with ease ; whence it was named ' Quern 
 biter.' 
 
 P. 57. A wondrous brand. The well-known Tyrfing, reclaimed 
 by the adventurous Hervor from her father's sepulchre, was a 
 weapon resembling this in its history and properties. See Her- 
 varar Saga. 
 
 P. 62. Gold-enwreathed prow. One of the most remarkable ves- 
 sels of Northern romance was that bestowed by the enchantress 
 Brana (whose story resembles that of Medea) on Halfdan. (See 
 Halfdans Saga, c. 12, in Nordiska Kiampa Dater.) " Then," said 
 Brana, " that ship will I give thee, Halfdan. I have spent the 
 winter in its construction — it shall convey thee with a favourable 
 breeze wherever thou wouldest sail — it is a dragon-shaped bark, 
 and shall be called Skranti." 
 
 P. Q5. The fire-drake came. This race of reptiles, formed 
 doubtless by a poetical exaggeration of the real attributes of the 
 
 M 2 
 
I(i4 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. ^ 
 
 larger serpents inhabiting southern Asia (the cradle at once of the 
 original colonists of Europe and of the original materials of those 
 fictions which subsequent ages have but re-produced under varied 
 combinations), has ever constituted a prominent feature in romantic 
 narrative. The names by which it is described in the present poem 
 are ' Wyrm' and ^ Draca/ with the compounds ' Fir-draca' (the 
 fire-drake), ' Eorth-draca' (the earth-drake), ' Eorth-scrafa' (the 
 digger of the earth) ; and the epithets derived from its imputed 
 habits, 'hordes weard* (the guardian of the treasure), and 'beorges 
 weard' (the guardian of the mountain). Names evidently derived 
 from the same roots are found in all the Teutonic dialects, and in- 
 deed in most of that larger group of cognate languages which has 
 been denominated Indo-European. Thus we have the Icelandic 
 'Ormr'and ' Dreka,' the German 'Wurm' and * Drach,' the 
 Latin ^Vermis' and 'Draco,' the Greek * ^/oa/cwi^,' the Celtic 
 ' Draig' — and the Persian ' Kirim.' Nor were the names alone of 
 these monsters identical. The fictions of classical and Gothic an- 
 tiquity agree equally in their general attributes, and particularly in 
 that (more remarkable, perhaps, because underived from any na- 
 tural reference to their actually existing prototypes) which assigns 
 to them the custody of hidden treasures. This is obvious in the 
 dragon-guardians of the golden fleece, and of the fruit of the Hes- 
 peridas. Indeed, the idea was proverbially familiar ; thus Martial 
 (lib. 12. Ep. 45.) reproaches a miser in the following terms, 
 
 Incubasque gazcB 
 Ut magnus draco quern canunt poetae 
 Custodem Scythici fuisse luci. 
 
 And Phsedrus puts a similar application (Ub. 4. Fab. IQOij^^^ ^^^^ 
 mouth of the fox, who, in digging its earth, 
 
 Pervenit ad draconis speluncam ultimam, 
 Custodiebat qui thesaiiros abditos. 
 
 The griffons watching the gold ravished from them by the Arimaspi 
 
BEOWULF. \65 
 
 is a tale of the same class. In the romantic fictions of Persia com- 
 bats between heroes and dragons often occur. In the wars of that 
 nation with the Roman empire we read of the ' Persici dracones ' 
 among its military standards : hence in the lower ages of the 
 empire they were adopted by the Romans themselves, and thus 
 probably introduced among the Britons, whose Pendragon is said 
 to have derived his title from their use. 
 
 Belzoni found a similar tradition, of a serpent watching over an 
 hoarded treasure, prevalent near the cataracts of the Kile at As- 
 souan. 
 
 But it is in the school of Northern fiction that these traits are 
 most prominently developed, and in this quarter Saxo Grammati- 
 cus (hb. 2) has especially locahzed it. 
 
 Insula nonlonge est pramollibus edita clivis 
 Collibus (£ra tegens et opimcB couscia prctdce ; 
 Hie tenet eximium, monlis possessor, acervum 
 Implicitus gyris Serpens, crehrisque reflexiis 
 Orhihus et caudce, sinuosa volumina ducens, 
 Multiplicesque agitans spiras virusque profundens. 
 
 The story of the slaughter of one of these animals (or rather of 
 Fafner transformed into that shape) by Sigmund the Waslsing, has 
 been already mentioned as the subject of the song introduced by 
 the Scop in Canto XIV. of this poem. This adventure, as trans- 
 ferred to his descendant Sigurdr Volsungr, constitutes the founda- 
 tion of the principal cyclus of romantic story contained in the Edda. 
 In the Sigurdar Quida will be found a description of the con- 
 flict of the hero and the monster — of his den and of its treasures, — 
 among which were the helm of terror (^gishialmr) — resembling- 
 in the panic it struck into adversaries, no less than in name, the 
 classical asgis, — a golden cuirass, and the sw^ord Hrotta. 
 
 There is a considerable similarity, in the close of the career of 
 Beowulf by the agency of one of these monsters, to the death of the 
 Emperor Otnit, as recorded in the German Heldenbuch, who in 
 
l66 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 like manner, after a long course of heroical achievements, was in- 
 duced, by the dreadful ravages committed upon his subjects by a 
 brood of dragons, toreassume his arms (notwithstanding the earnest 
 remonstrances of his friends) in a war of extermination against 
 them. He succeeded in his object, but sacrificed his own hfe to 
 its accomplishment. 
 
 P. 74. The mariners 
 
 That drive afar to sea, oft as they pass 
 Still point to Beowulf's tomb. 
 
 Compare Iliad H. 86. 
 
 ^rjjLia re oi yev(Jii)aiv eiri TrXareT ^Wrfairovrio. 
 Ka'i TTore tiq eiTT^cri Kai oxpiyoviov avO pioirwv, 
 N?ji ttoXvkXtii^i wXeijjv ewi o'lvoira ttovtov' 
 'AvdpoQ juei/ ToSe ^rj/uia irdXai KarareOvriijjTOC. 
 
 And Odyssey O. 80. 
 
 yieyav kol afxvfxova tvjulJSov 
 ILevafxev 'A^yeiwp \epoQ '^paroQ Aiyjirirawv 
 'Aact^ €7r! TTpovyovay^ ctti TrXaret EXXtjo^ttoi'to', 
 ''Qc K.ev Tr]Xe(^avr\c, e/c irovroi^iv avdpaaiv ein. 
 
 P. 78. Having dispatched some of the party to obtain from far 
 the wood necessary for the funeral pile. Thus Homer Iliad 
 
 ^. ] 10. 
 
 arap Kpeiwv Aya/JLejuviov 
 OvprjaQ T* (OTpvve /cat avepaQ, a^e/jiev vXrjv, 
 UdvroSev — — k.t.X. 
 
 The whole subsequent narrative of the obsequies of Beowulf, 
 and especially the description of the construction of his tumulus, 
 will remind the classical reader of the similar rites as paid to Pa- 
 troclus, I/, i^ ; to Hector, II. Q ; and to Achilles, Odyssey Q. 
 
BEOWULF. 167 
 
 Indeed, in no part of their customs is that family resemblance 
 which pervades almost all the European tribes, and connects them 
 with those of India, more decidedly marked than in those which 
 relate to the last honours paid by surviving piety to the dead. The 
 ^rriXai of Greece, and the monumental stones of Scandinavia (see 
 Keysler), — alike illustrate the conspicuous tower reared over the 
 remains of the hero of the present poem : and we find the practice 
 of committing arms and treasures to the same tomb with their 
 transitory possessor (here instanced in the burial of a portion of the 
 dragon's hoard) equally prevalent in Hellas (see the account of 
 Periander the Corinthian, Herodot. Terpsichore 92), in Scythia 
 (Herodot. Melpomene 71), in Gaul (Caesar B.G.6, 19), and 
 in most of the ancient European tribes. (See also for many similar 
 examples in the North, the History of Snorro Sturleson.) Indeed, 
 the community of feeling on this point extended so far, that we 
 find the sacrifice of widows on the funeral piles of their husbands 
 recommended in Scandinavia no less than in India. Thus in the 
 Eddaic narratives of the Volsungr heroes, Brynhillda is recorded 
 as so devoting herself to the manes of Sigurdr. Bartholinus 1. 2. 
 c. 10 Sc 13, may be consulted on these subjects. 
 
 The practice of burning the dead appears to have continued 
 among the Gothic tribes until their conversion to Christianity. It 
 it expressly forbidden to the continental Saxons by an ordinance of 
 Charlemagne yet extant. 
 
 END OF THE NOTES TO BEOWULF. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
APPENDIX, 
 
 W HILE the preceding pages were passing through the press, the 
 hand of death imposed an abrupt termination at once on these li- 
 terary relaxations of an active leisure, and on those pursuits of 
 higher moment and graver character which occupied, as they de- 
 manded, the more serious attention of the Author. Had the design 
 of the present work been completed, according to his original inten- 
 tion, a valuable rnanual of the poetry of the mother dialect of the 
 English language would have been added to the stock of our litera- 
 ture, and a greater degree of attention than it has yet excited might 
 have been called forth towards a subject claiming, at least, no mean 
 degree of philological interest, and recommended to the student of 
 this country by those associations which bind nations, no less than 
 individuals, to their ancestry. For the execution of the remaining 
 portions of these " Illustrations," the materials collected were large 
 and original, consisting more especially of transcripts from the MS. 
 volume of Saxon Poems bequeathed by Bishop Leofric to his ca- 
 thedral church of Exeter ; but these were for the most part unac- 
 companied by translation or comment, and formed in their actual 
 state only the rough M.SS., from whence characteristic specimens 
 would have been by a subsequent examination selected. Had the 
 individual, upon whom the melancholy but yet gratifying task of 
 editing these remains has devolved, been more highly qualified than 
 h6 could feel himself to be for such a task, he would yet have de- 
 cline an undertaking which must have issued in the compilation 
 of a new work of his own, and deprived, in some measure, the pre- 
 
172 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 sent volume of its most appropriate character, as a simple memorial 
 of its accomplished author. He has therefore considered himself 
 as precluded from any attempt to complete the whole design, and 
 restricted to the object of arranging such of its scattered fragments 
 as were extant, in a state sufficiently prepared for immediate pub- 
 hcation. Of these many have already been printed in the volumes 
 of the ArchcBologia as communications to the Antiquarian Society. 
 But it seemed desirable to collect these separate papers together, 
 and thus to present a connected view of the contributions made to 
 this single branch of literature by a departed scholar, remarkable 
 for the extent and variety of attainments, which at the very period 
 when they might have promised to be most productive, were sud- 
 denly arrested in their course ; and yet more happily remarkable 
 for the due subordination of them all to objects and pursuits whicb 
 alone could not be thus interrupted. 
 
 In arranging these fragments it is the desire of the Editor to pre- 
 serve, as far as possible, the composition of the Author without 
 alteration or addition. They will, however, be disposed under the 
 heads which they would have naturally occupied in the develop- 
 ment of the original design ; and such brief introductory notices 
 will be prefixed, as may show the relative bearing of each, and ex- 
 hibit a general outline of that design, accompanied by specimens 
 of the several parts. In this form, the utility/ of the work, as a 
 guide to the study of Saxon poetry, will, in a considerable degree, 
 remain ; although the higher interest, which the taste of the author, 
 could it have been exerted in the full illustration of the subjects 
 thus nakedly indicated, was so well calculated to impart to them, 
 is indeed irremediably lost. 
 
APPENDIX 173 
 
 No. I. 
 % THE Bx^TTLE OF FINSBOROUGH 
 
 A FRAGMENT. 
 
 INTRODUCTOUY NOTICE BY THE EDITOR. 
 
 . This fragment claims the next place to Beowulf, not only as 
 having constituted a portion of a similar historical romance, but 
 because the very action to which it relates forms the subject of one 
 of the songs introduced by the minstrel of Hrothgar in that poem. 
 (See the end of the l6th and beginning of the 17th Canto, and the 
 Notes.) The history to v^^hich it refers appears to be (so far as it 
 can be collected from these sources, which are not without 
 considerable obscurity) that of a war between the Danish Scyld- 
 ings then subject to Healfdane, and led by his thane Hengest, 
 and the Frisian Eotens or Jutes, w^hose king Fin the son of Folc- 
 w^ald is besieged in his royal city, called from himself Finsham or 
 Finsburh. 
 
 in the poem of Beowulf the minstrel commences his song on this 
 subject by describing the grief of Hildeburh, who seems to have 
 been the queen of Fin, and whose son Hnaef had been slain in a 
 battle issuing in the defeat of her husband, and followed by an 
 inglorious treaty, in which he was obliged to surrender half his 
 dominions, and pay ample tribute. The queen obtains, leave to 
 celebrate the obsequies of her son; and according to the custom of 
 the age commits his body to the flames. It should further appear 
 that the terms of this treaty were violated by Fin ; for we find that 
 
174 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 after the interval of a. winter, when the sea was again fit for navi- 
 gation, Hengest undertook a second expedition against the city of 
 Fin, who fell in its defence, his queen being led captive to Den- 
 mark in the victor's train. 
 
 The present Fragment appears to relate to the event of this se- 
 cond expedition, and describes the final attack of Finsburh, after a 
 defence protracted through five days. 
 
 It was discovered by the celebrated Hickes, on a single leaf 
 bound up with a MS. volume of Homilies preserved in the Archie- 
 piscopal Library of Lambeth, whence he transcribed and pub- 
 lished it in the first volume of his Thes. Ling. Septentr. p. 192, 
 without a translation. 
 
 It was republished in the present form, with a literal Latin and 
 metrical English version, as a communication from the author of 
 these Illustrations to the Bibliographia Britannica. 
 
 At that time, however, the author had enjoyed no opportunity 
 of consulting the parallel narrative recorded in the poem of Beo- 
 wulf ; and the imperfection and consequent obscurity of the frag- 
 ment itself, in its unillustrated state, led him erroneously to con- 
 sider Hengest as a Saxon chieftain, and the wounded leader men- 
 tioned in the concluding fines as having been the general of the 
 invaders ; whereas it seems almost certain that Fin himself, the 
 king of the besieged city, must be the party meant. The editor 
 has therefore been induced to make the few substitutions pointed 
 out in the notes ; and in one or two other lines has altered " our 
 chief" to ''the chief," with the same view. 
 
 If the editor is not deceived, the fragment in the Exeter MS. 
 describing a ruined city once the abode of the Eotens, entirely de- 
 solated by war and fire, probably relates to the same destruction 
 of Finsburh. This fragment is included among the specimens ex- 
 tracted from the MS. in question in a subsequent article of this 
 Appendix. 
 
 In the present fragment (according to the translator's conception 
 of its meaning) the commander of the besieging army is represented 
 
THE BATTLE OF FINSBOROUGH. 
 
 175 
 
 as addressing and receiving an answer from the leader stationed 
 at the principal gate of the fortification, in a manner which may 
 faintly remind the reader of some of the dialogues which Homer has 
 occasionally put into the mouths of his contending heroes. 
 
 * # # * 
 - - - accendit 
 Nunquam clamavit 
 Exercitusjuvenis rex. 
 
 tP ^P vf^ ^ 
 
 - - - nas byrna^ 
 Ncefre hleo'Srode 
 Da hearo jeonj cyninj. 
 ^ Ne 'Sis ne daja-^ eastun, 
 ^ Ne herdraca ne fleoje'S, 
 Ne her ^'Sisse healle, 
 Hornas ne byrna^. 
 Ac her for^bera^, 
 Fujelas sinja^, 
 Gylle-S jraejhama, 
 Gu'S-wudu hlynneS, 
 Scyld scefte *oncwy^. 
 Nu scyncS 'Ses mona 
 Wa^ol under wolcnum. 
 Nu arisa^S wea-daeda, 
 
 Neque elucescit (dies) ah oriente, 
 Nee belli draco volat, 
 Nee exercitus aula, 
 Pinnacula accendit. 
 Sed exercitus egrediiur, 
 Folucres cantant, 
 Strepit cicada, 
 Belli trabs resoriat, 
 Clypeo cuspis alliditur. 
 Nuncfulget lujia 
 Errans sub nubibus. 
 Nunc surmnt doloris acta. 
 
 * The exact meaning of the whole of this first clause is somewhat obscure. 
 Its general purport, however, appears to be either that no warlike demonstra- 
 tions were made during the daytime, or that the army, while preparing for 
 and marching to its nocturnal attack (the sun not having y.et appeared in the 
 east), proceeded at first silently and without violence. 
 
 2 The metaphor, by which the arrow is described in this line, may remind 
 the classical reader of a similar expression in the splendid passage which 
 ^schylus has put into the mouth of Apollo in his Eumenides ; 1. 176. 
 
 ^ In this and in all other places where the article does not appear to be 
 properly demonstrative, I have omitted to translate it. 
 
 * This word I apprehend to be compounded of ' on,^ super ^ and * cwedan/- 
 dicerCf sonare. It will then mean sounds upon. 
 
176 
 
 AXGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 De Sisne folces ni^ 
 Fremman willa^. 
 Ac onwacnijea'S nu 
 Wijend mine. 
 Habba^ eowre landa, 
 Hie jea^ on ellen, 
 Winda^ on orde, 
 Wesa^ on mode. 
 Da arras msenij 
 Goldhladen "Sejn; 
 Gyrde hine his swurde. 
 Da to dura eodon 
 Drihtlice cempan 
 Sijefer^ and Eaha, 
 Hyra sword jetujon. 
 And get o'Srum durum 
 OrdlafandGu^laf, 
 And Henjest sylfe 
 Hwearf him on laste. 
 Da jyt Garulf 
 Gu^ere sty rode, 
 Daet he swa freolic feorh 
 Form an si^e 
 To -^asre healle durum. 
 Hyrsta ne baeran. 
 ^ Nu hyt ni^a heard 
 Any man wolde. 
 Ac he fraejn ofer eal 
 Undearninja 
 
 Qua hiijus populi inimicitia 
 
 Perficere debet. 
 
 Sed expergucitur nunc 
 
 Bellator mens. 
 
 Habet vestram terram, 
 
 AlU graditur in virtute, 
 
 Versatur in principatu, 
 
 Sapiens est in consiliO' 
 
 Tunc surgebat plurimus 
 
 Jluro ornatus ductor ; 
 
 Accinxit sibi gladium. 
 
 Tunc ad fores ibant 
 
 Nobiles bellatores 
 
 Sigeferth ef Eaha, 
 
 Sibi gladium accinxerunt, 
 
 Et ad alias portas 
 
 Ordlaf et Guthlaf, 
 
 Et Hengist ipse 
 
 Ferebat se gressu. 
 
 Tunc etiam Garulfus 
 
 Gutherum excitabat, 
 
 {It a) lit ille adeopromptus iret 
 
 Primo tempore {yel primo in loco) 
 
 Ad aula portas. 
 
 Ornament a non gerebant. 
 
 Nunc {dicere) hoc pralium grave 
 
 Quispiam vellet. 
 
 Sed ille rogabat super omnes 
 
 Elata voce (palam) 
 
 1 I have ventured to supply the word dicere in the Latin, and to give the 
 passage a turn somewhat different in the English translation. Possibly I 
 may have been mistaken in both. 
 
THE BATTLE OF FINSBOROUGH. 
 
 177 
 
 ^ Deormod haele^, 
 
 Hwa -ga duru heolde. 
 
 " SijeferS is min nama," cwe^ 
 
 he ; 
 " Ic eom ^ Secjenaleod 
 3 Wrecten wide cu^. 
 Fasla ic weuna jebad 
 Heordra hilda. 
 *De is jyt herwitod. 
 Swagger ^u sylf to me 
 ^Secean wylle?" 
 Da waes on healle 
 Wael-slihta jehlyn, 
 Sceolde-celaes-bor^ 
 Genumon handa, 
 Banhelm berstan, 
 BiiruhMu dynede. 
 O'S aet "Saere ju'Se 
 Garulf jecranj, 
 Ealra aerest 
 EorSbuendra, 
 
 Jmatus (carus animi) dux 
 Quis port am teneret. 
 " Sigeferth est mihi nomen/' in- 
 quit : 
 " Ego sum Saxonici populi 
 Defensor late notus. 
 Mult OS ego labor es pertuli . 
 DifficiUum praliorum. 
 Hoc est adhuc exercitui notum. 
 Tune ipse me 
 Quarere cupis % " 
 Tunc fuit in aula 
 Bellica, stragis tumult us, 
 Clypei concavi lignum 
 Arripiebant manibus, 
 Ossa cranii [gdXedd) findebant y 
 Arcis tecta resonabant. 
 Donee in bello 
 GarulJ'us occidit, 
 Omnium excel lentissimus 
 Terram incolentium, 
 
 ^ I have both here and in the EngUsh considered the word ' Deormod* 
 merely as an epithet. It may, however, be a proper name. 
 
 2 ' Secjena leod ' will hardly bear the interpretation of the text : it should 
 rather be translated ' of the host of the soldiers.' There seems to be no autho- 
 rity for connecting the Saxons with the subject of this poem ; the tribes con- 
 cerned were, as we learn from Beowulf, on one side Danish Scyldings, on 
 the other Frisian Jutes. — Ed. 
 
 3 This word does not occur in Lye's Dictionary. It probably signifies cham- 
 pioHf from * wrecan/ exercere, defendere. — ' Weuna,' in the next line, is in the 
 same predicament. I have supposed it to be derived from the same root 
 with ' winnan ' and * wonian,' lahorarcy dejicere, 
 
 * Weuna ' is probably an error for ' weana,' afflictions.— tEj). 
 
 * I am by no means certain that my translation of this line is correct. 
 
 * The word * secean ' here is somewhat ambiguous ; it may signify either 
 to attackj or to yield to. 
 
 N 
 
178 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Gu^lafes sunu. 
 Ymbe hyne godra faela 
 Hwearflacra hr£er^ 
 Hraefen wandrode 
 
 Hi"' 
 
 Sweart and sealo brun. 
 
 Swurd leoma stod, 
 
 Swylce eal Finnsburiih 
 
 Fyrenu waere. 
 
 Ne jefragjn ic 
 
 Nasfre wur^licor 
 
 iEt wera hilde. 
 
 Sixtij sijebeorna 
 
 Sel ^jebasrann, 
 
 Ne nefre swa noc hwitne medo 
 
 Sel forjyldan. 
 
 Donne ^ hnaefe juldan. 
 
 His hgejstealdas, 
 
 Hij fuhton fif dajas, 
 
 Swa hyra nan ne feol 
 
 Drihtjesi'Sa. 
 
 Ac hij 'Sa duru heoldon. 
 
 Da jewat him "^wund haele^S 
 
 On wagj janjan ; 
 
 Guthlafijilius. 
 
 Circa ilium fortes multi 
 
 Caduci moriebantur. 
 
 Corvus vas^ahatur 
 
 'Niger et salicis instar fuscus. 
 
 Gladii coruscatio constitit 
 
 Tanquam omnis Finshurga 
 
 Accensa esset. 
 
 Non audivi ego 
 
 Unquam spectabiliorem 
 
 In hello pugnam. 
 
 Sexaginta Victoria, filii 
 
 Pro aula stahant, 
 
 Nunquam adeo ulld ex parte medi 
 
 Aulam (ut) traderent. 
 
 Tuncjuvenes auro ornati, 
 
 Ejus {scil. Hengisti) primarii, 
 
 Pugnabant quinque dies, 
 
 Ita ut eorum nemo caderet 
 
 Principis-sociorum. 
 
 Sed illi adhuc portam tenebant. 
 
 Tunc accingebat se vulneratus dux 
 
 Infugam (viam) recipere; 
 
 * The grammatical construction of these lines requires that * hraer * should 
 be considered as a substantive governing the preceding genitives. It is pro- 
 bably an error of transcription for * hrsew/ which will make the sense, * around 
 him was the corpse of many a brave fallen warrior/ — Ed. 
 
 ® From * ^ebeor jan/ servare. I am uncertain as to the exact construction, 
 though not as to the general purport, of the next line. 
 
 3 ' Hnsef ' appears from Beowulf to be the proper name of the son of Hil- 
 deburh slain in the first battle there recorded. I cannot, however, substitute 
 a version satisfactory to myself for that in the text. — Ed. 
 
 * This is given by Lye as the participle of ' wundan,* to wound. It ap- 
 pears rather to bq the participle of ' wunian/ languore affici, from which 
 the secondary verb ^wundan' is derived. 
 
THE BATTLE OF FINSBOllOUGH. 
 
 179 
 
 Saede '^ast his byrne 
 Abrocen waere 
 * Here sceorpum hror, 
 And eac waes his helm "Syrl. 
 
 Da hine son a frasjn, 
 
 Folces hyrde 
 
 Hu "Sa wijend hyra 
 
 Wunda jenaeson. 
 
 O^^e hwce^er -Saera hyssa 
 
 Dixit quod ejus lorica 
 Fracta erat 
 
 Exercitus acutis (telis) caduca 
 Et etiam erat ejus galea pene- 
 
 trata. 
 Tunc illi cito qucerebant 
 Populi pastorem 
 Quomodo tunc ducem suum 
 Fulnerihus levarent. 
 Aut ubi sua 
 
 # * # * 
 
 THE FIGHT OF FINSBURG. 
 
 The sun had dimb'd the eastern sky;— 
 But not by day the youthful band 
 
 May hear their leader's battle cry. 
 Nor yet, on Finsburg's fatal strand, 
 
 The warrior's vvinged serpent fly : 
 
 Pauses from blood the foeman's hand, 
 Nor strives he yet to fire yon hall's proud canopy. 
 
 Sweetly sung the birds of night. 
 The wakeful cricket chirrup'd loud. 
 
 And now the moon, serenely bright, 
 
 Was seen beneath the wandering cloud. 
 
 Then roused him swift the deadly foe. 
 
 To deeds of slaughter and of woe. 
 
 * The construction of this line is somewhg^t obscure. 
 
 N 2 
 
180 ANGLO-SAXON rOETRY. 
 
 Now beneath the javelin's stroke 
 
 The buckler's massy circle rung. 
 Anon the chains of slumber broke 
 That chieftain great and good, 
 He whose high praise fills every tongue, 
 First in valour as in blood, 
 The matchless Hengist to the battle woke. 
 
 Uprose in that eventful tide 
 
 Full many a warrior brave. 
 And don'd his armour's golden pride, 
 
 And girt his gUttering glaive. 
 At the high hall's portal wide, 
 
 Foremost of the noble band, 
 
 Sigvart and iEha proudly stand. 
 Where other pass the foe might find, 
 Ordlaf watch'd with Guthlaf join'd. 
 Garulf next with fiery speed 
 Roused Guthere fi-om the slumberer's bed. 
 No care of dress their steps del ay 'd. 
 Each grasp'd in haste his shining blade. 
 And fierce the brother warriors flew 
 To guard the hall's high avenue. 
 He that prides him in the fight. 
 Had joy'd to see that gallant sight. 
 
 And now in accents loud 
 The foeman's chieftain bold and proud 
 Sought what thane or battle lord 
 At the high gate kept watch and ward. 
 
 ** Sigvart is here," the champion cried, 
 
 " Sigvart oft in battle tried. 
 
THE BATTLE OF FINSBOROUGH. 181 
 
 Known to all the warrior train 
 Where spreads the * Frisian's wide domain. 
 Now, chieftain, turn thee to the fight/ 
 Or yield thee to the ^ Jutish might." 
 
 Soon the tented halls among 
 Loud the din of slaughter rung; 
 Closer now each hostile band 
 Grasps the shield with eager hand. 
 And many a chief is doom'd to feel 
 Through helm and head the griding steel. 
 First in that disastrous plain 
 Guthlaf's valiant son was slain. 
 Where Garulf lies untimely dead 
 Many a fated hero bled. 
 
 There to seek his destined food, 
 The dark and willow pinion'd raven stood : 
 
 And far around that field of blood 
 The sword's dread radiance beam'd to heaven. 
 It seem'd as though that morn had given 
 
 All Finsburg to the ravening flame. 
 
 Ne'er heard I yet of fight might claim 
 A nobler or a sadder name. 
 
 At the high hall a chosen band. 
 
 Leaders brave that shine afar. 
 Full sixty sons of victory stand 
 
 In all the golden pomp of war : 
 Little think they to forgo 
 The hall of mead for that proud foe. 
 
 ' I have here substituted Frisian's far ' Saxon's,' in order to render it con- 
 sistent with the real narrative. — Ed. 
 2 Substituted for ' Saxon.'—ED. 
 
182 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Five live-long days the battle's sound 
 
 Was heard by Finsburg's earth-raised mound, 
 
 Yet undiminishM and unquell'd 
 
 That hero band the portal held. 
 
 Till bleeding from the * Scylding's blade 
 
 2 The City's lord his fear betray'd, 
 
 And told, in accents of despair. 
 
 How broken helm and corslet reft 
 
 Defenceless to the stroke had left 
 
 His head and bosom bare. 
 Then sought the vanquished ^ train relief 
 And safety for their wounded chief. 
 
 * Substituted for ' Saxon/ — Ed. 
 
 ^ Substituted for 'our foeman's lord^ — Ed. 
 
 3 Substituted for * foe.'— Ed. 
 
APPENDIX. ' 183 
 
 No. IL 
 SPECIMENS FROM THE JUNIAN C^DMON. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTICE BY THE EDITOR. 
 
 The account handed down in Bede's Ecclesiastical History , of 
 the ancient Saxon poet Caedmon, and the undoubted fragment 
 of liis composition there preserved to us, have already been fully 
 noticed in the beginning of this work : — the poems which form the 
 present article are of a more problematical character. They con- 
 stitute a metrical paraphrase of the Book of Genesis and some 
 other parts of the Old Testament, extant in a MS. of the tenth 
 century, preserved in the Bodleian Library*, but unfortunately 
 destitute of the author's name. Junius, who published at Amster- 
 dam, in 1655, an edition of this work (which has since become of 
 the greatest rarity), was, from the identity of the subjects with 
 those ^'''hich we know, upon the authority of Bede, to have occu- 
 pied Caedmon's muse, induced to ascribe it without hesitation to 
 that author; and it may be added, in support of his opinion, that 
 the internal evidence, arising from a comparison of the undoubted 
 fragment as before given and the Paraphrase in question, is, so far 
 as it goes, favourable*; the same poetical ornaments and form of 
 
 ' Junius XI. a small folio on parchment, with several illuminations, from 
 which a series of engravings on copper was made some years since, the ori- 
 ginal plates being now in the possession of Mr. Ellis of the British Museum. 
 The MS. is in two different hands — the first portion apparently of the close 
 of the tenth century, the latter of the eleventh. 
 
 * It will be remembered that this fragment consists only of eighteen short 
 lines. We have the following epithets of the Deity, all of frequent occurrence 
 
184 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 construction being common to both : yet it must at the same time 
 be acknowledged, that there exists so high a degree of uniformity in 
 these respects throughout the great mass of Saxon poetry, that the 
 argument cannot be considered as decisive ; for on similar grounds 
 we should also be led to ascribe the greater part of the Exeter MS. 
 and very many other Saxon poems (without any ancient authority 
 for so doing) to the same claimant : and the style even in Beowulf 
 (which, from the subject, must in all probabiUty be referred to the 
 Dano-Saxon period, and therefore be placed three or four cen- 
 turies later than the age of Csedmon,) exhibits the same general 
 
 in the paraphrase — Heofon rices weard, Ece Drihten, Halig Scippend, Mon- 
 cynnes weard, Frea iElmihtij-. Indeed, there is scarcely a single phrase that 
 is not common to both the compositions, and the same identity prevails in 
 their whole structure. The exordium of the Paraphrase conveys exactly 
 the same thought as the Hymn cited by Bede, clothed nearly in the very 
 same expressions. 
 
 Us is riht micel Nobis est maxime aquum 
 
 Dset we rodera weard, Calorum custodem, 
 
 Wereda wuldor Cininj, Populorum gloriosum Regent, 
 
 Wordum herijen, Verbis celebrare, 
 
 Modumlufien; Animis amare ; 
 
 He is maegna sped, lile vel potentibus adjumenio est, 
 
 Heafod ealra Caput omnium 
 
 Heah jesceafta, Quotquot excelsa sunt creata, 
 
 Frea aeimihtij. Rector omnipotens. 
 
 Naes him fruma aefre Nonfuit ei principium unquam 
 
 Or jeworden, Antiquitiis progenitum, 
 
 Ne nu ende cym^ Neque dehinc finis aderit 
 
 Ecean Drihtnes. Mterno Domino. - , / 
 
 Us is much right' that we heaven's guardian Lord, 
 The King in glory o'er his hosts supreme, 
 Praise with our Hps, and in our hearts adore. 
 Source of all power, of all his noblest works 
 Himself the nobler head, Almighty Prince ! 
 To him beginning none of days was wrought 
 Before, nor change nor end approacheth nigh 
 The' eternal Ruler's ever-during sway. 
 
SPECIMENS FROM THE JUNIAN C^DMON. 185 
 
 features. Hickes and Wanley have, on these grounds, dissented 
 from the opinion of Junius, and are rather wiUing to ascribe these 
 productions to some unknown Dano-Saxon Scald, than to the 
 father of Anglo-Saxon poetry. Their negative, however, does not 
 appear to be better supported than his affirmative ; for the distinc- 
 tion which they both assign between the pure and Dano-Saxon 
 styles is assuredly one rather of individual genius, or of particular 
 classes of poetry, than of the schools of different ages. It consists 
 in the absence of poetical ornament and diction. When an author, 
 from the nature of his subject, (as Alfred in his version of the moral 
 and philosophical poetry of Boethius,) or from his incapacity for any 
 thing better, writes in a style litde elevated above the ordinary tenour 
 of prose, they select him as one of the spring-heads of the "pure 
 well of Saxon undefiled." Thus a tedious description of Durham, 
 which has nothing of poetry excepting the metrical arrangement, 
 is praised as genuine and sterling ; but if the bard should attempt 
 the inversions and figures of a loftier strain, he is immediately set 
 down as a Dano-Saxon. Since, however, the fragment of the ge- 
 nuine Caedmon possesses, in a high degree, the same characteristic 
 features, their conclusions rest on an assumption which ap- 
 pears to be untenable. As we learn from Bede that Caed- 
 mon was the head of an extensive school of imitators, who adopted 
 him as their great model, should we not rather infer that the pecu- 
 liarities in question were derived from that source, and always 
 mark the compositions in which they occur, if not as those of Caed- 
 mon himself, at least as those of the Caedmonian school? 
 
 The question, therefore, whether the Bodleian MS. exhibits the 
 genuine remains of the great head of that school, or of some one 
 among its later disciples, must be considered as undecided, and, 
 unless some more perfect copy should be discovered (an event not 
 to be hoped for), incapable perhaps of decision, except in so far as 
 the- merit of many portions of the Paraphrase, and especially of the 
 narrative of the fall of our first parents, may induce us rather to 
 incline to the former opinion. 
 
186 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 The contents of the MS., which has given occasion to these re- 
 marks, may be thus briefly analysed : 
 
 1 . The first portion, after an exordium of thanksgiving to the 
 great Creator, relates the fall of a portion of the angelic host, and 
 the design of the Deity to replenish the void thus occasioned in his 
 creation by a better and holier race ; — the consequent production 
 of this earthly system by the successive operations of six days is then 
 closejy, yet not without the addition of poetical ornament, para- 
 phrased from the first chapter of Genesis. But a chasm in the MS. 
 has interrupted the narrative at the close of the third day's work. 
 It recommences with the formation of Eve, and a description of 
 Paradise, being again mutilated in the prohibitory charge which 
 was made the test of obedience to its inhabitants. This occupies 
 the first five pages of the Junian edition, and may be considered as 
 introductory. 
 
 2, The paraphrast then enters upon what seems originally to 
 have formed a distinct narrative, having for its subject the fall of 
 man, ushered in by a repetition (but more in detail) of ihe circum- 
 stances already introduced in the exordium *, of the pride, rebellion, 
 and punishment of Satan and his powers ; and, with a resemblance 
 to Milton so remarkable that much of this portion might be almost 
 literally translated by a cento of lines from that great poet, he 
 introduces us to the debates of the fallen angels, and ascribes to their 
 prince a speech of much spirit and character, although injured by 
 the repetitions common to the poetry of a rude period. In this. 
 
 * Another Northern work, the Speculum Regakj written in the Icelandic 
 dialect by an uncertain author, probably about the latter half of the twelfth 
 century, contains a prose account of the fallen angels and temptation of 
 Adam, which may be compared with this of Caedmon. In the earlier part 
 the resemblance is considerable, especially in the speech ascribed to Satan; 
 but afterwards the likeness ceases, for Satan is described as accompanied by 
 personifications of the principal vices — envy, hatred, fraud, avarice, ambition, 
 voluptuousness, &c. 
 
SPECIMENS I*ROM THE JUNIAN CJEDMON. 187 
 
 Satan, after indignant murmurs at his fate, exhorts his companions, 
 by the memory of past benefits, to aid in soothing his pains by pro- 
 curing that vengeance against the new favourites of Heaven, v\^hich 
 the fiery fetters bound indissolubly upon his own hmbs (but, as it 
 should seem, upon his alone) deprived him of the possibility of at- 
 tempting in person. One of the associate fiends (as may be ga- 
 thered from the context, for the MS. is here again mutilated) 
 accepts the task, and under the disguise of the serpent becomes 
 the tempter ^ of our first parents, with whom he enters upon a long 
 dialogue, representing himself as an emissary from the Deity, com- 
 missioned to charge them to partake of the tree of death. Adam re- 
 fuses to credit his pretensions; but Eve yields to his threats of the 
 vengeance of Heaven, provoked by the incredulity with which its 
 messenger had been received ; and to the comphments which he 
 adroitly insinuates to her own superior prudence — a quality, how- 
 ever, in which the poet more than hints his opinion of her deficiency : 
 — the fiend casts over her a magical delusion, by which he induces 
 her to believe at the moment when she has eaten the forbidden 
 fruit, that all her faculties are expanded, that a celestiallight shines 
 around her, ^nd that her sphere of vision is so enlarged as to pene- 
 trate throughout the universe, even to the throne where the Deity 
 sitteth, in the south-eastern regions ^ of the heavens, encircled by 
 
 ^ This distinction between Satan and the Tempter I cannot trace to any 
 older source whence the paraphrast may be supposed to have borrowed it ; 
 possibly it may have been suggested by the phrase " Satan and the Old Ser- 
 pent," occurring in the Revelations. 
 
 ^ Can the direction of Christian churches towards this point of the com- 
 pass have led to this singular localization of the throne of Deity ? As opposed 
 to it, we find the rebel angels described by our poet as intending to erect a 
 rival seat of power in the north-west. The idea which attributes the north 
 to this latter purpose is^very common, and perhaps derived from receiving li- 
 terally a figurative passage in Isaiah, xiv. 12. To this Milton alludes, P. L. 
 V. 689, " Where we possess the quarters of the north." But the addition of . 
 the west is, I believe, peculiar to the Saxon paraphrast. Bishop Newton's 
 note on the passage above cited in his edition of Milton, commences with a 
 naivete sufficiently amusing : " Some have thought that Milton intended, but 
 I dare say he was above intending here, a i^eflection on Scotland,*^ 
 
188 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 his angels. Her representations and persuasions succeed in shaking 
 the resolution of her husband ; and the tempter prepares to return 
 to his prince, exulting in the triumphant revenge which he is about 
 to carry back as an alleviation to the torments of hell. The misery 
 and remorse of Adam, and the judgement of the Deity, are then 
 brielly described. This portion of the paraphrase (which here, in- 
 deed, rather claims the title of an original poem) extends from the 
 5th to the 24th page of the printed edition. From the awkward- 
 ness of its connection with the narrative of the creation, the repe- 
 tition of the story of the fallen angels, and the change of metre ob- 
 servable near its commencement ^ as well as from the contrast 
 which it exhibits to the meagre style of much of the following pa- 
 raphrase, it seems to have formed originally a distinct composition, 
 Avhich perhaps the paraphrast of a later age has worked up into 
 his fabric. Its form and character is remarkably dram.atic ; and if 
 we had any reasons for supposing that representations of scriptural 
 histories analogous to the mysteries of a later period were then 
 known, we might almost beheve it to have been written with that 
 view. 
 
 3. The subsequent histories of Cain and Abel, and of the pa- 
 triarchs, both before and after the flood, to the close of the life of 
 Abraham, are regularly narrated in almost literal and undecorated 
 versions of the scriptural accounts ^ ; the only attempts to intro- 
 duce ornaments of a more poetical character occurring in the nar- 
 rative of the Deluge, and of the battle of the kings against Sodom. 
 This portion terminates in the 63rd pag^ of the printed edition. 
 
 * See the specimens of the longer Caedmonian lines in the Introductory 
 Essay on Saxon Metre, 
 
 ^ For example, " Of that race was Cainan, next after Enos, the supreme 
 ruler, the protector, and instructor ; he had even 70 winters ere a son arose 
 to him ; then was in the land an heir begotten to the race of Cainan, Malahel 
 was he named ; after that, 840 winters, the son of Enos increased with men 
 the number of his progeny. He had in all 900 winters, and 10 also when 
 he departed this world." 
 
SPECIMENS FROM THE JUNIAN C^DMON. 189 
 
 4. By an abrupt transition, the paraphrast passes at once from 
 Abraham to Moses, and records the miracles wrought upon the 
 land of Egypt, and the overthrow of Pharaoh's host in the Red Sea. 
 In this part, which extends to p. 72, the style again becomes more 
 spirited. 
 
 5. Hence by another hasty advance, in wiiich the fortunes of 
 the Israehtes from the age of Moses to that of Daniel are slightly 
 alluded to in a few lines, apparently added for the purpose of af- 
 fording a connecting link between two compositions originally de- 
 tached, we are conducted to a paraphrase of the contents of the 
 first five chapters of the latter prophet, including also the apocryphal 
 Song of the Three Children, extending to page 92, and ending 
 abruptly in the middle of the speech of Daniel to Belshazzar. Here 
 the older hand-writing of the MS. ceases, the following portion 
 being of a different and more modern, though still ancient cha- 
 racter. 
 
 6. This appended part consists of an entirely distinct poem, the 
 principal subject of which h the triumphant entrance into Hades by 
 Christ, familiarly known in the middle ages under the title of the 
 Harrowing of Hell. But this is introduced by several long harangues 
 of Satan and his angels, reproaching themselves and each other 
 with their crime and its consequent punishment, so little connected 
 with the sequel or with each other, and so inartificially thrown to- 
 gether, as rather to resemble an accumulation of detached frag- 
 ments than any regular design. After these speeches, the poet 
 digresses to the moral inference that man may acquire, by his con- 
 duct, either joy with the angels above, or torment in the society of 
 these fiends — expatiating on either alternative. He then proceeds to 
 state that the knowledge that Christ should descend to Hell to redeem 
 his people, was an especial cause of grief to Lucifer. The dread of 
 the fiends, and the joy of the captive spirits of men, at the accom- 
 plishment of that great event, are next described. While the victo- 
 rious Redeemer prepares to lead forth his ransomed saints. Eve 
 addresses him, bewailing the consequences of her transgression, 
 
190 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 and supplicating his aid to deliver herself and her offspring, since 
 for that purpose he had, from her daughter Mary, assumed the 
 nature of man. Christ having accomplished this deliverance, in 
 turn recapitulates what he had endured and done for that purpose. 
 His several appearances to his disciples after his resurrection, the 
 institution of baptism, and his ascension, briefly follow ; and the 
 consideration of his present station at the right hand of the Eternal 
 Father, is made to introduce that of his future and final judgement. 
 By an abrupt and singular transition, the poet having described the 
 hymns of the glorified spirits in heaven to their Lord, turns back 
 to his temptation, with the observation, "This is the same Lord who 
 died and endured temptation for us." With this, and the return of 
 the baffled Tempter to his prison-house, the MS. concludes. 
 
 SPECIMENS FROM THE JUNIAN CiEDMON. 
 
 SPEECH OF SATAN. 
 
 " Is ^aes senja styde, 
 (Ungelic swi^e 
 Dam odrum 
 De we aer cu^on 
 Hean on heofon rice) 
 De me min hearra onlaj ? 
 Deah we hine 
 For "Sam alwaldan 
 Ajan ne moston, 
 Romijan ures rices. 
 NsefS he "Seah 
 
 " Estne hie iniquus locus, 
 
 (Dissimilis valde 
 
 Illis aliis 
 
 Qu(B nos olim novimus 
 
 Alte in codorum regno) 
 
 Quo me mens Dominus detrudit'^ 
 
 Siquidem nos eos 
 
 Per Ilium omnipotentem 
 
 Possidere non debemus, 
 
 Coacti cedere e regno nostro, 
 
 Non ilk siquidem 
 
SPECIMENS FROM THE JUNIAN C^DMON. 
 
 191 
 
 Riht jedon, 
 
 Dat he us h^f^ befielled 
 
 Fyre to botme 
 
 Helle 'Saere hatan, 
 
 Heofon rice benumen. 
 
 Hafa^ hit jemearcod 
 
 Mid money nne 
 
 To jesettanne. 
 
 Daet me is sorja maest, 
 
 Dast Adam sceal, 
 
 De waes of eor-San jeworht, 
 
 Minne stronjlican 
 
 Stol behealdan, 
 
 Wesan him on wynne, 
 
 And we -Sis wite -Solien, 
 
 Hearm on 'Sisse helle. 
 
 Wa la ! ahte ic 
 
 Minra handa jeweald, 
 
 And moste ane tid 
 
 Ute weor'San, 
 
 Wesan ane winter stunde. 
 
 Donne ic mid -Sis werode — 
 Ac hcja^ me ymbe 
 Iren benda. 
 Riders racentan sal. 
 Ic eom ricesleas ! 
 Habba'S me swa hearde 
 Helle clommas 
 Fasste befanjen. 
 Her is fyr micel 
 IJfan and neo^one, 
 Ic a ne jeseah 
 La^ran landscipe. 
 
 Jure fecit f 
 
 Quod ille nos oppressit 
 
 Igne in ahysso 
 
 Gehenna hiijus torridi, 
 
 (Et) calonim regnum abstidit. 
 
 lllud designavit 
 
 Humano generi 
 
 In possessionem. 
 
 Hoc mihi est dolor maximus, 
 
 Quod Adamus debet 
 
 Quifuit e terra fabricatus 
 
 Meant potentem 
 
 Sedem possidere, 
 
 Fore ilium in gaudio, 
 
 Hit nos hanc vindictam pati 
 
 Panam in hoc inferno. 
 
 Me miser urn! si habuerim 
 
 Mearum manuum potentiam, 
 
 Et possem in aliquid temporis 
 
 Hinc evadere, 
 
 Sit {licet) unum (tantum) hyber- 
 
 nam tempus. 
 Tunc ego cum hoc exercitu — 
 Sedjacet circum me 
 Ferrea catena, 
 Deprimit vinculorum nexus. 
 Sum regno destitutus I 
 Tenetit me adeo validl 
 Gehenncd vincula 
 Fortiter obstringendo. 
 Hie est ignis multus, 
 Supra et infra, 
 Ego nunquam Didi 
 Tetrius spectaculum. 
 
192 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Lij ne as warn a^ v Flamma non languescit 
 Hkt ofer helle. Torrida super Gehermam, 
 
 Me habba'S hrinja jesponj, Mihi annulis construct a 
 Sli^ hearda sal Mordacibus catena 
 
 Si^es amyrred." Gressus itnpedivit." 
 
 ^ Is this the hateful place (unlike indeed 
 Those seats we once in heaven^s high kingdom knew) 
 To which the conqueror chains me, never more, 
 Expelled by him, the' Almighty one, to gain 
 That realm ! How hath he wrong'd us of our right. 
 That the dread flames of this infernal gulf 
 Pours full upon us, and denies us heaven ! 
 That heaven, alas, he destines to receive 
 The sons of men : 'tis this that grieves me most. 
 That Adam, he the earthborn, should possess 
 My glorious seat ; that he should live in joy, 
 And we in hell's avenging horrors pine. 
 O that my hands were free, that I might hence 
 But for a time, but for a winter's day ! 
 Then with this host : but that these knotted chairs 
 Encompass, that these iron bands press on me. 
 O ! I am kingdomless ; hell's fetters cling 
 Hard on each limb : above, beneath, the flame 
 Fierce rages : sight more horrible mine eyes 
 Ne'er yet have witness'd. O'er these scorching deeps 
 The fire no respite knows : the strong forged chain. 
 With ever-biting Unks, forbids my course." 
 
SPECIMENS FROM THE JUNIAN CiEDMON. IQS 
 
 II. 
 
 THE UNIVERSAL DELUGE. 
 
 As the original of this passage is printed as a specimen of the 
 metrical structure of Saxon poetry in the Introductory Essay on 
 that subject, it is unnecessary to repeat it in this place. 
 
 The Lord sent rain from heaven, and, o'er the land 
 Wide wasting, bad the whelming torrents rush. 
 Dark from the' abyss, with hideous roar burst forth 
 The' imprisoned waters. Ocean heav'd his tide 
 High o'er its wonted limits. Strong was he 
 And mighty in his wrath, that on the plains 
 Pour'd that avenging stream, and swept to death, 
 Wide through the realms of earth, a sinful race. 
 
 Now o'er each dwelling-place of man the wave 
 Spread desolation, for the Lord fulfiU'd 
 His anger upon mortals. Fifty days, 
 And fifty nights continuous that dark flood, 
 Fear-struck and fainting, drove them to their doom. 
 Vengeance and death in all their terrors raged. 
 The heaven-commission'd waters on all flesh 
 Work'd the dread punishment of lawless lust. 
 
 Fearful and wild where'er beneath the sky 
 Earth spreads her ample confines, the swift stream 
 O'er-tower'd the mountains, and, secure meanwhile, 
 With all her inmates bore the sacred bark. 
 
 Sped by the power that bad creation rise. 
 So swell'd the flood that soon its buoyant load 
 The watery waste encompass'd ; — fearless then 
 Of hunger or of harm they rode at large 
 Beneath heaven's canopy ; — the billow's rage 
 
 O 
 
194 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Touch'd not that fated vessel — for their Lord 
 Was with them still — the Holy one preserved them. 
 Full fifteen cubits o'er the mountain heights 
 The sea-flood rose and drank the force of man. * 
 Wondrous and awful was that work of wrath. 
 
 * They were cut off from men, and none was near them, 
 Save Him that reigns above ; — all else on earth 
 The whelming host of waters cover'd wide. 
 That ark alone the* Almighty one upheld. 
 
 III. 
 
 THE OVERTHROW OF PHARAOH AND THE 
 EGYPTIANS IN THE RED SEA. 
 
 [Page 72.] 
 
 FOLC wses afsered, 
 Flod ejsa becwom. 
 Gastas jeomre 
 Geofon dea'Se-hweop. 
 Waeron beorh-hli^u 
 Blode-bestemed. 
 Holm heolfre spaw, 
 Hream wass on ySum. 
 
 Populusfuit pavef actus, 
 Fluctus terribilis supervenit eos. 
 Spiritus murmurantes 
 Dabant mortis-ululatum. 
 Erant tumulorum apices 
 Sanguine fumantes. 
 Mare cruorem evomehaty 
 Lamentatio erat super undas. 
 
 ^ The poetical feeling of the Translator has here, I fear, seduced him into 
 an incorrect version ; the original " fiftena stod. deop ofer dimura. sa drence 
 jiod. monnes elna^^ is simply — " the drenching sea-flood stood fifteen ells deep 
 over the hills," monnes elna is the usual name for this measure. — Ed. 
 
 ^ Noah and his family — The abruptness of the transition here is very 
 striking. 
 
SPECIMENS FROM THE JUNIAN C^EDMON. 
 
 195 
 
 Waeter wsepnaful 
 Wselmist astah. 
 Wseron Egypte 
 Eft on-cyrde, 
 Flugon forhtijende, 
 Faer onjeton. 
 Woldon here blea^e 
 Hamas findan, 
 Gylp wear^ gnomra ; 
 
 Him onjen jenap 
 Atol y^a jewealc, 
 Nas "Saer aenij bee worn 
 Heroes to hame. 
 Ac behindan beleac 
 Wyrd mid-wseje. 
 Daer aer woejas lajon 
 Mere modjode : 
 Msejen wass adrenced. 
 Stream as stodon, 
 Storm up-jewat 
 Heah to heofonum. 
 Here wopa maest. 
 Lathe! cyrmdon 
 Lyft up jeswearc 
 Faejum staefnum. 
 
 * Aqua armor um plena 
 Gurgitis caligo oriehatur, 
 Erant Mgypti 
 Retrd versi, 
 Fugiebant pavidi, 
 Timorem penitus senserunf, 
 Vellet exercitus luhenter 
 Domum reparare, ' 
 
 Superhia eorum erat dejectior 
 
 facta ; 
 Illos iterum corripuit 
 Terribilis Jiuctuum volutatio, 
 Neque inde ulli redibant 
 Bellatores domum. 
 Sedpone ocdudebat eos 
 Fatum in medio cursu. 
 Vbi modo viafuerat aperta 
 Marefurebat : 
 jdgmen submersum est. 
 Fluctus ascendebant, 
 Tempest as exorta est 
 Altl in calos. 
 Exercitus Jiebat multum, 
 Mar or ! clamabant 
 Usque ad a'era tenebroaum 
 Languidis vocibus. 
 
 Gyllende gryre 
 Gar-secj wedde 
 Up ateah on sleap. 
 
 Fremens horribile 
 Oceani violentiafurebat 
 Experrecta e somno. 
 
 * The meaning of this hne is not very clear, nor is the editor confident 
 that his own translation is correct. Aqua tanquam lacrymarum plend was sug- 
 gested by a friend, and is adopted in the English. 
 
 O 2 
 
196 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Ejesan stodon, Terroresejyis assurgebant^ 
 
 Weollon wael-benna, Volvebantur cadavera homiyium, 
 
 Wit-rod jefeol, Supplicii virga incidebat in eos, 
 
 (Heah of heofonum {Alti in calls 
 
 Hand weorc Godes) Manuum opus Dei) 
 
 Famij bosma Spumanti in sinu 
 
 Flodwearde sloh, Fluctuiim custos obruebat eos, 
 
 Unhleowan wasj. Immitis unda. 
 
 The heathen stood aghast : fierce raged the flood. 
 And waihng spirits gave the shriek of death. 
 The blood streamed fresh on each man's destined grave ; 
 The sea foam'd gore ; screams were amid the waves, 
 As though the waters wept : darkUng uprose 
 The whirlpool mists : Egypt was backwards turn'd ; 
 Dismayed they fled ; fear struck their inmost soul. 
 How fall'n their boasting now ! how would they joy 
 Once more to reach their home ; but that foul surf, 
 Swift rolling in its force, o'erwhelm'd their pride. 
 That none returned of all the warrior train. 
 Midways Jehovah stay'd their mad career : 
 Where lay their path, there raged the ocean wave. 
 Low sunk the host ; the streams ascended high. 
 And high as heaven uprose the vengeful storm. 
 Loud wept the warriors ; from each dying tongue 
 The shriek of woe pierced the cloud-darken'd air. 
 
 Mad ocean raged ; forth from his slumbers roused. 
 In all his terrors, stood the King of floods : 
 With horrid din he chased the warrior host : 
 Corpse roUing upon corpse, the* unpitying wave 
 (So work'd the will of heaven's Almighty Lord) 
 Deep in its foaming bosom held their pride. 
 
SPECIMENS FROM THE JUNIAN CiEDMON. 197 
 
 Another specimen of Saxon narrative poetry, derived from a 
 Scriptural source, is preserved in the Cottonian Library, Vitel- 
 lius X., and has been published by Mr. Thwaite, appended to 
 his edition of the Heptateuch. This is in its present, state a frag- 
 ment only, comprising the concluding section of a regular poem 
 which has originally extended through ten sections. The subject 
 is founded on the apocryphal history of Judith; which has afforded 
 however the outline only, the whole colouring and filling up hav- 
 ing been supplied by the imagination of the poet. In style it 
 greatly resembles those portions of the Junian Caedmon in which 
 the character of a servile paraphrast is exchanged for a bolder 
 strain of original invention, — as in the description of the fallen an- 
 gels, &c. The part still extant describes the feast and death of 
 Holofernes, the escape of Judith, and the victory achieved by her 
 countrymen over the Assyrians. Mr. Turner, to whom Anglo- 
 Saxon literature is so much indebted, has already presented the 
 public with a literal English version of the most interesting pas- 
 sages which remain, including, indeed, not less than two-thirds of 
 the whole fragment. (See History of the Anglo-Saxons.) It can- 
 not therefore be necessary to enter more fully upon the subject in 
 the present work. 
 
198 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. III. 
 EXETER MANUSCRIPT. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTICE BY THE EDITOR. 
 
 This MS. has already been generally described in the intro- 
 duction to the Song of the Traveller, one of the most singular 
 poems contained in it, printed in the earher part of this volume ; 
 it had been intended by the Author of these Illustrations to have 
 given, in the course of them, very copious extracts from other por- 
 tions of this ancient collection, and he had prepared extensive tran- 
 scripts for this purpose, especially from the latter parts of the 
 volume, which have been passed over by Wanley in his analytical 
 Catalogue of Saxon MSS. with a very vague and incorrect notice. 
 Under these circumstances the Editor was of opinion that he 
 should perform an acceptable service to the Saxon antiquary in 
 presenting some account of the results arising from this more care- 
 ful re-examination of a relic so interesting ; and he has inserted it 
 in this place as forming an appropriate introduction to the fol- 
 lowing specimens selected from the MS. itself. 
 
 The MS. in question is a folio of middle size, distinguished by 
 the clearness and beauty of its characters. It formed a part of 
 the donations of Bishop Leofric (between the years 1046 and 1073) 
 to the hbrary of his cathedral at Exeter, and appears to have been 
 the volume which he designates, in a Catalogue* still extant of the 
 
 ^ This Catalogue is reprinted below, from the copy given by Wanley, as 
 affording an interesting view of a conventual library at that period. It has 
 
EXETER MANUSCRIPT. 199 
 
 books which he thus bestowed, as '* I mycel Englisc boc be je- 
 hwylcum "Sinjum on leoSwisan ^eworht," " One large English 
 book concerning miscellaneous subjects composed in verse.'* It 
 is at present mutilated both at the beginning and end, and has been 
 
 now (in consequence, probably, of the dispersion of monastic property after 
 the Reformation) found its way to the Bodleian, as have some other parts 
 of the good Bishop's literary donation; others are preserved in the li- 
 brary of Bennett College, Cambridge ; while a few only remain in the pos- 
 session of the Chapter of Exeter. It will be seen that the contents were 
 chiefly of a liturgical nature, with portions of the Scriptures, Commentaries 
 on them, Homilies, &c. Persius is the only poqi;ical, and Porphyry the only 
 philosophical writer of classical antiquity. Of the later period we have 
 Boethius, Sedulius, Prudentius, and Orosius. 
 
 ii. FuUe Meesse bee - - - 2 Perfect Missals 
 i. Collectaneum - - - 1 Copy of the Collects. 
 ii. Pistel bee - - • - 2 Copies of the Epistles. 
 ii. Fulle sang bee - - - 2 Entire Antiphonaria. 
 i. Niht sanj - - - - 1 Night-song, perhaps the Complin- 
 service. 
 i. Ad te levavi - - - - The service thus beginning. 
 i. Tropere - - - - i Troparium. 
 
 Se ^riddan Saltere swa man sinj^ Psalter of St. Jerome ? 
 on Rome 
 ii. Ymneras - - - - 2 Collections of Hymns. 
 i. Deorwyr^e Bletsinj boc - - 1 Benedictional of great value. 
 
 iii. o^re 3 Ditto. 
 
 i. Englisc Xres-boc - - - 1 Saxon Gospels. 
 ii. Sumer Rsedinj boc - - 2 Lessons for the Summer Service; 
 
 i. Winter Raedin^ boc - - 1 Ditto for the Winter. 
 i. Regula Canonicorum - - 1 Rule of St. Benedict? 
 
 Martirolojium - - - History of MartjTs. 
 i. Canon on Laeden - - - 1 Canons in Latin. 
 i. Scrift boc on Englisc - - 1 Saxon Confessional, 
 i. Ful Spel boc Wintres and Sumeres 1 Complete collection of Homilies for 
 
 Winter and Summer. 
 Boetles boc on Englisc - - Saxon translation of Boethius. 
 i. Mycel Englisc boc, &c. - - The poetical MS. above described. 
 
 It is added, that he found in the church, at his accession, only a Capitulary, 
 
200 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 bound up with a few leaves of a very different nature, containing a 
 list of the benefactions of Leofric to the see, and several legal 
 deeds, such as attestations of the purchase or manumission of vil- 
 leins, of bequests of lands, &c. 
 
 The poetical MS. itself is divided into ten beoks, and these are 
 again subdivided into shorter sections. 
 
 The First Book, which is imperfect in the commencement. 
 
 and old and decayed copies of the Epistles, Lessons, Night-song and Missal; 
 and that he introduced the following Latin books : 
 
 Liber Pastoralis (Gregorii I. Papae). 
 L. Dialogoruni [ejusdem Gregorii]. 
 L. iv. Prophetarum. 
 L. Boetii de Consolatione. 
 Isagoge Porphyrii. 
 L. Passionalis. 
 L. Prosper!. 
 
 L. Pmdentii Psychomachiae. 
 L. Pmdentii Hymnorum. 
 L. Prudentii de Martyribus. 
 L. Ezechielis Prophetae. 
 Cantica Canticorum. 
 L. Esaise Prophetai. 
 L. Isidori Etymologiarum. 
 - Passiones Apostolorum. ^ ' 
 
 Expositio BedaB super Evangelium Lucae. 
 Expositio Bedse super Apocalypsin. 
 Expositio Bedse super vii. Epistolas Canonicas. 
 L. Isidori de Novo et Veter i Testamento. 
 L. Isidori de Miraculis XKI. 
 L. Oserii (forte Orosii). 
 L. Machabaeorum. 
 
 L. Persii. * 
 
 L. Sedulii. 
 L. Aratoris. 
 
 Diadema Monachorum. 
 Glosse Statii. 
 L. Officialis Amalarii. 
 
EXETER MANUSCRIPT. 201 
 
 contains five poems, which appear to be correctly described in Wan- 
 ley's Catalogue, and which principally relate to the nativity of our 
 Saviour, and the praivses of his virgin mother: the third of these is 
 entitled by Wanley, Poema sive Hymnus maxim^ de B. V. Maria, 
 This is, however, a very loose and inaccurate description of its real 
 contents. The following account of it is extracted from the Lec- 
 tures delivered by the late author of this work as Anglo-Saxon 
 Professor in the University of Oxford. / " It is in fact a dialogue 
 between the Virgin Mary and Joseph, imitated probably fiom 
 some of those apocryphal writings current in the middle ages un- 
 der the titles of the Life, or the Gospel, of the Virgin. The dialogue 
 commences with an address of the Virgin to Joseph, expressing 
 her fears lest she should be subjected by the rigour of the Jewish 
 law to the punishment of an adulteress ; and thean swer of Joseph 
 is occupied, partly by the assurance of his steady belief in her pu- 
 rity, and other expressions calculated to remove her distress ; and 
 partly, by prayer and thanksgiving to the power which had so sig- 
 nally favoured himself and his hneage. It will be readily agreed 
 that this subject, from its sacred and mysterious nature, is ill 
 adapted to the purposes of poetry. The general absence of taste 
 and refinement which characterized the age in which the poem was 
 originally written, may fairly be pleaded in defence of its author ; 
 but in the present day no such excuse could well be discovered 
 for a translator. Indeed, I should have felt disposed to have passed 
 over the poem without notice, had not the dramatic form in which 
 it is written rendered it an object of some curiosity. Dialogues 
 of this kind were probably in our own country, as in Greece, the 
 earliest and rudest species of the drama; and that here preserved 
 is unquestionably by many years the most ancient specimen of this 
 kind of poetry existing in our native language ^." A copy of the 
 entire poem is among the transcripts of the author. 
 
 * The reader, however, is desired to remember the remarks of the editor 
 on the dramatic form of parts of the Junian Caedmon. 
 
 V 
 
202 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 The Second Book contains — 
 
 1. A Poem on the Nativity. (1 4th leaf.) 
 
 2. (loth leaf.) A Poem on the Day of Judgement, as stated by 
 Wanley : or, rather, A description of the entrance of the saints into 
 the glory of heaven. Entirely transcribed by the author. An abs- 
 tract of it is given among the following specimens. 
 
 3. (l6th leaf.) An Hymn of Thanksgiving for the general Mer- 
 cies of God. Transcribed ; and full extracts given in this collection. 
 
 4. (1 8th leaf.) Described by Wanley as Poemade Christi In* 
 carnatione, appears rather to be the sequel of the former poem, 
 since it begins abruptly, " Thus the mighty God, the King of all 
 things, with unsparing gifts guardeth in wisdom the progeny of 
 Earth." The poet then compares the Deity to the sun, and hi» 
 Church to the moon, and dwells on the persecutions through which 
 it had passed. From this topic he proceeds, with little apparent 
 connexion, to cite Canticles ii. 8 : " The voice of my beloved ! be- 
 hold, he Cometh leaping upon the mountains," &c.^ This is mysti- 
 cally applied to our Saviour : the first leap is allegorized as his in- 
 carnation ; the second, his nativity ; the third, his crucifixion ; the 
 
 fourth, his burial ; the fifth, his descent to hell ; the sixth, his ascen- 
 sion. Hence the poet infers that we ought, in like manner, to leap 
 from excellence to excellence, till we ascend also into heaven : and 
 as we have on the one hand the hope of salvation and the spiritual 
 aid of the Deity to encourage us, and on the other are beset by the 
 assaults of devils and the dangers of hell, we should hold ourselves 
 accordingly on our guard. — An entire copy is among the tran- 
 scripts. 
 
 * This mystical interpretation of the above text seems to have been in high 
 favour with the Saxon theologians ; for we find it also in a Homily preserved 
 in Trinity College Cambridge, and quoted by Hickes, Thes. T. 1. p. 168 : •" ^aet 
 seid Scs Salomon ^e wise, and ^us que^ :* Ecce venit saliens in montibus ef 
 transiliem colles. Septem igitur ut ita dicam saltus dedit ; e calo in Virginis ute- 
 rum — inde in prasepium — inde in crucem — inde in sepulchrum — inde in infernum 
 — inde in mundunij et hinc in codum. 
 
EXETER MANUSCRIPT. 203 
 
 5. (IQth leaf.) A Poem on the Day of Judgement, in part of 
 which, several Runic characters are introduced, obviously as mono- 
 grammatic cyphers, each denoting an entire word, either the same 
 with that which gave its name to the respective letters of the Ru- 
 nic alphabet, or some one of similar sound. Such appears to have 
 been the general use of these characters when introduced into 
 Saxon poetry, of which the cypher representing Ethel (country, as 
 detected by the sagacity of Mr. Price,) in the MS. of Beowulf (See 
 the Various Readings of that poem inserted in the present work), 
 affords a good example. Hickes has engraved a fac-simile of this 
 part of the Exeter MS. in the Preface to his Icelandic Gram- 
 mar. Thes, Ling, Vet. Sept. tom. 2. 
 
 The Third Book (extending from the 20th to the 32nd leaf) 
 contains, according to VVanley, a series of seven poems concerning 
 the Day of Judgement. No transcripts were made from this 
 book. 
 
 The Fourth Book (extending from the 32nd to the 44th leaf) 
 is described by Wanley as treating of the joys prepared by God for 
 those that love him ; together with a poetical narrative of the Ce- 
 lestial Visions of St. Guthlac the anchorite. No transcripts were 
 made from it. 
 
 The Fifth Book (extending from the 44th to the 55th leaf) 
 contains, according to Wanley, nine sections, treating of the Cre- 
 ation and Fall of Man ; of the above-mentioned St. Guthlac; and of 
 the Three Holy Children, Ananias, Azarias, and Mishael; and Ne- 
 buchadnezzar. The Song of the Three Children agrees, with the 
 exception of a few verbal differences, with the version contained in 
 the Junian Ccedmon, p. 81. No transcripts were made from this 
 book, excepting a collation of the two copies of the Song of the 
 Holy Children. 
 
 The Sixth Book (from leaf 55 to 65) consists of a paraphrase 
 of the poem on the Phoenix, attributed to Lactantius, here converted 
 into an allegory of the Resurrection. It consists of seven sections. 
 
204 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 A transcript was made of the first of these, of which an analysis 
 and extracts will be found among the following specimens. 
 
 The Seventh Book relates thePassionof St. Juliana, in the 
 time of Maximian ; in seven sections, extending from leaf 65 to 78. 
 No transcripts were made. 
 
 The Eighth Book (leaf 7B to 84) is, according to Wanley, a 
 metrical Homily, treating on the doctrines of Theology, in four sec- 
 tions. No extracts were made. 
 
 The ninth Book is dismissed by Wanley with the brief ob- 
 servation that it is ^^fer^ totus in cEnigmatibus :" a description, how- 
 ever, which does not correctly apply to any part of it, and which 
 could have been suggested only by the obscurity and difficulty of 
 its actual contents. These (which were entirely transcribed by 
 the late author) are 
 
 1. (leaf 84.) The Song of the Traveller : printed in the beginning 
 of this work. 
 
 2. On the various fortunes of men. *' When parents have edu- 
 cated the child, God alone foresees what shall befall the adult. 
 Some a premature death shall cut off; either the wolf, the hoary 
 wanderer of the heath, shall devour them, or famine consume, or 
 weapons of war, or a fall from the lofty trees of the forest, or 
 the perils of foreign enterprise, or (as is added, not very poetically 
 to lithis st of casualties) the crooked gallows shall end their days ; 
 and some shall perish in the drunken broils of the mead-bench ; 
 while to others Providence shall assign an old age of happiness 
 after a youth of adversity. So are the vicissitudes of human affairs 
 regulated. And thus also in the gifts of intellect : some excel in 
 learning ; others, by skill in working golden ornaments, obtain broad 
 lands from their prince ; — some strike their harps before the revel- 
 lers at the beer-bench, or at the feet of their lord ; others can train 
 the wild hawk. So God distributes various gifts to each, and 
 claims the grateful praise of all." 
 
 3. (leaf 88.) This and the following poems consist of a series 
 
EXETER MANUSCRIPT. ^05 
 
 of maxims and descriptions, thrown together with little or no con- 
 nexion, in the manner of the gnomic poetry of the Greeks ; or, to 
 use a more familiar illustration, resembhng the most miscellaneous 
 chapters of the Book of Proverbs. It is obvious that such compo- 
 sitions are not susceptible of regular analysis. The present poem 
 commences, however, with an introduction which may claim some 
 notice ; the minstrel here demands that those whom he addresses 
 should exchange with him the words of wisdom, and unfold their 
 hidden knowledge, as the condition upon which he is to impart 
 his own, since Gleemen ought thus to discourse in alternate 
 songs. He then proceeds with many detached axioms on the power 
 of the Creator, the Ufe and death of man, the vicissitudes of events, 
 the necessity of education, &c. 
 
 4. (leaf 90.) Another poem of similar character. — Extracts from 
 this are given among the specimens annexed, which will sufficiently 
 illustrate the general style of this class of compositions. After the 
 passages there translated, one occurs of rather more poetical merit 
 than usual : " Dear is the welcome of the wife when the fleet 
 standeth [at anchor] ; his ship is returned, and her husband to his 
 home. She leadeth him in, washeth his sea-stained dress, and 
 giveth him new garments. Thus greeteth him his love, mild, on 
 the land." The minstrel adds, however, that this is not always the 
 case ; for some ladies love the strange man, when their own '' de- 
 parteth far, and is long in the path of the ships." Towards the 
 conclusion is found the following allusion to the ancient mythology 
 of the North : 
 
 Hae^num synne Sin to the Heathens 
 
 Woden worhte weos. Woden was made. 
 
 5. (leaf 91-) Another gnomic poem ; on the advantages of friend- 
 ship, the diversity of taste and talents, the benefit of brotherly af- 
 fection, &c. It concludes by tracing the origin of discord to the 
 homicide of Cain. 
 
 6. (leaf 92.) Must be referred to the same class Math the former; 
 but it possesses a much greater. simplicity of subject and merit of 
 
206 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 execution, as will appear from the following condensed translation : 
 " Wilt thou interrogate the far-travelled stranger, and brood over 
 that he tells thee of the wide creation. Instruction belongeth to 
 them who through wisdom comprehend the universe in their breast, 
 — who have examined the races of man and said the secret runes, 
 and through the minstrel's craft declare it in their lays. Longer 
 could I tell thee of the Creator's power than thou, though 
 skilful of mind, couldest grasp in thy thought. Is indeed thy 
 might exceeding strong? Yet this is not in the capacity of man, 
 that moveth on the earth, that he should investigate the high work 
 of his Maker further than he permitteth. Hear and reflect how in 
 the creation he framed the heaven and earth, the sea's wide abyss, 
 and those bright creatures that now in their multitudes rear and 
 elevate, through his hand, their holy increase; — so all things 
 obey the strong imposition of his voice. Through his mighty 
 mind he ordained to the stars their varied course. So in their 
 splendour they carry forth to the world the power of their Lord 
 and the glory of his works, shining his praise : steadfastly through 
 the long ages they perform the eternal word which issued from his 
 throne who conducteth and comprehendeth all his creatures in his 
 bosom — so wide his spirit and miraculous influence extend. Thus 
 that bright luminary, wonderfully constituted, cometh each morn 
 over the misty hills, to speed over the ways, advancing with the 
 day-spring from the east, radiant and lovely, to the tribes of men, 
 and to every thing that liveth. When it should descend, it pro» 
 ceedeth in glory forth on the western sky, till at even it reacheth 
 the ocean's abyss ; and twihght and night succeed. The lustre of 
 the sky, and brightness of the heaven fadeth, while the star jour- 
 neyeth through the creation of God beneath the bosom of the earth. 
 But no man liveth, of knowledge equal to this, that he should in- 
 vestigate by his own skill how the gold-bright sun fareth through 
 the deep, in that wan cloud beneath the accumulation of the waters, 
 or how the dwellers on earth can again enjoy its hght, after it hath 
 turned away over the ocean's brink. So hath he, who well had 
 
EXETER MANUSCRIPT. 207 
 
 power, contrasted day with night, deep with high, the sky with the 
 sea-streams, the land with the waters, earth with ocean, fire with 
 the waves. This work doth not decay, but holdeth well, and 
 standeth firmly fast, compacted with mighty bands of strength by 
 the same power and majesty which raised up earth and heaven." 
 A few Unes of inferior merit, on the joys of heaven and the means 
 of obtaining them, are added. 
 
 7. (leaf 94.) Is a poem remarkable chiefly for its metrical struc- 
 ture, possessing throughout the ornament of final rimes, frequently 
 double, superadded to a very strict observance of aUiteration. On 
 this account, as an unique specimen in this language, the whole of 
 it is printed in the Introductory Essay on Saxon Metre. The 
 subject is extremely obscure, since the sense everywhere labours 
 beneath the compUcated jingle of the metrical fetters which the 
 minstrel has chosen to forge for himself. The whole range of Saxon 
 poetry, difficult as it often is, presents nothing which resists all or- 
 dinary processes of interpretation with equal obstinacy. It is ex- 
 pressed in the first person, and begins by describing the speaker as 
 having been once in a state of great prosperity, detailed with the 
 usual accumulation of parallel images: with these, others of actual 
 wretchedness are afterwards contrasted, and (if I understand the 
 composition rightly) these are uttered in the character of a suflferer 
 in purgatory, who moralizes on the destruction which thus closes 
 on all earthly greatness, but expresses a hope of final happiness in 
 the heavens. 
 
 8. (leaf 9o.) This and the following poem belong to the class of 
 moralizations in which ^he middle ages so much delighted, and by 
 which a typical sense was extracted from almost every object of na- 
 ture or fiction. Thus in the sixth book of this MS. we have already 
 seen the Phoenix employed as an allegorical illustration of the Re- 
 surrection. The subject here selected to undergo a similar process 
 is the Panther, "an animal," according to the minstrel, ''whose skin 
 is spotted with all the hues of Joseph's tunic ; it is gentle to all good 
 creatures, and an enemy to dragons alone. After its food, it seeks 
 
ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 a secret resting-place in the caves of the mountains, and there 
 slumbers through three nights: when it awakens on the third 
 morning, it rises full of spirit, and utters a voice of melody ; after 
 which it breathes forth an odour of sweetness exceeding the most 
 delicious blossoms or fruits and the choicest perfumes. Thus the 
 Lord is a foe to the serpent alone, the author of evil ; and thus rising 
 after three nights from the grave, he diffused around the gifts of 
 his spirit." The supposed perfume of the Panther is mentioned by 
 most of the ancient and classical writers who have named that 
 animal ; but I am ignorant of the source whence these additional 
 particulars of its natural history were derived. 
 
 9. (leaf 96.) Is a similar moralization on the Whale. "<This 
 monster of the deep resembles in appearance the rude and barren 
 rock; so that incautious mariners cast their anchor in its side, dis- 
 embark, and kindle their fire, when it suddenly plunges and over- 
 whelms them amidst the waves. And in like manner does the fiend 
 entice mankind by deceptive appearances to their destruction. 
 The whale has another stratagem to satisfy its hunger : it opens its 
 enormous jaws and emits an agreeable odour, which allures the 
 other fish to swim into them. Thus also does our spiritual enemy, 
 by the gratifications of sense, entrap the souls of men in his infer- 
 nal prison." 
 
 10. (leaf 97.) A short religious poem of thirty lines. The in- 
 vitations and promises of God are thus introduced : " I heard the 
 word that the Ruler of glory spake, proclaimed by a bird wonder- 
 fully fair." This probably is intended as a mystical designation of 
 the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Book the Tenth and last. 
 
 1. (leaf 98.) The Address of the departed Soul to the Body : from 
 which an extract is given among the following specimens. 
 
 2. (leaf 101.) A Scaldic poem, containing allusions to the histories 
 of Weland and of Theodric of Berne : also published among the 
 specimens. 
 
 The remainder of the volume, about thirty leaves, is principally 
 
EXETER MANUSCRIPT. 209^^ 
 
 occupied (the exceptions will presently be stated) with various 
 senigraata, for the most part so extremely obscure that they might 
 suffice to damp the perseverance of a Saxon CEdipus far more 
 keen than the present Editor : the language and style, indeed, ap- 
 pear intentionally clouded by the introduction of many unusual 
 expressions, for which it would be vain to consult the extant dic- 
 tionaries, and in fixing the sense of which we are, from the nature 
 of such compositions, deprived of the assistance generally to be 
 derived from the context. Lest, however, the reproach which an 
 omission of much the same importance on the part of an early 
 editor of Chaucer has drawn from his successors {Tantamne rem 
 tarn negligenter), should be repeated on this occasion, the follow- 
 ing specimens are subjoined, as illustrating the general nature of 
 these riddles of the olden time. 
 
 One of the longest of these (beginning Hwilum ic jewite. swa 
 ne wena^ men. under y^a je^raec. eor^an secan. garsecges jrund) 
 appears to relate to the sun, which is described as "sometimes 
 plunging below the foaming waves, and pursuing its course be- 
 neath the habitations of men ; sometimes soaring over the sea 
 agitated with storms, while the surges break over the borders of the 
 land, and the vessel, full of despairing mariners, is tossed on their 
 surface ; sometimes passing through the clouds, while the thunder 
 roars around, and God shooteth forth his sharp and fiery darts." 
 After these descriptions, which are so extended as to distract the 
 attention from the principal subject, and in themselves of very diffi- 
 cult interpretation, the whole is thus summed up : 
 
 Hwilum under eor^an, Sometimes beneath the earth, 
 
 Hwilum y^a sceal Sometimes beneath the waves 
 
 shall I 
 
 Heali under hnijan ; Deeply descend ; 
 
 Hwilum holm ufan i Sometimes above the sea 
 
 Streamas styrje; And the streams I move; 
 
 Hwilum stije up Sometimes I ascend 
 
210 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Wolcn fare : 
 Wreje wide fere 
 Swift and swi^S feorm. 
 
 Saja hwaet ic hatte ; 
 O^^e hwa mec raere 
 Don ic restan ne mot ? 
 O'S^e hwa mec st^'S'Se 
 Don ic still beom ? 
 
 The heaven in my course 
 I wander a wide journey 
 Swift and very firm. 
 
 Say what I am named ; 
 Or who exciteth me 
 When 1 may not rest? 
 Or who stayeth me 
 When I should be still ? 
 
 Others of the asnigmata appear to relate to the Christian Church, 
 according to the opinion of. Hickes, who has inserted transcripts 
 from some of them in the beginning of his Icelandic Grammar, on 
 account of the Runic characters, which are interspersed in them 
 in several places, and certainly stand for entire words, of which 
 they are the initial letters. His opinion is formed from the attri- 
 butes ascribed to their mysterious subject ; such as, being appointed 
 by Christ to encounter warfare ; speaking in many tongues ; giving 
 wisdom to the simple ; rejoicing in persecution ; found by the 
 worthy ; and received by those who are washed in the laver, &c. : 
 but they even exceed tlie usual obscurity of these productions. 
 
 The ensuing examples will probably more than satisfy the reader 
 as to those of a miscellaneous character. 
 
 Is "Sis middan jeard 
 Missenlicum 
 Wisum jewlitegad, 
 Wrsetum jefrsetwad. 
 Si^um sellic ic seah 
 Searo hweorfan, 
 Grindan wi^ jreoto 
 Giellende faran. 
 Nagfde seUicu wiht 
 
 (Leaf 108.) 
 
 This mid earth 
 Is in various 
 Fashions adorned. 
 And with wonders decorated. 
 I saw a thing strange in its ways 
 Curiously to move, 
 Revolving with clamour 
 And stridulously proceeding. 
 This wonderful thing had not 
 
EXETER MANUSCRIPT. 
 
 211 
 
 Syne ne folme, 
 
 Exle ne earmas ; 
 
 Sceal on anum fet 
 
 Searo ceap swifan, 
 
 Swi'Se feran 
 
 Faran ofer feldas. 
 
 Hasfde fela ribba; 
 
 Mu^S wses on middan ; 
 
 Moncyhne nyt; 
 
 Fere foddar-welan 
 
 Folc-scipe dreoje^. 
 
 Wist in wije^, 
 
 And werum jielde'S 
 
 Gaful jeara jehwam. 
 
 Daes '^e juman 
 
 Benea^ rice 
 
 And heane rece. 
 
 Gif ^u conne wisworda jleaw, 
 
 Hwaet sio wiht sie ? 
 
 Sinews nor limbs, 
 
 Shoulders nor arms ; 
 
 On its feet alone must 
 
 The curious creature revolve, 
 
 Stoutly proceed 
 
 And fare over the fields. 
 
 It had many ribs ; 
 
 Its mouth was in the midst ; 
 
 It is useful to mankind ; 
 
 The carriage of the wealth of food 
 
 It performeth for the people. 
 
 It carrieth in provisions. 
 
 And yieldeth to men 
 
 The tribute of every year. 
 
 If thou understandest the skill of 
 
 wise words. 
 What may this thing be ? 
 
 Unless this be a waggon or cart, the editor must confess himself 
 not sufficiently " skilful in wise words " to decypher its occult allu- 
 
 sions, 
 
 Waer saet aet wine 
 Mid his wifa 
 And his twejen suna 
 And his twa dohtor. 
 Swa se jesweostor 
 And hyre suna twejen ; 
 Freolicu frum beam 
 Faeder wa3s 'Sasrinne 
 
 A man sat at wine 
 With his wife 
 And his two sons 
 And his two daughters, 
 Also his sister 
 And her two sons ; 
 The noble patriarch 
 And father was there 
 P 2 
 
212 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Dara se^elinja eejhwse^eres, 
 Mid earn and nefa. 
 Ealra wseron fife 
 Eorla and idesa 
 Insittendra. 
 
 Of each one of these men, 
 With the uncle and nephews. 
 In all there were five 
 Of men and women 
 There sitting. 
 
 Adam, Eve, two of their sons, and one daughter, appear to be the 
 five persons intended. Eve being reckoned in the several relations 
 which may be attributed to her (as the wife, the sister, and the 
 daughter of Adam), the apparent excess of numbers and com- 
 pUcation of kindred admit a ready explanation. 
 
 Ic eom mare "Son 
 D^s middanjeard, 
 Lcesse 'Son hond wyrm ; 
 Leohtre "Son mona, 
 Swiftre "Son sunne ; 
 Sses sind ealle 
 Flodas on faeSmum ; 
 And ^as foldan 
 Bearm jrene wonjas ; 
 Grundum ic hrine, 
 Helle under hnije ; 
 Heofenes ofer stije, 
 Wuldres e^e\ ; 
 Wide raece 
 Ofer enjla card. 
 Eorthan jefylle, 
 Ealdne middanjeard, 
 And mere streamas 
 Side, mid mec selfum. 
 
 I am greater than 
 
 This mid earth. 
 
 Less than a worm ; 
 
 Lighter than the moon, 
 
 Swifter than the sun ; 
 
 All the seas. 
 
 The floods, are in my embrace ; 
 
 And the lap of this earth, 
 
 The green plains ; 
 
 I touch the abysses, 
 
 I descend beneath hell ; 
 
 1 ascend above the heavens. 
 
 The abode of glory ; 
 
 I reach widely 
 
 Over the country of the angels. 
 
 I fill the globe. 
 
 The ancient mid earth. 
 
 And the sea streams 
 
 Wide, with myself. 
 
 Saja hwset ic hatte. 
 
 Say what I am named. 
 
EXETER MANUSCRIPT. 213 
 
 The omnipresent power of the Deity, comprehending at once 
 the most minute and most vast portions of his creation, is obviously 
 here intended. 
 
 The obscurity attaching itself to much of this part of the MS. 
 will be rendered most conspicuous by the following specimen 
 of corrupt Latinity, which appears absolutely unintelligible. 
 
 Mirum videtur mihi — lupus ah agno tenetur — 
 
 Obcurrit agnus et capit viscera lupi — 
 
 Dum starem et mirarem vidi gloriam magnam — 
 
 Dm lupi stantes ex tertium tribal 
 
 nil pedes hahebant cum septem occulis * videbant. 
 
 It seems probable that the two first lines may be intended for 
 accentual hexameters : the fourth line is apparently corrupted ; the 
 contraction beginning it is perhaps diversi. 
 
 Intermixed with these senigmata, we find towards the latter part 
 of the volume other poems, religious and miscellaneous. 
 
 1. The first of these is the complaint of an exile separated from 
 his lord, beginning " Ic "Sis jied wrece." As being in a style of 
 which there is perhaps scarcely another original Saxon example 
 extant, it has appeared to the editor to claim publication ; and he 
 has therefore added it to the following specimens. 
 
 £. "jDastjelimpan sceal," &c. — A poem on the duty of reflecting 
 on the destruction of the world by fire, the torments of hell, general 
 retribution, &c. 
 
 3. " Wille ^onneforjieldan jaesta Dryhten." — A continuation of 
 the same subject. 
 
 4. " Aje mec se aelmihta God." — A prayer for pardon. 
 
 5. " Onjunnon him onuhton, ae^elcunde maeg^." The Marys 
 went at dawn to search the sepulchre where the body of our Lord 
 
 ' Ita MS. 
 
214 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 had been deposited ; but they found him not, for he had descended 
 to hberate the captive souls in hell. St, John (the Baptist) had 
 previously declared to those captives the promise of Christ to effect 
 their deliverance ; and, while closing his address to them, beholds 
 the fulfilment of that which he had proclaimed in the triumphant 
 entrance of the Redeemer. Adam then congratulates Eve, and 
 breaks forth into exclamations of praise to Christ, to Gabriel who 
 announced, to Mary who bore him, to Jerusalem, to Jordan, &c. 
 
 6. " Wei bi^ ^am eorle." — Charity covereth a multitude of sins. 
 
 7. *' Saja me hwset ^aer. weorudes waere."— A short and muti- 
 lated fragment on the destruction of Pharoah's host in the Red Sea. 
 
 8. Metrical paraphrase of the Lord's Prayer. 
 
 9. " Gefeoh nu on fer^e, and to frofre je^eoh. Dryhtne "Sinum." 
 — A short poem on religious comfort. 
 
 After this, from the 122nd page, the MS. is much mutilated to 
 the end ; the subjects appear to be principally aenigmatical; but their 
 obscurity is rendered hopeless, from the imperfect state in which 
 they occur. One of these fragments, however, is of a descriptive 
 nature, the subject being a ruined city. As it possesses more than 
 ordinary merit, it has been selected for pubhcation among the fol- 
 lowing specimens. 
 
 HYMN ON THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT. 
 
 Book II. Section 2. , 
 (From the late Author''s MS. Lectures on Anglo'Saxon Poetry,) 
 
 The general subject of this poem has been accurately stated by 
 Wanley : he has omitted, however, to mention that it appears to 
 be a fragment of some larger composition ; for it commences thus 
 
EXETER MANUSCRIPT. 
 
 215 
 
 abruptly with what I should apprehend to be a song of the atten- 
 dant angels : 
 
 * Thus in glad triumph o'er the' aetherial vault 
 To Zion's holy towers, with this fair pomp 
 
 Of Heaven's all-glorious sons we bear our Lord. 
 
 The poet now appears to return to his narrative. 
 
 * Him first and noblest and his regal state 
 Th6y see, and gaze with rapture. Instant now 
 He bids each nation of the peopled earth, 
 
 A countless host, to judgement, that each soul 
 May taste the portion of her earthly deeds. 
 
 The next paragraph aifording a good example of the peculiar 
 construction of the Anglo-Saxon poetical sentence, I have rendered 
 it hne for line into a Latin dimeter Iambic. 
 
 * We mid %slice 
 Dreate willa^ 
 Ofer heofona jehlidu 
 Hlaford fer jan 
 To 'Saere beorhtan byrig 
 Mid ^as bli^an jedryt 
 Ealra sij^e-bearna. 
 
 ^ Daet seleste and se^eleste 
 Daeje her onstaria^, 
 And in frofre jeseo'S 
 Frsetwum blican. 
 Wile eft swa ^eah 
 Eor^an msej'Se 
 Sylfa gesecan 
 Side her je, 
 And ^oii gedeman 
 Dseda jehwylce 
 Dara ^a jefremedon 
 Folc under roderum. 
 
 Nos cum hujusmodi 
 
 Triumpho volumus 
 
 Super cceli tecta 
 
 Dominumferre 
 
 Ad illam splendidam civitatem 
 
 Cum hue hilari turmd 
 
 Omnium victorice filiorum. 
 
 Ilium primum et nohilissmum 
 nil hie intuenturf 
 Et cum solatio vident 
 Ornamentis coruscare. 
 Vult continuo tamen 
 Terrce gentes 
 Ipse convocare 
 Immensam {latum) coronamy 
 Et tunc judicare 
 Defactis quibusque 
 Illis quce fecerunt 
 Homines sub ccelo. 
 
216 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 ' Sedebat illicjilius 
 Tremente califcymice, 
 Rex angelorum altissimus 
 Supra atherisfastigium- 
 Tutela devoted gregis, 
 Tunc aucta spesfidelium, 
 In urhe sanctd gaudium 
 Prasente tandem filio. 
 
 I shall add only a few of the lines immediately following this 
 passage in English. 
 
 ^ Then went they forth to Zion : he their Lord, 
 High in that city of his holiness, 
 Heals every sorrow ; there might they behold 
 Full face to face their Saviour and their God. 
 The crowd of mourners there forgot their pain, 
 
 ^ Da waes wuldres weard 
 Wolcnum bifengum, 
 Heah engla cyning 
 Ofer hrofas upp, 
 Halijra helm, 
 Hyht wges jeniwad, 
 Blis in burjum, 
 Durh ^ses beornes cyme. 
 
 Gewitan him ^a jongan Discedebant tunc ire 
 
 To Hierusalem ; In Hierosolymam ; 
 
 Haele^ hyje-rofe Sanat (ille) magnanimus 
 
 In ^a halgan burj In ed sanctd civitate 
 
 Geomor mode ; Tristitiam ; 
 
 Donan hi God nyhst Exinde illi Deum proximum 
 
 Upstijende Remrrectum 
 
 Eajum sejun, Oculis v'ldent, 
 
 Hyra wiljifan. Ipsorum benefactorem. 
 
 Dser waes wofes bring Illic erat lamentationis circulus 
 
 Tome bitolden, Ird amotdy 
 
EXETER MANUSCRIPT. 21? 
 
 And love glow'd quickening at their inmost soul 
 
 Responsive to their master's : there abide 
 
 In that fair citadel the glorious chiefs 
 
 Of them whom God hath called, faithful known 
 
 The servants of his justice. So decreed 
 
 Ere yet he rose from earth their heavenly King. 
 
 The remainder of the poem is almost wholly occupied with 
 nearly similar descriptions of the joy of the angels and the spirits 
 of the just at the presence of the Redeemer ; mention is then made 
 of the delivery of the wicked to the custody of daemons ; and the 
 author concludes with admonishing his hearers to reflect upon the 
 eternity of happiness or misery which the Almighty had placed at 
 their choice. 
 
 II. 
 
 HYMN OF THANKSGIVING. 
 
 P. 16. Book II. Section 3. 
 
 This, which appears far superior in point of poetical merit to 
 the preceding specimen, is erroneously described by Wanley as 
 
 Waes SCO treow lufu Erat ille verus amor 
 
 Hat at heortan, Fervens in corde, 
 
 Hreder innan weoU Velocius cestuahat intus 
 
 Beam breost sefa. Filii pectus. 
 
 Bidon ealle ^aere Habitant omnes illic 
 
 Dejnas ^r3rmfuUe Ductores gloriosi 
 
 Deodnes jehata Domini electorum 
 
 In ^sere torhtan byrig, In ed gloriosd civitate^ 
 
 Tyr riht 'Sajen ; Deijusti ministri; 
 
 Swa himself bibead Sicut ipsejussit 
 
 Swejles ajend Coeli possessor 
 
 Mr ^on upstije. Priiisquam resurrexit. 
 
218 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Carmen de mundi creatione. It is, in fact, a hymn or ode of thanks- 
 giving ; and the creation is mentioned only towards its commence- 
 ment as one topic of admiration and gratitude. I have in this in- 
 stance deviated from the method hitherto observed, and adopted 
 for my translation the form of the irregular ode : by this means I 
 have been enabled to preserve more faithfully than I could perhaps 
 have done in blank verse the abrupt transitions of the original : by 
 not confining the metre to the stated recurrence of any particular 
 system, the regularity of construction (if that indeed be essential to 
 the ode) has been sacrificed to the desire of presenting, as far as it 
 was in my power, a faithful transcript of the original. 
 
 ' Befits it well that man should raise 
 To Heaven the song of thanks and praise, 
 For all the gifts a bounteous God 
 From age to age hath still bestow'd. 
 
 The kindly seasons' tempered reign. 
 
 The plenteous store, the rich domain 
 
 Of this mid-earth's extended plain. 
 All that his creatures' wants could crave, 
 His boundless power and mercy gave. 
 
 DjET is ^aes wyr^e Hoc est operce preiium 
 
 Dagt ^e wer^eode Ut humanum genus 
 
 Secjan Dry^ne ^onc Dicat Domino gratias 
 
 Duju^a jehwylcre {Ob) henejicia singula 
 
 De us si^ and ser Quce nobis nunc et olim 
 
 Simle ^efiremede, Scepe intulit, 
 
 Durh monijfealdra Per multiplicis 
 
 Mae jna jeryno ; Potestatis mysterium ; 
 
 He us set giefed Ille nobis cibum addidit, 
 
 And sehta-sped, Et possessionum ga%as, 
 
 Welan ofer wid lond, Divitias super latum terram. 
 
 And weder \?Se, Et tempestatem mitem. 
 
 Under swegles hleo, Sub cceli umbractdo, 
 
 Sunne and Mona, Sol et Luna^ 
 
EXETER MANUSCRIPT. 219 
 
 Noblest of yon bright train that sparkle high, 
 
 Beneath the vaulted sky, 
 
 The Sun by day, the silver'd Moon by night. 
 
 Twin fires of heaven, dispense ybr Man their useful light. 
 
 Where'er on earth his lot be sped. 
 
 For Man the clouds their richness shed. 
 
 In gentler dews descend, or opening pour 
 
 Wide o'er the land their fertilizing shower. 
 
 From these subjects of praise and gratitude, the poet rises to the 
 sublimer topic of our redemption. The turn of the following pas- 
 sage in this part of the hymn is by no means devoid of spirit. 
 " The Saviour (says the bard) delivered us from the anger of the 
 Father." 
 
 ^ Not such the doom 
 Our sorrowing fathers heard of old. 
 The doom that in dread accents told 
 Of Heaven's avenging might, and woe, and wrath to come. 
 " Lo I have set thee on earth's stubborn soil 
 With grief and stern necessity to strive, 
 
 iE^elast tunjla, Nobilissima sidercif 
 
 Eallum scina'S, Omnibus nitent, 
 
 Heofon candelle, Cceli lampadeSf 
 
 Haele^um on eor^an. Viris in'terra. 
 
 Dreose^ deaw, Cadit ros, 
 
 And ren duju^e Et pluvia bona 
 
 Wecca^ to feorh nere Excitatur longe lateque 
 
 ■ Fira cynne, Humano generi, 
 
 leca^ eor^ welan. Auget terrce divitias, 
 
 2 Se ^e ser sunken Qui olim cecinit 
 
 Durh yrne hyje Per iratum animum 
 
 JEldum to sor je : Senioribus (hominibus) in dolorem : 
 
 " Ic ^ec ofer " Ego te super 
 
 Eor^an jeworhte ; Terr am feci ; 
 
 On ^aere ^u scealt In ed debes 
 
220 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 To wear thy days in unavailing toil. 
 
 The ceaseless sport of torturing fiends to live. 
 Thence to thy dust to turn, the worm's repast. 
 And dwell where penal flames through endless ages last." 
 
 Ths subject is continued through the greater part of the poem. 
 In one passage the mission of our Saviour is metaphorically de- 
 scribed as the flight of a bird. 
 
 * Wing'd by Heaven's eternal might. 
 Swift he sped his eagle flight, 
 Borne by the Spirit's checkless force, 
 Strong he shaped his onward course. 
 To the foes of God alone 
 Dark was the course, the flight unknown. 
 
 The conclusion of this poem will perhaps be found to possess 
 sufficient merit to apologize for transcribing it at length. It will 
 
 Yrm'Sum lifjan, 
 Wunian in jewinne, 
 And wrsece dreojan 
 Feondum to hro^er, 
 Fus leo^jalan : 
 And to ^sere ilcan 
 Scealt eft jeweor^an 
 Wyrmum awealleij. 
 Donan wites fyr 
 Of ^sere eor^an 
 Scealt eft jesecan." 
 Hwaet us ^is ae^elinj 
 Y^re gefremede. 
 
 * In ^aere jodcundan 
 Gaestes streng^u 
 Waes ^ses fugles flyht, 
 Feondum on eor'^an 
 Dyrne and dejol. 
 
 {In) miseriis v'lvere, 
 
 Versari in laboribus, 
 
 Et poenam pati 
 
 {A) diabolis in pectorcy 
 
 Promptis hominum inimicis : 
 
 Et in eandem {terram) 
 
 Dehes citb reverti 
 
 Vermihus scaturire. 
 
 Tunc poence ignem 
 
 Ex hdc terra (amotus) 
 
 Dehes citb qucerere»^ [bills 
 
 Quam (maledictionem) nobis ilk no- 
 
 Procul fecit (avertit). 
 
 In divini 
 Spiritus potentid 
 Erat hujus alitis volatus, 
 (Ah) inimicis in terra 
 Occultus et absconditus. 
 
EXETER MANUSCRIPT. 
 
 221 
 
 doubtless remind the classical reader of the exquisite choral song 
 of Sophocles^, commencing IIoKkct tcc hivot: and the fine moral 
 reflection with which it terminates would not have disgraced the 
 composition even of the most philosophic poet of antiquity. 
 « Thrice holy He, 
 The Spirit Son of Deity ! 
 He caird from nothing into birth 
 Each fair production of the teeming earth ; 
 He bids the faithful and the just aspire 
 To join in endless bliss heaven's angel choir. 
 His love bestows on human kind 
 Each varied excellence of mind. • 
 To some his Spirit-gift affords 
 The power and mastery of w^ords : 
 So may the wiser sons of earth proclaim. 
 In speech and measured song, the glories of his name. 
 
 Sophoclis Antigone. 
 
 Se ^is world jescop, 
 Godes jaest-sunu, 
 And us jiefe sealde 
 Uppe mid enjlum 
 Ece sta^elas. 
 And eac monijfealde 
 Modes snyttru 
 Seow and sette 
 Geond sefan monna. 
 Sumum wordla^e 
 Wise sanded 
 On his modes jemynd, 
 Durh his mu^es jaest, 
 ^^ele onjiet. 
 Se mae^ eal fela 
 Sinjan and secjan 
 Dam bi^ snyttru-crseft 
 Bifolen on fer^e. 
 
 Ilk hanc terram creavit, 
 Dei spiritualis JlliuSf 
 Et nobis dona obsignavit 
 Supra cum angelis 
 jEternas sedes. 
 Et etiam multipUcem 
 Animi prudentiam 
 Insevit et posuit 
 In pectoribus hominum. 
 Nonnullis orationis vocem 
 Saplentem mittit 
 In ipsorum animi mentem, 
 Per spiritum oris ejus, 
 Nobilem intelligentiam. 
 Hoc possunt universi 
 Canere et prcedicare 
 Quibus est solertia 
 Insita in animo. 
 
222 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Some the tuneful hand may ply, 
 And loud before the list'ning throng 
 Wake the glad harp to harmony, 
 Or bid the trump of joy its swelling note prolong. 
 
 To these he gave Heaven's righteous laws to scan, 
 
 Or trace the courses of the starry host ; 
 To these the writer's learned toil to plan ; 
 
 To these the battle's pride and victor's boast, 
 Where in the well-fought field the war-troop pour 
 Full on the wall of shields the arrow's flickering shower. 
 Some can speed the dart afar. 
 Some forge the steely blade of war, 
 
 Sum maej finjrum wel 
 Hlude fore haele^um 
 Hearpan stirjan, 
 Gleobeam jretan. 
 Sum msej godcunde 
 Reccan ryhte as. 
 Sum msej ryne tunjla 
 Secjan side jesceaft. 
 Sum maeg learolice 
 Word cwide writan. 
 Sumum wiges sped 
 Giefed set ju'^e. 
 Don jar jetrum 
 Ofer scild-hreadan 
 Sceotend sende^ 
 Flacor flanjeweorc. 
 Sum msej fromlice 
 Ofer sealtne sae 
 Sund-wudu drifan, 
 Hreran holm-'Sraece. 
 Sum maej heanne beam 
 Staeljne jestijan. 
 Sum msej styled sweord 
 Waepen jewyrcan. 
 
 Nonnulli possunt digitis bene 
 Sonoram ante nobiles 
 Citharam excitaret 
 Gaudii tuham inflare. 
 Nonnulli possunt divinam 
 Pandere justam legem, 
 Nonnulli possunt cur sum astrorum 
 Dicer e late constitutum, 
 Nonnulli possunt docte 
 Verhum dictum scribere* 
 Quibusdam victories potentiam 
 Dedit in bello, 
 Ubi exercitus 
 
 Super clypeorum testudines 
 Jaculans mittit 
 Volucrem sagittce operam, 
 Aliqui possunt fortiter 
 Super salsum mare, 
 Pelagi lignum [navem'] agerct 
 {Ut) attingat oceani vim, 
 Aliqui possunt altum telum 
 Chalybe prcetentum attollere, 
 Aliqui possunt ferreum ensem 
 Telum fabricare» 
 
EXETER MANUSCRIPT. 223 
 
 Some o'er ocean's stormy tide 
 The swift-wing'd ship can fearless guide. 
 Some in sweet and solemn lays 
 The full-toned voice of melody can raise. 
 So Heaven's high Lord each gift of strength or sense 
 V'ouchsafes to man, impartial to dispense : 
 And of the power that from his Spirit flows 
 On each a share, on none the whole bestows ; 
 Lest favour'd thus beyond their mortal state, 
 Their pride involve them in the sinner's fate. 
 
 Sum con wonja be^onj Aliqui possunt or a exercere 
 
 Wejas wid jielle. elatd voce. 
 
 Swa se Waldend us Utpote Regnator nobis 
 
 God-bearn on jrundum DeiJiUus in terra 
 
 His jiefe bryttad. Ipsius dona disfribuit. 
 
 Nyle he senium anum Noluit ipse aliquos 
 
 Ealle jefyllan Penitus replere 
 
 Gaestes snyttru, Spiritus prudentid, 
 
 Dy laes him jielp sce^e Ne illos arrogantia perdat 
 
 Durh his anes craeft Per propriam artem 
 
 Ofer o^re ford. Super alios homines. 
 
 It will be seen that I have not entirely translated the passage 
 Sum con wonga bejonj 
 Wejas wid jielle. 
 
 Indeed I do not clearly perceive its construction, unless wonja wejas 
 are to be taken together as " the way or passage of the mouth." 
 
224 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 III. 
 
 THE PHCENIXi 
 
 Leaf 55. Book VI. Section 1. 
 
 This poem is remarkable as being a translation or rather para- 
 phrase of a Latin original still in existence ; the " Phcenix^' (attri- 
 buted by some to Lactantius, and printed at the end of the Va- 
 riorum edition of Claudian) commencing 
 
 " Est locus in primofelix Oriente remotus" 
 Its Anglo-Saxon imitator has converted the classical tale of the 
 eastern bird into an allegory of the resurrection. Many other 
 fables of the heathen mythology were similarly apphed and inter- 
 preted in a religious sense by the authors of the middle ages. Of 
 this the celebrated Gesta Romanorum afford more than one ex- 
 ample. And we find in the catalogue of the books formerly be- 
 stowed by Humphrey Duke of Gloucester upon the hbrary which 
 he founded in this university, the whole of Ovid's Metamorphoses 
 thus *' moralized,^^ as the writers of those days expressed it. 
 
 This taste for allegorizing the beautiful fictions of classical poetry 
 was perhaps first introduced by the later fathers of the christian 
 church. The one now under consideration, as it is among the 
 most obvious, so it was probably among the earliest applications 
 of this nature. '* Doceat (says St. Ambrose as quoted in the Specu- 
 lum Naturale of Vincent of Beauvais) nos hcec avis exemplo resur^ 
 rectionem credere, qua sine exemplo et sine rationis prtsceptione sibi 
 insignia resurrectionis instaurat" The Saxon Paraphrast has far 
 exceeded his original in prolixity, a fault perhaps almost insepara- 
 ble from the poetical system adopted by our ancestors. The pre- 
 sent extract is taken from the commencement of the poem, and 
 exhibits a description of the island which the Phoenix was sup- 
 posed to inhabit. The paraphrast has by no means scrupulously 
 followed the succession of ideas of his original. 
 
EXETER MANUSCRIPT. 
 
 225 
 
 * Oft have I heard that eastward, far from hence, 
 The noblest land that song may tell of lies. 
 Not by the countless host of men that hold 
 This middle earth, that country may be known. 
 Heaven hath removed it from the sinner's eye. 
 Fair is that land, with every pleasure blest; 
 In the sea's bosom, rich of odorous sweets. 
 The lonely islet stands. Divine was he, 
 And wondrous in his sovereign intellect. 
 The Artificer that gave that land its place. 
 There to his righteous servants stand unveil'd 
 
 ' HiEBBE ic jefrujnen 
 Daette is feor heonan 
 East-dselum on 
 iE^elast londa 
 Firum jefraeje. 
 Nis se foldan-sceat 
 Ofer middanjeard 
 Monjum gefaere 
 Folc ajendra ; 
 Ac he afyrred is 
 Durh Meotudes meaht 
 Man frem^ndum. 
 Wlitig is se wonj 
 Eall wynnum jeblissad ; 
 In ro^am sae-^eatum 
 Foldan stencum 
 iEnlic is ^aet i^lond. 
 iE^ele se Wyrhta, 
 Modij meahtum spedij, 
 Se '^a moldan ^esette : 
 Daer bi^ oft open 
 
 Ego audivi 
 Quod est procul hinc 
 In oriente qucedam 
 Nohilissima regio 
 Firis cognita (vel celebrata). 
 Non est ea terrce plaga 
 Per medium orhem 
 Multis frequentata 
 Populi (terrain) possidentis ; 
 Sed ilia remota est 
 Per Creatoris potentiam 
 Ah inique facientibus, 
 Splendida est ea regio 
 Omnibus deliciis beata ; 
 In rubro oceani sinu 
 Terrce odoribus 
 Sola est ea insida, 
 Nobilis (fuit) Opifex, 
 Intellectuali potentid alacrisy 
 Qui earn regionem statuit : 
 Illic est scepe reclusum 
 Q 
 
226 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 In clearest light the joys of heaven's domain. 
 
 Beauteous in sooth that land beneath the sky 
 
 Spreads its green woodlands : there nor rain, nor snow, 
 
 Nor the frost's fetters, nor the blast of fire. 
 
 Nor hail swift falling, nor the hoary rime. 
 
 Nor the sun's parching heat, nor winter's cold, 
 
 May ought intrude ; but firm amid the wave. 
 
 Still clad in verdure, stands that blessed realm. 
 
 Nor hill nor mountain there, nor stony clifF 
 
 (Such steeps as those our earthly mansion bears). 
 
 High towering rise ; nor upland's long ascent, 
 
 Eadjum tojeanes 
 
 Onhliden hleo^ra 
 
 Wyn heofon rices. 
 
 Hum ^set is wynsum wonj, 
 
 Wealdas ^rene, 
 
 Scane under roderum. 
 
 Ne msej ^aer ren, ne snaw, 
 
 Ne forstes freest, 
 
 Nefyres hlcest, 
 
 Ne hcegles hryre, 
 
 Ne hrimes dryret 
 
 Ne sunnan hcetu, 
 
 Ne sin caldu, 
 
 Ne warm weder, 
 
 Ne winter scur. 
 
 Ac se wonj seoma^ 
 
 Eadij on sund 
 
 Blostmum geblowen. 
 
 Beorjas ^ssr ne muntas 
 
 Steape ne stonda^, 
 
 Ne stan-clifu 
 
 Heah Idifia^, 
 
 Swa her mid us, 
 
 Sanctis ohviam 
 
 Revelatum dare 
 
 Gaadium ccelest'is regni. 
 
 Vere ea est Iceta regio, 
 
 JSylvis virescens, 
 
 Pulchra sub coelo. [aut nix, 
 
 Neque potest (dominari) illic pluvia 
 
 Neque hyemis gelu, 
 
 Neque ignis afflatus, 
 
 Neque grandinis impetus, 
 
 Neque pruince rigor, 
 
 Neque solis ardor, 
 
 Neque noxium frigus, 
 
 Neque torrida tempestas, 
 
 Neque hyemis imber, 
 
 Sed regio permanet 
 
 Beata in oceano 
 
 Flosculis germinans. 
 
 (Nee) colles ibi nee mantes 
 
 Prcecipites stant, 
 
 Neque saodorum clivi 
 
 Ardui assurgunt, 
 
 (Sicuti hlc apud nos) 
 
EXETER MANUSCRIPT. 
 
 227 
 
 Nor dell, nor vale is there, nor rocky cave. 
 Mars not that blessed isle unseemly ought. 
 But full of joys it flowereth under heaven. 
 
 The whole poem occupies ten leaves, and is divided into sec- 
 tions ; the first of these (the only one which my time permitted me 
 to transcribe) contains about one hundred and seventy verses, and 
 ends thus. 
 
 Dasr se halja stenc 
 Wuna^ geond wyn lond 
 Dset onwended ne bi^ 
 ^fre to ealdre 
 JEr "Son endije 
 Frod fyrn jeweorc 
 Se hit frym^e jescop. 
 
 Illic sanctus odor 
 Pervadit gaudii terram, 
 Qua accessa iion est 
 Vnquam hominibus 
 Priusquamjiniat (Phoenix) 
 Provectior cttate opus 
 QucE prima fabricavit . 
 
 Exclusively of its general value as a specimen of the poetical 
 language of our forefathers, and the curious circumstance of its 
 having been drawn from a source which, though not of the purest 
 
 Ne dene, ne dalu, 
 Ne dun-scrafu, 
 Hlaewas, ne hlincas, 
 Ne ^aer hleona^ 
 Oo unsme^es wiht. 
 Ac se ae^ele fold 
 Wrida^ under wolcnum 
 Wynnum jeblowen. 
 
 Neque vallis, neque convallist 
 Neque montium spelunca^ 
 (Neque) tumuli^ nee aggeresy 
 Neque illi inest (incumbit) 
 Ullu aspera res. 
 Sed nohilis regio 
 Germinat sub ccelo 
 Gaudiis scaturiens. 
 
 It will immediately be perceived that in the lines printed in italics the 
 author has, besides the usual alliteration which is still carefully observed, 
 adopted the additional ornament of rime, a circumstance of by no means 
 common occurrence in Anglo-Saxon Poetry. Mr. Turner has adduced a 
 few examples of it, but I know of no source which would afford so many, or 
 of such length, as the Exeter MS. The principal of these are given in the 
 Introductory Essay on Saxon metre. 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 age, must yet be considered as classical \ this long composition 
 probably contains but little that would be interesting to the anti- 
 quary®. This, however, the very slight inspection which I was 
 enabled to give the remaining sections certainly does not authorize 
 me to affirm from my own knowledge. 
 
 IV. 
 
 GNOMIC POEM. 
 
 Book IX, Section 4. 
 
 ♦ As a specimen of this class I have to offer the following para- 
 phrase of a part of the fourth poem of the ninth book, which, 
 though not altogether literal, will yet perhaps serve to convey a 
 pretty accurate idea of the general tenor of the composition. 
 
 ^ Again shall summer shine, again 
 Shall winter weave his icy chain ; 
 
 1 This was seldom directly the case with the poetry of the middle ages. 
 The Boethius of Alfred is a splendid exception ; and a singular one of later 
 date (about 1200) occurs in the Digby MS. noticed by Warton (MS. Digb. 86). 
 It is entitled Le Regret de Maximien, and appears to be an English transla- 
 tion from a French paraphrase (for it is too loose and inaccurate to be called 
 strictly a version) of an Elegy by Maxiraianus, falsely attributed by its earlier 
 editors to Cornelius Gallus. 
 
 ^ It might perhaps be added that the concluding lines of the poem are 
 written alternately in Saxon and Latin (as may be seen by reference to Wan- 
 ley's Catalogue). This has been employed in the Introduction to the present 
 volume, as serving in part to determine the nature of the metrical system 
 adopted by our ancestors. 
 
 ' FoRST sceal freosan ; Pruina concrescet ; 
 
 Fyr wudu meltan ; Ignis lignum dissolvet ; 
 
 Eor^e jrowan; Terra vigescet ; 
 
 Is brycjian ; Glacies confringetur ; 
 
EXETER MANUSCRIPT. 
 
 229 
 
 Still shall fire*s rapacious power 
 The forest's goodly growth devour ; 
 Still for commerce, or for war, 
 The wave shall bear thy keel afar. 
 But One through all their varied range 
 Bids matter rise and seasons change ; 
 One reigns supreme in heaven and earth. 
 The God who gave creation birth. 
 
 Deep the gulph that hides the dead. 
 Long and dark the way they tread ; 
 The wealth that swell'd their earthly pride 
 Kindred or strangers shall divide ; 
 While breathless in the silent tomb 
 They wait the last dread day of doom. 
 
 Waeter helm we^aUy 
 Wundrum lucan 
 Eor^an ci^as ; 
 An sceal anbindan 
 Forstes fetre, 
 Fela meahtij God. 
 Winter sceal jeweorpan ; 
 Weder eft ciiman ; 
 Sumor swejle hat ; 
 Sund unstille. 
 
 Deop deada waej 
 Dyme bi^ lenjest ; 
 Holen sceal in seled * 
 Yrfe jedseled 
 Deades monnes ; 
 Dom bi^ se last. 
 
 Aqua navem (ulmum) subvehet. 
 Mire ut includat 
 Terrce fructus ; 
 Unus exolvet 
 Pruince catenas, 
 Maxime pot ens Deus. 
 Hyems disccdet ; 
 Tempestas rursus veniet ; 
 Mstivus cether calidus erit ; 
 Mare irrequietum. 
 
 Alta erit mortuorum via 
 Tenebrosa et longissima ; 
 
 Possessiones dispartientur 
 Defuncti hominis ; 
 Judicium erit ultimum» 
 
 I cannot satisfactorily explain this line. 
 
2S0 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 The king shall woo some royal fair. 
 His sceptre and his bed to share ; 
 In bracelets bright and cups of gold 
 Her ample dowry shall be told : 
 Both beloved and praised shall be, 
 For hberal hand and largess free. 
 
 The indefatigable Hickes has noticed in the chapter on Saxon 
 poetry inserted in his Thesaurus the resemblance which the 
 above composition bears to the lines appended to the Metrical 
 Calendar or Menology, which he has printed with a literal trans- 
 lation. From this poem a few extracts are here subjoined as 
 further illustrating this class of compositions, the character of which 
 cannot be better expressed than in the words of Hickes himself: — 
 " In eo mores hominum, afFectus animantium, et inanimatorum 
 naturae, res itidem alius generis civiles, ethicae, theologicse descri- 
 buntur in gnomis et sententiis ua-vvhTois" '* Absque omni plan6 
 connexu," he adds, in a repetition of nearly the same character in- 
 troduced some few pages after the former. I have selected from 
 different parts of this poem a few of the more striking paragraphs. 
 
 » Where holds the king his seat of power, 
 The work of earth's industrious sons, 
 Far is seen the strong-walled tower, 
 A mighty mass of well-knit stones. 
 
 Cyning sceal mid ceape Rex cum pretio 
 
 Cwene jebicjan, Reginam redimety 
 
 Bunum and beajum ; Vasis et armilUs ; 
 
 Bu scealon serest Amho eximie 
 
 Geofum god wesan. Muneribus se largos prcestabunt. 
 
 Cyning sceal rice healdan; Gubernabit rex regnum; 
 
 Ceastra beo^ feorran jesyne, Urhes e longinquo spectabuntur, 
 
 Or^anc enta jeweorc Ingeniosa gigantum opera 
 
 Da ^e on ^isse eor^an syndon {Qui in hdc terra degunt) 
 
 Wraetlic weall stana jeweorc. Moenibus affabre factis. 
 
EXETER MANUSCRIPT. 2^1 
 
 Loudest rolls the thunder's voice, 
 Swiftest flies the wind's light breeze, 
 Purest far are heaven's high joys, 
 Firmest stands what Heaven decrees. 
 
 Good with evil, young with old. 
 Darkness still shall strive with Hght ; 
 Armed host with foeman bold 
 Still shall wage unceasing fight. 
 
 The man of pure and guileless heart 
 Yields soonest to the traitor's art ; 
 But he whose long-protracted age 
 Hath taught him to beware is sage. 
 
 Wind by^ on lyfte swiftust, Ventus in aere est ocyssimunif 
 
 Dunar by^ ^rajum hludast, Tonitrus fragor est max'ime sonorus, 
 
 Drymmas syndan Cristas myccle, Ingens est majestas Christi, 
 Wyrd by^ swi^ost, Fatum est fortissimum» 
 
 God sceal wy^ yfele, Bonum adversus malum j 
 
 Geojo^ sceal \v?S ylde, Juventus adversus senectum, 
 
 Lif sceal wi^ dea^e, Vita contra mortem, 
 
 Leoht sceal wi^ ^ystrum, Lux contra tenehras, 
 
 Fyrd v^^i^ fyrde, Exercitus adversus exercitum, 
 
 Feond wi^ o'^rum, ' Inimicus contra inimicum, 
 
 La^ wi^ la'^e, Qui od'it contra quem odio hahueritf 
 
 Ymb land sacan, Ubique contendent 
 
 Synne staelan. Et semper se ohfirmabunt. 
 
 So^ bi^ swicolost, Verus facillime deci'pitur, 
 
 And jomol snoterost Et senex sapientissimus 
 
 Fyru gearum frod Anteactis annis prudens 
 
 Se ^e ser fela jebide^. Qui pridem multa est expertus. 
 
232 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 V. 
 
 THE SOUUS COMPLAINT AGAINST THE BODY. 
 
 Book X. Section 1. Leaf 98. 
 
 This may be regarded as the prototype (in our own language at 
 least) of a very numerous tribe of poems, the title of which will be 
 well remembered by all those who are conversant with our earlier 
 literature; ^^ Dialogiis inter Corpus et Animam" 
 
 The composition immediately under our consideration is, how- 
 ever, scarcely entitled to the name of a dialogue. It consists only 
 of a short exordium and one speech, in which the soul is repre- 
 sented as upbraiding the body with the sins to which it was acces- 
 sory during their union. As no part of the composition appears 
 to possess any peculiar claims to the merit of poetical beauty, I 
 have translated only a few lines from its commencement. They 
 contain (if I have rightly interpreted the passage, which is some- 
 what obscure) one singular instance of the popular superstitions of 
 their age, relating to the time during which the soul was permitted 
 to revisit the earth after its separation from the body, 
 
 ^ Befits it well that man should deeply weigh 
 His soul's last journey ; how he then may fare 
 When death comes on him, and breaks short in twain 
 
 ^ HuRU ^aes hehofa^ Maxime hoc oportet 
 
 Hsele^a sejhwylc Mortalium unumquemque 
 
 Dset he his sawle-si^ Ut ille ejus animce iter 
 
 Sylfa bewitige, Secum meditetur, 
 
 Hu ^set bi^ deoplic. Quam illud sit longinquum (altum). 
 
 Donne se dea^ cyme^, Quum mors advenit^ 
 
 Asundra^ '^a sibbe Abrumpit copulam 
 
EXETER MANUSCRIPT. ^233 
 
 The bond that held his flesh and spirit link'd : 
 Long is it thence ere at the hand of Heaven 
 The spirit shall reap or joy or punishment. 
 E'en as she did in this her earthly frame. 
 For ere the seventh night of death hath past, 
 
 Da '^e aer somad Qua olimjuncta 
 
 Waeron lie and sawle. Fuerunt corpus et anima. 
 
 Lonj biS si^^an Diu est exinde 
 
 Daet se jaBst nime^ Quod spiritus accipit 
 
 JEt Gode sylfum Apud Deum ipsum 
 
 Swa wite swa wuldor, Aut pcenam aut gloriarrif 
 
 Swa him in worulde aer, Sicut ipsi in mundo priuSy 
 
 Mine ^set eor^faet, Etiam (in) illo vase terrestri, 
 
 Mi jeworhte. Olim factum est. 
 
 Sceal se jaest cuman, Spiritus veniet 
 
 Geh'Sum * hremij, {In) statione queruluSj 
 
 Syle ymb seofon niht, circiter (post) septimanam, 
 
 ' The sense of this clause is by no means clear to me. The word ' jyh^imi/ 
 which occurs once in Csedmon (p. 74, 1. 4,) is supposed by Lye (Suppl.) to be 
 derived from ' je-hyht,' rej'ugium. * Giht,' or * gyte,' however, appears in 
 the compounds ' jjebed-jiht,' bed-time — *sunjiht,' the solstice — *jyte-sal,' 
 an apartment. Its signification in these compounds and in the passage of 
 Csedmon above mentioned seems to be tempus, ynansio, or statio. If * jeh- 
 ^um ' be taken in the latter of these senses, it may be understood as con- 
 strued in the Latin version; if in the former, it may signify aliguando. 
 Should the word ' geht,* or * jyht,' be allowed to have signified time (as it 
 must if ' jebed-gyht ' be correctly translated conticinium — vid. Lye in voce), 
 it will afford us a more plausible etymology of the adverb Yet than the one 
 proposed by Mr. Home Tooke. The derivative adverbs * gates' (existing in 
 algctcs) and * jeh^um ' will then appear to be formed from the oblique cases 
 by the same analogy as * whiles ' and * whilom ' from ' hwil,' tempus. The 
 old Teutonic * Zit,' tempus (vid. Schilter's Glossary in voce) may be derived 
 from the same source. The following word, *hremij,' I have ventured to 
 render querulus, or stridulus (from * hrem,' vocifera), rather than compos, as 
 Lye has given it. The only meaning I can discover for * syle ' is basis (fun- 
 damentum, * syll '). I suspect it in this place to be a mistake of the tran- 
 scriber for *sylf' or *sylfe.' 
 
234 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETHT. 
 
 Ghastly and shrieking shall that spirit come, 
 
 The soul to find its body. Restless thus 
 
 (Unless high Heaven first work the end of all things) 
 
 An hundred years thrice told the shade shall roam. 
 
 With chilling voice that sad and mournful ghost 
 
 Upbraids its kindred earth : " Thou hapless dust, 
 
 How fares it with thee now ? how dost thou waste, 
 
 A foul and earthy mass ? Full Uttle erst 
 
 Thy thoughts were of that journey which the soul. 
 
 Driven from her fleshly tenement, is doom'd to ! 
 
 Sawle findan 
 
 Done lichoman, 
 
 De lieo sex lon^e wsej, 
 
 Dreo hund wintra, 
 
 Butan ser wyrce 
 
 Ece Dryhten 
 
 -^Imihtij God 
 
 Elide worulde. 
 
 Cleopa^ ^onne swa cearful 
 
 Caldan reorde, 
 
 Sprice^ grimlice 
 
 Gsest to ^am duste : 
 
 *' Drugu ^u dreorja, 
 
 To hwon dreahtest ^\i me ? 
 
 Eor'^an fylnes 
 
 Eal forweornast, 
 
 Lames gelicnes. 
 
 Lyt ^u ge^ohtes to won 
 
 Dinne sawle si^' 
 
 Si^^an wurde 
 
 Si^^an heo of lichoman 
 
 Laeded waere. 
 
 Hwset wite ^u me wer^a ^ 
 
 Anima ad inveniendum 
 
 Corpus^ 
 
 Quod ilia nuper habitahat, 
 
 ccc kyemeSf 
 
 Nisi prius constituat 
 
 ^ternus Dominus 
 
 Omnipotens Deus 
 
 Finem orhis, 
 
 Clamat tunc adeo misera 
 
 Frigidd lingudf 
 
 Alloqidtur korrens 
 
 Anima pulverem : 
 
 " Pulvls tu infelix, 
 
 Quo agis me ? 
 
 Terrend piitredine 
 
 Omninb marcescis, 
 
 Limi similitudine, 
 
 Parum prcecepisti expectatione 
 
 Tuum spiritus-iter 
 
 Qubfuturum esset 
 
 Quum ille (spiritus) e corpore 
 
 E ductus for et, 
 
 Ut punies me inique ! 
 
 * I am by no means satisfied with the construction of this line, or the 
 clause following it. 
 
EXETER MANUSCRIPT. 235 
 
 To what sad fate, O wretched food of worms. 
 Hast thou reduced me ! Little thoughtest thou 
 How long and dreary was my destined way." 
 
 This extract constitutes about one-sixth part of the poem. The 
 remainder is occupied by a tissue of similar reproaches, and ap- 
 pears, upon the whole, to exhibit but Uttle of imagination, and 
 none of those traces of popular opinions or customs which' occa- 
 sionally stamp an additional value on the remains of our ancient 
 versifiers. 
 
 It terminates thus, at the 100th leaf of the MS. 
 
 Daet mae^ agjhwylcum 
 Men to jemyndum 
 Mod snotterra. 
 
 Id debent (possunt) omnino 
 Homines'in mentem (jevocare) 
 Animi prudentes. 
 
 Hwaet ^u huru 
 
 Wyrma jifl 
 
 Lyt je^ohtes 
 
 Hu ^is is Ion J hider." 
 
 Quam tu vere 
 Vermium esca 
 Pariim coiritasti 
 
 o 
 
 Quam sit Ionium hue' 
 
 VI. 
 
 SCALDIC POEM. 
 
 Book X. Sect. 2. Leaf 100. 
 
 This poem is chiefly remarkable from its allusions to the my- 
 thological and mytho-historical narratives which have been incor- 
 porated into the Icelandic Edda ; and more especially as fully 
 attesting the popular estimation in which Weland, the Vulcan of 
 Northern mythology, was held by our ancestors long after their 
 conversion to Christianity; and proving also the antiquity and 
 
236 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 general diffusion not only of a belief in his existence and attributes, 
 but even of the details of his wild and singular history ^ 
 
 This history, as contained in the Volundar Quida of Saemund's 
 Edda (without the recent publication of which the Exeter Frag- 
 
 » [Note hj the Editor.'] 
 
 The author of these Illustrations had detected also an allusion to the same 
 mythological personage in a passage of King Alfred's translation of the 
 Boethian metres, which moreover affords an amusing example of the igno- 
 rance of Roman historians then generally prevalent. The royal paraphrast, 
 finding (in the 7th metre of the 2nd book) the following reflection on the in- 
 stability of human glory, 
 
 TJbi nuncjidelis ossa Fabricii jacent ? 
 
 afforded, by his entire ignorance of the fame of the " faithful legate," a new 
 instance in support of the truth which the poet was labouring to establish, 
 the uncertainty of earthly reputation; and considering his name apparently 
 as designating, according to its etymology, a smith, transfers it to the most 
 illustrious character of that profession with whose story he was conversant, 
 the Vulcan of the North : — 
 
 Hwasr sint nu ^aes wisan Where are now the wise 
 
 Welandes ban, Weland's bones, 
 
 Daes joldsmi^es The goldsmith 
 
 De wass geo mssrost. That was formerly most illustrious. 
 P. 162. 
 
 The Saxon lexicographer Lye is strangely embarrassed by this passage, 
 and endeavours to make out of *Weland ' an epithet referring to the travels of 
 Fabricius to the court of Pyrrhus, as if agreeing with * wealland ' peregri- 
 nans. 
 
 The same error is also found in the prose translation of the passage, where 
 it stands 
 
 Hwaer sint nu ^aes Welondes ban. — P. 43. 
 » 
 Geoffrey of Monmouth has even introduced this Gothic artificer into the 
 
 cyclus of Celtic fiction, where he mentions 
 
 Pocula qua sculpsit Guielandus in urhe Sigeni. 
 
 Another allusion to him occurs in Hoveden, f. 444, who says, that when 
 Geoffrey of Plantagenet was knighted, they brought him an ancient sword 
 
EXETER MANUSCRIPT. 237 
 
 ment must have remained as unintelligible to us as it was to 
 H. Wanley, who terms it an aenigma,) runs briefly thus. — Weland 
 was one of three brothers settled in Ulfdale, and married to Val- 
 kyriae or war-nymphs, if they may so be termed. After a residence 
 
 from the royal treasure, the workmanship of Galaii, the most excellent of all 
 sword-smiths. 
 
 In the local traditions of the Vale of the White Horse, his memory is still 
 preserved in the legends attached to the cairn or cromlech called Way I and 
 Smith, recently introduced to such general notice by the author of Kenil- 
 worth. 
 
 But one of the fullest references which early English literature presents to 
 his story, occurs in the more modern version of the romance of Hornchilde, 
 where maiden Rimenild gives her lover Horn a sword, of which she says, 
 
 It is the make [mate] of Miming, 
 Of all swerdes it is king, 
 And WELAND it wrought, 
 Bitterfer it hight. 
 
 Ritson^s Roma7ice'es, vol. iii. p. 295. 
 
 This will afford additional ground for referring that romance to a Saxon or 
 Danish, and not to a Norman origin. Bishop Percy's assertion, indeed, that 
 it appears of genuine English growth, though denied with equal confidence 
 and ignorance by Ritson, is supported by internal evidence which no one 
 capable of understanding it can reject. The above reference to Northern 
 mythology, strongly as it indicates such an origin, is corroborated by many 
 other circumstances tending even more forcibly to establish the same fact. 
 Thus in all the three versions of this romance (that is to say, the two English 
 and one French version, which has idly been supposed to be the original), 
 although every one of them varies materially from the rest, both in incidents 
 and names, yet in none of them is any name given to any character which is 
 not purely Saxon — a circumstance not to be paralleled in any other romance; 
 a mixture, greater or less, of French names occurring in them all. Thus 
 even in Sir Tristram, Blanchefleure, Triamour, Gouvernail, Florentine, and 
 others, are to be found, though that romance is remarkably free from such 
 misnomers, and generally does ascribe Celtic names to its Celtic heroes. 
 Secondly, the language of the earlier English version of Hornchilde is in its 
 essence purely Saxon. In the whole course of the romance scarcely more than 
 two words {to arrive, and * on reme' for on oars) are referable to the Norman- 
 
£38 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 of nine years, these females were'constrained by fate to leave their 
 husbands, and disappeared. Two of the brothers departed in 
 search of their respective partners ; but Weland remained at home, 
 employed in the curious arts of his profession, and had forged 700 
 rings or plates of gold, when Nidudr, a king of Nericia, allured by 
 the fame of his riches, beset his dwelling with an armed force, and 
 after some acts of plunder and insult, was induced by the advice of 
 his queen to incapacitate him for active revenge, by the cruel pro- 
 cess of cutting asunder the sinews of the knee joint. Thus 
 jnaimed, he was conveyed to a small island, and forced to work 
 for the benefit of his captors. In this solitude he revenged himself 
 by secretly murdering the youthful sons of Nidudr, whom he had 
 
 French; but the slightest acquaintance with romances really translated from 
 the French will satisfy any one of the liberality with which the English 
 minstrels borrowed not only the materials but the very words of the original, 
 especially when to do so would help to furnish out a rime. Even Sir Tris- 
 tram, which exhibits the nearest approach to the purity of this version of 
 Horn, has often such words as belami, bonair, battayle, aventures, broche, 
 conseil, delit, desire, deraie, dioul, &c. &c. 
 
 The phaenomena presented by the three versions of Hornchilde seem to indi- 
 cate that the story had become so popular as to form the subject of several dif- 
 ferent romances even in the Saxon times, for each bears the marks of imme- 
 diate derivation from a Saxon original; and yet there are material variations 
 in the manner of telling the story in each. The earlier English and the 
 French bear the greatest resemblance, but the later English differs widely 
 from both. In the two former, the scene is laid in the kingdoms of Suthene, 
 Estness, and Westness, of which it would not be easy to ascertain the locality, 
 and in Ireland ; but in the later version we find ourselves on terra jirma in 
 several districts of Yorkshire, Northumberland, Wales, &c. : and the incur- 
 sions of Saracens in the former are described as invasions of Danes and 
 Irish in the latter; which, though certainly more modern in its present form, 
 may claim from these circumstances, as well as the reference to Weland, to 
 be considered as the more correct representation of a genuine Saxon original. 
 
 In Sir Tristram, also, we find a few lingering traces of Gothic traditions 
 in the usage of the term ' dwerg ' for dwarf, and in the mention of caverns 
 wrought in the old times by the Eotenes. 
 
EXETER MANUSCRIPT. 9,39 
 
 decoyed into his dwelling by the promise of golden ornaments. 
 He then presented to the father their skulls set in gold, and fa- 
 shioned into drinking cups : to their mother, gems produced from 
 their eyes ; and to their sister Bodhilda, an ornament for the breast 
 made from their teeth. Soon after the unconscious relatives had 
 received these Thyestean presents, the virgin Bodhilda, having 
 broken a golden bracelet, visits the artificer and entreats him to 
 repair it. Either by drugs or magic arts (for the poem is in parts 
 not only obscure but mutilated) he seems to have cast her into a 
 profound sleep, and to have added to the other particulars of his 
 barbarous revenge the violation of her person. This accomplished, 
 he enters the palace of Nidudr by the aid of wings, and hovering 
 over the presence-chamber of the monarch, reveals to him (after 
 having extorted a promise that Bodhilda shall suiFer no injury at 
 the hands of himself or queen) the untimely fate of their oflTspring. 
 He then vanishes. — I have entered thus fully into an abstract of 
 the Folandar Quida, because a knowledge of its import is requi- 
 site to the understanding the Saxon, or rather Danish bard ; and 
 because, from the very recent publication of this part of the Edda, 
 it may not yet be generally known to those who have not made 
 a peculiar study of Northern antiquities. I now pass to the com- 
 position immediately before us. 
 
 It appears to be a species of rude song, De infortuniis illus- 
 trium vlrorum, composed for the purpose of alleviating the sorrows 
 of the writer himself. It is divided by a species of burden into 
 paragraphs of unequal length, each containing a separate example. 
 The first and second of these relate (as I have said) to the adven- 
 tures of Weland and Bodhilda. After what has been premised, 
 their general purport will be readily understood. It is not, how- 
 ever, without diffidence that I offer a translation, which I have en- 
 deavoured to make as hteral as possible. Some passages are so 
 obscure as to render it highly probable that I may have misunder- 
 stood them. 
 
240 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 WeLAND him bewurman 
 
 Wraeces cunnade, 
 Anhydij eorl 
 Earfo^a dreaj. 
 Haefde him to jesi-S^e 
 Sorje and lonja^, 
 Wi-iiter cealde, 
 Wrsece wean oft onfond, 
 Si'S^an hine Ni-Shad 
 On nede lejde 
 Swoncre seono bende 
 Onsyllan mon^ 
 Dffis ofer eode 
 Disses swa mtej. 
 
 Beadohilde ne wass 
 Hyre bro^ra dea^ 
 On sefan swa sar 
 
 Welandus sibi animum inflam- 
 
 mare 
 Exilio (v. injuria) sensit, 
 Pervicax dux 
 Difficultatem pertuUt. 
 Hahuit sibi in comites 
 Dolorem ac solitudinem, 
 Hi/ erne frigid Of 
 
 Exilii dolorem sape expertus est, 
 Ex quo eum Nithadus 
 Necessitate obstrinxit 
 Debilem nervorum articulos 
 Infelicem kominem. 
 Hoc ille superavit 
 In hoc tuum tanquam potes 
 
 sustine. 
 Bodhild(Z non erat 
 Fratrum mors 
 In pectore tarn molesta 
 
 E'en Weland felt, the strong and stern, 
 His soul with wrongs indignant burn, 
 Doomed through the winter's night to bear 
 A wretched exile's lot of care. 
 Companion had the Alf-king none 
 Save grief and solitude alone. 
 What time by false Nidudr's art 
 The mangled sinews' torturing smart 
 Had laid the hapless artist low. 
 In dread extremity of w^oe. 
 Yet bore he this, and thou mayst bear 
 The grief that all of earth must share. 
 
EXETER MANUSCRIPT. 
 
 241 
 
 Swa hyre sylfre '^inj ; 
 
 Daet heo jearolice 
 
 Onjieten haefde 
 
 Daet heo eacen wass. 
 
 :^fre ne meahte 
 
 Drifte je^encan 
 
 Hu ymb "^aet sceolde, 
 ©ass ofereode, 
 ©isses swa maej. 
 
 Qudm propria cura ; 
 
 Quod ea statim 
 
 Intellexerat 
 
 Se gravidam esse. 
 
 Nunquam potuit 
 
 Aucta {?>c\\. fottu) conjicere 
 
 Quomodo id eve?iissetf 3)C. 
 
 The mutability of human affairs is further illustrated by the ex- 
 ample of the kings of the Goths (Geates Frije) *, whom he states to 
 
 * The Editor has judged it best to insert at length from the original the 
 concltiding stanzas of this singular composition. In the first of these stanzas 
 there appears to be a clear allusion to the thirty-two years' exile of Theodric 
 (the celebrated Dietrich of Berne, of Teutonic historical romance) ; but since 
 Mffiringaburg seems to have been the proper city of that monarch, the text 
 is probably corrupt: perhaps ^ne' has dropt out, and we should render the 
 passage " Theodric did not possess," i. e. was deprived of the possession of 
 Mseringaburg. 
 
 This reward of many a contest 
 
 Have we heard, 
 
 How they became deprived of their 
 
 territories. 
 The chiefs of the Goths, 
 So that fi'om them the desire of ffrief 
 
 o 
 
 All sleep removed. 
 
 We ^aet mae^ hilde 
 Monje gefru^non. 
 Warden grundlease, 
 
 Geates frije, 
 
 Daet hi seo sorj lufa 
 
 Slaep ealle binom. 
 
 Daes ofereode, &c. 
 Deodric alite 
 Drihtij wintra 
 Maerin^ja burj ; 
 Daet waes monejum cu^. 
 
 Daes ofereode, &c. 
 We jeascodon 
 Eormanrices 
 Wylfenne je^oht ; 
 
 Theodric possessed 
 Thirty winters 
 Maeringaburg ; 
 This was known to many. 
 
 We have learned 
 Ermanric's 
 Wolf-like council ; 
 R 
 
242 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 have lost their territory by the continual wars of Theoderic and of 
 Hermanric, both heroes of the second or mythico-historical period, 
 as it has been termed, of the -Eddie fictions. In the sequel we find 
 depicted at somewhat greater length the misfortunes and sorrows of 
 a bard, probably (as has been before somewhat too hastily perhaps 
 asserted) of the author himself. "He sitteth," we are told, *' be- 
 reaved of joy, his breast labouring with care, and thinketh with 
 himself that his portion of hardships is endless. Then may he 
 reflect how the all wise Lord worketh abundant changes through- 
 out the world, exhibiting to many among men honour and the fruit 
 of prudence, and to others the portion of woe. This may I affirm 
 
 Ahte wide folc 
 Gotena rices ; 
 Dset waes jrim cyninj ; 
 Saet secj moni^ 
 Sorjum gebunden 
 Wean on wenan, 
 Wijsete jeneahhe 
 Daet ^aes cynerices 
 Ofercumen waere. 
 
 Daes ofereode, &c. 
 Site^ sor J cearij 
 Saelum bidseled, 
 On sefan sweonce^, 
 Sylfum ^ence^ 
 Daet sy endeleas 
 Earfo^a deal. 
 Maej ^on je^encan 
 Daet jeond ^as worulde 
 Witig Dryhten 
 Wended genealihe ; 
 Eorle monejum 
 Are jesceawe^ 
 Wislicne blaed, 
 Sumum weana dael. 
 Daet ic by me sylfum 
 
 He possessed the wide nations 
 Of the Gothic dominion ; 
 He was a stern monarch ; 
 Many a soldier sat 
 Bound with sorrows 
 To meditate on his woes, 
 Because the many warlike seats 
 Of that kingdom 
 Were overcome. 
 
 Translated in the text : — ^but the 
 Editor is rather inclined to con- 
 sider the first fourteen lines as 
 a continuation of the subject of 
 the preceding stanza, referring 
 them to " Many a soldier " as 
 their nominative. They de- 
 scribe, in his opinion, the re- 
 flections of the Gothic warriors 
 on the vicissitudes of the contest 
 between Theoderic and Erman- 
 
 •ric: the transition to the per- 
 sonal affairs of the poet does 
 not take place until the fifteenth 
 line. 
 
EXE-PER MANUSCRIPT. 243 
 
 (he proceeds — and I preserve the original transition from the third 
 to the first person), this may I afl&rm from my own experience : 
 Once was 1 bard to the high Dane, beloved by my lord ; my 
 name was Deor ; many a winter had I an excellent following, and 
 a faithful chieftain, until Heorrenda, a crafty foe, deprived me of 
 the lordship or freedom (londriht) that the glory of chieftains had 
 bestowed on me." 
 
 The interest of these references to the Scaldic mythology will 
 perhaps be better estimated if we consider that the remarkable 
 volume which contains them has to boast of an antiquity, on the 
 lowest allowance, three centuries higher than that of the oldest 
 MS. extant of the Eddie poems, and coaeval at least with their 
 collection or composition (if ever indeed they were so collected or 
 composed) by Sasmund the Wise. This much we must allow, both 
 to these singular remains and to the Song of the Traveller inserted 
 in an earlier portion of this collection, even though we should assign 
 their origin to the age of Leofric. The MS. is, however, very pos- 
 sibly still older; for the latter part of its contents are scarcely such 
 as the prelate would have procured to be transcribed for the use 
 of a collegiate library. If, however, the transcript was made at his 
 
 Secjan wille, 
 Daet ic hwile wses 
 Heo Deninja scop, 
 Dryhtne dyre, 
 Me waes Deor nama ; 
 Ahte ic fela wintra 
 Folja^ tilne, 
 Holdne hlaford ; 
 O^^e ^aet Heorrenda, 
 Nu leo^ craeftij mon, 
 Lond riht ge^ah, 
 Daet me eorla hleo 
 ^r gesealde. 
 
 Daes ofereode, &c. 
 
244 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 direction, it is reasonable to suppose that the poems selected for 
 the purpose would be such as already enjoyed some degree of 
 reputation ; the productions, perhaps, of some of those Scalds who 
 are known to have graced the court and shared in the patronage of 
 the munificent Canute. To this period (if I may be permitted to 
 venture the hypothesis), I should be disposed to attribute the com- 
 position or the remodeUing of these, and of the Danish Epic which 
 has occupied so large a space in the earher pages of the present 
 work. The reference of both poems to Danish antiquity, and the 
 occurrence of Runic letters in the Exeter MS. seem to countenance 
 this opinion. If any one should be disposed to attribute the com- 
 position of our plundered bard to an earlier day, we have however 
 seen that the name and occupation of Weland were not unknown 
 to Alfred. 
 
 VII. 
 THE EXILE'S COMPLAINT. 
 
 Leaf 115. 
 ^Inserted hy the Editor^ 
 The Editor lias, in the present instance, been induced to de- 
 viate from the rule he had prescribed to himself, of confining these 
 Illustrations to the materials prepared by the late Author^, by two 
 reasons ; — First, the extreme scarcity of compositions of an elegiac 
 character, such as the subjoined poem, in the Saxon language : the 
 translations from the Boethian metres afford, perhaps, the only 
 other instance ; and the following lines may therefore be considered 
 as an unique specimen of an original attempt of this kind by an 
 
 ^ The Author had himself been compelled to leave this portion of the 
 Exeter MS. unexamined, but had expressed in one of the papers left behind 
 him his desire that this task should be completed; a desire which the Editor, 
 during a subsequent visit to Exeter, endeavoured to accomplish. 
 
EXETER MANUSCRIPT. 243 
 
 Anglo-Saxon Scop. The style will be found closely to resemble 
 that which the royal paraphrast of Boethius has adopted, in its ex- 
 treme simplicity, or, as Hickes considers it, purity; a fact affording 
 confirmation to the views previously advanced, that this style was 
 chosen as being better accommodated to subjects of a moral or 
 elegiac nature than the grandiloquism of the Caedmonian school. 
 
 The second reason, which exerted still more influence over the 
 Editor's determination, was the appearance which this poem pre- 
 sents of allusion to the adventures and misfortunes of some hero 
 once familiar to the Scaldic Muse : he was anxious, therefore, to 
 submit it to that part of the literary public interested in such in- 
 quiries, in the hope that some one more conversant with the cycle 
 of early Northern poetry and romance than himself may trace it to 
 its original dependence and source, and discover in it, as in the 
 preceding instances of the Fight of Finsborough and the History of 
 Weland, one of those interesting links which connect the rem.ains 
 of Anglo-Saxon literature with that of their Continental brethren 
 of the same great family of nations *. 
 
 It is almost needless to observe that this poem contains the la- 
 mentation of some faithful and attached attendant, whose lord had 
 quitted his country, apparently in consequence of the treachery of 
 his kindred, which had also been exerted to separate from him this 
 humble friend, who had vainly endeavoured to trace and follow his 
 footsteps in distant lands. His situation and feeUngs are expressed 
 with more pathos, and his lonely retreat amidst the woods exhibits 
 more power of description, than can be usually found in Saxon 
 poetry. 
 
 Ic "Sis jied wrece I SET forth this lay 
 
 Bi me, ful jeomorre. Concerning myself, full sad. 
 
 ' Is it not probable that it is connected with the history of the faidiful 
 Hildebrand, who is recorded in the Wilkina Saga to have wandered in many 
 countries, after the expulsion of his chief, Theoderic of Bern, from his king- 
 dom by the treason of his uncle Ermanric ? 
 
246 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Minre sylfre sv6. 
 Ic "Saet secjan masj 
 Hwset ic yrm'Sa jebad 
 SI'S San ic upaweox, 
 Niwes o^^e ealdes. 
 No ma ^ofi nu * 
 A ic wite won 
 Minra wrasc si'Sa gerest ; 
 Min hlaford jewat 
 Heonan of leodum 
 Ofer y^a jelac; 
 Hsefde ic wht ceare 
 Hwser min leod fruma 
 Londes wcere ; 
 Da ic me feran jewat, 
 Folja^ sec an, 
 
 Wineleas wrecca for ; 
 
 Minre wea "Searfe onjunnon, 
 
 Daet "Saes monnes 
 
 Magas hycjan 
 
 Durh tyrne je^oht 
 
 D^et hy todaelden unc, 
 
 Dcet wit, jewidost 
 
 In woruld rice, 
 
 Lifdon la^ licost ; 
 
 And mec lonjade 
 
 Hat mec hlaford min 
 
 Her heard niman ; 
 
 Ahte ic leofra lyt 
 
 On ^issum londstede, 
 
 Holdra freonda. 
 
 And my own journey ings. 
 I may declare 
 
 What calamities I have abode 
 Since I grew up. 
 Recently or of old. 
 No man hath experienced the like; 
 But I reckon the privations [first; 
 Of my own exiled wanderings the 
 My lord departed 
 Hence from his people 
 Over the expanse of the waves ; 
 I had some care 
 Where my chieftain 
 In the lands might be ; 
 Then I departed on my journey. 
 To seek my following {i.e. the 
 chief to whose train I belonged), 
 A friendless exile's travel ; [gan, 
 The necessities of my sorrows be- 
 Because this man's 
 Kindred plotted 
 Through malevolent counsel 
 That they should separate us. 
 That we, far remote 
 In the regions of the world. 
 Should live most afflicted ; 
 This weary state 
 My lord hath ordained me 
 Here in hardship to endure; 
 1 have few dear to me 
 In this country, 
 [Few] faithful Mends. 
 
 * I read this line, '^ Nan man ^one nam.'' 
 
EXETER MANUSCRIPT. 
 
 247 
 
 For -Son is min hyje jeomor ; 
 Da ic me ful jemaec 
 
 Ne monnan funde 
 
 Heard-seelijne, 
 
 Hyje jeomorne, 
 
 Mod un'Sendne *, 
 
 Mor-Sor hycjende. 
 
 Bli^e jebaero, 
 
 Ful oft wit beotedon 
 
 t)aet unc ne jedselde 
 
 Nemne dea-S ana owiht elles. 
 
 Eft is "Saet on hworfan ; 
 
 Is nu swa hit no waere, 
 
 Freondscipe uncer : 
 
 Seal^ is feor jeneah 
 
 Mines fela leofan 
 
 Faeh^Sa dreojan. 
 
 Heht mec man wunian 
 
 On wuda bearwa, 
 
 Under ac treo, 
 
 In "Sam eor^S scrsefe ; 
 
 Cald is "Sis eorS sele ; 
 
 Eal ic eom of lonjad ; 
 
 Sindon dena dimme ; 
 
 Duna up hean ; 
 
 Bitre burj-tanes^ 
 
 Therefore is my mind sad : 
 
 So that, as a perfect mate to me 
 
 (z. e. a full rival in affliction) 
 I can find no man 
 [So] unhappy, 
 Sad in mind. 
 Debilitated in spirit, 
 And intent on thoughts of death. 
 Bhthe in our bearing, 
 Full oft we two promised 
 That nothing should separate us 
 Save death alone. 
 But this is reversed ; [been. 
 
 And now, as though it had never 
 Is our friendship become ; 
 Afar off is it the lot 
 Of my well-beloved 
 To endure enmity. 
 I am compelled to sojourn 
 In woodland bowers, 
 Beneath the oak-tree, 
 In this earthy cavern ; 
 Cold is this earthy mansion ; 
 I am all wearied out ; 
 Dark are the dells. 
 And steep the mountains ; 
 A horrid dwelling among branches. 
 
 ^ un^eond, non vigens, from ' un ' and * ^ean '. 
 
 2 I am far from satisfied with my translation of this passage, in which I 
 have supposed ^ seal ' to be the same with ' sael/ time or occasion, and interpreted 
 it as the destiny imposed by actual circumstances. 
 
 ^ burj-tanes. — I can find no etymon for this term, excepting ' burj,' a city 
 or residence, and * tana,' a branch; and I have rendered it accordingly. 
 
248 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Brerum beweaxne ; 
 Wic wynnaleas. 
 Ful oft mec her wra'Se 
 Bejeat from si^S frean : 
 
 Frynd synd on eorSan ; 
 
 Leof lifjende 
 
 Lejer weardia^ ; 
 
 Don ic on uhtan 
 
 Ana janje 
 
 Under ac treo 
 
 Geond "Sas eorS scrafa : 
 
 DsdY ic sittan mot 
 
 Summor lanjne daej, 
 
 Daer ic wepan msej 
 
 Mine wraec si^as 
 
 Earfo'Sa fela ; 
 
 For'Son ic aefre ne maej 
 
 Daere mod ceare 
 
 Minre jerestanne, 
 
 Ealles *Sges lonja 
 
 Dses mec on "Sissum life bejeat. 
 
 Ascyle jeonj man 
 
 Wesan jeomor mod, 
 
 Heard heartan je^oht, 
 Swylc habban sceal 
 Bli^e jebsero ; 
 Eac "Son breost ceare 
 
 Sin-sorjna jedreaj ; 
 Sy set him sylfum jelonj 
 Eal his worulde wyn ; 
 Sy ful wide fah 
 
 Overgrown with briars ; 
 
 A joyless abode. 
 
 Here full oft adversity 
 
 Hath overtaken me from the 
 journey of my lord : 
 
 My friends are in the earth ; 
 
 Those beloved in life 
 
 The sepulchre guardeth ; 
 
 Then I around 
 
 In sohtude wander 
 
 Under the oak-tree 
 
 By this earth-cave : 
 
 There must I sit 
 
 The summer long day, 
 
 There may I weep 
 
 My exiled wanderings 
 
 Of many troubles ; 
 
 Therefore I can never 
 
 From the care 
 
 Of my mind, rest, 
 
 From all the weariness [life. 
 
 That hath come upon me in this 
 
 Let the young man strip off 
 
 To be sad of mind (i. e. in anti- 
 cipation of sorrow). 
 
 Hardhearted thoughts. 
 
 The same that shall [now] have 
 
 A blithe bearing ; 
 
 [Shall hereafter] also [have] in the 
 care of his breast [rows ; 
 
 The endurance of constant sor- 
 
 [Although] long may abide with 
 
 All his worldly joy ; [him 
 
 And distant be the foe 
 
EXETER MANUSCRIPT. 
 
 249 
 
 Feorres folc-londes ; 
 Daet min freond sitcS 
 Under stan hli'Su, 
 Storme behrimed. 
 (Wine werij mod) 
 WsBtre beflowen 
 On dreor sele ; 
 Dreoje^ se min wine 
 Micle mod ceare, 
 He jemon to oft 
 Wynlicran wic. 
 Wabi^-Sam^ 
 De sceal of lanjo^e 
 Leofes abidan. 
 
 Of the far country ; 
 
 In which my friend sitteth 
 
 Beneath the stony mountain, 
 
 Hoary with the storm. 
 
 (My companion weary in his spirit) 
 
 The waters streaming 
 
 Around his dreary abode ; 
 
 This my friend sufFereth 
 
 Great sorrow of mind. 
 
 And remembereth too often 
 
 His happier home. 
 
 Woe shall be to them 
 
 That shall to length 
 
 Of life abide. 
 
 m a 
 
 VIII. 
 THE RUINED WALL- STONE. 
 
 Leaf 123. 
 
 This specimen was left by the late Author of these Illustrations 
 very imperfect state of preparation : the Latin translation had 
 
 1 I conceive the author here returns to the moral reflections commenced in 
 the lines " Ascyle jeonj man," &c., which were, with much natural feeling, 
 interrupted by the remembrance of his friend's exile and sorrows, suggested 
 by the mention of a far country; the passage from "D^et min freond site^" 
 to " Wynlicran wic " being parenthetical. The general tenor of these moral 
 reflections appears to be, " Let not the young presume in their prosperous for- 
 tune, for whosoever shall attain to length of days is destined also to the en- 
 durance of ill." 
 
250 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 not received any revision, consisting only of scanty notes in pencil 
 on the margin of his transcript ; and the few first lines of the metri- 
 cal version were alone completed. The Editor was unwilUng, how- 
 ever, to suppress a fragment of so much interest, and so superior, 
 both in picturesque description and in the tone of moral feeling 
 which pervades it, to the great mass of Saxon poetry : he h&o there- 
 fore ventured, although altogether unpractised in poetical compo- 
 sition, to fill up the chasms of the metrical version ; distinguishing, 
 however, his own rude attempts by the ItaUc character. 
 
 The reader will be reminded, in the contrast between past 
 grandeur and actual desolation thus presented by the ancient Scald, 
 of the more elaborate delineation of a modern author, the cele- 
 brated description of Dinevor Castle in Dyer's "Grongar Hill;* 
 but a still more interesting parallel, because drawn from the poetry 
 of a period equally remote and imperfectly civilized, will be found 
 among the early bards of Wales, in Llywarch Hen's Elegy on Urien 
 Reged — " Yr aelwyd hon," &c. 
 
 This hearth — deserted by the shout — 
 
 More habitual on its floor 
 
 Was the mead, and the talking of the mead-drinkers. 
 
 This hearth — will it not be covered with nettles ? 
 
 While its defender was alive 
 
 More accustomed there was the needy stranger. 
 
 This hearth — will it not be covered with sod ? 
 In the lifetime of Owain and Elphin 
 Its cauldron boiled the pre}'. 
 
 This hearths-will it not be covered with hoary fungi ? 
 
 More accustomed around its viands 
 
 The brave ones dauntless in the sword stroke. 
 
EXETER MANUSCRIPT. 251 
 
 This hearth — ^\dil it not be covered with spreading brambles ? 
 
 Blazing logs were upon it. 
 
 And the accustomed gifts of Reged. 
 
 This hearth — wall it not be covered with thorns ? 
 More accustomed to it the assembled ring 
 Of Owain's companions. 
 
 This hearth — will it not be covered with ants ? 
 More accustomed the bright torches 
 And blameless societies. 
 
 This hearth — will it not be turned up by swine ? 
 More accustomed the clamour of men, 
 And circhng horns of the banquet. 
 
 This buttress here — and that one there — 
 
 More accustomed around them 
 
 An army's clamour, and the path of melody. 
 
 It has appeared to the Editor that some connexion may exist 
 between the subject of the present specimen and the history of 
 Finsborough already detailed in a former article of this Appendix, 
 since both cities were under the dominion of the Jutes, and both 
 appear to have perished by a similar catastrophe. 
 
 THE RUINED WALL-STONE. 
 
 Rear'D and wrought full workmanly 
 By earth's old giant progeny 
 The wall-stone proudly stood. It fell 
 When bower, and hall, and citadel. 
 And lofty roof, and barrier gate, 
 And tower and turret bow'd to fate. 
 
2,52 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 And wrapt in flame and drench'd in gore 
 The lofty burgh might stand no more. 
 Beneath the Jutes' long vanish'd reign. 
 Her masters ruled the subject plain ; 
 But they have moulder' d side hy side — 
 The vassal crowd, the chieftain's pride ; 
 And hard the grasp of earth's embrace, 
 That shrouds for ever all the race. 
 So fade they, countless and unknown, 
 The generations that are gone ^ 
 
 Fair rose her towers in spiry height, 
 From bower of pride and palace bright, 
 Echoing with shoiit of warriors free, 
 And the gay mead-hall's revelry ; 
 Till Fate's stern hour and Slaughter's day 
 Swept in one ruin all away, 
 And hush'd in common silence all, 
 War-shout and voice of festival. 
 Their towers of strength are humbled low, 
 Theii^ halls of mirth waste ruins now. 
 That seem to mourn, so sad and drear, 
 Their masters' blood-stain'd sepulchre. 
 The purple bower of regal state. 
 Roofless and stain'd and desolate. 
 Is scarce from meaner relics known, 
 The fragments of the shatter' d town* 
 There store of heroes, rich as bold, 
 Elate of soul, and bright with gold, 
 Donn'd the proud garb of war that shone 
 With silvery band and precious stone : 
 
 * Here some mutilated lines of the original, which appear to mention 
 Rasghar or Rsegnar and Readfah as ancient kings of the city, are omitted. 
 
EXETER MANUSCRIPT. 
 
 £53 
 
 So marcNd they once in gorgeous train 
 In that high seat of wide domain. 
 Hoz€ firmly stood in massy proof 
 The marble vault and fretted roof, 
 Till, all-resistless in its force, 
 The fiery torrent rolled its course, 
 And the red wave and glowing fiood 
 Wrapt all beneath its bosom broad. 
 
 Leaf 123 
 WRiETLiC is ^is wealstan 
 Wyrde jebraecon, 
 Burj stede burston, 
 Brosnad enta jeweorc ; 
 Hrofas sind jehrorene, 
 Hreos jetorras, 
 * Hrim-jeat-berofen ; 
 Hrim on lime, 
 
 Scearde scur beorje, 
 Scorene jedrorene, 
 ^Ido under Eotene. 
 Eor^ jrap hafa'S 
 Waldend \vyrhtan 
 Forweorone jeleorene, 
 Heard jripe hrusan ; 
 O^ hund cnea 
 Wer^eoda jewitan. 
 Oft "Sses waej jebad 
 Rasjhar and Readfah 
 Rice aefter o'Srum , 
 
 . last line. 
 
 Affabre factum est hoc cedifi- 
 
 Fato disruptum, [cium 
 
 Urbium sedes corruunt, 
 
 Pereunt gigantum opera ; 
 
 Tecta sunt devastate, 
 
 Turres ruituri, 
 
 Amplis portis privati ; 
 
 Fuligo est super calcem [i.e. calce 
 
 obductos parietes], 
 Erasa est urbs pulcra, 
 Direpta et sanguine perfusa, 
 QucB oUmfuit sub Jutis, 
 Terra amplexus tenet 
 Principes operariosque, 
 Extinctos mortuosque, 
 Duro telluris compressii; 
 Donee centum genera 
 Hominum discesserunt. 
 
 Forsan pro * rum jeat/ porta ampla. 
 
254 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Ofstonden under stormum 
 Steap jeap jedrea 
 
 iHh Codex 
 Beorht waeron burh rseced, 
 Burn-sele monije, 
 Heah horn jestreon ; 
 
 Here swej micel ; 
 Meodo-heall monij, 
 ^ ^4 [/?2«/i ?] dreama ful. 
 O^'Se ^set onwende 
 Wyrd seo swySe ; 
 Crunjon walo wide, 
 C woman wol-dajas, 
 Swylt eal fornom 
 Secj-rof wera ; 
 Wurdon hyra wijsteal 
 Westen sta^olas, 
 Brosnade beorjsteal. 
 Betende crun^on 
 Hergas to hrusan. 
 For^on 'Sas hofa dreorjia^ ; 
 And ^ses teafor jeapu, 
 Tijelum sceade^, 
 Hrost beajas-rof 
 Hryre wonj jecronj, 
 Gebrocen to beorjum. 
 Daer hi beorn monig, 
 Glcedmod and jold beorht, 
 
 hiulcus est.'] 
 
 Splendida trant urbis (zdijicia, 
 
 ^des permultcBf 
 
 Altis pinnis ornatcz (vel potius 
 
 Ahum erat cornu possessionum 
 
 ejus); 
 Exercitus vox magna ; 
 Medi aula plurima, 
 Hominum gaudii plena. 
 Donee supervenerit 
 Fatum asperiim ; 
 Occubuerunt strage lata, 
 Venerunt prcdlii dies, 
 Exitium omnes rapuit 
 Bello claros heroas; 
 Erant eorum propugnacula 
 Desertcz sedes, 
 Diruta urbis statio, 
 Frceliati occubuerunt 
 Milites in terram. 
 Ergo h(Bc habitatio luget; 
 Et hiBc purpurea (regalis domus) 
 Tegulis divulsis, [prona, 
 
 Cubiculum annuliferi herois 
 Ruina in campum prolapsa est, 
 Inter urbis fragment a, 
 Ibi juvenis rnultus, 
 LcKtus animo et auro lucens, 
 
 ^ This Rtine, which represents the letter M, is named Man, and here ap- 
 pears to stand for that name. 
 
EXETER MANUSCRIPT. -^ 255 
 
 Gleoma jefrstwed/ Splendid^ ornatus, 
 
 Wlonc and winjal, Audax, et gaudio gestieris, 
 
 Wij-hyrstum scan, Indusiis hellicisfulsit, 
 
 Seah on sync on sylfor, ProspexitmetaUum,argentumque, 
 
 On searo pmmas, Piilcrasque gemmas, 
 
 On ead on asht, Divitias, possessioiiesque, 
 
 On eorcan stan. Et lapides pretiosos. 
 
 On "Sas beorhtan burj In hac splendidd civitate 
 
 Bradan rices Lati regni 
 
 Stan hofu stodan ; Lapidei fornices stahant ; 
 
 ^J:^tream hate wearp Flumen igneum invasit 
 
 Widan wylme, Lato cEstu, 
 
 Weal eal befenj Murum totum occupatit 
 
 Beorhtan bosme. JLucido sinu. 
 
 Dasr "Sa ba'Su waeron 
 
 Hat on hre-Sre 
 
 Deet wses hySelic. ' 
 
 Leton 'Son jeoton * * 
 
 ****** 
 
 \C(£-tera Codicis mutilatione desunt.^ 
 
256 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. IV. 
 
 KING ALFRED'S 
 METRICAL PARAPHRASE 
 
 OF 
 
 THE POETICAL PORTIONS 
 
 OF 
 
 BOETHIUS 'DE CONSOLATIONE PHILOSOPHIC.' 
 
 Although it is possible that Alfred may not have found 
 leisure to compose or translate all the works attributed to him 
 by Bale and other antiquaries, there is yet unquestionable au- 
 thority for his having enriched our language with a version of the 
 well-known treatise of Boethius De Consolatione Philosophicd, 
 WiUiam of Malmesbury not only relates the fact, but describes 
 the manner in which the illustrious author was enabled to sur- 
 mount the various difficulties of his original, — difficulties both of 
 style and matter, which must otherwise have formed a considerable 
 bar to the labours of one who had applied himself only at an ad- 
 vanced age to the study of the Latin language, and who could 
 scarcely be expected to have brought to his task a competent 
 knowledge of the philosophical tenets of Grecian antiquity. Asser 
 (it appears from this testimony) first interpreted or paraphrased 
 the work, to which Alfred afterwards gave an English dress. The 
 celebrated Junius transcribed this version from a manuscript in 
 the Bodleian Library, adding the various readings of one yet 
 earlier ^ (if I understand him rightly) in the Cottonian. This tran- 
 
 ' " melioris notes" 
 
KING ALFRED'S BOETHIUS. 
 
 «57 
 
 script was afterwards published in the year I698 by C. RawUn- 
 son, of Queen's College, Oxford, without any attempt at commen- 
 tary or explanation. 
 
 The variations of the two manuscripts are for the most part 
 very trifling. In one instance, however, there is a remarkable dif- 
 ference. The metrical parts in the one (the Bodleian MS.) being 
 translated into prose, while in the other they are rendered very 
 paraphrastically and elaborately into verse. The lines given in 
 the note below * constitute the evidence on which this metrical 
 
 * Dus iElfred us 
 Eald spell reahte, 
 Cyninj West Sexna, 
 Craeft meldode 
 LeoWyrhta list. 
 Him waes lust micel 
 Daet he ^'iossum leodum 
 Leo^ spellode 
 Monnum myrjen, 
 Mislice cwidas, 
 Dy leas aelin^e 
 Utadrife. 
 Selflicne secj 
 Donne he swelces lyt 
 Gym^ for his jilpe, 
 Ic sceal giet sprecan, 
 Fon on fitte, 
 Folc cu^ne raed 
 Haele^um secjean ; 
 Hliste se ^e wille. 
 
 Ita Alfredus nobis 
 Antiquum opus exposuit, 
 Rex Saxonum Occidentaliunif 
 Artem prodidit 
 Scientiam poeticam. 
 Illifuit volupe imprimis 
 Quod hisce populis 
 Carmen enarraret 
 Hominihus jucundum. 
 Miscellanea verba, 
 Ne tcedium 
 Excitaret. 
 
 Proprice laadis mentionem 
 Quandoquidem ipse ita parcc 
 Efferre studuit in ostentationem, 
 Ego tamen prcedicabo, 
 Recipiam me in cantilenam, 
 Monitum populo cognitum 
 Firis dicer e; 
 Audiat qui velii. 
 
 The 13th and following lines appear to allude to the modest manner 
 in which the royal paraphrast, in the close of his own prose introduc- 
 tion, had apologized for the probable defects of his version. " Not- 
 withstanding," says his encomiast, " he thus modestly suppressed his 
 own praises, yet I will proclaim them aloud in my lay, as beino- uni- 
 versally admitted through his nation." 
 
 S 
 
258 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 version is attributed to the royal paraphrast; they are in the ori- 
 giual MS. subjoined to the prose introduction. 
 
 The style of these iElfredian versions is distinguished from that 
 of the Caedmonian school by its great simplicity of diction, and the 
 absence of those poetical phrases which are so characteristic of the 
 latter, and which appear to have been in the same common use 
 with its followers as the expressions /3 />) /J^iajxoio, — xoitu ^pem acti 
 xuToi ^ufjiov, — oiKocfjiUTov TTV^, — TToifji^svci \uclov, and the like, were with 
 ■ Homer and his imitators. 
 
 The inferences which Hickes has deduced from this difference 
 of styles against the antiquity of the supposed Caedmonian re- 
 mains have been already stated and considered.^ 
 
 It is not however to be concluded, from what has been men- 
 tioned as to the absence of particular expressions of a poetical na- 
 ture, that the language of Alfred is either prosaic or destitute of 
 ornament. We should not be justified in attributing these defects 
 to Euripides simply because we do not find in him the laboured 
 and unusual phraseology of iEschylus ; and the difference between 
 the works of Alfred and the reputed Caedmon is nearly of this na- 
 ture. It is possible, too, that the learned monarch having a clas- 
 sical model before his eyes, and wishing to make his translation as 
 generally useful as possible, may have abstained purposely from a 
 mode of composition which frequently ofTended against the rules 
 of good taste, and was occasionally so obscure as to offer rather 
 enigmas than metaphors. His philosophical genius must have 
 shown him the defects of this inflated style, and its evident impro- 
 priety for the uses of moral and didactic poetry. In general, his 
 taste appears to have led him to the use of the simplest language. 
 Thus in metaphorical passages, where even we should probably 
 adopt language somewhat elevated above common use (though not 
 strained to the absurd height of the Islandic phraseology), he is 
 content with the most obvious and simple. Thus where we should 
 
 ' Vide p. 185. 
 
KING ALFRED'S BOETHIUS. 259 
 
 speak of the gales of adverse fortune, and the storms of care, he 
 scruples not to use the terms — " Rain of sorrows," and " Wind of 
 trouble." In this and some other respects his diction is less highly 
 laboured, and perhaps in a purer taste, than that of his original. 
 
 The work in question has hitherto been called a translation of 
 the Boethian Metres. Its execution, however, by no means cor- 
 responds with our notions of the fidelity expected from one who 
 should profess to render an ancient author into any modern lan- 
 guage. Alfred frequently omits whole sentences together, and yet 
 more frequently expands to an almost immoderate length those 
 which he selects for imitation. 
 
 This latter practice he might certainly be in a manner con- 
 strained to adopt by the extreme conciseness of his originals, a 
 conciseness which renders many parts of them almost incompre- 
 hensible to persons not previously acquainted with the philosophi- 
 cal principles of their author. Both in his interpretation of these, 
 and even of passages in which the sense is to us infinitely more ob- 
 vious, he must doubtless have been influenced by the wish of 
 rendering them as intelligible as possible to the persons for whose 
 information and improvement they were iatended, — persons whom 
 he must have well known to be destitute both of literature and phi- 
 losophy. Thus, where Boethius simply has 
 
 Tibi serviat ultima Thule, 
 
 The paraphrast has 
 
 Thule, that isle that rears 
 Its head far westward to the ocean-wave, 
 Whose summer knows no night, or winter day. 
 
 In another passage he illustrates the supposed situation and im- 
 mobihty of the earth, with respect to the moveable heaven which 
 was beUeved to surround it, by the position of the yolk in the centre 
 of the egg. 
 
 tor the former practice it will not perhaps be so easy to find an 
 apology, the parts omitted being frequently such as no translator 
 
 S 2 
 
260 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 would have rejected, either on the score of obscurity or want of 
 poetical beauty. 
 
 The Metres of Boethius may perhaps be divided, with reference 
 to their subjects, into the elegiac, the didactic, and the theological. 
 It has been attempted to translate one example in each style, and 
 these three specimens will suffice to give a tolerably accurate no- 
 tion of the general manner in which the royal paraphrast has exe- 
 cuted his task. 
 
 Carmina qui quondam studio Jlorente peregi, 
 
 Flebilis, heu, mastos cogor inire modos. 
 Ecce mihi lacercB dictant scrihenda CamencR ; 
 
 Et veris elegi fletibus ora rigant. 
 Has saltern nullus potuit pervincere terrorf 
 
 Ne nostrum comites prosequerentur iter. 
 Gloria felicis olim viridisque juventcd 
 
 Solatur masti nunc meafata senis. 
 Venit enim properata malis inopina senectus, 
 
 Et dolor atatemjussit inesse suam. 
 Intempestivi funduntur vertice cani, 
 
 Et tremit effato corpore laxa cutis. 
 Mors hominumfelix, qua se nee dulcibus annis 
 
 Inserit, et mxstis scepe vocata venit. 
 EheUj qtmm surdd miseros avertitur aure, 
 
 Etjientes oculos claudere sava negat! 
 Dum levibus malejida bonis fortuna faveret, 
 
 Pene caput tristis merserat hora meum. 
 Nunc quia fallacem mutavit nubila vultum, 
 
 P rot rail it ingratas impia vita moras. 
 Quid mefelicem toties jactastis, amici P 
 
 Qui cecidit, stabili non erat ille gradu. 
 
 I, THAT in happier days attuned to joy 
 The frequent voice, now sad and woe- begone, 
 A captive wretch, must sigh and sing of sorrow. 
 Sore has that sorrow marred the poet-fire. 
 
KING ALFRED'S BOETHIUS. 
 
 261 
 
 That wont of old, while pleasure yet was mine, 
 To breathe so fair and free the genuine lay. 
 Now my mind wanders oft, the choicer phrase 
 Mingling perchance with rude and uncouth speech. 
 Once the world's wealth was mine : blind that I was 
 And senseless ! it hath lured me to my fall. 
 And left me in this dark and loathsome cell 
 Bereft of hope and comfort. Vain delights ! 
 Since thus ye have deserted me, my soul 
 Henceforth shall know you, faithless as ye are ! 
 How could ye tell me once, ye flattering friends. 
 That I was born to bliss ? False was that word, 
 For human joys are frail, and short of stay. 
 
 Hw^T ic lio^a fela 
 Lustlice jeo 
 Sane on sjelum, 
 Nu sceal siofijende, 
 Wope jewaejed, 
 Wreccea jiomor, 
 Sinjan sarcwidas. 
 Me "Sios siccetunj 
 Hafa'S ajaeled "Ses jeocsa, 
 Dat ic "Sa jed ne msej 
 Gefejean swa faejre, 
 Deah ic fela po ^a 
 Sette so-S cwida, 
 Donne ic on sselum waes. 
 Oft ic nu miscyrre 
 Cu^e spraece 
 And "Seah uncu^re. 
 -^r hwilum fond me 
 Das woruld ssel'Sa : 
 
 Wei hwaes blindne ; 
 On ^is dimme hoi 
 Dysine forlaeddon, 
 And me ^a berypton 
 Raedes and frofre. 
 For heora untreowum, 
 De ic him aefre betst 
 Truwian sceolde, 
 Hi me towendon 
 Heora bacu bitere. 
 And heora bhsse from. 
 Forhwam wolde je, 
 Weoruld frynd mine, 
 Secjan o^^e sinjan 
 Daet ic jesaellic mon 
 Waere on weorulde? 
 Ne synt "Sa word so^. 
 Nu 'Sa jeseel^a ne majon 
 Simle jewunigan. 
 
 It will be immediately perceived that Alfred has omitted many 
 of the lines, and not given very scrupulously the sense of others. 
 
262 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 The second specimen, which may be regarded as of a didactic 
 nature, is the 4th metre of the 2nd book. 
 
 QuiSQUis volet perennem 
 
 Cautus porter e sedem, 
 Stabilisqiie nee sonori 
 
 Sterni jiatihus Euri, 
 Et Jiuctibus minantem 
 
 Curat spernere pontum, 
 Montis cacumen alti, 
 
 JBihulas vitet arenas. ■ 
 
 Illud protervus Auster 
 
 Totis viribus urget ; 
 Hcs pendulum solutcB 
 
 Pondus ferre recusant. 
 Fugiens periculosam 
 
 Sortem sedis amcena, 
 Humili domum memento 
 
 Certusjigere saxo. 
 Quamvis tonet minis 
 
 Miscens aquora ventus, 
 Tu conditus quieti, 
 
 Felix robore valli, 
 Duces serenus (Bvum, 
 
 Ridens atheris iras. 
 
 The introduction of Alfred has been preserved. He has in se- 
 veral cases prefixed a few lines of similar import. 
 
 Once more the Goddess, as she wont, exchanged 
 Her speech for song; and thus she sweetly told 
 Of truth and virtue. " Never yet I heard 
 Of mortal, that might fix his high-roof M hall 
 Unshaken on the mountain's topmost brow : 
 Nor have I known among the sons of e^rth 
 Him that might harbour in a heart of pride 
 Wisdom and wisdom's works. Say, hast thou seen 
 
9.63 
 
 Him that could rear upon the fleeting sand 
 
 His lasting tower of strength ? So fares the man 
 
 That wisdom's goodly fabric fain would raise 
 
 Where the foul brood of earth-bom appetites 
 
 O'erspread the soul; e'en as that sand shall drink 
 
 The rain of heaven, so the insatiate rage 
 
 Of this world's wealth drinks dry the golden shower, 
 
 Nor cools its thirst withal. Short space endures 
 
 The pile that crowns the mountain ; the wild wind 
 
 Sweeps by, and it is gone : rear it on sand 
 
 Swoll'n by the rain, that treacherous soil forsakes 
 
 Its tottering base. So falls the soul of man, 
 
 Devious and driven from her true place of rest, 
 
 When the rude gales of passion and the flood 
 
 Of worldly care and vain solicitude 
 
 Relentless press on her. What man would find 
 
 The joy that knows not failure or deceit, 
 
 Swift let him fly the world's delusive pomp, 
 
 There for his soul her secret cell to work, 
 
 Where he may find some lowly corner-stone 
 
 That ne'er may fail him, though the unpitying storm 
 
 Rage round it, and the ceaseless blast assail. 
 
 E'en such a mansion in its humble state 
 
 The Almighty One disdains not to regard ; 
 
 And wisdom enters there a willing guest. 
 
 There shelter'd may he taste a life of bliss 
 
 That knows nor fear nor failure. For the wise. 
 
 Reckless alike of earthly good or harm. 
 
 Place not their hope in aught save that which lasts 
 
 When the world's wealth hath perish'd. Thus upheld 
 
 By the great Source of Good, they shape their course. 
 
 In vain the stormy cares of hfe assail them. 
 
 In vain the rude blast and the whelming surge 
 
 Sweep to destruction all their earthly good." 
 
«264 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Da onjon se AVisdom, 
 His jewunan, 
 Fyljan jlio wordum, 
 Gol jyd aest spelle, 
 Sonj so^ cwida, 
 Sumne "tSa jeta. 
 Cwag^ he ne herde 
 Dat on heane munt 
 Monna aenij 
 Meahte asettan 
 Healle hrof faeste : 
 Ne 'Searf eac hasle^a nan 
 Wenan ^ass weorces, 
 Dast he Wisdom mseje 
 Wi^ ofermetta 
 iEfre jemenjan. 
 Herdes "Su sefre 
 Daette aenij mon 
 On sond beorjas 
 Settan meahte 
 Faeste healle. 
 Ne magj eac fira nan 
 Wisdom timbran 
 Dffir ^aer woruld jitsunj 
 Beorj oferbraede-S ; 
 Baru sond willa"S 
 Ren forsweljan, 
 Swa de^ ricra nu 
 Grundleas jitsunj 
 Gilpes and sehta 
 Gedrince^ to dryjjum 
 Dreosendne welan. 
 And ^eali "Saes ^earfan 
 
 Ne bi^ ^urst aceled. 
 Ne ma&5 haele^a jehwaem 
 Hus on munte 
 Lanje jelaestan : 
 For^aem him lunjre on 
 Swift wind swape^ : 
 Ne bi^ sond "Son ma 
 Wi^ micelne ren 
 Manna aenjum, - 
 Huses hirde, 
 Ac hit hreosan wile 
 Sijan sond «fter rene. 
 Swa bio^ anra jehwaes 
 Monna Mod sefan 
 Miclum awejede. 
 Of hiora stede styrede, 
 Donne he strong dreceS 
 Wind under wolcnum, 
 Woruld earfo^a ; 
 O^^e hit eft se re^a 
 Ren onhrere^ 
 Sumes ymbho^an 
 Unjemet jemen. 
 Ac se ^e -Sa ecan 
 Ajan wille, 
 So^an jesael'Sa, 
 He sceal swi'Se flion 
 Disse worulde wlite ; 
 Wyrce him si'S^an 
 His Modes hus, 
 Daer he maeje findan 
 Ea^metta stan, 
 Unij metfaestne. 
 
KING ALFRED'S BOETHIUS. 
 
 26- 
 
 Grundweal jearone, 
 Se to jlidan ne "Searf, 
 Deah hit wecje wind 
 Woruld earfo"Sa, 
 O^'Se ymbhojena 
 Ormete ren. 
 For^aem on ^vere dene 
 Drihten selfa 
 Dara eadmetta 
 Eardfasst wunija"^ ; 
 Daer se Wisdom a^ 
 Wuna^ on jemyndum. 
 For^on orsorj lif 
 Ealnij Iseda^, 
 Woruld men wise, 
 Buton wendinje, 
 Donne he eall forsih'S 
 Eor^hcu jood 
 And eac "Sara yfela 
 Orsorh wuna^, 
 Hopa^ to ^am ecum 
 
 De •^aer aefter cuma'^. 
 Hine "Sonne sejhwonan 
 ^Imihtij Good 
 Sinjallice 
 Simle jehealde'S. 
 Anwunijendne 
 His ajenum 
 Modes jesel^um, 
 ©urh metodes pfe, 
 Deah hine se wind 
 Woruld earfo'Sa 
 Swi^e swence. 
 And hine sinjale 
 Geraen jaele, 
 Donne him jrimme 
 On woruld saelSa 
 M^ind wra"Se blawe^S, 
 Deah ^e hine 
 Ealnej se ymbhoja 
 Dyssa woruld sael'Sa 
 Wra^e drecce. 
 
 The third specimen which I have selected is a part of the 
 well-known Address to the Deity, contained in the third book of 
 the original. The translation of Alfred is in this case highly para- 
 phrastic. 
 
 O QUI perpetud mundum ratione gubernas, 
 Terra? um calique Sator, qui tempiis ab ctvo 
 Irejubes, stabilisque manens das cuncta moveri ; 
 Quern non externcK pepulerunt finger e causcB 
 Materia fluitantis opus ; verum insita summi 
 Forma boni, livore carens : Tii cuncta superno 
 Ducis ab exemplo, pulcrum pulcerrimiis ipse 
 
266 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 Mundum mente gerens, similique in imagine formans, 
 
 Perfectasque juhens perfectum absolvere partes : 
 
 Tu numeris elementa ligas, utfrigorajlammis, 
 
 Arida conveniant Uquidis, ne purio?' ignis 
 
 Evolet, aut mersas deducant pondera terras : 
 
 Tu triplicis mediam natures cuncta moventem 
 
 Connectens animam, per consona membra resolvis, 
 
 QucB cum secta duos motum glomeravit in orbes, 
 
 In semet reditura meaty mentemque profundam 
 
 Circuit f et simili convertit imagine codum : 
 
 Tu causis animas paribus, vitasque minores 
 
 Provehis, et levibus sublimes curribus aptans, 
 
 In ccelum terramque seris, quas lege benigna 
 
 Ad te conversas reducifacis igne reverti. 
 
 Da, Pater, augustam menti conscendere sedem ; 
 
 Da font em lustrare boni ; da luce repertd 
 
 In te conspicuos animi defigere visus : 
 
 Disjice terrencR nebulas et pondera molis, 
 
 At que tuo splendore mica : Tu namque seremim, 
 
 Tu requies iranquilla piis : te cernere, finis: 
 
 Principium, vector, dux, semita, terminus idem. 
 
 O THOU, whose works in mute amazement hold 
 Earth's wisest sons, all glorious and all great, 
 Eternal Lord ! how well and wondrously, 
 Seen or unseen, thy creatures hast thou shaped. 
 With gentle sway and sovereign intellect 
 W ielding at will this beauteous universe ! 
 To this our middle earth, from first to last. 
 The seasons, that now pass and now return. 
 In good and seemly order thou hast dealt. 
 Thou wisely guidest, as thy pleasure wills. 
 Thy creatures ever moving, — still thyself 
 Immoveable ; — for none exist before thee, 
 
KING ALFRED'S BOETHIUS. 267 
 
 Greater or mightier or equal known. 
 
 No need compelled thee — for thou canst not need — 
 
 To frame thine universal work ; but all 
 
 Of thine own power and pleasure hast thou made, 
 
 The world and all its wonders ; since to thee 
 
 Nought could they yield of profit or of praise. 
 
 Who deems aright, what can he deem the whole 
 
 But one great offspring of eternal goodness ? 
 
 Thine own — for goodness and thyself are one, 
 
 And nought is good without thee. 
 
 Seek we to learn what that thy goodness is ? 
 
 Almighty goodness ; ever one with thee. 
 
 It hath no semblance of our mortal nature ; 
 
 For all we taste or know of good on earth 
 
 From thee alone proceeds, in thee alone 
 
 By envy unalloyed ; for none can move 
 
 Envy, where none is equal : and what mind 
 
 Save thine, the all-wise One, could in one vast thought 
 
 Sum up the form and substance of all good ? 
 
 Eala min Drihten, Masjne and crsefte. 
 
 Bffit ^u eart selmihtij ! Du -Sysne middan jeard, 
 
 Micel modilic From fruman «rest 
 
 Masr^um jefreeje For'S o^ ende, 
 
 And wundorlic Tidum to-daeldes : 
 
 Witena jehwylcum! Swa hit jetaesost wass 
 
 Hwast "Su, ece God, Endebyrdes, 
 
 Ealra jesceafta Deet hi sejhwae'Ser 
 
 Wundorlice wel jesceope, Ge arfara^ 
 
 Unjesewenlicra, Ge eftcuma'S. 
 And eac swa same ^esewenhcra ; Du ^e unstilla 
 
 Softe wealdest Ajna jesceafta 
 
 Scirra jesceafta To ^inum willan 
 
 Mid jesceadwisum Wislice astyrest ; 
 
268 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 And "Se self wuncest 
 
 Swi'Se stille, 
 
 Unanwendendlica ; 
 
 For"S simle 
 
 Nis nan mihtijra, 
 
 Ne nan maerra, 
 
 Ne jeond ealle "Sa jesceaft, 
 
 Efnlica ^in : 
 
 Ne "Se asnij ned ^earf. 
 
 Noes aefre jiet 
 
 Ealra "Sara weorca 
 
 De "Su jeworht hafast ; 
 
 Ac mid 'Sinum willan 
 
 Du hit worhtes eall. 
 
 And mid anwalde 
 
 Dinum ajenum 
 
 Weorulde jeworhtest, 
 
 And wuhta jehwast; 
 
 Deah ^e nseneju 
 
 Ned ^earf wasre 
 
 Eallra 'Sara maer'Sa. 
 
 Is "Sat micel jecynd 
 
 Dines joodes, 
 
 Denc^ ymb se ^e wile ; 
 
 For 'Son hit is eall an, 
 ^Ices "Sincjes, 
 Du and Sat ^in jood : 
 Hit is "Sin ajen ; 
 For'Saem hit his utan 
 Ne com auht to "Se. 
 Ac ic jeorne wat 
 Daet "Sin joodnes is ' 
 ^Imihtij jood, 
 Eall mid "Se selfum : 
 Hit is unjelic 
 Urum jecynde ; 
 Us is utan cymen 
 Eall "Sa we habba'S 
 Gooda on jrundum 
 From Gode selfum. 
 Nseft "Su to jenejum 
 And an jenumenne ; 
 For-Sam-Se nan "Sinj 
 Nis "Sin jelica : 
 Ne huru senij selcraeftijre 
 For'Saem 'Su eal jood 
 Anes jeSeahte 
 Dines jeSohtest. 
 
 Although the poems from which these extracts have been made 
 cannot, strictly speaking, be considered as original works, and 
 though from their nature we cannot expect to gather from them 
 any material information with respect to the manners or opinions 
 of the age in which they were written, they have still many claims 
 upon our attention. To say nothing of the interest which they must 
 naturally derive from the rank, the virtues, and the abilities of their 
 illustrious author, the style in which they are written is in all pro- 
 bability that which was at the time of their production esteemed 
 
KING ALFRED'S BOETHIUS. 269 
 
 the purest and most correct form of our language. In the eyes of 
 the curious they will possibly obtain an additional value, as being 
 by some centuries the earliest translation extant of a classical 
 author into any European language, and if the opinion of Hickes 
 be well founded, nearly the earliest of Anglo-Saxon Poetry. 
 
 Further specimens of Alfred's Boethius may be found in the 
 first volume of Hickes's Thesaurus, and in the second of Mr. Tur- 
 ner's Anglo-Saxon History. Nor is the edition of the whole work, 
 published by Mr. Rawlinson at the latter end of the seventeenth 
 century, a book of rare occurrence. 
 
270 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. V. 
 
 NORMAN-SAXON 
 
 FRAGMENT ON DEATH, 
 
 This inedited fragment of Anglo-Saxon poetry occurs towards 
 the conclusion of a manuscript volume of Homilies contained in 
 the Bodleian Library, and supposed by Wanley (who notices it in 
 his Catalogue affixed to Hickes's Thesaurus, page lo,) to have been 
 v^^ritten about the time of King Henry the Second. 
 
 This short composition appears to present a specimen, not alto- 
 gether uninteresting, of our language and poetry, at the latest pe- 
 riod at which they could fairly be denominated Saxon, and will 
 therefore properly form the concluding article of this Appendix. 
 Productions of this asra are not (either in print or in manuscript) 
 of very frequent occurrence. 
 
 The metre in which this poem is written is evidently the allite- 
 rative one, universally adopted by the Anglo-Saxon writers of 
 verse. Its rhythm appears, like that of its prototypes, to resemble 
 the Trochaic or DactyUc measures of the Ancients, substituting 
 however, as in all modern languages, emphasis in the place of 
 quantity. It seems to me that it is inferior in regularity both of 
 numbers and alliteration to the earlier specimens of Saxon poetry 
 preserved to us by the labours of Hickes and Junius. This, among 
 other reasons, would induce me to place the time of its composi- 
 tion lower than the sera of the Norman Conquest. 
 
NORMAN-SAXON FRAGMENT ON DEATH. 
 
 271 
 
 MS. Bodl. 343. 
 
 *' De wes bold jebyld 
 Er "Su iboren were ; 
 De wes mold imynt 
 Er "Su of moder come. 
 De hit nes no idiht, 
 Ne ^eo deopnes imeten ; 
 Nes til iloced, 
 H u lonj hit ^e were, 
 !Nu me ^e brinjae^ 
 Wer 'Su beon scealt, 
 Nu me sceal 'Se meten 
 And 'Sa mold seo'S^a : 
 Me bi^ no "^ine hus 
 Healice itimbred, 
 Hit bi"S unheh and lah; 
 Donne 'Su bist 'Serinne, 
 De helewajes beoS 1^5^* 
 Sidwajes unheje. 
 
 TiBlfuit domus exstructa 
 Priusquam natus es ; 
 Tibifuit tellus parata 
 Priusquam e matre venisti. 
 Celsitudo non est constituta, 
 Neque altitudo mensurata ; 
 Non est obserata 
 (Quam diu tibifuerit) 
 Donee ego teferam 
 Ubi manere debes, 
 Donee ego te metiar, 
 Et cubile terrenum. 
 Nequaquam est ttia domus 
 Alte adijicata, 
 Est ea non alia ac humilis; 
 Ubi es intus, 
 
 Spatium a cake humile est, 
 A latere non alt urn. 
 
 Death speaks. 
 
 For thee was a house built 
 Ere thou wert born, 
 For thee was a mould shapen 
 Ere thou of {tht/) mother camest. 
 Its height is not determined, 
 Nor its depth measured, , 
 
 Nor is it closed up 
 (However long it may be) 
 Untill I thee bring 
 
 Where thou shalt remain, 
 Untill 1 shall measure thee 
 And the sod of earth. 
 Thy house is not 
 Highly built (timbered). 
 It is unhigh and low ; 
 When thou art in it 
 The heel- ways are low. 
 The side-ways unhigh. 
 
272 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 
 
 De rof bi^ ybild 
 Deie brost full neh, 
 Swa ^\i scealt in mold 
 Winnen ful cald, 
 Dim me and * deorcae. 
 * Det clen fulaet on hod. 
 Dureleas is ^3di bus, 
 And deorc hit is wi^innen ; 
 Dser '^u bist fest bidyte, 
 And Das^S hefS ^a caeje. 
 La^lic is "Sast eor^ hus. 
 And jrim inne to wunien. 
 Der "Su scealt wunien. 
 And wurmes ^e to-dele-S. 
 Dus 'Su bist ileyd. 
 And ladaest "Sine fronden, 
 
 Fastiffium est exstructum 
 Pectus tuumjuxta, 
 ltd debes in terra 
 Habitare valde frigid^, 
 Obscurd et tenebrosd. 
 
 Janud caret domus ea, 
 
 Et obscurum est intils ; 
 
 Illic es arcth detentus, 
 
 Et Mors habet clavem. 
 
 Odiosa est ea domus terrea, 
 
 Et tristis ad intits habitandum, 
 
 Illic debes versari, 
 
 Et vermes partientur te. 
 
 It a j aces, 
 
 Et linquis amicos iuos, 
 
 The roof is built 
 Thy breast full nigh ; 
 So thou shalt in earth 
 Dwell full cold, 
 Dim, and dark. 
 That clean putrefies . . 
 Doorless is that house. 
 And dark it is within ; 
 
 There thou art fast detained, 
 And Death holds the key. 
 Loathly is that earth-house. 
 And grim to dwell in ; 
 There thou shalt dwell 
 And worms shall share thee. 
 Thus thou art laid 
 And leavest thy friends ; 
 
 * * DeorcsB.' This word in writings of an earlier date is uniformly spelt 
 * deorc,' or ' deorce/ The substitution indeed of the a for the quiescent e, ap- 
 pears not to have prevailed till after the Conquest. This will show that the 
 copy of Csedmon's hymn given by Wanley (page 287 of his Catalogue) is 
 not, as some have supposed, more pure in its orthography than those^pub- 
 lished in Hickes and in Alfred's Bede. 
 
 ^ Of the signification of the last two words in this line I am entirely ig- 
 norant. 
 
NORMAN-SAXON FRAGMENT ON DEATH. 
 
 273 
 
 Nefst ^ti nenne freond 
 De ^e wylle faren to, 
 Da3t aefre wule lokien 
 Hu 'Se "Sast hus ^e like, 
 Dast agfre undon 
 De wule 'Sa dure 
 And "Se aefter haten ; 
 For sone ^u. bist ladlic. 
 And lad to iseonne. 
 
 • Habes nullum amicum 
 Qui te velit adire, 
 Qui unquam spectatum veniet 
 Quomodo tibi domus ea arrideaf, 
 Qui unquam reserare 
 Tibi poterit januam 
 Et te qu&rere ; 
 Citb enim es odiosus, 
 Et teter ad inspiciendum. 
 
 Thou hast no friend 
 That will come to thee. 
 Who will ever inquire 
 How that house liketh thee. 
 Who shall ever open 
 
 For thee the door 
 
 And seek thee. 
 
 For soon thou becomest loathly, 
 
 And hateful to look upon. 
 
 END OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 
 
 Additional Notes to the Song of the Traveller, 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 The Editor is indebted for the following observations to Mr. Price, well 
 known to the literary and antiquarian world from his excellent republication of 
 WartorCs History. 
 
 P. 12. Breoca Brondinjum.] Along account of this person is to be found 
 in Beowulf, cantos viii. and ix. Mr. Turner considers the whole narration as 
 referring to some piratical expeditions of Beowulf; but at that early period 
 of Northern history such an occupation would have been as little disgraceful 
 to the hero, as Thucydides chose to infer it had been in the days of Ulysses. 
 It is rather a tale of rash and fool-hardy enterprize (dol jilpe), as Ilunferth 
 very properly terms it, and whose address to Beowulf makes express mention 
 of Brecca's name : 
 
 Eart ^u se Beowulf 
 
 Se ^e wi^' Breccan wunne 
 
 On sidne sae. P. 40. Ed. Thork. 
 
 The following passage will supply us with another name in the Traveller's 
 Song: 
 
 Da hine (sc. Brecca) on moreen tid Swssne -^ (e'^ele) 
 
 On Hea^o-R(zmis Leof his leodum 
 
 Holm up aet baer Lond Brondinja. 
 Donon he sohte P. 41. Ed. Thork. 
 
 P. 13. Finfolc Walding.] Here we ought to read Fin Folcwalding; that is, 
 Fin the son of Folc-wald, or, as he is called in Beowulf, Folcwalda p. 83. [See 
 the additional notes to Beowulf, where he is traced as the great-grandfather 
 
 T2 
 
276 ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 
 
 of Woden. — Ed.] The Traveller's Song has thrown considerable light on this 
 obscure part of Beowulf. 
 
 P. 13. Hneaf Hocinjum.] The same episode above alluded to contains 
 the name of Hneaf, son of Hildeburh, and apparently married to Holinga, 
 Iloce's daughter. The latter may be presumed to have given name to the 
 Hocings. \ 
 
 Ibid. Wald Woinjum.] Of the chief I have no recollection ; but his people 
 are noticed among the foes of the Weder-Geat, whose attacks might be ex- 
 pected after Beowulf's death. 
 
 Us w£es a sy^^an 
 Mere Wiohinjas 
 Milts[e] unjyfe^e, P. 216. Ed. Thork. 
 
 Ibid. Sweom Onjend^eow.] Of OngentheowkingoftheSweos, alongand 
 circumstantial account is given in the dirge over Beowulf's dead body. He 
 was a prince of the Scylfing race, husband of Ela (Hrothgar's sister); and he 
 fell by the hands of Wulf and lofor in a battle against Higelac. 
 
 Ibid. Offa weold Onjle.] The wisdom and power of Offa are spoken of in 
 the very obscure outline given of the early history of Higelac's queen'. — 
 Beowulf, p. 147. Ed. Thork. 
 
 P. 14. Hro^wuif and Hro^jar.] This passage, while it confirms the general 
 
 * The Editor ventures, with much diffidence, to dissent from Mr. Price (as well 
 as from the Author of these Illustrations, and from Thorkelin) in the interpretation 
 of the very obscure passage referred to ; which does not appear to bim to contain 
 any statement that tbe daughter of Haereth was married to Higelac, but rather that 
 he had been himself placed under constraint by the violence of that virago. " He 
 was," says the poet (if I interpret rightly), "wise and eminent, although he may 
 indeed for a few years have endured under the shelter of his city the daughter of 
 Hsereth." — " Wis weltJun^en . ^eah tJe wintra lyt . under burh locan . ^ebiden 
 hffibbe . HaerecJes dohtor." During the wars which ensued after the slaughter of 
 his elder by his second brother, this heroine may perhaps have taken arms, and ac- 
 quired such an ascendancy as to drive him to immure himself in some strong hold, 
 <burhloca'. We are then told that she abused her power by her profusion and 
 arrogance ; and in the height of her pride would not permit any one so much as to 
 gaze on her, but punished such temerity by instantly hewing the offender in pieces 
 with her own hand and sword ; — an accomplishment (as the bard remarks) " not alto- 
 gether feminine nor becoming a damsel, however exquisite her charms might be." 
 In order to tame these excesses, it was proposed that she should be married to some 
 
ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 277 
 
 accuracy of Ilrothgar's history in Beowulf, throws some Hght on an obscure 
 digression made by the hero in narrating his adventures to Higelac. But in 
 the Traveller's Song we must consider "injeldes" to be a proper name; 
 as is clear from the context, and confirmed by the following passage in Beo- 
 wulf: 
 
 .... '^an Injelde 
 
 Wealla^S waelni^as. P. 155. Ed. Thork. 
 
 These are the only passages having a direct connexion with, or receiving 
 illustration from, the narrative of Beowulf. But several of the remaining 
 names are either the same with those occurring in the great Northern epic 
 cyclus, or bear a strong resemblance to them ; and it is by no means impro- 
 bable that they have furnished the minstrels of a later time with appellations 
 for their heroes : for nothing is more satisfactorily impressed upon my mind, 
 than that the legal doctrine of uses, especially that part of it called "shifting 
 uses," though only known in Westminster Hall within these few centuries, 
 has been constantly acted upon in all traditionary matters. For when tradi- 
 tion made " a feoffment in fee " of certain marvellous deeds and attributes to 
 any popular hero, it was always with a proviso " that the right and property 
 therein should cease as to the said hero, and go over to a stranger," upon 
 the said stranger becoming the favourite of the day. Hence the extraordi- 
 nary fictions relative to Attila, Theoderic, and Ermanric, which, contradictory 
 as they are to the real story of their reigns, still contain a certain admixture 
 of well known circumstances. But to return. 
 
 The name of Ermanric is once incidentally mentioned in Beowulf, but it 
 can hardly be in allusion to the Ermanric of the present poem. 
 
 young champion ; and she was accordingly (we are not informed how her own con- 
 sent was obtained, which must apparently have been an achievement of some delicacy 
 and difficulty) shipped off on a matrimonial voyage, by her father's advice, to the 
 court of OfFa, " where in the royal seat and in great prosperity she enjoyed every 
 happiness of life, and was constant to the love of the ruler of men :" whence it 
 appears that she was the wife of Offu and not of Higelac. From the remaining lines 
 it should further seem that she became instrumental in increasing the power of the 
 former monarch. 
 
 The poet rather hints at than states these circumstances, as being then familiar to 
 the persons he addressed ; and hence his brief allusions are almost unintelligible to 
 us who are deprived of the clue which a knowledge of the story of Offa would supply. 
 The references in the Traveller's Song and Beowulf indicate that it must once have 
 been popular ; and it may still perhaps be recovered, like the romance of Haveloke 
 and the tales of Wade and his Boat. — Ed. 
 
278 ADDENDA KT CORRIGENI^A. 
 
 Nffinijne ic under swejle Brosinja-mene 
 
 Sselran hyrde Sigle and sine faet 
 
 Hord-ma^mum haele^a [He ^iirh] searo-ni^as fealh 
 
 Sy^^an Hama atwasg; Eormenrices 
 
 To llere-byrhtan by rig Geceas ecne raed. p. 91-2. Ed. Thork. 
 
 I infer this for two reasons ; — first, because the Brisinga-mene, the well- 
 known attribute of the Northern Queen of Love (Freyia), could only have 
 been bestowed upon a mortal hero in fictitious history; and secondly, the 
 elder Ermanric, both in real and fabulous story, was wounded by, and was 
 the destroyer of, a certain Ammo or Hamo. The death of Erm^inric in the 
 Edda and Wilkina- Saga is obviously taken from the narrative of Jornandes, 
 who states that the Gothic king, having caused a Roxolan woman named 
 Sanielh (Svanhilda) to be torn in pieces by wild horses, as a punishment for 
 the defection of her husband, he was attacked and sorely wounded by her 
 brothers Sarus and Ammius (Saurli and Hamtheir, Edda and Vohunga 
 Saga). A MS. of Jornandes, of the twelfth century (cited by Peringskibld in 
 his notes to Cochlai Vita Theoderici Regis, p. 277), contains the following note 
 at the close : — " Cum Historiographus narret Ermanricwn Gothorum regem, 
 multis regibus dominantem, tempore Valentiniani et Valentls rcgnasse, et a duohus 
 fratrihuSf Saro et Ammio, quos conjicimus eosdem- esse qui vulgariter Sarello et 
 Hamidiech dicuntur, vulneratum in primordio egressionis Hunnorum per Maoti- 
 dem paludemr In the fabulous narrative, Saurli, Hamtheir, and Svanhilda, 
 are the children of Gudrunr, Sigurdr's widow, who we know was once the 
 possessor of Andvar's ring ; and if we are allowed to assume that Hama re- 
 ceived the Brosinga-men from her, we should advance one step nearer in 
 the resemblance between the Gothic and Grecian mythos, and have a perfect 
 counterpart to the necklace of Eriphyle, both in the effects and origin of this 
 mysterious ornament. When the Theban annals tell us that Cadmus and 
 Hermione proceeded into Illyrium, and there became transformed into ser- 
 pents, we have no difficulty in translating this into their apotheosis. But how 
 did Hermione dispose of her necklace ? Nobis tota res mercB tenebra, etfelicio- 
 rem vatem exspectamus. 
 
 Bicca may have supplied the Volsunga Saga and Saxo with their insidious 
 Bike. Gifica is obviously the Gibicus of the Burgundian Laws ; the Gibicho 
 of the Latin metrical romance De prima expeditione Attilce. The same fable 
 may have borrowed its Hagene, who was sent by Gibicho as a liostage to 
 Attila, from the Hagena-Holmricum of the Traveller's Song. It is a well- 
 known name in the great Northern cyclus. Witta will recall the memory of 
 Wittich, Weland's son ; and Wada is the name of Weland's father. Accord- 
 
ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 279 
 
 ing to the Wilkina-Saga, Wade lived in Sealand, in which and the adjoining 
 country the Helsings have left a record of their residence in Helsingborg, 
 Helsingor, and Helsinge. Sigehere is obviously the Danish Siggeir ; and 
 Sceafa the same name with Scef the father of Scyld (Beowulf, p. i.). The 
 Wenla may be the Wendla-leod of Beowailf (p. 28), where we also find the 
 Geftha ; 
 
 Nass him aenij ^earf 
 
 Daet he to Gif^um 
 
 O^^e to Gar-Denum, &c. p. 186. Ed. Thork. 
 
 The Wineda are a Sclavonian race who succeeded the Wendla-leod in the 
 occupation of " Wynt-land." Guth-here is the Gundicar of Prosper Aqui- 
 tanus (p. 745), who fell in the contest against the Huns. The term in the 
 text is no corruption, but a translation of the Burgundian name, and which 
 in the Laws is written Gundaharius or Gunther. The story of Ealhhild is 
 not clearly before us. It is evident that she visited Ermanric's court; and 
 as the Traveller says that lie was in Italy with ^Ifwin the son of Edwin, who 
 was therefore Ealhhild's brother, we may assume that their object was a 
 matrimonial alUance. From the circumstance of her presenting the bard 
 with a ring (for so I interpret the passage) at the same time that he received 
 another from Ermanric, it may be presumed that she was married to this 
 monarch. In the Wilkina-Saga we are told that Odilia was married to Sif ka, 
 Ermanric's chief counsellor, and that her chastity was violated by the Gothic 
 king during her husband's absence. Has this been taken from Ealhhild's 
 history, and was she married to one of Ermanric's courtiers ? It is a little 
 remarkable, that in the opening of the Traveller's Song Ermanric is called " a 
 wrath-ful warlock." Still I incline to think that she was wedded to Ermanric. 
 In Beowulf we have a Hethcyn (189). Sifecan is obviously the same name 
 with Sif ka. Gislhere occurs in the list of Burgundian kings recited in the 
 Laws — Gislaharius ; and, together with the other princes of his house, has 
 been received into Sigfried's history. Wither-gield may be the same with 
 the Withergyld of Beowulf (154) ; and Wudga and llama may have furnished 
 the old poem of Alpharts Tod with its Witige and Heime, the leaders of 
 Ermanric's armies. But the names alone of many of these are given in the 
 Traveller's Song ; and to claim any identity of person from such premises, 
 would be to adopt the rationale of Fluellin. 
 
 In a few instances I should feel disposed to offer a different version from 
 the late Mr. Conybeare ; but these are of no great moment. In two or three 
 
280 ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 
 
 passages the text is rendered obscure by an inaccurate disposition of the 
 
 words. Thus in the early part we ought to read — 
 P. 11. He mid Ealh-hilde, He with Ealhilde», 
 
 Fselre freo^u-webban, The faithful lovely dame % 
 
 Forman si^e In his first journey 
 
 Hre^ cynin jes, &c. [Sought the home of] the haughty king. 
 
 In the following passage the sense is not perfectly intelligible to me, un- 
 less we accept Wala as a proper name : 
 
 Ibid, Dara wees Wala, Of them was Wala, 
 
 Hwile selast, Whilom the most prosperous, 
 
 And Alexandreas And Alexander 
 
 Ealra ricost. The most wealthy of all. 
 
 Indeed, from the further mention of Caesar's (i. e. the Roman Emperor) holding 
 rule over Wala-rice, I should conceive it an allusion to the first founder of 
 the Gualic dynasty. In the earlier periods of history this country extended 
 from Walland — the country of the Walloons — to the Pyrenees. Hence the 
 Teutonic adjective ' Waelsch ' or ' Walish,' Welch, &c. 
 
 The following arrangement will restore the alliteration, which is not pre- 
 served in the present text. 
 
 P. 18; Don ic be sonje Then in my song 
 
 Secjan sceolde, I should say, 
 
 Hwaer is under swegle Where is under this heaven 
 
 Selast ^isse The most generous 
 
 Gold hrodene cwen Queen adorned with gold 
 
 Giefe bryttian, - To distribute her gifts, 
 
 Don wit scillinj When we two 
 
 Sciran reorde To share her fee by our eloquence 
 
 For uncrum sije-dryhtne Before the illustrious lord of us both 
 
 Song ahofan: Raised our song. 
 
 The sense would also be improved by reading ^ ham' for *^am ■ a few lines 
 above ; as we have in Beowulf 
 
 Ibid. Da' ic to ham bicwom. When I had come home. 
 
 ^ The Editor is responsible for these translations. 
 
 3 < FreotJu webbe,' or * freo^u-webba,' which also occurs in Beowulf (p. 148. Ed. 
 Thork.), is clearly from the context a poetical expression for * woman.* Possibly, 
 from its derivation, it may mean "the weaver of love." — Ed, 
 
ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 
 
 £81 
 
 I sought Emerca and Fridla 
 And the Eastern Goth, 
 Wise and good, 
 The father of Unwen — 
 
 In the lines, 
 
 P. 19. Emercan sohte ic and Fridlan 
 
 And East Gotan, 
 
 Frodne and godne, 
 
 Faeder unwenes — 
 
 there appears to be an omission ; unless ' frodne and jodne ' refer to Fridla, 
 which would be a most unusual construction. At all events I should take 
 ' unwenes ' to be a proper name (Unwin ?), as I suspect to be the case with 
 'hreada' (Qy. Hread-Gotan?), and more strongly so with ' Wistla' (Qy. Vis- 
 tula ?), in the following passage : 
 
 P. 20. 
 
 Donne hreada here, 
 Heardum sweordum, 
 Ymb wistla-wudu 
 Werjan sceoldon 
 Ealdre e^el-stol 
 ^tlan leodum. 
 
 Then the host of the Hreada, 
 With their hard swords, 
 At the wood of Wistla 
 Should defend 
 
 With their life their country 
 Against the people of ^tla. 
 
 The passage immediately following I would arrange thus : 
 
 Ibid. Deahte ic hy a nihst (?) Them in the next place in my thought 
 
 I should ever record. 
 Full oft from that band 
 In the conflict flew 
 The sounding dart 
 Against the fierce host. 
 
 For *leoht et (?) lifsomod,' read *leoht and lif somod,' i. e. light and life at oyice. 
 
 Nemnan sceolde. 
 Ful oft of ^am heape 
 Hwynende fleaj 
 Giellende jar 
 On jrome 'Seode. 
 
 Additional Note by the Editor on the Historical Traditions 
 preserved in the Poem of Beowulf, a^id the Age in 
 which the Actio?! of that Poem is placed. 
 
 The historical allusions contained in the episodical parts of this poem are 
 so many, so minute, and so consistent with each other and with the notices 
 contained in the Song of the Traveller, — an independent document, — that it 
 seems impossible to dismiss them as mere fictions of imagination. Indeed, 
 
282 ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 
 
 the mode of allusion which refers to them with brevity as well known events, 
 and the circumstance that they are never introduced as subservient to any 
 purpose connected with the main action and narrative of the poem, militates 
 altogether against such a supposition. 
 
 It is true, indeed, that the narrative is mingled with much of romantic 
 fiction : but a very short period, especially in barbarous ages, suffices to per- 
 mit the introduction of ornaments, as they were esteemed, of this nature. 
 The adventures of our Richard Coeur de Lion we know to have been thus 
 embellished or disguised by the minstrels of the age immediately succeeding 
 his own. The Homeric writings afford a case exactly parallel. Neither the 
 supernatural machinery of the Iliad, nor all the speciosa miracula of the Odys- 
 sey, prevent the critical inquirer from receiving as generally authentic, the 
 historical and geographical notices scattered through these poems ; and the 
 scepticism of Bryant has found but few partisans. 
 
 Yet it is obvious that the attempt of Thorkelin to conciliate these notices 
 with the later traditions of Danish story preserved by Saxo Grammaticus, 
 resting on the most forced conjectures, and supported only by the most arbi- 
 trary mutilation of the names of the sovereigns and heroes mentioned, is 
 altogether unworthy of attention. 
 
 While these pages are passing through the press, an observation has oc- 
 curred to the present Editor which appears to throw some additional light 
 on the period to which tradition assigned the events recorded in the poem ; 
 and this must evidently be a material step towards clearing up their true 
 historical relations. 
 
 It may be remembered that llrothgar, the king of the Danes, whose de- 
 liverance from the fiendish enmity of the Grendel by Beowulf forms its pri- 
 mary subject, is said (canto xvi.) to have been engaged, together with his 
 father Healfdene, in war against the Frisians, then subject to Fin the son of 
 Folcwald. Now the same names, in the same succession, may be found in 
 one of the genealogies of Woden, the common ancestor of the monarchs of 
 the Heptarchy^ or rather Octarchy, established in this island ; and in such a 
 position that, counting backwards from Hengist, and allowing about thirty 
 years for a generation, we shall be led to fix his sera, and consequently that 
 of the contemporary chieftains commemorated in our poem, between 150 and 
 200 years after Christ. 
 
 The genealogy alluded to is that given in the Chronicle commonly ascribed 
 to Nennius, but in truth, according to the earliest and best MS. lately dis- 
 covered in the Vatican and edited by Mr. Gunn, compiled by Mark the 
 Hermit in the tenth century. 
 
 It must be stated, however, that in the place of Folcwald, all the MSS. of 
 
ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 283 
 
 the Saxon Chronicle (which repeats the genealogy more than once), and the 
 parallel or derivative authorities of Asser, Florence of Worcester, Matthew of 
 Westminster, &c., uniformly substitute ' Godwulf.' The line as given by 
 these authorities respectively is here subjoined, 
 
 Nennins {^GunrCs Ed,). Nennius {Gale's Ed.). Saxon Chronicle. 
 
 Geta Geata Geata 
 
 Foleguald or Folcwald ^ Folepald (Folcwald) Godwulf 
 
 Finn « Fuin (Finn) Fin 
 
 Fredulf Fredulf. Fri^owulf 
 
 Frealof Frealf Freo^olaf 
 
 Vuoden Vuoden Woden 
 
 Guechta Guecta Wecta 
 
 Guicta Gu^ta Witta 
 
 Guictrlis GuitTils Wihtgils 
 
 i ^ n . ' > r >- 1 
 
 Hors Henejest. Hors Hengist. Henjest Horsa. 
 
 Are we to suppose, then, that Folcwald and Godwulf were different names 
 for the same individual ? or rather to conjecture that the transcriber of Nen- 
 nius was led into accidental error from the common principle of association, 
 as being familiar, from the traditions above alluded to, with the name of Fin 
 Folcwalding ? 
 
 Some of the earlier members of this genealogy coincide with the Danish 
 kings mentioned in the introductory lines which precede the first canto of 
 Beowulf (see the note subjoined to this article). 
 
 In the hope that it may lead some one more familiar than myself with the 
 earlier Scandinavian traditions to prosecute an inquiry, in itself certainly in- 
 teresting, I am induced to subjoin the following synoptical view of the prin- 
 cipal geographical and historical allusions in Beowulf, digested under the 
 several tribes to which they relate. Many of them are completely disguised 
 in the edition of Thorkelin. 
 
 * Gale's edition of Nennius (c. 28. p. 105) reads * Fuin and Folepald,' which, 
 from the similarity ofp and w (p) in MSS. of ihe Saxon period, — a source of corrup- 
 tion which has frequently affected the text of Gale, — is probably a misprint for Folc- 
 wald ; the e and c being constantly interchanged by errors of transcription. A MS. 
 of this Chronicle in possession of the present Editor, and apparently of the fourteenth 
 century, reads ' Finn and Folowald.' From the collation of tliese various readings 
 no doubt can remain that Folcwald is the name intended. 
 
284 ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 
 
 1. Geatas, supposed b^ Thorkelin to have inhabited Pomerania and Ru- 
 gen ; called also Wederas, Weder-geatas, and Sae-geatas. Cities mentioned 
 as belonging to them, are Rafnsholt or Rafnwudu, and Beowulfsburg. 
 
 The Scylfings were the royal tribe. These are also mentioned in the prose 
 Edda, where they are derived from king Skelfr^ and in Snorro. 
 
 Their kings enumerated in this poem are 
 
 Hrethel. 
 
 I ■ — I 1 
 
 Heribald, Hffithcyn the fratri- Higelac 
 
 killed by his cide, killed in war | 
 
 brother with the Sueones Hearede. 
 
 Haethcyn. under Ongentheow 
 
 and Ohthere. 
 
 On the death of Higelac and his son Hearede in battle, Beowulf the hero of 
 the poem succeded to the vacant throne. Beowulf was in turn succeded by 
 Wiglaf, son of Wihtstan. 
 
 2. Dene [Danes], also named Deningas. The subdivisions North Dene, 
 East Dene, Suth Dene, West Dene, and Gar Dene, all appear to constitute 
 one people, the subjjpcts of Hrothgar, and not independent tribes as Thorke- 
 lin supposes. 
 
 Their country was two days* voyage from that of the Geatas. 
 
 Heort and Byrhtanburg, or Here-byrhtanburg, are named as their 
 cities. 
 
 The Scyldings were the royal race, derived from Skiold, who occurs in all 
 the traditional histories of Denmark. 
 
 The kings enumerated in the poem are 
 
 Scef. 
 
 I 
 
 Scyld. 
 
 I 
 
 Beowulf senior. 
 
 I 
 
 Healfdene, engaged in war with Fin and his Frisians. 
 
 I ' 1 1 1 
 
 Heorogar. Hrothgar, married to Wealthowa. Halgatil. Ela a daughter 
 
 I——-' 1 married to 
 
 Hrethric. Hrothmund. Ongentheow 
 
 of Sweoland. 
 
ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 285 
 
 3. Svveos or Sueones, apparently the same with the Sueones of Tacitus, a 
 kindred race witli the Geatas, but independent, and sometimes engaged in 
 hostilities against them. 
 
 The Scylfings (as among the Geatas) appear to have been the royal race. 
 
 Kings mentioned : 
 
 Ongentheow, married to Hrothgar's sister Ela, killed in a war 
 
 I against the Geatas under Higelac, 
 
 Ohthere. 
 
 The Frisians and the Sueones appear to have been usually allied in war. 
 
 4. Fresnas (Frisians), 
 Kings mentioned : 
 
 Folcwald. 
 
 Fin, married to Hildeburh, engaged in war with the Danes under 
 
 I Healfdene and Hrothgar. 
 
 Hnasf, killed in the Danish war, married to Holinga daughter of Hoce. 
 
 5. The Brondings are mentioned apparently as having been opposed to 
 , Beowulf in an expedition, wherein he encountered their king Brecca, the 
 
 son of Beanstane^ at Heatho-rsemis ; but the passage is very obscure. 
 
 Incidental allusions also occur to the following tribes : 
 
 6. The Waelsings ( Volsungr of the Edda), and the hero Sigmund (Sigurdr 
 Fafnrsbana). 
 
 r. The Wylfingi (the Ylfings of Hrolf Krakas Saga). 
 
 8. The Francs. 
 
 9. The Wioings. 
 
 If there be sufficient ground for referring these traditions to the second cen- 
 tury, the period in which they were originally compiled, considering the nature 
 of the details to which they extend, and the abrupt brevity of the allusions to 
 them as to well known historical facts, must assuredly have been anterior to 
 the invasion of Hengist and liorsa in the fifth century j and the materials, 
 therefore, from which the poem of Beowulf was afterwards composed, may 
 have been imported in their train in the form of those heroical songs which 
 
£86 ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 
 
 we learn from Jornandes and other writers formed a favourite amusement 
 among the Gothic tribes. And that the Anglo-Saxons must have hud poetry 
 at this early period is a necessary corollary from the history of their metrical 
 system^ which, as being common to themselves and their kindred tribes on 
 the continent, must have existed at an aera anterior to their emigration. It 
 is impossible to contrast the historical notices of Beowolf with the later tra- 
 ditions embodied by Saxo Grammaticus without being at once struck with 
 their superior claim to be considered as genuine records of ancient story. 
 
 %* The succession of three kings of the Dene or Danes in the above 
 tables, — viz. Scef, Scyld, and Beowulf, — presents a near resemblance to the 
 seventh, eighth and ninth names in the following genealogy of the ancestors 
 of Ethelwulf, as given in the Saxon Chronicle (An. 854) and William of 
 Malmesbury. 
 
 1. Sceaf. 
 
 2. Bedwig. 
 
 3. Hwala. 
 
 4. Hathra. 
 
 5. Itermon. 
 
 6. Heremod. 
 
 7. [Sceaf J mentioned only by William of Malmesbury.] 
 
 8. Sceldwa or Sceldius. 
 
 9. Beaw or Beozoius : — [for Beowulf? — So Cutha and Cuthwulf are 
 
 10. Tastwa. indifferently read in the genealogies : com- 
 
 11. Geata. &c. pare An. 495 and 854.] 
 
 For the remainder of the genealogy, see above, p. 283. 
 
 William of Malmesbury relates the following story of the exposure of 
 Sceaf (the seventh in this list) in a boat when an infant : — " Iste ut quidam 
 ferunt in quandam insulam Germania Scandzam (de qua Jornandes historiogra- 
 phus Gothorum loquitur) appulsus nave sine remige puerulus, posito ad caput fru- 
 menti manipulo, dormiens, ideoque Sceaf est nuncupatus ; ab hominibus regionis 
 illius pro miraculo exceptus et sedulo nutritus, adulta cctate regnavit in oppido quod 
 tunc Siaszoic nunc vero Haitheby appellatur. Est autem regio ilia Anglia Vetus 
 dicta, unde Angli xienerunt in Brittaniam, inter Saxones et Gothos constituta." — 
 (Gul. Malms. De Gestis Regum Anglian, lib. i. in Vita Ethelwulfi.) The elder 
 Sceaf who stands at the head of this pedigree is said to have been a son of 
 Noah, born in the ark. This is apparently the addition of some monastic 
 writer, originating in a confusion of the two Sceafs, and a misapprehension 
 of the tale concerning the exposure of the second of that name in a boat or 
 ark. 
 
 Mr. Price, to whom the Editor is indebted for the substance of this note, 
 is of opinion that this exposure of the infant Sceaf is alluded to in the very 
 obscure Introduction to Beowulf, but there attributed to his son Scyld. 
 
 THE END. 
 
AX"> 
 
 /^. 
 
 Page 
 
 Line 
 
 xlvi. 
 
 
 Ivi. 
 
 1 
 
 Ixii. 
 
 2 
 
 xci. 
 
 17 
 
 Ibid. 
 
 
 xciii. 
 
 25 
 
 note ' ybr quoted, rea^Z quite. 
 Jvr trewon, read Trewon. 
 for the earlier, read some of the earlier. 
 
 for At length they perceived and beheld with joy that the beams of the 
 bridge were firmlyplaced, read Then did they perceive and earnestly 
 note that they found there stern warders of the bridge, 
 note ^for bricje-weandas bitene, read brieve weardas bitere. 
 for he had ever shared the possessions which his chieftain owned * * *, 
 read he leapt upon the mare which his lord had ovv'ned, upon its 
 housings [graiths]. (Suggested by Mr. Price.) 
 Ibid, 30 for * • * * It had indeed been some credit to them to have then remem- 
 bered, &c. read and with them more of the men than it were any 
 credit [i.e. than a sense of honour would have permitted], if they 
 had remembered, &c. 
 Ibid, note ^for raa^on, read ma tJon". 
 
 15 1 for Generi (humano) datum, read A genere separatus. 
 49 24 for " When (continues the poet) the son of Eglaf had ceased from the 
 praises of his own heroic enterprise," read " Even the sarcastic son 
 of Eglaf (as the poet informs us) found himself on this occasion 
 compelled to abstain from his usual arrogant speeches, and to 
 acknowledge in silence the manifest proofs of the hero's superior 
 prowess." 
 57 I for brayed, read braved. 
 74 26 for Scylding's, read Scylfing*s. 
 179 10 for Aut ubi sua, read Vel utrum juvenura istorum. 
 189 4 for p. 72, read p. 75. 
 
 193 16& 17 for fifty days and fifty nights, read forty days and forty nights. 
 204 23 for lithis st, read this list. 
 231 6 of note for senectum read senectam. 
 
 265 18& 19, 2d col.,/or Deah fSe hine read Deah tJe hine ealnej 
 
 Ealne;5 se ymbhoga. Se ymbhoga. 
 
LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED BY RICHARD TAYLOR, 
 
 SHOE-LANE. 
 
 ALEKE JFLAMMAM. 
 
 Lej2'i3