THE JOURNAL OF ENGLISH AND GERMANIC PHILOLOGY EDITED BY GUST A F E. KARSTEN and JAMES MORGAN HART UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS CORNELL UNIVERSITY WITH THE CO-OPERATION OF GEORGE T. FLOM, University of Iowa % PAUL H. GRUMMANN, University of Nebraska OTTO HELLER, Washington University GEORG HOLZ, University of Leipzig, Germany CLARK S. NORTHUP, Cornell University HORATIO S. WHITE, Harvard University Volume VI, No. 2 January, 1907 PUBLISHED QUARTERLY BY THE JOURNAL PUBLISHING COMPANY Urbana, III., U.S.A. Under the Auspices of THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS Subscription Price $3.00 per Volume; Single Numbers $1.00 '< " ' EUROPEAN AGENT ADOLF WEIGEL, Leipzig, Germany Entered at the Urbana, Ill., Postoffice as Second-class mail matter. CONTENTS. PAGE. Lane Cooper, Some Wordsworthian Similes.179 Fr. Rlaeber, Minor Notes on the Beowulf . . . , . . .190 -Cynewulfs Elene 1262 f. 197 - Phenix, 386 .......... 198 Ernst Voss, Schnaplian ......... 199 H. S. V. Jones, The Clcomadh, the Meliacin, and the Arabian Tale of the “ Enchanted Horse ’ ’.. . . 22 L Edwin W. Fay, Gothic and English Etymologies .... 244 Hermann Collitz, Segimer oder Germanische Namen in Keltischem Gewande ........... 253 REVIEWS. George O. Curme : Engelien-Jantzen, Grammatik der neuhochdeutschen Sprache ; Siitterlin and Waag, Deutsche Sprachlehre fur hohere Leliranstalten ; Nagl, Deutsche Sprachlehre fur Mittelschulen J. M. McBryde, Jr. : Kinard, English Grammar for Beginners . Clark S. Northup : Kluge, Mittelenglisches Lesebuch B. S. Monroe, : Emerson, A Middle English Reader . CURRENT LITERATURE. Georg Edward : Neuere Deutsche Literatur .... NOTICE. Editorial matter may be sent to any member of the Editorial Staff. Material for No. 4 should be submitted as promptly as possible. Suitable advertisements will be inserted at the following rates : FOR ONE TWO THREE FOUR INSERTION. INSERTIONS. INSERTIONS. INSERTIONS. 1 page.... $20.00 $35.00 $40.00 $45.00 ■i page. 12.00 20.00 .. 25.00 30.00 | page. 8.00 15.00 20.00 24.00 Address all business communications to The Journal Publishing Company, Urbana, Ill., U. S. A. 307 313 315 319 . 324 Copyright, 1906, by Gustaf E. Karsten. 22 . 3 , 5 K^cUm. No. 2] Some Wordsworthian Similes . 189 mind they may now and then be a stumbling-block, and to the unsympathetic, foolishness. Their truth and justice become apparent when they are dwelt upon with active sympathy by a mind that through habit is less inclined to condemn than to admire. Lane Cooper. Cornell University. 4 a UMVEHSiTYOrUmOlSUBRMW o 190 Klaeber, [Vol. VI MINOR NOTES ON THE BEOWULF. 21. HTN a paper printed in Mod. Phil. 3. 445 if., I transla- _1_ ted 1. 216, after Grein and Sievers ( Beowulf und Saxo , p. 19Of.), ‘in his father’s house’ (Grein 1 : cerne, Grein 2 : inne). But recently Professor Blackburn called my atten¬ tion to the strong probability of . . rme having actually been the origiual reading of the MS. (cf. Zupitza’s transliteration and note) and after considering the merits of the few available words that have been proposed (_ feorme [Kemble], bearme [Bouterwek in 1854, Thorpe], harme [Bouterwek, Z.f. d. A. 11. 71]), I have come to consider bearme the most presentable candidate for admission, giving it however a new interpretation. I do not understand on bearme with reference to the geong(f)guma (‘ in his father’s lap,’ 1 ‘ in des Vaters Schutze noch’ Bouterwek)— which would be very awkward—but with regard to feohgiftum , which may be credited, I trust, with the sense of ‘present,’ ‘precious object to be given.’ For bearm I venture to postu¬ late the meaning of ‘possession’ which could easily have developed from its use in connection with verbs like don , alec- gan , cuman (cf. also fcepm in 1. 1210 : gehivearf Pa in Francna fcepm). So fromum feohgiftum on feeder bearme would in fact correspond pretty closely to Saxo’s domesticis stipendiis (cf. Sievers, l. c.). 1496-151a. Since these lines as emended by various scholars are still as unsatisfactory as ever, another attempt at healing them may be pardoned. The suspiciously harsh collocation gyddum (MS. gyddu) geomore is got rid of by Trautmann’s emendation geomorum , which however neither explains the gen- l In its literal sense the phrase is found in Dial. Greg. 289. 18: on his feeder bearme. No. 2] Minor Notes on the Beowulf. 191 esis of the scribal blunder nor removes the questionable 1 mourn¬ ful lays.’ I make bold to suggest the possibility of gihftu geomore ‘ sorrowful grief (affliction)/ 1 a phrase (of the type ‘ noun+weak adjective in the a line/ as herestrcel hearda 1435, beahsele beorhta 1177, bordwudu beorhtan 1243, breperbealo hearde 1343, herenvS hearda 2474, herenet hearde 1553, wudu wynsuman 1919), which is more fully explained by the follow¬ ing Ae£-clause (cf. Mod. Phil. 3. 253 ; 1. 2324 : Pa wees Biowulfe broga gecf&ed . . . post . . .). The confusion of gihftu (gehr&u) — gihftu —with gyddu may not unreasonably be attributed to the close association of geomor and gid (see Beow. 1118, 3150, Andr. 1548, Wife’s Compl. I). 2 3 4 All the previously proposed insertions of a word after for^Sam 149 b (st/bban, sorgeearu , sooen y sarewidum) have been disapproved by Sievers on the ground that forpon , - pan is the regular form of the connective in the Beowulf / and that 'bam would accordingly seem to point to a following dative form (Beitr. 29. 313). But his own conjecture for bam soenum rather impairs the style of the passage, since a new clause joined asyndetically would hardly begin with such a phrase. If we assume, how¬ ever, that the original reading was /orban 4 seogum , it is not unnatural to suppose that a stupid copyist changed (perhaps ‘ corrected ’) ¥>an to bam, and a later scribe inadvertently drop¬ ped seegum. Thus the hypothetical text would be: forftan seegum weaiAS, / ylda bearnum undyrne citb / gihftu geomore , pcette Grendel wan , etc. Cf. also 1. 2000 ff. 457. If Trautmann’s shrewd conjecture for gewyrhtum (in¬ troduced in his edition) be adopted, another meaning will have to be put into the lines than the one appearing in his translation : ‘Um taten hast du, mein freund Beowulf, und um hilfeleistung 1 Cf. geotnor in Phenix 139, 517. 2 A curious relation between gekftu and gid has been detected by PI. Kern, Taalkundige Bijdragen 1. 208 f. (Rather doubtful.) 3 By the way, the MS. has /or'Sd 2645 a, 2741 a. 4 As to the function of forKon, see W. W. Lawrence’s discussion in J. Germ. Phil. 4. 463 ff. —seegas is found as variation of hcelepa beam in Riddl. 41. 97. 192 Klaeber , [Vol. YI uns aufgesucht.’ Considering that for presumably denotes cause rather than purpose (see Mod. Phil . 3. 453), and that gewyrht must be understood in a perfective sense (H. Archiv 109. 310), the following version of for gewyrhtum appears likely to come nearer the truth : ‘ because of deeds done [alluding to the good services rendered to Beowulf’s father, 1. 463 ff.] (and the result¬ ant obligations you are under),’ or, in other words, 1. 457 f. would mean: ‘ from a sense of duty and kindness, my friend B., hast thou come to us.’ The corruption of wyrhtum to fyhtum is easy of explanation (in 1. 2882 wergendra is misspelt fergendra), especially if it passed through an intermediate wyhtum (see Mod. Lang. Notes 18. 244). Altogether this new emendation of Trautmann’s is remark¬ ably felicitous. 489 f. Site nu to symle ond on seel meoto / sigehrerlS seegii, swa Ain sefa hwette. The interpretation of this veritable crux has been materially advanced by Holthausen, who in his textual notes, Z. f. d. P. 37. 114 properly restored the nounal character of (on) seel and thus effectively disposed of several fanciful solu¬ tions. 1 But a return to Kemble’s on scelum is far from neces¬ sary (see Mod. Phil. 3. 258), and the novel emendation recom¬ mended by the latest editor : ond on scelum weota / sigehreftgum seegum , through strikingly acute, may well be called in question. Not only is the use of the verb witian strictly limited to the participial form witod , but the remark ‘ bestimme den siegbe- ruhmten mannern ’ does not seem to be the most appropriate to the occasion. Keeping as closely as possible to the MS. reading, I would offer the following conjecture: ond on sod meota / sigehrefo seega. The existence of the verb metian 2 may reasonably be inferred from the Go. miton (construed with the accusative) ‘ consider, think over ’ (OHG. mezon 1 moderari ’), and the phrase 1 Alliterating imperatives in the b line followed by eall(es) occur in the Beowulf : 2663 Icest eall tela, 2162 bruc ealles well. a Pogatscher did not hesitate to suggest a verb formetian, 1. 169 ( Beitr . 19. 544 f.). No. 2] Minor Notes on the Beowulf. 193 sigehreft seega ‘ victory-fame of men * is matched by wonsceaft wera 120, bealonift biorna 2404, hordmaftum (em.) hcelefia 1198, gesifia (Holthausen ; or perhaps seega) seledream 2252 ; perhaps wera hilde 2298 (MS. hwceftre; ten Brink: wer). ‘Sit now down to the feast and joyfully think of victory as your heart may prompt you.’ Cheerful anticipation of victory is to be the note of the entertainment (in contrast with 1. 473 if.), just as the distinction gained by deeds of valor is emphasized in the parallel situation, 1. 1782 ff. : ga nu to setle, symbelwynne dreoh , / wigge weor/>ad. 7696—770a. yrrewceron begen , / ref>e renweardas. ten Brink thought of renhearde and Trautmann of renheardan for the curious renweardas (commonly taken as ren ( =regr)-weardas ). It seems worth while to inquire whether the first element of the compound could not be ren ‘house* (= the normal ern, cern, Sievers § 179, 1, Bulbring § 518), and renweard — seleweard*! The compound rendegn (== aedis minister) occurs in the Erfurt Glossary 1137. 1 1125 ff. Gewiton him ba wig end wiea neosian, / freondum befeallen , Fry stand geseon , / hamas ond heaburh. Unwarranted conclusions have been dravvn from a misinterpretation of these lines, leading in one case even to a ‘ correction * Frysan (Boer, Z. f. d. A. 47. 137 f.). Yet the situation is not obscure— assuming Bugge’s interpretation of the main story to be correct. After the conclusion of the treaty between the two parties and the completion of the funeral rites, the Frisian warriors—pre¬ sumably men who had been summoned by Finn in preparation for the encounter with the Danes—return to their respective homes in the country ( heaburh is a high sounding epic term that should not be pressed), whilst Hengest stays with Finn in Finnes burh (where the latter is subsequently slain: cet his selfes ham 1147). If we were to infer that Finnes burh lies outside of Friesland proper, we might as well conclude that Dyflen 1 [The same explanation has in the meantime been given by Holthausen in the second part of his edition (1906).] 194 Klaebery [Vol. VI (Dublin) is not situated in Ireland according to the Battle of Brunanburh 55 f.: ( gewitan him' pa Norftmenn . . .) Dyflen secean , and eft Iraland. 11996-1200a. Brosinga (Grimm, D. M. 254 ff. : Brisinga) mene , / sigle ond sincfcet. Neither ‘ jewel ’ nor ‘ ornamental casket ’ seems to be the proper rendering of sincfcet. It is much more likely to signify ‘ precious setting/ like goldfcet in Phenix 302 ff. : stane gelicast y / gladum gimme , Ponne in goldfate / smifta orponcum biseted weorfteft. The ‘ Brisinga mene ’ was known in heroic tradition as a collar of extraordinary value, consisting of (or, containing) ‘precious gems in fine settings , —the singular forms sigle and sincfcet to be understood in a collective sense. That the necklace (healsbeaga mcest 1195) given to Beowulf is noted for its precious stones (eorclanstanas 1208), should not be overlooked in this connection. A discrepancy, by the way, has been discovered between the statements of 11. 1202 ff. and 2172 ff, as in the latter passage Beowulf presents to Hygd the necklace bestowed upon him by 'YVealhJjeow, but in the former Hygelac is reported to have worn it in his war against the Franks and Frisians. 1 Two explana¬ tions readily suggest themselves. Either Hygd gave the neck¬ lace to her husband when he set out on his unfortunate expedi¬ tion, 2 or the poet entirely forgot his earlier account (1202 ff.) when he came to tell of the presentation to Hygd (2172 ff.). The second alternative is the more probable one, especially if we suppose that at an earlier stage of his work the author had not yet thought at all of queen Hygd, who indeed never devel¬ oped into a definite, lifelike figure. 1248. ge cet ham ge on herge ge gehwceper Para / efne swylce mcela .... The third ge has been struck out by a number of scholars (Ettmuller being the first), but it is no more objection- 1 Grundtvig’s desperate conjecture hrcegl in place of hring 1202 (on p. 144 of his edition) gives no relief, as the eorclanstanas 1208 and the beag 1211 remain in the text. 2 This is the view of Simrock (Transl., p. 184), who adds, however, ques¬ tionable details. No. 2] Minor Notes on the Beowulf'. 195 able than the third ne in the following combination occurring in the Institutes of Polity, 9 : newt ham ne on sipe ne on cenigre stowe (quoted from B-T., s. v. sip). The third member of the series refers equally to the two contingencies mentioned before and sums up the situation : ‘ and that/ ‘ nor in fact * (Ger. ‘ und zwar/ ‘ und uberhaupt nicht*). 14046. gegnum for. The most popular reading at present is Skyers* [Peer Aeo] gegnum for, whereas Bugge favored \liwcer Aeo] g. f, and Cosijn thought of gegnunga f. Equally possi¬ ble, it seems to me, would be ( gang ofer grundas,) [swa] gegnum for, or gegnum ferde. In the latter case, a scribe would have changed a weak verb into a strong one, as, conversely, in the OE. Chron., A. D. 571 (A) gefor was (imperfectly) altered to ( ge)forpferde. The subject would have to be supplied from lastas 1402, gang 1404 (referring to Grendel*s mother), as Cosijn suggests. 14176-1418. Denum eallum wees, / winum Scyldinga weorce on mode. Trautmann*s conjecture wigum has been endorsed both by Holthausen (in his edition) and by Schiicking (H. Archiv 115. 420). Still, wine is applied to the retainers also in 1. 2567 : winia bealdor (Thorpe : Wedera, Grundtvig : wigend). Similarly in Middle High German goltwine is used of vassals, see Lexer I. 1050 f., 1 Benecke-Muller-Zarncke III. 704. Arnold in his note on 1. 1418 says: . . . the earls or nobles in a Teutonic tribe might be called no less than the king, though in a lower sense, the friendly patrons and protectors of the general body of the freemen.* If this explanation be accepted, the designation of ACschere as sincgyfa 1342 is to be cited as a welcome parallel (see H. Archiv 115. 180). 2989. he $[