Preface to the Project Gutenberg Edition of Beowulf
This text is a corrected version of the fourth edition of Harrison and Sharp in its entirety. It comes in two basic versions. The base version (available in 8-bit (Latin-1) text and HTML) presents the original text as printed. This file contains the original version. It preserves the source-text's idiosyncratic use of accented vowels with the exception of y-circumflex (ŷ), which is replaced by y-acute (ý) to fit within the Latin-1 character set. Manifestly unintentional errors in the text have been corrected. In general, this has only been done when the text is internally inconsistent (e.g., a quotation in the glossary does not match the main text). Forms that represent deliberate editorial choice have not been altered, even where they appear wrong. (For example, some of the markings of vowel length do not reflect current scholarly consensus.) Where an uncorrected problem may confuse the reader, I have inserted a note explaining the difficulty, signed KTH. A complete list of the changes made is appended at the end of the file. In order to make the text more useful to modern readers, I have also produced a revised edition, available in Unicode (UTF-8) and HTML. Notes from the source text that indicate changes adopted in later editions have been incorporated directly into the text and apparatus. Further, long vowels are indicated with macrons, as is the common practice of most modern editions. Finally, the quantity of some words has been altered to the values currently accepted as correct. Quantities have not been changed when the difference is a matter of editorial interpretation (e.g., gäst vs. gæst in l. 102, etc.) A list of these altered quantities appears at the end of the list of corrections. Your browser must support the Unicode character set to use this file. To tell if your browser supports the necessary characters, check the table of vowel equivalents below. If you see any empty boxes or question marks in the "revised" columns, you should use the basic version.
Explanation of the Vowel Accenting
In general, Harrison and Sharp use circumflex accents over vowels to mark long vowels. For ash, however, the actual character 'æ' represents the long vowel. Short ash is rendered with a-umlaut (ä). The long diphthongs (ēo, ēa, etc.) are indicated with an acute accent over the second vowel (eó, eá, etc.).
Vowel Equivalents in Different Versions:
| Orig. | Revised | Orig. | Revised |
| ä | æ | û | ū |
| Ä | Æ | Û | Ū |
| æ | ǣ | ý | ȳ |
| Æ | Ǣ | Ý | Ȳ |
| â | ā | eá | ēa |
| Â | Ā | Eá | Ēa |
| ê | ē | eó | ēo |
| Ê | Ē | Eó | Ēo |
| î | ī | iá | īa |
| Î | Ī | Iá | Īa |
| ô | ō | ió | īo |
| Ô | Ō | Ió | Īo |
I. BEÓWULF:
AN ANGLO-SAXON POEM.
II. THE FIGHT AT FINNSBURH:
A FRAGMENT.
WITH TEXT AND GLOSSARY ON THE
BASIS OF M. HEYNE.
EDITED, CORRECTED, AND ENLARGED, BY
JAMES A. HARRISON, LL.D., LITT. D.,
PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH AND MODERN LANGUAGES,
WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY,
AND
ROBERT SHARP (PH.D. LIPS.),
PROFESSOR OF GREEK AND ENGLISH,
TULANE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA.
FOURTH EDITION. REVISED, WITH NOTES.
GINN & COMPANY
BOSTON—NEW YORK—CHICAGO—LONDON
Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1883, by
JAMES ALBERT HARRISON AND ROBERT SHARP
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
DEDICATED
TO
PROFESSOR F. A. MARCH,
OF LAFAYETTE COLLEGE, PA.,
AND
FREDERICK J. FURNIVALL, ESQ.
FOUNDER OF THE "NEW SHAKSPERE SOCIETY,"
THE "CHAUCER SOCIETY," ETC., ETC.
PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION.
The favor with which the successive editions of "Beówulf" have been received during the past thirteen years emboldens the editors to continue the work of revision in a fourth issue, the most noticeable feature of which is a considerable body of explanatory Notes, now for the first time added. These Notes mainly concern themselves with new textual readings, with here and there grammatical, geographical, and archæological points that seemed worthy of explanation. Parallelisms and parallel passages are constantly compared, with the view of making the poem illustrate and explain itself. A few emendations and textual changes are suggested by the editors with all possible diffidence; numerous corrections have been made in the Glossary and List of Names; and the valuable parts of former Appendices have been embodied in the Notes.
For the Notes, the editors are much indebted to the various German periodicals mentioned on page 116, to the recent publications of Professors Earle and J. L. Hall, to Mr. S. A. Brooke, and to the Heyne-Socin edition of "Beówulf." No change has been made in the system of accentuation, though a few errors in quantity have been corrected. The editors are looking forward to an eventual fifth edition, in which an entirely new text will be presented.
October, 1893.
NOTE TO THE THIRD EDITION.
This third edition of the American issue of Beówulf will, the editors hope, be found more accurate and useful than either of the preceding editions. Further corrections in text and glossary have been made, and some additional new readings and suggestions will be found in two brief appendices at the back of the book. Students of the metrical system of Beówulf will find ample material for their studies in Sievers' exhaustive essay on that subject (Beiträge, X. 209-314).
Socin's edition of Heyne's Beówulf (called the fifth edition) has been utilized to some extent in this edition, though it unfortunately came too late to be freely used. While it repeats many of the omissions and inaccuracies of Heyne's fourth edition, it contains much that is valuable to the student, particularly in the notes and commentary. Students of the poem, which has been subjected to much searching criticism during the last decade, will also derive especial help from the contributions of Sievers and Kluge on difficult questions appertaining to it. Wülker's new edition (in the Grein Bibliothek) is of the highest value, however one may dissent from particular textual views laid down in the 'Berichtigter Text.' Paul and Braune's Beiträge contain a varied miscellany of hints, corrections, and suggestions principally embodying the views of Kluge, Cosijn, Sievers, and Bugge, some of the more important of which are found in the appendices to the present and the preceding edition. Holder and Zupitza, Sarrazin and Hermann Möller (Kiel, 1883), Heinzel (Anzeiger f.d. Alterthum, X.), Gering (Zacher's Zeitschrift, XII.), Brenner (Eng. Studien, IX.), and the contributors to Anglia, have assisted materially in the textual and metrical interpretation of the poem.
The subject of Anglo-Saxon quantity has been discussed in several able essays by Sievers, Sweet, Ten Brink (Anzeiger, f.d. Alterthum, V.), Kluge (Beiträge, XI.), and others; but so much is uncertain in this field that the editors have left undisturbed the marking of vowels found in the text of their original edition, while indicating in the appendices the now accepted views of scholars on the quantity of the personal pronouns (mê, wê, þû, þê, gê, hê); the adverb nû, etc. Perhaps it would be best to banish absolutely all attempts at marking quantities except in cases where the Ms. has them marked.
An approximately complete Bibliography of Beówulf literature will be found in Wülker's Grundriss and in Garnett's translation of the poem.
JAMES A. HARRISON,
ROBERT SHARP.
WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY, LEXINGTON, VA., May, 1888.
NOTE TO THE SECOND REVISED EDITION.
The editors feel so encouraged at the kind reception accorded their edition of Beówulf (1883), that, in spite of its many shortcomings, they have determined to prepare a second revised edition of the book, and thus endeavor to extend its sphere of usefulness. About twenty errors had, notwithstanding a vigilant proof-reading, crept into the text,—errors in single letters, accents, and punctuation. These have been corrected, and it is hoped that the text has been rendered generally accurate and trustworthy. In the List of Names one or two corrections have been made, and in the Glossary numerous mistakes in gender, classification, and translation, apparently unavoidable in a first edition, have been rectified. Wherever these mistakes concern single letters, or occupy very small space, they have been corrected in the plates; where they are longer, and the expense of correcting them in the plates would have been very great, the editors have thought it best to include them in an Appendix of Corrections and Additions, which will be found at the back of the book. Students are accordingly referred to this Appendix for important longer corrections and additions. It is believed that the value of the book has been much enhanced by an Appendix of Recent Readings, based on late criticisms and essays from the pens of Sievers, Kluge, Cosijn, Holder, Wülker, and Sweet. A perplexed student, in turning to these suggested readings, will often find great help in unravelling obscure or corrupt passages.
The objectionable ä and æ, for the short and the long diphthong, have been retained in the revised edition, owing to the impossibility of removing them without entirely recasting the plates.
In conclusion, the editors would acknowledge their great indebtedness to the friends and critics whose remarks and criticisms have materially aided in the correction of the text,—particularly to Profs. C.P.G. Scott, Baskervill, Price, and J.M. Hart; to Prof. J.W. Bright; and to the authorities of Cornell University, for the loan of periodicals necessary to the completeness of the revision. While the second revised edition still contains much that might be improved, the editors cannot but hope that it is an advance on its predecessor, and that it will continue its work of extending the study of Old English throughout the land.
JUNE, 1885.
NOTE I.
The present work, carefully edited from Heyne's fourth edition, (Paderborn, 1879), is designed primarily for college classes in Anglo-Saxon, rather than for independent investigators or for seekers after a restored or ideal text. The need of an American edition of "Beówulf" has long been felt, as, hitherto, students have had either to send to Germany for a text, or secure, with great trouble, one of the scarce and expensive English editions. Heyne's first edition came out in 1863, and was followed in 1867 and 1873 by a second and a third edition, all three having essentially the same text.
So many important contributions to the "Beówulf" literature were, however, made between 1873 and 1879 that Heyne found it necessary to put forth a new edition (1879). In this new, last edition, the text was subjected to a careful revision, and was fortified by the views, contributions, and criticisms of other zealous scholars. In it the collation of the unique "Beówulf" Ms. (Vitellius A. 15: Cottonian Mss. of the British Museum), as made by E. Kölbing in Herrig's Archiv (Bd. 56; 1876), was followed wherever the present condition of the Ms. had to be discussed; and the researches of Bugge, Bieger, and others, on single passages, were made use of. The discussion of the metrical structure of the poem, as occurring in the second and third editions, was omitted in the fourth, owing to the many controversies in which the subject is still involved. The present editor has thought it best to do the same, though, happily, the subject of Old English Metrik is undergoing a steady illumination through the labors of Schipper and others.
Some errors and misplaced accents in Heyne's text have been corrected in the present edition, in which, as in the general revision of the text, the editor has been most kindly aided by Prof. J.M. Garnett, late Principal of St. John's College, Maryland.
In the preparation of the present school edition it has been thought best to omit Heyne's notes, as they concern themselves principally with conjectural emendations, substitutions of one reading for another, and discussions of the condition of the Ms. Until Wülker's text and the photographic fac-simile of the original Ms. are in the hands of all scholars, it will be better not to introduce such matters in the school room, where they would puzzle without instructing.
For convenience of reference, the editor has added a head-line to each "fit" of the poem, with a view to facilitate a knowledge of its episodes.
WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY, LEXINGTON, VA., June, 1882.
NOTE II.
The editors now have the pleasure of presenting to the public a complete text and a tolerably complete glossary of "Beówulf." The edition is the first published in America, and the first of its special kind presented to the English public, and it is the initial volume of a "Library of Anglo-Saxon Poetry," to be edited under the same auspices and with the coöperation of distinguished scholars in this country. Among these scholars may be mentioned Professors F.A. March of Lafayette College, T.K. Price of Columbia College, and W.M. Baskervill of Vanderbilt University.
In the preparation of the Glossary the editors found it necessary to abandon a literal and exact translation of Heyne for several reasons, and among others from the fact that Heyne seems to be wrong in the translation of some of his illustrative quotations, and even translates the same passage in two or three different ways under different headings. The orthography of his glossary differs considerably from the orthography of his text. He fails to discriminate with due nicety the meanings of many of the words in his vocabulary, while criticism more recent than his latest edition (1879) has illustrated or overthrown several of his renderings. The references were found to be incorrect in innumerable instances, and had to be verified in every individual case so far as this was possible, a few only, which resisted all efforts at verification, having to be indicated by an interrogation point (?). The references are exceedingly numerous, and the labor of verifying them was naturally great. To many passages in the Glossary, where Heyne's translation could not be trusted with entire certainty, the editors have added other translations of phrases and sentences or of special words; and in this they have been aided by a careful study of the text and a comparison and utilization of the views of Kemble and Professor J.M. Garnett (who takes Grein for his foundation). Many new references have been added; and the various passages in which Heyne fails to indicate whether a given verb is weak or strong, or fails to point out the number, etc., of the illustrative form, have been corrected and made to harmonize with the general plan of the work. Numerous misprints in the glossary have also been corrected, and a brief glossary to the Finnsburh-fragment, prepared by Dr. Wm. Hand Browne, and supplemented and adapted by the editor-in-chief, has been added.
The editors think that they may without immodesty put forth for themselves something more than the claim of being re-translators of a translation: the present edition is, so far as they were able to make it so, an adaptation, correction, and extension of the work of the great German scholar to whose loving appreciation of the Anglo-Saxon epic all students of Old English owe a debt of gratitude. While following his usually sure and cautious guidance, and in the main appropriating his results, they have thought it best to deviate from him in the manner above indicated, whenever it seemed that he was wrong. The careful reader will notice at once the marks of interrogation which point out these deviations, or which introduce a point of view illustrative of, or supplementary to, the one given by the German editor. No doubt the editors are wrong themselves in many places,—"Beówulf" is a most difficult poem,—but their view may at least be defended by a reference to the original text, which they have faithfully and constantly consulted.
A good many cognate Modern English words have been introduced here and there in the Glossary with a view to illustration, and other addenda will be found between brackets and parenthetical marks.
It is hoped that the present edition of the most famous of Old English poems will do something to promote a valuable and interesting study.
JAMES A. HARRISON, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va.
ROBERT SHARP, University of Louisiana, New Orleans.
April, 1883.
The responsibility of the editors is as follows: H. is responsible for the Text, and for the Glossary from hrînan on; S. for the List of Names, and for the Glossary as far as hrînan.
ARGUMENT.
The only national [Anglo-Saxon] epic which has been preserved entire is Beówulf. Its argument is briefly as follows:—The poem opens with a few verses in praise of the Danish Kings, especially Scild, the son of Sceaf. His death is related, and his descendants briefly traced down to Hroðgar. Hroðgar, elated with his prosperity and success in war, builds a magnificent hall, which he calls Heorot. In this hall Hroðgar and his retainers live in joy and festivity, until a malignant fiend, called Grendel, jealous of their happiness, carries off by night thirty of Hroðgar's men, and devours them in his moorland retreat. These ravages go on for twelve years. Beówulf, a thane of Hygelac, King of the Goths, hearing of Hroðgar's calamities, sails from Sweden with fourteen warriors—to help him. They reach the Danish coast in safety; and, after an animated parley with Hroðgar's coastguard, who at first takes them for pirates, they are allowed to proceed to the royal hall, where they are well received by Hroðgar. A banquet ensues, during which Beówulf is taunted by the envious Hunferhð about his swimming-match with Breca, King of the Brondings. Beówulf gives the true account of the contest, and silences Hunferhð. At night-fall the King departs, leaving Beówulf in charge of the hall. Grendel soon breaks in, seizes and devours one of Beówulf's companions; is attacked by Beówulf, and, after losing an arm, which is torn off by Beówulf, escapes to the fens. The joy of Hroðgar and the Danes, and their festivities, are described, various episodes are introduced, and Beówulf and his companions receive splendid gifts. The next night Grendel's mother revenges her son by carrying off Æschere, the friend and councillor of Hroðgar, during the absence of Beówulf. Hroðgar appeals to Beówulf for vengeance, and describes the haunts of Grendel and his mother. They all proceed thither; the scenery of the lake, and the monsters that dwell in it, are described. Beówulf plunges into the water, and attacks Grendel's mother in her dwelling at the bottom of the lake. He at length overcomes her, and cuts off her head, together with that of Grendel, and brings the heads to Hroðgar. He then takes leave of Hroðgar, sails back to Sweden, and relates his adventures to Hygelac. Here the first half of the poem ends. The second begins with the accession of Beówulf to the throne, after the fall of Hygelac and his son Heardred. He rules prosperously for fifty years, till a dragon, brooding over a hidden treasure, begins to ravage the country, and destroys Beówulf's palace with fire. Beówulf sets out in quest of its hiding-place, with twelve men. Having a presentiment of his approaching end, he pauses and recalls to mind his past life and exploits. He then takes leave of his followers, one by one, and advances alone to attack the dragon. Unable, from the heat, to enter the cavern, he shouts aloud, and the dragon comes forth. The dragon's scaly hide is proof against Beówulf's sword, and he is reduced to great straits. Then Wiglaf, one of his followers, advances to help him. Wiglaf's shield is consumed by the dragon's fiery breath, and he is compelled to seek shelter under Beówulf's shield of iron. Beówulf's sword snaps asunder, and he is seized by the dragon. Wiglaf stabs the dragon from underneath, and Beówulf cuts it in two with his dagger. Feeling that his end is near, he bids Wiglaf bring out the treasures from the cavern, that he may see them before he dies. Wiglaf enters the dragon's den, which is described, returns to Beówulf, and receives his last commands. Beówulf dies, and Wiglaf bitterly reproaches his companions for their cowardice. The disastrous consequences of Beówulf's death are then foretold, and the poem ends with his funeral.—H. Sweet, in Warton's History of English Poetry, Vol. II. (ed. 1871). Cf. also Ten Brink's History of English Literature.
BEÓWULF.
II. THE HALL HEOROT.
† 55III. GRENDEL'S VISITS.
115IV. HYGELAC'S THANE.
† †190V. THE ERRAND.
† 260VI. BEÓWULF'S SPEECH.
†320VII. HROTHGAR'S WELCOME.
† † 375VIII. HROTHGAR TELLS OF GRENDEL.
† 460IX. HUNFERTH OBJECTS TO BEÓWULF.
† 500X. BEÓWULF'S CONTEST WITH BRECA.—THE FEAST.
560XI. THE WATCH FOR GRENDEL.
665XII. GRENDEL'S RAID.
† 715XIII. BEÓWULF TEARS OFF GRENDEL'S ARM.
† 795XIV. THE JOY AT HEOROT.
840XV. HROTHGAR'S GRATULATION.
† 930XVI. THE BANQUET AND THE GIFTS.
† †995XVII. SONG OF HROTHGAR'S POET—THE LAY OF HNAEF AND HENGEST.
1055XVIII. THE GLEEMAN'S TALE IS ENDED.
†1130XIX. BEÓWULF'S JEWELLED COLLAR. THE HEROES REST.
† 1195XX. GRENDEL'S MOTHER ATTACKS THE RING-DANES.
† † †1255XXI. SORROW AT HEOROT: ÆSCHERE'S DEATH
1325XXII. BEÓWULF SEEKS THE MONSTER IN THE HAUNTS OF THE NIXIES.
1385XXIII. THE BATTLE WITH THE WATER-DRAKE.
1475XXIV. BEÓWULF SLAYS THE SPRITE.
1560XXV. HROTHGAR'S GRATITUDE: HE DISCOURSES.
1655XXVI. THE DISCOURSE IS ENDED.—BEÓWULF PREPARES TO LEAVE.
† †1750XXVII. THE PARTING WORDS.
1820XXVIII. BEÓWULF RETURNS TO GEATLAND.—THE QUEENS HYGD AND THRYTHO.
1890XXIX. HIS ARRIVAL. HYGELAC'S RECEPTION.
1965XXX. BEÓWULF'S STORY OF THE SLAYINGS.
2035XXXI. HE GIVES PRESENTS TO HYGELAC. HYGELAC REWARDS HIM. HYGELAC'S DEATH. BEÓWULF REIGNS.
2145XXXII. THE FIRE-DRAKE. THE HOARD.
† † †2225XXXIII. BEOWULF RESOLVES TO KILL THE FIRE-DRAKE.
2315XXXIV. RETROSPECT OF BEÓWULF.—STRIFE BETWEEN SWEONAS AND GEATAS.
† †2395XXXV. MEMORIES OF PAST TIME.—THE FEUD WITH THE FIRE-DRAKE.
2465XXXVI. WIGLAF HELPS BEÓWULF IN THE FEUD
† 2605XXXVII. BEÓWULF WOUNDED TO DEATH.
2695XXXVIII. THE JEWEL-HOARD. THE PASSING OF BEOWULF.
2755XXXIX. THE COWARD-THANES.
2825XL. THE SOLDIER'S DIRGE AND PROPHECY.
2895XLI. HE TELLS OF THE SWEDES AND THE GEATAS
†2950XLII. WÎGLAF SPEAKS. THE BUILDING OF THE BALE-FIRE.
†3060XLIII. BEÓWULF'S FUNERAL PYRE.
3140APPENDIX
†THE ATTACK IN FINNSBURG.‡
† †5LIST OF NAMES; NOTES; AND GLOSSARY.
ABBREVIATIONS
| m.: | masculine. |
| f.: | feminine. |
| n.: | neuter. |
| nom., gen.: | nominative, genitive, etc. |
| w.: | weak. |
| w. v.: | weak verb. |
| st.: | strong. |
| st. v.: | strong verb. |
| I., II., III.: | first, second, third person. |
| comp.: | compound. |
| imper.: | imperative. |
| w.: | with. |
| instr.: | instrumental. |
| G. and Goth.: | Gothic. |
| O.N.: | Old Norse. |
| O.S.: | Old Saxon. |
| O.H.G.: | Old High German. |
| M.H.G.: | Middle High German. |
| The vowel | ä = a in glad | } | |
| The diphthong | æ = a in hair | } | approximately. |
The names Leo, Bugge, Rieger, etc., refer to authors of emendations.
Words beginning with ge- will be found under their root-word.
Obvious abbreviations, like subj., etc., are not included in this list.
LIST OF NAMES.
Abel, Cain's brother, 108.
Älf-here (gen. Älf-heres, 2605), a kinsman of Wîglâf's, 2605.
Äsc-here, confidential adviser of King Hrôðgâr (1326), older brother of Yrmenlâf (1325), killed by Grendel's mother, 1295, 1324, 2123.
Bân-stân, father of Breca, 524.
Beó-wulf, son of Scyld, king of the Danes, 18, 19. After the death of his father, he succeeds to the throne of the Scyldings, 53. His son is Healfdene, 57.
Beó-wulf (Biówulf, 1988, 2390; gen. Beówulfes, 857, etc., Biówulfes, 2195, 2808, etc.; dat. Beówulfe, 610, etc., Biówulfe, 2325, 2843), of the race of the Geátas. His father is the Wægmunding Ecgþeów (263, etc.); his mother a daughter of Hrêðel, king of the Geátas (374), at whose court he is brought up after his seventh year with Hrêðel's sons, Herebeald, Hæðcyn, and Hygelâc, 2429 ff. In his youth lazy and unapt (2184 f., 2188 f.); as man he attains in the gripe of his hand the strength of thirty men, 379. Hence his victories in his combats with bare hands (711 ff., 2502 ff.), while fate denies him the victory in the battle with swords, 2683 f. His swimming-match with Breca in his youth, 506 ff. Goes with fourteen Geátas to the assistance of the Danish king, Hrôðgâr, against Grendel, 198 ff. His combat with Grendel, and his victory, 711 ff., 819 ff. He is, in consequence, presented with rich gifts by Hrôðgâr, 1021 ff. His combat with Grendel's mother, 1442 ff. Having again received gifts, he leaves Hrôðgâr (1818-1888), and returns to Hygelâc, 1964 ff.—After Hygelâc's last battle and death, he flees alone across the sea, 2360 f. In this battle he crushes Däghrefn, one of the Hûgas, to death, 2502 f. He rejects at the same time Hygelâc's kingdom and the hand of his widow (2370 ff.), but carries on the government as guardian of the young Heardrêd, son of Hygelâc, 2378 ff. After Heardrêd's death, the kingdom falls to Beówulf, 2208, 2390.—Afterwards, on an expedition to avenge the murdered Heardrêd, he kills the Scylfing, Eádgils (2397), and probably conquers his country. —His fight with the drake, 2539 ff. His death, 2818. His burial, 3135 ff.
Breca (acc. Brecan, 506, 531), son of Beánstân, 524. Chief of the Brondings, 521. His swimming-match with Beówulf, 506 ff.
Brondingas (gen. Brondinga, 521), Breca, their chief, 521.
Brosinga mene, corrupted from, or according to Müllenhoff, written by mistake for, Breosinga mene (O.N., Brisinga men, cf. Haupts Zeitschr. XII. 304), collar, which the Brisingas once possessed.
Cain (gen. Caines, 107): descended from him are Grendel and his kin, 107, 1262 ff.
Däg-hrefn (dat. Däghrefne, 2502), a warrior of the Hûgas, who, according to 2504-5, compared with 1203, and with 1208, seems to have been the slayer of King Hygelâc, in his battle against the allied Franks, Frisians, and Hûgas. Is crushed to death by Beówulf in a hand-to-hand combat, 2502 ff.
Dene (gen. Dena, 242, etc., Denia, 2126, Deniga, 271, etc.; dat. Denum, 768, etc.), as subjects of Scyld and his descendants, they are also called Scyldings; and after the first king of the East Danes, Ing (Runenlied, 22), Ing-wine, 1045, 1320. They are also once called Hrêðmen, 445. On account of their renowned warlike character, they bore the names Gâr-Dene, 1, 1857, Hring-Dene (Armor-Danes), 116, 1280, Beorht-Dene, 427, 610. The great extent of this people is indicated by their names from the four quarters of the heavens: Eást-Dene, 392, 617, etc., West-Dene, 383, 1579, Sûð-Dene, 463, Norð-Dene, 784.—Their dwelling-place "in Scedelandum," 19, "on Scedenigge," 1687, "be sæm tweónum," 1686.
Ecg-lâf (gen. Ecglâfes, 499), Hûnferð's father, 499.
Ecg-þeów (nom. Ecgþeów, 263, Ecgþeó, 373; gen. Ecgþeówes, 529, etc., Ecgþiówes, 2000), a far-famed hero of the Geátas, of the house of the Wægmundings. Beówulf is the son of Ecgþeów, by the only daughter of Hrêðel, king of the Geátas, 262, etc. Among the Wylfings, he has slain Heaðolâf (460), and in consequence he goes over the sea to the Danes (463), whose king, Hrôðgâr, by means of gold, finishes the strife for him, 470.
Ecg-wela (gen. Ecg-welan, 1711). The Scyldings are called his descendants, 1711. Grein considers him the founder of the older dynasty of Danish kings, which closes with Heremôd. See Heremôd.
Elan, daughter of Healfdene, king of the Danes, (?) 62. According to the restored text, she is the wife of Ongenþeów, the Scylfing, 62, 63.
Earna-näs, the Eagle Cape in the land of the Geátas, where occurred Beówulf's fight with the drake, 3032.
Eádgils (dat. Eádgilse, 2393), son of Ôhthere, and grandson of Ongenþeów, the Scylfing, 2393. His older brother is
Eánmund (gen. Eánmundes, 2612). What is said about both in our poem (2201-2207, 2380-2397, 2612-2620) is obscure, but the following may be conjectured:—
The sons of Ôhthere, Eánmund and Eádgils, have rebelled against their father (2382), and must, in consequence, depart with their followers from Swiórîce, 2205-6, 2380. They come into the country of the Geátas to Heardrêd (2380), but whether with friendly or hostile intent is not stated; but, according to 2203 f., we are to presume that they came against Heardrêd with designs of conquest. At a banquet (on feorme; or feorme, MS.) Heardrêd falls, probably through treachery, by the hand of one of the brothers, 2386, 2207. The murderer must have been Eánmund, to whom, according to 2613, "in battle the revenge of Weohstân brings death." Weohstân takes revenge for his murdered king, and exercises upon Eánmund's body the booty-right, and robs it of helm, breastplate, and sword (2616-17), which the slain man had received as gifts from his uncle, Onela, 2617-18. But Weohstân does not speak willingly of this fight, although he has slain Onela's brother's son, 2619-20.—After Heardrêd's and Eánmund's death, the descendant of Ongenþeów, Eádgils, returns to his home, 2388. He must give way before Beówulf, who has, since Heardrêd's death, ascended the throne of the Geátas, 2390. But Beówulf remembers it against him in after days, and the old feud breaks out anew, 2392-94. Eádgils makes an invasion into the land of the Geátas (2394-95), during which he falls at the hands of Beówulf, 2397. The latter must have then obtained the sovereignty over the Sweonas (3005-6, where only the version, Scylfingas, can give a satisfactory sense).
Eofor (gen. Eofores, 2487, 2965; dat. Jofore, 2994, 2998), one of the Geátas, son of Wonrêd and brother of Wulf (2965, 2979), kills the Swedish king, Ongenþeów (2487 ff., 2978-82), for which he receives from King Hygelâc, along with other gifts, his only daughter in marriage, 2994-99.
Eormen-rîc (gen. Eormenrîces, 1202), king of the Goths (cf. about him, W. Grimm, Deutsche Heldensage, p. 2, ff.). Hâma has wrested the Brosinga mene from him, 1202.
Eomær, son of Offa and Þryðo (cf. Þryðo), 1961.
Finn (gen. Finnes, 1069, etc.; dat. Finne, 1129), son of Folcwalda (1090), king of the North Frisians, i.e. of the Eotenas, husband of Hildeburg, a daughter of Hôc, 1072, 1077. He is the hero of the inserted poem on the Attack in Finnsburg, the obscure incidents of which are, perhaps, as follows: In Finn's castle, Finnsburg, situated in Jutland (1126-28), the Hôcing, Hnäf, a relative—perhaps a brother—of Hildeburg is spending some time as guest. Hnäf, who is a liegeman of the Danish king, Healfdene, has sixty men with him (Finnsburg, 38). These are treacherously attacked one night by Finn's men, 1073. For five days they hold the doors of their lodging-place without losing one of their number (Finnsburg, 41, 42). Then, however, Hnäf is slain (1071), and the Dane, Hengest, who was among Hnäf's followers, assumes the command of the beleaguered band. But on the attacking side the fight has brought terrible losses to Finn's men. Their numbers are diminished (1081 f.), and Hildeburg bemoans a son and a brother among the fallen (1074 f., cf. 1116, 1119). Therefore the Frisians offer the Danes peace (1086) under the conditions mentioned (1087-1095), and it is confirmed with oaths (1097), and money is given by Finn in propitiation (1108). Now all who have survived the battle go together to Friesland, the homo proper of Finn, and here Hengest remains during the winter, prevented by ice and storms from returning home (Grein). But in spring the feud breaks out anew. Gûðlâf and Oslâf avenge Hnäf's fall, probably after they have brought help from home (1150). In the battle, the hall is filled with the corpses of the enemy. Finn himself is killed, and the queen is captured and carried away, along with the booty, to the land of the Danes, 1147-1160.
Finna land. Beówulf reaches it in his swimming-race with Breca, 580.
Fitela, the son and nephew of the Wälsing, Sigemund, and his companion in arms, 876-890. (Sigemund had begotten Fitela by his sister, Signý. Cf. more at length Leo on Beówulf, p. 38 ff., where an extract from the legend of the Walsungs is given.)
Folc-walda (gen. Folc-waldan, 1090), Finn's father, 1090.
Francan (gen. Francna, 1211; dat. Froncum, 2913). King Hygelâc fell on an expedition against the allied Franks, Frisians, and Hûgas, 1211, 2917.
Fresan, Frisan, Frysan (gen. Fresena, 1094, Frysna, 1105, Fresna, 2916: dat. Frysum, 1208, 2913). To be distinguished, are: 1) North Frisians, whose king is Finn, 1069 ff.; 2) West Frisians, in alliance with the Franks and Hûgas, in the war against whom Hygelâc falls, 1208, 2916. The country of the former is called Frysland, 1127; that of the latter, Fresna land, 2916.
Fr..es wäl (in Fr..es wäle, 1071), mutilated proper name.
Freáwaru, daughter of the Danish king, Hrôðgâr; given in marriage to Ingeld, the son of the Heaðobeard king, Frôda, in order to end a war between the Danes and the Heaðobeardnas, 2023 ff., 2065.
Frôda (gen. Frôdan), father of Ingeld, the husband of Freáware, 2026.
Gârmund (gen. Gârmundes, 1963) father of Offa. His grandson is Eómær, 1961-63.
Geátas (gen. Geáta, 205, etc.; dat. Geátum, 195, etc.), a tribe in Southern Scandinavia, to which the hero of this poem belongs; also called Wedergeátas, 1493, 2552; or, Wederas, 225, 423, etc.; Gûðgeátas, 1539; Sægeátas, 1851, 1987. Their kings named in this poem are: Hrêðel; Hæðcyn, second son of Hrêðel; Hygelâc, the brother of Hæðcyn; Heardrêd, son of Hygelâc; then Beówulf.
Gifðas (dat. Gifðum, 2495), Gepidæ, mentioned in connection with Danes and Swedes, 2495.
Grendel, a fen-spirit (102-3) of Cain's race, 107, 111, 1262, 1267. He breaks every night into Hrôðgâr's hall and carries off thirty warriors, 115 ff., 1583ff. He continues this for twelve years, till Beówulf fights with him (147, 711 ff.), and gives him a mortal wound, in that he tears out one of his arms (817), which is hung up as a trophy in the roof of Heorot, 837. Grendel's mother wishes to avenge her son, and the following night breaks into the hall and carries off Äschere, 1295. Beówulf seeks for and finds her home in the fen-lake (1493 ff.), fights with her (1498 ff.), and kills her (1567); and cuts off the head of Grendel, who lay there dead (1589), and brings it to Hrôðgâr, 1648.
Gûð-lâf and Oslâf, Danish warriors under Hnäf, whose death they avenge on Finn, 1149.
Hâlga, with the surname, til, the younger brother of the Danish king, Hrôðgâr, 61. His son is Hrôðulf, 1018, 1165, 1182.
Hâma wrests the Brosinga mene from Eormenrîc, 1199.
Häreð (gen. Häreðes, 1982), father of Hygd, the wife of Hygelâc, 1930, 1982.
Hæðcyn (dat. Hæðcynne, 2483), second son of Hrêðel, king of the Geátas, 2435. Kills his oldest brother, Herebeald, accidentally, with an arrow, 2438 ff. After Hrêðel's death, he obtains the kingdom, 2475, 2483. He falls at Ravenswood, in the battle against the Swedish king, Ongenþeów, 2925. His successor is his younger brother, Hygelâc, 2944 ff., 2992.
Helmingas (gen. Helminga, 621). From them comes Wealhþeów, Hrôðgâr's wife, 621.
Heming (gen. Heminges, 1945, 1962). Offa is called Heminges mæg, 1945; Eómær, 1962. According to Bachlechner (Pfeiffer's Germania, I., p. 458), Heming is the son of the sister of Gârmund, Offa's father.
Hengest (gen. Hengestes, 1092; dat. Hengeste, 1084): about him and his relations to Hnäf and Finn, see Finn.
Here-beald (dat. Herebealde, 2464), the oldest son of Hrêðel, king of the Geátas (2435), accidentally killed with an arrow by his younger brother, Hæðcyn, 2440.
Here-môd (gen. Heremôdes, 902), king of the Danes, not belonging to the Scylding dynasty, but, according to Grein, immediately preceding it; is, on account of his unprecedented cruelty, driven out, 902 ff., 1710.
Here-rîc (gen. Hererîces, 2207) Heardrêd is called Hererîces nefa, 2207. Nothing further is known of him.
Het-ware or Franks, in alliance with the Frisians and the Hûgas, conquer Hygelâc, king of the Geátas, 2355, 2364 ff., 2917.
Healf-dene (gen. Healfdenes, 189, etc.), son of Beówulf, the Scylding (57); rules the Danes long and gloriously (57 f.); has three sons, Heorogâr, Hrôðgâr, and Hâlga (61), and a daughter, Elan, who, according to the renewed text of the passage, wäs married to the Scylfing, Ongenþeów, 62, 63.
Heard-rêd (dat. Heardrêde, 2203, 2376), son of Hygelâc, king of the Geátas, and Hygd. After his father's death, while still under age, he obtains the throne (2371, 2376, 2379); wherefore Beówulf, as nephew of Heardrêd's father, acts as guardian to the youth till he becomes older, 2378. He is slain by Ôhthere's sons, 2386. This murder Beówulf avenges on Eádgils, 2396-97.
Heaðo-beardnas (gen. -beardna, 2033, 2038, 2068), the tribe of the Lombards. Their king, Frôda, has fallen in a war with the Danes, 2029, 2051. In order to end the feud, King Hrôðgâr has given his daughter, Freáwaru, as wife to the young Ingeld, the son of Frôda, a marriage that does not result happily; for Ingeld, though he long defers it on account of his love for his wife, nevertheless takes revenge for his father, 2021-2070 (Wîdsîð, 45-49).
Heaðo-lâf (dat. Heaðo-lâfe, 460), a Wylfingish warrior. Ecgþeów, Beówulf's father, kills him, 460.
Heaðo-ræmas reached by B. in the swimming-race with Beówulf, 519.
Heoro-gâr (nom. 61; Heregâr, 467; Hiorogâr, 2159), son of Healfdene, and older brother of Hrôðgâr, 61. His death is mentioned, 467. He has a son, Heoroweard, 2162. His coat of mail Beówulf has received from Hrôðgâr (2156), and presents it to Hygelâc, 2158.
Heoro-weard (dat. Heorowearde, 2162), Heorogâr's son, 2161-62.
Heort, 78. Heorot, 166 (gen. Heorotes, 403; dat. Heorote, 475, Heorute, 767, Hiorte, 2100). Hrôðgâr's throne-room and banqueting hall and assembly-room for his liegemen, built by him with unusual splendor, 69, 78. In it occurs Beówulf's fight with Grendel, 720 ff. The hall receives its name from the stag's antlers, of which the one-half crowns the eastern gable, the other half the western.
Hildeburh, daughter of Hôc, relative of the Danish leader, Hnäf, consort of the Frisian king, Finn. After the fall of the latter, she becomes a captive of the Danes, 1072, 1077, 1159. See also under Finn.
Hnäf (gen. Hnäfes, 1115), a Hôcing (Wîdsîð, 29), the Danish King Healfdene's general, 1070 ff. For his fight with Finn, his death and burial, see under Finn.
Hond-sció, warrior of the Geátas: dat. 2077.
Hôc (gen. Hôces, 1077), father of Hildeburh, 1077; probably also of Hnäf (Wîdsîð, 29).
Hrêðel (gen. Hrêðles, 1486), son of Swerting, 1204. King of the Geátas, 374. He has, besides, a daughter, who is married to Ecgþeów, and has borne him Beówulf, (374), three sons, Herebeald, Hæðcyn, and Hygelâc, 2435. The eldest of these is accidentally killed by the second, 2440. On account of this inexpiable deed, Hrêðel becomes melancholy (2443), and dies, 2475.
Hrêðla (gen. Hrêðlan, MS. Hrædlan, 454), the same as Hrêðel (cf. Müllenhoff in Haupts Zeitschrift, 12, 260), the former owner of Beówulf's coat of mail, 454.
Hrêð-men (gen. Hrêð-manna, 445), the Danes are so called, 445.
Hrêð-rîc, son of Hrôðgâr, 1190, 1837.
Hrefna-wudu, 2926, or Hrefnes-holt, 2936, the thicket near which the Swedish king, Ongenþeów, slew Hæðcyn, king of the Geátas, in battle.
Hreosna-beorh, promontory in the land of the Geátas, near which Ongenþeów's sons, Ôhthere and Onela, had made repeated robbing incursions into the country after Hrêðel's death. These were the immediate cause of the war in which Hrêðel's son, King Hæðcyn, fell, 2478 ff.
Hrôð-gâr (gen. Hrôðgâres, 235, etc.; dat. Hrôðgâre, 64, etc.), of the dynasty of the Scyldings; the second of the three sons of King Healfdene, 61. After the death of his elder brother, Heorogâr, he assumes the government of the Danes, 465, 467 (yet it is not certain whether Heorogâr was king of the Danes before Hrôðgâr, or whether his death occurred while his father, Healfdene, was still alive). His consort is Wealhþeów (613), of the stock of the Helmings (621), who has borne him two sons, Hrêðrîc and Hrôðmund (1190), and a daughter, Freáware (2023), who has been given in marriage to the king of the Heaðobeardnas, Ingeld. His throne-room (78 ff.), which has been built at great cost (74 ff.), is visited every night by Grendel (102, 115), who, along with his mother, is slain by Beówulf (711 ff., 1493 ff). Hrôðgâr's rich gifts to Beówulf, in consequence, 1021, 1818; he is praised as being generous, 71 ff., 80, 1028 ff., 1868 ff.; as being brave, 1041 ff., 1771 ff.; and wise, 1699, 1725.—Other information about Hrôðgâr's reign for the most part only suggested: his expiation of the murder which Ecgþeów, Beówulf's father, committed upon Heaðolâf, 460, 470; his war with the Heaðobeardnas; his adjustment of it by giving his daughter, Freáware, in marriage to their king, Ingeld; evil results of this marriage, 2021-2070.—Treachery of his brother's son, Hrôðulf, intimated, 1165-1166.
Hrôð-mund, Hrôðgâr's son, 1190.
Hrôð-ulf, probably a son of Hâlga, the younger brother of King Hrôðgâr, 1018, 1182. Wealhþeów expresses the hope (1182) that, in case of the early death of Hrôðgâr, Hrôð-ulf would prove a good guardian to Hrôðgâr's young son, who would succeed to the government; a hope which seems not to have been accomplished, since it appears from 1165, 1166 that Hrôð-ulf has abused his trust towards Hrôðgâr.
Hrones-näs (dat. -nässe, 2806, 3137), a promontory on the coast of the country of the Geátas, visible from afar. Here is Beówulf's grave-mound, 2806, 3137.
Hrunting (dat. Hruntinge, 1660), Hûnferð's sword, is so called, 1458, 1660.
Hûgas (gen. Hûga, 2503), Hygelâc wars against them allied with the Franks and Frisians, and falls, 2195 ff. One of their heroes is called Däghrefn, whom Beówulf slays, 2503.
[H]ûn-ferð, the son of Ecglâf, þyle of King Hrôðgâr. As such, he has his place near the throne of the king, 499, 500, 1167. He lends his sword, Hrunting, to Beówulf for his battle with Grendel's mother, 1456 f. According to 588, 1168, he slew his brothers. Since his name is always alliterated with vowels, it is probable that the original form was, as Rieger (Zachers Ztschr., 3, 414) conjectures, Unferð.
Hûn-lâfing, name of a costly sword, which Finn presents to Hengest, 1144. See Note.
Hygd (dat. Hygde, 2173), daughter of Häreð, 1930; consort of Hygelâc, king of the Geátas, 1927; her son, Heardrêd, 2203, etc.—Her noble, womanly character is emphasized, 1927 ff.
Hyge-lâc (gen. Hige-lâces, 194, etc., Hygelâces, 2387; dat. Higelâce, 452, Hygelâce, 2170), king of the Geátas, 1203, etc. His grandfather is Swerting, 1204; his father, Hrêðel, 1486, 1848; his older brothers, Herebeald and Hæðcyn, 2435; his sister's son, Beówulf, 374, 375. After his brother, Hæðcyn, is killed by Ongenþeów, he undertakes the government (2992 in connection with the preceding from 2937 on). To Eofor he gives, as reward for slaying Ongenþeów, his only daughter in marriage, 2998. But much later, at the time of the return of Beówulf from his expedition to Hrôðgâr, we see him married to the very young Hygd, the daughter of Häreð, 1930. The latter seems, then, to have been his second wife. Their son is Heardrêd, 2203, 2376, 2387.—Hygelâc falls during an expedition against the Franks, Frisians, and Hûgas, 1206, 1211, 2356-59, 2916-17.
Ingeld (dat. Ingelde, 2065), son of Frôda, the Heaðobeard chief, who fell in a battle with the Danes, 2051 ff. in order to end the war, Ingeld is married to Freáwaru, daughter of the Danish king, Hrôðgâr, 2025-30. Yet his love for his young wife can make him forget only for a short while his desire to avenge his father. He finally carries it out, excited thereto by the repeated admonitions of an old warrior, 2042-70 (Wîdsîð, 45-59).
Ing-wine (gen. Ingwina, 1045, 1320), friends of Ing, the first king of the East Danes. The Danes are so called, 1045, 1320.
Mere-wioingas (gen. Mere-wioinga, 2922), as name of the Franks, 2922.
Nägling, the name of Beówulf's sword, 2681.
Offa (gen. Offan, 1950), king of the Angles (Wîdsîð, 35), the son of Gârmund, 1963; married (1950) to Þryðo (1932), a beautiful but cruel woman, of unfeminine spirit (1932 ff.), by whom he has a son, Eómær, 1961.
Ôht-here (gen. Ôhtheres, 2929, 2933; Ôhteres, 2381, 2393, 2395, 2613), son of Ongenþeów, king of the Swedes, 2929. His sons are Eánmund (2612) and Eádgils, 2393.
Onela (gen. Onelan, 2933), Ôhthere's brother, 2617, 2933.
Ongen-þeów (nom. -þeów, 2487, -þió, 2952; gen. -þeówes, 2476, -þiówes, 2388; dat. -þió, 2987), of the dynasty of the Scylfings; king of the Swedes, 2384. His wife is, perhaps, Elan, daughter of the Danish king, Healfdene (62), and mother of two sons, Onela and Ôhthere, 2933. She is taken prisoner by Hæðcyn, king of the Geátas, on an expedition into Sweden, which he undertakes on account of her sons' plundering raids into his country, 2480 ff. She is set free by Ongenþeów (2931), who kills Hæðcyn, 2925, and encloses the Geátas, now deprived of their leader, in the Ravenswood (2937 ff.), till they are freed by Hygelâc, 2944. A battle then follows, which is unfavorable to Ongenþeów's army. Ongenþeów himself, attacked by the brothers, Wulf and Eofor, is slain by the latter, 2487 ff., 2962 ff.
Ôs-lâf, a warrior of Hnäf's, who avenges on Finn his leader's death, 1149 f.
Scede-land, 19. Sceden-îg (dat. Sceden-îgge, 1687), O.N., Scân-ey, the most southern portion of the Scandinavian peninsula, belonging to the Danish kingdom, and, in the above-mentioned passages of our poem, a designation of the whole Danish kingdom.
Scêf or Sceáf. See Note.
Scyld (gen. Scyldes, 19), a Scêfing. 4. His son is Beówulf, 18, 53: his grandson, Healfdene, 57; his great-grandson, Hrôðgâr, who had two brothers and a sister, 59 ff.—Scyld dies, 26; his body, upon a decorated ship, is given over to the sea (32 ff.), just as he, when a child, drifted alone, upon a ship, to the land of the Danes, 43 ff. After him his descendants bear his name.
Scyldingas (Scyldungas, 2053; gen. Scyldinga, 53, etc., Scyldunga, 2102, 2160; dat. Scyldingum, 274, etc.), a name which is extended also to the Danes, who are ruled by the Scyldings, 53, etc. They are also called Âr-Scyldingas, 464; Sige-Scyldingas, 598, 2005; Þeód-Scyldingas, 1020; Here-Scyldingas, 1109.
Scylfingas, a Swedish royal family, whose relationship seems to extend to the Geátas, since Wîglâf, the son of Wihstân, who in another place, as a kinsman of Beówulf, is called a Wægmunding (2815), is also called leód Scylfinga, 2604. The family connections are perhaps as follows:—
Scylf.
|
------------------------
Wægmund. .......
| |
------------------ ----------
Ecgþeów. Weohstân. Ongenþeów.
| | |
-------- -------- ---------------
Beówulf. Wîglâf. Onela. Ôhthere.
|
-----------------
Eáumund. Eádgils.
The Scylfings are also called Heaðo-Scilfingas, 63, Gûð-Scylfingas, 2928.
Sige-mund (dat. -munde, 876, 885), the son of Wäls, 878, 898. His (son and ) nephew is Fitela, 880, 882. His fight with the drake, 887 ff.
Swerting (gen. Swertinges, 1204), Hygelâc's grandfather, and Hrêðel's father, 1204.
Sweon (gen. Sweona, 2473, 2947, 3002), also Sweó-þeód, 2923. The dynasty of the Scylfings rules over them, 2382, 2925. Their realm is called Swiórice, 2384, 2496.
Þryðo, consort of the Angle king, Offa, 1932, 1950. Mother of Eómær, 1961, notorious on account of her cruel, unfeminine character, 1932 ff. She is mentioned as the opposite to the mild, dignified Hygd, the queen of the Geátas.
Wäls (gen. Wälses, 898), father of Sigemund, 878, 898.
Wæg-mundingas (gen. Wægmundinga, 2608, 2815). The Wægmundings are on one side, Wihstân and his son Wîglâf; on the other side, Ecgþeów and his son Beówulf (2608, 2815). See under Scylfingas.
Wederas (gen. Wedera, 225, 423, 498, etc.), or Weder-geátas. See Geátas.
Wêland (gen. Wêlandes, 455), the maker of Beówulf's coat of mail, 455.
Wendlas (gen. Wendla, 348): their chief is Wulfgâr. See Wulfgâr. The Wendlas are, according to Grundtvig and Bugge, the inhabitants of Vendill, the most northern part of Jutland, between Limfjord and the sea.
Wealh-þeów (613, Wealh-þeó, 665, 1163), the consort of King Hrôðgâr, of the stock of the Helmings, 621. Her sons are Hrêðrîc and Hrôðmund, 1190; her daughter, Freáwaru, 2023.
Weoh-stân (gen. Weox-stânes, 2603, Weoh-stânes, 2863, Wih-stânes, 2753, 2908, etc.), a Wægmunding (2608), father of Wîglâf, 2603. In what relationship to him Älfhere, mentioned 2605, stands, is not clear.—Weohstân is the slayer of Eánmund (2612), in that, as it seems, he takes revenge for his murdered king, Heardrêd. See Eánmund.
Wîg-lâf, Weohstân's son, 2603, etc., a Wægmunding, 2815, and so also a Scylfing, 2604; a kinsman of Älfhere, 2605. For his relationship to Beówulf, see the genealogical table under Scylfingas.—He supports Beówulf in his fight with the drake, 2605 ff., 2662 ff. The hero gives him, before his death, his ring, his helm, and his coat of mail, 2810 ff.
Won-rêd (gen. Wonrêdes, 2972), father of Wulf and Eofor, 2966, 2979.
Wulf (dat. Wulfe, 2994), one of the Geátas, Wonrêd's son. He fights in the battle between the armies of Hygelâc and Ongenþeów with Ongenþeów himself, and gives him a wound (2966), whereupon Ongenþeów, by a stroke of his sword, disables him, 2975. Eofor avenges his brother's fall by dealing Ongenþeów a mortal blow, 2978 ff.
Wulf-gâr, chief of the Wendlas, 348, lives at Hrôðgâr's court, and is his "âr and ombiht," 335.
Wylfingas (dat. Wylfingum, 461). Ecgþeów has slain Heoðolâf, a warrior of this tribe, 460.
Yrmen-lâf, younger brother of Äschere, 1325.
ADDITIONAL.
Eotenas (gen. pl. Eotena, 1073, 1089, 1142; dat. Eotenum, 1146), the subjects of Finn, the North Frisians: distinguished from eoton, giant. Vid eoton. Cf. Bugge, Beit., xii. 37; Earle, Beowulf in Prose, pp. 146, 198.
Hrêðling, son of Hrêðel, Hygelâc: nom. sg. 1924; nom. pl., the subjects of Hygelâc, the Geats, 2961.
Scêfing, the son (?) of Scêf, or Sceáf, reputed father of Scyld, 4. See Note.
ABBREVIATIONS.
| B.: | Bugge. |
| Br.: | S.A. Brooke, Hist. of Early Eng. Lit. |
| C.: | Cosijn. |
| E.: | Earle, Deeds of Beowulf in Prose. |
| G.: | Garnett, Translation of Beowulf |
| Gr.: | Grein. |
| H.: | Heyne. |
| Ha.: | Hall, Translation of Beowulf. |
| H.-So.: | Heyne-Socin, 5th ed. |
| Ho.: | Holder. |
| K.: | Kemble. |
| Kl.: | Kluge. |
| Müllenh.: | Müllenhoff. |
| R.: | Rieger. |
| S.: | Sievers. |
| Sw.: | Sweet, Anglo-Saxon Reader, 6th ed. |
| Ten Br.: | Ten Brink. |
| Th.: | Thorpe. |
| Z.: | Zupitza. |
PERIODICALS.
| Ang.: | Anglia. |
| Beit.: | Paul und Branne's Beiträge. |
| Eng. Stud.: | Englische Studien. |
| Germ.: | Germania. |
| Haupts Zeitschr.: | Haupts Zeitschrift, etc. |
| Mod. Lang. Notes: | Modern Language Notes. |
| Tidskr.: | Tidskrift for Philologi. |
| Zachers Zeitschr.: | Zachers Zeitschrift, etc. |
NOTES.
l. 1. hwät: for this interjectional formula opening a poem, cf. Andreas, Daniel, Juliana, Exodus, Fata Apost., Dream of the Rood, and the "Listenith lordinges!" of mediaeval lays.—E. Cf. Chaucer, Prologue, ed. Morris, l. 853:
we ... gefrunon is a variant on the usual epic formulæ ic gefrägn (l. 74) and mîne gefræge (l. 777). Exodus, Daniel, Phoenix, etc., open with the same formula.
l. 1. "Gâr was the javelin, armed with two of which the warrior went into battle, and which he threw over the 'shield-wall.' It was barbed."—Br. 124. Cf. Maldon, l. 296; Judith, l. 224; Gnom. Verses, l. 22; etc.
l. 4. "Scild of the Sheaf, not 'Scyld the son of Scaf'; for it is too inconsistent, even in myth, to give a patronymic to a foundling. According to the original form of the story, Sceáf was the foundling; he had come ashore with a sheaf of corn, and from that was named. This form of the story is preserved in Ethelwerd and in William of Malmesbury. But here the foundling is Scyld, and we must suppose he was picked up with the sheaf, and hence his cognomen."—E., p. 105. Cf. the accounts of Romulus and Remus, of Moses, of Cyrus, etc.
l. 6. egsian is also used in an active sense (not in the Gloss.), = to terrify.
l. 15. S. suggests þâ (which) for þät, as object of dreógan; and for aldor-leáse, Gr. suggested aldor-ceare.—Beit. ix. 136.
S. translates: "For God had seen the dire need which the rulerless ones before endured."
l. 18. "Beowulf (that is, Beaw of the Anglo-Saxon genealogists, not our Beowulf, who was a Geat, not a Dane), 'the son of Scyld in Scedeland.' This is our ancestral myth,—the story of the first culture-hero of the North; 'the patriarch,' as Rydberg calls him, 'of the royal families of Sweden, Denmark, Angeln, Saxland, and England.'"—Br., p. 78. Cf. A.-S. Chron. an. 855.
H.-So. omits parenthetic marks, and reads (after S., Beit. ix. 135) eaferan; cf. Fata Apost.: lof wîde sprang þeódnes þegna.
"The name Bēowulf means literally 'Bee-wolf,' wolf or ravager of the bees, = bear. Cf. beorn, 'hero,' originally 'bear,' and bēohata, 'warrior,' in Cædmon, literally 'bee-hater' or 'persecutor,' and hence identical in meaning with bēowulf."—Sw.
Cf.
Cf. M. Müller, Science of Lang., Sec. Series, pp. 217, 218; and Hunt's Daniel, 104.
l. 19. Cf. l. 1866, where Scedenig is used, = Scania, in Sweden(?).
l. 21. wine is pl.; cf. its apposition wil-gesîðas below. H.-So. compares Héliand, 1017, for language almost identical with ll. 20, 21.
l. 26. Reflexive objects often pleonastically accompany verbs of motion; cf. ll. 234, 301, 1964, etc.
l. 28. faroð = shore, strand, edge. Add these to the meanings in the Gloss.
l. 31. The object of âhte is probably geweald, to be supplied from wordum weóld of l. 30.—H.-So.
R., Kl., and B. all hold conflicting views of this passage: Beit. xii. 80, ix. 188; Zachers Zeitschr. iii. 382, etc. Kl. suggests lændagas for lange.
l. 32. "hringed-stefna is sometimes translated 'with curved prow,' but it means, I think, that in the prow were fastened rings through which the cables were passed that tied it to the shore."—Br., p. 26. Cf. ll. 1132, 1898. Hring-horni was the mythic ship of the Edda. See Toller-Bosworth for three different views; and cf. wunden-stefna (l. 220), hring-naca (l. 1863).
ll. 34-52. Cf. the burial of Haki on a funeral-pyre ship, Inglinga Saga; the burial of Balder, Sinfiötli, Arthur, etc.
l. 35. "And this [their joy in the sea] is all the plainer from the number of names given to the ship-names which speak their pride and affection. It is the Ætheling's vessel, the Floater, the Wave-swimmer, the Ring-sterned, the Keel, the Well-bound wood, the Sea-wood, the Sea-ganger, the Sea-broad ship, the Wide-bosomed, the Prow-curved, the Wood of the curved neck, the Foam-throated floater that flew like a bird."—Br., p. 168.
l. 49. "We know from Scandinavian graves ... that the illustrious dead were buried ... in ships, with their bows to sea-ward; that they were however not sent to sea, but were either burnt in that position, or mounded over with earth."—E. See Du Chaillu, The Viking Age, xix.
l. 51. (1) sele-rædende (K., S., C.); (2) sêle-rædenne (H.); (3) sele-rædende (H.-So.). Cf. l. 1347; and see Ha.
l. 51. E. compares with this canto Tennyson's "Passing of Arthur" and the legendary burial-journey of St. James of Campostella, an. 800.
l. 53. The poem proper begins with this, "There was once upon a time," the first 52 lines being a prelude. Eleven of the "fitts," or cantos, begin with the monosyllable þâ, four with the verb gewîtan, nine with the formula Hrôðgâr (Beówulf, Unferð) maðelode, twenty-four with monosyllables in general (him, swâ, sê, hwät, þâ, hêht, wäs, mäg, cwôm, stræt).
l. 58. gamel. "The ... characteristics of the poetry are the use of archaic forms and words, such as mec for mé, the possessive sín, gamol, dógor, swát for eald, dæg, blód, etc., after they had become obsolete in the prose language, and the use of special compounds and phrases, such as hildenædre (war-adder) for 'arrow,' gold-gifa (gold-giver) for 'king,' ... goldwine gumena (goldfriend of men, distributor of gold to men) for 'king,'" etc.—Sw. Other poetic words are ides, ielde (men), etc.
l. 60. H.-So. reads ræswa (referring to Heorogâr alone), and places a point (with the Ms.) after Heorogâr instead of after ræswa. Cf. l. 469; see B., Zachers Zeitschr. iv. 193.
l. 62. Elan here (OHG. Elana, Ellena, Elena, Elina, Alyan) is thought by B. (Tidskr. viii. 43) to be a remnant of the masc. name Onela, and he reads: [On-]elan ewên, Heaðoscilfingas(=es) healsgebedda.
l. 68. For hê, omitted here, cf. l. 300. Pronouns are occasionally thus omitted in subord. clauses.—Sw.
l. 70. þone, here = þonne, than, and micel = mâre? The passage, by a slight change, might be made to read, medo-ärn micle mâ gewyrcean,—þone = by much larger than,—in which þone (þonne) would come in naturally.
l. 73. folc-scare. Add folk-share to the meanings in the Gloss.; and cf. gûð-scearu.
l. 74. ic wide gefrägn: an epic formula very frequent in poetry, = men said. Cf. Judith, ll. 7, 246; Phoenix, l. 1; and the parallel (noun) formula, mîne gefræge, ll. 777, 838, 1956, etc.
ll. 78-83. "The hall was a rectangular, high-roofed, wooden building, its long sides facing north and south. The two gables, at either end, had stag-horns on their points, curving forwards, and these, as well as the ridge of the roof, were probably covered with shining metal, and glittered bravely in the sun."—Br., p. 32.
l. 84. Son-in-law and father-in-law; B., a so-called dvanda compound. Cf. l. 1164, where a similar compound means uncle and nephew; and Wîdsîð's suhtorfædran, used of the same persons.
l. 88. "The word dreám conveys the buzz and hum of social happiness, and more particularly the sound of music and singing."—E. Cf. l. 3021; and Judith, l. 350; Wanderer, l. 79, etc.
ll. 90-99. There is a suspicious similarity between this passage and the lines attributed by Bede to Cædmon:
ll. 90-98 are probably the interpolation of a Christian scribe.
ll. 92-97. "The first of these Christian elements [in Beówulf] is the sense of a fairer, softer world than that in which the Northern warriors lived.... Another Christian passage (ll. 107, 1262) derives all the demons, eotens, elves, and dreadful sea-beasts from the race of Cain. The folly of sacrificing to the heathen gods is spoken of (l. 175).... The other point is the belief in immortality (ll. 1202, 1761)."—Br. 71.
l. 100. Cf. l. 2211, where the third dragon of the poem is introduced in the same words. Beowulf is the forerunner of that other national dragon-slayer, St. George.
l. 100. onginnan in Beówulf is treated like verbs of motion and modal auxiliaries, and takes the object inf. without tô; cf. ll. 872, 1606, 1984, 244. Cf. gan (= did) in Mid. Eng.: gan espye (Chaucer, Knightes Tale, l. 254, ed. Morris).
l. 101. B. and H.-So. read, feónd on healle; cf. l. 142.—Beit. xii.
ll. 101-151. "Grimm connects [Grendel] with the Anglo-Saxon grindel (a bolt or bar).... It carries with it the notion of the bolts and bars of hell, and hence a fiend. ... Ettmüller was the first ... to connect the name with grindan, to grind, to crush to pieces, to utterly destroy. Grendel is then the tearer, the destroyer."—Br., p. 83.
l. 102. gäst = stranger (Ha.); cf. ll. 1139, 1442, 2313, etc.
l. 106. "The perfect and pluperfect are often expressed, as in Modern English, by hæfð and hæfde with the past participle."—Sw. Cf. ll. 433, 408, 940, 205 (p. p. inflected in the last two cases), etc.
l. 106. S. destroys period here, reads in Caines, etc., and puts þone ... drihten in parenthesis.
l. 108. þäs þe = because, especially after verbs of thanking (cf. ll. 228, 627, 1780, 2798); according as (l. 1351).
l. 108. The def. article is omitted with Drihten (Lord) and Deofol (devil; cf. l. 2089), as it is, generally, sparingly employed in poetry; cf. tô sæ (l. 318), ofer sæ (l. 2381), on lande (l. 2311), tô räste (l. 1238), on wicge (l. 286), etc., etc.
l. 119. weras (S., H.-So.); wera (K., Th.).—Beit. ix. 137.
l. 120. unfælo = uncanny (R.).
l. 131. E. translates, majestic rage; adopting Gr.'s view that swyð is = Icel. sviði, a burn or burning. Cf. l. 737.
l. 142. B. supposes heal-þegnes to be corrupted from helþegnes; cf. l. 101.—Beit. xii. 80. See Gûðlâc, l. 1042.
l. 144. See Ha., p. 6, for S.'s rearrangement.
l. 146. S. destroys period after sêlest, puts wäs ... micel in parenthesis, and inserts a colon after tîd.
l. 149. B. reads sârcwidum for syððan.
l. 154. B. takes sibbe for accus. obj. of wolde, and places a comma after Deniga.—Beit. xii. 82.
l. 159. R. suggests ac se for atol.
l. 168. H.-So. plausibly conjectures this parenthesis to be a late insertion, as, at ll. 180-181, the Danes also are said to be heathen. Another commentator considers the throne under a "spell of enchantment," and therefore it could not be touched.
l. 169. ne ... wisse: nor had he desire to do so (W.). See Ha., p. 7, for other suggestions.
l. 169. myne wisse occurs in Wanderer, l. 27.
l. 174. The gerundial inf. with tô expresses purpose, defines a noun or adjective, or, with the verb be, expresses duty or necessity passively; cf. ll. 257, 473, 1004, 1420, 1806, etc. Cf. tô + inf. at ll. 316, 2557.
ll. 175-188. E. regards this passage as dating the time and place of the poem relatively to the times of heathenism. Cf. the opening lines, In days of yore, etc., as if the story, even then, were very old.
l. 177. gâst-bona is regarded by Ettmüller and G. Stephens (Thunor, p. 54) as an epithet of Thor (= giant-killer), a kenning for Thunor or Thor, meaning both man and monster.—E.
l. 189. Cf. l. 1993, where similar language is used. H.-So. takes both môd-ceare and mæl-ceare as accus., others as instr.
ll. 190, 1994. seáð: for this use of seóðan cf. Bede, Eccles. Hist., ed. Miller, p. 128, where p. p. soden is thus used.
l. 194. fram hâm = in his home (S., H.-So.); but fram hâm may be for fram him (from them, i.e. his people, or from Hrothgar's). Cf. Ha., p. 8.
l. 197. Cf. ll. 791, 807, for this fixed phrase.
l. 200. See Andreas, Elene, and Juliana for swan-râd (= sea). "The swan is said to breed wild now no further away than the North of Sweden." —E. Cf. ganotes bäð, l. 1862.
l. 203. Concessive clauses with þeáh, þeáh þe, þeáh ... eal, vary with subj. and ind., according as fact or contingency is dominant in the mind; cf. ll. 526, 1168, 2032, etc. (subj.), 1103, 1614 (ind.). Cf. gif, nefne.
l. 204. hæl, an OE. word found in Wülker's Glossaries in various forms, = augury, omen, divination, etc. Cf. hælsere, augur; hæl, omen; hælsung, augurium, hælsian, etc. Cf. Tac., Germania, 10.
l. 207. C. adds "= impetrare" to the other meanings of findan given in the Gloss.
l. 217. Cf. l. 1910; and Andreas, l. 993.—E. E. compares Byron's
and Scott's
l. 219. Does ân-tîd mean hour (Th.), or corresponding hour = ând-tîd (H.-So.), or in due time (E.), or after a time, when ôþres, etc., would be adv. gen.? See C., Beit. viii. 568.
l. 224. eoletes may = (1) voyage; (2) toil, labor; (3) hurried journey; but sea or fjord appears preferable.
ll. 229-257. "The scenery ... is laid on the coast of the North Sea and the Kattegat, the first act of the poem among the Danes in Seeland, the second among the Geats in South Sweden."—Br., p. 15.
l. 239. "A shoal of simple terms express in Beówulf the earliest sea-thoughts of the English.... The simplest term is Sæ.... To this they added Wæter, Flod, Stream, Lagu, Mere, Holm, Grund, Heathu, Sund, Brim, Garsecg, Eagor, Geofon, Fifel, Hron-rad, Swan-rad, Segl-rad, Ganotes-bæð."—Br., p. 163-166.
l. 239. "The infinitive is often used in poetry after a verb of motion where we should use the present participle."—Sw. Cf. ll. 711, 721, 1163 1803, 268, etc. Cf. German spazieren fahren reiten, etc., and similar constructions in French, etc.
l. 240, W. reads hringed-stefnan for helmas bæron. B. inserts (?) after holmas and begins a new line at the middle of the verse. S. omits B.'s "on the wall."
l. 245. Double and triple negatives strengthen each other and do not produce an affirmative in A.-S. or M. E. The neg. is often prefixed to several emphatic words in the sentence, and readily contracts with vowels, and h or w; cf. ll. 863, 182, 2125, 1509, 575, 583, 3016, etc.
l. 249. seld-guma = man-at-arms in another's house (Wood); = low-ranking fellow (Ha.); stubenhocker, stay-at-home (Gr.), Scott's "carpet knight," Marmion, i. 5.
l. 250. näfne (nefne, nemne) usually takes the subj., = unless; cf. ll. 1057, 3055, 1553. For ind., = except, see l. 1354. Cf. bûtan, gif, þeáh.
l. 250. For a remarkable account of armor and weapons in Beówulf, see S. A. Brooke, Hist. of Early Eng. Lit. For general "Old Teutonic Life in Beówulf," see J. A. Harrison, Overland Monthly.
l. 252. ær as a conj. generally has subj., as here; cf. ll. 264, 677, 2819, 732. For ind., cf. l. 2020.
l. 253. leás = loose, roving. Ettmüller corrected to leáse.
l. 256. This proverb (ôfest, etc.) occurs in Exod. (Hunt), l. 293.
l. 258. An "elder" may be a very young man; hence yldesta, = eminent, may be used of Beowulf. Cf. Laws of Ælfred, C. 17: Nâ þät ælc eald sý, ac þät he eald sý on wîsdôme.
l. 273. Verbs of hearing and seeing are often followed by acc. with inf.; cf. ll. 229, 1024, 729, 1517, etc. Cf. German construction with sehen, horen, etc., French construction with voir, entendre, etc., and the classical constructions.
l. 275. dæd-hata = instigator. Kl. reads dæd-hwata.
l. 280. ed-wendan, n. (B.; cf. 1775), = edwenden, limited by bisigu. So ten Br. = Tidskr. viii. 291.
l. 287. "Each is denoted ... also by the strengthened forms 'æghwæðer ('ægðer), éghwæðer, etc. This prefixed 'æ, óe corresponds to the Goth, aiw, OHG. eo, io, and is umlauted from á, ó by the i of the gi which originally followed."—Cook's Sievers' Gram., p. 190.
l. 292. "All through the middle ages suits of armour are called 'weeds.'"—E.
l. 303. "An English warrior went into battle with a boar-crested helmet, and a round linden shield, with a byrnie of ringmail ... with two javelins or a single ashen spear some eight or ten feet long, with a long two-edged sword naked or held in an ornamental scabbard.... In his belt was a short, heavy, one-edged sword, or rather a long knife, called the seax ... used for close quarters."—Br., p. 121.
l. 303. For other references to the boar-crest, cf. ll. 1112, 1287, 1454; Grimm, Myth. 195; Tacitus, Germania, 45. "It was the symbol of their [the Baltic Æstii's] goddess, and they had great faith in it as a preservative from hard knocks."—E. See the print in the illus. ed. of Green's Short History, Harper & Bros.
l. 303. "See Kemble, Saxons in England, chapter on heathendom, and Grimm's Teutonic Mythology, chapter on Freyr, for the connection these and other writers establish between the Boar-sign and the golden boar which Freyr rode, and his worship."—Br., p. 128. Cf. Elene, l. 50.
l. 304. Gering proposes hleór-bergan = cheek-protectors; cf. Beit. xii. 26. "A bronze disk found at Öland in Sweden represents two warriors in helmets with boars as their crests, and cheek-guards under; these are the hleór-bergan."—E. Cf. hauberk, with its diminutive habergeon, < A.-S. heals, neck + beorgan, to cover or protect; and harbor, < A.-S. here, army + beorgan, id.—Zachers Zeitschr. xii. 123. Cf. cinberge, Hunt's Exod. l. 175.
l. 305. For ferh wearde and gûðmôde grummon, B. and ten Br. read ferh-wearde (l. 305) and gûðmôdgum men (l. 306), = the boar-images ... guarded the lives of the warlike men.
l. 311. leóma: cf. Chaucer, Nonne Preestes Tale, l. 110, ed. Morris:
l. 318. On the double gender of sæ, cf. Cook's Sievers' Gram., p. 147; and note the omitted article at ll. 2381, 318, 544, with the peculiar tmesis of between at ll. 859, 1298, 1686, 1957. So Cædmon, l. 163 (Thorpe), Exod. l. 562 (Hunt), etc.
l. 320. Cf. l. 924; and Andreas, l. 987, where almost the same words occur. "Here we have manifestly before our eye one of those ancient causeways, which are among the oldest visible institutions of civilization." —E.
l. 322. S. inserts comma after scîr, and makes hring-îren (= ring-mail) parallel with gûð-byrne.
l. 325. Cf. l. 397. "The deposit of weapons outside before entering a house was the rule at all periods.... In provincial Swedish almost everywhere a church porch is called våkenhus,... i.e. weapon-house, because the worshippers deposited their arms there before they entered the house."—E., after G. Stephens.
l. 333. Cf. Dryden's "mingled metal damask'd o'er with gold."—E.
l. 336. "æl-, el-, kindred with Goth. aljis, other, e.g. in ælþéodig, elþéodig, foreign."—Cook's Sievers' Gram., p. 47.
l. 336. Cf. l. 673 for the functions of an ombiht-þegn.
l. 343. Cf. l. 1714 for the same beód-geneátas,—"the predecessor title to that of the Knights of the Table Round."—E. Cf. Andreas (K.), l. 2177.
l. 344. The future is sometimes expressed by willan + inf., generally with some idea of volition involved; cf. ll. 351, 427, etc. Cf. the use of willan as principal vb. (with omitted inf.) at ll. 318, 1372, 543, 1056; and sculan, ll. 1784, 2817.
l. 353. sîð here, and at l. 501, probably means arrival. E. translates the former by visit, the latter by adventure.
l. 357. unhâr = hairless, bald (Gr., etc.).
l. 358. eode is only one of four or five preterits of gân (gongan, gangan, gengan), viz. geóng (gióng: ll. 926, 2410, etc.), gang (l. 1296, etc.), gengde (ll. 1402, 1413). Sievers, p. 217, apparently remarks that eode is "probably used only in prose." (?!). Cf. geng, Gen. ll. 626, 834; Exod. (Hunt) l. 102.
l. 367. The MS. and H.-So. read with Gr. and B. glädman Hrôðgâr, abandoning Thorkelin's glädnian. There is a glass. hilaris glädman.—Beit. xii. 84; same as gläd.
l. 369. dugan is a "preterit-present" verb, with new wk. preterit, like sculan, durran, magan, etc. For various inflections, see ll. 573, 590, 1822, 526. Cf. do in "that will do"; doughty, etc.
l. 372. Cf. l. 535 for a similar use; and l. 1220. Bede, Eccles. Hist., ed. Miller, uses the same expression several times. "Here, and in all other places where cniht occurs in this poem, it seems to carry that technical sense which it bore in the military hierarchy [of a noble youth placed out and learning the elements of the art of war in the service of a qualified warrior, to whom he is, in a military sense, a servant], before it bloomed out in the full sense of knight."—E.
l. 373. E. remarks of the hyphened eald-fäder, "hyphens are risky toys to play with in fixing texts of pre-hyphenial antiquity"; eald-fäder could only = grandfather. eald here can only mean honored, and the hyphen is unnecessary. Cf. "old fellow," "my old man," etc.; and Ger. alt-vater.
l. 378. Th. and B. propose Geátum, as presents from the Danish to the Geatish king.—Beit. xii.
l. 380. häbbe. The subj. is used in indirect narration and question, wish and command, purpose, result, and hypothetical comparison with swelce = as if.
ll. 386, 387. Ten Br. emends to read: "Hurry, bid the kinsman-throng go into the hall together."
l. 387. sibbe-gedriht, for Beowulf's friends, occurs also at l. 730. It is subject-acc. to seón. Cf. ll. 347, 365, and Hunt's Exod. l. 214.
l. 404. "Here, as in the later Icelandic halls, Beowulf saw Hrothgar enthroned on a high seat at the east end of the hall. The seat is sacred. It has a supernatural quality. Grendel, the fiend, cannot approach it."—Br., p. 34. Cf. l. 168.
l. 405. "At Benty Grange, in Derbyshire, an Anglo-Saxon barrow, opened in 1848, contained a coat of mail. 'The iron chain work consists of a large number of links of two kinds attached to each other by small rings half an inch in diameter; one kind flat and lozenge-shaped ... the others all of one kind, but of different lengths.'"—Br., p. 126.
l. 407. Wes ... hâl: this ancient Teutonic greeting afterwards grew into wassail. Cf. Skeat's Luke, i. 28; Andreas (K.), 1827; Layamon, l. 14309, etc.
l. 414. "The distinction between wesan and weorðan [in passive relations] is not very clearly defined, but wesan appears to indicate a state, weorðan generally an action."—Sw. Cf. Mod. German werden and sein in similar relations.
l. 414. Gr. translates hâdor by receptaculum; cf. Gering, Zachers Zeitschr. xii. 124. Toller-Bosw. ignores Gr.'s suggestion.
ll. 420, 421. B. reads: þær ic (on) fîfelgeban (= ocean) ýðde eotena cyn. Ten Br. reads: þær ic fîfelgeban ýðde, eotena hâm. Ha. suggests fîfelgeband = monster-band, without further changes.
l. 420. R. reads þæra = of them, for þær.—Zachers Zeitschr. iii. 399; Beit. xii. 367.
l. 420. "niht has a gen., nihtes, used for the most part only adverbially, and almost certainly to be regarded as masculine."—Cook's Sievers' Gram., p. 158.
l. 425. Cf. also ll. 435, 635, 2345, for other examples of Beowulf's determination to fight single-handed.
l. 441. þe hine = whom, as at l. 1292, etc. The indeclinable þe is often thus combined with personal pronouns, = relative, and is sometimes separated from them by a considerable interval.—Sw.
l. 443. The MS. has Geotena. B. and Fahlbeck, says H.-So., do not consider the Geátas, but the Jutes, as the inhabitants of Swedish West-Gothland. Alfred translates Juti by Geátas, but Jutland by Gotland. In the laws they are called Guti.—Beit. xii. 1, etc.
l. 444. B., Gr., and Ha. make unforhte an adv. = fearlessly, modifying etan. Kl. reads anforhte = timid.
l. 446. Cf. l. 2910. Th. translates: thou wilt not need my head to hide (i.e. bury). Simrock supposes a dead-watch or lyke-wake to be meant. Wood, thou wilt not have to bury so much as my head! H.-So. supposes heáfod-weard, a guard of honor, such as sovereigns or presumptive rulers had, to be meant by hafalan hýdan; hence, you need not give me any guard, etc. Cf. Schmid, Gesetze der A., 370-372.
l. 447. S. places a colon after nimeð.
l. 451. H.-So., Ha., and B. (Beit. xii. 87) agree essentially in translating feorme, food. R. translates consumption of my corpse. Maintenance, support, seems preferable to either.
l. 452. Rönning (after Grimm) personifies Hild.—Beovulfs Kvadet, l. 59. Hildr is the name of one of the Scandinavian Walkyries, or battle-maidens, who transport the spirits of the slain to Walhalla. Cf. Kent's Elene, l. 18, etc.
l. 455. "The war-smiths, especially as forgers of the sword, were garmented with legend, and made into divine personages. Of these Weland is the type, husband of a swan maiden, and afterwards almost a god."— Br., p. 120. Cf. A. J. C. Hare's account of "Wayland Smith's sword with which Henry II. was knighted," and which hung in Westminster Abbey to a late date.—Walks in London, ii. 228.
l. 455. This is the ælces mannes wyrd of Boethius (Sw., p. 44) and the wyrd bið swîðost of Gnomic Verses, 5. There are about a dozen references to it in Beówulf.
l. 455. E. compares the fatalism of this concluding hemistich with the Christian tone of l. 685 seq.
ll. 457, 458. B. reads wære-ryhtum ( = from the obligations of clientage).
l. 480. Cf. l. 1231, where the same sense, "flown with wine," occurs.
l. 488. "The duguð, the mature and ripe warriors, the aristocracy of the nation, are the support of the throne."—E. The M. E. form of the word, douth, occurs often. Associated with geogoð, ll. 160 and 622.
l. 489. Kl. omits comma after meoto and reads (with B.) sige-hrêð-secgum, = disclose thy thought to the victor-heroes. Others, as Körner, convert meoto into an imperative and divide on sæl = think upon happiness. But cf. onband beadu-rûne, l. 501. B. supposes onsæl meoto =speak courteous words. Tidskr. viii. 292; Haupts Zeitschr. xi. 411; Eng. Stud. ii. 251.
l. 489. Cf. the invitation at l. 1783.
l. 494. Cf. Grimm's Andreas, l. 1097, for deal, =proud, elated, exulting; Phoenix (Bright), l. 266.
l. 499. MS. has Hunferð, but the alliteration requires Ûnferð, as at ll. 499, 1166, 1489; and cf. ll. 1542, 2095, 2930. See List of Names.
l. 501. sîð = arrival (?); cf. l. 353.
l. 504. þon mâ = the more (?), may be added to the references under þon.
l. 506. E. compares the taunt of Eliab to David, I Sam. xvii. 28.
l. 509. dol-gilp = idle boasting. The second definition in the Gloss. is wrong.
l. 513. "Eagor-stream might possibly be translated the stream of Eagor, the awful terror-striking stormy sea in which the terrible [Scandinavian] giant dwelt, and through which he acted."—Br., p. 164. He remarks, "The English term eagre still survives in provincial dialect for the tide-wave or bore on rivers. Dryden uses it in his Threnod. Angust. 'But like an eagre rode in triumph o'er the tide.' Yet we must be cautious," etc. Cf. Fox's Boethius, ll. 20, 236; Thorpe's Cædmon, 69, etc.
l. 524. Krüger and B. read Bânstânes.—Beit. ix. 573.
l. 525. R. reads wyrsan (= wyrses: cf. Mod. Gr. guten Muthes) geþinges; but H.-So. shows that the MS. wyrsan ... þingea = wyrsena þinga, can stand; cf. gen. pl. banan, Christ, l. 66, etc.
l. 534. Insert, under eard-lufa (in Gloss.), earfoð, st. n., trouble, difficulty, struggle; acc. pl. earfeðo, 534.
l. 545 seq. "Five nights Beowulf and Breca kept together, not swimming, but sailing in open boats (to swim the seas is to sail the seas), then storm drove them asunder ... Breca is afterwards chief of the Brondings, a tribe mentioned in Wîdsíth. The story seems legendary, not mythical."—Br., pp. 60, 61.
ll. 574-578. B. suggests swâ þær for hwäðere, = so there it befell me. But the word at l. 574 seems = however, and at l. 578 = yet; cf. l. 891; see S.; Beit. ix. 138; Tidskr. viii. 48; Zacher, iii. 387, etc.
l. 586. Gr. and Grundt. read fâgum sweordum (no ic þäs fela gylpe!), supplying fela and blending the broken half-lines into one. Ho. and Kl. supply geflites.
l. 599. E. translates nýd-bâde by blackmail; adding "nêd bâd, toll; nêd bâdere, tolltaker."—Land Charters, Gloss, v.
l. 601. MS. has ond = and in three places only (601, 1149, 2041); elsewhere it uses the symbol 7 = and.
l. 612. seq. Cf. the drinking ceremony at l. 1025. "The royal lady offers the cup to Beowulf, not in his turn where he sate among the rest, but after it has gone the round; her approach to Beowulf is an act apart."—E.
l. 620. "The [loving] cup which went the round of the company and was tasted by all," like the Oriel and other college anniversary cups.—E.
l. 622. Cf. ll. 160, 1191, for the respective places of young and old.
l. 623. Cf. the circlet of gold worn by Wealhþeów at l. 1164.
l. 631. gyddode. Cf. Chaucer, Prol. l. 237 (ed. Morris):
Cf. giddy.
l. 648. Kl. suggests a period after geþinged, especially as B. (Tidskr. viii. 57) has shown that oþþe is sometimes = ond. Th. supplies ne.
l. 650. oþþe here and at ll. 2476, 3007, probably = and.
l. 651. Cf. 704, where sceadu-genga (the night-ganger of Leechdoms, ii. 344) is applied to the demon.—E.
l. 659. Cf. l. 2431 for same formula, "to have and to hold" of the Marriage Service.—E.
l. 681. B. considers þeáh ... eal a precursor of Mod. Eng. although.
l. 682. gôdra = advantages in battle (Gr.), battle-skill (Ha.), skill in war (H.-So.). Might not nât be changed to nah = ne + âh (cf. l. 2253), thus justifying the translation ability (?) —he has not the ability to, etc.
l. 695. Kl. reads hiera.—Beit. ix. 189. B. omits hîe as occurring in the previous hemistich.—Beit. xii. 89.
l. 698. "Here Destiny is a web of cloth."—E., who compares the Greek Clotho, "spinster of fate." Women are also called "weavers of peace," as l. 1943. Cf. Kent's Elene, l. 88; Wîdsîð, l. 6, etc.
l. 711. B. translates þâ by when and connects with the preceding sentences, thus rejecting the ordinary canto-division at l. 711. He objects to the use of com as principal vb. at ll. 703, 711, and 721. (Beit, xii.)
l. 711. "Perhaps the Gnomic verse which tells of Thyrs, the giant, is written with Grendel in the writer's mind,—þyrs sceal on fenne gewunian âna inuan lande, the giant shall dwell in the fen, alone in the land (Sweet's Read., p. 187)."—Br. p. 36.
l. 717. Dietrich, in Haupt. xi. 419, quotes from Ælfric, Hom. ii. 498: hê beworhte þâ bigelsas mid gyldenum læfrum, he covered the arches with gold-leaf,—a Roman custom derived from Carthage. Cf. Mod. Eng. oriel = aureolum, a gilded room.—E. (quoting Skeat). Cf. ll. 2257, 1097, 2247, 2103, 2702, 2283, 333, 1751, for various uses of gold-sheets.
l. 720. B. and ten Br. suggest hell-thane (Grendel) for heal-þegnas, and make häle refer to Beowulf. Cf. l. 142.
l. 727. For this use of standan, cf. ll. 2314, 2770; and Vergil, Ecl. ii. 26:
l. 757. gedräg. Tumult is one of the meanings of this word. Here, appar. = occupation, lair.
l. 759. R. reads môdega for gôda, "because the attribute cannot be separated from the word modified unless the two alliterate."
l. 762. Cf. Andreas, l. 1537, for a similar use of ût = off.—E.
l. 769. The foreign words in Beówulf (as ceaster-here) are not numerous; others are (aside from proper names like Cain, Abel, etc.) deófol (diabolus), candel (l. 1573), ancor (l. 303), scrîfan (for- ge-), segn (l. 47), gigant (l. 113), mîl- (l. 1363), stræt (l. 320), ombeht (l. 287), gim (l. 2073), etc.
l. 770. MS. reads cerwen, a word conceived by B. and others to be part of a fem. compd.: -scerwen like -wenden in ed-wenden, -ræden, etc. (cf. meodu-scerpen in Andreas, l. 1528); emended to -scerwen, a great scare under the figure of a mishap at a drinking-bout; one might compare bescerwan, to deprive, from bescyrian (Grein, i. 93), hence ealu-scerwen would = a sudden taking away, deprivation, of the beer.—H.-So., p. 93. See B., Tidskr. viii. 292.
l. 771. Ten Br. reads rêðe, rênhearde, = raging, exceeding bold.
l. 792. Instrumental adverbial phrases like ænige þinga, nænige þinga (not at all), hûru þinga (especially) are not infrequent. See Cook's Sievers' Gram., p. 178; March, A.-S. Gram., p. 182.
l. 811. myrðe. E. translates in wanton mood. Toller-Bosw. does not recognize sorrow as one of the meanings of this word.
ll. 850, 851. S. reads deóp for deóg and erases semicolon after weól, = the death-stained deep welled with sword-gore; cf. l. 1424. B. reads deáð-fæges deóp, etc., = the deep welled with the doomed one's gore.—Beit. xii. 89.
l. 857. The meaning of blaneum is partly explained by fealwe mearas below, l. 866. Cf. Layamon's "and leop on his blancke" = steed, l. 23900; Kent's Elene, l. 1185.
l. 859. Körner, Eng. Stud. i. 482, regards the oft-recurring be sæm tweónum as a mere formula = on earth; cf. ll. 1298, 1686. tweóne is part of the separable prep. between; see be-. Cf. Baskerville's Andreas, l. 558.
l. 865. Cf. Voyage of Ôhthere and Wulfstân for an account of funeral horse-racing, Sweet's Read., p. 22.
l. 868. See Ha., p. 31, for a variant translation.
l. 871 seq. R. considers this a technical description of improvised alliterative verse, suggested by and wrought out on the spur of the moment.
l. 872. R. and B. propose secg[an], = rehearse, for secg, which suits the verbs in the next two lines.
ll. 878-98. "It pleases me to think that it is in English literature we possess the first sketch of that mighty saga [the Volsunga Saga = Wälsinges gewin] which has for so many centuries engaged all the arts, and at last in the hands of Wagner the art of music."—Br., p. 63. Cf. Nibelung. Lied, l. 739.
l. 894. Intransitive verbs, as gân, weorðan, sometimes take habban, "to indicate independent action."—Sw. Cf. hafað ... geworden, l. 2027.
l. 895. "brûcan (enjoy) always has the genitive."—Sw.; cf. l. 895; acc., gen., instr., dat., according to March, A.-S. Gram., p. 151.
l. 898. Scherer proposes hâte, = from heat, instr. of hât, heat; cf. l. 2606.
l. 901. hê þäs âron þâh = he throve in honor (B.). Ten Br. inserts comma after þâh, making siððan introduce a depend. clause.—Beit. viii. 568. Cf. weorð-myndum þâh, l. 8; ll. 1155, 1243.—H.-So.
l. 902. Heremôdes is considered by Heinzel to be a mere epithet = the valiant; which would refer the whole passage to Sigmund (Sigfrid), the eotenas, l. 903, being the Nibelungen. This, says H.-So., gets rid of the contradiction between the good "Heremôd" here and the bad one, l. 1710 seq.—B. however holds fast to Heremôd.—Beit. xii. 41. on feónda geweald, l. 904,—into the hands of devils, says B.; cf. ll. 809, 1721, 2267; Christ, l. 1416; Andreas, l. 1621; for hine fyren onwôd, cf. Gen. l. 2579; Hunt's Dan. 17: hîe wlenco anwôd.
l. 902 seq. "Heremôd's shame is contrasted with the glory of Sigemund, and with the prudence, patience, generosity, and gentleness of Beowulf as a chieftain."—Br., p. 66.
l. 906. MS. has lemede. Toller-Bosw. corrects to lemedon.
l. 917. Cf. Hunt's Exod., l. 170, for similar language.
l. 925. hôs, G. hansa, company, "the word from which the mercantile association of the 'Hanseatic' towns took their designation."—E.
l. 927. on staþole = on the floor (B., Rask, ten Br.).—Beit. xii. 90.
l. 927. May not steápne here = bright, from its being immediately followed by golde fâhne? Cf. Chaucer's "his eyen stepe," Prol. l. 201 (ed. Morris); Cockayne's Ste. Marherete, pp. 9, 108; St. Kath., l. 1647.
l. 931. grynna may be for gyrnna (= sorrows), gen. plu. of gyrn, as suggested by one commentator.
l. 937. B. (Beit. xii. 90) makes gehwylcne object of wîd-scofen (häfde). Gr. makes weá nom. absolute.
l. 940. scuccum: cf. G. scheuche, scheusal; Prov. Eng. old-shock; perhaps the pop. interjection O shucks! (!)
l. 959. H. explains we as a "plur. of majesty," which Beówulf throws off at l. 964.
l. 963. feónd þone frätgan (B. Beit. xii. 90).
l. 976. synnum. "Most abstract words in the poetry have a very wide range of meanings, diverging widely from the prose usage, synn, for instance, means simply injury, mischief, hatred, and the prose meaning sin is only a secondary one; hata in poetry is not only hater, but persecutor, enemy, just as nîð is both hatred and violence, strength; heard is sharp as well as hard."—Sw.
l. 986. S. places wäs at end of l. 985 and reads stîðra nägla, omitting gehwylc and the commas after that and after sceáwedon. Beit. ix. 138; stêdra (H.-So.); hand-sporu (H.-So.) at l. 987.
l. 986. Miller (Anglia, xii. 3) corrects to æghwylene, in apposition to fingras.
l. 987. hand-sporu. See Anglia, vii. 176, for a discussion of the intrusion of u into the nom. of n-stems.
l. 988. Cf. ll. 2121, 2414, for similar use of unheóru = ungeheuer.
l. 992. B. suggests heátimbred for hâten, and gefrätwon for -od; Kl., hroden (Beit. ix. 189).
l. 995, 996. Gold-embroidered tapestries seem to be meant by web = aurifrisium.
l. 997. After þâra þe = of those that, the depend, vb. often takes sg. for pl.; cf. ll. 844, 1462, 2384, 2736.—Sw.; Dietrich.
l. 998. "Metathesis of l takes place in seld for setl, bold for botl," etc.—Cook's Sievers' Gram., p. 96. Cf. Eng. proper names, Bootle, Battlefield, etc.—Skeat, Principles, i. 250.
l. 1000. heorras: cf. Chaucer, Prol. (ed. Morris) l. 550:
ll. 1005-1007. See Zachers Zeitschr. iii. 391, and Beit. xii. 368, for R.'s and B.'s views of this difficult passage.
l. 1009. Cf. l. 1612 for sæl and mæl, surviving still in E. Anglia in "mind your seals and meals," = times and occasions, i.e. have your wits about you.—E.
ll. 1012, 1013. Cf. ll. 753, 754 for two similar comparatives used in conjunction.
l. 1014. Cf. l. 327 for similar language.
ll. 1015, 1016. H.-So. puts these two lines in parentheses (fylle ... þâra). Cf. B., Beit. xii. 91.
l. 1024. One of the many famous swords spoken of in the poem. See Hrunting, ll. 1458, 1660; Hûnlâfing, l. 1144, etc. Cf. Excalibur, Roland's sword, the Nibelung Balmung, etc.
l. 1034. scûr-heard. For an ingenious explanation of this disputed word see Professor Pearce's article in Mod. Lang. Notes, Nov. 1, 1892, and ensuing discussion.
l. 1039. eoderas is of doubtful meaning. H. and Toller-Bosw. regard the word here = enclosure, palings of the court. Cf. Cædmon, ll. 2439, 2481. The passage throws interesting light on horses and their trappings
l. 1043. Grundt. emends wîg to wicg, = charger; and E. quotes Tacitus, Germania, 7.
l. 1044. "Power over each and both"; cf. "all and some," "one and all."
For Ingwin, see List of Names.
l. 1065. Gr. contends that fore here = de, concerning, about (Ebert's Jahrb., 1862, p. 269).
l. 1069. H.-So. supplies fram after eaferum, to govern it, = concerning (?). Cf. Fight at Finnsburg, Appendix.
l. 1070. For the numerous names of the Danes, "bright-" "spear-" "east-" "west-" "ring-" Danes, see these words.
l. 1073. Eotenas = Finn's people, the Frisians; cf. ll. 1089, 1142, 1146, etc., and Beit. xii. 37. Why they are so called is not known.
l. 1084. R. proposes wiht Hengeste wið gefeohtan (Zachers Zeitschr. iii. 394). Kl., wið H. wiht gefeohtan.
ll. 1085 and 1099. weá-lâf occurs in Wulfstan, Hom. 133, ed. Napier.—E. Cf. daroða lâf, Brunanb., l. 54; âdes lâfe, Phoenix, 272 (Bright), etc.
l. 1098. elne unflitme = so dass der eid (der inhalt des eides) nicht streitig war.—B., Beit. iii. 30. But cf. 1130, where Hengist and Finn are again brought into juxtaposition and the expression ealles (?) unhlitme occurs.
l. 1106. The pres. part. + be, as myndgiend wære here, is comparatively rare in original A.-S. literature, but occurs abundantly in translations from the Latin. The periphrasis is generally meaningless. Cf. l. 3029.
l. 1108. Körner suggests ecge, = sword, in reference to a supposed old German custom of placing ornaments, etc., on the point of a sword or spear (Eng. Stud. i. 495). Singer, ince-gold = bright gold; B., andiége = Goth, andaugjo, evidently. Cf. incge lâfe, l. 2578. Possibly: and inge (= young men) gold âhôfon of horde. For inge, cf. Hunt's Exod. l. 190.
ll. 1115-1120. R. proposes (hêt þâ ...) bânfatu bärnan ond on bæl dôn, earme on eaxe = to place the arms in the ashes, reading gûðrêc = battle-reek, for -rinc (Zachers Zeitschr. iii. 395). B., Sarrazin (Beit. xi. 530), Lichtenfeld (Haupts Zeitschr. xvi. 330), C., etc., propose various emendations. See H.-So., p. 97, and Beit. viii. 568. For gùðrinc âstâh, cf. Old Norse, stiga á bál, "ascend the bale-fire."
l. 1116. sweoloðe. "On Dartmoor the burning of the furze up the hillsides to let new grass grow, is called zwayling."—E. Cf. sultry, G. schwül, etc.
l. 1119. Cf. wudu-rêc âstâh, l. 3145; and Exod. (Hunt), l. 450: wælmist âstâh.
l. 1122. ätspranc = burst forth, arose (omitted from the Gloss.), < ät + springan.
l. 1130. R. and Gr. read elne unflitme, = loyally and without contest, as at l. 1098. Cf. Ha., p. 39; H.-So., p. 97.
l. 1137. scacen = gone; cf. ll. 1125, 2307, 2728.
l. 1142. "The sons of the Eotenas" (B., Beit. xii. 31, who conjectures a gap after 1142).
l. 1144. B. separates thus: Hûn Lâfing, = Hûn placed the sword Lâfing, etc.—Beit. xii. 32; cf. R., Zachers Zeitschr. iii. 396. Heinzel and Homburg make other conjectures (Herrig's Archiv, 72, 374, etc.).
l. 1143. B., H.-So., and Möller read: worod rædenne, þonne him Hûn Lâfing, = military brotherhood, when Hûn laid upon his breast (the sword) Lâfing. There is a sword Laufi, Lövi in the Norse sagas; but swords, armor, etc., are often called the leaving (lâf) of files, hammers, etc., especially a precious heirloom; cf. ll. 454, 1033, 2830, 2037, 2629, 796, etc., etc.
l. 1152. roden = reddened (B., Tidskr. viii. 295).
l. 1160. For ll. 1069-1160, containing the Finn episode, cf. Möller, Alteng. Volksepos, 69, 86, 94; Heinzel, Anz. f. dtsch. Altert., 10, 226; B., Beit. xii. 29-37. Cf. Wîdsîð, l. 33, etc.
ll. 1160, 1161. leóð (lied = song, lay) and gyd here appear synonyms.
ll. 1162-1165. "Behind the wars and tribal wanderings, behind the contentions of the great, we watch in this poem the steady, continuous life of home, the passions and thoughts of men, the way they talked and moved and sang and drank and lived and loved among one another and for one another."—Br., p. 18.
l. 1163. Cf. wonderwork. So wonder-death, wonder-bidding, wonder-treasure, -smith, -sight, etc. at ll. 1748, 3038, 2174, 1682, 996, etc. Cf. the German use of the same intensive, = wondrous, in wunder-schön, etc.
l. 1165. þâ gyt points to some future event when "each" was not "true to other," undeveloped in this poem, suhtor-gefäderan = Hrôðgâr and Hrôðulf, l. 1018. Cf. âðum-swerian, l. 84.
l. 1167 almost repeats l. 500, ät fôtum, etc., where Ûnferð is first introduced.
l. 1191. E. sees in this passage separate seats for youth and middle-aged men, as in English college halls, chapels, convocations, and churches still.
l. 1192. ymbutan, round about, is sometimes thus separated: ymb hie ûtan; cf. Voyage of Ôhthere, etc. (Sw.), p. 18, l. 34, etc.; Beówulf, ll. 859, 1686, etc.
l. 1194. bewägned, a ἃπαξ λεγόμενον, tr. offered by Th. Probably a p. p. wägen, made into a vb. by -ian, like own, drown, etc. Cf. hafenian ( < hafen, < hebban), etc.
l. 1196. E. takes the expression to mean "mantle and its rings or broaches." "Rail" long survived in Mid. Eng. (Piers Plow., etc.).
l. 1196. This necklace was afterwards given by Beowulf to Hygd, ll. 2173, 2174.
ll. 1199-1215. From the obscure hints in the passage, a part of the poem may be approximately dated,—if Hygelâc is the Chochi-laicus of Gregory of Tours, Hist. Francorum, iii. 3,—about A.D. 512-20.
l. 1200. The Breosinga men (Icel. Brisinga men) is the necklace of the goddess Freya; cf. Elder Edda, Hamarshemt. Hâma stole the necklace from the Gothic King Eormenrîc; cf. Traveller's Song, ll. 8, 18, 88, 111. The comparison of the two necklaces leads the poet to anticipate Hygelâc's history,—a suggestion of the poem's mosaic construction.
l. 1200. For Brôsinga mene, cf. B., Beit. xii. 72. C. suggests fleáh, = fled, for fealh, placing semicolon after byrig, and making hê subject of fleáh and geceás.
l. 1202. B. conjectures geceás êcne ræd to mean he became a pious man and at death went to heaven. Heime (Hâma) in the Thidrekssaga goes into a cloister = to choose the better part (?). Cf. H.-So., p. 98. But cf. Hrôðgâr's language to Beowulf, ll. 1760, 1761.
l. 1211. S. proposes feoh, = property, for feorh, which would be a parallel for breóst-gewædu ... beáh below.
l. 1213. E. remarks that in the Laws of Cnut, i. 26, the devil is called se wôdfreca werewulf, the ravening werwolf.
l. 1215. C. proposes heals-bêge onfêng. Beit. viii. 570. For hreâ- Kl. suggests hræ-.
l. 1227. The son referred to is, according to Ettmüller, the one that reigns after Hrôðgâr.
l. 1229. Kl. suggests sî, = be, for is.
l. 1232. S. gives wine-elated as the meaning of druncne.—Beit. ix. 139; Kl. ibid. 189, 194. But cf. Judith, ll. 67, 107.
l. 1235. Cf. l. 119 for similarity of language.
l. 1235. Kl. proposes gea-sceaft; but cf. l. 1267.
l. 1246. Ring armor was common in the Middle Ages. E. points out the numerous forms of byrne in cognate languages,—Gothic, Icelandic, OHG., Slavonic, O. Irish, Romance, etc. Du Chaillu, The Viking Age, i. 126. Cf. Murray's Dict. s. v.
l. 1248. ânwîg-gearwe = ready for single combat (C.); but cf. Ha. p. 43; Beit. ix. 210, 282.
l. 1252. Some consider this fitt the beginning of Part (or Lay) II. of the original epic, if not a separate work in itself.
l. 1254. K., W., and Ho. read farode = wasted; Kolbing reads furode; but cf. wêsten warode, l. 1266. MS. has warode.
ll. 1255-1258. This passage is a good illustration of the constant parallelism of word and phrase characteristic of A.-S. poetry, and is quoted by Sw. The changes are rung on ende and swylt, on gesýne and wîdcûð, etc.
l. 1259. "That this story of Grendel's mother was originally a separate lay from the first seems to be suggested by the fact that the monsters are described over again, and many new details added, such as would be inserted by a new singer who wished to enhance and adorn the original tale."—Br., p. 41.
l. 1259. Cf. l. 107, which also points to the ancestry of murderers and monsters and their descent from "Cain."
l. 1261. The MS. has se þe, m.; changed by some to seo þe. At ll. 1393, 1395, 1498, Grendel's mother is referred to as m.; at ll. 1293, 1505, 1541-1546, etc., as f., the uncertain pronoun designating a creature female in certain aspects, but masculine in demonic strength and savageness.—H.-So.; Sw. p. 202. Cf. the masc. epithets at ll. 1380, 2137, etc.
l. 1270. âglæca = Grendel, though possibly referring to Beowulf, as at l. 1513.—Sw.
l. 1273. "It is not certain whether anwalda stands for onwealda, or whether it should be read ânwealda, = only ruler.—Sw.
l. 1279. The MS. has sunu þeod wrecan, which R. changes to sunu þeód-wrecan, þeód- = monstrous; but why not regard þeód as opposition to sunu, = her son, the prince? See Sweet's Reader, and Körner's discussion, Eng. Stud. i. 500.
l. 1281. Ten Br. suggests (for sôna) sâra = return of sorrows.
l. 1286. "geþuren (twice so written in MSS.) stands for geþrúen, forged, and is an isolated p. p."—Cook's Sievers' Gram., 209. But see Toller-Bosw. for examples; Sw., Gloss.; March, p. 100, etc.
ll. 1292. þe hine = whom; cf. ll. 441, 1437, 1292; Hêliand, l. 1308.
l. 1298. be sæm tweonum; cf. l. 1192; Hunt's Exod. l. 442; and Mod. Eng. "to us-ward, etc.—Earle's Philol., p. 449. Cf. note, l. 1192.
l. 1301. C. proposes ôðer him ärn = another apartment was assigned him.
l. 1303. B. conjectures under hrôf genam; but Ha., p. 45, shows this to be unnecessary, under also meaning in, as in (or under) these circumstances.
l. 1319. E. and Sw. suggest nægde or nêgde, accosted, nêgan = Mid. Ger. nêhwian, pr. p. nêhwiandans, approach. For hnægan, press down, vanquish, see ll. 1275, 1440, etc.
l. 1321. C. suggests neád-lâðum for neód-laðu, after crushing hostility; but cf. freónd-laðu, l. 1193.
l. 1334. K. and ten Br. conjecture gefägnod = rejoicing in her fill, a parallel to æse wlanc, l. 1333.
l. 1340. B. translates: "and she has executed a deed of blood-vengeance of far-reaching consequence."—Beit. xii. 93.
l. 1345. B. reads geó for eów (Zachers Zeitschr. iv. 205).
ll. 1346-1377. "This is a fine piece of folk-lore in the oldest extant form.... The authorities for the story are the rustics (ll. 1346, 1356)." —E.
l. 1347. Cf. sele-rædende at l. 51.
l. 1351. "The ge [of gewitan] may be merely a scribal error,—a repetition (dittography) of the preceding ge of gewislîcost."—Sw.
l. 1352. ides, like firas, men, etc., is a poetic word supposed by Grimm to have been applied, like Gr. νύμφη, to superhuman or semi-divine women.
ll. 1360-1495 seq. E. compares this Dantesque tarn and scenery with the poetical accounts of Æneid, vii. 563; Lucretius, vi. 739, etc.
l. 1360. firgenstreám occurs also in the Phoenix (Bright, p. 168) l. 100; Andreas, ll. 779, 3144 (K.); Gnomic Verses, l. 47, etc.
l. 1363. The genitive is often thus used to denote measure = by or in miles; cf. l. 3043; and contrast with partitive gen. at l. 207.
l. 1364. The MS. reads hrinde = hrînende (?), which Gr. adopts; K. and Th. read hrinde-bearwas; hringde, encircling (Sarrazin, Beit. xi. 163); hrîmge = frosty (Sw.); with frost-whiting covered (Ha.). See Morris, Blickling Hom., Preface, vi., vii.
l. 1364. Cf. Ruin, hrîmige edoras behrofene, rimy, roofless halls.
l. 1366. nîðwundor may = nið- (as in nið-sele, q. v.) wundor, wonder of the deep.
l. 1368. The personal pronoun is sometimes omitted in subordinate and even independent clauses; cf. wite here; and Hunt's Exod., l. 319.
l. 1370. hornum. Such "datives of manner or respect" are not infrequent with adj.
l. 1371. "seleð is not dependent on ær, for in that case it would be in the subjunctive, but ær is simply an adverb, correlative with the conjunction ær in the next line: 'he will (sooner) give up his life, before he will,' etc."—Sw.
l. 1372. Cf. ll. 318 and 543 for willan with similar omitted inf.
l. 1373. heafola is found only in poetry.—Sw. It occurs thirteen or fourteen times in this poem. Cf. the poetic gamol, swât (l. 2694), etc., for eald, blôd.
l. 1391. uton: hortatory subj. of wîtan, go, = let us go; cf. French allons, Lat. eamus, Ital. andiamo, etc. + inf. Cf. ll. 2649, 3102.
l. 1400. H. is dat. of person indirectly affected, = advantage.
l. 1402. geatolîc probably = in his equipments, as B. suggests (Beit. xii. 83), comparing searolîc.
ll. 1402, 1413 reproduce the wk. form of the pret. of gân (Goth, gaggida). Cf. Andreas, l. 1096, etc.
l. 1405. S. (Beit. ix. 140) supplies [þær heó] gegnum fôr; B. (ibid. xii. 14) suggests hwær heó.
l. 1411. B., Gr., and E. take ân-paðas = paths wide enough for only one, like Norwegian einstig; cf. stîge nearwe, just above. Trail is the meaning. Cf. enge ânpaðas, uncûð gelâd, Exod. (Hunt), l. 58.
l. 1421. Cf. oncýð, l. 831. The whole passage (ll. 1411-1442) is replete with suggestions of walrus-hunting, seal-fishing, harpooning of sea-animals (l. 1438), etc.
l. 1425. E. quotes from the 8th cent. Corpus Gloss., "Falanx foeða."
l. 1428. For other mention of nicors, cf. ll. 422, 575, 846. E. remarks, "it survives in the phrase 'Old Nick' ... a word of high authority ... Icel. nykr, water-goblin, Dan. nök, nisse, Swed. näcken, G. nix, nixe, etc." See Skeat, Nick.
l. 1440. Sw. reads gehnæged, prostrated, and regards nîða as gen. pl. "used instrumentally," = by force.
l. 1441. -bora = bearer, stirrer; occurs in other compds., as mund-, ræd-, wæg-bora.
l. 1447. him = for him, a remoter dative of reference.—Sw.
l. 1455. Gr. reads brondne, = flaming.
l. 1457. león is the inf. of lâh; cf. onlâh (< onleón) at l. 1468. lîhan was formerly given as the inf.; cf. læne = læhne.
l. 1458. Cf. the similar dat. of possession as used in Latin.
l. 1458. H.-So. compares the Icelandic saga account of Grettir's battle with the giant in the cave. häft-mêce may be = Icel. heptisax (Anglia, iii. 83), "hip-knife."
l. 1459. "The sense seems to be 'pre-eminent among the old treasures.' ... But possibly foran is here a prep. with the gen.: 'one before the old treasures.'".—Sw. For other examples of foran, cf. ll. 985, 2365.
l. 1460. âter-teárum = poison-drops (C., Beit. viii. 571; S., ibid. xi. 359).
l. 1467. þät, comp. relative, = that which; "we testify that we do know."
l. 1480. forð-gewitenum is in appos. to me, = mihi defuncto.—M. Callaway, Am. Journ. of Philol., October, 1889.
l. 1482. nime. Conditional clauses of doubt or future contingency take gif or bûton with subj.; cf. ll. 452, 594; of fact or certainty, the ind.; cf. ll. 442, 447, 527, 662, etc. For bûton, cf. ll. 967, 1561.
l. 1487. "findan sometimes has a preterit funde in W. S. after the manner of the weak preterits."—Cook's Sievers' Cram., p, 210.
l. 1490. Kl. reads wäl-sweord, = battle-sword.
l. 1507. "This cave under the sea seems to be another of those natural phenomena of which the writer had personal knowledge (ll. 2135, 2277), and which was introduced by him into the mythical tale to give it a local color. There are many places of this kind. Their entrance is under the lowest level of the tide."—Br., p. 45.
l. 1514. B. (Beit. xii. 362) explains niðsele, hrôfsele as roof-covered hall in the deep; cf. Grettir Saga (Anglia, iii. 83).
l. 1538. Sw., R., and ten Br. suggest feaxe for eaxle, = seized by the hair.
l. 1543. and-leán (R.); cf. l. 2095. The MS. has hand-leán.
l. 1546. Sw. and S. read seax.—Beit. ix. 140.
l. 1557. H.-So. omits comma and places semicolon after ýðelîce; Sw. and S. place comma after gescêd.
l. 1584. ôðer swylc = another fifteen (Sw.); = fully as many (Ha.).
ll. 1592-1613 seq. Cf. Anglia, iii; 84 (Grettir Saga).
l. 1595. blondenfeax = grizzly-haired (Bright, Reader, p. 258); cf. Brunanb., l. 45 (Bright).
l. 1599. gewearð, impers. vb., = agree, decide = many agreed upon this, that, etc. (Ha., p. 55; cf. ll. 2025-2027, 1997; B., Beit. xii. 97).
l. 1605. C. supposes wiston = wîscton = wished.—Beit. viii. 571.
l. 1607. broden mæl is now regarded as a comp. noun, = inlaid or damascened sword.—W., Ho.
l. 1611. wäl-râpas = water-ropes = bands of frost (l. 1610) (?). Possibly the Prov. Eng. weele, whirlpool. Cf. wæl, gurges, Wright, Voc., Gnom. Verses, l. 39.—E.
l. 1611. wægrâpas (Sw.) = wave-bands (Ha.).
l. 1622. B. suggests eatna = eotena, eardas, haunts of the giants (Northumbr. ea for eo).
l. 1635. cyning-holde (B., Beit. xii. 369); cf. l. 290.
l. 1650. H., Gr., and Ettmüller understand idese to refer to the queen.
l. 1651. Cf. Anglia, iii. 74, Beit. xi. 167, for coincidences with the Grettir Saga (13th cent.).
l. 1657. Restore MS. reading wigge in place of wîge.
l. 1664. B. proposes eotenise ... èste for eácen ... oftost, omitting brackets (Zackers Zeitschr. iv. 206). G. translates mighty ... often.
l. 1675. ondrædan. "In late texts the final n of the preposition on is frequently lost when it occurs in a compound word or stereotyped phrase, and the prefix then appears as a: abútan, amang, aweg, aright, adr'ædan."—Cook's Sievers' Gram., p. 98.
ll. 1680-1682. Giants and their work are also referred to at ll. 113, 455, 1563, 1691, etc.
l. 1680. Cf. ceastra ... orðanc enta geweorc, Gnomic Verses, l. 2; Sweet's Reader, p. 186.
ll. 1687-1697. "In this description of the writing on the sword, we see the process of transition from heathen magic to the notions of Christian times .... The history of the flood and of the giants ... were substitutes for names of heathen gods, and magic spells for victory."—E. Cf. Mohammedan usage.
ll. 1703, 1704. þät þê eorl nære geboren betera (B., Tidskr. 8, 52).
l. 1715. âna hwearf = he died solitary and alone (B., Beit. xii. 38); = lonely (Ha.); = alone (G.).
l. 1723. leód-bealo longsum = eternal hell-torment (B., Beit. xii. 38, who compares Ps. Cott. 57, lîf longsum).
l. 1729. E. translates on lufan, towards possession; Ha., to possessions.
l. 1730. môdgeþonc, like lig, sæ, segn, niht, etc., is of double gender (m., n. in the case of môdgeþ.).
l. 1741. The doctrine of nemesis following close on ὓβρις, or overweening pride, is here very clearly enunciated. The only protector against the things that "assault and hurt" the soul is the "Bishop and Shepherd of our souls" (l. 1743).
l. 1745 appears dimly to fore-shadow the office of the evil archer Loki, who in the Scandinavian mythology shoots Balder with a mistletoe twig. The language closely resembles that of Psalm 64.
l. 1748. Kl. regards wom = wô(u)m; cf. wôh-bogen, l. 2828. See Gloss., p. 295, under wam. Contrast the construction of bebeorgan a few lines below (l. 1759), where the dat. and acc. are associated.
l. 1748. See Cook's Sievers' Gram., p. 167, for declension of wôh, wrong = gen. wôs or wôges, dat. wô(u)m, etc.; pl. gen. wôra, dat. wô(u)m, etc.; and cf. declension of heáh, hreóh, rûh, etc.
l. 1748. wergan gâstes; cf. Blickl. Hom. vii.; Andreas, l. 1171. "Auld Wearie is used in Scotland, or was used a few years ago, ... to mean the devil."—E. Bede's Eccles. Hist. contains (naturally) many examples of the expression = devil.
l. 1750. on gyld = in reward (B. Beit. xii. 95); Ha. translates boastfully; G., for boasting; Gr., to incite to boastfulness. Cf. Christ, l. 818.
l. 1767. E. thinks this an allusion to the widespread superstition of the evil eye (mal occhio, mauvais æil). Cf. Vergil, Ecl. iii. 103. He remarks that Pius IX., Gambetta, and President Carnot were charged by their enemies with possessing this weapon.
l. 1784. wigge geweorðad (MS. wigge weorðad) is C.'s conjecture; cf. Elene, l. 150. So G., honored in war.
l. 1785. The future generally implied in the present of beón is plainly seen in this line; cf. ll. 1826, 661, 1830, 1763, etc.
l. 1794. Some impers. vbs. take acc. (as here, Geat) of the person affected; others (as þyncan) take the dat. of the person, as at ll. 688, 1749, etc. Cf. verbs of dreaming, being ashamed, desiring, etc.—March, A.-S. Gram., p. 145.
l. 1802. E. remarks that the blaca hrefn here is a bird of good omen, as opposed to se wonna hrefn of l. 3025. The raven, wolf, and eagle are the regular epic accompaniments of battle and carnage. Cf. ll. 3025-3028; Maldon, 106; Judith, 205-210, etc.
l. 1803. S. emends to read: "then came the light, going bright after darkness: the warriors," etc. Cf. Ho., p. 41, l. 23. G. puts period before "the warriors." For onettan, cf. Sw.'s Gloss, and Bright's Read., Gloss.
ll. 1808-1810. Müllenh. and Grundt. refer se hearda to Beowulf, correct sunu (MS.) to suna Ecglâfes (i.e. Unferth); [he] (Beo.) thanked him (Un.) for the loan. Cf. ll. 344, 581, 1915.
ll. 1823-1840. "Beowulf departing pledges his services to Hroðgar, to be what afterwards in the mature language of chivalry was called his 'true knight'"—E.
l. 1832. Kl. corrects to dryhtne, in appos. with Higelâce.
l. 1835 gâr-holt more properly means spear-shaft; cf. äsc-holt.
l. 1855. sêl = better (Grundt.; B., Beit. xii. 96), instead of MS. wel.
ll. 1855-1866. "An ideal picture of international amity according to the experience and doctrine of the eighth century."—E.
l. 1858. S. and Kl. correct to gemæne, agreeing with sib.—Beit. ix. 140, 190.
l. 1862. "The gannet is a great diver, plunging down into the sea from a considerable height, such as forty feet."—E.
l. 1863. Kl. suggests heafu, = seas.
l. 1865. B. proposes geþôhte, = with firm thought, for geworhte; cf. l. 611.
l. 1876. geseón = see again (Kl., Beit. ix. 190). S. and B. insert nâ to modify geseón and explain Hrôðgâr's tears. Ha. and G. follow Heyne's text. Cf. l. 567.
l. 1881. Is beorn here = bearn (be-arn?) of l. 67? or more likely = born, barn, = burned?—S., Th.
l. 1887. orleahtre is a ἃπαξ λεγόμενον. E. compares Tennyson's "blameless" king. Cf. also ll. 2015, 2145; and the gôd cyning of l. 11.
l. 1896. scaðan = warriors (cf. l. 1804) has been proposed by C.; but cf. l. 253.
l. 1897. The boat had been left, at ll. 294-302, in the keeping of Hrôðgâr's men; at l. 1901 the bât-weard is specially honored by Beowulf with a sword and becomes a "sworded squire."—E. This circumstance appears to weld the poem together. Cf. also the speed of the journey home with ymb ân-tîd ôþres dôgores of l. 219, and the similarity of language in both passages (fâmig-heals, clifu, nässas, sælde, brim, etc.).—The nautical terms in Beowulf would form an interesting study.
l. 1904. R. proposes, gewât him on naca, = the vessel set out, on alliterating as at l. 2524 (Zachers Zeitschr. iii. 402). B. reads on nacan, but inserts irrelevant matter (Beit. xii. 97).
l. 1913. Cf. the same use of ceól, = ship, in the A.-S. Chron., ed. Earle-Plummer; Gnomic Verses, etc.
l. 1914. S. inserts þät hê before on lande.
l. 1916. B. makes leófra manna depend on wlâtode, = looked for the dear men ready at the coast (Beit. xii. 97).
l. 1924. Gr., W., and Ho. propose wunade, = remained; but cf. l. 1929. S. conceives ll. 1924, 1925 as "direct speech" (Beit. ix. 141).
l. 1927 seq. "The women of Beowulf are of the fine northern type; trusted and loved by their husbands and by the nobles and people; generous, gentle, and holding their place with dignity."—Br., p. 67. Thrytho is the exception, l. 1932 seq.
l. 1933. C. suggests frêcnu, = dangerous, bold, for Thrytho could not be called "excellent." G. writes "Modthrytho" as her name. The womanly Hygd seems purposely here contrasted with the terrible Thrytho, just as, at l. 902 seq., Sigemund and Heremôd are contrasted. For Thrytho, etc., cf. Gr., Jahrb. für rom. u. eng. Lit. iv. 279; Müllenhoff, Haupts Zeitschr. xiv. 216; Matthew Paris; Suchier, Beit. iv. 500-521; R. Zachers Zeitschr. iii. 402; B., ibid. iv. 206; Körner, Eng. Stud. i. 489-492; H.-So., p. 106.
l. 1932-1963. K. first pointed out the connection between the historical Offa, King of Mercia, and his wife Cwendrida, and the Offa and Þryðo (Gr.'s Drida of the Vita Offæ Secundi) of the present passage. The tale is told of her, not of Hygd.
l. 1936. Suchier proposes andæges, = eye to eye; Leo proposes ândæges, = the whole day; G., by day. No change is necessary if an be taken to govqern hire, = on her, and däges be explained (like nihtes, etc.) as a genitive of time, = by day.
l. 1943. R. and Suchier propose onsêce, = seek, require; but cf. 2955.
l. 1966. Cf. the heofoncandel of Exod. l. 115 (Hunt). Shak.'s 'night's candles.'
l. 1969. Cf. l. 2487 seq. for the actual slayer of Ongenþeów, i.e. Eofor, to whom Hygelâc gave his only daughter as a reward, l. 2998.
l. 1981. meodu-scencum = with mead-pourers or mead-cups (G., Ha.); draught or cup of mead (Toller-Bosw.).
l. 1982. K., Th., W., H. supply [heal-]reced; Holler [heá-].
l. 1984. B. defends the MS., reading hæ nû (for hæðnû), which he regards as = Heinir, the inhabitants of the Jutish "heaths" (hæð). Cf. H.-So., p. 107; Beit. xii. 9.
l. 1985. sînne. "In poetry there is a reflexive possessive of the third person, sîn (declined like mîn). It is used not only as a true reflexive, but also as a non-reflexive (= Lat. ejus)"—Sw.; Cook's Sievers' Gram., p. 185. Cf. ll. 1508, 1961, 2284, 2790.
l. 1994. Cf. l. 190 for a similar use of seáð; cf. to "glow" with emotion, "boil" with indignation, "burn" with anger, etc. weallan is often so used; cf. ll. 2332, 2066, etc.
l. 2010. B. proposes fâcne, = in treachery, for fenne. Cf. Juliana, l. 350; Beit. xii. 97.
l. 2022. Food of specific sorts is rarely, if at all, mentioned in the poem. Drink, on the other hand, occurs in its primitive varieties,—ale (as here: ealu-wæg), mead, beer, wine, lîð (cider? Goth. leiþus, Prov. Ger. leit- in leit-haus, ale-house), etc.
l. 2025. Kl. proposes is for wäs.
l. 2027. Cf. l. 1599 for a similar use of weorðan, = agree, be pleased with (Ha.); appear (Sw., Reader, 6th ed.).
ll. 2030, 2031. Ten Br. proposes: oft seldan ( = gave) wære äfter leód-hryre: lytle hwîle bongâr bûgeð, þeáh seó brýd duge = oft has a treaty been given after the fall of a prince: but little while the murder-spear resteth, however excellent the bride be. Cf. Kl., Beit. ix. 190; B., Beit. xii. 369; R., Zachers Zeitschr. in. 404; Ha., p. 69; G., p. 62.
l. 2036. Cf. Kl, Beit. ix. 191; R., Zachers Zeitschr. iii. 404.
l. 2042. For beáh B. reads bâ, = both, i.e. Freaware and the Dane.
l. 2063. Thorkelin and Conybeare propose wîgende, = fighting, for lifigende.
l. 2068. W.'s edition begins section xxx. (not marked in the MS.) with this line. Section xxxix. (xxxviii. in copies A and B, xxxix. in Thorkelin) is not so designated in the MS., though þâ (at l. 2822) is written with capitals and xl. begins at l. 2893.
l. 2095. Cf. l. 1542, and note.
l. 2115 seq. B. restores thus:
l. 2128. ätbär here = bear away, not given in the Gloss.
l. 2129. B. proposes færunga, = suddenly, for Gr.'s reading in the text.—Beit. xii. 98.
l. 2132. MS. has þine life, which Leo translates by thy leave (= ON. leyfi); B., by thy life.—Beit. xii. 369.
l. 2150. B. renders gen, etc., by "now I serve thee alone again as my gracious king" (Beit. xii. 99).
l. 2151. The forms hafu [hafo], hafast, hafað, are poetic archaisms.—Sw.
l. 2153. Kl. proposes ealdor, = prince, for eafor. W. proposes the compd. eafor-heáfodsegn, = helm; cf. l. 1245.
l. 2157. The wk. form of the adj. is frequent in the vocative, especially when postponed: "Beowulf leófa," l. 1759. So, often, in poetry in nom.: wudu selesta, etc.
l. 2158. ærest is possibly the verbal subs. from ârîsan, to arise, = arising, origin. R. suggested ærist, arising, origin. Cf. Bede, Eccles. Hist., ed. Miller, where the word is spelt as above, but = (as usual) resurrection. See Sweet, Reader, p. 211; E.-Plummer's Chronicle, p. 302, etc. The MS. has est. See Ha., p. 73; S., Beit. x. 222; and cf. l. 2166.
l. 2188. Gr., W., H. supply [wên]don, = weened, instead of Th.'s [oft säg]don.
l. 2188. The "slack" Beowulf, like the sluggish Brutus, ultimately reveals his true character, and is presented with a historic sword of honor. It is "laid on his breast" (l. 2195) as Hun laid Lâfing on Hengest's breast, l. 1145.
l. 2188. "The boy was at first slothful, and the Geats thought him an unwarlike prince, and long despised him. Then, like many a lazy third son in the folk tales, a change came, he suddenly showed wonderful daring and was passionate for adventure."—Br., p. 22.
l. 2196. "Seven of thousands, manor and lordship" (Ha.). Kl., Beit. ix. 191, thinks with Ettm. that þûsendo means a hide of land (see Schmid, Ges. der Angl, 610), Bede's familia = 1/2 sq. meter; seofan being used (like hund, l. 2995) only for the alliteration.
l. 2196. "A vast Honour of 7000 hides, a mansion, and a judgment-seat" [throne].—E.
l. 2210. MS. has the more correct wintra.
l. 2211. Cf. similar language about the dragon at l. 100. Beowulf's "jubilee" is fitly solemnized by his third and last dragon-fight.
l. 2213. B. proposes sê þe on hearge hæðen hord beweotode; cf. Ha., p. 75.
l. 2215. "The dragon lies round the treasures in a cave, as Fafnir, like a Python, lay coiled over his hoard. So constant was this habit among the dragons that gold is called Worms' bed, Fafnir's couch, Worms' bed-fire. Even in India, the cobras ... are guardians of treasure."—Br., p. 50.
l. 2216. neóde. E. translates deftly; Ha., with ardor. H.-So. reads neóde, = with desire, greedily, instr. of neód.
l. 2223. E. begins his "Part Third" at this point as he begins "Part Second" at l. 1252, each dragon-fight forming part of a trilogy.
ll. 2224, 2225. B. proposes: nealles mid gewealdum wyrmes weard gäst sylfes willum.—Zachers Zeitschr. iv. 211; Beit. xii. 100.
l. 2225. For þeów read þegn.—K. and Z.
l. 2225. þeów, st. m., slave, serf (not in H.-So.).
l. 2227. For ofer-þearfe read ærnes þearfa.—Z.
l. 2232. W. suggests seah or seîr for geseah, and Gr. suggests searolîc.
l. 2233. Z. surmises eorð-hûse (for -scräfe).
l. 2241. B. proposes læn-gestreóna, = transitory, etc.; Th., R. propose leng (= longer) gestreóna; S. accepts the text but translates "the long accumulating treasure."
l. 2246. B. proposed (1) hard-fyndne, = hard to find; (2) hord-wynne dæl,—a deal of treasure-joy (cf. l. 2271).—Zachers Zeitschr. iv. 211; Beit. xii. 102.
l. 2247. fecword = banning words (?) MS. has fec.
l. 2254. Others read feor-[mie], = furbish, for fetige: I own not one who may, etc.
l. 2261. The Danes themselves were sometimes called the "Ring-Danes," = clad in ringed (or a ring of) armor, or possessing rings. Cf. ll. 116, 1280.
l. 2264. Note the early reference to hawking. Minstrelsy (hearpan wyn), saga-telling, racing, swimming, harpooning of sea-animals, feasting, and the bestowal of jewels, swords, and rings, are the other amusements most frequent in Beówulf.
l. 2264. Cf. Maldon, ll. 8, 9, for a reference to hawking.
l. 2276. Z. suggests swýðe ondrædað; Ho. puts gesêcean for Gr.'s gewunian.
l. 2277. Z. and K. read: hord on hrûsan. "Three hundred winters," at l. 2279, is probably conventional for "a long time," like hund missera, l. 1499; hund þûsenda, l. 2995; þritig (of Beowulf's strength), l. 379; þritig (of the men slain by Grendel), l. 123; seofan þûsendo, l. 2196, etc.
l. 2285. B. objects to hord as repeated in ll. 2284, 2285; but cf. Ha., p. 77. C. prefers sum to hord. onboren = inminutus; cf. B., Beit. xii. 102.
l. 2285. onberan is found also at line 991, = carry off, with on- = E. un—(un-bind, -loose, -tie, etc.), G. ent-. The negro still pronounces on-do, etc.
l. 2299. Cf. H.-So., p. 112, for a defense of the text as it stands. B. proposes "nor was there any man in that desert who rejoiced in conflict," etc. So ten Br.
l. 2326. B. and ten Br,. propose hâm, = home, for him.—Beit. xii. 103.
l. 2335. E. translates eálond utan by the sea-board front, the water-washed land on the (its) outside. See B., Beit. xii. 1, 5.
l. 2346. Cf. l. 425, where Beowulf resolves to fight the dragon single-handed. E. compares Guy of Warwick, ll. 49, 376.
l. 2355. Ten Br. proposes laðan cynne as apposition to mægum.
l. 2360. Cf. Beowulf's other swimming-feat with Breca, ll. 506 seq.
l. 2362. Gr. inserts âna, = lone-going, before xxx.: approved by B.; and Krüger, Beit. ix. 575. Cf. l. 379.
l. 2362. "Beowulf has the strength of thirty men in the original tale. Here, then, the new inventor makes him carry off thirty coats of mail."—Br., p. 48.
l. 2364. Hetware = Chattuarii, a nation allied against Hygelâc in his Frisian expedition; cf. ll. 1208 seq., 2917, etc.
l. 2368. B. proposes quiet sea as trans, of sióleða bigong, and compares Goth. anasilan, to be still; Swed. dial, sil, still water between waterfalls.—Zachers Zeitschr. iv. 214.
l. 2380. hyne—Heardrêd; so him, l. 2358.
l. 2384. E. calls attention to Swió-rîce as identical with the modern Sverige = Sweden; cf. l. 2496.
l. 2386. Gr. reads on feorme, = at the banquet; cf. Möller, Alteng. Volksepos, 111, who reads (f)or feorme. The MS. has or.
l. 2391. Cf. l. 11.
l. 2394. B., Gr., and Mûllenh. understand ll. 2393-2397 to mean that Eádgils, Ôhthere's son, driven from Sweden, returns later, supported by Beowulf, takes the life of his uncle Onela, and probably becomes himself O.'s successor and king of Sweden. For another view see H.-So., p. 115. MS. has freond (l. 2394), which Leo, etc., change to feónd. G. translates friend.—Beit. xii. 13; Anzeiger f. d. Altert. iii. 177.
l. 2395. Eádgils is Ôhthere's son; cf. l. 2381; Onela is Ôhthere's brother; cf. ll. 2933, 2617.
l. 2402. "Twelfsome"; cf. "fifteensome" at l. 207, etc. As Beówulf is essentially the Epic of Philanthropy, of the true love of man, as distinguished from the ordinary love-epic, the number twelve in this passage may be reminiscent of another Friend of Man and another Twelve. In each case all but one desert the hero.
l. 2437. R. proposes stýred, = ordered, decreed, for strêd.—Zachers Zeitschr. iii. 409.
l. 2439. B. corrects to freó-wine = noble friend, asking, "How can Herebeald be called Hæðcyn's freá-wine [MS.], lord?"
l. 2442. feohleás gefeoht, "a homicide which cannot be atoned for by money—in this case an unintentional fratricide."—Sw.
l. 2445. See Ha., pp. 82, 83, for a discussion of ll. 2445-2463. Cf. G., p. 75.
l. 2447. MS. reads wrece, justified by B. (Tidskr. viii. 56). W. conceives wrece as optative or hortative, and places a colon before þonne.
l. 2449. For helpan read helpe.—K., Th., S. (Zeitschr. f. D. Phil. xxi. 3, 357).
ll. 2454-2455. (1) Müllenh. (Haupts Zeitschr. xiv. 232) proposes:
(2) B. proposes:
l. 2458. Cf. sceótend, pl., ll. 704, 1155, like rîdend. Cf. Judith, l. 305, etc.
l. 2474. Th. considers the "wide water" here as the Mälar lake, the boundary between Swedes and Goths.
l. 2477. On oþþe = and, cf. B., Tidskr. viii. 57. See Ha., p. 83.
l. 2489. B. proposes hreá-blâc for Gr.'s heoro-.—Tikskr. viii. 297.
l. 2494. S. suggests êðel-wynne.
l. 2502. E. translates for dugeðum, of my prowess; so Ettmüller.
ll. 2520-2522. Gr. and S. translate, "if I knew how else I might combat the monster's boastfulness."—Ha., p. 85.
l. 2524. and-hâttres is H.'s invention. Gr. reads oreðes and âttres, blast and venom. Cf. oruð, l. 2558, and l. 2840 (where âttor- also occurs).
l. 2526. E. quotes fleón fôtes trym from Maldon, l. 247.
l. 2546. Gr., H.-So., and Ho. read standan stân-bogan (for stôd on stân-bogan) depending on geseah.
l. 2550. Grundt. and B. propose deór, brave one, i.e. Beowulf, for deóp.
L. 2565. MS. has ungleaw (K., Th.), unglaw (Grundt.). B. proposes unslâw, = sharp.—Beit. xii. 104. So H.-So., Ha., p. 86.
ll. 2570, 2571. (1) May not gescîfe (MS. to gscipe) = German schief, "crooked," "bent," "aslant," and hence be a parallel to gebogen, bent, coiled? cf. l. 2568, þâ se wyrm gebeáh snûde tôsomne, and l. 2828. Coiled serpents spring more powerfully for the coiling. (2) Or perhaps destroy comma after tô and read gescäpe, = his fate; cf. l. 26: him þâ Scyld gewât tô gescäp-hwîle. G. appar. adopts this reading, p. 78.
l. 2589. grund-wong = the field, not the earth (so B.); H.-So., cave, as at l. 2771. So Ha., p. 87.
l. 2595. S. proposes colon after stefne.—Beit. ix. 141.
l. 2604. Müllenh. explains leód Scylfinga in Anzeiger f. d. Altert. iii. 176-178.
l. 2607. âre = possessions, holding (Kl., Beit. ix. 192; Ha., p. 88).
l. 2609. folcrihta. Add "folk-right" to the meanings in the Gloss.; and cf. êðel-, land-riht, word-riht.
l. 2614. H.-So. reads with Gr. wræccan wineleásum Weohstân bana, = whom, a friendless exile, W. had slain.
ll. 2635-61. E. quotes Tacitus, Germania, xiv.: "turpe comitatui virtutem principis non adaequare." Beowulf had been deserted by his comitatus.
l. 2643. B. proposes ûser.—Zachers Zeitschr. iv. 216.
l. 2649. wutun; l. 3102, uton = pres. subj. pl. 1st person of wîtan, to go, used like Mod. Eng. let us + inf., Lat. eamus, Ital. andiamo, Fr. allons; M. E. (Layamon) uten. Cf. Psa. ii. 3, etc. March, A.-S. Gram., pp. 104, 196.
l. 2650. B. suggests hât for hyt,.—Beit. xii. 105.
l. 2656. fâne = fâh-ne; cf. fâra = fâh-ra, l. 578; so heánne (MS.) = heáh-ne, etc., l. 984. See Cook's Sievers' Gram.
ll. 2660, 2661. Why not read beadu-scrûd, as at l. 453, = battle-shirt? B. and R. suppose two half-verses omitted between byrdu-scrûd and bâm gemæne. B. reads býwdu, = handsome, etc. Gr. suggests unc nû, = to us two now, for ûrum; and K. and Grundt. read beón gemæne for bâm, etc. This makes sense. Cf. Ha., p. 89.
l. 2666. Cf. the dat. absolute without preposition.
l. 2681. Nägling; cf. Hrunting, Lâfing, and other famous wundor-smiða geweorc of the poem.
l. 2687. B. changes þonne into þone (rel. pro.) = which.—Beit. xii. 105.
l. 2688. B. supports the MS. reading, wundum.
l. 2688. Cf. l. 2278 for similar language.
l. 2698. B. (Beit. xii. 105) renders: "he did not heed the head of the dragon (which Beowulf with his sword had struck without effect), but he struck the dragon somewhat further down." Cf. Saxo, vi. p. 272.
l. 2698. Cf. the language used at ll. 446 and 1373, where hafelan also occurs; and hýdan.
l. 2700. hwêne; cf. Lowl. Sc. wheen, a number; Chaucer's woon, number.
l. 2702. S. proposes þâ (for þät) þät fýr, etc., = when the fire began, etc.
l. 2704. "The (hup)-seax has often been found in Saxon graves on the hip of the skeleton."—E.
l. 2707. Kl. proposes: feorh ealne wräc, = drove out all the life; cf. Gen. l. 1385.—Beit. ix. 192. S. suggests gefylde,—he felled the foe, etc.—Ibid. Parentheses seem unnecessary.
l. 2727. däg-hwîl = time allotted, lifetime.
l. 2745, 2745. Ho. removes geong from the beginning of l. 2745 and places it at the end of l. 2744.
l. 2750. R. proposes sigle searogimmas, as at l. 1158.
l. 2767. (1) B. proposes doubtfully oferhîgean or oferhîgan, = Goth, ufarhauhjan, p. p. ufarhauhids (Gr. τυφωθείς) = exceed in value.—Tidskr. viii. 60. (2) Kl. proposes oferhýdian, = to make arrogant, infatuate; cf. oferhýd.—Beit. ix. 192.
l. 2770. gelocen leoðocräftum = (1) spell-bound (Th., Arnold, E.); (2) wrought with hand-craft (G.); (3) meshed, linked together (H., Ho.); cf. Elene, ll. 1251, 522.
l. 2778. B. considers bill ... ealdhlâfordes as Beowulf's short sword, with which he killed the dragon, l. 2704 (Tidskr. viii. 299). R. proposes ealdhlâforde. Müllenh. understands ealdhlâford to mean the former possessor of the hoard. W. agrees to this, but conceives ærgescôd as a compd. = ære calceatus, sheathed in brass. Ha. translates ærgescôd as vb. and adv.
l. 2791. Cf. l. 224, eoletes ät ende; landes ät ende, Exod. (Hunt).
l. 2792. MS. reads wäteres weorpan, which R. would change to wätere sweorfan.
l. 2806. "Men saw from its height the whales tumbling in the waves, and called it Whale's Ness (Hrones-næs)."—Br. p. 28. Cf. l. 3137.
l. 2815. Wîglâf was the next of kin, the last of the race, and hence the recipient of Beowulf's kingly insignia. There is a possible play on the word lâf (Wîg-lâf, ende-lâf).
l. 2818. gingeste word; cf. novissima verba, and Ger. jüngst, lately.
l. 2837. E. translates on lande, in the world, comparing on lîfe, on worulde.
l. 2840. geræsde = pret. of geræsan (omitted from the Gloss.), same as ræsan; cf. l. 2691.
l. 2859. B. proposes deáð ârædan, = determine death.—Beit. xii. 106.
l. 2861. Change geongum to geongan as a scribal error (?), but cf. Lichtenheld, Haupts Zeitschr. xvi. 353-355.
l. 2871. S. and W. propose ôwêr.—Beit. ix. 142.
l. 2873. S. punctuates: wrâðe forwurpe, þâ, etc.
l. 2874. H.-So. begins a new sentence with nealles, ending the preceding one with beget.
l. 2879. ätgifan = to render, to afford; omitted in Gloss.
ll. 2885-2892. "This passage ... equals the passage in Tacitus which describes the tie of chief to companion and companion to chief among the Germans, and which recounts the shame that fell on those who survived their lord."—Br., p. 56.
l. 2886. cyn thus has the meaning of gens or clan, just as in many Oriental towns all are of one blood. E. compares Tacitus, Germania, 7; and cf. "kith and kin."
l. 2892. Death is preferable to dishonor. Cf. Kemble, Saxons, i. 235.
l. 2901. The ἄγγελος begins his ἀγγελία here.
l. 2910. S. proposes higemêðe, sad of soul; cf. ll. 2853 and 2864 (Beit. ix. 142). B. considers higemêðum a dat. or instr. pl. of an abstract in -u (Beit. xii. 106). H. makes it a dat. pl. = for the dead. For heafod-wearde, etc., cf. note on l. 446.
l. 2920-2921. B. explains "he could not this time, as usual, give jewels to his followers."—Beit. xii. 106.
l. 2922. The Merovingian or Frankish race.
Cf. S., Beit. ix. 143. gêtan = cause blood to be shed.
l. 2950. B. proposes gomela for gôda; "a surprising epithet for a Geat to apply to the 'terrible' Ongentheow."—Ha. p. 99. But "good" does not necessarily mean "morally excellent," as a "good" hater, a "good" fighter.
l. 2959. See H.-So. for an explanatory quotation from Paulus Diaconus, etc. B., K., and Th. read segn Higelâces, = H.'s banner uplifted began to pursue the Swede-men.—Beit. xii. 108. S. suggests sæce, = pursuit.
l. 2977. gewyrpton: this vb. is also used reflexively in Exod. (Hunt), l. 130: wyrpton hie wêrige.
l. 2989. bär is Grundt.'s reading, after the MS. "The surviving victor is the heir of the slaughtered foe."—H.-So. Cf. Hildebrands Lied, ll. 61, 62.
l. 2995. "A hundred of thousands in land and rings" (Ha., p. 100). Cf. ll. 2196, 3051. Cf. B., Beit. xii. 20, who quotes Saxo's bis senas gentes and remarks: "Hrolf Kraki, who rewards his follower, for the slaying of the foreign king, with jewels, rich lands, and his only daughter's hand, answers to the Jutish king Hygelâc, who rewards his liegeman, for the slaying of Ongentheów, with jewels, enormous estates, and his only daughter's hand."
l. 3006. H.-So. suggests Scilfingas for Scyldingas, because, at l. 2397, Beowulf kills the Scylfing Eádgils and probably acquires his lands. Thus ll. 3002, 3005, 3006, would indicate that, after Beowulf's death, the Swedes desired to shake off his hated yoke. Müllenh., however, regards l. 3006 as a thoughtless repetition of l. 2053.—Haupts Zeitschr. xiv. 239.
l. 3008. Cf. the same proverb at l. 256; and Exod. (Hunt.) l. 293.
and from Percy, "The word glee, which peculiarly denoted their art (the minstrels'), continues still in our own language ... it is to this day used in a musical sense, and applied to a peculiar piece of composition."
l. 3025. "This is a finer use than usual of the common poetic attendants of a battle, the wolf, the eagle, and the raven. The three are here like three Valkyrie, talking of all that they have done."—Br., p. 57.
l. 3033. Cf. Hunt's Dan. l. 731, for similar language.
l. 3039. B. supplies a supposed gap here:
Cf. Ha., p. 102. W. and Ho. insert [þær] before gesêgan.
l. 3042. Cf. l. 2561, where gryre-giest occurs as an epithet of the dragon. B. proposes gry[re-fâh].
l. 3044. lyft-wynne, in the pride of the air, E.; to rejoice in the air, Ha.
l. 3057. (1) He (God) is men's hope; (2) he is the heroes' hope; (3) gehyld = the secret place of enchanters; cf. hêlsmanna gehyld, Gr.'s reading, after A.-S. hælsere, haruspex, augur.
l. 3060. B. suggests gehýðde, = plundered (i.e. by the thief), for gehýdde.
ll. 3063-3066. (1) B. suggests wundur [deáðe] hwâr þonne eorl ellenrof ende gefêre = let a brave man then somewhere meet his end by wondrous venture, etc.—Zachers Zeitschr. iv. 241; cf. l. 3038. (2) S. supposes an indirect question introduced by hwâr and dependent upon wundur, = a mystery is it when it happens that the hero is to die, if he is no longer to linger among his people.—Beit. ix. 143. (3) Müllenh. suggests: is it to be wondered at that a man should die when he can no longer live?—Zachers Zeitschr. xiv. 241. (4) Possibly thus:
in which hwät would = þurh hwät at l. 3069, and eorl would be subject of the conjectural vb. wundrað: "the valiant earl wondereth then through what he shall attain his life's end, when he no longer may live. ... So Beówulf knew not (wondered how) through what his end should come," etc. W. and Ho. join þonne to the next line. Or, for hwâr read wære: Wundur wære þonne (= gif), etc., = "would it be any wonder if a brave man," etc., which is virtually Müllenhoff's.
l. 3053. galdre bewunden, spell-bound, throws light on l. 2770, gelocen leoðo-cräftum. The "accursed" gold of legend is often dragon-guarded and placed under a spell. Even human ashes (as Shakespeare's) are thus banned. ll. 3047-3058 recall the so-called "Treasury of Atreus."
l. 3073. herh, hearh, temple, is conjectured by E. to survive in Harrow. Temple, barrow, etc., have thus been raised to proper names. Cf. Biówulfes biorh of l. 2808.
l. 3074. H.-So. has strude, = ravage, and compares l. 3127. MS. has strade. S. suggests stride, = tread.
l. 3074. H.-So. omits strâdan, = tread, stride over, from the Gloss., referring ll. 3174 and 3074 to strûdan, q. v.
l. 3075. S. proposes: näs hê goldhwätes gearwor häfde, etc., = Beowulf had not before seen the greedy possessor's favor.—Beit. ix. 143. B. reads, goldhwäte gearwor häfde, etc., making goldhwäte modify êst, = golden favor; but see Beit. xii. 373, for B.'s later view.
l. 3086-3087. B. translates, "that which (i.e. the treasure) drew the king thither was granted indeed, but it overwhelmed us."—Beit. xii. 109.
l. 3097. B. and S. propose äfter wine deádum, = in memory of the dead friend.—Beit. ix. 144.
l. 3106. The brâd gold here possibly includes the iú-monna gold of l. 3053 and the wunden gold of l. 3135. E. translates brâd by bullion.
l. 3114. B. supposes folc-âgende to be dat. sg. to gôdum, referring to Beowulf.
l. 3116. C. considers weaxan, = Lat. vescor, to devour, as a parallel to fretan, and discards parentheses.—Beit. viii. 573.
l. 3120. fûs = furnished with; a meaning which must be added to those in the Gloss.
l. 3136. H.-So. corrects (after B.) to äðelingc, the MS. having e.
l. 3145. "It was their [the Icelanders'] belief that the higher the smoke rose in the air the more glorious would the burnt man be in heaven."— Ynglinga Saga, 10 (quoted by E.). Cf. the funeral pyre of Herakles.
(lêc from lâcan, see Gloss.).—Beit. xii. 110. Why not windblonda lâc?
l. 3147. Müllenhoff rejected wind-blond geläg because a great fire raises rather than "lays" the wind; hence B., as above, = "swoughing sported the flame wound with the howling of wind-currents."
l. 3151 seq. B. restores conjecturally:
Here geó-meowle = old woman or widow; bunden-heorde = with bound locks; heóf = lamentation; cf. l. 3143. on rîce wealg is less preferable than the MS. reading, heofon rêce swealg = heaven swallowed the smoke.—H.-So. B. thinks Beowulf's widow (geómeowle) was probably Hygd; cf. ll. 2370, 3017-3021.
l. 3162. H.-So. reads (with MS.) bronda be lâfe, for betost, and omits colon after bêcn. So B., Zachers Zeitschr. iv. 224.
l. 3171. E. quotes Gibbon's accounts of the burial of Attila when the "chosen squadrons of the Hun, wheeling round in measured evolutions, chanted a funeral song to the memory of a hero."
l. 3183. Z., K., Th. read manna for mannum.
l. 3184. "It is the English ideal of a hero as it was conceived by an Englishman some twelve hundred years ago."—Br., p. 18.
NOTES TO THE FIGHT AT FINNSBURG.
The original MS. of this fragment has vanished, but a copy had been made and printed by Hickes in his Thesaurus Linguarum Septentrionalium, i. 192. The original was written on a single sheet attached to a codex of homilies in the Lambeth Library. Möller, Alteng. Epos, p. 65, places the fragment in the Finn episode, between ll. 1146 and 1147. Bugge (Beit. xii. 20) makes it illustrate the conflict in which Hnäf fell, i.e. as described in Beówulf as antecedent to the events there given. Heinzel (Anzeiger f. d. Altert.), however, calls attention to the fact that Hengest in the fragment is called cyning, whereas in Beówulf, l. 1086, he is called þegn. See H.-So., p. 125.
"The Fight at Finnsburg and the lays from which our Beówulf was composed were, as it seems to me, sung among the English who dwelt in the north of Denmark and the south of Sweden, and whose tribal name was the Jutes or Goths."—Br., p. 101.
l. 1. R. supposes [hor]nas, and conjectures such an introductory conversation as follows: "Is it dawning in the east, or is a fiery dragon flying about, or are the turrets of some castle burning?" questions which the king negatives in the same order. Then comes the positive declaration, "rather they are warriors marching whose armor gleams in the moonlight." —Alt- und Angels. Lesebuch, 1861. Heinzel and B. conjecture, [beorhtor hor]nas byrnað næfre. So. G.—Beit. xii. 22; Anzeiger f. d. Altert. x. 229.
l. 5. B. conjectures fugelas to mean arrows, and supplies:
He compares Saxo, p. 95, cristatis galeis hastisque sonantibus instant, as explanatory of l. 6.—Beit. xii. 22. But see Brooke, Early Eng. Literature, who supposes fugelas = raven and eagle, while græg-hama is = wulf (the "grey-coated one"), the ordinary accompaniers of battle.
l. 11. hicgeað, etc.: cf. Maldon, l. 5; Exod. l. 218.
l. 15. Cf. B. (Beit. xii. 25), etc., and Saxo, p. 101, for l. 13.
ll. 18-21. H.-So. remarks: "If, according to Möller and Bugge, Gârulf is one of the attackers, one of Finn's men, this does not harmonize with his character as Gûðlâf's son (l. 33), who (l. 16, and Beówulf, l. 1149) is a Dane, therefore one of Finn's antagonists." B. (Beit. xii. 25) conjectures:
in which Gûðdene is the same as Sigeferð, l. 24; hê (l. 22) refers to Gârulf; and hîe (l. 21) to hyrsta.
l. 27. swäðer = either (bad or good, life or death).—H.-So.
l. 29. cêlod: meaning doubtful; cf. Maldon, l. 283. G. renders "curved board"; Sw. suggests "round"? "hollow"?
l. 30. B. suggests bâr-helm, = boar-helm. Cf. Saxo, p. 96.—Beit. xii. 26.
l. 34. B. conjectures: (1) hwearf flacra hræw hräfen, wandrode; (2) hwearf flacra hræw hräfen fram ôðrum = flew from one corpse to another.—Beit. xii. 27.
l. 43. B. supposes wund häleð to be a Dane, folces hyrde to be Hnäf, in opposition to Holtzmann (Germania, viii. 494), who supposes the wounded man to be a Frisian, and folces hyrde to be their king, Finn.—Beit. xii. 28.
l. 45. B. adopts Th.'s reading heresceorp unhrôr = equipments useless.—Beit. xii. 28.
l. 47. "Though wounded, they had retained their strength and activity in battle."—B., Beit. xii. 28.
ADDENDA.
ll. 105 and 218. MS. and Ho. read won-sæli and fâmi-heals.
ll. 143, 183, 186, etc. Read þæm for þäm.
l. 299. MS. reads gôd-fremmendra. So H.-So.
l. 338. Ho. marks wräc- and its group long.
l. 530. Hwät should here probably be printed as an interj., hwät! Cf. ll. 1, 943, 2249.
l. 2263. Koeppel suggests nis for näs.
The editors are much indebted to E. Koeppel (in Eng. Stud. xiii. 3) for numerous corrections in text and glossary.
l. 3070. H.-So. begins a new line with swâ.
GLOSSARY
ac, conj. denoting contrariety: hence 1) but (like N.H.G. sondern), 109, 135, 339, etc.—2) but (N.H.G. aber), nevertheless, 602, 697, etc.—3) in direct questions: nonne, numquid, 1991.
aglæca, ahlæca, äglæca, -cea, w. m. (cf. Goth, aglo, trouble, O.N. agi, terror, + lâc, gift, sport: = misery, vexation, = bringer of trouble; hence): 1) evil spirit, demon, a demon-like being; of Grendel, 159, 433, 593, etc.; of the drake, 2535, 2906, etc.—2) great hero, mighty warrior; of Sigemund, 894; of Beówulf: gen. sg. aglæcan(?), 1513; of Beówulf and the drake: nom. pl. þâ aglæcean, 2593.
aglæc-wîf, st. n., demon, devil, in the form of a woman; of Grendel's mother, 1260.
am-biht (from and-b., Goth, and-baht-s), st. m., servant, man-servant: nom. sg. ombeht, of the coast-guard, 287; ombiht, of Wulfgâr, 336.
ambiht-þegn (from ambiht n. officium and þegn, which see), servant, man-servant: dat. sg. ombiht-þegne, of Beówulf's servant, 674.
an, prep, with the dat., on, in, with respect to, 678; with, among, at, upon (position after the governed word), 1936; with the acc., 1248. Elsewhere on, which see.
ancor, st. m., anchor: dat. sg. ancre, 303, 1884.
ancor-bend, m. (?) f. (?), anchor-cable: dat. pl. oncer-bendum, 1919.
and, conj. (ond is usual form; for example, 601, 1149, 2041), and 33, 39, 40, etc. (See Appendix.)
anda, w. m., excitement, vexation, horror: dat. wrâðum on andan, 709, 2315.
and-git, st. n., insight, understanding: nom. sg., 1060. See gitan.
and-hâtor, st. m. n., heat coming against one: gen. sg. rêðes and-hâttres, 2524.
and-lang, -long, adj., very long. hence 1) at whole length, raised up high: acc. andlongne eorl, 2696 (cf. Bugge upon this point, Zachers Ztschr., 4, 217).—2) continual, entire; andlangne däg, 2116, the whole day; andlonge niht, 2939.
and-leán, st. n., reward, payment in full: acc. sg., 1542, 2095 (hand-, hond-lean, MS.).
and-risno, st. f. (see rîsan, surgere, decere), that which is to be observed, that which is proper, etiquette: dat. pl. for andrysnum, according to etiquette, 1797.
and-saca, w. m., adversary: godes andsaca (Grendel), 787, 1683.
and-slyht, st. m., blow in return: acc. sg., 2930, 2973 (MS. both times hond-slyht).
and-swaru, st. f., act of accosting: 1) to persons coming up, an address, 2861.—2) in reply to something said, an answer, 354, 1494, 1841.
and-weard, adj., present, existing: acc. sg. n. swîn ofer helme and-weard (the image of the boar, which stands on his helm), 1288.
and-wlita, w. m., countenance: acc. sg. -an, 690.
an-sund, adj., entirely unharmed: nom. sg. m., 1001.
an-sýn, f., the state of being seen: hence 1) the exterior, the form, 251: ansýn ýwde, showed his form, i.e. appeared, 2835.—2) aspect, appearance, 929; on-sýn, 2773.
an-walda, w. m., He who rules over all, God, 1273. See Note.
atol, adj. (also eatol, 2075, etc.), hostile, frightful, cruel: of Grendel, 159, 165, 593, 2075, etc.; of Grendel's mother's hands (dat. pl. atolan), 1503; of the undulation of the waves, 849; of battle, 597, 2479.—cf. O.N. atall, fortis, strenuus.
atelîc, adj., terrible, dreadful: atelîc egesa, 785.
â, adv. (Goth, áiv, acc. from aiv-s aevum), ever, always, 455, 882, 931, 1479: â syððan, ever afterwards, ever, ever after, 283, 2921.—ever, 780.—Comp. nâ.
âd st. m. funeral pile: acc. sg. âd, 3139; dat. sg. âde, 1111, 1115.
âd-faru, st. f., way to the funeral pile, dat. sg. on âd-färe, 3011.
âdl, st. f. sickness, 1737, 1764, 1849.
âð, st. m., oath in general, 2740; oath of allegiance, 472 (?); oath of reconciliation of two warring peoples, 1098, 1108.
âð-sweord, st. n., the solemn taking of an oath, the swearing of an oath: nom. pl., 2065. See sweord.
âðum-swerian, m. pl., son-in-law and father-in-law: dat. pl., 84.
âgan, verb, pret. and pres., to have, to possess, w. acc.: III. prs. sg. âh, 1728; inf. âgan, 1089; prt. âhte, 487, 522, 533; with object, geweald, to be supplied, 31. Form contracted with the negative: prs. sg. I. nâh hwâ sweord wege (I have no one to wield the sword), 2253.
âgen, adj., own, peculiar, 2677.
âgend (prs. part. of âgan), possessor, owner, lord: gen. sg. âgendes, of God, 3076.—Compounds: blæd-, bold-, folc-, mägen-âgend.
âgend-freá, w. m., owner, lord: gen. sg. âgend-freán, 1884.
âhsian, ge-âhsian, w. v.: 1) to examine, to find out by inquiring: pret. part. ge-âhsod, 433.—2) to experience, to endure: pret. âhsode, 1207; pl. âhsodon, 423.
âht, st. n. (contracted from â-wiht, which see), something, anything: âht cwices, 2315.
ân, num. The meaning of this word betrays its apparent demonstrative character: 1) this, that, 2411, of the hall in the earth mentioned before; similarly, 100 (of Grendel; already mentioned), cf. also 2775.—2) one, a particular one among many, a single one, in numerical sense: ymb âne niht (the next night), 135; þurh ânes cräft, 700; þâra ânum, 1038; ân äfter ânum, one for the other (Hrêðel for Herebeald), 2462: similarly, ân äfter eallum, 2269; ânes hwät, some single thing, a part, 3011; se ân leóda duguðe, the one of the heroes of the people, 2238; ânes willan, for the sake of a single one, 3078, etc.—Hence, again, 3) alone, distinguished, 1459, 1886.—4) a, in the sense of an indefinite article: ân ... feónd, 100; gen. sg. ânre bêne (or to No.2[?]), 428; ân ... draca, 2211—5) gen. pl. ânra, in connection with a pronoun, single; ânra gehwylces, every single one, 733; ânra gehwylcum, 785. Similarly, the dat. pl. in this sense: nemne feáum ânum, except a few single ones, 1082.—6) solus, alone: in the strong form, 1378, 2965; in the weak form, 145, 425, 431, 889, etc.; with the gen., âna Geáta duguðe, alone of the warriors of the Geátas, 2658.—7) solitarius, alone, lonely, see æn.—Comp. nân.
ân-feald, adj., simple, plain, without reserve: acc. sg. ânfealdne geþôht, simple opinion, 256.
ân-genga, -gengea, w. m., he who goes alone, of Grendel, 165, 449.
ân-haga, w. m., he who stands alone, solitarius, 2369.
ân-hydig, adj. (like the O.N. ein-râd-r, of one resolve, i.e. of firm resolve), of one opinion, i.e. firm, brave, decided, 2668.
ânga, adj. (only in the weak form), single, only: acc. sg. ângan dôhtor, 375, 2998; ângan eaferan, 1548; dat. sg. ângan brêðer, 1263.
ân-päð, st. m., lonely way, path: acc. pl. ânpaðas, 1411.
ân-ræd, adj. (cf. under ân-hydig), of firm resolution, resolved, 1530, 1576.
ân-tîd, st. f., one time, i.e. the same time, ymb ân-tîd ôðres dôgores, about the same time the second day (they sailed twenty-four hours), 219.—ân stands as in ân-mod, O.H.G. ein-muoti, harmonious, of the same disposition.
ânunga, adv., throughout, entirely, wholly, 635.
âr, st. m., ambassador, messenger, 336, 2784.
âr, st. f., 1) honor, dignity: ârum healdan, to hold in honor, 296; similarly, 1100, 1183.—2) favor, grace, support: acc. sg. âre, 1273, 2607; dat. sg. âre, 2379; gen. pl. hwät ... ârna, 1188.—Comp. worold-âr; also written ær.
âr-fäst, adj., honorable, upright, 1169; of Hûnferð (with reference to 588. See fäst.
ârian, w. v., (to be gracious), to spare: III. sg. prs. w. dat. nænegum ârað; of Grendel, 599.
âr-stäf, st. m.,(elementum honoris), grace, favor: dat. pl. mid ârstafum, 317.—Help, support: dat. pl. for âr-stafum, to the assistance, 382, 458. See stäf.
âter-teár, m., poisonous drop: dat. pl. îren âter-teárum fâh (steel which is dipped in poison or in poisonous sap of plants), 1460.
âttor, st. n., poison, here of the poison of the dragon's bite: nom., 2716.
âttor-sceaða, w. m., poisonous enemy, of the poisonous dragon: gen. sg. -sceaðan, 2840.
âwâ, adv. (certainly not the dative, but a reduplicated form of â, which see), ever: âwâ tô aldre, fôr ever and ever, 956.
ädre, adv., hastily, directly, immediately, 77, 354, 3107. [ædre.]
äðele, adj., noble: nom. sg., of Beówulf, 198, 1313; of Beówulf's father, 263, where it can be understood as well in a moral as in a genealogical sense; the latter prevails decidedly in the gen. sg. äðelan cynnes, 2235.
äðeling, st. m., nobleman, man of noble descent, especially the appellation of a man of royal birth; so of the kings of the Danes, 3; of Scyld, 33; of Hrôðgâr, 130; of Sigemund, 889; of Beówulf, 1226, 1245, 1597, 1816, 2189, 2343, 2375, 2425, 2716, 3136; perhaps also of Däghrefn, 2507;—then, in a broader sense, also denoting other noble-born men: Äschere, 1295; Hrôðgâr's courtiers, 118, 983; Heremôd's courtiers, 907; Hengest's warriors, 1113; Beówulf's retinue, 1805, 1921, 3172; noble-born in general, 2889. —Comp. sib-äðeling.
äðelu, st. n., only in the pl., noble descent, nobility, in the sense of noble lineage: acc. pl. äðelu, 392; dat. pl. cyning äðelum gôd, the king, of noble birth, 1871; äðelum dióre, worthy on account of noble lineage, 1950; äðelum (hæleþum, MS.), 332.—Comp. fäder-äðelu.
äfnan, w. v. w. acc., to perform, to carry out, to accomplish: inf. ellen-weorc äfnan, to do a heroic deed, 1465; pret. unriht äfnde, perpetrated wrong, 1255.
ge-äfnan, 1) to carry out, to do, to accomplish: pret. pl. þät geäfndon swâ, so carried that out, 538; pret. part. âð wäs geäfned, the oath was sworn, 1108.—2) get ready, prepare: pret. part. geäfned, 3107. See efnan.
äfter (comparative of af, Ags. of, which see; hence it expresses the idea of forth, away, from, back), a) adv., thereupon, afterwards, 12, 341, 1390, 2155.—ic him äfter sceal, I shall go after them, 2817; in word äfter cwäð, 315, the sense seems to be, spoke back, having turned; b) prep. w. dat., 1) (temporal) after, 119, 128, 187, 825, 1939, etc.; äfter beorne, after the (death of) the hero, 2261, so 2262; äfter mâððum-welan, after (obtaining) the treasure, 2751.—2) (causal) as proceeding from something, denoting result and purpose, hence, in consequence of, conformably to: äfter rihte, in accordance with right, 1050, 2111; äfter faroðe, with the current, 580; so 1321, 1721, 1944, 2180, etc., äfter heaðo-swâte, in consequence of the blood of battle, 1607; äfter wälnîðe, in consequence of mortal enmity, 85; in accordance with, on account of, after, about: äfter äðelum (hæleþum, MS.)frägn, asked about the descent, 332; ne frin þu äfter sælum, ask not after my welfare, 1323; äfter sincgyfan greóteð, weeps for the giver of treasure, 1343; him äfter deórum men dyrne langað, longs in secret for the dear man, 1880; ân äfter ânum, one for the other, 2462, etc.—3) (local), along: äfter gumcynnum, throughout the races of men, among men, 945; sôhte bed äfter bûrum, sought a bed among the rooms of the castle (the castle was fortified, the hall was not), 140; äfter recede wlât, looked along the hall, 1573; stone äfter stâne, smelt along the rocks, 2289; äfter lyfte, along the air through the air, 2833; similarly, 996, 1068, 1317, etc.
äf-þunca, w. m., anger, chagrin, vexatious affair: nom., 502.
äled (Old Sax. eld, O.N. edl-r), st. m., fire, 3016. [æled.]
äled-leóma, w. m., (fire-light), torch: acc. sg. leóman, 3126. See leóma.
äl-fylce (from äl-, Goth. ali-s, ἄλλος, and fylce, O.N. fylki, collective form from folc), st. n., other folk, hostile army: dat. pl. wið älfylcum, 2372.
äl-mihtig (for eal-m.), adj., almighty: nom. sg. m., of the weak form, se äl-mihtiga, 92.
äl-wiht, st. m., being of another species, monster: gen. pl. äl-wihta eard, of the dwelling-place of Grendel's kindred, 1501.
äppel-fealu, adj., dappled sorrel, or apple-yellow: nom. pl. äppel-fealuwe mearas, apple-yellow steeds, 2166.
ärn, st. n., house, in the compounds heal-, hord-, medo-, þryð-, win-ärn.
äsc, st. m., ash (does not occur in Beówulf in this sense), lance, spear, because the shaft consists of ash wood: dat. pl. (quâ instr.) äscum and ecgum, with spears and swords, 1773.
äsc-holt, st. n., ash wood, ashen shaft: nom. pl. äsc-holt ufan græg, the ashen shafts gray above (spears with iron points), 330.
äsc-wîga, w. m., spear-fighter, warrior armed with the spear: nom. sg., 2043.
ät, prep. w. dat., with the fundamental meaning of nearness to something, hence 1) local, a) with, near, at, on, in (rest): ät hýðe, in harbor, 32; ät symle, at the meal, 81, ät âde, on the funeral-pile, 1111, 1115; ät þe ânum, with thee alone, 1378; ät wîge, in the fight, 1338; ät hilde, 1660, 2682; ät æte, in eating, 3027, etc. b) to, towards, at, on (motion to): deáðes wylm hrân ät heortan, seized upon the heart, 2271; gehêton ät härgtrafum, vowed at (or to) the temples of the gods, 175. c) with verbs of taking away, away from (as starting from near an object): geþeah þät ful ät Wealhþeón, took the cup from W., 630; fela ic gebâd grynna ät Grendle, from Grendel, 931; ät mînum fäder genam, took me from my father to himself, 2430.—2) temporal, at, in, at the time of: ät frumsceafte, in the beginning, 45; ät ende, at an end, 224; fand sînne dryhten ealdres ät ende, at the end of life, dying, 2791; similarly, 2823; ät feohgyftum, in giving gifts, 1090; ät sîðestan, finally, 3014.
ät-græpe, adj., laying hold of, prehendens, 1270.
ædre, êdre, st. f., aqueduct, canal (not in Beów.), vein (not in Beów.), stream, violent pouring forth: dat. pl. swât ædrum sprong, the blood sprang in streams, 2967; blôd êdrum dranc, drank the blood in streams(?), 743.
æðm, st. m., breath, gasp, snort: instr. sg. hreðer æðme weóll, the breast (of the drake) heaved with snorting, 2594.
æfen-gram, adj., hostile at evening, night-enemy: nom. sg. m. æfen-grom, of Grendel, 2075.
æfen-leóht, st. n., evening-light: nom. sg., 413.
æfen-räst, st. f., evening-rest: acc. sg. -räste, 647, 1253.
æfen-spræc, st. f., evening-talk: acc. sg. gemunde ...æfen-spræce, thought about what he had spoken in the evening, 760.
æfre, adv., ever, at any time, 70, 280, 504, 693, etc.: in negative sentences, æfre ne, never, 2601.—Comp. næfre.
æg-hwâ (O.H.G. êo-ga-hwër), pron., every, each: dat. sg. æghwæm, 1385. The gen. sg. in adverbial sense, in all, throughout, thoroughly: æghwäs untæle, thoroughly blameless, 1866; æghwäs unrîm, entirely innumerable quantity, i.e. an enormous multitude, 2625, 3136.
æg-hwäðer (O.H.G. êo-ga-hwëdar): 1) each (of two): nom. sg. häfde æghwäðer ende gefêred, each of the two (Beówulf and the drake) had reached the end, 2845; dat. sg. æghwäðrum wäs brôga fram ôðrum, to each of the two (Beówulf and the drake) was fear of the other, 2565; gen. sg. æghwäðres ... worda and worca, 287.—2) each (of several): dat. sg. heora æghwäðrum, 1637.
æg-hwær, adv., everywhere, 1060.
æg-hwilc (O.H.G. êo-gi-hwëlih), pron., unusquisque, every (one): 1) used as an adj.: acc. sg. m. dæl æghwylcne, 622.—2) as substantive, a) with the partitive genitive: nom. sg. æg-hwylc, 9, 2888; dat. sg. æghwylcum, 1051. b) without gen.: nom. sg. æghwylc, 985, 988; (wäs) æghwylc ôðrum trýwe, each one (of two) true to the other, 1166.
æg-weard, st. f., watch on the sea shore: acc. sg. æg-wearde, 241.
æht (abstract form from âgan, denoting the state of possessing), st. f.: 1) possession, power: acc. sg. on flôdes æht, 42; on wäteres æht, into the power of the water, 516; on æht gehwearf Denigea freán, passed over into the possession of a Danish master, 1680.—2) property, possessions, goods: acc. pl. æhte, 2249.—Comp. mâðm-, gold-æht.
æht (O.H.G. âhta), st. f., pursuit: nom. þâ wäs æht boden Sweona leódum, segn Higelâce, then was pursuit offered to the people of the Sweonas, (their) banner to Hygelâc (i.e. the banner of the Swedes, taken during their flight, fell into the hands of Hygelâc), 2958.
ge-æhtan, w. v., to prize, to speak in praise of: pret. part. geæhted, 1866. [geähtan.]
ge-æhtla, w. m., or ge-æhtle, w. f., a speaking of with praise, high esteem: gen. sg. hy ... wyrðe þinceað eorla geæhtlan, seem worthy of the high esteem of the noble-born, 369. [geähtla.]
æn (oblique form of ân), num., one: acc. sg. m. þone ænne þone..., the one whom..., 1054; oftor micle þonne on ænne sîð, much oftener than one time, 1580; forð onsendon ænne, sent him forth alone, 46.
æne, adv., once: oft nalles æne, 3020.
ænig, pron., one, any one, 474, 503, 510, 534, etc.: instr. sg. nolde ... 0nige þinga, would in no way, not at all, 792; lyt ænig mearn, little did any one sorrow (i.e. no one), 3130.—With the article: näs se folccyning ... ænig, no people's king, 2735.—Comp. nænig.
æn-lîc, adj., alone, excellent, distinguished: ænlîc ansýn, distinguished appearance, 251; þeáh þe hió ænlîcu sý, though she be beautiful, 1942.
ær (comparative form, from â): 1) adv., sooner, before, beforehand, 15, 656, 695, 758, etc., for a long time, 2596; eft swâ ær, again as formerly, 643; ær ne siððan, neither sooner nor later, 719; ær and sîð, sooner and later (all times), 2501; nô þý ær (not so much the sooner), yet not, 755, 1503, 2082, 2161, 2467.—2) conjunct., before, ere: a) with the ind.: ær hió tô setle geóng, 2020. b) w. subjunc.: ær ge fyr fêran, before you travel farther, 252; ær he on hwurfe 164, so 677, 2819; ær þon däg cwôme, ere the day break, 732; ær correlative to ær adv.: ær he feorh seleð, aldor an ôfre, ær he wille ..., he will sooner (rather) leave his life upon the shore, before (than) he will ..., 1372.—3) prepos. with dat., before ær deáðe, before death, 1389; ær däges hwîle, before daybreak, 2321; ær swylt-däge, before the day of death, 2799.
æror, comp. adv., sooner, before-hand, 810; formerly, 2655.
ærra, comp. adj., earlier; instr. pl., ærran mælum, in former times, 908, 2238, 3036.
ærest, superl.: 1) adv., first of all, foremost, 6, 617, 1698, etc.—2) as subst. n., relation to, the beginning: acc. þät ic his ærest þe eft gesägde (to tell thee in what relation it stood at first to the coat of mail that has been presented), 2158. See Note.
ær-däg, st. m. (before-day), morning-twilight, gray of morning: dat. sg. mid ærdäge, 126; samod ærdäge, 1312, 2943.
ærende, st. n., errand, trust: acc. sg., 270, 345.
ær-fäder, st. m., late father, deceased father: nom sg. swâ his ærfäder, 2623.
ær-gestreón, st. n., old treasure, possessions dating from old times: acc sg., 1758; gen. sg. swylcra fela ærgestreóna, much of such old treasure, 2233. See gestreón.
ær-geweorc, st. n., work dating from old times: nom. sg. enta ær-geweorc, the old work of the giants (of the golden sword-hilt from Grendel's water-hall), 1680. See geweorc.
ær-gôd, adj., good since old times, long invested with dignity or advantages: äðeling ærgôd, 130; (eorl) ærgôd, 1330; îren ærgôd (excellent sword), 990, 2587.
ær-wela, w. m., old possessions, riches dating from old times: acc. sg. ærwelan, 2748. See wela.
æs, st. n., carcass, carrion: dat. (instr.) sg. æse, of Äschere's corpse, 1333.
æt, st. m., food, meat: dat, sg., hû him ät æte speów, how he fared well at meat, 3027.
ættren (see âttor), adj., poisonous: wäs þät blôd tô þäs hât, ættren ellorgâst, se ær inne swealt, so hot was the blood, (and) poisonous the demon (Grendel's mother) who died therein, 1618
bana, bona, w. m., murderer, 158, 588, 1103, etc.: acc. sg. bonan Ongenþeówes, of Hygelâc, although in reality his men slew Ongenþeów (2965 ff.), 1969. Figuratively of inanimate objects: ne wäs ecg bona, 2507; wearð wracu Weohstânes bana, 2614.—Comp.: ecg-, feorh-, gâst-, hand-, mûð-bana.
bon-gâr, st. m. murdering spear, 2032.
ge-bannan, st. v. w. acc. of the thing and dat. of the person, to command, to bid: inf., 74.
bâd, st. f., pledge, only in comp.: nýd-bâd.
bân, st. n., bone: dat. sg. on bâne (on the bony skin of the drake), 2579; dat. pl. heals ealne ymbefêng biteran bânum (here of the teeth of the drake), 2693.
bân-côfa, w. m., "cubile ossium" (Grimm) of the body: dat. sg. -côfan, 1446.
bân-fâg, adj., variegated with bones, either with ornaments made of bone-work, or adorned with bone, perhaps deer-antlers; of Hrôðgâr's hall, 781. The last meaning seems the more probable.
bân-fät, st. n., bone-vessel, i.e. the body: acc. pl. bân-fatu, 1117.
bân-hring, st. m., the bone-structure, joint, bone-joint: acc. pl. hire wið halse ... bânhringas bräc (broke her neck-joint), 1568.
bân-hûs, st. n., bone-house, i.e. the body: acc. sg. bânhûs gebräc, 2509; similarly, 3148.
bân-loca, w. m., the enclosure of the bones, i.e. the body: acc. sg. bât bânlocan, bit the body, 743; nom. pl. burston bânlocan, the body burst (of Grendel, because his arm was torn out), 819.
bât, st. m., boat, craft, ship, 211.—Comp. sæ-bât.
bât-weard, st. m., boat-watcher, he who keeps watch over the craft. dat. sg. -wearde, 1901.
bäð, st. n., bath: acc. sg. ofer ganotes bäð, over the diver's bath (i.e. the sea), 1862.
bärnan, w. v., to cause to burn, to burn: inf. hêt ... bânfatu bärnan, bade that the bodies be burned, 1117; ongan ... beorht hofu bärnan, began to consume the splendid country-seats (the dragon), 2314.
for-bärnan, w. v., consume with fire: inf. hy hine ne môston ... brondefor-bärnan, they (the Danes) could not burn him (the dead Äschere) upon the funeral-pile, 2127.
bædan (Goth, baidjan, O.N. beðia), to incite, to encourage: pret. bædde byre geonge, encouraged the youths (at the banquet), 2019.
ge-bædan, w. v., to press hard: pret. part. bysigum gebæded, distressed by trouble, difficulty, danger (of battle), 2581; to drive, to send forth: stræla storm strengum gebæded, the storm of arrows sent with strength, 3118; overcome: draca ... bealwe gebæded, the dragon ... overcome by the ills of battle, 2827.
bæl (O.N. bâl), st. n., fire, flames: (wyrm) mid bæle fôr, passed (through the air) with fire, 2309; häfde landwara lîge befangan, bæle and bronde, with fire and burning, 2323.—Especially, the fire of the funeral-pile, the funeral-pile, 1110, 1117, 2127; ær he bæl cure, ere he sought the burning (i.e. died), 2819; hâtað ... hlæw gewyrcean ... äfter bæle, after I am burned, let a burial mound be thrown up (Beówulf's words), 2804.
bæl-fýr, st. n., bale-fire, fire of the funeral-pile: gen. pl. bælfýra mæst, 3144.
bæl-stede, st. m., place for the funeral-pile: dat. sg. in bæl=stede, 3098.
bæl-wudu, st. m., wood for the funeral-pile, 3113.
ge-bæran, w. v., to conduct one's self, behave: inf. w. adv., ne gefrägen ic þâ mægðe ... sêl gebæran, I did not hear that a troop bore itself better, maintained a nobler deportment, 1013; he on eorðan geseah þone leófestan lîfes ät ende bleáte gebæran, saw the best-beloved upon the earth, at the end of his life, struggling miserably (i.e. in a helpless situation), 2825.
ge-bætan (denominative from bæte, the bit), w. v., to place the bit in the mouth of an animal, to bridle: pret. part. þâ wäs Hrôðgâre hors gebæted, 1400.
be, prep. w. dat. (with the fundamental meaning near, "but not of one direction, as ät, but more general"): 1) local, near by, near, at, on (rest): be ýdlâfe uppe lægon, lay above, upon the deposit of the waves (upon the strand, of the slain nixies), 566; häfde be honda, held by the hand (Beówulf held Grendel), 815; be sæm tweonum, in the circuit of both the seas, 859, 1686; be mäste, on the mast, 1906; by fýre, by the fire, 2220; be nässe, at the promontory, 2244; sät be þæm gebrôðrum twæm, sat by the two brothers, 1192; wäs se gryre lässa efne swâ micle swâ bið mägða cräft be wæpnedmen, the terror was just so much less, as is the strength of woman to the warrior (i.e. is valued by), 1285, etc.—2) also local, but of motion from the subject in the direction of the object, on, upon, by: gefêng be eaxle, seized by the shoulder, 1538; âlêdon leófne þeóden be mäste, laid the dear lord near the mast, 36; be healse genam, took him by the neck, fell upon his neck, 1873; wæpen hafenade be hiltum, grasped the weapon by the hilt, 1757, etc.—3) with this is connected the causal force, on account of, for, according to: ic þis gid be þe âwräc, I spake this solemn speech for thee, for thy sake, 1724; þû þe lær be þon, learn according to this, from this, 1723; be fäder lâre, according to her father's direction, 1951.—4) temporal, while, during: be þe lifigendum, while thou livest, during thy life, 2666. See bî.
bed, st. n., bed, couch: acc. sg. bed, 140, 677; gen. sg. beddes, 1792; dat. pl. beddum, 1241.—Comp: deað-, hlin-, läger-, morðor-, wäl-bed.
ge-bedde, w. f., bed-fellow: dat. sg. wolde sêcan ewên tô gebeddan, wished to seek the queen as bed-fellow, to go to bed with her, 666.—Comp. heals-gebedde.
begen, fem. bâ, both: nom. m., 536, 770, 2708; acc. fem. on bâ healfa, on two sides (i.e. Grendel and his mother), 1306; dat. m. bâm, 2197; and in connection with the possessive instead of the personal pronoun, ûrum bâm, 2661; gen. n. bega, 1874, 2896; bega gehwäðres, each one of the two, 1044; bega folces, of both peoples, 1125.
ge-belgan, st. v. (properly, to cause to swell, to swell), to irritate: w. dat. (pret. subj.) þät he êcean dryhtne bitre gebulge, that he had bitterly angered the eternal Lord, 2332; pret. part. gebolgen, 1540; (gebolge, MS.), 2222; pl. gebolgne, 1432; more according to the original meaning in torne gebolgen, 2402.
â-belgan, to anger: pret. sg. w. acc. ôð þät hyne ân âbealh mon on môde, till a man angered him in his heart, 2281; pret. part. âbolgen, 724.
ben, st. f., wound: acc. sg. benne, 2725.—Comp.: feorh-, seax-ben.
benc, st. f., bench: nom. sg. benc, 492; dat. sg. bence, 327, 1014, 1189, 1244.—Comp.: ealu-, medu-benc.
benc-swêg, st. m., (bench-rejoicing), rejoicing which resounds from the benches, 1162.
benc-þel, st. n., bench-board, the wainscotted space where the benches stand: nom. pl. benc-þelu, 486; acc. pl. bencþelu beredon, cleared the bench-boards (i.e. by taking away the benches, so as to prepare couches), 1240.
bend, st. m. f., bond, fetter: acc. sg. forstes bend, frost's bond, 1610; dat. pl. bendum, 978.—Comp.: fýr-, hell-, hyge-, îren-, oncer-, searo-, wäl-bend.
ben-geat, st. n., (wound-gate), wound-opening: nom. pl. ben-geato, 1122.
bera (O.N. beri), w. m., bearer: in comp. hleor-bera.
beran, st. v. w. acc., to carry; III. sg. pres. byreð, 296, 448; þone mâððum byreð, carries the treasure (upon his person), 2056; pres. subj. bere, 437; pl. beren, 2654; inf. beran, 48, 231, 291, etc.; hêht þâ se hearda Hrunting beran, to bring Hrunting, 1808; up beran, 1921; in beran, 2153; pret. bär, 495, 712, 847, etc.; mandryhtne bär fäted wæge, brought the lord the costly vessel, 2282; pl. bæron, 213, 1636, etc.; bæran, 2851; pret. part. boren, 1193, 1648, 3136.—The following expressions are poetic paraphrases of the forms go, come: þät we rondas beren eft tô earde, 2654; gewîtað forð beran wæpen and gewædu, 291; ic gefrägn sunu Wihstânes hringnet beran, 2755; wîgheafolan bär, 2662; helmas bæron, 240 (conjecture); scyldas bæran, 2851: they lay stress upon the connection of the man with his weapons.
ät-beran, to carry to: inf. tô beadulâce (battle) ätberan, 1562; pret. þâ hine on morgentîd on Heaðoræmas holm up ätbär, the sea bore him up to the Heaðoræmas, 519; hió Beówulfe medoful ätbär brought Beówulf the mead-cup, 625; mägenbyrðenne ... hider ût ätbär cyninge mînum, bore the great burden hither to my king, 3093; pl. hî hyne ätbæron tô brimes faroðe, 28.
for-beran, to hold, to suppress: inf. þät he þone breóstwylm forberan ne mehte, that he could not suppress the emotions of his breast, 1878.
ge-beran, to bring forth, to bear: pret. part. þät lâ mäg secgan se þe sôð and riht fremeð on folce ... þät þes eorl wære geboren betera (that may every just man of the people say, that this nobleman is better born), 1704.
ôð-beran, to bring hither: pret. þâ mec sæ ôðbär on Finna land, 579.
on-beran (O.H.G. in bëran, intpëran, but in the sense of carere), auferre, to carry off, to take away: inf. îren ærgôd þät þäs ahlæcan blôdge beadufolme onberan wolde, excellent sword which would sweep off the bloody hand of the demon, 991; pret. part. (wäs) onboren beága hord, the treasure of the rings had been carried off, 2285.—Compounds with the pres. part.: helm-, sâwl-berend.
berian (denominative from bär, naked), w. v., to make bare, to clear: pret. pl. bencþelu beredon, cleared the bench-place (by removing the benches), 1240.
berstan, st. v., to break, to burst: pret. pl. burston bânlocan, 819; bengeato burston, 1122.—to crack, to make the noise of breaking: fingras burston, the fingers cracked (from Beówulf's gripe), 761.
for-berstan, break, to fly asunder: pret. Nägling forbärst, Nägling (Beówulf's sword) broke in two, 2681.
betera, adj. (comp.), better: nom. sg. m. betera, 469, 1704.
bet-lîc, adj., excellent, splendid: nom. sg. n., of Hrôðgâr's hall, 781; of Hygelâc's residence, 1926.
betst, betost (superl.), best, the best: nom. sg. m. betst beadurinca, 1110; neut. nu is ôfost betost, þät we ..., now is haste the best, that we..., 3008; voc. m. secg betsta, 948; neut. acc. beaduscrûda betst, 453; acc. sg. m. þegn betstan, 1872.
bêcn, st. n., (beacon), token, mark, sign: acc. sg. betimbredon beadu-rôfes bêcn (of Beówulf's grave-mound), 3162. See beacen.
bên, st. f., entreaty: gen. sg. bêne, 428, 2285.
bêna, w. m., suppliant, supplex: nom. sg. swâ þu bêna eart (as thou entreatest), 352; swâ he bêna wäs (as he had asked), 3141; nom. pl. hy bênan synt, 364.
ge-betan: 1) to make good, to remove: pret. ac þu Hrôðgâre wîdcûðne weán wihte gebêttest, hast thou in any way relieved Hrôðgâr of the evil known afar, 1992; pret. part. acc. sg. swylce oncýððe ealle gebêtte, removed all trouble, 831. —2) to avenge: inf. wihte ne meahte on þam feorhbonan fæhðe gebêtan, could in no way avenge the death upon the slayer, 2466.
beadu, st. f., battle, strife, combat: dat. sg. (as instr.) beadwe, in combat, 1540; gen. pl. bâd beadwa ge-þinges, waited for the combats (with Grendel) that were in store for him, 710.
beadu-folm, st. f., battle-hand: acc. sg. -folme, of Grendel's hand, 991.
beado-grîma, w. m., (battle-mask), helmet: acc. pl. -grîman, 2258.
beado-hrägl, st. n., (battle-garment), corselet, shirt of mail, 552.
beadu-lâc, st. n., (exercise in arms, tilting), combat, battle: dat. sg. tô beadu-lâce, 1562.
beado-leóma, w. m., (battle-light), sword: nom. sg., 1524.
beado-mêce, st. m., battle-sword: nom. pl. beado-mêcas, 1455.
beado-rinc, st. m., battle-hero, warrior: gen. pl. betst beadorinca, 1110.
beadu-rôf, adj., strong in battle: gen. sg. -rôfes, of Beówulf, 3162.
beadu-rûn, st. f., mystery of battle: acc. sg. onband beadu-rûne, solved the mystery of the combat, i.e. gave battle, commenced the fight, 501.
beadu-scearp, adj., battle-sharp, sharp for the battle, 2705.
beadu-scrûd, st. n., (battle-dress), corselet, shirt of mail: gen. pl. beaduscrûda betst, 453.
beadu-serce, w. f., (battle-garment), corselet, shirt of mail: acc. sg. brogdne beadu-sercean (because it consists of interlaced metal rings), 2756.
beado-weorc, st. n., (battle-work), battle: gen. sg. gefeh beado-weorces, rejoiced at the battle, 2300.
beald, adj., bold, brave: in comp. cyning-beald.
bealdian, w. v., to show one's self brave: pret. bealdode gôdum dædum (through brave deeds), 2178.
bealdor, st. m., lord, prince: nom. sg. sinca baldor, 2429; winia bealdor, 2568.
bealu, st. n., evil, ruin, destruction: instr. sg. bealwe, 2827; gen. pl. bealuwa, 281; bealewa, 2083; bealwa, 910.—Comp.: cwealm-, ealdor-, hreðer-, leód-, morðor-, niht-, sweord-, wîg-bealu.
bealu, adj., deadly, dangerous, bad: instr. sg. hyne sâr hafað befongen balwon bendum, pain has entwined him in deadly bands, 978.
bealo-cwealm, st. m., violent death, death by the sword(?), 2266.
bealo-hycgende, pres. part., thinking of death, meditating destruction: gen. pl. æghwäðrum bealo-hycgendra, 2566.
bealo-hydig, adj., thinking of death, meditating destruction: of Grendel, 724.
bealo-nîð, st. m., (zeal for destruction), deadly enmity: nom. sg., 2405; destructive struggle: acc. sg. bebeorh þe þone bealonîð, beware of destructive striving, 1759; death-bringing rage: nom. sg. him on breóstum bealo-nîð weóll, in his breast raged deadly fury (of the dragon's poison), 2715.
bearhtm (see beorht): 1) st. m., splendor, brightness, clearness: nom. sg. eágena bearhtm, 1767.—2) sound, tone: acc. sg. bearhtm ongeâton, gûðhorn galan, they heard the sound, (heard) the battle-horn sound, 1432.
bearm, m., gremium, sinus, lap, bosom: nom. sg. foldan bearm, 1138; acc. sg. on bearm scipes, 35, 897; on bearm nacan, 214; him on bearm hladan bunan and discas, 2776.—2) figuratively, possession, property, because things bestowed were placed in the lap of the receiver (1145 and 2195, on bearm licgan, âlecgan); dat. sg. him tô bearme cwom mâððumfät mære, came into his possession, 2405.
bearn, st. n., 1) child, son: nom. sg. bearn Healfdenes, 469, etc.; Ecglâfes bearn, 499, etc.; dat. sg. bearne, 2371; nom. pl. bearn, 59; dat. pl. bearnum, 1075.—2) in a broader sense, scion, offspring, descendant: nom. sg. Ongenþeów's bearn, of his grandson, 2388; nom. pl. yldo. bearn, 70; gumena bearn, children of men, 879; häleða bearn, 1190; äðelinga bearn, 3172; acc. pl. ofer ylda bearn, 606; dat. pl. ylda bearnum, 150; gen. pl. niðða bearna, 1006.—Comp.: brôðor-, dryht-bearn.
bearn-gebyrdu, f., birth, birth of a son: gen. sg. þät hyre ealdmetod êste wære bearn-gebyrdo, has been gracious through the birth of such a son (i.e. as Beówulf), 947.
bearu, st. m., (the bearer, hence properly only the fruit-tree, especially the oak and the beech), tree, collectively forest: nom. pl. hrîmge bearwas, rime-covered or ice-clad, 1364.
beácen, st. n., sign, banner, vexillum: nom. sg. beorht beácen godes, of the sun, 570; gen. pl. beácna beorhtost, 2778. See bêcn.
ge-beácnian, w. v., to mark, to indicate: pret. part. ge-beácnod, 140.
beág, st. m., ring, ornament: nom. sg. beáh (neck-ring), 1212; acc. sg. beáh (the collar of the murdered king of the Heaðobeardnas), 2042; bêg (collective for the acc. pl.), 3165; dat. sg. cwom Wealhþeó forð gân under gyldnum beáge, she walked along under a golden head-ring, wore a golden diadem, 1164; gen. sg. beáges (of a collar), 1217; acc. pl. beágas (rings in general), 80, 523, etc.; gen. pl. beága, 35, 352, 1488, 2285, etc.— Comp.: earm-, heals-beág.
beág-gyfa, w. m., ring-giver, designation of the prince: gen. sg. -gyfan, 1103.
beág-hroden, adj., adorned with rings, ornamented with clasps: nom. sg. beághroden, cwên, of Hrôðgâr's consort, perhaps with reference to her diadem (cf. 1164, 624.
beáh-hord, st. m. n., ring-hoard, treasure consisting of rings: gen. sg. beáh-hordes, 895; dat. pl. beáh-hordum, 2827; gen. pl. beáh-horda weard, of King Hrôðgâr, 922.
beáh-sele, st. m., ring-hall, hall in which the rings were distributed: nom. sg., of Heorot, 1178.
beáh-þegu, st. f., the receiving of the ring: dat. sg. äfter beáh-þege, 2177.
beáh-wriða, w. m. ring-band, ring with prominence given to its having the form of a band: acc. sg. beáh-wriðan, 2019.
beám, st. m., tree, only in the compounds fyrgen-, gleó-beám.
beátan, st. v., thrust, strike: pres. sg. mearh burhstede beáteð, the steed beats the castle-ground (place where the castle is built), i.e. with his hoofs, 2266; pret. part. swealt bille ge-beáten, died, struck by the battle-axe, 2360.
beorh, st. m.: 1) mountain, rock: dat. sg. beorge, 211; gen. sg. beorges, 2525, 2756; acc. pl. beorgas, 222.—2) grave-mound, tomb-hill: acc. sg. biorh, 2808; beorh, 3098, 3165. A grave-mound serves the drake as a retreat (cf. 2277, 2412): nom. sg. beorh, 2242; gen. sg. beorges, 2323.—Comp. stân-beorh.
beorh, st. f., veil, covering, cap; only in the comp. heáfod-beorh.
beorgan, st. v. (w. dat. of the interested person or thing), to save, to shield: inf. wolde feore beorgan, place her life in safety, 1294; here-byrne ... seó þe bâncôfan beorgan cûðe, which could protect his body, 1446; pret. pl. ealdre burgan, 2600.
be-beorgan (w. dat. refl. of pers. and acc. of the thing), to take care, to defend one's self from: inf. him be-beorgan ne con wom, cannot keep himself from stain (fault), 1747; imp. bebeorh þe þone bealontð, 1759.
ge-beorgan (w, dat. of person or thing to be saved), to save, to protect: pret. sg. þät gebearh feore, protected the life, 1549; scyld wel gebearg lîfe and lîce, 2571.
ymb-beorgan, to surround protectingly: pret. sg. bring ûtan ymb-bearh, 1504.
beorht, byrht, adj.: 1) gleaming, shining, radiant, shimmering: nom. sg. beorht, of the sun, 570, 1803; beorhta, of Heorot, 1178; þät beorhte bold, 998; acc. sg. beorhtne, of Beówulf's grave-mound, 2804; dat. sg. tô þære byrhtan (here-byrhtan, MS.) byrig, 1200; acc. pl. beorhte frätwe, 214, 897; beorhte randas, 231; bordwudu beorhtan, 1244; n. beorht hofu, 2314. Superl.: beácna beorhtost, 2778. —2) excellent, remarkable: gen. sg. beorhtre bôte, 158. —Comp.: sadol-, wlite-beorht.
beorhte, adv., brilliantly, brightly, radiantly, 1518.
beorhtian, w. v., to sound clearly: pret. sg. beorhtode benc-swêg, 1162.
beorn, st. m., hero, warrior, noble man: nom. sg. (Hrôðgâr), 1881, (Beówulf), 2434, etc.; acc. sg. (Beów.), 1025, (Äschere), 1300; dat. sg. beorne, 2261; nom. pl. beornas (Beówulf and his companions), 211, (Hrôðgâr's guests), 857; gen. pl. biorna (Beówulf's liege-men), 2405.—Comp.: folc-, gûð-beorn.
beornan, st. v., to burn: pres. part. byrnende (of the drake), 2273.—Comp. un-byrnende.
for-beornan, to be consumed, to burn: pret. sg. for-barn, 1617, 1668; for-born, 2673.
ge-beornan, to be burned: pret. gebarn, 2698.
beorn-cyning, st. m., king of warriors, king of heroes: nom. sg. (as voc.), 2149.
beódan, st. v.: 1) to announce, to inform, to make known: inf. biódan, 2893.—2) to offer, to proffer (as the notifying of a transaction in direct reference to the person concerned in it): pret. pl. him geþingo budon, offered them an agreement, 1086; pret. part. þâ wäs æht boden Sweona leódum, then was pursuit offered the Swedish people, 2958; inf. ic þäm gôdan sceal mâðmas beódan, I shall offer the excellent man treasures, 385.
â-beódan, to present, to announce: pret. word inne âbeád, made known the words within, 390; to offer, to tender, to wish: pret. him hæl âbeád, wished him health (greeted him), 654. Similarly, hælo âbeád, 2419; eoton weard âbeád, offered the giant a watcher, 669.
be-beódan, to command, to order: pret. swâ him se hearda bebeád, as the strong man commanded them, 401. Similarly, swâ se rîca bebeád, 1976.
ge-beódan: 1) to command, to order: inf. hêt þâ gebeódan byre Wihstânes häleða monegum, þät hie..., the son of Wihstan caused orders to be given to many of the men..., 3111.—2) to offer: him Hygd gebeád hord and rîce, offered him the treasure and the chief power, 2370; inf. gûðe gebeódan, to offer battle, 604.
beód-geneát, st. m., table-companion: nom. and acc. pl. geneátas, 343, 1714.
beón, verb, to be, generally in the future sense, will be: pres. sg. I. gûðgeweorca ic beó gearo sôna, I shall immediately be ready for warlike deeds, 1826; sg. III. wâ bið þäm þe sceal..., woe to him who...! 183; so, 186; gifeðe bið is given, 299; ne bið þe wilna gâd (no wish will be denied thee), 661; þær þe bið manna þearf, if thou shalt need the warriors, 1836; ne bið swylc cwênlîc þeáw, is not becoming, honorable to a woman, 1941; eft sôna bið will happen directly, 1763; similarly, 1768, etc.; pl. þonne bióð brocene, then are broken, 2064; feor cýððe beóð sêlran gesôhte þam þe..., "terrae longinquae meliores sunt visitatu ei qui..." (Grein), 1839; imp. beó (bió) þu on ôfeste, hasten! 386, 2748; beó wið Geátas gläd, be gracious to the Geátas, 1174.
beór, st. n., beer: dat. sg. ät beóre, at beer-drinking, 2042; instr. sg. beóre druncen, 531; beóre druncne, 480.
beór-scealc, st. m., keeper of the beer, cup-bearer: gen. pl. beór-scealca sum (one of Hrôðgâr's followers, because they served the Geátas at meals), 1241.
beór-sele, st. m., beer-hall, hall in which beer is drunk: dat. sg. in (on) beórsele, 482, 492, 1095; biórsele, 2636.
beór-þegu, st. f., beer-drinking, beer-banquet: dat. sg. äfter beórþege, 117; ät þære beórþege, 618.
beót, st. n., promise, binding agreement to something that is to be undertaken: acc. sg. he beót ne âlêh, did not break his pledge, 80; beót eal ... gelæste, performed all that he had pledged himself to, 523.
ge-beótian, w. v., to pledge one's self to an undertaking, to bind one's self: pret. gebeótedon, 480, 536.
beót-word, st. n., same as beót: dat. pl. beót-wordum spräc, 2511.
biddan, st. v., to beg, to ask, to pray: pres. sg. I. dôð swâ ic bidde! 1232; inf. (w. acc. of the pers. and gen. of the thing asked for) ic þe biddan wille ânre bêne, beg thee for one, 427; pret. swâ he selfa bäd, as he himself had requested, 29; bäd hine blîðne (supply wesan) ät þære beórþege, begged him to be cheerful at the beer-banquet, 618; ic þe lange bäd þät þu..., begged you a long time that you, 1995; frioðowære bäd hlâford sînne, begged his lord for protection (acc. of pers. and gen. of thing), 2283; bäd þät ge geworhton, asked that you..., 3097; pl. wordum bædon þät..., 176.
on-bidian, w. v., to await: inf. lætað hilde-bord her onbidian ... worda geþinges, let the shields await here the result of the conference (lay the shields aside here), 397.
bil, st. n. sword: nom. sg. bil, 1568; bill, 2778; acc. sg. bil, 1558; instr. sg. bille, 2360; gen. sg. billes, 2061, etc.; instr. pl. billum, 40; gen. pl. billa, 583, 1145.—Comp.: gûð-, hilde-, wîg-bil.
bindan, st. v., to bind, to tie: pret. part. acc. sg. wudu bundenne, the bound wood, i.e. the built ship, 216; bunden golde swurd, a sword bound with gold, i.e. either having its hilt inlaid with gold, or having gold chains upon the hilt (swords of both kinds have been found), 1901; nom. sg. heoru bunden, 1286, has probably a similar meaning.
ge-bindan, to bind: pret. sg. þær ic fîfe geband, where I had bound five(?), 420; pret. part. cyninges þegn word ôðer fand sôðe gebunden, the king's man found (after many had already praised Beówulf's deed) other words (also referring to Beówulf, but in connection with Sigemund) rightly bound together, i.e. in good alliterative verses, as are becoming to a gid, 872; wundenmæl wrättum gebunden, sword bound with ornaments, i.e. inlaid, 1532; bisgum gebunden, bound together by sorrow, 1744; gomel gûðwîga eldo gebunden, hoary hero bound by old age (fettered, oppressed), 2112.
on-bindan, to unbind, to untie, to loose: pret. onband, 501.
ge-bind, st. n. coll., that which binds, fetters: in comp. îs-gebind.
bite, st. m., bite, figuratively of the cut of the sword: acc. sg. bite îrena, the swords' bite, 2260; dat. sg. äfter billes bite, 2061.—Comp. lâð-bite.
biter (primary meaning that of biting), adj.: 1) sharp, cutting, cutting in: acc. sg. biter (of a short sword), 2705; instr. sg. biteran stræle, 1747; instr. pl. biteran bânum, with sharp teeth, 2693.—2) irritated, furious: nom. pl. bitere, 1432.
bitre, adv., bitterly (in a moral sense), 2332.
bî, big (fuller form of the prep. be, which see), prep. w. dat.: 1) near, at, on, about, by (as under be, No. 1): bî sæm tweónum, in the circuit of both seas, 1957; ârâs bî ronde, raised himself up by the shield, 2539; bî wealle gesät, sat by the wall, 2718. With a freer position: him big stôdan bunan and orcas, round about him, 3048.—2) to, towards (motion): hwearf þâ bî bence, turned then towards the bench, 1189; geóng bî sesse, went to the seat, 2757.
bîd (see bîdan), st. n., tarrying hesitation: þær wearð Ongenþió on bîd wrecen, forced to tarry, 2963.
bîdan, st. v.: 1) to delay, to stay, to remain, to wait: inf. nô on wealle leng bîdan wolde, would not stay longer within the wall (the drake), 2309; pret. in þýstrum bâd, remained in darkness, 87; flota stille bâd, the craft lay still, 301; receda ... on þäm se rîca bâd, where the mighty one dwelt, 310; þær se snottra bâd, where the wise man (Hrôðgâr) waited, 1314; he on searwum bâd, he (Beówulf) stood there armed, 2569; ic on earde bâd mælgesceafta, lived upon the paternal ground the time appointed me by fate, 2737; pret. pl. sume þær bidon, some remained, waited there, 400.—2) to await, to wait for, with the gen. of that which is awaited: inf. bîdan woldon Grendles gûðe, wished to await the combat with Grendel, to undertake it, 482; similarly, 528; wîges bîdan, await the combat, 1269; nalas andsware bîdan wolde, would await no answer, 1495; pret. bâd beadwa geþinges, awaited the event of the battle, 710; sægenga bâd âgend-freán, the sea-goer (boat) awaited its owner, 1883; sele ... heaðowylma bâd, lâðan lîges (the poet probably means to indicate by these words that the hall Heorot was destroyed later in a fight by fire; an occurrence, indeed, about which we know nothing, but which 1165 and 1166, and again 2068 ff. seem to indicate), 82.
â-bîdan, to await, with the gen.: inf., 978.
ge-bîdan: 1) to tarry, to wait: imp. gebîde ge on beorge, wait ye on the mountain, 2530; pret. part. þeáh þe wintra lyt under burhlocan gebiden häbbe Häreðes dôhtor although H's daughter had dwelt only a few years in the castle, 1929.—2) to live through, to experience, to expect (w. acc.): inf. sceal endedäg mînne gebîdan, shall live my last day, 639; ne wênde ... bôte gebîdan, did not hope ... to live to see reparation, 935; fela sceal gebîdan leófes and lâðes, experience much good and much affliction, 1061; ende gebîdan, 1387, 2343; pret. he þäs frôfre gebâd, received consolation (compensation) therefore, 7; gebâd wintra worn, lived a great number of years, 264; in a similar construction, 816, 930, 1619, 2259, 3117. With gen.: inf. tô gebîdanne ôðres yrfeweardes, to await another heir, 2453. With depend, clause: inf. tô gebîdanne þät his byre rîde on galgan, to live to see it, that his son hang upon the gallows, 2446; pret. dreám-leás gebâd þät he..., joyless he experienced it, that he..., 1721; þäs þe ic on aldre gebâd þät ic..., for this, that I, in my old age, lived to see that..., 1780.
on-bîdan, to wait, to await: pret. hordweard onbâd earfoðlîce ôð þät æfen cwom, scarcely waited, could scarcely delay till it was evening, 2303.
bîtan, st. v., to bite, of the cutting of swords: inf. bîtan, 1455, 1524; pret. bât bânlocan, bit into his body (Grendel), 743; bât unswîðor, cut with less force (Beówulf's sword), 2579.
blanca, w. m., properly that which shines here of the horse, not so much of the white horse as the dappled: dat. pl. on blancum, 857.
ge-bland, ge-blond, st. n., mixture, heaving mass, a turning.—Comp.: sund-, ýð-geblond, windblond.
blanden-feax, blonden-feax, adj., mixed, i.e. having gray hair, gray-headed, as epithet of an old man: nom. sg. blondenfeax, 1792; blondenfexa, 2963; dat. sg. blondenfeaxum, 1874; nom. pl. blondenfeaxe, 1595.
bläc, adj., dark, black: nom. sg, hrefn blaca, 1802.
blâc, adj.: 1) gleaming, shining: acc. sg. blâcne leóman, a brilliant gleam, 1518.—2) of the white death-color, pale; in comp. heoroblâc.
blæd, st. m.: 1) strength, force, vigor: nom. sg. wäs hira blæd scacen (of both tribes), strength was gone, i.e. the bravest of both tribes lay slain, 1125; nu is þînes mägnes blæd âne hwîle, now the fulness of thy strength lasts for a time, 1762.—2) reputation, renown, knowledge (with stress upon the idea of filling up, spreading out): nom. sg. blæd, 18; (þîn) blæd is âræred, thy renown is spread abroad, 1704.
blæd-âgend, pt., having renown, renowned: nom. pl. blæd-âgende, 1014.
blæd-fäst, adj., firm in renown, renowned, known afar: acc. sg. blædfästne beorn (of Äschere, with reference to 1329, 1300.
bleát, adj., miserable, helpless; only in comp. wäl-bleát.
bleáte, adv., miserably, helplessly, 2825.
blîcan, st. v., shine, gleam: inf., 222
blîðe, adj.: 1) blithe, joyous, happy acc. sg. blîðne, 618.—2) gracious, pleasing: nom. sg. blîðe, 436.—Comp. un-blîðe.
blîð-heort, adj., joyous in heart, happy: nom. sg., 1803.
blôd, st. n., blood: nom. sg., 1122; acc. sg., 743; dat. sg. blôde, 848; äfter deórum men him langað beorn wið blôde, the hero (Hrôðgâr) longs for the beloved man contrary to blood, i.e. he loves him although he is not related to him by blood, 1881; dat. as instr. blôde, 486, 935, 1595, etc.
blôd-fâg, adj., spotted with blood, bloody, 2061.
blôdig, adj., bloody: acc. sg. f. blôdge, 991; acc. sg. n. blôdig, 448; instr. sg. blôdigan gâre, 2441.
ge-blôdian, w. v., to make bloody, to sprinkle with blood: pret. part. ge-blôdegod, 2693.
blôdig-tôð, adj., with bloody teeth: nom. sg. bona blôdig-tôð (of Grendel, because he bites his victims to death), 2083.
blôd-reów, adj., bloodthirsty, bloody-minded: nom. sg. him on ferhðe greów breóst-hord blôd-reów, in his bosom there grew a bloodthirsty feeling, 1720.
be-bod, st. n., command, order; in comp. wundor-bebod.
bodian, w. v., (to be a messenger), to announce, to make known: pret. hrefn blaca heofones wynne blîð-heort bodode, the black raven announced joyfully heaven's delight (the rising sun), 1803.
boga, w. m., bow, of the bended form; here of the dragon, in comp. hring-boga; as an instrument for shooting, in the comp. flân-, horn-boga; bow of the arch, in comp. stân-boga.
bolca, w. m., "forus navis" (Grein), gangway; here probably the planks which at landing are laid from the ship to the shore: acc. sg. ofer bolcan, 231.
bold, st. n., building, house, edifice: nom. sg. (Heorot), 998; (Hygelâc's residence), 1926; (Beówulfs residence), 2197, 2327.—Comp. fold-bold.
bold-âgend, pt., house-owner, property-holder: gen. pl. monegum boldâgendra, 3113.
bolgen-môd, adj., angry at heart, angry, 710, 1714.
bolster, st. m., bolster, cushion, pillow: dat. pl. (reced) geond-bræded wearð beddum and bolstrum, was covered with beds and bolsters, 1241.—Comp. hleór-bolster.
bora, w. m., carrier, bringer, leader: in the comp. mund-, ræd-, wæg-bora.
bord, st. n., shield: nom. sg., 2674; acc. sg., 2525; gen. pl. ofer borda gebräc, over the crashing of the shields, 2260.—Comp.: hilde-, wîg-bord.
bord-häbbend, pt., one having a shield, shield-bearer: nom. pl. häbbende, 2896.
bord-hreóða, w. m., shield-cover, shield with particular reference to its cover (of hides or linden bark): dat. sg. -hreóðan, 2204.
bord-rand, st. m., shield: acc. sg., 2560.
bord-weall, st. m., shield-wall, wall of shields: acc. sg., 2981.
bord-wudu, st. m., shield-wood, shield: acc. pl. beorhtan beord-wudu, 1244.
botm, st. m., bottom: dat. sg. tô botme (here of the bottom of the fen-lake), 1507.
bôt , st. f.: 1) relief, remedy: nom. sg., 281; acc. sg. bôte, 935; acc. sg. bôte, 910.—2) a performance in expiation, a giving satisfaction, tribute: gen. sg. bôte, 158.
brand, brond, st. m.: 1) burning, fire: nom. sg. þâ sceal brond fretan (the burning of the body), 3015; instr. sg. by hine ne môston ... bronde forbärnan (could not bestow upon him the solemn burning), 2127; häfde landwara lîge befangen, bæle and bronde, with glow, fire, and flame, 2323.—2) in the passage, þät hine nô brond ne beadomêcas bîtan ne meahton, 1455, brond has been translated sword, brand (after the O.N. brand-r). The meaning fire may be justified as well, if we consider that the old helmets were generally made of leather, and only the principal parts were mounted with bronze. The poet wishes here to emphasize the fact that the helmet was made entirely of metal, a thing which was very unusual.—3) in the passage, forgeaf þâ Beówulfe brand Healfdenes segen gyldenne, 1021, our text, with other editions, has emendated, bearn, since brand, if it be intended as a designation of Hrôðgâr (perhaps son), has not up to this time been found in this sense in A.-S.
brant, bront, adj., raging, foaming, going-high, of ships and of waves: acc. sg. brontne, 238, 568.
brâd, adj.: 1) extended, wide: nom. pl. brâde rîce, 2208.—2) broad: nom. sg. heáh and brâd (of Beówulf's grave-mound), 3159; acc. sg. brâdne mêce, 2979; (seax) brâd [and] brûnecg, the broad, short sword with bright edge, 1547.—3) massive, in abundance. acc, sg. brâd gold, 3106.
ge-bräc, st. n., noise, crash: acc. sg. borda gebräc, 2260.
geond-brædan, w. v., to spread over, to cover entirely: pret. part. geond-bræded, 1240.
brecan, st. v.: 1) to break, to break to pieces: pret. bânhringas bräc, (the sword) broke the joints, 1568. In a moral sense: pret. subj. þät þær ænig mon wære ne bræce, that no one should break the agreement, 1101; pret. part. þonne bióð brocene ... âð-sweord eorla, then are the oaths of the men broken, 2064.—2) probably also simply to break in upon something, to press upon, w. acc.: pret. sg. sædeór monig hildetuxum heresyrcan bräc, many a sea-animal pressed with his battle-teeth upon the shirt of mail (did not break it, for, according to 1549 f., 1553 f., it was still unharmed). 1512.—3) to break out, to spring out: inf. geseah ... streám ût brecan of beorge, saw a stream break out from the rocks, 2547; lêt se hearda Higelâces þegn brâdne mêce ... brecan ofer bordweal, caused the broadsword to spring out over the wall of shields, 2981.—4) figuratively, to vex, not to let rest: pret. hine fyrwyt bräc, curiosity tormented (N.H.G. brachte die Neugier um), 232, 1986, 2785.
ge-brecan, to break to pieces: pret. bânhûs gebräc, broke in pieces his body (Beówulf in combat with Däghrefn), 2509.
tô-brecan, to break in pieces: inf., 781; pret. part. tô-brocen, 998.
þurh-brecan, to break through, pret. wordes ord breósthord þurh-bräc, the word's point broke through his closed breast, i.e. a word burst out from his breast, 2793.
brecð, st. f., condition of being broken, breach: nom. pl. môdes brecða (sorrow of heart), 171.
â-bredwian, w. v. w. acc., to fell to the ground, to kill (?): pret. âbredwade, 2620.
bregdan, st. v., properly to swing round, hence: 1) to swing: inf. under sceadu bregdan, swing among the shadows, to send into the realm of shadows, 708; pret. brägd ealde lâfe, swung the old weapon, 796; brägd feorh-genîðlan, swung his mortal enemy (Grendel's mother), threw her down, 1540; pl. git eágorstreám ... mundum brugdon, stirred the sea with your hands (of the movement of the hands in swimming), 514; pret. part. broden (brogden) mæl, the drawn sword, 1617, 1668.—2) to knit, to knot, to plait: inf., figuratively, inwitnet ôðrum bregdan, to weave a waylaying net for another (as we say in the same way, to lay a trap for another, to dig a pit for another), 2168; pret. part. beadohrägl broden, a woven shirt of mail (because it consisted of metal rings joined together), 552; similarly, 1549; brogdne beadusercean, 2756.
â-bregdan, to swing: pret. hond up â-bräd, swung, raised his hand, 2576.
ge-bregdan: 1) swing: pret. hring-mæl gebrägd, swung the ringed sword, 1565; eald sweord eácen ... þät ic þý wæpne gebrägd, an old heavy sword that I swung as my weapon, 1665; with interchanging instr. and acc. wällseaxe gebräd, biter and beadu-scearp, 2704; also, to draw out of the sheath: sweord ær gebräd, had drawn the sword before, 2563.—2) to knit, to knot, to plait: pret. part. bere-byrne hondum gebroden, 1444.
on-bregdan, to tear open, to throw open: pret. onbräd þâ recedes mûðan, had then thrown open the entrance of the hall (onbregdan is used because the opening door swings upon its hinges), 724.
brego, st. m., prince, ruler: nom. sg. 427, 610.
brego-rôf, adj., powerful, like a ruler, of heroic strength : nom. sg. m., 1926.
brego-stôl, st. m., throne, figuratively for rule: acc. sg. him gesealde seofon þûsendo, bold and brego-stôl, seven thousand see under sceat), a country-seat, and the dignity of a prince, 2197; þær him Hygd gebeád ... brego-stôl, where H. offered him the chief power, 2371; lêt þone bregostôl Beówulf healdan, gave over to Beówulf the chief power (did not prevent Beówulf from entering upon the government), 2390.
breme, adj., known afar, renowned. nom. sg., 18.
brenting (see brant), st. m., ship craft: nom. pl. brentingas, 2808.
â-breátan, st. v., to break, to break in pieces, to kill: pret. âbreót brimwîsan, killed the sea-king (King Hæðcyn), 2931. See breótan.
breóst, st. n.: 1) breast: nom. sg., 2177; often used in the pl., so acc. þät mîne breóst wereð, which protects my breast, 453; dat. pl. beadohrägl broden on breóstum läg. 552.—2) the inmost thoughts, the mind, the heart, the bosom: nom. sg. breóst innan weóll þeóstrum geþoncum, his breast heaved with troubled thoughts, 2332; dat. pl. lêt þâ of breóstum word ût faran, caused the words to come out from his bosom, 2551.
breóst-gehygd, st. n. f., breast-thought, secret thought: instr. pl. -gehygdum, 2819.
breóst-gewædu, st. n. pl., breast-clothing, garment covering the breast, of the coat of mail: nom., 1212; acc., 2163.
breóst-hord, st. m., breast-hoard, that which is locked in the breast, heart, mind, thought, soul: nom. sg., 1720; acc. sg., 2793.
breóst-net, st. n., breast-net, shirt of chain-mail, coat of mail: nom. sg. breóst-net broden, 1549.
breóst-weorðung, st. f., ornament that is worn upon the breast: acc. sg. breóst-weorðunge, 2505: here the collar is meant which Beówulf receives from Wealhþeów (1196, 2174) as a present, and which B., according to 2173, presents to Hygd, while, according to 1203, it is in the possession of her husband Hygelâc. In front the collar is trimmed with ornaments (frätwe), which hang down upon the breast, hence the name breóst-weorðung.
breóst-wylm, st. m., heaving of the breast, emotion of the bosom: acc. sg, 1878.
breótan, st. v., to break, to break in pieces, to kill: pret. breát beódgeneátas, killed his table-companions (courtiers), 1714.
â-breótan, same as above: pret. þone þe heó on räste âbreát, whom she killed upon his couch, 1299; pret. part. þâ þät monige gewearð, þät hine seó brimwylf âbroten häfde, many believed that the sea-wolf (Grendel's mother) had killed him, 1600; hî hyne ... âbroten häfdon, had killed him (the dragon), 2708.
brim, st. n., flood, the sea: nom. sg., 848, 1595; gen. sg. tô brimes faroðe, to the sea, 28; ät brimes nosan, at the sea's promontory, 2804; nom. pl. brimu swaðredon, the waves subsided, 570.
brim-clif, st. n., sea-cliff, cliff washed by the sea: acc. pl. -clifu, 222.
brim-lâd, st. f., flood-way, sea-way: acc. sg. þâra þe mid Beówulfe brimlâde teáh, who had travelled the sea-way with B., 1052.
brim-lîðend, pt, sea-farer, sailor acc. p. -lîðende, 568.
brim-streám, st. m., sea-stream, the flood of the sea: acc. pl. ofer brim-streámas, 1911.
brim-wîsa, w. m., sea-king: acc. sg. brimwîsan, of Hæðcyn, king of the Geátas, 2931.
brim-wylf, st. f., sea-wolf (designation of Grendel's mother): nom. sg. seó brimwylf, 1507, 1600.
brim-wylm, st. m., sea-wave: nom. sg., 1495.
bringan, anom. v., to bring, to bear: prs. sg. I. ic þe þûsenda þegna bringe tô helpe, bring to your assistance thousands of warriors, 1830; inf. sceal hringnaca ofer heáðu bringan lâc and luftâcen, shall bring gifts and love-tokens over the high sea, 1863; similarly, 2149, 2505; pret. pl. we þâs sælâc ... brôhton, brought this sea-offering (Grendel's head), 1654.
ge-bringan, to bring: pres. subj. pl. þat we þone gebringan ... on âdfäre, that we bring him upon the funeral-pile, 3010.
brosnian, w. v., to crumble, to become rotten, to fall to pieces: prs. sg. III. herepâd ... brosnað äfter beorne, the coat of mail falls to pieces after (the death of) the hero, 2261.
brôðor, st. m., brother: nom. sg., 1325, 2441; dat sg. brêðer, 1263; gen. sg. his brôðor bearn, 2620; dat. pl. brôðrum, 588, 1075.
ge-brôðru, pl., brethren, brothers: dat. pl. sät be þæm gebrôðrum twæm, sat by the two brothers, 1192.
brôga, w. m., terror, horror: nom. sg., 1292, 2325, 2566; acc. sg. billa brôgan, 583.—Comp.: gryre-, here-brôga.
brûcan, st. v. w. gen., to use, to make use of: prs. sg. III. se þe longe her worolde brûceð, who here long makes use of the world, i.e. lives long, 1063; imp. brûc manigra mêda, make use of many rewards, give good rewards, 1179; to enjoy: inf. þät he beáhhordes brûcan môste, could enjoy the ring-hoard, 895; similarly, 2242, 3101; pret. breác lîfgesceafta, enjoyed the appointed life, lived the appointed time, 1954. With the genitive to be supplied: breác þonne môste, 1488; imp. brûc þisses beáges, enjoy this ring, take this ring, 1217. Upon this meaning depends the form of the wish, wel brûcan (compare the German geniesze froh!): inf. hêt hine wel brûcan, 1046; hêt hine brûcan well, 2813; imp. brûc ealles well, 2163.
brûn, adj., having a brown lustre, shining: nom. sg. sió ecg brûn, 2579.
brûn-ecg, adj., having a gleaming blade: acc. sg. n. (hyre seaxe) brâd [and] brûnecg, her broad sword with gleaming blade, 1547.
brûn-fâg, adj., gleaming like metal: acc. sg. brûnfâgne helm, 2616.
bryne-leóma, w. m., light of a conflagration, gleam of fire : nom. sg., 2314.
bryne-wylm, st. m., wave of fire: dat. pl. -wylmum, 2327.
brytnian (properly to break in small pieces, cf. breótan), w. v., to bestow, to distribute: pret. sinc brytnade, distributed presents, i.e. ruled (since the giving of gifts belongs especially to rulers), 2384.
brytta, w. m., giver, distributer, always designating the king: nom. sg. sinces brytta, 608, 1171, 2072; acc. sg. beága bryttan, 35, 352, 1488; sinces bryttan, 1923.
bryttian (to be a dispenser), w. v., to distribute, to confer: prs. sg. III. god manna cynne snyttru bryttað, bestows wisdom upon the human race, 1727.
brýd, st. f.: 1) wife, consort: acc. sg. brýd, 2931; brýde, 2957, both times of the consort of Ongenþeów (?).—2) betrothed, bride: nom. sg., of Hrôðgâr's daughter, Freáware, 2032.
brýd-bûr, st. n., woman's apartment: dat. sg. eode ... cyning of brýdbûre, the king came out of the apartment of his wife (into which, according to 666, he had gone), 922.
bunden-stefna, w. m., (that which has a bound prow), the framed ship: nom. sg., 1911.
bune, w. f., can or cup, drinking-vessel: nom. pl. bunan, 3048; acc. pl. bunan, 2776.
burh, burg, st. f., castle, city, fortified house: acc. sg. burh, 523; dat. sg. byrig, 1200; dat. pl. burgum, 53, 1969, 2434.—Comp.: freó, freoðo-, heá-, hleó-, hord-, leód-, mæg-burg.
burh-loca, w. m., castle-bars: dat. sg. under burh-locan, under the castle-bars, i.e. in the castle (Hygelâc's), 1929.
burh-stede, st. m., castle-place, place where the castle or city stands: acc. sg. burhstede, 2266.
burh-wela, w. m., riches, treasure of a castle or city: gen. sg. þenden he burh-welan brûcan môste, 3101.
burne, w. f., spring, fountain: gen. þære burnan wälm, the bubbling of the spring, 2547.
bûan, st. v.: 1) to stay, to remain, to dwell: inf. gif he weard onfunde bûan on beorge, if he had found the watchman dwelling on the mountain, 2843.—2) to inhabit, w. acc.: meduseld bûan, to inhabit the mead-house, 3066.
ge-bûan, w. acc., to occupy a house, to take possession: pret. part. heán hûses, hû hit Hring Dene äfter beórþege gebûn häfdon, how the Danes, after their beer-carouse, had occupied it (had made their beds in it), 117.—With the pres. part. bûend are the compounds ceaster-, fold-, grund-, lond-bûend.
bûgan, st. v., to bend, to bow, to sink; to turn, to flee: prs. sg. III. bon-gâr bûgeð, the fatal spear sinks, i.e. its deadly point is turned down, it rests, 2032; inf. þät se byrnwîga bûgan sceolde, that the armed hero had to sink down (having received a deadly blow), 2919; similarly, 2975; pret. sg. beáh eft under eorðweall, turned, fled again behind the earth-wall, 2957; pret. pl. bugon tô bence, turned to the bench, 327, 1014; hy on holt bugon, fled to the wood, 2599.
â-bûgan, to bend off, to curve away from: pret. fram sylle âbeág medubenc monig, from the threshold curved away many a mead-bench, 776.
be-bûgan, w. acc., to surround, to encircle: prs. swâ (which) wäter bebûgeð, 93; efne swâ sîde swâ sæ bebûgeð windige weallas, as far as the sea encircles windy shores, 1224.
ge-bûgan, to bend, to bow, to sink: a) intrans.: heó on flet gebeáh, sank on the floor, 1541; þâ gebeáh cyning, then sank the king, 2981; þâ se wyrm gebeáh snûde tôsomne (when the drake at once coiled itself up), 2568; gewât þâ gebogen scrîðan tô, advanced with curved body (the drake), 2570.—b) w. acc. of the thing to which one bends or sinks: pret. selereste gebeáh, sank upon the couch in the hall, 691; similarly gebeág, 1242.
bûr, st. n., apartment, room: dat. sg. bûre, 1311, 2456; dat. pl. bûrum, 140.—Comp. brýd-bûr.
bûtan, bûton (from be and ûtan, hence in its meaning referring to what is without, excluded): 1) conj. with subjunctive following, lest: bûtan his lîc swice, lest his body escape, 967. With ind. following, but: bûton hit wäs mâre þonne ænig mon ôðer tô beadulâce ätberan meahte, but it (the sword) was greater than any other man could have carried to battle, 1561. After a preceding negative verb, except: þâra þe gumena bearn gearwe ne wiston bûton Fitela mid hine, which the children of men did not know at all, except Fitela, who was with him, 880; ne nom he mâðm-æhta mâ bûton þone hafelan, etc., he took no more of the rich treasure than the head alone, 1615.—2) prep, with dat., except: bûton folcscare, 73; bûton þe, 658; ealle bûton ânum, 706.
bycgan, w. v., to buy, to pay: inf. ne wäs þät gewrixle til þät hie on bâ healfa bicgan scoldon freónda feorum, that was no good transaction, that they, on both sides (as well to Grendel as to his mother), had to pay with the lives of their friends, 1306.
be-bycgan, to sell: pret. nu ic on mâðma hord mîne bebohte frôde feorhlege (now I, for the treasure-hoard, gave up my old life), 2800.
ge-bycgan, to buy, to acquire; to pay: pret. w. acc. nô þær ænige ... frôfre gebohte, obtained no sort of help, consolation, 974; hit (his, MS.) ealdre gebohte, paid it with his life, 2482; pret. part. sylfes feore beágas [geboh]te, bought rings with his own life, 3015.
byldan, w. v. (to make beald, which see), to excite, to encourage, to brave deeds: inf. w. acc. swâ he Fresena cyn on beórsele byldan wolde (by distributing gifts), 1095.
ge-byrd, st. n., "fatum destinatum" (Grein) (?): acc. sg. hie on gebyrd hruron gâre wunde, 1075.
ge-byrdu, st. f., birth; in compound, bearn-gebyrdu.
byrdu-scrûd, st. n., shield-ornament, design upon a shield(?): nom. sg., 2661.
byre, st. m., (born) son: nom. sg., 2054, 2446, 2622, etc.; nom. pl. byre, 1189. In a broader sense, young man, youth: acc. pl. bædde byre geonge, encouraged the youths (at the banquet), 2019.
byrðen, st. f., burden; in comp. mägen-byrðen.
byrele, st. m., steward, waiter, cupbearer: nom. pl. byrelas, 1162.
byrgan, w. v., to feast, to eat: inf., 448.
ge-byrgea, w. m., protector; in comp. leód-gebyrgea.
byrht. See beorht.
byrne, w. f., shirt of mail, mail: nom. sg. byrne, 405, 1630, etc.; hringed byrne, ring-shirt, consisting of interlaced rings, 1246; acc. sg. byrnan, 1023, etc.; sîde byrnan, large coat of mail, 1292; hringde byrnan, 2616; hâre byrnan, gray coat of mail (of iron), 2154; dat. sg. on byrnan, 2705; gen. sg. byrnan hring, the ring of the shirt of mail (i.e. the shirt of mail), 2261; dat. pl. byrnum, 40, 238, etc.; beorhtum byrnum, with gleaming mail, 3141.—Comp.: gûð-, here-, heaðo-, îren-, îsern-byrne.
byrn-wîga, w. m., warrior dressed in a coat of mail: nom. sg., 2919.
bysgu, bisigu, st. f., trouble, difficulty, opposition: nom. sg. bisigu, 281; dat. pl. bisgum, 1744, bysigum, 2581.
bysig, adj., opposed, in need, in the compounds lîf-bysig, syn-bysig.
býme, w. f., a wind-instrument, a trumpet, a trombone: gen. sg. býman gealdor, the sound of the trumpet, 2944.
býwan, w. v., to ornament, to prepare: inf. þâ þe beado-grîman býwan sceoldon, who should prepare the helmets, 2258.
camp, st. m., combat, fight between two: dat. sg. in campe (Beówulf's with Däghrefn; cempan, MS.), 2506.
candel, st. f., light, candle: nom. sg. rodores candel, of the sun, 1573.—Comp. woruld-candel.
cempa, w. m., fighter, warrior, hero: nom. sg. äðele cempa, 1313; Geáta cempa, 1552; rêðe cempa, 1586; mære cempa (as voc.), 1762; gyrded cempa, 2079; dat. sg. geongum (geongan) cempan, 1949, 2045, 2627; Hûga cempan, 2503; acc. pl. cempan, 206.—Comp. fêðe-cempa.
cennan, w. v.: 1) to bear, w. acc.: efne swâ hwylc mägða swâ þone magan cende, who bore the son, 944; pret. part. þäm eafera wäs äfter cenned, to him was a son born, 12.—2) reflexive, to show one's self, to reveal one's self: imp. cen þec mid cräfte, prove yourself by your strength, 1220.
â-cennan, to bear: pret. part. nô hie fäder cunnon, hwäðer him ænig wäs ær âcenned dyrnra gâsta, they (the people of the country) do not know his (Grendel's) father, nor whether any evil spirit has been before born to him (whether he has begotten a son), 1357.
cênðu, st. f., boldness: acc. sg. cênðu, 2697.
cêne, adj., keen, warlike, bold: gen. p.. cênra gehwylcum, 769. Superl., acc. pl. cênoste, 206.—Comp.: dæd-, gâr-cêne.
ceald, adj., cold: acc. pl. cealde streámas, 1262; dat. pl. cealdum cearsîðum, with cold, sad journeys, 2397. Superl. nom. sg. wedera cealdost, 546;—Comp. morgen-ceald.
cearian, w. v., to have care, to take care, to trouble one's self: prs. sg. III. nâ ymb his lîf cearað, takes no care for his life, 1537.
cearig, adj., troubled, sad: in comp. sorh-cearig.
cear-sîð, st. m., sorrowful way, an undertaking that brings sorrow, i.e. a warlike expedition: dat. pl. cearsîðum (of Beówulf's expeditions against Eádgils), 2397.
cearu, st. f., care, sorrow, lamentation: nom. sg., 1304; acc. sg. [ceare], 3173.—Comp.: ealdor-, gûð-, mæl-, môd-cearu.
cear-wälm, st. m., care-agitation, waves of sorrow in the breast: dat. pl. äfter cear-wälmum, 2067.
cear-wylm, st. m., same as above; nom. pl. þâ cear-wylmas, 282.
ceaster-bûend, pt, inhabitant of a fortified place, inhabitant of a castle: dat. pl. ceaster-bûendum, of those established in Hrôðgâr's castle, 769.
ceáp, st. m., purchase, transaction: figuratively, nom. sg. näs þät ýðe ceáp, no easy transaction, 2416; instr. sg. þeáh þe ôðer hit ealdre gebohte, heardan ceápe, although the one paid it with his life, a dear purchase, 2483.
ge-ceápian, w. v., to purchase: pret. part. gold unrîme grimme geceápod, gold without measure, bitterly purchased (with Beówulf's life), 3013.
be-ceorfan, st. v., to separate, to cut off (with acc. of the pers. and instr. of the thing): pret. hine þâ heáfde becearf, cut off his head, 1591; similarly, 2139.
ceorl, st. m., man: nom. sg. snotor ceorl monig, many a wise man, 909; dat. sg. gomelum ceorle, the old man (of King Hrêðel), 2445; so, ealdum ceorle, of King Ongenþeów, 2973; nom. pl. snotere ceorlas, wise men, 202, 416, 1592.
ceól, st. m., keel, figuratively for the ship: nom. sg., 1913; acc. sg. ceól, 38, 238; gen. sg. ceóles, 1807.
ceósan, st. v., to choose, hence, to assume: inf. þone cynedôm ciósan wolde, would assume the royal dignity, 2377; to seek: pret. subj. ær he bæl cure, before he sought his funeral-pile (before he died), 2819.
ge-ceósan, to choose, to elect: gerund, tô geceósenne cyning ænigne (sêlran), to choose a better king, 1852; imp. þe þät sêlre ge-ceós, choose thee the better (of two: bealonîð and êce rædas), 1759; pret. he ûsic on herge geceás tô þyssum siðfate, selected us among the soldiers for this undertaking, 2639; geceás êcne ræd, chose the everlasting gain, i.e. died, 1202; similarly, godes leóht geceás, 2470; pret. part. acc. pl. häfde ... cempan gecorone, 206.
on-cirran, w. v., to turn, to change: inf. ne meahte ... þäs wealdendes [willan] wiht on-cirran, could not change the will of the Almighty, 2858; pret. ufor oncirde, turned higher, 2952; þyder oncirde, turned thither, 2971.
â-cîgan, w. v., to call hither: pret. âcîgde of corðre cyninges þegnas syfone, called from the retinue of the king seven men, 3122.
clam, clom, st. m., f. n.? fetter, figuratively of a strong gripe: dat. pl. heardan clammum, 964; heardum clammum, 1336; atolan clommum (horrible claws of the mother of Grendel), 1503.
clif, cleof, st. n., cliff, promontory: acc. pl. Geáta clifu, 1912.—Comp.: brim-, êg-, holm-, stân-clif.
ge-cnâwan, st. v., to know, to recognize: inf. meaht þu, mîn wine, mêce gecnâwan, mayst thou, my friend, recognize the sword, 2048.
on-cnâwan, to recognize, to distinguish: hordweard oncniów mannes reorde, distinguished the speech of a man, 2555.
cniht, st. m., boy, youth: dat. pl. þyssum cnyhtum, to these boys (Hrôðgâr's sons), 1220.
cniht-wesende, prs. part., being a boy or a youth: acc. sg. ic hine cûðe cniht-wesende, knew him while still a boy, 372; nom. pl. wit þät gecwædon cniht-wesende, we both as young men said that, 535.
cnyssan, w. v., to strike, to dash against each other: pret. pl. þonne ... eoferas cnysedan, when the bold warriors dashed against each other, stormed (in battle), 1329.
collen-ferhð, -ferð, adj., (properly, of swollen mind), of uncommon thoughts, in his way of thinking, standing higher than others, high-minded: nom. sg. cuma collen-ferhð, of Beówulf, 1807; collen-ferð, of Wîglâf, 2786.
corðer, st. n., troop, division of an army, retinue: dat. sg. þâ wäs ... Fin slägen, cyning on corðre, then was Fin slain, the king in the troop (of warriors), 1154; of corðre cyninges, out of the retinue of the king, 3122.
costian, w. v., to try; pret. (w. gen.) he mîn costode, tried me, 2085.
côfa, w. m., apartment, sleeping-room, couch: in comp. bân-côfa.
côl, adj., cool: compar. cearwylmas côlran wurðað, the waves of sorrow become cooler, i.e. the mind becomes quiet, 282; him wîflufan ... côlran weorðað, his love for his wife cools, 2067.
cräft, st. m., the condition of being able, hence: 1) physical strength: nom. sg. mägða cräft, 1284; acc. sg. mägenes cräft, 418; þurh ânes cräft, 700; cräft and cênðu, 2697; dat. (instr.) sg. cräfte, 983, 1220, 2182, 2361.—2) art, craft, skill: dat. sg. as instr. dyrnum cräfte, with secret (magic) art, 2169; dyrnan cräfte, 2291; þeófes cräfte, with thief's craft, 2221; dat. pl. deófles cräftum, by devil's art (sorcery), 2089.—3) great quantity (?): acc. sg. wyrm-horda cräft, 2223.—Comp.: leoðo-, mägen-, nearo-, wîg-cräft.
cräftig, adj.: 1) strong, stout: nom. sg. eafoðes cräftig, 1467; nîða cräftig, 1963. Comp. wîg-cräftig.—2) adroit, skilful: in comp. lagu-cräftig.—3) rich (of treasures); in comp. eácen-cräftig.
cringan, st. v., to fall in combat, to fall with the writhing movement of those mortally wounded: pret. subj. on wäl crunge, would sink into death, would fall, 636; pret. pl. for the pluperfect, sume on wäle crungon, 1114.
ge-cringan, same as above: pret. he under rande gecranc, fell under his shield, 1210; ät wîge gecrang, fell in battle, 1338; heó on flet gecrong, fell to the ground, 1569; in campe gecrong, fell in single combat, 2506.
cuma (he who comes), w. m., newcomer, guest: nom. sg. 1807.—Comp.: cwealm-, wil-cuma.
cuman, st. v., to come: pres. sg. II. gyf þu on weg cymest, if thou comest from there, 1383; III. cymeð, 2059; pres. subj. sg. III. cume, 23; pl. þonne we ût cymen, when we come out, 3107; inf. cuman, 244, 281, 1870; pret. sg. com, 430, 569, 826, 1134, 1507, 1601, etc.; cwom, 419, 2915; pret. subj. sg. cwôme, 732; pret. part. cumen, 376; pl. cumene, 361. Often with the inf. of a verb of motion, as, com gongan, 711; com sîðian, 721; com in gân, 1645; cwom gân, 1163; com scacan, 1803; cwômon lædan, 239; cwômon sêcean, 268; cwôman scrîðan, 651, etc. [pret. côm, etc.]
be-cuman, to come, to approach, to arrive: pret. syððan niht becom, after the night had come, 115; þe on þâ leóde becom, that had come over the people, 192; þâ he tô hâm becom, 2993. And with inf. following: stefn in becom ... hlynnan under hârne stân, 2553; lyt eft becwom ... hâmes niósan, 2366; ôð þät ende becwom, 1255; similarly, 2117. With acc. of pers.: þâ hyne sió þrag becwom, when this time of battle came over him, 2884.
ofer-cuman, to overcome, to compel: pret. þý he þone feónd ofercwom, thereby he overcame the foe, 1274: pl. hie feónd heora ... ofercômon, 700; pret. part. (w. gen.) nîða ofercumen, compelled by combats, 846.
cumbol, cumbor, st. m., banner: gen. sg. cumbles hyrde, 2506.—Comp. hilte-cumbor.
cund, adj., originating in, descended from: in comp. feorran-cund.
cunnan, verb pret. pres.: 1) to know, to be acquainted with (w. acc. or depend, clause): sg. pres. I. ic mînne can glädne Hrôðulf þät he ... wile, I know my gracious H., that he will..., 1181; II. eard git ne const, thou knowest not yet the land, 1378; III. he þät wyrse ne con, knows no worse, 1740. And reflexive: con him land geare, knows the land well, 2063; pl. men ne cunnon hwyder helrûnan scrîðað, men do not know whither..., 162; pret. sg. ic hine cûðe, knew him, 372; cûðe he duguð þeáw, knew the customs of the distinguished courtiers, 359; so with the acc., 2013; seolfa ne cûðe þurh hwät..., he himself did not know through what..., 3068; pl. sorge ne cûðon, 119; so with the acc., 180, 418, 1234. With both (acc. and depend. clause): nô hie fäder cunnon (scil. nô hie cunnon) hwäðer him ænig wäs ær âcenned dyrnra gâsta, 1356.—2) with inf. following, can, to be able: prs. sg. him bebeorgan ne con, cannot defend himself, 1747; prs. pl. men ne cunnon secgan, cannot say, 50; pret. sg. cûðe reccan, 90; beorgan cûðe, 1446; pret. pl. hêrian ne cûðon, could not praise, 182; pret. subj. healdan cûðe, 2373.
cunnian, w. v., to inquire into, to try, w. gen. or acc.: inf. sund cunnian (figurative for roam over the sea), 1427, 1445; geongne cempan higes cunnian, to try the young warrior's mind, 2046; pret. eard cunnode, tried the home, i.e. came to it, 1501; pl. wada cunnedon, tried the flood, i.e. swam through the sea, 508.
cûð, adj.: 1) known, well known; manifest, certain: nom. sg. undyrne cûð, 150, 410; wîde cûð, 2924; acc. sg. fern. cûðe folme, 1304; cûðe stræte, 1635; nom. pl. ecge cûðe, 1146; acc. pl. cûðe nässas, 1913.—2) renowned: nom. sg. gûðum cûð, 2179; nom. pl. cystum cûðe, 868.—3) also, friendly, dear, good (see un-cûð).—Comp.: un-, wîd-cûð.
cûð-lîce, adv., openly, publicly: comp. nô her cûðlîcor cuman ongunnon lind-häbbende, no shield-bearing men undertook more boldly to come hither (the coast-watchman means by this the secret landing of the Vikings), 244.
cwalu, st. f., murder, fall: in comp. deáð-cwalu.
cweccan (to make alive, see cwic), w. v., to move, to swing: pret. cwehte mägen-wudu, swung the wood of strength (= spear), 235.
cweðan, st. v., to say, to speak: a) absolutely: prs. sg. III. cwið ät beóre, speaks at beer-drinking, 2042.—b) w. acc.: pret. word äfter cwäð, 315; feá worda cwäð, 2247, 2663.—c) with þät following: pret. sg. cwäð, 92, 2159; pl. cwædon, 3182.—d) with þät omitted: pret. cwäð he gûð-cyning sêcean wolde, said he would seek out the war-king, 199; similarly, 1811, 2940.
â-cweðan, to say, to speak, w. acc.: prs. þät word âcwyð, speaks the word, 2047; pret. þät word âcwäð, 655.
ge-cweðan, to say, to speak: a) absolutely: pret. sg. II. swâ þu gecwæde, 2665.—b)w. acc.: pret. wel-hwylc gecwäð, spoke everything, 875; pl. wit þät gecwædon, 535.—c) w. þät following: pret. gecwäð, 858, 988.
cwellan, w. v., (to make die), to kill, to murder: pret. sg. II. þu Grendel cwealdest, 1335.
â-cwellan, to kill: pret. sg. (he) wyrm âcwealde, 887; þone þe Grendel ær mâne âcwealde, whom Grendel had before wickedly murdered, 1056; beorn âcwealde, 2122.
cwên, st. f.: 1) wife, consort (of noble birth): nom. sg. cwên, 62; (Hrôðgâr's), 614, 924; (Finn's), 1154.—2) particularly denoting the queen: nom. sg. beághroden cwên (Wealhþeów), 624; mæru cwên, 2017; fremu folces cwên (Þryðo), 1933; acc. sg. cwên (Wealhþeów), 666.-Comp. folc-cwên.
cwên-lîc, adj., feminine, womanly: nom. sg. ne bið swylc cwênlîc þeáw (such is not the custom of women, does not become a woman), 1941.
cwealm, st. m., violent death, murder, destruction: acc. sg. þone cwealm gewräc, avenged the death (of Abel by Cain), 107; mændon mondryhtnes cwealm, lamented the ruler's fall, 3150.—Comp.: bealo-, deáð-, gâr-cwealm.
cwealm-bealu, st. n., the evil of murder: acc. sg., 1941.
cwealm-cuma, w. m., one coming for murder, a new-comer who contemplates murder: acc. sg. þone cwealm-cuman (of Grendel), 793.
cwic and cwico, adj., quick, having life, alive: acc. sg. cwicne, 793, 2786; gen. sg. âht cwices, something living, 2315; nom. pl. cwice, 98; cwico wäs þâ gena, was still alive, 3094.
cwide, st. m., word, speech, saying: in comp. gegn-, gilp-, hleó-, ðor- [non-existant form—KTH], word-cwide.
cwîðan, st. v., to complain, to lament: inf. w. acc. ongan ... gioguðe cwîðan hilde-strengo, began to lament the (departed) battle-strength of his youth, 2113 [ceare] cwîðan, lament their cares, 3173.
cyme, st. m., coming, arrival: nom. pl. hwanan eówre cyme syndon, whence your coming is, i. e. whence ye are, 257.—Comp. eft-cyme.
cymlîce, adv., (convenienter), splendidly, grandly: comp. cymlîcor, 38.
cyn, st. n., race, both in the general sense, and denoting noble lineage: nom. sg. Fresena cyn, 1094; Wedera (gara, MS.) cyn, 461; acc. sg. eotena cyn, 421; giganta cyn, 1691; dat. sg. Caines cynne, 107; manna cynne, 811, 915, 1726; eówrum (of those who desert Beówulf in battle) cynne, 2886; gen. sg. manna (gumena) cynnes, 702, etc.; mæran cynnes, 1730; lâðan cynnes, 2009, 2355; ûsses cynnes Wægmundinga, 2814; gen. pl. cynna gehwylcum, 98.—Comp.: eormen-, feorh-, frum-, gum-, man-, wyrm-cyn.
cyn, st. n., that which is suitable or proper: gen. pl. cynna (of etiquette) gemyndig, 614.
ge-cynde, adj., innate, peculiar, natural: nom. sg., 2198, 2697.
cyne-dôm, st. m., kingdom, royal dignity: acc. sg., 2377.
cyning, st. m., king: nom. acc. sg. cyning, II, 864, 921, etc.; kyning, 620, 3173; dat. sg. cyninge, 3094; gen. sg. cyninges, 868, 1211; gen. pl. kyning[a] wuldor, of God, 666.—Comp. beorn-, eorð-, folc-, guð-, heáh-, leód-, sæ-, sôð-, þeód-, worold-, wuldor-cyning.
cyning-beald, adj., "nobly bold" (Thorpe), excellently brave (?): nom. pl. cyning-balde men, 1635.
ge-cyssan, w. v., to kiss: pret. gecyste þâ cyning ... þegen betstan, kissed the best thane (Beówulf), 1871.
cyst (choosing, see ceósan), st. f., the select, the best of a thing, good quality, excellence: nom. sg. îrenna cyst, of the swords, 803, 1698; wæpna cyst, 1560; symbla cyst, choice banquet, 1233; acc. sg. îrena cyst, 674; dat. pl. foldwegas ... cystum cûðe, known through excellent qualities, 868; (cyning) cystum gecýðed, 924.—Comp. gum-, hilde-cyst.
cýðan (see cûð), w. v., to make known, to manifest, to show: imp. sg. mägen-ellen cýð, show thy heroic strength, 660; inf. cwealmbealu cýðan, 1941; ellen cýðan, 2696.
ge-cýðan (to make known, hence): 1) to give information, to announce: inf. andsware gecýðan, to give answer, 354; gerund, tô gecýðanne hwanan eówre cyme syndon (to show whence ye come), 257; pret. part. sôð is gecýðed þät ... (the truth has become known, it has shown itself to be true), 701; Higelâce wäs sîð Beówulfes snûde gecýðed, the arrival of B. was quickly announced, 1972; similarly, 2325.—2) to make celebrated, in pret. part.: wäs mîn fäder folcum gecýðed (my father was known to warriors), 262; wäs his môdsefa manegum gecýðed, 349; cystum gecýðed, 924.
cýððu (properly, condition of being known, hence relationship), st. f., home, country, land: in comp. feor-cýððu.
[should be cýð, feor-cýð—KTH]ge-cýpan, w. v., to purchase: inf. näs him ænig þearf þät he ... þurfe wyrsan wîgfrecan weorðe gecýpan, had need to buy with treasures no inferior warrior, 2497.
daroð, st. m., spear: dat. pl. dareðum lâcan (to fight), 2849.
ge-dâl, st. n., parting, separation: nom. sg. his worulde gedâl, his separation from the world (his death), 3069.—Comp. ealdor-, lîf-gedâl.
däg, st. m., day: nom. sg. däg, 485, 732, 2647; acc. sg. däg, 2400; andlangne däg, the whole day, 2116; morgenlongne däg (the whole morning), 2895; ôð dômes däg, till judgment-day, 3070; dat. sg. on þäm däge þysses lîfes (eo tempore, tunc), 197, 791, 807; gen. sg. däges, 1601, 2321; hwîl däges, a day's time, a whole day, 1496; däges and nihtes, day and night, 2270; däges, by day, 1936; dat. pl. on tyn dagum, in ten days, 3161.—Comp. ær-, deáð-, ende-, ealdor-, fyrn-, geâr-, læn-, lîf-, swylt-, win-däg, an-däges.
däg-hwîl, st. f., day-time: acc. pl. þät he däghwîla gedrogen häfde eorðan wynne, that he had enjoyed earth's pleasures during the days (appointed to him), i.e. that his life was finished, 2727.—(After Grein.)
däg-rîm, st. n., series of days, fixed number of days: nom. sg. dôgera dägrîm (number of the days of his life), 824.
dæd, st. f., deed, action: acc. sg. deórlîce dæd, 585; dômleásan dæd, 2891; frêcne dæde, 890; dæd, 941; acc. pl. Grendles dæda, 195; gen. pl. dæda, 181, 479, 2455, etc.; dat. pl. dædum, 1228, 2437, etc.—Comp. ellen-, fyren-, lof-dæd.
dæd-cêne, adj., bold in deed: nom. sg. dæd-cêne mon, 1646.
dæd-fruma, w. m., doer of deeds, doer: nom. sg., of Grendel, 2091.
dæd-bata, w. m., he who pursues with his deeds: nom. sg., of Grendel, 275.
dædla, w. m., doer: in comp. mân-for-dædla.
dæl, st. m., part, portion: acc. sg. dæl, 622, 2246, 3128; acc. pl. dælas, 1733.—Often dæl designates the portion of a thing or of a quality which belongs in general to an individual, as, ôð þät him on innan oferhygda dæl weaxeð, till in his bosom his portion of arrogance increases: i.e. whatever arrogance he has, his arrogance, 1741. Biówulfe wearð dryhtmâðma dæl deáðe, forgolden, to Beówulf his part of the splendid treasures was paid with death, i.e. whatever splendid treasures were allotted to him, whatever part of them he could win in the fight with the dragon, 2844; similarly, 1151, 1753, 2029, 2069, 3128.
dælan, w. v., to divide, to bestow, to share with, w. acc.: pres. sg. III. mâdmas dæleð, 1757; pres. subj. þät he wið aglæcean eofoðo dæle, that he bestow his strength upon (strive with) the bringer of misery the drake), 2535; inf. hringas dælan, 1971; pret. beágas dælde, 80; sceattas dælde, 1687.
be-dælan, w. instr., (to divide), to tear away from, to strip of: pret. part. dreámum (dreáme) bedæled, deprived of the heavenly joys (of Grendel), 722, 1276.
ge-dælan: 1) to distribute: inf. (w. acc. of the thing distributed); bær on innan eall gedælan geongum and ealdum swylc him god sealde, distribute therein to young and old all that God had given him, 71.—2) to divide, to separate, with acc.: inf. sundur gedælan lîf wið lîce, separate life from the body, 2423; so pret. subj. þät he gedælde ... ânra gehwylces lîf wið lîce, 732.
denn (cf. denu, dene, vallis), st. n., den, cave: acc. sg. þäs wyrmes denn, 2761; gen. sg. (draca) gewât dennes niósian, 3046.
ge-defe, adj.: 1) (impersonal) proper, appropriate: nom. sg. swâ hit gedêfe wäs (bið), as was appropriate, proper, 561, 1671, 3176.—2) good, kind, friendly; nom sg. beó þu suna mînum dædum gedêfe, be friendly to my son by deeds (support my son in deed, namely, when he shall have attained to the government), 1228.—Comp. un-ge-dêfelîce.
dêman (see dôm), w. v.: 1) to judge, to award justly: pres. subj. mærðo dême, 688.—2) to judge favorably, to praise, to glorify: pret. pl. his ellenweorc duguðum dêmdon, praised his heroic deed with all their might, 3176.
dêmend, judge: dæda dêmend (of God), 181.
deal, adj., "superbus, clarus, fretus" (Grimm): nom. pl. þryðum dealle, 494.
deád, adj., dead: nom. sg. 467, 1324, 2373; acc. sg. deádne, 1310.
deáð, st. m., death, dying: nom. sg, deáð, 441, 447, etc.; acc. sg. deáð, 2169; dat. sg. deáðe, 1389, 1590, (as instr.) 2844, 3046; gen. sg. deáðes wylm, 2270; deáðes nýd, 2455.—Comp. gûð-, wäl-, wundor-deáð.
deáð-bed, st. n., death-bed: dat. sg. deáð-bedde fäst, 2902.
deáð-cwalu, st. f., violent death, ruin and death: dat. pl. tô deáð-cwalum, 1713.
deáð-cwealm, st. m., violent death, murder: nom. sg. 1671.
deáð-däg, st. m., death-day, dying day: dat. sg. äfter deáð-däge (after his death), 187, 886.
deáð-fæge, adj., given over to death: nom. sg. (Grendel) deáð-fæge deóg, had hidden himself, being given over to death (mortally wounded), 851.
deáð-scûa, w. m., death-shadow, ghostly being, demon of death: nom. sg. deorc deáð-scûa (of Grendel), 160.
deáð-wêrig, adj., weakened by death, i.e. dead: acc. sg. deáð-wêrigne, 2126. See wêrig.
deáð-wîc, st. n. death's house, home of death: acc. sg. gewât deáðwîc seón (had died), 1276.
deágan (O.H.G. pret. part. tougan, hidden), to conceal one's self, to hide: pret. (for pluperf.) deóg, 851.—Leo.
deorc, adj., dark: of the night, nom. sg. (nihthelm) deorc, 1791; dat. pl. deorcum nihtum, 275, 2212; of the terrible Grendel, nom. sg. deorc deáð-scûa, 160.
deófol, st. m. n., devil: gen. sg. deófles, 2089; gen. pl. deófla, of Grendel and his troop, 757, 1681.
deógol, dýgol, adj., concealed, hidden, inaccessible, beyond information, unknown: nom. sg. deógol dædhata (of Grendel), 275; acc. sg. dýgel lond, inaccessible land, 1358.
deóp, st. n., deep, abyss: acc. sg., 2550.
deóp, adv. deeply: acc. sg. deóp wäter, 509, 1905.
diópe, adj., deep: hit ôð dômes däg diópe benemdon þeódnas mære, the illustrious rulers had charmed it deeply till the judgment-day, had laid a solemn spell upon it, 3070.
deór, st. n., animal, wild animal: in comp. mere-, sæ-deór.
deór, adj.: 1) wild, terrible: nom. sg. diór dæd-fruma (of Grendel), 2091.—2) bold, brave: nom. nænig ... deór, 1934.—Comp.: heaðu-, hilde-deór.
deóre, dýre, adj.: 1) dear, costly (high in price): acc. sg. dýre îren, 2051; drincfät dýre (deóre), 2307, 2255; instr. sg. deóran sweorde, 561; dat. sg. deórum mâðme, 1529; nom. pl. dýre swyrd, 3049; acc. pl. deóre (dýre) mâðmas, 2237, 3132.—2) dear, beloved, worthy: nom. sg. f., äðelum dióre, worthy by reason of origin, 1950; dat. sg. äfter deórum men, 1880; gen. sg. deórre duguðe, 488; superl. acc. sg. aldorþegn þone deórestan, 1310.
deór-lîc, adj., bold, brave: acc. sg. deórlîce dæd, 585. See deór.
disc, st. m., disc, plate, flat dish: nom. acc. pl. discas, 2776, 3049.
dol-gilp, st. m., mad boast, foolish pride, vain-glory, thoughtless audacity: dat. sg. for dolgilpe, 509.
dol-lîc, adj., audacious: gen. pl. mæst ... dæda dollîcra, 2647.
dol-sceaða, w. m., bold enemy: acc. sg. þone dol-scaðan (Grendel), 479.
dôgor, st. m. n., day; 1) day as a period of 24 hours: gen. sg. ymb ântîd ôðres dôgores, at the same time of the next day, 219; morgen-leóht ôðres dôgores, the morning-light of the second day, 606.—2) day in the usual sense: acc. sg. n. þys dôgor, during this day, 1396; instr. þý dôgore, 1798; forman dôgore, 2574; gen. pl. dôgora gehwâm, 88; dôgra gehwylce, 1091; dôgera dägrim, the number of his days (the days of his life), 824.—3) day in the wider sense of time: dat. pl. ufaran dôgrum, in later days, times, 2201, 2393.—Comp. ende-dôgor.
dôgor-gerîm, st. n., series of days: gen. sg. wäs eall sceacen dôgor-gerîmes, the whole number of his days (his life) was past, 2729.
dôhtor, st. f., daughter: nom. acc. sg. dôhtor, 375, 1077, 1930, 1982, etc.
dôm, st. m.: I., condition, state in general; in comp. cyne-, wis-dôm.—II., having reference to justice, hence: 1) judgment, judicial opinion: instr. sg. weotena dôme, according to the judgment of the Witan, 1099. 2) custom: äfter dôme, according to custom, 1721. 3) court, tribunal: gen. sg. miclan dômes, 979; ôð dômes däg, 3070, both times of the last judgment.—III., condition of freedom or superiority, hence: 4) choice, free will: acc. sg. on sînne sylfes dôm, according to his own choice, 2148; instr. sg. selfes dôme, 896, 2777. 5) might, power: nom. sg. dôm godes, 2859; acc. sg. Eofores ânne dôm, 2965; dat. sg. drihtnes dôme, 441. 6) glory, honor, renown: nom. sg. [dôm], 955; dôm unlytel, not a little glory, 886; þät wäs forma sîð deórum mâðme þät his dôm âläg, it was the first time to the dear treasure (the sword Hrunting) that its fame was not made good, 1529; acc. sg. ic me dôm gewyrce, make renown for myself, 1492; þät þu ne âlæte dôm gedreósan, that thou let not honor fall, 2667; dat. instr. sg. þær he dôme forleás, here he lost his reputation, 1471; dôme gewurðad, adorned with glory, 1646; gen. sg. wyrce se þe môte dômes, let him make himself reputation, whoever is able, 1389. 7) splendor (in heaven): acc. sôð-fästra dôm, the glory of the saints, 2821.
dôm-leás, adj., without reputation, inglorious: acc. sg. f. dômleásan dæd, 2891.
dôn, red. v., to do, to make, to treat: 1) absolutely: imp. dôð swâ ic bidde, do as I beg, 1232.—2) w. acc.: inf. hêt hire selfre sunu on bæl dôn, 1117; pret. þâ he him of dyde îsernbyrnan, took off the iron corselet, 672; (þonne) him Hûnlâfing, ... billa sêlest, on bearm dyde, when he made a present to him of Hûnlâfing, the best of swords, 1145; dyde him of healse hring gyldenne, took off the gold ring from his neck, 2810; ne him þäs wyrmes wîg for wiht dyde, eafoð and ellen, nor did he reckon as anything the drake's fighting, power, and strength, 2349; pl. hi on beorg dydon bêg and siglu, placed in the (grave-) mound rings and ornaments, 3165.—3) representing preceding verbs: inf. tô Geátum sprec mildum wordum! swâ sceal man dôn, as one should do, 1173; similarly, 1535, 2167; pres. metod eallum weóld, swâ he nu git dêð, the creator ruled over all, as he still does, 1059; similarly, 2471, 2860, and (sg. for pl.) 1135; pret. II. swâ þu ær dydest, 1677; III. swâ he nu gyt dyde, 957; similarly, 1382, 1892, 2522; pl. swâ hie oft ær dydon, 1239; similarly, 3071. With the case also which the preceding verb governs: wên' ic þät he wille ... Geátena leóde etan unforhte, swâ he oft dyde mägen Hrêðmanna, I believe he will wish to devour the Geát people, the fearless, as he often did (devoured) the bloom of the Hrêðmen, 444; gif ic þät gefricge ... þät þec ymbesittend egesan þýwað, swâ þec hetende hwîlum dydon, that the neighbors distress thee as once the enemy did thee (i.e. distressed), 1829; gif ic ôwihte mäg þînre môd-lufan mâran tilian þonne ic gyt dyde, if I can with anything obtain thy greater love than I have yet done, 1825; similarly, pl. þonne þâ dydon, 44.
ge-dôn, to do, to make, with the acc. and predicate adj.: prs. (god) gedêð him swâ gewealdene worolde dælas, makes the parts of the world (i.e. the whole world) so subject that ..., 1733; inf. ne hyne on medo-bence micles wyrðne drihten wereda gedôn wolde, nor would the leader of the people much honor him at the mead-banquet, 2187. With adv.: he mec þær on innan ... gedôn wolde, wished to place me in there, 2091.
draca, w. m., drake, dragon: nom. sg., 893, 2212; acc. sg. dracan, 2403, 3132; gen. sg., 2089, 2291, 2550.—Comp.: eorð-, fýr-, lêg-, lîg-, nîð-draca.
on-drædan, st. v., w. acc. of the thing and dat. of the pers., to fear, to be afraid of: inf. þät þu him on-drædan ne þearft ... aldorbealu, needest not fear death for them, 1675; pret. nô he him þâ säcce ondrêd, was not afraid of the combat, 2348.
ge-dräg (from dragan, in the sense se gerere), st. n., demeanor, actions: acc. sg. sêcan deófla gedräg, 757.
drepan, st. v., to hit, to strike: pret. sg. sweorde drep ferhð-genîðlan, 2881; pret. part. bið on hreðre ... drepen biteran stræle, struck in the breast with piercing arrow, 1746; wäs in feorh dropen (fatally hit), 2982.
drepe, st. m., blow, stroke: acc. sg. drepe, 1590.
drêfan, ge-drêfan, w. v., to move, to agitate, to stir up: inf. gewât ... drêfan deóp wäter (to navigate), 1905; pret. part. wäter under stôd dreórig and gedrêfed, 1418.
dreám, st. m., rejoicing, joyous actions, joy: nom. sg. häleða dreám, 497; acc. sg. dreám hlûdne, 88; þu ... dreám healdende, thou who livest in rejoicing (at the drinking-carouse), who art joyous, 1228: dat. instr. sg. dreáme bedæled, 1276; gen. pl. dreáma leás, 851; dat. pl. dreámum (here adverbial) lifdon, lived in rejoicing, joyously, 99; dreámum bedæled, 722; the last may refer also to heavenly joys.—Comp. gleó-, gum-, man-, sele-dreám.
dreám-leás, adj., without rejoicing, joyless: nom. sg. of King Heremôd, 1721.
dreógan, st. v.: 1) to lead a life, to be in a certain condition: pret. dreáh äfter dôme, lived in honor, honorably, 2180; pret. pl. fyren-þearfe ongeat, þät hie ær drugon aldorleáse lange hwile, (God) had seen the great distress, (had seen) that they had lived long without a ruler (?), 15.—2) to experience, to live through, to do, to make, to enjoy: imp. dreóh symbelwynne, pass through the pleasure of the meal, to enjoy the meal, 1783; inf. driht-scype dreógan (do a heroic deed), 1471; pret. sundnytte dreáh (had the occupation of swimming, i.e. swam through the sea), 2361; pret. pl. hie gewin drugon (fought), 799; hî sîð drugon, made the way, went, 1967.—3) to experience, to bear, to suffer: scealt werhðo dreógan, shall suffer damnation, 590; pret. þegn-sorge dreáh, bore sorrow for his heroes, 131; nearoþearfe dreáh, 422; pret. pl. inwidsorge þe hie ær drugon, 832; similarly, 1859.
â-dreógan, to suffer, to endure: inf. wræc âdreógan, 3079.
ge-dreógan, to live through, to enjoy, pret. part. þät he ... gedrogen häfde eorðan wynne, that he had now enjoyed the pleasures of earth (i.e. that he was at his death), 2727.
dreór, st. m., blood dropping or flowing from wounds: instr. sg. dreóre, 447.—Comp. heoru-, sâwul-, wäl-dreór.
dreór-fâh, adj., colored with blood, spotted with blood: nom. sg. 485.
dreórig, adj., bloody, bleeding: nom. sg. wäter stôd dreórig, 1418; acc. sg. dryhten sînne driórigne fand, 2790.—Comp. heoru-dreórig.
ge-dreósan, st. v., to fall down, to sink: pres. sg. III. lîc-homa læne gedreóseð, the body, belonging to death, sinks down, 1755; inf. þät þu ne âlæte dôm gedreósan, honor fall, sink, 2667.
drincan, st. v., to drink (with and without the acc.): pres. part. nom. pl. ealo drincende, 1946; pret. blôd êdrum dranc, drank the blood in streams(?), 743; pret. pl. druncon wîn weras, the men drank wine, 1234; þær guman druncon, where the men drank, 1649. The pret. part., when it stands absolutely, has an active sense: nom. pl. druncne dryhtguman, ye warriors who have drunk, are drinking, 1232; acc. pl. nealles druncne slôg heorð-geneátas, slew not his hearth-companions who had drunk with him, i.e. at the banquet, 2180. With the instr. it means drunken: nom. sg. beóre (wîne) druncen, 531, 1468; nom. pl. beóre druncne, 480.
drîfan, st. v., to drive: pres. pl. þâ þe brentingas ofer flôda genipu feorran drîfað, who drive their ships thither from afar over the darkness of the sea, 2809; inf. (w. acc.) þeáh þe he [ne] meahte on mere drîfan hringedstefnan, although he could not drive the ship on the sea, 1131.
to-drîfan, to drive apart, to disperse: pret. ôð þät unc flôd tôdrâf, 545.
drohtoð, st. m., mode of living or acting, calling, employment: nom. sg. ne wäs his drohtoð þær swylce he ær gemêtte, there was no employment for him (Grendel) there such as he had found formerly, 757.
drusian, w. v. (cf. dreósan, properly, to be ready to fall; here of water), to stagnate, to be putrid. pret. lagu drusade (through the blood of Grendel and his mother), 1631.
dryht, driht, st. f., company, troop, band of warriors; noble band: in comp. mago-driht.
ge-dryht, ge-driht, st. f., troop, band of noble warriors: nom. sg. mînra eorla gedryht, 431; acc. sg. äðelinga gedriht, 118; mid his eorla (häleða) gedriht (gedryht), 357, 663; similarly, 634, 1673.—Comp. sibbe-gedriht.
dryht-bearn, st. n., youth from a noble warrior band, noble young man: nom. sg. dryhtbearn Dena, 2036.
dryhten, drihten, st. m., commander, lord: a) temporal lord: nom. sg. dryhten, 1485, 2001, etc.; drihten, 1051; dat. dryhtne, 2483, etc.; dryhten, 1832.—b) God: nom. drihten, 108, etc.; dryhten, 687, etc.; dat. sg. dryhtne, 1693, etc.; drihtne, 1399, etc.; gen. sg. dryhtnes, 441; drihtnes, 941.—Comp.: freá-, freó-, gum-, man-, sige-, wine-dryhten.
dryht-guma, w. m., one of a troop of warriors, noble warrior: dat. sg. drihtguman, 1389; nom. pl. drihtguman, 99; dryhtguman, 1232; dat. pl. ofer dryhtgumum, 1791 (of Hrôðgâr's warriors).
dryht-lîc, adj., (that which befits a noble troop of warriors), noble, excellent: dryhtlîc îren, excellent sword, 893; acc. sg. f. (with an acc. sg. n.) drihtlîce wîf (of Hildeburh), 1159.
dryht-mâðum, st. m., excellent jewel, splendid treasure: gen. pl. dryhtmâðma, 2844.
dryht-scipe, st. m., (lord-ship) warlike virtue, bravery; heroic deed: acc. sg. drihtscype dreógan, to do a heroic deed, 1471.
dryht-sele, st. m., excellent, splendid hall: nom. sg. driht-sele, 485; dryhtsele, 768; acc. sg. dryhtsele, 2321.
dryht-sib, st. f., peace or friendship between troops of noble warriors: gen. sg. dryhtsibbe, 2069.
drync, st. m., drink: in comp. heoru-drync.
drync-fät, st. n., vessel for drink, to receive the drink: acc. sg., 2255; drinc-fät, 2307.
drysmian, w. v., to become obscure, gloomy (through the falling rain): pres. sg. III. lyft drysmað, 1376.
dugan, v., to avail, to be capable, to be good: pres. sg. III. hûru se aldor deáh, especially is the prince capable, 369; ðonne his ellen deáh, if his strength avails, is good, 573; þe him selfa deáh, who is capable of himself, who can rely on himself, 1840; pres. subj. þeáh þîn wit duge, though, indeed, your understanding be good, avail, 590; similarly, 1661, 2032; pret. sg. þu ûs wel dohtest, you did us good, conducted yourself well towards us, 1822; similarly, nu seó hand ligeð se þe eów welhwylcra wilna dohte, which was helpful to each one of your desires, 1345; pret. subj. þeáh þu heaðoræsa gehwær dohte, though thou wast everywhere strong in battle, 526.
duguð (state of being fit, capable), st. f.: 1) capability, strength: dat. pl. for dugeðum, in ability(?), 2502; duguðum dêmdon, praised with all their might(?), 3176.—2) men capable of bearing arms, band of warriors, esp., noble warriors: nom. sg. duguð unlytel, 498; duguð, 1791, 2255; dat. sg. for duguðe, before the heroes, 2021; nalles frätwe geaf ealdor duguðe, gave the band of heroes no treasure (more), 2921; leóda duguðe on lâst, upon the track of the heroes of the people, i.e. after them, 2946; gen. sg. cûðe he duguðe þeáw, the custom of the noble warriors, 359; deórre duguðe, 488; similarly, 2239, 2659; acc. pl. duguða, 2036.—3) contrasted with geogoð, duguð designates the noted warriors of noble birth (as in the Middle Ages, knights in contrast with squires): so gen. sg. duguðe and geogoðe, 160; gehwylc ... duguðe and iogoðe, 1675; duguðe and geogoðe dæl æghwylcne, 622.
durran, v. pret. and pres. to dare; prs. sg. II. þu dearst bîdan, darest to await, 527; III. he gesêcean dear, 685; pres. subj. sêc gyf þu dyrre, seek (Grendel's mother), if thou dare, 1380; pret. dorste, 1463, 1469, etc.; pl. dorston, 2849.
duru, st. f., door, gate, wicket: nom. sg., 722; acc. sg. [duru], 389.
ge-dûfan, st. v., to dip in, to sink into: pret. þät sweord gedeáf (the sword sank into the drake, of a blow), 2701.
þurh-dûfan, to dive through; to swim through, diving: pret. wäter up þurh-deáf, swam through the water upwards (because he was before at the bottom), 1620.
dwellan, w. v., to mislead, to hinder: prs. III. nô hine wiht dweleð, âdl ne yldo, him nothing misleads, neither sickness nor age, 1736.
dyhtig, adj., useful, good for: nom. sg. n. sweord ... ecgum dyhtig, 1288.
dynnan, w. v., to sound, to groan, to roar: pret. dryhtsele (healwudu, hruse) dynede, 768, 1318, 2559.
dyrne, adj.: 1) concealed, secret, retired: nom. sg. dyrne, 271; acc. sg. dryhtsele dyrnne (of the drake's cave-hall), 2321.—2) secret, malicious, hidden by sorcery: dat. instr. sg. dyrnan cräfte, with secret magic art, 2291; dyrnum cräfte, 2169; gen. pl. dyrnra gâsta, of malicious spirits (of Grendel's kin), 1358.—Comp. un-dyrne.
dyrne, adv., in secret, secretly: him ...äfter deórum men dyrne langað, longs in secret for the dear man, 1880.
dyrstig, adj., bold, daring: þeáh þe he dæda gehwäs dyrstig wære, although he had been courageous for every deed, 2839.
ge-dýgan, ge-dîgan, w. v., to endure, to overcome, with the acc. of the thing endured: pres. sg. II. gif þu þät ellenweorc aldre gedîgest, if thou survivest the heroic work with thy life, 662; III. þät þone hilderæs hâl gedîgeð, that he survives the battle in safety, 300; similarly, inf. unfæge gedîgan weán and wräcsîð, 2293; hwäðer sêl mæge wunde gedýgan, which of the two can stand the wounds better (come off with life), 2532; ne meahte unbyrnende deóp gedýgan, could not endure the deep without burning (could not hold out in the deep), 2550; pret. sg. I. III. ge-dîgde, 578, 1656, 2351, 2544.
ecg, st. f., edge of the sword, point: nom. sg. sweordes ecg, 1107; ecg, 1525, etc.; acc. sg. wið ord and wið ecge ingang forstôd, defended the entrance against point and edge (i.e. against spear and sword), 1550; mêces ecge, 1813; nom. pl. ecge, 1146.—Sword, battle-axe, any cutting weapon: nom. sg. ne wäs ecg bona (not the sword killed him), 2507; sió ecg brûn (Beówulf's sword Nägling), 2578; hyne ecg fornam, the sword snatched him away, 2773, etc.; nom. pl. ecga, 2829; dat. pl. äscum and ecgum, 1773; dat. pl. (but denoting only one sword) eácnum ecgum, 2141; gen. pl. ecga, 483, 806, 1169;—blade: ecg wäs îren, 1460.—Comp.: brûn-, heard-, stýl-ecg, adj.
ecg-bana, w. m., murderer by the sword: dat. sg. Cain wearð tô ecg-banan ângan brêðer, 1263.
ecg-hete, st. m., sword-hate, enmity which the sword carries out: nom. sg., 84, 1739.
ecg-þracu, st. f., sword-storm (of violent combat): acc. atole ecg-þräce, 597.
ed-hwyrft, st. m., return (of a former condition): þâ þær sôna wearð edhwyrft eorlum, siððan inne fealh Grendles môdor (i.e. after Grendel's mother had penetrated into the hall, the former perilous condition, of the time of the visits of Grendel, returned to the men), 1282.
ed-wendan, w. v., to turn back, to yield, to leave off: inf. gyf him edwendan æfre scolde bealuwa bisigu, if for him the affliction of evil should ever cease, 280.
ed-wenden, st. f., turning, change: nom. sg. edwenden, 1775; ed-wenden torna gehwylces (reparation for former neglect), 2189.
edwît-lîf, st. n., life in disgrace: nom. sg., 2892.
efn, adj., even, like, with preceding on, and with depend. dat., upon the same level, near: him on efn ligeð ealdorgewinna, lies near him, 2904.
efnan (see äfnan) w. v., to carry out, to perform, to accomplish: pres. subj. eorlscype efne (accomplish knightly deeds), 2536; inf. eorlscipe efnan, 2623; sweorda gelâc efnan (to battle), 1042; gerund. tô efnanne, 1942; pret. eorlscipe efnde, 2134, 3008.
efne, adv., even, exactly, precisely, just, united with swâ or swylc: efne swâ swîðe swâ, just so much as, 1093; efne swâ sîde swâ, 1224; wäs se gryre lässa efne swâ micle swâ, by so much the less as ..., 1284; leóht inne stôd efne swâ ... scîneð, a gleam stood therein (in the sword) just as when ... shines, 1572; efne swâ hwylc mägða swâ þone magan cende (a woman who has borne such a son), 944; efne swâ hwylcum manna swâ him gemet þûhte, to just such a man as seemed good to him, 3058; efne swylce mæla swylce ... þearf gesælde, just at the times at which necessity commanded it, 1250.
eft, adv.: l) thereupon, afterwards: 56, 1147, 2112, 3047, etc.; eft sôna bið, then it happens immediately, 1763; bôt eft cuman, help come again, 281.—2) again, on the other side: þät hine on ylde eft gewunigen wilgesîðas, that in old age again (also on their side) willing companions should be attached to him, 22;—anew, again: 135, 604, 693, 1557, etc.; eft swâ ær, again as formerly, 643.—3) retro, rursus, back: 123, 296, 854, etc.; þät hig äðelinges eft ne wêndon (did not believe that he would come back), 1597.
eft-cyme, st. m., return: gen. sg. eftcymes, 2897.
eft-sîð, st. m., journey back, return: acc. sg. 1892; gen. sg. eft-sîðes georn, 2784; acc. pl. eftsîðas teáh, went the road back, i.e. returned, 1333.
egesa, egsa (state of terror, active or passive): l) frightfulness: acc. sg. þurh egsan, 276; gen. egesan ne gýmeð, cares for nothing terrible, is not troubled about future terrors(?), 1758.—2) terror, horror, fear: nom. sg. egesa, 785; instr. sg. egesan, 1828, 2737.—Comp.: glêd-, lîg-, wäter-egesa.
eges-full, adj., horrible (full of fear, fearful), 2930.
eges-lîc, adj., terrible, bringing terror: of Grendel's head, 1650; of the beginning of the fight with the drake, 2310; of the drake, 2826.
egle, adj., causing aversion, hideous: nom. pl. neut., or, more probably, perhaps, adverbial, egle (MS. egl), 988.
egsian (denominative from egesa), w. v., to have terror, distress: pret. (as pluperf.) egsode eorl(?), 6.
ehtian, w. v., to esteem, to make prominent with praise: III. pl. pres. þät þe ... weras ehtigað, that thee men shall esteem, praise, 1223.
elde (those who generate, cf. O.N. al-a, generare), st. m. only in the pl., men: dat. pl. eldum, 2215; mid eldum, among men, 2612.—See ylde.
eldo, st. f., age: instr. sg. eldo gebunden, 2112.
el-land, st. n., foreign land, exile: acc. sg. sceall ... elland tredan, (shall be banished), 3020.
ellen, st. n., strength, heroic strength, bravery: nom. sg. ellen, 573; eafoð and ellen, 903; Geáta ... eafoð and ellen, 603; acc. sg. eafoð and ellen, 2350; ellen cýðan, show bravery, 2696; ellen fremedon, exercised heroic strength, did heroic deeds, 3; similarly, ic gefremman sceal eorlîc ellen, 638; ferh ellen wräc, life drove out the strength, i.e. with the departing life (of the dragon) his strength left him, 2707; dat. sg. on elne, 2507, 2817; as instr. þâ wäs ät þam geongum grim andswaru êðbegête þâm þe ær his elne forleás, then it was easy for (every one of) those who before had lost his hero-courage, to obtain rough words from the young man (Wîglâf), 2862; mid elne, 1494, 2536; elne, alone, in adverbial sense, strongly, zealously, and with the nearly related meaning, hurriedly, transiently, 894, 1098, 1968, 2677, 2918; gen. sg. elnes lät, 1530; þâ him wäs elnes þearf, 2877.—Comp. mägen-ellen.
ellen-dæd, st. f., heroic deed: dat. pl. -dædum, 877, 901.
ellen-gæst, st. m., strength-spirit, demon with heroic strength: nom. sg. of Grendel, 86.
ellen-lîce, adv., strongly, with heroic strength, 2123.
ellen-mærðu, st. f., renown of heroic strength, dat. pl. -mærðum, 829, 1472.
ellen-rôf, adj., renowned for strength: nom. sg. 340, 358, 3064; dat. pl. -rôfum, 1788.
ellen-seóc, adj., infirm in strength: acc. sg. þeóden ellensiócne (the mortally wounded king, Beówulf), 2788.
ellen-weorc, st. n., (strength-work), heroic deed, achievement in battle: acc. sg. 662, 959, 1465, etc.; gen. pl. ellen-weorca, 2400.
elles, adv., else, otherwise: a (modal), in another manner, 2521.—b (local), elles hwær, somewhere else, 138; elles hwergen, 2591.
ellor, adv., to some other place, 55, 2255.
ellor-gâst, -gæst, st. m., spirit living elsewhere (standing outside of the community of mankind): nom. sg. se ellorgâst (Grendel), 808; (Grendel's mother), 1622; ellorgæst (Grendel's mother), 1618; acc. pl. ellorgæstas, 1350.
ellor-sîð, st. m., departure, death: nom. sg. 2452.
elra, adj. (comparative of a not existing form, ele, Goth. aljis, alius), another: dat. sg. on elran men, 753.
el-þeódig, adj., of another people: foreign: acc. pl. el-þeódige men, 336.
ende, st. m., the extreme: hence, 1) end: nom. sg. aldres (lîfes) ende, 823, 2845; ôð þät ende becwom (scil. unrihtes), 1255; acc. sg. ende lîfgesceafta (lîfes, læn-daga), 3064, 1387, 2343; häfde eorðscrafa ende genyttod, had used the end of the earth-caves (had made use of the caves for the last time), 3047; dat. sg. ealdres (lîfes) ät ende, 2791, 2824; eoletes ät ende, 224.—2) boundary: acc. sg. sîde rîce þät he his selfa ne mäg ... ende geþencean, the wide realm, so that he himself cannot comprehend its boundaries, 1735.—3) summit, head: dat. sg. eorlum on ende, to the nobles at the end (the highest courtiers), 2022.—Comp. woruld-ende.
ende-däg, st. m., last day, day of death: nom. sg. 3036; acc. sg. 638.
ende-dôgor, st. m., last day, day of death: gen. sg. bega on wênum endedôgores and eftcymes leótes monnes (hesitating between the belief in the death and in the return of the dear man), 2897.
ende-lâf, st. f., last remnant: nom. sg. þu eart ende-lâf ûsses cynnes, art the last of our race, 2814.
ende-leán, st. n., final reparation: acc. sg. 1693.
ende-sæta, w. m., he who sits on the border, boundary-guard: nom. sg. (here of the strand-watchman), 241.
ende-stäf, st. m. (elementum finis), end: acc. sg. hit on endestäf eft gelimpeð, then it draws near to the end, 1754.
ge-endian, w. v., to end: pret. part. ge-endod, 2312.
enge, adj., narrow: acc. pl. enge ânpaðas, narrow paths, 1411.
ent, st. m., giant: gen. pl. enta ær-geweorc (the sword-hilt out of the dwelling-place of Grendel), 1680; enta geweorc (the dragon's cave), 2718; eald-enta ær-geweorc (the costly things in the dragon's cave), 2775.
entisc, adj., coming from giants: acc. sg. entiscne helm, 2980.
etan, st. v., to eat, to consume: pres. sg. III. blôdig wäl ... eteð ân-genga, he that goes alone (Grendel) will devour the bloody corpse, 448; inf. Geátena leóde ... etan, 444.
þurh-etan, to eat through: pret. part. pl. nom. swyrd ... þurhetone, swords eaten through (by rust), 3050.
êce, adj., everlasting; nom. êce drihten (God), 108; acc. sg. êce eorðreced, the everlasting earth-hall (the dragon's cave), 2720; geceás êcne ræd, chose the everlasting gain (died), 1202; dat. sg. êcean dryhtne, 1693, 1780, 2331; acc. pl. geceós êce rædas, 1761.
êð-begête, adj., easy to obtain, ready: nom. sg. þâ wäs ät þam geongum grim andswaru êð-begête, then from the young man (Wîglâf) it was an easy thing to get a gruff answer, 2862.
êðel, st. m., hereditary possessions, hereditary estate: acc. sg. swæsne êðel, 520; dat. sg. on êðle, 1731.—In royal families the hereditary possession is the whole realm: hence, acc. sg. êðel Scyldinga, of the kingdom of the Scyldings, 914; (Offa) wîsdôme heóld êðel sînne, ruled with wisdom his inherited kingdom, 1961.
êðel-riht, st. n., hereditary privileges (rights that belong to a hereditary estate): nom. sg. eard êðel-riht, estate and inherited privileges, 2199.
êðel-stôl, st. m., hereditary seat, inherited throne: acc. pl. êðel-stôlas, 2372.
êðel-turf, st. f., inherited ground, hereditary estate: dat. sg. on mînre êðeltyrf, 410.
êðel-weard, st. m., lord of the hereditary estate (realm): nom. sg. êðelweard (king), 1703, 2211; dat. sg. Eást-Dena êðel wearde (King Hrôðgâr), 617.
êðel-wyn, st. f., joy in, or enjoyment of, hereditary possessions: nom. sg. nu sceal ... eall êðelwyn eówrum cynne, lufen âlicgean, now shall your race want all home-joy, and subsistence(?) (your race shall be banished from its hereditary abode), 2886; acc. sg. he me lond forgeaf, eard êðelwyn, presented me with land, abode, and the enjoyment of home, 2494.
êð-gesýne, ýð-gesêne, adj., easy to see, visible to all: nom. sg. 1111, 1245.
êfstan, w. v., to be in haste, to hasten: inf. uton nu êfstan, let us hurry now, 3102; pret. êfste mid elne, hastened with heroic strength, 1494.
êg-clif, st. n., sea-cliff: acc. sg. ofer êg-clif (ecg-clif, MS.), 2894.
êg-streám, st. m., sea-stream, sea-flood: dat. pl. on êg-streámum, in the sea-floods, 577. See eágor-streám.
êhtan (M.H.G. æchten; cf. æht and ge-æhtla), w. v. w. gen., to be a pursuer, to pursue: pres. part. äglæca êhtende wäs duguðe and geogoðe, 159; pret. pl. êhton aglæcan, they pursued the bringer of sorrow (Beówulf)(?), 1513.
êst, st. m. f., favor, grace, kindness: acc. sg. he him êst geteáh meara and mâðma (honored him with horses and jewels), 2166; gearwor häfde âgendes êst ær gesceáwod, would rather have seen the grace of the Lord (of God) sooner, 3076.—dat. pl., adverbial, libenter: him on folce heóld, êstum mid âre, 2379; êstum geýwan (to present), 2150; him wäs ... wunden gold êstum geeáwed (presented), 1195; we þät ellenweorc êstum miclum fremedon, 959.
êste, adj., gracious: w. gen. êste bearn-gebyrdo, gracious through the birth (of such a son as Beówulf), 946.
eafoð, st. n., power, strength: nom, sg. eafoð and ellen, 603, 903; acc. sg. eafoð and ellen, 2350; we frêcne genêðdon eafoð uncûðes, we have boldly ventured against the strength of the enemy (Grendel) have withstood him, 961; gen. sg. eafoðes cräftig, 1467; þät þec âdl oððe ecg eafoðes getwæfed, shall rob of strength, 1764; acc. pl. eafeðo (MS. earfeðo), 534; dat. pl. hine mihtig god ... eafeðum stêpte, made him great through strength, 1718. See Note for l. 534.
eafor, st. m., boar; here the image of the boar as banner: acc. sg. eafor, 2153.
eafora (offspring), w. m.: 1) son: nom. sg. eafera, 12, 898; eafora, 375; acc. sg. eaferan, 1548, 1848; gen. sg. eafera, 19; nom. pl. eaferan, 2476; dat. pl. eaferum, 1069, 2471; uncran eaferan, 1186.—2) in broader sense, successor: dat. pl. eaforum, 1711.
eahta, num., eight: acc. pl. eahta mearas, 1036; eode eahta sum, went as one of eight, with seven others, 3124.
eahtian, w. v.: 1) to consider; to deliberate: pret. pl. w. acc. ræd eahtedon, consulted about help, 172; pret. sg. (for the plural) þone sêlestan þâra þe mid Hrôðgâre hâm eahtode, the best one of those who with Hrôðgâr deliberated about their home (ruled), 1408.—2) to speak with reflection of (along with the idea of praise): pret. pl. eahtodan eorlscipe, spoke of his noble character, 3175.
eal, eall, adj., all, whole: nom. sg. werod eall, 652; pl. eal bencþelu, 486; sg. eall êðelwyn, 2886; eal worold, 1739, etc.; þät hit wearð eal gearo, healärna mæst, 77; þät hit (wîgbil) eal gemealt, 1609. And with a following genitive: þær wäs eal geador Grendles grâpe, there was all together Grendel's hand, the whole hand of Grendel, 836; eall ... lissa, all favor, 2150; wäs eall sceacen dôgorgerîmes, 2728. With apposition: þûhte him eall tô rûm, wongas and wîcstede, 2462; acc. sg. beót eal, 523; similarly, 2018, 2081; oncýððe ealle, all distress, 831; heals ealne, 2692; hlæw ... ealne ûtan-weardne, 2298; gif he þät eal gemon, 1186, 2428; þät eall geondseh, recedes geatwa, 3089; ealne wîde-ferhð, through the whole wide life, through all time, 1223; instr. sg. ealle mägene, with all strength, 2668; dat. sg. eallum ... manna cynne, 914; gen. sg. ealles moncynnes, 1956. Subst. ic þäs ealles mäg ... gefeán habban, 2740; brûc ealles well, 2163; freán ealles þanc secge, give thanks to the Lord of all, 2795; nom. pl. untydras ealle, 111; sceótend ... ealle, 706; we ealle, 942; acc. pl. feónd ealle, 700; similarly, 1081, 1797, 2815; subst. ofer ealle, 650; ealle hie deáð fornam, 2237; lîg ealle forswealg þâra þe þær gûð fornam, all of those whom the war had snatched away, 1123; dat. pl. eallum ceaster-bûendum, 768; similarly, 824, 907, 1418; subst. âna wið eallum, one against all, 145; with gen. eallum gumena cynnes, 1058; gen. pl. äðelinga bearn ealra twelfa, the kinsmen of all twelve nobles (twelve nobles hold the highest positions of the court), 3172; subst. he âh ealra geweald, has power over all, 1728.
Uninflected: bil eal þurhwôd flæschoman, the battle-axe cleft the body through and through, 1568; häfde ... eal gefeormod fêt and folma, had devoured entirely feet and hands, 745; se þe eall geman gâr-cwealm gumena, who remembers thoroughly the death of the men by the spear, 2043, etc.
Adverbial: þeáh ic eal mæge, although I am entirely able, 681; hî on beorg dydon bêg and siglu eall swylce hyrsta, they placed in the grave-mound rings, and ornaments, all such adornments, 3165.—The gen. sg. ealles, adverbial in the sense of entirely, 1001, 1130.
eald, adj., old: a) of the age of living beings: nom. sg. eald, 357, 1703, 2211, etc.; dat. sg. ealdum, 2973; gen. sg. ealdes uhtflogan (dragon), 2761; dat. sg. ealdum, 1875; geongum and ealdum, 72.—b) of things and of institutions: nom. sg. helm monig eald and ômig, 2764; acc. sg. ealde lâfe (sword), 796, 1489; ealde wîsan, 1866; eald sweord, 1559, 1664, etc.; eald gewin, old (lasting years), distress, 1782; eald enta geweorc (the precious things in the drake's cave), 2775; acc. pl. ealde mâðmas, 472; ofer ealde riht, against the old laws (namely, the Ten Commandments; Beówulf believes that God has sent him the drake as a punishment, because he has unconsciously, at some time, violated one of the commandments), 2331.
yldra, compar. older: mîn yldra mæg, 468; yldra brôðor, 1325; ôð þät he (Heardrêd) yldra wearð, 2379.
yldesta, superl. oldest, in the usual sense; dat. sg. þam yldestan, 2436; in a moral sense, the most respected: nom. sg. se yldesta, 258; acc. sg. þone yldestan, 363, both times of Beówulf.
eald-fäder, st. m., old-father, grandfather, ancestor: nom. sg. 373.
eald-gesegen, st. f., traditions from old times: gen. pl. eal-fela eald-gesegena, very many of the old traditions, 870.
eald-gesîð, st. m., companion ever since old times, courtier for many years: nom. pl. eald-gesîðas, 854.
eald-gestreón, st. n., treasure out of the old times: dat. pl. eald-gestreónum, 1382; gen. pl. -gestreóna, 1459.
eald-gewinna, w. m., old-enemy, enemy for many years: nom. sg. of Grendel, 1777.
eald-gewyrht, st. n., merit on account of services rendered during many years: nom. pl. þät næron eald-gewyrht, þät he âna scyle gnorn þrowian, that has not been his desert ever since long ago, that he should bear the distress alone, 2658.
eald-hlâford, st. m., lord through many years: gen. sg. bill eald-hlâfordes (of the old Beówulf(?)), 2779.
eald-metod, st. m., God ruling ever since ancient times: nom. sg. 946.
ealdor, aldor, st. m., lord, chief (king or powerful noble): nom. sg. ealdor, 1645, 1849, 2921; aldor, 56, 369, 392; acc. sg. aldor, 669; dat. sg. ealdre, 593; aldre, 346.
ealdor, aldor, st. n., life: acc. sg. aldor, 1372; dat. sg. aldre, 1448, 1525; ealdre, 2600; him on aldre stôd herestræl hearda (in vitalibus), 1435; nalles for ealdre mearn, was not troubled about his life, 1443; of ealdre gewât, went out of life, died, 2625; as instr. aldre, 662, 681, etc.; ealdre, 1656, 2134, etc.; gen. sg. aldres, 823; ealdres, 2791, 2444; aldres orwêna, despairing of life, 1003, 1566; ealdres scyldig, having forfeited life, 1339, 2062; dat. pl. aldrum nêðdon, 510, 538.—Phrases: on aldre (in life), ever, 1780; tô aldre (for life), always, 2006, 2499; âwa tô aldre, for ever and ever, 956.
ealdor-bealu, st. n., life's evil: acc. sg. þu ... ondrædan ne þearft ... aldorbealu eorlum, thou needest not fear death for the courtiers, 1677.
ealdor-cearu, st. f., trouble that endangers life, great trouble: dat. sg. he his leódum wearð ... tô aldor-ceare, 907.
ealdor-dagas, st. m. pl., days of one's life: dat. pl. næfre on aldor-dagum (never in his life), 719; on ealder-dagum ær (in former days), 758.
ealdor-gedâl, st. n., severing of life, death, end: nom. sg. aldor-gedâl, 806.
ealdor-gewinna, w. m., life-enemy, one who strives to take his enemy's life (in N.H.G. the contrary conception, Tod-feind): nom. sg. ealdorgewinna (the dragon), 2904.
ealdor-leás, adj., without a ruler(?): nom. pl. aldor-leáse, 15.
ealdor-leás, adj., lifeless, dead: acc. sg. aldor-leásne, 1588; ealdor-leásne, 3004.
ealdor-þegn, st. m., nobleman at the court, distinguished courtier: acc. sg. aldor-þegn (Hrôðgâr's confidential adviser, Äschere), 1309.
eal-fela, adj., very much: with following gen., eal-fela eald-gesegena, very many old traditions, 870; eal-fela eotena cynnes, 884.
ealgian, w. v., to shield, to defend, to protect: inf. w. acc. feorh ealgian, 797, 2656, 2669; pret. siððan he (Hygelâc) under segne sinc eal-gode, wälreáf werede, while under his banner he protected the treasures, defended the spoil of battle (i.e. while he was upon the Viking expeditions), 1205.
eal-gylden, adj., all golden, entirely of gold: nom. sg. swýn ealgylden, 1112; acc. sg. segn eallgylden, 2768.
eal-îrenne, adj., entirely of iron: acc. sg. eall-îrenne wîgbord, a wholly iron battle-shield, 2339.
ealu, st. n., ale, beer: acc. sg. ealo drincende, 1946.
ealu-benc, st. f., ale-bench, bench for those drinking ale: dat. sg. in ealo-bence, 1030; on ealu-bence, 2868.
ealu-scerwen, st. f., terror, under the figure of a mishap at an ale-drinking, probably the sudden taking away of the ale: nom. sg. Denum eallum wearð ... ealuscerwen, 770.
ealu-wæge, st. n., ale-can, portable vessel out of which ale is poured into the cups: acc. sg. 2022; hroden ealowæge, 495; dat. sg. ofer ealowæge (at the ale-carouse), 481.
eal-wealda, w. adj., all ruling (God): nom. sg. fäder alwalda, 316; alwalda, 956, 1315; dat. sg. al-wealdan, 929.
eard, st. m., cultivated ground, estate, hereditary estate; in a broader sense, ground in general, abode, place of sojourn: nom. sg. him wäs bâm ... lond gecynde, eard êðel-riht, the land was bequeathed to them both, the land and the privileges attached to it. 2199; acc. sg. fîfel-cynnes eard, the ground of the giant race, place of sojourn, 104; similarly, älwihta eard, 1501; eard gemunde, thought of his native ground, his home, 1130; eard git ne const, thou knowest not yet the place of sojourn. 1378; eard and eorlscipe, prædium et nobilitatem, 1728; eard êðelwyn, land and the enjoyment of home, 2494; dat. sg. ellor hwearf of earde, went elsewhere from his place of abode, i.e. died, 56; þät we rondas beren eft tô earde, that we go again to our homes, 2655; on earde, 2737; nom. pl. eácne eardas, the broad expanses (in the fen-sea where Grendel's home was), 1622.
eardian, w. v.: 1) to have a dwelling-place, to live; to rest: pret. pl. dýre swyrd swâ hie wið eorðan fäðm þær eardodon, costly swords, as they had rested in the earth's bosom, 3051.—2) also transitively, to inhabit: pret. sg. Heorot eardode, 166; inf. wîc eardian elles hwergen, inhabit a place elsewhere (i.e. die), 2590.
eard-lufa, w. m., the living upon one's land, home-life: acc. sg. eard-lufan, 693.
earfoð-lîce, adv., with trouble, with difficulty, 1637, 1658; with vexation, angrily, 86; sorrowfully, 2823; with difficulty, scarcely, 2304, 2935.
earfoð-þrag, st. f., time full of troubles, sorrowful time: acc. sg. -þrage, 283.
earh, adj., cowardly: gen. sg. ne bið swylc earges sîð (no coward undertaken that), 2542.
earm, st. m., arm: acc. sg. earm, 836, 973; wið earm gesät, supported himself with his arm, 750; dat. pl. earmum, 513.
earm, adj., poor, miserable, unhappy: nom. sg. earm, 2369; earme ides, the unhappy woman, 1118; dat. sg. earmre teohhe, the unhappy band, 2939.—Comp. acc. sg. earmran mannan, a more wretched, more forsaken man, 577.
earm-beág, st. m., arm-ring, bracelet: gen. pl. earm-beága fela searwum gesæled, many arm-rings interlaced, 2764.
earm-hreád, st. f., arm-ornament. nom. pl. earm-hreáde twâ, 1195 (Grein's conjecture, MS. earm reade).
earm-lîc, adj., wretched, miserable: nom. sg. sceolde his ealdor-gedâl earmlîc wurðan, his end should be wretched, 808.
earm-sceapen, pret. part. as adj. (properly, wretched by the decree of fate), wretched: nom. sg. 1352.
earn, st. m., eagle: dat. sg. earne, 3027.
eaxl, st. f., shoulder: acc. sg. eaxle, 836, 973; dat. sg. on eaxle, 817, 1548; be eaxle, 1538; on eaxle ides gnornode, the woman sobbed on the shoulder (of her son, who has fallen and is being burnt), 1118; dat. pl. sät freán eaxlum neáh, sat near the shoulders of his lord (Beówulf lies lifeless upon the earth, and Wîglâf sits by his side, near his shoulder, so as to sprinkle the face of his dead lord), 2854; he for eaxlum gestôd Deniga freán, he stood before the shoulders of the lord of the Danes (i.e. not directly before him, but somewhat to the side, as etiquette demanded), 358.
eaxl-gestealla, w. m., he who has his position at the shoulder (sc. of his lord), trusty courtier, counsellor of a prince: nom. sg. 1327; acc. pl. -gesteallan, 1715.
eác, conj., also: 97, 388, 433, etc.; êc, 3132.
eácen (pret. part. of a not existing eacan, augere), adj., wide-spread, large: nom. pl. eácne eardas, broad plains, 1622.—great, heavy: eald sweord eácen, 1664; dat. pl. eácnum ecgum, 2141, both times of the great sword in Grendel's habitation.—great, mighty, powerful: äðele and eácen, of Beówulf, 198.
eácen-cräftig, adj., immense (of riches), enormously great: acc. sg. hord-ärna sum eácen-cräftig, that enormous treasure-house, 2281; nom. sg. þät yrfe eácen-cräftig, iúmonna gold, 3052.
eádig, adj., blessed with possessions, rich, happy by reason of property: nom. sg. wes, þenden þu lifige, äðeling eádig, be, as long as thou livest, a prince blessed with riches, 1226; eádig mon, 2471.—Comp. sige-, sigor-, tîr-eádig.
eádig-lîce, adv., in abundance, in joyous plenty: dreámum lifdon eádiglîce, lived in rejoicing and plenty, 100.
eáðe, êðe, ýðe, adj., easy, pleasant: nom. pl. gode þancedon þäs þe him ýð-lâde eáðe wurdon, thanked God that the sea-ways (the navigation) had become easy to them, 228; ne wäs þät êðe sîð, no pleasant way, 2587; näs þät ýðe ceáp, no easy purchase, 2416; nô þät ýðe byð tô befleónne, not easy (as milder expression for in no way, not at all), 1003.
eáðe, ýðe, adv., easily. eáðe, 478, 2292, 2765.
eáð-fynde, adj., easy to find: nom. sg. 138.
eáge, w. n., eye: dat. pl. him of eágum stôd leóht unfäger, out of his eyes came a terrible gleam, 727; þät ic ... eágum starige, see with eyes, behold, 1782; similarly, 1936; gen. pl. eágena bearhtm, 1767.
eágor-streám, st. m., sea-stream sea: acc. sg. 513.
eá-land, st. n., land surrounded by water (of the land of the Geátas): acc. sg. eá-lond, 2335; island.
eám, st. m., uncle, mothers brother: nom. sg. 882.
eástan, adv., from the east, 569.
eáwan, w. v., to disclose, to show, to prove: pres. sg. III. eáweð ... uncûðne nîð, shows evil enmity, 276. See eówan, ýwan.
ge-eáwan, to show, to offer: pret. part. him wäs ... wunden gold êstum ge-eáwed, was graciously presented, 1195.
eodor, st. m., fence, hedge, railing. Among the old Germans, an estate was separated by a fence from the property of others. Inside of this fence the laws of peace and protection held good, as well as in the house itself. Hence eodor is sometimes used instead of house: acc. pl. hêht eahta mearas on flet teón, in under eoderas, gave orders to lead eight steeds into the hall, into the house, 1038.—2) figuratively, lord, prince, as protector: nom. sg. eodor, 428, 1045; eodur, 664.
eofoð, st. n., strength: acc. pl. eofoðo, 2535. See eafoð.
eofer, st. m.: 1) boar, here of the metal boar-image upon the helmet: nom. sg. eofer îrenheard, 1113.—2) figuratively, bold hero, brave fighter (O.N. iöfur): nom. pl. þonne ... eoferas cnysedan, when the heroes rushed upon each other, 1329, where eoferas and fêðan stand in the same relation to each other as cnysedan and hniton.
eofor-lîc, st. n. boar-image (on the helmet): nom. pl. eofor-lîc scionon, 303.
eofor-spreót, st. m., boar-spear: dat. pl. mid eofer-spreótum heóro-hôcyhtum, with hunting-spears which were provided with sharp hooks, 1438.
eoguð, ioguð. See geogoð.
eolet, st. m. n., sea(?): gen. sg. eoletes, 224.
eorclan-stân, st. m., precious stone: acc. pl. -stânas, 1209.
eorð-cyning, st. m., king of the land: gen. sg. eorð-cyninges (Finn), 1156.
eorð-draca, w. m., earth-drake, dragon that lives in the earth: nom. sg. 2713, 2826.
eorðe, w. f.: 1) earth (in contrast with heaven), world: acc. sg. älmihtiga eorðan worhte, 92; wîde geond eorðan, far over the earth, through the wide world, 266; dat. sg. ofer eorðan, 248, 803; on eorðan, 1823, 2856, 3139; gen. sg. eorðan, 753.—2) earth, ground: acc. sg. he eorðan gefeóll, fell to the ground, 2835; forlêton eorla gestreón eorðan healdan, let the earth hold the nobles' treasure, 3168; dat. sg. þät hit on eorðan läg, 1533; under eorðan, 2416; gen. sg. wið eorðan fäðm (in the bosom of the earth), 3050.
eorð-reced, st. n., hall in the earth, rock-hall: acc. sg. 2720.
eorð-scräf, st. n., earth-cavern, cave: dat. sg. eorð-[scräfe], 2233; gen. pl. eorð-scräfe, 3047.
eorð-sele, st. m., hall in the earth, cave: acc. sg. eorð-sele, 2411; dat sg. of eorðsele, 2516.
eorð-weall, st. m., earth-wall: acc. sg. (Ongenþeów) beáh eft under eorðweall, fled again under the earth-wall (into his fortified camp), 2958; þâ me wäs ... sîð âlýfed inn under eorðweall, then the way in, under the earth-wall was opened to me (into the dragon's cave), 3091.
eorð-weard, st. m., land-property, estate: acc. sg. 2335.
eorl, st. m., noble born man, a man of the high nobility: nom. sg. 762, 796, 1229, etc.; acc. sg. eorl, 573, 628, 2696; gen. sg. eorles, 690, 983, 1758, etc.; acc. pl. eorlas, 2817; dat. pl. eorlum, 770, 1282, 1650, etc.; gen. pl. eorla, 248, 357, 369, etc.—Since the king himself is from the stock of the eorlas, he is also called eorl, 6, 2952.
eorl-gestreón, st. n., wealth of the nobles: gen. pl. eorl-gestreóna ... hardfyrdne dæl, 2245.
eorl-gewæde, st. n., knightly dress, armor: dat. pl. -gewædum, 1443.
eorlîc (i.e. eorl-lîc), adj., what it becomes a noble born man to do, chivalrous: acc. sg. eorlîc ellen, 638.
eorl-scipe, st. m., condition of being noble born, chivalrous nature, nobility: acc. sg. eorl-scipe, 1728, 3175; eorl-scipe efnan, to do chivalrous deeds, 2134, 2536, 2623, 3008.
eorl-weorod, st. n., followers of nobles: nom. sg. 2894.
eormen-cyn, st. n., very extensive race, mankind: gen. sg. eormen-cynnes, 1958.
eormen-grund, st. m., immensely wide plains, the whole broad earth: acc. sg. ofer eormen-grund, 860.
eormen-lâf, st. f., enormous legacy: acc. sg. eormen-lâfe äðelan cynnes (the treasures of the dragon's cave) 2235.
eorre, adj., angry, enraged: gen. sg. eorres, 1448.
eoton, st. m.: 1) giant: nom. sg. eoten (Grendel), 762; dat. sg. uninflected, eoton (Grendel), 669; nom. pl. eotenas, 112.—2) Eotens, subjects of Finn, the N. Frisians: 1073, 1089, 1142; dat. pl. 1146. See List of Names, p. 114.
eotonisc, adj., gigantic, coming from giants: acc. sg. eald sweord eotenisc (eotonisc), 1559, 2980, (etonisc, MS.) 2617.
eóred-geatwe, st. f. pl., warlike adornments: acc. pl., 2867.
eówan, w. v., to show, to be seen: pres. sg. III. ne gesacu ôhwær, ecghete eóweð, nowhere shows itself strife, sword-hate, 1739. See eáwan, ýwan.
eówer: 1) gen. pl. pers. pron., vestrum: eówer sum, that one of you (namely, Beówulf), 248; fæhðe eówer leóde, the enmity of the people of you (of your people), 597; nis þät eówer sîð ... nefne mîn ânes, 2533.—2) poss. pron., your, 251, 257, 294, etc.
ge-fandian, -fondian, w. v., to try, to search for, to find out, to experience: w. gen. pret. part. þät häfde gumena sum goldes gefandod, that a man had discovered the gold, 2302; þonne se ân hafað þurh deâðes nýd dæda gefondad, now the one (Herebeald) has with death's pang experienced the deeds (the unhappy bow-shot of Hæðcyn), 2455.
fara, w. m., farer, traveller: in comp. mere-fara.
faran, st. v., to move from one place to another, to go, to wander: inf. tô hâm faran, to go home, 124; lêton on geflît faran fealwe mearas, let the fallow horses go in emulation, 865; cwom faran flotherge on Fresna land, had come to Friesland with a fleet, 2916; com leóda dugoðe on lâst faran, came to go upon the track of the heroes of his people, i.e. to follow them, 2946; gerund wæron äðelingas eft tô leódum fûse tô farenne, the nobles were ready to go again to their people, 1806; pret. sg. gegnum fôr [þâ] ofer myrcan môr, there had (Grendel's mother) gone away over the dark fen, 1405; sægenga fôr, the seafarer (the ship) drove along, 1909; (wyrm) mid bæle fôr, (the dragon) fled away with fire, 2309; pret. pl. þät ... scawan scîrhame tô scipe fôron, that the visitors in glittering attire betook themselves to the ship, 1896.
gefaran, to proceed, to act: inf. hû se mânsceaða under færgripum gefaran wolde, how he would act in his sudden attacks, 739.
ût faran, to go out: w. acc. lêt of breóstum ... word ût faran, let words go out of his breast, uttered words, 2552.
faroð, st. m., stream, flood of the sea: dat. sg. tô brimes faroðe, 28; äfter faroðe, with the stream, 580; ät faroðe, 1917.
faru, st. f., way, passage, expedition: in comp. âd-faru.
fâcen-stäf (elementum nequitiae), st. m., wickedness, treachery, deceit. acc. pl. fâcen-stafas, 1019.
fâh, fâg, adj., many-colored, variegated, of varying color (especially said of the color of gold, of bronze, and of blood, in which the beams of light are refracted): nom. sg. fâh (covered with blood), 420; blôde fâh, 935; âtertânum fâh (sc. îren) [This is the MS reading; emmended to âterteárum in text--KTH], 1460; sadol searwum fâh (saddle artistically ornamented with gold), 1039; sweord swâte fâh, 1287; brim blôde fâh, 1595; wäldreóre fâg, 1632; (draca) fýrwylmum fâh (because he spewed flame), 2672; sweord fâh and fäted, 2702; blôde fâh, 2975; acc. sg. dreóre fâhne, 447; goldsele fättum fâhne, 717; on fâgne flôr treddode, trod the shining floor (of Heorot), 726; hrôf golde fâhne, the roof shining with gold, 928; nom. pl. eoforlîc ... fâh and fýr-beard, 305; acc. pl. þâ hilt since fâge, 1616; dat. pl. fâgum sweordum, 586.—Comp. bân-, blôd-, brûn-, dreór-, gold-, gryre-, searo-, sinc-, stân-, swât-, wäl-, wyrm-fâh.
fâh, fâg, fâ, adj.: 1) hostile: nom. sg. fâh feónd-scaða, 554; he wäs fâg wið god (Grendel), 812; acc. sg. fâne (the dragon), 2656; gen. pl. fâra, 578, 1464.—2) liable to pursuit, without peace, outlawed: nom. sg. fâg, 1264; mâne fâh, outlawed through crime, 979; fyren-dædum fâg, 1002.—Comp. nearo-fâh.
fâmig-heals, adj., with foaming neck: nom. sg. flota fâmig-heals, 218; (sægenga) fâmig-heals, 1910.
fäc, st. n., period of time: acc. sg. lytel fäc, during a short time, 2241.
fäder, st. m., father: nom. sg. fäder, 55, 262, 459, 2609; of God, 1610; fäder alwalda, 316; acc. sg. fäder, 1356; dat. sg. fäder, 2430; gen. sg. fäder, 21, 1480; of God, 188—Comp.: ær, eald-fäder.
fädera, w. m., father's brother in comp. suhter-gefäderan.
fäder-äðelo, st. n. pl., paternus principatus (?): dat. pl. fäder-äðelum, 912.
fäderen-mæg, st. m., kinsman descended from the same father, co-descendant: dat. sg. fäderen-mæge, 1264.
fäðm, st. m.: 1) the outspread, encircling arms: instr. pl. feóndes fäð[mum], 2129.—2) embrace, encircling: nom. sg. lîges fäðm, 782; acc. sg. in fýres fäðm, 185.—3) bosom, lap: acc. sg. on foldan fäðm, 1394; wið eorðan fäðm, 3050; dat. pl. tô fäder (God's) fäðmum, 188.—4) power, property: acc. in Francna fäðm, 1211.—Cf. sîd-fäðmed, sîð-fäðme.
fäðmian, w. v., to embrace, to take up into itself: pres. subj. þät minne lîchaman ... glêd fäðmie, 2653; inf. lêton flôd fäðmian frätwa hyrde, 3134.
ge-fäg, adj., agreeable, desirable (Old Eng., fawe, willingly): comp. ge-fägra, 916.
fägen, adj., glad, joyous: nom. pl. ferhðum fägne, the glad at heart, 1634.
fäger, adj., beautiful, lovely: nom. sg. fäger fold-bold, 774; fäger foldan bearm, 1138; acc. sg. freoðoburh fägere, 522; nom. pl. þær him fold-wegas fägere þûhton, 867.—Comp. un-fäger.
fägere, fägre, adv., beautifully, well, becomingly, according to etiquette: fägere geþægon medoful manig, 1015; þâ wäs flet-sittendum fägere gereorded, becomingly the repast was served, 1789; Higelâc ongan ... fägre fricgean, 1986; similarly, 2990.
fär, st. n., craft, ship: nom. sg., 33.
fäst, adj., bound, fast: nom. sg. bið se slæp tô fäst, 1743; acc. sg. freóndscipe fästne, 2070; fäste frioðuwære, 1097.—The prep. on stands to denote the where or wherein: wäs tô fäst on þâm (sc. on fæhðe and fyrene), 137; on ancre fäst, 303. Or, oftener, the dative: feónd-grâpum fäst, (held) fast in his antagonist's clutch, 637; fýrbendum fäst, fast in the forged hinges, 723; handa fäst, 1291, etc.; hygebendum fäst (beorn him langað), fast (shut) in the bonds of his bosom, the man longs for (i.e. in secret), 1879.—Comp: âr-, blæd-, gin-, sôð-, tîr-, wîs-fäst.
fäste, adv., fäst 554, 761, 774, 789, 1296.—Comp. fästor, 143.
be-fästan, w. v., to give over: inf. hêt Hildeburh hire selfre sunu sweoloðe befästan, to give over to the flames her own son, 1116.
fästen, st. n., fortified place, or place difficult of access: acc. sg. leóda fästen, the fastness of the Geátas (with ref. to 2327, 2334; fästen (Ongenþeów's castle or fort), 2951; fästen (Grendel's house in the fen-sea), 104.
fäst-ræd, adj., firmly resolved: acc. sg. fäst-rædne geþôht, firm determination, 611.
fät, st. m., way, journey: in comp. sîð-fät.
fät, st. n., vessel; vase, cup: acc. pl. fyrn-manna fatu, the (drinking-) vessels of men of old times, 2762.—Comp.: bân-, drync-, mâððum-, sinc-, wundor-fät.
fät, st. n. (?), plate, sheet of metal, especially gold plate (Dietrich Hpt. Ztschr. XI. 420): dat. pl. gold sele ... fättum fâhne, shining with gold plates (the walls and the inner part of the roof were partly covered with gold), 717; sceal se hearda helm hyrsted golde fätum befeallen (sc. wesan), the gold ornaments shall fall away from it, 2257.
fäted, fätt, part., ornamented with gold beaten into plate-form: gen. sg. fättan goldes, 1094, 2247; instr. sg. fättan golde, 2103. Elsewhere, covered, ornamented with gold plate: nom. sg. sweord ... fäted, 2702; acc. sg. fäted wæge, 2254, 2283; acc. pl. fätte scyldas, 333; fätte beágas, 1751. [fæted, etc.]
fäted-hleór, adj., phaleratus gena (Dietr.): acc. pl. eahta mearas fäted-hleóre (eight horses with bridles covered with plates of gold), 1037.
fät-gold, st. n., gold in sheets or plates: acc. sg., 1922.
fæge, adj.: 1) forfeited to death, allotted to death by fate: nom. sg. fæge, 1756, 2142, 2976; fæge and ge-flýmed, 847; fûs and fæge, 1242; acc. sg. fægne flæsc-homan, 1569; dat. sg. fægum, 2078; gen. sg. fæges, 1528.—2) dead: dat. pl. ofer fægum (over the warriors fallen in the battle), 3026.—Comp.: deáð-, un-fæge.
fæhð (state of hostility, see fâh), st. f., hostile act, feud, battle: nom. sg. fæhð, 2404, 3062; acc. sg. fæhðe, 153, 459, 470, 596, 1334, etc.; also of the unhappy bowshot of the Hrêðling, Hæðcyn, by which he killed his brother, 2466; dat. sg. fore fæhðe and fyrene, 137; nalas for fæhðe mearn (did not recoil from the combat), 1538; gen. sg, ne gefeah he þære fæhðe, 109; gen. pl. fæhða gemyndig, 2690.—Comp. wäl-fæhð.
fæhðo, st. f., same as above: nom. sg. sió fæhðo, 3000; acc. fæhðo, 2490.
fælsian, w. v., to bring into a good condition, to cleanse: inf. þät ic môte ... Heorot fælsian (from the plague of Grendel), 432; pret. Hrôðgâres ... sele fælsode, 2353.
ge-fælsian, w. v., same as above: pret. part. häfde gefælsod ... sele Hrôðgâres, 826; Heorot is gefælsod, 1177; wæron ýð-gebland eal gefælsod, 1621.
fæmne, w. f., virgin, recens nupta: dat. sg. fæmnan, 2035; gen. sg. fæmnan, 2060, both times of Hrôðgâr's daughter Freáware.
fær, st. m., sudden, unexpected attack: nom. sg. (attack upon Hnäf's band by Finn's), 1069, 2231.
fær-gripe, st. m., sudden, treacherous gripe, attack: nom. sg. fær-gripe flôdes, 1517; dat. pl. under færgripum, 739.
fær-gryre, st. m., fright caused by a sudden attack: dat. pl. wið fær-gryrum (against the inroads of Grendel into Heorot), 174.
færinga, adv., suddenly, unexpectedly, 1415, 1989.
fær-nîð, st. m., hostility with sudden attacks: gen. pl. hwät me Grendel hafað ... færnîða gefremed, 476.
feðer-gearwe, st. f. pl. (feather-equipment), the feathers of the shaft of the arrow: dat. (instr.) pl. sceft feðer-gearwum fûs, 3120.
fel, st. n., skin, hide: dat. pl. glôf ... gegyrwed dracan fellum, made of the skins of dragons, 2089.
fela, I., adj. indecl., much, many: as subst.: acc. sg. fela fricgende, 2107. With worn placed before: hwät þu worn fela ... ymb Brecan spræce, how very much you spoke about Breca, 530.—With gen. sg.: acc. sg. fela fyrene, 810; wyrm-cynnes fela, 1426; worna fela sorge, 2004; tô fela micles ... Denigea leóde, too much of the race of the Danes, 695; uncûðes fela, 877; fela lâðes, 930; fela leófes and lâðes, 1061.—With gen. pl.: nom. sg. fela mâdma, 36; fela þæra wera and wîfa, 993, etc.; acc. sg. fela missera, 153; fela fyrena, 164; ofer landa fela, 311; mâððum-sigla fela (falo, MS.), 2758; ne me swôr fela âða on unriht, swore no false oaths, 2739, etc.; worn fela mâðma, 1784; worna fela gûða, 2543.—Comp. eal-fela.
II., adverbial, very, 1386, 2103, 2951.
fela-hrôr, adj., valde agitatus, very active against the enemy, very warlike, 27.
fela-môdig, adj., very courageous: gen. pl. -môdigra, 1638, 1889.
fela-synnig, adj., very criminal, very guilty: acc. sg. fela-sinnigne secg (in MS., on account of the alliteration, changed to simple sinnigne), 1380.
feólan, st. v., to betake one's self into a place, to conceal one's self: pret. siððan inne fealh Grendles môdor (in Heorot), 1282; þær inne fealh secg syn-bysig (in the dragon's cave), 2227.—to fall into, undergo, endure: searonîðas fealh, 1201.
ät-feólan, w. dat., insistere, adhærere: pret. nô ic him þäs georne ätfealh (held him not fast enough, 969.
fen, st. n., fen, moor: acc. sg. fen, 104; dat. sg. tô fenne, 1296; fenne, 2010.
fen-freoðo, st. f., refuge in the fen: dat. sg. in fen-freoðo, 852.
feng, st. m., gripe, embrace: nom. sg. fýres feng, 1765; acc. sg. fâra feng (of the hostile sea-monsters), 578.—Comp. inwit-feng.
fengel (probably he who takes possession, cf. tô fôn, 1756, and fôn tô rîce, to enter upon the government), st. m., lord, prince, king: nom. sg. wîsa fengel, 1401; snottra fengel, 1476, 2157; hringa fengel, 2346.
fen-ge-lâd, st. n., fen-paths, fen with paths: acc. pl. frêcne fengelâd (fens difficult of access), 1360.
fen-hlið, st. n., marshy precipice: acc. pl. under fen-hleoðu, 821.
fen-hop, st. n., refuge in the fen: acc. pl. on fen-hopu, 765.
ferh, st. m. n., life; see feorh.
ferh, st. m., hog, boar, here of the boar-image on the helmet: nom. sg., 305.
ferhð, st. m., heart, soul: dat. sg. on ferhðe, 755, 949, 1719; gehwylc hiora his ferhðe treówde, þät ..., each of them trusted to his (Hûnferð's) heart, that ..., 1167; gen. sg. ferhðes fore-þanc, 1061; dat. pl. (adverbial) ferhðum fägne, happy at heart, 1634; þät mon ... ferhðum freóge, that one ... heartily love, 3178.—Comp.: collen-, sarig-, swift-, wide-ferhð.
ferhð-frec, adj., having good courage, bold, brave: acc. sg. ferhð-frecan Fin, 1147.
ferhð-genîðla, w. m., mortal enemy: acc. sg. ferhð-genîðlan, of the drake, 2882.
ferian, w. v. w. acc., to bear, to bring, to conduct: pres. II. pl. hwanon ferigeað fätte scyldas, 333; pret. pl. tô scypum feredon eal ingesteald eorðcyninges, 1155; similarly, feredon, 1159, 3114.
ät-ferian, to carry away, to bear off: pret. ic þät hilt þanan feóndum ätferede, 1669.
ge-ferian, bear, to bring, to lead: pres. subj. I. pl. þonne (we) geferian freán ûserne, 3108; inf. geferian ... Grendles heáfod, 1639; pret. þät hi ût geferedon dýre mâðmas, 3131; pret. part. her syndon geferede feorran cumene ... Geáta leóde, men of the Geátas, come from afar, have been brought hither (by ship), 361.
ôð-ferian, to tear away, to take away: pret. sg. I. unsôfte þonan feorh ôð-ferede, 2142.
of-ferian, to carry off, to take away, to tear away: pret. ôðer swylc ût offerede, took away another such (sc. fifteen), 1584.
fetel-hilt, st. n., sword-hilt, with the gold chains fastened to it: acc. (sg. or pl.?), 1564. (See "Leitfaden f. nord. Altertumskunde," pp.45, 46.)
fetian, w. v., to bring near, bring: pres. subj. nâh hwâ ... fe[tige] fäted wæge, bring the gold-chased tankard, 2254; pret. part. hraðe wäs tô bûre Beówulf fetod, 1311.
ge-fetian, to bring: inf. hêt þâ eorla hleó in gefetian Hrêðles lâfe, caused Hrêðel's sword to be brought, 2191.
â-fêdan, w. v., to nourish, to bring up: pret. part. þær he âfêded wäs, 694.
fêða (O.H.G. fendo), w. m.: 1) foot-soldiers: nom. pl. fêðan, 1328, 2545.—2) collective in sing., band of foot-soldiers, troop of warriors: nom. fêða eal gesät, 1425; dat. on fêðan, 2498, 2920.—Comp. gum-fêða.
fêðe, st. n., gait, going, pace: dat. sg. wäs tô foremihtig feónd on fêðe, the enemy was too strong in going (i.e. could flee too fast), 971.
fêðe-cempa, w. m., foot-soldier: nom. sg., 1545, 2854.
fêðe-gäst, st. m., guest coming on foot: dat. pl. fêðe-gestum, 1977.
fêðe-lâst, st. m., signs of going, footprint: dat. pl. fêrdon forð þonon fêðe-lâstum, went forth from there upon their trail, i.e. by the same way that they had gone, 1633.
fêðe-wîg, st. m., battle on foot: gen. sg. nealles Hetware hrêmge þorfton (sc. wesan) fêðe-wîges, 2365.
fêl (= feól), st. f. file: gen. pl. fêla lâfe, what the files have left behind (that is, the swords), 1033.
fêran, w. v., iter (A.S. fôr) facere, to come, to go, to travel: pres. subj. II. pl. ær ge ... on land Dena furður fêran, ere you go farther into the land of the Danes, 254; inf. fêran on freán wære (to die), 27; gewiton him þâ fêran (set out upon their way), 301; mæl is me tô fêran, 316; fêran ... gang sceáwigan, go, so as to see the footprints, 1391; wîde fêran, 2262; pret. fêrdon folctogan ... wundor sceáwian, the princes came to see the wonder, 840; fêrdon forð, 1633.
ge-fêran: 1) adire, to arrive at: pres. subj. þonne eorl ende gefêre lîfgesceafta, reach the end of life, 3064; pret. part. häfde æghwäðer ende gefêred lænan lîfes, frail life's end had both reached, 2845.—2) to reach, to accomplish, to bring about: pret. hafast þu gefêred þät ..., 1222, 1856.—3) to behave one's self, to conduct one's self: pret. frêcne gefêrdon, had shown themselves daring, 1692.
feal, st. m., fall: in comp. wäl-feal.
feallan, st. v., to fall, to fall headlong: inf. feallan, 1071; pret. sg. þät he on hrusan ne feól, that it (the hall) did not fall to the ground, 773; similarly, feóll on foldan, 2976; feóll on fêðan (dat. sg.), fell in the band (of his warriors), 2920; pret. pl. þonne walu feóllon, 1043.
be-feallen, pret. part. w. dat. or instr., deprived of, robbed: freóndum befeallen, robbed of friends, 1127; sceal se hearda helm ... fätum befeallen (sc. wesan), be robbed of its gold mountings (the gold mounting will fall away from it moldering), 2257.
ge-feallan, to fall, to sink down: pres. sg. III. þät se lîc-homa ... fæge gefealleð, that the body doomed to die sinks down, 1756.—Also, with the acc. of the place whither: pret. meregrund gefeóll, 2101; he eorðan gefeóll, 2835.
fealu, adj., fallow, dun-colored, tawny: acc. sg. ofer fealone flôd (over the sea), 1951; fealwe stræte (with reference to 320, 917; acc. pl. lêton on geflît faran fealwe mearas, 866.—Comp. äppel-fealo.
feax, st. n., hair, hair of the head: dat. sg. wäs be feaxe on flet boren Grendles heáfod, was carried by the hair into the hall, 1648; him ... swât ... sprong forð under fexe, the blood sprang out under the hair of his head, 2968.—Comp.: blonden-, gamol-, wunden-feax.
ge-feá, w. m., joy: acc. sg. þære fylle gefeán, joy at the abundant repast, 562; ic þäs ealles mäg ... gefeán habban (can rejoice at all this), 2741.
feá, adj., few dat. pl. nemne feáum ânum, except some few, 1082; gen. pl. feára sum, as one of a few, with a few, 1413; feára sumne, one of a few (some few), 3062. With gen. following: acc. pl. feá worda cwäð, spoke few words, 2663, 2247.
feá-sceaft, adj., miserable, unhappy, helpless: nom. sg. syððan ærest wearð feásceaft funden, 7; feásceaft guma (Grendel), 974; dat. sg. feásceaftum men, 2286; Eádgilse ... feásceaftum, 2394; nom. pl. feásceafte (the Geátas robbed of their king, Hygelâc), 2374.
feoh, feó, st. n., (properly cattle, herd) here, possessions, property, treasure: instr. sg. ne wolde ... feorh-bealo feó þingian, would not allay life's evil for treasure (tribute), 156; similarly, þâ fæhðe feó þingode, 470; ic þe þâ fæhðe feó leánige, 1381.
ge-feohan, ge-feón, st. v. w. gen. and instr., to enjoy one's self, to rejoice at something: a) w. gen.: pret. sg. ne gefeah he þære fæhðe, 109; hilde gefeh, beado-weorces, 2299; pl. fylle gefægon, enjoyed themselves at the bounteous repast, 1015; þeódnes gefêgon, rejoiced at (the return of) the ruler, 1628.—b) w. instr.: niht-weorce gefeh, ellen-mærðum, 828; secg weorce gefeh, 1570; sælâce gefeah, mägen-byrðenne þâra þe he him mid häfde, rejoiced at the gift of the sea, and at the great burden of that (Grendel's head and the sword-hilt) which he had with him, 1625.
feoh-gift, -gyft, st. f., bestowing of gifts or treasures: gen. sg. þære feoh-gyfte, 1026; dat. pl. ät feohgyftum, 1090; fromum feohgiftum, with rich gifts, 21.
feoh-leás, adj., that cannot be atoned for through gifts: nom. sg. þät wäs feoh-leás gefeoht, a deed of arms that cannot be expiated (the killing of his brother by Hæðcyn), 2442.
ge-feoht, st. n., combat; warlike deed: nom. sg. (the killing of his brother by Hæðcyn), 2442; dat. sg. mêce þone þîn fader tô gefeohte bär, the sword which thy father bore to the combat, 2049.
ge-feohtan, st. v., to fight: inf. w. acc. ne mehte ... wîg Hengeste wiht gefeohtan (could by no means offer Hengest battle), 1084.
feohte, w. f., combat: acc. sg. feohtan, 576, 960. See were-fyhte.
feor, adj., far, remote: nom. sg. nis þät feor heonon, 1362; näs him feor þanon tô gesêcanne sinces bryttan, 1922; acc. sg. feor eal (all that is far, past), 1702.
feor, adv., far, far away: a) of space, 42, 109, 809, 1806, 1917; feor and (oððe) neáh, far and (or) near, 1222, 2871; feorr, 2267.—b) of time: ge feor hafað fæhðe gestæled (has placed us under her enmity henceforth), 1341.
Comparative, fyr, feorr, and feor: fyr and fästor, 143; fyr, 252; feorr, 1989; feor, 542.
feor-bûend, pt., dwelling far away: nom. pl. ge feor-bûend, 254.
feor-cýð, st. f., home of those living far away, distant land: nom, pl. feor-cýððe beóð sêlran gesôhte þäm þe him selfa deáh, foreign lands are better sought by him who trusts to his own ability, 1839.
feorh, ferh (Goth. fairhvu-s, world), st. m. and n., life, principle of life, soul: nom. sg. feorh, 2124; nô þon lange wäs feorh äðelinges flæsce bewunden, not for much longer was the soul of the prince enveloped in the body (he was near death), 2425; ferh ellen wräc, life expelled the strength (i.e. with the departing life the strength disappeared also), 2707; acc. sg. feorh ealgian, 797, 2656, 2669; feorh gehealdan, preserve his life, 2857; feorh âlegde, gave up his life, 852; similarly, ær he feorh seleð, 1371; feorh oðferede, tore away her life, 2142; ôð þät hie forlæddan tô þam lindplegan swæse gesîðas ond hyra sylfra feorh, till in an evil hour they carried into battle their dear companions and their lives (i.e. led them to their death), 2041; gif þu þîn feorh hafast, 1850; ymb feorh sacan (to fight for life), 439; wäs in feorh dropen, was wounded into his life, i.e. mortally, 2982; wîdan feorh, as temporal acc., through a wide life, i.e. always, 2015; dat. sg. feore, 1294, 1549; tô wîdan feore, for a wide life, i.e. at all times, 934; on swâ geongum feore (at a so youthful age), 1844; as instr., 578, 3014; gen. sg. feores, 1434, 1943; dat. pl. bûton ... feorum gumena, 73; freónda feorum, 1307.—Also, body, corpse: þâ wäs heal hroden feónda feorum (the hall was covered with the slain of the enemy), 1153; gehwearf þâ in Francna fäðm feorh cyninges, then the body of the king (Hygelâc) fell into the power of the Franks, 1211. —Comp. geogoð-feorh.
feorh-bana, w. m., (life-slayer), man-slayer, murderer: dat. sg. feorh-bonan, 2466.
feorh-ben, st. f., wound that takes away life, mortal wound: dat. (instr.) pl. feorh-bennum seóc, 2741.
feorh-bealu, st. n., evil destroying life, violent death: nom. sg., 2078, 2251, 2538; acc. sg., 156.
feorh-cyn, st. n., race of the living, mankind: gen. pl. fela feorh-cynna, 2267.
feorh-genîðla, w. m., he who seeks life, life's enemy (N.H.G. Tod-feind), mortal enemy: acc. sg. -genîðlan, 1541; dat. sg. -genîðlan, 970; acc. sg. brægd feorh-genîðlan, 1541; acc. pl. folgode feorh-genîðlan, (Ongenþeów) pursued his mortal enemies, 2934.
feorh-lagu, st. f., the life allotted to anyone, life determined by fate: acc. sg. on mâðma hord mine (mînne, MS.) bebohte frôde feorh-lege, for the treasure-hoard I sold my old life, 2801.
feorh-lâst, st. m., trace of (vanishing) life, sign of death : acc. pl. feorh-lâstas bär, 847.
feorh-seóc, adj., mortally wounded: nom. sg., 821.
feorh-sweng, st. m., (stroke robbing of life), fatal blow: acc. sg., 2490.
feorh-wund, st. f., mortal wound, fatal injury: acc. sg. feorh-wunde hleát, 2386.
feorm, st. f., subsistence, entertainment: acc. sg. nô þu ymb mînes ne þearft lîces feorme leng sorgian, thou needest no longer have care for the sustenance of my body, 451.—2) banquet: dat. on feorme (or feorme, MS.), 2386.
feormend-leás, adj., wanting the. cleanser: acc. pl. geseah ... fyrn-manna fatu feormend-leáse, 2762.
feormian, w. v., to clean, to cleanse, to polish: pres. part. nom pl. feormiend swefað (feormynd, MS.), 2257.
ge-feormian, w. v., to feast, to eat; pret. part. sôna häfde unlyfigendes eal gefeormod fêt and folma, 745.
feorran, w. v., w. acc., to remove: inf. sibbe ne wolde wið manna hwone mägenes Deniga feorh-bealo feorran, feó þingian, (Grendel) would not from friendship free any one of the men of the Danes of life's evil, nor allay it for tribute, 156.
feorran, adv., from afar: a) of space, 361, 430, 826, 1371, 1820, etc.; siððan äðelingas feorran gefricgean fleám eówerne, when noble men afar learn of your flight (when the news of your flight reaches distant lands), 2890; fêrdon folctogan feorran and neán, from far and from near, 840; similarly, neán and feorran þu nu [friðu] hafast, 1175; wäs þäs wyrmes wîg wîde gesýne ... neán and feorran, visible from afar, far and near, 2318.—b) temporal: se þe cûðe frumsceaft fira feorran reccan (since remote antiquity), 91; similarly, feorran rehte, 2107.
feorran-cund, adj., foreign-born: dat. sg. feorran-cundum, 1796.
feor-weg, st. m., far way: dat. pl. mâdma fela of feorwegum, many precious things from distant paths (from foreign lands), 37.
feónd, st. m., enemy: nom. sg., 164, 726, 749; feónd on helle (Grendel), 101; acc. sg., 279, 1865, 2707; dat. sg. feónde, 143, 439; gen. sg. feóndes, 985, 2129, 2290; acc, pl. feónd, 699; dat. pl. feóndum, 420, 1670; gen. pl. feonda 294, 809, 904.
feónd-grâp, st. f., foe's clutch: dat. (instr.) pl. feónd-grâpum fäst, 637.
feónd-sceaða, w. m., one who is an enemy and a robber: nom. sg. fâh feónd-scaða (a hostile sea-monster), 554.
feónd-scipe, st. m., hostility: nom. sg., 3000.
feówer, num., four: nom. feówer bearn, 59; feówer mearas, 2164; feówer, as substantive, 1638; acc. feówer mâðmas, 1028.
feówer-tyne, num., fourteen: nom. with following gen. pl. feówertyne Geáta, 1642.
findan, st. v., to find, to invent, to attain: a) with simple object in acc.: inf. þâra þe he cênoste findan mihte, 207; swylce hie at Finnes-hâm findan meahton sigla searo-gimma, 1157; similarly, 2871; mäg þær fela freónda findan, 1839; wolde guman findan, 2295; swâ hyt weorðlîcost fore-snotre men findan mihton, so splendidly as only very wise men could devise it, 3164; pret. sg. healþegnas fand, 720; word ôðer fand, found other words, i.e. went on to another narrative, 871; grimne gryrelîcne grund-hyrde fond, 2137; þät ic gôdne funde beága bryttan, 1487; pret. part. syððan ærest wearð feásceaft funden (discovered), 7.—b) with acc. and pred. adj.: pret. sg. dryhten sînne driórigne fand, 2790.—c) with acc. and inf.: pret. fand þâ þær inne äðelinga gedriht swefan, 118; fand wäccendne wer wîges bîdan, 1268; hord-wynne fond opene standan, 2271; ôð þät he fyrgen-beámas ... hleonian funde, 1416; pret. pl. fundon þâ sâwulleásne hlim-bed healdan, 3034.—d) with dependent clause: inf. nô þý ær feásceafte findan meahton ät þam äðelinge þät he Heardrêde hlâford wære (could by no means obtain it from the prince), 2374.
on-findan, to be sensible of, to perceive, to notice: a) w. acc.: pret. sg. landweard onfand eftsîð eorla, the coast-guard observed the return of the earls, 1892; pret. part. þâ heó onfunden wäs (was discovered), 1294.—b) w. depend, clause: pret. sg. þâ se gist onfand þät se beado-leóma bîtan nolde, the stranger (Beówulf) perceived that the sword would not cut, 1523; sôna þät onfunde, þät ..., immediately perceived that..., 751; similarly, 810, 1498.
finger, st. m., finger: nom. pl. fingras, 761; acc. pl. fingras, 985; dat. (instr.) pl. fingrum, 1506; gen. pl. fingra, 765.
firas, fyras (O.H.G. firahî, i.e. the living; cf. feorh), st. m., only in pl., men: gen. pl. fira, 91, 2742; monegum fira, 2002; fyra gehwylcne leóda mînra, 2251; fira fyrngeweorc, 2287.
firen, fyren, st. f., cunning waylaying, insidious hostility, malice, outrage: nom. sg. fyren, 916; acc. sg. fyrene and fæhðe, 153; fæhðe and fyrene, 880, 2481; firen' ondrysne, 1933; dat. sg. fore fæhðe and fyrene, 137; gen. pl. fyrena, 164, 629; and fyrene, 812; fyrena hyrde (of Grendel), 751. The dat. pl., fyrenum, is used adverbially in the sense of maliciously, 1745, or fallaciously, with reference to Hæðcyn's killing Herebeald, which was done unintentionally, 2442.
firen-dæd, st. f., wicked deed: acc. pl. fyren-dæda, 1670; instr. pl. fyren-dædum, 1002; both times of Grendel and his mother, with reference to their nocturnal inroads.
firen-þearf, st. f., misery through the malignity of enemies: acc. sg. fyren-þearfe, 14.
firgen-beám, st. m., tree of a mountain-forest: acc. pl. fyrgen-beámas, 1415.
firgen-holt, st. m., mountain-wood, mountain-forest: acc. sg. on fyrgen-holt, 1394.
firgen-streám, st. m., mountain-stream: nom. sg. fyrgen-streám, 1360; acc. sg. under fyrgen-streám (marks the place where the mountain-stream, according to 1360, empties into Grendel's sea), 2129.
fisc, st. m., fish: in comp. hron-, mere-fisc.
fîf, num., five: uninflect. gen. fîf nihta fyrst, 545; acc. fîfe (?), 420.
fîfel-cyn (O.N. fîfl, stultus and gigas), st. n., giant-race: gen. sg. fîfelcynnes eard, 104.
fîf-tene, fîf-tyne, num., fifteen: acc. fýftyne, 1583; gen. fîftena sum, 207.
fîf-tig, num., fifty: 1) as substantive with gen. following; acc. fîftig wintra, 2734; gen. se wäs fîftiges fôt-gemearces lang, 3043.—2) as adjective: acc. fîftig wintru, 2210.
flân, st. m., arrow: dat. sg. flâne, 3120; as instr., 2439.
flân-boga, w. m., bow which shoots the flân, bow: dat. sg. of flân-bogan, 1434, 1745.
flæsc, st. n., flesh, body in contrast with soul: instr. sg. nô þon lange wäs feorh äðelinges flæsce bewunden, not much longer was the son of the prince contained in his body, 2425.
flæsc-hama, w. m., clothing of flesh, i.e. the body: acc. sg. flæsc-homan, 1569.
flet, st. n.: 1) ground, floor of a hall: acc. sg. heó on flet gebeáh, fell to the ground, 1541; similarly, 1569.—2) hall, mansion: nom. sg. 1977; acc. sg. flet, 1037, 1648, 1950, 2018, etc.; flett, 2035; þät hie him ôðer flet eal gerýmdon, that they should give up entirely to them another hall, 1087; dat. sg. on flette, 1026.
flet-räst, st. f., resting-place in the hall: acc. sg. flet-räste gebeág, reclined upon the couch in the hall, 1242.
flet-sittend, pres. part., sitting in the hall: acc. pl -sittende, 2023; dat. pl. -sittendum, 1789.
flet-werod, st. n., troop from the hall: nom. sg., 476.
fleám, st. m., flight: acc. sg. on fleám gewand, had turned to flight, 1002; fleám eówerne, 2890.
fleógan, st. v., to fly: prs. sg. III. fleógeð, 2274.
fleón, st. v., to flee: inf. on heolster fleón, 756; fleón on fenhopu, 765; fleón under fen-hleoðu, 821; pret. hete-swengeas fleáh, 2226.
be-fleón, w. acc., to avoid, to escape: gerund nô þät ýðe byð tô befleónne, that is not easy (i.e. not at all) to be avoided, 1004.
ofer-fleón, w. acc., to flee from one, to yield: inf. nelle ic beorges weard oferfleón fôtes trem, will not yield to the warder of the mountain (the drake) a foot's breadth, 2526.
fleótan, st. v., to float upon the water, to swim: inf. nô he wiht fram me flôd-ýðum feor fleótan meahte. hraðor on helme, no whit, could he swim from me farther on the waves (regarded as instrumental, so that the waves marked the distance), more swiftly in the sea, 542; pret. sægenga fleát fâmigheals forð ofer ýðe, floated away over the waves, 1910.
flîtan, st. v., to exert one's self, to strive, to emulate: pres. part. flîtende fealwe stræte mearum mæton (rode a race), 917; pret. sg. II. eart þu se Beówulf, se þe wið Brecan ... ymb sund flite, art thou the Beówulf who once contended with Breca for the prize in swimming? 507.
ofer-flîtan, to surpass one in a contest, to conquer, to overcome: pret. w. acc. he þe ät sunde oferflât (overcome thee in a swimming-wager), 517.
ge-flît, st. n., emulation: acc. sg. lêton on geflît faran fealwe mearas, let the fallow horses go in emulation, 866.
floga, w. m., flyer; in the compounds: gûð-, lyft-, uht-, wîd-floga.
flota (see fleótan), w. m., float, ship, boat: nom. sg., 210, 218, 301; acc. sg. flotan eówerne, 294.—Comp. wæg-flota.
flot-here, st. m., fleet: instr. sg. cwom faran flotherge on Fresna land, 2916.
flôd, st. m., flood, stream, sea-current: nom. sg., 545, 580, 1362, etc.; acc. sg. flôd, 3134; ofer fealone flôd, 1951; dat. sg. tô flôde, 1889; gen. pl. flôda begong, the region of floods, i.e. the sea, 1498, 1827; flôda genipu, 2809.
flôd-ýð, st. f., flood-wave: instr. pl. flôd-ýðum, 542.
flôr, st. m., floor, stone-floor: acc. sg. on fâgne flôr (the floor was probably a kind of mosaic, made of colored flags), 726; dat. sg. gang þâ äfter flôre, along the floor (i.e. along the hall), 1317.
flyht, fliht, st. m., flight: nom. sg. gâres fliht, flight of the spear, 1766.
ge-flýman, w. v., to put to flight: pret. part. geflýmed, 847, 1371.
folc, st. n., troop, band of warriors; folk, in the sense of the whole body of the fighting men of a nation: acc. sg. folc, 522, 694, 912; Sûðdene folc, 464; folc and rîce, 1180; dat. sg. folce, 14, 2596; folce Deninga, 465; as instr. folce gestepte ofer sæ sîde, went with a band of warriors over the wide sea, 2394; gen. sg. folces, 1125; folces Denigea, 1583.—The king is called folces hyrde, 611, 1833, 2645, 2982; freáwine folces, 2358; or folces weard, 2514. The queen, folces cwên, 1933.—The pl., in the sense of warriors, fighting men: nom. pl. folc, 1423, 2949; dat. pl. folcum, 55, 262, 1856; gen. pl. freó- (freá-) wine folca, of the king, 430, 2430; friðu-sibb folca, of the queen, 2018.—Comp. sige-folc.
folc-âgend, pres. part., leader of a band of warriors: nom. pl. folc-âgende, 3114.
folc-beorn, st. m., man of the multitude, a common man: nom. sg. folc-beorn, 2222.
folc-cwên, st. f., queen of a warlike host: nom. sg., of Wealhþeów, 642.
folc-cyning, st. m., king of a warlike host: nom. sg., 2734, 2874.
folc-ræd, st. m, what best serves a warlike host: acc. sg., 3007.
folc-riht, st. n., the rights of the fighting men of a nation: gen. pl. him ær forgeaf ... folcrihta gehwylc, swâ his fäder âhte, 2609.
folc-scearu, st. f., part of a host of warriors, nation: dat. sg. folc-scare, 73.
folc-stede, st. m., position of a band of warriors, place where a band of warriors is quartered: acc. sg. folcstede, of the hall, Heorot, 76; folcstede fâra (the battle-field), 1464.
folc-toga, w. m., leader of a body of warriors, duke: nom. pl., powerful liege-men of Hrôðgâr are called folc-togan, 840.
fold-bold, st. n., earth-house (i.e. a house on earth in contrast with a dwelling in heaven): nom. sg. fäger fold-bold, of the hall, Heorot, 774.
fold-bûend, pres. part. dweller on earth, man: nom. pl. fold-bûend, 2275; fold-bûende, 1356; dat. pl. fold-bûendum, 309.
folde, w. f., earth, ground: acc. sg. under foldan, 1362; feóll on foldan, 2976; gen. sg. foldan bearm, the bosom of the earth, 1138; foldan sceátas, 96; foldan fäðm, 1394.—Also, earth, world: dat. sg. on foldan, 1197.
fold-weg, st. m., field-way, road through the country: acc. sg. fold-weg, 1634; acc. pl. fold-wegas, 867.
folgian, w. v.: 1) to perform vassal-duty, to serve, to follow: pret. pl. þeáh hie hira beággyfan banan folgedon, although they followed the murderer of their prince, 1103.—2) to pursue, to follow after: folgode feorh-genîðlan (acc. pl.) 2934.
folm, st. f, hand: acc. sg. folme, 971, 1304; dat. sg. mid folme, 743; acc. pl. fêt and folma, feet and hands, 746; dat. pl. tô banan folmum, 158; folmum (instr.), 723, 993.—Comp.: beado-, gearo-folm.
for, prep. w. dat., instr., and acc.: 1) w. dat. local, before, ante: þät he for eaxlum gestôd Deniga freán, 358; for hlâwe, 1121.—b) before, coram, in conspectu: no he þære feohgyfte for sceótendum scamigan þorfte, had no need to be ashamed of the gift before the warriors, 1027; for þäm werede, 1216; for eorlum, 1650; for duguðe, before the noble band of warriors, 2021.—Causal, a) to denote a subjective motive, on account of, through, from: for wlenco, from bravery, through warlike courage, 338, 1207; for wlence, 508; for his wonhýdum, 434; for onmêdlan, 2927, etc.—b) objective, partly denoting a cause, through, from, by reason of: for metode, for the creator, on account of the creator, 169; for þreánýdum, 833; for þreánêdlan, 2225; for dolgilpe, on account of, in accordance with the promise of bold deeds (because you claimed bold deeds for yourself), 509; him for hrôfsele hrînan ne mehte fær-gripe flôdes, on account of the roofed hall the malicious grasp of the flood could not reach him, 1516; lîg-egesan wäg for horde, on account of (the robbing of) the treasure, 2782; for mundgripe mînum, on account of, through the gripe of my hand, 966; for þäs hildfruman hondgeweorce, 2836; for swenge, through the stroke, 2967; ne meahte ... deóp gedýgan for dracan lêge, could not hold out in the deep on account of the heat of the drake, 2550. Here may be added such passages as ic þäm gôdan sceal for his môdþräce mâðmas beódan, will offer him treasures on account of his boldness of character, for his high courage, 385; ful-oft for lässan leán teohhode, gave often reward for what was inferior, 952; nalles for ealdre mearn, was not uneasy about his life, 1443; similarly, 1538. Also denoting purpose: for ârstafum, to the assistance, 382, 458.—2) w. instr. causal, because of, for: he hine feor forwräc for þý mane, 110.—3) w. acc., for, as, instead of: for sunu freógan, love as a son, 948; for sunu habban, 1176; ne him þäs wyrmes wîg for wiht dyde, held the drake's fighting as nothing, 2349.
foran, adv., before, among the first, forward: siððan ... sceáwedon feóndes fingras, foran æghwylc (each before himself), 985; þät wäs ân foran ealdgestreóna, that was one among the first of the old treasures, i.e. a splendid old treasure, 1459; þe him foran ongeán linde bæron, bore their shields forward against him (went out to fight against him), 2365.
be-foran: 1) adv., local, before: he ... beforan gengde, went before, 1413; temporal, before, earlier, 2498.—2) prep. w. acc. before, in conspectu: mære mâððum-sweord manige gesâwon beforan beorn beran, 1025.
ford, st. m., ford, water-way: acc. sg. ymb brontne ford, 568.
forð: 1) local, forth, hither, near: forð near ätstôp, approached nearer, 746; þâ cwom Wealhþeó forð gân, 1163; similarly, 613; him seleþegn forð wîsade, led him (Beówulf) forth (to the couch that had been prepared for him in Heorot), 1796; þät him swât sprong forð under fexe, forth under the hair of his head, 2968. Forward, further: gewîtað forð beran wæpen and gewædu, 291; he tô forð gestôp, 2290; freoðo-wong þone forð ofereodon, 2960. Away, forth, 45, 904; fyrst forð gewât, the time (of the way to the ship) was out, i.e. they had arrived at the ship, 210; me ... forð-gewitenum, to me the departed, 1480; fêrdon forð, went forth (from Grendel's sea), 1633; þonne he forð scile, when he must (go) forth, i.e. die, 3178; hine mihtig god ... ofer ealle men forð gefremede, carried him forth, over all men, 1719.—2) temporal, forth, from now on: heald forð tela niwe sibbe, 949; ic sceal forð sprecan gen ymbe Grendel, shall from now on speak again of Grendel, 2070. See furðum and furðor.
forð-gerîmed, pres. part., in unbroken succession, 59.
forð-gesceaft, st. f., that which is determined for farther on, future destiny: acc. sg. he þâ forð-gesceaft forgyteð and forgýmeð, 1751.
forð-weg, st. m., road that leads away, journey: he of ealdre gewât frôd on forð-weg (upon the way to the next world), 2626.
fore, prep. w. dat., local, before, coram, in conspectu: heó fore þäm werede spräc, 1216. Causal, through, for, because of: nô mearn fore fæhðe and fyrene, 136; fore fäder dædum, because of the father's deeds, 2060,—Allied to this is the meaning, about, de, super: þær wäs sang and swêg samod ätgädere fore Healfdenes hildewîsan, song and music about Healfdene's general (the song of Hnäf), 1065.
fore-mære, adj., renowned beyond (others), præclarus: superl. þät wäs fore-mærost foldbûendum receda under roderum, 309.
fore-mihtig, adj., able beyond (others), præpotens: nom. sg. wäs tô foremihtig feónd on fêðe, the enemy was too strong in going (could flee too rapidly), 970.
fore-snotor, adj., wise beyond (others), sapientissimus: nom. pl. foresnotre men, 3164.
fore-þanc, st. m., forethought, consideration, deliberation: nom. sg., 1061.
forht, adj., fearful, cowardly: nom. sg. forht, 2968; he on môde wearð forht on ferhðe, 755.—Comp. unforht.
forma, adj., foremost, first: nom. sg. forma sîð (the first time), 717, 1464, 1528, 2626; instr. sg. forman sîðe, 741, 2287; forman dôgore, 2574.
fyrmest, adv. superl., first of all, in the first place: he fyrmest läg, 2078.
forst, st. m., frost, cold: gen. sg. forstes bend, 1610.
for-þam, for-þan, for-þon, adv. and conj., therefore, on that account, then: forþam, 149; forþan, 418, 680, 1060; forþon þe, because, 503.
fôn, st. v., to catch, to grasp, to take hold, to take: prs. sg. III. fêhð ôðer tô, another lays hold (takes possession), 1756; inf. ic mid grâpe sceal fôn wið feónde, 439; pret. sg. him tôgeánes fêng, caught at him, grasped at him, 1543; w. dat. he þâm frätwum fêng, received the rich adornments (Ongenþeów's equipment), 2990.
be-fôn, to surround, to ensnare, to encompass, to embrace: pret. part. hyne sâr hafað ... nearwe befongen balwon bendum, 977; heó äðelinga ânne häfde fäste befangen (had seized him firmly), 1296; helm ... befongen freáwrâsnum (encircled by an ornament like a diadem), 1452; fenne bifongen, surrounded by the fen, 2010; (draca) fýre befongen, encircled by fire, 2275, 2596; häfde landwara lîge befangen, encompassed by fire, 2322.
ge-fôn, w. acc., to seize, to grasp: pret. he gefêng slæpendne rinc, 741; gûðrinc gefêng atolan clommum, 1502; gefêng þâ be eaxle ... Gûðgeáta leód Grendles môdor, 1538; gefêng þâ fetelhilt, 1564; hond rond gefêng, geolwe linde, 2610; ic on ôfoste gefêng micle mid mundum mägen-byrðenne, hastily I seized with my hands the enormous burden, 3091.
on-fôn, w. dat., to receive, to accept, to take: pres. imp. sg. onfôh þissum fulle, accept this cup, 1170; inf. þät þät þeódnes bearn ... scolde fäder-äðelum onfôn, receive the paternal rank, 912; pret. sg. hwâ þäm hläste onfêng, who received the ship's lading, 52; hleór-bolster onfêng eorles andwlitan, the pillow received the nobleman's face, 689; similarly, 853, 1495; heal swêge onfêng, the hall received the loud noise, 1215; he onfêng hraðe inwit-þancum, he (Beówulf) at once clutched him (Grendel) devising malice, 749.
þurh-fôn, w. acc., to break through with grasping, to destroy by grasping: inf. þät heó þone fyrd-hom þurh-fôn ne mihte, 1505.
wið-fôn, w. dat., (to grasp at), to seize, to lay hold of: pret. sg. him fäste wið-fêng, 761.
ymbe-fôn, w. acc., to encircle: pret. heals ealne ymbefêng biteran bânum, encircled his (Beówulf's) whole neck with sharp bones (teeth), 2692.
fôt, st. m., foot: gen. sg. fôtes trem (the measure of a foot, a foot broad), 2526; acc. pl. fêt, 746; dat. pl. ät fôtum, at the feet, 500, 1167.
fôt-gemearc, st. n., measure, determining by feet, number of feet: gen. sg. se wäs fîftiges fôtgemearces lang (fifty feet long), 3043.
fôt-lâst, st. m., foot-print: acc. sg. (draca) onfand feóndes fôt-lâst, 2290.
fracod, adj., objectionable, useless. nom. sg. näs seó ecg fracod hilde-rince, 1576.
fram, from, I. prep. w. dat. loc. away from something: þær fram sylle âbeág medubenc monig, 776, 1716; þanon eft gewiton ealdgesîðas ... fram mere, 856; cyning-balde men from þäm holmclife hafelan bæron, 1636; similarly, 541, 543, 2367. Standing after the dat.: he hine feor forwräc ... mancynne fram, 110; similarly, 1716. Also, hither from something: þâ ic cwom ... from feóndum, 420; æghwäðrum wäs ... brôga fram ôðrum, 2566.—Causal with verbs of saying and hearing, of, about, concerning: sägdest from his sîðe, 532; nô ic wiht fram þe swylcra searo-nîða secgan hýrde, 581; þät he fram Sigemunde secgan hyrde, 876. II adv., away, thence: nô þý ær fram meahte, 755; forth, out: from ærest cwom oruð aglæcean ût of stâne, the breath of the dragon came forth first from the rock 2557.
fram, from, adj.: 1) directed forwards, striving forwards; in comp. sîð-fram.—2) excellent, splendid, of a man with reference to his warlike qualities: nom. sg. ic eom on môde from, 2528; nom. pl. frome fyrd-hwate, 1642, 2477. Of things: instr. pl. fromum feoh-giftum, 21.—Comp. un-from; see freme, forma.
frätwe, st. f. pl., ornament, anything costly, originally carved objects (cf. Dietrich in Hpts. Ztschr. X. 216 ff.), afterwards of any costly and artistic work: acc. pl. frätwe, 2920; beorhte frätwe, 214; beorhte frätwa, 897; frätwe.. eorclan-stânas, 1208; frätwe,... breóst-weorðunge, 2504, both times of Hygelâc's collar; frätwe and fät-gold, 1922; frätwe (Eanmund's sword and armor), 2621; dat. instr. pl. þâm frätwum, 2164; on frätewum, 963; frätwum (Heaðobeard sword) hrêmig, 2055; frätwum, of the drake's treasures, 2785; frätwum (Ongenþeów's armor), 2990; gen. pl. fela ... frätwa, 37; þâra frätwa (drake's treasure), 2795; frätwa hyrde (drake), 3134.
frätwan, w. v., to supply with ornaments, to adorn: inf. folc-stede frätwan, 76.
ge-frätwian, w. v., to adorn: pret. sg. gefrätwade foldan sceátas leomum and leáfum, 96; pret. part. þâ wäs hâten Heort innanweard folmum gefrätwod, 993.
ge-fræge, adj., known by reputation, renowned: nom. sg. leód-cyning ... folcum gefræge, 55; swâ hyt gefræge wäs, 2481.
ge-fræge, st. n., information through hearsay: instr. sg. mine gefræge (as I learned through the narrative of others), 777, 838, 1956, etc.
ge-frægnian, w. v., to become known through hearsay: pret. part. fylle gefrægnod (of Grendel's mother, who had become known through the carrying off of Äschere), 1334?
freca, w. m., properly a wolf, as one that breaks in, robs; here a designation of heroes: nom. sg. freca Scildinga, of Beówulf, 1564.—Comp.: gûð-, hilde-, scyld-, sweord-, wîg-freca; ferð-frec (adj.).
fremde, adj., properly distant, foreign; then estranged, hostile: nom sg. þät wäs fremde þeód êcean dryhtne, of the giants, 1692.
freme, adj., excellent, splendid: nom. sg. fem. fremu folces cwên, of Þryðo, 1933(?).
fremman, w. v., to press forward, to further, hence: 1) in general, to perform, to accomplish, to do, to make: pres. subj. without an object, fremme se þe wille, let him do (it) whoever will, 1004. With acc.: imp. pl. fremmað ge nu leóda þearfe, 2801; inf. fyrene fremman, 101; säcce fremman, 2500; fæhðe ... mærðum fremman, 2515, etc.; pret. sg. folcræd fremede (did what was best for his men, i.e. ruled wisely), 3007; pl. hû þâ äðelingas ellen fremedon, 3; feohtan fremedon, 960; nalles fâcenstafas ... þenden fremedon, 1020; pret. subj. þät ic ... mærðo fremede, 2135. —2) to help on, to support: inf. þät he mec fremman wile wordum and worcum (to an expedition), 1833.
ge-fremman, w. acc., to do, to make, to render: inf. gefremman eorlîc ellen, 637; helpan gefremman, to give help, 2450; äfter weáspelle wyrpe gefremman, to work a change after sorrow (to give joy after sorrow), 1316; gerund, tô gefremmanne, 174, 2645; pret. sg. gefremede, 135, 165, 551, 585, etc.; þeáh þe hine mihtig god ... ofer ealle men forð gefremede, placed him away, above all men, i.e. raised him, 1719; pret. pl. gefremedon, 1188, 2479; pret. subj. gefremede, 177; pret. part. gefremed, 476; fem, nu scealc hafað ... dæd gefremede, 941; absolutely, þu þe self hafast dædum gefremed, þät ..., hast brought it about by thy deeds that, 955.
fretan, st. v., to devour, to consume: inf. þâ (the precious things) sceal brond fretan, 3015; nu sceal glêd fretan wîgena strengel, 3115; pret. sg. (Grendel) slæpende frät folces Denigea fýftyne men, 1582.
frêcne, adj., dangerous, bold: nom. sg. frêcne fýr-draca, 2690; feorh-bealo frêcne, 2251, 2538; acc. sg. frêcne dæde, 890; frêcne fengelâd, 1360; frêcne stôwe, 1379; instr. sg. frêcnan spræce (through provoking words), 1105.
frêcne, adv., boldly, audaciously, 960, 1033, 1692.
freá, w. m., ruler, lord, of a temporal ruler: nom. sg. freá, 2286; acc. sg. freán, 351, 1320, 2538, 3003, 3108; gen. sg. freán, 359, 500, 1167, 1681; dat. sg. freán, 271, 291, 2663. Of a husband: dat. sg. eode ... tô hire freán sittan, 642. Of God: dat. sg. freán ealles, the Lord of all, 2795; gen. sg. freán, 27.— Comp.: âgend-, lîf-, sin-freá.
freá-dryhten, st. m., lord, ruling lord: gen. sg. freá-drihtnes, 797.
freá-wine, st. m., lord and friend, friendly ruler: nom. sg. freá-wine folces (folca), 2358, 2430; acc. sg. his freá-wine, 2439.
freá-wrâsn, st. f., encircling ornament like a diadem: instr. pl. helm ... befongen freáwrâsnum, 1452; see wrâsn.
freoðu, friðu, f., protection, asylum, peace: acc. sg. wel bið þäm þe môt ... tô fäder fäðmum freoðo wilnian, who may obtain an asylum in God's arms, 188; neán and feorran þu nu [friðu] hafast, 1175.—Comp. fen-freoðo.
freoðo-burh, st. f., castle, city affording protection: acc. sg. freoðoburh fägere, 522.
freoðo-wong, st. m., field of peace, field of protection: acc. sg., 2960; seems to have been the proper name of a field.
freoðo-wær, st. f., peace-alliance, security of peace: acc. sg. þâ hie getrûwedon on twâ healfa fäste frioðu-wære, 1097; gen. sg. frioðowære bäd hlâford sînne, entreated his lord for the protection of peace (i.e. full pardon for his delinquency), 2283.
freoðo-webbe, w. f., peace-weaver, designation of the royal consort (often one given in marriage as a confirmation of a peace between two nations): nom. sg., 1943.
freó-burh, st. f., = freá-burg (?), ruler's castle (?) (according to Grein, arx ingenua): acc. sg. freóburh, 694.
freód, st. f., friendship: acc. sg. freóde ne woldon ofer heafo healdan, 2477; gen. sg. näs þær mâra fyrst freóde tô friclan, was no longer time to seek for friendship, 2557; —favor, acknowledgement: acc. sg. ic þe sceal mîne gelæstan freóde (will show myself grateful, with reference to 1381 ff.), 1708.
freó-dryhten (= freá-dryhten), st. m., lord, ruler; according to Grein, dominus ingenuus vel nobilis: nom. sg. as voc. freó-drihten min! 1170; dat. sg. mid his freó-dryhtne, 2628.
freógan, w. v., to love; to think of lovingly: pres. subj. þät mon his wine-dryhten ... ferhðum freóge, 3178; inf. nu ic þec ... me for sunu wylle freógan on ferhðe, 949.
freó-lîc, adj., free, free-born (here of the lawful wife in contrast with the bond concubine): nom. sg. freólîc wîf, 616; freólîcu folc-cwên, 642.
freónd, st. m., friend: acc. sg. freónd, 1386, 1865; dat. pl. freóndum, 916, 1019, 1127; gen. pl. freónda, 1307, 1839.
freónd-laðu, st. f., friendly invitation: nom. sg. him wäs ful boren and freónd-laðu (friendly invitation to drink) wordum bewägned, 1193.
freónd-lâr, st. f., friendly counsel: dat. (instr.) pl. freónd-lârum, 2378.
freónd-lîce, adv., in a friendly manner, kindly: compar. freónd-lîcor, 1028.
freónd-scipe, st. m., friendship: acc. sg. freónd-scipe fästne, 2070.
freó-wine, st. m. (see freáwine), lord and friend, friendly ruler; according to Grein, amicus nobilis, princeps amicus: nom. sg. as voc. freó-wine folca! 430.
fricgean, w. v., to ask, to inquire into: inf. ongan sînne geseldan fägre fricgean hwylce Sæ-Geáta sîðas wæron, 1986; pres. part, gomela Scilding fela fricgende feorran rehte, the old Scilding, asking many questions (having many things related to him), told of old times (the conversation was alternate), 2107.
ge-fricgean, to learn, to learn by inquiry: pres. pl. syððan hie ge-fricgeað freán ûserne ealdorleásne, when they learn that our lord is dead, 3003; pres. subj. gif ic þät gefricge, þät..., 1827; pl. syððan äðelingas feorran gefricgean fleám eówerne, 2890.
friclan (see freca), w. v. w. gen., to seek, to desire, to strive for: inf. näs þær mâra fyrst freóde tô friclan, 2557.
friðo-sib, st. f., kin for the confirming of peace, designation of the queen (see freoðo-webbe), peace-bringer: nom. sg. friðu-sibb folca, 2018.
frignan, fringan, frinan, st. v., to ask, to inquire: imp. ne frin þu äfter sælum, ask not after the well-being! 1323; inf. ic þäs wine Deniga frinan wille ... ymb þînne sîð, 351; pret. sg. frägn, 236, 332; frägn gif ..., asked whether ..., 1320.
ge-frignan, ge-fringan, ge-frinan, to find out by inquiry, to learn by narration. pret. sg. (w. acc.) þät fram hâm gefrägn Higelâces þegn Grendles dæda, 194; nô ic gefrägn heardran feohtan, 575; (w. acc. and inf.) þâ ic wîde gefrägn weorc gebannan, 74; similarly, 2485, 2753, 2774; ne gefrägen ic þâ mægðe mâran weorode ymb hyra sincgyfan sêl gebæran, I never heard that any people, richer in warriors, conducted itself better about its chief, 1012; similarly, 1028; pret. pl. (w. acc.) we þeódcyninga þrym gefrunon, 2; (w. acc. and inf.) geongne gûðcyning gôdne gefrunon hringas dælan, 1970; (parenthetical) swâ guman gefrungon, 667, (after þonne) medo-ärn micel (greater) ... þone yldo bearn æfre gefrunon, 70; pret. part. häfde Higelâces hilde gefrunen, 2953; häfdon gefrunen þät..., had learned that ..., 695; häfde gefrunen hwanan sió fæhð ârâs, 2404; healsbeága mæst þâra þe ic on foldan gefrägen häbbe, 1197.
frôd, adj.: 1) ætate provectus, old, gray: nom. sg. frôd, 2626, 2951; frôd cyning, 1307, 2210; frôd folces weard, 2514; wintrum frôd, 1725, 2115, 2278; se frôda, 2929; ac. sg. frôde feorhlege (the laying down of my old life), 2801; dat. sg. frôdan fyrnwitan (may also, from its meaning, belong under No. 2), 2124.—2) mente excellentior, intelligent, experienced, wise: nom. sg. frôd, 1367; frôd and gôd, 279; on môde frôd, 1845.—Comp.: in-, un-frôd.
frôfor, st. f., consolation, compensation, help: nom. sg. frôfor, 2942; acc. sg. frôfre, 7, 974; fyrena frôfre, 629; frôfre and fultum, 1274; frôfor and fultum, 699; dat. sg. tô frôfre, 14, 1708; gen. sg. frôfre, 185.
fruma (see forma), w. m., the foremost, hence: l) beginning: nom. sg. wäs se fruma egeslîc leódum on lande, swâ hyt lungre wearð on hyra sincgifan sâre geendod (the beginning of the dragon-combat was terrible, its end distressing through the death of Beówulf), 2310.—2) he who stands first, prince; in comp. dæd-, hild-, land-, leód-, ord-, wîg-fruma.
frum-cyn, st. n., (genus primitivum), descent, origin: acc. sg. nu ic eówer sceal frumcyn witan, 252.
frum-gâr, st. m., primipilus, duke, prince: dat. sg. frumgâre (of Beówulf), 2857.
frum-sceaft, st. f., prima creatio, beginning: acc. sg. se þe cûðe frumsceaft fira feorran reccan, who could tell of the beginning of mankind in old times, 91; dat. sg. frum-sceafte, in the beginning, i.e at his birth, 45.
fugol, st. m., bird: dat. sg. fugle gelîcost, 218; dat. pl. [fuglum] tô gamene, 2942.
ful, adj., full, filled: nom. sg. w. gen. pl. se wäs innan full wrätta and wîra, 2413.—Comp.: eges-, sorh-, weorð-ful.
ful, adv., plene, very: ful oft, 480; ful-oft, 952.
ful, st. n., cup, beaker: nom. sg., 1193; acc. sg. ful, 616, 629, 1026; ofer ýða ful, over the cup of the waves (the basin of the sea filled with waves), 1209; dat. sg. onfôh þissum fulle, 1170.—Comp.: medo-, sele-full.
fullæstian, w. v. w. dat, to give help: pres. sg. ic þe fullæstu, 2669.
fultum, st. m., help, support, protection: acc. sg. frôfor (frôfre) and fultum, 699, 1274; mägenes fultum, 1836; on fultum, 2663.—Comp. mägen-fultum.
fundian, w. v., to strive, to have in view: pres. pl. we fundiað Higelâc sêcan, 1820; pret. sg. fundode of geardum, 1138.
furðum, adv., primo, just, exactly; then first: þâ ic furðum weóld folce Deninga, then first governed the people of the Danes (had just assumed the government), 465; þâ hie tô sele furðum ... gangan cwômon, 323; ic þær furðum cwom tô þam hringsele, 2010;—before, previously: ic þe sceal mîne gelæstan freóde, swâ wit furðum spræcon, 1708.
furður, adv., further, forward, more distant, 254, 762, 3007.
fûs, adj., inclined to, favorable, ready: nom. sg. nu ic eom sîðes fûs, 1476; leófra manna fûs, prepared for the dear men, i.e. expecting them, 1917; sigel sûðan fûs, the sun inclined from the south (midday sun), 1967; se wonna hrefn fûs ofer fægum, eager over the slain, 3026; sceft ... feðer-gearwum fûs, 3120; nom. pl. wæron ... eft to leódum fûse tô farenne, 1806.—Sometimes fûs means ready for death, moribundus: fûs and fæge, 1242.—Comp.: hin-, ût-fûs.
fûs-lîc, adj., prepared, ready: acc. sg. fûs-lîc f[yrd]-leóð, 1425; fyrd-searo fûs-lîc, 2619; acc. pl. fyrd-searu fûs-lîcu, 232.
fyl, st. m., fall: nom. sg. fyll cyninges, the fall of the king (in the dragon-fight), 2913; dat. sg. þät he on fylle wearð, that he came to a fall, fell, 1545.—Comp. hrâ-fyl.
fylce (collective form from folc), st. n., troop, band of warriors: in comp. äl-fylce.
ge-fyllan (see feal), w. v., to fell, to slay in battle: inf. fâne gefyllan, to slay the enemy, 2656; pret. pl. feónd gefyldan, they had slain the enemy, 2707.
â-fyllan (see ful), w. v., to fill: pret. part. Heorot innan wäs freóndum âfylled (was filled with trusted men), 1019.
fyllo, st. f. (plenty, abundant meal: dat. (instr.) sg. fylle gefrægnod, 1334; gen. sg. näs hie þære fylle gefeán häfdon, 562; fylle gefægon, 1015.—Comp.: wäl-, wist-fyllo.
fyl-wêrig, adj., weary enough to fall, faint to death, moribundus: acc. sg. fyl-wêrigne, 963.
fyrian, w. v. w. acc. (= ferian) to bear, to bring, carry: pret. pl. þâ þe gif-sceattas Geáta fyredon þyder tô þance, 378.
fyrde, adj., movable, that can be moved.—Comp. hard-fyrde.—Leo.
fyrd-gestealla, w. m., comrade on an expedition, companion in battle: dat. pl. fyrd-gesteallum, 2874
fyrd-ham, st. m., war-dress, coat of mail: acc. sg. þone fyrd-hom, 1505.
fyrd-hrägl, st. n., coat of mail, war-dress: acc. sg. fyrd-hrägl, 1528.
fyrd-hwät, adj., sharp, good in war, warlike: nom. pl. frome fyrd-hwate, 1642, 2477.
fyrd-leóð, st. n., war-song, warlike music: acc. sg. horn stundum song fûslîc f[yrd]leoð, 1425.
fyrd-searu, st. n., equipment for an expedition: acc. sg. fyrd-searu fûslîc, 2619; acc. pl. fyrd-searu fûslîcu, 232.
fyrd-wyrðe, adj., of worth in war, excellent in battle: nom. sg. fyrd-wyrðe man (Beówulf), 1317.
ge-fyrðran (see forð), w. v., to bring forward, to further: pret. part. âr wäs on ôfoste, eftsîðes georn, frätwum gefyrðred, he was hurried forward by the treasure (i.e. after he had gathered up the treasure, he hasted to return, so as to be able to show it to the mortally-wounded Beówulf), 2785.
fyrn-dagas, st. m. pl., by-gone days: dat. pl. fyrndagum (in old times), 1452.
fyrn-geweorc, st. n., work, something done in old times: acc. sg. fira fyrn-geweorc (the drinking-cup mentioned in 2283, 2287.
fyrn-gewin, st. n., combat in ancient times: gen. sg. ôr fyrn-gewinnes (the origin of the battles of the giants), 1690.
fyrn-man, st. m., man of ancient times: gen. pl. fyrn-manna fatu, 2762.
fyrn-wita, w. m., counsellor ever since ancient times, adviser for many years: dat. sg. frôdan fyrnwitan, of Äschere, 2124.
fyrst, st. m., portion of time, definite time, time: nom. sg. näs hit lengra fyrst, ac ymb âne niht ..., 134; fyrst forð gewât, the time (of going to the harbor) was past, 210; näs þær mâra fyrst freóde tô friclan, 2556; acc. sg. niht-longne fyrst, 528; fîf nihta fyrst, 545; instr. sg. þý fyrste, 2574; dat. sg. him on fyrste gelomp ..., within the fixed time, 76.
fyr-wit, -wet, -wyt, st. n., prying spirit, curiosity: nom. sg. fyrwyt, 232; fyrwet, 1986, 2785.
ge-fýsan (fûs), w. v., to make ready, to prepare: part. winde gefýsed flota, the ship provided with wind (for the voyage), 217; (wyrm) fýre gefýsed, provided with fire, 2310; þâ wäs hringbogan (of the drake) heorte gefýsed säcce tô sêceanne, 2562; with gen., in answer to the question, for what? gûðe gefýsed, ready for battle, determined to fight, 631.
fýr, st. n., fire: nom. sg., 1367, 2702, 2882; dat. sg. fýre, 2220; as instr. fýre, 2275, 2596; gen. sg. fýres fäðm, 185; fýres feng, 1765.— Comp.: âd-, bæl-, heaðu-, wäl-fýr.
fýr-bend, st. m., band forged in fire: dat. pl. duru ... fýr-bendum fäst, 723.
fýr-draca, w. m., fire-drake, fire-spewing dragon: nom. sg., 2690.
fýr-heard, adj., hard through fire, hardened in fire: nom. pl. (eoforlîc) fâh and fýr-heard, 305.
fýr-leóht, st. n., fire-light: acc. sg., 1517.
fýr-wylm, st. m., wave of fire, flame-wave: dat. pl. wyrm ... fýrwylmum fâh, 2672.
galan, st. v., to sing, to sound: pres. sg. sorh-leóð gäleð, 2461; inf. gryre-leóð galan, 787; bearhtm ongeâton, gûðhorn galan, heard the clang, the battle-trumpet sound, 1433.
â-galan, to sing, to sound: pret. sg. þät hire on hafelan hringmæl âgôl grædig gûðleóð, that the sword caused a greedy battle-song to sound upon her head, 1522.
gamban, or, according to Bout., gambe, w. f., tribute, interest: acc. sg. gomban gyldan, 11.
gamen, st. n., social pleasure, rejoicing, joyous doings: nom. sg. gamen, 1161; gomen, 2460; gomen gleóbeámes, the pleasure of the harp, 2264; acc. sg. gamen and gleódreám, 3022; dat. sg. gamene, 2942; gomene, 1776.—Comp. heal-gamen.
gamen-wâð, st. f., way offering social enjoyment, journey in joyous society: dat. sg. of gomen-wâðe, 855.
gamen-wudu, st. m., wood of social enjoyment, i.e. harp: nom. sg. þær wäs ... gomenwudu grêted, 1066; acc. sg. gomenwudu grêtte, 2109.
gamol, gomol, gomel, adj., old; of persons, having lived many years, gray: gamol, 58, 265; gomol, 3096; gomel, 2113, 2794; se gomela, 1398; gamela (gomela) Scylding, 1793, 2106; gomela, 2932; acc. sg. þone gomelan, 2422; dat. sg. gamelum rince, 1678; gomelum ceorle, 2445; þam gomelan, 2818; nom. pl. blondenfeaxe gomele, 1596.—Also, late, belonging to former time: gen. pl. gomelra lâfe (legacy), 2037.—Of things, old, from old times: nom. sg. sweord ... gomol, 2683; acc. sg. gomele lâfe, 2564; gomel swyrd, 2611; gamol is a more respectful word than eald.
gamol-feax, adj., with gray hair: nom. sg., 609.
gang, st. m.: 1) gait, way: dat. sg. on gange, 1885; gen. sg. ic hine ne mihte ... ganges ge-twæman, could not keep him from going, 969.—2) step, foot-step: nom. sg. gang (the foot-print of the mother of Grendel), 1405; acc. sg. uton hraðe fêran Grendles mâgan gang sceáwigan, 1392.—Comp. in-gang.
be-gang, bi-gang, st. m., (so far as something goes), extent: acc. sg. ofer geofenes begang, over the extent of the sea, 362; ofer flôda begang, 1827; under swegles begong, 861, 1774; flôda begong, 1498; sioleða bigong, 2368.
ganot, st. m., diver, fulica marina: gen. sg. ofer ganotes bäð (i.e. the sea), 1862.
gâd, st. n., lack: nom. sg. ne bið þe wilna gâd (thou shalt have no lack of desirable [valuable] things), 661; similarly, 950.
gân, expanded = gangan, st. v., to go: pres. sg. III. gæð â Wyrd swâ hió scel, 455; gæð eft ... tô medo, 605; þonne he ... on flett gæð, 2035; similarly, 2055; pres. subj. III. sg. gâ þær he wille, let him go whither he will, 1395; imp. sg. II. gâ nu tô setle, 1783; nu þu lungre geong, hord sceáwian, under hârne stân, 2744; inf. in gân, to go in, 386, 1645 'forð gân, to go forth, to go thither, 1164; þat hie him tô mihton gegnum gangan, to go towards, to go to, 314; tô sele ... gangan cwômon, 324; in a similar construction, gongan, 1643; nu ge môton gangan ... Hrôðgâr geseón, 395; þâ com of môre ... Grendel gongan, there came Grendel (going) from the fen, 712; ongeán gramum gangan, to go to meet the enemy, to go to the war, 1035; cwom ... tô hofe gongan, 1975; wutun gangan tô, let us go thither, 2649.—As preterite, serve, 1) geóng or gióng: he tô healle geóng, 926; similarly, 2019; se þe on orde geóng, who went at the head, went in front, 3126; on innan gióng, went in, 2215; he ... gióng tô þäs þe he eorðsele ânne wisse, went thither, where he knew of that earth-hall, 2410; þâ se äðeling, gióng, þät he bî wealle gesät, then went the prince (Beówulf) that he might sit down by the wall, 2716.—2) gang: tô healle gang Healfdenes sunu, 1010; similarly, 1296; gang þâ äfter flôre, went along the floor, along the hall, 1317.—3) gengde (Goth. gaggida): he ... beforan gengde ..., wong sceáwian, went in front to inspect the fields, 1413; gengde, also of riding, 1402.—4) from another stem, eode (Goth. iddja): eode ellenrôf, þät he for eaxlum gestôd Deniga freán, 358; similarly, 403; [wið duru healle Wulfgâr eode], went towards the door of the hall, 390; eode Wealhþeów forð, went forth, 613; eode tô hire freán sittan, 641; eode yrremôd, went with angry feeling, 727; eode ... tô sele, 919; similarly, 1233; eode ... þær se snottra bâd, 1313; eode weorð Denum äðeling tô yppan, the prince (Beówulf), honored by the Danes, went to the high seat, 1815; eode ... under inwit-hrôf, 3124; pl. þær swîðferhðe sittan eodon, 493; eodon him þâ tôgeánes, went to meet him, 1627; eodon under Earna näs, 3032.
â-gangan, to go out, to go forth, to befall: pret. part. swâ bit âgangen wearð eorla manegum (as it befell many a one of the earls), 1235.
full-gangan, to emulate, to follow after: pret. sg. þonne ... sceft nytte heóld, feðer-gearwum fûs flâne full-eode, when the shaft had employment, furnished with feathers it followed the arrow, did as the arrow, 3120.
ge-gân, ge-gangan: 1) to go, to approach: inf. (w. acc.) his môdor ... gegân wolde sorhfulne sîð, 1278; se þe gryre-sîðas gegân dorste, who dared to go the ways of terror (to go into the combat), 1463; pret. sg. se maga geonga under his mæges scyld elne geeode, went quickly under his kinsman's shield, 2677; pl. elne geeodon tô þäs þe ..., went quickly thither where ..., 1968; pret. part. syððan hie tô-gädre gegân häfdon, when they (Wîglâf and the drake) had come together, 2631; þät his aldres wäs ende gegongen, that the end of his life had come, 823; þâ wäs endedäg gôdum gegongen, þät se gûðcyning ... swealt, 3037.—2) to obtain, to reach: inf. (w. acc.) þonne he ät gûðe gegân þenceð longsumne lof, 1536; ic mid elne sceall gold gegangan, 2537; gerund, näs þät ýðe ceáp tô gegangenne gumena ænigum, 2417; pret. pl. elne geeodon ... þät se byrnwîga bûgan sceolde, 2918; pret. part. häfde ... gegongen þät, had attained it, that ..., 894; hord ys gesceáwod, grimme gegongen, 3086.—3) to occur, to happen: pres. sg. III. gif þät gegangeð þät ..., if that happen, that ..., 1847; pret. sg. þät geiode ufaran dôgrum hilde-hlämmum, it happened in later times to the warriors (the Geátas), 2201; pret. part. þâ wäs gegongen guman unfrôdum earfoðlîce þät, then it had happened to the young man in sorrowful wise that ..., 2822.
ôð-gangan, to-go thither: pret. pl. oð þät hi ôðeodon ... in Hrefnesholt, 2935.
ofer-gangan, w. acc., to go over: pret. sg. ofereode þâ äðelinga bearn steáp stân-hliðo, went over steep, rocky precipices, 1409; pl. freoðo-wong þone forð ofereodon, 2960.
ymb-gangan, w. acc., to go around: pret. ymb-eode þâ ides Helminga duguðe and geogoðe dæl æghwylcne, went around in every part, among the superior and the inferior warriors, 621.
gâr, st. m., spear, javelin, missile: nom. sg., 1847, 3022; instr. sg. gâre, 1076; blôdigan gâre, 2441; gen. sg. gâres fliht, 1766; nom. pl. gâras, 328; gen. pl., 161(?).—Comp.: bon-, frum-gâr.
gâr-cêne, adj., spear-bold: nom. sg., 1959.
gâr-cwealm, st. m., murder, death by the spear: acc. sg. gâr-cwealm gumena, 2044.
gâr-holt, st. n., forest of spears, i.e. crowd of spears: acc. sg., 1835.
gâr-secg, st. m. (cf. Grimm, in Haupt l. 578), sea, ocean: acc. sg. on gâr-secg, 49, 537; ofer gâr-secg, 515.
gâr-wîga, w. m., one who fights with the spear: dat. sg. geongum gâr-wîgan, of Wîglâf, 2675, 2812.
gâr-wîgend, pres. part., fighting with spear, spear-fighter: acc. pl. gâr-wîgend, 2642.
gâst, gæst, st. m., ghost, demon: acc. sg. helle gâst (Grendel), 1275; gen. sg. wergan gâstes (of Grendel), 133; (of the tempter), 1748; gen. pl. dyrnra gâsta (Grendel's race), 1358; gæsta gîfrost (flames consuming corpses), 1124.—Comp.: ellor-, geó-sceaft-gâst; ellen-, wäl-gæst.
gâst-bana, w. m., slayer of the spirit, i.e. the devil: nom. sg. gâst-bona, 177.
gädeling, st. m., he who is connected with another, relation, companion: gen. sg. gädelinges, 2618; dat. pl. mid his gädelingum, 2950.
ät-gädere, adv., together, united: 321, 1165, 1191; samod ätgädere, 329, 387, 730, 1064.
tô-gadere, adv., together, 2631.
gäst, gist, gyst, st. m., stranger, guest: nom. sg. gäst, 1801; se gäst (the drake), 2313; se grimma gäst (Grendel), 102; gist, 1139, 1523; acc. sg. gryre-lîcne gist (the nixy slain by Beówulf), 1442; dat. sg. gyste, 2229; nom. pl. gistas, 1603; acc. pl. gäs[tas], 1894.—Comp.: fêðe-, gryre-, inwit-, nîð-, sele-gäst (-gyst).
gäst-sele, st. m., hall in which the guests spend their time, guest-hall: acc. sg., 995.
ge, conj., and, 1341; ge ... ge ..., as well ... as ..., 1865; ge ... ge ..., ge ..., 1249; ge swylce, and likewise, and moreover, 2259.
ge, pron., ye, you, plur. of þu, 237, 245, etc.
gegn-cwide, st. m., reply: gen. pl. þînra gegn-cwida, 367.
gegnum, adv., thither, towards, away, with the prep, tô, ofer, giving the direction: þät hie him tô mihton gegnum gangan (that they might go thither), 314; gegnum fôr [þâ] ofer myrcan môr, away over the dark moor, 1405.
gehðu, geohðu, st. f., sorrow, care: instr. sg. giohðo mænde, 2268; dat. sg. on gehðo, 3096; on giohðe, 2794.
gen (from gegn), adv., yet, again. ne wäs hit lenge þâ gen, þät ..., it was not then long before ..., 83; ic sceal forð sprecan gen ymb Grendel, shall from now on speak again of Grendel, 2071; nô þý ær ût þâ gen ... gongan wolde (still he would not yet go out), 2082; gen is eall ät þe lissa gelong (yet all my favor belongs to thee), 2150; þâ gen, then again, 2678, 2703; swâ he nu gen dêð, as he still does, 2860; furður gen, further still, besides, 3007; nu gen, now again, 3169; ne gen, no more, no farther: ne wäs þät wyrd þâ gen, that was no more fate (fate no longer willed that), 735.
gena, still: cwico wäs þâ gena, was still living, 3094.
genga, w. m., goer; in comp. in-, sæ-, sceadu-genga.
genunga (from gegnunga), adv., precisely, completely, 2872.
gerwan, gyrwan, w. v.: 1) to prepare, to make ready, to put in condition: pret. pl. gestsele gyredon, 995.—2) to equip, to arm for battle: pret. sg. gyrede hine Beówulf eorl-gewædum (dressed himself in the armor), 1442.
ge-gyrwan: 1) to make, to prepare: pret. pl. him þâ gegiredan Geáta leóde âd ... unwâclîcne, 3138; pret. part. glôf ... eall gegyrwed deófles cräftum and dracan fellum, 2088.—2) to fit out, to make ready: inf. ceól gegyrwan hilde-wæpnum and heaðowædum, 38; hêt him ýðlidan gôdne gegyrwan, had (his) good ship fitted up for him, 199. Also, to provide warlike equipment: pret. part. syððan he hine tô gûðe gegyred häfde, 1473.—3) to endow, to provide, to adorn: pret. part. nom. sg. beado-hrägl ... golde gegyrwed, 553; acc. sg. lâfe ... golde gegyrede, 2193; acc. pl. mâdmas ... golde gegyrede, 1029.
getan, w. v., to injure, to slay: inf., 2941.
be-gête, adj., attainable; in comp. êð-begête.
geador, adv., unitedly, together, jointly, 836; geador ätsomne, 491.
on-geador, adv., unitedly, together, 1596.
gealdor, st. n.: 1) sound: acc. sg. býman gealdor, 2944.—2) magic song, incantation, spell: instr. sg. þonne wäs þät yrfe ... galdre bewunden (placed under a spell), 3053.
gealga, w. m., gallows: dat. sg. þät his byre rîde giong on galgan, 2447.
gealg-môd, adj., gloomy: nom. sg. gîfre and galgmôd, 1278.
gealg-treów, st. n., gallows: dat. pl. on galg-treówu[m], 2941.
geard, st. m., residence; in Beówulf corresponding to the house-complex of a prince's residence, used only in the plur.: acc. in geardas (in Finn's castle), 1135; dat. in geardum, 13, 2460; of geardum, 1139; ær he on weg hwurfe ... of geardum, before he went away from his dwelling-place, i.e. died, 265.—Comp. middan-geard.
gearo, adj., properly, made, prepared; hence, ready, finished, equipped: nom. sg. þät hit wearð eal gearo, heal-ärna mæst, 77; wiht unhælo ... gearo sôna wäs, the demon of destruction was quickly ready, did not delay long, 121; Here-Scyldinga betst beadorinca wäs on bæl gearu, was ready for the funeral-pile (for the solemn burning), 1110; þeód (is) eal gearo, the warriors are altogether ready, always prepared, 1231; hraðe wäs ät holme hýð-weard gearo (geara, MS.), 1915; gearo gûð-freca, 2415; sîe sió bær gearo ädre geäfned, let the bier be made ready at once, 3106. With gen.: gearo gyrnwräce, ready for revenge for harm done, 2119, acc. sg. gearwe stôwe, 1007; nom. pl. beornas gearwe, 211; similarly, 1814.
gearwe, gearo, geare, adv., completely, entirely: ne ge ... gearwe ne wisson, you do not know at all ..., 246; similarly, 879; hine gearwe geman witena welhwyle (remembers him very well), 265; wisse he gearwe þät ..., he knew very well that ..., 2340, 2726; þät ic ... gearo sceáwige swegle searogimmas (that I may see the treasures altogether, as many as they are), 2749; ic wât geare þät ..., 2657.—Comp. gearwor, more readily, rather, 3077.—Superl. gearwost, 716.
gearo-folm, adj., with ready hand, 2086.
gearwe, st. f., equipment, dress; in comp. feðer-gearwe.
geat, st. n., opening, door; in comp. ben-, hilde-geat.
geato-lîc, adj., well prepared, handsome, splendid: of sword and armor, 215, 1563, 2155; of Heorot, 308. Adv.: wîsa fengel geatolîc gengde, passed on in a stately manner, 1402.
geatwe, st. f. pl., equipment, adornment: acc. recedes geatwa, the ornaments of the dragon's cave (its treasures), 3089.—Comp.: eóred-, gryre-, gûð-, hilde-, wîg-geatwe.
geán (from gegn), adv. in
on-geán, adv. and prep., against, towards: þät he me ongeán sleá, 682; ræhte ongeán feónd mid folme, 748; foran ongeán, forward towards, 2365. With dat.: ongeán gramum, against the enemy, 1035.
tô-geánes, tô-genes, prep, against, towards: Grendle tôgeánes, towards Grendel, against Grendel, 667; grâp þâ tôgeánes, she grasped at (Beówulf), 1502; similarly, him tôgeánes fêng, 1543; eodon him þâ tôgeánes, went towards him, 1627; hêt þâ gebeódan ... þät hie bæl-wudu feorran feredon gôdum tôgênes, had it ordered that they should bring the wood from far for the funeral-pyre towards the good man (i.e. to the place where the dead Beówulf lay), 3115.
geáp, adj., roomy, extensive, wide: nom. sg. reced ... geáp, the roomy hall, 1801; acc. sg. under geápne hrôf, 837.—Comp.: horn-, sæ-geáp.
geâr, st. n., year: nom. sg., 1135; gen. pl. geâra, in adverbial sense, olim, in former times, 2665. See un-geâra.
geâr-dagas, st. m. pl., former days: dat. pl. in (on) geâr-dagum, 1, 1355.
geofon, gifen, gyfen (see Kuhn Zeitschr. I. 137), st. n., sea, flood: nom. sg. geofon, 515; gifen geótende, the streaming flood, 1691; gen. sg. geofenes begang, 362; gyfenes, 1395.
geogoð, st. f.: 1) youth, time of youth: dat. sg. on geogoðe, 409, 466, 2513; on giogoðe, 2427; gen. gioguðe, 2113.—2) contrasted with duguð, the younger warriors of lower rank (about as in the Middle Ages, the squires with the knights): nom. sg. geogoð, 66; giogoð, 1191; acc. sg. geogoðe, 1182; gen. duguðe and geogoðe, 160; duguðe and iogoðe (geogoðe), 1675, 622.
geoguð-feorh, st. n., age of youth, i.e. age in which one still belongs in the ranks of the geogoð: on geogoð- (geoguð-) feore, 537, 2665.
geohðo. See gehðo.
geolo, adj., yellow: acc. sg. geolwe linde (the shield of yellow linden bark), 2611.
geolo-rand, st. m., yellow shield (shield with a covering of interlaced yellow linden bark): acc. sg., 438.
geond, prep. w. acc., through, throughout, along, over: geond þisne middangeard, through the earth, over the earth, 75; wide geond eorðan, 266, 3100; fêrdon folctogan ... geond wîd-wegas, went along the ways coming from afar, 841; similarly, 1705; geond þät säld, through the hall, through the extent of the hall, 1281; similarly, 1982, 2265.
geong, adj., young, youthful: nom. sg., 13, 20, 855, etc.; giong, 2447; w. m. se maga geonga, 2676; acc. sg. geongne gûðcyning, 1970; dat. sg. geongum, 1949, 2045, 2675, etc.; on swâ geongum feore, at a so youthful age, 1844; geongan cempan, 2627; acc. pl. geonge, 2019; dat. pl. geongum and ealdum, 72.—Superl. gingest, the last: nom. sg. w. f. gingeste word, 2818.
georn, adj., striving, eager, w. gen. of the thing striven for: eft sîðes georn, 2784.—Comp. lof-georn.
georne, adv., readily, willingly: þät him wine-mâgas georne hýrdon, 66; georne trûwode, 670.—zealously, eagerly: sôhte georne äfter grunde, eagerly searched over the ground, 2295.—carefully, industriously: nô ic him þäs georne ätfealh (held him not fast enough), 969.—completely, exactly: comp. wiste þê geornor, 822.
geó, iú, adv., once, formerly, earlier, 1477; gió, 2522; iú, 2460.
geóc, st. f., help, support: acc. sg. geóce gefremman, 2675; þät him gâst-bona geóce gefremede wið þeód-þreáum, 177; geóce gelýfde, believed in the help (of Beówulf), 609; dat. sg. tô geóce, 1835.
geócor, adj., ill, bad: nom. sg., 766.—See Haupt's Zeitschrift 8, p. 7.
geó-man, iú-man, st. m., man of former times: gen. pl. iú-manna, 3053.
geó-meowle, w. f., (formerly a virgin), wife: acc. sg. ió-meowlan, 2932.
geômor, adj., with depressed feelings, sad, troubled: nom. sg. him wäs geômor sefa, 49, 2420, 2633, 2951; môdes geômor, 2101; fem. þät wäs geômuru ides, 1076.
geômor-gid, st. n., dirge: acc. sg. giômor-gyd, 3151.
geômor-lîc, adj., sad, painful: swâ bið geômorlîc gomelum ceorle tô gebîdanne þät..., it is painful to an old man to experience it, that ..., 2445.
geômor-môd, adj., sad, sorrowful: nom. sg., 2045, 3019; giômor-môd, 2268.
geômrian, w. v., to complain, to lament: pret. sg. geômrode giddum, 1119.
geó-sceaft, st. f., (fixed in past times), fate: acc. sg. geósceaft grimme, 1235.
geósceaft-gâst, st. m., demon sent by fate: gen. pl. fela geósceaft-gâsta, of Grendel and his race, 1267.
geótan, st. v. intrans., to pour, to flow, to stream: pres. part. gifen geótende, 1691.
gicel, st. m., icicle: in comp. hilde-gicel.
gid, gyd, st. n., speech, solemn alliterative song: nom. sg. þær wäs ... gid oft wrecen, 1066; leóð wäs âsungen, gleómannes gyd, the song was sung, the gleeman's lay, 1161; þær wäs gidd and gleó, 2106; acc. sg. ic þis gid âwräc, 1724; gyd âwräc, 2109; gyd äfter wräc, 2155; þonne he gyd wrece, 2447; dat. pl. giddum, 151, 1119; gen. pl. gidda gemyndig, 869.—Comp.: geômor-, word-gid.
giddian, w. v., to speak, to speak in alliteration: pret. gyddode, 631.
gif, conj.: 1) if, w. ind., 442, 447, 527, 662, etc.; gyf, 945, etc. With subj., 452, 594, 1482, etc.; gyf, 280, 1105, etc.—2) whether, w. ind., 272; w. subj., 1141, 1320.
gifa, geofa, w. m., giver; in comp. gold-, sinc-, wil-gifa (-geofa).
gifan, st. v., to give: inf. giofan, 2973; pret. sg. nallas beágas geaf Denum, 1720; he me [mâðmas] geaf, 2147; and similarly, 2174, 2432, 2624, etc.; pret. pl. geâfon (hyne) on gârsecg, 49; pret. part. þâ wäs Hrôðgâre here-spêd gyfen, 64; þâ wäs gylden hilt gamelum rince ... on hand gyfen, 1679; syððan ærest wearð gyfen ... geongum cempan (given in marriage), 1949.
â-gifan, to give, to impart: inf. andsware ... âgifan, to give an answer, 355; pret. sg. sôna him se frôda fäder Ôhtheres ... ondslyht âgeaf (gave him a counter-blow), (hand-blow?), 2930.
for-gyfan, to give, to grant: pret.