eáforan Eadweardes. Swa him geæthele' was from cneo-mægum, that híe æt campe oft, with lathra gehwane, land ealgodon, hord and hámas, hettend crungon 7. (the) children of Edward. Such [so] was to them (their native) nofrom (their) ancestors, that they in [at] battle oft, against every foe [loathed one], (the) land preserved, hoard and homes, [bility, (the) enemy crushed. [cringed, actively.] that ic was on Myrcon, miccles cynnes. cient to remark, that if there were any thing like probability to justify such a translation, we ought at least to read "With the survivors of the family;" as "lafum" stands in the ablative case plural. A similar expression occurs once in Beowulf, where we know from the context that neither of the versions cited above would suit the sense. The sword of Wiglaf has recently severed the dragon's body in two: with reference to which it is said, Ac him irenna, that se wid-floga, hreas on hrusan, But him of iron, the hard high-shearer, still (quiet) with wounds, In this poem "gomel-laf, eald-laf, yrfelaf," are common expressions for a sword; and there can be little doubt but the language of the text is a metaphorical description of such a weapon. A similar phrase in Icelandic poetry would occasion no difficulty. As to them it was natural from their ancestors, T. So were they taught by kindred zeal, I. Ge-æthele is an araž λεγομενον. The version of the text is founded on the following declaration of Elfwine a follower of Brithnoth: Ic will mine athelo, eallum gecythan, I will my nobility, that I among Mercians was, Mr. Ingram's translation of cneo-mægum-kindred zeal, is perfectly indefen sible. "That they in the field often, T. That they at camp often, I. Yet "camp-stede is translated battle-place by Mr. Turner, and field of battle by Mr. Ingram. "Et campe" would have been equally descriptive of a sea-fight. It has no connexion with our modern camp, Fr. campus, Lat. 'Pursuing they destroyed the Scottish people, T. Pursuing fell the Scottish clans, I. In these translations "hettend crungon" is separated from its context; and though it is a common practice of Anglo-Saxon poetry to unite, by the alliteration, lines wholly unconnected by the sense, yet in the present instance both are terminated by the same period. It may be questioned whether "hettan," persequi, has any existence beyond the pages of Lye, where it is inserted as the root of "hettend." There is reason to believe, that it was obsolete at a very early period, and that its participle present alone was retained in a substantive signification to denote an enemy or purWhen the verb was resuing one. quired, it would seem to have been used without the aspirate: Ehtende wæs, (the) dark death shadow, old (ad lit. valentes) and young. (The) Scottish people, Ib. 222. fated fell. The field Mr. Ingram's translation is obviously incorrect. The whole context proves the Scots to have been the yielding party, and consequently they were the pursued, not those pursuing; and if, with Mr. Turner, we apply "pursuing" to the victors, Athelstan and Edward, the participle (as it then would be) ought to stand in the nominative case pluralhettende and not in the accusative singular. They fell dead, T. In numbers fell, I. This expression occurs again below, "fæge to feohte," where Mr. Ingram expounds it, the hardy fight. It seems almost superfluous to add, that one of these interpretations must be erroneous; and it will be shown immediately that neither is correct. Mr. Turner with more consistency trans 66 lates the second example "for deadly Wyrd oft nereth, thonne his ellen deah. Fate oft preserveth, a man not fated to die, The Cotton MS. Tiberius B. iv. secga swate9, glád ofer grundas 10, oth-thæt sio æthele gesceaft, sáh tó setle" ̧ Thær læg secg monig, ofer scyld scoten. sidered as synonymous with the Icelandic "dundi," from "dynia," resonare, irruere. "Blodid dundi [dynode] og tarin tidt," Creberrima erat stillatio tum sanguinis, tum lacrymarum. "Hrídin dynr yfir,"-procella cum strepitu irruit. The warriors swate, T. The warrior swate, I. To justify these translations we ought to read either, " 'secgas switon" or "secg swat." The latter, with warriors' blood, on morrow-tide, glided over grounds, which offers least violence to the text, is clearly impossible, since no line of Anglo-Saxon poetry can have less than four syllables. There is however no necessity for changing a single letter of the text, as "swate" is the dat. case sing. of "swát," blood, and "secga " the gen. plural of "secg." It may be safely asserted that "swát" in Anglo-Saxon poetry never means "sweat" in its modern accepta tion. Thá that sweord ongan, æfter heatho-swate, hilde gicelum, wig-bil wanian. Then that sword began, after the mighty blood, with battle-droppings, war-bill (to) wane. Beowulf, p. 121. Swa that blod gesprang, So that blood sprang, Wolf Wonreding, p. 220. The German "schweiss" (sweat) still means the blood of a wild boar. But "glád" is 10 Glad, T. and I. Thorow the foreste the lady rode, Another cours together they ród, "Hastened to her setting, T. Sat in the western main, I. Sah is the past tense of sigan, to incline, sink down; and follows the same norm, as stah, from stigan; hnah, from hnigan, &c. So Scottish eke, weary of war -. The West-Saxons forth, in battalions, laid on the foot-steps, (They) hewed (the) fugitives, The Mercians refused not, to none of the men, in [on] the ship's bosom, 19 Weary with ruddy battle, T. The mighty seed of Mars, I. In the first of these versions the reading of the Cotton MS. Tiberius B. iv. has been followed: "werig wiges ræd." This manuscript, however, exhibits great marks of negligence on the part of the transcriber, and, if correct in its orthography on the present occasion, is equally obscure with the "Ræd language of the other copies. cannot be the adjective red, as this would give us a false concord. If "sæd be the genuine reading, it would be difficult to point out a better authenticated version than Mr. Ingram's, provided the word is to be taken substan tively. But even this has been rejected, from a feeling that the context requires a verb, and a doubt whether such a metaphor be in unison with the general spirit of Anglo-Saxon poetry. 13 With a chosen band, T. With chosen troops, I. The Anglo-Saxon "cysta," though clearly derived from "ceosan" to choose, appears to have obtained a specific meaning somewhat similar to our regiment or battalion. Hæfde cista gehwilc, gar-berendra, Had each cista, of war-enacting (ones) ten hundred taled (numbered). Cædmon, 67. 25. 14 The behind ones fiercely, T. Scattered the rear, I. But "hindan" possesses the same adverbial power as "eastan occurring below. 15 This reading has been retained on the authority of the Cotton MSS. Tiberius A. vi. B. i. The reasons for such an epithet are not so clear, however obvious this would be if applied to modern times. But with our present limited knowledge of the Anglo-Saxon language, and of the arts, customs and modes of thinking of our ancestors, it would be highly absurd to reject an expression, merely because its propriety is not felt. The more intelligible reading "mycel scearpum wears all the appearance of a gloss. on thám campstede, cyningas geonge, sweordum aswefede. Swylc seofen éac, eorlas Anlafes; unrím heriges 16, on the battle-stead, young kings, soothed [slumbered, act.] with swords. So seven eke, earls of Anlaf's; numberless of the army, 15 And innumerable of the army of the fleet and the Scots. There was chased away, the lord of the Northmen, by necessity driven to the voice of the ship. With a small host, with the crew of his ship, the king of the fleet departed on the yellow flood, T. And of the ship's crew unnumbered crowds. There was dispersed the little band of hardy Scots, the dread of the Northern hordes urged to the noisy deep by unrelenting fate. The king of the fleet with his slender craft escaped with his life on the felon flood. I. The present translation differs occasionally from both these versions, Where it agrees with either, no vindication will be necessary; but some of its variations are too important not to require an account of the authorities from whence they are derived.-The AngloSaxon "flota " (the floater) equally meant a ship and a sailor. Flota was on ythum, Ship was on the waters, boat under rock. Beowulf, p. 18. Of its secondary meaning, a sailor,— an example has already occurred in the compound, "scip-flota;" and the fragment of Brithnoth has preserved the simple substantive, as in the present text: Se flod ut-gewat, thá flotan stodon gearowe, wiges georne. The flood departed out, "Stefn" like "flota" had also a twofold meaning. Lye has only recorded one of these the human voice,-and upon this both the interpretations cited above are evidently founded. But it likewise implied, the prow of a ship; and this is the only sense which will give connec tion or intelligence to the present narrative. A similar example occurs in Beowulf: Flota was on ythum, "still means the Ship was on the waters, boat under rock, (the) bairns readily ascended the prow. In German, "steven stem of a ship; and in Danish this part of a vessel is called the For-stævn, by way of distinction from the Bag-stævn, or stern. It will also be found in the second part of the Edda : Brim-runar scaltu rista, Sea-runes shalt thou carve, But "stefn" must not be confounded with "stefna," a ship, frequently occurring in Beowulf, and which the Latin translation always (I believe) renders "prora." Gewát tha ofer wæg-holm, fugle gelicost. Departed then over (the) billowy |