flotan and Sceotta. Cread cnear on-flot, feorh generede. to the ship's prow, (The) ship drove [crowded] afloat, on the fallow flood, preserved (his) life. Swylc thær éac se froda 17, So there also the sapient one, mid fleame cóm, on his cyththe north, Constantinus, har hylderinc 18. the foamy-necked ship, Till that about six o'clock, had (so) waded, p. 19. by flight came, on his country north, Constantine, hoary warrior. For an illustration of "cread" the reader is referred to the Appendix to vol. ii. p. 492, where this line is translated. And in further support of the version there given, the following extract be from the fragment of Brithnoth may quoted. We willath mid tham sceattum, us to scype gangan, on-flot feran, and eow frithes healdan. We will with the scot (treasures), us to ship gang, afloat proceed, and hold peace with you. 17 The routed one, T. the valiant chief, I. By which of these epithets are we to translate the title bestowed upon Sæmund, for his extraordinary learning?-Sæmundr hinn frodi. The age of Constantine procured for him this distinction, which in Beowulf is so frequently applied to the veteran Hrothgar. The 18 The hoarse din of Hilda, T. hoary Hildrinc, I. It is quite an assumption of modern writers, that this goddess of war was acknowledged by the Anglo-Saxons; and no ingenuity can reconcile Mr. Turner's translation with the Anglo-Saxon text. Mr. Ingram most unnecessarily makes "hylderinc" a proper name, which, if correct on the present occasion, would be equally so in the following passage, where Beowulf plunges into the "mere" to seek the residence of Grendel's mother: Hreman ne thórfte, He needed not to boast, meca gemanan 18. of the commerce of swords. Her was his maga-sceard '9, Here was his kindred troop, freonda gefylled, on folc-stede, beslægen æt secce; æthelinge boren, Then was the twisted gold, on wain laden, numberless of each, with the atheling borne, hoary warrior, to Hron's-ness. of friends destroyed (felled), on the folk-stead, of the bill-clashing, old deceiver; p. 23. among his 18 Mr. Ingram, who reads "mæcan gemanan," translates it " kindred." But " mæca," if it exist at all as a nominative case, can never mean "a relative." 19 He was the fragment of his relations, of his friends felled in the folkplace, T. Here was his remnant of relations and friends slain with the sword in the crowded fight, I. It is difficult to conceive upon what principle the soldiers of Constantine, who fell in the battle, could be called either the fragment or remnant of his followers. A similar expression-here- laf—is afterwards applied with evident propriety to the survivors of the conflict. The present translation has been hazarded, from a belief that "sceard" is synonymous with "sceare (the German schaar, a band or troop); and 66 like "maga-sceard," magodriht," descriptive of the personal or household troops of Constantine. Tha was Hrothgare, wiges weorth-mynd; 20 The lad with flaxen hair, T. The fair-haired youth, I. Mr. Turner appears to refer these, expressions to Constantine's son; Mr. Ingram certainly does. There would be little propriety in declaring a dead man's inability to boast, or the unfitness of such a proceeding even if there were any thing to colour such an interpretation. But blondenfeax is a phrase which in Anglo-Saxon poetry is only applied to those advanced in life; and is used to denote that mirture of colour, which the hair assumes on approaching or increasing senility. The German "blond," at the present. day, marks a colour neither white nor brown, but mingled with tints of each. 21 The old in wit, T. Nor old Inwood, I. The orthography of the present text is supported by the Cotton MSS. Tiberius A. vi. & B. i. Mr. Ingram reads "inwidda," of which he has made "Inwood;" though the learned translator has omitted to inform us ne Anláf thy má, mid heora here-lafum, hlihan ne thorfton, that hí beadu-weorca 2*, beteran wurdon, on camp-stede, cumbol-gehnastes, gár mittinge 23, gumena gemotes, wapen-gewrixles, thas the hie on wæl-felda, with Eadweardes, eáforan plegodon. Gewíton hym tha Northmen, nægledon cnearrum, dreorig daretha láf 24, on dinges 25 mere 26 nor Anlaf any more, with the relics of their armies, needed not to laugh, that they of warlike works, better (men) were, on the battle-stead, at [of] the conflict of banners, the meeting of spears, the assembly of men, the interchange of weapons, of that which they on the slaughter-field, with Edward's, children played. The Northmen departed, (in their) nailed ships, gory relic of the darts, on, version may be justified by the following extracts from Beowulf: Thonne was theos medo-heal, thonne dæg lixte, eal benc-thelu, blode bestymed. Then was this mead-hall, troop-hall gore stained, when day lighted (dawned), sprinkled with blood. Thonne blode-fah, Then stained with blood, Water under wolcnum, Water under clouds, p. 39. p. 72. stained with slaughter-gore. p. 123. 5 This reading has been retained in preference to the "dinnes" of Gibson, on the authority of Tiberius B. i. The other Cotton MSS. read "dynges A. vi. "dynges" B. iv. 96 On the stormy sea, T. On the g ofer deop water, Dyflin secan, eft Yraland $7, æwisc-mode. Swylce thá gebrother, over deep water, with a shamed mind. roaring sea, I. There is every proba- "Mr. Ingram retains "heora land" in the text, and translates the variation -Yraland. All the Cotton MSS. unite in reading "eft"; and we learn from other sources that this statement is historically correct. The screamers of war, I. In fight triumphant, I. It has already been said of the fugitive Constantine that he had no cause to exult-hreman ne thórfte; I Maththum must not be confounded with mathmum, the dative case plural of mathm. hrá brittian, salowig padan 29, (the) corse to enjoy, (the) sallowy thone sweartan hræfn, hyrned-nebban ; (the) swarth raven, the horned nibbed one; and thone hasean padan 90, and the dusky and the jewel (i. e. a sword) beareth, shouldest command (or wield). The dismal kite, T. The sallow kite, I. Whatever idea may have been attached to "padan", it is manifestly not a species but a genus. It occurs again immediately as characteristic of the eagle. There is, however, reason to believe that these lines have been transposed, and that we ought to read Thone sweartan hræfn, Cadmon unites with the present text in calling the raven both "swarth and sallow.' Let tha ymb worn daga that he on neode hine ac se feond, Then after some days (he) let swarth fly, Noah reckoned (told) that he from need him seek would; but the fiend, sallowy of feathers, would not seek (him). 33. 5. It will be remembered that the AngloSaxon "blac" was equivalent to our black and yellow. And the hoarse toad, T. And the hoarse vulture, I. The latter version is totally without authority. The former is justified in part by our vocabularies, though evidently at variance with the context. The Cotton MS. Tiberius A. vi. reads haso (the nom. case), which shows this word to have had a twofold termination: haso and haswe-like salo and salwe, fealo and fealwe. The nomenclature of Anglo-Saxon colours must necessarily be very obscure; but as we find the public road called "fealwe stræte" (Beowulf); and the passage made for the Israelites over the Red Sea "haswe stræda" (Cædmon), the version of the present text cannot be materially out. The eagle afterwards to feast on the white flesh, T. And the eagle swift to consume his prey, I. The very simplicity of the Anglo-Saxon text appears to have excited distrust in the only |