atol ǣglǣca,ealdre þīnum,
hȳnðo on Heorote,gif þīn hige wǣre,
sefa swā searo-grim,swā þū self talast;
595ac hē hafað onfunden,þæt hē þā fǣhðe ne þearf,
atole ecg-þræce,ēower lēode
swīðe onsittan,Sige-Scyldinga;
nymeð nȳd-bāde,nǣnegum ārað
lēode Deniga,ac hē [on][1] lust wīgeð,
600swefeð ond sendeþ,secce[2] ne wēneþ
tō Gar-Denum.Ac ic[3] him Gēata sceal
eafoð ond ellenungēara nū
gūþe gebēodan.Gǣþ eft sē þe mōt
tō medo mōdig,siþþan morgen-lēoht
605ofer ylda bearnoþres dōgores,
sunne swegl-wered,sūþan scīneð.”
Þā wæs on sālumsinces brytta,
gamol-feax ond gūð-rōf;gēoce gelȳfde
*brego Beorht-Dena;gehȳrde on BēowulfeFol. 144a.
610folces hyrdefæst-rǣdne geþōht.
Ðǣr wæs hæleþa hleahtor,hlyn swynsode,
word wǣron wynsume.Ēode Wealhþēow forð,
cwēn Hrōðgāres,cynna gemyndig,
grētte gold-hrodenguman on healle;
- ↑ 599. Kemble’s emendation ; cf. l. 618.
- ↑ 600. Thorpe ‘sæcce,’ followed by most editors. Secce is a dialectal form; see Sievers § 151.
- ↑ 601. Thorpe and Heyne suppress ic. Thorpe makes Gēata (weak form) the subject, eafoð ond ellen the object, and is followed by Earle. Heyne takes eafoð ond ellen Gēata as subject, gūðe as object. He adds: “ic Gēata, ‘ich der Gēaten’ oder ‘ich unter den Gēaten,’ ist bedenklich.” Surely this is what Coleridge calls the “wilful ingenuity of blundering.” What is to prevent ic being taken as the subject, and eafoð ond ellen Gēata as the object?
