þæt hē [in][1] nīð-selenāt-hwylcum wæs,
þǣr him nǣnig wæterwihte ne sceþede,
1515ne him for hrōf-selehrīnan ne mehte
fǣr-gripe flōdes;*fȳr-lēoht geseah,Fol. 163b.
blācne lēomanbeorhte scīnan.
Ongeat þā se gōdagrund-wyrgenne,
mere-wīf mihtig;mægen-rǣs forgeaf
1520hilde-bille,hond[2] swenge ne oftēah,
þæt hire on hafelanhring-mǣl āgōl
grǣdig gūð-lēoð.Ðā se gist onfand,
þæt se beado-lēomabītan nolde,
aldre sceþðan,ac sēo ecg geswāc
1525ðēodne æt þearfe;ðolode ǣr fela
hond-gemōta,helm oft gescær,
fǣges fyrd-hrægl;ðā wæs forma sīð
dēorum mādme,þæt his dōm ālæg.
Eft wæs ān-rǣd,nalas elnes læt,
1530mǣrða gemyndig,mǣg Hy[ge]lāces.[3]
Wearp ðā wunden-mǣl[4]wrættum gebunden
yrre ōretta,þæt hit on eorðan læg,
stīð ond stȳl-ecg;strenge getrūwode,
mund-gripe mægenes.Swā sceal man dōn,
1535þonne hē æt gūðegegān þenceð
longsumne lof,nā ymb his līf cearað.
Gefēng þā be eaxle[5](nalas for fǣhðe mearn)
- ↑ 1513. Thorpe ‘[in].’ Grein (followed by Heyne) ‘nið-sele,’ aula in profundis; Sweet ‘nīð-sele,’ hostile hall. The line is of the same type as 482, and a long syllable is required for the scansion (see “Beiträge” x. 297).
- ↑ 1520. MS. ‘hord swenge’; Sweet ‘swenge hond,’ without explanation.
- ↑ 1530. MS. ‘hylaces.’
- ↑ 1531. MS. ‘wundel mæl.’
- ↑ 1537. Sweet adopts Rieger’s emendation ‘feaxe,’ apparently for the sake of the alliteration—a wanton change, for gefēng alliterates normally with fæhðe.