Page:Beowulf (Wyatt).djvu/88

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)

1. 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).
2. 1520. MS. ‘hord swenge’; Sweet ‘swenge hond,’ without explanation.
3. 1530. MS. ‘hylaces.’
4. 1531. MS. ‘wundel mæl.’
5. 1537. Sweet adopts Rieger’s emendation ‘feaxe,’ apparently for the sake of the alliteration—a wanton change, for gefēng alliterates normally with fæhðe.