Page:Beowulf (Wyatt).djvu/89

Gūð-Gēata lēod⁠Grendles mōdor,
brægd þā beadwe heard,⁠þā hē gebolgen wæs,
1540feorh-genīðlan,⁠þæt hēo on flet gebēah.
Hēo him eft hraðe⁠hand-lēan^[1] forgeald
grim*man grāpum,⁠ond him tōgēanes fēng;Fol. 164a.
oferwearp þā wērig-mōd⁠wigena strengest,
fēþe-cempa,⁠þæt hē on fylle wearð.
1545Ofsæt þā þone sele-gyst,⁠ond hyre seax^[2] getēah
brād, brūn-ecg,^[3]⁠wolde hire bearn wrecan,
āngan eaferan.⁠Him on eaxle læg
brēost-net brōden;⁠þæt gebearh fēore,
wið ord ond wið ecge⁠ingang forstōd.
1550Hæfde ðā forsīðod⁠sunu Ecgþēowes
under gynne grund,⁠Gēata cempa,
nemne him heaðo-byrne⁠helpe gefremede,
here-net hearde,⁠ond hālig God
gewēold wīg-sigor,⁠wītig Drihten,
1555rodera Rǣdend⁠hit on ryht gescēd^[4]
ȳðelīce;⁠syþðan hē eft āstōd.

1. 1541. Heyne and Sweet (who however glosses hand-lēan alone) adopt Rieger’s emendation and-lēan, alliterating with eft. So, in l. 2094, Heyne reads ond-lēan for hond-lēan, “mit Rücksicht auf die Allitteration.” On the other hand, it is unfortunate that the alliteration is not decisive in the case of either line. Moreover, the phrase and-lēan forgieldan, “to repay reward,” is distinctly over-redundant, containing as it does the re- notion in both and- and for-, as well as in the word lēan itself (here, also, in eft in the first half-line). Cf. ll. 114, 1584. Thus no case is made out for setting aside the clear readings of the MS.
2. 1545. MS. ‘seaxe’; Ettmüller (followed by Sweet) ‘seax.’ Getēon always takes an accus.; cf. l. 2610 and brād, brūn-ecg, 1546.
3. 1546. Heyne ‘brad [ond] brun-ecg,’ on metrical and syntactical grounds.
4. 1555. Wülcker has a colon after gescēd and no stop after ȳðelīce.