Page:The Sources of Standard English.djvu/379

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350
The Sources of Standard English.
miþ strelum giwundæd with arrows wounded
alegdun hiæ hinæ limwæ­rignæ they laid him down limb-weary
gistoddun him (æt) h(is l)i­cæs (h)eaf(du)m they stood at his corpse's head

II.

Manuscript of the year 737, containing lines by Cadmon.[1]

Nu scylun hergan
hefaen ricaes uard
metudæs mæcti
end his mod gidanc
uerc uuldur fadur
sue he uundra gihuaes
eci drictin
or astelidæ
He ærist scop
elda barnum
heben til hrofe
haleg scepen
tha middun geard
mon cynnæs uard
eci dryctin
æfter tiadæ
firum foldu
frea allmectig.
Now must we praise
heaven kingdom's Warden
the Creator's might
and his mind's thought
glorious Father of men
as he of each wonder
eternal Lord
formed the beginning
He erst shaped
for earth's bairns
heaven as a roof
holy Shaper
then mid-earth
mankind's Warden
eternal Lord
afterwards produced
for men the earth
Lord Almighty.
  1. Bosworth, Origin of the Germanic Languages, p. 57.