# Beowulf (Wyatt)/Beowulf 18

XVIII.
Him wæs ful boren,ond frēond-laþu wordum bewægned,ond wunden gold ēstum geēawed,earm-[h]rēade twā, 1195hrægl ond hrin*gas,heals-bēaga mǣst,Fol. 156b. þāra þe ic on foldangefrægen hæbbe. Nǣnigne ic under sweglesēlran hȳrde hord-mādmum hæleþa,syþðan Hāma ætwæg tō þǣre byrhtan byrigBrōsinga mene, 1200sigle ond sinc-fæt,searo-nīðas flēah Eormenrīces,gecēas ēcne rǣd. Þone hring hæfdeHigelāc Gēata, nefa Swertinges,nȳhstan sīðe, siðþan hē under segnesine ealgode, 1205wæl-rēaf werede;hyne wyrd fornam, ​syþðan hē for wlencowēan āhsode, fǣhðe tō Frȳsum.Hē þā frætwe wæg, eorclan-stānas,ofer ȳða ful, rīce þēoden;hē under rande gecranc. 1210Gehwearf þā in Francna fæþmfeorh cyninges, brēost-gewǣduond se bēah somod; wyrsan wīg-frecanwæl rēafedon æfter gūð-sceare;Gēata lēode hrēa-wīc hēoldon.Heal swēge onfēng. 1215Wealhðēo maþelode,hēo fore þǣm. werede spræc: “Brūc ðisses bēages,Bēowulf lēofa, hyse, mid hǣle,*ond þisses hrægles nēot,Fol. 157a. þēo[d]-gestrēona,ond geþēoh tela; cen þec mid cræfte,ond þyssum cnyhtum wes 1220lāra līðe;ic þē þǣs lēan geman. Hafast þū gefēred,þæt ðē feor ond nēah ealne wīde-ferhþweras ehtigað, efne swā sīdeswā sǣ bebūgeð windge [e]ard-weallas.Wes, þenden þū lifige, 1225æþeling ēadig;ic þē an tela sinc-gestrēona.Bēo þū suna mīnum dǣdum gedēfe,drēam healdende. Hēr is ǣghwylc eorlōþrum getrȳwe, mōdes milde,man-drihtne hol[d]; 1230þegnas syndon geþwǣre,þēod eal gearo. ​Druncne dryht-guman,dōð swā ic bidde.” Ēode þā tō setle.Þǣr w«s symbla cyst, druncon wīn weras;wyrd ne cūþon, gēo-sceaft grimme,swā hit āgangen wearð 1235eorla manegum.Syþðan ǣfen cwōm, ond him Hrōþgār gewāttō hofe sīnum, rīce tō ræste,reced weardode unrīm eorla,swā hīe oft ǣr dydon. Benc-þelu beredon;hit geond-brǣded wearð 1240beddum ond bolstrum.Bēor-scealca sum fūs ond fǣgeflet-ræste ge*bēag.Fol. 157b. Setton him tō hēafdonhilde-randas, bord-wudu beorhtan;þǣr on bence wæs ofer æþelingeȳþ-gesene 1245heaþo-stēapa helm,hringed byrne, þrec-wudu þrymlīc.Wæs þēaw hyra, þæt hīe oft wǣronan wīg gearwe ge æt hām ge on herge,ge gehwæþer þāra efne swylce mǣla,swylce hira man-dryhtne 1250þearf gesǣlde;wæs sēo þrēod tilu.
* ↑ 1194. MS. ‘earm reade’; Grein ‘earm-[h]rēade.’
* ↑ 1199. MS. ‘here’; Ettmüller ‘þǣre.’
* ↑ 1200. MS. ‘fealh’; Leo, Grundtvig, Cosijn, Bugge ‘flēah.’ Bugge’s argument is conclusive (“Beiträge” xii. 69 ff.). Fēolan never governs an accus., flēon does. “Flēah is confirmed by the fact, that according to the saga Hama in reality ‘fled from the enmity of Eormenric’.” [Earle’s note on l. 1201 is somewhat misleading. He says that Bugge “finds that Hama entered religious life, and that this is the proper sense of gecēas ēcne rǣd.” Bugge’s own words are: “Ich verstehe gecēas ēcne rǣd so: ‘er wurde ein frommer mann, so dass er, als er starb, zur seligkeit eingieng’.” The cloister, to which Hama retired after he had fled from Eormenric, Bugge thinks is referred to in þǣre byrhtan byrig (l. 1199), for the Thidrekssaga says that Hama brought much gold and silver to the cloister. See “Beiträge” xii. 70, 71.]
* ↑ 1205. Wülcker ‘Wyrd,’ with a capital, here and in l. 477, but nowhere else, not even in 2814 (cf. with 477). Heyne uses a capital initial in ll. 455, 477, 2420, 2526, 2574, 2814, but not in this line. Neither of these editors ever uses a capital for the names of the Christian Deity. A fair record of inconsistencies.
* ↑ 1212. MS. ‘reafeden.’
* ↑ 1218. MS. ‘þeo ge streona.’
* ↑ 1224. MS. ‘wind geard weallas’; Ettmüller ‘windige weallas,’ cf. l. 572. The emendation in the text is Kemble’s.
* ↑ 1225. Wülcker puts a comma after æþeling, making it a vocative. It seems to me that such breaks in the half-line are to be avoided wherever possible. Cf. ll. 130, 2188, 2342.
* ↑ 1229. MS. ‘hol.’
* ↑ 1234. MS. ‘grimne’; Ettmüller ‘grimme.’
* ↑ 1247. MS. ‘anwig gearwe’; Ettmüller (adopted by Grein) ‘ānwīg-gearwe,’ ready for single combat.