# Beowulf (Wyatt)/Beowulf 27

XXVII.
Cwōm þā tō flōde fela mōdigra hæg-stealdra; hring-net bǣron, 1890locene leoðo-syrcan. Land-weard onfand eft-sīð eorla, swā hē ǣr dyde; nō hē mid hearme of hliðes nosan *gæs[tas] grētte, ac him tōgēanes rād,Fol. 171b. cwæð þæt wilcuman Wedera lēodum 1895scaþan scīr-hame tō scipe fōron. Þā wæs on sande sǣ-gēap naca hladen here-wǣdum, hringed-stefna mēarum ond māðmum; mæst hlīfade ofer Hrōðgāres hord-gestrēonum. 1900Hē þǣm bāt-wearde bunden golde swurd gesealde, þæt hē syðþan wæs on meodu-bence māþme þȳ weorþra, yrfe-lāfe. Gewāt him on nacan drēfan dēop wæter, Dena land ofgeaf. ​1905Þā wæs be mæste mere-hrægla sum, segl sāle fæst; sund-wudu þunede; nō þǣr wēg-flotan wind ofer ȳðum sīðes getwǣfde; sǣ-genga fōr, flēat fāmig-heals forð ofer ȳðe, 1910bunden-stefna ofer brim-strēamas, þæt hīe Gēata clifu ongitan meahton, cūþe næssas; cēol ūp geþrang lyft-geswenced, on lande stōd. Hraþe wæs æt *holme hȳð-weard gearu,Fol. 172a. 1915sē þe ǣr lange tīd lēofra manna fūs æt faroð feor wlātode; sǣlde tō sande sīd-fæþme scip oncer-bendum fæst, þȳ lǣs hym ȳþa ðrym wudu wynsuman forwrecan meahte. 1920Hēt þā ūp beran æþelinga gestrēon, frætwe ond fǣt-gold; næs him feor þanon tō gesēcanne sinces bryttan, Higelāc Hrēþling, þǣr æt hām wunað selfa mid gesīðum sǣ-wealle nēah. 1925Bold wæs betlīc, brego rōf cyning, hēa healle, Hygd swīðe geong, wīs, wel þungen, þēah ðe wintra lȳt under burh-locan gebiden hæbbe Hæreþes dohtor; næs hīo hnāh swā þēah, 1930ne tō gnēað gifa Gēata lēodum, maāþm-gestrēona. Mōd Ðrȳðo wæg, ​fremu folces cwēn, firen ondrysne; nǣnig þæt dorste dēor genēþan swǣsra gesīða, nefne sīn frēa, 1935þæt hire an dæges ēagum starede; ac him wæl-bende *weotode tealdeFol. 172b. hand-gewriþene; hraþe seoþðan wæs æfter mund-gripe mēce geþinged, þæt hit scēaden-mǣl scȳran mōste, 1940cwealm-bealu cȳðan. Ne bið swylc cwēnlīc þēaw idese tō efnanne, þēah ðe hīo ǣnlicu sȳ, þætte freoðu-webbe fēores onsæce æfter lige-torne lēofne mannan. Hūru þæt onhōhsnod[e] Hemminges mǣg. 1945Ealo-drincende ōðer sǣdan, þæt hīo lēod-bealewa lǣs gefremede, inwit-nīða, syððan ǣrest wearð gyfen gold-hroden geongum cempan, æðelum dīore, syððan hīo Offan flet 1950ofer fealone flōd be fæder lāre ​sīðe gesōhte; ðǣr hīo syððan well in gum-stōle, gōde mǣre, līf-gesceafta lifigende brēac, hīold hēah-lufan wið hæleþa brego, 1955ealles mon-cynnes, mīne gefrǣge, þone sēlestan bī sǣm twēonum, eormen-cynnes. Forðām Offa *wæs,Fol. 173a. geofum ond gūðum gār-cēne man, wīde geweorðod; wīsdōme hēold 1960ēðel sīnne. Þonon Ēomǣr wōc hæleðum tō helpe, Hem[m]inges mǣg, nefa Gārmundes, niða cræftig.
* ↑ 1888—9. Wülcker and Heyne ‘fela-mōdigra/hæg-stealdra [hēap]’; cf. l. 1637.
* ↑ 1893. MS. defective at corner. A ‘gæs’ (followed by a blank space); Grundtvig ‘gæs[tas].’
* ↑ 1895. MS. defective at edge. A ‘scawan’ (so Heyne); B ‘scaþan' (so Zupitza and Wülcker). The first syllable sca- is still perfectly distinct; but the second syllable is missing at the beginning of the next line. The word scawa is not found elsewhere; scaþan occurs with the same meaning as here in l. 1803.
* ↑ 1902. MS. ‘maþma þy weorþre,’ which Thorpe emended.
* ↑ 1903. Grein ‘[ȳð-]nacan,’ for the alliteration. Sievers is contented to let on alliterate.
* ↑ 1914. MS. ‘geara.’
* ↑ 1918. MS. ‘oncear bendum.’
* ↑ 1923. Wülcker ‘wunade.’ Sievers regards this and the next line as oratio recta. But cf. the present tenses in ll. 1314, 1928.
* ↑ 1925. Grundtvig ‘brego-rōf’ (so Heyne).
* ↑ 1932. Suchier ‘firen-ondrysne.’ We have elision of final e before a vowel in ll. 338 and 442. But perhaps the true explanation of the forms frōfor in l. 698 and firen here will be found in Sievers § 251, N.
* ↑ 1934. Heyne ‘sin-frea.’ Zupitza transliterates ‘sinfrea’—presumably a misprint for ‘sin-frea’; cf. sin-nihte, l. 161, etc. There is a distinct space between the n and f in the MS.
* ↑ 1935. Zupitza ‘an-dæges,’ apparently supporting Leo’sān-dæges, “the whole day.” Suchier ‘andǣges’ = andēges, “eye to eye.”
* ↑ 1939. A most difficult line. Bugge ‘scēaden mǣl’ (so Suchier and Zupitza). Suchier translates (“Beit.” iv. 500 ff.): “damit die Klinge offenbaren möchte, es sei entschieden”; Bugge: “nachdem die Sache entschieden war,” both making scēaden qualify hit. Sievers (“Beit.” x. 313) supports the reading in the text. Heyne ‘sceaðen-mǣl scyran,’ hostile sword decide. The second hand in the MS. begins with mōste.
* ↑ 1942. Rieger ‘onēce’ (so Suchier).
* ↑ 1944. MS. ‘on hohsnod hem ninges.’ See “Beiträge” x. 501.
* ↑ 1956. MS. ‘þæs.’
* ↑ 1960. MS. ‘geomor’; Bachlechner ‘Eōmǣr’; Grein ‘Eōmor.’