# Beowulf (Wyatt)/Beowulf 38

XXXVIII.
Ðā ic snūde gefrægn sunu Wihstānes æfter word-cwydum wundum dryhtne hȳran heaðo-sīocum, hring-net beran, ​2755brogdne beadu-sercean, under beorges hrōf.
Geseah ðā sige-hrēðig, þā hē bī sesse gēong, mago-þegn *mōdig māððum-sigla fealo,Fol. 190a. gold glitinian grunde getenge, wundur on wealle, ond þaes wyrmes denn, 2760ealdes ūht-flogan; orcas stondan, fyrn-manna fatu, feormend-lēase, hyrstum behrorene. Þǣr wæs helm monig eald ond ōmig, earm-bēaga fela searwum gesǣled. Sinc ēaðe mæg, 2765gold on grund[e], gum-cynnes gehwone oferhīgian, hȳde sē ðe wylle. Swylce hē siomian geseah segn eall-gylden hēah ofer horde, hond-wundra mǣst, gelocen leoðo-cræftum; of ðām lēoma stōd, 2770þæt hē þone grund-wong ongitan meahte, wræte giondwlītan. Næs ðæs wyrmes þǣr onsȳn ǣnig, ac hyne ecg fornam. Ðā ic on hlǣwe gefrægn hord rēafian, eald enta geweorc, ānne mannan, 2775him on bearm hladon būnan ond discas sylfes dōme; segn ēac genōm, bēacna beorhtost. Bill ǣr gescōd ​(ecg wæs īren) eald-hlāfordes þām ðāra māðma mund-bora wæs 2780longe hwīle, līg-egesan wæg hātne for horde, hioro-weallende middel-nihtum, *oð þæt hē morðre swealt.Fol. 190b. Ār wæs on ofoste, eft-sīðes georn, frætwum gefyrðred; hyne fyrwet bræc, 2785hwæðer collen-ferð cwicne gemētte in ðām wong-stede Wedra þēoden, ellen-sīocne, þǣr hē hine ǣr forlēt. Hē ðā mid þām māðmum mǣrne þīoden, dryhten sīnne, drīorigne fand 2790ealdres æt ende; hē hine eft ongon wæteres weorpan, oð þæt wordes ord brēost-hord þurhbræc. [Bēowulf maðelode,] gomel on giohðe gold scēawode: “Ic ðāra frætwa Frēan ealles ðanc, 2795Wuldur-cyninge, wordum secge, ēcum Dryhtne, þe ic hēr on starie, þæs ðe ic mōste mīnum lēodum ​ǣr swylt-dæge swylc gestrȳnan. Nū ic on māðma hord mīne bebohte 2800frōde feorh-lege, fremmað gēna lēoda þearfe; ne mæg ic hēr leng wesan. Hātað heaðo-mǣre hlǣw gewyrcean beorhtne æfber bǣle æt brimes nosan; sē scel tō gemyndum mīnum lēodum 2805hēah hlīfian on Hrones næsse, þæt hit sǣ-līðend syððan hātan Bīowulfes biorh, ðā ðe brentingas ofer *flōda genipu feorran drīfað.”Fol. 191a.. Dyde him of healse hring gyldenne 2810þīoden þrīst-hȳdig; þegne gesealde, geongum gār-wigan, gold-fāhne helm, bēah ond byrnan, hēt hyne brūcan well. “Þū eart ende-lāf usses cynnes, Wǣgmundinga; ealle wyrd forswēop 2815mīne māgas tō metod-sceafte, eorlas on elne; ic him æfter sceal.” Þæt wæs þām gomelan gingæste word brēost-gehygdum, ǣr hē bǣl cure, hāte heaðo-wylmas; him of hreðre gewāt 2820sāwol sēcean sōð-fæstra dōm.}}
* ↑ 2755. MS. ‘urder.’
* ↑ 2757. Most editors normalise to ‘fela’ or ‘feola.’ But see Sievers §§ 275 and 150, 3).
* ↑ 2765. MS. defective at edge.
* ↑ 2766. Grein ‘[hord] oferhigian’ (surpass). No gap in MS.
* ↑ 2769. MS. ‘leoman.’
* ↑ 2771. MS. ‘wræce,’ here and in l. 3060. Thorpe ‘wræte’ in both places.
* ↑ 2775. MS. ‘hlodon.’ For infin. in -on cf. ll. 308, etc., and see Sievers § 363, 1).
* ↑ 2777. MS. ‘ærge scod.’ Kemble ‘ǣr-gescōd,’ brass-shod, sheathed in brass. This has the support of Thorpe and Grein, but lacks analogy; for the reading in the text cf. l. 1587, and ll. 1615, 2562, and 2973.
* ↑ 2778. Rieger ‘eald-hlāforde’ ( = the dragon), supported by Earle. The MS. reading, ‘eald-hlāfordes,’ is understood by Bugge and Heyne of Beowulf, by Müllenhoff and Wülcker of the former possessor of the hoard. The reading of the latter is:   “segn eac genom, beacna beorhtost,  bill ærgescod (ecg wæs iren)  ealdhlafordes, þam etc.” That ll. 2780—82 refer to the dragon, and are inconsistent with what we are told of the former owner, will be seen by a comparison with ll. 2231—70.
* ↑ 2792. No gap in MS.
* ↑ 2793. MS. ‘giogoðe’; Thorpe ‘giohðe.
* ↑ 2799. MS. ‘minne,’
* ↑ 2800. Thorpe ‘gē nū’; so Grein and Heyne. Why?
* ↑ 2814. MS. ‘for/speof.’ Kemble ‘forswēof’ (so Grein and Heyne). But when the MS. reading is certainly wrong, it is surely better, by a change of two letters, to obtain the pret. of a verb already used in this poem (l. 477), and found in the past part, in “Genesis” 391, than, by a change of one letter only, to set up a verb, of whose existence there is no other evidence.
* ↑ 2819. MS. ‘hwæðre.’ Kemble’s emendation.
* ↑ 2820. No number in the MS. after this hne, but there is a space, and l. 2821 begins with a large capital.