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134
BEOWULF.
lǣne licgan;  lȳt ǣnig mearn,

3130þæt hī ofostlīc[e][1]  ūt geferedon
dȳre māðmas.  Dracan ēc scufun,
wyrm ofer weall-clif,  lēton wēg niman,
flōd fæðmian,  frætwa hyrde.
Þǣr[2] wæs wunden gold  on wǣn hladen,
3135ǣghwæs unrīm;  æþeling[3] boren,
hār hilde[-rinc],[4]  to Hrones næsse.

XLIII.

Him ðā gegiredan  Gēata lēode
ād on eorðan  unwāclīcne,
helm[um][5] behongen,  hilde-bordum,
3140beorhtum byrnum,  swā hā bēna wæs;
ālegdon ðā tōmiddes  mǣrne þēoden
hæleð hīofende,  hlāford lēofne.
Ongunnon þā on beorge  bǣl-fȳra mǣst
wīgend weccan;  wud[u]-rēc[6] āstāh
3145sweart ofer swioðole,[7]  swōgende lēg[8]

wōpe bewunden   (wind-blond gelæg),
  1. ↑ 3130. MS. defective at edge.
  2. ↑ 3134. MS. ‘ꝥ.’ Thorpe ‘Þǣr.’
  3. ↑ 3135. MS. ‘æþelinge.’
  4. ↑ 3136. MS. ‘hilde to.’ “I am unable to decide whether there is an erasure of one letter after hilde or an original blank.”—Z. Thorpe’s emendation.
  5. ↑ 3139. MS. ‘helm.’ Grein’s emendation.
  6. ↑ 3144. Hole in MS.
  7. ↑ 3145. MS. ‘swicðole.’ A difficult word. Toller gives two or three instances of swice, swicc (?), “scent, smell.” Skeat suggests “smelling fir-wood,” from O.E. ðol(l), Icel. þollr, “a thole, a peg,” originally “fir-tree.” Grein connects with swaðul (l. 782). See glossary.
  8. ↑ MS. ‘let’; Thorpe ‘lēg.’
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