Page:Gummere (1909) The Oldest English Epic.djvu/176

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160

THE OLDEST ENGLISH EPIC

made mistakes; the scribe is always guilty in these cases until he is proved innocent; and so arises store of controversy over textual matters in infinite detail. But the meaning and the vigor of the whole are beyond controversy.

“No gables are burning.”—^[1]

Then cried^[2] to his band the battle-young king:
“ ’Tis no dawn from eastward; no dragon flies;
nor burn on this hall the hornéd gables:
5 but hither comes bearing a hostile band
its battle-gear bright:^[3] the birds^[4] are calling,

“gray-coat” howls,^[5] and harsh dins the war-wood,^[6]

↑ Despite Möller’s argument that the fight here described belongs “between vv. 1145 and 1146” of Beowulf, that is, where Hengest and the remnant of the Danes are attacked after the battle in which Hnæf falls, the majority of scholars are surely right in regarding this part of Finnsburg as the story of the first attack, in which Hnæf falls. See the note to Beowulf, v. 1068.—Some one has called the attention of the “battle-young king” to a peculiar light, and both suggests and rejects explanations, the final one of which is preserved. The king is probably Hnæf, to whom, perhaps, Hengest speaks. They are looking out from their hall.
↑ In appeal,—a call and summons to the throng, as the chieftain notes that the strange light is that of weapons, and that his hall is singled out for a night attack. The desperate courage of chief and clansmen surprised in a hall or within the usual house-defences was a favorite theme in Germanic verse, corresponding to the frequency of the situation in actual life. One thinks of the splendid close of the Nibelungen-Lay as the masterpiece in its kind. Bugge points out the resemblance of the situation to that described in the Saga of Hrolf Kraki.
↑ Conjectural half-verses supplied by Grein to mend the broken rhythmical scheme.
↑ Birds of the battle-field, who follow the army in anticipation of fight, and feast on the slain. See Beowulf, above, vv. 3024 ff.; the famous passage in Brunnanburh, vv. 60 ff.; and Elene, vv. 111 f. (with J. Grimm’s note).
↑ The wolf; see preceding references. Some editors make “gray-coat” the “gray coat-of-mail,” after Beowulf, v. 334.
↑ The spear.—The personification of this and kindred passages should

[1] Despite Möller’s argument that the fight here described belongs “between vv. 1145 and 1146” of Beowulf, that is, where Hengest and the remnant of the Danes are attacked after the battle in which Hnæf falls, the majority of scholars are surely right in regarding this part of Finnsburg as the story of the first attack, in which Hnæf falls. See the note to Beowulf, v. 1068.—Some one has called the attention of the “battle-young king” to a peculiar light, and both suggests and rejects explanations, the final one of which is preserved. The king is probably Hnæf, to whom, perhaps, Hengest speaks. They are looking out from their hall.

[2] In appeal,—a call and summons to the throng, as the chieftain notes that the strange light is that of weapons, and that his hall is singled out for a night attack. The desperate courage of chief and clansmen surprised in a hall or within the usual house-defences was a favorite theme in Germanic verse, corresponding to the frequency of the situation in actual life. One thinks of the splendid close of the Nibelungen-Lay as the masterpiece in its kind. Bugge points out the resemblance of the situation to that described in the Saga of Hrolf Kraki.

[3] Conjectural half-verses supplied by Grein to mend the broken rhythmical scheme.

[4] Birds of the battle-field, who follow the army in anticipation of fight, and feast on the slain. See Beowulf, above, vv. 3024 ff.; the famous passage in Brunnanburh, vv. 60 ff.; and Elene, vv. 111 f. (with J. Grimm’s note).

[5] The wolf; see preceding references. Some editors make “gray-coat” the “gray coat-of-mail,” after Beowulf, v. 334.

[p160.6-6] The spear.—The personification of this and kindred passages should

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