Chapter 22

666. Johann. Tynem. Legend. Nova, fol. 38.

667. Thus Old-norse Týsfiola, Týrhjalm, Týsviðr.

668. För Skirnis. The legend of Geát and Mæðhild however must have been of this character: and thus Wóden may have been in some sort a phallic Hermes.

669. M. Adami Bremensis lib. de situ Daniae. Ed. 1629, p. 23. Ihre, in his Gloss. Sueogoth. mentions forms dug up in the North which clearly prove the prevalence of phallic rites.

670. See Grimm, Mythol. p. 193seq.

671. Fornman. Sög. ii. 73seq.

672. Germ. xlv.

673. Beów. l. 4299seq.

674. Beów. l. 604seq.

675. Ibid. l. 2895.

676. Mythol. p. 195.

677. Edited in 1839 by the Rev. J. Stevenson for the members of the Bannatyne and Maitland Clubs.

678. See Jamieson’s Scottish Dictionary, voc.Beltane, and Boucher’s Glossary by Stevenson.

679. In the Mirror of June 24th, 1826, there is the account of this having been done in Perthshire, on occasion of a cattle epidemic. “A wealthy old farmer, having lost several of his cattle by some disease very prevalent at present, and being able to account for it in no way so rationally as by witchcraft, had recourse to the following remedy, recommended to him by a weird sister in his neighbourhood, as an effectual protection from the attacks of the foul fiend. A few stones were piled together in the barnyard, and woodcoals having been laid thereon, the fuel was ignited bywill-fire, that is fire obtained by friction; the neighbours having been called in to witness the solemnity, the cattle were made to pass through the flames, in the order of their dignity and age, commencing with the horses and ending with the swine. The ceremony having been duly and decorously gone through, a neighbouring farmer observed to the enlightened owner of the herd, that he, along with his family, ought to have followed the example of the cattle, and the sacrifice to Baal would have been complete.” Thewill-firehas been used in Devonshire for the same purpose, within the memory of man.

680. Cod. Dipl. No. 1221.

681. Cod. Dipl. No. 1059, 92.

682. “Ueber zwei entdeckte Gedichte aus der Zeit des deutschen Heidenthums. Von Jacob Grimm.”Vorgelesen in der Königl. Akademie der Wissenschaften, am 3 Febr. 1842, pp. 10, 11.

683. Deut. Mythol. p. 205.

684. Chalmers’s Nursery Tales.

685. Though little fond of modern Anglosaxon verses, of modern Latin hexameters or modern Greek iambics, I shall give a translation of these two spells, for the purpose of comparison:Pol and Wódentó wuda fóronBealdres folan wearðfót bewrenced;ða hine Síðgúð begól,Sunne hire sweoster,ðá hine Frýe begól,Folle hire sweoster,ðá hine Wóden bególswá he wel cúðe:swá sý bánwrence, swá sý blodwrence,swá sý liðwrence;bán tó báne,blód tó blóde,lið tó liðe,swá swá gelímede sýn.And thus the English one:Dryhten rád,fola slád;se lihtodeand rihtode;sette lið tó liðeeác swá bán to báne,sinewe tó sinewe.Hál wes ðú, on ðæs Hálgan Gástes naman!

685. Though little fond of modern Anglosaxon verses, of modern Latin hexameters or modern Greek iambics, I shall give a translation of these two spells, for the purpose of comparison:

Pol and Wódentó wuda fóronBealdres folan wearðfót bewrenced;ða hine Síðgúð begól,Sunne hire sweoster,ðá hine Frýe begól,Folle hire sweoster,ðá hine Wóden bególswá he wel cúðe:swá sý bánwrence, swá sý blodwrence,swá sý liðwrence;bán tó báne,blód tó blóde,lið tó liðe,swá swá gelímede sýn.

Pol and Wóden

tó wuda fóron

Bealdres folan wearð

fót bewrenced;

ða hine Síðgúð begól,

Sunne hire sweoster,

ðá hine Frýe begól,

Folle hire sweoster,

ðá hine Wóden begól

swá he wel cúðe:

swá sý bánwrence, swá sý blodwrence,

swá sý liðwrence;

bán tó báne,

blód tó blóde,

lið tó liðe,

swá swá gelímede sýn.

And thus the English one:

Dryhten rád,fola slád;se lihtodeand rihtode;sette lið tó liðeeác swá bán to báne,sinewe tó sinewe.Hál wes ðú, on ðæs Hálgan Gástes naman!

Dryhten rád,

fola slád;

se lihtode

and rihtode;

sette lið tó liðe

eác swá bán to báne,

sinewe tó sinewe.

Hál wes ðú, on ðæs Hálgan Gástes naman!

686. Polhǽmatún. Cod. Dipl. Nos. 642, 752, 1136, 1187. Polesleáh in Wilts. Cod. Dipl. No. 641. Polstede in Suffolk. Cod. Dipl. No. 685. Polþorn in Worcester. Cod. Dipl. No. 61. Pollehám, No. 907.

687. In Anglosaxon,Heaðo, which however has almost always the abstract sense ofwar.

688. In Anglosaxon, Nóð: this occurs rarely save in composition, where it seems to denote bravery or courage. But it is to be observed that nóð is the name of a ship or large boat; and it is worth inquiry whether the Teutonic goddess Zíza, probably in AnglosaxonTáte, may not have been identical with this Nanna, instead of Frouwa. The dragging about a boat or ship was peculiar to Zíza’s worship. Deut. Myth. p. 237,seq.

689. And see Geijer, Gesch. Schwed. i. 30. Gaut, Gautrek, Algaut, Gauthilld. Yngl. Sag. cap. 38.

690. Cod. Exon. p. 378. If Geát really be Wóden, this is another approximation to Hermes in his phallic character. Altogether the myth of the ἱερός γάμος, so constant in Greek mythology, is scarcely traceable in the North. The Wóden worship, at least, may have had something more of the character of the Apollo worship among the Dorians.

691. Nennius, § 31. Huntingdon follows Nennius, Hist. Angl. bk. ii.

692. De Reb. Gest. Ælfredi, an. 849.

693. Flor. Wig. Chron. an. 849.

694. De Reb. Gest. Regum, an. 849.

695. See the author’s edition of Beówulf, vol. ii. Postscript to the Preface. Leo’s Beówulf, etc.; and Ettmuller’s Beówulf, etc., with the last of whom, upon the maturest consideration, I find it impossible to agree.

696. Grimm seems rather to imagineinsidiator. Myth. p. 226.

697. Cod. Dipl. No. 813.

698. An edition of the Anglosaxon dialogues on this subject has been put forth by the author for the Ælfric Society. To this reference may be made for full details respecting Saturnus.

699. It is with no disrespect to the unrivalled powers of Scott that I enter my protest here against the falsecostumeof Ivanhoe; a far more serious objection no doubt is the way in which his brilliant contrast, necessary to the success of a romance, has misled the historian. Had Ivanhoe not appeared, we should not have had the many errors which disfigure Thierry’sConquête de l'Angleterre par les Normands. But when Scott makes Ulrica (Ulrica a Saxon female name!) calling upon Zernebock, as a god of her forefathers, he makes her talk absolute nonsense. Some Mecklenburg or Pomeranian Saxons, in the immediate neighbourhood of Slavonic populations, or mingled with them, may possibly have heard oftheirgod Czerny Bog, (the black god) contrasted with Bjala Bog, (the white god), but assuredly no Anglosaxon ever heard the name of any such deity; nor does the chaunt of the vindictive lady bear one single trace of Saxon character. In every matter of detail, the romance is only calculated to mislead; and this is to be regretted, inasmuch as the beauty of the whole work renders it a certain vehicle of error;—has rendered it already a snare to one estimable author. M. Thierry has related the effect produced upon his mind by Ivanhoe. See hisDix Ans d'Études Historiques: Preface.

700. Deut. Myth. p. 227.

701. See SalomonandandSaturn, p. 129.

702. Can this wordsol(perhapssól) be a contracted form ofsufl? If not, I cannot offer an explanation of it.

703. De Natura Rerum, cap. xv.

704. The name of Nerthus stands in all the best MSS. of Tacitus’ Germania, and the change of it into Herthus, though very plausible, was unnecessary. One easily sees the cause of error: it was thought that Herthus,terra mater, was the Gothic Airthus, in Old-german Erdu, in Anglosaxon Eorðe. But there is no H in these words; if there were we should have had a Teutonic Vesta. The goddess’s name was Nairthus, Nerdu, Nerðe, and her corresponding form in Old-norse, Niördr.

705. “In contrariam partem est auctoritas decreti xxvi. 9. y. c. epi. Ita ibi legitur. Illud non est obmittendum, quod quedam scelerate mulieres retro post Sathan converse, demonum illusionibus et fantasmatibus seducte, credunt se et profitentur cum Diana nocturnis horis dea paganorum, vel cum Herodiade et innumera multitudine mulierum, equitare super quasdam bestias et multa terrarum spatia intempeste noctis silentio pertransire, eius iussionibus obedire veluti domine, et certis noctibus ad eius servitium evocari.”Hieronymi Vicecomitis opusculum Lamiarum vel Striarum. Mediol. 1490.John of Salisbury notices this in his Polyczaticus, and Henry More in his Mystery of Godliness. See Salom. Sat. p. 125,seq.

706. In Beówulf he is continually called Eoten.

707. Cod. Dipl. No. 59.

708. Ibid. No. 570.

709. Ibid. No. 353.

710. Mythologie, p. 222.

711. The Devil and the Pater Noster were to contend together at Doomsday: each was to assume fifteen different forms. Sal. Sat. p. 145.

712. See Beówulf, ii. Postscript, and theStammtafel der Westsachsen.

713. In the legend of Juliana, the subordinate devil speaks of Satan as his father and king. Cod. Exon. pp. 261, 273. And so also in Salomon and Saturn (p. 141), he is called Satan’s thane. Again, in the same composition, Satan is called the devil’s father: “The Pater Noster will shoot the devil with boiling shafts; and the lightning will burn and mark him, and the rain will be shed over him, and the thick darkness confuse him, and the thunder thrash him with the fiery axe, and drive him to the iron chain wherein his father dwelleth, Satan and Sathiel.” p. 149. In the legend of St. Andrew, Satan himself appears, which may be owing to its Greek origin. See Vercelli Poems, Andr. l. 2388: still, in another passage Satan sends his children. Ibid. l. 2692.

714. Vit. Anon. Sci. Galli. Pertz, Monum. ii. 7. Pertz has justly called attention to the metrical form of this colloquy. It is deeply to be lamented that we no longer possess it in its earliest shape, and in the language of its earliest composition.

715. Beda, H. E. v. 12.

716. Beda, H. E. v. 13.

717. The first Bishop of Whiterne in Galloway, who died in 737. Any one who desires to learn more of the miserable superstitions which Beda could recommend, may see the account of Fursæus (H. E. iii. 19), and the MS. lives of the saint of which Mr. Stevenson has given a notice in his edition of Beda, pp. 197, 199, notes.

718. That is, the Paternoster.

719. Sal. Sat. pp. 143, 144.

720. Ibid. p. 149.

721. Beówulf,passim.

722. The fisherman in Ælfric’s dialogue disclaims any intention of whale-fishing, on account of its dangers. Thorpe, Anal. p. 24.

723. Odyssey, book xi.

724. This is so completely familiar to the student of antiquity, that I shall not multiply examples: they may be found in Bartholinus. But one instance I may be excused for citing, inasmuch as it proves how long the heathen spirit survived despite the peaceful hope and promise of Christianity. Henry of Huntingdon, in the sixth book of his history, relates of Sigeweard the great duke of Northumberland, that hearing of the loss of his son in battle, he exclaimed, “Recepitne vulnus lethale in anteriori vel posteriori corporis parte? Dixerunt nuntii: In anteriori. At ille: Gaudeo plane, non enim alio me, vel filium meum digner funere.” In 1055 however, oppressed with sickness, he found that his desire was not to be fulfilled. “Siwardus, consul rigidissimus, profluvio ventris ductus, mortem sensit imminere, dixitque: Quantus pudor me tot in bellis mori non potuisse, ut vaccarum morti cum dedecore reservarer! Induite me saltem lorica mea impenetrabili, praecingite gladio, sublimate galea: scutum in laeva, securim auratam mihi ponite in dextra, ut militum fortissimus modo militis moriar. Dixerat, et, ut dixerat, armatus honorifice spiritum exhalavit.” Through every word of this passage breathes the old heathen spirit of Haralldr Hilditavn, and one feels that to Christianity alone it was owing, that Sigeweard did not prevent an inglorious by a voluntary violent death.

725. So the Greeks:Πῶς ἔτλης Ἄϊδόσδε κατελθέμεν, ἔνθα τε νεκροὶἈφραδέες ναίουσι, βροτῶν εἴδωλα καμόντων;Odyss. xi. 473.

725. So the Greeks:

Πῶς ἔτλης Ἄϊδόσδε κατελθέμεν, ἔνθα τε νεκροὶἈφραδέες ναίουσι, βροτῶν εἴδωλα καμόντων;Odyss. xi. 473.

Πῶς ἔτλης Ἄϊδόσδε κατελθέμεν, ἔνθα τε νεκροὶ

Ἀφραδέες ναίουσι, βροτῶν εἴδωλα καμόντων;

Odyss. xi. 473.

726. Fire was too cheerful in the North to be sufficiently an object of terror: it appeared otherwise in the East, where coolness is the greatest of luxuries.

727. Sal. Sat. p. 173.

728. Beda himself speaks of “inferni claustra” (H. E. v. 13), and for this there was supposed to be sufficient authority in the figurative expression, Matt. xvi. 18.

729. Published by the Society of Antiquaries.

730. Beów. l. 1698: and perhaps similarly l. 357, “Helle gemundon.” they worshipped Hel.

731. The Greek Fates are also three, and stand in a very similar position towards the Gods. Zeus himself is not exempt from their power. Prometheus, it is true, will not distinctly assert Zeus to beweakerthan the Fates, but he answers very decisively that even Zeus cannot escape his Fate.Χο. Τίς οὖν ἀνάγκης ἐστὶν οἰακοστρόφος;Πρ. Μοῖραι τρίμορφαι, μνήμονές τ' Ἐριννύες.Χο. Τούτων ἄρα Ζεύς ἐστιν ἀσθενέστερος;Πρ. Οὔκουν ἂν ἐκφύγοι γε τὴν πεπρωμένην.Æsch.Prom. Vin. 517-520.The Μοῖραι here are only ministers of a deeper necessity, yet they seem to wield it themselves, and that it is inseparable from justice seems to follow from the venerable goddesses being joined in the task. Plato however distinctly names three Μοῖραι, the daughters of Αναγκη, whospinthe life of man: what is more to our purpose is that to each of the three, the past, the present and the future are severally distributed, as to Urðr, Werðandi and Skuld. He says, ἄλλας δὲ καθημένας πέριξ δι’ ἴσου τρεῖς, ἐν θρόνῳ ἑκάστην, θυγατέρας τῆς Ἀνάγκης, Μοίρας, λευχειμονούσας, στέμματα ἐπὶ τῶν κεφαλῶν ἐχούσας, Λάχεσίν τε καὶ Κλωθὼ καὶ Ἄτροπον, ὑμνεῖν πρὸς τὴν τῶν Σειρήνων ἁρμονίαν, Λάχεσιν μὲν τὰ γεγονότα, Κλωθὼ δὲ τὰ ὄντα, Ἄτροπον δὲ τὰ μέλλοντα. The spindle however lies and revolves upon the knees of Ἀνάγκη. De Repub. lib. x. ad fin. The white garments, garlands and throne, as well as the singing, are wanting to our Norns, but the resemblance in other respects is very striking. It deserves notice also that theWeird sistersin Macbeth are three; and even the Odyssey may intend that number,ἔνθα δ’ ἔπειταπείσεται, ἅσσα οἱ αἶσα, κατακλῶθές τε βαρεῖαι.γεινομένῳ νήσαντο λίνῳ, ὅτε μιν τέκε μήτηρ.Odyss. vii. 196-198.It is well known what controversy has arisen as to the real number of Εριννυες intended by Æschylus in his Eumenides.

Χο. Τίς οὖν ἀνάγκης ἐστὶν οἰακοστρόφος;Πρ. Μοῖραι τρίμορφαι, μνήμονές τ' Ἐριννύες.Χο. Τούτων ἄρα Ζεύς ἐστιν ἀσθενέστερος;Πρ. Οὔκουν ἂν ἐκφύγοι γε τὴν πεπρωμένην.Æsch.Prom. Vin. 517-520.

Χο. Τίς οὖν ἀνάγκης ἐστὶν οἰακοστρόφος;

Πρ. Μοῖραι τρίμορφαι, μνήμονές τ' Ἐριννύες.

Χο. Τούτων ἄρα Ζεύς ἐστιν ἀσθενέστερος;

Πρ. Οὔκουν ἂν ἐκφύγοι γε τὴν πεπρωμένην.

Æsch.Prom. Vin. 517-520.

The Μοῖραι here are only ministers of a deeper necessity, yet they seem to wield it themselves, and that it is inseparable from justice seems to follow from the venerable goddesses being joined in the task. Plato however distinctly names three Μοῖραι, the daughters of Αναγκη, whospinthe life of man: what is more to our purpose is that to each of the three, the past, the present and the future are severally distributed, as to Urðr, Werðandi and Skuld. He says, ἄλλας δὲ καθημένας πέριξ δι’ ἴσου τρεῖς, ἐν θρόνῳ ἑκάστην, θυγατέρας τῆς Ἀνάγκης, Μοίρας, λευχειμονούσας, στέμματα ἐπὶ τῶν κεφαλῶν ἐχούσας, Λάχεσίν τε καὶ Κλωθὼ καὶ Ἄτροπον, ὑμνεῖν πρὸς τὴν τῶν Σειρήνων ἁρμονίαν, Λάχεσιν μὲν τὰ γεγονότα, Κλωθὼ δὲ τὰ ὄντα, Ἄτροπον δὲ τὰ μέλλοντα. The spindle however lies and revolves upon the knees of Ἀνάγκη. De Repub. lib. x. ad fin. The white garments, garlands and throne, as well as the singing, are wanting to our Norns, but the resemblance in other respects is very striking. It deserves notice also that theWeird sistersin Macbeth are three; and even the Odyssey may intend that number,

ἔνθα δ’ ἔπειταπείσεται, ἅσσα οἱ αἶσα, κατακλῶθές τε βαρεῖαι.γεινομένῳ νήσαντο λίνῳ, ὅτε μιν τέκε μήτηρ.Odyss. vii. 196-198.

ἔνθα δ’ ἔπειτα

πείσεται, ἅσσα οἱ αἶσα, κατακλῶθές τε βαρεῖαι.

γεινομένῳ νήσαντο λίνῳ, ὅτε μιν τέκε μήτηρ.

Odyss. vii. 196-198.

It is well known what controversy has arisen as to the real number of Εριννυες intended by Æschylus in his Eumenides.

732. Grimm, Mythol. p. 377, does not seem to lay much stress upon thetwoinstances which he gives, one of which is extremely doubtful, and the other of no certain authority.

733. Héljand. Poema Saxonicum Saeculi Noni. Ed. A. Schmeller. Munich. pp. 146, 2; 92, 2; 163, 16; 66, 18; 111, 4.

734. We are fortunate in being able to use not a translation of Wurth, but the word itself; I am not aware of its continuing to exist in any other German dialect.

735.Ne wæs wyrd ðágenðæt he má móstemanna cynnesþicgean ofer ða niht.(Beów. l. 1462.)wyrd ne cúðon.(Ibid. l. 2467.)

735.

Ne wæs wyrd ðágenðæt he má móstemanna cynnesþicgean ofer ða niht.(Beów. l. 1462.)wyrd ne cúðon.(Ibid. l. 2467.)

Ne wæs wyrd ðágen

ðæt he má móste

manna cynnes

þicgean ofer ða niht.(Beów. l. 1462.)

wyrd ne cúðon.(Ibid. l. 2467.)

736. One exception to be hereafter noticed seems more apparent than real. If however it be taken in its fullest and ordinary grammatical sense, it will show that all three or more sisters were in contemplation, and that the name of the eldest had become a general expression forthem allthem all.

737. Beów. l. 2104.

738. Ibid. l. 2411.

739. Ibid. l. 2240.

740. Ibid. l. 2154.

741. Ibid. l. 2872.

742. Ibid. l. 4234, 4468.

743. Ibid. l. 4836.

744. Ibid. l. 5453.

745. Ibid. l. 5048.

746. This is a most remarkable passage, forWyrdis distinctly calledMetod, a word generally appropriated to God; but I am disposed to think thatMetten, another word for Fate, was uppermost in the poet’s mind,—perhaps found in some heathen copy of the poem. “Ða gráman mettena,”saevae parcae. Boet. p. 161. (Rawl.)

747. Beów. l. 5145.

748. Beów. l. 5624.

749. Cod. Vercel. Anal. l. 3121.

750. Cod. Exon. p. 355.

751. Beów. l. 1386.

752. Cod. Exon. p. 183.

753. Ibid. p. 417.

754. I am almost inclined to think the wordssearorúna gespon,the web of various runes, merely a periphrasis forwyrd, taken in the abstract sense ofevent. Cod. Ex. p. 347.

755. “As tems ou Berte filait,” i. e. in a period anterior to the memory of man: in the days of heathendom, of thegoddessBertha, not the queen.

756. Wælcyrige is derived fromWælthe slainandceósanto choose.

757. I do not know whether the expressionHine Wyrd gecéas, can be found in Saxon poetry; butceósanis a very common word in phrases denoting death, though by Christian poets transferred to the doomed hero, from the god or goddess:ǽr ðon forðcure, wintrum wæl reste.Cædm. p. 99. “Priusquam annis [i. e. vita] praetulerit mortiferam quietem.”

758. The Fatal sisters. See vol. i. p. 70, Mitford’s edition.

759. When Ðorr visits Ðrymr under the disguise of Freya, the giant is suspicious of the flashing eyes which he sees under the veil. Loki explains them by the sleeplessness arising from Freya’s desire for the giant’s embraces.Laut und línulysti at kyssa;en hann útan stökkendlangan sal:“Hwí eru öndóttaugu Freyju?þikki mér or augumeldr of brenna!”Sat in alsnotraambótt fyrir,er orð um fannvið jötuns máli:“Svaf vætr Freyjaátta nóttum,svá var hon óðfúsí jötunheima.”Hamarsheimt. xxvii. xxviii.

Laut und línulysti at kyssa;en hann útan stökkendlangan sal:“Hwí eru öndóttaugu Freyju?þikki mér or augumeldr of brenna!”Sat in alsnotraambótt fyrir,er orð um fannvið jötuns máli:“Svaf vætr Freyjaátta nóttum,svá var hon óðfúsí jötunheima.”Hamarsheimt. xxvii. xxviii.

Laut und línulysti at kyssa;en hann útan stökkendlangan sal:“Hwí eru öndóttaugu Freyju?þikki mér or augumeldr of brenna!”

Laut und línu

lysti at kyssa;

en hann útan stökk

endlangan sal:

“Hwí eru öndótt

augu Freyju?

þikki mér or augum

eldr of brenna!”

Sat in alsnotraambótt fyrir,er orð um fannvið jötuns máli:“Svaf vætr Freyjaátta nóttum,svá var hon óðfúsí jötunheima.”

Sat in alsnotra

ambótt fyrir,

er orð um fann

við jötuns máli:

“Svaf vætr Freyja

átta nóttum,

svá var hon óðfús

í jötunheima.”

Hamarsheimt. xxvii. xxviii.

760. MS. Harl. 585, fol. 186.

761. D. Myth. p. 402. He cites this spell, but proposes on grammatical grounds to readwilleforwilde. If any change is necessary I should preferfleógen.

762. Deut. Myth. p. 401,seq.

763. Vaulu Spá, st. 3.

764. Ibid. st. 4.

765. Ibid. st. 5.

766. Ibid. st. 6.

767. Cædm. p. 7, l. 8seq.

768. Vol. i. Part i. p. 1.

769. See the Authors edition, p. 181, and the notes at p. 194.

770. Vaulu Spá, st. 50.

771. Vaulu Spá, st. 56.

772. Ibid. st. 57.

773. Wafþrudnis Mál, st. 47. Álfröðul is a name of the Sun, and is said to denotedivine splendour. Edd. Lex. Myth. in voc.

774. Vaulu Spá, st. 57, 58, 59, 60.

775. Vaulu Spá, st. 62.

776. MS. Corp. Christi, No. 179.

777. See Salomon and Saturn, p. 177. It may be observed here that the feminine gender of the sun, and masculine of the moon, have their origin in our heathen mythology.

778. Freydanck, Beschied. p. 8.

779. From which form we must conclude for the readingScyldu(asWudu, Duru).

780.ðone God sendefolce tó frófre,fyrenþearfe ongeatða híe ǽr drugonaldorleáse.whom God sentto the people for their comfort,the evil need he understoodwhich they before had sufferedwhile without a king.Beów. l. 26.

780.

Beów. l. 26.

781. Æðelw. lib. iii. He attributes the legend to Sceaf, Scyld’s father; his words are: “Ipse Scef cum uno dromone advectus est in insula oceani quae dicitur Scani, armis circumdatus, eratque valde recens puer, et ab incolis illius terrae ignotus; attamen ab eis suscipitur, et ut familiarem diligenti animo eum custodierunt, et post in regem eligunt: de cuius prosapia ordinem trahit Athulf rex.”

782. William of Malmesbury (G. R. ii. 116) adds another peculiarity to the legend, which however he gives to Sceaf, Scyld’s father; he says, “Iste, ut ferunt, in quandam insulam Germaniae Scandzam, de qua Jordanes historiographus Gothorum loquitur, appulsus, navi sine remige, puerulus, posito ad caput frumenti manipulo, dormiens, ideoque Sceaf nuncupatus, ab hominibus regionis illius pro miraculo exceptus, et sedulo nutritus, adulta aetate regnavit in oppido quod tunc Slasvic, nunc vero Haithebi appellatur. Est autem regio illa Anglia Vetus dicta, unde Angli venerunt in Britanniam, inter Saxones et Gothos constituta.” Wendover (Flor. Hist.) copies Malmesbury, with the explanation of the name Sceafa, from Sceaf a sheaf of corn; others derived it fromscúfan,trudere, “quia fortunae commissus.”Die Stammtafel der Westsachsen, p. 33.

783. “Se wæs geboren in ðǽre earce Noes.”Chron. Sax. 855.

784. Cod. Exon. p. 407.

785. Cod. Dipl. No. 436.

786. Ibid. Nos. 356, 762.

787. Ibid. No. 721.

788. Cod. Dipl. No. 353.

789. Ibid.

790.Stammtafel der Westsachsen, p. 18seq.

791. Leo, in his Beowulf, p. 5, cites Gregor. Turon. iii. 3, and the Gest. Reg. Francorum, cap. 19, for the details of Chochilach’s invasion and death.

Back to Index Next