[1] It has been proposed to translate ‘myrðe’ by with sorrow; but there seems no authority for such a rendering. To the present translator, the phrase ‘módes myrðe’ seems a mere padding for gladly; i.e., he who gladly harassed mankind.

[1] S. emends, suggesting ‘déop’ for ‘déog,’ and removing semicolon after ‘wéol.’ The two half-lines ‘welling … hid him’ would then read: The bloody deep welled with sword-gore. B. accepts ‘déop’ for ‘déog,’ but reads ‘déað-fæges’: The deep boiled with the sword-gore of the death-doomed one.

[2] Another and quite different rendering of this passage is as follows: Oft a liegeman of the king, a fame-covered man mindful of songs, who very many ancient traditions remembered (he found other word-groups accurately bound together) began afterward to tell of Beowulf’s adventure, skilfully to narrate it, etc.

[3] Might ‘guma gilp-hladen’ mean ‘a man laden with boasts of the deeds of others’?

[4] t.B. accepts B.’s ‘hé þæs áron þáh’ as given by H.-So., but puts a comma after ‘þáh,’ and takes ‘siððan’ as introducing a dependent clause: He throve in honor since Heremod’s strength … had decreased.

[1] B. and t.B. read ‘staþole,’ and translate stood on the floor.

[2] For ‘snaring from Grendel,’ ‘sorrows at Grendel’s hands’ has been suggested. This gives a parallel to ‘láðes.’ ‘Grynna’ may well be gen. pl. of ‘gyrn,’ by a scribal slip.

[3] The H.-So punctuation has been followed; but B. has been followed in understanding ‘gehwylcne’ as object of ‘wíd-scofen (hæfde).’ Gr. construes ‘wéa’ as nom abs.

[1] Kl. suggests ‘hroden’ for ‘háten,’ and renders: Then quickly was Heorot adorned within, with hands bedecked.—B. suggests ‘gefrætwon’ instead of ‘gefrætwod,’ and renders: Then was it commanded to adorn Heorot within quickly with hands.—The former has the advantage of affording a parallel to ‘gefrætwod’: both have the disadvantage of altering the text.

[2] The passage 1005-1009 seems to be hopeless. One difficult point is to find a subject for ‘gesacan.’ Some say ‘he’; others supply ‘each,’ i.e., every soul-bearer … must gain the inevitable place. The genitives in this case are partitive.—If ‘he’ be subj., the genitives are dependent on ‘gearwe’ (= prepared).—The ‘he’ itself is disputed, some referring it to Grendel; but B. takes it as involved in the parenthesis.

[1] For 1084, R. suggests ‘wiht Hengeste wið gefeohtan.’—K. suggests ‘wið Hengeste wiht gefeohtan.’ Neither emendation would make any essential change in the translation.

[2] The separation of adjective and noun by a phrase (cf. v. 1118) being very unusual, some scholars have put ‘earme on eaxle’ with the foregoing lines, inserting a semicolon after ‘eaxle.’ In this case ‘on eaxe’ (i.e., on the ashes, cinders) is sometimes read, and this affords a parallel to ‘on bæl.’ Let us hope that a satisfactory rendering shall yet be reached without resorting to any tampering with the text, such as Lichtenheld proposed: ‘earme ides on eaxle gnornode.’

[3] For ‘gúð-rinc,’ ‘gúð-réc,’ battle-smoke, has been suggested.

[1] For 1130 (1) R. and Gr. suggest ‘elne unflitme’ as 1098 (1) reads. The latter verse is undisputed; and, for the former, ‘elne’ would be as possible as ‘ealles,’ and ‘unflitme’ is well supported. Accepting ‘elne unflitme’ for both, I would suggest ‘very peaceably’ for both places: (1) Finn to Hengest very peaceably vowed with oaths, etc. (2) Hengest then still the slaughter-stained winter remained there with Finn very peaceably. The two passages become thus correlatives, the second a sequel of the first. ‘Elne,’ in the sense of very (swíðe), needs no argument; and ‘unflitme’ (from ‘flítan’) can, it seems to me, be more plausibly rendered ‘peaceful,’ ‘peaceable,’ than ‘contestable,’ or ‘conquerable.’

[2] Some scholars have proposed ‘roden’; the line would then read: Then the building was reddened, etc., instead of ‘covered.’ The ‘h’ may have been carried over from the three alliterating ‘h’s.’