FOOTNOTES:
[164] Under this heading we may include metrical compositions. The term 'folk-song' cannot conveniently be used here, as it has acquired a wider signification.
[165] Kilderne til Sakses Oldhistorie, p. 18 ff.
[166] Ballads on heroic subjects may of course have begun quite early.
[167] Elsewhere this name occurs only in the genealogies, where it is borne by an ancestor of Woden. It is possible however that in the Elegy some unknown hero of the Geatas may be meant (cf. Beow. 640, 1785 etc.).
[168] This word is said to occur only here and in a following verse. From the description the weapon seems to have been a kind of dirk with a long wooden shaft.
[169] Fornmanna Sögur, III p. 204 ff. (especially p. 223 ff.).
[170] Cf. Brandl, Grundriss d. germ. Philol.2, II p. 993 f. The following pages (995 f.) contain an admirable summary of the whole question.
[171] Cf. Hansen, Landnåm i Norge, p. 160. For stories of monsters which suggest savages, cf. Ketils S. Haengs, cap. 2 f., and Gríms S. Loðinkinna, cap. 1.
[172] A somewhat similar account of Biarki's origin is given in the (fifteenth century) Biarkarímur.
[173] Tradunt relaciones antiquorum quod uir quidam nobilis, quem Dominus permisit, contra solitum ordinem humane propaginis, ex quodam albo urso patre, muliere generosa matre, procreari, Ursus genuit Spratlingum; Spratlingus Ulsium; Ulsius Beorn, cognomento Beresune, hoc est filius ursi. Hic Beorn Dacus fuit natione, comes egregius et miles illustris. In signum autem illius diversitatis speciei ex parte generantium produxerat ei natura paternas auriculas, sive ursi etc. Michel, Chroniques Anglo-normandes, p. 104.
[174] Illum maximum ursum ... cuius pater in silvis fertur puellam rapuisse et ex ea Biernum regem Norweye genuisse. ib. p. 7 f. A similar story is told by Saxo (p. 345 f.) of the ancestry of Svend Estrithson.
[175] Yet Hialti's third speech (p. 61) contains the words igne ursos arcere licet, the significance of which is obscure. It is curious, as Prof. Olrik (Danmarks Heltedigtning, p. 51) has pointed out, that Hrólfs Saga (cap. 33) refers to bears in a corresponding place, though the context is quite different.
[176] Prof. Olrik (op. cit., p. 45) says that Biarki's sleep is certainly of a supernatural character and suggests that it is due to magical arts on the part of the enemy.
[177] Cf. especially Yngl. S. 6: Othin's men went to battle without mail-coats and were frenzied like dogs or wolves. They bit into their shields and were as strong as bears or bulls. They made slaughter of other men; but neither fire nor iron took effect upon them. This is called berserksgangr.
[178] The identity of the two stories is shown by the fact that in both cases Hialti is made to drink the creature's blood—a custom known in Norway in comparatively recent times (cf. Olrik, op. cit., p. 118). The Biarkarímur tell of two encounters, the first with a she-wolf, the second between Hialti and a bear.
[179] Cf. the Cott. Gnomic Verses, 26 f.: draca sceal on hlaewe frod fraetwum wlanc.
[180] It is generally held that this person's original name was Beowa or Beaw. The latter is the form given in the genealogy in the Chronicle (ad ann. 855); but in view of the many corruptions which this genealogy has suffered it may very well be due to a scribal error for Beowa. This again may be a hypocoristic form for Beowulf, though on the other hand it is by no means impossible that the name of the son of Scyld has been assimilated to that of the hero of the poem. But in any case there does not seem to be any adequate ground for the commonly accepted view that the adventure with Grendel originally belonged to this person.
[181] In Skiöldunga Saga, Langfeðgatal etc. Halfdan's father is not Friðfróði (Saxo's Frotho I) but Fróði hinn froekni (Saxo's Frotho IV), the Froda of Beowulf.
[182] As regards Frotho's parentage—Saxo makes him son of Hadingus, son of Gram, son of Scioldus. In Skiöldunga Saga, Langfeðgatal etc. Friðfróði is son of Friðleifr, son of Skiöldr; while Fróði hinn froekni is son of Friðleifr, son of Danr.
quippe unum e superis alieno corpore tectum
sacrilege necuere manus: sic numinis almi
interfector ades.
[184] We may compare the case of Apollo and the Python at Delphi, and possibly the story of Thor (Miðgarðs véurr) and Miðgarðsormr. Note should also be taken of the existence of a local tradition—going back apparently to the Middle Ages—to the effect that the Isefjord was formerly haunted by a monster which demanded a human victim from every ship that passed. It was finally expelled by the arrival of the relics of St Lucius, to whom Roeskilde cathedral is dedicated (cf. Sarrazin, Beowulf-Studien, p. 10 ff.). The traditional burial-place of Fróði the Peaceful is on the shore of the Roeskilde Fjord; but the two fjords have a common entrance.
[185] It does not of course remove all difficulties. The chief of these perhaps is the presence of Wiglaf, who seems clearly to belong to Beowulf, the son of Ecgtheow. The discrepancy between the names Beowulf and Fróði is of minor account, since the latter may very well have originated in a title (cf. Beow. v. 2928). On the other hand if this person is really a mythical national hero the name Beowa (perhaps for an earlier form Biowi) would seem more natural than Beowulf. Yet there may have been intermediate stages between the original hero and the person finally credited with the exploit.
[186] Thus upon some of these legends a good deal of light seems to be thrown by certain usages cited by Mr Frazer in his Lectures on the Early History of the Kingship, p. 180.
[187] Herodotus (III 116, IV 13, 27) speaks of a region in the extreme north of Europe or Asia which was said to be inhabited by gold-guarding griffins (χρυσοφύλακες γρύπες, cf. goldweard, Beow. 3082).
[189] Epistola Synodi Carisiacensis ad Hludowicum regem Germaniae directa (Mon. Germ., Legum Sect. II, Capit. Reg. Franc., Tom. II, p. 432 f.).
[190] nos autem illos uidimus qui usque ad nostram aetatem durauerunt, qui huic rei interfuerunt et nobis uiua uoce ueraciter sunt testati quae audierunt atque uiderunt.
[191] Texts D, E, F. This entry seems to come from the Northumbrian Gesta, which were probably composed not very long afterwards. The last entry which we can trace is for the year 806.
[192] A curious light on the enormous strength ascribed to Beowulf is thrown by a passage in the Liber Monstrorum (cf. p. 24). It is there stated that Hygelac (Beowulf's uncle) was of such immense size that no horse could carry him after he reached the age of twelve. His bones were shown as a marvel to visitors.
[193] The folk-tale represented by the second story may of course be derived ultimately from some ancient custom; cf. Beow. 26-52.
[194] Not, of course, personalities consciously invented by an individual brain; these must be classed under fiction. On the other hand myth must be held to include personifications of the heavenly bodies and natural phenomena—as (e.g.) in Gylfaginning, cap. 10 ff. (from Vafþrúðnismál, etc.), and certain Lithuanian folk-songs ('Dainos')—in so far at least as such personifications are of popular origin.