because in the terms of peace, whilst it is stipulated that Hengest and his comrades are to have equal control with the Eotena bearn, it is further stipulated that Finn is to give Hengest's men gifts equal to those which he gives to the Frēsena cynn[[480]]. Here then Eotena bearn and Frēsena cynn are certainly parallel, and are both contrasted with Hengest and his troops. But surely this in no wise proves Eotena bearn and Frēsena cynn synonymous: they may equally well be different sections of Finn's host, just as in Brunanburh the soldiers of Athelstan are spoken of first as Westseaxe, and then as Myrce. Are we to argue that West-Saxons are Mercians? So in the account of Hygelac's fatal expedition[[481]] the opponents are called Franks, Frisians, Hūgas, Hetware. A reader ignorant of the story might suppose these all synonymous terms for one tribe. But we know that they are not: the Hetware were the people immediately attacked—the Frankish overlord hastened to the rescue, and was apparently helped by the neighbouring Frisians, who although frequently at this date opposed to the Franks, would naturally make common cause against the pirate from overseas[[482]].
It was quite natural that the earlier students of the Finnsburg Episode, thinking of the two opposing forces as two homogeneous tribes, and finding mention of three tribal names, Danes, Eotens and Frisians, should have assumed that the Eotens must be exactly synonymous with either Danes or Frisians. But it is now recognized that the conditions of the time postulate not so much tribes as groups of tribes[[483]]. In the Fragment we have, on the side of the Danes, Sigeferth, prince of the Secgan. The Secgan are not necessarily Danes, because their lord is fighting on the Danish side. Neither need the Eotenas be Frisians, because they are fighting on the Frisian side.
We cannot, then, argue that two tribes are identical, because engaged in fighting a common foe: still less, because they are
mentioned with a certain parallelism[[484]]. And anyway, it is impossible to find in the use of the expression Eotena bearn in l. 1088 any support for the interpretation which makes Eotena trēowe signify the treachery of Finn himself. For, assuredly, the proviso that Hengest and his fellows are to have half control as against the Eotena bearn does not mean that they are to have half control as against Finn himself. For the very next lines make it clear that they are to enter Finn's service and become his retainers. That Hengest and his men are to have equal rights with Finn's Jutish followers (Eotena bearn) is reasonable enough: but they obviously have not equal rights with Finn, their lord whom they are now to follow. Eotena bearn in l. 1088, then, does not include Finn: how can it then be used as an argument that Eotena trēowe must refer to Finn's faith and his breach of it?
Finn, then, is the bana of Hnæf, but there is nothing in the text which compels us to assume that he is the slayer of his guest.
The reader may regard my zeal to clear the character of Finn as excessive. But it is always worth while to understand a good old tale. And it is only when we withdraw our unjust aspersions upon Finn's good faith that the tale becomes intelligible.
This, I know, has been disputed, and by the scholars whose opinion I most respect.
The poet tells us that Finn was the bana of Hnæf, so, says Ayres, "it is hard to see how it helps matters[[485]]" to argue that Finn was not guilty of treachery. And Lawrence argues in the same way:
"How is it possible to shift the blame for the attack from Finn to the Eotenas when Finn is called the bana of Hnæf? It does not matter whether he killed him with his own hands or not; he is clearly held responsible; the lines tell us it was regarded as disgraceful for the Danes to have to follow him, and the revenge at the end falls heavily upon him. The insult and hurt to Danish pride would be very little lessened by the assumption that someone else started the quarrel; and for this assumption, too, the lines give no warrant[[486]]."
Let us take these objections in turn. I do not see how the fact that Finn is called the bana of Hnæf can prove anything as to "the blame for the attack." Of course the older editors may have thought so. Kemble translates bana "slaughterer," which implies brutality, and perhaps culpability. Bosworth-Toller renders bana "murderer," which certainly implies blame for attack. But we know that these are mere mistranslations. Nothing as to "blame for attack" is implied in the term bana: "bana 'slayer' is a perfectly neutral word, and must not be translated by 'murderer,' or any word connoting criminality. A man who slays another in self-defence, or in righteous execution of the law, is still his 'bane'[[487]]." Everyone admits this to be true: and yet at the same time bana is quoted to prove that Finn is to blame; because, for want of a better word, we half-consciously render bana "murderer": and "murderer" does imply blame. "Words," says Bacon, "as a Tartar's bow, do shoot back upon the understanding of the wisest."