(Finn. 2, 36) cf. Cal. 97, 142, 180, 181, Gn. 9.
Addition of n (Finn. 22) cf. Cal. 161.
[424] Heimskringla, chap. 220.
[425] It has been suggested that the phrase "Hengest himself" indicates that Hengest is the "war-young king." But surely the expression merely marks Hengest out as a person of special interest. If we must assume that he is one of the people who have been speaking, then it would be just as natural to identify him with the watcher who has warned the king, as with the king himself. The difficulties which prevent us from identifying Hengest with the king are explained below.
[426] Garulf must be an assailant, since he falls at the beginning of the struggle, whilst we are told that for five days none of the defenders fell.
[427] Very possibly Guthere is uncle of Garulf. For Garulf is said to be son of Guthlaf (l. 35) and a Guthere would be likely to be a brother of a Guthlaf. Further, as Klaeber points out (Engl. Stud. XXXIX, 307) it is the part of the uncle to protect and advise the nephew.
[428] Koegel, Geschichte d. deut. Litt. I, i, 165.
[429] Klaeber (Engl. Stud. XXXIX, 308) reminds us that, as there are two warriors named Godric in the Battle of Maldon (l. 325), so there may be two warriors named Guthlaf here. But to this it might possibly be replied that "Godric" was, in England, an exceedingly common name, "Guthlaf" an exceedingly rare one.
[430] Finn is called the bana, "slayer" of Hnæf. But this does not necessarily mean that he slew him with his own hand; it would be enough if he were in command of the assailants at the time when Hnæf was slain. Cf. Beowulf, l. 1968.
[431] The idea that Finn's Frisians are the "North Frisians" of Schleswig has been supported by Grein (Eberts Jahrbuch, IV, 270) and, following him, by many scholars, including recently Sedgefield (Beowulf, p. 258). The difficulties of this view are very many: one only need be emphasized. We first hear of these North Frisians of Schleswig in the 12th century, and Saxo Grammaticus tells us expressly that they were a colony from the greater Frisia (Book XIV, ed. Holder, p. 465). At what date this colony was founded we do not know. The latter part of the 9th century has been suggested by Langhans: so has the end of the 11th century by Lauridsen. However this may be, all the evidence precludes our supposing this North Friesland, or, as Saxo calls it, Fresia Minor, to have existed at the date to which we must attribute the origin of the Finn story. On this point the following should be consulted: Langhans (V.), Ueber den Ursprung der Nordfriesen, Wien, 1879 (most valuable on account of its citation of documents: the latter part of the book, which consists of an attempt to rewrite the Finn story by dismissing as corrupt or spurious many of the data, must not blind us to the value of the earlier portions): Lauridsen, Om Nordfrisernes Indvandring i Sønderjylland, Historisk Tidsskrift, 6 R, 4 B. II, 318-67, Kjøbenhavn, 1893: Siebs, Zur Geschichte der Englisch-Friesischen Sprache, 1889, 23-6: Chadwick, Origin, 94: Much in Hoops Reallexikon, s.v. Friesen; and Bremer in Pauls Grdr. (2), III, 848, where references will be found to earlier essays on the subject.