[{38f}] Haethcyn.
[{39a}] The line may mean: till Hrethelings stormed on the hedged shields, -- i.e. the shield-wall or hedge of defensive war -- Hrethelings, of course, are Geats.
[{39b}] Eofor, brother to Wulf Wonreding.
[{39c}] Sc. “value in” hides and the weight of the gold.
[{39d}] Not at all.
[{39e}] Laid on it when it was put in the barrow. This spell, or in our days the “curse,” either prevented discovery or brought dire ills on the finder and taker.
[{40a}] Probably the fugitive is meant who discovered the hoard. Ten Brink and Gering assume that the dragon is meant. “Hid” may well mean here “took while in hiding.”
[{40b}] That is “one and a few others.” But Beowulf seems to be indicated.
[{40c}] Ten Brink points out the strongly heathen character of this part of the epic. Beowulf’s end came, so the old tradition ran, from his unwitting interference with spell-bound treasure.
[{40d}] A hard saying, variously interpreted. In any case, it is the somewhat clumsy effort of the Christian poet to tone down the heathenism of his material by an edifying observation.