l. 58. gamel. "The ... characteristics of the poetry are the use of archaic forms and words, such as mec for mé, the possessive sín, gamol, dógor, swát for eald, dæg, blód, etc., after they had become obsolete in the prose language, and the use of special compounds and phrases, such as hildenædre (war-adder) for 'arrow,' gold-gifa (gold-giver) for 'king,' ... goldwine gumena (goldfriend of men, distributor of gold to men) for 'king,'" etc.—Sw. Other poetic words are ides, ielde (men), etc.
l. 60. H.-So. reads ræswa (referring to Heorogâr alone), and places a point (with the Ms.) after Heorogâr instead of after ræswa. Cf. l. 469; see B., Zachers Zeitschr. iv. 193.
l. 62. Elan here (OHG. Elana, Ellena, Elena, Elina, Alyan) is thought by B. (Tidskr. viii. 43) to be a remnant of the masc. name Onela, and he reads: [On-]elan ewên, Heaðoscilfingas(=es) healsgebedda.
l. 68. For hê, omitted here, cf. [l. 300]. Pronouns are occasionally thus omitted in subord. clauses.—Sw.
l. 70. þone, here = þonne, than, and micel = mâre? The passage, by a slight change, might be made to read, medo-ärn micle mâ gewyrcean,—þone = by much larger than,—in which þone (þonne) would come in naturally.
l. 73. folc-scare. Add folk-share to the meanings in the Gloss.; and cf. gûð-scearu.
l. 74. ic wide gefrägn: an epic formula very frequent in poetry, = men said. Cf. Judith, ll. 7, 246; Phoenix, l. 1; and the parallel (noun) formula, mîne gefræge, [ll. 777], [838], [1956], etc.
ll. 78-83. "The hall was a rectangular, high-roofed, wooden building, its long sides facing north and south. The two gables, at either end, had stag-horns on their points, curving forwards, and these, as well as the ridge of the roof, were probably covered with shining metal, and glittered bravely in the sun."—Br., p. 32.
l. 84. Son-in-law and father-in-law; B., a so-called dvanda compound. Cf. [l. 1164], where a similar compound means uncle and nephew; and Wîdsîð's suhtorfædran, used of the same persons.
l. 88. "The word dreám conveys the buzz and hum of social happiness, and more particularly the sound of music and singing."—E. Cf. [l. 3021]; and Judith, l. 350; Wanderer, l. 79, etc.