l. 1235. Cf. [l. 119] for similarity of language.
l. 1235. Kl. proposes gea-sceaft; but cf. [l. 1267].
l. 1246. Ring armor was common in the Middle Ages. E. points out the numerous forms of byrne in cognate languages,—Gothic, Icelandic, OHG., Slavonic, O. Irish, Romance, etc. Du Chaillu, The Viking Age, i. 126. Cf. Murray's Dict. s. v.
l. 1248. ânwîg-gearwe = ready for single combat (C.); but cf. Ha. p. 43; Beit. ix. 210, 282.
l. 1252. Some consider this fitt the beginning of Part (or Lay) II. of the original epic, if not a separate work in itself.
l. 1254. K., W., and Ho. read farode = wasted; Kolbing reads furode; but cf. wêsten warode, [l. 1266]. MS. has warode.
ll. 1255-1258. This passage is a good illustration of the constant parallelism of word and phrase characteristic of A.-S. poetry, and is quoted by Sw. The changes are rung on ende and swylt, on gesýne and wîdcûð, etc.
l. 1259. "That this story of Grendel's mother was originally a separate lay from the first seems to be suggested by the fact that the monsters are described over again, and many new details added, such as would be inserted by a new singer who wished to enhance and adorn the original tale."—Br., p. 41.
l. 1259. Cf. [l. 107], which also points to the ancestry of murderers and monsters and their descent from "Cain."
l. 1261. The MS. has se þe, m.; changed by some to seo þe. At [ll. 1393], [1395], [1498], Grendel's mother is referred to as m.; at [ll. 1293], [1505], [1541-1546], etc., as f., the uncertain pronoun designating a creature female in certain aspects, but masculine in demonic strength and savageness.—H.-So.; Sw. p. 202. Cf. the masc. epithets at [ll. 1380], [2137], etc.