l. 2879. ätgifan = to render, to afford; omitted in Gloss.
ll. 2885-2892. "This passage ... equals the passage in Tacitus which describes the tie of chief to companion and companion to chief among the Germans, and which recounts the shame that fell on those who survived their lord."—Br., p. 56.
l. 2886. cyn thus has the meaning of gens or clan, just as in many Oriental towns all are of one blood. E. compares Tacitus, Germania, 7; and cf. "kith and kin."
l. 2892. Death is preferable to dishonor. Cf. Kemble, Saxons, i. 235.
l. 2901. The ἄγγελος begins his ἀγγελία here.
l. 2910. S. proposes higemêðe, sad of soul; cf. [ll. 2853] and [2864] (Beit. ix. 142). B. considers higemêðum a dat. or instr. pl. of an abstract in -u (Beit. xii. 106). H. makes it a dat. pl. = for the dead. For heafod-wearde, etc., cf. note on [l. 446].
l. 2920-2921. B. explains "he could not this time, as usual, give jewels to his followers."—Beit. xii. 106.
l. 2922. The Merovingian or Frankish race.
cwäð hîe on mergenne mêces ecgum