[This text] includes characters that require UTF-8 (Unicode) file encoding:

œ : “oe” ligature
Ȝȝ, ƿ, ſ, ǽ : yogh, wynn, long s, accented æ

These characters, as well as a single Greek phrase, occur only in the notes, not in the poem itself. If any of the characters do not display properly, or if the apostrophes and quotation marks in this paragraph appear as garbage, you may have an incompatible browser or unavailable fonts. First, make sure that the browser’s “character set” or “file encoding” is set to Unicode (UTF-8). You may also need to change your browser’s default font.

Corrections made by the transcriber are marked with mouse-hover popups; editorial corrections from the Emendations section are similarly marked. Anglo-Saxon diphthongs are written as , with stress on second vowel. The form “hung” (with the meaning “hanged”) is used consistently. A number of Glossary entries are missing the part of speech, usually n. They have not been individually noted.

One minor typographic change was made in the modern material. Where Roman (upright) type represents “double italics”, it is shown instead as bold within italics.

A few French passages in the Preface use a trailing tilde ~, as in the word “q~”. In the original, the ~ was attached to the preceding letter, but not directly above it.

All square brackets [ ] are in the original.

[Contents]
[Havelok the Dane]

The original book (EETS E.S. 4, 1868, ed. Skeat) exists in at least two forms. See the [end of the e-text] for details.

DUBLIN:WILLIAM McGEE, 18, NASSAU STREET.
EDINBURGH:T. G. STEVENSON, 22, SOUTH FREDERICK STREET.
GLASGOW:OGLE & CO., 1, ROYAL EXCHANGE SQUARE.
BERLIN:ASHER & CO., UNTER DEN LINDEN, 20.
NEW YORK:C. SCRIBNER & CO.; LEYPOLDT & HOLT.
PHILADELPHIA:J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.
BOSTON, U.S.:DUTTON & CO.