[2222] sē ðe him sāre gesceōd. him refers to the dragon. Cp. 2295.
[2223] þ（ēow). A slave, a fugitive from justice, stole a costly vessel from the dragon's hoard, and upon presenting it to his master -- one of Bēowulf's men -- obtained his pardon, 2281 ff. The vessel was then sent to Bēowulf himself (2404f.). In the meantime the dragon had commenced his reign of terror. [According to Lawrence, L 4. 62a. 551, "A warrior [þegn] (not a slave), having committed a grievous crime, was forced to flee the court of which he was a member, in order to escape the vengeance of the man whom he had injured, or his kinsmen. He therefore plundered the dragon's hoard, so that he might get objects of value by means of which to compose the feud. The rings were apparently used as atonement for the crime, while the cup was given to the ruler [probably Bēowulf] who arranged the settlement." But why should that person be called a ' captive,' as Lawrence translates hæft 2408? (See Gloss.; may he have been a war prisoner ?)]
[2228-31]
A hypothetical restoration of the missing words might be attempted as follows.
“hwæðre (earm)sceapen
(atolan wyrme
wræcmon ætwand
--him wæs wrōht) sceapen--
(fūs on fēðe,
þā hyne) se fǣr begeat.
Sincfaet (firde).
”
[2231 ff] Supplemented by the account of an earlier stage (3049 ff., 3069 ff.), the history of the hoard is briefly this. Long, long ago (3050a) the hoard had been placed in the earth by illustrious chieftains (3070). A curse had been laid on it. After a time, it was discovered and seized by certain warriors (2248 f.), who made good use of it. The last survivor of this race returned the treasures to the earth, placing them in a barrow or cave. There the dragon found them and kept watch over them for three hundred years (2278), until the theft of a cup aroused his anger and brought on the tragic fight, in which both Bēowulf and the dragon lost their lives. The hoard was finally buried in the ground with the ashes of the hero.
It will be observed that the somewhat complicated history of the hoard previous to its seizure by the dragon shows a rather modern motivation. A more primitive conception would have taken a treasure-guarding dragon as an ultimate fact. (Gnom. Cott. 26: draca sceal on hlǣwe,/frōd, frætwum wlanc.) Regarding the story of the last survivor, it has been suggested that, according to the original notion, the man provided in the cave a burial place for himself as well as his treasures, and was then transformed into a dragon (cp. the story of Fáfnir); see Ettmuller Transl. 177; Simrock L 3.21.200; Bu. 370; Buigge & Olrik L 4.51; also J. Grimm, Kleinere Schrtften iv 184. -- The cave of the dragon represents one of those ancient, imposing stone graves covered with a mound which by later generations were regarded as enta geweorc 2717 (cp. Saxo, Prefacio, p. 8 ; also the mod. Dan. jættestue, 'giants' chamber'; Grimm D.M. 442 f. [534f]), and which are found in the Scandinavian countries as well as in England. (S. Muller i 55 ff., 77ff., 95, 122 f.; Wright L 9.3.7 ff.; cf. Schuchhardt, R.-L. iii 206 ff.) See Figure 4 inserted in this edition. The inconsistencies discovered by Stjerna in regard to the place where the hoard was deposited, the nature of the objects composing it, and the depositors (Stjer. 37 ff., 136 ff.) cannot be admitted to exist. [For a study of the whole subject, see also Lawrence L 4.62a.][2239-41] wēnde þæs ylcan,/þæt hē lȳtel fæc longgestrēona/brūcan mōste; ' he expected the same [fate as had befallen all his relatives], viz. that he would be permitted to enjoy the ancient treasures only a short time.'
[2241] eallgearo. 2243. nïwe. The burial place was specially prepared, not used before -- in a way, a distinction; cf. S. Müllei i 411.
[2247-66] This characteristic, impressive elegy (see Intr. liv f, note on 2105 ff.) may be compared with the recital of the bereaved father's sorrow, 2444ff., which is also virtually a sample of elegiac verse but nearer its prototype, viz. the lament for the dead or funeral dirge (see 1117 f., 3152ff., 3171 ff.). Cf. L 4.126 (Schücking, Sieper).
[2252] secga seledrēam. The emendation is supported by Andr. 1655f. (Rid. 64.1). The series secga--segan--sēgon-gesāwon shows the conjectural line of scribal alteration. (ESt. xxxix 465.) Kock2 118 pleads for the retention of gesāwon: "who had seen [the last of]," cp. 2726 f. (W. Morris : "The hall-joy had they seen.")
[2253] oððe fe(o)r(mie). Type C2.
[2255-56] Sceal se hearda helm etc. The inf. wesan is understood. See 3021.
[2258-60] gē swylce sēo herepād etc. Note the vocalic end rime, enjambement of alliteration, and the use of the same alliteration in two successive lines.
[2259] ofer borda gebræc, ' over the crashing shields' ; see 2980.
[2261] æfter (wīgfruman), lit. ' behind,' following,' hence ' along with' (JEGPh. vi 197).
[2262] Næs (adv.) hearpan wyn. The verb 'is' is understood, -- ' there is not . . . 'See 2297; note on 811.
[2263 f] nē gōd hafoc/geond sæl swingeð. It has been established that falcons were tamed in Sweden as early as the seventh century, probably for the chase (Stjer. 36). In England trained hawks (or falcons) seem to have been unknown before the second third of the eighth century, see Cook, The Date of the Ruthwell and Bewcastle Crosses (1912), pp. 275 ff. Cf. also Tupper's Riddles, p. 110; Roeder, R.-L. ii 7 f.
[2271] opene. According to Lawience, L 4.62a.577, "the stones closing the entrance to this ancient tomb had fallen, giving access to the interior."
[2278 f] þrēo hund wintra etc. Cp. 1497 f.
[2283 f] Ðā wæs hord rāsod,/onboren bēaga hord. Merely recapitulation.
[2286] fīra fyrngeweorc; i.e., the fǣted wǣge 2282, drincfæt dȳre 2306.
[2287] wrōht wæs genīwad. Probably not 'strife was renewed,' but (lit.) 'strife arose which previously did not exist.' (See, however, also note on 2228 ff.)
[2288] stonc ðā æfter stāne. See Gloss.: stincan. The verb form has been thought by various scholars to belong to stincan 'emit a smell' (MnE. stink) and has been credited with the unusual sense of sniffed,' 'followed the scent.' In case this interpretation is approved, (MHG.) Ortnit 570: als des wurmes houbet vernam des mannes smac might be cited as a partial parallel.
[2292 f] sē ðe ('he whom') Waldendes/hyldo gehealdeþ. Cp. 572f. See Kock2 118 f., Intr. xlix.
[2295] þone þe him on sweofote sāre getēode. sāre is adverb, not object of the verb, the fem. gender of the noun sār being more than doubtful. getēon, 'decree,' 'allot,' is used absolutely, perhaps: 'deal with.' (Cp. 2222.)
[2297] hlǣw is normally masc. (one instance of the neut.: Sievers, Bezitr. ix 237) and appears as such in all the passages of out poem where the gender can be seen (2803, 2804, 3157, 2412 ?). Hence ealne should not be changed to eal. The metrical difficulty of the MS. reading is removed by the emendation ūtanweard (nom. sing., ref. to the dragon).
[2298] wiges gefeh, that is to say, by anticipation.
