F 2-c.72% A
TEUTONIC ANTIQUITIES IN
ANDREAS AND ELENE,
PR E S E N T E D
TO THE PHILOSOPHICAL FACULTY
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF LEIPZIG
FOR THE ACQUISITION
OF THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
BY
CHARLES WILLIAM KENT.
HALLE-ON-SAALE,
EHRHARDT KARRAS, PRINTER.
1887.





DEDICATED
TO HIS FORMER TEACHER
PROF. DR. ARTHUR NAPIER,
MERTON PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH AT OXFORD,
AS A SLIGHT TOKEN
OF THE IIIGH ESTEEM AND FRIENDLY REGARD
OF THE
AUTHOR.
CONTENTS.
Page
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
§ 1. Mythology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
§ 2. Religious Conceptions . . . . 9
A. God and Christ p. 10 — B. Holy Spirit p. 14 – C. Virgin
Mary p. 15 – D. Heaven p. 15 — E. Angels p. 19 — F. Cross
p. 22 — G. Devil p. 23 -— H. Hell p. 26 — I. Purgatory p. 28 —
K. Death p. 29
§ 3. Governmental Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
A. King p. 30 — B. Feudal System p. 34 — C. Assemblies
p. 37 – D. Punishment p. 40
§ 4. War and Warriors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
§ 5. Sea-Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
§ 6. Natural Phenomena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
§ 7. Social Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Introduction.
Without attempting to hold the scales of even justice be-
tween the painstaking and laborious theses of Fritzsche (Das
angelsächsische Gedicht Andreas und Cynewulf) and of Ram-
horst (Das ae. Gedicht vom heiligen Andreas und der Dichter
Cynewulf) as to the question of authorship of Andreas, or con-
sidering the bold, and in my opinion unsuccessful, attempt of
Sarrazin (Beowulf und Kynewulf. Anglia IX, 3) to compress
a large portion of the literature of the first period of English
poetry into the narrow compass of one life-time and make it
the product of a single genius, I intend to make but one
assumption, and that will probably excite no comment, that
Andreas and Elene belong to the same period of our literature.
With this assumption I desire to follow the path which Grimm
opened in his preface to Andreas and Elene (Andreas und
Elene. Herausgegeben von Jacº Tºº), -in order to
gather some additional facts to group with those noted by
him and thus to form a picture, however incomplete, of the
customs and manners of the Teutonic inhabitants of England.
I take it that one of the most important objects of philological
work is to enable us to form a picture of the people, to gain
—an insight into their characters and modes of thought, in
order to have a more perfect basis than the mere record of
events can give, for a study of the philosophy of the people's
growth and development. The literature of a people is per-
haps the truest exponent of that people's character and culture,
and the careful reader will cautiously read the thoughts and
conceptions and life of a people between lines conveying a
story of some more remote nature. -
1
First of all, it is the religious conceptions that are of
special interest, forming, as they do, the web and woof of
life, and permeating all classes of society, so as to form of a
heterogeneous complex, in this respect a homogeneous unit.
The poems that are to be discussed treat of themes drawn
from a new religion which had gained easy access and found
almost universal acceptance, but had not been able to erad-
icate the mythological conceptions that had intertwined their
roots with the very fibres of the Teutonic nature, and was
even the less powerful to erase from the current language
words and expressions born of other beliefs nurtured by con-
stant use and which prevail to some extent today — a monument
to the tenacity with which a word, coined by necessity, clings
to the currency it has with difficulty gained.
First of all then, I propose to examine these poems,
Christian in conception, teaching and purpose, for traces of
mythology.
§ 1. Mythology.
It will be impossible to gather here all the hints of myth-
ological nature, because some of these have no existence
apart from the connection in which they occur, and hence
will be mentioned in their proper context. But there are refer-

ences direct *...* of natures varying from
a probability akin fö"certainty to a mere hypothesis that can
be recorded and discussed under this head.
Among the appellations of the Deity occurs myrda mea/d-
end E. 80, A. 1058. It is easy to translate this by Controller
of Events, and to contend as Köhler (Germaniscite Alterthümer
in Beowulf S. 5) does, that the word had lost all its associa-
tion with the Norn, Wyrd, or as the name is in modern Eng-
lish, Weird. It is true that in the cases just cited there is
no reason for seeking any mythological meaning, although
Determiner of Fates would be an easy and matural trans-
lation, but there are uses of this word even in Andreas and
Elene, that forcibly recall, if they do not designedly imply,
the Wyrd of mythology. Where the Mermidonian attributes
3
the disastrous flood to their own folly in imprisoning St. An-
dreas and uses, in assigning this cause, the words:
fis séo Wyrd scybet
heard ond hetegrim A. 1563.
there is in my opinion no attempt on the part of the poet to
escape a heathen allusion, for the words are put into the mouth
of a heathen. It is a direct allusion to a power in which the
unconverted still believed.
hie séo Wyrd beswäc
forleolc ond forlaerde: A. 613.
would be just as direct, were it the speech of a heathen; it
is however uttered by the Divine Pilot, in asking for inform-
ation about Christ, and in giving his explanation of the fail-
ure of the people to recognize Him. This He attributes to
the deceitful and mendacious teachings of the devil, and then
uses the words quoted, thus confounding the devil with Wyrd,
or rather supposing Wyrd an emissary or agent of the devil;
in either event however it is an unmistakable allusion to the
powerful Fate.
häru, wyrd gescräf (Gn. Wyrd)
past hé swā geléaffull . . . . . . . E. 1047.
shows Wyrd in another light, and one just as agreeable to
her characteristics. The Pilot had confounded Wyrd, as an
exponent of heathenism, with the enemy of Christianity; Cyne-
wulf, more charitable, recalling the chequered and singular
career of Judas, who, from the most ardent of all opponents
to surrender to Helen, became a most faithful and steadfast
defender of Christianity, exclaims, Verily, Weird decreed that
he should become so faithful etc., recording thus his belief in
fatalism, and attributing this to one of the sisters who pre-
sided over the destinies of men. Recalling now the expression
nyrda mealdend, it may be said that had the poet used this
expression deliberately and in its full sense, he would not
have been heathenizing God, but rather elevating Him above
the highest powers of heathen belief, (for even the gods were
controlled by the decrees of the Norns) and giving Him a
controlling power over the controlling powers of heathen
belief.
1+
Kemble (Saxons in England I) has called attention to
the formulas in Beowulf recalling Weird. Such formulas occur
here too, as sume nig formam E. 131, sume drenc formam E. 136,
in which the means of death is personified and represented as
a personal agency. This is rendered more expressive by the
addition of lifes (et ende, that is, it indicates that the close
of life had come, the alloted limit of existence, and now Wyrd
reveals herself in one of her agents and “ravishes the people
away”. Beowulf has such examples as hime Wyrd /ornam
B. 1206, Wyrd unſ/emete neah B. 2420, ealle Wyrd forsneof
B. 2814. In one remarkable example, to which Kemble draws
special attention, occurs snya unc Wyrd geteoč, meſod manna
gehmaes B. 2527. It shall befall us, as Weird decideth, the
lord of every man, where melod, a word generally applied to
God, as Wilmar (Deutsche Alterthümer in Heliand) thinks, “da
er am wenigsten speciell heidnischen inhalt zu haben scheint”,
is applied directly to the Fate. Perhaps the word melten,
another word for Fate was, as Kemble (Saxons in England I,
351) suggests, uppermost in the poet's mind. In Andreas the
Lord determines the lot of the apostles,
swā him dryhten sylf,
heofona heahcyning, hlyt getaehte A. 6.
Between God and the Fate in actions, a certain likeness seems
to prevail.
Akin to the expressions given above are paet eon, in be-
orge boºl formime’) E. 78, arr pec sn'y// nime E. 447, abr bec
cnealm mime, sn'ilt E. 677, eaſle snºy/t formam A. 996; which re-
call the usage in Heliand. These are again personified forms
and perhaps refer to Fate.
From all of which it is clear that this cult was so famil-
iar to the Anglosaxons, so imbedded in their language, that
it was absolutely impossible to avoid words and phrases that
recalled it, however much the poets may have been impreg-
nated with Christian beliefs; while in other cases references
were made directly to the Norns, as beings well known to
those for whom the poems were intended.
The example nig formam E. 131 (Cf. Wig ealle formam
B. 1080), where, according to Grimm (A. u. E. XXXI), nig is
5
substituted for the more evident goddess of war, Hild (Bellona),
recalls a heathen deity. I agree with Grimm in seeing here
a designation of a heathen god, but see no reason for appeal-
ing to any principle of substitution for an explanation of it.
The god Tiw seems to have been the god of war and iden-
tical with Mars of classical mythology, which is used in the
Epinal Glosses as the rendering for Tiw. (Cf. Tuesday and
Mardi); now the above examples and others still to be men-
tioned, clearly show that nig was frequently personified and
in the same glosses nig is rendered by Mars, which seems to
identifiy Tiw and Wig as one and the same god. (Kemble S.
in E. I, 351). The expressions therefore Hilden.6ma A. 218, Jul.
136, 663, wiges nôma A. 1357, E. 19, resolve themselves into
simple descriptions of the noise attending the movements of
Bellona and Mars. We find however such parallel expressions
as snefnes nôma E. 71, daegrédn'óma A. 125. Grimm discusses
such expressions (Mythologie 413) and shows that day, night,
morning, dream etc. were censidered by the ancients as per-
sonalities. Indeed oëöſet afen com sigeltor.ht snungen A. 1247,
is the commentary to daegrédnóma, and slapp of eréode A, 464,
821, 827, 864, explains the personality of swefen, the primary
meaning of which is sleep.
But perhaps more entertaining still is the fact that nóma
itself seems to be connected with a deity. According to Grimm
(A. u. E.), néma corresopnds to Ömi in Old Norse, which is a
name of Očin, and means the noise-producing god. Hence
nóma is in all probability a name of Woden, which has lost
all of its power, except the quality of noise it then attributed.
To return now to the god Tiw or Wig, there is one most
remarkable passage in Elene 162 ff.
After the battle, in which Constantine had won a most
complete victory by virtue of the cross, he called an assembly
to inquire about the unknown God, and asks:
‘pe pis his béacen was
pe mé swā léoht ööywde ond mine léode generede,
täcna torhtost, ond mé tir forgeaf,
wigspéd wit, wráðum, purh paet whitige tréo". -
There can be no doubt that tir — gloria, is closely connected
etymologically with Tiw (Old Norse Tyr) and it was most
6
probably at first another name for the same god. The rune
for t, f, which means Tir recalls, 3, the sign of Mars, with
whom Tiw was unmistakably connected. This sign for Mars
is of great antiquity (Gm. A. u. E. 156).
It is striking too, as Grimm further notices, that tir so
often occurs with tacen, or words from the same root. Thus
here, and in E, 754. (tire getăcnod, decore insignitum.) B. 1654,
and several times in Juliana. The connection with torht is,
scarcely less noticeable (cf. Judith 93. 157). In a word the Teu-
tonic mind attached great importance to the signs and sym-
bols of the gods, and that of this Tir must have been bright,
for that idea seems to be affixed to the symbol so often men-
tioned with Tir. Now wigspéd in the next line is formed
of nig, which has been seen to be a name of Mars and equi-
valent to Tiw with which Tir is closely related, and sped is
success, that is the word means the success that Mars grants,
hence success in war. Now, as mentioned, this passage de-
notes the desire of a heathen king to find out who an unknown
god is, that is, a god unknown because his sign or emblem —
a cross, was unknown, but as if this showed a lack of con-
fidence in the god of war, upon whom he was in the habit
of relying, the heathen king ascribes his success to the
heathen god (wigsped). Indeed though I am not bold enough
to propose a change in the usual rendering of this passage
I mention, that a capital T and Grein's punctuation, namely the
omission of a comma after forgeaf would give us a sentence
entirely heathen: “and Tiw (Mars) granted me Wigspeed (cf.
Godspeed) against the inimical through this shining tree”,
thus uniting this brightest of signs with the signs of Tiw, in
whose martial character this new, unknown god had revealed
himself.
Nor would this, even in a Christian poem, be objection-
able, when put into the mouth of a heathen king; on the con-
trary it would serve to heighten the contrast between the
pagan king, trusting in Mars, and the Christian king dispatch-
ing an expedition to recover the cross of Christ, just as
séo Wyrd, as the cause of the sufferings of the Mermi-
donians renders their conversion the more remarkable. A.
1563,
7
The careful avoidance of such a reminder of heathendom,
which the poet shows in aet wigge spéd E. 1182, in speaking
of the Christian mementoes but strengthens the view just ex-
pressed. -
It has been seen already that nóma probably meant, or
was primarily another name for Woden the highest god of
northern mythology and hence perhaps the one whose in-
fluence had been mostly keenly felt in the conceptions and
language of the people, and hence also one whom a Christian
poet would most scrupulously avoid mentioning before a people,
hardly out of the swaddling-clothes of their new faith and
prone to apostacy.
Nevertheless he is recalled several times, though indirectly,
in the two poems before us.
The raven, wolf, and eagle, E. 24, 52 were sacred to the
highest god (Gm. A. a. E. XXVI. f.). In Old Norse the wolves
and ravens are mentioned as companions of Opinn, and were
doubtless in possession of the same distinction among the
Anglosaxons, although there is no direct information to that
effect (K. S. in E. I, 343. note). Grimm mentions that, as these
animals were considered noble, courageous, and bearers of
good fortune, and hence consecrated to the highest god, they
were the more opposed to the Christian conception, according
to which they were devilish.
But the highest god, Woden, to whom they were sacred,
was the god of victory (Kemble I. 337), and may not the pre-
sence of these companions of his have been indicative of his
presence, as the overruling power of battle, ready to turn the
balance in favor of the one or the other army, as he may
have chosen? That these attendants caused terror may be ex-
plained by the voracious characters of these ghoulish animals,
and from the ignorance of either army of the issues of the
conflict, that lay in the hands of Woden, without supposing
these animals to have been considered devilish.
God is the creator, meotod E. 366 etc. This word, which
Wilmar (Alterthümer in Heliand) conceives as measurer'), refers,
according to him, in first instance to the measuring god, or
*) Cf. Grein, Sprachschatz 2, 240.
8
god who sets boundaries, that is perhaps Thunar, who meas-
ured with the hammer, from which were derived those pecu-
liar and prevalent measures by means of a throw (Grimm
Deutsche Rechtsalterthümer 54 ff.). The indications are, how-
ever, that the god of land-measures, of boundaries etc. among
the Saxons was Woden. Wanborough, formerly Wodensburh,
Wonston formerly Wodenstan, and numerous others (See K. I,
344) show his connection with land, while according to the
same author, there are numerous instances in charters of the
use of Woden's name in connection with boundary, trees, stones
or posts. Hence this meotod, which had no doubt lost all
of its heathen significance, probably referred originally to Woden,
as the god of boundaries.
It remains to be mentioned in this connection that the
description of God, as a pilot A. 248 ft.) is entirely analogous
to the many stories current according to which Woden had
performed the same duties; and further that dryhten, which
was universally applied to God, was, according to Wilmar, an
epithet applied to Woden. -
Several isolated allusions of mythological nature be-
long here.
Eoforcumbol E. 76, 259, means the sign of the boar, has
reference to the sign of the helmet and is used by synecdoche
for the helmet itself. Grimm (A. u. E. XXVIII f.) and Kemble
(I, 357) both connect this with the cult of Freyr, to whom
this beast was sacred. It had probably lost its heathen signi-
fication.
In the graphic description of the vanity of the world
E. 1270, it is compared to the wind, which rises, rushes by, is
still, confined in its narrow prison in nédcleofan nearne gehe-
afrod, and repressed by force préam forpryceed. This word
nédcleoſa, a prison of necessity, where one is imprisoned
against one's will, is used of the prison in which Judas was
confined E. 711, and recalls the prison of St. Andreas, which
was most probably a cave. The meaning is that the wind
was under the control of some power, some northern divinity,
corresponding to the Eolus of classical mythology, who locked
1) Cf. Zupitza in Zeitschrift für Deutsches Alterthum Bd. XXX.
9
his slaves in a prison-house and sent them out or not, as he
listed. From this compilation of the references to the gods it
is an easy transition to another mythological conception, which
forms an important element in the history of the period. I refer
to the belief that peopled the earth with giants, a belief as
wide-spread as heathendom and as deep-rooted as that in the
gods. The Teutonic mind tended to place that which it could
not comprehend in the sphere of the supernatural, that of
which it could not remember or explain the origin in that
mythical period, when a race of giants trod the earth. In Elene
we have one word only that may refer to this period, and
that is burgenta E. 31, which Zupitza translates ‘burg, stadt??',
Grimm renders it Riesenburg, and thinks that it may refer to
some definite locality, but mentions at the same time that it
may refer simply to some old castle-crowned rock, some giant's
wall, and this view I am inclined to hold from analogy to
enta aergeneorc A. 1237, and eald enta geneorc A. 1497, Ruin. 2,
where the reference in the former is to the roads, the roughly-
paved streets, along which St. Andrew was drawn, and in the
latter to the columns, from one of which the devastating flood
issued. Both derived the appellation from the fact, that their
origins were beyond the reach of man's memory, perhaps even
of tradition, and hence are attributed to an age before men
existed and which belonged to the giants. Fyrngene, c A. 738
I explain in the same way.
§ 2. Religious Conceptions.
If it be true that the heathen worship had left its im-
pression upon the culture and minds, and its indelible stamp
on the language, it is not to be wondered at that even those
poets who wrote of a Christianity which was to them still in
its infancy, should leave upon the monuments of their own
poetic power the traces of a heathenism, from the thrall of
which they had but recently escaped. It would have been
unnatural and contrary to the common experience of mankind,
had they been able at once to erase from their minds all the
impressions of a former state and to purge it from all the
10
effects of a long continued religious devotion in order to fur-
nish to the doctrines of Christianity clean tablets, upon which
the mandates of a new dispensation should be recorded, or
receptacles duly cleansed to receive the spirit and energy of
a new religion. Wilmar has shown with marked clearness the
presence of this heathen element in the Heliand, and the in-
fluence of heathendom upon the poems under discussion has
been detailed in the last paragraph. To that I propose now
to add an examination of the religious conceptions in order
to show in what respect these were modified or altered by
their own surroundings and their former training.
A. God and Christ.
Apart from the relationship they sustain to each other
faeder and sunu, bearm, godes agen bearm etc. and the descript-
ion of Christ's life upon earth, it is almost impossible distinguish
between the attributes of the Father and the Son, and indeed
in some passages to determine to which of the two allusion
is made. They are both described, as a matter of course, in
anthropomorphitic language, because of the impossibility of
conceiving Them otherwise; and, as the language is drawn
from persons and things around them,it reveals to us glimpses
of the life of that day, which further investigation will render
more clearly visible.
God is first of all the creatorſ) meotod E. 366 etc. (See
p. 7); scippend eallra E. 370, gasta scyppend E. 791, is no doubt
entirely Christian. To the creation itself, we have several
references, as, for instance, in Judas's prayer:
ond på geworhtest purh pines wuldres milit
heofon ond eoróan ond holmpraece
sá's sidme facóm, samod ealle gesceaft
ond pā āmāºte mundum pinum
ealne ymbhwyrft ond fiprador. E. 727 ff.
(See also A. 748, 327.)
sé be middangeard gestašelode strangum mihtum A. 161. A. 535.
sé pe rodor ahöf ond gefaastmode folmum sinum, A. 521.
1) Cf. Grein, Sprachschatz 2.240.
11
In none of these references is there any allusion to the
chaotic state before the creation — a belief which was common
to mythology, as well as taught by the Bible. .
But more striking are the descriptive epithets of God.
He is a king and is described in language elsewhere applied
to earthly rulers, with appropriate attributives. Thus He is
cyning engla E. 79, cyning almihtig E. 145, wuldorcyning E. 291,
prym.cyming E. 494, maegencyning E. 1248; héahcyming A. 6.
He is also the Lord dryhten (E. 198) of the heavenly hosts
E. 81, of mankind, E. 187, of victories, E. 346, of men, E. 897.
This word, which occurs frequently in Andreas and Elene (for
a complete list of the occurrencss of the name of the Deity,
see Jansen Synonymik, or Ramhorst Andreas etc.) has been dis-
cussed by Köhler.
This word, which refers to God as a Commander or Gen-
eral, is borrowed from the reverence and respect due such
a personage upon earth. As mentioned above (p. 8), Wilmar
is of the opinion that this word in its simple form had ceased
to be applied to human leaders and was an epithet of the
highest god, Woden, from whom it was transferred to God.
It is at least an evidence of the correctness of this view,
that the simple word invariably refers to God, and very
rarely even in composition to man (Köhler, Deutsche Alterthümer
in Beowulf p. 4).
It was frequently used in connection with other words as
dryhten god, dryhten haelend etc., which would seem to indicate
a sort of necessity for designating more exactly the Christian
significance of the word.
As God was the king and Great Commander, who ruled
over men and angels, and claimed for Himself the victory in
His contests E. 80, so He was the Ruler of heaven nuldres mal-
dend A. 193, of men neoruda A. 388, ſira A. 922, peoda A.
1453, mægena E. 347, and of events nyrda wealdend E. 80, A.
1058 (See. p. 2).
Fréa, a word, which belonged to the kings of earth is
generally applied to God. E. 488 etc. He is the secga aldor
E. 97, the Prince of men, juct as Constantine is folces aldor
E. 157; or the Prince of heaven, nuldres aldor A. 55. The
reference to age suggests the qualities of experience, wisdom,
12
and prudence, which are supposed to be characteristics of age
and rulers. He is the Judge dema E. 746, dugoča démend A.
87, as He sits on His heavenly throne and passes sentence, E.
1283. Like a king, God was the watch or guardian of the
rights of His possession.
Thus He is the Guardian neard of heaven nuldres E. 84,
A. 596; heafonrices E. 197, A. 52; gåsta E. 1022; engla E. 1101;
the shepherd hyrde, prymmes E. 448, rices A. 808; the Helmet,
helm, gåsta E. 176, aeóelinga A. 277. So He is the Helper of
the Spirits gasta géocend E. 682, and as Constantine is the pro-
tector of the nobles, aedelinga hléo E. 99, so God is the Pro-
tector of the earls, eorla hléo E. 1047. Indeed these expres-
sions of which neard, hyrde, and helm form a part are favor-
ite forms of portraying that protecting care which a king
threw around his people, and suggest the province of God to
stand before His people as their Protector.
As Constantine is the king peoden E. 266, whose will
Helen bears in mind, so God is the engla peoden E. 777, A.
299 etc., Whose behests the angels obey. As He presides over
destinies, so He is the Guide and Teacher of life, lifes lättéon,
E. 1210, lifes laireon, A. 1468. And after the battles of life are
over, like the kings of earth, He gives rewards and presents,
and is therefore called beorht bloºdgiſa A. 84, lifes brytta A.
823, he . . . . gife bryttode A. 754, enſla eadgifu A. 74, sanila
symbelgiſa A. 1419, neoruña nilgeofa A. 62, muldorffeofa E. 681.
Some of these expressions have taken on a coloring appro-
priate to such weighty things, but others must have recalled
the mead-hall, while such a word as symbel (gifa) was per-
haps rarely found in such company. Accustomed to portray
the giver of one of those feasts, which the Teutonic fore-
fathers knew how to appreciate, it had sunk in meaning
from the well-loaded board to the mere abstract notion of
nourishment.
That God rules in glory, E. 811, amid the heavenly throng
will appear later.
Christ possessed the same attributes, and although not
as clearly a people's king, as in the Old Saxon Messiad, He
exhibits these qualities more clearly than God, because of His
life on earth.
13
As Christ, He is the True Light, soëſaestra leoht E. 7, the
Glory of the children of men nuldor bearna E. 186, but as one
above His people, He is their prince, herga /ruma E, 210, and
the Prince of Life, liffruma E. 335, A. 1286, and the Chief of
nobles, aečelinga ord E. 393.
This last is of particular interest, as making Christ the
acme of the class of nobles, to which He is of course consid-
ered as belonging. He rules over the heavens rodora neald-
end E. 206, over powers, mihta E. 337, over men, peoda E. 421.
He is a powerful Prince, rice raesbora A. 385 and king cyning,
and Lord hlaford E. 475, and as a king, the Protector of this
people and their Leader. Thus He is called gösta helm E. 176,
a jelinga helm A. 655, dryhten E. 176, pèoden engla E. 858, lif-
nearde E. 1035, béoda raesnya A. 1624. Some of these titles
suggest His connection with the class of nobles, to which
kingship belonged; others are borrowed from military life
and others again are purely Christian. Many of them,
although found in the Bible, are borrowed from the sur-
rounding life, and are intended, as in the Bible, to invest the
Deity with qualities that best reveal His character, and to
furnish a medium through which a conception of the Deity
can be conveyed, and hence they throw a reflected light upon
the honor and reverence due a king, and upon the duties
of leadership, protection, and provision, that a king owed his
people.
It is worth mentioning too, that these variations for the
name Christ are not found in the probable original (O. Glöde,
Untersuchung über die Quelle zu Cynewulf's Elene, Anglia IX, 2),
where only Christus, Jesus Christus, Dominus noster, Salvator
noster, and Filius Dei occur.
Grimm (A. & E. 97) agrees with Kemble in considering
brego, as simply a title or form of address, and hence indicative
of great antiquity. We find brego mancynnes A. 540, gumena
brego A. 61 and beorna brego A. 305. A.beling in reference to
God or Christ A. 680. 913, reminds one of the same word as
king, as does péoda baldor A. 547, with which is to be com-
pared nigena baldor E. 344, said of king David. That He is
the Guardian of the city is another reference to His military
character A. 660.
14
B. Holy Spirit.
Ramhorst finds (p. 51) that God, Christ and the Holy
Spirit are completely identified in their characteristics. This
does not seem to me to be an exact statement of the case,
for while the same terms are applied to a great extent to God
and Christ, the references to the Holy Spirit are few and in-
dicate only a very few of the properties of either Father or
Son. In fact the Holy Spirit as a personality is not always
clearly taught; on the contrary it seems oftener to be an
emanation from the Godhead, a power lent, rather than an
active agent. There are two allusions to the Trinity, within
the compass now being treated — the one in Elene 177, where
the recorded joy of the Christians at being permitted to ex-
pound their faith, reads in part:
hū se gåsta helm
in prynesse prymme geweoróad
âcenned wearð . . . . . .
et evangelizaverunt ei mysterium Trinitatis
et adventum Filii Dei. (Acta Sanctorum);
the other in Andreas 1686 ft.
pêr fader and sunu and frôfre gåst
in prinnesse prymme wealded.
These two allusions to the Trinity, which are confined to the
language of the church, are not supported by any description
of the Holy Spirit that makes Him a person endowed with
the qualities of God or Christ. The Holy Ghost is mentioned
in E. 936, him naes hålig gast befolen faeste, where the Spirit
was imparted. In E. 1145 the Holy Heavenly Spirit took pos-
session of the dwelling, that is, abode in the heart, and the
use in E. 1037 is exactly the same.
Thus in Elene the Spirit seems to be a specific mani-
festation of God. This is not so clear in Andreas. Thus when
the door of St. Matthew's prison was opened purh handhrine
häliges gastes A. 1002, there is a personification of the Spirit.
In A. 908 we have /rö/re gést meaning God, and heaſonhálig
gåst A. 728 meaning Christ, where we find either an inter-
change of the persons of the Trinity, or, what seems more
15
probable, it is the use by metonomy of the thing possessed
for the possessor (cf. gasthålige guman E. 71).
In Andreas 1623 we have after hléoëorcnidum háliges
gåstes, where the reference may be to St. Andrew, as endowed
with the Holy Spirit, or through whom the Holy Spirit spoke.
It may mean however that this prayer was according to, in
harmony with the declarations of the Holy Spirit.
In Andreas 1000, quoted above, the possibility of its re-
ferring to St. Andrew is not precluded either by construction
or sense, though the most obvious rendering would make it
mean the personified Holy Spirit. Of course God and Christ
embrace the qualities of the Spirit, but there is no evidence
in either poem that the Spirit is identified with Either.
C.
The references to the Virgin Mary, as the mother of
Christ A. 687, E. 775, and in E. 1233 as a partner in the heav-
enly portion, enfold, as far as I can discover, no fruitful
germs of Mariology, certainly no developed growth as Fritzsche
intimates. -
D.
The references to the kingdom of heaven, heofonrice E.
197, 445, 621, 624, 718, 1125, and A. 52, are universally sug-
gestive of some definite limited kingdom, existing in some
place above the earth and have in no case that vaguer sig-
nification of Bible language. This is natural, for having seen
that God was looked upon as a king with the priveleges and
prerogatives of an earthly ruler, we could but expect that His
kingdom would bear resemblance to the kingdoms then exist-
ing and known, although an institution of mythology evidently
furnished some of the descriptive words, if not the basis for
the entire conception of heaven. -
Heaven is once mentioned as Paradise neoracna n'ang A.
102 (cf. E. 756). This difficult word neorana renders the de-
signation unclear, but the constituent mang recalls the fields
of the blessed, the fruitful plains and pleasant valleys, that
seem to have belonged to the natural conception of blessedness
16
from the earliest times of lands flowing with milk and honey,
to the happy hunting-grounds of the Indians, and which, as
is well known, belonged also to the Teutonic conception. But
heaven is usually set forth, as remarked above, as a definite
limited kingdom, as, for instance, when a contrast is drawn
between heafonrice E. 629, and rice under roderum E. 631. It
is also called rice E. 820, which usually means an earthly
kingdom, E. 970 etc.
In a narrower sense it is a city byrig E. 820. The con-
ception one forms of heaven, from the description as a room,
where the Judge sits on the throne, E. 746, or the king in the
midst of his knights, A. 874, and as a Noble surrounded by
his angels, A. 873, would justify the translation castle rather
than city, but the word byrig (in contradistinction to burh)
does not seem to possess this primary meaning'). The old
Teutonic love of their own fireside, and the attachment to
their own possessions stand out boldly in the frequent allusions
to heaven, as the home and native land of the angels.
Gewät him på se hālga healdend and wealdend
upengla fruma, 66el sécan
middangeardes weard pone méran häm
pár sobfaestra såwla moton
after lices hryre lifes brücan. A. 225 ft.
so too engla 66el A. 525, 642, mid englum eard weardigan
A. 599.
Gewät him på se hālga heafones sécan
eallra cyninga cyning, pone cláenan häm
éaëmédum upp . . . . . A. 979 ff.
so too tô pám hálgan häm heaſona rices A. 1685, and the eter-
mal dwellings écra gestealda E. 802. Not only was heaven a
home, a bright city, but there are reminiscences of the social
life, of the conviviality and gaiety of the mead-hall. That
curious journey of the word symbel from the festal board of
the feast-hall to the spiritual nourishment of the souls in
heaven has been touched on (p. 12).
1) It must be remarked that byrig is often nothing more than the
dative of burh,
17
It is now necessary to mention such expressions as smeg-
les dréamas A. 641. 810, and sn'egel dréamum A. 720, which
recall the secga sele dréam A. 1658, the jubilum aulae. As
Grimm (A. & E. XXXVII) pertinently remarks, nothing was of
more moment to the Teutons than this jubilum aulae, where
they met in friendly circle, related stories or experiences and
imbibed. This word dréam had the primary meaning of noisy
joviality, and the derived meaning of blessedness is removed by
several links in the chain that unites them. It is in the bright
city, this home, that Stephen has the reward of battle, nigges léan
E. 825, bliss without end. Now the use of the word nig here, as
well as the numerous military and warlike designations of the
followers of God, who win peace and with it the rewards of riches
and presents, that a mild and gracious king on earth gave to his
followers E. 1315 ff., A. 102 ft. ete., recall with great force the
thought of a warrior's heaven, as the reward of victory sigeléan
E. 527. If we recall now the Teutonic conception of Walheal,
not only as the home of the warriors and those who had won by
valiant deeds their right to its enchantments, but the nature
of these enchantments, the continuation of that jovial con-
viviality of comrades, who gathered around tables, where the
life-giving wine flowed freely and the stories of war-like deeds
on earth bore the hope of a successful renewal of these
interrupted contests, or gave place to actual trials of strength
in fraternal emulation, it would seem to require no stretch of
the imagination, no unwarranted assumption from the facts
above recorded to see in Walhalla, the middle link between
the mead-hall and the Saxon heaven. His picture of Wal-
halla was with no irreverence drawn from his own social life
and as reverently no doubt were many of the charms of
Walhalla transferred to the Christian heaven. This explains
easily and naturally some of the curious migrations of words,
which had to assume shades of meaning so different from
their primary significance that they seem to have preserved
no vestige of it. Indeed the similarity between Walhalla and
heaven, as pictured in the words applied to the latter, is too
striking to be merely accidental, and too natural to be con-
sidered at all improbable.
The poetical word rodor, which occurs so often in Elene,
2
18 - 42
means either heavens, as for instance, when the heavens grow,
dark at Christ's crucifixion E. 856, or under radores ryme E.
795, 804 or Christ is spoken of, as rodora waldend E. 206,
482, 1067, cyning on roderum E. 460. 1075. In these cases
rodor probably means heaven, and this seems to be unques-
tionably the case in faeder on roderum E. 1023, of roderum
E. 762 from which the devil is cast and of roderum E. 1023,
whence Helen derives her counsel.
This same double signification attaches to heafon = heav-
ens E. 83, 101, (699), 728, 753, 976, and to heaven E. 188,
527, (699), 801, 1230. Sniegel in used twice of heaven and
twice of heavens in Elene.
That the general conception placed heaven above the
earth is shown by the use of disligam E. 188, up siðode E. 95, etc.,
more directly by on heannesse E. 1125, on uppeg A. 832, upp
A. 981. -
Gewät him på se hālga helm aelwihta
engla scyppend, tà påm uplican
ěčelrice. A. 119 f.
That heaven was filled with light is proven by the desig-
nations of Christ, by the fact that the messengers of heaven
were accompanied by light, that the angels that fly through
heaven are wrapt in light, leohte ben undene E. 734.
Moreover Lucifer lost, when he was hurled from heaven,
the brightest light E. 947 (cf. A. 102 ft.). That music of
angelic chorus filled the heavenly court is said in E. 748 ft.
and that martyrs swelled the anthem is mentioned in A. 878, ff.
Men were admitted into the midst of the pure on clanra ge-
mang E. 96, to dwell with the throng of the holy E. 821, to
enjoy the bliss of the glorious heaven nuldres nynne E. 1040,
but no man could enter in human form, E. 786, into this bright-
est of all creations in pá bearhtan gesceaft E. 1089. No
doubt the poet felt it necessary to emphasize this Christian
doctrine, that entrance into this new kingdom meant a trans-
ition from their own human forms to the brilliant forms and
peaceful occupations of the angels, and becoming honored
geneorpod E. 924 members of a heavenly hierarchy.
19
E. Angels.
The visits of the angels form an integral part of many
of the church legends and seem to have possessed a peculiar
fascination for the Teutonic mind, for the poets dwell with
particular pleasure upon their appearances, their comings and
goings. The angels were the messengers, the emissaries, the
representatives of the heavenly king and around them cen-
tred all the interest and curiosity that naturally attached to
the ambassadors of another court, enhanced by the mystery by
which this king was surrounded.
Thus the visit of the angel to Constantine,
pähte him whitescyne on weres håde
hwit ond hiwbeorht haeleča näthwyle
geywed &nlicra, ponne hé àr obôe sió
gesége under swegle. E. 72 ff.
This messenger fir, E. 76, or gleaming ambassador of heaven,
militig nuldres boda E. 77, dispelled the darkness, for this, I take
it is the explanation of nihthelm toglád, for the light vanished
with the angel E. 95. This messenger brought the injunctions
of the king in heaven to Constantine. They are called without
any reference to special missions nuldres dras E. 738, A. 831.
These words ār and boda are in other cases applied to
the representatives of earthly kings. That the angels executed
other commissions we see from the two companions of the
Pilot. They appear here in the sailor's garb, A. 250, and per-
form the duties of the common snilors, as well of as those
which fall within their supernatural province, for instance
transferring the travellers from the boat to land by miraculous
means, A. 822 f. The angels are weavers of peace /riðonebba,
E. 88. Althongh all Teutonic goddesses and heroines spun
and wove, weaving was especially the occupation of Wyrd
(Kemble I, 401) and this of the angels is no doubt of mytho-
logical origin. -
The hierarchies of angels are mentioned several times, but
particularly in Judas' prayer E. 725 ft. and A. 717 ff. First
are mentioned six angels each with six wings, of whom four
are continually doing service before the eternal Judge. These
seem to correspond to the four beasts Rev. IV, 7. They form
2%
20
a heavenly chorus and are called Cherubim. The other two
are Seraphim and their duty is to guard Paradise neorana-
nang and the tree of life with fiery sword.
In A. 1542 an angel prevents by means of the same
weapon the flight of the Mermidonians to the places of safety.
The fall of the evil angel and his cohorts is mentioned in the
same prayer. The archangels hôahengla E. 751, may or may
not have represented another class. The passage concerning
the Seraphim, who guarded the garden of Eden E. 756, is taken
from Gen. III. 24, where, however, these guardians are called
Cherubim. The Cherubim and Seraphim are mentioned A. 719,
but no effort is made to distinguish between them. Should
the order in which they are named both here and in Elene
be intended to indicate relative rank, then it is singular that
this order should be just the reverse of that usually assigned
them, for the first order of the first hierarchy was Seraphim
and the second Cherubim. Skeat in a note to Piers the Plow-
man p. 109 argues at some length the number and order
of the hierarchies, which he substantiates by a long list of
references.
That the angels are alluded to as sigoreynn E. 775, when
their duties at any rate in these descriptions are entirely peace-
ful, except in the case of the Seraphim, recalls the inhabit-
ants of Walhalla. The vision of St. Andrew's followers dis-
closed to them the angels standing around their chief, The
warriors around their king pegmas ymb péoden A. 874. The
connection of this and the appellation nuldres pegmas A. 726
with the opinion just expressed is clear. -
Perhaps it would not be out of place here to complete
the picture of the subjects of God (and Christ) by recalling
in connection with him as king the reciprocal relations of his
earthly subjects as servants and soldiers.
The Christian faith, dependence and trust which are ex-
hibited throughout the poems under discussion, however beautiful
in themselves, or however eloquently expressed, as e.g. when St.
Andrew to enliven the confidence of his followers says:
Forpan ic ēow to sóde secgan wille
paet næfre forláeted lifgende god
eorl on eordan, gif his ellen déah A. 458 ft.
21
are too full of the doctrine and inspiration of Christianity to
admit of any foreign element. But the names and descriptions
of God's followers teem with reminders of the battle field and
victory. Among the words that occur the following are the
most noticeable. - -
Cristes cempa A. 993. (cf. gecorem to cempum A, 324.), lêod-
fruma A. 991. which is applied in E. 191 to Constantine; nigendra
hléo A. 898 suggests princely attributes, pegn A. 528, 1393,
E. 487, meant originally a servant or surbordinate. It soon,
however derived a broader meaning and is applied to Beowulf
himself. B. 194. 1872. It is used frequently of the apostles, who
were the subalterns or kinghts of Christ. . Thus too niga un-
slán, A. 1713. St. Andrew is called too aeóeling A. 992, eor/
A. 1265, dad fruma A. 1457, sé àr, A. 1649. 1681, which we
have seen applied to angels, éadig oreta A. 463, anraed oretta
A. 985, hâlig cempa A. 461, cempa collenferhö A. 538, maga A. 625,
wiges heard A. 841, bearm beadunye heard A. 984, ellenro/ A. 1394,
céne collenſerö A. 1580. The devil calls St Andrew aečelinga
sum A. 1176, synna folces geninna A. 1302, haeleóa geninna
A. 1199, göö/réa A. 1335, aglaeca A. 1361, (this word is used also
of the devil) niöer feohtend A. 1185, frecne feohtan A. 1352,
ànhaga A. 1353, sigetorht A. 1248. Moses is called bone hālgan
ner E. 785, pám eorle E. 787. Judas' religious experiences, his
speech before the Jews, his prayer and his conversion are too
perceptibly touched with the colors of Christianity to expose
the back-ground of Teutonic fondness for war and pride is
the bravery and fidelity of warriors A. 401.
The apostles are frome folctogan and fyrdhnyate A. 8. stre-
bende und brave herzöge. of whom the following gives us a
military picture.
Daet w8°ron mêre men of reordan
frome folctogan and fyrdhwate
röfe rincas, ponne rond ond hand
on herefeldan helm ealgodon
on meotud wange A. 7 ff.
God, the king, calls St. Andrew, this noble and earl His dearest
friend wine léofesta A. 1433,
22
F. Cross.
The whole poem of Elene hinges on the cross its dis-
covery and the Christian teaching founded upon it and yet
there are passages connected with the cross that show faint
reminiscence, whether intended or not, of heathen conceptions.
The cross is first alluded to in Constantine's vision snefnes
noma E. 71. amid the nestling of sleep which has been seen to
be a conception common to the Saxons. The cross itself,
which Constantine saw in the heavens, was brilliant with orna-
ments, mounted in gold and shone with gems, and on it were
written those magic words which gave him confidence and
victory.
Constantine had a cross made after the pattern of the
one he had seen. This was no doubt the same cross that
Helen carried with her on her search for the true cross.
páer was gesyne sincgim locen
on påm herepréate, hlāfordes gifu. E. 264 f.
It is not then surpsising, that the cross which they expected
to find, the reality of which these bright, flaming symbols,
set with jewels and mounted in gold, gave but a reflected
picture, should be described as a bright object burg past be-
orhte gesceap E. 790, for the sake of, on account of that bright
object i. e. the cross, while the hoard of gold gold hord E. 791
evidently refers to the cross and perhaps without any figur-
rative meaning, or meaning borrowed from the almost unceas-
singly existing belief in buried treasure. There is no allusion
in Elene to the Venus temple, supposed to have stood over the
buried cross. -
The sign of heaven nuldres técen A. 88, which appeared
to St. Matthew was like the bright sun sn'ylce hādre segl A. 89.
This sign may have been the cross, the usual sign of heaven,
although it seems here to represent God and to have been
replaced by God, where return to heaven is described.
The cross was intolerable to the devil and sufficient to
put him to rout A. 1339. -
The discovery of the nails is particularly interesting be-
cause of the use to which they were put. These nails sur-
passing even the cross in their sacredness and eliciting tears of fer-
23
vent religious joy from Helen find their highest usefulness in
decorating the bridle of a war-steed and insuring success in war
to its rider E. 1181. This exhibits the Teutonic faith in charms
of which another instance is to be mentioned and magnifies
the attention given to the caparison of horses. g
G. Devil.
The allusion in Jul. 418 ft. A. 1191 ff. and elsewhere to
the fall of angels is supplemented in Elene 763 ff. by a de-
scription, the probable original of which I transcribe,
In autem dominaris omnium, quia tua factura sumus,
qui incredibiles Angelos profundo tartaro tradidisti; et ipsi
sunt sub fundo abyssi a draconum faetore cruciandi, et tuo
praecepto contradicere non possunt.
The fall is ascribed to ambition, to a rebellion against
God's authority. The chief of the fallen band pinum miðsóc
aldordóme E. 767 and because of this sin of rebellion was cast
out of heaven of radorum divurpe, and made fast in hell in
nitum fast. E. 771, where he and his legions suffer the punish-
ments and tortures of this abyss E. 765 ft. Now notwithstand-
ing the biblical nature of this account I can not forbear to
cite, as a striking piece of parallelism a passage from Kemble
(p. 382) concerning Loki, whom Grimm identifies with Grendel.
“But even Loki was at first the friend and associate of the gods;
he was united with them by the most sacred bonds of brother-
hood, and his skill and wisdom secured them victory in many
a dangerous encounter. Like Lucifer, he had been a tenant of
heaven; why he and the gods ultimately parted in anger we are
not told ; but we find him pursuing them with the utmost malice,
till at length he causes the death of Baldor. He is then bound
and cast beneath the worlds; the poisonous snake hangs over
him distilling torturing venom; his faithful wife sits by and
catches the drops as they fall, but, when the vessel in which
she receives them is full and she turns for a moment to
empty it, the deadly juice reaches the prostrate god and in
his agony he trembles in every limb. This convulsion is known
to men as the earthquake. It is only in the twilight of the
gods, that he will break his chain and lead the sons of Murpel
to avenge him upon the race of Woden.” The analogy is
24
singularly striking. The participation in heavenly glories, the
sin, perhaps ambition, which causes the fall, the punishment
different in kind but alike in terror, which must be suffered
under the worlds are characteristic of both accounts, and just
as Loki finds his escape in the twilight of the gods, so the
darkness of a sin releases Satan from his bondage.
gén ic findan can
purh wröhtstafas widercyr siddan
of dām wearhtreafum. E. 925 ft.
The current belief seems to have been that only Satan was
bound (cf. A. 1194), for usually, as in Juliana, Andreas &c., the
son of Satan is the agent of his diabolical machinations.
Whether this arose from a desire to draw an analogy to Christ,
who represented the Father on earth, or is simply an appella-
tion of any member of the infernal cohort is not easy to deter-
mine. Satan himself seems to have visited the earth too, for
there is nothing to suggest that Judas’ controversy E. 900 ft.
was with any subordinate, and his presence is stated in
words in A. 1346 ft. and 1360 ft. in which case to accomplish
a task, which was too difficult for his son and which proved
to be beyond his power. The devil deofol. A. 43, E. 101, or
helle dioſul A. 1300, E. 901, appears in Elene endowed with the
power to fly E. 900 ft. This evidences his former character as
angel, in which he appears in Jul. 244, hafde engles him. He
seems, however, to have had the power of assuming forms, as
in A. 1171, haefde n'ériges him).
Satan is the origin of evil and the cause of sin. In An-
dreas he is frequently called bona, a word which occurs
several times in Béowulf (158. 588 u. Ö.) in the sense of mur-
derer, a term akin to the terms which suggest a king of
wickedness, such as morères mánfrea, the wicked lord of
crimes E. 942, A. 1315, morères brytta A. 1173, synna brytta
E. 958, leahtra fruma E. 839. These terms recall the Ring-
spender or Granter of Wishes. As instances of his power over
men, compare A. 1691, A. 1704, E. 208, A. 768 &c.
In eatol declaº.ca E. 902, and atol &glóca A. 1314, we meet
with a word which occurs several times in Béowulf in refer-
ence to Grendel and strange to say in this very combination
atol &gleásca B. 592. 159, et al. — it is not probable, however,
25
that the words contained any more definite notion than that
of a terrible monster. It is true that the word is several times
applied to the dragon in Béowulf 2535, 2906, but the use of
this word is so varied, as will be seen later, that it would be
venturesome to draw any inference from this fact.
In the enmity existing between God and the devil, of
whom the former ruled in His kingdom with mildness and
love E. 947 &c. and the latter with cruelty and hate (cf. Juliana),
the battle ground as well as the prize of the contest was the
earth, the middangeard E. 6, &c. the midearth lying between
heaven and hell. This word had no doubt this signification
even before Christianity, for the pagans placed their fiends
and monsters under the ground, whether at the bottom of lakes
as Grendel, or under the world as Loki; and Walheal was
above the earth, and between them lay the plain upon which
mortal man moved: but no doubt this word gained in weight,
when it was more clearly located between two definite kingdoms,
the one above, the other below itself. -
This hostility is expressed in the general word feond E. 900,
A. 43, sceača E. 762, and in composition /yrnsceača A. 1348,
hellesceača E. 957, se atola gast A. 1298, eald geniöla A. 1343.
The traitor warloga A. 613 does not confine his emnity to
God, but is a hater of the people and notwithstanding the
fact that he is bound, he has the power of overcoming and
torturing others E. 181, 207, 211, &c. The contest between Christ
and the devil is depicted in Elene 904 ft. as if it were a con-
test between kings. The devil deplores the loss of his follow-
ing, folgač E. 904, and the renewal of the strife and confesses
the injury he has sustained at Christ's hand, and particularly
in the loss of possessions. Christ's kingdom was spreading as
his own proportionately dwindled. It seems to be a contest
for enlargement of kingdom, a struggle over boundaries. As
mentioned before Satan is called ſader not only in the narrower
sense, which occurs in nearly all the legends of this period,
for example Gudlac, Juliana, Andreas, but also in the broader
meaning of chief, for he calls his warriors rincas mine A. 1345,
also his children bearnum minum A. 1330, while the relation of
commander and soldiers is further given by roſe lindgesteallan
A. 1344, and pegmas prjöfulle A. 1331.
26
Reverting to the analogy between Loki and Lucifer, to the
various words jointly applied to Grendel and the devil, and
recalling alike the dragon and this monster of hell, I remark
that, while the whole description of the devil whether as a
fallen angel, an enemy or king could have been taken from
the Bible and probably was (e. g. Isaiah XIV. 12 ft. Rev. XX), .
it is more than likely that a heathen element was interwoven
in the history, and at any rate the prevalence of such beliefs
and conceptions, to which the teaching of the Christian fathers
was so little opposed, rendered the latter easy of acceptance,
and contributed no doubt to the relatively unimpeded intro-
duction of Christianity.
H. Hell.
1f it has seemed in place to draw a parallel between Loki
of northern mythology and the devil of Christianity, whose
tortures surpassed those of the heathen wicked spirits, and to
postulate an influence of heathenism on the conception of the
devil, it will be even more evident in the consideration of the
hell of Christianity, as exhibited in the poems before us, that
heathendom has left its impress upon this institution. The
word hel E. 1230 which denotes a place, was the name of the
Teutonic mistress of the cold and joyless under world (Kemble
392). The hell of Elene and Andreas corresponds more nearly
to Nástrond, or perhaps a union of the realm of Hel with
Nästrond. ,The realm of Hel was cold, cheerless, shadowy
and lacking in all that made Waelheal desirable. — — — For
the perjurer and the secret murderer Nästrond existed — a place
of torment and punishments — the strand of the dead filled
with foulness, peopled with poisonous serpents and cold and
gloomy: the kingdom of Hel was Hades, the invisible, the
world of shadows; Nástrond was what we call Hell" (Kemble,
Saxons in England p. 393). How does Hell appear in Andreas
and Elene?
Hell is a dark dwelling place heolstorhofu E. 764 or
heolstor A. 1193, into which the devil was hurled, a place of
destruction, forwyrd E. 765, A. 1596, of torment, nila E. 765,
dinerged in nitum A. 1301, in nita fornyrd A. 1620. The sub-
jects for punishment suffer the qualms of death dead.cnale
27
E. 766, in the embrace of the dragon in dracan faeśme E. 766,
or biterne bryne on banan faeóme A. 616. This word dragon
may refer to the devil himself, as far as the Biblical teaching
is concerned (cf. e. g. Rev. XII.), but there is one serious ob-
jection to this explanation. The poet is describing the fall
of the angels, that is, there are as yet no devils, and yet
these angels and future devils for their sin of presumption
must suffer in the embrace of the dragon; not in their own
embrace? Now it is known that Năstrond was peopled with
serpents or monstrous beasts, and that a part of the Saxon
conception of Hell was, that it was a huge monster, whose
mouth was the entrance to these accursed regions, and it seems
more natural that the poet was influenced by his preconceived
notion of hell, which existed and was inhabited by some dread
monster or dragon before the devil entered it, than to make
the poet guilty of purposely relating that the devils suffered.
in their own embrace. I remark that Grein gives a note to his
translation of the line 766 which escaped my notice until after
the above lines were written viz: die Hölle Selbst ward als
Drache gedacht, with which I fully agree. Compare Plates IV
and XI of the Caedmon Ms. published by Ellis in the Ar-
chaeologia vol. XXIV. The on banan ſaetime A. 616 may have
some such meaning, but refers no doubt simply to the devil,
in whose embrace others suffer. That hell is described as a
narrow home in pám engan ham E. 921, just as the prison of
Judas was called a narrow dwelling from påm engan hoſe
E. 712, shows that hell was conceived as a narrow prison, a
place of confinement, a tent or cell of felons or criminals,
nearhtreafum E.927, helltraſum A. 1693, a court of crime morber-
hoſe E. 1303, and a place of darkest and most terrible torments,
in på sneartestam ond pā myrrestan nºtebrógan E. 931 f. In
fact the tortures of this narrow, enclosed prison home or
dungeon form a favorite variation of this disagreable theme.
It is a place where men suffer punishment nraece pronian
A. 615, where persecutions through pain prevail sarum forso.ht
E. 953. Christianity introduced another element of torture
which finally became the characteristic of hell, but although it
was able to add the forments of flame, it was unable to dispel
the darkness and cheerless gloom of hell. Those in hell suffer
28
in the surging flame trylme E. 765, and withstand the fiercest
heat of flames biterne bryne A. 616, find a dwelling place in
a bath of fire fjrbarðe E. 949 and take their places on a lighted
funeral pyre àde onſeled E. 951, and are punished in an abyss
of surgeing flames in poes nylmes grund E. 1299, and yet in the
midst of all this fire and flame they are veiled in darkness
péostrum for pylmed E. 767, in a dark and cheerless place
A. 1192 f., E. 764.
Tire, as one of the chief tortures of hell, the only one
that is named by name, was introduced by Christianity (e. g.
Rev. XX). The other tortures may have been drawn from
religious teaching or from the conception of Nástrond, but the
gloom and darkness of hell was drawn from mythology alone.
That this abyss of torment susla grund E. 944, this abyss of
hell hellgrund E. 1305, was situated beneath the earth is pro-
ven by the word abyss or depth, by the fact that the devils
came up from hell to earth E. 900 and furthermore by the
fact that the fourteen particularly wicked Mermidonians
gewiton mid py wage in forwyrd sceacan
under eoróan grund. A. 1596 f.
It can be mentioned in conclusion that the conception of
hell, as a prison of the nature familiar to them was prevalent
among the AngloSaxons in the early days of Christianity.
I. Purgatory.
The world is not permanent, the possessions and beauty
of the land pass away like the wind, which starts up, darts
over the clouds in its rage and is suddenly stilled. So shall
the earth and all who are on it pass away by fire, when the
great Judge comes E. 1270 ft. That the earth was destined
to destruction and that too by fire was the belief of the
Northmen (K. S. in E. I, 409), perhaps too of the Anglo-Saxons
and hence this doctrine of final destruction (cf. A. 1440) un-
impeded. The Judgement Day E. 1270, A. 1438, is, as far as
I know, purely Christian.
This destruction of the world by fire is at the same time
the purgatory through which all have to pass. Mankind, in
this fire — the flames of the burning world E. 1279, - is
29
divided into three parts, the righteous to whom the flame is
tempered are above; the sinful in the middle who suffer
the fire's woe; and below the accursed enemies — the haters
of men — whose own actions bind them in the bottom of this
fire. They fall into the abyss of hell and disappear entirely
from Divine consideration. The others purified, freed from
dross, enjoy the grace of the eternal king and His everlasting
possession. Where? In Heaven? Or is this the old belief that
a new world brighter than theirs should arise Phoenix-like
from the ashes of this terrible destruction and rid of evil
should itself be heaven?
K. Death.
Perhaps it would not be an inappropriate conclusion to
this chapter to gather together the few references to death
that occur in the two poems, for this is closely connected with
these religious views. They are themselves a preparation for
death, and death the doorway by which full enjoyment of
that kingdom above the earth is obtained.
Life is a union of soul and body E. 889. 90, and death is
a dissolution of this union, thus téljsan lic and sainle is to
kill A. 151, gast onsendan A. 182 is to die, or absence of the
spirit denotes death gastléasne E. 875, sſinlléasne E. 877, which
describe a body without life unliſgendes E. 879 or robbed of
life, life belidenes lic E. 878, or a doomed habitation föge hôs
E. 881, or a body made fast to its couch lic legere faest
E. 883. The qualms of death snºyltcnale A. 1370 and cnale
E. 488, mean death by violent means, perhaps by torture, as
when the devil predicts for St. Andrew a sore death of tor-
ture A. 1370, or where the results of some of Saul's persecu-
tions are related E. 499. Cnrealm E. 676 has a similar reference
in the punishment threatened Judas. Death is a terrible
necessity préamed E. 884, and one who is dead has started
on a journey gefa’renne E. 872. Are not some of these ex-
pressions suggestive of the Fates, who snatched the people
away and who rob the body of life and the spirit from the
doomed habitation? Death, as an entrance upon a journey,
partakes at the same time of Christianity and heathenism, for
30
the former uses such language, the latter held such a doctrine
in various forms, death having been considered by some peoples
of heathendom as a transition from one state of existence to
another with opportunities for intensified enjoyment not differ-
ing in kind.
§ 3. Goveremental Relations.
The two poems under examination are drawn from church
legends and hence it would be unwarranted to expect a very
clear and full picture of the life of the day, and particularly
in reference to lord and servant, commander and soldier, king
and subject. But we are by no means left entirely without
means of information, for royalty and war were too intimately
associated with the life of the AngloSaxons to be omitted in
the language of popular recitals. In Elene about 73/1 "ſo of
the words refer directly to war and its appurtenances and fully
21/, "ſo to royalty, so that we have fully 200 words out of
the 2000 (in round numbers) connected with the life royal and
military.
In Andreas the proportion is not so large.
It is true, that the scene of action in both of these poems
is shifted to a great distance from the soil of their growth,
but a comparison with the originals shows that the poet has
had to draw upon customs and relations indigenous to his
own country in order to give complete pen pictures of these
strange peoples and their customs. Hence we can assume
without rashness, that the descriptions we have of Constantine
and Helen, of their followers, of the Mermidonians and their
customs have many elements belonging to the people and kings
best known to the author or authors of Andreas and Elene,
and the public, for which these poems were intended.
If we pass on now to the consideration of the king, we
are confined to Elene, for, apart from the anthropomorphic
references to God in this capacity, there is no mention of a
king in Andreas. The Mermidonians, of whose local govern-
ment little is said, had, as far as we know, only /olces frum-
gāras A. 1070, princes or dukes (Heyne, Béowulf) or perhaps
31
better leaders, althongh there is an allusion in God's injunc-
tion to St. Andrew not to delay his mission to this island to
the bregostól A. 209, or the chair of the Mermidonian ruler.
On the other hand, in Elene the lives of Constantine and
of Helen, who in her manly action rises in every way to the
dignity of a king, furnish us no little material.
For the king I find very nearly the same characteristics
that have been pointed out as belonging to Teutonic monarchs
(cf. Wilmar & Köhler). He is of course of noble birth and by
preeminence the noble aedeling E. 12, 66, 202, 1003, 1198, and
the protector of the class to which he belongs tedelinga hléo
E. 99. To the king, too, was given, no doubt as implying the
dignity and experience accompanying age, the term aldor.
Thus he is called secga aldor E. 97, perhaps the most exper-
ienced of the men, or, with a transfer of this quality to him
who rules or leads, simply prince. He presides over assem-
blies, which he himself calls together E. 153, and propounds
Questions E. 162.
Naturally however in a land harassed by war and a time
characterized by almost unceasing military encounters with
internal or external foes, the king was best known as a milit-
ary hero, and hence Cynewulf borrows many of his distinc-
tive appellations for the king from war, its preparation and
its results. ...
He is the protector of the people, léodgebyrga E. 203, or
better the surety of his people. Gebyrga, byrgea, borga is con-
nected with beorgan and means primarily surety or bail, and
from this surety or bail for his people comes the derived mean-
ing of one who stands between his people and another, so
in E. 203, from the king, or in E. 556, from those Jews, who as
representatives are to prevent the loss of their national power
by evading the disclosure of the cross. He is the first of the
people, the acme of the gradations of rank from the serf
through the nobles up to the chief of the nobles, léodfruma
E. 191, and their lord hlā/ord E. 983, 265; this is a corre-
lative word implying servant and indicative of the body of
dependents, that the king gathered around him and in a mod-
ified form the subjection of the people generally. The king
32
is the leader of the army, heretema E. 10 a position to which
he was raised, dhaefen E. 10.
This can of course have little authority in establishing
the possibility of the election of a king among the Teutonic
races, but as a matter of fact kings could be such by inheri-
lance or election (Gm. Ra. 231) and hence the elevation to a
kingly office was no doubt perfectly intelligible to the Anglo-
Sax ODS. -
It is not devoid of interest to note, that the word āhebban
referred to the custom of raising a newly elected king upon
a shield, in order to exhibit him to the people (Gm. Ra. 234),
who expressed their approval by acclamations, indeed as Kemble
says (S. in E. 154 foot note) “Levalus in regem: tó cyninge
àhafen” continued to be the words in use, long after the
custom of really chairing the king had in all probability
ceased to be observed'.
He was the helmet of the army, heriga helm E. 148, the
helmet of the men neoruda helm E. 223. The helmet, as it
appears, played an important part in the armour of the Teu-
tonic forefathers and was a favorite simile with them. The
king is the helmet, that which protects the most important
part, the head of the army, and hence used for the head it-
self. For his place in battle was not that of an inactive, di-
recting commander, but of an active, heaòofremmende E. 130
war prince, hild/rema E. 10. 101, one, who himself brave in
the contest niöheard cyming E. 195 and active in the use of
the shield [E. 11] is at the same time the warriors ward, migena
neard E. 153 and their protection, nigena hléo E. 150, and the
guardian of the battle, gööneard E. 14. Nothing could give a
more impressive picture of the honor and reverence felt for a
king and the dependence of the people than the use of these
words stamped with these qualities, as epithets synonymous
with the king himself. That the king was in the habit of
bestowing presents, whether of rings of treasure, of gold or
according to the desires of those who were to be honored, is
clear from such titles as béaggifa E. 100. 199, which refers to
a custom mentioned in several poems of this period of be-
stowing rings on honored guests, trusted followers or appre-
ciated minstrels; so too sinces brytta E. 194 and goldnine gu-
33
mena E. 201 and nilgiſa E. 221. This last seems to be a gener-
alization of reward giving and present making.
Prijöbord sténan E. 1511), would indicate that the king
had the shields set with jewels after the happy issue of the
battle, a custom, with which I am not familiar from other
sources, nor is the reading here sufficiently clear to admit of
any hypothesis. * .
Constantine, who by the way is several times called cásere
E. 42. 70 u, ü, is a true king riht cyming E. 13, who had been
honored by God with glory and power márðum ond mihtum
E. 15. These were the touchstones that proved the reality
and worth of his kingship, for among the Teutons a kind of
ordeal of God tested his right to reign. Was he successful
and his country prosperous, he was a good king; did ill luck
attend him in battle, or misfortune, whether famine or pestilence
visit his land, they were laid at the king's door and he was
liable to be deposed (Gm. Ra. 231). No wonder then, apart
from the love of glory and desire for prosperity, that a king,
who used his position of high authority as a joy, to hrööer
E. 16, for many and as a punishment, to myraece E. 17, for his
enemies, should count glory and fortune in war as the most
desirable possessions, for a failure to win the first and enjoy
the second might, according to Teutonic conception, bring with
them further disasters. A good king is gracious ār/dest E. 12
to the people, over whom he holds empire rice E. 13.
Of the Queen mother we learn much in this poem, to
which she gives the title, but little of any interest concerning
her as a woman, or a mother; and no allusion is made to her
English descent, on account of which it has been supposed
this theme was particularly entertaining to the early poets.
Her actions are all those of a man, and her position that of
an obedient subject, a representative of the king, and as such
endowed with kingly attributes and surrounded by a halo of
royalty. In obedience to her son's commands, this woman
ides E. 229 and nif E. 1132 and queen cnén E. 247 (primarily
woman, secondarily the woman hence queen) stations herself
at the head of an expedition to go over the sea to seek the
1) Cf. Grimm's (Andreas und Elene), note on this line.
3
34
cross. Although there is no battle, save those of words in the
several assemblies over which she presides, she is described
as the battle queen gööcnén E. 254, 331, as the queen of victory
sigecnén E. 260,998, and as celebrated in battle breaduró/e
E. 1004, a mighty queen rice cnén E.411. The Teutonic mind
could not conceive of royalty without prowess in war and
stamped upon the language descriptive of royal personages,
whether involved in military encounters or not, the impress
of the battle field and military glory. In one respect we gain
an insight into regal customs. As a stately queen of battle
geatolic gúðcnén E. 331 adorned with ornaments of gold golde
gehyrsted E. 331 this imperial connection cdseres maeg E. 330
awaits upon her throne in cymeståle E. 330 the delegation of
Jews. This glimpse of reigning royalty upon a chair of state
and with the pomp and splendor of imperial majesty was no
doubt but a reflection of some more vivid picture in the poets
own mind of the brillant scenes of indigenous courts and
hospitable mead-halls. The elements of the picture are rather
those of the court (hof E. 537) of a resident king than a journey-
ing queen. Just as the titles of the king (cyning, péoden &c.)
are drawn directly from the people as an aggregation and
locate the king in the people's bosom, so péodcnén E. 1156
seems to represent the same popular side of imperialism. Her
title hlāfāige E.400 corresponds in rights etc. to hiáſord. As
a Christian element is to be counted the inspiration, or power
of divination, by which the queen avers with such absolute
certainty that Judas had told his own people the true story
of the cross E. 655.
B. Feudal System.
The data are so meagre in the poems before us that a
delineation of the relation of the classes to each other, the
rights and priveleges vested in ownership of land, the control
and power exercised over the unfree and the serfs is impos-
sible. War and seafaring, both of which are to be discussed
lower down, form the chief occupations, and here it must suffice
to collect all that is to be learned of distinct classes and of
land, and then to add in another paragraph a few words about
35
the social and family life and the employments mentioned in
the poems.
The earls (eorlas) are those, who surround and attend the
king and as the allusion is usually to war, they seem to be
at the same time chosen warriors E. 12, 66 &c. Those who
accompanied the queen on her journey were also earls E. 225,
256, 275, 620, 848, 1198, and the same rank is given to the
three thousand selected Jews E. 321, to the one thousand E. 332,
and to the five hundred E. 404, 417, and in E. 435 to the Jews
generally. The word is used of Moses in E. 787, and Judas is
eorla hléo E. 1074. In all these cases the only constant factor
seems to be selection on some principle of excellence, special
qualification or prominence, without any consideration of the re-
lation of the earls to the king on the one hand, or their position
of mastery and control over the serfs and unfree on the other.
They were subjects to whom the king was gracious E. 12 and
who camped around him when the pitched his tent E. 66.
They were the chosen followers of Helen, the selected coun-
sellors of the Jews. In Andreas the word is applied to the
Mermidonians after their conversion A. 1640 and they had be-
come selected followers of God. The nobles and earls debele
mid eorlum A. 1646 became Christians.
This apparent separation of the nobles and earls into two
classes does not coincide with the usually held theory, that
the nobles (aedelingas) were the same as the earls, this name
having been given to them to express an inherent quality.
The arêelingas mentioned without exacter designation E. 99
and 393 are the same as the earls in E. 846. I take it that
the nobles formed no distinct class but rather a select group
of the earls, perhaps being considered too of higher rank.
This higher rank of the nobles is perhaps indicated by the
frequency, with which this word is applied to the king (p. 66)
and the fact that Christ is a jelinga ord E. 393.
For man in a general sense we find mann E. 16, secg E. 47,
niö E. 465, guma E. 14, ſiras E. 1078, with perhaps minute
distinctions and infinitesimal differences, but exhibiting no
essential variation in application. Wer (E. 22 &c.) is the man
as individual upon whom, for instance, a fixed value is set
(wergyld) but it is used quite as frequently in a general sense,
3%
36
denoting men or warriors. Pegn, or knight, denoted in its early
history a subordinate, came however in the course of time to
be applied without the faintest shadow of a stigma. It is fre-
quently used of the apostles, as the knights, or servants of
God; it is applied by the Jews to Judas in extolling his
superior wisdom E. 540, and to the army, which is elsewhere
spoken of as earls E. 151. Zupitza translates this word in
E. 151. 540 Mann, in E. 487 Jünger, but in E. 549 Diener.
This translation may mean nothing more than servant, in the
sense in which one could speak of the followers of a king as
his servants E. 151, or of the apostles. As servants of Christ
E. 487, but if there is to be a distinction drawn between E. 151,
for instance, where it means man and E. 549, where it means
servant, i. e. menial, then the translation seems to me inadmis-
sible. Pá cnom pegma heap tº bám heremeåle, E. 549 f, inti-
mates a certain portion of those present at the interview, to
which heralds summoned E. 550. The summoned Jews in-
cluding Judas came E. 557. Judas is turned over to the
queen 587, who dismisses the Jews E. 598, retains Judas as
surety E. 600 and addresses him in the presence of the earls,
for eorlum E. 620. What earls? Either all her followers in-
cluding the pegma heap, or what would seem more natural the
pegma heap alone, who are her followers. In either case they
are mentioned as earls, and hence could not be consistently
called servants (i. e. menials).
The divisions of land held in common by a tribe or band,
or under the control of a lord or king were called Marks.
These divisions may have been natural, that is bounded by
mountains or water, or they may have been purely geogra-
phical. Whatever these boundaries may have been, they were
rigorously defended against all attempts at violation. The
references in Andreas and Elene are purely verbal. Mearc-
land A. 19 has taken on with the extent of land the broader
designation of country, and léodmearc A. 778 makes this de-
signation clearer by adding people, while mearcland A. 803
probably refers to the same country as leodmearc. Ofer mearc-
paôu E. 233, A. 789 and be mearcpaču refer to the roads run-
ning through these provinces or countries.
37
C. Assemblies.
The assemblies held in Elene, over which the king or
queen-mother presided were convoked for religious purposes.
Thus Constantine summons the wisest to come to the synod
E. 154 ff. in order to reveal to him through the wisdom culled
from ancient lore, the story of the cross, and Helen resorts to
the same method of procedure in order to elicit from the wise
but reticent Jews their jealously guarded secret concerning the
concealment of the cross E. 277 ff. and delivered her opening
address before an audience of three thousand Jews and most
probably her own followers. By the principle of selection
this cumbersome mass of counsellors was diminished to one
thousand, five hundred and finally Judas alone. These assem-
blies are of interest in the skillful development of the poet's
plan, but partake too exclusively of a religious nature to
reveal anything concerning those assemblies of which Tacitus
speaks in Germ. XI: De minoribus rebus principes consultant;
de majoribus omnes. Ita tamen ut ea quoque quorum penes
plebem arbitrium est, apud principes pertractentur. The word
gemót E. 279 recalls the nitena gemot, or assembly of counsellors,
whom the king probably appointed and over whom he pre-
sided (cf. Tac, Germ. XI).
In Andreas we are more fortunate. The custom of the
Mermidonians was to hold a Bing, a general assembly (Volks-
ding) every thirty days, snd hie symble ymb britig ping gehédon
nihtgerimes, A. 157, and one of these meetings falls within the
time of the poem, although the session was occasioned by an
unusual emergency. The death of the guards on duty at the
prison of St. Matthew and the escape of all the prisoners
caused consternation in the city and opened a question, that
demanded immediate solution, for the cravings of unappeased
hunger cried aloud for a substitute to satisfy their anthropo-
phagical appetites.
på ic lungre gefraegn léode têsomne
burgwaru bannan; bedrnas cómon,
wiggendra préat, wicgum gengan
on mearum módige macoelhégende
38
aescum dealle. Dâ was eall geador
tô påm pingstede péod gesamnod; A. 1095 ft.
The summons to the council were promptly obeyed and
the warriors came armed with lances and mounted on their
war-steeds. There was no need of a formal explanation of
the convocation. The question was one of pinching necessity
and its solution, not its discussion, was the desired consum-
mation, and hence with eloquent directness they appeal to
chance for a decision and allow lot to show, who shall serve
as his brothers' meal.
The method of obtaining this decision deserves partic-
ular notice.
léton him pā betweenum tân wisian
hwylcne hira &rest 6örum sceolde
tô föddurpege feores ongyldan;
hluton hellcráºftum haëengildum,
teledon betwinum. Dā se tân gehwearf
efne ofer aenne ealdgesióa,
sé was uðweota eorla dugoče
heriges on Öre. A. 1101 ff.
They allowed the “tan” to show which of them should
first sacrifice his life to furnish food for the others. “Tan”,
got, tàins, ahd. Zein means virga and then sors. This second
meaning is derived from the use of the first for the purposes
of the second.
In my opinion A. 134 f. will throw some light on this.
The crowd gathers to see if the prisoners were still alive and
to decide, whom they might first rob of life after the allotted
time A. 129 ft. and then we have:
Haefdon hie on rāne ond on rimcraefte
âwriten walgrédige wera endestaef.
hwaenne hie to móse metepearfendum
on páre werpéode weorpan sceoldon.
It seems to me to be an unmistakable allusion to selection
by lot of him, who should first furnish them a meal, nor is
it necessary to seek this explanation for the passage in the
custom of these people to cast lot, although that strengthens
the probability, for the very wording seems to indicate it,
39
although the translation from Grein smothers any such signi-
ficance.
es hatten mit Runen und berechnender Kunst
aufgezeichnet die Leichengierigen den Endetag der Männer
wann die zum Mahle den Mundkost-bedürfenden
in dem Wehrwolke werden Sollten.
And first of all it seems to me possible to find a more per-
tinent meaning for endestaºf than Endefag, or Ende (Heyne)
B. 1754. The plural of staf is frequently used in the sense
of “letters” and we know that the runes were cut (āwriten)
on the end of small beech staves, now is it not probable that
this endestaef may have been used of this small staff or branch,
on the end of which this letter was cut and that this passage
refers to the very common Teutonic custom of casting lots by
means of runes? This explanation of endestſef gains probability
from the use of dn'riten, which means primarily, and in this
period of literature generally “einritzen”, “eingraben”, then
“aufzeichnen”, “aufschreiben”. Then on rôme and on rimcrafte
corresponds most aptly to this lot-casting, for counting was a
part of the mysterious process, as is clear in A. 1105 where
teledon is used. I imagine that these men, greedy for slaughter,
had marked the little-staves of the men, by cutting them, with
runes and skill in numbers, that is that there was a little staff
distinguished by some mark, most probably a rune for each
man and that these little staves by some process of lot-cast-
ing unknown to us, were to determine, which of the prisoners
should first lose his life, A. 132. In a word this seems to me
to refer to lot-casting by means of runes, and with this same
process I identify “tan” in A. 1101 ff. to which after this neces-
sary digression I now return.
The suggestive word wisian, which is used for instance
of the pilot's showing the way to the vessel and presupposes
some power, that will show them a way of escape from their
perplexity, seems to convey an idea, which the words hluton
hellcráftum habóengildum, teledon betnyinum, serve to fortify,
that this whole method of arriving at a decision was an appeal
to some secret power, be he divinity or devil, and came within
the province of what was afterwards known as the “black
art”. This art of devils, or of those, who were long considered
40
his servants, is found again in galdorcré/tum A. 166, the magic
art, which the Jews used against Christ and in the drijcraeftum
A. 766, with which the elders of the people claimed that Christ
had accomplished the miracle of extorting a declaration of the
true God from the stone images of angels. So too magicians
drjas A. 34 concerted by means of false or cunning power
purh divolcraeft A. 34 the bitter drink, which made beasts of
men. The devil speaks of St. Andrew as £glécan, which
Grein translates Zauberer. This translation, taken in connection
with aclaccraeſtum (Hexenkünsten), seems to me to be correct;
although applied to the devil himself, the word seems to mean
monster. These frequent allusions in Andreas (for they do not
occur in Elene) to magic, magicians and their methods and
uniformly unfavorably show not only the prevalence of some
belief in, or rather dread of a genus of beings and their art,
but its indissoluble union with wickedness, if not with the
source of wickedness, and furnish a method of explaining
events of shady purport and not easily understood, that at
once placed the actors beyond the pale of ordinary humanity
and justified failure in contending against them. -
The lot-casting belonged to this category of works. The
branch passed over an old companion i. e. the lot fell upon
him. This peculiar expression must be closely associated with
the method being described. The assembly having thus solved
their difficulty readily accepted as a substitute for the father,
the son, over whose life not only according to the customs of
the Mermidonians, but according to the rights of the Anglo-
saxons the father had absolute control (Kemble I, 198), and
but for the intervention of God A. 1145 the assembly would no
doubt have adjourned in order to partake of the long desired
meal; but the hornhalls remained empty, the guest chambers,
for the cry of despair and the proclamation of the heralds
published abroad their misery; and those more wise sat apart
for counsel and incited each other to give good advice to which
the devil alone replied, causing the arrest of St. Andrew.
D. Punishment.
There are few instances of the methods of applying law
revealed in the poems Andreas and Elene, in fact no occasion
41
for such revelation, but several indications of the punishments
in vogue and several hints as to the methods of inflicting them.
The reference for instance, to the punishment of Judas, whom
the queen had received as a hostage tö gisle E. 600, a word
which suggests the means employed to extort confessions from
criminals. Judas had refused to answer the questions she had
asked. For this stubbornness and persistency in evil he was
ordered by the queen to be thrown in drjgne séaë. The Acta
Sanctorum read: jussit eum mitti in lacum siccum, usque in
septem dies, sic ut custodiretur a custodibus. The further de-
scription of his punishment was doubtless drawn from the
AngloSaxons. He was fastened with fetters, clommum beclungen
E. 695 ft. and was compelled to remain seven nights in bale-
ful imprisonment (under hearm locan) and to endure the tor-
ture of hunger hungre bepréatod. This lack of any sustenance
(meteléas) is particularly emphasized as forming the most in-
tolerable feature of the torture, for this is given as the ground
of his desire for release, that he was worn out by the enmity
of hunger hēanne fram hungres gentölan, and (in the next line)
that hunger prevents him from resisting longer for hungre
E. 703. Of course this varied and repeated reference to hunger
as a part of the punishment by confinement, must have been
based upon an existing actuality in the punishment of that
day. Strange to say Grimm nowhere mentions this in his
very full list of punishments among the German races.
The imprisonment of St. Matthew and St. Andrew was prob-
ably drawn from the source of this legend, probably a Latin
translation of ſtočeig Avôočov xai Mav6 etc. (cf. Ramhorst 6),
but the details are largely of Anglosaxon coloring. St. Matthew
was bound, blinded A. 48 f. and thrown into prison, from
which of carcerne A. 57, under hearmlocan A. 95, he lifts up
his voice in prayer. St. Matthew and his followers were
fastened in fetters in the prison, on carcerne clommum faeste, or
in chains bendum faestne A. 184. The prison was guarded by
seven keepers A. 995 and other keepers were inside A. 1005.
That it was a dark place or dungeon is mentioned in A. 1007
wnder healstorlocan, a court of lamentation gnornhofe A. 1010
and a fastness faestenne A. 1036. The most singular allusion
to the doorway of the prison as hamera geneorc A. 1079 is
42 .
capable of a double interpretation, either it refers to the me-
thod of fastening the door, perhaps with nails or in some
kindred way, or it is an expression for the door itself. In
this latter case, what would be the suggestion in alluding to
the door, as the work of the hammers? My own theory is
this. The prison of Judas' was a well, a kind of pit or dungeon.
The word describing Judas' prison is also applied to the cave
of the winds, and the word under healstorlocan A. 1007 applied
alike to Judas' prison and the dark abyss of hell seems to
indicate a cave or dungeon. I picture this prison of St. Matthew
then as some kind of natural cave or pit, to which of course
the covering or door was necessarily artificial and this I think
is expressed by the hamera geneorc, that is, the part made
artificially or by the carpenters' skill. St. Andrew was also
punished under healstorscún an A. 1255 (in dem Höhlendunkel
Gn) and was chained clommum belegdon A. 1562. It can be
no tenable objection to the theory, that St. Andrew's prison
was a dungeon or cave, that St. Andrew saw the stone columns
from his prison A. 1496, for even if there were not the pos-
sibility of this through some opening in the door, the incon-
sistency would not be greater than to speak of the prison as
dark, when the opening, through which one could see external
objects must let in some of the external light. More incon-
sistent than either is the fact, that St. Matthew, who had been
blinded (A. 48) san, St. Andrew and his companions A. 1015.
The tortures, to which St. Andrew was subjected, and the
pains with which his body was racked, until the blood poured
from his body and the bones were broken and the hair of his
head was strewn along the stone paved-streets A. 1221 ff.
serve the double purpose in the recital of portraying the cruelty
of this heathen people, and the power of God who could heal
all these wounds A. 1479 and make the fields rejoice in the
fruits of St. Andrew's sufferings A. 1450.
Crucifixion was a form of punishment unknown to the
Anglosaxons and hence they most frequently describe it in the
vocabulary of hanging, which, in common with all Teutonic
peoples, they well knew (Gm. Ra. 682. A. 1). The conception
of crucifixion was borrowed from Biblical literature, or teaching,
which emphasized of course the disgrace and humiliation of
43
such a punishment, and this notion — death with disgrace — was
to be conveyed. Hanging was perhaps considered a more dis-,
graceful and harder (?) death than beheading. (Gm. Ra. 687).
and hence was inflicted primarily on slaves, while beheading
was substituted in the case of nobles. Even after this distinc-
tion of class in the application of the punishment was lost, it
retained its impress of greater contumely and was well fitted
to convey to the Teutonic mind the shame heaped upon Christ.
Ahön. To hang (to hang up), as a means of execution
occurs. E. 180, 205, 210, 445, 453, 475, 671, 687, 718, 798, 934,
1076, while hôn occurs in the same sense E. 424, 852. Galga
the terminus technicus for the implement of execution is found in
on galgan E 179, 480, 719, A. 1329, and of gealgan in A. 1411,
and the phrase gealgan pehte, a mixed figure A. 968. It need
hardly be mentioned, that there are numerous references to the
crucifixion, that do not apply to hanging, but these are derived
from Christian sources. Compare for example the frequent use
of rod, wood or cross. But even in connection with this word
we occasionally meet the language of hanging E. 1075.
A. 969 &c. -
§ 4. War and Warriors.
In the short compilation of all that could be ascertained
(p. 35) about the classes, it was seen that eorlas and aeóelingas
were frequently used of soldiers particularly those, who encamped
around the king, or attended the queen on her expeditions. The
indvidual appellations for “man” are often used in the sense
of “soldier” but there are words that give this notion more
distinctly. Thus miga E. 63. 150. and nigend E. 106. A. 1097.
1205 though in E. 984 it seems to refer to the king. Rinc E.46,
A. 1118 &c. has the additional meaning of hero. Dugoče ond
geogoëe A. 152 is no doubt a formula to include the whole
following of a king or leader. The duguðe A. 125, E. 450,
1093, 1160, conveying the notion of capacity and usefulness,
of particular value, perhaps being applied to the heavenly
hosts E. 81, are presumably the stronger, the more experienced,
according to Köhler (p. 20) corresponding to the knights of
the Middle Ages, while geogob would represent the esquires.
44
Geogob E. 638, 1265 is the period of youth, with no military
reference, which occurs in the formula in Andreas 152, 1124
(cf. A. 1617). In the army it is possible to recognize some di-
visions and to discover certain functions, belonging to certain
members of the military organization. Ar and boda (p. 39)
are used: the former of the ambassadors sent by Helen to
report the discovery of the cross E. 981, 996, 1007, and in
E. 1088 of the bishop Quiriacus, who delivers, in prayer, Helen's
desires to the Deity; the latter of the emissaries sent to recover
the cross. E. 262, 551. Both terms seem to denote those, who
bore the messages of one king to another, to which boda adds
a certain power of execution.
Ječan. E. 35 is the infantry, but as these terms are not
used with military exactness, it is here used in the broader
sense of army. The burgnigendra E. 34 are the defenders of
the city or castle, the “home guard” or the garrison. The
hyrdas A. 1079. 1085, were the guards on duty at the prison,
in which St. Matthew was confined the warriors rincas E. 46.
1114, battle warriors hilderincas E. 263, (gåörincas A. 155) or
as they are also called heroes heardingas E. 25, 130 were the
comrades-in-arms of the king giðgelécan E. 43. They are
also named trusted companions ninemagas E. 1016 or earl-
gestealna E. 64. This word, shoulder-companions, intimates the
the serried files of an army, as it was then drawn up, and
evidences the comradeship based upon a partnership in dangers
and community of duties. Of the leaders or generals in the
army except the king, we have here no information, for the
allusion to the old companion ealdgesłóa as at the head of the
army heriges on Öre A. 1106 or as učnjeota, that is counsellor,
is intended to express rather his honored and important stand
among his compatriots, than any generalship of the forces,
and even if the latter be the case, there is no elucidation
of his military duties. It can but make a rather singular
impression, that the cannibals of the poem of Andreas, who
are by no means placed in a favorable light in other respects,
should be represented as possessing military equipment and
discipline, even though, so modified as to indicate some of
their uncouth and barbarons qualities. Applied to them I find
such expressions as gårum gehyrsted | lungre under linde. A.45, 46.
45
Duguó samnade
háčne hildfrecan, hēapum prungon
gúðsearo gullon, gāras hrysedon
bolgenmöde under bordhréoëan A. 125 ft.
gródige göörincas A. 155. Their chiefs are called folces /rum-
gáras, A. 1070.
beornas cómon
wiggendra préat, wicgum gengan
on mearum médige matelhégende
aescum dealle A. 1096 ft.
gööfree guma A. 1119. haečene herignyeardas A. 1126. here sam-
nodan A. 1123. módige magupegmas A. 1138.
âhléopon hildfrome heriges brehtme
ond tò weallgeatum wigend prungon
cène under cumblum corõre mycle
tô pām orlege ordum ond bordum, A. 1204 ff.
AEfter pâm wordum com werod unmäete
lyswe lärsmeočas, mid lindgecrode .
bolgenmöde; A. 1221 ff.
hapleča préat, duguè unlytel A. 1271/2; folctogan leaders of the
people, generals, refer in A. 1460 to St. Andrew's adversaries
ondsacan A. T.461, who lead him to prison, and represent
apparently no special rank. Thus we have a whole series of
military terms, usually found more worthily bestowed, applied
to these barbarians. The Teutonic mind was unable to think
any people so crude as to be destitute of military organization
and found its only means of differentiating this organization
from their own in such words as heathen, fierce, greedy &c.
The weapons used by this people were the spear, gör
A.32, 43 &c. and desc, A, 1099, ord, A. 1207, the sword, bil, A. 51,
78 &c. and sneord, A. 71. 1134. Then the defensive armour
was the shield, bord A. 128, rond, A. 412 (the formula ordum
ond bordum occurs A. 1207) lind, A. 46. They had their insignia
of war too, under cumblum A. 1206.
In the graphic description of a battle given in E. 105–148.
Constantine bade the soldiers be awakened at dawning and
the battle-standard, heorn-cumbol, be raised. The holy tree, the
beacon of God should be borne before him in the midst of the
46
enemy. The kings were always preceded by a standard or
banner (Gm. Ra. 241) and particularly in times of war was
the standard around which the men could rally, of great im-
portance. The general name for this banner was buſ, which
occurs E. 123, but by degrees other battle standards usurped
places in the ranks, so that it is often difficult to determine
the nature of these signs of war. Heorncumbol, which here
has reference to the sign of battle (Feldzeichen) means as
Grimm has pointed out (A. and E. p. 92) the sign of the sword.
What this sword insignia was we have no means on determining.
In Andreas 4, 1206 we find cumbol, tessera militaris, and in E. 25
the word herecumbol, which one would have expected here.
Eoſurcumbol has been discussed under mythology (p. 16). The
trumpets sounded loud before the army, bijman sungon hlāde /or
hergum E. 109/10. The hornblowers E. 54 and heralds E. 54.
550, A. 1158 had among their duties to attract attention and
make the orders of their leaders known. This noise of trumpets
at the beginning of battle was alike the signal of attack and
its inspiring accompaniment. The raven, that rejoices at this
work, the eagle, that watches the battle and the wolf, that
adds to its terrors by his dismal howl are attendants of battle
in general among the AngloSaxons and have been discussed
(p. 14) in relation to mythology. The wolf and eagle proclaim
E. 28 each in his own tongue, the conflict, that draws nigh,
and the raven's cry mingles with the the campwood campnudu
E. 57 of the advancing Romans E. 52. The terror of battle
spread, hildegeso stód E. 113. It is a favorite turn of the poet's
to lend moment to the events transpiring by depicting their
effects upon their actors or spectators, and nothing gives more
clearly the seriousness of the jeopardy either in war or storm,
than to mention, that fear spread, embracing the stoutest hearts
of men, who prided themselves on bravery. The king, whose
duty imposed upon him a watchful and protecting care of his
men had been visited by mortal terror, as he saw the forces
far outnumbering his own. He had been reassured by divine
interposition but on the eve of battle the soldiers were seized
by dread consequent upon a conflict terrible in its devastation
and fearful in its uncertain issues, enhanced by a recognition
of their own numerical inferiority.
47
There was a crash of shields and a rush of men, a hard
combat and the fall of the masses, as soon as they joined battle.
pær was borda gebrec ond beorna geprec
heard handgewing ond herga gring
- syööan héo earhfaere ærest métton. E. 113 ff.
Bord, the shield is found in the formula nordum and bordum
E. 24, which signifies the noise made upon raising the battle
standard. I consider that we have here a sort of formula
(notice for instance, the rhyme) for the opening of battle. It
can not refer to a hand-to-hand combat in which the hostile
shields clash against each other, for the hurling of spears in
the next line would have been futile, if not impossible, at
such close quarters.
Perhaps there is no necessity to seek any other meaning
for earhfare, than Anprall der Geschosse Gn. or Kampf Z.,
but it may have reference to the custom of sending an
arrow around to summon the people, in any time of danger
or sudden attack (Ra. 162), as in E. 44. Should earhfere
E. 116 have this signification, then the passage would indicate
the noise, the zeal and the immediate result, with which the
soldiers responded to the summons, as soon as they recog-
nized it. This would then fall in its natural place, depicting
the rush of attack and its noise, the effort in hurling their
javelins and the success; the next lines then expanding and
dilating upon this charge. The showers of arrows are dis-
charged against a people doomed to death, and the spears
fly over the yellow-shields and the arrows (war-makes) are
impelled by the finger's power 117 ff. Then the impetuous
enemy begin to break the Romans' shields and to use their
swords (Cil. E. 122). At this juncture the standard puf was
lifted; the banner regn E. 124 (both meaning the cross) and
the song of victory raised. It can hardly be contended that
the army had fought up to this time without any standard,
which would have been as repugnant to Roman custom, as
unintelligible to a Teutonic poet, but that this referred to the
new standard, in which was the promise of victory. The
golden helmet and the spears shone on the field of battle.
The next lines depict the defeat and flight of the Huns, the
death of some, the narrow escape of others, their hot pursuit
48
by the Romans, and sums up their disaster in the melan-
choly words:
ly thwön becwom
Hāna herges häm eft panon E. 142 f.
Some mention of the weapons may conclude this paragraph.
The shield-bord, board, implies, as does lind that this part
of the armour was made of wood. It occurs several times in
the formula of great antiquity, bordum and ordum E. 235, 1187,
A. 1207. The geolrand E. 118 and rand E. 50, literally yellow-
border and border, are here put the part for the whole. The
border of the shield served as we know from the Gnomic
verses (Monology, cf. Grein, Bibliothek der Angelsächs. Poesie
II, 346) for a protection or guard for the fingers, rand sceal on
scylde faest fingra gebeorh 38.
So too bordhréða E. 122, A. 125, B. 2204, which means
according to Heyne, the cover of the shield, according to
Zupitza an ornament of the shield, is used for the shield itself.
For sword we have bil E. 122, 257 and of the flaming weapon
used to defend Paradise, sneord E. 757 and brogdenmöl E. 759
(das geschwungene, gezogene Schwert Gm., das geschwungene
Schwert Gn., das Schwert mit gewundenem Zeichen, Z.).
For helmet we have eofurcumbol, grima E. 125, grima-
helm E. 258. The Teutons attached much importance to the
helm, as is proven by their application of it so frequently in
similes, and particularly in reference to God and the king.
ponne rond ond hand
on here felda helm ealgodon A. 96 f.
shows too this importance, which arouse largely no doubt from
the vulnerable portion of the body thus protected. If Grimm
is right however in his explanation of on pám hysebeorère
A. 1144, which Grein evades rather than explains by trans-
lating it Knabe, then the helmet had a superstitious value too
as it protected the caul, which antiquity reckoned of peculiar
worth and warriors wore on their heads under the helmet,
as a charm against danger, particularly of mortal wounds on
the head. -
For spear besides, gar, ord, ase is used daroöas (daroödesc)
E. 140. Moreover I find yr bow E. 1260, besides several words
for arrows, hildenaedran E. 119. 141, flánas (scuras) E. 117. In
49
addition to the helmet and shield is the armour hyrst E. 263,
that is the corslet byrne E. 257, coat of mail hildeserce E. 234,
nyalhlenc E. 24.
§ 5. Sea-Life.
When one considers the position of the Anglosaxons homes,
whether as individual tribes before their migration or after
they had taken root in England, which was the fertile soil of
their literary productions, he can not be surprised, that an inti-
mate acquaintance with the sea, its phenomena, whether attrac-
tive or repulsive, and all that concerned it was one of the
characteristic marks of their literature. Of the sea numerous
poems furnish descriptions and the language of the sea meets
all the copious demands of its fickle nature with the most
graphic pictures and striking tropes. Merbach (Das Meer in
der Dichtung der Angelsachsen. Breslauer Dissertation) has
given us a complete and valuable treatment of this subject
and rendered my own task here easier. There are two sea
voyages, that deserve special attention. The one which Helen
undertakes at the request of Constantine, and the other that
St. Andrew enters upon in accordance with the command of
God. Besides these two voyages, there are numerous words
either in conversation, or in the development of the stories,
that furnish material for a description of sea-life cf. A. 195 ft.
386 ft. &c. St. Andrew goes at break of day over the sand-
hills of r sandhleoču A. 236 to the sea-flood to sa’s faruðe
A. 236 on the sand on gréote A. 238. Here we have the de-
signations of the AngloSaxons for the beach. The phrase on
gréote A. 238.254. 849 is strikingly characteristic of a beach,
which consists of shells and pebbles ground by the lashing
waves. The word means something ground and is nearly related
to N. E. grit. The word occurs only once in Elene and then
in the derived meaning of earth or sand E. 835. More general
is the word sta”- shore on starče E. 232, geoſenes start E. 227.
Related to these are paraphrases for the same, or expressions
for the water bordering on the land. Thus faroö, which means
the flood or current (e. g. A. 236) is used in A. 255 on faroöe
of the helmsman, who is ready to start on the journey and
4
50
in E. 251 apt sá‘ſearoše. In both cases it represents the coast,
that is where the currents or waves beat or break. The words
aet mendels& E. 231, aufm Grenzmeere, seem to me capable
of a twofold interpretation. This bqundary sea may indicate
the sea lying between Helen and the cross, that is separating
two lands, or mendel may easily refer and particularly in con-
nection with on state to the varying line dividing land and
water, that is the border of the sea hence at shore, near the
coast. In the same sense on n’aroöe A. 240, 263, is used. The
high bank is sandhleobu A. 236, ceald cleoſu A. 310, stānhleobu
A. 1579, while a cape or promontory is naes A. 1307, 1712.
Concerning embarkation and freighting vessels information,
though not exact, is by no means lacking. They loaded the
ships with coats of mail, shields and spears, with armed soldiers,
with men and women E. 234 f. in which description we have
two formulas bordum ond ordum, merum ond miſum. And then
the high ships stride over the foaming sea. Thus is described
the departure of Helen's naval expedition. In Andreas occur
the phrases in céol stigan A. 349, on holm stigan A. 429, sá.
beorgas sécan A. 308, céol gestigan, ceoles neosan A. 310 to flote
gyrnan A. 1698 for the notion embark.
The sea itself presents the greatest varity of names, which
are in themselves interesting and preeminently indicative of
that familiarity with the sea, to which allusion has been made.
The nomenclature consisted not merely of words, which refer
directly to the sea, but also of designations more poetic and
expressive drawn from its nature and inhabitants; and these
figurative terms, these descriptions of the sea, rather than simple
names for it are the most frequent in the poetry of the Anglo-
saxons. The word sá occurs only twice E, 240, 729 in Elene
and rarely in Andreas (A. 236); brim in the sense of sea and
with no reference to its narrower meaning “brandende, bewegte
Flut” (Merbach 4), occurs several times; lago E. 1269 as the
name of the rune may have a more restricted meaning than
sea. Geoſon, which Müller (Haupt's Zeitschrift I, 95) considers
as connected with the sea goddess Gefjon occurs E. 227, 1201.
Merbach sees in the fact that this word occurs only twice in
composition (geofonhus Gen. 1321, geofonflod Azar, 125) further
proof of the mythological origin of the word. Sund E. 228, 251
51
is a frequently used word in poetry. Grein compares holm,
denoting the appearance of the sea as rising, and not as a
flat surface with Russian cholm and Latin culmen, both denoting
elevation. This idea is strengthened in of er hēanne holm, over
the high sea E. 983.
Waere ben recen A. 269 and naere bestemed A. 487 indicate
flood or current. Compare too harm A. (269?) 531; earhgeblond
A, 239 Meeresgemisch; geblond alone occurs A. 532.
Combinations with stréam are frequent, lagustréam A. 423,
brimstréam A. 348, 903, geofenes stréam A. 852, firigenstréam
A. 390, 1573, sdestréam A. 196. The constant motion of the
sea, the approaching waves or billows, resembling a stream
or current is thus depicted. There is no reason for thinking
that these currents had anything to do with the currents and
countercurrents actually existing in the ocean.
Another series of expressions represents the sea as criss-
crossed by roads, paths or streets, used either by ships, or the
denizens of the deep; so nag with fifel E. 237, holm A. 382,
barð A. 223, 573, E. 244; rād with hran A. 266, snyan E. 397,
A. 196, brim A. 1264, 1584; lad with sá A. 511, lagu A. 314,
ea A. 441; straet with ſaroö A. 311, 900, mere E.242; faru with
stréam A. 1378, jö A. 902, hrvaču with seol A. 1716.
The sea is also mentioned as a bathing place for the fish
fiscesbaeč A. 293.
The following expressions are also entertaining, hnyaeles
éðel A. 274, the native domain of the whale; garsecges begong
A. 530, garsecg is for gasric, by transposition of r and s, gas
= gais, Old Norse geisa = to chafe, rage hence the word
means rager, Sweet (Engl. Stud. II, 315); árnvela A. 855 (cf. 10),
jöa gesning A. 352, jôa gepring A. 368, flodes nylm A. 367,
flodnylm A. 516, stréam nylm A. 495, wateres nylm A. 452, jöa
gebraic A. 824, holm pracu A. 467, E. 728, n/aeteres prim A. 1262,
jôa geneale A. 259, geotend gegrind A. 1592, hmaelmere A. 370,
saholm A. 527; egesa upp ſistod A, 445, may be used for the
waves themselves; A. 375 on the contrary is the terror (cf. Mer-
bach p. 12) lagufaesten, stefaesten E. 249, déop gelād A. 190.
In Andreas (cf. 201 ff) the waters are cold (which is not
mentioned in Elene), and salty A. 196. References are made to
the sea foam, as in E. 237 to the wide expanse E, 729 to the
4%
52
color, graeg A. 000 black blac A. 1263, to the brilliant reflection
bråne jöa A. 519, to the bottom of the sea A. 393, 424.
The island of the Mermidonians is gland A. 15. Seastorms
are alluded to twice, once on the voyage to the cannibal island,
and again in the attempt of St. Andrew to allay the fears of
his followers, where he relates the incident of the storm on
the sea of Galilee.
In the description of the first (A. 369—380 and A. 392 ft.)
is to be noticed, that just as in war the wolf, the raven and
the eagle denote the approaching conflict, so the impending
battle of the waves is harbingered by the swordfish, which
sports gladly through the raging waters and the grey sea gull,
greedy for slaughter and describing its circles around the ship.
In describing the commotion and turbulence of the waters, the
designation hrvaºlmere is applied to the sea thus completing
the trinity of attendants of the storm, and offering a per-
fect pendant to the picture of war. The picture of nature's
aspect is tersely, but strongly drawn. The darkness, the in-
creasing winds, the grinding waves, the disturbed waters are
the outlines of an easily completed picture. Then the terror
of the waves spread among the men and the fear of not
reaching land seizes them. . -
Naturally great importance was attached to the turbulent
surging of roaring billows, and this was accompanied by a
corresponding state of agitation, excitement and fright in the
minds of those who had to withstand the conflict. Thus
following the description in A. 375 ft. we find,
wasteregesa stöd
préata pryöum, pegmas wurdon
âcolmöde, enig ne wénde
paet hé lifgende land begéte.
Place by the side of these last lines the words of the
description in the Heliand, ;"
selton in wāndun
lagu-lièandea an land kuman -
thurk thes wederes gewin Hel. 2918 ft.
and we have one of the chief eauses of terror emphasized.
Or further after 394 ft. we have:
53
duguó is geswenced
módigra mágen miclum gelysgod
Or in describing the storm on the sea of Galilee, which is
given only in bold outline; A. 447 ff.:
beornas wurdon
forhte on móde; friðes wilnedon
miltia tê máerum.
In a word there seems to have been to these people,
whose familiarity with the sea had revealed to them its ter-
rors, a sickening dread of the horrors of a storm and an un-
settling and impatient uneasiness in the face of its dangers.
The parallelism between their perturbed bosoms and the ruffled
waves, rest and joy, that took possession of them, as the
ominous clouds disappeared and the waves were stilled. For
instance,
yöum stilde
wasteres wylmum; windas préade
såe sessade, smylte wurdon
merestréama gemeotu, pá úre mòd āhlöh
A. 452 ft.
mere Swedberade
yöa ongin eft oncyrde
hréoh holmpracu. Dă pâm hālgan wearö
aefter gryrehwile gåst geblissod A. 465 ft.
Compare also A. 531, 435, 1587.
Of the end of the voyage, after having withstood the
dangers of the sea including that of hunger A. 312, the mira-
culous nature of the landing of St. Andrew renders an account
impossible. In Elene the description is of no great moment
E. 248 ft. The usual word for harbor hjö, which occurs here,
probably meant nothing more than a place protected from
the winds and suited for landing, perhaps a kind of bay
or inlet.
Having thus disposed of the sea and its boundaries, the
storm and its accompaniments, there remain to be mentioned
the ships and their appurtenances, and the crews. The simple
word scip A. 240 u, ü, does not occur in Elene, where maca
A. 291 is also missing. Designations of the ship as something
swimming or floating are pertinent, aegflota A. 258, naegflota
54
E. 246, A. 487; sóleodan A. 500 is to be compared with sálidan
A. 471. The simple lid, ship occurs e. g. A. 403 and jölid
A. 278, 445. By metonomy céol E. 250, A, 361, bord E. 238,
jöbord A. 298, brimmudu E. 241.
I am inclined to see in bord E. 238, where it is spoken
of as receiving the blows of the waves jöa sn'engas E. 239, a
figurative epithet drawn from the shield in battle, rather than
a simple use of bord for the hull of the ship. It deserves
mention too that earhgeblond E. 239 betrays as much familiarity
with the battle as the sea.
The most striking allusion to ships was as horses, a figure
borrowed from their every day life. Thus hengest with brim
A. 513, naeg E. 236, faroë E. 226, sdé A. 488 and mearh with
sdê E. 245, A. 267. . -
Moreover such terms as brimpisa E. 238, A. 1701, merepiso
A. 257 may have some association with this figure; hringed-
staefna E. 248 has reference to the rings on the prow, by which
the vessels were made fast and brontstaefn A. 504 has a kindred
meaning. -
As a home on the waves we have jöhofu E. 252, while
A. 1713 nºgbel suggests a floor on the sea.
Gescirpla A. 250 means dress, garb, and not ship (cf. Mer-
bach p. 35).
The parts and appurtenances of the ship, as given in
Andreas and Elene are the following, bátes faeom A. 444 hold,
or bottom; stefn A. 495 the bow or stem, on bolcan A. 305 in
trabe gubernaculi, of r bolcan A. 602 trans gubernaculum, that
is referring respectively to the position of the helmsman and
the helm (Gm., A. a. E. XXXIV). -
The keel is céol E. 250, and the hull (?) bord E. 238.
Then there is the anchor E. 252, but to make a ship fast
is stelan E. 228. That the ship had a mast, and perhaps only
one, as Merbach thinks, is indicated by be maste A. 465. The
sails are mentioned A. 504 and E. 245. The ropes are called
strengas A. 374 and the rudder is mentioned A. 359, 396.
The crews of the ships in Elene were composed of the
warriors, who attended her on her voyage and hence there is
no definite information as to the duties of sailors. In Andreas,
where God and his two angels man the ship, the references
55
are more instructive. As noticed above (p. 8) God assumed
the Woden-like function of pilot. This art of showing the
vessel its path on the deep A. 381, seems to have been of great
account among the AngloSaxons, for the author of Andreas
glorifies it in A. 481 ff. and makes it the basis of St. Andrew's
desire for the pilot's friendship. Never had he (St. Andrew)
seen a better sailor, one more skilled and wiser, and from
him he desired to learn the art of steering, for in all his six-
teen voyages, he had never seen a pilot, who could so skil-
fully direct a boat. God and his angels had before been
likened to seafarers scipférendum A. 250, €aliêendum A. 251
and to the seafarers heaòolièendum A. 426, God furnishes aid,
while faroöridende A. 440 has an equivalent meaning. Lid-
neard A. 244 and scipneard A. 297 exhibit the protecting solic-
itation of the sailors.
The doubtful word sceale in underscealcum A. 512 is prob-
ably to be interpreted sailors.
The adjectives lidn’érig A, 482 and stēn’érig A. 827 picture
the arduousness (is se drohlab strang A. 313) of a sailor's duties
and the unavoidable monotony of sealife. Why Merbach should
translate frome E. 261, as referring to sailors, or give selran
A. 471 any other significance than better is not clear (cf. Mer-
bach p. 38).
Several references to the motion of the ship deserve
notice for example scripan E. 237, a figure suggesting equine
movement.
brecan of r baetweg brimwudu, Snyrgan
under swellingum, Sáemearh plegean
wadan w8°gflotan E. 244 ft.
The contest with the waves, through which the ship makes
a path, furnishes occasion for several similes. The ship glides
along under swelling sails like some bird, perchance a Swan.
This figure we have very prettily given elsewhere:
º is pes bät fulscrid
faered famigheals, fugole gelicost
glide6 on geofone. A. 496 ft.
The stºmearh plegean recalls the prancing steed and the
madan magflotan suggests the swimmer. This completes the
56
view of sealife, except a reference in 300 ft. to the passage
money, which is discussed later (p. 133). Suffice it here to say
that the language not only presupposes the habit of paying fare
but intimates the existence of a fixed tariff, A. 297.
§ 6. Natural Phenomena.
In close union with the descriptions of the storm, as noticed
in the last paragraph, stand the descriptions of various pheno-
mena of nature, which are usually given in the most poetic
language, under the garb of which however it is often easy
to detect the agencies of personified beings, whether considered
as gods, fates, or merely revelations of these superhuman
powers. Many of these have already been grouped around the
examination of the word noma (p. 10).
One of the most entertaining and poetical conceptions of
the Anglosaxons was that of the sun, with its motions across
the sky. The Teutonic forefathers were close observers of
nature, even if unsound physicists and astronomers.
Dâ com morgentorht
béacna beorhtost of r breomo sneowan
hälig of heolstre; heofoncandel blåc
ofer lagofiódas. A. 241 ff.
This is sunrise. The morning torch, the brightest of beacons
came over the deep out of its dark prison, this brilliant candle
of heaven over the floods of the sea. The most singular thing
about this description is, that it came of healstre, which in-
dicates that the sun was quenched in his wanderings (perhaps
in the sea) and reappeared from his nightly imprisonment as
a relit candle, or shone in darkness, until the Lord allowed
him to shine again.
öö past dryhten forlét daegeandelle
scire scinan, Sceadu, Sweterodon
wonn under wolcnum. Dà côm wederes blacst
hãdor heofonléoma of r hofu blican A. 837 ff.
The disappearance of the shadows, the darkness that veiled
the earth under the clouds, upon the appearance of the sun
exposes the deep impression that this enmity of light and
darkness had made upon the Teutonic mind — a conflict that
57
found its broadest exposition in the contract between the king-
dom of light (heaven) and that of darkness (hell).
niht helmade
brünwann of rbráčd beorgas stéape A. 1307 f.
shows the conception of the prevailing darkness of night. The
earth had put on its helmet of darkness and drawn down
the visor. #:
Now the phrase niht helm tâglād E. 78, A. 126 is clear and
wonderfully expressive. Wiht helm is the helmet of night and
töglód is particularly suited to express the breaking or splitting
of a helmet. Cf. (ſôhelm tăſlăd B. 2488 (der Helm Onganpeows
gieng durch Eofers Schlag auseinander. Heyne, Glossar). In
Elene it is the presence of the shining angel that caused, by the
rays of his own celestial brilliancy the helmet of darkness to
split, and in Andreas it was the light of approaching day.
The reference to the sun as the nyederes blast or as the n'eder
candel, which grew dark during the storm A. 372, shows that
the Anglosaxons were accustomed to associate the sun, from
whose face they no doubt read the weather prognostications,
with its states.
öö paet beorht gewāt
sumne swegeltorht to sete glidan A. 1249, 1306.
Until the bright sun, the torch of heaven, glides to his seat
under the mists of the cliff. The sun made a journey from
his dark cave over the sea and cities, until he glided to his
resting place, when the even was come with a noise A. 1247,
or wandered under the waves under wadu scričam. A 1459.
The divisions of the day were regulated by the course
of the sun and the time of day most frequently given by the
position of the sun. Thus at dawn or at daybreak on thfan
mid £rdage E. 105 marks the beginning of the days activities.
The hostile crowd gathers around St. Andrew's prison, as soon
as the light appears A. 124 St. Andrew sets out for the sea
shore at break of day A. 235 and reaches the ship, as the sun
comes out of his dark abode A. 241 and St. Andrew awakes
on the island of the Mermidonians as the sun came to shine
over the houses A. 835, which designates some later hour,
possibly noon, and St. Andrew suffers until sunset. We find
in Elene tid used to denote the hour, thus Óð på migoëan tič
58
E. 870 and naes pā migoëe tič E. 874, it was the ninth hour,
that is, probably three o'clock.
The year is divided into seasons, spring lencten E. 1227,
sumer 1228, fall is not mentioned, and ninter E. 4, 633 for year
in counting time.
Summer began on the 7" of May, making the seasons
granting their equal duration of three months each, begin on
the 7th of May, 7th of August, 7th of November, and 7th of
February, which would make midsummer fall about the 21*
of June, the time of the summer solstice, midwinter about the
time of the winter solstice December 21*, while the middle of fall
and spring coincide very nearly with the autumnal and vernal
equinoxes (Gm., A. u. E. XXIV und Nachträge 171). This is
another proof of the exactness with which the events of nature
were observed. Clouds are mentioned in appropriate occasions
but strange to say, as Merbach establishes, mists or fogs were
extremely rarely mentioned, indeed never, except in such in-
distinct and unemphatic phrases as under the misty ness (naze),
under miſlam maes A. 1307. This could not have been from an
ignorance of fogs, but perhaps because they saw nothing in it,
except the veriest opposition and danger, and had no appre-
ciation for any poetry in it (Merbach p. 22). The wind on the
contrary that filled the sails and drove the vessels over the
sea, although an awful element in storm is mentioned in this
connection A, 369 and as a symbol of instability E. 1270 ft.
The only accurate description of weather, apart from the
storm, is the picture of extreme cold (A. 1257 ff.) when the
snow bound the earth with the winters dress (literally with
winter's hurlings). The weather (in the text weathers) grew
cold with hard showers of hail. Rime and frost the hoary hild-
stapan(?) locked the native land of the men, the seat of the
people, the land was frozen with cold icicles and the torrent
of water over the sea currents bridged with ice. It would be
difficult to find a more poetic representation of cold.
§ 7. Social Relations.
Assuming for convenience, that the individual is the unit
of society I desire to record here, first some of the references
59
to the individual man, then pass to the family relations, then
to the association of men with each other and then add a few
remarks on the foreigners, to whom reference is made.
The language descriptive of man is expressive and highly
poetical. The body is by preference called bàncofa E. 1250,
A. 1278, or bánhûs A. 1241, and the bánhringas A. 150 seems
to indicate the frame or skeleton while fláschoma A. 160 is
the covering of flesh. The body as such apart from life is
called hús E. 881 and has of course the usual names lic E. 877,
A. 1240 and lichoma E. 737.
The only member of the body, that has a special de-
scription term is the eye heaſdes segl A. 50 capitis solem, and
héafodgim.
The Anglosaxons were fond of giving value to events by
detailing the impressions they made, the effect upon the mind.
Feelings, sentiments and emotions were factors, with which the
poets loved to deal and hence their language abounded in
terms for the seat of these affections and their natures. For
soul the general name was sányl E. 461, 564 which was one
of the parts of the dual union forming life lic ond sányl. It
is the dwelling place (mic) of the spirit gåst E. 1037 of the
Holy Ghost E. 1144, and is located in the breast, E. 1038.
Hyge, according to Grimm (A. u. E. XXXIX), referring to the
wise bird Huginn, by which the highest god procured in-
formation, is used of heart E. 685, 809, 995, of soul E. 1082,
1169 (Myme is related in the same way to Muninn). Sefa
E. 382 and gehöu A. 66 mean mind and thought; hréðer E. 1145
and bréost E. 595 the location of the mind. Willa E. 193 is
voluntas. Mödsefa E. 876 is heart, so also ſyrðseſa E. 98.
Ferhöloca, hréðerloca E. 86, bréostloca E. 1250 represent breast
or bosom, as the seat of thought and emotion and hence the
figurative expressions hréðerlocan onspannan E. 86, nordlocan
onspannan A. 470, hordlocan onspéon A. 671 and nordhord on-
lècan A. 316, 470.
As to the occupations or employments of individuals be-
sides in war and on the sea there are several passages, that
deserve attention. It is not necessary to do more, than mention
that prophet mitga E. 289, bishop bisceop E. 1052, A. 1651, and
the apostles are mentioned. Wita E. 544 is a councellor, an
60
adviser of the king and probably a member of the council of
state; the word úð neota E.347, A. 1103 has a kindred meaning.
But it is more entertaining to learn something of the manual
employments. There were those, who made the cross accord-
ing to the directions of Constantine E. 104 ff. which required
fine carpenter's work and that of jewellers, in order to set it
with stones and mount it in gold. The services of jewellers
were required too to ornament the true cross with gold, gems
and precious stones and we are told, that they worked with
artistic skill E. 1024 ft. Further Helen had the bridle orna-
mented with the holy nails E. 1197.
The temple built upon the spot consecrated by the dis-
covery of the cross was of stone and erected by the most
skilled stonemasons Helen could command, E. 1018 ft. On the
contrary the church erected on the spot of the resurrection of the
drowned Mermidonians was constructed by skillful carpenters,
A. 1633. To pastoral or agricultural life there are no direct
allusions. The fondness of home and, landed possessions and
a few isolated references, such as the use of the word feoh,
which had come to denote possession E. 1270 or the bor-
rowed simile of gratitude E. 357 ff. are the only clues An-
dreas and Elene furnish even of the acquaintance with such
occupations.
Family relations are almost entirely unnoticed in the poems
before us. The attachment to home, and their love of their
native land, that have several times been noticed, in addition
to a few words, give easy occasion to the imagination to ex-
patiate on the family life, but the facts in these poems are
exceedingly scanty. The father and mother A. 687 of Christ
are called the hāmsittende A. 686 those, whose presence were
the origin and centre of home. Simon and Jacob were born in
the bonds of fraternal relationship bróðorsybbum A. 690. The
unintelligible tangle, by which Judas is made the brother of
the first martyr Stephen, the son of Symon and grandson of
Sachias () furnishes hardly more than the forms of address,
) This confusion did not originate with Cynewulf. Cf. Die Kreuzes-
legenden im Leabhar Breac. von Gust. Schirmer. St. Gallen 1886. Leipziger
Dissertation. S. 12–13, 35–36,
61
in reference to family relations, min snºdes sunu E. 447, min
snyés ſaeder E. 517, guma ginga E. 465, haeleč min se léofa
E. 511, hyse léofsta E. 523. From these, in connection with
the confidential conversation between Judas and his father, it
might not be unjustifiable to draw a conclusion favorable to
the confidence, paternal and filial love of the day. But it
must be remembered that the characters just alluded to were
all Jews, and hence any inference for the Anglosaxons is sub-
ject to limitation. -
Under the Feudal System (p. 34) the meagre allusions to
landed property were collected. The life of the people in one
of these divisions or marks in their social relations forms the
kernel of what follows. It was natural, where land, or at any
rate arable land, was limited, that the people should congre-
gate in villages or towns, thus accomplishing an economy of
land and rendering their defence against marauding expeditions
easier. The word nic for dwelling from vicus, a village, shows
the prevalence of this habit. For city, a larger aggregation,
occur the words ceastre from castra, and meaning no doubt
at first the Roman camps, or cities founded on their sites, but
afterwards applied to cities generally A. 40 939, and as an
equivalent of burh, byrig A. 40, 975. Burh means a fortified
place, hence a castle or city, in the latter sense alone does
byrig seem to be used (cf. Kemble, S. in E. II, 550).
These fortifications rendered it easier to perform one of
their most important duties, eard neardiga') éðel healdač A. 176,
to protect his possession and hold his native heath. The
place of assembly in these cities is several times mentioned,
mebelstede A. 697, 1160 ft., pingstede A. 1099. The reference
to the city as nºnburg A. 1639, 1674, shows the friendliness
and cordiality, prevailing in such a community. St. An-
drew speaks of leaving the city of the Mermidonians and
puts it so,
paet hé på goldburg of gifan wolde
secga seledréam ond sincge stréon
beorht beagselu. A. 1657 ff.
This description of that remarkable institution which seems
to have united in itself a sort of casino, restaurant, royal apart-
62
ments and public hall is more characteristic of the life of the
Anglosaxons, than of the Mermidonians, as we know them
from Andreas. Conviviality, sociability, free and open friendly
intercourse belong to this period of Teutonic life. The gold-
burg is the castle in which the king or ruler distributed gold
and contains the hall from which it derives its name, for not
only rings, but gold was distributed in the béagselu. The
secga seledréam A. 1658, which reflects that conviviality above
alluded to, was highly valued by the Teutons. The hall, “wo
im friedlichén kreise gewohnt, erzählt und gezecht wurde”
(Gm., A. u. E. XXXVII), was a favorite meeting place of friends.
The nºnraeced A. 1161 indicates these chambers, where friends
assembled. The hornsalu was probably named from the drink-
ing horns. St. Andrew, who was about to renounce all these
comforts and pleasures seems to have been a guest of the
castle goldburg, for he was occupying the hall adorned with
treasures. The whole conception of this building or series of
buildings, with the guest-chambers, halls for convivial inter-
course and for assemblies, a sort of meeting place for friends
bears a most striking resemblance to our modern clubs. Have
they perhaps some such origin?
The familiarity with the meadhall and particularly its
festal board is indicated by the use of figures drawn from it.
I have previously tried to show, that some of the descriptions
of heaven were borrowed from this source. I now recall the
sentence, which Grimm considered a proverb. It occurs in the
description of the disastrous flood and smacks of flippancy
under such circumstances,
meodu scerpen wearö
after symbeldaege A. 1528 f.
Whether the meaning is, “der Meth ward vergossen mach
dem Schmausgelage”, Gn., or the reference to the rather revolt-
ing spectacle of vomiting, Gm., it was no doubt borrowed from
the halls of conviviality and is justified by its proverbial nature
and intelligibility.
Dát was sorgbyröen
biter béorpegu; byrlas me gaºldon
ombehtpegmas; paer was aelcum genög
fram daegesorde dryne Söna gearul A. 1534 ft.
(53
The sad nature of this beer reception, with which contrasts
the attention of the waiters and the abundance of drink seems
a most frivolous allusion to the jeopardy of life, to which the
Mermidonians were exposed, but shows a marked familiarity
with the buffets and beersalons of these old meadhalls.
In all business intercourse and at all times there has been
some medium of barter and exchange. The kinds of possession
of this period, in a modified sense the currency, are summed
up and classified in Andreas. It is the question of paying the
pilot the stipulated tribute gafulrédenne A. 296, the prescribed
payment sceattas gescriſene A. 297, of the ship's tariff, and
St. Andrew replies, I have no acquired gold nor rich treasure,
wealth of land nor abundance of locked rings, nor joints of
wine that I may whet thy desire, thy will in the world as
thou with word sayest (Baskerville).
To these forms of possible payment must be added aeplede
gold E. 1260, béaga lyt sincheoróunga A. 271, 476, and faeted-
sinces A. 478. -
It makes an unpleasant impression, that St. Andrew, in
trying to procure the friendship of the pilot, confesses that he
has no treasure &c. Was it then necessary to have material
wealth in order to obtain friendship? Did the Anglosaxon put
a mercenary value on friendship, or is this indicative of an
exchange of presents, as a pledge of friendship?
In the social life of the AngloSaxons woman seems to
have had no part, indeed woman is in the poems before us
almost entirely neglected. Helen is in actions and power
manly and there is no allusion to her in any womanly capacity.
A formula nyerum ond nifum E. 236 reveals the fact, that the
women went along on these lengthy expeditions and A. 1041
reveals the presence of woman in the prison of St. Matthew.
The wives of the Mermidonians were baptized with their hus-
bands. But nowhere is there a ray of womanly sentiment,
no indications of the softer feelings of love, or womanly fidelity
and apparently no germ of the chivalry of a later day.
There are in these two poems no allusion to the Anglo-
saxons as such. The Romans represents in Elene the people,
with whom the poet sympathizes and the Huns, Goths and
Franks brave people hmate E.22 and ready for war gearne
miſſil
|
tô gúðe E. 23 are the allied enemies of Constantine. It is
thus the poets expands the term barbarians. The union of
the Huns and Goths is found also in the Traveller's Song, but
the Huns did not really appear until A. D. 375, after the time
of this poem's contents. That the Franks should have been
added was no doubt the result of some aversion to this people.
The geographical allusions are vague and indefinite, we only
know, that the paths by which the messengers came to an-
nounce the discovery of the cross are called east paths E. 255,
996, and of course the Danube gives as an idea of the scene
of Constantine's engagement. The queen's journey from the
harbour to Jerusalem was a triumphal procession through battle
fields herefe, das E. 269, more probably a warrior's reference to
land in general than indicative of actual hostilities.
The whole woof and web of the story is intermixed with
Judaism. The poet seems to have found it difficult to com-
prehend the Jewish intolerance of Christ and hence puts in
the mouth of Judas, a speech which for a Jew is inexplicable.
Moses, David, Solomon, Esaias, are quoted, Saul, or Paul is de-
clared to be an unusurpassed preacher E. 504 ft. Eusebius the
bishop is mentioned.
Of particular interest however is the mention of the Tro-
jans, showing that the story of Troy was known to the Anglo-
saxons. It is true that the Latin version makes mention of
it, but Cynewulf would hardly have retained it, had it been
entirely unfamiliar to his audience.
In Andreas the Mermidonians are the people in the fore-
ground, a people, who inhabited a city Mermidon on Myrmene,
which was in the kingdom of the Egyptians A. 432. The de-
scription of them, as a race of cannibals differentiates them
so entirely from the Anglosaxons, that one is surprised at the
many agreements in customs.
That Judaism is traceable in the poem needs no mention
and the references to Biblical characters such as Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, Matthew &c. or to countries as Mamre contribute
nothing to our purpose.
W IT A.
I, Charles William Kent, was born on the 27" of Sep-
tember 1860 in Louisa, Virginia, United States of America,
and lived until my sixteenth year under the parental roof.
In the fall of 1876 I entered Locust Dale Academy. To the
revered late principal of this academy A. J. Gordon, whose
untimely death was deeply deplored, I owe my first earnest
attention to the importance of higher education. Under his
guidance I paid special attention to Latin and Greek. In Sep-
tember 1878 I entered the University of Virginia and spent
four years at that institution, procuring at the end of that
period the degree of Master of Arts. In 1882 my friend,
Lewis Minor Cole man, M. A., and I established a school
in Charleston and after two years of arduous but pleasant
duties, as a teacher I took up my studies again in Göttingen
in the fall of 1884. During the Winter Semester I heard the
lectures of Napier and Duhm, in the Summer those of
Napier, Schultz, Reuter, Kluck holin et al. The two
following semesters I spent in Berlin, where I attended the
lectures of Zupitza, Scherer, whose death left a vacancy in
the ranks of philologians, Roediger, Hoffo ry and Strack.
In October 1886, I entered the University of Leipzig and during
my sojourn of nearly two semesters at this University I have
had the pleasure of hearing Wülker, and his exercises in inter-
pretation &c. I have also attended, Zarncke, Körting and
Settegast.
It remaines for me to express my gratitude to all my honored
teachers for their sympathy and encouragement, and to re-
member most gratefully the kindness shown me, particularly by
Prof. Dr. Zupitza of Berlin and Prof. Dr. Wülker of Leipzig
in aiding me with their highly appreciated advice and by
directing in a measure my studies.