Eleven of the "fitts," or cantos, begin
with the monosyllable þā, four with the verb gewītan, nine with the formula
Hrōðgār (Bēowulf, Unferð) maðelode, twenty-four with
monosyllables
in
general (him, swā, sē, hwæt, þā, heht, wæs, mæg, cwōm, strǣt).
Beowulf
); (3)
sele-rǣdende (H.-So.). Cf. l. 1347; and see Ha.
l. 51. E. compares with this canto Tennyson's "Passing of Arthur" and the
legendary burial-journey of St. James of Campostella, an. 800.
l. 53. The poem proper begins with this, "There was once upon a time," the
first 52 lines being a prelude.
Eleven of the "fitts," or cantos, begin
with the monosyllable þā, four with the verb gewītan, nine with the formula
Hrōðgār (Bēowulf, Unferð) maðelode, twenty-four with
monosyllables
in
general (him, swā, sē, hwæt, þā, heht, wæs, mæg, cwōm, strǣt).
l. 58. gamel. "The ... characteristics of the poetry are the use of archaic
forms and words, such as mec for mé, the possessive sín, gamol, dógor, swát
for eald, dǣg, blód, etc., after they had become obsolete in the prose
language, and the use of special compounds and phrases, such as hildenǣdre
(_war-adder_) for 'arrow,' gold-gifa (_gold-giver_) for 'king,' ...
goldwine gumena (_goldfriend of men, distributor of gold to men_) for
'king,'" etc.--Sw. Other poetic words are ides, ielde (_men_), etc.
