tribes.

88. _Eormanric._ See note to v. 8, above.

93. _Eadgils_ was king of the Myrgings.

97. _Ealhhild._ See note to v. 5, above. She was (v. 98) daughter of
Eadwine, King of the Lombards (v. 74). The meaning here is not
absolutely clear, but Chambers makes a good case for considering her
the wife of Eormanric. He thinks that she followed her husband's gift
to Widsith by a gift of another ring, in return for which Widsith
sings her praises.

112, 113. _Emerca_ and _Fridla_, the _Harlungs_, were murdered by their
uncle, Eormanric. _East-Gota_, or Ostrogotha, the king of the united
Goths in the middle of the third century, was a direct ancestor of
Eormanric.

115. _Becca._ See note to v. 8. _Seafola_ and _Theodoric_: probably
Theodoric of Verona and his retainer, Sabene of Ravenna. On the other
hand, the references may be to Theoderic the Frank. (See v. 24.)

116. _Sifeca:_ probably the evil councillor who brought about the murder
by Eormanric of his nephews, the Harlungs. (See vv. 112, 113, note.)

117-119. These names are all very obscure.

120. _Hraedas:_ the Goths.

121. The struggle between the Goths and the Huns did not actually occur
in the Vistula wood, but after the Goths had left the Vistula.

124, 130. _Wudga_ and _Hama_. The typical outlaws of German tradition.
Hama appears in _Beowulf_ (v. 1198) as a fugitive who has stolen the
Brising necklace and fled from Eormanric. Wudga, the Widia of
_Waldhere_ (B, vv. 4, 9) came finally to be known for his treachery.
He was connected with the court of Theodoric and received gifts from
him, but he is later represented as having betrayed the king. The
traditions about both of these men are badly confused.

135-143. One of the passages that give us a definite impression of the
scop, or minstrel, and his life. It serves very well for the
conclusion of a poem descriptive of the life of a minstrel.

DEOR'S LAMENT

[Critical text and translation: Dickins, _Runic and Heroic Poems_,
Cambridge University Press, 1915, p. 70.

Alliterative translation: Gummere, _Oldest English Epic_ (1910), p. 186.

The metrical arrangement of this poem into strophes with a constant
refrain is very unusual in the poetry of the Anglo-Saxons, though it is
common among their Scandinavian kinsmen. This fact has led some scholars
to believe that we have here a translation from the Ol