hat man held the door.
"I am Sigferth," he said, "the Secgan's prince;
Wide have I wandered; many woes have I known
And bitter battles. Be it bad or good
Thou shalt surely receive what thou seekest from me."
30 At the wall by the door rose the din of battle;
In the hands of heroes the hollow bucklers
Shattered the shields. Shook then the hall floor
Till there fell in the fight the faithful Garulf,
Most daring and doughty of the dwellers on earth,
35 The son of Guthlaf; and scores fell with him.
O'er the corpses hovered the hungry raven,
Swarthy and sallow-brown. A sword-gleam blazed
As though all Finnsburg in flames were burning.
Never heard I of heroes more hardy in war,
40 Of sixty who strove more strongly or bravely,
Of swains who repaid their sweet mead better
Than his loyal liegemen to their loved Hnaef.
Five days they fought, but there fell not a one
Of the daring band, though the doors they held always.
45 Now went from the warfare a wounded chief.
He said that his burnie was broken asunder,
His precious war-gear, and pierced was his helmet.
Then questioned their chief and inquired of him
How the warriors recovered from the wounds they received,
50 Or which of the youths . . . . . . .

1. The fragment begins in the middle of a word.

2. The "battle-young king" is probably the Hengest of v. 19. Possibly he
is to be identified with Hengest, the conqueror of Kent.

5, 6. In the original these lines seem to be incomplete. The translation
attempts to keep the intended meaning.

14, 15. In the original these appear as a single greatly expanded line,
which was probably at one time two lines.

17. _Sigeferth_ (see also line 26), prince of the Secgans is probably
identical with Saeferth who ruled the Secgans in _Widsith_, v. 31.

18. _Ordlaf and Guthlaf_ appear in the account in _Beowulf_ (vv. 1148,
ff.) as Oslaf and Guthlaf. They are the avengers of Hnaef.

20. From the construction it is impossible to tell who is the speaker and
who is being restrained. But from line 33 it is seen to be Garulf who
neglects the advice and is killed. Garulf and Guthere are, of course,
of the attacking band.

26. _Sigferth_, one of the defenders. See v. 17,