Soothly to tell us, they in halls who reside,[4]
Heroes under heaven, to what haven he hied.

[1] For the 'Þæt' of verse 15, Sievers suggests 'Þá' (= which). If
this be accepted, the sentence 'He had ... afflicted' will read: _He_
(_i.e._ God) _had perceived the malice-caused sorrow which they,
lordless, had formerly long endured_.

[2] For 'aldor-léase' (15) Gr. suggested 'aldor-ceare': _He perceived
their distress, that they formerly had suffered life-sorrow a long
while_.

[3] A very difficult passage. 'Áhte' (31) has no object. H. supplies
'geweald' from the context; and our translation is based upon this
assumption, though it is far from satisfactory. Kl. suggests
'lændagas' for 'lange': _And the beloved land-prince enjoyed (had) his
transitory days (i.e. lived)_. B. suggests a dislocation; but this is
a dangerous doctrine, pushed rather far by that eminent scholar.

[4] The reading of the H.-So. text has been quite closely followed;
but some eminent scholars read 'séle-rædenne' for 'sele-rædende.' If
that be adopted, the passage will read: _Men cannot tell us, indeed,
the order of Fate, etc._ 'Sele-rædende' has two things to support it:
(1) v. 1347; (2) it affords a parallel to 'men' in v. 50.




II.