_fandian_, to enquire (connected with _find_); and _bæcbord_, port,
which still survives in French from Norman sources. _Dæg_, day, and
_ænig_, any, show how existing English has softened the final _g_ into a
_y_. But the main difference which separates the modern passage from its
ancient prototype is the consistent dropping of the grammatical
inflexions in _hlaforde_, _Ælfrede_, _ealra_, _feawum_, and _fandian_,
where we now say, _to his lord_, _of all_, _in few_, and _to enquire_.

The next passage, from the old English epic of _Beowulf_, shows the
language in another aspect. Here, as in all poetry, archaic forms
abound, and the syntax is intentionally involved. It is written in the
old alliterative rhythm, described in the next chapter:–

Beowulf mathelode bearn Ecgtheowes;
Hwæt! we the thas sæ-lac sunu Healfdenes
Leod Scyldinga lustum brohton,
Tires to tacne, the thu her to-locast.
Ic thæt un-softe ealdre gedigde
Wigge under wætere, weore genethde
Earfothlice; æt rihte wæs
Guth getwæfed nymthe mec god scylde.

* * * * *

Beowulf spake, the son of Ecgtheow:
See! We to thee this sea-gift, son of Healfdene,
Prince of the Scyldings, joyfully have brought,
For a token of glory, that thou here lookest on.
That I unsoftly, gloriously accomplished,
In war under water: the work I dared,