A good many cognate Modern English words have been introduced here and
there in the Glossary with a view to illustration, and other addenda will
be found between brackets and parenthetical marks.

It is hoped that the present edition of the most famous of Old English
poems will do something to promote a valuable and interesting study.


JAMES A. HARRISON,
_Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va._

ROBERT SHARP,
_University of Louisiana, New Orleans_.

April, 1883.


The responsibility of the editors is as follows: H. is responsible for the
Text, and for the Glossary from hrînan on; S. for the List of Names, and
for the Glossary as far as hrînan.

ARGUMENT.

The only national [Anglo-Saxon] epic which has been preserved entire is
Beówulf. Its argument is briefly as follows:--The poem opens with a few
verses in praise of the Danish Kings, especially Scild, the son of Sceaf.
His death is related, and his descendants briefly traced down to Hroðgar.
Hroðgar, elated with his prosperity and success in war, builds a
magnificent hall, which he calls Heorot. In this hall Hroðgar and his
retainers live in joy and festivity, until a malignant fiend, called