The objectionable ä and æ, for the short and the long diphthong, have been
retained in the revised edition, owing to the impossibility of removing
them without entirely recasting the plates.

In conclusion, the editors would acknowledge their great indebtedness to
the friends and critics whose remarks and criticisms have materially aided
in the correction of the text,--particularly to Profs. C.P.G. Scott,
Baskervill, Price, and J.M. Hart; to Prof. J.W. Bright; and to the
authorities of Cornell University, for the loan of periodicals necessary to
the completeness of the revision. While the second revised edition still
contains much that might be improved, the editors cannot but hope that it
is an advance on its predecessor, and that it will continue its work of
extending the study of Old English throughout the land.

JUNE, 1885.


NOTE I.

The present work, carefully edited from Heyne's fourth edition, (Paderborn,
1879), is designed primarily for college classes in Anglo-Saxon, rather
than for independent investigators or for seekers after a restored or ideal
text. The need of an American edition of "Beówulf" has long been felt, as,
hitherto, students have had either to send to Germany for a text, or
secure, with great trouble, one of the scarce and expensive English
editions. Heyne's first edition came out in 1863, and was followed in 1867
and 1873 by a second and a third edition, all three having essentially the
same text.