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Article: The Sequence sib ge maenum in Beowulf line 1857a.(Essays)
- Article from:
- ANQ
- Article date:
- September 22, 2003
- Author:
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A little over halfway through the poem named for him, Beowulf announces his wish to return to his native land (Higelac secan [1820a]). Hrothgar graciously bids farewell and expressly states that Beowulf would one day be an ideal king. He had brought about a harmonious relationship between Geats and Danes:
Hafast pu gefered paet bam folcum sceal
Geata leodumond Gar-Denum
sib gemaene ond sacu restan,
inwimibas be hie aer drugon
(Beowulf 1855-58, qtd. in Mitchell and Robinson 109-10)
The edited text does not present major problems from the point of view of its vocabulary. Liuzza translated the quoted passage as follows: "You have ...