occurs only twice (V. 670, 810) in the first 1000 verses of Beowulf in the same long-line, whilst the juxta-position of verses of this type is found 28 times (V. 4/5, 10/11, 15/16, 34/35, 99/100 etc.) in the transition of one long-line to the next.

In Beowulf and in older alliterative poetry in general the sentence pause is frequently found in the middle of the long-line (cp. § 14). The new sentence runs on into the next long-line. Later on, however, there is an increasing tendency to put the sentence pause at the end of the long-line. The former is called by Deutschbein (Zur Entwicklung des englischen Alliterationsverses. Halle 1902, p. 8) 'Hakenstil' (lit. 'hook-style'), the latter 'Zeilenstil' (lit. 'line-style').

§ 84. Examples.

The following will serve as examples to show how the six main types and the 90 subforms are used in continuous passages:

a) Scyld's Burial (Beowulf 26—52). Him þa Scyld gewāt tō gescæp-hwile fela-hrōr feran on frean wäre.

Hi hyne þa ætbæron to brimes farođe swæse gesīdas, swā hē selfa bæd benden wordum weold wine Scyldinga, leof land-fruma lange ahte

þær æt hyde stod hringed-stefna,
īsig ond ūt-fūs ædelinges fær.
Aledon þā lēofne pēoden,
beaga bryttan on bearm scipes,

mærne be mæste; þær wæs madma fela
of feor-wegum frætwa gelæded.

Ne hyrde ic cỹmlicor ceol gegyrwan hilde-wæpnum ond heado-wædum, billum ond byrnum; him on bearme læg mādma mænigo þā him mid scoldon on flōdes æht feor gewītan.

Nalæs hĩ hine lassan lacum tēodan, peod-gestrēonum, þonne þā dydon be hine æt frumsceafte ford onsendon ænne ofer yde umbor-wesende.

þā gūt hĩe him asetton segen gyldenne heah ofer heafod, lēton holm beran,

geafon on garsecg; him was geōmor sefa, murnende mōd. Men ne cunnon

secgan to sōđe sele-rædende

B,C2 | 34,65

A2,C3 11,68

A3,C3 27,70

A,B 2,31

B,D1 31,75

D1,A 77,1

B,A 31,1

7,32

hæled under heofenum hwā þæm hlæste onfeng. A,B

b) Edward's Death (AS. Chronicle 1066).

weold wel-(ge)þungen Walum ond Scottum
ond Bryttum eac byre Aedelrēdes,
Englum ond Sexum, ōret-mægcum
swa ymb-clyppap cealde brimmas
þæt eall Eadwarde æđelum kinge
hyrdon holdlice hagestealde menn.
Was a blide-mōd bealu-lēas ky[ni]ng
beah he lange ær landes bereafod
wunōde wræc-lastum wide geond eordan,
syddan Cnut ofercōm kynn Aedelrēdes
ond Dena wēoldon deore rīce
Engla landes: eahta twentig

wintra gerīmes welan brytnōdan.

Syddan forb becōm frēolīc in geatwum kyningc cystum gōd clæne ond milde Eadward sẽ adela edel bewerode, land ond leode, oppæt lungre becom deal sẽ bitera, ond swa deore genam ædelne of eordan; englas feredon sōp-fæste sawle innan swegles leoht.

31,1

C2,A 66,1

A2,A2 15,18

A,D1 2,72

B,A2 31,14

$ 85. Later alliterative Verse. Alliterative Prose. In many later poems there are many variations in the 'filling' of the verse or in the position of

the alliteration. The general character of the alliterative verse, however, as we see from the examples above, was much the same in the eleventh century as in the eighth.

By the side of the strict alliterative verse there is in some works of Elfric also a kind of alliterating rhythmical prose, which is divided into small sections, corresponding to the alliterative half-lines of verse. Generally two sections are connected by the fact that one word in each section begins with the same sound. The alliterating words, however, are not always those most strongly stressed. The following passage from Elfric is taken from Zupitza-Schipper Übungsbuch (8th ed.), p. 72:

An man was eardigende. on Israhela bēode. Manue gehaten. of dære mægđe Dan. his wif was untỹmende. and hig wunedon butan cilde. him com þā gangende to. godes engel and cwæð. đæt hi sceoldon habban. sunu him gemæne. sẽ bid gode halig. from his cild-hade. and man ne mōt hine efsian. odde besciran. nē hē ealu ne drince. næfre obbe win. ne näht fūles ne dicge. for þām be he onginđ. tō ālỹsenne his folc. Israhela pēode. of Philistea peowte.

It is as impossible to arrange this alliterative prose in metrically definite verses as it is the early ME. legends of Katharina, Juliana, Margaretha. The latest attempt by W. Wagner to arrange Sawles Warde in verses (Sawles Warde. Kritische Textausgabe. Bonn 1908) cannot be said to be successful.

$86. The "Schwellverse".

By the side of the normal alliterative verses, which alone hitherto have been considered, there occur in nearly all long poems so-called "Schwellverse" (lengthened lines). These are generally arranged in groups of two or more long-lines. They occur particularly frequently in Genesis, Daniel, Judith, Gudlac, Crist, Dream of the Rood and also in the OS. alliterative poetry. Sievers gave a list of all the Schwellverse of OE. poetry in PBB 12, 454 f.; compare Engl. Stud. 21, 375. All the OE. Schwellverse were printed Engl. Stud. 21, 355–375.

NOTE. In addition to the works on the Schwellverse already quoted there have appeared the following: Sievers, Der angelsächsische Schwellvers. PBB 12, 454ff. — Luick, Über den Versbau des ags. Gedichts Judith. PBB 11, 470 ff.; Zur altenglischen und altsächsischen Metrik. Schwellvers und Normalvers, Alliteration und Versrhythmus. PBB15, 441 ff. Kauffmann, Die sog. Schwellverse der alt- und angelsächsischen Dichtung. PBB 15, 360 ff. Cremer, Metrische und sprachliche Untersuchung der altenglischen Gedichte Andreas, Gudlac, Phoenix etc. Bonn 1888. Heusler, Über germanischen Versbau. Berlin 1894. G. Foster, Judith. Studies in Metre, Language and Style. QF. 71. Strassburg 1892. F. Heath, The Old English Alliterative Line. Transactions of the Philological Society 1891/93, 375–395. Kaluza, Die Schwellverse in der altenglischen Dichtung. Engl. Stud. 21, 337-383 (1895).

§ 87. The older Theories with regard to the Structure of the Schwellverse.

The views of the students of prosody with regard to the nature and structure of the Schwellverse,