Notes
[1] Hickes .nas - reconstruction from Rieger, based on l.4.
[2a] Hickes N�fre. em. from Trautmann.�
[2b] Hickes hearogeong. em. from Grundtvig. Kemble emends to he{o}rogeong. Trautmann emends to hea{�}ogeo{rn}.
[2] the leader of the Half-Danes
- see Beowulf fitt 16.
[3] Hickes eastun. em. from Grundtvig.
[5] for� bera� is lacking an object. some editors supply possibly gapped (two half-?)lines: Rieger fyrdsearu rincas, fynd ofer foldan ; Grein & Holthausen feorhgeni�lan, fyrdsearu fuslicu ; Grundtvig suggests leaving texts unemended with an unexpressed subject (the enemy warriors). �
[5] I.e. the enemy, the Frisians.
[6] Or the half-line
may mean 'the steel-grey (mail)-coat clangs'.
[11] Hickes landa. em. from Holthausen.
[12] Hickes winda�. em. from Holthausen.
[15] Sigeferth & Eaha are two (Half-)Danish warriors.
[16] Ordlaf and Guthlaf are two (Half-)Danish warriors. The Frisian warrior Garulf (see below, l.18) is named as the son of a man named Guthlaf (l.33). This may or may not indicate that father fights against son in this battle. Klaeber notes that there is no reason to assume that there are not two Guthlafs--one Frisian, one Danish.
[17] Hengist apparently the leader of the 'Half-Danes' after the
slaying of Hnaef , though various critics have identified Hengest as
a Jute, Frisian or Angle. This Hengest is perhaps identical to the (semi-)historical
Hengest who conquered Kent
[18] Hickes styrode. em. from Holthausen/Trautmann. Trautmann and Chambers also suggest altering Garulf to Garulf{e}.�
[18] Alternately 'Guthere directed
Garulf' (see above n.). �Guthere and Garulf are two Frisian warriors apparently.
They may be related, uncle and nephew perhaps.
[20] Hickes b�ran. em. Kemble.
[22] presumably Garulf (or less likely, Guthere)
[24] Rieger, Trautmann, Holthausen, Sedgefield omit cwe� he for metrical reasons. cwe� he is surely extrametrical in any event.
[24] Sigeferth is a Sedgean warrior (a Germanic coastal tribe) and
one of Hnaef's warriors - it is he who answers Garulf/Guthere
[25a] Hickes Wrecten. em. from Grundtvig.
[25b] Hickes weuna. em. from Conybeare.
]29a] Hickes Cel�s. em. from Rieger.�
[29a] Hickes bor�. em. from Grein.
[29b] Hickes Genumon. em. from Grein.
[29] The meaning of OE cellod is unclear. Grein suggests 'keel-shaped', Trautmann explains it as a Kentish form for cyllod 'leather bag or bottle' (thus cellod bord would mean 'shield covered with leather'). Clark Hall suggests 'round?, hollow?, embossed?, beaked?'. I suggest a possible relation to cel/cawl ('basket, cawl') and thus 'round[ed] (like a cawl or a basket is rounded)'.
[30] Bugge suggests barhelm ('boar-helmet', cf. Beowulf n.303-4). Dobbie suggests banhelm means 'bone-protection, i.e. shield'. I suggest possibly 'bone-helmet' is a kenning for 'skull', though the proximity to bord 'shield' suggests some piece of war-gear instead (e.g. an actual helmet, or shield).
[34] Hickes Hwearflacra. em. from Grundtvig.
[34] Hickes hr�r. em. from Grundtvig.
[36] Hickes Fnnsburuh. em. from Trautmann.
[38] Hickes geb�rann. em. from Kemble.
[39] Hickes swa noc hwitne. em. from Rieger. Grein (followed by Klaeber & others) emends to swanas (herdsman, ?warrior). Holthausen attempts to make two lines: ne n�fre swanas�� swetne medo{drinc} / sel forgyldan�� {hira sincgifan} .
[39] i.e. having drunk mead and thus having sworn oaths (whose fulfilment the poem is applauding), for which task ceremonial drinking of mead or wine was often involved -see Beowulf l.2182.
[43] probably a wounded Frisian, though Rieger suggests a Dane who
is questioned by the Frisian
[45a] Hickes hror. em. from Chambers/Holthausen.
[45b] Hickes �yrl. em. from Trautmann.
[46] 'protector of the people' - most likely refers to Finn