Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 29.djvu/335

Rh help.' The object of 'smæ' is 'us,' the dative or accusative plural of the first personal pronoun; and the subject of 'helipæ' is 'god aluwaludo'

which would be 'god awalda' in the later W. S. dialect; 'god alouualdo' in the O. S. dialect of the Heliand, 'good all wielder.' It seems most natural to supply '' at the beginning, making 'godu' a noun of the same form as 'flodu.' At the end 'helipæ' requires a noun or two in the genitive case; 'cyn' must be the beginning of 'cyningæs' or 'cynniæs,' king or kin, and Mr. Haigh thinks it more probable that the last words were 'cyningæas Ædwines,' King Ædwin, than 'cynniæs ussæs,' our race, and that the name of his successor S. Oswald, Oswaldœs or Ouswaludos, would be too long. At first Mr. Haigh thought the meaning of the whole inscription, as he restored it, was 'May God regard us. The good all ruler may he help our kin.' But further consideration led him to think it meant 'May God regard us. May good all wielder help King Ædwine.' Dr. Charlton agrees with Mr. Haigh in his opinion. And it should seem that there can be little doubt on the matter; for the Saxon forms of our words 'God,' 'us,' 'good,' 'help,' and 'kin' or 'king,' five out of seven words still appear in this inscription, and the only doubt is as to the missing letters.

"Mr. Haigh, from the fulness of the vowels in two of the words, refers the inscription to as early a period as possible consistently with its Christian character, which limits it to 625, as the earliest period. The following facts may, perhaps, afford ground for some conjecture as to the owner of this comb.

"Edwin, the greatest prince of the Heptarchy, who was renowned for the strict execution of justice and the reclamation of his subjects from a licentious life, married Ethelburga, daughter of Ethelbert, King of