Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 12.djvu/142

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NOTES AND QUERIES, [ii s. xii. ACG. 21, 1915.

the ' Vilkina Saga,' King Herbert's father was named Herthegn, and his mother was Dietrich of Bern's sister ; v. Grimm, u.s., S. 134. It would certainly appear that we are dealing with members of a royal family which reigned over either the whole or a part of Tenelant, i.e., Dania. We will, therefore, endeavour to identify the kings who belonged to that family, and who bore names identical with or similar to the names of Herbert and Herthegn. The deutero- theme -beorht in O.E. is strongly dialectal, and represents berht, which postulates Middle- High-Dutch -perht, -peraht, and New-High- Dutch -precht. Hence " Herbert " does not equata " Herebeorht."

Middle-High-Dutch appears to have been disinclined to use -wold as a deuterotheme, and seems to have preferred either hari or wart thereto. For instance, the M.-H.-D. " Volkher," which appears in Danish borrow- ings from Platt-Deutsch saga as " Folk- quart," answers to the O.E. " Folcwald." Similarly " Sewart " appears in ' Alphart's Tod ' for the earlier " Sewald " {Grimm, u.s., S. 238). If we follow this slight indication where the Middle-High-Dutch " Herbort " is concerned, we shall arrive at *Herbald. This postulates O.E. Herebeald, and that really is the name of a king ruling over the Geatas, a people of Dania, or Tenelant Herebeald was the elder brother of HseScyn of ' Beowulf ' and ' Widsith,' and was acci- dentally slain by him. Their father, we learn from ' Beowulf,' was named HrseSel. The O.E. HrseS- appears (with metathesis of r) on certain coins of Edward the Confessor as Hser))(-cyn). Hence the prototheme of " Her)>-egn " of the ' Vilkina Saga ' corre- sponds to that of the O.E. HrseS-el of ' Beowulf.' The representation of -el by -egn (=en) is casual; cp. himmel with heofon, and Hetel with Heoden. We cannot expect identity in both themes of the names of princes in legends, and we do not always get it even in the Chronicles.

Herebeald and Hseftcyn; the sons of HrseGel, had a sister who is not named. She married Ecgpeow, a prince of the Wseg- mundingas, and was mother of Beowulf. On one hand, then, we have three princes, namely, HrseSel, Herebeald, and Beowulf, occurring in O.E. in clearly specified re- lationship to one another ; and, on the other hand, in Middle - High - Dutch and Danish we get Herthegn, Herbort, and Boppe standing in exactly the same relation- ships, sc., father and grandfather, son and maternal uncle, and grandson and sister's son. These concurrences justify the identifi-

cation of " Boppe usz Tenelant " with Beowulf, Prince of the Geatas of Dania.

A fifth point is the epithet applied to Poppe by the Ackermann of Bohemia, namely, der Starke, i.e., the Mighty, the Strong. There is one particular character- istic of Beowulf which distinguishes him from all the other princes of his day and time ; that is, his wonderful strength of body. In ' Beowulf,' at 1. 379, we are told that the hero had " j^ritiges manna msegen- craeft on his mundgripe," i.e., " he had the strength of thirty men in his handgrip." This elucidates and justifies the phrase der Starke Poppe.

A sixth point is the statement in ' Biterolf * that Boppe usz Tenelant was " still in his first youth." This statement is a necessary corollary to the fact that Eormenric of the Gotas was still living, inasmuch as Boppe stood in the third degree of descent from Eormenric's brother " Dietmar." Thus : Boppe, sister's son of Herbort ; Herbort, sister's son of Theodric ; Theodric, son of Diet-mar (i.e., Merewih*). This indicates that Eormenric was an old man at the time of the action of ' Biterolf,' sc., at least 65. ALFRED ANSCOMBE.

A WEBSTER-MASSINGER PLAY. ' THE FAIR MAID OF THE INN.'

IT has hitherto been assumed that Webster's- extant dramatic work is limited to ten plays, four of which (' The White Devil,' ' The Duchess of Malfy,' ' The Devil's Law Case/ and ' Appius and Virginia ' ) he wrote alone ; three (' Sir Thomas Wyat,' ' Westward Hoe,' and ' Northward Hoe ') in collabora- tion with Dekker ; and cue (' A Curfr for a Cuckold ' ) in collaboration with Rowley. This list is exclusive of the ' Induction ' to Marston's ' Malcontent,' which is also his, and ' The Thracian Wonder,' of which (though attributed by its first publisher to Webster and Rowley) his part- authorship is generally denied. It has never been suspected that Webster collaborate with Massinger ; but such is the fact. ' The Fair Maid of the Inn,' licensed 01 22 Jan., 1626, and first printed in the Beau- mont and Fletcher folio of 1647, is doubtedly a Webster-Massinger play.

" Merewioingas " ; j Beowulf,' 1. 2921. The city of Theodric was " Maeringaburh '^_; ' Deor's Lament,' 1. 19. In the Kentish dialect ae, the i-umlaut of a (Mar-i-), became e; cp. Wright, 'O.E. Grammar,' 134. O.E. a postulates Old Saxon e; cp. " Merouechus " of Gregory of Tours.
 * Merewih is indicated by the Frankish sib-namt