background: Cod. Sang. 12, pp. 156-7, Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen / Codices Electronici Sangallenses

Errata in Mitchell & Robinson, 8th ed. (running file)

typographical errors

• p. 28, under §52 line 7, delete redundant period
• p. 110, for "on-gėān" read "on-ġēan"
• p. 193, line 79, for "gif" read "ġif"
• p. 208, line 227, for "swiðe" read "swīðe"
• p. 208, line 231, for "þǣt" read "þæt"
• p. 208, line 231, for "þam" read "þām"
• p. 208, line 231, for "hōlte" read "holte"
• p. 222, line 39, for "æs" read "wæs"
• p. 222, line 47, for "gēare" read ġēare"
• p. 223, line 66, for "Hæfdon" read "hæfdon"
• p. 290, footnote to line 110, for "on" read "ond"
• p. 295, line 1, for "Gār-Dene" read "Gār-Dena"
• p. 315, line 34, for "neālǣhte" read "nėalǣhte"
• p. 316, line 70, for "ðam" read "ðām"
• p. 333, line 109, for "gewelede" read gewēlede"
• p. 352, s.v. ġedafenian, for "w.d." read "w.d.a."
• p. 369, s.v. hālignes, add "sanctuary np hālignessa 22/33"
• p. 374, s.v. hocor, for "hocor read "hōcor", and for "hocore" read "hōcere"
• p. 377, s.v. ġelac, for "ġelac" read "ġelāc"
• p. 404, s.v. þæt, add "; tæt 6/33"
• p. 407, s.v. ġeþwǣlǣcan, for "ġeþwǣlǣcan" read "ġeþwǣrlǣcan"
• p. 411, s.v. ġewelhwylc, for "ġewelhwylc" read "ġewelhwylc"

omissions and errors of judgement

• p. 215, footnote to lines 79–81: for "someone is making a copy (from it)" read "someone is making a copy from (it)" ("from" is expressed by the preposition bī, so for consistency's sake "from 5/81" should be added to the glossary entry for be on p. 348).
• p. 218, footnote to lines 34–5: translate instead "Then they (Cyneheard's men) said that they would not stoop to the level of that (offer of safe passage)", and scratch the explanation that follows. The claim that "[o]nmunan with refl. pron. (hīe) takes a gen. obj. (þæs)" is remarkable inasmuch as this is the only such construction in the corpus; that onmunan takes a genitive of the thing considered worthy is, however, correct.
• p. 222, footnote to line 36: for "the collective noun here" substitute "the implied crews of the ships from East Anglia and London". The annalist uses here to refer to the Scandinavian army, reserving fyrd for the Anglo-Saxons.
• p. 287, footnote to lines 41–3: for "for him [in return for his services as a seafarer]", substitute "with him [i.e. to what use his lord wants to put him]". The dative of interest is out of the question, as the accusative form hine is used, not the dative him.
• p. 299, line 774, add comma after "īrenbendum".
• p. 301, footnote to line 850, for "the one doomed to death (i.e. Grendel) had been concealed" read "[the water] concealed the one doomed to death (i.e. Grendel)".
• p. 301, line 857, delete comma after "gecwæð" to avoid reading the following clause as a purpose clause.
• p. 303, footnote to line 897, for the translation substitute "heat melted the dragon". Most everyone assumes gemeltan must be intransitive, but the sequence is far more easily explained as the common poetic pattern <direct object> [subject] verb.
• p. 305, footnote to lines 1355–7: the translation seems misguided. Apart from the second pronoun in "they do not know whether they had any father born of mysterious demons" being dangerously ambiguous [are the Danes of monstrous parentage?], the second half should be rendered "whether any mysterious demon [better: 'hidden spirit'] had been born before him [i.e. before Grendel—this would be his father]".
• p. 305, line 1358, add comma after "warigeað".
• p. 341, add entry "ælmesriht n. right of the Church to receive alms, or the obligation of the people to give alms ns ælmæsriht 22/41".
• p. 354, s.v. duguð ("advantage"), before "dp duguðum 18(d)" insert "splendidly".
• p. 358, add entry "fadian 2 arrange inf. 22/178; pret. 3s fadode 22/55".
• p. 369, add entry "hādbryċe m. injury of a person in holy orders ap hādbrycas 22/123".
• p. 372, add entry "hete m. hate, enmity ns 22/50".
• p. 378, s.v. lār, before "10(b)/68" add "stratagem".
• p. 385, s.v. mōtan, add "must, be obliged pres. 1p mōte 22/13".
• p. 390, s.v. onmunan, for "pay attention to" substitute "esteem, consider worthy; (refl.) condescend".
• p. 401, add entry "ġeswīgian 2 w.g. be silent about pret. 3p geswugedan 22/166"; s.v. swīgian delete "; 3p swugedan 22/166".
• p. 404, add entry "ġetrēowlīce adv. faithfully getrȳwlīce 22/59".
• p. 409, s.v. ūtene, replace "see ūtan" with "adv. out, on sea"; s.v. ūtan, delete "ūtene 7/31".
• p. 411, add entry "ġewēlan 1 bind together p. ptc. gewēlede 22/109".

A number of consistent choices of vowel length and palatal realization also seem hard to justify. Among these is the short second vowel in Ælfred (passim).