The name is absent

414         THE SAXONS IN ENGLAND. [book i.

of Wessex. It is a singular fact that the Anglo-
saxons alone possess the fine mythus of this hero ;
the opening division or canto of Beowulf relates of
him that he was exposed as a child in a ship upon
the ocean ; a costly treasure accompanied the sleep-
ing infant as he floated to the shores of the Gar-
danes, whose king he became ; after reigning glo-
riously and founding a race of kings, he died, and
was again sent forth in his ship, surrounded with
treasures, to go into the unknown world, from
which he came ; he came to found a royal race ɪ,
and having done so, he departs and nothing more
is known of him. That this mythus was deeply
felt in England appears from its being referred
to even by the later chroniclers: AvSelweard² and
William of Malmesbury³ mention it at length, and a

whom God sent
to the people for their comfort,
the evil need he understood
which they before had suffered
while without a ting.

Beow. 1. 2G.

^a ÆtSelw. lib. iii. lie attributes the legend to Sceaf, ScyId’s father;
his words are : “ Ipse Scef cum uno dromone advectus est in insula
oceani quae dicitur Scani, armis circumdatus, eratque valde recens
puer, et ab incolis illius terrae ignotus ; attamen ab eis suscipitur, et ut
familiarem diligenti animo eum Custodierunt, et post inregem eligunt:
de euius prosapia ordinem trahit Athulf rex.”

³ WilliamofMalmesbury (G. R. ii.llG) adds anotherpeculiarityto the
legend, which however he gives to Sceaf, SeyId’s father ; he says, “ Iste,
ut ferunt, in quandanι insulam Germaniae Scandzam, de qua Jordanes
Iiistoriographus Gothorum Ioquitur, appulsus, navi sine remige, pueru-
lus, posito ad caput fruɪɪɪenti manipulo, dormiens, ideoque Sceaf nun-
cupatus, ab hoɪninibus regionis illius pro miraculo exceptus, et sedulo
nutritus, adulta aetate regnavit in oppido quod tunc Slasvic, nunc
vero Haithebi appellatur. Est autem regio ilia Anglia Vetus dicta,
unde Angli venerunt in Britanniam, inter Saxones et Gothos consti-

desire to engraft a national upon a biblical tradition
not only causes Sceaf to be called by some authors the
son of Shem, but leads to the assertion of the Saxon
chronicle that Sceaf was the son of Noah, born in
the ark¹, in obvious allusion to the miraculous ex-
posure on the waters. The mention of Scani by
√E⅞>elweard may be taken in connection with a
Norse tradition that Skjold was Skanunga goj>, a
god of the Scanings. An Anglosaxon riddle in the
Codex Exoniensis ², and of which the answer seems
to me to be only a shield, concludes with the very
remarkable words,

The second line seems to exclude the supposition of
there being any reference to Almighty God, though
Scyld, like Helm, is one of his names, examples
of which are numerous in all Anglosaxon poetry.
There are one or two places in England which bear
the name of this god or hero : these are Scyldes
trcow³, Scyldmcre⁴, and Scyldes heafda⁵ ; but ex-
cept in the genealogy of Wessex and the tradition
recorded by √E^lδelweard and William of Malmesbury,
there is no record of Sceaf.

As in the poem of Beowulf, Scyld is said to have

tuta.” Wendover (Flor. Hist.) copies Malmesbury, with the explana-
tion of the name Sceafa, from Sceaf a sheaf of corn ; others derived it
from scιifan, tn∕.dcre., “ quia fortunae commissus.” Die Stammtafel der
Westsachsen, p. 33.

' “ Se wæs geboren in 'δ⅛re earce Noes.” Oliron. Sax. 855.

² Ood. Exon. p. 407.                     ³ Cod. Dipl. No. 436.

⁴ Ibid. Nos. 356, 762.                    ^δ Ibid. No. 721.

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