422
THE SAXONS IN ENGLAND.
[book I.
the constructor of a wondrous boat, and that the
act of the son may thus have been transferred to
the father, Welands boat to Wade.
In the Northern tradition appears a brother of
Weland, named Eigil or Egil, who is celebrated as
an archer, and to whom belongs the wide-spread
tale which has almost past into accredited history
in the case of William Tell ; this tale given by Saxo
Grammaticus to Toko, by the Jomsvikinga Saga
to Palnatoki, and by other authorities to other
heroes from the twelfth till the very end of the fif-
teenth century, but most likely of the very high-
est antiquity in every part of Europe, was beyond
doubt an English one also, and is repeated in the
ballad of William of Cloudesley : it is therefore pro-
bable that it belongs to a much older cycle, and
was as well known as the legends of Wada and
Weland, with which it is so nearly connected. Ei-
gil would among the Anglosaxons have borne the
form of Ægel, and accordingly we find places
compounded with this name,—thus Æglesbyrig,
now Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire ; Æglesford,
now Aylsford in Kent ; Ægleslona, in Worcester1 ;
ÆgleswurS, now Aylsworth in Northamptonshire2;
also Ægleswyl ; and lastly Aylestone in Leicester-
shire.
The Wilkina Saga and the Scald’s Complaint
already cited from the Codex Exoniensis, lead us
next to the legends of Deodric (Dietrich von Bern)
and Eormenric, (Hermanaric), and through the lat-
ter to Sigfried and the other heroes of the Nibe-
ɪ Cod. Dipl. No. 549. 2 Ibid. Nos. 691, 423.
CH. X∏∙] HEATHENDOM. DEO'DRΓC. EORMANRΓC. 423
Iungen cycle. The heroic or even godlike character
of Dietrich has been well made out by Grimm1, and
the historical Theodoric the Ostrogoth vanishes in
his traditional representative. The Anglosaxon
poet evidently refers to the latter, not indeed from
the story he tells, but from the collocation of Deo-
dric among merely mythical personages. Perhaps,
as the whole scope of his poem is to relate the mis-
fortunes of the great and thus draw consolation for
his own, the thirty years’ residence in Mæringa-
burg may be considered as a reference to Deodrics
flight from before Otachar2 and long-continued
exile. In a Saxon menology3 of great antiquity,
1 D. Myth. p. 346.
2 The Hiltibrants Lied says,
IIiltibrant haetti nɪin later, ilɪ heittu Padubrant.
torn her ostar gihueit. floh her Otachres nid.
hina mit Theotrihhe. enti sinero degano fiɪu.
sid Detrihhe. darba gistontum.
fateres mines, dat uuas so friuntlaos man.
For remarks on Deodric,s exile see W. Grimm, Deutsche Heldensage,
pp. 22, 24, 34, 36, 37,201, 204.
3 MS. O. C. C. Cantab. No. 179. “ On ISone eahtateoStn dæg Sæs
monδes byδ See Johannes tyd fes papan ,j ‰s martyres, se gedyde
J>nrh Godes myht blyndum men gesyhδe. Done Johannesformfstum
[héht cwellan^] Theodoricus se wæs Gotena cyning in Rauenna ISære
ceastre ; 4 sum wéstensetla on ʌaɪn ealonde 'Se is nβmned Liparus, he
sæde ScipliSendum mannum ‰t he gesawe Johannes sawle fe papan
lιe<lan Sone cy ning Se bine ofsloh gebuudenne on écum wɪtum. He
ewæs, se Godes pe∣5w, to Sam ScipliSendum : Girsan dæg on Sa nigo-
S in tɪ'd dæges, Sæt is on Sone non, peodricus wres gelæded ungyrd ∙j
unsceod ∙j eɪie gebunden be “Sam handuɪn, betweoh Johanne Sam papan
J Finianum δ.im ealdornɪen, t he wæs fraɪn heom aworpenon byrnendθ
seaS oh Sysum neah-ealande, ɔ Sæt is nemned Ulcania. And "Sa sci-
pliδende δa Sæt gehι redon, big ymbhj delice ameareodon Sone dæg, ɜ
him Sa cyrdon eft to Etelwara mι⅛δe, sær hig Sone cyning ær Iyfi-
gende forlæton ; ɔ hig Sa eft bine Sair deadne gemétton, Sy ylcan dæge
⅛e his wɪte Wm Godes J>e6we ætywed wæs. Dæt wæs swiδe riht Sæt