168
THE SAXONS IN ENGLAND.
[book I.
cations in the law of the people. As the proper
name for the freeman is ceorl, and for the born-noble
eorl, so is the true word for the comes, or comrade,
gesrδ. This is in close etymological connection with
si®, a journey, and literally denotes one who ac-
companies another. The functions and social po-
sition of the gesfδ led however to another appella-
tion : in this peculiar relation to the prince, he is
J>egn, a thane, strictly and originally a servant or
minister, and only noble when the service of royalty
had shed a light upon dependence and imperfect
freedom. Beowulf describes himself as the relative
and thane of Hygelac : but his royal blood and tried
valour make him also the head of a comitatus, and
he visits Heort with a selected band of his own
comrades, swæse gesi‰s: they, like himself, be-
long however to his lord, and are described as Hy-
gelac’s beodgeneatas, heoιjδgeneatas (tischgenossen,
heerdgenossen), sharers in the monarch’s table and
hearth. A portion of the booty taken in war na-
turally became the property of the gesi‰s ; this
almost follows from the words of Tacitus ; and
Saxo Grammaticus, who in this undoubtedly ex-
presses a genuine fact, although after a peculiar
fashion of his own, says of one of his heroes1,
“ Proceres non solum domesticis Stipendiis cole-
bat, sed etiam spoliis ex hoste quaesitis : affirmare
solitus, pecuniam ad milites, gloriam ad ducem re-
dundare debere.” And again2, “ Horum omnium
clientelam rex Iiberali fam Hiaritate coluerat. Nam
primis apud eum honoribus, habitum, cultos auro
ɪ Hist. Dan. ρ. 6. 2 Ibid. p. 144.
CH. v∏.]
THE NOBLE BY SERVICE.
169
gladios, opimaque bellorum praemia perceperunt.”
Thus also Hialto sings ɪ,
« Dulce est nos domino percepta rependere dona,
Acceptare enses, famaeque impendere ferrum.
Enses theutonici, galeae, armillaeque nitentes,
Loricae talo immissae, quas Contulit olim
Rolvo suis, memores acuant in praelia mentes.
Res petit, et par est, quaecumque per otia sum ma
Nacti pace sumus, belli ditione mereri.”
The same amusing author tells us2 how on some
occasion, in consequence of there being no queen in
a court, the comités were ill supplied with clothes,
a difficulty which they could only provide against
by inducing their king to marry: “ Igitur contu-
bernales Frothonis circa indumentorum usum fe-
minea admodum ope defecti, quum non haberent
unde nova assuere, aut lacera reficere possent,
regem Celebrandi coniugii monitis adhortantur.”
There seems no reason to doubt the fact thus re-
corded, however we may judge respecting its oc-
currence in the time of Frotho. Similarly when
Siegfried set out upon his fatal marriage expedition
into Burgtmdy, he and his twelve comrades were
clothed by the care of the royal Siglint3. From this
relation between the prince and the comités, are
derived the names appropriated to the former in
the epopoea, of hlaford, lord, literally bread-giver :
sinces brytta, beaga brytta, distributor of treasure,
nngs ; sincgifa, treasure-giver, and the like. It is
clear also that a right to any share in the booty
could not be claimed by the gesi®, as it undoubt-
1 Sax. Gram. Hist. Dan. p. 33. 2 Hist. Dan. p. 68.
3 Nibeluuge Not. 66. p. 10, Lachmann.