Nu scylun[1] hergan hefaenricaes uard,
metudæs maecti, end his modgidanc,
uerc uuldurfadur— sue[2] he uundra gihuaes,
heben til hrofe, haleg sceppend;
1a scylun] scilun P. 1a hergan] herga P. 1b hefaenricaes] hefenricæs P. 2a maecti] mehti P. 2b end] and P. 2b modgidanc] modgithanc P. 3b gihuaes] gihuæs P. 5a aerist] ærist P. 5b aelda] aeldu P. 5b barnum] barnū M. 6a heben] hefen P. 6a til] to P. 6a hrofe] hrofæ P. 6b haleg] halig P. 6b sceppend] scepen M. 7a middungeard] middingard P. 9b allmectig] allmehtig P.
[1]scylun] scylun is either first person plural with an unexpressed subject (i.e. [ƿue/ƿe] scylun), or third person plural with uerc uuldurfadur, 3a, as subject. The former interpretation is supported by the form in Bede’s paraphrase, debemus; but the latter interpretation is suggested by a lack of convincing syntactic parallels in Old English (see especially Mitchell 1985b), and, perhaps, similar syntax in the Benedicite (Stanley 2002, 3). See above, §§ 5.18-5.20 and 2.43. scylun (and variant spellings) appears without a pronominal subject in all witnesses to the Northumbrian aelda recension (i.e. P and M) and the earliest witnesses to the West-Saxon eorðan recension (N, O [Pre-Correction], and T1). All other recensions and later manuscripts of the West-Saxon eorðan recension have a variant of ƿue/ƿe as subject.
[2]sue] Howlett suggests that sue may be intended as an adverb (“thus”) rather than a causal conjunction (“as, because”). For a discussion of the evidence, see above, § C.9. The punctuation here assumes sue is a conjunction.
[3]tha] tha can be construed as either a causal conjunction (“when”) or an adverb (“then”). While the reading has considerable effect on our understanding of the poem’s structure and theology (see above, § C.9, and esp. Blockley 1998, 20-26), neither reading can be ruled out conclusively. The punctuation in this edition follows that of most modern editions in treating tha as an adverb.