Aldfrith and Beoivulf 323 



Such is the feud and the enmity, the deadly strife of nations, for 

 which, as I ween, the Swedish people will attack us, soon as they learn 

 that our lord is dead, he who upheld our treasure and our realm against 

 the foe after the overthrow of heroes, wrought good for his people, 

 and furthermore did great and glorious deeds. 



Finally, it may not be altogether unreasonable to regard Beowulf's 

 Homeric cairn upon the headland of Hronesness as representing, 

 in one aspect, the poetic enhancement and exaltation of that 

 monument at Driffield which kept Aldfrith's memory alive for 

 so many centuries. 



VI. THE EAST RIDING AND BEOWULF 



The circmiistances of Aldfrith's death, and the fact that his 

 memory was perpetuated for a thousand years in the place where 

 he died, deserve consideration in some detail, for their bearing 

 upon his possible relation to the composition of Beowidf. 



The Saxon Chronicle records the death of Aldfrith as occurring 

 at Driffield, on Dec. 14, 705. An Irish contemporary, as we have 

 seen,^ declared that he was slain in battle. There are now two 

 places of the name of Driffield, both some 27 miles E. of York, 20 

 miles S. of Scarborough, and 11 miles N. of Beverley. Great 

 Driffield has a population of about 6000 ; Little Driffield, a mile to 

 the N. W., has only two or three hundred inhabitants. Of Little 

 Driffield, Black's Picturesque Guide to Yorksliire (1871) reports 

 (p. 119) : *A marble tablet in the Chapel, which is a respectable 

 building, bears the inscription : — "Here lies the body of Alfred, 

 King of Northumberland, who departed this life January 19th, 

 A. D. 705, in the xxth year of his reign. . . ." ' Here 'Northum- 

 berland, for 'Northumbria,' is misleading, 'Alfred' is a not 

 unexampled corruption of 'Aldfrith,' and 'January 19th' is posi- 

 tively wrong, being a misreading of 'the 19th of the Calends of 

 January.' But the tablet is modern and negligible. The Guide 

 continues : 'There can be no doubt that Driffield was the scene of 

 many fierce battles about the time referred to, for the tumuli of 

 the slain may yet be seen in various places in the neighborhood; 

 it is not improbable, therefore, that Alfred may have received his 

 death-wound here, if he fell in battle, as some writers say. 



^ Above, p. 307. 



