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Exeter Book Riddle 48, Line 7b


The emendation of the manuscript reading beþuncan to beþencan in line 7b of the Exeter Book’s Riddle 48 has been widely accepted. The Old English Dialogues, however, provide evidence that a strong passive participle beþuncen had been introduced into the paradigm of the weak verb beþencan (to entrust) in the Mercian dialect, admitting the possibility that beþuncan is a genuine preterite plural form. The passive participle brungen, attested in Mercian, is a possible analogical basis for the development of beþuncen in the same dialect, from which other strong forms may subsequently have arisen. The meter and the motives for scribal alteration in Riddle 48 make it probable that beþuncan is original and that it is rather ongietan in line 6a that should be emended.