Beowulf starts with a "So", in the 1999 Seamus Heaney translation. He explains why in the foreword: 'so' operates as an expression that obliterates all

Beowulf starts with a "So", in the 1999 Seamus Heaney translation. He explains why in the foreword: 'so' operates as an expression that obliterates all previous discourse and narrative, and at the same time functions as an exclamation calling for immediate attention. https://books.google.com/books?id=mlg7VKOvsZAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=beowulf+seamus+heaney&hl=en&sa=X&ei=TrkqVaSOC478oASw2IL4CQ&ved=0CC8QuwUwAA#v=onepage&q=Conventional%20renderings&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=mlg7VKOvsZAC&printsec=fron... (click 'page' link to expand quoted area) This is pretty much in-line with Steve Wilson's "Full-start" theory in the last paragraph.