Beowulf: An Anglo-Saxon Epic Poem
Then I heard that at need of the king of the people
The upstanding earlman exhibited prowess,
Vigor and courage, as suited his nature;
[1]He his head did not guard, but the high-minded liegeman's
5 Hand was consumed, when he succored his kinsman,
So he struck the strife-bringing strange-comer lower,
Earl-thane in armor, that _in_ went the weapon
Gleaming and plated, that 'gan then the fire[2]
{Beowulf draws his knife,}
Later to lessen. The liegelord himself then
10 Retained his consciousness, brandished his war-knife,
Battle-sharp, bitter, that he bare on his armor:
{and cuts the dragon.}
The Weder-lord cut the worm in the middle.
They had felled the enemy (life drove out then[3]
Puissant prowess), the pair had destroyed him,
15 Land-chiefs related: so a liegeman should prove him,
A thaneman when needed. To the prince 'twas the last of
His era of conquest by his own great achievements,
[92]
{Beowulf's wound swells and burns.}
The latest of world-deeds. The wound then began
Which the earth-dwelling dragon erstwhile had wrought him
20 To burn and to swell. He soon then discovered
That bitterest bale-woe in his bosom was raging,
Poison within. The atheling advanced then,
{He sits down exhausted.}
That along by the wall, he prudent of spirit
Might sit on a settle; he saw the giant-work,
25 How arches of stone strengthened with pillars
The earth-hall eternal inward supported.
Then the long-worthy liegeman laved with his hand the
{Wiglaf bathes his lord's head.}
Far-famous chieftain, gory from sword-edge,
Refreshing the face of his friend-lord and ruler,
30 Sated with battle, unbinding his helmet.
Beowulf answered, of his injury spake he,
His wound that was fatal (he was fully aware
He had lived his allotted life-days enjoying
The pleasures of earth; then past was entirely
35 His measure of days, death very near):
{Beowulf regrets that he has no son.}
"My son I would give now my battle-equipments,
Had any of heirs been after me granted,
Along of my body. This people I governed
Fifty of winters: no king 'mong my neighbors
40 Dared to encounter me with comrades-in-battle,
Try me with terror. The time to me ordered
I bided at home, mine own kept fitly,
Sought me no snares, swore me not many
{I can rejoice in a well-spent life.}
Oaths in injustice. Joy over all this
45 I'm able to have, though ill with my death-wounds;
Hence the Ruler of Earthmen need not charge me
With the killing of kinsmen, when cometh my life out
Forth from my body. Fare thou with haste now
{Bring me the hoard, Wiglaf, that my dying eyes may be refreshed by a
sight of it.}
To behold the hoard 'neath the hoar-grayish stone,
50 Well-lovèd Wiglaf, now the worm is a-lying,
Sore-wounded sleepeth, disseized of his treasure.
Go thou in haste that treasures of old I,
Gold-wealth may gaze on, together see lying
[93] The ether-bright jewels, be easier able,
55 Having the heap of hoard-gems, to yield my
Life and the land-folk whom long I have governed."
[1] B. renders: _He_ (_W_.) did not regard his (_the dragon's_) _head_
(since Beowulf had struck it without effect), _but struck the dragon a
little lower down.--_One crux is to find out _whose head_ is meant;
another is to bring out the antithesis between 'head' and 'hand.'
[2] 'Þæt þæt fýr' (2702), S. emends to 'þá þæt fýr' = _when the fire
began to grow less intense afterward_. This emendation relieves the
passage of a plethora of conjunctive _þæt_'s.
[3] For 'gefyldan' (2707), S. proposes 'gefylde.' The passage would
read: _He felled the foe (life drove out strength), and they then both
had destroyed him, chieftains related_. This gives Beowulf the credit
of having felled the dragon; then they combine to annihilate him.--For
'ellen' (2707), Kl. suggests 'e(a)llne.'--The reading '_life drove out
strength_' is very unsatisfactory and very peculiar. I would suggest
as follows: Adopt S.'s emendation, remove H.'s parenthesis, read
'ferh-ellen wræc,' and translate: _He felled the foe, drove out his
life-strength_ (that is, made him _hors de combat_), _and then they
both, etc_.
XXXVIII.
WIGLAF PLUNDERS THE DRAGON'S DEN.--BEOWULF'S DEATH.
{Wiglaf fulfils his lord's behest.}
Then heard I that Wihstan's son very quickly,
These words being uttered, heeded his liegelord
Wounded and war-sick, went in his armor,
His well-woven ring-mail, 'neath the roof of the barrow.
5 Then the trusty retainer treasure-gems many
{The dragon's den.}
Victorious saw, when the seat he came near to,
Gold-treasure sparkling spread on the bottom,
Wonder on the wall, and the worm-creature's cavern,
The ancient dawn-flier's, vessels a-standing,
10 Cups of the ancients of cleansers bereavèd,
Robbed of their ornaments: there were helmets in numbers,
Old and rust-eaten, arm-bracelets many,
Artfully woven. Wealth can easily,
Gold on the sea-bottom, turn into vanity[1]
15 Each one of earthmen, arm him who pleaseth!
And he saw there lying an all-golden banner
High o'er the hoard, of hand-wonders greatest,
Linkèd with lacets: a light from it sparkled,
That the floor of the cavern he was able to look on,
{The dragon is not there.}
20 To examine the jewels. Sight of the dragon
[94] Not any was offered, but edge offcarried him.
{Wiglaf bears the hoard away.}
Then I heard that the hero the hoard-treasure plundered,
The giant-work ancient reaved in the cavern,
Bare on his bosom the beakers and platters,
25 As himself would fain have it, and took off the standard,
The brightest of beacons;[2] the bill had erst injured
(Its edge was of iron), the old-ruler's weapon,
Him who long had watched as ward of the jewels,
Who fire-terror carried hot for the treasure,
30 Rolling in battle, in middlemost darkness,
Till murdered he perished. The messenger hastened,
Not loth to return, hurried by jewels:
Curiosity urged him if, excellent-mooded,
Alive he should find the lord of the Weders
35 Mortally wounded, at the place where he left him.
'Mid the jewels he found then the famous old chieftain,
His liegelord belovèd, at his life's-end gory:
He thereupon 'gan to lave him with water,
Till the point of his word piercèd his breast-hoard.
40 Beowulf spake (the gold-gems he noticed),
{Beowulf is rejoiced to see the jewels.}
The old one in sorrow: "For the jewels I look on
Thanks do I utter for all to the Ruler,
Wielder of Worship, with words of devotion,
The Lord everlasting, that He let me such treasures
45 Gain for my people ere death overtook me.
Since I've bartered the agèd life to me granted
For treasure of jewels, attend ye henceforward
{He desires to be held in memory by his people.}
The wants of the war-thanes; I can wait here no longer.
The battle-famed bid ye to build them a grave-hill,
50 Bright when I'm burned, at the brim-current's limit;
As a memory-mark to the men I have governed,
[95] Aloft it shall tower on Whale's-Ness uprising,
That earls of the ocean hereafter may call it
Beowulf's barrow, those who barks ever-dashing
55 From a distance shall drive o'er the darkness of waters."
{The hero's last gift}
The bold-mooded troop-lord took from his neck then
The ring that was golden, gave to his liegeman,
The youthful war-hero, his gold-flashing helmet,
His collar and war-mail, bade him well to enjoy them:
{and last words.}
60 "Thou art latest left of the line of our kindred,
Of Wægmunding people: Weird hath offcarried
All of my kinsmen to the Creator's glory,
Earls in their vigor: I shall after them fare."
'Twas the aged liegelord's last-spoken word in
65 His musings of spirit, ere he mounted the fire,
The battle-waves burning: from his bosom departed
His soul to seek the sainted ones' glory.
[1] The word 'oferhígian' (2767) being vague and little understood,
two quite distinct translations of this passage have arisen. One takes
'oferhígian' as meaning 'to exceed,' and, inserting 'hord' after
'gehwone,' renders: _The treasure may easily, the gold in the ground,
exceed in value every hoard of man, hide it who will._ The other takes
'oferhígian' as meaning 'to render arrogant,' and, giving the sentence
a moralizing tone, renders substantially as in the body of this work.
(Cf. 28_13 et seq.)
[2] The passage beginning here is very much disputed. 'The bill of the
old lord' is by some regarded as Beowulf's sword; by others, as that
of the ancient possessor of the hoard. 'Ær gescód' (2778), translated
in this work as verb and adverb, is by some regarded as a compound
participial adj. = _sheathed in brass_.
XXXIX.
THE DEAD FOES.--WIGLAF'S BITTER TAUNTS.
{Wiglaf is sorely grieved to see his lord look so un-warlike.}
It had wofully chanced then the youthful retainer
To behold on earth the most ardent-belovèd
At his life-days' limit, lying there helpless.
The slayer too lay there, of life all bereavèd,
5 Horrible earth-drake, harassed with sorrow:
{The dragon has plundered his last hoard.}
The round-twisted monster was permitted no longer
To govern the ring-hoards, but edges of war-swords
Mightily seized him, battle-sharp, sturdy
Leavings of hammers, that still from his wounds
10 The flier-from-farland fell to the earth
Hard by his hoard-house, hopped he at midnight
Not e'er through the air, nor exulting in jewels
Suffered them to see him: but he sank then to earthward
Through the hero-chief's handwork. I heard sure it throve then
[96]
{Few warriors dared to face the monster.}
15 But few in the land of liegemen of valor,
Though of every achievement bold he had proved him,
To run 'gainst the breath of the venomous scather,
Or the hall of the treasure to trouble with hand-blows,
If he watching had found the ward of the hoard-hall
20 On the barrow abiding. Beowulf's part of
The treasure of jewels was paid for with death;
Each of the twain had attained to the end of
Life so unlasting. Not long was the time till
{The cowardly thanes come out of the thicket.}
The tardy-at-battle returned from the thicket,
25 The timid truce-breakers ten all together,
Who durst not before play with the lances
In the prince of the people's pressing emergency;
{They are ashamed of their desertion.}
But blushing with shame, with shields they betook them,
With arms and armor where the old one was lying: