Beowulf: An Anglo-Saxon Epic Poem
What grief in Heorot Grendel hath caused me,
20 What horror unlooked-for, by hatred unceasing.
Waned is my war-band, wasted my hall-troop;
Weird hath offcast them to the clutches of Grendel.
God can easily hinder the scather
From deeds so direful. Oft drunken with beer
{My thanes have made many boasts, but have not executed them.}
25 O'er the ale-vessel promised warriors in armor
They would willingly wait on the wassailing-benches
A grapple with Grendel, with grimmest of edges.
Then this mead-hall at morning with murder was reeking,
The building was bloody at breaking of daylight,
30 The bench-deals all flooded, dripping and bloodied,
The folk-hall was gory: I had fewer retainers,
Dear-beloved warriors, whom death had laid hold of.
{Sit down to the feast, and give us comfort.}
Sit at the feast now, thy intents unto heroes,[2]
Thy victor-fame show, as thy spirit doth urge thee!"
{A bench is made ready for Beowulf and his party.}
35 For the men of the Geats then together assembled,
In the beer-hall blithesome a bench was made ready;
There warlike in spirit they went to be seated,
Proud and exultant. A liegeman did service,
[19] Who a beaker embellished bore with decorum,
{The gleeman sings}
40 And gleaming-drink poured. The gleeman sang whilom
{The heroes all rejoice together.}
Hearty in Heorot; there was heroes' rejoicing,
A numerous war-band of Weders and Danemen.
[1] B. and S. reject the reading given in H.-So., and suggested by
Grtvg. B. suggests for 457-458:
wáere-ryhtum Þú, wine mín Béowulf,
and for ár-stafum úsic sóhtest.
This means: _From the obligations of clientage, my friend Beowulf, and
for assistance thou hast sought us_.--This gives coherence to
Hrothgar's opening remarks in VIII., and also introduces a new motive
for Beowulf's coming to Hrothgar's aid.
[2] _Sit now at the feast, and disclose thy purposes to the victorious
heroes, as thy spirit urges_.--Kl. reaches the above translation by
erasing the comma after 'meoto' and reading 'sige-hrèðsecgum.'--There
are other and bolder emendations and suggestions. Of these the boldest
is to regard 'meoto' as a verb (imperative), and read 'on sæl': _Think
upon gayety, etc_.--All the renderings are unsatisfactory, the one
given in our translation involving a zeugma.
IX.
UNFERTH TAUNTS BEOWULF.
{Unferth, a thane of Hrothgar, is jealous of Beowulf, and undertakes to
twit him.}
Unferth spoke up, Ecglaf his son,
Who sat at the feet of the lord of the Scyldings,
Opened the jousting (the journey[1] of Beowulf,
Sea-farer doughty, gave sorrow to Unferth
5 And greatest chagrin, too, for granted he never
That any man else on earth should attain to,
Gain under heaven, more glory than he):
{Did you take part in a swimming-match with Breca?}
"Art thou that Beowulf with Breca did struggle,
On the wide sea-currents at swimming contended,
10 Where to humor your pride the ocean ye tried,
{'Twas mere folly that actuated you both to risk your lives on the ocean.}
From vainest vaunting adventured your bodies
In care of the waters? And no one was able
Nor lief nor loth one, in the least to dissuade you
Your difficult voyage; then ye ventured a-swimming,
15 Where your arms outstretching the streams ye did cover,
The mere-ways measured, mixing and stirring them,
Glided the ocean; angry the waves were,
With the weltering of winter. In the water's possession,
Ye toiled for a seven-night; he at swimming outdid thee,
20 In strength excelled thee. Then early at morning
On the Heathoremes' shore the holm-currents tossed him,
Sought he thenceward the home of his fathers,
Beloved of his liegemen, the land of the Brondings,
The peace-castle pleasant, where a people he wielded,
[20] 25 Had borough and jewels. The pledge that he made thee
{Breca outdid you entirely.}
The son of Beanstan hath soothly accomplished.
Then I ween thou wilt find thee less fortunate issue,
{Much more will Grendel outdo you, if you vie with him in prowess.}
Though ever triumphant in onset of battle,
A grim grappling, if Grendel thou darest
30 For the space of a night near-by to wait for!"
{Beowulf retaliates.}
Beowulf answered, offspring of Ecgtheow:
"My good friend Unferth, sure freely and wildly,
{O friend Unferth, you are fuddled with beer, and cannot talk coherently.}
Thou fuddled with beer of Breca hast spoken,
Hast told of his journey! A fact I allege it,
35 That greater strength in the waters I had then,
Ills in the ocean, than any man else had.
We made agreement as the merest of striplings
Promised each other (both of us then were
{We simply kept an engagement made in early life.}
Younkers in years) that we yet would adventure
40 Out on the ocean; it all we accomplished.
While swimming the sea-floods, sword-blade unscabbarded
Boldly we brandished, our bodies expected
To shield from the sharks. He sure was unable
{He _could_ not excel me, and I _would_ not excel him.}
To swim on the waters further than I could,
45 More swift on the waves, nor _would_ I from him go.
Then we two companions stayed in the ocean
{After five days the currents separated us.}
Five nights together, till the currents did part us,
The weltering waters, weathers the bleakest,
And nethermost night, and the north-wind whistled
50 Fierce in our faces; fell were the billows.
The mere fishes' mood was mightily ruffled:
And there against foemen my firm-knotted corslet,
Hand-jointed, hardy, help did afford me;
My battle-sark braided, brilliantly gilded,
{A horrible sea-beast attacked me, but I slew him.}
55 Lay on my bosom. To the bottom then dragged me,
A hateful fiend-scather, seized me and held me,
Grim in his grapple: 'twas granted me, nathless,
To pierce the monster with the point of my weapon,
My obedient blade; battle offcarried
60 The mighty mere-creature by means of my hand-blow.
[1] It has been plausibly suggested that 'síð' (in 501 and in 353)
means 'arrival.' If so, translate the bracket: _(the arrival of
Beowulf, the brave seafarer, was a source of great chagrin to Unferth,
etc.)_.
[21]
X.
BEOWULF SILENCES UNFERTH.--GLEE IS HIGH.
"So ill-meaning enemies often did cause me
Sorrow the sorest. I served them, in quittance,
{My dear sword always served me faithfully.}
With my dear-lovèd sword, as in sooth it was fitting;
They missed the pleasure of feasting abundantly,
5 Ill-doers evil, of eating my body,
Of surrounding the banquet deep in the ocean;
But wounded with edges early at morning
They were stretched a-high on the strand of the ocean,
{I put a stop to the outrages of the sea-monsters.}
Put to sleep with the sword, that sea-going travelers
10 No longer thereafter were hindered from sailing
The foam-dashing currents. Came a light from the east,
God's beautiful beacon; the billows subsided,
That well I could see the nesses projecting,
{Fortune helps the brave earl.}
The blustering crags. Weird often saveth
15 The undoomed hero if doughty his valor!
But me did it fortune[1] to fell with my weapon
Nine of the nickers. Of night-struggle harder
'Neath dome of the heaven heard I but rarely,
Nor of wight more woful in the waves of the ocean;
20 Yet I 'scaped with my life the grip of the monsters,
{After that escape I drifted to Finland.}
Weary from travel. Then the waters bare me
To the land of the Finns, the flood with the current,
{I have never heard of your doing any such bold deeds.}
The weltering waves. Not a word hath been told me
Of deeds so daring done by thee, Unferth,
25 And of sword-terror none; never hath Breca
At the play of the battle, nor either of you two,
Feat so fearless performèd with weapons
Glinting and gleaming . . . . . . . . . . . .
[22] . . . . . . . . . . . . I utter no boasting;
{You are a slayer of brothers, and will suffer damnation, wise as you may
be.}
30 Though with cold-blooded cruelty thou killedst thy brothers,
Thy nearest of kin; thou needs must in hell get
Direful damnation, though doughty thy wisdom.
I tell thee in earnest, offspring of Ecglaf,
Never had Grendel such numberless horrors,
35 The direful demon, done to thy liegelord,
Harrying in Heorot, if thy heart were as sturdy,
{Had your acts been as brave as your words, Grendel had not ravaged your
land so long.}
Thy mood as ferocious as thou dost describe them.
He hath found out fully that the fierce-burning hatred,
The edge-battle eager, of all of your kindred,
40 Of the Victory-Scyldings, need little dismay him:
Oaths he exacteth, not any he spares
{The monster is not afraid of the Danes,}
Of the folk of the Danemen, but fighteth with pleasure,
Killeth and feasteth, no contest expecteth
{but he will soon learn to dread the Geats.}
From Spear-Danish people. But the prowess and valor
45 Of the earls of the Geatmen early shall venture
To give him a grapple. He shall go who is able
Bravely to banquet, when the bright-light of morning
{On the second day, any warrior may go unmolested to the mead-banquet.}
Which the second day bringeth, the sun in its ether-robes,
O'er children of men shines from the southward!"
50 Then the gray-haired, war-famed giver of treasure
{Hrothgar's spirits are revived.}
Was blithesome and joyous, the Bright-Danish ruler
Expected assistance; the people's protector
{The old king trusts Beowulf. The heroes are joyful.}
Heard from Beowulf his bold resolution.
There was laughter of heroes; loud was the clatter,
55 The words were winsome. Wealhtheow advanced then,
{Queen Wealhtheow plays the hostess.}
Consort of Hrothgar, of courtesy mindful,
Gold-decked saluted the men in the building,
And the freeborn woman the beaker presented
{She offers the cup to her husband first.}
To the lord of the kingdom, first of the East-Danes,
60 Bade him be blithesome when beer was a-flowing,
Lief to his liegemen; he lustily tasted
Of banquet and beaker, battle-famed ruler.
The Helmingish lady then graciously circled
'Mid all the liegemen lesser and greater:
[23]
{She gives presents to the heroes.}
65 Treasure-cups tendered, till time was afforded
That the decorous-mooded, diademed folk-queen
{Then she offers the cup to Beowulf, thanking God that aid has come.}
Might bear to Beowulf the bumper o'errunning;