Page images
PDF
EPUB

I. FROM THE BEGINNING TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST

A CHARM1 FOR BEWITCHED LAND

(From the translation by J. D. SPAETH)
Erce, Erce, Erce, Mother of Earth,
May the Almighty, Lord Everlasting,
Grant thee fields, green and fertile,
Grant thee fields, fruitful and growing,
Hosts of Spear-shafts, shining harvests,
Harvest of Barley the broad,
Harvest of Wheat the white,
All the heaping harvests of earth!
May the Almighty Lord Everlasting,
And his holy saints in heaven above,
From fiend and foe defend this land,
Keep it from blight and coming of harm,
From spell of witches wickedly spread!

49

55

55

60

Now I pray the Almighty who made this world,
That malice of man, or mouth of woman
Never may weaken the words I have spoken.
Hail to thee Earth, Mother of men!

Grow and be great in God's embrace, Filled with fruit for the food of men!

CHARM FOR A SUDDEN STITCH1

(Translated by J. D. SPAETH)

67

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

THE FIGHT WITH GRENDEL'S MOTHER

(Translated by J. D. SPAETH)

[The Hero Beowulf grew up at the Court of his uncle Hygėlac, King of the Geats or Jutes. Hearing how Heorot, the great Hall of the Danish King Hrothgar, was ravaged by a nightprowling monster named Grendel, Beowulf sailed with a chosen band to Hrothgar's kingdom, and offered to rid the Danes of their enemy. Alone and weaponless he fought with and killed Grendel in Heorot, and it was supposed that the Hall was again safe. But Grendel's mother, a wolfish water-wife, bent on revenge, broke into the Hall and carried off the King's best Thane. The next morning Beowulf, who had slept elsewhere, heard what had happened, and asked if he might undertake a second and more perilous adventure. Before going, the King describes to him the haunts of the monster.]

"I have heard my people, the peasant folk 1345
Who house by the border and hold the fens,
Say they have seen two creatures strange,
Huge march-stalkers,1 haunting the moorland,
Wanderers outcast. One of the two

Seemed to their sight to resemble a woman; 1350
The other manlike, a monster misshapen,
But huger in bulk than human kind,

Trod an exile's track of woe.

The folk of the fen in former days

Named him Grendel. Unknown his father, 1355 Or what his descent from demons obscure. Lonely and waste is the land they inhabit, Wolf-cliffs wild and windy headlands, Ledges of mist, where mountain torrents Downward plunge to dark abysses, And flow unseen. Not far from here 2 Skin. 3 The gods. 4 Of the gods.

1360

1 Creatures that stalk along the Marches, or Borders.

[blocks in formation]

1375

Tracked by the hounds, he will turn at bay, 1370
To die on the brink ere he brave the plunge,
Hide his head in the haunted pool.
Wan from its depths the waves are dashed,
When wicked storms are stirred by the wind,
And from sullen skies descends the rain.
In thee is our hope of help once more.
Not yet thou hast learned where leads the way
To the lurking-hole of this hatcher of outrage.
Seek, if thou dare, the dreaded spot!
Richly I pay thee for risking this fight,
With heirlooms golden and ancient rings,
As I paid thee before, if thou come back alive."
Beowulf spoke, the son of Ecgtheow:
"Sorrow not gray-beard, nor grieve o'er thy
friend!

1380

[blocks in formation]

No hole in the ground shall hide her from me.
But one day more thy woe endure,
And nurse thy hope as I know thou wilt."
Sprang to his feet the sage old king,
Gave praise to God for the promise spoken.
And now for Hrothgar a horse was bridled,
A curly-maned steed. The king rode on,
Bold on his charger. A band of shield-men
Followed on foot. Afar they saw
Footprints leading along the forest.

1400

They followed the tracks, and found she had crossed

Over the dark moor, dragging the body 1405
Of the goodliest thane that guarded with
Hrothgar

Heorot Hall, and the home of the king.
The well-born hero held the trail;
Up rugged paths, o'er perilous ridges,
Through passes narrow, an unknown way. 1410
By beetling crags, and caves of the nicors.2
He went before with a chosen few,
Warriors skilled, to scan the way.
Sudden they came on a cluster of trees
Overhanging a hoary rock,

A gloomy grove; and gurgling below,
A stir of waters all stained with blood.
Sick at heart were the Scylding chiefs,
Many a thane was thrilled with woe,

1415

For there they beheld the head of Eschere 1420 Far beneath at the foot of the cliff.

2 Sea-monsters, water-goblins.

They leaned and watched the waters boil
With bloody froth. The band sat down,
While the war-horn sang its summons to battle.
They saw in the water sea-snakes a many, 1425
Wave-monsters weird, that wallowed about.
At the base of the cliff lay basking the nicors,
Who oft at sunrise ply seaward their journey,
To hunt on the ship-trails and scour the main,
Sea-beasts and serpents. Sudden they fled, 1430
Wrathful and grim, aroused by the hail
Of the battle-horn shrill. The chief of the Jutes,
With a bolt from his bow a beast did sunder
From life and sea-frolic; sent the keen shaft
Straight to his vitals. Slow he floated,
Upturned and dead at the top of the waves.
Eager they boarded their ocean-quarry;
With barb-hooked boar-spears the beast they
gaffed,

1435

Savagely broached him and brought him to shore,

Wave-plunger weird. The warriors viewed
The grisly stranger. But straightway Beowulf
Donned his corslet nor cared for his life. . . . 1442

1473

To Hrothgar spoke the son of Ecgtheow:
"Remember O honored heir of Heälfdene,
Now that I go, thou noble king,
Warriors' gold-friend, what we agreed on,
If I my life should lose in thy cause,
That thou wouldst stand in stead of my father,
Fulfil his office when I was gone.

[blocks in formation]

Soon the sea-hag, savage and wild, Who had roamed through her watery realms at will,

1500

For winters a hundred, was 'ware from below
An earthling had entered her ocean domain.
Quickly she reached and caught the hero;
Grappled him grimly with gruesome claws.
Yet he got no scratch, his skin was whole;
His battle-sark shielded his body from harm.
In vain she tried, with her crooked fingers,
To tear the links of his close-locked mail.
Away to her den the wolf-slut dragged
Beowulf the bold, o'er the bottom ooze.
Though eager to smite her, his arm was help-
less.

3 The name of Beowulf's sword.

1505

1510

1515

Swimming monsters swarmed about him,
Dented his mail with dreadful tusks.
Sudden the warrior was 'ware they had come
To a sea-hall strange and seeming hostile,
Where water was not nor waves oppressed,
For the caverned rock all round kept back
The swallowing sea. He saw a light,
A flicker of flame that flashed and shone.
Now first he discerned the sea-hag monstrous,
The water-wife wolfish. His weapon he raised,
And struck with his sword a swinging blow.
Sang on her head the hard-forged blade
Its war-song vild. But the warrior found
That his battle-flasher refused to bite,
Or maim the foe. It failed its master

1520

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

The chop of the sea all churned up with blood
And bubbling gore. The gray-haired chiefs
For Beowulf grieved, agreeing together
That hope there was none of his home-returning
With victory crowned, to revisit his lord. 1601
Most of them feared he had fallen prey

1604

To the mere-wolf dread in the depths of the sea.
When evening came, the Scyldings all
Forsook the headland, and Hrothgar himself
Turned homeward his steps. But sick at heart
The strangers sat and stared at the sea,
Hoped against hope to behold their comrade
And leader again.

Now that goodly sword
Began to melt with the gore of the monster;1610
In bloody drippings it dwindled away.
'Twas a marvellous sight: it melted like ice,
When fetters of frost the Father unlocks,
Unravels the ropes of the wrinkled ice,
Lord and Master of months and seasons.
Beheld in the hall the hero from Juteland
Treasures unnumbered, but naught he took,
Save Grendel's head, and the hilt of the sword,
Bright and jeweled, the blade had melted,
Its metal had vanished, so venomous hot
Was the blood of the demon-brute dead in the

cave.

1615

1620

1625

Soon was in the sea the slayer of monsters;
Upward he shot through the shimmer of waves;
Cleared was the ocean, cleansed were its waters,
The wolfish water-hag wallowed no more;
The mere-wife had yielded her miserable life.
Swift to the shore the sailors' deliverer
Came lustily swimming, with sea-spoil laden;
Rejoiced in the burden he bore to the land.
Ran to meet him his mailed comrades,
With thanks to God who gave them their leader
Safe again back and sound from the deep.
Quickly their hero's helmet they loosened,
Unbuckled his breastplate. The blood-stained

waves

Fell to a calm 'neath the quiet sky.

1630

1635

Back they returned o'er the tracks with the

footprints,

Merrily measured the miles o'er the fen, Way they knew well, those warriors brave;

[blocks in formation]

BEOWULF'S LAST FIGHT AND DEATH [Beowulf left with the Danes his grisly trophies of battle, the head of Grendel, his huge forequarter, and the hilt of the giant sword with its mystical runic inscription. Loading his boat with the gifts of Hrothgar, he and his comrades sailed away home. After the death of Hygelac and his son, Beowulf became king of the Jutes, and ruled over them fifty years. In his old age his people were harried by a fire-dragon whom the hero went out to fight. It seems that an outlaw, banished and flying for shelter, had come upon a treasure hid in a deep cave or barrow, guarded by a dragon. Long years before, an earl, the last of his race, had buried the treasure. After his death the dragon, sniffing about the stones, had found it and guarded it three hundred years, until the banished man discovered the place, and carried off one of the golden goblets. In revenge the dragon made nightly raids on Beowulf's realm, flying through the air, spitting fire, burning houses and villages, even Beowulf's hall, the "gift-stool" of the Jutes. Beowulf had an iron shield made against the dragon's fiery breath, and with eleven companions, sought out the hill-vault near the sea. Before attacking the monster he spoke these words to his comrades:]

[blocks in formation]

2515

I mean to win fame defending my people,
If the grim destroyer will seek me out,
Come at my call from his cavern dark."
Then he greeted his thanes each one,
For the last time hailed his helmeted warriors,
His comrades dear. "I should carry no sword,
No weapon of war 'gainst the worm should bear,
If the foe I might slay by strength of my arm,
As Grendel I slew long since by my hand. 2522
But I look to fight a fiery battle,

With scorching puffs of poisonous breath.

2530

For this I bear both breastplate and shield; 2525
No foot will I flinch from the foe of the barrow.
Wyrd is over us, each shall meet
His doom ordained at the dragon-cliff!
Bold is my mood, but my boast I omit
'Gainst the battle-flier. Abide ye here,
Heroes in harness, hard by the barrow,
Cased in your armor the issue await:
Which of us two his wounds shall survive.
Not yours the attempt, the task is mine.
'Tis meant for no man but me alone
To measure his might 'gainst the monster fierce.
I get you the gold in glorious fight,
Or battle-death bitter shall bear off your lord."
Uprose with his shield the shining hero,
Bold 'neath his helmet. He bore his harness
In under the cliff; alone he went,

2535

2541

2545

Himself he trusted; no task for faint-heart.
Then saw by the wall the warrior brave,
Hero of many a hard-fought battle,
Arches of stone that opened a way;
From the rocky gate there gushed a stream,
Bubbling and boiling with battle-fire.
So great the heat no hope was there
To come at the hoard in the cavern's depth,
Unscathed by the blast of the scorching dragon.
He let from his breast his battle-cry leap,
Swoln with rage was the royal Jute,
Stormed the stout-heart; strong and clear
Through the gloom of the cave his cry went

ringing.

2551

[blocks in formation]

Now kindled for battle the curled-up beast;
The king undaunted with drawn sword stood,
('Twas an heirloom olden with edge of lightning)
Each was so fierce he affrighted the other.
Towering tall 'neath tilted shield,
Waited the king as the worm coiled back,
Sudden to spring: so stood he and waited.
Blazing he came in coils of fire

Swift to his doom. The shield of iron
Sheltered the hero too short a while,-
Life and limb it less protected

2570

Than he hoped it would, for the weapon he held
First time that day he tried in battle;
Wyrd had not willed he should win the fight.
But the Lord of the Jutes uplifted his arm, 2576
Smote the scaly worm, struck him so fierce
That his ancient bright-edged blade gave way,
Bent on the bone, and bit less sure

Than its owner had need in his hour of peril.2580 That sword-stroke roused the wrath of the caveguard;

Fire and flame afar he spirted,

Blaze of battle; but Beowulf there

2585

No victory boasted: his blade had failed him,
Naked in battle, as never it should have,
Well-tempered iron! Nor easy it was
For Ecgtheow's heir, honored and famous,

This earth to forsake, forever to leave it; Yet he must go, against his will

Elsewhere to dwell. So we all must leave 2590
This fleeting life.-Erelong the foes
Bursting with wrath the battle renewed.

The hoard-ward took heart, and with heaving breast

Came charging amain. The champion brave,
Strength of his people, was sore oppressed, 2595
Enfolded by flame. No faithful comrades
Crowded about him, his chosen band,
All æthelings' sons, to save their lives,
Fled to the wood. One of them only

Felt surging sorrow; for nought can stifle 2600
Call of kin in a comrade true;

Wiglaf his name, 'twas Weohstan's son
Shield-thane beloved, lord of the Scylfings
Elfhere's kinsman. When his king he saw
Hard by the heat under helmet oppressed, 2605
He remembered the gifts he had got of old,
Lands and wealth of the Wægmunding line,
The folk-rights all that his father's had been;
He could hold no longer, but hard he gripped
Linden shield yellow and ancient sword.... 2610
For the first time there the faithful thane, 2652
Youthful and stalwart, stood with his leader,
Shoulder to shoulder in shock of battle.
Nor melted his courage, nor cracked his blade,
His war-sword true, as the worm found out 2656
When together they got in grim encounter.

2660

2665

Wiglaf in wrath upbraided his comrades, Sore was his heart as he spake these words: 'Well I mind when our mead we drank In the princely hall, how we promised our lord Who gave us these rings and golden armlets, That we would repay his war-gifts rich, Helmets and armor, if haply should come His hour of peril; us hath he made Thanes of his choice for this adventure; Spurred us to glory, and gave us these treasures Because he deemed us doughty spearmen, Helmeted warriors, hardy and brave. Yet all the while, unhelped and alone, He meant to finish this feat of strength, Shepherd of men and mightiest lord Of daring deeds. The day is come,Now is the hour he needs the aid

2670

[blocks in formation]

2695

Years ago, in youth, thou vowedst
Living, ne'er to lose thine honor,
Shield thy life and show thy valor.
I stand by thee to the end!"
After these words the worm came on,
Snorting with rage, for a second charge;
All mottled with fire his foes he sought,
The warriors hated. But Wiglaf's shield
Was burnt to the boss by the billows of fire;
His harness helped not the hero young.
Shelter he found 'neath the shield of his kins-
man,
When the crackling blaze had crumbled his own:
But mindful of glory, the mighty hero
Smote amain with his matchless sword.
Down it hurtled, driven by anger,

2701

2705

2710

Till it stuck in the skull, then snapped the blade,
Broken was Nægling, Beowulf's sword,
Ancient and gray. 'Twas granted him never
To count on edge of iron in battle;
His hand was too heavy, too hard his strokes,
As I have heard tell, for every blade
He brandished in battle: the best gave way,
And left him helpless and hard bestead.
Now for a third time neared the destroyer; 2715
The fire-drake fierce, old feuds remembering,
Charged the warrior who wavered an instant;
Blazing he came and closed his fangs
On Beowulf's throat; and throbbing spirts
Of life-blood dark o'erdrenched the hero.

2720

[blocks in formation]

So felled they the foe and finished him bravely,
Together they killed him, the kinsmen two,
A noble pair. So needs must do
Comrades in peril. For the king it proved
His uttermost triumph, the end of his deeds
And work in the world. The wound began,
Where the cave-dragon savage had sunk his
teeth,

2740

To swell and fever, and soon he felt
The baleful poison pulse through his blood,
And burn in his breast. The brave old warrior
Sat by the wall and summoned his thoughts,
Gazed on the wondrous work of the giants:
Arches of stone, firm-set on their pillars,
Upheld that hill-vault hoar and ancient.

2745

Now Beowulf's thane, the brave and faithful, Dashed with water his darling lord,

His comrade and king all covered with blood And faint with the fight; unfastened his helmet. Beowulf spoke despite his hurt,

His piteous wound. Full well he knew

2751

« EelmineJätka »