Beowulf (Wyatt)/Beowulf 16

XVI.

1050Ðā gyt ǣghwylcum⁠eorla drihten,
þāra þe mid Bēowulfe⁠brim-lāde^[1] tēah,
on þǣre medu-bence⁠māþðum gesealde,
yr*fe-lāfe;⁠ond þone ǣnne hehtFol. 153a.
golde forgyldan,⁠þone ðe Grendel ǣr
1055māne ācwealde,⁠swā hē hyra mā wolde,
nefne him witig God⁠wyrd forstōde,
ond ðæs mannes mōd.⁠Metod eallum wēold
gumena cjnines,⁠swā hē nū git dēð;
forþan bið andgit⁠ǣghwǣr sēlest,
1060ferhðes fore-þanc.⁠Fela sceal gebīdan
lēofes ond lāþes,⁠sē þe longe hēr
on ðyssum win-dagum⁠worolde brūceð.
Þǣr wæs sang ond sweg⁠samod ætgædere
fore Healfdenes⁠hilde-wīsan,
1065gomen-wudu grēted,⁠gid oft wrecen,
ðonne heal-gamen⁠Hrōþgāres scop
æfter medo-bence⁠mǣnan scolde:
“Finnes eaferum,⁠ðā hīe se fǣr begeat,
hæleð Healf-Dena,⁠Hnæf Scyldinga,^[2]
1070in Frēs-wæle^[3]⁠feallan scolde.
Ne hūru Hildeburh⁠herian þorfte
Eotena trēowe;⁠unsynnum wearð
beloren lēofum⁠æt þām lind-plegan,^[4]
bearnum ond brōðrum;⁠hīe on gebyrd hruron
1075gāre *wunde;⁠þæt wæs gēomuru ides.Fol. 153b.
Nalles hōlinga⁠Hōces dohtor
meotod-sceaft bemearn,⁠syþðan morgen cōm,
ðā hēo under swegle⁠gesēon meahte
morþor-bealo māga,⁠þǣr hē[o]^[5] ǣr mǣste hēold
1080worolde wynne.⁠Wīg ealle fornam
Finnes þegnas,⁠nemne fēaum ānum,
þæt hē ne mehte⁠on þǣm meðel-stede
wūg Hengeste⁠wiht gefeohtan,
ne þā wēa-lāfe⁠wīge forþringan
1085þēodnes ðegne;⁠ac hig him geþingo budon,
þæt hīe him ōðer flet⁠eal gerȳmdon,
healle ond hēah-setl,⁠þæt hīe healfie geweald
wið Eotena bearn⁠āgan mōston,
ond æt feoh-gyftum⁠Folcwaldan sunu
1090dōgra gehwylce⁠Dene weorþode,
Hengestes hēap⁠hringum wenede,
efne swā swīðe⁠sinc-gestrēonum
fǣttan goldes,⁠swā hē Frēsena cyn
on bēor-sele⁠byldan wolde.
1095Ðā hīe getrūwedon⁠on twā healfa
fæste frioðu-wǣre;⁠Fin Hengeste
elne unflitme⁠āðum *benemde,Fol. 154a.
þæt hē þā wēa-lāfe⁠weotena dōme
ārum hēolde,⁠þæt ðǣr ǣnig mon
1100wordum ne worcum⁠wǣre ne brǣpe,
ne þurh inwit-searo⁠ǣfre gemǣnden,
ðēah hīe hira bēag-gyfan⁠banan folgedon
ðēoden-lēase,⁠þā him swā geþearfod wæs.
Gyf þonne Frȳsna hwylc⁠frecnan sprǣce^[6]
1105ðæs morþor-hetes⁠myndgiend wǣre,
þonne hit sweordes ecg⁠syððan scolde.
Āð wæs geæfned,⁠ond icge gold
āhæfen of horde.⁠Here-Scyldinga
betst beado-rinca⁠wæs on bǣl gearu:
1110æt þǣm āde wæs⁠ēþ-gesȳne
swāt-fāh syrce,⁠swȳn eal-gylden,
eofer īren-heard,⁠æþeling manig
wundum āwyrded;⁠sume on wæle crungon.
Hēt ðā Hildeburh⁠æt Hnæfes āde
1115hire selfre sunu⁠sweoloðe befæstan,
bān-fatu bærnan⁠ond on bǣl dōn;
earme on eaxle⁠ides gnornode,
gēomrode giddum.⁠Gūð-rinc^[7] āstāh.
Wand *tō wolcnum⁠wæl-fȳra mǣst,Fol. 154b.
1120hlynode for hlāwe;⁠hafelan multon,
ben-geato burston;⁠ðonne blōd ætspranc
lāð-bite līces.⁠Līg ealle forswealg,
gǣsta gīfrost,⁠þāra ðe þǣr gūð fornam
bēga folces;⁠wæs hira blǣd scacen.

1. 1051. MS. ‘leade.’
2. 1068—9. There are one or two difficulties here. (1) Heyne, followed by Earle, makes the episode begin with l. 1069. I agree with Wülcker and Bugge in regarding l. 1068 as the commencement, partly because this helps to get rid of the difficulty of (2) the government of eaferum. Kemble ‘[be] Finnes eaferum’; Heyne and Socin ‘Finnes eaferum [fram].’ I follow Grein in regarding eaferum as an instr. pl., with reference to feallan scolde. (3) Bugge (“Beiträge” xii. 29) has shown that the emendation Healfdenes for Healf-Dena is misleading, the latter being a tribal name, such as we find in ll. 1, 116, 383, 392. (4) I cannot follow Bugge, when be goes on to explain hæleð as acc. pl., anticipated by hīe in the previous line. This is to force hīe from its natural and obvious meaning, as referring to eaferum. He quotes as a parallel the hit of l. 1705; but the cases are not analogous, in that hit cannot possibly refer to anything gone before. I therefore take hæleð, with Heyne and Earle, as nom. sing., Hnæf Scyldinga being a parallel expression to hæleð Healf-Dena.
3. 1070. MS. ‘infr es wæle’: “r altered from some other letter, after it a letter erased, then es on an erasure: that fres is all that the scribe intended to write, is shown by a line connecting r and e.”—Zupitza.
4. 1073. MS. ‘hild’; emended for the alliteration.
5. 1079. MS. ‘he.’
6. 1104. Zupitza’s transliteration ‘frecnen spræce’; Wülcker ‘frecnenspræce.’
7. 1118. Grundtvig ‘gūð-rēc’ (but he read ruic for rinc in the MS.). Skeat supports this reading by l. 3144, and Elene 795: “rēc āstīgan,” and compares gūð-rēc with the compound wæl-fȳr in the next line.