Beowulf (Wyatt)/Beowulf 21
XXI.
Bēowulf maþelode,bearn Ecgþēowes:
“Ne sorga, snotor guma;sēlre bið ǣghwǣm,
1385þæt hē his frēond wrece,þonne hē fela murne.
Ure ǣghwylc scealende gebīdan
worolde lifes;wyrce sē þe mōte
dōmes ǣr dēaþe;þæt bið driht-guman
unlifgendumæfter sēlest.
1390Ārīs, rīces weard;uton hraþe[1] fēran,
Grendles māgangang scēawigan.
Ic hit þē gehāte:nō hē on hehn losaþ,
ne on foldan fæþm,ne on fyrgen-holt,
ne on gyfenes grund,gā þǣr hē wille.
1395Ðȳs dōgor[2] þūgeþyld hafa
wēana gehwylces,swā ic þē wēne tō.”
Āhlēop ðā se gomela,Gode þancode,
mihtigan Drihtne,þæs se man ge*spræc.Fol. 161a.
Þā wæs Hrōðgārehors gebǣted,
1400wicg wunden-feax;wīsa fengel
geatolīc gen[g]de;[3]gum-fēþa stōp
lind-hæbbendra.Lāstas wǣron
æfter wald-swaþumwīde gesȳne,
gang ofer grundas;gegnum fōr[4]
1405ofer myrcan mōr,mago-þegna bær
þone sēlestansāwol-lēasne,
þāra þe mid Hrōðgārehām eahtode.
Oferēode þāæþelinga bearn
stēap stān-hliðo,stīge nearwe,
1410enge ān-paðas,uncūð gelād,
nēowle næssas,nicor-hūsa fela;
hē fēara sumbeforan gengde
wīsra monnawong scēawian,
oþ þæt hē fǣringafyrgen-bēamas
1415ofer hārne stānhleonian funde,
wyn-lēasne wudu;wæter under stōd
drēorig ond gedrēfed.Denum eallum wæs,
winum Scyldinga,weorce on mōde
tō geþolianne,ðegne monegum,
1420oncȳð eorla gehwǣm,syðþan Æscheres
on þām holm-clifehafelan mētton.
Flōd blōde wēol(folc tō sǣgon),
*hātan heolfre.Horn stundum songFol. 161b.
fūslīc f[yrd]-lēoð.[5]Fēþa eal gesæt;
1425gesāwon ðā æfter wæterewyrm-cynnes fela,
sellīce sǣ-dracan,sund cunnian,
swylce on næs-hleoðumnicras licgean,
ðā on undern-mǣloft bewitigað
sorh-fulne sīðon segl-rāde,
1430wyrmas ond wil-dēor;hīe onweg hruron
bitere ond gebolgne,bearhtm ongēaton,
gūð-horn galan.Sumne Gēata lēod
of flān-boganfēores getwǣfde,
ȳð-gewinnes,þæt him on aldre stōd
1435here-strǣl hearda;hē on hohne wæs
sundes þē sǣnra,ðē hyne swylt fornam.
Hræþe wearð on ȳðummid eofer-sprēotum
heoro-hōcyhtumhearde genearwod,
nīða genǣged[6]ond on næs togen,
1440wundorlīc wǣg-bora;weras scēawedon
gryrelīcne gist.Gyrede hine Beowulf
eorl-gewǣdum,nalles for ealdre mearn;
scolde here-byrnehondum gebrōden,
sīd ond searo-fāh,sund cunnian,
1445sēo ðe bān-cofanbeorgan cūþe,
þæt him hilde-grāphreþre ne mihte,
eorres inwit-fengaldre gesceþðan;
ac se hwīta helm*hafelan werede,Fol. 162a.
sē þe mere-grundasmengan scolde,
1450sēcan sund-geblandsince geweorðad,
befongen frēa-wrāsnum,swā hine fyrn-dagum
worhte wǣpna smið,wundrum tēode,
besette swīn-līcum,þæt hine syðþan nō
brond ne beado-mēcasbītan ne meahton.
1455Næs þæt þonne mǣtostmægen-fultuma,
þæt him on ðearfe lāhðyle Hrōðgāres;
wæs þǣm hæft-mēceHrunting nama;
þæt wæs ān foraneald-gestrēona;
ecg wæs īren,āter-tānum[7] fāh,
1460āhyrded heaþo-swāte;nǣfre hit æt hilde ne swāc
manna ǣngum,þāra þe hit mid mundum bewand,
sē ðe gryre-sīðasgegān dorste,
folc-stede fāra;næs þæt forma sīð,
þæt hit ellen-weorcæfnan scolde.
1465Hūru ne gemundemago Ecglāfes
eafoþes cræftig,þæt hē ǣr gespræc
wīne druncen,þā hā þæs wǣpnes onlāh
sēlran sweord-frecan;selfa ne dorste
under ȳða gewinaldre genēþan,
1470driht-scype drēogan;þǣr hē dōme forlēas,
ellen-*mǣrðum.[8]Ne wæs þǣm ōðrum swā,Fol. 162b.
syðþan hē hine tō gūðegegyred hæfde.
- ↑ 1390. Sweet ‘raþe,’ for the sake of the alliteration; but see Sievers § 217, N. 1.
- ↑ 1395. Heyne ‘ðys dōgor,’ accus. of duration; but the form ðys lacks authority, and see Sievers § 289, and “Beiträge” x. 312.
- ↑ 1401. MS. ‘gende.’
- ↑ 1404. Heyne adopts the emendation of Sievers, who considers the line metrically deficient: ‘[þǣr hēo] gegnum fōr.’
- ↑ 1424. MS. defective at edge; B ‘f…’; Zupitza ‘f[yrd]-,’ adopting the emendation of Bouterwek (1859).
- ↑ 1439. Sweet ‘ge[h]nǣged.’ But see l. 2206, where Toller (after Grein) wrongly gives the MS. reading as gehnǣgdan.
- ↑ 1459. Heyne and Socin adopt Cosijn’s emendation, āter-tēarum, “with poison drops,” which is supported by Sievers.
- ↑ 1471. AB ‘mærdam’; Thorpe ‘mærðum’; Zupitza ‘mær^um’: “um at the end of the word is still distinct, and before um I think I see a considerable part of rð.”