Beowulf (Wyatt)/Beowulf 22

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XXII.

Bēowulf maþelode,  bearn Ecgþēowes:
“Geþenc nū, se mǣra maga Healfdenes,
1475snottra fengel, nū ic eom sīðes fūs,
gold-wine gumena, hwæt wit gēo sprǣcon:
gif ic æt þearfe þīnre scolde
aldre linnan, þæt ðū mē ā wǣre
forð-gewitenum on fæder stǣle.
1480Wes þū mund-bora mīnum mago-þegnum,[1]
hond-gesellum, gif mec hild nime;
swylce þū ðā mādmas, þe þū mē sealdest,
Hrōðgār lēofa, Higelāce onsend.
Mæg þonne on þǣm golde ongitan Gēata dryhten,
1485gesēon sunu Hrēðles,[2] þonne hē on þæt sinc starað,
þæt ic gum-cystum gōdne funde
bēaga bryttan, brēac þonne mōste.
 Ond þū Unferð[3] lǣt ealde lāfe,
wrætlīc wǣg-sweord, wīd-cūðne man
1490heard-ecg habban; ic mē mid Hruntinge
dōm gewyrce, *oþðe mec dēað nimeð.” Fol. 163a.
Æfter þǣm wordum Weder-Gēata lēod
efste mid elne, nalas ondsware
bīdan wolde; brim-wylm onfēng
1495hilde-rince. Ðā wæs hwīl dæges,
ǣr hē þone grund-wong ongytan mehte.
Sōna þæt onfunde, sē ðe flōda begong
heoro-gīfre behēold hund missera,
grim ond grǣdig, þæt þǣr gumena sum
1500æl-wihta eard ufan cunnode.
Grāp þā, tōgēanes, gūð-rinc gefēng
atolan clommum; nō þȳ ǣr in gescōd
hālan līce; hring ūtan ymbbearh,
þæt hēo þone fyrd-hom ðurhfōn ne mihte,
1505locene leoðo-syrcan, lāþan fingrum.
Bær þā sēo brim-wyl[f],[4] þā hēo tō botme cōm,
hringa þengel tō hofe sīnum,
swā hē ne mihte nō (hē þēah[5] mōdig wæs)
wǣpna gewealdan; ac hine wundra þæs fela
1510swe[n]cte[6] on sunde, sǣ-dēor monig
hilde-tuxum here-syrcan bræc,
ēhton āglǣcan. Ðā se eorl ongeat,
 þæt hē [in][7] nīð-sele nāt-hwylcum wæs,
þǣr him nǣnig wæter wihte ne sceþede,
1515ne him for hrōf-sele hrīnan ne mehte
fǣr-gripe flōdes; *fȳr-lēoht geseah, Fol. 163b.
blācne lēoman beorhte scīnan.
Ongeat þā se gōda grund-wyrgenne,
mere-wīf mihtig; mægen-rǣs forgeaf
1520hilde-bille, hond[8] swenge ne oftēah,
þæt hire on hafelan hring-mǣl āgōl
grǣdig gūð-lēoð. Ðā se gist onfand,
þæt se beado-lēoma bītan nolde,
aldre sceþðan, ac sēo ecg geswāc
1525ðēodne æt þearfe; ðolode ǣr fela
hond-gemōta, helm oft gescær,
fǣges fyrd-hrægl; ðā wæs forma sīð
dēorum mādme, þæt his dōm ālæg.
Eft wæs ān-rǣd, nalas elnes læt,
1530mǣrða gemyndig, mǣg Hy[ge]lāces.[9]
Wearp ðā wunden-mǣl[10] wrættum gebunden
yrre ōretta, þæt hit on eorðan læg,
stīð ond stȳl-ecg; strenge getrūwode,
mund-gripe mægenes. Swā sceal man dōn,
1535þonne hē æt gūðe gegān þenceð
longsumne lof, nā ymb his līf cearað.
Gefēng þā be eaxle[11] (nalas for fǣhðe mearn)
 Gūð-Gēata lēod Grendles mōdor,
brægd þā beadwe heard, þā hē gebolgen wæs,
1540feorh-genīðlan, þæt hēo on flet gebēah.
Hēo him eft hraðe hand-lēan[12] forgeald
grim*man grāpum, ond him tōgēanes fēng; Fol. 164a.
oferwearp þā wērig-mōd wigena strengest,
fēþe-cempa, þæt hē on fylle wearð.
1545Ofsæt þā þone sele-gyst, ond hyre seax[13] getēah
brād, brūn-ecg,[14] wolde hire bearn wrecan,
āngan eaferan. Him on eaxle læg
brēost-net brōden; þæt gebearh fēore,
wið ord ond wið ecge ingang forstōd.
1550Hæfde ðā forsīðod sunu Ecgþēowes
under gynne grund, Gēata cempa,
nemne him heaðo-byrne helpe gefremede,
here-net hearde, ond hālig God
gewēold wīg-sigor, wītig Drihten,
1555rodera Rǣdend hit on ryht gescēd[15]
ȳðelīce; syþðan hē eft āstōd.
  1. ↑ 1480. Heyne divides this line wrongly, after mīnum.
  2. ↑ 1485. MS. ‘hrædles.’
  3. ↑ 1488. MS. ‘hunferð.’
  4. ↑ 1506. MS. ‘brim wyl.’
  5. ↑ 1508. MS. ‘þæm’; Grundtvig (adopted by Heyne) ‘þæs’; Grein ‘þēah.’ Grein’s emendation makes admirable sense. I would retain the MS. reading in preference to þæs, which Heyne supports by parallel passages. It is undeniable that þæs is common enough with the meaning “so” (see l. 1509); but what can be feebler than to be told, half way through the poem, that Beowulf is brave enough to wield his weapons?
  6. ↑ 1510. MS. ‘swecte.’
  7. ↑ 1513. Thorpe ‘[in].’ Grein (followed by Heyne) ‘nið-sele,’ aula in profundis; Sweet ‘nīð-sele,’ hostile hall. The line is of the same type as 482, and a long syllable is required for the scansion (see “Beiträge” x. 297).
  8. ↑ 1520. MS. ‘hord swenge’; Sweet ‘swenge hond,’ without explanation.
  9. ↑ 1530. MS. ‘hylaces.’
  10. ↑ 1531. MS. ‘wundel mæl.’
  11. ↑ 1537. Sweet adopts Rieger’s emendation ‘feaxe,’ apparently for the sake of the alliteration—a wanton change, for gefēng alliterates normally with fæhðe.
  12. ↑ 1541. Heyne and Sweet (who however glosses hand-lēan alone) adopt Rieger’s emendation and-lēan, alliterating with eft. So, in l. 2094, Heyne reads ond-lēan for hond-lēan, “mit Rücksicht auf die Allitteration.” On the other hand, it is unfortunate that the alliteration is not decisive in the case of either line. Moreover, the phrase and-lēan forgieldan, “to repay reward,” is distinctly over-redundant, containing as it does the re- notion in both and- and for-, as well as in the word lēan itself (here, also, in eft in the first half-line). Cf. ll. 114, 1584. Thus no case is made out for setting aside the clear readings of the MS.
  13. ↑ 1545. MS. ‘seaxe’; Ettmüller (followed by Sweet) ‘seax.’ Getēon always takes an accus.; cf. l. 2610 and brād, brūn-ecg, 1546.
  14. ↑ 1546. Heyne ‘brad [ond] brun-ecg,’ on metrical and syntactical grounds.
  15. ↑ 1555. Wülcker has a colon after gescēd and no stop after ȳðelīce.
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