Beowulf (Wyatt)/Beowulf 09
VIIII.
Swā mec gelōmelāð-getēonan
560þrēatedon þearle.Ic him þēnode
dēoran sweorde,swa hit gedēfe wæs;
næs hīe ðǣre fyllegefēan hæfdon,
mān-fordǣdlan,þæt hīe mē þēgon,
symbel ymb-sǣtonsǣ-grunde nēah;
565ac on mergennemēcum *wundeFol. 143a.
be ȳð-lāfeuppe lǣgon,
sweo[r]dum[1] āswefecle,þæt syðþan nā
ymb brontne fordbrim-līðende
lāde ne letton.Lēoht ēastan cōm,
570beorht bēacen Godes;brimu swaþredon,
þæt ic sǣ-næssasgesēon mihte,
windige weallas.Wyrd oft nereð
unfǣgne eorl,þonne his ellen dēah.
Hwæþere mē gesǣlde,þæt ic mid sweorde ofslōh
575niceras nigene.Nō ic on niht gefrægn
under heofones hwealfheardran feohtan,
ne on ēg-strēamumearmran mannon;
hwæþere[2] ic fāra fengfēore gedīgde,
sīþes wērig.Ðā mec sǣ oþbær,
580flod æfter faroðe,on Finna land,
wadu[3] weallendu.Nō ic wiht fram þē
swylcra searo-nīðasecgan hȳrde,
billa brōgan;Breca nǣfre git
æt heaðo-lāce,ne gehwæþer incer,
585swā dēorlīcedǣd gefremede
fāgum sweordum(nō ic þæs [fela][4] gylpe),
þēah ðū þīnum brōðrumtō banan wurde,
hēafod-mǣgum;þæs þū in *helle scealtFol. 143b.
werhðo drēogan.þēah þīn wit duge.
590Secge ic þē tō sōðe,sunu Ecglāfes,
þæt nǣfre Gre[n]del[5] swā felagryra gefremede,
atol ǣglǣca,ealdre þīnum,
hȳnðo on Heorote,gif þīn hige wǣre,
sefa swā searo-grim,swā þū self talast;
595ac hē hafað onfunden,þæt hē þā fǣhðe ne þearf,
atole ecg-þræce,ēower lēode
swīðe onsittan,Sige-Scyldinga;
nymeð nȳd-bāde,nǣnegum ārað
lēode Deniga,ac hē [on][6] lust wīgeð,
600swefeð ond sendeþ,secce[7] ne wēneþ
tō Gar-Denum.Ac ic[8] him Gēata sceal
eafoð ond ellenungēara nū
gūþe gebēodan.Gǣþ eft sē þe mōt
tō medo mōdig,siþþan morgen-lēoht
605ofer ylda bearnoþres dōgores,
sunne swegl-wered,sūþan scīneð.”
Þā wæs on sālumsinces brytta,
gamol-feax ond gūð-rōf;gēoce gelȳfde
*brego Beorht-Dena;gehȳrde on BēowulfeFol. 144a.
610folces hyrdefæst-rǣdne geþōht.
Ðǣr wæs hæleþa hleahtor,hlyn swynsode,
word wǣron wynsume.Ēode Wealhþēow forð,
cwēn Hrōðgāres,cynna gemyndig,
grētte gold-hrodenguman on healle;
615ond þā frēolic wīfful gesealde
ǣrest Ēast-Denaēþel-wearde,
bæd hine blīðneæt þǣre bēor-þege,
lēodum lēofne;hē on lust geþeah
symbel ond sele-ful,sige-rōf kyning.
620Ymb-ēode þaides Helminga
duguþe ond geogoþedǣl ǣghwylcne,
sinc-fato sealde,oþ þæt sǣl ālamp,
þæt hīo Bēowulfe,bēag-hroden cwēn,
mōde geþungen,medo-ful ætbær;
625grētte Gēata lēod,Gode þancode
wīs-fæst wordum,þæs ðe hire se willa gelamp,
þæt hēo on ǣnigneeorl gelȳfde
fyrena frōfre.He þæt ful geþeah,
wæl-rēow wiga,*æt Wealhþēon,Fol. 144b.
630ond þā gyddodegūþe gefȳsed;
Bēowulf maþelode,bearn Eegþēowes:
“Ic þæt hogode,þā ic on holm gestāh,
sǣ-bāt gesætmid mīnra secga gedriht,
þæt ic ānungaēowra lēoda
635willan geworhte,oþðe on wæl crunge
fēond-grāpum fæst.Ic gefremman sceal
eorlīc ellen,oþðe ende-dæg
on þisse meodu-heallemīnne gebīdan.”
Ðām wīfe þā wordwel līcodon,
640gilp-cwide Gēates;ēode gold-hroden
frēolicu folc-cwēntō hire frēan sittan.
̄Þā wæs eft swā ǣrinne on healle
þrȳð-word sprecen,ðēod on sǣlum,
sige-folca swēg,oþ þæt semninga
645sunu Healfdenessēcean wolde
ǣfen-ræste;wiste þǣm āhlǣcan
tō þǣm hēah-selehilde geþinged,
siððan hīe sunnan lēohtgesēon [ne][9] meahton,
oþðe nīpendeniht ofer ealle,
650scadu-helma gesceapuscrīðan cwōman,
wan under wolcnum.Werod eall ārās;
grētte þā[10]guma ōþerne,
Hrōðgār Bēowulf,ond him hǣl ābēad,
wīn-ærnes *geweald,ond þæt word ācwæð:Fol. 145a.
655“Nǣfre ic ǣnegum menǣr ālȳfde,
siþðan ic hond ond rondhebban mihte,
ðrȳþ-ærn Denabūton þē nū ðā.
Hafa nū ond gehealdhūsa sēlest,
gemyne mǣrþo,mægen-ellen cȳð,
660waca wið wrāþum.Ne bið þē wilna gād,
gif þū þæt ellen-weorcaldre gedīgest.”
- ↑ 567. MS., defective at corner, has only swe and part of o. Thorkelin A (first transcript) ‘sweodum.’
- ↑ 578. MS. ‘hwaþere.’
- ↑ 581. MS. ‘wudu.’ See l. 546.
- ↑ 586. The emendation is Grein’s; Kluge suggested ‘[geflites].’ Heyne, followed by Harrison and Sharp, assumes the loss of two half lines after sweordum, with the unpleasant consequence that the numbers of his lines are one too many throughout the rest of the poem.
- ↑ 591. MS. ‘gre del.’
- ↑ 599. Kemble’s emendation ; cf. l. 618.
- ↑ 600. Thorpe ‘sæcce,’ followed by most editors. Secce is a dialectal form; see Sievers § 151.
- ↑ 601. Thorpe and Heyne suppress ic. Thorpe makes Gēata (weak form) the subject, eafoð ond ellen the object, and is followed by Earle. Heyne takes eafoð ond ellen Gēata as subject, gūðe as object. He adds: “ic Gēata, ‘ich der Gēaten’ oder ‘ich unter den Gēaten,’ ist bedenklich.” Surely this is what Coleridge calls the “wilful ingenuity of blundering.” What is to prevent ic being taken as the subject, and eafoð ond ellen Gēata as the object?
- ↑ 648. Thorpe’s simple emendation, ‘[ne],’ is now generally adopted. Bugge proposed, in addition, to regard oþðe (l. 649) as equivalent to ond, as in l. 2475, and the suggestion is adopted by Heyne. Earle defends the usual meaning or: “There is something of alternative between twilight and the dead of night.”
- ↑ 652. Grein-Wülcker complete the first half line by ‘[glædmōd],’ Heyne by ‘[giddum].’