II
The Whale (Asp-Turtle)
The Whale (Asp-Turtle)
Nū ic fitte gēn ymb fisca cynn
wille wōðcræfte wordum cȳþan
þurh mōdgemynd, bi þām miclan hwale.
Sē bið unwillum oft gemēted,
5 frēcne and fer[h]ðgrim, fareðlācendum,
niþþa gehwylcum; þām is noma cenned,
fyr[ge]nstrēama geflotan, Fastitocalon.
wille wōðcræfte wordum cȳþan
þurh mōdgemynd, bi þām miclan hwale.
Sē bið unwillum oft gemēted,
5 frēcne and fer[h]ðgrim, fareðlācendum,
niþþa gehwylcum; þām is noma cenned,
fyr[ge]nstrēama geflotan, Fastitocalon.
Is þæs hīw gelīc hrēofum stāne,
swylce wōrie bi wædes ōfre,
10 sondbeorgum ymbseald, sǣrȳrica mǣst,
swā þæt wēnaþ wǣglīþende
þæt hȳ on ēalond sum ēagum wlīten;
and þonne gehȳd[i]að hēahstefn scipu
tō þām unlonde oncyrrāpum,
15 s[ǣ]laþ sǣmearas sundes æt ende,
swylce wōrie bi wædes ōfre,
10 sondbeorgum ymbseald, sǣrȳrica mǣst,
swā þæt wēnaþ wǣglīþende
þæt hȳ on ēalond sum ēagum wlīten;
and þonne gehȳd[i]að hēahstefn scipu
tō þām unlonde oncyrrāpum,
15 s[ǣ]laþ sǣmearas sundes æt ende,
This time I will with poetic art rehearse, by means of words and wit, a poem about a kind of fish, the great sea-monster which is often unwillingly met, terrible and cruel-hearted to seafarers, yea, to every man; this swimmer of the ocean-streams is known as the asp-turtle.
His appearance is like that of a rough boulder, as if there were tossing by the shore a great ocean-reedbank begirt with sand-dunes, so that seamen imagine they are gazing upon an island, and moor their high-prowed ships with cables to that false land, make fast the ocean-coursers at the sea's end, and, bold of heart, climb up
