árum healdan; gyf þú ær þonne he, Wéne ic þæt he mid góde gyldan wille XVIII. Him was ful boren, and freónd-laðu wordum bewægned, and wunden gold estum geeáwed; earm-reáde twá, 1195 hrægl and hringas, heals-beága mæst þára þe ic on foldan gefrægen hæbbe. Nénigne ic under swegle sélran hýrde thou, the Scyldings' kindly lord, shouldst leave the world before him. I ween that he will requite our heirs with good, if he bethinketh him of all that, which we, in regard to honours, erst performed for his pleasure and dignity while he was yet an infant.' Then she turned by the bench, where her sons were, Hreðric and Hroðmund, and [other] sons of warriors, the youth sitting together; there the good knight, Beowulf the Geat, sat beside the two brethren. XVIII. To him a cup was borne, and a friendly invitation offered, and twisted gold graciously bestowed; two armlets, raiment and rings, [and] the largest collar that I have ever heard of in the world. No finer piece of jewellery under the sky did I ever hear of as being 1185 gemon, pres. of gemunan, to call to mind. 1194 earm-reade, MS.; Thorpe cor rects earm-reaf; Grein (whom I follow) earm-hreade, lit. 'armwreaths.' hord-madmum hæleda, syddan Hama ætwæg to here-byrhtan byrig Brósinga mene, 1200 sigle and sinc-fæt: searo-níðas fealh Eormenríces; geceás écne rád. pone hring hæfde Higelác Geáta, nefa Swertinges, nyhstan side, siddan he under segne sinc ealgode, 1205 wæl-reáf werede. Hine wyrd fornam, siddan he for wlenco weán ahsode, fæhde tó Frysum. He pa frætwe wæg, eorcnan-stánas, ofer ýða ful ríce þeóden. He under rande gecranc: 1210 gehwearf þá in Francna fæðm feorh cyninges, breóst-gewædu, and se beáh somod: wyrsan wig-frecan wæl reafedon, æfter gúð-sceare; Geáta leóde hreá-wíc heoldon. Heal swége onfeng: in the possession of heroes, since Hama carried away the Brosingamen, gems and precious vessels, at the bright burgh; he incurred the malignant hate of Eormenric; he obtained lasting advantage. That collar had Higelac the Geata, nephew of Swerting, on his last raid, when under his banner he defended the treasure, guarded the spoils of the slain. Fate swept him away, when owing to his pride he experienced disasters, in the feud with the Frisians. He bore that jewel, [the collar of] precious stones, across the brimming waters, that powerful king. He sank low beneath his shield; then passed into the power of the Franks the life of the king, his breastweeds and the collar together; inferior combatants rifled the dead body, according to the lot of war; the people of the Geatas dwelt in the abode of slaughter. 1198 madmum, MS.; read maððum. Ib. atwæg, pf. of atwegan. 1199 here-byrhtan, MS.; Grein corrects pære byrhtan. Ib. Brosinga mene, mentioned in the Edda as the necklace of Freyja. See the Excursus in the Appendix. 1201 geceas, pf. of geceosan, to choose. 1207 fæhoe. For an account of M Higelac's disastrous expedition see 1208 eorcnan-stanas, precious stones; Icel. iarknastein, Goth. airkniss. Ib. yða ful, lit.' the cup of the waves.' 1214 hrea-wic heoldon. The natural interpretation would be 'had possession of the place of carnage'; i.e., stood their ground, and repelled the enemy; but, as Higelac and the 1215 Wealhþeów matelode, heó fore pæm werede hyse, mid hæle, and pisses hrægles neót, [spræc: cén þec mid cræfte, and byssum cnyhtum wes 1220 lára líðe; ic pe þæs leán geman. Hafast þú gefered þæt þe feor and neáh, efne swa side swa sa bebuge windge eard-weallas. Wes, penden þú lifige, 1225 ædeling eádig! ic pe an tela sinc-gestreóna. Beó þú sunum mínum dædum gedéfe, dreám healdende. Her is æghwylc eorl oðrum getrýwe, módes milde, man-drihtne hold; 1230 þegnas syndon gepwære, þeód eal gearo; druncne dryht-guman; dóð swá ic bidde. Eóde þá tó setle. par was symbla cyst, The hall became uproarious: Wealtheow spake; she delivered herself [thus] before the company: Receive and wear this collar, O youth, dear Beowulf, in all prosperity, and make good use of this raiment, [for they are] public gifts; and thrive well; enkindle thy spirit strongly, and be to these young men a mild teacher; I will bethink me to requite thee there-for. Thou hast dealt so, that men will honour thee far and near all thy life long, even as widely as the sea embraceth the windy bulwarks of the land. Be, while thou livest, a prosperous noble! I will bestow on thee lavishly presents of treasure. Be thou in act staunch to my sons, upholding [their] joy. Here all the earls are true to one another, mild of mood, loyal to their chief lord; the thanes are in accord, the people all ready; the vassals have well drunk: do ye as I bid.' Then went she to her seat. There was the choicest of feasts, Geatas were utterly routed, this interpretation does not seem to be here admissible. Ib. swege onfeng, lit. 'took to noise.' 1217 neot, imper. of neotan. 1222 ealne wide-ferho; see 1. 702. 1224 wind geard weallas, MS. Thorpe's correction, which is at once 1225 druncon win weras, wyrd ne cudon, geósceaft grimne, swá hit agangen weard 1235 eorla manegum. Syddan æfen cwom, and him Hróðgár gewát tó hófe sínum, ríce to reste. Reced weardode unrím eorla, swá híe oft ár dydon ; benc-pelu béredon: hit geond-bræded wearð 1240 beddum and bolstrum. Beór-scealca sum, fús and fæge, flet-reste gebeág. Setton him to heáfdum hilde-randas, bord-wudu beorhtan. pær on bence was, ofer ædelinge, ý-gesene 1245 heado-steápa helm, hringed byrne, ge æt hám ge on herge, ge gehwæder pára, 1250 þearf gesælde; was seó þeód tilu. the men drank wine, they knew not fate, the cruel past, as it had befallen many an earl. After that the evening came, and Hroðgar departed from them to his lodging, the ruler [went] to rest. An innumerable multitude of earls guarded the mansion, as they often did aforetime; they bared the bench-floor; it was spread over with beds and bolsters. Some of the beer-drinkers [tapsters?], alert and joyful, lay down to rest. They placed at their heads their battle shields, their bright wooden bucklers There on the bench, above the noble, might easily be seen his towering helmet, his coat of chain-mail, his glorious war-shield. It was their custom, that they should often be ready for battle, whether at home or abroad, and any one of them indifferently, just on such occasions as their liege lord had need of them ;—that was a serviceable people! 1236 him, the ethical dative. 1239 benc-pelu. pelu is the Engl. 'deal.' On the earthen floor of a Teutonic drinking-hall a flooring of timber was placed which covered part of it, and on which the tables and benches were set: they were removed at bed-time. See lines 486 and 775. The pre 1240 Beor-scealca sum. cise import of this sentence is not clear. 1241 For fæge (doomed, or else, cowardly) we should read fægen, joyful. 1249 swylce, lit. 'as the need of them happened to the lord.' II. GRENDLES MODOR. XIX. Sigon þá tó slæpe. Sum sáre ongeald æfen-reste, swa him ful oft gelamp, siddan gold-sele Grendel warode, unriht æfnde, oddæt ende becwom, 1255 swylt æfter synnum. þæt gesýne weard, wíd-cu werum, þætte wrecend þá gyt lifde æfter láðum, lange prage æfter guð-ceare, Grendles módor. Ides, aglæc wíf, yrmde gemunde, 1260 seó þe water-egesan wunian scolde, II. Then sank they to sleep. One paid dearly for his evening rest, as had happened to them full oft, since Grendel had occupied the gold-hall, and accomplished wrong, until his end came, death after sin. That was [clearly] seen, widely known among men, that an avenger yet survived the foe, a long while after the perilous battle, -Grendel's mother. The woman, the monstrous witch, brooded over her misery,—she who was doomed to dwell among the terrors of waters, the cold streams, after that Cain became the murderer of BOOK II. Although the MS. has no break at this place beyond one of the usual sectional divisions, the arrangement which makes a new book commence here is not an arbitrary one. The poet seems to take a fresh departure from this point; he recapitulates shortly the events described in the foregoing Book as if he were addressing himself to a fresh audience, or as if he wished to give a certain independence to the present book, so that it might stand alone and tell its own story, even if those to whom it came were unacquainted with the First Book. Even the affiliation of Grendel to Cain is here insisted upon afresh, just as in Book I., 1. 107. 1253 warode, pf. of warian, to guard, оссиру. |