{"id":395,"date":"2015-07-15T20:23:54","date_gmt":"2015-07-15T20:23:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.candelalearning.com\/britlit1xmaster\/?post_type=chapter&p=395"},"modified":"2015-07-15T20:23:54","modified_gmt":"2015-07-15T20:23:54","slug":"beowulf-sections-1-5","status":"web-only","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-britlit1\/chapter\/beowulf-sections-1-5\/","title":{"raw":"Beowulf Sections 1-5","rendered":"Beowulf Sections 1-5"},"content":{"raw":"I\r\n\r\nNow Beowulf bode in the burg of the Scyldings,\r\nleader beloved, and long he ruled\r\nin fame with all folk, since his father had gone\r\naway from the world, till awoke an heir,\r\nhaughty Healfdene, who held through life,\r\nsage and sturdy, the Scyldings glad.\r\nThen, one after one, there woke to him,\r\nto the chieftain of clansmen, children four:\r\nHeorogar, then Hrothgar, then Halga brave;\r\nand I heard that -- was -- \u2019s queen,\r\nthe Heathoscylfing\u2019s helpmate dear.\r\nTo Hrothgar was given such glory of war,\r\nsuch honor of combat, that all his kin\r\nobeyed him gladly till great grew his band\r\nof youthful comrades. It came in his mind\r\nto bid his henchmen a hall uprear,\r\na master mead-house, mightier far\r\nthan ever was seen by the sons of earth,\r\nand within it, then, to old and young\r\nhe would all allot that the Lord had sent him,\r\nsave only the land and the lives of his men.\r\nWide, I heard, was the work commanded,\r\nfor many a tribe this mid-earth round,\r\nto fashion the folkstead. It fell, as he ordered,\r\nin rapid achievement that ready it stood there,\r\nof halls the noblest: Heorot[footnote]That is, \u201cThe Hart,\u201d or \u201cStag,\u201d so called from decorations in the gables that resembled the antlers of a deer. This hall has been carefully described in a pamphlet by Heyne. The building was rectangular, with opposite doors -- mainly west and east -- and a hearth in the middle of th single room. A row of pillars down each side, at some distance from the walls, made a space which was raised a little above the main floor, and was furnished with two rows of seats. On one side, usually south, was the high-seat midway between the doors. Opposite this, on the other raised space, was another seat of honor. At the banquet soon to be described, Hrothgar sat in the south or chief high-seat, and Beowulf opposite to him. The scene for a flying (see below, v.499) was thus very effectively set. Planks on trestles -- the \u201cboard\u201d of later English literature -- formed the tables just in front of the long rows of seats, and were taken away after banquets, when the retainers were ready to stretch themselves out for sleep on the benches.[\/footnote]\u00a0he named it\r\nwhose message had might in many a land.\r\nNot reckless of promise, the rings he dealt,\r\ntreasure at banquet: there towered the hall,\r\nhigh, gabled wide, the hot surge waiting\r\nof furious flame.[footnote]Fire was the usual end of these halls. See v. 781 below. One thinks of the splendid scene at the end of the Nibelungen, of the Nialssaga, of Saxo\u2019s story of Amlethus, and many a less famous instance.[\/footnote]\u00a0Nor far was that day\r\nwhen father and son-in-law stood in feud\r\nfor warfare and hatred that woke again.[footnote]It is to be supposed that all hearers of this poem knew how Hrothgar\u2019s hall was burnt, -- perhaps in the unsuccessful attack made on him by his son-in-law Ingeld.[\/footnote]\r\nWith envy and anger an evil spirit\r\nendured the dole in his dark abode,\r\nthat he heard each day the din of revel\r\nhigh in the hall: there harps rang out,\r\nclear song of the singer. He sang who knew[footnote]A skilled minstrel. The Danes are heathens, as one is told presently; but this lay of beginnings is taken from Genesis.[\/footnote]\r\ntales of the early time of man,\r\nhow the Almighty made the earth,\r\nfairest fields enfolded by water,\r\nset, triumphant, sun and moon\r\nfor a light to lighten the land-dwellers,\r\nand braided bright the breast of earth\r\nwith limbs and leaves, made life for all\r\nof mortal beings that breathe and move.\r\nSo lived the clansmen in cheer and revel\r\na winsome life, till one began\r\nto fashion evils, that field of hell.\r\nGrendel this monster grim was called,\r\nmarch-riever[footnote]A disturber of the border, one who sallies from his haunt in the fen and roams over the country near by. This probably pagan nuisance is now furnished with biblical credentials as a fiend or devil in good standing, so that all Christian Englishmen might read about him. \u201cGrendel\u201d may mean one who grinds and crushes.[\/footnote]\u00a0mighty, in moorland living,\r\nin fen and fastness; fief of the giants\r\nthe hapless wight a while had kept\r\nsince the Creator his exile doomed.\r\nOn kin of Cain was the killing avenged\r\nby sovran God for slaughtered Abel.\r\nIll fared his feud,[footnote]Cain\u2019s.[\/footnote]\u00a0and far was he driven,\r\nfor the slaughter\u2019s sake, from sight of men.\r\nOf Cain awoke all that woful breed,\r\nEtins[footnote]Giants.[\/footnote]\u00a0and elves and evil-spirits,\r\nas well as the giants that warred with God\r\nweary while: but their wage was paid them!\r\n
\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nII\r\n\r\nWENT he forth to find at fall of night\r\nthat haughty house, and heed wherever\r\nthe Ring-Danes, outrevelled, to rest had gone.\r\nFound within it the atheling band\r\nasleep after feasting and fearless of sorrow,\r\nof human hardship. Unhallowed wight,\r\ngrim and greedy, he grasped betimes,\r\nwrathful, reckless, from resting-places,\r\nthirty of the thanes, and thence he rushed\r\nfain of his fell spoil, faring homeward,\r\nladen with slaughter, his lair to seek.\r\nThen at the dawning, as day was breaking,\r\nthe might of Grendel to men was known;\r\nthen after wassail was wail uplifted,\r\nloud moan in the morn. The mighty chief,\r\natheling excellent, unblithe sat,\r\nlabored in woe for the loss of his thanes,\r\nwhen once had been traced the trail of the fiend,\r\nspirit accurst: too cruel that sorrow,\r\ntoo long, too loathsome. Not late the respite;\r\nwith night returning, anew began\r\nruthless murder; he recked no whit,\r\nfirm in his guilt, of the feud and crime.\r\nThey were easy to find who elsewhere sought\r\nin room remote their rest at night,\r\nbed in the bowers,[footnote]The smaller buildings within the main enclosure but separate from the hall.[\/footnote]\u00a0when that bale was shown,\r\nwas seen in sooth, with surest token, --\r\nthe hall-thane\u2019s[footnote]Grendel.[\/footnote]\u00a0hate. Such held themselves\r\nfar and fast who the fiend outran!\r\nThus ruled unrighteous and raged his fill\r\none against all; until empty stood\r\nthat lordly building, and long it bode so.\r\nTwelve years\u2019 tide the trouble he bore,\r\nsovran of Scyldings, sorrows in plenty,\r\nboundless cares. There came unhidden\r\ntidings true to the tribes of men,\r\nin sorrowful songs, how ceaselessly Grendel\r\nharassed Hrothgar, what hate he bore him,\r\nwhat murder and massacre, many a year,\r\nfeud unfading, -- refused consent\r\nto deal with any of Daneland\u2019s earls,\r\nmake pact of peace, or compound for gold:\r\nstill less did the wise men ween to get\r\ngreat fee for the feud from his fiendish hands.\r\nBut the evil one ambushed old and young\r\ndeath-shadow dark, and dogged them still,\r\nlured, or lurked in the livelong night\r\nof misty moorlands: men may say not\r\nwhere the haunts of these Hell-Runes[footnote]\u201cSorcerers-of-hell.\u201d[\/footnote]\u00a0be.\r\nSuch heaping of horrors the hater of men,\r\nlonely roamer, wrought unceasing,\r\nharassings heavy. O\u2019er Heorot he lorded,\r\ngold-bright hall, in gloomy nights;\r\nand ne\u2019er could the prince[footnote]Hrothgar, who is the \u201cScyldings\u2019-friend\u201d of 170.[\/footnote]\u00a0approach his throne,\r\n-- \u2019twas judgment of God, -- or have joy in his hall.\r\nSore was the sorrow to Scyldings\u2019-friend,\r\nheart-rending misery. Many nobles\r\nsat assembled, and searched out counsel\r\nhow it were best for bold-hearted men\r\nagainst harassing terror to try their hand.\r\nWhiles they vowed in their heathen fanes\r\naltar-offerings, asked with words[footnote] That is, in formal or prescribed phrase.[\/footnote]\r\nthat the slayer-of-souls would succor give them\r\nfor the pain of their people. Their practice this,\r\ntheir heathen hope; \u2019twas Hell they thought of\r\nin mood of their mind. Almighty they knew not,\r\nDoomsman of Deeds and dreadful Lord,\r\nnor Heaven\u2019s-Helmet heeded they ever,\r\nWielder-of-Wonder. -- Woe for that man\r\nwho in harm and hatred hales his soul\r\nto fiery embraces; -- nor favor nor change\r\nawaits he ever. But well for him\r\nthat after death-day may draw to his Lord,\r\nand friendship find in the Father\u2019s arms!\r\n
\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nIII\r\n\r\nTHUS seethed unceasing the son of Healfdene\r\nwith the woe of these days; not wisest men\r\nassuaged his sorrow; too sore the anguish,\r\nloathly and long, that lay on his folk,\r\nmost baneful of burdens and bales of the night.\r\n\r\nThis heard in his home Hygelac\u2019s thane,\r\ngreat among Geats, of Grendel\u2019s doings.\r\nHe was the mightiest man of valor\r\nin that same day of this our life,\r\nstalwart and stately. A stout wave-walker\r\nhe bade make ready. Yon battle-king, said he,\r\nfar o\u2019er the swan-road he fain would seek,\r\nthe noble monarch who needed men!\r\nThe prince\u2019s journey by prudent folk\r\nwas little blamed, though they loved him dear;\r\nthey whetted the hero, and hailed good omens.\r\nAnd now the bold one from bands of Geats\r\ncomrades chose, the keenest of warriors\r\ne\u2019er he could find; with fourteen men\r\nthe sea-wood[footnote]Ship.[\/footnote]\u00a0he sought, and, sailor proved,\r\nled them on to the land\u2019s confines.\r\nTime had now flown;[footnote]That is, since Beowulf selected his ship and led his men to the harbor.[\/footnote]\u00a0afloat was the ship,\r\nboat under bluff. On board they climbed,\r\nwarriors ready; waves were churning\r\nsea with sand; the sailors bore\r\non the breast of the bark their bright array,\r\ntheir mail and weapons: the men pushed off,\r\non its willing way, the well-braced craft.\r\nThen moved o\u2019er the waters by might of the wind\r\nthat bark like a bird with breast of foam,\r\ntill in season due, on the second day,\r\nthe curved prow such course had run\r\nthat sailors now could see the land,\r\nsea-cliffs shining, steep high hills,\r\nheadlands broad. Their haven was found,\r\ntheir journey ended. Up then quickly\r\nthe Weders\u2019[footnote]One of the auxiliary names of the Geats.[\/footnote]\u00a0clansmen climbed ashore,\r\nanchored their sea-wood, with armor clashing\r\nand gear of battle: God they thanked\r\nor passing in peace o\u2019er the paths of the sea.\r\nNow saw from the cliff a Scylding clansman,\r\na warden that watched the water-side,\r\nhow they bore o\u2019er the gangway glittering shields,\r\nwar-gear in readiness; wonder seized him\r\nto know what manner of men they were.\r\nStraight to the strand his steed he rode,\r\nHrothgar\u2019s henchman; with hand of might\r\nhe shook his spear, and spake in parley.\r\n\u201cWho are ye, then, ye armed men,\r\nmailed folk, that yon mighty vessel\r\nhave urged thus over the ocean ways,\r\nhere o\u2019er the waters? A warden I,\r\nsentinel set o\u2019er the sea-march here,\r\nlest any foe to the folk of Danes\r\nwith harrying fleet should harm the land.\r\nNo aliens ever at ease thus bore them,\r\nlinden-wielders:[footnote]Or: Not thus openly ever came warriors hither; yet...[\/footnote]\u00a0yet word-of-leave\r\nclearly ye lack from clansmen here,\r\nmy folk\u2019s agreement. -- A greater ne\u2019er saw I\r\nof warriors in world than is one of you, --\r\nyon hero in harness! No henchman he\r\nworthied by weapons, if witness his features,\r\nhis peerless presence! I pray you, though, tell\r\nyour folk and home, lest hence ye fare\r\nsuspect to wander your way as spies\r\nin Danish land. Now, dwellers afar,\r\nocean-travellers, take from me\r\nsimple advice: the sooner the better\r\nI hear of the country whence ye came.\u201d\r\n
\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nIV\r\n\r\nTo him the stateliest spake in answer;\r\nthe warriors\u2019 leader his word-hoard unlocked: --\r\n\u201cWe are by kin of the clan of Geats,\r\nand Hygelac\u2019s own hearth-fellows we.\r\nTo folk afar was my father known,\r\nnoble atheling, Ecgtheow named.\r\nFull of winters, he fared away\r\naged from earth; he is honored still\r\nthrough width of the world by wise men all.\r\nTo thy lord and liege in loyal mood\r\nwe hasten hither, to Healfdene\u2019s son,\r\npeople-protector: be pleased to advise us!\r\nTo that mighty-one come we on mickle errand,\r\nto the lord of the Danes; nor deem I right\r\nthat aught be hidden. We hear -- thou knowest\r\nif sooth it is -- the saying of men,\r\nthat amid the Scyldings a scathing monster,\r\ndark ill-doer, in dusky nights\r\nshows terrific his rage unmatched,\r\nhatred and murder. To Hrothgar I\r\nin greatness of soul would succor bring,\r\nso the Wise-and-Brave[footnote]Hrothgar.[\/footnote]\u00a0may worst his foes, --\r\nif ever the end of ills is fated,\r\nof cruel contest, if cure shall follow,\r\nand the boiling care-waves cooler grow;\r\nelse ever afterward anguish-days\r\nhe shall suffer in sorrow while stands in place\r\nhigh on its hill that house unpeered!\u201d\r\nAstride his steed, the strand-ward answered,\r\nclansman unquailing: \u201cThe keen-souled thane\r\nmust be skilled to sever and sunder duly\r\nwords and works, if he well intends.\r\nI gather, this band is graciously bent\r\nto the Scyldings\u2019 master. March, then, bearing\r\nweapons and weeds the way I show you.\r\nI will bid my men your boat meanwhile\r\nto guard for fear lest foemen come, --\r\nyour new-tarred ship by shore of ocean\r\nfaithfully watching till once again\r\nit waft o\u2019er the waters those well-loved thanes,\r\n-- winding-neck\u2019d wood, -- to Weders\u2019 bounds,\r\nheroes such as the hest of fate\r\nshall succor and save from the shock of war.\u201d\r\nThey bent them to march, -- the boat lay still,\r\nfettered by cable and fast at anchor,\r\nbroad-bosomed ship. -- Then shone the boars[footnote] Beowulf\u2019s helmet has several boar-images on it; he is the \u201cman of war\u201d; and the boar-helmet guards him as typical representative of the marching party as a whole. The boar was sacred to Freyr, who was the favorite god of the Germanic tribes about the North Sea and the Baltic. Rude representations of warriors show the boar on the helmet quite as large as the helmet itself.[\/footnote]\r\nover the cheek-guard; chased with gold,\r\nkeen and gleaming, guard it kept\r\no\u2019er the man of war, as marched along\r\nheroes in haste, till the hall they saw,\r\nbroad of gable and bright with gold:\r\nthat was the fairest, \u2019mid folk of earth,\r\nof houses \u2019neath heaven, where Hrothgar lived,\r\nand the gleam of it lightened o\u2019er lands afar.\r\nThe sturdy shieldsman showed that bright\r\nburg-of-the-boldest; bade them go\r\nstraightway thither; his steed then turned,\r\nhardy hero, and hailed them thus: --\r\n\u201c\u2019Tis time that I fare from you. Father Almighty\r\nin grace and mercy guard you well,\r\nsafe in your seekings. Seaward I go,\r\n\u2019gainst hostile warriors hold my watch.\u201d\r\n
\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nV\r\n\r\nSTONE-BRIGHT the street:[footnote]Either merely paved, the strata via of the Romans, or else thought of as a sort of mosaic, an extravagant touch like the reckless waste of gold on the walls and roofs of a hall.[\/footnote]\u00a0it showed the way\r\nto the crowd of clansmen. Corselets glistened\r\nhand-forged, hard; on their harness bright\r\nthe steel ring sang, as they strode along\r\nin mail of battle, and marched to the hall.\r\nThere, weary of ocean, the wall along\r\nthey set their bucklers, their broad shields, down,\r\nand bowed them to bench: the breastplates clanged,\r\nwar-gear of men; their weapons stacked,\r\nspears of the seafarers stood together,\r\ngray-tipped ash: that iron band\r\nwas worthily weaponed! -- A warrior proud\r\nasked of the heroes their home and kin.\r\n\u201cWhence, now, bear ye burnished shields,\r\nharness gray and helmets grim,\r\nspears in multitude? Messenger, I,\r\nHrothgar\u2019s herald! Heroes so many\r\nne\u2019er met I as strangers of mood so strong.\r\n\u2019Tis plain that for prowess, not plunged into exile,\r\nfor high-hearted valor, Hrothgar ye seek!\u201d\r\nHim the sturdy-in-war bespake with words,\r\nproud earl of the Weders answer made,\r\nhardy \u2019neath helmet: -- \u201cHygelac\u2019s, we,\r\nfellows at board; I am Beowulf named.\r\nI am seeking to say to the son of Healfdene\r\nthis mission of mine, to thy master-lord,\r\nthe doughty prince, if he deign at all\r\ngrace that we greet him, the good one, now.\u201d\r\nWulfgar spake, the Wendles\u2019 chieftain,\r\nwhose might of mind to many was known,\r\nhis courage and counsel: \u201cThe king of Danes,\r\nthe Scyldings\u2019 friend, I fain will tell,\r\nthe Breaker-of-Rings, as the boon thou askest,\r\nthe famed prince, of thy faring hither,\r\nand, swiftly after, such answer bring\r\nas the doughty monarch may deign to give.\u201d\r\nHied then in haste to where Hrothgar sat\r\nwhite-haired and old, his earls about him,\r\ntill the stout thane stood at the shoulder there\r\nof the Danish king: good courtier he!\r\nWulfgar spake to his winsome lord: --\r\n\u201cHither have fared to thee far-come men\r\no\u2019er the paths of ocean, people of Geatland;\r\nand the stateliest there by his sturdy band\r\nis Beowulf named. This boon they seek,\r\nthat they, my master, may with thee\r\nhave speech at will: nor spurn their prayer\r\nto give them hearing, gracious Hrothgar!\r\nIn weeds of the warrior worthy they,\r\nmethinks, of our liking; their leader most surely,\r\na hero that hither his henchmen has led.\u201d","rendered":"

I<\/p>\n

Now Beowulf bode in the burg of the Scyldings,
\nleader beloved, and long he ruled
\nin fame with all folk, since his father had gone
\naway from the world, till awoke an heir,
\nhaughty Healfdene, who held through life,
\nsage and sturdy, the Scyldings glad.
\nThen, one after one, there woke to him,
\nto the chieftain of clansmen, children four:
\nHeorogar, then Hrothgar, then Halga brave;
\nand I heard that — was — \u2019s queen,
\nthe Heathoscylfing\u2019s helpmate dear.
\nTo Hrothgar was given such glory of war,
\nsuch honor of combat, that all his kin
\nobeyed him gladly till great grew his band
\nof youthful comrades. It came in his mind
\nto bid his henchmen a hall uprear,
\na master mead-house, mightier far
\nthan ever was seen by the sons of earth,
\nand within it, then, to old and young
\nhe would all allot that the Lord had sent him,
\nsave only the land and the lives of his men.
\nWide, I heard, was the work commanded,
\nfor many a tribe this mid-earth round,
\nto fashion the folkstead. It fell, as he ordered,
\nin rapid achievement that ready it stood there,
\nof halls the noblest: Heorot[1]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0he named it
\nwhose message had might in many a land.
\nNot reckless of promise, the rings he dealt,
\ntreasure at banquet: there towered the hall,
\nhigh, gabled wide, the hot surge waiting
\nof furious flame.[2]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0Nor far was that day
\nwhen father and son-in-law stood in feud
\nfor warfare and hatred that woke again.[3]<\/sup><\/a>
\nWith envy and anger an evil spirit
\nendured the dole in his dark abode,
\nthat he heard each day the din of revel
\nhigh in the hall: there harps rang out,
\nclear song of the singer. He sang who knew[4]<\/sup><\/a>
\ntales of the early time of man,
\nhow the Almighty made the earth,
\nfairest fields enfolded by water,
\nset, triumphant, sun and moon
\nfor a light to lighten the land-dwellers,
\nand braided bright the breast of earth
\nwith limbs and leaves, made life for all
\nof mortal beings that breathe and move.
\nSo lived the clansmen in cheer and revel
\na winsome life, till one began
\nto fashion evils, that field of hell.
\nGrendel this monster grim was called,
\nmarch-riever[5]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0mighty, in moorland living,
\nin fen and fastness; fief of the giants
\nthe hapless wight a while had kept
\nsince the Creator his exile doomed.
\nOn kin of Cain was the killing avenged
\nby sovran God for slaughtered Abel.
\nIll fared his feud,[6]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0and far was he driven,
\nfor the slaughter\u2019s sake, from sight of men.
\nOf Cain awoke all that woful breed,
\nEtins[7]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0and elves and evil-spirits,
\nas well as the giants that warred with God
\nweary while: but their wage was paid them!<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

II<\/p>\n

WENT he forth to find at fall of night
\nthat haughty house, and heed wherever
\nthe Ring-Danes, outrevelled, to rest had gone.
\nFound within it the atheling band
\nasleep after feasting and fearless of sorrow,
\nof human hardship. Unhallowed wight,
\ngrim and greedy, he grasped betimes,
\nwrathful, reckless, from resting-places,
\nthirty of the thanes, and thence he rushed
\nfain of his fell spoil, faring homeward,
\nladen with slaughter, his lair to seek.
\nThen at the dawning, as day was breaking,
\nthe might of Grendel to men was known;
\nthen after wassail was wail uplifted,
\nloud moan in the morn. The mighty chief,
\natheling excellent, unblithe sat,
\nlabored in woe for the loss of his thanes,
\nwhen once had been traced the trail of the fiend,
\nspirit accurst: too cruel that sorrow,
\ntoo long, too loathsome. Not late the respite;
\nwith night returning, anew began
\nruthless murder; he recked no whit,
\nfirm in his guilt, of the feud and crime.
\nThey were easy to find who elsewhere sought
\nin room remote their rest at night,
\nbed in the bowers,[8]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0when that bale was shown,
\nwas seen in sooth, with surest token, —
\nthe hall-thane\u2019s[9]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0hate. Such held themselves
\nfar and fast who the fiend outran!
\nThus ruled unrighteous and raged his fill
\none against all; until empty stood
\nthat lordly building, and long it bode so.
\nTwelve years\u2019 tide the trouble he bore,
\nsovran of Scyldings, sorrows in plenty,
\nboundless cares. There came unhidden
\ntidings true to the tribes of men,
\nin sorrowful songs, how ceaselessly Grendel
\nharassed Hrothgar, what hate he bore him,
\nwhat murder and massacre, many a year,
\nfeud unfading, — refused consent
\nto deal with any of Daneland\u2019s earls,
\nmake pact of peace, or compound for gold:
\nstill less did the wise men ween to get
\ngreat fee for the feud from his fiendish hands.
\nBut the evil one ambushed old and young
\ndeath-shadow dark, and dogged them still,
\nlured, or lurked in the livelong night
\nof misty moorlands: men may say not
\nwhere the haunts of these Hell-Runes[10]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0be.
\nSuch heaping of horrors the hater of men,
\nlonely roamer, wrought unceasing,
\nharassings heavy. O\u2019er Heorot he lorded,
\ngold-bright hall, in gloomy nights;
\nand ne\u2019er could the prince[11]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0approach his throne,
\n— \u2019twas judgment of God, — or have joy in his hall.
\nSore was the sorrow to Scyldings\u2019-friend,
\nheart-rending misery. Many nobles
\nsat assembled, and searched out counsel
\nhow it were best for bold-hearted men
\nagainst harassing terror to try their hand.
\nWhiles they vowed in their heathen fanes
\naltar-offerings, asked with words[12]<\/sup><\/a>
\nthat the slayer-of-souls would succor give them
\nfor the pain of their people. Their practice this,
\ntheir heathen hope; \u2019twas Hell they thought of
\nin mood of their mind. Almighty they knew not,
\nDoomsman of Deeds and dreadful Lord,
\nnor Heaven\u2019s-Helmet heeded they ever,
\nWielder-of-Wonder. — Woe for that man
\nwho in harm and hatred hales his soul
\nto fiery embraces; — nor favor nor change
\nawaits he ever. But well for him
\nthat after death-day may draw to his Lord,
\nand friendship find in the Father\u2019s arms!<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

III<\/p>\n

THUS seethed unceasing the son of Healfdene
\nwith the woe of these days; not wisest men
\nassuaged his sorrow; too sore the anguish,
\nloathly and long, that lay on his folk,
\nmost baneful of burdens and bales of the night.<\/p>\n

This heard in his home Hygelac\u2019s thane,
\ngreat among Geats, of Grendel\u2019s doings.
\nHe was the mightiest man of valor
\nin that same day of this our life,
\nstalwart and stately. A stout wave-walker
\nhe bade make ready. Yon battle-king, said he,
\nfar o\u2019er the swan-road he fain would seek,
\nthe noble monarch who needed men!
\nThe prince\u2019s journey by prudent folk
\nwas little blamed, though they loved him dear;
\nthey whetted the hero, and hailed good omens.
\nAnd now the bold one from bands of Geats
\ncomrades chose, the keenest of warriors
\ne\u2019er he could find; with fourteen men
\nthe sea-wood[13]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0he sought, and, sailor proved,
\nled them on to the land\u2019s confines.
\nTime had now flown;[14]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0afloat was the ship,
\nboat under bluff. On board they climbed,
\nwarriors ready; waves were churning
\nsea with sand; the sailors bore
\non the breast of the bark their bright array,
\ntheir mail and weapons: the men pushed off,
\non its willing way, the well-braced craft.
\nThen moved o\u2019er the waters by might of the wind
\nthat bark like a bird with breast of foam,
\ntill in season due, on the second day,
\nthe curved prow such course had run
\nthat sailors now could see the land,
\nsea-cliffs shining, steep high hills,
\nheadlands broad. Their haven was found,
\ntheir journey ended. Up then quickly
\nthe Weders\u2019[15]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0clansmen climbed ashore,
\nanchored their sea-wood, with armor clashing
\nand gear of battle: God they thanked
\nor passing in peace o\u2019er the paths of the sea.
\nNow saw from the cliff a Scylding clansman,
\na warden that watched the water-side,
\nhow they bore o\u2019er the gangway glittering shields,
\nwar-gear in readiness; wonder seized him
\nto know what manner of men they were.
\nStraight to the strand his steed he rode,
\nHrothgar\u2019s henchman; with hand of might
\nhe shook his spear, and spake in parley.
\n\u201cWho are ye, then, ye armed men,
\nmailed folk, that yon mighty vessel
\nhave urged thus over the ocean ways,
\nhere o\u2019er the waters? A warden I,
\nsentinel set o\u2019er the sea-march here,
\nlest any foe to the folk of Danes
\nwith harrying fleet should harm the land.
\nNo aliens ever at ease thus bore them,
\nlinden-wielders:[16]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0yet word-of-leave
\nclearly ye lack from clansmen here,
\nmy folk\u2019s agreement. — A greater ne\u2019er saw I
\nof warriors in world than is one of you, —
\nyon hero in harness! No henchman he
\nworthied by weapons, if witness his features,
\nhis peerless presence! I pray you, though, tell
\nyour folk and home, lest hence ye fare
\nsuspect to wander your way as spies
\nin Danish land. Now, dwellers afar,
\nocean-travellers, take from me
\nsimple advice: the sooner the better
\nI hear of the country whence ye came.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

IV<\/p>\n

To him the stateliest spake in answer;
\nthe warriors\u2019 leader his word-hoard unlocked: —
\n\u201cWe are by kin of the clan of Geats,
\nand Hygelac\u2019s own hearth-fellows we.
\nTo folk afar was my father known,
\nnoble atheling, Ecgtheow named.
\nFull of winters, he fared away
\naged from earth; he is honored still
\nthrough width of the world by wise men all.
\nTo thy lord and liege in loyal mood
\nwe hasten hither, to Healfdene\u2019s son,
\npeople-protector: be pleased to advise us!
\nTo that mighty-one come we on mickle errand,
\nto the lord of the Danes; nor deem I right
\nthat aught be hidden. We hear — thou knowest
\nif sooth it is — the saying of men,
\nthat amid the Scyldings a scathing monster,
\ndark ill-doer, in dusky nights
\nshows terrific his rage unmatched,
\nhatred and murder. To Hrothgar I
\nin greatness of soul would succor bring,
\nso the Wise-and-Brave[17]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0may worst his foes, —
\nif ever the end of ills is fated,
\nof cruel contest, if cure shall follow,
\nand the boiling care-waves cooler grow;
\nelse ever afterward anguish-days
\nhe shall suffer in sorrow while stands in place
\nhigh on its hill that house unpeered!\u201d
\nAstride his steed, the strand-ward answered,
\nclansman unquailing: \u201cThe keen-souled thane
\nmust be skilled to sever and sunder duly
\nwords and works, if he well intends.
\nI gather, this band is graciously bent
\nto the Scyldings\u2019 master. March, then, bearing
\nweapons and weeds the way I show you.
\nI will bid my men your boat meanwhile
\nto guard for fear lest foemen come, —
\nyour new-tarred ship by shore of ocean
\nfaithfully watching till once again
\nit waft o\u2019er the waters those well-loved thanes,
\n— winding-neck\u2019d wood, — to Weders\u2019 bounds,
\nheroes such as the hest of fate
\nshall succor and save from the shock of war.\u201d
\nThey bent them to march, — the boat lay still,
\nfettered by cable and fast at anchor,
\nbroad-bosomed ship. — Then shone the boars[18]<\/sup><\/a>
\nover the cheek-guard; chased with gold,
\nkeen and gleaming, guard it kept
\no\u2019er the man of war, as marched along
\nheroes in haste, till the hall they saw,
\nbroad of gable and bright with gold:
\nthat was the fairest, \u2019mid folk of earth,
\nof houses \u2019neath heaven, where Hrothgar lived,
\nand the gleam of it lightened o\u2019er lands afar.
\nThe sturdy shieldsman showed that bright
\nburg-of-the-boldest; bade them go
\nstraightway thither; his steed then turned,
\nhardy hero, and hailed them thus: —
\n\u201c\u2019Tis time that I fare from you. Father Almighty
\nin grace and mercy guard you well,
\nsafe in your seekings. Seaward I go,
\n\u2019gainst hostile warriors hold my watch.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

V<\/p>\n

STONE-BRIGHT the street:[19]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0it showed the way
\nto the crowd of clansmen. Corselets glistened
\nhand-forged, hard; on their harness bright
\nthe steel ring sang, as they strode along
\nin mail of battle, and marched to the hall.
\nThere, weary of ocean, the wall along
\nthey set their bucklers, their broad shields, down,
\nand bowed them to bench: the breastplates clanged,
\nwar-gear of men; their weapons stacked,
\nspears of the seafarers stood together,
\ngray-tipped ash: that iron band
\nwas worthily weaponed! — A warrior proud
\nasked of the heroes their home and kin.
\n\u201cWhence, now, bear ye burnished shields,
\nharness gray and helmets grim,
\nspears in multitude? Messenger, I,
\nHrothgar\u2019s herald! Heroes so many
\nne\u2019er met I as strangers of mood so strong.
\n\u2019Tis plain that for prowess, not plunged into exile,
\nfor high-hearted valor, Hrothgar ye seek!\u201d
\nHim the sturdy-in-war bespake with words,
\nproud earl of the Weders answer made,
\nhardy \u2019neath helmet: — \u201cHygelac\u2019s, we,
\nfellows at board; I am Beowulf named.
\nI am seeking to say to the son of Healfdene
\nthis mission of mine, to thy master-lord,
\nthe doughty prince, if he deign at all
\ngrace that we greet him, the good one, now.\u201d
\nWulfgar spake, the Wendles\u2019 chieftain,
\nwhose might of mind to many was known,
\nhis courage and counsel: \u201cThe king of Danes,
\nthe Scyldings\u2019 friend, I fain will tell,
\nthe Breaker-of-Rings, as the boon thou askest,
\nthe famed prince, of thy faring hither,
\nand, swiftly after, such answer bring
\nas the doughty monarch may deign to give.\u201d
\nHied then in haste to where Hrothgar sat
\nwhite-haired and old, his earls about him,
\ntill the stout thane stood at the shoulder there
\nof the Danish king: good courtier he!
\nWulfgar spake to his winsome lord: —
\n\u201cHither have fared to thee far-come men
\no\u2019er the paths of ocean, people of Geatland;
\nand the stateliest there by his sturdy band
\nis Beowulf named. This boon they seek,
\nthat they, my master, may with thee
\nhave speech at will: nor spurn their prayer
\nto give them hearing, gracious Hrothgar!
\nIn weeds of the warrior worthy they,
\nmethinks, of our liking; their leader most surely,
\na hero that hither his henchmen has led.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t

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Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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Public domain content<\/div>