Beowulf 12And dreary with gore, if death overtake me,[6
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Literature · Religion
Beowulf 12
And dreary with gore, if death overtake me,[6
HallEnglish
Will bear me off bleeding, biting and mouthing me,
The hermit will eat me, heedless of pity,
Marking the moor-fens; no more wilt thou need then
{Should I fall, send my armor to my lord, King Higelac.}
Find me my food. If I fall in the battle,
80 Send to Higelac the armor that serveth
To shield my bosom, the best of equipments,
Richest of ring-mails; 'tis the relic of Hrethla,
{Weird is supreme}
The work of Wayland. Goes Weird as she must go!"
Some render 'gif-sceattas' by 'tribute.'--'Géata' B. and Th.
emended to 'Géatum.' If this be accepted, change 'of the Geatmen' to
'to the Geatmen.'
If t.B.'s emendation of vv. 386, 387 be accepted, the two lines,
'Hasten ... kinsmen' will read: _Hasten thou, bid the throng of
kinsmen go into the hall together_.
For 420 (b) and 421 (a), B. suggests: Þær ic (on) fífelgeban
ýðde eotena cyn = _where I in the ocean destroyed the
eoten-race_.--t.B. accepts B.'s "brilliant" 'fífelgeban,' omits 'on,'
emends 'cyn' to 'hám,' arranging: Þær ic fífelgeban ýðde, eotena hám =
where I desolated the ocean, the home of the eotens.--This would be
better but for changing 'cyn' to 'hám.'--I suggest: Þær ic fífelgeband
(cf. nhd. Bande) ýðde, eotena cyn = _where I conquered the monster
band, the race of the eotens_. This makes no change except to read
'fífel' for 'fífe.'
'Unforhte' (444) is much disputed.--H.-So. wavers between adj. and
adv. Gr. and B. take it as an adv. modifying _etan: Will eat the Geats
fearlessly_.--Kl. considers this reading absurd, and proposes
'anforhte' = timid.--Understanding 'unforhte' as an adj. has this
advantage, viz. that it gives a parallel to 'Geátena leóde': but to
take it as an adv. is more natural. Furthermore, to call the Geats
'brave' might, at this point, seem like an implied thrust at the
Danes, so long helpless; while to call his own men 'timid' would be
befouling his own nest.
For 'head-watch,' cf. H.-So. notes and cf. v. 2910.--Th.
translates: Thou wilt not need my head to hide (i.e., thou wilt have
no occasion to bury me, as Grendel will devour me whole).--Simrock
imagines a kind of dead-watch.--Dr. H. Wood suggests: _Thou wilt not
have to bury so much as my head_ (for Grendel will be a thorough
undertaker),--grim humor.
S. proposes a colon after 'nimeð' (l. 447). This would make no
essential change in the translation.
Owing to the vagueness of 'feorme' (451), this passage is
variously translated. In our translation, H.-So.'s glossary has been
quite closely followed. This agrees substantially with B.'s
translation (P. and B. XII. 87). R. translates: _Thou needst not take
care longer as to the consumption of my dead body._ 'Líc' is also a
crux here, as it may mean living body or dead body.
VIII.
HROTHGAR AND BEOWULF.--Continued.
{Hrothgar responds.}
Hrothgar discoursed, helm of the Scyldings:
"To defend our folk and to furnish assistance,
Thou soughtest us hither, good friend Beowulf.
{Reminiscences of Beowulf's father, Ecgtheow.}
The fiercest of feuds thy father engaged in,
5 Heatholaf killed he in hand-to-hand conflict
'Mid Wilfingish warriors; then the Wederish people
For fear of a feud were forced to disown him.
Thence flying he fled to the folk of the South-Danes,
The race of the Scyldings, o'er the roll of the waters;
10 I had lately begun then to govern the Danemen,
The hoard-seat of heroes held in my youth,
Rich in its jewels: dead was Heregar,
My kinsman and elder had earth-joys forsaken,
Healfdene his bairn. He was better than I am!
15 That feud thereafter for a fee I compounded;
O'er the weltering waters to the Wilfings I sent
Ornaments old; oaths did he swear me.
{Hrothgar recounts to Beowulf the horrors of Grendel's persecutions.}
It pains me in spirit to any to tell it,
What grief in Heorot Grendel hath caused me,
20 What horror unlooked-for, by hatred unceasing.
Waned is my war-band, wasted my hall-troop;
Weird hath offcast them to the clutches of Grendel.
God can easily hinder the scather
From deeds so direful. Oft drunken with beer
{My thanes have made many boasts, but have not executed them.}
