Beowulf_full_Kennedy.PDF

BEOWULF

Verse translation by Charles W. Kennedy.

B EOWULF is well fitted to stand as the chief surviving monument of Old English literature. Its

celebration of heroic virtue together with its sombre awareness of man's mortality finely illustrates the

mingling of pagan and Christian values within the Anglo-Saxon culture.

Beowulf, the only complete Old English epic that has been preserved, survives in one

manuscript (Cotton Vitellius A XV), now in the British Museum. It was somehow saved from

destruction following the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII in 1536. The manuscript was

written in Wessex about the year 1000, but the poem itself was probably composed in Northumbria

sometime around 750. An event described in the poem has been identified as belonging to the early

sixth century -- Hygelac's raid on the Frisians (I. 2050) occurred, according to the Frankish

chroniclers, between 512 and 520. The legends embodied in the poem are, of course, much older.

Nothing is known of the so-called Beowulf Poet except by inference. Some early critics argued

for multiple authorship largely because the complex unity of the poem, which modern studies of

orally composed poetry have helped us to understand more clearly, was not visible to them. Most

critics today assume one author for the version we have. The evidence of the poem itself allows us to

conclude that the author had some clerical learning, was acquainted with conduct at the royal court,

was familiar with the heroic legends of his race, and was expert in the composition of alliterative

poetry. Like many epic poets, he was an admirer of old times and old ways; he emphasized

established ideals of social and personal conduct by embodying them in the figure of a hero whom his

audience could strive to emulate.

This hero, Beowulf, is a Geat. It is uncertain who the Geats actually were. They might have

been the Jutes of Jutland, but more probably their name refers to the Old Norse Gautar, a tribe in

southern Sweden. There may well have been such a tribe with a king, Hygelac, whose chief thane,

Beowulf, was endowed with extraordinary skill as a warrior and as a swimmer. But Beowulf's deeds

in Hrothgar's court -- killing the monster Grendel and following the mother of Grendel to her lair --

belong to legend rather than to history, as the many folktale analogues to his adventures indicate.

Similarly, we must look beyond the actual Geats and Danes to see Beowulf as the man whom an

eighth-century English poet chose as the embodiment of what the poet's society saw as extraordinary

virtues. The figure of Beowulf has dignity and polish, in the sense that he is fully acquainted with the

etiquette demanded of a chieftain of his importance. His physical strength is overwhelming; his

courage is solid and sure. Most of all, his stoical attitudes toward time and fate endowed him with a

world view which would have been wholly admirable to the Christianized audience of the eighth

century.

Note on the Old English Language

English is a member of the Anglo-Frisian branch of the West Germanic languages. Its nearest

relatives are the Frisian, still spoken in the northernmost coastal regions of Holland, and Low German

("Plattdeutsch"), the dialect of northern Germany. As a member of the Germanic language group,

English is part of the Indo-European family of languages.

In the period before the Norman Conquest, and for a generation or so thereafter, English was

highly inflected in its use of case endings, even more so than Modern German. It had not made use, as

yet, of its amazing power of borrowing and assimilating foreign words -- one of the striking features

of Modern English. Its vocabulary tended to be conservative; its grammar, complex; and its dialectal

differences, striking. During the Old English period (before 1100) four major dialects are recognized:

the Northumbrian, the Mercian, the West Saxon, and the Kentish. An overwhelming proportion of the

surviving Old English literature is in West Saxon, which thus becomes the "classic" dialect of Old

English.

The presence of a full inflectional system is a distinctive mark of Old English. The inflectional

endings began to weaken and even to disappear during the eleventh century. The sloughing-off

Beowulf

process was slow and did not approach completion until after 1500. There is, therefore, a linguistic

reason for the division of English literature into Old, Middle, and Modern: the Old English (500-

1100) being the period of full inflections; the Middle English (1100-1500), the period of weakening

and disappearing inflectional endings; the Modern English (1500 to the present), the period of loss of

inflections.

The following passage, representing the first eleven lines of Beowulf, serves to illustrate the

language and versification of Old English. The alliteration, the free four-beat line with marked

caesura or pause in the middle (at the end of the second foot), the absence of rhyme, and the strong,

direct language should be noted.

Hwaet! we Gar-Dena in geardagum,

þeodcyninga þrym gefrunon,

hu þa aeþelingas ellen fremedon!

Oft Scyld Scefing sceaþena þreatum

monegum maegþum meodosetla ofteah,

egsode eorlas, syððan aerest wearð

feasceaft funden; he þaes frofre gebad,

weox under wolcnum, weorðmyndum þah

oð þaet him aeghwylc þara ymbsittedra

ofer hronrade hyran scolde,

gomban gyldan; þaet waes god cyning!

The pronunciation of vowels in Old English generally follows that in Latin (Continental). The

consonants are in the main pronounced as in Modern English. These exceptions should be noted: y

represents a sound approximating French u; ae is Modern English a as in hat, cat, man; eo and ea are

diphthongs with the stress on the first vowel -- among the consonants, c before e and i is probably a

ch -sound, otherwise, a k ; g before a and i is a roughened guttural y, otherwise hard g ; sc is probably

Modern English sh . All syllables have value, with the accent of a word normally on the first syllable.

ð and þ represent the Modern English th -sounds.

CONTENTS

1. THE DANISH COURT AND THE RAIDS OF GRENDEL [1-192]

2. THE COMING OF BEOWULF [193-313]

3. BEOWULF'S WELCOME AT HROTHGAR'S COURT [314-480]

4. UNFERTH TAUNTS BEOWULF [481-611]

5. BEOWULF SLAYS GRENDEL [612-789]

6. THE JOY OF THE DANES AND THE LAY OF SIGEMUND [790-916]

7. THE FEAST AND THE LAY OF FINNSBURG [917-1125]

8. THE TROLL-WIFE AVENGES GRENDEL [1126-1284]

9. BEOWULF SLAYS THE TROLL-WIFE [1285-1504]

10. BEOWULF RETURNS TO HEOROT [1505-1687]

11. THE PARTING OF BEOWULF AND HROTHGAR [1688-1771]

12. BEOWULF RETURNS TO GEATLAND [1772-2072]

13. THE FIRE-DRAGON AND THE TREASURE [2073-2367]

14. BEOWULF AND WIGLAF SLAY THE DRAGON [2368-2563]

15. BEOWULF'S DEATH [2564-2724]

16. THE MESSENGER FORETELLS THE DOOM OF THE GEATS [2725-2908]

17. BEOWULF'S FUNERAL [2909-2976]

Beowulf

THE DANISH COURT AND THE RAIDS OF GRENDEL

Lo! we have listened to many a lay 1

Of the Spear-Danes’ 2 fame, their splendour of old,

Their mighty princes, and martial deeds!

Many a mead-hall Scyld, son of Sceaf, 3

Snatched from the forces of savage foes.

From a friendless foundling, feeble and wretched,

He grew to a terror as time brought change.

He throve under heaven in power and pride

Till alien peoples beyond the ocean 4

With gracious gifts from his father's store,

That in later seasons, if war shall scourge,

A willing people may serve him well.

'Tis by earning honour a man must rise

In every state. Then his hour struck,

And Scyld passed on to the peace of God.

As their leader had bidden, whose word was law

In the Scylding realm which he long had ruled,

His loving comrades carried him down

To the shore of ocean; a ring-prowed ship,

Straining at anchor and sheeted with ice,

Rode in the harbour, a prince's pride.

Therein they laid him, their well-loved lord,

Their ring-bestower, 6 in the ship's embrace,

The mighty prince at the foot of the mast

Amid much treasure and many a gem

From far-off lands. No lordlier ship

Have I ever heard of, with weapons heaped,

lay : a narrative poem.

Spear-Danes : The Danes are called by a number of names: Scyldings, Ingwines, Spear-Danes, Ring-

Danes, Victory-Danes, Bright-Danes, East-, West-, North-, and South-Danes.

Scyld, son of Sceaf : At a time when the Danes were greatly oppressed by their enemies, a ship came

mysteriously to their shores bearing a baby and rich treasures. The baby grew up to lead the Danes victoriously

in battle and to establish their dynasty of kings. At his death he passed away to the great deep whence he had

come, probably on the very ship that had brought him. Sea burials of this sort were common in Scandinavia

from the fourth to the sixth centuries.

ocean : literally, the "whale road," one of several notable kennings (metaphorical synonyms, often naming

by function) for the sea.

Beowulf : This ruler should not be confused with the later Beowulf whose exploits are the center of this

poem.

ring-bestower : A kenning for "king." Rings or other presents, the usual reward for services rendered, were

given out by the king of the tribe or nation at the banquet or feast held in celebration of the deed performed. On

less formal occasions, too, a king would distribute gifts among the chief warriors of his tribe to insure their

service to him in the future.

Paid toll and tribute. A good king he!

To him thereafter an heir was born,

A son of his house, whom God had given

As stay to the people; God saw the distress

The leaderless nation had long endured.

The Giver of glory, the Lord of life,

Showered fame on the son of Scyld;

His name was honoured, Beowulf 5 known,

To the farthest dwellings in Danish lands.

So must a young man strive for good

Beowulf

With battle-armour, with bills and byrnies. 7

On the ruler's breast lay a royal treasure

40 As the ship put out on the unknown deep.

With no less adornment they dressed him round,

Or gift of treasure, than once they gave

Who launched him first on the lonely sea

While still but a child. A golden standard

They raised above him, high over head,

Let the wave take him on trackless seas.

Mournful their mood and heavy their hearts;

Nor wise man nor warrior knows for a truth

Unto what haven that cargo came.

50 Then Beowulf ruled o'er the Scylding realm,

Beloved and famous, for many a year --

The prince, his father, had passed away –

Till, firm in wisdom and fierce in war,

The mighty Healfdene held the reign,

Ruled, while he lived, the lordly Scyldings.

Four sons and daughters were seed of his line,

Heorogar and Hrothgar, leaders of hosts,

And Halga, the good. I have also heard

A daughter was Onela's consort and queen,

60 The fair bed-mate of the Battle-Scylfing. 8

To Hrothgar was granted glory in war,

Success in battle; retainers bold

Obeyed him gladly; his band increased

To a mighty host. Then his mind was moved

To have men fashion a high-built hall,

A mightier mead-hall than man had known,

Wherein to portion to old and young

All goodly treasure that God had given,

Save only the folk-land, and lives of men.

70 His word was published to many a people

Far and wide o'er the ways of earth

To rear a folk-stead richly adorned;

The task was speeded, the time soon came

That the famous mead-hall was finished and done.

To distant nations its name was known,

The Hall of the Hart; 9 and the king kept well

His pledge and promise to deal out gifts,

Rings at the banquet. The great hall rose

High and horn-gabled, holding its place so

80 Till the battle-surge 10 of consuming flame

Battle-Scylfyng : Scylfyng or Swede, of whom we shall hear more later in the poem.

Hall of the Hart : or Heorot, so called from the antlers with which the gables of the building were

ornamented. The hart was a symbol of royalty.

battle-surge : Hrothgar's daughter Freawaru was later married to Ingeld, prince of the Heathobards, to

settle a feud which had long raged between the two tribes. At the wedding feast the feud again broke out; the

warriors of Ingeld invaded Hrothgar's dominions and burned Heorot to the ground. This is one of the many

allusions in the poem to events before and after the story being told.

battle armor . . . byrnies : The usual equipment of the Viking warrior consisted of (1) his byrnie, or

corslet, generally of chain mail, (2) his sword, (3) his short sword or dagger, (4) his spear of ashwood tipped

with iron or steel, (5) his shield of linden wood (occasionally of iron), and (6) an elaborate helmet, consisting of

headpiece (often surmounted by the image of a boar's head), visor, and nose guard, with artistic designs and

animal figures on the crest.

Beowulf

Should swallow it up; the hour was near

That the deadly hate of a daughter's husband

Should kindle to fury and savage feud.

Then an evil spirit 11 who dwelt in the darkness

Endured it ill that he heard each day

The din of revelry ring through the hall,

The sound of the harp, and the scop's sweet song.

A skillful bard sang the ancient story

Of man's creation; how the Maker wrought

The shining earth with its circling waters;

In splendour established the sun and moon

As lights to illumine the land of men;

Fairly adorning the fields of earth

With leaves and branches; creating life

In every creature that breathes and moves.

So the lordly warriors lived in gladness,

At ease and happy, till a fiend from hell

Began a series of savage crimes.

They called him Grendel, a demon grim

100

Haunting the fen-lands, holding the moors,

Ranging the wastes, where the wretched wight

Made his lair with the monster kin;

He bore the curse of the seed of Cain 12

Whereby God punished the grievous guilt

Of Abel's murder. Nor ever had Cain

Cause to boast of that deed of blood;

God banished him far from the fields of men;

Of his blood was begotten an evil brood,

Marauding monsters and menacing trolls,

110

Goblins and giants who battled with God

A long time. Grimly He gave them reward!

Then at the nightfall the fiend drew near

Where the timbered mead-hall towered on high,

To spy how the Danes fared after the feast.

Within the wine-hall he found the warriors

Fast in slumber, forgetting grief,

Forgetting the woe of the world of men.

Grim and greedy the gruesome monster,

Fierce and furious, launched attack,

120

Slew thirty spearmen asleep in the hall,

Sped away gloating, gripping the spoil,

Dragging the dead men home to his den.

Then in the dawn with the coming of daybreak

The war-might of Grendel was widely known.

Mirth was stilled by the sound of weeping;

The wail of the mourner awoke with day.

And the peerless hero, the honoured prince,

Weighed down with woe and heavy of heart,

Sat sorely grieving for slaughtered thanes,

130

As they traced the track of the cursed monster.

From that day onward the deadly feud

evil spirit : Grendel.

seed of Cain : Grendel is thought of as being descended from Cain, who, because of the murder of his

brother Abel, was cursed by God ( Genesis , 4: 10-16).

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