Beowulf (Wyatt)/Beowulf 22
XXII.
Bēowulf maþelode, bearn Ecgþēowes:
“Geþenc nū, se mǣramaga Healfdenes,
1475snottra fengel,nū ic eom sīðes fūs,
gold-wine gumena,hwæt wit gēo sprǣcon:
gif ic æt þearfeþīnre scolde
aldre linnan,þæt ðū mē ā wǣre
forð-gewitenumon fæder stǣle.
1480Wes þū mund-boramīnum mago-þegnum,[1]
hond-gesellum,gif mec hild nime;
swylce þū ðā mādmas,þe þū mē sealdest,
Hrōðgār lēofa,Higelāce onsend.
Mæg þonne on þǣm golde ongitanGēata dryhten,
1485gesēon sunu Hrēðles,[2]þonne hē on þæt sinc starað,
þæt ic gum-cystumgōdne funde
bēaga bryttan,brēac þonne mōste.
Ond þū Unferð[3] lǣtealde lāfe,
wrætlīc wǣg-sweord,wīd-cūðne man
1490heard-ecg habban;ic mē mid Hruntinge
dōm gewyrce,*oþðe mec dēað nimeð.”Fol. 163a.
Æfter þǣm wordumWeder-Gēata lēod
efste mid elne,nalas ondsware
bīdan wolde;brim-wylm onfēng
1495hilde-rince.Ðā wæs hwīl dæges,
ǣr hē þone grund-wongongytan mehte.
Sōna þæt onfunde,sē ðe flōda begong
heoro-gīfre behēoldhund missera,
grim ond grǣdig,þæt þǣr gumena sum
1500æl-wihta eardufan cunnode.
Grāp þā, tōgēanes,gūð-rinc gefēng
atolan clommum;nō þȳ ǣr in gescōd
hālan līce;hring ūtan ymbbearh,
þæt hēo þone fyrd-homðurhfōn ne mihte,
1505locene leoðo-syrcan,lāþan fingrum.
Bær þā sēo brim-wyl[f],[4]þā hēo tō botme cōm,
hringa þengeltō hofe sīnum,
swā hē ne mihte nō(hē þēah[5] mōdig wæs)
wǣpna gewealdan;ac hine wundra þæs fela
1510swe[n]cte[6] on sunde,sǣ-dēor monig
hilde-tuxumhere-syrcan bræc,
ēhton āglǣcan.Ðā se eorl ongeat,
þæt hē [in][7] nīð-selenāt-hwylcum wæs,
þǣr him nǣnig wæterwihte ne sceþede,
1515ne him for hrōf-selehrīnan ne mehte
fǣr-gripe flōdes;*fȳr-lēoht geseah,Fol. 163b.
blācne lēomanbeorhte scīnan.
Ongeat þā se gōdagrund-wyrgenne,
mere-wīf mihtig;mægen-rǣs forgeaf
1520hilde-bille,hond[8] swenge ne oftēah,
þæt hire on hafelanhring-mǣl āgōl
grǣdig gūð-lēoð.Ðā se gist onfand,
þæt se beado-lēomabītan nolde,
aldre sceþðan,ac sēo ecg geswāc
1525ðēodne æt þearfe;ðolode ǣr fela
hond-gemōta,helm oft gescær,
fǣges fyrd-hrægl;ðā wæs forma sīð
dēorum mādme,þæt his dōm ālæg.
Eft wæs ān-rǣd,nalas elnes læt,
1530mǣrða gemyndig,mǣg Hy[ge]lāces.[9]
Wearp ðā wunden-mǣl[10]wrættum gebunden
yrre ōretta,þæt hit on eorðan læg,
stīð ond stȳl-ecg;strenge getrūwode,
mund-gripe mægenes.Swā sceal man dōn,
1535þonne hē æt gūðegegān þenceð
longsumne lof,nā ymb his līf cearað.
Gefēng þā be eaxle[11](nalas for fǣhðe mearn)
Gūð-Gēata lēodGrendles mōdor,
brægd þā beadwe heard,þā hē gebolgen wæs,
1540feorh-genīðlan,þæt hēo on flet gebēah.
Hēo him eft hraðehand-lēan[12] forgeald
grim*man grāpum,ond him tōgēanes fēng;Fol. 164a.
oferwearp þā wērig-mōdwigena strengest,
fēþe-cempa,þæt hē on fylle wearð.
1545Ofsæt þā þone sele-gyst,ond hyre seax[13] getēah
brād, brūn-ecg,[14]wolde hire bearn wrecan,
āngan eaferan.Him on eaxle læg
brēost-net brōden;þæt gebearh fēore,
wið ord ond wið ecgeingang forstōd.
1550Hæfde ðā forsīðodsunu Ecgþēowes
under gynne grund,Gēata cempa,
nemne him heaðo-byrnehelpe gefremede,
here-net hearde,ond hālig God
gewēold wīg-sigor,wītig Drihten,
1555rodera Rǣdendhit on ryht gescēd[15]
ȳðelīce;syþðan hē eft āstōd.
- ↑ 1480. Heyne divides this line wrongly, after mīnum.
- ↑ 1485. MS. ‘hrædles.’
- ↑ 1488. MS. ‘hunferð.’
- ↑ 1506. MS. ‘brim wyl.’
- ↑ 1508. MS. ‘þæm’; Grundtvig (adopted by Heyne) ‘þæs’; Grein ‘þēah.’ Grein’s emendation makes admirable sense. I would retain the MS. reading in preference to þæs, which Heyne supports by parallel passages. It is undeniable that þæs is common enough with the meaning “so” (see l. 1509); but what can be feebler than to be told, half way through the poem, that Beowulf is brave enough to wield his weapons?
- ↑ 1510. MS. ‘swecte.’
- ↑ 1513. Thorpe ‘[in].’ Grein (followed by Heyne) ‘nið-sele,’ aula in profundis; Sweet ‘nīð-sele,’ hostile hall. The line is of the same type as 482, and a long syllable is required for the scansion (see “Beiträge” x. 297).
- ↑ 1520. MS. ‘hord swenge’; Sweet ‘swenge hond,’ without explanation.
- ↑ 1530. MS. ‘hylaces.’
- ↑ 1531. MS. ‘wundel mæl.’
- ↑ 1537. Sweet adopts Rieger’s emendation ‘feaxe,’ apparently for the sake of the alliteration—a wanton change, for gefēng alliterates normally with fæhðe.
- ↑ 1541. Heyne and Sweet (who however glosses hand-lēan alone) adopt Rieger’s emendation and-lēan, alliterating with eft. So, in l. 2094, Heyne reads ond-lēan for hond-lēan, “mit Rücksicht auf die Allitteration.” On the other hand, it is unfortunate that the alliteration is not decisive in the case of either line. Moreover, the phrase and-lēan forgieldan, “to repay reward,” is distinctly over-redundant, containing as it does the re- notion in both and- and for-, as well as in the word lēan itself (here, also, in eft in the first half-line). Cf. ll. 114, 1584. Thus no case is made out for setting aside the clear readings of the MS.
- ↑ 1545. MS. ‘seaxe’; Ettmüller (followed by Sweet) ‘seax.’ Getēon always takes an accus.; cf. l. 2610 and brād, brūn-ecg, 1546.
- ↑ 1546. Heyne ‘brad [ond] brun-ecg,’ on metrical and syntactical grounds.
- ↑ 1555. Wülcker has a colon after gescēd and no stop after ȳðelīce.