Dawn of Things Ferocious
Opening of Beowulf (1-228)
Translated by A.Z. Foreman
Opening of Beowulf (1-228)
Translated by A.Z. Foreman
If you want to hear me recite the original in Mercian Old English, head on over here
Yes we have heard the deeds of the Dane heroes,
their tribes' high kings in times gone by
how those noble men made their glory.
There was Shield Sheaving who shattered foes
and put down hordes: the hall-smashing
scourge of the Earlings. In Ancient Denmark,
a lone foundling, he lived to rise
from rags under heaven to high honor
till every clan round those outland coasts
over the blue whale-ride obeyed his will,
and gave him gold. Good king indeed.
To him a boy was born later,
a cub in the court, a comfort sent
to that nation by God who knew how much
living misery for lack of a prince
they had long suffered. So that Life-Ruling
Sovereign of Glory soon granted that prince
success in this world. He won a name.
So far and wide went the fame of Beow,
the scion of Shield in Scandinavia.
So should young prince take proper care
to give freely while his father lives
so that in age later loyal companions
will stand by his side, subjects back him
when his enemies march. A man will thrive
through acts of honor in every land.
Then Shield passed on when his hour had come,
Still vigorous, he crossed to the care of the Lord,
and his dear comrades did as he bade them
when he spoke the law as Lord of the Danes.
To the curling sea they carried the body
of their beloved chief who had long ruled them.
A ring-necked hull rode there at harbor,
an outbound, king-fit and ice-clad craft.
In it they laid their beloved king,
their ring-sharer in the ship's hollow
majestic by the mast. Then a mass of wealth
and treasure from afar was fetched aboard.
I've heard of no ship decked so magnificently
with battle-trappings, with blades of war,
with maskhelms and mail. Amazing riches
were laid on his breast, bound to travel
far out with him into the ocean's sway.
His men decked him with more treasure
from a nation's wealth than those warriors did
who first launched him as a little child
out wandering the waves alone.
They raised a great golden standard
above his head, and let the blue have him.
He was ceded to the sea. Sadness took them
mourning their sovereign. Not a man breathing,
heaven-tried veteran or hall's advisor,
can say for sure who salvaged that haul.
Then Beo was king crowned over Denmark,
long a beloved leader of his people,
famed everywhere after his father
had quit this earth. Then his heir was born:
the great Halfdane who held the realm
as their fierce elder and fighter prince
all the days of his life. This liege of the Danes
became father to four children
who entered this world one after another:
Heorogar, Hrothgar and Halga the Good,
then they say Yrse was queen by Onela's side,
a warmth in the bed of the war-chilled Swede.
Wartime fortune favored Hrothgar.
His sword's success saw his kinsmen
and friends all flock to fight under him
until that young cadre of recruits had swelled
into a huge legion. So Hrothgar's mind
turned to hallwork. He had his men
work on a meadhall more massive than all
of humankind had heard of before.
Beneath its stately roof he would distribute all
the gifts that God had given to him
save public land and people's lives
So far and wide through the world, they say,
peoples everywhere got his orders to work
adorning that Danehall. Soon done quickly
it rose to men's eyes, ready and finished,
the great hall of all halls. Heorot was the name
he gave it, whose word was warrant and law.
He held fast to his word with feasts and rings
as he handed out gold. The hall towered
with wide and grand gables awaiting
a horrid burning. Blood's atrocity
would not be long coming: killer in-laws
unleashing their blades in a barbarous hate.
Meanwhile the weird demon who walked the dark
nursed a long grievance. It gnashed his guts
to hear the jangle and boom of banqueting joy
every day in that hall, the harp ringing
and the poet's song resounding there:
He who mastered the tale of man's beginnings
sang how
the Almighty first made the earth
a wonder plain washed with ocean,
set in triumph the sun and moon
as lantern lights for the landwalkers,
ornamented the earth's broad lap
with leaf and bough, and made life quicken
in every thing that acts and moves.
So the thanes in that hall lived happy times
blessed without worry till that one creature,
a freak of hell, did heinous things.
Grim, godawful Grendel they called him:
marchland-stalker, marshland-ruler
of the fen stronghold. This foul-starred man
had had a miserable home in the monsterlands
cursed by his creator with the kin of Ham,
into the outworld. For Abel's blood
the Lord of All exacted full price.
he got no good from that feud. God banished him
far from humans for foul murder.
That cursed seed spawned all unspeakable things:
kobolds, orc-elves and ogre-zombies
and the giants too who took on God
again and again till they got their reward.
So Grendel lit out after nightfall
for the lofty hall, on the hunt for Danes
now bedded down after banquet and drink,
and there they were: a warrior band
asleep after feasting. They felt no pain,
none of man's misery. In a murderous flash
That grim, greedy ungodly thing
made savagery, seized thirty men
right where they lay and rushed away
proud of his plunder. The puffed demon
shambled homeward with his haul of gore.
Then in the early grey hours of morning
Grendel's carnage lay clear to men.
In their wassail's wake they wept to the skies,
dirging in dawnlight. Danelord Hrothgar,
storied sovereign, now sat stricken,
a chief dread-hurt at the death of his men
when they looked at the tracks left there in blood
by the goddamned ghoul. The grief was too much,
long and loathsome. There was little time.
For one night later lethal Grendel
massacred more. Remorse he had none
for this terror feud: it was too much fun.
Then it was easy to meet a man who preferred
to sleep elsewhere at a safe distance
in the outbuildings. If they had eyes in their heads
they had hard evidence of the unholy
hall-stalker's hate. They hurried far
away from the freak if they wanted to live.
It was a war against right: the reign of one ghoul
against everyone, till that greatest of halls
was left empty. On went the horror.
For twelve winters tortured Hrothgar,
sapped with sorrow, sank in agony.
Woes rammified. So word soon spread
through the children of man. All mortal ears
heard terrible tales of Grendel
harrowing Hrothgar, his hateful raids,
the interminable feud of his terror campaign,
of total war. He wanted no terms
with any man who marched for the Dane,
would not pause the gore, paid no bloodfee,
(Not that counsellors had cause to expect
fair reparation from this marauding fiend.)
This dark deathshade was a danger to men
and he hunted them all, the old and the young,
as he roved and swooped, ruled mist-wraithed moors
in ceaseless night. Sane men don't know
where wild hellwits' wanderings take them.
So he waged his long and lonely war
on all mankind: endless atrocities,
unnatural wrongs. As nights darkened
he took over treasured-decked Heorot
(Though he refused to approach the fine gift-throne.
He wanted no truck with treasure at all.)
It was loathsome days for the lord of Danes,
and it broke his mind. His best officers,
earnest counsellors, would often sit
debating how brave defenders
might even stand against the ghoulish strikes.
At times they prayed at pagan shrines,
brought offerings, begged and pleaded
with the soul-killer to come and save
a wracked nation. They knew no more
than this heathen hope. Hell had their minds
and hearts knotted. They had no idea
of the real maker, the Almighty Lord
who judges all, didn't even know
words to praise Him who wields glory
and helms heaven. Unhappy they
who bid the blaze embrace their souls
in troubled days. It will do nothing.
They have no help. Happy are any
whose soul in death can seek friendship
in the Father's embrace and find true peace.
So the time's troubles tortured the brooding
king constantly. He could not stop
his grief for the Danes. Too great the ordeal
of his people scourged, persecuted,
raided and harrowed by horrors of night.
Till at last a good man in the land of the Geats,
Hygelac's high thane, heard about Grendel.
He was the mightiest of men living
on mortal earth in those elder days,
high-born and brave. He had them build
a sea-ranger, and said he would go
sail the swan-way to seek that king,
noble Hrothgar who needed good men.
No Geat elder even begrudged him
this expedition, though he was dear to them,
but urged him to go. There were good omens.
from his own nation the noble man
picked out fighters: the fiercest Geats
that he could find. So, fifteen strong,
the war-band went to the wave-runner
under that sea-versed chief where surf met land.
The time soon came. With the clipper afloat
on cliffside waves, the war-blithe men
climbed the gangplank as current-turned
sea churned the sand. Sun-touched cargo
of weapons and mail the warriors bore
into the hold of that ship. Then they shoved out to sea
with her exquisite strakes on a quest of men.
She went windblown. A wave-scudder
with foam at the neck, she flew like a bird,
till at the due hour just a day after
her curving prow had coursed enough
for the sailors to get glad sight of land:
Shining shorecliffs and sheer headlands
with vast sea-capes. So their voyage
over the sea ended. Instantly then
the Stormgeats stood and stepped on land.
They moored the ship, shook their mailshirts
with a clinking thrash, gave thanks to God
for how easy their way on the waves had been.
The Original:
(Frumsceaft)
Hwæt wé gár-dæná in ġár-dagum
þéod-cyningá þrymm gifrugnun,
hú þá æðilingas ellin fræmidun.
Oft sceld scéƀing sceaðæná þréatum,
monegum mégðum medu-setlá oftáh,
egisadǽ Iorlí. Siþþan ǽrist wearþ
féascæft fundæn, hé þæs fróƀrǽ gibád.
wéx undær wolcnum, weorþ-myndum þáh,
oþþaet him œ́ghwelc þér ymb-sittændrá
oƀær hron-rádǽ héran scoldǽ,
gomban geldan. Þæt wæs gód cyning
Ðǽm aƀurá wæs æftær cænnid
ġung in geardum þonǽ god sændǽ
folcǽ tó fróƀrǽ; firin-þearƀǽ ongæt,
þæt híæ ǽr drugun aldur-léasǽ
longǽ hwílǽ. Him þæs líƀ-frëá
wuldræs waldænd weruld-árǽ forgæƀ:
Bíowí wæs brœ́mí – bléd wídǽ sprong –
Sceldæs aƀurá scedi-londum in.
Swé scæl ġung gumá gódǽ giwirċan
fromum feh-giftum on fæder bearmǽ
þæt hinǽ on ældǽ eft giwunigæn
wil-gisíðas, þonnǽ wíg cumǽ
líodí gilǽstæn: loƀ-dédum scæl
in mégðá gihwǽm monn giþíän.
(Scyldes Feorhgedál)
Him þá Sceld giwát tó giscæp-hwílǽ,
felu-hrór fœ́ran on fréan wérǽ.
Híæ hinǽ þá ætbérun tó brimæs faruðǽ,
swésǽ gisíðas, swé hé selƀá bæd,
þændæn wordum wéold Wini Sceldingá
léoƀ lond-frumá longǽ ǽhtí.
Þér æt hýðǽ stód hringid-stefná,
ísig ænd útfús, æðilingæs fær.
álægdun þá léoƀnǽ þéodæn,
bégá bryttan on bearm scipæs
mérnǽ bi mæstǽ. Þér wæs máðmá felá
of feor-wegum frætwá gilǽdid,
ni hérdǽ ic cýmlicor céol gigerwan
hildí-wépnum ænd haðu-wédum,
billum ænd byrnum; him on bearmǽ læg
máðmá mænigu þá him mid scoldun
on flódæs ǽht feor giwítan.
nallæs híæ hinǽ lǽssan lácum tíodan
þéod-gistréonum þonnǽ þá dédun
þe hinǽ æt frumscæftǽ forþ onsændun
ǽnnǽ oƀær ýðǽ, umbr-wesændí
Þá gét híæ him ásettun segn gyldænnǽ
héh oƀær héaƀud, létun holm beran,
géƀun on gársecg. Him wæs ġómor seƀá,
murnændí mód. Mæn ni cunnun
secgan tó sóðǽ seli-rédændí
hæliþ undær heƀunum hwá þǽm hlæstí onféng.
(Of þǽm strenge cwómun æftercyningas)
Þá wæs on burgum Bío Sceldingá,
léoƀ líod-cyning, longǽ þrágǽ
folcum gifrégí (fæder ellur hwearƀ,
aldur of eardǽ), oþþæt him eft onwóc
héh Halƀdæní; héold þændæn liƀdǽ,
gomol ænd gúðréow, glædǽ Sceldingas.
Þǽm féowur bearn forþ-girímid
in weruld wócun, werudá réswan,
Herugár ænd Hróðgár ænd Hálgá til;
hérdǽ ic þæt Ýrsǽ wæs bi Onalan cwœ́n,
Haðu-scelƀingæs hals-gibeddá.
(Heorotes gebytlung)
Þá wæs Hróðgárǽ heri-spœ́d geƀæn,
wígæs weorð-mynd, þæt him his wini-mágas
geornǽ hérdun, oþþæt sío ġuguþ giwéx,
magu-dryht micil. Him on mód bi-arn
þæt hal-reccid hátan woldǽ,
medu-ærn márǽ, mæn giwircan
þonnǽ ældá bearn ǽfrǽ gifrugnun,
ænd þér on innan all gidǽlan
ġungum ænd aldum, swelc him god saldǽ,
búton folc-scærǽ ænd ferhum gumaná.
þá ic wídǽ gifrægn werc gibonnan
monegrǽ mégþǽ ġond þisnǽ middan-geard,
folc-stedi frætwan. Him on firstǽ gilomp,
édrǽ mid ældum, þæt hit wearþ ælgearu,
hallærná mǽst; scóp him Heort noman
sé þe his wordæs giwald wídǽ hæƀdǽ.
Hé biát ni álég, bégas dǽldǽ,
sinc æt simlǽ. Seli hlíƀadǽ,
héh ænd horn-géap, haðu-wælmá bád,
láðan lígæs; ni wæs hit læṅgǽ þá gén
þæt se ecg-heti áþum-swéoran
æftær wæl-níðǽ wæcnan scoldǽ.
(Cymþ se Gǽst)
Þá se ellorgǽst earƀoðlícǽ
þrágǽ giþoladǽ, sé þe in þíostrum bád,
þæt hé dógrá gihwǽm dréam gihérdǽ
hlúdnǽ in hallǽ; þér wæs hearpan swœ́g,
switul song scopæs. Sægdǽ sé þe cúðǽ
frumscæft firhá feorran reccan,
cwæþ þæt se ælmæhtġá eorðan worhtǽ,
wliti-berhtnǽ wong, swé wæter bibúgiþ,
gisettǽ sigi-hrœ́ðig sunnan ænd mónan
léoman tó léhtǽ lond-búændum
and gifrætwadǽ foldan scéatas
léomum ænd léaƀum, líƀ éc giscóp
cynná gihwelcum þárá þe cwicǽ hwerƀaþ.
Swé þá dryht-guman dréamum liƀdun
éadiglícǽ, oþþæt án ongon
firinǽ fræmman fíond on hellǽ.
Wæs se grimmá gǽst Grændil hátæn,
mérí mærc-stapá, se þe móras héold,
fæn ænd fæstæn; fífl-cynnæs eard
won-sélig wer weardadǽ hwílǽ,
siþþan him sceppænd forscriƀæn hæƀdǽ
in Camæs cynnǽ. Þonǽ cwalm giwræc
écí dryhtin, þæs þe hé Ábel slóg;
ni gifeh hé þǽrǽ fǽhðǽ, ac hé hinǽ feor forwræc,
metud forǽ þý mánǽ, mon-cynnǽ from.
Þanon untýdras allǽ onwócun,
etunas ænd ælƀí ænd orcnëas,
swelcǽ gígantas, þá wiþ godǽ wunnun
longǽ þrágǽ; hé him þæs léan forgald.
(Fyrist Hráfiell)
Giwát ða níosan, siþþan næht bicwóm,
héän húsæs, hú hit Hringdæní
æftær béorþegǽ gibún hæƀdun.
Fond þá þér-innǽ æðilingá gidryht
swefan æftær simlǽ; sorgǽ ni cúðun,
wonscæft werá Wiht unhǽlu,
grim ænd grédig, gearu sóná wæs,
réc ænd rœ́ðí, ænd on ræstǽ ginom
þrítig þegná, þanon eft giwát
húðǽ hrémig tó hám faran,
mid þǽrǽ wælfyllí wícá níosan.
þá wæs on úhtan mid ǽrdægǽ
Grændlæs gúðcræft gumum underní;
þá wæs æftær wistǽ wóp up áhæƀæn,
micil morgin-swœ́g. Mérí þéodæn,
æðiling ǽr-gód unblíðí sæt.
Þoladǽ þrýð-swíþ. Þegn-sorgǽ drég
siþþan híæ þæs láðan lást scéawadun
wærgan gǽstæs. Wæs þæt giwin tó strong
láþ ænd longsum. Næs hit læṅgrá first
ac ymb ánǽ næht eft gifræmidǽ
morþ-bealu márǽ, ænd ná mearn forǽ,
fǽhðǽ ænd firinǽ: wæs tó fæst on þǽm.
(Egifitt)
þá wæs éðfyndí, þe him ellæs hwér
girúmlícor ræstǽ sóhtǽ,
bed æftær búrum, þá him gibécnud wæs,
gisægd sóðlícǽ swetulan tácnǽ
hall-þegnæs heti: héold hinǽ siþþan
firr ænd fæstor se þǽm fíond ætwand.
Swé ríxadǽ ænd wiþ rehtǽ won
áná wiþ allum oþþæt ídel stód
húsá sélist. Wæs sío hwíl micil:
twelf wintrá tíd torn giþoladǽ
wini Sceldingá, wéaná gihwelcnǽ,
sídrá sorgá. For þǽm giséní wearþ
ældá bearnum, un-derní cúþ
geddum ġómrǽ, þætte Grændil won
hwílǽ wiþ Hróþgár, heti-níðas wæg,
firinǽ ænd fǽhþǽ, felá missirá(?)
singálǽ sæccǽ. Sibbǽ ni woldǽ
wiþ monná hwonǽ mægnæs Dænigá
ferh-bealu firran, feo(h)ǽ þingian,
ni þér nǽnig witaná wénan þorftǽ
berhtrǽ bótǽ tó bonan folmum
ac se æglǽcá œ́htændí wæs
derc déaþ-scúá, duguðǽ ænd ġuguðǽ,
semadǽ ænd seridǽ. Sinnæhtí héold
mistgǽ móras. Mæn ni cunnun
hwider hel-rúnan hwyrftum scríðaþ.
(Heorot Gehergod)
Swé felá firiná fíond moncynnæs
atul ángæṅgá oft gifræmidǽ,
heardrá hénðá. Heorot eardadǽ,
sinc-fágǽ sæl sweartum næhtum.
Ná hé þonǽ gifstól grétan móstí:
máðm formetadǽ ni his myni wissǽ.
Þæt wæs wræc micil, wini sceldingá,
módæs brecþá. Monig oft gisæt
rící tó rúnǽ, réd æhtadun ,
hwæt swíþ-ferhþum sélist wérǽ
wiþ fér-gryrí tó gifræmmænnǽ.
Hwílum híæ gihétun æt hærgtraƀum
wíh-weorðungǽ, wordum bédun
þæt him gǽst-baná ġucǽ gifræmidǽ
wiþ þéod-þréawum. Swelc wæs þéaw hirá,
hǽðinrá hyht: hellǽ gimundun
in módseƀan; metud híæ ni cúðun,
dédá dœ́mænd. Ni wistun híæ dryhtin god,
né híæ húru heƀoná helm herian ni cúðun,
wuldræs waldænd. Wá biþ þǽm-þe scæl
þurg slíðnǽ níþ sáwlǽ biscúƀan
in fýræs fæðm, fróƀrǽ ni wénan
wihtí giwændan. Wél biþ þǽm-þe mót
æftær déaþdægǽ dryhtin sœ́can
ænd tó fædr fæþmum friðu wilnian.
Swé þá mél-cearǽ magá Halƀdænæs
singálá séaþ. Ni mæhtǽ snotr hæliþ
wéan onwændan: wæs þæt giwin tó swíþ,
láþ ænd longsum, þe on þá líodí bicwóm,
néd-wracu níþ-grim, næht-bealwá mǽst.
(Hæleþ we þearƀiaþ)
þæt from hám gifrægn Hygilácæs þegn,
gód mid Géatum, Grændlæs dédá.
Sé wæs mon-cynnæs mæginæs strængist
on þǽm dægǽ þissæs líƀæs,
æþilí ænd écen. Héht him ýþ-lidan
gódnǽ gigerwan: cwæþ, hé gúþ-cyning
oƀær swon-rádǽ sœ́can woldǽ,
mérnǽ þéodæn, þá him wæs monná þearƀ.
þonǽ síþ-fæt him snotrǽ ceorlas
lýt-hwón lógun, þéh hé him léoƀ wérǽ:
hwettun hygi-rófnǽ hǽl scéawadun.
hæƀdǽ se gódá Géatá líodá
cæmpan gicoronǽ, þárá-þe hé cœ́nustǽ
findan mæhtǽ. Fífténá sum
sund-wudu sóhtǽ: secg wísadǽ,
lagu-cræftig mon, lond-gimercu.
(Ýðlád)
First forþ giwát. Flotá wæs on ýðum,
bát undær bærgǽ. Beornas gearwǽ
on stefn stigun. Stréamas wundun,
sund wiþ sondǽ. Secgas bérun
on bearm nacan berhtǽ frætwǽ,
gúð-searu geatulíc. Guman út scuƀon,
weras on wil-síþ, wudu bundænnǽ.
Giwát þá oƀær wég-holm, windǽ gifýsid,
flotá fámig-hals, fuglǽ gilícust,
oþþæt ymb án-tíd, óðræs dógræs
wundæn-stefná giwædæn hæƀdǽ,
þæt þá líðændí lond giségun,
brim-cliƀu blícan, bergas stéapǽ,
sídǽ sǽ-nǽssas. Þá wæs sund lidæn,
eoletæs(?) æt ændí. Þanon ŭ́p hraðǽ
Wedrá líodí on wong stigun:
sǽ-wudu sǽldun, serċan hrisidun,
gúð-giwédu. Godǽ þoncadun,
þæs-þe him ýð-ládǽ éðí wurdun
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