Part 11 (1/2)

{Should he crush me, he will eat my companions as he has eaten thy thanes.}

70 I ween he will wish, if he win in the struggle, To eat in the war-hall earls of the Geat-folk, Boldly to swallow[4] them, as of yore he did often The best of the Hrethmen! Thou needest not trouble A head-watch to give me;[5] he will have me dripping

[17]

{In case of my defeat, thou wilt not have the trouble of burying me.}

75 And dreary with gore, if death overtake me,[6]

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.[7] If I fall in the battle, 80 Send to Higelac the armor that serveth To s.h.i.+eld 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!”

[1] Some render 'gif-sceattas' by 'tribute.'--'Geata' B. and Th.

emended to 'Geatum.' If this be accepted, change '_of_ the Geatmen' to '_to_ the Geatmen.'

[2] 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_.

[3] For 420 (_b_) and 421 (_a_), B. suggests: paer ic (on) fifelgeban yde eotena cyn = _where I in the ocean destroyed the eoten-race_.--t.B. accepts B.'s ”brilliant” 'fifelgeban,' omits 'on,'

emends 'cyn' to 'ham,' arranging: paer ic fifelgeban yde, eotena ham = _where I desolated the ocean, the home of the eotens_.--This would be better but for changing 'cyn' to 'ham.'--I suggest: paer ic fifelgeband (cf. nhd. Bande) yde, eotena cyn = _where I conquered the monster band, the race of the eotens_. This makes no change except to read '_fifel_' for '_fife_.'

[4] '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 'Geatena leode': 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.

[5] 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.

[6] S. proposes a colon after 'nime' (l. 447). This would make no essential change in the translation.

[7] Owing to the vagueness of 'feorme' (451), this pa.s.sage 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._ 'Lic' 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 a.s.sistance,[1]

Thou soughtest us. .h.i.ther, good friend Beowulf.

{Reminiscences of Beowulf's father, Ecgtheow.}