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| "So held this king to the customs old, |
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| that I wanted for nought in the wage I gained, |
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| the meed of my might; he made me gifts, |
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| Healfdene's heir, for my own disposal. |
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| Now to thee, my prince, I proffer them all, |
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| gladly give them. Thy grace alone |
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| can find me favor. Few indeed |
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| have I of kinsmen, save, Hygelac, thee!" |
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| Then he bade them bear him the boar-head standard, |
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| the battle-helm high, and breastplate gray, |
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| the splendid sword; then spake in form:— |
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|
| "Me this war-gear the wise old prince, |
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| Hrothgar, gave, and his hest he added, |
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| that its story be straightway said to thee.— |
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|
| A while it was held by Heorogar king, |
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| for long time lord of the land of Scyldings; |
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| yet not to his son the sovran left it, |
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| to daring Heoroweard,—dear as he was to him, |
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| his harness of battle.—Well hold thou it all!" |
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|
| And I heard that soon passed o'er the path of this treasure, |
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| all apple-fallow, four good steeds, |
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|
| each like the others, arms and horses |
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|
| he gave to the king. So should kinsmen be, |
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|
| not weave one another the net of wiles, |
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|
| or with deep-hid treachery death contrive |
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|
| for neighbor and comrade. His nephew was ever |
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|
| by hardy Hygelac held full dear, |
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|
| and each kept watch o'er the other's weal. |
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|
| I heard, too, the necklace to Hygd he presented, |
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|
| wonder-wrought treasure, which Wealhtheow gave him |
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|
| sovran's daughter: three steeds he added, |
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|
| slender and saddle-gay. Since such gift |
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|
| the gem gleamed bright on the breast of the queen. |
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|
| Thus showed his strain the son of Ecgtheow |
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|
| as a man remarked for mighty deeds |
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|
| and acts of honor. At ale he slew not |
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|
| comrade or kin; nor cruel his mood, |
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|
| though of sons of earth his strength was greatest, |
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|
| a glorious gift that God had sent |
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|
| the splendid leader. Long was he spurned, |
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|
| and worthless by Geatish warriors held; |
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|
| him at mead the master-of-clans |
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|
| failed full oft to favor at all. |
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|
| Slack and shiftless the strong men deemed him, |
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|
| profitless prince; but payment came, |
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|
| to the warrior honored, for all his woes.— |
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|
| Then the bulwark-of-earls[1] bade bring within, |
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|
| hardy chieftain, Hrethel's heirloom |
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|
| garnished with gold: no Geat e'er knew |
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|
| in shape of a sword a statelier prize. |
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|
| The brand he laid in Beowulf's lap; |
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|
| and of hides assigned him seven thousand,[2] |
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|
| with house and high-seat. They held in common |
|
|
| land alike by their line of birth, |
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|
| inheritance, home: but higher the king |
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|
| because of his rule o'er the realm itself. |
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|
|
|
| Now further it fell with the flight of years, |
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|
| with harryings horrid, that Hygelac perished,[3] |
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|
| and Heardred, too, by hewing of swords |
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|
| under the shield-wall slaughtered lay, |
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|
| when him at the van of his victor-folk |
|
|
| sought hardy heroes, Heatho-Scilfings, |
|
|
| in arms o'erwhelming Hereric's nephew. |
|
|
| Then Beowulf came as king this broad |
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|
| realm to wield; and he ruled it well |
|
|
| fifty winters,[4] a wise old prince, |
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|
| warding his land, until One began |
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|
| in the dark of night, a Dragon, to rage. |
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|
| In the grave on the hill a hoard it guarded, |
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|
| in the stone-barrow steep. A strait path reached it, |
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|
| unknown to mortals. Some man, however, |
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|
| came by chance that cave within |
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|
| to the heathen hoard.[5] In hand he took |
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|
| a golden goblet, nor gave he it back, |
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|
| stole with it away, while the watcher slept, |
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|
| by thievish wiles: for the warden's wrath |
|
|
| prince and people must pay betimes! |
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|
|
|
| [1] Hygelac. [2] This is generally assumed to mean hides, though |
|
|
| the text simply says "seven thousand." A hide in England meant |
|
|
| about 120 acres, though "the size of the acre varied." [3] On the |
|
|
| historical raid into Frankish territory between 512 and 520 A.D. |
|
|
| The subsequent course of events, as gathered from hints of this |
|
|
| epic, is partly told in Scandinavian legend. [4] The chronology |
|
|
| of this epic, as scholars have worked it out, would make Beowulf |
|
|
| well over ninety years of age when he fights the dragon. But the |
|
|
| fifty years of his reign need not be taken as historical fact. |
|
|
| [5] The text is here hopelessly illegible, and only the general |
|
|
| drift of the meaning can be rescued. For one thing, we have the |
|
|
| old myth of a dragon who guards hidden treasure. But with this |
|
|
| runs the story of some noble, last of his race, who hides all his |
|
|
| wealth within this barrow and there chants his farewell to life's |
|
|
| glories. After his death the dragon takes possession of the hoard |
|
|
| and watches over it. A condemned or banished man, desperate, |
|
|
| hides in the barrow, discovers the treasure, and while the dragon |
|
|
| sleeps, makes off with a golden beaker or the like, and carries |
|
|
| it for propitiation to his master. The dragon discovers the loss |
|
|
| and exacts fearful penalty from the people round about. |
|
|
