Beowulf

Lo! We have heard of the glory of the kings of the people of the Spear-Danes in days of yore – how those princes did valorous deeds!

This article is about the medieval poem, for the 2007 film, see Beowulf.

Beowulf is the only surviving complete epic poem written in Old English. It may date from the 8th century, though this is highly contentious. Unless otherwise noted, the translation used here is that of John R Clark Hall, as amended by C L Wrenn (1950).

Quotes

HǷÆT! ǷĒ Gār-Dena    in geār-dagum
þēod-cyninga    þrym gefrūnon,
hū þā æðelingas    ellen fremedon.
- Lo! We have heard of the glory of the kings of the people of the Spear-Danes in days of yore – how those princes did valorous deeds!
  - Opening lines

lof-dǣdum sceal
in mǣgða gehwǣre man geþēon.
- Behaviour that's admired
  is the path to power among people everywhere.
  - Lines 24–25 (trans. Seamus Heaney)

Ā-lēdon þā    lēofne þēoden,
bēaga bryttan    on bearm scipes,
mærne be mæste.    Þær wæs mādma fela,
of feor-wegum    frætwa gelæded:
ne hyrde ic cymlīcor    cēol gegyrwan
hilde-wæpnum    and heaðo-wædum,
billum and byrnum;    him on bearme læg
mādma mænigo,    þā him mid scoldon
on flōdes æht    feor gewītan.
Nalas hī hine læssan    lācum tēodan,
þēod-gestrēonum,    þonne þā dydon,
þē hine æt frumsceafte    forð onsendon
ænne ofer yðe    umbor wesende:
þā gyt hīe him āsetton    segen gyldenne
hēah ofer hēafod,    lēton holm beran,
gēafon on gār-secg:    him wæs geōmor sefa,
murnende mōd.    Men ne cunnon
secgan tō soðe    sele-rædende,
hæleð under heofenum,    hwā þæm hlæste onfēng.
- They laid then the beloved chieftain, giver of rings, on the ship's bosom, glorious by the mast. There were brought many treasures, ornaments from far-off lands. Never have I heard that a vessel was more fairly fitted-out with war-weapons and battle-raiment, swords and coats of mail. On his bosom lay a host of treasures, which were to travel far with him into the power of the flood. They furnished him with no lesser gifts, and royal treasures, than those had done who, in the beginning, sent him forth over the sea alone, child as he was. They set besides a golden standard high above his head, and let the sea bear him, — gave him to the ocean. Their soul was sad, their spirit sorrowful. Counsellors in hall, mighty men beneath the heavens cannot say truly who received that load.
  - Line 34, Scyld Scefing's body is committed to the sea.

In Caines cynne    þone cwealm gewræc,
ēce drihten,    þæs þe hē Ābel slōg;
ne gefeah hē þære fæhðe,    ac hē hine feor forwræc,
metod for þy māne    man-cynne fram.
Þanon untydras    ealle onwōcon,
eotenas and ylfe    and orcnēas,
swylce gīgantas,    þā wið gode wunnon
lange þrāge;    hē him þæs lēan forgeald.
- On Cain's kindred did the everlasting Lord avenge the murder, for that he had slain Abel; he had no joy of that feud, but the Creator drove him far from mankind for that misdeed. Thence all evil broods were born, ogres and devils and evil spirits — the giants also, who long time fought with God, for which he gave them their reward.
  - Line 107

Gǣð ā Wyrd swā hīo scel!
- Fate goes ever as it must.
  - Line 455

                     Sēlre bið æghwæm,
þæt hē his frēond wrece,    þonne hē fela murne;
ūre æghwylc sceal    ende gebīdan
worolde līfes;    wyrce sē þe mōte
dōmes ær dēaðe!    þæt bið driht-guman
unlifgendum    æfter sēlest.
- Better is it for each one of us that he should avenge his friend, than greatly mourn. Each of us must expect an end of living in this world; let him who may win glory before death: for that is best at last for the departed warrior.
  - Line 1385

                     Oferhyda ne gym,
mære cempa!    Nū is þīnes mægnes blæd
āne hwīle;    eft sōna bið,
þæt þec ādl oððe ecg    eafoðes getwæfeð,
oððe fyres feng    oððe flōdes wylm,
oððe gripe mēces    oððe gāres fliht,
oððe atol yldo,    oððe ēagena bearhtm
forsiteð and forsworceð;    semninga bið,
þæt þec, dryht-guma,    dēað oferswyðeð.
- Incline not to arrogance, famous warrior! Now shall the fullness of thy strength last for a while. But soon after it shall be, that malady or sword shall cut thee off from power, or the embrace of fire or welling of a flood, or onset with the knife, or arrow's flight, or hideous old age. Or brightness of eyes shall diminish and grow dim, and at length it shall be that death shall overpower thee, noble chieftain!
  - Line 1761

Heald þū nū, hrūse,    nū hæleð ne mōston,
eorla æhte.    Hwæt! hit ær on þē
gōde begeāton;    gūð-dēað fornam,
feorh-bealo frēcne    fyra gehwylcne,
lēoda mīnra, þāra þe þis līf ofgeaf,
gesāwon sele-drēam.    Nāh hwā sweord wege
oððe fetige    fæted wæge,
drync-fæt dēore:    duguð ellor scōc.
Sceal se hearda helm    hyrsted golde
fætum befeallen:    feormiend swefað,
þā þe beado-grīman    bywan sceoldon,
gē swylce sēo here-pād,    sīo æt hilde gebād
ofer borda gebræc    bite īrena,
brosnað æfter beorne.    Ne mæg byrnan hring
æfter wīg-fruman    wīde fēran
hæleðum be healfe;    næs hearpan wyn,
gomen glēo-bēames,    nē gōd hafoc
geond sæl swingeð,    nē se swifta mearh
burh-stede bēateð.    Bealo-cwealm hafað
fela feorh-cynna    feorr onsended!
- Now do thou, O Earth, hold fast what heroes might not, — the possessions of nobles. Lo! Brave men won it at first from thee; death in war, horrid carnage, took away every one of my tribe who yielded up this life; they saw [the last of] festive joy. I have no one to bear the sword, or to burnish the plated flagon, the precious drinking-cup; the noble warriors have departed to another place. Now will the hard helmet, bedight with gold, be deprived of its adornments; they sleep who should burnish the battle-masks. The armour too, which stood the stroke of swords in battle, mid the crash of shields, perishes as does the fighter; nor may the ringed mail fare far and wide with the warrior, side by side with mighty men. There is no joy of harp, no pastime with the gladdening lute; no good hawk sweeps through the hall, nor does the swift steed paw the courtyard. Baleful death has banished hence many of the human race.
  - Line 2248

Sƿā bið geōmorlīc gomelum ceorle
tō gebīdanne, þæt his byre rīde
giong on galgan, þonne hē gyd ƿrece,
sārigne sang, þonne his sunu hangað
hrefne tō hrōðre and hē him helpe ne mæg,
eald and in‐frōd, ǣnige gefremman.
Symble bið gemyndgad morna gehƿylce
eaforan ellor‐sīð; ōðres ne gȳmeð
tō gebīdanne burgum on innan
yrfe‐ƿeardes ...
Geƿīteð þonne on sealman, sorh‐lēoð gæleð
ān æfter ānum: þūhte him eall tō rūm,
ƿongas and ƿīc‐stede.
- It was like the misery endured by an old man
  who has lived to see his son's body
  swing on the gallows. He begins to keen
  and weep for his boy, watching the raven
  gloat where he hangs; he can be of no help.
  The wisdom of age is worthless to him.
  Morning after morning, he wakes to remember
  that his child is gone; he has no interest
  In living on until another heir
  Is born in the hall ...
  Alone with his longing, he lies down on his bed
  and sings a lament; everything seems too large,
  the steadings and the fields.
  - Lines 2444–2453, 2460–2462 (trans. Seamus Heaney)

Ic þāra frætwa    frēan ealles þanc
wuldur-cyninge    wordum secge,
ēcum dryhtne,    þē ic hēr on starie,
þæs þe ic mōste    mīnum lēodum
ær swylt-dæge    swylc gestrynan.
Nū ic on māðma hord    mīne bebohte
frōde feorh-lege,    fremmað gē nū
lēoda þearfe;    ne mæg ic hēr leng wesan.
Hātað heaðo-mære    hlæw gewyrcean,
beorhtne æfter bæle    æt brimes nosan;
se scel tō gemyndum    mīnum lēodum
hēah hlīfian    on Hrones næsse,
þæt hit sæ-līðend    syððan hātan
Bīowulfes biorh,    þā þe brentingas
ofer flōda genipu    feorran drīfað."
- I utter in words my thanks to the Ruler of all, the King of Glory, the everlasting Lord, for the treasures which I here gaze upon, in that I have been allowed to win such things for my people before my day of death! Now that I have given my old life in barter for the hoard of treasure, do ye henceforth supply the people's needs, — I may stay here no longer. Bid the war-veterans raise a splendid barrow after the funeral fire, on a projection by the sea, which shall tower high on Hronesness as a memorial for my people, so that seafarers who urge their tall ships from afar over the spray of ocean shall thereafter call it Beowulf's barrow.
  - Line 2795

Quotes about Beowulf

Beowulf is in fact so interesting as poetry, in places poetry so powerful, that this quite overshadows the historical content, and is largely independent even of the most important facts...that research has discovered.
- J. R. R. Tolkien, Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics (1936), p. 5

At the beginning, and during its process, and most of all at the end, we look down as if from a visionary height upon the house of man in the valley of the world. A light starts...and there is a sound of music; but the outer darkness and its hostile offspring lie ever in wait for the torches to fail and the voices to cease.
- J. R. R. Tolkien, Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics (1936) — The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays (Allen & Unwin, 1983), p. 33

External links

Encyclopedic article on Beowulf on Wikipedia
Works related to Beowulf on Wikisource
Media related to Beowulf on Wikimedia Commons
Beowulf Quotes analyzed; study guide with themes, literary devices, character analyses, teaching guide