Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, together with Sellic Spell

by J. R. R. Tolkien

  Finn, too, slain, the king amid his company, and the queen

  was taken. The bowmen of the Scyldings bore to their ships

  all the wealth of the house of that king of earth, all such as

  they could find of jewels and cunning gems. Over the ways

  950 of the sea they bore that royal lady to the land of the Danes,

  and brought her to her people.

  The lay was sung, the minstrel’s tale at an end. Merry

  noise arose once more, loud and clear the sound of revelry

  upon the seats; the cup-bearers gave out wine from vessels

  955 wondrous wrought. Now came Wealhtheow forth, and

  wearing many a golden ring she went to where those proud

  men sat, both uncle and brother’s son. Still was their kin-

  ship’s love between them, and each to the other true. There

  too Unferth, the king’s sage, sat at the feet of the Scyldings’

  960 lord. Each man among them trusted in his mind’s temper,

  that he had a mighty heart, albeit he had not in the play of

  swords dealt mercy to his kin.

  Then spake the lady of the Scyldings: ‘Receive now this

  cup, dear lord of mine, giver of rich gifts. In happy hour

  965 be thou, from whom men get love and gifts of gold, and

  to the Geats speak with kindly words, as behoves a man.

  To the Geats be gracious, and forget not to give of those

  things that now thou hast, gathered from near and far. I

  have heard men say that thou wert in mind to take this

  970 warrior for thy son. Lo! Heorot is cleansed, this shining

  hall where rings are dealt; dispose while yet thou mayest of

  many a reward, and to thy kin after thee leave thy people

  and thy realm, when thou must go forth to look upon thy

  fate. Hrothulf I know well, my nephew fair, that he will in

  975 honour cherish these our youths, if thou, dear master of the

  Scyldings, sooner than he do leave this world. Methinks that

  he will with good repay our sons, if he recalleth all those

  deeds of grace that we did unto him, to his pleasure and his

  honour, while yet he was a child.’

  980 Then turned she to the seat where sat her sons, Hrethric

  and Hrothmund, and the children of mighty men, young

  warriors all, were gathered together. There beside those

  brethren twain that brave heart sat, Beowulf of the Geats.

  To him was the cup borne, and friendship offered in fair

  985 words; and the twisted gold was brought forth with all good

  will, two armlets, a mantle, and rings, and the mightiest of

  torques that I have heard was ever upon the neck of man

  on earth. Beneath the light of day I heard never men tell of

  any better treasure in the hoards of the mighty, since Hama

  990 bore away to the bright city the necklace of the Brosings,

  jewel and precious vessel. He fled from the ensnaring hate of

  Eormenric, and chose the counsels of the eternal faith. This

  circlet Hygelac, King of the Geats, of the blood of Swerting,

  had with him on that last day when beneath his standard he

  995 defended his treasures, and fought for the spoil of battle.

  Fate took him, for that he in his pride had challenged his

  own ruin and the enmity of the Frisian folk. This fair thing

  of precious stones he bore now over the bowl of the seas, a

  king in his might. Beneath his shield he fell. Thus into the

  1000 grasp of the Frank came now the life of the king, the armour

  upon his breast, and that necklet too; and warriors, albeit of

  less prowess in arms, there stripped the slain, when the blows

  of battle were done. The people of the Geats were left upon

  the field of slain.

  1005 The hall was filled with clamour. These words did

  Wealhtheow utter, before all that host she spake: ‘Have and

  use well to thy good this precious thing, Beowulf, young and

  dear, and for thine own joy take this mantle, a thing treasured

  among this people, and prosper well! Show forth thyself in

  1010 valour, and to these my sons be thou gracious in thy counsels.

  For that my heart will remember to reward thee. Thou

  hast achieved that far and near all the ages long shall men

  esteem thee, as wide as the sea encircleth the windy walls of

  the land. Be thou blessed, O prince, while thy life endures!

  1015 A wealth of precious things I wish thee with good heart. Be

  thou to my sons kindly in deeds, possessing days of mirth!

  In this place is each good man to his fellow true, friendly in

  heart, loyal unto his liegelord, of one mind the servants of the

  king, the people all ready to his will, his warriors filled with

  1020 wine. Do thou as I bid!’

  She went then to her seat. There was the very choice of

  banquets, there men drank their wine; fate they knew not

  grim, appointed of old, as it had gone already forth for many

  of those good men, so soon as evening came, and Hrothgar

  1025 the mighty departed to his lodging and to his couch. The hall

  was guarded by a host of men uncounted, even as it was oft

  before. They stripped the benches of wooden board, and all

  along the hall were beds and pillows spread. Over those who

  had there drunk the ale fate hung now nigh at hand, as they

  1030 laid them upon their couches on the floor. At their heads

  they set their warlike shields, targes fashioned of wood and

  blazoned bright. There upon each bench was plain to see

  above each knight the helm that he had borne aloft in battle,

  and his coat of ringéd mail, his spear valiant in the press of

  1035 war. Their manner was it that seldom were they unprepared

  for the onslaught, be it at home or amid the host, or in either

  case, even at all such times as upon their liegelord need

  should come – a worthy company was that!

  Now they sank into sleep. One there was who paid

  1040 grievously for his rest that eve, even as full oft had befallen

  them, in time when Grendel had dwelt in that golden hall

  and wrought evil there, even until his end came and death

  after his deeds of wrong. Plain was it made and published

  abroad among men that an avenger to succeed their foe

  1045 lived yet long while after that woeful strife – Grendel’s

  mother, ogress, fierce destroyer in the form of woman.

  Misery was in her heart, she who must abide in the dreadful

  waters and the cold streams, since Cain with the sword

  became the slayer of his only brother, his kinsman by his

  1050 father’s blood. Thereafter he departed an outlaw branded

  with murder, shunning the mirth of men, abiding in the

  wilderness. From thence sprang many creatures doomed of

  old; of whom was Grendel one, outlawed by hate as is the

  deadly wolf, who at Heorot had found one who unsleeping

  1055 awaited battle. There had the fierce slayer seized upon

  him, but he remembered the might of his valour, that gift

  which God had bounteously bestowed upon him, and he

  trusted in the One God for mercy, for succour and for aid.

  Therewith did he vanquish that fiend and brought low the

  1060 creature of hell. Wherefore that enemy of man departed

  humbled, robbed of his triumph, to look upon his house of

&
nbsp; death. And now once more his mother grimhearted, ravenous,

  was minded to go upon a journey full of woe to avenge

  the slaying of her son.

  1065 Now was she come to Heorot, where the Ring-Danes

  slept along the hall. There suddenly now old ills returned

  upon those knights when into their midst crept Grendel’s

  mother. Less indeed was the terror, even by so much as is

  the might of women, the terror of a woman in battle com-

  1070 pared with arméd man, when the sword with wire-bound

  hilt, hammer-forged, its blade stained with dripping blood,

  trusty of edge, cleaves the opposing boar-crest high upon the

  helm. Lo! in the hall along the benches stoutedged swords

  were drawn, many a tall shield was gripped in hand and held

  1075 aloft. Of his helm no man bethought him, nor of long corslet,

  when that horror came upon him. She was in haste. Out and

  away she would be gone for the saving of her life, now that

  she was discovered. Swift and close had she clutched one of

  those noble knights as she departed to the fen. He was unto

  1080 Hrothgar of all his men of might, holding high place in his

  court, the one most dear the Two Seas between; proudly had

  he borne his shield in battle, whom now she rent upon his

  bed, a man established in renown. Not there was Beowulf,

  but to that glorious Geatish knight had other lodging been

  1085 assigned after the giving of gifts.

  Clamour arose in Heorot. Under the covering dark she

  took the arm she knew so well. Grief was renewed, and was

  come again to those dwelling places. An evil barter was that,

  wherein they must on either side exchange the lives of men

  1090 beloved! Now was that king aged in wisdom, warrior grey

  of hair, in mournful mood, knowing that his princely servant

  lived no more, and that most beloved of his men was dead.

  Swiftly was Beowulf, that warrior whom victory had blessed,

  summoned to the king’s chamber. With the break of day he

  1095 went, a noble champion with his good men about him, him-

  self and his companions, to where that wise king abode pondering

  whether haply the Almighty God will ever after these

  grievous tidings bring some betterment to pass. Now strode

  across the floor that man well-tried in arms amid his retinue

  1100 - the timbers of the hall echoed – and there he addressed in

  speech the wise lord of the Friends of Ing, asking if he had

  known repose according to his desire.

  Hrothgar made answer, the guardian of the Scyldings:

  ‘Ask not for news of happy hours! Sorrow is come anew

  1105 upon the people of the Danes. Dead is Æschere, the elder

  brother of Yrmenlaf; my counsels were his and his wisdom

  mine, at my right hand he stood when on fatal field we

  fended our lives, as the ranks clashed in battle and the boar-

  crests rang. Such should a good man be, of noble birth long

  1110 tried in deeds, even as was Æschere! In Heorot has death

  come upon him at the hands of a wandering murderous thing.

  I know not whither she hath turned her backward steps, as

  dreadfully she gloats over her prey, exulting in her belly’s

  fill. That deed of war she hath avenged, that last night thou

  1115 didst slay in violent wise Grendel with thy gripings hard, for

  that he too long had minished and destroyed my folk. He

  fell in battle forfeiting his life, and now another hath come,

  a mighty doer of cruel wrong. She purposed to avenge her

  kin, and indeed hath carried far the feud, as may well seem

  1120 to many a knight who mourns in his heart for him that gave

  him bounty: a heartpiercing grief and bitter. Now lieth still

  that hand that aforetime availed to accomplish for you (O

  knights) all things of your desire.

  ‘This have I heard dwellers in the land, lieges of mine,

  1125 vassals in their halls, recount, telling how they saw two such

  mighty stalkers of the outer places, who kept the moors,

  alien creatures. Of these was one, in so far as they might clear

  discern, a shape as of a woman; the other, miscreated thing,

  in man’s form trod the ways of exile, albeit he was greater

  1130 than any other human thing. Him in days of old the dwellers

  on earth named Grendel; of a father they knew not, nor

  whether any such was ever before begotten for him among

  the demons of the dark. In a hidden land they dwell upon

  highlands wolfhaunted, and windy cliffs, and the perilous

  1135 passes of the fens, where the mountain-stream goes down

  beneath the shadows of the cliffs, a river beneath the earth. It

  is not far hence in measurement of miles that that mere lies,

  over which there hang rimy thickets, and a wood clinging

  by its roots overshadows the water. There may each night

  1140 be seen a wonder grim, fire upon the flood. There lives not

  of the children of men one so wise that he should know the

  depth of it. Even though harried by the hounds the ranger of

  the heath, the hart strong in his horns, may seek that wood

  being hunted from afar, sooner will he yield his life and

  1145 breath upon the shore, than he will enter to hide his head

  therein: no pleasant place is that! Thence doth the tumult

  of the waves arise darkly to the clouds, when wind arouses

  tempests foul, until the airs are murky and the heavens weep.

  ‘Now once more doth hope of help depend on thee alone.

  1150 The abode as yet thou knowest not nor the perilous place

  where thou canst find that creature stained with sin. Seek it

  if thou durst! For that assault I will with riches reward thee,

  with old and precious things, even as I did ere now, yea with

  twisted gold, if thou comest safe away.’

  1155 Beowulf made answer, the son of Ecgtheow: ‘Grieve

  not, O wise one! Better it is for every man that he should

  avenge his friend than he should much lament. To each one

  of us shall come in time the end of life in the world; let him

  who may earn glory ere his death. No better thing can brave

  1160 knight leave behind when he lies dead. Arise, O lord of

  this realm! Swiftly let us go and look upon the footprint of

  Grendel’s kin. This I vow to thee: in no refuge shall he ever

  hide, neither in bosom of earth nor in mountain-forest, nor

  in the deeps of the sea, go where he will! For this day have

  1165 patience in every woe, even as I know thou wilt!’

  Then did the aged king leap up, and God, the Mighty

  Lord, he thanked for that other’s words. Now a horse was

  bridled for Hrothgar, a steed with plaited mane, and forth the

  wise prince went with seemly array, forth went the company

  1170 of his warriors bearing shields. Far over the paths across the

  wolds the print of her feet, her course over the lands, was

  plain to see, as straight on she strode over the darkling moor,

  bearing the best of knights who by Hrothgar’s side had ruled

  his house, a lifeless corse. And now those men of noble race,

  1175 steep stony slopes they overpassed, narrow tracks and one-

  man paths, down unfamiliar trails, past headlong crags, and

  many a hou
se of demons of the deep. One with a few men

  of hunting-craft went on before to spy the land, until on a

  sudden he came upon the mountain-trees leaning o’er the

  1180 hoar rock, a joyless forest. Bloodstained and troubled water

  loomed beneath.

  To all the Danes, vassals of the Scylding lords, to the

  hearts of many a knight, grievous was it endure, and pain to

  all good men, when there upon the cliff above the deep they

  1185 found the head of Æschere. The water surged with gore, with

  blood yet hot. The people gazed thereon. Ever and anon the

  horn cried an eager call unto the host. There sat them down

  the ranks of men. Now they saw about the water many of

  the serpent-kind, strange dragons of the sea, ranging the

  1190 flood, and demons of the deep lying upon the jutting slopes,

  even such as in the middle hours watch for those journeying

  anxious upon the sailing paths, serpents and beasts untamed.

  Back they dived filled with wrath and hate; they had heard

  the clangour of the war-horns braying. One the Geatish chief

  1195 with an arrow from his bow bereft of life and his labour in

  the waves, that in his vitals stood the hard and deadly dart.

  Therefore less swift to swim in the deeps was he, for death

  took him. Straightway amid the waves with boar-spears

  cruelly barbed sorely was he pressed and grievously assailed,

  1200 and dragged upon the jutting cliff, monstrous upheaver of the

  waves. Men there gazed upon this strange and terrible thing.

  In warrior’s harness Beowulf clad him, no whit recked

  he of his life. Now must his long corslet woven for battle

  by the hands of smiths and cunningly adorned make trial

  1205 of the flood, raiment skilled to guard his body’s frame, that

  the grappling of war and the fell clutch of angry foe should

  not harm his life. But his head the white helm guarded, that

  now must stir the deep places of the mere, searching out the

  eddying floods, adorned with gold and clasped with rich

  1210 chains, even as in days of old a weapon-smith had wrought

  it, marvellously fashioning it, setting thereon images of the

  boar, so that thereafter never blade nor swords of strife

  might cleave it. Nor yet was that thing to be misprized

  among his mighty aids which to him in his need Hrothgar’s

  1215 sage had lent. Hrunting was the name of that hafted blade;

  pre-eminent among old and precious things was that, of iron