Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, together with Sellic Spell

by J. R. R. Tolkien

  *

  The name Sellic Spell

  This is taken from line *2109 (1772 in the translation), when Beowulf, recounting to Hygelac his fortunes at Heorot, described the performance by Hrothgar at the feast that followed the rout of Grendel: hwílum syllíc spell rehte æfter rihte rúmheort cyning, ‘or again, greathearted king, some wondrous tale rehearsed in order due’. syllíc and sellíc are different forms of the same word. In a hasty note on the typescript E my father wrote:

  Title taken from the enumeration of the ‘kinds’ of stories to be recited at a feast (Beowulf *2108 ff.): gyd heroic lay ‘historical and tragic’; syllíc spell ‘strange tales’; and ‘elegiac lament’.

  See further the commentary on Beowulf pp. 347–9.

  In his lecture on lines 348–50 in the translation (see p. 233), when expressing his belief that ‘in the form of the sellíc spell nearest behind [the poem] Beowulf had companions and/or competitors in the hall when Grendel came’, he added a note: ‘See my “reconstruction” or specimen Sellíc Spell which I hope to read later. I think that Beowulf had one (or two) companions, also eager to try the feat. Beowulf took the last turn.’

  As can be seen from documents of which my father used the blank sides, the work on Sellíc Spell belongs, largely at any rate, to the early 1940s.

  *

  § 1 SELLIC SPELL: THE FINAL TEXT

  Once upon a time there was a King in the North of the world who had an only daughter, and in his house there was a young lad who was not like the others. One day some huntsmen had come upon a great bear in the mountains. They tracked him to his lair and killed him, and in his den they found a man-child. They marvelled much, for it was a fine child, about three years old, and in good health, but it could speak no words. It seemed to the huntsmen that it must have been fostered by the bears, for it growled like a cub.

  They took the child, and as they could not discover whence he came or to whom he belonged, they brought him to the King. The King ordered him to be taken into his house, and reared, and taught the ways of men. He got little good of the foundling, for the child grew to a surly, lumpish boy, and was slow to learn the speech of the land. He would not work, nor learn the use of tools or weapons. He had great liking for honey, and often sought for it in the woods, or plundered the hives of the farmers; and as he had no name of his own, people called him Bee-wolf, and that was his name ever after. He was held in small account, and in the hall he was left in a corner and had no place upon the benches. He sat often on the floor and said little to any man.

  But month by month and year by year Beewolf grew, and as he grew he became stronger, until first the boys and lads and at length even the men began to fear him. After seven years he had the strength of seven men in his hands. Still he grew, until his beard began to show, and then the grip of his arms was like the hug of a bear. He used no tool or weapon, for blades snapped in his hands, and he would bend any bow till it broke; but if he was angered he would crush a man in his embrace. Happily he was sluggish in mood and slow to wrath; but folk left him alone.

  Beewolf swam often in the sea, summer and winter. He was as warm as an ice-bear,1 and his body had the bear-glow, as men called it, so that he feared no cold.

  There was a great swimmer in those days and his name was Breaker, and he came from Surfland. Breaker met the lad Beewolf on the beach one day, when Beewolf had just returned from swimming in the sea.

  ‘I could teach you how to swim,’ said Breaker. ‘But, maybe, you do not dare to swim far out into deep water.’

  ‘If we start swimming together,’ said Beewolf, ‘it will not be I that turn home first!’ Then he dived back into the sea. ‘Now follow me, if you can!’ he cried.

  They swam for five days, and never once could Breaker get ahead of Beewolf; but Beewolf swam round Breaker, and would not leave him. ‘I am afraid that you may grow tired and be drowned,’ he said; and Breaker was angry.

  Suddenly the wind rose and blew the sea into hills, and Breaker was tossed up and down, and borne away to a distant country. When after a long journey he came back to Surfland, he said that he had left Beewolf far behind and had beaten him at swimming. The nixes2 were disturbed by the storm, and they came up from the sea-ground. They saw Beewolf and were enraged; for they thought that he was Breaker and had roused the storm. One of them seized Beewolf and began to drag him down to the bottom: the nixes thought they would have a feast that night under the waves. But Beewolf wrestled with the beast and killed it; and in the same way he dealt with the others. When dawn came there were many nixes floating dead upon the water. Men wondered greatly at the sight of the monsters when they were cast ashore.

  The wind fell and the sun rose, and Beewolf saw many capes jutting out to sea; and the waves bore him to land in a strange country far to the North, where the Finns dwelt. It was long before he reached his home again.

  ‘Where have you been?’ they asked him.

  ‘Swimming,’ he said; but they thought that he looked grim and bore the marks of wounds, as if he had wrestled with wild beasts.

  In time Beewolf became a man, but he was greater than any other man of that land in those days, and his strength was that of thirty. It happened one night that as he sat as usual in a corner, he heard men talking in the hall, and there was one who told how the king of a far country had built himself a house. The roof of it was of gold, and all the benches were carven and gilded; the floor shone, and golden cloths were hung upon the walls. There was feasting in that house, and laughter of men, and music; and the mead was sweet and strong. But now the house stood empty as soon as the sun had set. No man dared sleep there; for an ogre haunted the house, and all that he could catch he devoured, or bore them away to his den. All night the monster was master of the Golden Hall, and no one could withstand him.

  Suddenly Beewolf stood up. ‘They need a man in that land,’ he said. ‘I will go and find that King.’

  Folk thought such talk was foolishness; but they did not try to dissuade Beewolf; for it seemed to them that the ogre might eat many men who would be missed more.

  Beewolf set off next day, but on his way he fell in with a man. ‘Who are you?’ said the man, ‘and whither are you going?’

  ‘Beewolf I am called,’ he answered, ‘and I am looking for the King of the Golden Hall.’

  ‘Then I will go with you,’ said the other; ‘and my name is Handshoe.’ He had that name because he wore great gloves of hide upon his hands, and when he had those gloves on him, he could thrust rocks aside and tear great stones asunder, but without them he could do no more than other men.

  Handshoe and Beewolf went on together, and they came to the sea, and took a boat, and set sail; and the wind bore them far away. At length they saw the cliffs of a strange land before them, and tall mountains standing up from the foaming sea. The wind drove their ship against the land, and Handshoe leaped ashore and drew it high upon the beach. Hardly had Beewolf set foot upon the sand, when a man came down to meet them. He did not welcome the strangers. He was a grim fellow with a great ashen spear that he brandished fiercely. He demanded their names and their business.

  Beewolf stood and answered him boldly. ‘We are looking for the King of the Golden Hall,’ he said. ‘For he has trouble of some kind with an ogre, if the tales be true. My name is Beewolf, and my companion is called Handshoe.’

  ‘And my name is Ashwood,’ said the man, ‘and with my spear I can put to flight a host of men.’ Then he shook his tall ashen spear, so that it whistled in the wind. ‘I, too, am going to the Golden Hall,’ said he; ‘it lies nor far from here.’

  Then Ashwood and Handshoe and Beewolf went on their way, until they came upon a straight road, broad and well-made; and they strode forward, until there before them they saw the King’s house standing in a green dale; and all the valley was lit with the light of the golden roof.

  When they came to the doors of the hall, the guards would have stayed them, and questioned them; but Ashwood brandished his spear and they fel
l back; and Handshoe set his gloves to the great doors and flung them open. Then the three companions strode into the hall and stood before the King’s seat. The King was old, and his beard was long and white.

  ‘Who are you that come into my house so boldly?’ said he. ‘And what is your errand?’

  ‘Beewolf is my name,’ answered the young man. ‘I have come from beyond the sea. I heard in my own land that you were troubled by an enemy who destroys your men, and that you would give much gold to be rid of him.’

  ‘Alas! It is the truth that you have heard,’ answered the King. ‘An ogre called Grinder has haunted this house for many years, and richly indeed would I reward any man that could do away with him. But he is strong beyond the measure of mortal men, and all whom he has met he has overcome. None now dare to wait in this hall after night has fallen. What hope have you that you will fare better?’

  ‘In my arms I have strength more than most,’ said Beewolf. ‘I have had hard tussles in my time, as the nixes know to their cost. I can but try my luck with this Grinder.’

  Men thought this speech bold, but not over-hopeful.

  ‘And I can do somewhat, though it may not seem much,’ said the second. ‘I am Handshoe. With my gloves I can overturn mighty rocks and tear great stones asunder. I can but try whether Grinder be tougher.’

  These words seemed to all more promising, though some thought it likely enough that Grinder would indeed prove tougher than stone.

  ‘And I also have a power,’ said the third. ‘I am Ashwood. With my spear I can put to flight a host of men. None dare to stand before me, when I bear it aloft!’

  Men thought this champion the most likely, if indeed his weapon had the power that he claimed, and if Grinder had not spells more strong. The King was well pleased with the guests, and hope came to him that maybe the end of his trouble was at hand. The three companions were bidden to the feast, and seats were given to them among the King’s knights. At the pouring of the drink the Queen herself came to them and gave to each a cup of mead and bade them be merry and have good fortune.

  ‘Glad is my heart,’ said she, ‘to see men in this hall again.’

  Some of the King’s men took this saying ill, and none more ill than Unfriend,3 the King’s smith. He thought himself of great account. He had a keen wit, and the King set great store by his counsels, though some said that he used secret spells, and that his counsels roused strife more often than they made peace. This man now turned to Beewolf.

  ‘Did I hear aright that your name was Beewolf?’ said he. ‘There cannot be many with such a name. Surely it was you that Breaker challenged to a swimming-match, and left you far behind, and swam away home to his own country. Let us hope that you have become more of a man since then, for Grinder will treat you less gently than Breaker did.’

  ‘My good Unfriend,’ answered Beewolf, ‘the mead has muddled your wit and you do not tell the tale aright. For it was I that won the match and not poor Breaker, though I was only a lad then. And indeed I have become more of a man since. But come, let us be friends!’ Then Beewolf clasped Unfriend in his arms, and hugged him. It was a gentle hug as he reckoned it, yet it was enough; and when Beewolf let him go, Unfriend became very friendly as long as Beewolf was near him.

  Soon afterwards the sun began to sink in the West and the shadows grew long on the earth. Men began to leave the hall. Then the King called the three companions.

  ‘Darkness is at hand,’ he said, ‘and soon it will be Grinder’s hour. Are you now willing to meet him?’

  They said that they would as soon meet him that night as any other; but neither Handshoe nor Ashwood thought that he needed the other’s help, and still less the help of Beewolf. They did not wish to divide the reward.

  ‘Very good!’ said the King. ‘If you will not stay together, one of you must stay and try his luck alone. Which shall it be?’

  ‘I will stay,’ said Ashwood, ‘for I was the first of us to set foot in this land.’

  The King agreed to this, and bade Ashwood take charge of his house. He wished him good fortune, and promised him great gifts in the morning, if he was there to claim them. Then the King and all his knights left the hall. For Handshoe and Beewolf beds were prepared elsewhere. The house stood empty and dark. Ashwood made his bed beside a pillar and lay down, and though he had intended to lie awake and watchful, he soon fell asleep.

  In the night Grinder arose from his lair far away over the dim moors, and came stalking down to the Golden Hall. He was hungry and had a mind to catch a man again for his meat. He walked over the land under the shadow of the clouds, and came at last to the King’s house. He seized the great doors and wrenched them open. Then he stepped inside, stooping so that his head should not knock against the cross-beams of the roof. He glared down the length of the hall, and a light stood out from his eyes like the beams from a furnace. When he saw that a man was sleeping there again, he laughed. Thereupon Ashwood awoke and saw Grinder’s eyes. A great fear came on him, and he leaped from his bed. His spear was leaning against the pillar nearby, but as he groped for it, it fell with a clang upon the floor. Even as he stooped, Grinder laid hold of him; and their wrestling did not last long. Grinder tore off Ashwood’s head and bore him away.

  In the morning, when men came back to the hall, only the spear remained, and some stains of blood upon the floor. Their fear of Grinder became greater when they saw this. When the next evening drew near, men began to leave the hall earlier and with more haste than before.

  ‘Soon it will be Grinder’s hour,’ said the King. ‘Are you still willing to wait for him, seeing how Ashwood has fared?’

  ‘I at any rate am willing,’ answered Handshoe. ‘And I claim the next turn, for it was I that sprang first from our boat.’

  Beewolf said nothing against this; and Unfriend whispered to some that were near that the stranger seemed glad enough to leave the task to his companion. ‘If this Handshoe fails,’ said he, ‘I do not think our Beewolf will dare to fulfil his boast.’

  Now Handshoe was left alone. He thought that he understood how it had fared with Ashwood: he had not been wary, and the ogre had laid hold of him before he could use his weapon.

  ‘I will not be caught thus,’ said he; and he drew on his gloves before he lay down. He was not wholly easy in his mind, and he lay for a long time awake. Yet in the end drowsiness overcame him; but evil dreams troubled him, and he wrestled in his sleep.

  In the middle of the night Grinder came again to see whether any other champion would be so foolish as to sleep in the hall and furnish him with meat. When he found that it was indeed so, he laughed aloud, and a light like flames sprang from his eyes. Handshoe awoke, and a great terror seized him. He sprang up, but his gloves were not on him, for they had slipped from his hands as he tossed in his dreams. Before he could find them again, Grinder had him in his claws; and he tore up the champion, and stuffed the pieces into a great pouch that he carried at his belt. Then he made off, greatly pleased with his hunting.

  In the morning, men found no traces of Handshoe save the gloves lying in his tumbled bed. They were now more afraid of the ogre than ever before, and some were unwilling to remain in the hall even during daylight. The King was downcast, for his troubles seemed now to have become worse than before. But Beewolf was not dismayed.

  ‘Do not give up hope, Lord!’ said he, ‘for there is still one left. Third time may pay for all, as has often been seen. I still have a mind to wait for the ogre to-night. Indeed I have a great desire to have a word with this Grinder. I ask for no help but my two arms. If they fail me, then you will be rid of me at last, and you will have no need to feed me any longer, nor yet to bury me, as it seems!’

  Men praised these bold words, but Unfriend said nothing. The King was well pleased, and the Queen again brought the drinking bowl to Beewolf with her own hands.

  ‘Fate oft spareth him that fears her not,’ said she. ‘Drink, and be glad, and good luck go with you!’

  At length the sun
set, and the time came for Beewolf to keep watch. The King bade him farewell, hoping but not expecting to see him again in the morning. He promised now to give him three times the reward, if he overcame the monster.

  ‘If Grinder is still so hungry that he ventures here again to-night,’ said Beewolf, ‘maybe he will find more than he seeks. If claws are his weapons and wrestling is his game, he will find one that is used to such play.’

  When at last the King and all his folk had gone, and Beewolf was left alone in the dark hall, he spread his bed; but he did not lie down or go to sleep. A great drowsiness came upon him, but he sat up, wrapped in an old cloak, and set his back against a beam.

  That night Grinder was seized with a gnawing hunger, and a great desire to see if there was yet a third champion so foolish as to lie in the hall. He walked swiftly under the moon, and came to the lands of men before the night was half spent. Without delay he stalked into the hall. As the doors burst open before him, he stooped forward with his hands upon the threshold, and the light of his eyes was now like two great beacons. Beewolf sat still and made no sign.

  When Grinder saw that there was indeed a bed laid in the hall once again he laughed long and clapped his hands: the noise was like the clash of iron. At once he strode up to the bed and bent over it, thinking now to deal with this man as with the others. He laid his great claws upon Beewolf and pressed him backwards. But Beewolf supported the weight, and set his back more firmly against the beam behind. Then he took a grip with his fingers upon each of Grinder’s arms above the wrist. Never had the ogre been so astonished in his life, for the grip of those fingers was stronger than any grip that he had ever felt before. He found that he could not use either of his hands while they held him. Suddenly his heart misgave him, and he became afraid; and very quickly he changed his mind, wishing now only to get away, out of the house and back to his den. This was not at all the fare that he sought. But Beewolf would not let him go; and when Grinder drew back, he sprang up and grappled with him. His fingers cracked, so hard did the ogre pull away. Foot by foot Grinder struggled towards the door, and step by step Beewolf clung to him, planting his feet against any bar or sill that would give him purchase. The hall rang as they wrestled. Grinder roared and yelled, and men in the town round about awoke and trembled, and thought that all the King’s house would fall down. The pillars groaned, the benches were overturned; boards were splintered, and the floor was broken up.