Beowulf Part 2

_Over sea, a day's voyage off, Beowulf, of the Geats, nephew of Higelac, king of the Geats, hears of Grendel's doings and of Hrothgar's misery. He resolves to crush the fell monster and relieve the aged king. With fourteen chosen companions, he sets sail for Dane-land. Reaching that country, he soon persuades Hrothgar of his ability to help him. The hours that elapse before night are spent in beer-drinking and conversation. When Hrothgar's bedtime comes he leaves the hall in charge of Beowulf, telling him that never before has he given to another the absolute wards.h.i.+p of his palace. All retire to rest, Beowulf, as it were, sleeping upon his arms._

_Grendel comes, the great march-stepper, bearing G.o.d's anger. He seizes and kills one of the sleeping warriors. Then he advances towards Beowulf.

A fierce and desperate hand-to-hand struggle ensues. No arms are used, both combatants trusting to strength and hand-grip. Beowulf tears Grendel's shoulder from its socket, and the monster retreats to his den, howling and yelling with agony and fury. The wound is fatal._

_The next morning, at early dawn, warriors in numbers flock to the hall Heorot, to hear the news. Joy is boundless. Glee runs high. Hrothgar and his retainers are lavish of grat.i.tude and of gifts._

_Grendel's mother, however, comes the next night to avenge his death. She is furious and raging. While Beowulf is sleeping in a room somewhat apart [x] from the quarters of the other warriors, she seizes one of Hrothgar's favorite counsellors, and carries him off and devours him. Beowulf is called. Determined to leave Heorot entirely purified, he arms himself, and goes down to look for the female monster. After traveling through the waters many hours, he meets her near the sea-bottom. She drags him to her den. There he sees Grendel lying dead. After a desperate and almost fatal struggle with the woman, he slays her, and swims upward in triumph, taking with him Grendel's head._

_Joy is renewed at Heorot. Congratulations crowd upon the victor. Hrothgar literally pours treasures into the lap of Beowulf; and it is agreed among the va.s.sals of the king that Beowulf will be their next liegelord._

_Beowulf leaves Dane-land. Hrothgar weeps and laments at his departure._

_When the hero arrives in his own land, Higelac treats him as a distinguished guest. He is the hero of the hour._

_Beowulf subsequently becomes king of his own people, the Geats. After he has been ruling for fifty years, his own neighborhood is wofully harried by a fire-spewing dragon. Beowulf determines to kill him. In the ensuing struggle both Beowulf and the dragon are slain. The grief of the Geats is inexpressible. They determine, however, to leave nothing undone to honor the memory of their lord. A great funeral-pyre is built, and his body is burnt. Then a memorial-barrow is made, visible from a great distance, that sailors afar may be constantly reminded of the prowess of the national hero of Geatland._

_The poem closes with a glowing tribute to his bravery, his gentleness, his goodness of heart, and his generosity._

It is the devout desire of this translator to hasten the day when the story of Beowulf shall be as familiar to English-speaking peoples as that of the Iliad. Beowulf is our first great epic. It is an epitomized history of the life of the Teutonic races. It brings vividly before us our forefathers of pre-Alfredian eras, in their love of war, of sea, and of adventure.

My special thanks are due to Professors Francis A. March and James A.

Harrison, for advice, sympathy, and a.s.sistance.

J.L. HALL.

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ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE NOTES.

B. = Bugge. C. = Cosijn. Gr. = Grein. Grdvtg. = Grundtvig. H. = Heyne. H.

and S. = Harrison and Sharp. H.-So. = Heyne-Socin. K.= Kemble. Kl. = Kluge. M.= Mullenhoff. R. = Rieger. S. = Sievers. Sw. = Sweet. t.B. = ten Brink. Th. = Thorpe. W. = Wulcker.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF TRANSLATIONS.

--Arnold, Thomas.----Beowulf. A heroic poem of the eighth century. London, 1876. With English translation. Prose.

--Botkine, L.----Beowulf. Epopee Anglo-Saxonne. Havre, 1877. First French translation. Pa.s.sages occasionally omitted.

--Conybeare, J.J.----Ill.u.s.trations of Anglo-Saxon Poetry. London, 1826. Full Latin translation, and some pa.s.sages translated into English blank-verse.

--Ettmuller, L.----Beowulf, stabreimend ubersetzt. Zurich, 1840.

--Garnett, J.M.----Beowulf: an Anglo-Saxon Poem, and the Fight at Finnsburg.

Boston, 1882. An accurate line-for-line translation, using alliteration occasionally, and sometimes a.s.suming a metrical cadence.

--Grein, C.W.M.----Dichtungen der Angelsachsen, stabreimend ubersetzt. 2 Bde. Gottingen, 1857-59.

--Grion, Giusto.----Beovulf, poema epico anglo-sa.s.sone del VII. secolo, tradotto e ill.u.s.trato. Lucca, 1883. First Italian translation.

--Grundtvig, N.F.S.----Bjowulfs Drape. Copenhagen, 1820.

--Heyne, M.----A translation in iambic measures. Paderborn, 1863.

--Kemble, J.M.----The Anglo-Saxon Poems of Beowulf, the Traveller's Song, and the Battle of Finnsburg. London, 1833. The second edition contains a prose translation of Beowulf.

--Leo, H.----Ueber Beowulf. Halle, 1839. Translations of extracts.

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--Lumsden, H.W.----Beowulf, translated into modern rhymes. London, 1881.

Ballad measures. Pa.s.sages occasionally omitted.

--Sandras, G.S.----De carminibus Caedmoni adjudicatis. Paris, 1859. An extract from Beowulf, with Latin translation.

--Schaldmose, F.----Beowulf og Scopes Widsith, to Angelsaxiske Digte.

Copenhagen, 1847.

--Simrock, K.----Beowulf. Uebersetzt und erlautert. Stuttgart und Augsburg, 1859. Alliterative measures.

--Thorkelin, G.J.----De Danorum rebus gestis secul. III. et IV. poema Danic.u.m dialecto Anglosaxonica. Havniae, 1815. Latin translation.

--Thorpe, B.----The Anglo-Saxon Poems of Beowulf, the Scop or Gleeman's Tale, and the Fight at Finnsburg. Oxford, 1855. English translation in short lines, generally containing two stresses.

--Wackerbarth, A.D.----Beowulf, translated into English verse. London, 1849.

--Wickberg, R.----Beowulf, en fornengelsk hjeltedikt, ofersatt. Westervik.

First Swedish translation.

--von Wolzogen, H.----Beowulf, in alliterative measures. Leipzig.

--Zinsser, G.----Der Kampf Beowulfs mit Grendel. Jahresbericht of the Realschule at Forbach, 1881.

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