The Translations of Beowulf Part 14

In the first edition of the translation a number of pa.s.sages were omitted. Some of these omissions were owing to corrupt text, some to extreme obscurity of the original, and some merely to the fact that the original was deemed uninteresting. The princ.i.p.al omissions were: 83-86; 767-770; 1724-1758; 1931-1963; 2061-2062; 2214-2231; 2475; 2930-2932; 3150-3156. These pa.s.sages were inserted in the second edition.

'In this edition I have endeavoured to remove some of the blunders which disfigured its predecessor.... Some parts have been entirely rewritten, and the pa.s.sages formerly omitted ... have been inserted.... A few notes have been added; and the introduction has been materially altered and, I hope, improved.' --Preface to the Second Edition, p. v.

_Aim and Nature of the Translation._

Lumsden's desire was to produce a readable version of the poem. Thus his work resembles that of Wackerbarth[2]; and, like Wackerbarth, he couched his translation in ballad measures. Lumsden does not vary his measure, but preserves the iambic heptameter throughout. His lines rime in couplets.

No attempt is made to preserve alliteration or archaic diction.

The Introduction and Notes contain popular expositions of the work of preceding scholars. Several of the Notes are original and well worth while (see Notes A, C, G, M).

_Texts Used._

The translation is based on Grein's text of 1857[3] and Arnold's text (1876)[4]. Garnett has shown[5] that Lumsden ignored the 1867 text of Grein and the editions of Heyne. These defects were remedied to some extent in the second edition. Lumsden himself never emends the text.

EXTRACT[6].

IV. HUNFERD AND BEOWULF.

Hunferd the son of Ecglaf spoke--at Hrothgar's feet sat he-- And thus let loose his secret grudge; (for much did him displease The coming of Beowulf now--bold sailor o'er the seas.

To none on earth would he allow a greater fame 'mong men Beneath the heavens than his): 'Art thou the same Beowulf then, Who swam a match with Breca once upon the waters wide, When ye vainglorious searched the waves, and risked your lives for pride Upon the deep? Nor hinder you could any friend or foe From that sad venture. Then ye twain did on the waters row; Ye stretched your arms upon the flood; the sea-ways ye did mete; 10 O'er billows glided--with your hands them tossed--though fiercely beat The rolling tides and wintry waves! Seven nights long toiled ye In waters' might; but Breca won--he stronger was than thee!

And to the Hathoraems at morn washed sh.o.r.eward by the flood, Thence his loved native land he sought--the Brondings'

country good, And stronghold fair, where he was lord of folk and burg and rings.

Right well 'gainst thee his vaunt he kept.

_Criticism of the Translation._

The extract ill.u.s.trates the paraphrastic nature of parts of the translation. Lumsden frequently seems to feel it necessary to read a meaning into the obscure lines and pa.s.sages that do not easily lend themselves to translation; cf. lines 11, 12. At line 2258 Lumsden translates:--

The mail that bite of sword O'er clas.h.i.+ng s.h.i.+eld in fight withstood must follow its dead lord.

Never again shall corselet ring as help the warriors bear To comrades far.

The Old English from which this pa.s.sage is taken reads:--

ge swylce seo here-pad, sio aet hilde gebad ofer borda gebraec bite irena, brosna aefter beorne; ne maeg byrnan hring 2260 aefter wig-fruman wide feran haeleum be healfe.

The pa.s.sage is certainly obscure, and the readings are not all undoubted, but the words can never be tortured into meaning what Lumsden tries to make them mean.

But it would be manifestly unfair to judge a translation addressed to the general reader merely by scholarly tests. The work must make its appeal as a literary rendering.

The propriety of adopting a ballad measure may be questioned. Probably no measure could be found more unlike the Old English lines. Moreover, by reason of its long a.s.sociation with purely popular poetry, it constantly suggests the commonplace and the trivial. But above all, it is reminiscent of a medievalism wholly different from that of _Beowulf_.

The saving grace of the ballad measure is its readableness. It is rather effective in pa.s.sages not too dignified, calling for action. But in pa.s.sages of elevation the line is found wanting:--

They mourned their king and chanted dirge, and much of him they said; His worthiness they praised, and judged his deeds with tender dread.

But, like Wackerbarth's, Lumsden's translation had the advantage of being readable.

[Footnote 1: Col. Lumsden's translation of the Battle of Maldon, _Macmillan's Magazine_, 55: 371, has been generally admired.]

[Footnote 2: See supra, p. 45.] [[Wackerbarth]]

[Footnote 3: See supra, p. 56.] [[Grein's Texts]]

[Footnote 4: See supra, p. 72.] [[Arnold: Criticism...]]

[Footnote 5: See _American Journal of Philology_, ii. p. 355.]

[Footnote 6: From the second edition.]

GARNETT'S TRANSLATION

Beowulf: An Anglo-Saxon Poem, and the Fight at Finnsburg, translated by James M. Garnett, M.A., LL.D., Boston, U.S.A.: published by Ginn, Heath, & Co., 1882. 8vo, pp. xl, 107.

Second Edition, Ginn, Heath, & Co., 1885. 8vo, pp. xlvi, 110.

Third Edition, Ginn & Co., 1892. Reprinted 1899. 8vo, pp. liii, 110.

Fourth Edition, 1900.

Sixth English Translation. Imitative Measures.

_Differences between the Editions._

In the second edition the translation was collated with the Grein-Wulker text, and wherever necessary, with the Zupitza _Autotypes_. Additions were made to the bibliography:--

'I have revised certain pa.s.sages with a view to greater accuracy, but I have not changed the plan of the work, for that would have necessitated the re-writing of the whole translation.' --Preface to the second edition.

The third and fourth editions are simple reprints, with some additions to the bibliography.

_Circ.u.mstances of Publication._

As has been pointed out above in the sections on Arnold[1] and Lumsden[2], no satisfactory literal translation of _Beowulf_ existed in English. Furthermore, an American translation had never appeared. It was with a view to presenting the latest German interpretations of the poem that Garnett prepared his literal version of the poem. The original draft of the translation was made at St. John's College, Md., in the session of 1878-79.--Preface to first edition.

_Texts Used._

The translation is based on Grein's text of 1867. Notes are added showing the variants from Heyne's text of 1879. In the second edition notes are added showing the variants from the Grein-Wulker text of 1883.