Chương Chương 8 · HROTHGAR AND BEOWULF.--_Continued_.

. HROTHGAR AND BEOWULF.--_Continued_.

{Hrothgar responds.}

Hrothgar discoursed, helm of the Scyldings:

"To defend our folk and to furnish assistance,[1]

Thou soughtest us hither, good friend Beowulf.

{Reminiscences of Beowulf's father, Ecgtheow.}

The fiercest of feuds thy father engaged in,

5 Heatholaf killed he in hand-to-hand conflict

'Mid Wilfingish warriors; then the Wederish people

For fear of a feud were forced to disown him.

Thence flying he fled to the folk of the South-Danes,

[18] The race of the Scyldings, o'er the roll of the waters;

10 I had lately begun then to govern the Danemen,

The hoard-seat of heroes held in my youth,

Rich in its jewels: dead was Heregar,

My kinsman and elder had earth-joys forsaken,

Healfdene his bairn. He was better than I am!

15 That feud thereafter for a fee I compounded;

O'er the weltering waters to the Wilfings I sent

Ornaments old; oaths did he swear me.

{Hrothgar recounts to Beowulf the horrors of Grendel's persecutions.}

It pains me in spirit to any to tell it,

What grief in Heorot Grendel hath caused me,

20 What horror unlooked-for, by hatred unceasing.

Waned is my war-band, wasted my hall-troop;

Weird hath offcast them to the clutches of Grendel.

God can easily hinder the scather

From deeds so direful. Oft drunken with beer

{My thanes have made many boasts, but have not executed them.}

25 O'er the ale-vessel promised warriors in armor

They would willingly wait on the wassailing-benches

A grapple with Grendel, with grimmest of edges.

Then this mead-hall at morning with murder was reeking,

The building was bloody at breaking of daylight,

30 The bench-deals all flooded, dripping and bloodied,

The folk-hall was gory: I had fewer retainers,

Dear-beloved warriors, whom death had laid hold of.

{Sit down to the feast, and give us comfort.}

Sit at the feast now, thy intents unto heroes,[2]

Thy victor-fame show, as thy spirit doth urge thee!"

{A bench is made ready for Beowulf and his party.}

35 For the men of the Geats then together assembled,

In the beer-hall blithesome a bench was made ready;

There warlike in spirit they went to be seated,

Proud and exultant. A liegeman did service,

[19] Who a beaker embellished bore with decorum,

{The gleeman sings}

40 And gleaming-drink poured. The gleeman sang whilom

{The heroes all rejoice together.}

Hearty in Heorot; there was heroes' rejoicing,

A numerous war-band of Weders and Danemen.

[1] B. and S. reject the reading given in H.-So., and suggested by

Grtvg. B. suggests for 457-458:

wáere-ryhtum Þú, wine mín Béowulf,

and for ár-stafum úsic sóhtest.

This means: _From the obligations of clientage, my friend Beowulf, and

for assistance thou hast sought us_.--This gives coherence to

Hrothgar's opening remarks in VIII., and also introduces a new motive

for Beowulf's coming to Hrothgar's aid.

[2] _Sit now at the feast, and disclose thy purposes to the victorious

heroes, as thy spirit urges_.--Kl. reaches the above translation by

erasing the comma after 'meoto' and reading 'sige-hrèðsecgum.'--There

are other and bolder emendations and suggestions. Of these the boldest

is to regard 'meoto' as a verb (imperative), and read 'on sæl': _Think

upon gayety, etc_.--All the renderings are unsatisfactory, the one

given in our translation involving a zeugma.