medieval sourcebook beowulf in old english fordham university http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/beowulf-oe.asp this is the Klaeber edition of the text, first published as beowulf and the fight at finnsburg edited with introduction bibliography notes glossary and appendices by Fr. Klaeber boston new york etc d.c. heath & co [c]
hwæt we gardena in geardagum þeodcyninga þrym gefrunon hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon oft scyld scefing sceaþena þreatum monegum mægþum meodosetla ofteah egsode eorlas syððanærest wearð feasceaft funden he þæs frofre gebad weox under wolcnum weorðmyndum þah oð þæt him æghwylc ymbsittendra ofer hronrade hyran scolde gomban gyldan þæt wæs god cyning ðæm eafera wæs æfter cenned geong in geardum þone god sende folce to frofre fyrenðearfe ongeat þe hie ær drugon aldorlease lange hwile him þæs liffrea wuldres wealdend woroldare forgeaf beowulf wæs breme blæd wide sprang scyldes eafera scedelandum in swa sceal geong guma gode gewyrcean fromum feohgiftumon fæder bearme þæt hine on ylde eft gewunigen wilgesiþas þonne wig cume leode gelæsten lofdædum sceal in mægþa gehwære man geþeon him ða scyld gewat to gescæphwile felahror feran on frean wære hi hyne þa ætbæron to brimes faroðe swæse gesiþas swa he selfa bæd þendenwordum weold wine scyldinga leof landfruma lange ahte þær æt hyðe stod hringedstefna isig ond utfus æþelingesfær aledon þa leofne þeoden beaga bryttan on bearm scipes mærne be mæste þær wæs madma fela of feorwegum frætwa gelæded ne hyrde ic cymlicor ceol gegyrwan hildewæpnum ond heaðowædum billum ond byrnumhim on bearme læg madma mænigo þa him mid scoldon on flodes æht feor gewitan nalæs hi hine læssan lacum teodan þeodgestreonum þon þa dydon þe hine æt frumsceafte forð onsendon ænne ofer yðe umborwesende þa gyt hie him asetton segen gyldenne heah ofer heafod leton holm beran geafon on garsecg him wæs geomor sefa murnende mod men ne cunnon secgan to soðe selerædende hæleð under heofenum hwa þæm hlæste onfeng i ða wæs on burgum beowulf scyldinga leof leodcyning longe þrage folcum gefræge fæder ellor hwearf aldor of earde oþ þæt him eft onwoc heah healfdene heold þenden lifde gamol ond guðreouw glæde scyldingas ðæm feower bearn forðgerimed in worold wocun weoroda ræswan heorogar ond hroðgar ond halga til hyrde ic þæt wæs onelan cwen heaðoscilfingas healsgebedda þa wæs hroðgare heresped gyfen wiges weorðmynd þæt him his winemgas georne hyrdon oðð þæt seo geogoð geweox magodriht micel him on mod bearn þæt healreced hatan wolde medoærn micel men gewyrcean þonne yldo bearn æfre gefrunon ond þær on innan eall gedælan geongum ond ealdum swylc him god sealde buton folcscare ond feorum gumena ða ic wide gefrægn weorc gebannan manigre mægþe geond þisne middangeard folcstede frætwan him on fyrste gelomp ædre mid yldum þæt hit wearð ealgearo healærna mæst scop him heort naman se þe his wordes geweald wide hæfde he beot ne aleh beagas dælde sinc æt symle sele hlifade heah ond horngeap heaðowylma bad laðan liges ne wæs hit lenge þa gen þæt se ecghete aþumsweorum æfter wælniðe wæcnan scolde ða se ellengæst earfoðlice þrage geþolode se þe in þystrum bad þæt he dogora gehwam dream gehyrde hludne in healle þær wæs hearpan sweg swutol sang scopes sægde se þe cuþe frumsceaft fira feorran reccan cwæð þæt se ælmihtiga eorðan worhte wlitebeorhtne wang swa wæter bebugeð gesette sigehreþig sunnan ond monan leoman to leohte landbuendum ond gefrætwade foldan sceatas leomum ond leafum lif eac gesceop rynna gehwylcum þara ðe cwice hwyrfaþ swa þa drihtguman dreamum lifdon eadiglice oð ðæt an ongan fyrene fremman feond on helle wæs se grimma gæst grendel haten mære mearcstapa se þe moras heold fen ond fæsten fifelcynnes eard wonsæli wer weardode hwile siþðan him scyppend forscrifen hæfde in caines cynne þone cwealm gewræc ece drihten þæs þe he abel slog ne gefeah he þære fæhðe ac hehine feor forwræc metod for þy mane mancynne fram þanon untydras ealle on wocon eotenas ond ylfe ond orcneas swylce gigantas þa wið gode wunnon lange þrage he him ðæs lean forgeald ii gewat ða neosian syþðan niht becom hean huses hu hit hringdene æfter beorþege gebun hæfdon fand þa ðær inne æþelinga gedriht swefan æfter symble sorge ne cuðon wonsceaft wera wiht unhælo grim ond grædig gearo sona wæs reoc ond reþe ond on ræste genam þritig þegna þanon eft gewat huðe hremig to ham faran mid þære wælfylle wica neosan ða wæs on uhtan mid ærdæge grendles guðcræft gumum undyrne þa wæs æfter wiste wop up ahafen micel morgensweg mære þeoden æþeling ærgod unbliðe sæt þolode ðryðswyð þegnsorge dreah syðþan hie þæs laðan last sceawedon wergan gastes wæs þæt gewin to strang lað ond longsum næs hit lengra fyrst ac ymb ane niht eft gefremede morðbeala mare ond no mearn fore fæhðe ond fyrene wæs to fæst on þam þa wæs eaðfynde þe him elles hwær gerumlicor ræste sohte bed æfter burum ða him gebeacnod wæs gesægd soðlice sweotolan tacne healðegnes hete heold hyne syðþan fyr ond fæstor se þæm feonde ætwand swa rixode ond wið rihte wan ana wið eallum oð þæt idel stod husa selest wæs seo hwil micel twelf wintra tid torn geþolode wine scyldinga weana gehwelcne sidra sorga forðam secgum wearð ylda bearnum undyrne cuð gyddum geomore þætte grendel wan hwile wið hroþgar heteniðas wæg fyrene ond fæhðefela missera singale sæce sibbe ne wolde wið manna hwone mægenes deniga feorhbealo feorran fea þingian ne þær nænig witena wenan þorfte beorhtre bote to banan folmum ac se æglæca ehtende wæs deorc deaþscua duguþe ond geogoþe seomade ond syrede sinnihte heold mistige moras men ne cunnon hwyder helrunan hwyrftum scriþað swa fela fyrena feond mancynnes atol angengea oft gefremede herdra hynða heorot eardode sincfage sel sweartum nihtum no he þone gifstol gretan moste maþðum for metode ne his myne wisse þæt wæs wræc micel wine scyldinga modes brecða monig oft gesæt rice to rune ræd eahtedon hwæt swiðferhðum selest wære wið færgyrum to gefremmanne hwilum hie geheton æt hærgtrafum wigweorþunga wordum bædon þæt him gastbona geoce gefremede wið þeodþreaum swylc wæs þeaw hyra hæþenra hyht helle gemundon in modsefan metod hie ne cuþon dæda demend ne wiston hie drihten god ne hie huru heofena helm herian ne cuþon wuldres waldend wa bið þæm ðe sceal þurh sliðne nið sawle bescufan in fyres fæþm frofre ne wenan wihte gewendan wel bið þæm þe mot æfter deaðdæge drihten secean ond to fæder fæþmum freoðo wilnian iii swa ða mælceare maga healfdenes singala seað ne mihte snotor hæleð wean onwendan wæs þæt gewin to swyð laþ ond longsum þe on ða leode becom nydwracu niþgrim nihtbealwa mæst þæt fram ham gefrægn higelaces þegn god mid geatum grendles dæda se wæs moncynnes mægenes strengest on þæm dæge þysses lifes æþele ond eacen het him yðlidan godne gegyrwan cwæð he guðcyning ofer swanrade secean wolde mærne þeoden þa him wæs manna þearf ðone siðfæt him snotere ceorlas lythwon logon þeah he him leof wære hwetton higerofne hæl sceawedon hæfde se goda geata leoda cempan gecorone þara þe he cenoste findan mihte fiftyna sum sundwudu sohte secg wisade lagucræftig mon landgemyrcu fyrst forð gewat flota wæs on yðum bat under beorge beornas gearwe on stefn stigon streamas wundon sund wið sande secgas bæron on bearm nacanbeorhte frætwe guðsearo geatolic guman ut scufon weras on wilsið wudu bundenne gewat þa ofer wægholm winde gefysed flota famiheals fugle gelicost oð þæt ymb antid oþres dogores wundenstefna gewaden hæfde þæt ða liðende land ge sawon brimclifu blican beorgas steape side sænæssas þa wæssund liden eoletes æt ende þanon up hraðe wedera leode on wang stigon sæwudu sældon syrcan hyrsedon guðgewædo gode þancedon þæs þe him yþlade eaðe wurdon ða of wealle geseah weard scildinga se þe holmclifu healdan scolde beran ofer bolcan beorhte randas fyrdsearu fuslicu hine fyrwyt bræc modgehygdum hwæt þa men wæron gewat him þa to waroðe wicge ridan þegn hroðgares þrymmum cwehte mægenwudu mundum meþelwordum frægn hwæt syndon ge searohæbbendra byrnum werede þe þus brontne ceol ofer lagustræte lædan cwomon hider ofer holmas hwæt ic hwile wæs endesæta ægwearde heold þe on land dena laðra nænig mid scipherge sceðþan ne meahte no her cuðlicor cuman ongunnon lindhæbbende ne ge leafnesword guðfremmendra gearwe ne wisson maga gemedu næfre ic maran geseah eorla ofer eorþan ðonne is eower sum secg on searwum nis þæt seldguma wæpnum geweorðad næfne him his wlite leoge ænlic ansyn nu ic eower sceal frumcyn witan ær ge fyr heonan leassceaweras on land dena furþur feran nu ge feorbuend mereliðende minne gehyrað anfealdne geþoht ofost is selest to gecyðanne hwanan eowre cyme syndon iiii him se yldesta andswarode werodes wisa wordhord onleac `we synt gumcynnes geata leode ond higelaces heorðgeneatas wæs min fæder folcum gecyþed æþele ordfruma ecgþeow haten gebad wintra worn ær he on weg hwurfe gamol of geardum hine gearwe geman witenawelhwylc wide geond eorþan we þurh holdne hige hlaford þinne sunu healfdenes secean cwomon leodgebyrgean wes þu us larena god habbað we to þæm mæran micel ærende deniga frean ne sceal þær dyrne sum wesan þæs ic wene þu wast gif hit is swa we soþlice secgan hyrdon þæt mid scyldingum sceaðona ic nat hwylc deogol dædhata deorcum nihtum eaweð þurh egsan uncuðne nið hynðu ond hrafyl ic þæs hroðgar mæg þurh rumne sefan ræd gelæran hu he frod ond god feond oferswyðeþ gyf him edwenden æfre scolde bealuwa bisigu bot eft cuman ond þa cearwylmas colran wurðaþ oððe a syþðan earfoðþrage þreanyd þolað þenden þær wunað on heahstede husa selest weard maþelode ðær on wicge sæt ombeht unforht `æghwæþres sceal scearp scyldwiga gescad witan worda ond worca se þe wel þenceð ic þæt gehyre þæt þis is hold weorod frean scyldinga gewitaþ forð beran wæpen ond gewædu iceow wisige swylce ic maguþegnas mine hate wið feonda gehwone flotan eowerne niwtyrwydne nacan on sande arum healdan oþ ðæt eft byreð ofer lagustreamas leofne mannan wudu wundenhals to wedermearce godfremmendra swylcum gifeþe bið þæt þone hilderæs hal gedigeð gewiton him þa feran flota stille bad seomode on sale sidfæþmed scip oa ancre fæst eoforlic scionon ofer hleorbergan gehroden golde fah ond fyrheard ferhwearde heold guþmod grimmon guman onetton sigon ætsomne oþ þæt hy sæl timbred geatolic ond goldfah ongyton mihton þæt wæs foremærost foldbuendum receda under roderum on þæm se rica bad lixte se leoma ofer landa fela him þa hildedeor hof modigra torht getæhte þæt hie him to mihton gegnum gangan guðbeorna sum wicg gewende word æfter cwæð `mæl is me to feran fæder alwalda mid arstafum eowic gehealde siða gesunde ic to sæ wille wið wrað werod wearde healdan v stræt wæs stanfah stig wisode gumum ætgædere guðbyrnescan heard hondlocen hringiren scir song in searwum þa hie to sele furðum in hyra gryregeatwum gangan cwomon setton sæme þe side scyldas rondas regnhearde wið þæs recedes weal bugon þa to bence byrnan hringdon guðsearo gumena garas stodon sæmanna searo samod ætgædere æscholt ufan græg wæs se irenþreat wæpnum gewurþad þa ðær wlonc hæleð oretmecgas æfter æþelum frægn `hwanon ferigeað ge fætte scyldas græge syrcan ond grimhelmas heresceafta heap ic eom hroðgares ar ond ombiht ne seah ic elþeodige þus manige men modiglicran wen ic þæt ge for wlenco nalles for wræcsiðum ac for higeþrymmum hroðgar sohton himþa ellenrof andswarode wlanc wedera leod word æfter spræc heard under helme `we synt higelaces beodgeneatas beowulf is min nama wille ic asecgan sunu healfdenes mærum þeodne min ærende aldre þinum gif he us geunnan wile þæt we hine swa godne gretan moton wulfgar maþelode þæt wæs wendla leod wæs his modsefa manegumgecyðed wig ond wisdom `ic þæs winedeniga frean scildinga frinan wille beaga bryttan swa þu bena eart þeoden mærne ymb þinne sið ond þe þa andsware ædre gecyðan ðe me se goda agifan þenceð hwearf þa hrædlice þær hroðgar sæt eald ond anhar mid his eorla gedriht eode ellenrof þæt he for eaxlum gestod deniga frean cuþe he duguðe þeaw wulfgar maðelode to his winedrihtne `her syndon geferede feorran cumene ofer geofenes begang geata leode þone yldestan oretmecgas beowulf nemnað hy benan synt þæt hie þeoden minwið þe moton wordum wrixlan no ðu him wearne geteoh ðinra gegncwida glædman hroðar hy on wiggetawum wyrðe þinceað eorla geæhtlan huru se aldor deah se þæm heaðorincum hider wisade vi hroðgar maþelode helm scyldinga ic hine cuðe cnihtwesende wæs his ealdfæder ecgþeo haten ðæm to ham forgeaf hreþel geata angan dohtor is his eaforan nu heard her cumen sohte holdne wine ðonne sægdon þæt sæliþende þa ðe gifsceattas geata fyredon þyder to þance þæt he þritiges manna mægencræft on his mundgripe heaþorof hæbbe hine halig god for arstafum us onsende to westdenum þæs ic wen hæbbe wið grendles gryre ic þæm godan sceal for his modþræce madmas beodan beo ðu on ofeste hat in gan seon sibbegedriht samod ætgædere gesaga him eac wordum þæt hie sint wil cuman deniga leodum þa to dura eode widcuð hæleð word inne abead `eow het secgan sigedrihten min aldor eastdena þæt he eoweræþelu can ond ge him syndon ofer sæwylmas heardhicgende hider wilcuman nu ge moton gangan in eowrum guðgetawum under heregriman hroðgar geseon lætað hildebord her onbidan wudu wælsceaftas worda geþinges aras þa se rica ymb hine rinc manig þryðlic þegna heap sume þær bidon heaðoreaf heoldon swa him se hearda bebead snyredon ætsomne þa secg wisode under heorotes hrof heaþorinc eode heard under helme þæt he on heorðe gestod beowulf ma ode ðelon him byrne scan searonet seowed smiþes orþancum `wæs þu hroðgar hal ic eom higelaces mæg ond magoðegn hæbbe ic mærða fela ongunnen on geogoþe me wearð grendles þing on minre eþeltyrf undyrne cuð secgað sæliðend þæt þæs sele stande reced selesta rinca gehwylcum idel ond unnyt siððan æfenleoht under heofenes hador beholen weorþeð þa me þæt gelærdon leode mine þa selestan snotere ceorlas þeoden hroðgar þæt ic þe sohte forþan hie mægenes cræft minne cuþon selfe ofersawon ða ic of searwum cwom fah from feondum þær ic fife geband yðde eotena cyn ond on yðum slog niceras nihtes nearoþearfe dreah wræc wedera nið wean ahsodon forgrandgramum ond nu wið grendel sceal wið þam aglæcan ana gehegan ðing wið þyrse ic þe nu ða brego beorhtdena biddan wille eodor scyldinga anre bene þæt ðu me ne forwyrne wigendra hleo freowine folca nu ic þus feorran com þæt ic mote ana ond minra eorla gedryht þes hearda heap heorot fæl sian hæbbe ic eac geahsod þæt se æglæca for his wonhydum wæpna ne recceð ic þæt þonne forhicge swa me higelac sie min mondrihten modes bliðe þæt ic sweord bere oþðe sidne scyld geolorand to guþe ac ic mid grape sceal fon wið feonde ond ymb feorh sacan lað wið laþum ðær gelyfan sceal dryhtnes dome se þe hine deað nimeð wen ic þæt he wille gif he wealdan mot in þæm guðsele geotena leode etan unforhte swa he oft dyde mægen hreðmanna na ðu minne þearft hafalan hydan ac he me habban wile dreore fahne gif mec deað nimeð byreð blodig wæl byrgean þenceð eteð angenga unmurnlice mearcað morhopu no ðu ymb mines ne þearft lices feorme leng sorgian onsend higelace gif mec hild nime beaduscruda betst þæt mine breost wereð hrægla selest þæt is hrædlan laf welandes geweorc gæð a wyrd swa hio scel vii hroðgar maþelode helm scyldinga `for gewyrhtum þu wine min beowulf ond for arstafum usic sohtest gesloh þin fæder fæhðe mæste wearþ he heaþolafe to handbonan mid wilfingum ða hine wedera cyn for herebrogan habban ne mihte þanon he gesohte suðdena folc ofer yða gewealc arscyldinga ða ic furþum weold folce deniga ond on geogoðe heold ginne rice hordburh hæleþa ða wæs heregar dead min yldra mæg unlifigende bearn healfdenes se wæs betera ðonne ic siððan þa fæhðe feo þingode sende ic wylfingum ofer wæteres hrycg ealde madmas he me aþas swor sorh is me to secganne on sefan minum gumena ængum hwæt me grendel hafað hynðo on heorote mid his heteþancum færniða gefremed is min fletwerod wigheap gewanod hie wyrd forsweop on grendles gryre god eaþe mæg þone dolsceaðan dæda getwæfan ful oft gebeotedon beore druncne ofer ealowæge oretmecgas þæt hie in beorsele bidan woldon grendles guþe mid gryrum ecga ðonne wæs þeos medoheal on morgentid drihtsele dreorfah þonne dæg lixte eal bencþelu blode bestymed heall heorudreore ahte ic holdra þy læs deorre duguðe þe þa deað fornam site nu to symle ond onsæl meoto sigehreð secgum swa þin sefa hwette þa wæs geatmæcgum geador ætsomne on beorsele benc gerymed þær swiðferhþe sittan eodon þryðum dealle þegn nytte beheold se þe on handa bær hroden ealowæge scencte scir wered scop hwilum sang hador on heorote þær wæs hæleða dream duguð unlytel dena ond wedera viii unferð maþelode ecglafes bearn þe æt fotum sæt frean scyldinga onband beadurune wæs him beowulfes sið modges merefaran micel æfþunca forþon þe he ne uþe þæt ænig oðer man æfre mærða þon ma middangeardes gehede under heofenum þonne he sylfa `eart þu se beowulf se þe wið brecan wunne on sidne sæ ymb sund flite ðær git for wlence wada cunnedon ond for dolgilpe on deop wæter aldrum neþdon ne inc ænig mon ne leof ne lað belean mihte sorhfullne sið þa git on sund reon þær git eagorstream earmum þehton mæton merestræta mundum brugdon glidon ofer garsecg geofon yþum weol wintrys wylmum git on wæteres æht seofon niht swuncon he þe æt sunde oferflat hæfde mare mægen þa hine on morgentid on heaðoræmes holm up ætbær ðonon he gesohte swæsne eþel leof his leodum lond brondinga freoðoburh fægere þær he folc ahte burh ond beagas beot eal wið þe sunu beanstanes soðe gelæste ðonne wene ic to þe wyrsan geþingea ðeah þu heaðoræsa gehwær dohte grimre guðe gif þu grendles dearst nihtlongne fyrst nean bidan beowulf maþelode bearn ecgþeowes `hwæt þu worn fela wine min unferð beore druncen ymb brecan spræce sædgest from his siðe soð ic talige þæt ic merestrengo maran ahte earfeþo on yþum ðonne ænig oþer man wit þæt gecwædon cnihtwesende ond gebeotedon wæron begen þa git on geogoðfeore þæt wit on garsecg ut aldrum neðdon ond þæt geæfndon swa hæfdon swurd nacod þa wit on sund reon heard on handa wit unc wið hronfixas werian þohton no he wiht fram me flodyþum feor fleotan meahte hraþor on holme no ic fram him wolde ða wit ætsomne on sæ wæron fif nihta fyrst oþ þæt unc flod todraf wado weallende wedera cealdost nipende niht ond norþanwind heaðogrim ondhwearf hreo wæron yþa wæs merefixa mod onhrered þær me wið laðum licsyrce min heard hondlocen helpe gefremede beadohrægl broden on breostum læg golde gegyrwed me to grunde teah fah feondscaða fæste hæfde grim on grape hwæþre me gyfeþe wearð þæt ic aglæcan orde geræhte hildebille heaþoræs fornam mihtig meredeor þurh mine hand viiii swa mec gelome laðgeteonan þreatedon þearle ic him þenode deoran sweorde swa hit gedefe wæs næs hie ðære fylle gefean hæfdon manfordædlan þæt hie me þegon symbel ymbsæton sægrunde neah ac on mergenne mecum wunde be yðlafe uppe lægon sweordum aswefede þæt syðþan na ymb brontne ford brimliðende lade ne letton leoht eastan com beorht beacen godes brimu swaþredon þæt ic sænæssas geseon mihte windige weallas wyrd oft nereð unfægne eorl þonne his ellen deah hwæþere me gesælde þæt ic mid sweorde ofsloh niceras nigene no ic on niht gefrægn under heofones hwealf heardran feohtan ne on egstreamum earmran mannon hwæþere ic fara feng feore gedigde siþes werig ða mec sæ oþbær flod æfter faroðe on finna land wadu weallendu no ic wiht fram þe swylcra searoniða secgan hyrde billa brogan breca næfre git æt heaðolace ne gehwæþer incer swa deorlice dæd gefremede fagum sweordum no ic þæs fela gylpe þeah ðu þinum broðrum to banan wurde heafodmægum þæs þu in helle scealt werhðo dreogan þeah þin wit duge secge ic þe to soðe sunu ecglafes þæt næfre grendel swa fela gryra gefremede atol æglæca ealdre þinum hynðo on heorote gif þin hige wære sefa swa searogrim swa þu self talast ac he hafað onfunden þæt he þa fæhðe ne þearf atole ecgþræce eower leode swiðe onsittan sigescyldinga nymeð nydbade nænegum arað leode deniga ac he lust wigeð swefeð ond snedeþ secce ne weneþ to gardenum ac ic him geata sceal eafoð ond ellen ungeara nu guþe gebeodan gæþ eft se þe mot to medo modig siþþan morgenleoht ofer ylda bearn oþres dogores sunne sweglwered suþan scineð þa wæs on salum sinces brytta gamolfeax ond guðrof geoce gelyfde brego beorhtdena gehyrde on beowulfe folces hyrde fæstrædne geþoht ðær wæs hæleþa hleahtor hlyn swynsode word wæron wynsume eode wealhþeow forð cwen hroðgares cynna gemyndig grette goldhroden guman on healle ond þa freolic wif ful gesealde ærest eastdena eþelwearde bæd hine bliðne æt þære beorþege leodum leofne he on lust geþeah symbel ond seleful sigerof kyning ymbeode þa ides helminga duguþe ond geogoþe dæl æghwylcne sincfato sealde oþ þæt sæl alamp þæt hio beowulfe beaghroden cwen mode geþungen medoful ætbær grette geata leod gode þancode wisfæst wordum þæs ðe hire se willa gelamp þæt heo on ænigne eorl gelyfde fyrena frofre he þæt ful geþeah wælreow wiga æt wealhþeon ond þa gyddode guþe gefysed beowulf maþelode bearn ecgþeowes `ic þæt hogode þa ic on holm gestah sæbat gesæt mid minra secga gedriht þæt ic anunga eowra leoda willan geworhte oþðe on wæl crunge feondgrapum fæst ic gefremman sceal eorlic ellen oþðe endedæg on þisse meoduhealle minne gebidan ðam wife þa word wel licodon gilpcwide geates eode goldhroden freolicu folccwen to hire frean sittan þa wæs eft swa ær inne on healle þryðword sprecen ðeod on sælum sigefolca sweg oþ þæt semninga sunu healfdenes secean wolde æfenræste wiste þæm ahlæcan to þæm heahsele hilde geþinged siððan hie sunnan leoht geseon meahton oð þe nipende niht ofer ealle scaduhelma gesceapu scriðan cwoman wan under wolcnum werod eall aras gegrette þa guma oþerne hroðgar beowulf ond him hæl abead winærnes geweald ond þæt word acwæð `næfre ic ænegum men ær alyfde siþðan ic hond ond rond hebban mihte ðryþærn dena buton þe nu ða hafa nu ond geheald husa selest gemyne mærþo mægenellen cyð waca wiþ wraþum ne bið þe wilna gad gif þu þæt ellenweorc aldre gedigest x ða him hroþgar gewat mid his hæleþa gedryht eodur scyldinga ut of healle wolde wigfruma wealhþeo secan cwen to gebeddan hæfde kyningwuldor grendle togeanes swa guman gefrungon seleweard aseted sundornytte behold ymb aldor dena eotonweard abead huru geata leod georne truwode modgan mægnes metodes hyldo ða he him of dyde iserbyrnan helm of hafelan sealde his hyrsted sweord irena cyst ombihtþegne ond gehealdan het hildegeatwe gespræc þa se goda gylpworda sum beowulf geata ær he on bed stige `no ic me an herewæsmun hnagran talige guþgeweorca þonne grendel hine forþan ic hine sweorde swebban nelle aldre beneotan þeah ic eal mæge nat he þara goda þæt he me ongean slea rand geheawe þeah ðe he rof sie niþgeweorca ac wit on niht sculon secge ofersittan gif he gesecean dear wig ofer wæpen ond siðan witig god on swa hwæere hond halig dryhten mærðo deme swa him gemet þince hylde hine þa heaþodeor hleorbolster onfeng eorles andwlitan ond hine ymb monig snellic særinc selereste gebeah nænig heora þohte þæt he þanon scolde eft eardlufan æfre gesecan folc oþðe freoburh þær he afeded wæs ac hie hæfdon gefrunen þæt hie ær to fela micles in þæm winsele wældeað fornam denigea leode ac him dryhten forgeaf wigspeda gewiofu wedera leodum frofor ond fultum þæt hie feond heora ðurh anes cræft ealle ofercomon selfes mihtum soð is gecyþed þæt mihtig god manna cynnes weold wideferhð com on wanre niht scriðan sceadugenga sceotend swæfon þa þæt hornreced healdan scoldon ealle buton anum þæt wæs yldum cuþ þæt hie ne moste þa metod nolde se scynscaþa under sceadu bregdan ac he wæccende wraþum on andan bad bolgenmod beadwa geþinges xi ða com of more under misthleoþum grendel gongan godes yrre bær mynte se manscaða manna cynnes sumne besyrwan in sele þam hean wod under wolcnum to þæs þe he winreced goldsele gumena gearwost wisse fættum fahne ne wæs þæt forma sið þæt he hroþgares ham gesohte næfre he on aldordagum ær ne siþðan heardran hæle healðegnas fand com þa to recede rinc siðian dreamum bedæled duru sona onarn fyrbendum fæst syþðan he hire folmum æthran onbræd þa bealohydig ða he gebolgen wæs recedes muþan raþe æfter þon on fagne flor feond treddode eode yrremod him of eagum stod ligge gelicost leoht unfæger geseah he in recede rinca manige swefan sibbegedriht samod ætgædere magorinca heap þa his mod ahlog mynte þæt he gedælde ær þon dæg cwome atol aglæca anra gehwylces lif wið lice þa him alumpen wæs wistfylle wen ne wæs þæt wyrd þa gen þæt he ma moste manna cynnes ðicgean ofer þa niht þryðswyð beheold mæg higelaces hu se manscaða under færgripum gefaran wolde ne þæt se aglæca yldan þohte ac he gefeng hraðe forman siðe slæpendne rinc slat unwearnum bat banlocan blod edrum dranc synsnædum swealh sona hæfde unlyfigendes eal gefeormod fet ond folma forð near ætstop nam þa mid handa higeþihtigne rinc on ræste ræhte ongean feond mid folme he onfeng hraþe inwitþancum ond wið earm gesæt sona þæt onfunde fyrena hyrde þæt he ne mette middangeardes eorþan sceata on elran men mundgripe maran he on mode wearð forht on ferhðe no þy ær fram meahte hyge wæs him hinfus wolde on heolster fleon secan deofla gedræg ne wæs his drohtoð þær swylce he on ealderdagum ær gemette gemunde þa se goda mæg higelaces æfenspræce uplang astod ond him fæste wiðfeng fingras burston eoten wæs utweard eorl furþur stop mynte se mæra þær he meahte swa widre gewindan ond on weg þanon fleon on fenhopu wiste his fingra geweald on grames grapum þæt wæs geocor sið þæt se hearmscaþa to heorute ateah dryhtsele dynede denum eallum wearð ceasterbuendum cenra gehwylcum eorlum ealuscerwen yrre wæron begen reþe renweardas reced hlynsode þa wæs wundor micel þæt se winsele wiðhæfde heaþodeorum þæt he on hrusan ne feol fæger foldbold ac he þæs fæste wæs innan ond utan irenbendum searoþoncum besmiþod þær fram sylle abeag medubenc monig mine gefræge golde geregnad þær þa graman wunnon þæs ne wendon ær witan scyldinga þæt hit a mid gemete manna ænig betlic ond banfag tobrecan meahte listum tolucan nymþe liges fæþm swulge on swaþule sweg up astag niwe geneahhe norðdenum stod atelic egesa anra gehwylcum þara þe of wealle wop gehyrdon gryreleoð galan godes andsacan sigeleasne sang sar wanigean helle hæfton heold hine fæste se þe manna wæs mægene strengest on þæm dæge þysses lifes xii nolde eorla hleo ænige þinga þone cwealmcuman cwicne forlætan ne his lifdagas leoda ænigum nytte tealde þær genehost brægd eorl beowulfes ealde lafe wolde freadrihtnes feorh ealgian mæres þeodnes ðær hie meahton swa hie þæt ne wiston þa hie gewin drugon heardhicgende hildemecgas ond on healfa gehwone heawan þohton sawle secan þone synscaðan ænig ofer eorþan irenna cyst guðbilla nan gretan nolde ac he sigewæpnum forsworen hæfde ecga gehwylcre scolde his aldorgedal on ðæm dæge þysses lifes earmlic wurðan ond se ellorgast on feonda geweald feor siðian ða þæt onfunde se þe fela æror modes myrðe manna cynne fyrene gefremede he wæs fag wið god þæt him se lichoma læstan nolde ac hine se modega mæg hygelaces hæfde be honda wæs gehwæþer oðrum lifigende lað licsar gebad atol æglæca him on eaxle wearð syndolh sweotol seonowe onsprungon burston banlocan beowulfe wearð guðhreð gyfeþe scolde grendel þonan feorhseoc fleon under fenhleoðu secean wynleas wic wiste þe geornor þæt his aldres wæs ende gegongen dogera dægrim denum eallum wearð æfter þam wælræse willa gelumpen hæfde þa gefælsod se þe ær feorran com snotor ond swyðferhð sele hroðgares genered wið niðe nihtweorce gefeh ellenmærþum hæfde eastdenum geatmecga leod gilp gelæsted swylce oncyþðe ealle gebette inwidsorge þe hie ær drugon ond for þreanydum þolian scoldon torn unlytel þæt wæs tacen sweotol syþðan hildedeor hond alegde earm ond eaxle þær wæs eal geador grendles grape under geapne hrof xiii ða wæs on morgen mine gefræge ymb þa gifhealle guðrinc monig ferdon folctogan feorran ond nean geond widwegas wundor sceawian laþes lastas no his lifgedal sarlic þuhte secga ænegum þara þe tirleases trode sceawode hu he werigmod on weg þanon niða ofercumen on nicera mere fæge ond geflymed feorhlastas bær ðær wæs on blode brim weallende atol yða geswing eal gemenged haton heolfre heorodreore weol deaðfæge deog siððan dreama leas in fenfreoðo feorh alegde hæþene sawle þær him hel onfeng þanon eft gewiton ealdgesiðas swylce geong manig of gomenwaþe fram mere modge mearum ridan beornas on blancum ðær wæs beowulfes mærðo mæned monig oft gecwæð þætte suð ne norð be sæm tweonum ofer eormengrund oþer nænig under swegles begong selra nære rondhæbbendra rices wyrðra ne hie huru winedrihten wiht ne logon glædne hroðgar ac þæt wæs god cyning hwilum heaþorofe hleapan leton on geflit faran fealwe mearas ðær him foldwegas fægere þuhton cystum cuðe hwilum cyninges þegn guma gilphlæden gidda gemyndig se ðe ealfela ealdgesegena worn gemunde word oþer fand soðe gebunden secg eft ongan sið beowulfes snyttrum styrian ond on sped wrecan spel gerade wordum wrixlan welhwylc gecwæð þæt he fram sigemundes secgan hyrde ellendædum uncuþes fela wælsinges gewin wide siðas þara þe gumena bearn gearwe ne wiston fæhðe ond fyrena buton fitela mid hine þonne he swulces hwæt secgan wolde eam his nefan swa hie a wæron æt niða gehwam nydgesteallan hæfdon ealfela eotena cynnes sweordum gesæged sigemunde gesprong æfter deaðdæge dom unlytel syþðan wiges heard wyrm acwealde hordes hyrde he under harne stan æþelinges bearn ana geneðde frecne dæde ne wæs him fitela mid hwæþre him gesælde ðæt þæt swurd þurhwod wrætlicne wyrm þæt hit on wealle ætstod dryhtlic iren draca morðre swealt hæfde aglæca elne gegongen þæt he beahhordes brucan moste selfes dome sæbat gehleod bær on bearm scipes beorhte frætwa wælses eafera wyrm hat gemealt se wæs wreccena wide mærost ofer werþeode wigendra hleo ellendædum he þæs ær onðah siððan heremodes hild sweðrode eafoð ond ellen he mid eotenum wearð on feonda geweald forð forlacen snude forsended hine sorhwylmas lemede to lange he his leodum wearð eallum æþellingum to aldorceare swylce oft bemearn ærran mælum swiðferhþes sið snotor ceorl monig se þe him bealwa to bote gelyfde þæt þæt ðeodnes bearn geþeon scolde fæderæþelum onfon folc gehealdan hord ond hleoburh hæleþa rice eþel scyldinga he þær eallum wearð mæg higelaces manna cynne freondum gefægra hine fyren onwod hwilum flitende fealwe stræte mearum mæton ða wæs morgenleoht scofen ond scynded eode scealc monig swiðhicgende to sele þam hean searowundor seon swylce self cyning of brydbure beahhorda weard tryddode tirfæst getrume micle cystum gecyþed ond his cwen mid him medostigge mæt mægþa hose xiiii hroðgar maþelode he to healle geong stod on stapole geseah steapne hrof golde fahne ond grendles hond `ðisse ansyne alwealdan þanc lungre gelimpe fela ic laþes gebad grynna æt grendle a mæg god wyrcan wunder æfter wundre wuldres hyrde ðæt wæs ungeara þæt ic ænigra me weana ne wende to widan feore bote gebidan þonne blode fah husa selest heorodreorig stod wea widscofen witena gehwylcum ðara þe ne wendon þæt hie wideferhð leoda landgeweorc laþum beweredon scuccum ond scinnum nu scealc hafað þurh drihtnes miht dæd gefremede ðe we ealle ær ne meahton snyttrum besyrwan hwæt þæt secgan mæg efne swa hwylc mægþa swa ðone magan cende æfter gumcynnum gyf heo gyt lyfað þæt hyre ealdmetod este wære bearngebyrdo nu ic beowulf þec secg betsta me for sunu wylle freogan on ferhþe heald forð tela niwe sibbe ne bið þe nænigra gad worolde wilna þe ic geweald hæbbe ful oft ic for læssan lean teohhode hordweorþunge hnahran rince sæmran æt sæcce þu þe self hafast dædum gefremed þæt þin dom lyfað awa to aldre alwalda þec gode forgylde swa he nu gyt dyde beowulf maþelode bearn ecgþeowes `we þæt ellenweorc estum miclum feohtan fremedon frecne geneðdon eafoð uncuþes uþe ic swiþor þæt ðu hine selfne geseon moste feond on frætewum fylwerigne ic hine hrædlice heardan clammum on wælbedde wriþan þohte þæt he for mundgripe minum scolde licgean lifbysig butan his lic swice ic hine ne mihte þa metod nolde ganges getwæman no ic him þæs georne ætfealh feorhgeniðlan wæs to foremihtig feond on feþe hwæþere he his folme forlet to lifwraþe last weardian earm ond eaxle no þær ænige swa þeah feasceaft guma frofre gebohte no þy leng leofað laðgeteona synnum geswenced ac hyne sar hafað in nidgripe nearwe befongen balwon bendum ðær abidan sceal maga mane fah miclan domes hu him scir metod scrifan wille ða wæs swigra secg sunu ecglafes on gylpspræce guðgeweorca siþðan æþelingas eorles cræfte ofer heanne hrof hand sceawedon feondes fingras foran æghwylc wæs stiðra nægla gehwylc style gelicost hæþenes handsporu hilderinces eglu unheoru æghwylc gecwæð þæt him heardra nan hrinan wolde iren ærgod þæt ðæs ahlæcan blodge beadufolme onberan wolde xv ða wæs haten hreþe heort innanweard folmum gefrætwod fela þæra wæs wera ond wifa þe þæt winreced gestsele gyredon goldfag scinon web æfter wagum wundorsiona fela secga gehwylcum þara þe on swylc starað wæs þæt beorhte bold tobrocen swiðe eal inneweard irenbendum fæst heorras tohlidene hrof ana genæs ealles ansund þe se aglæca fyrendædum fag on fleam gewand aldres orwena no þæt yðe byð to befleonne fremme se þe wille ac gesacan sceal sawlberendra nyde genydde niþða bearna grundbuendra gearwe stowe þær his lichoma legerbedde fæst swefeþ æfter symle þa wæs sæl ond mæl þæt to healle gang healfdenes sunu wolde self cyning symbel þicgan ne gefrægen ic þa mægþa maran weorode ymb hyra sincgyfan sel gebæran bugon þa to bence blædagande fylle gefægon fægere geþægon medoful manig magas þara swiðhicgende on sele þam hean hroðgar ond hroþulf heorot innan wæs freondum afylled nalles facenstafas þeodscyldingas þenden fremedon forgeaf þa beowulfe bearn healfdenes segen gyldenne sigores to leane hroden hildecumbor helm ond byrnan mære maðþumsweord manige gesawon beforan beorn beran beowulf geþah ful on flette no he þære feohgyfte for sceotendum scamigan ðorfte ne gefrægn ic freondlicor feower madmas golde gegyrede gummanna fela in ealobence oðrum gesellan ymb þæs helmes hrof heafodbeorge wirum bewunden walu utan heold þæt him fela laf frecne ne meahte scurheard sceþðan þonne scyldfreca ongean gramum gangan scolde heht ða eorla hleo eahta mearas fætedhleore on flet teon in under eoderas þara anum stod sadol searwum fah since gewurþad þæt wæs hildesetl heahcyninges ðonne sweorda gelac sunu healfdenes efnan wolde næfre on ore læg widcuþes wig ðonne walu feollon ond ða beowulfe bega gehwæþres eodor ingwina onweald geteah wicga ond wæpna het hine wel brucan swa manlice mære þeoden hordweard hæleþa heaþoræsas geald mearum ond madmum swa hy næfre man lyhð se þe secgan wile soð æfter rihte xvi ða gyt æghwylcum eorla drihten þara þe mid beowulfe brimlade teah on þære medubence maþðum gesealde yrfelafe ond þone ænne heht golde forgyldan þone ðe grendel ær mane acwealde swa he hyra ma wolde nefne him witig god wyrd forstode ond ðæs mannes mod metod eallum weold gumena cynnes swa he nu git deð forþan bið andgit æghwær selest ferhðes foreþanc fela sceal gebidan leofes ond laþes se þe longe her on ðyssum windagum worolde bruceð þær wæs sang ond sweg samod ætgædere fore healfdenes hildewisan gomenwudu greted gid oft wrecen ðonne healgamen hroþgares scop æfter medobence mænan scolde be finnes eaferum ða hie se fær begeat hæleð healfdena hnæf scyldinga in freswæle feallan scolde ne huru hildeburh herian þorfte eotena treowe unsynnum wearð beloren leofum æt þam lindplegan bearnum ond broðrum hie on gebyrd hruron gare wunde þæt wæs geomuru ides nalles holinga hoces dohtor meotodsceaft bemearn syþðan morgen com ða heo under swegle geseon meahte morþorbealo maga þær heo ær mæste heold worolde wynne wig ealle fornam finnes þegnas nemne feaum anum þæt he ne mehte on þæm meðelstede wig hengeste wiht gefeohtan ne þa wealafe wige forþringan þeodnes ðegna ac hig him geþingo budon þæt hie him oðer flet eal gerymdon healle ond heahsetl þæt hie healfre geweald wið eotena bearn agan moston ond æt feohgyftum folcwaldan sunu dogra gehwylce dene weorþode hengestes heap hringum wenede efne swa swiðe sincgestreonum fættan goldes swa he fresena cyn on beorsele byldan wolde ða hie getruwedon on twa healfa fæste frioðuwære fin hengeste elne unflitme aðum benemde þæt he þa wealafe weotena dome arum heolde þæt ðær ænig mon wordum ne worcum wære ne bræce ne þurh inwitsearo æfre gemænden ðeah hie hira beaggyfan banan folgedon ðeodenlease þa him swa geþearfod wæs gyf þonne frysna hwylc frecnan spræce ðæs morþorhetes myndgiend wære þonne hit sweordes ecg seðan scolde ad wæs geæfned ond icge gold ahæfen of horde herescyldinga betst beadorinca wæs on bæl gearu æt þæm ade wæs eþgesyne swatfah syrce swyn ealgylden eofer irenheard æþeling manig wundum awyrded sume on wæle crungon het ða hildeburh æt hnæfes ade hire selfre sunu sweoloðe befæstan banfatu bærnan ond on bæl don eame on eaxle ides gnornode geomrode giddum guðrinc astah wand to wolcnum wælfyra mæst hlynode for hlawe hafelan multon bengeato burston ðonne blod ætspranc laðbite lices lig ealle forswealg gæsta gifrost þara ðe þær guð fornam bega folces wæs hira blæd scacen xvii gewiton him ða wigend wica neosian freondum befeallen frysland geseon hamas ond heaburh hengest ða gyt wælfagne winter wunode mid finne eal unhlitme eard gemunde þeah þe ne meahte on mere drifan hringedstefnan holm storme weol won wið winde winter yþe beleac isgebinde oþðæt oþer com gear in geardas swa nu gyt deð þa ðe syngales sele bewitiað wuldortorhtan weder ða wæs winter scacen fæger foldan bearm fundode wrecca gist of geardum he to gyrnwræce swiðor þohte þonne to sælade gif he torngemot þurhteon mihte þæt he eotena bearn inne gemunde swa he ne forwyrnde weorodrædende þonne him hunlafing hildeleoman billa selest on bearm dyde þæs wæron mid eotenum ecge cuðe swylce ferðfrecan fin eft begeat sweordbealo sliðen æt his selfes ham siþðan grimne gripe guðlaf ond oslaf æfter sæsiðe sorge mændon ætwiton weana dæl ne meahte wæfre mod forhabban in hreþre ða wæs heal roden feonda feorum swilce fin slægen cyning on corþre ond seo cwen numen sceotend scyldinga to scypon feredon eal ingesteald eorðcyninges swylce hie æt finnes ham findan meahton sigla searogimma hie on sælade drihtlice wif to denum feredon læddon to leodum leoð wæs asungen gleomannes gyd gamen eft astah beorhtode bencsweg byrelas sealdon win of wunderfatum þa cwom wealhþeo forð gan under gyldnum beage þær þa godan twegen sæton suhtergefæderan þa gyt wæs hiera sib ætgædere æghwylc oðrum trywe swylce þær unferþ þyle æt fotum sæt frean scyldinga gehwylc hiora his ferhþe treowde þæt he hæfde mod micel þeah þe he his magum nære arfæst æt ecga gelacum spræc ða ides scyldinga `onfoh þissum fulle freodrihten min sinces brytta þu on sælum wes goldwine gumena ond to geatum spræc mildum wordum swa sceal man don beo wið geatas glæd geofena gemyndig nean ond feorran þu nu hafast me man sægde þæt þu ðe for sunu wolde hererinc habban heorot is gefælsod beahsele beorhta bruc þenden þu mote manigra medo ond þinum magum læf folc ond rice þonne ðu forð scyle metodsceaft seon ic minne can glædne hroþulf þæt he þa geogoðe wile arum healdan gyf þu ær þonne he wine scildinga worold oflætest wene ic þæt he mid gode gyldan wille uncran eaferan gif he þæt eal gemon hwæt wit to willan ond to worðmyndum umborwesendum ær arna gefremedon hwearf þa bi bence þær hyre byre wæron hreðric ond hroðmund ond hæleþa bearn giogoð ætgædere þær se goda sæt beowulf geata be þæm gebroðrum twæm xviii him wæs ful boren ond freondlaþu wordum bewægned ond wunden gold estum geeawed earmreade twa hrægl ond hringas healsbeaga mæst þara þe ic on foldan gefrægen hæbbe nænigne ic under swegle selran hyrde hordmaðum hæleþa syþðan hama ætwæg to þære byrhtan byrig brosinga mene sigle ond sincfæt searoniðas fleah eormenrices geceas ecne ræd þone hring hæfde higelac geata nefa swertinges nyhstan siðe siðþan he under segne sinc ealgode wælreaf werede hyne wyrd fornam syþðan he for wlenco wean ahsode fæhðe to frysum he þa frætwe wæg eorclanstanas ofer yða ful rice þeoden he under rande gecranc gehwearf þa in francna fæþm feorh cyninges breostgewædu ond se beah somod wyrsan wigfrecan wæl reafedon æfter guðsceare geata leode hreawic heoldon heal swege onfeng wealhðeo maþelode heo fore þæm werede spræc `bruc ðisses beages beowulf leofa hyse mid hæle ond þisses hrægles neot þeodgestreona ond geþeoh tela cen þec mid cræfte ond þyssum cnyhtum wes lara liðe ic þe þæs lean geman hafast þu gefered þæt ðe feor ond neah ealne wideferhþ weras ehtigað efne swa side swa sæ bebugeð windgeard weallas wes þenden þu lifige æþeling eadig ic þe an tela sincgestreona beo þu suna minum dædum gedefe dreamhealdende her is æghwylc eorl oþrum getrywe modes milde mandrihtne hold þegnas syndon geþwære þeod ealgearo druncne dryhtguman doð swa ic bidde eode þa to setle þær wæs symbla cyst druncon win weras wyrd ne cuþon geosceaft grimme swa hit agangen wearð eorla manegum syþðan æfen cwom ond him hroþgar gewat to hofe sinum rice to ræste reced weardode unrim eorla swa hie oft ær dydon bencþelu beredon hit geondbræded wearð beddum ond bolstrum beorscealca sum fus ond fæge fletræste gebeag setton him to heafdon hilderandas bordwudu beorhtan þær on bence wæs ofer æþelinge yþgesene heaþosteapa helm hringed byrne þrecwudu þrymlic wæs þeaw hyra þæt hie oft wæron an wig gearwe ge æt ham ge on herge ge gehwæþer þara efne swylce mæla swylce hira mandryhtne þearf gesælde wæs seo þeod tilu xviiii sigon þa to slæpe sum sare angeald æfenræste swa him ful oft gelamp siþðan goldsele grendel warode unriht æfnde oþ þæt ende becwom swylt æfter synnum þæt gesyne wearþ widcuð werum þætte wrecend þa gyt lifde æfter laþum lange þrage æfter guðceare grendles modor ides aglæcwif yrmþe gemunde se þe wæteregesan wunian scoldeld cea e streamas siþðan cain wearð to ecgbanan angan breþer fæderenmæge he þa fag gewat morþre gemearcod mandream fleon westen warode þanon woc fela geosceaftgasta wæs þæra grendel sum heorowearh hetelic se æt heorote fand wæccendne wer wiges bidan þær him aglæca ætgræpe wearð hwæþre he gemunde mægenes strenge gimfæste gife ðe him god sealde ond him to anwaldan are gelyfde frofre ond fultum ðy he þone feond ofercwom gehnægde helle gast þa he hean gewat dreame bedæled deaþwic seon mancynnes feond ond his modor þa gyt gifre ond galgmod gegan wolde sorhfulne sið sunu deoð wrecan com þa to heorote ðær hringdene geond þæt sæld swæfun þa ðær sona wearð edhwyrft eorlum siþðan inne fealh grendles modor wæs se gryre læssa efne swa micle swa bið mægþa cræft wiggryre wifes be wæpnedmen þonne heoru bunden hamere geþruen sweord swate fah swin ofer helme ecgum dyhtig andweard scireð ða wæs on healle heardecg togen sweord ofer setlum sidrand manig hafen handa fæst helm ne gemunde byrnan side þa hine se broga angeat heo wæs on ofste wolde ut þanon feore beorgan þa heo onfunden wæs hraðe heo æþelinga anne hæfde fæste befangen þa heo to fenne gang se wæs hroþgare hæleþa leofost on gesiðes had be sæm tweonum rice randwiga þone ðe heo on ræste abreat blædfæstne beorn næs beowulf ðær ac wæs oþer in ær geteohhod æfter maþðumgife mærum geate hream wearð in heorote heo under heolfre genam cuþe folme cearu wæs geniwod geworden in wicun ne wæs þæt gewrixle til þæt hie on ba healfa bicgan scoldon freonda feorum þa wæs frod cyning har hilderinc on hreon mode syðþan he aldorþegn unlyfigendne þone deorestan deadne wisse hraþe wæs to bure beowulf fetod sigoreadig secg samod ærdæge eode eorla sum æþele cempa self mid gesiðum þær se snotera bad hwæþer him alwalda æfre wille æfter weaspelle wyrpe gefremman gang ða æfter flore fyrdwyrðe man mid his handscale healwudu dynede þæt he þone wisan wordum nægde frean ingwina frægn gif him wære æfter neodlaðum niht getæse xx hroðgar maþelode helm scyldinga `ne frin þu æfter sælum sorh is geniwod denigea leodum dead is æschere yrmenlafes yldra broþor min runwita ond min rædbora eaxlgestealla ðonne we on orlege hafelan weredon þonne hniton feþan eoferas cnysedan swylc scolde eorl wesan æþeling ærgod swylc æschere wæs wearð him on heorote to handbanan wælgæst wæfre ic ne wat hwæder atol æse wlanc eftsiðas teah fylle gefægnod heo þa fæhðe wræc þe þu gystran niht grendel cwealdest þurh hæstne had heardum clammum forþan he to lange leode mine wanode ond wyrde he æt wige gecrang ealdres scyldig ond nu oþer cwom mihtig manscaða wolde hyre mæg wrecan ge feor hafað fæhðe gestæled þæs þe þincean mæg þegne monegum se þe æfter sincgyfan on sefan greoteþ hreþerbealo hearde nu seo hand ligeð se þe eow welhwylcra wilna dohte ic þæt londbuend leode mine selerædende secgan hyrde þæt hie gesawon swylce twegen micle mearcstapan moras healdan ellorgæstas ðæra oðer wæs þæs þe hie gewislicost gewitan meahton idese onlicnes oðer earmsceapen on weres wæstmum wræclastas træd næfne he wæs mara þonne ænig man oðer þone on geardagum grendel nemdon foldbuende no hie fæder cunnon hwæþer him ænig wæs ær acenned dyrnra gasta hie dygel lond warigeað wulfhleoþu windige næssas frecne fengelad ðær fyrgenstream under næssa genipu niþer gewiteð flod under foldan nis þæt feor heonon milgemearces þæt se mere standeð ofer þæm hongiað hrinde bearwas wudu wyrtum fæst wæter oferhelmað þær mæg nihta gehwæm niðwundor seon fyr on flode no þæs frod leofað gumena bearna þæt þone grund wite ðeah þe hæðstapa hundum geswenced heorot hornum trum holtwudu sece feorran geflymed ær he feorh seleð aldor on ofre ær he in wille hafelan beorgan nis þæt heoru stow þonon yðgeblond up astigeð won to wolcnum þonne wind styreþ lað gewidru oð þæt lyft drysmaþ roderas reotað nu is se ræd gelang eft æt þe anum eard git ne const frecne stowe þær þu findan miht sinnigne secg sec gif þu dyrre ic þe þa fæhðe feo leanige ealdgestreonum swa ic ær dyde windnum golde gyf þu on weg cymest xxi beowulf maþelode bearn ecgþeowes `ne sorga snotor guma selre bið æghwæm þæt he his freond wrece þonne he fela murne ure æghwylc sceal ende gebidan worolde lifes wyrce se þe mote domes ær deaþe þæt bið drihtguman unlifgendum æfter selest aris rices weard uton hraþe feran grendles magan gang sceawigan ic hit þe gehate no he on helm losaþ ne on foldan fæþm ne on fyrgenholt ne on gyfenes grund ga þær he wille ðys dogor þu geþyld hafa weana gehwylces swa ic þe wene to ahleop ða se gomela gode þancode mihtigan drihtne þæs se man gespræc þa wæs hroðgare hors gebæted wicg wundenfeax wisa fengel geatolic gende gumfeþa stop lindhæbbendra lastas wæron æfter waldswaþum wide gesyne gang ofer grundas swa gegnum for ofer myrcan mor magoþegna bær þone selestan sawolleasne þara þe mid hroðgare ham eahtode ofereode þa æþelinga bearn steap stanhliðo stige nearwe enge anpaðas uncuð gelad neowle næssas nicorhusa fela he feara sum beforan gengde wisra monna wong sceawian oþ þæt he færinga fyrgenbeamas ofer harne stan hleonian funde wynleasne wudu wæter under stod dreorig ond gedrefed denum eallum wæs winum scyldinga weorce on mode to geþolianne ðegne monegum oncyð eorla gehwæm syðþan æscheres on þam holmclife hafelan metton flod blode weol folc to sægon hatan heolfre horn stundum song fuslic fyrdleoð feþa eal gesæt gesawon ða æfter wætere wyrmcynnes fela sellice sædracan sund cunnian swylce on næshleoðum nicras licgean ða on undernmæl oft bewitigað sorhfulne sið on seglrade wyrmas ond wildeor hie on weg hruron bitere ond gebolgne bearhtm ongeaton guðhorn galan sumne geata leod of flanbogan feores getwæfde yðgewinnes þæt him on aldre stod herestræl hearda he on holme wæs sundes þe sænra ðe hyne swylt fornam hræþe wearð on yðum mid eoferspreotum heorohocyhtum hearde genearwod niða genæged ond on næs togen wundorlic wægbora weras sceawedon gryrelicne gist gyrede hine beowulf eorlgewædum nalles for ealdre mearn scolde herebyrne hondum gebroden sid ond searofah sund cunnian seo ðe bancofan beorgan cuþe þæt him hildegrap hreþre ne mihte eorres inwitfeng aldre gesceþðan ac se hwita helm hafelan werede se þe meregrundas mengan scolde secan sundgebland since geweorðad befongen freawrasnum swa hine fyrndagum worhte wæpna smið wundrum teode besette swinlicum þæt hine syðþan no brond ne beadomecas bitan ne meahton næs þæt þonne mætost mægenfultuma þæt him on ðearfe lah ðyle hroðgares wæs þæm hæftmece hrunting nama þæt wæs an foran ealdgestreona ecg wæs iren atertanum fah ahyrded heaþoswate næfre hit æt hilde ne swac manna ængum þara þe hit mid mundum bewand se ðe gryresiðas gegan dorste folcstede fara næs þæt forma sið þæt hit ellenweorc æfnan scolde huru ne gemunde mago ecglafes eafoþes cræftig þæt he ær gespræc wine druncen þa he þæs wæpnes onlah selran sweordfrecan selfa ne dorste under yða gewin aldre geneþan drihtscype dreogan þær he dome forleas ellenmærðum ne wæs þæm oðrum swa syðþan he hine to guðe gegyred hæfde xxii beowulf maðelode bearn ecgþeowes `geþenc nu se mæra maga healfdenes snottra fengel nu ic eom siðes fus goldwine gumena hwæt wit geo spræcon gif ic æt þearfe þinre scolde aldre linnan þæt ðu me a wære forðgewitenum on fæder stæle wes þu mundbora minum magoþegnum hondgesellum gif mec hild nime swylce þu ða madmas þe þu me sealdest hroðgar leofa higelace onsend mæg þonne on þæm golde ongitan geata dryhten geseon sunu hrædles þonne he on þæt sinc starað þæt ic gumcystum godne funde beaga bryttan breac þonne moste ond þu unferð læt ealde lafe wrætlic wægsweord widcuðne man heardecg habban ic me mid hruntinge dom gewyrce oþðe mec deað nimeð æfter þæm wordum wedergeata leod efste mid elne nalas andsware bidan wolde brimwylm onfeng hilderince ða wæs hwil dæges ær he þone grundwong ongytan mehte sona þæt onfunde se ðe floda begong heorogifre beheold hund missera grim ond grædig þæt þær gumena sum ælwihta eard ufan cunnode grap þa togeanes guðrinc gefeng atolan clommum no þy ær in gescod halan lice hring utan ymbbearh þæt heo þone fyrdhom ðurhfon ne mihte locene leoðosyrcan laþan fingrum bær þa seo brimwylf þa heo to botme com hringa þengel to hofe sinum swa he ne mihte no he þæs modig wæs wæpna gewealdan ac hine wundra þæs fela swencte on sunde sædeor monig hildetuxum heresyrcan bræc ehton aglæcan ða se eorl ongeat þæt he in niðsele nathwylcum wæs þær him nænig wæter wihte ne sceþede ne him for hrofsele hrinan ne mehte færgripe flodes fyrleoht geseah blacne leoman beorhte scinan ongeat þa se goda grundwyrgenne merewif mihtig mægenræs forgeaf hildebille hond sweng ne ofteah þæt hire on hafelan hringmæl agol grædig guðleoð ða se gist onfand þæt se beadoleoma bitan nolde aldre sceþðan ac seo ecg geswac ðeodne æt þearfe ðolode ær fela hondgemota helm oft gescær fæges fyrdhrægl ða wæs forma sið deorum madme þæt his dom alæg eft wæs anræd nalas elnes læt mærða gemyndig mæg hylaces wearp ða wundenmæl wrættum gebunden yrre oretta þæt hit on eorðan læg stið ond stylecg strenge getruwode mundgripe mægenes swa sceal man don þonne he æt guðe gegan þenceð longsumne lof na ymb his lif cearað gefeng þa be eaxle nalas for fæhðe mearn guðgeata leod grendles modor brægd þa beadwe heard þa he gebolgen wæs feorhgeniðlan þæt heo on flet gebeah heo him eft hraþe andlean forgeald grimman grapum ond him togeanes feng oferwearp þa werigmod wigena strengest feþecempa þæt he on fylle wearð ofsæt þa þone selegyst ond hyre seax geteah brad ond brunecg wolde hire bearn wrecan angan eaferan him on eaxle læg breostnet broden þæt gebearh feore wið ord ond wið ecge ingang forstod hæfde ða forsiðod sunu ecgþeowes under gynne grund geata cempa nemne him heaðobyrne helpe gefremede herenet hearde ond halig god geweold wigsigor witig drihten rodera rædend hit on ryht gesced yðelice syþðan he eft astod xxiii geseah ða on searwum sigeeadig bil eald sweord eotenisc ecgum þyhtig wigena weorðmynd þæt wæs wæpna cyst buton hit wæs mare ðonne ænig mon oðer to beadulace ætberan meahte god ond geatolic giganta geweorc he gefeng þa fetelhilt freca scyldinga hreoh ond heorogrim hringmæl gebrægd aldres orwena yrringa sloh þæt hire wið halse heard grapode banhringas bræc bil eal ðurhwod fægne flæschoman heo on flet gecrong sweord wæs swatig secg weorce gefeh lixte se leoma leoht inne stod efne swa of hefene hadre scineð rodores candel he æfter recede wlat hwearf þa be wealle wæpen hafenade heard be hiltum higelaces ðegn yrre ond anræd næs seo ecg fracod hilderince ac he hraþe wolde grendle forgyldan guðræsa fela ðara þe he geworhte to westdenum oftor micle ðonne on ænne sið þonne he hroðgares heorðgeneatas sloh on sweofote slæpende fræt folces denigea fyftyne men ond oðer swylc ut offerede laðlicu lac he him þæs lean forgeald reþe cempa to ðæs þe he on ræste geseah guðwerigne grendel licgan aldorleasne swa him ær gescod hild æt heorote hra wide sprong syþðan he æfter deaðe drepe þrowade heorosweng heardne ond hine þa heafde becearf sona þæt gesawon snottre ceorlas þa ðe mid hroðgare on holm wliton þæt wæs yðgeblond eal gemenged brim blode fah blondenfeaxe gomele ymb godne ongeador spræcon þæt hig þæs æðelinges eft ne wendon þæt he sigehreðig secean come mærne þeoden þa ðæs monige gewearð þæt hine seo brimwylf abroten hæfde ða com non dæges næs ofgeafon hwate scyldingas gewat him ham þonon goldwine gumena gistas setan modes seoce ond on mere staredon wiston ond ne wendon þæt hie heora winedrihten selfne gesawon þa þæt sweord ongan æfter heaþoswate hildegicelum wigbil wanian þæt wæs wundra sum þæt hit eal gemealt ise gelicost ðonne forstes bend fæder onlæteð onwindeð wælrapas se geweald hafað sæla ond mæla þæt is soð metod ne nom he in þæm wicum wedergeata leod maðmæhta ma þeh he þær monige geseah buton þone hafelan ond þa hilt somod since fage sweord ær gemealt forbarn brodenmæl wæs þæt blod to þæs hat ættren ellorgæst se þær inne swealt sona wæs on sunde se þe ær æt sæcce gebad wighryre wraðra wæter up þurhdeaf wæron yðgebland eal gefælsod eacne eardas þa se ellorgast oflet lifdagas ond þas lænan gesceaft com þa to lande lidmanna helm swiðmod swymman sælace gefeah mægenbyrþenne þara þe he him mid hæfde eoden him þa togeanes gode þancodon ðryðlic þegna heap þeodnes gefegon þæs þe hi hyne gesundne geseon moston ða wæs of þæm hroran helm ond byrne lungre alysed lagu drusade wæter under wolcnum wældreore fag ferdon forð þonon feþelastum ferhþum fægne foldweg mæton cuþe stræte cyningbalde men from þæm holmclife hafelan bæron earfoðlice heora æghwæþrum felamodigra feower scoldon on þæm wælstenge weorcum geferian to þæm goldsele grendles heafod oþ ðæt semninga to sele comon frome fyrdhwate feowertyne geata gongan gumdryhten mid modig on gemonge meodowongas træd ða com in gan ealdor ðegna dædcene mon dome gewurþad hæle hildedeor hroðgar gretan þa wæs be feaxe on flet boren grendles heafod þær guman druncon egeslic for eorlum ond þære idese mid wliteseon wrætlic weras on sawon xxiiii beowulf maþelode bearn ecgþeowes `hwæt we þe þas sælac sunu healfdenes leod scyldinga lustum brohton tires to tacne þe þu her to locast ic þæt unsofte ealdre gedigde wigge under wætere weorc geneþde earfoðlice ætrihte wæs guð getwæfed nymðe mec god scylde ne meahte ic æt hilde mid hruntinge wiht gewyrcan þeah þæt wæpen duge ac me geuðe ylda waldend þæt ic on wage geseah wlitig hangian ealdsweord eacen oftost wisode winigea leasum þæt ic ðy wæpne gebræd ofsloh ða æt þære sæcce þa me sæl ageald huses hyrdas þa þæt hildebil forbarn brogdenmæl swa þæt blod gesprang hatost heaþoswata ic þæt hilt þanan feondum ætferede fyrendæda wræc deaðcwealm denigea swa hit gedefe wæs ic hit þe þonne gehate þæt þu on heorote most sorhleas swefan mid þinra secga gedryht ond þegna gehwylc þinra leoda duguðe ond iogoþe þæt þu him ondrædan ne þearft þeoden scyldinga on þa healfe aldorbealu eorlum swa þu ær dydest ða wæs gylden hilt gamelum rince harum hildfruman on hand gyfen enta ærgeweorc hit on æht gehwearf æfter deofla hryre denigea frean wundorsmiþa geweorc ond þa þas worold ofgeaf gromheort guma godes andsaca morðres scyldig ond his modor eac on geweald gehwearf woroldcyninga ðæm selestan be sæm tweonum ðara þe on scedenigge sceattas dælde hroðgar maðelode hylt sceawode ealde lafe on ðæm wæs or writen fyrngewinnes syðþan flod ofsloh gifen geotende giganta cyn frecne geferdon þæt wæs fremde þeod ecean dryhtne him þæs endelean þurh wæteres wylm waldend sealde swa wæs on ðæm scennum sciran goldes þurh runstafas rihte gemearcod geseted ond gesæd hwam þæt sweord geworht irena cyst ærest wære wreoþenhilt ond wyrmfah ða se wisa spræc sunu healfdenes swigedon ealle `þæt la mæg secgan se þe soð ond riht fremeð on folce feor eal gemon eald eðelweard þæt ðes eorl wære geboren betera blæd is aræred geond widwegas wine min beowulf ðin ofer þeoda gehwylce eal þu hit geþyldum healdest mægen mid modes snyttrum ic þe sceal mine gelæstan freode swa wit furðum spræcon ðu scealt to frofre weorþan eal langtwidig leodum þinum hæleðum to helpe ne wearð heremod swa eaforum ecgwelan arscyldingum ne geweox he him to willan ac to wælfealle ond to deaðcwalum deniga leodum breat bolgenmod beodgeneatas eaxlgesteallan oþ þæt he ana hwearf mære þeoden mondreamum from ðeah þe hine mihtig god mægenes wynnum eafeþum stepte ofer ealle men forð gefremede hwæþere him on ferhþe greow breosthord blodreow nallas beagas geaf denum æfter dome dreamleas gebad þæt he þæs gewinnes weorc þrowade leodbealo longsum ðu þe lær be þon gumcyste ongit ic þis gid be þe awræc wintrum frod wundor is to secganne hu mihtig god manna cynne þurh sidne sefan snyttru bryttað eard ond eorlscipe he ah ealra geweald hwilum he on lufan læteð hworfan monnes modgeþonc mæran cynnes seleð him on eþle eorþan wynne to healdanne hleoburh wera gedeð him swa gewealdene worolde dælas side rice þæt he his selfa ne mæg his unsnyttrum ende geþencean wunað he on wiste no hine wiht dweleð adl ne yldo ne him inwitsorh on sefan sweorceð ne gesacu ohwær ecghete eoweð ac him eal worold wendeð on willan he þæt wyrse ne con xxv oð þæt him on innan oferhygda dæl weaxeð ond wridað þonne se weard swefeð sawele hyrde bið se slæp to fæst bisgum gebunden bona swiðe neah se þe of flanbogan fyrenum sceoteð þonne bið on hreþre under helm drepen biteran stræle him bebeorgan ne con wom wundorbebodum wergan gastes þinceð him to lytel þæt he lange heold gytsað gromhydig nallas on gylp seleð fætte beagas ond he þa forðgesceaft forgyteð ond forgymeð þæs þe him ær god sealde wuldres waldend weorðmynda dæl hit on ende stæf eft gelimpeð þæt se lichoma læne gedreoseð fæge gefealleð fehð oþer to se þe unmurnlice madmas dæleþ eorles ærgestreon egesan ne gymeð bebeorh þe ðone bealonið beowulf leofa secg betsta ond þe þæt selre geceos ece rædas oferhyda ne gym mære cempa nu is þines mægnes blæd ane hwile eft sona bið þæt þec adl oððe ecg eafoþes getwæfeð oððe fyres feng oððe flodes wylm oððe gripe meces oððe gares fliht oððe atol yldo oððe eagena bearhtm forsiteð ond forsworceð semninga bið þæt ðec dryhtguma deað oferswyðeð swa ic hringdena hund missera weold under wolcnum ond hig wigge beleac manigum mægþa geond þysne middangeard æscum ond ecgum þæt ic me ænigne under swegles begong gesacan ne tealde hwæt me þæs on eþle edwenden cwom gyrn æfter gomene seoþðan grendel wearð ealdgewinna ingenga min ic þære socne singales wæg modceare micle þæs sig metode þanc ecean dryhtne þæs ðe ic on aldre gebad þæt ic on þone hafelan heorodreorigne ofer eald gewin eagum starige ga nu to setle symbelwynne dreoh wiggeweorþad unc sceal worn fela maþma gemænra siþðan morgen bið geat wæs glædmod geong sona to setles neosan swa se snottra heht þa wæs eft swa ær ellenrofum fletsittendum fægere gereorded niowan stefne nihthelm geswearc deorc ofer dryhtgumum duguð eal aras wolde blondenfeax beddes neosan gamela scylding geat unigmetes wel rofne randwigan restan lyste sona him seleþegn siðes wergum feorrancundum forð wisade se for andrysnum ealle beweotede þegnes þearfe swylce þy dogore heaþoliðende habban scoldon reste hine þa rumheort reced hliuade geap ond goldfah gæst inne swæf oþ þæt hrefn blaca heofones wynne bliðheort bodode ða com beorht scacan scima ofer sceadwa scaþan onetton wæron æþelingas eft to leodum fuse to farenne wolde feor þanon cuma collenferhð ceoles neosan heht þa se hearda hrunting beran sunu ecglafes heht his sweord niman leoflic iren sægde him þæs leanes þanc cwæð he þone guðwine godne tealde wigcræftigne nales wordum log meces ecge þæt wæs modig secg ond þa siðfrome searwum gearwe wigend wæron eode weorð denum æþeling to yppan þær se oþer wæs hæle hildedeor hroðgar grette xxvi beowulf maþelode bearn ecgþeowes `nu we sæliðend secgan willað feorran cumene þæt we fundiaþ higelac secan wæron her tela willum bewenede þu us wel dohtest gif ic þonne on eorþan owihte mæg þinre modlufan maran tilian gumena dryhten ðonne ic gyt dyde guðgeweorca ic beo gearo sona gif ic þæt gefricge ofer floda begang þæt þec ymbsittend egesan þywað swa þec hetende hwilum dydon ic ðe þusenda þegna bringe hæleþa to helpe ic on higelace wat geata dryhten þeah ðe he geong sy folces hyrde þæt he mec fremman wile wordum ond weorcum þæt ic þe wel herige ond þe to geoce garholt bere mægenes fultum þær ðe bið manna þearf gif him þonne hreþric to hofum geata geþingeð þeodnes bearn he mæg þær fela freonda findan feorcyþðe beoð selran gesohte þæm þe him selfa deah hroðgar maþelode him on andsware `þe þa wordcwydas wigtig drihten on sefan sende ne hyrde ic snotorlicor on swa geongum feore guman þingian þu eart mægenes strang ond on mode frod wis wordcwida wen ic talige gif þæt gegangeð þæt ðe gar nymeð hild heorugrimme hreþles eaferan adl oþðe iren ealdor ðinne folces hyrde ond þu þin feorh hafast þæt þe sægeatas selran næbben to geceosenne cyning ænigne hordweard hæleþa gyf þu healdan wylt maga rice me þin modsefa licað leng swa wel leofa beowulf hafast þu gefered þæt þam folcum sceal geata leodum ond gardenum sib gemæne ond sacu restan inwitniþas þe hie ær drugon wesan þenden ic wealde widan rices maþmas gemæne manig oþerne godum gegrettan ofer ganotes bæð sceal hringnaca ofer heafu bringan lac ond luftacen ic þa leode wat ge wið feond ge wið freond fæste geworhte æghwæs untæle ealde wisan ða git him eorla hleo inne gesealde mago healfdenes maþmas twelfe het hine mid þæm lacum leode swæse secean on gesyntum snude eft cuman gecyste þa cyning æþelum god þeoden scyldinga ðegn betstan ond be healse genam hruron him tearas blondenfeaxum him wæs bega wen ealdum infrodum oþres swiðor þæt hie seoððan no geseon moston modige on meþle wæs him se man to þon leof þæt he þone breostwylm forberan ne mehte ac him on hreþre hygebendum fæst æfter deorum men dyrne langað beorn wið blode him beowulf þanan guðrinc goldwlanc græsmoldan træd since hremig sægenga bad agendfrean se þe on ancre rad þa wæs on gang gifu hroðgares oft geæhted þæt wæs an cyning æghwæs orleahtre oþ þæt hine yldo benam mægenes wynnum se þe oft manegum scod xxvii cwom þa to flode felamodigra hægstealdra heap hringnet bæron locene leoðosyrcan landweard onfand eftsið eorla swa he ær dyde no he mid hearme of hliðes nosan gæstas grette ac him togeanes rad cwæð þæt wilcuman wedera leodum scaþan scirhame to scipe foron þa wæs on sande sægeap naca hladen herewædum hringedstefna mearum ond maðmum mæst hlifade ofer hroðgares hordgestreonum he þæm batwearde bunden golde swurd gesealde þæt he syðþan wæs on meodubence maþme þy weorþra yrfelafe gewat him on naca drefan deop wæter dena land ofgeaf þa wæs be mæste merehrægla sum segl sale fæst sundwudu þunede no þær wegflotan wind ofer yðum siðes getwæfde sægenga for fleat famigheals forð ofer yðe bundenstefna ofer brimstreamas þæt hie geata clifu ongitan meahton cuþe næssas ceol up geþrang lyftgeswenced on lande stod hraþe wæs æt holme hyðweard geara se þe ær lange tid leofra manna fus æt faroðe feor wlatode sælde to sande sidfæþme scip oncerbendum fæst þy læs hym yþa ðrym wudu wynsuman forwrecan meahte het þa up beran æþelinga gestreon frætwe ond fætgold næs him feor þanon to gesecanne sinces bryttan higelac hreþling þær æt ham wunað selfa mid gesiðum sæwealle neah bold wæs betlic bregorof cyning heah on healle hygd swiðe geong wis welþungen þeah ðe wintra lyt under burhlocan gebiden hæbbe hæreþes dohtor næs hio hnah swa þeah ne to gneað gifa geata leodum maþmgestreona modþryðo wæg fremu folces cwen firen ondrysne nænig þæt dorste deor geneþan swæsra gesiða nefne sinfrea þæt hire an dæges eagum starede ac him wælbende weotode tealde handgewriþene hraþe seoþðan wæs æfter mundgripe mece geþinged þæt hit sceadenmæl scyran moste cwealmbealu cyðan ne bið swylc cwenlic þeaw idese to efnanne þeah ðe hio ænlicu sy þætte freoðuwebbe feores onsæce æfter ligetorne leofne mannan huru þæt onhohsnode hemminges mæg ealodrincende oðer sædan þæt hio leodbealewa læs gefremede inwitniða syððan ærest wearð gyfen goldhroden geongum cempan æðelum diore syððan hio offan flet ofer fealone flod be fæder lare siðe gesohte ðær hio syððan well in gumstole gode mære lifgesceafta lifigende breac hiold heahlufan wið hæleþa brego ealles moncynnes mine gefræge þone selestan bi sæm tweonum eormencynnes forðam offa wæs geofum ond guðum garcene man wide geweorðod wisdome heold eðel sinne þonon eomer woc hæleðum to helpe hemminges mæg nefa garmundes niða cræftig xxviii gewat him ða se hearda mid his hondscole sylf æfter sande sæwong tredan wide waroðas woruldcandel scan sigel suðan fus hi sið drugon elne geeodon to ðæs ðe eorla hleo bonan ongenþeoes burgum in innan geongne guðcyning godne gefrunon hringas dælan higelace wæs sið beowulfes snude gecyðed þæt ðær on worðig wigendra hleo lindgestealla lifigende cwom heaðolaces hal to hofe gongan hraðe wæs gerymed swa se rica bebead feðegestum flet innanweard gesæt þa wið sylfne se ða sæcce genæs mæg wið mæge syððan mandryhten þurh hleoðorcwyde holdne gegrette meaglum wordum meoduscencum hwearf geond þæt healreced hæreðes dohtor lufode ða leode liðwæge bær hæleðum to handa higelac ongan sinne geseldan in sele þam hean fægre fricgcean hyne fyrwet bræc hwylce sægeata siðas wæron `hu lomp eow on lade leofa biowulf þa ðu færinga feorr gehogodest sæcce secean ofer sealt wæter hilde to hiorote ac ðu hroðgare widcuðne wean wihte gebettest mærum ðeodne ic ðæs modceare sorhwylmum seað siðe ne truwode leofes mannes ic ðe lange bæd þæt ðu þone wælgæst wihte ne grette lete suðdene sylfe geweorðan guðe wið grendel gode ic þanc secge þæs ðe ic ðe gesundne geseon moste biowulf maðelode bearn ecgðioes `þæt is undyrne dryhten higelac micel gemeting monegum fira hwylc orleghwil uncer grendles wearð on ðæm wange þær he worna fela sigescyldingum sorge gefremede yrmðe to aldre ic ðæt eall gewræc swa begylpan ne þearf grendeles maga ænig ofer eorðan uhthlem þone se ðe lengest leofað laðan cynnes facne bifongen ic ðær furðum cwom to ðam hringsele hroðgar gretan sona me se mæra mago healfdenes syððan he modsefan minne cuðe wið his sylfes sunu setl getæhte weorod wæs on wynne ne seah ic widan feorh under heofones hwealf healsittendra medudream maran hwilum mæru cwen friðusibb folca flet eall geondhwearf bædde byre geonge oft hio beahwriðan secge sealde ær hie to setle geong hwilum for duguðe dohtor hroðgares eorlum on ende ealuwæge bær þa ic freaware fletsittende nemnan hyrde þær hio nægledsinc hæleðum sealde sio gehaten is geong goldhroden gladum suna frodan hafað þæs geworden wine scyldinga rices hyrde ond þæt ræd talað þæt he mid ðy wife wælfæhða dæl sæcca gesette oft seldan hwær æfter leodhryre lytle hwile bongar bugeð þeah seo bryd duge mæg þæs þonne ofþyncan ðeodne heaðobeardna ond þegna gehwam þara leoda þonne he mid fæmnan on flett gæð dryhtbearn dena duguða biwenede on him gladiað gomelra lafe heard ond hringmæl heaðabeardna gestreon þenden hie ðam wæpnum wealdan moston xxviiiixxx oð ðæt hie forlæddan to ðam lindplegan swæse gesiðas ond hyra sylfra feorh þonne cwið æt beore se ðe beah gesyhð eald æscwiga se ðe eall geman garcwealm gumena him bið grim sefa onginneð geomormod geongum cempan þurh hreðra gehygd higes cunnian wigbealu weccean ond þæt word acwyð "meaht ðu min wine mece gecnawan þone þin fæder to gefeohte bær under heregriman hindeman siðe dyre iren þær hyne dene slogon weoldon wælstowe syððan wiðergyld læg æfter hæleþa hryre hwate scyldungas nu her þara banena byre nathwylces frætwum hremig on flet gæð morðres gylpeð ond þone maðþum byreð þone þe ðu mid rihte rædan sceoldest" manað swa ond myndgað mæla gehwylce sarum wordum oð ðæt sæl cymeð þæt se fæmnan þegn fore fæder dædum æfter billes bite blodfag swefeð ealdres scyldig him se oðer þonan losað lifigende con him land geare þonne bioð abrocene on ba healfe aðsweord eorla syððan ingelde weallað wælniðas ond him wiflufan æfter cearwælmum colran weorðað þy ic heaðobeardna hyldo ne telge dryhtsibbe dæl denum unfæcne freondscipe fæstne ic sceal forð sprecan gen ymbe grendel þæt ðu geare cunne sinces brytta to hwan syððan wearð hondræs hæleða syððan heofones gim glad ofer grundas gæst yrre cwom eatol æfengrom user neosan ðær we gesunde sæl weardodon þær wæs hondscio hild onsæge feorhbealu fægum he fyrmest læg gyrded cempa him grendel wearð mærum maguþegne to muðbonan leofes mannes lic eall forswealg no ðy ær ut ða gen idelhende bona blodigtoð bealewa gemyndig of ðam goldsele gongan wolde ac he mægnes rof min costode grapode gearofolm glof hangode sid ond syllic searobendum fæst sio wæs orðoncum eall gegyrwed deofles cræftum ond dracan fellum he mec þær on innan unsynnigne dior dædfruma gedon wolde manigra sumne hyt ne mihte swa syððan ic on yrre uppriht astod to lang ys to reccenne hu ic ðam leodsceaðan yfla gehwylces ondlean forgeald þær ic þeoden min þine leode weorðode weorcum he on weg losade lytle hwile lifwynna breac hwæþre him sio swiðre swaðe weardade hand on hiorte ond he hean ðonan modes geomor meregrund gefeoll me þone wælræs wine scildunga fættan golde fela leanode manegum maðmum syððan mergen com ond we to symble geseten hæfdon þær wæs gidd ond gleo gomela scilding felafricgende feorran rehte hwilum hildedeor hearpan wynne gomenwudu grette hwilum gyd awræc soð ond sarlic hwilum syllic spell rehte æfter rihte rumheort cyning hwilum eft ongan eldo gebunden gomel guðwiga gioguðe cwiðan hildestrengo hreðer inne weoll þonne he wintrum frod worn gemunde swa we þær inne andlangne dæg niode naman oð ðæt niht becwom oðer to yldum þa wæs eft hraðe gearo gyrnwræce grendeles modor siðode sorhfull sunu deað fornam wighete wedra wif unhyre hyre bearn gewræc beorn acwealde ellenlice þær wæs æschere frodan fyrnwitan feorh uðgenge noðer hy hine ne moston syððan mergen cwom deaðwerigne denia leode bronde forbærnan ne on bel hladan leofne mannan hio þæt lic ætbær feondes fæðmum under firgenstream þæt wæs hroðgare hreowa tornost þara þe leodfruman lange begeate þa se ðeoden mec ðine life healsode hreohmod þæt ic on holma geþring eorlscipe efnde ealdre geneðde mærðo fremede he me mede gehet ic ða ðæs wælmes þe is wide cuð grimne gryrelicne grundhyrde fond þær unc hwile wæs hand gemæne holm heolfre weoll ond ic heafde becearf in ðam guðsele grendeles modor eacnum ecgum unsofte þonan feorh oðferede næs ic fæge þa gyt ac me eorla hleo eft gesealde maðma menigeo maga healfdenes xxxi swa se ðeodkyning þeawum lyfde nealles ic ðam leanum forloren hæfde mægnes mede ac he me maðmas geaf sunu healfdenes on minne sylfes dom ða ic ðe beorncyning bringan wylle estum geywan gen is eall æt ðe lissa gelong ic lyt hafo heafodmaga nefne hygelac ðec het ða in beran eafor heafodsegn heaðosteapne helm hare byrnan guðsweord geatolic gyd æfter wræc `me ðis hildesceorp hroðgar sealde snotra fengel sume worde het þæt ic his ærest ðe est gesægde cwæð þæt hyt hæfde hiorogar cyning leod scyldunga lange hwile no ðy ær suna sinum syllan wolde hwatum heorowearde þeah he him hold wære breostgewædu bruc ealles well hyrde ic þæt þam frætwum feower mearas lungre gelice last weardode æppelfealuwe he him est geteah meara ond maðma swa sceal mæg don nealles inwitnet oðrum bregdon dyrnum cræfte deað renian hondgesteallan hygelace wæs niða heardum nefa swyðe hold ond gehwæðer oðrum hroþra gemyndig hyrde ic þæt he ðone healsbeah hygde gesealde wrætlicne wundurmaððum ðone þe him wealhðeo geaf ðeodnes dohtor þrio wicg somod swancor ond sadolbeorht hyre syððan wæs æfter beahðege breost geweorðod swa bealdode bearn ecgðeowes guma guðum cuð godum dædum dreah æfter dome nealles druncne slog heorðgeneatas næs him hreoh sefa ac he mancynnes mæste cræfte ginfæstan gife þe him god sealde heold hildedeor hean wæs lange swa hyne geata bearn godne ne tealdon ne hyne on medobence micles wyrðne drihten wedera gedon wolde swyðe wendon þæt he sleac wære æðeling unfrom edwenden cwom tireadigum menn torna gehwylces het ða eorla hleo in gefetian heaðorof cyning hreðles lafe golde gegyrede næs mid geatum ða sincmaðþum selra on sweordes had þæt he on biowulfes bearm alegde ond him gesealde seofan þusendo bold ond bregostol him wæs bam samod on ðam leodscipe lond gecynde eard eðelriht oðrum swiðor side rice þam ðær selra wæs eft þæt geiode ufaran dogrum hildehlæmmum syððan hygelac læg ond heardrede hildemeceas under bordhreoðan to bonan wurdon ða hyne gesohtan on sigeþeode hearde hildfrecan heaðoscilfingas niða genægdan nefan hererices syððan beowulfe brade rice on hand gehwearf he geheold tela fiftig wintra wæs ða frod cyning eald eþelweard oð ðæt an ongan deorcum nihtum draca ricsian se ðe on heaum hæþe hord beweotode stanbeorh steapne stig under læg eldum uncuð þær on innan giong niðða nathwylc se ðe neh gefealg hæðnum horde hond wæge nam sid since fah ne he þæt syððan bemað þeah ðe he slæpende besyred wurde þeofes cræfte þæt sie ðiod onfand bigfolc beorna þæt he gebolgen wæs xxxii nealles mid gewealdum wyrmhord abræc sylfes willum se ðe him sare gesceod ac for þreanedlan þeow nathwylces hæleða bearna heteswengeas fleah ærnes þearfa ond ðær inne fealh secg synbysig sona mwatide þæt ðam gyste gryrebroga stod hwæðre earmsceapen sceapen þa hyne se fær begeat sincfæt þær wæs swylcra fela in ðam eorðhuse ærgestreona swa hy on geardagum gumena nathwylc eormenlafe æþelan cynnes þanchycgende þær gehydde deore maðmas ealle hie deað fornam ærran mælum ond se an ða gen leoda duguðe se ðær lengest hwearf weard winegeomor wende þæs ylcan þæt he lytel fæc longgestreona brucan moste beorh eallgearo wunode on wonge wæteryðum neah niwe be næsse nearocræftum fæst þær on innan bær eorlgestreona hringa hyrde hordwyrðne dæl fættan goldes fea worda cwæð `heald þu nuhruse nu hæleð ne mostan eorla æhte hwæt hyt ær on ðe gode begeaton guðdeað fornam feorhbealo frecne fyra gehwylcne leoda minra þara ðe þis lif ofgeaf gesawon seledream nah hwa sweord wege oððe feormie fæted wæge dryncfæt deore duguð ellor sceoc sceal se hearda helm hyrsted golde fætum befeallen feormynd swefað þa ðe beadogriman bywan sceoldon ge swylce seo herepad sio æt hilde gebad ofer borda gebræc bite irena brosnað æfter beorne ne mæg byrnan hring æfter wigfruman wide feran hæleðum be healfe næs hearpan wyn gomen gleobeames ne god hafoc geond sæl swingeð ne se swifta mearh burhstede beateð bealocwealm hafað fela feorhcynna forð onsended swa giomormod giohðo mænde an æfter eallum unbliðe hwearf dæges ond nihtes oð ðæt deaðes wylm hran æt heortan hordwynne fond eald uhtsceaða opene standan se ðe byrnende biorgas seceð nacod niðdraca nihtes fleogeð fyre befangen hyne foldbuend swiðe ondrædað he gesecean sceall hord on hrusan þær he hæðen gold warað wintrum frod ne byð him wihte ðy sel swa se ðeodsceaða þreo hund wintra heold on hrusan hordærna sum eacencræftig oð ð æt hyne an abealch mon on mode mandryhtne bær fæted wæge frioðowære bæd hlaford sinne ða wæs hord rasod onboren beaga hord bene getiðad feasceaftum men frea sceawode fira fyrngeweorc forman siðe þa se wyrm onwoc wroht wæs geniwad stonc ða æfter stane stearcheort onfand feondes fotlast he to forð gestop dyrnan cræfte dracan heafde neah swa mæg unfæge eaðe gedigan wean ond wræcsið se ðe waldendes hyldo gehealdeþ hordweard sohte georne æfter grunde wolde guman findan þone þe him on sweofote sare geteode hat ond hreohmod hlæw oft ymbehwearf ealne utanweardne ne ðær ænig mon on þære westenne hwæðre wiges gefeh beaduwe weorces hwilum on beorh æthwearf sincfæt sohte he þæt sona onfand ðæt hæfde gumena sum goldes gefandod heahgestreona hordweard onbad earfoðlice oð ðæt æfen cwom wæs ða gebolgen beorges hyrde wolde se laða lige forgyldan drincfæt dyre þa wæs dæg sceacen wyrme on willan no on wealle læng bidan wolde ac mid bæle for fyre gefysed wæs se fruma egeslic leodum on lande swa hyt lungre wearð on hyra sincgifan sare geendod xxxiii ða se gæst ongan gledum spiwan beorht hogu bærnan byrneleoma stod eldum on andan no ðær aht cwices lað lyftfloga læfan wolde wæs þæs wyrmes wig wide gesyne nearofages nið nean ond feorran hu se guðsceaða geata leode hatode ond hynde hord eft gesceat dryhtsele dyrnne ær dæges hwile hæfde landwara lige befangen bæle ond bronde beorges getruwode wiges ond wealles him seo wen geleah þa wæs biowulfe broga gecyðed snude to soðe þæt his sylfes ham bolda selest brynewylmum mealt gifstol geata þæt ðam godan wæs hreow on hreðre hygesorga mæst wende se wisa þæt he wealdende ofer ealde riht ecean dryhtne bitre gebulge breost innan weoll þeostrum geþoncum swa him geþywe ne wæs hæfde ligdraca leoda fæsten ealond utan eorðweard ðone gledum forgrunden him ðæs guðkyning wedera þioden wræce leornode heht him þa gewyrcean wigendra hleo eallirenne eorla dryhten wigbord wrætlic wisse he gearwe þæt him holtwudu helpan ne meahte lind wið lige sceolde lændaga æþeling ærgod ende gebidan worulde lifes ond se wyrm somod þeah ðe hordwelan heolde lange oferhogode ða hringa fengel þæt he þone widflogan weorode gesohte sidan herge no he him þa sæcce ondred ne him þæs wyrmes wig for wiht dyde eafoð ond ellen forðon he ær fela nearo neðende niða gedigde hildehlemma syððan he hroðgares sigoreadig secg sele fælsode ond æt guðe forgrap grendeles mægum laðan cynnes no þæt læsest wæs hondgemota þær mon hygelac sloh syððan geata cyning guðe ræsum freawine folca freslondum on hreðles eafora hiorodryncum swealt bille gebeaten þonan biowulf com sylfes cræfte sundnytte dreah hæfde him on earme ana þritig hildegeatwa þa he to holme stag nealles hetware hremge þorfton feðewiges þe him foran ongean linde bæron lyt eft becwom fram þam hildfrecan hames niosan oferswam ða sioleða bigong sunu ecgðeowes earm anhaga eft to leodum þær him hygd gebead hord ond rice beagas ond bregostol bearne ne truwode þæt he wið ælfylcum eþelstolas healdan cuðe ða wæs hygelac dead no ðy ær feasceafte findan meahton æt ðam æðelinge ænige ðinga þæt he heardrede hlaford wære oððe þone cynedom ciosan wolde hwæðre he hine on folce freondlarum heold estum mid are oð ðæt he yldra wearð wedergeatum weold hyne wræcmæcgas ofer sæ sohtan suna ohteres hæfdon hy forhealden helm scylfinga þone selestan sæcyninga þara ðe in swiorice sinc brytnade mærne þeoden him þæt to mearce wearð he þær for feorme feorhwunde hleat sweordes swengum sunu hygelaces ond him eft gewat ongenðioes bearn hames niosan syððan heardred læg let ðone bregostol biowulf healdan geatum wealdan þæt wæs god cyning xxxiiii se ðæs leodhryres lean gemunde uferan dogrum eadgilse wearð feasceaftum freond folce gestepte ofer sæ side sunu ohteres wigum ond wæpnum he gewræc syððan cealdum cearsiðum cyning ealdre bineat swa he niða gehwane genesen hæfde sliðra geslyhta sunu ecgðiowes ellenweorca oð ðone anne dæg þe he wið þam wyrme gewegan sceolde gewat þa twelfa sum torne gebolgen dryhten geata dracan sceawian hæfde þa gefrunen hwanan sio fæhð aras bealonið biorna him to bearme cwom maðþumfæt mære þurh ðæs meldan hond se wæs on ðam ðreate þreotteoða secg se ðæs orleges or onstealde hæft hygegiomor sceolde hean ðonon wong wisian he ofer willan giong to ðæs ðe he eorðsele anne wisse hlæw under hrusan holmwylme neh yðgewinne se wæs innan full wrætta ond wira weard unhiore gearo guðfreca goldmaðmas heold eald under eorðan næs þæt yðe ceap to gegangenne gumena ænigum gesæt ða on næsse niðheard cyning þenden hælo abead heorðgeneatum goldwine geata him wæs geomor sefa wæfre ond wælfus wyrd ungemete neah se ðone gomelan gretan sceolde secean sawle hord sundur gedælan lif rið lice no þon lange wæs feorh æþelinges flæsce bewunden biowulf maþelade bearn ecgðeowes `fela ic on giogoðe guðræsa genæs orleghwila ic þæt eall gemon ic wæs syfanwintre þa mec sinca baldor freawine folca æt minum fæder genam heold mec ond hæfde hreðel cyning geaf me sinc ond symbel sibbe gemunde næs ic him to life laðra owihte beorn in burgum þonne his bearna hwylc herebeald ond hæðcyn oððe hygelac min wæs þam yldestan ungedefelice mæges dædum morþorbed stred syððan hyne hæðcyn of hornbogan his freawine flane geswencte miste mercelses ond his mæg ofscet broðor oðerne blodigan gare þæt wæs feohleas gefeoht fyrenum gesyngad hreðre hygemeðe sceolde hwæðre swa þeah æðeling unwrecen ealdres linnan swa bið geomorlic gomelum ceorle to gebidanne þæt his byre ride giong on galgan þonne he gyd wrece sarigne sang þonne his sunu hangað hrefne to hroðre ond he him helpe ne mæg eald ond infrod ænige gefremman symble bið gemyndgad morna gehwylce eaforan ellorsið oðres ne gymeð to gebidanne burgum in innan yrfeweardas þonne se an hafað þurh deaðes nyd dæda gefondad gesyhð sorhcearig on his suna bure winsele westne windge reste reote berofene ridend swefað hæleð in hoðman nis þær hearpan sweg gomen in geardum swylce ðær iu wæron xxxv gewiteð þonne on sealman sorhleoð gæleð an æfter anum þuhte him eall to rum wongas ond wicstede swa wedra helm æfter herebealde heortan sorge weallinde wæg wihte ne meahte on ðam feorhbonan fæghðe gebetan no ðy ær he þone heaðorinc hatian ne meahte laðum dædum þeah him leof ne wæs he ða mid þære sorhge þe him to sar belamp gumdream ofgeaf godes leoht geceas eaferum læfde swa deð eadig mon lond ond leodbyrig þa he of life gewat þa wæs synn ond sacu sweona ond geata ofer wid wæter wroht gemæne herenið hearda syððan hreðel swealt oððe him ongenðeowes eaferan wæran frome fyrdhwate freode ne woldon ofer heafo healdan ac ymb hreosnabeorh eatolne inwitscear oft gefremedon þæt mægwine mine gewræcan fæhðe ond fyrene swa hyt gefræge wæs þeah ðe oðer his ealdre gebohte heardan ceape hæðcynne wearð geata dryhtne guð onsæge þa ic on morgne gefrægn mæg oðerne billes ecgum on bonan stælan þær ongenþeow eofores niosað guðhelm toglad gomela scylfing hreas heoroblac hond gemunde fæhðo genoge feorhsweng ne ofteah ic him þa maðmas þe he me sealde geald æt guðe swa me gifeðe wæs leohtan sweorde he me lond forgeaf eard eðelwyn næs him ænig þearf þæt he to gifðum oððe to gardenum oððe in swiorice secean þurfe wyrsan wigfrecan weorðe gecyþan symle ic him on feðan beforan wolde ana on orde ond swa to aldre sceall sæcce fremman þenden þis sweord þolað þæt mec ær ond sið oft gelæste syððan ic for dugeðum dæghrefne wearð to handbonan huga cempan nalles he ða frætwe frescyninge breostweorðunge bringan moste ac in campe gecrong cumbles hyrde æþeling on elne ne wæs ecg bona ac him hildegrap heortan wylmas banhus gebræc nu sceall billes ecg hond ond heard sweord ymb hord wigan beowulf maðelode beotwordum spræc niehstan siðe `ic geneðde fela guða on geogoðe gyt ic wylle frod folces weard fæhðe secan mærðu fremman gif mec se mansceaða of eorðsele ut geseceð gegrette ða gumena gehwylcne hwate helmberend hindeman siðe swæse gesiðas `nolde ic sweord beran wæpen to wyrme gif ic wiste hu wið ðam aglæcean elles meahte gylpe wiðgripan swa ic gio wið grendle dyde ac ic ðær heaðufyres hates wene oreðes ond attres forðon ic me on hafu bord ond byrnan nelle ic beorges weard oferfleon fotes trem ac unc furður sceal weorðan æt wealle swa unc wyrd geteoð metod manna gehwæs ic eom on mode from þæt ic wið þone guðflogan gylp ofersitte gebide ge on beorge byrnum werede secgas on searwum hwæðer sel mæge æfter wælræse wunde gedygan uncer twega nis þæt eower sið ne gemet mannes nefne min anes þæt he wið aglæcean eofoðo dæle eorlscype efne ic mid elne sceall gold gegangan oððe guð nimeð feorhbealu frecne frean eowerne aras ða bi ronde rof oretta heard under helme hiorosercean bær under stancleofu strengo getruwode anes mannes ne bið swylc earges sið geseah ða be wealle se ðe worna fela gumcystum god guða gedigde hildehlemma þonne hnitan feðan stondan stanbogan stream ut þonan brecan of beorge wæs þære burnan wælm heaðofyrum hat ne meahte horde neah unbyrnende ænige hwile deop gedygan for dracan lege let ða of breostum ða he gebolgen wæs wedergeata leod word ut faran stearcheort styrmde stefn in becom heaðotorht hlynnan under harne stan hete wæs onhrered hordweard oncniow mannes reorde næs ðær mara fyrst freode to friclan from ærest cwom oruð aglæcean ut of stane hat hildeswat hruse dynede biorn under beorge bordrand onswaf wið ðam gryregieste geata dryhten ða wæs hringbogan heorte gefysed sæcce to seceanne sweord ær gebræd god guðcyning gomele lafe ecgum unslaw æghwæðrum wæs bealohycgendra broga fram oðrum stiðmod gestod wið steapne rond winia bealdor ða se wyrm gebeah snude tosomne he on searwum bad gewat ða byrnende gebogen scriðan to gescipe scyndan scyld wel gebearg life ond lice læssan hwile mærum þeodne þonne his myne sohte ðær he þy fyrste forman dogore wealdan moste swa him wyrd ne gescraf hreð æt hilde hond up abræd geata dryhten gryrefahne sloh incgelafe þæt sio ecg gewac brun on bane bat unswiðor þonne his ðiodcyning þearfe hæfde bysigum gebæded þa wæs beorges weard æfter heaðuswenge on hreoum mode wearp wælfyre wide sprungon hildeleoman hreðsigora ne gealp goldwine geata guðbill geswac nacod æt niðe swa hyt no sceolde iren ærgod ne wæs þæt eðe sið þæt se mæra maga ecgðeowes grundwong þone ofgyfan wolde sceolde ofer willan wic eardian elles hwergen swa sceal æghwylc mon alætan lændagas næs ða long to ðon þæt ða aglæcean hy eft gemetton hyrte hyne hordweard hreðer æðme weoll niwan stefne nearo ðrowode fyre befongen se ðe ær folce weold nealles him on heape handgesteallan æðelinga bearn ymbe gestodon hildecystum ac hy on holt bugon ealdre burgan hiora in anum weoll sefa wið sorgum sibb æfre ne mæg
translation by Seamus Heaney http//hsauburncnyricorg/teachers/michael_sullivan/ap/sftextonly=
so the speardanes in days gone by and the kings who ruled them had courage and greatness we have heard of those princes’ heroic campaigns there was shield sheafson scourge of many tribes a wrecker of meadbenches rampaging among foes this terror of the halltroops had come far a foundling to start with he would flourish later on as his powers waxed and his worth was proved in the end each clan on the outlying coasts beyond the whaleroad had to yield to himand begin to pay tribute that was one good king afterwards a boychild was born to shield a cub in the yard a comfort sent by god to that nation he knew what they had tholed the long times and troubles they’d come through without a leader so the lord of life the glorious almighty made this man renowned shield had fathered a famous son beow’s name was known through the north and a young prince must be prudent like thatgiving freely while his father lives so that afterwards in age when fighting starts steadfast companions will stand beside him and hold the line behavior that’s admired is the path to power among people everywhere shield was still thriving when his time came and he crossed over into the lord’s keeping his warrior band did what he bade them when he laid down the law among the danes they shouldered him out to the sea’s floodthe chief they revered who had long ruled them a ringwhorled prow rode in the harbour iceclad outbound a craft for a prince they stretched their beloved lord in his boat laid out by the mast amidships the great ringgiver farfetched treasures were piled upon him and precious gear i never heard before of a ship so well furbished with battle tackle bladed weapons and coats of mail the massed treasurewas loaded on top of him it would travel far on out into the ocean’s sway they decked his body no less bountifully with offerings than those first ones did who cast him away when he was a child and launched him alone out over the waves and they set a gold standard up high above his head and let him drift to wind and tide bewailing him and mourning their loss no man can tell no wise man in hall or weathered veteran knows for certain who salvaged that load then it fell to beow to keep the forts he was well regarded and ruled the danes for a long time after his father took leave of his life on earth and then his heir the great halfdane held sway for as long as he lived their elder and warlord he was four times a father this fighter prince one by one they entered the world heorogar hrothgar the good halga and a daughter i have heard who was onela’s queen a balm in bed to the battlescarred swede the fortunes of war favored hrothgar friends and kinsmen flocked to his ranks young followers a force that grew to be a mighty army so his mind turned to hallbuilding he handed down orders for men to work on a great meadhall meant to be a wonder of the world forever it would be his throneroom and there he would dispense his godgiven goods to young and old but not the common land or people’s lives far and wide through the world i have heard orders for work to adorn that wall stead were sent to many peoples and soon it stood there finished and ready in full view the hall of halls heorot was the name he had settled on it whose utterance was law nor did he renege but doled out rings and torques at the table the hall towered its gables wide and high and awaiting a barbarous burning that doom abided but in time it would come the killer instinct unleashed among inlaws the bloodlust rampant then a powerful demon a prowler through the dark nursed a hard grievance it harrowed him to hear the din of the loud banquet every day in the hall the harp being struck and the clear song of a skilled poet telling with mastery of man’s beginnings how the almighty had made the earth a gleaming plain girdled with waters in his splendour he set the sun and moon to be earth’s lamplight lanterns for men and filled the broad lap of the world with branches and leaves and quickened life in every other thing that moved so times were pleasant for the people there until finally one a fiend out of hellbegan to work his evil in the world grendel was the name of this grim demon haunting the marches marauding round the heath and the desolate fens he had dwelt for a time in misery among the banished monsters cain’s clan whom the creator had outlawed and condemned as outcasts for the killing of abel the eternal lord had exacted a price cain got no good from committing that murder because the almighty made him anathema and out of the curse of his exile there sprang ogres and elves and evil phantoms and the giants too who strove with god time and again until he gave them their final reward so after nightfall grendel set out for the lofty house to see how the ringdanes were settling into it after their drink and there he came upon them a company of the best asleep from their feasting insensible to pain and human sorrow suddenly then the godcursed brute was creating havoc greedy and grim he grabbed thirty men from their resting places and rushed to his lair flushed up and inflamed from the raid blundering back with the butchered corpses then as dawn brightened and the day broke grendel’s powers of destruction were plain their wassail was over they wept to heaven and mourned under morning their mighty prince the storied leader sat stricken and helpless humiliated by the loss of his guard bewildered and stunned staring aghast and the demon’s trail in deep distress he was numb with grief but got no respite for one night later the merciless grendel struck again with more gruesome murders malignant by nature he never showed remorse it was easy then to meet with a man shifting himself to a safer distance to bed in the bothies for who could be blindto the evidence of his eyes the obviousness of that hallwatcher’s hate whoever escaped kept a weathereye open and moved away so grendel ruled in defiance of right one against all until the greatest house in the world stood empty a deserted wall stead for twelve winters seasons of woe the lord of the shieldings suffered under his load of sorrow and so before long the news was known over the whole world sad lays were sung about the beset king the vicious raids of grendel his long and unrelenting feud nothing but war how he would never parley or make peace with any dane nor stop his deathdealing nor pay the deathprice no counsellor could ever expect fair reparation from those rabid hands all were endangered young and old were hunted down by that dark deathshadowwho lurked and swooped in the long nights on the misty moors nobody knows where these reavers from hell roam on their errands so grendel waged his lonely war inflicting constant cruelties on the people atrocious hurt he took over heorot haunted the glittering hall after dark but the throne itself the treasureseat he was kept from approaching he was the lord’s outcast these were hard times heartbreakingfor the prince of the shieldings powerful counselors the highest in the land would lend advice plotting how best the bold defenders might resist and beat off sudden attacks sometimes at pagan shrines they vowed offering to idols swore oaths that the killer of souls might come to their aid and save the people that was their way their heathenish hope deep in their hearts they remembered hell the almighty judgeof good deeds and bad the lord god head of the heavens and high king of the world was unknown to them oh cursed is he who in time of trouble had to thrust his soul in the fire’s embrace forfeiting help he has nowhere to turn but blessed is he who after death can approach the lord and find friendship in the father’s embrace so that troubled time continued woe that never stopped steady afflictionfor halfdane’s son too hard an ordeal there was panic after dark people endured raids in the night riven by terror when he heard about grendel hygelac’s thane was on home ground over in geatland there was no one else like him alive in his day he was the mightiest man on earth highborn and powerful he ordered a boat that would ply the waves he announced his plan to sail the swan’s roads and search out that king the famous prince who needed defenders nobody tried to keep him from going no elder denied him dear as he was to them instead they inspected omens and spurred his ambition to go whilst he moved about like the leader he was enlisting men the best he could find with fourteen others the warrior boarded the boat as captain a canny pilot along coast and currents time went by the boat was on water in close under the cliffs men climbed eagerly up the gangplank sand churned in surf shining wargear in the vessel’s hold then heaved out away with a will in their woodwreathed ship over the waves with the wind behind her and foam at her neck she flew like a bird until her curved prow had covered the distance and on the following day at the due hour those seafarers sighted land sunlit cliffs sheer crags and looming headlands the landfall they sought it was the end of their voyage and the geats vaulted over the side out on to the sand and moored their ship there was a clash of mail and a thresh of gear they thanked god for that easy crossing on a calm sea when the watchman on the wall the shieldings’ lookout whose job it was to guard the seacliffssaw shields glittering on the gangplank and battleequipment being unloaded he had to find out who and what the arrivals were so he rode to the shore this horseman of hrothgar’s and challenged them in formal terms flourishing his spear what kind of men are you who arrive rigged out for combat in coats of mail sailing here over the sea lanes in your steephulled boat i have been stationedas lookout on this coast for a long time my job is to watch the waves for raiders and danger to the danish shore never before has a force under arms disembarked so openlynot bothering to ask if the sentries allowed them safe passage or the clan had consented nor have i seen a mightier manatarms on this earth than the one standing here unless i am mistaken he is truly noble this is no merehangeron in a hero’s armour so now before you fare inland as interlopers i have to be informed about who you are and where you hail from outsiders from across the water i say it again the sooner you tell where you came from and why the better the leader of the troop unlocked his wordhoard the distinguished one delivered this answer we belong by birth to the geat people and owe allegiance to lord hygelac in my day my father was a famous man a noble warrior name ecgtheow he outlasted many a long winter and went on his way all over the world wise men in council continue to remember him we come in good faith to find your lord and nation’s shield the son of halfdane give us the right to advise and direction we have arrived here on a great errand to the lord of the danes and i believe therefore there should be nothing hidden or withheld between us so tell us if what we have heard is true about this threat whatever it is this danger abroad in the dark nights this corpsemaker mongering death in the shieldings’ country i come to proffer my wholehearted help and counsel i can show the wise hrothgar a way to defeat his enemy and find respiteif any respite is to reach him ever i can calm the turmoil and terror in his mind otherwise he must endure woes and live with grief for as long as his hall stands at the horizon on its high ground undaunted sitting astride his horse the coastguard answered anyone with gumption and a sharp mind will take the measure of two things what’s said and what’s done i believe what you have told me that you are a trooployal to our king so come ahead with your arms and your gear and i will guide you what’s more i’ll order my own comrades on their word of honor to watch your boat down there on the strandkeep her safe in her fresh tar until the time comes for her curved prow to preen on the waves and bear this hero back to geatland may one so valiant and venturesome come unharmed through the clash of battleso they went on their way the ship rode the water broadbeamed bound by its hawser and anchored fast boarshapes flashed above their cheekguards the brightly forged work of goldsmiths watching over those sternfaced men they marched in step hurrying on till the timbered hall rose before them radiant with gold nobody on earth knew of another building like it majesty lodged there and its light shone over many lands so their gallant escort guided them to that dazzling stronghold and indicated the shortest way to it then the noble warrior wheeled on his horse and spoke these words it is time for me to go may the almighty father keep you and in his kindness watch over your exploits i’m away to the sea back on alert against enemy raiders it was a paved track a path that kept themin marching order their mailshirts glinted hard and handlinked the highgloss iron of their armour rang so they duly arrived in their grim wargraith and gear at the hall and weary from the sea stacked wide shields of the toughest hardwood against the wall then collapsed on the benches battledress and weapons clashed they collected their spears in a seafarer’s stook a stand of grayish tapering ash and the troops themselves were as good as their weapons then a proud warrior questioned the men concerning their origins where do you come from carrying these decorated shields and shirts of mail these cheekhinged helmets and javelins i am hrothgar’s herald and officer i have never seen so impressive or large an assembly of strangers stoutness of heart bravery not banishment must have brought you to hrothgar the man whose name was known for couragethe geat leader resolute in his helmet answered in return we are retainers from hygelac’s band beowulf is my name if your lord and master the most renowned son of halfdane will hear me out and graciously allow me to greet him in person i am ready and willing to report my errand wulfgar replied a wendel chief renowned as a warrior well known for his wisdom and the temper of his mind i will take this message in accordance with your wish to our noble king our dear lord friend of the danes the giver of rings i will go and ask him about your coming here then hurry back with whatever reply it pleases him to give with that he turned to where hrothgar sat an old man among retainers the valiant follower stood foursquare in front of his king he knew the courtesies wulfgar addressed his dear lord people from geatland have put ashore they have sailed far over the wide sea they call the chief in charge of their band by the name of beowulf they beg my lord an audience with you exchange of words and formal greeting most gracious hrothgar do not refuse them but grant them a reply from their arms and appointment they appear wellborn and worthy of respect especially the one who has led them this far he is formidable indeed hrothgar protector of shieldings replied i used to know him when i was a young boy his father before him was called ecgtheow hrethel the greath gave ecgtheow his daughter in marriage this man is their son here to follow up an old friendship a crew of seamen who sailed for me once with a giftcargo across to geatland returned with marvelous tales about him a thane they declared with the strength of thirtyin the grip of each hand now holy god has in his goodness guided him here to the westdanes to defend us from grendel this is my hope and for his heroism i will recompense him with a rich treasure go immediately bid him and the geats he has is attendance to assemble and enter say moreover when you speak to them that they are welcome in denmark at the door of the hall wulfgar duly delivered the messagemy lord the conquering king of the danes bids me announce that he knows your ancestry also that he welcomes you here to heorot and salutes your arrival from across the sea you are free now to move forward to meet hrothgar in helmets and armor but shields must stay here and spears be stacked until the outcome of the audience is clear the hero arose surrounded closely by his powerful thanes a party remainedunder orders to keep watch on the arms the rest proceeded lead by their prince under heorot’s roof and standing on the hearth in webbed links that the smith had woven the fineforged mesh of his gleaming mail shirt resolute in his helmet beowulf spoke greetings to hrothgar i am hygelac’s kinsman one of his halltroop when i was younger i had great triumphs then news of grendel hard to ignore reached me at homesailors brought stories of the plight you suffer in this legendary hall how it lies deserted empty and useless once the evening light hides itself under heaven’s dome so every elder and experience councilman among my people supported my resolve to come here to you king hrothgar because all knew of my awesome strength they had seen me boltered in the blood of enemies when i battled and bound five beastsraided a trollnest and in the nightsea slaughtered seabrutes i have suffered extremes and avenged the geats (their enemies brought it upon themselves i devastated them) now i mean to be a match for grendel settle the outcome in a single combat and so my request o king of brightdanes dear prince pf the shieldings friend of the people and their ring of defense my one request is that you won’t refuse me who have come this far the privilege of purifying heorot with my own men to help me and nobody else i have heard moreover that the monster scorns in his reckless way to use weapons therefore to heighten hygelac’s fame and gladden his heart i hereby renounce sword and the shelter of the broad shield the heavy warboard handtohand is how it will be a lifeanddeath fight with the fiend whichever one death fells must deem it a just judgment by god if grendel wins it will be a gruesome day he will glut himself on the geats in the warhall swoop without fear on that flower of manhood as on others before then my face won’t be there to be covered in death he will carry me away as he goes to ground gorged and bloodied he will run gloating with my raw corpse and feed on it alone in a cruel frenzy fouling his moornest no need then to lament for long or lay out my body if the battle takes me send back this breastwebbing that weland fashioned and hrethel gave me to hygelac fate goes ever as fate must hrothgar the helmet of the shieldings spoke beowulf my friend you have traveled here to favour us with help and fight for us there was a feud one time begun by your father with his own hands he had killed heatholafwho was a wulfing so war was looming and his people in fear of it forced him to leave he came away then over rolling waves to the south danes here the sons of honor i was then in the full flush of kingship establishing my sway over all the rich strongholds of this heroic land heorogar my older brother and the better man also a son of halfdane’s had died finally i healed the feud by paying i shipped a treasuretrove to the wulfings and ecgtheow acknowledged me with oaths of allegiance it bothers me to have to burden anyone with all the grief grendel has caused and the havoc he has wreaked upon us in heorot our humiliations my householdguard are on the wane fate sweeps them away into grendel’s clutchesbut god can easily halt these raids and harrowing attacks time and again when the goblets passed and seasoned fighters got flushed with beer they would pledge themselves to protect heorot and wait for grendel with whetted swords but when dawn broke and day crept in over each empty bloodspattered bench the floor of the meadhall where they had feasted would be slick with slaughter and so they died faithful retainers and my following dwindled now take your place at the table relish the triumph of heroes to your heart’s contentthen a bench was cleared in that banquet hall so the geats could have room to be together and the party sat proud in their bearing strong and stalwart an attendant stood by with a decorated pitcher pouring bright helpings of mead and the minstrel sang filling heorot with his headclearing voice gladdening that great rally of danes and geats from where he crouched at the king’s feet unferth a son of ecglaf’s spoke contrary words beowulf’s coming his seabraving made him sick with envy he could not brook or abide the fact that anyone else alive under heaven might enjoy greater regard than he did are you the beowulf who took on breca in a swimming match on the open sea risking the water just to prove you could win it was sheer vanity made you venture out on the main deep and no matter who triedfriend or foe to deflect the pair of you neither would back down the seatest obsessed you you waded in embracing water taking its measure mastering currents riding on the swell the ocean swayed winter went wild in the waves but you vied for seven nights and then he outswam you came ashore the stronger contender he was cast up safe and sound one morning among the heathoreams then made his way to where he belonged in bronding country home again sure of his ground in strong room and bawn so breca made good his boast upon you and was proved right no matter therefore how you may have fared in every bout and battle until now this time you’ll be worsted no one has ever outlasted an entire night against grendel beowulf ecgtheow’s son replied well friend unferth you have had your say about breca and me but it was mostly beer that was doing the talking the truth is this when the going was heavy in those high waves i was the strongest swimmer of all we’d been children together and we grew up daring ourselves to outdo each other boasting and urging each other to risk our lives on the sea and so it turned out each of us swam holding a sword a naked hardproofed blade for protection against the whalebeasts but breca could never move out farther or faster from me than i could manage to move from him shoulder to shoulder we struggled on for five nights until the long flow and pitch of the waves the perishing cold night falling and winds from the north drove us apart the deep boiled up and its wallowing sent the seabrutes wild my armor held me to hold outmy hardringed chainmail handforged and linked a fine closefitting filigree of gold kept me safe when some ocean creature pulled me to the bottom pinioned fast and swathed in its grip i was granted one final chance my sword plunged and the ordeal was over through my own hands the fury of battle had finished off the seabeast time and again foul things attacked me lurking and stalking but i lashed outgave as good as i got with my sword my flesh was not for feasting on there would be no monsters gnawing and gloating over their banquet at the bottom of the sea instead in the morning mangled and sleeping the sleep of the sword they slopped and floated like the ocean’s leavings from now on sailors would the safe the deepsea raids were over for good light came from the east bright guarantee of god and the waves went quiet i could see the headlands and buffeted cliffs often for undaunted courage fate spares the man it has not already marked however it had occurred my sword had killed nine sea monsters such nightdangers and hard ordeals i have never heard of nor of a man so desolate in surging waves but worn out as i was i survived came through with my life the ocean lifted and laid me ashore i landed safeon the coast of finland now i cannot recall any fight you entered unferth that bears comparison i don’t boast when i say that neither you nor breca ever were much celebrated for swordsmanship or for facing danger in the battlefield you killed your own kith and kin so for all your cleverness and quick tongue you will suffer damnation in the pits of hell the fact it unferth if you were trulyas keen or courageous as you claim to be grendel would never have got away with such unchecked atrocity attacks on your king havoc in heorot and horrors everywhere but he knows he need never be in dread of your blade making a mizzle of his blood or of vengeance arriving ever from this quarter from the victoryshieldings the shoulderers of the spear he knows he can trample down you danes to his heart’s content humiliate and murder without fear of reprisal but he will find me different i will show him how geats shape to kill in the heat of battle then whoever wants to may go bravely to morning mead when morning light scarfed in sundazzle shines forth from the south and brings another daybreak to the world then the grayhaired treasuregiver was glad farfamed in battle the prince of brightdanes and keeper of his people counted on beowulf on the warrior’s steadfastness and his word so the laughter started the din got louder and the crowd was happy wealhtheow came in hrothgar’s queen observing the courtesies adorned in her gold she graciously saluted the men in the hall then handed the cup first to hrothgar their homeland’s guardian urging him to drink deep and enjoy it because he was dear to them and he drank it down like the warlord he was with festive cheer so the helming woman went on her rounds queenly and dignified decked out in rings offering the goblet to all ranks treating the household and the assembled troop until it was beowulf’s turn to take it from her hand with measured words she welcomed the geat and thanked god for granting her wish that a deliverer she could believe in would arrive to ease their afflictions he accepted the cup a daunting man dangerous in action and eager for it always he addressed wealhtheow beowulf son of ecgtheow said i had a fixed purpose when i put out to seaas i sat in the boat with my band of men i meant to perform to the uttermost what your people wanted or perish in the attempt in the fiend’s clutches and i shall fulfill that purpose prove myself with a proud deed or meet my death here in the meadhall this formal boast by beowulf the geat pleased the lady well and she went to sitby hrothgar regal and arrayed with gold then it was like old times in the echoing hall proud talk and the people happy loud and excited until soon enough halfdane’s heir had to be away to his night’s rest he realized that the demon was going to descend on the hall that he had plotted all day from dawnlight until darkness gathered again over the world and stealthy nightshades came stealing forthunder the cloudmurk the company stood as the two leaders took leave of each other hrothgar wished beowulf health and good luck named him hallwarden and announced as follows never since my hand could hold a shield have i entrusted or given control of the dane’s hall to anyone but you ward and guard it for it is the greatest of houses be on your mettle now keep in mind your fame beware of the enemy there’s nothing you wish for that won’t be yours if you win through alive hrothgar departed then with his houseguard the lord of the shieldings their shelter in war left the meadhall to lie with wealhtheow his queen and bedmate the king of glory (as people learned) had posted a lookout who was a match for grendel a guard against monsters special protection to the danish prince and the geat placed complete trust in his strength of limb and the lord’s favorhe began to remove his iron breastmail took off the helmet and handed his attendant the patterned sword a smith’s masterpiece ordering him to keep the equipment guarded and before he bedded down beowulf that prince of goodness proudly asserted when it comes to fighting i count myself as dangerous any day as grendel so it won’t be a cutting edge i’ll wield to mow him down easily as i mighthe has no ideas of the arts of war of shield or swordplay though he does possess a wild strength no weapons therefore for either this night unarmed he shall face me if face me he dares and may the divine lord in his wisdom grant victory to whichever side he sees fit then down the brave man lay with his bolster under his head and his whole company of searovers at rest beside himnone of them expected he would ever see his homeland again or get back to his native place and the people who reared him they knew too well the way it was before how often the danes had fallen prey to death in the meadhall but the lord was weaving a victory on his warloom for the weathergeats through the strength of one they all prevailed they would crush their enemy and come through in triumph and gladness the truth is clearalmighty god rules over mankind and always has then out of the night came the shadowstalker stealthy and swift the hallguards were slack asleep at their posts all except one it was widely understood that as long as god disallowed it the fiend could not bear them to his shadowbourne one man however was in a fighting mood awake and on edge spoiling for action in off the moors down through the mistbandsgodcursed grendel came greedily loping the bane of the race of men roamed forth hunting for a prey in the high hall under the cloudmurk he moved towards it until it shone above him a sheer keep of fortified gold nor was that the first time he had scouted the grounds of hrothgar’s dwelling although never in his life before or since did he find harder fortune or halldefenders spurned and joyless he journeyed on ahead and arrived at the bawn the ironbraced door turned in its hinge when his hand touched it then his rage boiled over he ripped open the mouth of the building maddening for blood pacing the length of the patterned floor with his loathsome tread while a baleful light flame more than light flared from his eyes he saw many men in the mansion sleeping a ranked company of kinsmen and warriors quartered together and his glee was demonic picturing the mayhem before morning he would rip life from limp and devour them feed on their flesh but his fate that night was due to change his days of ravening had come to an end mighty and canny hygelac’s kinsman was keenly watching for the first move the monster would make nor did the creature keep him waiting but struck suddenly and started in he grabbed and mauled a man on his benchbit into his bonelappings bolted down his blood and gorged on him in lumps leaving the body utterly lifeless eaten up hand and foot venturing closer his talon was raised to attack beowulf where he lay on the bed he was bearing in with open claw when the alert hero’s comeback and armlock forestalled him utterly the captain of evil discovered himself in a handgrip harder than anything he had ever encountered in any man on the face of the earth every bone in his body quailed and coiled but he could not escapehe was desperate to flee to his den and hide with the devil’s litter for in all his days he had never been clamped or cornered like this then hygelac’s trusty retainer recalled his bedtime speech sprang to his feet and got a firm hold fingers were bursting the monster backtracking the man overpowering the dread of the land was desperate to escape to take a roundabout road and flee to his lair in the fens the latching power in his fingers weakened it was the worst trip the terrormonger had taken to heorot and now the timber trembled and sang a hallsession that harrowed every dane inside the stockade stumbling in fury the two contenders crashed through the building the hall clattered and hammered but somehow survived the onslaught and kept standing it was handsomely structured a sturdy frame braced with the best of blacksmith’s work inside and out the story goes that as the pair struggled mead benches were smashed and sprung off the floor gold fittings and all before then no shielding elder would believe there was any power or person on earth capable of wrecking their hornrigged hall unless the burning embrace of fire engulf it in flame then an extraordinary wail arose and bewildering fear came over the danes everyone felt it who heard that cry as it echoed off the wall a godcursed scream and strain of catastrophe the howl of the loser the lament of the hellserf keening his wound he was overwhelmed manacled tight by the man who of all men was foremost and strongest in the days of this life but the earl troop’s leader was not inclined to allow his caller to depart alive he did not consider that life of much account to anyone anywhere time and again beowulf’s warriors worked to defend their lord’s life laying about them as best they could with their ancestral blades stalwart in action they kept striking out on every side seeking to cut straight to the soul when they joined the struggle there was something they could have not known at the time that not blade on earth no blacksmith’s art could ever damage their demon opponent he had conjured the harm from the cutting edge of every weapon but his going away out of the world and the days of his life would be agony to him and his alien spirit would travel far into fiends’ keeping then he who had harrowed the hearts of men with pain and affliction in former times and had given offense also to godfound that his bodily powers had failed him hygelac’s kinsman kept him helplessly locked in a handgrip as long as either lived he was hateful to the other the monster’s whole body was in pain a tremendous wound appeared on his shoulder sinews split and the bonelappings burst beowulf was granted the glory of winning grendel was driven under the fen banks fatally hurt to his desolate lair his days were numbered the end of his life was coming over him he knew it for certain and one bloody clash had fulfilled the dearest wishes of the danes the man who had lately landed among them proud and sure had purged the hall kept it from harm he was happy with his nightwork and the courage he had shown the geat captain had boldly fulfilled his boast to the danes he had healed and relieved a huge distress unremitting humiliationsthe hard fate they’d been forced to undergo no small affliction clear proof of this could be seen in the hand the hero displayed high up near the roof the whole of grendel’s shoulder and arm his awesome grasp then morning came and many a warrior gathered as i have heard around the gifthall clanchiefs flocking from far and near down wideranging roads wondering greatly at the monster’s footprint his fatal departure was regretted by no one who witnessed his trail the ignominious marks of his flight where he’d sulked away exhausted in spirit and beaten in battle bloodying the path hauling his doom to the demons’ mere the bloodshot water wallowed and surged there were loathsome up throws and over turnings of waves and gore and wouldslurry with his death upon him he had dived deep into his marsh den drowned out his life and his heathen soul hell claimed him there then away they rode the old retainers with many a young man following after a troop on horseback in high spirits on their bay steeds beowulf’s doings were praised over and over again nowhere they said north or south between the two seas or under the tall sky on the broad earth was there anyone better to raise a shield or to rule a kingdomyet there was no laying of blame on their lord the noble hrothgar he was a good king at times the warband broke into a gallop letting their chestnut horses race wherever they found the going good on those wellknown tracks meanwhile a thane of the king’s household a carrier of tales a traditional singer deeply schooled in the lore of the past linked a new theme to a strict metre the man startedto recite with skill rehearsing beowulf’s triumphs and feats in wellfashioned lines entwining his words he told what he’d heard repeated in songs of sigemund’s exploits all of those many feats and marvels the struggles and wanderings of wael’s son things unknown to anyone except fitela feuds and foul doings confided from uncle to nephew when he felt the urge to speak of them always had they beenpartners in the fight friends in need they killed giants their conquering swords had brought them down after his death sigemund’s glory grew and grew because of his courage when he killed the dragon the guardian of the hoard under gray stone he had dared to enter all by himselfto face the worst without fitela but nit came to pass that his sword plunged right through those radiant scales and drove into the wall the dragon died of it his daring had given him total possession of the treasure hoard his to dispose of however he liked he loaded a boat wael’s son weighted her hold with dazzling spoils the hot dragon melted sigemund’s name was known everywhere he was utterly valiant and venturesome a fence round his fighters and flourished therefore after king heremond’s prowess declined and his campaigns slowed down the king was betrayed ambushed in jutland overpowered and done away with the waves of his grief had beaten him down made him a burden a source of anxiety to his own nobles that expedition was often condemned to those earlier times by experienced men men who relied on his lordship for redress who presumed that the part of a prince was to thrive on his father’s throne and protect the nation the shielding land where they lived and belonged its holdings and strongholds such was beowulf in the affection of his friends and of everyone alive but evil entered into heremod meanwhile the dane kept racing their mounts down sandy lanes the light of day broke and kept brightening bands of retainers galloped in excitement to the gabled hall to see the marvel and the king himself guardian of the ringhoard goodness in personwalked in majesty from the women’s quarters with a numerous train attended by his queen and her crowd of maidens across the meadhall when hrothgar arrived at the hall he spoke standing on the steps under the steep eaves gazing at the roofwork and grendel’s talon first and foremost let the almighty father be thanked for this sight i suffered a long harrowing by grendel but the heavenly shepherd can work his wonders always and everywherenot long since it seemed i would never be granted the slightest solace or relief from any of my burdens the best of houses glittered and reeked and ran with blood this one worry outweighed all others a constant distress to counselors entrusted with defending the people’s forts from assault by monsters and demons but now a man with the lord’s assistance has accomplished something none of us could manage before now for all our efforts whoever she was who brought forth this flower of manhood if she is still alive that woman can say that in her labor the lord of ages bestowed a grace on her so now beowulf adopt you in my heart as a dear son nourish and maintain this new connection you noblest of men there’ll be nothing you want for no worldly good that won’t be yours i have often honored smaller achievements recognized warriors not nearly as worthy lavished rewards on the less deserving but you have made yourself immortal by your glorious action may the lord of ages continue to keep and requite you well beowulf son of ecgtheow spoke we have gone through a glorious endeavor and been much favored in this fight we dared against the unknown nevertheless if you could have seen the monster himself where he lay beaten i would have been better pleased my plan was to pounce pin him down in a tight grip and grapple him to death have him panting for life powerless and clasped in my bare hands his body in thrall but i couldn’t stop him from slipping my hold the lord allowed it my lock on him wasn’t strong enough he struggled fiercely and broke and ran yet he bought his freedom at a high price for he left his handand arm and shoulder to show he had been here a cold comfort for having come among us and now he won’t be long for this world he has done his worst but the wound will end him he is hasped and hooped and hirpling with pain limped and looped in it like a man outlawed for wickedness he mush await the mighty judgment of god in majesty there was less tampering and big talk then from unferth the boaster less of his blatheras the hallthanes eyed the awful proof of the hero’s prowess the splayed hand up under the eaves every nail clawscale and spur every spike and welt on the hand of that heathen brute was like barbed steel everybody said there was no honed iron hard enough to pierce him through no timeproofed blade that could cut his brutal bloodcaked claw then the order was given for all handsto help refurbish heorot immediately men and women thronging the winehall getting it ready gold thread shone in the wallhangings woven scenes that attracted and held the eye’s attention but ironbraced as the inside of it had been the bright room lay in ruins now the very doors had been dragged from their hinges only the roof remained unscathed by the time the guiltfouled fiend turned tail in despair of his life but death is not easily escaped from by anyone all of us with souls earthdwellers and children of men must make our way to a destination already ordained where the body after the banqueting sleeps on its deathbedthen the due time arrived for halfdane’s son to proceed to the hall the king himself would sit down to feast no group ever gathered in greater numbersor better order around their ringgiver the benches filled with famous men who fell to with relish round upon round of mead was passed those powerful kinsmen hrothgar and hrothulf were in high spirits in the raftered hall inside heorot there was nothing but friendship the shielding nation was not yet familiar with feud and betrayal then halfdane’s son presented beowulf with gold standards as a victory gift an embroidered banner also breastmail and a helmet and a sword carried high that was both precious object and a token of honor so beowulf drank his drink at ease it was hardly a shame to be showered with such gifts in front of the halltroops there haven’t been many moments i am sure when men have exchanged four such treasures at so friendly a sitting an embossed ring a band lapped with wire arched over the helmet headprotectionto keep the keenground cutting edge from damaging it when danger threatened and the man was battling behind his shield next the king ordered eight horses with gold bridles to be brought through the yard into the hall the harness of one included a saddle of sumptuous design the battleseat where the son of halfdane rode when he wished to join the swordplay wherever the killing and carnage were the worst he would be to the fore fighting hard the danish prince descendent of ing handed over both the arms and the horses urging beowulf to use them well and so their leader the lord and guard of coffer and strong room with customary grace bestowed upon beowulf both sets of gifts a fair witness can see how well each one behaved the chieftain went on to reward the others each man on the bench who had sailed with beowulfand risked the voyage received a bounty some treasured possession and compensation a price in gold was settled for the geat grendel had killed cruelly earlier as he would have killed more had not mindful god and one man’s daring prevented that doom past and present god’s will prevails hence understanding is always best and a prudent mind whoever remains for long here in this earthly life will enjoy and endure more than enough they sang then and played to please the hero words and music for their warrior prince harp tunes and tales of adventure there were high times on the hall benches and the king’s poet performed his part with the saga of finn and his sons unfolding the tale of the fierce attack in friesland where hnaef king of the danes met death hildeburhhad little cause to credit the jutes son and brother she lost them both on the battlefield she bereft and blameless they foredoomed cut down and speargored she the woman in shock waylaid by grief hoc’s daughter how could she not lament her fate when morning came and the light broke on her murdered dears and so farewell delight on earth war carried away finn’s troop of thanes all but a few how then could finn hold the line or fight on to the end with hengest how save the rump of his force from that enemy chief so a truce was offered as follows first separate quarters to be cleared for the danes hall and throne to be shared with the frisians then second every day at the doleout of gifts finn son of focwald should honor the danesbestow with an even hand to hengest and hengest’s men the wroughtgold rings bounty to match the measure he gave his own frisians to keep morale in the beerhall high both sides then sealed their agreement with oaths to hengest finn swore openly solemnly that the battle survivors would be guaranteed honor and status no infringement by word or deed no provocation would be permitted their own ringgiver after all was dead and gone they were leaderless in forced allegiance to his murderer so if any frisian stirred up bad blood with insinuations or taunts about this the blade of the sword will arbitrate it a funeral pyre was then prepared effulgent gold brought out from the hoard the pride and prince of the shieldings lay awaiting the flameeverywhere there were bloodplastered coats of mail the pyre was heaped with boarshaped helmets forged in gold with the gashed corpses of wellborn danes many had fallen then hildeburh ordered her own son’s body be burnt with hnaef’s the flesh on his bones to sputter and blaze beside his uncle’s the woman wailed and sang keens the warrior went up carcass flame swirled and fumed they stood round the burial mound and howled as heads melted crusted gashes spattered and ran bloody matter the glutton element flamed and consumed the dead of both sides their great days were gone warriors scattered to homes and forts all over friesland fewer now feeling loss of friends hengest stayed lived out that whole resentful bloodsullen winter with finnhomesick and helpless no ringwhorled prow could up then and away on the sea wind and water raged with storms wave and shingle were shackled on ice until another year appeared in the yard as it does to this day the seasons constant the wonder of light coming over us then winter was gone earth’s lap grew lovely longing woke in the coopedup exile for a voyage home but more for vengeancesome way of bringing things to a head his sword arm hankered to greet the jutes so he did not balk once hunlafing placed on his lap dazlethe duel the best sword of all whose edges jutes knew only too well thus blood was spilled the gallant finn slain in his home after guthlaf and oslaf back from their voyage made old accusation the brutal ambush the fate they had suffered all blamed on finnthe wildness in them had to brim over the hall ran red with blood of enemies finn was cut down the queen brought away and everything the shieldings could find inside finn’s walls the frisian king’s gold collars and gemstones swept off to the ship over sealanes then back to daneland the warrior troop bore that lady home the poem was over the poet had performed a pleasant murmur started on the benches stewards did the rounds with wine in splendid jugs and wilhtheow came to sit in her gold crown between two good men uncle and nephew each of whom still trusted the other and the forthright unferth admired by all for his mind and courage although under a cloud for killing his brothers reclined near the king the queen spoke enjoy this drink my most generous lord raise up your goblet entertain the geats duly and gently discourse with thembe openhanded happy and fond relish their company but recollect as well all of the boons that have been bestowed upon you the bright court of heorot has been cleansed and now the word is that you want to adopt this warrior as a son so while you may bask in your fortune then bequeath kingdom and nation to your kith and kin before your decease i am certain of hrothulf he is noble and will use the young ones wellhe will not let you down should you die before him he will treat our children truly and fairly he will honor i am sure our two sons repay them in kind when he recollects all the good things we gave him once the favor and respect he found in childhood she turned then to the bench where her boys sat hrethric and hrothmond with other nobles’ sons all the youth together and that good man beowulf the geat sat between the brothersthe cup was carried to him kind words spoken in welcome and wealth of wrought gold graciously bestowed two arm bangles a mail shirt and rings and the most resplendent torque of gold i have ever heard tell of anywhere on earth or under heaven there was no hoard like it since hama snatched the brosings’ neckchain and bore it away with its gems and settings to his shinning fort away from eormenric’s wiles and hatredand thereby ensured his eternal reward hygelac the geat grandson of swerting wore this neckring on his last raid at bay under his banner he defended the booty treasure he had won fate swept him away because of his proud need to provoke a feud with the frisians he fell beneath his shield in the same gemcrusted kingly gear he had worn when he crossed the frothing wavevat so the dead king fell into frankish hands hey took his breastmail also his necktorque and punier warriors plundered the slain when the carnage ended geat corpses covered the field applause filled the hall then wealhtheow pronounce in the presence of the company take delight in this torque dear beowulf wear it for luck and also wear this mail from our people’s armory may you prosper in them be acclaimed or strength for kindly guidance to these two boys and your bounty will be sure you have won renown you are known to all men far and near now and forever your sway is wide and the wind’s home as the sea around cliffs so my prince i wish you a lifetime’s luck and blessings to enjoy this treasure treat my sons with tender care be strong and kind here each comrade is true to the other loyal to lord loving in spirit the thanes have one purpose the people are ready having drunk and pledged the ranks do as i bid she moved then to her place men were drinking wine at that rare feast how could they know fate the grim shape of things to come the threat looming over many thanes as night approached and king hrothgar prepared to retire to his quarters retainers in great numbers were posted on guard as so often in the past benches were pushed back bedding gear and bolsters spread across the floor and one man lay down to his rest already marked for death at their heads they placed their polished timber battleshields and on the bench above them each man’s kit was kept to hand a towering warhelmet webbed mailshirt and greatshafted spear it was their habit always and everywhere to be ready for action at home or in the camp in whatever case and at whatever time the need arose to rally round their lord they were a right peoplethey went to sleep and one paid dearly for his night’s ease as had happened to them often ever since grendel occupied the goldhall committing evil until the end came death after his crimes then it became clear obvious to everyone once the fight was over that an avenger lurked and was still alive grimly biding time grendel’s mother monstrous hellbride brooded on her wrongs she had been forced down into fearful watersthe cold depths after cain had killed his father’s son felled his own brother with the sword banished an outlaw marked by having murdered he moved into the wilds shunning company and joy and from cain there sprang misbegotten spirits among them grendel the banished and accursed due to come to grips with that watcher in heorot waiting to do battle the monster wrenched and wrestled with him bu beowulf was mindful of his mighty strength the wondrous gifts god had showered on him he relied for help on the lord of all on his care and favor so he overcame the foe brought down the hellbrute broken and bowed outcast from all sweetness the enemy of mankind made for his deathden but now his mother had sallied forth on a savage journey griefracked and ravenous desperate for revenge she came to heorot there inside the hall danes lay asleep earls who would soon endurea great reversal once grendel’s mother attacked and entered her onslaught was less only by as much as an amazon warrior’s in less than an armored man’s when the hefted sword its hammered edge and gleaming blade slathered in blood razes the sturdy boarridge off a helmet then in the hall hardhoned swords were grabbed from the bench many a broad shield lifted and braced there was little thought of helmets or woven mail when they woke in terror the helldam was in panic desperate to get out in mortal terror the moment she was found she had pounced and taken one of the retainers in a tight hold then headed for the fen to hrothgar this man was the most beloved of the friends he trusted between the two seas she had done away with a great warrior ambushed him at rest beowulf was elsewhere earlier after the reward of the treasure the geat had been given another lodging there was an uproar in heorot she had snatched their trophy grendel’s bloodied hand it was a fresh blow to the afflicted bawn the bargain was hard both parties having to pay with the lives of friends and the old lord the grayhaired warrior was heartsore and weary when he heard the news his highestplaced advisor his dearest companion was dead and gone beowulf was quickly brought to the chamberthe winner of fights the archwarrior came firstfooting in with his fellow troops to where the king in his wisdom waited still wondering whether almighty god would even turn the tide of his misfortunes so beowulf entered with his band in attendance and the wooden floorboards banged and rang as he advance hurrying to address the prince of the ingwins asking if he’d rested since the urgent summons had come as a surprise then hrothgar the shieldings’ helmet spoke rest what is rest sorrow has returned alas for the danes aeschere is dead he was yrmenlaf’s elder brother and a soul mate to me a true mentor my righthand man when the ranks clashed and our boarcrests had to take a battering in the line of action aechere was everything the world admires in a wise man and a friend then this roaming killer came in a furyand slaughtered him in heorot where she is hiding glutting on the corpse and glorying in her escape i cannot tell she has taken up the feud because of last night when you killed grendel wrestled and racked him in ruinous combat since for too long he had terrorized us with his depredations he died in battle paid with his life and now this powerful other one arrives this force for evil driven to avenge her kinsman’s deathor so it seems to thanes in their grief in the anguish every thane endures at the loss of a ringgiver now that the hand that bestowed so richly has been stilled in death i have heard it said by my people in hall counselors who live in the upland country that they have seen two such creatures prowling the moors huge marauders from some other world one of these things as far as anyone ever can discernlooks like a woman the other warped in the shape of a man moves beyond the pale bigger than any man an unnatural birth called grendel by country people in former days they are fatherless creatures and their whole ancestry is hidden in a past of demons and ghosts they dwell apart among wolves on hills on windswept crags and treacherous keshes where cold streams pour down the mountain and disappear under mist and moorland a few miles from here a froststiffened wood waits and keeps watch above a mere the overhanging bank is a maze of tree roots mirrored in its surface at night there something uncanny happens the water burns and the mere bottom has never been sounded by the sons of men on its bank the heatherstepper halts the hart in flight from pursuing hounds will turn to face them with firmset horns and die in the wood rather than dive beneath its surface that is no good place when the wind blows up and stormy weather makes clouds scud and the skies weep out of its depths a dirty surge is pitched towards the heavens now help depends again on you and you alone the gap of danger where the demon waits is still unknown to you seek it if you dare i will compensate you for settling the feudas i did last time with lavish wealth coffers of coiled gold if you come back beowulf son of ecgtheow spoke wise sir do not grieve it is always better to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning for every one of us living in this world means waiting for our end let whoever can win glory before death when a warrior is gone that will be his best and only bulwark so arise my lord and let us immediatelyset forth on the trail of this trolldam i guarantee you she will not get away not to dens underground nor upland groves nor the ocean floor she’ll have nowhere to flee to endure your troubles today bear up and be the man i expect you to be with that the old lord sprung to his feet and praised god for beowulf’s pledge then a bit and halter were brought for his horse with the plaited mane the wise king mountedthe royal saddle and rode out in style with a force of shieldbearers the forest paths were marked all over with the monster’s tracks her trail on the ground wherever she had gone across the dark moors dragging away the body of that thane hrothgar’s best counselor and overseer of the country so the noble prince proceeded undismayed up fells and screes along narrow footpaths and ways where they were forced into single fileledges on cliffs above lairs of watermonsters he went in front with a few men good judges of the lie of the land and suddenly discovered the dismal wood mountain trees growing out at an angle above gray stones the bloodshot water surged underneath it was a sore blow to all of the danes friends of the shieldings a hurt to each and every one of that noble company when they came uponaechere’s head at the foot of the cliff everybody gazed as the hot gore kept wallowing up and an urgent warhorn repeated its notes the whole party sat down to watch the water was infested with all kinds of reptiles there were writhing seadragons and monsters slouching on slopes by the cliff serpents and wild things such as those that often surface at dawn to roam the sailroad and doom the voyage down they plunged lashing in anger at the loud call of the battle bugle an arrow from the bow of the geat chief got one of them as he surged to the surface the seasoned shaft stuck deep in his flank and his freedom in the water got less and less it was his last swim he was swiftly overwhelmed in the shallows prodded by barbed boarspears cornered beaten pulled up on the bank a strange lakebirth a loathsome catchmen gazed at in awe beowulf got ready donned his wargear indifferent to death his mighty handforged finewebbed mail would soon meet with the menace under water it would keep the bonecage of his body safe no enemy’s clasp could crush him in it no vicious arm lock choke his life out to guard his head he had a glittering helmet that was due to be muddied on the mere bottom and blurred in the up swirl it was of beaten gold princely headgear hooped and hasped by a weaponsmith who had worked wonders in days gone by and adorned it with boarshapes since then it had resisted every sword and another item lent by unferth at that moment was of no small importance the brehon handed him a hilted weapon a rare and ancient sword named hrunting the iron blade with its illboding patterns had been tempered in blood it had never failed the hand of anyone who had hefted it in battle anyone who had fought and faced the worst in the gap of danger this was not the first time it had been called to perform heroic feats when he lent that blade to the better swordsman unferth the strongbuilt son of ecglaf could hardly have remember the ranting speech he had made in his cups he was not man enough to face the turmoil of a fight under water and the risk to his life so there he lostfame and repute it was different for the other rigged out in his gear ready to do battle beowulf son of ecgtheow spoke wisest of kings now that i have come to the point of action i ask you to recall what we said earlier that you son of halfdane and goldfriend to retainers that you if i should fall and suffer death while serving your cause would act like a father to me afterwards if this combat kills me take care of my young company my comrades in arms and be sure also my beloved hrothgar to send hygelac the treasures i received let the lord of the geats gaze on that gold let hrethel’s son take note of it and see that i found a ringgiver of rare magnificence and enjoyed the good of his generosity and unferth is to have what i inherited to that farfamed man i bequeath my own sharphorned wavesheened wonder blade with hrunting i shall gain glory or die after these words the prince of the weathergeats was impatient to be away and plunged suddenly without more ado he dived in to the heaving depths of the lake it was the best part of a day before he could see the solid bottom quickly the one who haunted those waters who had scavenged and gone her gluttonous rounds for a hundred seasons sensed a human observing her outlandish lair from aboveso she lunged and clutched and managed to catch him in her brutal grip but his body for all that remained unscathed the mesh of the chainmail saved him on the outside her savage talons failed to rip the web of his war shirt then once she touched bottom the wolfish swimmer carried the ringmailed prince to her court so that for all his courage he could never use the weapons he carried and a bewildering horde came at him from the depths droves of seabeastswho attacked with tusks and tore at his chainmail in a ghastly onslaught the gallant man could see he had entered some hellish turnhole and yet the water did not work against him because the hallroofing held off the force of the current then he saw firelight a gleam and flareup a glimmer of brightness the hero observed that swampthing from hell the tarnhag in all her terrible strength then heaved his warsword and swung his arm the decorated blade came down ringing and singing on her head but he soon found his battletorch extinguished the shinning blade refused to bite it spared her and failed the man in his need it had gone through many handtohand fights had hewed the armor and helmets of the doomed but here at last the fabulous powers of that heirloom failed hygelac’s kinsman kept thinking about his name and fame he never lost heartthen in fury he flung his sword away the keen inlaid wormloopedpatterned steel was hurled to the ground he would have to rely on the might of his arm so must a man do who intends to gain enduring glory in a combat life doesn’t cost him thought then the prince of wargeats warming to his fight with grendel’s mother gripped her shoulder and laid about him in a battle frenzy he pitched his killer opponent to the floorbut she rose quickly and retaliated grappled him tightly in her grim embrace the surefooted fight fell daunted the strongest of warriors stumbled and fell so she pounced upon him and pulled out a broad whetted knife now she could avenge her only child but the mesh of chainmail on beowulf’s shoulder shielded his life turned the edge and tip of the blade the son of ecgtheow would surely have perished and the geats lost their warrior under the wide earth had the strong links and locks of his wargear not helped to save him holy god decided the victory it was easy for the lord the ruler of heaven to redress the balance once beowulf got back up on his feet then he saw a blade that boded well a sword in her armory an ancient heirloom from the days of the giants an ideal weapon one that any warrior would envy but so huge and heavy in itself only beowulf could wield it in battle so the shieldings’ hero hardpressed and enraged took a firm hold of the hilt and swung the blade in an arc a resolute blow that bit into her neck bone and severed it entirely toppling the doomed house of her flesh she fell to the floor the sword dripped blood the swordsman was elated a light appeared and the place brightenedthe way the sky does when heaven’s candle is shinning clearly he inspected the vault with sword held high its hilt raised to guard and threaten hygelac’s thane scouted by the wall in grendel’s wake now the weapon was to prove its worth the warrior determined to take revenge for every gross act grendel had committed and not only for that one occasion when he’d come to slaughter the sleeping troops fifteen of hrothgar’s houseguards surprised on their benches and ruthlessly devoured and as many again carried away a brutal plunderer beowulf in his fury now settled that score he saw the monster in his resting place warweary and wrecked a lifeless corpse a casualty of the battle in heorot the body gaped at the stroke dealt to it after death beowulf cut the corpse’s head off immediately the counselors keeping a lookout with hrothgar watching the lake water saw a heaveup and surge of waves and blood in the backwash they bowed gray heads spoke in their sage experienced way about the good warrior how they never again expected to see that prince returning in triumph to their king it was clear to many that the wolf of the deep had destroyed him forever the ninth hour of the day arrived the brave shieldings abandoned their clifftop and the king went home but sick at heart staring at the mere the strangers held on they wished without hope to behold their lord beowulf himself meanwhile the sword began to wilt into gory icicles to slather and thaw it was a wonderful thing the way it all melted as ice melts when the father eases the fetters off the frost and unravels the waterropes he who wields power over time and tide he is the true lord the geat captain saw treasure in abundance but carried no spoils from those quarters except for the head and the inlaid hilt embossed with jewels its blade had melted and the scrollwork on it burnt so scalding was the blood of the poisonous fiend who had perished there then away he swan the one who had survived the fall of his enemies flailing to the surface the wide water the waves and poolswere no longer infested once the wandering fiend let go of her life and this unreliable world the seafarers’ leader made for land resolutely swimming delighted with his prize the mighty load he was lugging to the surface his thanes advanced in a troop to meet him thanking god and taking great delight in seeing their prince back safe and sound quickly the hero’s helmet and mailshirt were loosed and unlaced the lake settled clouds darkened above the bloodshot depths with high hearts they headed away along footpath and trails through the fields roads that they knew each of them wrestling with the head they were carrying from the lakeside cliff men kingly in their courage and capable of difficult work it was a task for four to hoist grendel’s head on a spear and bear it under strain to the bright hall but soon enough they neared the place fourteen geats in fine fettle striding across the outlying ground in a delighted throng around they leader in he came then the thane’s commander the archwarrior to address hrothgar his courage was proven his glory was secure grendel’s head was hauled by the hair dragged across the floor where people were drinking a horror for both queen and company to behold they stared in awe it was an astonishing sightbeowulf son of ecgtheow spoke so son of halfdane prince of the shieldings we are glad to bring this booty from the lake it is a token of triumph and we tender it to you i barely survived the battle underwater it was hardfought a desperate affair that could have gone badly if god had not helped me the outcome would have been quick and fatal although hrunting is hardedged i could never bring it to bear in battlebut the lord of men allowed me to behold for he often helps the unbefriended an ancient sword shinning on the wall a weapon made for giants there for the wielding then my moment came in the combat and i struck the dwellers in that den next thing the damascened sword blade melted it bloated and it burned in their rushing blood i have wrested the hilt from the enemies’ hand avenged the evil done to the danes it is what was due and this i pledge o prince of the shieldings you can sleep secure with your company of troops in heorot hall never need you fear for a single thane of your sept or nation young warriors or old that laying waste of life that you and your people endured of yore then the gold hilt was handed over to the old lord a relic from long ago for the venerable ruler that rare smith work was passed on to the prince of the danes when those devils perished once death removed that murdering guiltsteeped godcursed fiend eliminating his unholy life and his mother’s as well it was willed that the king who of all the lavish giftlords of the north was the best regarded between the two seas hrothgar spoke he examined the hilt that relic of old times it was engraved all over and showed how war first came into the world and the flood destroyed the tribe of giants they suffered a terrible severance from the lord the almighty made the waters rise drowned them in the deluge for retribution in pure gold inlay on the swordguards there were rune markings correctly incised stating and recording for whom the sword had been first made and ornamented with its scrollwork hilt then everyone hushed as the son of halfdane spoke his wisdom a protector of his people pledged to upholdtruth and justice and to respect tradition is entitled to affirm that this man was born to distinction beowulf my friend your fame has gone far and wide you are known everywhere in all things you are eventempered prudent and resolute so i stand firm by the promise of friendship we exchanged before forever you will be your people’s mainstay and your own warriors’ helping hand heremod was different the way he behaved to ecgwala’s sonshis rise in the world brought little joy to the danish people only death and destruction he vented his rage on people he caroused with killed his own comrades a pariah king who cut himself off from his own kind even though god almighty had made him eminent and powerful and marked him from the start for a happy life but a change happened he grew bloodthirsty gave no more rings to honor the danes he suffered in the endfor having plagued his people for so long his life lost happiness so learn from this and understand true values i who tell you have wintered into wisdom it is a great wonder how almighty god in his magnificence favors our race with rank and scope and the gift of wisdom his sway is wide sometimes he allows the mind of a man of distinguished birth to follow its bent grants him fulfillment and felicity on earth and forts to command in his own country he permits him to lord it in many lands until the man in his unthinkingness forgets that it will ever end for him he indulges his desires illness and old age mean nothing to him his mind is untroubled by envy or malice or thought of enemies with their hatehoned swords the whole world conforms to his will he is kept from the worst until an element of overweeningenters him and takes hold while the soul’s guard its sentry drowses grown too distracted a killer stalks him an archer who draws a deadly bow and then the man is hit in the heart the arrow flies beneath his defenses the devious promptings of the demon start his old possessions seem paltry to him now he covets and resents dishonors custom and bestows no gold and because of good thingsthat the heavenly powers gave him in the past he ignores the shape of things to come then finally the end arrives when the body he was lent collapses and falls prey to its death ancestral possessions and the goods he hoarded and inherited by another who lets them go with a liberal hand o flower of warriors beware of that trap choose dear beowulf the better part eternal rewards do not give way to pridefor a brief while your strength is in bloom but it fades quickly and soon there will follow illness or the sword to lay you low or a sudden fire or surge of water or jabbing blade or javelin from the air or repellent age your piercing eye will dim and darken and death will arrive dear warrior to sweep you away just so i ruled the ringdanes’ country for fifty years defended them in wartimewith spear and sword against constant assaults by many tribes i came to believe my enemies had faded from the face of the earth still what happened was a hard reversal from bliss to grief grendel struck after lying in wait he laid waste the land and from that moment my mind was in dread of his depredations so i praise god in his heavenly glory that i lived to behold this head dripping blood and after such harrowingi can look upon it in triumph at last take your place then with pride and pleasure and move to the feast tomorrow morning our treasure will be shared and showered upon you the geat was elated and gladly obeyed the old man’s biding he sat on the bench and soon all was restored the same as before happiness came back the hall was thronged and a banquet set forth black night fell and covered them in darknessthen the company rose for the old campaigner the grayhaired prince was ready for bed and a need for rest came over the brave shieldbearing geat he was a weary seafarer far from home so immediately a houseguard guided him out one whose office entailed looking after whatever a thane on the road in those days might need or require it was noble courtesy that great heart rested the hall towered goldshingled and gabled and the guest slept in ituntil the black raven with raucous glee announced heaven’s joy and a hurry of brightness overran the shadows warriors rose quickly impatient to be off their own country was beckoning the nobles and the bold voyager longed to be aboard his distant boat then that stalwart fighter ordered hrunting to be brought to unferth and bade unferth take the sword and thanked him for lending it he said he had found it a friend in battle and a powerful help he put no blame on the blade’s cutting edge he was a considerate man and there the warriors stood in their wargear eager to go while their honored lord approached the platform where the other sat the undaunted hero addressed hrothgar beowulf son of ecgtheow spoke now we who crossed the wide sea have to inform you that we feel a desire to return to hygelac here we have been welcomedand thoroughly entertain you have treated us well if there is any favor on earth i can perform beyond deeds of arms i have done already anything that would merit your affections more i shall act my lord with alacrity if ever i hear from across the ocean that people on your borders are threatening battle as attackers have done from time to time i shall land with a thousand thanes at my back to help your cause hygelac may be youngto rule a nation but this much i know about the king of the geats he will come to my aid and want to support me by word and action in your hour of need when honor dictates that i raise a hedge of spears around you then if hrethric should think about traveling as a king’s son to the court of the geats he will find many friend foreign places yield more to one who is himself worth meeting hrothgar spoke and answered him the lord in his wisdom sent you those words and they came from the heart i have never heard so young a man make truer observations you are strong in body and mature in mind impressive in speech if it should come to pass that hrethel’s descendant dies beneath a spear if deadly battle or the sword blade or disease fells the prince who guards your people and you are still alive i firmly believe the seafaring geats won’t find a man worthier of acclaim as their king and defender than you if only you would undertake the lordship of your homeland my liking for you deepens with time dear beowulf what you have done is to draw two peoples the geat nation and us neighboring danes into shared peace and a pact of friendship in spite of hatreds we have harbored in the past for as long as i rule this farflung land treasures will change hands and each side will treat the other with gifts across the gannet’s bath over the broad sea whorled prows will bring presents and tokens i know your people are beyond reproach in every respect steadfast in the old way with friend or foe then the earl’s defender furnished the hero with twelve treasures and told him to set out sail with those gifts safely home to the people he loved but to return promptly and so the good and grayhaired danethat highborn king kissed beowulf and embraced his neck then broke down in sudden tears two forebodings disturbed him in his wisdom but one was stronger nevermore would they meet each other face to face and such was his affection that he could not help being overcome his fondness for the man was so deepfounded it warmed his heart and wound the heartstrings tight in his breast the embrace ended and beowulf glorious in his gold regalia stepped on the green earth straining at anchor and ready for boarding his boat awaited him so they went on their journey and hrothgar’s generosity was praised repeatedly he was a peerless king until old age sapped his strength and did him mortal harm as it has done so many down to the waves then dressed in the web of their chainmail and warshirts the young men marched in high spirits the coastguard spied themthanes setting forth the same as before his salute this time from the top of the cliff was far from unmannerly he galloped to meet them and as they took ship in their shinning gear he said how welcome they would be in geatland then the broad hull was beached on the sand to be cargoed with treasure horses and wargear the curved prow motioned the mast stood high above hrothgar’s riches in the loaded hold the guard who had watched the boat was given a sword with gold fittings and in future days that present would make him a respected man at his place on the meadbench then the keel plunged and shook in the sea and they sailed from denmark right away the mast was rigged with its seashawl sail ropes were tightened timbers drummed and stiff winds kept the wavecrosser skimming ahead as she heaved forward her foamy neck was fleet and buoyant a lapped prow loping over currentsuntil finally the geats caught sight of coastline and familiar cliffs the keel reared up wind lifted it home it hit on the land the harbor guard came hurrying out to the rolling water he had watched the offing long and hard on the lookout for those friends with the anchor cables he moored their craft right where it had beached in case a backwash might catch the hull and carry it away then he ordered the prince’s treasuretroveto be carried ashore it was a short step from there to where hrethel’s son and heir hygelac the goldgiver makes his home on a secure cliff in the company of retainers the building was magnificent the king majestic ensconced in his hall and although hygd his queen was young a few short years at court her mind was thoughtful and her manners sure haereth’s daughter behaved generously and stinted nothing when she distributed bounty to the geats great queen modthryth perpetrated terrible wrongs if any retainer ever made bold to look her in the face if an eye not her lord’s stared at her directly during daylight the outcome was sealed he was bound in handtightened shackles racked tortured until doom was announceddeath by the sword slash of blade blood gush and death qualms in an evil display even a queenoutstanding in beauty must not overstep like that a queen should weave peace not punish the innocent with loss of life for imagined insults but hemming’s kinsman put a halt to her ways and drinkers round the table had another tale she was less of a bane to people’s lives less cruelminded after she was married to the brave offa a bride arrayed in her gold finery given away by a caring father ferried to her young princeover dim seas in days to come she would grace the throne and grow famous for her good deeds and conduct of life her high devotion to the hero king who was the best king it has been said between the two seas or anywhere else on the face of the earth offa was honored far and wide for his generous ways his fighting spirit and his farseeing defense of his homeland from him there sprang eomergarmund’s grandson kinsman of hemming his warrior’s mainstay and master of the field heroic beowulf and his band of men crossed the wide strand striding along the sandy foreshore the sun shone the world’s candle warmed them from the south as they hastened to where as they had heard the young king ongentheow’s killer and his people’s protector was dispensing rings inside his bawn beowulf’s return was reported to hygelac as soon as possible news that the captain was now in the enclosure his battlebrother back from the fray alive and well walking back to the hall room was quickly made on the king’s orders and the troops filed across the cleared floor after hygelac had offered greetings to his loyal thane in lofty speech he and his kinsman that hale survivor sat face to face haereth’s daughtermoved about with the meadjug in her hand taking care of the company filling the cups that warriors held out then hygelac began to put courteous questions to his old comrade in the high hall he hankered to know every tale the seageats had to tell how did you fare on your foreign voyage dear beowulf when you abruptly decided to sail away across the salt water and fight at heorot did you help hrothgar much in the end could you ease the prince of his wellknown troubles your undertaking cast my spirits down i dreaded the outcome of your expedition and pleaded with you long and hard to leave the killer be let the southdanes settle their own bloodfeud with grendel so god be thanked i am granted this sight of you safe and sound beowulf son of ecgtheow spoke what happened lord hygelac is hardly a secret any more among men in this world myself and grendel coming to grips on the very spot where he visited destruction on the victoryshieldings and violated life and limb loses i avenged so no earthly offspring of grendel’s need ever boast of that bout before dawn no matter know long the last of his evil family survives when i first landed i hastened to the ringhall and saluted hrothgaronce he had discovered why i had come the son of halfdane sent me immediately to sit with his own sons on the bench it was a happy gathering in my whole life i have never seen mead enjoyed more in any hall on earth sometimes the queen herself appeared peacepledge between nations to hearten the young ones and hand out a torque to a warrior then take her place sometimes hrothgar’s daughter distributedale to older ranks in order on the benches i heard the company call her freawaru as she made her rounds presenting men with the gemstudded bowl young bridetobe to the gracious ingeld in her goldrimmed attire the friend of the shieldings favors her betrothal the guardian of the kingdom sees good in it and hoped this woman will heal old wounds and grievous feuds but generally the spear is prompt to retaliate when a prince is killedno matter how admirable the bride may be think how the heathobards will be bound to feel their lord ingeld and his loyal thanes when he walks in with that woman to the feast danes are at the table being entertained honored guest in glittering regalia burnished ringmail that was their hosts’ birthright looted when the heathobards could no longer wield their weapons in the shieldclash when they went down with their beloved comrades and forfeited their lives then an old spearman will speak while they are drinking having glimpsed some heirloom that brings alive memories of the massacre his mood will darken and heartstricken in the stress of his emotion he will begin to test a youngman’s temper and stir up trouble starting like this now my friend don’t you recognize your father’s sword his favorite weapon then one he wore when he went out in his warmask to face the danes on that final day after wethergeld died and his men were doomed the shieldings quickly took the field and now here’s the son of one or other of those same killers coming through our hall overbearing us mouthing boasts and rigged in armor that by right is yours’ and so he keeps on recalling and accusing working things up with bitter words until one of the lady’s retainers lies spattered in blood split open on his father’s account the killer knows the lie of the land and escaped with his life then on both sides the oathbound lords will break the peace a passionate hate will build up in ingeld and love for his bride will falter in him as the feud rankles i therefore suspect the good faith of the heathobards the truth of their friendship and the trustworthiness of their alliance with the danes but now my lord i shall carry on with my account of grendel the whole story of everything that happened in the handtohand fight after heaven’s gem had gone mildly to earth that maddened spirit the terror of those twilights came to attack us where we stood guard still safe inside the hall there deadly violence came down on handscio and he fell as fate ordained the first to perish rigged out for the combat a comrade from our ranks had come to grief in grendel’s maw he ate up the entire body there was blood on his teeth he was bloated and furious all roused up yet still unready to leave the hall emptyhanded renowned for his might he matched himself against me wildly reaching he had this roomy pouch a strange accoutrement intricately strung and hung at the ready a rare patchwork of devilishly fitting dragonskins i had done him no wrong yet the raging demon wanted to cram me and many another into this bagbut it was not to beonce i got to my feet in a blind fury it would take too long to tell how i repaid the terror of the land for every life he took and so won credit for you my king and for all your people and although he got away to enjoy life’s sweetness for a while longer his right hand stayed behind him in heorot evidence of his miserable overthrow as he dived into murk on the mere bottomi got lavish rewards from the lord of the danes for my part in the battle beaten gold and much else once morning came and we took our places at the banquet table there was singing and excitement an old reciter a carrier of stories recalled the early days at times some hero made the timbered harp tremble with sweetness or related true and tragic happenings at times the king gave the proper turn to some fantastic tale or a battlescarred veteran bowed with age would begin to remember the martial deeds of his youth and prime and be overcome as the past welled up in his wintry heart we were happy there the whole day long and enjoyed our time until another night descended upon us then suddenly the vehement mother avenged her son and wreaked destruction death had robbed her geats had slain grendel so his ghastly damstruck back and with barefaced defiance laid a man low thus life departed from the sage auschere an elder wise in council but afterwards on the morning following the danes could not burn the dead body nor lay the remains of the man they loved on his funeral pyre she had fled with the corpse and taken refuge beneath torrents on the mountain it was a hard blow for hrothgar to bear harder than any he had undergone before and so the heartsore king beseeched me in your royal name to take my chances underwater to win glory and prove my worth he promised me rewards hence as is well known i went to my encounter with the terrormonger at the bottom of the tarn for a while it was handtohand between us then blood went curdling along the currents and i beheaded grendel’s mother in the hall with a mighty sword i barely managed to escape with my life my time had not yet come but halfdane’s heir the shelter of those earls again endowed me with gifts in abundance thus the king acted with due custom i was paid and recompensed completely given full measure and the freedom to choose from hrothgar’s treasures by hrothgar himself these king hygelac i am happy to present to you as gifts it is still upon your grace that all favor depends i have few kinsmanwho are close my king except for your kind self then he order the boarframed standard to be brought the battletopping helmet the mailshirt gray as hoarfrost and the precious warsword and proceeded with his speech when hrothgar presented this wargear to me he instructed my lord to give you some account of why it signifies his special favor he said it had belonged to his older brother king heorogar who had long kept it but that heorogar had never bequeathed itto his son heoroweard that worthy scion loyal as he was enjoy it well i heard four horses were handed over next beowulf bestowed four bay steeds to go with the armor swift gallopers all alike so ought a kinsman act instead of plotting and planning in secret to bring people to grief or conspiring to arrange the death of comrades the warrior king was uncle to beowulf and honored by his nepheweach was concerned for the other’s good i heard he presented hygd with a gorget the priceless torque that the prince’s daughter wealhtheow had given him and three horses supple creatures brilliantly saddled the bright necklace would be luminous on hygd’s breast thus beowuld bore himself with valor he was formidable in battle yet behaved with honor and took no advantage never cut down a comrade who was drunk kept his temper and warrior that he was watched and controlled his godsent strength and his outstanding natural powers he had been poorly regarded for a long time was taken by the geats for less than he was worth and their lord too had never much esteemed him in the meadhall they firmly believed that he lacked force that the prince was a weakling but presently every affront to his deserving was reversed the battlefamed king bulwark of his earls ordered a goldchased heirloom of hrethel’s to be brought in it was the best example of a gemstudded sword in the geat treasury this he laid on beowulf’s lap and then rewarded him with land as well seven thousand hides and a hall and a throne both owned land by birth in that country ancestral ground but the greater right and sway were inherited by the higher born a lot was to happen in later daysin the fury of battle hygelac fell and the shelter of heardred’s shield proved useless against the fierce aggression of the shylfings ruthless swordsmen seasoned campaigners they came against him and his conquering nation and with cruel force cut him down so that afterwards the wide kingdom reverted to beowulf he ruled it well for fifty winters grew old and wise as warden of the landuntil one began to dominate the dark a dragon on the prowl from the steep vaults of a stoneroofed barrow where he guarded a hoard there was a hidden passage unknown to men but someone managed to enter by it and interfere with the heathen trove he had handled and removed a gemstudded goblet it gained him nothing though with a thief’s wiles he had outwitted the sleeping dragon that drove him into rage as the people of that country would soon discover the intruder who broached the dragon’s treasure and moved him to wrath had never meant to it was desperation on the part of a slave fleeing the heavy hand of some master guiltridden and on the run going to ground but he soon began to shake with terror in shock the wretch panicked and ran away with the precious metalwork there were many other heirlooms heaped inside the earthhouse because long ago with deliberate care somebody now forgotten had buried the riches of a highborn race in this ancient cache death had come and taken them all in times gone by and the only one left to tell their tale the last of their line could look forward to nothing but the same fate for himself he foresaw that his joy in the treasure would be brief a newly constructed barrow stood waiting on a wide headland close to the waves its entryway secured into it the keeper of the hoard had carried all the goods and golden ware worth preserving his words were few now earth hold what earls once held and heroes can no more it was mined from you first by honorable men my own people have been ruined in war one by onethey went down to death looked their last on sweet life in the hall i am left with nobody to bear a sword or burnish plated goblets put a sheen on the cup the companies have departed the hard helmet hasped with gold will be stripped of its hoops and the helmetshiner who should polish the metal of the warmask sleeps the coat of mail that came through all fights through shieldcollapse and cut of sword decays with the warrior now may webbed mailrange far and wide on a warlord’s back beside his mustered troops no trembling harp no tuned timber no tumbling hawk swerving through the hall no swift horse pawing the courtyard pillage and slaughter have emptied the earth of entire peoples and so he mourned as he moved about the world deserted and alone lamenting his unhappiness day and night until death’s flood brimmed up in his heart then an old harrower of the dark happened to find the hoard open the burning one who hunts out barrows the slickskinned dragon threatening the night sky with streamers of fire people on the farms are in dread of him he is driven to hunt out hoards under ground to guard heathen gold through agelong vigils though to little avail for three centuries this scourge of the people had stood guard on that stoutly protected underground treasury until the intruder unleashed its fury he hurried to his lord with the goldplated cup and made his plea to be reinstated then the vault was rifled the ringhoard robbed and the wretched man had his request granted his master gazed on that find from the past for the first time when the dragon awoke trouble flared again he rippled down the rock writhing with anger when he saw the footprints of the prowler who had stolen too close to his dreaming headso may a man not marked by fate easily escape exile and woe by the grace of god the hoardguardian scorched the ground as he scoured and hunted for the trespasser who had troubled his sleep hot and savage he kept circling and circling the outside of the mound no man appeared in that desert waste but he worked himself up by imagining battle then back in he’d go in search of the cup only to discover signs that someone had stumbled upon the golden treasures the guardian of the mound the hoardwatcher waited for the gloaming with fierce impatience his pentup fury at the loss of the vessel made him long to hit back and lash out in flames then to his delight the day waned and he could wait no longer behind the wall but hurtled forth in a fiery blaze the first to suffer were the people on the land but before long it was their treasuregiver who would come to grief the dragon began to belch out flames and burn bright homesteads there was a hot glow that scared everyone for the vile skywinger would leave nothing alive in his wake everywhere the havoc he wrought was in evidence far and near the geat nation bore the brunt of his brutal assaults and virulent hate then back to the hoard he would dart before daybreak to hide in his den he had swinged the land swathed it in flame in fire and burning and now he felt secure in the vaults of his burrow but his trust was unavailing then beowulf was given bad news a hard truth his own home the best of buildings had been burnt to a cinder the throneroom of the geats it threw the hero into deep anguish and darkened his mood the wise man thought he must have thwarted ancient ordinance of the eternal lord broken his commandment his mind was in turmoil unaccustomed anxiety and gloom confused his brain the firedragon had rased the coastal region and reduced forts and earthworks to dust and ashes so the warking planned and plotted his revenge the warriors’ protector prince of the halltroop ordered a marvelous alliron shield from his smithy works he well knew that linden boards would let him downand timber burn after many trials he was destined to face the end of his days in this mortal world as was the dragon for all his leasehold on the treasure yet the prince of the rings was too proud to line up with a large army against the skyplague he had scant regard for the dragon as a threat no dread at all of its courage or strength for he had kept going often in the past through perils and ordealsof every sort after he had purged hrothgar’s hall triumphed in heorot and beaten grendel he outgrappled the monster and his evil kin one of his cruelest handtohand encounters had happened when hygelac king of the geats was killed in friesland the people’s friend and lord hrethel’s son slaked a sword blade’s thirst for blood but beowulf’s prodigious gifts as a swimmer guaranteed his safetyhe arrived at the shore shouldering thirty battledresses the booty he had won there was little for the hetware to be happy about as they shielded their faces and fighting on the ground began in earnest with beowulf against them few could hope to return home across the wide sea desolate and alone the son of ecgtheow swam back to his people there hygd offered him throne and authority as lord of the ringhoard with hygelac deadshe had no belief in her son’s ability to defend their homeland against foreign invaders yet there was no way the weakened nation could get beowulf to give in and agree to be elevated over heardred as his lord or to undertake the office of kingship but he did provide support for the prince honored and minded him until he matured as the ruler of geatland then over searoads exiles arrived sons of ohthere they had rebelled against the best of all the seakings in sweden the one who held sway in the shylfing nation their renowned prince lord of the meadhall that marked the end for hygelac’s son his hospitality was mortally rewarded with wounds from a sword heardred lay slaughtered and onela returned to the land of sweden leaving beowulf to ascend the throne to sit in majesty and rule over the geats he was a good kingin days to come he contrived to avenge the fall of his prince he befriended eadgils when eadgils was friendless aiding his cause with weapons and warriors over the wide sea sending him men the feud was settled on a comfortless campaign when he killed onela and so the son of ecgtheow had survived every extreme excelling himself in daring and in danger until the day arrived when he had to come face to face with the dragonthe lord of the geats took eleven comrades and went in a rage to reconnoiter by then he had discovered the cause of the affliction being visited on the people the precious cup had come to him from the hand of the finder the one who had started all this strife and was now added as a thirteenth to their number they pressganged and compelled this poor creature to be their guide against his will he led them to the earthvault he alone knewan underground barrow near the seabillows and heaving waves heaped inside with exquisite metalwork the one who stood guard was dangerous and watchful warden of that trove buried under earth no easy bargain would be made in that place by any man the veteran king sat down on the clifftop he wished good luck to the geats who had shared his hearth and his gold he was sad at heart unsettled yet ready sensing his own deathhis fate hovered near unknowable but certain it would soon claim his coffered soul part life from limb before long the prince’s spirit would spin free from his body beowulf son of ecgtheow spoke many a skirmish i survived when i was young and many times of war i remember them well at seven i was fostered out by my father left in the charge of my people’s lord king hrethel kept me and took care of mewas openhanded behaved lie a kinsman while i was his ward he treated me no worse as a wean about the place than one of his own boys herebeald and haethcyn or my own hygelac for the eldest herebeald an unexpected deathbed was laid out through a brother’s doing when haethcyn bent his horntipped bow and loosed the arrow that destroyed his life he shot wide and buried a shaft in the flesh and blood of his own brother that offence was beyond redress a wrong footing of the heart’s affections for who could avenge the prince’s life or pay his deathprice it was like the misery felt by an old man who has lived to see his son’s body swing on the gallows he begins to keen and weep for his boy watching the raven gloat where he hangs he can be of no help the wisdom of age is worthless to him morning after morning he wakes to rememberthat his child is gone he has no interest in living on until another heir is born in the hall now that his firstborn has entered death’s dominion forever he gazes sorrowfully at his son’s dwelling the banquet hall bereft of all delight the windswept hearthstone the horsemen are sleeping the warriors underground what was is no more no tunes from the harp no cheer raised in the yard alone with his longing he lies down on his bed and sings a lament everything seems too large the steadings and the fields such was the feeling of loss endured by the lord of the geats after herebeald’s death he was hopelessly placed to set to rights the wrong committed could not punish the killer in accordance of the law of the bloodfeud although he felt no love for him heartsore wearied he turned away from life’s joys chose god’s light and departed leaving buildings and landsto his sons as a man of substance will then over the wide seas swedes and geats battled and feuded and fought without quarter hostilities broke out when hrethel died ongentheow’s sons were unrelenting refusing to make peace campaigning violently from coast to coast constantly setting up terrible ambushes around hreasnshill my own kith and kin avenged these evil events as everybody knows but the price was high one of them paid with his life heathcyn lord of the geats met his fate there and fell in battle then as i have heard hygelac’s sword was raised in the morning against ongentheow his brother’s killer when eofor cleft the old swede’s helmet halved it open he fell deathpale his feudcalloused hand could not stave off the fatal stroke the treasures that hygelac lavished on me i paid for as i fought as fortune allowed me with my glittering sword he gave me land and the security land brings so he had no call to go looking for some lesser champion some mercenary among the grifthas or the speardanes or the men of sweden i marched ahead of him always there at the front of the line and i shall fight like that for as long as i live as long as this sword shall last which has stood me in good stead late and soon ever since i killed dayraven the frank in front of the two armies he brought back no looted breastplate to the frisian king but fell in battle their standardbearer highborn and brave no sword blade sent him to his death my bare hands stilled his heartbeats and wrecked the bonehouse now blade and hand sword and swordstroke will assay the hoard beowulf spoke made a formal boast for the last time i risked my life often when i was young now i am old but as king of this people i shall pursue this fight for the glory of winning if the evil one will only abandon his earthfort and face me in the open then he addressed each dear companion one final time those fighters in their helmets resolute and highborn i would rather not use a weapon if i knew another way to grapple with the dragon and make good my boastas i did against grendel in days gone by but i shall be meeting molten venom in the fire he breaths so i go forth in mailshirt and shield i won’t shift a foot when i meet the caveguard what occurs on the wall between the two of us will turn out as fate overseer of men decides i am resolved i scorn further words against this skyborn foe men at arms remain here on the barrow safe in your armor to see which one of us is better in the end at bearing wounds in a deadly fray this fight is not yours nor is it up to any man except me to measure his strength against the monster or to prove his worth i shall win the gold by my courage or else mortal combat doom of battle will bear your lord away then he drew himself up beside his shield the fabled warrior in his warshirt and helmet trusted in his own strength entirely and went under the crag no coward path hard by the rockface that hale veteran a good man who had gone repeatedly into combat and danger and come through saw a stone arch and a gushing stream that burst from the barrow blazing and wafting a deadly heat it would be hard to survive unscathed near the hoard to hold firm against the dragon in those flaming depths then he gave a shout the lord of the geats unburdened his breast and broke out in a storm of anger under gray stone his voice challenged and resounded clearly heat was ignited the hoardguard recognized a human voice the time was over for peace and parleying pouring forth in a hot battlefume the breath of the monster burst from the rock there was a rumble underground down there in the barrow beowulf the warrior lifted his shield the outlandish thingwrithed and convulsed and viciously turned on the king whose keenedgedsword and heirloom inherited by ancient right was already in his hand roused to a fury each antagonist struck terror in the other unyielding the lord of his people loomed by his tall shield sure of his ground while the serpent looped and unleashed itself swaddled in flames it came gliding and flexing and racing toward its fate yet his shield defended the renowned leader’s life and limb for a shorter time than he meant it to that final day was the first time when beowulf fought and fate denied him glory in battle so the king of the geats raised his hand and struck hard at the enameled scales but hardly cut through the blade flashed and slashed yet the blow was far less powerful than the hardpressed king had need of at the moment the hoardkeeper went into a spasm and spouted deadly flames when he felt the stroke battlefire billowed and spewed beowulf was foiled of a glorious victory the glittering sword infallible before that day failed when he unsheathed it as it never should have for the son of ecgtheow it was no easy thing to have to give ground like that and go unwillingly to inhabit another home in a place beyond so every man must yield the leasehold of his days before long the fierce contenders clashed again the hoardguard took heart inhaled and swelled up and got a new wind he who had once ruled was furled in fire and had to face the worst no help or backing was to be had then from his highborn comrades that handpicked troop broke ranks and ran for their lives to the safety of the wood but within one heart sorrow welled up in a man of worththe claims of kinship cannot be denied his name was wiglaf a son of weohstan’s a wellregarded shylfing warrior related to aelfhere when he saw his lord tormented by the heat of his scalding helmet he remember the bountiful gifts he bestowed on him how well he lived among the waegmundings the freehold he inherited from his father before him he could not hold back one hand brandished the yellowtimbered shield the other drew his sword an ancient blade that was said to have belonged to eanmund the son of ohthere the one weohstan had slain when he was in exile without friends he carried the arms to the victim’s kinfolk the burnished helmet the webbed chainmail and that relic of the giants but onela retuned the weapons to him rewarded weohstan with eadmund’s wargear he ignored the bloodfeud the fact that eadmund was his brother’s son weohstan kept that wargear for a lifetimethe sword and the mailshirt until it was the son’s turn to follow his father and perform his part then in old age at the end of his days among the weathergeats he bequeathed to wiglaf innumerable weapons and now the youth was to enter the line of battle with his lord his first time to be tested as a fighter his spirit did not break and the ancestral blade would keep its edge as the dragon discovered as soon as they came together in combat sad at heart addressing his companions wiglaf spoke wise and fluent words i remember that time when the mead was flowing how we pledged loyalty to our lord in the hall promised our ringgiver we would be worth our price make good the gift of the wargear those swords and helmets as and when his need required it he picked us out from the army deliberately honored us and judged us fit for this action made me these lavish giftsand all because he considered us the best of his armsbearing thanes and now although he wanted this challenge to be the one he’d face by himself alonethe shepherd of our land a man unequalled in the quest for glory and a name for daringnow the day has come when this lord we serve needs sound men to give him their support let us go to him help our leader through the hot flame and dread of the fire as god is my witnessi would rather my body were robbed in the same burning blaze as my goldgiver’s body than go back home bearing arms that is unthinkable unless we have first slain the foe and defended the life of the prince of the weathergeats i well know that things he has done for us deserve better should he alone be left exposed to fall in battle we must bond together shield and helmet mailshirt and swordthen he wadded the dangerous reek and went under arms to his lord saying only go on dear beowulf do everything you said you would when you were still young and vowed you would never let your name and fame be dimmed while you lived your deeds are famous so stay resolute my lord defend your life now with the whole of your strength i shall stand by you after those word a wildness rose in the dragon again and drove it to attack heaving up fire hunting for enemies the humans it loathed flames lapped the shield charred it to the boss and the body armor on the young warrior was useless to him but wiglaf did well under the wide rim beowulf shared with him once his own had shattered in sparks and ashes inspired again by the thought of glory the warking threw his whole strength behind a swordstroke and connected with the skull and naegling snapped beowulf’s ancient irongray sword let him down in the fight it was never his fortune to be helped in combat by the cuttingedge of weapons made of iron when he yielded a sword no matter how blooded and hardedged the blade his hand was too strong the stroke he dealt (i have heard) would ruin it he could reap no advantage then the bane of that people the firebreathing dragon was mad to attack for a third time when a chance came he caught the hero in a rush of flame and clamped sharp fangs into his neck beowulf’s body ran wet with his lifeblood it came welling out next thing they say the noble son of weohstan saw the king in danger at his side and displayed his inborn bravery and strength he left the head alone but his fighting hand was burned when he came to his kinsman’s aid he lunged at the enemy lower down so that his decorated sword sank into its bellyand the flames grew weaker once again the king gathered his strength and drew a stabbing knife he carried on his belt sharpened for battle he stuck it deep into the dragon’s flank beowulf dealt it a deadly wound they had killed the enemy courage quelled his life that pair of kinsmen partners in nobility had destroyed the foe so every man should act be at hand when needed but now for the king this would be the last of his many laborsand triumphs in the world then the wound dealt by the groundburner earlier began to scald and swell beowulf discovered deadly poison suppurating inside him surges of nausea and so in his wisdom the prince realized his state and struggled towards a seat on the rampart he steadied his gazed on those gigantic stones saw how the earthwork was braced with arches built over columns and now that thane unequalled for goodness with his own hands washed his lord’s wounds swabbed the weary prince with water bathed him clean unbuckled his helmet beowulf spoke in spite of his wounds mortal wounds he still spoke for he well knew his days in the world had been lived out to the end his allotted time was drawing to a close death was very near now is the time when i would have wanted to bestow this armor on my own sonhad it been my fortune to have fathered an heir and live on in his flesh for fifty years i ruled this nation no king of any neighboring clan would dare face me with troops none had the power to intimidate me i took what came cared for and stood by things in my keeping never fomented quarrels never swore to a lie all this consoles me doomed as i am and sickening for deathbecause of my right way the ruler of mankind need never blame me when the breath leaves my body for murder of kinsmen go now quickly dearest wiglaf under the gray stone where the dragon is laid out lost to his treasure hurry to feast your eyes on the hoard away you go i want to examine that ancient gold gaze my fill on those garnered jewels my going will be easier for having seen the treasure a less troubled lettinggo of the life and lordship i have long maintained and so i have heard the son of weohstan quickly obeyed the command of his languishing warweary lord he went in his chainmail under the rockpiled roof of the barrow exulting in his triumph and saw beyond the seat a treasuretrove of astonishing richness wallhangings that were a wonder to behold glittering gold spread across the ground the old dawnscorching serpent’s den packed with goblets and vessels of the past tarnished and corroding rusty helmets all eaten away armbands everywhere artfully wrought how easily treasure buried in the ground gold hidden however skillfully can escape from any man and he saw too a standard entirely of gold hanging high over the hoard a masterpiece of filigree it glowed with light so he could make out the ground at his feetand inspect the valuables of the dragon there was no remaining sign the sword had dispatched him then the story goes a certain man plundered the hoard in the immemorial howe filled his arms with flagons and plates anything he wanted and took the standard also most brilliant of banners already the blade of the old king’s sharp killingsword had done its worst the one who had for long minded the hoard hovering over goldunleashing fire surging forth midnight after midnight had been mown down wiglaf went quickly keen to get back excited by the treasure anxiety weighed on his brave hearthe was hoping he would find the leader of the geats alive where he had left him helpless earlier on the open ground so he came to the place carrying the treasure and found his lord bleeding profusely his life at an end again he began to swab his body the beginnings of an utterance broke out from the king’s breastcage the old lord gazed sadly at the gold to the everlasting lord of all to the king of glory i give thanks that i beheld this treasure here in front of me that i have been allowed to leave my people so well endowed on the day i die now that i have bartered my last breath to own this fortune it is up to you to look after their needs i can hold out no longer order my troop to construct a barrow on a headland on the coast after my pyre has cooled it will loom in the horizon at hronesness and be a reminder among my people so that in coming times crews under sail will call it beowulf’s barrow as they steer ships across the wide and shrouded waters then the king in his greatheartedness unclasped the collar of gold from his neck and gave it to the young thane telling him to use it and the war shirt and the gilded helmet well you are the last of us the only one left of the waegmundings fate swept us away sent my whole brave highborn clan to their final doom now i must follow them that was the warrior’s last word he had no more to confide the furious heat of the pyre would assail him his soul fled from his breast to its destined place among the steadfast onesit was hard then on the young hero having to watch the one he held so dear there on the ground going through his death agony the dragon from underearth his nightmarish destroyer lay destroyed as well utterly without life no longer would his snake folds ply themselves to safeguard hidden gold hardedged blades hammered out and keenly filed had finished him so that the skyroamer lay there rigidbrought low beside the treasurelodge never again would he glitter and glide and show himself off in midnight air exulting in his riches he fell to earth through the battlestrength in beowulf’s arm there were few indeed as far as i have heard big and brave as they may have been few who would have held out if they had had to face the outpourings of that poisonbreather or gone foraging on the ringhall floorand found the deep barrowdweller on guard and awake the treasure had been won bought and paid for by beowulf’s death both had reached the end of the road through the life they had been lent before long the battledodgers abandoned the wood the ones who had let down their lord earlier the tailturners ten of them together when he needed them the most they had made off now they were ashamed and came behind shields in their battleoutfits to where the old man lay they watched wiglaf sitting worn out a comrade shoulder to shoulder with his lord trying in vain to bring him round with water much as he wanted to there was no way he could preserve his lord’s life on earth or alter in the least the almighty’s will what god judged right would rule what happened to every man as it does to this day then a stern rebuke was bound to comefrom the young warrior to the ones who had been cowards wiglaf son of weohstan spoke disdainfully and in disappointment anyone ready to admit the truth will surely realize the lord of men who showered you with gifts and gave you the armor you are standing inwhen he would distribute helmets and mailshirts to men on the meadbenches a prince treating his thanes in hall to the best he could find far or near was throwing weapons uselessly away it would be a sad waste when the war broke out beowulf had little cause to brag about his armed guard yet god who ordains who wins or loses allowed him to strike with his own blade when bravery was needed there was little i could do to protect his life in the heat of the fray yet i found new strength welling up when i went to help him then my sword connected and the deadly assaultsof our foe grew weaker the fire coursed less strongly from his head but when the worst happened too few rallied around the prince so it is goodbye now to all you know and love on your homeground the openhandedness the giving of warswords every one of you with freeholds of land our whole nation will be dispossessed once princes from beyond get tidings of how you turned and fled and disgraced yourselves a warrior will sooner die than live a life of shame then he ordered the outcome of the fight to be reported to those camped on the ridge that crowd of retainers who had sat all morning sad at heart shieldbearers wondering about the man they loved would this day be his last or would he return he told the truth and did not balk the rider who bore news to the clifftop he addressed them all now the people’s pride and lovethe lord of the geats is laid on his deathbed brought down by the dragon’s attack beside him lies the bane of his life dead from knifewounds there was no way beowulf could manage to get the better of the monster with his sword wiglaf sits at beowulf’s side the son of weohstan the living warrior watching by the dead keeping weary vigil holding a wake for the loved and the loathed now war is looming over our nation soon it will be known to franks and frisians far and wide that the king is gone hostility has been great among the franks since hygelac sailed forth at the head of a warfleet into friesland there the hetware harried and attacked and overwhelmed him with great odds the leader in his wargear was laid low fell amongst followers that lord did not favor his company with spoils the merovingian king has been an enemy to us ever since nor do i expect peace of pactkeeping of any sort from the swedes remember at ravenswood ongentheow slaughtered haethcyn hrethel’s son when the geat people in their arrogance first attacked the fierce shylfings the return blow was quickly struck by ohthere’s father old and terrible he felled the seaking and saved is ownaged wife the mother of onela and of ohthere bereft of her gold rings then he kept hard on the heels of the foe and drove them leaderless lucky to get away in a desperate route to ravenswood his army surrounded the weary remnant where they nursed their wounds all through the night he howled threats at those huddled survivors promises to axe their bodies open when dawn broke dangle them from gallowsto feed the birds but at first light when their spirits were lowest relief arrived they heard the sound of hygelac’s horn his trumpet calling as he came to find them the hero in pursuit at hand with troops the bloody swathe that swedes and geats cut through each other was everywhere no one could miss their murderous feuding then the old man made his move pulled back barred his people in ongentheow withdrew to higher ground hygelac’s pride and prowess as a fighter were known to the earl he had no confidence that he could hold out against that horde of seamen defend wife and the ones he loved from the shock of the attack he retreated for shelter behind the earth wall then hygelac swooped on the swedes at bay his banners swarmed into their refuge the geat forces drove forward to destroy the camp there in his gray hairs ongentheow was cornered ringed around with swords and it came to pass that the king’s fate was in eofor’s hands and in his alone wulf son of wonred went for him in anger split him open so that blood came spurting from under his hair the old hero still did not flinch but parried fast hit back with a harder stroke the king turned and took him on then wonred’s son the brave wulf could land no blow against the aged lord ongentheow divided his helmet so that he buckled and bowed his bloodied head and dropped to the ground but his doom held off though he was cut deep he recovered again with his brother down the undaunted eofor hygelac’s thane hefted his sword and smashed murderously at the massive helmet past the lifted shield and the king collapsed the shepherd of people was sheared of life many then hurried to help wulf bandaged and lifted him now that they were left masters of the bloodsoaked battleground one warrior stripped the other looted ongentheow’s iron mailcoat his hard swordhilt his helmet too and carried the graith to king hygelac he accepted the prize promised fairly that reward would come and kept his word for their bravery in action when they arrived home eofor and wulf were overloaded by hrethel’s son hygelac the geat with gifts of land and linked rings that were worth a fortune they had won glory so there was no gainsaying his generosity and he gave eofor his only daughter to bide at home with him an honor and a bond so this bad blood between us and the swedes this vicious feud i am convinced is bound to revive they will cross our borders and attack in force once they find out that beowulf is dead in days gone by when our warriors fell and we were undefended he kept our coffers and our kingdoms safe he worked for the people but as well as that he behaved like a hero we must hurry now to take a last look at the king and launch him lord and lavisher of rings on the funeral road his royal pyre will melt no small amount of gold heaped there in the hoard it was bought at heavy cost and that pile of rings he paid for at the end with his own life will go up in flames be furled in fire treasure no follower will wear in his memory nor lovely woman link and attach as a torque around her neck but often repeatedly in the path of exile they shall walk bereft bowed under woe now that their leader’s laugh is silenced high spirits quenched many a spear dawncold to the touch will be taken down and waved on high the swept harp won’t waken warriors but the raven winging darkly over the doomed will have news tidings of the eagle of how he hoked and ate how the wolf and he made short work of the dead such was the drift of the dire report that gallant man delivered he got little wrong in what he told and predicted the whole troop rose in tears then took their way to the uncanny scene under earnaness there on the sand where his soul had left him they found him at rest their ringgiver from days gone by the great man had breathed his last beowulf the king had indeed met with a marvelous death but what they saw first was far stranger the serpent on the ground gruesome and vile lying facing him the firedragon was scaresomely burnt scorched all colors from head to tail his entire length was fifty feet he had shimmered forth on the night air once then winged back down to his den but death owned him now he would never enter his earthgallery again beside him stood pitchers and piledup dishes silent flagons precious swords eaten through with rust ranged as they had been while they waited their thousand winters undergroundthat huge cache gold inherited from an ancient race was under a spell which meant no one was ever permitted to enter the kinghall unless god himself mankind’s keeper true king of triumphs allowed some person pleasing him and in his eyes worthyto open the hoard what came about brought to nothing the hopes of the one who had wrongly hidden riches under the rock face first the dragon slew that man among men who in turn made fierce amends and settled the feud famous for his deeds a warrior may be but it remains a mystery where his life will end when he may no longer dwell in the meadhall among his own so it was with beowulf when he faced the cruelty and cunning of the moundguard he himself was ignorant of how his departure from the world would happen the highborn chiefs who had buried the treasure declared it until doomsday so accursed that whoever robbed it would be guilty of wrong and grimly punished for their transgression hasped in hellbonds in heathen shrines yet beowulf’s gaze at the gold treasure when he first saw it had not been selfish wiglaf son of weohstan spoke often when one man follows his own will many are hurt this happened to us nothing we advised could ever convince the prince we loved our land’s guardiannot to vex the custodian of the gold let him lie where he was long accustomed lurk there under the earth until the end of the world he held to his high destiny the hoard is laid bare but at a grave cost it was too cruel a fate that forced the king to that encounter i have been inside and seen everything amassed in the vault i managed to enter although no great welcome awaited me under the earth wall i quickly gathered up a huge pile of the priceless treasures handpicked from the hoard and carried them here where the king could see them he was still himself alive aware and in spite of his weakness he had many requests he wanted me to greet you and order the building of a barrow that would crown the site of his pyre serve as his memorial in a commanding position since of all men to have lived and thrived and lorded it on earth his worth and due as a warrior were the greatestnow let us again go quickly and feast our eyes on that amazing fortune heaped under the wall i will show the way and take you close to those coffers packed with rings and bars of gold let a bier be made and got ready quickly when we come out and then let us bring the body of our lord the man we loved to where he will lodge for a long time in the care of the almighty then weohstan’s son stalwart to the endhad orders given to owners of dwellings many people of importance in the land to fetch wood from far and wide for the good man’s pyre now shall flame consume our leader in battle the blaze darken round him who stood his ground in the steelhail when the arrowstorm shot from bowstrings pelted from the shieldwall the shaft hit home featherfledged it finned the barb in flight next the wise son of weohstancalled from among the king’s thanes a group of seven he selected the best and entered with them the eighth of their number under the godcursed roof one raised a lighted torch and led the way no lots were cast for who should loot the hoard for it was obvious to them that every bit of it lay unprotected within the vault there for the taking it was no trouble to hurry to work and haul outthe priceless store they pitched the dragon over the cliff top let tide’s flow and backwash take the treasureminder then coiled gold was loaded on a cart in great abundance and the grayhaired leader the prince of his bier born to hronesness the geat people built a pyre for beowulf stacked and decked it until it stood foursquare hung with helmets heavy warshields and shining armor just as he had ordered then his warriors laid him in the middle of it mourning a lord farfamed and beloved on a height they kindled the hugest of all funeral fires fumes of wood smoke billowed darkly up the blaze roared and drowned out their weeping wind died down and flames wrought havoc in the hot bonehouse burning it to the core they were disconsolate and wailed aloud for their lord’s decease a geat woman too sang out in griefwith hair bound up she unburdened herself of her worst fears a wild litany of nightmare and lament her nation invaded enemies on the rampage bodies in piles slavery and abasement heaven swallowed the smoke then the geat people began to construct a mound on a headland high and imposing a marker that sailors could see from far away and in ten days they had done the work it was their hero’s memorial what remained from firethey housed inside it behind a wall as worthy of him as their workmanship could make it and they buried torques in the barrow and jewels and a trove of such things as trespassing men had once dared to drag from the hoard they let the ground keep that ancestral treasure gold under gravel gone to earth as useless to men now as it ever was then twelve warriors rode around the tomb chieftain’s sons champions in battle all of them distraught chanting in dirges mourning his loss as a man and a king they extolled his heroic exploits and gave thanks for his greatness which was the proper thing for a man should praise a prince whom he holds dear and cherish his memory when that moment comes when he has to be convoyed from his bodily home so the geat people his hearth companions sorrowed for the lord who had been laid low they said that of all the kings upon the earth he was the man most gracious and fairminded kindest to his people and keenest to win fame
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