DAVID WRIGHT 1.3 I ( L-V TH E PE N G U in £ CLASSICS 2/I S / ^ U
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A NEW TRANSLATION BY $ - - DAVID WRIGHT 1.3 i ( l-V TH E PE N G U IN £ CLASSICS 2/i S / ^ U m ROKWiTT-* ' THE PENGUIN CLASSICS EDITED BY E.V.RIEU L70 BEOWULF A PROSE TRANSLATION WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY DAVID WRIGHT P ÏT V. T IT S 'í A K A A N píiK üt.tas aa. 3 TR? a t n PENGUIN BOOKS Penguin Books Ltd, Harmondsworth, Middlesex l-.s.a.: Penguin Books Inc., 33°° Clipper Mil] Road, Baltimore i Xj m Ca n a d a : Penguin Books (Canada) Ltd, 178 Norseman Street. Toronto 18, Ontario Au s t r a l i a : Penguin Books Pty Ltd, 762 Whitehorse Road Mitcham, Victoria s o u t h a f r i c a : Penguin Books (S.A.) P ty Ltd, Gibraltar House Regent Road, Sea Point, Cape Town This translation First published 1957 The ornament which appears on the coi<er o f this book is based on the design of the gold buckle o f the belt found in connexion with the seventh-century ship burial at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk^ It was drawn by Berthold Wolpe FA SC. SASTPsA j w ..... ....................; Made and printed in Great Britain by Richard Clay & Company, Ltd, Bungay, SuFFolk T O P H I L L I P A R E I D CONTENTS Introduction 9 A Note on the Translation 21 BEOW ULF 27 Notes 102 Appendices I The Author, Manuscript, and Bibliography oF Beowulf 109 II Sutton Hoo and Beowulf 113 h i Genealogical Tables 116 Glossary oF Proper Names 117 ¡m- » iv,-.; Jon -Oleh Keluarga ! prct • " j •' K1 TjOE SOM almarht'f.'i I Kcpa^o r-.:ul .-;' ^ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish particularly to thank M r S. S. Hussey For the assistance and advice which he has given me in the interpretation o F crucial passages in the text, in the revision oF the Final draFt oF my translation and For his help in the Notes and Appendices; Mr John Heath-Stubbs and Mr George Barker For their criticisms and sug gestions; and M r T . S. Eliot For permission to quote Four lines From East Coker- INTRODUCTION Almost everyone has heard o F Beowulf, which is one o F die earli est and indeed the most impressive oF the Anglo-Saxon or Old English poems diat have come down to us. The whole body oF Old English poetry known to be in existence comcs to no more than about 30,000 lines; and though it is written in die same kind o F verse, the alliterative measure,-yet in spite o F dais uniFormity the poetry is astonishingly varied. There arc heroic poems like Beo wulf The Finnsburg Fragment, Widsith, Waldere, and The Battle of Maldon; religious poems such as Judith (which is Found in the same M S as Beowulf), Guthlac, Genesis, Exodus, Christ, and The Dream of the Rood; and magniFicent lyrics and elegiac pieces like The Sea farer, The Wanderer, The Wife’s Lament, The Husband’s Message, and The Ruin. These arc only a Few. There are also a number oF short pieces - gnomic poems, riddles, and charms. Bcoivulf is one oF die longest as well as the most important oF complete poems in Old English. It is not a rclic o F savage bygones, nor is it merely a document oF historical importance. It is the only native English heroic epic, and one oF the Finest products oF what used to be called the Dark Ages o F Europe. There is also the point - until recently oFten overlooked - that it is a great poem in its own right. Its theme is the conFlict oF good and evil. It is an expression oF the Fear o F the dark, an examination oF the nature and purpose oF heroism, and the great statement oF the Anglo-Saxon outlook and imagination. The date oF its composition was probably some time in the eighth century a .d ., about 300 years aFter the settlement in Britain (as a conscquence oF die Roman withdrawal) o F those Germanic tribes who were the ancestors oF the Anglo-Saxons. It would be a mistake to suppose that Anglo-Saxon society o F the eighth century was primitive and uncultured. On die contrary, it was a Christian, organized, and aristocratic civilization, one oF whose kings, OfFa ■ oF Mercia, was in a position to treat on equal terms with die great Charlemagne. An idea oF the wealth and magniFicence oF an even earlier Anglo-Saxon society can be gleaned From a visit to die re markable treasures, now exhibited in the British Museum, which were excavated From the Sutton Hoo burial ship.* Anglo-Saxon monasteries were seats o F learning, whose libraries were Filled w idi secular as w ell as religious literature. IF the poet o F Beowulf never read the Acneid (and it is on the cards that he did), yet he is likely to have had access to it. Beowulf, in fact, is die product o F a sophisti cated culture. A t this point it may be convenient to set down a brieF summary oF the plot oF the poem. Beowulf opens w idi an account o F the . Funeral o F Scyld, the mythical Founder o F die Danish Royal House. Scyld’s descendant, Hrothgar, builds die great hall o F Hcorot. But a Fiendish, halF-human monster called Grendcl, who lives in die Fens, is angered by die sound o F rejoicing in Heorot and attacks the hall by night, killing diirty o F the Danes. He repeats his exploit and continues to ravage Heorot For twelve years, since neither Hroth gar nor his men arc able to put an end to his depredations. N ew s o F diis reaches the cars o F BeowulF, a nephew o F Hygelac, king o F the Geats (a tribe living in Sweden). BeowulF decides to go to Hrodi- gar s assistance. W ith Fourteen adventurers he sails to Denm ark, and is received by Hrothgar in Hcorot. AFter a banquet BeowulF and his Geats remain in die hall to wait For Grendel. W hen night has fallen the monster visits Heorot, bursts the door in, and kills and devours one oF die Geats. But when he takes hold o F BeowulF the hero seizes him and, aFter a terrible battle, wrenches oFFhis arm. Grendel is mortally wounded and escapes to his lair. N e xt day a great Feast is prepared in Hcorot, at which Hrothgar and his queen Wcalhdieow shower giFts on BeowulF and his men, while one oF the court poets recites the song oF Finn. But, Following the ban quet, when the Danes are asleep, Grcndcl’s modier raids die hall and carries oFF one o F Hrodigar’s best-loved counsellors in revenge For her son’s death. In the morning the Danes and Geats track her to the lake in whose depths she lives; BeowulF plunges in and kills * For the bearing oF these on the study oF Beowulf, see Appendix: ‘Sutton H oo and Beowulf ’. IO PEHPUSTAEAAH BADTRJT her aFter an underwater duel at the lake-bottom. He cuts the head From Grendcl’s corpse, which he Finds there, and returns w ith it to Heorot. Again dierc is a banquet, during which Hrodigar delivers a long moralizing spccch oF advice to die hero. The Following day BeowulF and the Geats, laden with giFts, sail For home. When diey reach die court oF Hygelac they are banqueted, and, having told the story o F his adventures, B eow ulF presents his king w ith die treasures that Hrodigar has given him, in return receiving liberal giFts. This ends die First part o F die poem. AFter the death oF Hygelac and oFliis son Heardred in the wars with die Franks and Swedes, BeowulF becomes king oF die Geats and rules over diem For FiFty years. But towards die end o F his reign his country is devastated by a Dragon, the sentinel oF an ancient treasure which has been looted by a runaway slave, thus provoking its terrible guardian. The old hero decides to Fight die Dragon single-handed, and having armed himselF with an iron shield For protection against its Flaming breadi, sets out w ith eleven Followers, including his kinsman WiglaF. BeFore die battle com mences die old king makes a long spccch in which he recalls his youth, and especially die Gcat Feud widi die Swedes. Taking leave o F his companions, he challenges die Dragon, but his sword breaks during the Fight and he finds himselF overwhelmed by die Dragon’s Fiery exhalation. TerriFied, all his Friends run away except WiglaF, who comes to his rescue. Together diey kill the Dragon; but Beo wulF has been mortally wounded and dies in the arms oF WiglaF. Filled with sorrow and anger, W iglaF rebukes the runaways, and sends a messenger to the Geats to announce die king’s death. In his speech the messenger Foretells the disasters that w ill Follow die dcadi oF BeowulF, recalling their Former wars with the Franks and Swedes and prophesying that diey will take dieir revenge now diat die hero is no longer there to protect his people. The Geats then visit die scene oF the Fight. They carry away die treasure- hoard and push die corpse oF the Dragon over a cliFF into the sea. A Funeral pyre is built, on which BeowulF’s body is burnt. Over his remains die Geats build a huge mound, in which die Dragon’s treasure is also placed.