VI
Hrothgar answered, helmet of Scyldings:—
“I knew him of yore in his youthful days;
his agéd father was Ecgtheow named,
to whom, at home, gave Hrethel the Geat
375his only daughter.[1] Their offspring bold
fares hither to seek the steadfast friend.
And seamen, too, have said me this,—
who carried my gifts to the Geatish court,
thither for thanks,—he has thirty men’s
380 heft of grasp in the gripe of his hand,
the bold-in-battle. Blesséd God
out of his mercy this man hath sent
to Danes of the West, as I ween indeed,
against horror of Grendel. I hope to give
385the good youth gold for his gallant thought.
Be thou in haste, and bid them hither,
clan of kinsmen, to come before me;
and add this word,—they are welcome guests
to folk of the Danes.”
[To the door of the hall
380Wulfgar went][2] and the word declared:—
“To you this message my master sends,
East-Danes’ king, that your kin he knows,
- ↑ It is point of honor in the sovran—and the late Queen Victoria was proud of her accomplishment in this respect—to know all the nobles and royal persons in their relationship and descent. So Hildebrand, trying to make his son believe that the paternal claim is true, asks to be put to the test of genealogies and kinship: “If thou namest one only, the others I know.” The loquacity of Hrothgar is both the royal leisurely way, and also an attempt of the poet to characterize the king, and set him apart.
- ↑ Grein’s insertion to mend an evident omission of the scribe.
