Beowulf (Wyatt)/Beowulf 05

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Beowulf: V

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V.

320Strǣt wæs stān-fāh,⁠stīg wīsode
gumum ætgædere.⁠Gūð-byrne scān
heard hond-locen,⁠hring-īren scīr
song in searwum,⁠þā hīe tō sele furðam
in hyra gryre-geatwum⁠gangan cwōmon.
325Setton sǣ-mēþe⁠sīde scyldas,
rondas regn-hearde,⁠wið þæs recedes weal,
bugon þā tō bence;⁠byrnan hringdon,
gūð-searo gumena;⁠gāras stōdon,
sǣ-manna searo,⁠samod ætgædere,
330æsc-holt ufan grǣg;⁠wæs se īren-þrēat
wǣpnum gewurþad.⁠Þā ðǣr wlonc hæleð
ōret-mecgas⁠æfter æþelum^[1] frægn:
“Hwanon ferigeað gē⁠fǣtte scyldas,
grǣge syrcan⁠ond grīm-helmas,
335here-sceafta hēap?⁠Ic eom Hrōðgāres
ār ond ombiht.⁠Ne seah ic el-þēodige
þus manige men⁠mōdiglīcran.
Wēn^[2] ic þæt gē for wlenco,⁠nalles for wræc-sīðum
ac for hige-*þrymmum,⁠Hrōðgār sōhton.”Fol. 137b.
340Him þā ellen-rōf⁠andswarode,
wlanc Wedera lēod⁠word æfter spræc,
heard under helme:⁠“Wē synt Higelāces
bēod-genēatas;⁠Bēowulf is mīn nama.
Wille ic āsecgan⁠sunu^[3] Healfdenes,
345mǣrum þēodne,⁠mīn ǣrende,
aldre þīnum,⁠gif hē ūs geunnan wile,
þæt wē hine swā gōdne⁠grētan mōton.”
Wulfgār maþelode⁠(þæt wæs Wendla lēod,
wæs his mōd-sefa⁠manegum gecȳðed,
350wīg ond wīs-dōm):⁠“Ic þæs wine Deniga,
frēan Scildinga,⁠frinan wille,
bēaga bryttan,⁠swā þū bēna eart,
þēoden mǣrne,⁠ymb þīnne sīð,
ond þē þā, ondsware⁠ǣdre gecȳðan,
355ðe mē se gōda⁠āgifan þenceð.”
Hwearf þā hrædlīce,⁠þǣr Hrōðgār sæt
eald ond unhār⁠mid his eorla gedriht;
ēode ellen-rōf,⁠þæt hē for eaxlum gestōd
Deniga frēan;⁠cūþe hē duguðe þēaw.
360Wulfgār maðelode⁠*tō his wine-drihtne:Fol. 138a.
“Hēr syndon geferede,⁠feorran cumene
ofer geofenes begang,⁠Gēata lēode;
þone yldestan⁠ōret-mecgas
Bēowulf nemnað.⁠Hȳ bēnan synt,
365þæt hīe, þēoden mīn,⁠wið þē mōton
wordum wrīxlan;⁠nō ðū him wearne getēoh
ðīnra gegn-cwida,⁠glædman^[4] Hrōðgār.
Hȳ on wīg-getāwum⁠wyrðe þinceað
eorla geæhtlan;⁠hūru se aldor dēah,
370sē þǣm heaðo-rincum⁠hider wīsade.”

↑ 332. MS. ‘hæleþum’—evidently a scribal blunder due to the hæleð of the previous line. Grein ‘æþelum’; cf. l. 392, and for the sense ll. 251—2. For ōret- see Sievers § 43, N. 4.
↑ 338. Heyne reads Wēn’ for Wene. Cf. ll. 442 and 525.
↑ 344. The editors from Kemble downwards have adopted the more usual form of the dat., suna; but see Sievers § 270.
↑ 367. Thorkelin (B) and Rieger ‘glædnian’; Grein and Wülcker ‘glædman.’ Kemble and Thorpe took glædman to be the oblique case of a noun glædma, ‘gladness.’ Bugge supports the reading of the MS., and practically decides the sense in which it is to be taken, by quoting the gloss “Hilaris glaedman” (Somner p. 74, col. 2, l. 21).

[1] 332. MS. ‘hæleþum’—evidently a scribal blunder due to the hæleð of the previous line. Grein ‘æþelum’; cf. l. 392, and for the sense ll. 251—2. For ōret- see Sievers § 43, N. 4.

[2] 338. Heyne reads Wēn’ for Wene. Cf. ll. 442 and 525.

[3] 344. The editors from Kemble downwards have adopted the more usual form of the dat., suna; but see Sievers § 270.

[4] 367. Thorkelin (B) and Rieger ‘glædnian’; Grein and Wülcker ‘glædman.’ Kemble and Thorpe took glædman to be the oblique case of a noun glædma, ‘gladness.’ Bugge supports the reading of the MS., and practically decides the sense in which it is to be taken, by quoting the gloss “Hilaris glaedman” (Somner p. 74, col. 2, l. 21).

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