XIX
Then sank they to sleep. With sorrow one bought
his rest of the evening,—as ofttime had happened
when Grendel guarded that golden hall,
evil wrought, till his end drew nigh,
1255slaughter for sins. ’Twas seen and told
how an avenger survived the fiend,
as was learned afar. The livelong time[1]
after that grim fight, Grendel’s mother,
monster of women, mourned her woe.
1260She was doomed to dwell in the dreary waters,
cold sea-courses, since Cain cut down
with edge of the sword his only brother,
his father’s offspring: outlawed he fled,
marked with murder, from men’s delights,
1265warded the wilds.—There woke from him[2]
such fate-sent ghosts as Grendel, who,
war-wolf horrid, at Heorot found
a warrior watching and waiting the fray,
with whom the grisly one grappled amain.
1270But the man remembered his mighty power,
- ↑ Müllenhoff so punctuates, and explains that though only twenty-four hours had passed from the time of Grendel’s discomfiture to her quest of revenge, the interval seemed interminable to the waiting monster. Moreover, by this reading no gap in the Ms. is assumed.
- ↑ See v. 107, above.—“From him are descended,” etc. This repetition certainly seems vain, and this way of narrative is not our way.
Ever must heroes in harmony live,
in the same place sleeping;
So that never shall man of man speak ill
till death undo them!
Compare vv. 1228 ff., above. For the matter of the stanzaic form see Signy’s Lament, translated below in the introduction to Deor’s Song.
