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Table of Contents | |
Section | Page |
Start of eBook | 1 |
PREFACE. | 1 |
PREFACE TO EDITION OF 1900. | 1 |
PREFACE TO EDITION OF 1911. | 2 |
INTRODUCTION. | 2 |
ABBREVIATIONS IN NOTES. | 8 |
CYNEWULF’S ELENE. | 9 |
I. | 9 |
II. | 10 |
III. | 12 |
IV. | 14 |
V. | 15 |
VI. | 17 |
VII. | 19 |
VIII. | 20 |
IX. | 22 |
X. | 23 |
XI. | 25 |
XII. | 26 |
XIII. | 28 |
XIV. | 30 |
XV. | 31 |
JUDITH. | 33 |
IX. | 33 |
X. | 33 |
XI. | 36 |
XII. | 38 |
ATHELSTAN, | 40 |
BYRHTNOTH, | 41 |
THE DREAM OF THE ROOD. | 47 |
This translation of the Elene was made while reading the poem with a post-graduate student in the session of 1887-88, Zupitza’s second edition being used for the text, which does not differ materially from that in his third edition (1888). It was completed before I received a copy of Dr. Weymouth’s translation (1888), from Zupitza’s text; but in the revision for publication I have referred to it, although I cannot always agree with the learned scholar in his interpretation of certain passages. Grein’s text was, however, used to fill lacunae, and in the revision the recently published (1888) Grein-Wuelker text was compared in some passages. The line-for-line form has been employed, as in my translation of Beowulf; for it has been approved by high authority, and is unquestionably more serviceable to the student, even if I have not been able to attain ideal correctness of rhythm. I plead guilty in advance to any lapsus in that respect, but I strongly suspect that I have appreciated the difficulty more highly than my future critics. The Elene is more suitable than the Beowulf for first reading in Old English poetry on account of its style and its subject, which make the interpretation considerably easier, and I concur with Koerting, in his Grundriss der Geschichte der Englischen Litteratur (p. 47, 1887): “Die Elene eignet sich sowohl wegen ihres anmutigen Inhaltes, als auch, weil sie in der trefflichen Ausgabe von Zupitza leicht zugaenglich ist, als erste poetische Lectuere fuer Anfaenger im Angelsaechsischen.” This statement is now the stronger for English readers because Zupitza’s text is in course of publication, edited with introduction, notes, and glossary by Professor Charles W. Kent, of the University of Tennessee. I have appended a few notes which explain themselves, and have occasionally inserted words in brackets.
The translations of the Judith and the Byrhtnoth were made in regular course of reading with undergraduate classes, the former in 1886, and the latter in 1887, the texts in Sweet’s “Anglo-Saxon Reader” being used, and compared with those in Grein and in Koerner. The text of Judith is now accessible in Professor Cook’s edition (1888).
The translation of the Athelstan has been added from Koerner’s text, compared with Grein and Wuelker, and in certain passages with Thorpe and Earle. For fuller literary information than the Introduction provides, the reader is referred to ten Brink’s “Early English Literature,” Kennedy’s translation (1883), and to Morley’s “English Writers,” Vol. II. (1888).
James M. Garnett.
University of Virginia, Va.,
May, 1889.
I have added to this reprint of my “Elene and other Anglo Saxon Poems” a translation of the dream of the rood, which has been on hand for several years awaiting a suitable time to see the light. A brief Introduction to the poem has been prefixed, which, doubtless, leaves much to be desired, but it is all that the translator now has time for, and I must refer to the works mentioned for fuller information and discussion. With thanks for past consideration, and the hope that this addition has made the book more acceptable, I entrust it again to indulgent readers.
James M. Garnett.
Baltimore, Maryland,
October, 1900.
I have read over carefully these translations with a view to another reprint, which the publishers find necessary, but I have not compared them again with the texts used. I have corrected a few typographical errors of little importance.
For the bibliography I would refer to Brandl’s Sonderausgabe aus der zweiten Auflage von Paul’s Grundriss der germanischen Philologie (Strassburg, 1908), in which I find noted Holthausen’s edition of the Elene (Heidelberg, 1905), but I have not seen it.
I take advantage of this opportunity to say that my translation of Beowulf, of which the last reprint was issued in 1910, is not in prose, as some have misconceived it, but it is in the same metrical form as the translations in the present volume,—an accentual metre in rough imitation of the original. I agree with Professor Gummere and others that this is a better form for the translation of Old English poetry than plain prose. It was approved by the late Professor Child nearly thirty years ago, as noted in the Preface to the second edition of my translation of Beowulf, January, 1885.
James M. Garnett.
Baltimore, Maryland,
February, 1911.
In presenting to the public the following translations of the Old English (Anglo-Saxon) poems, Elene, Judith, Athelstan, Byrhtnoth, and the dream of the rood, it is desirable to prefix a brief account of them for the information of the general reader.
I. The Elene, or Helena, is a poem on the expedition of the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor, to Palestine in search of the true cross, and its successful issue. The mediaeval legend of the Finding of the Cross is given in the Acta Sanctorum under date of May 4, assigned by the Church to the commemoration of St. Helena’s marvellous discovery. The Latin work is the Life of St. Quiriacus, or Cyriacus, Bishop of Jerusalem, that is, the Judas of the poem.
However it may be, a poet named Cynewulf wrote the ELENE, and thereby left us one of the finest Old English poems that time has preserved, on a subject that was of great interest to Christian Europe. A collection of “Legends of the Holy Rood” has been issued by the Early English Text Society (ed. Morris, 1871), from the Anglo-Saxon period to Caxton’s translation of the Legenda Aurea; but they are arranged without system, and no study has been made of the date and relation of the several forms of the story. If Cynewulf made use of the Latin Life of Cyriacus in the Acta Sanctorum, he expanded his source considerably and showed great skill and originality in his treatment of the subject, as may be seen by comparing the translation with the Latin text in Zupitza’s third edition of the ELENE (1888), or in Professor Kent’s forthcoming American edition, after Zupitza. The Old English text was discovered by a German scholar, Dr. F. Blume, at Vercelli, Italy, in 1822, and the manuscript has since become well known as the Vercelli Book (cf. Wuelker’s Grundriss, p. 237 ff.). A reasonable conjecture as to how this MS. reached Vercelli may be found in Professor Cook’s pamphlet, “Cardinal Guala and the Vercelli Book.” A Bibliography of the ELENE will be found in Wuelker, Zupitza, and Kent. English translations have been made by Kemble, in his edition of the Codex Vercellensis (1856), and very recently by Dr. R.F. Weymouth, Acton, England, after Zupitza’s text (privately printed, 1888). A German translation will be found in Grein’s Dichtungen der Angelsachsen (II. 104 ff., 1859), and of lines 1-275 in Koerner’s Einleitung in das Studium des Angelsaechsischen (p. 147 ff., 1880). A good summary of the poem is given in Earle’s “Anglo-Saxon Literature” (p. 234 ff., 1884), and a briefer one in Morley’s “English Writers” (II. 196 ff.).
The ELENE is conceded to be Cynewulf’s best poem, and ten Brink remarks of the ANDREAS and the ELENE: “In these Cynewulf appears, perhaps, at the summit of his art” (p. 58, Kennedy’s translation). The last canto is a personal epilogue, of a sad and reflective character, evidently appended after the poem proper was concluded. This may be the last work of the poet, and there is good reason for ten Brink’s view (p. 59) that “not until the writing of the ELENE had Cynewulf entirely fulfilled the task he had set himself in consequence of his vision of the cross. Hence he recalls, at the close of the poem, the greatest moment of his life, and praises the divine grace that gave him deeper knowledge, and revealed to him the art of song.”
II. The JUDITH is a fragment, but a very torso of Hercules. The first nine cantos, nearly three-fourths of the poem, are irretrievably lost, so that we have left but the last three cantos with a few lines of the ninth. The story is from the apocryphal book of Judith, and the part remaining corresponds to chapters XII. 10 to XVI. 1, but the poet has failed to translate the grand thanksgiving of Judith in the sixteenth chapter. The story of Judith and Holofernes is too well known to need narration. The poet, doubtless, followed the Latin Vulgate, as we have no reason to think that a knowledge of Greek was a common possession among Old English poets; but, as Professor Cook says, “the order of events is not that of the original narrative. Many transpositions have been made in the interest of condensation and for the purpose of enhancing the dramatic liveliness of the story.”
The Old English text is found in the same manuscript with the BEOWULF (Cotton, Vitellius, A, xv.), and, to my mind, this poem reminds the reader more of the vigor and fire of BEOWULF than does any other Old English poem; but its author is unknown. It has been assigned by some scholars to the tenth century, which is rather late for it; but Professor Cook has given reasons for thinking that it may have been written in the second half of the ninth century in honor of Judith, the step-mother of King Alfred. It was first printed as prose by Thwaites at the close of his “Heptateuch, Book of Job, and Gospel of Nicodemus” (1698), and has been often reprinted, its shortness and excellence making it a popular piece for inclusion in Anglo-Saxon Readers. A most complete edition has been recently (1888) issued by Professor Albert S. Cook, with an excellent introduction, a translation, and a glossary. A Bibliography is given by Professor Cook (pp. 71-73), and by Wuelker (Grundriss, p. 140 ff.). To the translations therein enumerated may be added the one in Morley’s “English Writers” (II. 180 ff.). Professor Cook has also given (pp. lxix-lxxii) the testimonies of scholars to the worth of this poem. To these the attention of the reader is especially called. The JUDITH has been treated by both ten Brink and Wuelker as belonging to the Caedmon circle, but the former well says (p. 47): “This fragment produces an impression more like that of the national epos than is the case with any other religious poetry of that epoch;” and Sweet (Reader, p. 157) regards it as belonging “to the culminating point of the Old Northumbrian literature, combining as it does the highest dramatic and constructive power with the utmost brilliance of language and metre.”
III. The ATHELSTAN, or Fight at Brunanburh, is found in four manuscripts of the “Anglo-Saxon Chronicle” and in Wheloc’s edition (1643), printed from a MS. that was burnt in the unfortunate fire among the Cottonian manuscripts (1731). It is entered under the year 937 in all but one MS., where it occurs under 938. The poem gives a brief, but graphic, description of the fight between King Athelstan and his brother Edmund on the one side, and Constantine and his Scots aided by Anlaf and his Danes, or Northmen, on the other, in which fight the Saxons were completely victorious. The poem will be found in all editions of the “Anglo-Saxon Chronicle” from Wheloc to Earle (1865), and has been repeatedly reprinted, its brevity causing it to be often included as a specimen of Old English, but it is omitted in Sweet’s Reader. A Bibliography will be found in Wuelker’s Grundriss (p. 339 ff.). To the English translations there mentioned,—which include a poetical one by Lord Tennyson, after a prose translation by his son in the Contemporary Review for November, 1876,—may be added the prose translation by Kennedy in ten Brink (p. 91) and the rhythmical one by Professor Morley in his “English Writers” (II. 316-17). ten Brink thinks that the poem was not written by an eye-witness, and says (p. 92): “The poem lacks the epic perception and direct power of the folk-song as well as invention. The patriotic enthusiasm, however, upon which it is borne, the lyrical strain which pervades it, yield their true effect. The rich resources derived from the national epos are here happily utilised, and the pure versification and brilliant style of the whole stir our admiration.” It well serves to diversify and enliven the usually dry annals of the “Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,” and cannot be spared in the great dearth of poetry of this period.
IV. The BYRHTNOTH, or Fight at Maldon, relates in vigorous verse the contest between the Saxons, led by the Ealdorman Byrhtnoth, and the Danes at the river Panta, near Maldon in Essex, in which the Danes were victorious and Byrhtnoth was slain. The incident is mentioned in four manuscripts of the “Anglo-Saxon Chronicle” under the year 991, but one gives it under 993. The MS. in which the poem was contained was unfortunately burnt in the great fire above-mentioned (1731); but Thomas Hearne, the antiquary, had fortunately printed it, as prose, in his edition, of the Chronicle of John of Glastonbury (1726); hence this is now our sole authority for the text, which is defective at both the beginning and the end. The poem has been highly esteemed by scholars, and is a very valuable relic of late tenth century literature. It has been often reprinted, and translated several times in whole or in part. Grein does not translate either the ATHELSTAN or the BYRHTNOTH. Koerner translates it in full, and so does Zernial in his Program “Das Lied von Byrhtnoth’s Fall” (1882). This monograph contains the fullest study of the poem that has been made. It is translated
[1] Crow’s “Maldon and Brunnanburh,” 1897.
V. The DREAM OF THE ROOD is found in the Vercelli manuscript. Wuelker’s Grundriss gives the literature of the subject to the time of its publication (1885). Soon afterwards Morley’s “English Writers,” Vol. II., appeared (1888), in which an English translation is given (pp. 237-241); also Stopford Brooke, in his “History of Early English Literature” (1892), has given an account of the poem, with partial translation and epitome (pp. 436-443). (See also p. 337 and pp. 384-386 for further notice.) The poem is very briefly mentioned by Trautmann in his monograph on Cynewulf (1898, p. 40). There are some very interesting questions connected with the poem which cannot be discussed here. Was it by Cynewulf? On the affirmative side we find Dietrich, Rieger, Grein, ten Brink, D’Ham, and Sweet. On the negative, Wuelker, Ebert, Trautmann, Stephens, Morley, Brooke, and others. Pacius, who edited the text, with a German translation, in 1873, thinks that we know nothing about the poet. Brooke has propounded a theory, previously adumbrated by the editors of the Corpus Poeticum Boreale, Vigfusson and Powell, that an older poem, possibly of Caedmonian origin, as shown by the long six-accent lines, has been worked over by Cynewulf, with additions, and that it is “his last work” (p. 440). Certain lines of the poem, in the Northumbrian dialect, are found on the Ruthwell Cross, which fact complicates the question of origin. These are compared by Brooke (p. 337). The other upholders of the Cynewulfian authorship think that this Dream, occurring in the early part of Cynewulf’s religious life, led to the longer and more highly finished poem, the ELENE, written near the close of his life. The questions of the relationship of the poem to the Ruthwell Cross and to the ELENE deserve further discussion. With these is connected the question of date, and the poem has been placed all the way from 700 to 800 A.D., even a little before and a little after, possibly 675 to 825 A.D., so as yet there is no common agreement.
This brief Introduction will, it is hoped, be sufficient to interest the reader in the accompanying translations of some of the finest pieces of Old English poetry that remain to us from the eighth, ninth, and tenth centuries. The earlier period was the golden age of Old English poetry in the Northumbrian dialect, which poetry, there is good reason to think, was copied into the West-Saxon dialect, and it now remains to us only in that form; for, when the Northmen harried Northumbria, destroyed its monasteries, massacred its inhabitants, and settled in its homes, manuscripts perished, and the light of learning in Western Europe was extinguished. It is sufficient to recall King Alfred’s oft-quoted lament, in the Preface to his translation of Pope Gregory’s “Pastoral Care,” to realize the position held by Northumbria in respect to culture, and when learning was restored in Wessex by the efforts of the king himself, and poetry again revived, it shone but by a reflected light. Still we should treasure all that remains, and the Old English language should be at least as well known as Latin is now, and should occupy as prominent a position in education and general culture. Until that millennial period arrives, translations of Old English poems may not be without service.
B. = Bouterwek;
C. = Cook;
Gm. = Grimm;
Gn. = Grein;
K. = Kemble;
Kl. = Kluge;
Kr. = Koerner;
S. = Sievers;
Sw. = Sweet;
Th. = Thorpe;
W. = Wuelker;
Z. = Zupitza;
Zl. = Zernial.
When had elapsed in course of years
Two hundred and three, reckoned by number,
And thirty also, in measure of time,
Of winters for th’ world, since mighty God
Became incarnate, of kings the Glory,
5
Upon mid-earth in human form,
Light of the righteous; then sixth was the year
Of Constantine’s imperial sway,
Since he o’er the realm of the Roman people,
The battle-prince, as ruler was raised.
10
The ward of his folk, skilful with shield,
Was gracious to earls. Strong grew the aetheling’s[1]
Might ’neath the heavens. He was true king,
War-keeper of men. God him strengthened
With honor and might, that to many became he
15
Throughout this earth to men a joy,
To nations a vengeance, when weapon he raised
Against his foes. Him battle was offered,
Tumult of war. A host was assembled,
Folk of the Huns and fame-loving Goths;
20
War-brave they went, the Franks and the Hugs.[2]
Bold were the men [in battle-byrnies, Gn.],
Ready for war. Bright shone the spears,
The ringed corselets. With shouts and shields
They hoisted the standards. The heroes were there
25
Plainly assembled, and [host, Gn.] all together.
The multitude marched. A war-song howled
The wolf in the wood, war-secret concealed not;
The dew-feathered eagle uplifted his song
On the trail of his foes. Hastened quickly
30
O’er cities of giants[3] the greatest of war-hosts
In bands to battle, such as king of the Huns
Of dwellers-around anywhere might,
Of city-warriors, assemble to war.
Went greatest of armies,—the footmen were
strengthened 35
With chosen bands,—till in foreign land
The fighters-with-darts upon the Danube’s
Bank were encamping, the brave in heart,
’Round the welling of waters, with tumult of
host.
The realm of the Romans they wished to oppress,
40
With armies destroy. There was Huns’ coming
Known to the people. Then bade the Caesar
Against the foes his comrades in war
’Neath arrow-flight in greatest haste
Gather for fight, form battle-array
45
The heroes ’neath heavens. The Romans were,
Men famed for victory, quickly prepared
With weapons for war, though lesser army
Had they for the battle than king of the Huns.[4]
They rode ’round the valiant: then rattled
the shield, 50
[1] Prince’s.
[2] MS. ‘Huns,’ but Z. reads ‘Hugs.’ Cf. W.
[3] ‘O’er land of Burgundians,’ Gn.
[4] Z. has no point, W. puts (;), Gn. (.)
[5] ‘Hurried,’ Z.^3
[6] ‘He,’ W.
[7] ‘Which,’ Z.
[8] ‘In the terrible danger,’ Gn.
Bade then a likeness[1] defender of aethelings,
Ring-giver of heroes, to that beacon he saw,
100
Leader of armies, that in heaven before
To him had appeared, with greatest haste
[Bade] Constantine [like] the rood of Christ,
The glorious king, a token make.
He bade then at dawn with break of day
105
His warriors rouse and onset of battle,
The standard raise, and that holy tree
Before him carry, ’mid host of foes
God’s beacon bear. The trumpets sang
Aloud ’fore the hosts. The raven rejoiced,[2]
110
The dew-feathered eagle beheld the march,
Fight of the fierce cries, the wolf raised his howl,
The wood’s frequenter. War-terror arose.
There was shattering of shields and mingling of men,
Heavy handstroke and felling of foes,
115
After in arrow-flight first they had met.
On the fated folk showers of darts,
Spears over shields into hosts of foes,
Sword-fierce foemen battle-adders
With force of fingers forwards impelled.
120
The strong-hearted stepped, pressed onwards at once,
Broke the shield-covers, thrust in their swords,
Battle-brave hastened. Then standard was raised,
Sign ’fore the host, song of victory sung.
The golden helmet, the spear-points glistened
125
On field of battle. The heathen perished,
Peaceless they fell. Forthwith they fled,
The folk of the Huns, when that holy tree
The king of the Romans bade raise on high,
Fierce in the fight. The warriors became
130
Widely dispersed. Some war took away;
Some with labor their lives preserved
Upon that march; some half-alive
Fled to the fastness and life protected
Behind the stone-cliffs, held their abode
135
Around the Danube; some drowning took off
In the stream of the river at the end of their life.
Then was of the proud ones the force in joy;
They followed the foreigners forth until even
From break of day. The ash-darts flew,
140
Battle-adders. The heap was destroyed,[3]
Shield-band of foes. Very few came
Of the host of the Huns home again thence.
Then it was plain that victory gave
To Constantine the King Almighty
145
In the work of that day, glorious honor,
Might ’neath the heavens, through the tree of
his rood.
Went helmet of hosts home again thence,
In booty rejoicing (the battle was ended),
Honored in war. Came warriors’ defence
150
With band of his thanes to deck the strong shield,[4]
War-renowned king, to visit his cities.
Bade warriors’ ward the wisest men
Swiftly to synod, who wisdom’s craft
Through writings of old had learnt to know,
[1] Lit. ‘in like manner,’ adv.
[2] Add ‘at the work.’
[3] ‘Diminished,’ Gn.
[4] i.e., with precious stones.
Kr. reads ’(rattled strong
shields).’
[5] ‘Gold,’ Kr. ‘Lord of the house,’ Gn. Cf. W.
[6] The Bishop of Rome.
Then was in bliss the giver of treasure,
The battle-brave king. To him was new joy
195
Inspired in his soul; greatest of comforts
And highest of hopes was heaven’s Defence.
Then gan he God’s law by day and by night
Through gift of the Spirit with zeal proclaim,
And truly himself devoted he eagerly,
200
Gold-friend of men, to the service of God,
Spear-famed, unfaltering. Then found the aetheling,
Defence of his folk, through learned men,[1]
War-brave, spear-bold, in books of God,
[1] Lit., ‘smiths of lore.’
[2] Z. supposes lacuna of
one verse; W. thinks it
unnecessary.
[3] Lit., ‘the woman.’
[4] Lit., ‘to the sea,’ or ‘sea-journey.’
[5] A.-S. form retained for the
sake of the accent and
alliteration.
Bade she then order the dwellers-in-city
Most skilled in lore, those far and wide
Among the Jews, each one of men,
For council-talk in meeting to come,
Who most deeply the secrets of God
280
By righteous law were able to tell.
Then was assembled from distant ways
No little crowd who Moses’ law
Were able to tell. In number there were
Of thousands three of those [learned] men
285
Chosen for lore. The lovely woman
The men of the Hebrews with words gan address:
“I that most surely have learnt to know
Through secret words of prophets [of old]
In the books of God, that in days of yore
290
Ye worthy were of the glorious King,
Dear to the Lord and daring in deed.
Lo! ye that wisdom [very, Gn.] unwisely,
Wrongly, rejected, when him ye condemned
Who you from the curse through might of his glory,
295
From torment of fire, thought to redeem,
From fetters’ force. Ye filthily spat
On his fair face who light of the eyes
From blindness [restored], a remedy brought
To you anew by that noble spittle,
300
And often preserved you from the unclean
Spirits of devils. This one to death
Ye gan adjudge, who self from death
Many awakened ’mong host of men
Of your own race to the former life.
305
So blinded in mind ye gan conjoin
Lying with truth, light with darkness,
Hatred with mercy, with evil thoughts
Ye wickedness wove; therefore the curse
You guilty oppresses. The purest Might
310
Ye gan condemn, and have lived in error,
In thoughts benighted, until this day.
Go ye now quickly, with prudence select
Men firm in wisdom, crafty in word,
[1] Lit., ‘kinswoman.’
The Elizabethan ‘Kesar’ would preserve
the alliteration
in this line.
[2] Gn. and Z. W. omits.
[3] Psalms xvi. 8, 9.
[4] Isaiah i. 2, 3.
“Lo! that we heard through holy books,
That the Lord to you gave blameless glory,
365
The Maker, mights’ Speed, to Moses said
How the King of heaven ye should obey,
His teaching perform. Of that ye soon wearied,
And counter to right ye had contended;
Ye shunned the bright Creator of all,
370
The Lord [of Lords],[1] and followed error
’Gainst right of God. Now quickly go
And find ye still who writings of old
Through craft of wit the best may know,
Your books of law, that answer to me
375
Through prudent mind they may return.”
Went then with a crowd depressed in mind
The proud in heart, as them the queen bade.
Found they five hundred of cunning men,
Chosen comrades, who craft of lore
380
Through memory of mind the most possessed,
Wisdom in spirit. They back to the hall
In little while again were summoned,
Wards of the city. The queen them gan
With words address (she glanced over all):
385
“Often ye silly actions performed,
Accursed wretches, and writings despised,
Lore of your fathers, ne’er more than now,
When ye of your blindness the Healer rejected,
And ye contended ’gainst truth and right,
390
That in Bethlehem the child of the Ruler,
The only-born King, incarnate was,
The Prince of princes. Though the law ye knew,
Words of the prophets, ye were not then willing,
Workers of sin, the truth to confess.”
395
With one mind then they answered her:
“Lo! we the Hebrew law have learned,
That in days of old our fathers knew,
At the ark of God, nor know we well
Why thou so fiercely, lady, with us
400
Hast angry become. We know not the wrong
That we have done amid this nation,
Chiefest of crimes[2] against thee ever.”
Helena said and ’fore the earls spake
Without concealment; the lady proclaimed
405
Aloud ’fore the hosts: “Now go ye
quickly,
Seek out apart who wisdom with you
Might and mindcraft the most may have,
That each of the things they boldly may tell me,
Without delay, that I from them seek.”
410
Went they then from the council as the mighty queen,
Bold in the palace, them had commanded,
Sorry-in-mind eagerly searched they,
With cunning sought, what were the sin
That they in the folk might have committed
415
Against the Caesar, for which the queen blames them.
Then there ’fore the earls one them addressed,
Cunning in songs (his name was Judas),
Crafty in word: “I surely know,
That she will seek of the victor-tree
420
On which once suffered the Ruler of nations
[1] Gn., Z., W.
[2] So W. ‘Wrongs have committed,’ Gm., Gn. and Z. [?]
[3] W.
[4] Add ‘after that.’
[5] Lacuna in MS., emended by Gn.
“Then quickly I to mine own father,
The old law-sage, answer returned:
455
’How might that happen on kingdom of earth
That they on the holy their hands should lay
For reaving of life, our own fathers,
Through hostile mind, if they ere knew
That he were Christ, the King in heaven,
460
True son of Creator, Saviour of souls.’
Then to me mine elder answer returned,
Wise in his mind my father replied:
’Perceive, young man, the might of God,
The name of the Saviour. That is to each man
465
Unutterable. Him may no one
Upon this earth [ever] find out.
Never that plan that this people framed
Was I willing to follow, but I always myself
Held aloof from their crimes, by no means wrought
shame 470
To mine own spirit. To them earnestly often
On account of their wrong I made opposition,
When the learned-in-lore counsel were taking,
Were seeking in soul how the Son of their Maker,
[1] i.e., ‘defence, protector.’
Words waxed in speech; men counsel took
On every side; some hither, some thither,
Considered and thought. Then came many thanes
To the people’s assembly. The heralds called,
550
The Caesar’s criers: “This queen
you invites,
Men, to the hall, that the council-decisions
Ye rightly may tell. Of rede have ye need
In the place of assembly, of wisdom of mind.”
Ready they were, the sad-in-mind
555
People’s protectors, when they were summoned
Through stern command; to court they went
Craft’s might to tell. Then gan the queen
The Hebrew men in words address,
Ask the life-weary of writings of old,
560
How ere in the world the prophets sang,
Men holy in spirit, of the Son of God,
Where the Prince [of the people] his sufferings bore,
True son of Creator, for love of souls.
Stubborn they were, harder than stone,
565
Would not that secret rightly make known
Nor answer to her any would tell,
Anger-provokers, of what she sought,
But they of each word made a denial,
Firm in their minds, of what she gan ask,
570
Said that in life they any such thing
Nor ere nor since ever had heard of.
Helena spake and angrily said:
“I [now] in truth to you will say,—
And of this in your life there shall be no deception,—
575
If ye in this falseness longer continue
With treacherous lying, who stand here before me,
That you on the mountain bale-fire shall take,
Hottest of war-waves, and your corpses consume,
The lambent flame, so for you shall that lie
580
To leaving of life [surely] be turned.
Ye may not prove that word, which ye just now in wrong
Concealed ’neath heaps[1] of sins. Nor
may ye hide that fate,
Obscure its deepest might.” In thought
of death they were
Of pyre and life’s end, and delivered then one
585
Well-skilled in songs (to him the name Judas
Was given ’fore kinsmen);—him they
gave to the queen,
Said of him very wise: “He may truth to
[1] Lit., ‘under the lap (or bosom) of sins.’
[2] MS. rex (Latin?), Z.;
‘oppression of care’ (cearces),
Gn.; ‘of
hunger’ (ceaces), Gm.; ‘of smoke’
(reces),
Schubert;
rex = cyninges, Sievers and W.
[3] Z.
To him then the blessed answer returned,
Helena ’fore earls without concealment:
620
“If thou in heaven willest to have
Dwelling with angels and life on earth,
Reward in the skies, tell me quickly
Where rests the rood of the King of heaven
Holy ’neath earth, which ye now long
625
Through sin of murder from men have concealed.”
Judas replied (his mind was sad,
Heat in his heart and woe for both,
Whether hope of heaven with [all] his soul
He should renounce, along with his present
630
Kingdom ’neath skies, or show the rood):
“How may I that find that long ago happened
In course of winters? Now many are gone,
Two hundred or more, reckoned by number;
I may not recount, now the number I know not.
635
Now many have since departed this life,
Of wise and good who were before us,
Of clever men. In youth was I
In later days afterwards born,
A child in years. I cannot what I know not
[1] Or, ‘war,’ Gn.; ‘further oft,’ Gm.
When she that heard, who men there ordered,
The man’s behavior, she quickly commanded
710
That him from confinement and out of his dungeon,
From the narrow abode, they should release.
They hastily that did soon perform
And him with honor then led they up
From out of the prison as them the queen bade.
715
Stepped they then to the place, the firm-in-mind,
Upon the hill on which the Lord
Before was hanged, heaven-kingdom’s Ward,
God’s child, on the cross, and yet knew he not
well,
Weakened by hunger, where the holy rood
720
Through cunning of foe[1] enclosed in earth,
721-2
Long firm in its bed concealed from men,
Remained in its grave. Now raised he his voice,
Unmindful[2] of might, and in Hebrew he spake:
725
“Saviour Lord, thou hast power of rule,
And thou didst create through the might of thy glory
Heaven and earth and the boisterous sea,
The ocean’s wide bosom, all creatures alike,
And thou didst measure with thine own hands
730
All the globe of the earth and the heaven above,
And thou thyself sittest, Wielder of victories,
Above the noblest order of angels,
That fly through the air encircled with light,
Great might of glory. There mankind may not
735
From the paths of earth ascend on high
In bodily form with that bright host,
Heralds of glory. These wroughtest thou,
And for thine own service them didst thou set,
Holy and heavenly. Of these in the choir
740
In joy eternal six are named,
Who are surrounded with six wings apiece,
[With them are] adorned, [and] fair they shine.
Of these are four who ever in flight
The service of glory attend upon
745
Before the face of the Judge eternal,
Continually sing in glory the praise,
With clearest voices, of the King of heaven,
Most beauteous of songs, and say these words
With voices pure (their name Cherubim):
750
’Holy is the holy God of archangels,
Ruler of hosts. Full of his glory
Are heaven and earth and all the high powers
With glory distinguished,’ There are two among
[1] No lacuna in MS. Gn.^1
inserted one line, but Gn.^2 one
word (feonda),
which W. prefers. Text as Z. (feondes),
which Sievers
approves.
[2] ‘Mindful,’ Gm. and Gn.; ‘suffering,’ Z. [?].
[3] Referring to the sword.
[4] Gn., or ‘foul,’ Z.
Then out of that place a vapor arose
Like smoke ’neath the heavens. There was
rejoiced
The mind of the man. With both his hands,
805
Happy and law-clever, upward he clapped.
Judas exclaimed, clever in thought:
“Now I in truth myself have known
In my hardened heart that thou art the Saviour
Of [this] mid-earth. To thee, God of might,
810
Sitting in glory, be thanks without end,
That to me so sad and so full of sin
Thou revealed’st in glory the secrets of fate.
Now, Son of God, to thee will I pray,
Will-giver of peoples, now I know that thou art
815
Declared and born of all kings the Glory,
That thou no longer be of my sins,
Those which I committed by no means seldom,
O Maker, mindful. Let me, God of might,
Amid the number of thine own kingdom
820
With the army of saints my dwelling have
In that bright city, where is my brother
Honored in glory, for that faith with thee
He, Stephen, kept, though with handfuls of stones
He was pelted to death. War’s meed he has,
825
Fame without end. There are in books
The wonders he wrought, in writings, made known.”
Then gan he glad for the tree of glory,
Constant in zeal, delve in the earth
Beneath the turf, so that at twenty
830
Feet by measure he found far concealed,
Down in the depths hidden in the earth
’Neath cover of darkness,—there found
he three
Of roods together within the sad house
Buried in sand, as in days of old
835
The host of the wicked covered with earth,
The folk of the Jews. ’Gainst the child
of God
Hatred they raised, although they should not,
If the lore they’d not heard of the father of
lies.
Then was his mind greatly rejoiced,
840
His heart was strengthened by that holy tree,
His spirit inspired, when the beacon he saw
Holy ’neath earth. With his hands he clasped
The cross[1] of glory, and it raised ’mid the
crowd
From its grave in the earth. The guests on foot,
845
The aethelings, went on into the city.
They set there in sight three victor-trees
The firm-minded earls ’fore Helena’s feet,[2]
Courageous in heart. The queen rejoiced
In the depth of her soul, and then gan ask
850
On which of those trees the Son of the Ruler,
Joy-giver of heroes, hanged had been.
“Lo! that we have heard through holy books
By tokens declared, that two with-him
[Also] suffered, and himself was the third
855
On the tree of the rood. All heaven was dark
On that terrible day. Say, if thou canst,
On which of these three the Prince of the angels
Suffered [his doom], the Shepherd of glory.”
[1] Lit., ‘joy-wood.’
[2] Lit., ‘knee.’
Then was to the people in the depth of their souls
895
Impressed on their minds, as ever shall be,
The wonder that wrought the Lord of hosts
For saving of souls of the race of men,
The Teacher of life. There the sinner-through-lies
Then stied in the air, the flying fiend.
900
Gan then exclaim the devil of hell,
The terrible monster, mindful of evils:
“Lo! what man is this, who now again
With ancient strife my service will ruin,
Increase the old hate, [and] plunder my goods?
905
This contest’s increasing. The souls cannot,
Workers of sin, longer within
My power remain, now a stranger is come,
Whom I ere reckoned fast in his sins,
Me has he robbed of every right,
910
Of precious possessions. That’s not a fair
course.
To me many harms the Saviour has done,
Contests oppressive, he who in Nazareth
Was reared as a child. As soon as he grew
From childhood’s years, he to him ever turned
[1] So Z.; ‘rebellion for this,’ W. See W.’s note.
[2] Julian the Apostate, suggests Gn.
[3] ‘That,’ relative,
though it may be taken as conjunction,
as Z.
Then was made known among that folk,
Throughout that nation widely proclaimed,
The great morning-news for a grievance to many
970
Of those who God’s law wished to conceal,
Announced in the towns far as waters embrace,
In each of the cities, that the rood of Christ
Once buried in earth had been discovered,
Brightest of beacons, which since or before
975
Holy ’neath heavens had been upheaved;
And it was to the Jews the greatest of sorrows,
Unhappy men, most hateful of fates,
That they ’fore the world were unable to change
it,
The joy of the Christians. Then bade the queen
980
’Mong the host of earls heralds to hasten,
Quickly to journey; they should of the Romans
O’er the high sea the lord seek out,
And to that warrior the best of tidings
Say, to himself, that the victor-sign
985
Through Creator’s favor had been recovered,
Found in the earth, which ages before
Had been concealed for sorrow to saints,
To Christian folk. Then was to the king
Through the glorious words his spirit gladdened,
990
His heart rejoicing. Then was of inquirers
’Neath golden garments no lack in the cities
Come from afar. To him greatest of comforts
It became in the world at the wished-for tidings,—
His heart delighted,—which army-leaders
995
Over the east-ways, messengers, brought him,
How happy a journey over the swan-road
The men with the queen successfully made
To the land of the Greeks. The Caesar bade them
With greatest haste again prepare
1000
Themselves for the way. The men delayed not
As soon as they had the answer heard,
The words of the aetheling. Bade he Helena hail,
The war-famed greet, if they the sea-voyage
And happy journey were able to make,
1005
Brave-minded men, to the holy city.
Bade also to her the messengers say
Constantinus, that she a church
On the mountain-slope for gain of both
Should there erect, a temple of God,
1010
On Calvary, for joy to Christ,
For help to men, where the holy rood
Had been discovered, greatest of trees,
Of those that earth-dwellers ever heard named
Upon the earth. So she effected,
1015
After dear kinsmen brought from the west
Over the ocean many loved tidings.
Then bade the queen those skilled in crafts
To seek out apart, the best of all,
Those who most cunningly knew how to work
1020
In joinings of stones, on the open plain
God’s temple to build. As the Warden of
spirits
Her counselled from heaven, she bade the rood
With gold adorn and gems of all kinds,
With the most splendid of precious stones
[1] So Z.; ‘The noble wood,’ Gm. and Gn.
[2] Latin, rex.
Then he was baptized who often before
The ready light [had long rejected, Gn.],
1045
Inspired was his soul for that better life,
To glory turned. Fate surely ordained
That so full of faith and so dear to God
In realm of the world he should become,
[So] pleasing to Christ. That known became,
1050
After that Helena bade them Eusebius,
Bishop of Rome, into council with her
To bring for help, the very wise [man]
By means of men,[1] to the holy city,
That he might ordain to the sacred office
1055
Judas for the folk in Jerusalem,
To be their bishop within the city,
Through gift of the Spirit for the temple of God
Chosen with wisdom, and him Cyriacus
Through counsel of wit she afterwards named
1060
A second time. The name was changed
Of the man in the city henceforth for the better,
For the law of the Saviour. Then still Helena’s
Mind was disturbed at the wondrous fate,
Very much for the nails, those which the Saviour’s
1065
Feet had pierced through and likewise his hands,
With which on the rood the Ruler of Heaven,
Lord mighty, was fastened. Of these gan ask
The Christians’ queen, Cyriacus prayed
That still for her, by the might of his spirit,
1070
For the wondrous fate the will he’ld fulfil,
Reveal by his gifts, and she addressed
This word to the bishop, boldly she spake:
“Thou, earls’ defence, the noble tree
Of heavens’ King me rightly didst show,
1075
On which was hanged by heathen hands
The Helper of spirits, own Son of God,
Saviour of men. Still of the nails
In thought of my mind curiosity troubles me.
I would thou should’st find those which yet
[1] So Z.; ‘With pomp of array,’ Gn.
[2] Lit., ‘coming.’
[3] Same expression as in 1054.
[4] Lit., ‘will-giver,’ i.e., the queen.
[5] i.e., her ornaments of gold.
Then eagerly gan she with secrets of soul
Seek in her spirit by soothfastness
The way to glory. Now God of hosts
1150
His help bestowed, the Father in heaven,
Almighty King, that the queen obtained
Her will in the world. The prophecy was
By sages of old sung long before
All from beginning, as it afterwards happened
1155
In respect to each thing. The folk-queen began
Through gift of the Spirit gladly to seek
With greatest care how best the nails,
And in manner most worthy, she might apply
For joy to the folk, what was will of the Lord.
1160
Bade she then fetch a very wise man
Quickly to counsel, him who wisdom
Through clever might thoroughly knew,
Wise in his heart, and gan him ask
What in his soul seemed to him best
1165
To do about that, and his teachings she chose
In respect to her conduct. Her boldly[1] he answered:
“That is becoming that word of the Lord
Thou hold in heart, holy counsel,
Most excellent queen, and the King’s command
1170
Gladly fulfil, now God has thee given
Success of soul and craft of wit,
The Saviour of men. Bid thou these nails
For that most excellent of earthly kings,
Of owners of cities, put on his bridle
1175
For bit to his horse. To many that shall,
Throughout the mid-earth, become renowned,
When with that in contest he may overcome
Each one of his foes, when the brave-in-war
On either side the battle seek,
1180
Sword-contenders, where they strive for victory,
Foe against foe. War-speed shall he have,
Victory in fight and everywhere peace,
In battle success, who carries in front
The bridle on horse, when the famed-in-fight
1185
At clashing of spears, the choicest of men,
Bear shield and lance. To each one of men
Against war-terror shall be invincible
This weapon in war. The seer of it sang,
Cunning in thought. Deep moved his mind,
1190
[1] Gn.’s emendation.
[2] Here properly ends the legend
of the Finding of the Cross.
The last
canto contains reflections of the poet.
Thus old and death-ready in this frail house
Word-craft I wove and wondrously framed it,
Reflected at times and sifted my thought
Closely at night. I knew not well
1240
The truth of the rood,[1] ere wider knowledge
Through glorious might into thought of my mind
Wisdom revealed to me. I was stained with crimes,
Fettered with sins, pained with sorrows,
[1] Gn.’s emendation.
[2] Lit.,’appled gold.’
[3] The words in italics are the
names of the runes that make
up the name
CYNEWULF. This artificial use of words makes
the interpretation
obscure, and scholars differ about it.
[4] Or, ‘those who.’
[5] Gn., Z.
* * * * * * * * [The glorious Creator’s][1] gifts doubted she [not] Upon this wide earth; then found she there ready Help from the mighty Prince, when she most need did have Of grace from the highest Judge, that her ’gainst the greatest terror The Lord of Creation should shield. That Father in heaven to her The Glorious-in-mind did grant, for that firm faith she had In the Almighty ever. Then heard I that Holofernes Wine-summons eagerly wrought, and with all wonders a glorious Banquet had he prepared; to that bade the prince of men All his noblest thanes. That with mickle haste 10 Did the warriors-with-shields perform; came to the mighty chief The people’s leaders going. On the fourth day was that After that Judith, cunning in mind, The elf-sheen virgin, him first had sought.
[1] Gn.’s emendation to fill lacuna of MS.
They then at the feast proceeded to sit,
15
The proud to the wine-drinking, all his comrades-in-ill,
Bold mailed-warriors. There were lofty beakers
Oft borne along the benches, also were cups and flagons
Full to the hall-sitters borne. The fated partook
of them,
Brave warriors-with-shields, though the mighty weened
not of it, 20
[1] ‘Loudly carouse,’ Kr. and C.
[2] ‘Gorged with,’ Kr. and C.
[3] Or, ‘after feast.’
[4] ‘King,’ Gn. and
Kr., but guethfreca suits the verse better
than cyning,
and even that is not metrically sufficient
to fill
the lacuna.
[5] Lit., ‘awaited.’
[6] So Gn.? ‘Scouring,’ Sw.?, Kr.?, C.
[7] ‘Hostile,’ Sw.?
Then had she gained glorious honor,
Judith in war, as God to her granted,
The Ruler of Heaven, who gave to her victory.
The cunning maid then quickly brought
125
The army-leader’s head so bloody
In that [very] vessel in which her attendant,
The fair-faced woman, food for them both,
In virtues renowned, thither had brought,
And it then so gory to her gave in hand,
130
To the thoughtful-in-mind to bear to their home,
Judith to her maid. Went they forth thence,
The women both in courage bold,
Until they had come, proud in their minds,
The women triumphant, out from the army,
135
So that they plainly were able to see
Of that beautiful city the walls [fair] shine,
Bethulia. Then jewel-decked they
Upon the foot-path hastened to go,
Until glad-minded they had arrived
140
At the gate of the wall. The warriors sat,
The watching men were keeping ward
Within that fortress, as before to the folk,
Sad in their minds, Judith had bidden,
The cunning maiden, when she went on her journey,
145
The stout-hearted woman. Then again was she come,
Dear to her people, and then quickly ordered
The wise-minded woman some one of the men
To come to meet her from out the wide city,
And her in haste to admit within
150
Through the gate of the wall, and this word she spake
To the victor-folk: “To you can I say
A thought-worthy[1] thing, that no longer ye need
Mourn in your minds: your Creator is kind,
Glory of kings: that is become known
155
Wide through the world, that to you is success
Glorious at hand, and honor is granted
For [all] those sorrows which long ye suffered.”
Glad then were they, the dwellers-in-borough,
After they heard how the holy one spake
160
O’er the high wall. The host was in joy.
To the fortress-gate the people hastened,
Men, women together, in troops and heaps,
In crowds and throngs, hurried and ran
To meet the Lord’s maid by thousands and thousands,
165
Both old and young: to each one became
Of men in the mead-city his mind rejoiced,
After they knew that Judith was come
Again to her home, and then in haste
With reverence they allowed her to enter.
170
Then bade the clever, with gold adorned,
Her servant-maid, thoughtful-in-mind,
The army-leader’s head to uncover,
And it as a proof bloody to show
To the city-folk how she speeded in war.
175
[1] ‘Thank-worthy,’ Kr.
Thus then the thanes in the morning-hours
Pressed on the strangers unceasingly,
Until they perceived, those who were hostile,
The army-folk’s chiefest leaders,
That upon them sword-strokes mighty bestowed
240
The Hebrew men. They that in words
To their most noted chiefs of the people
Went to announce, waked helmeted warriors
And to them with fear the dread news told,
To the weary-from-mead the morning-terror,
245
The hateful sword-play. Then learnt I that quickly
The slaughter-fated men aroused from sleep
And to the baleful’s sleeping-bower
The saddened[1] men pressed on in crowds,
To Holofernes: they only were thinking
250
To their own lord to make known the fight,
Ere terror on him should take its seat,
The might of the Hebrews. They all imagined
That the prince of men and the handsome maid
In the beautiful tent were [still] together,
255
Judith the noble and the lustful one,
Dreadful and fierce; though no earl there was
Who the warrior durst [then] awake,
Or durst discover how the helmeted warrior
With the holy maid had passed his time,
260
The Creator’s handmaid. The force approached,
The folk of the Hebrews, courageously fought
With hard battle-arms, fiercely repaid
Their former fights with shining[2] swords,
The old-time grudge; was of the Assyrians
265
By that day’s work the glory diminished,
The pride brought low. The warriors stood
’Round their prince’s tent strongly excited,
Gloomy in mind. They then all together
Began to groan,[3] to cry aloud
270
And gnash with their teeth,—afar from God,—
Showing their anger; ’twas the end of their
glory,
Of joy and valor. The earls were thinking
To awaken their lord; they did not succeed.
Then at last and too late was one so bold
275
Of the battle-warriors that to the bower-tent
He daringly ventured, since need him compelled:
Found he then on the bed lying deadly-pale
His [own] gold-giver of breath bereft,
Of life deprived. Then quickly he fell
280
Astounded to earth, gan tear his hair,
Excited in mind, and his garments too,
And this word he spake to the warriors [brave],
Who saddened there were standing without:
“Here is displayed our own destruction,
285
The future betokened, that it is to the time
Now amongst men[4] almost arrived,
When we our lives shall lose together,
In battle perish: here lies with sword hewn
Our lord beheaded.” They then sad-in-mind
290
[1] So Sw.; ‘weary in mind,’ Gn., Kr., C.
[2] ‘Hostile,’ C., though
‘flashing,’ 194, and ‘gleaming,’
302.
[3] Lit., ‘cough.’
[4] So Gn. and Kr.; ‘with
violence,’ Sw.; ‘with afflictions,’
C.
[5] So Sw. and Kr.; ‘Of the
hostile shield-warriors,’ Gn. and
C.
[6] i.e., ‘spirited.’
OR
THE FIGHT AT BRUNANBURH.
AEthelstan King, of earls the lord,
Of heroes ring-giver, and his brother too,
Edmund AEtheling, enduring fame
Earned in the fight with edges of swords
By Brunanburh. The board-wall they cleaved,
5
The war-shields hewed with leavings of hammers
The sons of Edward. ’Twas natural to them
By right of descent that in battle they oft
’Gainst every foe their land defended,
Their hoards and homes. The foes were fallen,
10
Folk of the Scots and men of the ships,
Fated they fell. The field ran thick[1]
With heroes’ blood, when the risen sun
At morning-time, the mighty orb,
Shone o’er the earth, bright candle of God,
15
Eternal Lord, till the noble creature
Sank to his rest. There many men lay
Struck down[2] with spears, men from the North,
Shot o’er the shield, and Scotsmen too,
Weary [and] war-filled. The West-Saxons forth
20
The live-long day with legions of warriors
Pressed on the heels of the hostile foes;
They felled the fleers with force from behind
With sharp-ground swords. Shrank not the Mercians
From hard hand-play with any of heroes,
25
Of those who with Anlaf o’er welling of waves
On the deck of the ship had sought the land,
Fated for fight. Five of them lay
On the battle-field, young kings [they were],
Slaughtered[3] with swords, and also seven
30
Earls of Anlaf, and unnumbered host
Of seamen and Scots. There was forced to flee
The Northmen’s chief, by need compelled
To the prow of his ship with few attendants.
Keel crowded[4] the sea, the king went forth
35
On the fallow flood; he saved his life.
There too the aged escaped by flight
To his home in the North, Constantinus.
The hoar war-hero was unable to boast
Of attendance of men; he was robbed of his kinsmen,
40
Bereaved of his friends on the battle-field,
Conquered in fight, and he left his son
On the place of slaughter wasted with wounds,
The boy in the battle. He durst not boast,
The gray-haired warrior, of the clash of swords,
45
The aged enemy, nor Anlaf the more.
With their army-remnant they durst not rejoice
That in deeds of war they proved to be better
[1] Lit., ‘became slippery,’
Gn.; ‘babbled’ (as a brook), or
‘became
dark,’ Kr.; ‘streamed,’ Th.
[2] ‘Scattered,’ Th.
[3] Lit., ‘put to sleep.’
[4] Or, ‘He pressed ship on the sea’, ‘drove,’ Th.
[5] Gn. and W. take Dyng
as a proper name, but no one knows
who Dyng
was. Kr. leaves on dynges mere untranslated,
with the
remark: “ist unaufgeklaert.”
He thinks it refers
to some
bay in Ireland, from which the invaders set out, but
why may
it not be a name for the Irish Sea itself? Th.
translates
‘on the roaring sea,’ but adds ’quite
conjectural.’
OR
THE FIGHT AT MALDON.
* * * * * * was broken.
Then bade he each youth his horse to forsake,
To hasten afar and forwards to go,
Be mindful of might, of mood courageous.
This Offa’s kinsman at once perceived
5
That the earl was unwilling faint heart to endure.
Then he let from his hands his lief[1] hawk fly,
His hawk to the holt, and to battle he stepped;
By that might one know that the knight was unwilling
To be weak in the war when to weapons he took.
10
By him too would Eadric, by his overlord, stand,
His chief in the fight; then forth gan he bear
His spear to the battle: brave spirit had he
The while that with hands he was able to hold
Shield and broad sword; his boast he fulfilled,[2]
15
When he ’fore his lord was bound to fight.
[1] Dear.
[2] Or, ‘maintained.’
[3] Bank.
[4] Bold.
[5] Destroy.
[6] Lit., ‘old.’
[7] Lit., ‘announce.’
[8] Money.
[9] Bank of the stream.
[10] i.e., ‘battle-array,’
Sw., but the word is uncertain; Kr.
suggests
‘fascines’; Zl. merely gives ‘Prunk.’
[11] i.e., Byrhtnoth.
[12] i.e., Byrhtnoth.
[13] i.e., the phalanx with interlocked shields.
[14] Some such word as grame,
or grimme, seems needed for
the
alliteration.
[15] i.e., battle-axes.
[16] Chamberlain.
[17] Inserted by Kr. to fill the
lacuna, whom W. follows;
Sw.
and Zl. omit.
[18] Lit., ‘suffer,’ ‘endure.’
[19] Lit., ‘bold.’
[20] Lit., ‘He was both my kinsman and my lord.’
[21] i.e., ‘sword.’
[22] i.e., ‘hollow shields.’
Cellod is found only here and
in
Finnsburg, 29.
[23] i.e., ‘courage.’
Lo! choicest of dreams I will relate,
What dream I dreamt in middle of night
When mortal men reposed in rest.
Methought I saw a wondrous wood
Tower aloft with light bewound,
5
Brightest of trees; that beacon was all
Begirt with gold; jewels were standing
Four[1] at surface of earth, likewise were there five
Above on the shoulder-brace. All angels of God
beheld it,
Fair through future ages; ’twas no criminal’s
cross indeed, 10
But holy spirits beheld it there,
Men upon earth, all this glorious creation.
Strange was that victor-tree, and stained with sins
was I,
With foulness defiled. I saw the glorious tree
With vesture[2] adorned winsomely shine,
15
Begirt with gold; bright gems had there
Worthily decked the tree of the Lord.[3]
Yet through that gold I might perceive
Old strife of the wretched, that first it gave
Blood on the stronger [right] side. With sorrows
was I oppressed, 20
Afraid for that fair sight; I saw the ready beacon
Change in vesture and hue; at times with moisture
covered,
Soiled with course of blood; at times with treasure
adorned.
Yet lying there a longer while,
Beheld I sad the Saviour’s tree
25
Until I heard that words it uttered;
The best of woods gan speak these words:
“’Twas long ago (I remember it still)
That I was hewn at end of a grove,
Stripped from off my stem; strong foes laid hold of
me there, 30
Wrought for themselves a show, bade felons raise me
up;
Men bore me on their shoulders, till on a mount they
set me;
Fiends many fixed me there. Then saw I mankind’s
Lord
Hasten with mickle might, for He would sty[4] upon
me.
There durst I not ’gainst word of the Lord
35
Bow down or break, when saw I tremble
The surface of earth; I might then all
My foes have felled, yet fast I stood.
The Hero young begirt[5] Himself, Almighty God was
He,
Strong and stern of mind; He stied on the gallows
high, 40
Bold in sight of many, for man He would redeem.
I shook when the Hero clasped me, yet durst not bow
to earth,
Fall to surface of earth, but firm I must there stand.
A rood was I upreared; I raised the mighty King,
The Lord of Heaven; I durst not bend me.
45
They drove their dark nails through me; the wounds
are seen upon me,
The open gashes of guile; I durst harm none[6] of
them.
They mocked us both together; all moistened with blood
was I,
Shed from side of the man, when forth He sent His
spirit.
Many have I on that mount endured
50
Of cruel fates; I saw the Lord of Hosts
Strongly outstretched; darkness had then
Covered with clouds the corse of the Lord,
The brilliant brightness; the shadow continued,[7]
[1] Feowere, B.’s emendation for MS. faegere, ‘fair.’
[2] Silken cords, or tassels, W.;
sailyards, ropes, in Hall
and Sweet.
[3] Wealdendes, S.’s
emendation for MS. wealdes, ‘wood’;
so Kl.
[4] Sty, ‘mount,’ common in Middle English.
[5] Here and below W. gives the
corresponding verses from the
Ruthwell
Cross. They will also be found in Stopford
Brooke’s
“Early English Literature,” p. 337, q.v.
[6] Gr. changes MS. naenigum
to aenigum and others follow;
W. as MS.
[7] Foreth-eode, not for-etheode,
‘overcame,’ as Sw. W.’s note
is an oversight.
[8] MS. to þam aeethelinge.
Sw. follows Ruthwell Cross, aeethele
to anum.
[9] Banan must be taken as
gen. pl.; B. reads banana; Sw.
thinks it
“a mistake for some other [word], possibly
beorg,”
and takes banan as gen. sing. referring to the
cross, though
he adds, “this is very improbable.”
Truly so,
as the cross
is speaking.
[10] Maete werode, lit.,
‘with a small band,’ but it means
‘by
himself.’
[11] Greotende is Gr.’s
emendation for MS. reotende; B.
hreotende;
K. geotende; Sw. as Gr.
[12] Stefn is Kl.’s
emendation to fill lacuna. W. prefers
it,
but does not think it convincing.
[13] Us here must refer to
the three crosses, that of
Christ
and those of the two thieves.
[14] This half-line is Gr.’s
emendation to fill lacuna in
MS.
Sw. and W. leave it blank.
[15] Or, ‘of the wicked,’ ‘of criminals.’
[16] I have used this Middle English
word for sake of the
alliteration.
[17] Sw.’s text ends here.
It was translated a few years ago
in
Poet-Lore as if it were the whole poem.
[18] MS. holmwudu; K. holtwudu, and so Gr. with (?).
[19] MS. unforht, but Gr.’s
anforht suits the sense
better.
[20] i.e., ‘by myself.’ See on 69.
[21] Lit., ‘speedy,’ ‘successful.’
[22] A company, a crowd; common in Middle English.