Dragons -- Poetry; Epic poetry, English (Old); Monsters -- Poetry
And greet thou the Geatmen with gracious responses!
So ought one to do. Be kind to the Geatmen,
50 In gifts not niggardly; anear and afar now
Peace thou enjoyest. Report hath informed me
Thou'lt have for a bairn the battle-brave hero.
Now is Heorot cleansèd, ring-palace gleaming;
{Have as much joy as possible in thy hall, once more purified.}
Give while thou mayest many rewards,
55 And bequeath to thy kinsmen kingdom and people,
On wending thy way to the Wielder's splendor.
I know good Hrothulf, that the noble young troopers
{I know that Hrothulf will prove faithful if he survive thee.}
He'll care for and honor, lord of the Scyldings,
If earth-joys thou endest earlier than he doth;
60 I reckon that recompense he'll render with kindness
Our offspring and issue, if that all he remember,
What favors of yore, when he yet was an infant,
We awarded to him for his worship and pleasure."
Then she turned by the bench where her sons were carousing,
65 Hrethric and Hrothmund, and the heroes' offspring,
{Beowulf is sitting by the two royal sons.}
The war-youth together; there the good one was sitting
'Twixt the brothers twain, Beowulf Geatman.
[1] For 1130 (1) R. and Gr. suggest 'elne unflitme' as 1098 (1) reads.
The latter verse is undisputed; and, for the former, 'elne' would be
as possible as 'ealles,' and 'unflitme' is well supported. Accepting
'elne unflitme' for both, I would suggest '_very peaceably_' for both
places: (1) _Finn to Hengest very peaceably vowed with oaths_, etc.
(2) _Hengest then still the slaughter-stained winter remained there
with Finn very peaceably_. The two passages become thus correlatives,
the second a sequel of the first. 'Elne,' in the sense of very
(swíðe), needs no argument; and 'unflitme' (from 'flítan') can, it
seems to me, be more plausibly rendered 'peaceful,' 'peaceable,' than
'contestable,' or 'conquerable.'
[2] Some scholars have proposed 'roden'; the line would then read:
_Then the building was reddened, etc._, instead of 'covered.' The 'h'
may have been carried over from the three alliterating 'h's.'
XIX.
BEOWULF RECEIVES FURTHER HONOR.
{More gifts are offered Beowulf.}
A beaker was borne him, and bidding to quaff it
Graciously given, and gold that was twisted
Pleasantly proffered, a pair of arm-jewels,
[42] Rings and corslet, of collars the greatest
5 I've heard of 'neath heaven. Of heroes not any
More splendid from jewels have I heard 'neath the welkin,
{A famous necklace is referred to, in comparison with the gems presented
to Beowulf.}
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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