VIII

HROTHGAR AND BEOWULF.--Continued.

{Hrothgar responds.}

      Hrothgar discoursed, helm of the Scyldings:
      "To defend our folk and to furnish assistance,[1]
      Thou soughtest us hither, good friend Beowulf.

{Reminiscences of Beowulf's father, Ecgtheow.}

      The fiercest of feuds thy father engaged in,
    5 Heatholaf killed he in hand-to-hand conflict
      'Mid Wilfingish warriors; then the Wederish people
      For fear of a feud were forced to disown him.
      Thence flying he fled to the folk of the South-Danes,

[18] The race of the Scyldings, o'er the roll of the waters; 10 I had lately begun then to govern the Danemen, The hoard-seat of heroes held in my youth, Rich in its jewels: dead was Heregar, My kinsman and elder had earth-joys forsaken, Healfdene his bairn. He was better than I am! 15 That feud thereafter for a fee I compounded; O'er the weltering waters to the Wilfings I sent Ornaments old; oaths did he swear me.

{Hrothgar recounts to Beowulf the horrors of Grendel's persecutions.}

      It pains me in spirit to any to tell it,
      What grief in Heorot Grendel hath caused me,
   20 What horror unlooked-for, by hatred unceasing.
      Waned is my war-band, wasted my hall-troop;
      Weird hath offcast them to the clutches of Grendel.
      God can easily hinder the scather
      From deeds so direful. Oft drunken with beer

{My thanes have made many boasts, but have not executed them.}

   25 O'er the ale-vessel promised warriors in armor
      They would willingly wait on the wassailing-benches
      A grapple with Grendel, with grimmest of edges.
      Then this mead-hall at morning with murder was reeking,
      The building was bloody at breaking of daylight,
   30 The bench-deals all flooded, dripping and bloodied,
      The folk-hall was gory: I had fewer retainers,
      Dear-beloved warriors, whom death had laid hold of.

{Sit down to the feast, and give us comfort.}

      Sit at the feast now, thy intents unto heroes,[2]
      Thy victor-fame show, as thy spirit doth urge thee!"

{A bench is made ready for Beowulf and his party.}

   35 For the men of the Geats then together assembled,
      In the beer-hall blithesome a bench was made ready;
      There warlike in spirit they went to be seated,
      Proud and exultant. A liegeman did service,

[19] Who a beaker embellished bore with decorum,

{The gleeman sings}

   40 And gleaming-drink poured. The gleeman sang whilom

{The heroes all rejoice together.}

      Hearty in Heorot; there was heroes' rejoicing,
      A numerous war-band of Weders and Danemen.

[1] B. and S. reject the reading given in H.-So., and suggested by
Grtvg. B. suggests for 457-458:

           wáere-ryhtum Þú, wine mín Béowulf,
           and for ár-stafum úsic sóhtest.

This means: _From the obligations of clientage, my friend Beowulf, and
for assistance thou hast sought us_.--This gives coherence to
Hrothgar's opening remarks in VIII., and also introduces a new motive
for Beowulf's coming to Hrothgar's aid.

[2] _Sit now at the feast, and disclose thy purposes to the victorious
heroes, as thy spirit urges_.--Kl. reaches the above translation by
erasing the comma after 'meoto' and reading 'sige-hrèðsecgum.'--There
are other and bolder emendations and suggestions. Of these the boldest
is to regard 'meoto' as a verb (imperative), and read 'on sæl': _Think
upon gayety, etc_.--All the renderings are unsatisfactory, the one
given in our translation involving a zeugma.