# Beowulf (Wyatt)/Beowulf 21

XXI.
Bēowulf maþelode,bearn Ecgþēowes: “Ne sorga, snotor guma;sēlre bið ǣghwǣm, 1385þæt hē his frēond wrece,þonne hē fela murne. Ure ǣghwylc scealende gebīdan worolde lifes;wyrce sē þe mōte dōmes ǣr dēaþe;þæt bið driht-guman unlifgendumæfter sēlest. 1390Ārīs, rīces weard;uton hraþe fēran, Grendles māgangang scēawigan. Ic hit þē gehāte:nō hē on hehn losaþ, ne on foldan fæþm,ne on fyrgen-holt, ne on gyfenes grund,gā þǣr hē wille. 1395Ðȳs dōgor þūgeþyld hafa wēana gehwylces,swā ic þē wēne tō.” Āhlēop ðā se gomela,Gode þancode, mihtigan Drihtne,þæs se man ge*spræc.Fol. 161a.
Þā wæs Hrōðgārehors gebǣted, 1400wicg wunden-feax;wīsa fengel geatolīc gen[g]de;gum-fēþa stōp lind-hæbbendra.Lāstas wǣron æfter wald-swaþumwīde gesȳne, gang ofer grundas;gegnum fōr 1405ofer myrcan mōr,mago-þegna bær ​þone sēlestansāwol-lēasne, þāra þe mid Hrōðgārehām eahtode. Oferēode þāæþelinga bearn stēap stān-hliðo,stīge nearwe, 1410enge ān-paðas,uncūð gelād, nēowle næssas,nicor-hūsa fela; hē fēara sumbeforan gengde wīsra monnawong scēawian, oþ þæt hē fǣringafyrgen-bēamas 1415ofer hārne stānhleonian funde, wyn-lēasne wudu;wæter under stōd drēorig ond gedrēfed.Denum eallum wæs, winum Scyldinga,weorce on mōde tō geþolianne,ðegne monegum, 1420oncȳð eorla gehwǣm,syðþan Æscheres on þām holm-clifehafelan mētton. Flōd blōde wēol(folc tō sǣgon), *hātan heolfre.Horn stundum songFol. 161b. fūslīc f[yrd]-lēoð.Fēþa eal gesæt; 1425gesāwon ðā æfter wæterewyrm-cynnes fela, sellīce sǣ-dracan,sund cunnian, swylce on næs-hleoðumnicras licgean, ðā on undern-mǣloft bewitigað sorh-fulne sīðon segl-rāde, 1430wyrmas ond wil-dēor;hīe onweg hruron bitere ond gebolgne,bearhtm ongēaton, gūð-horn galan.Sumne Gēata lēod of flān-boganfēores getwǣfde, ȳð-gewinnes,þæt him on aldre stōd 1435here-strǣl hearda;hē on hohne wæs ​sundes þē sǣnra,ðē hyne swylt fornam. Hræþe wearð on ȳðummid eofer-sprēotum heoro-hōcyhtumhearde genearwod, nīða genǣgedond on næs togen, 1440wundorlīc wǣg-bora;weras scēawedon gryrelīcne gist.Gyrede hine Beowulf eorl-gewǣdum,nalles for ealdre mearn; scolde here-byrnehondum gebrōden, sīd ond searo-fāh,sund cunnian, 1445sēo ðe bān-cofanbeorgan cūþe, þæt him hilde-grāphreþre ne mihte, eorres inwit-fengaldre gesceþðan; ac se hwīta helm*hafelan werede,Fol. 162a. sē þe mere-grundasmengan scolde, 1450sēcan sund-geblandsince geweorðad, befongen frēa-wrāsnum,swā hine fyrn-dagum worhte wǣpna smið,wundrum tēode, besette swīn-līcum,þæt hine syðþan nō brond ne beado-mēcasbītan ne meahton. 1455Næs þæt þonne mǣtostmægen-fultuma, þæt him on ðearfe lāhðyle Hrōðgāres; wæs þǣm hæft-mēceHrunting nama; þæt wæs ān foraneald-gestrēona; ecg wæs īren,āter-tānum fāh, 1460āhyrded heaþo-swāte;nǣfre hit æt hilde ne swāc manna ǣngum,þāra þe hit mid mundum bewand, sē ðe gryre-sīðasgegān dorste, folc-stede fāra;næs þæt forma sīð, ​þæt hit ellen-weorcæfnan scolde. 1465Hūru ne gemundemago Ecglāfes eafoþes cræftig,þæt hē ǣr gespræc wīne druncen,þā hā þæs wǣpnes onlāh sēlran sweord-frecan;selfa ne dorste under ȳða gewinaldre genēþan, 1470driht-scype drēogan;þǣr hē dōme forlēas, ellen-*mǣrðum.Ne wæs þǣm ōðrum swā,Fol. 162b. syðþan hē hine tō gūðegegyred hæfde.
* ↑ 1390. Sweet ‘raþe,’ for the sake of the alliteration; but see Sievers § 217, N. 1.
* ↑ 1395. Heyne ‘ðys dōgor,’ accus. of duration; but the form ðys lacks authority, and see Sievers § 289, and “Beiträge” x. 312.
* ↑ 1401. MS. ‘gende.’
* ↑ 1404. Heyne adopts the emendation of Sievers, who considers the line metrically deficient: ‘[þǣr hēo] gegnum fōr.’
* ↑ 1424. MS. defective at edge; B ‘f…’; Zupitza ‘f[yrd]-,’ adopting the emendation of Bouterwek (1859).
* ↑ 1439. Sweet ‘ge[h]nǣged.’ But see l. 2206, where Toller (after Grein) wrongly gives the MS. reading as gehnǣgdan.
* ↑ 1459. Heyne and Socin adopt Cosijn’s emendation, āter-tēarum, “with poison drops,” which is supported by Sievers.
* ↑ 1471. AB ‘mærdam’; Thorpe ‘mærðum’; Zupitza ‘mær^um’: “um at the end of the word is still distinct, and before um I think I see a considerable part of rð.”