Beowulf
contributor: Eric Lease Morgan (Infomotions, Inc.)
creator: Anonymous
date: 0000-00-00
extent: 150024
format: text/plain
language: en
publisher: Wiretap Electronic Text Archive
rights: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/GPL/2.0/
source: beowulf.txt
subject: beowulf
subject: lord
subject: king
subject: hall
subject: life
subject: public
subject: domain
subject: heard
subject: anonymous
subject: english
subject: literature
type: text
local mirror: anonymous-beowulf-543.txt
concordance: http://infomotions.com/alex/cgi-bin/concordance.pl
plain html: anonymous-beowulf-543.htm
sort title: Beowulf
full text: The Internet Wiretap edition of BEOWULF From The Harvard Classics, Volume 49. Copyright, 1910 by P.F. Collier & Son. This text is in the public domain, released July 1993. Prepared by Robin Katsuya-Corbet <corbet@astro.psu.edu> from scanner output provided by Internet Wiretap. B E O W U L F Translated by Francis B. Gummere PRELUDE OF THE FOUNDER OF THE DANISH HOUSE LO, praise of the prowess of people-kings of spear-armed Danes, in days long sped, we have heard, and what honor the athelings won! Oft Scyld the Scefing from squadroned foes, from many a tribe, the mead-bench tore, awing the earls. Since erst he lay friendless, a foundling, fate repaid him: for he waxed under welkin, in wealth he throve, till before him the folk, both far and near, who house by the whale-path, heard his mandate, gave him gifts: a good king he! To him an heir was afterward born, a son in his halls, whom heaven sent to favor the folk, feeling their woe that erst they had lacked an earl for leader so long a while; the Lord endowed him, the Wielder of Wonder, with world's renown. Famed was this Beowulf:[1] far flew the boast of him, son of Scyld, in the Scandian lands. So becomes it a youth to quit him well with his father's friends, by fee and gift, that to aid him, aged, in after days, come warriors willing, should war draw nigh, liegemen loyal: by lauded deeds shall an earl have honor in every clan. Forth he fared at the fated moment, sturdy Scyld to the shelter of God. Then they bore him over to ocean's billow, loving clansmen, as late he charged them, while wielded words the winsome Scyld, the leader beloved who long had ruled.... In the roadstead rocked a ring-dight vessel, ice-flecked, outbound, atheling's barge: there laid they down their darling lord on the breast of the boat, the breaker-of-rings,[2] by the mast the mighty one. Many a treasure fetched from far was freighted with him. No ship have I known so nobly dight with weapons of war and weeds of battle, with breastplate and b…