Chapter IV: Canto VIII (2)

Hunferd the son of Ecglaf spoke--at Hrothgar’s feet sat he--
And thus let loose his secret grudge;
(for much did him displease
The coming of Beowulf now--bold sailor o’er the seas.
To none on earth would he allow a greater fame ’mong men
Beneath the heavens than his): ‘Art thou the same Beowulf then,
Who swam a match with Breca once upon the waters wide,
When ye vainglorious searched the waves,
and risked your lives for pride
Upon the deep? Nor hinder you could any friend or foe
From that sad venture. Then ye twain did on the waters row;
Ye stretched your arms upon the flood;
the sea-ways ye did mete; 10
O’er billows glided--with your hands them tossed--though
fiercely beat
The rolling tides and wintry waves! Seven nights long toilèd ye
In waters’ might; but Breca won--he stronger was than thee!
And to the Hathoræms at morn washed shoreward by the flood,
Thence his loved native land he sought--the Brondings’
country good,
And stronghold fair, where he was lord of folk and burg
and rings.
Right well ’gainst thee his vaunt he kept.

_Criticism of the Translation._

The extract illustrates the paraphrastic nature of parts of the translation. Lumsden frequently seems to feel it necessary to read a meaning into the obscure lines and passages that do not easily lend themselves to translation; cf. lines 11, 12. At line 2258 Lumsden translates:--

The mail that bite of sword
O’er clashing shield in fight withstood must follow its dead lord.
Never again shall corselet ring as help the warriors bear
To comrades far.

The Old English from which this passage is taken reads:--

ge swylce sēo here-pād, sīo æt hilde gebād
ofer borda gebræc bite īrena,
brosnað æfter beorne; ne mæg byrnan hring 2260
æfter wīg-fruman wīde fēran
hæleðum be healfe.

The passage is certainly obscure, and the readings are not all undoubted, but the words can never be tortured into meaning what Lumsden tries to make them mean.

But it would be manifestly unfair to judge a translation addressed to the general reader merely by scholarly tests. The work must make its appeal as a literary rendering.

The propriety of adopting a ballad measure may be questioned. Probably no measure could be found more unlike the Old English lines. Moreover, by reason of its long association with purely popular poetry, it constantly suggests the commonplace and the trivial. But above all, it is reminiscent of a medievalism wholly different from that of _Beowulf_.

The saving grace of the ballad measure is its readableness. It is rather effective in passages not too dignified, calling for action. But in passages of elevation the line is found wanting:--

They mourned their king and chanted dirge,
and much of him they said;
His worthiness they praised,
and judged his deeds with tender dread.

But, like Wackerbarth’s, Lumsden’s translation had the advantage of being readable.

[Footnote 1: Col. Lumsden’s translation of the Battle of Maldon,
_Macmillan’s Magazine_, 55: 371, has been generally admired.]

[Footnote 2: See supra, p. 45.] [[Wackerbarth]]

[Footnote 3: See supra, p. 56.] [[Grein’s Texts]]

[Footnote 4: See supra, p. 72.] [[Arnold: Criticism...]]

[Footnote 5: See _American Journal of Philology_, ii. p. 355.]

[Footnote 6: From the second edition.]

GARNETT’S TRANSLATION

Beowulf: An Anglo-Saxon Poem, and the Fight at Finnsburg, translated by James M. Garnett, M.A., LL.D., Boston, U.S.A.: published by Ginn, Heath, & Co., 1882. 8vo, pp. xl, 107.

Second Edition, Ginn, Heath, & Co., 1885. 8vo, pp. xlvi, 110.

Third Edition, Ginn & Co., 1892. Reprinted 1899. 8vo, pp. liii, 110.

Fourth Edition, 1900.

Sixth English Translation. Imitative Measures.

_Differences between the Editions._

In the second edition the translation was collated with the Grein-Wülker text, and wherever necessary, with the Zupitza _Autotypes_. Additions were made to the bibliography:--

‘I have revised certain passages with a view to greater accuracy,
but I have not changed the plan of the work, for that would have
necessitated the re-writing of the whole translation.’ --Preface
to the second edition.

The third and fourth editions are simple reprints, with some additions to the bibliography.

_Circumstances of Publication._

As has been pointed out above in the sections on Arnold[1] and Lumsden[2], no satisfactory literal translation of _Beowulf_ existed in English. Furthermore, an American translation had never appeared. It was with a view to presenting the latest German interpretations of the poem that Garnett prepared his literal version of the poem. The original draft of the translation was made at St. John’s College, Md., in the session of 1878-79.--Preface to first edition.

_Texts Used._

The translation is based on Grein’s text of 1867. Notes are added showing the variants from Heyne’s text of 1879. In the second edition notes are added showing the variants from the Grein-Wülker text of 1883.

_Method of Translation._

The translation is intended for ‘the general reader’ and for the ‘aid of students of the poem.’ --Preface to second edition.

The translation is a literal line-for-line version. Of this feature of his work Professor Garnett says:--

‘This involves naturally much inversion and occasional obscurity,
and lacks smoothness; but it seemed to me to give the general
reader a better idea of the poem than a mere prose translation
would do, in addition to the advantage of literalness. While it
would have been easy, by means of periphrasis and freer
translation, to mend some of the defects chargeable to the
line-for-line form, the translation would have lacked literalness,
which I regarded as the most important object.’ --Preface to the
first edition.

_Nature of the Verse-form._

‘In respect to the rhythmical form, I have endeavored to preserve
two accents to each half-line, with cæsura, and while not seeking
alliteration, have employed it purposely wherever it readily
presented itself. I considered that it mattered little whether the
feet were iambi or trochees, anapæsts or dactyls, the preservation
of the two accents being the main point, and have freely made use
of all the usual licences in Early English verse.... To attain
this point I have sometimes found it necessary to place unemphatic
words in accented positions, and words usually accented in
unaccented ones, which licence can also be found in Early English
verse.... While the reader of modern English verse may sometimes
be offended by the ruggedness of the rhythm, it is hoped that the
Anglo-Saxon scholar will make allowances for the difficulty of
reproducing, even approximately, the rhythm of the original. The
reproduction of the sense as closely as possible had to be kept
constantly in view, even to the detriment of the smoothness of the
rhythm.’ --Preface to the first edition.

EXTRACT.

III.

Hunferth’s taunt. The swimming-match with Breca. Joy in Heorot.

IX. Hunferth then spoke, the son of Ecglaf,
Who at the feet sat of the lord of the Scyldings, 500
Unloosed his war-secret (was the coming of Beowulf,
The proud sea-farer, to him mickle grief,
For that he granted not that any man else
Ever more honor of this mid-earth
Should gain under heavens than he himself): 505
‘Art thou that Beowulf who strove with Breca
On the broad sea in swimming-match,
When ye two for pride the billows tried
And for vain boasting in the deep water
Riskéd your lives. You two no man, 510
Nor friend nor foe, might then dissuade
From sorrowful venture, when ye on the sea swam,
When ye the sea-waves with your arms covered,
Measured the sea-ways, struck with your hands,
Glided o’er ocean; with its great billows 515
Welled up winter’s flood. In the power of the waters
Ye seven nights strove: he in swimming thee conquered,
He had greater might. Then him in the morning
On the Heathoremes’ land the ocean bore up,
Whence he did seek his pleasant home, 520
Dear to his people, the land of the Brondings
His fair strong city, where he had people,
A city and rings. All his boast against thee
The son of Beanstan truly fulfilled.’

_Criticism of the Translation._

The translation, in its revised form, is throughout a faithful version of the original text. The fault of Garnett’s translation is the fault of all merely literal translations--inadequacy to render fully the content of the original. The rendering may be word for word, but it will not be idea for idea. Examples of this inadequacy may be given from the printed extract. ‘Grief’ in line 502 is a very insufficient rendering of _æf-þunca_, a unique word which suggests at once vexation, mortification, and jealousy. Had the poet simply meant to express the notion of _grief_, he would have used _sorh_, _cearu_, or some other common word. In line 508 ‘pride’ hardly gives full expression to the idea of _wlence,_ which signifies not only _pride_, but _vain pride, of empty end_. In line 517 ‘conquered’ is insufficient as a translation of _oferflāt_, which means to _overcome in swimming, to outswim_.

Examples of this sort can be brought forward from any part of the poem. At line 2544 Garnett translates--

Struggles of battle when warriors contended,

a translation of--

Gūða ... þonne hnitan fēðan

Here ‘hnitan fēðan’ refers to the swift clash in battle of two armed hosts, a notion which is ill borne out by the distributive ‘warriors’ and the vague ‘contended.’

At line 2598 we find--

they to wood went

for

hȳ on holt bugon,

which, whatever be the meaning of ‘bugon,’ is surely a misleading translation.

The nature of the verse has been sufficiently illustrated by the quotations from the author’s preface. It would seem from the way in which the measure is used that it was a kind of second thought, incident upon the use of a line-for-line translation. It is hard to read the lines as anything but prose, and, if they appeared in any other form upon the page, it is to be questioned whether any one would have guessed that they were intended to be imitative.

_Reception of Garnett’s Translation._

Garnett’s volume had a flattering reception. The book received long and respectful reviews from the Germans. Professor Child and Henry Sweet expressed their approbation. The book has passed through four editions. This cordial welcome has been due in large measure to the increasing attention given the poem in American colleges and secondary schools. Being strictly literal, the book has been of value as a means of interpreting the poem.

[Footnote 1: See supra, p. 71.] [[Arnold]]

[Footnote 2: See supra, p. 79.] [[Lumsden]]

GRION’S TRANSLATION

Beovulf, poema epico anglosassone del vii secolo, tradotto e illustrato dal Dott. Cav. Giusto Grion, Socio Ordinario.

_In_ Atti della Reale Accademia Lucchese di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti. Tomo XXII. Lucca: Tipografia Giusti, 1883. 8vo, pp. 197-379.

First Italian Translation. Imitative Measures.

_Contents._

Full discussions of (1) Mito; (2) Storia; (3) Letteratura. The latter is a fairly complete bibliography of what had been done on _Beowulf_ up to this time.

_Author’s Preliminary Remarks._

‘Il poema consiste di 3183 versi fra cui alcuni in frammenti che
noi abbiamo cercato di completare senza alterare lettera del
testo. Una mano recente lo ha diviso in 43 canti, detti in ags.
fitte; ne notiamo il numero anche nella versione. I versi che il
Müllenhoff reputa interpolati, sono disposti in linee rientranti;
quelli attributi ad A portano di più questa lettera nella versione
nostra interlineare, che segue la parola del testo in maniera da
mantenervi anche la sintassi, e sì che nessuna parola d’un verso
prenda posto in un’ altra riga. Le parentesi quadre [ ] segnano
nel testo riempiture di lacune. Nella versione sono queste segnate
per lettere corsive.’ --Prefazione, p. 251.

_Texts Used._

The translator makes use of all the texts and commentaries that had appeared up to his time, and even goes so far as to emend the text for himself (cf. lines 65, 665, 1107, 2561, 3150).

The Notes are rather full. They are sometimes merely explanatory; sometimes there are discussions of the MS. readings, of proposed emendations, of history, myth, &c.

_Method of Translation._

The translation is literal; the medium an imitative measure of four principal stresses, varied occasionally by the expanded line. The diction is simple.

EXTRACT.

VIII.

Hunferd disse, il nato di Eclaf,
che a’ piedi sedea del prence de’ Schildinghi, 500
sbrigliò accenti di contesta--eragli la gita di Beóvulf,
del coraggioso navigatore, molto a fastidio,
perchè non amava, che un altro uomo
vieppiù di gloria nell’ orbe di mezzo
avesse sotto il cielo che lui stesso--: 505
‘Sei tu quel Beóvulf, che con Breca nuotò
nel vasto pelago per gara marina,
quando voi per baldanza l’acque provaste,
e per pazzo vanto nel profondo sale
la vita arrischiaste? nè voi uomo alcuno, 510
nè caro nè discaro, distorre potè
dalla penosa andata, quando remigaste nell’ alto,
la corrente dell’ oceano colle braccia coprendo
misuraste le strade del mare, colle mani batteste,
e scivolaste sopra l’astato. Nelle onde del ghebbo 515
vagavano i cavalloni d’inverno:
voi nel tenere dell’ acqua
sette notti appenàstevi. Egli nel nuoto ti superò,
ebbe più forza. E al tempo mattutino lo
portò suso il flutto verso la marittima Ramia
donde ei cercò la dolce patria, 520
cara a sue genti, la terra dei Brondinghi,
il vago castel tranquillo, ov’ egli popolo avea,
rocche e gioie. Il vanto intero contro te
il figlio di Beanstan in verità mantenne.’

_Criticism of the Translation._

The present writer cannot attempt a literary criticism of the translation.

In purpose and method this version may be compared with that of Kemble[1] and of Schaldemose[2]. In each case the translator was introducing the poem to a foreign public, and it was therefore well that the translation should be literal in order that it might assist in the interpretation of the original. There has been no further work done on the poem in Italy[3].

While the verse is not strictly imitative in the sense that it preserves exactly the Old English system of versification, it aims to maintain the general movement of the original lines. The four stresses are kept, save where a fifth is used to avoid monotony. These ‘expanded lines’ are much commoner in the Italian than in the Old English.

[Footnote 1: See supra, p. 33.] [[Kemble]]

[Footnote 2: See supra, p. 41.] [[Schaldemose]]

[Footnote 3: Of a work by G. Schuhmann, mentioned by Wülker
in his _Grundriss_, § 209, I can ascertain nothing.]

WICKBERG’S TRANSLATION

Beowulf, en fornengelsk hjeltedikt, öfversatt af Rudolf Wickberg. Westervik, C. O. Ekblad & Comp., 1889. 4to, pp. 48, double columns.

First Swedish Translation. Imitative Measures.

_Aim of the Volume._

The translator begins his introduction with a discussion of the importance of _Beowulf_ as a historical document. For this reason he is especially interested in the episodes:--

‘This important historical interest may then explain the reason
for translating the poem into Swedish, and also serve as an excuse
for the fact that in the translation the poetic form has not been
considered of first importance.’ --Inledning, p. 3.

_Nature of the Translation._

‘In the translation I have endeavored to make the language
readable and modern. A translation out of an ancient tongue ought
never to strive after archaic flavor in point of words and
expressions. Since the poet wrote in the language of his day, the
translation ought also to use contemporary language.... I have
tried to follow the original faithfully, but not slavishly. For
the sake of clearness the half-lines have often been
transposed.... The rhythm is still more irregular than the Old
English. Alliteration has generally been avoided.’ --Inledning,
p. 6.

_Texts Used._

The author constructs his own text. He explains (p. 6) that he has in general taken the MS. as the basis of his text. He has emended by making those changes which ‘seemed most necessary or most probable.’ In places where this departure from the MS. has been made, he italicizes the words of his translation.

EXTRACT.

8.

Ecglafs son Hunferð talade;
Vid Scyldingafurstens fötter satt han,
Löste stridsrunan--den modige sjöfaranden
Beovulfs resa förtröt honom mycket,
Förty han unnade ej, att någon annan man
Under himlen skulle någonsin vinna
Större ära på jorden än han sjelf--:
‘Är du den Beovulf, som mätte sig med Breca
I kappsimning öfver det vida hafvet,
Der I öfvermodigt pröfvaden vågorna
Och för djerft skryt vågaden lifvet
I det djupa vattnet? Ej kunde någon man,
Ljuf eller led, förmå eder att afstå
Från den sorgfulla färden. Sedan summen I i hafvet,
Der I med armarna famnaden hafsströmmen,
Mätten hafsvågorna, svängden händerna,
Gleden öfver hafsytan; vintersvallet
Sjöd i vågorna. I sträfvaden sju nätter
I hafvets våld; han öfvervann dig i simning,
Hade större styrka. Sedan vid morgontiden
Bar hafvet upp honom till de krigiska rämerna.
Derifrån uppsökte han, dyr för de sina,
Sitt kära odal i brondingarnes land,
Den fagra fridsborgen, der han hade folk,
Berg och ringar. Hela sitt vad med dig
Fullgjorde noga Beanstans son.’

EARLE’S TRANSLATION

The Deeds of Beowulf, an English Epic of the Eighth Century, done into Modern Prose, with an Introduction and Notes by John Earle, M.A., rector of Swanswick, Rawlinsonian Professor of Anglo-Saxon in the University of Oxford. At the Clarendon Press, 1892 (February). 8vo, pp. c, 203.

Seventh English Translation. Prose.

_Circumstances of Publication._

Sixteen years had elapsed since the publication of a scholarly translation in England--for Lumsden’s[1] can hardly be said to count as such. In the meantime Heyne’s text[2] had passed into a fifth edition (1888); Wülker’s revision of Grein’s _Bibliothek_ had appeared with a new text of _Beowulf_ (1881); Zupitza’s _Autotypes_ of the MS. had appeared 1882, making it possible to ascertain exactly what was in the original text of the poem; the studies of Sievers[3], Cosijn[4], Kluge[5], and Bugge[6] had been published, containing masterly discussions of text revision. Some of these materials had been used by Garnett in his translation, but the majority of them were of later date.

_Aim of the Translation._

Nothing is said in the introduction respecting the aim of the translation; but it is evident from the Notes that the purpose was twofold--to present the latest interpretation of the text, and to afford a literary version of the poem.

_Texts Used._

‘This translation was originally made from the Fourth Edition of
Moritz Heyne’s text. His Fifth Edition came out in 1888, and I
think I have used it enough to become acquainted with all the
changes that Dr. Adolf Socin, the new editor, has introduced.
Where they have appeared to me to be improvements, I have modified
my translation accordingly.’ --Preface.

But the translator does not depend slavishly upon his text. He frequently uses emendations suggested by the scholars mentioned above, especially those of Professor Sophus Bugge in _Studien über das Beowulfsepos_[7]; see lines 457, 871, 900, 936, 1875, 2275.

The Introduction presents a new theory of the origin of the poem. The notes are especially interesting because of the large body of quotations cited for literary comparison and for the light they throw on Old Germanic and medieval customs.

EXTRACT.

VIII.

_Unferth the king’s orator is jealous. He baits the young
adventurer, and in a scoffing speech dares him to a night-watch
for Grendel. Beowulf is angered, and thus he is drawn out to boast
of his youthful feats._

Unferth made a speech, Ecglaf’s son; he who sate at the feet of
the Scyldings’ lord, broached a quarrelsome theme--the adventure
of Beowulf the high-souled voyager was great despite to him,
because he grudged that any other man should ever in the world
achieve more exploits under heaven than he himself:-- ‘Art thou
_that_ Beowulf, he who strove with Breca on open sea in
swimming-match, where ye twain out of bravado explored the floods,
and foolhardily in deep water jeoparded your lives? nor could any
man, friend or foe, turn the pair of you from the dismal
adventure! What time ye twain plied in swimming, where ye twain
covered with your arms the awful stream, meted the sea-streets,
buffeted with hands, shot over ocean; the deep boiled with waves,
a wintry surge. Ye twain in the realm of waters toiled a
se’nnight; he at swimming outvied thee, had greater force. Then in
morning hour the swell cast him ashore on the Heathoram people,
whence he made for his own patrimony, dear to his Leeds he made
for the land of the Brondings, a fair stronghold, where he was
lord of folk, of city, and of rings. All his boast to thee-ward,
Beanstan’s son soothly fulfilled. Wherefore I anticipate for thee
worse luck--though thou wert everywhere doughty in battle-shocks,
in grim war-tug--if thou darest bide in Grendel’s way a night-long
space.’

_Criticism of the Translation._

As a whole, the translation may fairly be called faithful. The emendations from which Professor Earle sometimes renders are always carefully chosen, and the discussions of obscure lines in the poem are of real scholarly interest. But this is not always true of the simpler passages of the poem. These are often strained to make them square with the translator’s personal notions. Thus, at line 1723, Earle reads for

_Ic þis gid be þē āwraec_
It is about thee ... that I have told this tale,

adding in a note, ‘(In this passage) the living poet steps forward out of his Hrothgar, and turns his eyes to the prince for whom he made it up’ (p. 168). Now this is nothing more than an attempt on the part of the translator to wring from the Old English lines some scrap of proof for the peculiar theory that he holds of the origin of the poem.

Similarly, he often reads into a single word more than it can possibly bear. At line 371 he translates--

_Hrothgar, helm Scyldinga,_
Hrothgar, crown of Scyldings.

But ‘crown’ is an impossible rendering of ‘helm,’ which is here used figuratively to denote the idea of protection[8], rather than the idea of the crowning glory of kingship. Further, in the same passage, 375-6, _heard eafora_ (bold son), is wrenched into meaning ‘grown-up son.’ These are but two examples of what is common throughout the translation.

_Diction._

The archaic style used by Professor Earle cannot be regarded as highly felicitous, since it mixes the diction of various ages. Here are Old English archaisms like ‘Leeds’ and ‘burnie’; here are expressions like ‘escheat,’ ‘page’ (attendant), ‘emprize,’ ‘bombard’ (drinking-vessel), ‘chivalry.’ Here are such specialized words as ‘harpoon,’ ‘belligerent,’ ‘pocket-money,’ and combinations like ‘battailous grip’; while throughout the entire translation are scattered modern colloquialisms like ‘boss’ (master), ‘tussle,’ ‘war-tug.’

The reason for these anomalies is evident--the translator wishes to imitate the remoteness of the original style. The style is certainly remote--at times almost as remote from the language of to-day as is the style of _Beowulf_ itself.

[Footnote 1: See supra, p. 79.] [[Lumsden]]

[Footnote 2: See supra, p. 64.] [[Heyne: Relation of...]]

[Footnote 3: Paul und Braune’s _Beiträge_, XI, 328; Ang. XIV, 133.]

[Footnote 4: _Beiträge_, VIII, 568; _Aanteekeningen_, Leiden 1891.]

[Footnote 5: _Beiträge_, IX, 187; VIII, 532.]

[Footnote 6: _Beiträge_, XI, 1; _Studien über das Beowulfsepos_.]

[Footnote 7: _Beiträge_, XI, 1 ff.]

[Footnote 8: See the glossaries of Grein and Wyatt.]

J. L. HALL’S TRANSLATION

Beowulf, an Anglo-Saxon Epic Poem, translated by John Lesslie Hall. Boston: D. C. Heath and Co., 1892 (May 7).

Reprinted 1900. 8vo, pp. xviii, 110.

Eighth English Translation. Imitative Measures.

_Circumstances of Publication._

Presented to the Philosophical Faculty of Johns Hopkins University in candidacy for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by John Lesslie Hall, late Professor in the college of William and Mary.

_Aim of the Translation._

‘The work is addressed to two classes of readers.... The
Anglo-Saxon scholar he [the translator] hopes to please by
adhering faithfully to the original. The student of English
literature he aims to interest by giving him, in modern garb, the
most ancient epic of our race.’ --Preface, vii.

_Nature of the Translation._

The translation is in imitative measures and in archaic style.

‘The effort has been made to give a decided flavor of archaism to
the translation. All words not in keeping with the spirit of the
poem have been avoided. Again, though many archaic words have been
used, there are none, it is believed, which are not found in
standard modern poetry....

‘The measure used in the present translation is believed to be as
near a reproduction of the original as modern English affords....
The four stresses of the Anglo-Saxon verse are retained, and as
much thesis and anacrusis is allowed as is consistent with a
regular cadence. Alliteration has been used to a large extent; but
it was thought that modern ears would hardly tolerate it in every
line. End-rhyme has been used occasionally; internal rhyme,
sporadically....

‘What Gummere calls the “rime-giver” has been studiously kept;
viz., the first accented syllable in the second half-verse always
carries the alliteration; and the last accented syllable
alliterates only sporadically....

‘No two accented syllables have been brought together, except
occasionally after a cæsural pause.... Or, scientifically
speaking, Sievers’s C type has been avoided as not consonant with
the plan of translation.’ --Preface, viii, ix.

_Text._

‘The Heyne-Socin text and glossary have been closely followed.
Occasionally a deviation has been made.... Once in a while ...
(the translator) has added a conjecture of his own to the
emendations quoted from the criticisms of other students of the
poem.’ --Preface, vii.

The footnotes which contain the conjectural readings are interesting, and in one or two cases valuable additions to the suggested emendations (cf. p. 15; p. 103, note 3).

EXTRACT.

IX.

UNFERTH TAUNTS BEOWULF.

[Sidenote: Unferth, a thane of Hrothgar, is jealous of Beowulf,
and undertakes to twit him.]

Unferth spoke up, Ecglaf his son,
Who sat at the feet of the lord of the Scyldings,
Opened the jousting (the journey of Beowulf,
Sea-farer doughty, gave sorrow to Unferth
And greatest chagrin, too, for granted he never 5
That any man else on earth should attain to,
Gain under heaven, more glory than he):

[Sidenote: Did you take part in a swimming-match with Breca?]

[Sidenote: ’Twas mere folly that actuated you both to risk
your lives on the ocean.]

‘Art thou that Beowulf with Breca did struggle,
On the wide sea-currents at swimming contended,
Where to humor your pride the ocean ye tried, 10
From vainest vaunting adventured your bodies
In care of the waters? And no one was able
Nor lief nor loth one, in the least to dissuade you
Your difficult voyage; then ye ventured a-swimming,
Where your arms outstretching the streams ye did cover, 15
The mere-ways measured, mixing and stirring them,
Glided the ocean; angry the waves were,
With the weltering of winter. In the water’s possession,
Ye toiled for a seven-night; he at swimming outdid thee,
In strength excelled thee. Then early at morning 20
On the Heathoremes’ shore the holm-currents tossed him,
Sought he thenceward the home of his fathers,
Beloved of his liegemen, the land of the Brondings,
The peace-castle pleasant, where a people he wielded
Had borough and jewels. The pledge that he made thee 25
The son of Beanstan hath soothly accomplished.

[Sidenote: Breca outdid you entirely. Much more will Grendel
outdo you, if you vie with him in prowess.]

Then I ween thou wilt find thee less fortunate issue,
Though ever triumphant in onset of battle,
A grim grappling, if Grendel thou darest
For the space of a night near-by to wait for! 30

_Criticism of the Translation._

The translation is faithful, but not literal. The chief difference, for example, between this and the translation by Garnett is that Hall makes an attempt to preserve the poetic value of the Old English words. He is never satisfied with the dictionary equivalent of an Old English expression. Thus, in the extract given above, ‘from vainest vaunting’ is given as a translation of _dol-gilpe_--a great improvement over Garnett’s rendering, ‘for pride.’ Similarly, ‘mixing and stirring’ is given as a translation of _mundum brugdon_. This method often leads the translator some distance, perhaps too great a distance, from the Old English. The following may serve as examples of the heightened color that Hall gives to the Old English forms:--

548, ‘the north-wind whistled, fierce in our faces,’
for _norþan-wind heaðo-grim ondhwearf_.

557, ‘my obedient blade,’ for _hilde-bille_.

568, ‘foam-dashing currents,’ for _brontne ford_.

587, ‘with cold-hearted cruelty thou killedst thy brothers,’
for _ðū þīnum brōðrum tō banan wurde_.

606, ‘the sun in its ether robes,’ for _sunne swegl-wered_.

838, ‘in the mist of the morning,’ for _on morgen_.

1311, ‘As day was dawning in the dusk of the morning,’
for _ǣr-dæge_.

Perhaps these paraphrastic renderings are what Dr. Hall is referring to when he says in his preface, regarding the nature of the translation, ‘Occasionally some loss has been sustained; but, on the other hand, a gain has here and there been made.’

As for the archaism, that is well enough for those who like it. It is never so strange as that of Earle, or the marvelous diction of William Morris. But it is not, therefore, dignified or clear. How much dignity and clarity a translator has a right to introduce into his rendering is a matter of opinion. Mr. Hall was quite conscious of what he was doing, and doubtless regarded his diction as well suited to convey the original Beowulf spirit.

The chief criticism of the verse is that it is often not verse at all. Many passages are indistinguishable from prose. This is a stricture that cannot be passed on the Old English, nor on the best modern imitations of it.

The atheling of Geatmen uttered these words and
Heroic did hasten. --Page 51, line 19.

In war ’neath the water the work with great pains I
Performed. --Page 57, line 6.

Gave me willingly to see on the wall a
Heavy old hand-sword. --Page 57, line 11.

The man was so dear that he failed to suppress the
Emotions that moved him. --Page 64, line 59.

There might be an excuse for some of this freedom in blank verse, but in measures imitative of the Old English it is utterly out of place. There is always a pause at the end of a line in Old English; run-on lines are uncommon. There is not an example in _Beowulf_ of an ending so light as ’the’ or ‘a’ in the verses quoted above.

HOFFMANN’S TRANSLATION

Beówulf. Aeltestes deutsches Heldengedicht. Aus dem Angelsächsischen übertragen von P. Hoffmann. Züllichau. Verlag von Herm. Liebich (1893?). 8vo, pp. iii, 183.

*Zweite Ausgabe, Hannover, Schaper, 1900.

Sixth German Translation. Nibelungen Measures.

_The Translator._

In _Minerva_ (1902), P. Hoffmann is recorded as ‘Ord. Professor’ of Philosophy and Pedagogy at Gent.

_Aim of the Volume._

The translator desired to present a rendering of the poem that should attract the general reader. He regarded Simrock’s version as too literal and archaic[1], the version of von Wolzogen as not sufficiently clear and beautiful[2], and the version of Heyne as not sufficiently varied in form[3] (Vorwort, i). He regards the _Beowulf_ as of great importance in inspiring patriotism--he always calls the poem German--and even offers a comparison of _Beowulf_ with Emperor William I. With the scholarship of his subject the author hardly seems concerned.

_Text, and Relation of Parts._

The translation is founded on Grein’s text of 1867[4].

In addition to the translation, the volume contains articles on the history of the text, origin, the Germanic hero-tales, the episodes, the esthetic value of the poem. These are decidedly subordinate in interest to the translation.

_Nature of the Translation._

The translation is in the so-called Nibelungen measures. Archaisms and unnatural compounds are avoided.

The Finnsburg fragment is inserted in the text at line 1068, p. 44 of the volume. The episode is furnished with a beginning and ending original with Hoffmann.

EXTRACT.

VIERTES ABENTEUER.

VON BEOWULF’S SCHWIMMFAHRT.

Da hub der Sohn der Ecglaf, Hunferd, zu reden an;
Er sass dem Herrn der Schildinge zu Füssen, und begann
Kampfworte zu entbieten. Dass her Beowulf kam,
Der kühne Meerdurchsegler, schuf seinem Herzen bitter’n Gram.

Dass unter dem Himmel habe ein andrer Recke mehr, 5
Denn er, des Ruhms auf Erden, war ihm zu tragen schwer:
‘Bist {der} Beówulf Du, der einst sich in der weiten Flut
Mit Breca mass im Schwimmen? Zu hoch vermass sich da Dein Mut!

‘Ihr spranget in die Wellen, vermessen wagtet ihr
Das Leben in die Tiefe, aus Ruhm und Ehrbegier! 10
Die Fahrt, die schreckensvolle,
nicht Freund noch Feind verleiden
Euch konnte. Also triebet im Sund dahin ihr Beiden!

‘Als ihr mit Euren Armen des Meeres Breite decktet,
Die Meeresstrassen masset, die Hände rudernd recktet
Durch Brandungswirbel gleitend, vom Wintersturm getrieben 15
Hoch auf die Wellen schäumten;
ihr mühtet Euch der Nächte sieben!

‘So rangt ihr mit den Wogen! Da wurde Dir entrafft
Der Sieg von ihm, im Schwimmen, sein war die gröss’re Kraft,
Ihn trug der Hochflut Wallen am Morgen an den Strand
Der Hadurämen, bald er von da die süsse Heimat wiederfand. 20

‘Im Lande der Brondinge wie gerne man ihn sah!
Zu seiner schönen Feste kam er wieder da,
Wo er zu eigen hatte Mannen, Burg und Ringe,
Der Sohn Beanstan’s hatte geleistet sein Erbot Dir allerdinge!’

_Criticism of the Translation._

Hoffmann’s translation is certainly not a contribution to scholarship. It is a sufficient condemnation of the volume to quote the words of the Vorwort:--

‘Die Uebersetzungen von Grein, Holder und Möller sind mir nicht
zugänglich gewesen, auch wie es scheint, nicht sehr bekannt.’

It is not surprising that Hoffmann is unacquainted with the translations of Holder and Möller, as these works have never been made; but that a German translator should ignore the version of Grein is a revelation indeed.

Even though a translator may not care to embody in his work any new interpretations, it is nevertheless his duty to base his translation on the best text that he can find. But apparently Hoffmann had never heard of the Heyne editions of the text, nor of the Grein-Wülker _Bibliothek_. He bases his translation on Grein’s text of 1867. He evidently considered it a sufficient recommendation of his work to associate with it the name of Grein, not troubling himself to discover what advance had been made upon the work of that scholar.

Examples of antiquated renderings may be brought forward:--

P. 1, line 1, Wie grosse Ruhmesthaten.
2, line 1, So soll mit Gaben werben im Vaterhause schon.
21, line 15 (see Extract), Vom Wintersturm getrieben Hoch
auf die Wellen schäumten.
84, line 3, Mothrytho.

Petty inaccuracies due to the nature of the translation also appear. An example of this is seen on page 3, at the opening of the first canto--

Ueber Burg und Mannen nun herrschte manches Jahr
Beówulf der Schilding. Wie hold dem König war
Sein Volk! in allen Landen seinen Ruhm man pries
Als lange schon sein Vater von dieser Erde Leben liess.

_Literary Criticism._

The translation resembles the work of Lumsden[5] and Wackerbarth[6] in affording a version of the tale easily readable. And the same criticism may be passed on the work of Hoffmann that was passed on the two Englishmen. The style and medium chosen are not well fitted to render the spirit of the poem. The _Nibelungenlied_ is a poem of the late twelfth century. The _Beowulf_ at latest belongs to the eighth. To choose for the translation of _Beowulf_, therefore, a medium surcharged with reminiscence of a time, place, and style quite different from those of the original is certainly an error. It may find an audience where another and more faithful rendering would fail; but it will never win the esteem of scholars. In his introduction Hoffmann calls attention to the lack of variety in blank verse, but surely it does not have the monotony inherent in a recurring rime and strophe.

Again, rime and strophe force upon the author the use of words and phrases needed to pad out the verse or stanza. Attention must also be called to the fact that the original seldom affords a natural pause at the exact point demanded by the use of a strophic form. See the close of the following stanzas in the Extract: I, III, IV, V. One effect of the forced pause is that there is confusion in the use of kennings, which often have to do duty as subject in one stanza and as object in another stanza.

Commonplace expressions, incident perhaps upon the use of the measure, are not unfrequent. Thus

Gesagt! gethan!

translates

ond þæt geæfndon swā (line 538).

Traces of this are also found in the extract; see beginning of last stanza.

In conclusion, it may be said that Hoffmann’s version marks an advance in one way only, readableness; and in this it is hardly superior to Heyne’s rendering, which has the advantage of scholarship.

[Footnote 1: See supra, p. 59.] [[Simrock]]

[Footnote 2: See supra, p. 68.] [[von Wolzogen]]

[Footnote 3: See supra, p. 63.] [[Heyne]]

[Footnote 4: See supra, p. 56.] [[Grein’s Texts]]

[Footnote 5: See p. 79.] [[Lumsden]]

[Footnote 6: See p. 45.] [[Wackerbarth]]

MORRIS AND WYATT’S TRANSLATION

Colophon: Here endeth the story of Beowulf done out of the old English tongue by William Morris and A. J. Wyatt, and printed by said William Morris at the Kelmscott Press, Uppermall, Hammersmith, in the county of Middlesex, and finished on the tenth day of January, 1895. Large 4to, pp. vi, 119.

Troy type. Edition limited to 300 copies on paper and eight on vellum.

Second edition. The Tale of Beowulf, Sometime King of the Folk of the Weder Geats, translated by William Morris and A. J. Wyatt. London and New York: Longmans, Green, & Co., 1895. 8vo, pp. x, 191.

Ninth English Translation. Imitative Measures.

_Differences between the First and Second Editions._

In the second edition a title-page is added. The running commentary, printed in rubric on the margin of the first edition, is omitted.

_Text Used._

The translation is, in general, conformed to Wyatt’s text of 1894, departing from it in only a few unimportant details.

_Part Taken in the Work by Morris and Wyatt respectively._

The matter is fortunately made perfectly clear in Mackail’s _Life of William Morris_, vol. ii. p. 284:--

‘(Morris) was not an Anglo-Saxon scholar, and to help him in
following the original, he used the aid of a prose translation
made for him by Mr. A. J. Wyatt, of Christ’s College, Cambridge,
with whom he had also read through the original. The plan of their
joint labours had been settled in the autumn of 1892. Mr. Wyatt
began to supply Morris with his prose paraphrase in February,
1893, and he at once began to “rhyme up,” as he said, “very eager
to be at it, finding it the most delightful work.” He was working
at it all through the year, and used to read it to Burne-Jones
regularly on Sunday mornings in summer.’

The plan of joining with his own the name of his principal teacher was one which Morris had used before when translating from a foreign tongue. He published his rendering of the _Volsunga Saga_ as the work of ‘Eirikr Magnússon and William Morris.’ There is no evidence that Mr. Wyatt had any hand in forming the final draft of the translation. In defending it, Morris took all the responsibility for the book upon himself, and he always spoke of it as his own work. In writing to a German student toward the end of his life Morris spoke of the translation as his own without mentioning Mr. Wyatt[1]. Nor has Mr. Wyatt shown a disposition to claim a share in the work. In the preface to his edition of the text of _Beowulf_ (Cambridge, 1894), he says:--

‘Mr. William Morris has taken the text of this edition as the
basis of his modern metrical rendering of the lay.’ --Page xiii.

Finally, it may be added that the specimens of Mr. Wyatt’s translation printed in the glossary and notes of his book bear no resemblance to the work of Morris.

_Morris’s Theory of Translation._

None despised the merely literal rendering of an epic poem more than William Morris. In writing of his version of the _Odyssey_ to Ellis, Morris said: ‘My translation is a real one so far, not a mere periphrase of the original as _all_ the others are.’ In translating an ancient poem, he tried to reproduce the simplicity and remoteness of phrase which he found in his original. He believed it possible, e.g., to suggest the archaic flavor of Homer by adopting a diction that bore the same relation to modern English that the language of Homer bore to that of the age of Pericles. The archaism of the English would represent the archaism of the Greek. This method he used in rendering Vergil and Homer.

But when he approached the translation of _Beowulf_, he was confronted by a new problem. It was evident that fifteenth-century English was ill-adapted to convey any just notion of eighth-century English. _Beowulf_ required a diction older than that of Sir Thomas Malory or Chaucer. Hence it became necessary to discard the theory altogether, or else to produce another style which should in some true sense be imitative of _Beowulf_. This latter Morris tried to accomplish by increasing the archaism of his style by every means in his power. This feature is discussed in the following section.

_Nature of the Translation._

The translation of _Beowulf_ is written in extremely archaic language. An imitative measure of four principal stresses is used. Wherever possible, the Old English syntax has been preserved (see line 1242); the word-order of the original is retained. The archaic language is wrought of several different kinds of words. In the first place, there is the ‘legitimate archaism,’ such as ‘mickle,’ ‘burg,’ ‘bairn’; there are forms which are more closely associated with the translation of Old English, such as ‘middle-garth,’ ‘ring-stem.’ There are modern words used with the old signification, such as ‘kindly’ (in the sense ‘of the same kind’), ‘won war’ (in the sense ‘wage war’), ‘fret’ (in the sense ‘eat’). Finally, there are forms which are literally translated from Old English: ‘the sight seen once only’ from _ansȳn_, face, 251; ‘spearman’ from _garsecg_, ocean (see extract), ‘gift-scat’ from _gif-sceatt_, gift of money, 378; ‘the Maker’s own making’ from _metod-sceaft_, doom, 1180. Romance words are excluded whenever possible. A glossary of ‘some words not commonly used now’ is included in the book, but none of the words cited above, save ‘burg,’ is found in it.

EXTRACT.

IX. UNFERTH CONTENDETH IN WORDS WITH BEOWULF.

Spake out then Unferth that bairn was of Ecglaf,
And he sat at the feet of the lord of the Scyldings, 500
He unbound the battle-rune; was Beowulf’s faring,
Of him the proud mere-farer, mickle unliking,
Whereas he begrudg’d it of any man other
That he glories more mighty the middle-garth over
Should hold under heaven than he himself held:
Art thou that Beowulf who won strife with Breca
On the wide sea contending in swimming,
When ye two for pride’s sake search’d out the floods
And for a dolt’s cry into deep water
Thrust both your life-days? No man the twain of you, 510
Lief or loth were he, might lay wyte to stay you
Your sorrowful journey, when on the sea row’d ye;
Then when the ocean-stream ye with your arms deck’d,
Meted the mere-streets, there your hands brandish’d!
O’er the Spearman ye glided; the sea with waves welter’d,
The surge of the winter. Ye twain in the waves’ might
For a seven nights swink’d. He outdid thee in swimming,
And the more was his might; but him in the morn-tide
To the Heatho-Remes’ land the holm bore ashore,
And thence away sought he to his dear land and lovely, 520
The lief to his people sought the land of the Brondings,
The fair burg peace-warding, where he the folk owned,
The burg and the gold rings. What to theeward he boasted,
Beanstan’s son, for thee soothly he brought it about.

_Criticism of the Translation._

The Morris-Wyatt translation is thoroughly accurate, and is, so to speak, an official commentary on the text of Wyatt’s edition. It is therefore of importance to the student of the _Beowulf_.

As a literary rendering the translation is disappointing. In the first place, it must be frankly avowed that the diction is frequently so strange that it seems to modern readers well-nigh ridiculous. There are certain sentences which cannot but evoke a smile. Such are: ‘(he) spoke a word backward,’ line 315; ‘them that in Scaney dealt out the scat,’ line 1686.

Secondly, the translation is unreadable. There is an avalanche of archaisms. One example of the extreme obscurity may be given:--

‘Then rathe was beroom’d, as the rich one was bidding,
For the guests a-foot going the floor all withinward.’
l. 1975-76.

It would seem that the burden of ‘rathe,’ ‘beroomed,’ and ‘withinward,’ were sufficient for any sentence to carry, but we are left to discover for ourselves that ‘rich one’ does not mean rich one, but ruler, that the ‘floor’ is not a floor but a hall, and that the guests are not guests, but the ruler’s own men.

Morris himself was conscious of the obscurity of the work:--

‘For the language of his version Morris once felt it necessary to
make an apology. Except a few words, he said, the words used in it
were such as he would not hesitate to use in an original poem of
his own. He did not add, however, that their effect, if slipped
sparingly in amid his own pellucid construction and facile
narrative method, would be very different from their habitual use
in a translation.... As the work advanced, he seems to have felt
this himself, and his pleasure in the doing of it fell off.’
--Mackail’s _Life_, ii. 284-5.

Finally, the version does not _translate_. Words like ‘Spearman’ for _Ocean_, and combinations like ‘the sight seen once only’ for _the face_, can be understood only by the intimate student of Old English poetry, and there is no reason why such a person should not peruse _Beowulf_ in the original tongue rather than in a translation occasionally as obscure as the poem itself.

If one can peer through the darkness of Morris’s diction, he will discover a fairly pleasing use of the so-called imitative measure. The verse is not nearly so rough as the original; many of the characteristic substitutions are avoided. There is evident a tendency toward the ‘rising verse’ and the anapestic foot. The feminine ending is frequently used. The verse is, therefore, not strictly imitative in that it retains the Old English system of versification, but rather in that it attempts to suggest the Old English movement by the use of four principal stresses and a varying number of unstressed syllables. Morris’s verse is the best of all the ‘imitative’ measures.

[Footnote 1: See Mackail’s _Life_, i. 198.]

SIMONS’S TRANSLATION

Beówulf, Angelsaksisch Volksepos, vertaald in Stafrijm, en met Inleiding en Aanteekeningen voorzien door Dr. L. Simons, Briefwisselend Lid der Koninklijke Vlaamsche Academie voor Taal- en Letterkunde, Leeraar aan ’t koninklijk Athenaeum te Brussel. Gent, A. Siffer, 1896. Large 8vo, pp. 355.

Published for the Koninklijke Vlaamsche Academie voor Taal- en Letterkunde.

First Dutch Translation. Iambic Pentameter.

_Aim and Contents of the Volume._

The author’s purpose, as stated in ‘Een Woord Vooraf,’ is to make the _Beowulf_ better known to the Dutch public. With this in view he adds to his translation copious notes and an exhaustive comment. The titles of his various chapters are: De Beschaving in den Beowulf, Christendom, Heldensage en Volksepos, Geschiednis, Mythos, Geatas, Nationaliteit van den Beowulf, Tijd van Voltooiing, Het Handschrift, De Versbouw, Epische Stijl, Innerlijke Geschiednis. Explanatory and critical comment is given in the footnotes, and textual criticism in the Notes at the end of the volume.

_Text Used._

‘I have followed the text of Socin[1]; where I have preferred to
give another reading I have justified my proceeding in the Notes
at the end of the work.’ --Een Woord Vooraf.

_Nature of the Translation._

It is a literal translation in iambic pentameter.

‘Of the translation nothing in particular needs to be said. I have
followed my original as closely as possible.’ --Een Woord Vooraf.

He adds that this was no easy task, as Dutch does not afford the same variety of simile as the Old English.

A page is then given to the discussion of the nature of his verse. He first gives his reasons for preferring iambic pentameter to the ‘Reinartsvers,’ which some might think best to use.

‘Moreover, the iambic pentameter lends itself well to division
into hemistichs, the principal characteristic of the ancient epic
versification.’ --Een Woord Vooraf.

He has often preferred the simple alliteration (aa, bb) to the Old English system[2].

EXTRACT.

IX.

En Hunferd zeide toen, de zoon van Ecglaf,
Die aan die voeten zat des Schyldingvorsten,
Het kampgeheim ontkeetnend: (Beowulfs aankomst,
Des koenen golfvaart gaf hem grooten aanstoot,
Omdat hij geenszins aan een ander gunde
Der mannen, meerder roem op aard te rapen,
Beneên de wolken, dan hem was geworden.)
‘Zijt gij die Beowulf, die met Brecca aanbond
Den wedstrijd op de wijde zee, in ’t zwemmen
Met dezen streven dorst, toen boud gij beiden
Navorschtet in den vloed en gij uit grootspraak
Uw leven waagdet in het diepe water?
Geen stervling was in staat, noch vriend noch vijand,
De roekelooze reis u af te raden.
Toen braakt gij beiden roeiend door de baren
En dektet onder uwen arm de deining,
Gij maat de zeebahn, zwaaiend met de handen,
Doorgleedt de waterwieling, schoon met golven
De kil opklotste bij des winters branding.
Op deze wijze wurmdet gij te gader
Wel zeven nachten in ’t bezit der zeeën.
Doch gene ging in vaart u ver te boven;
Hij had toch meerder macht. De strooming stuwde
Hem met den morgen heen ten Headoraemen,
Van waar hij wedervond, de volksgevierde,
Het lieve stambezit, het land der Brondings,
De schoone schatburg, waar hij wapenlieden
En goed en goud bezat. De zoon van Beanstan
Hield tegen u geheel zijn woord in waarheid.’

_Criticism of the Translation._

The translation seems to aim chiefly at accuracy, which accounts for the rather large number of notes containing readings suggested by various commentators. The translator uses freely compounds and metaphors similar to those in the original text. This seems occasionally to militate against the clearness of the work. Thus, it is doubtful whether ‘kampgeheim ontkeetnend’ of the extract conveys to the modern Dutch reader any notion similar to that of the Old English _beadu-runen onband_.

The present writer is unable to offer any literary criticism of the translation.

[Footnote 1: Fifth edition of Heyne’s text, 1888.]

[Footnote 2: At this point Simons speaks as if ab, ab, were the
common form of alliteration in Old English, whereas it is rather
uncommon.]

STEINECK’S TRANSLATION

Altenglische Dichtungen (Beowulf, Elene, u.a.) in wortgetreuer Uebersetzung von H. Steineck. Leipzig, 1898, O. R. Reisland. 8vo, Beowulf, pp. 1-102.

Seventh German Translation. Line for line.

_Aim of the Volume, and Nature of the Translation._

‘Die vorliegende Uebersetzung ist aus dem Bedürfnis einer
wortgetreuen Wiedergabe altenglischer Denkmäler entstanden. Soweit
es der Sinn zuliess, ist das Bestreben dahin gegangen, für jedes
altenglische Wort das etymologisch entsprechende neuhochdeutsche,
wenn vorhanden, einzusetzen. So ist die Uebersetzung zugleich ein
sprachgeschichtliches Werk.’ --Vorwort.

_Text Used._

The translation is based on Heyne’s text of 1863[1] (Vorwort). Fragmentary passages are not restored.

EXTRACT.

IX.

Hunferd sprach, des Ecglâf Sohn, 500
Welcher zu Füssen sass des Herren der Scyldinge;
Er löste der Streiter Geheimniss--ihm war Beowulfs Fahrt,
Des mutigen Meerfahrers, zu grossem Neid,
Weil er nicht gönnte, dass irgend ein anderer
Jemals nun mehr Ruhmesthaten
Unter dem Himmel der Erde erwarb als er selbst:
‘Bist du Bêowulf, der du mit Breca kämpftest
Auf weiter See in einem Wettschwimmen,
Dort durchforschtet ihr beide aus Stolz die Fluten
Und wagtet aus verwegener Ruhmsucht im tiefen Wasser
Euer Leben? Euch beiden konnte keiner, 510
Weder Freund noch Feind, vorwerfen
Die gefahrvolle Reise; da rudertet ihr beide im Wasser,
Dort überdecktet ihr beide den Wasserstrom mit Armen,
Ihr masst die Meeresstrassen, mit Händen schwangt ihr,
Ihr glittet über die Flut; das Meer wallte in Fluten,
Des Winters Gewoge; ihr mühtet euch in des Wassers Gewalt
Sieben Nächte ab; er besiegte dich beim Schwimmen,
Er hatte grössere Kraft. Da warf ihn in der Morgenzeit
An das Headoræmenland die See,
Von dort aus suchte er das traute Stammgut auf, 520
Der seinen Leuten Teure, das Land der Brondinge,
Die schöne Friedensburg, wo er Volk besass,
Burg und Ringe. Alles, wozu er sich dir verpflichtete,
Leistete der Sohn Bêanstâns wahrhaftig.’

_Criticism of the Translation._

It would be manifestly unfair to criticize this translation for its want of grace and melody, because it is avowedly a literal rendering, and a literal rendering makes no attempt to attain these qualities. But there are certain things which are indispensable in a good literal translation. It is imperative that such a translation should be based on the best text of the original poem. What has Steineck done? He has gone back thirty-five years and chosen an early and inaccurate edition of a work that has been five times re-edited, Heyne’s text of 1863! It seems almost incredible that a German, living in the midst of scholars who have done more than any other people to interpret the _Beowulf_, should ignore the fruits of their efforts.

It is unnecessary to enumerate the faults of this translation due to dependence upon an antiquated edition of the text. Suffice it to say that when the edition of 1863 was printed the text had not yet been properly transcribed from the MS.[2]

But there are evidences of an inaccuracy of a different kind that betray a carelessness utterly reprehensible. The author is apparently unable to transliterate properly the Old English names. Thus he has Vealhpeon and Vealhpeo (for Wealhtheow), Ecgpeow, Halbdaene (for Healfdene), Ermanarich, &c.