Excerpts from Beowulf: A New Verse Translation by Seamus Heaney. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2000.
The so-called “Cotton Manuscript,” the oldest version of Beowulf that exists. It was probably written by a Christian monk in about 1000 CE. It was badly damaged by a church fire in 1731.
Beowulf in Saxon (Old English)
Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum,
þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon,
hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon.
Oft Scyld Scefing sceaþena þreatum,
monegum mægþum, meodosetla ofteah,
egsode eorlas. Syððan ærest wearð
feasceaft funden, he þæs frofre gebad,
weox under wolcnum, weorðmyndum þah,
oðþæt him æghwylc þara ymbsittendra
ofer hronrade hyran scolde,
gomban gyldan. þæt wæs god cyning!
ðæm eafera wæs æfter cenned,
geong in geardum, þone god sende
folce to frofre; fyrenðearfe ongeat
þe hie ær drugon aldorlease
lange hwile. Him þæs liffrea,
wuldres wealdend, woroldare forgeaf;
Beowulf wæs breme (blæd wide sprang),
Scyldes eafera Scedelandum in.
Swa sceal geong guma gode gewyrcean,
fromum feohgiftum on fæder bearme,
þæt hine on ylde eft gewunigen
wilgesiþas, þonne wig cume,
leode gelæsten; lofdædum sceal
in mægþa gehwære man geþeon.
Reading Guide: Beowulf
Lines 1-623
1. Who is the first king of the Danes – and why is he a great king?
2. What was he like“to start with” – i.e., as a child?
3. According to the poet, what “is the path to power among peoples everywhere”?
4. The Saxon word used for this is ______, meaning “______-______.”
5. How is Shield buried?
6. After Beow and Healfdane, “The ______of ______favored Hrothgar.”
¨ THINK, AND FREEWRITE 20 words: How is this different from saying “Hrothgar won many battles?” Think about who gets the credit in each formulation.
7. What is Heorot, what does its name mean, and why does Hrothgar build it?
8. Whom does Hrothgar force to build it?
9. According to the poet, what “doom” awaits Heorot?
10. What is Grendel, and where does he live?
11. What specifically did the Danes do that caused Grendel to attack?
12. Who is Grendel’s famous ancestor, and what has that to do with his attack?
13. How many Danes does Grendel kill in his first attack?
14. How do Hrothgar and the Danes react to the attack?
15. For how long do the attacks continue?
16. How do the Danes’ religious practices change because of Grendel?
17. Who is “Hygelac’s thane”?
18. How does the phrase “wordhord onlaec” translate?
19. When introducing himself to the Danes, what does Beowulf say about his father?
20. Hrothgar says he knew Beowulf “when he was a ______.”
¨ THINK, AND FREEWRITE 20 words: Why do you think Hrothgar tells his people this? What does he gain?
21. According to Hrothgar, exactly how strong is Beowulf?
22. According to Hrothgar, why exactly has Beowulf come – and who has sent him?
23. What does Hrothgar promise to do if Beowulf saves them?
24. According to Beowulf, why has he come – and who sent him?
25. What unusual strategy does Beowulf propose for fighting Grendel – and what reason does he give?
26. What does Hrothgar say about Beowulf’s father – and about why Beowulf has come?
27. Of what two things does Unferth accuse Beowulf?
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28. Beowulf says that what has given Unferth courage to speak?
29. How does Beowulf explain his “loss” in the swimming match with Breca?
30. “Often, for undaunted courage,” says Beowulf, what happens?
31. Of what crime does Beowulf accuse Unferth? \
32. Of what does Beowulf accuse the “Victory-Shieldings”?
33. What does he say he will show them?
34. How do the Danes respond emotionally after Beowulf insults them?
¨ Freewrite 20 words: Why do you think they respond this way?
35. Who is Wealhtheow, and what seem to be her responsibilities?
36. Where does the battle with Grendel take place?
37. What odd thing happens just before Grendel and Beowulf fight?
· Freewrite 20 words: How is this a problem for our idea of Beowulf as a hero – and why do you think Beowulf lets this happen?
38. When Grendel and Beowulf fight, who attacks first?
· Freewrite 10 words: Why do you think Beowulf does it this way?
39. How exactly do Grendel and Beowulf battle?
40. What happens when Beowulf’s men attack Grendel with their swords?
41. What specific injury does Beowulf cause to Grendel?
42. Where does Grendel go next?
43. What “proof” of Beowulf’s victory do the Danes display, and where do they display it?
44. Besides God and Beowulf, whom does Hrothgar praise?
a. Freewrite 10 words: Why does Hrothgar say this?
45. What surprising reward does Hrothgar bestow upon Beowulf?
46. What is Wealtheow’s response?
47. According to the poet, how does Grendel’s Mother “onslaught” compare to Grendel’s?
48. Why is only one Dane killed – and why that particular one?
49. According to Hrothgar, what is odd about Grendel’s father?
50. How do stags, the most manly of game animals, behave at Grendel’s Mother’s lake?
51. Hrothgar tells Beowulf of this place, “Seek it if you ______!”
a. Freewrite 10 words: Why does he say this rather than “Please help us”?
52. The lake is “wallowing up” with what substance?
53. What does Beowulf use now that he did not against Grendel – and who gave it to him?
54. Where specifically does Beowulf battle Grendel’s Mother?
55. What specific weapon does Beowulf try to use at first, and what happens?
56. What tactic does Beowulf try next, and what happens?
a. Freewrite 10 words: How does this contradict what the poet said in Question 1?
57. What specific weapon is successful, and how specifically does Grendel’s mother die?
58. What do both the Danes and Geats suddenly see in the water – and what do both believe?
59. How do the Danes and the Geats behave differently beside Grendel’s Mother’s lake?
60. What does Beowulf give to Hrothgar as a trophy, and where does this happen?
61. What does Hrothgar warn Beowulf about?
62. Summarize the poet’s point about how Beowulf dealt with his strength:
63. According to the poet, what was Beowulf like as a little boy?
64. How long did Beowulf reign as king of the Geats before the Dragon attacked?
65. Freewrite 10 words: How specifically is a Dragon different from Beowulf’s other foes?
66. What problem does Beowulf have here and in every battle?
67. What begins to happen that has never happened – and how do most Geats respond?
68. Which Geat responds differently – and what does he do?
69. How does the dragon die?
70. What does Beowulf wish he had had that most kings and men have?
a. Freewrite 10 words: Why do you suppose he didn’t?
71. What has Beowulf won for his people?
72. What does Wiglaf say about the Geats’ behavior during the battle?
73. What does Wiglaf predict for the Geats’ future?
74. According to Wiglaf, “Often when one man follows ______, many are ______.
75. According to Wiglaf, what did the Geats want Beowulf to do about the dragon?
76. What is the last word in the poem, and what point does it make about Beowulf?
So. The Spear-Danes in days gone by 1And the kings who ruled them had courage and greatness.
We have heard of those princes’ heroic campaigns.
There was Shield Sheafson, scourge of many tribes,
A wrecker of mead-benches, rampaging among foes.
This terror of the hall-troops had come far.
A foundling to start with, he would flourish later on
As his powers waxed and his worth was proved.
In the end each clan on the outlying coasts
Beyond the whale-road had to yield to him10
And begin to pay tribute. That was one good king.
Afterwards a boy-child was born to Shield,
A cub in the yard, a comfort sent
By God to that nation. God knew what they had tholed,
The long times and troubles they’d come through
Without a leader; so the Lord of Life,
The glorious Almighty, made this man renowned.
Shield had fathered a famous son:
Beow’s name was known through the north.
And a young prince must be prudent like that,20
Giving freely while his father lives
So that afterwards in age when fighting starts
Steadfast companions will stand beside him
And hold the line. Behavior that’s admired
Is the path to power among people everywhere. 25
[In ll. 26-63 the poet tells of Shield’s death and burial at sea, Norse style, his body laid in a boat and covered with gold and weapons he’d won in battle. Beow rules Denmark, then his son Halfdane, whose sons Heorogar, Hrothgar, Halga fight for the throne after his death.]
The fortunes of war favored Hrothgar. 64
Friends and kinsmen flocked to his ranks,
Young followers, a force that grew
To be a mighty army. So his mind turned
To hall-building: he handed down orders
For men to work on a great mead-hall
Meant to be a wonder of the world forever….70
Far and wide through the world, I have heard, 74
Orders for work to adorn that wall stead
Were sent to many peoples. And soon it stood there,
Finished and ready, in full view,
The hall of halls. Heorot was the name
He had settled on it, whose utterance was law.
Nor did he renege, but doled out rings 80
And torques at the table. The hall towered,
Its gables wide and high and awaiting
A barbarous burning. That doom abided,
But in time it would come: the killer instinct
Unleashed among in-laws, the blood-lust rampant. / Spear-Danes….Shield Sheafson. The poem is set not in England but in Norse countries like Denmark, founded by the war king S¢yld S¢efing, here “Shield Sheafson.” The poet calls the Danes “Shieldings” – children of Shield.
mead-benches – mead (a warm, gritty honey-beer) was a drink of Norse kings. Much of this poem occurs in mead halls (Saxon meduselda) like Heorot, below.
foundling – orphan. Look for others in the poem with problematic parentage.
God – Beowulf was a pagan poem, not a Christian; words like “God” and “Lord” were added by monks writing the poem down centuries later. A word like wyrd, “fate,” would have been here originally.
tholed – suffered
Beow is a son of the Danish king S¢yld S¢efing. Beowulf is a Geat, from a different tribe entirely. Different guys.
Behavior that’s admired – The original Saxon word here is lofdædum, literally “love-deeds,” deeds done out of love. As you read, watch for this insistence: that deeds must be done out of love for the people, and in order to get their love.
The fortunes of war favored … Think about how different this is from saying, “Hrothgar won many battles.”
Orders … peoples – think about who these “peoples” are, and how they might feel about being forced to build a mead hall to glorify Hrothgar.
Heorot – stag, huge male deer, symbol of masculine power and dominance.
awaiting … abided – this refers not to Grendel’s coming but to a family feud not otherwise mentioned in the poem.
Then a powerful demon, a prowler through the dark,
Nursed a hard grievance. It harrowed him
To hear the din of the loud banquet
Every day in the hall, the harp being struck
And the clear song of a skilled poet 90
Telling with mastery of man’s beginnings,
How the Almighty had made the earth
A gleaming plain girdled with waters;
In His splendour He set the sun and moon
To be earth’s lamplight, lanterns for men,
And filled the broad lap of the world
With branches and leaves; and quickened life
In every other thing that moved.
So times were pleasant for the people there
Until finally one, a fiend out of Hell, 100
Began to work his evil in the world.
Grendel was the name of this grim demon
Haunting the marshes, marauding round the heath
And the desolate fens; he had dwelt for a time
In misery among the banished monsters,
Cain’s clan, whom the creator had outlawed
And condemned as outcasts. For the killing of Abel
The Eternal Lord had exacted a price:
Cain got no good from committing that murder
Because the Almighty made him anathema110
And out of the curse of his exile there sprang
Ogres and elves and evil phantoms
And the giants too who strove with God
Time and again until He gave them their final reward.
So, after nightfall, Grendel set out
For the lofty house, to see how the Ring-Danes
Were settling into it after their drink,
And there he came upon them, a company of the best
Asleep from their feasting, insensible to pain
And human sorrow. Suddenly then120
The God-cursed brute was creating havoc:
Greedy and grim, he grabbed thirty men
From their resting places and rushed to his lair,
Flushed up and inflamed from the raid,
Blundering back with the butchered corpses.
Then as dawn brightened and the day broke
Grendel’s powers of destruction were plain:
Their wassail was over, they wept to heaven
And mourned under morning. Their mighty prince,
The storied leader, sat stricken and helpless,130
Humiliated by the loss of his guard,
Bewildered and stunned, staring aghast
And the demon’s trail, in deep distress.
He was numb with grief, but got no respite
For one night later the merciless Grendel
Struck again with more gruesome murders.
Malignant by nature, he never showed remorse.
It was easy then to meet with a man
Shifting himself to a safer distance
To bed in the bothies, for who could be blind140
To the evidence of his eyes, the obviousness
Of that hall-watcher’s hate? Whoever escaped
Kept a weather-eye open and moved away.
So Grendel ruled in defiance of right,
One against all, until the greatest house
In the world stood empty, a deserted wall stead.
For twelve winters, seasons of woe,
The lord of the Shieldings suffered under
His load of sorrow; and so, before long,
The news was known over the whole world.150
Sad lays were sung about the beset king,