5 May 2009
We get a rapid transition in this fit as the narrative jumps ahead fifty years. The fit starts with Beowulf showing off the treasures he has received from Hrothgar and kicking up an appropriate percentage to his boss, Hygelac. (The economy of the Germanic comitatus resembles the mob in many ways.) We learn that in his youth, the Geats considered Beowulf something of a ne’er-do-well, slothful, and cowardly. Hygelac gives Beowulf a sword and a whole lot of land, making him the second, after Hygelac himself, most powerful noble in the kingdom. We start to rapidly move forward into the future. We learn of Hygelac’s death in battle and of Beowulf becoming king. Beowulf rules wisely and well for fifty years, until a dragon appears. A thief steals something from the dragon’s hoard, enraging the beast.
It should also be noted that from here on out the manuscript is very badly damaged and many passages are conjectural.
This fit contains some passages that in modern translation sound an awful lot like back-handed compliments, but they are meant to be flattering. Lines 2165b-2169a:
Hē him ēst ġetēah
mēara ond māðma. Swa sceal mæġ dôn,
nealles inwitnet ōðrum breġdon
dyrnum cræfte, dēað rēn(ian)
hondġesteallan.([Beowulf] granted [Hygelac] the favor
of the horses and treasure. As should a kinsman do,
not at all a net of malice to knit for another
with secret skill, to prepare death
for the close companion.)
Or “Beowulf gave him the treasure and wasn’t at all planning to kill him.” Sounds more and more like the mob.
And there are lines 2177-2180a:
Swā b(eal)dode bearn Ecgðeowes,
guma gūð(um) cūð, gōdum dædum,
drēah æfter dōme; nealles druncne slōg
heorðġeneatas(So the son of Ecgtheow showed himself brave,
a man known for battles, for good deeds,
pursued after glory; and not at all slew drunken
hearth-companions.)
The son of Ecgtheow is Beowulf. He’s a good guy because he doesn’t kill his friends and retainers when they get drunk. There are many similar constructions throughout the poem. Evidently such treacherous behavior was so common that it was a compliment to single people out for not doing it.
The reference to the land Beowulf receives is of note. Line 2195 reads:
ond him ġesealde seofan þūsendo
(and gave him seven thousand)
Seven thousand what? From the context it’s clear the poet is talking about land. The best guess is that it is a reference to hides of land. A hide would be enough to support a single free family and all their dependents, or about 120 acres. That’s some 840,000 acres, a huge tract of land.
Finally, I should probably include the introduction of the dragon in full. Lines 2210b-20, the question marks in the translation mark missing words in the manuscript, not questions of translation:
Oð ðæt (ā)n ongan
deorcum nihtum draca rīcs(i)an,
sē ðe on hea(um) h(of)e hord beweotode,
stānbeorh stēar(c)ne; stīg under læg,
eldum uncūð. Þær on innan ġiong
nið[ð]a nāthwyl(ċ, sē ðe nē)h ġ(eþ[r]on)g
hæðnum horde, hond (ēðe ġefēng)
(searo) sinċe fāh. Nē hē þæt syððan (bemāð),
þ(ēah) ð(e hē) slæpende besyre(d wur)de
þēofes cræfte; þæt sīe ðīod (onfand),
b(ū)folc b(i)orn(a), þæt hē ġebolge(n) wæs.(Until began
in the dark nights a dragon to rule,
he who in the high court (heath?) watched over his hoard
and the strong stone barrow; a path lay beneath,
unknown to men. There inside went
a certain one of men, he who pressed forward near
the heathen hoard, his hand (easily grasped?)
the (war-gear?) decorated with treasure nor did [the dragon] (conceal?) afterward
that he sleeping became ensnared
by the skill of the thief; then the nation (discovered?)
the inhabitants of men, that [the dragon] was enraged.)
