6 May 2009
In this fit we get the history of the dragon’s treasure hoard. It starts with another mention of the lone man who steals a cup from the hoard. Then we find out that the hoard is the wealth of an ancient people, long since gone from the earth. We hear the voice of the last of that people, who is dubbed the “last survivor” by critics, as he hides the treasure under the earth and gives an elegy for his people. The dragon discovers the treasure and claims it for its own—as dragons are wont to do—guarding it for 300 years, until the man comes to plunder it. The dragon is enraged and heads off to seek revenge on the nearest people, who happen to be the Geats.
First, this fit contains the coolest word in the poem. Line 2244 contains the word nearocræft, which is the art of making entry difficult; the barrow that holds the dragon’s hoard is nearocræftum fæst, or secured by the art of making entry difficult. Literally, the word is narrow-skill. As far as I know, this is the only known cite for the word.
The man who steals from the hoard and enrages the dragon is the subject of much debate. As mentioned before, this part of the manuscript is badly damaged and the reading is much disputed. In particular a key word denoting this man in line 2224 is illegible. Fulk, et al., who edited the version I am mainly working from, give the word as þē(o), or slave, also spelled þēow. Other editors give it as þeġn, or thane. Yet others as þēof, or thief. All three easily fit into the narrative context of this and other passages. Is he a slave looking for wealth to buy his freedom? Is he a lordless thane, looking to reestablish himself? Or is he nothing more than a common thief?
The bulk of the fit is taken up by the last survivor. I’m going to give his entire speech mourning the loss of his people as it really is quite beautiful, lines 2247-2266:
“Heald þū nū, hrūse, nū hæleð ne m(ō)ston,
eorla æhte! Hwæt, hyt ær on ðe
gode beġēaton; guðdēað fornam,
(f)eorhbeal(o) frēcne, fyra ġe(h)wylcne
lēoda mīnra, þ(o)n(e) ðe þis [līf] ofġeaf;
ġesāwon seledrēam(as). Ic nāh hwā sweord weġe
oððe f(orð bere) fæted wæġe,
drynċfæt dēore; dug(uð) ellor s[c]eōc.
Sceal se hearda helm (hyr)stedgolde,
fætum befeallen; feormynd swefað,
þā ðe beadogrīman bywan sceoldon,
ġe swylċe sēo herepād, sīo æt hilde ġebād
ofer borda ġebræc bite īrena,
brosnað æfter beorne. Ne mæġ byrnan hring
æfter wīġfruman wīde fēran,
hæleðum be healfe. Næs hearpan wyn,
gomen glēobēames, nē gōd hafoc
ġeond sæl swingeð, nē se swifta mearh
burhstede bēateð. Bealocwealm hafað
fela feorhcynna forð onsended.”(“Hold now, you earth,vnow that heroes cannot,
the wealth of men! Lo, from you before
the good ones obtained it; death in battle took away,
the terrible deadly attack, every one of those
of my people, those who gave up this life;
[they] knew the joys of the hall. I have no one to carry the sword
or bear forth the ornamented cup,
the dear drinking cup; the retainers have passed to another place.
The hard helm shall of decoratively wrought gold
be deprived of gold plate; the polishers sleep,
those who the war-mask should tend to,
and also the mail shirt, it survived in battle
over the crashing of shields [and] the bite of iron,
it decays with the man. The ringed byrnie may not
with the war-chief travel widely,
beside the heroes. There is no joy of the harp
or amusement of the lyre, nor the good hawk
fly through the hall, nor the swift horse
stamp in the courtyard. Baleful death has
many races of men sent forth.”)
There is also some neat imagery of the dragon’s rage. Lines 2293b-98a:
Hordweard sōhte
ġeorne æfter grunde, wolde guman findan,
þone þe him on sweofote sāre ġetēode;
hāt ond hreohmod hlæw oft ymbehwearf
ealne ūtanweardne; nē ðær æniġ mon
on þ(ām) wēstenne.(The hoard-guardian sought
eagerly along the ground, wished to find the man,
who him in sleep sorely injured;
hot and fierce he circled the barrow
all around the outside; no man was there
in that wasteland.)
The fit ends with the dragon attacking the Geats and a portent of things to come, lines 2306b-311:
Þā wæs dæġ sceacen
wyrme on willan; nō on wealle læ[n]ġ,
bīdan wolde, ac mid bæle fōr,
fyre ġefysed. Wæs se fruma eġesliċ
lēodum on lande, swā hyt lungre wearð
on hyra sinċgifan sāre ġeendod.(Then was the day passed
to the pleasure of the worm; not long on the wall
would he wait, but with flame went,
propelled by fire. The beginning was terrible
for the people on land, as it would quickly become
for their treasure-giver sorely ended.)
