9 May 2009
The fit starts with Beowulf telling of the death of Hrethel, who had been depressed and despondent over the death of his son. Beowulf continues the story by telling of the war between the Geats and the Swedes in which Hæthcyn, Hrethel’s son and successor, is killed. The next day, Ongentheow, the king of the Swedes is killed in battle. Beowulf then tells of his own feats in battle against the Franks—apparently jumping forward a generation. Then he goes to fight the dragon alone. In the fight, Beowulf’s shield and armor protect him somewhat, but his sword fails him (again). All but one of his men flee in terror into the nearby woods.
Beowulf tells of how he defeated Dæghrefn, the champion of the Franks, lines 2506b-2508a:
Ne wæs ecg bona,
ac him hildegrap heortan wylmas,
bānhūs ġebræc.(Nor was an edge his slayer,
but battle-grasp the beating of his heart,
his bone-house broke.)
Ecg, literally edge, is commonly used in the poem to denote a sword. And banhus is a person’s body. Beowulf follows this tale with the statement that he would prefer to grapple with the dragon, but knows he must use a sword to kill it.
Beotword is in line 2510. It is often translated as boasting-word, but pledge is probably a better choice as it carries the modern valence better. A beotword is a vow by a warrior saying that he will perform a deed. Anglo-Saxons weren’t infected with the modesty that we moderns have. It was not considered unseemly to boast of the deeds you plan to perform, so long as you carry them out, that is.
In line 2528 Beowulf says:
Þæt iċ wið þone gūðflogan ġylp ofersitte.
(That I against this war-flier a vow forego.)
Beowulf is not making a beotword about his upcoming battle with the dragon, indicating that he does not expect to survive and that he may even lose.
The description of the battle with the dragon is epic, lines 2559-91:
Biorn under beorge bordrand onswāf
wið ðām gryreġieste, Ġēata dryhten;
ðā wæs hrinġbogan heorte ġefysed
sæċċe tō sēċeanne. Sweord ær gebræd
gōd gūðcyning, gomele lāfe,
ecgum unslāw; æġhwæðrum wæs
bealohycgendra brōga fram ōðrum.
Stīðmōd ġestōd wi(ð) stēapne rond
winia bealdor, ðā se wyrm ġebēah
snūde tōsomne; hē on searwum bād.
Ġewāt ðā byrnende ġebogen scrīðan,
tō ġescipe scyndan. Scyld wēl ġebearg
līfe ond līce læssan hwīle
mærum þēodne þonne his myne sōhte,
ðær hē þy fyrste, forman dōgore
wealdan moste swā him wyrd ne ġescrāf
hrēð æt hilde. Hond up ābræd
Ġēata dryhten, gryrefāhne slōh
inċġelāfe, þæt sīo ecg ġewāc
brūn on bāne, bāt unswīðor
þonne his ðīodcyning þearfe hæfde,
bysigum ġebæded. Þā wæs beorges weard
æfter heaðuswenġe on hrēoum mōde,
wearp wælfyre; wīde sprungon
hildelēoman. Hrēðsigora ne ġealp
goldwine Ġēata; gūðbill ġeswāc,
nacod æt niðe, swā hyt nō sceolde,
īren ærgōd. Ne wæs þæt ēðe sīð,
þæt se mæra maga Ecgðeowes
grundwong þone ofġyfan wolde;
sceolde [ofer] willan wīc eardian
elles hwerġen, swā sceal æġhwylċ mon
ālætan lændagas.(The warrior in the barrow swung his shield
against the dreadful stranger, the lord of the Geats;
then the coiled creature was ready in its heart
to seek battle. He had drawn his sword
the good war-king, the old heirloom,
its edges unblunt; each of the two
of the hostile ones were in horror of the other.
The stout-hearted one stood behind his towering shield
the protector of friends, when the worm coiled itself
quickly together; he waited in his armor.
Then it came burning coiled slithering
advancing to its fate. The shield protected well
the life and body for less time
the famous king than his mind had sought,
there he for the first time, on that day
must perform so that fate granted him not
triumph in battle.* He raised up his hand
the lord of the Geats, and struck the mottled horror
with the ancient sword,** so that the edge failed
bright against bone, it bit less strongly
than the people’s king had need of,
hard-pressed by troubles. Then was the protector of the barrow
after the battle-stroke in a savage mood,
it threw out deadly fire; widely sprang
the battle-lights. Boasted not of glorious victories
the prince of the Geats; his war-sword failed,
when unsheathed*** in battle, as it never should
ancient and good iron. Nor was it an easy venture,
for the famous kinsman of Ecgtheow
the earthly plain to give up;
he must against his will**** a home to dwell
somewhere else, as must every one of men
give up these loan-days.)
* This is a difficult passage. Wealden moste is literally must rule/possess. The gist is that Beowulf must face, for the first time, the fact that he is going to lose in battle.
**Incgelafe appears nowhere else in the Old English corpus and its exact meaning is obscure. Laf is heirloom (literally a leaving), in particular an heirloom sword. So the word means something like ancient sword, mighty sword, etc.
***Nacod is literally naked. In the context of a sword, it is unsheathed.
****Willan is an infinitive verb, to wish, to desire.
