The Online Library of Liberty

A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.

• Argument
• The Story of Beowulf
• I.: And First of the Kindred of Hrothgar.
• II.: Concerning Hrothgar, and How He Built the House Called Hart. Also Grendel Is Told Of.
• III.: How Grendel Fell Upon Hart and Wasted It.
• IV.: Now Comes Beowulf Ecgtheow’s Son to the Land of the Danes, and the Wall-warden Speaketh With Him.
• V.: Here Beowulf Makes Answer to the Land-warden, Who Showeth Him the Way to the King’s Abode.
• VI.: Beowulf and the Geats Come Into Hart.
• VII.: Beowulf Speaketh With Hrothgar, and Telleth How He Will Meet Grendel.
• VIII.: Hrothgar Answereth Beowulf and Biddeth Him Sit to the Feast.
• IX.: Unferth Contendeth In Words With Beowulf.
• X.: Beowulf Makes an End of His Tale of the Swimming. Wealhtheow, Hrothgar’s Queen, Greets Him; and Hrothgar Delivers to Him the Warding of the Hall.
• XI.: Now Is Beowulf Left In the Hall Alone With His Men.
• XII.: Grendel Cometh Into Hart: of the Strife Betwixt Him and Beowulf.
• XIII.: Beowulf Hath the Victory: Grendel Is Hurt Deadly and Leaveth Hand and Arm In the Hall.
• XIV.: The Danes Rejoice; They Go to Look On the Slot of Grendel, and Come Back to Hart, and On the Way Make Merry With Racing and the Telling of Tales.
• XV.: King Hrothgar and His Thanes Look On the Arm of Grendel. Converse Betwixt Hrothgar and Beowulf Concerning the Battle.
• XVI.: Hrothgar Giveth Gifts to Beowulf.
• XVII.: They Feast In Hart. the Gleeman Sings of Finn and Hengest.
• XVIII.: The Ending of the Tale of Finn.
• XIX.: More Gifts Are Given to Beowulf. the Brising Collar Told Of.
• XX.: Grendel’s Dam Breaks Into Hart and Bears Off Aeschere.
• XXI.: Hrothgar Laments the Slaying of Aeschere, and Tells of Grendel’s Mother and Her Den.
• XXII.: They Follow Grendel’s Dam to Her Lair.
• XXIII.: Beowulf Reacheth the Mere-bottom In a Day’s While, and Contends With Grendel’s Dam.
• XXIV.: Beowulf Slayeth Grendel’s Dam, Smiteth Off Grendel’s Head, and Cometh Back With His Thanes to Hart.
• XXV.: Converse of Hrothgar With Beowulf.
• XXVI.: More Converse of Hrothgar and Beowulf: the Geats Make Them Ready For Departure.
• XXVII.: Beowulf Bids Hrothgar Farewell: the Geats Fare to Ship.
• XXVIII.: Beowulf Comes Back to His Land. of the Tale of Thrytho.
• XXIX.: Beowulf Tells Hygelac of Hrothgar: Also of Freawaru His Daughter.
• XXX.: Beowulf Forebodes Ill From the Wedding of Freawaru: He Tells of Grendel and His Dam.
• XXXI.: Beowulf Gives Hrothgar’s Gifts to Hygelac, and By Him Is Rewarded. of the Death of Hygelac and of Heardred His Son, and How Beowulf Is King of the Geats: the Worm Is First Told Of.
• XXXII.: How the Worm Came to the Howe, and How He Was Robbed of a Cup; and How He Fell On the Folk.
• XXXIII.: The Worm Burns Beowulf’s House, and Beowulf Gets Ready to Go Against Him. Beowulf’s Early Deeds In Battle With the Hetware Told Of.
• XXXIV.: Beowulf Goes Against the Worm. He Tells of Herebeald and HÆthcyn.
• XXXV.: Beowulf Tells of Past Feuds, and Bids Farewell to His Fellows. He Falls On the Worm, and the Battle of Them Begins.
• XXXVI.: Wiglaf Son of Weohstan Goes to the Help of Beowulf: NÆgling, Beowulf’s Sword, Is Broken On the Worm.
• XXXVII.: They Two Slay the Worm. Beowulf Is Wounded Deadly: He Biddeth Wiglaf Bear Out the Treasure.
• XXXVIII.: Beowulf Beholdeth the Treasure and Passeth Away.
• XXXIX.: Wiglaf Casteth Shame On Those Fleers.
• Xl.: Wiglaf Sendeth Tiding to the Host: the Words of the Messenger.
• Xli.: More Words of the Messenger. How He Fears the Swedes When They Wot of Beowulf Dead.
• Xlii.: They Go to Look On the Field of Deed.
• Xliii.: of the Burial of Beowulf.

XXXIII.

THE WORM BURNS BEOWULF’S HOUSE, AND BEOWULF GETS READY TO GO AGAINST HIM. BEOWULF’S EARLY DEEDS IN BATTLE WITH THE HETWARE TOLD OF.

• BEGAN then the guest to spew forth of gleeds,
• The bright dwellings to burn; stood the beam of the burning
• For a mischief to menfolk; now nothing that quick was
• The loathly lift-flier would leave there forsooth;
• The war of the Worm was wide to be seen there,
• The narrowing foe’s hatred anigh and afar,
• How he, the fight-scather, the folk of the Geats
• Hated and harm’d; shot he back to the hoard,
• His dark lordly hall, ere yet was the day’s while;
• The land-dwellers had he in the light low encompass’d
• With bale and with brand; in his burg yet he trusted,
• His war-might and his wall: but his weening bewray’d him.
• Then Beowulf was done to wit of the terror
• Full swiftly forsooth, that the house of himself,
• Best of buildings, was molten in wellings of fire,
• The gift-stool of the Geats. To the good one was that
• A grief unto heart; of mind-sorrows the greatest.
• Weened the wise one, that Him, e’en the Wielder,
• The Lord everlasting, against the old rights
• He had bitterly anger’d; the breast boil’d within him
• With dark thoughts, that to him were naught duly wonted.
• Now had the fire-drake the own fastness of folk,
• The water-land outward, that ward of the earth,
• With gleeds to ground wasted; so therefore the war-king,
• The lord of the Weder-folk, learned him vengeance.
• Then he bade be work’d for him, that fence of the warriors,
• And that all of iron, the lord of the earls,
• A war-board all glorious, for wissed he yarely
• That the holt-wood hereto might help him no whit,
• The linden ’gainst fire-flame. Of fleeting days now
• The Atheling exceeding good end should abide,
• The end of the world’s life, and the Worm with him also,
• Though long he had holden the weal of the hoard.
• Forsooth scorned then the lord of the rings
• That he that wide-flier with war-band should seek,
• With a wide host; he fear’d not that war for himself,
• Nor for himself the Worm’s war accounted one whit,
• His might and his valour, for that he erst a many
• Strait-daring of battles had bided, and liv’d,
• Clashings huge of the battle, sithence he of Hrothgar,
• He, the man victory-happy, had cleansed the hall,
• And in war-tide had gripped the kindred of Grendel,
• The loathly of kindreds; nor was that the least
• Of hand-meetings, wherein erst was Hygelac slain,
• Sithence the Geats’ king in the onrush of battle,
• The lord-friend of the folks, down away in the Frieslands,
• The offspring of Hrethel, died, drunken of sword-drinks,
• All beaten of bill. Thence Beowulf came forth
• By his own craft forsooth, dreed the work of the swimming;
• He had on his arm, he all alone, thirty
• Of war-gears, when he to the holm went adown.
• Then nowise the Hetware needed to joy them
• Over the foot-war, wherein forth against him
• They bore the war-linden: few went back again
• From that wolf of the battle to wend to their homes.
• O’erswam then the waters’ round Ecgtheow’s son,
• Came all wretched and byrd-alone back to his people,
• Whereas offer’d him Hygd then the kingdom and hoard,
• The rings and the king-stool: trowed naught in the child,
• That he ’gainst folks outland the fatherland-seats
• Might can how to hold, now was Hygelac dead:
• Yet no sooner therefor might the poor folk prevail
• To gain from the Atheling in any of ways
• That he unto Heardred would be for a lord,
• Or eke that that kingdom henceforward should choose;
• Yet him midst of the folk with friend-lore he held,
• All kindly with honour till older he waxed
• And wielded the Weder-Geats. To him menwaifs thereafter
• Sought from over the sea, the sons they of Ohthere,
• For they erst had withstood the helm of the Scylfings,
• E’en him that was best of the kings of the sea,
• Of them that in Swede-realm dealt out the treasure,
• The mighty of princes. Unto him ’twas a life-mark;
• To him without food there was fated the life-wound,
• That Hygelac’s son, by the swinging of swords;
• And him back departed Ongentheow’s bairn,
• To go seek to his house, sithence Heardred lay dead,
• And let Beowulf hold the high seat of the king
• And wield there the Geats. Yea, good was that king.