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.

XXXIX.

WIGLAF CASTETH SHAME ON THOSE FLEERS.

• BUT gone was it then with the unaged man
• Full hard that there he beheld on the earth
• The liefest of friends at the ending of life,
• Of bearing most piteous. And likewise lay his bane
• The Earth-drake, the loathly fear, reft of his life,
• By bale laid undone: the ring-hoards no longer
• The Worm, the crook-bowed, ever might wield;
• For soothly the edges of the irons him bare off,
• The hard battle-sharded leavings of hammers,
• So that the wide-flier stilled with wounding
• Fell onto earth anigh to his hoard-hall,
• Nor along the lift ever more playing he turned
• At middle-nights, proud of the owning of treasure,
• Show’d the face of him forth, but to earth there he fell
• Because of the host-leader’s work of the hand.
• This forsooth on the land hath thriven to few,
• Of men might and main bearing, by hearsay of mine,
• Though in each of all deeds full daring he were,
• That against venom-scather’s fell breathing he set on,
• Or the hall of his rings with hand be a-stirring,
• If so be that he waking the warder had found
• Abiding in burg. By Beowulf was
• His deal of the king-treasure paid for by death;
• There either had they fared on to the end
• Of this loaned life. Long it was not until
• Those laggards of battle the holt were a-leaving,
• Unwarlike troth-liars, the ten there together,
• Who durst not e’en now with darts to be playing
• E’en in their man-lord’s most mickle need.
• But shamefully now their shields were they bearing,
• Their weed of the battle, there where lay the aged;
• They gazed on Wiglaf where weary’d he sat,
• The foot-champion, hard by his very lord’s shoulder,
• And wak’d him with water: but no whit it sped him;
• Never might he on earth howsoe’er well he will’d it
• In that leader of spears hold the life any more,
• Nor the will of the Wielder change ever a whit;
• But still should God’s doom of deeds rule the rede
• For each man of men, as yet ever it doth.
• Then from out of the youngling an answer full grim
• Easy got was for him who had lost heart erewhile,
• And word gave out Wiglaf, Weohstan’s son,
• The sorrowful-soul’d man: on those unlief he saw:
• Lo that may he say who sooth would be saying,
• That the man-lord who dealt you the gift of those dear things,
• The gear of the war-host wherein there ye stand,
• Whereas he on the ale-bench full oft was a-giving
• Unto the hall-sitters war-helm and byrny,
• The king to his thanes, e’en such as he choicest
• Anywhere, far or near, ever might find:
• That he utterly wrongsome those weeds of the war
• Had cast away, then when the war overtook him.
• Surely never the folk-king of his fellows in battle
• Had need to be boastful; howsoever God gave him,
• The Victory-wielder, that he himself wreak’d him
• Alone with the edge, when to him need of might was.
• Unto him of life-warding but little might I
• Give there in the war-tide; and yet I began
• Above measure of my might my kinsman to help;
• Ever worse was the Worm then when I with sword
• Smote the life-foe, and ever the fire less strongly
• Welled out from his wit. Of warders o’er little
• Throng’d about the king when him the battle befell.
• Now shall taking of treasures and giving of swords
• And all joy of your country-home fail from your kindred,
• All hope wane away; of the land-right moreover
• May each of the men of that kinsman’s burg ever
• Roam lacking; sithence that the athelings eftsoons
• From afar shall have heard of your faring in flight,
• Your gloryless deed. Yea, death shall be better
• For each of the earls than a life ever ill-fam’d.