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• 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.

XLI.

MORE WORDS OF THE MESSENGER. HOW HE FEARS THE SWEDES WHEN THEY WOT OF BEOWULF DEAD.

• WAS the track of the war-sweat of Swedes and of Geats,
• The men’s slaughter-race, right wide to be seen,
• How those folks amongst them were waking the feud.
• Departed that good one, and went with his fellows,
• Old and exceeding sad, fastness to seek;
• The earl Ongentheow upward returned;
• Of Hygelac’s battle-might oft had he heard,
• The war-craft of the proud one; in withstanding he trow’d not,
• That he to the sea-folk in fight might debate,
• Or against the sea-farers defend him his hoard,
• His bairns and his bride. He bow’d him aback thence,
• The old under the earth-wall. Then was the chase bidden
• To the Swede-folk, and Hygelac’s sign was upreared,
• And the plain of the peace forth on o’er-pass’d they,
• After the Hrethlings onto the hedge throng’d.
• There then was Ongentheow by the swords’ edges,
• The blent-hair’d, the hoary one, driven to biding,
• So that the folk-king fain must he take
• Sole doom of Eofor. Him in his wrath then
• Wulf the Wonreding reach’d with his weapon,
• So that from the stroke sprang the war-sweat in streams
• Forth from under his hair; yet naught fearsome was he,
• The aged, the Scylfing, but paid aback rathely
• With chaffer that worse was that war-crash of slaughter,
• Sithence the folk-king turned him thither;
• And nowise might the brisk one that son was of Wonred
• Unto the old carle give back the hand-slaying,
• For that he on Wulf’s head the helm erst had sheared,
• So that all with the blood stained needs must he bow,
• And fell on the field; but not yet was he fey,
• But he warp’d himself up, though the wound had touch’d nigh.
• But thereon the hard Hygelac’s thane there,
• Whenas down lay his brother, let the broad blade,
• The old sword of eotens, that helm giant-fashion’d
• Break over the board-wall, and down the king bowed,
• The herd of the folk unto fair life was smitten.
• There were many about there who bound up his kinsman,
• Upraised him swiftly when room there was made them,
• That the slaughter-stead there at the stour they might wield,
• That while when was reaving one warrior the other:
• From Ongentheow took he the iron-wrought byrny,
• The hard-hilted sword, with his helm all together:
• The hoary one’s harness to Hygelac bare he;
• The fret war-gear then took he, and fairly behight him
• Before the folk due gifts, and even so did it;
• Gild he gave for that war-race, the lord of the Geats,
• The own son of Hrethel, when home was he come,
• To Eofor and Wulf gave he over-much treasure,
• To them either he gave an hundred of thousands,
• Land and lock’d rings. Of the gift none needed to wyte him
• Of mid earth, since the glory they gained by battle.
• Then to Eofor he gave his one only daughter,
• An home-worship soothly, for pledge of his good will.
• That is the feud and the foeship full soothly,
• The dead-hate of men, e’en as I have a weening,
• Wherefor the Swede people against us shall seek,
• Sithence they have learned that lieth our lord
• All lifeless; e’en he that erewhile hath held
• Against all the haters the hoard and the realm;
• Who after the heroes’ fall held the fierce Scylfings,
• Framed the folk-rede, and further thereto
• Did earlship-deeds. Now is haste best of all
• That we now the folk-king should fare to be seeing,
• And then that we bring him who gave us the rings
• On his way to the bale: nor shall somewhat alone
• With the moody be molten; but manifold hoard is,
• Gold untold of by tale that grimly is cheapen’d,
• And now at the last by this one’s own life
• Are rings bought, and all these the brand now shall fret,
• The flame thatch them over: no earl shall bear off
• One gem in remembrance; nor any fair maiden
• Shall have on her halse a ring-honour thereof,
• But in grief of mood henceforth, bereaved of gold,
• Shall oft, and not once alone, alien earth tread,
• Now that the host-learn’d hath laid aside laughter,
• The game and the glee-joy. Therefore shall the spear,
• Full many a morn-cold, of hands be bewounden,
• Uphoven in hand; and no swough of the harp
• Shall waken the warriors; but the wan raven rather
• Fain over the fey many tales shall tell forth,
• And say to the erne how it sped him at eating,
• While he with the wolf was a-spoiling the slain.
• So was the keen-whetted a-saying this while
• Spells of speech loathly; he lied not much
• Of weirds or of words. Then uprose all the war-band,
• And unblithe they wended under the Ernes-ness,
• All welling of tears, the wonder to look on.
• Found they then on the sand, now lacking of soul,
• Holding his bed, him that gave them the rings
• In time erewhile gone by. But then was the endday
• Gone for the good one; since the king of the battle,
• The lord of the Weders, in wonder-death died.
• But erst there they saw a more seldom-seen sight,
• The Worm on the lea-land over against him
• Down lying there loathly; there was the fire-drake,
• The grim of the terrors, with gleeds all beswealed.
• He was of fifty feet of his measure
• Long of his lying. Lift-joyance held he
• In the whiles of the night, but down again wended
• To visit his den. Now fast was he in death,
• He had of the earth-dens the last end enjoyed.
• There by him now stood the beakers and bowls,
• There lay the dishes and dearly-wrought swords,
• Rusty, through-eaten they, as in earth’s bosom
• A thousand of winters there they had wonned.
• For that heritage there was, all craftily eked,
• Gold of the yore men, in wizardry wounden;
• So that that ring-hall might none reach thereto,
• Not any of mankind but if God his own self,
• Sooth king of victories, gave unto whom he would
• (He is holder of men) to open that hoard,
• E’en to whichso of mankind should seem to him meet.