[lines 194-224a in section III and 8th line from the bottom of folio 134r to 4th line from the bottom of folio 134v on Kevin S. Kiernan's Electronic Beowulf CD]
Images of the original manuscript text of this section, and an mp3 file of Ben Slade reading it in Old English, are here.
{Beowulf hears about Grendel and decides to travel from his home in Geatland (southern Sweden) to Heorot (in northeast Denmark) to see if he can help out.
}
But so intense was Grendel's hatred, long
And loathsome, that at last its fame arrived
Among the Geats. And one of them was strong;
So strong, no foe that fought with him survived
His giant grip. The monster from the fen
Interested him. And Hrothgar needed men.
He ordered that a vessel be prepared,
A good one, said he meant to see a king
Across the swan-road. No one gaped or stared
Or questioned; they assembled everything
He wanted; read the omens; wished him well.
Though he was dear, they knew what force compelled
The sudden moods of Higelac's young thane,
Moods that did not abate till turned to deeds.
Not even king and uncle could restrain
This prince, when he had wedded will to needs.
He picked as company the fourteen best,
The bravest he could find, whom he impressed
With both the danger and magnificence
Of their adventure; there would be no loot,
Only the hope of gifts and praise-- and less
Of giving than of praising, which would suit,
He said, the hearts of heroes. He didn't plead,
For all were young; they instantly agreed.
He led to where the boat was, on the waves
Beneath a brooding cliff; the currents curled
Around the hull. As one whose energy craves
Release, the leader leaped aboard and hurled
His pack amidships; others did the same.
Men in the strength of youth are rarely tame.
However milky-dull the winter sun,
Their blades and byrnies shown like beacons-- mail
Whose links a Weland-smith had one by one
Knit close together, swords that would not fail
If wielded well, all edged with welded strips
That shear through steel; the kind a hero grips.
With shouts and grunts the others shoved them off
And put the high-prowed wood-bound ship to sea.
Sped by a wind that screamed like eagles aloft
It sliced the ice-grey waters easily,
A foamy-throated swan through showers of hail
Scudding over precincts of the whale.
The cold had bound their feet, its clamps of frost
Would not let go; behung with icicles
Their cloaks and beards partook of seas they crossed
And made them kin to icy-feathered gulls.
Night and snow from the north. They made their way
Far on the flood-was till the second day.
They saw the sea-cliffs glitter in the distance;
Here were the steep and thick-set coastal hills,
Their goal. They felt a sudden snug resistance --
The prow bit sand. They'd passed the sea which kills
[lines 791-819a in section XII and 8th line from the top of folio 147r to 13th line from the top of folio 147v on Kevin S. Kiernan's Electronic Beowulf CD]
Images of the original manuscript text of this section, and an mp3 file of Ben Slade reading it in Old English, are here.
{At this moment Beowulf and Grendel are fighting and Grendel is howling and screaming and wishing to escape but Beowulf has grabbed Grendel's arm and is using his incredible hand-strength to hold on to him.
}
[lines 1537-1569 in sections XXII and XXIII and 5th line from the bottom of folio 163v, through folio 164r to 4th line from the top of folio 164v on Kevin S. Kiernan's Electronic Beowulf CD] Images of the original manuscript text of this section, and an mp3 file of Ben Slade reading it in Old English, are here. Note: there is a discussion of the word eaxle in line 1537a on my page on Shoulder Grabbing vs. Hair Pulling
{At this moment Beowulf has just failed to hurt Grendel's mother with the sword Hrunting and he tries to wrestle her as he had done with Grendel.
}
[lines 1584b-1590 in section XXIII and 7th line from the bottom of folio 164v to first half of the last line of folio 164v on Kevin S. Kiernan's Electronic Beowulf CD]
Images of the original manuscript text of this section, and an mp3 file of Ben Slade reading it in Old English, are here.
{At this moment Beowulf has just discovered Grendel's lifeless body lying in the cave.
}
[lines 2672b-2708a in sections XXXVI and XXXVII and 8th line from the bottom of folio 189A197r, through folio 189A197v to 3rd line from the top of folio 189r on Kevin S. Kiernan's Electronic Beowulf CD]
Images of the original manuscript text of this section, and an mp3 file of Ben Slade reading it in Old English, are here.
{At this moment, Wiglaf has just run into the flames to be by Beowulf's side and the dragon has charged at them both, incinerating Wiglaf's shield.
}
Nine thanes, his favorites, following the slave,
Found they could watch things better from the forest
And fled, But Wiglaf ran the other way.
Sheltered behind the shield of Beowulf,
Mindful of what he'd boasted in the mead-hall --
How he would never leave his lord at need --
He paid the Geat-king for his many gifts,
Returning blood for wine, and well-aimed steel
For gold, his battle-mood too hard to melt.
Wiglaf and Beowulf were battle-brothers
Like Wulf and Eofor, but what they fought
Was no mere man or beast, was nothing else
Than that which comes for each of us, the killer,
The final mindless foe. For in the end
The serpent does encircle middle-earth
And wraps us all in darkness, where we die.
This lesser worm is one with that which stills
Our world, and Beowulf is one with us --
Like Wiglaf, and the thanes and slave who thought
They could escape. Their time had not yet come.
The heat. Ordeal by fire. I did no crime,
Why the ordeal? My duty. Killing Grendel.
But now no joy. A shield that burns my knuckles,
No shield. The stroke that shatters Naegling, skull-stroke.
Shivers along my forearm, let it go,
Let go of Naegling and the Geats my people.
Never when young that sword-shock, I was strong.
Thus like a water-coolness came the soothing:
He knew at last that it was not his duty
To save the Geats, but to have strained his will
With all its strength to save them. That he'd done.
