{"collection":"Northern European Mythology","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/neu/beo/beo07.htm","path":"neu/beo/beo07.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/neu/beo/beo07.htm","text":"HROTHGAR answered, helmet of Scyldings:--\n\"I knew him of yore in his youthful days;\nhis aged father was Ecgtheow named,\nto whom, at home, gave Hrethel the Geat\nhis only daughter. Their offspring bold\nfares hither to seek the steadfast friend.\nAnd seamen, too, have said me this, --\nwho carried my gifts to the Geatish court,\nthither for thanks, -- he has thirty men's\nheft of grasp in the gripe of his hand,\nthe bold-in-battle. Blessed God\nout of his mercy this man hath sent\nto Danes of the West, as I ween indeed,\nagainst horror of Grendel. I hope to give\nthe good youth gold for his gallant thought.\nBe thou in haste, and bid them hither,\nclan of kinsmen, to come before me;\nand add this word, -- they are welcome guests\nto folk of the Danes.\"\n[To the door of the hall\nWulfgar went] and the word declared:--\n\"To you this message my master sends,\nEast-Danes' king, that your kin he knows,\nhardy heroes, and hails you all\nwelcome hither o'er waves of the sea!\nYe may wend your way in war-attire,\nand under helmets Hrothgar greet;\nbut let here the battle-shields bide your parley,\nand wooden war-shafts wait its end.\"\nUprose the mighty one, ringed with his men,\nbrave band of thanes: some bode without,\nbattle-gear guarding, as bade the chief.\nThen hied that troop where the herald led them,\nunder Heorot's roof: [the hero strode,]\nhardy 'neath helm, till the hearth he neared.\nBeowulf spake, -- his breastplate gleamed,\nwar-net woven by wit of the smith:--\n\"Thou Hrothgar, hail! Hygelac's I,\nkinsman and follower. Fame a plenty\nhave I gained in youth! These Grendel-deeds\nI heard in my home-land heralded clear.\nSeafarers say how stands this hall,\nof buildings best, for your band of thanes\nempty and idle, when evening sun\nin the harbor of heaven is hidden away.\nSo my vassals advised me well, --\nbrave and wise, the best of men, --\nO sovran Hrothgar, to seek thee here,\nfor my nerve and my might they knew full well.\nThemselves had seen me from slaughter come\nblood-flecked from foes, where five I bound,\nand that wild brood worsted. I' the waves I slew\nnicors[1] by night, in need and peril\navenging the Weders,[2] whose woe they sought, --\ncrushing the grim ones. Grendel now,\nmonster cruel, be mine to quell\nin single battle! So, from thee,\nthou sovran of the Shining-Danes,\nScyldings'-bulwark, a boon I seek, --\nand, Friend-of-the-folk, refuse it not,\nO Warriors'-shield, now I've wandered far, --\nthat I alone with my liegemen here,\nthis hardy band, may Heorot purge!\nMore I hear, that the monster dire,\nin his wanton mood, of weapons recks not;\nhence shall I scorn -- so Hygelac stay,\nking of my kindred, kind to me! --\nbrand or buckler to bear in the fight,\ngold-colored targe: but with gripe alone\nmust I front the fiend and fight for life,\nfoe against foe. Then faith be his\nin the doom of the Lord whom death shall take.\nFain, I ween, if the fight he win,\nin this hall of gold my Geatish band\nwill he fearless eat, -- as oft before, --\nmy noblest thanes. Nor need'st thou then\nto hide my head;[3] for his shall I be,\ndyed in gore, if death must take me;\nand my blood-covered body he'll bear as prey,\nruthless devour it, the roamer-lonely,\nwith my life-blood redden his lair in the fen:\nno further for me need'st food prepare!\nTo Hygelac send, if Hild[4] should take me,\nbest of war-weeds, warding my breast,\narmor excellent, heirloom of Hrethel\nand work of Wayland.[5] Fares Wyrd[6] as she must.\"\n[1] The nicor, says Bugge, is a hippopotamus; a walrus, says ten Brink.\nBut that water-goblin who covers the space from Old Nick of jest to the\nNeckan and Nix of poetry and tale, is all one needs, and Nicor is a good\nname for him.\n[2] His own people, the Geats.\n[3] That is, cover it as with a face-cloth. \"There will be no need of\nfuneral rites.\"\n[4] Personification of Battle.\n[5] The Germanic Vulcan.\n[6] This mighty power, whom the Christian poet can still revere, has here\nthe general force of \"Destiny.\"","title":"Beowulf: Part VI","type":"page"}