The Translations of Beowulf Part 22

EXTRACT.

VIII.

UNFERTH TAUNTS BEOWULF. BEOWULF'S CONTEST WITH BRECA.

(Lines 499-558.)

(499-505). _Now comes a jarring note. Unferth, a Danish courtier, is devoured by jealousy, and taunts Beowulf._

Then Unferth, the son of Ecglaf, who sat at the feet of the lord of the Scyldings, spoke, and gave vent to secret thoughts of strife,--the journey of Beowulf, the brave sea-farer, was a great chagrin to him, for he grudged that any other man under heaven should ever obtain more glory on this middle-earth than he himself.

(506-528). _'Art thou the same Beowulf,' says he, 'who ventured on a foolhardy swimming match with Breca on the open sea in winter, for seven days, and got beaten? A worse fate is in store for thee when thou meetest Grendel!'_

'Art thou that Beowulf who strove with Breca, contested with him on the open sea, in a swimming contest, when ye two for vainglory tried the floods, and ventured your lives in deep water for idle boasting? Nor could any man, friend or foe, dissuade you from your sorry enterprise when ye swam on the sea; when ye compa.s.sed the flowing stream with your arms, meted out the sea-paths, battled with your hands, and glided over the ocean; when the sea, the winter's flood, surged with waves. Ye two toiled in the water's realm seven nights; he overcame you at swimming, he had the greater strength. Then, at morning time, the ocean cast him up on the Heathoraemas' land. Thence, dear to his people, he sought his beloved fatherland, the land of the Brondings, his fair stronghold-city, where he had subjects and treasures and a borough. The son of Beanstan performed faithfully all that he had pledged himself to. So I expect for thee a worse fatality,--though thou hast everywhere prevailed in rush of battle,--gruesome war,--if thou darest await Grendel at close quarters for the s.p.a.ce of a night.'

_Criticism of the Translation._

The extract is typical of all that is best in the translation. It is a thoroughly accurate piece of work, failing only where Wyatt's edition of the text is unsatisfactory. Translations like 'gave vent to secret thoughts of strife' and 'thou hast prevailed in the rush of battle' show that the work is the outcome of long thought and deep appreciation. At times the translation, as here, verges on a literary rendering. But in this respect the first part of the poem is vastly superior to the later parts, though all three are marred by extreme literalness. Dr. Hall did not always escape the strange diction that has so often before disfigured the translations of _Beowulf_:--

Line 2507, 'my unfriendly hug finished his bony frame.'

2583, 'The Geat's free-handed friend crowed not in pride of victory.'

2655, 'Fell the foe and s.h.i.+eld the Weder-Geat Lord's life.'

2688, 'the public scourge, the dreadful salamander.'

2834, 'show his form' (said of the Dragon).

2885, 'hopelessly escheated from your breed.'

It is also rather surprising to learn from Dr. Hall that Beowulf was one of those that 'advanced home government' (l. 3005).

It should be added that the explanatory comment which constantly interrupts the translation, often six or eight times in a section, is annoying, both because it distracts the attention and because it is often presented in a style wholly inappropriate to the context.

But this absence of ease and dignity does not hinder Dr. Hall's translation from being an excellent rendering of the matter of the poem, at once less fanciful than Earle's[5] and more modern than Garnett's[6], its only rivals as a literal translation. That it conveys an adequate notion of the style of _Beowulf_, however, it is impossible to affirm.

[Footnote 1: Chiefly of Anglo-Saxon antiquities.]

[Footnote 2: See supra, p. 91.] [[Earle]]

[Footnote 3: See my forthcoming review of the book in the _Journal of Germanic Philology_.]

[Footnote 4: See supra, p. 91.] [[Earle]]

[Footnote 5: See supra, p. 91.] [[Earle]]

[Footnote 6: See supra, p. 83.] [[Garnett]]

TINKER'S TRANSLATION

Beowulf, translated out of the Old English by Chauncey Brewster Tinker, M.A. New York: Newson and Co., 1902. 12mo, pp. 158.

Eleventh English Translation. Prose.

_Aim of the Volume and Nature of the Translation._

'The present translation of _Beowulf_ is an attempt to make as simple and readable a version of the poem as is consistent with the character of the original. Archaic forms, which have been much in favor with translators of Old English, have been excluded, because it has been thought that vigor and variety are not incompatible with simple, idiomatic English....

The princ.i.p.al ways in which the present version differs from a merely literal translation are the following: (1) in a rather broad interpretation of pregnant words and phrases; (2) in a conception of some of the Old English compounds as conventional phrases in which the original metaphorical sense is dead; (3) in a free treatment of connecting words; (4) in frequent subst.i.tution of a proper name for an ambiguous p.r.o.noun.

The translation is based on the text of A. J. Wyatt (Cambridge, 1898); a few departures from his readings are enumerated in the Notes.' --Preface, pp. 5, 6.

EXTRACT.

VIII and IX.

_Unferth, a thane of Hrothgar, grows jealous of Beowulf and taunts him, raking up old tales of a swimming-match with Breca. Beowulf is angered and boastfully tells the truth touching that adventure, and puts Unferth to silence. Queen Wealhtheow pa.s.ses the cup.

Hrothgar commends Heorot to the care of Beowulf._

Unferth, the son of Ecglaf, who sat at the feet of the lord of the Scyldings, spoke, and stirred up a quarrel; the coming of Beowulf, the brave seafarer, vexed him sore, for he would not that any other man under heaven should ever win more glories in this world than he himself. 'Art thou that Beowulf who didst strive with Breca on the broad sea and didst contend with him in swimming, when ye two, foolhardy, made trial of the waves and for a mad boast risked your lives in the deep water? None, friend or foe, could turn you from the sorry venture when ye two swam out upon the sea. But ye enfolded the ocean-streams with your arms, measured the sea-streets, buffeted the water with your hands, gliding over the deep. The ocean was tossing with waves, a winter's sea. Seven nights ye toiled in the power of the waters; and he overcame thee in the match, for he had the greater strength. Then at morning-tide the sea cast him up on the coast of the Heathoraemas, whence he, beloved of his people, went to his dear fatherland, the country of the Brondings, and his own fair city where he was lord of a stronghold, and of subjects and treasure. Verily, the son of Beanstan made good all his boast against thee. Wherefore, though thou hast ever been valiant in the rush of battle, I look to a grim fight, yea, and a worse issue, for thee, if thou darest for the s.p.a.ce of one night abide near Grendel.'

APPENDIX I

INCOMPLETE TRANSLATIONS, AND PARAPHRASES

LEO'S DIGEST

Beowulf, dasz[1] alteste deutsche in angelsachsischer mundart erhaltene heldengedicht nach seinem inhalte, und nach seinen historischen und mythologischen beziehungen betrachtet. Ein beitrag zur geschichte alter deutscher geisteszustande. Von H. Leo. Halle, bei Eduard Anton, 1839.

8vo, pp. xx, 120.

Selections Translated into German Prose.

_Contents of the Volume, and Nature of the Translation._

This was the first German book to give any extended account of the poem.

The t.i.tles of the chapters are: I. Historische Anlehnung; II. Mythischer Inhalt; III. Die geographischen Angaben; IV. Genealogische Verhaltnisse der in dem Liede vorkommenden Helden; V. Uebersicht des Inhalts des Gedichtes von Beowulf. In this fifth chapter are found the extracts from _Beowulf_. It will be seen that the chapter is somewhat subordinate to the others, its chief purpose being to furnish a kind of digest of the poem, to be used princ.i.p.ally as a work of reference. A desire to condense leads the translator to omit lines that he does not deem essential to an understanding of the events and characters of the poem.

Unfortunately his omissions are often the most poetical lines of the _Beowulf_. For example, he omits the description of Beowulf's sea-voyage; Hrothgar's account of the haunt of Grendel and his dam is curtailed; the dying words of Beowulf, perhaps the most beautiful lines in the poem, are clipped. Further examples may be found in the extract given below. This insufficiency is excused by the fact that Leo's main object in preparing the book was to prove certain theories that he held respecting the origin and date of the poem.