Beowulf: Text and TranslationThe greatest and most attractive of the Old English poems is Beowulf. It tells how Beowulf clears King Hrothgar's land of the fearsome monster Grendel, then seeks out and overcomes a second monster in a classic combat at the bottom of a lake - the 'haunted mere'. Finally, in old age, Beowulf again takes up arms, to protect his own people from the attacks of a recklessly roused dragon. Huge, cunning, fierce and fiery, the beast seems all but invincible, and the poem ends with both Beowulf and the dragon dead after terrible combat. The verse in which this story unfolds is, by common consent, the finest writing surviving in Old English, a text that all students of the language and many general readers will want to tackle in the original form. To aid understanding of the Old English, a literal word-by-word translation by John Porter is printed opposite an edited text and provides a practical key to this Anglo-Saxon masterpiece. |
Common terms and phrases
æfter bær bearn Beowulf bið byrnie chieftain cwōm cyning cynnes đã dær dæt dām Danes eald eall Ecgtheow eorl eorla fæder fæst fela feond feor feorh feorran feud folces forð frean Geata Geats gefremede gemunde geseah gewāt geweald gold Grendel gumena hæfde Halfdane Healfdenes heard helm Hengest heold Heorot Herebeald heroes Higelāces hine hoard hord Hrōðgāres Hrothgar Hrunting hwilum Hygd Hygelac hyne hyrde king læg leode leodum lord mæg manna mapelode meahte mihte mōde monig mōste næs niht noble oððe ofer Onela Ongentheow pāra peah pēoden pone ponne sceal scolde Scyldinga Scyldings Scylfings sẽ secg secgan sið sōna spoke stōd swā sword swylce syððan thane treasures warrior weard Wederas Weohstan wið wiht wolde wordum wyrm þā þæm þær þæs þæt þæt hē þæt hie þām þat þone þonne þurh