Medieval

literature:
Primary sources

Prof. Myron Estefan Cantillo Lucuara

Academic Year 2020/21

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ANGLO-SAXON
lITERATURE
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GILDAS’ de excidio et conquestu

britanniae (around 540) 1

God, therefore, who wishes all men to be saved, and who calls sinners no
less than those who think themselves righteous, magnified his mercy
towards us, and, as we know, during the above-named persecution, that
Britain might not totally be enveloped in the dark shades of night, he, of
his own free gift, kindled up among us bright luminaries of holy
martyrs, whose places of burial and of martyrdom, had they not for our
manifold crimes been interfered with and destroyed by the barbarians,
would have still kindled in the minds of the beholders no small fire of
divine charity. Such were St. Alban of Verulam, Aaron and Julius,
citizens of Carlisle, and the rest, of both sexes, who in different places
stood their ground in the Christian contest.

The first of these martyrs, St. Alban, for charity's sake saved another
confessor who was pursued by his persecutors, and was on the point of
being seized, by hiding him in his house, and then by changing clothes
with him, imitating in this example of Christ, who laid down his life for
his sheep, and exposing himself in the other's clothes to be pursued in his
stead. So pleasing to God was this conduct, that between his confession
and martyrdom, he was honoured with the performance of wonderful
miracles in presence of the impious blasphemers who were carrying the
Roman standards, and like the Israelites of old, who trod dry-foot an
unfrequented path whilst the ark of the covenant stood some time on the
sands in the midst of Jordan; so also the martyr, with a thousand others,
opened a path across the noble river Thames, whose waters stood abrupt
like precipices on either side; and seeing this, the first of his executors
was stricken with awe, and from a wolf became a lamb; so that he
thirsted for martyrdom, and boldly underwent that for which he
thirsted. The other holy martyrs were tormented with sufferings, and
their limbs were racked in such unheard of ways, that they, without
delay, erected the trophies of their glorious martyrdom even in the
gates of the city of Jerusalem. For those who survived, hid themselves in
woods and deserts, and secret caves, waiting until God, who is the

1
The complete text can be read at https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/gildas-full.asp, accessed on
September 16, 2020.

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righteous judge of all, should reward their persecutors with judgment,

and themselves with protection of their lives.

[…]

The Romans, therefore, left the country, giving notice that they could no
longer be harassed by such laborious expeditions, nor suffer the Roman
standards, with so large and brave an army, to be worn out by sea and
land by fighting against these unwarlike, plundering vagabonds; but
that the islanders, inuring themselves to warlike weapons, and bravely
fighting, should valiantly protect their country, their property, wives
and children, and, what is dearer than these, their liberty and lives;
that they should not suffer their hands to be tied behind their backs by a
nation which, unless they were enervated by idleness and sloth, was not
more powerful than themselves, but that they should arm those hands
with buckler, sword, and spear, ready for the field of battle; and,
because they thought this also of advantage to the people they were
about to leave, they, with the help of the miserable natives, built a wall
different from the former, by public and private contributions, and of
the same structure as walls generally, extending in a straight line from
sea to sea, between some cities, which, from fear of their enemies, had
there by chance been built. They then give energetic counsel to the
timorous native, and leave them patterns by which to manufacture
arms. Moreover, on the south coast where their vessels lay, as there was
some apprehension lest the barbarians might land, they erected towers
at stated intervals, commanding a prospect of the sea; and then left the
island never to return.

No sooner were they gone, than the Picts and Scots, like worms which in
the heat of mid-day come forth from their holes, hastily land again from
their canoes, in which they had been carried beyond the Cichican valley,
differing one from another in manners, but inspired with the same
avidity for blood, and all more eager to shroud their villainous faces in
bushy hair than to cover with decent clothing those parts of their body
which required it. Moreover, having heard of the departure of our
friends, and their resolution never to return, they seized with greater
boldness than before on all the country towards the extreme north as
far as the wall. To oppose them there was placed on the heights a
garrison equally slow to fight and ill adapted to run away, a useless and
panic-struck company, who clambered away days and nights on their
unprofitable watch. Meanwhile the hooked weapons of their enemies
were not idle, and our wretched countrymen were dragged from the

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wall and dashed against the ground. Such premature death, however,
painful as it was, saved them from seeing the miserable sufferings of
their brothers and children. But why should I say more? They left their
cities, abandoned the protection of the wall and dispersed themselves in
flight more desperately than before. The enemy, on the other hand,
pursued them with more unrelenting cruelty than before, and butchered
our countrymen like sheep, so that their habitations were like those of
savage beasts; for they turned their arms upon each other, and for the
sake of a little sustenance, imbrued their hands in the blood of their
fellow countrymen. Thus foreign calamities were augmented by
domestic feuds; so that the whole country was entirely destitute of
provisions, save such as could be procured in the chase.

"To Aetius, now consul for the third time: the groans of the Britons."
And again a little further, thus:—"The barbarians drive us to the sea;
the sea throws us back on the barbarians: thus two modes of death
await us, we are either slain or drowned." The Romans, however, could
not assist them, and in the meantime the discomfited people, wandering
in the woods, began to feel the effects of a severe famine, which
compelled many of them without delay to yield themselves up to their
cruel persecutors, to obtain subsistence.

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BEDE’S Historia ecclesiastica gentis

Anglorum (731) 2

In the year of our Lord 156, Marcus Antoninus Verus, the fourteenth
from Augustus, was made emperor, together with his brother, Aurelius
Commodus. In their time, whilst the holy Eleutherus presided over the
Roman Church, Lucius, king of Britain, sent a letter to him, entreating
that by a mandate from him he might be made a Christian. He soon
obtained his pious request, and the Britons preserved the faith, which
they had received, uncorrupted and entire, in peace and tranquillity
until the time of the Emperor Diocletian.

Then the nation of the Angles, or Saxons, being invited by the aforesaid
king, arrived in Britain with three ships of war and had a place in
which to settle assigned to them by the same king, in the eastern part of
the island, on the pretext of fighting in defence of their country, whilst
their real intentions were to conquer it. Accordingly they engaged with
the enemy, who were come from the north to give battle, and the Saxons
obtained the victory. When the news of their success and of the fertility
of the country, and the cowardice of the Britons, reached their own
home, a more considerable fleet was quickly sent over, bringing a
greater number of men, and these, being added to the former army,
made up an invincible force. The newcomers received of the Britons a
place to inhabit among them, upon condition that they should wage war
against their enemies for the peace and security of the country, whilst
the Britons agreed to furnish them with pay. Those who came over were
of the three most powerful nations of Germany—Saxons, Angles, and
Jutes. From the Jutes are descended the people of Kent, and of the Isle of
Wight, including those in the province of the West-Saxons who are to
this day called Jutes, seated opposite to the Isle of Wight. From the
Saxons, that is, the country which is now called Old Saxony, came the
East-Saxons, the South-Saxons, and the West-Saxons. From the Angles,
that is, the country which is called Angulus, and which is said, from
that time, to have remained desert to this day, between the provinces of
the Jutes and the Saxons, are descended the East-Angles, the Midland-
Angles, the Mercians, all the race of the Northumbrians, that is, of those

2
The complete text can be read at https://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/bede/hist007.htm, accessed on
September 16, 2020.

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nations that dwell on the north side of the river Humber, and the other
nations of the Angles.

When the army of the enemy, having destroyed and dispersed the
natives, had returned home to their own settlements, the Britons began
by degrees to take heart, and gather strength, sallying out of the lurking
places where they had concealed themselves, and with one accord
imploring the Divine help, that they might not utterly be destroyed.
They had at that time for their leader, Ambrosius Aurelianus, a man of
worth, who alone, by chance, of the Roman nation had survived the
storm, in which his parents, who were of the royal race, had perished.
Under him the Britons revived, and offering battle to the victors, by the
help of God, gained the victory. From that day, sometimes the natives,
and sometimes their enemies, prevailed, till the year of the siege of
Badon-hill, when they made no small slaughter of those enemies, about
forty-four years after their arrival in England.

[…]

In the tenth year of his reign, Gregory, a man eminent in learning and
the conduct of affairs, was promoted to the Apostolic see of Rome, and
presided over it thirteen years, six months and ten days. He, being
moved by Divine inspiration, in the fourteenth year of the same
emperor, and about the one hundred and fiftieth after the coming of the
English into Britain, sent the servant of God, Augustine, and with him
divers other monks, who feared the Lord, to preach the Word of God to
the English nation. They having, in obedience to the pope's commands,
undertaken that work, when they had gone but a little way on their
journey, were seized with craven terror, and began to think of
returning home, rather than proceed to a barbarous, fierce, and
unbelieving nation, to whose very language they were strangers; and by
common consent they decided that this was the safer course. At once
Augustine, who had been appointed to be consecrated bishop, if they
should be received by the English, was sent back, that he might, by
humble entreaty, obtain of the blessed Gregory, that they should not be
compelled to undertake so dangerous, toilsome, and uncertain a journey.

At this time the nation of the Northumbrians, that is, the English tribe
dwelling on the north side of the river Humber, with their king, Edwin,
received the Word of faith through the preaching of Paulinus, of whom
we have before spoken. This king, as an earnest of his reception of the
faith, and his share in the heavenly kingdom, received an increase also

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of his temporal realm, for he reduced under his dominion all the parts of
Britain that were provinces either of the English, or of the Britons, a
thing which no English king had ever done before; and he even subjected
to the English the Mevanian islands, as has been said above. The more
important of these, which is to the southward, is the larger in extent,
and more fruitful, containing nine hundred and sixty families,
according to the English computation; the other contains above three
hundred.

The occasion of this nation's reception of the faith was the alliance by
marriage of their aforesaid king with the kings of Kent, for he had
taken to wife Ethelberg, otherwise called Tata, daughter to King
Ethelbert. When he first sent ambassadors to ask her in marriage of her
brother Eadbald, who then reigned in Kent, he received the answer,
“That it was not lawful to give a Christian maiden in marriage to a
pagan husband, lest the faith and the mysteries of the heavenly King
should be profaned by her union with a king that was altogether a
stranger to the worship of the true God.” This answer being brought to
Edwin by his messengers, he promised that he would in no manner act
in opposition to the Christian faith, which the maiden professed; but
would give leave to her, and all that went with her, men and women,
bishops and clergy, to follow their faith and worship after the custom of
the Christians. Nor did he refuse to accept that religion himself, if, being
examined by wise men, it should be found more holy and more worthy
of God.

King Edwin, therefore, with all the nobility of the nation, and a large
number of the common sort, received the faith, and the washing of holy
regeneration, in the eleventh year of his reign, which is the year of our
Lord 627, and about one hundred and eighty after the coming of the
English into Britain. He was baptized at York, on the holy day of
Easter, being the 12th of April, in the church of St. Peter the Apostle,
which he himself had built of timber there in haste, whilst he was a
catechumen receiving instruction in order to be admitted to baptism. In
that city also he bestowed upon his instructor and bishop, Paulinus, his
episcopal see. But as soon as he was baptized, he set about building, by
the direction of Paulinus, in the same place a larger and nobler church
of stone, in the midst whereof the oratory which he had first erected
should be enclosed. Having, therefore, laid the foundation, he began to
build the church square, encompassing the former oratory.

[…]

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In the year of our Lord 565, when Justin, the younger, the successor of
Justinian, obtained the government of the Roman empire, there came
into Britain from Ireland a famous priest and abbot, marked as a monk
by habit and manner of life, whose name was Columba, to preach the
word of God to the provinces of the northern Picts, who are separated
from the southern parts belonging to that nation by steep and rugged
mountains. For the southern Picts, who dwell on this side of those
mountains, had, it is said, long before forsaken the errors of idolatry,
and received the true faith by the preaching of Bishop Ninias, a most
reverend and holy man of the British nation, who had been regularly
instructed at Rome in the faith and mysteries of the truth; whose
episcopal see, named after St. Martin the bishop, and famous for a
church dedicated to him (wherein Ninias himself and many other saints
rest in the body), is now in the possession of the English nation. The
place belongs to the province of the Bernicians, and is commonly called
the White House, because he there built a church of stone, which was not
usual among the Britons.

Columba came into Britain in the ninth year of the reign of Bridius,
who was the son of Meilochon, and the powerful king of the Pictish
nation, and he converted that nation to the faith of Christ, by his
preaching and example.

[…]

There was in the monastery of this abbess (Hilda) a certain brother,

marked in a special manner by the grace of God, for he was wont to
make songs of piety and religion, so that whatever was expounded to
him out of Scripture, he turned ere long into verse expressive of much
sweetness and penitence, in English, which was his native language. By
his songs the minds of many were often fired with contempt of the
world, and desire of the heavenly life. Others of the English nation after
him attempted to compose religious poems, but none could equal him, for
he did not learn the art of poetry from men, neither was he taught by
man, but by God's grace he received the free gift of song, for which
reason he never could compose any trivial or vain poem, but only those
which concern religion it behoved his religious tongue to utter. For
having lived in the secular habit till he was well advanced in years, he
had never learned anything of versifying; and for this reason sometimes
at a banquet, when it was agreed to make merry by singing in turn, if
he saw the harp come towards him, he would rise up from table and go
out and return home.

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Once having done so and gone out of the house where the banquet was,
to the stable, where he had to take care of the cattle that night, he there
composed himself to rest at the proper time. Thereupon one stood by him
in his sleep, and saluting him, and calling him by his name, said,
“Cædmon, sing me something.” But he answered, “I cannot sing, and for
this cause I left the banquet and retired hither, because I could not sing.”
Then he who talked to him replied, “Nevertheless thou must need sing to
me.” “What must I sing?” he asked. “Sing the beginning of creation,” said
the other. Having received this answer he straightway began to sing
verses to the praise of God the Creator, which he had never heard, the
purport whereof was after this manner: “Now must we praise the
Maker of the heavenly kingdom, the power of the Creator and His
counsel, the deeds of the Father of glory. How He, being the eternal God,
became the Author of all wondrous works, Who being the Almighty
Guardian of the human race, first created heaven for the sons of men to
be the covering of their dwelling place, and next the earth.” This is the
sense but not the order of the words as he sang them in his sleep; for
verses, though never so well composed, cannot be literally translated out
of one language into another without loss of their beauty and loftiness.
Awaking from his sleep, he remembered all that he had sung in his
dream, and soon added more after the same manner, in words which
worthily expressed the praise of God.

In the morning he came to the reeve who was over him, and having told
him of the gift he had received, was conducted to the abbess, and bidden,
in the presence of many learned men, to tell his dream, and repeat the
verses, that they might all examine and give their judgement upon the
nature and origin of the gift whereof he spoke. And they all judged that
heavenly grace had been granted to him by the Lord. They expounded
to him a passage of sacred history or doctrine, enjoining upon him, if he
could, to put it into verse. Having undertaken this task, he went away,
and returning the next morning, gave them the passage he had been
bidden to translate, rendered in most excellent verse. Whereupon the
abbess, joyfully recognizing the grace of God in the man, instructed him
to quit the secular habit, and take upon him monastic vows; and having
received him into the monastery, she and all her people admitted him to
the company of the brethren, and ordered that he should be taught the
whole course of sacred history. So he, giving ear to all that he could
learn, and bearing it in mind, and as it were ruminating, like a clean
animal, turned it into most harmonious verse; and sweetly singing it,
made his masters in their turn his hearers. He sang the creation of the

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world, the origin of man, and all the history of Genesis, the departure of
the children of Israel out of Egypt, their entrance into the promised
land, and many other histories from Holy Scripture; the Incarnation,
Passion, Resurrection of our Lord, and His Ascension into heaven; the
coming of the Holy Ghost, and the teaching of the Apostles; likewise he
made many songs concerning the terror of future judgement, the horror
of the pains of hell, and the joys of heaven; besides many more about the
blessings and the judgements of God, by all of which he endeavoured to
draw men away from the love of sin, and to excite in them devotion to
well-doing and perseverance therein. For he was [pg 280]a very
religious man, humbly submissive to the discipline of monastic rule, but
inflamed with fervent zeal against those who chose to do otherwise; for
which reason he made a fair ending of his life.

For when the hour of his departure drew near, it was preceded by a
bodily infirmity under which he laboured for the space of fourteen days,
yet it was of so mild a nature that he could talk and go about the whole
time. In his neighbourhood was the house to which those that were sick,
and like to die, were wont to be carried. He desired the person that
ministered to him, as the evening came on of the night in which he was
to depart this life, to make ready a place there for him to take his rest.
The man, wondering why he should desire it, because there was as yet
no sign of his approaching death, nevertheless did his bidding. When
they had lain down there, and had been conversing happily and
pleasantly for some time with those that were in the house before, and it
was now past midnight, he asked them, whether they had the Eucharist
within? They answered, “What need of the Eucharist? For you are not
yet appointed to die, since you talk so merrily with us, as if you were in
good health.” “Nevertheless,” said he, “bring me the Eucharist.” Having
received it into his hand, he asked, whether they were all in charity
with him, and had no complaint against him, nor any quarrel or
grudge. They answered, that they were all in perfect charity with him,
and free from all anger; and in their turn they asked him to be of the
same mind towards them. He answered at once, “I am in charity, my
children, with all the servants of God.” Then strengthening himself with
the heavenly Viaticum, he prepared for the entrance into another life,
and asked how near the time was when the brothers should be
awakened to sing the nightly praises of the Lord? They answered, “It is
not far off.” Then he said, “It is well, let us await that hour;” and signing
himself with the sign of the Holy Cross, he laid his head on the pillow,
and falling into a slumber for a little while, so ended his life in silence.

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Thus it came to pass, that as he had served the Lord with a simple and
pure mind, and quiet devotion, so he now departed to behold His
Presence, leaving the world by a quiet death; and that tongue, which
had uttered so many wholesome words in praise of the Creator, spake its
last words also in His praise, while he signed himself with the Cross, and
commended his spirit into His hands; and by what has been here said,
he seems to have had foreknowledge of his death.

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CAEDMON’S HYMN3

Nu sculon herigean / heofonrices Weard

[Now must we praise / heaven-kingdom's Guardian,]
Meotodes meahte / and his modgeþanc
[the Measurer's might / and his mind-plans,]

weorc Wuldor-Fæder / swa he wundra gehwæs

[the work of the Glory-Father, / when he of wonders of every one,]

ece Drihten / or onstealde

[eternal Lord, / the beginning established.]

He ærest sceop / ielda bearnum

[He first created / for men's sons]

heofon to hrofe / halig Scyppend

[heaven as a roof, / holy Creator;

ða middangeard / moncynnes Weard

[then middle-earth / mankind's Guardian,]

ece Drihten / æfter teode

[eternal Lord / afterwards made --]

firum foldan / Frea ælmihtig.

[for men earth, / Master almighty.]

3
This dual version can be read at https://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/medieval/caedmon.html, accessed on
September 16, 2020.

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King Alfred (871-899)4
Preface to Gregory‟s Pastoral Care
Ælfred kyning hateð gretan
Wærferð biscep his wordum
luflice & freondlice; & ðe cyðan
hate ðæt me com swiðe oft on
gemynd, hwelce wiotan iu wæron
giond Angelcynn, ægðer ge
godcundra hada ge
woruldcundra; & hu gesæliglica
tida ða wæron giond Angelcynn;
& hu ða kyningas ðe ðone onwald
hæfdon ðæs folces on ðam dagum
Gode & his ærendwrecum
hersumedon; & hie ægðer ge hiora
sibbe ge hiora siodo ge hiora
onweald innanbordes gehioldon,
& eac ut hiora eðel gerymdon; &
hu him ða speow ægðer ge mid
wige ge mid wisdome; & eac ða
godcundan hadas hu giorne hie
wæron ægðer ge ymb lare ge ymb
liornunga, ge ymb ealle ða
ðiowotdomas ðe hie Gode don
scoldon; & hu man utanbordes
wisdom & lare hieder on lond
sohte; & hu we hie nu sceoldon ute
begietan gif we hie habban
sceoldon. Swæ clæne hio wæs
oðfeallenu on Angelcynne ðæt
swiðe feawa wæron behionan
Humbre ðe hiora ðeninga cuðen
understondan on Englisc, oððe
4
This dual version can be read at http://www.bible-researcher.com/alfred.html, accessed on September
16, 2020.
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MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
King Alfred greets bishop
Wærferth with his words
lovingly and with friendship;
and I let it be known to thee
that it has very often come
into my mind, what wise men
there formerly were
throughout England, both of
sacred and secular orders; and
how happy times there were
then throughout England; and
how the kings who had power
over the nation in those days
obeyed God and his ministers;
and they preserved peace,
morality, and order at home,
and at the same time enlarged
their territory abroad; and
how they prospered both with
war and with wisdom; and
also the sacred orders how
zealous they were both in
teaching and learning, and in
all the services they owed to
God; and how foreigners came
to this land in search of
wisdom and instruction, and
how we should now have to
get them from abroad if we
were to have them. So general
was its decay in England that

furðum an ærendgewrit of
Lædene on Englisc areccean; & ic
wene ðætte noht monige
begiondan Humbre næren. Swæ
feawa hiora wæron ðæt ic
furðum anne anlepne ne mæg
geðencean besuðan Temese ða ða
ic to rice feng. Gode ælmihtegum
sie ðonc ðætte we nu ænigne on
stal habbað lareowa. & forðon ic
ðe bebiode ðæt ðu do swæ ic
geliefe ðæt ðu wille, ðæt ðu ðe
ðissa woruldðinga to ðæm
geæmetige swæ ðu oftost mæge,
ðæt ðu ðone wisdom ðe ðe God
sealde ðær ðær ðu hiene befæstan
mæge, befæste. Geðenc hwelc
witu us ða becomon for ðisse
worulde, ða ða we hit nohwæðer
ne selfe ne lufodon ne eac oðrum
monnum ne lefdon: ðone naman
anne we lufodon ðætte we Cristne
wæren, & swiðe feawa ða ðeawas.
Ða ic ða ðis eall gemunde ða
gemunde ic eac hu ic geseah,
ærðæmðe hit eall forhergod wære
& forbærned, hu ða ciricean
giond eall Angelcynn stodon
maðma & boca gefyldæ ond eac
micel menigeo Godes ðiowa & ða
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MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
there were very few on this
side of the Humber who could
understand their rituals in
English, or translate a letter
from Latin into English; and I
believe that there were not
many beyond the Humber.
There were so few of them that
I cannot remember a single
one south of the Thames when
I came to the throne. Thanks
be to God Almighty that we
have any teachers among us
now. And therefore I
command thee to do as I
believe thou art willing, to
disengage thyself from worldly
matters as often as thou canst,
that thou mayest apply the
wisdom which God has given
thee wherever thou canst.
Consider what punishments
would come upon us on
account of this world, if we
neither loved it (wisdom)
ourselves nor suffered other
men to obtain it: we should
love the name only of
Christian, and very few of the
virtues.
When I considered all this I
remembered also how I saw,
before it had been all ravaged
and burnt, how the churches
throughout the whole of
England stood filled with
treasures and books, and there

swiðe lytle fiorme ðara boca
wiston, forðæmðe hie hiora nan
wuht ongietan ne meahton
forðæmðe hie næron on hiora
agen geðiode awritene. Swelce hie
cwæden: Ure ieldran, ða ðe ðas
stowa ær hioldon, hie lufodon
wisdom & ðurh ðone hie begeaton
welan & us læfdon. Her mon
mæg giet gesion hiora swæð, ac
we him ne cunnon
æfterspyrigean, & forðæm we
habbað nu ægðer forlæten ge
ðone welan ge ðone wisdom,
forðæmðe we noldon to ðæm
spore mid ure mode onlutan.
Ða ic ða ðis eall gemunde, ða
wundrade ic swiðe swiðe ðara
godena wiotena ðe giu wæron
giond Angelcynn, & ða bec eallæ
befullan geliornod hæfdon, ðæt
hie hiora ða nænne dæl noldon
on hiora agen geðiode wendan.
Ac ic ða sona eft me selfum
andwyrde & cwæð: Hie ne
wendon ðætte æfre menn
sceolden swæ reccelease weorðan
& sio lar swæ oðfeallan; for ðære
wilnunga hie hit forleton, &
woldon ðæt her ðy mara wisdom
on londe wære ðy we ma geðeoda
cuðon.
16
MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
was also a great multitude of
God‟s servants, but they had
very little knowledge of the
books, for they could not
understand anything of them,
because they were not written
in their own language. As if
they had said: “Our
forefathers, who formerly held
these places, loved wisdom,
and through it they obtained
wealth and bequeathed it to
us. In this we can still see their
tracks, but we cannot follow
them, and therefore we have
lost both the wealth and the
wisdom, because we would not
incline our hearts after their
example.”
When I remembered all this, I
wondered extremely that the
good and wise men who were
formerly all over England,
and had perfectly learnt all
the books, did not wish to
translate them into their own
language. But again I soon
answered myself and said:
“They did not think that men
would ever be so careless, and
that learning would so decay;
through that desire they
abstained from it, and they
wished that the wisdom in this
land might increase with our
knowledge of languages.”

Ða gemunde ic hu sio æ wæs
ærest on Ebrisc geðiode funden, &
eft, ða hie Creacas geliornodon,
ða wendon hie hie on hiora agen
geðiode ealle, & eac ealle oðre bec.
& eft Lædenware swæ same,
siððan hie hie geliornodon, hie hie
wendon ealla ðurh wise
wealhstodas on hiora agen
geðiode. Ond eac eall oðra
Cristnæ ðioda summe dæl hiora
on hiora agen geðiode wendon.
Forðy me ðyncð betre, gif iow
swæ ðyncð, ðæt we eac sumæ bec,
ða ðe niedbeðearfosta sien eallum
monnum to wiotonne, ðæt we ða
on ðæt geðiode wenden ðe we
ealle gecnawan mægen, & ge don
swæ we swiðe eaðe magon mid
Godes fultume, gif we ða stilnesse
habbað, ðætte eall sio gioguð ðe
nu is on Angelcynne friora
monna, ðara ðe ða speda hæbben
ðæt hie ðæm befeolan mægen,
sien to liornunga oðfæste, ða
hwile ðe hie to nanre oðerre note
ne mægen, oð ðone first ðe hie
wel cunnen Englisc gewrit
arædan: lære mon siððan furður
on Lædengeðiode ða ðe mon
furðor læran wille & to hieran
hade don wille.
Ða ic ða gemunde hu sio lar
17
MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
Then I remembered how the
law was first known in
Hebrew, and again, when the
Greeks had learnt it, they
translated the whole of it into
their own language, and all
other books besides. And again
the Romans, when they had
learnt it, they translated the
whole of it through learned
interpreters into their own
language. And also all other
Christian nations translated a
part of them into their own
language. Therefore it seems
better to me, if ye think so, for
us also to translate some books
which are most needful for all
men to know into the language
which we can all understand,
and to bring to pass, as we
very easily can with God‟s
help, if we have tranquillity
enough, that all the youth now
in England of free men, who
are rich enough to be able to
devote themselves to it, be set
to learn as long as they are
not fit for any other
occupation, until that they are
well able to read English
writing: and let those be
afterwards taught more in the
Latin language who are to
continue learning and be
promoted to a higher rank.
When I remembered how the

Lædengeðiodes ær ðissum
afeallen wæs giond Angelcynn, &
ðeah monige cuðon Englisc
gewrit arædan, ða ongan ic
ongemang oðrum mislicum &
manigfealdum bisgum ðisses
kynerices ða boc wendan on
Englisc ðe is genemned on Læden
Pastoralis, & on Englisc
Hierdeboc, hwilum word be
worde, hwilum andgit of
andgiete, swæ swæ ic hie
geliornode æt Plegmunde minum
ærcebiscepe & æt Assere minum
biscepe & æt Grimbolde minum
mæsseprioste & æt Iohanne
minum mæssepreoste. Siððan ic
hie ða geliornod hæfde, swæ swæ
ic hie forstod, & swæ ic hie
andgitfullicost areccean meahte,
ic hie on Englisc awende; ond to
ælcum biscepstole on minum rice
wille ane onsendan; & on ælcre
bið an æstel, se bið on fiftegum
mancessa. Ond ic bebiode on
Godes naman ðæt nan mon ðone
æstel from ðære bec ne do, ne ða
boc from ðæm mynstre: uncuð hu
longe ðær swæ gelærede biscepas
sien, swæ swæ nu Gode ðonc wel
hwær siendon; forðy ic wolde
ðætte hie ealneg æt ðære stowe
wæren, buton se biscep hie mid
him habban wille oððe hio hwær
to læne sie, oððe hwa oðre
biwrite.
18
MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
knowledge of Latin had
formerly decayed throughout
England, and yet many could
read English writing, I began,
among other various and
manifold troubles of this
kingdom, to translate into
English the book which is
called in Latin Pastoralis, and
in English Shepherd‟s Book,
sometimes word by word and
sometimes according to the
sense, as I had learnt it from
Plegmund my archbishop, and
Asser my bishop, and
Grimbold my mass-priest, and
John my mass-priest. And
when I had learnt it as I could
best understand it, and as I
could most clearly interpret it,
I translated it into English;
and I will send a copy to every
bishopric in my kingdom; and
on each there is a clasp worth
fifty mancus. And I command
in God‟s name that no man
take the clasp from the book or
the book from the minster: it is
uncertain how long there may
be such learned bishops as
now, thanks be to God, there
are nearly everywhere;
therefore I wish them always
to remain in their place,
unless the bishop wish to take
them with him, or they be lent
out anywhere, or any one
make a copy from them.
 MEDIEVAL LITERATURE

Codex Exoniensis or the Exeter Book

(10th century)

The Wanderer5

Oft him anhaga Often the solitary one

are gebideð, finds grace for himself
metudes miltse, the mercy of the Lord,
þeah þe he modcearig Although he, sorry-hearted,
geond lagulade must for a long time
longe sceolde move by hand [in context = row]
hreran mid hondum along the waterways,
hrimcealde sæ (along) the ice-cold sea,
wadan wræclastas. tread the paths of exile.
Wyrd bið ful aræd! Events always go as they must!

Swa cwæð eardstapa, So spoke the wanderer,

earfeþa gemyndig, mindful of hardships,
wraþra wælsleahta, of fierce slaughters
winemæga hryre: and the downfall of kinsmen:
[…] […]

swa ic modsefan So I,
minne sceolde, often wretched and sorrowful,
oft earmcearig, bereft of my homeland,
eðle bidæled, far from noble kinsmen,
freomægum feor have had to bind in fetters
feterum sælan, my inmost thoughts,
siþþan geara iu Since long years ago
goldwine minne I hid my lord
hrusan heolstre biwrah, in the darkness of the earth,
ond ic hean þonan and I, wretched, from there
wod wintercearig travelled most sorrowfully

5
The complete dual text can be read at http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=get&type=text&id=Wdr,
accessed on September 16, 2020.

19
 MEDIEVAL LITERATURE

ofer waþema gebind, over the frozen waves,

sohte seledreorig sought, sad at the lack of a hall,
sinces bryttan, a giver of treasure,
hwær ic feor oþþe neah where I, far or near,
findan meahte might find
þone þe in meoduhealle one in the meadhall who
mine wisse, knew my people,
oþþe mec freondleasne or wished to console
frefran wolde, the friendless one, me,
wenian mid wynnum. entertain (me) with delights.
Wat se þe cunnað He who has tried it knows
hu sliþen bið how cruel is
sorg to geferan sorrow as a companion
þam þe him lyt hafað to the one who has few
leofra geholena: beloved friends:
the path of exile (wræclast) holds
warað hine wræclast,
him,
nales wunden gold, not at all twisted gold,
ferðloca freorig, a frozen spirit,
nalæs foldan blæd. not the bounty of the earth.
Gemon he selesecgas He remembers hall-warriors
ond sincþege, and the giving of treasure
hu hine on geoguðe How in youth his lord (gold-friend)
his goldwine accustomed him
wenede to wiste. to the feasting.
Wyn eal gedreas! All the joy has died!

Forþon wat se þe sceal And so he knows it, he who must

his winedryhtnes forgo for a long time
leofes larcwidum the counsels
longe forþolian: of his beloved lord:
ðonne sorg ond slæð Then sorrow and sleep
somod ætgædre both together 4
earmne anhogan often tie up
oft gebindað. the wretched solitary one.
þinceð him on mode He thinks in his mind
þæt he his mondryhten that he embraces and kisses
clyppe ond cysse, his lord,
ond on cneo lecge and on his (the lord's) knees lays

20

honda ond heafod,
swa he hwilum ær Just as, at times (hwilum), before,
in geardagum
giefstolas breac. he enjoyed the gift-seat (throne).
Ðonne onwæcneð eft
wineleas guma,
gesihð him biforan
fealwe wegas,
baþian brimfuglas,
brædan feþra,
hreosan hrim ond snaw
hagle gemenged.
Þonne beoð þy hefigran
heortan benne,
grievous (sare) with longing for
sare æfter swæsne.
Sorg bið geniwad
þonne maga gemynd
mod geondhweorfeð;
greteð gliwstafum,
georne geondsceawað
secga geseldan;
swimmað oft on weg
fleotendra ferð
no þær fela bringeð
cuðra cwidegiedda.
Cearo bið geniwad
þam þe sendan sceal
swiþe geneahhe
ofer waþema gebind
werigne sefan.
Forþon ic geþencan ne mæg
geond þas woruld
for hwan modsefa
min ne gesweorce
þonne ic eorla lif
21
MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
his hands and his head,
in days gone by,
Then the friendless man
wakes up again,
He sees before him
fallow waves
Sea birds bathe,
preening their feathers,
Frost and snow fall,
mixed with hail.
Then are the heavier
the wounds of the heart, 5
(æfter) the lord.
Sorrow is renewed
when the mind (mod) surveys
the memory of kinsmen;
He greets them joyfully,
eagerly scans
the companions of men;
they always swim away.
The spirits of seafarers
never bring back there much
in the way of known speech.
Care is renewed
for the one who must send
very often
over the binding of the waves
a weary heart.
Indeed I cannot think
why my spirit 6
does not darken
when I ponder on the whole
life of men

eal geondþence,
hu hi færlice
flet ofgeafon,
modge maguþegnas.
Swa þes middangeard
ealra dogra gehwam
dreoseð ond fealleð;
forþon ne mæg weorþan wis
wer, ær he age
wintra dæl in woruldrice.
Wita sceal geþyldig,
ne sceal no to hatheort
ne to hrædwyrde,
ne to wac wiga
ne to wanhydig,
ne to forht ne to fægen,
ne to feohgifre
ne næfre gielpes to georn,
ær he geare cunne.
Beorn sceal gebidan,
þonne he beot spriceð,
oþþæt collenferð
cunne gearwe
hwider hreþra gehygd
hweorfan wille.
Ongietan sceal gleaw hæle
hu gæstlic bið,
þonne ealre þisse worulde wela
weste stondeð,
swa nu missenlice
geond þisne middangeard
winde biwaune
weallas stondaþ,
hrime bihrorene,
hryðge þa ederas.
Woriað þa winsalo,
waldend licgað
dreame bidrorene,
22
MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
throughout the world,
How they suddenly
left the floor (hall),
the proud thanes.
So this middle-earth,
a bit each day,
droops and decays -
Therefore man (wer)
cannot call himself wise, before he
has
a share of years in the world.
A wise man must be patient,
He must never be too impulsive
nor too hasty of speech,
nor too weak a warrior
nor too reckless,
nor too fearful, nor too cheerful,
nor too greedy for goods,
nor ever too eager for boasts,
before he sees clearly.
A man must wait
when he speaks oaths,
until the proud-hearted one
sees clearly
whither the intent of his heart
will turn.
A wise hero must realize
how terrible it will be,
when all the wealth of this world
lies waste,
as now in various places
throughout this middle-earth
walls stand,
blown by the wind,
covered with frost,
storm-swept the buildings.
The halls decay,
their lords lie
deprived of joy,

duguþ eal gecrong,
wlonc bi wealle.
Sume wig fornom,
ferede in forðwege,
sumne fugel oþbær
ofer heanne holm,
sumne se hara wulf
deaðe gedælde,
sumne dreorighleor
in eorðscræfe
eorl gehydde.
Yþde swa þisne eardgeard
ælda scyppend
oþþæt burgwara
breahtma lease
eald enta geweorc
idlu stodon.
Se þonne þisne wealsteal
wise geþohte
ond þis deorce lif
deope geondþenceð,
frod in ferðe,
feor oft gemon
wælsleahta worn,
ond þas word acwið:
Hwær cwom mearg? Hwær cwom Where is the horse gone? Where the
mago?
Hwær cwom maþþumgyfa?
Hwær cwom symbla gesetu? Where are the seats at the feast?
Hwær sindon seledreamas? Where are the revels in the hall?
23
MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
the whole troop has fallen,
the proud ones, by the wall.
War took off some,
carried them on their way,
one, the bird took off
across the deep sea,
one, the gray wolf
shared one with death,
one, the dreary-faced
man buried
in a grave.
And so He destroyed this city,
He, the Creator of Men,
until deprived of the noise
of the citizens,
the ancient work of giants
stood empty.
He who thought wisely
on this foundation,
and pondered deeply
on this dark life, 7
wise in spirit,
remembered often from afar
many conflicts,
and spoke these words:
rider?
Where the giver of treasure? 8
 MEDIEVAL LITERATURE

The Seafarer6

Mæg ic be me sylfum I can make a true song

soðgied wrecan, about me myself, 1
siþas secgan, tell my travels,
hu ic geswincdagum how I often endured
Earfoðhwile days of struggle,
oft þrowade, troublesome times,
bitre breostceare [how I] have suffered
gebiden hæbbe, grim sorrow at heart,
gecunnad in ceole have known in the ship
cearselda fela, many worries [abodes of care],
atol yþa gewealc, the terrible tossing of the waves,
þær mec oft bigeat where the anxious night watch
nearo nihtwaco often took me
æt nacan stefnan, at the ship's prow,
þonne he be clifum cnossað. when it tossed near the cliffs.
Calde geþrungen Fettered by cold
wæron mine fet, were my feet,
forste gebunden bound by frost
caldum clommum, in cold clasps,
þær þa ceare seofedun where then cares seethed
hat ymb heortan; hot about my heart --
hungor innan slat a hunger tears from within
merewerges mod. the sea-weary soul.
[…] […]
Forþon him gelyfeð lyt, Indeed he credits it little,
se þe ah lifes wyn the one who has the joys of life,
gebiden in burgum, dwells in the city,
bealosiþa hwon, far from terrible journey,
wlonc ond wingal, proud and wanton with wine,
hu ic werig oft how I, weary, often
in brimlade have had to endure
bidan sceolde. in the sea-paths.

6
The complete dual text can be read at http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=get&type=text&id=Sfr,
accessed on September 16, 2020.

24

Nap nihtscua,
norþan sniwde,
hrim hrusan bond,
hægl feol on eorþan,
corna caldast.
Forþon cnyssað nu
heortan geþohtas
þæt ic hean streamas,
sealtyþa gelac
sylf cunnige --
monað modes lust
mæla gehwylce
ferð to feran,
þæt ic feor heonan
Elþeodigra
eard gesece --
Forþon nis þæs modwlonc Indeed there is not so proud-spirited
mon ofer eorþan,
ne his gifena þæs god,
ne in geoguþe to þæs hwæt,
ne in his dædum to þæs deor,
ne him his dryhten to þæs hold,
þæt he a his sæfore
sorge næbbe,
to hwon hine Dryhten
gedon wille.
[…]
Þæt se beorn ne wat,
sefteadig secg, the warrior lucky in worldly things
hwæt þa sume dreogað
þe þa wræclastas
widost lecgað.
Forþon nu min hyge hweorfeð
ofer hreþerlocan,
min modsefa
mid mereflode,
ofer hwæles eþel
hweorfeð wide,
eorþan sceatas -- through all the corners of the world --
25
MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
The shadows of night darkened,
it snowed from the north,
frost bound the ground,
hail fell on the earth,
coldest of grains.
Indeed, now they are troubled,
the thoughts of my heart,
that I myself should strive with
the high streams,
the tossing of salt waves --
the wish of my heart urges
all the time
my spirit to go forth,
that I, far from here,
should seek the homeland
of a foreign people --
a man in the world,
nor so generous of gifts,
nor so bold in his youth,
nor so brave in his deeds,
nor so dear to his lord,
that he never in his seafaring
has a worry,
as to what his Lord
will do to him.
[…]
This the man does not know,
what some endure then,
those who tread most widely
the paths of exile.
And now my spirit twists
out of my breast,
my spirit
out in the waterways,
over the whale's path
it soars widely
 MEDIEVAL LITERATURE

Ic gelyfe no I do not believe

þæt him eorðwelan that the riches of the world
ece stondað. will stand forever.
Simle þreora sum Always and invariably,
þinga gehwylce one of three things
ær his tiddege will turn to uncertainty
to tweon weorþeð: before his fated hour:
adl oþþe yldo disease, or old age,
oþþe ecghete or the sword's hatred
fægum fromweardum will tear out the life
feorh oðþringeð. from those doomed to die.
[…] […]
Micel biþ se Meotudes egsa, Great is the fear of the Lord,
forþon hi seo molde oncyrreð; before which the world stands still;
se gestaþelade He established
stiþe grundas, the firm foundations,
eorþan sceatas the corners of the world
ond uprodor. and the high heavens.
Dol biþ se þe him his Dryhten ne A fool is the one who does not fear his
ondrædeþ: Lord
cymeð him se deað unþinged. -- death comes to him unprepared.
Eadig bið se þe eaþmod leofaþ; Blessed is he who lives humbly
-- to him comes forgiveness from
cymeð him seo ar of heofonum.
heaven.
Meotod him þæt mod gestaþelað, God set that spirit within him,
forþon he in his meahte gelyfeð. because he believed in His might.
Stieran mon sceal strongum
Man must control his passions
mode, 2
ond þæt on staþelum healdan, and keep everything in balance,
ond gewis werum, keep faith with men,
wisum clæne. and be pure in wisdom.
Scyle monna gehwylc Each of men must
mid gemete healdan be even-handed
wiþ leofne ond wið laþne with their friends and their foes.
* * * bealo.
þeah þe he hine wille though he does not wish him
fyres fulne in the foulness of flames
oþþe on bæle or on a pyre
Forbærnedne to be burned

26

his geworhtne wine,
Wyrd biþ swiþre,
Meotud meahtigra,
þonne ænges monnes gehygd.
Uton we hycgan
hwær we ham agen,
ond þonne geþencan
hu we þider cumen;
ond we þonne eac tilien
þæt we to moten
in þa ecan
Eadignesse
þær is lif gelong
in lufan Dryhtnes,
hyht in heofonum.
Þæs sy þam Halgan þonc
þæt he usic geweorþade,
wuldres Ealdor
ece Dryhten,
in ealle tid. Amen.
27
MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
his contrived friend,
Fate is greater
and God is mightier
than any man's thought.
Let us ponder
where we have our homes
and then think
how we should get thither --
and then we should all strive
that we might go there
to the eternal
Blessedness
that is a belonging life
in the love of the Lord,
joy in the heavens.
Let there be thanks to God
that he adored us,
the Father of Glory,
the Eternal Lord,
for all time. Amen.
 MEDIEVAL LITERATURE

The Vercelli Book (Late 10th

century)

The Dream of the Rood7

Listen, I will speak of the best of dreams, of what I dreamed at midnight

when men and their voices were at rest. It seemed to me that I saw a
most rare tree reach high aloft, wound in light, brightest of beams. All
that beacon was covered with gold; gems stood fair where it met the
ground, five were above about the crosspiece. Many hosts of angels
gazed on it, fair in the form created for them. This was surely no felon's
gallows, but holy spirits beheld it there, men upon earth, and all this
glorious creation. Wonderful was the triumphtree, and I stained with
sins, wounded with wrongdoings. I saw the tree of glory shine
splendidly, adorned with garments, decked with gold: jewels had
worthily covered the Lord's tree. Yet through that gold I might perceive
ancient agony of wretches, for now it began to bleed on the right side. 1

I was all afflicted with sorrows, I was afraid for that fair sight. I saw
that bright beacon change in clothing and color: now it was wet with
moisture, drenched with flowing of blood, now adorned with treasure.
Yet I, lying there a long while troubled, beheld the Saviour's tree until I
heard it give voice: the best of trees began to speak words. "It was long
ago—I remember it still—that I was hewn down at the wood's edge,
taken from my stump. Strong foes seized me there, hewed me to the
shape they wished to see, commanded me to lift their criminals. Men
carried me on their shoulders, then set me on a hill; foes enough fastened
me there. Then I saw the Lord of mankind hasten with stout heart, for
he would climb upon me. I dared not bow or break against God's word
when I saw earth's surface tremble. I might have felled all foes, but I
stood fast. Then the young Hero stripped himself—that was God
Almighty—strong and stouthearted. He climbed on the high gallows,
bold in the sight of many, when he would free mankind. I trembled
when the Warrior embraced me, yet I dared not bow to earth, fall to the

7
This prose translation, by E. T. Donaldson, has been based in general on the edition of the poem by
John C. Pope, Eight Old English Poems, 3rd ed., rev. by R. D. Fulk (2000).

28
 MEDIEVAL LITERATURE

ground's surface; but I must stand fast. I was raised up, a cross; I lifted
up the Mighty King, Lord of the Heavens: I dared not bend. They
pierced me with dark nails: the wounds are seen on me, open gashes of
hatred. Nor did I dare harm any of them. They mocked us both
together. I was all wet with blood, drenched from the side of that Man
after he had sent forth his spirit. I had endured many bitter happenings
on that hill. I saw the God of Hosts cruelly racked. The shades of night
had covered the Ruler's body with their mists, the bright splendor.
Shadow came forth, dark beneath the clouds. All creation wept,
bewailed the King's fall; Christ was on Cross. "Yet from afar some came
hastening to the Lord.4 All that I beheld. I was sore afflicted with griefs,
yet I bowed to the men's hands, meekly, eagerly. Then they took
Almighty God, lifted him up from his heavy torment. The warriors left
me standing, covered with blood. I was all wounded with arrows. They
laid him down weary of limb, stood at the body's head, looked there
upon Heaven's Lord; and he rested there a while, tired after the great
struggle. Then warriors began to build him an earth-house in the sight
of his slayer,5 carved it out of bright stone; they set there the Wielder of
Triumphs. Then they began to sing him a song of sorrow, desolate in the
evening. Then they wished to turn back, weary, from the great Prince;
he remained with small company.6 Yet we7 stood in our places a good
while, weeping. The voice of the warriors departed. The body grew cold,
fair house of the spirit. Then some began to fell us to earth—that was a
fearful fate! Some buried us in a deep pit. Yet thanes 8 of the Lord,
friends, learned of me there. . . . decked me in gold and silver.9 "Now
you might understand, my beloved man, that I had endured the work of
evildoers, grievous sorrows. Now the time has come that men far and
wide upon earth honor me—and all this glorious creation—and pray to
this beacon. On me God's Son suffered awhile; therefore I tower now
glorious under the heavens, and I may heal every one of those who hold
me in awe. Of old I became the hardest of torments, most loathed by
men, before I opened the right road of life to those who have voices.
Behold, the Lord of Glory honored me over all the trees of the wood, the
Ruler of Heaven, just as also he honored his mother Mary, Almighty
God for all men's sake, over all woman's kind. "Now I command you, my
beloved man, that you tell men of this vision. Disclose with your words
that it is of the tree of glory on which Almighty God suffered for
mankind's many sins and the deeds Adam did of old. He tasted death
there; yet the Lord arose again to help mankind in his great might. Then
he climbed to the heavens. He will come again hither on this earth to

29
 MEDIEVAL LITERATURE

seek mankind on Doomsday, the Lord himself, Almighty God, and his
angels with him, for then he will judge, he who has power to judge, each
one just as in this brief life he has deserved. Nor may any one be
unafraid of the word the Ruler will speak. Refore his host he will ask
where the man is who in the name of the Lord would taste bitter death
as he did on the Cross. But then they will be afraid, and will think of
little to begin to say to Christ. There need none be afraid who bears on
his breast the best of tokens, but through the Cross shall the kingdom be
sought by each soul on this earthly journey that thinks to dwell with the
Lord." Then I prayed to the tree, blithe-hearted, confident, there where I
was alone with small company. My heart's thoughts were urged on the
way hence. I endured many times of longing. Now is there hope of life
for me, that I am permitted to seek the tree of triumph, more often than
other men honor it well, alone. For it my heart's desire is great, and my
hope of protection is directed to the Cross. I do not possess many
powerful friends on earth, but they have gone hence from the delights of
the world, sought for themselves the King of Glory. They live now in the
heavens with the High Father, dwell in glory. And every day I look
forward to when the Lord's Cross that I beheld here on earth will fetch
me from this short life and bring me then where joy is great, delight in
the heavens, where the Lord's folk are seated at the feast, where bliss is
eternal. And then may it place me where thenceforth I may dwell in
glory, fully enjoy bliss with the saints. May the Lord be my friend, who
once here on earth suffered on the gallows-tree for man's sins: he freed
us and granted us life, a heavenly home. Hope was renewed, with joys
and with bliss, to those who endured fire.1 The Son was victorious in
that foray, mighty and successful. Then he came with his multitude, a
host of spirits, into God's kingdom, the Almighty Ruler; and the angels
and all the saints who dwelt then in glory rejoiced when their Ruler,
Almighty God, came where his home was.

30

The Nowell Codex (LATE 10th – EARLY
11TH CenturIES)
Beowulf8
1 1
HWAET: WE GAR-DENA IN GEARDAGUM
þeodcyninga þrym gefrunon.
Hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon
78
healærna mæst. Scop him Heort naman,
se þe his wordes geweald wide hæfde.
80
He beot ne aleh, beagas dælde,
sinc æt symle. Sele hlifade,
heah 7 horngeap. Heaðowylma bad,
laðan liges. Ne wæs hit lenge þa gen
þæt se secghete aþum swerian,
85
æfter wælniðe wæcnan scolde.
Ða se ellengæst earfoðlice
þrage geþolode, se þe in þystrum bad,
þæt he dogora gehwam dream gehyrde
hludne in healle. Þær wæs hearpan sweg,
90
swutol sang scopes. Sægde, se þe cuþe,
frumsceaft fira feorran reccan,
cwæð þæt se Ælmihtiga eorðan worhte,
wlitebeorhtne wang, swa wæter bebugeð,
gesette sigehreþig sunnan 7 monan,
95
leoman to leohte landbuendum.
7 gefrætwade foldan sceatas,
leomum 7 leafum, lif eac gesceop
cynna gehwylcum þara ðe cwice hwyrfaþ.
Swa ða drihtguman dreamum lifdon
8
The complete text of this dual version can be read at
http://www.harbornet.com/folks/theedrich/hive/Medieval/Beowulf.htm, accessed on September 12, 2020.
31
MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
So. The Spear-Danes in days gone by
And the kings who ruled them had courage and
greatness.
We have heard of those princes‟ heroic campaigns.
78
The hall of halls. Heorot was the name
He settled on it, whose utterance was law.
80
Nor did he renege, but doled out rings
And torques at the table. The hall towered,
Its gables wide and high and awaiting
A barbarous burning. That doom abided,
But in time it would come: the killer instinct
85
Unleashed among in-laws, the blood-lust rampant.
Then a powerful demon, a prowler through the dark,
Nursed a hard grievance. It harrowed him
To hear the din of the loud banquet
Every day in the hall, the harp being struck
90
And the clear song of a skilled poet
Telling with mastery of man‟s beginnings,
How the Almighty had made the earth
A gleaming plain girdled with waters;
In His splendour He set the sun and moon
95
To be earth‟s lamplight, lanterns for men,
And filled the broad lap of the world
With branches and leaves; and quickened life
In every other thing that moved.
So times were pleasant for the people there

100
eadiglice, oð ðæt an ongan
fyrene fremman, feond on helle.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold,
fen 7 fæsten. Fifelcynnes eard
105
wonsæli wer weardode hwile,
siþðan him Scyppend forscrifen hæfde
in Caines cynne. Þone cwealm gewræc,
ece Drihten, þæs þe he Abel slog.
Ne gefeah he þære fæhðe, ac He hine feor forwræc,
110
Metod for þy mane mancynne fram.
Þanon untydras ealle onwocon,
eotenas 7 ylfe 7 orcneas,
swylce gi|gantas, þa wið Gode wunnon
lange þrage. He him ðæs lean forgeald!
115
Gewat ða neosian, syþðan niht becom,
hean huses, hu hit Hring-Dene
æfter beorþege gebun hæfdon.
Fand þa ðær inne æþelinga gedriht
swefan æfter symble. Sorge ne cuðon,
120
wonsceaft wera. Wiht unhælo,
grim 7 grædig, gearo sona wæs,
reoc 7 reþe, 7 on ræste genam
þritig þegna. Þanon eft gewat
huðe hremig to ham faran,
125
mid þære wælfylle wica neosan.
Ða wæs on uhtan mid ærdæge
Grendles guðcræft gumum undyrne.
Þa wæs æfter wiste wop up ahafen,
micel morgensweg. Mære þeoden
130
æþeling ærgod, unbliðe sæt,
þolode ðryðswyð, þegnsorge dreah,
syðþan hie þæs laðan last sceawedon,
wergan gastes. Wæs þæt gewin to strang,
lað 7 longsum. Næs hit lengra |fyrst,
32
MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
100
Until finally one, a fiend out of Hell,
Began to work his evil in the world.
Grendel was the name of this grim demon
Haunting the marches, marauding round the heath
And the desolate fens; he had dwelt for a time
105
In misery among the banished monsters,
Cain‟s clan, whom the creator had outlawed
And condemned as outcasts. For the killing of Abel
The Eternal Lord had exacted a price:
Cain got no good from committing that murder
110
Because the Almighty made him anathema
And out of the curse of his exile there sprang
Ogres and elves and evil phantoms
And the giants too who strove with God
Time and again until He gave them their reward.
115
So, after nightfall, Grendel set out
For the lofty house, to see how the Ring-Danes
Were settling into it after their drink,
And there he came upon them, a company of the best
Asleep from their feasting, insensible to pain
120
And human sorrow. Suddenly then
The God-cursed brute was creating havoc:
Greedy and grim, he grabbed thirty men
From their resting places and rushed to his lair,
Flushed up and inflamed from the raid,
125
Blundering back with the butchered corpses.
Then as dawn brightened and the day broke
Grendel‟s powers of destruction were plain:
Their wassail was over, they wept to heaven
And mourned under morning. Their mighty prince,
130
The storied leader, sat stricken and helpless,
Humiliated by the loss of his guard,
Bewildered and stunned, staring aghast
And the demon‟s trail, in deep distress.
He was numb with grief, but got no respite

135
ac ymb ane niht eft gefremede
morðbeala mare, 7 no mearn fore
fæhðe 7 fyrene. Wæs to fæst on þam.
Þa wæs eaðfynde þe him elles hwær
gerumlicor ræste sohte,
140
bed æfter burum, ða him gebeacnod wæs,
gesægd soðlice sweotolan tacne
healðegnes hete. Heold hyne syðþan
fyr 7 fæstor, se þæm feonde ætwand.
Swa rixode 7 wið rihte wan,
145
ana wið eallum, oð þæt idel stod
husa selest. Wæs seo hwil micel,
twelf wintra tid, torn geþolode,
wine, scyldenda, weana gehwelcne,
sidra sorga. Forðam sona wearð
150
ylda bearnum undyrne, cuð,
gyddum geomore, þætte Grendel wan
hwile wið Hroþgar, heteniðas wæg,
fyrene 7 fæhðe fela missera,
singale sæce. Sibbe ne wolde
155
wið manna hwone mægenes Deniga
feorhbealo feorran, fea þingian.
Ne þær nænig witena wenan þorfte
beorhtre bote to banan folmum.
Atol æglæca ehtende wæs,
160
deorc deaþscua, duguþe 7 geogoþe,
seomade 7 syrede, sinnihte heold
mistige moras. Men ne cunnon
hwyder helrunan hwyrftum scriþað.
Swa fela fyrena feond mancynnes,
165
atol angengea, oft gefremede,
heardra hynða. Heorot eardode,
sincfage sel sweartum nihtum.
No he þone gifstol gretan moste
maþðum for Metode, ne his myne wisse.
33
MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
135
For one night later the merciless Grendel
Struck again with more gruesome murders.
Malignant by nature, he never showed remorse.
It was easy then to meet with a man
Shifting himself to a safer distance
140
To bed in the bothies, for who could be blind
To the evidence of his eyes, the obviousness
Of that hall­watcher‟s hate? Whoever escaped
Kept a weather-eye open and moved away.
So Grendel ruled in defiance of right,
145
One against all, until the greatest house
In the world stood empty, a deserted wall stead.
For twelve winters, seasons of woe,
The lord of the Shieldings suffered under
His load of sorrow; and so, before long,
150
The news was known over the whole world.
Sad lays were sung about the beset king,
The vicious raids and ravages of Grendel,
His long and unrelenting feud,
Nothing but war; how he would never
155
Parley or make peace with any Dane
Nor stop his death-dealing nor pay the death-price.
No counsellor could ever expect
Fair reparation from those rabid hands.
All were endangered; young and old
160
Were hunted down by that dark death-shadow
Who lurked and swooped in the long nights
On the misty moors; nobody knows
Where these reavers from Hell roam on their
errands.
So Grendel waged his lonely war,
165
Inflicting constant cruelties on the people,
Atrocious hurt. He took over Heorot,
Haunted the glittering hall after dark,
But the throne itself, the treasure-seat,
He was kept from approaching; he was the Lord‟s
outcast.

170
Þæt wæs wræc micel wine Scyldinga,
modes brecða. Monig oft gesæt
rice to rune; ræd eahtedon,
hwæt swiðferhðum selest wære
wið færgryrum to gefremmanne.
175
Hwilum hie geheton æt hrærgtrafum
wigweorþunga, wordum bædon
þæt him gastbona geoce gefremede
wið þeodþreaum. Swylc wæs þeaw hyra,
hæþenra hyht. Helle gemundon
180
in modsefan, Metod hie ne cuþon,
dæda Demend, ne wiston hie Drihten God.
Ne hie huru heofena Helm herian ne cuþon,
wuldres Waldend. Wa bið þæm ðe sceal
þurh sliðne nið sawle bescufan
185
in fyres fæþm, frofre ne wenan,
wihte gewendan. Wel bið þæm þe mot
æfter deaðdæge Drihten secean
7 to fæder fæþmum freoðo wilnian.
710
Grendel gongan, Godes yrre bær.
Mynte, se manscaða manna cynnes,
sumne besyrwan in sele þam hean.
Wod under wolcnum to þæs þe he winreced,
goldsele gumena gearwost wisse,
715
fættum fahne. Ne wæs þæt forma sið
þæt he Hroþgares ham gesohte.
Næfre he on aldordagum, ær |ne siþðan,
heardran hæle healðegnas fand.
Com þa to recede, rinc siðian,
720
dreamum bedæled. Duru sona onarn,
fyrbendum fæst, syþðan he hire folmum æthran.
Onbræd þa, bealohydig, ða he gebolgen wæs,
recedes muþan. Raþe æfter þon
on fagne flor feond treddode,
34
MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
170
These were hard times, heart-breaking
For the prince of the Shieldings; powerful counselors,
The highest in the land, would lend advice,
Plotting how best the bold defenders
Might resist and beat off sudden attacks.
175
Sometimes at pagan shrines they vowed
Offering to idols, swore oaths
That the killer of souls might come to their aid
And save the people. That was their way,
Their heathenish hope; deep in their hearts
180
They remembered Hell. The Almighty Judge
Of good deeds and bad, the Lord God,
Head of the Heavens and High King of the World,
Was unknown to them. Oh, cursed is he
Who in time of trouble had to thrust his soul
185
In the fire‟s embrace, forfeiting help;
He has nowhere to turn. But blessed is he
Who after death can approach the Lord
And find friendship in the Father‟s embrace
710
God-cursed Grendel came greedily loping.
The bane of the race of men roamed forth,
Hunting for a prey in the high hall.
Under the cloud-murk he moved towards it
Until it shone above him, a sheer keep
715
Of fortified gold. Nor was that the first time
He had scouted the grounds of Hrothgar‟s dwelling­­­
Although never in his life, before or since,
Did he find harder fortune or hall-defenders.
Spurned and joyless, he journeyed on ahead
720
And arrived at the bawn. The iron-braced door
Turned on its hinge when his hand touched it.
Then his rage boiled over, he ripped open
The mouth of the building, maddening for blood,
Pacing the length of the patterned floor

725
eode yrremod. Him of eagum stod
ligge gelicost leoht unfæger.
Geseah he in recede rinca manige,
swefan sibbegedriht samod ætgædere
magorinca heap. Þa his mod ahlog,
730
mynte þæt he gedælde, ær þon dæg cwome,
atol aglæca anra gehwylces
lif wið lic. Þa him alumpen wæs
wistfylle wen. Ne wæs þæt wyrd þa gen
þæt he ma moste manna cynnes
735
ðicgean ofer þa niht. Þryðswyð beheold,
mæg Higelaces, hu se manscaða
under færgripum gefaran wolde.
Ne þæt se aglæca yldan þohte,
ac he ge|feng hraðe forman siðe
740
slæpendne rinc, slat unwearnum,
bat banlocan, blod edrum dranc,
synsnædum swealh. Sona hæfde
unlyfigendes eal gefeormod
fet 7 folma. Forð near ætstop,
745
nam þa mid handa higeþihtigne
rinc on ræste, ræhte ongean,
feond mid folme. He onfeng hraþe
inwitþancum 7 wið earm gesæt.
Sona þæt onfunde, fyrena hyrde,
750
þæt he ne mette middangeardes,
eorþan sceatta, on elran men
mundgripe maran. He on mode wearð
forht on ferhðe. No þy ær fram meahte.
Hyge wæs him hinfus, wolde on heolster fleon,
755
secan deofla gedræg. Ne wæs his drohtoð þær
swylce he on ealderdagum ær gemette.
Gemunde þa, se goda mæg Higelaces,
æfenspræce. Uplang astod
7 him fæste wiðfeng. Fingras burston.
35
MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
725
With his loathsome tread, while a baleful light,
Flame more than light, flared from his eyes.
He saw many men in the mansion, sleeping,
A ranked company of kinsmen and warriors
Quartered together. And his glee was demonic,
730
For the monster was minded, ere morn should dawn,
The loathsome monster, from each of the men
To rip life from limb and devour them. He awaited a
banquet,
A prospect of plenty. But no longer did Wyrd allow
to be able to feed on mankind‟s flesh
735
to devour after that night. Mighty and canny,
Hygelac‟s kinsman was keenly watching
For the first move the monster would make.
Nor did the creature keep him waiting
But struck suddenly and started in;
740
He grabbed and mauled a man on his bench,
Bit into his bone-lappings, bolted down his blood
And gorged on him in lumps, leaving the body
Utterly lifeless, eaten up
Hand and foot. Venturing closer,
745
his talon was raised to attack Beowulf
Where he lay on the bed; he was bearing in
With open claw when the alert hero‟s
Comeback and armlock forestalled him utterly.
The captain of evil discovered himself
750
In a handgrip harder than anything
He had ever encountered in any man
On the face of the earth. Every bone in his body
Quailed and recoiled, but he could not escape.
He was desperate to flee to his den and hide
755
With the devil‟s litter, for in all his days
He had never been clamped or cornered like this.
Then Hygelac‟s trusty retainer recalled
His bedtime speech, sprang to his feet
And got a firm hold. Fingers were bursting,

760
Eoten wæs utweard, eorl furþur stop.
Mynte se mæra, |hwær he meahte swa,
widre gewindan, 7 on weg þanon
fleon on fenhopu. Wiste his fingra geweald
on grames grapum, þæt he wæs geocor sið
765
þæt se hearmscaþa to Heorute ateah.
Dryhtsele dynede. Denum eallum wearð,
ceasterbuendum, cenra gehwylcum,
eorlum ealuscerwen. Yrre wæron begen,
reþe renweardas. Reced hlynsode.
770
Þa wæs wundor micel þæt se winsele
wiðhæfde heaþodeorum, þæt he on hrusan ne feol,
fæger foldbold. Ac he þæs fæste wæs,
innan 7 utan irenbendum,
searoþoncum besmiþod. Þær fram sylle abeag
775
medubenc monig, mine gefræge,
golde geregnad, þær þa graman wunnon.
Þæs ne wendon ær, witan Scyldinga,
þæt hit a mid gemete manna ænig,
betlic 7 banfag tobrecan meahte,
780
listum tolucan, nymþe liges fæþm
swulge on swaþule. Sweg |up astag,
niwe geneahhe: Norð-Denum stod
atelic egesa, anra gehwylcum
þara þe of wealle wop gehyrdon,
785
gryreleoð galan Godes andsacan,
sigeleasne sang, sar wanigean,
helle hæfton. Heold hine fæste,
se þe manna wæs mægene strengest
on þæm dæge þysses lifes.
790
Nolde, eorla hleo, ænige þinga
þone cwealmcuman cwicne forlætan,
ne his lifdagas leoda ænigum
nytte tealde. Þær genehost brægd
eorl Beowulfes, ealde lafe,
36
MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
760
The monster back-tracking, the man overpowering.
The dread of the land was desperate to escape,
To take a roundabout road and flee
To his lair in the fens. The latching power
In his fingers weakened; it was the worst trip
765
The terror-monger had taken to Heorot.
And now the timbers trembled and sang,
A hall-session that harrowed every Dane
Inside the stockade: stumbling in fury,
The two contenders crashed through the building.
770
The hall clattered and hammered, but somehow
Survived the onslaught and kept standing:
It was handsomely structured, a sturdy frame
Braced with the best of blacksmith‟s work
Inside and out. The story goes
775
That as the pair struggled, mead benches were
smashed
And sprung off the floor, gold fittings and all.
Before then, no Shielding elder would believe
There was any power or person on earth
Capable of wrecking their horn-rigged hall
780
Unless the burning embrace of fire
Engulf it in flame. Then an extraordinary
Wail arose, and bewildering fear
Came over the Danes. Everyone felt it
Who heard that cry as it echoed off the wall,
785
A God-cursed scream and strain of catastrophe,
The howl of the loser, the lament of the hell-serf
Keening his wound. He was overwhelmed,
Manacled tight by the man who of all men
Was foremost and strongest in the days of this life.
790
But the earl troop‟s leader was not inclined
To allow his caller to depart alive:
He did not consider that life of much account
To anyone anywhere. Time and again,
Beowulf‟s warriors worked to defend

795
wolde freadrihtnes feorh ealgian,
mæres þeodnes, ðær hie meahton swa.
Hie þæt ne wiston, þa hie gewin drugon,
heardhicgende hildemecgas,
7 on healfa gehwone heawan þohton,
800
sawle secan: þone synscaðan
ænig ofer eorþan, irenna cyst,
guðbilla nan gretan nolde.
Ac he sigewæpnum |forsworen hæfde,
ecga gehwylcre. Scolde his aldorgedal,
805
on ðæm dæge þysses lifes,
earmlic wurðan, 7 se ellorgast
on feonda geweald feor siðian.
Ða þæt onfunde se þe fela æror
modes myrðe manna cynne,
810
fyrene gefremede, he fag wið God,
þæt him se lichoma læstan nolde;
ac hine se modega mæg Hygelaces
hæfde be honda. Wæs gehwæþer oðrum
lifigende lað. Licsar gebad,
815
atol æglæca. Him on eaxle wearð
syndolh sweotol, seonowe onsprungon,
burston banlocan. Beowulfe wearð
guðhreð gyfeþe. Scolde Grendel þonan
feorhseoc fleon under fenhleoðu,
820
secean wynleas wic. Wiste þe geornor
þæt his aldres wæs ende gegongen,
dogera dægrim. Denum eallum wearð
æfter þam wælræse willa gelumpen.
Hæfde þa gefælsod, se þe ær feorran com,
825
snotor 7 swyðferhð, sele Hroðgares,
genered wið |niðe. Nihtweorce gefeh,
ellenmærþum. Hæfde East-Denum,
Geatmecga leod, gilp gelæsted.
Swylce oncyþðe ealle gebette,
37
MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
795
Their lord‟s life, laying about them
As best they could with their ancestral blades.
Stalwart in action, they kept striking out
On every side, seeking to cut
Straight to the soul. When they joined the struggle
800
There was something they could have not known at
the time,
That no blade on earth, no blacksmith‟s art
Could ever damage their demon opponent.
He had conjured the harm from the cutting edge
Of every weapon. But his going away
805
Out of this world and the days of his life
Would be agony to him, and his alien spirit
would travel far into the fiends‟ keeping.
Then he who had harrowed the hearts of men
With pain and affliction in former times
810
And given offense also to God
Found that his bodily powers failed him.
Hygelac‟s kinsman kept him helplessly
Locked in a handgrip. As long as either lived
He was hateful to the other. The monster‟s whole
815
Body was in pain, a tremendous wound
Appeared on his shoulder. Sinews split
And the bone-lappings burst. Beowulf was granted
The glory of winning; Grendel was driven
Under the fen banks, fatally hurt,
820
To his desolate lair. His days were numbered,
The end of his life was coming over him,
He knew it for certain; and one bloody clash
Had fulfilled the dearest wishes of the Danes.
The man who had lately landed among them,
825
Proud and sure, had purged the hall,
Kept it from harm; he was happy with his night-work
And the courage he had shown. The Geat captain
Had boldly fulfilled his boast to the Danes:
He had healed and relieved a huge distress,

830
inwidsorge, þe hie ær drugon,
7 for þreanydum þolian scoldon
torn unlytel. Þæt wæs tacen sweotol,
syþðan hildedeor hond alegde,
earm 7 eaxle. Þær wæs eal geador
835
Grendles grape under geapne hrof.
1253
Sigon þa to slæpe. Sum sare angeald
æfenræste, swa him ful oft gelamp,
1255
siþðan goldsele Grendel warode,
unriht æfnde oþ þæt ende becwom,
swylt æfter synnum. Þæt gesyne wearþ,
widcuþ werum, þætte wrecend þa gyt
lifde æfter laþum lange þrage
1260
æfter guðceare. Grendles modor,
ides aglæcwif yrmþe gemunde,
se þe wæteregesan wunian scolde,
cealde streamas, siþðan camp wearð
to ecgbanan angan breþer,
1265
fæderenmæge. He þa fag gewat,
morþre gemearcod, | mandream fleon,
westen warode. Þanon woc fela
geosceaftgasta. Wæs þæra Grendel sum,
heorowearh hetelic, se æt Heorote fand
1270
wæccendne wer wiges bidan.
Þær him aglæca ætgræpe wearð.
Hwæþre he gemunde mægenes strenge,
gimfæste gife, ðe him God sealde,
7 him to Anwaldan are gelyfde,
1275
frofre 7 fultum. Ðy he þone feond ofercwom,
gehnægde helle gast. Þa he hean gewat,
dreame bedæled, deaþwic seon,
mancynnes feond. 7 his modor þa gyt,
gifre 7 galgmod gegan wolde
38
MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
830
Unremitting humiliations,
The hard fate they‟d been forced to undergo,
No small affliction. Clear proof of this
Could be seen in the hand the hero displayed
High up near the roof: the whole of Grendel‟s
835
Shoulder and arm, his awesome grasp.
1253
They went to sleep. And one paid dearly
For his night‟s ease, as had happened to them often,
1255
Ever since Grendel occupied the gold-hall,
Committing evil until the end came,
Death after his crimes. Then it became clear,
Obvious to everyone once the fight was over,
That an avenger lurked and was still alive,
1260
Grimly biding time. Grendel‟s mother,
Monstrous hell-bride, brooded on her wrongs.
She had been forced down into fearful waters,
The cold depths, after Cain had killed
His father‟s son, felled his own
1265
Brother with the sword. Branded an outlaw,
Marked by having murdered, he moved into the
wilds,
Shunned company and joy. And from Cain there
sprang
Misbegotten spirits, among them Grendel,
The banished and accursed, due to come to grips
1270
With that watcher in Heorot waiting to do battle.
The monster wrenched and wrestled with him
But Beowulf was mindful of his mighty strength,
The wondrous gifts God had showered on him:
He relied for help on the Lord of All,
1275
On His care and favor. So he overcame the foe,
Brought down the hell-brute. Broken and bowed,
Outcast from all sweetness, the enemy of mankind
Made for his death-den. But now his mother
Had sallied forth on a savage journey,

1280
sorhfulne sið sunu þeod wrecan.
Com þa to Heorote, ðær Hring-Dene
geond þæt sæld swæfun. Þa ðær sona wearð
edhwyrft eorlum, siþðan inne fealh
Grendles modor. Wæs se gryre læssa
1285
efne swa micle, swa bið mægþa cræft
wiggryre wifes, bewæpned men,
þonne heoru bunden, hamere geþuren,
sweord swate fah swin ofer helme
ecgum | dyhttig andweard scireð.
1290
Þa wæs on healle heardecg togen
sweord ofer setlum, sidrand manig
hafen handa fæst. Helm ne gemunde,
byrnan side, þa hine se broga angeat.
Heo wæs on ofste, wolde ut þanon,
1295
feore beorgan, þa heo onfunden wæs.
Hraðe heo æþelinga anne hæfde
fæste befangen, þa heo to fenne gang.
Se wæs Hroþgare hæleþa leofost
on gesiðes had be sæm tweonum,
1300
rice randwiga, þone ðe heo on ræste abreat,
blædfæstne beorn. Næs Beowulf ðær,
ac wæs oþer in ær geteohhod
æfter maþðumgife mærum Geate.
Hream wearð in Heorote. Heo under heolfre genam
1305
cuþe folme. Cearu wæs geniwod,
geworden in wicun. Ne wæs þæt gewrixle til
þæt hie on ba healfa bicgan scoldon
freonda feorum. Þa wæs frod cyning,
har hilderinc, on hreon |mode,
1310
syðþan he aldorþegn unlyfigendne,
þone deorestan, deadne wisse.
Hraþe wæs to bure Beowulf fetod
sigoreadig secg. Samod ærdæge
eode eorla sum, æþele cempa
39
MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
1280
Grief-racked and ravenous, desperate for revenge.
She came to Heorot. There, inside the hall,
Danes lay asleep, earls who would soon endure
A great reversal once Grendel‟s mother
Attacked and entered. Her onslaught was less
1285
Only by as much as an Amazon warrior‟s
Is less than an armored man‟s
When the hefted sword, its hammered edge
And gleaming blade slathered in blood,
Razes the sturdy boar-ridge off a helmet.
1290
Then in the hall, hard-honed swords
Were grabbed from the bench, many a broad shield
Lifted and braced; there was little thought of helmets
Or woven mail when they woke in terror.
The hell-dam was in panic, desperate to get out,
1295
In mortal terror the moment she was found.
She had pounced and taken one of the retainers
In a tight hold, then headed for the fen.
To Hrothgar, this man was the most beloved
Of the friends he trusted between the two seas.
1300
She had done away with a great warrior,
Ambushed him at rest. Beowulf was elsewhere.
Earlier, after the reward of the treasure,
The Geat had been given another lodging.
There was an uproar in Heorot. She had snatched
their trophy,
1305
Grendel‟s bloodied hand. It was a fresh blow
To the afflicted building. The bargain was hard,
Both parties having to pay
With the lives of friends. And the old lord,
The gray-haired warrior, was heartsore and weary
1310
When he heard the news: his highest-placed advisor,
His dearest companion, was dead and gone.
Beowulf was quickly brought to the chamber:
The winner of fights, the arch-warrior,
Came first-footing in with his fellow troops

1315
self mid gesiðum þær se snotera bad.
Hwæþre him Alwalda æfre wille
æfter weaspelle wyrpe gefremman.
Gang ða æfter flore fyrdwyrðe man
mid his handscale, healwudu dynede,
1320
þæt he þone wisan wordum hnægde
frean Ingwina; frægn gif him wære
æfter neodlaðu niht getæse.
GEseah ða on searwum sigeeadig bil,
1560
ealdsweord eotenisc ecgum þyhtig,
wigena weorðmynd, þæt wæpna cyst,
buton hit wæs mare ðonne ænig mon oðer
to beadulace ætberan meahte,
god 7 geatolic, giganta geweorc.
1565
He gefeng þa fetelhilt, freca Scyldinga
hreoh 7 heorogrim, hringmæl gebrægd
aldres orwena, yrringa | sloh,
þæt hire wið halse heard grapode,
banhringas bræc. Bil eal ðurhwod
1570
fægne flæschoman. Heo on flet gecrong.
Sweord wæs swatig, secg weorce gefeh.
Lixte se leoma, leoht inne stod,
efne swa of hefene hadre scineð
rodores candel. He æfter recede wlat.
1575
Hwearf þa be wealle, wæpen hafenade
heard be hiltum, Higelaces ðegn,
yrre 7 anræd. Næs seo ecg fracod
hilderince, ac he hraþe wolde
Grendle forgyldan guðræsa fela
1580
ðara þe he geworhte to West-Denum
oftor micle ðonne on ænne sið,
þonne he Hroðgares heorðgeneatas
sloh on sweofote, slæpende fræt,
folces Denigea fyftyne men,
40
MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
1315
To where the king in his wisdom waited,
Still wondering whether Almighty God
Would even turn the tide of his misfortunes.
So Beowulf entered with his band in attendance
And the wooden floor-boards banged and rang
1320
As he advanced, hurrying to address
The prince of the Ingwins, asking if he‟d rested
Since the urgent summons had come as a surprise.
Then he saw a blade that boded well,
1560
A sword in her armory, an ancient heirloom
From the days of the giants, an ideal weapon,
One that any warrior would envy,
But so huge and heavy of itself
Only Beowulf could wield it in battle.
1565
So the Shieldings‟ hero, hard-pressed and enraged,
Took a firm hold of the hilt and swung
The blade in an arc, a resolute blow
That bit deep into her neck bone
And severed it entirely, toppling the doomed
1570
House of her flesh; she fell to the floor.
The sword dripped blood, the swordsman was elated.
A light appeared and the place brightened
The way the sky does when heaven‟s candle
Is shinning clearly. He inspected the vault:
1575
With sword held high, its hilt raised
To guard and threaten, Hygelac‟s thane
Scouted by the wall in Grendel‟s wake.
Now the weapon was to prove its worth.
The warrior determined to take revenge
1580
For every gross act Grendel had committed —
And not only for that one occasion
When he‟d come to slaughter the sleeping troops,
Fifteen of Hrothgar‟s house-guards
Surprised on their benches and ruthlessly devoured,

1585
7 oðer swylc ut offerede
laðlicu lac. He him þæs lean forgeald,
reþe cempa, to ðæs þe he on ræste geseah
guðwerigne Grendel licgan,
aldorleasne, swa him ær gescod
1590
hild æt Heorote. Hra wide sprong,
syþðan he æfter deaðe drepe þrowade,
heorosweng heardne, 7 hine þa heafde becearf.
Sona þæt gesawon, snottre |ceorlas,
þa ðe mid Hroðgare on holm wliton,
1595
þæt wæs yðgeblond eal gemenged
brim blode fah. Blondenfeaxe,
gomele ymb godne, ongeador spræcon
þæt hig þæs æðelinges eft ne wendon,
þæt he sigehreðig secean come
1600
mærne þeoden. Þa ðæs monige gewearð
þæt hine seo brimwylf abreoten hæfde.
Ða com non dæges. Næs ofgeafon
hwate Scyldingas. Gewat him ham þonon,
goldwine gumena. Gistas secan
1605
modes seoce, 7 on mere staredon;
wiston, 7 ne wendon, þæt hie heora winedrihten
selfne gesawon. Þa þæt sweord ongan
æfter heaþoswate hildegicelum,
wigbil wanian. Þæt wæs wundra sum
1610
þæt hit eal gemealt, ise gelicost,
ðonne forstes bend Fæder onlæteð,
onwindeð wælrapas, se geweald hafa
sæla 7 mæla. Þæt is soð Metod.
Ne nom he in þæm wicum, Weder-Geata leod,
1615
maðmæhta ma, þeh he þær monige geseah,
buton þone hafelan 7 þa hilt somod
since fage. Sweord ær gemealt,
forbarn brodenmæl. Wæs þæt blod | to þæs hat,
ættren ellorgæst se þær inne swealt.
41
MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
1585
And as many again carried away,
A brutal plunderer. Beowulf in his fury
Now settled that score: he saw the monster
In his resting place, war-weary and wrecked,
A lifeless corpse, a casualty
1590
Of the battle in Heorot. The body gaped
At the stroke dealt to it after death:
Beowulf cut the corpse‟s head off.
Immediately the counselors keeping a lookout
With Hrothgar, watching the lake water,
1595
Saw a heave-up and surge of waves
And blood in the backwash. They bowed gray heads,
Spoke in their sage, experienced way
About the good warrior, how they never again
Expected to see that prince returning
1600
In triumph to their king. It was clear to many
That the wolf of the deep had destroyed him forever.
The ninth hour of the day arrived.
The brave Shieldings abandoned their cliff-top
And the king went home; but sick at heart,
1605
Staring at the mere, the strangers held on.
They wished, without hope, to behold their lord,
Beowulf himself. Meanwhile, the sword
Began to wilt into gory icicles,
To slather and thaw. It was a wonderful thing,
1610
The way it all melted as ice melts
When the father eases the fetters off the frost
And unravels the water-ropes. He who wields power
Over time and tide: He is the true Lord.
The Geat captain saw treasure in abundance
1615
But carried no spoils from those quarters
Except for the head and the inlaid hilt
Embossed with jewels; its blade had melted
And the scrollwork on it burnt, so scalding was the
blood
Of the poisonous fiend who had perished there.

1620
Sona wæs on sunde, se þe ær æt sæcce gebad,
wighryre wraðra. Wæter up þurhdeaf
wæron yðgebland eal gefælsod,
eacne eardas, þa se ellorgast
oflet lifdagas 7 þas lænan gesceaft.
1625
Com þa to lande, lidmanna helm,
swiðmod swymman. Sælace gefeah,
mægenbyrþenne, þara þe he him mid hæfde.
Eodon him þa togeanes, Gode þancodon,
ðryðlic þegna heap þeodnes gefegon,
1630
þæs þe hi hyne gesundne geseon moston.
Ða wæs of þæm hroran helm 7 byrne
lungre alysed. Lagu drusade,
wæter under wolcnum, wældreore fag.
Ferdon forð þonon feþelastum
1635
ferhþum fægne foldweg mæton,
cuþe stræte. Cyningbalde men
With the head they were carrying from the lakeside
from þæm holmclife hafelan bæron
earfoðlice heora æghwæþrum
felamodigra. Feower scoldon
1640
on þæm wælstenge weorcum geferian
to þæm goldsele Grendles heafod.
Oþ ðæt |semninga to sele comon,
frome fyrdhwate feowertyne
Geata gongan, gumdryhten mid,
1645
modig on gemonge, meodowongas træd.
Ða com in gan ealdor ðegna,
dædcene mon dome gewurþad,
hæle hildedeor, Hroðgar gretan.
Þa wæs be feaxe on flet boren
1650
Grendles heafod, þær guman druncon,
Dragged across the floor where people were drinking,
egeslic for eorlum, 7 þære idese mid,
wliteseon wrætlic. Weras onsawon.
42
MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
1620
Then away he swan, the one who had survived
The fall of his enemies, flailing to the surface.
The wide water, the waves and pools
Were no longer infested once the wandering fiend
Let go of her life and this unreliable world.
1625
The seafarers‟ leader made for land,
Resolutely swimming, delighted with his prize,
The mighty load he was lugging to the surface
His thanes advanced in a troop to meet him,
Thanking God and taking great delight
1630
In seeing their prince back safe and sound.
Quickly the hero‟s helmet and mail­shirt
Were loosed and unlaced. The lake settled,
Clouds darkened above the bloodshot depths.
With high hearts they headed away
1635
Along footpath and trails through the fields
Roads that they knew, each of them wrestling
cliff,
Men kingly in their courage and capable
Of difficult work. It was a task for four
1640
To hoist Grendel‟s head on a spear
And bear it under strain to the bright hall.
But soon enough they neared the place,
Fourteen Geats in fine fettle,
Striding across the outlying ground
1645
In a delighted throng around their leader.
In he came then, the thanes‟ commander,
The arch-warrior, to address Hrothgar:
His courage was proven, his glory was secure.
Grendel‟s head was hauled by the hair,
1650
A horror for both queen and company to behold.
They stared in awe. It was an astonishing sight.

Him ða gegiredan, Geata leode,
3140
ad on eorðan unwaclicne,
helmum behongen, hildebordum,
beorhtum byrnum, swa he bena wæs.
Alegdon ða tomiddes mærne þeoden,
hæleð hiofende, hlaford leofne.
3145
Ongunnon þa on beorge bælfyra mæst,
wigend weccan. Wudurec astah,
sweart ofer swioðole, swogende let,
wope bewunden. Windblond gelæg,
oð þæt he ða banhus gebrocen hæfde
3150
hat on hreðre. Higum unrote
modceare mændon, mondryhtnes cwealm.
Swylce giomorgyd |Geatisc anmeowle,
næs bliðheorte, bundenheorde,
sang sorgcearig sælðe geneahhe
3155
þæt hio hyre heregængas hearde ondrede,
wælfylla worn, werudes egesan,
hyðo 7 hæftnyd. Heofon rece swealg.
Geworhton ða Wedra leode
hlæo on hoe, se wæs heah 7 brad,
3160
wægliðendum wide gesyne,
7 betimbredon on tyn dagum,
beadurofes becn, bronda lafe.
Wealle beworhton, swa hyt weorðlicost
foresnotre men findan mihton.
3165
Hi on beorg dydon beg 7 siglu,
eall swylce hyrsta, swylce on horde ær
niðhedige men genumen hæfdon.
Forleton eorla gestreon eorðan healdan,
gold on greote, þær hit nu gen lifað
3170
eldum swa unnyt swa hyt æror wæs.
Þa ymbe hlæw riodan, hildedeore
æþelinga bearn, ealra twelfa,
woldon care cwiðan, kyning mænan,
43
MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
The Geat people built a pyre for Beowulf,
3140
Stacked and decked it until it stood four-square,
Hung with helmets, heavy war-shields
And shining armor, just as he had ordered.
Then his warriors laid him in the middle of it,
Mourning a lord far-famed and beloved.
3145
On a height they kindled the hugest of all
Funeral fires; fumes of wood smoke
Billowed darkly up, the blaze roared
And drowned out their weeping, wind died down
And flames wrought havoc in the hot bone-house,
3150
Burning it to the core. They were disconsolate
And wailed aloud for their lord‟s decease.
A Geat woman too sang out in grief
With hair bound up, she unburdened herself
Of her worst fears, a wild litany
3155
Of nightmare and lament: her nation invaded,
Enemies on the rampage, bodies in piles,
Slavery and abasement. Heaven swallowed the
smoke.
Then the Geat people began to construct
A mound on a headland, high and imposing,
3160
A marker that sailors could see from far away,
And in ten days they had done the work.
It was their hero‟s memorial; what remained from the
fire
They housed inside it, behind a wall
As worthy of him as their workmanship could make
it.
3165
And they buried torques in the barrow, and jewels
And a trove of such things as trespassing men
Had once dared to drag from the hoard.
They let the ground keep that ancestral treasure,
Gold under gravel, gone to earth,
3170
As useless to men now as it ever was.
Then twelve warriors rode around the tomb,
Chieftain‟s sons, champions in battle,
All of them distraught, chanting in dirges,
 MEDIEVAL LITERATURE

wordgyd wrecan, 7 ymb wer sprecan. Mourning his loss as a man and a king.

3175 3175
Eahtodan eorlscipe 7 his ellenweorc They extolled his heroic nature and exploits
duguðum demdon, swa hit gedefe bið And gave thanks for his greatness; which was the
proper thing,
þæt mon his winedryhten wordum herge,
For a man should praise a prince whom he holds dear
ferhðum freoge, þonne he forð scile And cherish his memory when that moment comes
of lichaman læded weorðan. When he has to be convoyed from his bodily home.

3180 3180
Swa begnornodon Geata leode So the Geat people, his hearth companions,
hlafordes hryre, heorðgeneatas. Sorrowed for the lord who had been laid low.
They said that of all the kings upon the earth
Cwædon þæt he wære wyruldcyning,
He was the man most gracious and fair-minded,
manna mildust 7 monðwærust, Kindest to his people and keenest to win fame.
leodum liðost, 7 lofgeornost.

44
 MEDIEVAL LITERATURE

THE JUNIUS MANUSCRIPT (LATE 10TH -

EARLY 11TH CENTURIES)

Genesis B9

But he turned into a terrible thing; he began to heave up trouble against Him,
against that highest Heaven's Ruler, who sits on the saintly throne. (260)
Dear was he to Our Lord; yet God might not be deluded
that his angel began to become over-spirited.
He raised himself up against his Superior, sought hate-speech;
boast-words began. He did not wish to serve God;
he said that his body was light and shining, (265)
bright-white and hue-luminous. Nor might he find in his mind
that he owed God the duty of an inferior,
to serve as a retainer. He thought to himself
that he had more strategy and strength
than the Holy God could have (270)
in his followers. Dangerous words spoke
this angel in his adrenaline rush. He thought how, through his own efforts,
he a strong-built throne could establish
higher in Heaven. He said that his mind spanned so far
that he, west and north, was beginning to work, (275)
trimming timbers. He said that he thought it quite doubtful
that he would become the retainer of God.

"What, will I gain?" said he. "There is no need for me

to have a leader. I may with my own hands a multitude of
wonders work. I have great capacity (280)
to adorn a God-like throne,
more impressive in Heaven. Why shall I follow in the wake of His protection?
shove at Him such subservience? I may be God as well as He.
Strong supporters stand beside me, who will not betray me in the strife,
hard-minded companions. They have crowned me as their superior, (285)
the renowned ring-men; with such may one take counsel,
seize the prize with a standing army like this. They are my eager friends,
loyal to death in their forged intentions. I may become their high-king,
rule in this kingdom. I think it so right for me,
that I bother to flatter not a whit more (290)
God for the sake of any good. Nor will I long be his retainer."

When the Omnipotent heard all--

that his angel began in his great adrenaline rush
to rise up against his leader and to speak haughty words

9
The complete text can be read at http://homepages.bw.edu/~uncover/oldrievegenesisb.htm, accessed on
September 16, 2020.

45
 MEDIEVAL LITERATURE

dolt-like, feuding against his Lord, He ordered that deed atoned for, (295)
the consequences of that striving to be dealt out, and he have his punishment,
the most misery of all. So will befall each person
who against his or her ruler generates strife
with wickedness against the Lord. Then was the Mighty One moved to wrath.
The highest Heaven's Ruler traveled down from that high throne. (300)
Hate he had won from his leader. Of God's loyalty he was bereft.
He had become an enemy to God in his mind. Therefore he should seek the pit
of hard hell-punishments because he strove against Heaven's Ruler.

God banished him then from His protection and warped him down to Hell,
into those deep dales where he morphed into a devil, (305)
the fiend with all his companions. They fell, then, out of Heaven
for as long as three nights and days,
those angels, from Heaven into Hell, and them all the Lord
re-shaped into devils. Because they His deed and word
would not carry out, therefore he, the Almighty God (310)
sent them into a worse life, under the earth, deep beneath,
triumph-less, into that dark and dreary Hell.
There they experience, in evenings immoderately long,
every one of the fiends, fire enough.
Then comes, in the dawn, an eastern wind, (315)
frost fiercely cold. Feast-fire or spear-frost,
some hard hardship they must endure.

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Ælfric of Eynsham (c. 955-1010):

Preface to genesis10

Ælfric the monk humbly greets Æthelward the ealdorman. You asked
me, friend, that I should translate the book of Genesis from Latin into
English for you. It seemed troublesome to me to give this to you then,
and you said then that I need not translate any more of the book except
up to Isaac, the son of Abraham, because someone else had translated
the book from Isaac until the end.

Now it seems to me, friend, that the work [of translation] is very
dangerous to me or anyone to undertake, because I fear that if someone
foolish reads this book, or hears it read, that someone might wish to
think that one might live now under the new law just as the old fathers
lived, when in the time before the old law was established, or just as
people lived under the law of Moses. I once knew that a certain priest,
who was my teacher at the time, had the book of Genesis, and he could
understand Latin in part. Then he said about the patriarch Jacob that
he had four wives: two sisters and their two handmaids. He spoke very
truly, but he did not know, nor did I yet, how much difference there is
between the old law and the new. In the beginning of this world, a
brother took his sister as wife, and sometimes a father also had a child
by his own daughter, and many men also had more wives for the people.
And then at the beginning a man could not take a wife, except for
among his relatives. If anyone wishes to live now, after the coming of
Christ, just as people lived before the law of Moses, or under the law of
Moses, that one is not a Christian, nor even deserving that any
Christian might eat with him.

For unlearned priests, if they understand only a little of Latin books,

then it seems to them that they might quickly be great teachers,
although they do not know the spiritual meaning of them, and how the
old law was a sign of things to come, or how the New Testament, after
the incarnation of Christ, was the fulfillment of all of the things which
the Old Testament signaled toward, about Christ and about his chosen.

10
The complete text can be read at https://brandonwhawk.net/2014/07/30/aelfrics-preface-to-genesis-a-
translation/, accessed on September 16, 2020.

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They also often talk about Peter, why they might not have a wife, just
as the blessed apostle Peter had. And they desire not to hear nor to
know that the blessed Peter lived after the law of Moses, until Christ,
who in that time came to humankind, began to preach his holy gospel
and chose Peter as the first to follow him. Then Peter abandoned his
wife right away, and all of the twelve apostles, who had wives,
abandoned both wives and their possessions and followed the teaching of
Christ to the new law and the purity that he himself upheld. Priests are
established as teachers of lay-people. Now it is suitable for them that
they know how to understand the old law spiritually and what Christ
himself, and his apostles, taught in the New Testament, so that they
might direct the people to belief in God and set a good example by good
works.

We also said before that the book is very profoundly spiritual in

understanding and we will write no more than the naked narrative.
Then it seems to the unlearned that all that meaning is locked up in the
simple narrative, but it is very far from it. The book is named Genesis,
that is “the book of species,” because it is the first book and speaks about
each species. But it says nothing about the creation of the angels. It
begins thus: “In the beginning God created heaven and earth.” That is in
English, “In the beginning God shaped heaven and earth.” It was truly
done so, that almighty God made creation in the beginning, then when
he desired. But even so, according to the spiritual meaning, that
meaning is Christ, just as he himself said to the Jews: “I say to you, I am
the beginning.” Through this beginning God the Father made heaven
and earth, because he shaped all of creation through his Son, who was
always born from him, wisdom of the wise Father.

Again in the book in the first verse: “And the spirit of God moved over
the waters” That is in English, “and the spirit of God was moved over
the waters.” The spirit of God is the Holy Spirit, through whom the
Father gave life to all the creatures that he shaped through the Son.
And the Holy Spirit goes through the hearts of people and gives us
forgiveness for sins, first through water in baptism and then through
penance. And if anyone rejects the forgiveness that the Holy Spirit
gives, then that sin is always unforgiveable for eternity. Often the Holy
Trinity is shown in this book, just as it is said in the Word of God: “Let us
make man in our likeness.” When he said “let us make,” the Trinity is
signified. When he said “in our likeness,” the true Oneness is shown. He

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did not speak in the plural, “to our likenesses,” but in the singular, “in
our likeness.”

Again the three angels came to Abraham and he spoke to them all three
just as to one. How did the blood of Abel call out to God, except just as
the misdeeds of each one accuse him without words? By these little
things, people may understand how deep the book is in spiritual
meaning, although it is written with clear words. Again Joseph, who
was sold into the land of Egypt, and he saved that people against the
great famine, had signified Christ, who was sold for us to death and
saved us from the eternal famine of the torment in hell. That great
tabernacle that Moses made in the desert with wonderful skill, just as
God himself ordered, had signified the church of God, which he himself
established through his apostles with many adornments and pleasing
customs. To the building the people brought gold and silver and valuable
gemstones and many ornaments. Some also brought goat‟s hair, just as
God commanded. That gold signified our belief and our good intentions
that we should offer to God. That silver signified the speech of God and
the holy teachings that we should have for the works of God. The
gemstones signified the great beauty of the man of God. That goat‟s hair
signifies the hard penance that men repent for their sins. Men also
offered cattle of many kinds as offerings within the tabernacle. By that
is very much signified, and it was commanded that the tail should
always be whole on the beast at the offering, which signifies that God
desires that we always do well until the end of our lives; then the tail is
offered in our works.

Now is the aforementioned book in many places very narrowly

composed, although very deeply in the spiritual meaning. And it is so
ordered just as God himself dictated to Moses, and we dare not write
any more in England than that Latin has, nor to change the order,
except solely when Latin and English do not have one means of ordering
speech. Whenever someone translates or interprets Latin into English,
one should always arrange it so that the English has one‟s own manner,
or else it is very erroneous to read, for one who does not know the
manner of Latin.

It is also to be known that some were erroneous, who would cast off the
old law, and some would have the old and cast off the new, just as the
Jews do. But Christ himself and his apostles taught us to keep both, the
old spiritually and the new truly with works. God shaped us with two
eyes and two ears, two nostrils and two cheeks, two hands and two feet,

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and he also desired to have two testaments established in this world, the
old and the new, because he does just as he desires. And has no advisor,
nor any person need to say to him, “Why do you do as you do?” We
should turn our wills to his laws and we may not turn his laws to our
desires.

I say now that I dare not, nor do I desire, to translate any book after
this from Latin into English. And I ask you, dear ealdorman, that you
no longer ask this, in case I might be disobedient to you, or false if I do
[translate more]. May God be gracious to you ever for eternity. I ask
now in the name of God, if anyone desires to copy this book, that he
corrects it well by the exemplar, because I have no control if someone
brings it to error through lesser scribes, and it is then his peril, not mine.
The bad scribe does much evil if he will not correct his errors.

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