Legends of the Middle Ages - Narrated with Special Reference to Literature and Art. H. A. Guerber

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ

      [Sidenote: Construction of Heorot.] Such being his lineage, it is no wonder that Hrothgar became a mighty chief; and as he had amassed much wealth in the course of a long life of warfare, he resolved to devote part of it to the construction of a magnificent hall, called Heorot, where he might feast his retainers and listen to the heroic lays of the scalds during the long winter evenings.

      “A hall of mead, such as for space and state

       The elder time ne’er boasted; there with free

       And princely hand he might dispense to all

       (Save the rude crowd and men of evil minds)

       The good he held from Heaven. That gallant work,

       Full well I wot, through many a land was known

       Of festal halls the brightest and the best.”

       Beowulf (Conybeare’s tr.).

      The inauguration of this hall was celebrated by a sumptuous entertainment; and when all the guests had retired, the king’s bodyguard, composed of thirty-two dauntless warriors, lay down in the hall to rest. When morning dawned, and the servants appeared to remove the couches, they beheld with horror the floor and walls all stained with blood, the only trace of the knights who had gone to rest there in full armor.

      [Sidenote: The monster Grendel.] Gigantic, blood-stained footsteps, leading directly from the festive hall to the sluggish waters of a deep mountain lake, or fiord, furnished the only clew to their disappearance. Hrothgar, the king, beholding these, declared that they had been made by Grendel, a descendant of the giants, whom a magician had driven out of the country, but who had evidently returned to renew his former depredations.

      “A haunter of marshes, a holder of moors.

       . . . . . Secret

       The land he inhabits; dark, wolf-haunted ways

       Of the windy hillside, by the treacherous tarn;

       Or where, covered up in its mist, the hill stream

       Downward flows.”

       Beowulf (Keary’s tr.).

      As Hrothgar was now too old to wield a sword with his former skill, his first impulse was, of course, to offer a princely reward to any man brave enough to free the country of this terrible scourge. As soon as this was known ten of his doughtiest knights volunteered to camp in the hall on the following night, and attack the monster Grendel should he venture to reappear.

      But in spite of the valor of these experienced warriors, and of the efficacy of their oft-tried weapons, they too succumbed. A minstrel, hiding in a dark corner of the hall, was the only one who escaped Grendel’s fury, and after shudderingly describing the massacre he had witnessed, he fled in terror to the kingdom of the Geates (Jutes or Goths). There he sang his lays in the presence of Hygelac, the king, and of his nephew Beowulf (the Bee Hunter), and roused their deepest interest by describing the visit of Grendel and the vain but heroic defense of the brave knights. Beowulf, having listened intently, eagerly questioned the scald, and, learning from him that the monster still haunted those regions, impetuously declared his intention to visit Hrothgar’s kingdom, and show his valor by fighting and, if possible, slaying Grendel.

      “He was of mankind

       In might the strongest,

       At that day

       Of this life,

       Noble and stalwart.

       He bade him a sea ship,

       A goodly one, prepare.

       Quoth he, the war king,

       Over the swan’s road,

       Seek he would

       The mighty monarch,

       Since he wanted men.”

       Beowulf (Longfellow’s tr.).

      [Sidenote: Beowulf and Breka.] Although very young, Beowulf was quite distinguished, and had already won great honors in a battle against the Swedes. He had also proved his endurance by entering into a swimming match with Breka, one of the lords at his uncle’s court. The two champions had started out, sword in hand and fully armed, and, after swimming in concert for five whole days, they were parted by a great tempest.

      “Then were we twain there on the sea

       Space of five nights, till the floods severed us,

       The welling waves. Coldest of weathers,

       Shadowy night, and the north wind

       Battelous shocked on us; wild were the waters,

       And were the mere-fishes stirred up in mind.”

       Beowulf.

      Breka was driven ashore, but the current bore Beowulf toward some jagged cliffs, where he desperately clung, trying to resist the fury of the waves, and using his sword to ward off the attacks of hostile mermaids, nicors (nixies), and other sea monsters. The gashed bodies of these slain foes soon drifted ashore, to Hygelac’s amazement; but when Beowulf suddenly reappeared and explained that they had fallen by his hand, his joy knew no bounds. As Breka had returned first, he received the prize for swimming; but the king gave Beowulf his treasured sword, Nägeling, and praised him publicly for his valor.

      Beowulf had successfully encountered these monsters of the deep in the roaring tide, so he now expressed a hope that he might prevail against Grendel also; and embarking with fourteen chosen men, he sailed to Denmark, where he was challenged by the coast guard and warmly welcomed as soon as he had made his purpose known.

      “’What men are ye,

       War gear wearing,

       Host in harness,

       Who thus the brown keel

       Over the water street

       Leading, come

       Hither over the sea?’”

       Beowulf (Longfellow’s tr.).

      Hrothgar received Beowulf most hospitably, but vainly tried to dissuade him from his perilous undertaking. Then, after a sumptuous banquet, where the mead flowed with true northern lavishness, Hrothgar and his suite sadly left the hall Heorot in charge of the brave band of strangers, whom they never expected to see again.

      [Sidenote: Beowulf and Grendel.] As soon as the king had departed, Beowulf bade his companions lie down and sleep in peace, promising to watch over them, yet laying aside both armor and sword; for he knew that weapons were of no avail against the monster, whom he intended to grapple with hand to hand should it really appear.

      “’I have heard

       That that foul miscreant’s dark and stubborn flesh

       Recks not the force of arms:—such I forswear,

       Nor sword nor burnish’d shield of ample round

       Ask for the war; all weaponless, СКАЧАТЬ