III. POEMS FROM THE CHRONICLETHE BATTLE OF BRUNNANBURG[Critical edition: Sedgefield,The Battle of Maldon and Six Short Poems from the Saxon Chronicle, Boston, 1904, Belles Lettres Edition.Translation: Tennyson; Pancoast and Spaeth,Early English Poems, p. 81.Date: It appears in the Chronicle under the year 937.Danes living north of the Humber conspired with their kinsmen in Ireland under the two Olafs, together with the Scottish king Constantine and the Strathclyde Britons under their king Eugenius, against Æthelstan, king of Wessex. The allies met in the south of Northumbria. Æthelstan encountered them at Brunnanburg and defeated them.The site of Brunnanburg has not been identified. The best claim is probably for Bramber, near Preston, in the neighborhood of which, in 1840, was found a great hoard of silver ingots and coins, none later than 950. This was possibly the war chest of the confederacy.Dyngesmerehas not been identified.More than half the half-lines are exact copies from other Anglo-Saxon poems.]Here Æthelstan the king,of earls the lord,Bracelet-giver of baronsand his brother as well,Edmund the Ætheling,honor eternalWon at warfareby the wielding of swords5Near Brunnanburg;they broke the linden-wall,Struck down the shieldswith the sharp work of hammers,The heirs of Edward,as of old had been taughtBy their kinsmen who clashedin conflict oftenDefending their firesidesagainst foemen invaders,10Their hoards and their homes.The hated ones perished,Soldiers of Scotlandand seamen-warriors—Fated they fell.The field was wetWith the blood of the brave,after the bright sunHad mounted at morning,the master of planets15Glided over the ground,God’s candle clear,The Lord’s everlasting,till the lamp of heavenSank to its setting.Soldiers full manyLay mangled by spears,men of the Northland,Shamefully shoto’er their shields, and Scotchmen,20Weary and war-sated.The West-Saxons forthAll during the daywith their daring menFollowed the tracksof their foemen’s troops.From behind they hewedand harried the fleeing,With sharp-ground swords.Never shunned the Mercians25The hard hand-playof hero or warriorWho over the oar-pathwith Anlaf did come,Who sailed on a shipand sought the land,Fated in fight.Five chieftains layKilled in the conflict,kings full youthful,30Put to sleep by the sword,and seven alsoOf the earls ofAnlaf,and others unnumbered,Of sailors and Scotchmen.Sent forth in flight thenWas the prince of the Northmen,pressed hard by need,To the stem of his ship;with a staunch little band35To the high sea he hurried;in haste the king sailedOver the fallow flood,fled for his life.Also the sage onesorrowfully northwardCrept to his kinsmen,Constantinus,The hoary war-hero;for him was small need40To boast of the battle-play;the best of his kinsmenAnd friends had fallenon the field of battle,Slain at the strife,and his son left behindOn the field of fight,felled and wounded,Young at the battle.No boast dared he make45Of strife and of sword-play,the silver-haired leader,Full of age and of evil,nor had Anlaf the more.With their vanquished survivorsno vaunt could they makeThat in works of wartheir worth was unequalled,In the fearful field,in the flashing of standards,50In the meeting of men,and the mingling of spears,And the war-play of weapons,when they had waged their battleAgainst theheirs of Edwardon the awful plain.Now departed the Northmenin their nailed ships,Dreary from dart-playon Dyngesmere.55Over the deep waterto Dublin they sailed,Broken and baffledback to Ireland.So, too, the brothersboth went together,The King and theÆtheling;to their kinsmen’s home,To the wide land of Wessex—warrior’s exultant.60To feast on the fallenon the field they leftThe sallow-hued spoiler,the swarthy raven,Horned of beak,and the hoary-backedWhite-tailed eagleto eat of the carrion,And the greedy goshawk,and that gray beast,65The wolf in the wood.Not worse was the slaughterEver on this islandat any time,Or more folk felledbefore this strifeWith the edge of the sword,as is said in old books,In ancient authors,since from the east hither70The Angles and Saxonseagerly sailedOver the salt seain search of Britain,—Since the crafty warriorsconquered the WelshmenAnd, greedy for glory,gained them the land.31.Anlaf: the Old English form of “Olaf.”52.Heirs of Edward: the English, descendants of Edward the Elder.58.The Ætheling: Edmund the Ætheling (or prince) ofline 3.THE BATTLE OF MALDON[Critical edition: Sedgefield,The Battle of Maldon and Six Short Poems from the Saxon Chronicle, Boston, 1904, Belles Lettres Edition.Date: It appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 991.“The Battle of Maldontreats not of legendary heroes of the Germanic races but of an actual historic personage, an English hero and patriot fallen in battle against a foreign invader a very short time before the poem was made. A single event in contemporary history is here described with hardly suppressed emotion by one who knew his hero and loved him. There is none of the allusiveness and excursiveness of theBeowulf; we have here not a member of an epic cycle, but an independent song. Very striking is the absence of ornament from theBattle of Maldon; all is plain, blunt, and stern.”—Sedgefield,The Battle of Maldon, pp. vi-vii.]. . . . . . . . . .was broken;He bade the young baronsabandon their horses,To drive them afarand dash quickly forth,In their hands and brave heartto put all hope of success.5Thekinsman of Offadiscovered then firstThat the earl would not brookdishonorable bearing.He held in his handthe hawkthat he loved,Let him flyto the fields;to the fight then he stepped;By this one could knowthat the knight was unwilling10To weaken in war,when his weapons he seized.Edric wished alsoto aid his chief,His folk-lord in fight;forward he boreHis brand to the battle;a brave heart he hadSo long as he heldlocked in his hand15His board and his broad sword;his boast he made good,Fearless to fightbefore his lord.Then Byrhtnoth beganto embolden the warriors;He rode and counseled them,his comrades he taughtHow they should standin the stronghold’s defence,20Bade them to beartheir bucklers correctly,Fast by their handswithout fear in their hearts.When the folk by fair wordshe had fired with zeal,He alighted in a crowdof his loyal comrades,Where he felt that his friendswere most faithful and true.25Then he stood on the strand;sternly the messengerOf the Vikings calledin vaunting words,Brought him the boastof the bloody seamen,The errand to the earl,at the edge of the water:“I am sent to theeby seamen bold;30They bade me summon theeto send them quicklyRings for a ransom,and rather than fightIt is better for youto bargain with goldThan that we should fiercelyfight you in battle.It is futile to fightif you fill our demands;35If you give us goldwe will grant you a truce.If commands thou wilt make,who art mightiest of warriors,That thy folk shall be freefrom the foemen’s attack,Shall give of their wealthat the will of the seamen,A treasure for tribute,with a truce in return,40We will go with the goldagain to our ships,We will sail to the seaand vouchsafe to you peace.”Byrhtnoth burst forth,his buckler he grasped,His spear he seized,and spoke in wordsFull of anger and ire,and answer he gave:45“Dost thou hear, oh seamen,what our heroes say?Spears they will sendto the sailors as tribute,Poisoned points andpowerful swords,And such weapons of waras shall win you no battles.Envoy of Vikings,your vauntings return,50Fare to thy folkwith a far sterner message,That here staunchly standswith his steadfast troops,The lord that will fightfor the land of his fathers,For the realm of Æthelred,my royal chief,For his folk and his fold;fallen shall lie55The heathen at shield-play;Shameful I deem itWith our treasure as tributethat you take to your ships,Without facing a fight,since thus far hitherYou have come and encroachedon our king’s domain.You shall not so easilyearn our treasure;60You must prove your powerwith point and sword edge,With grim war gripere we grant you tribute.”He bade then his bandto bear forth their shields,Until they arrivedat the river bank.The waters preventedthe warriors’ encounter;65The tide flowed in,the flood after the ebb,Locked up the land;too long it seemedUntil they could meetand mingle their spears.ByPanta’s streamthey stood in array,The East Saxon armyand the eager shield-warriors;70Each troop was helplessto work harm on the other,Save the few who were felledby a flight of arrows.The flood receded;the sailors stood ready,All of the Vikingseager for victory.Byrhtnoth bade thebridge to be defended,75The brave-hearted warrior,by Wulfstan the boldWith his crowd of kinsmen;he was Ceola’s son,And he felled the firstof the foemen who steppedOn the bridge, the boldestof the band of men.There waited with Wulfstanthe warriors undaunted,80Ælfhere and Maccus,men of courage;At the ford not a footwould they flee the encounter,But close in conflictthey clashed with the foe,As long as they wieldedtheir weapons with strength.As soon as they sawand perceived it clearly,85How fiercely foughtwas the defense of the bridge,The treacherous tribein trickery askedThat they be allowedto lead their hostsFor a closer conflict,to cross over the ford.Then the earl, too eagerto enter the fight,90Allowed too much landto the loathed pirates.Clearly then calledover the cold waterByrhthelm’s son;the soldiers listened:“Room is now made for you;rush quickly hereForward to the fray;fate will decide95Into whose power shall passthis place of battle.”Went then the battle-wolves—of water they recked not—The pirate warriorswest over Panta;Over the bright wavesthey bore their shields;The seamen steppedto the strand with their lindens.100In ready arrayagainst the raging hostsStood Byrhtnoth’s band;he bade them with shieldsTo form a phalanx,and to defend themselves stoutly,Fast holding the foe.The fight was near,The triumph at conflict;the time had come105When fated menshould fall in battle.Then arose an alarm;the ravens soared,The eagle eager for prey;on earth was commotion.Then sped from their handsthe hardened spears,Flew in furyfile-sharpened darts;110Bows were busy,boards met javelins,Cruel was the conflict;in companies they fell;On every handlay heaps of youths.Wulfmere was woefullywounded to death,Slaughtered the sister’sson of Byrhtnoth;115With swords he was stronglystricken to earth.To the vikings quicklyrequital was given;I learned that Edwardalone attackedStoutly with his sword,not stinting his blows,So that fell at his feetmany fated invaders;120For his prowess the princegave praise and thanksTo his chamberlain brave,when chance would permit.So firm of purposethey fought in their turn,Young men in battle;they yearned especiallyTo lead their linewith the least delay125To fight their foesin fatal conflict,Warriors with weapons.The world seethed with slaughter.Steadfast they stood,stirred up by Byrhtnoth;He bade his thanesto think on battle,And fight for famewith the foemen Danes.130The fierce warrior went,his weapon he raised,His shield for a shelter;to the soldier he came;The chief to the churla challenge addressed;Each to the otherhad evil intent.The seamen then sentfrom the south a spear,135So that wounded laythe lord of the warriors;He shoved with his shieldtill the shaft was broken,And burst the speartill back it sprang.Enraged was the daring one;he rushed with his dartOn the wicked warriorwho had wounded him sore.140Sage wasthe soldier;he sent his javelinThrough the grim youth’s neck;he guided his handAnd furiously felledhis foeman dead.Straightway anotherhe strongly attacked,And burst his burnie;in his breast he wounded him.145Through his hard coat-of-mail;in his heart there stoodThe poisoned point.Pleased was the earl,Loudly he laughed,to the Lord he gave thanksFor the deeds of the daythe Redeemer had granted.A hostile youth hurledfrom his hand a dart;150The spear in flightthen sped too far,Andthe honorable earlof Æthelred fell.By his side there stooda stripling youth,A boy in battlewho boldly drewThe bloody brandfrom the breast of his chief.155The young Wulfmere,Wulfstan’s son,Gave back againthe gory war-lance;The point pierced home,so that prostrate layThe Viking whose valorhad vanquished the earl.To the earl then wentan armed warrior;160He sought to snatchand seize his rings,His booty and bracelets,his bright shining sword.Byrhtnoth snatched forththe brown-edged weaponFrom his sheath, and sharplyshook the attacker;Certain of the seamentoo soon joined against him,165As he checked the armof the charging enemy;Now sank to the groundhis golden brand;He might not holdthe hilt of his mace,Nor wield his weapons.These words still he spoke,To embolden the youths;the battle-scarred hero170Called on his comradesto conquer their foes;He no longer had strengthto stand on his feet,. . . . . . . .he looked to heaven:“Ruler of realms,I render thee thanksFor all of the honorsthat on earth I have had;175Now, gracious God,have I greatest of needThat thou save my soulthrough thy sovereign mercy,That my spirit speedto its splendid homeAnd pass into thy power,O Prince of angels,And depart in peace;this prayer I make,180That the hated hell-fiendsmay harass me not.”Then the heathen dogshewed down the noble one,And both the baronsthat by him stood—Ælfnoth and Wulfmæreach lay slaughtered;They lost their livesin their lord’s defence.185Then fled from the fraythose who feared to remain.First in the franticflight was Godric,The son of Odda;he forsook his chiefWho had granted him giftsof goodly horses;Lightly he leapton his lord’s own steed,190In its royal array—no right had he to it;His brothers alsothe battle forsook.Godwin and Godwymade good their escape,And went to the wood,for the war they disliked;They fled to the fastnessesin fear of their lives,195And many moreof the men than was fitting,Had they freshly in mindremembered the favors,The good deeds he had done themin days of old.Wise were the wordsspoken once by OffaAs he sat with his comradesassembled in council:200“There are many who boastin the mead-hall of braveryWho turn in terrorwhen trouble comes.”The chief of the folknow fell to his death,Æthelred’s earl;all his companionsLooked on their lordas he lay on the field.205Now there approachedsome proud retainers;The hardy heroeshastened madly,All of them eagereither to dieOr valiantly avengetheir vanquished lord.They were eagerly urgedby Ælfric’s son,210A warrior young in winters;these words he spoke—Ælfwine then spoke,an honorable speech:“Remember how we madein the mead-hall our vaunts,From the benches our boastsof bravery we raised,Heroes in the hall,of hard-fought battles;215The time has now comefor the test of your courage.Now I make knownmy noble descent;I come from Mercia,of mighty kinsmen;My noble grandsire’sname was Ealdhelm,Wise in the waysof the world this elder.220Among my proud peopleno reproach shall be madeThat in fear I fledafar from the battle,To leave for homewith my leader hewn down,Broken in battle;that brings me most grief;He was not only my earlbut also my kinsman.”225Then harboring hatredhe hastened forth,And with the point of spearhe pierced and slewA seaman grimwho sank to the groundUnder weight of the weapon.To war he incitedHis friends and fellows,in the fray to join.230Offa shouted;his ash-spear shook:“Thou exhortest, O Ælfwine,in the hour of need,When our lord is lyingfull low before us,The earl on the earth;we all have a dutyThat each one of usshould urge on the rest235Of the warriors to war,while his weapons in handHe may have and hold,his hard-wrought mace,His dart and good sword.The deed of Godric,The wicked son of Offa,has weakened us all;Many of the men thoughtwhen he mounted the steed,240Rode on the proud palfry,that our prince led us forth;Therefore on the fieldthe folk were divided,The shield-wall was shattered.May shame curse the manWho deceived our folkand sent them in flight.”Leofsunu spokeand his linden-shield raised,245His board to defend himand embolden his fellows:“I promise you nowfrom this place I will neverFlee a foot-space,but forward will rush,Where I vow to revengemy vanquished lord.The stalwart warriorsround Sturmere shall never250Taunt me and twit mefor traitorous conduct,That lordless I fledwhen my leader had fallen,Ran from the war;rather may weapons,The iron points slay me.”Full ireful he went;Fiercely he fought;flight he disdained.255Dunhere burst forth;his dart he brandished,Over them all;the aged churl cried,Called the brave ones to battlein Bryhtnoth’s avenging:“Let no hero now hesitatewho hopes to avengeHis lord on the foemen,nor fear for his life.”260Then forward they faredand feared not for their lives;The clansman with couragethe conflict began;Grasped their spears grimly,to God made their prayerThat they might dearly repaythe death of their lord,And deal defeatto their dastardly foes.265A hostage took hold nowand helped them with courage;He came from Northumbriaof a noble kindred,The son of Ecglaf,Æscferth his name;He paused not a whitat the play of weapons,But unerringly aimedhis arrows uncounted;270Now he shot on the shield,now he shattered a Viking;With the point of hisarrowhe pierced to themarrowWhile he wielded his weaponsof war unsubdued.Still in the frontstood the stalwart Edward,Burning for battle;his boasts he spoke:275He never would fleea foot-pace of land,Or leave his lordwhere he lay on the field;He shattered the shield-wall;with the shipmen he fought,Till on the treacherous tribesmenhis treasure-giver’s deathHe valiantly avengedere his violent end.280Such daring deedsdid the doughty Æthric,Brother of Sibyrhtand bravest of soldiers;He eagerly foughtand the others followed;They cleft the curvèd shields;keenly they battled;Then burst the buckler’s rim,and the burnies sang285A song of slaughter.Then was slain in battle,The seaman by Offa;and the earth received him;SoonOffahimselfwas slain in battle;He had laid down his lifefor his lord as he promised290In return for his treasure,when he took his vowThat they both alivefrom battle should come,Hale to their homesor lie hewn down in battle,Fallen on the fieldwith their fatal wounds;He lay by his lordlike a loyal thane.295Then shivered the shields;the shipmen advanced,Raving with rage;they ran their spearsThrough their fated foes.Forth went Wistan,Thurstan’s son then,to the thick of the conflict.In the throng he slewthree of the sailors,300Ere the son of Wigelinesent him to death.The fight was stiff;and fast they stood;In the cruel conflictthey were killed by scores,Weary with wounds;woeful was the slaughter.Oswald and Eadwoldall of the while,305Both the brothers,emboldened the warriors,Encouraged their comradeswith keen spoken words,Besought them to strivein their sore distress,To wield their weaponsand not weaken in battle.Byrhtwold then spoke;his buckler he lifted,310The old companion,his ash-spear shookAnd boldly encouragedhis comrades to battle:“Your courage be the harder,your hearts be the keener,And sterner the strifeas your strength grows less.Here lies our leaderlow on the earth,315Struck down in the dust;doleful foreverBe the traitor who triesto turn from the war-play.I am old of years,but yet I flee not;Staunch and steadfastI stand by my lord,And I long to beby my loved chief.”320So the son of Æthelgarsaid to them all.Godric emboldened them;oft he brandished his lance,Violently threwat the Vikings his war-spear,So that first among the folkhe fought to the end;Hewed down and hacked,till the hated ones killed him—325Not that Godric who fledin disgrace from the fight.. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .5.Offa’s kinsmanis not named. Offa himself is mentioned in line 286.8.Is the fact that the earl is amusing himself with a falcon just before the battle to be taken as a sign of contempt for the enemy?65.“ThePanta, or Blackwater as it is now called, opens at Maldon into a large estuary, where a strong tide runs.”—Sedgefield.70.The approaches to the bridge were covered with water at high tide; hence the Norsemen feared to cross at high tide and asked for a truce.140.The soldier is Byrhtnoth.151.This refers to Byrhtnoth.271.The two halves of the line rime in the original.287.Offa: “the kinsman of Gad” in the original. The reference is to Offa and we have avoided confusion by translating the phrase by the name of the man meant.
THE BATTLE OF BRUNNANBURG[Critical edition: Sedgefield,The Battle of Maldon and Six Short Poems from the Saxon Chronicle, Boston, 1904, Belles Lettres Edition.Translation: Tennyson; Pancoast and Spaeth,Early English Poems, p. 81.Date: It appears in the Chronicle under the year 937.Danes living north of the Humber conspired with their kinsmen in Ireland under the two Olafs, together with the Scottish king Constantine and the Strathclyde Britons under their king Eugenius, against Æthelstan, king of Wessex. The allies met in the south of Northumbria. Æthelstan encountered them at Brunnanburg and defeated them.The site of Brunnanburg has not been identified. The best claim is probably for Bramber, near Preston, in the neighborhood of which, in 1840, was found a great hoard of silver ingots and coins, none later than 950. This was possibly the war chest of the confederacy.Dyngesmerehas not been identified.More than half the half-lines are exact copies from other Anglo-Saxon poems.]Here Æthelstan the king,of earls the lord,Bracelet-giver of baronsand his brother as well,Edmund the Ætheling,honor eternalWon at warfareby the wielding of swords5Near Brunnanburg;they broke the linden-wall,Struck down the shieldswith the sharp work of hammers,The heirs of Edward,as of old had been taughtBy their kinsmen who clashedin conflict oftenDefending their firesidesagainst foemen invaders,10Their hoards and their homes.The hated ones perished,Soldiers of Scotlandand seamen-warriors—Fated they fell.The field was wetWith the blood of the brave,after the bright sunHad mounted at morning,the master of planets15Glided over the ground,God’s candle clear,The Lord’s everlasting,till the lamp of heavenSank to its setting.Soldiers full manyLay mangled by spears,men of the Northland,Shamefully shoto’er their shields, and Scotchmen,20Weary and war-sated.The West-Saxons forthAll during the daywith their daring menFollowed the tracksof their foemen’s troops.From behind they hewedand harried the fleeing,With sharp-ground swords.Never shunned the Mercians25The hard hand-playof hero or warriorWho over the oar-pathwith Anlaf did come,Who sailed on a shipand sought the land,Fated in fight.Five chieftains layKilled in the conflict,kings full youthful,30Put to sleep by the sword,and seven alsoOf the earls ofAnlaf,and others unnumbered,Of sailors and Scotchmen.Sent forth in flight thenWas the prince of the Northmen,pressed hard by need,To the stem of his ship;with a staunch little band35To the high sea he hurried;in haste the king sailedOver the fallow flood,fled for his life.Also the sage onesorrowfully northwardCrept to his kinsmen,Constantinus,The hoary war-hero;for him was small need40To boast of the battle-play;the best of his kinsmenAnd friends had fallenon the field of battle,Slain at the strife,and his son left behindOn the field of fight,felled and wounded,Young at the battle.No boast dared he make45Of strife and of sword-play,the silver-haired leader,Full of age and of evil,nor had Anlaf the more.With their vanquished survivorsno vaunt could they makeThat in works of wartheir worth was unequalled,In the fearful field,in the flashing of standards,50In the meeting of men,and the mingling of spears,And the war-play of weapons,when they had waged their battleAgainst theheirs of Edwardon the awful plain.Now departed the Northmenin their nailed ships,Dreary from dart-playon Dyngesmere.55Over the deep waterto Dublin they sailed,Broken and baffledback to Ireland.So, too, the brothersboth went together,The King and theÆtheling;to their kinsmen’s home,To the wide land of Wessex—warrior’s exultant.60To feast on the fallenon the field they leftThe sallow-hued spoiler,the swarthy raven,Horned of beak,and the hoary-backedWhite-tailed eagleto eat of the carrion,And the greedy goshawk,and that gray beast,65The wolf in the wood.Not worse was the slaughterEver on this islandat any time,Or more folk felledbefore this strifeWith the edge of the sword,as is said in old books,In ancient authors,since from the east hither70The Angles and Saxonseagerly sailedOver the salt seain search of Britain,—Since the crafty warriorsconquered the WelshmenAnd, greedy for glory,gained them the land.31.Anlaf: the Old English form of “Olaf.”52.Heirs of Edward: the English, descendants of Edward the Elder.58.The Ætheling: Edmund the Ætheling (or prince) ofline 3.
[Critical edition: Sedgefield,The Battle of Maldon and Six Short Poems from the Saxon Chronicle, Boston, 1904, Belles Lettres Edition.Translation: Tennyson; Pancoast and Spaeth,Early English Poems, p. 81.Date: It appears in the Chronicle under the year 937.Danes living north of the Humber conspired with their kinsmen in Ireland under the two Olafs, together with the Scottish king Constantine and the Strathclyde Britons under their king Eugenius, against Æthelstan, king of Wessex. The allies met in the south of Northumbria. Æthelstan encountered them at Brunnanburg and defeated them.The site of Brunnanburg has not been identified. The best claim is probably for Bramber, near Preston, in the neighborhood of which, in 1840, was found a great hoard of silver ingots and coins, none later than 950. This was possibly the war chest of the confederacy.Dyngesmerehas not been identified.More than half the half-lines are exact copies from other Anglo-Saxon poems.]
[Critical edition: Sedgefield,The Battle of Maldon and Six Short Poems from the Saxon Chronicle, Boston, 1904, Belles Lettres Edition.
Translation: Tennyson; Pancoast and Spaeth,Early English Poems, p. 81.
Date: It appears in the Chronicle under the year 937.
Danes living north of the Humber conspired with their kinsmen in Ireland under the two Olafs, together with the Scottish king Constantine and the Strathclyde Britons under their king Eugenius, against Æthelstan, king of Wessex. The allies met in the south of Northumbria. Æthelstan encountered them at Brunnanburg and defeated them.
The site of Brunnanburg has not been identified. The best claim is probably for Bramber, near Preston, in the neighborhood of which, in 1840, was found a great hoard of silver ingots and coins, none later than 950. This was possibly the war chest of the confederacy.Dyngesmerehas not been identified.
More than half the half-lines are exact copies from other Anglo-Saxon poems.]
Here Æthelstan the king,of earls the lord,Bracelet-giver of baronsand his brother as well,Edmund the Ætheling,honor eternalWon at warfareby the wielding of swords5Near Brunnanburg;they broke the linden-wall,Struck down the shieldswith the sharp work of hammers,The heirs of Edward,as of old had been taughtBy their kinsmen who clashedin conflict oftenDefending their firesidesagainst foemen invaders,10Their hoards and their homes.The hated ones perished,Soldiers of Scotlandand seamen-warriors—Fated they fell.The field was wetWith the blood of the brave,after the bright sunHad mounted at morning,the master of planets15Glided over the ground,God’s candle clear,The Lord’s everlasting,till the lamp of heavenSank to its setting.Soldiers full manyLay mangled by spears,men of the Northland,Shamefully shoto’er their shields, and Scotchmen,20Weary and war-sated.The West-Saxons forthAll during the daywith their daring menFollowed the tracksof their foemen’s troops.From behind they hewedand harried the fleeing,With sharp-ground swords.Never shunned the Mercians25The hard hand-playof hero or warriorWho over the oar-pathwith Anlaf did come,Who sailed on a shipand sought the land,Fated in fight.Five chieftains layKilled in the conflict,kings full youthful,30Put to sleep by the sword,and seven alsoOf the earls ofAnlaf,and others unnumbered,Of sailors and Scotchmen.Sent forth in flight thenWas the prince of the Northmen,pressed hard by need,To the stem of his ship;with a staunch little band35To the high sea he hurried;in haste the king sailedOver the fallow flood,fled for his life.Also the sage onesorrowfully northwardCrept to his kinsmen,Constantinus,The hoary war-hero;for him was small need40To boast of the battle-play;the best of his kinsmenAnd friends had fallenon the field of battle,Slain at the strife,and his son left behindOn the field of fight,felled and wounded,Young at the battle.No boast dared he make45Of strife and of sword-play,the silver-haired leader,Full of age and of evil,nor had Anlaf the more.With their vanquished survivorsno vaunt could they makeThat in works of wartheir worth was unequalled,In the fearful field,in the flashing of standards,50In the meeting of men,and the mingling of spears,And the war-play of weapons,when they had waged their battleAgainst theheirs of Edwardon the awful plain.Now departed the Northmenin their nailed ships,Dreary from dart-playon Dyngesmere.55Over the deep waterto Dublin they sailed,Broken and baffledback to Ireland.So, too, the brothersboth went together,The King and theÆtheling;to their kinsmen’s home,To the wide land of Wessex—warrior’s exultant.60To feast on the fallenon the field they leftThe sallow-hued spoiler,the swarthy raven,Horned of beak,and the hoary-backedWhite-tailed eagleto eat of the carrion,And the greedy goshawk,and that gray beast,65The wolf in the wood.Not worse was the slaughterEver on this islandat any time,Or more folk felledbefore this strifeWith the edge of the sword,as is said in old books,In ancient authors,since from the east hither70The Angles and Saxonseagerly sailedOver the salt seain search of Britain,—Since the crafty warriorsconquered the WelshmenAnd, greedy for glory,gained them the land.
Here Æthelstan the king,of earls the lord,
Bracelet-giver of baronsand his brother as well,
Edmund the Ætheling,honor eternal
Won at warfareby the wielding of swords
5Near Brunnanburg;they broke the linden-wall,
Struck down the shieldswith the sharp work of hammers,
The heirs of Edward,as of old had been taught
By their kinsmen who clashedin conflict often
Defending their firesidesagainst foemen invaders,
10Their hoards and their homes.The hated ones perished,
Soldiers of Scotlandand seamen-warriors—
Fated they fell.The field was wet
With the blood of the brave,after the bright sun
Had mounted at morning,the master of planets
15Glided over the ground,God’s candle clear,
The Lord’s everlasting,till the lamp of heaven
Sank to its setting.Soldiers full many
Lay mangled by spears,men of the Northland,
Shamefully shoto’er their shields, and Scotchmen,
20Weary and war-sated.The West-Saxons forth
All during the daywith their daring men
Followed the tracksof their foemen’s troops.
From behind they hewedand harried the fleeing,
With sharp-ground swords.Never shunned the Mercians
25The hard hand-playof hero or warrior
Who over the oar-pathwith Anlaf did come,
Who sailed on a shipand sought the land,
Fated in fight.
Five chieftains lay
Killed in the conflict,kings full youthful,
30Put to sleep by the sword,and seven also
Of the earls ofAnlaf,and others unnumbered,
Of sailors and Scotchmen.Sent forth in flight then
Was the prince of the Northmen,pressed hard by need,
To the stem of his ship;with a staunch little band
35To the high sea he hurried;in haste the king sailed
Over the fallow flood,fled for his life.
Also the sage onesorrowfully northward
Crept to his kinsmen,Constantinus,
The hoary war-hero;for him was small need
40To boast of the battle-play;the best of his kinsmen
And friends had fallenon the field of battle,
Slain at the strife,and his son left behind
On the field of fight,felled and wounded,
Young at the battle.No boast dared he make
45Of strife and of sword-play,the silver-haired leader,
Full of age and of evil,nor had Anlaf the more.
With their vanquished survivorsno vaunt could they make
That in works of wartheir worth was unequalled,
In the fearful field,in the flashing of standards,
50In the meeting of men,and the mingling of spears,
And the war-play of weapons,when they had waged their battle
Against theheirs of Edwardon the awful plain.
Now departed the Northmenin their nailed ships,
Dreary from dart-playon Dyngesmere.
55Over the deep waterto Dublin they sailed,
Broken and baffledback to Ireland.
So, too, the brothersboth went together,
The King and theÆtheling;to their kinsmen’s home,
To the wide land of Wessex—warrior’s exultant.
60To feast on the fallenon the field they left
The sallow-hued spoiler,the swarthy raven,
Horned of beak,and the hoary-backed
White-tailed eagleto eat of the carrion,
And the greedy goshawk,and that gray beast,
65The wolf in the wood.Not worse was the slaughter
Ever on this islandat any time,
Or more folk felledbefore this strife
With the edge of the sword,as is said in old books,
In ancient authors,since from the east hither
70The Angles and Saxonseagerly sailed
Over the salt seain search of Britain,—
Since the crafty warriorsconquered the Welshmen
And, greedy for glory,gained them the land.
31.Anlaf: the Old English form of “Olaf.”52.Heirs of Edward: the English, descendants of Edward the Elder.58.The Ætheling: Edmund the Ætheling (or prince) ofline 3.
31.Anlaf: the Old English form of “Olaf.”
52.Heirs of Edward: the English, descendants of Edward the Elder.
58.The Ætheling: Edmund the Ætheling (or prince) ofline 3.
THE BATTLE OF MALDON[Critical edition: Sedgefield,The Battle of Maldon and Six Short Poems from the Saxon Chronicle, Boston, 1904, Belles Lettres Edition.Date: It appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 991.“The Battle of Maldontreats not of legendary heroes of the Germanic races but of an actual historic personage, an English hero and patriot fallen in battle against a foreign invader a very short time before the poem was made. A single event in contemporary history is here described with hardly suppressed emotion by one who knew his hero and loved him. There is none of the allusiveness and excursiveness of theBeowulf; we have here not a member of an epic cycle, but an independent song. Very striking is the absence of ornament from theBattle of Maldon; all is plain, blunt, and stern.”—Sedgefield,The Battle of Maldon, pp. vi-vii.]. . . . . . . . . .was broken;He bade the young baronsabandon their horses,To drive them afarand dash quickly forth,In their hands and brave heartto put all hope of success.5Thekinsman of Offadiscovered then firstThat the earl would not brookdishonorable bearing.He held in his handthe hawkthat he loved,Let him flyto the fields;to the fight then he stepped;By this one could knowthat the knight was unwilling10To weaken in war,when his weapons he seized.Edric wished alsoto aid his chief,His folk-lord in fight;forward he boreHis brand to the battle;a brave heart he hadSo long as he heldlocked in his hand15His board and his broad sword;his boast he made good,Fearless to fightbefore his lord.Then Byrhtnoth beganto embolden the warriors;He rode and counseled them,his comrades he taughtHow they should standin the stronghold’s defence,20Bade them to beartheir bucklers correctly,Fast by their handswithout fear in their hearts.When the folk by fair wordshe had fired with zeal,He alighted in a crowdof his loyal comrades,Where he felt that his friendswere most faithful and true.25Then he stood on the strand;sternly the messengerOf the Vikings calledin vaunting words,Brought him the boastof the bloody seamen,The errand to the earl,at the edge of the water:“I am sent to theeby seamen bold;30They bade me summon theeto send them quicklyRings for a ransom,and rather than fightIt is better for youto bargain with goldThan that we should fiercelyfight you in battle.It is futile to fightif you fill our demands;35If you give us goldwe will grant you a truce.If commands thou wilt make,who art mightiest of warriors,That thy folk shall be freefrom the foemen’s attack,Shall give of their wealthat the will of the seamen,A treasure for tribute,with a truce in return,40We will go with the goldagain to our ships,We will sail to the seaand vouchsafe to you peace.”Byrhtnoth burst forth,his buckler he grasped,His spear he seized,and spoke in wordsFull of anger and ire,and answer he gave:45“Dost thou hear, oh seamen,what our heroes say?Spears they will sendto the sailors as tribute,Poisoned points andpowerful swords,And such weapons of waras shall win you no battles.Envoy of Vikings,your vauntings return,50Fare to thy folkwith a far sterner message,That here staunchly standswith his steadfast troops,The lord that will fightfor the land of his fathers,For the realm of Æthelred,my royal chief,For his folk and his fold;fallen shall lie55The heathen at shield-play;Shameful I deem itWith our treasure as tributethat you take to your ships,Without facing a fight,since thus far hitherYou have come and encroachedon our king’s domain.You shall not so easilyearn our treasure;60You must prove your powerwith point and sword edge,With grim war gripere we grant you tribute.”He bade then his bandto bear forth their shields,Until they arrivedat the river bank.The waters preventedthe warriors’ encounter;65The tide flowed in,the flood after the ebb,Locked up the land;too long it seemedUntil they could meetand mingle their spears.ByPanta’s streamthey stood in array,The East Saxon armyand the eager shield-warriors;70Each troop was helplessto work harm on the other,Save the few who were felledby a flight of arrows.The flood receded;the sailors stood ready,All of the Vikingseager for victory.Byrhtnoth bade thebridge to be defended,75The brave-hearted warrior,by Wulfstan the boldWith his crowd of kinsmen;he was Ceola’s son,And he felled the firstof the foemen who steppedOn the bridge, the boldestof the band of men.There waited with Wulfstanthe warriors undaunted,80Ælfhere and Maccus,men of courage;At the ford not a footwould they flee the encounter,But close in conflictthey clashed with the foe,As long as they wieldedtheir weapons with strength.As soon as they sawand perceived it clearly,85How fiercely foughtwas the defense of the bridge,The treacherous tribein trickery askedThat they be allowedto lead their hostsFor a closer conflict,to cross over the ford.Then the earl, too eagerto enter the fight,90Allowed too much landto the loathed pirates.Clearly then calledover the cold waterByrhthelm’s son;the soldiers listened:“Room is now made for you;rush quickly hereForward to the fray;fate will decide95Into whose power shall passthis place of battle.”Went then the battle-wolves—of water they recked not—The pirate warriorswest over Panta;Over the bright wavesthey bore their shields;The seamen steppedto the strand with their lindens.100In ready arrayagainst the raging hostsStood Byrhtnoth’s band;he bade them with shieldsTo form a phalanx,and to defend themselves stoutly,Fast holding the foe.The fight was near,The triumph at conflict;the time had come105When fated menshould fall in battle.Then arose an alarm;the ravens soared,The eagle eager for prey;on earth was commotion.Then sped from their handsthe hardened spears,Flew in furyfile-sharpened darts;110Bows were busy,boards met javelins,Cruel was the conflict;in companies they fell;On every handlay heaps of youths.Wulfmere was woefullywounded to death,Slaughtered the sister’sson of Byrhtnoth;115With swords he was stronglystricken to earth.To the vikings quicklyrequital was given;I learned that Edwardalone attackedStoutly with his sword,not stinting his blows,So that fell at his feetmany fated invaders;120For his prowess the princegave praise and thanksTo his chamberlain brave,when chance would permit.So firm of purposethey fought in their turn,Young men in battle;they yearned especiallyTo lead their linewith the least delay125To fight their foesin fatal conflict,Warriors with weapons.The world seethed with slaughter.Steadfast they stood,stirred up by Byrhtnoth;He bade his thanesto think on battle,And fight for famewith the foemen Danes.130The fierce warrior went,his weapon he raised,His shield for a shelter;to the soldier he came;The chief to the churla challenge addressed;Each to the otherhad evil intent.The seamen then sentfrom the south a spear,135So that wounded laythe lord of the warriors;He shoved with his shieldtill the shaft was broken,And burst the speartill back it sprang.Enraged was the daring one;he rushed with his dartOn the wicked warriorwho had wounded him sore.140Sage wasthe soldier;he sent his javelinThrough the grim youth’s neck;he guided his handAnd furiously felledhis foeman dead.Straightway anotherhe strongly attacked,And burst his burnie;in his breast he wounded him.145Through his hard coat-of-mail;in his heart there stoodThe poisoned point.Pleased was the earl,Loudly he laughed,to the Lord he gave thanksFor the deeds of the daythe Redeemer had granted.A hostile youth hurledfrom his hand a dart;150The spear in flightthen sped too far,Andthe honorable earlof Æthelred fell.By his side there stooda stripling youth,A boy in battlewho boldly drewThe bloody brandfrom the breast of his chief.155The young Wulfmere,Wulfstan’s son,Gave back againthe gory war-lance;The point pierced home,so that prostrate layThe Viking whose valorhad vanquished the earl.To the earl then wentan armed warrior;160He sought to snatchand seize his rings,His booty and bracelets,his bright shining sword.Byrhtnoth snatched forththe brown-edged weaponFrom his sheath, and sharplyshook the attacker;Certain of the seamentoo soon joined against him,165As he checked the armof the charging enemy;Now sank to the groundhis golden brand;He might not holdthe hilt of his mace,Nor wield his weapons.These words still he spoke,To embolden the youths;the battle-scarred hero170Called on his comradesto conquer their foes;He no longer had strengthto stand on his feet,. . . . . . . .he looked to heaven:“Ruler of realms,I render thee thanksFor all of the honorsthat on earth I have had;175Now, gracious God,have I greatest of needThat thou save my soulthrough thy sovereign mercy,That my spirit speedto its splendid homeAnd pass into thy power,O Prince of angels,And depart in peace;this prayer I make,180That the hated hell-fiendsmay harass me not.”Then the heathen dogshewed down the noble one,And both the baronsthat by him stood—Ælfnoth and Wulfmæreach lay slaughtered;They lost their livesin their lord’s defence.185Then fled from the fraythose who feared to remain.First in the franticflight was Godric,The son of Odda;he forsook his chiefWho had granted him giftsof goodly horses;Lightly he leapton his lord’s own steed,190In its royal array—no right had he to it;His brothers alsothe battle forsook.Godwin and Godwymade good their escape,And went to the wood,for the war they disliked;They fled to the fastnessesin fear of their lives,195And many moreof the men than was fitting,Had they freshly in mindremembered the favors,The good deeds he had done themin days of old.Wise were the wordsspoken once by OffaAs he sat with his comradesassembled in council:200“There are many who boastin the mead-hall of braveryWho turn in terrorwhen trouble comes.”The chief of the folknow fell to his death,Æthelred’s earl;all his companionsLooked on their lordas he lay on the field.205Now there approachedsome proud retainers;The hardy heroeshastened madly,All of them eagereither to dieOr valiantly avengetheir vanquished lord.They were eagerly urgedby Ælfric’s son,210A warrior young in winters;these words he spoke—Ælfwine then spoke,an honorable speech:“Remember how we madein the mead-hall our vaunts,From the benches our boastsof bravery we raised,Heroes in the hall,of hard-fought battles;215The time has now comefor the test of your courage.Now I make knownmy noble descent;I come from Mercia,of mighty kinsmen;My noble grandsire’sname was Ealdhelm,Wise in the waysof the world this elder.220Among my proud peopleno reproach shall be madeThat in fear I fledafar from the battle,To leave for homewith my leader hewn down,Broken in battle;that brings me most grief;He was not only my earlbut also my kinsman.”225Then harboring hatredhe hastened forth,And with the point of spearhe pierced and slewA seaman grimwho sank to the groundUnder weight of the weapon.To war he incitedHis friends and fellows,in the fray to join.230Offa shouted;his ash-spear shook:“Thou exhortest, O Ælfwine,in the hour of need,When our lord is lyingfull low before us,The earl on the earth;we all have a dutyThat each one of usshould urge on the rest235Of the warriors to war,while his weapons in handHe may have and hold,his hard-wrought mace,His dart and good sword.The deed of Godric,The wicked son of Offa,has weakened us all;Many of the men thoughtwhen he mounted the steed,240Rode on the proud palfry,that our prince led us forth;Therefore on the fieldthe folk were divided,The shield-wall was shattered.May shame curse the manWho deceived our folkand sent them in flight.”Leofsunu spokeand his linden-shield raised,245His board to defend himand embolden his fellows:“I promise you nowfrom this place I will neverFlee a foot-space,but forward will rush,Where I vow to revengemy vanquished lord.The stalwart warriorsround Sturmere shall never250Taunt me and twit mefor traitorous conduct,That lordless I fledwhen my leader had fallen,Ran from the war;rather may weapons,The iron points slay me.”Full ireful he went;Fiercely he fought;flight he disdained.255Dunhere burst forth;his dart he brandished,Over them all;the aged churl cried,Called the brave ones to battlein Bryhtnoth’s avenging:“Let no hero now hesitatewho hopes to avengeHis lord on the foemen,nor fear for his life.”260Then forward they faredand feared not for their lives;The clansman with couragethe conflict began;Grasped their spears grimly,to God made their prayerThat they might dearly repaythe death of their lord,And deal defeatto their dastardly foes.265A hostage took hold nowand helped them with courage;He came from Northumbriaof a noble kindred,The son of Ecglaf,Æscferth his name;He paused not a whitat the play of weapons,But unerringly aimedhis arrows uncounted;270Now he shot on the shield,now he shattered a Viking;With the point of hisarrowhe pierced to themarrowWhile he wielded his weaponsof war unsubdued.Still in the frontstood the stalwart Edward,Burning for battle;his boasts he spoke:275He never would fleea foot-pace of land,Or leave his lordwhere he lay on the field;He shattered the shield-wall;with the shipmen he fought,Till on the treacherous tribesmenhis treasure-giver’s deathHe valiantly avengedere his violent end.280Such daring deedsdid the doughty Æthric,Brother of Sibyrhtand bravest of soldiers;He eagerly foughtand the others followed;They cleft the curvèd shields;keenly they battled;Then burst the buckler’s rim,and the burnies sang285A song of slaughter.Then was slain in battle,The seaman by Offa;and the earth received him;SoonOffahimselfwas slain in battle;He had laid down his lifefor his lord as he promised290In return for his treasure,when he took his vowThat they both alivefrom battle should come,Hale to their homesor lie hewn down in battle,Fallen on the fieldwith their fatal wounds;He lay by his lordlike a loyal thane.295Then shivered the shields;the shipmen advanced,Raving with rage;they ran their spearsThrough their fated foes.Forth went Wistan,Thurstan’s son then,to the thick of the conflict.In the throng he slewthree of the sailors,300Ere the son of Wigelinesent him to death.The fight was stiff;and fast they stood;In the cruel conflictthey were killed by scores,Weary with wounds;woeful was the slaughter.Oswald and Eadwoldall of the while,305Both the brothers,emboldened the warriors,Encouraged their comradeswith keen spoken words,Besought them to strivein their sore distress,To wield their weaponsand not weaken in battle.Byrhtwold then spoke;his buckler he lifted,310The old companion,his ash-spear shookAnd boldly encouragedhis comrades to battle:“Your courage be the harder,your hearts be the keener,And sterner the strifeas your strength grows less.Here lies our leaderlow on the earth,315Struck down in the dust;doleful foreverBe the traitor who triesto turn from the war-play.I am old of years,but yet I flee not;Staunch and steadfastI stand by my lord,And I long to beby my loved chief.”320So the son of Æthelgarsaid to them all.Godric emboldened them;oft he brandished his lance,Violently threwat the Vikings his war-spear,So that first among the folkhe fought to the end;Hewed down and hacked,till the hated ones killed him—325Not that Godric who fledin disgrace from the fight.. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .5.Offa’s kinsmanis not named. Offa himself is mentioned in line 286.8.Is the fact that the earl is amusing himself with a falcon just before the battle to be taken as a sign of contempt for the enemy?65.“ThePanta, or Blackwater as it is now called, opens at Maldon into a large estuary, where a strong tide runs.”—Sedgefield.70.The approaches to the bridge were covered with water at high tide; hence the Norsemen feared to cross at high tide and asked for a truce.140.The soldier is Byrhtnoth.151.This refers to Byrhtnoth.271.The two halves of the line rime in the original.287.Offa: “the kinsman of Gad” in the original. The reference is to Offa and we have avoided confusion by translating the phrase by the name of the man meant.
[Critical edition: Sedgefield,The Battle of Maldon and Six Short Poems from the Saxon Chronicle, Boston, 1904, Belles Lettres Edition.Date: It appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 991.“The Battle of Maldontreats not of legendary heroes of the Germanic races but of an actual historic personage, an English hero and patriot fallen in battle against a foreign invader a very short time before the poem was made. A single event in contemporary history is here described with hardly suppressed emotion by one who knew his hero and loved him. There is none of the allusiveness and excursiveness of theBeowulf; we have here not a member of an epic cycle, but an independent song. Very striking is the absence of ornament from theBattle of Maldon; all is plain, blunt, and stern.”—Sedgefield,The Battle of Maldon, pp. vi-vii.]
[Critical edition: Sedgefield,The Battle of Maldon and Six Short Poems from the Saxon Chronicle, Boston, 1904, Belles Lettres Edition.
Date: It appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 991.
“The Battle of Maldontreats not of legendary heroes of the Germanic races but of an actual historic personage, an English hero and patriot fallen in battle against a foreign invader a very short time before the poem was made. A single event in contemporary history is here described with hardly suppressed emotion by one who knew his hero and loved him. There is none of the allusiveness and excursiveness of theBeowulf; we have here not a member of an epic cycle, but an independent song. Very striking is the absence of ornament from theBattle of Maldon; all is plain, blunt, and stern.”—Sedgefield,The Battle of Maldon, pp. vi-vii.]
. . . . . . . . . .was broken;He bade the young baronsabandon their horses,To drive them afarand dash quickly forth,In their hands and brave heartto put all hope of success.5Thekinsman of Offadiscovered then firstThat the earl would not brookdishonorable bearing.He held in his handthe hawkthat he loved,Let him flyto the fields;to the fight then he stepped;By this one could knowthat the knight was unwilling10To weaken in war,when his weapons he seized.Edric wished alsoto aid his chief,His folk-lord in fight;forward he boreHis brand to the battle;a brave heart he hadSo long as he heldlocked in his hand15His board and his broad sword;his boast he made good,Fearless to fightbefore his lord.Then Byrhtnoth beganto embolden the warriors;He rode and counseled them,his comrades he taughtHow they should standin the stronghold’s defence,20Bade them to beartheir bucklers correctly,Fast by their handswithout fear in their hearts.When the folk by fair wordshe had fired with zeal,He alighted in a crowdof his loyal comrades,Where he felt that his friendswere most faithful and true.25Then he stood on the strand;sternly the messengerOf the Vikings calledin vaunting words,Brought him the boastof the bloody seamen,The errand to the earl,at the edge of the water:“I am sent to theeby seamen bold;30They bade me summon theeto send them quicklyRings for a ransom,and rather than fightIt is better for youto bargain with goldThan that we should fiercelyfight you in battle.It is futile to fightif you fill our demands;35If you give us goldwe will grant you a truce.If commands thou wilt make,who art mightiest of warriors,That thy folk shall be freefrom the foemen’s attack,Shall give of their wealthat the will of the seamen,A treasure for tribute,with a truce in return,40We will go with the goldagain to our ships,We will sail to the seaand vouchsafe to you peace.”Byrhtnoth burst forth,his buckler he grasped,His spear he seized,and spoke in wordsFull of anger and ire,and answer he gave:45“Dost thou hear, oh seamen,what our heroes say?Spears they will sendto the sailors as tribute,Poisoned points andpowerful swords,And such weapons of waras shall win you no battles.Envoy of Vikings,your vauntings return,50Fare to thy folkwith a far sterner message,That here staunchly standswith his steadfast troops,The lord that will fightfor the land of his fathers,For the realm of Æthelred,my royal chief,For his folk and his fold;fallen shall lie55The heathen at shield-play;Shameful I deem itWith our treasure as tributethat you take to your ships,Without facing a fight,since thus far hitherYou have come and encroachedon our king’s domain.You shall not so easilyearn our treasure;60You must prove your powerwith point and sword edge,With grim war gripere we grant you tribute.”He bade then his bandto bear forth their shields,Until they arrivedat the river bank.The waters preventedthe warriors’ encounter;65The tide flowed in,the flood after the ebb,Locked up the land;too long it seemedUntil they could meetand mingle their spears.ByPanta’s streamthey stood in array,The East Saxon armyand the eager shield-warriors;70Each troop was helplessto work harm on the other,Save the few who were felledby a flight of arrows.The flood receded;the sailors stood ready,All of the Vikingseager for victory.Byrhtnoth bade thebridge to be defended,75The brave-hearted warrior,by Wulfstan the boldWith his crowd of kinsmen;he was Ceola’s son,And he felled the firstof the foemen who steppedOn the bridge, the boldestof the band of men.There waited with Wulfstanthe warriors undaunted,80Ælfhere and Maccus,men of courage;At the ford not a footwould they flee the encounter,But close in conflictthey clashed with the foe,As long as they wieldedtheir weapons with strength.As soon as they sawand perceived it clearly,85How fiercely foughtwas the defense of the bridge,The treacherous tribein trickery askedThat they be allowedto lead their hostsFor a closer conflict,to cross over the ford.Then the earl, too eagerto enter the fight,90Allowed too much landto the loathed pirates.Clearly then calledover the cold waterByrhthelm’s son;the soldiers listened:“Room is now made for you;rush quickly hereForward to the fray;fate will decide95Into whose power shall passthis place of battle.”Went then the battle-wolves—of water they recked not—The pirate warriorswest over Panta;Over the bright wavesthey bore their shields;The seamen steppedto the strand with their lindens.100In ready arrayagainst the raging hostsStood Byrhtnoth’s band;he bade them with shieldsTo form a phalanx,and to defend themselves stoutly,Fast holding the foe.The fight was near,The triumph at conflict;the time had come105When fated menshould fall in battle.Then arose an alarm;the ravens soared,The eagle eager for prey;on earth was commotion.Then sped from their handsthe hardened spears,Flew in furyfile-sharpened darts;110Bows were busy,boards met javelins,Cruel was the conflict;in companies they fell;On every handlay heaps of youths.Wulfmere was woefullywounded to death,Slaughtered the sister’sson of Byrhtnoth;115With swords he was stronglystricken to earth.To the vikings quicklyrequital was given;I learned that Edwardalone attackedStoutly with his sword,not stinting his blows,So that fell at his feetmany fated invaders;120For his prowess the princegave praise and thanksTo his chamberlain brave,when chance would permit.So firm of purposethey fought in their turn,Young men in battle;they yearned especiallyTo lead their linewith the least delay125To fight their foesin fatal conflict,Warriors with weapons.The world seethed with slaughter.Steadfast they stood,stirred up by Byrhtnoth;He bade his thanesto think on battle,And fight for famewith the foemen Danes.130The fierce warrior went,his weapon he raised,His shield for a shelter;to the soldier he came;The chief to the churla challenge addressed;Each to the otherhad evil intent.The seamen then sentfrom the south a spear,135So that wounded laythe lord of the warriors;He shoved with his shieldtill the shaft was broken,And burst the speartill back it sprang.Enraged was the daring one;he rushed with his dartOn the wicked warriorwho had wounded him sore.140Sage wasthe soldier;he sent his javelinThrough the grim youth’s neck;he guided his handAnd furiously felledhis foeman dead.Straightway anotherhe strongly attacked,And burst his burnie;in his breast he wounded him.145Through his hard coat-of-mail;in his heart there stoodThe poisoned point.Pleased was the earl,Loudly he laughed,to the Lord he gave thanksFor the deeds of the daythe Redeemer had granted.A hostile youth hurledfrom his hand a dart;150The spear in flightthen sped too far,Andthe honorable earlof Æthelred fell.By his side there stooda stripling youth,A boy in battlewho boldly drewThe bloody brandfrom the breast of his chief.155The young Wulfmere,Wulfstan’s son,Gave back againthe gory war-lance;The point pierced home,so that prostrate layThe Viking whose valorhad vanquished the earl.To the earl then wentan armed warrior;160He sought to snatchand seize his rings,His booty and bracelets,his bright shining sword.Byrhtnoth snatched forththe brown-edged weaponFrom his sheath, and sharplyshook the attacker;Certain of the seamentoo soon joined against him,165As he checked the armof the charging enemy;Now sank to the groundhis golden brand;He might not holdthe hilt of his mace,Nor wield his weapons.These words still he spoke,To embolden the youths;the battle-scarred hero170Called on his comradesto conquer their foes;He no longer had strengthto stand on his feet,. . . . . . . .he looked to heaven:“Ruler of realms,I render thee thanksFor all of the honorsthat on earth I have had;175Now, gracious God,have I greatest of needThat thou save my soulthrough thy sovereign mercy,That my spirit speedto its splendid homeAnd pass into thy power,O Prince of angels,And depart in peace;this prayer I make,180That the hated hell-fiendsmay harass me not.”Then the heathen dogshewed down the noble one,And both the baronsthat by him stood—Ælfnoth and Wulfmæreach lay slaughtered;They lost their livesin their lord’s defence.185Then fled from the fraythose who feared to remain.First in the franticflight was Godric,The son of Odda;he forsook his chiefWho had granted him giftsof goodly horses;Lightly he leapton his lord’s own steed,190In its royal array—no right had he to it;His brothers alsothe battle forsook.Godwin and Godwymade good their escape,And went to the wood,for the war they disliked;They fled to the fastnessesin fear of their lives,195And many moreof the men than was fitting,Had they freshly in mindremembered the favors,The good deeds he had done themin days of old.Wise were the wordsspoken once by OffaAs he sat with his comradesassembled in council:200“There are many who boastin the mead-hall of braveryWho turn in terrorwhen trouble comes.”The chief of the folknow fell to his death,Æthelred’s earl;all his companionsLooked on their lordas he lay on the field.205Now there approachedsome proud retainers;The hardy heroeshastened madly,All of them eagereither to dieOr valiantly avengetheir vanquished lord.They were eagerly urgedby Ælfric’s son,210A warrior young in winters;these words he spoke—Ælfwine then spoke,an honorable speech:“Remember how we madein the mead-hall our vaunts,From the benches our boastsof bravery we raised,Heroes in the hall,of hard-fought battles;215The time has now comefor the test of your courage.Now I make knownmy noble descent;I come from Mercia,of mighty kinsmen;My noble grandsire’sname was Ealdhelm,Wise in the waysof the world this elder.220Among my proud peopleno reproach shall be madeThat in fear I fledafar from the battle,To leave for homewith my leader hewn down,Broken in battle;that brings me most grief;He was not only my earlbut also my kinsman.”225Then harboring hatredhe hastened forth,And with the point of spearhe pierced and slewA seaman grimwho sank to the groundUnder weight of the weapon.To war he incitedHis friends and fellows,in the fray to join.230Offa shouted;his ash-spear shook:“Thou exhortest, O Ælfwine,in the hour of need,When our lord is lyingfull low before us,The earl on the earth;we all have a dutyThat each one of usshould urge on the rest235Of the warriors to war,while his weapons in handHe may have and hold,his hard-wrought mace,His dart and good sword.The deed of Godric,The wicked son of Offa,has weakened us all;Many of the men thoughtwhen he mounted the steed,240Rode on the proud palfry,that our prince led us forth;Therefore on the fieldthe folk were divided,The shield-wall was shattered.May shame curse the manWho deceived our folkand sent them in flight.”Leofsunu spokeand his linden-shield raised,245His board to defend himand embolden his fellows:“I promise you nowfrom this place I will neverFlee a foot-space,but forward will rush,Where I vow to revengemy vanquished lord.The stalwart warriorsround Sturmere shall never250Taunt me and twit mefor traitorous conduct,That lordless I fledwhen my leader had fallen,Ran from the war;rather may weapons,The iron points slay me.”Full ireful he went;Fiercely he fought;flight he disdained.255Dunhere burst forth;his dart he brandished,Over them all;the aged churl cried,Called the brave ones to battlein Bryhtnoth’s avenging:“Let no hero now hesitatewho hopes to avengeHis lord on the foemen,nor fear for his life.”260Then forward they faredand feared not for their lives;The clansman with couragethe conflict began;Grasped their spears grimly,to God made their prayerThat they might dearly repaythe death of their lord,And deal defeatto their dastardly foes.265A hostage took hold nowand helped them with courage;He came from Northumbriaof a noble kindred,The son of Ecglaf,Æscferth his name;He paused not a whitat the play of weapons,But unerringly aimedhis arrows uncounted;270Now he shot on the shield,now he shattered a Viking;With the point of hisarrowhe pierced to themarrowWhile he wielded his weaponsof war unsubdued.Still in the frontstood the stalwart Edward,Burning for battle;his boasts he spoke:275He never would fleea foot-pace of land,Or leave his lordwhere he lay on the field;He shattered the shield-wall;with the shipmen he fought,Till on the treacherous tribesmenhis treasure-giver’s deathHe valiantly avengedere his violent end.280Such daring deedsdid the doughty Æthric,Brother of Sibyrhtand bravest of soldiers;He eagerly foughtand the others followed;They cleft the curvèd shields;keenly they battled;Then burst the buckler’s rim,and the burnies sang285A song of slaughter.Then was slain in battle,The seaman by Offa;and the earth received him;SoonOffahimselfwas slain in battle;He had laid down his lifefor his lord as he promised290In return for his treasure,when he took his vowThat they both alivefrom battle should come,Hale to their homesor lie hewn down in battle,Fallen on the fieldwith their fatal wounds;He lay by his lordlike a loyal thane.295Then shivered the shields;the shipmen advanced,Raving with rage;they ran their spearsThrough their fated foes.Forth went Wistan,Thurstan’s son then,to the thick of the conflict.In the throng he slewthree of the sailors,300Ere the son of Wigelinesent him to death.The fight was stiff;and fast they stood;In the cruel conflictthey were killed by scores,Weary with wounds;woeful was the slaughter.Oswald and Eadwoldall of the while,305Both the brothers,emboldened the warriors,Encouraged their comradeswith keen spoken words,Besought them to strivein their sore distress,To wield their weaponsand not weaken in battle.Byrhtwold then spoke;his buckler he lifted,310The old companion,his ash-spear shookAnd boldly encouragedhis comrades to battle:“Your courage be the harder,your hearts be the keener,And sterner the strifeas your strength grows less.Here lies our leaderlow on the earth,315Struck down in the dust;doleful foreverBe the traitor who triesto turn from the war-play.I am old of years,but yet I flee not;Staunch and steadfastI stand by my lord,And I long to beby my loved chief.”320So the son of Æthelgarsaid to them all.Godric emboldened them;oft he brandished his lance,Violently threwat the Vikings his war-spear,So that first among the folkhe fought to the end;Hewed down and hacked,till the hated ones killed him—325Not that Godric who fledin disgrace from the fight.. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . .was broken;
He bade the young baronsabandon their horses,
To drive them afarand dash quickly forth,
In their hands and brave heartto put all hope of success.
5Thekinsman of Offadiscovered then first
That the earl would not brookdishonorable bearing.
He held in his handthe hawkthat he loved,
Let him flyto the fields;to the fight then he stepped;
By this one could knowthat the knight was unwilling
10To weaken in war,when his weapons he seized.
Edric wished alsoto aid his chief,
His folk-lord in fight;forward he bore
His brand to the battle;a brave heart he had
So long as he heldlocked in his hand
15His board and his broad sword;his boast he made good,
Fearless to fightbefore his lord.
Then Byrhtnoth beganto embolden the warriors;
He rode and counseled them,his comrades he taught
How they should standin the stronghold’s defence,
20Bade them to beartheir bucklers correctly,
Fast by their handswithout fear in their hearts.
When the folk by fair wordshe had fired with zeal,
He alighted in a crowdof his loyal comrades,
Where he felt that his friendswere most faithful and true.
25Then he stood on the strand;sternly the messenger
Of the Vikings calledin vaunting words,
Brought him the boastof the bloody seamen,
The errand to the earl,at the edge of the water:
“I am sent to theeby seamen bold;
30They bade me summon theeto send them quickly
Rings for a ransom,and rather than fight
It is better for youto bargain with gold
Than that we should fiercelyfight you in battle.
It is futile to fightif you fill our demands;
35If you give us goldwe will grant you a truce.
If commands thou wilt make,who art mightiest of warriors,
That thy folk shall be freefrom the foemen’s attack,
Shall give of their wealthat the will of the seamen,
A treasure for tribute,with a truce in return,
40We will go with the goldagain to our ships,
We will sail to the seaand vouchsafe to you peace.”
Byrhtnoth burst forth,his buckler he grasped,
His spear he seized,and spoke in words
Full of anger and ire,and answer he gave:
45“Dost thou hear, oh seamen,what our heroes say?
Spears they will sendto the sailors as tribute,
Poisoned points andpowerful swords,
And such weapons of waras shall win you no battles.
Envoy of Vikings,your vauntings return,
50Fare to thy folkwith a far sterner message,
That here staunchly standswith his steadfast troops,
The lord that will fightfor the land of his fathers,
For the realm of Æthelred,my royal chief,
For his folk and his fold;fallen shall lie
55The heathen at shield-play;Shameful I deem it
With our treasure as tributethat you take to your ships,
Without facing a fight,since thus far hither
You have come and encroachedon our king’s domain.
You shall not so easilyearn our treasure;
60You must prove your powerwith point and sword edge,
With grim war gripere we grant you tribute.”
He bade then his bandto bear forth their shields,
Until they arrivedat the river bank.
The waters preventedthe warriors’ encounter;
65The tide flowed in,the flood after the ebb,
Locked up the land;too long it seemed
Until they could meetand mingle their spears.
ByPanta’s streamthey stood in array,
The East Saxon armyand the eager shield-warriors;
70Each troop was helplessto work harm on the other,
Save the few who were felledby a flight of arrows.
The flood receded;the sailors stood ready,
All of the Vikingseager for victory.
Byrhtnoth bade thebridge to be defended,
75The brave-hearted warrior,by Wulfstan the bold
With his crowd of kinsmen;he was Ceola’s son,
And he felled the firstof the foemen who stepped
On the bridge, the boldestof the band of men.
There waited with Wulfstanthe warriors undaunted,
80Ælfhere and Maccus,men of courage;
At the ford not a footwould they flee the encounter,
But close in conflictthey clashed with the foe,
As long as they wieldedtheir weapons with strength.
As soon as they sawand perceived it clearly,
85How fiercely foughtwas the defense of the bridge,
The treacherous tribein trickery asked
That they be allowedto lead their hosts
For a closer conflict,to cross over the ford.
Then the earl, too eagerto enter the fight,
90Allowed too much landto the loathed pirates.
Clearly then calledover the cold water
Byrhthelm’s son;the soldiers listened:
“Room is now made for you;rush quickly here
Forward to the fray;fate will decide
95Into whose power shall passthis place of battle.”
Went then the battle-wolves—of water they recked not—
The pirate warriorswest over Panta;
Over the bright wavesthey bore their shields;
The seamen steppedto the strand with their lindens.
100In ready arrayagainst the raging hosts
Stood Byrhtnoth’s band;he bade them with shields
To form a phalanx,and to defend themselves stoutly,
Fast holding the foe.The fight was near,
The triumph at conflict;the time had come
105When fated menshould fall in battle.
Then arose an alarm;the ravens soared,
The eagle eager for prey;on earth was commotion.
Then sped from their handsthe hardened spears,
Flew in furyfile-sharpened darts;
110Bows were busy,boards met javelins,
Cruel was the conflict;in companies they fell;
On every handlay heaps of youths.
Wulfmere was woefullywounded to death,
Slaughtered the sister’sson of Byrhtnoth;
115With swords he was stronglystricken to earth.
To the vikings quicklyrequital was given;
I learned that Edwardalone attacked
Stoutly with his sword,not stinting his blows,
So that fell at his feetmany fated invaders;
120For his prowess the princegave praise and thanks
To his chamberlain brave,when chance would permit.
So firm of purposethey fought in their turn,
Young men in battle;they yearned especially
To lead their linewith the least delay
125To fight their foesin fatal conflict,
Warriors with weapons.The world seethed with slaughter.
Steadfast they stood,stirred up by Byrhtnoth;
He bade his thanesto think on battle,
And fight for famewith the foemen Danes.
130The fierce warrior went,his weapon he raised,
His shield for a shelter;to the soldier he came;
The chief to the churla challenge addressed;
Each to the otherhad evil intent.
The seamen then sentfrom the south a spear,
135So that wounded laythe lord of the warriors;
He shoved with his shieldtill the shaft was broken,
And burst the speartill back it sprang.
Enraged was the daring one;he rushed with his dart
On the wicked warriorwho had wounded him sore.
140Sage wasthe soldier;he sent his javelin
Through the grim youth’s neck;he guided his hand
And furiously felledhis foeman dead.
Straightway anotherhe strongly attacked,
And burst his burnie;in his breast he wounded him.
145Through his hard coat-of-mail;in his heart there stood
The poisoned point.Pleased was the earl,
Loudly he laughed,to the Lord he gave thanks
For the deeds of the daythe Redeemer had granted.
A hostile youth hurledfrom his hand a dart;
150The spear in flightthen sped too far,
Andthe honorable earlof Æthelred fell.
By his side there stooda stripling youth,
A boy in battlewho boldly drew
The bloody brandfrom the breast of his chief.
155The young Wulfmere,Wulfstan’s son,
Gave back againthe gory war-lance;
The point pierced home,so that prostrate lay
The Viking whose valorhad vanquished the earl.
To the earl then wentan armed warrior;
160He sought to snatchand seize his rings,
His booty and bracelets,his bright shining sword.
Byrhtnoth snatched forththe brown-edged weapon
From his sheath, and sharplyshook the attacker;
Certain of the seamentoo soon joined against him,
165As he checked the armof the charging enemy;
Now sank to the groundhis golden brand;
He might not holdthe hilt of his mace,
Nor wield his weapons.These words still he spoke,
To embolden the youths;the battle-scarred hero
170Called on his comradesto conquer their foes;
He no longer had strengthto stand on his feet,
. . . . . . . .he looked to heaven:
“Ruler of realms,I render thee thanks
For all of the honorsthat on earth I have had;
175Now, gracious God,have I greatest of need
That thou save my soulthrough thy sovereign mercy,
That my spirit speedto its splendid home
And pass into thy power,O Prince of angels,
And depart in peace;this prayer I make,
180That the hated hell-fiendsmay harass me not.”
Then the heathen dogshewed down the noble one,
And both the baronsthat by him stood—
Ælfnoth and Wulfmæreach lay slaughtered;
They lost their livesin their lord’s defence.
185Then fled from the fraythose who feared to remain.
First in the franticflight was Godric,
The son of Odda;he forsook his chief
Who had granted him giftsof goodly horses;
Lightly he leapton his lord’s own steed,
190In its royal array—no right had he to it;
His brothers alsothe battle forsook.
Godwin and Godwymade good their escape,
And went to the wood,for the war they disliked;
They fled to the fastnessesin fear of their lives,
195And many moreof the men than was fitting,
Had they freshly in mindremembered the favors,
The good deeds he had done themin days of old.
Wise were the wordsspoken once by Offa
As he sat with his comradesassembled in council:
200“There are many who boastin the mead-hall of bravery
Who turn in terrorwhen trouble comes.”
The chief of the folknow fell to his death,
Æthelred’s earl;all his companions
Looked on their lordas he lay on the field.
205Now there approachedsome proud retainers;
The hardy heroeshastened madly,
All of them eagereither to die
Or valiantly avengetheir vanquished lord.
They were eagerly urgedby Ælfric’s son,
210A warrior young in winters;these words he spoke—
Ælfwine then spoke,an honorable speech:
“Remember how we madein the mead-hall our vaunts,
From the benches our boastsof bravery we raised,
Heroes in the hall,of hard-fought battles;
215The time has now comefor the test of your courage.
Now I make knownmy noble descent;
I come from Mercia,of mighty kinsmen;
My noble grandsire’sname was Ealdhelm,
Wise in the waysof the world this elder.
220Among my proud peopleno reproach shall be made
That in fear I fledafar from the battle,
To leave for homewith my leader hewn down,
Broken in battle;that brings me most grief;
He was not only my earlbut also my kinsman.”
225Then harboring hatredhe hastened forth,
And with the point of spearhe pierced and slew
A seaman grimwho sank to the ground
Under weight of the weapon.To war he incited
His friends and fellows,in the fray to join.
230Offa shouted;his ash-spear shook:
“Thou exhortest, O Ælfwine,in the hour of need,
When our lord is lyingfull low before us,
The earl on the earth;we all have a duty
That each one of usshould urge on the rest
235Of the warriors to war,while his weapons in hand
He may have and hold,his hard-wrought mace,
His dart and good sword.The deed of Godric,
The wicked son of Offa,has weakened us all;
Many of the men thoughtwhen he mounted the steed,
240Rode on the proud palfry,that our prince led us forth;
Therefore on the fieldthe folk were divided,
The shield-wall was shattered.May shame curse the man
Who deceived our folkand sent them in flight.”
Leofsunu spokeand his linden-shield raised,
245His board to defend himand embolden his fellows:
“I promise you nowfrom this place I will never
Flee a foot-space,but forward will rush,
Where I vow to revengemy vanquished lord.
The stalwart warriorsround Sturmere shall never
250Taunt me and twit mefor traitorous conduct,
That lordless I fledwhen my leader had fallen,
Ran from the war;rather may weapons,
The iron points slay me.”Full ireful he went;
Fiercely he fought;flight he disdained.
255Dunhere burst forth;his dart he brandished,
Over them all;the aged churl cried,
Called the brave ones to battlein Bryhtnoth’s avenging:
“Let no hero now hesitatewho hopes to avenge
His lord on the foemen,nor fear for his life.”
260Then forward they faredand feared not for their lives;
The clansman with couragethe conflict began;
Grasped their spears grimly,to God made their prayer
That they might dearly repaythe death of their lord,
And deal defeatto their dastardly foes.
265A hostage took hold nowand helped them with courage;
He came from Northumbriaof a noble kindred,
The son of Ecglaf,Æscferth his name;
He paused not a whitat the play of weapons,
But unerringly aimedhis arrows uncounted;
270Now he shot on the shield,now he shattered a Viking;
With the point of hisarrowhe pierced to themarrow
While he wielded his weaponsof war unsubdued.
Still in the frontstood the stalwart Edward,
Burning for battle;his boasts he spoke:
275He never would fleea foot-pace of land,
Or leave his lordwhere he lay on the field;
He shattered the shield-wall;with the shipmen he fought,
Till on the treacherous tribesmenhis treasure-giver’s death
He valiantly avengedere his violent end.
280Such daring deedsdid the doughty Æthric,
Brother of Sibyrhtand bravest of soldiers;
He eagerly foughtand the others followed;
They cleft the curvèd shields;keenly they battled;
Then burst the buckler’s rim,and the burnies sang
285A song of slaughter.Then was slain in battle,
The seaman by Offa;and the earth received him;
SoonOffahimselfwas slain in battle;
He had laid down his lifefor his lord as he promised
290In return for his treasure,when he took his vow
That they both alivefrom battle should come,
Hale to their homesor lie hewn down in battle,
Fallen on the fieldwith their fatal wounds;
He lay by his lordlike a loyal thane.
295Then shivered the shields;the shipmen advanced,
Raving with rage;they ran their spears
Through their fated foes.Forth went Wistan,
Thurstan’s son then,to the thick of the conflict.
In the throng he slewthree of the sailors,
300Ere the son of Wigelinesent him to death.
The fight was stiff;and fast they stood;
In the cruel conflictthey were killed by scores,
Weary with wounds;woeful was the slaughter.
Oswald and Eadwoldall of the while,
305Both the brothers,emboldened the warriors,
Encouraged their comradeswith keen spoken words,
Besought them to strivein their sore distress,
To wield their weaponsand not weaken in battle.
Byrhtwold then spoke;his buckler he lifted,
310The old companion,his ash-spear shook
And boldly encouragedhis comrades to battle:
“Your courage be the harder,your hearts be the keener,
And sterner the strifeas your strength grows less.
Here lies our leaderlow on the earth,
315Struck down in the dust;doleful forever
Be the traitor who triesto turn from the war-play.
I am old of years,but yet I flee not;
Staunch and steadfastI stand by my lord,
And I long to beby my loved chief.”
320So the son of Æthelgarsaid to them all.
Godric emboldened them;oft he brandished his lance,
Violently threwat the Vikings his war-spear,
So that first among the folkhe fought to the end;
Hewed down and hacked,till the hated ones killed him—
325Not that Godric who fledin disgrace from the fight.
. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .
5.Offa’s kinsmanis not named. Offa himself is mentioned in line 286.8.Is the fact that the earl is amusing himself with a falcon just before the battle to be taken as a sign of contempt for the enemy?65.“ThePanta, or Blackwater as it is now called, opens at Maldon into a large estuary, where a strong tide runs.”—Sedgefield.70.The approaches to the bridge were covered with water at high tide; hence the Norsemen feared to cross at high tide and asked for a truce.140.The soldier is Byrhtnoth.151.This refers to Byrhtnoth.271.The two halves of the line rime in the original.287.Offa: “the kinsman of Gad” in the original. The reference is to Offa and we have avoided confusion by translating the phrase by the name of the man meant.
5.Offa’s kinsmanis not named. Offa himself is mentioned in line 286.
8.Is the fact that the earl is amusing himself with a falcon just before the battle to be taken as a sign of contempt for the enemy?
65.“ThePanta, or Blackwater as it is now called, opens at Maldon into a large estuary, where a strong tide runs.”—Sedgefield.
70.The approaches to the bridge were covered with water at high tide; hence the Norsemen feared to cross at high tide and asked for a truce.
140.The soldier is Byrhtnoth.
151.This refers to Byrhtnoth.
271.The two halves of the line rime in the original.
287.Offa: “the kinsman of Gad” in the original. The reference is to Offa and we have avoided confusion by translating the phrase by the name of the man meant.
APPENDIX—SELECTIONS FROM OLD ENGLISH PROSEACCOUNT OF THE POET CÆDMON[From the Anglo-Saxon version of Bede’sEcclesiastical History. Text used: Bright’sAnglo-Saxon Reader, pp. 8 ff.]In the monastery of this abbess [Hild] was a certain brother especially distinguished and gifted with the grace of God, because he was in the habit of making poems filled with piety and virtue. Whatever he learned5of holy writ through interpreters he gave forth in a very short time in poetical language with the greatest of sweetness and inspiration, well wrought in the English tongue. Because of his songs the minds of many men were turned from the thoughts of this world and10incited toward a contemplation of the heavenly life. There were, to be sure, others after him among the Angles who tried to compose sacred poetry, but none of them could equal him; because his instruction in poetry was not at all from men, nor through the aid of15any man, but it was through divine inspiration and as a gift from God that he received the power of song. For that reason he was never able to compose poetry of a light or idle nature, but only the one kind that pertained to religion and was fitted to the tongue of a20godly singer such as he.This man had lived the life of a layman until he was somewhat advanced in years, and had never learned any songs. For this reason often at the banquets where for the sake of merriment it was ruled that they should25all sing in turn at the harp, when he would see the harp approach him, he would arise from the company out of shame and go home to his house. On one occasion he had done this and had left the banquet hall and gone out to the stable to the cattle which it was his duty to guard30that night. Then in due time he lay down and slept, and there stood before him in his dream a man who hailed him and greeted him and called him by name: “Cædmon, sing me something.” Then he answered and said: “I can not sing anything; and for that reason I left35the banquet and came here, since I could not sing.” Once more the man who was speaking with him said: “No matter, you must sing for me.” Then he answered: “What shall I sing?” Thereupon the stranger said: “Sing to me of the beginning of things.” When he had40received this answer he began forthwith to sing, in praise of God the Creator, verses and words that he had never heard, in the following manner:Now shall we praisethe Prince of heaven,The might of the Makerand his manifold thought,45The work of the Father:of what wonders he wrought,The Lord everlastingwhen he laid out the worlds.He first raised upfor the race of menThe heaven as a roof,the holy Ruler.Then the world below,the Ward of mankind,50The Lord everlasting,at last establishedAs a home for man,the Almighty Lord.Then he arose from his sleep, and all that he had sung while asleep he held fast in memory; and soon afterward he added many words like unto them befitting55a hymn to God. The next morning he came to the steward who was his master and told him of the gift he had received. The steward immediately led him to the abbess and related what he had heard. She bade assemble all the wise and learned men and asked Cædmon to60relate his dream in their presence and to sing the song that they might give their judgment as to what it was or whence it had come. They all agreed that it was a divine gift bestowed from Heaven. They then explained to him a piece of holy teaching and bade him if he could,65to turn that into rhythmic verse. When he received the instruction of the learned men, he departed for his house. In the morning he returned and delivered the passage assigned him, turned into an excellent poem.Thereupon, the abbess, praising and honoring the70gift of God in this man, persuaded him to leave the condition of a layman and take monastic vows. And this he did with great eagerness. She received him and his household into the monastery and made him one of the company of God’s servants and commanded that he75be taught the holy writings and stories. He, on his part, pondered on all that he learned by word of mouth, and just as a clean beast chews on a cud, transformed it into the sweetest of poetry. His songs and poems were so pleasing that even his teachers came to learn80and write what he spoke. He sang first of the creation of the earth, and of the origin of mankind, and all the story of Genesis, the first book of Moses; and afterwards of the exodus of the Children of Israel from the land of Egypt and the entry into the Promised Land;85and many other stories of the Holy Scriptures; the incarnation of Christ, and his suffering and his ascension into heaven; the coming of the Holy Ghost and the teaching of the apostles; and finally he wrote many songs concerning the future day of judgment and of90the fearfulness of the pains of hell, and the bliss of heaven; besides these he composed many others concerning the mercies and judgments of God. In all of these he strove especially to lead men from the love of sin and wickedness and to impel them toward the love95and practice of righteousness; for he was a very pious man and submissive to the rules of the monastery. And he burned with zeal against those who acted otherwise. For this reason it was that his life ended with a fair death.ALFRED’S PREFACE TO HIS TRANSLATION OF GREGORY’S “PASTORAL CARE”[Text: Bright’sAnglo-Saxon Reader, pp. 26 ff.]King Alfred sends greetings to Wærferth in loving and friendly words. I let thee know that it has often come to my mind what wise men there were formerly throughout England among both the clergy and the5laity, and what happy times there were then throughout England, and how the kings who held sway over the people in those days obeyed God and his ministers; and how they preserved not only their peace but their morality also and good order at home and extended10their possessions abroad; and how prosperous they were both with war and with wisdom; and how zealous the clergy were both in teaching and in learning, and in all the services they owed to God; and how foreigners came to the land in search of wisdom and learning, and15how we should now have to secure them from abroad if we were to have them. So complete was this decay in England that there were very few on this side of the Humber who could understand their rituals in English or translate a Latin letter into English; and I feel sure20that there were not many beyond Humber. So few there were that I can not remember a single one south of the Thames when I began to reign. Almighty God bethanked that we have any teachers among us now....Then I considered all this, and brought to mind25also how, before it had all been laid waste and burned, the churches throughout all England stood filled with treasures and books; and there was a great multitude of God’s servants, but they knew very little about the books, for they could not understand anything in them,30since they were not written in their own language—as if they spoke thus: “Our fathers who held these places of old loved wisdom and through it acquired wealth and bequeathed it to us. Here we may still see their tracks, but we can not follow them, and hence we have35now lost both the wealth and the wisdom, since we would not incline our hearts after their example.”When I called all this to mind, I wondered very much, considering all the good and wise men who were formerly throughout England and all the books that they40had perfectly learned, that they had translated no part of them into their own language. But soon I answered myself and said: “They did not expect that men should ever become as careless and that learning should decay as it has; they neglected it through the desire that the45greater increase of wisdom there should be in the land the more should men learn of foreign languages.”I then considered that the law was first found in the Hebrew tongue, and again when the Greeks learned it, they translated it all into their own language. And the50Romans likewise when they had learned it, they translated it all through learned scholars into their own language. And all other Christian people have turnedsome part into their own language. Wherefore it seems to me best, if it seems so to you, that we should translate55some books that are most needful for all men to know into the language which we can all understand and that we should bring about what we may very easily do with God’s help if we have tranquillity; namely, that all youths that are now in England of60free birth, who are rich enough to devote themselves to it, be put to learning as long as they are not fitted for any other occupation, until the time that they shall be able to read English writing with ease: and let those that would pursue their studies further be taught more65in Latin and be promoted to a higher rank. When I brought to mind how the knowledge of Latin had formerly decayed throughout England, and yet many knew how to read English writing, I began among other various and manifold troubles of this kingdom to turn70into English the book that is called in LatinPastoralisand in EnglishThe Shepherd’s Book, sometimes word for word, sometimes thought by thought, as I had learned it from Plegmund my archbishop, and Asser my bishop, and Grimbald my priest, and John my priest.75After I had learned it so that I understood it and so that I could interpret it clearly, I translated it into English. I shall send one copy to every bishopric in my kingdom; and in each is a book-mark worth fifty mancuses. And I command in God’s name that no man80take the book-mark from the monastery. It is not certain that there will be such learned bishops as, thanks be to God, we now have nearly everywhere. HenceI wish the books to remain always in their places, unless the bishop wishes to take them with him, or they be lent85out anywhere, or any one be copying them.THE CONVERSION OF EDWIN.[From Alfred’s translation of Bede’sEcclesiastical History. Text: Bright,Anglo-Saxon Reader, p. 62, line 2—p. 63, line 17.]When the king heard these words, he answered him [Paulinus, who had been preaching Christianity to him] and said that he was not only willing but expected to accept the faith that he taught; the king said, however,5that he wished to have speech and counsel with his friends and advisers, so that if they accepted the faith with him they might all together be consecrated to Christ, the Fountain of Life. The bishop consented and the king did as he said.10He now counselled and advised with his wise men, and he asked of each of them separately what he thought of the new doctrine and the worship of God that was preached. Cefi, the chief of his priests, then answered, “Consider, oh king, what this teaching is that is now15delivered to us. I declare to you, I have learned for a certainty that the religion we have had up to the present has neither virtue nor usefulness in it. For none of thy servants has applied himself more diligently to the worship of our gods than I, and nevertheless there20are many who receive greater gifts and favors from thee than I, and are more prosperous in all their undertakings. I know well that our gods, if they had hadany power, would have rewarded me more because I have more faithfully served and obeyed them. It seems25to me, therefore, wise, if you consider that these new doctrines which are preached to us are better and more efficacious, to receive them immediately.”Assenting to his words, another of the king’s wise men and chiefs spoke further: “O king, this present30life of man on earth seems to me, in comparison with the time that is unknown to us, as if thou wert sitting at a feast with thine eldermen and thanes in the winter time, and the fire burned brightly and thy hall was warm, and it rained and snowed and stormed outside;35there comes then a sparrow and flies quickly through thy house; in through one door he comes, through the other door he goes out again. As long as he is within he is not rained on by the winter storm, but after a twinkling of an eye and a mere moment he goes immediately40from winter back to winter again. Likewise this life of man appeareth for a little time, but what goes before or what comes after we know not. If therefore this teaching can tell us anything more satisfying or certain, it seems worthy to be followed.”THE VOYAGES OF OHTHERE AND WULFSTAN[From Alfred’s version of Orosius’sHistory of the World. Text used: Bright’sAnglo-Saxon Reader, pp. 38 ff.]Ohthere’s VoyagesOhthere told his lord, King Alfred, that he dwelt the farthest north of all the Northmen. He said that he lived in the northern part of the land toward the West Sea. He reported, however, that the land extended very5far north thence; but that it was all waste, except in a few places here and there where the Finns dwell, engaged in hunting in winter and sea fishing in summer. He said that on one occasion he wished to find out how far the land lay northward, or whether any man inhabited10the waste land to the north. Then he fared northward to the land; for three days there was waste land on his starboard and the wide sea on his larboard. Then he had come as far north as the whale hunters ever go. Whereupon, he journeyed still northward as far as he15could in three days sailing. At that place the land bent to the east—or the sea in on the land, he knew not which; but he knew that there he waited for a west wind, or somewhat from the northwest, and then sailed east, near the land, as far as he could in four days. There he had to20wait for a wind from due north, since there the land bent due south—or the sea in on the land, he knew notwhich. From there he sailed due south, close in to the land, as far as he could in five days. At this point a large river extended up into the land. They then followed25this river, for they dared not sail beyond it because of their fear of hostile reception, the land being all inhabited on the other side of the river. He had not found any inhabited land since leaving his own home; for the land to the right was not inhabited all30the way, except by fishermen, fowlers, and hunters, and these were all Finns; to the left there was always open sea. The Permians had cultivated their soil very well, but they dared not enter upon it. The land of the Terfinns was all waste, except where hunters, fishers, or35fowlers dwelt.The Permians told him many tales both about their own country and about surrounding countries, but he knew not how much was true, for he did not behold it for himself. The Finns and Permians, it appeared to him,40spoke almost the same language. He went hither on this voyage not only for the purpose of seeing the country, but mainly for walruses, for they have exceedingly good bone in their teeth—they brought some of the teeth to the king—and their hides are very good for45ship-ropes. This whale is much smaller than other whales; it is not more than seven ells long; but the best whale-fishing is in his own country—those are eight and forty ells long, and the largest are fifty ells long. He said that he was one of a company of six who killed50sixty of these in two days.Ohthere was a very rich man in such possessions asmake up their wealth, that is, in wild beasts. At the time when he came to the king, he still had six hundred tame deer that he had not sold. The men call these55reindeer. Six of these were decoy-reindeer, which are very valuable among the Finns, for it is with them that the Finns trap the wild reindeer. He was among the first men in the land, although he had not more than twenty cattle, twenty sheep, and twenty swine, and the60little that he plowed he plowed with horses. Their income, however, is mainly in the tribute that the Finns pay them—animals’ skins, birds’ feathers, whalebone, and ship-ropes made of the hide of whale and the hide of seal. Every one contributes in proportion to his65means; the richest must pay fifteen marten skins and five reindeer skins; one bear skin, forty bushels of feathers, a bear-skin or otter-skin girdle, and two ship-ropes, each sixty ells long, one made of the hide of the whale and the other of the hide of the seal.70He reported that the land of the Northmen was very long and very narrow. All that man can use for either grazing or plowing lies near the sea, and even that is very rocky in some places; and to the east, alongside the inhabited land, lie wild moors. The Finns live75in these waste lands. And the inhabited land is broadest to the eastward, becoming always narrower the farther north one goes. To the east it may be sixty miles broad, or even a little broader; and in the middle thirty or broader; and to the north, where it was narrowest,80he said that it might be three miles broad to the moor. Moreover the moor is so broad in some placesthat it would take a man two weeks to cross it. In other places it was of such a breadth that a man can cross it in six days.85Then there is alongside that land southward, on the other side of the moor, Sweden, as far as the land to the north; and alongside the land northward, the land of the Cwens (Finns). The Finns plunder the Northmen over the moor sometimes and sometimes the Northmen90plunder them. And there are very many fresh lakes out over the moor; and the Finns bear their ships over the land to these lakes and then ravage the Northmen; they have very small and very light ships.Ohthere said that the place was called Halgoland, in95which he dwelt. He said that no man lived north of him. There is one port in the southern part of the land which is called Sciringesheal. Thither he said that one might not sail in one month, if he encamped by night and had good wind all day; and all the while he should sail100close to land. And on the starboard he has firstIreland, and then the island that is between Ireland and this land. Then he has this land till he comes to Sciringesheal, and all the way he has Norway on the larboard. To the south of Sciringesheal the sea comes far up into105the land; the sea is so broad that no man may see across. And Jutland is in the opposite direction, and after that is Zealand. The sea runs many hundred miles up in on that land.And from Sciringesheal he said that he sailed in five110days to that port that is called Haddeby; it lies betweenthe country of the Wends and the Saxons and the Angles, and belongs to the Danes. When he sailed away from Sciringesheal for three days, he had Denmark on the larboard and the wide sea on his starboard; and then,115two days before he reached Haddeby, he had Jutland on his starboard and also Zealand and many islands. In that land had dwelt the English before they came hither to this land. And then for two days he had on his larboard the islands which belong to Denmark.100.Ireland: Iceland is probably meant.Wulfstan’s Voyage120Wulfstan said that he set out from Haddeby, and that he arrived after seven days and nights at Truso, the ship being all the way under full sail. He had Wendland (Mecklenburg and Pomerania) on the starboard, and Langland, Laaland, Falster, and Sconey on125the larboard; and all these lands belong to Denmark. And then we had on our larboard the land of the Burgundians (Bornholmians), and they have their own king. Beyond the land of the Burgundians we had on our left those lands that were first called Blekinge, and130Meore, and Oland, and Gothland; these lands belong to the Swedes. To the starboard we had all the way the country of the Wends, as far as the mouth of the Vistula. The Vistula is a very large river, and it separates Witland from Wendland; and Witland belongs to the135Esthonians. The Vistula flows out of Wendland, and runs into the Frische Haff. The Frische Haff is about fifteen miles broad. Then the Elbing empties into theFrische Haff, flowing from the east out of the lake on the shore of which Truso stands; and there they empty140together into the Frische Haff, the Elbing from the east, which flows out of Esthonia, and the Vistula from the south, out of Wendland. The Vistula then gives its name to the Elbing, and runs out of the mere west and north into the sea; hence it is called the mouth of the145Vistula.Esthoniais very large, and there are many towns there, and in every town there is a king. There is also very much honey, and fishing. The king and the richest men drink mare’s milk, but the poor men and the slaves150drink mead. There is much strife among them. There is no ale brewed by the Esthonians; there is, however, plenty of mead. And there is a custom among the Esthonians that when a man dies he lies unburied in his house, with his kindred and friends, for a month—sometimes155two; and the kings and most powerful men still longer, in proportion to their riches; it is sometimes half a year that they stay unburnt, lying above ground, in their own houses. All the time that the body is within, drinking and merry-making continue until160the day that he is burned. The same day on which they are to bear him to the funeral-pyre they divide his possessions, whatever may be left after the drinking and pleasures, into five or six parts—sometimes into more, in proportion to the amount of his goods. Then they165place the largest share about a mile from the town, then the second, then the third, until it is all laid within the one mile; and the smallest portion must be nearestthe town in which the dead man lies. Then there are gathered together all of the men in the land that have170the swiftest horses, about six or seven miles from the goods. Then they all run toward the possessions, and the one who has the swiftest horse comes to the first and largest part, and so one after another till all is taken up; and the man who arrives at the goods nearest the175town obtains the smallest part. Then each man rides his way with the property, and he may keep it all; and for this reason fast horses are very dear in that country. When the property is thus all spent, they bear him out and burn him along with his weapons and his raiment.180And generally they spend all his wealth, with the long time that the corpse lies within and with the goods that they lay along the roads, and that the strangers run for and bear off with them. Again, it is a custom with the Esthonians to burn men of every tribe,185and if any one finds a bone which is unburned he has to make amends for it. And there is one tribe among the Esthonians that has the power of making cold, and it is because they put this cold upon them that the corpses lie so long and do not decay. And if a man190places two vessels full of ale or water, they cause both to be frozen over, whether it is summer or winter.
ACCOUNT OF THE POET CÆDMON[From the Anglo-Saxon version of Bede’sEcclesiastical History. Text used: Bright’sAnglo-Saxon Reader, pp. 8 ff.]In the monastery of this abbess [Hild] was a certain brother especially distinguished and gifted with the grace of God, because he was in the habit of making poems filled with piety and virtue. Whatever he learned5of holy writ through interpreters he gave forth in a very short time in poetical language with the greatest of sweetness and inspiration, well wrought in the English tongue. Because of his songs the minds of many men were turned from the thoughts of this world and10incited toward a contemplation of the heavenly life. There were, to be sure, others after him among the Angles who tried to compose sacred poetry, but none of them could equal him; because his instruction in poetry was not at all from men, nor through the aid of15any man, but it was through divine inspiration and as a gift from God that he received the power of song. For that reason he was never able to compose poetry of a light or idle nature, but only the one kind that pertained to religion and was fitted to the tongue of a20godly singer such as he.This man had lived the life of a layman until he was somewhat advanced in years, and had never learned any songs. For this reason often at the banquets where for the sake of merriment it was ruled that they should25all sing in turn at the harp, when he would see the harp approach him, he would arise from the company out of shame and go home to his house. On one occasion he had done this and had left the banquet hall and gone out to the stable to the cattle which it was his duty to guard30that night. Then in due time he lay down and slept, and there stood before him in his dream a man who hailed him and greeted him and called him by name: “Cædmon, sing me something.” Then he answered and said: “I can not sing anything; and for that reason I left35the banquet and came here, since I could not sing.” Once more the man who was speaking with him said: “No matter, you must sing for me.” Then he answered: “What shall I sing?” Thereupon the stranger said: “Sing to me of the beginning of things.” When he had40received this answer he began forthwith to sing, in praise of God the Creator, verses and words that he had never heard, in the following manner:Now shall we praisethe Prince of heaven,The might of the Makerand his manifold thought,45The work of the Father:of what wonders he wrought,The Lord everlastingwhen he laid out the worlds.He first raised upfor the race of menThe heaven as a roof,the holy Ruler.Then the world below,the Ward of mankind,50The Lord everlasting,at last establishedAs a home for man,the Almighty Lord.Then he arose from his sleep, and all that he had sung while asleep he held fast in memory; and soon afterward he added many words like unto them befitting55a hymn to God. The next morning he came to the steward who was his master and told him of the gift he had received. The steward immediately led him to the abbess and related what he had heard. She bade assemble all the wise and learned men and asked Cædmon to60relate his dream in their presence and to sing the song that they might give their judgment as to what it was or whence it had come. They all agreed that it was a divine gift bestowed from Heaven. They then explained to him a piece of holy teaching and bade him if he could,65to turn that into rhythmic verse. When he received the instruction of the learned men, he departed for his house. In the morning he returned and delivered the passage assigned him, turned into an excellent poem.Thereupon, the abbess, praising and honoring the70gift of God in this man, persuaded him to leave the condition of a layman and take monastic vows. And this he did with great eagerness. She received him and his household into the monastery and made him one of the company of God’s servants and commanded that he75be taught the holy writings and stories. He, on his part, pondered on all that he learned by word of mouth, and just as a clean beast chews on a cud, transformed it into the sweetest of poetry. His songs and poems were so pleasing that even his teachers came to learn80and write what he spoke. He sang first of the creation of the earth, and of the origin of mankind, and all the story of Genesis, the first book of Moses; and afterwards of the exodus of the Children of Israel from the land of Egypt and the entry into the Promised Land;85and many other stories of the Holy Scriptures; the incarnation of Christ, and his suffering and his ascension into heaven; the coming of the Holy Ghost and the teaching of the apostles; and finally he wrote many songs concerning the future day of judgment and of90the fearfulness of the pains of hell, and the bliss of heaven; besides these he composed many others concerning the mercies and judgments of God. In all of these he strove especially to lead men from the love of sin and wickedness and to impel them toward the love95and practice of righteousness; for he was a very pious man and submissive to the rules of the monastery. And he burned with zeal against those who acted otherwise. For this reason it was that his life ended with a fair death.
[From the Anglo-Saxon version of Bede’sEcclesiastical History. Text used: Bright’sAnglo-Saxon Reader, pp. 8 ff.]
In the monastery of this abbess [Hild] was a certain brother especially distinguished and gifted with the grace of God, because he was in the habit of making poems filled with piety and virtue. Whatever he learned5of holy writ through interpreters he gave forth in a very short time in poetical language with the greatest of sweetness and inspiration, well wrought in the English tongue. Because of his songs the minds of many men were turned from the thoughts of this world and10incited toward a contemplation of the heavenly life. There were, to be sure, others after him among the Angles who tried to compose sacred poetry, but none of them could equal him; because his instruction in poetry was not at all from men, nor through the aid of15any man, but it was through divine inspiration and as a gift from God that he received the power of song. For that reason he was never able to compose poetry of a light or idle nature, but only the one kind that pertained to religion and was fitted to the tongue of a20godly singer such as he.
This man had lived the life of a layman until he was somewhat advanced in years, and had never learned any songs. For this reason often at the banquets where for the sake of merriment it was ruled that they should25all sing in turn at the harp, when he would see the harp approach him, he would arise from the company out of shame and go home to his house. On one occasion he had done this and had left the banquet hall and gone out to the stable to the cattle which it was his duty to guard30that night. Then in due time he lay down and slept, and there stood before him in his dream a man who hailed him and greeted him and called him by name: “Cædmon, sing me something.” Then he answered and said: “I can not sing anything; and for that reason I left35the banquet and came here, since I could not sing.” Once more the man who was speaking with him said: “No matter, you must sing for me.” Then he answered: “What shall I sing?” Thereupon the stranger said: “Sing to me of the beginning of things.” When he had40received this answer he began forthwith to sing, in praise of God the Creator, verses and words that he had never heard, in the following manner:
Now shall we praisethe Prince of heaven,The might of the Makerand his manifold thought,45The work of the Father:of what wonders he wrought,The Lord everlastingwhen he laid out the worlds.He first raised upfor the race of menThe heaven as a roof,the holy Ruler.Then the world below,the Ward of mankind,50The Lord everlasting,at last establishedAs a home for man,the Almighty Lord.
Now shall we praisethe Prince of heaven,
The might of the Makerand his manifold thought,
45The work of the Father:of what wonders he wrought,
The Lord everlastingwhen he laid out the worlds.
He first raised upfor the race of men
The heaven as a roof,the holy Ruler.
Then the world below,the Ward of mankind,
50The Lord everlasting,at last established
As a home for man,the Almighty Lord.
Then he arose from his sleep, and all that he had sung while asleep he held fast in memory; and soon afterward he added many words like unto them befitting55a hymn to God. The next morning he came to the steward who was his master and told him of the gift he had received. The steward immediately led him to the abbess and related what he had heard. She bade assemble all the wise and learned men and asked Cædmon to60relate his dream in their presence and to sing the song that they might give their judgment as to what it was or whence it had come. They all agreed that it was a divine gift bestowed from Heaven. They then explained to him a piece of holy teaching and bade him if he could,65to turn that into rhythmic verse. When he received the instruction of the learned men, he departed for his house. In the morning he returned and delivered the passage assigned him, turned into an excellent poem.
Thereupon, the abbess, praising and honoring the70gift of God in this man, persuaded him to leave the condition of a layman and take monastic vows. And this he did with great eagerness. She received him and his household into the monastery and made him one of the company of God’s servants and commanded that he75be taught the holy writings and stories. He, on his part, pondered on all that he learned by word of mouth, and just as a clean beast chews on a cud, transformed it into the sweetest of poetry. His songs and poems were so pleasing that even his teachers came to learn80and write what he spoke. He sang first of the creation of the earth, and of the origin of mankind, and all the story of Genesis, the first book of Moses; and afterwards of the exodus of the Children of Israel from the land of Egypt and the entry into the Promised Land;85and many other stories of the Holy Scriptures; the incarnation of Christ, and his suffering and his ascension into heaven; the coming of the Holy Ghost and the teaching of the apostles; and finally he wrote many songs concerning the future day of judgment and of90the fearfulness of the pains of hell, and the bliss of heaven; besides these he composed many others concerning the mercies and judgments of God. In all of these he strove especially to lead men from the love of sin and wickedness and to impel them toward the love95and practice of righteousness; for he was a very pious man and submissive to the rules of the monastery. And he burned with zeal against those who acted otherwise. For this reason it was that his life ended with a fair death.
ALFRED’S PREFACE TO HIS TRANSLATION OF GREGORY’S “PASTORAL CARE”[Text: Bright’sAnglo-Saxon Reader, pp. 26 ff.]King Alfred sends greetings to Wærferth in loving and friendly words. I let thee know that it has often come to my mind what wise men there were formerly throughout England among both the clergy and the5laity, and what happy times there were then throughout England, and how the kings who held sway over the people in those days obeyed God and his ministers; and how they preserved not only their peace but their morality also and good order at home and extended10their possessions abroad; and how prosperous they were both with war and with wisdom; and how zealous the clergy were both in teaching and in learning, and in all the services they owed to God; and how foreigners came to the land in search of wisdom and learning, and15how we should now have to secure them from abroad if we were to have them. So complete was this decay in England that there were very few on this side of the Humber who could understand their rituals in English or translate a Latin letter into English; and I feel sure20that there were not many beyond Humber. So few there were that I can not remember a single one south of the Thames when I began to reign. Almighty God bethanked that we have any teachers among us now....Then I considered all this, and brought to mind25also how, before it had all been laid waste and burned, the churches throughout all England stood filled with treasures and books; and there was a great multitude of God’s servants, but they knew very little about the books, for they could not understand anything in them,30since they were not written in their own language—as if they spoke thus: “Our fathers who held these places of old loved wisdom and through it acquired wealth and bequeathed it to us. Here we may still see their tracks, but we can not follow them, and hence we have35now lost both the wealth and the wisdom, since we would not incline our hearts after their example.”When I called all this to mind, I wondered very much, considering all the good and wise men who were formerly throughout England and all the books that they40had perfectly learned, that they had translated no part of them into their own language. But soon I answered myself and said: “They did not expect that men should ever become as careless and that learning should decay as it has; they neglected it through the desire that the45greater increase of wisdom there should be in the land the more should men learn of foreign languages.”I then considered that the law was first found in the Hebrew tongue, and again when the Greeks learned it, they translated it all into their own language. And the50Romans likewise when they had learned it, they translated it all through learned scholars into their own language. And all other Christian people have turnedsome part into their own language. Wherefore it seems to me best, if it seems so to you, that we should translate55some books that are most needful for all men to know into the language which we can all understand and that we should bring about what we may very easily do with God’s help if we have tranquillity; namely, that all youths that are now in England of60free birth, who are rich enough to devote themselves to it, be put to learning as long as they are not fitted for any other occupation, until the time that they shall be able to read English writing with ease: and let those that would pursue their studies further be taught more65in Latin and be promoted to a higher rank. When I brought to mind how the knowledge of Latin had formerly decayed throughout England, and yet many knew how to read English writing, I began among other various and manifold troubles of this kingdom to turn70into English the book that is called in LatinPastoralisand in EnglishThe Shepherd’s Book, sometimes word for word, sometimes thought by thought, as I had learned it from Plegmund my archbishop, and Asser my bishop, and Grimbald my priest, and John my priest.75After I had learned it so that I understood it and so that I could interpret it clearly, I translated it into English. I shall send one copy to every bishopric in my kingdom; and in each is a book-mark worth fifty mancuses. And I command in God’s name that no man80take the book-mark from the monastery. It is not certain that there will be such learned bishops as, thanks be to God, we now have nearly everywhere. HenceI wish the books to remain always in their places, unless the bishop wishes to take them with him, or they be lent85out anywhere, or any one be copying them.
[Text: Bright’sAnglo-Saxon Reader, pp. 26 ff.]
King Alfred sends greetings to Wærferth in loving and friendly words. I let thee know that it has often come to my mind what wise men there were formerly throughout England among both the clergy and the5laity, and what happy times there were then throughout England, and how the kings who held sway over the people in those days obeyed God and his ministers; and how they preserved not only their peace but their morality also and good order at home and extended10their possessions abroad; and how prosperous they were both with war and with wisdom; and how zealous the clergy were both in teaching and in learning, and in all the services they owed to God; and how foreigners came to the land in search of wisdom and learning, and15how we should now have to secure them from abroad if we were to have them. So complete was this decay in England that there were very few on this side of the Humber who could understand their rituals in English or translate a Latin letter into English; and I feel sure20that there were not many beyond Humber. So few there were that I can not remember a single one south of the Thames when I began to reign. Almighty God bethanked that we have any teachers among us now....
Then I considered all this, and brought to mind25also how, before it had all been laid waste and burned, the churches throughout all England stood filled with treasures and books; and there was a great multitude of God’s servants, but they knew very little about the books, for they could not understand anything in them,30since they were not written in their own language—as if they spoke thus: “Our fathers who held these places of old loved wisdom and through it acquired wealth and bequeathed it to us. Here we may still see their tracks, but we can not follow them, and hence we have35now lost both the wealth and the wisdom, since we would not incline our hearts after their example.”
When I called all this to mind, I wondered very much, considering all the good and wise men who were formerly throughout England and all the books that they40had perfectly learned, that they had translated no part of them into their own language. But soon I answered myself and said: “They did not expect that men should ever become as careless and that learning should decay as it has; they neglected it through the desire that the45greater increase of wisdom there should be in the land the more should men learn of foreign languages.”
I then considered that the law was first found in the Hebrew tongue, and again when the Greeks learned it, they translated it all into their own language. And the50Romans likewise when they had learned it, they translated it all through learned scholars into their own language. And all other Christian people have turnedsome part into their own language. Wherefore it seems to me best, if it seems so to you, that we should translate55some books that are most needful for all men to know into the language which we can all understand and that we should bring about what we may very easily do with God’s help if we have tranquillity; namely, that all youths that are now in England of60free birth, who are rich enough to devote themselves to it, be put to learning as long as they are not fitted for any other occupation, until the time that they shall be able to read English writing with ease: and let those that would pursue their studies further be taught more65in Latin and be promoted to a higher rank. When I brought to mind how the knowledge of Latin had formerly decayed throughout England, and yet many knew how to read English writing, I began among other various and manifold troubles of this kingdom to turn70into English the book that is called in LatinPastoralisand in EnglishThe Shepherd’s Book, sometimes word for word, sometimes thought by thought, as I had learned it from Plegmund my archbishop, and Asser my bishop, and Grimbald my priest, and John my priest.75After I had learned it so that I understood it and so that I could interpret it clearly, I translated it into English. I shall send one copy to every bishopric in my kingdom; and in each is a book-mark worth fifty mancuses. And I command in God’s name that no man80take the book-mark from the monastery. It is not certain that there will be such learned bishops as, thanks be to God, we now have nearly everywhere. HenceI wish the books to remain always in their places, unless the bishop wishes to take them with him, or they be lent85out anywhere, or any one be copying them.
THE CONVERSION OF EDWIN.[From Alfred’s translation of Bede’sEcclesiastical History. Text: Bright,Anglo-Saxon Reader, p. 62, line 2—p. 63, line 17.]When the king heard these words, he answered him [Paulinus, who had been preaching Christianity to him] and said that he was not only willing but expected to accept the faith that he taught; the king said, however,5that he wished to have speech and counsel with his friends and advisers, so that if they accepted the faith with him they might all together be consecrated to Christ, the Fountain of Life. The bishop consented and the king did as he said.10He now counselled and advised with his wise men, and he asked of each of them separately what he thought of the new doctrine and the worship of God that was preached. Cefi, the chief of his priests, then answered, “Consider, oh king, what this teaching is that is now15delivered to us. I declare to you, I have learned for a certainty that the religion we have had up to the present has neither virtue nor usefulness in it. For none of thy servants has applied himself more diligently to the worship of our gods than I, and nevertheless there20are many who receive greater gifts and favors from thee than I, and are more prosperous in all their undertakings. I know well that our gods, if they had hadany power, would have rewarded me more because I have more faithfully served and obeyed them. It seems25to me, therefore, wise, if you consider that these new doctrines which are preached to us are better and more efficacious, to receive them immediately.”Assenting to his words, another of the king’s wise men and chiefs spoke further: “O king, this present30life of man on earth seems to me, in comparison with the time that is unknown to us, as if thou wert sitting at a feast with thine eldermen and thanes in the winter time, and the fire burned brightly and thy hall was warm, and it rained and snowed and stormed outside;35there comes then a sparrow and flies quickly through thy house; in through one door he comes, through the other door he goes out again. As long as he is within he is not rained on by the winter storm, but after a twinkling of an eye and a mere moment he goes immediately40from winter back to winter again. Likewise this life of man appeareth for a little time, but what goes before or what comes after we know not. If therefore this teaching can tell us anything more satisfying or certain, it seems worthy to be followed.”
[From Alfred’s translation of Bede’sEcclesiastical History. Text: Bright,Anglo-Saxon Reader, p. 62, line 2—p. 63, line 17.]
When the king heard these words, he answered him [Paulinus, who had been preaching Christianity to him] and said that he was not only willing but expected to accept the faith that he taught; the king said, however,5that he wished to have speech and counsel with his friends and advisers, so that if they accepted the faith with him they might all together be consecrated to Christ, the Fountain of Life. The bishop consented and the king did as he said.
10He now counselled and advised with his wise men, and he asked of each of them separately what he thought of the new doctrine and the worship of God that was preached. Cefi, the chief of his priests, then answered, “Consider, oh king, what this teaching is that is now15delivered to us. I declare to you, I have learned for a certainty that the religion we have had up to the present has neither virtue nor usefulness in it. For none of thy servants has applied himself more diligently to the worship of our gods than I, and nevertheless there20are many who receive greater gifts and favors from thee than I, and are more prosperous in all their undertakings. I know well that our gods, if they had hadany power, would have rewarded me more because I have more faithfully served and obeyed them. It seems25to me, therefore, wise, if you consider that these new doctrines which are preached to us are better and more efficacious, to receive them immediately.”
Assenting to his words, another of the king’s wise men and chiefs spoke further: “O king, this present30life of man on earth seems to me, in comparison with the time that is unknown to us, as if thou wert sitting at a feast with thine eldermen and thanes in the winter time, and the fire burned brightly and thy hall was warm, and it rained and snowed and stormed outside;35there comes then a sparrow and flies quickly through thy house; in through one door he comes, through the other door he goes out again. As long as he is within he is not rained on by the winter storm, but after a twinkling of an eye and a mere moment he goes immediately40from winter back to winter again. Likewise this life of man appeareth for a little time, but what goes before or what comes after we know not. If therefore this teaching can tell us anything more satisfying or certain, it seems worthy to be followed.”
THE VOYAGES OF OHTHERE AND WULFSTAN[From Alfred’s version of Orosius’sHistory of the World. Text used: Bright’sAnglo-Saxon Reader, pp. 38 ff.]Ohthere’s VoyagesOhthere told his lord, King Alfred, that he dwelt the farthest north of all the Northmen. He said that he lived in the northern part of the land toward the West Sea. He reported, however, that the land extended very5far north thence; but that it was all waste, except in a few places here and there where the Finns dwell, engaged in hunting in winter and sea fishing in summer. He said that on one occasion he wished to find out how far the land lay northward, or whether any man inhabited10the waste land to the north. Then he fared northward to the land; for three days there was waste land on his starboard and the wide sea on his larboard. Then he had come as far north as the whale hunters ever go. Whereupon, he journeyed still northward as far as he15could in three days sailing. At that place the land bent to the east—or the sea in on the land, he knew not which; but he knew that there he waited for a west wind, or somewhat from the northwest, and then sailed east, near the land, as far as he could in four days. There he had to20wait for a wind from due north, since there the land bent due south—or the sea in on the land, he knew notwhich. From there he sailed due south, close in to the land, as far as he could in five days. At this point a large river extended up into the land. They then followed25this river, for they dared not sail beyond it because of their fear of hostile reception, the land being all inhabited on the other side of the river. He had not found any inhabited land since leaving his own home; for the land to the right was not inhabited all30the way, except by fishermen, fowlers, and hunters, and these were all Finns; to the left there was always open sea. The Permians had cultivated their soil very well, but they dared not enter upon it. The land of the Terfinns was all waste, except where hunters, fishers, or35fowlers dwelt.The Permians told him many tales both about their own country and about surrounding countries, but he knew not how much was true, for he did not behold it for himself. The Finns and Permians, it appeared to him,40spoke almost the same language. He went hither on this voyage not only for the purpose of seeing the country, but mainly for walruses, for they have exceedingly good bone in their teeth—they brought some of the teeth to the king—and their hides are very good for45ship-ropes. This whale is much smaller than other whales; it is not more than seven ells long; but the best whale-fishing is in his own country—those are eight and forty ells long, and the largest are fifty ells long. He said that he was one of a company of six who killed50sixty of these in two days.Ohthere was a very rich man in such possessions asmake up their wealth, that is, in wild beasts. At the time when he came to the king, he still had six hundred tame deer that he had not sold. The men call these55reindeer. Six of these were decoy-reindeer, which are very valuable among the Finns, for it is with them that the Finns trap the wild reindeer. He was among the first men in the land, although he had not more than twenty cattle, twenty sheep, and twenty swine, and the60little that he plowed he plowed with horses. Their income, however, is mainly in the tribute that the Finns pay them—animals’ skins, birds’ feathers, whalebone, and ship-ropes made of the hide of whale and the hide of seal. Every one contributes in proportion to his65means; the richest must pay fifteen marten skins and five reindeer skins; one bear skin, forty bushels of feathers, a bear-skin or otter-skin girdle, and two ship-ropes, each sixty ells long, one made of the hide of the whale and the other of the hide of the seal.70He reported that the land of the Northmen was very long and very narrow. All that man can use for either grazing or plowing lies near the sea, and even that is very rocky in some places; and to the east, alongside the inhabited land, lie wild moors. The Finns live75in these waste lands. And the inhabited land is broadest to the eastward, becoming always narrower the farther north one goes. To the east it may be sixty miles broad, or even a little broader; and in the middle thirty or broader; and to the north, where it was narrowest,80he said that it might be three miles broad to the moor. Moreover the moor is so broad in some placesthat it would take a man two weeks to cross it. In other places it was of such a breadth that a man can cross it in six days.85Then there is alongside that land southward, on the other side of the moor, Sweden, as far as the land to the north; and alongside the land northward, the land of the Cwens (Finns). The Finns plunder the Northmen over the moor sometimes and sometimes the Northmen90plunder them. And there are very many fresh lakes out over the moor; and the Finns bear their ships over the land to these lakes and then ravage the Northmen; they have very small and very light ships.Ohthere said that the place was called Halgoland, in95which he dwelt. He said that no man lived north of him. There is one port in the southern part of the land which is called Sciringesheal. Thither he said that one might not sail in one month, if he encamped by night and had good wind all day; and all the while he should sail100close to land. And on the starboard he has firstIreland, and then the island that is between Ireland and this land. Then he has this land till he comes to Sciringesheal, and all the way he has Norway on the larboard. To the south of Sciringesheal the sea comes far up into105the land; the sea is so broad that no man may see across. And Jutland is in the opposite direction, and after that is Zealand. The sea runs many hundred miles up in on that land.And from Sciringesheal he said that he sailed in five110days to that port that is called Haddeby; it lies betweenthe country of the Wends and the Saxons and the Angles, and belongs to the Danes. When he sailed away from Sciringesheal for three days, he had Denmark on the larboard and the wide sea on his starboard; and then,115two days before he reached Haddeby, he had Jutland on his starboard and also Zealand and many islands. In that land had dwelt the English before they came hither to this land. And then for two days he had on his larboard the islands which belong to Denmark.100.Ireland: Iceland is probably meant.Wulfstan’s Voyage120Wulfstan said that he set out from Haddeby, and that he arrived after seven days and nights at Truso, the ship being all the way under full sail. He had Wendland (Mecklenburg and Pomerania) on the starboard, and Langland, Laaland, Falster, and Sconey on125the larboard; and all these lands belong to Denmark. And then we had on our larboard the land of the Burgundians (Bornholmians), and they have their own king. Beyond the land of the Burgundians we had on our left those lands that were first called Blekinge, and130Meore, and Oland, and Gothland; these lands belong to the Swedes. To the starboard we had all the way the country of the Wends, as far as the mouth of the Vistula. The Vistula is a very large river, and it separates Witland from Wendland; and Witland belongs to the135Esthonians. The Vistula flows out of Wendland, and runs into the Frische Haff. The Frische Haff is about fifteen miles broad. Then the Elbing empties into theFrische Haff, flowing from the east out of the lake on the shore of which Truso stands; and there they empty140together into the Frische Haff, the Elbing from the east, which flows out of Esthonia, and the Vistula from the south, out of Wendland. The Vistula then gives its name to the Elbing, and runs out of the mere west and north into the sea; hence it is called the mouth of the145Vistula.Esthoniais very large, and there are many towns there, and in every town there is a king. There is also very much honey, and fishing. The king and the richest men drink mare’s milk, but the poor men and the slaves150drink mead. There is much strife among them. There is no ale brewed by the Esthonians; there is, however, plenty of mead. And there is a custom among the Esthonians that when a man dies he lies unburied in his house, with his kindred and friends, for a month—sometimes155two; and the kings and most powerful men still longer, in proportion to their riches; it is sometimes half a year that they stay unburnt, lying above ground, in their own houses. All the time that the body is within, drinking and merry-making continue until160the day that he is burned. The same day on which they are to bear him to the funeral-pyre they divide his possessions, whatever may be left after the drinking and pleasures, into five or six parts—sometimes into more, in proportion to the amount of his goods. Then they165place the largest share about a mile from the town, then the second, then the third, until it is all laid within the one mile; and the smallest portion must be nearestthe town in which the dead man lies. Then there are gathered together all of the men in the land that have170the swiftest horses, about six or seven miles from the goods. Then they all run toward the possessions, and the one who has the swiftest horse comes to the first and largest part, and so one after another till all is taken up; and the man who arrives at the goods nearest the175town obtains the smallest part. Then each man rides his way with the property, and he may keep it all; and for this reason fast horses are very dear in that country. When the property is thus all spent, they bear him out and burn him along with his weapons and his raiment.180And generally they spend all his wealth, with the long time that the corpse lies within and with the goods that they lay along the roads, and that the strangers run for and bear off with them. Again, it is a custom with the Esthonians to burn men of every tribe,185and if any one finds a bone which is unburned he has to make amends for it. And there is one tribe among the Esthonians that has the power of making cold, and it is because they put this cold upon them that the corpses lie so long and do not decay. And if a man190places two vessels full of ale or water, they cause both to be frozen over, whether it is summer or winter.
[From Alfred’s version of Orosius’sHistory of the World. Text used: Bright’sAnglo-Saxon Reader, pp. 38 ff.]
Ohthere’s VoyagesOhthere told his lord, King Alfred, that he dwelt the farthest north of all the Northmen. He said that he lived in the northern part of the land toward the West Sea. He reported, however, that the land extended very5far north thence; but that it was all waste, except in a few places here and there where the Finns dwell, engaged in hunting in winter and sea fishing in summer. He said that on one occasion he wished to find out how far the land lay northward, or whether any man inhabited10the waste land to the north. Then he fared northward to the land; for three days there was waste land on his starboard and the wide sea on his larboard. Then he had come as far north as the whale hunters ever go. Whereupon, he journeyed still northward as far as he15could in three days sailing. At that place the land bent to the east—or the sea in on the land, he knew not which; but he knew that there he waited for a west wind, or somewhat from the northwest, and then sailed east, near the land, as far as he could in four days. There he had to20wait for a wind from due north, since there the land bent due south—or the sea in on the land, he knew notwhich. From there he sailed due south, close in to the land, as far as he could in five days. At this point a large river extended up into the land. They then followed25this river, for they dared not sail beyond it because of their fear of hostile reception, the land being all inhabited on the other side of the river. He had not found any inhabited land since leaving his own home; for the land to the right was not inhabited all30the way, except by fishermen, fowlers, and hunters, and these were all Finns; to the left there was always open sea. The Permians had cultivated their soil very well, but they dared not enter upon it. The land of the Terfinns was all waste, except where hunters, fishers, or35fowlers dwelt.The Permians told him many tales both about their own country and about surrounding countries, but he knew not how much was true, for he did not behold it for himself. The Finns and Permians, it appeared to him,40spoke almost the same language. He went hither on this voyage not only for the purpose of seeing the country, but mainly for walruses, for they have exceedingly good bone in their teeth—they brought some of the teeth to the king—and their hides are very good for45ship-ropes. This whale is much smaller than other whales; it is not more than seven ells long; but the best whale-fishing is in his own country—those are eight and forty ells long, and the largest are fifty ells long. He said that he was one of a company of six who killed50sixty of these in two days.Ohthere was a very rich man in such possessions asmake up their wealth, that is, in wild beasts. At the time when he came to the king, he still had six hundred tame deer that he had not sold. The men call these55reindeer. Six of these were decoy-reindeer, which are very valuable among the Finns, for it is with them that the Finns trap the wild reindeer. He was among the first men in the land, although he had not more than twenty cattle, twenty sheep, and twenty swine, and the60little that he plowed he plowed with horses. Their income, however, is mainly in the tribute that the Finns pay them—animals’ skins, birds’ feathers, whalebone, and ship-ropes made of the hide of whale and the hide of seal. Every one contributes in proportion to his65means; the richest must pay fifteen marten skins and five reindeer skins; one bear skin, forty bushels of feathers, a bear-skin or otter-skin girdle, and two ship-ropes, each sixty ells long, one made of the hide of the whale and the other of the hide of the seal.70He reported that the land of the Northmen was very long and very narrow. All that man can use for either grazing or plowing lies near the sea, and even that is very rocky in some places; and to the east, alongside the inhabited land, lie wild moors. The Finns live75in these waste lands. And the inhabited land is broadest to the eastward, becoming always narrower the farther north one goes. To the east it may be sixty miles broad, or even a little broader; and in the middle thirty or broader; and to the north, where it was narrowest,80he said that it might be three miles broad to the moor. Moreover the moor is so broad in some placesthat it would take a man two weeks to cross it. In other places it was of such a breadth that a man can cross it in six days.85Then there is alongside that land southward, on the other side of the moor, Sweden, as far as the land to the north; and alongside the land northward, the land of the Cwens (Finns). The Finns plunder the Northmen over the moor sometimes and sometimes the Northmen90plunder them. And there are very many fresh lakes out over the moor; and the Finns bear their ships over the land to these lakes and then ravage the Northmen; they have very small and very light ships.Ohthere said that the place was called Halgoland, in95which he dwelt. He said that no man lived north of him. There is one port in the southern part of the land which is called Sciringesheal. Thither he said that one might not sail in one month, if he encamped by night and had good wind all day; and all the while he should sail100close to land. And on the starboard he has firstIreland, and then the island that is between Ireland and this land. Then he has this land till he comes to Sciringesheal, and all the way he has Norway on the larboard. To the south of Sciringesheal the sea comes far up into105the land; the sea is so broad that no man may see across. And Jutland is in the opposite direction, and after that is Zealand. The sea runs many hundred miles up in on that land.And from Sciringesheal he said that he sailed in five110days to that port that is called Haddeby; it lies betweenthe country of the Wends and the Saxons and the Angles, and belongs to the Danes. When he sailed away from Sciringesheal for three days, he had Denmark on the larboard and the wide sea on his starboard; and then,115two days before he reached Haddeby, he had Jutland on his starboard and also Zealand and many islands. In that land had dwelt the English before they came hither to this land. And then for two days he had on his larboard the islands which belong to Denmark.100.Ireland: Iceland is probably meant.
Ohthere told his lord, King Alfred, that he dwelt the farthest north of all the Northmen. He said that he lived in the northern part of the land toward the West Sea. He reported, however, that the land extended very5far north thence; but that it was all waste, except in a few places here and there where the Finns dwell, engaged in hunting in winter and sea fishing in summer. He said that on one occasion he wished to find out how far the land lay northward, or whether any man inhabited10the waste land to the north. Then he fared northward to the land; for three days there was waste land on his starboard and the wide sea on his larboard. Then he had come as far north as the whale hunters ever go. Whereupon, he journeyed still northward as far as he15could in three days sailing. At that place the land bent to the east—or the sea in on the land, he knew not which; but he knew that there he waited for a west wind, or somewhat from the northwest, and then sailed east, near the land, as far as he could in four days. There he had to20wait for a wind from due north, since there the land bent due south—or the sea in on the land, he knew notwhich. From there he sailed due south, close in to the land, as far as he could in five days. At this point a large river extended up into the land. They then followed25this river, for they dared not sail beyond it because of their fear of hostile reception, the land being all inhabited on the other side of the river. He had not found any inhabited land since leaving his own home; for the land to the right was not inhabited all30the way, except by fishermen, fowlers, and hunters, and these were all Finns; to the left there was always open sea. The Permians had cultivated their soil very well, but they dared not enter upon it. The land of the Terfinns was all waste, except where hunters, fishers, or35fowlers dwelt.
The Permians told him many tales both about their own country and about surrounding countries, but he knew not how much was true, for he did not behold it for himself. The Finns and Permians, it appeared to him,40spoke almost the same language. He went hither on this voyage not only for the purpose of seeing the country, but mainly for walruses, for they have exceedingly good bone in their teeth—they brought some of the teeth to the king—and their hides are very good for45ship-ropes. This whale is much smaller than other whales; it is not more than seven ells long; but the best whale-fishing is in his own country—those are eight and forty ells long, and the largest are fifty ells long. He said that he was one of a company of six who killed50sixty of these in two days.
Ohthere was a very rich man in such possessions asmake up their wealth, that is, in wild beasts. At the time when he came to the king, he still had six hundred tame deer that he had not sold. The men call these55reindeer. Six of these were decoy-reindeer, which are very valuable among the Finns, for it is with them that the Finns trap the wild reindeer. He was among the first men in the land, although he had not more than twenty cattle, twenty sheep, and twenty swine, and the60little that he plowed he plowed with horses. Their income, however, is mainly in the tribute that the Finns pay them—animals’ skins, birds’ feathers, whalebone, and ship-ropes made of the hide of whale and the hide of seal. Every one contributes in proportion to his65means; the richest must pay fifteen marten skins and five reindeer skins; one bear skin, forty bushels of feathers, a bear-skin or otter-skin girdle, and two ship-ropes, each sixty ells long, one made of the hide of the whale and the other of the hide of the seal.
70He reported that the land of the Northmen was very long and very narrow. All that man can use for either grazing or plowing lies near the sea, and even that is very rocky in some places; and to the east, alongside the inhabited land, lie wild moors. The Finns live75in these waste lands. And the inhabited land is broadest to the eastward, becoming always narrower the farther north one goes. To the east it may be sixty miles broad, or even a little broader; and in the middle thirty or broader; and to the north, where it was narrowest,80he said that it might be three miles broad to the moor. Moreover the moor is so broad in some placesthat it would take a man two weeks to cross it. In other places it was of such a breadth that a man can cross it in six days.
85Then there is alongside that land southward, on the other side of the moor, Sweden, as far as the land to the north; and alongside the land northward, the land of the Cwens (Finns). The Finns plunder the Northmen over the moor sometimes and sometimes the Northmen90plunder them. And there are very many fresh lakes out over the moor; and the Finns bear their ships over the land to these lakes and then ravage the Northmen; they have very small and very light ships.
Ohthere said that the place was called Halgoland, in95which he dwelt. He said that no man lived north of him. There is one port in the southern part of the land which is called Sciringesheal. Thither he said that one might not sail in one month, if he encamped by night and had good wind all day; and all the while he should sail100close to land. And on the starboard he has firstIreland, and then the island that is between Ireland and this land. Then he has this land till he comes to Sciringesheal, and all the way he has Norway on the larboard. To the south of Sciringesheal the sea comes far up into105the land; the sea is so broad that no man may see across. And Jutland is in the opposite direction, and after that is Zealand. The sea runs many hundred miles up in on that land.
And from Sciringesheal he said that he sailed in five110days to that port that is called Haddeby; it lies betweenthe country of the Wends and the Saxons and the Angles, and belongs to the Danes. When he sailed away from Sciringesheal for three days, he had Denmark on the larboard and the wide sea on his starboard; and then,115two days before he reached Haddeby, he had Jutland on his starboard and also Zealand and many islands. In that land had dwelt the English before they came hither to this land. And then for two days he had on his larboard the islands which belong to Denmark.
100.Ireland: Iceland is probably meant.
100.Ireland: Iceland is probably meant.
Wulfstan’s Voyage120Wulfstan said that he set out from Haddeby, and that he arrived after seven days and nights at Truso, the ship being all the way under full sail. He had Wendland (Mecklenburg and Pomerania) on the starboard, and Langland, Laaland, Falster, and Sconey on125the larboard; and all these lands belong to Denmark. And then we had on our larboard the land of the Burgundians (Bornholmians), and they have their own king. Beyond the land of the Burgundians we had on our left those lands that were first called Blekinge, and130Meore, and Oland, and Gothland; these lands belong to the Swedes. To the starboard we had all the way the country of the Wends, as far as the mouth of the Vistula. The Vistula is a very large river, and it separates Witland from Wendland; and Witland belongs to the135Esthonians. The Vistula flows out of Wendland, and runs into the Frische Haff. The Frische Haff is about fifteen miles broad. Then the Elbing empties into theFrische Haff, flowing from the east out of the lake on the shore of which Truso stands; and there they empty140together into the Frische Haff, the Elbing from the east, which flows out of Esthonia, and the Vistula from the south, out of Wendland. The Vistula then gives its name to the Elbing, and runs out of the mere west and north into the sea; hence it is called the mouth of the145Vistula.Esthoniais very large, and there are many towns there, and in every town there is a king. There is also very much honey, and fishing. The king and the richest men drink mare’s milk, but the poor men and the slaves150drink mead. There is much strife among them. There is no ale brewed by the Esthonians; there is, however, plenty of mead. And there is a custom among the Esthonians that when a man dies he lies unburied in his house, with his kindred and friends, for a month—sometimes155two; and the kings and most powerful men still longer, in proportion to their riches; it is sometimes half a year that they stay unburnt, lying above ground, in their own houses. All the time that the body is within, drinking and merry-making continue until160the day that he is burned. The same day on which they are to bear him to the funeral-pyre they divide his possessions, whatever may be left after the drinking and pleasures, into five or six parts—sometimes into more, in proportion to the amount of his goods. Then they165place the largest share about a mile from the town, then the second, then the third, until it is all laid within the one mile; and the smallest portion must be nearestthe town in which the dead man lies. Then there are gathered together all of the men in the land that have170the swiftest horses, about six or seven miles from the goods. Then they all run toward the possessions, and the one who has the swiftest horse comes to the first and largest part, and so one after another till all is taken up; and the man who arrives at the goods nearest the175town obtains the smallest part. Then each man rides his way with the property, and he may keep it all; and for this reason fast horses are very dear in that country. When the property is thus all spent, they bear him out and burn him along with his weapons and his raiment.180And generally they spend all his wealth, with the long time that the corpse lies within and with the goods that they lay along the roads, and that the strangers run for and bear off with them. Again, it is a custom with the Esthonians to burn men of every tribe,185and if any one finds a bone which is unburned he has to make amends for it. And there is one tribe among the Esthonians that has the power of making cold, and it is because they put this cold upon them that the corpses lie so long and do not decay. And if a man190places two vessels full of ale or water, they cause both to be frozen over, whether it is summer or winter.
120Wulfstan said that he set out from Haddeby, and that he arrived after seven days and nights at Truso, the ship being all the way under full sail. He had Wendland (Mecklenburg and Pomerania) on the starboard, and Langland, Laaland, Falster, and Sconey on125the larboard; and all these lands belong to Denmark. And then we had on our larboard the land of the Burgundians (Bornholmians), and they have their own king. Beyond the land of the Burgundians we had on our left those lands that were first called Blekinge, and130Meore, and Oland, and Gothland; these lands belong to the Swedes. To the starboard we had all the way the country of the Wends, as far as the mouth of the Vistula. The Vistula is a very large river, and it separates Witland from Wendland; and Witland belongs to the135Esthonians. The Vistula flows out of Wendland, and runs into the Frische Haff. The Frische Haff is about fifteen miles broad. Then the Elbing empties into theFrische Haff, flowing from the east out of the lake on the shore of which Truso stands; and there they empty140together into the Frische Haff, the Elbing from the east, which flows out of Esthonia, and the Vistula from the south, out of Wendland. The Vistula then gives its name to the Elbing, and runs out of the mere west and north into the sea; hence it is called the mouth of the145Vistula.
Esthoniais very large, and there are many towns there, and in every town there is a king. There is also very much honey, and fishing. The king and the richest men drink mare’s milk, but the poor men and the slaves150drink mead. There is much strife among them. There is no ale brewed by the Esthonians; there is, however, plenty of mead. And there is a custom among the Esthonians that when a man dies he lies unburied in his house, with his kindred and friends, for a month—sometimes155two; and the kings and most powerful men still longer, in proportion to their riches; it is sometimes half a year that they stay unburnt, lying above ground, in their own houses. All the time that the body is within, drinking and merry-making continue until160the day that he is burned. The same day on which they are to bear him to the funeral-pyre they divide his possessions, whatever may be left after the drinking and pleasures, into five or six parts—sometimes into more, in proportion to the amount of his goods. Then they165place the largest share about a mile from the town, then the second, then the third, until it is all laid within the one mile; and the smallest portion must be nearestthe town in which the dead man lies. Then there are gathered together all of the men in the land that have170the swiftest horses, about six or seven miles from the goods. Then they all run toward the possessions, and the one who has the swiftest horse comes to the first and largest part, and so one after another till all is taken up; and the man who arrives at the goods nearest the175town obtains the smallest part. Then each man rides his way with the property, and he may keep it all; and for this reason fast horses are very dear in that country. When the property is thus all spent, they bear him out and burn him along with his weapons and his raiment.180And generally they spend all his wealth, with the long time that the corpse lies within and with the goods that they lay along the roads, and that the strangers run for and bear off with them. Again, it is a custom with the Esthonians to burn men of every tribe,185and if any one finds a bone which is unburned he has to make amends for it. And there is one tribe among the Esthonians that has the power of making cold, and it is because they put this cold upon them that the corpses lie so long and do not decay. And if a man190places two vessels full of ale or water, they cause both to be frozen over, whether it is summer or winter.