“Dark night, deep waters, stirred the deep creatures,
Agitated and angered them, all of them wild.”
Beowulf, 25
We Dared It
“We dared to defy it, however daunting it was.
With swords to serve us, we shoved off from the beach.
The sea roiled, we rowed, with real steel to protect us
From whale-beasts in winter, from watery monsters.”
It Burdens My Breast
“It burdens my breast to believe that I must
Reveal the wreckage that rivalry with Grendel has wrought.
What havoc, what humiliation, what hell he has brought us.”
Bare-handed
“To heighten Hygelac’s glory, that his heart may be gladdened,
I renounce sword and shield and will serve you bare-handed.”
Beasts Beaten Back
“I beat down and bound some beasts, five in number.
I took out a troll-nest, I tackled sea monsters . . .”
Go Now
“Go now and get him and gather him quickly.
Bring him. Our barons will boast to have met him.”
Holy God in His Goodness
“Now holy God in His goodness has guided him here,
In His manifest mercy, in His manifold kindness,
To desperate Danes to defend us from Grendel” ().
Grim Majesty
“Gray-bearded, grizzled, and grim in his majesty,
Solemn, surrounded by nobles, he served face to face.”
Not Banishment
“I am Hrothgar’s herald, and his high-retainer,
And never have known such nobility in wanderers.
Surely bravery or battle, not banishment, brings you
To Herorot and Hrothgar, to have such a presence.”
Beowulf, p 18
A Spinney of Spears
“The spears were soon stacked, these seafarers’s weapons,
Like a spinney spears, splendid gray ash,
With the troops no less true, all tested in battle.”