Part VII
HROTHGAR spake, the Scyldings'-helmet: --"For fight defensive, Friend my Beowulf,to succor and save, thou hast sought us here.Thy father's combat a feud enkindledwhen Heatholaf with hand he slewamong the Wylfings; his Weder kinfor horror of fighting feared to hold him.Fleeing, he sought our South-Dane folk,over surge of ocean the Honor-Scyldings,when first I was ruling the folk of Danes,wielded, youthful, this widespread realm,this hoard-hold of heroes. Heorogar was dead,my elder brother, had breathed his last,Healfdene's bairn: he was better than I!Straightway the feud with fee I settled,to the Wylfings sent, o'er watery ridges,treasures olden: oaths he swore me.Sore is my soul to say to anyof the race of man what ruth for mein Heorot Grendel with hate hath wrought,what sudden harryings. Hall-folk fail me,my warriors wane; for Wyrd hath swept theminto Grendel's grasp. But God is ablethis deadly foe from his deeds to turn!Boasted full oft, as my beer they drank,earls o'er the ale-cup, armed men,that they would bide in the beer-hall here,Grendel's attack with terror of blades.Then was this mead-house at morning tidedyed with gore, when the daylight broke,all the boards of the benches blood-besprinkled,gory the hall: I had heroes the less,doughty dear-ones that death had reft.-- But sit to the banquet, unbind thy words,hardy hero, as heart shall prompt thee."
Gathered together, the Geatish menin the banquet-hall on bench assigned,sturdy-spirited, sat them down,hardy-hearted. A henchman attended,carried the carven cup in hand,served the clear mead. Oft minstrels sangblithe in Heorot. Heroes revelled,no dearth of warriors, Weder and Dane.
Words in this poem 18
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- dane n.
- A native, or a naturalized inhabitant, of Denmark. Great Dane. [LL. Dani: cf. AS. Dene.]
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- straightway adv.
- Immediately; without loss of time; without delay.
- olden a.
- Old; ancient; as, the olden time.
- ruth n.
- Sorrow for the misery of another; pity; tenderness. [From Rue, v.: cf. Icel. hryggedh, hrygedh.]
- drank n.
- Wild oats, or darnel grass. See Drake a plant. [Cf. 3d Drake.]
- bide v. i.
- To dwell; to inhabit; to abide; to stay. [OE. biden, AS. bidan; akin to OHG. bitan, Goth. beidan, Icel. bi; perh. orig., to wait with trust, and akin to bid. See Bid, v. t., and cf. Abide.]
- daylight n.
- The light of day as opposed to the darkness of night; the light of the sun, as opposed to that of the moon or to artificial light.
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- gory a.
- Covered with gore or clotted blood. [From Gore.]
- doughty a.
- Able; strong; valiant; redoubtable; as, a doughty hero.
- reft n.
- A chink; a rift. See Rift. Rom. of R.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- henchman n.
- An attendant; a servant; a follower. Now chiefly used as a political cant term. [OE. hencheman, henxman; prob. fr. OE. & AS. hengest horse + E. man, and meaning, a groom. AS. hengest is akin to D. & G. hengst stallion, OHG. hengist horse, ge]
- carven a.
- Wrought by carving; ornamented by carvings; carved.
- blithe a.
- Gay; merry; sprightly; joyous; glad; cheerful; as, a blithe spirit. [AS. bli blithe, kind; akin to Goth. blei kind, Icel. bli mild, gentle, Dan. & Sw. blid gentle, D. blijd blithe, OHG. blidi kind, blithe.]
- dearth n.
- Scarcity which renders dear; want; lack; specifically, lack of food on account of failure of crops; famine. [OE. derthe, fr. dere. See Dear.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Part VII is in the public domain. This text is taken from Beowulf, Project Gutenberg ebook #981, the Francis B. Gummere translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Anonymous, Part VII, in Beowulf (1910), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #981, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/beowulf/part-vii.html, id L14195.
Form and metre
Part VII is 43 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is trochaic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 75%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.1 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 23% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -------------A--A------------------ helmet · beowulf · here · enkindled · slew · kin · him · folk · scyldings · danes · realm · dead · last · iA · settled · ridges · meA · any · me · wrought · me · them · able · turn · drank · men · here · blades · tide · broke · besprinkled · less · reft · words · thee
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against trochaic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| HROTHGAR spake, the Scyldings'-helmet: -- | 8 | ······/˘ |
| "For fight defensive, Friend my Beowulf, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| to succor and save, thou hast sought us here. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Thy father's combat a feud enkindled | 9 | ·/˘/˘···· |
| when Heatholaf with hand he slew | 8 | ········ |
| among the Wylfings; his Weder kin | 9 | ······/˘· |
| for horror of fighting feared to hold him. | 10 | ·/˘·/˘···· |
| Fleeing, he sought our South-Dane folk, | 9 | /˘··/˘··· |
| over surge of ocean the Honor-Scyldings, | 9 | ···/·/˘·· |
| when first I was ruling the folk of Danes, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| wielded, youthful, this widespread realm, | 8 | /˘/˘·//· |
| this hoard-hold of heroes. Heorogar was dead, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| my elder brother, had breathed his last, | 9 | ·/˘/˘···· |
| Healfdene's bairn: he was better than I! | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Straightway the feud with fee I settled, | 9 | /˘·····/˘ |
| to the Wylfings sent, o'er watery ridges, | 10 | ······/˘/˘ |
| treasures olden: oaths he swore me. | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| Sore is my soul to say to any | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| of the race of man what ruth for me | 9 | ········· |
| in Heorot Grendel with hate hath wrought, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| what sudden harryings. Hall-folk fail me, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| my warriors wane; for Wyrd hath swept them | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| into Grendel's grasp. But God is able | 10 | ··/˘····/˘ |
| this deadly foe from his deeds to turn! | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Boasted full oft, as my beer they drank, | 9 | /˘······· |
| earls o'er the ale-cup, armed men, | 8 | ······˘· |
| that they would bide in the beer-hall here, | 9 | ········· |
| Grendel's attack with terror of blades. | 9 | /˘˘/·/˘·· |
| Then was this mead-house at morning tide | 9 | ······/˘· |
| dyed with gore, when the daylight broke, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| all the boards of the benches blood-besprinkled, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| gory the hall: I had heroes the less, | 10 | /˘····/˘·· |
| doughty dear-ones that death had reft. | 8 | /˘······ |
| -- But sit to the banquet, unbind thy words, | 10 | ····/˘˘/·· |
| hardy hero, as heart shall prompt thee." | 9 | /˘/˘····· |
| Gathered together, the Geatish men | 9 | /˘˘/˘···· |
| in the banquet-hall on bench assigned, | 9 | ··/˘···˘/ |
| sturdy-spirited, sat them down, | 8 | /˘/˘˘··· |
| hardy-hearted. A henchman attended, | 10 | /˘/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| carried the carven cup in hand, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| served the clear mead. Oft minstrels sang | 9 | ·˘····/˘· |
| blithe in Heorot. Heroes revelled, | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| no dearth of warriors, Weder and Dane. | 9 | ···/˘/˘·· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.