Part XII
NOT in any wise would the earls'-defencesuffer that slaughterous stranger to live,useless deeming his days and yearsto men on earth. Now many an earlof Beowulf brandished blade ancestral,fain the life of their lord to shield,their praised prince, if power were theirs;never they knew, -- as they neared the foe,hardy-hearted heroes of war,aiming their swords on every sidethe accursed to kill, -- no keenest blade,no farest of falchions fashioned on earth,could harm or hurt that hideous fiend!He was safe, by his spells, from sword of battle,from edge of iron. Yet his end and partingon that same day of this our lifewoful should be, and his wandering soulfar off flit to the fiends' domain.Soon he found, who in former days,harmful in heart and hated of God,on many a man such murder wrought,that the frame of his body failed him now.For him the keen-souled kinsman of Hygelacheld in hand; hateful alivewas each to other. The outlaw diretook mortal hurt; a mighty woundshowed on his shoulder, and sinews cracked,and the bone-frame burst. To Beowulf nowthe glory was given, and Grendel thencedeath-sick his den in the dark moor sought,noisome abode: he knew too wellthat here was the last of life, an endof his days on earth. -- To all the Danesby that bloody battle the boon had come.From ravage had rescued the roving strangerHrothgar's hall; the hardy and wise onehad purged it anew. His night-work pleased him,his deed and its honor. To Eastern Daneshad the valiant Geat his vaunt made good,all their sorrow and ills assuaged,their bale of battle borne so long,and all the dole they erst enduredpain a-plenty. -- 'Twas proof of this,when the hardy-in-fight a hand laid down,arm and shoulder, -- all, indeed,of Grendel's gripe, -- 'neath the gabled roof.
Words in this poem
- slaughterous a.
- Destructive; murderous. Shak. M. Arnold.
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- woful a.
- Full of woe; sorrowful; distressed with grief or calamity; afflicted; wretched; unhappy; sad.
- flit a.
- Nimble; quick; swift. See Fleet.
- kinsman n.
- A man of the same race or family; one related by blood.
- hateful a.
- Manifesting hate or hatred; malignant; malevolent.
- dire a.
- Ill-boding; portentous; as, dire omens. [L. dirus; of uncertain origin.]
- cracked a.
- Coarsely ground or broken; as, cracked wheat.
- noisome a.
- Noxious to health; hurtful; mischievous; unwholesome; insalubrious; destructive; as, noisome effluvia. [For noysome, fr. noy for annoy. See Annoy.]
- abode n.
- Act of waiting; delay. [OE. abad, abood, fr. abiden to abide. See Abide. For the change of vowel, cf. abode, imp. of abide.]
- boon n.
- A prayer or petition. [OE. bone, boin, a petition, fr. Icel. b; akin to Sw. & Dan. b, AS. b, and perh. to E. ban; but influenced by F. bon good, fr. L. bonus. Ban, Bounty.]
- valiant a.
- Vigorous in body; strong; powerful; as, a valiant fencer. [OE. valiant, F. vaillant, OF. vaillant, valant, originally p. pr. of OF. & F. valoir to be worth, L. valere to be strong. See Wield, and cf. Avail, Convalesce, ]
- geat n.
- The channel or spout through which molten metal runs into a mold in casting. [See Gate a door.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Part XII 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 XII, in Beowulf (1910), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #981, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/beowulf/part-xii.html, id L14200.
Form and metre
Part XII is 46 lines in a single verse paragraph. 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 72%). 86% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.1 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 44% 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 ---AA--------B--B----------------------------- defence · live · years · earlA · ancestralA · shield · theirs · foe · war · side · blade · earth · fiend · battleB · parting · life · soulB · domain · days · god · wrought · now · hygelac · alive · dire · wound · cracked · now · thence · sought · well · end · danes · come · stranger · one · him · danes · good · assuaged · long · endured · this · down · indeed · roof
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 |
|---|---|---|
| NOT in any wise would the earls'-defence | 10 | ··/˘····˘/ |
| suffer that slaughterous stranger to live, | 10 | /˘·/˘˘/˘·· |
| useless deeming his days and years | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| to men on earth. Now many an earl | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| of Beowulf brandished blade ancestral, | 10 | ·/˘·/˘·˘/˘ |
| fain the life of their lord to shield, | 8 | ········ |
| their praised prince, if power were theirs; | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| never they knew, -- as they neared the foe, | 9 | /˘······· |
| hardy-hearted heroes of war, | 8 | /˘/˘/˘·· |
| aiming their swords on every side | 9 | /˘···/˘˘· |
| the accursed to kill, -- no keenest blade, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| no farest of falchions fashioned on earth, | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| could harm or hurt that hideous fiend! | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| He was safe, by his spells, from sword of battle, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| from edge of iron. Yet his end and parting | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| on that same day of this our life | 9 | ······/˘· |
| woful should be, and his wandering soul | 10 | ······/˘˘· |
| far off flit to the fiends' domain. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Soon he found, who in former days, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| harmful in heart and hated of God, | 9 | /˘···/˘·· |
| on many a man such murder wrought, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| that the frame of his body failed him now. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| For him the keen-souled kinsman of Hygelac | 11 | ·····/····· |
| held in hand; hateful alive | 7 | ···/˘˘/ |
| was each to other. The outlaw dire | 9 | ···/˘·/·· |
| took mortal hurt; a mighty wound | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| showed on his shoulder, and sinews cracked, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| and the bone-frame burst. To Beowulf now | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| the glory was given, and Grendel thence | 10 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘· |
| death-sick his den in the dark moor sought, | 9 | ········· |
| noisome abode: he knew too well | 8 | /˘˘/···· |
| that here was the last of life, an end | 9 | ········· |
| of his days on earth. -- To all the Danes | 9 | ········· |
| by that bloody battle the boon had come. | 10 | ··/˘/˘···· |
| From ravage had rescued the roving stranger | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Hrothgar's hall; the hardy and wise one | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| had purged it anew. His night-work pleased him, | 10 | ···˘/····· |
| his deed and its honor. To Eastern Danes | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| had the valiant Geat his vaunt made good, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| all their sorrow and ills assuaged, | 8 | ··/˘··˘/ |
| their bale of battle borne so long, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| and all the dole they erst endured | 8 | ······˘/ |
| pain a-plenty. -- 'Twas proof of this, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| when the hardy-in-fight a hand laid down, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| arm and shoulder, -- all, indeed, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| of Grendel's gripe, -- 'neath the gabled roof. | 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.