Chapter V: Canto VIII (3)

In his attempt to produce an etymological document, the translator uses many compounds such as even the German language might be better without; such are--Sippenschar (sibbegedriht), 730; Schattenwandler (sceadugenga), 704; Wangenpolster (hlēor-bolster), 689; Leibpanzer (līc-syrce), 550. As compounds these may not be offensive to a German; but the trouble with them is that they do not translate the Old English ideas.

Finally, it may be asked why a translation that appeals only as a literal rendering should not be strictly literal, noting its every variation from the original, italicizing supplied words, holding to the original word-order.

Steineck’s translation did not advance the interpretation of _Beowulf_ a whit. In point of accuracy the book is not worthy to stand with good translations thirty years old.

[Footnote 1: See supra, p. 64.] [[Heyne: Relation of...]]

[Footnote 2: See also supra, p. 8.] [[Preliminary Remarks]]

J. R. C. HALL’S TRANSLATION

Beowulf, and the Fight at Finnsburg, a translation into modern English prose, with an Introduction and Notes, by John R. Clark Hall, M.A., Ph.D. With twelve illustrations[1]. London: Swan Sonnenschein and Company, Lim., 1901. 8vo, pp. xlv, 203.

Tenth English Translation. Prose.

_Translator, and Circumstances of Publication._

Hitherto Dr. Hall had been chiefly known to the learned world for his excellent _Anglo-Saxon Dictionary for Students_.

Up to this time no prose translation had appeared in England since 1876, save Earle’s[2], which for the elementary student was practically useless. Moreover, this translation was the first to embody the results of various studies on the poem during the past decade.

_Contents._

Unlike the preceding works on _Beowulf_, it may be said that the introductory and illustrative matter in this book is of quite as much importance as the translation. The author says of his book:--

‘The following pages comprise a short statement of what is
actually known with respect to the poem of _Beowulf_, another
statement of what seems to me most likely to be true amongst the
almost innumerable matters of conjecture concerning it, and a few
words of literary appreciation.’ --Introduction, p. ix.

Statements similar to these have been put forth by other translators of the poem, but the material of their volume has not always borne them out. The studies of the poem in the Introduction are sufficient for a school edition of _Beowulf_--a similar body of information is not found in any of the existing editions--while annotations of some importance to the elementary student are found in the notes and running comment. The book contains, beside the translation, a discussion of the form, language, geographical allusions, date, and composition of the poem, as well as a useful, though inaccurate, bibliography[3].

_Text Used._

The translation is founded on the text of A. J. Wyatt, Cambridge, 1894. Dr. Hall does not always follow the interpretations given in Wyatt’s glossary, nor is the punctuation of the translation conformed to that of the Old English text.

_Indebtedness to Preceding Scholars._

In his translation Dr. Hall seems to be most indebted to the work of Professor Earle[4] (see lines 4, 71, 517, 852, 870, 926, 996, 1213, 1507, 2021, 3034, &c.).

Frequent reference is also made to the work of Cosijn, _Aanteekeningen op den Beowulf_ (1892). The work of other scholars, such as Bugge, Heyne, Socin, is also referred to.

_Nature of the Translation._

The translation is a literal prose version. It is constantly interrupted by bits of running comment, designed to overcome the inherent obscurity of the poem, or to afford an elaborate digest of the story if read without the translation (p. 7).

The rendering avoids archaisms.

Bugge’s restoration is used at line 3150; the passage at line 2215 is not restored.

EXTRACT.

VIII.

UNFERTH TAUNTS BEOWULF. BEOWULF’S CONTEST WITH BRECA.

(Lines 499-558.)

(499-505). _Now comes a jarring note. Unferth, a Danish courtier,
is devoured by jealousy, and taunts Beowulf._

Then Unferth, the son of Ecglaf, who sat at the feet of the lord
of the Scyldings, spoke, and gave vent to secret thoughts of
strife,--the journey of Beowulf, the brave sea-farer, was a great
chagrin to him, for he grudged that any other man under heaven
should ever obtain more glory on this middle-earth than he
himself.

(506-528). _‘Art thou the same Beowulf,’ says he, ‘who ventured on
a foolhardy swimming match with Breca on the open sea in winter,
for seven days, and got beaten? A worse fate is in store for thee
when thou meetest Grendel!’_

‘Art thou that Beowulf who strove with Breca, contested with him
on the open sea, in a swimming contest, when ye two for vainglory
tried the floods, and ventured your lives in deep water for idle
boasting? Nor could any man, friend or foe, dissuade you from your
sorry enterprise when ye swam on the sea; when ye compassed the
flowing stream with your arms, meted out the sea-paths, battled
with your hands, and glided over the ocean; when the sea, the
winter’s flood, surged with waves. Ye two toiled in the water’s
realm seven nights; he overcame you at swimming, he had the
greater strength. Then, at morning time, the ocean cast him up on
the Heathoræmas’ land. Thence, dear to his people, he sought his
beloved fatherland, the land of the Brondings, his fair
stronghold-city, where he had subjects and treasures and a
borough. The son of Beanstan performed faithfully all that he had
pledged himself to. So I expect for thee a worse fatality,--though
thou hast everywhere prevailed in rush of battle,--gruesome
war,--if thou darest await Grendel at close quarters for the space
of a night.’

_Criticism of the Translation._

The extract is typical of all that is best in the translation. It is a thoroughly accurate piece of work, failing only where Wyatt’s edition of the text is unsatisfactory. Translations like ‘gave vent to secret thoughts of strife’ and ‘thou hast prevailed in the rush of battle’ show that the work is the outcome of long thought and deep appreciation. At times the translation, as here, verges on a literary rendering. But in this respect the first part of the poem is vastly superior to the later parts, though all three are marred by extreme literalness. Dr. Hall did not always escape the strange diction that has so often before disfigured the translations of _Beowulf_:--

Line 2507, ‘my unfriendly hug finished his bony frame.’
„ 2583, ‘The Geat’s free-handed friend crowed not in pride
of victory.’
„ 2655, ‘Fell the foe and shield the Weder-Geat Lord’s life.’
„ 2688, ‘the public scourge, the dreadful salamander.’
„ 2834, ‘show his form’ (said of the Dragon).
„ 2885, ‘hopelessly escheated from your breed.’

It is also rather surprising to learn from Dr. Hall that Beowulf was one of those that ‘advanced home government’ (l. 3005).

It should be added that the explanatory comment which constantly interrupts the translation, often six or eight times in a section, is annoying, both because it distracts the attention and because it is often presented in a style wholly inappropriate to the context.

But this absence of ease and dignity does not hinder Dr. Hall’s translation from being an excellent rendering of the matter of the poem, at once less fanciful than Earle’s[5] and more modern than Garnett’s[6], its only rivals as a literal translation. That it conveys an adequate notion of the style of _Beowulf_, however, it is impossible to affirm.

[Footnote 1: Chiefly of Anglo-Saxon antiquities.]

[Footnote 2: See supra, p. 91.] [[Earle]]

[Footnote 3: See my forthcoming review of the book in the
_Journal of Germanic Philology_.]

[Footnote 4: See supra, p. 91.] [[Earle]]

[Footnote 5: See supra, p. 91.] [[Earle]]

[Footnote 6: See supra, p. 83.] [[Garnett]]

TINKER’S TRANSLATION

Beowulf, translated out of the Old English by Chauncey Brewster Tinker, M.A. New York: Newson and Co., 1902. 12mo, pp. 158.

Eleventh English Translation. Prose.

_Aim of the Volume and Nature of the Translation._

‘The present translation of _Beowulf_ is an attempt to make as
simple and readable a version of the poem as is consistent with
the character of the original. Archaic forms, which have been much
in favor with translators of Old English, have been excluded,
because it has been thought that vigor and variety are not
incompatible with simple, idiomatic English....

The principal ways in which the present version differs from a
merely literal translation are the following: (1) in a rather
broad interpretation of pregnant words and phrases; (2) in a
conception of some of the Old English compounds as conventional
phrases in which the original metaphorical sense is dead; (3) in a
free treatment of connecting words; (4) in frequent substitution
of a proper name for an ambiguous pronoun.

The translation is based on the text of A. J. Wyatt (Cambridge,
1898); a few departures from his readings are enumerated in the
Notes.’ --Preface, pp. 5, 6.

EXTRACT.

VIII and IX.

_Unferth, a thane of Hrothgar, grows jealous of Beowulf and taunts
him, raking up old tales of a swimming-match with Breca. Beowulf
is angered and boastfully tells the truth touching that adventure,
and puts Unferth to silence. Queen Wealhtheow passes the cup.
Hrothgar commends Heorot to the care of Beowulf._

Unferth, the son of Ecglaf, who sat at the feet of the lord of the
Scyldings, spoke, and stirred up a quarrel; the coming of Beowulf,
the brave seafarer, vexed him sore, for he would not that any
other man under heaven should ever win more glories in this world
than he himself. ‘Art thou that Beowulf who didst strive with
Breca on the broad sea and didst contend with him in swimming,
when ye two, foolhardy, made trial of the waves and for a mad
boast risked your lives in the deep water? None, friend or foe,
could turn you from the sorry venture when ye two swam out upon
the sea. But ye enfolded the ocean-streams with your arms,
measured the sea-streets, buffeted the water with your hands,
gliding over the deep. The ocean was tossing with waves,
a winter’s sea. Seven nights ye toiled in the power of the waters;
and he overcame thee in the match, for he had the greater
strength. Then at morning-tide the sea cast him up on the coast of
the Heathoræmas, whence he, beloved of his people, went to his
dear fatherland, the country of the Brondings, and his own fair
city where he was lord of a stronghold, and of subjects and
treasure. Verily, the son of Beanstan made good all his boast
against thee. Wherefore, though thou hast ever been valiant in the
rush of battle, I look to a grim fight, yea, and a worse issue,
for thee, if thou darest for the space of one night abide near
Grendel.’