Reading Beowulf
Reading Beowulf:
Beowulf mathelode, bearn Ecgtheowes:
"Ne sorga, snotor guma! Selre bith aeghwaem
thaet he his freond wrece, thonne he fela murne.
Ure aeghwylc sceal ende gebidan
worolde lifes; wyrce se the mote
domes aer deathe; thaet bith driht guman
unlifgendum aefter selest."(Beowulf, son of Ecgtheow, spoke:
"Wise sir, do not grieve. It is always better
to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning.
For every one of us, living in this world
means waiting for our end. Let whoever can
win glory before death. When a warrior is gone,
that will be his best and only bulwark.")Seamus Heaney, trans. (874), Beowulf (New York: Norton: 0393320979).
