Hunferth the son of Eglaf spake, _he_ that sat at the feet of the
Lord of the Scyldings; he bound up[4] a quarrelsome speech: to him
was the journey of Beowulf, the proud sea-farer, a great disgust;
because he granted not that any other man should ever have beneath
the skies, more reputation with the world than he himself: ‘Art
thou the Beowulf that didst contend with Brecca on the wide sea,
in a swimming match, where ye for pride explored the fords, and
out of vain glory ventured your lives upon the deep water? nor
might any man, friend or foe, blame[5] your sorrowful expedition:
there ye rowed upon the sea, there ye two covered the ocean-stream
with your arms, measured the sea-streets, whirled them with your
hands, glided over the ocean; with the waves of the deep[6] the
fury of winter boiled; ye two on the realms of water laboured for
a week: he overcame thee in swimming, he had more strength: then
at the morning tide the deep sea bore him up on Hēathoræmes,
whence he sought his own paternal land, dear to his people, the
land of the Brondings, where he owned a nation, a town, and rings.
All his promise to thee, the son of Beanstan truly performed.’
_Criticism of the Translation._
Kemble’s scholarship enabled him to get a full understanding of the
poem, and thus to make the first really adequate translation of
_Beowulf_. He was the first to recognize the significance of kenning,
metaphor, and compound. Thus his work is to be commended chiefly because
of its faithfulness. All preceding studies had been wofully
inaccurate[7]. Kemble’s editions became at once the authoritative
commentary on the text, and held this position until the appearance of
Grein’s _Bibliothek_ (1857). In this latter book, Kemble’s text was the
principal authority used in correcting the work of Thorpe[8]. In spite
of the fact that this is a literal translation, it sometimes attains
strength and beauty by reason of its very simplicity.
[Footnote 1: See Wyatt’s text, lines 51, 158, 250, 255, 599, &c.]
[Footnote 2: See article in the _Dictionary of National Biography_.]
[Footnote 3: See infra, pp. 56 ff.]
[Footnote 4: _bound up_, onband, now generally translated ‘unbind.’]
[Footnote 5: _blame_, belēan, rather ‘dissuade’ than ‘blame.’]
[Footnote 6: _with the waves of the deep_, &c., geofon-yþu weol
wintrys wylm, so Kemble reads in his text, and for this reading
the translation is correct, but he failed to discern the kenning
to ‘geofon’ in ‘wintrys wylm.’]
[Footnote 7: See supra on Turner, p. 9; Thorkelin, p. 15;
Grundtvig, p. 22; Conybeare, p. 28.]
[Footnote 8: See infra, p. 49.] [[Thorpe]]