Hunferd the son of Ecglaf spoke--at Hrothgar’s feet sat he--
And thus let loose his secret grudge;
(for much did him displease
The coming of Beowulf now--bold sailor o’er the seas.
To none on earth would he allow a greater fame ’mong men
Beneath the heavens than his): ‘Art thou the same Beowulf then,
Who swam a match with Breca once upon the waters wide,
When ye vainglorious searched the waves,
and risked your lives for pride
Upon the deep? Nor hinder you could any friend or foe
From that sad venture. Then ye twain did on the waters row;
Ye stretched your arms upon the flood;
the sea-ways ye did mete; 10
O’er billows glided--with your hands them tossed--though
fiercely beat
The rolling tides and wintry waves! Seven nights long toilèd ye
In waters’ might; but Breca won--he stronger was than thee!
And to the Hathoræms at morn washed shoreward by the flood,
Thence his loved native land he sought--the Brondings’
country good,
And stronghold fair, where he was lord of folk and burg
and rings.
Right well ’gainst thee his vaunt he kept.
_Criticism of the Translation._
The extract illustrates the paraphrastic nature of parts of the
translation. Lumsden frequently seems to feel it necessary to read a
meaning into the obscure lines and passages that do not easily lend
themselves to translation; cf. lines 11, 12. At line 2258 Lumsden
translates:--
The mail that bite of sword
O’er clashing shield in fight withstood must follow its dead lord.
Never again shall corselet ring as help the warriors bear
To comrades far.