[Critical edition: R. W. Chambers, _Widsith: a Study in Old English
Heroic Legend_. Cambridge, 1912.
Date: Probably late sixth or early seventh century.
Alliterative translation: Gummere, _Oldest English Epic_ (1910), p. 191.
"Widsith--'Farway'--the ideal wandering minstrel, tells of all the tribes
among whom he has sojourned, of all the chieftains he has known. The
first English students of the poem regarded it as autobiographical, as
the actual record of his wanderings written by a _scop_; and were
inclined to dismiss as interpolations passages mentioning princes whom it
was chronologically impossible for a man who had met Ermanric to have
known. This view was reduced to an absurdity by Haigh.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"The more we study the growth of German heroic tradition, the more clear
does it become that _Widsith_ and _Deor_ reflect that tradition. They are
not the actual outpourings of actual poets at the court of Ermanric or
the Heodenings. What the poems sung in the court of Ermanric were like we
shall never know: but we can safely say that they were unlike
_Widsith_.... The Traveller's tale is a fantasy of some man, keenly
interested in the old stories, who depicts an ideal wandering singer, and
makes him move hither and thither among the tribes and the heroes whose
stories he loves. In the names of its chiefs, in the names of its tribes,
and above all in its spirit, _Widsith_ reflects the heroic age of the
migrations, an age which had hardly begun in the days of
Ermanric."--Chambers, p. 4.
Lines 75, 82-84 are almost certainly interpolated. With these rejected
"the poem leaves upon us," says Chambers, "a very definite impression. It
is a catalogue of the tribes and heroes of Germany, and many of these
heroes, though they may have been half legendary already to the writer of
the poem, are historic characters who can be dated with accuracy."]
Note.--In the footnotes, no attempt is made to discuss peoples or persons
mentioned in this poem unless they are definitely known and are of
importance for an understanding of the meaning of the lines.
Widsith now spoke, his word-hoard unlocked,
He who traveled the widest among tribes of men,
Farthest among folk: on the floor he received
The rarest of gifts. From the race of the Myrgings
5 His ancestors sprang. With Ealhhild the gracious,
The fair framer of peace, for the first time
He sought the home of the Hraeda king,
From the Angles in the East --of Eormanric,
Fell and faithless. Freely he spoke forth:
10 "Many a royal ruler of a realm I have known;
Every leader should live a life of virtue;
One earl after the other shall order his land,
He who wishes and works for the weal of his throne!
Of these for a while was Hwala the best,
15 But Alexander of all of men
Was most famous of lords, and he flourished the most
Of all the earls whom on earth I have known.
Attila ruled the Huns, Eormanric the Goths,
Becca the Banings, the Burgundians Gifica.
20 Caesar ruled the Greeks and Caelic the Finns,
Hagena the Holm-Rugians and Heoden the Glommas.
Witta ruled the Swabians, Wada the Haelsings,
Meaca the Myrgings, Mearchealf the Hundings,
Theodoric ruled the Franks, Thyle the Rondings,
25 Breoca the Brondings, Billing the Wernas.
Oswine ruled the Eowas and the Ytas Gefwulf;
Finn Folcwalding ruled the Frisian people.
Sigehere ruled longest the Sea-Dane's kingdom.
Hnaef ruled the Hocings, Helm the Wulfings,
30 Wald the Woings, Wod the Thuringians,
Saeferth the Secgans, the Swedes Ongentheow.
Sceafthere ruled the Ymbrians, Sceafa the Lombards,
Hun the Haetweras and Holen the Wrosnas.
Hringweald was called the king of the pirates.
35 Offa ruled the Angles, Alewih the Danes:
Among these men he was mightiest of all,
But he equalled not Offa in earl-like deeds.
For Offa by arms while only a child,
First among fighters won the fairest of kingdoms;
40 Not any of his age in earlship surpassed him.
In a single combat in the siege of battle
He fixed the frontier at Fifeldore
Against the host of the Myrgings, which was held thenceforth
By Angles and Swabians as Offa had marked it.
45 Hrothwulf and Hrothgar held for a long time
A neighborly compact, the nephew and uncle,
After they had vanquished the Viking races
And Ingeld's array was overridden,
Hewed down at Heorot the Heathobard troop.
50 So forth I fared in foreign lands
All over the earth; of evil and good
There I made trial, torn from my people;
Far from my folk I have followed my travels.
Therefore I sing the song of my wanderings,
55 Declare before the company in the crowded mead-hall,
How gifts have been given me by the great men of earth.
I was with the Huns and with the Hraeda-Goths,
With the Swedes and with the Geats and with the southern Danes,
With the Wenlas I was and with the Vikings and with the Waerna
folk.
60 With the Gepidae I was and with the Wends and with the Gefligas.
With the Angles I was and with the Swaefe and with the Aenenas.
With the Saxons I was and with the Secgans and with the
Suardones.
With the Hronas I was and with the Deanas and with the
Heatho-Raemas.
With the Thuringians I was and with the Throwendas;
65 And with the Burgundians, where a bracelet was given me.
Guthhere there gave me a goodly jewel,
As reward for my song: not slothful that king!
With the Franks I was and with the Frisians and with the
Frumtingas.
With the Rugians I was and with the Glommas and with the Roman
strangers.
70 Likewise in Italy with Aelfwine I was:
He had, as I have heard, a hand the readiest
For praiseworthy deeds of prowess and daring;
With liberal heart he lavished his treasures,
Shining armlets --the son of Eadwine.
75 I was with the Saracens and with the Serings;
With the Greeks I was and with the Finns and with far-famed
Caesar,
Who sat in rule over the cities of revelry--
Over the riches and wealth of the realm of the Welsh.
With the Scots I was and with the Picts and with the
Scride-Finns.
80 With the Lidwicingas I was and with the Leonas and with the
Longobards,
With the Haethnas and with the Haerethas and with the Hundings;
With the Israelites I was and with the Assyrians,
And with the Hebrews and with the Egyptians and with the Hindus
I was,
With the Medes I was and with the Persians and with the Myrging
folk,
85 And with the Mofdings I was and against the Myrging band,
And with the Amothingians. With the East Thuringians I was
And with the Eolas and with the Istians and with the Idumingas.
And I was with Eormanric all of the time;
There the king of the Goths gave me in honor
90 The choicest of bracelets --the chief of the burghers--
On which were six hundred pieces of precious gold,
Of shining metal in shillings counted;
I gave over this armlet to Eadgils then,
To my kind protector when I came to my home,
95 To my beloved prince, the lord of the Myrgings,
Who gave me the land that was left by my father;
And Ealhhild then also another ring gave me,
Queen of the doughty ones, the daughter of Eadwine.
Her praise has passed to all parts of the world,
100 Wherever in song I sought to tell
Where I knew under heavens the noblest of queens,
Golden-adorned, giving forth treasures.
Then in company with Scilling, in clear ringing voice
'Fore our beloved lord I uplifted my song;
105 Loudly the harp in harmony sounded;
Then many men with minds discerning
Spoke of our lay in unsparing praise,
That they never had heard a nobler song.
Then I roamed through all the realm of the Goths;
110 Unceasing I sought the surest of friends,
The crowd of comrades of the court of Eormanric.
Hethca sought I and Beadeca and the Harlungs,
Emerca sought I and Fridla and East-Gota,
Sage and noble, the sire of Unwen.
115 Secca sought I and Becca, Seafola and Theodoric,
Heathoric and Sifeca, Hlithe and Incgentheow.
Eadwine sought I and Elsa Aegelmund and Hungar
And the worthy troop of the With-Myrgings.
Wulfhere sought I and Wyrmhere: there war was seldom lacking
120 When the host of the Hraedas with hardened swords
Must wage their wars by the woods of Vistula
To hold their homes from the hordes of Attila.
Raedhere sought I and Rondhere, Rumstan and Gislhere,
Withergield and Freotheric, Wudga and Hama:
125 These warriors were not the worst of comrades,
Though their names at the last of my list are numbered.
Full oft from that host the hissing spear
Fiercely flew on the foemen's troopers.
There the wretches ruled with royal treasure,
130 Wudga and Hama, over women and men.
So I ever have found as I fared among men
That in all the land most beloved is he
To whom God giveth a goodly kingdom
To hold as long as he liveth here.
135 Thus wandering widely through the world there go
Minstrels of men through many lands,
Express their needs and speak their thanks.
Ever south and north some one they meet
Skillful in song who scatters gifts,
140 To further his fame before his chieftains,
To do deeds of honor, till all shall depart,
Light and life together: lasting praise he gains,
And has under heaven the highest of honor.
4. _Myrging._ Nothing is known with any degree of certainty about this
tribe. Chambers concludes that they dwelt south of the River Eider,
which is the present boundary between Schleswig and Holstein, and that
they belonged to the Suevic stock of peoples. See vv. 84, 85, below.
5. _Ealhhild._ See notes to vv. 8 and 97, below. Much discussion has
taken place as to who Ealhhild was. Summing up his lengthy discussion,
Chambers says (_Widsith_, p. 28): "For these reasons it seems best to
regard Ealhhild as the murdered wife of Eormanric, the Anglian
equivalent of the Gothic Sunilda and the Northern Swanhild."