{God hath sent him to our rescue.}
The
holy Creator usward sent him,
To
West-Dane warriors, I ween, for to render
’Gainst
Grendel’s grimness gracious assistance:
I
shall give to the good one gift-gems for courage.
15 Hasten
to bid them hither to speed them,[2]
To
see assembled this circle of kinsmen;
Tell
them expressly they’re welcome in sooth to
The
men of the Danes.” To the door of the building
[15]
{Wulfgar invites the strangers in.}
Wulfgar
went then, this word-message shouted:
20 “My
victorious liegelord bade me to tell you,
The
East-Danes’ atheling, that your origin knows
he,
And
o’er wave-billows wafted ye welcome are hither,
Valiant
of spirit. Ye straightway may enter
Clad
in corslets, cased in your helmets,
25 To see
King Hrothgar. Here let your battle-boards,
Wood-spears
and war-shafts, await your conferring.”
The
mighty one rose then, with many a liegeman,
An
excellent thane-group; some there did await them,
And
as bid of the brave one the battle-gear guarded.
30 Together
they hied them, while the hero did guide them,
’Neath
Heorot’s roof; the high-minded went then
Sturdy
’neath helmet till he stood in the building.
Beowulf
spake (his burnie did glisten,
His
armor seamed over by the art of the craftsman):
{Beowulf salutes Hrothgar, and then proceeds to boast of his youthful achievements.}
35 “Hail
thou, Hrothgar! I am Higelac’s kinsman
And
vassal forsooth; many a wonder
I
dared as a stripling. The doings of Grendel,
In
far-off fatherland I fully did know of:
Sea-farers
tell us, this hall-building standeth,
40 Excellent
edifice, empty and useless
To
all the earlmen after evenlight’s glimmer
’Neath
heaven’s bright hues hath hidden its glory.
This
my earls then urged me, the most excellent of them,
Carles
very clever, to come and assist thee,
45 Folk-leader
Hrothgar; fully they knew of
{His fight with the nickers.}
The
strength of my body. Themselves they beheld me
When
I came from the contest, when covered with gore
Foes
I escaped from, where five[3] I had bound,
[16] The giant-race wasted, in the waters destroying
50 The nickers
by night, bore numberless sorrows,
The
Weders avenged (woes had they suffered)
Enemies
ravaged; alone now with Grendel
{He intends to fight Grendel unaided.}