The Translations of Beowulf Part 23

The text from which he translates is Kemble's[2].

EXTRACT.

ACHTER GESANG.

Hunfer Ecglafs sohn, der zu des scildingenfursten fussen sasz, began da ein streiterregendesz gesprach; denn er wird eifersuchtig auf den rum, den Beowulf sich zu erwerben geht. Er selbst wil der berumteste sein unter den wolken. Er sagte: 'Bistu der Beowulf, der mit Brecca ein wetschwimmen hielt sieben tage und nachte lang, bis er dich in schwimmen besigte, der kraftigere man; dann am achten morgen stig er auf Heaorames ansz land und gieng heim zu den Brondingen, wo er eine burg und edlesz gefolge und reichtum hatte? Beanstanes sohn hat dir allesz geleistet, wasz er gewettet hatte.'

_Omissions_:--

Line 502, modges mere-faran.

507-517 _entire_.

520, sw?sne eel, leof his leodum.

_Criticism of the Extract._

As an a.n.a.lysis this is good enough; as a translation of the pa.s.sage it is of course utterly inadequate--it omits the very best lines in the original. The book served, however, as a running digest of the story, and as such gave an excellent idea of the contents of the poem. But Ettmuller was justified in calling the translation which he published the next year, 'the first German translation[3].'

[Footnote 1: Leo was a spelling reformer.]

[Footnote 2: See supra, p. 33.] [[Kemble]]

[Footnote 3: See supra, p. 37.] [[Ettmuller]]

SANDRAS'S ACCOUNT

De carminibus anglo-saxonicis Caedmoni adjudicatis Disquisitio. Has theses Parisiensi Litterarum Facultati proponebat S. G. Sandras in Lycaeo Claromontensi Professor. Parisiis, Apud A. Durand, Bibliopolam, 1859. 8vo, pp. 87. Beowulf described _Cap. Primum_, - 2, De Profana Poesi, pp. 10-19.

Extracts Translated into Latin Prose.

The only significance of this book is that it contained the first information about _Beowulf_ given to the French public. About ten lines are literally translated in Cap. I, - 1, all under the general t.i.tle, De Poesi Saxonica. In - 2 the poem is rather carefully sketched, much after the manner of Leo[1], from Beowulf's arrival in the Danish land to the fight with Grendel.

[Footnote 1: See supra, p. 122.] [[Leo]]

E. H. JONES'S PARAPHRASE

Popular Romances of the Middle Ages. By George W. c.o.x, M.A., and Eustace Hinton Jones. London: Longmans, Green, & Co., 1871. 8vo, _Beowulf_ (by E. H. Jones), pp. 382-398.

*Second edition, in one volume (containing, in addition to the romances in the first edition, those formerly published under the t.i.tle 'Tales of the Teutonic Lands'). C. Kegan Paul & Company: London, 1880 (1879).

A Paraphrase for General Readers.

_Aim of the Volume._

'The thought that these old romances may be presented to Englishmen of the present day in a form which shall retain their real vigour without the repulsive characteristics impressed on them by a comparatively rude and ignorant age may not, perhaps, be regarded as inexcusably presumptuous. With greater confidence it may be affirmed that, if we turn to these old legends or romances at all, it should be for the purpose of learning what they really were, and not with any wish of seeing them through a gla.s.s which shall reflect chiefly our own thoughts about them and throw over them a colouring borrowed from the sentiment of the nineteenth century.

'These two conditions have, it is hoped, been strictly observed in the versions here given of some of the great romances of mediaeval Europe. While special care has been taken to guard against the introduction even of phrases not in harmony with the original narratives, not less pains have been bestowed on the task of preserving all that is essential in the narrative; and thus it may perhaps be safely said that the readers of this volume will obtain from it an adequate knowledge of these time-honoured stories, without having their attention and their patience overtaxed by a multiplicity of superfluous and therefore utterly irksome details.' --Preface, pp. vi, vii.

_Nature of the Paraphrase._

The poem is relieved of all the episodes except the prolog and King Hrothgar's discourse. Sometimes these omissions seem unnecessary. It is certainly a mistake to sacrifice the swimming-match, lively in its narrative, dramatic in setting.

On the other hand, the author makes an attempt to preserve as much as possible of the original style. So anxious is he to save every picturesque word of the original, that he sometimes transfers expressions from the pa.s.sages which he is obliged to drop and inserts them in other parts of the story.

EXTRACT[1].

'Away to the westward among the people of the Geats lived a man, strongest of his race, tall, mighty-handed, and clean made. He was a thane, kinsman to Hygelac the Geatish chief, and n.o.bly born, being son of Ecgtheow the Waegmunding, a war-prince who wedded with the daughter of Hrethel the Geat. This man heard of Grendel's deeds, of Hrothgar's sorrow, and the sore distress of the Danes, and having sought out fifteen warriors, he entered into a new-pitched ship to seek the war-king across the sea. Bird-like the vessel's swan-necked prow breasted the white sea-foam till the warriors reached the windy walls of cliff and the steep mountains of the Danish sh.o.r.es. They thanked G.o.d because the wave-ways had been easy to them; then, sea-wearied, lashed their wide-bosomed ship to an anchorage, donned their war-weeds, and came to Heorot, the gold and jewelled house. Brightly gleamed their armour and merrily sang the ring-iron of their trappings as they marched into the palace.' --Pages 384-5.

_Criticism of the Paraphrase._

The object of a paraphrase is to present all the essential matter of the original, in a style materially simpler than, though not unrelated to, the original.

The matter of Mr. Jones's paraphrase is not above criticism. It is full of minor errors. In the extract, for example, the original does not say that the heroes 'donned their war-weeds,' nor that there were mountains on the sh.o.r.es of Denmark.

The style of the work is much better. It is throughout strong and clear, not over-sentimental. It is, perhaps, too intimate; it savors slightly of the _Marchen_. This absence of vigor and remoteness may be due to the nature of the volume of which this paraphrase is only a part.

[Footnote 1: Swimming-match omitted.]

ZINSSER'S SELECTION

Jahresbericht uber die Realschule zu Forbach (Lothringen) fur das Schuljahr 1880 bis 1881, mit welchem zu der offentlichen Prufung am Freitag den 12. August 1881 ergebenst einladet der Director A.

Knitterscheid.

Voran geht eine Abhandlung des ordentlichen Lehrers G. Zinsser: Der 'Kampf Beowulfs mit Grendel,' als Probe einer metrischen Uebersetzung des angelsachsischen Epos 'Beovulf.' Saarbrucken. Druck von Gebruder Hofer. 1881. 4to, pp. 18, double columns, Schulnachrichten 6.

The First 836 Lines translated in Iambic Pentameter.

_Aim, Contents, and Method of Translation._