Beowulf by Anonymous, Gummere

mighty power of the plunging sea.
Nor did they give to him any lesser gifts,
from the people’s treasures, than did those
who, at the first, had sent him forth,
alone as a child, over the stretch of the sea.
Next they set over him a golden standard,
high over his head, and let the tide bear him off,
out over the ocean. Sad were the people,
mindful of mourning. Nor, to speak truth,
do any men know—among wise advisors,
those heroes under the heavens—who received that cargo.

-I-
    Then was Beow of the Scyldings a beloved king b
for a long time, in the town-forts of the people,
famed among the folk-his father had passed on,
that king gone from his home-till to Beow was born
Healfdene the High, who nobly ruled the Scyldings
as long as he lived, old and battle-fierce.
To that wise ruler, the leader of warriors,
children awoke into the world, four altogether:
Heorogar and Hrothgar and Halga the Good,
and I heard that [... was On]ela’s queen, 6
dear bed-fellow of the Heatho-Scylfing king.
    Then was bold Hrothgar given battle-success,
honor in warfare, so his comrades in combat
followed him eagerly, until the youths grew
to a great warrior band. To his mind came a plan
that he would order a hall to be built:
they would raise on high a great mead-hall 7
whose fame would forever be heard among men;
there from within he would deal out,
both to young and to old, all that God gave him—
except common land and men’s life-blood.
Then I have heard that many among nations,
throughout this middle-earth, were mustered to work,
to adorn the high hall as a place for the people.
As men reckon time, it was all ready with speed,
the greatest of hall-buildings. Hrothgar the king,
who wielded power with words, named the
hall Heorot.
    He fulfilled his pledge, dealt out precious rings,
treasures at the feast. The great hall towered,
high and horn-vaulted—yet awaiting hostile flames,
a most hateful fire. For it would not be long
till sword-heat between son-in-law and father-in-law,
would waken their feud after deadly hatred. 8
    Then a fierce evil demon suffered distress,
long in torment, who dwelt in darkness.
For day after day, he heard rejoicing
loud in the hall: there was music of the harp,
and clear song of the scop, 9 who sang of creation,
the beginnings of men far back in time.
He proclaimed the Almighty created the earth,
a land of beauty, surrounded by seas;
the Triumphant One made the sun and the moon
as lights to shine on all land-dwellers,
and clothed the corners of the world
with limbs and leaves, and created life
for every kind of the quick who stir with life.
Thus did loyal men live their lives in joy,
happy in the hall, till that one began
to work his wickedness, a fiend from hell.
Grendel was the name of this ghastly stranger,
famed wanderer in wastelands, who held the moors,
the fens and fastnesses. Once this unhappy beast
dwelt in the country of monstrous creatures,
after the Creator had condemned all those
among Cain’s kin—the eternal Lord
avenged the crime of the one who killed Abel.
For Cain got no joy from committing that wrong,
but God banished him far away from mankind.
From him all wicked offspring were born:
giants and elves, and evil demon-creatures,
and gigantic monsters—those who fought God,
time beyond time. But God repaid them!

—II—
    When night grew dark, Grendel sought out
the high hall, to see how the Ring-Danes
after beer-drinking had settled to bed.
He found within a noble warrior-band,
asleep after feasting; they knew not sorrow,
the misery of men. The wicked creature,
grim and greedy, was at the ready,
savage and cruel, and seized in their rest
thirty of the thanes. c He then went from there,
exulting in spoils, to seek his own home,
to find his dwelling, with his fill of slaughter.
    Then in the dawn, with the break of day,
Grendel’s war-strength was made known to men.
After the night’s feasting, a lament now rose up,
great cry in the morning. The glorious king,
as always a noble, sat full