Hrothgar and Hryllingur, part XI
Continuing Somhairle na Dagney's retelling of Beowulf.
If you're new to this serialization, here's the link to the introductory post, which now has the complete table of contents. Or you can read the completed verses here. If you just want a reminder of the most recent stanzas, click here.
Humiliation
He has brought my hall and household,
My war-band beaten, captured,
Killed, their blood spilled on bench and board,
Red stormclouds at sunrise.”
Death diminished
My following. Feast freely now!
Make merry with mead; let mirth
And scáeli’s song soothe our hearts
This night in Heorot.”
So bade he Bjarndýr
And his band. Rafters rang with song
In Hrothgar’s hall. Not all rejoiced:
Jealous in judgement, Deilur,
Attendant on his lord,
Spoke against him who
Hrothgar honoured. Brave Bjarndýr’s deed,
Daring the deeps to seek their shore,
Drove dark words from Deilur’s throat
To shame Sverdberi’s son.
“Bjarndýr! Are you he
Who with a friend, foolhardy
And vain, ventured a contest
In the sea: both striving to swim
In winter’s whirling waves?”
More next Thursday!
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"Death diminished
My following. Feast freely now!
Make merry with mead; let mirth
And scáeli’s song soothe our hearts
This night in Heorot.”
Really love that. It feels very much like both our own time and place in which this kind of speech was found in poetry, and I think it very well fits the world you've built where this version exists.