Line 90: Scop mentioned þær wæs hearpan sweg, swutol sang scopes.

Transcription

1 CRÆFT OF THE BEOWULF SCOP Line 90: Scop mentioned þær wæs hearpan sweg, swutol sang scopes. Line 866: Meanwhile, a thane Of the king s household, a carrier of tales, A traditional singer deeply schooled In the lore of the past, linked a new theme To a strict meter. The man started To recite with skill, rehearsing Beowulf s Triumphs and feats in well-fashioned lines, Entwining his words. 870 Hwilum cyninges þegn, guma gilphlæden, se ðe ealfela worn gemunde, soðe gebunden; sið Beowulfes ond on sped wrecan wordum wrixlan. gidda gemyndig, ealdgesegena word oþer fand secg eft ongan snyttrum styrian spel gerade, Oral poet: Milman Parry and Albert Lord. The Singer of Tales (1960) Formulas: Stock phrases that can be repeated to supply a specific metrical beat and alliterative pattern. These are key tools of an oral poet. Beowulf, son of Ecgtheow, spoke (956) Beowulf maþelode, bearn Ecþeowes

2 Hrothgar, the Shielding s helmet, spoke (1321) Hroðgar maþelode, helm Scyldinga You might compare Agamemnon, son of Atreus from the Iliad Themes: A theme or type-scene is a standardized narrative element in which a character performs certain stereotyped actions that are described with particular formulae. In the Iliad for example, it doesn't matter which warrior is about to go out to battle, the order in which he puts on his armour, and the descriptions of each piece of armour, are virtually the same. Not only does every warrior put his greaves on one leg at a time, but every warrior also puts them first on the left leg and then on the right leg. You can click on the link above for a complete explanation. If you have read the Iliad, you might remember how the warrior thrusts in his spear then pulls it out and has a little victory celebration. Here Patroclus has killed Sarpedon: Even as he thus spake the end of death enfolded him, his eyes alike and his nostrils; andpatroclus, setting his foot upon his breast, drew the spear from out the

3 flesh, and the midriff followed therewith; and at the one moment he drew forth the spear-point and the soul of Sarpedon. And the Myrmidons stayed there the snorting horses, that were fain to flee now that they had left the chariot of their lords. And Hector to Patroclus: So saying, he drew forth the spear of bronze from the wound, setting his foot upon the dead, and thrust him backward from the spear. The warriors dance, miss with their spears, fall like oak trees, etc. Sometimes this is referred to as a particular warriors aristeia, a display of his excellence, a breaking out or breaking bad and showing what he can really do. All these formulas make up themes. You can seem similar elements in the arrival of the ship (starting at 210) and the departure (1905). Just note foam at her neck [flota famiheals fugle gelico st] and her foamy neck was fleet [fleat famigheals forð ofer yðe] SUTTON HOO AND BEOWULF: 453: Beowulf s mail made by Weland

4 1110: Note helmets and mail. 1132: Ring-whirled prow : Description of mail and helmet 1144: Best sword of all 1455: Unferth lends Beowulf Hrunting 1521: The decorated blade came down ringing and singing on her head 1556: The ancient sword made by giants 1677: The hilt POETIC ORNAMENTATION: Kennings and Imagery 1286: gleaming blade slathered in blood, razes the sturdy boar-ridge off a helmet 1429: sail-road 1567: house of her flesh See Grendel s attack at Sceotend [bow- Com on wanre niht scriðan sceadugenga. man or shooter] swæfon, þa þæt hornreced ealle buton anum. healdan scoldon,

5 him of eagum stod ligge gelicost leoht unfæger. 766: And now the timbers trembled and sang, a hall-session EXAMPLE OF TELESCOPING (See Wanderer, bottom of page 112) 1605 Meanwhile the sword Began to melt into gory icicles To slather and thaw. It was a wonderful thing, The way it all melted as ice melts When the Father eases the fetter off the frost And unravels the water-ropes, He who wields power Over time and tide: He is the true Lord þa þæt sweord ongan æfter heaþoswate wigbil wanian. þæt hit eal gemealt ðonne forstes bend onwindeð wælrapas, sæla ond mæla; hildegicelum, þæt wæs wundra sum, ise gelicost, fæder onlæteð, se geweald hafað þæt is soð metod Right away the mast was rigged with its seashawl; Sail ropes were tightened, timbers drummed

6 And stiff winds kept the wave-crosser Skimming ahead; as she heaved forward, Her foamy neck was fleet and buoyant, A lapped prow loping over currents. 2379: sea-roads 2347: Dragon is called skyplague [Translator here gets fanciful with widflogan] 1321: Hrothgar is called the Shieldings Helmet APPOSITIVE STYLE: RENAMING Note just below under the passage from The Wanderer that the character is called an anhaga or solitary individual. Then he is called an eardstapa, or a stepper on the earth. He is seeking are or favor. Then he is seeking miltse or mildness. This is how a scopincrementally develops a mood and shades the image he is presenting. It is delicate, almost like the brush strokes of an impressionist painter. Now note how Hrothgar is described: At about line 861: Ne hie huru winedrihten wiht ne logon, glædne Hroðgar, ac þæt wæs god cyning. And at 1321 he is called the Shielding s Helmet. Hroðgar maþelode, helm Scyldinga:

7 Ne frin þu æfter sælum. Sorh is geniwod Denigea leodum. Hrothgar spoke, the helmet of the Scyldings: Don t ask about joy. Sorrow is renewed for the Danish people. Just before this we get at 1305: þa wæs frod cyning, har hilderinc, on hreon mode, syðþan he aldorþegn unlyfigendne/, þone deorestan deadne wisse Then was the old king, the gray- haired shield-warrior, in a troubled mind/heart, after he found out that his dearest noble thane was not living. Look at line 1671: Ic hit þe þonne gehate, þæt þu on Heorote most sorhleas swefan mid þinra secga gedryht ond þegna gehwylc þinra leoda, duguðe ond iogoþe, þæt þu him ondrædan ne þearft, þeoden Scyldinga, on þa healfe, aldorbealu eorlum, swa þu ær dydest. I promise it to you then, that you may sleep carelessly with your company of troops in Heorot and that each thane of your people, the tested warrior and the novice, that you have no need to be afraid for him, prince of the Scyldings, on this side (for this reason), the deadly evil, as you were before. But right after this, we get: ða wæs gylden hilt gamelum rince, harum hildfruman, on hand gyfen, enta ærgeweorc. Then was the golden hilt, the ancient work of giants, given over into the hand of the old warrior, the gray-haired battle leader Compare this to line 1397: Ahleop ða se gomela, gode þancode, mihtigan drihtne, þæs se man gespræc/. þa wæs Hroðgare hors gebæted,

8 (1400) wicg wundenfeax.. Wisa fengel geatolic/ gende; gumfeþa stop lindhæbbendra. The old one (gomela) leaped up, thanked God, the mighty Lord, for this man s speech (boast). Then was the horse of Hrothgar bridled, a steed with a wound mane (braided, I guess). The wise king (now fengel) rode in finery. The footmen marched bearing the linden shield. From a stray Tolkien site: Speaking of Tolkein, the Riders of Rohan more or less spoke Anglo-Saxon. As it turns out, every ancestor of Theoden's name is an Anglo-Saxon word for king or chief or something very similar. See this link: And from another stray site: Fourteenth King of Rohan. Folcwine, son of Folca, was born in He became King of Rohan in 2864 after his father was killed by the Boar of Everholt. At 1699 he is called the son of Halfdane, asserting his ancestral lineage. At 1870 we get: Gecyste þa cyning æþelum god, þeoden Scyldinga, ðegn betstan ond be healse genam; hruron him tearas, blondenfeaxum. Him wæs bega wen, ealdum infrodum, oþres swiðor, þæt hie/ seoððan/ no/ geseon moston, modige on meþle. Then that good noble king, the prince of the Scyldings, grasped the best of thanes around the neck; tears fell from him, the gray-haired one. Two things he expected, the old wise man, most of all that they afterwards, in health and strength (modige), would not meet again. Finally 1884: þa wæs on gange gifu Hroðgares oft geæhted; þæt wæs an cyning, æghwæs orleahtre, oþþæt hine yldo benam mægenes wynnum, se þe oft manegum scod.

9 Then on the way the gifts of Hrothgar were often praised (aehtian); that was a king in every respect spotless, until that AGE (YLDO OR ELD) TOOK THE JOY OF HIS STRENGTH, THAT FORCE WHICH HAS OFTEN HURT MANY.