wolf shall monsters all
upon the world then ravening fall.
Then Surtur from the South shall fare
and tree-devouring fire shall bear
that bright as sun on swords shall shine
in battle of the hosts divine;
the hills of stone shall bend their head;
all men the paths of death shall tread.
Then darkened shall the sunlight be,
and Earth shall founder under sea,
and from the cloven heavens all
the gleaming stars shall flee and fall;
the steam shall rise in roaring spires
and heaven’s roof be licked with fires.
*
A house there is that sees no sun,
dark-builded on the beaches dun
where cold waves wash the Deadly Shore,
and northward looks its shadowy door;
the louver poisoned rain lets fall,
of woven serpents in the wall.
Laden in heavy streams there wade
men perjured, men who have betrayed
the trust of friend; and there the coward
and wolvish murderer is devoured:
the dragon who yet Yggdrasil
gnaws at the roots there takes his fill.
Dim-flying shall that dragon haste
over the beaches dark and waste,
up from the Nether-fells shall spring
bearing those corpses under wing,
then plunge, and sea close o’er his head
for ever, o’er the doomed and dead.
*
At last once more uprising slow
the Earth from Ocean green shall grow,
and falls of water shimmering pour
from her high shoulders to the shore;
the eagle there with lonely cry
shall hunt the fish on mountains high.
The younger gods again shall meet
in Idavellir’s pastures sweet,
and tales shall tell of ancient doom,
the Serpent and the fire and gloom,
and that old king of Gods recall
his might and wisdom ere the fall.
There marvellous shall again be found
cast in the grass upon the ground
the golden chess wherewith they played
when ásgard long ago was made,
when all their courts were filled with gold
in the first merriment of old.
A house I see that standeth there
bright-builded, than the Sun more fair:
o’er Gimlé shine its tiles of gold,
its halls no grief nor evil hold,
and there shall worthy men and true
in living days delight pursue.
Unsown shall fields of wheat grow white
when Baldur cometh after night;
the ruined halls of ódin’s host,
the windy towers on heaven’s coast,
shall golden be rebuilt again,
all ills be healed in Baldur’s reign.
APPENDIX C
FRAGMENTS OF A HEROIC POEM
OF ATTILA IN OLD ENGLISH
These verses in the old English alliterative metre were composed at some date unknown, but I think it at least very probable that they belong to the same period as all the writings in this book, my father’s earlier years at Oxford after his departure from Leeds.
In content and internal sequence both pieces are closely based on the Old Norse Atlakviea. There is more than one copy of each, with minor progressive improvement. In each case I have appended a translation and a few explanatory notes.
I
This text corresponds to the first eight stanzas of Atlakviea. It is a part of the Norse poem that poses many difficulties and doubts; and it seems conceivable that my father selected it precisely because it is the beginning of the poem, as if at one time he thought to transform it in this way in its entirety. For the corresponding passage in the Lay of Gudrún see pp.265–67, stanzas 37–44.
?tla Guehere ar onsende
cenne ridend – Cneofrie hatte –:
com to geardum Gifecan, Gueheres healle;
beornas ymb heoree beore gef?gon.
Druncon dryhtguman on dreorsele, 5
mod mieende meldan s?ton;
Huna hetetanc h?let ondreordon.
Secg suelendisc slitan reorde,
Cneofrie ciegde cuma on healle:
‘Hider on ?rende ?tla mec sende 10
geond Wistlawudu wegas uncuee
mearh ridendne midlb?tedne;
het inc gretan wel, Guehere, beodan
t?t git helmum teahte to his ham cwomen.
T?r git sceld sculon agan ond sceaft smeene, 15
helm goldhrodene, Huna m?nigo,
sadol seolforweredne, serc scynestan,
blancan betstan bitolh?bbendne,
w?de wealhbeaswe, ond wacne gar.
Cw?t t?t he giefan wolde inc Gnitanh?ee, 20
weald tone widan on geweald sellan,
ofer giellendne gar ond gylden stefn,
maemas micle, mearce D?nepes,
ond t?t m?re holt – Myrcwudu hatte.’
Da heafod hylde helm Burgenda, 25
Hagenan s?gde: ‘Ta wit hyrat swelc,
hw?t r?det unc se rinc, runbora geonga?
On Gnitanh?ee ic gold ne gefr?gn
t?t wit otres ne ahten efnmicle sped.
Wit seld agon seofon sweordum gefylled, 30
tára sint hiltu gehwilces heawen of golde;
mearh is mín m?rest, mece betsta,
helm hwitesta ond hilderand
ahyted of horde hean Caseres –
tonne ealra Huna an is min betera.’ 35
Hagena ‘Hw?t biecnede seo bryd ta heo unc beag sende,
weargloccum wand? wearnunge geteah!
Ty ic wrieen f?ste t?r wulfes h?r
hares h?tstapan on hringe fand,
wylfen, t?s ic wene, bie uncer wat heonan.’ 40
?tla sent to Guehere a bold messenger
riding – Cnéofrie was his name:
he came to the courts of Gifeca, to the hall of Guehere;
about the hearth warriors rejoiced in the ale.
The men of that company drank in the gloomy hall, 5
the meldan sat hiding their thoughts;
the warriors feared the hatred of the Huns.
The man from the south cried out with a fell voice,
Cnéofrie, the stranger in the hall:
‘Hither upon an errand ?tla sent me 10
on unknown ways through the Vistula forest
riding the bit-bridled steed;
he bade me greet well you twain, Guehere, and ask
that you come covered by your helms to his abode.
There you shall have shield and smooth-shaven lance 15
gold-adorned helmet, a great company of Huns,
silvered saddle, coat of mail most shining,
the finest horse that bears a bridle,
clothes of foreign scarlet, and slender spear.
He said that he would give to you Gnitanheath, 20
give into your power the wide woodland,
shrieking spear and golden prow,
great treasures, the abodes of the Dnieper,
and that forest renowned that is called Mirkwood.’
Then the lord of the Burgundians turned his head, 25
to Hagena he spoke: ‘When we hear such things
what does he advise us, the young counsellor?
I have not heard of a gold hoard on Gnitanheath
that we twain did not possess another of as great abundance.
We have seven halls filled with swords, 30
the hilts of each of them hewn of gold;
my horse is the most renowned, my sword the best,
my helm the brightest, my battle-shield
plundered from the treasure of the high emperor –
mine alone is better than [those] of all the Huns.’ 35
Hagena ‘What did the bride signify when she sent us a ring,
wound it with wolf-hair? She offered us warning!
Fast bound on the ring I found the hair of a wolf,
of the grey heath-roamer:
wolvish, as I think, will be our journey hence.’ 40
Notes
1 ?tla, Guehere: the Old English forms of the Norse names Atli and Gunnar.
2 Cnéofrie: the name of Atli’s messenger in Atlakviea is Knefr?er: see the commentary on the Lay of Gudrún, stanzas 37–48.
3 Gifeca: the Old English form of the Norse name Gjúki, father of Gunnar: see Appendix A, p.340.
5–6 In a lecture on the text of Atlakviea my father took the meaning of the verse at this point to be that there was merriment in the hall among Gunnar’s folk, but the Hunnish envoys sat silent, hiding their thoughts. But his Old English verses may not proceed from this interpretation.
The Old English word melda means one who declares, tells, informs, or betrays. The man in Beowulf who stole the goblet from the dragon’s hoard and led Beowulf and his companions to the lair is called a melda. But I do not know what significance my father gave to the word in this verse.
11 Wistlawudu. This name occurs in the poem Widsith:
ful oft t?r wig ne al?g,
tonne Hr?da here heardum sweordum
ymb Wistlawudu wergan sceoldon
ealdne etelstol ?tlan leodum.
‘Seldom was warfare stilled, when the host of the Hr?das [Goths] about the Vistula forest had to defend with their swords their ancient dwelling-place from the people of Attila.’
The reference to Wistlawudu is a vestige of very ancient tradition; for it was about the end of the second century that the Goths departed on a vast south-easterly migration from the Baltic coast