1WHY WAS HANDSHOE?
Summary This paper examines the literary and dramatic function of the sleeping warrior who is consumed by Grendel at the monster's first appearance under Beowulf's eye, and the moral that the Beowulf poet may have intended should be drawn from the incident. (ll 736-745).
Abstract
The thought of presenting a short paper on this topic arises from an interpretation of The Seafarer which was started in early 1994. When well into this project an obdurate obstacle was encountered in the form of the word unwearnum, whose dictionary meaning "irresistibly" seemed impossible to reconcile with the sense of the passage containing it. After prolonged self-doubt it was concluded that unwearnum did not mean "irresistibly", in spite of its scholarly endorsement in that meaning for the last 100 years. The most accurate single Modern English equivalent of the word now seems to be "vulnerable". Or, perhaps, "unsuspecting, unanticipating --- unversehens" ? Unwearnum only appears twice in the corpus of Anglo-Saxon literature, in The Seafarer, and in Beowulf, where it occurs in the context of the passage involving Beowulf's Geatish comrade, who is torn apart and gobbled up by Grendel under the alertly watchful gaze of the hero (line 741). John Earle, 1892, has an interesting note on this situation: "It is not to be supposed that Beowulf meant to let his men be experimented upon, and so to give Grendel free scope in order that he might see a specimen of his carnage before he arrested his movements; --- and yet that is what we must imagine if under fær gripen is to mean 'in the midst of his ravenings.'" At line 2076 we learn that the victim's name was Hondsciô, ie "Glove", literally "Handshoe".
This paper investigates the significance of the incident culminating in Hondsciô's brutal end, in light of the probability of unwearnum meaning "vulnerable", while recognising that the nuances of its sense in this context may shift to "defenceless", "unprepared", "heedless", or "unaware". Although "irresistibly" is easily the most favoured translation of the word in the numerous versions of The Seafarer, translators have avoided this rendering in Beowulf. Those who have given the matter some consideration, and appreciated that "irresistibly" cannot be correct in this context, may have followed (at several removes) Benjamin Thorpe's gloss for the word in his 1842 translation of The Seafarer, and chosen "suddenly" in preference to "irresistibly". Others seem to have been misled by Klaeber's curious alternative glosses, "eagerly" or "greedily". "Suddenly" is the word used by Seamus Heaney in his best-selling translation. Although "suddenly" has some merit (though not much), and is perhaps more correct than "irresistibly", it still fails to realise the hidden implications of unwearnum. These are more strongly indicated by the context of the word as it occurs in The Seafarer, where its use and significance are, in my view, crucial to an understanding of the poem. The argument can be amplified by drawing on examples of the continuity of the Christian attitude to the powers of darkness, the Devil, and other inimical adversaries that may beset a hero of the true faith, as they occur both before and since the Beowulf poet composed his lay. While this examination will not lead to any firmer establishment of the identity of Hondsciô, it may help to elucidate the underlying purpose of his short-lived role on the epic's wider stage, help to explain why his death makes such a memorable impact, and why he is recalled by name so much later in the poem.
This table lists in chronological sequence some of the translations of unwearnum, as it occurs in Beowulf:
Date | Source | Translation |
| disputed | Beowulf
lines 740-741 (Klaeber) | ms text:
ac he gefeng hraðe forman siðe
slæpendne rinc slat unwearnum |
1826
[pp. 46 & 100] | J.J.Conybeare |
Nor long delay the murderer brook'd; for still
In other days light effort had it cost
To slay the uncautious warrior in his sleep,
[Latin] Dormientes viros, Occiderat ex improviso
improviso: unexpected / (ex improviso) suddenly. |
| 1859 | K.Simrock |
Vielmehr erfasst' er jetzt zuvörderst Einen
Der Ruhenden und riss ihn rasch in zwei Stücke |
| 1863 | M.Heyne (1st edition) | un-wearnum adv. instr. pl. unversehens, plötzlich. |
| 1875 | B.Thorpe (2nd edition) |
for he quickly seiz'd, at the first time,
a sleeping warrior, tore him unawares, |
1882
(1st ed)
1902 | J.M.Garnett | But quickly he seized for the first time
A sleeping warrior, him tore unresisting,
[NB: "him tore unawares." Heyne 1879, 4th ed.] |
| 1883 | J.A.Harrison & R.Sharp (glossary) | un-wearnum, adv. instr. pl., unawares, suddenly; (unresistingly?) |
1883
(2nd ed) | H.W.Lumsden | The wicked scather wrought his will. He paused not, in his clasp,
For first adventure, swift he seized and slew a sleeping thane |
| 1892 | J.Earle | but he seized promptly at his first move a sleeping warrior, tore him in a moment, |
| 1894 | A.J.Wyatt (glossary) | un-wearnum, adv., unawares, 741. |
| 1892 | J.L.Hall | But on earliest occasion he quickly laid hold of
A soldier asleep, suddenly tore him, |
| 1897 | M.Heyne (translation: 3rd edition) | nicht zögerte das Scheusal, schnell und plötzlich
fasst' er der Schläfer einen, schlitzt' ihn auf |
| 1898 | M.Heyne/Socin (glossary: 6th edition) | un-wearnum adv. instr. pl. unversehens, plötzlich.
Unversehens is given as "unexpectedly, unawares, all of a sudden; unintentionally" in Cassell, 1952. |
| 1901 | J.R. Clark Hall
(first prose edition) | but quickly grasped a sleeping warrior as a first start, rent him undisturbed |
| 1902 | C.B.Tinker | but suddenly, for his first move, he seized upon a sleeping thane, rent him in pieces unawares |
| 1906 | F.Holthausen | wearn fõ. [zu warnen] Weigerung, Versagen 366. D.Pl. un~um unwiderstehlich 741. |
| 1906 | H.Gering | Mit schnellem Griff einen Schläfer packt' er
Als ersten Raub zerriss ihn eiligst |
| 1910 | F.B.Gummere | Straightway he seized a sleeping warrior
for the first, and tore him fiercely asunder, |
| 1910 | M.Heyne [glossary. 9th edition of text, ed. L.L. Schücking]. | un-wearnum adv. instr. pl. ohne Weigering, d.h. gierig (vgl. Schuchardt S.14) 741. |
| 1913 | W.J.Sedgefield
(glossary & note: 2nd edition.) | unwearnum adv. suddenly, when off his guard. 741 n. unwearnum, according to Schuchardt, means 'without refusing', ' eagerly.' |
| 1913 | E.J.B.Kirtlan | he quickly lay hold of a sleeping warrior, and tore him to pieces all unawares |
| 1914 | J.R. Clark Hall | but quickly he seized first victim of all
a sleeping campaigner and ate him, unwarned, --- |
| 1914 | A.J.Wyatt, revised by R.W.Chambers (glossary) | un-wearnum adv, without hindrance |
| 1921 | C.K.Scott Moncrieff | But he seized swiftly / in his first swoop
A sleeping man, / unawares he slit him, |
1922
(1st ed.) | Fr.Klaeber; (glossary) | un-wearnum, † adv. (dp.), without hindrance, irresistibly; or: eagerly, greedily (Schuchardt L 6.14.2.14). See wearn. |
| 1923 | W.E.Leonard | But pounced upon a sleeping man, starting quick enough!
Unthwartedly he slit him, bit his bone-box, drunk
From his veins the blood of him, |
| 1926 | D.H.Crawford | nay, of a sudden he seized, for beginning,
a warrior asleep, and without let tore him |
| 1926 | R.K.Gordon | but first he quickly seized a sleeping warrior,
suddenly tore him asunder |
| 1929 | G.H.Gerould | but seized at once a sleeping warrior,
in his forward rush, rent him unwary |
| 1932 | J.Hoops
(Kommentar zum Beowulf) | unwearnum bedeutet wahrscheinlich 'ohne Weigerung, ohne sich zu weigern', dh. 'gierig' (s. R.Schuchardt, Negation im Beow. 14). |
| 1935 | W.J.Sedgefield
(glossary: 3rd edition.) | unwearnum irresistibly 741 n. [No further note on unwearnum] |
| 1940 | C.W.Kennedy | The demon delayed not, but quickly clutched
A sleeping thane in his swift assault,
Tore him in pieces, |
| 1945 | G.Bone | Short while the monster remains
But took a dreaming man, rent him at will, |
| 1949 | J.R.Clark Hall, 1911 edition revised by C.L.Wrenn 1949 | but quickly seized a sleeping warrior as a beginning, rent him greedily |
| 1954 | B.Collinder (Sweden) | utan fattade fort,
som första fång
en sovande stridsman,
slet sönder den värnlöse |
| 1957 | D.Wright | The fiend wasted no time, but for a start snatched
up a sleeping man. He tore him apart in an instant |
| 1963 | B.Raffel | Grendel snatched at the first Geat
He came to, ripped him apart, cut
His body to bits with powerful jaws, |
| 1966 | E.T.Donaldson,
edited by J.E.Tuso 1975 | but, starting his work, he suddenly seized a sleeping man, tore at him ravenously, |
| 1967 | C.B.Hieatt |
but swiftly grasped, in his first gesture, a sleeping warrior: he tore him up furiously, |
| 1968 | K.Crossley-Holland | but, for a start, he hungrily seized
a sleeping warrior, greedily wrenched him |
| 1973 | M.Alexander | As a first step he set his hands on
a sleeping soldier, savagely tore at him |
| 1978 | M.Swanton | but for a start he quickly seized a sleeping
warrior, tore him apart without resistance |
| 1982 | S.A.J.Bradley | but as a start he hastily grabbed a sleeping
soldier, tore him apart without any trouble, |
| 1983 | H.B.Björnsson (Iceland) | fljótur greip er fyrstan náði
sofandi rekk, sem hann óvaran
beit til beins |
| 1983 | M.Osborn | he snatched up the first of his quarry,
a sleeping man, and slit him open, |
| 1987 | G.Roberts | But quickly seized in his first foray
A sleeping warrior, tore him apart greedily, |
| 1987 | J.Glover (based on M.Alexander & E.Morgan) | As a first step he set his greedy hands on
A sleeping soldier, savagely tore him, |
| 1990 | R.Oliver | So swift,
Then, was the devil, that a horror
Happened before the prince could help |
| 1991 | F.Rebsamen | snared a doomed one
in terminal rest tore frantically, |
| 1994 | G.Jack (glossary) | unwearnum --- unrestrainedly |
| 1995 | P.Grant | But swiftly seized upon the first:
Slashed the sleeper unaware |
| 1999 | S.Heaney | Nor did the creature keep him waiting
but struck suddenly and started in;
he grabbed and mauled a man on his bench, |
2009
(4th ed.) | Fr.Klaeber; (glossary) | un-wearnum, † adv. (dp.), without hindrance, irresistibly; or: eagerly, greedily (Schuchardt 1910: 14, Hoops). See wearn. |
In analysing these versions some complication arises because of the presence in the ms text of the word hraðe, which at its simplest is glossed "quickly" (Klaeber). The word survives in Modern English as "rather", with only a very tenuous sense-connection, and a more closely related cognate would be German gerade (geradeswegs), meaning "straight" or "straightaway". In any case, the distinction between the meanings perceived in hraðe, glossed "quickly", and unwearnum, glossed "suddenly", becomes blurred, which possibly accounts for the mounting tendency of the later translators to inflate what I see as the spurious readings of "eagerly" or "greedily" for unwearnum. Conybeare does well with "uncautious" in 1826, but, after 1910, we are offered "greedily" (Clark Hall/Wrenn; Crossley-Holland; Roberts), "fiercely" (Gummere), "ravenously" (Donaldson), "furiously" (Hieatt), "frantically" (Rebsamen), "savagely" (Alexander, Glover). Glover and Crossley-Holland merge haste with hunger and savagery. The exclusive sense of surprise is retained by Hall and Gordon ("suddenly"), Kennedy ("in his swift assault"), Wright ("in an instant"); and the idea of overcoming a barrier --- Wyatt and Klaeber's "without hindrance" --- by Garnett ("unresistingly"), Crawford ("without let"), Bone ("at will"), Swanton ("without resistance"), and Bradley ("without any trouble").
The virtually correct "unawares" (Thorpe, Garnett -- after Heyne's variation from Grein, -- Tinker, Kirtlan, Scott Moncrieff) was discarded after 1921 (except in the case of Gerould's "unwary", 1929), and the temptation to detect the magisterial authority of Klaeber's 1922 edition of Beowulf in this shift is irresistible. Klaeber refers to Schuchardt as the authority for the glosses "eagerly, greedily", although this name is first mentioned earlier by Heyne in 1910, at least on the above list. Sedgefield in 1913 gives "eagerly" as "according to Schuchardt", and the name, giving "eagerly, greedily", is repeated in Klaeber, 2009, with the addition of what is apparently a second authority, Hoops. Hoops is also mentioned on page 110 of Klaeber 4, but not included among the works cited. However, this must be Johannes Hoops, author of Kommentar zum Beowulf, Heidelberg, 1932, and Beowulfstudien, same year. Richard Schuchardt, from whom the concept of unwearnum meaning "greedily" seems exclusively to derive, produced a doctoral dissertation entitled "Die Negation im Beowulf" in 1910 at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Berlin, but I have not so far been able to locate a copy of his text.
12/12/09. Pursuit of Schuchardt has now led to the incidental discovery of "The un- Prefix: A Means of Germanic Irony in 'Beowulf'", by Schuman & Hutchings, Modern Philology, Vol 57, No 4 (May, 1960). This contains, p 220, a long list of words which use the un- prefix to achieve "a high level of understatement", but the list ends with an exception, quote: "unwearnum (l.741), literally 'unhindered', from wearn, 'hindrance'. All but the last of these undergo amelioration in connotation through the addition of the un- prefix." The singular exception of unwearnum might have alerted the authors to appreciate that wearn actually means "defence", rather than "hindrance"; and unwearn means "an undefended man, or person". For Wright on un-, see here.
All authority abides our question, however, for the price of truth is eternal vigilance, and it remained for a free-minded spirit, Paula Grant, in her 1995 maverick Aldfrith's Beowulf, to resuscitate "unawares". Heaney contrives to have it all ways, except the precisely right way, with "suddenly", "started", "grabbed" and "mauled"; but, as would be expected, the word translates neatly and naturally into Swedish (Collinder, 1954): den värnlöse, "the defenceless man"; and Icelandic (Björnsson, 1983), óvar-an, "unaware, unwary". Sigurðsson's Íslensk-Ensk Orðabók, 1994, makes the current usages of óvar very clear. A not impossible Swedish translation would be den ovärne.
The purpose of this nit-picking is not trivial. The epigraph heading this page had been knocking at my mind for some time, the result of having had it thoroughly drummed into me at Bradfield College chapel services on countless Sundays between 1950 and 1955. Chapter and verse once checked, a re-reading of Andrew Galloway's paper I Peter and The Seafarer, in English Language Notes, XXV, 4, June 1988, became essential. Although, if goaded, I might quibble with his article on certain counts, and must curb my inclination to muse at length on the position occupied by Peter in the history of the English church and people, I agree with Galloway's premise that the influence of the claviger's epistle is perfectly discernible in The Seafarer. So, too, in Beowulf, especially in the Hondsciô incident.
Just as telling is the saint's enjoinder to: "Be sober". John Gardner makes this point in a glancing aside, "....a man like Beowulf who never gets drunk....", on page 84 of The Construction of Christian Poetry in Old English, (Southern Illinois UP, 1975). Earlier, on the eve of Grendel's descent on the mead-hall, Beowulf had been taunted by the drunken troublemaker, Unferth, very probably wlonc and wingal ------ "thy brother's killer", says Beowulf, and therefore akin to Cain. Unferth's slurs had been silenced by the hero's sobriety, just as Grendel, Cain's direct
