| 27 meotod him þæt mod gestaþelað | forþon he in his meahte gelyfeð | A mind was given man by God to glory in his might |
g e From things visible, to consider of things invisible; from things bodily, to conceive of things spiritual: from things transitory, and momentary, to meditate of things permanent: by things mortal....to have some perceiverance of immortality. And to conclude, most briefly, by the most marvellous frame of the whole world, philosophically viewed, and circumspectly weighed, numbered, and measured....most faithfully to love, honour, and glorify always, the Framer and Creator thereof. John Dee: A Letter.... , written 1595, published 1604; quoted by Frances Yates in The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age, 1979 s meotod him þæt mod gestaþelað: forþon: See SSAS. he in his meahte gelyfeð: a A mind was given man .... : ie Man is innately furnished with the inclination, or desire, (ie "minded to") to worship a god; God gave Man a mind (to think with). "His" is ambiguous, referring either to God, or Man, or both (God's or Man's might): each is created in the image of the other. The use of "might" sets up a feeling of doubt.
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| 28 stieran mon sceal strongum mode | ond þæt on staþelum healdan
ond gewis werum | wisum clæne (110)
scyle monna gehwylc | mid gemete healdan
wiþ leofne ond wið laþne | bealo
þeah þe he hine wille | fyres fulne
oþþe on ble | forbærnedne
his geworhtne wine | wyrd biþ swiþre (115)
meotud meahtigra | þonne þænges monnes gehygd
| A man should steer a steadfast course
be constant, clean and just in judgement
a man should curb his love or loathing
though flame consume his comrade
and fire the funeral pyre
for fate is set more surely
God more great, than any man surmise
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gStieran here appears to offer the only obvious link of the poem's second part with its first. The connection should be clearly made. e 9. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. 10. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold. Psalm 19, AV. 7. Your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire. 1 Peter, 1, AV. Philosophia: The only stable order in things is that which connects the beginning to the end and keeps itself on a steady course. Boethius; Consolations, Book III, Poem 3. My mariners,/Souls that have toil'd, and wrought, and thought with me. Alfred Tennyson, Ulysses, 1833. s stieran mon sceal strongum mode: ond þæt on staþelum healdan: ond gewis werum: wisum clæne: scyle monna gehwylc: mid gemete healdan: cf Sw med måtta hålla, and måttlig. The basic concept is very frequent in demotic Swedish, eg det får vara måttligt/nån måtta (as it also is in the very common word nog --- cognate with "enough" but encompassing a much wider range), and is difficult to render simply in English. It contains the senses of "moderation", "restraint", and what is "fitting", as well as measurement, justice and frugal sufficiency. wiþ leofne ond wið laþne: bealo: þeah þe he hine wille: fyres fulne: oþþe on ble: forbæernedne: geworhtne wine: In her note to this expression Gordon compares it with Proverbs of Alfred, (Skeat 129): of fremde freond iwurche. The word freond, however, is more likely to mean "kinsman" than "friend"; Cf Sw frände, "male blood relation". The fellow-feeling in Tennyson's "soul that has wrought with me" offers, in my view, a close approximation to geworhtne wine, although I had conflated the words into "comrade" before noticing his line. The grammatical constructions seem insignificant. For wine cf Sw vän, "friend", often implying sentimental affection. wyrd biþ swiþre: meotud meahtigra: þonne þænges monnes gehygd : a any man surmise/any man's surmise
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| 29 uton we hycgan | hwær we ham agen
ond þonne geþencan | hu we þider cumen
ond we þonne eac tilien | þæt we to moten
in þa ecan | eadignesse (120)
þær is lif gelong | in lufan dryhtnes
hyht in heofonum | | Come, consider where we have a home, how
we can travel to it, how our travail here
will lead us to the living well-head
and heaven haven of our Lord's love
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g e 4. To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. 1 Peter, 1, AV. 15. And truly if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16. But now they desire a better country, that is an heavenly. Hebrews 11, AV. 18: For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Romans 8, AV. Noted by J.Glenn. ða us gerymde rodera waldend halge on heahþu þa he heofonum astag. Christ 2, 865-66. "Let us fix our hope/Upon that haven which the Lord of heaven,/In holiness on high, has opened." C.W.Kennedy trans. Trailing clouds of glory do we come/From God, who is our home: William Wordsworth, Intimations of Immortality,1807. And I have asked to be/Where no storms come,/Where the green swell is in the havens dumb,/And out of the swing of the sea. Gerard Manley Hopkins, Heaven-Haven, 1864. The chapel was shaped like a little stone ship. At sunset they sang in the choir: "Be thou in the bread and wine of the seamen, hidden in the sea chest./Be thou, Lord, at the helm, when at last the voyager turns his face to the west". George Mackay Brown, Vinland, John Murray 1992. Last page. s uton we hycgan: hwær we ham agen: ond þonne geþencan: hu we þider cumen: ond we þonne eac tilien: þæt we to moten: in þa ecan: eadignesse: þær is lif gelong: in lufan dryhtnes: hyht in heofonum: a
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| 30 þæs sy þam halgan þonc
þæt he usic geweorþade | wuldres ealdor
ece dryhten | in ealle tid
Amen (125) | Thus let us thank His hallowed name
that He has granted us His grace
Dominion enduring, the Ancient of Days
for all time Amen |
ge 9. The thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days did sit. 22. The Ancient of Days came, and judgement was given. Daniel 7, AV. Hallowed be thy name. The power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. Matthew 6, 9-13. AV. us to hælo hyþe gelædde godes gæstsunu ond us giefe sealde. Christ 2, 859-60. "God's Spirit-Son/Guided us to the harbour of salvation and granted us grace." C.W.Kennedy trans. Thus sang they in the English boat/An holy and a chearful note. Andrew Marvell, Bermudas, 1681. O worship the King, all glorious above!/O gratefully sing his power and his love!/Our Shield and Defender - the Ancient of Days,/Pavilioned in splendour, and girded with praise. Sir Robert Grant, 1779-1838, Hymn. In praising Beowulf, (Hrothgar) says that the hero's mother was blessed by Ealdmetod (945) a unique and curious word which may have been suggested by Daniel's vision of the Judge who is called antiquus dierum (Dan 7:9 and 7:22); it has an appropriately antique sound in Hrothgar's mouth. Margaret Goldsmith, The Mode and Meaning of Beowulf, University of London Athlone Press, 1970, p.158. [If Beowulf's mother was blessed by Ealdmetod, was she then, like Mary, "full of grace"? And is not Beowulf, therefore, like Christ?] s þæs sy þam halgan þonc: þæt he usic geweorþade: God has considered Man to be "worthy" of life; we should be thankful that we are alive. That we are conscious that we live is all that we know --- our only knowledge since plucking the fruit from the forbidden tree: the rest remains in darkness. wuldres ealdor: wuldorgimm is rendered "sun"; ie "gem of glory"; wuldor is said in the dictionaries to mean "glory": and what is "glory"? Is it not "effulgence" or "radiance"; ie daylight, hence "of Days"? The sun is life. For ealdor as "Ancient", cf Margaret Goldsmith's remark, above. ece dryhten: Is there an Anglo-Latin pun here on ecce? Is the man not the lord? Dryhten, cf Sw drott, connotes power, lordship, authority: hence "Dominion". in ealle tid: cf Sw i evig tid. Amen: If this word were chanted, as it often is, and thereby elongated into a full line, the poem would consist of 125 lines; and the word unwearnum, at the end of line 62, would occur at its exact centre. a Dominion: connotes a) Mastery; b) Instruction; c) Judgement. Doom and domination merge.
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annotation introductionModern Version stanzas 1-7; Anglo-Saxon lines 1-26MV stanzas 8-14; AS lines 27-52: MV stanzas 15-20; AS lines 53-71 MV stanzas 20-24; AS lines 72-99: MV stanzas 25-30; AS lines 100-125 main index commentary essays and papers frames top
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