‘Away to the westward among the people of the Geáts lived a man, strongest of his race, tall, mighty-handed, and clean made. He was a thane, kinsman to Hygelác the Geátish chief, and nobly born, being son of Ecgtheow the Wægmunding, a war-prince who wedded with the daughter of Hrethel the Geát. This man heard of Grendel’s deeds, of Hrothgár’s sorrow, and the sore distress of the Danes, and having sought out fifteen warriors, he entered into a new-pitched ship to seek the war-king across the sea. Bird-like the vessel’s swan-necked prow breasted the white sea-foam till the warriors reached the windy walls of cliff and the steep mountains of the Danish shores. They thanked God because the wave-ways had been easy to them; then, sea-wearied, lashed their wide-bosomed ship to an anchorage, donned their war-weeds, and came to Heorot, the gold and jewelled house. Brightly gleamed their armour and merrily sang the ring-iron of their trappings as they marched into the palace.’ —Pages 384–5.
Criticism of the Paraphrase.
The object of a paraphrase is to present all the essential matter of the original, in a style materially simpler than, though not unrelated to, the original.
The matter of Mr. Jones’s paraphrase is not above criticism. It is full of minor errors. In the extract, for example, the original does not say that the heroes ‘donned their war-weeds,’ nor that there were mountains on the shores of Denmark.
The style of the work is much better. It is throughout strong and clear, not over-sentimental. It is, perhaps, too intimate; it savors slightly of the Märchen. This absence of vigor and remoteness may be due to the nature of the volume of which this paraphrase is only a part.
[1.] Swimming-match omitted.
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Jahresbericht über die Realschule zu Forbach (Lothringen) für das Schuljahr 1880 bis 1881, mit welchem zu der öffentlichen Prüfung am Freitag den 12. August 1881 ergebenst einladet der Director A. Knitterscheid.
Voran geht eine Abhandlung des ordentlichen Lehrers G. Zinsser: Der ‘Kampf Beowulfs mit Grendel,’ als Probe einer metrischen Uebersetzung des angelsächsischen Epos ‘Beóvulf.’ Saarbrücken. Druck von Gebrüder Hofer. 1881. 4o, pp. 18, double columns, Schulnachrichten 6.