Our last piece shall be “Widsith, or the Gleeman’s Song.”[89] This is a string of reminiscences of travel in the profession of minstrelsy; some part of which has a genuine air of high antiquity.[90] In the course of a long tradition it has undergone many changes which cannot now be distinguished. But, besides these, there are some glaring patches of literary interpolation, chiefly from Scriptural sources. I quote the concluding lines:—
[74] In “A Book for the Beginner in Anglo-Saxon,” Clarendon Press Series; ed. 2 (1879), p. 70.
[75] The editions and translations are by Thorkelin, Copenhagen, 1815; Kemble, ed. 1, London, 1833; ed. 2, London, 1835; translation, 1837; Ettmüller, German translation, Zurich, 1840; Schaldemose, with Danish translation, Copenhagen, 1851; Thorpe, with English translation, Oxford, 1855; Grundtvig, Copenhagen, 1861; Moritz Heyne, German translation, Paderborn, 1863; Grein, 1867; Arnold, Oxford, 1876; Moritz Heyne, Text, ed. 4, 1879.
Wulfgar then spoke to his own dear lord:
“Here are arrived, come from afar
Over the sea-waves, men of the Geats;
The one most distinguished the warriors brave
Beowulf name. They are thy suppliants
That they, my prince, may with thee now
Greetings exchange; do not thou refuse them
Thy converse in turn, friendly Hrothgar!
They in their war-weeds seem very worthy
Contenders with earls; the chief is renowned
Who these war-heroes hither has led.”
Hrothgar then spoke, defence of the Scyldings;
“I knew him of old when he was a child;
His aged father was Ecgtheow named;
To him at home gave Hrethel the Geat
His only daughter: his son has now
Boldly come here, a trusty friend sought.”
This is from Mr. Garnett’s translation, which is made line for line. Published by Ginn, Heath, & Co., Boston, 1882.
[77] Dr. Karl Müllenhof (papers in Haupt’s “Zeitschrift”) follows the same line. His treatment is thus described by Mr. Henry Morley:—“The work was formed, he thinks, by the combination of several old songs—(1) ‘The Fight with Grendel,’ complete in itself, and the oldest of the pieces; (2) ‘The Fight with Grendel’s Mother,’ next added; then (3) the genealogical introduction to the mention of Hrothgar, forming what is now the opening of the poem. Then came, according to this theory, a poet, A, who worked over the poem thus produced, interpolated many passages with skill, and added a continuation, setting forth Beowulf’s return home. Last came a theoretical interloper, B, a monk, who interspersed religious sayings of his own, and added the ancient song of the fight with the dragon and the death of Beowulf. The positive critic not only finds all this, but proceeds to point out which passages are old, older, and oldest, where a few lines are from poet A, and where other interpolation is from poet B.”—“English Verse and Prose” in “Cassell’s Library of English Literature,” p. 11.
[78] No one needs to be told that the dragon story is of high antiquity. But even of the elements which have most the appearance of history some may be traced so far back till they seem to fade into legend. Thus Higelac can hardly be any other than that Chochilaicus of whom Gregory of Tours records that he invaded the Frisian coast from the north, and was slain in the attempt. In our poem, this recurs with variations no less than four times as a well-known passage in the adventures of Higelac. But it affords a doubtful basis for argument about the date of our poem.
[79] See Dr. Vigfusson’s remarks in the Prolegomena to his edition of the “Sturlinga Saga,” Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1878.