HERE was not yet then here, except gloom like a cavern, anything made. But the wide ground stood deep and dim for a new lordship, shapeless and unsuitable. On this with his eyes he glanced, the King stern in mind, And the joyless place beheld. He saw the dark clouds perpetually pass black under the sky, void and waste; till that this world's creation thro' the word was done of the King of Glory. 66 The Grendel. FROM BEOWULF," THE GREATEST ANGLO-SAXON POEM. DATE UNCERTAIN. THE Grendel was a giant, said to have been descended from Cain, and therefore exiled by Heaven to the wildest waste in Jutland. In the reign of Hrothgar, King of Denmark, he determined to destroy the nobles of his Court, and at the hour when the Danes, after "quaffing their beer," were asleep in the royal hall, according to the fashion of those days, this fiend stalked into it and slew thirty of the sleeping Ethelings. Then he returned to his mysterious abode. These visits were frequently renewed, and always with the same success. The King was in despair, when a famous Gothic champion, Beowulf-the hero of the poemhearing of this mysterious horror, came to his assistance, resolved to defy the giant. He arrived in Denmark; the King accepted his offer to encounter the Grendel, and after an entertainment, left him and his friends to keep guard in the hall where the nobles slept. Here in a short time all were asleep save Beowulf. VER the moor, beneath his misty hills, The Grendel stalked,-the fiend by Heaven accursed!- In darkness wrapt, the silent fiend approached, Of high-born warriors, rich with goblets strewn, That he the courts of princely Hrothgar sought. But never in the days of yore had he Leaders more brave, or thanes more dauntless found Onward he stalked, That being joyless. Swift the wrathful fiend By friendship, or by nearer kindred joined: Great was the demon's joy; for well he thought, THE CREATION OF LIGHT. Here first made the Eternal Lord, the Patron of all creatures, heaven and earth. He reared the sky, and this roomy land established with strong powers, Almighty Ruler ! The earth was then yet with grass not green; with the ocean covered, perpetually black; far and wider the desert ways. There was the glory-bright Spirit of the Heaven's Wonder borne over the watery abyss with great abundance. The Creator of angels commanded, the Lord of life! Light to come forth over the roomy ground. Quickly was fulfilled the high King's command: the sacred light came over the waste as the Artist ordered. Then separated the Governor of victory over the water-flood light from darkness, shade from shine: he made them both be named, Lord of life! Light was first, thro' the Lord's word creation of bright splendour the birth of time, the first day, He saw the dark shade black spread itself over the wide ground, when time declined over the oblation-smoke of the earth. The Creator after separated from the pure shine, (our Maker,) the first evening. To him ran at last a throng of dark clouds. These separated. Afterwards, as an inheritance, the will of the Lord made and did it eternal over the earth. Translated by S. TURNER. The Grendel. FROM "BEOWULF," THE GREATEST ANGLO-SAXON POEM. DATE UNCERTAIN. THE Grendel was a giant, said to have been descended from Cain, and therefore exiled by Heaven to the wildest waste in Jutland. In the reign of Hrothgar, King of Denmark, he determined to destroy the nobles of his Court, and at the hour when the Danes, after "quaffing their beer," were asleep in the royal hall, according to the fashion of those days, this fiend stalked into it and slew thirty of the sleeping Ethelings. Then he returned to his mysterious abode. These visits were frequently renewed, and always with the same success. The King was in despair, when a famous Gothic champion, Beowulf-the hero of the poemhearing of this mysterious horror, came to his assistance, resolved to defy the giant. He arrived in Denmark; the King accepted his offer to encounter the Grendel, and after an entertainment, left him and his friends to keep guard in the hall where the nobles slept. Here in a short time all were asleep save Beowulf. VER the moor, beneath his misty hills, The Grendel stalked, the fiend by Heaven accursed! And well he hoped,-this foe to human-kind, Within that lofty hall to seize his victims. In darkness wrapt, the silent fiend approached, Of high-born warriors, rich with goblets strewn, That he the courts of princely Hrothgar sought. But never in the days of yore had he Leaders more brave, or thanes more dauntless found Onward he stalked, That being joyless. Swift the wrathful fiend With shining stones resplendent strode the fiend; Dark was his mood, and terrible the flame Many the sleepers in that festive hall, By friendship, or by nearer kindred joined: Great was the demon's joy; for well he thought, |