Reading Beowulf

Reading Beowulf:

Beowulf mathelode, bearn Ecgtheowes: "Ne sorga, snotor guma! Selre bith aeghwaem thaet he his freond wrece, thonne he fela murne. Ure aeghwylc sceal ende gebidan worolde lifes; wyrce se the mote domes aer deathe; thaet bith driht guman unlifgendum aefter selest."

(Beowulf, son of Ecgtheow, spoke: "Wise sir, do not grieve. It is always better to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning. For every one of us, living in this world means waiting for our end. Let whoever can win glory before death. When a warrior is gone, that will be his best and only bulwark.")

Seamus Heaney, trans. (874), Beowulf (New York: Norton: 0393320979).