VIII.

Hunferth spake, the son of Ecglaf, who sat at the feet of the master of the Scyldings; he unbound the secret counsel of his malice. The expedition of Beowulf, the valiant mariner, was to him a great cause of offence; for that he allowed not that any other man on the earth should ever appropriate more deeds of fame under heaven than he himself. ‘Art thou that Beowulf who strove against Breca in a swimming-match on the broad sea? where ye two for emulation explored the waves, and for foolish boasting ventured your lives in the deep water. Nor could any man, either friend or foe, warn you off from your perilous adventure. Then ye two rowed on the sea, where with your arms [outspread] ye covered the ocean-stream, measured the sea-ways, churned up [the water] with your hands, glided over the deep; the sea was tossing with waves, the icy wintry sea. Ye two toiled for seven nights in the watery realm; he overcame thee in the match, he had more strength. Then, at dawn of morn, the sea cast him up on [the coast of] the Heathoreamas; thence he, dear in the sight of his people, sought his loved native soil, the land of the Brondings, the fair safe burgh where he was the owner of folk, burgh, and precious jewels.’ --Pages 37, 38.

_Criticism of the Translation._

The translation is literal, and its value is therefore in direct ratio to the value of the text, which has been discussed above.

[Footnote 1: See supra, p. 49.] [[Thorpe]]

[Footnote 2: A theory which the author continued to regard as partially tenable. See _Notes on Beowulf_ (London, 1898), p. 114.]

[Footnote 3: Contrast this with the editions of Heyne. See p. 64.]

[Footnote 4: See supra, p. 33.] [[Kemble]]

[Footnote 5: See supra, p. 49.] [[Thorpe]]

[Footnote 6: The numbers are those of Wyatt’s text; for Zupitza’s and Arnold’s add 1.]

[Footnote 7: See _Amer. Journal of Philol._ I. 1. 90.]

[Footnote 8: See supra, p. 51.] [[Thorpe: Criticism...]]

[Footnote 9: See _Beowulfs Beorh_, and p. 22.]

[Footnote 10: See supra, p. 15.] [[Thorkelin]]

[Footnote 11: See supra, p. 33.] [[Kemble]]

BOTKINE’S TRANSLATION

Beowulf, Épopée Anglo-Saxonne. Traduite en français, pour la première fois, d’après le texte original par L. Botkine, Membre de la Société Nationale havraise d’Études diverses. Havre: Lepelletier, 1877. 8vo, pp. 108.

First French Translation. Prose.

_Old English Studies in France._

The only attention that _Beowulf_ had received in France prior to this time was in the work of Sandras, _De Carminibus Cædmoni adiudicatis_[1]. Other scholars, if they devoted themselves to English at all, studied chiefly the later periods of the literature[2]. In 1867 the author of the article on _Beowulf_ in Larousse’s Dictionary could say, ‘Le poème n’est pas connu en France.’ In 1876 Botkine published a historical and critical analysis of the poem[3]. This was the first scholarly attention that the poem received in France. In the following year Botkine’s translation appeared.

France has added nothing to our knowledge of _Beowulf_; there has never been another translation, nor even a reprint of Botkine’s. There has been no further scholarly work done on the poem; and the principal literary notices of it, such as Taine’s and Jusserand’s, have been notoriously unsympathetic. The genius of Old English poetry is at the furthest possible remove from that of the French.

_Aim of the Translation._

It will be made evident in the section that follows on the nature of Botkine’s translation that his work could never have been intended for scholars. Had it been so intended, the translator would have rendered more literally. His introduction[4] proves that the book was addressed to the general reader rather than the student of Old English.

The Introduction deals with the nature of Old English poetry, and makes historical and critical remarks on the _Beowulf_. There are occasional notes explanatory of the text.

In his critical work the author is chiefly indebted to Grein[5] and Heyne[6].

_Nature of the Translation._

The translation, which is in prose, is characterized, as the author himself admits, by extreme freedom and occasional omission of words and phrases. The author’s defence of these may be given here:--

‘Je crois devoir me disculper, en présentant cette première traduction française de Beowulf, du double reproche qui pourrait m’être adressé d’avoir supprimé des passages du poëme et de n’en avoir pas suffisamment respecté la lettre. D’abord je dois dire que les passages que j’ai supprimés (il y en a fort peu) sont ou très obscurs ou d’une superfluité choquante. Ensuite, il m’a semblé qu’en donnant une certaine liberté à ma traduction et en évitant autant que possible d’y mettre les redites et les périphrases de l’original anglo-saxon, je la rendrais meilleure et plus conforme à l’esprit véritable de l’œuvre. Est-ce sacrifier du reste la fidélité d’une traduction que d’épargner au public la lecture de détails le plus souvent bizarres et inintelligibles? N’est-il pas plus logique d’en finir de suite avec des artifices poétiques inconnus à nos littératures modernes, plutôt que de vouloir s’escrimer en vain à les reproduire en français? Et alors même qu’on poursuivrait jusqu’au bout une tâche si ingrate, pourrait-on se flatter en fin de compte d’avoir conservé au poëme son cachet si indiscutable d’originalité? Non certes.’ --Avertissement, p. 3.

‘Il ne faut pas oublier que, la langue française différant complètement par ses racines de l’anglo-saxon, il ne m’a pas été permis d’éluder les difficultés de l’original comme on a pu le faire parfois en anglais et en allemand.’ --Note, p. 4.

It has been customary, in speaking of the work of M. Botkine, to call attention to the numerous omissions. This is misleading. The passages which the translator has omitted are not the obscure episodes or the long digressions, but the metaphors, the parenthetical phrases, and especially kennings and similar appositives.

For example, the original has:--

Þǣr æt hȳðe stōd hringed-stefna īsig ond ūt-fūs. (l. 32 f.)

which Botkine renders:--

Dans la porte se trouvait une barque bien équipée. (p. 29.)

The principal passages which Botkine omits entirely are: 1002b-1008a; 1057b-1062; 1263-1276; 1679-1686.

_Text Used._

The author seems to have been well acquainted with the scholarly work done on _Beowulf_ up to his time. He mentions in his Notes the interpretations of Grein, Grundtvig[7], Ettmüller[8], Thorpe[9], and Kemble[10]. He appears to follow, in general, the text of Heyne, not, however, invariably.

EXTRACT.