Hrothgar and Hryllingur, Part IV
Continuing the reimagined Beowulf.
Welcome to a retelling of Beowulf through the skill of Somhairle na Dagney, Scáeli of Linrathe. (For a fuller explanation, see Part I.)
Far beyond borders
Hrothgar’s horror, sung by scáeli’en,
Reached liegeman and lord. Late listened
Warriors, weighing their worth.
One chose the challenge.
In fighting fearless;
Long a leader, sure and strong,
On shore and ship. Bade he a boat
Brought; chose fourteen companions
To ride the swan-road.
Cliff-shadow’d at sea-edge
The ship awaited. Warriors
Brought weapons, bright war-gear,
Filling the hold. Like a fulmar
She flew over foam
To crag and cape, sunlit
And sheer. Bjarndýr, brave captain,
Bade the ship beached, called to
His liegemen, “Give Rögnir thanks
For the calm crossing!”
Heorot’s guard, hill-riding
Horseman, held high his spear-shaft;
Descended the cliffside, made challenge
To captain and comrades. “Strangers!
What warriors walk
With no kinsmen’s consent
On Heorot’s strand? Mighty your
Leader! Fair his face, noble his stance,
A hero hailed. How come you here:
As foemen or friends?”
* a name specific to my fictional world. Rögnir is a northern warrior god, perhaps the equivalent of Thor.
More next Thursday!
Find my books via https://www.bookmotion.pro/our-authors/marian-l-thorpe
Really enjoying this, Marian! Thanks so much for sharing it here. I like the variations and really suggests a lot about the world in which this version resides.
I hope you don't mind me chiming in, but how do you make your word choices? I seem to spend a lot of time picking out words with the 'wrong' anachronistic etymology, when the story is based in a specific time and place. Do you choose for poetic reasons, based on the sound of the word, as in alliteration, rather than its origin?