Andreas re-lineation is complete

I have finally finished re-lineating and revising Andreas. The line breaks should feel more comfortable and less breath-stretching now, with a concomitant increase in the energy of the translation. Let me know how it works for you.

I have also considered and reconsidered a tough word choice at line 1478-81 (the first lines of section IX):

Hwæt, ic hwile nu haliges lare,
leoð-giddinga, lof þæs þe worhte,
wordum wemde

Listen, I have defamed [proclaimed?] for a while now the teaching of the saint, the praise of what he achieved, in the words of poetic songs

There is an untranslatable pun possible between weman “to announce, persuade, entice” and wemman “to mar, spot, spoil" and "to defile, besmirch” (both are weak verbs and may look the same in the preterite). Both of the translations I rely upon translate it as weman: Kennedy rendering it as “singing” and Bradley as “proclaiming.” The Bosworth Toller Dictionary, however, translates this line as “I have not given a good account of the saint," and suggests a definition for the phrase wordum wemman "to reproach, blame."

The line is repeated from line 740, where it is used to describe the animated statue speaking. There the pun also works, but not so urgently: it could mean either "proclaiming [to them] in words" or "reproaching [them] ('them' being the priests of the Temple at Jerusalem).

My preference is to go with the unusual, but defensible "defamed" in line 1480—it becomes then a humility topos that fits in with the author's need to re-introduce himself in direct address and begins his apologetic statement. What do you think? Can I keep it as "defamed" or should it be "proclaimed?" I'd like to hear from you on this?

Updates and revisions

There have been many changes made to the Andreas translation. I spent the afternoon reading it aloud, making many changes to the lineation in order to create a better rhythm as well as correcting many errors and reconsidering many lexical choices. So far I've blazed through the first three parts and anticipate getting through a few more before the evening is finished. Please see for yourself (by following the sidebar link).

Fianlly some progress with Juliana

It's been a while since I've posted anything. Meanwhile the Guthlac translation is getting tons of hits and Andreas is just as well read as ever.

I have had such trouble getting through Juliana. Two measly sections were giving me fits (the final two posted below) -- and suddenly I lost confidence in my ability to translate effectively, then I got very busy with another season on the job market (better known 'round these parts as the susel-tid). But things are settling down now and I have some time to work on this again

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IV.

Then the holy woman asked wordfully the enemy of heroes,
the workman of crime, the originator of sinful deeds.
“You must speak to me further, enemy of souls,
about how you grievously harm, by falling into sins,
the soothfast encompassed round with guilt.” (345-351a)

To her the fiend answered, a faithless wretch,
and spoke his words: “I will make it known to you,
blessed virgin, of every evil from the start forth unto the end
that I, wounded by sins, have performed—
and not just a few times—so that by this you may plainly know
yourself that this is the truth, and not at all lies.
I believed and reckoned it certain, an audacious thought,
that I could, without difficulty and by my own craft,
turn you away from your salvation, so that you renounced
the Heaven-King, the Lord of Victories, and bowed down
to an inferior, sacrificed to the Origin of Sins.
(352b-62a)

Thus I turn the minds of soothfast men through varying forms.
Where I find him making steadfast his spirit to the desire of God,
I am soon ready that I him multifold the lusts of the mind
towards bear horrible thoughts, dark errors, through
delusions uncountable. (362b-68)

I sweeten in him the desires for sin, the wicked loves of his heart,
so that he, quickly for evil deeds attached to his crimes, hears my teachings.
I enflame him very strongly in these sins so that he, burning,
ceases his prayers, stepping willfully—he can not abide
in the place of prayer firm as a foundation
for long on account of the love of his crimes.
And so I conduct a hateful dread to the man whom I begrudge
life and the clarity of belief, and he wishes to hear my teachings
through the desires of his mind and perform sins, he shall afterwards
turn away, deprived of all good virtues. (369-81)

More from Juliana, part III

Yet more from Juliana. I am rapidly approaching the halfway mark, and feel that I am hitting my stride with the voice and language.

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She swiftly asked then, she who was unafraid, pleasing to Christ,
whence his origins were. To her the wrack-kin replied:
I am an angel of God sailing from above,
a noble thane, and to you sent holy from the heights.
For you severe tortures with slaughter-grim wounds are decreed
as deadly punishment. God orders you be commanded,
child of the Wielder, to protect yourself from them." (258-66)

Juliana was then, on account of its fearful message to her,
terrified by that monster, the terror that spoke in words,
the adversary of glory. Then she firmly fastened her spirit,
the young and innocent woman, and called out to God:
“Now I wish to ask you, O Shelter of Warriors, Eternal Almighty,
by the noble creation that you, Father of Angels, established at the start,
do no permit me to turn aside from the praise of your blessed gift,
as this herald who stands before me bids me with his fear-spell.
So I wish to ask you, gentle Lord, the Glory of Kings, to reveal
what this thane might be, bouncing in the breeze,
and who instructs me upon a rough road away from you.” (267-86)

Then the heart of Juliana was gladdened, judgment-blessed.
She grabbed that devil… (287-8)

[at least one folio is missing from the Exeter Book at this point]

…. to sell the King of All Kings unto his death.
Moreover, I contrived it so that champion wounded the Wielder
while the multitude watched, so that both blood and water
sought the earth together there. Moreover, I incited
Herod in his heart so that he ordered the head of John the Baptist
be cut off when the holy man rebuked him wordfully
for his wife-love and his unlawful marriage.*
Also I instructed, guile-minded, Simon Magus to raise strife
against Christ’s chosen thanes and stretch out slander
to the holy men through deep error saying that they were sorcerers. (289-301)

“I endeavored with evil tricks when I seduced Nero
to order Christ’s thanes Peter and Paul be killed and,
before, Pontius Pilate with my teachings to hang
the Wielder of Heaven upon the cross, the Mighty Maker.
Likewise I instructed Ægias to unwisely order
Andrew to be hung upon a high tree, so that he sent
his spirit up from the gallows into the Face of Glory.
Thus have I performed so many wrathful bales with my brothers,
dark with sins, that I cannot relate them all or tell them fully
nor count the number of torments, the grim hate-thoughts. (302-16a)

The holy woman answered him by the Spirit's gift, Juliana:
“You must speak further yet, Enemy of Mankind,
of your mission here, and of who send you to me.” (315b-8)

New Section breaks

More lines from Juliana appear below, this time with the Exeter Book's own section breaks preserved. According to Muir's the Exeter Anthology of Old English Poetry, new sections (chapters, fitts, call them what you like) in the poem are demarcated by skipping a line and then starting the new line with a large capital letter followed by a smaller initial. Translations of the poem vary in their breaks, from Marie Nelson's unbroken stichic presentation to Bradley's divisions by sense. It seems better to, like with the Guthlac translation, to respect the manuscript's division when possible.

Enjoy! And let me what you think about the translation, my lurking friends. :)

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III.

Then it seemed base to the folk-leader to be unable
to turn the heart of that woman, or her intentions.
He ordered her to be seized by the hair
ad heaved up onto a high branch, where
she, sun-bright, should suffer blows, strife unstintingly fierce
for six hours of the day, and he ordered her forthwith
to be taken down again and he commanded her be led to prison.
Within her was the praise of Christ fast wound within her heart-lock;*
in her mild heart, a strength unbroken. (225-35)

The prison door was bolted closed then by the work of hammers.
The holy woman abode within pledge-fast. Always she praised
the Glory-King in her heart, Heaven-realm’s God, the Savior of Men,
within her constraining cell, covered with darkness.
The Holy Spirit was her enduring companion. (235-42a)

Then came suddenly into the closed hall the enemy of heroes
skilled in evil. He wore the shape of an angel—
a soul’s foe skilled in afflicting songs, a captive of Hell,
who spoke to the sainted one: “What do you suffer,
dearest and most worthy to the Glory-King, our Lord?
This deemer has prepared the worst tortures for you,
endless pain, if you do not wish, wise-minded, to make sacrifice
and propitiate his gods. Be hasty, as he orders you led out hence,
so that you quickly offer up some gift, a victory offering,
before you seize your death, a murder before his multitude.
Then you shall escape the judge’s ire, blessed virgin.” (242b-257)

She swiftly asked then, she who was unafraid, pleasing to Christ,
whence his origins were. To her the wrack-kin replied:
I am an angel of God sailing from above,
a noble thane, and to you sent holy from the heights.
For you severe tortures with slaughter-grim wounds are decreed
as deadly punishment. God orders you be commanded,
child of the Wielder, to protect yourself from them." (258-66)

More Juliana

Work on Juliana continues. The lines below conclude the second part of the poem:

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Unafraid she then gave him answer through spiritual thought,
Juliana: “Never will you persuade me to promise tribute
by hypocrisy unto deaf and dumb devil-idols, the enemies of souls,
the worst thanes of torture but I will worship the Lord of Glory,
of Middle-earth and of Power Majestic—
and to him alone do I entrust all things, that he may become
my protector, my helper and savior against the hell-harmers.” (147-57)

Then Affricanus wrathfully delivered her, the father of that woman,
into the power of her enemy, Eleusius.
He ordered her at daybreak to be led unto his judgment-seat.
The crowd was astonished at the woman’s beauty, the people all together.
Then noble Eleusius greeted her at first, her bridegroom,
with soothing words: “My sweetest shone of sun, Juliana!
What gleam you have! What perpetual plenitude of grace!
What fruit of youth’s kind! If you will serve our gods yet
and betake yourself to their protection so mild,
the succor of sainted ones, then shall be turned aside from you
innumerable tortures cruelly contrived, savage sorrows that are
prepared for you if you do not wish to sacrifice unto our true gods.” (158-74)

Him the noble maid gave answer: “Never will you constrain me
with your threats, nor will you prepare torments of such great wrath,
that I would love your lord-ship, except if you renounce these false beings,
your idol-worship and recognize wisely the God of Glory,
Creator of Souls, the Maker of Mankind—
in whose power are all created things forever.” (175-83)

Then before the people with an angry mind Eleusius spoke
with boast-words, growing quite infuriated, the folk-owning man,
and he ordered the woman through spite-wrack to be stretched out
naked and sinless and beaten with scourges. (184-8)

The battle-warrior then laughed, speaking sarcastically:
“Thus is the life-domain of our enemy seized at its start!
Yet I will grant you your life, though you first
spoke many unwary words and refused too strongly
to adore the true gods. Your reward for your counter-thinking
must be frightful tortures afterwards, unless you are reconciled
with them, and sacrifice thankworthy gifts unto them—
after your vice-words setting your peace with them. (189-201a)

“Let rest this strife Juliana, this hateful civic infighting.
If you, long after this, through your rashness again
follow perversity, then I must be compelled to revenge,
constrained by hatred, your god-breaking—your grievous strife-speech—
that you with blasphemy began to contend against the best gods
and the most merciful of those that men know,
that this people-hood has long worshipped for themselves.” (201b-8)

Noble Juliana, heart unafraid, spoke to him:
"I do not fear your judgments, accursed harm-doer,
nor your baleful torments. I have as my hope
Heaven-realm's Ward, the Mild Protector, the Wielder of Power,
he who shields me against your shine-play,*
fro the grip of the fierce ones whom you consider your gods.
They are lacking of every good, idle, worthless,
without profit, nor may any man meet with comfort there,
true concord. Though he may seek friendship for himself,
he will not find there help among those devils.
I have affixed my heart in the Lord,
he who over every power rules wide-lived,
Owner of Glory, of every victory—
That is a True King."


* 214) scinlace: Literally "shine-play," but translated by Kennedy and Bradley as 'delusion(s),' and defined by Woolf as 'delusion, rage.' Clark-Hall defines the word as 'sorcery, magic, superstition' and adds the above definitions. The word must be derived from the same idea as "glamour," a magical spell, and is ancestor to "moonshine" as a wild idea or what gives those wild ideas. I decided to leave the strange kenning as is for the moment until I can think of something that alliterates and seems more communicative.

Start of Juliana II

I've had a little spare time to work on the translations. Besides working on Juliana, I've been reassessing the lineation of the Guthlac poems. Despite several suggestions to try for a prose poem form, I am convinced that the translation belongs in some form of free verse. I am redoing Guthlac now, so please come by to see how you like the new line breaks.

Below are four stanzas of Juliana from the second part of the poem:


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To her father then blessed Juliana gave answer,
she that had to God firmly founded her wifely friendship:
“Never will I endure this prince’s husband-love
unless he should cultivate the God of Hosts more eagerly
than he has previously done, loving with gifts
he that created the light, heaven and earth and the course of the seas,
the orbit of the universe. He cannot otherwise bring me to his bed.
Eleusius must look with his goods for another woman for bride-love—
he will have nothing here.” (105-16)

Then Juliana’s fiendly father replied to her in rage—
and he was not promising her ornaments:
“I shall make it such, as my life endures, that if you do not abandon
this crime first, if you henceforth attend to an alien god
and abandon those that are dearer to us, who stand as succour to our people,
that you shall succumb to death, quickly forfeiting your life
through the clutch of beasts, if you do not wish to submit to
the legal union, the partnership with brave Eleusius.
Great is that enterprise and terrible too for one like you,
one that despises our lord.” (117-29)

Blessed Juliana then gave him back answer, wise and dear to God:
“I wish to speak a truth to you, so long as I am of the living,
I wish not to tell a lie. Never will I fear your judgments,
nor are your torturing perils bitter to me, your battle-crash
by which you with violent evil-doing threaten me,
nor will you ever cause by your idolatry
me to turn from the praise of Christ.” (130-9)

Then Africanus* was infuriated, angry and ferocious,
maddened and mind-grim, the father against the daughter.*
Then he ordered her beaten, threatening her with torment,
troubling her with tortures and spoke this speech:
“Exchange your thoughts and convert these word that you spoke
in folly before when you disparaged the worship of our gods.” (140-7)