Beowulf's Expedition to Heort
Higelac's thane hears of Grendel's deeds and sails with fifteen chosen warriors to seek the troubled king. They land on the Danish shore, where Hrothgar's shore-warden questions the armed newcomers and demands to know their origins before they proceed inland.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Heroic Poetry, Narrative Poetry · 954 words
First lines
Thus then, much care-worn, / The son of Healfden / Sorrowed evermore, / Nor might the prudent hero / His woes avert. / The war was too hard, / Too loath and longsome, / That on the people came, / Dire wrath and grim, / Of night-woes the worst. / This from home heard / Higelac's Thane, / Good among the Goths, / Grendel's deeds. / He was of mankind / In might the strongest, / At that day / Of this life, / Noble and stalwart. / He bade him a sea-ship, / A goodly one, prepare. / Quoth he, the war-king, / Over the swan's road, / Seek he would / The mighty monarch, / Since he wanted men. / For him that journey / His prudent fellows / Straight made ready, / Those that loved him. / They excited their souls, / The omen they beheld. / Had the good-man / Of the Gothic people / Champions chosen, / Of those that keenest / He might find, / Some fifteen men. / The sea-wood sought he. / The warrior showed, / Sea-crafty man! / The land-marks, / And first went forth. / The ship was on the waves, / Boat under the cliffs. / The barons ready / To the prow mounted. / The streams they whirled / The sea against the sands. / The chieftains bore / On the naked breast / Bright ornaments, / War-gear, Goth-like. / The men shoved off, / Men on their willing way, / The bounden wood. / Then went over the sea-waves, / Hurried by the wind, / The ship with foamy neck, / Most like a sea-fowl, / Till about one hour / Of the second day / The curved prow / Had passed onward / So that the sailors / The land saw, / The shore-cliffs shining, / Mountains steep, / And broad sea-noses. / Then was the sea-sailing / Of the Earl at an end. / Then up speedily / The Weather people / On the land went, / The sea-bark moored, / Their mail-sarks shook, / Their war-weeds. / God thanked they, / That to them the sea-journey / Easy had been. / Then from the wall beheld / The warden of the Scyldings, / He who the sea-cliffs / Had in his keeping, / Bear o'er the balks / The bright shields, / The war-weapons speedily. / Him the doubt disturbed / In his mind's thought, / What these men might be. / Went then to the shore, / On his steed riding, / The Thane of Hrothgar. / Before the host he shook / His warden's-staff in hand, / In measured words demanded: / "What men are ye / War-gear wearing, / Host in harness, / Who thus the brown keel / Over the water-street / Leading come / Hither over the sea? / I these boundaries / As shore-warden hold, / That in the Land of the Danes / Nothing loathsome / With a ship-crew / Scathe us might... / Ne'er saw I mightier / Earl upon earth / Than is your own, / Hero in harness. / Not seldom this warrior / Is in weapons distinguished; / Never his beauty belies him, / His peerless countenance! / Now would I fain / Your origin know, / Ere ye forth / As false spies / Into the Land of the Danes / Farther fare. / Now, ye dwellers afar-off! / Ye sailors of the sea! / Listen to my / One-fold thought. / Quickest is best / To make known / Whence your coming may be. "
Genres
- Heroic Poetry — The verse follows a warrior described as the strongest of mankind as he gathers fifteen armed companions to seek a king troubled by Grendel's deeds.
- Narrative Poetry — The verse recounts ship preparation, a sea crossing, and a landing on the Danish shore, ending with the shore-warden demanding the newcomers' origins.
Tags
sea voyages · warriors · Danish shores · coastal watch · heroic poetry
What this Textopian page supports
Beowulf's Expedition to Heort is listed on Textopian as a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, dated Date unknown.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Heroic Poetry, Narrative Poetry
- Length: 954 words
- Structure: 1 section, 1 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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