Heroes of Chivalry and Romance
Tinker's Review
Mr. Church’s Paraphrase
Heroes of Chivalry and Romance. By the Rev. A. J. Church, M.A. London: Seeley and Company, 1898. 8o, Beowulf, pp. 3–60. With two illustrations in colours by George Morrow.
Contents of the Volume.
‘The Story of Beowulf,’ ‘King Arthur and the Round Table,’ ‘The Treasure of the Nibelungs.’
Indebtedness to Kemble and Earle.
‘In writing the story of Beowulf I have been helped by Kemble’s translation and notes1, and still more by Professor Earle’s2 admirable edition.’ —Author’s Note.
Nature of the Paraphrase.
All obscure words (especially kennings) and lines are dropped. Many explanatory remarks are inserted to elucidate the story. All speeches are greatly shortened. Beowulf’s tale of the fight is omitted entirely. The episodes are omitted, with the exception of the Sigemund episode, one-half of which is translated into heroic couplets, and the Finn episode, which is referred to in a single stanza which paraphrases the story.
Concerning the Author.
The Rev. Alfred John Church (born 1829) is known chiefly for his popularizations of the classics. His best-known works are Stories from Homer and Stories from Virgil. The present volume is an attempt to do for some of the Germanic legends what had already been done for Homer and Virgil.
But while they feasted envy stirred in the heart of Unferth, son of Ecglaf. He was the King’s orator, and he took it ill that Beowulf should have come to the land of the Danes on this great enterprise, for he was one who could not endure that any man under heaven should do greater deeds than himself. Therefore he stood up in the hall and spake: ‘Art thou that Beowulf who contended with Breca in swimming on the open sea? ‘Twas, indeed, a foolhardy thing so to put your lives in jeopardy, yet no man could turn you from your adventure. Seven days and nights ye toiled, one against the other, but he in the end prevailed, for he had the greater strength. And on the eighth morning the waves cast him ashore on the land of the Heathoram, whence he journeyed back to the city of the Bronding, of which he was lord. So did Breca, son of Beanstan, make good his boast against thee.’
The extract is so much fuller than the other parts of the paraphrase that it hardly gives a fair notion of the nature of the work. The author has appreciated the dramatic quality of the swimming episode and preserved it nearly entire. Other parts of the story are much less fortunate.
A little knowledge of Old English would have done the author no harm, and would have saved him from some errors. His most evident mistakes are in the forms of the proper names. Such forms as these occur in his book: Veleda, Hugon, Weopstan (sic), Hrethin, Hrethet.
The diction is unfortunate. The coast-warden becomes a ‘squire’ (p. 7); Heorot is a ‘banqueting hall’ (p. 4, showing the influence of Kemble’s translation); Beowulf and Breca were ‘pages at the King’s court’ (p. 13, showing the influence of Earle’s translation).
Petty inaccuracies occur throughout, such as, ‘I counsel that thou refuse not’ (p. 9); ‘A faithful squire must needs know the troubles of his lord’ (p. 7). In point of accuracy this version is quite inferior to the work of Miss Thomson3; and in point of style and atmosphere to that of Mr. Jones4, Miss Ragozin5, or Miss Thomson. The book, however, is readable, and the author’s name will doubtless serve to give it a certain success.