of the fear of the judgment to come and the terror of the torments of hell, and the sweetness of the heavenly kingdom. Cædmon's Paraphrase.--In 1655 Franciscus Junius published from a manuscript of about the date 1000 a volume of Saxon poetry, which he believed to be the work of Cædmon from its agreement with Bæda's description. It is not, however, now considered to be the work of one author, and it has been divided thus: (1) The exordium and the creation of man. (2) The fall of the angels and man. (3) Later history to the death of Abraham. (4) Moses and the exodus to the destruction of Pharaoh. (5) History of Daniel (first five chapters). (6) Descent of Christ into hell. The story of the fall of the angels displays much imagination and power of execution, and it possesses striking points of resemblance to an old Saxon poem of the Continent called the Heliand.' The poem also contains expressions curiously resembling lines in the Paradise Lost,' and it has been thought that Milton, from his acquaintance with Junius, may have learnt something of the scope and language of the poem. 'BEOWULF.' THIS magnificent relic of Saxon literature is preserved in a single manuscript, which narrowly escaped destruction by fire in 1731. The edges of the leaves are cracked and crumbling, but the whole work has now been facsimiled by photography. Many eminent scholars have edited or elucidated the poem, or have constructed ingenious theories as to its age and authorship, and as to the locality where the scene is placed. The poem consists of over 6,000 short lines, and is in two parts. In the first the youthful hero Beowulf slays two hateful man-devouring monsters whose home is in the bottom of a lonely lake; in the second part the same hero, now an aged king, slays the dragon of the sea, but is himself wounded to death in the combat. There is little doubt that the story in its earliest form belongs to very remote pagan times, and it possibly symbolises the endless conflict between man and the cruel devouring sea. But as we now have it the poem is distinctly the work of a Christian poet of perhaps the eighth or ninth or even tenth century, and he appears to symbolise Christ gaining salvation for man by His own death, and by His descending into hell to slay the powers of evil there. Early in the poem we are told that a king (Hroðgar) has built a beautiful palace (Heorot), where daily they feasted and rejoiced. Dær was hearpan sweg, There was the sound of the harp, the sweet song of the poet. But this joy was hateful to a hellish fiend named Grendel. In the night he came stealing to Heorot, surprised the sleepers and devoured thirty of them, and this nightly ravage was repeated till no man dared to sleep in Heorot. Then young Beowulf with fourteen companions came from over the sea to fight with the monster. They were welcomed and feasted, and at night they were left to sleep in the hall. pa com of more, Godes yrre bær. Then came over the moor, Under the hills of mist, Grendel striding, God's wrath he bore. He burst in the palace door and with flashing eyes strode over the bright pavement, seized one of the sleepers and suddenly slew him. Bat ban-locan, Sona hæfde Eal gefeormod, Fet and folma. He bit through the body, Drank the blood in streams, The lifeless body All consumed, Feet and hands. But the monster found himself speedily seized by a mighty arm and dashed to the ground. Fear seized him, for never had he felt such a grip, and gladly would he have fled. Long the wrestle lasted, tables and benches were wrecked, the night rang with the howls of the fiend. At last Beowulf tore off one of Grendel's arms and he fled home to die. Great was the rejoicing and feasting the next day; bards sang songs of ancient battles, and gifts of the choicest kind were given to Beowulf. The The queen Wealhdeo speaks thus to him:- 'Bruc pisses beages, Beowulf, leofa Hyse, mid hæle, And pisses hragles neot. Take this ring, 'All men shall speak in praise of thee, L After the feast is over, they slept as of old in the hall, but Grendel's mother, a foul and terrible creature, came to revenge her son, and she slaughtered one of the king's dearest friends. Beowulf determines to seek and to slay the hag, even at the bottom of the pool where she lives. The king equips him with arms, and with many warriors bears him company to the desolate lake. Alone the hero dives into the water, and in a gloomy cave at the bottom he finds the hag. He fights with her, and for a long time the issue is doubtful, but at last he seizes a magic sword which hangs in the cave, and with it smites off her head. The sword drips with blood, but gives out a light which illumines the cavern. Lixte se leoma, Rodores candel. Gleamed the brightness, The firmament's candle. Then Beowulf returns swimming to the surface, and he and his companions march back in triumph to the palace. Once more there is feasting and giving of presents, and then Beowulf returns to his native land. In the second part of the poem Beowulf appears as an aged king, who has ruled the Goths well for fifty years, and who now gives his own life to save his people from a terrible dragon. His people mourned for him, and reared on the seacliff a mound high and broad, and to be seen from far and wide by sailors. Swa begnorodon Geata leode Hlafordes hryre, Cwædon þat he wære And lof-geornost. So mourned The Gothic people Their lord's fall, His hearth companions Of all the kings of the world, And the greatest And most friendly to his people, And the most desirous of their love. KING ALFRED. DURING the ninth century Northumbria was cruelly wasted by the Danes. As early as 793 they plundered Lindisfarne, the resting-place of Cuthbert, and the next year they burnt the monasteries of Wearmouth and Jarrow, where Bæda had spent his quiet happy life, and where the art treasures of Benedict Biscop were preserved. Melrose became a solitude again, and Hild's Streonoshalh, where Caedmon had sung, was destroyed, and even its name perished. The same fate fell upon East Anglia, for the rich abbeys of the Fens, Peterborough, Croyland, and Ely, were sacked, and the pious King Edmund was slaughtered. Mercia made submission, and Wessex only was left to bear the brunt of the storm. After years of brave fighting, Wessex was saved and a great part of Mercia, and King Alfred laboured earnestly as long as life lasted to heal the wounds of his country and to raise it from its state of barbarism and ignorance. He founded monasteries at Winchester and Shaftes |