The Battle of Maldon
In August 991 Byrhtnoth, ealdorman of Essex, encountered an army of vikings camped on Northey Island in the estuary of the River Blackwater near the town of Maldon, Essex. This island was (as it still is) connected to the mainland by a causeway which was covered at high tide. As the causeway was flooded when the armies met, battle could not be joined; when the tide went out, uncovering the causeway, the English were able to keep the vikings bottled up on the island. Then, in a notable tactical blunder, Byrhtnoth decided to allow the viking army to cross to the mainland, presumably so as to break the stalemate. In the battle that followed, Byrhthnoth was slain, much of his army routed, and many (perhaps most) of those who remained slaughtered.
The Battle of Maldon, which commemorates this disaster, is one of a number of poems that find inspiration in defeat: others include The Song of Roland, a fictionalized account of the annihilation of a Frankish army by Saracens; a number of Serbian epics, which dwell upon the fourteenth-century defeat of the Serbs at the Battle of Kosovo and their subsequent domination by the Ottomans; and of course Tennyson's Charge of the Light Brigade, written on the occasion of one of the most famous military disasters in English history. The poetry of defeat, in giving voice to a nation's grief, can stir nationalist sentiment and rouse soldiers to deeds of valour (Tennyson's poem, famously, was distributed in pamphlet form to soldiers in the Crimea). It can also express nostalgia for the values of a supposedly greater national past. The Battle of Maldon does all these things. The anonymous poet is largely uninterested either in demonizing the vikings or in describing the carnage of the scene, and his treatment of the cowards who run away is cursory. Rather, he focuses intensely on the thoughts and words of the men who stay, often juxtaposing their own resolute statements with foreshadowings or spare notices of their deaths. These doomed warriors are predominantly young (a word that commonly describes them is hyse 'young man'): and yet they cast their lot with the aged Byrhtwold, whose sole remaining wish is to lie by the side of his lord. Even as defeat grows more certain, they hold their ground or, more often, advance. Indeed, forð 'forth, forward' is the poem's most prominent adverb, being used ten times of the English troops. But forð is also associated with death in Old English: in The Wanderer (81), death is forðweġ 'the way forward', while in The Dream of the Rood (132-3) the narrator laments that his friends have forð ġewiton 'gone forward' into death; and the most common euphemism meaning 'to die' is forðfēran 'go forth', attested hundreds of times in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and elsewhere. The young warriors who go forð to the next life subscribe to the code of absolute loyalty to one's lord described as early as the second century by the Roman historian Tacitus and celebrated in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry for 755 (see 'Cynewulf and Cyneheard', no. 3 above). As English fortunes declined during the decades following 991, partly because of English treachery, this code of loyalty must have seemed more and more to be a thing of the past.
The poem was already fragmentary, its opening and closing lines lost, when the unique manuscript was destroyed in the Cotton Library fire of 1731. Fortunately a transript had been made by Deputy-Librarian David Casley; all subsequent editions are based on this transcript. The standard recent edition is Scragg (197x); the editions in Pope and Fulk (19xx) and Mitchell and Robinson (19xx) are also valuable. For a collection of useful studies of the battle and its context, see Scragg (1991).
Hēt þā hyssa hwæne hors forlǣtan,
feor āfȳsan and forð gangan,
hicgan tō handum and tō hiġe gōdum.
5 Þā þæt Offan mǣġ ǣrest onfunde
þæt se eorl nolde yrhðo ġeþolian,
hē lēt him þā of handon lēofne flēogan
hafoc wið þæs holtes and tō þǣre hilde stōp.
Be þām man mihte oncnāwan þæt se cniht nolde
10 wācian æt þām wīġe þā hē tō wǣpnum fēng.
Ēac him wolde Ēadriċ his ealdre gelǣstan
frēan tō ġefeohte; ongan þā forð beran
gār tō gūþe. Hē hæfde gōd ġeþanc
þā hwīle þe hē mid handum healdan mihte
15 bord and brād swurd; bēot hē ġelǣste
þā hē ætforan his frēan feohtan sceolde.
Ðā þǣr Byrhtnōð ongan beornas trymian,
rād and rǣdde, rincum tǣhte
hū hī sceoldon standan and þone stede healdan
20 and bæd þæt hyra randas rihte hēoldon
fæste mid folman and ne forhtedon nā.
Þā hē hæfde þæt folc fæġere ġetrymmed,
hē līhte þā mid lēodon þǣr him lēofost wæs,
þǣr hē his heorðwerod holdost wiste.
25 Þā stōd on stæðe, stīðlīċe clypode
wīċinga ār, wordum mǣlde;
se on bēot ābead brimlīþendra
ǣrænde tō þām eorle þǣr hē on ōfre stōd:
"Mē sendon tō þē sǣmen snelle,
30 hēton ðē secgan þæt þū mōst sendan raðe
bēagas wið ġebeorge; and ēow betere is
þæt ġē þisne gārrǣs mid gafole forġyldon
þonne wē swā hearde hilde dǣlon.
Ne þurfe wē ūs spillan ġif ġē spēdaþ tō þām;
35 wē willað wið þām golde grið fæstnian.
Ġyf þū þat ġerǣdest þe hēr riċost eart
þæt þū þīne lēoda lȳsan wille,
syllan sǣmannum on hyra sylfra dōm
feoh wið frēode and niman frið æt ūs,
40 wē willaþ mid þām sceattum ūs tō scype gangan,
on flot fēran and ēow friþes healdan."
Byrhtnōð maþelode, bord hafenode,
wand wācne æsc, wordum mǣlde,
yrre and ānræd āġeaf him andsware:
45 "Gehȳrst þū, sǣlida, hwæt þis folc seġeð?
Hī willað ēow tō gafole gāras syllan
ǣttrynne ord and ealde swurd,
þā hereġeatu þe ēow æt hilde ne dēah.
Brimmanna boda, ābēod eft onġēan:
50 seġe þīnum lēodum miċċle lāþre spell,
þæt hēr stynt unforcūð eorl mid his werode
þe wile ġealgean ēþel þysne,
Æþelrēdes eard ealdres mīnes
folc and foldan. Feallan sceolon
55 hǣþene æt hilde! Tō hēanliċ mē þinċeð
þæt ġē mid ūrum sceattum tō scype gangon
unbefohtene, nū ġē þus feor hider
on ūrne eard in becōmon.
Ne sceole ġē swā sōfte sinc ġegangan;
60 ūs sceal ord and ecg ǣr ġesēman
grim gūðplega ǣr wē gofol syllon."
Hēt þā bord beran, beornas gangan
þæt hī on þām ēasteðe ealle stōdon.
Ne mihte þǣr for wætere werod tō þām ōðrum;
65 þǣr cōm flōwende flōd æfter ebban,
lucon lagustrēamas. Tō lang hit him þūhte
hwænne hī tōgædere gāras bēron.
Hī þǣr Pantan strēam mid prasse bestōdon
Ēastseaxena ord and se æschere.
70 Ne mihte hyra ǣniġ ōþrum derian
būton hwā þurh flānes flyht fyl ġenāme.
Se flōd ūt ġewāt. Þā flotan stōdon ġearowe
wīċinga fela, wīġes ġeorne.
Hēt þā hæleða hlēo healdan þā bricge
75 wigan wīġheardne, se wæs hāten Wulfstān,
cāfne mid his cynne; þæt wæs Ċēolan sunu
þe ðone forman man mid his francan ofscēat
þe þǣr baldlīcost on þā bricge stōp.
Þǣr stōdon mid Wulfstāne wigan unforhte,
80 Ælfere and Maccus, mōdiġe twēġen,
þā noldon æt þām forda flēam ġewyrċan,
ac hī fæstliċe wið ðā fȳnd weredon
þā hwīle þe hī wǣpna wealdan mōston.
Þā hī þæt onġēaton and ġeorne ġesāwon
85 þæt hī þǣr bricgweardas bitere fundon,
ongunnon lytegian þā lāðe ġystas:
bǣdon þæt hī ūpgang āgan mōston,
ofer þone ford faran, fēþan lǣdan.
Ðā se eorl ongan for his ofermōde
90 ālȳfan landes tō fela lāþere ðēode.
Ongan ċeallian þā ofer cald wæter
Byrhtelmes bearn (beornas ġehlyston):
"Nū ēow is ġerȳmed; gāð riċene tō ūs,
guman tō gūþe. God āna wāt
95 hwā þǣre wælstōwe wealdan mōte."
Wōdon þā wælwulfas (for wætere ne murnon),
wīċinga werod west ofer Pantan,
ofer scīr wæter scyldas wēgon,
lidmen tō lande linde bǣron.
100 Þǣr onġēan gramum ġearowe stōdon
Byrhtnōð mid beornum; hē mid bordum hēt
wyrċan þone wīhagan and þæt werod healdan
fæste wið fēondum. Þā wæs feohte nēh
tīr æt ġetohte. Wæs sēo tīd cumen
105 þæt þǣr fǣġe men feallan sceoldon.
Þǣr wearð hrēam āhafen. Hremmas wundon,
earn ǣses ġeorn. Wæs on eorþan ċyrm.
Hī lēton þā of folman fēolhearde speru,
ġegrundene gāras flēogan.
110 Bogan wǣron bysiġe; bord ord onfēng.
Biter wæs se beadurǣs. Beornas fēollon
on ġehwæðere hand, hyssas lāgon.
Wund wearð Wulfmǣr, wælræste ġeċēas
Byrhtnōðes mǣġ; hē mid billum wearð
115 his swuster sunu swīðe forhēawen.
Þǣr wearð wīċingum wiþerlēan āġyfen.
Ġehȳrde iċ þæt Ēadweard ānne slōge
swīðe mid his swurde, swenġes ne wyrnde
þæt him æt fōtum fēoll fǣġe cempa.
120 Þæs him his ðēoden þanc ġesǣde
þām būrþēne þā hē byre hæfde.
Swā stemnetton stīðhicgende
hysas æt hilde; hogodon ġeorne
hwā þǣr mid orde ǣrost mihte
125 on fǣġean men feorh ġewinnan,
wigan mid wǣpnum. Wæl fēol on eorðan.
Stōdon stædefæste; stihte hī Byrhtnōð,
bæd þæt hyssa ġehwylċ hogode tō wīġe
þe on Denon wolde dōm ġefeohtan.
130 Wōd þā wīġes heard, wǣpen ūp ahōf,
bord tō ġebeorge, and wið þæs beornes stōp.
Ēode swā ānrǣd eorl tō þām ċeorle;
ǣġþer hyra ōðrum yfeles hogode.
Sende ðā se sǣrinc sūþerne gār
135 þæt ġewundod wearð wigena hlāford.
Hē scēaf þā mid ðām scylde þæt se sceaft tōbærst
and þæt spere sprenġde þæt hit sprang onġēan.
Ġegremod wearð se gūðrinc; hē mid gāre stang
wlancne wīċing þe him þā wunde forġeaf.
140 Frōd wæs se fyrdrinc: hē lēt his francan wadan
þurh ðæs hysses hals, hand wīsode
þæt hē on þām fǣrsceaðan feorh ġerǣhte.
Ðā hē ōþerne ofstliċe scēat
þæt sēo byrne tōbærst; hē wæs on brēostum wund
145 þurh ðā hringlocan; him æt heortan stōd
ǣtterne ord. Se eorl wæs þē blīþra;
hlōh þā mōdi man, sǣde Metode þanc
ðæs dæġweorces þe him Drihten forġeaf.
Forlēt þā drenga sum daroð of handa
150 flēogan of folman þæt se tō forð ġewāt
þurh ðone æþelan Æþelrēdes þeġen.
Him be healfe stōd hyse unweaxen,
cniht on ġecampe, se full cāflīċe
brǣd of þām beorne blōdiġne gār,
155 Wulfstānes bearn, Wulfmǣr se ġeonga
forlēt forheardne faran eft onġēan;
ord in ġewōd þæt se on eorþan læġ
þe his þēoden ǣr þearle ġerǣhte.
Ēode þā ġesyrwed secg tō þām eorle;
160 hē wolde þæs beornes bēagas ġefetiġan
rēaf and hringas and ġerēnod swurd.
Þā Byrhtnōð brǣd bill of scēðe
brād and brūneccg and on þā byrnan slōh.
Tō raþe hine ġelette lidmanna sum
165 þā hē þæs eorles earm āmyrde.
Fēoll þā tō foldan fealohilte swurd;
ne mihte hē ġehealdan heardne meċe,
wǣpnes wealdan. Þā ġȳt þæt word ġecwæð
hār hilderinc, hyssas bylde,
170 bæd gangan forð gōde ġefēran;
ne mihte þā on fōtum lenġ fæste ġestandan.
Hē tō heofenum wlāt:
"Ġeþancie þē, ðēoda Waldend,
ealra þǣra wynna þe iċ on worulde ġebād.
175 Nū iċ āh, milde Metod, mǣste þearfe
þæt þū mīnum gāste gōdes ġeunne
þæt mīn sāwul tō ðē sīðian mōte
on þīn ġeweald, þēoden enġla,
mid friþe fēran. Iċ eom frymdi tō þē
180 þæt hī helsceaðan hȳnan ne mōton."
Ðā hine hēowon hǣðene scealcas
and bēġen þā beornas þe him biġ stōdon:
Ælfnoð and Wulmǣr bēġen lāgon
ðā onemn hyra frēan feorh ġesealdon.
185 Hī bugon þā fram beaduwe þe þǣr bēon noldon.
Þǣr wearð Oddan bearn ǣrest on flēame
Godriċ fram gūþe and þone gōdan forlēt
þe him mæniġne oft mearh ġesealde.
Hē ġehlēop þone eoh þe āhte his hlāford
190 on þām ġerǣdum þe hit riht ne wæs,
and his brōðru mid him bēġen ærndon,
Godwine and Godwīġ gūþe ne ġȳmdon,
ac wendon fram þām wīġe and þone wudu sōhton,
flugon on þæt fæsten and hyra fēore burgon,
195 and manna mā þonne hit ǣniġ mǣð wǣre
ġyf hī þā ġeearnunga ealle ġemundon
þe hē him tō duguþe ġedōn hæfde.
Swā him Offa on dæġ ǣr āsǣde
on þām meþelstede þā hē ġemōt hæfde
200 þæt þǣr mōdiġlīċe manega sprǣcon
þe eft æt þearfe þolian noldon.
Þā wearð āfeallen þæs folces ealdor,
Æþelrēdes eorl; ealle ġesāwon
heorðġenēatas þæt hyra heorra læġ.
205 Þā ðǣr wendon forð wlance þeġenas,
unearge men efston ġeorne;
hī woldon þā ealle ōðer twēġa,
līf forlǣtan oððe lēofne ġewrecan.
Swā hī bylde forð bearn Ælfriċes,
210 wiga wintrum ġeong wordum mǣlde;
Ælfwine þā cwæð, hē on ellen spræc:
"Gemunon þā mǣla þe wē oft æt meodo sprǣcon,
þonne wē on benċe bēot āhōfon
hæleð on healle, ymbe heard ġewinn.
215 Nū mæġ cunnian hwā cēne sȳ.
Iċ wylle mīne æþelo eallum ġecȳþan,
þæt iċ wæs on Myrcon miċċles cynnes:
wæs mīn ealda fæder Ealhelm hāten,
wīs ealdorman woruldġesǣliġ.
220 Ne sceolon mē on þǣre þēode þeġenas ætwītan
þæt iċ of ðisse fyrde fēran wille,
eard ġesēċan, nū mīn ealdor liġeð
forhēawen æt hilde. Mē is þæt hearma mǣst:
hē wæs ǣġþer mīn mǣġ and mīn hlāford."
225 Þā hē forð ēode, fǣhðe ġemunde,
þæt hē mid orde ānne ġerǣhte
flotan on þām folce, þæt se on foldan læġ
forweġen mid his wǣpne. Ongan þā winas manian
frȳnd and ġefēran þæt hī forð ēodon.
230 Offa ġemǣlde, æscholt āsceōc:
"Hwæt þū, Ælfwine, hafast ealle ġemanode
þeġenas tō þearfe, nū ūre þēoden līð
eorl on eorðan. Ūs is eallum þearf
þæt ūre ǣġhwylċ ōþerne bylde
235 wigan tō wīġe þā hwīle þe hē wǣpen mæġe
habban and healdan heardne mēċe,
gār and gōd swurd. Ūs Godriċ hæfð,
earh Oddan bearn, ealle beswicene.
Wēnde þæs formoni man, þā hē on mēare rād
240 on wlancan þām wicge, þæt wǣre hit ūre hlāford;
forþan wearð hēr on felda folc totwǣmed,
scyldburh tōbrocen. Ābrēoðe his anġin,
þæt hē hēr swā maniġne man āflȳmde!"
Lēofsunu ġemǣlde and his linde āhōf,
245 bord tō ġebeorge; hē þām beorne oncwæð:
"Iċ þæt ġehāte þæt iċ heonon nelle
flēon fōtes trym, ac wille furðor gān,
wrecan on ġewinne mīnne winedrihten.
Ne þurfon mē embe Stūrmere stedefæste hælæð
250 wordum ætwītan, nū mīn wine ġecranc,
þæt iċ hlāfordlēas hām sīðie,
wende fram wīġe, ac mē sceal wǣpen niman
ord and īren." Hē ful yrre wōd,
feaht fæstliċe, flēam hē forhogode.
255 Dunnere þā cwæð, daroð ācwehte
unorne ċeorl, ofer eall clypode,
bæd þæt beorna ġehwylċ Byrhtnōð wrǣce:
"Ne mæġ nā wandian se þe wrecan þenċeð
frēan on folce, ne for fēore murnan."
260 Þā hī forð ēodon, fēores hī ne rōhton.
Ongunnon þā hīredmen heardlīċe feohtan
grame gārberend and God bǣdon
þæt hī mōston ġewrecan hyra winedrihten
and on hyra fēondum fyl ġewyrċan.
265 Him se ġȳsel ongan ġeornlīċe fylstan:
hē wæs on Norðhymbron heardes cynnes,
Ecglāfes bearn, him wæs Æscferð nama.
Hē ne wandode nā æt þām wīġplegan,
ac hē fȳsde forð flān ġenehe.
270 Hwīlon hē on bord scēat, hwīlon beorn tǣsde;
ǣfre embe stunde hē sealde sume wunde
þā hwīle ðe hē wǣpna wealdan mōste.
Þā ġȳt on orde stōd Ēadweard se langa,
ġearo and ġeornful ġylpwordum spræc
275 þæt hē nolde flēogan fōtmǣl landes,
ofer bæc būgan þā his betera leġ.
Hē bræc þone bordweall and wið þā beornas feaht
oð þæt hē his sincġyfan on þām sǣmannum
wurðlīċe wrec ǣr hē on wæle lǣġe.
280 Swā dyde Æþeriċ, æþele ġefēra,
fūs and forðġeorn feaht eornoste.
Sībyrhtes brōðor and swīðe mæniġ ōþer
clufon cellod bord, cēne hī weredon.
* * *
bærst bordes lǣriġ, and sēo byrne sang
285 gryrelēoða sum. Þā æt gūðe slōh
Offa þone sǣlidan þæt hē on eorðan fēoll,
and ðǣr Gaddes mǣġ grund ġesōhte.
Raðe wearð æt hilde Offa forhēawen;
hē hæfde ðēah ġeforþod þæt hē his frēan ġehēt
290 swā hē bēotode ǣr wið his bēahġifan
þæt hī sceoldon bēġen on burh rīdan
hāle tō hāme, oððe on here crincgan,
on wælstōwe wundum sweltan;
hē læġ ðeġenlīċe ðēodne ġehende.
295 Ðā wearð borda ġebræc. Brimmen wōdon
gūðe ġegremode; gār oft þurhwōd
fǣġes feorhhūs. Forð þā ēode Wīstān,
Þurstānes sunu wið þās secgas feaht;
hē wæs on ġeþrange hyra þrēora bana
300 ǣr him Wīġelmes bearn on þām wæle lǣġe.
Þǣr wæs stīð ġemōt. Stōdon fæste
wigan on ġewinne. Wīġend cruncon
wundum wēriġe. Wæl fēol on eorþan.
Ōswold and Ēadwold ealle hwīle
305 bēġen þā ġebrōþru beornas trymedon,
hyra winemāgas wordon bǣdon
þæt hī þǣr æt ðearfe þolian sceoldon,
unwāclīċe wǣpna nēotan.
Byrhtwold maþelode, bord hafenode
310 (se wæs eald ġenēat), æsc ācwehte;
hē ful baldlīċe beornas lǣrde:
"Hiġe sceal þē heardra, heorte þē cēnre,
mōd sceal þē māre þē ūre mæġen lȳtlað.
Hēr līð ūre ealdor eall forhēawen
315 gōd on grēote. Ā mæġ gnornian
se ðe nū fram þisum wīġplegan wendan þenċeð.
Iċ eom frōd fēores; fram iċ ne wille,
ac iċ mē be healfe mīnum hlāforde,
be swā lēofan men licgan þenċe."
320 Swā hī Æþelgāres bearn ealle bylde
Godriċ tō gūþe. Oft hē gār forlēt
wælspere windan on þā wīċingas;
swā hē on þām folce fyrmest ēode,
hēow and hȳnde oð þæt hē on hilde ġecranc.
325 Næs þæt nā se Godriċ þe ðā gūðe forbēah