La cave linguistique de Tolkien

The Wanderer (lines 85 to 110)

Ýþde swá þisne eardgeard ælda scyppend
oþþæt burgwara breahtma léase
eald enta geweorc ídlu stódon.
Se þonne þisne wealsteal wíse geþóhte
ond þis deorce líf déope geondþenceð,
fród in ferðe, feor oft gemon
wælsleahta worn, ond þás word ácwið:
"Hwǽr cwóm mearg? Hwǽr cwóm mago? Hwǽr cwóm máþþumgyfa?
Hwǽr cwóm symbla gesetu? Hwǽr sindon seledréamas?
Éalá beorht bune! Éalá byrnwiga!
Éalá þéodnes þrym! Hú séo þrág gewát,
genáp under nihthelm, swá héo nó wǽre.
Stondeð nú on láste léofre duguþe
weal wundrum héah, wyrmlícum fáh.
Eorlas fornóman asca þrýþe,
wǽpen wælgífru, wyrd séo mǽre,
ond þás stánhleoþu stormas cnyssað,
hríð hréosende hrúsan bindeð,
wintres wóma, þonne won cymeð,
nípeð nihtscúa, norþan onsendeð
hréo hæglfare hæleþum on andan.
Eall is earfoðlic eorþan ríce,
onwendeð wyrda gesceaft weoruld
under heofonum.
Hér bið feoh lǽne, hér bið fréond lǽne,
hér bið mon lǽne, hér bið mǽg lǽne,
eal þis eorþan gesteal ídel weorþeð!"

The Creator of men thus laid waste this earth
until deprived of the joy of its inhabitants,
the ancient work of giants stood empty.
Then he who wisely reflects upon this foundation
and deeply meditates on this dark life,
wise in mind, far off remembers
a large number of slaughters, and utters these words:
"Where has the horse gone? Where has the man gone? Here have the treasure-givers gone?
Where has the place of banquets gone? Where are the joys of the hall?
Alas the gleaming cup! Alas the armoured warrior!
Alas the prince's glory! How the time has passed away,
grown dark under the helm of night, as if it never were.
There stands now in the track of the dear retainer
a wall, wondrously high, adorned with serpent-patterns.
The might of ash-spears snatched away noble men,
weapons greedy for carnage, notorious fate,
and storms beat the stone-heaps,
hailstorms falling binds the earth,
winter's chaos, then the darkness comes,
night-shadows spread gloom, sending from the north
fierce hailstorms to the terror of men.
All is hardship in the earthly kingdom;
the operation of fate changes the world under the heavens.
Here, wealth is transitory; here a friend is transitory;
here a man is transitory; here a kinsman is transitory.
All this earth's foundation will become empty.

Preserved in the Exeter Book, an important collection of Anglo-Saxon poetry from the 10th century, The Wanderer is an elegy featuring an old retainer who laments the loss of his lord, and contrasts the splendour of the past with the misery of his present days. The fragment we reproduce here inspired Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings for the Lament of the Rohirrim chanted by Aragorn as he rides to Meduseld with Legolas, Gimli and Gandalf ("Where now the horse and the rider ? Where is the horn that was blowing?").

The text can be found online at the following address: http://www.georgetown.edu/labyrinth/library/oe/texts/a3.6.html. We added acute accents on long vowels and diphthongs. The modern English translation is by Elaine Treharne.

References

Irvine, Martin, Everhart, Deborah. The Labyrinth: Resources for Medieval Studies. Hosted by: Georgetown University, Washington (D.C.). URL: http://labyrinth.georgetown.edu/

Old and Middle English Poetry. Edited by Duncan Wu. Oxford; Malden (Mass.): Blackwell, 2002. 174 p. (Blackwell Essential Literature). Based on Old and Middle English: an anthology, edited by Elaine Treharne. ISBN 0-631-23073-4

Quotations of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien, Édouard Kloczko, Christopher Gilson, Patrick Wynne, Rhona Beare, Thomas Alan Shippey, Charles Kennedy, Elaine Treharne, André Crépin, Régis Boyer, François-Xavier Dillmann, Gabriel Rebourcet, Keith Bosley, Pierre-Yves Lambert, Gwyn Jones, Thomas Jones are under the copyright of their publishers.