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TEXT.REV: Beowulf
The following text is a Lojban translation of lines 210-228 of >Beowulf<,
describing how Beowulf and his companions set sail from Geatland to the
hall of Hrothgar.
In each group of three lines, the first line is the original Beowulf text,
with the usual orthographical conventions except that long vowels are
not shown and the "eth" letter is written "th", as in Modern English.
The second line is a gloss of the Old English, and by intention can serve
as a gloss of the Lojban as well. This gloss is essentially Tolkien's, from
"On Translating Beowulf".
The third line is my Lojban translation. No attempt has been made to
preserve the alliteration, but I do try to preserve the syntactic and
semantic devices and much of the four-stress rhythm as well. Because
Lojban words are partly built from English words, alliterative
patterns occasionally resurface by accident.
Note that the word "Wedera" in the original is an alternative name of the
Geats, Beowulf's people. The word "eoletes" is marked by Tolkien
as an "unknown or corrupt word"; I have accepted his best-guess gloss of
"waterway" = "water-route".
I have revised this version to incorporate some comments Nick made.
It now needs going over by editors du jour, so please pick yourselves.
Fyrst forth gewat. Flota waes on ythum
Time on departed. Floater was on waves
le temci cu fasnu .i le fulta be le boxna
bat under beorge. Beornas gearwe
boat under hill. Men eager
cu cnita le cmaca'a .i le ribnau djica
on stefn stigon. Streamas wundon
on prow strode. Currents rolled
cu badydzu le lotcra .i le flecu cu gu'orgau
sund with sande. Secgas baeron
swimming [=sea] against sand. Men bore
le canre le se limna .i le nanmu cu bevri
on bearm nacan beorhte fraetwe
into bosom of-boat bright trappings
fi le cutne be le bloti fe le carmi taxfu
guth-searo geatolic. Guman ut scufon
war-gear wellmade. Men out thrust
poi jamymai xagmau .i le nanmu cu batcatke
weras on wil-sith wudu bundenne.
adult-males on wish-journey timber fastened.
.i le nanmu pe le djinunkla le mudri cu lasna
Gewat tha ofer waeg-holm winde gefysed
Departed then over wave-sea [by] wind urged
.i ca cliva fi le bonxamsi bai le brife
flota famig-heals fugle gelicost,
floater foamy-neck to-bird most-like
fa le fulta fomcnebo poi smirai lo cipni
oththaet ymb an-tid othres dogres
until after due-time of-second day
.ipu'obo ba le ra'artei pe le remoi djedi
wunden-stefna gewaden haefde,
curved-prow advanced had,
le selkruvi lotcra cu crane klama
thaet tha lithende land gesawon
that these voyagers land saw
.ije le litru le tumla cu viska
brim-clifu blican beorgas steape,
surf-cliffs gleaming hills steep,
.i xaskoi sraca'a tergusni .i cmaca'a badysalpo
side sae-naessas. Tha waes sund-lidan
long sea-capes. then it-was for-sea-voyager [=boat]
.i clani cfine .icabo le xasxelklama
eoletes aet ended. Thanon up hrathe
of-waterway[?] at end. Thence up quickly
le jacplu cu fanmo .ito'obo fi'o sutra
Wedera leode on wang stigon,
Wederish people on plain strode,
le la .uederas. prenu le pitytu'a cu badydzu
sae-wudu saeldon. Syrcan hrysedon
sea-timber roped. Shirts rattled
.i le xasymudri cu se skola'a .i le creka cu se sance
guth-gewaedo. Gode thancedon
war-raiment. God thanked
.i jamna taxfu .i fe le cevni cu ckire
thaesthe him yth-lade eathe wurdon.
that for-them wave-passage easy proved.
le nu le nanmu le bo'arnunkla cu se frili
--
John Cowan cowan@snark.thyrsus.com ...!uunet!lock60!snark!cowan
e'osai ko sarji la lojban.