Beowulf - Old English

A reading of Beowulf in Old English (lines 1-19). Excuse the amateur pronunciation!

Old English
Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum,
þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon,
hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon.
Oft Scyld Scefing sceaþena þreatum,
monegum mægþum, meodosetla ofteah,
egsode eorlas. Syððan ærest wearð
feasceaft funden, he þæs frofre gebad,
weox under wolcnum, weorðmyndum þah,
oðþæt him æghwylc þara ymbsittendra
ofer hronrade hyran scolde,
gomban gyldan. þæt wæs god cyning!
ðæm eafera wæs æfter cenned,
geong in geardum, þone god sende
folce to frofre; fyrenðearfe ongeat
þe hie ær drugon aldorlease
lange hwile. Him þæs liffrea,
wuldres wealdend, woroldare forgeaf;
Beowulf wæs breme (blæd wide sprang),
Scyldes eafera Scedelandum in.

[TheKStagg]

I think that CS Lewis would be proud of you. I have always known the first three lines, since I read them in a book by L Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt (The Mathematics of Magic) when I was eleven. Just being able to recite those lines gave me some amazing poetry cred! I've always wondered whether knowing the whole thing is advantageous; if one were learning Anglo-Saxon to some other purpose, certainly. I do know by heart (why do we call it that, when it is by brain), e.g. Lepanto. If you love poetry, then, imho, "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" by Oscar Wilde.

I walked, with other souls in pain,
Within another ring,
And was wondering if the man had done
A great or little thing,
When a voice behind me whispered low,
“That fellow's got to swing.”

Dear Christ! the very prison walls
Suddenly seemed to reel,
And the sky above my head became
Like a casque of scorching steel;
And, though I was a soul in pain,
My pain I could not feel.

I only knew what hunted thought
Quickened his step, and why
He looked upon the garish day
With such a wistful eye;
The man had killed the thing he loved
And so he had to die.

Yet each man kills the thing he loves
By each let this be heard,
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word,
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword!

and "Non sum qualis eram bonae sub regno Cynarae" by Ernest Dowson; the title, from Horace's Odes, Book 4, 1, translates as "I am not as I was in the reign of good Cinara." Count the lyrics and titles taken from the latter poem: "Gone with the wind, Cynara"; "I have been true to you, Cynara! After my fashion" (c.f. Yes I've been true to you, darling in my fashion. Yes, I've been try to you, darling, in my way.")

This is your space. Wipe my maunderings if you wish. Leave my stuff for a couple of days if you want others to catch the spark. If you are ever in trouble, I shall raise "se micla here" to defend you!

[SageSquidward]

Besides the various mispronunciations, "hronrade" can be more directly translated as "whale-road".

[MikeGreenwood]

Impressive.  TY. 
Posted 8th April 2014 @ 2041PM GMT.

[GodWarrior]

Not too bad, only a few errors. "Sc" as in Scyld is pronounced with a "sh" sound. G's before e's are often the same as the consonant y in modern english, so "gear" in gear-dagum would be pronounced "yay-ar" (think of our word "year" with an accent). Finally æsc is always pronounced like the a sound in "cat". Otherwise you did pretty good with this reading! One last thing to note, the stress of a word is generally at the start, so it would be GAR-dena and not gar-DENA.

[Fear_the_Nog]

Points for effort. but the pronunciation is pretty off. Keep in mind this is a Germanic language, even though it looks like there are many syllables and full of vowels, it must sound like English. The stresses are placed usually on the first syllable. For example, it is not GarDAYna but GAAAAR-dena.

Example:
Hwat, WAY GAR-dena in YEAHR-dah-goom,
THEOD-ku:ning-gah, thru:m ye-FROO-non.
HOO THAA ATH-uh-ling-gahs, EL-len FREM-ed-on.
OFT SHU:LD SHAY-ving, sheah-then-ah THREAH-toom,
mon-egg-oom MAYY-thoom, MEOD-o-SET-lah off-TEAH-KH,
EY-zod-uh AIR-lahs. SU:TH-than AIR-est where-th
FEAH-shaft FOON-den. HEY thass FROH-vruh yeh-BAAD
WEYUX under WOLK-noom, WHERE-TH-mu:n-doom THAAKH

U: is pronounced the same as the German Umlaut or the French U.