{"id":3626,"date":"2017-11-20T11:47:56","date_gmt":"2017-11-20T16:47:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/?page_id=3626"},"modified":"2021-04-05T08:28:30","modified_gmt":"2021-04-05T12:28:30","slug":"the-ruin","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/translations\/the-ruin\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ruin"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Ruined wall-stones, photograph by Richard Fahey and edited by Rajuli (Khetarpal) Fahey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Richard Fahey’s account of the inspiration behind this translation with accompanying photographic art can be accessed here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Old English Ruin<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Wr\u00e6tlic is \u00fees wealstan, wyrde gebr\u00e6con;
burgstede burston,\u00a0 brosna\u00f0 enta geweorc.
Hrofas sind gehrorene,\u00a0 hreorge torras,
hrungeat\u00a0berofen, \u00a0 hrim on lime,<\/p>\n

scearde scurbeorge \u00a0 scorene, gedrorene,
\u00e6ldo undereotone. \u00a0 Eor\u00f0grap hafa\u00f0
waldend wyrhtan\u00a0 forweorone, geleorene,
heardgripe hrusan, \u00a0\u00a0 o\u00fe hund cnea
wer\u00feeoda gewitan. Oft \u00fe\u00e6s wag gebad<\/p>\n

r\u00e6ghar ond readfah \u00a0rice \u00e6fter o\u00ferum,
ofstonden under stormum\u00a0 steap geap gedreas.
Wona\u00f0 giet se\u00a0 …num geheapen,
fel on
grimme gegrunden<\/p>\n

scan \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 heo…
…g or\u00feonc \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00e6rsceaft
…g \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 lamrindum beag
mod mo… \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 …yne swiftne gebr\u00e6gd
hw\u00e6tred in hringas, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 hygerof gebond<\/p>\n

weallwalan wirum wundrum tog\u00e6dre.
Beorht w\u00e6ron burgr\u00e6ced, burnsele monige,
heah horngestreon, heresweg micel,
meodoheall monig \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 mandreama full,
o\u00fe\u00fe\u00e6t \u00fe\u00e6t onwende \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 wyrd seo swi\u00fee.<\/p>\n

Crungon walo wide,\u00a0 cwoman woldagas,
swylt eall fornom \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0secgrofra\u00a0wera;
wurdon hyra wigsteal westen sta\u00feolas,
brosnade burgsteall.\u00a0 Betend crungon
hergas to hrusan. For\u00feon \u00feas hofu dreorgia\u00f0,<\/p>\n

ond \u00fe\u00e6s teaforgeapa\u00a0 tigelum sceade\u00f0
hrostbeages\u00a0hrof. Hryre wong gecrong
gebrocen to beorgum, \u00fe\u00e6r iu beorn monig
gl\u00e6dmod ond goldbeorht \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 gleoma\u00a0gefr\u00e6twed,
wlonc ond wingal \u00a0 wighyrstum scan;<\/p>\n

seah on sinc, on sylfor, on searogimmas,
on ead, on \u00e6ht, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 on eorcanstan,
on \u00feas beorhtan burg \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 bradan rices.
Stanhofu stodan, stream hate wearp
widan wylme; \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 weal eall befeng<\/p>\n

beorhtan bosme,\u00a0 \u00fe\u00e6r \u00fea ba\u00feu w\u00e6ron,
hat on hre\u00fere. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00fe\u00e6t w\u00e6s hy\u00f0elic.
Leton \u00feonne geotan
ofer harne stan \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 hate streamas
un…<\/p>\n

…\u00fe\u00fe\u00e6t hringmere \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 hate
\u00fe\u00e6r \u00fea ba\u00feu w\u00e6ron.
\u00feonne is
…re; \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00fe\u00e6t is cynelic \u00feing,
huse …… \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 burg….<\/p>\n

Old English\u00a0Ruin<\/em>\u00a0from edition by Bernard Muir,\u00a0The Exeter Anthology of Old English Poetry<\/em>, Volume I, Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 2000.
A reproduced edition is also available\u00a0online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"This
Ruins of the Roman walls of Venta silurum in Caerwent, Wales (1st-6th century CE); via De Agostini, G. Wright, Getty Images.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n


“The Ruins of Time”: A Modern English Translation by Richard Fahey<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wondrous are these wall-stones,
broken by fortune, the citadels crumbled,
the work of giants ruined.<\/p>\n

The roofs are collapsed,
the towers tumbled, the pillars bereft.
Ice on the arch scarred the storm-wall,
old, eroded, weathered and worn.<\/p>\n

The earth\u2019s grasp keeps the master artisans,
deceased and decayed
in the firm grip of the ground,
until a hundred generations of human peoples have departed.<\/p>\n

Often this wall, lichen-grey and rust-coated,
endured one regime after another,
withstood under storms,
steep and curved\u2014it fell.<\/p>\n

\u2026 Yet it wanes\u2026 hewn\u2026
fell on\u2026 grimly ground down\u2026
shone\u2026 the well-crafted ancient-work\u2026
mud-covered and bowed\u2026
the mind\u2026 swiftly bent,
bedecked with rings,
bound with strong purpose,
wall-stones wondrously wired together.<\/p>\n

Bright were the city-halls,
the many bath-houses,
the high horned-adornments,
the great sound of war,
the many mead-halls full of human-pleasures,
until fortune changed that dramatically.<\/p>\n

Slaughter destroyed far and wide,
the days of woe came,
death seizes all of those brave men,
their fortification became deserted places,
their strongholds crumbled,
those troops who would should have repair them were dead in the ground.<\/p>\n

Therefore these houses have decayed,
and this gabbled structure sheds its tiles,
the roof of ringed-wood.
This place has fallen into ruin with broken buildings.<\/p>\n

Once there were many men,
glad-minded and gold-bright, adorned with splendor,
proud and wine-drunk, shown in their battle-armor.<\/p>\n

One could gaze on the treasure,
on silver, on carved jewels,
on wealth, on possession,
on precious stones,
on this bright city in a broad kingdom.<\/p>\n

Stone-houses stand,
the hot streams whirl in a wide welling,
the wall contains all in its bright bosom,
where the baths were, hot in its core.
That was pleasant.<\/p>\n

Let then pour fourth\u2026
over grey stone, hot streams\u2026
hot ring-pool\u2026
where the baths were\u2026.
then is\u2026<\/p>\n

That is a kingly thing\u2026
house\u2026
city\u2026.<\/p>\n

Recitations of the Ruin<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n