WULF AND  ADWACER | from THE EXETER BOOK |
| Anon. | trans. Richard Hamer (from Anglo-Saxon) |
L odum is m num ..... swylce him mon l c gife; willað h  hine þecgan, ..... gif h on þrat cymeð. Ungel c is  s. Wulf is on ege, ..... ic on  þerre.Fæst is þæt glond, ..... fenne biworpen.Sindon wælr owe .....weras þær on ge;willað h hine þecgan, ..... gif h on þrat cymeð.Ungel ce is s.Wulfes ic m nes wdlstum ..... wnum dogode;þonne hit wæs r nig weder ..... and ic reotugu sæt,þonne mec se beaduc fa ..... bgum bilegde,wæs m wyn t þon, ..... wæs m hwæþre ac lað.Wulf, m n Wulf, ..... wna m þnes oce gedydon, ..... þne seldcymas,murnende m d, ..... nles meteliste.Geh rest þ,  adwacer? ..... Uncerne earmne hwelpbireð wulf t wuda.Þæt mon aþe tslteð ..... þætte n fre gesomnad wæs,uncer giedd geador. |
It is as though my people had been given A present. They will wish to capture him If he comes with a troop. We are apart. Wulf is on one isle, I am on another. Fast is that island set among the fens. Murderous are the people who inhabit That island. They will wish to capture him If he comes with a troop. We are apart. Grieved have I for my Wulf with distant longings. Then was it rainy weather, and I sad, When the bold warrior laid his arms about me. I took delight in that and also pain. O Wulf, my Wulf, my longing for your coming Has made me ill, the rareness of your visits, My grieving spirit, not the lack of food. Eadwacer, do you hear me? For a wolf Shall carry to the woods our wretched whelp. Men very easily may put asunder That which was never joined, our song together. |
Transl. copyright © Richard Hamer 2002 - publ. Faber & Faber