Hwilum hildedeor blædhorn wynne grette

holme‘s scroll text behind the cut.

Hwæt we Gar-folca in geardagum
ðeodcyninga ðrym gefrunon
Hu ða æðelingas ellen fremedon.
Hwæt, we have heard of the Spear-folk,
How those princes, the people-kings,
In past-days performed great deeds
And how in those time there came a queen of legend

Đa cwom Mærwynn forð swa cwen Calontires
Then came Mærwynn forth as Calontir’s queen
The elf-shining lady approached with keen thought
She was well-traveled in the earth’s wide lands
She ran the woods with stags and rose high on falcon’s wings
And more than Calontir included her amongst their kin

Hwilum hildedeor blædhorn wynne grette
At times the battle-bold one grasped the trumpet with joy
And filled the halls with flowing heart-songs
To make the mighty on mead-benches weep
And then lift their souls soaring with sparrow’s songs
At other times she with warp and weft wove cloth
That she then used to clothe those around her
She took wrack-stained clothes and wove new garments
For lords and thegns and kings and ceorls

Seo gestrynde snyttro cræft þurh fyrngewrito gefrigen
Heoldon higeþancum hæleða rædas
She acquired wisdom through ancient writings
That preserved memories of mankind’s knowledge
The regard of her craft was such that she was given wreaths
And from far and near folk came seeking her guidance

And when spear-proud princes of wide lands
Came striding steel-clad and strong
Into the high soaring halls of Calontir
This queen came gliding in glittering array
To give these æðelings their gift cup saying
Onfoh þissum fulle, freodrihten min
“Accept now this cup noble lord”

Seo wæs rumheort mid mearum ond maþmum,
She was generous with gifts and horses
Many were the high-folk who held her rings
And wore them proudly as priceless gifts

And then in those raven-thirsting times
She marched mighty before mail-warded hosts
Ne hyrdan meahte man sið ne aer
on egstreame idese lædan
on merestræte mægen fægerre
One might neither before nor since have heard of
A fair queen leading a finer looking force
On the sea-tide of the swan-road

But now in the time of Ariel and Martino
We can only recall this royal heart and ask:
Hwær cwom maððumgyfe Hwær cwom bunegyfe
Where now the ring-giver Where now the cup-giver
For We would send her to wyrd with gold and gifts
Woven suits of mail and water-stained swords
Steel faced helms studded with boar shapes
And bowls and buckles and bright rings and cups
That her mind-song shall burn brightly for her bold souls
We name her royal-kin now and forever
She in the old language shall be Hlæfdige
In the tongue of today’s heroes, a Countess
Thus We bring joy to joyful-named memory
And say about this rose-heart Đat wæs god cwen
Here in Our court held in Our lofty hall
On the XXVIIIth rising of Hreðmonað
In the XLIIIrd year of Our society

3 thoughts on “Hwilum hildedeor blædhorn wynne grette”

Leave a Reply to camyllia Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.