What the hell is that quote

[NoahT]

Actual reason for posting...:

 

Ivan, what the hell is that "Wise king don't grieve" line you always post on farewell threads? I always enjoy that quote...cheers.

 

Tangent...:

 

Why the hell does cc's search function suck so terribly? I spent the last 20 min trying to find it, and ivan has only posted it like 100 times...Jesus. I mean, I mean come on...we all know how to search for stuff...keywords, quotation marks..but I've never been able master cc's rather cryptic (inept) search function. I enter "wise," and older than 1 day, and I get like 4 results from last month....guuuu?

 

Thanks anyone else who can locate it, or Ivan. Maybe I just need to practice more. Long live cc.com. Where would we be without you.

 

N

[ivan]

it's from seamus heaney's masterful translation of "beowulf" - beowulf is, by the by, the oldest surviving written work in olde english (drink!) - only 1 copy exists, dating from the 8th century or so i think - it no doubt existed in the oral tradition for a long time, and is a fascinating snapshot of an era when ultra-kewl barbarians were being tamed by the fucking Shaved Men - wondrous metaphors merging savage slaughter w/ christian poetry abound throughout the text

 

i can't stress enough the importance of HEARING the poem - it was not meant to be read, but recited in mead halls by scops, bards who collected the poems and passed them on to their sons, who they trained in the art of exhaustive memorization - here heaney recites his own translation:

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRZJ_aCakns

you'll have to find the exact passage you like, which comes shortly after the hero, beowulf, has killed the first monster grendel, only to have his mother come and murder another boat-load of boy-o's in revenge - he kills ashere, the king's best friend, prompting beowulf to say:

 

"wise sir, do not grieve

it is always better to avenge dear ones

than to indulge in mourning

for every one of us

living in this world means waiting for our end.

let he who can

achieve glory before death.

when a warrior is gone,

that will be his best and only bulwark."

[ivan]

alright, i couldnt' help but start listening and found it

 

about 1:30 - my memory wasn't quite spot-on, but then little about me isn't mediocre

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh3G6fwyFyY&feature=relmfu

[NoahT]

Thanks, Ivan. I thought I might find you here in Spray. Cheers, and I'll give the reading a listen. Great quote...thanks again for sharing.

 

N

[KaskadskyjKozak]

 

you and fucking beowulf

[keenwesh]

Beowulf, was there any other reason to watch the movie?

[ivan]

it is a goddamn tragedy that no one's ever managed to make a decent movie out of the story - don't know why exactly, something about it defies film - much of the beauty of it is the literal poetry - the ringing alliteration resounding always in rare auras

[ivan]

you and fucking beowulf

shit, that's just the tip of it! i named my son Æþelwulf, firfuksakes!

[Off_White]

Ah Keenan, do you have Mommy issues? Do you know how old that woman is?

[ivan]

holy mother mary in a rib-tit t-shirt, here's why i like the study of beowulf! i don't have to listen to a thing she says... ...

[video:youtube]

[minx]

we read it in HS. Then our teacher read part of it. I've loved it ever since.

[bistro]

o

Edited December 22, 2012 by bistro