THE BATTLE OF MALDON (lines 29-63)

Literal translation
Old English Text
More readable translation
Me sent to thee seamen bold,
“Mē sendon tō þē sǣman snelle,
Bold seamen have sent me to you
ordered thee say that you must send quickly
hēton ðê seċġan, þæt þū mōst sendan raðe
and ordered me to tell you that you must quickly
rings for protection; and you better is
bēagas wið ġebeorge; and ēow betere is
send rings in exchange for protection; and it is better for you
that you this spear-storm with tribute pay for,
þæt ġē þisne gārrǣs mid gafole forgyldon,
that you should pay tribute for this battle,
than we so hard battle deal.
þonne wē swā hearde hilde dǣlon.
than we should fight such a hard battle.
We need not kill ourselves, if you speed to that;
Ne þurfe wē ūs spillan, ġif ġē spēdaþ tō þām;
There is no deed for us to kill one another, if you comply to that;
we are willing for that gold peace fasten.
wē willaþ wið þām golde grið fæstnian.
We are willing to hold peace in exchange for the gold.
If you that decide who here mightiest are
Gyf þū þæt ġerǣdest þe hēr rīcost eart,
If you, who are the most important here, decide that,
that you thy people ransom will,
þæt þū þīne leoda lysan wille,
that is, that you are willing to ransom your people,
give seamen on their own judgement
syllan sǣmannum on hyra sylfra dōm
the give the seamen as much tribute as they decide,
feoh wið frēoðe, and niman frið æt ūs, money for peace, and [if you] take peace with us,
 money in exchange for peace, and be at peace with us,
wē willaþ mid þām sċeattum ūs tō sċype gangan, we will with the payments to ship go,
[then]we will return to the ship with the payment,
on sea go, and your peace hold.”
on flōt fēran, and ēow friþes healdan.”
and take to sea and hold peace with you.”
Byrhtnod spoke, board raised,
Byrhtnōd maþelode, bord hafenode,
Byrhtnod spoke, raising his shield
waved slender spear, with words spoke,
wand wācne æsċ, wordum mǣlde,
and brandishing his slender spears. Speaking with
angry and resolute gave him answer:
yrre and ānrǣd āgeaf him andsware:
angry and resolute words, he gave him this answer.
“Hearst thou, sailor, what this folk sayeth?
“Ġehyrst þū, sǣlida, hwæt þis folc seġeþ?
“You seaman, can you hear what this people says?
They will you as tribute battle give,
Hī willað ēow tō gafole gāras syllan,
The tribute they will pay you is a harsh fray,
poisoned point and old sword,
ǣttrene ord and ealde swurd,
poisoned spears and old swords,
the heriot that [to] at battle not avails.
þā hereġeatu þe ēow æt hilde ne dēah.
all that war-gear which will be no use for you at battle.
Seafarers’ messenger, announce back again,
Brimmanna boda, ābēod eft onġēan,
You, messenger of the Vikings, report back
say your people much more loathsome message,
seġe þīnum lēodum miċċle lāþre spell,
and announce to your people a more more loathsome message,
þæt hēr stynt unforcūð eorl mid werode, that here stands unblemished earl with troops,

þe wile ġealġean
Æþelredes eard,
folc and foldan;
hǣþene æt hilde.
þæt ġē mid ūrum sċeattum
unbefohtene, nū ġē þus feor hider
on ūrne eard in becōmon.
Ne sċeole ġē swā sōfte
ūs sċeal ord and eċġ
grim gūð plega,
Hēt þā bord beran,
þæt hī on þām ēasteðe
namely, that here the earls stand unblemished with his soldiers,
who will defend this homeland,
ēþel þysne,
who will defend their homeland
Ethelred’s country, my prince,
ealdres mīnes
the land of Ethelred, my prince,
folk and ground; fall must
feallan sċeolon
his people and his territory; you pagans
heathen at battle. To odious me seems
Tō hēanlic mē þinceð
must fall in the fray. It seems to me utterly abhorrent
that you with our money to ship go
tō sċype gangon
that you should go back to your ships with our money
unfought, now that you so far here
without fighting, now that you have come so far into
in our land in have come.
our country.
You must not so undisturbed riches obtain;
sinc ġegangan;
You must not get our riches so easily.
us must point and edge before settle,
ǣr ġesēman,
Our spears and our swords must decide in
grim battle game, before we tribute give.”
ǣr wē gofol syllon .”
in a fierce battle, before we pay tribute.”
Ordered then board to bear, warriors to go,
beornas gangan,
Then he ordered his warriors to lift their shield and advance,
ealle stōdon. so that they on the riverbank all stood.
 and they were all standing ready on the riverbank.

Links:
http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/research/rawl/maldon/
http://mockingbird.creighton.edu/english/fajardo/teaching/eng340/maldon.htm
http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/english/asnac/oe/moretext/maldon/malframe.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_Maldon_(poem)
http://faculty.uca.edu/~jona/texts/maldon.htm