Him ða Scyld gewat to gescæphwile
felahror feran on frean wære.
Hi hyne þa ætbæron to brimes faroðe,
swæse gesiþas, swa he selfa bæd,
30 þenden wordum weold wine Scyldinga;
leof landfruma lange ahte.
þær æt hyðe stod hringedstefna,
isig ond utfus, æþelinges fær.
Aledon þa leofne þeoden,
35 beaga bryttan, on bearm scipes,
mærne be mæste. þær wæs madma fela
of feorwegum, frætwa, gelæded;
ne hyrde ic cymlicor ceol gegyrwan
hildewæpnum ond heaðowædum,
40 billum ond byrnum; him on bearme læg
madma mænigo, þa him mid scoldon
on flodes æht feor gewitan.
Nalæs hi hine læssan lacum teodan,
þeodgestreonum, þon þa dydon
45 þe hine æt frumsceafte forð onsendon
ænne ofer yðe umborwesende.
þa gyt hie him asetton segen geldenne
heah ofer heafod, leton holm beran,
geafon on garsecg; him wæs geomor sefa,
50 murnende mod. Men ne cunnon
secgan to soðe, selerædende,
hæleð under heofenum, hwa þæm hlæste onfeng.


TRANS:


Forth he fared at the fated moment,
sturdy Scyld to the shelter of God.
Then they bore him over to ocean´s billow,
loving clansmen, as late he charged them,
30 while wielded words the winsome Scyld,
the leader beloved who long had ruled....
In the roadstead rocked a ring-dight vessel,
ice-flecked, outbound, atheling´s barge:
there laid they down their darling lord
35 on the breast of the boat, the breaker-of-rings,
by the mast the mighty one. Many a treasure
fetched from far was freighted with him.
No ship have I known so nobly dight
with weapons of war and weeds of battle,
40 with breastplate and blade: on his bosom lay
a heaped hoard that hence should go
far o´er the flood with him floating away.
No less these loaded the lordly gifts,
thanes´ huge treasure, than those had done
45 who in former time forth had sent him
sole on the seas, a suckling child.
High o´er his head they hoist the standard,
a gold-wove banner; let billows take him,
gave him to ocean. Grave were their spirits,
50 mournful their mood. No man is able
to say in sooth, no son of the halls,
no hero ´neath heaven, – who harbored that freight!

Sutton Hoo

Sutton Hoo is a large cemetery that was reserved for the aristocracy of the 7th century kingdom of East Anglia. Located near what is now Suffolk, England, the cemetery was used by perhaps by religious who "made conscious reference to burial practices in Scandinavia as well as to Britain’s own prehistoric past." (Hummler). Before becoming a cemetery the site, in prehistoric and Roman times, was predominantly agricultural with the most intensive development in the neolithic or "Beaker" period (c. 2000 BC).

In 1939 a ship burial was discovered at Sutton Hoo, in a way, confirming the accuracy of the description of the burial of Scyld Scefing. The find, though it lacked a body, was undisturbed and contained a helmet, shield, sword, buckle, sceptre, lyre and various vessels, all of exceptional quality and craftsmanship. It is believed that this grave or cenotaph belonged to the East Anglian King Rædwald, who died in AD 624/5. The objects from this find are housed in the British Museum, London, and the Sutton Hoo cemetery is open to the public.

[link to www.fortunecity.com]