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Authors: Jorge Luis Borges
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certain formulas from ancient epic poetry, formulas we already saw in “Finnsburh” and in
Beowulf
. In general, the language is oral and colloquial and, even more important, we feel that everything recounted in the ballad is true. Things could not have happened in any other way, unless we imagine there was at the time a brilliant and anonymous novelist. But in general it is assumed, and can be felt throughout the story of the ballad, that things had to have happened that way, or at least that is how they were recounted afterward among the people. There is a French anthology published by Aubier that contains a map of the battle. And with this map we can follow the various alternatives of the battle, or rather the combat. The word “battle” is too big for Maldon.
Unfortunately, the poem is only a fragment. We don’t know how the poet started or how he ended, but most probably he began by saying, “I will tell of what happened in Maldon” or maybe “I was there,” or something of the sort. The fragment begins with the words “
brocen wurde
,” “was broken.” And we’ll never know what was broken. We don’t know if it refers to a siege or the men who remained there. Then the narration begins, but we don’t know who the subject is. We imagine it to be the earl, because he orders his men to fall out, to spur their horses on, to whip their horses so they will advance. He is obviously speaking to a group of warriors, who were probably peasants, fishermen, woodsmen, and among them are the earl’s guards. Then the earl tells them to form a line. Far off, they will see the tall boats of the Vikings, those boats with the dragon on the prow and the striped sails, and the Norwegian Vikings, who have already landed. Then there appears in the scene—because this poem is very beautiful—a young man, whom, we are told, is
offan mæg
, “of the family of Offa.” Now, as Offa was the king of one of those small English kingdoms, we suspect this might not mean Offa himself, but rather that the man was from that kingdom. The Kingdom of Mercia, I think it was. And this young man is, as we can see, a young aristocrat passing through; he is not thinking about war because he has a falcon on his fist; that is, he is doing what is called falconry. But when the earl issues these orders, the young man understands that the lord will not abide cowardice, and he joins the battle. And something happens, something that is realistic and has symbolic value, something a movie director would use now. The young man realizes that the situation is serious, so he lets his beloved falcon (the epitaph “beloved” is very rare in this iron poetry of the Saxons) fly off into the forest, and he joins the battle. The text says: “He let his beloved falcon fly from his fist to the forest, and he entered the battle”:
he let him þa of handon leofne fleogan
hafoc wið þæs holtes and to þære hilde stop
And the poet adds that whosoever saw him act in this way would have immediately understood that he would not hesitate at that moment to take up arms. In fact, the young man is later killed. And here we can see several symbols, but unintentional ones, of course. We might think that the falcon is a symbol of the young man’s life. And we might also think that releasing the hunting falcon and entering the battle symbolizes a transition from one form of life to another. The young man ceases to be a young courtesan and turns into a warrior who is willing to die, not for his nation—for the concept of nation would have been an anachronism at that time—but for his lord, the earl, who also fought, not for England, but for his own lord, the king.
Then there appears another warrior, a member of the earl’s guard, who says that he had told his lord many times how much he liked to fight, and this was the moment he could make good on his boasting. Remember that “boasting,” as I have said, was not frowned upon at that time. It was understood that a
Beowulf
. In general, the language is oral and colloquial and, even more important, we feel that everything recounted in the ballad is true. Things could not have happened in any other way, unless we imagine there was at the time a brilliant and anonymous novelist. But in general it is assumed, and can be felt throughout the story of the ballad, that things had to have happened that way, or at least that is how they were recounted afterward among the people. There is a French anthology published by Aubier that contains a map of the battle. And with this map we can follow the various alternatives of the battle, or rather the combat. The word “battle” is too big for Maldon.
Unfortunately, the poem is only a fragment. We don’t know how the poet started or how he ended, but most probably he began by saying, “I will tell of what happened in Maldon” or maybe “I was there,” or something of the sort. The fragment begins with the words “
brocen wurde
,” “was broken.” And we’ll never know what was broken. We don’t know if it refers to a siege or the men who remained there. Then the narration begins, but we don’t know who the subject is. We imagine it to be the earl, because he orders his men to fall out, to spur their horses on, to whip their horses so they will advance. He is obviously speaking to a group of warriors, who were probably peasants, fishermen, woodsmen, and among them are the earl’s guards. Then the earl tells them to form a line. Far off, they will see the tall boats of the Vikings, those boats with the dragon on the prow and the striped sails, and the Norwegian Vikings, who have already landed. Then there appears in the scene—because this poem is very beautiful—a young man, whom, we are told, is
offan mæg
, “of the family of Offa.” Now, as Offa was the king of one of those small English kingdoms, we suspect this might not mean Offa himself, but rather that the man was from that kingdom. The Kingdom of Mercia, I think it was. And this young man is, as we can see, a young aristocrat passing through; he is not thinking about war because he has a falcon on his fist; that is, he is doing what is called falconry. But when the earl issues these orders, the young man understands that the lord will not abide cowardice, and he joins the battle. And something happens, something that is realistic and has symbolic value, something a movie director would use now. The young man realizes that the situation is serious, so he lets his beloved falcon (the epitaph “beloved” is very rare in this iron poetry of the Saxons) fly off into the forest, and he joins the battle. The text says: “He let his beloved falcon fly from his fist to the forest, and he entered the battle”:
he let him þa of handon leofne fleogan
hafoc wið þæs holtes and to þære hilde stop
And the poet adds that whosoever saw him act in this way would have immediately understood that he would not hesitate at that moment to take up arms. In fact, the young man is later killed. And here we can see several symbols, but unintentional ones, of course. We might think that the falcon is a symbol of the young man’s life. And we might also think that releasing the hunting falcon and entering the battle symbolizes a transition from one form of life to another. The young man ceases to be a young courtesan and turns into a warrior who is willing to die, not for his nation—for the concept of nation would have been an anachronism at that time—but for his lord, the earl, who also fought, not for England, but for his own lord, the king.
Then there appears another warrior, a member of the earl’s guard, who says that he had told his lord many times how much he liked to fight, and this was the moment he could make good on his boasting. Remember that “boasting,” as I have said, was not frowned upon at that time. It was understood that a
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