As a crowd of demons, outcasts and exiles,
Gathered around Guthlac, brashly boasting,
Throwing fierce words in his face, saying:
“We know the ways of worldly men. 275
We’ve often seen their power and prosperity—
They’re proud of the prominent lives they lead.
But we’ve never met such an arrogant man
Anywhere on middle-earth. You are God’s
Worthless wretch. You own nothing 280
Except your vainglory. You vow to steal
A home among us here in devils’ land.
We will help you build a house of death.
No one will give you the gift of food,
No one will offer you sustenance or shelter, 285
No one will greet you with a morning smile
When you walk out your front door.
Hunger and thirst will be your friends,
Harrowing your steps like wild beasts.
Your righteous resolve is like the mad 290
Tenacity of a lunatic. Leave this land.
If you want to learn, listen to us.
We can be kind if you take our truths
To heart. We can be cruel if you remain
Deaf to demons. We will assault you 295
Without restraint, without weapons, swords or spears,
And bring your proud carcass down to darkness
Without laying a single hand on your precious body.
We will touch your heart with a stabbing terror,
Your proud soul with a piercing dread. 300
Your faith will be futile; your future, death.
We’ll haul your house down with brutal horses
And a host of baleful men. They will bring rage
To greet you, ravage your home and heart,
Trample you, tear you apart, leaving only 305
Bloody tracks and the soul’s endless horror.
This is your choice—safety or savagery.
Take off or take heed. Find friends
Instead of fiends if you care about your life.”
Guthlac was ready—he met that rage 310
With the courage and wisdom God had given him.
He did not flinch in fear at their dark words
But told the truth to those lying fiends,
Announcing the sorrow in store for them, saying:
“This is a wide wasteland full of hideouts 315
For exiles and outlaws living in misery.
You can summon many demons to stir up strife,
But for what purpose? I promise you, I will wield
No worldly weapon, no sword or spear,
With a hand of wrath. I will kill no creature, 320
Steal no space, leave no land
A bloody graveyard. I will please Christ
With a greater gift. I came in peace.
You offered me some unholy hideouts
With your devious speech. That will not suffice. 325
I do not fear or faint. My Lord holds sway
Over all men, all creatures, all spirits.
He provides my peace, my soul’s resting place.
Nothing I love depends upon you.
I serve my Lord and Savior. His sweet angel 330
Carries comfort to me, not endless craving,
So I am always free of the demons of desire,
And my longing is only for my living Lord.
I have seldom known worldly strife or sorrow.
Now a spiritual shepherd tends to my needs, 335
Guards and guides me—my hope is with God.
I care nothing for wealth, power or pleasure.
Each day God gives me a hand with what I need.”
So Guthlac spoke, God’s glorious champion
Who stood secure against the host of demons, 340
Sustained by the wondrous strength of angels.
The fiends left the field, fled to their lairs
To rest and recover, reshape their strategy—
They planned no long respite to their rage.
Guthlac lived on the hill with humble courage— 345
He loved that home. He gave up earthly longings,
Ephemeral joys, but kept his compassion,
His mercy toward men, and prayed passionately
For the salvation of every soul when he bowed
His head down alone in the wilderness. 350
His heart was blessed by a heavenly spirit.
Often he wondered with the angel nearby,
Hovering in air, how he might least enjoy
The body’s pleasures, those worldly joys.
His faith never faltered or fled in the face 355
Of the dreaded demons. He never deferred
His early dawn-call to rise up for the Lord,
Never lay back in late morning sloth or slumber.
A holy warrior must battle for God,
Bear a righteous anger always against 360
The satanic slayer, the seeker of souls.
The demons found Guthlac firm in his faith
When those fierce-flying devils rose up
From their lairs, streaking through night-clouds,
To see if his love of his home in the hills 365
Had lessened at last. They hoped that his heart
Would be touched by a human longing,
By that strange affection that men call love,
So he would leave the hills and go home again.
But Guthlac never knew such yearning 370
After the angel greeted him with heaven’s blessing
And gathered him affectionately into God’s grace.
No human craving could undo his covenant
After the angel addressed him in the wilderness.
Often he spoke these sustaining words: 375
“Truly a man who follows the Holy Spirit
With his head and heart, whose words and works
Are inspired and strengthened by the force of faith,
Who hopes for heaven and the promise of peace,
Should follow the Lord’s lore, the teachings 380
Of truth, and never let that ancient enemy,
The hellish demon, turn his soul from salvation,
His mind from his Maker’s gift of grace.
A man like me must know obedience,
Give back to God a hallowed heart. 385
How shall my soul ever know salvation
Unless I learn to listen to the Lord?”
* * *
[“Leader of demons, mover of darkness,
Tempter and tormenter, father of hell,]
Sooner or later your power to persecute me 390
In the wilderness of this world will surely end.
My body cannot set aside death from the flow
Of this fleeting life. It will perish like the land
That I stand on here, ephemeral as earth.
You may break my bone-house, 395
Burn my body with a greedy fire,
That grim devourer, but you can never
Unwind my words, unmake my works,
Unpower my prayers, while my mind holds true.
With a cruel flame you can torch my body, 400
But you cannot touch my immortal soul.
Your savage assaults will only serve
To make it stronger as I eagerly await
My Lord’s judgment, my Maker’s mercy.
Death holds no grief for me—it’s a gift. 405
Though my bones and blood return to dust,
My eternal soul shall seek heaven’s homeland,
A place of bliss. My house in the hills
Is good enough for a man of God
Who serves through suffering his Lord’s will. 410
A holy man should not covet worldly goods
Beyond what he needs to sustain his body.”
Then the old foes’ hatred fired up again.
The sad shrieking of those grim guests,
Those woeful demons, rose up in the air, 415
But the praise of Christ in Guthlac’s heart
Protected him with a godly shield,
The strength that saves each virtuous soul
And lets life thrive against an evil throng.
Guthlac never gave heed to worldly goods; 420
He hoped for God’s grace and heavenly glory.
In our age was there ever any greater hero,
For whose sake and in whose sight
Christ manifested many miracles on earth?
Guthlac was shielded from those slaughter-guests, 425
Who were keen to catch him in their greedy clutches.
God would not allow his soul to suffer pain
In its body-home, but let the terrible demons
Strike him with their hands while protecting his spirit.
The evil ones grabbed Guthlac, lifting him aloft, 430
Giving him the power to see beyond the eyes
Of mortal men the habits of immoral monks
In worldly monasteries. Many passed their time
In earthly pleasures, acquiring wealth,
Robes and riches, as proud young men will do 435
When they are not guided by a fear of God
Or the example of their elders. The fierce fiends
Found an end to their ranting and rejoicing
When they discovered they could no longer
Torture Guthlac’s body or torment his mind. 440
They led him out of the air to the hill-home
That he dearly loved. The demons grieved
And mourned, lamenting that a son of man
Should suffer such torment and survive.
He had come through cruelty, dark thought 445
And dire threat, alone and apparently unattended,
For they could not see the angel in his heart.
He would stay safe unless those devils
Could derail his purpose with greater pain,
Making the poor man pay for their own misery. 450
But Guthlac set his heart’s hope in heaven,
His soul’s trust in the surety of God’s grace.
He had escaped the evil of the fiends’ embrace
And overcome their first test and torture.
So the holy warrior remained in his home 455
On the hill—his peace, his place, was with God.
In his heart he felt that the man most blessed
Was one the who shielded his soul against the fiend
So that the devil’s hand might not harm him
When the Lord’s law decreed its last judgment 460
At death’s delivery in the final parting.
Yet the evil scoffers scorned the holy hero,
Hurling insults at him out of their own agony.
Their attempted torment could not twist the truth—
That God had given Guthlac great gifts, 465
Strength and courage, honor and grace,
So that he could conquer the devious demons.
Then the damned spirit spoke to Guthlac:
“We wouldn’t have needed to harrow your heart,
If you had listened to your friends and loved ones 470
When you entered this area, poor and pitiful,
Searching for strife, declaring to demons
That the Holy Spirit would be your shield
Against affliction and agony, and that the sign of God
Would keep the hard hands of any man 475
From savagely striking your noble face.”
Some of you reading or listening here
Know that many holy men indulge in sin,
Engage in evil. This is not agreeable to God.
You gorge yourselves at great feasts, 480
Always greedy for the body’s banquets.
You feed your flesh, feasting and frolicking,
Praising God not in faith but in foolish smugness,
Proud and self-satisfied. You hide unholy secrets
In your hearts and pursue shameful deeds in the dark, 485
But nothing is hidden from God’s immortal eye,
So keep watch on yourself! Now the story continues
With the demon leader, the cursed criminal, saying:
“We lifted you up, leading you away
From the land’s delights, wanting you to see 490
The terrible truths that we had learned
In our secret spying, the false seeming
Of supposedly holy men. Even in your own
Pure perception, you can’t deny their deceit,
Their private love of power and pleasure, 495
And this will be your agony and affliction.”
Then God wanted to reward Guthlac for suffering
And embracing martyrdom, so he endowed his mind
With wisdom and fortitude. The faithful warrior
Made a stand against those ancient enemies, 500
Telling them again to their great distress
That in the name of the Lord, they should depart
And give up their lairs in that green land, saying:
“Demons, you are now defeated, crushed and routed.
Sin sits on your shoulders, guilt grabs at your legs. 505
You seek no compassion and deserve no mercy.
You will get no grace. God gave you power
For moments over me, but you misused that might,
Lifting me into the air, so that I could see unnaturally
Through buildings and bodies into men’s hearts. 510
What I saw on high, however, was not only deceit
But the light of heaven. Then you reproached me
Because I once tolerated the loose rules
And wild ways of young churchmen.
You wanted to blacken all of their names, 515
Degrading and disgracing the worst of them,
And overlooking the best. You refused to show me
The saintly ones, humble and unashamed,
Who dwell without sin in their words and works.
Let me tell the truth to all of you liars: 520
God created young people in the spirit of joy.
They grow from bud to bloom, flower to fruit,
Rejoicing in the perfect pleasure of living.
A young man lacks the wisdom of maturity,
But he understands the energy of existence, 525
The joy of being. Time elders the young,
Teaches them patience, humility, a higher calling,
So that they can serve both God and man
In many noble ways on middle-earth.
Then they wisely put away vanity and vice, 530
Embrace virtue, letting their better spirits soar.
This is the haunting truth you always ignore
Because it holds no delight for demons.
You see the sins of the guilty but never
The virtues of the good. You feast on unfaith, 535
Sucking up shame. You are gluttons of guilt.
You rejoice in crime and reject all comfort.
You must wander endlessly in exile from God.
You are thieves and outcasts who will carry off
Nothing but judgment from the heavenly Father 540
Who sends me here, the only one who can settle
All disputes between us, our Lord and Judge,
Who measures out the length of every life.”
So the holy warrior spoke these words.
The man was a martyr, separated from sin, 545
But he had to endure his share of suffering,
Though the Lord held power over his torments.
It has seemed a marvel to men that God should let
Those wretched demons rack him with pain,
Afflict him with agony, yet it truly happened. 550
A still greater thing w
as how the Lord
Came into this world and poured out his blood
At the hands of men with hatred in their hearts.
He held dominion over life and death
When he humbly bowed down, climbing the cross, 555
Reaching through death to redeem mankind,
Enduring the malice of murdering men,
Those who persecuted him here on earth.
So we should sing praise-songs to the faithful,
Extolling their deeds to our Lord and Savior, 560
Praising him for the stories of such steadfast people
Whose lives reflect the wonder of his works.
The gift of grace was given to Guthlac,
A godly power and spiritual strength.
It’s a great task to tell his courageous story 565
From beginning to end. His almighty Father
Sent him in the vanguard against his foes,
Those secret, satanic marauders of life.
His soul was severely tested and tormented,
Yet it proved true through every trial. 570
His bravery was assailed by evil enemies
But never bested. He never faltered.
It is well known throughout the world
That he kept his courage and his spirit thrived
Through the will of God. He never wavered. 575
He trusted his Guardian to protect his soul.
Yet there is more to tell of the trials he endured.
His holy heart withstood the clutch of fiends.
Evil spirits set upon him with sin and savagery—
They lusted for his life. But even the darkest 580
Demons cannot control death or doom,
So Guthlac’s soul waited patiently in his body
Until God decreed a more peaceful passing.
The fiends grew furious when they saw that God
Would save Guthlac from their fierce afflictions, 585
As he can easily do with all blessed ones,
And would judge them harshly for their harrowing crimes,
So they hurried him down to the gates of hell,
Hoping to hound that holy communicant
Into unholy fear. They approached the dread doors, 590
Where after death’s agony, the sinful and unsaved
Must seek entry to the underground abyss.
There they menaced the holy man with the threat
Of pain and possession, terror and torment,
And descent into darkness, as demons will do 595
When they desire to unmake a righteous man,
Seduce his soul with subtle doubts or secret sins.
They wove deceit into a wormlike weapon,
Telling Guthlac that his heart was unholy,
His mind impure, his place in hell secure. 600
He would live forever in a house of fire,
His skin and soul a scorch of pain.
The Complete Old English Poems Page 48