iddle 83

Ic seah wundorlice wiht;    wombe hæfde micle,

 

I saw a creature with a strange belly

 

þryþum geþrungne.    þegn folgade

 

Huge and swollen, handled by a servant,

 

mægenstrong ond mundrof;     micel me þuhte

 

Hard-muscled and hand-strong, a mighty man

 

godlic gumrinc;    grap on sona

 

Who seized the creature, gripped it so

 

heofones toþe     [ . . . . . . .]

5

That the tooth of heaven began to blow

5

bleowe on eage;    hio borcade,

 

Out through its eye. It struggled and sang,

 

wancode willum.    Hio wolde seþeah

 

Bellowed from below, puffed up and passed out;

 

niol [ . . . . . ]    [ . . . . . . . ]

 

Yet it always arched up on air again.

 

solution