Passage

This passage is from the Beowulf manuscript, lines 2294-2323:

 

The hoard-guardian

Scorched the ground as he scoured and hunted

For the trespasser who had troubled his sleep.

Hot and savage, he kept circling and circling

The outside of the mound. No man appeared

In that desert waste, but he worked himself up

By imagining battle; then back in he’d go

In search of the cup, only to discover                              2300

Signs that someone had stumbled upon

The golden treasures. The guardian of the mound,

The hoard-watcher, waited for the gloaming

With fierce impatience; his pent-up fury

At the loss of the vessel made him long to hit back

And lash out in flames. Then, to his delight,

The day waned and he could wait no longer

Behind the wall, but hurtled forth

In a fiery blaze. The first to suffer

Were the people on the land, but before long                   2310

It was their treasure-giver who would come to grief.

The dragon began to belch out flames

And burn bright homesteads; there was a hot glow

That scared everyone, for the vile sky-winger

Would leave nothing alive in his wake.

Everywhere the havoc he wrought was in evidence.

Far and near, the Geat nation

Bore the brunt of his brutal assaults

And virulent hate. Then back to the hoard

He would dart before daybreak, to hide in his den.           2320

He had swinged the land, swathed it in flame,

In fire and burning, and now he felt secure

In the vaults of his burrow; but his trust was unavailing. (Beowulf, lines 2294-2323)