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The Ornamented Sword

[extract from Beowulf]

"the ornamented sword, forged on the anvil,
the razor sharp blade stained with blood,
shears through the boar-crested helmets of the enemy.
we shielded our heads in the fight.,
when soldiers clashed on foot, slashed at boar-crests.
and his head was guarded by the gleaming helmet
which was to explore the churning waters, stir their depths;
gold decorated it, and it was hung around with chains
as the weapon-smith had wrought it long before,
wondrously shaped it and beset it with boar images,
so that afterwards no battle-blade could do it damage"