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It's the helmet of a hero, and when it was found, people were immediately reminded of the great Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf. Until 1939, it had been taken for granted that Beowulf was essentially fantasy, set in an imaginary world of warrior splendour and great feasts. The Sutton Hoo grave ship, with its cauldrons, drinking horns and musical instruments, its highly wrought weapons and lavish skins and furs, and not least its hoard of gold and silver, was evidence that 'Beowulf', far from being just poetic invention, was a surprisingly accurate memory of a splendid, lost, pre-literate world.
这是一副英雄的头盔，一经发现,人们便立刻联想起伟大的盎格 鲁-撒克逊史诗《贝奥武甫》。在1939年前，人们都理所当然地认为 《贝奥武甫》完全是虚构的，是一个想象中的由武士的荣耀与丰美的盛宴组成的世界。但萨顿胡船葬中发现的大锅、酒器、乐器、磨损严重的武器、大量的皮草与为数众多的金银财宝，都表明《贝奥武甫》绝不只是诗歌想象，而是对一个在文字出现之前就已存在、业已逝去的光辉世界的精确记忆。
Think for a moment of the helmet, decorated with animal motifs made out of gilded bronze and silver wire and bearing the marks of battle; now listen to the poet Seamus Heaney reading from 'Beowulf':
头盔上装饰着用镀金青铜制作的动物图案以及银线，带着战场厮杀的痕迹。看着它，再看看《贝奥武甫》中的描述：
"To guard his head he had a glittering helmet
为了护头他戴着闪亮的头盔
that was due to be muddied on the mere-bottom
将来必会被水底的淤泥污染
and blurred in the upswirl. It was of beaten gold,
还会被旋风卷得模糊 它用金箔打造
princely headgear hooped and hasped
王子般的帽子紧紧扣住
by a weapon-smith who had worked wonders
一个武器工匠创造的奇迹
in days gone by and adorned it with boar shapes;
饰以公猪
since then it had resisted every sword."
自此之后抵御刀剑无数
Clearly the Anglo-Saxon poet must have looked closely at something very like the Sutton Hoo helmet. Seamus Heaney was reading from his own translation of 'Beowulf' - what does the Sutton Hoo helmet mean to him now?:
很明显，这位盎格鲁-撒克逊诗人曾仔细观察过类似萨顿胡头盔的物品。我询问过诺贝尔文学奖得主、桂冠诗人、《贝奥武甫》的译者谢默斯希尼对萨顿胡头盔的看法：
"I never thought of the helmet in relation to any historical character. In my own imagination it arrives out of the world of Beowulf, and gleams at the centre of the poem and disappears back into the mound. The way to imagine it best is when it goes into the ground with the historical king, or whoever it was buried with, then its gleam under the earth gradually disappearing.
我从不觉得这头盔属于哪个历史人物。在我的想象中，它来自 《贝奥武甫》的世界，在诗章中闪耀，又消失于土丘。最好的方式是,想象它与某位历史上的国王或别的什么人一起入葬.然后它的光亮在泥土中慢慢暗淡。
