An Extract from Beowulf: the Description of the Monster Grendel

  wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,  

  mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold 

  fen ond fæsten; fifelcynnes eard         

  wonsæli wer weardode hwile         

  siþðan him Scyppend forscrifen hæfde.

In Modern English:

  That grim spirit was called Grendel,

  Famous waste-wanderer that held the moors

  The unhappy creature occupied for a while

  After the Creator had condemned them.

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