A passage from Tom Shippey’s translation of The Fortunes of Men from his Poems of Wisdom and Learning in Old English (I also give the full poem at bottom since there aren’t many versions readily available online).
One, in the woods, will fall from a high tree; he has no wings, but flies nevertheless, twists and turns in the air, till he no longer hangs on the tree like fruit. Then he falls to the ground, crashes down to the roots with despair in his heart; his soul is snatched away, his life leaves him.
In his introduction Shippey describes the poet here as “sportive as he shows us a human being gripped by gravity, killing himself in a fall. For a moment there is the sense of freedom, even wish-fulfilment, as the man is in free fall, in flight, turns in the air (‘bið on flihte seþeah, laceð on lyfte’). Then the universe reasserts itself, as he lands on the tree-root. In this as in several other of the tableaux there is an element of indignity, as people, instead of dying bravely or gallantly, die in disgrace or through clumsiness, or do not die at all but survive to know their own pain and weakness.”
Shippey falls to the traditional interpretive line that the poem centers on man’s helplessness (“The whole poem invites the paraphrase: ‘These are the fortunes of men. There is nothing to be done about them.”), but there is a recent suggestion by Leonard Neidorf in The Structure and Theme of The Fortunes of Men that – borrowing the abstract – “This article challenges the notion that the catalogues comprising The Fortunes of Men are structured around the theme of man’s helplessness. It argues, contrary to the claims of the poem’s didactic commentary, that the catalogues are actually organized around the theme of control and mastery: the catalogue of misfortunes focuses on what happens when humans fail to control themselves and their environments, whereas the catalogue of positive fortunes focuses on what happens when humans control their impulses and achieve mastery over the raw materials of their environment. The discrepancy between the catalogues and the commentary is explained with the hypothesis that the catalogues might derive from a traditional wisdom poem that circulated orally prior to the composition of The Fortunes of Men.” That last bit is especially interesting for someone coming from a Homeric background so I give his summary conclusion as well:
…. Incoherence in an Old English poem such as Fortunes might reflect tension not between paganism and Christianity, but between tradition and innovation, that is, between the traditional context in which a poem’s material was developed and the innovative purpose to which a later poet might put it. Because the catalogue core of Fortunes is organized largely around the theme of control and mastery, it is probable that it was originally used to stress the importance of discipline and moderation, two virtues that are commonly extolled in sapiential literature. Why an Old English poet should decide to appropriate a traditional catalogue of this sort and use it to make the point that mortals are powerless and God is in charge is something of a mystery. It is possible that in a culture where poets constantly repurposed traditional material, there was greater toleration for the kinds of incoherence that might result, and the poet saw nothing wrong with the incongruity between the catalogue core and the didactic commentary. Alternatively, it is possible that the resultant incongruity was precisely the effect that the poet sought to create. By taking a traditional catalogue and imposing an antithetical moral upon it, the poet of Fortunes creates a paradoxical work that conveys the mysteriousness of life. In this reading, the incongruity remains a real and essential part of the poem, but it would result not from haste or carelessness, but from a deliberate attempt to compose a poem that would instill a sense of profound wonder in its audience. Future literary critics concerned with Fortunes will have to decide which of these two scenarios accords better with their understanding of the poem.
And now the poem itself:
The Fortunes of Men
It happens very often, through God’s power, that a man and woman have children, bringing them into the world through birth and clothing them in fleshly form,’ coaxing and cherishing, until with the passing of many years the time comes that the young limbs, the members they gave life to, have grown to maturity. In this way the father and mother carry their children and lead them, give them things and provide for them. Only God knows what winters will bring them as they grow It happens to some unlucky men that the end of their lives comes unhappily in youth. One of them the wolf, the grey heath-prowler, will eat; then his mother will mourn his death. Such things are not under human control.Hunger will destroy one, a storm will drive another to death; the spear will kill one off, battle beat down the next. Another will have to live his life without light, groping about with his hands; or, too weak to walk, ill from aches in the joints, will grumble about the pain, complain in depression about his fate. One, in the woods, will fall from a high tree; he has no wings, but flies nevertheless, twists and turns in the air, till he no longer hangs on the tree like fruit. Then he falls to the ground, crashes down to the roots with despair in his heart; his soul is snatched away, his life leaves him.
Another man will be forced to travel far-off ways on foot, carrying his food, will have to tread the dangerous earth of foreigners along wet tracks; he has few people alive to look after him, is disliked in all places because of his misfortunes, a friendless man. Another will have to ride the broad gallows, at his death he hangs until his body, the casket of blood and bones that locks up his soul, has rotted to pieces.
Then the raven takes the eyes from his head, the black-feathered creature pecks at the dead man; nor can he defend himself from that outrage with his hands, beat off the hated attacker from the air. His spirit has gone, without hope of life he hangs insensible and pallid on the tree; surrounded by a deadly miasma he endures his destiny. His name is cursed.
Flames will torment another in a fire, the dangerous blaze consumes the doomed
man. There he parts with life quickly, the cruel coals burn red. The woman weeps, who sees the flames enveloping her son. The edge of the sword drives out life from another on the mead-bench, from the angry ale-swiller, the man full of wine. He has been too free with his words. Another turns into a man excited by mead and the beer the servant brings. Then he knows no moderation, cannot set a limit to his mouth by will-power, 5 but will have to lose his life most wretchedly, endure the pain of losing his lord, 6 be stripped of any happiness. And men say he killed him-self, openly put the blame on what the alcoholic drank.
Another, through the power of God, will in his youth obliterate all his harsh ex-perience, and then be fortunate in old age, living happy days and enjoying prosper-ity, riches and the mead-cup in the home of his family, as much as any man may be able to keep on having these.
In this way the mighty Lord shares things out in different ways to everyone across the world’s expanse. He allocates, he decrees, he maintains the nature of things: riches to one, hardship to another; to one pleasure in youth, to another fame in battle, mastery of the game of war; one is good at throwing or shooting, gains glory and splendour, another has skill at games, knows the tricks of the chequer-board. Some become wise scholars. For some marvellous gifts are prepared by the goldsmith. Often the powerful king’s servant hardens metal and puts fine decoration on it, for which the king gives him broad lands as a reward. He accepts it happily.
Another, in a crowd, will please warriors, entertain them as they sit with their beer on benches; there is great pleasure there for the men as they drink. Another will sit at his lord’s feet with a harp, and be given money; he always plucks the harp-strings with bravura, lets the leaping plectrum cry out, the nail ring in harmony. & He shows great verve.
Another will tame the wild, proud bird, the hawk in his hands, until the taloned-swallow becomes obedient. He puts varvels on it, feeds the strong-winged bird while
it is tied, weakens the swift creature by giving it small morsels, until the gerfalcon is humbled by its dress and by what its provider does, is taught to return to the hands of the warrior.
In this wonderful way the Lord of hosts and Saviour created and allocated skills of men throughout the world, sent everyone on earth of human race his own nature.
So let everyone thank him now for everything that he has decreed for men through his mercy
Extracts 