The article is based on the contemporary linguocultural approach toward the notion of diachronic translation, which allows to involve the interlingual translations of archaic texts into the sphere of studying the problem of retaining their national, historical and cultural identity by means of another language. The focus of the research is made on the means of rendering the specific for the present-day perception deontic shades of the meanings of the Old English verbs ‘magan’ in the Russian translation of the heroic epic «Beowulf» by V.G.Tikhomirov. The given examples are regarded as key ones for the understanding of the context-pragmatic senses of the statements that constitute an essential part of the Old Germanic ideology and culture.