Beowulf

By Digireads.com Publishing

Literary scholar, professor, and poet J. Lesslie Hall is best known for his 1897 translation of the Old English epic poem "Beowulf." The famous plot focuses on the titular character of Beowulf, a Scandinavian hero who comes to the aid of the Danes to save their land from a human-demon monster named Grendel. After defeating Grendel, Beowulf must then kill Grendel's mother. He returns to Scandinavia with more fame and accord and eventually becomes king. Then fifty years later, a dragon attacks his kingdom, and the hero must fight once again to defend his title and his honor. What makes "Beowulf" a lasting classic is its depiction of the Norse traditions and culture. The people have strong connections inherent within a kinship society; if someone was killed, it was the family's duty to exact justice or receive payment for the death. "Beowulf "also shows an interesting dichotomy between the Norse pagan religion of when the story is set paired with the monotheistic Christian storytellers. Many scholars debate the epic poem's true stance on religion, but the tale gives an accurate depiction of how paganism deteriorated as monotheism flourished. Regardless of the reader's intent, though, Lesslie Hall's translation of "Beowulf" is a must-read for anyone interested in classic Anglo-Saxon literature.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Digireads.com Publishing
• Release date: Feb 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9781420946550

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BEOWULF

AN ANGLO-SAXON EPIC POEM

Translated by J. LESSLIE HALL

Beowulf

Translated from the Heyne-Socin text by John Lesslie Hall

Print ISBN 13: 978-1-4209-4622-2

eBook ISBN 13: 978-1-4209-4655-0

This edition copyright © 2017. Digireads.com Publishing.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

PREFACE

ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF TRANSLATIONS

GLOSSARY OF PROPER NAMES

LIST OF WORDS AND PHRASES

BEOWULF

I. The Life and Death of Scyld.

II. Scyld’s Successors.—Hrothgar’s Great Mead-Hall.

III. Grendel the Murderer.

IV. Beowulf Goes to Hrothgar’s Assistance.

V. The Geats Reach Heorot.

VI. Beowulf Introduces Himself at the Palace.

VII. Hrothgar and Beowulf.

VIII. Hrothgar And Beowulf.—Continued.

IX. Unferth Taunts Beowulf.

X. Beowulf Silences Unferth.—Glee Is High.

XI. All Sleep Save One.

XII. Grendel and Beowulf.

XIII. Grendel Is Vanquished.

XIV. Rejoicing of the Danes.

XV. Hrothgar’s Gratitude.

XVI. Hrothgar Lavishes Gifts Upon His Deliverer.

XVII. Banquet (continued).—The Scop’s Song of Finn and Hnæf.

XVIII. The Finn Episode (continued).—The Banquet Continues.

XIX. Beowulf Receives Further Honor.

XX. The Mother of Grendel.

XXI. Hrothgar’s Account of the Monsters.

XXII. Beowulf Seeks Grendel’s Mother.

XXIII. Beowulf’s Fight With Grendel’s Mother.

XXIV. Beowulf Is Double-Conqueror.

XXV. Beowulf Brings His Trophies.—Hrothgar’s Gratitude.

XXVI. Hrothgar Moralizes.—Rest After Labor.

XXVII. Sorrow At Parting.

XXVIII. The Homeward Journey.—The Two Queens.

XXIX. Beowulf and Higelac.

XXX. Beowulf Narrates His Adventures to Higelac.

XXXI. Gift-Giving Is Mutual.

XXXII. The Hoard and the Dragon.

XXXIII. Brave Though Aged.—Reminiscences.

XXXIV. Beowulf Seeks the Dragon.—Beowulf’s Reminiscences.

XXXV. Reminiscences (continued).—Beowulf’s Last Battle.

XXXVI. Wiglaf the Trusty.—Beowulf Is Deserted By Friends and By Sword.

XXXVII. The Fatal Struggle.—Beowulf’s Last Moments.

XXXVIII. Wiglaf Plunders the Dragon’s Den.—Beowulf’s Death.

XXXIX. The Dead Foes.—Wiglaf’s Bitter Taunts.

XL. The Messenger of Death.

XLI. The Messenger’s Retrospect.

XLII. Wiglaf’s Sad Story.—The Hoard Carried Off.

XLIII. The Burning of Beowulf.

ADDENDA

Introduction

The literary history of England falls into two great divisions, commonly called medieval and modem but better named in terms of the Protestant Reformation, an upheaval which had revolutionary effects not only on English religious life but also on English literature, as indeed on every aspect of English civilization. The works of literary art which have come down to us from the England of pre-Reformation times vary markedly, of course, in many ways, but they go together at bottom: they are rooted and grounded in the Latin Christianity which dominated the culture of western Europe from the post-classical period to the sixteenth century. The Church, however, had grown up and taken form in the midst of a powerful pagan culture, the civilization of classical antiquity, and the Roman and Irish missions of the sixth and seventh centuries planted the Church of England in the midst of another pagan culture, that of the ancient Germanic peoples. The new religion did not scorn the literary tradition either of classical or of Germanic paganism. Aldhelm, the first Englishman to compose religious verse in Latin, and Cædmon, the first Englishman to compose religious verse in English, were contemporaries, and both followed essentially the same procedure. Each sang the praises of the Christian God in an artistic medium inherited from paganism. Each poured new wine into old bottles.

In one respect, nevertheless, the two pioneers differed greatly. Christian literature in the Latin tongue was no novelty when Aldhelm and Cædmon began to sing. On the contrary, by the seventh century a large body of Latin Christian prose and verse had come into being, and Aldhelm had many Christian as well as pagan literary models at his disposal; that is to say, his task was one of imitation rather than of innovation. Cædmon, on the other hand, showed great originality, an originality which deserves the name of genius, when he seized upon the inherited native English way of composing poetry and used it in making poems Christian in theme and spirit. Nothing of the kind had ever been thought of before, so far as we know, Cædmon himself, indeed, had had no thought of such a thing in his waking hours; his inspiration came to him in sleep, and took the form of a dream, in which a messenger of God made a poet of him and told him what to sing. It took a miracle to show Caedmon and his fellows that the native English poetical technique was worthy of use in serving God. One is reminded of St. Peter’s vision at Joppa, when he

saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter, kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. [Acts 10:11-15].

In the seventh century and for many centuries thereafter, Latin was the language of the Church of England. The Latin tongue was the tongue of God, the natural and proper medium for high and holy thoughts. English was associated with worldly matters, and the English way of making poetry in particular could hardly have been turned to religious purposes without a specific revelation from on high.

This revelation came to Cædmon, and its authenticity was duly accepted by the Church. In consequence, English poetry, from the earliest times of which we have record down to the Protestant Reformation, was predominantly religious poetry, and throughout Old English times this predominance was overwhelming. Or perhaps it would be safer to say that only a small part of the Old English verse which survives to us can be reckoned purely secular. The custom of using the vernacular, alongside Latin, for religious poetical purposes, spread to the Continent in the eighth century, thanks to the English missionaries who in that century converted the Germans to Christianity and reformed the Gallican Church. Cædmon, then, may be looked upon as the father, not only of English religious poetry, but also of the religious poetry in the vernaculars of continental Europe.

Here we are primarily concerned not with Old English religious poetry in general but with a particular poem: Beowulf. This poem holds a unique place in the literature of Europe. Its fundamentally Christian orientation is now widely recognized, and needs no discussion in this paper. Nevertheless, one cannot properly classify it as a religious poem in any strict or narrow sense. The action of the poem takes place in a part of ancient Germania and at a time thought of by the poet as ancient and therefore pagan. The characters are not Christians and know nothing of Christianity. The hero is a virtuous pagan. He is made as Christ-like as the setting permits, but all his virtues can be explained quite naturally as growing out of the heroic ideals of conduct traditional among the English as among the other Germanic peoples.

The monkish author, devout Christian though he is, finds much to admire in the pagan cultural tradition which, as an Englishman, he inherited from ancient Germania. It is his purpose to glorify this heroic heritage, this spiritual heirloom, this precious birthright of his nation. He accomplishes his purpose by laying stress upon those things in Germanic tradition which agree with Christianity or at any rate do not clash seriously with the Christian faith. In particular, his hero in all he says and does shows himself high-minded, gentle, and virtuous, a man dedicated to the heroic life, and the poet presents this life in terms of service: Beowulf serves his lord, his people, and all mankind, and in so doing he does not shrink from hardship, danger, and death itself. In many passages the poet’s own Christianity comes to the surface, most notably, perhaps, in the so-called sermon of the aged King Hrothgar, who out of the fullness of his wisdom warns the youthful hero against the sin of pride. But even here the king’s words, though obviously based on Christian teaching, are not put in specifically Christian terms, and most of the time the author keeps his Christianity below the surface. Nor does he falsify Germanic paganism by leaving out those features of it inconsistent with the Christian faith. Thus he puts in the mouth of Beowulf himself the following piece of pagan wisdom:

it is better for every man

to avenge his friend than to mourn much [l384b-1385]

The poet’s picture of the Germanic past is idealized but not distorted. The devil-worship of the Danes (as the medieval Christians conceived it to be) is mentioned with perfect frankness in a famous passage (lines 175 ff.). Anachronisms are fewer and less serious than one would expect in a poem of the eighth century. Indeed, perhaps the most remarkable though not the most important feature of the poem is the relatively high standard of historical accuracy which it maintains. The author was clearly a man learned in the traditional lore of his people, and concerned to tell the truth as he saw it.

We have seen that the earliest Christian poets of England, whether they composed in Latin or in English, took over the poetical manner traditional for the language of composition (and pagan in origin) but supplied their own matter: namely, Christian story or Christian teaching. For the matter handed down in the old pagan poetry they had no use; indeed, they objected strongly to what the old poets had to say, much though they admired and imitated their way of saying it. For illustration, I shall have to limit myself to two utterances of Alcuin, an Englishman of the eighth century best known for the help he gave Charlemagne in the so-called Carolingian revival of learning. In one of his poems, Alcuin compares the Song of Songs most favorably with the poetry of Virgil, saying,

I urge you, young man, to learn these canticles by heart. They are better by far than the songs of mendacious Virgil. They sing to you the precepts of life eternal; he in his wickedness will fill your ears with worthless lies.

Alcuin condemns with equal severity the stock of traditional story drawn upon by the English scops of his day. In a letter of his he has this to say about one of these stories:

What has Ingeld to do with Christ? Narrow is the room, and it cannot hold both. The heavenly king will have nothing to do with so-called kings, heathen and damned, because that king reigns in heaven, world without end, but the heathen one, damned, laments in hell.

This attitude toward pagan literature prevailed, on the whole, down to the rise of humanism in fourteenth-century Italy. The humanists, however, found admirable in, say, Cicero, not only his artistic skill as a writer of Latin prose, but also his philosophy of life. This widening of interest served to accentuate, in the humanists, the reverence for classical antiquity so characteristic of the Middle Ages in general. The new movement brought the cult of classicism to the verge of idolatry, and humanistic thinking may be looked upon as the last and most extreme phase of medieval idealization of classical culture.

Let us now go back to the Beowulf poet. It would hardly do to think of him as an eighth-century humanist, six hundred years before his time, since his interest lay, not in the philosophy of life of classical antiquity but in that of Germanic antiquity. Nevertheless his case is not unlike Petrarch’s in that both authors, Christians though they were, sought and found spiritual as well as stylistic values in a pagan literary culture; each in the particular culture which was his own by inheritance. In this matter the Beowulf poet did not stand alone. The author of Deor taught the virtue of patience under affliction by exempla drawn from pagan Germanic story, and the author of Maldon sang of a Christian lord and dright who fought and died for the faith, inspired and sustained by the same heroic ideals that their heathen forefathers had cherished. These ideals held their own to the very end of Old English times, and made many a man a hero in life and death not merely by force of ordinary tradition but also, and in large measure, by force of poetic tradition. The scops kept the old ideals strong by singing the heroes of the past. The very attack which Alcuin made on heroic story tells us that in his day the old songs were still sung even in the citadels of English Christian piety: the monasteries. Such performances became impossible, of course, after the monastic reform in the latter part of the tenth century, a reform which swept western Europe and established a more rigorous pattern of monkish life wherever it went. But the English monk of that same century who composed the poem on the Battle of Maldon still knew and loved the traditional poetry of his people, and we may be sure that he was one of many.{1}

The complex and sophisticated art of the Beowulf poet calls for

Reviews for Beowulf

[thorold_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The poemBeowulf is a tough sell. Not only has it traditionally been used by English departments around the world to break the spirit of newly-recruited undergraduates (who thought they had signed up for three years of Emily Dickinson and Virginia Woolf, only to find themselves out on the parade-ground practicing their Old English sound-shifts for month after month...), but also, when you get down to it, it turns out to be a poem about a macho muscle-man who spends his time - when not quaffing mead - either ripping monsters limb from limb or swimming long distances in full armour. Told completely straight, without any discernible trace of irony. Well, not exactly my cup of tea...Skimming through the introduction of the Bolton & Wrenn critical text, it turns out that we know surprisingly little about what must be one of the most-studied poems in the canon. It has survived in only one manuscript, the famous "British Museum Cotton Vitellius A XV" (bizarrely, the emperor Vitellius comes into it because it's his bust that stands on top of that particular bookcase). In fact, there are very few Old English texts that survive as multiple copies, so this uniqueness isn't unusual in itself. The manuscript seems to have been written around the year 1000, and textual evidence suggests that it's at least the third generation of copies since the poem was first written down. When and where that was is hotly disputed, but Mercia in the second half of the 8th century is a strong possibility. The action of the poem is set in a pre-Christian past in Denmark and Southern Sweden (with some mention of actual historical figures from the time), whilst the poet is obviously from a Christian background and refers quite freely to the Old Testament. What I found most surprising was to discover that the poem was not conspicuously a "classic" in its own time: we don't have any other contemporary references to it (apart from the "Finnesburg fragment", a single page of MS that seems to come from a different version of part of the same story), and as far as anyone can tell it fell completely off the radar of English literature between the end of the Old English period and the time around 650 years later when the first modern scholars became interested in Old English manuscripts and discovered this poem, bound in with a prose translation of St Augustine. So Beowulf is only part of the history of English literature with hindsight.The Heaney translationSeamus Heaney, of course, saw it as rather more than a philological crossword puzzle or a Boys' Own adventure story, otherwise he wouldn't have bothered with it. He points us in particular at the last part of the poem, where the elderly (70+) hero decides that he owes it to his people to take on one last dragon, even though it will certainly cost him his life. And indeed, the anonymous poet deals with the complex emotions involved here a little less brusquely than he does elsewhere - but this isn't Shakespearean drama, and we shouldn't expect it to be.What Heaney is really interested in, I think, is the poetical challenge of finding something in modern English that has the same magically seductive sound quality as Old English alliterative verse (which always sounds magnificent, even if you haven't a clue what it means...). And, of course, being Seamus Heaney, he decides to imagine the voices of the poem as if they came from the Northern Ireland farmers of his own sound-world, puts these into a slightly looser form of the Old English two-stress half-lines, and succeeds brilliantly. This translation is a poem that you just have to read aloud, even if there's no way that you can find any sympathy for Beowulf as a character.

[terpsichoreus · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

There are different ways to translate, and it comes down to what you want to get across. Most creative authors have such a strong voice and sense of story that they will overwhelm the original author. As Bentley wrote of Pope's Iliad: "It is a pretty poem, Mr. Pope, but you must not call it Homer".Sometimes this sort of indirect translation is useful in itself, such as during the transition of the Renaissance from Italy to Britain. Many of the British poets rewrote Italian ...more There are different ways to translate, and it comes down to what you want to get across. Most creative authors have such a strong voice and sense of story that they will overwhelm the original author. As Bentley wrote of Pope's Iliad: "It is a pretty poem, Mr. Pope, but you must not call it Homer".Sometimes this sort of indirect translation is useful in itself, such as during the transition of the Renaissance from Italy to Britain. Many of the British poets rewrote Italian sonnets into English, and though the line of descent was unquestionable, the progeny was it's own work. Another example might be the digestion of Wuxia and Anime into films such as Tarantino's or The Matrix (though Tarantino's sense of propriety is often suspect).However, in these cases, we can hardly call the new work a translation of the old. You are not experiencing the old work but the inspiration it has wrought. Beowulf is just this sort of translation, capturing the excitement and passion of the story, but obliterating the details which make the work interesting to students of history or literary theory.Heaney's translation is a fun, rollicking epic, able to draw in even uninitiated students, which is no doubt why it is now included in Norton. Unfortunately, it is not a particularly useful tool for teaching the importance of the original work. Heaney severs many connections to the unique world of Beowulf.As the only surviving epic from its time, place, and tradition, Beowulf is a unique vision into a pre-Christian culture outside of the Mediterranean. Though the poem shows Christian revisions, these stand out in stark contrast to the rest of the work, and can usually be easily excised, unlike many pervasive Christian impositions on the 'pagan' cultures.Heaney is not a philologist nor a historian, but a popular poet. He doesn't have the background for conscientious translation, and the clearest sign that his translation is haphazard is the fact that there are no footnotes explaining the difficult decisions that most translators have to make in every line. Heaney also loses much of the alliteration and appositives that marked the artistry of the original.A Beowulf that can exist without context is a Beowulf that has well and truly been separated from its past. Perhaps his translation is suitable for an introduction to the work, but a good professor should be able to teach the original without much difficulty.Then again, perhaps the inclusion of this version in college classes has to do with the fact that college is no longer the path for scholars, but has been given the same equality treatment as art and poetry. College is now meant for your average, half-literate frat boy who only wants a BA so he can be a mid-level retail manager.Heaney's translation certainly suits for them, since it is the easiest version of the story this side of a digital Angelina. It's fun and exciting, certainly worth a read, but doesn't stand up as a translation.

[eoin-311239 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

So, Heaney wins the Nobel, leaves Harvard, and decides to do this. Best seller, agreed new standard, best translation. Why? He’s not an Old English scholar, not a philologist as such. He was already rich and famous.

I have two guesses:
1. He had already written so much of his own work, he was looking into new sources, translation being a good one. Fine, probably true.
2. Revenge. England conquered Ireland, crushing out the native culture and language as best they could for hundreds of years. Early 20th century, Ireland attempts to reclaim language and culture, including political independence. Except where Heaney is from in the North. So, how do you conquer the conqueror hundreds of years later? You take their language and use it against them. Like Joyce, but instead of moving further ahead, he goes back to the beginning. Translates the oldest English there is into 20th century Irish dialect English.

[sloopjonb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I had this book on my shelves for 20 years before reading it. I really shouldn't have left it that long. Heaney's translation brings the old poem to life, blowing off the cobwebs of nearly two hundred years of it being studied rather than read. His translation was contentious, especially with Angl0-Saxon purists, but I have no complaints to make; he manages to make the old words meaningful, and evokes marvellously the atmosphere of a society that was long gone even when the poem was written.Of course one cannot discuss Beowulf without mentioning Tolkien; as Heaney acknowledges, he was the first to treat the poem as literature rather than merely an ancient artefact. Every Tolkien fan should read this; they will understand him much better, and they will find therein the originals of many scenes and phrases in his works.

[tldegray-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A beautiful translation.

[antao-3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

(Original Review, 2001-02-20)If you are familiar with the Hindu myth-kitty though, you may also find parallels between “Beowulf” and the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. When Jambavan spends a lot of time telling Hanuman about how great he is, to induce him to jump to Lanka in search of Sita, or Arjun surveys the array of warriors against him, described in some detail, leading to the Bhagavad Gita, or the Pandavas' "advisor" at Draupadi's swayamvar asks the unknown Karna to declare his lineage and rank.In Beowulf, where the eponymous protagonist has to be introduced by his history in order to be considered worthy of being received in Hrothgar's halls, and able to, perhaps, take his chances against Grendel. Thorsten Verblen's, in his model of conspicuous consumption, suggested that in societies, or social conditions, that were not stable a man could only gain status by his reputation and by what he carried with him: his arms, his abilities and his history. It is a theory that applies to the bling culture of hip-hop, where alas, lives can be dramatically shortened, as much as to the Bronze Age and Iron Age world's of chiefdoms and agriculturists versus nomads. Women were acquired by raids, but there was enough spare, or surplus, labour available for ancillary crafts to develop: goldsmithery, ironmongery and the like. In such conditions, a man meeting a stranger or a putative enemy, would be likely to show off his armour and then show off further by talking about who he was, both his history and his lineage. Like Buffaloes sizing each other up before fighting, it may have been a way of reducing the number of fights that had to occur.Let us not forget the fate of Patroclus, who deliberately rode around in Achilles' bling and therefore got caught in a drive-by assassination. Had he been in a Prius instead of his black, silver-wheeled, borrowed SUV, he might have lived...It reminds me of the peaceful moment of the Bhagavad Gita from the Mahabharata just before the great battle of Kurukshetra, though of course Arjuna and Krishna are on the same side.Celtic kingdoms, Saxon kingdoms, Anglo-Norman kingdoms, were ALL European kingdoms. There was no hard border between mainland Britain and the rest of Europe. Kings ruled territories on both sides of the channel in joint jurisdictions. Laws and customs, language, arts and religion were common, in overlapping webs. The Celtic (that is British, or Welsh) and the Saes/Saxon peoples were not 'barbaric'. They were civilised, literate cultures, with highly organised governments, law codes, religion and arts.The group which was 'barbaric' was the 'Normans'. These were a rabble of raiders, adventurers, thieves and pirates, drawn together to loot other peoples. They were illiterate, depending on the monks of those they conquered to keep their records. Their law codes were truly barbaric, vastly inferior to the British and the Saxons, who operated on a system of compensation payments (fines). It was the Normans who imposed amputation, tortures, and increased executions. They were supreme in violence only, inheriting the worst of Viking culture without its balancing qualities, as the Normans were the misfits and rejects. What they were also good at was propaganda. Their bards sang wholly fabricated histories claiming an honourable ancestry for a united people that didn't exist. There were no 'Normans' until the bards constructed the myth of them as the raiders conquests grew successful.This is the 'people' who spawned the British ruling class. The British ruling class keeps books that trace their genealogy proudly 'back to the Conquest'. They were violent thugs, the vermin of Europe, who grabbed and stole, then dressed it all up in myths of propaganda. They haven't changed. Just like the rest of Europe, namely in Portugal...I wonder what the Britons thought about the invading Anglo-Saxons. Were they any better? The difference is, we have very few records to tell us what they thought. The invaders came in sufficient numbers that over a period of centuries their language replaced the native language, and so over time the Brits ended up with a weird sense that the Anglo-Saxon invaders were "Britons", but later Norman invaders were "them", because there weren't enough of them to replace the language of the Anglo-Saxon invaders (although enough to give us 1/3 of the English vocabulary).What did the Britons think about the Saxons (who didn't invade, but simply switch roles from mercenaries to usurpers...)? Actually we know exactly what the British thought of the Saes - they loathed them. See “Armes Prydain” and other works of the time. There was no worse insult than to be called a Saes - Saxon. The native British were culturally superior if only because settlers come as younger sons, or people who are unsuccessful at home, less educated, less cultured. You don't invade and crush natives by singing pretty songs. Compare “Beowulf” with the “Mabinogi” and the gulf is huge - like comparing drinking songs with Shakespeare.It's also inaccurate that the Saes replaced the British. Genetics say otherwise and the story is mixed. In some places it was violent takeover. In others it was trade, marriage, settlement. Coexistence is now the new historical understanding. Brits were mainly herders so held to the high ground and you can still see their place names across 'England' today in higher areas. The Saes were grain farmers who lived on lowland clays so their names survive there. The Saes were not as educated as the Brits. Alfred imported monks from the Cymru (Wales) led by Asser, to teach his people to read and write. Alfred was a visionary, like the later Guillaum le Batard of Normandy. But their peoples were less savoury, especially the Normans who practised genocide to terrify the natives. The whole of Yorkshire was depopulated, half of Pembrokeshire, and a large area of the Scots border. Massacres, or else driven out into destitution. On the second the British ruling class has not changed, still driving people into poverty and homelessness, just like the rest of Europe, namely in Portugal...The English called themselves English from at least the sixth or seventh century on. It was the Normans and their successors who coined the term Anglo Saxon to describe them. All part of the attempt to legitimise their conquest and pretend that they were the rightful rulers of the kingdom and its confiscated estates; and that English history started with them. That's why they promoted the Arthurian myth and tried to pretend they were its heirs - in order to try to write the English out of the story. And why they immediately knocked down the English Abbeys and cathedrals and rebuilt them in their own style.

[benuathanasia · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this the first time in college. Then, I enjoyed the incredible rush of the adventure. This time around reading it, I ignored the forest to focus on the trees; I inhaled the beautiful poetry of the language. A wonderful, timeless adventure.

[sasham-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I would have loved to have a glossary with in this book with a few explanations of some words and maybe a summary because the poetical form can make the story hard to follow

[qatarjj · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This poem has been around for about 1200 years so you know it's got to be good.

I can't help wonder how much the original oral version changed with the telling and retelling until some anonymous monk committed the story to paper, or at least vellum. I suspect he added his own touches, converting the pagan Northmen to Christians! Also how many stories did Beowulf influence? JRR Tolkien was something of a subject matter expert on Beowulf so it probably shaped the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

[maowangvater · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The mighty young hero of the Geats rescues the Danes from two hellish monsters that are slaughtering their warriors as they sleep in the royal banquet hall. Then heaped in glory and treasure he returns home to become, in his old age, king and dragon-slayer: the final glorious deed that ends his life. Raffel's translation into vivid alliterative modern English is vivid and exciting. The new afterword lauds how well this translation has stood the test of time, and how many recent adaptations of the poem have been published since then (including the icky 2007 movie). Frank also writes that this earliest epic did not enter the canon of English literature until the late nineteenth century.

[kurt.rocourt · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Good story.

[cecrow · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm a bit shamed to rate this below average, perceiving its value as a historical artifact, but as literature in terms of content it doesn't amount to much more than a curiosity piece. Such perfectly crafted heroes are now denigrated so the model doesn't serve, and the story reads like the tale of a hubris bubble that never gets popped. That said, I'm glad to have taken the few minutes required to breeze through a modern translation for discussion purposes. I suspect a less wooden ear than mine for poetry, and wearing more patience, may perceive greater magic in its original form.

[josephtate_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent, excellent translation.

[liz1564 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Beowulf translated by Stephen Mitchell was sent to me by Yale University Press via NetGalley. Thank you.This Beowulf by Stephen Mitchell is an very entertaining translation, The adjective that comes to my mind is "robust." The narrative is straightforward and the flashbacks and foreshadowing are not awkward and do not stop the forward movement of the story. I taught Beowulf for many years to high school students and I wish I had this version. The literature anthology I used had the Kennedy translation which I personally love for it lyric imagery. In Kennedy, the lines about Grendel approaching Heorot (lines 678-680) are "From the stretching moors, from the misty hollows, Grendel came creeping, accursed of God." The Mitchell translation renders the same lines as " Then up from the moor, in a veil of mist, Grendel came slouching. He bore God's wrath." I like the former, but I know my students would have preferred the latter.In the end, whether it be Mitchell, Seamus Heaney, Charles Kennedy or E. Donaldson, all translations of Beowulf are a good thing. I am sure the scops who entertained their listeners during the black nights in the cold north would each have put his own spin on the story. Make it beautiful or make it bloody. One thing is for sure. Beowulf can never be boring.Some very nice addition sto the Mitchell translation are the addition of maps, genealogical charts and a list of characters and place names with pronunciations.

[multifaceted_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

So. Beowulf. I have absolutely no knowledge of Old English--so I can't even begin to understand the original text on the even numbers of the pages--but I will say that it was fun to look over every now and then, sound out some of the real Old English words, and see where some of our words eventually evolved from. Heaney's translation, on the other hand, was pretty great, although I don't have any other versions to compare to. It was a fast paced read; after all, the original poet managed to pack 50 years and some royal feuds into 3000+ lines. Sometimes the reading goes so fast that I find myself stopping, looking back and trying to take in the complex poetic elements that Heaney managed to keep within the work, such as alliteration of one or two words within the two separate sections of a line; something that is very much in line with some of the elements Viking poets originally employed in their own language, as well. I kind of wished Heaney would have kept more of the kennings, though. Even though it can make reading more obtuse, I find it says just as much about the author and the times as it does about the person or thing the kenning is describing.The story itself is pretty simple; it's a fast paced tale of lords and changing kings, great deeds, and the eventual inevitability of death--it kind of makes me think of Gilgamesh, in a way. The "moral" I took from it was not only the unavoidable, eventual decline and death of life, but also of countries. The only slightly confusing thing for me was the descriptions of long-standing feuds between peoples, since I haven't had much of any experience with that part of history or the geography of the feuds outside of this story. I found the story a really interesting combination of Christian and Pagan beliefs. There's the beliefs in giants and monsters, only they're attributed to something such as a pre-flood like sinful, heathen time (in the case of the giants) or as the demonic offspring of Cain, the man cast out by God as the killer of his brother. There's mentions of things that have their roots in Norse myths, such as the "Brosinga" necklace around line 1197 (originally the Brisingamen, the necklace of the goddess Freyja once stolen by the god Loki), the story of Sigmund beginning at 884 (very similar to the Norse story of Sigurd, Sigmund's son, where the gold guarded by the dragon was begotten by a few of the Aesir gods from the dwarves, and cursed by the latter), or the mention of weapons engraved with "worm-loops" at 1532 (this recalls to mind Jormungand, the Midgard serpent who encircles the world, biting on his own tail). In Beowulf, most of these side stories are attributed to kings and queens alone, with no mention of gods. Then there's the mark of the Shieldings--the boar on their banners and helmets recalls the animal the Vanir god Freyr is often associated with keeping by his side or as the object of his sacrifices. Of course, Freyr was the god called upon for prosperity and protection in battle. And the most prominent thing of all; one of the most common "kennings" used for God in Beowulf is also one of the names for Odin--All-father.Oh! One more thing that stuck out to me was the women in Beowulf. I was intrigued by how often women figured in the Eddas--as goddesses, as Norns who wove fates, as Valkyries who chose the battle-slain, as the prophetic Volvas, and they were even pivotal characters in quite a few of the heroic lays. Beowulf, sadly, feels more like a reality. The women dole out the mead and maybe one or two of the smaller gifts to the heroes, and daughters are passed along as prizes to heroic lords or as a peace-treaty to kings of nearby nations. This obviously works out very well, right? And by "very well" I mean "hardly at all". Thanks, dad.

[malarchy_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Penguin Epics edition of Beowulf is a 117 page translation in verse form by Michael Alexander. It is the same translation as the Penguin Classics edition but does not contain the additional contextual information.Beowulf is of course the legendary Old English epic written probably over a thousand years ago. It is a Scandic tale rather than an English one, the action taking place in the lands of various Scandic and Germanic factions. What makes it special is its existence as such a great early Old English work. What makes it epic is that Beowulf tells a series of outstanding adventures captured in the literary style of the Germanic peoples who populated northern Europe including Eastern Britain.There are various translations of Beowulf. This translation makes a very interesting judgement call. It retains a lot of the Germanic sentence structure rather than aiming for a more readable style to modern English users. This makes for a tough read at times in English but a more natural fit in terms of sub-clause use and verb positioning for those familiar with German and its most closely related languages. After a while the more complex composition becomes increasingly readable to the point where a reader can find ease in the word order patterns.There are occasional points to criticise in the translation. In particular the translation of the word Wyrd. It is hard to skip over the translation of Wyrd as Weird because it makes no sense in modern English. Fate would have been a better translation. It is particularly difficult to skip over when used around the adventure with the dragon give the proximity of Old English Wyrm and Wyrd. Why one has the modern English translation and not the other is hard to follow.Still, the translation by Michael Alexander is rich and evocative. It is hard to describe the times and places of Beowulf but the Epics edition does a decent enough job.The story itself is of course outstanding. It is the 15th book in the Penguin Epics collection and comes much later than some of the earlier works in the series. The later nature makes it a much more advanced work than those which have come before except perhaps Cupid & Psyche. What makes it so distinct is the crossover of symbolism, heroic deed, and societal structure. The bonds between people are much more organic than in more ancient literature.It helps that Beowulf is not just fiction but the elements that may be fictitious are still gripping. The battles against Grendel is surprisingly short, Beowulf defeating Grendel in their first combat. Grendel's mother offers another foe for Beowulf but he is able to defeat both of them. He does so in different circumstances. The battle with Grendel taking place in the familiar surroundings of a great hall. The battle with Grendel's mother however is more fantastic. This battle is much more of an adventure into legend with the fight itself taking place underwater, where Beowulf would in reality have stood no chance.That there is a distinction between a more real environment for the battle with Grendel and a fabulous one in combat with Grendel's mother could suggest slightly different traditions. Was Grendel real?The possibility of reality exists because of the non-fiction elements of the work. The battles against Frisians and the Battle on the Ice being parts of the sequence of wars in northern Europe.That Beowulf himself is a Geat is fascinating. It is thrilling to have a work of this quality preserve a tale from a defeated people. As a people now culturally assimilated into Swedes, it is really exciting to hear their voice from an elder time.Beowulf's ultimate demise comes in battle with a dragon. His men are not brave enough to take on the great wyrm but Beowulf and the dragon are each other's match. It is a terrific fight and a great way for a hero to go.Beowulf's Christian nature is a little odd. He initially is presented as a Christian hero which does not fit with the Christianisation of the region. There is only limited reference to Christianity as the work progresses. It seems as though the religious element was a later addition. It certainly is not enough of an addition to erode the references to traditional Scandic society and culture.The influence of this great work on more modern literature is entirely obvious. Tolkien lifted not just ideas and themes from Beowulf even character names. The most famous author in the fantasy genre turns out to have written tales that could almost be sequels to this old epic.The Penguin Epics edition does not contain any additional information other than the work itself. It fits within the Penguin Epics Collection. The Penguin Classics version apparently contains a bit more. This absence does no real harm to the work at all for those familiar with north European mythology or history, or indeed for those able to do a bit of follow-up research themselves.Beowulf is a must read for everyone. Which edition to choose is a matter of choice. This offering was a good choice for this reader.

[sweetbriarpoet · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A beautiful poem. I have been meaning to read this for years- and thought it would require a deeper understanding of Old English to really capture the essence of the poem. If you are worried about this, I suggest reading Seamus Heaney's translation. He is such an amazing poet (my absolute favorite) and his knowledge of Old English means you get a meaningful translation which really allows you to just enjoy the story.

[bryndahlquis · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was very surprised at the ease with which I read this great epic poem. I expected it to be very hard to get through and keep focused on, but it's actually a very straightforward story. Lots of action, and lots and lots of random little stories thrown in.This is the only version of Beowulf I've read, but from the snippets I've seen of other versions, this would probably be my favorite.

[lisamaria_c · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a surprisingly speedy, easy and enjoyable read--for which Heaney, the translator, deserves a lot of credit. Especially given this is a verse translation. I've found that I have preferred prose translations of Homer and Dante because those trying to be true to alliteration, meter and rhyme often feel forced, awkward and occlude the meaning. It probably helped that Heaney is a distinguished poet in his own right; his translation was fluid, with a rhythm and tone somewhere between Homer and Tolkien in feel. And the story is fun, a Pagan tale set mostly in Dark Ages Denmark with Christian interjections by the original poet who probably was a monk writing anywhere between the mid-seventh to the end of the tenth century. There are monsters, notably Grendel and a dragon with his horde. What's not to love?And a translation is needed. I read a bilingual edition, with the original Old English (Anglo-Saxon) and modern English translation side by side. Knowing Spanish I often can make out the gist of passages in Portuguese, Italian or even French. And though it's not easy, I can get Chaucer, in Middle English, even if I prefer a translation there too. I was surprised really at how indecipherable I found the Anglo-Saxon of Beowulf. All the more reason to appreciate Heaney's achievement.

[bezoar44 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This translation (by Seamus Heaney) of Beowulf has a plain-spoken elegance. The layout - original Anglo-Saxon on the left page, Heaney translation on the right -- makes it possible to read the original poem aloud for its gorgeous alliteration and rolling rhythm. Still, the world of the poem is dismal. Life is hard; death is fated. Men kill one another, or monsters kill them. Everyone is so poor (by modern standards) that an individual shirt of ring-mail is a family heirloom, handed down for generations, or given by a king to a follower as a major mark of favor. In such a world, listening to good poetry might be one of the few lasting pleasures. The story of Beowulf is tedious; the poetry, transcendent.

[thedivineoomba · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

So, I found this version of Beowulf in the clearance bin of a used book store. I picked it up thinking this is a book I should read - and, it surpassed all expectation.I read the initial part of Beowulf in highschool - wear he fights Grendel and his mother. At the time, I wasn't interested. It was hard going, and it didn't really stick with me. But this new translation maintained the verse form while keeping mostly true to the original translation (this is my non-expert opinion. I don't read old English, so can't really say). It totally opened my eyes into the world of England in the year 1000 or so, with knights and armour, and chivalry and all that. Its fun, its exciting, and totally a different age and values than what I am used to.Highly recommended.

[pferdina · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If you are like me, you haven't read Beowulf since high school and your memory of the story is probably pretty bad. I found reading this translation very enjoyable, and I loved having the "original" version printed opposite the translation (even though I couldn't read it).

[csayban · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Sigh. I know, I know. This is the oldest English language story and the inspiration for The Lord of the Rings and Chuck Norris Beowulf is such a monster killing machine and… That’s great. Unfortunately, if you take all that away and someone wrote it now it would be a painfully predictable, plodding bore filled with WAY too much expository dialog and a list of characters that are neigh impossible to follow – except for Chuck Beowulf who bench-press mountains and sneezes lightning. This was arduous to try and get through – Shakespeare on Ritalin kind of arduous – because there was never a single doubt about what was going to happen or any emotional stake in the characters. I do enjoy reading difficult pieces of fiction. However, difficult and boring is a really bad combination. I know I’m supposed to like things like this, but I missed the boat on this one.

[dylkit · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm actually reading the illustrated edition this time, and it is such a treat. I wish I had a fire to curl up beside and shut out the rest of the world. I can't help it, I get excited over photos of rusty old swords...

Update: I closed the covers tonight. This is an absolutely gorgeous edition, with plenty of endnotes that give small glimpses in Beowulf's world. The only small quibble I have is that there is no side by side translation in this edition, and I do like to see the Anglo-Saxon.

[jspringbrinkley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I've read different translations, this one is my favorite. Take your time reading it, let yourself be taken back to a time when the edges of the Earth were unknown and the sea was a place of monsters and myth. A good story takes you on an adventure, and this an adventure I've taken several times and it never gets old.

[a.witt · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have never enjoyed a poem so thoroughly in my life. Beowulf was fascinating, beautiful, epic, and thought-provoking from beginning to end. And I am not just some sappy professor who thinks all the classics are inherently perfect. I'm a teenage girl, and I loved it.

[helenliz_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another re-read prompted by the desert island books conversation. this is just fabulous. I know the original derives from a oral tradition, and I feel that this is designed to be read aloud, not to oneself. the meter is unlike the iambic rhythm we're so used to now, but the alliteration works and the lines sort of trip of the tongue. It's never a dull "te tum te tum te tum" thing - the words almost have a life of their own.
Add to that it's a swashbuckling story from the heroic to the unbearably sad and it just sweeps you away. Takes a bit of concentration, but that's no bad thing in a book.

[indreamsawake · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Read this in two different college classes, the first with a terrible professor and I hated it, the second time with a wonderful professor and I loved it! There is something to be said for teaching style.

[lhlogan1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Classically good and classically fun.

[lovinglit · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This translated version has the Olde English verse written on the left page, and the modern English verse on the right page. As Heaney states in the introduction, he has tried with this translation to keep the language simple and as the original intended the meaning to be. He favoured meaning over rhyme, and as a consequence there is little rhyme. But the rhythm is certainly there and it reads very well. I was surprised at how accessible the story was, and how drawn in I was. There seemed to be some glaringly obvious similarities in storyline to The Hobbit...I am unsure as to whether this has been stated before I came to the conclusion, but is seemed so to me. The parts of the story that did get complicated were the family lineages and connections. But that didn't detract from the legend of Beowulf being as grand and fearsome as ever