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Composed toward the end of the first millennium of our era, Beowulf is the elegiac narrative of the adventures of Beowulf, a Scandinavian hero who saves the Danes from the seemingly invincible monster Grendel and, later, from Grendel's mother. He then returns to his own country and dies in old age in a vivid fight against a dragon. The poem is about encountering the monstrous, defeating it, and then having to live on in the exhausted aftermath. In the contours of this story, at once remote and uncannily familiar at the end of the twentieth century, Seamus Heaney finds a resonance that summons power to the poetry from deep beneath its surface. Drawn to what he has called the "four-squareness of the utterance" in Beowulf and its immense emotional credibility, Heaney gives these epic qualities new and convincing reality for the contemporary reader.… (more)
Weasel524: Embodies and champions the same spirit/ideals commonly shared by norse mythology, scandanavian sagas, and northern germanic folklore. Significantly longer and different in structure, should that be of concern
PaulRackleff: Michael Crichton had written "Eaters of the Dead" as a means to show Beowulf's story value. The character names and plot line are very similar. Though Crichton changed some elements to make it more interesting than just a copy of Beowulf.
Very enjoyable, very readable translation. She seems to have preserved a lot the original poem -- its meter, its alliteration -- while bring a lot of the vocabulary up to date. Sometimes the use of "bro" seems a bit excessive, but as you are going it really makes sense, as does "dude" which is not used as often. I haven't read the thing in many many years, and had forgotten a lot of the back half of the book, but on this reading anyway, I found it moving and part of a very good portrayal of the culture and its times. ( )
I was first exposed to Beowulf: A New Translation via someone quoting a part that contained the phrase, "hashtag: blessed." It's hard to imagine a worse first impression.
But I love Beowulf, and there's a somewhat common phrase about not judging books by your surface level knowledge of them. So I grabbed a copy from the library, and I'm really glad I did.
This is a superb translation. Headley's poetry is wonderfully playful, weaving together the epic with delightful verse, sublime alliteration, clever compound expressions, and sudden hard turns into modernity. Swearing, contemporary phrasing and dialogue, and even memes are peppered throughout the book.
Thankfully, it avoids overcommitting to the bit - if that's the right word - of being a story for and by 20XX dudebros. It is far too beautiful and inventive for anyone to make that mistake. The anachronisms are rarer than you'd expect (or fear); they punctuate the poem with precision timing for moments of humor or metaphor. When it's ridiculous, it's clearly with a purpose.
It's a very quotable book, which is not something that can be said of most Beowulf translations.
It has a few clunkers here and there, moments where the swerve to modern temperament ends up crashing into a brick wall. Hashtag: Blessed did not land any better in context. Some repeated words throughout the book - bro, daddy, bling - never felt right no matter how many times I read them. At times the more modern phrases ("Meanwhile, Beowulf gave zero shits.") felt too cute, too distracting.
But these blemishes were rare, leaving a book that felt fresh and clever and brilliant. ( )
I once had to learn Anglo Saxon in order to study this in the original. I regret that I didn't apply myself to it. Whatever I learnt I've now forgotten. A shame because it would have helped me get my tongue around many of the names. It would also have helped me fully appreciate Heaney's translation. Such a treat; compelling and alive with lashings of mythic import. Heaney skilfully makes it feel like the oral story that it is, invested with lineage and recapitulations. While I love the murky sense of mead-hall there is a spareness to the poem that gives little insight into the humanity that feeds on such epics. The poem feels slightly bastardised as if sections have been omitted and others added. The Christian allusions are so completely out of place and tacked on that surely this must once have been a more ancient story. Re-told or sung in the mead-halls. Unless, it was originally a millennial attempt by Christians to fake an archaic and grounded story. So, unfairly, I've given it merely 4 stars. That said, there is something quite wonderful and enchanting about reading a thousand-year-old poem.
How many wars have been put to rest in a prince’s bed? Few. A bride can bring a little peace, make spears silent for a time, but not long.
I had read only a section of this epic poem about 50 years ago, when I was young and did not really grasp its significance. I chose the audio version for this "read" for a reason: Given that is believed to have been composed in the 8th century about events in the 6th century (though uncertain and surely before the beginning of the 11th century, as I learned the Beowulf manuscript is dated around 1000 A.D., and the poem was not printed until the early 19th century), it is a tale that likely would was told orally over and over before it was written down, in the tradition of the bards of those eras. It's a class good vs. evil saga involving a hero's quest and many of the other elements of a heroic tale: war, pride, courage, hubris. ( )
An astounding poem presenting perfectly England's northern german and nordic heritage. It is a truly epic tale that captures both history and the imagination. Its themes and ideas echo throughout the rest of English literature and fantasy. It is a story that speaks from our bones and I'm glad it now sings through mine. ( )
At the beginning of the new millennium, one of the surprise successes of the publishing season is a 1,000-year-old masterpiece. The book is ''Beowulf,'' Seamus Heaney's modern English translation of the Anglo-Saxon epic, which was created sometime between the 7th and the 10th centuries.
'In a place far from libraries I have often read Beowulf for pleasure'.
(K. Sisam)
(Michael Alexander ed., 1973).
And now this is 'an inheritance' - Upright, rudimentary, unshiftably planked In the long ago, yet willable forward
Again and again and again.
(Seamus Heaney ed., 1999).
Dedication
For Brian and Blake
Burton Raffel (1963).
In memory of Joseph and Winifred Alexander
Michael Alexander (1973).
In memory of Ted Hughes
Seamus Heaney (1999).
For Grimoire William Gwenllian Headley, who gestated alongside this book, changing the way I thought about love, bloodfeuds, woman-warriors, and wyrd.
Maria Dahvana Headley (2020).
To Kate, Julie, and Ben
First words
Hwæt we gardena in geardagum þeodcyninga þrym gefrunon, hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon.
Hwæt! Wē Gār-Dena in geār-dagum....
This book is meant to make Beowulf available as poetry who have not studied Old English (Anglo-Saxon) before and to those who have only a rudimentary knowledge of it.
Preface.
The Old English Beowulf has several claims on the attention of modern readers: it is a poem of barbaric splendour and artistry; an eloquent celebration of a heroic life and death; an 'action' of epic sweep and scope.
Introduction (Michael Alexander ed., 1973).
Beowulf is written in the unrhymed four-beat alliteratie meter of Old English poetry.
Lo! we have heard the glory of the kings of the Spear-Danes in days gone by, how the chieftains wrought mighty deeds.
(translated by R. K. Gordon, 1926).
How that glory remains in remembrance, Of the Danes and their kings in days gone, The acts and valour of princes of their blood!
(translated by Edwin Morgan, 1952).
Hear me! We've heard of Danish heroes, Ancient kings and the glory they cut For themselves, swinging mighty swords!
(translated by Burton Raffel, 1963).
Yes, we have heard of the glory of the Spear-Danes' Kings in the old days -- how the princes of that people did brave deeds.
(translated by E. Talbot Donaldson, 1966).
Attend! We have heard of the thriving of the throne of Denmark, how the folk-kings flourished in former days, how those royal athelings earned that glory.
(translated by Michael Alexander, 1973).
Yes! We have heard of years long vanished how Spear-Danes struck sang victory-songs raised from a wasteland walls of glory.
(translated by Frederick Rebsamen, 1991).
So. The Spear-Danes in days gone by and the kings who ruled them had courage and greatness. We have heard of those princes' heroic campaigns.
(translated by Seamus Heaney, 1999).
Of the strength of the Spear-Danes in days gone by we have heard, and of their hero-kings: the prodigious deeds those princes perfomed!
(translated by Stephen Mitchell, 2017).
Bro! Tell me we still know how to speak of kings! In the old days, everyone knew what men were: brave, bold, glory-bound.
(translated by Maria Dahvana Headley, 2020).
Listen! We have heard of the glory of the Spear-Danes
Quotations
Last words
... And so Beowulf's followers Rode, mourning their beloved leader, Crying that no better king had ever Lived, no prince so mild, no man So open to his people, so deserving of praise.
This was the manner of the mourning of the men of the Geats, sharers in the feast, at the fall of their lord: they said that he was of all the world's kings the gentlest of men, and the most gracious, the kindest to his people, the keenest for fame.
So the Geat-people, his hearth-companions, sorrowed for the lord who had been laid low. They said that of all the kings upon the earth he was the man most gracious and fair-minded, kindest to his people and keenest to win fame.
Thus the Geats all grieved and lamented the noble lord whom they so loved. They cried out that he was, of all the world's kings, the kindest and most courteous man, the most gracious to all, and the keenest for glory.
This work is any complete, unabridged translation of Beowulf. The Seamus Heaney translation is not a separate work from the other complete, unabridged translations. To quote the FAQ on combining - "A work brings together all different copies of a book, regardless of edition, title variation, or language."
Based on currently accepted LibraryThing convention, the Norton Critical Edition is treated as a separate work, ostensibly due to the extensive additional, original material included.
The Finnsburg fragment is NOT part of the actual Beowulf - it's a separate text that has, unfortunately, not survived if full
Please see the LT Combiners' discussion at http://www.librarything.com/topic/508... before combining the Howell Chickering translation of Beowulf with other editions of the original work on LT. Thank you.
This is NOT an abridged edition. DO NOT combine with the abridged edition by Crossley-Holland or any other abridged edition.
Reserve this for dual-language texts (Anglo-Saxon and modern English) regardless of translator.
This is an unabridged translation of Beowulf, and should NOT be combined with abridged editions, regardless of translator.
Composed toward the end of the first millennium of our era, Beowulf is the elegiac narrative of the adventures of Beowulf, a Scandinavian hero who saves the Danes from the seemingly invincible monster Grendel and, later, from Grendel's mother. He then returns to his own country and dies in old age in a vivid fight against a dragon. The poem is about encountering the monstrous, defeating it, and then having to live on in the exhausted aftermath. In the contours of this story, at once remote and uncannily familiar at the end of the twentieth century, Seamus Heaney finds a resonance that summons power to the poetry from deep beneath its surface. Drawn to what he has called the "four-squareness of the utterance" in Beowulf and its immense emotional credibility, Heaney gives these epic qualities new and convincing reality for the contemporary reader.
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Group Read: Beowulf - Seamus Heaney (spoilers)
Wikipedia in English (11)
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