"Beowulf", composed between the seventh and tenth centuries, 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 returns to his own country and dies in old age in a vivid battle against a dragon. The poem is about encountering the monstrous, defeating it, and living on in the exhausted aftermath. Heaney's celebrated translation honours what is remote and intuits what is uncannily familiar, at the end of the twentieth century, in this founding masterpiece of English poetry. Now, for the first time, the Old English text - which survived only in a single scorched manuscript, now held in the British Museum - can be read in conjunction with the translation on facing pages.
Beowulf: A New Translation
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Amazon Review
What could be a more promising poetic project than the greatest of early English poems, Beowulf, newly translated by arguably the greatest of living poets writing in English, Seamus Heaney? The literary pedigree of this great fabular epic in the hands of Nobel Laureate Heaney matches Ted Hughes' award-winning rewrite of Ovid's Metamorphosis, Tales from Ovid. Heaney has chosen the plain, prosaic yet subtly cadenced vernacular of his Northern Irish roots as the poetic voice into which he renders this famous Anglo-Saxon fabular epic of a dragon-slaying Danish warrior. The result is an engaging evocation of the highly alliterative, densely metaphorical texture of Anglo-Saxon verse, which is famously hard to capture in modern English poetic forms.
"It's narrative elements may belong to a previous age but as a work of art it lives in the present," writes Heaney of this tale of monstrous, murderous Grendel, heroic, kingly Beowulf, blood-feuds, dragon-slaying and spiritual grace. The very plain-spokenness of Heaney's translation makes it admirably easy to read and understand, whilst rendering an often true translation at a galloping narrative pace. Heaney's Beowulf opens up one of the most famous founding epics of European literature to a modern world of new readers. --James Barry --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Review
"'The whole performance is wonderfully intermediate - poised between the Bible and folk wisdom, between the Light Ages and the Dark Ages - and at the same time pulverisingly actual in its language. He has made a masterpiece out of a masterpiece.' Andrew Motion, Financial Times"
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an absolutely beautiful translation of Beowulf and Seamus Heaney has done a wonderful job of conveying the rhythm and spirit of the original in a way that manages to be both faithful and inventive.
However I can't give my review 5 stars since I was disappointed to find that this is NOT the bilingual edition used in the "look inside" preview.
The Amazon preview pages relate to a different edition which has the Old English throughout - which is what I thought I was purchasing. This edition (the one with the red and blue jacket) has only one page of Old English and the rest is solely the translation.
Amazon - please change the preview or flag the difference in the blurb. At present this listing is misleading.
However I can't give my review 5 stars since I was disappointed to find that this is NOT the bilingual edition used in the "look inside" preview.
The Amazon preview pages relate to a different edition which has the Old English throughout - which is what I thought I was purchasing. This edition (the one with the red and blue jacket) has only one page of Old English and the rest is solely the translation.
Amazon - please change the preview or flag the difference in the blurb. At present this listing is misleading.
49 of 52 people found the following review helpful
By Sally-Anne
Format:Paperback
I'm the average reader: not a student or scholar studying the book, but a person who has just read the story for the first time. Also, I have no ear for poetry, which could well be perceived as a profound disadvantage when reading an epic poem. So I'm pleased to announce that the book is readable and enjoyable. Seamus Heaney's introduction is helpful, moving and filled me with anticipation so I could hardly wait to start reading his translation. As expected, the poetry element was almost entirely lost to me but I could, at least, tell that it's beautifully written. The story itself is a gripping yarn and disbelief needs to be suspended, especially for aquatic sections where Beowulf appears to be able to function under water for hours and swim for weeks dressed in mail. He could have been an early model for Superman. I've never read anything like this book before and enjoyed it despite the fact that it seemed very odd to me. My only criticism is that I thought a glossary would have been useful.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio Cassette
I was mesmerized by Heaney's translation (I'd give the book at least 5 stars), and I truely enjoyed hearing him read the parts of it that are included in these "unabridged excerpts." I would buy the tapes again, but would gladly have paid more to get a true unabridged reading.
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3.4 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Trevor
Normally I detest the work of Seamus Heaney. However, his translation of Beowulf is nothing short of magnificent. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Trevor
4.0 out of 5 stars
Denmark????
This may seem really thick of me, but I've only just remembered about Denmark as a country and bothered to look it up in an old Encyclopoedia Brittannica. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Ms. Sarahjane Mackenzie
3.0 out of 5 stars
"A Somewhere Being Remembered" Unheroicly
Heaney's translation of the Anglo-Saxon poem `Beowulf' was the Whitbread Book of the Year for 1999. I came to the book recently and belatedly, having never read any other... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Nicholas Casley
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great but abridged
I love Beowulf and for poetic translations (as opposed to scholarly and accurate ones) Heaney's version gets a massive thumbs up from me, so I was really looking forward to... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Maythe
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not Truely Unabridged
I bought this to help me get through Beowulf in my college lit class. I had tried to read it last year in high school, but ultimately got bored because I felt like it needed to be... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Christy
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great epic poem
As most people interested in reading this book, I don't have an academic degree in this kind of things, nevertheless this novel is highly enjoyable. Read more
Published on 4 Mar 2011 by ManInsideTheHelm
5.0 out of 5 stars
Heaney's Beowulf: A Painting with a Worthy Guide
I appreciated this translation of Beowful like I would a painting, or a piece of classical music: indulging in the rich colours and dramatic overtones, peering into the Dark Ages... Read more
Published on 26 Jan 2011 by From Rags to Books
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Epic of an Epic
Seamus Heaney is in my personal view one of the greatest living poets. So for him to square up to this daunting task is quite a wonderful thought. Read more
Published on 13 Nov 2010 by Dr. Andrew R. Glover
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent
I bought this for my mum, who already had a modern English version, she says it is excellent.
Published on 2 July 2010 by Pretty Girl
5.0 out of 5 stars
A good read!
Difficult for me to say whether this is a good version or not as I have no knowledge of the original, I just wanted to read it. Read more
Published on 17 May 2010 by purplegoffer
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