- Paperback: 176 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; Reprint edition (26 July 1973)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140442685
- ISBN-13: 978-0140442687
- Product Dimensions: 17.8 x 10.9 x 0.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 907,761 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Beowulf: Verse Translation (Penguin Classics)
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Product Description
Product Description
A translation of the first epic poem in the English language.
Book Information
Beowulf is the most important Old English poem and perhaps the most significant single survival from the Anglo-Saxon period.
Though its composition was completed in England in the eighth century, the poem is set in the heroic societies of a fifth-century Scandinavia. Against this background of feuding and feasting, the hero Beowulf kills Grendel and Grendel's mother, but in killing the Dragon is himself killed.
We have here something more than merely a heroic poem of historical interest: Beowulf has a truly epic quality and scope, and this verse translation successfully communicates the poem's artistry and eloquence.
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First Sentence
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. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I'm sorry, but I think Seamus Heaney's translation is vastly inferior to this one. For Michael Alexander, a sword bites flesh; for Heaney a sword cuts flesh. For Heaney (when the dragon is rising in fury like the Kraken from the depths) there's "a rumble underground". It sounds to me as though Heaney's house is probably built above the Northern Line.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I too have come to prefer this translation (Michael Alexander's) against Seamus Heaney (no disrespect to an undoubtedly great poet).
It is poetic. It has readability (not easy to obtain with a poem such as Beowulf). Also if you're buying you need an edition with a good introduction and a 'person' key at the end (or somewhere in the book).
The 'monster' bits are quite easy to read but the different names and clans mentioned get a bit confusing when talking about people and not Grendel, his mother or the Worm and in many ways the digressions of the poem are at the core of what it's about so whichever translation you use get an edition with (and use) the reading aids mentioned above.
It is poetic. It has readability (not easy to obtain with a poem such as Beowulf). Also if you're buying you need an edition with a good introduction and a 'person' key at the end (or somewhere in the book).
The 'monster' bits are quite easy to read but the different names and clans mentioned get a bit confusing when talking about people and not Grendel, his mother or the Worm and in many ways the digressions of the poem are at the core of what it's about so whichever translation you use get an edition with (and use) the reading aids mentioned above.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
Terrible formatting with non-standard text size, and the lines of the poem are indented in such a way to render it unreadable. The explanatory notes at the end of the book are not hyperlinked to the text; in fact, there are not even any footnote numbers in the text.
If you download the sample, you can only see the first half of the introduction, so there is no way you can tell how bad the text of the poem is.
This is the third Penguin book I have bought for my Kindle, and each one has the same problems. Why does Amazon allow Penguin to offer such shoddy products, and then allow them to charge something close to full print price for clearly inferior editions?
If you download the sample, you can only see the first half of the introduction, so there is no way you can tell how bad the text of the poem is.
This is the third Penguin book I have bought for my Kindle, and each one has the same problems. Why does Amazon allow Penguin to offer such shoddy products, and then allow them to charge something close to full print price for clearly inferior editions?
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Beowulf Penguin classic
I happened to see the CGI film of Beowulf earlier in the year and it prompted me to read the "original", translated of course! Read more
Published 1 month ago by Paula B
A good read on norse and warrior culture.
This book presents a good atmosphere fairly early on.I read this in the hope of furthering my knowledge of norse culture and this definitely laid the foundations. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Odin's Mead
How to Alienate People
I know for this review I have chosen an odd title, so let me explain. Beowulf is not hard to read, is not boring as most people would have you believe, and also is not very long. Read more
Published on 11 Nov 2007 by M. Dowden
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