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Beowulf

A New Verse Translation

By Seamus Heaney (Translator)

(114)

| Hardcover | 9780374111199

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Book Description

A brilliant and faithful rendering of the Anglo-Saxon epic from the Nobel laureate.

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 GContinue

A brilliant and faithful rendering of the Anglo-Saxon epic from the Nobel laureate.

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.

Critics

  • Book Of A Lifetime: Beowulf

    So, in 1983, I was 12, and my parents took me to see an actor who had been in 'Star Wars', performing in York Theatre Royal. I felt a little self-conscious as the lights went down, a harpist plucked out a strange tune, and then a single man, in fur a ... (read full critics)

    independent published on Fri, 17 Jun 2011

  • The Beowulf Manuscript

    Any high-schooler who’s battled his way through Beowulf could tell you that it’s long on gore—zany, cartoon-type gore, with a constant lopping off of heads, limbs, you name it. There’s a dragon, and a monster named Grendel with a monster for a mother ... (read full critics)

    believermag published on Sat, 1 Jan 2011

3 Reviews

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  • 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 the rich colours and dramatic overtones, peering into the Dark Ages with curiosity and wonder at the mysterious poet - the original author - tackling the complex task of depicting this fresque ... (continue)

    I appreciated this translation of Beowful like I would a painting, or a piece of classical music: indulging the rich colours and dramatic overtones, peering into the Dark Ages with curiosity and wonder at the mysterious poet - the original author - tackling the complex task of depicting this fresque in such poetic detail.

    Yes, it takes a bit of intellectual effort and concentration to be able to visualize the colours, to hear the melody. This is not something to be read for the sake of the plot - though Tolkien fans may enjoy that too, I reckon. The poem does not offer any codes or observations that would be applicable in today's world either. It was, for me, and aesthetic experience above all.

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    Teodora said on Jan 26, 2011 about the Library Binding edition | Add your feedback

  • If you are a liberal arts student and especially an English Major, you were at least exposed to a smattering of Beowulf. If you haven't yet, it's time to read the whole poem in this wonderful verse translation. If you want a glimmer of what the original was like, you have that on the left page with ... (continue)

    If you are a liberal arts student and especially an English Major, you were at least exposed to a smattering of Beowulf. If you haven't yet, it's time to read the whole poem in this wonderful verse translation. If you want a glimmer of what the original was like, you have that on the left page with the corresponding modern English on the right. It is a pity that more did not survive.

    I was pleased to remember so much of my professor's comments from Wayne State in '71 or so. He mentioned that one of the few surviving texts (written down centuries later) had clearly been used as a cutting board: it had slices and stained rings where someone had set down a glass of wine.

    Like all poetry, I consider this not "finished", but something I plan to re-read periodically.

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    Smithgp2u said on May 19, 2010 | Add your feedback

  • This rating is for this illustrated edition and I actually found the pictures annoying in this. Many only had superficial connection with the poem and for some, such as the example of a Scandinavian sunset, the connection is trite and adds nothing to enjoyment of the text.

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    huntch said on Feb 22, 2009 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

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9780374111199 Hardcover $27.00 $23.08 bn.com
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