Something to read again. | Beowulf: A New Verse Translation (Bilingual Edition) ...

a good read. try the CD too. | Beowulf: A New Verse Translation (Bilingual Edition)

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	• Beowulf: A New Verse Translation (Bilingual Edition) W. W. Norton & Company, 2001 - 215 pages average customer review:based on 244 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Excellent translation!

This translated version by Seamus Heaney is well worth the money. I recommend this version to anyone and everyone.

Something to read again.

This 3182-line-long Anglo-Saxon poem tells the story of Beowulf, a mighty Geat hero warrior, who comes to the rescue of the Danish king, Hrothgar, when the latter's mead hall Heorot is attacked by the monster Grendel. Beowulf kills the beast bare-handed and gains great renown, and later sets off to slay Grendel's mother as well. After going back to Sweden and reigning for over fifty years, he'll die wresting with yet another creature, a dragon.

The poem has a nice cadence, which pushes you forward, and Seamus Heaney's modern English translation is very enjoyable to read. I regret not having been able to concentrate on the poem all the time (I was sometimes distracted by personal concerns and my mind started wandering off), and I think this is something I'll definitely read again.

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a good read. try the CD too.

A few years back, my high school teacher forced us to read Beowulf. It was a bit of a burden but I thought the story was real good. Maybe I am just a bit older and I guess I was attracted to the fact that it predates about everything written in english. But a friend loaned me the Seamus Heaney version and I really enjoyed it. I went out to the library and took out the book on disk too. Good idea!

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It was okay

It was smooth and easy to read. The style wasn't outstanding in either a good or bad way. I would have preferred a different translation. (reviewed by my fourteen-year-old son)

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Perfect.

I was introduced to Beowulf by my older sister, who had it in English lit at her college. It was the Seamus Heaney translation, buried in a thick, chunky Norton's Anthology. Not the kind of book that lends itself to easy reading, but she said that Beowulf was great.

Wow. I now have my own copy of that marvelous translation. At the bookstore, I picked up a few other translations. Ugh. The beginnings seemed dull, and obtuse. NOT reader friendly.

This, however, is wonderful. Right from the start, you are excited. Most of the beginnings tend to make me feel VERY stubborn. When I'm told to "Listen!" or "Hark!' I want to hurl the book across the room and say HAHAHA! I DON'T HAVE TO!

Instead, Seamus simply begins "So."

There's no hysterical exclamation point to tell you "Hey, man this is going to be a GOOD poem, like your English teacher said!! Read me NOW, because I am REALLY EXCITING!!:).

The simple directness of his translation helps keep you grounded while reading a 3,182 line poem. The storyline moves smoothly, and never once do you feel like someone hit your over the head, and screeched "Look at this! This is poetry! I'm a poem!"

What Beowulf does do is enthrall. The tragic tone of much of the poem, is broken by wry, very realistic observation of human nature, some occassionally made by the characters ( Anyone with gumption/and a sharp mind will take the measure/of two things: what's said and what's done)

Another mood lightener is the tone of excitement in various passages. Beowulf setting out from Geatland, after he kills Grendel, when Hrothgar builds the hall in the beginning.

The shorter passages are worth memorizing, as well as many of the longer ones. If you chose to read this Beowulf, you will find yourself doing so over and over, the sentences echoing in your mind.

All in all, a wonderful read.

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