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Beowulf
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.
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.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1000
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 12,706 reviews
May 15, 2017
*bum bum* IN A WORLD . . . *bum bum* . . . FULL OF NASTY MONSTERS . . . *bum bum* . . . WHO EAT PEOPLE AND BREAK INTO CASTLES . . . *bum bum* . . . THE BEASTLY GRENDEL LURKED LONG OVER THE MOORES . . . *bum bum* . . . BUT NOW . . . *Cut to scene of monster ripping someone's face off with his teeth*
(silence. black screen.)
*Unknown warriors approaching*
"Who are ye, then, ye armed men,
mailed folk, that yon mighty vessel
have urged thus over the ocean ways,
here o'er the waters?"
*bum bum* . . . ONE MAN . . . *bum bum* . . . ONE LARGE MAN . . .*bum bum* . . . OF NOBLE BIRTH AND LONG, LONG SWORD . . . *bum bum* . . . IS THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN SAVE THEM.
"Hither have fared to thee far-come men
o'er the paths of ocean, people of Geatland;
and the stateliest there by his sturdy band
is Beowulf named. This boon they seek,
that they, my master, may with thee
have speech at will: nor spurn their prayer
to give them hearing, gracious Hrothgar!
In weeds of the warrior worthy they,
methinks, of our liking; their leader most surely,
a hero that hither his henchmen has led."
*cue symphony: BUM-BUM-BUUUUMMMMM! BUM-BUM-BUUUUMMMMM*
Beowulf speaks:
"To Hrothgar I
in greatness of soul would succor bring,
so the Wise-and-Brave may worst his foes, --
if ever the end of ills is fated,
of cruel contest, if cure shall follow,
and the boiling care-waves cooler grow;
else ever afterward anguish-days
he shall suffer in sorrow while stands in place
high on its hill that house unpeered!"
*Everyone looks around at each other, wondering what the fuck he's talking about*
*Exciting symphony, something along the lines of "O Fortuna." combat shown as Beowulf tosses Grendel down, gets Grendel in a headlock, pokes him in his eyes. Beowulf takes his shoe off and starts hitting Grendel on the top of his head with it.*
*Music stops. Shot of Beowulf on the shore, hand on his hilt.*
Beowulf speaks:
"Tis time that I fare from you. Father Almighty
in grace and mercy guard you well,
safe in your seekings. Seaward I go,
'gainst hostile warriors hold my watch."
BEOWULF. PG-13, Parents Strongly Cautioned. Contains Monsters Biting People's Faces Off, Graphic Far-Fetched Violence, and Shots of Beowulf's Bare Chest.
*****
Beowulf is totally the precursor to Conan, and Rambo. He's mothafuckin' badass. And you know how, since the Rambo movies are so old, they come out in boxed sets now? Think of this slim volume as a trilogy:
BEOWULF
BEOWULF II: MOMMY DEAREST
BEOWULF III: BEOWULF VERSUS A BIG-ASS DRAGON
While often trilogies get worse as they go along, this one actually improves. And it's safe to say that a fourth sequel will never come out about Beowulf after he gets old and out of shape. . . although that might be what BEOWULF VERSUS A BIG-ASS DRAGON is.
If you like football, Stallone, Escape From New York, and can't get enough of Arnold Schwarzenegger, this is THE classic for you.
(silence. black screen.)
*Unknown warriors approaching*
"Who are ye, then, ye armed men,
mailed folk, that yon mighty vessel
have urged thus over the ocean ways,
here o'er the waters?"
*bum bum* . . . ONE MAN . . . *bum bum* . . . ONE LARGE MAN . . .*bum bum* . . . OF NOBLE BIRTH AND LONG, LONG SWORD . . . *bum bum* . . . IS THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN SAVE THEM.
"Hither have fared to thee far-come men
o'er the paths of ocean, people of Geatland;
and the stateliest there by his sturdy band
is Beowulf named. This boon they seek,
that they, my master, may with thee
have speech at will: nor spurn their prayer
to give them hearing, gracious Hrothgar!
In weeds of the warrior worthy they,
methinks, of our liking; their leader most surely,
a hero that hither his henchmen has led."
*cue symphony: BUM-BUM-BUUUUMMMMM! BUM-BUM-BUUUUMMMMM*
Beowulf speaks:
"To Hrothgar I
in greatness of soul would succor bring,
so the Wise-and-Brave may worst his foes, --
if ever the end of ills is fated,
of cruel contest, if cure shall follow,
and the boiling care-waves cooler grow;
else ever afterward anguish-days
he shall suffer in sorrow while stands in place
high on its hill that house unpeered!"
*Everyone looks around at each other, wondering what the fuck he's talking about*
*Exciting symphony, something along the lines of "O Fortuna." combat shown as Beowulf tosses Grendel down, gets Grendel in a headlock, pokes him in his eyes. Beowulf takes his shoe off and starts hitting Grendel on the top of his head with it.*
*Music stops. Shot of Beowulf on the shore, hand on his hilt.*
Beowulf speaks:
"Tis time that I fare from you. Father Almighty
in grace and mercy guard you well,
safe in your seekings. Seaward I go,
'gainst hostile warriors hold my watch."
BEOWULF. PG-13, Parents Strongly Cautioned. Contains Monsters Biting People's Faces Off, Graphic Far-Fetched Violence, and Shots of Beowulf's Bare Chest.
*****
Beowulf is totally the precursor to Conan, and Rambo. He's mothafuckin' badass. And you know how, since the Rambo movies are so old, they come out in boxed sets now? Think of this slim volume as a trilogy:
BEOWULF
BEOWULF II: MOMMY DEAREST
BEOWULF III: BEOWULF VERSUS A BIG-ASS DRAGON
While often trilogies get worse as they go along, this one actually improves. And it's safe to say that a fourth sequel will never come out about Beowulf after he gets old and out of shape. . . although that might be what BEOWULF VERSUS A BIG-ASS DRAGON is.
If you like football, Stallone, Escape From New York, and can't get enough of Arnold Schwarzenegger, this is THE classic for you.
October 15, 2020
Never has there been a translation whose tone and argument are encapsulated so completely by the very first word of the text: translating the Old English Hwæt as ‘Bro!’ tells you more or less everything you need to know about what Maria Dahvana Headley is up to here. She's unlocked her word-hoard and used every nook and cranny of it in service of a very specific reading of the text.
I really love Old English as a language, and have read Beowulf in the original more than once. But despite generally liking translation as a medium, I have never really liked any translation of Beowulf. I loved this, though. It does what I think the best translations always do, which is to write something completely new which translates the thoughts and ideas of the original without getting too distracted by the actual words.
The thing is, what register should you use if you're translating a text from the Early Middle Ages? Most of the time, people go for the archaic stuff – words like ‘betwixt’, ‘verily’, you know, the things that tell you you're reading a serious poetic work. Tolkien said that if you didn't use archaisms, then you weren't doing justice to Beowulf at all, since much of its language would have been archaic even to its original audience (though this is very hard to be certain of). Seamus Heaney added a few regionalisms to the mix. Headley does use the odd archaism and regionalism – but her primary tool is an American ‘guy slang’, which is a wonderfully productive lens through which to read a poem like this one, concerned as it is with ‘manly virtues’.
It cuts through the aphoristic vagueness of a line like Gǣð ā wyrd swā hīo scel (‘Fate will be as it will be’), reducing it to the pithy ‘Bro, Fate can fuck you up’, which is really what is meant. Individual translation choices are often glorious. Searwum fāh ‘decorated with artistry’ here becomes ‘blinged-out’, where again the audacity does not obscure the accuracy. It works particularly well in direct speech. When Beowulf is criticising one of the Danes for allowing Grendel to pillage at will, he says:
Most translators stick to this fairly closely, often with some arty flourish in however they handle ecg-þræce. But Headley's approach gets right to the heart of the one-upmanship underlying this conversation:
In a similar vein, consider the bit where Hrothgar gives some advice to Beowulf. The original reads:
Again, Headley drenches the passage in coded male dynamics:
It must be said that a lot of the time, as is probably already obvious, Headley is inventing freely. At one point Beowulf is described as being ‘swole as a troll’ – what a brilliant way to translate…whatever that is, I thought; but when I turned to the original, I realised it wasn't translating anything, it was just a random insertion of Headley's own devising, presumably for added ambiance. Something similar happens at Wealhtheow's appearance in the hall, when we get the half-line ‘Hashtag: blessed’ as a complete invention. Some of these novelties are rather cheeky: she describes the dragon's treasure, in passing, as a ‘pile of preciouses’ (which I love). How you feel about such things will depend on many factors, including your opinions on translation and your feelings about modern slang. I really enjoyed it, but it should probably be understood that a lot of it is made up out of whole cloth.
When it works, it works really well. When Beowulf boasts about his past exploits to Hrothgar, Heaney in 2000 translated it like this:
This is perfectly serviceable, and pretty ‘faithful’ on a word-by-word basis. But it seems utterly inadequate compared to Headley's already-famous rendering of this passage:
See, this is a translation with a real voice, which is something translators often struggle to find. In this case, the voice is in service of a very specific agenda, which has to do with rethinking the gender assumptions of the poem. Headley makes much of her reinterpretation of Grendel's mother, for instance, pointing out that āglǣcwīf literally just means ‘fighter-woman’, but is often translated with things like ‘monstrous hell-bride’ (that's Heaney).
I think this is maybe not as controversial as she makes out – the nature of Grendel's mother has always been a rather uncertain thing, and in my copy of the text (Mitchell & Robinson, which is more than twenty years old), āglǣcwīf is glossed unremarkably as ‘warrior-woman, female combatant’. It seems to me more problematic that Grendel's mother is later described as grundwyrgen, which really has to mean something like ‘beast of the deep’. Headley doesn't mention this piece of vocabulary (which she translates as ‘reclusive night-queen’). Still, this translation is a kind of line in the sand, and it will definitely be impossible for future translators to make lazy assumptions about Grendel's mother's inhumanness from now on.
(Incidentally, Headley also makes the dragon female, against the many translators who, she says, write it as male ‘rather than ungendered’. It's not clear what she means by this – true, Old English draca is a neuter word, but the monster is usually referred to as a wyrm, which is definitely grammatically masculine. Anyway, it works well as a female creature whatever the justifications might be.)
Now look, I have to admit that I did not read this without some…qualms? about the way Headley appropriates the linguistic trappings of male-male socialisation. It is one thing to say, as a brilliant pub-conversation starter, that Beowulf is basically an Anglo-Saxon dudebro. It's another thing to sustain this conceit over three thousand lines. The effect is that we are reading a kind of parody of maleness which, while fascinating, strips away much of the emotional authenticity of what is being said, in favour of poking fun at the characters' preconceptions. It doesn't come across (to me) as a real depiction of how men interact, but rather as a strangely skewed, inevitably outsider's view of what male interaction can look like.
But this is no bad thing; one of the reasons I think this is such a good translation is because it's such a productively argumentative one, with something really new to say about Beowulf. And about its eponymous central character, whose blokey claims to fame Headley smiles at even while fulfilling (with considerable brio) the poem's predictions:
I really love Old English as a language, and have read Beowulf in the original more than once. But despite generally liking translation as a medium, I have never really liked any translation of Beowulf. I loved this, though. It does what I think the best translations always do, which is to write something completely new which translates the thoughts and ideas of the original without getting too distracted by the actual words.
The thing is, what register should you use if you're translating a text from the Early Middle Ages? Most of the time, people go for the archaic stuff – words like ‘betwixt’, ‘verily’, you know, the things that tell you you're reading a serious poetic work. Tolkien said that if you didn't use archaisms, then you weren't doing justice to Beowulf at all, since much of its language would have been archaic even to its original audience (though this is very hard to be certain of). Seamus Heaney added a few regionalisms to the mix. Headley does use the odd archaism and regionalism – but her primary tool is an American ‘guy slang’, which is a wonderfully productive lens through which to read a poem like this one, concerned as it is with ‘manly virtues’.
It cuts through the aphoristic vagueness of a line like Gǣð ā wyrd swā hīo scel (‘Fate will be as it will be’), reducing it to the pithy ‘Bro, Fate can fuck you up’, which is really what is meant. Individual translation choices are often glorious. Searwum fāh ‘decorated with artistry’ here becomes ‘blinged-out’, where again the audacity does not obscure the accuracy. It works particularly well in direct speech. When Beowulf is criticising one of the Danes for allowing Grendel to pillage at will, he says:
hē hafað onfunden, þæt hē þā fǣhðe ne þearf,
atole ecg-þræce ēower lēode
swīðe onsittan
[‘he'd found that there was no need to fear any enmity here, or any terrible sword-storm from your people’]
Most translators stick to this fairly closely, often with some arty flourish in however they handle ecg-þræce. But Headley's approach gets right to the heart of the one-upmanship underlying this conversation:
“Grendel was aware he had nothing to fear here.
Your sword's soft, son.”
In a similar vein, consider the bit where Hrothgar gives some advice to Beowulf. The original reads:
Ðū þē lǣr be þon,
gum-cyste ongit! Ic þis gid be þē
āwræc wintrum frōd.
[‘Learn from this, understand manly virtues. I who recite you this song am many winters old.’]
Again, Headley drenches the passage in coded male dynamics:
Listen to me, boy. Keep your shit straight.
I've been fostered by frost-seasons, fathered by time,
and I'm dropping knowledge now.
It must be said that a lot of the time, as is probably already obvious, Headley is inventing freely. At one point Beowulf is described as being ‘swole as a troll’ – what a brilliant way to translate…whatever that is, I thought; but when I turned to the original, I realised it wasn't translating anything, it was just a random insertion of Headley's own devising, presumably for added ambiance. Something similar happens at Wealhtheow's appearance in the hall, when we get the half-line ‘Hashtag: blessed’ as a complete invention. Some of these novelties are rather cheeky: she describes the dragon's treasure, in passing, as a ‘pile of preciouses’ (which I love). How you feel about such things will depend on many factors, including your opinions on translation and your feelings about modern slang. I really enjoyed it, but it should probably be understood that a lot of it is made up out of whole cloth.
When it works, it works really well. When Beowulf boasts about his past exploits to Hrothgar, Heaney in 2000 translated it like this:
They had seen me boltered in the blood of enemies
when I battled and bound five beasts,
raided a troll-nest and in the night-sea
slaughtered sea-brutes. I have suffered extremes
and avenged the Geats (their enemies brought it
upon themselves, I devastated them).
This is perfectly serviceable, and pretty ‘faithful’ on a word-by-word basis. But it seems utterly inadequate compared to Headley's already-famous rendering of this passage:
Yes: I mean—I may have bathed in the blood of beasts,
netted five foul ogres at once, smashed my way into a troll den
and come out swinging, gone skinny-dipping in a sleeping sea
and made sashimi of some sea monsters.
Anyone who fucks with the Geats? Bro, they have to fuck with me.
They're asking for it, and I deal them death.
See, this is a translation with a real voice, which is something translators often struggle to find. In this case, the voice is in service of a very specific agenda, which has to do with rethinking the gender assumptions of the poem. Headley makes much of her reinterpretation of Grendel's mother, for instance, pointing out that āglǣcwīf literally just means ‘fighter-woman’, but is often translated with things like ‘monstrous hell-bride’ (that's Heaney).
I think this is maybe not as controversial as she makes out – the nature of Grendel's mother has always been a rather uncertain thing, and in my copy of the text (Mitchell & Robinson, which is more than twenty years old), āglǣcwīf is glossed unremarkably as ‘warrior-woman, female combatant’. It seems to me more problematic that Grendel's mother is later described as grundwyrgen, which really has to mean something like ‘beast of the deep’. Headley doesn't mention this piece of vocabulary (which she translates as ‘reclusive night-queen’). Still, this translation is a kind of line in the sand, and it will definitely be impossible for future translators to make lazy assumptions about Grendel's mother's inhumanness from now on.
(Incidentally, Headley also makes the dragon female, against the many translators who, she says, write it as male ‘rather than ungendered’. It's not clear what she means by this – true, Old English draca is a neuter word, but the monster is usually referred to as a wyrm, which is definitely grammatically masculine. Anyway, it works well as a female creature whatever the justifications might be.)
Now look, I have to admit that I did not read this without some…qualms? about the way Headley appropriates the linguistic trappings of male-male socialisation. It is one thing to say, as a brilliant pub-conversation starter, that Beowulf is basically an Anglo-Saxon dudebro. It's another thing to sustain this conceit over three thousand lines. The effect is that we are reading a kind of parody of maleness which, while fascinating, strips away much of the emotional authenticity of what is being said, in favour of poking fun at the characters' preconceptions. It doesn't come across (to me) as a real depiction of how men interact, but rather as a strangely skewed, inevitably outsider's view of what male interaction can look like.
But this is no bad thing; one of the reasons I think this is such a good translation is because it's such a productively argumentative one, with something really new to say about Beowulf. And about its eponymous central character, whose blokey claims to fame Headley smiles at even while fulfilling (with considerable brio) the poem's predictions:
You're famous here, and long after your lifetime,
you'll be known, your story sweeping as the sea,
shores borne into being by waves of words.
August 1, 2024
”One of these things, as far as anyone ever can discern, looks like a woman; the other, warped in the shape of a man, moves beyond the pale bigger than any man, an unnatural birth called Grendel by country people in former days. They are fatherless creatures, and their whole ancestry is hidden in a past of demons and ghosts. They dwell apart among wolves on the hills, on windswept crags and treacherous keshes, where cold streams pour down the mountain and disappear under mist and moorland.”
It rained, but it was too cold to be raining. A combination of warmer atmosphere and colder temperatures on the ground produced an ice storm. The storm came in over the weekend so I could sit comfortably by my fireplace and watch out the window as the rain formed into sheets of ice on the streets and sidewalks. Power lines thickened as they became cubed in ice. Foot long and longer icicles dangled and swayed from the power lines, from the eaves of houses, from signs, from fence lines. The most affected though were the trees. The trees with the thicker branches were the most distressed, groaning under the added weight. As the ice accumulated on the branches of the smaller trees they bent and twisted to the ground. They became monsters, slumbering beneath an armor of ice.
I’d been thinking about rereading Beowulf for some time. This story has been a part of me for almost as long as I can remember. The idea of a mere man taking on a monster that was much stronger than most men, and finding a way to defeat him was compelling and inspiring mythology for my young mind. The terror of it, the monster that comes into your home and slaughters your friends and families in the dead of the night and takes heads as trophies, left shivers in the very center of me.
Beowulf hears of a monster who is attacking the Danes. He is one of thirteen men who decide to go to the rescue of Hrothgar, King of the Danes. He goes because he needs to make a name for himself, as Buliwyf in the movie The 13th Warrior says: ” I have only these hands.” Beowulf is poor, renown for his strength, but he has no Hall to call his own and, but for this small band, no men to call him King.
”Their mail-shirts glinted, hard and hand-linked; the high-gloss iron of their armour rang. So they duly arrived in their grim war-graith and gear at the hall, and, weary from the sea, stacked wide shields of the toughest hardwood against the wall, then collapsed on the benches; battle-dress and weapons clashed. They collected their spears in a seafarers’ stook, a stand of greyish tapering ash. And the troops were as good as their weapons.”
I had spent most of the day finishing another book and, thus, had started reading Beowulf late in the evening. My wife and our Scottish Terrier had gone to bed, and I was left in the soft glow of my reading lamp. Most of the city had lost power as lines too heavy with ice had crashed down one by one. It never crossed my mind, power or no power, that I would go to bed. I had candles close to hand. Beowulf was written in Old English between 975-1025. The Seamus Heaney translation that I read had the Old English on one page and Heaney’s translation on the other page. In college, I took a Chaucer class and became a fair hand at deciphering Middle English, but looking and even pronouncing these unfamiliar words did not ring any ancient bells in my English soul. To use an old phrase it was Greek to me.
As Beowulf grapples with Grendel and then with Grendel’s mother, I was just as enthralled with the story as I was as a wee tot. The carnage, the darkness, the uncertainty that Beowulf had to feel, despite his boasts to the contrary, all lend a fine, sharp edge to the tale. As I read, I also started to hear the sharp cracks and howls of ice laden tree limbs separating from their trunk in much the same way as Beowulf pulls Grendel’s arm loose from his shoulder. The crash of these ice shrouded branches against the frozen ground resounded in my mind like the steel swords of the Geats banging against their metal wrapped shields.
Curiosity got the better of me, and I walked out of my back door into an alien landscape. Each individual stem of grass had frozen into a nub of ice. With every step, my boots crunched and slipped across this icy topography. Piles of limbs lay at the bottoms of the bigger trees. A small limb detached from the cottonwood tree as I stood there and made discordant music as it bounced against the limbs below before finally landing among its fallen, dying brethren on the ground. The younger trees, more limber, were probably fine, I told myself. They are bowed over as if in supplication to Mother Nature. Their top branches were frozen to the ground, making arches of their shapes. It was all very beautiful. I remembered reading about a party that was given for the Russian princess Anastasia before her life became tangled in the turmoil of revolution. The servants were outside spraying water on the trees so they would glitter with ice as the aristocracy arrived on their horse pulled, bell laden sleighs.
I went back inside and peeled off my boots and jacket and eagerly returned to Beowulf. Another log was required for the fire, so I spent a few moments poking the remaining logs to make room for more wood. I flinched as I heard more crashes from outside. An assembly of Geats preparing for battle? When I finally settled back into my chair, Beowulf has become King of the Geats and is fighting battles with the greatest champions of the land. He involves himself in disagreements. ”When Eofor cleft the old Swede’s helmet, halved it open, he fell, death-pale: his feud-calloused hand could not stave off the fatal blow.”
I just loved that…feud-calloused hand. I also really liked..”your blade making a mizzle of his blood.” There are evocative lines like that all through the story. Words unfamiliar and redolent of a different age.
An older and slower Beowulf does need the help of others in his final battle against a dragon, but few men are made of the same courage, and those standing with him failed to help him when he needed them most. He does kill the dragon, but at the cost of his own life. What better way for a legendary warrior to leave this world with his sword in his hand and his armor stained with dragon's blood. Valhalla has a place waiting for him.
Stormy weather requires the proper book and a cuppa of strong hot Welsh tea laced with a splash of Scotch whiskey. For me Beowulf, those 3,182 muscular and magnetic lines, added enchantment and necromancy to a world transforming before my eyes into something magical and unknown.
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It rained, but it was too cold to be raining. A combination of warmer atmosphere and colder temperatures on the ground produced an ice storm. The storm came in over the weekend so I could sit comfortably by my fireplace and watch out the window as the rain formed into sheets of ice on the streets and sidewalks. Power lines thickened as they became cubed in ice. Foot long and longer icicles dangled and swayed from the power lines, from the eaves of houses, from signs, from fence lines. The most affected though were the trees. The trees with the thicker branches were the most distressed, groaning under the added weight. As the ice accumulated on the branches of the smaller trees they bent and twisted to the ground. They became monsters, slumbering beneath an armor of ice.
I’d been thinking about rereading Beowulf for some time. This story has been a part of me for almost as long as I can remember. The idea of a mere man taking on a monster that was much stronger than most men, and finding a way to defeat him was compelling and inspiring mythology for my young mind. The terror of it, the monster that comes into your home and slaughters your friends and families in the dead of the night and takes heads as trophies, left shivers in the very center of me.
Beowulf hears of a monster who is attacking the Danes. He is one of thirteen men who decide to go to the rescue of Hrothgar, King of the Danes. He goes because he needs to make a name for himself, as Buliwyf in the movie The 13th Warrior says: ” I have only these hands.” Beowulf is poor, renown for his strength, but he has no Hall to call his own and, but for this small band, no men to call him King.
”Their mail-shirts glinted, hard and hand-linked; the high-gloss iron of their armour rang. So they duly arrived in their grim war-graith and gear at the hall, and, weary from the sea, stacked wide shields of the toughest hardwood against the wall, then collapsed on the benches; battle-dress and weapons clashed. They collected their spears in a seafarers’ stook, a stand of greyish tapering ash. And the troops were as good as their weapons.”
I had spent most of the day finishing another book and, thus, had started reading Beowulf late in the evening. My wife and our Scottish Terrier had gone to bed, and I was left in the soft glow of my reading lamp. Most of the city had lost power as lines too heavy with ice had crashed down one by one. It never crossed my mind, power or no power, that I would go to bed. I had candles close to hand. Beowulf was written in Old English between 975-1025. The Seamus Heaney translation that I read had the Old English on one page and Heaney’s translation on the other page. In college, I took a Chaucer class and became a fair hand at deciphering Middle English, but looking and even pronouncing these unfamiliar words did not ring any ancient bells in my English soul. To use an old phrase it was Greek to me.
1,000 year old manuscript of Beowulf.
As Beowulf grapples with Grendel and then with Grendel’s mother, I was just as enthralled with the story as I was as a wee tot. The carnage, the darkness, the uncertainty that Beowulf had to feel, despite his boasts to the contrary, all lend a fine, sharp edge to the tale. As I read, I also started to hear the sharp cracks and howls of ice laden tree limbs separating from their trunk in much the same way as Beowulf pulls Grendel’s arm loose from his shoulder. The crash of these ice shrouded branches against the frozen ground resounded in my mind like the steel swords of the Geats banging against their metal wrapped shields.
Curiosity got the better of me, and I walked out of my back door into an alien landscape. Each individual stem of grass had frozen into a nub of ice. With every step, my boots crunched and slipped across this icy topography. Piles of limbs lay at the bottoms of the bigger trees. A small limb detached from the cottonwood tree as I stood there and made discordant music as it bounced against the limbs below before finally landing among its fallen, dying brethren on the ground. The younger trees, more limber, were probably fine, I told myself. They are bowed over as if in supplication to Mother Nature. Their top branches were frozen to the ground, making arches of their shapes. It was all very beautiful. I remembered reading about a party that was given for the Russian princess Anastasia before her life became tangled in the turmoil of revolution. The servants were outside spraying water on the trees so they would glitter with ice as the aristocracy arrived on their horse pulled, bell laden sleighs.
I went back inside and peeled off my boots and jacket and eagerly returned to Beowulf. Another log was required for the fire, so I spent a few moments poking the remaining logs to make room for more wood. I flinched as I heard more crashes from outside. An assembly of Geats preparing for battle? When I finally settled back into my chair, Beowulf has become King of the Geats and is fighting battles with the greatest champions of the land. He involves himself in disagreements. ”When Eofor cleft the old Swede’s helmet, halved it open, he fell, death-pale: his feud-calloused hand could not stave off the fatal blow.”
I just loved that…feud-calloused hand. I also really liked..”your blade making a mizzle of his blood.” There are evocative lines like that all through the story. Words unfamiliar and redolent of a different age.
An older and slower Beowulf does need the help of others in his final battle against a dragon, but few men are made of the same courage, and those standing with him failed to help him when he needed them most. He does kill the dragon, but at the cost of his own life. What better way for a legendary warrior to leave this world with his sword in his hand and his armor stained with dragon's blood. Valhalla has a place waiting for him.
No sword blade sent him to his death,
My bare hands stilled his heartbeats
And wrecked the bone-house. Now blade and hand,
Sword and sword-stroke, will assay the hoard.”
Stormy weather requires the proper book and a cuppa of strong hot Welsh tea laced with a splash of Scotch whiskey. For me Beowulf, those 3,182 muscular and magnetic lines, added enchantment and necromancy to a world transforming before my eyes into something magical and unknown.
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November 26, 2024
I vaguely remembered reading this in 7th grade and thought it might be fun to grab the audio version of one of the most important works of Ye Olde English literature.
I listened to this twice the other day and then realized a funny thing:
Beowulf is basically every 80's action movie ever made.
It's true. Hear me out before you start shaking your head no.
The entire story centers around one guy wanking around the known world and loudly bragging about himself at every opportunity. He's the ultimate He-Man, who comes complete with a set of bro-groupies that faithfully follow him from adventure to adventure while jerking him off and singing his praises - all while he shows off his super-strong hand grip powers.
And yet, there exist those individuals who will simultaneously scoff at the peasants who enjoy a good mindless action flick and solemnly commend this who knows when it was actually written tale of heroes & monsters.
Because it's old poetry.
Ok, imagine this: 10 thousand years from now, for whatever reason, nothing much of our current society has survived.
Except the script for Rambo.
Which one, Anne? <--doesn't matter, take your pick.
And now the Future People think that it is some huge clue to how we all lived, while their scholars praise the unknown author for the poetic phrasing. Rambo will be immortalized as a hero of yore, and little girls in middle school will have to create shitty dioramas of his famous battles.
Poor little girls. <--I feel for you.
My point is this, if any of you are ever tempted to look down your nose on those of us who spend our time reading comics and watching shit blow up on the big screen, whilst you sip your overpriced coffee and peruse classic literature, remember this was the 8th century's version of John Wick - minus the dog.
And that was what survived.
Lowbrow entertainment, FTW!
I listened to this twice the other day and then realized a funny thing:
Beowulf is basically every 80's action movie ever made.
It's true. Hear me out before you start shaking your head no.
The entire story centers around one guy wanking around the known world and loudly bragging about himself at every opportunity. He's the ultimate He-Man, who comes complete with a set of bro-groupies that faithfully follow him from adventure to adventure while jerking him off and singing his praises - all while he shows off his super-strong hand grip powers.
And yet, there exist those individuals who will simultaneously scoff at the peasants who enjoy a good mindless action flick and solemnly commend this who knows when it was actually written tale of heroes & monsters.
Because it's old poetry.
Ok, imagine this: 10 thousand years from now, for whatever reason, nothing much of our current society has survived.
Except the script for Rambo.
Which one, Anne? <--doesn't matter, take your pick.
And now the Future People think that it is some huge clue to how we all lived, while their scholars praise the unknown author for the poetic phrasing. Rambo will be immortalized as a hero of yore, and little girls in middle school will have to create shitty dioramas of his famous battles.
Poor little girls. <--I feel for you.
My point is this, if any of you are ever tempted to look down your nose on those of us who spend our time reading comics and watching shit blow up on the big screen, whilst you sip your overpriced coffee and peruse classic literature, remember this was the 8th century's version of John Wick - minus the dog.
And that was what survived.
Lowbrow entertainment, FTW!
April 16, 2021
As a college English major, I studied Beowulf without any great enthusiasm; my real love was for the Romantic poets. And Chaucer, but that might have been partly because I thought it was hilarious that we were studying such bawdy material at BYU. Plus you can still puzzle out The Canterbury Tales in its original Middle English, with the help of a few handy annotations, while Beowulf in the original Old English--other than the immortal (at least in my mind) line "Bēowulf is mīn nama"--is beyond anyone but scholars, and it loses something in translation.
So I cheerfully forgot about Beowulf until I was puttering around in Barnes and Noble one day, and came across Seamus Heaney's recent translation. I read his foreword and was absolutely entranced by its brilliance. Heaney tosses off phrases like "the poem possesses a mythic potency" and talks about the "three archetypal sites of fear: the barricaded night-house, the infested underwater current, and the reptile-haunted rocks of a wilderness." He discusses how we are enveloped "in a society that is at once honour-bound and blood-stained, presided over by the laws of the blood-feud." And he explains in detail how he went about creating a new translation of the poem and the difficulty of finding the right voice:
In the end, it was a bit of a tough slog reading through the entire poem, but I'm glad I did it. I think I still love Heaney's foreword more than I love the actual Beowulf poem. I need to check out J.R.R. Tolkien's Beowulf translation one of these days.
So I cheerfully forgot about Beowulf until I was puttering around in Barnes and Noble one day, and came across Seamus Heaney's recent translation. I read his foreword and was absolutely entranced by its brilliance. Heaney tosses off phrases like "the poem possesses a mythic potency" and talks about the "three archetypal sites of fear: the barricaded night-house, the infested underwater current, and the reptile-haunted rocks of a wilderness." He discusses how we are enveloped "in a society that is at once honour-bound and blood-stained, presided over by the laws of the blood-feud." And he explains in detail how he went about creating a new translation of the poem and the difficulty of finding the right voice:
A simple sentence such as "We cut the corn to-day" took on immense dignity when one of [my father's relatives] spoke it. They had a kind of Native American solemnity of utterance, as if they were announcing verdicts rather than making small talk. And when I came to ask myself how I wanted Beowulf to sound in my version, I realized I wanted it to be speakable by one of those relatives.Anyway, all this is to explain why, after years of blissfully ignoring Beowulf, I felt compelled to buy this book and give it another try. Did it hold up to my hopes? Well, not quite. I still appreciate Beowulf more than I love it. But I heard the solemn, deliberate voice that Heaney was seeking to use, and I thought he did a great job of translating it as well as possible into modern English while preserving the original feel and intent of the poem. I love the liberal use of alliteration and the compound words (whale-road = sea; ring-giver = king) that are found in the original version of the poem as well as this translation. I felt the side-by-side nobility and brutality of these characters from (it's surmised) 6th century Scandinavia. And I was getting some serious Tolkien vibes from the ending, which is not at all a bad thing.
In the end, it was a bit of a tough slog reading through the entire poem, but I'm glad I did it. I think I still love Heaney's foreword more than I love the actual Beowulf poem. I need to check out J.R.R. Tolkien's Beowulf translation one of these days.
July 3, 2007
If I wrote a list of things I don't give a shit about, I'm pretty sure "some big fucking monster whose name sounds like a word for the area between my balls and my ass that attacks alcoholics and is eventually slain by some asshole, told entirely in some ancient form of English that I don't understand" would be near the top (for the record, run-on sentences would not. Judge not).
This was one of the first books I was ever assigned to read in high school, and I'm pretty sure it was the catalyst to my never caring about school again.
God do I hate this fucking book.
This was one of the first books I was ever assigned to read in high school, and I'm pretty sure it was the catalyst to my never caring about school again.
God do I hate this fucking book.
February 26, 2022
“The gap of danger where the demon waits is still unknown to you. Seek it if you dare.”
Written by an Unknown author, Beowulf is the most famous work of Old English literature - a mythical epic that influenced J.R.R. Tolkien and the whole fantasy genre. Beowulf is a heroic epic about a Germanic hero, a Christian vision of a pagan heroic life - in which epic hyperbole exaggerates stories of individuals and creates a cult of warrior heroism. In a lot of ways, Beowulf is an ultimate monomyth as the story evokes the primordial myth, the myth of the process of individual mental growth and the development of universal human consciousness. In the story the hero Beowulf is confronted with three archetypes in the process of individuation - Shadow, Anima and Self - in Grendel, Grendel's mother and dragon. Beowulf's confrontation with these three figures embodies the Jungian stages of life in the context of his special role within the community. So the myth can seen as the myth of male initiation and individuation.
The poem is written in complex Old English with Anglo-Saxon accent alliterations, inversions and paraphrastic repetition. The composition is disordered in excessive repetition, slowness, interruption in the course of action. It consists of numerous episodes, inserted stories as the poet interrupts the unique course of action. That accentuates the notion that the passage of time is a mere human illusion as the past, present and future are inseparable parts - it is difficult to find a thread of wisdom in present without looking at the past and the future at the same time. Digressions should not be interpreted as vagueness but as variations of the basic theme - emphasizing the opposite in paraphrastic, comparative sentences, alluding to the fact that everything in nature, history, and human psyche comes in the pair of opposites.
The epic is set in Scandinavia in the 6th century and the plot is a combination of fiction, myth and history of the age of patriarchal warrior aristocracies. Lévi-Strauss’s question —“Where does history end and where does mythology start?”—is worth posing for its bearing on the poem’s main plot, as we can see in the illustrated edition, a lot of archelogical findinds corresponded with poem's story.
The atmosphere of the poem is dignified and gloomy, and without the sun and without the serenity the cold wind of the northern seas blows from the poet's verses, dark clouds and fogs. In that harsh climate live warlike tribes whose reality is harsh and bloody. Beowulf is a symbol, a hero that sublimates their moral values.
Beowulf's name is formed from the combination of words; bees and wulf; it means the enemy of bees, which is a metaphorical name for a bear. Beowulf has animal strength, in the hands (bear paws) and body as the animal components of Beowulf allude to shamanic traits. Interestingly, the reader never finds out how does Beowulf or any of the monsters look like; instead there are detailed descriptions of armor, like a mask that secretly shows the essence. Beowulf and monsters are more determined by what they do than by their physicality as they are characters of embodied ideas.
The myth is often considered a Christian allegory with pagan elements as it represents a fusion of Christianity and Germanic paganism as both elements are interwoven in the story. The Pagan Vikings saw themselves as prisoners of inevitable fate - there was no consolation that the afterlife would bring a reward to the righteous. The Pagan gods were themselves victims of the inevitable Destiny, so even man had no choice but to make peace with it. But the man did not reconcile with his transience, he sought to leave a trace among the living and therefore fought to gain the fame that will preserve his name from oblivion. This further strengthened heroism as a basic life principle. Individualism could hardly be expressed because the tribal spirit tended to conform everyone to the same ideal mold.
Christianization of Scandinavians in the 9th century was difficult because it was hard to reconcile the ideals of tribal morality - aggression, cruelty, boastfulness - with the demands of Christianity - gentleness and modesty. The Biblical idea of the devil in the poem summarizes the creations of Pagan imagination, various evil beings, monsters and ghosts.
The Christian symbolism is prominent in the poem. The story starts with the child who comes in the basket alluding to the Christian archetype of the child who saves, transforms and brings hope as, for instance, Jesus and Moses did. Also, the royal family tree is laid out as the Jesus family tree is described in the prologue of the Gospel of Matthew. The Danes royal family and blood ties are the cause of loyalty and fidelity - but the inheritance is as burdened as Jesus', as many of the family members are sinful murderers of their relatives. Later on, the monster Grendel is continuously described as Cain's descendant, jealous of people celebrating in the court regardless of sin, and he could attack them because they had the same inheritance.
The Hall of Heorot is akin to Solomon's temple in maintaining the order of society and civilization against chaos- it represents the good values of the community - security, prosperity, togetherness, abundance, honor, hospitality, heritage, protection. The number 12 is constantly repeated throughout the poem and Beowulf comes in the company of 12 warriors mirroring the 12 apostles, which all fled when the hour of danger stroke and in Beowulf's (Jesus') death - only one disciple remained - Wiglaf (John).
Hrothgar represents the archetype of the good King and Father who does not know about the Christian God, who is not capable of protecting his kingdom from the evil lurking in the kingdom - he needs the archetype of hero and warrior, as his ego is facing usurpation of the shadow by the monster Grendel.
Grendel can be seen as Shadow on a personal (Beowulf’s and Hrothgar’s) and collective level (of community, Heorot halls). He is also a negative Animus, destructive aspect of Father and King, a kind of Oedipal Monster, the Negative, Tyrannical Aspect of a Father Eating His Children - the opposite, mirror image of Hrothgar. Grendel is portrayed as a hellish, cursed creature - a "monster man" and an "anti-hero", a descendant of Cain, the primordial murderer of the genus, cursed and excluded from human society. He is a symbol of evil and jealousy, blood revenge, a mockery of humanity, a tormented by the sound of joy rising from Hrothgar's hall. He lives in a swamp, a traditional final resting place for those who "pervert their person". Grendel is the shadow of a warrior society, a wild, bloodthirsty “creature” that kills people in the dark. He is the antithesis of a warrior who guards the heritage of culture against the destruction of nature and the destructive attacks of neighboring tribes. Grendel secretly destroys the fabric of society, seemingly from the outside, but in fact from within, from the seed of bloodthirst and death wish lingering in every man.
Beowulf much like missionary Paul comes from the sea and brings peace and salvation to a society burdened with evil within and without, the evil of death revenge, murders of relatives, and monsters. He is a missionary, a both Hero and Saviour figure, who brings faith in the true God and peace, and he also comes to destroy, expel evil. He saves pagan Danes by his strength that is more than the ability to defeat monsters - he has the ability to control his instincts and urges and not do morally wrong actions. Unlike impotent hero Unfarth, he's not a killer of his own kin.
Beowulf performs the act of symbolical castration on Grendel in tearing his arm and later severing his head. Grendel's death shares a lot with the great myths of beheading and dismemberment in mythology that are in resonance with the creation of the world and the establishment of culture.
After Grendel, Beowulf is confronted with Grendel’s Mother as he has to be confronted with the feminine shadow aspect in the Devouring Mother, the opposite of the good queen. Grendel’s mother is a hideous man-eating female dwelling outside the pale of civilization and thus corresponds closely to the fairy-tale image of the witch. In Jungian terms, the symbolic figure of the witch is a negative manifestation of the projection generating archetype known as the anima. The anima represents the contra-sexual nature of a man, and by analogy, the feminine ideal of a male-dominated society. Grendel’s mother is fueled by vengeance in irrational emotionalism and sentimentality and she works out of the sadness of losing Grendel. Irrational emotionalism and sentimentality are the chief “bad attributes” of the feminine archetype in modern western culture and were likely to have been the same 1500 years ago.
In his quests Beowulf cannot use earthly methods, his famous swords fail him every time, he can on rely on what he was born with, his strength of a body, soul and spirit. Beowulf wins because he is anointed by God, mirroring Biblical stories, the evil must be defeated on a spiritual level, by faith in God, and the victory comes because God willed so.
Dragon is the ultimate and final monster Beowulf is confronted with. Unlike Grendel and his mother, the dragon's origin does not lead to Cain - he is not a mockery of humanity, it is something outside the human realm, a primordial being. Trans-personal in nature, the dragon is not merely a projection of psychic content, but power in itself, far beyond the limited sphere of Beowulf's ego, which lies beyond the relatively shallow depths of mind and nature he has mastered. He symbolizes the Uroboros - completeness of the psyche and the development of the hero that ends in death, the integrity of life and death itself - the place of transformation and enlightenment, finality. The hero is an archetype that must die and the dragon is the evil that will kill him, as history repeats the previously announced Sigemund's story.
In constant premonitions of Beowulf's death and demise, there is both Pagan determinism and Christian acknowledgment of death. Unlike the Antic heroes who strived and received immortality with their deeds, Beowulf is a Pagan and Christian hero, that, like Jesus, has to end his heroic life in death - the hero is the one who repeats the work of Christ. The Pagan fatality and tragedy are prominent as Beowulf in the end did all in vain, he did not succeed in saving the Geates, as the other nations that will destroy Geate after his death. Neither Pagan religion nor Christianity saved the Geates - the dragon's treasure that Beowulf winned by his death will not save a nation and is actually useless.
In a lot of ways, Beowulf’s death signals the end of a Heroic Age. The dragon is transpersonal nature, the evil that overwhelms even the hero, a fate that no man can escape - the diminishment of all his good deeds, the triumph of destruction.
”For every one of us, living in this world means waiting for our end. Let whoever can win glory before death. When a warrior is gone, that will be his best and only bulwark.”
As a myth of initiation, Beowulf has a spiritual value that transcends the needs and imagery of any given historical epoch. Beowulf is a man that mastered “five Giants,” the senses, and then the “sea serpents:” his emotional and sexual nature. Beowulf is also a symbol of a hero that undergoes his psychological transformation and therefore can bring peace to society and culture, and restore order. In times of crises, wars, and monsters, stories like Beowulf’s are needed as they set us to our own quest of finding the psychic wholeness and balance - the act of rebellion against the eternal chaos of the world.
“So every man should act, be at hand when needed; but now, for the king, this would be the last of his many labours and triumphs in the world.“
Written by an Unknown author, Beowulf is the most famous work of Old English literature - a mythical epic that influenced J.R.R. Tolkien and the whole fantasy genre. Beowulf is a heroic epic about a Germanic hero, a Christian vision of a pagan heroic life - in which epic hyperbole exaggerates stories of individuals and creates a cult of warrior heroism. In a lot of ways, Beowulf is an ultimate monomyth as the story evokes the primordial myth, the myth of the process of individual mental growth and the development of universal human consciousness. In the story the hero Beowulf is confronted with three archetypes in the process of individuation - Shadow, Anima and Self - in Grendel, Grendel's mother and dragon. Beowulf's confrontation with these three figures embodies the Jungian stages of life in the context of his special role within the community. So the myth can seen as the myth of male initiation and individuation.
The poem is written in complex Old English with Anglo-Saxon accent alliterations, inversions and paraphrastic repetition. The composition is disordered in excessive repetition, slowness, interruption in the course of action. It consists of numerous episodes, inserted stories as the poet interrupts the unique course of action. That accentuates the notion that the passage of time is a mere human illusion as the past, present and future are inseparable parts - it is difficult to find a thread of wisdom in present without looking at the past and the future at the same time. Digressions should not be interpreted as vagueness but as variations of the basic theme - emphasizing the opposite in paraphrastic, comparative sentences, alluding to the fact that everything in nature, history, and human psyche comes in the pair of opposites.
The epic is set in Scandinavia in the 6th century and the plot is a combination of fiction, myth and history of the age of patriarchal warrior aristocracies. Lévi-Strauss’s question —“Where does history end and where does mythology start?”—is worth posing for its bearing on the poem’s main plot, as we can see in the illustrated edition, a lot of archelogical findinds corresponded with poem's story.
The atmosphere of the poem is dignified and gloomy, and without the sun and without the serenity the cold wind of the northern seas blows from the poet's verses, dark clouds and fogs. In that harsh climate live warlike tribes whose reality is harsh and bloody. Beowulf is a symbol, a hero that sublimates their moral values.
Beowulf's name is formed from the combination of words; bees and wulf; it means the enemy of bees, which is a metaphorical name for a bear. Beowulf has animal strength, in the hands (bear paws) and body as the animal components of Beowulf allude to shamanic traits. Interestingly, the reader never finds out how does Beowulf or any of the monsters look like; instead there are detailed descriptions of armor, like a mask that secretly shows the essence. Beowulf and monsters are more determined by what they do than by their physicality as they are characters of embodied ideas.
The myth is often considered a Christian allegory with pagan elements as it represents a fusion of Christianity and Germanic paganism as both elements are interwoven in the story. The Pagan Vikings saw themselves as prisoners of inevitable fate - there was no consolation that the afterlife would bring a reward to the righteous. The Pagan gods were themselves victims of the inevitable Destiny, so even man had no choice but to make peace with it. But the man did not reconcile with his transience, he sought to leave a trace among the living and therefore fought to gain the fame that will preserve his name from oblivion. This further strengthened heroism as a basic life principle. Individualism could hardly be expressed because the tribal spirit tended to conform everyone to the same ideal mold.
Christianization of Scandinavians in the 9th century was difficult because it was hard to reconcile the ideals of tribal morality - aggression, cruelty, boastfulness - with the demands of Christianity - gentleness and modesty. The Biblical idea of the devil in the poem summarizes the creations of Pagan imagination, various evil beings, monsters and ghosts.
The Christian symbolism is prominent in the poem. The story starts with the child who comes in the basket alluding to the Christian archetype of the child who saves, transforms and brings hope as, for instance, Jesus and Moses did. Also, the royal family tree is laid out as the Jesus family tree is described in the prologue of the Gospel of Matthew. The Danes royal family and blood ties are the cause of loyalty and fidelity - but the inheritance is as burdened as Jesus', as many of the family members are sinful murderers of their relatives. Later on, the monster Grendel is continuously described as Cain's descendant, jealous of people celebrating in the court regardless of sin, and he could attack them because they had the same inheritance.
The Hall of Heorot is akin to Solomon's temple in maintaining the order of society and civilization against chaos- it represents the good values of the community - security, prosperity, togetherness, abundance, honor, hospitality, heritage, protection. The number 12 is constantly repeated throughout the poem and Beowulf comes in the company of 12 warriors mirroring the 12 apostles, which all fled when the hour of danger stroke and in Beowulf's (Jesus') death - only one disciple remained - Wiglaf (John).
Hrothgar represents the archetype of the good King and Father who does not know about the Christian God, who is not capable of protecting his kingdom from the evil lurking in the kingdom - he needs the archetype of hero and warrior, as his ego is facing usurpation of the shadow by the monster Grendel.
Grendel can be seen as Shadow on a personal (Beowulf’s and Hrothgar’s) and collective level (of community, Heorot halls). He is also a negative Animus, destructive aspect of Father and King, a kind of Oedipal Monster, the Negative, Tyrannical Aspect of a Father Eating His Children - the opposite, mirror image of Hrothgar. Grendel is portrayed as a hellish, cursed creature - a "monster man" and an "anti-hero", a descendant of Cain, the primordial murderer of the genus, cursed and excluded from human society. He is a symbol of evil and jealousy, blood revenge, a mockery of humanity, a tormented by the sound of joy rising from Hrothgar's hall. He lives in a swamp, a traditional final resting place for those who "pervert their person". Grendel is the shadow of a warrior society, a wild, bloodthirsty “creature” that kills people in the dark. He is the antithesis of a warrior who guards the heritage of culture against the destruction of nature and the destructive attacks of neighboring tribes. Grendel secretly destroys the fabric of society, seemingly from the outside, but in fact from within, from the seed of bloodthirst and death wish lingering in every man.
Beowulf much like missionary Paul comes from the sea and brings peace and salvation to a society burdened with evil within and without, the evil of death revenge, murders of relatives, and monsters. He is a missionary, a both Hero and Saviour figure, who brings faith in the true God and peace, and he also comes to destroy, expel evil. He saves pagan Danes by his strength that is more than the ability to defeat monsters - he has the ability to control his instincts and urges and not do morally wrong actions. Unlike impotent hero Unfarth, he's not a killer of his own kin.
Beowulf performs the act of symbolical castration on Grendel in tearing his arm and later severing his head. Grendel's death shares a lot with the great myths of beheading and dismemberment in mythology that are in resonance with the creation of the world and the establishment of culture.
After Grendel, Beowulf is confronted with Grendel’s Mother as he has to be confronted with the feminine shadow aspect in the Devouring Mother, the opposite of the good queen. Grendel’s mother is a hideous man-eating female dwelling outside the pale of civilization and thus corresponds closely to the fairy-tale image of the witch. In Jungian terms, the symbolic figure of the witch is a negative manifestation of the projection generating archetype known as the anima. The anima represents the contra-sexual nature of a man, and by analogy, the feminine ideal of a male-dominated society. Grendel’s mother is fueled by vengeance in irrational emotionalism and sentimentality and she works out of the sadness of losing Grendel. Irrational emotionalism and sentimentality are the chief “bad attributes” of the feminine archetype in modern western culture and were likely to have been the same 1500 years ago.
In his quests Beowulf cannot use earthly methods, his famous swords fail him every time, he can on rely on what he was born with, his strength of a body, soul and spirit. Beowulf wins because he is anointed by God, mirroring Biblical stories, the evil must be defeated on a spiritual level, by faith in God, and the victory comes because God willed so.
Dragon is the ultimate and final monster Beowulf is confronted with. Unlike Grendel and his mother, the dragon's origin does not lead to Cain - he is not a mockery of humanity, it is something outside the human realm, a primordial being. Trans-personal in nature, the dragon is not merely a projection of psychic content, but power in itself, far beyond the limited sphere of Beowulf's ego, which lies beyond the relatively shallow depths of mind and nature he has mastered. He symbolizes the Uroboros - completeness of the psyche and the development of the hero that ends in death, the integrity of life and death itself - the place of transformation and enlightenment, finality. The hero is an archetype that must die and the dragon is the evil that will kill him, as history repeats the previously announced Sigemund's story.
In constant premonitions of Beowulf's death and demise, there is both Pagan determinism and Christian acknowledgment of death. Unlike the Antic heroes who strived and received immortality with their deeds, Beowulf is a Pagan and Christian hero, that, like Jesus, has to end his heroic life in death - the hero is the one who repeats the work of Christ. The Pagan fatality and tragedy are prominent as Beowulf in the end did all in vain, he did not succeed in saving the Geates, as the other nations that will destroy Geate after his death. Neither Pagan religion nor Christianity saved the Geates - the dragon's treasure that Beowulf winned by his death will not save a nation and is actually useless.
In a lot of ways, Beowulf’s death signals the end of a Heroic Age. The dragon is transpersonal nature, the evil that overwhelms even the hero, a fate that no man can escape - the diminishment of all his good deeds, the triumph of destruction.
”For every one of us, living in this world means waiting for our end. Let whoever can win glory before death. When a warrior is gone, that will be his best and only bulwark.”
As a myth of initiation, Beowulf has a spiritual value that transcends the needs and imagery of any given historical epoch. Beowulf is a man that mastered “five Giants,” the senses, and then the “sea serpents:” his emotional and sexual nature. Beowulf is also a symbol of a hero that undergoes his psychological transformation and therefore can bring peace to society and culture, and restore order. In times of crises, wars, and monsters, stories like Beowulf’s are needed as they set us to our own quest of finding the psychic wholeness and balance - the act of rebellion against the eternal chaos of the world.
“So every man should act, be at hand when needed; but now, for the king, this would be the last of his many labours and triumphs in the world.“
May 10, 2023
Those of you looking for a precise, age-old translation of Beowulf need to go back to Heaney. This is no timeless classic, this is no pretentious, literary snobbery made to bore high school sophomores. This is living, breathing poetry as it's meant to be, rooted in the language of then and the language of now, full of drama and heroes and monsters and oh so much swag.
Will this be hilariously dated in fifteen years when the slang has all changed and swole joins the ranks of rad and groovy? Yes. Do I care? Absolutely not. This translation is a masterpiece of its own kind, a unique update that explores the mutability of language and the tradition of oral storytelling in a way that honors the original poet who first wrote this oldest of English and yet brings the characters into a place where today's readers can contextualize and better understand the heart of the poem. This is not a translation for ivory towers and Norton Anthologies of English Literature. This is a translation for reading out loud, for shouting over the noise of bars, for spitting into the slam poetry mic. The rhythm here is just brilliant, the scattered kennings and alliterative lines serving as the beating heart of this story.
This translation makes me want to fight dragons, and this Beowulf almost makes me think I could. You might not think this is your cup of tea, but I promise, you are wrong. Because it isn't a cup of tea. It's an old-timey flagon of mead poured into a line of shot glasses on a friendly bar, a whirlwind of words that absolutely pounds through you. Bro! You do not want to miss this.
Will this be hilariously dated in fifteen years when the slang has all changed and swole joins the ranks of rad and groovy? Yes. Do I care? Absolutely not. This translation is a masterpiece of its own kind, a unique update that explores the mutability of language and the tradition of oral storytelling in a way that honors the original poet who first wrote this oldest of English and yet brings the characters into a place where today's readers can contextualize and better understand the heart of the poem. This is not a translation for ivory towers and Norton Anthologies of English Literature. This is a translation for reading out loud, for shouting over the noise of bars, for spitting into the slam poetry mic. The rhythm here is just brilliant, the scattered kennings and alliterative lines serving as the beating heart of this story.
This translation makes me want to fight dragons, and this Beowulf almost makes me think I could. You might not think this is your cup of tea, but I promise, you are wrong. Because it isn't a cup of tea. It's an old-timey flagon of mead poured into a line of shot glasses on a friendly bar, a whirlwind of words that absolutely pounds through you. Bro! You do not want to miss this.
November 6, 2023
Oh, Grendel has fewer scenes and less onpage time than I remembered from my first read ages ago! And I'm a tad sad for that, because this little monster is what stuck with me from this epic poem, of which I'm not a fan (nor a hater, for that reason; it's always been just mildly interesting and mostly a school chore for me).
On the other hand, a more mature me can see the themes and nuances much better than schoolgirl me, hence the current rating I'm giving it. I don't think it'll ever have the same pull as my favourite epics, but I definitely can see what folks like Tolkien saw in it. It does look like little me and the Professor both came to focus a wee bit more on the "monster" than on the hero. Or might just be my impression. But for me, "Beowulf" will always be Grendel's story.
Bonus effect from rereading this: I've tossed away the sneaky bits that had seeped into my memories of this epic from the film (thanks for nothing, Hollywood!). It's incredible how our recollection of books we read so long ago can get pushed aside by the omnipresent screen adaptations, and sometimes we don't even realise it. Because I was pretty sure some things from the film, like the Beowulf and Grendel's mummy affair, were in the book as well and it turned out not to be. Goes to show it's always worth checking back on the golden oldies to make sure!
On the other hand, a more mature me can see the themes and nuances much better than schoolgirl me, hence the current rating I'm giving it. I don't think it'll ever have the same pull as my favourite epics, but I definitely can see what folks like Tolkien saw in it. It does look like little me and the Professor both came to focus a wee bit more on the "monster" than on the hero. Or might just be my impression. But for me, "Beowulf" will always be Grendel's story.
Bonus effect from rereading this: I've tossed away the sneaky bits that had seeped into my memories of this epic from the film (thanks for nothing, Hollywood!). It's incredible how our recollection of books we read so long ago can get pushed aside by the omnipresent screen adaptations, and sometimes we don't even realise it. Because I was pretty sure some things from the film, like the Beowulf and Grendel's mummy affair, were in the book as well and it turned out not to be. Goes to show it's always worth checking back on the golden oldies to make sure!
April 23, 2017
Beowulf is thought to have been written around the year 1000 AD, give or take a century. And the author is the extremely famous, very popular and world renowned writer... Unknown. Got you there, didn't I? LOL Probably not... if you're on Goodreads and studied American or English literature, you probably already knew this is one of the most famous works without an author.
It was first really published in the 1800s, using the Old English version where many have translated it, but there are still some blurry parts of the story. Essentially, a monster named Grendel hunts and kills the people of a town and many warriors have died fighting against it. Beowulf tackles the monster and its mother, and well... you're gonna have to read it to find out. Or if you can't get yourself there, watch the Star Trek or Simpsons episode which does a nice little rendition.
Here's the reasons why you should take a look at the story:
1. Many famous writers and editors have attempted to translate the story into more modern English. Tolkien is a famous example. Each reader has his/her own interpretation. So pick one whose style you like and go to that version.
2. It's a translated book... other than the famous Greek literature we read in high school, it's one of the earliest translated forms of literature. Makes it worth taking a gander.
3. It's a really great story. Monster terrorizes people. Someone strong steps up to fight it. There is a victory of sorts. Momma wants revenge. So... how many books have you read that have just copied... I mean borrowed... that entire plot?
4. There is a lot of beauty in the prose and the verse, and when you hear the words describe the creatures, it's a bit like fantasy.
Here's why you may not like it:
1. It's long.
2. It's hard to understand at some points.
3. It's 1000 years old and you just like modern stories.
My advice... pick a passage or two, read for 30 minutes and decide if it's something you want to read more of. But you should always give a chance to some part of our early heritage and culture. Right?
About Me
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by.
[polldaddy poll=9729544]
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It was first really published in the 1800s, using the Old English version where many have translated it, but there are still some blurry parts of the story. Essentially, a monster named Grendel hunts and kills the people of a town and many warriors have died fighting against it. Beowulf tackles the monster and its mother, and well... you're gonna have to read it to find out. Or if you can't get yourself there, watch the Star Trek or Simpsons episode which does a nice little rendition.
Here's the reasons why you should take a look at the story:
1. Many famous writers and editors have attempted to translate the story into more modern English. Tolkien is a famous example. Each reader has his/her own interpretation. So pick one whose style you like and go to that version.
2. It's a translated book... other than the famous Greek literature we read in high school, it's one of the earliest translated forms of literature. Makes it worth taking a gander.
3. It's a really great story. Monster terrorizes people. Someone strong steps up to fight it. There is a victory of sorts. Momma wants revenge. So... how many books have you read that have just copied... I mean borrowed... that entire plot?
4. There is a lot of beauty in the prose and the verse, and when you hear the words describe the creatures, it's a bit like fantasy.
Here's why you may not like it:
1. It's long.
2. It's hard to understand at some points.
3. It's 1000 years old and you just like modern stories.
My advice... pick a passage or two, read for 30 minutes and decide if it's something you want to read more of. But you should always give a chance to some part of our early heritage and culture. Right?
About Me
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by.
[polldaddy poll=9729544]
[polldaddy poll=9719251]
May 2, 2021
This is a reread from my high school days. It was fun to reengage with this epic poem. This particular edition is bilingual with Old English on the left and modern English on the right. So technically that cuts the book length in half but does not take away from the story. The poem blends lots of elements of fictional, historical reference, and elements of legends. There are even Biblical allusions of Cain, making him a monster “pained by the sounds of joy.” Beowulf, son Ecgtheow, goes to aid of Hrothgar the Danish king. The Danes are being tormented by a monster, Grendel, who stalks a great hall and kills many men. This epic poem includes the entire tale of Grendel, the monster’s mother, and the fighting of the dragon. I was able to see how Tolkien used the sleeping dragon, underground layer, and cunning thief stealing from the dragon’s hoard of loot.
I enjoyed reading this overall. Sometimes I lost focus and found it rambling but some part kept me engaged. This is considered the most important Old English poem and that’s probably why everyone has to read it in school. Thanks!
I enjoyed reading this overall. Sometimes I lost focus and found it rambling but some part kept me engaged. This is considered the most important Old English poem and that’s probably why everyone has to read it in school. Thanks!
June 30, 2007
I've just finished reading Beowulf for the third time! But lo, this reading was in the bold and exciting Beowulf: a New Verse Translation by Seamus Heaney! And what a difference a day makes - Heaney is unstoppable! Rather, he makes Beowulf unstoppable. Unstoppable in his ability to pound you in the face with his manliness and leave you bleeding-but-strangely-desiring-more.
As I said, I've read the epic Anglo-Saxon poem several times now, but usually, I'm trudging through to get to the "good parts" (i.e., Beowulf's three notable feats), but this time, I was taken aback! The whole durned thing was the good parts! What luck! I read it over the space of three days and boy is my voice tired (I have a distinct inability when it comes to facing these sorts of tales - I have to read aloud. And with an accent. And with bluster).
One of the coolest things spicing up this reading (besides Heaney's great translation) was the juxtaposition of the Old English to the translation. As you may know, the only surviving copy of anything close to an original Beowulf is written in Old English (or Anglo-Saxon) from 'tween AD 700 and 1000. Now Old English isn't just archaic some King James English with lotsa thees, thous, and forsooths, as many people seem to think. It's the illegitimate birth father of Middle English (which I believe came about sometime after AD 1066) which in turn spawned Modern English. Modern English includes the English used in both Shakespeare and the King James Bible as well as the haphazard trash we sprechen today. In truth, Old English is nearly indecipherable. Below, I've included the first three lines of Beowulf, which are not only a great example of what I'm talking about, but strangely fitting for who I am:
Hwæt wê Gâr-dena in geâr-dagum
Þêod-cyninga Þrym gefrûnon,
hû ðâ æÞelingas ellen fremedon.
Fun, no? Well... so you know, that translates as:
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.
Hoorah! Hoorah for the Spear-Danes! And...*ahem* ..who cares if by the time Beowulf comes around their busy getting their butts eaten off by Grendel. Hoorah for the Spear-Danes! Hoorah for Gâr-dena (and doesn't that sound like a wonderful name for a city?).
In any case, it was fun to look over at the Anglo-Saxon to see if I could decipher any of it. Alas, my attention was so rapt upon the tale that I didn't take as much time to peruse the original as I would have liked. But since I bought it, I should be afforded plenty of time for such trivialities.
As I said, I've read the epic Anglo-Saxon poem several times now, but usually, I'm trudging through to get to the "good parts" (i.e., Beowulf's three notable feats), but this time, I was taken aback! The whole durned thing was the good parts! What luck! I read it over the space of three days and boy is my voice tired (I have a distinct inability when it comes to facing these sorts of tales - I have to read aloud. And with an accent. And with bluster).
One of the coolest things spicing up this reading (besides Heaney's great translation) was the juxtaposition of the Old English to the translation. As you may know, the only surviving copy of anything close to an original Beowulf is written in Old English (or Anglo-Saxon) from 'tween AD 700 and 1000. Now Old English isn't just archaic some King James English with lotsa thees, thous, and forsooths, as many people seem to think. It's the illegitimate birth father of Middle English (which I believe came about sometime after AD 1066) which in turn spawned Modern English. Modern English includes the English used in both Shakespeare and the King James Bible as well as the haphazard trash we sprechen today. In truth, Old English is nearly indecipherable. Below, I've included the first three lines of Beowulf, which are not only a great example of what I'm talking about, but strangely fitting for who I am:
Hwæt wê Gâr-dena in geâr-dagum
Þêod-cyninga Þrym gefrûnon,
hû ðâ æÞelingas ellen fremedon.
Fun, no? Well... so you know, that translates as:
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.
Hoorah! Hoorah for the Spear-Danes! And...*ahem* ..who cares if by the time Beowulf comes around their busy getting their butts eaten off by Grendel. Hoorah for the Spear-Danes! Hoorah for Gâr-dena (and doesn't that sound like a wonderful name for a city?).
In any case, it was fun to look over at the Anglo-Saxon to see if I could decipher any of it. Alas, my attention was so rapt upon the tale that I didn't take as much time to peruse the original as I would have liked. But since I bought it, I should be afforded plenty of time for such trivialities.
April 17, 2018
I was always quite intimidated by this book. I'm not sure why. Now I realize that my being intimidated by a book, especially by this one, was just ridiculous. What a fabulous, fabulous book! I just loved everything about it! The poetry, the story! Five big ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️'s all the way!
September 21, 2020
Bro! Maria Dahvana Headley has turned an esteemed classic into a fast, powerful 4D Dolby Surround action extravaganza that exudes the joy of storytelling. I've always wanted read "Beowulf", an Old English epic poem from the Early Middle Ages consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines that has survived only in the Nowell Codex. Unfortunately though, I don't understand Old English and I've also struggled with renditions that try to emulate some kind of ancient English (like the ones by J.R.R. Tolkien and Seamus Heaney). Now, Headley comes along and serves us a fierce, modern version of the text that makes for a riveting read. Beowulf (which probably was intended to mean "bee wolf", so "bear"), the warrior hero of the Geats, saves the day when he comes to help the Danish king who has been under attack from Grendel, an unspecified ferocious being and descendant of Cain. Beowulf slays Grendel and then Grendel's mother, a female warrior who wanted to avenge her son. So Beowulf is #badass, or, as he himself explains in Headley's translation:
"Yes: I mean - I may have bathed in the blood of beasts,
netted five foul ogres at once, smashed my way into a troll den
and come out swinging, gone skinny-dipping in a sleeping sea
and made sashimi of some sea monsters.
Anyone who fucks with the Geats?
Bro, they have to fuck with me.
They're asking for it, and I deal them death."
Beowulf travels home, becomes king and, 50 years later, slays a dragon and dies. Throughout the whole poem, vigilance, loyalty, and courage are core themes, and it's safe to say that out warrior-king isn't particularly woke when it comes to the importance of riches and fame: So. much. gold. Plus a momument at the shore - sure, why not.
Reading this old text was so much fun, and Headley wrote a fantastic foreword explaining the importance of the text, talking about the feat of translating it and her intention to do right by the women in the text: For instance, "aglæca" was often translated as "hero" when referring to Beowulf, but Grendel's mother, the "aglæc-wif", suddenly was a "monstrous hell-bride" (Heaney), not a "warrior wife".
A great book, now I have to read The Mere Wife.
"Yes: I mean - I may have bathed in the blood of beasts,
netted five foul ogres at once, smashed my way into a troll den
and come out swinging, gone skinny-dipping in a sleeping sea
and made sashimi of some sea monsters.
Anyone who fucks with the Geats?
Bro, they have to fuck with me.
They're asking for it, and I deal them death."
Beowulf travels home, becomes king and, 50 years later, slays a dragon and dies. Throughout the whole poem, vigilance, loyalty, and courage are core themes, and it's safe to say that out warrior-king isn't particularly woke when it comes to the importance of riches and fame: So. much. gold. Plus a momument at the shore - sure, why not.
Reading this old text was so much fun, and Headley wrote a fantastic foreword explaining the importance of the text, talking about the feat of translating it and her intention to do right by the women in the text: For instance, "aglæca" was often translated as "hero" when referring to Beowulf, but Grendel's mother, the "aglæc-wif", suddenly was a "monstrous hell-bride" (Heaney), not a "warrior wife".
A great book, now I have to read The Mere Wife.
October 13, 2019
I really don’t think I started Beowulf in the right mindset, and for the first 20 pages I actually wasn’t enjoying it very much at all.
I think this was because I started reading with certain expectations — namely in terms of style, for I am familiar with Seamus Heaney’s poetry. I was put off because, I think, it was not what I was anticipating. There were only a few lines whose construction I really stopped to pool over.
But — game changer — then I listened to the piece read in the original old English, and started reading it aloud to myself. And my appreciation of the language was completely reformed.
My favourite line — “the world’s candle warmed them” (line 1966)
I think this was because I started reading with certain expectations — namely in terms of style, for I am familiar with Seamus Heaney’s poetry. I was put off because, I think, it was not what I was anticipating. There were only a few lines whose construction I really stopped to pool over.
But — game changer — then I listened to the piece read in the original old English, and started reading it aloud to myself. And my appreciation of the language was completely reformed.
My favourite line — “the world’s candle warmed them” (line 1966)
June 2, 2021
Michael Alexander’s Beowulf - 4 ⭐
Seamus Heaney’s Beowulf - 3.5 ⭐
Beowulf is an Anglo-Saxon Epic poem and the greatest surviving work of literature in Old English. It survives as one part of a manuscript known as the Nowell Codex, copied in the early 11th Century by an unknown scribe. The age of the original composition is also unknown. I read Michael Alexander’s translation in-tandem with that of Seamus Heaney, both are unabridged Verse Translations, so this will be a comparative review of sorts.
The tale itself is set in the North-Germanic or Scandinavian region during the 5th and 6th centuries. Though written for a Christian audience, the subjects of the story are “Pagans”. Predominantly the Danes, victims of 12 Years of nightly terror wrought by the demonic abomination Grendel, and the Geats, to whom their would-be hero Beowulf belongs. Bolstered it is, however, by the inclusion of the Swedes, Jutes, Angles, Frisians, Franks and Heathobards and the storied connections, rarely amicable, between the various tribes.
It’s an era of patriarchal warrior aristocracies. Kings are respected for their “open-handedness” and generosity in gift-giving; subjects are prized and rewarded, above all, for their Bravery and Heroism, characteristics which Beowulf exemplifies above all others. Women, even Queens, are reduced to glorified mead wenches and “companions of the bed” as we see with both Hygd and Wealhtheow. Daughters of Kings, like Hildeburgh or Freawaru, are little more than peace-offerings between rival tribes, given without care for how one might treat the daughter of their enemy. Here’s a Hot Tip: If you’re a woman and time-travel becomes possible, don’t push the fucking Rewind button!! There’s nothing remotely good waiting for you there. I don’t give a shit about your Highlander Fantasies either, forget about it! Where was I? Oh yeah.
Great importance is placed on the Lineage of men. Kingships, hoards of treasure and legendary weapons, bearing the names of their original owners, are inherited and gifted by the Will of the King as proof of one’s value and a display of Brotherhood/Kinship. The ”Pagan” tribes of the time lived in perpetual states of nervous tension, slights to their ancestors unforgotten, always looking for a chance for reciprocation or, more accurately, retaliation and so the cycle of revenge, like life and death symbolised by the Worm Ouroboros, was eternally renewed. All of this is woven beautifully into what is essentially a Hero Story in which Beowulf must battle 3 monstrous creatures, across many years, in defence of both the Danes and his eventual subjects, the Geats.
It’s evident to me now that most all classics of this nature contain, essentially, an entire analysis of the text in the introduction, meaning if you’re looking to read this purely as a fantastical tale unknown to you, you might consider leaving the introduction until after completing the text. If, however, you’re reading with an equal interest in the story’s historical significance, then the information shared in the introduction can actually add to the reading experience.
Wordsmithery vs. Wordsorcery is really what it comes down to when comparing the two translations. Both are great but Alexander wins the day for a number of reasons, in my opinion.
Heaney’s translation is the more accessible of the two. Much more direct and modern in both it’s phrasing and use of words. Heaney himself comments in the intro on straying from the strictest rules of the poem, stating, "when these breaches occur, it is because I prefer to let the natural 'sound of sense' prevail over the demands of the convention" and that he has "a prejudice in favour of forthright delivery". That’s absolutely fine and I think it gives Heaney’s version a more universal appeal but, at the same time, I feel that it loses some of the magic that Alexander's evokes having stuck more strictly to the conventions of the original poem. He also includes an excellent section in the introduction on his personal experience translating the text and adds a charming Celtic sheen to the Classic experience.
Where Heaney’s translation has done a great job re-popularizing this classic and may garner greater popularity in the Modern market, Alexander’s translation offers what I believe to be, in my entirely unqualified opinion, a closer-to-original experience and a more accurate interpretation of what the original Anglo-Saxon tale would sound like translated into modern English. Heaney was a fantastic Wordsmith; I don’t want to diminish his work in any way. If you wish to read his translation, excellent choice, you’ll love it! I just found something more “Old English” in Alexander’s work and was drawn to that. On top of this, Alexander’s Penguin Classics edition has a far more comprehensive intro, at about 50 pages, discussing central themes of the work, “its place among epic poems, the history of its publication and reception, and issues of translation”. It also includes a set of Genealogical tables (as does Heaney), a handy map, extensive notes on all important passages and an Index of Proper Nouns. These might just sound like pointless add-ons but they really are essential.
They’re essential because, Heroes in a half-shell, brothers and sisters! There are some names to wrap your head around here! Just so you can get an idea:
Hygelac, King of the Geats, is the Son of Hrethel, Brother of Herebeald and Hathkin and Father to Heardred.
Hrothgar, King of the Danes, is the Son of Healfdane, Brother of Heorogar and Halga, and Father to Hrethric and Hrothmund.
Heoroward is the Son of Heorogar
Hrothulf is the Son of Halga
Still with me? Didn’t think so. Couple more things.
Beowulf is the son of Edgetheow but make sure not to confuse Beow (Beowulf the Dane) with our Hero, Beowulf the Geat.
Apart from that you should be fine unless, like me, you read 2 translations in tandem. Then you’ll come across different translations of the same name… Good luck!
”Now the flames shall grow dark
And the fire destroy the sustainer of the warriors
Who often endured the iron shower
When, string-driven, the storm of arrows
Sang over shield-wall, and the shaft did its work,
Sped by its feathers, furthered the arrow-head.”
Seamus Heaney’s Beowulf - 3.5 ⭐
Beowulf is an Anglo-Saxon Epic poem and the greatest surviving work of literature in Old English. It survives as one part of a manuscript known as the Nowell Codex, copied in the early 11th Century by an unknown scribe. The age of the original composition is also unknown. I read Michael Alexander’s translation in-tandem with that of Seamus Heaney, both are unabridged Verse Translations, so this will be a comparative review of sorts.
The tale itself is set in the North-Germanic or Scandinavian region during the 5th and 6th centuries. Though written for a Christian audience, the subjects of the story are “Pagans”. Predominantly the Danes, victims of 12 Years of nightly terror wrought by the demonic abomination Grendel, and the Geats, to whom their would-be hero Beowulf belongs. Bolstered it is, however, by the inclusion of the Swedes, Jutes, Angles, Frisians, Franks and Heathobards and the storied connections, rarely amicable, between the various tribes.
It’s an era of patriarchal warrior aristocracies. Kings are respected for their “open-handedness” and generosity in gift-giving; subjects are prized and rewarded, above all, for their Bravery and Heroism, characteristics which Beowulf exemplifies above all others. Women, even Queens, are reduced to glorified mead wenches and “companions of the bed” as we see with both Hygd and Wealhtheow. Daughters of Kings, like Hildeburgh or Freawaru, are little more than peace-offerings between rival tribes, given without care for how one might treat the daughter of their enemy. Here’s a Hot Tip: If you’re a woman and time-travel becomes possible, don’t push the fucking Rewind button!! There’s nothing remotely good waiting for you there. I don’t give a shit about your Highlander Fantasies either, forget about it! Where was I? Oh yeah.
Great importance is placed on the Lineage of men. Kingships, hoards of treasure and legendary weapons, bearing the names of their original owners, are inherited and gifted by the Will of the King as proof of one’s value and a display of Brotherhood/Kinship. The ”Pagan” tribes of the time lived in perpetual states of nervous tension, slights to their ancestors unforgotten, always looking for a chance for reciprocation or, more accurately, retaliation and so the cycle of revenge, like life and death symbolised by the Worm Ouroboros, was eternally renewed. All of this is woven beautifully into what is essentially a Hero Story in which Beowulf must battle 3 monstrous creatures, across many years, in defence of both the Danes and his eventual subjects, the Geats.
It’s evident to me now that most all classics of this nature contain, essentially, an entire analysis of the text in the introduction, meaning if you’re looking to read this purely as a fantastical tale unknown to you, you might consider leaving the introduction until after completing the text. If, however, you’re reading with an equal interest in the story’s historical significance, then the information shared in the introduction can actually add to the reading experience.
Wordsmithery vs. Wordsorcery is really what it comes down to when comparing the two translations. Both are great but Alexander wins the day for a number of reasons, in my opinion.
Heaney’s translation is the more accessible of the two. Much more direct and modern in both it’s phrasing and use of words. Heaney himself comments in the intro on straying from the strictest rules of the poem, stating, "when these breaches occur, it is because I prefer to let the natural 'sound of sense' prevail over the demands of the convention" and that he has "a prejudice in favour of forthright delivery". That’s absolutely fine and I think it gives Heaney’s version a more universal appeal but, at the same time, I feel that it loses some of the magic that Alexander's evokes having stuck more strictly to the conventions of the original poem. He also includes an excellent section in the introduction on his personal experience translating the text and adds a charming Celtic sheen to the Classic experience.
Where Heaney’s translation has done a great job re-popularizing this classic and may garner greater popularity in the Modern market, Alexander’s translation offers what I believe to be, in my entirely unqualified opinion, a closer-to-original experience and a more accurate interpretation of what the original Anglo-Saxon tale would sound like translated into modern English. Heaney was a fantastic Wordsmith; I don’t want to diminish his work in any way. If you wish to read his translation, excellent choice, you’ll love it! I just found something more “Old English” in Alexander’s work and was drawn to that. On top of this, Alexander’s Penguin Classics edition has a far more comprehensive intro, at about 50 pages, discussing central themes of the work, “its place among epic poems, the history of its publication and reception, and issues of translation”. It also includes a set of Genealogical tables (as does Heaney), a handy map, extensive notes on all important passages and an Index of Proper Nouns. These might just sound like pointless add-ons but they really are essential.
They’re essential because, Heroes in a half-shell, brothers and sisters! There are some names to wrap your head around here! Just so you can get an idea:
Hygelac, King of the Geats, is the Son of Hrethel, Brother of Herebeald and Hathkin and Father to Heardred.
Hrothgar, King of the Danes, is the Son of Healfdane, Brother of Heorogar and Halga, and Father to Hrethric and Hrothmund.
Heoroward is the Son of Heorogar
Hrothulf is the Son of Halga
Still with me? Didn’t think so. Couple more things.
Beowulf is the son of Edgetheow but make sure not to confuse Beow (Beowulf the Dane) with our Hero, Beowulf the Geat.
Apart from that you should be fine unless, like me, you read 2 translations in tandem. Then you’ll come across different translations of the same name… Good luck!
”Now the flames shall grow dark
And the fire destroy the sustainer of the warriors
Who often endured the iron shower
When, string-driven, the storm of arrows
Sang over shield-wall, and the shaft did its work,
Sped by its feathers, furthered the arrow-head.”
March 1, 2019
Beowulf and his drunk meathead friends are having a loud party, and their neighbor Grendel comes over like hey guys, can you keep it down? - that's funny because actually he eats a bunch of them - and then Beowulf tears his fuckin' arm off and nails it above his door, and honestly nobody really comes out of this looking like a good neighbor, do they?
So like Humbaba in Gilgamesh, or Odysseus’s cyclops, Polyphemus, we have a monster of questionable monstrosity. Because Beowulf started this fight, right? And then Grendel's mom gets involved, as moms do, and then later there's a dragon.
It’s become fashionable lately to claim that the Dark Ages weren’t so dark. There were great civilizations like the Celts and the Golden Age of Islam; there was extensive trade; things weren’t so bad. This is not entirely true at the best of times - seriously, this was a shitty thousand years full of wars and plagues - but it’s especially untrue when we're talking about literature. Between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance in the 1300s, there is not much good stuff to read.
So the stoic, tragic, beautiful Beowulf is one of the few high points in this whole millenium. Here's what it sounds like. Check out the alliteration - that’s when words start with the same letter; in most Old English stuff, like this and the awesome Gawain, they didn’t use rhyme so much. They depended on alliteration.
(By the way, if you want a challenge, look on Youtube for someone reciting Beowulf without holding a sword. The crossover between fans of this poem and fans of Dungeons & Dragons is pretty heavy.)
I've read Beowulf like five times now. This was my second time through Heaney's translation, which (like Armitage's translation of Gawain and the Green Knight) conveniently gives the original text on the left side and Heaney's translation on the right. That's super cool, and this is the exact translation that appears on The Toast's list of books that literally all white men own, so I guess that tells you whether you should buy it or just borrow it from some white dude you know. You can come over any time, I got a nice living room.
Here it is, with a custom bookmark my friend Frank whipped up special on his 3D printer, it's Grendel's arm.
(More of my custom bookmark project here)
So like Humbaba in Gilgamesh, or Odysseus’s cyclops, Polyphemus, we have a monster of questionable monstrosity. Because Beowulf started this fight, right? And then Grendel's mom gets involved, as moms do, and then later there's a dragon.
It’s become fashionable lately to claim that the Dark Ages weren’t so dark. There were great civilizations like the Celts and the Golden Age of Islam; there was extensive trade; things weren’t so bad. This is not entirely true at the best of times - seriously, this was a shitty thousand years full of wars and plagues - but it’s especially untrue when we're talking about literature. Between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance in the 1300s, there is not much good stuff to read.
So the stoic, tragic, beautiful Beowulf is one of the few high points in this whole millenium. Here's what it sounds like. Check out the alliteration - that’s when words start with the same letter; in most Old English stuff, like this and the awesome Gawain, they didn’t use rhyme so much. They depended on alliteration.
(By the way, if you want a challenge, look on Youtube for someone reciting Beowulf without holding a sword. The crossover between fans of this poem and fans of Dungeons & Dragons is pretty heavy.)
I've read Beowulf like five times now. This was my second time through Heaney's translation, which (like Armitage's translation of Gawain and the Green Knight) conveniently gives the original text on the left side and Heaney's translation on the right. That's super cool, and this is the exact translation that appears on The Toast's list of books that literally all white men own, so I guess that tells you whether you should buy it or just borrow it from some white dude you know. You can come over any time, I got a nice living room.
Here it is, with a custom bookmark my friend Frank whipped up special on his 3D printer, it's Grendel's arm.
(More of my custom bookmark project here)
October 9, 2020
I had to read Beowulf for my British Literature class, and my goodness was it one excellent read! I had heard vicious rumours that Beowulf was difficult to read and rather boring, and they were all wrong. I found Beowulf to be an exciting epic that grasped my attention better than Games of Thrones or the Witcher ever did. I was truly blown away and really loved reading into this story. It did help having an English Professor walking us through some of it, but either way it was marvellous.
Beowulf is a warrior coming to Hrothgar's aid. The wicked monster Grendel has plagued Heorot (Hrothgar's famous mead hall) for twelve long years. Nothing has gotten rid of the vicious monster who was tormenting them and killing off all the Spear-Dane men he could find. Good ole Beowulf comes around and slaughters him, has to deal with Grendel's Mother and finally has to fight a dragon. Can you get any more epic than that?
I can see how this poem influenced a lot of today's modern stories. It's truly epic and really interesting. I really liked this poem and want to read more like it. It's a truly marvellous classic.
Five out of five stars.
Beowulf is a warrior coming to Hrothgar's aid. The wicked monster Grendel has plagued Heorot (Hrothgar's famous mead hall) for twelve long years. Nothing has gotten rid of the vicious monster who was tormenting them and killing off all the Spear-Dane men he could find. Good ole Beowulf comes around and slaughters him, has to deal with Grendel's Mother and finally has to fight a dragon. Can you get any more epic than that?
I can see how this poem influenced a lot of today's modern stories. It's truly epic and really interesting. I really liked this poem and want to read more like it. It's a truly marvellous classic.
Five out of five stars.
July 19, 2019
What an epic should be... a valiant epic that will relish the joys of poetry at the hands of the translator who has made it possible once more. I enjoyed reading it many times but a free-fall into the chasm of poetry was even more interesting and enlightening.
October 12, 2024
What's not to love? A classic good vs evil story. An epic hero fighting evil to save a nation in distress. And Beowulf is indeed an epic hero. The strongest man alive! He's slayin' dragons, he's slayin' countless foes on the battlefield, he's slayin' many a maiden I'm sure. A true people's hero. Humble, caring, strong, handsome as the devil himself, and twice as charming. In all of literature, you couldn't find a more epic hero.
On the flip side of Beowulfs' coin is Grendel, on the surface he's a real piece of shit. A creature of darkness, exiled from happiness and cursed by God, the destroyer and devourer of men. He wreaks havoc on the poor Danes eloquent mead hall. Slaughtering hundreds of poor souls. To the point the disheartened Danes can't even use the mead hall anymore. All but abandoning it for twelve years, until the great Beowulf steps in that is. But If we delve deeper than the surface we might understand our friend Grendel a little better. We can assume he's a relatively young man (his mothers still fighting his battles for him). He moved out of Mom's nest and is making a home for himself in the swamp. Then some asshole Danes build a bar right next door and spend all night getting drunk, singing stupid songs, and being loud obnoxious jerk-offs. No wonder he snapped, killed, and subsequently ate, a bunch of people. The poor guy just wanted some peace and quiet. We can all understand that. Who amongst us doesn't hate annoying neighbors?
The same story can be told for the poor dragon. He found some abandoned treasure, claimed it for his own, and went about minding his own business. Then some jerk wad comes along and steals his favorite cup. Who wouldn't be mad if you went to the cupboard and your favorite cup was gone, nowhere to be found?
I'm just saying I don't think all the blame can be placed on these "Vilans". Seems to me they may have been justified a little.
Overall it was a great story and I'm glad I read it.
On the flip side of Beowulfs' coin is Grendel, on the surface he's a real piece of shit. A creature of darkness, exiled from happiness and cursed by God, the destroyer and devourer of men. He wreaks havoc on the poor Danes eloquent mead hall. Slaughtering hundreds of poor souls. To the point the disheartened Danes can't even use the mead hall anymore. All but abandoning it for twelve years, until the great Beowulf steps in that is. But If we delve deeper than the surface we might understand our friend Grendel a little better. We can assume he's a relatively young man (his mothers still fighting his battles for him). He moved out of Mom's nest and is making a home for himself in the swamp. Then some asshole Danes build a bar right next door and spend all night getting drunk, singing stupid songs, and being loud obnoxious jerk-offs. No wonder he snapped, killed, and subsequently ate, a bunch of people. The poor guy just wanted some peace and quiet. We can all understand that. Who amongst us doesn't hate annoying neighbors?
The same story can be told for the poor dragon. He found some abandoned treasure, claimed it for his own, and went about minding his own business. Then some jerk wad comes along and steals his favorite cup. Who wouldn't be mad if you went to the cupboard and your favorite cup was gone, nowhere to be found?
I'm just saying I don't think all the blame can be placed on these "Vilans". Seems to me they may have been justified a little.
Overall it was a great story and I'm glad I read it.
April 15, 2025
3rd read (15th April 2025) update - finished this AGAIN! And yet again, it is awesome. This read through was entirely focused in preparation for an upcoming essay. Whilst the impending essay is not fun.... examining this text in relation to the essay and the major themes was fascinating.
“I’ve never known fear; as a youth I fought/ In endless battles. I am old, now,/ But I will fight again, seek fame still,/ If the dragon hiding in his tower dares/ To face me”
This is the first time that I read a translation of the original version of Beowulf. I am very familiar with the story, having read the brilliant children’s adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s, and also the animated 2007 movie with Ray Winstone (a great film). And this did nothing but strengthen my love for the story.
Beowulf, the epic poem, was an incredibly interesting and enjoyable read. The form as an epic and the prose immersed me into the Norse world and swept me along what is a riveting story infused with fascinating Norse culture and the fantastical idea of Monster VS Man.
“Anyone with gumption and a sharp mind will take the measure of two things: what's said and what's done.”
The manner in which fact and fiction, history and mythology, are mixed in this poem is fascinating. On the one side we have the classic gritty Scandinavian world of war and conflict between the clans of the Geats and Jutes and Danes and so on. And then we have monsters such as Grendel, which allow Beowulf to rise to the status of hero that has become so famous.
Beowulf himself as a character is interesting, as he is an incredible warrior who’s skills are exemplified through his bravery. But, despite this poem being written in a culture far different than ours, his honour, dedication to duty and courage are compelling traits that still make us route for his character as opposed to his enemies.
“I shall gain glory or die.”
I love Norse Mythology and Scandinavian history, hence part of the reason I loved this tale. But that is not all. It is an accessible poem that contains themes of heroism, tragedy and everything in between within its prose, which in itself is smooth and stirring. Anyone who enjoys historical tales, mythology or anything linked to such things, I believe that you will love the epic story of Beowulf, which has resonated through the ages.
5/5 STARS
“I’ve never known fear; as a youth I fought/ In endless battles. I am old, now,/ But I will fight again, seek fame still,/ If the dragon hiding in his tower dares/ To face me”
This is the first time that I read a translation of the original version of Beowulf. I am very familiar with the story, having read the brilliant children’s adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s, and also the animated 2007 movie with Ray Winstone (a great film). And this did nothing but strengthen my love for the story.
Beowulf, the epic poem, was an incredibly interesting and enjoyable read. The form as an epic and the prose immersed me into the Norse world and swept me along what is a riveting story infused with fascinating Norse culture and the fantastical idea of Monster VS Man.
“Anyone with gumption and a sharp mind will take the measure of two things: what's said and what's done.”
The manner in which fact and fiction, history and mythology, are mixed in this poem is fascinating. On the one side we have the classic gritty Scandinavian world of war and conflict between the clans of the Geats and Jutes and Danes and so on. And then we have monsters such as Grendel, which allow Beowulf to rise to the status of hero that has become so famous.
Beowulf himself as a character is interesting, as he is an incredible warrior who’s skills are exemplified through his bravery. But, despite this poem being written in a culture far different than ours, his honour, dedication to duty and courage are compelling traits that still make us route for his character as opposed to his enemies.
“I shall gain glory or die.”
I love Norse Mythology and Scandinavian history, hence part of the reason I loved this tale. But that is not all. It is an accessible poem that contains themes of heroism, tragedy and everything in between within its prose, which in itself is smooth and stirring. Anyone who enjoys historical tales, mythology or anything linked to such things, I believe that you will love the epic story of Beowulf, which has resonated through the ages.
5/5 STARS
July 18, 2007
There are different ways to translate, and it comes down to what you want to get across. Most creative authors have such a strong voice and sense of story that they will overwhelm the original author. As Bentley wrote of Pope's Iliad: "It is a pretty poem, Mr. Pope, but you must not call it Homer".
Sometimes this sort of indirect translation is useful in itself, such as during the transition of the Renaissance from Italy to Britain. Many of the British poets rewrote Italian sonnets into English, and though the line of descent was unquestionable, the progeny was it's own work. Another example might be the digestion of Wuxia and Anime into films such as Tarantino's or The Matrix (though Tarantino's sense of propriety is often suspect).
However, in these cases, we can hardly call the new work a translation of the old. You are not experiencing the old work but the inspiration it has wrought. Beowulf is just this sort of translation, capturing the excitement and passion of the story, but obliterating the details which make the work interesting to students of history or literary theory.
Heaney's translation is a fun, rollicking epic, able to draw in even uninitiated students, which is no doubt why it is now included in Norton. Unfortunately, it is not a particularly useful tool for teaching the importance of the original work. Heaney severs many connections to the unique world of Beowulf.
As the only surviving epic from its time, place, and tradition, Beowulf is a unique vision into a pre-Christian culture outside of the Mediterranean. Though the poem shows Christian revisions, these stand out in stark contrast to the rest of the work, and can usually be easily excised, unlike many pervasive Christian impositions on the 'pagan' cultures.
Heaney is not a philologist nor a historian, but a popular poet. He doesn't have the background for conscientious translation, and the clearest sign that his translation is haphazard is the fact that there are no footnotes explaining the difficult decisions that most translators have to make in every line. Heaney also loses much of the alliteration and appositives that marked the artistry of the original.
A Beowulf that can exist without context is a Beowulf that has well and truly been separated from its past. Perhaps his translation is suitable for an introduction to the work, but a good professor should be able to teach the original without much difficulty.
Then again, perhaps the inclusion of this version in college classes has to do with the fact that college is no longer the path for scholars, but has been given the same equality treatment as art and poetry. College is now meant for your average, half-literate frat boy who only wants a BA so he can be a mid-level retail manager.
Heaney's translation certainly suits for them, since it is the easiest version of the story this side of a digital Angelina. It's fun and exciting, certainly worth a read, but doesn't stand up as a translation.
Sometimes this sort of indirect translation is useful in itself, such as during the transition of the Renaissance from Italy to Britain. Many of the British poets rewrote Italian sonnets into English, and though the line of descent was unquestionable, the progeny was it's own work. Another example might be the digestion of Wuxia and Anime into films such as Tarantino's or The Matrix (though Tarantino's sense of propriety is often suspect).
However, in these cases, we can hardly call the new work a translation of the old. You are not experiencing the old work but the inspiration it has wrought. Beowulf is just this sort of translation, capturing the excitement and passion of the story, but obliterating the details which make the work interesting to students of history or literary theory.
Heaney's translation is a fun, rollicking epic, able to draw in even uninitiated students, which is no doubt why it is now included in Norton. Unfortunately, it is not a particularly useful tool for teaching the importance of the original work. Heaney severs many connections to the unique world of Beowulf.
As the only surviving epic from its time, place, and tradition, Beowulf is a unique vision into a pre-Christian culture outside of the Mediterranean. Though the poem shows Christian revisions, these stand out in stark contrast to the rest of the work, and can usually be easily excised, unlike many pervasive Christian impositions on the 'pagan' cultures.
Heaney is not a philologist nor a historian, but a popular poet. He doesn't have the background for conscientious translation, and the clearest sign that his translation is haphazard is the fact that there are no footnotes explaining the difficult decisions that most translators have to make in every line. Heaney also loses much of the alliteration and appositives that marked the artistry of the original.
A Beowulf that can exist without context is a Beowulf that has well and truly been separated from its past. Perhaps his translation is suitable for an introduction to the work, but a good professor should be able to teach the original without much difficulty.
Then again, perhaps the inclusion of this version in college classes has to do with the fact that college is no longer the path for scholars, but has been given the same equality treatment as art and poetry. College is now meant for your average, half-literate frat boy who only wants a BA so he can be a mid-level retail manager.
Heaney's translation certainly suits for them, since it is the easiest version of the story this side of a digital Angelina. It's fun and exciting, certainly worth a read, but doesn't stand up as a translation.
August 18, 2020
Like many readers, I first encountered Beowulf as a young student, then later as a college student. The writing seemed old and tired and, though the subject was adventurous, having to read to it in the context of an English lesson drained most of the life out of it.
Seamus Heaney’s 2001 translation from the Old English breathes some new life into the ancient tale. We still have Grendel and his mom and later the dragon when our hero is an old king and not long for this world, but Heaney’s prose is colorful and vibrant. I was especially intrigued by the writing from the perspective of a Christian when it seemed plain that the tale being described was pre-Christian.
This work also features an afterward by Heaney that goes into detail about how and why Beowulf is still important. It was also illuminating to learn that Tolkien was very much inspired by the older text, not sure that I knew that before, thanks Seamus!
Good times!
Seamus Heaney’s 2001 translation from the Old English breathes some new life into the ancient tale. We still have Grendel and his mom and later the dragon when our hero is an old king and not long for this world, but Heaney’s prose is colorful and vibrant. I was especially intrigued by the writing from the perspective of a Christian when it seemed plain that the tale being described was pre-Christian.
This work also features an afterward by Heaney that goes into detail about how and why Beowulf is still important. It was also illuminating to learn that Tolkien was very much inspired by the older text, not sure that I knew that before, thanks Seamus!
Good times!
January 22, 2021
I listened to the Seamus Heaney recording on a dark stormy day. It was fantastic.
December 12, 2021
Like most modern men, I read Beowulf at 18 years old, in college and away from home for the first time, making new friends in an all-male dorm less than lovingly nicknamed The Sausage Factory. My posse was all dorks, mostly English and History majors, the type to shout "Hwat!" when it was time to start a Venture Bros marathon, the kind who'd name their RPG character "Hrothgar, King of the Geats" for a laugh. Beowulf's band of sword swinging brothers-in-arms appealed to us on a deep and primal level, and Headley's spirited translation (wonderfully read by JD Jackson) threw me back in time so forcefully my heart hurts with nostalgia.
In her deliciously unrestrained update to the stuffy old translations I labored under in my youth (twice, for whatever reason, once in 10th grade and again in college lit) Headley offers up a crystal clear explanation of this book's history and its significance to literature, and Jackson's gruff gravel voice creates a rich and resonant listening experience. Altogether they breathe fresh life into a centuries-old tale in the most wonderful way.
5 stars. All that old man vs dragon stuff hits different at age 36.
In her deliciously unrestrained update to the stuffy old translations I labored under in my youth (twice, for whatever reason, once in 10th grade and again in college lit) Headley offers up a crystal clear explanation of this book's history and its significance to literature, and Jackson's gruff gravel voice creates a rich and resonant listening experience. Altogether they breathe fresh life into a centuries-old tale in the most wonderful way.
5 stars. All that old man vs dragon stuff hits different at age 36.
November 14, 2020
Headley has crafted a translation of Beowulf that is dynamic, fast-moving (in the first 60% or so, but the slowing down is the original poem, not the translator's effect), thrilling in places and which has some glorious renderings of Old English into a contemporary language that still contains rhythm, alliteration (so hard, that!) and a balance to the metre: 'He hurled the sword: / useless hoard-gilt. Let it shatter in the silt. / He'd fight like a man, and take her hand to hand, / his fingertips blueprinting her skin.'
But I'm not sure what renders this a 'feminist' translation as blurbed? Headley is certainly aware of the gendered nature of this heroic tale but surely that's nothing new? She humanises Grendel's mother and makes her a warrior woman rather than a monster which works well but as a character, she doesn't get more than, at a guess, a few hundred lines at most in the poem. Headley does draw attention to the wiping out of women as individuals in some history and literature: 'And I hear he hand-clasped his daughter / (her name's a blur) to Onela' - that blurred name a sharp contrast to the heroic naming of Grendel and Beowulf himself. And the dragon becomes female. But is that all it takes to make this 'feminist'?***
More prominent is the masculinised language of the text to foreground the way in which the world of the poem is ideologically founded on male homosociality - again, surely not a new insight? 'Bro!' is the opening word and, personally, I found this a bit too obvious especially since it is spoken by the bard or poet-narrator who thus becomes assimilated to the warrior-brotherhood of the characters. It also might be perceived as alienating female readers: where do we place ourselves in this world if even the teller of the heroic tale can only envisage a masculine audience for his words?
Some of the other word choices didn't work for me: the switching of registers from, for example, 'Dude, this was what they call a blood feud' (though love that dude/feud rhyme!), or 'Anyone who fucks with the Geats? Bro, they have to fuck with me' (great for a school classroom?), or 'Meanwhile, Beowulf gave zero shits' to the more formal tones of 'Grendel was the name of this woe-walker' or 'war was the wife Hrothgar wed first' (see, great alliteration) felt jarring to my ear. And, unfortunately, I couldn't help giggling at 'Beowulf knew he was a goner'... On the other hand, I loved the sly mischief of the dragon sleeping on her bed which is 'a treasure: a pile of preciouses' - wonderful!
Despite some misgivings, then, solely around some of the word choices, overall I'd say this is an engaging, accessible and wonderfully readable translation that thrusts us through the story, and it's particularly one which I'd recommend for schools or general readers - and if it sends more people back to Beowulf, then brilliant!
*** Scholarship on classical epics - Homer, Virgil, even Hesiod - has been exploring them from feminist perspectives for the last 40-50 years, and a critique of the ethos of masculine warrior heroism is already embedded within even the Iliad when Achilles says he'd rather be alive and a humble goatherd that the famous and heroic king of the dead in the underworld.
Many thanks to Scribe UK for an ARC
But I'm not sure what renders this a 'feminist' translation as blurbed? Headley is certainly aware of the gendered nature of this heroic tale but surely that's nothing new? She humanises Grendel's mother and makes her a warrior woman rather than a monster which works well but as a character, she doesn't get more than, at a guess, a few hundred lines at most in the poem. Headley does draw attention to the wiping out of women as individuals in some history and literature: 'And I hear he hand-clasped his daughter / (her name's a blur) to Onela' - that blurred name a sharp contrast to the heroic naming of Grendel and Beowulf himself. And the dragon becomes female. But is that all it takes to make this 'feminist'?***
More prominent is the masculinised language of the text to foreground the way in which the world of the poem is ideologically founded on male homosociality - again, surely not a new insight? 'Bro!' is the opening word and, personally, I found this a bit too obvious especially since it is spoken by the bard or poet-narrator who thus becomes assimilated to the warrior-brotherhood of the characters. It also might be perceived as alienating female readers: where do we place ourselves in this world if even the teller of the heroic tale can only envisage a masculine audience for his words?
Some of the other word choices didn't work for me: the switching of registers from, for example, 'Dude, this was what they call a blood feud' (though love that dude/feud rhyme!), or 'Anyone who fucks with the Geats? Bro, they have to fuck with me' (great for a school classroom?), or 'Meanwhile, Beowulf gave zero shits' to the more formal tones of 'Grendel was the name of this woe-walker' or 'war was the wife Hrothgar wed first' (see, great alliteration) felt jarring to my ear. And, unfortunately, I couldn't help giggling at 'Beowulf knew he was a goner'... On the other hand, I loved the sly mischief of the dragon sleeping on her bed which is 'a treasure: a pile of preciouses' - wonderful!
Despite some misgivings, then, solely around some of the word choices, overall I'd say this is an engaging, accessible and wonderfully readable translation that thrusts us through the story, and it's particularly one which I'd recommend for schools or general readers - and if it sends more people back to Beowulf, then brilliant!
*** Scholarship on classical epics - Homer, Virgil, even Hesiod - has been exploring them from feminist perspectives for the last 40-50 years, and a critique of the ethos of masculine warrior heroism is already embedded within even the Iliad when Achilles says he'd rather be alive and a humble goatherd that the famous and heroic king of the dead in the underworld.
Many thanks to Scribe UK for an ARC
May 21, 2008
I teach Beowulf in my honors class, and it's a tale I've always loved. There's something about the raw power, the direct yet engaging storyline, the rhythm and tone of the story that draws the reader (or, ideally, the listener) into another world. The social conventions, alien in many ways to our modern mindset, show a world both brutal and honorable, where death and heroism go side-by-side, where every act has consequence and there is no expectation of joy and happiness—these things have to be wrested from existence and are of short duration. And the interplay of the original Pagan story and the Christian elements brought in by our monastic narrator show the tension of a people wrestling with their old beliefs and how to reconcile them with the new. The startling use of language and poetic diction make this a masterpiece of English literature.
I've read a dozen translations (and even done my own crude one); each of them has different aspects to recommend it. Heaney's strength is in his poetic voice—he's done an amazing job of preserving the rhythms and alliterations so crucial to the format of the original verse and updated it without being so modern as to lose the flavor of the original. He uses some archaic terms and those of his Celtic ancestors, which work well and do not mar the understanding of readers new to the text. Best of all, this is a parallel translation, with the original Old English on the verso pages.
My only quibbles have to do with some of Heaney's word choices. There are debates within the literary community about the nature of the monsters (and the heroes) in the poem, and Heaney takes a pretty hard line, translating some phrases and terms in ways that make his choices seem unavoidable (but which are not always supported in the original). Innocent phrases like "wight" and "spirit" are sometimes glossed as "demon" or "specter," and we lose the sense of some of the wonderful Old English kennings, like the description of Grendel as a mearcstapa, "walker on the borders."
Overall, a really fine translation. (And since it's been immortalized in The Norton Anthology and all Norton's student editions, it will be the version most everyone knows for the foreseeable future.)
I've read a dozen translations (and even done my own crude one); each of them has different aspects to recommend it. Heaney's strength is in his poetic voice—he's done an amazing job of preserving the rhythms and alliterations so crucial to the format of the original verse and updated it without being so modern as to lose the flavor of the original. He uses some archaic terms and those of his Celtic ancestors, which work well and do not mar the understanding of readers new to the text. Best of all, this is a parallel translation, with the original Old English on the verso pages.
My only quibbles have to do with some of Heaney's word choices. There are debates within the literary community about the nature of the monsters (and the heroes) in the poem, and Heaney takes a pretty hard line, translating some phrases and terms in ways that make his choices seem unavoidable (but which are not always supported in the original). Innocent phrases like "wight" and "spirit" are sometimes glossed as "demon" or "specter," and we lose the sense of some of the wonderful Old English kennings, like the description of Grendel as a mearcstapa, "walker on the borders."
Overall, a really fine translation. (And since it's been immortalized in The Norton Anthology and all Norton's student editions, it will be the version most everyone knows for the foreseeable future.)
January 28, 2021
"But generally the spear
is prompt to retaliate when a prince is killed,
no matter how admirable the bride may be."
I'm astounded by the complexity of this poem. It makes me wish my Germanic philology course lasted forever so we could analyse it word by word, slowly, meticulously, languidly. This is why I personally suggest reading it with the help of a critical guide if you haven't the faintest idea what the poem is about, when and in what cultural context it was written, about the debate about it being Christian or not, etc.
If you're willing to do some research by yourself, I promise you're in for a treat.
is prompt to retaliate when a prince is killed,
no matter how admirable the bride may be."
I'm astounded by the complexity of this poem. It makes me wish my Germanic philology course lasted forever so we could analyse it word by word, slowly, meticulously, languidly. This is why I personally suggest reading it with the help of a critical guide if you haven't the faintest idea what the poem is about, when and in what cultural context it was written, about the debate about it being Christian or not, etc.
If you're willing to do some research by yourself, I promise you're in for a treat.
November 24, 2020
Bro! Hardly fucked by Fate, but rather hashtag blessed for this translation that gives zero shits. Our swole, sword bearing, son-of-a-bitch comes out swinging. Beowulf brings the beatdown, batters beasts, and bests the bringers of blood. Raring to be read aloud, voice raised over the roar of revelry. The song of sweaty soldiers with back slapping swagger who swear on the sword they saw it true. Headley is hard-core, heroic and hardly one to haver, hell-bent on hewing her own history here. Too much? Truly it is a touch too far at times but still a towering testament to her talent.
Beowulf rode hard. He stayed thirsty! He was the Man! He was the man.
Beowulf rode hard. He stayed thirsty! He was the Man! He was the man.
June 2, 2019
I don't know who this "anonymous" guy is but he sure does write some fantastic books. I'll be sure to check his books his other stuff in future.
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