Customer Reviews

Beowulf: An Illustrated Edition

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I have previously commented favorably on the excellence of Seamus Heaney's translation of this classic Old English poem as originally published in a bilingual edition (presenting Heaney's translation on pages alternating with the Anglo-Saxon original).

Remarkably, the present edition is an improvement on the original. The Old English text has been replaced with a vast number of superb illustrations, mostly photographs of artifacts representing life in world of Beowulf and photographs of reconstructed Iron Age boats and buildings. These illustrations superbly illuminate Heaney's words, making the tale even more vivid and comprehensible. They are beautiful in their own right, and wonderfully complement Heaney's words. The volume also contains several chapters of excellent commentary upon these illustrations.

I have never seen a version of "Beowulf" better suited for the intelligent general reader. If you don't already own the original bilingual edition, this new version belongs on your bookshelf. In fact, it deserves a place even if you own the earlier edition.

Seamus Heaney's modern English translation of Beowulf won the UK's Whitbread Book Award (now called the Costa Book Award) for Book of the Year in 1999, and came out in paperback in the US a couple of years later. Now it comes with illustrations on the even-numbered pages instead of the original Old English text. John D. Niles has selected over 100 photos of archeological finds and landscapes appropriate to the text. Some helmets, rings, swords, etc., from the first millenium have survived in burial mounds in Sweden and Denmark, and are shown. The pictures help illuminate the poem, making it easier to imagine what the characters were wearing and where they were going. I read this book for pleasure, never having been exposed to it in school; I wish the classics had been presented to me in as interesting a fashion as this. Highly recommended for those who have not purchased the earlier, non-illustrated version.

There are at least four editions of Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf, and they're all worth owning. The audio version is read beautifully and dramatically by the author himself (although, unfortunately, it's abridged). The original published version has both the translation and the Old English text. The Norton Critical Edition includes a wealth of essays, critical literature, and background information. And the new Norton Illustrated Edition brings the poem to fuller life through a wonderful selection of images of artifacts, reconstructions, and landscapes related to the text on the facing pages. For those who would like to know what the world of Beowulf and the world of the Beowulf poet really looked like, this is the place to go.

Bought this for a gift; after cursory flip-through, seems fantastic. Prose looks clean and tight, and visuals I did look at were phenomenal- might add to even this narrative, which was certainly a classic even before this re-working. Seems to have potential as great nexus; will probably lead to my tracking down half-dozen more sources for more reading. Hoping recipient will lend it to me soon-

This version of Beowulf has a great deal to offer to the reader in terms of its sound, content, and visuals. I started by reading the section of the introduction entitled "The Poem." It gives the historical background of the Beowulf manuscript, and more importantly it helps the reader know what to look for in the structure of the text. For example, I looked for the "three archetypal sites of fear" described by Heaney: the "barricaded night-house," the "infested underwater current," and the "reptile-haunted rocks of a wilderness" when I read the poetry about Beowulf's heroic deeds fighting Grendel, Grendel's Mother, and the dragon. In the next section "About This Translation," Heaney describes his patterns for the alliteration that give the poem its distinctive sound.

I am a museum lover, so I enjoyed the pictures of swords and the wonderful artifacts found at the burial sites and in the bogs. I found myself showing some of them to others. My dentist admired the picture of a metal boar meant to illustrate decorations on war gear. I also found myself showing off some of the pictures of gold pendants and necklaces to various people to explain how a gold hoard was an important sign of civilization and prosperity in the culture of the Danes and the Geats. At the end of the book, in an "Afterword," Professor Niles writes about visualizing the narrative and explains his rational for choosing the various types of illustrations. For example, the outdoor photos that illustrate concepts such as "night-shapes" at sunset are meant to establish a scene in the poem or to create an analogue to it according to Niles. When I came upon an instance of two textual pages together without an illustration or a photo, I missed seeing one there. To me that proves that the visuals did illuminate the text.

So, I thought that everything was well done, and it is refreshing to see a publisher support such an artistic effort. It must have taken a big budget and a lot of effort to put this book together.

My first experience both in Beowulf as well as Seamus Heaney's poetry. A beautifully paced epic poem, with a powerful, resonant word-craft. Tolkien fans will see where the great man learnt his art. The photographs are well chosen and in one case, of a barrow on a sea-shore, peculiarly haunting. Some money very well spent.

I had never heard of Seamus Heaney before I found this book, but he has created the definitive edition of Beowulf to which all other translations will forever be compared. I have read several translations of Beowulf, and Heaney's is by far the best (at least from the perspective of the layman). He writes in verse that reads as simply and naturally as prose. He uses versions of names that are easily pronounced and have obvious meanings for modern English speakers while retaining the foreign feel of the old language.

This book is a real treat to read out loud. Use your manliest voice to read Beowulf's words where he boasts of his deeds and his mission. It's fun, and it will bug your girlfriend. When I have kids I want to read this to them as a bedtime story.

Add the quality binding, tons is illustrations, and explanatory notes; and you have the most engrossing publication of Beowulf that I have ever seen.

Love it to death! I adore Seamus Heaney's translation, and this book contains gorgeous photographs of artifacts possibly that relate to Beowulf

Seamus Heaney's new version of his wonderful translation includes gorgeous photographs of artifacts and scenery to illustrate the story. It makes the story come alive more than ever.

In The Lord of the Rings movie, the culture of the Rohirrim (riders of Rohan, Eowyn, Eomer, et al) was based on the Beowulf culture, plus horses. The set designs for Rohan were largely based on artifacts similar to the ones illustrated in this book. If you liked the artistic design of the sets in LOTR, then you'll appreciate the many illustrations of artifacts, locations, ruins, and more, taken from the approximate time period (and location) of when (and where) Beowulf was thought to be written.

The illustrations and their descriptions give the reader a much stronger connection to the original story, making it more tangible and more easily pictured in one's mind. If you don't mind not having the side-by-side translation (this is modern English only), then this is the one to get!