Customer Reviews

Beowulf

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an exact word for word translation of the original Anglo-Saxon Old English. It's a facing page translation (Old English on the left and New English on the right). This is a good translation if you are studying the Old English as a language. Because the grammar of Old English is much different from New English, it's not a good translation if you just want to read the Beowulf story like it was Lord of the Rings. If you just want a good read, try Seamus Heany's translation or Howell Chickering's translation. Both have good facing page versions, and it's fun to see the original Old English as you read the translation. Then, if you get into wanting to learn Old English, then buy John Porter's version.

This is a dual-language edition of Beowulf, with Old English, or Anglo-Saxon, on the left-hand page, and a literal, word-for-word translation on the right. This is an excellent, and I would even say indispensable, resource for students of Old English; since the translation is literal, one can read along pretty briskly, with only slight pauses when an unfamiliar word or phrase is encountered. A level of comfort and familiarity with Old English syntax is desired, to make the text more easily understandable; as the previous reader noted, this is not an edition you would purchase to read the Modern English Beowulf; it would be too awkward. There are other dual-language editions which have a more flowing Modern English translation side-by-side with the beauty of the original text.

There is a brief introductory section about "Time and Place in Beowulf", a short but useful guide to pronunciation, and, as an appendix, genealogies of the Scyldings, Scylfings, and Geats. There is also a short bibliography for further study.

The edition is beautifully and solidly bound, and a must-have for the student of Old English. This makes Beowulf, perhaps the Holy Grail of Old English students, accessible as no other dual-language edition of Beowulf I have seen.