Customer Reviews

Beowulf (Oxford World's Classics)

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I was alerted to the existence of this epic poem through an animated version of it on TV one Sunday afternoon, not the usual cartoon-like presentation but a wondrous dark expression akin to Ridley Scott or the animation first used in the animated version of "The Lord of the Rings". This short feature was really quite superb and it gave me the impetus to buy a copy of it in book form. Similarly this translation by Crossley-Howard is wonderful in all its epic proportions, the Grendel, its mother and the struggle to defeat it. It is of course a heroic tale and the hero Beowulf is certainly in the classic mold after all it was poetry such as this and related tales eg The Iliad, Norse Sagas to name just two which originated the idea of the hero in present form. It must be remembered that this is an Anglo-Saxon tale at or around the 6th Century AD and as such based in Denamrk or Sweden rather than England (named after them of course). Strictly speaking it does not represent an aspect of English history rather a representation of Scandinavian life of the time. It may as such bear some resemblance to Norse sagas which were to yet to come some 300 or 400 years later. As a window on Ango-Saxon ife it does reveal some aspects such as the character of men and women or rather how they were supposed to be, similarly it shows that human affairs haven't really changed that much since then and the commonly held belief that ancient times were primitive in compasrison to today are mistaken. All aspects of human personality are present, such as greed, corruption, anger, heroism, kindness and so on. A wonderful read given a short time available.

I was alerted to the existence of this epic poem through an animated version of it on TV one Sunday afternoon, not the usual cartoon-like presentation but a wondrous dark expression akin to Ridley Scott direction or the animation first used in the animated version of "The Lord of the Rings". This short feature was really quite superb and it gave me the impetus to buy a copy of it in book form. Similarly, this translation by Crossley-Howard is wonderful in all its epic proportions, the Grendel, its mother and the struggle to defeat it. It is of course a heroic tale and the hero Beowulf is certainly in the classic mold after all it was poetry such as this and related tales eg The Illiad, Norse Sagas, to name just two which originated the idea of the hero in present form. It must be remembered that this is an Anglo-Saxon tale at or around the 6th Century AD and as such based in Denmark or Sweden rather than England (named after them of course). Strictly speaking it does not represent an aspect of English history rather a representation of Scandinavian life of the time. It may, as such, bear some resemblance to Norse sagas which were to yet to come some 300 or 400 years later. As a window on Anglo-Saxon life it does reveal some aspects such as the character of men and women or rather how they were supposed to be, similarly it shows that human affairs haven't really changed that much since then and the commonly held belief that ancient times were primitive in comparison to today are mistaken. All aspects of human personality are present, such as greed, corruption, anger, heroism, kindness and so on. A wonderful read if you are short on time.

[note: this is a review of the poem generally, not this particular translation]

Beowulf is one of those Medieval works of literature that many have heard about but few have read. However, it's worth reading, if only to experience a story so different from modern sensibilities. The poem extols Beowulf's physical courage and bravery against monsters and dragons. It's an odd mix of early Christian and warrior ethos. Beowulf is not a modern hero. There's not much to recommend him to modern readers - he's boastful, relies on brawn not brains, and his search for glory ends up putting his kingdom at risk. Still, it's fascinating to read this type of story and realize how far away it is from our own times.

Because this is a translation of an Anglo-Saxon poem, it's worth saying a word about the text itself. It's readable, but isn't smooth reading for the uninitiated. I'd say this - if you don't like reading English-language poetry, you probably won't enjoy reading this poem. If you do make the effort, I'd recommend really making the effort. Go slow and make sure you understand the story. Don't skip over a few lines thinking they're not as relevant.

Being in English class I had to read this book over the summer. So I did. I thought it would stink like Grapes of Wrath (sorry, didn't like that book.), but it didn't. So read this book, it's like reading a Rambo story.