Customer Reviews

Beowulf: An Imitative Translation

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Lehmann's lyrics - alliteratively laud And eerily echo - an English epic. How summoned Hrothgar - Hygelac's sister's son, The bold but not - boastful Beowulf To meet the monster, - murderer of men, Grendel, greedy ghoul, - haunter of Hart Hall. Cunningly he killed - the cursed one And the monster-mother - of the mere. But when he dared - the deadly dragon The greathearted Geat - gave up his Ghost. She truly tells - the twisted tale In words that warriors - declaimed with drink And unsheathed sword - in days departed. Other translations, - tepid and tedious, Pale before her - poetic power. (A clever companion - Gardner's "Grendel".)

I read some translation of Beowulf in middle school, and thought at the time that it was an interesting if archaic story. Having cut my teeth on Tolkien and Dungeons & Dragons, Beowulf didn't seem to tread much new ground for me -- even if it was composed a thousand years before.

Then I picked up Ruth Lehmann's translation at an academic bookstore. Suddenly, the verse jumped off the page with a tone and rhythm that I never heard in the pedestrian translation of my early days. Was Dr. Lehmann a Scandanavian skald in a previous life?

Practically, there are times when the alliterative verse becomes a bit dense and disorienting, and for that reason alone I give this less than a 5-star recommendation. If you want the clearest modern English retelling of the Beowulf story, you should probably look elsewhere. But that shouldn't deter you from the lyrical quality of this translation. It's a magical experience that transports you to a cold and ancient Denmark.