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Beowulf (Signet Classics) Signet Classics Edition

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Anonymous (Author), Burton Raffel (Translator, Introduction), Roberta Frank (Afterword)
4 out of 5 stars 140 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0451530967
ISBN-10: 0451530969
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Product Details

  • Series: Signet Classics
  • Mass Market Paperback: 176 pages
  • Publisher: Signet; Signet Classics edition (June 3, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0451530969
  • ISBN-13: 978-0451530967
  • Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.5 x 6.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (140 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #67,080 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Not Beowulf for Dummies !
By TJam on July 5, 2010
Format: Mass Market Paperback Verified Purchase
I first read Beowulf, as did countless high schoolers over the years, in my senior English class; the experience was less than memorable, due in part to my teacher's insistence on using an Old English text. When I entered college the most vivid imagery I still had was of Grendel entering the mead hall and tearing the diners limb from limb.
Had I been able to also read the text in modern English in that senior class, I would have been well-prepared to tackle the OE with a deeper understanding of how this great work acts as a foundational text for all British literature from Chaucer to the Renaissance and beyond.
Burton Raffel's clear translation allows the reader to establish a connection to the allegorical and mythological constructs without having to resort to a "Beowulf for Dummies," just to get a passing grade. I am using this book in a graduate class in Horror Text and Theory, and though I am now able to read the OE with more fluency, the accessibility of this translation situates the text in a more viable position for discussion and critical analysis in an arena populated with 20th and 21st century horror. I would recommend Raffel's Beowulf to anyone as their entree into Old English Lit.; to be read along side the original text. It takes the "horror" out of ready Horror.
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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful
more poetic than heaney's translation
By Eichendorff on May 18, 2010
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Raffel's translation of "Beowulf" to me seems more vivid and poetic in its language than Seamus Heaney's now more famous one. The images he provides stand out as clear and beautiful pictures, making a deep sensory impression where Heaney's poetry seems to employ at times more abstract, at times more mundane, less inventive language. This is not to say that Heaney's translation lacks poetic beauty--it certainly does not. Yet, browsing both editions, comparing various passages, I found that Raffel's rendition almost always struck a deeper chord with me, appealing to the senses and the imagination more strongly. Raffel's translation is not available in the same beautifully bound, larger-print, dual language edition as Heaney's, yet I still find that it gives me greater reading pleasure. As to accuracy, I do suspect that Raffel might be granting himself somewhat more poetic license than Heaney does, and yet, neither translation strays significantly from the original. I prefer Robert Fitzgerald's poetic, somewhat less accurate translation of the "Odyssey" to Richmond Lattimore's for similar reasons.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Not just a good read of old English Lit ... there's a lesson.
By Botunkus on September 17, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
I first read Beowulf in High School. Typical story of hero come to save the day but get's caught up in something greater than himself. I read it again for an Executive Officer class and came to see that when one assumes they recognize the obvious problem they may not see the underlying problem - which is often far more serious.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Better Choice for HS Classroom
By T.Sandaal on September 5, 2012
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Now that I have used both the Raffel edition and the Heaney edition, I would recommend Raffel's for the high school classroom. Raffel's edition offers a major difference that works wonders for the 9th and 10th grade psyche: short chapters. The narrative is chunked thoughtfully and facilitates reading assignments. Raffel does a great job with the syntax and though the diction is a little less interesting, the poem doesn't suffer too much there. Lastly, unless you are going to do a lot of work with the Old English available in the Heaney edition, the side-by-side format hampers class discussion, causing kids to flip more pages to find support.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
A Classic! Inspired Tolkien, Lewis, me...
By Hans Olaf on August 30, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
It's one thing to have to read this as a classroom assignment in high school and quite another to read it for the sheer fun of it decades later.

Beowulf took on completely new meaning when I learned how it had influenced Western myth and fairy tales--and C.S. Lewis and, more to the point, J.R.R. Tolkien. And it's nice I can get it for free on Amazon. There are of course other translations, but I don't mind the old "King James" translations of classics. They feel more mythic, even if I have to use the dictionary like a GPS to get back on track after I've been rerouted by a word that hasn't been used in a century (no problem there; I've loved dictionaries since I was a child, and looking up the origins of words we use daily without a clue of where they came from and what they really mean--or could mean).

Again, there are other versions available for free online, but Kindle is the way to go (though I use a Smartphone), because I can use the Kindle Software dictionary, and best of all, keep my devices' synchronized with Whispersync so I have the same bookmarks and notes on all of them.

Back to Beowulf--you should try it. But if you're unsure, Wikipedia will give you the gist of the book, and if you find yourself wanting more, download it. Can't beat the price--Free! (Though some books are too costly even when free, because they waste my time, which with only threescore and ten allotted me, is a much more precious commodity than money).
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
A classic teutonic Northern tale
By Joanne Bergeson on January 26, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
With powerful words and almost lyrical tale-telling the story of the fight between Grendel and Beowulf becomes a story that never becomes stale. This is part of the power C.S. Lewis found as a young man when he discovered the Elder Edda and all the Norse myths. The wonderful story is found in the original Old English version of which this is a translation. The Anglo-Saxon language seems to embody cold, ice and determination of those early people who set out in Viking ships to conquer their neighbors: England, Northern France and Iceland and even North America.
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