Beowulf: A Verse Translation, (Paperback)

from millsge

I don't know how to review a masterpiece like Beowulf - it's like writing a review of Sistine Chapel . To say something about this work of art that would be both original and add to our understanding of the poem, the author, the time in which it was written, and its many themes is beyond me. As w...

from thornton37814

Irish author Seamus Heaney provides a readable poetic translation of the epic Beowulf. In the poem readers see a mingling of Christian and pagan traditions. Well-versed Biblical students may even notice parallels between Beowulf and warriors in the Bible. Although the Old English appears on facin...

from LisaMaria_C

This was a surprisingly speedy, easy and enjoyable read--for which Heaney, the translator, deserves a lot of credit. Especially given this is a verse translation. I've found that I have preferred prose translations of Homer and Dante because those trying to be true to alliteration, meter and rhym...

from tjsjohanna

Review of David White translation: While there might be translations that do more in terms of translating both the sense of poetry and all the particular literary forms of the original work, Mr. Wright's translation has the distinction of being very readable while still retaining some of the flav...

from mattries37315

The oldest epic poem in English follows the feats of its titular protagonist over the course of days and years that made him a legend among his clan, friends, and even enemies. Beowulf was most likely orally transmitted before finally be written down several centuries later by an unknown Christia...