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    Beowulf
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    Beowulf
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    Beowulf
    Ebook154 pages2 hours

    Beowulf

    By Ernest J. B. Kirtlan

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Packaged in handsome, affordable trade editions, Clydesdale Classics is a new series of essential literary works. It features literary phenomena with influence and themes so great that, after their publication, they changed literature forever. From the musings of literary geniuses like Mark Twain in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to the striking personal narrative of Solomon Northup in Twelve Years a Slave, this new series is a comprehensive collection of our history through the words of the exceptional few.

    Beowulf, first printed in 1815, is an epic Old English poem that dates back to between the eighth and eleventh centuries. The author is unknown, yet Beowulf is often regarded as one of the single most important works in Old English literature. The poem tells the tale of the protagonist Beowulf, prince of the Geats, and his constant desire to prove his strength. After hearing of a demonic and vicious monster wreaking havoc on King Hrothgar’s great hall, Beowulf is inspired by the challenge and offers to slay the demon in an attempt to repay a debt owed by his father. The young, powerful warrior engages Grendel and kills the beast with his bare hands by ripping its arm off.

    Seeking revenge, Grendel’s mother attacks the hall but Beowulf prevails. He is later named king of Geatland, and under his rule, he brings the land to great prosperity for more than fifty years. However, after a thief steals a valuable cup from a treasure trove, a dragon is awakened and unleashes its violent wrath upon Geatland.

    With its exalted poetics and incredible world-building, Beowulf has inspired readers and writers for centuries. Among some of the most famous is undoubtedly J.R.R. Tolkienauthor of the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, both of which were heavily influenced by this classic epic.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherClydesdale Press
    Release dateMay 17, 2016
    ISBN9781945186158
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for Beowulf

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    • 5/5
      Beowulf translated by Stephen Mitchell was sent to me by Yale University Press via NetGalley. Thank you.This Beowulf by Stephen Mitchell is an very entertaining translation, The adjective that comes to my mind is "robust." The narrative is straightforward and the flashbacks and foreshadowing are not awkward and do not stop the forward movement of the story. I taught Beowulf for many years to high school students and I wish I had this version. The literature anthology I used had the Kennedy translation which I personally love for it lyric imagery. In Kennedy, the lines about Grendel approaching Heorot (lines 678-680) are "From the stretching moors, from the misty hollows, Grendel came creeping, accursed of God." The Mitchell translation renders the same lines as " Then up from the moor, in a veil of mist, Grendel came slouching. He bore God's wrath." I like the former, but I know my students would have preferred the latter.In the end, whether it be Mitchell, Seamus Heaney, Charles Kennedy or E. Donaldson, all translations of Beowulf are a good thing. I am sure the scops who entertained their listeners during the black nights in the cold north would each have put his own spin on the story. Make it beautiful or make it bloody. One thing is for sure. Beowulf can never be boring.Some very nice addition sto the Mitchell translation are the addition of maps, genealogical charts and a list of characters and place names with pronunciations.
    • 4/5
      Classically good and classically fun.
    • 3/5
      Interesting collection of hero stories of ancient Scandinavian origin. While reading, I noticed ring references that may be the source for the magic rings featured in J.R.R. Tolkien"s Hobbit stories and the dark creatures used by Tolkien and in Rowling's Harry Potter Books. Good background for understanding many of the classic English Literature references. Slow reading because of strange name spellings and use of Old English. I think it is worth the effort or at least it was for me.
    • 5/5
      Seamus Heaney's translation made me understand why this story has survived this long. He gives it vigor, something that translated works often lack, and this makes reading it a pleasure.
    • 5/5
      Warrior Beowulf saves the Danes from the monster Grendel and then Grendel's mother and then many years later does battle against a dragon guarding a hoard of gold.I loved reading this. The poetry of the Heaney translation is very vivid and flowing, and creates a great atmosphere of fighting and carousing and boasting warriors and epic battle against mythical beasts. The story is dark and sometimes gruesome, and it is not at all hard to imagine the poem being recited around the fire by Anglo-Saxon warriors, passing round the cup of mead as the tale unfolds.I am definitely going to pick up a literal/glossed translation at some point and read it again, and try to make more sense of the original text.
    • 4/5
      Most anybody who is even minimally versed in literature is familiar to some extent with the Beowulf poem. It is a great heroic epic, but it has very little flare, or fluff, or fanciful rhapsodizing. The qualities of the narrative clearly demonstrate that this poem rests in the tradition of great oral folklore. Being such it is very direct and at the same time engaging to the point of easy immersion on part of the reader. This is in no doubt helped by Heaney's modern translation of the text, which is very readable, but in no way does that seem to cheapen the work. This is a fine epic, Beowulf being a valiant stock example of the utmost testicular fortitude, and I wish I had read it in younger years.
    • 2/5
      I would have loved to have a glossary with in this book with a few explanations of some words and maybe a summary because the poetical form can make the story hard to follow
    • 5/5
      This translation of Beowulf is excellent. It captures the spirit of the poetry without becoming too dense to read. I had read excerpts of the story for various classes and never enjoyed it. It is definitely something that you have to read the entire thing to find interesting.
    • 3/5
      Not being a scholar on such poems as "Beowulf" and having read it for the first time, I find it was a beautifully written and in such a way as you can almost see the poetic imagery in front of your eyes. From the first words of the prologue - "Hear me!" - one may be caught in the trap of, although the poem consists of 3182 lines of verse (no fear, only 99 pages), finishing the book in one day.There is adventure, suspense, anticipation, blood, revenge, fantasy, death, mourning, villains, faith in God, glorious heroes, dreadful monsters, all elements of what makes a great story combined in one. There are moments that you can almost feel the character's emotions, for example, in Wiglaf's failed attempt to revive Beowulf from death and his resignation to the Christian God's will:"...He was sittingNear Beowulf's body, warily sprinklingWater in the dead man's face, tryingTo stir him. He could not. No one could have keptLife in their lord's body, or turnedAside the Lord's will: worldAnd men and all move as He orders,And always have, and always will."(lines 2853-2859)For those not familiar and new to reading this kind of poetry, as I am, there is provided a helpful introduction, an informative afterword, and a glossary of names and a diagram of the genealogy of characters mentioned.I encourage the reading if this classic. After reading it, you will know why it is a classic, and that for centuries.
    • 4/5
      A beautiful poem. I have been meaning to read this for years- and thought it would require a deeper understanding of Old English to really capture the essence of the poem. If you are worried about this, I suggest reading Seamus Heaney's translation. He is such an amazing poet (my absolute favorite) and his knowledge of Old English means you get a meaningful translation which really allows you to just enjoy the story.
    • 2/5
      Beowulfby Unknown author Seamus Heaney's translationWhy I picked this book up: I saw the book a lot and had never read it so I thought I’d pick it up.Why I finished this book: I thought the book was ok and wasn’t really drawn into the whole thing but was interested (at times) about the fanciful and powerful way things were addressed. The whole “machoness” and power made me want to see how things were handled. Rating: I’d give this book a 2 star rating out of 5 stars. It was not my favorite but at least I read it.
    • 1/5
      Sigh. I know, I know. This is the oldest English language story and the inspiration for The Lord of the Rings and Chuck Norris Beowulf is such a monster killing machine and… That’s great. Unfortunately, if you take all that away and someone wrote it now it would be a painfully predictable, plodding bore filled with WAY too much expository dialog and a list of characters that are neigh impossible to follow – except for Chuck Beowulf who bench-press mountains and sneezes lightning. This was arduous to try and get through – Shakespeare on Ritalin kind of arduous – because there was never a single doubt about what was going to happen or any emotional stake in the characters. I do enjoy reading difficult pieces of fiction. However, difficult and boring is a really bad combination. I know I’m supposed to like things like this, but I missed the boat on this one.
    • 4/5
      I was very surprised at the ease with which I read this great epic poem. I expected it to be very hard to get through and keep focused on, but it's actually a very straightforward story. Lots of action, and lots and lots of random little stories thrown in.This is the only version of Beowulf I've read, but from the snippets I've seen of other versions, this would probably be my favorite.
    • 4/5
      If you've always wanted to read an epic poem, but didn't know where to start, this is the epic poem for you. Beowulf turned out to be an awesome story. This story is very Tolkien-ish probably because a scene in Beowulf forms the backbone of the story of Smaug in The Hobbit. The names might remind you of the character names in The Lord of the Rings.The story starts with Hrothgar, king of the Danes. Each night a monster, Grendel, who lives in the marsh waters, attacks Hrothgar's castle and eats the king's guards. This puts a damper on their evening celebrations.Beowulf, from the neighboring Geats, comes and offers to fight the monster. Thus begins the epic story of Beowulf, which goes on to include an exciting dragon battle and horded treasure. I don't want to say anymore for fear of spoiling the story. What did I think? I thought it was great to read this poem after suffering through twenty-two of Horace's Odes. You see, my online book club is reading through the poetry section of The Well-Educated Mind. I've read The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Odyssey, a sampling of Greek Lyrics, and a sampling of Horace's Odes. I'm quite pleased to read the story of a dragon battle.Have you read any epic poetry?
    • 4/5
      (Original Review, 2001-02-20)If you are familiar with the Hindu myth-kitty though, you may also find parallels between “Beowulf” and the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. When Jambavan spends a lot of time telling Hanuman about how great he is, to induce him to jump to Lanka in search of Sita, or Arjun surveys the array of warriors against him, described in some detail, leading to the Bhagavad Gita, or the Pandavas' "advisor" at Draupadi's swayamvar asks the unknown Karna to declare his lineage and rank.In Beowulf, where the eponymous protagonist has to be introduced by his history in order to be considered worthy of being received in Hrothgar's halls, and able to, perhaps, take his chances against Grendel. Thorsten Verblen's, in his model of conspicuous consumption, suggested that in societies, or social conditions, that were not stable a man could only gain status by his reputation and by what he carried with him: his arms, his abilities and his history. It is a theory that applies to the bling culture of hip-hop, where alas, lives can be dramatically shortened, as much as to the Bronze Age and Iron Age world's of chiefdoms and agriculturists versus nomads. Women were acquired by raids, but there was enough spare, or surplus, labour available for ancillary crafts to develop: goldsmithery, ironmongery and the like. In such conditions, a man meeting a stranger or a putative enemy, would be likely to show off his armour and then show off further by talking about who he was, both his history and his lineage. Like Buffaloes sizing each other up before fighting, it may have been a way of reducing the number of fights that had to occur.Let us not forget the fate of Patroclus, who deliberately rode around in Achilles' bling and therefore got caught in a drive-by assassination. Had he been in a Prius instead of his black, silver-wheeled, borrowed SUV, he might have lived...It reminds me of the peaceful moment of the Bhagavad Gita from the Mahabharata just before the great battle of Kurukshetra, though of course Arjuna and Krishna are on the same side.Celtic kingdoms, Saxon kingdoms, Anglo-Norman kingdoms, were ALL European kingdoms. There was no hard border between mainland Britain and the rest of Europe. Kings ruled territories on both sides of the channel in joint jurisdictions. Laws and customs, language, arts and religion were common, in overlapping webs. The Celtic (that is British, or Welsh) and the Saes/Saxon peoples were not 'barbaric'. They were civilised, literate cultures, with highly organised governments, law codes, religion and arts.The group which was 'barbaric' was the 'Normans'. These were a rabble of raiders, adventurers, thieves and pirates, drawn together to loot other peoples. They were illiterate, depending on the monks of those they conquered to keep their records. Their law codes were truly barbaric, vastly inferior to the British and the Saxons, who operated on a system of compensation payments (fines). It was the Normans who imposed amputation, tortures, and increased executions. They were supreme in violence only, inheriting the worst of Viking culture without its balancing qualities, as the Normans were the misfits and rejects. What they were also good at was propaganda. Their bards sang wholly fabricated histories claiming an honourable ancestry for a united people that didn't exist. There were no 'Normans' until the bards constructed the myth of them as the raiders conquests grew successful.This is the 'people' who spawned the British ruling class. The British ruling class keeps books that trace their genealogy proudly 'back to the Conquest'. They were violent thugs, the vermin of Europe, who grabbed and stole, then dressed it all up in myths of propaganda. They haven't changed. Just like the rest of Europe, namely in Portugal...I wonder what the Britons thought about the invading Anglo-Saxons. Were they any better? The difference is, we have very few records to tell us what they thought. The invaders came in sufficient numbers that over a period of centuries their language replaced the native language, and so over time the Brits ended up with a weird sense that the Anglo-Saxon invaders were "Britons", but later Norman invaders were "them", because there weren't enough of them to replace the language of the Anglo-Saxon invaders (although enough to give us 1/3 of the English vocabulary).What did the Britons think about the Saxons (who didn't invade, but simply switch roles from mercenaries to usurpers...)? Actually we know exactly what the British thought of the Saes - they loathed them. See “Armes Prydain” and other works of the time. There was no worse insult than to be called a Saes - Saxon. The native British were culturally superior if only because settlers come as younger sons, or people who are unsuccessful at home, less educated, less cultured. You don't invade and crush natives by singing pretty songs. Compare “Beowulf” with the “Mabinogi” and the gulf is huge - like comparing drinking songs with Shakespeare.It's also inaccurate that the Saes replaced the British. Genetics say otherwise and the story is mixed. In some places it was violent takeover. In others it was trade, marriage, settlement. Coexistence is now the new historical understanding. Brits were mainly herders so held to the high ground and you can still see their place names across 'England' today in higher areas. The Saes were grain farmers who lived on lowland clays so their names survive there. The Saes were not as educated as the Brits. Alfred imported monks from the Cymru (Wales) led by Asser, to teach his people to read and write. Alfred was a visionary, like the later Guillaum le Batard of Normandy. But their peoples were less savoury, especially the Normans who practised genocide to terrify the natives. The whole of Yorkshire was depopulated, half of Pembrokeshire, and a large area of the Scots border. Massacres, or else driven out into destitution. On the second the British ruling class has not changed, still driving people into poverty and homelessness, just like the rest of Europe, namely in Portugal...The English called themselves English from at least the sixth or seventh century on. It was the Normans and their successors who coined the term Anglo Saxon to describe them. All part of the attempt to legitimise their conquest and pretend that they were the rightful rulers of the kingdom and its confiscated estates; and that English history started with them. That's why they promoted the Arthurian myth and tried to pretend they were its heirs - in order to try to write the English out of the story. And why they immediately knocked down the English Abbeys and cathedrals and rebuilt them in their own style.
    • 5/5
      I'm a Heaney fan and, after reading his introduction to and translation of Beowulf, I think the depth of that statement swelled a few leagues. That being said, I haven't read Beowulf prior to this encounter and would have to read other translations to really offer up a satisfyingly comparative review. However, I can say that this particular effort of Heaney's has inspired enough interest to do just that.

      As for the story of Beowulf in and of itself: it offers a view into an honor-bound society and a heroic journey that is priceless in how it's merit in both style and telling has inspired and shaped our definition of the 'hero's journey' up to the present day. As Heaney says, it's 'an inheritance,' a statement I fully agree with. Much like Homer's Odyssey or Tolkien's Rings, it's both definitive, explorative, and "willable...again and again and again."
    • 5/5
      Brilliant. Though don't trust me; trust Mr. Heaney's Nobel. I read this around the same time as I took a course in Old English, which helped me to appreciate the sheer genius of Heaney's translation even more. He manages to recreate so much of the style, technique and structure of the original text, you almost forget you are reading in today's English. Yet, at the same time as you are immersed in that sense of the past (much like the feeling that reading Shakespeare often gives), you are able to understand the story perfectly and appreciate it fully. A must for the bookshelves of anyone who appreciates poetry, the history of the English language, or just simply a good old fantasy.
    • 3/5
      This poem has been around for about 1200 years so you know it's got to be good.

      I can't help wonder how much the original oral version changed with the telling and retelling until some anonymous monk committed the story to paper, or at least vellum. I suspect he added his own touches, converting the pagan Northmen to Christians! Also how many stories did Beowulf influence? JRR Tolkien was something of a subject matter expert on Beowulf so it probably shaped the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
    • 5/5
      The mighty young hero of the Geats rescues the Danes from two hellish monsters that are slaughtering their warriors as they sleep in the royal banquet hall. Then heaped in glory and treasure he returns home to become, in his old age, king and dragon-slayer: the final glorious deed that ends his life. Raffel's translation into vivid alliterative modern English is vivid and exciting. The new afterword lauds how well this translation has stood the test of time, and how many recent adaptations of the poem have been published since then (including the icky 2007 movie). Frank also writes that this earliest epic did not enter the canon of English literature until the late nineteenth century.
    • 4/5
      This is a great translation. I enjoyed every line of it. If you combined this with Tolkien's translation of "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight", you'd have an evening of purely escapist medievel literature. (yeah, I know, Beowulf's not strictly medievel. whatever) Very good stuff.
    • 5/5
      This is a timeless classic. An epic poem that details the life of Beowulf, a great warrior. The poem gets reduced down many times simply to the Grendel/Hrothgar section, but should be read in its entirety. It's amazing that this is one of the earliest pieces of literature our civilization created, and Heaney does an amazing job at translating it.If you love fantasy like Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, The Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin, or even the Harry Potter novels, read this poem and you will see how influence it is.
    • 5/5
      I have never enjoyed a poem so thoroughly in my life. Beowulf was fascinating, beautiful, epic, and thought-provoking from beginning to end. And I am not just some sappy professor who thinks all the classics are inherently perfect. I'm a teenage girl, and I loved it.
    • 5/5
      The absolute best version of "Beowulf" out there. I love the original Old English (Anglo-Saxon) text on the facing page.
    • 3/5
      Kindle.............Glad I read it.
    • 3/5
      Graphic novel adaptation of the Old English epic poem, Beowulf.
    • 5/5
      I have read many translations and this is my favorite. I love the poem/story of Beowulf and read it often. This is not only an excellent translation, but it is such an easy to read version that I must give it 5 stars. Read this version and enjoy a true classic tale that will keep you interested from start to finish.
    • 3/5
      A 6th century tale of Danish/Swedish blood feuds overlaid with a later Christian gloss. Written in Eng. in the 9th century.Read Samoa Nov 2003
    • 5/5
      Magnificent translation, capturing the strength of the poem without sacrificing its beauty
    • 4/5
      If you are like me, you haven't read Beowulf since high school and your memory of the story is probably pretty bad. I found reading this translation very enjoyable, and I loved having the "original" version printed opposite the translation (even though I couldn't read it).
    • 5/5
      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 Christian hand in Old English that today is readily accessible thanks to the translation by Seamus Heaney.The epic tale of Beowulf begins in the mead hall of King Hrothgar of the Danes which is attacked by the monster Grendel for years. Beowulf, upon hearing of Hrothgar’s plight, gathers fourteen companions and sails from Geatland to the land of the Danes. Hrothgar welcomes the Geats and feasts them, attracting the attention of Grendel who attacks. One of the Geats is killed before the monster and Beowulf battle hand-to-hand which ends with Beowulf ripping off Grendel’s arm. The monster flees and bleeds out in the swamp-like lair shared with his mother. Grendel’s mother attacks the mead hall looking for revenge and kills one of Hrothgar’s long-time friends. Beowulf, his companions, Hrothgar, and others ride to the lair and Beowulf kills Grendel’s mother with a giant’s sword. After another feast, the Geats return home and fifty years later, Beowulf is King when a dragon guarding a hoard of treasure is awakened by a thief and goes on a rampage. Beowulf and younger chosen companions go to face the fiery serpent, but all but one of his companions flees after the King goes to face the foe. However, the one young warrior who stays is able to help the old King defeat the dragon though he his mortally wounded. It is this young warrior who supervises the dying Beowulf’s last wishes.This is just a rough summary of a 3000 line poem that not only deals with Beowulf’s deeds but also the warrior culture and surprisingly the political insightfulness that many secondary characters talk about throughout the poem. The poem begins and ends with funerals with warrior kings giving look at pagan worldview even as the unknown Christian poet tried to his best to hide it with references to Christian religiosity. Although some say that any translation deprived the poem of the Old English rhyme and rhythm, the evolution of English in the thousand years since the poem was first put down in words means that unless one reads the original with a dictionary on hand, this poem would not be read. Heaney’s translation gives the poem its original epicness while also allowing present day readers a chance to “hear” the story in their own language thus giving it new life.Beowulf is one of the many epic poems that have influenced storytelling over the centuries. Yet with its Scandinavian pagan oral roots and Christian authorship it is also a melding of two traditions that seem at odds yet together still create a power tale. Unlike some high school or college course force students to read the Old England or so-so translated excerpts from the poem, Seamus Heaney’s book gives the reader something that will keep their attention and greatly entertain.