Beowulf: A New Translation (edição: 2020)

Verhaal in de trant van de saga's van IJsland. Beowulf helpt een bevriende koning af van het monster dat 's avonds zijn koninklijke zaal binnenkomt om op te eten wie zich daar bevindt. Als het monster dood is, komt de moeder ervan poolshoogte nemen, en ook zij wordt door Beowulf gedood. Daarmee vergaart Beowulf veel eer en rijkdom, want de koningen in die tijd zijn nogal vrijgevig.
Beowulf heerst uiteindelijk 50 jaar over zijn volk, de Geat, en sterft als hij een draak die een schat bewaakt en beledigd is, waardoor die draak vuurspuwend het land doorgaat, doodt. Dat gebeurt met behulp van één van zijn getrouwen, maar die geeft alle eer aan Beowulf.
Ook de namen die in het verhaal genoemd worden, doen mij sterk aan IJslands denken.
In dit boek is het oorspronkelijke Oud-Engelse gedicht in proza herverteld.

This was really a delight--Headley makes the work so accessible, even if I don't know that all the insertion of more modern language works (or that it appears so frequently, outside of the "bro" that became kind of the selling point of the translation.)

But really it's amazing how easy it was to read, especially given just now old the poem is, and the introduction does I think an incredible job of setting you up to read the book--just enough context to help you understand what is going on, orient yourself, and clearly see where Headley sees her translation intervening on previous translations, without like drowning you in information on previous translations or broader history. I think maybe the highest praise of this I could give is that it made me immediately want to go out and read other translations of the text, not because I wanted something more from this text that I felt was lacking, but because reading this made me feel emboldened to go out and reencounter this formidable text in different forms. ( )

I absolutely loved reading Seamus Heaney's (at the time new) translation of Beowulf for my seond year undergrad history class on Medieval Europe, so I thought that an illustrated version of the text would be an even bigger improvement. Unfortunately the added content didn't really do much for me but provide a distraction from the story. I think that it was a good choice of the editor to use artifacts that are archaeologically relevent to the story rather than to commission a graphic artist to depict imagines scenes from the story, but I feel like most scholars reading Beowulf will already be well-versed in Anglo-Saxon and Danish artifacts or more than capable of finding their own examples. I'm sure casual readers of the poem who are less historically inclined will find more to inspire their reading and imagination, though, so the book may have a stronger market there. The fact that the image editor only provides minor context for the artifacts he has chosen also bolsters this argument, as well as the conspicuous lack of footnotes and commentary throughout. I don't think my original copy of the book has much in the way of scholarly commentary either, but it is stronger for its inclusion of the Old English text alongside Heaney's new translation. At least this copy of the book can find a good home with my mother, since I think I'll stick to my undergrad copy. ( )

I’m not usually someone who chooses to listen to audiobooks, but I felt like it was the right way to experience Beowulf, and I was correct. I could almost imagine sitting around a hearth 1200 years ago while a poet recited the same story in its original language, complete with kennings and alliterations and descriptions of fabulous treasure and brave, wise rulers. I’m a little embarrassed that I waited this long to read it, but I’m glad I finally did. ( )

I read Seamus Heaney's translation.

It is very interesting to experience the archaic language, structure and narrative stylings. The story is a but dull though, not very creative, but it is 1000 years old so that's acceptable. ( )