Andy Orchard was my professor for Beowulf up at the University of Toronto. He provided me with my favorite comment upon my life of all time: after comAndy Orchard was my professor for Beowulf up at the University of Toronto. He provided me with my favorite comment upon my life of all time: after coming in to class and claiming that he delighted in making fun of me for my meager translating abilities, he responded, "Well, it's only my birthday once a year, but it's 'Kick Michael's Ass Day' every day." That's a mantra I live by.
That said, Orchard is a certified genius, a big-brained, raucous guide through the world of literature who can pull citations from a hundred works out of his brain at a moment's notice. This book digs in to the poem and explores the roles and uses of both the monsters and the other outstanding characters of the text, tracing some of the origins and echoes of the beasties through the long and convoluted realms of legend and tales from various cultures. (Orchard is the one who clued us in to the fact that some of the words most commonly used to describe Grendel's dangerous character are used of only one other subject in the poem: Beowulf himself.) He can sometimes be rather didactic in his conclusions (We argued at some length over a point about the use of "verbs of vision," upon which I wrote a very inept term paper in a vain attempt to impress him by challenging his authority. I do not recommend this to others, though he was kind in his ass-kickery.), but it's rathe difficult to refute his claims and they add a great deal to text.
The reason this gets only four stars is because Orchard kicked my ass every day. ...more
This is the classic—you don't mess with a researcher and translator of the caliber of Robinson. We wouldn't have half the work done on Beowulf, and OlThis is the classic—you don't mess with a researcher and translator of the caliber of Robinson. We wouldn't have half the work done on Beowulf, and Old English in general, were it not for his dedicated research and tireless work.
That said, Robinson's gloss on the text has always been heavy-handed, and his translations somewhat stiff. There's not a lot of "poetry" in Robinson's work; for him, the poem seems to be solely the subject of academic study and the awe and grandeur of the work seem secondary at best. I am normally a fan of old-school reviewing in which the translator or reviewer lets his or her (usually his) own voice be heard and his opinions are clear, but here (as in Heaney's work at times, much later) the glosses are rather pejorative and wreck some of the inherent subtlety and tension of the poem. This can also be a bit heavy for the new student, for whom an edition like George Jack's might be more accessible....more
I'm not a great fan of Raffel's translation, which is modernized to the point of sounding like your neighbor was telling the story of a big fight his I'm not a great fan of Raffel's translation, which is modernized to the point of sounding like your neighbor was telling the story of a big fight his brother got into in the bar down the street. Some use of archaic language and Old English rhythms are really key to preserving this work, and Raffel ditches it all in favor of modern prose. I admit to being biased in favor of the eldest language possible, but even I can appreciate how modernized language helps a new reader. Still, this steps too far that direction for my taste....more
If you are ever in the position of having to read Beowulf in the original and do your own translating, and if your skills with the language are fledglIf you are ever in the position of having to read Beowulf in the original and do your own translating, and if your skills with the language are fledgling or rusty, this is the book to get. Since there is no translation, there's nothing in the text of the poem itself that stands out above others. But if you've ever spent hours flipping back and forth between the text and an Old English dictionary (or, even more commonly, the glossary at the back of the book), you will sing Jack's praises for this edition, which has a very thorough side-by-side glossary. This tome got me through many long nights without making me lose my mind. This is probably not going to satisfy the serious, hard-core researcher, but for students, it is a lifesaver....more
Klaeber, the old pal of Robinson, is in the same school of traditionalist critics who use a heavy hand in glossing and commenting upon the poems. OverKlaeber, the old pal of Robinson, is in the same school of traditionalist critics who use a heavy hand in glossing and commenting upon the poems. Overall, Klaeber's readings tend to be a bit more open and inviting to the outsider, making his work a tad more interactive than Robinson.
What garners this edition the five stars, though, are the other materials in this volume. This contains many other Old English fragments, including the great "Fight at Finnsburgh" (only "The Battle of Maldon" compares for a war story), and (if memory serves) some riddles and other shorter poems. Klaeber also includes some extensive discussion of the social and artistic world underlying the works, which goes a long way to grounding the reader in the social realities of early Middle Ages Anglo-Saxon life....more
The simplest and most straightforward retelling of Beowulf around. For a simple retelling of the story preserving just enough of the original languageThe simplest and most straightforward retelling of Beowulf around. For a simple retelling of the story preserving just enough of the original language to keep it from being a new story all together, this version does the job. I rather like the poetic lines and miss them here, and the story itself always feels more stilted and plain in a prose edition. Not a bad place to start, and the critical notes are helpful, but to get a real sense of the story's strength, go for a verse translation....more
I teach Beowulf in my honors class, and it's a tale I've always loved. There's something about the raw power, the direct yet engaging storyline, the rI teach Beowulf in my honors class, and it's a tale I've always loved. There's something about the raw power, the direct yet engaging storyline, the rhythm and tone of the story that draws the reader (or, ideally, the listener) into another world. The social conventions, alien in many ways to our modern mindset, show a world both brutal and honorable, where death and heroism go side-by-side, where every act has consequence and there is no expectation of joy and happiness—these things have to be wrested from existence and are of short duration. And the interplay of the original Pagan story and the Christian elements brought in by our monastic narrator show the tension of a people wrestling with their old beliefs and how to reconcile them with the new. The startling use of language and poetic diction make this a masterpiece of English literature.
I've read a dozen translations (and even done my own crude one); each of them has different aspects to recommend it. Heaney's strength is in his poetic voice—he's done an amazing job of preserving the rhythms and alliterations so crucial to the format of the original verse and updated it without being so modern as to lose the flavor of the original. He uses some archaic terms and those of his Celtic ancestors, which work well and do not mar the understanding of readers new to the text. Best of all, this is a parallel translation, with the original Old English on the verso pages.
My only quibbles have to do with some of Heaney's word choices. There are debates within the literary community about the nature of the monsters (and the heroes) in the poem, and Heaney takes a pretty hard line, translating some phrases and terms in ways that make his choices seem unavoidable (but which are not always supported in the original). Innocent phrases like "wight" and "spirit" are sometimes glossed as "demon" or "specter," and we lose the sense of some of the wonderful Old English kennings, like the description of Grendel as a mearcstapa, "walker on the borders."
Overall, a really fine translation. (And since it's been immortalized in The Norton Anthology and all Norton's student editions, it will be the version most everyone knows for the foreseeable future.)...more
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