Reviews

Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, together with Sellic Spell by J.R.R. Tolkien

olivehunter's review against another edition

4.0

I really liked the first 3/4. The last bit was a little tiring and slow after the banquet and after the dragon part

witchfynder_finder's review against another edition

adventurous funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

[Might come back to fill this in later but running a blank on anything actually interesting to say right now]

sschaut's review against another edition

Assigned reading for class. Honestly, not fully what I expected. Thankfully, we read a translated version. Since reading excerpts of The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer in the original Middle English, I’m very grateful to not try and read an even older text in its original form. Though, I still enjoyed the little translated words/phrases — shoutout to “whale-road.”

Def thought that the Grendel plot would’ve been a larger part of the epic, was proven wrong relatively quickly lol. I think the earlier sections of the poem were more interesting than the latter half, when Beowulf returns to his homeland, but that’s just me

brendini's review against another edition

5.0

Beowulf is a classic of the (old) English language and Heaney’s translation, to my mind, remains the best. Where other translators have sought to provide a literal translation, Heaney seeks here to bring forth the poetic nature of the work. He also makes it less formal, littering the work with “Ulsterisms” and other vernacular that gives it the feel of a story being told in a small rural pub rather than a king’s hall. In so doing, rather uniquely, Heaney has not so much translated this work as he has made it his own.

khaleesidrums's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

jacquelinelindsay's review against another edition

adventurous challenging slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

queeneallie's review against another edition

I don't know if it's this translation, but we read it in HS.

epage2004's review against another edition

3.0

liked it more than i thought i would tbh but still not my fav

gingerchickadee's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

odin45mp's review against another edition

5.0

Bro. This is beautiful. Amazing. Powerful. Dripping with swagger, bravado, and machismo. A reflection on masculinity in both somewhat toxic and not-toxic ways. Headley does a magnificent job updating this story while digging deep on the essence of the original text. This reads great as a spoken word piece, as if you were telling a tall tale at the bar. (I read the first third of it out loud to my girlfriend and thoroughly enjoyed myself. She enjoyed some of the wordplay and my enthusiasm.)

This has replaced the Seamus Heaney translation that I read in college as my favorite rendition of this tale. Beowulf is one of my favorite classic pieces of literature, since it deals with men and monsters and the vanquishing thereof. This is relatable to my modern fantasy stories, in a way that a lot of other classic literature just doesn't appeal to me. I also get a grin out of the clearly shoehorned in references to God and Christianity - there was definitely some editorial struggle in the original text that we have.

If you enjoy Beowulf, this is a must-own. If you want to give a classic another shot, after hating it in school, this is a must-read.