Beowulf: A Verse Translation - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0064384373 ISBN 13: 9780064384377

Publisher: Icon, 2000

Synopsis

A new translation of the first narrative poem in the English language closely follows the original poetic form and includes an introduction that discusses the poem's historical background, structure, form, principal characters, religion, and importance

About this title

Reviews

Beowulf, remember him? He was the guy in your English literature class who liked to wrestle fiends from Hell and got himself done in by a dragon! Well he's back for the Nineties and hasn't mellowed much with age. Though this volume does contain notes on Beowulf 's probable origin along with a genealogy and a name reference list, the emphasis here is not on scholarship, but on reading the poem for the sheer pleasure of it. Rebsamen reminds us that Beowulf is not an old fossil to be analyzed, but a work of art to be enjoyed. To rekindle the poem's original fire, he has attempted to "imitate the Old English poetic form as closely as is practical in Modern English." The result is more difficult reading than the Charles W. Kennedy version students know from the Oxford Anthology of English Literature , but it is also vibrant and exciting. This spirited translation takes Beowulf out of the classroom and puts it back into the barroom where it belongs. Recommended for all large literature collections.
- Michael Rogers, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Icon
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0064384373
• ISBN 13: 9780064384377
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 109
• Editor: Rebsamen Frederick