Hwaet!

[mirrorshard]

I finally gave in to temptation and bought a new edition of Beowulf - a facing-page version of Heaney's translation. I foresee quite a bit of reading aloud in the near future.

Comments

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

Heaney's translation has great tone, if not always strict word-for-word accuracy.

If you want to give it a go in the original, a good scholarly edition is George Jack's one - it was unusual words and obscure passages glossed.

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

I was wondering whether you'd seen this post, love! [grin]

[mirrorshard.livejournal.com]

Oh, cheers for the recommendation - I shall keep an eye out the next time I'm tempted. I got to Beowulf through poetry, rather than literature, so I normally look for vividity and natural tone rather than faithfulness. And as you say, Heaney has both - he's a great one for strong, unaffected writing.