Rating: 
Summary: An excellent translation
Review: This is a very readable translation of this classic. Information from other sources places individuals included in this tale in the late 5th or early 6th century. It was a time of major turmoil in Europe. In addition to the main story of Beowulf, there are references to various wars or battles. Storytellers tended to use a large amount of literary license to embellish a tale, so it is part fact and part fiction. It is possible to guess at the nature of Grendel. Heidrek of Jutland, from that time period, was referred to as a werewolf. Patricia Daniels Cornwell, in her book "Black Notice," describes the physical condition that would have caused a person to be called a werewolf. The story of Beowulf, like other tales from that period, includes a dragon guarding a cache of treasure. The story of our legendary ancestor Sigurd, slayer of the dragon Favne, includes a similar incident. The practice of awarding rings, which seems to be well established by the time period in this tale, appears to have origins before recorded history, and the tradition has been passed down to the present (e.g., Superbowl rings, etc.).
Rating: 
Summary: Production details
Review: I won't comment on the text, the translation, nor the authors reading of the epic. My only comment is that I purchased this on CD, and hind-sight is 20/20 - I would have been better off purchasing an audio cassette version.There are two CD's to this edition, and each CD is *ONE SINGLE TRACK*. This means you have two tracks, each of which are over an hour long. Needless to say, this does not make it easy to "pick it up later". I wish the producers has split it into 5 or 10 minute tracks, even if the track division was meaningless in itself. At least with an audio cassette, I could press stop, and come back later and press play. *shrug*
Rating: 
Summary: Better Translations Elsewhere
Review: I'll be brief. This is an awkward translation, brought about I believe because the translator tried to be more cryptic than necessary, more brutal than desirable, and more enigmatic than the story already is. For those wanting a more accessible, readable Beowulf, I heartily recommend Kevin Crossley-Holland's wonderful translation and introductory notes, published by Phoebe Phillips Editions (London). Crossley-Holland's book also has the advantages of being a well-crafted book, expansively bringing to life the poetry of a legend from the classics of the medieval world. Finally, while I cannot endorse Seamus Heaney's translation, at least his efforts revive an interest in this anonymous medieval work, which deserves much wider readership, and although not included among the "great books of western civilization" canon, seems indespensible to understanding that tradition.
Rating:
Summary: A great translation that captures the story.
Review: During my college years, I read the Cantebury Tales in Middle English. While i could make my way through the verse, I never felt I could completely grasp the story. The new translation of Beowulf brings the flavor and verse in to clarity for the dawn of a new century. I really appreciated Mr. Heaney's attention to detail, and I had a sense of awe and wonder in reading an epic poem over 3000 lines in length written over a 1000 years ago. Bravo!
Rating: 
Summary: Heaney's audio rendition
Review: Such a clever sense of humor editors have to date. This new recording of Heaney's translation in his own voice is indeed NOT unabridged, but contains "unabridged selections." Most notably absent are the details of Beowulf's descent into the Haunted Mere and the beheading of Grendel. The latter note is particularly insulting as the editing of the disk leads the listener to believe that it is the mere witch's head being lugged back to Heorot. This aside, Mr. Heaney's delightful brogue is suprisingly well suited to the reading of this epic. Recommended, but a prior familiarity with the poem is advantageous.
Rating:
Summary: Beowulf: "a haunting presence of mind."
Review: "In off the moors, down through the mist bands/ God-cursed Grendel came greedily loping" (p. 49). So goes the familiar narrative of BEOWULF. A recent article in the New York Times indicated that this is a book that readers buy because it is a classic, but a book that few ever actually read once purchased. BEOWULF is not a difficult poem. Basically, it is a 3000-line poem about a company of soldiers and their kinsmen who just want to drink mead and party in a wine hall ("Heorot Hall"), only to have their merriment interrupted by one man-eating monster attack after the next. Beowulf the warrior is then called upon to put an end to the monster attacks. BEOWULF was originally written in the 7th to 10th Century in Old English. In his excellent introduction, Heaney writes BEOWULF's "narrative elements may belong to a previous age, but as a work of art it lives in its own continuous present, equal to our knowledge of reality in the present time" (viii). Heaney's edition also includes the complete poem in Old English, together with summary notes adjacent to his own translation. Although I am not qualified to comment on Heaney's translation from Old English, I can say that this version brings the poem's characters to life: Beowulf, the warrior, Grendel, the man-eating monster, Grendel's mother (a "monstrous hell-bride"), and a fire-breathing dragon. Once read, Heaney's BEOWULF will never be forgotten. G. Merritt END
Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece Rediscovered
Review: I hadn't read Beowulf since college, and while I remembered the epic to be a magnificent piece of art, I had forgotten (or maybe just discovered through Heaney's translation) how beautiful it really is. The translation is superbly written--the alliteration is exquisite. I enjoyed the foreword almost as much as the poem itself! For more fun, or if you're studying Old English, compare the translation (on the right) with the original (on the left)--Great read no matter what your gender or age!
Rating:
Summary: Hmm, I knew how it ended.
Review: This is a book people buy to say they bought it. To say they are intellectuals. Come on, get a life. Duh.
Rating:
Summary: A poetic presentation of Western Civilization
Review: This classic Anglo-Saxon poem was created by an unknown poet sometime between 700 and 1000 A.D. It was reduced to writing much later than that and has been turned into modern English prose by numerous translators. Since the nineteenth century, Beowulf has been a staple in college prep English classes throughout the English-speaking world. Nobel laureate in poetry, Seamus Heaney has created a glistening translation of Beowulf. It shines in part because it is a translation in poetic form and in part because Heaney is an Ulster-born Irishman whose native tongue emphasizes the harsh consonants that drive the mood and meter of Beowulf. This book won England's prestigious Whitbread Award. We meet Beowulf as a young warrior from Southern Sweden who travels to Denmark to slay the Dragon Grendel. After defeating Grendel, he has little time to boast because Grendel's mother seeks revenge for the death of her son. Here is Heaney describing the place where Grendel's mother lives (note that a mere is a lake or pond): "A few miles from here a frost-stiffened wood waits and keeps watch above a mere; the overhanging bank is a maze of tree-roots mirrored in its surface. At night there, something uncanny happens: the water burns. And the mere bottom has never been sounded by the sons of men. On its banks, the heather-stepper halts: the hart in flight from pursuing hounds will turn to face them with firm set horns and die in the wood rather than dive beneath its surface. That is no good place." Beowulf defeats her, in her underwater lair, although it is a close call. From these victories his legend grows. He becomes the King of his land and rules wisely for fifty years. Near the end, yet another dragon marauds the land and Beowulf, even as an old man, is asked to take up the sword again . Once again he slays a dragon, but, this time, the price of victory is his life. The funeral pyre that cradles him also provides lasting glory to his name. The background of this poem is the teutonic warrior tradition of courage, loyalty, honor, generosity and glory. Warriors boast in the mead halls at night and deliver against those boasts by day .... or die trying. This poem is at the very core of Western Civilization and Heaney's translation makes English-speaking readers proud to be the inheritors of that tradition. Here are 200 pages of poetry, with the original Old English poem on the verso and Heaney's contemporary English poem on the recto. Read this book! Everything virtuous about our heritage is on display for your delectation, delight and awe.
Rating:
Summary: Pitch perfect
Review: That an Irishman could so well understand the Anglo Saxon tongue is one thing. But for Seamus Heaney also to understand and bring to life the culture within a culture--the time when the tale took place and the original poet's era--is outstanding. His ear is pitch perfect. There are passages that sing right off the page, but always with a robustness and veracity. I look forward to savoring again this brilliant work.
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