Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant
Review: Seamus Heaney really brings the story alive in his traslation. His is one of the few translated books that aren't dull or straight-foward. Beowulf is poetic and alive, like the way it should be. This is a great book for anyone who likes epics.
Rating:
Summary: Accessible, artistic translation
Review: Seamus Heaney has done the world a great service in his translation of "Beowulf". By breaking away from the slavish attention to meter and literal transcription found in most editions, he has captured the true essence of the poem. While not identical in timing, his well chosen language ripples with the energy and pace of the original. Of particular note, I found that the sometimes uncomfortable dichotomy of Christian and pagan traditions to be revealed masterfully. While there are dozens of interpretations of this poem, I've always felt that Beowulf, the man, was at least in part a metaphor for both the death of the pagan tradition, and the bith of the Christian one; and Heaney captures this beautifully.This is really an oustanding translation that carries "Beowulf" into the twenty-first century with far more vibrance than it had in the twentieth. Finally, if you're still not convinced, this translation features the original Old English on facing pages, if you feel like having a stab at it yourself, or just getting a better feel for the meter.
Rating:
Summary: A Thoroughly Enjoyable Read
Review: The first and, until now, the last time I read Beowulf I was a sophomore in college. Perhaps it was my young age, but I remember it was an arduous chore having to wade through the broken English translation and having to translate the translation with the clues given in the footnotes. I swore I would never read Beowulf again. I'm glad I didn't keep that promise to myself. This translation is not another ivy tower version of the story. Mr. Heaney's translation gives the reader an extremely readable and fascinating story while at the same time retaining the literary genius that must have been present in the original version. I wish I had had this translation while I was in college. I probably would have come away with a better feeling and understanding of early European literature not to mention a better grade.
Rating:
Summary: Blood and Guts
Review: I just read this over Spring break, and closed another gap in my lacunae-esque education. Previously, I had only been able to listen to a tape of Beowulf, with a lot of editorial explanation. The long intro. by the author is extremely helpful. Then on to the text. The boasts sound like Kirk Douglas in "Eric the Red." But wait a minute, I think I have that exactly backwards. The parts where 1) Grendel; 2) Grendal's mom; and 3) the 50 foot nameless dragon are slain are pretty gripping. I read them to my 8 year old as bedtime stories. This was in part motivated by my urge to contextualixe C.S. Lewis, Tolkein, and Harry Potter for her. Surprising comment back from the 8 year old: "This would be too violent to read in school." The intro. makes a very good point about J.R.R. Tolkein as the first serioius scholar to simply let Beowulf be Beowulf, to free it from over-analysis by language-science types, and let it just be a violent story about history, striving, doom, death, and everything else that's in here. This has the effect of elevating Tolkein, and his writings, as well. The very violence of Beowulf is a nice correction for the chronic potion-mixing and spell casting of Harry what's his name. The butchery described here, though, has more in common with Rwanda or the recent civil war in Sierra Leone, than it does with Lewis or Tolkein. Difference is that in Africa, they skip the armor. Until Africa develops its own literature of slaughter, we have this.
Rating:
Summary: Truly Excellent
Review: Like most, I was forced to read a version of this book for school. The genealogy and the mechanics of the language were the primary emphasis; therefore, I never got much out of the story. This new translation is remarkable. Most of the unwieldy dialogue has been simplified, without changing the imagery or majesty of the original work. I cannot imagine a better translation.
Rating: 
Summary: A Very Readable Version Though I Still Prefer Raffel's
Review: For those who have heard the names of Grendel and Beowulf and seen the epic alluded to in comic books, movies and Michael Crichton's EATERS OF THE DEAD, this version of the tale should serve as a good introduction. The only other translation of BEOWULF I'm familiar with is the Burton Raffel one which I've read three times and still prefer to Heaney's. However, not knowing Old English, I can't say which is more accurate. Raffel does try to preserve the structure of Anglo-Saxon alliterative verse while Heaney, as he notes in his introduction, never feels compelled to strictly follow that form though he does quite a bit. However, I suspect many readers may find that old verse form strange, awkward, and a bit offputting, and, for them, this version of the old epic is probably the best. I always found the last third of the epic the most moving and melancholy, and, there, Heaney's translation is as powerful as Raffel's.
Rating:
Summary: My Four-Year-Old Digs Beowulf
Review: I've been reading Seamus Heaney's version of Beowulf to my boys, aged 4 and 9, and they love it! It's become a nightly event for us to act our the fight scene with the dragon. It is so wonderful to be able to introduce my kids to a classic piece of literature and have them enjoy it, but what little boy wouldn't love this story...weapons, chainmail, swordplay, dragons and death! I'm telling you, your kids will dig this tale.
Rating:
Summary: FINALLY!!! A READABLE BEOWULF!!!
Review: I'm not sure how well Seamus Heaney translated Beowulf into English, but he sure made it easy to read. I've tried to read Beowulf many times in my life, and each time I hit a brick wall because the dumb author throws some archaic word at me. You shouldn't have to be an Anglo-Saxon language student to enjoy literature. The English poem is done in the alliterative style, which is okay, although I prefer rhyming poems. But I guess Beowulf wasn't meant to rhyme and neither are translated works. It's nice to have the brief synopsis footnotes at the side of the pages because it quickly tells you what happened, sparing you from reading the passage umpteen dozen times to understand it. You'll get the basic idea pretty easily, but you won't understand all aspects of the storyline the first time around. I wish there were more breaks in the text. I had a heck of a time finding a place to stop, so as a result I finished this book very fast. Professors, complain all you want, I like this book because you can READ it without running to a dictionary or calling your professor on the phone every other line. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Actually =ENJOYED= Beowulf
Review: I'm much too peripatetic to settle down with translations of classic poetry. If it's gotta be poetry, I like hard hitting modern verse. Epics ought to read like a novel--epics ought to be novels, and available on DVD! OK, so litigate--I'm a barbarian! Heaney's Beowulf, however, was a pleasant departure. This provided my recreational reading for a few days. Although I've read that his translation isn't "true" to the Anglo-Saxon in some scholarly sense, I read the book for fun, not to analyze the formalisms of Anglo Saxon poetry. What a change from last time I struggled through the material, 25 years ago! I'll grant myself a little intellectual maturity, but most of the credit goes to Heaney for making this powerful story accessible and entertaining. No, it still doesn't read like a Clancy or Grisham novel--but when one of them runs out of story lines . . . In one sense this is a sacred text. The language differs enough from contemporary use to shift the way I mentally processed it. Just the act of reading the poetic story took me beyond the boundaries of profane life and into the mythological realm. Archetypes lept into the story, the Grendels (and their mothers) of my mind slunk into consciousness for a while. Because the language does not lend itself to simply sliding into a novel, it can enable a deeper experience of the myth. An added pleasure was the inclusion of the Anglo Saxon verse itself. I don't read it. But I loved the sound. It is the sound of my ancestors. My wife didn't appreciate it, when I'd inflict it upon her as she was dozing off to sleep. This book is worth purchasing, just for the opportunity to read a page of the old words, just for the opportunity to hear the language of ancestors bouncing around the room.
Rating:
Summary: Heaneywulf!
Review: I love Beowulf and now that Heaney's translation of this great epic is out, I am overjoyed. Seamus Heaney is an extraordinary poet; he has unusual word choices and his Irish background is wonderful fodder for Old English. I have read other translations of Beowulf before but they are always a little flowery, stiff or dated. It is hard to translate the Old English guttural tones but Heaney uses consonants freely and you can almost hear Grendel's footsteps stalking the men in the mead hall! Thank you Mr heaney!
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