Beowulf (Norton Critical Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Beowulf- an Anglo Saxon hero.
Review: I was getting very tired of learning about every culture but my own in school. We were learning about Africa, South America, and Asia nearly all the time. I suggested to my teacher that we read Beowulf, and celebrate Anglo history. Being a reasonable man, he agreed. Well, let me tell you- it was one of the few times the public school system gave me my assignments that excited my "passions for learning" .................... Buy Beowulf and learn about a hero and his quest to save his people.

Rating:
Summary: An enduring tale
Review: Many and many tales of myth and legend have survived the countless years since their conception. But, very few of them are as compelling as Beowulf. Any fan of mytholology theology and philosophy will have a field day with this tale, and any fans of such other classics as the Odyssey, the Iliad, and the Gilgamesh, will deeply love, adore, and cherish this tale of trial and tribulation, and conquering the greater evil.

Rating:
Summary: Epic Glory
Review: Review of "Beowulf," Norton Critical Edition edited by Joseph F. Tuso and translated by E. Talbot Donaldson.

This is one of those works that has stayed with me, and I can understand the fascination it has exerted on so many people for such a long time. "Beowulf" is the jewel of Anglo-Saxon literature, written around 1000 AD, but composed most probably a couple of centuries earlier. This is a "primary" epic, like Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey" because it shares with them its oral origins. Unlike "secondary" epics, such as "The Æneid," which has a clearly identifiable author creating the verses, "Beowulf" belongs to the oral tradition of the Old English "Scop," the teller of tales. The story is a known one, but fascinating nonetheless: Beowulf, a man who was not appreciated by his own people, the Geats (in Sweden), finally earns their respect and admiration, so much so that he can render assistance to a foreign king, a Scylding (Dane), whose realm is under attack by Grendel, a monster who kills men and eats them. Beowulf fights Grendel, and Grendel's mother, ridding the Scyldings' land of their presence, earning the king's gratitude and reward, and earning honor and glory for himself. But the story continues: Beowulf goes back to the Geats, in time becoming their king, until he must fight a dragon that is devastating his kingdom. Behind this very succint description of its plot, "Beowulf" has magnificent digressions, details, and a very effective challenge to the system of feuding. The digressions are necessary to explain the customs of that particular time and people. One of the most effective ones happens in pages 35-36, when we are told of the arranged marriages between members of feuding nations, and how that tactic is doomed to fail in a society that never runs out of reasons, or excuses, to feud and wage war. Another important digression takes place in pages 51-52, related to the battle of Ravenswood, and is again firmly tied to one of the poem's most powerful themes: the feuding society of vendettas that involve entire kingdoms must be disposed of.

"Beowulf" is glorious and tragic epic at its best. It opens with a funeral and it ends with a funeral. There is treasure given as offering to a king at the beginning of the poem, and treasure that is buried in order to get rid of the problems of society at the end of the poem. The men are brave, violent, and long for the death of heroes. The women are given as war prizes and considered booty (not much room for feminist characters in epic tradition). Old age is cruel because a society of feuds values youth and strength above all else. The monsters must be destroyed if the world of men (and women) is to go on. Grendel, the "walker-alone," must die if the wine-hall of the Scyldings, Heorot, is to have scops telling stories, and men drinking and eating as before. Here is the principle of "until" applied to its best effect: things are just fine at Heorot until Grendel shows up and kills so many men that nobody uses the wine-hall for fun anymore. Things are fine in the land of the Scyldings until Grendel starts killing people. Everybody celebrates Grendel's death at the hands --literally-- of Beowulf until the next night, when Grendel's mother avenges her son by killing a man. Beowulf goes back to his land, becomes king, and everything goes well until an angry dragon starts destroying towns. Basically, this is life: things go well until they don't. The poem manages to remind us of something so obvious that we yet tend to forget, especially if we drift toward happy endings.

As with most Norton Critical Editions, this one has been put together with the student in mind but is still interesting for the general reader. Donaldson's prose translation is clear and to the point, and the footnotes, even though not as abundant as I would have liked, are helpful. The essays cover almost everything you always wanted to know about Danes, Geats, Feuds, Old English Scops, Prosody, and Poetry, Historical background, and more, including perhaps plenty of what you really do not want to know. Particular attention deserve two essays: Edward B. Irving's "The Feud: Ravenswood" (my teacher, Mrs. Georgianna, really likes this one), and J.R.R. Tolkien's "Beowulf: The Monster and the Critics." This last essay is also included in the excellent, and sadly out-of-print, book "An Anthology of Beowulf Criticism," edited by Lewis E. Nicholson, and it has become a classic.

The only thing I would add to this edition, apart from more footnotes, is the original text in Old English. Other than that, this is simply an excellent addition to the vast Beowulf literature, presenting us with the true grandeur and pathos of epic glory at the threshold of enormous social changes.