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Composed toward the end of the first millennium, Beowulf is the elegiac narrative of the adventures of Beowulf, a Scandinavian hero who saves the Danes from the seemingly invincible monster Grendel and, later, from Grendel's mother. He then returns to his own country and dies... Read Full Overview

A brilliant and faithful rendering of the Anglo-Saxon epic from the Nobel laureate.

Before there was Game of Thrones, there was Beowulf...

SONG OF BATTLE AND KINGS

Beowulf is one of the earliest extant poems in a modern European language, composed in England before the Norman Conquest. As a... Read Full Overview

"Alexander's translation is marked by a conviction that it is possible to be both ambitious and faithful and] ...communicates the poem with a care which goes beyond fidelity-to-meaning and reaches fidelity of implication. May it go on ... to another half-million copies." - Tom... Read Full Overview

One of the most universally studied of the English classics, Beowulf is considered the finest heroic poem in Old English. Written ten centuries ago, it celebrates the character and exploits of Beowulf, a young nobleman of the Geats, a people of southern Sweden.
Beowulf first... Read Full Overview

Composed toward the end of the first millennium, Beowulf ?is the elegiac narrative of the Scandinavian hero who saves the Danes from the seemingly invincible monster Grendel and, later, from Grendel's mother. Drawn to what he has called the "four-squareness of the utterance"... Read Full Overview

The finest literary work passed down to us from Anglo-Saxon times, Beowulf celebrates the existence of heroism in a dark world of feuds, violence, and uncertainty. Set in the legendary Scandinavian past, Beowulf comes to the aid of the Danish king Hrothgar by killing the terrifying... Read Full Overview

This early Anglo-Saxon poem tells the epic tale of a young Scandinavian swordsman as he saves cities, and kills dragons.Records of this work survived into the modern age from as long ago as the early 800's AD. It is one of the first written stories in the English language. The... Read Full Overview

"Alexander's translation is marked by a conviction that it is possible to be both ambitious and faithful and] ...communicates the poem with a care which goes beyond fidelity-to-meaning and reaches fidelity of implication. May it go on ... to another half-million copies."... Read Full Overview

Accurate and literally faithful, the Donaldson translation conveys the full meaning and spirit of the original.

"Backgrounds and Contexts" provides readers with the historical, linguistic, and literary settings of Beowulf, including Robert C. Hughes on the origins of... Read Full Overview

New, up-to-date bibliography which should give this edition another twenty years of life. Excellent, scholarly introduction which focusses on the values and social relevance of the poem. Explanatory notes drawing on archaeological sources. Prose translation.

A widely celebrated translator's vivid, accessible, and elegantly concise rendering of an ancient English masterpiece

The acclaimed verse translation of the timeless epic tale of bravery and battle--the enduring saga of the hero Beowulf and the monster Grendel--the first true masterpiece of English literature.

"There are lots of translations of Beowulf floating... Read Full Overview