All Formats & Editions

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

The first major poem in English literature - Translated by Howell D. Chickering with the Old English on facing pages

"Accomplishes what before now had seemed impossible: a faithful rendering that is simultaneously an original and gripping poem in its own right." -- New York Times Book Review "Excellent ancillary materials in this critical edition make a potentially alienating text and culture... 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

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No Fear Literature puts the world's finest books at your fingertips With the complete original text on the left-hand page, and an easy-to-follow translation on the right to... Read Full Overview

R.M. Liuzza's translation of Beowulf, first published by Broadview in 1999, has been widely praised for its accuracy and beauty. The facing-page translation is accompanied in this edition by genealogical charts, historical summaries, and a glossary of proper names.... 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

J. R. R. Tolkien, author of LORD OF THE RINGS and THE HOBBIT, in his famous 1936 lecture, BEOWULF, THE MONSTERS AND THE CRITICS, said, "BEOWULF is among my most valued sources. It is a work of genius, rare and surprising in the period, and it is worth studying. In BEOWULF we... 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

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

PBS Recommended Translation for Spring 2013

"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

This new poetic translation brings the earliest extant English poem closer to the modern reader. Kennedy offers a translation in alliterative verse, based on Klaeber's text, of the Old English Beowulf, and provides a brief critical introduction which reviews literary and cultural... Read Full Overview

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