What could be a more promising poetic project than the greatest of early English poems, Beowulf, newly translated by arguably the greatest of living poets writing in English, Seamus Heaney? The literary pedigree of this great fabular epic in the hands of Nobel Laureate Heaney matches Ted Hughes' award-winning rewrite of Ovid's Metamorphosis, Tales from Ovid. Heaney has chosen the plain, prosaic yet subtly cadenced vernacular of his Northern Irish roots as the poetic voice into which he renders this famous Anglo-Saxon fabular epic of a dragon-slaying Danish warrior. The result is an engaging evocation of the highly alliterative, densely metaphorical texture of Anglo-Saxon verse, which is famously hard to capture in modern English poetic forms.
"It's narrative elements may belong to a previous age but as a work of art it lives in the present," writes Heaney of this tale of monstrous, murderous Grendel, heroic, kingly Beowulf, blood-feuds, dragon-slaying and spiritual grace. The very plain-spokenness of Heaney's translation makes it admirably easy to read and understand, whilst rendering an often true translation at a galloping narrative pace. Heaney's Beowulf opens up one of the most famous founding epics of European literature to a modern world of new readers. --James Barry
"It's narrative elements may belong to a previous age but as a work of art it lives in the present," writes Heaney of this tale of monstrous, murderous Grendel, heroic, kingly Beowulf, blood-feuds, dragon-slaying and spiritual grace. The very plain-spokenness of Heaney's translation makes it admirably easy to read and understand, whilst rendering an often true translation at a galloping narrative pace. Heaney's Beowulf opens up one of the most famous founding epics of European literature to a modern world of new readers. --James Barry
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Used availability for Seamus Heaney's Beowulf
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Hardback Editions
February 2001 : Library Binding
| Title: Beowulf: A New Verse Translation Author(s): Seamus Heaney ISBN: 1-4176-6637-4 / 978-1-4176-6637-9 (USA edition) Publisher: San Val Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
September 2000 : Hardback
| Title: Beowulf (Wheeler Hardcover) Author(s): Seamus Heaney ISBN: 1-56895-920-6 / 9781568959207 (USA edition) Publisher: Wheeler Publishing Availability: Amazon Amazon UK More details... |
February 2000 : Hardback
| Title: Beowulf: A New Verse Translation Author(s): ISBN: 0-374-11119-7 / 978-0-374-11119-9 (USA edition) Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
December 1999 : Hardback
| Title: Beowulf: A New Translation Author(s): Seamus Heaney ISBN: 0-571-20113-X / 978-0-571-20113-6 (UK edition) Publisher: Faber and Faber Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
October 1999 : Hardback
| Title: Beowulf A New Verse Translation Author(s): Seamus Heaney ISBN: 0-393-04811-X / 978-0-393-04811-7 (USA edition) Publisher: WW Norton Availability: Amazon Amazon CA More details... |
1980 : Hardback
| Title: Beowulf: a New Verse Translation Author(s): Seamus Heaney Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux Availability: Amazon More details... |
Paperback Editions
November 2007 : Paperback
| Title: Beowulf: An Illustrated Edition Author(s): ISBN: 0-393-33010-9 / 978-0-393-33010-6 (USA edition) Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co. Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
March 2007 : Paperback
| Title: Beowulf (Bilingual Edition) Author(s): Seamus Heaney ISBN: 0-571-23041-5 / 978-0-571-23041-9 (UK edition) Publisher: Faber and Faber Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
2002 : Paperback
| Title: Beowulf : A New Verse Translation Author(s): Seamus Heaney Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Availability: Amazon UK More details... |
October 2000 : Paperback
| Title: Beowulf: A New Translation Author(s): ISBN: 0-571-20376-0 / 978-0-571-20376-5 (UK edition) Publisher: Faber and Faber Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
January 1999 : Paperback
| Title: Beowulf Author(s): Seamus Heaney Publisher: Faber & Faber Availability: Amazon UK More details... |
Audio Editions
September 2000 : Audio CD
| Title: Beowulf: A New Translation Author(s): Seamus Heaney ISBN: 0-14-180247-2 / 978-0-14-180247-3 (UK edition) Publisher: Penguin Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
June 2000 : Audio Cassette
| Title: Beowulf Author(s): Seamus Heaney ISBN: 1-56511-426-4 / 9781565114265 (USA edition) Publisher: HighBridge Audio Availability: Amazon Amazon CA More details... |
Other Editions
September 2008 : Kindle edition
| Title: BEOWULF Author(s): Seamus Heaney Publisher: Norton Availability: Amazon Amazon UK More details... |
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