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Looks like we all missed Seamus Heaney's "Beowulf"... - Lord of the Rings news - J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings

June 12, 2000 at 06:17:15

Published in February of 2000, Seamus Heaney's modern English translation of "Beowulf" has taken the literary world by surprise. The book won Britain's prestigious Whitbread book award and made the best seller lists in America.

"Beowulf" is an ancient Germanic poem which survived in only one manuscript for many centuries. Probably recorded by English monks in the 8th or 9th centuries, the poem relates the adventures of a Swedish warrior-king, Beowulf, who helps defeat a monster terrorizing the great Danish king Hrothgar and his warriors, and late in life faces and fights a dragon, though Beowulf himself dies soon afterward.

J.R.R. Tolkien helped to raise "Beowulf" out of the literary dumpster by writing his classic essay, "Beowulf: the monsters and the critics", which proved to the academic community the poem was worthy of greater consideration than just that given to an adventure story. Several translators were subsequently inspired by Tolkien to take on the work.

Heaney's book, published in hardback, is available on Amazon.Com and Amazon.Co.Uk.

Amazon.Com currently lists more than 260 translations and other books associated with "Beowulf". Amazon.Co.Uk returns a more modest 120+ results on book searches.

Heaney also recorded an abridged CD audio version which is available on Amazon.Com this June 15 and Amazon.Co.Uk (already available).

A lighter version of the tale was published by Robert Nye in 1982 and it is recommended for young adults. An Amazon.Co.Uk version is also available.