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Drout expects to publish Tolkien 'Beowulf' in 2004 in 2 volumes

May 05, 2003 at 03:03:44

Eager Tolkien fans have scoured the Internet for news on the as-yet-unpublished Tolkien translation of 'Beowulf'. A brief update has been brought to our attention.

Syd Allen has posted a notice on http://www.jagular.com/beowulf/tolk.shtml with the latest news from Michael Drout, the Tolkien scholar who has been charged by the Tolkien Estate with bringing the translation and accompanying notes to publication.

The final work is expected to comprise two volumes, including notes and essays by J.R.R. Tolkien himself regarding "Beowulf". The second volume may be published in 2005.

J.R.R. Tolkien turned the literary community upside down with his (then) revolutionary reconsideration of the value of studying "Beowulf" in the mid-1930s. Long considered of little worth by scholars, "Beowulf" took on new life, spawning a generation of populist and scholarly translators and inspiring numerous books and plays which have entertained childredn and adults around the world for years.

Tolkien openly acknowledged borrowing a few ideas from "Beowulf" for his first popular book, The Hobbit. Many scholars and students have pointed to numerous similarities between the world described in the poem and the land of Rohan in The Lord of the Rings.