Beowulf

Beowulf Description

A widely celebrated translators vivid, accessible, and elegantly concise rendering of an ancient English masterpieceBeowulf tells the story of a Scandinavian hero who defeats three evil creaturesa huge, cannibalistic ogre named Grendel, Grendels monstrous mother, and a dragonand then dies, mortally wounded during his last encounter. If the definition of a superhero is someone who uses his special powers to fight evil, then Beowulf is our first English superhero story, and arguably our best. It is also a deeply pious poem, so bold in its reverence for a virtuous pagan past that it teeters on the edge of heresy. From beginning to end, we feel we are in the hands of a master storyteller.Stephen Mitchells marvelously clear and vivid rendering recreates the robust masculine music of the original. It both hews closely to the meaning of the Old English and captures its wild energy and vitality, not just as a deep work of literature but also as a rousing entertainment that can still stir our feelings and rivet our attention today, after more than a thousand years. This new translationspare, sinuous, vigorous in its narration, and translucent in its poetrymakes a masterpiece accessible to everyone.