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No pronounciation guide, no short listing of basic grammatical rules. This is a first-rate verse translation into a modern English heavily inflected by North Irish idioms, which will give an appropriately distant and foreign flavoring for most readers. Although the translation obeys the structural rules of the original verse to a very high degree, the result is extremely readable -- the poem can easily be read through in one or two sittings.I docked a star out of irritation that no useful information about Old English is presented to assist the reader who might be interested in exploring the original text printed on the left-side pages. I would also have greatly appreciated a Glossary of names with pronunciations -- the pronunciations Heaney had in mind. E.g., is "Geat" a one or two syllable word, and does it rhyme more closely with "beat" or "Fiat".
That may not mean anything for most, because reading is avery subjective experience, but for me, I will not likely readDonaldson's translation again for enjoyment, but will keep it around asa reference for comparison."Now, after reading the Heaney translation (yes, finally got around to it), I must say my initial impressions are borne out. I'm not sure I agreewith that assessment necessarily, but I understand the point.Having read lines of Beowulf from Heaney's translation, and comparing itto Donaldson's translation, I can say that Heaney's (and probably othertranslators) brings so much more feeling to the poem.
It was Beowulf: A Prose Translation, Second Edition (Norton Critical Editions). This is my review from that product, with comments after:"After reading this version of Beowulf, I think it is a worthytranslation, so I am not really criticizing the translation.
At the beginning of this year, I read a different translation and reviewed it. It makes it appear that you really do not want to put thehard work in to make a great poetic translation.
I'm sureDonaldson's work is top notch. However, I did not enjoy the way thestory read.Some opinions about work done on Beowulf that I've read by Beowulfexperts is that if you translate it in a prose form, so as to give amore exact meaning to the original, you really are defaulting to a sortof cop-out.
This may not meanmuch, but after only reading the opening lines about Shield Sheafson(spelled differently from Donaldson's), up to the point where it says"that was one good king," Heaney's version brings tears to my eyes, itis so moving.There was not a single point in Donaldson's translation where I feltthat moved. Heaney's translation is so much more enjoyable and is a fulfilling read as a work of art on its own, so one can imagine the wonder when it is a translation of an epic poem such as Beowulf.
I bought this for my English 12 classes several years ago. We do not use the full epic so I did not use it. I gave it to another teacher who used it and said it was good.
I have the physical book edition of this wonderful work, and wanted to have it also with me on Kindle. However, without any indication at all, the Kindle edition is abridged. It is only the modern English translation and does NOT include the Anglo-Saxon text.Amazon nis selling you half a book on Kindle, not the entire book. This is very deceptive and one wonders how many other Kindle books have been butchered by Amazon.
Because of the myth of evolution, readers have been "blinded" and unable to see Grendel for what it is, a T-Rex. Dickinson, Peter.
Scholars note that Grendel's description causes difficulty unless one concedes dinosaurs or "dragons" were contemporaries with man at the time. According to this translation "the other, warped in the shape of a man, moves beyond the pale bigger than any man, an unnatural birth called Grendel by the country people in former days" and "Every nail, claw-scale and spur, every spike and welt on the hand of that heathen brute was like barbed steel.
What is remarkable in this Poem, which, in accord with English lore circa 8th Century, intends to narrate true events with stylish language, is what it narrates. It is vaguely human in shape since it is bipedal and Peter Dickenson describes it as a bipedal dragon or dinosaur.
Everybody said there was no honed iron hard enough to pierce him through, no time proofed blade that could cut his brutal blood caked claw." The tiny arms are described as covered with scales and as like a serpent. The head is described as large and requiring four men to carry it.
The Flight of Dragons ch.10 "Beowulf" New English Library, 1979. More evidence that dragons or "dinosaurs" coexisted with mankind recently and may still exist in remote parts of the world but for the extinction by men who encountered them as a menace to man and mammal and alike.
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