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View Full Version : Has anyone here read Beowulf???

Aranaug
06-26-2002, 07:50 PM
???
Cian
06-26-2002, 08:17 PM
I have read parts, but never the whole thing through.

One thing I'll add is that if you ever get the chance to attend Benjamin Bagby's live rendition (of part, and in Old English) then don't miss it -- well, if interested in such a thing obviously :)

I found myself transported by a modern day scop. It was wonderfull IMO!
Ithrynluin
06-27-2002, 05:24 PM
I read some parts of it, but found it boring:o
Didn't Tolkien rewrite it or something?
Rangerdave
06-28-2002, 12:14 AM
Tolkien did work on one the best translations of Beowulf out there. It is much more approachable for modern readers. He also wrote one of the best-if not the best-critical works on Beowulf, The Monster and the Critics.

Beowulf stands up fairly well as a psychological document. You can glean an understanding of the minds of the writers and the early Germanic tribes of England. But as a piece of literature, Beowulf is flat boring no matter how much of it you read.

The basic story is as follows. Beowulf kills the monster and his men brag about for 900 lines. Beowulf kills the dragon and his men brag about it for 1000 lines. Beowulf dies, his men lament his passing for 1200 lines.

However, there is some good modernizations of the story. I would strongly suggest Grendel by John Champlin Gardner, or The Tower of Beowulf by Parke Godwin. Both are excellent novels.

enjoy life,
RD
Retrovertigo
06-30-2002, 06:22 PM
Why read it when you can enjoy the dramtized film version staring Christopher Lambert! 100 percent faithful to the original text, with a fantabulous leading man! A++!
Galdor
07-20-2002, 06:08 AM
I read a really tough version and found it very boring. But I have a friend who read a different version and loved it.
Aranaug
07-31-2002, 05:46 PM
Well, I didn't find the Tolkien translation, so I ended up getting the CD version of it read and translated by Seamus Heaney. I got a ways into it but I started to get bored. And I didn't want ot switch CD players to a different room so I could do something because the CD didn't have seperate chapter s or what ever you'd call the divisions.