About this title: Composed toward the end of the first millennium, "Beowulf" is the classic Northern epic of a hero's triumphs as a young warrior and his fated death as a defender of his people. In his new translation--a national bestseller that is the winner of the Whitbread Award--Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney has produced a work that is both true, line by line, ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780393320978ISBN:0393320979
Description: Good. A copy that has been read, but remains in clean condition. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact (including dustcover, if applicable). The spine may show signs of wear. Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include "from the library of" labels. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780393320978ISBN:0393320979
Description: Good. Standard used condition. May have light reading or storage wear. All orders processed within 2 business days. Ships from Foxboro MA. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co
Date Published: 2001-02
ISBN-13:9780393320978ISBN:0393320979
Description: Good. Minor shelf/edge wear. Binding tight, cover have light scuffing. Former owner's name inside front cover. Text clean & unmarked. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: W.W. Norton
Date Published: 2000
ISBN-13:9780393320978ISBN:0393320979
Description: Good. This book is in good used condition. The binding is tight. There are notes, highlighting and underlining throughout. The cover has bumps and scuffs. There is no creasing on the spine. It has been corner and edge bumped. Reading copy. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Acceptable. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good- As issued No Jacket. Spine lean, corner bumps, text is underlined, highlighted, and has marginalia, and other light to moderate shopwear. English Translation by Heaney with original Old English en-face. read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Fine. 0393320979 Ships next business day. NEW/UNREAD! ! ! Text is Clean and Unmarked! --Be Sure to Compare Seller Feedback and Ratings before Purchasing--Has a small black line on bottom/exterior edge of pages. May have light shelf wear to cover from storage, if any. read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co, New York, NY, USA
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780393320978ISBN:0393320979
Description: GOOD. Some highlighting, pencil underlining, and pen notes thru-out. Previous owner's name written on inside front cover. Uncreased, straight spine. Cover has tiny corner creases and mild scuffs; no tears. 101809gs. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Date Published: 2000-02-15
ISBN-13:9780374111199ISBN:0374111197
Description: Very Good. Gently read condition with light shelf wear to dust jacket. Clean crisp unmarked pages. Binding is tight. We ship quickly 6 days a week! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Date Published: 2000
ISBN-13:9780374111199ISBN:0374111197
Description: Very good in fine dust jacket. Previous owner's name sticker affixed to front end paper, otherwise Near Fine with a square and tight binding and bright, clean contents. Jacket protected in a removable mylar cover. Text in English, Old (ca. 450-1100), English. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 213 p. Audience: General/trade. Text in Old English and English. No price on jacket which may signify Book Club Edition. Stated 6th printing. read more
"The human mind is unfathomable in its prowess of imagination and invention. Add a dark night plus fear of indistinct, shadowy beings, and terrible monsters seem to spring up before us. Although we know that they do not exist, we are still frightened by the monsters that rise from the gloom. Always, they come from the dark and always they are evil. Our minds concoct visions of massive hairy bodies and immense teeth, or of scaly wriggling worms breathing fire. But our imagination does not allow these monsters to simply go on with their dreadful lives unharmed so we invent mighty heroes who emerge from light and glory, and go down into the pit to destroy these demons of the mind. These imaginary beings, both of the heroes and the monsters, seem to be icons of the struggle between Good and Evil. Some of the legends written merely represent these as equal forces battling it out, while others put a righteous being above them who will ultimately end the fight in favor of good. The ancient epic of Beowulf is a vivid example of the latter, graphically portraying one man’s fight against malevolence, a heroic fight guided by the hand of God.
Grendel, a demonic brute, “God-cursed”, a hater of man, lived upon the fen in Denmark among the rest of his outcast brethren. Partially sentient, he raged bitterly when he heard the Danes celebrating the construction of Heorot Hall, the house powerful King Hrothgar. Not only was Grendel angry at the happiness of the Danes, but he was also furious when he heard the bards praising God. Grendel’s mother, hardly any less terrifying, was an amphibious creature, who lived in the depths of a dark gloomy pool where nothing lived, and nothing dared to go. When her hideous son came back mortally wounded, she killed Hrothgar’s chief friend.
These two destroying creatures are representations of the servants of evil who oppose the righteousness of God. And because God could not stand their malevolence, he raised up a hero from among the Geets who was destined by God to meet both monsters. His name was Beowulf, and surrounded by his bravest warriors, arrived in Denmark with the express purpose of killing Grendel. Eagerly received by the Danish king, Beowulf lay awake that night in Heorot waiting for the beast. He did not deign to the level of Grendel by strongly arming himself to be sure of victory, but instead waited unarmed to kill with his bare hands. Grendel came that night, stealthily killing one of the Geets before he happened upon their leader. He raised his slimy claw to murder who he thought was a sleeping man when “the alert hero’s comeback and arm-lock forestalled him utterly.” Immediately, he knew he had come to grips with a man too powerful to conquer and tried to flee to his den but Beowulf was determined to kill the monster. His thanes came to his defense, but they soon discovered that “no blade on earth, no blacksmith’s art could ever damage their demon opponent.” But the strength of Beowulf was enough to destroy Grendel, and when he realized his demise was near he released “a God-cursed scream and strain of catastrophe, the whole of the loser, the lament of the hell-serf keening his wound.” Finally, the fiend escaped, but not before Beowulf mortally wounded him, ripping off his arm.
It was not long before Grendel’s mother came for revenge, raging when her mutilated son arrived at her lair, only to die and be delivered into hell. She fell upon Heorot while Beowulf rested in another place and killed Hrothgar’s friend. Summoned with all speed, Beowulf, fully armed this time, set out to destroy this new nemesis. He dove into the lake and attacked her in her underwater house, only to discover that his sword was ineffective against her evil powers. She grabbed him but his armor prevented her from rending him. Casting aside his sword, he threw her to the ground, but she seized him again. She tried to kill him with a knife but once again, his armor saved him. Glancing about, he saw a massive sword upon the wall, and catching it up, he struck a mighty blow which succeeded in bringing down his foe.
These battles are more than tales of epic heroism and might, they are evidence of the battle between evil and the righteousness of God. Interestingly enough, in both battles, the monsters are not affected by the weapons of man. God directs His servant, Beowulf, to use the weapons He has provided. In the initial struggle, the weapon of God was the mighty strength He gave to Beowulf; in the second battle, it was an ancient blade. The author of Beowulf strongly believed that his hero had been guided to victory by the Lord: “…holy God decided the victory. It was easy for the Lord, the Ruler of Heaven…” After his fight with Grendel’s mother, Beowulf declared that “…if God had not helped me, the outcome would have been quick and fatal…I could never bring [my sword] to bear in battle. But the Lord of Men allowed me to behold…an ancient sword shining on the wall, a weapon made for giants, there for the wielding.”
Beowulf’s struggle with evil is symbolic of the struggle we as Christians face daily. Paul wrote in Ephesians that “…we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” When evil men rise in our path to destroy our faith, we are not struggling with people, the mere tools of evil, but with evil itself. Our own weapons are ineffective, so we can never hope to demolish evil without the help of God. He is the one who ultimately defeats our evil opponents. He is the one who helps us when we wrestle with monsters."
"When I bought this book I had a vague and quite naive idea of exploring old english with the use of a translated verse (very much as I did Odyssey by reading the translated into modern greek verses simultaneously with the original text). What a big joke. At least modern greek is a continuation of the old language and we still use most of the words that Homer did. Needless to say I didn't get around to accomplishing what I set out to do. What I did get out of this book was a highly satisfying and sometimes truly exciting read. I think it is all due to Mr Heaney's being a master storyteller in addition to being an outstanding poet. Espescially the part of the battle with the dragon and that of the funeral pyre and lament conjure up images that would put the film industry to shame."
"I don't know what it was about 2005, or perhaps living in Manila, that sent me on an epic-poetry jag -- but something did, and that was the year I finally read the Iliad, the Odyssey, and Beowulf, all in superb, direct, forceful translations (Fagels for the first two, Heaney for Beowulf). I re-read it about two months ago, prompted by my sense of revulsion at the ads for the film adaptation that greeted me at the bus stop every day (I think it was Angelina Jolie's high-heeled hooves that pushed me over the edge). Like Fagels's translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey, Heaney's translation here just sings, and the dead poem of English majors' nightmares comes alive. Beowulf's funeral is probably the place where Heaney is at his finest, but what I really loved were the many passages of Beowulf's bad-ass boasting; if there had to have been a Beowulf movie, these passages convinced me that Sam Raimi should have directed, with Bruce Campbell in the lead.
In the end, however, it's still Beowulf -- a poem whose narrative flow will seem decidedly odd to a modern reader and whose major project is in weird ways similar to Christian rock music: selling and/or reaffirming Christian faith through an unlikely genre as a means of appealing to an audience whose commitment to the faith may be a bit shallow. My rating notwithstanding, I'm not sure I actually like the poem -- but I do find it fascinating, which is more than I can say for most of what I read."
"NOTE: Goodreads thinks that the Chickering and Heaney translations are the same. This is wrong. My review is for Chickering's translation.
Chickering's translation is likely not for the average reader. He reproduces the blunt, epic style of the original in a way that is faithful to the original and even engaging. However, the original story describes a culture where stealing mead-hall benches is seen as a great feat for a king. (This text in question is describing the might of King Scyld, who takes mead-hall benches as trophies from vanquished foes. The culture of the ruling class revolved around mead halls, so losing your mead hall was like the later loss of a castle.)
This was the first dual-language translation of Beowulf in over a century, and it was enjoyable to read both versions. Looking back at the book, it's the kind of text that I would enjoy shouting aloud to a crowded room, but not necessarily one I'd recommend that others read."
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