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The one I read in 2016 was the Heaney version. This time (2021), its the Francis Barton Gummere edition, for comparison with the Maria Dahvana Headley one. Its interesting to see how the same story can be translated differently by two people. On balance, though, I prefer the Headley one.
Mar 22, 2021
Marleah (marleah_a)
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Yes, it's slangy, and that's the beauty of it - the telling of this in its own time would be in the slang of the day, the oral tradition. The spoken word essence of this translation is very fun, and I'd love to see and hear it performed.
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2.5 stars.
Not as bad as I remembered it, but still pretty awful.
Not as bad as I remembered it, but still pretty awful.
I was not a fan... maybe this is a book/poem that needs to be read instead of listened to. All the names were mixing together. The newer translation with the “bro” threw me off. Not my favorite, but glad I finally got to hear what Beowulf was about.
I went into this not sure what to expect, given its billing as "a new feminist interpretation". Once I got used to the modern language in and among the more traditional metre, though, I'd say it's way more approachable than the couple of others I've read.
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