J.R.R. Tolkien discussion
Tolkien's Old English & Myths
>
Tolkien's translation of Beowulf due for release in May.
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Neil
(new)
Mar 19, 2014 02:09PM
http://www.tolkienbeowulf.com
reply
|
flag
I have read the translation of Beowulf by Michael Alexander and the one by Seamus Heaney, and I have read Beowulf: The Monsters and The Critics by J.R.R. Tolkien, so I am looking forward to reading his translation of the Anglo-Saxon epic poem he loved so much, and which led him to the creation of the dragon, Smaug, in The Hobbit. Many thanks to Neil for posting the news about the book that will be published in May.
Michael Alexender's translation of Beowulf was my first introduction to Beowulf many years ago and still have a soft spot do it. Never liked Heaney but my favourites are the 3rd and 4th edition Klaeber.
I'm not overly familiar with Beowulf (though I have read some of Monsters and the Critics and have a general knowledge of the poem) but I'm certainly intrigued to see what Tolkien's translation looks like, I was very impressed by Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun, and I'm rather fascinated by the influences and parallels the poem apparently had on LOTR (Rohan most notably I gather), should be an interesting addition to the collection.I wonder if this includes both Tolkien's full prose translation, and his later, incomplete version in alliterative verse?
In anycase it's a pleasant surprise to finally see this published (together with Sellic Spell!), all indications being the Estate had put it on the back burner a decade or so back:
http://www.tolkienbooks.net/php/manus...
(It will be interesting to Michael Drout's thoughts on this development...)
Michael Alexander's translation of Beowulf was my first introduction to the epic poem, too, Neil. Recently, I enjoyed reading The Wanderer: Elegies, Epics, Riddles, translated and edited by Michael Alexander, published by Penguin Classics.
Very interesting! Looking forward to it!
@ Philip, I remember having the Earliest English poems by Michael Alexander. I always loved Deor, Waldere and Widsith.
I'm quite excited for Tolkien's Beowulf coming out this May (I may or may not have gasped out loud and flailed when I first heard the news). I only got around to reading Beowulf a few months ago (I got all of Penguin Classics' "Legends from the Ancient North" series for Christmas so I've been pouring over them) so I'm only familiar with Michael Alexander's translation of the poem. Looking forward to Tolkien's version of the poem! :)
Here is a link to an article in New York Times 5/19/14 about Tolkien's Beowulf: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/19/boo...
Many thanks for giving us the link to the article in the New York Times, John. It was interesting to read. Beowulf is published here in England on Thursday, 22nd, May, 2014. I am looking forward to buying and reading it. Christopher Tolkien is now 89 it says in the article. May he outlive the Old Took is all I can say.
Mod
I bought Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary by J.R.R. Tolkien from my local bookshop today, and I am very pleased with it, to say the least. It is a wonderful book to own and have on your shelf. Apart from Tolkien's prose translation of Beowulf and lecture notes on the poem by him, the book includes a short tale by him, called Sellic Spell, written in the form of an Anglo-Saxon folk tale, and fine drawings by him on its cover. I have read translations of Beowulf by Michael Alexander and Seamus Heaney. Now I can read Tolkien's prose translation. It is a great poem, particularly the passages concerned with the dragon, the guardian of the hoard, the origin of Smaug in The Hobbit. Christopher Tolkien, who edited the book, will be ninety years old on the 21st November, 2014. May he out live the Old Took is all I can say. When the poet W.H. Auden was an undergraduate at Oxford, he attended lectures on Beowulf given by Tolkien, and said in later years that what he could hear was the voice of Gandalf.
In his Preface to Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary by J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien, who edited the book, explains in detail why it took so long for him to publish the book. When I have finished reading the book, I will be posting my review of it here on Goodreads and on Amazon. I have now joined the Tolkien Society on Facebook. Unsurprisingly, there is a lot of talk about the book on there. The water colour illustration of the coiled dragon on the front cover of the book, painted by J.R.R. Tolkien in 1928, is wonderful to look at, and makes the book one of the finest looking in my book collection.
For those of you with access to The New Yorker, the current issue includes a review of Tolkien's Beowulf by Joan Acocella. It is very appreciative and astute.
Hey guys! I read Beowulf yesterday and had a really good time. I could definitely see where Tolkien drew some of his influences. Right now I'm reading Monsters and Critics. Hopefully in the future I'll get a chance to read Heaney's and Alexander's. I didn't think the language was that grand and there wasn't any "moral", just the story was really engaging!
