Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Beowulf
I just read this out of curiosity. I am interested in legends, those of the Greeks and Romans may be the most well known, but those of the Australian Aboriginals, Native Americans and many African nations are equally interesting if perhaps less fully formed. It had the additional allure that Tolkien translated one of the most read editions. This edition actually had the old English one the facing page to the modern English translation. No words are recognizable; the difference a few hundred years can make on a language are amazing. I think that the invention of the printing press has markedly slowed this natural evolution of language, which is a shame in some ways, and a benefit in others. We can still read and understand the manuscripts of Shakespeare, but must rely on translation for great literary works older than that, e.g. Chaucer.
Beowulf is a legend about a Scandinavian warrior who is renowned for his strength in battle. He rescues the hall of Heorot from the monster Grendel, and his revenge-seeking mother, and returns to his land in glory. After many years as king he is once again called into battle against a dragon, which leads to the downfall of both him and the wyrm.
The author states in the introduction that he attempts to keep some of the rhythm of the original, which relies heavily on alliteration of stressed syllables, but I can never tell which syllables are meant to be stressed and which are not, so I fear my ear in this was lacking.
It was a very simple tale, you could imagine it being told around campfires to groups of men who inhabited a similar world to that of Beowulf. Strength in arms and loyalty to allies rewarded by woman, food and riches.
So it was an interesting rather than an enjoyable read, but something that is good for me to be able to say that I have read.
Beowulf is a legend about a Scandinavian warrior who is renowned for his strength in battle. He rescues the hall of Heorot from the monster Grendel, and his revenge-seeking mother, and returns to his land in glory. After many years as king he is once again called into battle against a dragon, which leads to the downfall of both him and the wyrm.
The author states in the introduction that he attempts to keep some of the rhythm of the original, which relies heavily on alliteration of stressed syllables, but I can never tell which syllables are meant to be stressed and which are not, so I fear my ear in this was lacking.
It was a very simple tale, you could imagine it being told around campfires to groups of men who inhabited a similar world to that of Beowulf. Strength in arms and loyalty to allies rewarded by woman, food and riches.
So it was an interesting rather than an enjoyable read, but something that is good for me to be able to say that I have read.
