Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney

Classic. Epic. Poetry. Pretty Writing. 

Rating: 4.5/5

Pages: 256

Started: 25 June 2024

Finished: 7 July 2024

Summary:

    The 7th-century Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf tells the story of the brave Geat thane Beowulf who defeats first the horrendous monster Grendel who has been terrorizing the mead-hall and society of the Danes, then Grendel's mother who tries to revenge her son's death, before finally entering into battle with a greedy dragon in his own land who finally takes his life--but not before Beowulf manages to slay him and win all his treasure for the Geats. 

Thoughts: 

    This poem and Haney's translation are both brilliant. The three-part structure with three monsters, three tasks for Beowulf to show his greatness, is very satisfying, and I love reading his competence. The inclusion of cultural details into this story is also super cool, for example the way that the intricate rituals of a culture's mead-hall directly represent their society as a whole. The interspersed stories about other kings and heroes is a bit hard to follow, but a few of the stories are very impactful (Queen Modthryth's especially) and they add a lot of texture to the story. The way Pagan and Christian beliefs are both intertwined into the story is very interesting, and I have so many questions about the significance of which is included where, for example when the "Lord Almighty" is evoked instead of "fate." 

   There were several bits of literary inspiration I noticed this read-through. First of all, the story mentions a thief who sneaks into the dragon's lair but unfortunately brings the dragon-hunting party up to 13 in total; this feels very much like Hobbit-plot-fodder, and since Tolkien did a translation of this story it would make sense for this connection to be real. The reciprocity of the dragon killing Beowulf as it killed him felt very much like several scenes in Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse, especially the story of Sankt Juris in The Lives of Saints. I would love to learn whether or not these connections are actually real. 

    It was also just generally cool to re-read this poem again a year later; my literary analysis has definitely improved but I also re-noticed a lot of things I had spotted the first time through. I am so fascinated by religion and gender and the role of the narrator in this story, I would love to be able to study it more in-depth someday.