Description
Book SynopsisThe two great epic-theme poems Beowulf and Judith, paired in the Beowulf Manuscript preserved in the British Museum, are here presented in a translation with a unique fidelity that restores the true Anglo-Saxon rhythmical line of five subtypes of four beat stress adhering scrupulously to the alliterative strictures of Anglo-Saxon verse and exploiting its epithetical style. This is a ground breaking piece of work in that it recreates the indispensable stylistic and esthetic effects of the original while attaining a natural modern idiom, something that had been thought impossible to achieve. The key insight in this book is the stated and demonstrated philosophy that alliteration and imagistic compound metaphors are a living, breathing part of our linguistic heritage and practice in Modern English today; but rendering the poems requires an intricate sensibility to Old English style in order to recreate the force that they had. The Old English text is included interlinearly with the trans
Trade ReviewA very useful text. There is an honesty and vigour here. His use of alliteration escapes archaism and draws upon the contemporary idiom of the language. Bound to capture the interest of students. * In Geardagum *
"A very useful text. There is an honesty and vigour here. His use of alliteration escapes archaism and draws upon the contemporary idiom of the language. Bound to capture the interest of students." * In Geardagum *
