Description
Book SynopsisThis collection of essays is designed to capitalize on the success of Seamus Heaney' prize-winning translation of
Beowulf, which bridges the gap between the ivory tower where most who study
Beowulf reside and lay readers drawn to the poem because of Heaney's reputation, the review in the
New York Times Book Review, the Whitbread Prize for poetry, and even perhaps the attractive and eye-catching cover. The book is conceived in three parts. The first section explores translations into modern English and languages other than English; the second explores issues of oral theory and performance; the third offers a wide selection of reviews of Heaney's
Beowulf written by Anglo-Saxonists. A DVD of readings of the first fifty-two lines of
Beowulf in Old English, Czech, Spanish, Icelandic, Hungarian, and Italian, and selections from Turkish and Asian epics accompanies the volume.
Table of ContentsIntroduction
Part 1. Essays on Translation The Languages of
Beowulf between Klaeber and Heaney by Daniel Donoghue
Who’s Afraid of Translating
Beowulf? by Nicholas Howe
Iron and Irony in
Beowulf by R. M. Liuzza
Monstrous Introductions:
Ellengaest and
Aglaecwif by Jana K. Schulman
Sweet's Prose
Beowulf by Paul E. Szarmach
Behemas þa Hildlatan:
Beowulf and Its First Translation into Czech by Jan Cermák
Beowulf in Spanish by María José Gómez-Calderón
Beowulf in Hungarian by Katalin Halácsy Scholz
Italian Translations of
Beowulf by Claudia Di Sciacca and Loredana Teresi
The Intimacy of
Bjólfskviða by Pétur Knútsson
Part 2. Essays on Performance Performance I:
Beowulf (A Roundtable Discussion) by Mark Amodio, Benjamin Bagby, Karl Reichl, and John Miles Foley
Why Performance Matters by John Miles Foley
"Swutol sang scopes": Field Notes on the Performance of
Beowulf by Karl Reichl
Part 3. Reviews of Heaney's Beowulf By Michael Alexander, S. A. J. Bradley, Graham Caie, Jan Cermák, Howell Chickering, Daniel Donoghue, Randi Eldevik, Loren C. Grube, Nicholas Howe, Heather O'Donoghue, Tom Shippey, E. G. Stanley, G. Storms, Julian Wasserman, Hideki Watanabe,
Gernot Wieland, and Jonathan Wilcox
