Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Beowulf
    Beowulf
    Beowulf
    Ebook99 pages1 hour

    Beowulf

    By Sheba Blake

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Beowulf is an Old English epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative lines.
    The poem is set in Scandinavia. Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall in Heorot has been under attack by a monster known as Grendel. After Beowulf slays him, Grendel's mother attacks the hall and is then also defeated. Victorious, Beowulf goes home to Geatland (Götaland in modern Sweden) and later becomes king of the Geats. After a period of fifty years has passed, Beowulf defeats a dragon, but is fatally wounded in the battle. After his death, his attendants cremate his body and erect a tower on a headland in his memory.

    The main protagonist Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hrothgar, king of the Danes, whose great hall, Heorot, is plagued by the monster Grendel. Beowulf kills Grendel with his bare hands and Grendel's mother with a giant's sword that he found in her lair.

    Later in his life, Beowulf becomes king of the Geats, and finds his realm terrorized by a dragon, some of whose treasure had been stolen from his hoard in a burial mound. He attacks the dragon with the help of his thegns or servants, but they do not succeed. Beowulf decides to follow the dragon to its lair at Earnanæs, but only his young Swedish relative Wiglaf, whose name means "remnant of valour",[a] dares to join him. Beowulf finally slays the dragon, but is mortally wounded in the struggle. He is cremated and a burial mound by the sea is erected in his honor.

    Beowulf is considered an epic poem in that the main character is a hero who travels great distances to prove his strength at impossible odds against supernatural demons and beasts.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSheba Blake Publishing
    Release dateApr 14, 2017
    ISBN9783961892259
    Beowulf

    Read more from Sheba Blake

    Related to Beowulf

    Related ebooks

    Performing Arts For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      To Hell And Back

      Sep 1, 2022

      The first complete English translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy appeared in 1802, and over the past two centuries, new versions have proliferated beyond count, like Beatles covers or Sherlock Holmes movies. A diverting literary parlor game is to imag

      4 min read

    • Article

      ‘Translation Is An Art’: Why Translators Are Battling For Recognition

      Jul 3, 2023

      They have often been overlooked in the artistic and literary process, but translators have long claimed they have the power to change everything. There are tales of myths being born, societies being forged and cities destroyed with just a slip of the

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Mirror of Erised: On Death, Harry Potter, and Retreating to Childhood Reads

      Aug 16, 2018

      I’d known Monica 20 years when her sister was killed in a hit-and-run motorcycle accident. We spent our childhoods in a tiny Bay Area town that I left at 14. I only went back to visit twice. In the years between, Monica and I sent each other videos,

      4 min read

    • Article

      Rome After Dark

      Mar 2, 2020

      Rome After Dark
      7 min read

    • Article

      A Testament to Survival

      Sep 1, 2020

      A Testament to Survival
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Flatwoods Monster!

      Mar 24, 2022

      The Flatwoods Monster!
      1 min read

    • Article

      Samuel Johnson

      Feb 1, 2019

      Samuel Johnson
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Waste Land turns 100

      Oct 19, 2022

      The Waste Land turns 100
      5 min read

    • Article

      Hammer And Cross

      Oct 1, 2020

      With the Vikings raiding and exploring other lands, they came ever more into contact with Christianity. At first, they showed a willingness to take on the trappings of this religion to help with their trading – what’s one more god to their pantheon a

      1 min read

    • Article

      Mussel Memory

      Jun 3, 2021

      Mussel Memory
      14 min read

    • Article

      Guus Hiddink

      Apr 28, 2022

      Guus Hiddink
      17 min read

    • Article

      'The World Broke In Two': Four Writers, One Transformational Year

      Jul 25, 2017

      Using excerpts from letters and diaries, historian and critic Bill Goldstein follows writers Virginia Woolf, E. M. Forster, D. H. Lawrence and T. S. Eliot through the tumultuous literary year of 1922.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Three Authors in Search of Melville

      Sep 25, 2017

      "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness is the true method." The post Three Authors in Search of Melville appeared first on The Millions.

      6 min read

    • Article

      Love’s Labour’s Found

      Dec 6, 2020

      From late summer 1592 until the end of the following year, the plague was rife in London, and to stop packed crowds from spreading infection, theatres were closed. William Shakespeare, who had just begun to make a name for himself as a playwright, tu

      7 min read

    • Article

      Abraham ‘Bram’ Stoker

      Sep 7, 2021

      Abraham ‘Bram’ Stoker - the author who reimagined and propelled Vlad III as Dracula onto the international scene – is of Irish heritage, born in Dublin on 8 November 1847. Although he published his first short story at 24 years of age and wrote many

      1 min read

    • Article

      Vernon Sullivan: The Bestselling Writer Who Didn’t Exist

      Mar 30, 2017

      In 1946, a novel called I Spit On Your Graves (J’irai cracher sur vos tombes) appeared in France. The book was a hardboiled thriller written by a newcomer, a black American writer named Vernon Sullivan. The translator was a French author well-connect

      9 min read

    • Article

      Shrewsbury

      Feb 16, 2023

      Shrewsbury
      10 min read

    • Article

      Perfect Prose II

      May 15, 2020

      Perfect Prose II
      4 min read

    • Article

      Transformed Lives

      Sep 21, 2021

      A Worse Place Than Hell is a cogent, elegantly written examination of the far-reaching impact of a single battle. “More concerned with the personal than the political,” author John Matteson eschews history on the grand scale for a view shaped by the

      7 min read

    • Article

      Hogwash!

      May 17, 2021

      Hogwash!
      3 min read

    • Article

      To The Hill Once Again

      Aug 19, 2021

      To The Hill Once Again
      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Beowulf

    4/5

    4,218 ratings44 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Okay, I had absolutely no prior experience with the Beowulf story somehow before this book. I knew there was a monster? That the original was Old English and it took place in the North? That was really somehow it. I'd always intended to read the Seamus Heaney translation someday, but when I heard there was a radical new (feminist?) translation out there, I impulsively bought a copy.I had a lot of fun with this. I loved the swagger and the Bro! of it. I have spent some serious tie thinking about whether I could censor out the incest on the fly and read this aloud for family story time. I think this would be so much fun to read out loud. There is so much alliteration and rhythm and other good fun stuff to sink my teeth into. I am sure this translation wouldn't be for everyone, but it did certainly work for me!
    • 4/5
      I would not have understood it or liked it had I read it on my own, but by reading it in class with explanations I thought it was facinating.
    • 4/5
      If you are like me, you haven't read Beowulf since high school and your memory of the story is probably pretty bad. I found reading this translation very enjoyable, and I loved having the "original" version printed opposite the translation (even though I couldn't read it).
    • 4/5
      This is a great way to cash in on the recent movie. Heaney's version is readable, and his translation flows very well. There are not a lot of unneccessary flourishes here, which works well for Beowulf. It, like the hero, is a sturdy translation. The introductory essay is good.
    • 5/5
      Very fun telling.
    • 5/5
      Seamus Heaney's translation captures the soul of Old English without belaboring the point. Very enjoyable.
    • 4/5
      Read this in two different college classes, the first with a terrible professor and I hated it, the second time with a wonderful professor and I loved it! There is something to be said for teaching style.
    • 5/5
      A beautiful translation.
    • 2/5
      I would have loved to have a glossary with in this book with a few explanations of some words and maybe a summary because the poetical form can make the story hard to follow
    • 5/5
      A great epic, and Heaney's translation is a joy to read.
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed the Heaney translation. I read Beowulf in my first year of college many years ago, and the story didn't hang together. This translation did an incredible job of making the story come alive like a 21st century adventure novel. Highly reccommended.
    • 5/5
      Excellent, excellent translation.
    • 3/5
      Yes, a classic, I know. And not bad. But not my favorite, nor one of the best, I think. Still, recommended.
    • 5/5
      I have read many translations and this is my favorite. I love the poem/story of Beowulf and read it often. This is not only an excellent translation, but it is such an easy to read version that I must give it 5 stars. Read this version and enjoy a true classic tale that will keep you interested from start to finish.
    • 5/5
      I love Heaney's translation, but for me, the real gemlike quality of this text is the matching Old English printed on the opposite pages -- it's just too much fun (at least if you're a lit geek like me)!
    • 3/5
      This was the first translation of Beowulf I read, and I still like it.
    • 5/5
      I chose this poetry book because I really enjoyed reading this book in high school. I think this book is very important to students in the classroom because it helps broaden there experience in different types of literature. I think that students will find this book very interesting. I also feel that they may understand the book better if they watch the movie first so that they can get a better mental image of how the story unfolds and the stories purpose.
    • 3/5
      Adequate but not nearly as good as I expected from his prize and some reviews. Occasionally jarring for informality or anachronism
    • 3/5
      Graphic novel adaptation of the Old English epic poem, Beowulf.
    • 4/5
      A beautiful poem. I have been meaning to read this for years- and thought it would require a deeper understanding of Old English to really capture the essence of the poem. If you are worried about this, I suggest reading Seamus Heaney's translation. He is such an amazing poet (my absolute favorite) and his knowledge of Old English means you get a meaningful translation which really allows you to just enjoy the story.
    • 5/5
      I don't know how to review a masterpiece like Beowulf - it's like writing a review of Sistine Chapel . To say something about this work of art that would be both original and add to our understanding of the poem, the author, the time in which it was written, and its many themes is beyond me. As with all great poetry, all one can do is try to hear every note of its music and allow it to go directly to that thing one identifies as one's "I."
    • 2/5
      Very difficult poem to understand in full. I only got a fraction of the way through before I got lost.
    • 3/5
      I have to say that I was surprised by how dark this book actually is. It isn't sugar coated or idealized like the movies bortray the story to be. It's a great read when you're looking for more than drama and scandal.
    • 5/5
      If you are able to get past the archaic language used (even in the translations) this book is very riveting. It is well written and the action never ends. There are many interpretations of this work. There is a reason this is a classic.
    • 4/5
      I read this is high school, and I'm not sure I fully appreciated it. I enjoyed it much, in part because I find it fascinating that a story so old still has resonance. In any case, I look forward to reading this one again.
    • 4/5
      A trace of the origins of English Literature. Proof that adventure, excitement, and heroes are timeless.
    • 5/5
      This translation of Beowulf is excellent. It captures the spirit of the poetry without becoming too dense to read. I had read excerpts of the story for various classes and never enjoyed it. It is definitely something that you have to read the entire thing to find interesting.
    • 4/5
      Classically good and classically fun.
    • 3/5
      Kindle.............Glad I read it.
    • 3/5
      A 6th century tale of Danish/Swedish blood feuds overlaid with a later Christian gloss. Written in Eng. in the 9th century.Read Samoa Nov 2003

    Book preview

    Beowulf - Sheba Blake

    2017

    TABLE OF CONTENTS

    BEOWULF

    TABLE OF CONTENTS

    CHAPTER I

    FOOTNOTES

    CHAPTER I

    LO, praise of the prowess of people-kings
of spear-armed Danes, in days long sped,
we have heard, and what honor the athelings won!
Oft Scyld the Scefing from squadroned foes,
from many a tribe, the mead-bench tore,
awing the earls. Since erst he lay
friendless, a foundling, fate repaid him:
for he waxed under welkin, in wealth he throve,
till before him the folk, both far and near,
who house by the whale-path, heard his mandate,
gave him gifts: a good king he!
To him an heir was afterward born,
a son in his halls, whom heaven sent
to favor the folk, feeling their woe
that erst they had lacked an earl for leader
so long a while; the Lord endowed him,
the Wielder of Wonder, with world's renown.
Famed was this Beowulf: {0a} far flew the boast of him,
son of Scyld, in the Scandian lands.
So becomes it a youth to quit him well
with his father's friends, by fee and gift,
that to aid him, aged, in after days,
come warriors willing, should war draw nigh,
liegemen loyal: by lauded deeds
shall an earl have honor in every clan.

    Forth he fared at the fated moment,
sturdy Scyld to the shelter of God.
Then they bore him over to ocean's billow,
loving clansmen, as late he charged them,
while wielded words the winsome Scyld,
the leader beloved who long had ruled....
In the roadstead rocked a ring-dight vessel,
ice-flecked, outbound, atheling's barge:
there laid they down their darling lord
on the breast of the boat, the breaker-of-rings, {0b}
by the mast the mighty one. Many a treasure
fetched from far was freighted with him.
No ship have I known so nobly dight
with weapons of war and weeds of battle,
with breastplate and blade: on his bosom lay
a heaped hoard that hence should go
far o'er the flood with him floating away.
No less these loaded the lordly gifts,
thanes' huge treasure, than those had done
who in former time forth had sent him
sole on the seas, a suckling child.
High o'er his head they hoist the standard,
a gold-wove banner; let billows take him,
gave him to ocean. Grave were their spirits,
mournful their mood. No man is able
to say in sooth, no son of the halls,
no hero 'neath heaven, -- who harbored that freight!

    I

    Now Beowulf bode in the burg of the Scyldings,
leader beloved, and long he ruled
in fame with all folk, since his father had gone
away from the world, till awoke an heir,
haughty Healfdene, who held through life,
sage and sturdy, the Scyldings glad.
Then, one after one, there woke to him,
to the chieftain of clansmen, children four:
Heorogar, then Hrothgar, then Halga brave;
and I heard that -- was -- 's queen,
the Heathoscylfing's helpmate dear.
To Hrothgar was given such glory of war,
such honor of combat, that all his kin
obeyed him gladly till great grew his band
of youthful comrades. It came in his mind
to bid his henchmen a hall uprear,
ia master mead-house, mightier far
than ever was seen by the sons of earth,
and within it, then, to old and young
he would all allot that the Lord had sent him,
save only the land and the lives of his men.
Wide, I heard, was the work commanded,
for many a tribe this mid-earth round,
to fashion the folkstead. It fell, as he ordered,
in rapid achievement that ready it stood there,
of halls the noblest: Heorot {1a} he named it
whose message had might in many a land.
Not reckless of promise, the rings he dealt,
treasure at banquet: there towered the hall,
high, gabled wide, the hot surge waiting
of furious flame. {1b} Nor far was that day
when father and son-in-law stood in feud
for warfare and hatred that woke again. {1c}
With envy and anger an evil spirit
endured the dole in his dark abode,
that he heard each day the din of revel
high in the hall: there harps rang out,
clear song of the singer. He sang who knew {1d}
tales of the early time of man,
how the Almighty made the earth,
fairest fields enfolded by water,
set, triumphant, sun and moon
for a light to lighten the land-dwellers,
and braided bright the breast of earth
with limbs and leaves, made life for all
of mortal beings that breathe and move.
So lived the clansmen in cheer and revel
a winsome life, till one began
to fashion evils, that field of hell.
Grendel this monster grim was called,
march-riever {1e} mighty, in moorland living,
in fen and fastness; fief of the giants
the hapless wight a while had kept
since the Creator his exile doomed.
On kin of Cain was the killing avenged
by sovran God for slaughtered Abel.
Ill fared his feud, {1f} and far was he driven,
for the slaughter's sake, from sight of men.
Of Cain awoke all that woful breed,
Etins {1g} and elves and evil-spirits,
as well as the giants that warred with God
weary while: but their wage was paid them!

    II

    WENT he forth to find at fall of night
that haughty house, and heed wherever
the Ring-Danes, outrevelled, to rest had gone.
Found within it the atheling band
asleep after feasting and fearless of sorrow,
of human hardship. Unhallowed wight,
grim and greedy, he grasped betimes,
wrathful, reckless, from resting-places,
thirty of the thanes, and thence he rushed
fain of his fell spoil, faring homeward,
laden with slaughter, his lair to seek.
Then at the dawning, as day was breaking,
the might of Grendel to men was known;
then after wassail was wail uplifted,
loud moan in the morn. The mighty chief,
atheling excellent, unblithe sat,
labored in woe for the loss of his thanes,
when once had been traced the trail of the fiend,
spirit accurst: too cruel that sorrow,
too long, too loathsome. Not late the respite;
with night returning, anew began
ruthless murder; he recked no whit,
firm in his guilt, of the feud and crime.
They were easy to find who elsewhere sought
in room remote their rest at night,
bed in the bowers, {2a} when that bale was shown,
was seen in sooth, with surest token, --
the hall-thane's {2b} hate. Such held themselves
far and fast who the fiend outran!
Thus ruled unrighteous and raged his fill
one against all; until empty stood
that lordly building, and long it bode so.
Twelve years' tide the trouble he bore,
sovran of Scyldings, sorrows in plenty,
boundless cares. There came unhidden
tidings true to the tribes of men,
in sorrowful songs, how ceaselessly Grendel
harassed Hrothgar, what hate he bore him,
what murder and massacre, many a year,
feud unfading, -- refused consent
to deal with any of Daneland's earls,
make pact of peace, or compound for gold:
still less did the wise men ween to get
great fee for the feud from his fiendish hands.
But the evil one ambushed old and young
death-shadow dark, and dogged them still,
lured, or lurked in the livelong night
of misty moorlands: men may say not
where the haunts of these Hell-Runes {2c} be.
Such heaping of horrors the hater of men,
lonely roamer, wrought unceasing,
harassings heavy. O'er Heorot he lorded,
gold-bright hall, in gloomy nights;
and ne'er could the prince {2d} approach his throne,
-- 'twas judgment of God, -- or have joy in his hall.
Sore was the sorrow to Scyldings'-friend,
heart-rending misery. Many nobles
sat assembled, and searched out counsel
how it were best for bold-hearted men
against harassing terror to try their hand.
Whiles they vowed in their heathen fanes
altar-offerings, asked with words {2e}
that the slayer-of-souls would succor give them
for the pain of their people. Their practice this,
their heathen hope; 'twas Hell they thought of
in mood of their

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1