For being a rather short book (yet a brilliantly long poem) Beowulf is the foundation of all adventure literature--with dragons and creatures created from the very blood of evil, this poem does not fall short in delivering a story to be remembered.
Following the adventures of Beowulf, a Scandinavian princeling who ventures across the sea to defend and save the Danes from and imposing beast, the spawn of Satan himself, Grendel. After his miraculous defeat of both Grendel and Grendel's mother, Beowulf becomes a hero on both sides of the sea and finally conducts his last and greatest adventure in an epic battle against a dragon.
The edition shown in the picture includes both the original Anglo-Saxon (Old English) verse and the new translation by Heaney. Over three-thousand lines long, Beowulf shows that old world monstrous problems are not too far away from the problems of the twenty-first century. We might not be battling fire breathing dragons, but in the face of politics and corruption, Beowulf can be used as a metaphor for epic battles and struggles and living on throughout the wake of their fall.
It is most certainly true that the unknown poet was a genius on the art, language, and literary elements of his time, and even today! (for more information read the introduction by Heaney). I would rate this poem Four stars for literary genius, for Heaney's own genius in recreating such a masterful piece, but it is also sometimes hard to follow, such with all the names and places. Other than that, Beowulf is a shining star in literature young and old.
Other Reviews:
“Accomplishes what before now had seemed impossible: a faithful rendering that is simultaneously an original and gripping poem in its own right.”--NY Times Book Review
This newborn translation makes accessible to everyone the first supremely great poem to be written in the English language.”--Colin Campbell, Christian Science Monitor
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