Hwæt, y’all. Happy that so many of you are joining in. I’ll be going through the comments as I have time over the next week, and I’ll address some of the bigger issues that come up in next week’s piece. Meanwhile, please continue the conversation as you go through the poem over the next few days, and don’t worry too much about “spoilers”; the poem is a thousand years old, after all ;)
This is great, John. I read part of it two years ago, and tried my hand at translating it too (!). I don't know if this is available outside the UK, but on YouTube there is a BBC programme about it, which includes part of a brilliant rendition by the actor Julian Glover (with everyone dressed as Anglo-Saxons). Here's the link: https://youtu.be/1C0sFXU0SLo?si=xmiLHbSH3SwNOUeE
You cast me back to my English major in college when I read Beowulf and then to John Gardner's Grendel. You are a favorite John. Such scholarship that digs deep. And, ah, Seamus Heaney!
I don't have time for the full read along this time, but I'm perusing your guides and I think I shall have to listen to Old English whenever you post it. Wow, just wow! Thank you for this incredible resource.
I bought the Heaney book back in 2000 in the "bilingual" edition: Old English on the left, Heaney's translation with margin notes on the right. I read it then, but now, nearly a quarter century older, I am much more in tune with the wistful, elegiac tone of the poem. Heaney's introductory essay is a masterpiece by itself!
I was just about to sit down with my copy of the text, and my audiobook hold magically came through from the library! So I plan to listen to Heaney's narration, then sit back down with the physical text this weekend to give it another going-over.
I am always weirdly happy when a translator keeps the kenning 'whale road' in their version. I don't know what it is about that particular phrase, but I love it. I actually bought some beautiful purple and blue wool yarn specifically because the brand's name for it was 'whale road'. It made a lovely- and very warm- scarf.
Your question about the Christian elements and how it looks back to the pagan past reminds me of the Icelandic Njáls Saga, and how it talks about that transition from a pagan past to a Christian future, and how that transition affected the feuding families.
One question: I assume the rings worn by the men indicated the clan they belonged to and the king they served; did they also indicate a certain status or rank within the clan?
This wonderful introduction inspires me to read along as much as I can. I was browsing Heaney’s introduction online and appreciated how he put himself in a lineage from Anglo-Saxon poetics via Hopkins. I loved my grad school Anglo Saxon class and still have my paperback of Bede, but Lord knows what became of my Beowulf (!). Do keep up the read-alouds!
The audio reading of the Old English was just amazing John. Really enjoyed that. Love the scholarship and work that has gone into this. Looking forward to sitting down with the poem and getting immersed in it.
I remember my college roommate (an English major) studying Beowulf in Old English and being fascinated by the language. The first time I read the poem was in seventh grade, and I still have a deep impression of my teacher reading our translation aloud with such passion. Love that you're doing this, John.
I'm most intrigued by the interplay between the pagan and the Christian traditions. Here are Lines 178-189 (I may be off by a line).
After a brief discussion of pagan rites including idol worship to ward off the evil Grendel:
"That was their way, their heathenish hope; deep in their hearts they remembered hell. The Almighty Judge of good deeds and bad, the Lord God, Head of the Heavens and High King of the world was unknown to them. Oh, cursed is he who in time of trouble has to thrust his soul in the fire’s embrace. Forfeiting help; he has nowhere to turn. But blessed is he who after death can approach the Lord and find friendship in the Lord’s embrace."
This section reads to me as if it were tacked on. John, is that a possibility?
Beowulf is about to save the Danes from Grendel based on Beowulf's own strength, giving little credit to the Christian God or any other God. It's almost all Beowulf, the manliest man there ever was with a nod here and there to fate. The impression I get is that Beowulf really does credit himself for all his wins.
So, I see this section as the poet, likely an ecclesiastical sort, covering his tracks (a "CYA").
In effect, he's saying, "Wait! Don't forget, reader, the Danes would have been far better off to be Christian believers so that even if they're killed by Grendel, after death they could go to heaven. But, since they're non-believers, they're out of luck.
It's the Christian emphasis upon the world to come that seems to me so at odds with this blood soaked tale of a mortal hero.
Thank you for bringing me back to Beowulf. The time is right in this perilous year, when the burning of Heorot is freshly relevant. Wintering far from home and my hard copy, I downloaded Heaney’s stirring audiobook so I could be part of your project. I think of all generations listening to these cadences in another age--the kids gripped by the ripping sinews, the grownups by a moral tale. I can’t home in on specific passages and anything I’d say about the funeral would be a spoiler. In a word: thrilling.
Hwæt, y’all. Happy that so many of you are joining in. I’ll be going through the comments as I have time over the next week, and I’ll address some of the bigger issues that come up in next week’s piece. Meanwhile, please continue the conversation as you go through the poem over the next few days, and don’t worry too much about “spoilers”; the poem is a thousand years old, after all ;)
This is great, John. I read part of it two years ago, and tried my hand at translating it too (!). I don't know if this is available outside the UK, but on YouTube there is a BBC programme about it, which includes part of a brilliant rendition by the actor Julian Glover (with everyone dressed as Anglo-Saxons). Here's the link: https://youtu.be/1C0sFXU0SLo?si=xmiLHbSH3SwNOUeE
People might be interested in this YouTube recording of Heany reading the poem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaB0trCztM0
And here's Benjamin Bagby performing it in Old English at the 92nd Street Y in New York, accompanying himself on the harp!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WcIK_8f7oQ
Wonderful introduction/analysis that will enhance our reading greatly. Thanks for this John.
You cast me back to my English major in college when I read Beowulf and then to John Gardner's Grendel. You are a favorite John. Such scholarship that digs deep. And, ah, Seamus Heaney!
This is so awesome. I am so happy you are doing this. This pictures, the audio, the history, the analysis... so very good.
I don't have time for the full read along this time, but I'm perusing your guides and I think I shall have to listen to Old English whenever you post it. Wow, just wow! Thank you for this incredible resource.
I bought the Heaney book back in 2000 in the "bilingual" edition: Old English on the left, Heaney's translation with margin notes on the right. I read it then, but now, nearly a quarter century older, I am much more in tune with the wistful, elegiac tone of the poem. Heaney's introductory essay is a masterpiece by itself!
I was just about to sit down with my copy of the text, and my audiobook hold magically came through from the library! So I plan to listen to Heaney's narration, then sit back down with the physical text this weekend to give it another going-over.
I am always weirdly happy when a translator keeps the kenning 'whale road' in their version. I don't know what it is about that particular phrase, but I love it. I actually bought some beautiful purple and blue wool yarn specifically because the brand's name for it was 'whale road'. It made a lovely- and very warm- scarf.
Your question about the Christian elements and how it looks back to the pagan past reminds me of the Icelandic Njáls Saga, and how it talks about that transition from a pagan past to a Christian future, and how that transition affected the feuding families.
Thank you for the audio clip!
One question: I assume the rings worn by the men indicated the clan they belonged to and the king they served; did they also indicate a certain status or rank within the clan?
This wonderful introduction inspires me to read along as much as I can. I was browsing Heaney’s introduction online and appreciated how he put himself in a lineage from Anglo-Saxon poetics via Hopkins. I loved my grad school Anglo Saxon class and still have my paperback of Bede, but Lord knows what became of my Beowulf (!). Do keep up the read-alouds!
The audio reading of the Old English was just amazing John. Really enjoyed that. Love the scholarship and work that has gone into this. Looking forward to sitting down with the poem and getting immersed in it.
I remember my college roommate (an English major) studying Beowulf in Old English and being fascinated by the language. The first time I read the poem was in seventh grade, and I still have a deep impression of my teacher reading our translation aloud with such passion. Love that you're doing this, John.
I'm most intrigued by the interplay between the pagan and the Christian traditions. Here are Lines 178-189 (I may be off by a line).
After a brief discussion of pagan rites including idol worship to ward off the evil Grendel:
"That was their way, their heathenish hope; deep in their hearts they remembered hell. The Almighty Judge of good deeds and bad, the Lord God, Head of the Heavens and High King of the world was unknown to them. Oh, cursed is he who in time of trouble has to thrust his soul in the fire’s embrace. Forfeiting help; he has nowhere to turn. But blessed is he who after death can approach the Lord and find friendship in the Lord’s embrace."
This section reads to me as if it were tacked on. John, is that a possibility?
Beowulf is about to save the Danes from Grendel based on Beowulf's own strength, giving little credit to the Christian God or any other God. It's almost all Beowulf, the manliest man there ever was with a nod here and there to fate. The impression I get is that Beowulf really does credit himself for all his wins.
So, I see this section as the poet, likely an ecclesiastical sort, covering his tracks (a "CYA").
In effect, he's saying, "Wait! Don't forget, reader, the Danes would have been far better off to be Christian believers so that even if they're killed by Grendel, after death they could go to heaven. But, since they're non-believers, they're out of luck.
It's the Christian emphasis upon the world to come that seems to me so at odds with this blood soaked tale of a mortal hero.
I put my notes from the first section into a post (https://open.substack.com/pub/lifelonglearn/p/reading-beowulf-part-1?r=i937&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcome=true) which I added to the Great Books section of my blog. I'm adding this volume to my shelf of the Great Books, right beside The Iliad. I'll probably put Gilgamesh on the other side.
Thank you for bringing me back to Beowulf. The time is right in this perilous year, when the burning of Heorot is freshly relevant. Wintering far from home and my hard copy, I downloaded Heaney’s stirring audiobook so I could be part of your project. I think of all generations listening to these cadences in another age--the kids gripped by the ripping sinews, the grownups by a moral tale. I can’t home in on specific passages and anything I’d say about the funeral would be a spoiler. In a word: thrilling.