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First of all, it should be made clear \u2013<\/strong> and I wonder how anyone could be in doubt on this, but it\u2019s possible \u2013 that J. R. R. Tolkien\u2019s Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary<\/a><\/em> is not a work of imagination meant for popular entertainment. It\u2019s a translation of an already much-translated work, intended as a teaching aid, by a major scholar in the field. If you\u2019re unfamiliar with Beowulf<\/em>, you might want to try one of the modern verse translations, like Heaney\u2019s, but I liked this version very much.<\/p>\n Personally, I prefer a prose translation. Tolkien probably knew Old English poetry better than any modern man, and here he attempts to provide some sense of the original metrical form, but he is not forced to alter the text in order to make the verse scan. Any translation is always a trade-off, especially in poetry, and for my own part I prefer some approximation of the original text.<\/p>\n Tolkien\u2019s translation is a lively one. I can imagine him reading it to Lewis (and we\u2019re told Lewis did advise him on bits of it) and then ignoring, as he always did, Lewis\u2019 suggestions.<\/p>\n There are many notes. Some are by Christopher Tolkien, the author\u2019s son, who is editor. Others are drawn directly from Tolkien\u2019s own notes. Some of this material fascinated me, some seemed to me (approaching more from the historian\u2019s than the language scholar\u2019s perspective) pretty tall grass. It was interesting to read, for instance, that Tolkien thinks the Beowulf poem correct in crediting (in passing) the slaying of the dragon to Sigfried\u2019s father Sigmund, rather than to Sigfried himself. The dragon-slaying fits in with Sigmund\u2019s story, he thinks, and seems like an interpolation in the Sigfried-Brunhilde narrative.<\/p>\n Also in this book is a work called \u201cThe Sellic Spell,\u201d which is Tolkien\u2019s attempt to reconstruct how the Beowulf story might have been passed down as a folk tale, rather than as a heroic poem. He sees a separation between the \u201cfairy tale\u201d Beowulf <\/em>and the \u201chistorical\u201d (by which he does not mean to suggest he thinks Beowulf a real historical character) tale. Here Tolkien may be observed \u201creverse engineering\u201d an imagined lost legend, something he later did in a larger, more powerful way with The Lord of the Rings<\/em>.<\/p>\n Also appended to this book is \u201cThe Lay of Beowulf,\u201d an attempt to reimagine story as a sort of ballad. That was pleasant to read, but the editor gives us two earlier drafts to read as well, at which point I\u2019m afraid I lost interest in it.<\/p>\n I recommend Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary<\/em> for people interested in the Old English poem itself. Less so for readers whose main interest is Middle Earth. I\u2019m glad this work has come out in print, and I\u2019m happy I read it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" First of all, it should be made clear \u2013 and I wonder how anyone could be in doubt on this, but it\u2019s possible \u2013 that J. R. R. Tolkien\u2019s Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary is not a work of imagination meant for popular entertainment. It\u2019s a translation of an already much-translated work, intended as a … Continue reading ‘Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary,’ by J. R. R. Tolkien<\/span>