Beowulf is the oldest existing poem in any modern European language.  Written in Old English & dating from around the 8th century, just one copy survived Henry VIII's dissolution of the Catholic monasteries.

The well known story is pretty straightforward; when Hrothgar (a Danish king) is confronted with Grendel, a monster who has taken to attacking his hall Herot, Beowulf of the Geats (Southern Sweden) comes & slays Grendel. Subsequently, Beowulf must slay Grendel's mother and towards the end of his own life, must battle a dragon.

Everyone who has ever taken a survey of English Literature course probably started with Beowulf.   One can only hope that they read this 1963 translation by Burton Raffel.  He has taken this great epic & provided it with a worthy translation.

Here is a sample:

..And after that bloody
Combat the Danes laughed with delight.
He who had come to them from across the sea,
Bold and strong-minded, had driven affliction
Off, purged Herot clean.  He was happy,
Now, with that night's fierce work; the Danes
Had been served as he'd boasted he'd serve them;
Beowulf.
A prince of Geats, had killed Grendel,
Ended the grief, the sorrow, the suffering
Forced on Hrothgar's helpless people
By a bloodthirsty fiend.  No Dane doubted
The victory, for the proof, hanging high
From the rafters where Beowulf had hung it, was the monster's
Arm, claw and shoulder and all.

(Reviewed:)

Grade: (A+) Orrin C. Judd

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