Customer Reviews
Beowulf: Story of a true warrior - By: Mr. Tomas Skiotys, 06 Jan 2009 
This remarkable story was written sometime between seventh & tenth century of first millenniumin Anglo-Saxon or Old English language. Seamus Heaney translation is simple & easy to read for those who are not the biggest fans of poems like these. Seamus Heaney managed to translate this heroic poem from old English language & turn it into an easy reading. Although the story is full of action & quite interesting history facts, the most interesting part for me was the introduction of this translation. Seamus Heaney introduces the book with all the small details about this translation. The basic idea of the plot, characters relationship & prehistory of the poem are being describedin the introduction followed by the interesting story of how the author translated this edition. Nevertheless, the poem itself is really interesting & what was most important for me - easy to read & understand. The poem tells a story about a Geat warrior named Beowulf, who fights two monstersin the book - Grendel & his motherin order to save Denmark from their terror. After defeating the monsters Beowulf returns home to become a King of Geats & once more an enemy awaits. Beowulf fights a huge dragon & meets his heroic death. Apart from wonderfully described battles, the poem is full of stories about Denmark, Sweden & Beowulf's native lands' history. In the story, Beowulf is a warrior, a king & a prophet. A hero that should be known by everyone. Strong recommendations to read the book, & if you can - listen to the audio translation as well.
Fantastic - By: O. WOODWARD, 26 Oct 2008 
In a way I think this is better than a modern fantasy like Tolkien's because it feels more authentic: because it actually comes from the authentic Anglo-Saxon Dark Ages. The story isn't told by an abstract narrator; the storyteller is a person who gives you his opinions, & he sounds not like an Oxford don but like a real character from war-torn ancient times. Listen to Seamus Heaney's voicein the dark & you could really be listening to this bardin a smoky mead-hall.
P.S. There are three CDs of about 45 minutes each. I didn't realize until I later bought a book of the poem that this CD version is slightly abridged. I hope this won't put you off, because Heaney's voice is so good. However, I should mention that there is now also an unabridged audiobook of Beowulf: a translation by Benedict Flynn from Naxos. This version is nine & a half minutes longer.
Epic stuff! - By: Annabel Gaskell, 10 Apr 2008 This was my first encounter with Beowulf, (I haven't seen the film either). I chose the bilingual edition to see what the Old English looked like & although I could barely recognise a word, it did help to see the shape, metre & style of the original. Heaney's translation is easy to read, very straight-forwardin language, & the accompanying essay helps you see how much work goes into preserving some of the form of the originalin the modern translation.
With the original & Heaney's version printed side by side, it affected the way I read it. I tended to readi it aloud to myself (butin my head), trying to see the translation's cadence resonating with the original's two parts to each line. This was novel for me & enjoyable for one who doesn't normally do poetry!
As a story, you can see why it survives, but there is too much pontificating on the glories of war, fighting & serving the king & not enough action; Beowulf's dispatching of Grendel seemed to be little more than arm-wrestling & was overin a couple of pages.
I'm glad I read it & am sure I will refer to it again.
Monotonous - By: J. Smith, 02 Apr 2008 
I was very much looking forward to listening to 'Beowulf' read by its illustrious author/translator. Audiobooks read by their authors must be as credible as anything can be - or so I thought. Whilst I am not denying the skill displayedin this beautifully poetic translation, the soft Irish tones of Seamus Heaney are not for me, atleast, not after the first 20 minutes of listening. The descriptive passages are luxurious, the battle scenes full of action, the characters heroic yet vulnerable. So where is the enthusiasmin the reader's voice, where the awe, the admiration for the story? I am sure no teacher or casting director would have ever freely chosen Mr Heaney as The Narrator for any performance or playreading. Seamus Heaney has indeed given us a brilliant & admirable translation, but I strongly recommend that he restricts his professional activities to the written & not the spoken word.
Englands Oldest Legend!!!!!! - By: Mr England, 20 Mar 2008 originally told round the bonfire &in small halls until it was finally written downin the 7th century(ish) after it was brought to england by the invading anglo-saxons/english. This is the oldest surviving written textin english history (to be foundin the British library) This tells the story about a Swedish warrior who goes back to his native Denmark to defend the people against a man eating monster called Grendal. But dont forget about gredals mother or the flame throwing dragon. A story of germanic honour, courage & loyalty. Read it herein both modern & olde english. Fantastic stuff, i couldnt put it down. A true classic.
