Account

Company

  Menu

Description

The translation of Beowulf by J.R.R. Tolkien was an early work completed in 1926: he returned to it later to make hasty corrections, but seems never to have considered its publication.

Suitable for tablets. Some special characters may not display correctly on older devices.

We recommend that you download a sample and check the 'Note to the Reader' page before purchase.

This edition is twofold, for there exists an illuminating commentary on the text of the poem by the translator himself, in the written form of a series of lectures given at Oxford in the 1930s; and from these lectures a substantial selection has been made, to form also a commentary on the translation in this book.

From his creative attention to detail in these lectures there arises a sense of the immediacy and clarity of his vision. It is as if he entered into the imagined past: standing beside Beowulf and his men shaking out their mail-shirts as they beached their ship on the coast of Denmark, listening to the rising anger of Beowulf at the taunting of Unferth, or looking up in amazement at Grendel's terrible hand set under the roof of Heorot.

But the commentary in this book includes also much from those lectures in which, while always anchored in the text, he expressed his wider perceptions. He looks closely at the dragon that would slay Beowulf 'snuffling in baffled rage and injured greed when he discovers the theft of the cup'; but he rebuts the notion that this is 'a mere treasure story', 'just another dragon tale'. He turns to the lines that tell of the burying of the golden things long ago, and observes that it is 'the feeling for the treasure itself, this sad history' that raises it to another level. 'The whole thing is sombre, tragic, sinister, curiously real. The "treasure" is not just some lucky wealth that will enable the finder to have a good time, or marry the princess. It is laden with history, leading back into the dark heathen ages beyond the memory of song, but not beyond the reach of imagination.'

Sellic Spell, a 'marvellous tale', is a story written by Tolkien suggesting what might have been the form and style of an Old English folk-tale of Beowulf, in which there was no association with the 'historical legends' of the Northern kingdoms.

Tag This Book

This Book Has Been Tagged
It hasn't. Be the first to tag this book!

Our Recommendation

Track It. This book has been £4.99 within the past year.

Notify Me When The Price...

  • £
  • If I'm already tracking this book...

to track this book on eReaderIQ.

Track These Authors

to track J. R. R. Tolkien on eReaderIQ.

  • to be notified each time the price drops on any book by J. R. R. Tolkien.
  • to stop tracking J. R. R. Tolkien.

to track Christopher Tolkien on eReaderIQ.

  • to be notified each time the price drops on any book by Christopher Tolkien.
  • to stop tracking Christopher Tolkien.

Price Summary

  • We started tracking this book on March 21, 2014.
  • This book was £13.39 when we started tracking it.
  • The price of this book has changed 78 times in the past 3,661 days.
  • The current price of this book is £5.99 last checked 2 hours ago.
  • This book is at its lowest price in the past 90 days.
  • This lowest price this book has been offered at in the past year is £4.99.
  • The lowest price to date was £1.99 last reached on October 5, 2017.
  • This book has been £1.99 one time since we started tracking it.
  • The highest price to date was £14.99 last reached on January 17, 2015.
  • This book has been £14.99 one time since we started tracking it.

Genres

Additional Info

  • Text-to-Speech: Disabled
  • Lending: Disabled

We last verified the price of this book about 2 hours ago. At that time, the price was £5.99. This price is subject to change. The price displayed on the Amazon.co.uk website at the time of purchase is the price you will pay for this book. Please confirm the price before making any purchases.