Title: Beowulf: A new translation
Author: Maria Dahvana Headley
Literary level: Advanced
Rating: 5/5
As recent as the year 2020, this new translation of the Beowulf poems tells three separate stories told in one continuous storyline. It follows our main protagonist, Beowulf, in his adventure of saving a fellow king from wraith-like creates that were killing their men at night, in the mead hall, and the arduous battle with a dragon. The first murderer was named Grendel, being easily slain by Beowulf the first night he stayed. The second one was a surprise to all, for it was Grendel’s mother, avenging his death. Still no sweat for the manliest man of all, he slew her in the deep depths of a lake, watched and protected by God—in his words. After being thanked and showered with riches beyond belief, he sailed to his homeland, resting from his adventures. Sometime later, a man accidentally stole from the den of a mighty she-dragon, infuriating her so, that she scorched a town to ashes. Nevertheless, he, too, took charge and slew her, but not without a fight back,—Spoilers Ahead—granting him a final slumber and a memorable farewell.
Review:
This is a feel-good read, where the main character is the most macho man among
all; essentially a power fantasy read. You can get passed the repetitive poem
style shortly after the first few paragraphs; lines like “…the trees leaned
longingly towards the stones, their needles bending as if to break, a grove of
ghosts,”. The rhythm employed in this poem is not centered on the common rhyme
scheme of the last vowel, but on the repetition of the first letter of the word.
What I most love about this book, is how the author was reluctant to even start
it, because of how complicated it is to translate these poems; although, so
far, this is the best one yet, with a beautiful lyrical structure. My only
concern is the spacing; it is all a continuous tale from start to finish and it
is difficult to leave it at any point for a break. All in all, this has become
one of my favorite books as of yet, garnering feelings of joy, sadness,
excitement, and more.