Today I finished reading Beowulf and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought it would take me much longer to read. I noticed more similarities to Lord of The Rings, The Hobbit, specifically. Just before Beowulf’s fight with the dragon, an unnamed character discovers the dragon’s treasure hoard by a secret passage and takes a goblet. The dragon proceeds to wreak havoc on the surrounding villages. Then Beowulf sets out with a company of his best warriors and adds the one who found the hoard to his company. Sound familiar?
Comparing the excerpts of Beowulf in English Literature (William J. Long, 1945, excerpts from the translation by Morley) to the translation I read (Seamus Heaney, 2000), I like Heaney’s version better, e.g. “While smoke spread over Heaven.” (Morley) vs “Heaven swallowed the smoke.” (Heaney).
Overall, I found Beowulf to be an engaging read and I would definitely recommend Heaney’s translation.
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