Title: Better Translations Elsewhere
Product review: I'll be brief. This is an awkward translation, brought about I believe because the translator tried to be more cryptic than necessary, more brutal than desirable, and more enigmatic than the story already is. For those wanting a more accessible, readable Beowulf, I heartily recommend Kevin Crossley-Holland's wonderful translation and introductory notes, published by Phoebe Phillips Editions (London). Crossley-Holland's book also has the advantages of being a well-crafted book, expansively bringing to life the poetry of a legend from the classics of the medieval world. Finally, while I cannot endorse Seamus Heaney's translation, at least his efforts revive an interest in this anonymous medieval work, which deserves much wider readership, and although not included among the "great books of western civilization" canon, seems indespensible to understanding that tradition.
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