Title: It's nice poetry, but it's not Beowulf!
Product review: Heaney's "translation" is really an adaptation of the original Anglo-Saxon poem. Heaney stylistic choices and vocabulary are, often truly bizarre and bear no relationship at all to the Old English. What is most ironic is that the hardback version that I have offers the original Old English version in one column and Heaney's bastardization in the other--yet, if you will read the preface, you'll find that Heaney cannot even read Old English! I know that what is here appears to be "readable," but it's so inaccurate as to be useless. For a much cheaper, and much more authentic translation, try the Burton Raffel version. If you're willing to spend a bit more, try "A Readable Beowulf" by Greenfield--a noted scholar. The Greenfield version is quite simply the most accurate and elegant translation available, but it is a bit pricy.
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