viii + 48 pp., b/w illustrations. Reprinted as 1st American ed. in 1961 (New York: Henry Z. Walck); reissued 1994 by Bethlehem Books and reprinted several times. In verse. The text begins:

Hrothgar, King of the Danes, glorious in battle,
Built him a huge hall—its gleaming roof
Towering high to heaven—strong to withstand
The buffet of war. He called it Heorot
And lived there with his Queen. At time of feasting
He gave to his followers rings and ornaments
And bracelets of bright gold, cunningly wrought,
Graved with runes and deeds of dead heroes.
Here they enjoyed feasts and high fellowship,
Story and song and the pride of armed peace.
But away in the treacherous fens, beyond the moor,
A hideous monster lurked, fiend from hell,
Misbegotten son of a foul mother,
Grendel his name, hating the sound of the harp,
The minstrel's song, the bold merriment of men
In whose distorted likeness he was shaped
Twice six feet tall, with arms of hairy gorilla
And red ferocious eyes and ravening jaws. (2)

And ends:

In the morning a huge mound they heaped upon his ashes,
As Beowulf had bidden—a peak upon the Whale's Headland,
Wide and lofty, that brave seafarers driving
Over the dark ocean might behold it from afar
And cry, 'Look yonder! the Mound of Beowulf, the hero!'
And, remembering, marvel at his deeds. Ten days they laboured
To build it and raised about the rim a rampart of boulders,
Burying the treasure beneath—jewelled flagons,
Gold rings and goblets, all that wonder of wealth—
For there was a curse upon it; no man dare keep it.
Then twelve warriors, proud heirs of noblemen, rode
Their horses about the Mound, loudly praising their lord
For his valiant deeds. O, it is fitting that a man
Should priase his dead master and lock him in his heart!
So did these warriors. Of all the kings in the world
Beowulf they named the mightiest in valour, in his ways
The mildest, most kind to his people and keenest for praise. (47-48)

Not in MO1.

Fry classifies this text as a "translation"; however, as these categories are applied elsewhere in Fry, "paraphrase" would be the more correct designation. Similarly, GR gives no note modifying its designation as a translation (as is done elsewhere for paraphrases), and MO2 marks it as a complete translation. To judge the nature of the text's relationship to the original poem, see the beginning and ending passages quoted in Descriptive Notes, above.

MO2 describes Serraillier's text as "mainly blank verse," but most lines have more syllables and are naturally read with more stresses than in traditional English blank verse. See beginning and ending passages quoted in Descriptive Notes, above.

BAM (1st U.K. edition, 1954, and 1st U.S. edition, 1961), and subsequent reprints.