Book is xxvi + 612 pp.; b/w illus. An anthology of literature in Old English, Middle English, Welsh, Irish, Anglo-Latin, and Anglo-Norman. The Old English section is preceded by Early Celtic and Early Anglo-Latin sections, and is followed by sections on Later Celtic, Later Latin, Medieval Literary Theory, French, and Middle English. Kennedy's translation of Beowulf is presented in its entirety, after very brief introductory notes on Old English literature (115-16) and on Beowulf itself (116).

The translation begins:

[The Danish Court and the Raids of Grendel]

Lo! we have listened to many a lay
Of the Spear-Danes' fame, their splendor of old,
Their mighty princes, and martial deeds!
Many a mead-hall Scyld, son of Sceaf,
Snatched from the forces of savage foes.
From a friendless foundling, feeble and wretched,
He grew to a terror as time brought change.
He throve under heaven in power and pride
Till alien peoples beyond the ocean
Paid toll and tribute. A good king he! (117)

And ends:

Then round the mound rode the brave in battle,
The sons of warriors, twelve in a band,
Bemoaning their sorrow and mourning their king.
They sang their dirge and spoke of the hero
Vaunting his valor and venturous deeds.
So is it proper a man should praise
His friendly lord with a loving heart,
When his soul must forth from the fleeting flesh.
So the folk of the Geats, the friends of his hearth,
Bemoaned the fall of their mighty lord;
Said he was kindest of worldly kings,
Mildest, most gentle, most eager for fame. (152)

BAM.