Anthology is xi + 532 + 32 (unnumbered) pp.; b/w illus. A collection of Old and Middle English literature, with a section of 56 images (maps, artifacts, manuscript pages) in an unpaginated section between pp. 308 and 309. Kennedy's translation of Beowulf is given in full, following a genealogical table (28) and a lengthy introduction to the poem (20-27) that assumes Beowulf to have been widely known and admired, to have influenced other poetry including The Battle of Maldon, and to have been perhaps influenced by Cædmon's Hymn. The other Old English poems included by Trapp are Cædmon's Hymn, Deor, The Wanderer, The Battle of Maldon, and The Dream of the Rood. The anthology was significantly revised for a 2002 edition, in which Kennedy's translation was replaced by that of Edwin Morgan; see separate listing.

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! (29)

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. (97-98)

BAM.