lxv + 121 pp. A loosely alliterative verse translation preceded by a very substantial introduction (ix-lxv) and followed by bibliography and glossary of proper names. The book was several times reprinted, and Kennedy's translation was widely excerpted or used whole in anthologies (see Relationships, above). From Kennedy's introduction:

The putting of an old and excellent wine into new bottles is a tantalizing task, and rarely completely successful … In offering a new rendering of the Beowulf I can claim only love of the old poem, and patience in a delicate task.

It has been my endeavor to translate the poem faithfully into authentic modern verse, and to avoid if possible that lack of spontaneity of spirit and flow of narrative that is a besetting snare of the translator. (vii)

In translating the lays that are scattered through the poem, the Sigemund lay, the Finnsburg lay, the Queen Thryth episode, and the Battle of Ravenswood, I have used a longer line to differentiate material of lay from material of narrative, and to indicate by this differentiation the nature of the lays as allusive insertions in the narrative frame (viii).

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! (3)

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. (100-1)

• Hugh Magennis, Translating Beowulf: Modern Versions in English Verse (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2011), 76-77.

GR interprets the description "Translated into Alliterative Verse" as part of the book's title.

MO2 cross-references Fry entry numbers 996, 998, and 999, but Fry 997 is the intended, 1940 version.

BAM.