xxxviii + 256 pp.; b/w illus. of artifacts, etc. A Norton Critical Edition of Heaney's 1999 translation, edited by Donoghue. The book contains introductory materials by Donoghue, followed by Heaney's "Translator's Introduction" (xxiii-xxxviii). The text of Heaney's Beowulf is followed by a series of "Contexts"—mini-essays and extracts from other medieval texts—and then a series of 8 critical essays, 7 on the original Beowulf and an 8th, by Donoghue, on Heaney's translation.

The translation begins:

[Prologue: The Rise of the Danes]

So. The Spear-Danes in days gone by
and the kings who ruled them had courage and greatness.
We have heard of those princes' heroic campaigns.

There was Shield Sheafson, scourge of many tribes,
a wrecker of mead-benches, rampaging among foes.
This terror of the hall-troops had come far.
A foundling to start with, he would flourish later on
as his powers waxed and his worth was proved.
In the end each clan on the outlying coasts
beyond the whale-road had to yield to him
and begin to pay tribute. That was one good king. (3; bracketed section title as in original)

And ends:

Then twelve warriors rode around the tomb,
chieftains' sons, champions in battle,
all of them distraught, chanting in dirges,
mourning his loss as a man and a king.
They extolled his heroic nature and exploits
and gave thanks for his greatness; which was the proper thing,
for a man should praise a prince whom he holds dear
and cherish his memory when that moment comes
when he has to be convoyed from his bodily home.
So the Geat people, his hearth-companions,
sorrowed for the lord who had been laid low.
They said that of all the kings upon earth
he was the man most gracious and fair-minded,
kindest to his people and keenest to win fame. (78)

[unfinished business: need to see whether this text (with footnotes) is taken from the Norton Anthology text (which does not yet have an entry) or whether Donoghue wrote the notes specially for this volume.]

This Norton Critical Edition containing Heaney's translation is mistakenly listed as a translation by Donoghue in Janina Ramirez, Beowulf (London: Ladybird Books, 2019), 52.

BAM.