xxxix + 299 pp.; b/w illus. of artifacts, etc. The 2nd ed. of the 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-xxxix). 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 9 critical essays, 8 on the original Beowulf and one, by Donoghue, on Heaney's translation. Three of these essays replace two that had been in the 1st ed. Two samples of the Old English text, "edited especially for this volume" by Donoghue (xii), are presented en face with the beginning and end of the poem.

The first sample of Old English begins:

Hwæt. Wē Gār-Dena     in geār-dagum
þēod-cyninga     þrym gefrūnon,
hū ðā æþelingas     ellen fremedon.

Oft Scyld Scēfing     sceaþena þrēatum
monegum mǣgþum     meodo-setla oftēah,
egsode eorlas.     Syððan ǣrest wearð
fēa-sceaft funden,     hē þæs frōfre gebād,
wēox under wolcnum,     weorð-myndum þāh.
Oð þæt him ǣghwylc     ymb-sittendra
ofer hron-rāde     hȳran scolde,
gomban gyldan.     Þæt wæs gōd cyning. (2)

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)

The second sample of Old English ends:

Þā ymbe hlǣw riodan     hilde-dīore
æþelinga bearn     ealra twelfe,
woldon ceare cwīðan     ond kyning mǣnan,
word-gyd wrecan     ond ymb wer sprecan.
Eahtodan eorlscipe     ond his ellen weorc
duguðum dēmdon,     swā hit gedēfe bið
þæt mon his wine-dryhten      wordum herge,
ferhðum frēoge     þonne hē forð scile
of līc-haman     lǣded weorðan.
Swā begnornodon     Gēata lēode
hlāfordes hryre     heorð-genēatas.
Cwǣdon þæt hē wǣre     wyruld-cyninga
manna mildust     ond mon-ðwǣrust,
lēodum līðost     ond lof-geornost. (83)

And the translation 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. (82)

BAM.