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List of translations of Beowulf

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The Sutton Hoo helmet, a high-status treasure from the time of, and with parallels to, Beowulf

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

This is a list of translations of Beowulf, one of the best-known Old English heroic epic poems. Beowulf has been translated many times in verse and in prose. By 2020, the Beowulf's Afterlives Bibliographic Database listed some 688 translations and other versions of the poem, from Thorkelin's 1787 transcription of the text, and in at least 38 languages.[1]

The poet John Dryden's categories of translation have influenced how scholars discuss variation between translations and adaptations.[2] In the Preface to Ovid's Epistles (1680) Dryden proposed three different types of translation:

metaphrase [...] or turning an author word for word, and line by line, from one language into another; paraphrase [...] or translation with latitude, where the author is kept in view by the translator so as never to be lost, but his words are not so strictly followed as his sense, and that, too, is admitted to be amplified but not altered; and imitation [...] where the translator – if he has not lost that name – assumes the liberty not only to vary from the words and sense, but to forsake them both as he sees occasion; and taking only some general hints from the original, to run division on the ground-work, as he pleases.[2]

The works listed below may fall into more than one of Dryden's categories, but works that are essentially direct translations are listed here. Versions of other kinds that take more "latitude" are listed at List of adaptations of Beowulf.

Translations

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Further information: Translating Beowulf

There are hundreds of translations or near-translations of Beowulf, and more are added each year, so a complete list may well be unattainable. Listed here are the major versions discussed by scholars, along with the first versions in different languages.

English Translations

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Date Title Translator Location Publisher Type Notes
1837 Beowulf Kemble, John Mitchell London William Pickering Prose First complete translation into modern English; archaizing, and translating word-for-word.[3] The 1st ed. in 1833 had no translation.
1849 Beowulf, an epic poem translated from the Anglo-Saxon into English verse Wackerbarth, A. Diedrich London William Pickering Verse Walter Scott-like romance verse using rhyme and modern metre (iambic tetrameters), no attempt to imitate alliterative verse[4]
1855 Anglo-Saxon Poems of Beowulf Thorpe, Benjamin Oxford James Wright Verse, prosaic Parallel text, with "literal" translation "reading like prose ... chopped up into short lines" as if verse[5]
1876 Beowulf: a Heroic Poem of the Eighth Century, with a translation Arnold, Thomas, the Younger London Longmans, Green Prose An archaizing version, translating word-for-word.[6][7]
1881 Beowulf: an old English poem, translated into modern rhymes Lumsden, Henry William London Kegan Paul Verse
1882 Beowulf: an Anglo-Saxon poem, & the Fight at Finnsburg Garnett, James Mercer, the younger Boston Ginn, Heath, & Co. Verse "With facsimile of the unique manuscript in the British Museum".[8]
1888 I. Beówulf: an Anglo-Saxon poem. II. The Fight at Finnsburh: a fragment Harrison, James Albert;
Moritz Heyne;
Robert Sharp		 Boston X. Ginn & Co. Prose Not exactly a translation. Annotated text and long glossary
1892 The Deeds of Beowulf Earle, John Oxford Clarendon Press Prose An archaizing version.[9]
1894 Beowulf Wyatt, Alfred John Cambridge Cambridge University Press Prose Not exactly a translation. Annotated text and long glossary
1895 The tale of Beowulf sometime King of the folk of the Weder Geats Morris, William;
Alfred John Wyatt		 London Longman Verse "Genuinely foreignizing ... medievalizes" in a distinctive style, with "breaking rhythms and irregular syntax ... an insistently archaizing diction and a striking literalism to produce a defamiliarizing effect".[10]
1897 Beowulf: an Anglo-Saxon Epic Poem Hall, John Lesslie Lexington D. C. Heath Verse [11]
1901 Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg Hall, J. R. Clark Cambridge Cambridge University Press Prose A literal approach, somewhat archaic; smoother and more uniform than Kemble.[12] "One of the most enduringly popular of all translations of the poem".[5][13]
1910 Beowulf Gummere, Francis B. New York The Collier Press Verse The Harvard Classics, Charles W. Eliot, (Ed.)
1910 Beowulf Sedgefield, Walter John Manchester University of Manchester Prose Not exactly a translation. Annotated text and long glossary
1913 The Story of Beowulf Kirtlan, Ernest John Brigham London C. H. Kelly Prose Decorated and designed by Frederick Lawrence.
1914 Beowulf. A Metrical Translation into Modern English Hall, J. R. Clark Cambridge Cambridge University Press Verse
1921 Widsith; Beowulf; Finnsburgh; Waldere; Dior [sic], done into Common English after the Old Manner Charles Scott Moncrieff[14] London Chapman and Hall Verse With an introduction from Lord Northcliffe. Moncrieff had studied Old English at the University of Edinburgh in 1913.[14]
1922 Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg Klaeber, Frederick Boston D. C. Heath and Company Prose Classic, continuously in print through 4 editions. Not exactly a translation. Annotated text and long glossary
1923 The Story of Beowulf and Grendel. Retold in modern English prose Spencer, Richard Augustus London, Edinburgh W. & R. Chambers Prose
1923 The Song of Beowulf rendered into English prose Gordon, R. K. London J.M. Dent & Sons Prose
1925 Beowulf. Translated into modern English rhyming verse Strong, Archibald London Constable Verse
1926 Beowulf. Translated into English verse Crawford, D. H. London Chatto & Windus Verse
1933 The Story of Beowulf. Retold from the ancient epic Riggs, Strafford New York D. Appleton-Century Decorated by Henry Clarence Pitz.
1940 Beowulf. the oldest English epic. Translated into alliterative verse with a critical introduction Kennedy, Charles W. New York Oxford University Press Verse, alliterative OCLC 185407779.
1945 Beowulf. In modern verse with an essay and pictures Bone, Gavin David Oxford Basil Blackwell Verse
1949 Beowulf in Modern English. A translation in blank verse Waterhouse, Mary Elizabeth Cambridge Bowes & Bowes Verse, blank
1952 Beowulf: A Verse Translation into Modern English Morgan, Edwin Berkeley University of California Press Verse Based on Klaeber's text; "of special significance in its own right but also as the beginning of translation of Beowulf into a genuinely modern poetic idiom, leading the way for many later followers down to and beyond Seamus Heaney".[15]
1953 Beowulf, with the Finnsburg fragment Wrenn, C. L. London George G. Harrap & Co. Wrenn was one of the Inklings.
1953 Beowulf and Judith Dobbie, Elliott van Kirk New York Columbia University Press
1954 Beowulf the Warrior Serraillier, Ian Oxford Oxford University Press Illustrated by John Severin.
1957 Beowulf Wright, David Harmondsworth Penguin Classics Prose Reprinted by Panther Books, 1970
1963 Beowulf Raffel, Burton New York Signet Classics Verse Raffel writes in his essay "On Translating Beowulf" that the poet-translator "needs to master the original in order to leave it".[16]
1966 Beowulf Donaldson, Ethelbert Talbot London Longman Prose Widely read in The Norton Anthology of English Literature; accurate, "foreignizing" prose, using asyndetic coordination, "somewhat ponderous but ... dignified tone ... viewed by teachers as dull".[17]
1968 Beowulf Crossley-Holland, Kevin London Macmillan OCLC 1200055128
1968 Beowulf and its Analogues Garmonsway, George N. London J.M. Dent & Sons Prose Hugh Magennis calls this "much-used"; Michael J. Alexander says it has "dignity and rhythmical shape".[18]
1973 Beowulf: A Verse Translation Alexander, Michael J. Harmondsworth Penguin Classics Verse Closely "shadows" the original[19]
1977 Beowulf: A Dual-Language Edition Howell D. Chickering New York Anchor Books Verse
1983 Beowulf: a Verse Translation with Treasures of the Ancient North Osborn, Marijane Berkeley University of California Press Verse [20]
1985 A Readable Beowulf Greenfield, Stanley B. Carbondale Southern Illinois University Press "Simultaneously a poem and, by virtue of the nature of translation, an act of criticism".(Greenfield, p. ix)[21]
1991 Beowulf: A Verse Translation Rebsamen, Frederick New York HarperCollins Verse imitates original's poetic form as closely as possible, with alliterative half-lines; seven prose sections interrupt the translation, instead of using footnotes[22]
1991 Beowulf: Text and Translation Porter, John Hockwold-cum-Wilton Anglo-Saxon Books Verse Parallel text; "the most literal"[23]
1999 Beowulf: A Translation in Progress Romano, Tim Swarthmore, Pennsylvania Verse The translation seeks to bring over into modern English the carved syntax of the original poetry without things becoming too "wooden". url=https://www.aimsdata.com/tim/beow/beowulf_trans.htm
1999 Beowulf: A New Verse Translation Heaney, Seamus London Faber Verse
2000 Beowulf Liuzza, Roy M. Peterborough, Ontario Broadview Press Parallel text. 2nd edition 2013
2012 Beowulf: A Translation Meyer, Thomas Santa Barbara, California Punctum Books
2013 Grinnell Beowulf: A Translation with Notes Arner, Timothy D.; Eva Dawson; Emily Johnson; Jeanette Miller; Logan Shearer; Aniela Wendt; Kate Whitman Grinnell, Iowa Grinnell College Press Verse Illustrated translation and teaching edition.[24][25]
2013 Beowulf Purvis, Meghan London Penned in the Margins Verse A collection of connected poems, or read as one long poem. "The Collar" won The Times Stephen Spender Prize for poetry in translation, 2011[26] and the collection was Poetry Book Society recommended translation, Summer 2013.[27]
2014
[1926]		 Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary Tolkien, J. R. R. London HarperCollins Prose Translated 1920–1926, edited by Christopher Tolkien, published posthumously with "Sellic Spell", a version reconstructed as an Anglo-Saxon folktale, i.e. without the heroic elements
2017 Beowulf Mitchell, Stephen New Haven, Connecticut Yale University Press[28]
2020 Beowulf: A New Translation Headley, Maria Dahvana London Macmillan Verse It translates the opening Hwæt as "Bro!"[29] Won the 2021 Harold Morton Landon Translation Award[30] and the 2021 Hugo Award for Best Related Work.[31]
2021 'Beowulf' By All: Community Translation and Workbook Abbott, Jean; Treharne, Elaine, and Fafinski, Mateusz (Eds.) Leeds Arc Humanities Press Translated by over 200 contributors. An earlier version appeared in 2018, as Beowulf by All, Version 1.0 from Stanford TexT (of Stanford University Press).
2022 After Beowulf Nicole Markotić Toronto, Canada Coach House Books Verse

Other Languages

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Date Title Translator Location Publisher Language Type Notes
1815 De Danorum rebus gestis secul. III & IV. Poema danicum dialecto anglo-saxonica. Ex bibliotheca Cottoniana Musaei britannici edidit versione lat. et indicibus auxit Grim. Johnson Thorkelin. Thorkelin, Grímur Jónsson Copenhagen Th. E. Rangel Latin Prose Transcription (full of errors) and first translation (considered poor)[32]
1820 Bjowulf's Drape Grundtvig, Nikolaj Frederik Severin Copenhagen A. Seidelin Danish Verse First version in a modern language, "a free paraphrase in a rhyming ballad metre"[33]
1863 Beowulf, mit ausführlichem Glossar Heyne, Moritz Paderborn Ferdinand Schoningh German
1920 Byovulpu caritramu: vacana kavyamu Kesava Pillai, Rayapeta Madras R. Purushottam & Co. Telugu OCLC 499929509
1932 Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg Kuriyagawa, Fumio Tokyo Iwanami Japanese Parallel text with Old English. OCLC 556817509.
1951 La gesta de Beowulf Borges, Jorge Luis;
Delia Ingenieros		 Mexico City Fondo de Cultura Económica Spanish
1954 Beowulf Collinder, Björn Stockholm Natur och Kultur Swedish Verse, alliterative Illustrated by Per Engström.
1959 Beowulf: poema eroico anglosassone Cecioni, Cesare G. Bologna Edizioni Giuseppe Malipiero Italian Prose
1969 Beowulf Duțescu, Dan and Levițchi, Leon Bucharest Editura pentru literatură universală Romanian Verse First and only translation in Romanian. Using alliteration and triple meters, as they are considered closer to the heroic tradition in the target literature.
1982 Beovulf: Staroengleski junački spev i odlomci iz junačkih pesama Kovačević, Ivanka Belgrade Narodna knjiga Serbian Prose With translations of "The Fight at Finnsburg", "Widsith", "Exodus", "The Battle of Brunanburh", "The Battle of Maldon"
1986 Beowulf: Részletek Képes, Júlia;
Weöres Sándor;
András T. László		 Budapest Európa Könyvkiadó Hungarian Verse, alliterative Excerpts (10 pages).
1990 Beowulf: anglosaksi eepos Sepp, Rein Tallinn Eesti Raamat Estonian Verse imitates original's poetic form as closely as possible, with half-lines
1996 Μπέογουλφ: Αγγλο-σαξονικό επικό ποίημα
Béowoulf: Anglo-saxonikó epikó poéima		 Karagiórgos, Pános Thessaloniki Kyriakides Greek Title reads "Beowulf: Anglo-Saxon epic poem".
1999 Beowulf Pekonen, Osmo;
Clive Tolley		 Porvoo WSOY Finnish Verse with Finnsburh fragment. OCLC 58326940
2007 Beowulf Ramalho, Erick Belo Horizonte, Brazil Tessitura Editora Portuguese Parallel text with Old English
2012 Беовульф Олена О'Лір Львів Астролябія Ukrainian Verse
2013 Бэўвульф Брыль, Антон Францішак Мінск Зміцер Колас Belarussian Verse
2017 Beovulfs Linde, Māris Riga Linde Latvian Verse, in half-lines Compared with Latvian folktales Lāčplēsis and Kurbads.

References

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  1. ^ "Beowulf's Afterlives Bibliographic Database". Beowulf's Afterlives Bibliographic Database. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  2. ^ a b University of Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle (1680). "John Dryden, 'The Preface to Ovid's Epistles'". Theoretical Texts on Translation | Textes théoriques en traduction. doi:10.58079/uy1c. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  3. ^ Magennis 2011, pp. 13, 15, 24.
  4. ^ Magennis 2011, pp. 7–13.
  5. ^ a b Magennis 2011, p. 15.
  6. ^ Magennis 2011, pp. 23–24.
  7. ^ Arnold, Thomas, the Younger (1876). "Beowulf: a Heroic Poem of the Eighth Century, with a translation" (PDF).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ Garnett, James Mercer, the younger (1882). "Beowulf". Hathi Trust. Retrieved 30 November 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ Magennis 2011, p. 23.
  10. ^ Magennis 2011, p. 10.
  11. ^ Hall, John Lesslie. Beowulf. Retrieved 2 December 2020. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  12. ^ Magennis 2011, p. 16.
  13. ^ Hall, J. R. Clark (1901). Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg. London: Swan Sonnenschein. pp. 3ff.
  14. ^ a b France, Peter (2012). "Scott Moncrieff's First Translation". Translation and Literature. 21 (3): 364–382. doi:10.3366/tal.2012.0088. ISSN 0968-1361. JSTOR 41714388.
  15. ^ Magennis 2011, pp. 1, 81–108.
  16. ^ Magennis 2011, pp. 109–134.
  17. ^ Magennis 2011, pp. 22–23.
  18. ^ Magennis 2011, pp. 19–21.
  19. ^ Magennis 2011, pp. 135–160.
  20. ^ "Beowulf: A Verse Translation with Treasures of the Ancient North (Part 1)". University of Oxford. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  21. ^ Magennis 2011, p. 2.
  22. ^ Dockray-Miller, Mary (July 1994). "Rebsamen, Frederick. Beowulf: A Verse Translation. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. $4.50 (pb). ISBN: 0064302121". The Medieval Review.
  23. ^ Nelson, Marie (2009). "Prefacing and Praising: Two Functions of "Hearing" Formulas in the "Beowulf" Story". Neuphilologische Mitteilungen. 110 (4): 487–495. JSTOR 43344436.
  24. ^ "The Grinnell Beowulf editions". The Grinnell Beowulf. 11 July 2014.
  25. ^ "The Grinnell Beowulf : A Translation with Notes". Digital Grinnell. 2013.
  26. ^ "The Times Stephen Spender Prize 2011". Stephen Spender Trust. 2011.
  27. ^ "Summer Selections". PBS Bulletin Summer 2013.
  28. ^ Beowulf. Mitchell, Stephen, 1943-. New Haven. January 2017. ISBN 978-0-300-22888-5. OCLC 982566515.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  29. ^ Grady, Constance (27 August 2020). "This new translation of Beowulf brings the poem to profane, funny, hot-blooded life". Vox. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  30. ^ "Harold Morton Landon Translation Award". poets.org. September 15, 2021.
  31. ^ "2021 Hugo Awards". Hugo Awards. December 18, 2021. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  32. ^ Magennis 2011, pp. 42–48, 66–67.
  33. ^ Magennis 2011, p. 47.

Sources

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