BEOWULF
second edition
Facing page translation by R.M. Liuzza
broadyiew editions
Contents
Acknowledgements • 7
Preface • 9
Introduction • 11
Beowulf between Myth and History • 12
Beowulf between Song and Text *18
Beowulf between Court and Cloister • 27
Beowulf between Old and Modern English *36
A Note on the Text • 45
A Note to the Second Edition • 47
Reading Old English • 49
!
Beowulf * 5 1
Glossary of Proper Names • 247
Genealogies • 251
The Geatish-Swedish Wars • 253
Appendix A: Characters Mentioned in Beowulf • 255
1. From Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks • 255
2. From the Liber Monstrorum • 255 •
3. From Alcuin, Letter to "Speratus" (797) • 256
4. West-Saxon Royal Genealogies • 256
a. From Asser, Life of King Alfred (893) • 256
b. From ^thelweard, Chronicle • 257
5. "The Fight at Finnsburh" • 258
6. Widsith • 259
Appendix B: Analogues to the Themes and Events in Beowulf • 265
1. From Grettissaga (c. 1300) • 265
a. The Fight in the Hall • 265
b. The Fight at the Falls • 268
2. From Saxo Grammaticus, Gesta Danorum • 271
3. From Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla (c. 1223-35), Ynglinga
saga • 272
4. From The Life of Saint Gildas • 273
5. From Blickling Homily 17 • 274
Appendix C: Christians and Pagans • 275
1. Gregory the Great, Letter to Abbot Mellitus (601) • 275
2. From Bede the Venerable, Ecclesiastical History of the English
People • 276
3. From St Boniface, Letters • 278
a. Letter 46 (c. 738) • 278
b. Letter 73 (c. 746) • 279
4. Wulfstan, On False Gods • 281
5. Laws against Paganism • 284
a. From Wulfstan, Canons of Edgar no. 16 • 284
b. From the Laws of Cnut, 1-5 • 284
Appendix D: Contexts for Reading Beowulf • 287
1. Wulfstan, Sermo Lupi ad Anglos (1014) • 287
2. /Elfric, Life of St Edmund (c. 995) • 292
3. Vainglory (before c. 975) • 297
Appendix E: Translations of Beowulf * 301
1. Sharon Turner, The History of the Manners, Landed Property, Gov­
ernment, Laws, Poetry, Literature, Religion and Language of the
Anglo-Saxons (1805) • 302
2. John Josias Conybeare, Illustrations of Anglo-Saxon Poetry
(1826) • 303
3. J.M. Kemble, A Translation of the Anglo-Saxon Poem of
Beowulf (ISIS) • 304
4. From Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "Anglo-Saxon
Literature," North American Review (1838) • 304
5. A. Diedrich Wackerbarth, Beowulf: An Epic Poem Translated
from the Anglo-Saxon into English Verse (1849) • 306
6. John Earle, The Deeds of Beowulf (1892) • 307
7. William Morris and A.J: Wyatt, The Tale of Beowulf Sometime
King of the Folk of the Weder Geats (1895) • 308
8. Francis B. Gummere, The Oldest English Epic (1909) • 308
9. William Ellery Leonard, Beowulf (1923) • 309
10. R.K. Gordon, The Song of Beowulf (1923) • 310
11. Charles W. Kennedy, Beowulf (1940) • 310
12. Edwin Morgan, Beowulf (1952) * 311
13. Burton Raffel, Beowulf (1963) • 312
14. E. Talbot Donaldson, Beowulf (1966) • 313
15. Kevin Crossley-Holland, Beowulf (\968) * 313
16. Michael Alexander, Beowulf (1913) • 314
17. Howell D. Chickering, Jr., Beowulf (1977) • 315
18. S.A.J. Bradley, Anglo-Saxon Poetry (1982) • 315
19. Stanley B. Greenfield, A Readable Beowulf (19^2) • 316
20. Ruth P.M. Lehmann, Beowulf (19%%) • 317
21. Marc Hudson, Beowulf (1990) • 318
22. Frederick Rebsamen, Beowulf (1991) • 318
23. R.M. Liuzza, Beowulf (1999) • 319
24. Seamus Heaney, Beowulf (2000) • 320
Works Cited and Recommended Reading * 321
6
CONTENTS