Beowulf

＂The whole thing is sombre, tragic, sinister, curiously real. ... . It is laden with history, leading back into the dark heathen ages beyond the memory of song, but not beyond the reach of imagination＂ - J. R. R. Tolkien.

The epic Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf had ＂a deep and detailed impact on what Tolkien wrote - from his earliest poem of Middle-earth (1914), right through The Hobbit ... and The Lord of the Rings.＂ - John Garth author of Tolkien and the Great War.

＂The story of Beowulf, Grendel, Grendel’s mother and the Dragon [is] surely the basic story of all literature ... It is an epic that summons up a world whose trappings have long since disappeared, the trappings of the warrior ethos, and morality of almost prehistoric Germanic times; but the essential ’message’ has not changed. It is about courage and resolve, about duty and responsibility, about honour and achievement; but it is also about the transitoriness of things, and the inevitability of death, however glorious the life. It is both a celebration of humanity and an elegy. The poem Beowulf is one of the glories of European literature.＂ - Magnus Magnusson.

Beowulf, the greatest work of Anglo-Saxon literature, and ＂one of the glories of European literature,＂ is set in the mists of Scandinavia, interweaving history and myth. It has been translated into English over seventy times, has been widely studied, and has influenced the popular imagination through Tolkien’s Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

The young hero, Beowulf, receiving reports that a monster has been terrorising the neighbouring Danes nightly in their sumptuous mead hall Heorot, sails to their aid with a small band of warriors. The Danish King Hrothgar, amazed at his courage, honours him with a celebratory feast, after the shadowy monster Grendel strikes. Beowulf, a man of supra-human strength, though unarmed, fatally wounds Grendel, and later defeats his terrifying mother.

Beowulf returns to Geatland, becomes King, and ruling with wisdom equalling his courage and strength, establishes peace for fifty years. However, an enterprising slave steals a jewelled cup from a sleeping dragon’s hoard, whereupon the enraged dragon emerges spewing flames, killing villagers, and destroying homes. Beowulf, defender of his people, seeks the dragon in its lair; however, once the fire-breathing dragon emerges, he is abandoned by all but the young Wiglaf. The two ultimately slay the dragon, but only at the cost of a mortal injury to Beowulf. Beowulf, who has triumphed gloriously in life and died tragically, is given a funeral equal to any of the heroes of The Iliad or The Aeneid.

This edition, complete with notes, provides an enjoyable experience of the epic poem Beowulf.