# Has anyone here read Beowulf???



## Aranaug

???


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## Cian

I have read parts, but never the whole thing through. 

One thing I'll add is that if you ever get the chance to attend Benjamin Bagby's live rendition (of part, and in Old English) then don't miss it -- well, if interested in such a thing obviously 

I found myself transported by a modern day _scop._ It was wonderfull IMO!


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## Ithrynluin

I read some parts of it, but found it boring 
Didn't Tolkien rewrite it or something?


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## Rangerdave

Tolkien did work on one the best translations of Beowulf out there. It is much more approachable for modern readers. He also wrote one of the best-if not the best-critical works on Beowulf, The Monster and the Critics.

Beowulf stands up fairly well as a psychological document. You can glean an understanding of the minds of the writers and the early Germanic tribes of England. But as a piece of literature, Beowulf is flat boring no matter how much of it you read. 

The basic story is as follows. Beowulf kills the monster and his men brag about for 900 lines. Beowulf kills the dragon and his men brag about it for 1000 lines. Beowulf dies, his men lament his passing for 1200 lines.

However, there is some good modernizations of the story. I would strongly suggest Grendel by John Champlin Gardner, or The Tower of Beowulf by Parke Godwin. Both are excellent novels.

enjoy life, 
RD


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## Retrovertigo

Why read it when you can enjoy the dramtized film version staring Christopher Lambert! 100 percent faithful to the original text, with a fantabulous leading man! A++!


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## Galdor

I read a really tough version and found it very boring. But I have a friend who read a different version and loved it.


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## Aranaug

Well, I didn't find the Tolkien translation, so I ended up getting the CD version of it read and translated by Seamus Heaney. I got a ways into it but I started to get bored. And I didn't want ot switch CD players to a different room so I could do something because the CD didn't have seperate chapter s or what ever you'd call the divisions.


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## Sulimo

Wow this is late in answering. Yeah I read Beowulf and I found it intriguing. Its been many years though. If interested in Beowulf concepts you may find Micheal Crichton's book The Eaters of the Dead interesting. Hollywood made a movie with Antonio Banderas called the 13th Warrior. It basically tries to present the tale of Beowulf from a historical and realistic perspective. 

Has anyone read the Edda?


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## Prince of Cats

Sulimo said:


> Has anyone read the Edda?


 
Only the portions as roughly translated and presented in The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun. It's one of my favorite books, though :*) the sections on philogy and history take up more of the book than the lays but they are great reads


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## Starbrow

I read Beowulf in college (many years ago) and I remember it being hard to slog through.
It wasn't Tolkien's translation, though. Maybe that would have made it better.


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## Maiden_of Harad

I read Beowulf once (for fun, not mandatory at all). The language wasn't too tough for me, but then, having been reared on the King James Bible throughout my childhood (including for-fun listening to it on tape for hours on end) might have helped with that 
That said, it didn't make reading David Copperfield for the first time at twelve any easier


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## Eledhwen

Rangerdave said:


> There is some good modernizations of the story. I would strongly suggest Grendel by John Champlin Gardner, or The Tower of Beowulf by Parke Godwin. Both are excellent novels.
> 
> enjoy life,
> RD


Edited versions of Beowulf are frequently read in English Primary Schools nowadays. I would like to see more British/North European stories re-told for a modern young audience.


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## tom_bombadil

I have never read it, nor do I have any intention of doing so. I saw that dreadful piece of cinema that Ray Winstone made and I'm rather afraid that put me of for life


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## Mike

I read it during my undergrad. Enjoyed it quite a bit, but was not compelled to take the old English course.


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## Erestor Arcamen

I've read most of it and enjoyed it.


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## Eledhwen

*Podcast Lecture on Beowulf from Oxford University*

Dr Francis Leneghan gives a talk on Beowulf, one of the most important works in Anglo-Saxon literature

http://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/beowulf-audio


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