A “Beowulf” for Our Moment

, both of whom have produced lyrical and critically admired versions. Very few of these translators are women, which is unsurprising. “Beowulf”—in which the eponymous hero, a man of gigantic, and perhaps supernatural, strength, defends King Hrothgar and the Danes against Grendel, a part man, part monster who is plaguing the kingdom—tends to be perceived as a masculine poem, its vocabulary and its ethics those of the battleground and the mead hall.

Dedicated to “Anonymous and all the stories she told,” “The Mere Wife” includes some tantalizing snippets of “Beowulf” as translated by Headley. Now we have the full version, and it is electrifying. The lack of scholarly apparatus is deceptive: Headley has studied the poem deeply and is conversant with some of the text’s most obscure details.

“Hwæt,” the first word of “Beowulf,” has no direct equivalent in modern English. Tolkien described it as “a note ‘striking up’ at the beginning of a poem,” calling the listener or reader to attention. In his translation, he rendered it as “Lo!,” following John Mitchell Kemble, whose influentialwas one of the earliest in modern English.

But we get ahead of ourselves. The story opens with Hrothgar, King of the Spear-Danes , building a magnificent hall, Heorot, to celebrate his successes in war and to reinforce his dominance. Grendel, whom Headley calls a “woe-walker”—the poem doesn’t describe him physically, except to suggest his prodigious size and strength—is enraged to hear the men drinking and singing. Why? The original text doesn’t give a reason. “Grendel hurt, and so he hunted,” Headley suggests.

This is, perhaps, the most unnecessary and ridiculous thing I’ve ever read

I will stay away from her version. No thanks.

look at my naked photos?😘

Beowulf was like the John Wick of ancient Britain.

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