Beowulf and Other Old English Poems (27 books)

* Beowulf and Other Old English Poems (27 books)

BEOWULF is an epic poem and the preeminent masterpiece of Old English literature, written by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet between the 8th and the early 11th century. It is the oldest surviving epic poem of Old English and the earliest vernacular English literature.

Written in alliterative verse, the poem blends historical Scandinavian legend with Christian allegory, capturing a heroic age of monster-slaying, blood feuds, and rigid warrior codes. The narrative follows the Geatish hero Beowulf, who travels to Denmark to rescue King Hrothgar from the demonic Grendel and Grendel’s vengeful mother, before returning home to rule his own people and ultimately perish in old age fighting a treasure-hoarding dragon. Beyond its fantastical elements, the epic serves as a profound meditation on fame, the transience of life, and the inevitable collapse of societies bound by cycles of violence.

There has long been research into similarities with other traditions and accounts, including the Icelandic Grettis saga, the Norse story of Hrolf Kraki and his bear-shapeshifting servant Bodvar Bjarki, the international folktale the Bear's Son Tale, and the Irish folktale of the Hand and the Child. Persistent attempts have been made to link Beowulf to tales from Homer's Odyssey or Virgil's Aeneid. More definite are biblical parallels, with clear allusions to the books of Genesis, Exodus, and Daniel.

The tightly interwoven structure of Old English poetry makes translating Beowulf a severe technical challenge. In the last century, hundreds of translations, whether into prose, rhyming verse, or alliterative verse were made, some relatively faithful, some archaising, some attempting to domesticate the work. Among the best-known modern translations are those of Burton Raffel (1963), Michael J. Alexander (1973), Seamus Heaney (1999), Roy Liuzza (2013, 2e), J.R.R. Tolkien (completed in 1926, published 2014), and Stephen Mitchell (2017). The difficulty of translating Beowulf has been explored by scholars including Tolkien (see his "Beowulf and the Critics", included in my Tolkien collection), and more recently Hugh Magennis in TRANSLATING BEOWULF: MODERN VERSIONS IN ENGLISH VERSE (2011).

In addition to Beowulf, the entire Old English poetic corpus—including poems and fragments discovered only within the past fifty years—was recently rendered into modern strong-stress, alliterative verse by Craig Williamson (2017).


The following books are in ePUB and/or PDF format as noted:

* Beowulf [tr. Alexander] (Penguin, 2013) – ePUB
* Beowulf [tr. Davis] (Insignia, 2013) – ePUB
* Beowulf [tr. Headley] (FSG, 2020) – ePUB
* Beowulf [tr. Kirtlan] (Clydesdale, 2016) – ePUB
* Beowulf [tr. Liuzza, 2e] (Broadview, 2013) – PDF
* Beowulf [tr. McNamara] (Barnes & Noble, 2005) – ePUB
* Beowulf [tr. Meyer] (Punctum, 2012) – PDF
* Beowulf [tr. Mitchell] (Yale, 2017) – PDF
* Beowulf [tr. Purvis] (Penned in the Margins, 2013) – ePUB
* Beowulf [tr. Raffel] (Signet, 2008) – ePUB
* Beowulf [tr. Ringler] (Hackett, 2007) – ePUB / PDF
* Beowulf and its Analogues [tr. Garmonsway & Simpson] (Dent, 1968) – PDF
* Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburh [ed. Crossley-Holland] (Oxford, 2008) – ePUB
* Beowulf: A Dual-Language Edition [tr. Chickering] (Anchor, 2006) – PDF
* Beowulf: A Student Edition [ed. Jack] (Oxford, 1994) – PDF
* Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary [tr. Tolkien] (HarperCollins, 2014) – ePUB
* Beowulf: A Verse Translation [tr. Alexander, revised edition] (Penguin, 2003) – ePUB
* Beowulf: A Verse Translation [tr. Heaney] (Norton, 2000) – ePUB
* Beowulf: A Verse Translation [tr. Heaney, 2e] (Norton Critical Edition, 2019) – ePUB / PDF
* Beowulf: An Updated Verse Translation [tr. Rebsamen] (Harper Perennial, 2013) – ePUB
* Beowulf: Old English Text, Translations and Dual Text (Delphi Classics, 2015) – ePUB
* Klaeber's Beowulf & The Fight at Finnsburg [ed. Fulk et al., 4e] (Toronto, 2008) – PDF
* A Readable Beowulf [tr. Greenfield] (Southern Illinois, 1982) – PDF

== ANTHOLOGIES ==

* Beowulf and Other Old English Poems [tr. Hieatt] (Bantam, 2010) – ePUB
* Beowulf and Other Old English Poems [tr. Williamson] (Pennsylvania, 2011) – PDF
* Complete Old English Poems [tr. Wiliamson] (Pennsylvania, 2017) – ePUB / PDF

== OTHER ==

* Translating Beowulf: Modern Versions in English Verse [Hugh Magennis] (Boydell & Brewer, 2011) – ePUB / PDF


SEE ALSO:

* J. R. R. Tolkien - Complete Works, incl. The Lord of the Rings (72 books)
https://www.1337x.to/torrent/6567063/J-R-R-Tolkien-Complete-Works-incl-The-Lord-of-the-Rings-72-books/


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