Dragon slayer: the story of Beowulf

by Rosemary Sutcliff

A vivid re-telling of the classic tale of high adventure, desperate enterprises and bloody encounters.

This thrilling re-telling of the Anglo-Saxon legend recounts Beowulf’s most terrifying quests: against Grendel the man-wolf, against the hideous sea-hag and, most courageous of all – his fight to the death with the monstrous fire-drake.

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Classics, Childrens, Historical Fiction, Mythology, Poetry

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1956

About the author

Rosemary Sutcliff, CBE (1920-1992) was a British novelist, best known as a writer of highly acclaimed historical fiction. Although primarily a children's author, the quality and depth of her writing also appeals to adults. She once commented that she wrote "for children of all ages, from nine to ninety."

Born in West Clandon, Surrey, Sutcliff spent her early youth in Malta and other naval bases where her father was stationed as a naval officer. She contracted Still's Disease when she was very young and was confined to a wheelchair for most of her life. Due to her chronic sickness, she spent the majority of her time with her mother, a tireless storyteller, from whom she learned many of the Celtic and Saxon legends that she would later expand into works of historical fiction. Her early schooling being continually interrupted by moving house and her disabling condition, Sutcliff didn't learn to read until she was nine, and left school at fourteen to enter the Bideford Art School, which she attended for three years, graduating from the General Art Course. She then worked as a painter of miniatures.

Rosemary Sutcliff began her career as a writer in 1950 with The Chronicles of Robin Hood. She found her voice when she wrote The Eagle of the Ninth in 1954. In 1959, she won the Carnegie Medal for The Lantern Bearers and was runner-up in 1972 with Tristan and Iseult. In 1974 she was highly commended for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. Her The Mark of the Horse Lord won the first Phoenix Award in 1985.

Sutcliff lived for many years in Walberton near Arundel, Sussex. In 1975 she was appointed OBE for services to Children's Literature and promoted to CBE in 1992. She wrote incessantly throughout her life, and was still writing on the morning of her death. She never married.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/rosema...

Reviews

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beowulf: Dragonslayer is a simple retelling, aimed at children, of the Beowulf story. I love the way Rosemary Sutcliff keeps it close to the events of the original poem, but with little humanising touches (like Hrothgar putting back the hair of his dead friend wordlessly). She doesn't add anything that can't be substantiated in the poem, but she makes the mud and blood of it feel real, instead of legendary.

It's a very short and quick read, but I enjoyed it. It's illustrated by Charles Keeping, who must've illustrated other books by Sutcliff -- or someone who draws in much the same style did, anyway. It suits it.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably best known for her outstanding historical fiction for young readers, particularly that set in Roman Britain - novels such as The Eagle of the Ninth , and The Lantern Bearers - Rosemary Sutcliff here turns her attention to the Anglo-Saxon epic of Beowulf, producing an immensely engaging prose version of the story, sure to please children with a taste for exciting adventure tales.

Divided into nine chapters, this brief novel covers the three major episodes in Beowulf's heroic life: the defeat of Grendel, the monstrous "Night-Stalker" and "Death-Shadow terrorizing the court of Hrothgar, King of the Danes; the defeat of Grendel's mother, a savage "She-Wolf" bent on revenge for the slaying of her child; and finally, at the end of the hero's life, the defeat of the Fire-Drake attacking the people of Geatland. Sutcliff's language is beautiful, her narrative fast-paced and involving. The accompanying black and white illustrations by Charles Keeping reminded me a bit of Victor Ambrus' work, which is high praise indeed! All in all, an immensely satisfying retelling of this classic story, recommended to all who are looking for a prose version suitable for younger readers.

[Rowan Rainey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I rated this 3 stars Because it was a little scary because I'm 8!!!

[M. Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really rate Rosemary Sutcliff as a writer - she trained as an artist and that shows - and this retelling of Beowulf imparts more humanity to the characters while retaining the heroic setting of the story. It's also a proper Dark Age tale, and she's shorn it of the Christian references which always felt to me like a late and unnecessary addition. Her writing also echoes brilliantly the spirit of the original Old English - there are the kennings like 'whale-road' for sea and the like, and an astounding array of appropriately Anglo-Saxonish alliterations.

[Mariangel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short book tells in prose the story of Beowulf, and it is a very good introduction for young people.
Sutcliff is very well versed in Anglo Saxon history and legend, and her style perfectly evokes the atmosphere of an ancient epic.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

2019 Book Challenge: Read in a Weekend

Courage, honor, loyalty, blood. Rosemary Sutcliff can really retell a story.

[Amy T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rosemary Sutcliff’s retellings never disappoint. This one actually engaged my 13-year-old son, which is a hard task.

[Kait · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic adaptation, filled with heroics, monsters, adventure, treasure, and leadership. I loved reading it to the kids and they loved the story.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

"HA-OOH! HA-OOH! HA-OOH! HA-OOH!"
Spear – Sword – Clang - Shield. Let the blood of my enemy quench the thirst of my blade.
"HA-OOH! HA-OOH! HA-OOH! HA-OOH!"

Okay, okay. I got a little swept up in this, but damn it, it's good.
Rosemary Sutcliff's Beowulf is a narrative retelling aimed at younger readers. Charles Keeping's illustrations are a fine compliment to Sutcliff's proficient grace with the art of story.

This is made special by the utter absence of condescension. The text isn't dumbed-down for children. Rather, it's molded into a more accessible format. Christ, I'm nearly forty years old, and I was warming up my battle cry (see above for clarification).

Any opportunity to introduce novice readers, young and old alike, to texts possessing the rigid reputation of academia, is wonderful. We should embrace the classics, not fear them. Does this come with the Norton-approved authoritative stamp? Nope, it don't. But it doesn't need to. This is a gateway book, and a damn good one!

[Coenraad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sutcliff provides another excellent retelling for young readers, remaining true to the original, yet subtly fleshing out the story with details that would satisfy present-day readers and cutting down on the seemingly irrelevant substories. It suits her reputation as a first-rate writer of historical novels for young readers, mistly placed somewhere in the past of the British Isles.

Sutcliff was 'n vermaarde skrywer van historiese romans, wat meestal in die geskiedenis van die Britse Eilande afspeel. (Op laerskool het ek haar Warrior scarlet, in Afrikaans vertaal as 'n Krygsman dra skarlaken, byna voos gelees!) Haar herskrywing van Beowulf vir jong lesers pas dus in haar oeuvre en word uitgevoer met groot getrouheid aan die oorspronklike én die subtiele toevoeging van besonderhede om die verhaal vir hedendaagse lesers te verryk. Dit word 'n knap weergawe vir iemand wat die Ou-Engelse verhaal vir die eerste maal lees.

[Liis Reemann-Aints]

”Beowulf sai koha Hrothgari kahe noore poja vahel. Aurav metssealiha ja angerjapirukas pandi talle ette ning suur mõdusarv suruti pihku, ja pidumöll Heorotis lahvatas üles nagu lõke, kui sellesse kuiva kasetohtu visatakse.”

[Zach Costello · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Beowulf" is a book that starts out with a creature named Grendel. He is slaying all of the king's men in Denmark. The king needs help and calls out to Beowulf. He comes to the king to find the creature that stalks the land. Beowulf kills the creature, but Grendsl's mother wants revenge and Beowulf must kill her. He does so but barely makes it out alive. Many years later Beowulf becomes king of the Danes. When he is old a dragon sets fire to his land. Knowing that it will be his last battle Beowulf sets out to kill the dragon. He succeeds but dies in the end. I would recomend this for young adults who like action and adventure.

[Mai · Rating 2 out of 5]

The main reason I took stars away is because this book is suggested for 9-11 year olds and I struggled with the text as an adult. Granted, English is not my first language, but I always felt like Penguin/Puffin books were appropriate for my language level as well in the suggested age ranges (and sometimes even felt too "easy"!).

That being said, I do still want to read the full tale. The exercises at the back seemed very fun too, especially the drawing ones, which I might have even done if I wasn't so sleepy right now.

[Lara Lleverino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic retelling of Beowulf. Very close to the translation of the poem. One main difference was the competition between Beowulf and his friend in this book they fight walruses in the poem they swim for seven days and Bailiff fight sea monsters.

One content consideration the word bitch is used to mean a female wolf.

[Leila Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a short chapter novel about the adventures of Beowulf, at the kid/young adult level. Some of the language is flowery and old-fashioned-y, making it a bit hard to follow for little kids. But I read this out loud to my 4 and 6 year olds and they really liked it. I just changed some of the vocab as I want along to make it easier for them to understand. They loved the part about Grendel.

[Leila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sutcliff does it again, taking one of the great works of Western civilization and making it readable for kids. Rather than a substitute for Beowulf, I think that this lyric retelling will leave kids with a taste for the original when they're old enough to tackle it. Highly recommended.

[Deirdre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and simple re-write of Beowulf that evokes the original and has slightly archaic language and phrasing but also makes it acceptable.

[Richard Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rosemary Sutcliff is known for her historical novels and retellings aimed mostly at young readers (we would probably call most of them MG, but you could argue YA for them, too). And she was very successful at this. Here is the retelling of the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf, and I thought it was excellent. Not perfect, IMO, but definitely well done and very entertaining.

This is still a slim book--she hasn't made Beowulf into a long novel. More like a novelette, actually, and with the fine drawings it reads very fast. She has embellished the story somewhat, adding sensory details and some exposition that wasn't in the original, and I love it all. The land around Heorot seems like a place people live instead of a fairytale village. The hall itself is finally kind of visible to me. The battle with Grendel seems more plausible and real. And there are a lot of such details, none of which do damage (as always, IMO) to the original story.

She has removed a couple of digressions, and I think that's wise. They don't really work for a modern audience, especially young readers, and they only slow down the narrative. Otherwise, the whole story is here. The only thing I felt it lacked was a bit more added in; every ounce of world-building she includes improves the story, and I feel there was room for about twice as much as she did. In fact, the story rolls along almost too fast (here and in the original) and could have used a little more breathing space. It could have been 20% or 30% longer without doing the pacing any harm at all.

But what she did really works. The language is still stately and feels old fashioned, but it's nicely comprehensible for average to good readers of a young age. I found it entertaining as an old man who already knows the story, so I'm pretty sure this would work with a lot of kids.

Of course, the only reason I even know of this 1962 book is because it was put on the discard rack at the school where I taught and I picked it up. I think most of the other copies of this book have met a similar fate. Like so many books, I suspect a new edition with a modern cover could be successful again, but there's little chance of that.

Alas.

Recommended for MG (especially) or YA readers who like historical adventures with a touch of supernatural. Or for readers of any age, honestly. I liked it.

[Vichta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lubicie legendy? Takie o dzielnych wojach i smokach albo innych potworach? A czy znacie legendę o Beowulfie? Ja słyszałam to imię już wiele razy, ale nie miałam pojęcia, czy to był jakiś bóg, król, rycerz, czy może smok... 😉
Otóż Beowulf był synem Ecgtheowa, poddanego króla Gotlandii. Ale urodził się i wychował na dworze duńskim. Kiedy był już doświadczonym wojem, doszła go wieść, że dwór w Danii nęka straszny troll, który przychodzi o zmierzchu i morduje ludzi w królewskiej halli. Bez wahania zebrał swoją załogę i popłynął na pomoc królowi, który swego czasu dał schronienie jego rodzicom. Pokonał potwora, a także jego żądną zemsty matkę i wrócił do Gotlandii, a po śmierci króla i księcia objął tron.
Lata mijały, Gotlandia wspaniale się rozwijała, mieszkańcy byli szczęśliwi, gdy pojawił się ziejący ogniem smok, który pustoszył kraj, zostawiając zgliszcza. Stary Beowulf musiał znów podjąć walkę i wygrać ze smokiem albo zginąć w obronie swego ludu...
Opowieść krótka, napisana pięknym językiem. Podczas czytania miałam wrażenie, że siedzę gdzieś w lesie przy ognisku i słucham wytrawnego gawędziarza. Polecam :)
Istnieje kilka wersji opowieści o tym bohaterze. Są to dosłowne tłumaczenia lub tzw. retold. I właśnie taką unowocześnioną wersją stworzyła Rosemary Sutcliff oraz wielu innych autorów, m.in. Tolkien. Oryginał został spisany przez nieznanego autora w VIII wieku i uczeni spierają się, skąd dokładnie pochodzi, z Anglii, czy ze Skandynawii, a konkretnie z Gotlandii.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

You might think retellings of Beowulf was a fairly crowded market, but for clarity Rosemary Sutcliff's version is excellent. This is the first time I've had a good grasp of the story, and visualised the landscape properly. I feel prepared for the Seamus Heaney version now, when I can find the book again!

The last section, that gives this book its title, makes it clear how the dragon claimed the hoard of treasure, and why the ageing Beowulf set out for one more challenge. Young Wiglaf, of all the warriors, follows him into the flames and smoke and ultimately strikes the fatal blow, then comforts the dying Beowulf, who appoints him his successor.

It's less than 100 pages, so brevity is added to clarity in this version of one of the oldest yarns around! I'll get on to the Eagle of the Ninth trilogy, which is waiting in my kindle, as soon as possible!

[Lmichelleb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this retelling of the story of Beowulf in preparation for reading the full account. I forgot most of what I read from my British Literature class in high school and this was an excellent reacquaintance with the story. Ah, the glory of the days of conquering wild beasts and dangers of many kinds! Sutcliffe's poetic language is beautiful: "Heat played over its scales so that they changed colour, green and blue and gold, as the colours play on a sword-blade heated for tempering, and all the air danced and quivered about him." I expect I'll read this with my children before they tackle the Seamus Heaney version too.

[Brownleaf Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rosemary Sutcliff is among my top three favorite authors. Her writing captures the crackling warmth of a hearth-fire as the damp wind of Hibernia moans among the rafters.

Her retelling of Beowulf moves at a brisk pace and makes good use of old Norse kennings (for example, "sail-road" to describe the sea).

Sutcliff's portrayal of the hero, Beowulf, is more than just a big strong monster-killer. He is kind and humble, confident in his strength, honorable, dutiful, and respectful. Physical strength is second to his personal strength of character. He is manly without being a brute.

CC: blood and violence, references to Norse religion.

[Anna Bosman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice enough retelling, which I have enjoyed in the wake of the Arthurian legends retold by the same author. However, I must admit that I fell asleep in the middle of a chapter more than once. Perhaps the story is just too old to touch me personally: yes, monsters, yes, heroes, but what about the thin layer of humanity, the existential dread, the mystery of it all? I have never enjoyed adventures for their own sake. My first exposure to Beowulf was via Tolkien, and I remember the same feeling after having read it: kill a monster, then kill the monstrous mother of the monster, yaaaawn, can we do something besides killing monsters now?..

[Larinmtz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good retelling, but not the best, nor my favorite. She stays close to the events and retains some of the epic quality even though it is prose. She uses some kennings, as well, which reinforces the authentic quality of the text. The writing is certainly accessible for young people. The biggest change she makes is to switch the spiritual references from Christian to Norse religious references. Since this is a much-discussed element of the story, I feel like it should have been retained as the original author wrote it. It is still an enjoyable read, as so many of her books are.

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's Beowulf (and the whole tale, too, in case you were concerned by the subtitle). Stark and stern, filled with terror and courage and the old Viking wyrd. The later Christian additions to the surviving medieval manuscript have been removed. What you have here is an ancient legend written down so that the young may learn, and learn they will, for as always, our author pulls no punches. Rosemary Sutcliffe's timeless style is on fine display here. Highly recommended.

[Laura Fan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very Viking kind of book. The feasting and insults and getting mad and then forgetting about another monster existing and insane battles and fights and bonding through hard times are all so very Viking. All the songs kind of make sense for that time period. Maybe Beowulf was a collection of songs that were put together from ancient Nordic history. I'm not sorry that there aren't poisonous talons and evil dragons and magic treasure now. - age 10

[Sheu Quen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of course, the movie had to be different from the book. Nothing was mentioned about the king's weird relationship with Grendel's mother. Nothing further was said about Beowulf's weird relationship with Grendel's mother. And nothing was said about Grendel being the king's offspring and the fire drake being Beowulf's offspring, courtesy of both weird relationships with Grendel's mother. The book sounds more believable anyway.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was perhaps inevitable that Rosemary Sutcliff would add her own version to the extensive canon of Beowulf retellings. Her prose interpretation, first published in 1961, is of course rendered in exquisitely hard-edged language which captures the rhythm and feel of the original Old English. Charles Keeping’s exceptional illustrations give the whole work an extraordinary power and presence.

[Pollymoore3 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple but powerful retelling of the Beowulf story for children. Charles Keeping's heavy, atmospherically Sixties line drawings give added punch. But to quote James Brown, this is a man's world......
Some time later I discovered "Grendel" by John Gardner, the same story told from the monster's point of view

[Stella Battenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is intensely marvelous. Sutcliff's prose is magnificent and I loved how it takes a deep, measured look at the poem - no changes or additions or editorializing, just fleshing it out for a new medium. It has a poetic feel while still being prose which is perfectly ideal for updating it for a new (well, now very old) audience.