Beowulf

by Anonymous

HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics. Written by an anonymous poet between the 8th and 11th centuries, this Old English epic poem follows the story of Beowulf, courageous hero of the Geats in Scandinavia. The King of the Danes has found his hall and his people under attack by a monster known as Grendel, and Beowulf fearlessly offers to defend them. The fearsome warrior defeats Grendel with his bare hands, only to find that Grendel’s mother is hot on his heels. Beowulf defeats this second ferocious monster with the skill of his sword, and returns to Geatland, victorious. Fifty years pass, during which Beowulf has become King of the Geats, and his bravery is once more called to task. This time, Beowulf must defeat a clever and vicious dragon, but now in the hopes of defending his own people and land, or risk losing everything. One of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature, Beowulf is the thrilling tale of the eponymous hero in his battle against monsters and dragons and in pursuit of courage and valour.

Genres: Epic, Classics

176 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2006

About the author

Books can be attributed to "Anonymous" for several reasons:

* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author

Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.

See also: Anonymous

Reviews

[Antonia Panayotova · Rating 3 out of 5]

I understand how impressive it is for what it is and when it was created, but reading it today it is okay. Yes an epic, fascianting stories, but I don't love the structure and lyricism is a bit lacking (the changed language likely doesn't help), and it reminds me somewhat of the illiad of how descriptive it is, rather than action focuses (even for such a short book). It is worth reading though,fascinating to understand where many drew inspiration from for today's epics

[Gabriel Tamaș · Rating 3 out of 5]

The rating is for the translation alone. The story obviously gets 5/5 stars.

Yet the translation, albeit trying to sound genuine, with all te aliterations and skaldic metaphors, it comes short in conveying the narration itself. Especially for a non-native speaker, this version is a slow and teadious read, with many segments of the story left unclear.