Epic stuff - Rated 
Heaney has tried to retell the poem in its own terms, and his recasting of the poet's original imagery is vivid - we can almost smell Grendel and his mother, and Smaug's hoard seems a pale reflection of the dragon which brings about the tragic end of Beowulf's life. (Of course, Tolkien was one of the leading Beowulf scholars of the twentieth century, and there are entire sections of The Hobbit which have practically been copied from here.)
Apart from the gloriousness of the overall narrative, three things struck me on reading Heaney's translation, two more or less for the first time. First, it is actually an explicitly Christian poem, if in a rather weird way. Hrothgar commissions Beowulf to fight Grendel in terms that sound like God the Father sending his Son to defeat evil. Although the setting is the pagan past, the writer makes frequent allusions to Judeo-Christian concepts of destiny and virtue; the only explicitly non-Christian characters are the monsters.
Second, and related, there are numerous reflections on what makes a good king - not just the narrator's own oft-repeated phrase, "þæt wæs god cyning!" but also discourses from various characters in the midst of the action. It practically makes Beowulf a treatise on political science, along with its many other features.
Third - and this was the point I had noticed on previous skimming of the text - is the occasional diversion of the narrative to tell some other story only tangentially related by theme or personality to the main narrative. I'm going to stick my neck out and say that it doesn't work well for me, and I can't believe it worked well in oral presentation. I am inclined to think that the compiler of our version used the opportunity to fold in some other bits and pieces of epic poetry which he or she had handy, so that they would not be lost to posterity.
Beowulf - Seamus Heaney - Rated
Seamus Heaney's literary transaltion, 'Beowulf', is an epic adaptation of the originally Anglo - Saxon poem, written sometime between the 8th and early 11th century. Heaney's choppy, unforgiving tongue describes the life of a Scandinavian hero as he battles enemies and fends off evil.
Beowulf, legendary warrior, is called upon to fight alongside the Danes as they take on the ferocious, evil creature known as Grendel. On Beowulf's success, he is to discover that the mother of the creature is far superior to Grendel and poses a much greater threat to the Danes. In an exciting flourish of literary genius, the creature is left defeated and Beowulf triumphant.
After his long return home to Southern Sweden, this legendary warrior is pronounced king. His rule is long and uninterrupted and he is regarded as the saviour of the land. Heaney's precise characterisation of the warrior gives a godly and highly respected tone, which urges the reader to admire Beowulf. However after a 50 year rule, Beowulf's empire is terrorized by a dragon. The atmosphere peaks and troughs as the now frail king is locked in an intense brawl to slay the dragon. A sharp climax in the plot is followed by a calming and delicate description of the aftermath, leaving the reader floating on emotion.
Though short, Heaney's translation is nothing short of a masterpiece offering a gripping, tense and emotional portrayal of this Anglo-Saxon myth.
Beowulf: Story of a true warrior - Rated 
This remarkable story was written sometime between seventh and tenth century of first millennium in Anglo-Saxon or Old English language. Seamus Heaney translation is simple and easy to read for those who are not the biggest fans of poems like these. Seamus Heaney managed to translate this heroic poem from old English language and turn it into an easy reading. Although the story is full of action and quite interesting history facts, the most interesting part for me was the introduction of this translation. Seamus Heaney introduces the book with all the small details about this translation. The basic idea of the plot, characters relationship and prehistory of the poem are being described in the introduction followed by the interesting story of how the author translated this edition. Nevertheless, the poem itself is really interesting and what was most important for me - easy to read and understand. The poem tells a story about a Geat warrior named Beowulf, who fights two monsters in the book - Grendel and his mother in order to save Denmark from their terror. After defeating the monsters Beowulf returns home to become a King of Geats and once more an enemy awaits. Beowulf fights a huge dragon and meets his heroic death. Apart from wonderfully described battles, the poem is full of stories about Denmark, Sweden and Beowulf's native lands' history. In the story, Beowulf is a warrior, a king and a prophet. A hero that should be known by everyone. Strong recommendations to read the book, and if you can - listen to the audio translation as well.
Epic stuff! - Rated
This was my first encounter with Beowulf, (I haven't seen the film either). I chose the bilingual edition to see what the Old English looked like and although I could barely recognise a word, it did help to see the shape, metre and style of the original. Heaney's translation is easy to read, very straight-forward in language, and the accompanying essay helps you see how much work goes into preserving some of the form of the original in the modern translation.
With the original and Heaney's version printed side by side, it affected the way I read it. I tended to readi it aloud to myself (but in my head), trying to see the translation's cadence resonating with the original's two parts to each line. This was novel for me and enjoyable for one who doesn't normally do poetry!
As a story, you can see why it survives, but there is too much pontificating on the glories of war, fighting and serving the king and not enough action; Beowulf's dispatching of Grendel seemed to be little more than arm-wrestling and was over in a couple of pages.
I'm glad I read it and am sure I will refer to it again.
Monotonous - Rated 
I was very much looking forward to listening to 'Beowulf' read by its illustrious author/translator. Audiobooks read by their authors must be as credible as anything can be - or so I thought. Whilst I am not denying the skill displayed in this beautifully poetic translation, the soft Irish tones of Seamus Heaney are not for me, atleast, not after the first 20 minutes of listening. The descriptive passages are luxurious, the battle scenes full of action, the characters heroic yet vulnerable. So where is the enthusiasm in the reader's voice, where the awe, the admiration for the story? I am sure no teacher or casting director would have ever freely chosen Mr Heaney as The Narrator for any performance or playreading. Seamus Heaney has indeed given us a brilliant and admirable translation, but I strongly recommend that he restricts his professional activities to the written and not the spoken word.
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