Beowulf

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Swanton's translation is very readable and largely literal. - Rated
Swanton's translation of 'Beowulf' is very readable and largely literal so it is ideal for both ordinary readers and students studying the piece.

The heroic storyline is faithfully conveyed in prose, while a sense of the poetry and reflective mood of the original is also retained. Swanton's translation appears side-by-side with the Anglo-Saxon text allowing easy reference and understanding.

Swanton draws on the considerable critical attention this moving and dramatic poem has received since its rediscovery in the nineteenth century, to provide an interesting and balanced introduction and useful, comprehensive notes throughout the piece.

As Swanton states, Beowulf is 'the oldest piece of vernacular literature of any substance not only in England but the whole of Europe, it breathes the true spirit of the northern Heroic Age' and this is an extremely valuable and enjoyable translation of it.