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Bring On the Monsters: Tolkien's Translation of Beowulf To Be Published
Hugh Pickens DOT Com (2995471) writes "Tolkien was often criticized by his academic colleagues for wasting time on fiction, even though that fiction has probably done more to popularize medieval literature than the work of 100 scholars. Now John Garth reports that HarperCollins plans to publish Tolkien's long-awaited 1926 translation of the oldest surviving Old English epic poem about Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, who kills the monster Grendel with his bare hands and Grendel's mother with a sword of a giant that he found in her lair. Verlyn Flieger, identifies Beowulf as representing one of the two poles of Tolkien's imagination: the darker half, in which we all face eventual defeat – a complete contrast to the sudden joyous upturn of hope that he also expresses so superbly. 'In truth,' writes Garth, 'it is his ability to move between the two attitudes that really lends him emotional power as a writer.' Tolkien pushed the monsters to the forefront arguing that they 'represent the impermanence of human life, the mortal enemy that can strike at the heart of everything we hold dear, the force against which we need to muster all our strength – even if ultimately we may lose the fight.' Without the monsters, the peculiarly northern courage of Beowulf and his men is meaningless. Tolkien, veteran of the Somme, knew that it was not. 'It will be fascinating to see how [Tolkien] exercised his literary, historical and linguistic expertise on the poem,' concludes Garth adding that Tolkien was the arch-revivalist of literary medievalism, who made it seem so relevant to the modern world. 'I can't wait to see his version of the first English epic.'"
The man's peculiar obsession with Old Norse mythology rivaled anything you would have found in Renaissance-era studies of classical Greek and Roman thought.
I have read another translation of Beowulf (not sure which one - it has been over a decade now) and I saw the last CGI film adaptation. It is an interesting story, and with how much I love Tolkien's own fiction I greatly look forward to reading his translation / adaptation. Crossing my fingers for a nice hardbound version, to sit next to my leather bound LotR and Hobbit books :)
William George
early 20th century. If Tolkien hadn't written Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and The Silmarillion less than a hundred people currently alive would know who he was. Tolkien is remembered for Middle-earth, not for his scholarship. This is a work of scholarship, not Middle-earth, so the fact that it is something Tolkien produced is completely irrelevant.
Can I get a cluster of beowulf jokes?
This tale has existed for millennia. Tolkien wrote his translation in 1926.
But since it's just being published now, a new copyright term begins.
Yet another flaw in copyright law that something ought to be done about.
After the commercial success of LoTR and the Hobbit trilogy, it's only a matter of time.
Oh wait.
In what world is Tolkien not considered News for Nerds?
If you aren't a fan of Tolkien's writings, you can turn in your nerd card right now.
I kid, of course... but only just barely...
William George
Peter Jackson is looking to d-r-a-g this single poem out and turn it into a 6-movie snoring fest.
Part of it was his love of Germanic languages. Part of it was that the Germanic pagan folk and religious traditions were best preserved into Christian times by Norse chroniclers, whereas the West and East Germanic traditions were largely lost. To get at the English mythology he so wanted to see, the only real route was through the Scandinavians.
That being said, Beowulf is an Old English poem, even though it describes events in Denmark. I don't anyone knows if Beowulf has a history before the 7th century, so whether it was someone writing down an old tale known from the time before the Anglo-Saxon invasions of England, or a unique work all its own is unknown.
The Germanic peoples lived in an interesting complex of related cultures and languages in the early centuries AD, and while Germanic had already split into its major divisions; West Germanic (ancestor of English, Dutch and German), East German (Gothic, long extinct) and Northern (the Scandinavian languages), there was a considerable amount of commonality between these groups. Particularly in and around modern Denmark, the West and Northern Germanic peoples lived in close quarters, so it wouldn't be surprising if North Germanic tales made it into the Anglo-Saxon tradition.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
I recently sat through The Desolation of Smaug and now I have no appetite whatsoever to watch another Peter Jackson movie. It all started so promising The Fellowship of the Ring, but now his movies have more shark-jumping than Tolkien.
This applies to the work in the USA; I can't speak to UK copyright law.
An unpublished work created before 1978 and later published has a copyright term of:
(1) the life of the author + 70 years (which would expire in 2043 for Tolkien), or
(2) 120 from creation (which would be 2046, if the work were anonymous)
I agree that copyright terms tend to be ludicrous, but those aren't "new" terms.
A Beowulf cluster - boom boom !!!
This has been talked about for decades, but it has sat on the shelf for reasons I haven't been able to figure out.
I'd heard that it may literally have had to do with the handwriting: the man's handwriting was, shall we say, idiosyncratic, and it takes considerable effort to decipher. His son Christopher devoted a lifetime to it. John Rateliff, who did similar work for drafts of The Hobbit, consulted with a Tolkien graphologist in the process. (He was able to get a rough dating for one scrawl based on the details of the handwriting.) The fact that there even exists such a thing as a "Tolkien graphologist" is absurdly wonderfully.
Anybody know who edited this piece? Is it Christopher?
Regardless, I'm looking forward to this. "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics" was one of the most influential pieces of literary scholarship of the 20th century. It completely changed the way we look at Anglo-Saxon storytelling, and put fantasy literature on an entirely different footing. It's a magnificent piece of work, but not having his own translation of Beowulf available was maddening.
sudden joyous upturn of hope that he also expresses so superbly
You can really see that "joyous upturn of hope" at the end of the Lord of the Rings; After Frodo destroys the One Ring, he returns to the Shire and everything is just peachy-keen and happy! Classic Tolkien!
I'ts hard to read now. the pacing, the structuring it's all pretty much out of date.
And yes, I am a fan, I am literally in the fan club, had an 8 foot map of Middle Earth as a child and I wore a Frodo Lives! button.
I have spent hours explaining to people that there are Two types of Giant Eagles and shows exactly why they couldn't fly the ring bearer any closer to mordor.
Clearly, I ahave a passion for his works.
I recently read them to my children.. well, 5-7 years ago, and they where pretty painful in a lot of ways
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
One needn't stretch too far, to view Beowulf as the literary manifestation of an older, orally transmitted tradition. The "Geats" are derived etymologically from the "Goths", the famous early Germanic people known to the latest classical antiquarians:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geats
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goths
Funny, to classify this as "Northern". The eventual disposition of the Germanic people were in Europe's outer northwest regions, but the culturally defining aspect of the people were present, even as they were occupants of the Balkan peninsula, and swathes of steppe, far to the east.
The Indo-Iranic hero tradition is similar in ethos and story development to the Teutonic myths. Small reason for surprise, really - when one considers the near common origin of Caucasus and steppe tribes, some which eventually invaded as Aryans in Asia, others who pushed westward as proto-Germanic migration and invasion.
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
Tolkien's major contribution to the study of Beowulf was to assert that it was more than just a bit of antiquarian poetry to be mined for fragments of linguistic and historical, but rather a work of art to be appreciated as poetry – monsters, dragons and all. That he also crafted legends to be enjoyed for their own sake (rather than as quasi-historical pastiche a la William Morris) is no accident. His translation of Beowulf (and the 'Monsters and Critics' material that will be published in that volume) is an exemplar of his thesis on story-telling and legend.
In that story everything Human is destroyed, and I don't think you can get more darker than the destruction and revenge of Human beings.
My ism, it's full of beliefs.
and they can make a movie out of it.
Robert Zemeckis already did, over half a decade ago.
The life in question is Christopher Tolkien's because it will likely be impossible for a member of the public to prove what parts were JRRT's and which are Christopher's edits.
I'ts hard to read now. the pacing, the structuring it's all pretty much out of date.
You're not kidding. What good is a novel if it doesn't have bearded weirdies making duck calls, people who cut down trees in swamps, and ancient aliens? I mean really!
I prefer Piers Anthony's "The Broken Sword" that came out the same year, but have to admit that I would happily listen to the BBC radio adaption of Lord of The Rings several times in a row. It doesn't have the Trickster God Tom Bombadil in it.
actually, Tokien's 2000 page translation and comments were sort of rediscovered in 2002 in the archives of the Bodleian Library. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/10708064/Tolkien-translation-of-Beowulf-to-be-published-for-first-time.html
funny that the Libary said, in effect yeah we knew about it....what of it?
-- iggymanz
The Hobbit isn't too bad if you skip all that interminable singing.
If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
... is The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.
(I liked the Seamus Heaney version too.)
And yes, I am a fan, I am literally in the fan club, had an 8 foot map of Middle Earth as a child and I wore a Frodo Lives! button.
Could it also be that you are 20 years older than you were when you first read them? What enthralls us in middle school isn't necessarily what will entertain us when we get older. People, unlike books, change as they get older, and sometimes don't even notice themselves doing so...
Monstar L
"The fact that the Lord of the Rings has appendices with back stories, histories, evolution of languages, and sorts of other little interesting tidbits quite clearly show Tolkien was not only an author but a scholar as well."
I was of an odd age that fell between the right ages to truly appreciate Tolkien's efforts. But with a still-young appreciation for finesse, I *did* notice all those appendices. To this day High Fantasy hits a spot that I can't read, but I absolutely noticed the sixty pages (!) of appendices!
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
"I'd heard that it may literally have had to do with the handwriting: the man's handwriting was, shall we say, idiosyncratic, and it takes considerable effort to decipher. His son Christopher devoted a lifetime to it. John Rateliff, who did similar work for drafts of The Hobbit, consulted with a Tolkien graphologist in the process. (He was able to get a rough dating for one scrawl based on the details of the handwriting.) The fact that there even exists such a thing as a "Tolkien graphologist" is absurdly wonderful".
Given Tolkien's use of proper nouns every twelve words, this sounds fascinating!
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
And let's not forget that he also translated "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" and also "Pearl".
The mother of one of my friends back at school studied under him.
20 minutes into the future
You meant Poul Anderson's The Broken Sword, right?
Pete
Tolkien's edition of Gawain and the Green Knight is really good. A layperson can easily learn how to pronounce the Middle English of the text, which being a bit "Northern" is somewhat "older" and different than that of Chaucer. There's also a useful glossary. It's really a great book. If you like Tolkien, and you haven't read it, you should probably take a look at it. On the other hand, the claims above about Tolkien being the person who brought the Medieval into the Modern must come from a very narrow perspective. The Medieval was always there. Think of the work of the Pre-Raphaelites, or of Walter Scott. And Tolkien was far from the only fantasist whose work drew heavily on the Medieval. In fact, and I know this is heretical, but there are works out there that are in many ways better than his. But his world is amazing, his scholarship quite useful, and, in my opinion, he was on the right side of the issue with C.S. Lewis. (As a final note, he made an interesting contribution to an interesting little mystery, the "Nodens" ring and inscription. Also fun to check out.) A final, final note: Seamus Heany's version of Beowulf is a pretty good read too.
It's pretty much out of date? What a fool the writer is for not thinking of how the structure and pacing would be received 2000 years ahead! Clearly wasted their time.
Think before you post.
Most of that is probably due to the brainwashing effect of reading the exact same pacing, structure, character development, etc. over and over and over again in almost any given "modern" novel. Seriously, once you strip the fluff away, they all follow the same formula which is probably taught in those courses on "creative writing".
Sure, the formula works, but I am tiring of it...
Here's the truth about Beowufl. The poem sucks. Even if it's in a language you can read, it still sucks. When I was in college I read some of the great historical works of the past in Europe, some in translations, some in the original language (if I knew it), and Beowulf was by far the least interesting "classic" work I have ever read. The fact that Tolkien cared about it means nothing to me nor most people. Want proof that while this is of interest to the Tolkien fan boys, nobody else cares? Some years ago Robert Zemeckis, who is a directory I generally like, decided that everybody was just dying to see an adaptation of the film. It made about 60% of what it cost to make it. The truth is, most people don't care. The story sucks and few are interested in it.
And exactly how much, fan boys, do you think his translation is going to bring to the table any way? If it's vastly different than what came before it, then somebody blew it. Either Tolkien's is different because the people before him were really bad at translation and botched it, his is different because he is taking massive liberties with his translation and making assumptions that the original text may not actually support, or it's going to be barely different at all because there's just not that much difference between proper translations. I've done some translation work in my day and if done properly, there just shouldn't be all that much variation between different translations. I suppose Tolkien might use a word order better suited for modern readers or use less complicated words that convey the same meaning as previous translations, and I'd praise him for that, but such things should really be fairly minor versus previous translations.
And if you don't like Big Red Gum, you can go fuck yourself----Ricky Bobby
"I don't which is worse, that everyone has a price, or that the price is always so low"--Hobbes
Monster Grendel's tastes are plainish. Breakfast? Just a couple Danish.
King of Danes is frantic, very. Wait! Here comes the Malmo" ferry
Bring Beowulf, his neighbor, Mighty swinger with a saber!
Hrothgar's warriors hail the Swede, Knocking back a lot of mead;
Then, when night engulfs the Hall And the Monster makes his call,
Beowulf, with body-slam Wrenches off his arm, Shazam!
Monster's mother finds him slain, Grabs and eats another Dane!
Down her lair our hero jumps, Gives old Grendel's dam her lumps.
Later on, as king of Geats He performed prodigious feats
Till he met a foe too tough (Non-Beodegradable stuff)
And that scaly-armored dragon Scooped him up and fixed his wagon.
Sorrow-stricken, half the nation Flocked to Beowulf's cremation;
Round his pyre, with drums a-muffle Did a Nordic soft-shoe shuffle.
exactly why they couldn't fly the ring bearer any closer to mordor.
Two words: Flying Nazgul.
It would have made an epic work a lot shorter.
Actually, one of the things that has always fascinate me about Tolkien is that his writing styles are fitted so well to the subject matter. "Tree and Leaf" is very conversational. "Farmer Giles of Ham" could have been an old fireside tale repeated in a tavern. The Hobbit is, of course, a fairy tale, the Lord of the Rings a grand epic, and the Silmarillion is high history/mytholody. And that's exactly how they read.
Which means that some of those works may seem silly to "serious" readers while other readers are bored to tears by the stiffness of the more epic works. But it does demonstrate that Tolkien was a true master of language. Not just words and grammars, but language as it is actually used.
100 years almost...
The Grinnell Beowulf A group of students at Grinnell College recently did a translation of Beowulf as a project. It's online, and worth reading, and has good notes along with their translation.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die....
Man, I'll bet those two decades of me and my friends playing Champions really gave her a headache.
When you sympathize with stupidity, you start thinking like an idiot.