Your copy of Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf arrives from Amazon and you actually want to read it.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
(Hey, that could apply to me.)
Posted by Lime (Member # 1707) on :
I knew I should have majored in English! That's a fine translation*, by the way. Very good read.
(*WARNING: Lime has not actually read any other translations, and may or may not know what he is talking about.)
[ August 25, 2005, 12:01 PM: Message edited by: Lime ]
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
You get excited when the new Chicago Manual of Style comes out.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Hey! I majored in English. You know you majored in English when you realize after graduation that you are among the least employable of all the college graduates.
(I went back to school and got my Bachelor's Degree in Nursing -- the most employable major)
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
You know you majored in English when you turn up your nose at Seamus Heaney for ruining Beowulf.
Posted by Lime (Member # 1707) on :
I... should add a note to my previous statement.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Many people love Seamus Heaney. His translation is very readable and poetic. However, it is my opinion that his translation is not the most faithful to the original. Don't let my snobbery ruin Heaney for you, though. Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
My main reaction to Heaney's translation was that it didn't sound like Beowulf, it sounded like his other poetry. Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Exactly! And I haven't even read any of his other poetry! But I got the distinct impression that it wasn't Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney as much as it was Seamus Heaney's Beowulf. When you've got five or six translations in front of you, and one of them is Heaney's, you quickly realize that one of these things is not like the other.
Posted by pfresh85 (Member # 8085) on :
I'm glad I'm not an English major. I hated Beowulf.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
I never had to read Beowulf as an English major. Didn't take that class.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
I have a secret confession: I've never read the whole thing. But I've read some in Old English, so I think that makes up for it.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
I've only read one translation of it.
I did read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in Old English in high school, though.
Posted by Lime (Member # 1707) on :
JB - No worries about spoiling it for me with snobbery! I enjoyed it quite a bit, mostly for the readability. The other translations that I had been looking at (on the internets, which I realize is not the best source for such things, necessarily) were pretty thick.
Do you have a recommendation? I'd love to check out other translations - and the thought of finding a better one is alluring.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
quote:Originally posted by ketchupqueen: I've only read one translation of it.
I did read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in Old English in high school, though.
*coughMiddleEnglishcough*
Old English is pretty unreadable unless you've studied it. You can muddle your way through Middle English, though. But as far as I can tell, it hasn't been published yet.
Lime: The best I know of is by Ruth Lehmann. However, I haven't read very much of it. I also want to check out Tolkien's, even though it's not a complete verse translation.
Posted by Space Opera (Member # 6504) on :
Mmmm...literature stuff.
I told Mr. Opera the other day that if I only had English classes left I'd have finished my degree by now. I have 20some credits left to take of anything *but* English and nothing sounds nearly as fun.
space opera
Posted by Lime (Member # 1707) on :
JB: I tried to find snippets of Tolkien's translation, but I wasn't successful. I'd like to read his as well, though I'm a slight bit put off by it not being a complete verse translation.
Ruth Lehmann? Awesome. It's on my list.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Jonathon, what do you think about Heaney's first word of his translation?
I also got The Tain and The Complete Romances of Chretien de Troyes.
All books that had been taken by the wrathful gods of mildew in my father's basement. Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
quote:Originally posted by mackillian: Jonathon, what do you think about Heaney's first word of his translation?
I don't know what it is.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
So. (that's the first word)
I just remember it vividly because my medieval lit professor complained so much about it.
And did you study Arthurian Legend at all?
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Oh, that's right, JB. *is not an English major, so doesn't really care*
Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
quote:You know you majored in English when you realize after graduation that you are among the least employable of all the college graduates.
I submit that a BFA in Painting is the least employment desirable major out there.
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
I read The Tain a few years back. Is that the Thomas Kinsella version? I enjoyed it quite a bit - though I wish I could get the rest of the Fenian Cycle.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
SO?! What a hack.
And no, I didn't really study any Arthurian legend.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
quote:Originally posted by jeniwren: I submit that a BFA in Painting is the least employment desirable major out there.
Jeniwren wins.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
quote:Many people love Seamus Heaney. His translation is very readable and poetic. However, it is my opinion that his translation is not the most faithful to the original.
I haven't read Heaney's Beowulf, so I can't really comment on it in particular, but I'm curious to know what you mean when you say "faithful to the original".
Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
Jeniwren knows this only because her mother has just such a degree. Mom followed this up with an only slightly more unemployable degree: an MFA in Illustration.
When she decided that it was time to go back to school again (she was still unemployed and couldn't get a job), I fought hard for her to *please* get a degree in accounting. Which she did. Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
It has little of the rhythm and tone of the translations I am more accustomed to (which I was always told reflected the rhythm and tone of the original).
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
It's not a very literal translation in many places. I think Heaney takes a lot of liberties with the meaning in order to maintain his particular feel, which I feel was more Heaney than Beowulf.
Like I said, the other five translations I was looking at could all be very similar, but then Heaney's would be off doing its own thing. I simply got the feeling that he was more interested in his own poetry than in the Anglo-Saxons who wrote it.
One of the most noticeable places where the literalness suffers is in compound words. The Anglo-Saxons loved compounds, just like the Germans do today, and he really kills the Old English flavor by not keeping many compounds.
I'll see if I can find any more concrete examples when I get home.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Mack, I bet I can guess the next line! Is it, "A needle pulling thread?"
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
i would bet that the So had an asterisk.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Seamus Heaney is totally the type to add insult to injury like that. What a jerk.
Posted by Javert (Member # 3076) on :
Can someone strike up the "What can you do with a BA in English" song from Avenue Q?
But then again, I'm a theater major, so I shouldn't really talk.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Theater Majors!
<mock shudder>
Posted by screechowl (Member # 2651) on :
I majored in biology and minored in English and my job offers were in English. Teaching jobs, that is.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Thankfully your job offers weren't in Chinese. That would have been confusing! Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :
Joe: I'm learning Chinese. Monkey: How's it going? Joe: Not good. It's just a bunch of scribbles.
I must not be a godd English major. Reading a translation of Beowulf would not be my idea of leisure reading.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Jonathon, what's your take on the first word? (Hwaet) as for meaning?
FC, yeah, it's the Kinsella version. I read it when I took Celtic Lit.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
quote:Originally posted by mackillian: Jonathon, what's your take on the first word? (Hwaet) as for meaning?
I would use "lo" or "behold." "So" sounds way too casual. "So, this one time, me and the Spear-Danes, we heard about this one dude called Beowulf."
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
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But I've read some in Old English, so I think that makes up for it.
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I enjoyed it quite a bit, mostly for the readability. The other translations that I had been looking at (on the internets, which I realize is not the best source for such things, necessarily) were pretty thick.![[Frown]](frown.gif)
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