Beowulf: Dragonslayer (Red Fox Classics)

GROAN!

When I gave this joke to an English professor, he used it in class, and promptly returned it to me.

Okay. I'll accept that. But, Beowulf deserves the kind of serious attention that would prompt people to want to make bad jokes about it (unimportant things are ignored; only important things are held up in jest).

Beowulf is an old poem--often considered the first in English. This is technically not true, for linguistic and other reasons (where the demarcations of English beginnings fall are debatable; also there is the fact that there are older poems, just not epic poems). An epic is a long, narrative poem, a literary form undervalued today, but which was probably the equivalent of a Cecil B. DeMille production in more ancient times. The Illiad, the Odyssey, the Aeneid, Gilgamesh--all these are epic poems. Generally, they recount heroic deeds, and most often were composed and intended as oral history. Beowulf consists of 3182 existing lines.

Scholars also disagree on the 'British heritage' of the poem, many believing it more likely to be an import from Anglo-Saxon European homelands than a composition original to the Britain. The tale does portray two leaders, Hrothgar, leader of the Danes, and Beowulf, leader of the Geats, a Swedish tribe. These are interconnected through generations of family intermarriages, and Beowulf because of this loyalty takes his men to help defend Hrothgar's home against the monster Grendel.

The tale of Beowulf involves heroism, sacrifice, loyalty, warfare, conflict and resolution--all the elements that go into a good action feature. It also has moral overtones (so it was meant to educate and inspire as well as entertain). It carries the strong message that a fighting man's allegiance to the overlord and to God should be absolute (something that is often instilled in soldiers of today). It is almost decidedly Klingon in the glorification of battle (in fact, I've often wondered if the Star Trek universe took a leaf out of this epic to create the Klingon idea)--Beowulf fights three battles (a holy trinity of battles, almost), dying gloriously in the final battle with a great dragon, after having lived an honourable and courageous life.

This story contains elements of both early Christianity and late paganism, however in some cases the Christian aspects may be later additions by monks who transcribed the manuscripts (monks were noted for doing that in many circumstances, including Biblical texts). The oldest existing manuscript dates from about the tenth century and is preserved in the British Museum.

This particular translation is geared toward the youth, who would look to Beowulf as an epic, old poem (read - boring!), but can come to find fantastic elements that might hearken to fantasy tales popular in today's literature and cinema.

A great poem, and good translation in prose form, bridging the past and the present together in a good way. Heaney's translation is a better translation for academic purposes, and perhaps also for adult reading, but this text is a useful one also for those who want to get yet more out of the tale of Beowulf, particularly for younger readers.


Captures the excitement - if not the poetry   February 27, 2004
Martin Turner (Birmingham, England)
25 out of 27 found this review helpful

Dragon Slayer is a gripping retelling for younger audiences of England's oldest epic. I read it when I was nine, ten years before my first encounter with the real Beowulf at university.

I would have to say that Rosemary Sutcliffe has got it almost exactly right for her target age group, and she makes it a great story which I would recommend to any child. The terrifying violence of the fight with Grendel, through to the final, heroic stand against the dragon is all there. All the non-essentials are stripped out, and Sutcliffe takes us straight into the story without over-explanation.

This is the _story_ of Beowulf: it's not a translation of the poem nor is it a version of the poem for younger readers. And it's a very good story.

The original poem, though, has three more things that this retelling doesn't cover.

First, the language of Beowulf is absolutely riveting. This doesn't come across in any translation I've seen, although Sutcliffe does do a good job in this retelling of giving us the occasional glimpse of it.

Second, the rhythm of Beowulf is powerful and heroic. Various translators have tried to reproduce this, but usually at the expense of clarity. Sutcliffe wisely sticks to prose.

Third, Beowulf is a poem full of digressions - half told stories which fill the poem with greater meaning. These aren't part of this retelling, which is, once again, a wise choice given Rosemary Sutcliffe's audience.

This is a marvellous book to read, and it's also a good book to read aloud in support of a project about the Anglo-Saxons.

If you are reading it to children, it's worth giving them just a glimpse of the sound of the original by reading out loud the first few lines and the last few lines of the poem in Old English - or getting someone who can to put it on a tape for you. Just a snatch of the first poet's voice, to take them back to days dark under the clouds, and as a fitting memorial to a warrior and king who was 'leodum lithost ond lofgeornost'.


A bold retelling of a great dark age tale   September 4, 2001
Chorizo D'Horreur (England)
32 out of 36 found this review helpful

My interest in the works of Rosemary Sutcliff was re-awakened a couple of years ago. It followed a newspaper article reminiscing on the smoke filled long halls full of warriors and bards, evoking the imagery of the sagas of the Dark Ages. I had read a good number of her books when I was at school but despite the fact that my school days are decades ago I felt compelled to re-explore her work.

Beowulf is one of my favourite stories. I recently read an abridged version to my children and I was forced by them to read passages aloud from this work too.

I read Heaney's translation last year and Sutcliff's version is fairly faithful to the original as far as I can tell.

It's fast paced, the imagery is strong - it's just how it should be. Sutcliff does Beowulf justice - even though I am sure I am a good bit older than her target audience.