Beowulf
Translation and Commentary
Tom Shippey & Leonard Neidorf
Published by Uppsala Books, 2023
Beowulf, composed around 700 A.D., is the first great epic poem
in the English language. It tells the timeless story of a hero's fight
against monsters and sets it against a complex background of political
intrigue and tribal warfare. Situated in sixth-century Scandinavia, the
poem brings to life a magnificent world that fuses history with fantasy.
Tom Shippey's new translation of Beowulf, reflecting a
lifetime of engagement with the poem,makes its story clearer and
more compelling than it has ever been. The original Old English text
of Beowulf is included along with an extensive and innovative
commentary, which guides the reader passage-by-passage through
the poem and its criticism.
Tom Shippey has taught at six universities in Britain and America,
including Oxford and Harvard. He is an authority on medieval literature
and J.R.R. Tolkien. His works include The Road to Middle Earth,
Old English Verse, and Beowulf and the North before the Vikings.
Leonard Neidorf is Professor of English at Nanjing University, where
he teaches courses on Old English, Middle English, and Old Norse.
He taught previously at Harvard University. His works include
The Transmission of Beowulf and The Art and Thought of the Beowulf Poet.
(The text above comes from the back of the book)