Tolkien, Heaney, and Beowulf, Part Two

::Cue dramatic radio announcer voice:: When two unparalleled authors face off in an epic translation battle, only one can take the throne. Who will wear the laurels, and who will be the loser? Welcome to…Heaney vs Tolkien: The Beowulf Battle.

…All right, maybe translations of a 1,300-year-old poem don’t feel like a reality TV competition to you, but they do to me. If you read my last post, you’ll know I’m talking about two translations of the Old English poem Beowulf—one by J.R.R Tolkien and the other by Irish poet Seamus Heaney. To me, a great translation would include elements of Old English poetry like alliteration, repetition, foreshadowing, kenning, litotes, and caesura. It’s a pretty high bar. Ready to find out which translator won my Old English Epic Poetry Battle?    

And the judge says…NEITHER!

That’s right. Neither of them is enough like Old English poetry to please me. There. I’ve revealed my unrealistically-high expectations. Now you can judge me if you want. But first, let me take a minute to describe each translation style and give you two examples from the text. Then you can make your own assessment and heckle me at your leisure.

Heaney’s Beowulf: A Vivid Poem

Seamus Heaney did try to make his translation similar to Old English poetry. It’s highly descriptive, and he breaks up the lines like a poem. He uses alliteration and caesura whenever it’s convenient. You can tell he took his inspiration from Old English poetic style.  

However, he abandons the Old English conventions when it becomes too much of a stretch. Also, his word choice fails to preserves the archaic feel of the text. He uses bold words that catch the attention by their modern sound. It may be a deliberate technique to make the translation feel fresh and relatable, but I think something wonderful is lost when the style no longer reflects the setting.

Don’t get me wrong: I really did enjoy his translation. It’s vivid and sonorous, perfect for reading aloud like the original poem would have been. Many parts remind me of the translation of The Iliad and The Odyssey I read by Richmond Lattimore—manly, picturesque, and gory. Let me give you two examples from the poem, the first from when Beowulf is boasting of his battle prowess, and the second from the end of Beowulf’s battle with the monster Grendel.

Beowulf’s Boast, Heaney’s Translation

Time and again, foul things attacked me,
Lurking and stalking, but I lashed out,
Gave as good as I got with my sword.
My flesh was not for feasting on,
There would be no monsters gnawing and gloating
Over their banquet at the bottom of the sea.
Instead, in the morning, mangled and sleeping
The sleep of the sword, they slopped and floated
Like the ocean’s leavings. (39)

Grendel’s Defeat, Heaney’s Translation

…Then an extraordinary
Wail arose, and bewildering fear
Came over the Danes. Everyone felt it
Who heard that cry as it echoed off the wall,
A God-cursed scream and strain of catastrophe,
The howl of the loser, the lament of the hell-serf
Keening his wound…(53)

Tolkien’s Beowulf: A Formal Prose

Tolkien’s translation of Beowulf is completely different from Heaney’s. First of all, it’s not even a poem! It’s a literal translation straight to prose. In his defense, Tolkien didn’t intend his translation for publication. Instead, what we read is a copy of his teaching notes from Oxford, where he taught Old English literature. The only reason we have the privilege of enjoying it is because his son Christoper compiled and edited his father’s notes and publish them after Tolkien’s death.

I must say that the translation itself is wonderful despite the fact that it’s not a poem. Tolkien does a great job capturing that grand, archaic feel of the Old English period. The words he chose feel ancient and weighty, perfectly fit for the subject material. In fact, I bet he used words exclusively derived from Anglo-Saxon rather than French or other later additions to English. He was such a brilliant linguist that he could easily have highlighted the ancient feel in that way. So while the translation isn’t a poem, it’s still a delightful rendering that feels like Rohan. Behold the examples:

You can tell the translation is an academic endeavor when you flip through a copy of Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary. You’ll notice pretty quickly that only a quarter of it is translation, and the rest of it is commentary—almost 300 pages of commentary from Tolkien’s lecture notes and from other scholars chiming in on the translation. If that’s your cup of tea, you’re going to love this book. If not, enjoy the translation and skip the commentary.

Beowulf’s Boast, Tolkien’s Translation

Thus many a time deadly assailants menaced me grievously. With my beloved sword I ministered to them, as it was meet. In no wise had they joy in that banqueting, foul doers of ill deeds, that they should devour me sitting around in feast nigh to the bottoms of the sea; nay, upon the morrow they lay upon the shore in the flotsam of the waves, wounded by sword thrusts, by blades done to death….(28-29)

Grendel’s Defeat, Tolkien’s Translation

Clamour new arose ever and anon. Dread fear came upon the northern Danes, upon each of those that from the wall heard the cries, the adversary of God singing his ghastly song, no chant of victory, the prisoner of hell bewailing his grievous hurt. (35)

No Clear Winner

So what do you think? Do you prefer one over the other? If you’re pining for poetry, Heaney’s is superior. If you love the ancient feeling of monsters and dragons, then Tolkien may be what you’re looking for. While I can’t say which translation is better overall, I can confidently say that both are worth reading.

Now to find a perfect third translation. Let the Old English Epic Poetry Battle continue.