Beowulf
Back in University, I wrote an essay about Beowulf and its relationship to the idea of bildungsroman. My original topic was quite different, but I lost control on the essay about halfway through.
So Many Books
The first part of my research involved the “Beowulf Wall” at UBC’s‘s Koerner library. I’d never read Beowulf, so I decided to grab a few (13 in total) different translations along with a number of essay collections. For a week, it was rare to see a section of bedroom floor not covered by various texts of/on Beowulf.
Anglo-Saxon
I read most of the 13 translations all the way through, and was left confused (annoyed) by the extreme amount of variation between the translations. I found myself selectively quoting different translations to fit my purpose, but I hit a big snag with one section. Every translation was completely different, and it seemed to hinge on the meaning of a handful of individual words. So I went back to the library and got a couple of Anglo-Saxon to English dictionaries, and a copy of Beowulf in the original language.
The Best Citations
Manually translating the passage made all the difference. The entire story opened up for me. There was an obvious (to me) interaction between Beowulf and Grendel that was glossed over in every translation (yes, even the Seamus Heaney version!) I had read! Breakthrough! I took that passage and agonized over it, synthesizing what I’d learned from other translations, and supplementing my own for parts that didn’t make sense to me. I ended up quoting the original Anglo Saxon in my text and footnoting my own translations – something I’d only ever done with French.
Things Go Wrong
It was at this point that I lost it a little. I spent (at least) an entire weekend insisting people call me Beowulf. I was interpreting life the way an Angle-Saxon would (or at least how my mushed up mind told me they would). Friends tell me they saw me muttering under my breath for a few days with words that sounded English, but had a Germanic edge to them. The essay was terrible. The content was there, but I was completely unable to organize my thoughts in any cogent way. Eventually, I did one last copy edit, turned it into a readable length, hit print, and tried to forget about it.
I think I got a B+. Pretty melodramatic if you ask me.
Another Movie
So I’m really exited about this movie. Why?
- I love Beowulf.
- Roger Avary AND Neil Gaiman are executive producers.
- Angelina Jolie as Grendel’s mother? Swoon
- It doesn’t look so completely awful that I won’t end up watching it.
- I REALLY love Beowulf.
*** Read Beowulf at Project Gutenberg.
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