from Hacker News

Not the 'Beowulf' You Think You Know

by meebob on 8/28/20, 1:20 AM with 61 comments

• by tptacek on 8/28/20, 6:06 AM

  This calls to mind a lot of what McWhorter says about Shakespeare --- that it's an emperor's new clothes situation, we're only pretending we can understand 16th century English, but really not getting any of the original intent because none of the references make sense, and that if we really want to understand what those works mean, we need to update the language.

  If you read interviews Headley has given, you get the impression that she's read all basically all the translations (apparently Tolkien makes it sound just like Lord of the Rings), so it's interesting to see where she's taking it.

• by numlocked on 8/28/20, 5:59 AM

  I’m no scholar, but have a distinct memory of reading the Heaney translation of Beowulf perhaps 20 years ago (it was new at the time). I don’t recall any of the language per se, but have the distinct memory of thinking “this is extremely badass”. It seems completely reasonable that a more vernacular translation would be in some meaningful way more accurate (if not precise). This article brought back some of the adrenaline, and I expect that when I read this version, it will be exactly as I remember it.

• by RcouF1uZ4gsC on 8/28/20, 6:25 AM

  >I'm the strongest and the boldest,

  and the bravest and the best.

  Yes: I mean — I may have bathed in

  the blood of beasts,

  netted five foul ogres at once,

  smashed my way into a troll den

  and come out swinging, gone

  skinny-dipping in a sleeping sea

  and made sashimi of some sea monsters.

  Anyone who fs with the Geats? Bro,

  they have to f with me.

  -----

  Absolutely amazing. Captures the ethos of the hero so well.

  Sometimes, just like we thought the ancient statues were just stately unpainted stone, not realizing that they originally were brightly painted, we give these old stories a kind of formality and stuffiness, when in reality they were stories told by drunk warriors. This excerpt seems to capture that original essence. Looking forward to the book being released.

• by saagarjha on 8/28/20, 5:17 AM

  I'm not sure I can understand the strange juxtaposition of "modern" language with thousand-year-old meter.

• by 082349872349872 on 8/28/20, 5:21 AM

  Shots from the updated trailer for the Iliad:

  Paris - fanning golden apple slices off his palm Bitch is mine, yo!

  Achilles - Hos before bros. Patroclus hypes

  Athena - Not much slumming with the mortals where r u :eyes::owl:

  Hector - slomo in drifting chariot

  Odysseus - Same thing we do every night, Ajax. Try to sack Troy.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqMs9WsJg2k

• by _ZeD_ on 8/28/20, 6:50 AM

  Was I the only one reading the title and thinking about the Beowulf cluster[1]?

  [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf_cluster

• by cousin_it on 8/28/20, 6:25 AM

  A page comparing many many many translations of Beowulf: http://www.paddletrips.net/beowulf/html/journey.html

  One particular prose translation that I like: http://oaks.nvg.org/beowulf.html

  As an aside, I don't understand why people translating works of martial glory choose rap as the modern equivalent. People who actually fight in wars, from ancient times to now, tend to talk in "high" language.