Beowulf : A Translation and Commentary, Together with Sellic Spell

Tolkien made this translation of the most famous extant Anglo Saxon poem early in his career. It's prose which disappointed me when I found out - after purchase! - it is very rhythmical, but I don't suppose it approximates the experience of reading the original very well. Still, I've always liked the story. Flagon thinks the Dragon is hard done by and that everybody (including the Dragon) should have calmed down and discussed the situation properly - that's what he'd have done! Then Beowulf could have had a nice retirement and the Dragon could have had another long nap.

There is a lengthy commentary attached to the translation, taken from Tolkien's notes for lectures and so forth. I'm in no position to weigh in on any of the scholarly arguments raised or how much modern opinion has moved on from where Tolkien stood. Apart from clarifying some obscure points, the main thing I got from reading the commentary was a sense of what issues are faced by editors trying to produce a modern edition or translation of Beowulf and by extension Anglo-Saxon and other Mediaeval literatures and a strong impression of the breadth as well as depth of Tolkien's scholarship and expertise. He demonstrates knowledge not just of Anglo-Saxon literature in toto but of all Mediaeval literature and the history of northern Europe, stretching back into the Dark Ages, including archaeological inferences. Further, he understood all the relevant philology, too. Of course this means I was left way out of my depth at times.

Perhaps (for me) the best part of this book came next - Sellic Spell. This is Tolkien's attempt to write a folk-tale based on the "fairy-story" elements of Beowulf before the historical/legendary elements were merged to produce the story we know. This is delightful. Tolkien's other published fairy stories are very good and this is no exception. His best prose occurs when he is aiming at the folk-tale style and this is no exception.

Finally there are two versions of a verse re-telling of the first part of Beowulf (in a Tolkien-contemporary idiom), which are short but fun.

If you want an accessible translation of Beowulf and a sense of what the associated academic problems are, this is a worthwhile book. If you are an expert in Anglo-Saxon literature this might prove interesting in terms of showing what Tolkien thought in detail about the greatest Anglo-Saxon poem that remains to us. If you want to study the poem seriously this is decidedly not the place to start, though.