Translating Beowulf

 He came in the night, it was dark because it was night. He was gliding and seemed to walk in the shadows. There was this horn-gabled hall and all the people who lived there were sleeping instead of guarding. Actually there was one guy still awake, he was pretty angry and looking forward to a battle. The rest of the men seemed to believe that they could only be killed if God willed it, and if God willed it they couldn't stay alive, so why bother trying to protect themselves. So it is to this hall that Grendel comes. He lived in the moors under the misty slope, no one had seen it so it's somewhat a guess exactly where. Since Grendel is ugly he must bear God's wrath and was certainly an enemy to mankind. He even come this particular night just to ensnare a specific person, the one who is awake, in the high hall. Grendel advanced under the clouds to the point where he readily recognized the golden-hall. It wasn't all gold, but did have a lot of wine and was decorated with fine ornaments. Grendel had been there before, obviously, and knew it was Hrothgar's home. However unfortunately for him he never before had such a fight as he was about to, and obviously never would again have such a fight. Subtle hint, he's going to die tonight.

When translating this passage I first attempted to do so line by line. This lead to massive confusion in who was doing what action to whom. I had the idea that I wanted to keep the form of the poem alive and consistent. By the time I had finished a translation that was readable and sensible I realized that my idea of keeping it in a poetic form didn't seem to carry the connotations that I felt were important in the original. It seems that this poem, about heroes, kings, religion, and just general epicness had many meanings. It was possibly remembered orally by many people, with passages recited around campfires and quotes passed back and forth in conversation. The more I thought about it the more it reminded my of “Star Wars” the movie cycle. Both are purported to be stories about men a long time ago in a place far away. Both feature humans and monsters. Both managed to involve christian ideals into a very much non christian society. As I reflected on this I decided that to truly show people today the impact this poem may have had on its original readers I needed to update the syntax and style of the poem.

My first decision was to abandon the conventions of poetry. I chose no line breaks, and stylistic features except those of standard English. The poem was not originally read by many as most were illiterate, it was heard and remembered, and I find it easier to read lines of prose. Poetry can try to establish subtle connections and express emotions through it form, however Beowulf is an epic story, and has little need for subtlety. To modernize it the story must be told clearly. There is some subtle possibly humorous moments by the narrator of the original, with foreshadowing and certain descriptions, which are easily missed to a modern reader. In the prose I was able to make small asides to point out these moments.

I am an avid reader of modern fantasy and a popular trend is to inject a portion of wry humor, and maybe some sarcasm into the text. In my translation I somewhat followed this model. I added the word :obviously” to two places as I felt that the original was presenting information that was obvious. We know that Grendel had seen the hall before, as his killing people there is what got Beowulf summoned in the first place. So it becomes humorous to add this detail. By explicitly pointing out these small moments of humor I feel that the work becomes much easier to understand and enjoy. Great moral lessons can be tedious to learn, so by interspersing humor and sarcasm a reader has more to look forward to. I firmly support my addition in that I think the humor existed originally, it was only harder to spot.

The syntax and sentence structure of the original was convoluted and confusing, as least to me. I changed it quite a bit, but I feel like the meaning and flow of events was unchanged. I chose to use words and phrasing that is easily understand, as per my stated goal of making the piece current and modern. I feel that the poem has a lot to offer, but most translations of it are extremely dry and difficult to follow. This puts the casual reader off from reading it, when the story and events are epic enough that any fan of “Star Wars” or “Lord of the Rings” and similar works should love this one too.