The translator begins this rendition with a brief history of the original manuscript. It’s fascinating! Written in England, it takes place in Scandinavia referring often to the Danes and the Swedes. It is miraculous that we still have the text. There was a time when only one copy was known to be in existence. When a fire broke out at the library where it was held, the copy was saved by being thrown out a window. Then monks decided to copy it down from that solitary one, it was said that the brittle, burnt pages were crumbling away even as they copied.
Until J.R.R. Tolkien’s translation and commentary of Beowulf, it was virtually unknown and unappreciated. Mitchell spends a good portion of the introduction discussing the unknown author’s Christianity which is debated among scholars today. Christianity came to England at about the 4th century, and Beowulf is believed to have been written in about the 6th century; but this translator, who seems Biblically literate himself, clarifies that the author’s Christianity seems like a strange one. Only Genesis is quoted throughout, opportunities for the hero to praise Jesus are absent, and instead, pagan rituals and values seem to reign. It seems more like Christi-pagan synchronism. I felt like he belabored the point, but while reading it, the religion really doesn’t have the same feel as the Norse or Greek mythos of the “Poetic Edda” or “The Iliad”. Tolkien believed that it was a Christian author writing about his pagan past.
A quick read, Beowulf journeys to a nearby kingdom to defeat the demonic giant Grendel who snatches and eats people in their sleep. After defeating Grendel, his mother rises up to take revenge on her dead son. She is described as a hunched over, as demonic as her son. No wonder the translator openly scoffs at the casting of Angelina Jolie in the 2007 film adaptation! After he defeats Grendel’s mother, Beowulf goes on to be a kind, generous king. His kingdom later becomes haunted by a beastly dragon which he goes out to defeat. This adventure correlates most easily with Tolkien’s “The Hobbit”. His love of Beowulf rings loud and clear. This will make it an entertaining read for Tolkien fans.
The translator is the narrator… which is unfortunate. He was so bland and monotonous. Other Audible reviewers agreed. It was a real let-down.