Beowulf

By: Seamus Heaney

Narrated by: Seamus Heaney

Translated and read by Seamus Heaney.

New York Times best seller and Whitebread Book of the Year, Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney's new translation of Beowulf comes to life in this gripping audio. Heaney's performance reminds us that Beowulf, written near the turn of another millennium, was intended to be heard not read.

Composed toward the end of the first millennium of our era, Beowulf is the elegiac narrative of the adventures of Beowulf, a Scandinavian hero who saves the Danes from the seemingly invincible monster Grendel and, later, from Grendel's mother. He then returns to his own country and lives to old age before dying in a vivid fight against a dragon.

The poem is about encountering the monstrous, defeating it, and then having to live on in the exhausted aftermath. In the contours of this story, at once remote and uncannily familiar at the end of the twentieth century, Seamus Heaney finds a resonance that summons power to the poetry from deep beneath its surface.

©2000 Seamus Heaney (P)2000 Penguin Books Ltd., by arrangement with the BBC. Published by arrangement with W. W. Norton.

Critic reviews

"The classic eighth-century English poem is strikingly presented, making accessible the story of a young man's heroic journey to find and slay two monsters." (Publishers Weekly)

Why, oh, why is it abridged?

Seamus Heaney is a wonderful poet and a wonderful reader: listening to him is like hearing the original poet holding forth. But the reading is abridged, in what seems more like a marketing decision -- trying to fit the audiobook onto a two-CD set -- than an artistic one. "Beowulf" could certainly use some abridgement here and there, and I wouldn't mind if there were only minor omissions; but among the episodes cut is the challenge that Unferth issues to Beowulf about his swimming contest with Brecca. This isn't just empty padding: it's essential to the characters of both Unferth and Beowulf. In many ways this is the best single recording of "Beowulf" available: why couldn't there be an unabridged (or at least a less-abridged) version as well? That would get six stars out of five. No other version comes close to the mastery of language shown by this one.

Well Done

I got this for a school report and it was so much better to listen to it then read it. Seamus Heaney has a great voice for the part and was able to make even the parts where they are just listing Danish kings interesting.

Superb

Seamus Heaney’s translation and narration of Beowulf bring this ancient story vividly to life.

Anyone who loves a thrilling story should listen to this. It’s not a dry history lesson; it’s an exciting story of kings, monsters, and great battles.

Excellent but abridged, also lacks the introduction

I loved the narration; I read along with the physical copy of the book and had to skip around sometimes since it cut out certain parts. It was still well worth it; the author is so soothing to listen to that I was sad when it was over

Fantastic Translation.

Truly a classic! First read this epic 40+ years ago and Beowulf stands the test of time!

4 Stars

Hearing the book adds so much more character to than reading it especially since it was narrated by Seamus Heaney. I ordered the book for a literature class and thoroughly enjoyed the book. I agree with one other review that I wish it would have been unabridged.

A little bit too abridged

Great reading by the translator but whoever edited it for audio went just a bit too far in abridging it. Beowulf 's great verbal bout with Unferth is entirely cut out.

Brilliant on Every Level

This is a fantastic rendition of this classic piece of literature! Hearing him narrate, you almost feel like you are sitting around a fire being told the story by one of the great men of old.

Abridged!

Very well read by Seamus Heaney, but mysteriously many passages are omitted. I followed with the book in hand.

Wonderful new translation, perfect narration

It must be at least 50 years since I first read Beowulf in school, and had the predictable response.  "Huh?  Who cares?"  In fairness I suspect the translation we used was largely inaccessible to teenagers in the mid-sixties, and once we got caught up in the tangle of language, and our lack of familiarity with this type of literature, even a fan of literature like me glazed over.  But ever since Seamus Heaney produced a new translation I've wanted to revisit it, and yesterday I treated myself to the audiobook which is also narrated by Heaney.

And in fact, the more accessible translation made me realize just how alien this kind of story is to contemporary readers.  If it had been written today, there would have been some kind of betrayal.  Maybe Beowulf would have ulterior motives for going to aid Hrothgar.  Maybe Hrothgar doesn't like the way his wife eyes the hero. Maybe the king promises a great prize if Beowulf kills Grendel, then reneges, and when Grendel's mother comes for her revenge, Beowulf refuses to protect the king and his people.  But there would have been internal conflict, not just the trio of monsters who ravage the lands, but human conflict.  Because our stories aren't simple anymore.  Nobility seems almost suspect.  I confess, I was waiting for Beowulf to kill Hrothgar and claim the throne, even though I knew better.  (It was a lot like watching Ladyhawke for the first time and being sure that Navarre would start killing people randomly because I'd never seen Rutger Hauer as a truly good character.)

But as Heaney spins the tale, it's hard not to become carried away by the bravery and nobility of the people, and maybe the foolhardy nature  of Beowulf -- he's a hero, of course he's foolhardy -- who not only decides to travel to another kingdom to help them defeat a monster no one else has been able to kill, but because that monster uses no weapons, he swears he will use none.  It will be hand-to-hand between them, he says.  When Beowulf returns home after his adventures, laden with material proof of Hrothgar's gratitude, he gives much of it to his king.  He's not in this for the gold, but rather for the glory and to serve the greater good.  And probably in no small part, for the sake of a good, dust-up with a worthy opponent. In spite of the overtly Christian elements of the story, there is more than a little about Beowulf that is godlike.

Though the translation is accessible, it's not dumbed down. Rather it's quite beautiful, rendered with a poet's graceful way with words.  Heaney's narration is welcome, with his clear, softly Irish voice.  Normally I listen to audiobooks at 1.5x because I'm impatient with most narrations, but for this one I slowed to normal speed in order to savor the sheer beauty of it.

If you've never read Beowulf, or have an wasn't wowed by it, please do try this translation.