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chimney_swiftWhat have I been doing with my time? Oh, nothing really. Got a retail job. Did some embroidery on my jean jacket. Came up with what I think is an excellent reading project and my roommates think is a strange choice--I'm reading three different translations of Beowulf.
This came about because of the podcast Lingthusiasm really. (Side note: what an incredible little podcast, just charming and incredibly well-done linguistics education, highly recommend.) They had an episode about translation, and highlighted both Emily Wilson's Odyssey and Maria Headley's Beowulf. I'd heard about Wilson's work, but hadn't heard about Headley's and her translation sounded fascinating. But I didn't want to just read hers--I hadn't read Beowulf in a while, and it was the beautiful Seamus Heaney verse translation. So I found myself a suitably dry and academic Beowulf translation to start off with--J.R.R. Tolkien's translation and commentary.
Tolkien's translation was...just dry. I loved Beowulf when I first read it, and am interested in Old English poetry, and have a secret goal of taking an Old English class sometime, and I still couldn't really appreciate it.
First, his translation is a prose translation, and I think that no matter how beautifully you depict the text, you lose something when you move verse to prose. There was some rhythm still, but it felt removed in a way Heaney's doesn't.
Tolkien's insistence on very close translation also makes all of the family histories almost incomprehensible. There's no heart to the throughlines, just a bunch of folks with very similar names who don't seem to matter too much to the actual story.
There are some lovely bits in the work though! It feels stately and powerful and old in a way that I don't remember as much from Heaney's. And the commentary is pretty incredible. Tons of line reads about his choices and opinions on translations. If I had ever studied or was in the process of learning Old English, I'm sure it would be super interesting and useful.
In any case: J.R.R. Tolkien's Beowulf and Sellic Spell gets a 5/10 from me. Don't seek it out unless you know you want to.
Outside of my Beowulf project, I'm just floundering. I like my small projects, but I think I need some bigger challenge; my brain feels a bit like an under-stimulated bird of prey that just sits in its enclosure. Gah.
This came about because of the podcast Lingthusiasm really. (Side note: what an incredible little podcast, just charming and incredibly well-done linguistics education, highly recommend.) They had an episode about translation, and highlighted both Emily Wilson's Odyssey and Maria Headley's Beowulf. I'd heard about Wilson's work, but hadn't heard about Headley's and her translation sounded fascinating. But I didn't want to just read hers--I hadn't read Beowulf in a while, and it was the beautiful Seamus Heaney verse translation. So I found myself a suitably dry and academic Beowulf translation to start off with--J.R.R. Tolkien's translation and commentary.
Tolkien's translation was...just dry. I loved Beowulf when I first read it, and am interested in Old English poetry, and have a secret goal of taking an Old English class sometime, and I still couldn't really appreciate it.
First, his translation is a prose translation, and I think that no matter how beautifully you depict the text, you lose something when you move verse to prose. There was some rhythm still, but it felt removed in a way Heaney's doesn't.
Tolkien's insistence on very close translation also makes all of the family histories almost incomprehensible. There's no heart to the throughlines, just a bunch of folks with very similar names who don't seem to matter too much to the actual story.
There are some lovely bits in the work though! It feels stately and powerful and old in a way that I don't remember as much from Heaney's. And the commentary is pretty incredible. Tons of line reads about his choices and opinions on translations. If I had ever studied or was in the process of learning Old English, I'm sure it would be super interesting and useful.
In any case: J.R.R. Tolkien's Beowulf and Sellic Spell gets a 5/10 from me. Don't seek it out unless you know you want to.
Outside of my Beowulf project, I'm just floundering. I like my small projects, but I think I need some bigger challenge; my brain feels a bit like an under-stimulated bird of prey that just sits in its enclosure. Gah.
