Beowulf In Old English And New English contains, just as the title states, both versions as a Facing Page Translation. The original Beowulf manuscript is the oldest surviving document in what has come to be the English Language. It is also an exciting saga - full of action, adventure, heroic deeds, mystery and magic. It is magnificent literature.
The Old English version is a classic masterpiece of Western Literature which, due to the evolution of the language, has become very difficult for most readers. To facilitate understanding, to make it easier for the first time reader to appreciate the beauty of the original language, the New English translation by the renowned scholar Professor Francis B. Gummere is provided on alternate pages facing the original Old English text.
This arrangement makes it possible for the modern reader to immediately grasp the content of the saga and begin to see, on the facing page, the complex beauty of the original poem. It also gives the more advanced students an appreciation of the skill of the translator and the opportunity to extract new shades of meaning from the original text.
By way of introduction, this volume also contains a short summary of the saga. A table of contents, not part of the original, has also been included which, in itself, provides a series of guide posts to help follow the intricacies of the story.
Overcoming the difficulty of understanding the original text is the primary aim of this book. Those who are already familiar with Beowulf will surely agree that it is well worth the effort.