The Deeds of Beowulf, an English Epic of the Eighth Century, done into
Modern Prose, with an Introduction and Notes by John Earle, M.A., rector
of Swanswick, Rawlinsonian Professor of Anglo-Saxon in the University of
Oxford. At the Clarendon Press, 1892 (February). 8vo, pp. c, 203.
Seventh English Translation. Prose.
_Circumstances of Publication._
Sixteen years had elapsed since the publication of a scholarly
translation in England--for Lumsden’s[1] can hardly be said to count as
such. In the meantime Heyne’s text[2] had passed into a fifth edition
(1888); Wülker’s revision of Grein’s _Bibliothek_ had appeared with a
new text of _Beowulf_ (1881); Zupitza’s _Autotypes_ of the MS. had
appeared 1882, making it possible to ascertain exactly what was in the
original text of the poem; the studies of Sievers[3], Cosijn[4],
Kluge[5], and Bugge[6] had been published, containing masterly
discussions of text revision. Some of these materials had been used by
Garnett in his translation, but the majority of them were of later date.
_Aim of the Translation._
Nothing is said in the introduction respecting the aim of the
translation; but it is evident from the Notes that the purpose was
twofold--to present the latest interpretation of the text, and to afford
a literary version of the poem.
_Texts Used._
‘This translation was originally made from the Fourth Edition of
Moritz Heyne’s text. His Fifth Edition came out in 1888, and I
think I have used it enough to become acquainted with all the
changes that Dr. Adolf Socin, the new editor, has introduced.
Where they have appeared to me to be improvements, I have modified
my translation accordingly.’ --Preface.
But the translator does not depend slavishly upon his text. He
frequently uses emendations suggested by the scholars mentioned above,
especially those of Professor Sophus Bugge in _Studien über das
Beowulfsepos_[7]; see lines 457, 871, 900, 936, 1875, 2275.
The Introduction presents a new theory of the origin of the poem. The
notes are especially interesting because of the large body of quotations
cited for literary comparison and for the light they throw on Old
Germanic and medieval customs.