Beowulf, and the Fight at Finnsburg, a translation into modern English
prose, with an Introduction and Notes, by John R. Clark Hall, M.A.,
Ph.D. With twelve illustrations[1]. London: Swan Sonnenschein and
Company, Lim., 1901. 8vo, pp. xlv, 203.
Tenth English Translation. Prose.
_Translator, and Circumstances of Publication._
Hitherto Dr. Hall had been chiefly known to the learned world for his
excellent _Anglo-Saxon Dictionary for Students_.
Up to this time no prose translation had appeared in England since 1876,
save Earle’s[2], which for the elementary student was practically
useless. Moreover, this translation was the first to embody the results
of various studies on the poem during the past decade.
_Contents._
Unlike the preceding works on _Beowulf_, it may be said that the
introductory and illustrative matter in this book is of quite as much
importance as the translation. The author says of his book:--
‘The following pages comprise a short statement of what is
actually known with respect to the poem of _Beowulf_, another
statement of what seems to me most likely to be true amongst the
almost innumerable matters of conjecture concerning it, and a few
words of literary appreciation.’ --Introduction, p. ix.
Statements similar to these have been put forth by other translators of
the poem, but the material of their volume has not always borne them
out. The studies of the poem in the Introduction are sufficient for a
school edition of _Beowulf_--a similar body of information is not found
in any of the existing editions--while annotations of some importance to
the elementary student are found in the notes and running comment. The
book contains, beside the translation, a discussion of the form,
language, geographical allusions, date, and composition of the poem,
as well as a useful, though inaccurate, bibliography[3].
_Text Used._
The translation is founded on the text of A. J. Wyatt, Cambridge, 1894.
Dr. Hall does not always follow the interpretations given in Wyatt’s
glossary, nor is the punctuation of the translation conformed to that of
the Old English text.
_Indebtedness to Preceding Scholars._
In his translation Dr. Hall seems to be most indebted to the work of
Professor Earle[4] (see lines 4, 71, 517, 852, 870, 926, 996, 1213,
1507, 2021, 3034, &c.).
Frequent reference is also made to the work of Cosijn, _Aanteekeningen
op den Beowulf_ (1892). The work of other scholars, such as Bugge,
Heyne, Socin, is also referred to.
_Nature of the Translation._
The translation is a literal prose version. It is constantly interrupted
by bits of running comment, designed to overcome the inherent obscurity
of the poem, or to afford an elaborate digest of the story if read
without the translation (p. 7).
The rendering avoids archaisms.
Bugge’s restoration is used at line 3150; the passage at line 2215 is
not restored.