Diacritically-Marked Text of
Beowulf
facing a New Translation
(with explanatory notes)

edited & translated by

---

Faster Connexions [DSL, &c.] [all on one page]

Slower Connexions [56k, &c.] [one fitt per page]

from British Library MS Cotton Vitellius A.xv (Gneuss 399)

CLICK HERE FOR TEXT &

TRANSLATION OF BEOWULF
[for DSL/cable-modem, other fast internet-connexions]

The new translation provided for the new edition of Beowulf seeks a middle ground between intelligibility and literal translation. I keep each modern English half-line matched against its Old English counterpart, but the order of the words within the half-line is re-arranged, if necessary, to be more natural for the modern English-speaker. I also freely add functional words, such as articles, prepositions, conjunctions, &c. and punctuate as I see fit. Likewise, in terms of style, I seek a middle ground between sound and sense; I have not eschewed alliteration where it is naturally, but neither have I contorted sense or syntax in seeking it.

In punctuating the Old English text, I have in most places followed the edition of Mitchell & Irvine 2000.

Update: (June 2005)
I have re-edited the text and its apparatus to conform with the standard lineation of 3182, rather than Kiernan's 3184 lines. As I still agree with Kiernan about the lineation ll. 389-90 and 2228-30, this edition of the poem ends up with blank half-lines at 389b, 390a, 2228b, 2229ab, 2230a, in order to match the standard 3182-lineation. This change was partially inspired by Robert Fulk's (2003) article on the metrically necessity of the hypermetrical lines at 1163-8, 1705-7, 2995-6 (esp. Fulk 2003:10-13), as well as urging by Thomas Hart (pers. comm.).

Punctuation employed in the transcription: (following Mitchell & Irvine 2000)
 
* NO PUNCTUATION WHERE THE SENSE IS CLEAR WITHOUT ANY

* the paragraph inset (indentation), to mark major changes of theme or argument

* the full-stop point (.), to indicate the end of a 'verse paragraph' or of a major sense unit or major shift in narrative

* the Georgian comma, or middle dot, (·), to mark off clauses -- indicating a less definite pause which may vary between a modern comma and a full stop, also employed in cases of various ambiguity in the text
 
* the colon (:), to introduce speeches, and in some other places where the colon is employed in modern punctuation

* the comma (,), to be used only within clauses and then only when it is needed to clarify the sense

* the 'enclosing' strokes (- -), to mark off parenthetic clauses

* the question mark (?), to mark interrogatives

* the exclamation mark (!), to be used to mark exclamations and wishes

* inverted commas (' '), to be used to mark quotations, direct speech; double inverted commas (" ") where required