This is a list of translations of Beowulf, one of the best-known Old English heroic epic poems. Beowulf has been translated many times in verse and in prose. By 2020, the Beowulf's Afterlives Bibliographic Database listed some 688 translations and other versions of the poem, from Thorkelin's 1787 transcription of the text, and in at least 38 languages.

The poet John Dryden's categories of translation have influenced how scholars discuss variation between translations and adaptations. In the Preface to Ovid's Epistles (1680) Dryden proposed three different types of translation:

The works listed below may fall into more than one of Dryden's categories, but works that are essentially direct translations are listed here. Versions of other kinds that take more "latitude" are listed at List of adaptations of Beowulf.

Translations

There are hundreds of translations or near-translations of Beowulf, and more are added each year, so a complete list may well be unattainable. Listed here are the major versions discussed by scholars, along with the first versions in different languages.

English Translations

19th century

Date Title Translator Location Publisher Type Notes 1837 Beowulf Kemble, John Mitchell London William Pickering Prose First complete translation into modern English; archaizing, and translating word-for-word. The 1st ed. in 1833 had no translation. 1849 Beowulf, an epic poem translated from the Anglo-Saxon into English verse Wackerbarth, A. Diedrich London William Pickering Verse Walter Scott-like romance verse using rhyme and modern metre (iambic tetrameters), no attempt to imitate alliterative verse 1855 Anglo-Saxon Poems of Beowulf Thorpe, Benjamin Oxford James Wright Verse, prosaic Parallel text, with "literal" translation "reading like prose ... chopped up into short lines" as if verse 1876 Beowulf: a Heroic Poem of the Eighth Century, with a translation Arnold, Thomas, the Younger London Longmans, Green Prose An archaizing version, translating word-for-word. 1881 Beowulf: an old English poem, translated into modern rhymes Lumsden, Henry William London Kegan Paul Verse 1882 Beowulf: an Anglo-Saxon poem, & the Fight at Finnsburg Garnett, James Mercer, the younger Boston Ginn, Heath, & Co. Verse "With facsimile of the unique manuscript in the British Museum". 1888 I. Beówulf: an Anglo-Saxon poem. II. The Fight at Finnsburh: a fragment Harrison, James Albert;Moritz Heyne;Robert Sharp Boston X. Ginn & Co. Prose Not exactly a translation. Annotated text and long glossary 1892 The Deeds of Beowulf Earle, John Oxford Clarendon Press Prose An archaizing version. 1894 Beowulf Wyatt, Alfred John Cambridge Cambridge University Press Prose Not exactly a translation. Annotated text and long glossary 1895 The tale of Beowulf sometime King of the folk of the Weder Geats Morris, William;Alfred John Wyatt London Longman Verse "Genuinely foreignizing ... medievalizes" in a distinctive style, with "breaking rhythms and irregular syntax ... an insistently archaizing diction and a striking literalism to produce a defamiliarizing effect". 1897 Beowulf: an Anglo-Saxon Epic Poem Hall, John Lesslie Lexington D. C. Heath Verse

20th century

Date Title Translator Location Publisher Type Notes 1901 Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg John Richard Clark Hall Cambridge Cambridge University Press Prose A literal approach, somewhat archaic; smoother and more uniform than Kemble. "One of the most enduringly popular of all translations of the poem". 1910 Beowulf Gummere, Francis B. New York The Collier Press Verse The Harvard Classics, Charles W. Eliot, (Ed.) 1910 Beowulf Sedgefield, Walter John Manchester University of Manchester Prose Not exactly a translation. Annotated text and long glossary 1913 The Story of Beowulf Kirtlan, Ernest John Brigham London C. H. Kelly Prose Decorated and designed by Frederick Lawrence. 1914 Beowulf. A Metrical Translation into Modern English Hall, J. R. Clark Cambridge Cambridge University Press Verse 1921Widsith; Beowulf; Finnsburgh; Waldere; Dior [sic], done into Common English after the Old MannerCharles Scott MoncrieffLondonChapman and HallVerseWith an introduction from Lord Northcliffe. Moncrieff had studied Old English at the University of Edinburgh in 1913. 1922 Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg Klaeber, Frederick Boston D. C. Heath and Company Prose Classic, continuously in print through 4 editions. Not exactly a translation. Annotated text and long glossary 1923 The Story of Beowulf and Grendel. Retold in modern English prose Spencer, Richard Augustus London, Edinburgh W. & R. Chambers Prose 1923 The Song of Beowulf rendered into English prose Gordon, R. K. London J.M. Dent & Sons Prose Published without credit in the Simon & Schuster 2005 edition. 1925 Beowulf. Translated into modern English rhyming verse Strong, Archibald London Constable Verse 1926 Beowulf. Translated into English verse Crawford, D. H. London Chatto & Windus Verse 1933 The Story of Beowulf. Retold from the ancient epic Riggs, Strafford New York D. Appleton-Century Prose Decorated by Henry Clarence Pitz. 1940 Beowulf. the oldest English epic. Translated into alliterative verse with a critical introduction Kennedy, Charles W. New York Oxford University Press Verse, alliterative . 1945 Beowulf. In modern verse with an essay and pictures Bone, Gavin David Oxford Basil Blackwell Verse 1949 Beowulf in Modern English. A translation in blank verse Waterhouse, Mary Elizabeth Cambridge Bowes & Bowes Verse, blank 1952 Beowulf: A Verse Translation into Modern English Morgan, Edwin Berkeley University of California Press Verse Based on Klaeber's text; "of special significance in its own right but also as the beginning of translation of Beowulf into a genuinely modern poetic idiom, leading the way for many later followers down to and beyond Seamus Heaney". 1953 Beowulf, with the Finnsburg fragment Wrenn, C. L. London George G. Harrap & Co. Prose A revision of John Richard Clark Hall. Wrenn was one of the Inklings. Fully revised by W. F. Bolton in 1972 1953 Beowulf and Judith Dobbie, Elliott van Kirk New York Columbia University Press Verse It is a critical edition of the Old English text with extensive notes but no translation 1954 Beowulf the Warrior Ian Serraillier Oxford Oxford University Press Verse Illustrated by John Severin. 1957 Beowulf Wright, David Harmondsworth Penguin Classics Prose Reprinted by Panther Books, 1970 1961 Beowulf Goodrich, Norma Lorre New York Mentor Prose Excerpts of the main action sequences and plotline. 1963 Beowulf Raffel, Burton New York Signet Classics Verse Raffel writes in his essay "On Translating Beowulf that the poet-translator "needs to master the original in order to leave it". 1966 Beowulf Donaldson, Ethelbert Talbot London Longman Prose Widely read in The Norton Anthology of English Literature; accurate, "foreignizing" prose, using asyndetic coordination, "somewhat ponderous but ... dignified tone ... viewed by teachers as dull". 1968 Beowulf Crossley-Holland, Kevin London Macmillan Prose The prose has a distinct poetic quality. 1968 Beowulf and its Analogues Garmonsway, George N. London J.M. Dent & Sons Prose Hugh Magennis calls this "much-used"; Michael J. Alexander says it has "dignity and rhythmical shape". 1973 Beowulf: A Verse Translation Alexander, Michael J. Harmondsworth Penguin Classics Verse Closely "shadows" the original1977Beowulf: A Dual-Language EditionHowell D. ChickeringNew YorkAnchor BooksVerse 1983 Beowulf: a Verse Translation with Treasures of the Ancient North Osborn, Marijane Berkeley University of California Press Verse 1985 A Readable Beowulf Stanley B. Greenfield Carbondale Southern Illinois University Press Verse "Simultaneously a poem and, by virtue of the nature of translation, an act of criticism".(Greenfield, p. ix) 1991 Beowulf: A Verse Translation Rebsamen, Frederick New York HarperCollins Verse imitates original's poetic form as closely as possible, with alliterative half-lines; seven prose sections interrupt the translation, instead of using footnotes 1991 Beowulf: Text and Translation Porter, John Hockwold-cum-Wilton Anglo-Saxon Books Verse Parallel text; "the most literal" 1999 Beowulf: A New Verse Translation Heaney, Seamus London Faber Verse

21st century

Date Title Translator Location Publisher Type Notes 2000 Beowulf Roy Liuzza Peterborough, Ontario Broadview Press Verse Parallel text. 2nd edition 2013 2010 The Beowulf Manuscript Fulk, R.D Cambridge, Mass. Harvard University Press Prose Part of the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library, contains facing page text and translations of the Nowell Codex and the Finnsburg Fragment. 2012 Beowulf: A Translation Meyer, Thomas Santa Barbara, California Punctum Books Verse 2013 Grinnell Beowulf: A Translation with Notes Arner, Timothy D.; Eva Dawson; Emily Johnson; Jeanette Miller; Logan Shearer; Aniela Wendt; Kate Whitman Grinnell, Iowa Grinnell College Press Verse Illustrated translation and teaching edition. 2013 Beowulf Purvis, Meghan London Penned in the Margins Verse A collection of connected poems, or read as one long poem. "The Collar" won The Times Stephen Spender Prize for poetry in translation, 2011 and the collection was Poetry Book Society recommended translation, Summer 2013. 2014 Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary Tolkien, J. R. R. London HarperCollins Prose Translated 1920–1926, edited by Christopher Tolkien, published posthumously with "Sellic Spell", a version reconstructed as an Anglo-Saxon folktale, i.e. without the heroic elements 2017 Beowulf Mitchell, Stephen New Haven, Connecticut Yale University Press Verse 2020Beowulf: A New TranslationHeadley, Maria DahvanaLondonMacmillanVerseIt translates the opening as "Bro!" Won the 2021 Harold Morton Landon Translation Award and the 2021 Hugo Award for Best Related Work. 2021 Beowulf' by All: Community Translation and Workbook'Beowulf' by All Abbott, Jean; Treharne, Elaine, and Fafinski, Mateusz (Eds.) Leeds Arc Humanities Press Verse Translated by over 200 contributors. An earlier version appeared in 2018, as Beowulf by All, Version 1.0Beowulf by All, Version 1.0 from Stanford TexT (of Stanford University Press).2022After BeowulfNicole MarkotićToronto, CanadaCoach House BooksVerse2023Beowulf: Translation and CommentaryTom Shippey (trans.) and Leonard Neidorf (ed. & commentary)LondonUppsala BooksVerseFacing page Old English and translation.

Other Languages