As you can probobly tell, I...love...this...story. There are many different reasons I like it so much. First, I really enjoy European History, don't ask me why. One reason I love European history is because I have as much European blood in me as anyone, and so do most of the people I know. My father is mostly Scottish but he also has British and Irish. My mother also has Scottish and an array of others. One thing that is intriguing about my history has to to with my father. He is an avid Scot, he is learning how to make kilts, how to play the bagpipes, and he is generally a Scot. He goes deep into the annals of his geneology to find an interest. I think I'm goin a bit farther in my interests. I think it has to do more with my blood than my mind. I find tales of Scotland, knights, castles, barbarians, tribesmen, and bold seafairers much more than other people. My father has blond curly hair. Among Scots it is not uncommon, nor is his red beard (we have a family joke, niether my brothers or my father can grow facial hair that amounts to much). However a while ago I was doing some pleasure reading about vikings. They had settlements all over Scotland and Ireland during the ninth century. My father made a comment to me," I think my hair is more Norse than Scotch." I don't doubt it a bit. My fascination with such tales as Beowulf goes very deep.
I would recomend this book to people who share with me similar roots. Also, this was a very tough translation (by Clavence Griffin Child), even for myself. I would suggest that less interested or serious readers read a simpler translation.
Meghan McGuire- Don't Read This Book!!! It is so gory, that i had to start laughing to hide my fright. Everyone of the battles that Beowulf engages in contains large segments of blood and guts. For example: Beowulf kills Grendel by ripping his arm off; after killing Grendel's mother, Beowulf cuts off the head of Grendel as a trophy; and in his mortal combat with the dragon Beowulf's blade pierces the flesh of the dragon but cannot break the bone. The translation I read (which can be found at Boyden Library in fiction-829.3) was short but I could not understand it without the most concentrated focus; no music; no T.V. in the backround (but I probobly have ADD so...) because the language was so differant from anything I had read before. |
